This blog is called "Royal Expansion," so it's supposed to be about our expanding/growing family, right? Well lately I've been thinking a lot about how I want to grow and how I want our kids to, "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Maybe it is time I shared those thoughts with you.

I feel so inept when it comes to being my children's "spiritual leader" since I feel like Daniel and I aren't anywhere near perfect so we need to start with ourselves. We are "starting with ourselves" but in the meantime I don't think I can wait to be a perfect christian, wife, or mother before I begin to focus on teaching my children about God.  I've been thinking of ways that I can begin to teach them about God and also just be more intentional about time with them since I tend to fill my time at home with other things like dishes and laundry and cleaning and paperwork etc.

So I think I am going to start doing a "verse of the month" with Anellah and Capper. Originally I thought it would be a verse of the week but then realized I wouldn't be on top of it enough to continue with that so I'm starting small rather than starting grand and fizzling out. September's verse is Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." I can work with Anellah to memorize it, work with Capper to say a word from it, and talk about it throughout the month. Plus pull out a real tangible Bible and read it to them (I think it's probably hard for Anellah to understand the concept of a Bible since there are so many electronic forms these days). I also plan to do crafts/activities that go along with each month's verse. I found this activity on Pinterest.

I am excited to see what God does through each month's verse. I have a feeling I will learn as much from it as my children do! I would love to hear your thoughts and any additional ideas that you have!

Thank you, Lord, for this exhausting life. - Amen

It's 7:21 and I sprawled out here 10 minutes ago after getting the kids to bed. They're far from asleep, I can hear them laughing and bouncing on their beds, but they are in their room and they will stay there until morning. As I left their giggling voices I mused, "How can I be so exhausted by 7:00pm while they are so full of energy??" Didn't we go to the park today? Didn't they run laps (literally) around the outside of the house, in the back door, and back out the front 15 times this afternoon? The whole time with Anellah shouting, "Follow me Capper, follow me!!" But I guess those things just weren't exhausting enough.

Currently there are still pieces of food on the floor even though I vacuumed today; there are still toys on the floor even though we all did "clean up" three times today; there are still art supplies exploding from Anellah's desk because that is her version of "putting it away"; there is still a photo that has slid down and is now crooked in its frame even though it could be fixed in 3 minutes with a piece of tape, and there is still dried milk on the couch from last week that I keep forgetting to wipe up. But those things will have to wait because this Mamma is taking a moment to think about the day and all the reasons she is tired and thank God for them. Today I am blessed with two kids who can run, and jump and shout. I am thankful to live in a place where we can go to a park in shorts and tank top and play with muddy water. I am blessed with friends to suggest the park in the first place. And I am oh-so-blessed that I can be a mostly stay at home Mom with two little buggers.

Support Group Update

A group of 5-8 men and women, different cultures, different lifestyles, different educational background, but we all have one big thing in common: children with disabilities. Some of our children have disabilities related to medical needs exclusively but have typical development otherwise; some of our children have disabilities related to their cognitive functioning but are otherwise "healthy." We have met twice and I have been searching for the word to describe what we all feel through this group...honestly I think the best word is "support." During both meetings everyone has been open to sharing some things that are going well at the moment and we have also shared prayer requests. It has been a venue for everything from trading tips such as how to navigate the public school system to providing encouragement in the midst of struggles.

In between our two meetings I met a father at the beach. I don't remember how we began the topic but he had no idea about Anellah's medical needs and began to share about his daughter being in the hospital for months as an infant. He said, "it's one thing to be a patient in the hospital yourself, I know because I've been there, but it is completely different when it is your child...you just can't imagine." Indeed, my friend, I can imagine. I was able to share a little bit about Anellah and asked if his daughter continued to have any medical needs but due to a surgery she is not expected to have any more significant medical issues. I didn't invite him to the group because the needs were no longer present but it really felt like encouragement that this will be a wonderful way to minister to others BOTH within and outside of our church.

Moms and Kids Camping Trip 2013, A Success Story

A few months ago a friend and I were talking about camping and had an idea, "Hey, why don't we plan a Moms and Kids camping trip since it's too difficult to find a weekend that we're both available." Since she is a stay at home Mom and I am a mostly stay at home Mom, we knew we could plan it during the week.

One thing led to the next and we found ourselves last Wednesday in beautiful Lagunitas at Samuel P Taylor Campground with a total of 6 Moms and 12 children. It was only about an hour away but felt like a different world so it was perfect, I highly recommend this campground if you live in the Bay Area! We had reserved 3 out of 4 sites in a section of the campground and were a bit worried about who would take the last spot. We hoped we wouldn't drive them crazy! It turns out that God had already planned our neighbors because a couple with two boys showed up and immediately let our kids play with their toys. They were wonderful to have close by, we later found out that they were hoping to have a campsite with other children nearby for their kids to play with so their wishes were answered!

The whole group

We enjoyed letting our kids get dirty, eating camp food, sitting around the campfire, playing at the swimming hole, and just plain fellowshipping with friends. We are thankful for an opportunity to enjoy God's beautiful creation and thankful that nobody got hurt or sick (that is a miracle in and of itself!)

Setting Up Camp

Tent Fun!

 

 

Burned Birthday Cake I made for two Moms who celebrated birthdays while we were camping

Our youngest member

Grubs

Summer List

Phew, I have finally finished compiling our list of 100 Things to Do This Summer. I feel like simply compiling the list should be on there since it took a lot of thought and a bit of research. I did get a little carried away though so it's actually 100+ things. I'll try to keep you updated throughout the summer on what we're doing...but if I don't blog it's because we're having too much fun, you can just look at the list and daydream about what we might be up to.   

     “Do Mom’s Hair”

       “I Spy” Jar

       Balloon Terrarium

       Bay Area Discovery Museum

       BBQ

       BBQ with the Kellers

       Beach

       Beans Across Yard

       Bike Ride

       Breakfast at RCFC

       BUBBLES!

       Bug for a Day

       Busy Bag Swap

       Camp at Big Basin

       Camp at Lagunitas

       Camping at Yosemite

       Cereal Necklace

       Champion Ice Cream

       Childrens Creativity Museum (SF)

       Cookies

       Cookies for Strangers

       CREAM

       Crissy Field

       Cushion Surf

       DANCE!!!

       Disney Museum (SF)

       Disneyland

       Egg carton Caterpillars

       Farmers Market

       Felt Button Snakes*

       Fentons

       Ferry

       Fingerpaint

       Firestarters

       Fleece Marble Maze**

       Flubber*

       Footprint Penguin*

       Fort

       Forts

       Full House Café (breakfast)

       Giant Ice Cube

       Glass Beach (Fort Bragg)

       Glowstick Lanterns

       Golden Gate Bridge Photoshoot

       Habitot

       Hammock

       Homegrown Strawberries

       Homemade Bread

       Homemade Crayons

       Homemade Ice Cream

       Hopscotch

       Jellyfish in a Jar*

       Lake Anza

       Lake Chabot

       Lawrence Hall of Science

       Lemonade

       Library

       Library Summer Reading Program

       Lindsay Wildlife Museum

       Magnetic Magic Wand*

       Make Marshmallows

       Master somersaults

       MOCHA

       Moon Dough

       Movie Night

       Nailpolish

       Park Picnic

       Phillips Ranch (Pescadero)

       Picnic with Daddy at Work

       Pillow Fight

       Pistachio Shell Flowers

       Pom Pom Stuff It*

       Postcard to Hazletons

       Postcard to Samuel

       Pump It Up

       Puppet Theater

       Read Alone

       Robot Box

       SF Aquarium

       Slip N Slide

       Slushies

       Smothered Chicken at Popeyes

       Southern California

       Spin and Spell*

       Stamp Word Paths

       Stinson Beach

       Super Franks

       Swimming Lessons

       Tilden Little Farm

       Tinted Vinegar and Soda*

       Toothpick Pattern Punch**

       Travel Tangrams*

       Tub Paint*

       Tuckers

       Twirly Ribbon

       Vientian Café Picnic

       Water Balloons

       Water Park

       Water Pinata

       Zoo

Support Group

A friend from church who has a son with special needs and I have decided to start a support group at our church. Honestly it is as much for ourselves as it is for others. We will be meeting twice a month on Sunday mornings so that our children will have childcare through our church's Sunday School program. Our first gathering will be on June 23rd. Our goal is to provide a safe place to ask the "hard questions" that come up when raising a child with special needs and also to receive comfort and wisdom from others who are going through or have gone through the same process.

We would LOVE your prayer as we launch this ministry! I will keep you updated about how it is going.

An unrelated photo to make you smile

Blood

I have a couple updates about blood:

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about Capper getting his blood drawn? Well the bad news was that the tests confirmed he is, indeed, still anemic. The GOOD news is that it is just the "normal" type of anemia, iron-deficiency anemia. We've been giving him iron supplements since he had blood drawn at 12 months old which first diagnosed the anemia. The more recent bloodwork showed that his body is responding to the supplementation at a very SLOW rate. So, nothing more to do except keep giving him supplements and being thankful that there isn't a bigger problem.

Anellah had blood drawn last week because it seemed like she hadn't been eating much lately. Decreased appetite is a sign of worsening liver function. Thankfully her hepatologist (liver doctor) was able to provide us labslips so that we could have blood drawn here in Oakland just to check things out. Anellah was a CHAMP as always, but this time she was even a BIGGER champ because she sat perfectly still and didn't cry a single peep (the lollipop in her other hand was good incentive for that). The phlebotomist distracted her by counting with her and she counted to FIFTY almost independently! The results of the tests came back a few days later and, although they were abnormal, they were not significantly different than her typical results. This is good news!

And lastly, I gave blood this week and didn't have any problems with it. I chalk that up to drinking LOTS of water and juice ahead of time and eating a lot the rest of the day. In the past I haven't had great experiences giving blood so I'm happy it was a success this time around.

No updates as far as Daniel's blood is concerned. Except maybe that he's had cuts on his hands lately from working on his car a lot.

It's time for me to sign off since I'm leaving in 15 minutes to go camping! The kids and I are headed to Yosemite with our friends and Daniel will join us tomorrow.