A Valentine For YOU- A Giveaway!

I love Valentine’s Day! Every year my dad stops by my house and brings me the cutest card and a little gift. It’s not the present that counts, it’s just that he took the time to stop by and tell me that he loves me. My dad is my hero and always will be.

I want YOU to have a special Valentine’s Day treat, too! With help from lorelei1141’s wonderful Etsy Shop, I want you to wear this adorable, vintage bracelet and know that you are loved!

Here’s a little peak at your Valentine:

I’m in love with the brass findings, and the charming typewriter letters. She uses big, chunky ceramic beads like the perfect amount of seasoning! I just love unique and vintage-looking jewelry!

Clickety right HERE to see more pictures and to enter.

Enter as many times as you’d like!

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Haiti Update- Team Home!

Our Haiti team is finally home.  Understandably, there has been some reverse culture shock and tears, but all is well.  The team has been on some local morning news shows and in the paper, so that has been fun to watch.  Our church family, under Kahuna’s direction, has made a one year commitment to helping in the relief effort. 

Here are a few more pictures from Haiti (taken by our friend Scott).  They are beautiful.

I love this quote by Mother Theresa…

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

I’ve got two questions for you…

1.) If given the opportunity, would you leave your family for one week and travel to Haiti to help out in the relief effort?  2.) How do you think it would impact you?

Boots on the Ground- Our Team in Haiti

My husband has been busier than a one armed paper hanger- coordinating supplies, medicines, flights and personnel to Haiti.  Just a few days ago, he sent a team of doctors, counselors and volunteers (from our church) to help in the relief effort.  Kahuna was bummed that he couldn’t go with them.  My broken foot sealed the deal that he should stay home… this time. 

Every evening at about 5:00 the team calls on their sat phone and gives Kahuna an update.  Someone has an iphone and was able to send a few pictures, too.  They speak volumes…

This is Scott on the left.  He took most of the pics:

 

Fifteen days with a compound femur fracture and head laceration. Patient reported his pain was moderate. Tough guy.

 

Dr. Ian Armstrong neurosurgeon taking a break to love on the kids.

 

This is our dear friend Brian.

 

This is what Scott said while photographing this scene.  I thought is was so inspiring, “It's cool being a youth counselor to a kid you know is awesome...then he grows up and becomes awesomer. Dane in action.”

 

Dr. Jolie had the genius idea to write diagnosis and plan on kid’s cast, i.e. femur fracture remove cast march 26th. The info. will be vital for his check up.

 

Speechless.

 

A v-collapse and a pancake collapse side by side.

 

This sweet boy was helicoptered in from the mountains, malnourished...both parents gone.

 

A team member has fallen in love with him and is going to try to adopt him.

Don’t stop praying for Haiti. 

I Heard Him Yesterday…

My broken foot is really getting me down.  Seven more weeks of not driving.  I might be going nuts.  The orthopedist really got up in my grill and told me I was doing too much and that my foot won’t heal unless I just stop and rest. 

I’m not good at stopping.

I’m used to going 200 miles an hour with my hair on fire.

Isn’t that how everyone lives?

I have to just stop and pray

and try to be still

and listen to see if the Lord is trying to teach me something through this.

 

I heard Him yesterday.

He told me to cherish the quiet and still.

Take time to pray.

Memorize Isaiah 61:1.

 

Listen to my kids and not just say uh-huh.

Spoil my daughter a little

and take a 2:00 nap

together on my bed

-still wearing our jammies.

 

Be a little silly

even when it’s time to get serious.

 

But what He keeps reminding me of the most

is to give up control-

and cherish today.

How to Enhance Eyelashes in Photoshop Elements

Some friends have emailed to ask how to enhance/burn eyelashes using Photoshop Elements.  Let me just remind you that I am on a learning curve just like you.  If you know of a better way, please let me know!  I love learning new things!

Step 1:  Open up a favorite picture in your Elements program.  I chose this picture of Beach Bunny sportin’ her golden brown tan last summer.

 

Step 2:  Zoom in on your picture by holding down “control” and “+” (on a pc).  Click the burn tool (little, white hand).  If there is another icon instead of the hand, right click it and scroll down to the hand.

 

Step 3:  At the top of the screen select the pixel size (I chose 6 pixels) and the exposure (I chose 13%).  Exposure determines how dark we will burn the lashes.  I chose 6 pixels wide because that is about the width of Beach Bunny’s lashes.  There is a tiny circle in her pony tail.  That circle is 6 pixels wide.  I went over each lash.  It was kind of like applying a base coat of mascara.

 

Step 4:  I centered her picture to make sure that both sets of lashes were symmetrical.

 

Step 5:  Now with the burn tool still selected, I changed the pixel size just a tad smaller (4 px) and bumped the exposure up to 23%.  This “coat” will be just a bit darker.  In this step, I went over each lash again, but this time I drew on a few extra lashes.  Keep in mind, that subtlety is key.  I don’t want her to look like a child beauty queen.

 

Step 6:  I centered the picture again.  Now look for the sharpen tool.  It looks like a blue triangle.  If the icon isn’t there, right click it and select the triangle.

 

Step 7:  Select 18 pixels at 14%.  Now go over the eye lashes to sharpen them.  I also went over her eyes to give them a little more shine.  If you ever mess up on one of the steps, Elements is very forgiving.  Just click the “undo” button at the top right of the screen. It will undo your last edit, and then you can try again.  I like second (and third) chances!

 

Step 8:  Ta-da!  You’re done!  Just hit “control” and “-“ to zoom out.

 

Here is the final edit:

 

If you watch the picture (below) carefully, you will see the before and after of her lashes in animated form.  The differences are subtle, but it can enhance your subject’s eyes just enough to pop!

Go for it,

I Heart Faces- “We Are Family”

I had a fun opportunity to photograph a really cool family from Zimbabwe.  They are out here on “holiday” and had never had family pictures taken before.  The dad is hilarious and his personality is exactly like the Crocodile Hunter.  He even showed me a picture where he is wrestling a live 14 foot, 100 pound python!  He saved it from eating the family cat.  

I told the C. family that if they’d be my guinea pigs and let me practice my photo skills on them, they could keep the pictures.  I love that we were able to arrive at the beach at sunset.  It was a gorgeous night.

To see other family photos visit:

Because I Can’t Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time

 

In a feat of unequivocal grace, I broke my foot today… metatarsal five to be exact.

Who breaks their foot walking…

on a field trip with 40 third graders?

I walked a mile on it after it was broken.

Probably not smart.

But I’m stubborn determined.

“Hey, look on the bright side,” I told myself.

“It’s time to get rolling on that 2010 deductible anyway.”

A Little Video For a Change

Hi, you guys!

A friend of ours just put together this video of our Mexico trip for our "reunion party" last night. All fifty of us (kids included!) had dinner together and shared our favorite stories from the trip.

The video begins with the children's Christmas party, then cuts to their Sunday worship service (which was so different from our home church- very refreshing), and then begins again as we're loading up the shoe boxes and ready to caravan down to Mexico.

There is a rockin' song by Hillsong playing during the video, Hosanna in the Highest. Sometimes I have trouble keeping my focus, so I think it's a good thing I can't get the lyrics out of my head. I decided to make them my prayer today.

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

I Just Whipped up a Little Somethin’ Somethin’

Okay, so since I recently let you in on my dirty little secret, I’ve had a change of heart.  2010 is my year to try new things in the kitchen.  Nothing award winning… I just need to move beyond my pasta and chicken rut. 

So without further ado, here is a little somethin’ somethin’ that I whipped up for my hubby and me for lunch.  It was super easy- just my skill level.

Open Faced Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwich

I bought an Italian round (slightly crusty on the outside, soft on the inside) at the bakery.  I would love to learn how to bake this at home!

Then I made the scallion oil.  1/3 cup roughly chopped scallions…

…1/2 cup roughly chopped basil.  If you don’t like the flavor of basil, you can easily use Italian parsley leaves.  I’m a basil freak, though!

Add this great smelling mixture to a food processor.  This is the same mini processor which I used to use to make my kids’ baby food.  Ahh!  The good ol’ days.

Process until finely chopped. Then add 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil and give that baby a whirl for a few seconds to combine.  Add Kosher salt to taste.  Can you smell that?  That’s what heaven smells like.

Now that the scallion oil is finished, slice fresh tomatoes…

… and fresh mozzarella.

Brush the bread with extra virgin olive oil.  I used organic olive oil because it automatically bumps up the “cool factor” like 10 points.

Now grill the bread for a few minutes on each side until lightly browned.  Sorry for the ugly picture… I was getting hungry!

To assemble the sandwich, rub one side of each slice of bread with a peeled garlic clove.  Place the grilled slices on a serving tray.  Arrange a slice of mozzarella and a tomato slice or two over each half slice of bread.  Spoon about a tablespoon of scallion oil over the tomatoes and  mozzarella and sprinkle with Kosher salt.

 

And there you have it.

A delish open faced tomato & mozzarella sandwich.  

Try it.

Your mouth will thank you.

Last Stop (Part 2 of 2) and Goal for 2010

I figured I’d better get this last Christmas post up fast since Santa’s officially been on vacay for two weeks. Nice.

After we loaded the kids up on sugar, we marched them into the church and had them line up to receive a Christmas shoe box. You could feel the anticipation in the air. This is how the girls lined up so sweetly…

…and this is how the boys lined up. It cracks me up how different boys and girls can be sometimes. Nice gang signs, guys!

This little cutie was so excited.

All the children patiently waited to open their gifts until everyone had a package to open.

And then the countdown began… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Open the gifts!

I wish I could post this picture bigger for you to see the detail in their faces. One boy towards the right had a total look of shock on his face, and one girl threw her arms up in the air with excitement. It was so loud and so fun.

They loved showing off all their new stuff. Check out the boys in the middle and their excitement for their friends.

This little guy squeaked with glee every time he pulled out a different gift from his box. It was the funniest thing.

I love the message on Kahuna’s shirt, but I laughed at the irony of his ensemble.

I watched in amazement as older siblings took care of younger siblings all evening long.

We talked about the real meaning of Christmas and that Jesus is our perfect gift. Then we played with the kids for a little while longer and walked them home.

I got the most encouraging comments about our family serving in Mexico. Thank you so much!! I loved them! These comments got me thinking. Mexico isn’t the only place to serve people in need. We all have people in our neighborhood or in our city that need practical help, a visit, or even just a word of encouragement. The important thing isn’t about going to a far away place, but that we have eyes to see the people in need around us… and that we are willing to do something to help. This is one of the main things that I want to model for my kids in 2010.

Encourage one another,

Last Stop- Part One

I’d love to show you our last stop on our Christmas Shoe Box trip.  If you remember, our first gift delivery was to an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.   Our last stop was a church in a very poor area in Ensenada.  The children and their families were wonderful and so welcoming!

In this town in Ensenada, the poorer families live high on the hills, while the “wealthier” families live below near the ocean.  They all paint their homes the most lovely colors… blues, greens, all shades of pink, and bright yellow.  When they build their own homes, a rogue family member must climb the power pole and attach the power line while it’s live.  It’s so dangerous and many die, but they have no other means for power.

 

We started the Christmas party right away with a pinata.  My family and I helped with the preschoolers, but the kids at the party ranged in age from three to teen.

My son, Goofy Foot, finally got a turn.  He ripped into the pinata right away. Candy started to fly and kids started to run!  Total chaos.  Awesome!

We helped the children to different “centers”, like face painting, cookie decorating, and board games.  The kids were amazing!  Here we were chowing down on pinata candy before our next activity.

I couldn’t get over this little one’s eyes.  What a sweetie!

We learned that this was the first time the children had ever decorated Christmas cookies.  They were in awe.  Goofy Foot showed them the ropes!

 

My daughter (left) had never decorated cookies either.  She froze in this position for a good 90 seconds apparently enjoying her sugar high.

I can’t wait to show you part two tomorrow when all the children got to open their gifts.  There was so much JOY!

With love,

The Best Gift

I was so excited that my brother and sister-in-law asked me to come over to take pictures of my brand new niece.  Just one week old, she has already captured my heart for eternity.

 

Oh, how I love her tiny piggies!  You know something funny?  She totally has my toes.  How can an auntie and a niece have the same toes?  Wild!

Little Paige Kaylee surprised us all and made her big debut on Christmas Eve… three weeks early.  She is healthy and perfect weighing in at seven pounds and eleven ounces.

I made a little announcement for them.

Baby Paige was our best Christmas gift ever. (Don’t tell anyone, but my green Le Creuset baking dish from Kahuna played a close second.  Ha!)

Encourage one another,

2009 in Pictures

As I took a few minutes last night to browse through some of my 2009 pictures, I was struck by the many ups and downs my family and most likely yours have experienced over the last twelve months. It made me realize how present God is with us even though He can't be physically seen. Uh oh! I'm getting all reflective up in here!

2009 at a glance:

• A friend called to offer us a family trip to Hawaii
• I was diagnosed with Melanoma, minor surgery, given the all clear!
• Lots of family time
  
• Helped people in the community
• Trip to Catalina Island and Mount Hermon
• Swine flu for all
• Pneumonia for Beach Bunny and Big Surf
  
• Got my first big girl camera
• Beach Bunny home one year
  
• Spent hours on the soccer, baseball and football fields
  
• Our real estate investment went south
• Learning to parent a tween
  
• Trip to Disneyland
• Met Pioneer Woman
  
• My new niece was born
• Family Christmas shoebox trip to Mexico

It's been a heck of a year. I can see God's fingerprints all over it. Thank you so much for coming along with us, sharing in our family story. I wish I could invite each and every one of you out for coffee... and a pedicure. Scratch that. Let's make that a massage and lunch. Scratch that. Wine tasting and shopping.

Happy New Year, friends!

With love,

Pizza Pops??

As I was lying in bed last night, I got to thinking about food- food blogs in particular- and by golly, I think I've seen the love child of Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls and Bakerella’s treat pops.

Here are the steps:

Roll out about a pound of dough (size of a grapefruit), making sure to flour the surface first so things don’t stick.

Add your favorite sauce (I’m liking tomato basil marinara right now) and shredded mozzarella.

I added Volpi gourmet pepperoni to half of the pizza. That right there is some good stuff.

The next step is to roll the pizza toward you. Trust me on this one. Toward you.

After it’s rolled, it’s time to pinch it closed. Pinch away to seal it up. If a little bit of the ingredients stick out, that’s ok. It makes it all cook together even better.

Now it’s time to cut the loaf. I tried my kitchen scissors, but that wasn’t happening; so I went to the garage and grabbed my husband’s fishing line. Now we’re talkin’! Just wrap the line around a 1/2 inch section, pull tight, and you’ll get a perfect cut every time.

Place these bad boy rolls onto a greased baking sheet (parchment paper would work even better). Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

Bake until they are golden brown and the cheese has had a chance to caramelize.

These babies have to cool almost completely before you insert the stick. I learned the hard way on the first batch. My little pizza pops drooped and sagged and slid down the stick. So, be patient. It will be so worth it!

“Mom,” says my nine year old son, “These are even better than pizza!”

“Well, it is pizza, Buddy.” I replied.

“Oh, ya…. But it’s still better than pizza.” He said.

“Ha! Thanks!” I replied.

(Inspiration from http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/)

When Blogging Life Collided With Real Life

Do you remember this picture from my last post?

Just the thought of what it represents makes my heart start thumping!

Why?

Well, because I believe it was a “God” moment in my life.  An “Aha!” moment where my “blogging” life collided with my “real” life.  I recognized that familiar faint whisper heard first in my heart.

I’ll back up a few weeks…

A cool lady at Blogher emailed and asked if I’d like to host some ads on my little blog.  I thought it was a fun idea, but something didn’t really settle right.  I wasn’t sure what it was exactly that didn’t feel right.  I prayed about it and asked some good friends for advice.  A few weeks passed, and I still wasn’t totally on board, but yet it still didn’t seem right to decline.

Fast forward to our Christmas shoebox trip to Mexico.  When I learned what the plans are for this building…

…I knew immediately what I needed to do.  The blog ads need to be about others- not for myself or my family.  We are already so blessed.

I learned that the plans for this building are to build a baby home right next door to Grace orphanage.  They told me that every day precious, healthy babies are abandoned at the dump or left on street corners due to neglect and extreme poverty.  They are trying to raise money to get this project completed.  There are babies who need this place right now!

I have committed 100% of any ad revenue to go to this baby home.  My blog is very “small town”, so it might not be much- but all of it I will give.  The cool part is that you are helping to save these lives.  You, my blogging friends, are the ones who make it happen.  Somehow through the magic of the www, funds will be raised to save these babies.  All you have to do is read this blog. 

So, what do you think about this?  Let me know your thoughts.  Be totally honest.  Would you put up with a sidebar ad or two to help orphaned babies?

I read this quote the other day by my friend Francis Chan in his book Crazy Love, “Nothing in my life will ever matter unless it’s about loving God and loving the people He has made.” 

That quote excites me, drives me, motivates me.  It’s how I want to live.

Pure

John 14:18  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

It is with pure joy in my heart to show you what God is doing for these precious orphans in Mexico.  First, let me start from the beginning…

We took shoeboxes filled with toys…

Wrapped and loaded them up in a trailer, packed up 10 families from our church and all their kids...

and traveled…

here…

because 35 orphans were waiting.

We stayed right at the orphanage and tried to remember to brush our teeth with only bottled water.  We wondered how our only English speaking kids would do with the Spanish speakers.  How would they communicate?

To our surprise, we watched how the children instantly played and bonded with one another… the international language of soccer initiated quick smiles, big hugs, no barriers, pure delight.

 

We could not wait to deliver the gifts to the children!  So after dinner, the festivities began.  We called the kids up in groups of three so they could show everyone what they got!

 

This sweet girl got her very first doll.  She was in love!

 

These awesome boys were so excited for their turn.  In case you’re wondering, the age range at this orphanage is ages three to twelve.

 

It was fun to see how excited the kids were for one another.  There was no jealously about who got what gifts.

 

This sweet girl, Alma, stuck to me like glue.  I loved every minute of it!  I’m not so sure my two year old daughter (to my left) was as thrilled to share my lap!

 

 

I wish you could have seen how excited the kids were playing with their gifts.  It didn’t matter if the presents came from the dollar store or a department store.  Each gift was cherished.  If you are one of those families who fills a shoebox every year and wonders if it really makes a difference, let me tell you that it does!  When you work through this organization, the children who receive the gifts get blessed beyond the box, too.  They also get to hear about the amazing love of God!

 

I saw this verse painted on the playground equipment.  It’s one of my life verses…

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

 

Here’s a family picture very early in the morning as we were leaving Grace and onto our next stop.  Our oldest son (not pictured) came down two weeks earlier with just my husband to help in some other areas of Mexico.  We missed him a lot on this trip!  He had to stay behind at Grami and Grandpa’s house to study for 7th grade winter finals.  Boo hoo!

 

Ok, this next picture is just a hint about my next post.  It’s very important to me.  It’s what makes my heart flutter and my adrenaline rush.  I'll tell you all about it and how each of you will play an important part, even if you’re sitting at home needing a shower and still in your Christmas pj’s (like me)!

Encourage one another,

Merry Christmas!

Ok, so I woke up this morning to a fine coat of sunshine covering my yard.

I will have to shovel the driveway of warmth in order to get the car out.

Later today we will probably sing carols and sip cocoa around the hot tub...

…ah winter.

That quote was my friend's status update on Facebook today! I thought it went so perfectly with this beach picture I took a few days ago. Wow! God sure is a good artist. Look at that soft light and gorgeous colors!

I hope you and your family had the most wonderful Christmas yesterday! We sure did! I thought about all of you, my blogging friends, and wondered how each of you was spending the day. I can’t wait to come and check on you! I’m still working on a few December posts that are near and dear to my heart; but for now…

We are off to celebrate Christmas with Kahuna’s (my husband) family! It’s never a dull moment around here.

With love,

PlumDaisy Winner… and Where Have I Been?

Kelly, thank you so much for hosting your wonderful PlumDaisy giveaway. You are so talented. I love your creativity and the way you mix and match colors!

Congrats to the winner...

You want to know the winner?

Well, just clickety HERE.

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I haven’t had a chance to blog in about a week or so. I’ll give you a little peek about what we’ve been up to. It involves…

shoe boxes filled with Christmas presents,

precious orphans,

international travel, and

trouble at the border.

Here are two pics from my husband’s camera phone:

This is sweet, sweet Alma. She lives at the orphanage and stuck to me like glue. I liked it like that.

Beach Bunny and I totally zonked out on the long ride home.

This has been my all-time favorite Christmas season!

I can’t wait to show you in the next post how God is touching lives and answering prayers!

Merry Christmas,

Stocking Stuffer Idea… and Giveaway!

I want to introduce you to Kelly at PlumDaisy. Her clippies and hair blooms are what got me hooked! I plan to put a couple of her cute things in Beach Bunny’s stocking.

I want you to get to know Kelly a little bit. Here’s a quick little Q and A I had with her last night…

But you've got to click HERE to read more and enter!!!

Encourage one another,

And the Winner is…

Just clickety HERE to see the winner!!

Merry Christmas,