May Random Tidbits

 May 2019

The weather during May varies, I like that. We will have several cloudy days then the sun breaks through the clouds and it'll be sunny for a day or two then back to cloudy. 

After the rain had stopped we visited a park in Bellevue. It's a nice park. It got a complete renovation a year or two ago. Now, the playground is bigger and it has a splash pad. They added benches next to trees which I love. And that's where I sat, at a bench under a shady tree reading a book while Riley and Jacob played frisbee. 

After the park we went to Pagliacci for some pizza. While we were there a woman with an older lady sat at our large table. After about ten minutes Jacob noticed that the older lady had a dazed look on her face so Jacob asked her if she was ok and she didn't respond. The lady that came in with her was up getting the pizza so she wasn't aware of what was happening so Jacob got up and alerted her while Jacob and another guy laid the old lady down and paramedics were called. They arrived within minutes. While they were assessing her she slowly came to and said she was fine. The caretaker was getting frantic and called the old lady's daughter. I believe the paramedics took the elderly lady. I felt so bad for the old lady that I almost cried. The daughter wanted to know what happened so Jacob told her. She thanked Jacob for his quick reaction and then we left. That was a surreal experience for us. I prayed for her.

I love cats antics. They just do the weirdest cutest things. Riley had left his top drawer out and when I walked in his room I found Sophie laying inside the top drawer, looking straight at me. I couldn't help but laugh.

One of Jacob's favorite ice cream shops is Mora. The most popular location is in Bainbridge Island. We don't often visit Bainbridge Island so when we heard that a Mora was opening up a new location near our home he was very excited. Riley likes it here too, mostly because you can get two flavors in a single scoop. 

I on the other hand am not a huge ice cream fan but when I do eat it I prefer Baskin Robins Mint Chocolate Chip. My other favorite flavors are strawberry and coffee ice cream, and the occasional Rocky Road craving. 

In early May I purchased several new plants for the backyard. I do love gardening but it sure is hard work. However, in my opinion getting sore from doing something you enjoy doing is a good thing. It definitely doesn't feel like a chore and it's not boring .... unless you're picking weeds. 

At Home Depot picking up bags of mulch. After laying all this mulch down we realized we needed more so we purchase more a few days later. When spreading mulch it's important to have good gardening gloves or else the tiny pieces of wood will get inside the cheap gloves and give you splinters. Yes, I've learned from experience, lol. Splinters are a painful nuisance though.

Cats; laptops, notebooks and books. Funny how they seem to be drawn to these things. Here she was staring at the mouse and because she was partially laying on the side of the laptop I couldn't bring it down to my lap to type. She looks so comfortable with her right arm dangling there.

She always finds a spot on my left side to lay next to. Sometimes I have to move over a little so she can be more comfortable. But she always has to have body contact. I think that's the sweetest thing. 

As a graduation requirement seniors have to do a school presentation where they have to dress up as if they are going to a job interview. Nathan cleans up pretty good. Here he is looking so handsome.

I am such a wimp. Whenever my kids have a milestone in their lives I get emotional. Every single time it hits me about how quickly they are growing up. I just can't help it. Whenever they get married I'll most definitely be a total mess.

Books bring comfort to me. When life gets too serious I know I can escape in a good book to get distracted. Like everything in life, I need balance in everything that I do. 

Books also bring a sense of coziness to a room. 

All but one book in this stack are thrillers. I don't believe I have read any of these books yet but I hope to one day.

Sometimes, I find Sophie asleep in Sydna's room. I find that funny. 

Lila doesn't mind sharing her cat tree. 

We've always gone grocery shopping every two weeks which means we buy food to last us two weeks. Several days before grocery shopping day I start a new grocery list. We typically come up with twelve to fourteen dishes for our menu. Sometimes we'll grab one of my cookbooks and look to see if we want to try something new, or we look through Pinterest. Jacob's the one with the talent when it comes to trying new recipes. I stick with the Mexican dishes mostly.

I love that we come up with a variety of dishes. We do this so we don't become bored of eating the same things every week. We do limit our red meats though. Blessed and thankful that Jacob not only doesn't mind to cook but he actually enjoys cooking. He's totally self-taught.

Here he made Kung Pao chicken with a side of gyozas and rice. Kung Pao chicken was made from scratch but the gyozas were store bought. This recipe was definitely a keeper.

For the past several years I've been sort of slacking when it comes to certain holidays. Of course I knew Mother's Day was coming up and I wanted to send my mom flowers but it was only two days until Mother's Day and I didn't want to pay a crazy amount to have them delivered the next day. Thankfully my sister Claudia was kind enough to do me a favor. I Venmo her money and with it she bought my mom flowers and took them to her. That was a relief. Mom loved them. Glad she did.

Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you 

are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think.

Spring At Home

I am thankful that each season is only three months long. This way we get to appreciate them that much more. I believe that we can become indifferent with too much of one thing. Every season brings forth it's own beauty.

Here we are in Spring 2018. The most exciting thing for me about Spring is that soon nature, plants, trees will be sprouting with new life. Such a tender time that is full of exciting anticipation for the blooming of buds and creatures.
For us, Spring (Fall and sometimes Winter) is the ideal time to spend as much time outdoors as we can without having the sun weighing down on us and making me feel ill.

I got myself a book called Wilder Life which is a Season by Season guide to experiencing the great outdoors. Lovely illustrations and shared several projects for one to do. I would like to try a few projects from the book like weaving and macramé.
Here's a helpful guide for tending to your yard and garden during early Spring. I found this helpful and would have to say that once I began educating myself on basic gardening I have since been able to keep my plants and shrubs alive. That's a big deal for me.

We've been in our house for five years and barely last Spring we finally decided to paint the downstairs spare room. Riley's playroom. I wanted a dark color to make the room feel cozy. I love the color, it's Behr Graphic Charcoal. The one thing I was the most excited about was replacing the light fixture. There was a low chandelier that I grew to dislike very much because we always had to duck in order to not hit our heads. I found a ceiling lamp at Lamps Plus online. We drove to an actual store and to my disappointment they didn't have the nickel only gold so they had to order one for us and had to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive.
If I remember correctly, this room was intended to be a formal dining room. Our family doesn't see any benefit on having a formal living or dining so we decided to turn that room into Riley's playroom.
Given that Riley had outgrown a lot of his toys we got rid of the kiddie toys and a few totes. We bought a tall bookcase to put all his books and board games on. We also got a console table and a couch that turns into a bed. We wanted this room to accommodate all three kids. If they felt like watching tv laying down on the couch then they can. The last thing we would like to do is to put up crown molding.

As soon as the rains stopped in early Spring I picked up several flowers from the store to decorate the babies resting place and a few for the front porch.
This is what I like about the babies barrel. I planted perennials and left a few spaces where I can also plant annuals. This gives me the freedom to change things up and pick pretty flowers each Spring and Summer.

For my front porch I added ranunculus to accompany the ferns and some other greenery (forgot what it is) I planted about a year ago. I'm into subtle decorating. Not sure why the fern on the left planter is not as abundant as the one on the right. Direct sunlight doesn't hit either one. Hm.

Ranunculus is such a pretty little flower.

Gosh, I don't remember this plant's name either. Our home layout is not the most favorable. We don't get that much direct sunlight. This side narrow kitchen window is the only window in the house that provides the most direct sun. It's my favorite window.
Also last Spring I got myself this pretty floral coffee cup. I love it! Isn't it lovely?!

I am well aware that all that I have is because of God's blessings to us. I could not purchase pretty Spring flowers without knowing that all this is only possible because He blessed Jacob with a wonderful job. To the unbeliever, this may sound silly but to us believers, we KNOW that nothing is possible without God.
God's hand is in EVERY single detail of our lives.

Joy is always available to us, moment by moment

.... if we only have eyes to see. 

Parents Visit

We've lived in this house for two years and I've got to admit that it wasn't until last week that I barely decided to clean the blinds ... better yet a couple of them at least. Given that the room used the most is the kitchen, I chose to tackle those two blinds first. And just cleaning these two long blinds took me an hour. However, as time consuming as this chore was I did not grumble. I had my Depeche Mode station on which help me enjoy the chore at hand. Listening to music I like makes the mundane things enjoyable. Have you tried that? It'll definitely change your perspective about chores.
Funny how when we're expecting visitors we clean more thoroughly. I had one day left to get my cleaning done before my parents arrived the following day. I spent all morning cleaning. I want the atmosphere in my home to always be comfortable, cozy and inviting. Clean floors, clean counters, and clean bathrooms ... I want my husband and kids and guests to feel comfortable whether sitting on the couch watching a movie or playing a game on the living room carpet floor.

Last week when we stopped by Starbucks they had Seahawks coffee sleeves. Isn't it cool looking? Not sure if Starbucks in other states do the same for their own teams but WA does and that's super cool.

After I was done with my chores and then leaving the house in the afternoon to run some last minute errands our home was finally ready for my guests. We were all so thrilled that my dad had finally decided to visit. The last three times that my mom's visited she's come alone or with my sister. I guess my dad is not a fan of flying but glad that he finally faced his fears and decided to come see us.
I wasn't able to go with Jacob to pick them up at the airport because I had to pick up Sydna from work at the same time my parents flight was set to arrive. So Jacob and Nathan headed to the airport while me and Riley stayed home.
As soon as Riley heard the front door open he went downstairs and said, "grandpa!!!"

We hadn't seen my dad in about a year. It was very nice seeing him after all this time.

My dad was amazed at how witty and smart Riley is. He would just look at him and smile at the things he would say.

The following day I took my parents along to my haircut appointment at the mall. I was getting tired of seeing my hair in one length with no body or style to it so it was definitely time for a change. I decided to get a medium length bob. I think the "bob" hairstyle looks the best on me. I'm happy with it and it's definitely easy to style.

This little guy asked for pretzel dogs. He loves those things. While I was getting my haircut my parents watched him. I had warned them that he's very active so they took him walking around the mall. I'm sure my parents got tired before he did, lol. The good thing was that they kept Riley busy and that sure helped me have a relaxing time while I was at the salon.

Later on that evening Libby decided to come downstairs and visit with the grandparents. My dad doesn't particularly like cats and he always gives me a hard time about Libby. My girl jumped on the couch next to him and meowed at him. My dad said that she's too skinny and old, lol. Not sure if he patted her but at least he didn't shoo her away.

I couldn't wait to take my dad {parents} sightseeing and to get him on the ferry.