Straight Arrow Camp

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

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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

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

What is up with kids and cold hot dogs?

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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"

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

i love my juicer

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.

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?

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"

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.

SLEDDING!

I always like sledding, but never seem to get the gumption to get out of the house and do it. One day over break a friend called to see if we wanted to go and I knew the kids would love to do it, so I said yes and off we went.
Elijah was so good at snowboarding. We were all shocked at how quickly he got on and was able to keep his balance. He liked it much better than the sled. Of course, on the sled he crashed into some sort of metal pole and bruised his leg (we had the conversation after about how you bail out if you're about to hit something!).

Mary sports her new hand knitted cap. Thanks Aunt Pattie!

I have got the bug

The travel bug, that is. I just don't want to sit still. There is so much to see and do. Why can't we be independently wealthy?!

Catching up

Elijah and Papa kickin' it old school on the N64
Mary and her friend, Penelope
Brian and Bob in a cut-throat game of Connect Four
Emily and Jonathan in an "almost as cut-throat" game of Air Hockey


I definitely feel like I've been filling Ein bits and pieces of our winter break, but I finally have a bit of time to sit down and reflect on all the coming and going. I thought I would hate having the first almost full week off before Christmas, but it turned out to be ok. We spent the first several days home doing what we normally do at the beginning of a break--trying to get into our "home rhythm" (which usually entails some knock down drag out type behavior as we get used to being together all the time). We did some shopping, I got the attic prepped for construction (GOT RID OF LOTS OF STUFF!), Brian did some of the electrical work up there, we spent the best 8.95 all year and got Netflix streaming. AWESOME. Christmas Eve night we attended divine liturgy at 9:30 p.m.. I was so tired afterwards that I didn't even put the presents out for Christmas morning. (It's a good thing we don't do Santa around here!) On Christmas morning we put out the presents while the kids begged from their room to come out and see, opened in a bit of a hurry, then packed up for Michigan. You can read about those events in a previous post.

When we returned home it was time to start prepping for the next big event: our 10 year anniversary crowning ceremony/New Year's Eve party. A crowning is part of an Orthodox wedding ceremony. Brian also bought me a new ring. My original ring was having some trouble and I quit wearing it a while ago. We used the stone from my ring along with a donated stone from his mom and an earring stone from my first mother's day to create the new one. It is beautiful! And we had the best time. The attic is totally fun--a recreational space that we will definitely be using this winter when we can't run around outside. We were surrounded by friends and family, playing games and listening to music--and many of us even made it till midnight, including my children for the first time. I only have a few pictures of the party-- the crowning pictures are on someone else's camera so I will post those when I get them.

New Year's Day was spent with Brian's family doing our last Christmas celebration and birthdays for his aunt and uncle who were visiting from Cleveland. Today I should be at work, but Mary is down with a fever so we are home. I think we'll be back in action tomorrow. She isn't 100 percent, but her fever seems to be done.

more Christmas pictures

Mary and Cousin Lily at Gram and Papa's house in Michigan. Lily is older by 2 years.
Mary and Emily taking a break at Gram and Papa's. This was Christmas number 3.
Elijah has decided to grow out his hair and it is getting pretty unruly (especially when we um don't bathe as frequently when we're home on vacation for 2 weeks) so he's been wearing more hats. Which is fine with him because he, like his father, likes accessories.
Mary shows off her new Christmas slipper boots.
Christmas morning at our house. These pajamas have been around since Elijah.