The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. (Psalm 138:8)

He who has begun will carry on the work which is being wrought within my soul. The Lord is concerned about everything that concerns me. All that is now good, but not perfect, the Lord will watch over, preserve, and carry out to completion. This is a great comfort. I could not perfect the work of grace myself. Of that I am quite sure, for I fail every day and have only held on so long as I have because the Lord has helped me. If the Lord were to leave me, all my past experience would go for nothing, and I should perish from the way. But the Lord will continue to bless me. He will perfect my faith, my love, my character, my lifework. He will do this because He has begun a work in me. He gave me the concern I feel, and, in a measure, He has fulfilled my gracious aspirations, He never leaves a work unfinished; this would not be for His glory, nor would it be like Him. He knows how to accomplish His gracious design, and though my own evil nature and the world and the devil all conspire to hinder Him, I do not doubt His promise. He will perfect that which concerneth me, and I will praise Him forever. Lord, let Thy gracious work make some advance this day!

Getting into Gardening

Finally transferred my veggie plants to bigger pots.  I even bought myself gardening gloves. I also bought some strawberry seeds and have plans to plant some romaine lettuce.  Looking forward to tasting the "fruits" of my labor.

Meet my New Friends

Mr. Dragon Fly

Miss Frog E

Miss Independent

Life without the Braces

For about a week now, we've limited the time that Kaykay has to wear her brace.  With much joy and relief, she's been doing well without them with minimal itching.  My sister heard about a nice park in Santa Rosa and so we headed over there for a day at the park.

Kaykay and Papa watching Auntie Sha swing.

 

Papa and Kaykay enjoying the swing

Kaykay was brave enough to feed the birds. 

Day in Davis - Walk Around Downtown

After a week of rain, we were greeted this morning with warm weather and sunshine.  Our family, along with close friends and their daughter, headed north to the college town of Davis.  I actually lived in Davis my last year at Sac State, although I didn't enjoy it as much as I do now.

The weather was perfect as people made their way in the streets and flowers blossomed everywhere, as to welcome us to their town.

Daddies enjoying their time with their daughters.

A store named after us, or at least our husbands seem to think so.

Day in Davis - Playground Pleasures

After a walk around downtown, we decided to head over to the city park to work up an appetite.  Here is mommy and daddy watching daughter at play...

She looks like she's having a lot of fun!

Not to mention Kaykay's hour-long freedom from her braces.

With a little hesitation, but after watching her Ate go thru the tunnel, Kaykay mustered enough courage to go thru with it.  On the there side is her Ate and Daddy waiting.

"I did it!!!"

Father-daughter Cirque du Soleil

Reaching for the sta....leaves???

"Okay Daddy!! I'm ready to eat.  Let's go!!"

Day in Davis - Last Stop Crepeville

Last stop and main reason we visited Davis to day......

Mommy, daughter and daddy (in the background) enjoying the weather, food, and each other.

Kaykay's most goofiest smile.  

A feast of Crepeville's greek salad, tuna melt and fuji salad.

Couldn't decide whether I liked the Greek salad better or the Fuji Salad.  Both were delicious.

BUT the main reason why we came in the first place...

Turning a New "Leaf"

At last month's Mother's Club, we learned a little bit of gardening and for those who know me, I'm far from having a green thumb.  My parents have always had the green thumb in the family - resurrecting majority of the plants that I kill.  My mother even has a garden of orchids in her backyard (over 300 of them).  So when this opportunity to learn a little about planting and growing veggies, I took the opportunity to get my fingers dirty.  Below are two of the three veggies that I wanted to grow.  Unfortunately the third, which was green beans, didn't end up sprouting.  I picked these particular veggies because it is my daughter's favorites to eat.  

It has been a delight and something I look forward to each morning as I see my plants grow; I can even understand why people talk with their plants.  I admit, I've done that a couple of times.  

I haven't transferred them into their own pots but will soon learn how to go about doing so.  I can't wait to see the first fruits of my labor.

Buying a Car on the Internet - BEWARE OF SCAMS

I would normally not blog about such things but this just happened to me today.  

We are in search for another family car and as I was browsing Craigslist auto section, I came across an ad for a 2006 Land Range Rover HSE Supercharged for $15000.  The ad had pictures and a detailed description of the car.  So we inquired about it and this is the response we got:

"My 2006 Land Range Rover HSE Supercharged is in great shape....I'm a single mother with 2 children because i divorced with my husband and after the divorce i own this car, i don't need it and that's why i'm selling it for cheap.  The car has a clear title, no liens.  Transmission is Automatic and has 29,300 miles.  The total price is $15,000 including shipping and handling.  We will use eBay protection program for our safety and for payment i prefer to use a eBay Safety Bank Account.  I just need your full  name and address so I can open a case (with no further obligation to buy it or fees)."

So I then responded to the email and asked if we can come and personally see and inspect the car.  This was the reply:

"The car is already at the shipping company in Miami, Florida sealed and ready for shipping. I have a contract with eBay so this deal must go through them. I'm very busy with my job and I`m left out of town so I can't meet you in person, so this is the reason why I chose to sell my car over the Internet.
Here is how it will work:
I will forward your info to eBay. They will process your info and will send us both invoices. eBay will send you the details with all necessary information about this transaction(terms,buyer protection,payment instructions,invoice,etc.) and how to make a refundable payment. They holds the funds until the car is delivered to buyer , inspected and the buyer confirms that he received the car in the described condition.According with the eBay you have 5 days from the time you receive the car to inspect it and decide if you want to keep it or not. If you for any reason will not like the car (but i asure you that will not happening) eBay will refund the money and I will instruct the shipping company to store the car until I will find a new buyer.Is not necassary to ship the car back .
I will initiate the transaction through eBay and they will contact you with all necessary information about this transaction(terms,buyer protection,payment instructions,invoice,etc.)"

Interesting!!  So I went online and did my own research to see if this was a scam and this is what I found out from cnn.com:

Many, perhaps most, of the schemes start with links or ads placed on legitimate and popular Web sites. Those sites often catch the schemes early on, but not always.Buyers are enticed with a sharp photo and a price well below market value. A recent ad on the popular site, craigslist.com, offered a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta for $6,000. Market value is more like $19,000.

In this case, the Jetta seller responded to an e-mail, saying she had moved to Europe and the laws there made registering the car nearly impossible. The supposed seller said she was living in London and gave an address near the center of town. That address turned out to be a hotel and managers had no record of the seller staying there.

Meanwhile, the purported seller kept e-mailing, suggesting the buyer send money through a "secure escrow" site, which would guard the funds until the car was delivered. That was followed by a bogus e-mail pretending to be from SquareTrade, a company that offers to protect buyers and sellers during online sales. But the e-mail asked the buyer to send money via Western Union, something SquareTrade does not do.

I flagged the ad on Craiglist in which they took out the ad promptly.  I can't help to think how many people have actually fallen prey to scams like this.  So be careful with purchasing anything from the internet and do your research.

Getaway to Carmel

Our second day in Monterey was filled with food, adventure, and a lot of laughs.  Our friends joined us for a couple of days.  Our first stop is, what I believe is the best clam chowder, the Old Fisherman's Grotto.  After lunch, we walked around the Wharf, window shopping and finally found a store selling candy apples - not the cinnamon kind but just plan candy.  Yummy!!  

One of Mike's to-do on his weekend list was to drive one of those...I don't even know what you call them.  (See picture below).  This was the funniest time we had as Mike and Cos had us laughing as they peddled their way against the wind.  It was a VERY windy day, by the way!  
Peddling 4 adults and a toddler took a lot of effort and strength and necessitated a couple of "rest stops" along the 2 mile pathway.  
Auntie had to keep Kaykay warm as it was cold and windy.  But Kaykay loved the ride and kept encouraging her dad and uncle to go faster.   This girl has the need for speed.

Do you like my helmet?

After a day spend at the Wharf and Cannery Row, we checked into our next priceline-paid hotel - the Hyatt.  As you can see, I was left without a bed.  
The next morning, we headed over to Carmel. Carmel reminds me a lot of Santa Barbara.  We found a hidden cafe place on the main street to have coffee and a late breakfast.  This place was so good, we went back a second time before heading home.

Father and daughter spending some quiet time bonding.

Found another cafe place and saw this at their window.  How clever!

Carmel Beach - what a perfect day.  Less windy than the day before and very sunny.  Everyone was out enjoying the weather, water, and each other - oh, not to mention their dogs.  There were about fifty dogs running around playing with each other.  

Hanging out watching everyone at play.

Enjoying the sun

Enjoying the scenery

Enjoying each other.

A very nice weekend to end a fun-filled spring break.

Before heading home, we stopped by Clint Eastwood's restaurant called Hog's Breathe.  It was tucked away off the main street; a narrow path lead to a patio area with a fire place.  They are known for their Dirty Harry Burgers.  No one ordered it but maybe next time.  They say, at times you'll find Clint Eastwood there writing his next script.  Unfortunately today he wasn't there.  

Getaway to Monterey

To end Mike's spring break, we headed over to one of our close-to-home getaway places - Monterey.  We got an idea to look for hotels on priceline.com.  We were able to name our own price and got a room at Casa Munras at a very reasonable rate.  Casa Munras is located in downtown Monterey; so we were surrounded by many small shops.  Unfortunately, we were only going to stay at Casa Munras for one night as we had reservations at another hotel for Friday night.  We initially planned on leaving for our weekend getaway on Friday, but Mike, itching to leave town, suggested we leave a day in advance.  GREAT IDEA!!  It was a blast!

We love to look for hole-in-the-wall type of places, especially for local grindz.  We actually found a Hawaiian restaurant in Monterey, a couple of blocks away from cannery row.  One of the things I look for in a restaurant is if there is a lot of people eating there and this place was packed - even at 9 pm.
We forgot to take pictures of our meals but we did get a snapshot of dessert.  They did call this a hula pie, and although it was good, the size didn't compare to the actual hula pie at Dukes.