friend kidly

One of the friendkidly shop partners Linsey, along with her husband and two young sons, have been evacuated from their home due to this weekend’s fires in Yorba Linda, CA. They vacated around noon on Saturday and as of Sunday evening have yet to receive the go ahead to return. Because the not knowing was too much to bare Linsey’s husband parked as close as possible to their house, trekked across a dry riverbed and walked a few miles to ensure that their abode was still standing. Thank the Lord, their entire community was unscathed minus a burnt children’s play structure. They happen to live in one of the major hot spots so this was/is quite a blessing. The fires are not completely contained but we hope and pray that they are in the clear. Please join us in those prayers…thank you.

You really need to see this very cool photo montage created by my midwife, Sue, of a recent birth she attended helping these beautiful twin girls into the world. This is so inspiring and truly amazing. Before watching this I had never witnessed a natural birth of multiples let alone at home! What amazing vessels God has made us.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Yes, what the world needs now is another etsy account!!! In order to fill the void friendkidly has set up shop to provide hand made goods to those in need of more stuff. The friendkidly shop is the collaboration of a trio of stay at home moms setting out to offer handmade goods to all those in need of more stuff. Our products are geared towards all those with babies and children in their lives…so pretty much everyone. You can come on by for a visit by clicking on the link above or through the cool etsy badge in the right column. Be sure to check by often as many more products will be added in the days and weeks to come.

Thanks for your support!

Well, let’s hope not.  I’ve been using my new stainless steel cookware set (a lovely Valentine’s gift) for a few weeks now and am glad to say that I’m very happy.  Mostly to be rid of the creepy Teflon cookware but I’m also pleased with the performance of my shiny new pots and pans.  We went with Gourmet Standard as they were rated right up there with All Clad but are a fraction of the cost.  So far no problems with sticking and everything is cooking very evenly.  I pretty much love them.

Today we kicked off Spring by going to our local farmer’s market/street fair with our friends and their wee ones.  I picked up some lovely broccoli, carrots, asparagus from a local organic farm, some fresh baked rosemary sourdough bread and some yummy garlic feta, basil humus and pita…YUM!  Charlotte seemed to enjoy the people watching and looking at the petting zoo animals.  A fun time was had by all, just check out flickr if you’d like to see the evidence.

It might be due to Easter being early this year but Lent seemed to really fly by up until Holy Week where things slowed down to a nice reflective pace. J and I became a Godparents to little Henry David on Easter Even which was a beautiful experience. I’m really excited to be a Godmother and hope and pray that I live up to the title. Our Easter celebration started off wonderfully with the Easter Even service/baptism then off to Easter service the next morning followed by a nice gathering with the family. As usual I neglected my camera and have very little photos of the day. I don’t even have a picture that really shows off Charlotte’s cute little Easter dress…I might have to put it on her again and take some

My Grandparents and Aunt are coming in from Missouri this Tuesday so we look forward to a pretty busy week. That being said, I hope all had a great Easter celebration and continue it through this Easter week.

P.S. God wiling, my friend Andrea has a chance to visit Israel this May and is currently raising funds for the trip. She has started a line of natural aromatherapy products and is selling them on Etsy. So, if you’re interested in helping a fellow believer see Israel and purchasing something nice at the same time please visit her shop.

Here’s a link to a petition which requests the depublishing of the court case mentioned in my previous post.  Please sign if you feel that families should have the right to home school their children in CA regardless of the instructors credentials.

Also, no matter what feelings you have towards our current Governor, you might be pleased to know that has vowed to terminate this court ruling…no pun intended.  Read more here.

So, turns out that a recent court decision has ruled it illegal to home school your children in the state of California unless the instructor has a degree and is credentialed in the grades being taught.  This basically leaves us with the following options:  A. Get a teaching degree and credentials for both primary and secondary grades, B. Somehow come up with tuition for private school, or C. send our kids off to CA’s great public school system that isn’t suffering in the least.  Obviously, this court decision is being appealed but unless it’s over ruled who knows what will happen to home school kids and their parents all over this state.

Seems to me that the state has figured out how much money they’re missing out on due to the rising number of home schooled children and has decided to get a piece of that pie.  All of this at the expense of a parent’s basic right to educate and rear their children in the manner they see fit.  I bet that test results of home schooled children are  are much higher than those in the public school system yet that doesn’t seem to matter much to our state’s supreme court.  Anyway, here’s a an article the LA Times published on this decision in case you want “detailed” info.

All we can do is be vigilant, protest peacefully and continue to pray for those in power in our government to rule according to His will.

Today Charlotte and I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific with Carlee and Bryson. It was Charlotte’s first time and I was curious to see whether or not she would enjoy it. I myself have always felt a bit uneasy at aquariums. Maybe because they are dark and there are a lot of twists and turns; or, maybe it’s because I can vividly recall a deceased seahorse bobbing upside down on a trip to the Shedd Aquarium during my youth. For the most part I’ve gotten over my unease and can mostly enjoy the sea life. Nothing like a breath of fresh air and the sun in your face afterward though.

My favorite character of the day was the little sea dragon above. They are so adorable and really do look like dragons. I wish I could keep one as a pet but better not because he’d probably end up bobbing around upside down, if you know what I mean.

Here’s proof that fun was had by all and I highly recommend this as an outing if you’ve been looking for something to do.

Our church was blessed this past Wednesday with a visit from Bishop Garang of Southern Sudan. After a lovely choral evensong service the bishop briefed us on some of the spiritual and political happenings of his country.

Bishop Garang was one of the “lost boys” from the 1980’s, a group of young men who were misplaced during the 2nd civil war in Sudan. He was one of the fortunate ones finding his way back to his country and family; most “lost boys” never made it back home. But, God had plans for him as he converted to Christianity and eventually was ordained in the ACC. Since his conversion and against all odds, the bishop has seen the church grow in Sudan. But there’s still quite a bit of work to be done.  Southern Sudan is sorely lacking any type of infrastructure.  They are in dire need of hospitals and schools…and in light of the recent flooding clean water, employment opportunities and food.

Unfortunately, the Islamic north is very willing to provide for Southern Sudan but with this aid comes the indoctrination of their faith and an intolerance for any other, especially Christianity.  Despite multiple civil wars, the Islamic north will not let go of the south because that’s where all of the oil is.

I am in no way an expert on what’s going on in So. Sudan but feel the need to share what little info I picked up from the other night.  In short, we need to pray!  We need to ask for the continual growth of the church and for it’s safety.  We need to pray for the rampant violent murders, the abundance of demon possession, and the hold that Islam has on that area.  We need to also support relief efforts and missions to the Sudan…remember, the Muslims are willing to step up and build schools and churches if we’re not.  God is good and if His church can grow there then we must support it.  Thanks in advance for your prayers…

Ever have a brilliant idea that you’re about to announce to the world only to google it (yes, google is now a verb) and find that it already exists? I mean come on, what are the chances of a unique idea. Oh well, I’m glad someone thought of this and implemented it because now I get to use it.

I love my new find, which may be old hat to some of you, but I’m super excited and can’t wait to sign up. What I’m gushing about is basically the netflix of books called booksfree.com. This service is especially wonderful for new moms who can’t easily make it to the local library and don’t think their 4 month old with her new found shouting skills would be very much welcome.

Funny, when I thought it was my idea and pitched it to my oh so encouraging husband he said it wasn’t feasible…