the rusco house

new normal

2012-02-04T02:36:00.000-08:00

This week has been all about discovering our new "normal". We started with our school work. It wasn't pretty but we managed to do an abbreviated version of school this week. The kids are disappointed that it's time to get back to work, but this is a familiar thing and I thought it would be helpful to establish a daily routine again. To tell the truth, the routine is hardest on me as we are still living out of suitcases. I think once we can unpack and spread out it will be easier to start our mornings.

I've been spending a lot of time learning the ins and outs of UK grocery shopping. I think the most hilarious experience has been mastering control of the trolley (grocery cart). All four wheels pivot freely so I skid out and take really wide turns. Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one laughing about it. The most difficult transition for Cameron has been her food requirements. She is ridiculously brand-specific when it comes to food so she has come to many points this week where her hunger overrides her stubbornness. Her progress will be slow but she will survive :) Oh, and we found McDonald's this week, so no worries.

We signed our lease and got our keys last night. This morning, Darren met the delivery guys from Ikea and let them in with our beds and couches. We will shuttle all of our things over to the new place today and start assembling the furniture. Our fridge doesn't arrive until tomorrow, so I'll have to do a big shop sometime this weekend and get us stocked up.

This week I was able to take the kids out for a walk in our new neighborhood. We went to the post office and the park. It was nice to be able to do "normal" mom and kid errands on our own and explore our surroundings a bit. I love what Cameron wrote on her postcard to a friend, "In Scotland you have to walk a lot." Ha! I guess she's working on this new normal thing too.

We went to church last Sunday and Darren went to a few meetings and things this week. Again, new normals to learn. I think it's good for both of us to work on finding our niche and then come back at the end of the day and relive it for each other. It feels more "normal" than spending every minute with each other as we have for the past month!

I think next I'll work on a picture glossary of UK terms we are learning. Off to shoot some pictures...

We made it! And other updates on the Rusco family...

2012-01-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hello blog fans! As most of you know, our family has made a permanent move across the pond. And while that sentence only took me a few seconds to type, the actual move has been quite a long process. After saying many goodbyes, (some tearful, some full of laughter and mischief-- now that we're out of the country the Bernals can't retaliate) our family ate a "last supper" at In-n-Out, then boarded an airplane bound for the UK. The kids survived the 10 hour flight with lots of movies and granola bars. Darren and I survived it solely on the promise of sleep sometime in the next 24 hours, because the infant on the plane was determined not to let anyone get a moment's rest. After navigating the maze of security in Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, we boarded a short flight to Glasgow. The descent was a dreadful 20 minutes, and Hayden has never looked greener, but somehow she managed to keep her food in her tummy and not on my lap. We were greeted at the airport by Brian and Wade, two heroes who helped lug our 9 suitcases to their cars and up the 4 flights of stairs to the Ingraham's flat. We had made it!

We managed to stay awake Wednesday afternoon and fell into our beds by 7 pm. Hayden had a rough spell for a few hours that night but the other kids were able to sleep. The next day, Kellie had arranged for us to view 5 flats. We spent the afternoon traipsing the neighborhood, playing House Hunters International. She had scheduled such a great variety of places that we felt as though we had a good taste of everything available in our area. We picked the fourth flat that we viewed as it had a great location, largest space and lowest price. We put a deposit down on it that afternoon to secure it. Below is a picture of the outside of our building. We are the corner unit on the second floor so yes, that bay window is in our living room!

The next day, Friday, we joined the re:hope gang for breakfast at Scott and Monica's. There we were able to catch up with everyone and fill them in on our whirlwind experience over the past 9 months. After breakfast we relaxed for a few hours then braved the elements for an outing to the bank where we secured a bank account.

Now you need to know that we are moving at an alarming pace. It is unheard-of to get a flat and bank account so quickly. But I suppose it is also unheard of to get on the field after only 6 months of fundraising. I have often stopped for a moment to scold myself for being surprised. This is exactly what we have been praying for-- we asked God to get us to Scotland in January, and He did. We asked God to make a smooth transition for us and to get us settled quickly and He's doing just that. I never want to lose my awe for God, yet I also never want to fall back into prayer without anticipation. It's a delicate balance and I couldn't be happier living in the middle of it.

Hopefully this update will satisfy your curiosity for a little while. We don't have a move in date just yet and we still need to get cell phones. Stay tuned for updates and I'll do my best to keep you in the loop.

how are the kids?

2012-01-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

I love this question. I love that other people care about my kids and want to know how they're doing. I think that's great, so thanks for asking.

I thought that this picture sums up our kids and their personalities pretty well, so let's have a look:

Start with Jason, in the back of the cardboard box boat. He's pretending to be a gondola oarsman. He's calm, steady, steering the girls through the water. He is reliable, quiet and thinking, moving forward with confidence. Despite the quiet confidence, I know thinkers like Jason need people to check in on them once in a while and ask if there's anything they need to talk about. We've been playing board games with Jason after the girls go to bed and this gives him a lot of time to talk to us.

Take a look at Cameron. Somehow, though the movie is older than she and not appropriate for her age, she is doing the "king of the world" move from Titanic. Our middle child is in need of constant attention, always putting herself front and center, wanting to be a part of everyone's business. She is all about the drama, act first, think later. She approaches obstacles with either determined enthusiasm or determined pessimism, with her there is no middle ground. Despite all that and because of all that, we love her fiercely and are always on the alert as to how we can help her through the big move. She and I have great dates at Starbucks where she loves to drink a kid's hot chocolate and pretend it's coffee.

And now in the middle of the boat is sweet Hayden. That is exactly where she wants to be at all times. She wants to be in the center of a group hug, or sitting between her siblings. She is anxious for everyone to stick together and she doesn't want anyone left behind. On most days Hayden can be found walking around the house, sending and receiving pretend texts on her play cell phone. She loves to communicate although her siblings would call it being a chatterbox.

So that's how the kids are doing. I'm pretty impressed with their attitudes as we pack boxes and explain that they won't be seeing some things for a few weeks. They are handling the disorganization and plugging away at their schoolwork. Thank you to everyone who thinks of the kids in their prayers. We can tell that they are covered and we are grateful.

new year, new design

2011-12-31T14:36:00.000-08:00

I've used the same blog template for 4 years. It's hard to believe that 4 years have passed and I've used this blog to chronicle our family life. With the approach of 2012 and our impending move across the pond, I thought it was time for a new look. And perhaps a new name may be in order... more on that in the days ahead. Anyway, I'll try out the rainy look for a while, then maybe switch it up. Stay tuned...

birth pains

2011-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not pregnant. As I look at the clear blue California sky, I'm thinking about storms and moving and birthdays.

There is a lot of stuff going on right now. As we get ready for Christmas and our big move you could imagine our family being swept up in a storm, consumed by the chaos around us and unable to control our actions and emotions. But the funny thing about being in the middle of something like a storm or even childbirth, is the clarity that comes when you least expect it.

They say all sorts of stuff about being in a storm... Like it's calm in the eye of the storm or there's a calm before the storm. I don't know much about true storms. In this part of California we don't have much crazy weather, our only natural disaster claim to fame is earthquakes and there's no warning, or calm before or calm in the eye of it. There's only aftermath. I think birth is like a storm, a coming experience that will change you, test you and prove you.

2000 years ago an entire nation was on the move, everyone heading to his hometown to be counted in a census. Sheesh, giving birth in the middle of that movement would put a girl on edge. But then the most peaceful, life-giving thing happened. The Savior was born.

3 years ago we had just moved. My body was a storm, a hostile environment for a baby. We were on edge, praying for calm, normal blood pressure and liver and kidneys that would hold on for 37 weeks. I remember being on bed rest, trying my best to pray for peace while my head buzzed with ache and I could feel my blood racing through my body. Our baby girl was delivered, she was the most peaceful, sweet presence, but I continued to expand into a puffy marshmallow. Medicine and the sweetness of Hayden eased me back to normal and we were finally able to go home.

Today, everyone asks us how things are going, I think they expect us to be drenched by a storm. We are happy to report that God is holding us in the calm eye of what could be a Category 5 hurricane. We are experiencing peace and joy as we prepare of Christmas and prepare for the birth of our new life in Scotland. Like any pregnant woman, we are both nesting and going through crazy de-cluttering streaks. We are filled with anticipation and hope. We are constantly reassuring the kids that we will love them through this transition, that the new arrival will not disrupt our family, but make us stronger and more united in love.

I'm excited about our new birth. Sure, it will disrupt life as we know it, it will be a BIG move, it will be a bit painful, and it will cause some tears. But our family will never be the same and for that I am grateful.

bittersweet

2011-11-18T08:39:00.000-08:00

I'm still processing concepts from our time at SPLICE. And I'm also doing that really lame thing where you think of what you should have said and it's always way better than what you actually said. I'm specifically thinking of our survey/comment card thingies we filled out on the last day. I wish I had recommended the word "bittersweet" to replace the concept of "paradox".

I like bittersweet. I especially like it in regards to food. Bittersweet chocolate, salted caramel, kettle corn, you know, all of those foods that taste good because they spark more than one taste on your tongue. The Grahams had a bag of candy corn mixed with dry roasted peanuts. Genius.

Paradox was ok. And that "pair of ducks" was pretty cute too. But just think about how great it would have been to discuss the concept while eating!

I must be really hungry right now. Sorry about that. But the point is, I appreciate the idea that you can't have one without the other. And in fact, one is better because you had the other in your life and vice versa. Let me unpack that:

When we drove away from MTI the kids were in the backseat, waving to everyone as we pulled out of the parking lot. But as we drove further away, their joy turned to grief and they began to wail. I don't remember a time when both of my kids were crying like that when it didn't involve injury or punishment. Their mourning was deep and powerful, it broke me and I wanted to fling myself over the seat to wrap my arms around them and shield them from the pain. In that moment as their hearts were breaking I realized that they felt this immense pain because they had opened up their hearts to love so deeply. They could not have the great sorrow without the great love.

Do you ever think about where you were the first time you heard a song? I do that a lot. The first time I heard the song "Blessed be your Name" was at a memorial service. For a baby. Let that sink in as you scan through the lyrics. I remember seeing the mother in the front row with her hands lifted up as she sang. The lyrics HAD to be true, otherwise she had no hope. We have to bless the name of the Lord when the sun is shining down on us and on the road marked with suffering. He has to be the God of both, otherwise we have no hope.

I appreciate the SPLICE paradox as we move into this season of holidays. We are doing our best to make this holiday season special for everyone because in a short time things will be different. I'm afraid though, that many of or friends and family will dwell on the sadness side of our departure and I want to encourage everyone to live on both sides of the paradox. Would you consider rejoicing with us?

We are rejoicing in the midst of leaving. We are rejoicing because God has asked us to do something different and we have no greater joy than walking down the road that He has prepared for us. We are rejoicing because we have the opportunity to fully appreciate the depth of our love for YOU as we experience the heartache of leaving YOU.

Sheesh, my keyboard is soggy.

It's the reason Darren needs a large cup of coffee to make it through a slice of cheesecake. You need both tastes to fully appreciate the dessert. This is our God. He gives and takes away. Blessed be His name.

different is just different

2011-11-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

(Jason and Cameron at the Denver Aquarium, near the tiger ?! exhibit)

Cameron is no longer allowed to use the word "weird". At SPLICE we learned that "different is just different", it is not weird, bad, unusual, strange, awful or any other word with a negative connotation. And so now, whenever our family encounters something that is different, we have a new mindset.

(Cam strikes a mermaid pose on one of the climbing rocks at the awesome MTI playground)

The problem is, WE are different.

(Jason soaked up every minute of the Air Force Academy tour)

I realized on the long drive home that we are now the ones who are different. We are the ones who are leaving the comfort of the known for the discomfort of the unknown. We are the ones whose hearts ache for new friends scattered across the globe. We are the ones who have been changed by our time away.

(The kids riding a buffalo, as all Coloradans do, at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center)

You at home are not weird, bad, unusual, strange or awful for not having this calling. You are different from us. We need you to be different. We need you to love us, support us and pray for us. We need you to be different.

(The girls were prepared for trick-or-treating and the SPLICE gang was ready and waiting at every door. Jason was out with his friend's family for a birthday party.)

From now on we will be different. We will be those strange missionaries who come "home" but feel awkward because this is no longer our home. Our kids will have cute accents. We will spell words incorrectly.

(Brian and Emily are Hayden's new best friends. They are serving with Kids Alive in the Dominican Republic.)

So the question is: are you ready for this? Are you ready for the difference? Will it change our relationships?

(Cam and her new friend Emma. Now when she says, "Mom, I wanna go to Uganda SO BAAAAAAD!" she has another very good reason.)

Or will you continue to check out this blog, send us emails, reply to our statuses on facebook, and love us from across the pond?

(We all froze at the Grand Canyon. Here Hayden does her best to keep her hood on.)

We promise we'll write back. We promise to love you back.

(The kids take a break from walking at the Hoover Dam. Insert dam joke here.)

Because really, difference can be a good thing. And different can just be different.

What about the kids?

2011-10-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering what the kids are doing while we are in class? Well, so am I! At the end of the day we get mini reports from the kids about what they learned that day. They are having a great time here, so I thought I'd share just a bit of what I know.

Hayden is in a 2's and 3's class. In her words, "there's 5 kids in my class, but Sadie Fletcher is not in my class.". Poor baby, she misses her best friend! She has a lovely teacher named Michelle. During the mornings the kids have a lesson, do a craft, sing and have snacks. She is learning a "Hayden-sized" version of what we are discussing in our classes. For instance, when we were discussing transition or stress she is learning "God cares for me". She is getting a solid foundation in who loves her and how she can be confident in that no matter where we go. In the afternoons the kids have to lay down for a nap time and that is NOT going well for Hayden. She hasn't had an official nap in nearly a year and she cannot understand why she must start now. They have all kids rest here because the altitude affects everyone and requires more rest than usual.

Cameron is thriving here, well, in class anyway. In the cafeteria she is struggling. I think she ate Cinnamon Toast Crunch for every meal the first 2 days we were here. I went to the store and bought here some Cam food, so she should have some balanced meals from now on. Anyway, in class, she is thriving. Cam is in a class with 2 other girls and she is loving her time with them. She marches into class every morning with no looking back so I am confident that she is comfortable here. Cam's lessons go a little deeper and she is learning to express her feelings better. I am grateful for this new vocabulary and the help in understanding how she is processing our transition time. Today both Cam and Jason's classes went on a surprise field trip. The excitement of the unknown was building for two days until today they realized that the unknown can contain really great things. The kids were taken to Garden of the Gods, a natural wonder of Colorado and they were able to learn, explore and climb.

Jason's class has three kids in it, one other boy and a girl. The three kids get along very well and they spend all of their spare time together. In fact right now they are in a fierce air hockey battle. He is learning so much about cultural differences and how to express himself. He will also be learning conflict resolution, friendship skills and many other skills that he can carry over to his new life abroad. I think Jason is a learning sponge and this time is fun for him. The kids will have two more field trips and they are very excited for them.

This time for the kids is invaluable. As a home school mom I constantly worry about how they will adapt to group situations, classroom dynamics or other authority figures. So far, so good. I am daily encouraged that our decision to home school didn't mess them up! I am also encouraged that our call to the mission field won't mess them up either. My home schooled, PK turned MKs will be all right!

Splice @ MTI

2011-10-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the wonderful world of missions acronyms! The title of my post is the name of the program we are attending (splice) and our location (Mission Training International). Most of you loyal readers know that we have gone to Colorado this month, but I'm sure not many of you could explain why! We are here for training on how to leave our home culture and enter a new one. It may seem excessive to do training when we are going to an English speaking, western culture, but already we can see that this time will be a great benefit to us and we are glad to be here.

We drove for three days to get here, and the kids have been great. Not every moment, but for the most part they have been good travelers. Our first leg of the journey was on Friday and we drove from home to Las Vegas. The kids loved the lights on the Strip. Cameron kept exclaiming,"I LOVE Las Vegas!". Hayden kept asking, "is this Disneyland?". Jason was impressed with the giant sphinx, the Eiffle Tower, and the Statue of Liberty.

The second day of our trip was from Vegas to Green River, Utah. The drive was beautiful at times and incredibly boring at other times. The kids were very disappointed because the town and hotel were not nearly as exciting as Vegas. The third day we drove to Denver. The drive over the Rocky Mountains was spectacular. We especially enjoyed the Eisenhower tunnel. We arrived at our hotel and were happy to celebrate our arrival with a dinner at Chili's. The next day we had some free time before our check in at MTI so we took the kids to the Denver Aquarium. We saw the Mermaid Show and I'm pretty sure that the girls are now aspiring to be mermaids when they grow up!

I am very sorry that I forgot to pack the cord that connects the camera to the computer. When we get home I'll do a post of all pictures from the trip. Until then Darren will have to post pictures to Facebook for all the grandparents to get their fixes :)

field trippin'

2011-10-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

This week I declared a break from formal school work. We have completed 9 weeks of curriculum (one quarter) and the kids and I are zombies. I wanted to take some time to enjoy learning so this week we are taking a different approach.

Step one: Hit the library. No, not the San Miguel library, the one that's the size of my living room with all the same books that we have been reading for the past 3 years. We went to the big city and checked out books and movies about things that interest the kids. For Cameron, we found art, ballet and fashion design books. For Jason, we found books about how stuff works and history. Every morning this week we have spent a leisurely morning reading and enjoying our special interests.

Step two: Get out of the house! This is a big deal for me. With the recent death and resurrection of our car I had spent WAY too much time cooped up in the house with my lovely children. On Monday we went to Avila Valley Barn for some apple picking and today we strolled around the grounds of the San Miguel mission.

I think the kids and I need two kinds of field trips. We need trips that are fun. These trips like apple picking appear to be only for our enjoyment but they secretly open the kids eyes about where food comes from and how it takes a lot of work to get it from the orchard to their plate. The second kind of trip we need is one that makes connections. I need to express to my kids that the history in their books is real and actually happened. We can walk the grounds of historic places and talk about so many things. Today Jason and I discovered that the California mission system was developed during the late 1700's to early 1800's. Our mission was founded in 1776, the same year that the boys back in Philadelphia were literally sweating out our country's founding documents. We also made connections between the mission and the cathedral he had visited in Glasgow. We call our mission a "poor man's cathedral". It is the same design idea constructed with our local materials (clay and straw).

While Jason made a lot of connections today, I could see that Cameron was still in fact finding mode. She was creeped out while we sat in the sanctuary and talked about the pictures on the walls. She liked the idea of Bible stories in paintings so that illiterate people could understand, but she DID NOT like the all-seeing Eye of God staring down at her from the front of the sanctuary (picture a fluffy cloud with sunbeams bursting out from behind it--not bad, but then in the middle of the cloud is a gold triangle with a giant eyeball staring out into the room). She also had a big problem with the musty smells of the buildings :)

Tomorrow and Friday we will have more adventures. Until then we will enjoy our fresh homemade applesauce and plenty of good books!

living in the in between...

2011-09-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Darren texted me and suggested I put up a new blog post, it had been a month since the last one. All I could think was, where did this month go? And then I got to thinking...

1. We had a major yard sale. Well, not as major as I would have liked, but as I told people : "This time, I'm selling stuff I actually use!" If you've ever been to a yard sale you know exactly what I mean. The early birds swipe anything resembling a good deal and all that's left for the folks who enjoy sleeping in a bit are the castoffs of your garage or attic. As soon as I decided to let go of a lot of my extra serving dishes, storage containers and kitchen stuff that I only use once in a while, this happened:

2. We've been hosting friends and get-togethers like crazy! Yeah. I'm not really an impromptu kind of girl, but this past month we've had a lot of unexpected drop-in moments that have been quite fun. It's a good learning experience for me in creativity and scouring the pantry for ways to make food and drink stretch. Also, it's been humbling to be satisfied with a half-decorated house and a limited kitchen. As if that weren't humbling enough:

3. Hayden is potty-training. Yes, this is a humbling experience for me. Have you ever chased a 2 1/2 year old around, trying to convince her that dancing will not make the pee-pee feeling go away? Have you ever showed up to home group with a froggy potty seat? Have you ever just barely put your slip-covers back on after a fresh wash before company shows up at the door? Ha, ha! Maybe I just eliminated point #2!

She's doing a great job and I think she's finally got the hang of it. Although, I'm not sure we are ready to end the M&M rewards!

4. The Kia died and came back to life. I know, stop right there: we bought a Kia, therefore we should have expected a major mishap. But honestly, I don't think this was a coincidence. We have been experiencing lots of bumps along the road to Scotland. We are extremely grateful to all who have surrounded us with support as we went through this ordeal.

5. Despite the earlier remarks about the kitchen stuff, I am really enjoying giving stuff away. I just recently gave my desk to a friend. My dining table is promised to another friend, my couch is claimed and I'd really like to give my treadmill to another friend. As I look around my house I realize that the stuff we own is trivial. I have a husband who loves me, healthy children and most importantly a great God who has called us all to pick up and go. I'm so excited about the call that I could care less about the stuff in my house!

So that's what's up at the Rusco House. I've heard that it's fall, but nobody gave San Miguel the message, so we continue to bake in our 90 degree weather. We are preparing to drive to Colorado next month for some training. The kids will have a break from school, but I'll probably be a dorky home school mom and make the road trip a learning experience anyway! Hopefully, I'll blog about that journey :)

step by step...

2011-08-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

Little things are happening here at the Rusco House. This week, the kids received their passports in the mail. Jason and Cameron had old passports from our trip to Uganda in 2007, but it was time to renew and get Hayden her first passport. This process was not simple. The first major hurdle was getting a picture of our girls. Both girls have a crippling shyness issue when it comes to strangers taking their picture (I'm actually quite ok with that... there's a lot of creeps in the world!). Darren found a passport photo app for his phone (insert Apple slogan here) and tried to get a good picture of the kids. Jason agreed right away, look at the camera, don't smile, etc, but Hayden had a bit of difficulty.

And then there was Cameron. For a while now we had been impressed with Cameron's progress from turbulent toddler to fantastic five year old. Unfortunatley, the girl hit a major setback. This summer she has been in a phase where she refuses to have her picture taken, you may remember this:

Sweet, isn't it? So we have a whole summer of shots like this and my stealth attempts to take pictures while the little darling is unaware of me. And then it was time to take a passport photo. She had a meltdown the magnitude of which we have not seen in these parts for nearly 2 years.
Epic.
Horrific.
Laughable.
Because honestly, wouldn't you laugh if your kid refused to have a picture taken? Finally, in an eleventh hour attempt, Darren snagged THIS photo:

My little Lindsey Lohan. I am one proud mama. When she got her passport in the mail, I think Cameron was a little embarrassed at what she had done. So for the next 5 years Cam will travel the world with this little number, let's all pray that she is in a better phase the next time around!

first day of school

2011-08-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

I think many of you are expecting a glowing report of our first week of school. Truth be told, it was tough. We needed to get a jump on our school year because we will be gone for a month this fall and we'll be making a big move this winter. We also finished our last school year 3 weeks ahead of the local schools so I figured it would be ok to start 3 weeks ahead again. Our schooling only takes about 3 hours a day, from 9am to noon. In that time we cover Bible, Math, Grammar, Reading, Science and History. We do science experiments and also art projects, weekly. The kids have lunch and then have a huge recess / P.E. time until dinner. I think that the some of the best learning they can do is through imaginative play with their friends.

So why wasn't our week awesome? I think that it is quite simply because no one likes to be told what to do. I remember standing in front of 20 teenagers, trying to figure out why so many of them weren't interested in school. I think the feeling is universal no matter what age or how you were brought up. We all have this idea that our time is our own and we should not have to be somewhere we don't want to be. We have this idea that we know what's best for ourselves and we could probably figure out how the world works if just left to our own devices. Obviously we all struggle with selfishness, or more bluntly, sin. And so, it must be acknowledged that my kids are selfish sinners, no different from any other kid.

But wait, there's hope! I think one of the vital things that I often fail to put into my school year preparations is a lot of prayer. I love to get the curriculum ready, to get binders and markers and pencils out, but I often forget to ask the Lord for help. I think it's because I love school so much that I forget that my kids aren't exactly like me. I forget that learning or rather, the love of learning is a quality gained over time. And that is exactly why I home school. I do it because I have the time and the love of learning, and most importantly I do it because I believe I am equipped to minister to their tender hearts.

I didn't mean for this blog post to turn into a confessional. I guess it just needed to happen so that I could be held accountable for more than just the kids' proficiency in math. I'm much better at waiting to start housework until after school and I've stopped running for a while until we get a good morning routine established (but I am craving a run right now!). So here's to a better week, one with less tears and frustrations, and a week bathed in prayer.

books!

2011-07-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

My home is currently run by a shipping container overlord. Let's just call him "Darren" for now. He roams the house looking for things to put in the next yard sale or sneak in the trash. Usually I am right by his side, suggesting things for him to sink his claws into. But one day I looked at my bookshelf. My stuffed to the gills, no room at the inn bookshelf... and also the underside of my bed, and perhaps a few corners of my closet. I saw my babies, er, I mean my books, and I had to start making some tough decisions.

It's easy to toss current trade paperbacks into the yard sale pile, they're quick money. But then you look at the stack of books from the Christian bookstore and you can trace the fads and feelings of the past 10 years in one glance. You sort the good from the bad and wonder if it's ethical to stick crummy books in a yard sale... buyer beware!

The hard part is deciding what to do with the classics. You sort the common from the obscure and wonder if anyone will pick up your copy of Confessions of an English Opium Eater (they make you read obscure stuff in college). Shakespeare, Austen, the Brontes, they're cheap, you can find plenty of copies of them in used bookstores everywhere. But what do you do with the books attached to memories? The good memories (our tattered copy of Seinlanguage, read and re-read until pages fell out) or the bad (I read Grapes of Wrath while nursing baby Jason. If I had read the last page first, I never would have picked up the book!).

I've bounced around the idea of going digital. Please let me know if you have a preference (Kindle, Nook, iPad). I'm not sure if I can give up the romance of the traditional book. I love to fold over corners to mark my spot, I write notes in the margins and I remember a summer read by the way water splashed from the kids in the pool crinkles the pages. A traditional book I can loan out to friends without worrying about getting it back (which I discovered has significantly reduced the number of books that I THOUGHT I had!).

While sorting through my stacks I picked up Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Genius. The first line: "Then there was the bad weather." The whole book is a travelogue, biography of ex-pats, an ode to French food, and an instruction manual for aspiring writers. The Sun Also Rises springs from conversations with Gertrude Stein as described in A Moveable Feast. The Lost Generation, everything you ever wanted to know about bull-fighting and Spain, beautifully captured in over 200 pages of dialogue. I love this guy but most people only think of The Old Man and the Sea, a high school student's worst nightmare. I think it may be because we are so impatient for him to hurry up and catch the fish, that we don't appreciate the struggle. I really wanted to name one of our kids Hadley, the name of his first wife, but Hayden was a nice compromise.

Another love of mine is Steinbeck. He's gritty and real and a local guy. I think East of Eden is my favorite. Again, in school you have to read The Red Pony or Of Mice and Men, but going beyond the required reading can be so rewarding, it's worth the effort.

It's hard to think of these gems left out on a yard sale table for people to pick through, so maybe a few favorites will find their way into the nooks and crannies of boxes and suitcases. Just don't tell Darren ;)

the classics

2011-07-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am a decluttering queen. I used to be a devoted follower of The Flylady but I have since graduated to my own system of household management. I like to think that my system could be called "the-distract-your-kids-with-friends-or-video-games-or-both-at-the-same-time-and-clear-out-their-rooms system". It really works!

I must admit, however that there are some toys that you just cannot get rid of, no matter what! Yes, throw out the happy meal toys, the broken toys and the never used toys, but by all means, do not toss the classics!

For example, Thomas the Tank Engine. Just when I thought our days of track building were over, Hayden discovered Jason's stash and this happened:

It was just too cute. Big brother built an awesome track and little sister played happily. (Middle sister was a pest, but that is becoming her specialty so we went with it).

Another classic that will not get tossed soon is Jason giant tub of Legos. It won't get tossed on purpose, but I often find myself reminding the boy that if a stray piece gets sucked up in the vacuum, I can't be held responsible.

One thing that has surprised me is the beginning of the end for Perry, Cameron's beloved bear. He was left yesterday at a friend's house and she went to bed without him, without a second thought. Poor guy. He was once a treasured member of the family, now he seems to be on the outs. Maybe it's because his tail is falling off, or he's getting too ratty for her sophisticated tastes.

Hang in there Perry, I won't give up on you just yet :)

moving

2011-07-12T09:15:00.001-07:00

Ugh. The word "moving" strikes me with dread. I think it's because we've done a lot of moving over the past 15 years. Last night we were discussing one of our latest topics: "is our stuff worth the cost of a shipping container?" So as we debated I found myself cleaning out my kitchen drawers with ruthless determination (as if that would solve the problem!). We don't have an answer to that question yet, all I know is the 19 scrapbooks that I have made are coming with us-- no doubt about it!

I thought it would be fun to look back on our many residences and maybe you could pitch in a memory too.

1. Newhall Avenue: Our first apartment! Darren picked this place without me, as he had to do it in advance while he was at school and I was 3 hours away at home. He did a great job. The first time I saw the place was when we arrived there after our honeymoon. We got in around midnight and spent the next 2 hours ripping open wedding presents, trying to find a set of sheets! The apartment had teal green appliances from the sixties and an electric wall heater in the bathroom that was our only source of heat (because we were too cheap to turn on the gas-- we figured So. Cal wouldn't get THAT cold in winter, right?).

2. Palomar Avenue: Ugh. This was a converted garage apartment in Atascadero. We lasted through our 6 month lease then got the heck outta there due to the crazy amount of black widows in that place. You would move too if a black widow dropped down from the ceiling and landed in your bed!

3. Santa Lucia: This was a nice spot to live. Darren could walk from here to his teaching job at NCCS. I think the funniest memory I have is the move to this place: we used Food 4 Less grocery bags instead of boxes, I guess that's all we had on hand to get us out of the black widow house fast! We stayed here about 3 years.

4. The School House aka "the fishbowl": This place was a toss up between pros and cons. On

the pro side, it was cheap and the walk to school was quick (we literally lived in a house that was surrounded by the school). On the con side, the place was cheap because Darren had to do security for ABC at night to offset the rent, and we were constantly asked by people to open gates for them on the weekends. This was Jason's first home, and as a result, that boy can sleep through anything because he was trained to sleep through all the noise of recess right outside his bedroom window!

5. Multnomah married student apartments: Again, pros and cons. The pro side included great friendships and an incredible time of growth in our marriage. This definitely outweighs the cons of thin walls and scraping up quarters to do laundry.

6. Creston Road: What a nice house! This was Cameron's first home. I remember meeting our neighbor for the first time and she asked us if we had a cat. This was a duplex, so I realized that the poor woman had heard all of Cameron's late night wailing and thought we had an unruly cat! Darren and I spent many nights walking up and down the hall trying to pacify Cam, "the baby who wouldn't be satisfied". We also lived next to a field with sheep and as a result we became the winter home of a few field mice. Eeeek!

7. Vista del Rio (or, "the apartment behind Albertson's"): Now this place was a strange contradiction. On the outside it was a beautiful, new complex with lovely amenities, but on the inside it was filled with lots of lonely people. We discovered that many people landed here after a divorce or they were here looking for a mate. There were two playgrounds and a pool in the complex, but our kids never made friends because the other kids only showed up on the weekends to spend time with their parents. We had a good relationship with the manager and quickly discovered that we were a small minority that lived peaceably within the many rules that she had to enforce. It's a good thing that we had a good witness with her because when someone reported smelling marijuana coming from our building she came to us to ask for help figuring out the problem. When Hayden was on her way we had to find a bigger place to live so it was time to move on.

8. San Buena Ventura Way: When I was a kid we would play MASH and the shack was usually in a place like San Miguel. I never thought I'd live out here! But to be honest, this has been a GREAT spot for us. The kids have made so many friends in this neighborhood and we all love coming home to this place. Plus, we have the best landlords ever :)

9. Scotland! So far, I've only seen one episode of House Hunters International in Glasgow (admit it, you watch this too). Pretty soon we'll be living it and I can't wait!

beach day!

2011-07-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

The cousins are in town! Yesterday we all escaped the North County heat and met up at Avila Beach.

The fun was doubled when our friends came along too. Jason braved the waters for his first boogieboarding adventure. Cameron dug the deepest hole ever and Hayden stayed on Pops' lap most of the day to avoid the pesky sand.

Cameron reminded me that sometimes you just have to put the camera

away and enjoy the moment!

why Scotland?

2011-07-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

If you know us well, you may suspect that this whole Scotland thing is a sneaky way for Darren to play golf on some amazing courses and for me and the kids to spend our days touring castles. But the truth is, we were willing to go a number of places and Scotland is where God landed us. Here are two reasons why Scotland is in our future:

1. Because God is leading us there. Sorry, not trying to be redundant, but in all honesty this is the truth. And to be sure, it is a big, crazy idea to pick up your comfortable, content family and move them across the world. This will be our 3rd "career" change and 2nd time moving away from family in our 15 year history together. But looking back on our life together we can clearly see that every time God has moved or changed us it has been to form us for this very task. We also are confident that He will carry us through the transition. So with this assurance we can't help but be excited for our next adventure.

2. Because Scotland needs help. We are joining an amazing team of people dedicated to the awakening of a nation. Here are a few snippets from Operation World to help you understand the need in Scotland:

"A national awakening is needed.... the steep decline of organized Christianity in the UK is almost unparalleled in Europe..."

"...(there is) widespread loss of confidence and certainty in the veracity of the gospel, in the uniqueness of Jesus.... (these are) simultaneous with increasingly assertive and confident atheism and Islam."

"Christian leadership is under intense pressure... from intense scrutiny by the public and from lack of effective Bible teachers and expositors."

You might read these quotes in disbelief. After all, Scotland was once a major force in sending the gospel out to the world. Only a few generations of apathy an indifference can change the state of a nation.

So those are just two of the reasons we are going. We would love to talk more with you about this big life change so feel free to leave a comment or get in touch with us by email :

darrenrusco@hotmail.com . (This blog is registered under an address I no longer use, sorry for the inconvenience. I'll try to change it soon!)

the rusco house is on the move!

2011-07-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ahem... please excuse my absence. I realize that my last post was in January, this is tad embarrassing! How about a cute picture to make up for it?

There, that's better. Am I forgiven now? Thanks!

So what do I mean by "on the move"? I mean that our family is moving across the Atlantic to the beautiful nation of Scotland, land of bagpipes, kilts and haggis... and more importantly a land that needs help in their churches.

Last summer, Darren caught the missions bug. As he thought about Paso Robles and the great churches we have in the North County, he began to feel a need to go to a place that had a greater need. When he studied the church all across the world he saw that many former Christian nations had lost their way and the church had faded into a sleeping institution. He felt a pull to go back to those people and bring the gospel of Jesus to light once more and help wake up the sleeping church.

We first looked into Ireland, France and Italy. We talked with missions organizations that had projects going in those countries but we never felt a connection with those teams. One day the Multnomah alumni magazine arrived and Darren read and article about a man who had gone to Glasgow, Scotland to start a church. The man's story resonnated with Darren because they had both been so committed to preaching the Word of God that they had neglected to develop a prayer life. Once the prayer life was explored and developed, both men began to see their ministries increase. Darren wrote to him to thank him for the article and to his surprise, the man responded with an invitation to visit Glasgow!

In November, Darren boarded a plane to Scotland. To be honest, I thought this was just a silly idea that he needed to get out of his system and I didn't expect much to come of it. You may have seen this on facebook around that time:

Although he was incredibly homesick, he was able to listen to God's direction as he traveled and met with the team in Glasgow. When he came home and told me all about his experience, I knew this was not just a whim, this was our family's new direction.

While in Glasgow, Darren learned a lot about prayer. When he came home, he began to implement these things into our services and home groups and we began to see God do mighty things. Over the past months we have both felt confirmation that although amazing things are happening at PRBC, it is ok that we move on, because we know our church is in good hands.

In March, Darren, Jason and I went to Glasgow for another visit. Darren was adamant that if I wasn't happy, we wouldn't go. We had a fabulous visit with the team and the Ingraham family. Here are a few pictures from that trip:

The gang in front of Edinburgh Castle.

Jason and his pal Emma run into a little trouble with the law...

Finally, justice is restored when Jason is rightfully returned to his throne.

As you can see, we had fun. While flying home Darren and I had a moment where we just looked at each other and knew that we were meant to move to Scotland. I think my exact words to him were, "I'm in!".

Our next step was to join the organization that supports the Scotland team. This is Church Resource Ministries or CRM. Please check out their website www.crmleaders.org . We really like CRM. We just completed our orientation week in Anaheim this last week and we are very impressed with the way they care for their staff. They are an established organization with a rich history and an innovative ministry that is strategically looking to the future of world missions. We are very happy to be a part of this group.

I'm sure one of the main questions in your mind right now is, "so, when are you guys moving?". That's a good question! Our goal is January but there are a lot of factors necessary to make that happen. We are making our plans toward that end but we fully understand that God is ultimately in control of the timing.

Over the next few weeks I plan on blogging more about Scotland, why we're going and how a family of five picks up their lives and moves it across an ocean. Also, Darren will be sharing more details in church about our transition so be sure to show up on Sunday or "like" Paso Robles Bible Church on Facebook. Sermons are usually posted there for you to download. Until then, check out CRM's site and take a look at our team leader's blog for more info about the church in Scotland www.brianingraham.com .

Thanks for making it to the end of this post. How about one last picture?

This was one of our many attempts at taking Hayden's passport photo:)

3rd child

2011-01-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder what Hayden will remember when she looks back on her childhood. Does she care that mom was so burned out on preschool songs that she never sang to her? Or will she simply be grateful that mom never sang to her? The other night we were playing with a toy bus and I started to sing "The Wheels on the Bus". Hayden looked at me with wide-eyed amazement and announced "MO!" (more). 23 verses later I was able to put that song to rest.

Last week we did marble paintings. I needed a quick and easy art project for our Tuesday art lesson and I'd also been stockpiling cereal this month (crazy coupon deals-- I'm trying not to go overboard but...). So with a quick dig in the recycle box we had all our supplies.

I didn't realize what a great project this would be for Hayden until she grabbed a box of her own.

Silly me. I need to do my best to remember what the other kids were doing at 2 years old so that Hayden doesn't miss out. Look at this face:

Now she points out her painting with pride. What else am I forgetting? I should look back at my own blog to get ideas for Hayden.

Or I could just ask this girl. She loves to remember back to her days as a 2 year old. In fact, marble painting was her idea. I think by the time I finally put all the paints and paper away Cam had completed 7 paintings!

library card

2011-01-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

Today was a big deal. A milestone for Little Miss 5 Year Old. She signed her name on the very important form (and mom did too) and POOF! just like that, Cameron is SLO County's newest library patron. She feels like hot stuff.

I made a little pocket on her library bag for her new card. Hopefully, this will deter loss. Hopefully.

Little Miss 5 Year Old developed quite an unpleasant attitude toward school this year. She learned to read early on and now she can't understand why in the world she would need to continue doing school work. She can read, what else is there?

Perhaps being the ever-so-important reader of books for her little sister can satisfy Miss Cam.

It seems to make Little Miss 2 Year Old very happy.

Very.

Happy.

me time

2010-12-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

Tonight Cameron is at her first real at-a-friend's-house-sleep-over! Of course, it's a double sleep-over with Jason, his best friend Jacob and Jacob's little sister Taylor. Look at her, she's so excited!

It was an easy trial run since their friends just live across the street.

Everyone's excited for the big night. Well, almost everyone...

She soon cheered up when she realized that she would have mom and dad all to herself this evening. We spent some good quality time playing babies tonight.

After Hayden went to bed I spent over an hour blitzing through the kitchen, school area and Jason's room. We are decluttered! For now. And now I can catch up on what went on in the Rusco house during December.

The big kids got to see two live shows this month. Nanny and Pops took them to see a production of Peter Pan and I took them to see The Nutcracker. I love it that they can have these opportunities.

Wait, I better back up. We got our tree Thanksgiving weekend. I know it's crazy since we always buy a live tree and it's anything but live once we get to Christmas, but we JUST CAN'T WAIT! Our addition to our Christmas village this year was a log cabin with a fireplace and family reading inside. It's such a fun tradition to go to Kohl's every year and pick out a new piece.

As you all know, a very sweet baby was born in the month of December and we had quite the party! Happy Birthday Hayden!

No time to smile, eating birthday cake is very serious business! Earlier in the day she had found big sis's Dora nightgown, so she just HAD to wear it to the party. She got a new Dora backpack, watch and doll, so it was a very Dora birthday. ¡Feliz cumpleanos Hayden!

We spent the next night in our car as the rain came down on the San Miguel Electric Light parade. I don't quite know how to put into words the (thrilling? magical? spectacular?) experience of the parade. Just in case you ever want to come up and see it, you'll be impressed to know that the parade route loops around so that you can see it twice! We pulled up at about 5 to six and were home by 6:30. So, yeah. Ahem. Here are the pics:

And there you have it. Obviously, the parade was a smashing success.

I'm gonna call it a night right here. Hopefully, I'll have you caught up on Christmas before the year's end. Good night!

2010-12-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

Oh my, this is embarrassing! It's been so long since I've visited blogger that I nearly forgot how to log in. I won't give you any excuses, I'm sure you can imagine the things that keep me away from blogging. First of all, this kid continued to be cute:

This kid turned 5:

And she got a new scooter:

And then this guy showed up. Twice.

He brought his family along.

And then a little of this happened:

And then there was this:

Then this little one discovered how to climb up on the dining table to get to her big sister's stuff. Mom snapped a pic then removed little sis before big sis blew a gasket.

And finally, this boy who grew into a giant, read through the entire 5 books of the Percy Jackson series. Here he is reading in the special reading fort with the girls.

Of course, then there was Christmas, but I'm going to be ambitious and promise you another blog post before the year's end.

Does anybody have an explanation for why blogger started underlining all my text?

first week of school

2010-09-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

We survived it. Barely. Everything was going well until the stomach flu hit our house in a big way.

Let's start with Monday, no wait, how about the weekend...

Before starting school we had to say good bye to summer. The proper way to do that is with an afternoon at the beach and a delicious dinner of fire-roasted hot dogs. Unfortunately for us, many other people had that same idea. We were pit-less so I did what any self-respecting mom would do when her babies start complaining of hunger. I stabbed the dogs and walked over to the nearest pit, inhabited by Cal Poly girls. I'm only 10 years out so I didn't think it would be THAT weird, but yeah, it was awkward. "Hey guys, can I borrow your fire?" Weird looks. "Uh, yeah, sure." Then for the next five minutes I prayed those dogs would roast at lightening speed. Mission accomplished, kids feed, evening saved.

Monday morning we started off with a delicious breakfast casserole and fruit. The beauty of home schooling is that I don't have to be out the door at 7:30am fully dressed and looking effortless as I scoot my children into their classrooms. I don't have to throw on a hat and pretend that I actually PLANNED to wear a hat rather than shower that morning. Jason can sleep. The boy NEEDS his sleep. Cameron can wear her weird outfits. And we can start school at the beautiful hour of 9 o'clock...

Don't these kids look happy? An hour and a half earlier they didn't look this happy. And none of us had to sit in school traffic. Beautiful!

And so, we were off to a smooth start. Cameron sailed through her kindergarten lessons: Bible, math, reading, handwriting. She joins Jason for some history, science art and music. Jason and I discussed the plan for this year before this morning arrived. He understands that I will have to spend more time with Cams so he needs to be able to read his schedule and do the assignments that he can do on his own until I am available to help him. So far, so good. The boy is a first-born, box-checker, just like his mom, so this works.

Little Miss Hayden had some special time playing with dad while the kids and I did school. She stayed out of trouble... today.

On Tuesday school went well once again. We will be doing art lessons on Tuesdays so we started off the program by looking at art that is realistic versus artwork that takes creative twists. The kids then painted fish but added unrealistic features and colors. I'll be using ideas from Art Projects for Kids and Deep Space Sparkle.

I took Jason to AWANA Tuesday night (which he LOVES) and then something awful began in our home. I had a restless night of sleep. I was awakened with nausea and at 7am Wednesday morning the horror began. I won't go into details here. My brother is better at "getting-sick-and-living-to-blog-about-it", so you can check out his blog for nasty disease details. But let me just say, that without my parents we would not have survived!

The kids and Darren got through school Wednesday morning but by the afternoon he was down too. My parents came and picked up the kids (even packing their bags and taking them overnight). I'm not sure what happened next because we spent the next 24-36 hours in a sick-induced haze. If you're one of those people who likes to see the good in every situation then you can rejoice with me for losing 2.5 lbs. in one day! (Darren lost 5... that guy has to beat me at everything!).

On Thursday afternoon the kids returned home and we did our schoolwork for the day. They like Thursdays because we do music appreciation. They become very animated conductors and dancers when we have our classical music CD playing. I'll have to figure out how to post video of that!

Friday was a breeze. After surviving week one, I'm sure we're bound to have a very successful year.

while others went back to school...

2010-09-04T11:56:00.001-07:00

we went back to Legoland! This week we packed up the family and headed down south to the kids' favorite destination. The excitement in the car was a electric as we set off and soon fizzled as the kids came to understand that they'd be in the backseat for 6 hours! They were content to watch Looney Tunes for most of the drive so we only had the occasional moan of desperation/exhaustion from the backseat.

When we arrived at our hotel Cameron declared, "this is better than our house!" That kind of sentiment always warms a mom's heart :/

After a dip in the pool and dinner we settled in for the night. It was a restless, sleepless night. The folks on the floor above us were running laps around their room until after midnight and Hayden was in and out of sleep all night. Darren and I loaded up on coffee and positive thinking the next morning so that our sour moods wouldn't ruin the day.

It doesn't take long after you step on to the grounds of an amusement park for your mood to lift.

As the day wore on we explored every nook and cranny of the park and the kids bravely stepped on to every ride (except the elusive Technic roller coaster, Jason has declared that one to be too big and too fast). Cameron went on her first roller coaster and also earned her Lego driver's license. She is very proud of herself and will tell you all about it if you ask!

After about 4 hours we stepped into the new Legoland waterpark and spent some much needed time relaxing as we floated down the lazy river. At this point I didn't trust myself to take pictures and look after a water-loving, diving toddler at the same time so there are no pictures of this portion. Just know, that the waterpark was fabulously refreshing.

The park had a deal to add on a second day for only $10 per person, so we took them up on the offer and returned for a second day of fun. Our second night in the hotel was much better than the first, everyone was able to sleep well after a long day at the park. The drive home was ok, it will be much easier to travel once Hayden can communicate with words rather than grunts and screams. But in the meantime her cute face will ease the frustration of not understanding her needs.

Stay tuned as next week we start school. Jason will be a third grader, Cameron officially starts Kindergarten and Hayden begins her reign of terror as we try to school with a toddler tearing up the house. Any creative suggestions for corralling the little one would be much appreciated!

once upon a time...

2010-08-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was a blogger. I enjoyed spilling silly stories and cute pictures to family, friends and the general public through this blog. But as time went on, several things happened. We started homeschooling...

(Box Day, 2010. Cameron's kindergarten books and Jason's 3rd grade books arrive and the kids have a blast looking through them all.)

And we had a third child who quickly grew from infant to toddler.

(Hayden in her swimsuit, ready to try out the slip n slide.)

I know that it has been 2 years now since we started homeschooling and Hayden will be 2 in December, so it is silly to use these excuses now. But the fact of the matter is that I just don't get around to blogging much anymore because the house is in a general state of chaos from sun up to sun down. And to be honest, we're having too much fun around here to document it all on the blog!

So just because I have a quiet moment I'll give a few updates:

Jason is 8 years old and still a Lego maniac. He is busy on a daily basis creating new vehicles and dreaming up inventions. He has a blast playing with his buddy across the street, Jacob, and the 2 of them have had many sleepovers this summer. He is quite skilled at playing air guitar and drums in the backseat of the car and can be heard singing in his room when he thinks no one's listening. (Shhhhh!)

Cameron is 4 years old and very expressive. That's my simple way of saying she is dramatic, stubborn, difficult, silly, loud, funny and a constant roller coaster. The other day she was having a difficult time obeying instructions and she looked at me and exclaimed, "Mom, I'm just frazzled!" Yeah, me too Cam. She also informed me the other day, "I think I'm interested in Hannah Montana." Heaven help us, I think that's the last thing we need. I politely informed her that I would look into that to see if it was appropriate for her. She seemed to think that was acceptable. Cam loves to play with her little sister, especially wrestle her and she loves to play with her big brother, especially, you guessed it... wrestling! Cameron is imaginative and I can often find her hidden away in her room creating zoos or schools or princess boot camps.

And of course, Hayden. Hayden has swiftly moved into the role of Household Destroyer. She works like a little ninja, deftly undoing everything I do throughout the day. Need your clean laundry unfolded and strewn about the living room? Hayden's your girl! Need every toy in big sis's room removed and brought out to the living room? Hayden's on it! At the end of the day though, she is the best snuggler, giggler and tickler we have and we all love her!

school's out--now what?

2010-06-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know why home school moms are so anxious for the school year to be over. Honestly, I love having things to get accomplished during the day. That's mainly my personality type showing through, I like to cross things off my list! We finished school before Memorial Day weekend and to be honest, the first week was disasterous! There was a lot of clawing, screaming and tantrums because we had no plan of attack for the day. So this morning, I was ready!

First things first: feed everyone. The kids are much happier on a full stomach. Hayden especially loves a scrambled egg and toast. After breakfast, I read the girls a story, Owl Moon, and then we moved into craft time. While Cameron glued feathers onto a crude owl shape that I had cut out, Hayden spent time "drawing".

It turns out that Jason is selective now about stories and crafts. If he declares them to be "babyish" then he will settle in for a little computer time. However, some activities peak his interest so I won't get discouraged that he is growing up. Here he is, trying to ignore his crafty sister.

So there it is, my strategy for surviving summer: divide and conquer!

family camp

2010-06-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! I missed the whole month of May. Sorry about that, I guess the blog has been on the backburner for a while. Here's an update on what we've been up to this month:

We took a field trip to the SLO Children's Museum with our home school buddies. The kids enjoyed playing in all the areas including the cafe, fire station, stage, and water table. Actually, Hayden LOVED the water table. She loved it so much that I had to take off her shirt and set it in the sun to dry for a few minutes!

Also in May, Jason completed his AWANA Sparks program. He finished all three of his books and earned the Sparky plaque. What a great night of fun and ice cream for our guy. Next year he is looking forward to being in TNT and memorizing more scripture (and playing more games of course!).

Darren is proud of his Sparky plaque too. the guys hung up their plaques side by side in Jason's room.

The highlight of May was our trip to Hartland for family camp. We had a blast! The mountains are beautiful right now, they still burst with the signs of spring. The evenings were chilly and the days were just warm enough to take off your sweatshirt. We all enjoyed the delicious food, the clean mountain air and all the activities at camp. The kids tried archery, rock wall climbing, peddle boats and canoes, the zipline, fishing, crafting, ping pong and foosball. I think we may have the next Robin Hood living in our house! If you ask Cameron, she'll tell you that her favorite part of camp was the cabin with BUNK BEDS! And yes, she slept on a top bunk.

Hayden watches intensely as her dad takes on a challenger in shuffleboard.

Jason conquered his fears and spent all afternoon on the zipline.

Darren bravely takes the kids out on a canoeing excursion. Hayden and I stayed on shore to run for towels if necessary.

Cameron is an excellent fisherwoman. Her favorite part is casting a line so even if a fish wanted to jump on, I don't think she'd give them a chance!

The kids had a great time with their friends from home and they made new friends too. Here they are with their buddies, Alex and Andree.

easter

2010-04-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from our Easter fun at Nanny and Pops' house. I tried to take a nice picture of the kids before we went over there but Cameron would not cooperate. It may be a few years before I get a nice picture from her...

Hayden was happy just to pick up 2 eggs and call it a day.

Cameron found her golden egg and was impressed to find a dollar inside.
Jason is a pro egg hunter. I have a feeling that we will come to a point where he doesn't care for this sort of silliness soon. I'm not ready for that day! Stay a kid, Jason, quit growing up!

big girl

2010-04-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

Cameron is a big girl. She doesn't need training wheels anymore. In fact, if you ask her she will emphatically tell you that she is ALL DONE WITH TRAINING WHEELS FOREVER! She pretty much learned to ride in one day. I like to credit her stubbornness for this incredible achievement. She spent many hours balancing and catching herself while cruising in the garage. Darren and I took several passes with her up and down the sidewalk. By the end of the day she was zipping along as if she had been riding for years! Way to go Cam!

take a hike!

2010-03-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Hiking in Montana de Oro was supposed to be the perfect start to our spring break. Unfortunately, after the hour long drive Jason stepped out of the car and began to puke... and puke... and puke. Hmmmmm. So what do you do moms? Do you pack 'em up and drive 'em home, or do you tough it out, tell him to push through and hike? I let the boy finish his business, gave him some water and crackers and had him rest a moment in the fresh air.

I'm glad he was able to recover because we had a great time looking at wildflowers, avoiding giant stink bugs and feeling the ocean spray on our faces.

monarch butterfly field trip

2010-02-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

On Friday we picked up Nanny and Pops then headed south to Pismo Beach to check out the Monarch Butterfly Grove. I had been wanting to do this for several weeks but weather and other surprises kept us from making the trip. We arrived just in time to help celebrate Monarch Day (mark your calendars, apparently there is such a thing). We listened to a docent speak on the life cycle and migration of the monarchs and we got to eat butterfly cake! Jason taught Nanny and Pops that butterflies do not come down to the ground to play hopscotch as they had previously thought, but rather, to mate. No need for euphemisms with our young scientist.

After the butterflies, our family drove down to Santa Maria for miniature golf while Nanny and Pops went to Costco. Cameron LOVES miniature golf. It is her favorite thing to do for vacation... that and stay in a hotel.

We had a great time playing together and Hayden was considerate enough to wait patiently in her stroller and clap and cheer for us. After the golf, the girls watched the boys race around the go kart track. They had a blast! We all enjoyed dinner at In-n-Out, a little time browsing at the bookstore and then the quiet ride home.

weather science!

2010-02-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it! Finally we are doing a unit on weather science and our sunny California skies are grey and cloudy. We have wind and rain on the way. Usually my kids have to read about weather phenomenons like rain and snow, but never experience them :) Here we are making a weather vein and a wind meter. Both kids have enjoyed learning about weather the past few weeks and I'm just so excited that we have some interesting weather to observe. Even more shocking news: I'm enjoying science ( a few years too late to earn good grades but just in time to teach my kids, not a bad trade-off!).

rainy day casualties

2010-01-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

Cameron operates by a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy.

Hayden operates by a "I'm cute, so I'm sure you won't mind" policy.

let's see how many times i can make my mom cringe...

2010-01-13T20:48:00.000-08:00

I was feeling crafty this week so I made a skirt. Without a pattern (cringe #1). Tuesday night I was cruising through Wal-Mart, trying to kill time while Jas was at AWANA, and I found a cute bolt of fabric for only $1.50 per yard (disclaimer: if Target had a fabric department I would never cross the threshold of Wal-Mart ever again. Ever.). So I held it up to myself and thought, hmm 2 yards ought to be enough (cringe #2). I knew I had some elastic at home (no idea the width of the elastic though, which leads us to cringe #3) so a simple elastic skirt would be my next project. Wednesday morning I scanned my blogroll and Google for free skirt patterns. When my search was exhausted and I had found no satisfactory patterns I went to my closet and found a skirt that I like. I folded my material, right sides together, and laid my favorite skirt on top.

I cut around it with about 2 inches on each side to spare and called it good (cringe #4). In my defense, I did prewash the material and lay the skirt on the bias (smile mom, breathe...).

I pulled out my Singer and got to work. The old girl struggled. She skipped stitches and broke threads. If you look closely you'll see that I didn't bother to change the hot pink thread that was already on the machine (cringe #5). I admit, there are some ugly seams; but they are nicely pressed.

All in all it was a good day. I made a skirt, I confirmed that my machine does truly need a tune up and I proved that patterns are unnecessary. But most importantly, I got back in the saddle, stretched my creative muscles and did something for myself. (how ya doin' mom?)

canyoneering

2010-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of this? I really want to do it. It combines rock climbing, rappelling and squeezing in between canyon walls in those beautiful red rock canyons of Utah. Check out Sunset magazine's January issue, the article is called "On the Rocks". Who's with me?

excursionsofescalante.com

i (heart) CVS

2010-01-12T23:00:00.001-08:00

Do me a favor. Read this post , then head directly to your local CVS and get yourself an Extra Care card. Do it. I'm a recent fan of CVSing, otherwise known as "getting stuff for free". Here's the deal:

1. Go to CVS and sign up for an Extra Care card. It's their store card, you can even put the tiny one on your key ring.

2. Check out the Sunday ad in your paper and look for items that are on sale and will earn "extra bucks".

3. Clip the corresponding coupons from your Sunday paper.

4. Prepare to get stuff for free.

Last week I did this. I scanned the CVS ad and looked for items that we use in our household (shampoo, lotion, laundry detergent, light bulbs, etc.). I bought things that we would need eventually and have room to store. Last week I spent about $33 and came home with $10 extra bucks. Extra bucks are printed out at the end of your receipt and you can use them like cash on your next purchase.

Tonight I went to CVS with my list, coupons and last week's extra bucks. My total before coupons and bucks was $31.92. I paid $2.28 and earned $8 extra bucks for next week. Seriously.

One awesome thing they are doing this week is a promotion on green bag tags or reuseable bags. You can buy 2 bags or tags for your own bags at 99 cents a piece. Then, next time you come in the store, scan them. Every 4th scan earns you an extra buck. This is awesome. Most stores credit you with only 5 cents per bag that you bring in. Also, you can transfer your prescriptions over and earn extra bucks on them.

I don't mean to be a product pusher, but honestly, who doesn't need to save money right now?

I'm a little addicted, it's like a game to me. If you have questions or want to see my receipts I'd be happy to help you get started. Or, go to my favorite site for deals: www.moneysavingmom.com and check out her sidebar post on how to get started at CVS.

I promise to put up cute pictures of the kids soon... this commercial is now over :)

christmas activities

2009-12-18T21:48:00.001-08:00

December has been very busy around our house! I took Jason and Cameron to see The Nutcracker and the kids both loved it. For the next few days there was a lot of ballet from Miss Cameroo (and of course many Madagascar moves too).

We also got our tree. We treked deep into the forest of the Walmart parking lot to get just the right one. The kids love to help with the bungee cords and sawing the stump but the enthusiasm fades as the afternoon goes on. I usually find myself decorating alone toward the end of the process :)

hayden's 1st birthday

2009-12-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it, but one year ago today this little girl entered the world. She came at three o'clock in the morning and has been a night owl ever since. It's a good thing that she's so sweet, it makes all the long nights worthwhile. We had a little party for her tonight with all the grandparents.

Hayden had a lot of help opening her presents from big brother and sister. She got right to work, playing with everything (except for the toy I bought her, I forgot to get batteries, so it's a dud until we get four Ds in the busy ball popper).
I made red velvet cupcakes for the little birthday girl. At first she didn't know what to do with her cupcake, so she smeared the frosting all over her tray. After a few tastes of frosting off my finger she got busy eating the cupcake.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a party with out a swordfight between the grandparents. Here, Nanny and Pops battle it out on the Wii (Nanny won... don't mess with Nanny!)

the most patient dad in the world

2009-12-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

I don't think that's an exaggeration. Check out these pictures and see if you could handle putting up Christmas lights with two little helpers at your feet. Sorry, I forgot how to rotate my pictures!

thanksgiving

2009-12-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd put up a cute picture of the kiddos in their Thanksgiving clothes... Hayden's dress was so cute and nearly impossible for her to crawl in!

we're back!

2009-12-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

Wow, I missed the whole month of November. If anyone's still checking in here, I offer you my deepest apologies! I blame Facebook for my absence. I got sidetracked for awhile but be assured that I'm reinvigorated and ready to blog. I give a few updates of what has happened in the Rusco House.

Halloween: For months Jason has been saying that he wants to be a Lego guy for Halloween and for months I just kept saying "uh-huh" and hoping that he would drop that idea. I guess he's too old for that sort of short-term memory now so I found myself on Halloween morning constructing a Lego head. I made it up on the fly with poster board, fabric, felt, duct tape and lots of glue. The miracle was that the head made it through the Harvest party with no problems (of course, it's the kind of thing that a kid wears for the pictures then rips it off to play games and jump in the bounce house.

Fall projects: We finally have some decent fall weather. The kids are playing outside all afternoon, every day and they've met some really great kids across the street. We went for a nature walk one afternoon, collected leaves and then brought them home for leaf prints.

I promise I'll be back with more updates, including a look at some Jedi moves and a nice Thanksgiving picture.

wish list

2009-10-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

Today Jason is constructing his Lego wish list. Not only does he write down what set he wants but he also includes the price, number of pieces and set number. He then cuts out each item and then tapes the list back together to make a cool design. I don't know what goes through his mind when he does this but every once in a while he constructs a list in the hope that someone out there will read it and buy something on it for him. It inspired me.

Because we home school we are at home ALL THE TIME! That's not a complaint, it's a statement of fact. So in the spirit of the great wish list master Jason, I too have constructed a wish list of things that would make our home schooling adventure a smoother ride.

Art and craft supplies:

paper: there's never enough paper, construction, computer printer, tissue, etc.
glue: sticks, white, crazy, rubber cement
paint: watercolors, acrylic
markers: they always dry out no matter how vigilant I am
tape: that's our battlecry, "WHERE'S THE TAPE!???"

Sports equipment:

balls: our neighbor has a steady stream of whiffle balls coming his way. We also would love soccer balls, basketballs, red rubber balls (like for dodgeball), plastic golfballs (because they sail over the fence nicely also...)
jump ropes
tennis shoes (because honestly, they wear out or grow out faster than you can imagine)

Games:

decks of cards: because a certain little baby loves to suck on them and then we always know who has the 9 of spades
Risk: ugh, I know, but the boy loves it!

Science kits:

stuff to grow: plants, ants, butterflies, whatever
rockets
chemistry sets
anything to do with building: I guess you could insert Legos here...
kid's cookbooks

So there's my wish list for now. It's kind of long but with Christmas coming maybe our school will get a big boost for the second semester. I'm just putting it out there, just like Jason, hoping and wishing!

(And for those of you who need a picture, here's Cameron dressed up in her own special way just to get the mail...)

aquarium

2009-10-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a great opportunity to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with our whole family and our friends for a home school day. We took off at 8:30 in the morning because Darren and I absolutely love a certain cinnamon roll shop on Cannery Row and we were determined to have a yummy snack before the aquarium. With treats in hand we found a bench and started to eat but looked up just in time to see a family from our group. Sheepishly we gobbled up our cinnamon rolls and spent some time talking with them. We were able to check in and enter without waiting for the rest of our group so we got the kids busy at the touch pools and bat ray tank right away. After such a long car ride they really needed to DO something!

After a while we were able to meet up with the rest of the gang. We ate our lunch outside and headed back in for more sights. I really liked the jellyfish and shark exhibits but the darkness was very uncomfortable for Cameron so we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked. The kids really enjoyed the seahorses, otters and penguins. After about three hours fish fatigue set in and we were done.

No day in Monterey would be complete without a stop at Dennis the Menace park so we took the kids over there to completely exhaust them before the long ride home. The kids loved climbing on the train engine and Jason took bravery to a new level as he explored the very top of the train. They also loved the suspension bridge, crazy slides and tunnels. When we were convinced that they were worn out we piled into the car for the ride home. Have you ever driven for two hours with three children in the back seat and experienced total silence? We have, and it is a beautiful thing!

Cameron's Riding Video

2009-10-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, this is Cameron. Since Jason got a biking video, I want to show one too.

Jason's Bike Movie

2009-10-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, this is Jason. I have a very cool movie to show you. And make sure you see my cool trick at the end.

birthday bonanza!

2009-10-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

October is a huge birthday month for our family. I could list all the birthdays of all our relatives but honestly, I'd probably leave someone out and then I'd lose a blog reader. And with my inconsistent blogging I need all the committed readers I can get!

Monday was Darren's 35th birthday. As he puts it, "halfway done". He's a little sarcastic.... The kids and I made a cake for him and wrapped all our fabulous gifts. I think he was pretty excited about the sticky spiders that he got from the kids and the ridiculous amount of sprinkles they poured on his cake. He said, "hey we could eat this cake at the beach!" and yeah, it was that crunchy!

Wednesday was Cameron's 4th birthday. Because she doesn't like big crowds and lots of attention we just invited two of her friends to come over and play for the afternoon. Cameron requested a mermaid theme party so I did my best to make that happen. I bought the girls unfinished wood boxes at Michael's and had them paint them. Then I pulled out a large bucket of assorted beads and let the girls fill their treasure chests (because you find treasure at the bottom of the sea, obviously). We enjoyed some delicious cake and opened a few presents. I think it was a success because Cameron did not cry or run and hide from her guests ( and yes, those were two very real possibilities!).

And just because.... Miss Hayden, crawling baby on the loose! She likes to use things like this Mater toy to climb up to a standing position. She's in that funny stage where she can stand up but then cries because she doesn't know what to do next. Just stay cute Hayden!

we're back!

2009-10-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings blog fans! We're back from an unfortunate blogging hiatus. Shortly after my last post on the fabulous viking sword and shield our power cord for Big Mac suffered an injury. We did our best to ration our battery power and get charges from relatives but it just wasn't enough. Yesterday while on our field trip to the big city (to go to a farm.... more on that later) we stopped by the Mac store for a free tune-up and purchased a new power cord. I'm a little miffed that I can buy an ipod shuffle for $49 but a power cord goes for $69. It hurts. The nerd at the desk told me everything was good during the systems check and they just had to deal with a few permissions issues..... what? Anyway, the most important part of the visit to the Mac doctor was that the nice fella glued my g key back on so I'm back to my speedy pecking.

So what happened around here during the power outage? Viking helmets of course! We used paper mache to create our fabulous helmets. And what color does a girl viking paint her helmet? Pink!
The other big news is that Fall has arrived. The kids wore sweatshirts for their morning recess and told me it was FREEZING outside!
And finally, our trip to the big city. Yesterday we went to San Luis to run errands and go to Avila Valley Barn with our home school friends. We had a great time on the hayride, in the pumpkin patch and in the hay maze. The kids love to run through the maze over and over again. Cameron has already painted her pumpkins and they are beautiful!

Cameron was completely accessorized.

I guess Jason was practicing his future prom pose....

we're vikings!

2009-09-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

I don't know why more people don't just drop everything and homeschool! Ok, I do know why but still, look at how fun it is to play with your kids!

Today is day two of our total Viking immersion program. Yesterday we went to the library and checked out a ton of books on Vikings and the countries of Scandinavia. Today we started on our costume, which of course must begin with a sword and shield. There's nothing that duct tape can't do! Tomorrow we will create a helmet and I'm still trying to think it through... perhaps a little papier mache is in order.

And by the way, did you celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th? We did! ARRRGH!

the flu or un-flu, but definitely NOT swine flu

2009-09-14T14:58:00.001-07:00

We're a house of little sickies these days. Jason came down with a nasty cold/cough/fever/dry heave thing on Thursday and on Friday we took him in to make sure it wasn't the BIG one. With a negative test result Jason and I headed home to share the good news and prepare for the imminent probability of the whole family's illness. So far just Cameron has caught the bug from her generous brother.

I've been spending my time wiping every surface with anti-bacterial wipes, drinking ridiculous amounts of water and refusing to get sick myself. The nights are full of interruptions, mostly from sweaty, feverish Cameron and Hayden who wakes up when her plug falls out of her mouth. Jason is a constant cougher but he still manages to sleep through it all. We've watched a lot of movies, played Uno, Sorry, Life, Monopoly and eaten a lot of crackers.

Today the weather has been great so we went outside for a little fresh air. We harvested our carrot crop ( sigh...) and untangled the table and chairs from the enormous pumpkin vine. I think the lack of bees has affected this plant as there's lots of flowers but maybe only one pumpkin forming.

And now, I'm off to play another game with Jason.

i told you i'd crawl soon

2009-09-14T14:54:00.001-07:00

I mostly do it when you're not looking. I'm very good at making my way around the living room. I really like finding strange things to put in my mouth. My big brother and sister have a lot of cool toys and I'm on my way to eat them.... bye!

2009-09-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

We're back at it and the blog suffers once again! Here are a few pictures from school. In the shot above Cameron is glueing cereal to the letter a. She is doing a basic letter of the week program, Bible readings and nursery rhymes. We're studying the letter b this week. So, that means reading some Brown Bear, Brown Bear or as Jason used to call it, "Bobber, Bobber". today was our 09-09-09 party. The kids made cupcake toppers while the cupcakes cooled. We frosted, sprinkled and topped the cupcakes then enjoyed some Sprite in our fancy glasses while we played Sudoku (get it?). Happy 09-09-09 everyone!

it wasn't pretty but it's done

2009-08-31T13:19:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of school. All summer long I dreamed about this glorious day and how the kids and I would come together in this beautiful symphony of learning and love. I poured over my notes, created a week of lessons for Cameron, made copies and gathered supplies. I went to bed last night in eager anticipation.

And then, Hayden woke up at 4:30am. No problem, a quick little bottle and back to bed, then a couple more hours of sleep.

And then, Cameron woke up, panicked about something, calling for me. No problem, I just climbed into bed with her and tried to fall back asleep, because honestly, at this point I just wanted to sleep. This was not as easy as I thought it would be. For the next two hours she would lean over me and peek behind the blinds to see if the sun was up. For Cameron, if the sun is up, she must be up. Finally after 2 hours of this interrupted sleep and the constant smell of urine from her very full Pull-up we went out to the living room to watch Little Einsteins. I groggily got breakfast for the kids and coffee for myself and then dutifully ran on the dreadmill. Our goal was to start school at 9am and I was determined to meet that goal!

I shooed the kids out of the house to ride bikes at 8:30 so I could finish cleaning up breakfast and set out our schoolwork. It was at this moment that Hayden decided to let loose and fill up her diaper. Being the overachiever that she is she also sent poop up her back. We hustled off to her room to clean her up, change her, clean up the changing table, start a load of laundry and then clean my hands. Nine o'clock was approaching quickly!

Finally, we were ready. I took a picture of the kids and we sat down for prayer and Bible. Cameron was psyched about preschool. She was so attentive that I ran out of activities for her. This has got to be a fluke. I'm sure tomorrow she'll be taking off as soon as I give her the green light. Both kids had forgotten how much time and attention goes into a school morning. We have school from 9 until 12 with a snack and break at 10:15. Highlights of the morning include listening to geography songs and coloring their maps and learning about chimps in science.

After lunch (fishsticks.... my kids are crazy about fishsticks right now, ugh!) I sent them off to play and got back to the business of keeping house. There were floors to clean and the load of girl laundry to finish. And then of course, computer time, a wonderful reward for such a long morning!

So there it is, our first day. Only 179 more to go... they won't be pretty but they'll get done. Along the way there will be laughs, tears, discoveries, and fun, and I'll try to keep you updated about it all... now please excuse me while I get another cup of coffee.

3 year olds are weird

2009-08-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

I remember when Jason was 3 years old and he would do really strange things. We have pictures of him wearing only underwear , climbing up a staircase, with a stuffed animal sticking out of the back of his undies. Jason was an orderly, neat little 3 year old, he played with imagination based in reason. Cameron is a completely different kid. She plays with imagination based in craziness. Tonight she was marching around the driveway in her "fishing soldier" costume.

She was re-enacting a scene from Tom & Jerry, by yelling out "Bu-shay bushika!" (the line is supposed to be "Touche, pussycat!"). This came from an episode where Jerry was trying to become a mouseketeer (like Musketeer, not a Disney kid). She would pull off her hat and take a deep bow every time she passed by me.

I'm sure this makes very little sense as you read it, but to me it is hilarious. She has adopted quirks from other movies also. Tonight Jason was explaining to me why Cameron has started closing the door after she leaves a room, apparently that habit was picked up from Charlie & Lola.

The other day when Darren was fixing the sprinklers she insisted on wearing her bathing suit and running through the water. And then she needed goggles. There's nothing funnier than a kid wearing goggles.

These funny times really get me through the rough spots with her. I ought to document the meltdowns as well as the good times, but somehow pulling out the camera is not my first thought when we're in the middle of a Hurricane Cameron!

if at first you don't succeed...

2009-08-18T10:19:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while we'll pull out Jason's bike to see if he can ride it. Last night, Cameron was riding her beautiful princess bike around the garage and Jason got it in himself to give his bike another try. He and Darren set off down the sidewalk, and what do you know.... he did it! The hardest part is getting going and we have those pesky dips in our sidewalks, but within a half an hour Jason was riding like a pro. He even rode down to the mailbox to pick up the mail for us.

Also yesterday Cameron did more weird things with her hair.

She is a major source of embarrassment for her very mature older brother.

And Hayden continues to be adorable.

b hawk

2009-08-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Cameron says the weirdest things. Lately I've been pulling her bangs back into a clip or a headband so that she can see and hopefully grow out her bangs. The other day she called the pulled back bangs her "b hawk". I guess it's like mohawk, only for bangs. Little weirdo!

edible art

2009-08-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Today we had a delicious art lesson. Cameron and I whipped up a batch of chocolate pudding. While it set we cleaned off the table, stripped off the kid's shirts and found some colorful paper. In less than 10 minutes the kids were happily settled in to make pudding art. Jason made a truck of course and Cameron declared her piece to be a family picture with a few friends included. The art quickly turned into snack time as the painting decreased and the licking increased. The kids decided this was by far the best art project we have done!

arting results

2009-08-04T10:18:00.001-07:00

Here are the final results of yesterday's arting experience. Jason made a street scene complete with truck and In n Out while Cameron made a roller coaster. Enjoy!

arting

2009-08-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last night Cameron announced, "Mom, I need to do some more arting." We had a good laugh and then got her supplies out. Cameron enjoys gluing pictures into a notebook. At back to school time I stock up on notebooks (usually 10-15 cents each) and gluesticks (20 cents for a two pack). Then I spend a few minutes cutting out pictures of kids, animals and toys from catalogs and magazines. I did this when Jason was 2 and 3 years old and now Cameron is enjoying this activity too. She calls it her "family album".

We're also starting a long term art project today. A while back I bought a 2 pack of artist's canvases at Micheal's. I got out all of our acrylic paints, paintbrushes and plenty of newspapers and set up a painting studio for the kids. Jason is diligently working on a background for his cool car creations. Cameron is diligently working on smearing every color together in a big brown splotch. They were very excited to learn that they could let the paint dry and then paint over it some more. I'll take pictures of the process... after all, arting is a process!

cheap chick

2009-08-02T21:20:00.001-07:00

Tonight I spent $35.20 on groceries for this week. I'd like to say that I did it all with coupons, but in fact I didn't use any. This week we'll be eating from our pantry and freezer, making meals from all the odds and ends that get forgotten or ignored in the deep corners. I bought just a few supplies like eggs, butter, flour and coffee to stock up the basics then added in a few extras like lunchmeat and fresh vegetables to round out my menu plan. I went through the freezer and took stock of what meats and frozen vegetables were lurking there, then I went over to the pantry and pulled everything to the front. It's amazing what you can find when you look! I'm looking forward to a few meals this week, especially spaghetti with sauce made from fresh tomatoes from Nanny and Pops' garden.

This summer I decided to really get down to the business of saving money with coupons and store deals. I've discovered that there's really no need to pay full price for beauty/ health items ever again, and there's always a way to get these things for free. Last month I worked on a deal at Rite Aid and soon I'll be getting a $25 gift card and a voucher for a free package of diapers just for buying the things I normally would but taking the time to register for their rewards program.

My favorite and most thrilling savings come from the clearance racks at my favorite stores. I scored a pair of jeans for $5 at Target recently and I can't tell you how good that feels (actually it feels just like the time I found a pair of jeans at Old Navy for $5...). I love finding kids clothes for less than $3 and in fact I've actually put things back because $4 felt like too much! Saving money has become a game in our house and it's pretty fun. Please post your money saving tips and stop by my new favorite blog www.moneysavingmom.com

warning

2009-07-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

I might crawl soon... I don't know, I mean, I've got all this space, there's toys everywhere, none of them belong to me so maybe I ought to just start taking over. It might make the big kids pay attention to me a little more... maybe. I just need to get a little stronger, push myself up and figure out how to move these arms and legs with a little purpose. I'll get back to you, maybe I'll crawl soon, maybe not... stay tuned.

summer

2009-07-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Now that we are in the middle of summer the memories of my childhood summers are flooding back to me. Jason is 7 years old now and I have clear memories of being 7 and doing some of the same things that he's doing. First of all, Jason loves to play board games and card games. Cameron likes to play too, but she's likely to drop out after a few rounds whereas Jason will play until I drop out. The other day the kids and I were playing LIFE. I usually try to do the "right" thing and start out by going to college (even though you have to start the game with a loan). Jason prefers to take the career route. Inevitably, he ends up with a higher salary than me, a cooler job, and more money at the end of the game. Yesterday, Cameron's profession was professional athlete. She immediately left the living room, ran to her room and put on her baseball shirt, glove and hat. She came back ready to play. Jason was an entertainer, so he ran and got his guitar so he could put on shows during the game. I was a doctor. I lost. I feel weird playing LIFE, it's eerily right on sometimes...

Our other summer activity has been the library. Once again we're in the reading program, earning cool freebies like ice cream, hamburgers, children's museum passes and free books. I can clearly remember walking to the library in Gonzales and picking out a yellow-spined Nancy Drew mystery to read. Then we would cross the street to the post office and I would try to avoid looking at all the FBI wanted posters while my mom checked our box. I guess that's kind of a creepy memory...

Today after we got back from the library I set up the slip n slide, got on my bathing suit and waited to see how long it would take the kids to find me and join in. It wasn't long! Here are a few shots of all the fun (did you honestly think I would post pictures of myself?).

cousin time

2009-07-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

This week has been all about cousins. Noah and Kadin are here all the way from Uganda so we have been spending lots of time playing together. The kids have been slipping and sliding at Nanny and Pops' house, eating Otter Pops and grilled cheeses and having a great time.

In other news, Darren is now on Facebook. However, in the process of making his account he managed to completely erase me from the Facebook universe. I'll be restarting this evening. If you see this please re-friend me. Thanks!

box day

2009-07-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

FYI: Box Day is a really big deal. Box Day is the day that the Fed Ex truck pulls up to our door and some poor schmuck has to lug our 75 lb. box of books up to our door in the 100 degree heat. Box Day is the day that Jason gets excited about his upcoming school year. Box Day is my Christmas in July. Our 2nd grade materials arrived today and Jason and I had the pleasure of opening up our box and spreading out all the wonderful books all over the living room floor. Cameron was asleep but Hayden got in on the action by chewing on the bag of math cubes (Warning: those little tiny cubes are not for small children... they also hurt just as much as legos when you step on them...). I spent some time this evening organizing my binder and reading over the plans for this year. I like the way Sonlight has streamlined their Instructor Guides, I think it's great the way the schedule, questions and maps are all together for each week's assignments. You don't know what I'm talking about though.... I'm just geeking out over the shiney new books! Darren warned me that ordering so early will make Jason anxious to get started so I'm going to do my best to hold him back, at least until August.

bad blogger, bad, bad!

2009-06-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

Have you been disappointed in me the last two weeks? I understand, I've been disappointed in myself too. To make up for it, I'll give you a whirlwind tour of the last few weeks:

1. Hayden photo shoots. I've been trying my best to be an equal opportunity photographer for my children. I don't want any of them to grow up and say "you loved _____ more than me because he/she has more pictures." I'm trying, but gosh darn it, some kids just love the camera a little too much:

2. My birthday. On the 15th I turned 32 years old. I'm not crazy about the fact that every year the number gets higher, but I do like a day where I get presents and eat cake. I guess I'll compromise, just give me an extra slice of cake...We all went out to dinner at Chili's ("I feel God in this Chili's tonight") and then went bowling. It was a great evening, very fun and the kids keep asking to do it again.

3. Guests. Last week we hosted our friends Mark and Stacie Wheeler and their three kids, Cy, Caleb and Abi. We were glad to see our old friends (Mark and Darren were college roommates) and the kids were glad to play together.

4. Staying cool. The temperature is finally rising after a dreary beginning of June. We've been staying cool in our little pool and slip n' slide. Hayden looks cute in her swimsuit but isn't a fan of the cold water.Again, couldn't get a picture of her alone, Miss Cam needs to be in every shot!

last day of school

2009-06-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today was Jason's last day of first grade! Well, technically we finished our work yesterday, but honestly, the last day of school is usually just a party day anyway. So today, our scholar requested an In-n-Out lunch and then we went to see the movie Up.

This was Cameron and Hayden's first movie theater experience... Hayden had the more enjoyable experience! Cameron's favorite part of the movie was seeing Cinderella's castle during the Walt Disney tag. The movie was very good, but to all those who told me that it wasn't scary... you were wrong according to Cam's standards.

We are very proud of Jason for all his hard work this year. His favorite subject was history with science following in a close second. I've already started making my list for next year of things to try differently, curriculum to buy and places to go. Year 1 of homeschool: success!

mmmmmm..... toes!

2009-06-04T18:12:00.001-07:00

hayden's big week

2009-05-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hayden had a really exciting week. She'd like everyone to know that she can sit up now... almost on her own. She prefers this position to lying on her back because now that she's seen the view there's no going back.

WWWAAAAAAA!!! I 'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm very discontent, I'm....

I'm sitting up! Hey this is great, this makes me so happy, why haven't I done this before? I'm, uh-oh...

I'm down! Baby down!

In other news, Hayden sat in the highchair and had a few bites of applesauce this week. Attention grandparents: this is not a declaration of open season on feeding the baby. Please refrain from giving her "just a taste" of ice cream, popsicles, marshmallows or any other non-approved foods. Thank you for your cooperation.

Also this week, Hayden put on her super-cute bathing suit and took a dip in the pool. Jason snapped a few pictures for us.

Sorry about the angle here but I censored most of the other pics of Hayden in the pool because I was directly behind her, in my bathing suit... and you don't need to see that!

tortillas

2009-05-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I taught Jason how to make tortillas. He and Darren had been to a restaurant earlier in the week that made fresh tortillas and Darren reminded me that I used to make homemade tortillas ages ago. So, to appease my hungry guys we made a batch. For those who would like to give it a try, here's the recipe:

3c. flour
1/2 tbs. baking powder
1/2 tbs. salt
1/4c. shortening
1c. hot water

If your lucky enough to have a Kitchen Aid then just mix up the dry ingredients and slowly add in the hot water until a smooth dough forms on the dough hook. If you don't have one then just mix it up in a big bowl with your hands and pat yourself on the back for being so authentic!

Knead your dough on a floured surface until it has the consistency of a fresh can of play-dough (Jason totally understood this point). Divide your dough into 12 golf ball sized balls and put them under wax paper or saran wrap to keep the dough from drying out. Roll out each ball into a thin round (or mostly round) sheet and cook on a dry griddle about 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. A done tortilla has a few air bubbles and a few brown spots. Keep the warm tortillas between two towels until ready to serve, again, to keep them from drying out.

abalone farm

2009-05-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went on a field trip to the abalone farm in Cayucos. What's that, you didn't know there was an abalone farm in Cayucos? It's no wonder, the farm is located down an unmarked dirt road, off the highway, past several No Trespassing signs... it's not exactly a place that wants a lot of attention. Abalone is pretty special stuff, and this farm has about 4 million creatures in various stages of life all with the goal of being sold for a handsome price. We met up with several other home schooling families for the tour which was led by a guy who had obviously handled school groups before. The kids got to see all the tanks, learn about the life cycle and even hold and feed an abalone. At the end of the tour they got to pick out shells to take home. We completed our escape to the coast with lunch and some time at the park before heading back over the hills to the heat of San Miguel. Our guide shows the kids the underside of the shell where on the females, a greenish sack lies, burdened by the million babies she is about to have.Jason holds a one and a half year old abalone... we forgot to wash his hands before lunch...eeeeeewwwwww!Jason and his lady friends feed kelp to the mature abalone... he really needs more boyfriends...er, BOY friends! Ha!
Where were the girls? Hayden was strapped to my chest, against her will and Cameron was clinging to my leg, against my will... she was not happy with the field trip, it was getting in the way of her time eating and playing, and this was not the trip to the beach that she had anticipated.

friends, Romans, countrymen...

2009-05-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

Lend me your ears! Yesterday I gave Jason a mini-lecture about finishing strong. We have 4 more weeks of school left and I want them to be great, not a half-hearted struggle. My speech was inspiring... or at least, I was inspired, so today I added in a craft project that spurred a full-blown dress-up session. We are studying the Roman empire and the craft was a simple broach. Well, every good Roman had a broach in the shape of an animal to represent one of their gods. Jason chose a giraffe... I'm not quite sure which god that represents. Since he had a broach, he needed a cloak to pin it to and since he needed a cloak, he needed a toga to wear underneath. Pretty soon, little sis was in on the action and we had two Roman kids in our living room. We did a little math lesson on our slate (chalkboard, not beeswax) and read poetry (James Whitcomb Riley, not Euripides or Sappho). We'll be reclining to eat lunch today and I'll be supervising a dagger fight and perhaps some wrestling later this afternoon.

In other news... Hayden rolled over today, on her own, completely! She's so cute!

vacation, part 2

2009-05-12T11:25:00.001-07:00

We had another segment of vacation last week when we headed down south to Knott's Berry Farm and an Angels game. The contrast between motorhome and hotel room is staggering. The kids had a blast at the near-empty park (Tuesdays during the school year are great days to go) and went on rides multiple times. Jason was a really brave guy and went on a few roller coasters, and as it turns out, he's hooked! Cameron loved Camp Snoopy and the carousel. Hayden put up with it all in her usual agreeable way.

on vacation

2009-05-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile since the last post. We've been spending a few weeks on vacation. Last week we went "camping" in the Santa Cruz mountains. I put camping in quotes because we were in the motorhome... with full hook-ups... cable TV... and Wi-Fi. Since we canceled our cable a few weeks ago the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven with full access to the Disney Channel. When the rain came down we were not soaking wet like I've experienced in a tent... for days on end... with a pesky little brother and his yappy dog. Instead we were luxuriously housed in the box on wheels... together... for days on end... in a tiny little space... Yet somehow the kids still managed an incredible amount of injuries and a ridiculous ability to get grime in every nook and cranny of their little bodies... even Hayden had dirt under her fingernails! In spite of the rain and the close quarters we got out to Roaring Camp and the Boardwalk. We all enjoyed the train ride up the mountain and back again and Jason especially enjoyed the miniature golf at the Boardwalk (2 hole in ones... or is it holes in one?). It's a short drive and beautiful scenery so we'll definitely go again... maybe next time with a tent!Anybody seen the movie "Stand by Me"? Don't look it up mom, you don't want to know what we did here...
Ever nurse a baby on an 1880's steam train in the rain? Fun times!
The golf pros! Check out Cam in her pink "train girl" hat.. this girl loves to dress up and wear hats.
We played enough skeeball to win tickets and turn them in for vampire teeth. Everybody's got to have a set of vampire teeth!

happy birthday jason!

2009-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

On this day, 7 years ago Jason made his way into the world after 2 days of labor. Taking his sweet time... not much has changed. The boy who has the longest attention span of any kid ever is 7 years old today. Last night Darren put on video from his first birthday ( I cried, he was so cute...). Today we'll have a little party with all the grandparents. We'll eat too much and he'll get too many presents. And 7 years from now I'll probably cry again just thinking back to his 7th birthday and how cute he was. I won't be able to tell him he's cute at 14, good grief, I can't even say it now without an exasperated "Moooooooommmm!" He's a great kid, we love him to pieces and I can't believe time has flown by so fast! Happy Birthday Jason, we love you!
The kids found our tennis rackets yesterday. They played Guitar Hero, the cheap version... Jason rocks!

happy easter!

2009-04-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter weekend, with lots of egg hunts! The kids went to Grammy's house on Friday to color eggs and then hunt for them. We went to Nanny & Pop's house on Saturday to eat and search for eggs and then Sunday after church we went to San Luis to search for more eggs (Jesus, who? It must be confusing to have so many egg hunts while celebrating the resurrection.). The kids got way too much candy and most of it is stashed way up high in the pantry. Out of sight, out of mind totally works on our kids. So on to the pictures:

pretzel day

2009-04-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's activities were a hit! We still have a few hems to sew for the banner so I hope to get to that today. The pretzels were very yummy and very simple to make. All pictures were taken by Jason:This is our yeast getting foamy. Yeast is pretty cool.Of course Cameron was in full baker girl costume.Hayden was not interested in baking; she prefers life in the jumparoo.Like I said earlier, Jason was the photographer for the day. This is his point of view. Sometimes pictures turn out great like this, other times pictures include unflattering shots of my rear end. I'll need to jump ahead about 20 pictures in order to spare myself a little embarrassment.

After hearing far too many giggles I finally snatched the camera away and took these last few shots. Pretzel day was a success!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADIN!

2009-04-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

That's right everybody, today is Kadin's birthday. So head on over to stonesinuganda and wish the little guy a very happy day.

Easter week

2009-04-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

This week should be busy here on the blog. I have a lot of Easter projects and crafts planned for the kids, so hopefully I'll get them posted for you all to enjoy. We planted a few containers last week for a vegetable garden, or to be more accurate, a salsa garden. The potato project didn't exactly pan out... as usual my brown thumb struck again. But this time I bought Cameron a little watering can of her own so if these plants fail it certainly won't be from a LACK of water! Today's projects include homemade soft pretzels and we begin work on our "He is risen" banner. Pictures soon....

red velvet cake, people... red velvet cake!

2009-03-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I finally did it! Making a red velvet cake has been a far off goal that I've had for some time but this past weekend gave me the perfect opportunity (wow, that sentence was ugly...). Anyway, Cams put on the baker girl uniform and off we went!
The scary thing about this cake is the crazy amount of red food coloring (1 oz.) that you pour into the batter... it has to be unhealthy, although once you commit to baking a cake you've pretty much thrown health concerns out the window.
A funny thing happened while making the cream cheese frosting. I was supposed to make a batch and a half of the frosting, all the reviews I had read suggested making one and a half times the given amount to properly cover the three layer cake. Well, since math isn't my strong suit I accidently TRIPLED the batch...not exactly a terrible problem to have if you ask me...

So what was the occasion for this cake and crazy amount of frosting? Why, Nanny's birthday of course! Happy Birthday, Mom!

I just had to throw this picture in... kids + goggles= funny!

the motorhome

2009-03-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Sorry it's been 11 days since my last post. The days seem to blur together so easily. First I have to start with this picture: how cute are these girls?

Ok, got that out of my system. Next, a report on last weekend. Darren brought the motorhome home so we could take it to the beach for a fire night. The kids LOVE the motorhome. They gladly helped him clean it up. load it up and gas it up so we could go to Avila. Even Hayden got in on the excitement.

We picked up our friends, Tim & Corina, or as Cameron likes to say, "Tim & co-WEENA". Our kids LOVE Tim & Corina. So we were off to a good start. When we arrived Darren made his amazing avocado salsa (it's not my place to divulge the recipe, I'm going to let him share his secret recipe with the world) and we started snacking. Then we played, then we made fire. Cameron loves fire. Not in a pyro kind of way, just in an excited little girl kind of way. We roasted hot dogs and ate way too many chips & dip. Just as it was time to roast marshmallows a habor patrol gentleman drove onto the beach and started extinguishing fires. I'm not kidding, he drove to the end of the beach, stopped, talked to the couple there and then pulled out a fire extinguisher and put out their fire, right in front of them! We watched this transpire and wondered if he would do that to us... to our kids! He stopped at our fire and kindly asked us to put ours out as well, explaining that they only allow fires when the metal rings are out on the beach. We dutifully poured sand on our fire and then made sad faces, pictured here:
It was still light enough to play outside for awhile so we didn't let the lack of fire ruin our night. We played a few rounds of Whoonu and then headed for home. While driving back Darren and I talked about where we would go the next day. In the morning the kids headed out to play in the motorhome in their pajamas and we decided there was no need to drive anywhere, they were perfectly content to play parked right outside our own house!

projects

2009-03-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show a few projects to you. Yesterday we took a few over ripe potatoes, cut them up and started a little water garden. The hope is that the eyes will sprout a little more and roots will grow down into the water. Then we'll plant our own potato plants. Or, more realistically, the said potatoes will sprout, turn into a stinky mess, get planted and then be promptly forgotten by yours truly, the brown-thumbed gardener. Place your bets...

Also, I've been checking out a blog called Art Projects for Kids (right here on blogger) and I finally got my act together and did one of the projects with the kids. Here are our kitties. Cute! The blogger is an art teacher and she posts instructions for her weekly projects that she teaches in her class. Jason can follow the directions pretty well and Cameron tags along with a lot of help from mom.

And finally, a few random thoughts:

1. We are running out of wooden spoons! Somehow, the little fellas decided that 12 and a half years of use was enough and they are all bowing out of the game and heading for wooden spoon retirement in the trash. I'm also losing other utensils at an astonishing pace. Either my kitchen skills are brutal or it's time to reload the drawer.

2. I discovered Nutella. Well, not technically, but I discovered that it is a very yummy spread for graham crackers. And it makes me look cool and sophisticated when I put it in my shopping cart. Someday I'll class it up a bit and make some crepes for the chocolate hazelnut spread. Until then, just know that I am a cosmopolitan girl and very sophisticated... me and my graham crackers.

3. Who thought that a clear vacuum canister was a good idea? It's disgusting. It makes me neurotic and keeps me vacuuming constantly so I can get all the stuff I didn't know existed on the carpet.

4. Jason has a corny sense of humor. This weekend I asked him to make cards for his AWANA leaders for Leader Appreciation night. He drew a dump truck and wrote "I've had loads of fun!" Get it? I couldn't stop laughing... I guess that means I have a corny sense of humor too.

school days

2009-03-09T13:10:00.001-07:00

"Gee, Jen, it's been awhile since your last post. Where have you been?"
"WII FIT ISLAND, BABY!"

Over a week ago Darren came home from a day of meetings and errands with a little surprise for the whole gang. (I know, I just used the words "gee" and "the gang". We recently finished a book about some kids set in the 1950's so it's been a little "Leave it to Beaver"-ish in my head.) The thing about Darren is that he's an impulse buyer and some days those impulses are really fun! Wii Fit is that game with the balance board, it allows you to do yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games right in your living room. The board also acts as a scale and keeps track of your fitness progress, helps you set goals and acts as a coach. Some days Wii Fit is downright snarky and gives you a hard time if your weight climbs up. Some days Wii Fit is my friend and I love it. Everyday, Wii Fit gives a chance to realize how uncoordinated and unbalanced I am! We've also discovered that Jason is a running machine and Darren has got remarkable dance abilities. I'm hoping to figure out how to get a video out to the masses... maybe I'll call the guys from You Tube and see if they can come out t film it...

In other news, Cameron has been participating in school. She has decided that she wants to do school work (I know this sounds familiar... her interest in "kindergarten" faded after 3 days so this is different). She sits down with us at the table every day to do workbooks. She knows how to spell her name but refuses to learn how to form the letters. Instead she scribbles at the top of every page while reciting "C-A-M-E-R-O-N! There, that's my name!" It turns out that she just knows a lot of stuff. I never taught her how to spell her name or which hand is right and which is left but somehow she just surprises us. I guess she's really paying attention when she seems to be in her own world.

We're studying ancient China right now so Jason and I have decided that we'll probably need to eat at Panda Express a few times to really appreciate the culture and get an understanding for all things Chinese. It's a tough subject but we'll tackle it one bite of orange chicken at a time!

just for fun

2009-02-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

No joke, we studied the Persians today. The kids love this video and I hear Jason singing it every once in a while. I don't mind poking a little fun at ourselves!

i'm learning so much!

2009-02-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

Jason nearly fainted when I told him this the other day. I think he was shocked to hear that 1. I don't know everything, 2. I forget a lot of things, and 3. his schoolwork is interesting to me. Last week our school schedule was thrown off because of illness and holidays so we spent some time playing catch up. We did a few projects, read a few books and the best project: a timeline! I've always wanted to integrate the history that I've learned with the Bible so since Jason is studying the ancient world we did just that. He's been helping me with my Bible studies this year, together we've read through Joshua, Judges, Ruth and now we're in 1 Samuel. In school he's read through a kid's Bible and together we've read through Genesis and now we're in Exodus. So this kid has also been studying ancient Egypt, Greece and now Rome. So last week we made a huge timeline and wrote in all the major events from creation to Jesus. I love the pictures that he drew: a few pyramids, the ark, a Trojan horse, Alexander fighting the elephants in India, Odysseus vs. the Cyclops, a very muscular Samson, Romulus and Remus and their wolf-mother and some heirogylphics. Ever since we've put it up on the wall we've used it as a reference, added to it and totally enjoyed it. I don't know who likes school more, me or Jason!

On another note, here's Cameron at four o'clock in the afternoon. Some days are rough!

sickies win

2009-02-19T12:58:00.001-08:00

Look at this sweet face. Now imagine that this cutie has had a two-pack-a-day habit for the last 30 years. Yeah, that's the sound of RSV. Sweet little Hayden caught her brother and sister's cold from last week. We thought she would fight it off but Monday night she developed a cough and on Tuesday morning I knew I should take her in to the doctor. Just as I suspected the snot test showed RSV (that's the roto virus... I'm sure there's more to the roto part, but I don't want to look it up). Since it's a viral strain there's nothing to do to treat it except make her comfortable. She sleeps in a room with a humidifier and I sacrificially take super long showers so she can breathe in the steamy air (I know, I'm a saint...). Now why in the world did we have to give Cameron nebulizer treatments when she had RSV? I think it was a cruel trick... making us pin down Cameron who remarkably, has the strength of 10 men. I think I may have blogged about it- I can't believe that I've been at it for so long! Anyway, Hayden is a trooper. She is handling this illness very well and it's quite nice to have an excuse to hold her a little more often.

valentine's day

2009-02-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

I know, it's a little late. But, several of you have been over to Darren's blog and noticed the clue for Jason posted there so I thought i would explain. Every year on Valentine's Day Darren makes some sort of scavenger hunt for the kids. This year was fun as always. Since it was a Saturday we started the hunt as soon as Jason got up in the morning. We had him get dressed (warmly) and sent him to the mailbox for his first clue. The clue was in an envelope addressed to Jason. Inside was a message that he had to decode.

The clue sent him over to the table where we had been working on a puzzle. He found the next clue taped underneath the table.

This clue sent him to the coldest place n the house, 4 degrees to be exact. Inside the freezer he found the next clue which sent him to a secret place above the kitchen and below the roof.

Cool, right? Jason loves going up in the attic. The next clue sent him to dad's blog and wouldn't you know it, the kid can log on and find it himself! Many of you saw that the clue read: a new Mii. Jason immediately knew to turn on the Wii and look for a new character that had been made overnight. Both kids instantly spotted the newbie, a large man named "pantry". Jason's Valentine's Day prize, a new Lego set, was indeed hiding in the pantry!

Next, it was Cameron's turn. Darren used his amazing art talent to draw picture clues for her. She started out skeptically, but soon grew excited.

Her favorite picture by far was the one of her jumping on her trampoline. Surprisingly, the toughest picture for her to figure out was the table and chairs! Cameron made her way from clue to clue until finally she found her prize, a new princess doll, in the pack n play.

It was a very fun morning and the kids enjoyed their scavenger hunts very much. I hope Darren's prepared for the years to come... 3 kids require lots of clues and creativity!

do this project now!

2009-02-12T17:03:00.001-08:00

A few days ago I had the kids make a map of their heart. I drew a big heart and then asked them to draw or write down all the things that were in their heart. Cameron, of course, scribbled some beautiful scribbles. Jason cracked me up. Inside his heart were things like Mario Kart, Legos, trains and books. The only family member he wrote in there was Hayden and I'm glad he included Jesus too. But the one that got me: FRUIT! What?!

li'l sickies go on a field trip

2009-02-12T16:43:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, you're questioning my judgment in taking the kiddos out today. That's ok, I question myself constantly. But today was one of those days when I just knew staying indoors would create monsters out of my children so I opted to go out. We had a field trip scheduled for today and I didn't want to miss it on account of a little snot.

We've been spending the last 2 days (or 3?) in "legoland". "Legoland" is the condition of our living room floor when we dump out all of Jason's legos, sort them into color groups then attempt to build all of his sets. You may be asking, "gee, Jen, why don't you just keep the sets together in Ziplocs bags?" That would be too simple, friends. And it would not be very fun for a certain young man who likes to build his own creations. A few days ago he asked me why he didn't get more Lego sets for Christmas (he got one set). I told him that it was discouraging to his dad and me when we walk by his room and see all the legos all over the floor, in the laundry, the car and all sorts of other places. Why should we get more legos when you don't care for the ones you already have? That set the wheels in motion for Lego project '09. He recruited me to help him sort 6 drawers of Legos (yeah, 6!). Strangely, I enjoyed this project because organizing things makes me happy. So far we've built the airport, airplane, recycling truck, 2 houses, a cargo truck, ambulance and police helicopter. We still have several small vehicles to build, but progress is being made. I've promised to buy him a bookshelf to display this collection (and to help contain his book addiction) when we finish. To be honest, I'm kind of having fun building with Legos. One of the great benefits of having kids is playing with their toys!

Ok, so on to the field trip. We went to the post office in Atascadero today. It was a very informative tour. The best piece of advice I came away with: pack with care! If your package can withstand being tossed into a tub 8 times then it will survive the US mail! Otherwise, use "fragile" stickers. I took a picture of the kids looking at the truck. I didn't post pictures of inside the building for fear of the Fed knocking at my door. Oh, Jason's the kid in the navy blue hooded sweatshirt (that kid loves a hood... his hair is always messed up!).

little sickies

2009-02-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

I don't know if that's a word, my spell check says it's not. But that's what we have today, little sickies. Cameron is the worst off, she's got a fabulous river of snot running down her face and sad watery eyes, and a pathetic phlegmy cough. (Hey, how come spell check let me have "phlegmy" but not "sickie"?) Jason's got the watery eyes, cough and the amazing ability to keep his runny nose contained by sniffing like a mad man... no time to blow his nose. I'm pretty convinced that the cure for the common cold is baked goods so I made a batch of muffins and I think I'll make some cookies this afternoon. I also have plans to wipe down the entire house with Lysol wipes and continue to wash my hands at a rate that will quickly turn my hands to dry, chapped replicas of their former selves. Hayden's fine by the way, she and I will stick together in this epic battle between sickies and healthies!

park day

2009-02-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be nice to take advantage of our 70 degree winter weather and go to the park today. Tomorrow we're supposed to get rain (hmmm... we'll see how significant it is). We packed a lunch and picked up Darren from church. Check out the big gaping hole in Jason's mouth. I did that. Sunday he bit into a cheeseburger and jostled his loose tooth to the point of agony so I stepped up and took care of it for him. It was disgusting! MOM-- STOP READING HERE! I could actually feel the tooth's roots rip from the gums and then it bled all over the bathroom counter. Poor kid, he gurgled and spit forever trying to get all the blood out of his mouth. OK MOM, YOU CAN CONTINUE AGAIN. You may be wondering why his dad didn't take care of this... I'll let him leave a comment. I can't believe I have the stronger stomach for this sort of thing! Cam had an interesting day today. She was painting, decided to rub her eye and ended up with green paint in her eye. I tried my best to wipe it out but the best solution was real tears. She was doing her fake cry during this whole incident but as soon as I announced that I'd need to get eyedrops the huge crocodile tears started to flow. I bet she doesn't even know what eyedrops are, it just sounded awful to her. And Hayden, just another day in the life of easy-going Hayden. Her smiles are becoming more frequent and intentional. She lights up for the kids and makes me and Darren work harder for a smile.

science

2009-01-31T20:32:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that Darren is home on Fridays! This is the day that our science experiments are scheduled. Usually I can handle a first grade science experiment, but this week, things got a little beyond me. You know, it wasn't beyond me too much, I just couldn't figure out how to strip wire. Of course, I was using kid scissors. That didn't help. So here's a picture of our solenoid (sp?). We used it to make a mini railroad signal. Nothing catches Jason's attention like science + trains! I think I got a little nervous, like maybe this is out of my league when we realized that the ends of the batteries could get pretty hot. The gist of this is to see that the battery/wire combo makes a magnet.

Oh, and by the way, here's our cute baby and her big sister (with a belt on her head... don't ask.)

update

2009-01-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

So last week I posted that we were going on a radio station tour. Sorry it's taken so long to update you faithful readers. Here's the scoop: it was lame. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time being with our friends, going out to lunch, being away from the homestead, but as for touring the station? Lame. It would have been better if we were in the group led by the lady who knew what she was talking about, however, our humble little group was led by the receptionist. Not the Pam Beasly type, more like the Britney Spears type. Her big emphasis was on the awesomeness of the prize room (it's the room where contest winners get to pick out their prizes... get it?). She also was into explaining what kind of music each station in their family of 4 stations plays. She also had the nerve to insult the moms of our group by telling the kids that we probably weren't familiar with the rock or pop stations in their group, but rather the oldies station. Excuse Me! Just because I don't dress like Britney, it doesn't mean I don't know about Britney, er... I digress... Anyway, when we had the opportunity to talk to a DJ one of the moms asked if she had some sort of formal training, or school requirements for being a DJ. You see, we are a SCHOOL group, coming to the station for INFORMATION and EDUCATION. But alas, the DJ's answer was no. Instead she told us the awesome story of how she formed a roller derby league, got the rock station as a sponsor then pestered the station manager into letting her try out being a DJ. Guess, what? Because of her amazing deep voice and charisma, she was hired! What a lesson for the kiddos: there is no skill necessary for working at a radio station, all you have to do is start a roller derby league! Anyway, I was able to give Jason an impromptu lesson on radio waves, antennae and the like as we drove home.

Jason wrapped up his ancient Greece studies last week. We are just finishing a few projects. He made a cool mosaic placemat and learned to identify and draw Greek columns. We also spent time last week watching the inuaguration and talking about the Barak/Lincoln/MLK Jr. connection. He is learning to play the recorder so you can imagine that sound. It's not pleasant. But we have to sacrifice for the sake of the arts, right? Cameron is no longer concerned about being in "kindergarten" she just wants attention now, now, now, NOW! Hayden continues to be perfect. She gained a few pounds and grew an inch this month so I am reassured that I do know what I'm doing with a newborn.

january

2009-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

Will someone please explain to Cameron that the month of January is supposed to be spent indoors, around a fire, sipping hot chocolate? We have units on snow and snowflakes that to her little mind must think this is imaginary because such wonders do not exist here. Yesterday the kids and I spent most of the afternoon outside. She got so hot while playing that she ran inside and dug out her bathing suit and begged me to help her put it on. Tomorrow the forecast calls for rain. We'll be on our way to a radio station tour and our car will get a nice bath. I'm attempting to also take the kids out to lunch tomorrow... I'm sure a blog report will follow soon.

CPSIA

2009-01-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

UGH! Have you heard about this? I just received my t-shirt from The Happy Tomato which I won in a contest. The owner/creator/artist, Stacia, wrote me a personal note to let me know that she may be unable to sell children's clothing due to this new law. I have been reading other crafter's websites that detail how this new law would affect their pricing. Imagine trying to buy a handmade burp cloth for $300?! The gist is that because of the lead scares now all children's products are subject to mandatory lead testing which is very expensive! The link above is from the company I use for homeschool history kits. We love these projects and now this company is on the brink of shutting down due to new regulation. This could affect so many people and businesses, including second hand stores and libraries. Want more info? Here's a link to a CNN article.

contest

2009-01-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

I'd really like one of these Ergo baby carriers so this blog post is one of the ways I can enter the giveaway. These things are the best as confirmed by a few of my friends so I'd really like to get my hands on one. If I don't win this I'll order one soon. I like baby carriers but hate the strain on my neck and back. These carriers distribute baby's weight more evenly across the hips and have very padded straps for comfy support. Sorry to advertise here, but if you want to enter also, just click on the Jolly Mom link on the right to find the giveaway info.

surviving

2009-01-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

That's my truthful answer for the common question, "so, how are you doing?" This past week the kids and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what our new normal looks like. We started school on Monday. Jason knew what to do and I think he was glad to get a little structure back in his day (even if that structure included writing assignments!). Cameron was confused and frustrated. She decided that she is now in "kindergarten". Her version of kindergarten is a class in her room with mom as teacher, lots of play, games and songs. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this but her class is intolerant of interruptions from big bro or little sis. Hayden continues to operate like clockwork, eating and sleeping in 3 hour cycles. So all this made our school day stretch over 6 hours, with LOTS of breaks rather than our usual 3 hour efficient school time. The beauty of homeschool is that we can get our work accomplished at our pace so I need to relax my uptight attitude and accept this new normal.

Another thing I need to get used to is the amount of time it takes to get 3 kids out the door. We take a walk every day to get the mail (and honestly I make them walk around the block to wear them out!) Once I get on kid dressed with socks, shoes and sweatshirt, another has a problem, accident or distraction that takes 5 minutes to solve. One day Jason waited outside for 15 minutes before the girls and I were ready to go. Get used to it kid!

We gave Hayden her first bath. As you can see, she didn't like it. She still doesn't like it, several bathes later.

At least she had her dad close by to rescue her with a warm towel.

We also took the kids to the park this week. This is the strange January phenomenon of the Central Coast: the coast is actually warmer than the inland areas. For instance, today it was 80 degrees in San Luis and it reached almost 70 inland. Both are warm temps but we're always shocked to have "shorts weather" in January. I was talking to a woman at the park and told her that we spend more time at the park in the winter than we do the summer because I'd rather be out in 60 degree weather rather than 90-100 degree heat. The kids had a lot of fun because we picked up Darren for his lunch break and had him join us for play. I don't have pics of Hayden because she looks the same in her bucket seat whether we're at the park or at home (and perhaps that thing about the third child being under-represented in pictures is really true)!

I'm trying to get myself back into my "normal" activities too so I can feel like more than just a milk maid. I fired up the dreadmill for a few walks this weekend and got my scrapbooking supplies out. I'm even trying to take a precepts class at church. I'd like to be able to add a few more hours to my day (hours spent awake or asleep, I'll take either at this point) but I know eventually I'll feel like I'm back to normal... whatever that is! I'm not Supermom, just call me Survivormom!

wii are grateful

2008-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

Get it? Yeah, we got a Wii for Christmas. It's pretty fun. Jason is slowly becoming an expert and will soon defeat us at every game. It's hard recovering from giving birth and watching everyone compete without you. The few times I got up to bowl my body screamed at me to sit back down. Maybe this week will be different. I took a 15 minute walk on the dreadmill this morning. I kept trying to push the incline button down as it seemed as though the walk was ridiculously tough. I soon realized that 3+ weeks of laying around will atrophy your legs so even a simple walk will feel like an uphill hike.

Hayden continues to be practically perfect in every way. She has figured out that day time is when you stay awake and night time is when you sleep. I think she's brilliant! Her jaundice is clearing up nicely and she is gaining weight. She wakes up every 3 hours to eat which means that she gets up at 2 am and 5 am. So technically you could say that she only wakes up once at night to eat but I consider the 5am feeding night also. By the time I get up for the 8am I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I need to remember to set the coffeemaker timer at night...

Yesterday was my first day on my own with the kids. The morning went well, I actually showered before 10am. I foolishly attempted to shop with them and even more foolishly tried 3 stores. There are not enough snacks in the world to make it through 3 stores! I miss Darren a lot, not only because he can cook but also because it was nice to have another adult to talk to. I had forgotten how long a day can be without company.

I have been spending the last few evenings working on the piles in every room. In our house the presents get integrated in stages. First, they make it to the designated room. Then, the tags get taken off and finally everything finds a home. As I spend time doing this I have been overwhelmed with gratitude for all the gifts we received this year. We are loved by friends and family and even if these gifts were not given it would be obvious by all the support we received during this month. Thanks to everyone who surrounded us with love and prayers for Hayden. We are grateful!

hayden emily

2008-12-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

I suppose it's time to update the blogosphere on the birth of Hayden Emily Rusco. She is finally here! Last Wednesday I had an appointment at which I nearly blew the blood pressure cuff right off. My doctor came in and scolded me for being so darn predictable and once again being ready to go at 37 weeks. She sent me over to the hospital for monitoring, I had to lay in bed with a monitor on the baby's heartbeat, one for my contractions and a blood pressure cuff that would take a reading every 10-15 minutes. During the time at the hospital my contractions strengthened and my blood pressure kept up enough to set off several alarms. After seeing all of her patients for the day Dr. Yin came in and had me change into a gown, then broke my water. This was it, no turning back!

I got an epidural. I know, it's a controversial choice but let me tell you, it's a necessary one for me and Darren. In order for the two of us to make it through the birthing process, one of us needs drugs to stay coherent... the logical choice would be me. However, Darren also needs me to be calm and at ease so he doesn't get sick... he also needs to keep his eyes averted from all the action. This works for us, we're 3 for 3 with no fainting during delivery.

Hayden stalled a little so I got a pitossin drip. She finally started to make her move around 3am so the doctor was called in. After a few good pushes she was born. We had a really great nurse with us, her name is Natalie. You can see her arms in these pictures as she's working on Hayden. Not only was she very nice and calm she also wore cute scrubs. Way to be stylish, Natalie! (Scrubs can be very ugly!)

So after the clean up, Nanny and Pops came in for their first look at Hayden. What troopers! They endured the discomforts of the hospital waiting room for hours just to be there for the birth. Thanks guys. With all the stuff going on, Darren and I never slept that night. We were up the next morning when Grammy and Papa brought Jason and Cameron to see their new sister.

The rest of that day I spent in and out of consciousness. Darren went home to get some rest. He came back at dinner time for our "Celebration Meal". The hospital likes to fancy up the usual fare for the new parents. We were told that we ate filet mignon, but that's up for debate. I have to say the cheesecake was great, and I even finished Darren's after he left. Throughout the day the nurses monitored my recovery and both my doctor and Hayden's pediatrician were optimistic that we'd go home in the morning. It was not to be! Late that evening I watched my feet and hands swell up and I knew something was wrong.

In the morning Dr. Yin checked in with me again. My blood pressure was still up, even though delivering the baby is supposed to relieve preeclampsia. She said that the swelling and BP proved that induction was the way to go as my body continued to act out what it was planning on doing if we hadn't gotten the baby out. Make sense? Anyway, she agreed to let me go home only if I would continue bedrest, take BP medicine and monitor my BP. I heartily agreed. However, during the night, Hayden's body started to act up also and she had jaundice! Dr. Tedford agreed to let us go home on the condition that we would put her on the bili blanket like we had with the other kids. No problem, we knew the routine. About an hour later my nurse walked in with the bad news. All the bili blankets in the county were already checked out and Dr. Tedford wanted us to stay in the hospital for one more night to use their lights. Right as I got this news Darren walked in and the tears began to flow (mine, not his... the hormones kicked in and I was a mess!). So here we were, Friday morning, ready to go home only to be denied!

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The hospital lights are much more powerful than the bili blankets and Hayden was able to knock her biliruben down a point over 24 hours. This also allowed time for her pooper to start working and my milk to come in, a combination that defeats jaundice naturally. It also allowed time for me to start BP meds and for me to get below 140/90. This was Dr. Yin's requirement for me to go home. Darren spent Friday with me and went out to buy lunch at Mondeo... much more appetizing than hospital food. I did eat the hospital dinner, some sort of mystery meat covered in gravy with veggies and a hard roll. By 11pm I was starving so I ventured out to the nurses station to see if they had any snacks. My night nurse was awesome, she pointed me in the right direction and soon I was snacking on bagels, pudding and juice.

In the morning both doctors were happy with our progress so we were both released. I love how the nurses are pulling for you when they know you've been let down. My day nurse hustled through the discharge paperwork so we could get out of there. It's nice when they know you're on your third baby so they can trust you to know what you're doing. Darren drove us home but took us to In-n-Out first for lunch. We picked up the kids at Nanny and Pops' house and I don't think I've ever seen two happier kids. We spent Saturday afternoon at HOME doing nothing but being together and getting to know Hayden.

So far Hayden is perfect. Jason was our first so we panicked at every noise he made. We read the books and were easily discouraged when he didn't conform to their rules. With Cameron, we thought we knew what we were doing and thought we'd be more relaxed. But she proved us wrong and gave us challenges every day. She was a very disgruntled baby, difficult to please. Hayden seems to be a reward of sorts. She just eats, sleeps and poops, no crying "just because". Every cry has a reason and once that problem's solved she just goes back to sleep. We are very happy with the kid's acceptance of her. Jason is a great big brother, very gentle and loving, always available to help. Cameron has adopted a sweet high-pitched voice for talking to Hayden and she loves to share her toys with her sister. So far, so good.

I try my best to rest. It's hard being home and just sitting around when I feel OK. I know that I still need time for my BP to recover, I still have swollen feet and hands. I feel like I need to make up for lost time with the kids because my hospital stay seemed to last a lifetime. But, as I watch them play I know they have moved on and are just glad to have everyone home together. Tonight we start the first of our many Christmas celebrations with family. I need to nap a little because it can be overwhelming. Hayden is here at last and we are a very thankful, happy family!

the rusco house

new normal

We made it! And other updates on the Rusco family...

how are the kids?

new year, new design

birth pains

bittersweet

different is just different

What about the kids?

Splice @ MTI

field trippin'

living in the in between...

step by step...

first day of school

books!

the classics

moving

beach day!

why Scotland?

the rusco house is on the move!

3rd child

library card

me time

first week of school

while others went back to school...

once upon a time...

school's out--now what?

family camp

easter

big girl

take a hike!

monarch butterfly field trip

weather science!

rainy day casualties

let's see how many times i can make my mom cringe...

canyoneering

i (heart) CVS

christmas activities

hayden's 1st birthday

the most patient dad in the world

thanksgiving

we're back!

wish list

aquarium

Cameron's Riding Video

Jason's Bike Movie

birthday bonanza!

we're back!

we're vikings!

the flu or un-flu, but definitely NOT swine flu

i told you i'd crawl soon

it wasn't pretty but it's done

3 year olds are weird

if at first you don't succeed...

b hawk

edible art

arting results

arting

cheap chick

*warning*

summer

cousin time

box day

bad blogger, bad, bad!

last day of school

mmmmmm..... toes!

hayden's big week

tortillas

abalone farm

friends, Romans, countrymen...

vacation, part 2

on vacation

happy birthday jason!

happy easter!

pretzel day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADIN!

Easter week

red velvet cake, people... red velvet cake!

the motorhome

projects

warning