Coffee Caboose Job

Some of you may already know from Courtney's blog that I have a job at a local coffee shop!  I just started last week, and so far it is going well.  I enjoy coffee so this is the perfect little place for me to work.  Plus, it's super part-time; only three hours a day three times a week!  It's so close to our house that I can bike to it in about fifteen minutes.

So far things have been going well.  The only time I freeze up is when people ask me what a certain drink tastes like.  I've only tried a few things that we even sell - so I usually don't know what the drink/food item is going to be like until I've prepared it! 

Since I work the morning shift, business is slow, and we only get a few customers.  I have to keep everything clean at all times though, so even if I'm not serving someone, I'm cleaning stuff up from the last customer!  I have finally learned what expresso, latte, and chai mean.  I am also learning how certain regular customers want their drinks made every time - one guy likes his drink super hot and with lots of foam, another lady likes her's with extra flavored powder and a few pumps of pumpkin spice syrup.   I hope I remember it all!!

The best part of it is that if there is any leftover expresso at the end of my shift.....I get to make myself a free drink.  Mmmmm.

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Quiet blog, huh?

You all may be wondering how come my blog has been so.........silent. I'm feeling guilty as Easter approaches and my blog still bears a Christmas header.  What's up?

Good question.  I have a good, two-fold answer.

One?  I can't get our computer to upload pictures in an efficient manner.  As in, one picture per hour.  If I'm lucky.

Two?  I'm sick.  Really. I haven't been this sick in years.....I've been hit with the nastiest cold/sinus infection/flu known to man.  (In my opinion, anyway.)  My stomach muscles are aching because of all the coughing I did last night.....hence a very short night of sleep.  And a very long period of lying awake on my bed, thinking that this would be a very nice time for Jesus to return.

Ugh. 

So, when I'm back among the living, I will begin my blogging.  Until then, I'll be in bed eating chicken soup.  Plus my own personal tub of ice cream for the worst sore throat in the world.

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Hiking With the Rhodens

Yesterday we had a really fun time with our friends the Rhodens who are visiting us!  We went hiking with them in Sabino Canyon.....it was gorgeous and we had great weather.  It was all cloudy and cool......we didn't get hot at all!

We hiked up to the waterfall which was absolutely gorgeous.  It was so gorgeous that Courtney tried climbing it - and ended up falling down and getting totally wet in the process!

Jonathan, my handsome brother, who rarely makes an appearance on my blog!  We got great photos of everyone in the canyon because it was so lovely there.

Thinking this may be a great spot for graduation pics?  Hmmm.  May have to return to try that out in the coming months!

Jonathan impressed us all with his water trick.  For years he has been able to shoot water out of his teeth with tremendous force!  I can do it as well, but  he is definitely better at it.

A group shot!  We had SUCH a great time together!

This is the *dangerous* spot where Courtney had her fall!!  We had fun navigating through all the rocks and the small streams.

It was so pretty up there.  Since there were clouds everywhere, the mountains were partially covered, and getting up close was very neat.

Courtney is *in love* with this cactus!! 

Showing our pure terror at the mountain lion warning.  We didn't see any, but I sure didn't like seeing that sign!!  It reminded me that they are around!

I am normally not a fan of self portraits, but this one was so cute I had to share it.  We girls are having so much fun together!

We're having a wonderful time with Cassie and Connor!  Tomorrow we are going bowling - very much lookin' forward to that.

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Seven Lies About Homeschoolers

This is the funniest video I have seen in a LONG time!  You have to see this!

Comment and tell me what you think ~ it is HILARIOUS!

Warning: only a homeschooler will get this.  :-)

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Anyone Can Sing

Ever seen the movie "Ratatouille"?  We recently watched and thought it was hilarious. 

The story follows a small rat of great talent.  He has an amazing ability to cook - but his rat family tries to get him to forsake his dream of being a chef and just be a normal rat.  Eventually, "Remmy" joins up with a real chef and a five star restauraunt and proves his culinary abilities.

You know the main line of the movie?  "Anyone can cook".

I was thinking of renaming that line as "Anyone can sing".  Hmmmm. 

Have I ever told anyone that I love to sing?  My family members are probably in disbelief as they read this post because they have never heard me sing.  Because I can't stand to have anyone hear me.  It's too embarrassing. I can only sing by myself.  In private.

My stage used to be the goat shelter, and my loving audience, my herd of goats.  They actually liked my singing. (In my judgement, anyway.) I would muck and sing, muck and sing. (Quite a combo.)   Pearl, my dairy queen, relaxed and would almost go to sleep on the milk stand as I milked and sung, milked and sung.

However, my new stage is our living room, and my new loving audience, David, Isaac and Josh.  I sing when I stay home and baby sit them.  When no one else is around to hear me!  And, after finishing a song, I'll ask them how I sounded.  They tell me what they think.  I asked Isaac this afternoon how I sounded and he said,

"Good, Rachel, I liked that."

Knowing that my singing passes the toddler test is a small comfort.  They could be plugging their ears and screaming at me to stop.  Apparently I'm not that bad.

However I've never had anyone else hear me sing.  Because that would be way too embarrassing. 

So unless I develop a highly-trained voice overnight, my singing is still a *shhhhh!* secret.  That I only allow certain audiences (like my undiscriminating, forgiving, and unknowledgable little brothers).

But, hey, "anyone can sing", right?  Maybe.  And then again, maybe not.  I've yet to record myself and actually hear how I sound. 

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Cute dudes

 Two guys of interest here.

Josh:  normal, cute, likes to play with Lincoln logs and build regular old houses.  Pretty easy going. Quite charming.  An up-and-coming Huggies diaper model. (In my opinion.) Typical  three year old.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  (Except his being my very special brother!)



Isaac: - patriotic-indian feather hat wearer with the hot pink sunglasses carpenter dude.  Totally out of the ordinary.  High energy.  Capable of singing the same song with great gusto for an hour.  Has an incredible imagination.  Incredible tantrum thrower.  Quite funny.

These guys are TOTALLY different.  I love their opposite personalities! 

We are busy these days gearing up for some great friends to visit us next week.  Super excited about that!

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My license ~ at long last

I finally got my driver's license last Friday!  I've had my permit for about a year and half, so I've had some good time to practice and get all my required driving hours in.

I was in absolute disbelief when my examiner said that I actually passed. 

Me, pass?  Really?  Like, the first time?

This is the girl who flunked her permit test on the first try and went away feeling like one huge idiot.  (But felt better after her younger brother did the same thing a few months later.) 

This is the girl who had a really hard time memorizing which peddle was the gas peddle at first.  I'm the one who, when extrememly nervous, overlooks the obvious and makes the simple very complicated.   Who finds that merging onto an interstate in rush hour traffic is akin to waking up in a cold sweat after a very bad nightmare.

And yet, I passed.

It was interesting because before going in to take the road test, Dad asked if I knew how to parallel park.  My chipper reply was, "Of course not - but Mom said they probably wouldn't ask me to do that, so it really doesn't matter!"

In typical Dad-fashion, we spent the next hour learning how to parallel park. 

Lo and behold, the very first thing my examiner wanted me to do was to parallel park.

Go figure.  (Thank you DAD!!)

So, I passed; I now have a full-fledged driver's license.

As a point of interest, the night before taking my test I looked up on Google "how to prepare for a drivers test".  One guy suggested hitting the pub ahead of time to relax a little.

I didn't take that advice. :-)



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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Today is my wonderful mom's birthday! 

It's amazing to think about all the ways she has invested in my life in the last 18 years.  She has always made wonderful meals, has homeschooled us from the very beginning, and has constantly been a dedicated mother.

Dad mentioned that it was Mom's "double nickel" birthday this year, so both boys have been parroting that phrase over and over in their cute little verses.  It's so cute!

Happy birthday to a tremendous mom ~ I  love you!

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Storytime and more....

I caught this picture yesterday morning and thought it was so sweet.

Dad has begun reading Isaac and Joshua a Bible story from their picture book every morning after devotions.   I think it's a great habit to start......and it's so precious to see!

This morning I made gluten free chocolate chip banana muffins.  They turned out very well; I was pleased with the results!  This is the second time I've made them and they have been a hit both times.  Click here to check out my recipes.

For those of you who didn't notice, I have started a new blog.  I'd love to have you come over and take a look - just click here!  And let me know what you think.

Today marks the 2nd gotcha day of Mr. Isaac Christian! I can HARDLY believe it has been that long.   He really has come so far ~ and like Courtney said on her blog, he is both confident and sassy.  (Emphasis on the sassy part.)  Just now he yelled up the stairs at this top of his lungs,

"DAVID! Come do yours laundry!"  (He loves to say "yours")

David: "I'm coming."

Isaac: "No, you not coming.  Come RIGHT NOW! Mama says!"

Ahhh, I love you sweet boy.......so so SO grateful that God added you to our family.

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