Casa Farmer

Okay! So here are the pictures that so many have asked about. Keep in mind our home was a bank owned foreclosure. No landscaping was completed by the previous owners. We are still minus most of the plants, but we hope to change that in the next few weeks. We planted more palms and other fruit trees than I am posting, but here is just a glimpse.A man in a nearby suburb grows banana plants all over his property. We loved our banana plants in Hawaii, and wanted them in California. However, these are peach banana plants rather than apple bananas. We bought four plants. We thought we had killed two, but they now have green shoots. Notice I said banana plant and not banana tree. They are plants, not trees!I forgot the big deal about locally grown foods in California. Even Costco carries locally raised fruit trees. We purchased many varieties of dwarf trees that include a plum tree, Asian pears (cross between an apple and a pear), a Fuji apple tree, and a peach tree. I also found a blueberry tree (I may get a few more) from Home Depot, and a dwarf lemon tree. Dwarf trees don't mean they produce smaller or less fruit, just that the tree itself is smaller. The hooks on the left side are for pool towels.
Our property was open on either side of our home to the street, with a big cement hole dug in back for a pool. It was cemented, not plastered, so it was that grey crumbly stuff. By building code, the pool could not be finished until our house was gated and pool alarms were installed. Our walls and gates in Virginia, Hawaii, and California have varied by region. In California wrought iron gates are quite desirable. They are hand crafted and welded. These are the gates we had fabricated on either side of our home.

Our grey crumbly cement hole, filled with nasty water run off from the hillside now looks like this:The spa and pool are directly behind our house. We built an extra deck above the pool, and it accommodates our patio furniture.


The kids and I love to check out our remote control for the pool and solar power many times throughout the day. As long as it is sunny, our solar gets pretty close to 90 degrees in the pool every day. If you look really closely it says that the pool is 89 degrees, and the solar water is a warm 95 degrees. The air temperature is 84 degrees at 5 in the afternoon. But in Southern California it does not resemble the mugginess or humidity of 84 degrees like when we lived in Virginia.
If we keep pushing buttons we can make the pool do this:
Our larger yard is our side yard. Until recently it looked like this:See where the rectangular hole is at the bottom of the picture? It was a footing for this:
This is our barbecue gazebo. The wooden framing holds the counter top. And just to the left of the gazebo is this:

Our fire ring with built in seating. And finally, finally, the concrete was poured and my kids can run outside! The side yard is complete, and we will plant grass in the back space.


And somehow...I was talked into this, with the "romantic" sentiment that the flags were bought with our Fourth of July anniversary in mind.Life has been busy at home. The kids and I have cabin fever and are finally ready to get out about this summer. But after all of this work, we might just settle for a lot of back yard time.

Family Dayz

Hubs is one lucky man. See the view from the front door of his office building? Every morning he gets to hear, see, and smell God's creation. For Cinco de Mayo we were invited to a family event on his front lawn. Our family was joined by Hubby's mom and grandma.
Cinco de Mayo is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day. Wrong! It is not even a national holiday in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the underdog Mexican Army at the battle of Puebla when they defeated the French Army that had not been defeated in 50 years. In the United States we adopt this holiday across cultures like Oktoberfest, Chinese New Year, and St. Patrick's Day. Since San Diego borders Mexico, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are all over town. Hubby's workplace went all out with some seriously delicious and catered carne asada and pollo asado. I am so sorry, no food pictures, due to my inhaling way too much meat, beans, and rice. Carne asada is a northern Mexican food. Mexican food is just as different from North to South as food in this country. Oh, and there was a mariachi band that I didn't photograph. They played while my hands were clutching some crazy good Mexican food. I was deprived of good Mexican food on the East Coast and in Hawaii. I am really sorry I have no mariachi pictures, because mariachi bands only occasionally include harps, and Son1 LOVED this mariachi harpist. Mexican food to the tune of Cielito Lindo at the beach?!? Can you see why I did not pick up my camera?A few days later we celebrated Hubby's birthday. He was out the door at 630am that Saturday, preparing for the ongoing construction work at our house. But before he left, he requested a crab omelet. Way to spring something new on me, completely off my radar, only for him to tell me later that...well you are just going to have to wait to hear that part. I already had in my head raspberry white chocolate muffins, amongst other things. Now these muffins are to die for, and Hubby's absolute favorite muffins ever. Our sweet friend, Rachel, made them we lived in Virginia for Hubs. So, get it, I never needed to attempt them because we had Rachel. SO.... amongst the distraction of instantaneously finding the most fabulous crab omelet recipe to go with the fabulous muffins, and creating them at the same time....I realized that with 15 minutes left in the oven, I accidentally forgot the baking powder in the muffins. Do you know what that meant?!? They had a minimal chance of turning out.

SO.

I threw open the oven door, figuring I could sprinkle them individually, and mix the BP in each muffin. Too late! The muffins already had set up. So I poked a ton of holes in them, and decided to will those little white speckles into those muffins by dragging a pastry brush back and forth over the muffin tops. I tried my best, and shoved them back in the oven. MEANWHILE...when I flipped my omelets a little too feverishly, the egg part went flying and crusting over the stove and counters. By then the muffin timer was screaming at me. Aye yay yay. I grabbed that pastry brush and dusted that stubborn baking powder from the tops of the muffins. And I never cleaned the stove or counter tops because the phone rang. It was my sister, from 2500 miles away...the one whose new job is making it impossible to reach her, so I had to talk to her a little bit. Besides, she was calling for her favorite BIL's birthday. Anyway....about this time Hubs walks in and asks if I am ready for Legoland, and if the kids are ready. He looks at a disheveled me, and tells me he was just kidding about the crab omelet, but I am not laughing. He asks me what happened to the stove and somehow I was at a loss for words. We sat down for breakfast, and he tells me how wonderful the muffins tasted. OF COURSE they did, because they require a butter and sugar topping, which miraculously covered my BP mistake. Then he slowly and cautiously asked me how in the world Rachel used to get hers so big and fluffy. I promised him an explanation later because I still had no words for him. My body was still in a bit of kitchen shock. But the omelets?!?? They turned out deliciously! We quickly opened gifts, and grabbed the kids and the gear for a day at Legoland.

I loved my husband to pieces before we ever had children. We were married for six years, and together for a total of eight years before our babies ever came along. But now? Partnering in parenting with him makes my heart skip a beat. I asked him how he wanted to celebrate his birthday, and he said he wanted to spend the day at Legoland as his birthday present to the kids. Oh...and he wanted me to dress them alike. Is that not precious of him?
Legoland California is located at the northern most end of the county of San Diego, in Carlsbad. It is the ONLY Legoland in North America, and it is geared to children ages two to twelve. There is a ton of stuff for kids to do if they are over 34 inches. And since Son1 is over 42 inches there is even MORE for him. Another reason I particularly love Legoland is that pregnant mothers can ride many rides, too. I passed on the airplanes this time. They made me really sick my first trimester. Hubs rode with the two boys, but Son2 is hidden deep in that seat next to his daddy.Son1 and Hubs rode the roller coasters and this big shot thing. Hubs had lots of fun screaming like the panicked folks strapped near him. But he wasn't panicked!Hubs and I most enjoyed chasing our two year old around The Hideaways. We had never seen him scamper so quickly or laugh so maniacally! The giant multi tiered wooden play structure with rope climbs, catwalks, and slides is a little boy's dream. The slide at the highest point of the structure is the best way for big people to get down without getting stuck in the ropes. The twenty foot drop is ridiculously steep. Well, Son2 climbed his way to the top of the structure twice. Hubs and I each had the opportunity to follow him through the slide tube. Can you see the look in my eyes of recovery?
The evening ended with delicious In N Out. Birthday or not, Hubs and I passed on shakes, even though the kids indulged. At 680 calories those ice cream shakes are too rich for our blood!

The next morning was Mother's Day! Hubs not only cleaned my mess from the day before, but he also whipped up my favorite, strawberry stuffed french toast, a cheese omelet, and a silver can. Yes, I realize I am pregnant thankyouverymuch! And like a true princess, I had seconds and never felt a bit of guilt! There is nothing like eating while pregnant! Do you love how he notched out a heart on my french toast?
We hurried off to church, but we skipped the airbrushed Mother's Day tattoos in the courtyard. Note to my friends that live anywhere but Cali: This is your opportunity to skip your "left coast" and "land of fruits and nuts" jokes. I have no idea what you are talking about.

ANYWAY.

We headed over to a family gathering later in the afternoon. May 10 is always Mexican Mother's Day. My mom's family generally celebrates two Mother's Days, but this year American and Mexican Mother's Day fell on the same date. Now Hubs and I kind of "go together," if you know what I mean. We are both brown looking. We did pass for a "local family" in Hawaii. In some ways, our personalities are becoming more similar. But moving back to California for the first time in nine years points to the obvious need for Hubs to acculturate to my Mexican family. Since everyone has started families of their own, or moved, my mom and her sisters continue to say we are a "small family" now. Uh hem. We had 25 people at this shin dig. But we are just a "small family." You know what we had for our lunch? Carne asada!!! Now, it is not just the name of a Mexican food, as much as it is synonymous with a "social barbecue." But I don't really have a literal translation for it. I guess the closest would be the same thing as a Hawaiian luau at someone's house. Sooo my aunt made some homemade guacamole, grilled corn, carne asada, beans, homemade salsa, and her Knock You Flat On Your Face-To Die For strawberry cake. Now this cake is up there with Rachel's muffins for Hubs. So when the family realized the day before had been Hubby's birthday, they dug out some candles, that spelled Happy Birthday. My aunt covered the words on the cake with a paper towel, so we could sing to Hubs. You can see he was thrilled with the attention from my "small family."
Next we took a picture of the mothers that were present. From L-R, that's me, my mom, and my grandmother, cousins, and two of my mother's sisters. So you see, even in a Mexican family there is diversity in the way we look.

Well we plumb stuffed ourselves with the cake, all of us. You can see my children were far more interested in the cake than in the camera.
So far May had been filled with a bit of family time for the Farmers. How about you?

Unpacking is Like Pushing a Rope

One step forward...a hundred steps back. I keep trying to make progress but somehow I have two little "un"helpers. They amaze me how they entertain themselves.

Turning Two

Just over two years ago, Son2 joined our family in Honolulu, Hawaii. When I was pregnant I tried to wrap my mind around a new child with a new personality. There is no way I could have predicted this little guy.

He LOVES his big brother. He wakes up asking for him and loves to be his shadow. He is not really one to be in the shadow, though. Nope. He is our ham. He loves to play tricks on all of us. He hides, plays keep away, and imitates us. His favorite is his dog imitation. We tried to teach him to roll over, but we just aren't there yet. For now, we think this is all cute. When he is awake he is animated and energetic. But when it is bedtime, he falls dead asleep as early as 6pm and wakes up almost near 7. And yes, he takes a nap midday, too. But trust me, by nap time, he is already exhausted by all his activity. It is no wonder he has a voracious appetite. He packs away the food, and shocks us when he eats like a big person.

My mom had a little early birthday celebration for Son2 so that his cousin could be present. And yes, it was held in the land of whimsy and fairytales, in my parents' tropical and themed garden. And Son2 chose to celebrate the way he does at every meal, by fending for himself, and forsaking all others.
On his actual birthday the Farmer Fam celebrated at Legoland, at the northern end of San Diego. Our first stop was the "Foo Foo." The boys were excited to snag the engine seat.This day we picked all of the rides he was tall enough to ride. It is so hard to fathom that TWO years have flown by.Toward the end of the day he ran for a Lego station and relished in Legos all to himself.We spent the last hour of the day at Sea Life Aquarium. It is contained within Legoland, however, it is a separate park. Sea Life is geared toward children ages two to twelve. It is completely interactive and completely worth it. Unlike other aquariums that tend to be dark, cramped and hard to get to a viewing window, Sea Life Aquarium caters to children. Son2 actually climbed inside of this aquarium display to get an up close look at sea creatures.The viewing areas are gargantuan. Some are overhead, and many are floor to ceiling enclosures.We knew from when Son2 was just several months old that he was particularly drawn to animals. Sea Life Aquarium was the best ending to a big TWO birthday for our little guy.

Welcome to TWO, little guy. We love you beyond measure! Life with you is a blessing!

No Longer "A Place to Call Home"

Our house in Virginia is no longer "ours!" Last week, the sale was final. This is such a humongous praise and quite a heavy burden lifted! We kept the escrow quiet because we wanted to make sure the deal was done. Several contracts came through in the seven months the house was on the market, but none led to a final sale. And in the last month or two no contracts came through at all. We had to sell the house by a certain date, and God came through just before with a full asking price offer! To Him be the glory!

Hubs made some last repairs in November. He called me in Hawaii and I asked a huge favor. Now before I even tell, I am warning you it may seem silly. But it shouldn't sound too silly if you remember the goodbye to my Hawaii house.

I asked him in a cracking voice to stand specifically in Son1's room and say goodbye for me. For emphasis, I told him to say it out loud. NO cheating and thinking a goodbye in his head. Oh that man! He loves me. He performed twice for me. Right after we hung up, he said goodbye to Son1's room, and then once again before he left the house for the very last time.

I am sentimental. I am a sap, and overly sensitive. We had a lot of special memories in that house. But what meant the very, very most to me was that room where my first born child slept. It wasn't so much that it was his room. No. It was in that place that I felt so very much, feelings I never ever felt until 2004. Watching my newborn sleep, watching his chest rise and fall, wondering whom he would become, and praying for his future all happened there. It was in that room that I cried tears of frustration, of exhaustion, and of immense love. That room was where I started to get my bearings as a mother, a new and permanent phase in my life.

I am honestly glad the house is sold. No matter where we live, those memories no longer live in that room. They live in my heart.

The Farmer Files: Spying on San Diego

Welcome back to The Farmer Files! Do you love the new look?!?! I LOVE it! Tell me you love it, too!!! I still need to tweak the side bars a bit over the weekend, so extend some blog grace, people! In the meantime, grab my badge, right over there----> on the side bar, and post it on your blog!

A while back, I was surfing blogs, and I found Lindsey down in Panama. She had posted honeymoon picture from Kauai, and wrote how she missed Hawaii. I poked around more, and found out she is from California, just north of San Diego. Like me, she had once upon a time been a teacher, and now is a stay at home mom. I invited her to visit my blog any time she was missing Hawaii. After our move, a redesign was inevitable. I could no longer be LOST on Oahu now that I was found in San Diego. HA! I asked Lindsey to redesign my blog. She and her husband are missionaries in Panama so she blog designs part time. Woo wee did she have patience with me! But Lindsey was flexible and captured The Farmer Files better than I imagined it could look! Thank you!

In the meantime, I searched deep into my blogging soul about what I wanted this blog to be about. I had so much fun sharing Hawaii with you, and (I think) so many of you loved coming along on our family adventures. (Which believe me, people, I WILL take a week some time and tell you the last of our adventures!!)

Truly, I want to do the same again in San Diego. This is my hometown, my old stomping grounds. I love it here. (Now I do love it differently than Hawaii, but I do love it here.) There is so much I want to share with you. San Diego is California's second largest city, with over 70 miles of beaches. There are so many world known family attractions here. We border Mexico, and since my heritage is Mexican, I will even share how that colors what I see in San Diego! And since tourism is one of the largest boosters to San Diego's economy, I promise to take you to some really beautiful places!

But before then, I have to tell you, I will be back here blogging for those of you that have been reading for awhile. And that means that I will share with you much of what is going on right here at Casa Farmer. It means that I may not get to "Spying on San Diego" immediately. Expect to hear more about the usual shenanigans that befall the Farmer family! We have a lot of construction around our house, and most of you know we have a baby on the way. And I am kind of under the gun because I have visitors coming in THREE weeks. Actually there are visitors coming April, May, and June! Yikes!

So until then, you are invited to hang out here at my house. I will even share some pictures. Notice I said "some." Ha ha! And I will be visiting your places soon.

(((HUGS))) to you all! Don't forget to grab the button on your way out!

Ultrasound Update

I thought today would never come. This is my third ultrasound in my 18 weeks of pregnancy. And I was most anxious for this ultrasound.

Two weeks after I missed my period, we saw a baby bean with a heart beat in Hawaii, just a few centimeters long. Still, I did not feel pregnant. With Son1 I was fighting to stay awake at work at this same point. With Son2 I was hugging the commode around the clock. The ObGyn assured me the heart was beating, even though I did not have pregnancy symptoms.

At 13.5 weeks pregnant, nearly starting my second trimester, my new practice wanted to peek at the baby. I felt no pregnancy symptoms, and was really worried. I had not gained any weight. The nurse practitioner spent a lot of time peeking, and assured me once again all was fine. She showed me my super active baby. I had not gained any weight to this point.

At 17.5 weeks I expressed my concerns to my ObGyn. Both of my boys were really active at this point already. She suggested maybe I was so stretched down there that I could not feel anything. I had no linea negra for the first time, and still no pregnancy symptoms, except for dry heaving over a dirty diaper. We listened with the doppler and she found kicks far before she found a heart beat. She heard movement all over my uterus. People were shocked when I said I was pregnant. If you saw me either of the last two times you would understand their shock. Before I always stuck out as soon as I took the pregnancy test.

This week was my high level ultrasound. The technician took 60 pictures for the radiologist before she let me see anything. I expressed again that I was so concerned that I wasn't feeling the baby. I had not gained much weight almost half way through my pregnancy. I had not even regained weight to my prepregnancy weight with either boy. I wore my own clothes to the ultrasound, not maternity clothes. She listened without saying much. She left to start paperwork and I sat alone with Hubs and Son1. I asked Hubs if he really thought everything was ok.

She returned and showed us around my uterus. Baby #3 would not lay still! Baby sucked the thumb, somersaulted, and definitely was active! I felt none of this! She kept pointing to body parts, and I kept expecting her to tell us something was very wrong. But finally, she asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby.

I knew that this is traditionally the last question asked in an Ob ultrasound. We all said YES! And the most relieving words to hear were, "It's a boy!!" I knew our ultrasound had come to an end. I knew that the last thing the technician said was "Congratulations!" And it finally sunk in! A healthy baby boy is joining the Farmer family!