Oh no, she's snapping!

Well, snapping a shot with a camera, that is. :) At least that's what it was yesterday anyway, heh heh.


(click on image to see more)

I'm glad to be back at the helm again.

Busy with school

We finally have a pretty good homeschooling schedule at the Lee household! Hurray! It only took, what, six months? {grin} Much of it had to do with the fact that homeschooling intersected with two major life events: the birth of Alyssa and the death of Ron's father. But some of it was due to the lack of a dedicated schooling area in the house. We've since fixed that issue. I'll share pics of that soon.

Here's a video that Amanda and her dear friend Emma made on water conservation. Call me biased, but I think they're so cute in it. {Make sure to play it on the highest resolution your internet connection can take, since it's a high-def video}



***

Pray for the Japanese....

Revisiting the joy

Happy New Year to you, wherever you may be.

It was a powerful experience to recount the events of 2010 as I put together our annual card. Moments of strength, of weakness, of many tears and laughter. We are extremely grateful for each one.

I do have some resolutions tucked away in my heart for this year, but the most prominent of them is to "lessen". Lessen the clutter, lessen the commitments, lessen the stress, lessen the "hurry up!" that I tend to insert after each pointed directive at the kids. So that in 2011 I can feel, hear, touch, share life in deeper ways.



In joy, for joy, because of joy....

The little joys of life

Every year at our church, the Sunday School kids perform a Christmas dance and bring the house down. Here's a clip of the joyous shakin' my girls and some of the crew did at a Christmas party - they're both standing in the front. Be sure to notice 1:39, where Abigail disappears... so classic Abby! She falls and shuts down, heh heh heh.



Merry Christmas, my dear family and friends.

Grateful for . . .

- Mighty Wings under whose shadow I daily take refuge (this figurine atop my desk reminds me of this:)

- the ten years of "I do" we have spun into a warm family
- a beloved father/father-in-law/grandpa whose life was placed into the eternal arms of the Lord
- three pink and purple balls of energy we tuck into arms and hearts; their names are Amanda, Abigail, Alyssa
- homeschooling days both productive and trying (I'm finding out both are precious)
- a three-year-old's sweet little scrawls

- friends that refuse to let me sink into the hard days - get up and thrive, they say
- a cozy bed to tumble into at day's end, even if some wee stowaways find their way into it in the darkness (good thing it's large enough)
- a piping hot shower with my favorite peppermint body wash
- the talents of a great hairstylist that can do wonders for a gal with postpartum hair loss

My latest project - 9 months in the making

Tap, tap, tap - anybody home?

I thought I'd show you the latest object of our affection:


Meet Alyssa!

We are in love. How did I ever live without her?


Don't let this photo fool you - I'm on a constant vigil near Alyssa to make sure that loving hugs and kisses from big sisters don't turn into full out mauling! If she can survive her sisters, she's going to be a tough little thing. :)

Life gave me lemons

But not in the way you'd think.



Like in fresh-off-the-tree Meyer lemons from California. One of my dearest friends that I've known for 25+ years scoured the Bay Area to pacify this pregnant craving of mine. Picture it: She and her sweet husband get off the plane and almost immediately hand me this Ziploc bag full of sunshine. Oh, I could've cried. If you've never tried lemonade with fresh lemons... run, don't walk, to get your hands on them. Store bought lemons are not even comparable, actually. They have a vibrant, flowery undertone to them that's hard to embody in words. My hands smelled heavenly for hours after making the lemonade. And boy did I make my family ration it!

Yum. For the lemonade recipe (via allrecipes.com):

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups white sugar
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups lemon juice

Directions
1.In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2.Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.


Heather's revisions:
Since Meyer lemons have a sweeter, less tart flavor to them, I opted to go for 1-1/4 cups white sugar and a dollop of honey instead, and it was still a bit sweet for my taste. Next time, I'll try either raw sugar, or all honey.

Julianne, thank you from the depths of my heart! Perhaps you'll be back for a marathon or two, wink wink? At least to be lavished with compliments from a certain seven and three-year-old? To quote Abigail: "Suyon Emo (Aunt Julianne) wif the pwetty face gived me a pwesent."