daysoflore.com

Noah: Would you just stay with me?
Allie: Stay with you? What for? Look at us, we’re already fighting.
Noah: Well, that’s what we do. We fight. You tell me when I’m being an arrogant son of a b—- and I tell you when you’re being a pain in the a–. Which you are 99% of the time. I’m not afraid to hurt your feelings. They have like a two second rebound rate and you’re back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing.
Allie: So, what?
Noah: So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really hard. And we’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that, because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day.

I found these awesome melamine dishes last month and was so excited that I grabbed them immediately!

I’ve since discovered that Orla Kiely made these exclusively for Target, and only a limited amount, so they’re not only incredibly adorably patterned, they are also fairly rare. The best news is, because they are melamine, they will (hopefully) be able to withstand my kids’, er, roughness with their dishes, plus it’ll be cool to ask James to set the table without cringing as he’s carrying the plates from the kitchen cabinets to the dining table.

The bad of these is that melamine is not microwavable. Big bummer for those quick meals, which almost made me turn to Corelle, but I mean… how could I absolutely ignore these great designs!!

.

.

.

.

Being schooled by my six yr old is great fun! lol

Me (to my Mom): yeah James likes this show, it’s about a little chinese girl named, “Ni Hao Kai-Lan”.
James: uhh, mommy, her name is Kai-Lan, “Ni Hao” means “Hello” in Chinese.

Geeze I knew that (I promise June!), I just phrased it incorrectly, haha.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty proud of my offspring. He’s one smart little dude!

I can almost see it
That dream I’m dreaming but
There’s a voice inside my head saying,
You’ll never reach it.
Every step I’m taking,
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction.
My faith is shaking but I
Got to keep trying
Got to keep my head held high

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I’m gonna to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

The struggles I’m facing,
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down but
No I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m going to remember most yeah
Just got to keep going
And I,
I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on, cause

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I’m gonna to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes you going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

Keep on moving
Keep climbing
Keep the faith

(Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J)

I forgot to mention in my last post that Chris, James, and Logan found an abandoned dog at Littlefield/Shultis park in mid February. It was cold and we knew that it would rain so Chris called the local shelter and after finding they were closed for the day, brought her home until we could figure out what we would do.

She did have a collar on so I immediately thought of the unfortunate family that were most likely at that moment frantically looking for her, hoping she was okay and safe. It had already started raining at that point so as an alternative to making “FOUND DOG” posters and hanging them outside, I logged onto craigslist and posted the “found dog” notice under the “pet” section. Not even an hour after posting, I received a phone call.

The man said he “knew the owner of the dog” and that she was most definitely abandoned at the park. The owner’s house was apparently in foreclosure and she and her family, in having to look for a new place to live, decided it was best that she let the dog run loose at the park in the hopes that someone will eventually pick her up. He told me she didn’t want to take her to the animal shelter because she’ll just end up being euthanized.

So in the end, we decided to just keep her. She was just too sweet a dog to let go and it was sad that her last family ran out of the means to take care of her. And while I feel bad for their current predicament, I still think it would have been nicer to at least have taken the dog to the pound. That way she’d at least have shelter and food for a time, and would still have a slight chance of being adopted out to a good home. My husband said it much better in his blog. Look for it in the paragraph titled, “Economics” (yes my husband sometimes structures his blog posts in sections, lol).

And if you haven’t guessed already from the title of this post, we named her Zoey. Well, Zoey Alleyne Deschanel, but just Zoey for short. We actually went through about a half dozen names, the first one that I blurted out being “Olive Oil” because of her long skinny legs. Chris really liked that but I didn’t want to think of how ridiculous I’d feel having to call out for her in the back yard, saying “Olive Oil, come heeeeere!!”

Oh and I forgot to mention she is a Chihuahua and Miniature Pinscher pix, also known to other owners of this mixbreed as ChiPin or MinChi That means that would also make her a MexiGerman, or a GerMexican, lol. Well, you can see she looks sort of like “Santa’s Little Helper” from The Simpsons here:

It’s now March and at first I felt bad about glossing over February like nothing interesting happened, but then I did a mental face slap because I know that the happenings in my life– whether notable or not– don’t need validation by being posted on this blog.

That and I’m either really busy, or really lazy. I’ve even become so good at both that I can be both busy and lazy at the same time.

Anyway, I do want to mention some particulars from last month though… Mom celebrated her 51st birthday on the 2nd and towards the end of the month we threw a surprise birthday party for Tita Lyn’s 50th. Valentine’s Day came and went just like any day for us, because as Chris and I grew wiser not just in age but in our relationship, we realized showing LOVE to each other is a 365 day holiday, not just on one that Hallmark guilts people into making it a highlighted day to show you care. We already have birthdays and Christmas for that.

It was a sad day yesterday though. One of my aunts passed away, the mother of one of my closest cousins. March 5th, I believe at 7:40pm. The reason I know the time, or the estimate time anyway, was I was sitting on the couch and I felt so empty not being able to be at the hospital last night with her everyone. So I picked up my phone and text’d Abs with “what’s happening now, I wish I was there.” And a few seconds later she text’d back, “tita just passed”. She had just passed within that minute.

I was at the hospital the day before, on Wednesday and stayed till passed 11pm. I had the amazing privilege to be able to sit with her for about 20 minutes, and held her hand and talked to her and stroked her hair, and it was just her and me for that time because everyone went for either a bathroom break, smoking break, or just to get something to eat. And I felt so lucky to just be with her, this aunt that has been a constant in my life since I was a little kid, a really sweet woman who had fire in heart and a big love for her family.

Last night James, Logan, and I prayed for her during our bedtime prayers, and thanked God that she’s home with Him in Heaven, and that she at least doesn’t feel pain anymore. We’re thankful for that.

I talked to my cousin today and learned the funeral may be on Friday next week. The wake, probably Wednesday or Thursday.

And while the week will go on as usual, and the world will keep turning even without her in it, she won’t be forgotten… and she’s still alive in our hearts.

I figure I better have a few more posts in for January before it quickly slips by and it’s December again. Too fast, time… slow down, please.

So last Wednesday I slipped and fell (purely due to my unending clumsiness), while picking up Logan in the afternoon, and I landed hard on my left knee(cap) to avoid Logan from getting hurt from the pavement too. So not only did I get a big bloody gash on my knee, but I believe now that I probably messed up my ligaments pretty bad. Apparently there’s something you can get called, “Water on the knee“, where excess fluid build up would happen. Nice, just what I need. I’ve received advice from family and friends to elevate my leg, and keep pressure off of the knee, but as much as I appreciate the care and concern, how can a mother of a six year old and two year old do that?

Well, I finally relinquished my stubbornness and made an appointment to see my doctor this Friday. Hopefully she’ll say it’s not bad, and that it will heal on it’s own, and hopefully I will not be leaving her office with crutches. Now that would suck.

Anyway, Chris, Jesse, Ronald, and Bill went for a ski day at Big Bear on Monday… lucky ducks. I of course stayed home with my bum knee, hung out with Logan, and continued with my guitar practicing.

Last night we took the kids to their very first Roller Skating Rink experience. They had a lot of fun and I so wished I could join them on the floor, but I contented myself with sitting on the sidelines, taking pictures of course (I’ll post those later). James kept falling down, being it was his first time. But do you know how that little six year old of mine remedied the situation? He grabbed two little girls and held each of their hands so that they could help him stay up. It felt like an eerie peek into the future, if he ends up like Chris, who was himself, a “smooth talker” back in the day. I swear, the grin on Chris’ face could have rivaled The Joker’s.

He was our try for a girl, but oh did he surprise Chris and me on the day of my ultrasound! Logan is our spunky, dimpled, smiley little boy… James’ little brother and best friend… our mini gymnast, our little daredevil…

But today my baby boy isn’t so much of a baby anymore.. today, Logan turned two years old!

We had a wonderful birthday party yesterday, and with the help of our awesome family and friends, we celebrated our sweet little Logi Bear! And tonight, we’ll be continuing the celebration at Chuck E Cheese

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
.

Happy Birthday, my sweet LogiBear!!

.
Luna’s Dolphin, from the Oracle series, is a remarkable instrument featuring a trinity of inlaid rosewood dolphins swimming around the soundhole against a solid sitka spruce top.

Beautiful dreadnought guitar, oh how I wish….

I love when mainstream bands aren’t afraid to show their reverence:

by Carolina Liar

Wait, I’m wrong
Should have done better than this
Please, I’ll be strong
I’m finding it hard to resist
So show me what I’m looking for

Save me, I’m lost
Oh Lord, I’ve been waiting for you
I’ll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I’m looking for… oh Lord

Don’t let go
I’ve wanted this far too long
Mistakes become regrets
I’ve learned to love abuse
Please show me what I’m looking for

Save me, I’m lost
Oh Lord, I’ve been waiting for you
I’ll pay any cost
Just save me from being confused
Wait, I’m wrong
I can’t do better than this
I’ll pay any cost
Save me from being confused… oh Lord.