IRP NIGHT

Yes, that is Luke Skywaker riding a bull in his diorama.

Independent Research Project Night

As they have learned about the elements of a story (characters, setting, events) the students in Elijah's class each wrote and presented a short description of the character they chose from a fairy tale. Elijah picked the Irish Cinderlad. They also made a diorama with the setting and characters. It was a short and fun way for them to share what they learned.

To say that we've been busy lately might just be an understatement. I think we are starting to feel that if we're not in motion we are asleep. Let's see...where should we start?

Last weekend (Mothers' Day) was a pretty awesome time. On Friday night I went to the grocery store alone after everyone was put to bed so that I wouldn't have to worry about getting to the store for the weekend. Brian was having band rehearsal at our house when I got home. Saturday morning we got up bright and early to meet some of his students and co-workers at the Attica farmers market to sell the rest of Seeger's greenhouse plants. Brian took the older kids with him and I stayed behind to walk the dog, get a shower, and let the baby sleep (not in that order). I had such a great time walking Saturday. It was crisp and sunny with a bit of wind. Emily was putting her face out to feel the wind on it. You could almost see the wheels turning as she contemplated what the feeling was. She and I met the others later in the morning in Attica. The farmers market is in the elementary school parking lot so the kids had a great time on the playground all morning with some of their friends. We came home with (another) truckload of plants for our yard so in the early afternoon I put tomatoes and sunflowers in the ground and potted some Mothers Day plants. Later that afternoon I went and got a fabulous pedicure with a friend and when I got home it was time to get ready for the SITTER! Yes, we were out of the house Saturday evening with no children. The STH played the Mosey down Main Street and it was SUPER, UBER fun. I went in several shops that I'd never been able to visit, saw tons of people I knew--and got to talk to them for more than 30 seconds, and went out to dinner with our friends. It was truly a fabulous night. Except that Mary wouldn't go to bed for the sitter, but that's another story.

Sunday we spent at church and hanging out with Brian's family at his sister's house. We played kickball, laughed, enjoyed our family, and ate some great dinner.

This week has been a bit of a blur with the STH performing at his parents' church Mother/Daughter banquet dinner last night, me on a field trip to the Indy Zoo yesterday, and Elijah's upcoming Independent Research Night for school on Thursday--oh wait, I mean, tomorrow. I think the end of the school year is always busy, but this is the first year it has been THIS busy. I am sure glad I did not sign anyone up for spring sports.

A very productive weekend

And the aching back to prove it!! Saturday morning we were supposed to walk the mini marathon in Indy, but we just hadn't trained enough so we walked a "mini" mini. Brian and I met up with his mom at the state park at 8:30 on Saturday morning. Bob-o watched Elijah and Mary so we could keep a decent pace. We walked about 7 miles, or a little over half of a mini marathon. It was about 2 hours. The weather was perfect and the setting was beautiful, so I am not too sad we missed the Indianapolis sea of people. After we got home and rested for a while I decided to work in the yard. I got weeds pulled, more veggies planted in the garden, and the grass mowed. Today after church I bought some mulch and got it layed in the front beds. I planted almost the rest of the veggies and lots of the potted herbs. My biggest accomplishment was getting the back junk yard area dug up and cleaned up so we can plant more things behind our garage. Now all the junk that was in the dirt is on the back concrete pad, so I am hoping to finish that project this week.

Here is what we have planted in the garden so far:

sugar snap peas, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, swiss chard, onions, potatoes, cucumber, squash, yellow peppers, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, tomatoes.

herbs: cilantro, italian basil, thai basil, lemon grass, flat italian parsley, catnip, thyme, garlic chives.

I am really excited about eating a lot of our own food this year and that it is farmers market time again.

Why won't anyone sleep around here???!!! I declined going to my sister-in-law's for a fun family cookout because I knew I had some tired kids. Mary, the most difficult of the non-sleepers, got put to bed at 7:00 after a nice warm bath and a story, in hopes that she might be asleep by 7:45. Here it is 9:30 and guess who just popped out again? Emily has been fighting it for the last hour. Grr.

Some cute new baby pics!

It is amazing to me just how different my children are. Elijah is very literal about things. He has always been very pragmatic and historically does not really enjoy teasing, joking, or things that he knows are not true. Mary is a whole other story. She wants to believe in all things fantasy.

She and her friends have been gathering the danedlions that have gone to seed, calling them wishing flowers. She has a whole bunch of them in a glass of water in her room. Last night she whispered in my ear, "Mom, when will I get my DS (a small handheld game system) and my American Girl doll?"

One other funny thing she said yesterday on the way home in the van:

Mary: "Mom, our house doesn't have a chimney does it?"
Mom: "nope"
Mary: "If our house had a chimney we'd believe in Santa Claus, right?"

I took Emily back to see the Orthopaedic doctor today and he says things look good! She had the splint removed and just has her fingers taped together now (which I've only had to rewrap five times since we've been home tonight!) We'll go back to see him one more time in 2 weeks but I think everything seems really routine. Her stitches still look pretty ugly and it bothers her to see them. She kept holding up her hand to my face to kiss it while we were in the doctor's office. I am a little nervous about her pulling them out because she does tend to pick at it.

I always think of these funny little things that happen in my daily life that I want to post about and if I were on facebook or twitter then I probably would. But here is one of them. Down our street where I walk the dog there is a home that looks like an elderly person lives in it. It used to have two of those stone goose statues on either side of the sidewalk entryway, usually with some red, white, and blue plastic flowers wrapped around their necks. They have recently been replaced with two buddha statues. Whaaat???

CHRIST IS RISEN!

ER! (Subtitled: Mom of the Year)

It's almost hard to believe, this little story about our Wednesday evening. I was picking Elijah up from football practice at Jeff High School. I had brought the dog with me because it was just a quick trip. So we were leaving football practice and loading up into our van--Carter, Elijah and Mary in first. I was holding Emily in my arms as I got the others put in and then I pulled the door shut. Except that Emily's little hand was in the way of the door. I looked down and noticed that her fingers were closed in the door, so I immediately opened it. She still had not reacted, so I thought for a moment that maybe I hadn't actually gotten her. But by the time we got around to the other side of the van and I started to put her in her car seat, she was wailing and there was a lot of blood running down her hand. So now Mary is wailing too because it was a little frightening to see your baby sister with blood all over her and screaming. I also noticed that her fingers were not looking like quite the right angle so I made the quick decision to head to the ER. While en route I called Laura, my sister-in-law, who was at my house doing her taxes when I left. She met me at the hospital and drove the kids and dog back to my house and then to church where Brian was attending a service (we were supposed to be meeting him there after football) while I took Emily into the ER. Emmaroo very shortly thereafter got a local anesthetic because she was obviously in some pain. After a grueling two hours of x-rays, and holding a 25 lb. inconsolable toddler, we were ready to go home. She had two broken fingers and a bit of her hand. She also got several stitches (don't ask me how many, I couldn't watch!!) She was content by the time we left because she got some juice. She couldn't have anything the whole time we were there because there was a chance she was going to need anesthetic. She went to the hand surgeon on Thursday who told me that she is going to heal just fine without any major steps. She'll wear this splint for a week and then we go back to have it replaced for another week. Then I guess her little bones will be healed.

Everyone's doing it

It my new layout! Now that I know it is super easy to change, I can change it often!!

Sad thing: I am looking for a new pediatrician. We love our doctor, just not the process it takes to get in to see her. It is hard for me to justify waiting for an hour every time I get to actually see her and most of the time I just end up seeing a different doctor. I don't like that. It makes me upset that Mary has had strep throat 4 times this winter and probably needs to have her tonsils out but her doctor never would've known it because of those four times guess how many times she saw her pediatrician? 0. Not once. Emily went back today-- after we waited for an hour she got a new antibiotic that hopefully will get her out of her funk. On my list for tomorrow is to call a few smaller practices and see if they are better about managing their caseload. I switched myself to a smaller practice a few years ago and have been much happier than with corporate medicine.


Happy thing: We got to have dinner with my grandparents tonight! They are traveling from Alabama, where they winter, back to Michigan, where they live. They brought some delicious shrimp that we cooked several different ways.

So far I am checking things off my spring break to do list. That always feels good. Am I weird that I put fun things on my list? I think I am a micromanager that way. I blame my dad and his crazy list making genes. I took the kids on a spur of the moment trip downtown on Monday. We picked Elijah up from school and went to McCords to get a real soda fountain coke and some candy. We ended up walking down to the pedestrian bridge and watching the trains go by. The kids had so much fun!!

Before I can even start this post I have to share this picture. Maybe it is getting old watching Emily do ridiculous things and kind of, um, laughing. You be the judge. She fell down at the state park on Saturday morning. Totally biffed out on the sidewalk. Yes, she cried. It was painful to be sure. I held her and wiped her tears and that part wasn't funny at all. But the next morning when she woke up and looked like Rudolph I just couldn't help but snicker.

Over the last two weeks we've had various people on Spring Break. This week it is my turn. We had exactly half of one school day of overlap so we decided to take advantage of it. Brian kept Elijah home from school and Friday afternoon I grabbed the girls from daycare and we all took off for the Indianapolis Zoo. We've only been with Elijah once and the girls have never been. We all had a blast! I think our favorite exhibits were the shark petting, the walruses, and then maybe the giraffes or tiger. We crashed at home on Friday night and I literally went to bed at 8:00, barely after the kids. But it was good because when I woke up Saturday morning my sore throat was gone and I didn't need to take ibuprofen to get through my day. We packed the van and grabbed the dog first thing. We got coffee at k dees and drove out to Prophetstown state park to walk the trails, play on the equipment and see the farm animals. Carter did really well with the other dogs there. It was pretty chilly here on Saturday morning. I was glad we wore our winter coats and we commented that having a dog is helping us to acheive goals that we have for our family every day. There is no way we would've journeyed out just for us if it were that chilly. However we had the.best.time.! When we got home it was only noon so we got to relax for the rest of the day. On the downside, Emily is sick again. I am taking her in tomorrow (I called too late to get an appointment today) because she is still full of snot and coughing again. Last weekend I took her to the pediatric clinic on Saturday with hives. The dr. told us to discontinue her anitbiotic that she got the weekend before and he didn't want her to take something different. I am not convinced that this isn't the same infection that didn't get cleared up because she didn't finish her medicine. Oh joy. At least I am home on Spring Break. And it might not be freezing today.

When you give your 4 year old the camera, here is the shot you get of a tiger.

A before school post

She saw me spinning my composter and wanted to give it a try too!


I don't normally post in the early morning hours, but I just had to share these pictures of Emily that I took yesterday as we enjoyed the beautiful spring day. She has never really been out in the yard walking around before. Last summer she was barely crawling and mostly just hung out on a blanket while we were outside. Plus I just bought her her first pair of hard soled shoes so she is tremendously enjoying toddling around doing the frankenstein walk.

I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I feel bad about it. I guess just not bad enough to take more pictures. Elijah had his final game of basketball on Saturday. I brought the camera, but then left it in the car. It seemed like too much work to climb down out of the bleachers and walk all the way out of the building and down the street to get it. So, we were the lame parents not taking pictures of their kid getting his trophy. I did, however, take pictures of my newly cleaned and organized book shelves. We have our living room blocked off with the entertainment center so that Carter can only go in the kitchen and dining room for another week, so I've been spending a lot of time in there. In fact, I really haven't even been in the living room in a week.

We finally went to the doctor this weekend. Brian was about on his death bed. He's been sick for 3 weeks now. The doctor gave him a z-pack and some medicine with codeine, so we haven't seen a whole lot of him this weekend. Mary and Emily are on antibiotics too. I started playing in my garden yesterday. At least getting some of the existing space dirt turned over. We're planning to expand some, but I was too tired to dig up grass. It's a lot harder than dirt.

I'm sure that this is way more than you wanted to know about me, but I'm telling anyway. I was about out of deoderant. So when I was at Target last night I bought some Tom's of Maine all natural deo without antipersperant (you know the stuff that keeps you dry). I've heard a lot of the negative press about the aluminim in antipersperant and I just thought, hey, I'll give it a try. It got me thinking though about smells. I am certainly one of those people who has what I call a "sensitive sniffer". I can smell things a mile away good or bad. But, back to the body odor issue. At what point in history did people decide that it was socially unacceptable to have a natural body scent? Why do we cover up what our bodies naturally smell like? In fact, if you think about all the different products we buy to cover scent, it's probably a little excessive. For instance, I have a scent tree in my car, a glade plug in in my kitchen, Yankee candles in just about every room in the house. We use scented soap, shampoo, perfume, laundry soap, dryer sheets, etc.
I noticed as I was reading the back of my old deoderant bottle that was "unscented" that it actually had a masking fragrance listed in the ingredients. That just seems strange to me.

Brian has been going dog crazy. He discovered the Monks of New Skete. Orthodox monks who train dogs. They even have a show on Animal Planet. WOW! He is already planning our trip to visit this summer. Which brings me to summer. It seems like we have an awful lot to accomplish. Trip out west, siding on the house, trip out east, walks to the farmers market, work in our garden, relaxing around the house, working in our classrooms...

Lazy Saturday

I never thought that a "lazy" Saturday would be getting up at 7:00. I actually woke up at 6:30--which sadly is about an hour and a half later than our usual wake up time these days, but Brian and I laid in bed and talked until the kids came in at 7:00. This is the first Saturday in a long time when I didn't take a shower as soon as I got up because I wouldn't have time otherwise. I made coffee, fed the girls, leisurely put away dishes and then...PLAYED WITH MY CHILDREN! Holy cow. It's been a while. Mary and I made block towers and Emily toddled around us and I read her books when she would plop down in my lap. It was so warm even this morning that Mary and I took a magazine out to the front porch and read for a while. Brian and Elijah took Carter on a long walk, so when they returned I took my shower. I am looking forward to going to the Seeger basketball sectional game tonight--without kids! We hired a sitter. We need to get out a bit. I even packed up all three kids and took them to hear The SmallTown Heroes play at a coffee shop last night. I think we've had so much going on that I've been under more stress than I thought. It felt good to be out of the house and not doing a task. So tonight should be great!

We were walking the dog yesterday around 4:30. Elijah says to me, "That way's west. Where the sun is setting. You know mom, when we go out west this summer, I bet we'll see the best sunsets." I then asked him if he was going to be a cowboy when we go out west. His reply: "We're gonna find some horses and daddy's gonna teach me how to ride." (I love how he thinks his daddy knows how to ride a horse!) I think they've been watching The Man From Snowy River too much.

Well, I guess that seals the deal. We're going out west.

Here are a couple pictures of Carter for those of you (and you know who you are!) who have been nagging me about seeing him :) We've had a pretty eventful weekend with him. I'll spare you the details, but it entails bowel movements. We've been walking him like crazy. He is such a good dog! We just love him already.

As I am sitting here working (I'll use that term lightly) at the computer I can hear snoring coming from the dog crate in the kitchen as well as the bedroom. Brian has been home from work for 3 days now with the flu. I didn't get a flu shot this year so I am really praying that I don't get it next. He has been REALLY sick.

So. Here's a question. Since the dog is asleep currently, do I get him up to take him outside one last time before my bedtime? I have no idea how many times a day a dog goes to the bathroom. Hmm. I guess it's not like a baby where he is going to start crying if I get him up, but to be honest his snoring is really sweet and I don't want to get him up. He has been so good tonight. Brian took him for a long walk around the neighborhood when he got home and he has been in his crate (to protect him from the 6 hands that want to keep touching him) for the rest of the evening. We really haven't heard a peep out of him. Emily can't wait to get her little hands on him. I will tell you who is not excited about the new face--Mac. He is a scrappy little cat, so my guess is that he will be the instigator (if there is one), but he was all Halloween cat today with the arched back and hair standing on end and everything. He took off to the basement around 5:30. I carried him up and past the crate in the kitchen at 8:00 and he took off for our bedroom. I guess this might be a good diet plan for him since to get to his food he must walk right past the dog.

The dog days of February

I am not going to post about this evening when I was quietly washing dishes in the kitchen for 20 minutes all by myself and then I remembered as the baby toddled in without a diaper and the nasal saline in her mouth, oops...the baby isn't wearing a diaper. I also then had the thought, hmm...if she has the saline then she was probably in the bathroom. I won't think about how she has been bee-lining for the toilet these days when the bathroom door is left open. It was awfully quiet and peaceful though for 20 whole minutes. No, this post is not about children. It is about our newest family addition. We are getting a dog! I know some of you family and friends are thinking that we are certifiable. And we probably are. But, nonetheless. Instead of new years resolutions we sat down at the beginning of the year and thought about some of our long term goals for our family and what steps we could take to make them happen. Allowing more interaction with animals was one of the things we could do now. We have found a dog that we think is a good fit for our family. We were supposed to bring him home yesterday, but Brian had to go and get really sick so we haven't gotten him yet. I think it will be Thursday afternoon. He is a 4 year old lab- border collie mix. We think we are going to name him Carter. As in June. Brian really liked the name Cash, but I felt a little strange about that name, so Carter seemed to be a good compromise.

Elijah has had this tooth on top that has been hanging by a thread for weeks. I think he was just trying to torture me with it. Finally yesterday he let Brian pull it out. As soon as it was out Brian started freaking out, "put it back, put it back!!!" Elijah looks SO OLD. I guess he is 6 1/2 now, but still. He's gonna have one of those big old giant top teeth that looks all gangly and weird. The permanent tooth is already through, so I suppose it won't be long. Emily on the other hand is still waiting for her top teeth to poke through. She is the slowest teeth cutter I've ever known. She still only has 4 teeth at 15 months. Oh, and she is officially a walker now. She decided this week that crawling no longer gets her there faster. It was like overnight.

I haven't been posting much because our life seems to be spinning out from under me. We had a really full--too full-- weekend last weekend and we paid for it all week. Today is the first day since last weekend that I've even really sat down at the computer much. Last weekend looked like this:

Friday at 3:30: leave school, buy a birthday gift, pick up three kids at three places. Come home and let Elijah change clothes, send him out the door with Brian for basketball practice. Feed the girls a quick snack, wrap present, meet Brian and Elijah at practice.

5:30 p.m. Discover a rash all over Mary's body. Tell her she cant go to the birthday party at 6:00. Comfort her cries for the rest of basketball practice. Take Mary and Emily to my parents house and Elijah to birthday party.

6:30 p.m. One hour for dinner with Brian at Christos

7:30 Brian leaves for band rehearsal

8:00 pick up Elijah from party, take all three kids home and put them to bed

The rest of the weekend wasn't much better. It was fun, don't get me wrong. I mean, there was Chuck E. Cheese on Sunday. But it was literally one thing to the next. So today we are making a real effort to relax and take it easy. Well, after basketball and gymnastics, anyway : )

I think we might go get our dog tomorrow. I've had my eye on this one dog for about a month and he is still at the shelter. Maybe tomorrow we'll go take him for another walk and spend some time with him to see if he is a good fit for us.

So, you know, just another Saturday at the Greene household. Making egg masterpieces. All in a day's work. This has had us cracking up all day. You have to listen carefully at the end, but Mary is the most funny of all. She did not seem to have the same opinion about the new egg.

Because the reason we bought our kids digital cameras was to see life from their point of view, and because their point of view is often funny, and because I can't stand a blog without pictures and I haven't taken many lately...

Y5K

I think this might be our year. The biggest year yet. Today Brian and I did our first 5K as we prepare for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May. Granted we walked almost all of it, but it was a breakthrough for our family. Our pace was fast enough to outwalk the slow bus (if you don't know like I didn't--for the mini marathon the roads have to reopened after a certain amount of time, so you have to maintain a pace or a bus comes and picks you up). In 3 weeks we'll be doing the 10K. This will be significantly harder for us. Today wasn't a stroll in the park, but it was definitely in our ability range.

We've been himhawin' around as of late whether we are staying in this house, moving to Warren County, where Elijah is going to school next year, all the usual decisions to be made. Well, this weekend we were reading a remodeling magazine and we found what we think is going to answer some questions for us. We are seriously thinking about cutting a hole in our ceiling and making a large loft area out of our attic. It seems like it would be the perfect solution for our house. We haven't done much with the attic yet because it would be such a big project. I suppose this project would be big too, but it just seems more do-able. It would make that room feel like part of our existing home, it wouldn't necessarily require this special kind of window to meet building code for bedrooms, it wouldn't mean getting a whole other heating and cooling system, and the list goes on. So, who knows if we will actually do it--our summer is getting pretty booked with dreams of two weeks of travel out west, putting siding on the outside of our house, motorcycle trips, a week on the beach in Michigan...: ) Too bad our pocketbook isn't as big as our wish list!

And I made snickerdoodles tonight.

No babies were injured in the making of this video

Emily has been intrigued with chairs lately. She has discovered with great delight how to climb up into Mary's camp chair. She usually sits and swings her legs back and forth and generally just has a great time. I thought, "oh what a cute thing. I should videotape it so everyone can enjoy the cuteness." Don't worry--she didn't cry or even act upset.

because today is a new day

everyone is still sick, but on the mend.

Well, I will say one thing for Emily...she doesn't give up easily. You know, unlike my other two children who are very mild mannered. Maybe that will serve her well. Unfortunately for me, it means she absolutely will not stop crying and go back to sleep. I have a sneaking suspicion she has a sore throat like her sister does because she is not crazy about eating or drinking this evening and she is actually flinging limbs at me and thrashing her body around in her crib. I've given her Tylenol, I've tried rocking, feeding, changing. Hmm. I guess if she is just going to cry, she is just going to cry. It's just kind of a helpless feeling for me. I know from times in the past her version of crying it out could last several hours. I WANT TO GO TO BED!!! Seriously, since I started this post it has been over an hour. She doesn't want to be held. She just wiggles around. As soon as I lay her back down she starts screaming. AUGH!

This week has been trying for us. Mary has been sick. Really sick. Not getting out of bed for 3 days sick. Her fever has been around 102-103 and she won't eat, barely drinks, just lays there with big dark circles under her eyes. She watches television.

This is coming off of the weekend where she and I got the throwing up variety of the flu. That was fun. I really hope Emily is not coming down with what Mary has had. We did take Mary to the dr. and it seems that she has a virus. The kind that comes with pus on your tonsils. Brian has been home with her the last two days. Tomorrow is my turn again. I do think she is turning the corner. Tonight she ate a piece of pizza (it's been takeout almost every night this week--or cereal) and sat with me in the chair.

Many thanks to our wonderful daddy who has been nursing us all back to health. He got to clean up puke twice this week--once in his car, he's been making Gatorade runs, writing sub plans, being on baby patrol so I could get some sleep, and not being too grouchy about it at all. Thanks, Brian!

What is the lesson learned this week? We are not ready for a dog.

Might be fun...You know you want to try it...

Lucky you!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

*Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!*

good for him, hard for me

Tonight Elijah started his first basketball practice at the McAlister Center, a lafayette parks and rec. place. So far, all the team sports we've done have been through the YMCA and have been disorganized to say the least. This was definitely not that. It was not only organized, the coaches were so kind AND kept the kids moving by, shocker, doing drills with them. They learned three ways to pass, how to dribble, shoot, and even played a quick scrimage. Granted, they missed their first practice last week because of the cold and their first game is tomorrow morning so it was a little like cramming it all in, but nonetheless. It was a great practice. The coaches were there before the team, they knew where the equipment was, they knew what drills they were going to practice, and they were competitive, but in the way that was uplifting to the kids. Sounds good, right? So why was I getting all teary eyed? Seeing my 6 year old with all his missing front teeth out there with the 6, 7 and 8 year olds made my heart hurt. This is definitely not preschool league. I'm also curious to see if this was just a good day for him or if he is maturing. Other times when he's played team sports he goes in thinking he knows it all and expects to be the best. When he isn't, there is a pretty high level of frustration (for him and for me). Tonight as we were leaving practice he says to me, "Mom, I was pretty disappointed. I didn't make any shots." I got to say to him, gulping back the lump, "Elijah, I wasn't disappointed at all. You practiced hard, you tried a new sport that you've never done before, and you have a great attitude about it all."

This teacher business is a pretty good deal. Since we've been having all this cold weather and all 5 of us have been home from school, we decided we needed to get out of the house! So, Friday we met up with some friends at the Indy Children's Museum to play. It was really fun. The kids all had a friend their age to do stuff with and it was (almost) relaxing for the adults. Saturday night we drove back to Indianapolis with Aunt Meg and Uncle Everette to see the Indiana Ice play hockey. Elijah had a blast. He was into the game the whole time. Bless his tender soul, he was really upset when 2 fights broke out on the ice. He actually said that he didn't like that part. It was some of the worst fighting I've seen. Helmets and gloves thrown off; just pummeling each other in the face. There was even blood on the ice. Ick. The girls spent the night at my parents' house on Saturday and we left them for church since we were planning to go right back over after church for lunch to celebrate my dad's birthday. We ended up spending the whole afternoon lounging by the fire over there. Today we still don't have school (MLK day) so Elijah went on his first play date with people we don't really know. His friend from school invited him over to play. I dropped him off this morning and my dad picked him up so he could take him ice skating this afternoon. Man, after writing all that it is no wonder I feel so tired today.

I am uninspired for blogging!

Stole this from another's blog. Feel free to keep it going. Copy and paste, then bold face the items that apply to you.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch--KNITTING!! Currently learning
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning--last Christmas eve. UGH.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon--training for the Indianapolis mini currently
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing – does indoors count?
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Something I love about Winter Break

Cleaning!!!! I bet you thought I was going to say being home with my family, or traveling, or resting. Well, I do love all those things too. But something that makes me feel really good is a deep clean and organization. I think if I were a stay at home mom I wouldn't keep up with it either, but when I know I have a break I just start cleaning. Brian has kind of caught the bug too. Even little things that make our life more organized makes me feel calmer. This break we:

installed small hooks for keys and glasses (both of which I could never find when I was ready to walk out the door. My kids will agree.)

cleaned out the kitchen utensil junk drawer and installed some hooks on the back of a kitchen cabinet for nesting cups and spoons, etc. Now you can open and close the drawer without something getting stuck!

cleaned and organized all kids closets

took several bags of stuff to Goodwill

cleaned off the desk (which is already piled with junk again. I don't think this one is quite organized yet!)

swept and vacuumed the scary basement

Brain's guitar stuff is all in drawers and suitcases; one guitar hook on the wall for keeping a guitar out, but up off the floor

scrubbed kitchen cabinet doors and baseboards --a problem for white painted cabinets--all the spilled food and dust shows


So, now we can spend the next three months getting it all dirty and disorganized again until Spring Break(s). All three of us have different weeks.

We're back

We had a wonderful Christmas! We've seen most of our family and spent lots of time relaxing, eating, and laughing together.


The girls got some really cute new clothes from Aunt Nancy. We spent 4 days in Cleveland. It was fun as usual.
We got Mary some new markers and easel paper which resurrected our easel from the basement. She also got a beading kit, and an EZ bake oven that she is way excited about!! She's sitting in her new glow in the dark camp chair that she is so excited about. She asked if we could have a campfire that day.
Elijah wanted a video game system for Christmas. Unfortunately for him, he has parents who won't spend $300 on a new system. We bought him some games for our N64 (I know, it's archaic right?) for a total of around $50.00 and he is happy as a lark. I know in a few years the peer pressure will be much harder to deal with, but for now he has no idea that our old system isn't cool. I am truly thankful that our kids are so happy with so little compared to others they know. I mean, Elijah was thrilled when he unwrapped new superman underwear. He just about went through the roof when he opened the Prince Caspian dvd.

Updates

Mary got a cute new dress for Christmas. I love Gymboree!!
Elijah loves wearing his new sport jacket. He chose it for his school winter program and church on Sunday.




Emily went to the doctor on Monday and she doesn't have an ear infection (yay!), but her teeth are coming in on the top and the doctor thinks that is what is causing her so much pain and crabbiness (boo!). I don't remember this with my other two kids. These teeth have been ready to come through for a month. We are increasing pain medication, but she is still super grouchy. We have bought a few gifts for the kids and family members. I feel my desire to have a clean and organized house reaching the max (well, at least my desire to do the work). I am ready to start the "being lazy, ahem...relaxed" portion of winter break.

Winter Break Day 1

Today Elijah spent the day with his Grandparents Greene since he was missing them so much lately. He used to spend one "special" day a week with Grandma Susan, but now that he is at school he doesn't see them nearly as often--or solo. Mary has strep throat again so we spent the evening caring for her. Also, I think Emily's ear may be bothering her. She's been tugging at it a bit and she was fussier than normal today--especially at bedtime. So, if it doesn't seem better tomorrow I will take her in on Monday to see the doctor.

I cleaned out the kids' closets and took 2 bags to Goodwill. I am dead set on doing some Christmas shopping in our attic this year. We have so many things that go un-played with; I just can't possibly think of more things we must have. I haven't bought anything yet.

We ended up having Christmas dinner with my mom and dad and the kids opened their gifts. Very simple; thank you mom and dad. A bit of clothes for the older two, a deck of cards for Mary, a how-to Juggling kit for Elijah, books for all. It was SUPER fun! We sat by the fire, watched cable, made cookies, put together puzzle ornaments, and listened to XM 36 Holiday Traditions while we ate dinner.

I like spending the first few days of break getting the house organized and cleaned so I can enjoy being in my home. Like so many others I know, I am starting to love my living room by the glow of white Christmas lights. I also am liking the artwork in there, the furniture arrangement, our new clock with a pendulum, and how clean the rug feels with our new vacuum cleaner.

9 years and holding

Tomorrow is our anniversary! Today is my grandparents'--Happy 59th Grandma and Grandpa LaCombe! If you are doing the math you realize that the year we got married was my grandparents 50th anniversary. That is really special to me. Unfortunately we got married just a couple years before digital pictures were all the rage and we don't have a scanner so you won't be able to gawk at Brian's baby face and wonder," just how young were you guys?!" So what are we doing for our anniversary you wonder? Well, I will be making and filling 20 bags with Royal icing for my kindergarten students gingerbread house making on Friday and Brian will be writing finals for his high school students. Sounds romantic, huh?

Elijah, Elijah, Pumpkin Eater

Elijah's school had a Independent Research Night (IRP) night last week, where the kindergarten classes had a living museum. The kids had to dress up as a Mother Goose character and recite their poem as people come through and press their "button" . Elijah chose Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. We were awfully surprised when we googled this rhyme and found out it was about a man who chopped up this woman who wouldn't be his wife and stuck her in a pumkin. Eek. That Mother Goose, she's kind of morbid.

Do you think it is possible to change parts of your personality-- like how you react to certain situations? I am realizing lately how much I want to be a calm, steady person and not react emotionally to things. Two situations that happened yesterday:

1. I had a missed call from Elijah's school. All afternoon I worried and played out different scenarios in my mind about how he was in trouble, but then thought no, they would've left a message or called my work number. Turns out, his after school club got canceled.

2. After school (whilst I was picking up one son who didn't have science club) I got a call from my school. It was the secretary (who, by the way is about as calm and steady as they come) calling to ask me if I remembered how one of my students went home. He didn't get off the bus. So, I am now panicking. He, as it turned out, forgot to get off at his stop. But for that 15 minutes while I waited for her to call me back, I was again trying to talk myself down.

Two scenarios in a matter of 2 hours that had my heart racing. Can I operate differently?

I love it when Laura comes to our house and adds her pictures to our computer. This is one from earlier this fall when we took a trip to Dispennets orchard.



Man, I just keep getting worse at blogging regularly. Emily went for her 12 month visit this week and while I don't have her stats--they are on a slip of paper...somewhere... I do know that she weighed around 23 lbs. and that was the 75th percentile. Her height was 90th percentile and head was 50th. She got her 4 immunizations and did just fine.

The last two weeks have been a change from our regular routine. Emily's sitter, also known as our good friend, Annie (and her 2 girls) has been coming to our house every morning since they sold their house and are living with her mil until they close on their new house next week. It has been fabulous for a number of reasons. First of which is, Emily can sleep in her own bed and I don't have to get her up and ready in the mornings. Even more than that though; it has been motivating for Brian to help keep the house clean since he knows they are going to be here during the day. It has been so great--the dishes get done regularly, the floors stay swept, clutter is (mostly) put away.