Ever crack an egg?

So I've just spent an enitire day at a training for Spell to Write and Read, a homeschool language arts program. And let me tell you, I am fried. Tim took the day off to attend to the Chilins while I whisked away for what I thought was going to be a much needed day off with other homeschooling mommas. I thought wrong. I've been teaching the program for a year now and really just needed to get some clarification on some things......
You know what? I actually don't want to write about this right now

This is what I really wanted to say tonight..

I'm tired, and so is my husband

After having spent a crazy day with the kids, Tim drove down to Palo Alto to pick up a friends child (so they could get to the temple) and then on to Cupertino to change cars with me after my training. We gave eachother a brief kiss at 5:39 pm and he drove off by himself to Young Womens camp while I bounded on home with five kids in the back of the van.
I've got five kids, no husband, and homework for tomorrows day of training. Oh and I leave for Canada on Monday.

So this is my question.... Should I start packing for my 21 hour drive to Canada tonight? Should we see just how far Karen can go before she cracks? It might be fun. Why don't you stick around to find out?

My eldest....

Is this kid cool or what?


I totally dig that our Cameron is following in his fathers footsteps in the skateboarding arena. Lets hope he doesn't goes as far as builing a half pipe in the backyard huh Lina?

A Full Year of Girl... Happy Birthday Kalista

A year ago today, at this exact time actually, I was in throes of labor. Kali was due on May 30 but apparently decided to postpone her arrival for a couple of weeks. I was supposed to be induced tomorrow, I mean June 12 if she didn't move things along. But she did. I labored all day, went to the hospital at about 7pm, she was born at 9:30 ish, if I recall correctly.


We didn't know the gender until she emerged and even then, we were so relieved to have finally had her that we forgot to check. A minute later Tim recognized this lack of knowledge and announced that she was in fact a "she". We all celebrated, my midwife Nancy was particularly excited as she had tried to sneak a peek during some previous ultrasounds but without success.

It was an especially memorable delivery because my mom was there with me. I was doing for Kali what had been done for me, circle of life type thing. Thanks mom for having me so that I could have Kali. It has been an incredible year with her, she has brought so much femininity and refinement to our home. She is a delight and a joy, and so to my dear daughter, I love you. Thanks for joining the circus.

How does your garden grow?

I am a murderer of plants. Every spring I diligently lay out my plans of building and maintaining a garden. And every year without fail my attempts fall way way short, so short that nothing actually even stays green for more than a couple of days. My garden quickly becomes a grave yard as little seeds that once had potential start to compost only to sustain the life of the weeds that have inevitably taken over the space.



Not so this year my friends, oh no, this year I have John. John is our eccentric retired neighbor who happens to obsess over all things home grown. The boys happened to tell him about our meager attempts at gardening when he decided to come and take over my garden. After roto-tilling for three straight days, and dumping (no pun intended) a load of cow manure over the surface, he declared my soil ready to support life. Needless to say I have learned A LOT from him. He has dedicated so much time to my garden, teaching me how and when to water and even installing boxes to house fresh basil and Italian parsley.



I feel like a proud mama when the tomato plants reach up for water and I don't mind admitting that I felt genuine sadness when we "lost" a basil starter. Sometimes I just wander out back just to look at them, sigh... Is that normal?


Ahhhhhhh, Beautiful...