Scenes from our summer garden.

In our garden, Troy is successfully growing some fresh, juicy produce with a homemade self-contained gardening system. Did I ever mention I was married to a geek? I’m sure I did. He still owes me a blog post about it {ahem ahem} so I won’t show what the system looks like. What I can show is some of what he’s been growing. Unlike our prize watermelon, these ones are delightful to the palate.

In other news, Mica and Rinoa have been busy with their summer activities. Rinoa is taking a break from dance and is busy with gymnastics in the morning and swimming lessons in the evening while Mica is still ice skating but is also doing some off ice training this summer which includes ballet, dance performance, and jumps.

Here’s Rinoa in her tumbling class. It was taken in the second floor viewing deck behind a dust-filled glass. Before I got the right camera settings, she had moved to an obstructed location. So this is the best I can show for now.

Last week, Mica skipped her off ice training to spend time with some friends. They spent their days swimming in a quiet, peaceful lake near her friend’s house. (Photos taken by Mica’s friend.)

Alas, not all summer days are fun. For one thing, I have sun allergy – too much sun exposure and I get itchy, red rashes. I know I can’t win. In the winter, I’m blue and in the summer, I’m red – haha! And the past few days, Rinoa and I haven’t been feeling well. My nose is clogged, my eyes are watery, and my throat is sore – feels like I swallowed a large frog which got stuck on its way down! But I’m sure all these ill-health will pass soon.

How are you spending your summer days?

We spent the day hanging out with great friends who introduced us to Kubb, a Swedish lawn game also known as Viking Chess. And of course, we spent the afternoon playing a few rounds while our dogs (we had three total) ran in and out our play zone. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I sucked at the game! Even Mica was better at it than me. Maybe it’s because I’m throwing with my left hand – haha! I know, I just need to practice.

How was your fourth of July? I bet you’re suffering from bug bites as much as everyone in my family.

At the same time, Rinoa lost her first tooth. She was so excited – she kept saying “I’m really growing up now!” How much did the Tooth Fairy give her? Well, she would have given her $5 if only Rinoa would remember to put it under her pillow at night.

My cousin’s wedding was a small, outdoor wedding overlooking the Maderas Golf Course and rolling hills of North San Diego. Very nice and intimate!

The bride and groom, Joyce and Carlos, make a handsome and very tall couple. We got to know Carlos a little better during our trip, and both Troy and I easily connected with him. We think he’s a great guy.

After the wedding ceremony, we enjoyed some cocktails outdoors while waiting for the reception doors to open. Here I am posing with my two aunts and cousin, Carrie, while Troy takes the shot. (If I haven’t mentioned in any previous posts, I cut my hair short at Troy’s request. And yes, I miss my long hair but I’m also having fun styling my short hair.)

Two of my favorite cousins, DJ and ML, making the most of cocktail hour.

Mica is enjoying the company of ML’s girlfriend, Constance. (Actually, we all love her. Isn’t it great when your family is growing and you’re surrounded by great company?)

My lovely family. If only I can get Mica to give a genuine smile. (And I know, she’s taller than me now! Of course, I’m also slouching in the photo – taken by Carrie’s boyfriend, Roger.)

Here I am {again} posing with my Aunt Liwie and cousins Jan and Ferd, with their little boy, Gavin. Remember Gavin? I was able to spend time with him during my vacation. (I’ll tell you more about it on a future post.)

To view more photos taken during the wedding, here’s a slideshow for you to enjoy.

A happy reunion of the cousins. (Mica with Jessi and Rinoa with Jessi)

We had a huge amount of snowfall that weekend, with snowflakes the size of dimes. The cousins couldn’t resist playing in the snow.

That weekend, we also celebrated Jessi’s 8-month birthday. As always, there had to be cake.

Baby Jessi with her Mommy and Daddy, after the candles were blown.

Mica, Rinoa, and Jessi

Goofing around again.

Got this for my birthday from Mica and Rinoa. I was banned from the basement the last few days while they were busy decorating the pots and transferring the flowers. (I didn’t know at that time what they were doing.) What a lovely surprise!

And as I celebrate my birthday, I reflect on how blessed I am to have a sweet, understanding, and super geeky husband who gives me freedom to explore my passions and two lovely, healthy, and super smart daughters who patiently tolerate my OC tendencies when I homeschool them. Happy birthday to me! :D

We went to Barnes & Noble Saturday morning for some kiddie Halloween craft time.

Here’s Rinoa and Mica with B&N stortytime friends Zoe and Maddy.

Saturday afternoon, we went trick or treating at Midway Village. Throughout this whole day, Troy was somewhere else helping a friend fix his car.

Here’s Rinoa at a friend’s party in Monkey Joe’s Sunday morning. (Photo by Troy)

We definitely had a lot going on this weekend but we still managed to make some Christmas cards for Gavin’s fundraiser. Mine was an ecclectic mix of cards. I had a great time working on them that I think I’m going to use some of these designs for my card-giving this year.

I’ve been trying my hand at mixed media collage lately (in what little free time I have), and with this newfound love, I’ve learned to appreciate vintage images and ephemeras. These first two cards reflect that. The Santa and the Angel were copyright-free images I found online. I printed two or three copies of each and layered them for a simple 3D effect (which the photos don’t really show).

This Christmas tree is an ode to my college days when I learned to be crafty with a craft knife.

This more-graphic-less-grungy set of cards was inspired by this.

And here are Mica’s and Rinoa’s. They got to play a little bit with stamps and embossing, which they had fun with.

Here’s one of Rinoa’s stamped cards.

These are my favorites of Rinoa’s cards because they include her drawings.

This is one of Mica’s cards. She made several but I have no idea where the rest are at the moment, and it’s late so I’ll just have to show the others next time.

I’ve also started receiving cards in the mail. So exciting – especially for Mica and Rinoa who gets to open them! I’ll be posting pictures of the cards soon. Can’t wait to share them.

      the autumn hues of red, brown, yellow, and orange,
      the rustling leaves on the pavement,
      the pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider donuts,
      the 60 degree weather – just right for light jackets and sweater (Hey I rhymed there!)

Last weekend though, we skipped the nice fall air and went straight to brrrr. (Mother Nature’s constant reminder that the Earth is ailing.) But with chattering teeth, we still marched to the Scarecrow Harvest Festival at Midway Village to make scarecrows.

We used some of Mica’s old clothes and stuffed them real good with hay.

Unfortunately, there are no finished scarecrows to show yet. They’re still stuffed at the back of my car – with no head, and bodies unattached. I know, poor scarecrows! I’m going to try and buy some pumpkins for the head and assemble them this weekend. Should make a great fall decoration in my front porch.