Greene Beans

New and exciting happenings from the farm

2011-12-29T08:41:00.001-08:00

The girls got new Christmas dresses from my grandma this year. They even wore them on the 5 hour drive to Michigan because they didn't want to take them off.

Brian and Emily at Conner Prairie this fall. We got a membership this year and have enjoyed going a couple of times.
Elijah receives the lineman of the year award at the football banquet

Okay, so I really thought that I would be able to keep my blog updated even though we do not have internet at home, but I have grossly underestimated how difficult it would be to have free time with the laptop while I am in town and without child distractions, so... all that said, if any one still checks this blog for updates I am going to give you the last 3 months in a nut shell.

School got off to a great start. The kids are completely acclamaited to their new school and are enjoying going with their dad each day. Elijah played football--as in the real deal tackle football with pads and really thrived. The schedule was pretty intense and by the end of October we were ready for it to be done. Brian coaches jr high football and then Elijah's practice was after that, so three nights a week they didn't get home until 8:30 pm from school. Mary started riding the school bus home and I met her at home as soon as I could get there, usually pulling in right behind the bus.

Emily is still riding in to Lafayette with me every day and goes to the same daycare as before, which she just loves. It's been working well for everyone. So, it must be time to throw something new into the mix, right? Enter our big news...

I AM PREGNANT!! Yes, you read that correctly. Come June we will have the newest Greene Bean. It has been a pretty uneventful pregnancy so far, with the exception of getting the stomach flu the day before Thanksgiving I have been sickness free. I am tired all the time, but other than going to bed when the kids do, I've been doing great. I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago and got to see the baby moving all around so that made it a little more real. If you haven't done the math yet, I am about 15 weeks right now.

We had a great Christmas. It was our first Christmas at our new house. It's been one year now since we moved in. Mary got an American Girl doll, Julie. Brian and I, along with her two aunts, took her to the store in downtown Chicago to pick her out a few weeks before Christmas. It was so much fun and really special for all of us. Elijah is now in the world of video games. When he turned 9 this August we decided he was old enough, so he got some DS games this year and he was pretty happy with that. Emily is 4 now and she will tell you that she is old enough to chew gum. She doesn't swallow it. So, her most exciting gift was a gumball machine. We got to see all of our family from both sides and we still have several days to be at home now, so we are happy campers.

Here's whats up with us

2011-09-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

We've been picking lots from our garden--broccoli, peppers, zucchini, green beans
AND...APPLES!! Our apple tree is full of great treasures. We've been juicing to make apple cider and applesauce. Super fun! Delicious and free!
First day of school. Elijah is in third grade and Mary is in first. The year is going great--Elijah's playing tackle football and LOVING it. Mary is doing some new things too-- like riding the bus home.

Greene family updates-summer highlights

2011-07-20T12:19:00.001-07:00

Loving that Lake Michigan beach!
Elijah picked up his football pads just before we left for vacation. He's super excited about playing tackle this fall.
Fourth of July
Here we are at the beach-it is hot and sunny and wonderful, just the way Lake Michigan should be.
We went creeking at the big Pine Creek near our house. It was beautiful!

The kids got kittens this summer. The girls are carrying theirs' around in scarves 'baby sling' style.

chicken pictures!

2011-05-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

country life

2011-04-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

our new garden space is about the size of our whole yard at the other house
Mary decided that over spring break she was going to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels--it took her about 2 minutes to figure it out

tilling the garden space

The big news at our house has been the addition of 19 new chickies. They currently live on our front sun porch under a heat lamp in a box. I have been reading up on such things as when to move them to their outdoor home and how to wring their necks when the time comes (that will be Brian's job). We don't really know how many pullets (girls) and cockerels (boys) we have yet, but the plan is to have as many laying hens as we can and we'll use the males for meat.

We've been enjoying watching the landscape change around us and discovering what things are growing as spring SLOWLY shows its face. I've been digging some of my perennials from the other house (no, it hasn't sold yet) and transplanting them. Many of them were gifts for my 30th birthday and they have special value to me. I did start the garden with about 200 onions, spinach, lettuce and sugar snap peas over my spring break. I also started some blueberry bushes, blackberry plants, and a cherry tree. There is so much I want to get going. I bought a crazy amount of seed packets--leeks, green onions, 4 varieties of lettuce, green beans, strawberries, and asparagus. Those are just the things to direct sow. We'll get our plants from Brian's school, where the horticulture teacher started our things in the greenhouse in February.

Today I ordered our first chicks!!!

2011-03-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

2011-03-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring Break to me! In some ways having 2 separate spring breaks is a drag; we can't really go any where warm or even go do something as a family. However, this past week the kids and Brian were off school so I didn't have to make any lunches all week, I only had to get myself ready in the morning and drive straight to work. I got to sleep in until 5:45 every day.

Brian surprised me with an iPhone on Wednesday. I took Thursday off and we hung out and shopped at Rural King for 2 hours with the kids and bought a bunch of seeds, plants, and chicken feed. Friday, he was sending me a bunch of cryptic text messages and finally showed up at school around 3:30 and said, "come on we're going to Indy." He had packed our bags and gotten a hotel room downtown. We had all kinds of fun staying out late, sleeping in and doing whatever we wanted.

Next week: my spring break!!

Got an iPhone today!

2011-03-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

2011-03-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

tv room with gas log--the best seat in the house
front sitting room
The man room
dining room--I love not eating in the kitchen anymore!
one of many delicious pizzas from the throwdown

Sunset in front of our house

Greetings Blog readers! We are borrowing my parents miFi wireless card for the weekend so I am going to catch everyone up on our lives over the past two months. We have tried a couple of options for rural internet and so far everything is pretty expensive or not very fast for the expense so it seems we will continue to be internet-less for a bit longer. I am able to check my email at work if you want to contact me that way.

So, what have we been up to? I'll start most recently and work backwards. My dear friend Melissa and her toddler aged daughter came to stay with us for a few days last weekend and we had such a delightful time. While they were here we ventured out to the town of Rockville for a maple syrup festival. When I was Mary's age my parents made maple syrup, so it was a special visit for me to see it being done again first hand. We also had a pizza throwdown between Brian and Melissa (both claiming the title of best pizza maker). Who won? Well, there weren't ballots or anything but it's clear to me that I was a winner. YUM!!

The weather is starting to warm up here so we've been out walking around our property in the late afternoon sunshine and we are again grateful for such a beautiful space to call our own. I can't wait for everything to start greening up and blooming. I think it will look like a totally different place. We are enjoying all the wildlife that we see on our road or in the yard. We've got lots of deer, skunks, opposums, and possibly a woodchuck? living under the generator shed. We haven't seen him yet, but are suspecting. Brian heard the coyotes howling the other night and it may become a problem once we fill our henhouse. We'll see.

Other than that we are just really loving life. The kids can spread out a bit more here and we're seeing lots of growth in our new space. Brian's been able to really use his gifts in his school community more now that we live closer. He touches the lives of so many student and staff members. I know it is a great use of his abilities. We have taken a step back in time in some ways. We don't have a dishwasher so we spend a lot of time washing and putting away dishes, we don't have internet so we read books and play games. I've started writing hand written letters to people instead of emailing. It probably won't be this way forever, but the pace is just so nice.

2011-02-11T15:10:00.001-08:00

HELLO from the land of no internet! I don't even have any pictures to share so I am sorry to all you blog readers {ahem, Laura} who don't read posts without pictures. We hope to be getting an internet connection soon so we should be posting more regularly in the next few weeks. In the meantime we've been getting settled. The kids are enjoying their new school and our house is FABULOUS! We were snowed in for almost a week where we literally couldn't get out of the driveway, and even if we could the road hadn't been plowed anyway. So we just watched movies, played in the snow and drank coffee. We're enjoying a much slower pace of life.

Merry Christmas to all

2010-12-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't been blogging much lately--you know the old saying, "If you can't say something nice..."
No, its not that bad, it's just that I don't want to sound whiny about our life.

Here are the highlights {insert cute emoticon here}

Emily is throwing up again (yes, again. She stayed home last Monday because she was vomiting so I didn't believe her when we were at the store yesterday when she kept insisting that she was stirsty and was going to strow up.) On the plus side when your child strows up in a store you don't have to clean it up.

We're shopping today, Christmas Eve, because we haven't had time or energy to do it. We move on Monday.

Photo tour of our new home

2010-12-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

Front view
Side view
Two of the barns
Dining room
The cool sink in the downstairs half-bath

Well, it's official. We are homeowners. Again. I have been through the gamut of emotions this week, but I'm finally back to excited! After the closing today I felt better than ever that we are making the right choice. 2600 square feet, four bedrooms, a music room, an enclosed front porch, and almost six acres including a small orchard of fruit trees (apple, pear, and persimmon) and a walnut grove.

I wish it were getting easier

2010-12-14T17:39:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about the kids' school is the IRP (Independent Research Project) done twice per year. The students spend a lot of time at school and home working on their project and then there is one night when parents walk through view their work and give positive comments. Tonight was the night. Mary interviewed a nurse (her grandma Susan) and Elijah's project was about the Shawnee tribe. He made fry bread to taste and it was a big hit!

It isn't making it any easier to say goodbye. Last week it was their big music and art performance. I really liked it! Their last day at NCS will be Friday. They will start going to the elementary school that is connected to Brian's school after that. We were planning on them finishing the year where they are, but for me the commute plus dropping everyone off was seeming a little long--especially to start in the dead of winter. So, this is it for them. I know it will be fine. It will probably be even better in lots of ways, but change is so hard! There are lots of things that we have really loved about this school.

It's a little hard to prepare for Christmas with so many other BIG things happening this week. Last night we met with the realtor who will sell our Lafayette home. It will go on the market in January. Any of you Lafayette readers who know someone who might love our house--let us know! Tomorrow is our closing day on our new house. We are feeling a bit like each day has some major activity to check off the list. Tomorrow I will have more pictures to share. Some people have seen the interior house photos on Brian's facebook page, but I will get some different shots and post them here.

Well, it isn't done yet

2010-12-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

But we're getting there. At least we have water in the sink and the toilet is functional again today.

This is what I came home to today...

2010-12-03T14:39:00.001-08:00

I will spare the details, but Mary got really sick with vomiting yesterday. That is a whole 'nother post...Brian stayed home with her today (of course she didn't throw up at all!!) and he started getting antsy. We are going to put our house on the market soon, and he felt like the bathroom is really the weak link in trying to spiff it up. So, he started ripping up flooring and pulled the sink out. O-kayyy. We are going to close on our new house maybe next week?? The 15th is our date, but the loan officer called and said we could do it sooner if possible.

2010-12-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

Yay for snow on the first day of December. It has been a beautiful all day sprinkling. Not much accumulation, but a nice dusting. This reminded me about something I will be so thankful for in our new house: a mud room at the back entrance. Right now, at our current home, there is nowhere to drop wet shoes or boots that are out of the way of the door. So, either you walk into the house and leave wet footprints (and end up with wet socks soon after) or drop your boots right at the door in a big pile so the door barely closes (and trip over them soon after).

Thanksgiving Helpers

2010-11-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

This year was very low key for us since Mary was still recovering from her tonsil surgery. Mary was shaking some heavy whipping cream to make some homemade butter. Elijah made the apple pie--as in he peeled all the apples and sealed the pre-made store crusts. It is great to have such helpful staff in my kitchen!

We got a lot of stuff cleaned out and organized at our house while we were home for a long weekend. We've started packing boxes so that we can organize as we pack. I really do not want to haul a bunch of stuff out to the country just to re-box it and drive it back to Goodwill.

We put up our artificial tree tonight. I so look forward to the Advent season and all the twinkly lights. It's a real conundrum for me to get all the decorations out just to box them back up in three weeks. I think we may just not put decorations on the tree, only lights. We want to have one last Christmas at this house, but we may set up a real tree at the new house because I am one of those people who wants the tree up all the way until new years.

It's Emily's 3rd birthday tomorrow

2010-11-27T17:01:00.000-08:00

Playing yard sale
Chasing sea gulls at Lake Michigan
With her twin on our back porch
Playing with a scarf in the van
Being cozy and listening to stories on the heat vent
She is our spunky girl who loves animals especially dogs, loves to laugh, and loves to imagine. She is awfully independent and practically potty trained herself this year. She is fiercely loyal to her loved ones and has proclaimed that Jonathan is "her best friend." (totally unsolicited). This weekend she had us cracking up because she was happy about something and started jumping around and said, "I'm doing the happy dance!" She has us in hysterics all the time. It's a little hard to believe that she is only turning three. Tonight Elijah and Mary realized that we hadn't bought her a present and it was important to them to have something to give her. So they went shopping in the attic and wrapped up some toys for her. They were so busy trying to make the package look pretty. It was so sweet--we all love Emily so much.

2010-11-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

See that really wiggly looking front tooth? Not anymore! It got removed today when Mary had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. The doctors and nurses all loved her so much. They kept gushing about how beautiful she was and how she was a great patient--although I think the worst is yet to come according to the doctor--around day 3-5. She is resting at home and seems like she will be just fine.
This was the only smile I got--to show me her missing tooth. Brian was freaking out because she was being so quiet and serious--not like the Mary we know. He was being so silly trying to get her to crack a smile.
The nurse offered her a ride in the wheelchair out to the van. Who wouldn't say yes?

2010-11-18T17:36:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day for Mary. Brian and I are off work, the other two kids are accounted for, and I am pretty much clearing the schedule (at least mentally) for the next couple of weeks. Of course, it is hard to remember that Mary is having surgery tomorrow because we're so wrapped up in the fact that WE BOUGHT A HOUSE this week. Not just any house--a house in the country with 5 acres and barns and fruit trees and a walnut grove and a chicken coop. Yes, folks, my country living dream is about to come true. It is a big 1900 farm house with 4 bedrooms and plenty of square feet for stretching out. The yard is beautiful, the surroundings are beautiful--tons of trees (including maples--one of my favorite), rolling hills, gravel road. Straight up-the country. We are set to close in mid-December and we're planning on moving over winter break. I think part of me is still in shock that it is really happening, but the other part of me is calm and collected about it because we've already been up and down this roller coaster before. It just feels right.

2010-11-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Who knew that being gone for the weekend would tire us out for the whole week? Man, I seriously can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. The van is {almost} unpacked. No joke. I did at least vacuum it today. The stuff that is back in the house is still sitting in piles near the door. The dishes have piled up. The laundry fairy is not doing a good job at all. Ha! It's a good thing we had such a good time last weekend.

Speaking of fairies...Elijah had to get a tooth extracted this week. I like that word, extracted. It sounds much more professional than pulled. I really wished I could've gotten the camera to focus on the little note he wrote. It said, "Tooth fairy. Leave 8 dollars."

Please. For a tooth that you didn't take care of in the first place. To a fairy that you don't even believe in.

Same day. Mary went to the Ear Nose and Throat doctor. Drumroll, please...after 3 years of strep throat again and again and again. She is finally getting her tonsils out. I had mine out when I was 3 and still remember the weird dreams from the anesthetic so that should've been a clue that this is serious business. But, I guess I wasn't thinking about it. The post-op recovery time is 10 days. No school for at least a week. Expect to lose 10 lbs. Take Lortab for pain. YIKES!!! She has already missed 8 days of school this year. We scheduled the surgery for Friday the 19th so that she will only miss school Mon-Wed of Thanksgiving week, but we can't travel to see my family in Michigan like we often do for Thanksgiving. The post-op sheet says travel is restricted for 14 days-within an hour. Boo. At least she will hopefully be better after we do this.

Picture tour of our fall break in Kentucky

2010-11-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Fall Festivities

2010-10-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

It just wouldn't work out this year to go to a real pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins straight from the vine, so we went to the church parking lot pumpkin patch down the street from our house. Elijah had just gotten his allowance and wanted to spend $1 of it to buy his own teeny pumpkin. It has a speech bubble on the side saying "hi!" Mary wanted hers to have both eyelashes and a mustache/beard, so try to figure that one out.

b n

2010-10-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

My other two kids are cute and wonderful too, I promise. But this is another thing I want to remember about Emily (you know, she's the third child so this is essentially her baby book!). When I finish reading her a story, she'll turn the last page and say, "BN."

If you don't get it, say it out loud.

lots of lessons

2010-10-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Our family decided to go low-carb last month to support our loving daddy who is trying very hard to shed some pounds. Little did we know how good it would be for all of us. I, who loves any goods baked, swore that I could never go more than one meal without bread or grains or chocolate chip cookies. What we've been finding out is that once you stop eating bread and sugar, your body doesn't really crave it all that much. I thought we ate pretty healthy--lots of veggies, whole wheat bread, etc., but since we cut out sugar I think I became aware of how often we were "treating" ourselves to dessert or snacks. I find it really interesting how my body feels when it's hungry now. There is no gnawing sense that I.must.eat.now.

I think the most amazing transition has been in the kids. Elijah and Mary have both lost between 5-10 lbs. and their eating habits have been transformed. For one thing, they eat a lot less food. Next, they don't beg for snacks all the time. And there is no more over-eating. They are doing a much better job of monitoring what they're putting into their bodies and they look great!! When we went swimming last week, Mary's swimsuit that she wore all summer was hanging on her--it was way too big!

I really thought low-carb meant all-bacon-all-the-time (and how can that be healthy?), but this plan is a lot of veggies, lean protein, and some fruit. We've been actually enjoying it. The biggest surprise so far has been the creamy cauliflower leek soup that was dee-lish. Cauliflower is now one of our favorite side dishes. Mmm...steamed cauliflower...I can hear you salivating! :)

One about Emily

2010-10-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

I really should be washing dishes right now, but I always forget to post when I am thinking of something. Tonight was one of those nights that Emily was being so cute and funny--she just cracked me up. She has got this amazing imagination and is always pretending to be a dog (it's really the only way I can get her hair washed, "C'mon puppy, let's wash your fur") or she is talking to her babies who have funny names like the one tonight on the way to the store--dumpy. I have no idea how she comes up with these things. The elephant (what elephant, Emily?) was named Squeaky.

On the way home this strange thing happened to us right off of Union St.--a pretty busy street right in town. It was dusk and I saw this huge bird swoop down. (Yes, I am turning into my mom--"Look, a hawk!") It was actually an owl. A big one. Emily already has a fascination with owls so I turned around really quick and went back for a closer look. It was only there for a few more seconds, but it totally scared some unsuspecting pedestrian walking down the sidewalk as it flew back up to a tree. All the way home Emily was telling me, "Shh. Don't wake the owls." or "Hurry mom, the owls will take our van." Which maybe sounds like she is afraid of them, but I don't think that's the case. It's more like amazement.

I absolutely love getting caught up in her imaginary world.

2010-09-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

Most of the apples have now been turned into applesauce so I guess we're over the trauma of the apple orchard. We're all mostly healthy again and chugging along in our new fall routine. Stop me if I've said this already, but this year feels totally different so far. Different better. Much better. The kids are being pretty darn helpful as far as kids go, and that gives me a little bit of much needed breathing room on the weekends and evenings. I am not rushing out after school several days a week to pick children up and take them back to school with me while I try to work, and I think that is giving me a little wiggle room in my schedule too. Man, I almost feel like a normal human. I've been exercising and READING BOOKS. FICTIONAL ONES. Somebody stop me!!

it should have been a fun weekend outing

2010-09-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

You know, hindsight and all that. Today was a stay at home sick day. I think if you look at our faces you can see that we tried really hard, but it just wasn't working. We couldn't figure out why everyone was so crabby. Then Mary got up at 2 am with a fever last night. Emily's is a low grade fever, but she has not been eating or sleeping well either AND GRUUUUMPY. On our way to the apple orchard she wet her pants and didn't tell anyone. I didn't bring any extra clothes because she rarely wets her clothing, but I still should've been prepared. If you look closely there is a sweatshirt tied around her waist to cover up the lack of pants. After an hour in the car we weren't willing to be the WT family with their oversized 2 year old just in a diaper (I did have an extra one of those in the back of the van) walking around picking apples and taking cute family photos.

Anyway, we got 4 big bags of apples picked for applesauce and eating. They're so much tastier when picked straight from the tree to our home. Skip the grocery store.

Unfortunately Mary won't be going back tomorrow with her class field trip to the same orchard. Her fever is still 101 tonight. She must really feel sick because she hasn't even really complained too much about not going. I took both girls to the doctor (I am getting smarter about not waiting it out anymore. That's for summer or people who don't have to take off work when their kids are sick :) ) and their strep tests were negative so this is just a lovely virus that we get to wait out. Yippee.

2010-09-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

I wish that this photo could do justice to the size of this big daddy praying mantis. He had to be at least 3 inches long. I don't know much about the mantis species, but every year we have a lot of them in our yard/on our back porch. This one was the biggest ever. I went over to turn on the water faucet and I could see his eyes watching me. They seem really calm and friendly so I am happy that they enjoy our backyard. The kids have also been catching butterflies in mass quantity this week. The butterflies seem to be enjoying my bolting basil. I am not. It means that fresh herbs are almost done at our house. Boo.

a post about alarm clocks

2010-09-15T14:01:00.001-07:00

I don't know about your house, but at our house I am the keeper of the alarm clock. And I have very specific feelings about my side of the bed. It's mine. But last night when Brian asked me to reset the alarm for 4:30 this morning I decided to reconsider my position. We definitely get up early, but not 4:30 early. So, I heard it go off--I'm not sure if he meant to put it on annoying beep to make sure he got up or he just didn't know how to work the settings--but it didn't get me upright. I might also interject here that I did take some Nyquil last night because I just can't seem to kick this cold.

Anyhoo, fast forward to 6:30 which is when Mary came in and said that Emily needed me. I was pretty confused and out of it when I staggered into her room when suddenly the fog lifted and I realized that it wasn't 5:30, but 6:30 and I am usually showered, dressed, lunches made, hair done, coffee made, getting ready to get the girls up at this time.

{PANIC!!!}

I am so thankful that the kids are old enough to really help. They made their lunches and ate breakfast while I took a quick shower. Elijah took the dog out and fed him. We were out the door by 7:25, which might be some kind of record for getting 4 people and a dog ready to leave, but I think I will move back to my side tonight.

Do you notice any similarities?

2010-09-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

How is this even possible?

2010-09-08T17:51:00.001-07:00

There are about 6 pieces of jewelry here. Any thoughts on how on earth they could become this tangled? I think it is not worth my time to try to un do them. But it does make me slightly irritated.

2010-09-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

We are just having the best Labor Day weekend! Friday night we drove out to watch the Seeger Patriots play football. Since Brian is coaching jr high, he stands on the sidelines with the varsity team too, and Elijah gets to stand out there with them, which was definitely a highlight for him!

We've spent lots of time with our friends-campfire at our house Friday night, another campfire at friends' on Sunday night. We got to participate in an outdoor baptism yesterday for some new friends, Lauren, and her son, Hunter. We are Hunter's godparents, so Brian actually helped baptize him in the creek at their family's house. We also got to ride our motorcycle out there (about a 30 minute ride) and back. It was a gorgeous night for a ride.

Today I got the veggies I'm getting in the ground for our fall garden-really basic, no tending required. Just lettuce, spinach, and a few herbs. I tried to get garlic, but they were out, so I need to get on that. We loved harvesting our own fresh garlic in July. I also got 3 red raspberry bushes and am looking forward to having some fresh fruit of our own, perhaps even a little next summer.

The weather has been cool, sunny, and windy this weekend and we've really enjoyed that too. It's nice to have the windows open for a change and be able to be outdoors again without being uncomfortable!

The time is 3:37

2010-09-02T00:37:00.000-07:00

Emily woke up at 1:30 having taken her diaper off and soaked her bed. I have not been back to sleep since. The alarm will be going off in 2 hours for me to get up and start my day. I'm not sure it will be worth it to go back to sleep.

2010-09-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

The setting: in the tubbie, making "tea"

The character: Emily

The script

Emily: "Mommy, I'll be the gramma, and you be the sweetheart."

{hearts melting}

I don't know what's come over me!

2010-08-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

Last night, we had a sitter.
A night out on the town.
What did I want to do?
BW-3's for chicken wings and beer.
Not just any beer. Budweiser.
We sat out on the patio (which is part of the bar. Which is the smoking section.) It cracked Brian up.
Then we watched ultimate fighting on the big screen.
IT WAS REALLY FUN! Who am I?????!!!!

2010-08-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

It's a little hard to believe that our little baby is growing up into a young man! Eight years old today. Elijah got karate lessons, new arrows for his bow, and a skateboard. Yup, definitely growing up.

It's the first day of school!

2010-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Mary started kindergarten today and Elijah started second grade. Everyone had a great day, but they are tired out tonight! It's awesome that I have another few days off. I love being able to ease back into our schedule. I actually got to take the kids to their first day of school, which has never happened before. They happened to have the same lunch period and they actually sat together which I thought was so sweet! One thing I hadn't thought of was that Emily would have a hard time with this transition. She said this morning, "I don't want Mary to go to kindergarten." I guess last year they were at the sitter together and of course this summer they spent a lot of time together. She got to spend the day with me at school today and had a great time.

More kid pics

2010-08-15T15:03:00.001-07:00

Hilarious!! Emily got hold of the camera the other night and was doing an awesome job!

Gardening

2010-08-14T09:31:00.001-07:00

I started cleaning out the garden today. I know that I always am bad about letting it go once school has started again, so I started pulling things that I'm done with. Like the pumpkin plants that flowered, but never turned into pumpkins. And the green beans that are becoming prolific, but are gross, in my opinion. They are not the same deliciously sleek beans that I planted last year. I did can some of them, but they aren't worth my time any more. So, they are gone. Now I can get to some other things that were getting overrun. The cayenne peppers are turning red and we've started drying them to make crushed red pepper. I did can some tomatoes and dry some of the cherry tomatoes and make tomato sauce. Actually the sauce was for a zucchini-eggplant lasagna that was REALLY good. There were no pasta noodles in it. The eggplant and zucchini get sliced lengthwise and act as the noodles layered with a tomato sauce and then ricotta cheese mixture. It was fun to make something that was almost totally from the garden (tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini) and eggplant (from a couple of friends' gardens).

As soon as it cools off a little bit I'd like to get some lettuce and spinach going in the blank spaces. They are pretty maintenance free.

We've been making the transition back to work, and it does seem to be going a bit smoother this year than in year's past. I think it's because I have an extra week off. Brian and the kids start on Tuesday, so we're starting the final descent. School supplies are purchased, clothes are ready and we've started stocking up lunch box food and teaching the kids their new household jobs for when school starts. We're trying to give them with some more responsibilities around the house so that we can try to stay a little more sane this year. : )

I'm off to make some more zucchini bread!

Uploaded from Mary's camera

2010-08-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

She is quite the budding photographer. These were some of the highlights of the 200+ shots that were on her camera. Light fixture in our computer room.
Spider plant on the porch
Mixed veggies

And the ever photogenic Mr. Potato Head

Another list

2010-08-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

I can thank my dad for the "list-making" gene. I get so much satisfaction from crossing things off when I'm done. I think lists are also helpful in condensing jumbled thoughts into a concise thought process.

Reasons I love to run

1. It is all for me. I don't talk to anyone (I've tried and almost killed myself falling off the treadmill (LAAAA)) or think about anything.

2. I feel healthier when I'm done.

3. I set small goals for myself like "I'm just going to make it to the end of this song" or "start up again at this certain lyric in a song" and feel great when I've completed them.

4. Since I started at the beginning of the summer I can tell that my endurance has increased. I've never really been a runner before and I'm able to go lots further (farther?) than I ever expected.

5. I can eat two pieces of peach pie and hope it will be offset by my daily run.

Winding down

2010-08-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Summer is, that is. We've certainly had a whirlwind of activity this summer. This past week I was on tour with Brian's band, the SmallTown Heroes. We traveled to Bloomington, IN and then on to Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a lot of travel time and we learned lots about how to do this the next time, as the learning curve was kind of big. But, it was lots of fun to see them play and visit some friends and meet some people and see some new places--like Asheville, NC--a very cool town I'd love to go back to and explore some more!

I've been in a flurry trying to deal with my garden that has been sorely unattended for 2 weeks + at a very pivotal time for harvesting. I feel like between trips I've been picking lots of overgrown things and trying to figure out what to do with them (make zucchini bread and freeze shredded zucchini, lots of refrigerator pickles) and the canning has begun!! So far this year I've done salsa, green beans, banana peppers, and...drumroll, please....peaches! I picked 3/4 bushel today at Annie's Orchard out near Ross Camp. So today has been all about peaches. I made a pie first thing, then set to canning and freezing some. Tomorrow I'll do some more peach jam. Tomatoes are going to be ready soon too. Although of the 16 plants, it turns out that about 12 of them are cherry tomatoes. I am trying to figure out what to do with them. Can them? Juice them? I just don't know yet.

We're starting to prepare to go back to work/school. We haven't actually done anything yet. It's more of a mental preparation. ; ) The kids are excited--especially Mary, since she is starting kindergarten, we are not. I could use another month, but I'll be fine.

back from vacation picture overload

2010-07-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Bob and Susan watching the sunset on the beach
Aunt Nancy and Susan at the lighthouse
Emily sports her new SmallTown Heroes t-shirt and the cutest Keen sandals ever
Aunt Meg and Jonathan at the lighthouse
Late night fun on the dock
"CHEEEEEESE" on the lighthouse
My mom and me

My kids with cousin Sam at the top of a sand dune on the dune ride in Saugatuck
Catching fish in Lake Macatawa
Emily and Jonathan played trains out on the porch most days.

We had a fabulous time at Lake Michigan, as always. The weather was just right--upper 70's, low 80's during the day and 60's by night with the great lake breeze blowing most days. We had a little snag at the beginning of our trip. We were supposed to leave last Friday morning, but Mary woke up vomiting and had a fever. She had gone to the doctor on Wednesday for her 6 year check up and got vaccinations, so I thought her fever was from that. I took her back to the doctor first thing on Friday and found out she had strep throat! Brian graciously offered to stay with her for a day at home while I took the other kids and headed up to the vacation house.
He and Mary came up Saturday afternoon and she was back to her old self within a few days. The first few days she would get exhausted pretty easily and sleep for hours at a time, but I don't think she minded. We had lots of people in and out of the house this year, but in general we had around 15 people staying there. Some of our favorite things from this year's trip were:

THE BEACH!! Right outside our doorstep, walks to the lighthouse and the big sand dune, Lake Michigan beach. Lots of big waves this year for body surfing.

The Farmer's Market in Holland. Always fun for produce nerds like me. I got my 15 lbs. of blueberries in the freezer when I got home and made peach jam already too!

The Dune Ride. Brian and I have been three times now this summer and it is fun every time. We were talking about how fun it would be next summer to rent a cottage for the summer and he could drive the dune rides

Free Coffee Drinks in Holland. We were at the shoe store, talking about how we needed a coffee pick-me-up and some lady told us that the barista school down the block was giving away free drinks (not just brewed coffee--any coffee drink you wanted) for FREE. They made the most delicious coffee smoothies with coffee and ice cream.

The week wouldn't have been complete without a major storm over Lake Michigan and we got ours on the last night. My dad found out there were 100 mph winds. The thunder and lightning were right on top of us and the rain was pelting in sideways. I think the power went out around midnight and came back in the early morning hours. It's scary when you are right on the water with nothing to block the storm.

Hanging out with our family for a week. Man, it was so fun!! Nobody has a family like we do.

because I am thinking in bullet points right now

2010-07-14T18:52:00.001-07:00

Went bathing suit shopping today. Ugh. But it had to be done. The one I ordered from Land's End, well...how about if I let Elijah sum it up: "Mom, I think it looked better on the person on the computer." O-kayyyy, that one is going back. The one I actually tried on at Target was better. And cheaper.

As I washed and pressed the kitchen curtains this week I decided that I am ready to paint again. I think I've finally had enough red kitchen.

Eating green beans, cukes, zucchini, banana peppers, and cherry tomatoes from the garden right now (well, not RIGHT now, but you get the idea)

Unhappy with the sleeping situation at my house right now. The problem: nobody is sleeping, but everyone is tired. Bedtime was 2.5 hours ago and no one is asleep yet. Trying to remain calm.

Excited about making more jam soon --peach and blueberry fo' shizzle and maybe raspberry

Hung curtains in the girls' room today; glad I saved them from when Elijah was little because they match that room nicely. Glad to have window treatments again. We'll see how long they last. Can't have nothin' nice with no kids around.

Been trying to get some balance back in my life by exercising daily again and I am sort of becoming one of those weird people that loves to run. But only on the treadmill and only with the iPod in my ears very LOUDLY. I already did it once today, but am contemplating doing it again tonight. Plus it's a good excuse to listen to the Avett Brothers. LOUDLY.

New pictures, as promised

2010-07-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

*These pictures all happened prior to Emily and I getting sea sick and throwing up all over my parents' boat. Sorry, mom and dad. Hope you had a fun 4th of July anyway!!

More photos from our visit to the country

2010-07-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

I think my kids joined a Warren County gang while we were there.
Elijah did drive the 4 wheeler. Despite the devilish look in his eye, he was very responsible. I'll admit, it took a little deep breathing on my part.
Emily, on the other hand, was not a good driver. She wrapped that Power Wheels around the first tree she came to. I guess we know which one will not be getting their drivers' license any time soon!
Her scalp was looking red, so I covered her up with our family's summer crest. Come back tomorrow for pictures of the same bandana looking a bit less hippie chic and a little more pirate-y.

Do you know where your dinner came from?

2010-07-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

We do!! On our mini-vacation to our friends' house we caught catfish from their pond and the guys filleted it and we ate it blackened and fried. Mary caught the first fish--a small bluegill that had to be thrown back. She was awfully proud to get the first catch. She was using what became affectionately named "the fish slayer". It caught a good portion of the 7 catfish that we ended up with and it was a $10 Toy Story pole that we picked up at Target so she wouldn't be left out of the fun. Everyone caught something to contribute to the meal. That's the beauty of a stocked pond.

As this was happening Emily was very alarmed. I was explaining to her that we would cut the fish and cook it and she kept saying, "It's not for eating." Although, when it was on her plate she didn't seem to have any trouble. Hypocrite. ; )

birthday fun

2010-06-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

Buccaneer Bay was totally fun! The water slides all ended in shallow water so even our littlest ones could ride them.

Mary's cake this year was a last minute decision, but I think it was just perfect for her. She has been a shoe girl since she was about 2 years old. The flip flops were made from a 13x9 pan, cut out to look like shoes. Frosted, added candies for decoration, cut pieces of fruit roll up for the thong part, and cut sunflowers from our yard for the finishing touch.
It has been shearing season at our house this week. Both Elijah and Mary got major hair cuts. I took her yesterday and she got about 3 inches off.
And just because there are never any pictures of the mother. Here I am. Pool hair and all.

lunch on the porch

2010-06-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

Today is party prep day. We are celebrating Mary's birthday a couple weeks early due to the experation date on some pool passes that we already purchased! More photos on that to come. In the mean time here are some cuties having lunch on a hot summer day.

2010-06-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

I'm sure, just sure, that I am jinxing myself by writing this. But I am forging ahead anyway. Things here are going so well right now. We stayed at Fiddlers' last night until the last band. The kids were happy, playing nicely, listening to the music. It was so fun! It does help that the adult to child ratio is 3:1. We got home around midnight and everyone went straight to sleep and slept until 8:30 this morning. Breakfast was pancakes and sausage at Megan and Everette's house. We just got home and everyone is laying down for naps. I'm sure that tonight will not be as smooth. Brian will not be there for one thing. The STH are playing at a wedding reception, so he's out of commission for most of today. Secondly there is no way that we can have this much fun two days in a row. So, I'm just planning now that it will be an earlier night. Plus, I do want to make it to church on Sunday.

The other thing that is going unbelievably smooth is toilet training Emily. It is such a different experience that Mary. She took like two years to train. Emily is just doing it of her own accord. I kind of expected it to take a bit of time and energy this summer, but so far so good. She still wears a diaper at bedtime, but if she's wearing underwear she will just use the bathroom. I rarely even ask her unless we're out in public and I think she might have forgotten about it.

I'm off for my nap.

A day in our life

2010-06-24T18:02:00.001-07:00

The past 24 hours have been just what I like...productive and fun! Brian finished the second set of steps off the back porch. The plan is to fence the back yard for the kids and dog, but we didn't want the existing steps to be fenced in, so the obvious solution is...make another set of stairs.

As I mentioned above we are fencing the yard. Well, that would be easy. Get a fence. Put it up. Nope, not around here. Brian took an old door that we weren't using and is somehow creating that to be a door entrance to the back yard. I am not a visual-spacial person, so I'll have to see it before I catch the vision. He wanted it to be red. So that's one of today's tasks.
Today we also prepared a meal for the Habitat for Humanity volunteers. This is a very large bowl of what became dirt pudding. Brian and the kids also put together Hawaiian bread sandwiches, salad, and fruit salad. Lunch for 30 people.

Oh, and I can't forget about this. Because the berries sat out on the kitchen counter all day there were definitely not enough to make a pie. So after dinner we decided to grab some Frozen Custard and I whipped up a little sauce--sugar, brandy, a splash of orange juice and the smashed berry pulp cooked for just a couple minutes.

decisions, decisions

2010-06-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

We picked the most beautiful black raspberries along the roadside in Battle Ground today. Now I can't decide what to do with them. They're awfully tasty by the fistful (and for the record I love that Mary was saying "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" as we picked them--anyone know that reference?), but I am having visions of pies or a delicious sauce over some frozen custard.

Our super fun weekend away without any kids!

2010-06-22T09:06:00.001-07:00

Here we are after we completed the grueling 3 hour-nobody-told-us- it -was- a- black -diamond canoe trip. We dumped it after about the first 20 minutes. We were in our clothes. It was literally like a video game. We were dodging trees right and left. We both came home with bruises. Was that really worth $40?!!
Little Sable Light House. We climbed 150 stairs up to the top.
This is us at the top out on the observation deck.
We took a dune ride which was probably the highlight of the trip. It goes fast up and down the sand dunes---like a roller coaster. We stopped by Lake Michigan for a photo op.

And here is ours. Do you like Brian's new Bono transitions glasses?

It was busy--but way less busy than if we would've gone away with all three in tow. One of our goals was to do things that we wouldn't have been able to do with our family. We camped at Muskegon State Park right over the dune from Lake Michigan. We brought a tent, an air mattress, bedding, clothes, and a cooler with drinks. IT ONLY TOOK US 15 MINUTES TO SET UP CAMP!!!!!!! It was quiet and peaceful and beautiful weather--just right around 80 and mostly sunny. We never did swim in the lake, but we walked the beach and did lots of exploring. We wine tasted, we ate out at nice restaurants, we stopped at lots of little beach towns just for a few minutes to check it out. On our way home we stopped to visit with an old friend whom we hadn't seen in a long time. AND THEN instead of going home we stopped at Brian's parents to have dinner and look at Laura's pictures from her trip to Africa! She got home while we were gone. It was a pretty amazing weekend.

2010-06-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to see Toy Story 3 tonight. We loved the first two movies, but I wasn't sure what to expect from the latest since we hadn't been primed by a bunch of movie trailer commercials, but we were not disappointed. If you have been around for a while you might remember how Elijah went through a pretty long phase when he was enamored with Buzz Lightyear. We have only remnants left--a few bowls with Buzz's picture come directly to mind, but not much else. As he has gotten older, like Andy, the main character, Elijah's interests have moved on to other things. So for me it was particularly bittersweet to watch this movie about Andy growing up and outgrowing his once beloved toys. I was really impressed with the story line, the depth of the characters, and the lack of toilet/sexual humor that seems to be rampant in childrens' movies. In honor of tonight's screening I thought we'd take a little walk down memory lane.

Now that's more like it

2010-06-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today was the quintessential summer day. It started with coffee on the back porch. We walked the dog to the park and the kids played for a while. When we got home we had a snack and the girls lay down for an early nap. I mowed the grass while Brian and Elijah sat on the back porch playing cards. Then we rode our bikes to swim at Tropicanoe Cove where we saw two of Elijah's classmates and two of my co-workers. We came home after a couple hours and had some quiet time. I made dinner and Everette, my brother in law, came over to eat with us. Then I loaded up on my bike and rode to my friends' house for a small get together. Riding my bike home at 10:30 was so liberating. I never do things like that anymore. I feel like such a boring mom most of the time. It felt good to be straining my muscles and watching the stars as I rode up Ferry Street by street lamp. Unfortunately I am still keyed up at 12:39 am and since we turned our air conditioning off today, I think it is too hot in here to sleep. I just turned it back on because I am getting soft about such things. 82 degrees doesn't seem like ideal sleeping weather.

UGH! I am ready for a break.

2010-06-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

I thought we were ready to start having fun, but apparently our time has not come yet. Yesterday around noon Elijah said, "My head hurts. I don't feel so good." Sure enough. The awful sickness that Mary had over the weekend has made it's way to her big brother. She's such a good sharer! What's weird is that it didn't affect them in exactly the same way-- he threw up last night and has complained a lot of stomach pain, where she didn't at all. His temperature climbed all day yesterday until it finally rested at about 102. He tends to shake things off a little easier than she does, so I am hoping by tomorrow he'll be better. On the plus side, we've caught up on lots of television that we wouldn't have otherwise seen (thank you Netflix). We've been enjoying Mythbusters quite a bit (We thought Scott A. probably likes it a lot too-- if you are reading this Melissa! They were blowing things up with a gunpowder mixture.)

Our new toy

2010-06-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Brian decided that it was time that our kids have a real guitar to learn on, so yesterday he bought them their own baby Martin. As he was perusing the internet for the best deals, I laughed at him when he asked me if I thought he was "brand loyal." He was sure that he wasn't. (Seriously??!!) He did come home with the Martin, though.

Mary's eyes look sick in the picture because she is awfully sick. It came on very suddenly. Friday night she was fine, Saturday morning we were at the doctor's office and the nurse was looking at me like a neglectful parent because her fever was 103. It hasn't come down much since then. Even with the tylenol and ibuprofen, it is still in the 100 degree range. She'll get up for a while after the medicine has kicked in, but soon after she's ready to lay back down. So we've been reading lots of books, watching Netflix, and playing card games (her favorite!). I am at least thankful that it's rained a bit this weekend; I can't stand to be stuck in the house if the weather is beautiful. It's the worst time to be sick.

Straight Arrow Camp

2010-06-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

Friday night was family night at camp and was it ever fun! After eating dinner we walked around the camp and could do the activities with the kids. I was really impressed with how there was no sense of fake nature activities. The kids were allowed to shoot arrows, beebee guns, and slingshots and do real things, if that makes sense. Elijah got all kinds of bangs and scrapes from swinging on a rope, doing the obstacle course, and doing the rock climb. He was so proud of the things he got to do there.

He made it to the top of the harder course!

The songs and activities were fun too!

Early Summer Garden

2010-06-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Sixteen tomato plants, all varieties behind the garage. Some with flowers, some with small green tomatoes
Phase one from left to right: carrots, cabbage, sugar snap peas, lettuce --2 varieties, (spinach is all done, just planted green beans in that row), onions, garlic
Phase 2 (left to right): back corner is pumpkins and cantaloupe, cucumbers, romaine lettuce seedlings, banana peppers, green beans, egg plant (2), zucchini, hot peppers, carrots, yellow squash just over in the back right

This year I am trying to stagger plant a bit more so that we don't have everything coming in at once and reuse rows when things have finished to maximize our small space.

2010-06-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh!! I went and picked more berries today at a new place and they were even better (and cheaper!) than the original place! I am making more jam today and then with the leftovers I think I'll make a little shortcake.

The final product

2010-06-09T12:45:00.001-07:00

I am not sure I'll ever be eating store bought strawberry jam again! It is so tasty! Anyone know of a good local raspberry picking farm? I've checked the Indiana u-pick website and there doesn't seem to be much close by.

Guess what I did tonight?

2010-06-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

2010-06-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Alright, enough about throwing up. Today was the final last day of school. I finished two weeks ago (??!!), Brian ended last Thursday and today Elijah finally finished his first grade year. It went out with a bang! NCS field day is a really big deal and a lot of fun--7 hours at Happy Hollow Park with tons of cool stations like tricycle obstacle course, three legged race, scooter races, water in a bucket race, splatter painting, make your own bandana, kick ball, and an all school water balloon fight. Mary and I went to help and to log our first 8 hours of volunteer time for next year! (We have to get 40 hours by the end of each year.)

We have made lots of decisions lately and guess where we ended up? Right back where we started. When all is said and done we are not changing schools after all and we aren't moving just yet. I am quite sure you are done hearing about our up and down: we're moving, we're staying; but believe me as much as I've blogged about it, we've talked about it and thought about it at least ten times more.

I actually emailed Elijah's school a few weeks ago to tell them that we wouldn't be returning next year and they emailed me back and offered me a teaching job for next year! Unfortunately the pay is much lower than what I make now and we couldn't afford for me to teach there, but it did end up talking us out of leaving. For those of you who don't know, the big deal about leaving New Community School is that there are only so many available spots in the school and if we leave, we will lose ours.

So, summer is officially here for us. How will we celebrate? By going back to work of course. : )

Tomorrow and Wednesday I have meetings to attend. Elijah is starting Straight Arrow YMCA Day Camp. Maybe next week we can slow down and do nothing. We did cancel our 2 week camping trip for this summer which was supposed to start the next week. Brian and I both just want to hang out at home and go to the pool, sleep in, and do less instead of more. I don't want to complain or anything, but I just have this feeling that summer is going to be over in the blink of an eye.

I got the kids' rooms changed and while it hasn't been seamless, it does seem like it's going to be a very good thing. I also have been purging lots of stuff to the Goodwill bag and that feels good too.

2010-06-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

Elijah kept telling us at the campground that he felt dizzy, had cramps, and he felt like he was going to throw up, so we kept having him lay down in front of the fan, but yesterday at Cracker Barrel for breakfast I could tell he was really serious. After he ate something he felt better, but then on the way home he was in bad shape again. Thankfully we live so close because as soon as he got in the house he threw up! I think he had heat stroke--the symptoms match up and it's really unlike him to get sick. He spent the whole day on the couch drinking fluids and watching tv (he was pretty happy about that!) and this morning seemed much better (He tried to convince me to keep him home from school, but he seemed fine to me!)

The rain yesterday busted my green beans up through the ground, so that was exciting. I keep forgetting to get cucumber plants when I am at the proper location, so yesterday I bought some seeds. I know they will be late to harvest, but we're still within the time frame. I just like having lots of produce ready in mid-July. I also bought swiss chard seeds. We (well, Brian and I) liked using it a lot last summer and again I just keep forgetting to grab it when I've been at the store. I'm hoping the ground might be dry enough this evening to get the seeds in. I also decided, on a whim, to get two cantaloupe plants from Bennett's; just to try it. All this hot, wet weather has also made the weeds go nuts! I have been weeding almost every day.

Today I have started the first of our summer projects: moving the girls into the same room. Right now the situation is Emily has her own room and Elijah and Mary have been sharing. We will keep Mary in the same room and switch Elijah and Emily. I think he was a little sad since the middle bedroom was originally his room from the beginning of his life here, but the idea of having his own space made it ok after all. We never intended for them to be together so long, but of the three kids Elijah is the soundest/best sleeper and putting the girls together is going to open a whole host of new bedtime drama, but we are doing it in the summer when we don't have to be up early and Elijah is getting pretty old to be sharing a room with his sister. So, that's what's on my agenda for the next few days.

2010-05-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to decide if I should just blog something lighthearted and fun or delve into all the stress that's been going on around here, but I feel bad that I keep doing nothing on my blog. I haven't even been taking pictures lately, so I have no new things to post there. The bottom line is that we are trying to make a lot of difficult decisions right now about where our kids will go to school next year, if we are truly going to sell our home, and where we should be raising our family. The problem is that we can make a pretty good case for staying--and for leaving. On any given day we change our minds and we don't want to make a decision based on emotions.
I am feeling the stress of having to manage everyone's schedule and I just don't think I can do it again.

Mary finished preschool last week and I completed my last day on Tuesday. Brian will be done on Thursday of this week and Elijah still has school until the next Monday.

My mil and I tried to go camping this weekend with my kids, but Emily was being a booger and making it not so much fun for us, so I brought her home yesterday. The other two should be home later today. I'm having a hard time feeling like I'm on vacation yet because half of our family is still trying to maintain a schedule, so I feel like I'm in this weird limbo state.

So, that's kind of whats going on here. My garden is looking good and we've been enjoying lots of lettuce and spinach. The sugar snap peas should be ready by the end of next week. I planted 16 tomato plants behind the garage. I'm looking forward to a big canning season this year! And thinking about picking some berries for jam tomorrow.

We're still here

2010-05-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little rough lately and I haven't felt much like blogging--I'm sort of just barely making it through my daily routines right now. But the end of the craziness is near. Very near. Only 5 more days for me, so I'm sure I'll perk up once summer is here.

Must be a lazy day

2010-05-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

What is up with kids and cold hot dogs?

2010-04-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I guess they are "fully cooked," but EWWW. We bought a pack of super cheap chicken dogs for sneaking Carter's medicine into, but Elijah has taken a liking to them so whenever he gives the dog his meds in the morning he snitches a little for himself. Breakfast of Champions right there.
I have this distinct memory of my Grandma LaCombe chasing me around "the farm" as we called it because I had gotten ahold of a frozen hot dog. Mmmm, Delicioso!

I have discovered some things about us this week:
1. I am ready to stock up on some tasty ingredients for salads. Our mesculun mix and spinach are about a week away from being able to start harvesting. I'm thinking about this roasted pear and blue cheese salad that I really like. I've also been digging the spinach/strawberry salad for the last two weeks. It is so pretty. Some people do not like fruit in their salad. I am not that person.

2. We like fish. Not even the stick variety (although I will be honest, we do eat them!). I made a very tasty, but spicy, rub for frozen catfish for dinner tonight and it was really good. I also have been craving this maple soy glazed salmon that we sometimes make. Again, many thanks to Cooks Illustrated for allowing me to become a more adventurous eater.

Steering away from food:

3. Emily is not ready to sleep in a toddler bed. I hadn't really talked about it, but we took the rail off her crib last weekend and put up the toddler rail. The big issue was that the big rail was broken and I was getting worried about the safeness. Like the night I went into her room and she had taken the piece off the rail that holds it up and she had it in her mouth and was calling it her paci. But. After several L-O-N-G bedtimes this week I think I can safely say that we will wait until a later date to attempt this again. Like when I don't have to get her up at 6:45 am to start the day.

funny Emily'isms

2010-04-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Today on a walk (while she was in the backpack): "Big bump mommy"(referring to the sidewalk), "be careful with me."

Tonight at bedtime she got her toy phone and said she needed to call Papa before she went to bed. She ended up calling several others as well. Here's how it went down: "Megan, mommy is changing me. I'm going to bed. Elijah's with daddy. So..."

It was very grown up sounding.

I also noticed that she is very aware of the pets around our neighborhood and their "daddies" who of course are the adults at their home, not their actual parents. Silly mommy.

New things, big things

2010-04-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

I submitted my application for grad school.

I just realized that it is time for me to renew my teaching license. It will expire in March of next year, so it's now or never. It's the second time I've had to do it since I graduated. Every 5 years I will have to take at least 6 college credits at my own cost. It seems a little silly to keep paying thousands of dollars and not be working towards a degree (and a pretty decent pay increase). What's that old saying about necessity? Sometimes I just have a really hard time making decisions.

We've gone round and round about whether or not I will stay where I'm at, whether we will move and I'll find a new job (or no job). But when all is said and done right now we feel pretty comfortable with our home and community. We are loving our back yard with the privacy fence. The attic project is coming along nicely--we've been kicking around some new ideas for ceiling using recycled materials and when we re-roof this summer, yes, I said when, we will put in skylights as well. I think we are committing to staying here and taking out student loans. The kids are all getting big enough that I am getting pretty regular nightly sleep and I think I will be able to manage a few classes at a time. Maybe I have finally just gone off the deep end and am embracing the CRAZY!

Now, if we could just find room for some laying hens in our garage.

Weekend Warrior project

2010-04-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Brian has gotten the bug to start house projects and due to today's rain the outdoor project got nixed and we now have a whole wall of shelves in the "unfinished" side of our attic. (For those of you who haven't been in our attic, the whole thing is pretty rough, but eventually the other side will be finished-- in theory!) I am already loving it and found several things that I'd been looking for just today. I am excited to sort through and organize lots of the stuff--especially the mountain of clothes that we have acquired over the last 8 years.

Don't you just love that shaggy mane?

Helpers! They really did pound nails.

2010-04-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

How many loads of laundry do you think one person can do over the course of a weekend? I didn't actually keep track, but I think it was close to 10. We hadn't done laundry in 2 weeks (well, we did one load last weekend to get us through) and I was in the attic and found a missing box of spring/summer 3T clothes that I thought was gone forever, so that was both a happy discovery and another load to wash.

Brian got some kind of food poisoning on Friday that had him in bed for most of the weekend, so we laid pretty low. We did lots of housework and playing in the yard. Our neighbor that has the 4 Jack Russell terriers that bark at us ALL. THE. TIME. (like when we turn on our bedroom light at 5:30 in the morning) decided to put up a sturdier fence between our yards--which was awesome because we were getting ready to do it ourselves once our tax return came back, so Brian was out today helping him dig the post holes and set the posts for the fence. We have started negotiations for a new puppy, and a completely fenced yard is one of my requirements.

2010-04-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I love that my memory is terrible. Like right now when I am experiencing my yard almost like it's the first time. When we moved into this house 7 years ago this month it was a big deal. We had been living in the apartment above Brian's parents 3 car garage and neither one of us had a full time job (a.k.a. very little money). Neither one of us had lived away from our parents for very much of our lives. Yes, this house was kind of a dive, but it was ours.

We moved in about mid-April and I remember the child-like joy that I experienced each week as our yard was new with fresh blooms. Because we had looked at the house in the winter we had no idea that the yard was a treasure-trove of perennial plants, lovingly tended by the aging widow who lived here, and frankly were not at a point in our lives where we would've even thought to look at landscaping when touring homes.

First it was the lilac bush. Deep purple, wonderfully scented and pretty old. It's more of a small tree than a bush. Then came the forsythia (which unfortunately are now gone--a sacrifice to the new porch!). Then the poppies. The gloriously beautiful poppies. The whole length of our yard is filled with them and once they get their large buds they seem to pop open within minutes of each other. Later in the spring the iris, purple and white clematis, and white hydrangeas.

I'll be honest, I've pulled several things and moved others to make room for things that are more...me. The vining rose bush had to go, the sweet peas were too messy looking for me, and we've been making room for plants that produce food in some of our flower beds. Now we can also look forward to some newer plants that we've added, like the ones lovingly shared by friends and family at my 30th birthday party.

2010-04-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Oh, man! What a great weekend. I keep thinking that the fabulous weather we've been having is going to disappear back to average temps, but we're going on two weeks of 70's (with a couple of cold days in there). So I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. The garden is looking great--the lettuce, garlic, onions, spinach and sugar snap peas are all up and thriving. The lilacs are about to open, which means the poppies are not far behind. I've been longing for a magnolia tree, but am content to enjoy other peoples just as much. Unless we put it in the back yard (where??!!) we wouldn't even be able to enjoy it.

We put the hammock up on the back porch this afternoon and instead of cleaning the house or doing laundry I lounged and drank sun tea. Emily came down with a fever last night and has been pretty fussy all day, but slept for most of the afternoon. Mary said her throat and head hurt, so it seems likely to me that Emily is fighting the same thing. Come to think of it, my head hurt really bad today too, but I thought it was the wine I drank last night! :)

Looking forward to just 6 more weeks of school. Brian and I have been voraciously planning our summer. We can't wait!! No big house projects this summer--well, maybe a new roof, but we're still thinking on that, and looking forward to LOTS of down time.

2010-04-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

2010-04-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

Grandma Betty's neighbors have a mini-farm with sheep and chickens. The toddlers were glued to the window that overlooked the fence or they were at the fence calling the animals to them for much of the day. The little black baby sheep was named Pepper and Elijah got to bottle feed it. His little cry sounded like a human baby's cry and it was kind of intense, so once Pepper actually came to the fence Jonathan wasn't so sure he wanted him to stay!

Christ is risen!

2010-04-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Indeed, He is risen! We had a wonderful end of holy week and a blessed Pascha--pronounced paska (Easter). Because the kids and I were on Spring break we were able to attend lots more services as a family this year. Our Paschal celebration began on Saturday evening after liturgy (around 2 am) and ended yesterday evening. We had a wonderful day on Sunday with our family at Grandma Betty's and then a great day with our church family on Bright Monday. It was a little hard to go back to work today.
Emily and Jonathan call the "sheepies" over
Mary models her dress. My mom bought it for her on their recent visit to my sister-in-law's family in Mexico. It is very pretty, but very sheer. We had a heck of a time finding a slip to go under it. (In fact, we didn't. We just improvised with a tank top and white shorts)
Emily's dress is very cute too, also from the Mexican market.

A dog post

2010-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

We were relieved to find out this weekend that Carter does not have heartworms like we had suspected. What he does have is thyroid trouble. He's gained 2o lbs. in less than a year and is almost unable to walk around the block anymore. All he wants to do is lay in his crate. Thankfully it is treatable and once we start the medication he should start losing weight and gaining energy! Yay! One of the reasons we got a dog was to get more active, but at this point we can't even take him with us when we walk because we have to drag him along. He is also much older than we originally thought, like twice as old. The vet placed him closer to 8 years old! He has some aging problems like arthritis and eye sight that is starting to go bad. But at least we aren't putting him down this weekend like we thought might happen.

BUBBLES!

2010-04-02T11:05:00.001-07:00

I seriously cannot believe how warm it has been this week. Yesterday the high was 83! We've been really enjoying our Spring Break outdoors.

It's a great day!

2010-04-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today I reconnected with the best pair of bermuda shorts I've ever worn. Last spring I bought a pair and wore them once. Yes, once and then proceeded to snag them on a picnic table at Columbian Park and tear a rip all the way down the front of one of the legs. I went back to get another pair, but they only had them in brown. I bought a pair of course, but still missed the khaki variety--it's just so verstile. Anyhoo...I went shopping today and found another pair! YAY!!!!

Pictures, as promised

2010-03-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

Mary lost her second tooth this morning!!

We have clean carpets!! Clean floors for me are the thing that make the house feel great. We've never had the carpets professionally cleaned since we installed them 6 years ago, so I think it was time. The upright cleaner does a good job, but it's not the same as the deep clean. Today on the agenda is play and have fun. We'll have to put all the furniture back later tonight, but the weather looks great and I bought my seeds last night, so there will be planting in our near future.

I am taking Mary to the doctor this afternoon. I think we've waited it out long enough. She's been coughing for the better part of a month. Maybe that will help with disposition if she feels better.

In toileting news, Emily is doing great!! She is wearing a diaper at night (with duct tape--just a small strip, but it is doing the trick to keep it on!) and mostly pull ups during the day. She tells me most of the time when she needs to go. I really haven't been asking her much. I would guess that by the summer she'll be in underwear. It just seems early to me, but whatever. I won't complain about not buying diapers. She is such a big girl in so many ways. Like how she watched me dump the little toilet into the big one. Now I've caught her several times going to the bathroom on her own and then dumping it into the big potty. She's not making a mess either. I draw the line at her cleaning out the small potty (but she does try!)

Or how she takes care of the dog: she will make him sit and lay down for his food and it's her job to put him in his crate when we leave in the mornings. It's funny to me how he obeys her little commands. "Cawaw, sit. Way down. Okay, you can eat."

And also, one last thing. She has learned how to say banana. Which is sad to me. We liked calling them bee-nuhs. She now says in a grown up way, "buh-nah-nuh." In a very enunciated way. Like she knows that its the right way to say it and she's proud.

This is Em reading to her baby. It's one of her favorites: Kim and Carrots. Sorry about the sound quality. I was trying to stay back to not disturb the moment; shockingly you can her Elijah and Mary whooping it up in the attic, playing video games.

Check!

2010-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Bathtub re-caulked...check!
Composter emptied and garden ready to be planted...check
Bedrooms cleaned out and ready for carpet cleaners tomorrow...check

After this I should be able to relax for the rest of break. I always have a few big projects that I want done during a break and those were it for me. I went to the store today and got batteries so I might be able to take some pictures. Perhaps of my little toddler with a goose egg? She was throwing a tantrum and while I was putting her into her crib she threw her body and whacked her forehead on the crib rail. Oh, the joys!!!

Both girls cannot seem to shake this cough and runny nose. I know that they both don't feel well, just well enough to get by, but their behavior shows it! Mary is getting into that pattern of less and less sleep and Emily has the wild-eyed crazy girl thing going on. Between the two of them I think I am starting to look a little wild-eyed!

Ramblings from the attic

2010-03-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, here I am in the attic using Brian's laptop. Now that the weather isn't so cold we can actually use this space without wearing coats or smelling like kerosene. It's kind of fun to think of our house as a 2 story.

Yesterday I spent most of the glorious afternoon digging in my garden and preparing the soil for this spring's planting. I shoveled way beyond what was good for my body (as evidenced by my aching muscles and dry hands today) but I just couldn't stop. I LOVE GARDENING!!!!!! I loved the smell of the damp earth, showing the girls some of the more giant worms and finding remnants of last year's leftovers. I am much better at the planning and tending stages in the spring and summer, but not as good with the fall clean up. There were a few stray carrots and onions that made it through the winter. It really made me ache for the warm days of outdoor living. We are thinking of moving the swing set to the back of the yard and expanding the garden again so that we can try to grow and preserve lots of what we have. Right now we're definitely planning on growing tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, spinach, basil, onions, carrots, swiss chard, and this year banana peppers (can't make homemade pizza without them!) and pumpkins.

I know that I seriously need to add some pictures to this blog. My camera has been without batteries for over a month. No excuse. My cousin is doing this cool project where you take a picture every day of the year as a photo journal of your life. I'd be good to at least get one per week at this rate. I think batteries will be on my agenda for tomorrow.

In looking for Orthodox Pascha bread recipes today I found a couple of neat blogs of Orthodox moms doing Lent projects and baking with their families. I tried to not be jealous and just enjoy them.

I can't believe it's true!

2010-03-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Emily stayed dry almost all day today!! It was her first day of going to the sitter and using the potty there. She seems to love it! She asks to go and then...goes! I hardly remember training Elijah, and Mary was a bear to potty train. She took 2 years before she wasn't having accidents. Well, we're definitely not ready for underwear yet, but it definitely seems to be her idea, so maybe??!!

Where have I been?

2010-03-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we've been in survival mode for a while now. Brian's school let go several teachers last week due to lack of funding and thankfully he wasn't one of them. We'd been waiting for over a month to hear what the final verdict would be after many school board meetings. Unfortunately he is taking some heat from some people for not being one of the teachers to be let go as some of the ones let go were much his senior. We are thankful that his administration recognizes what a good job he does with the students and that he is worth holding on to.

Elijah finished his basketball season last Wednesday. This is the second time he played in this league and each time I think his skills grew and his ability to play on a team improved. He scored many baskets and assisted his teammates. It was a fun family gathering time to go watch his games on Saturday's for the past 6 weeks. Grandma Betty might get the prize for number one fan!

We have someone in our house who wants to potty train (hint--it's not me!) Emily has been taking off her diaper for a while now, but all of a sudden it's becoming a major issue! We're going through several bed sheets every day. During the home waking hours I've been letting her wear cloth training pants or just a dress with nothing under it and she often requests to use the potty. And is doing a good job! (Except when she missed the toilet a little today and told me after I'd dumped what I thought was all of it into the big toilet, "mommy, my poop in daddy's slipper." Yup, sure enough it was. ) But at least she knew she needed to go and got most of it. We're trying to plan our next plan of attack for night time. We think it's probably time for a toddler bed so she can get up and use her little potty if she needs to go. She really doesn't like the feeling of wetness on her so I think that's why she keeps taking it off. We're also trying to limit drinks at night time, except that she cannot seem to stop getting sick and needs lots of fluids. So, that's tricky. I just started reminding myself of some advice I gave to a friend that she reminded me of at one time: "This, too, shall pass." Whether it's something good or bad, nothing lasts forever. So, although I'm frustrated about being awakened so often at night and stripping the bed in my incoherent daze, I am sure it won't last forever. Our little baby is growing up!

Brian's on spring break this week and I am next week so I feel a little relief. Our house is to the point of crazy messy and I've kind of given up for the time being. I am so busy with school and our family that it's almost impossible to keep it managed. We don't have any spring break plans other than try to have some down time and (in my case) attend holy week services. That will be nice to be able to go to more of the services in the week prior to Easter.

2010-03-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the Avett Brothers concert was a-mazing. Brian, Laura, and I drove down to Indianapolis and went to the IMA for a couple of hours then met up with the rest of our group for dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. I don't know about you, but I do not like to be the person who makes decisions for big groups of people. But I wanted to have a fun dining experience, so I undertook finding a place that was a. close to where we would be and b. in our price range and c. open on Sunday evening. We ended up at this place sort of by default, after I'd spent several hours and came up with nothing that met all of our criteria, but the food was delicious--even though we were a little nervous about going inside. My brother and his wife also met us there since they live in Indianapolis. I had these delicious tofu soft spring rolls wrapped in some kind of translucent rice tortilla, dipped in peanut sauce. YUM!!!

The show itself was a lot of fun. It was packed and hard to see (at least for short little 5'2" me), but there was lots of jumping around and great music. Oh, and $10.00 domestics. Can't forget that. Nothing like paying 10x what it's worth for cheap beer. After the show we were the weirdo's waiting outside the tour bus. Elijah wrote the band a letter and drew a picture of them because he was so disappointed to not get to go. It was our ticket to not just being the lame people saying, "hey great show." We had a purpose. And we were successful! There actually weren't that many people out there--maybe 20 or so. Several of the guys came out after they changed clothes. I got my picture taken with the bass player whom I think it super cute. (I obviously don't have the picture on my camera or I'd post it, but if you want to see who he is click here). SO, you know, that was fun. We have a little sliver of hope that they might respond to Elijah's letter since he gave them all our contact info and they seemed genuinely touched that he took the time to draw such detailed pictures of each of them with their instruments --and included a photo of he and Mary. Who knows? We just might be pen pals.

2010-02-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

Only 3 days until we go see my new favorite band!!! We saw them several months ago and bought tickets for this show the day after we returned home. I am SO looking forward to this trip. We are even leaving a little early to visit the IMA for a couple of hours. I think it has been far too long since I've had an adults only outing!

just another reason my hubby is the best around

2010-02-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

It's Friday night and what are we making for dinner? Homemade sushi, of course. Nope, it really wasn't raw shrimp. But it really was tasty, wrapped in lettuce leaves. And the kids all tried it willingly and while I wouldn't say they would choose it over chicken nuggets, they ate several bites and didn't complain too much.

updates

2010-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

So, first and foremost. I got my ding letter for my grant. We will not be going to Alaska. But don't feel bad for me. Even a little bit. I wasn't upset at all; I really just wanted to know one way or the other. We are also re-thinking our Yellowstone trip for this summer. Something about trying to be responsible with our money. Anyway, things have been a little stressful around here for the last week, so we will make summer decisions at a later date. We just know that it won't be Alaska. I've even been thinking of the upper peninsula of Michigan if we're trying to stay a little closer to home. For having grown up in Michigan, I think I've only been as far as St. Ignace in terms of the u.p..

Last Saturday we were up early (thank you so much, kids, for getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday and then screaming at each other) and I was feeling desperate to get outdoors. So, we packed up and headed to the state park for a little hiking. It's amazing how relative temperature and weather is. In November we never would have gone hiking at 8:30 a.m. in 30 degrees with a fresh blanket of snow. But in February we totally would. We were thinking 30 seemed like a pretty warm temperature, relatively speaking. It was nice to be the only ones there--we were actually were the only tire tracks on the road.

2010-02-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post some pictures for a long time, but I was confused about who had them on their camera--I just knew it wasn't me. These are some pictures from our crowning ceremony on New Year's Eve. If you want more information on what a crowning is, click here. The short answer is that it's part of the Orthodox wedding ceremony. Because we weren't married in the Orthodox Church, we wanted to have our marriage blessed for our 10 year anniversary which was on December 18th.

My house is a disaster. AGAIN.

2010-02-08T14:16:00.001-08:00

I guess it's because of this that started it. Emily was home with a stomach bug last week. On Friday Mary was home in the morning with me too. I thought it might be fun to get out the box of paper my aunt and uncle sent from their printing business. It's lots of colored scraps that are just the kind of thing that Mary could play with for days. She was cutting, gluing, glittering to her little heart's contentment. Unfortunately it all still sits there today as well as a lot of kitchen mess AND Brian's grading projects. I really just want to pretend will disappear.

2010-02-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

Brian brought home this incredible book the other day called The Edible Schoolyard. It was a quick read with lots of great photographs. I was immediately hooked. I certainly don't know where (if anywhere) this will go for us, but I know that it is a concept that he and I both feel strongly about and just seems right. If you check out the website, read through some of the most recent journal entries or watch this video. It is amazing to hear about these kids getting such hands-on experiences with food and where it comes from. It would be a pretty fantastic experience for many adults for that matter. It's also really cool that it's connected to the school's lunch program. I get so frustrated with the institutionalized disgustingness that we feed our children. Yes, it's free to many of them. Yes, it is the only two meals a day they will get. But really, a healthy breakfast is poptarts? Chocolate milk? Sugar cereal? Frosted donuts? Because those are the options that they have at my school. Way to go government. Brian has talked with the cafeteria staff about the food choices they have at his school and from what I understand, they don't get money from the government per se; it's actually more like the food has to come from these certain vendors. So, they don't have the option of purchasing fresh produce or locally grown eggs. It's a racket. And who are we really helping?

2010-02-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

Is anyone else a little worried about the predicted 8 inches of snow for this weekend? Mostly, I just don't want a snow day. Every day we postpone this school year, it just means one more day I have to teach this class. Ok, that sounds a little harsh. I don't mean for it to... they are just making me nuts.

Actually, my school is supposed to be done several days before Memorial Day this year and I'm looking forward to not tacking on a bunch of snow days at the end for a change. My school corporation just adopted a new calendar for next year and we start a little later in August than we have the last few years, so potentially I could get an extra week of summer this year. Which would be awesome--especially if we end up in Alaska for the month of June. Then when we return, we'd still have a nice long summer in a place that isn't cold. I am getting really anxious to know about the Alaska grant. I should know by Feb. 23rd. Brian and I were dreaming last night and then getting practical, like, "if we get it, we are going to start family walks immediately. And we will have to start going to Turkey Run and hiking in rain and snow and everything so we're prepared." and "We're going to need hiking boots. And rain gear. And a new stroller." "We should definitely plan to fish while we're there. Cooking our own fish at our campsite sounds amazing." (Who is cleaning these fish, I wonder?) We really need to stop this, I think. It's probably not going to happen. It's probably not going to happen. It's probably not going to happen. but what if it does?

2010-01-31T10:51:00.000-08:00

Somebody out there please remind me that having a clean house is not the most important thing in life. I am making myself CRAZY! I spent almost the whole day cleaning yesterday and today you would never even know. The dishes are piled up, the floors are cluttered with stuff and laundry...let's not even go there. Brian says he is ready to go to paper plates and plastic utensils because he is so sick of the dishes needing to be washed. I think I may be close. I am pushing for budgeting for a cleaning service.

The newest "Emily-ism"

2010-01-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

Probly...As in, "Emily, where is your diaper?" "Umm, probly in my crib." Hmmm...

i love my juicer

2010-01-23T10:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I plugged in the Jack Lalanne, (think apple orchard) but since I only worked 3 out of 5 days this week and the chores are (mostly) caught up, I needed to get some dishes dirty. I just made up a carrot, orange, celery, pineapple juice that tastes pretty good. I bought a 5 lb bag of carrots for this purpose last week, but am just now getting around to it. I am seriously starting to miss our garden. I used the last of my canned tomatoes this week.

2010-01-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

I think I've got houses on the brain. Maybe it's because our future here is always a little up in the air, maybe it's early spring fever, maybe its because I have a few friends who are in the process of buying or selling a home, or maybe I need to just quit watching House Hunters. Whatever the reason, I've been thinking lately about our house and what it would take to sell it. I think living in an old home--a fixer upper, if you will, perhaps has more emotional strings attached when considering selling it. Like, how I would feel the need to write the listing--almost like to prove all the sweat equity that has gone into making this our home.

Here are the perks: Don't miss this charming three bedroom, one bathroom home, right in the heart of Lafayette. Close to everything--minutes from the mall, downtown, medical offices, restaurants and shopping. Walking distance to Columbian Park, Tropicanoe Cove, and Lafayette favorite, The Original Frozen Custard. Nine foot ceilings, hardwood floors, five panel doors with original hardware, and window tramsems help maintain an historic feel. Brand new maintenance free vinyl siding, new windows, completely remodeled kitchen with newer appliances, 6 year old high efficiency furnace and air conditioner, beautiful back porch and fenced yard with garden space. One and a half car garage. Basement. Bonus: second story attic space partially finished.

Sometimes it makes me want to stay forever.

But then I remember the cons: neighborhood not so great, really tiny backyard, crazy neighbor dogs on both sides that bark ALL. THE. TIME., close to everything, including car dealerships that I can hear who has a call on line 1 from my backyard, one bathroom, no fireplace, only three bedrooms, garage is really more like a glorified shed, laundry area is in the dark, scary basement. And my newest pet peeve: no 'landing space' at either door. I am convinced that the kitchen has no chance of ever staying clean because we live in it. It is the room you enter from the door we use the most with no place to drop your things except on the kitchen counter or table.

I know that we won't stay here forever, and I also know that there is no perfect place. But, I certainly like to dream about what could be. I am simultaneously excited about putting a gas fireplace in the attic and staying here for the next five years and the thought of finding a 4 bedroom two bathroom home on 5 acres where we could have chickens.

It's hard living inside my brain sometimes.

Why can't every weekend be a three day?

2010-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, then I would just want it to be a "four day," but three days seems like just the right amount of time for working and relaxing. Saturday I took the girls to the Children's Museum (probably for the last time for a while since our membership is about to expire). Elijah was having a grandma day and Brian was having rehearsal for his big show on Saturday night, so I thought the girls and I would pop over for a quick visit. We went to the playscape first (fun preschool area with every fun activity you can think of--sand, water, train tables, slides, dress up, kitchen, etc.), rode the carousel twice and then hit up the Barbie fashion exhibit. I definitely like having the museum membership because I don't feel bad about spending only 3 hours at the museum on a Saturday morning. It was just a fun morning activity and we were back for naps. Sunday we did NOTHING! And I mean nothing. We watched TV all day. We never do that!!! EVER. I felt a little rebellious. We hooked up the dvd player to the tv in the attic and let the kids watch movies. Brian and I watched almost a whole season of The Office on the computer (Thank you, Netflix, We love you). We took naps. We ate nachos and french fries. It was awesome.

Today I am home with the kids for MLK Jr. day and it has been our day to clean the house. I am catching up on laundry, taking the last of the Christmas lights down, and trying to re-organize my life. We took Emily to the dr. this morning and she got some antibiotic for this cold that I am convinced is now an infection. She's been sick for 2 weeks and it's not getting that much better. So, hopefully she'll be back to her sunny self soon.

Elijah is ice skating with my dad today so I think Mary and I will make some chocolate chip cookies for when they return. I'm going to flip laundry and mop the floors. BIG FUN!!

"Chairs are for sitting"

2010-01-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

I can just hear my old Child Development professors telling us how to phrase discipline in the positive--for what you want the child to do, not what you don't want them to do. Well, at our house chairs have become anything but a place to set your backside. We have this very cute little wooden table and chairs that I think we picked up at a garage sale. Emily has recently discovered that the chairs make a mighty nice stool to reach a whole world of items that never existed before. Like the bathroom sink. Now she can tote her little chair into the bathroom, reach the light switch, turn on the faucet and fill up her play tea pot and carry it back to her room for cooking. She can reach up to the kitchen counter, like I just found her a few minutes ago--attempting to cut her own oranges with the knife I left on the counter. YIPES. A few minutes ago she was inquiring about the wherabouts of her chair and I asked her what she needed it for. She doesn't know to be sneaky yet. She said, "I eat cookies." It's lucky for her she is the third child.