Oprah

If you didn't get a chance to check out the Oprah show today, you can see it online. Our good friends, Vanessa and Rolondo and their daughter Raven, were on the show briefly today. The topic was about women and their hair, particularly African-American women. Chris Rock was the guest. He was talking about his new documentary coming out next week entitled Good Hair. It was a great show that was applicable to women of all ethnicities. Chris Rock made a great statement in the end of the show. He said, don't wear your hair for her, or him or because it is what other people are doing. Wear your hair for yourself, because you like it. My friend looked at me and said, that could be said of most things women do in America. We are a culture of image. It is hard, especially for women, to achieve the image that is set out as "ideal" or even normal! I am very conscious now that I have children of what I say about myself in front of them. I want my daughter to have as an example a mom who is happy in her own skin, who cherishes herself and who is confident in how God made her. I want my son to see the same so that one day he will desire to find a secure and healthy women to spend his life with. As a Christian, I am reminded that my worth does not come from what I wear, how I look, what my hair looks like or who likes me. But my worth comes from my identity in Jesus Christ! I have to say that I have been wearing my natural hair for a few years now. First, because I couldn't afford to color it. Recently, by choice. I can finally say that I like my hair and my hair color. And for those of you that watched the show, I'm a proud natural NON-BLONDE brunette!

Thanks Mom!

My mom recently spent two weeks with us, taking care of the kids so I could finish all my work for my practicum With Dave back to work, there is no way I could have done it without her! Thanks for playing with the kids, feeding them, and generally spoiling them with love, attention and toys! I miss her already! The kids did really well with her and she brought all kinds of fun things for them to do and play with. They did crafts, made cookies, played in the dirt, colored and all kinds of other things! Once I finished my work, we tried to spend a couple days having fun. We went to Amy's Playground, an indoor playground in South Pasadena. I know what you're thinking- why do you need an indoor playground in Southern California? Well, when it's 101 degrees outside, you don't really want to play in that heat. So the indoor playgrounds are nice! My mom had fun watching the kids run around and play with all the different attractions.

Family Time

The anatomy of the daddy jump.





Followed by some family squeeze time.



Or should I say family shove time?

The End is Here

So after all the pomp and circumstance of graduation in June, I didn't officially graduate. I had to complete my practicum this summer in order to finish my program requirements. So I did some work for an organization in Pasadena called the U.S. Center for World Mission, founded by Dr. Ralph Winter. I worked on a couple projects for them and one project for a woman affiliated with the center. I really enjoyed my time there and am going to keep volunteering there in the future. All of that to say yesterday I finished all my work for the practicum and turned in my very last and FINAL paper to Fuller! I am very excited and relieved to finally be done. It is a bit anti-climatic but it's over!

So maybe it's a little cheesy, as Dave commented, but here's a pic of me handing in my very last paper!

I think we've created a monster

If you know me, you know that I love my coffee. And while I love to support local, I often end up at Starbucks because, well, they're everywhere! It's so convenient. Dave started getting frappacinos lately because he always felt a little left out on my coffee runs. So now he can have a little drink while I have my coffee. And Mason usually gets a little Horizon's chocolate milk (his coffee) so that he is not left out either. Well, on the way back from the beach, we stopped at Starbucks before we got on the freeway home. I got my latte, Dave got his chocolate frap and Mason got his milk. Well someone else in the car noticed that she was the only one without a drink. And boy did we hear about it! Mason was nice enough to share his chocolate milk with her when he was done drinking what he wanted. You would have thought that she had never had a drink before in her life and was never going to get another one! She sucked that straw for like 30 minutes, long after all the milk was gone! Mason then set his eyes on Dave's frap with whipped cream. Dave let him have a couple turns which basically consisted of Mason trying to eat the whipped cream and get as much chocolate out as possible. So now, Willow has tasted the good stuff and there is no going back. Our family trips to Starbucks just got a little more expensive!


This is Willow's serious face. She is really going after that milk!


Mason enjoying a taste of daddy's treat!

Just had to

Of course Mason loves everything Willow has and Willow always wants everything Mason has. So, here ya go!

Fire Update

As of today, the Station Fire, which is the one burning near us, is still less than 50% contained. It has burned over 150,000 acres and is still going. We got a little break in Pasadena today with a shift in the winds. This means the smoke wasn't blowing our direction for a change. I read today that they are getting smoke all the way in Louisiana! The fires did get down pretty close to the city again the past couple days but the fire crews did an awesome job keeping it at bay. They set some backfires to try and stop the flames from spreading in Arcadia and Sierra Madre, both cities east of Pasadena. The air quality is still pretty crappy so we've been keeping the kids indoors. I try to get at least get them out of the house for a little while in the morning before I go to work. But looks like they are starting to get a handle on this thing and hope for full containment by the 15th or so. Hopefully sooner so the air clears out and the kids can get back outside to play!