The Four Friends

I thought about titling this posting "my tribe", but we are known as the four friends by so many. Our group text is even titled four friends. It's how I even refer to ourselves when I tell Ian we are getting together. Even my kids know who the four friends are. So really, the four friends is fitting. I mean, we named a market after our friend status! 

You guys, this is actually the first time the four of us have been together since our last market in October. That's embarrassing. We used to not go like a day without all being together. Ok, it may have been more like 2 or 3, but still. But 13 kids among us seems to keep us busy these days. Especially with school. Once school started for our oldest children, our time together greatly diminished. Unfortunately. 

But that's not what this is about. This is about the fact we got together on Saturday. We went to breakfast. We caught up. We took a watercolor class...which I may or may not have NO talent for whatsoever. And I may or may not have offered anyone in the class $10 to drink my paint water. I am not the most mature and probably not the best to take into refined settings! When I am uncomfortable, I use my sarcasm and jokes to cope. I was uncomfortable in the watercolor class with my lack of any talent for painting. You can imagine what sitting with me was like! 

Now that baby number 13 is born and settled and we are all recovered from the last market, we are on the hunt for our next location. We were hoping for a spring market, but that just isn't realistic at this point. So, we are crossing our fingers and toes for a fall market. Our fall markets are always a big hit anyway.

Even without the market, these girls are still among my favorites to hang out with. There's always plenty of laughs, plenty of real life and plenty of sarcasm. Now that's my type of company!

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Because...

Because sometimes you get dressed in something other than a flannel shirt (hey, flannel shirts are my jam!) and go get yourself some flowers at the most adorable flower stand ever. 

Someone complemented me on my collection of flannel shirts the other day. It make me both smile and laugh. I seriously love flannel shirts. They are just so cozy and still count as wearing real clothes. I have quite the collection. At least 10. No joke. And, as anyone that sees me all winter knows, I literally wear them every day. It has gotten to the point that when I don't wear one, I usually get complemented on my outfit by people that see me everyday. I think it's their subtle way of telling me to stop with the flannel shirts. But I will never stop. They are my true love. 

Also, a little real life hack for you. I don't iron my clothes. I hate ironing. This shirt I am wearing, the collar gets messed up every time I wash it. I stopped wearing it because I didn't want to iron the collar. Enter my genius idea. I tried my hair straightener on the collar and it totally WORKED! I was pretty dang excited. Because, it's the little things, right?!

But back to the flower stand. If you are anywhere in the Modesto area, you NEED to check out Wild Blooms Farm in Ripon. It's the most adorable side of the road flower stand. The stand is right in front of the flower fields, so you can see all the beautiful blooms coming up behind it as well. If you don't live in the area, just check out their instagram. All those beautiful flowers will definitely make you smile. 

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Grinch Fun Run

A week ago, we took the kids downtown to the Grinch Fun Run. We told them about it ahead of time and talked about how they needed to chase the Grinch to keep him from stealing Christmas. That morning, I let both the kids pick out their outfits, but told them they needed to dress festive. Isla wore completely inappropriate shoes for running (cat ballet flats) but she said they were running shoes, so I went with it.

The event itself was totally chaotic and not well planned out, but the kids didn't seem to notice and still enjoyed themselves. And Connor was totally stoked about his running number and participation medal. Isla was just stoked about life (aka: full of energy), so you know.

Callum was safely nestled inside of his stroller and slept through the whole event. I am glad he stayed asleep because it was actually quite cold outside. Connor and Isla refused to wear coats, making it seem warmer than it really was, but it was a pretty chilly morning. Maybe all the running (the fun run was only two blocks) kept them nice and toasty.

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Love Modesto

This past weekend, we participated in Love Modesto. It is basically one day where the whole city gets together and does various projects throughout the city.  It's a pretty cool movement that started in Modesto a few years ago and now is done in over 50 cities. This year Ian's work sponsored a project, which was making bears for kids in crisis situations. In one morning, we made more than 200 bears (cut, sewn, stuffed, the whole deal) that are being distributed to police, fire, hospital and CPS. And, it was a project our kids could get involved in! Though, truth be told, they both lost interest in stuffing bears pretty quickly. I was impressed though, because the workers quickly learned Connor's name and put him to work handing out stuffing and collecting finished bears that needed to be sewn shut. And then, toward the end, Connor and Isla took to rolling around the floor in the stuffing. But I gave them a break because 3 hours making bears is a long time for little kids.

^^ Connor wrote his own name tag. I was proud of him because he has problems writing in small spaces and he is getting so much better at it.  

It was a fun morning, doing something for others and chatting away while we worked. I even sewed some of the bears shut…sewing definitely isn't my strong point, so lets hope they stay shut!

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Blueberry Picking

The kids and I went blueberry picking the other day. It is always one of the highlights of summer for me. Being outside, the kids eating copious amounts of blueberries straight from the source, me bringing home fresh, sweet blueberries. It really is a great time for me. And this year was the best yet. The kids are just getting easier and easier to do these types of things with.

At first I thought Connor would actually pick more blueberries than he ate. He really did get off to a good start. He must have overworked himself and worked up an appetite because he ended up eating every last blueberry that made it into his bucket! He tried coming for my bucket, but I wasn't allowing that.

Isla enjoyed plenty of blueberries as well. The difference is, she never even bothered to put any into her bucket! They just went straight to her mouth.

Isla's face was crazy dirty by the time we were done. In her defense, it wasn't just because of blueberries but because she was laying in the dirt (with wet blueberry face!) and playing while my mom and I picked blueberries. But, she was such a sight that the worker asked to take a picture of her! 

While out blueberry picking, I realized this is our fourth season at the same place, Jessop Farms. I really enjoy it out there and highly recommend it. If you want to look at some of our past visits, here is 2013 and 2012. And, can I say that looking at these past posts, my photography skills have definitely been improving.

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Little Free Library

After hearing about Little Free Library about a year or so ago, I was so excited to see one pop up really close to my house. I was even more excited that this one has a designated kids section! 

If you have never heard of Little Free Library, let me tell you a little about it. They are little wood libraries (boxes) in peoples front yards that are operated on the honor system of "take a book, return a book." I love any idea that brings a community together and incorporates sharing with each other. The reading aspect is also a bonus. 

I was excited to see that two are currently registered in Modesto...though I know more are coming because my friend just spotted one in her neighborhood the other day! Here are the addresses to the two registered in Modesto:

1. 2504 Boston Way, 95355 (Roselle and Floyd)

2. 1432 Stetson Ave, 95350 (Orangeburg & Tully)

The next time you are near one, you should at least drive by it. I promise, it will put a smile on your face. Or, just put one in your front yard so you can smile about it every day! I know I want one. 

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Blueberry Picking

Blueberry picking is one of those things that I truly enjoy doing. Seeing those huge, ripe blueberries that aren't covered in pesticides, thus can be eaten straight off the plant, make my heart (and my mouth) so happy. Add to it seeing chubby little hands grab blueberries and shove them in their mouths, it's just amazing.

I was so happy to discover Jessop Farms two years ago and we have been going multiple times a season ever since. Every year seems to be getting better and better. This year we went on opening day and let me just say, it was amazing. It wasn't too warm out and there were huge blueberries everywhere.

We brought the wagon instead of a stroller and it worked out great. The kids hopped in an out as they pleased and it made for a great place to dump extra (and even full) buckets. Plus, I didn't have to worry about how dirty that plastic beast got!

Every year we have taken Connor blueberry picking, he has been more concerned with eating the blueberries than with filling his bucket. This year was no exception. I'm not sure if any blueberries made it into his bucket. And we always have to guard our bucket so we actually have blueberries to take home with us!

This was Isla's first year participating in the picking. Last year she was just a wee little babe...that made me sweat from wearing her and made it hard to pick or run after Connor, for that matter ;) Though she did eat the occasional blueberry, she was way more into picking them and putting them in the bucket. And I was actually impressed that she got so few green blueberries...I'm not sure if that was due to me trying to explain it to her or due to sheer luck!

I'm excited to take the kids out again. They both are at an age that it wasn't a stressful experience. Both kids enjoyed themselves and we left with almost 6 pounds of fresh blueberries! Of course, two days later over HALF those blueberries are gone. We are going through them fast! But, I would rather my kids ask for blueberries over candy. And it just gives me another reason to go out there again soon.

You can read about one of our blueberry picking experiences from last year here...after rereading it, I definitely had a better experience this year. Both kids were enjoying themselves and so was I.