TRAN-ventures in the City

Tay was off for an extra day this week (yay!), so we ventured into the city with the children (which we've done only 1x before.)  We asked the Lord to bless our day with good attitudes and no tantrums.  And that no matter what He allows, we all remain thankful.  This may seem a bit over dramatic, you say, but we have a child who has a very difficult time w/ transition, new places, and walking, more so than normal.

Well, isn't S.F. all about new sights, unexpecteds, and plenty of walking?  Yikes!  Well, all I can say is, "Praise the Lord!"  He defnitely knows exactly what His children need.  Tay and I had been having a  more than usual rough time w/ one of the kids, and we truly desired a day where everybody just enjoyed each other.  God blessed our "Tran-venture" with good attitudes and no tantrums FOR THE ENTIRE 4 MILES WE WALKED!!!  He really does what will glorify Him.

When we got to Pier 39, the crowd was very sparse.  Phew!  From checking out the sights there, we headed to Hyde Park, then to Ghirardelli Square and a couple of other places; stopped at Rainforect Cafe for lunch. Timmy and  Offie even got to play fight w/ Darth Vader! 

Here's our Tran-venture!

Yummy hot chocolate from Ghirardelli...and ice cream for the kids?

Tay, who shows love in many ways, but rarely in public, said to me, "honey, come here a sec"

I walk towards him, he asks for a kiss, then takes a picture of this pda reflected by an glass ornament.  VERY SWEET!  Our kids in the background are all giggling.

Celebrating w/ Friends

One of the sweetest blessing we have is the gift of friendship.  We were able to spend some quality time w/ a few of our friends this past week.  Always fun times!

                                                       w/ the Marks

                                          w/ the Kawazoes, Lendways, Holmbergs

                                          w/ the Bagalsos

                                           w/ the Elliotts

Offie Days

Our little Offie has been a source of giddy laughter since he was born.  It sure hasn't abated.  I thought to share a couple of fun moments from this week.

Offie~ "Mom, when Ate Jasmine and Timmy were born, I was only in God's mind?" 
Mom~ "Uhh, actually yeah...that's right!"


This next one doesn't seem like such a big deal, but to Offie and us, it is.  Our local McD's has an indoor play area.  In all the times we've gone there, he has never ventured up the play structure.  He gets to the 1st step and immediately stops.  We've always encouraged him to try but to no avail.  Well, this week, we met up w/ some friends (at McD's).  As I was chatting away, I get a "mom, look at Offie."  I turn my head, and lo and behold, my boy is at the very tippy top, w/ a frown on his face.

Good going, Offie!

Jazzy's Review

Jazzy's review of a play adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" can be found in her blog.  The link is to the right side of this blog.  Thanks!

Bah, Humbug!....Not!

This week, Jasmine and I had the opportunity to attend a theatre production of "A Christmas Carol."  It was a wonderful experience for both of us.  Thanks to our Charter School, we got to go for FREE!  The play adaptation was spot on.  The book was well represented, memorable lines were included, as well as the more important scences of the book were wonderfully depicted.

Jasmine's review will be forthcoming. 

Since we couldn't take pictures during the play, we had to settle for before and after pictures.  Here goes!

Yes, we were being goofy.  While waiting for the show to start, we busied ourselves by taking pictures w/ the iphone.

Play attendees. 

Getting Ready for Christmas

Pray and Praise in Circumstances

James 5:13-15

 ^" Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ^[a]anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the prayer ^[b]offered in faith will ^[c]restore the one who is sick?"

Our family decided to head on to WA State to visit our dear friends for Thanksgiving.  We had an absolutely wonderful time!  In my next post, I will share the fun we had w/ pictures.  For now, I'd like to share what happened our first night there.

Well, Tim had his 2nd seizure in 2 months.  We were hanging out in the kitchen after dinner, and he suddenly began making choking sounds and his face began contorting.  Soon after, his body began its trembling.  Tay and I immediately tried to lay him down on the floor, sideways.  He began turning grayish blue from not being able to breath.  About a minute later, his seizure stopped.

That night, I prayed for him/his health and also prayed that God would protect my mind from worry.  I could see myself envisioning all sorts of horrible possibilities.

BUT, God's kindness brought me to the above passage in James.  He reminded me that in our suffering, WE PRAY.  In our joy, WE PRAISE HIM.  Because in Christ we have access to God, we were able to lay our concerns onto Him and have His joy permeate our hearts.  He was the reason we had peace and joy for the rest of our vacation.

More and more, God is teaching me that in CHRIST is my hope.  My life is not centered on my circumstances, whether good or bad.  All things are held together by the Heavenly Father's mighty hand.  Therefore, my response in all things should be to pray to Him and praise Him.

So, we praise Him for keeping Timmy safe and back to normal.  We continue to pray for his health.

I share this with the hope that anyone who happens to read this is encouraged to entrust their lives, circumstances, heartaches, and joys to God.  We have a Heavenly Father in Christ.

Our Solar System

This year, we decided to change up our Science curriculum.  We are absolutely loving Apologia Science!  This particular curriculum is Bible based and uses creation to teach science.  Right now, we are just finishing up Astronomy. 

Below is our own version of one of  God's awesome handiwork.

A Fun and Full Week

This week was filled with a couple of "firsts" for the Tran fam.

The kiddies and I joined our homeschool friends and visited the Charles Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa.  It was a quadruple blast for them since they got to 1. skip schoolwork, 2. see their friends, 3. create art projects, and lastly, 4. go ice skating next door.

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert

This was a fun time spent with some good friends, watching a favorite christian artist.  The last time I saw SCC in concert was 18 yrs ago!!!  Feelin' a bit old.  (Felt it too when I had to stay up past midnight)

Applehill Farm~  After a full week, I thought Saturday would be a day of "chilling out" at home.  Well, hubby came home Friday night from work and said, "we should take the kids to Applehill Farms tomorrow."  (which is a good 1.5 hrs drive) "Umm, okay," I replied.  Well, we were a bit unprepared for the chilly weather but overall had a fun time.  It was a special treat to run into some dear friends from church.

Apple donuts!!!!!!YUM!!!!

The kids were happy just running around this beautiful place.

Experimenting w/ our camera

I took a 2 hour photography class recently with the hope of learning how to use our camera close to it's full potential.  Of course, to remember it all, I have to keep playing around and snapping pictures when I can.  Half the time, my pictures end up on the delete pile!  Oh well.

Here are a few of the pictures I took while going for an early evening walk w/ the fam.

I'm trying to remember what setting I used to take the pics, but can't seem to recall.  I'll just have to keep snapping more pics.

Harvest Festival

The kids were very excited to get all dressed up for our Annual Harvest Festival @ church!