Family Time

Family anchors us in the midst of the craziness. I'm truly thankful for family walks on spring nights. One recent night, much to the humor of the males in the family, Arielle proved her hatred of snakes.

Another favorite activity is bike riding.....our weather has been 70's and low 80's - perfect for getting outside.

Lurking in the back of my mind during these idyllic family moments is thankfulness Michael is home and won't deploy again, the awareness our life will drastically change in four months and the awareness Arielle will be leaving home in three months.

I blinked and we flew into a new season of life.....from nine at home to three chicks in the nest, from a young Air Force family to retiring.....more adventures await.

Princesses

Yes, we DID allow, and even encourage, our daughters to be princesses. Why? We believe they ARE. We wanted them to ACT like noble royalty....considering the good of others, kind, dignified, worthy of respect.....and none of our daughters have become the "princess" that so many seek to avoid in the "princess syndrome" - in fact I believe it's all in the way you define the word, cast the vision and mentor. Yep, I HAVE freely admitted I'm a word geek - but definitions matter.

From BreAnne to Krista to Arielle to Stacia - all have become princesses. However, this one may have developed the dreaded princess syndrome.

Yuuki was brought into our home to be our forever friend - the pet we had when the children all left home.  As our life plan has changed since we adopted her, we are seriously considering her moving with Arielle or BreZaak this summer. It makes me sad.

Math and Prayer

I've neglected the blog for the past two weeks. We've been quite active - but sometimes life doesn't feel "blogworthy."  Michael insists documenting the ordinary has value.  Briefly, days have been full and happy with school, meetings, play practices, "fellowship" opportunities, retirement "stuff," family fun and various doctor's appointments for both Michael and me.  Rather than trying to summarize each day I am going to share some snippets that stand out in my mind.

I've pretty much heard it all now.

"If I could protest one thing it would be school. Down with school!"

 Me - "You don't like school?"

At this point I was heaping condemnation on my head...I KNEW I should have kept up with the up to date curriculum, we need to do more crafts, we should add some lap books....

Child - "Oh, I like it, but math ruins my praying time."

Yep - there you have it - math will ruin your prayer life.... What's a Christian homeschooling mom to do? Any guesses which child thought this up? First to try this track in 26 years of homeschooling. A+ for yet another inventive way to avoid math.....

One of these girls would rather pray than do math

If you guessed our caboose - you would be correct.

Simplifying Breakfast

The girls and I do green smoothies most days of the week. Arielle likes mixed fruit and she doesn't like berries. I have developed what makes ONE SERVING for me....with blueberries (antioxidant), spinach, and lots of protein..... But it makes a mess every morning.....Brittney mentioned on Sunday that she puts all but the liquid ingredients in the freezer.....so I tried it.....

In the morning I add my liquid (almond milk), dump in one of the freezer bags and blend.  This way the spinach doesn't go bad before it's used either. LOL

 

This gives me a cup of spinach, a cup of berries, at least 25 g of protein and my omegas for the day in one quick breakfast. I find I don't get my fruits in if I don't drink a smoothie.  I miss my morning oatmeal - but this gives me much more protein. Thanks, Brittney - you've simplified my life - and I enjoyed setting up Potluck with you too. LOL

 

My Smoothie

 

1 C spinach

1 C blueberries

.75 ml DHA/EPA oil (vegan fish oil)

1 T flax seeds

1 scoop protein powder (a compromise)

1 splash vanilla

1 T almond butter

1 C Almond Milk

 

I've noticed I need a bit more liquid with all the ingredients frozen....but it's working well.  And I don't have to swallow the DHA/EPA. LOL

 

The girls like one with bananas, mixed fruit, spinach, protein, and either almond milk or orange juice.

Weather Mix-ups

Great discomfort happens when one reads the wrong weather forecast and dresses accordingly..... Yes, I did this recently. Somehow I saw the hourly Misawa forecast.....

 

 

I thought, "Wow, that's a huge temperature switch," and piled on the layers..... only to realize that the forecast for CA was much different.  

I was thankful for layers which could be shed....and the rest of the week I'm careful to note which city is showing up when I click weather....

And yes....I could have checked outside but it was 5:30 a.m. here and it FELT cold....just not that cold. LOL

Bok Kai Temple

After lunch we took advantage of the holiday to tour the Bok Kai temple. It turns out there are lot of Chinese Americans who come to worship after the parade.

This is when the celebration began to resemble a Japanese festival. Fireworks, incense and wind chimes were being sold. Whole roasted pigs and fruit carried in and out of the temple, and lots of families eating on the grass outside of the temple.

We lined up - and it was a long line. Eventually, a gal came by and asked us if we were worshippers. She had us go in a different door and stand by the far wall to get the line moving for those who had come to worship. It was a good plan but ended up in letting us non-worshippers cut to the front of the line. I'm not sure that was the plan.

This building was dedicated in Dec 1880. I loved getting in to see it.

The worship reminded us of the worship we observed in Shinto temples. Rattles, incense, gifts for the gods....

This food seemed to be offered here and then ate outside

 

Scrolls were purchased and then thrown into the fire.....I wondered if they were like the prayers we'd seen burned at the Shinto temple.

Lots of fireworks

 

We have enjoyed a lazy afternoon. We slept. Arielle went out to babysit for a few hours. We had leftovers for dinner. I discovered I'm out of key ingredients for my planned potluck offerings tomorrow. Michael is reading Magician's Nephew to the kids.  I'm caught up with the blog. A new week can begin.

Bok Kai Parade

The Bok Kai parade began back in the 1850's. It is always held on the weekend closest to the second day of the second month of the Lunar calendar. It is the longest continually held parade in California. The parade honors Bok Eye, the Chinese Water God, who is said to protect Marysville from flooding.  This is our last year to be here this time of year and so we went.  It was quite apparent most do not know or understand the religious background of the parade.

D Street in Marysville, CA

Waiting....Zander, Stacia, Nolan and Arielle

Playing Tic Tac Toe with the nuts

Finally - the start!

It wasn't a bad parade - but it wasn't a Japanese festival either.  Here are a few overheard comments:

"In Japan there is music during parades."

"This parade is mostly pick up trucks with signs."

"Lots of marching bands and Tae Kwon Do...."

That would about sum it up - lots of old cars and prunes. Yes, PRUNES. Poor Stacia. Each treat she retrieved turned out to be plums/prunes in some form.  This is Sunsweet country. LOL



We did love the old cars....

One of the marching bands



One of the Tae Kwon Do schools

 One other observation - dysfunctional families may be funny on television but they aren't funny at all in real life. I felt sorry for the kids sitting next to us.  And then the finale! Team Beale operates the Bok Kai dragon.

We headed to find festival food for lunch....there weren't a ton of options. We should have brought lunch. We were happy to find a touch of shade. I had garlic fries, Arielle had shaved ice and the rest enjoyed chicken and strips.