We are traveling, traveling...

Check back next week for your regular installment of Barhorst Brewed.  :)

December 14-21

Two weeks ago, especially the second half of the week, was ridiculously busy.

You may recall that Steph and I started an Etsy shop.  Well, said Esty shop exploded in business over the last month, presumably because of the holiday.  We nearly doubled our total orders in the time from Thanksgiving until we went on vacation December 15.  Because of this, I had 13 sets of snapkins, 6 car roll-up travel maps, and 1 custom Pomeranian golf club cover to make.  I sewed and sewed and sewed, only taking breaks for all the other things that were happening in my life.

What other things?  Let's see...  The church had a cookie walk, for which I baked 32 dozen Spritz cookies and 40 dozen Austrian chocolate balls.  I also helped roll 50 dozen gingerbread men and 40 dozen rum balls.  The cookie walk took place on Saturday, December 13, so I was at church all morning arranging tables and selling cookies.  Then I had to leave for rehearsal because my concert was the same day.

Yes, the Lima Symphony Christmas Concert is the same day as the cookie walk.  A bit of poor planning on the part of the cookie walk, since I'm not the only member of our (rather small) parish that is in this concert.  That's the best day for it, though, so Elesha and I just leave the cookie walk early for rehearsal.  I had a rehearsal Friday night, another Saturday afternoon, and then a concert Saturday night.  All went well and I happily went to bed that night knowing that the only thing left to do was sew.

...Except that we didn't have enough cookies to cover all the preorders that were made.  Sunday afternoon and evening were spent spooning out 12 dozen lemon ricotta cookies and rolling approximately 700 buckeyes.  Monday was dipping buckeyes in chocolate and packaging preorders until they were finally done.  THEN back to the sewing.  ...With a brief hiatus Tuesday afternoon to babysit Carrie's three boys while she dropped off preorders at local businesses, because it's quicker to do all that running in and out without three carseat-dwellers in tow.  :)

In the midst of all this craziness, Jacque came down to surprise me for my birthday and stayed for a couple of days.  She and I chitchatted when she wasn't being required to dance or read or play hide-and-go-seek with her nieces.  She was instantly accepted by the girls as one of their own (although Gretchen had a change of heart for part of the second day) and Olivia gave her the tour of the house.  By the way, the "house" according to Olivia apparently consists only of the playroom.  Jacque painted Olivia's nails and watched Tangled with her, thus further cementing her favorable position in Olivia's eyes.  Gretchen spent the first lunchtime trying to convince Jacque that she was actually Billy and then, having finally accepted the fact that this was, in fact, Jacque, spent the rest of the visit saying, "Not Billy.  Jacque." and laughing to herself.

Bryan and the girls gave me Blue Moo for my birthday.  It's a compilation of Sandra Boynton songs, complete with pictures, lyrics, music, and a CD.  If you don't own it, you're missing out.  This CD has been the only thing playing in our car since I opened it a week ago and it is fabulous.  I'd list our favorite songs, but that's practically the whole album, so you should just check out the link.  Click on the picture of the cover to look inside.  You will not be disappointed.

Gretchen's most recent words: backpack, candle, Jacque, Justine, please, booger brain, ate well, candy, lunch, juice, grapes, wand, raisins.  Gretchen is one of those children who repeats every word she hears, so she says a lot of things once, but not all of them stick.  Olivia didn't repeat things this much, so I was beginning to think that the constant repetition was a bit of hyperbole used when stereotyping toddlers.  It's not.

A lesson learned: The best mode for taking pictures of toddlers is Sports mode.  The pictures don't try so hard to focus and generally come out less blurry.

A fun thing to do: Watch two 3-year-olds and a 5-year-old try to assemble Mousetrap.

Now we're at Bryan's parents' house for the holidays.  We'll be here until Christmas Day, when we travel up to Michigan to visit my parents for a few days.  Let the craziness begin!

A few pictures:

December 7-14

Just pictures this week since this post is already late.  Words next week.

Pictures:

Bonus Post: 30 Before 30 Update

A record of my 30 Before 30 progress thus far.

1. Genuinely surprise Bryan at least once. February 15, 2014
2. Record the psalms.  --Siblings, when are we going to do this?
3. Run a sub-2:00 half marathon. April 6, 2014.  1:54:30
4. Sell at least one thing I've made (at the Farmer's Market or on Etsy).  --May 17, 2014.  Steph and I set up an Etsy account and my first order was for the matching squares that I made William for Christmas.
5. Learn Spanish. --I listen to Spanish CDs while I run on the treadmill, so I'm making progress here.  --Progress has slowed since my race in April ended my daily treadmill runs.  I need to get motivated to keep learning.  --Progress has picked up again, thanks to smartphones and the duolingo app.
6. Record all 6 cello suites.
7. Sew Christmas and/or Easter dresses for the girls. --I have patterns! I'm waiting until the girls are bigger to make them.
8. Minimize (eliminate?) the need for disposable products in our house.
9. Have a compost pile.  --We have a bucket that we've begun collecting scraps in and the pile is growing.
10. Play with at least 2 professional orchestras.  --I play with Lima, and I'm looking for auditions with other orchestras.
11. Go 7 days in a row without letting my temper get the better of me. February 14-21, 2014 I'd gotten 6 days in a row a couple of times and then finally made it 7 (nine, actually). I'm finding it easier to take deep breaths and move on, and I have a chart to keep track of my progress. Next goal: three weeks. That's how long it takes to form a habit, right?
12. Make an honest attempt at clean eating/real food. I've done some research and tried some substitutes and reached a comfortable point. Do I care enough to use butter instead of margarine? Yes. Do I care enough to buy coconut oil regularly? No. Whole grain noodles and brown rice most of the time? Yes. Completely eliminate sugar? No. Homemade bread? Yes. Whole wheat bread? Sometimes. But often I appreciate the airiness that I can only achieve with a little bit of white flour.
13. *Skipped because knowledge by some of my readers could skew the results.* April 5, 2014
14. Go on an overnight vacation with just our family.
15. Grow a garden.  My garden is progressing nicely, although technically we haven't seen any actual vegetables yet since they still have a month or so before they reach maturity.  The leaves look beautiful and healthy, though!
16. Write a book.
17. Sew a skirt that becomes my favorite.
18. Volunteer to host campout. --We tried to do this for 2016 campout (and even thought we'd succeeded), but apparently we didn't tell all the right people, so someone else is doing 2016.  We will be trying again for 2017.  :)
19. Go through RCIA. Edit: Arrange to talk to a Catholic priest several times.  RCIA won't answer the questions I have.
20. Attend Seekers' Group (similar to RCIA, offered by the Orthodox church in Lima).  --Bryan and I are attending this every Tuesday and I have no reason to believe we'll quit before it's finished.
21. Complete at least 3 things on my (ever growing) Projects List.  --I think I finished one, but now I can't remember what it is!
22. Start a soup kitchen.
23. Make pectin-free jam. Make up the recipe.  --August 18, 2014.  I made peach jam with almond and nutmeg.
24. Go on an overnight vacation with Bryan -- no kids. --September 25-28, 2014
25. Use up all the coupons Bryan gave me (I still have some from when we were dating). --Slowly but surely coming along.
26. Learn one of the 3 big concertos. --I have music for two of these. Now I just have to practice.  --Practice is not happening as much as it should.  :(
27. Arrange a regularly recurring get-together with the Lima folk.  --Second Thursday of each month is "go to Lima" day.  We've successfully done this two months in a row, so I'm crossing it off.
28. Have a religious conversation with Bryan that doesn't end in tears.  --July 27, 2014.  Nothing was solved, but I didn't cry.
29. Make a new friend.
30. Improve a stranger's day.
31. (Because I thought of one more and it kind of fits in with several of the above goals) Join a co-op.

November 30-December 7

Gretchen has a name for herself: Kiki.  We're not quite sure how she came up with that (perhaps because we call her Gretchy?), but that's her name.  Mommy, Daddy, Lolly, and Kiki.  In addition to providing a name for herself, Gretchen has picked up the words boot, other foot, bed, hungry, silly, bark, eat, up, and down.

Olivia has begun covering her hands with her mouth as she laughs at something that she thinks is particularly funny.  I'm not sure where she picked this up, but it always makes me laugh, too.  Gretchen thinks this is a great trick, so now we sit at the dining room table and try to finish meals while both of them snicker into their hands.

Gretchen is in a copycat stage.  If Olivia is doing it, it must be fabulous.  The most obvious place that this happens is the table, as Gretchen is still perfectly content to play by herself.  Anything Olivia says or does at the table, though, is fair game and is generally repeated at top volume by Gretchen.  Olivia tries to use this to her advantage by saying things like, "I think Gretchen said 'cake'" and hoping that Gretchen will pick up the refrain.

The other day, Olivia sang "Five Little Speckled Frogs" in its entirety.  She even counted down correctly.  This would not be unusual, except for one tiny detail: I've never sung that song before.  I have no idea where she heard it to begin with, let alone enough times to have it memorized.

I have stacked the perfect Candy Land deck.  Competitive until the end, it allows the younger player to get all the picture cards (in order!) with just enough colored squares in between to facilitate color and number recognition without inspiring boredom in either party.  ...Until the third or fourth time through, when the adult knows how it's all going to play out.  :)

Steph and I met at the old house on Saturday and painted, touched up, and staged everything.  I think it looks better, and Bryan and I are hopeful that the extra touch will help it sell more quickly when we do finally get around to listing it.  (Yes, you read that right... Our old house is still not listed even though we've been moved out for three months.)

The running was short-lived.  :(  When I went to run on Monday, I only made it five minutes before having severe stomach pain.  I assume it's just a ligament thing, but have put the running on hold until I can double check and get recommendations for a solution.  I have already resigned myself to the solution of "don't run until Hippo is born."

Pictures:

November 23-30

I've started running again.  After the half-marathon in April, I pretty much stopped cold turkey, but this week I decided to begin hopping on the treadmill every morning before the girls get up.  I have about 15 minutes between Bryan's alarm going off and their usual wake-up time, which is just enough to fit in a mile or two.  Nothing too strenuous, as that would put Bryan right over the edge (he's already only grudgingly accepting of the fact that I chose 5 months pregnant as the appropriate time to start running again), but enough to get me up and moving and full of endorphins for the day.

Olivia read Cat in the Hat to her monkey the other day:  "The sun did not shine.  It was too wet to play.  So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day.  I sat there with Sally.  We sat there, we two.  I sat there with Sally.  We sat there, we two.  Well...  What would YOU do if your mother asked YOU?  Oops, I forgot the middle!"  Contrary to the end of this display, however, she actually knows this book quite well.

We've been working with Olivia on actually listening to the bible story read during prayers at night.  Usually I'll give her something to listen for and then ask a question at the end.  She has yet to know the answer.  The other night, though, I told her to listen to where Jesus and his family went to hide from Herod.  Bryan and I even redirected her attention as I read the line about Egypt a second time.  At the end of the story, I asked where Jesus and his family were hiding.  "Um...  The laundry room!"  Bryan had to leave the room to compose himself.

We learned on Sunday that Gretchen knows the word "hat."  A baby in a hat sat in the pew in front of us, and Gretchen spent 20 minutes saying, "See baby hat!"  Nothing could dissuade her from making this observation or convince her to make it it a quieter voice.  The whole back right of the church knew that Gretchen could see the baby's hat.  Continually.

As illustrated in the story above, Gretchen attempts sentences for most of her communications.  Her favorite question to ask is "doing?"  At breakfast, we talk about how we "see Daddy water", "see milk", "want oatmeal", and know that "Daddy go work."  She listens to conversations and chimes in whenever she hears a word she recognizes, and she repeats everything.  As a result, she says "minute" quite clearly with absolutely no idea what it means, and she's attempted "seriously."  Seriously?

This extended weekend we'll be spending with my family, so there are sure to be plenty of pictures from the paparazzi adoring aunts and uncles next week, assuming I can convince them to send said pictures to me. 

Pictures:

November 16-23

You may not know this, but our house came with 7 locks and only 4 keys.  We had 2 deadbolts, but zero deadbolt keys, and none of the doorknob locks matched each other.  Bryan released his inner handyman this week and fixed our doors so that now we have one key that opens the knobs and deadbolts on both the front and back door!  The next project (postponed for the time being) is to replace the lock in the sliding door with one for which we have a key.  :)  This weekend Bryan also spent time with his dad finishing some walls in the basement so that we can get an electrician to come outfit his office with light and heat!

More news in Bryan's life: He got older!  His birthday was Friday and he's now only two years away from 30.  Also, we've entered the brief window of time during which I can tease him about how much older than me he is.

Words not mentioned in previous posts that Gretchen says now, either because she already knew them (and her mother forgot to list them earlier) or because she learned them this week: coat, boot, ribbit, work, milk, more, baby, sock, belly, eye, potty, hello, peekaboo, up, down, look, see, want, plug, fork, plate, hot, book, oatmeal, crown, stroller, ice cream, phone, ball, thank you, please, Scooby Doo, open, Lolly (Olivia), doing, big, barbie, oh.

Phrases Olivia uses (one from me and one that she still says wrong):
"You're a silly goose!"
"You need to talk about Gretchen." -- meaning that I need to talk TO Gretchen.

We're at a tough developmental stage right now.  Gretchen is into parallel play, so she will happily go off by herself and play quietly.  She likes to be in the same room as others, but doesn't require it.  Olivia, however, is a copycat, and thinks that everyone else's ideas are the best.  Unfortunately, this means that Olivia follows Gretchen around the house, stealing her toys and taking over her games.

Gretchen has a dish and utensil at every meal now.  Her preferred use for the utensil is to hold it in her right hand while she puts food in her mouth with her left hand, but she's improving.  Her coordination is better with a fork than with a spoon, mostly because I don't give her very many spoonable foods to feed herself.

Gretchen has begun potty training.  It's going very slowly and thus far she has not produced anything while actually sitting on the potty.  She wants to sit, though, so sit she does.  A plus to potty training this time around is that Gretchen says "potty" very clearly, so I always know what she means.  Olivia's word for potty was "dobby," which was the same word she used for pretty much everything else in her life at the time.

Olivia has elaborate conversations with her dolls and stuffed animals.  During quiet time, which is one of the only times she's not following Gretchen around, I listen to her make up stories and scenarios to keep Barney and her babies amused.  She's also started projecting her wants onto her playthings, as if the fact that Barbie wants a piece of cake might trick me into leaving a piece of cake unattended on the table.  :)

Pictures:

November 9-16

Gretchen is trying her hand at sentences.  This week we got "What doing, Mommy?", "Where Daddy go?", and "No, Olivia, no sit Mommy."  She's been stringing words together for a while, but this week is the first time I heard clear sentences.

More old Gretchen words: chair, sit, coat, milk, sock, pants, shirt, car.

Olivia "reads" books by talking through the pictures.  This is wonderful, as she is now more content than ever to sit quietly with a book.  She also enjoys reading to Gretchen.  However.  If the words in the book do not match what she sees in the pictures, Olivia will (occasionally, but with increasing regularity) call out the actual reader, claiming that words/pages were skipped.

Tuesday was Hippo's ultrasound.  Everything looks great, and Bryan and I got a wave during the scan.  :)  The office that I'm with now started doing a 3D rendering during ultrasounds, so a few of the pictures we got are really cool.  Those are all below.  Of course, if you move during the rendering then you get wavy pictures, so Hippo's moving hand in the third 3D picture makes his head look wobbly.  Side note: "his" is used generically here; we did not find out the gender, even by accident.  Bryan says he's 52% sure Hippo is a girl, though.

I showed Olivia and Gretchen the ultrasound pictures, and Olivia looked at me and said, "that's a head!"  I told her it was a baby, and she wanted to know whose baby.  "Our baby!"  "Gretchen's baby?"  "No, our new baby that's in Mommy's tummy right now."  She looked skeptical.  When Bryan went over things with her again later, she lifted up my shirt and said, "there's no baby there!"  Bryan told her it was inside, and pointed to a section of my stomach.  I pointed to a different spot and mentioned that the baby was over there.  At that, Olivia looked at Bryan and said seriously, "No, Daddy, it's over here, actually."

The girls also had appointments this week, so we got to find out how big they are.  Olivia is a full meter tall and weighs 33.2 pounds.  Gretchen is 33.5 inches and weighs 25 pounds, 4 ounces.  Six inches of height difference looks incredibly large at this size.  :)  As for milestones, both girls are doing well.  We did learn that Olivia can't draw a person yet because she is bothered by the imperfect circle for the head and refuses to move on.  She is, however, crushing it in the language department, where she's apparently supposed to have mastered sentences of 3-4 words.  For those of you who haven't heard Olivia recently, she speaks more in paragraphs than in sentences.  :)  I was also told that Gretchen's ability to put on her own socks and shoes is a little ahead of schedule, but her dislike shots is about par for the course.

During the appointment, the doctor asked Olivia if she was going to have a baby brother or sister, and she said sister.  Then the doctor asked if she had baby dolls at home, and she said, "yes, but not in my tummy!"

This was concert week for me, so I had rehearsals every night.  My family came down for the concert on Saturday, which was a nice, albeit brief, visit.  Josef and Alison stayed through until today.

Pictures and Video:

November 2-9

The Halloween party in Cleveland last weekend was nice, but even nicer was getting to sleep in for an extra hour on Sunday.  I think we'll send the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's for Daylight Savings day every year!

I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but our lovely little backyard fence got slightly smushed on the U-Haul's way out of our driveway.  It was still functional, but less aesthetically pleasing than it had been.  I am happy to report that this has been remedied.  On Wednesday we had a guy come out and by the time he left, our fence had regained the decorative half of its title.

Gretchen's recent words include milk, snapkin, cake, and ponytail.  She also says car, baby, plug, blanket, book, mommy, daddy, and (I think) Olivia.  The latter list is made up of words I've neglected to mention, even though she's been saying them for a while now.

I had a craft show on Saturday, so Bryan watched the girls.  Everything seems to have gone fairly well, although I do question Olivia's outfit choice.  After the girls went to bed, though, Bryan came up to me and said, "I'm going to go lie down for the first time today.  You have a hard job."  If I'm ever feeling under-appreciated, I'm taking a day off and leaving Bryan alone with them.  :)

On Saturday night we went to church.  When we came home and began eating dinner, Olivia looked up from her plate of quiche (which she was eating without complaining) and said, "I need more broccoli, please."  ...  We're not sure whose child we accidentally brought home from church, but we're keeping her.  :)  As a side note, I made this quiche with ground beef and California veggies.  Members of KAQ, I recommend that you try it before renewing your membership this year.

Also food related, I have an informational bulletin for my mother and siblings: Cream of Wheat is simply farina (a ground up part of wheat).  Farina can be found in bulk food stores for $1-1.50 a pound, which is significantly better than the cost of Cream of Wheat at the grocery store.

Pictures:

October 26-November 2

Gretchen has started singing "Alleluia."  It comes out "ah-luuu," and she sings it over and over, especially in our chapel after prayers.  She got to try it out at a liturgy for the first time on Friday and was quite proud of her participation.

My words coming out of Olivia's mouth:
"That is my plan."
"Shall we get Gretchen?"
"You're driving me crazy!"
"Yes, that would be fine."

Our newest baby is now being affectionately called Hippo.  When I was pregnant with Olivia, I was never hungry.  When I was pregnant with Gretchen, I was hungry all the time, but usually for healthy things.  With Hippo, I'm most hungry late at night, and then only for snacks.  :/

We've been quite busy this week, mostly with Halloween related things.  Olivia loves it, because Halloween means she gets to wear her fairy princess costume out of the house more often.  We did storytime in costume on Wednesday, went trick-or-treating on Thursday night with some friends (it turns out that our road doesn't have enough traffic for anyone to bother with handing out candy), and attended a Halloween party on Friday.  Then the girls went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a couple of nights while Bryan and I attended another Halloween party on Saturday at his sister's house.

Pictures and Videos:

October 19-26

I'm drawing a blank on the things I wanted to mention this week, so this entry is rather short.  Perhaps I'll remember for next week.

Gretchen's new vocal talents include "Amen", elephant sounds, monkey sounds, "bowl" (which means plate), "spoon" (which means fork), and the word "poop."  The latter is generally not in context; I think she just likes to say it.  She's also started counting: "two, two, two, two, two."

Olivia discovered this week that if she turns in circles, "the house moves!"  Gretchen thought this was a brilliant discovery, and they've been making themselves, I mean the house, dizzy.

When asked what she wanted to be for Halloween, Olivia gave her standard answer: "I don't know."  Bryan and I decided that she wanted to be a fairy princess.  In green, of course.  I bought the materials and Olivia pestered me about turning them into a dress for two weeks.  When I finally produced the dress, she put it on immediately.  At the writing of this blog post, she has worn the dress non-stop for three days.  I do make her get dressed in real clothes in the morning, and she usually wears the dress over them.  She's also not allowed to wear dress-up clothes to the store.  Other than those restrictions, though, the dress has been her constant companion.  Good thing it's washable.

Pictures:

October 5-19

Last week's post was not written during the week like they usually are because I had orchestra rehearsals and Etsy orders and people visiting...  I was planning to write it after my concert on Saturday night, but Bryan thought I should skip it to watch a movie with him and eat chips instead.  Peer pressure prevailed, hence the description of the reason for my delay.

The orchestra season started two weeks ago, so I had rehearsals and concerts.  We performed with a group called Cirque de la Symphonie, so we were the background music to acrobatics and juggling.  Judging from the sounds coming from the audience, the performers were quite entertaining.  Unfortunately for the musicians, circus music is fast and flashy, so we had no time to stop and watch the show.

On Sunday morning we drove up to Michigan for dad's ordination to Archpriest.  Everyone except dad knew what was going to happen, and he was quite surprised.  I think the rest of us were surprised that he didn't find out ahead of time by accident.  We just stayed to visit for the day and then drove home at bedtime.  Jacob followed us home so that he could see our new house and spend some time de-stressing.

While Jacob was here he took lots of pictures.  A sampling is below.  He also caught a bee in a parmesan cheese jar.  The bee deserved it, as it was terrorizing us while we tried to enjoy the lovely weather.  It probably did not deserve the shaking that Gretchen gave it when it was her turn to hold the jar.  :/  The girls, Olivia especially, liked looking at it up close, though.  Also while Jacob was here, I decided to hire him as my personal car babysitter.  Small errands go so much more quickly when I can just run in without taking the girls!  Unfortunately, he has prior commitments.  Some nonsense about college classes, campus photography, and a capella, I think.  We here in the Barhorst household shall be patiently waiting for the day he comes to his senses and realizes that this would be a better gig.  :)

This weekend I was at a craft show but had a pitifully small amount of inventory due to the fact that people keep buying things off the Etsy site.  It's like they don't know I'm trying to build my inventory for a show!  I guess there are worse problems to have.  :)

Gretchen's update:
Gretchen has several recognizable words now (more than several if you're her mother and speak semi-fluent Gretchen!).  I was surprised by her mastery of blends; she uses the sounds sh, bl, and pl consistently.  She has recently started singing along with Olivia and her favorite words to sing appear to be "la" (on most songs) and "shapes" (for one shapes song).  Occasionally the shapes song morphs into one about shoes, because Gretchen loves shoes and can remember that word.  :)  Other recent skills include being able to crawl under Olivia's legs, putting on a headband, and identifying people in pictures.  The last one is less impressive than it sounds because Gretchen declares all the people in every picture to be "mama" (or, on a rare occasion, "dada").

Olivia's update:
I taught Olivia to use a computer mouse, and she's scarily good at it.  Good thing she can't type yet, or I'd never be able to curb her computer habits.  She is, however, able to pick her own songs when listening to music, which keeps me from having to come back to the computer every time she changers her mind.  She has also discovered that if she clicks through songs enough then eventually a full episode of Barney or Sofia the First will present itself for her viewing pleasure.  Olivia's other big thing right now is playing games.  She loves pulling out the games in our cupboard and trying to play them.  She does not love it when Gretchen interferes.  :/

I have a set of girly girls here.  Important things this week include shoes and nail polish (of course), strollers and babies, hair accessories, and purses.  Olivia has an old Easter hat and a small purse from Jillian that she wears across her body.  Gretchen prefers to carry a baby doll and the Jenga container.  :)  Both girls insist on hair accessories.  Lately they've been favoring headbands.

We have the occasional fruit fly in our house, and Bryan and I will try to catch them as they fly around the table.  As those of you who have tried to catch fruit flies before may know, the approved method is to clap your hands and then examine them for the fruit fly before deciding that it has escaped and looking around the room to relocate it.  Olivia realized we were trying to catch bugs, and started spotting a bug, clapping, and looking around.  Her sense of range is a little off, though, so we watched in amusement as she clapped at bugs that were halfway across the room.  The best part came afterwards, though, when Gretchen decided this looked like a great game.  Clearly having no clue that she is hunting bugs of any sort, Gretchen will clap once and immediately look at the ceiling for a few seconds before grinning triumphantly at her laughing audience.

Pictures:

October 5-12

This entry postponed due to movie and chips.  We will return to your regularly scheduled program next week.  Or possibly later this week, if I'm feeling on the ball.  :)

September 28-October 5

Our Cincinnati trip last weekend was wonderful.  We accidentally themed it around food because the only concrete plans we made before going had to do with places we wanted to eat.  Conveniently, the rest of Cincinnati (well, Newport, KY, actually) fell neatly into line with our plans.  We visited the Newport Aquarium, the Casino, Eden Garden, a bowling alley, and a putt-putt place.  We also got fantastic grilled cheese (Tom and Chee), heard dueling pianos (Gangsters Dueling Piano Bar), tried Bavarian food (Hofbrauhaus), and had a fancy four course dinner (Nicola's) where we couldn't finish the tiny portions because we were too full from all our previous meals.  At Hofbrauhaus I noticed a sign that said "1 liter of beer = 3 12-oz bottles."  I hurried back to the table to tell Bryan, whereupon he looked at me with wide eyes and said, "I just ordered a liter."  We took our time eating an appetizer while he nursed his liter of beer.  :)  At Nicola's -- a restaurant where we were asked what kind of water we wanted (tap, bottled sparkling, or bottled still) -- we split all the courses, and Bryan accidentally tricked me into eating raw fish because the first course was sashimi (raw fish) in a mushroom broth.  The menu talked up the mushroom; the sashimi not so much.  :-P  On the way home after church on Sunday, we stopped at Jungle Jim's -- a huge store full of all sorts of weird things -- to get some kangaroo and rabbit meat.  We also got two pounds of assorted Jelly Bellys.

While we were in Cincinnati, the girls had a grand old time at Grandma and Grandpa's.  They ate hamburgers and pancakes, watched Scooby Doo on constant loop, and also played outside a fair amount.  :)  Murry kept them too busy to mind that we were gone, although they did seem pretty happy to see us when we got back.

Then it was back home to sleep in our own beds and spend the week unpacking some more.  I've been making pretty good progress this week, and even managed to unpack a few things in my workroom, which is by far the least unpacked room in the house.  Maybe I'll get around to taking some pictures this next week.

Bryan and his dad bought wood for the basement office, and Bryan set up a card table down there in the meantime so that he could spread out and use all of the computer monitors he is used to using at work.  He is apparently much more productive now than he was on the floor in the chapel, so that's good.  Now he just needs to get the office actually built and wired for electricity (and heat!) before winter arrives.

We have the Sandra Boynton book Tickle Time that is a favorite of both girls.  In case you haven't read this book, it is all about tickling (surprise!) and all the characters are cats.  We have another book about baby animals that Gretchen likes to read, especially now that she can do the sounds for dog, duck, horse, and cow.  She also thinks she can do cat: they say "tickle tickle tickle!"

Pictures:

September 21-28

I have made pickles.  Murry had a large cucumber harvest this year and I decided to turn her cucumbers into pickles.  I made two batches -- one that is refrigerator cured and one that is canned for longer storage.  The refrigerator ones turned out pretty tasty, especially when cut up into tuna salad for a tuna melt.  They probably would have been even better, but I cannibalized their pickle juice to supplement the canned pickle juice (I had already packed my dill weed by the time I got around to canning and needed something to add to the dill seed I had).  I will let you know how the canned ones turn out.  Regardless, this is an endeavor I shall be repeating next year!

Earlier this week, Olivia came looking for us in the middle of the night saying that something was coming into her room.  She could not describe "something," but she was not pleased with its presence in her nighttime visions.  Recalling the stories of my parents shooing dogs and chipmunks out of my room when I was younger, I dutifully got out of bed and went to shoo "something" away.  Unfortunately, shooing was not sufficient and Olivia could not go back to sleep unless I stayed to keep her safe.  Conveniently (???), Gretchen woke up during all of this and needed to be rocked a little to go back to sleep anyway.  I stayed until everyone was calm and mostly asleep again and then left, turning on the kitchen light on my way back to my room.  There followed a series of eventless nights, followed by a night where a bee apparently invaded.  Bryan took a turn chasing bad things, went the light route much more quickly, and managed to stop the bee visions in mid-flight.

Ever since these nighttime visitors, Olivia has told me that we have an alligator trapped in our third bathroom.  Perhaps if it's in the bathroom then it won't bother her anymore?  We can hope.

Gretchen knows the sounds that ducks and horses make now.  She is still consistent at identifying a dog as well.  In other developments, she can find her nose, hair, arms, feet, mouth, eyes, belly, and sometimes ears.

Last weekend the girls and I went to visit the cousins.  Olivia and William chased each other around the dining room table for hours at a time while Gretchen and Edward scavenged dropped breakfast Cheerios.  Justine sent me pictures of the kids, but I have yet to get them up.  Maybe next week.  Jacque was there, too, so the we had fun with her (when she wasn't overwhelmed by the noise and chaos of 4 babies).  Justine, Jacque, and I played Cubs Monopoly one night, and Jacque inadvertently crushed us, partly due to the fact that Justine and I refused to let her drag the game out indefinitely by being nice to debtors.

We may have lost one of Olivia's shoes on the way home.  About an hour away from our house, I stopped in a gas station parking lot to retrieve dropped books/toys/pacifiers/blankets for the girls.  When we got home, one of Olivia's shoes (which she takes off in the car) was nowhere to be found.  So if anyone is traveling along state route 30 and happens to stop at a Speedway nearish Upper Sandusky (a few miles west of a rather convenient rest stop that we passed without stopping), please check the back of the parking lot for a white size 8 tennis shoe.  :-P

We have new phones!  While visiting Justine, Joseph, and Jacque in Pittsburgh, we went and changed our phone plan.  We've all followed mom to the cheaper-but-less-reliable pastures of t-mobile and, in doing so, joined the smartphone world.  I am, as it turns out, just as bad at answering my new phone as I was at answering the old one.  It is exciting to be able to make whatever calls I want whenever I want without worrying about minutes, though.  :)

Thursday was our 4th anniversary, and to celebrate we abandoned the children and took a trip to Cincinnati for the weekend.  More on that next week.  :)

Pictures:

September 14-21

I finally got last week's post up.  We have been unpacking all week and finally look like we're making progress.  I will take pictures if/when I ever find my camera (I don't remember packing it, so finding it is a little tougher).  This house is double the size of our last house, so even with all our boxes piled up, the girls have had plenty of room to run around.  :)

On Sunday, Bryan told me that he kept asking Olivia if she liked her new house and she kept saying no.  :(  My response was, "stop asking her!"  We did get the television hooked up so that she could watch a movie on Sunday night.  First thing Monday morning, Olivia helped me unpack all of her clothes and Gretchen's clothes and we got their bedroom arranged with everything familiar.  Then we moved on to the playroom and began finding their favorite toys.  By Monday afternoon she had decided that her new house wasn't so bad.

On Thursday we had to go back to Springfield to supervise some roof work on the old house.  The Kleins met us there and Steph and I swept up all the dust left over from moving furniture while the 4 kids ran around the empty rooms delighting in how much noise they could make.  Before we left I got everything out of the main section of the house (some stuff had been left in the linen cupboard and the kitchen) and grabbed a couple boxes from the attic.  We still have things in our mudroom and attic, but the main house is empty.

A couple of updates on the girls:

Gretchen has opinions.  The trouble is that no one, including Gretchen, knows what those opinions are.  Mostly, it would seem, her opinion is, "You want me to do it that way?  No, that's terrible!  Wait, don't do it my original way either!  Nothing ever happens the way I want it to.  *cue meltdown*"

Gretchen's new favorite word is "shoe."  This surprises no one, given her affinity for shoes.  Bryan wants to name it her first official word (by claiming that yeah, no, and more don't count), but I'd like the record to show that she did, in fact, say other words first.

Strange phrasings that Olivia still has:
We are at to the store.
I'm going to knock on the doorbell.
Umballela.
Mlilk.

And something funny Olivia said the other day:
"I'm Olivia Barhorst and you're Mommy Barhorst and she's Gretchen Barhorst and Daddy's a boy."

The girls and I are headed out to visit Justine and Joseph this weekend (as well as Jacque, who is also visiting them!).  Bryan is going to a Browns' game instead.  Priorities.  :-P

Pictures:

September 7-14

What a whirlwind of a week!  Last Friday we closed on the house and the sellers told us that they only needed a week to get out, rather than the expected month.  Our moving choices became move this weekend or wait a month anyway because we're busy.  Bryan and I talked it over and decided that we'd rather move right away.

So.  I spent the week putting things in boxes.  I had found free moving boxes on Craigslist a few weeks ago and picked them up, so they were just sitting in our attic waiting to be filled.  We got them down and I began packing.  It was going discouragingly slowly until Tuesday night when Steve came to visit with his pickup truck.  He packed up all the boxes we had done as well as a lot of unwieldy furniture and whatever else we could find to fit in his truck at the last minute.  Important note: "whatever else" included Olivia's bike, which she saw as we packed it.  He took that whole load back to Sidney with him and then met Bryan at the house on Friday to unload it.  After he left, the house looked a little emptier and we suddenly had a place to stack boxes.  Our flagging motivation was replenished.

I took care of bedrooms and books and wall pictures, etc., studiously avoiding packing anything in the kitchen.  The toys already live in tubs, so those were pretty well packed already, which was good because then the girls still had things to play with.  We talked to Olivia about how her bike was at her new house and how we were all going to move to her new house on Saturday.  She was excited to see her bike again.  :)

On Saturday, Bryan dropped the girls off with the Kleins while I started packing the kitchen.  When Bryan got back, he loaded the van, leaving room for the girls to get in.  Helpers from the church in Lima and Bryan's work in Springfield came with muscles and a pickup truck and trailer.  They got quite a bit packed up before noon, which was when Bryan went to pick up the u-haul.  Two more hours were spent eating pizza and packing the u-haul and then everything was full and we decided it was good enough.  I went to pick up the girls and the trucks headed straight to the new house.  By the time the girls and I arrived, everything was unpacked into our house and the Lima folk were driving away.  Presbytera had brought dinner for everyone and there was a little leftover pizza, so we didn't have to worry about that.  The girls and I went to vespers while Bryan and his work friends put boxes in the correct rooms and assembled beds for that night.

Now all we have to do is unpack and organize...  :)

Pictures:

Ack!

We moved!  Therefore...

This blog post is delayed due to the general craziness associated with moving.  Also, our internet takes some time to transfer so I couldn't write it even if all my packing and unpacking was done, which it's not.  :)  Perhaps Wednesday.

Bonus Post: 30 Before 30 Update

A record of my 30 Before 30 progress thus far.

1. Genuinely surprise Bryan at least once. February 15, 2014
2. Record the psalms.
3. Run a sub-2:00 half marathon. April 6, 2014.  1:54:30
4. Sell at least one thing I've made (at the Farmer's Market or on Etsy).  --May 17, 2014.  Steph and I set up an Etsy account and my first order was for the matching squares that I made William for Christmas.
5. Learn Spanish. --I listen to Spanish CDs while I run on the treadmill, so I'm making progress here.  --Progress has slowed since my race in April ended my daily treadmill runs.  I need to get motivated to keep learning.
6. Record all 6 cello suites.
7. Sew Christmas and/or Easter dresses for the girls. --I have patterns! I'm waiting until the girls are bigger to make them.
8. Minimize (eliminate?) the need for disposable products in our house.
9. Have a compost pile.  --We have a bucket that we've begun collecting scraps in and the pile is growing.
10. Play with at least 2 professional orchestras.  --I play with Lima, and I'm looking for auditions with other orchestras.
11. Go 7 days in a row without letting my temper get the better of me. February 14-21, 2014 I'd gotten 6 days in a row a couple of times and then finally made it 7 (nine, actually). I'm finding it easier to take deep breaths and move on, and I have a chart to keep track of my progress. Next goal: three weeks. That's how long it takes to form a habit, right?
12. Make an honest attempt at clean eating/real food. I've done some research and tried some substitutes and reached a comfortable point. Do I care enough to use butter instead of margarine? Yes. Do I care enough to buy coconut oil regularly? No. Whole grain noodles and brown rice most of the time? Yes. Completely eliminate sugar? No. Homemade bread? Yes. Whole wheat bread? Sometimes. But often I appreciate the airiness that I can only achieve with a little bit of white flour.
13. *Skipped because knowledge by some of my readers could skew the results.* April 5, 2014
14. Go on an overnight vacation with just our family.
15. Grow a garden.  My garden is progressing nicely, although technically we haven't seen any actual vegetables yet since they still have a month or so before they reach maturity.  The leaves look beautiful and healthy, though!
16. Write a book.
17. Sew a skirt that becomes my favorite.
18. Volunteer to host campout. --We tried to do this for 2016 campout (and even thought we'd succeeded), but apparently we didn't tell all the right people, so someone else is doing 2016.  We will be trying again for 2017.  :)
19. Go through RCIA. Edit: Arrange to talk to a Catholic priest several times.  RCIA won't answer the questions I have.
20. Attend Seekers' Group (similar to RCIA, offered by the Orthodox church in Lima).
21. Complete at least 3 things on my (ever growing) Projects List.  --I think I finished one, but now I can't remember what it is!
22. Start a soup kitchen.
23. Make pectin-free jam. Make up the recipe.  --August 18, 2014.  I made peach jam with almond and nutmeg.
24. Go on an overnight vacation with Bryan -- no kids. --Scheduled for our 4th anniversary.
25. Use up all the coupons Bryan gave me (I still have some from when we were dating). --Slowly but surely coming along.
26. Learn one of the 3 big concertos. --I have music for two of these. Now I just have to practice.  --Practice is not happening as much as it should.  :(
27. Arrange a regularly recurring get-together with the Lima folk.  --Second Thursday of each month is "go to Lima" day.  We've successfully done this two months in a row, so I'm crossing it off.
28. Have a religious conversation with Bryan that doesn't end in tears.  --July 27, 2014.  Nothing was solved, but I didn't cry.
29. Make a new friend.
30. Improve a stranger's day.
31. (Because I thought of one more and it kind of fits in with several of the above goals) Join a co-op.

August 31-September 7

Monday was the Second Annual Barhorst Fun Run.  Most of my family was able to make it, and the Kleins showed up just in time for Scott to succumb to peer pressure and run a half mile.  Jillian, being on the cross country team and all, ran 3 miles.  The rest of us tagged in and out for between half a mile and a full mile each.  :)  Easily the best part of the fun run was watching all the little kids play "the race game."  Olivia won the first race handily by virtue of the fact that she was the only person to follow the directions.  Then Olivia, Eva, William, Eli, and Gretchen ran back and forth between the driveway and the corner as many times as we would let them.  After the fun run was lunch, and Steve and Murry showed up for that (also Tyler and his friend, Thomas).  It was nice to hang out and chat with people.  Bryan even managed to get a game of soccer organized before everyone went home.

While my family was in town, we gave a gift to mom.  Raise your hand if you know what it means!

We moved our very last "Lima day" up a week so that we'd be more conveniently located (in Sidney) for closing on Friday.  That all went smoothly and we are now the proud holders of two mortgages!  ...We hope to sell our Springfield house soon so that we're back down to just one mortgage.  :)  We get the keys this coming Friday, but estimated move-in date is second weekend of October unless we can somehow make it work this coming weekend.

I've decided to make the points section of my blog slightly more interesting.  Therefore, points will reset at the end of each year.  The winner for the year will get a small, yet-to-be-determined prize.

Pictures:

Fun Friday - September 5

Previous answer:  Assignment Terror - An alien attempts to take over the world using Dracula, the Werewolf, and Frankenstein.

This is the last week of voting!  Here are your choices for the definition of the word Hodad:

1.  The tinted plastic used to cover windows and screens before sale.

2.  The loop on a pacifier.

3.  In surfing, a loud obnoxious person who has never actually surfed.

Thank you for playing all summer!

August 24-31

News and such:

Gretchen
...feeds people.  I am constantly stuffed with imaginary food from the play kitchen.  Her favorite method is to have a spoon and a cup from which she scoops tasty air to deposit into waiting mouths.  Pretending to eat off the spoon is not allowed.  Gretchen will continue to bang the spoon against your lips until you open your mouth.
...pretends to eat.  Olivia never did this, but Gretchen will take a giant pretend bite of the plastic fruits and veggies we have and then smack her lips in delight at the deliciousness.
...says "mo."  This is supposed to be "more," but really means "I want that drink."
...likes to tickle people.  She'll wiggle her hand at you, flexing her fingers and saying, "tickletickletickle."
...copies what Olivia does.  The most obvious case of this was when I was trying to keep the girls occupied in the car by asking them to locate various body parts.  Gretchen would glance over at Olivia and then clap her hands over her ears/cheeks/neck/whatever.  She also thinks that any noisy and energetic activity is absolutely worth learning right now.
...can locate her hair and nose by herself (without her Olivia crib sheet).  Those are the only two things she gets right with any consistency.
...is finally getting her eyeteeth.  All four of them at the same time.
...jumps.  Kind of.  She crouches a little and then stomps her feet as fast as she can.

Olivia
...swallowed a barrette.  The Monday before last, Olivia was apparently absentmindedly chewing on her barrette while falling asleep.  Suddenly she started coughing and gagging and then spitting up blood.  Bryan took her to the emergency room and by the time they took an x-ray the barrette had made it all the way to Olivia's stomach.  There was nothing to do but wait for it to come out, so we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  We still hadn't seen it by this past Wednesday, so back she went for another x-ray.  The tech thought it was on its way, but the doctor insisted that the barrette had moved very little and was still stuck in Olivia's stomach.  Calls were made to Dayton Children's Hospital for a recommendation, and we were told to expect a phone call scheduling surgery to remove the barrette.  Then on Thursday, there it was!  So much excitement over normal bodily functions.  :)
...eats her m&ms by color group, in the same order every time: yellow, brown, orange, red, blue, green.  Does this surprise anyone?
...got a new carseat.  This was less because she needed a new carseat and more because Gretchen needed the seat Olivia was using.  Gretchen outgrew the infant seat, so we got Olivia a new harness booster (5-point harness that converts to a regular booster) and asked her where we should put it.  Now Olivia's domain is the back seat and Gretchen sits in Olivia's old carseat.  The car trips with the new arrangement have thus far been blissfully quiet and free of yelling matches.

Bryan
...decided to list our house for sale, then rent it, then sell it, then rent it WHILE it was listed for sale, then sell it again.  In fairness, he spent a lot of time and research on each phase and had a reason for every decision he made.
...is anxiously awaiting our move.  Every other day he asks, "Can we move yet?"

Johannah
...got information about playing for Lima Symphony's first concert!  Cirque de la Symphonie is on October 11 (with Young People's Concerts during the day on October 10).  If you decide to come down for the concert, you can stay at our new house!
...has talked to way too many house-related people recently.  Between realtors and banks and insurance companies and warranty people and different realtors (for selling our current house), I'm all talked out.  Also, closing, which was supposed to happen two days ago, has been pushed back to this coming Friday due to Bryan's employer being bad at answering phones and verifying that he does, in fact, work there.  :/

We've got my family arriving this afternoon (except for Justine and Joseph, who arrived last night) and then tomorrow morning is the fun run!

Pictures:

Fun Friday - August 29

Another light week.  We're almost done!

Previous answer: Last week's date: September 21, 1915 - Stonehenge was sold at an auction in England for over 6,600 British pounds.



Last week's movie title: Assignment Terror

1.  This documentary follows the life of high school freshman, Leo Cromley, as he struggles with his phobia of homework.

2.  An alien attempts to take over the world using Dracula, the Werewolf, and Frankenstein.



This week is the final installment of our Fun Friday summer series.  We will end the way we began, with a definition.  Don't forget to come back next week to vote one last time!

This week's definition: Hodad

August 17-24

The girls had a check-up last week.  Gretchen is 23 lbs, 9oz, and 31.5 inches tall.  Olivia is 33 lbs, 9 oz, and 39 inches tall (that's 3'3"!).  Everything else is fine, although Gretchen did miss her shots because I forgot the immunization record and we were at a new (for this visit only because of the move) place.  She'll get them at 18 months instead.

I forgot to mention that Murry taught Gretchen to say "uh-oh."  I think most of the joy Gretchen gets from saying uh-oh is listening to everyone else mimic it back to her.  She thinks it's the most hilarious game ever.

Funny things:
-Olivia came marching out of the playroom one day, grabbed her little broom from the kitchen, and marched back to the playroom announcing that there was a bug that she needed to sweep.  I went in a little later and saw her standing guard, broom pointed at the ceiling.  Apparently the bug had escaped and she was NOT going to leave until it came back so that she could sweep it.
-Bryan left after lunch one day, telling the girls to "be good for mommy."  Then he looked at Olivia and said, "Are you going to be good for Mommy?"  Her reply?  "Um, y-, um, maybe, hmm, uh, ye-, um."  Five minutes later, she finally said yes.

Last Saturday we were at a bridal barbecue (rather than shower) and Keshia took some pictures of Olivia.  I particularly like the sequence where she appears to be exercising to a Richard Simmon's tape on the cornhole board.  :)  Pictures below.

Pictures:

Fun Friday - August 22

Fun Friday was a little un-attended last week.  Only two more weeks and then it's done, guys!  The good news for those participating is that my mom (the current points front-runner) chose early on not to play, so this is an opportunity to catch up.  :)

Previous answer: Last week's person: Otto Wichterle - The Czechoslovakian inventor of soft contact lenses.



Last week's date: September 21, 1915

1.  Water polo was introduced to the U.S.

2.  Stonehenge was sold at an auction in England for over 6,600 British pounds.



This week's movie title: Assignment Terror

August 10-17

I forgot to mention last week that I got three orders at my Etsy shop while I was gone.  And then Stephanie got two.  In the first five days of August, we more than doubled our total sales.  I should go to Nebraska more often.  :)  We also went to a craft show on Saturday.  This one was even slower than the last one, but we did hand out a bunch of business cards, so maybe we'll have Etsy customers later.

Gretchen started saying "no" a few weeks ago.  It is sometimes cute, but most times just obnoxious, especially when she just yells it over and over without stopping to think about the question.  :-P  Funny story about her "no," though: When Gretchen first started saying "no," it took all her energy.  She would tense her whole body up, ball her fists, hunch her shoulders, and yell, "nnnnnnnah!"  Imagine a crescendo from the beginning of the word to the end.  Gradually she's managed to get a more consistent volume out of the word, and she no longer has to work so hard to get a nice, clear "no."  Somewhat related, I heard her talking in her sleep last night: "amo nani NO!"

And speaking of sleep-talking, Olivia does it frequently.  We often hear her when we're in the living room at night.  Usually it's unintelligible mumbling, but every now and then she says real words.  For those that are wondering, the sleep-talking comes from me.  Wait until they start sleep-walking, too.  :-P

I have a few old stories for you about how my daughters are (inexplicably) girly girls.  First, the fingernails.  Olivia LOVES having her nails painted.  Fingers and toes, preferably all matching, usually green.  When her paint chips off, she hounds me about how "this one is missing paint, we need to paint them again."  This is especially unfortunate since the green nail polish we have tends to come off fairly easily.  I usually make her wait until most of her fingernails are naked before repainting them.  Also, one day she walked into Bryan's parents' house and the first sentence out of her mouth was an exasperated "Grandma, LOOK at my nails!"  Second, the shoes.  Olivia doesn't like to wear shoes, but she likes to own them.  Gretchen loves to wear shoes AND own them.  I moved them both up a size on the same day last month, getting "new" shoes down from the attic.  Oh, the excitement.  Gretchen immediately wanted to put a pair (or two!) on.  Olivia wore her favorite-at-the-moment pair and carried the others around with her all day so that she could admire them.

Nothing really exciting this week.  Gretchen has more phrases that I can understand (including "Olivia's turn"), Olivia makes plans constantly ("We will stay with Grandma for five months and then go back to Olivia's house.  That is my plan.").  We spent some time in Sidney since Thursday was my Lima day and Saturday was Bryan's cousin's we're-getting-married-barbecue.  I wrote this while in Sidney, though, so there are no pictures this week.

Oh!  And what are feelings about the fun run?  It's most likely happening on Labor Day.  You're invited.  Communicate with me (blog, phone, in person, whatever) and let me know your thoughts on this matter.

Fun Friday - August 15

Previous answer: Last week's initials: I.B.C.A. - International Brick Collectors Association



Last week's person: Otto Wichterle

1.  The Czechoslovakian inventor of soft contact lenses.

2.  2011-2013 Sauerkraut eating champion.

3.  Winner of the award for most balloons filled by mouth in one hour.

4.  German man who set the record for the most jumps on a pogo stick in 1982.



This week's date: September 21, 1915

August 3-10

I think the easiest way to do this is to attempt a chronological rundown...

The drive to camp - Bryan was home from work all day as we prepared to go to camp.  He had some errands to run and then helped keep the girls out of the way while I packed.  Both girls took great naps.  Good for packing, not so good for sleeping later.  At 8:30 pm, we left for Iowa.  I drove, Bryan napped, the girls talked until 11 before falling asleep.  :/  Half an hour into the drive, I realized we had forgotten the pack and play.  I called Mom, and she said not to worry about it.  To quote her, "We have two engineers, a physicist, and a roll of duct tape.  We'll figure it out.  You should be worried."  Switched drivers at 1 am and again at 6 am (all Eastern time).  Gretchen did not go back to sleep well after the 1 am switch.  Olivia woke up at 2 (or maybe 3), upset about still being in her seat.  Everyone was out again by 3:30ish and both made the 6 am switch much more easily.  At 8:30 our time which was 7:30 Nebraska time, we arrived at camp.  Welcoming crews were out.  :)

Campout - We shared a cabin with Justine's family, which worked out pretty well.  Gretchen borrowed Edward's pack and play while Edward, being less mobile still, slept on the floor.  Not enough naps were taken, but much fun was had.  Volleyball and soccer and talking for the adults, playing on the playground and jumping pillow for Olivia, rocks and sand for Gretchen.  Sounds like Gretchen got the worst end of that deal, but she was happily content with her rocks and sand, especially if given a cup in which she could put all the treasures she discovered.  Gift exchange was Wednesday, pictures were a breeze, Olivia loved her green camp shirt, and the hymn sing on Thursday night was really great (until Gretchen woke up and I had to leave).  The rain didn't start until Thursday night after the hymn sing, and the weather was not too hot or muggy the rest of the time.  Also, does Nebraska not have mosquitoes?  I didn't see any.

The drive to MI - We were originally planning to leave Thursday night, but I didn't see that going well and the way out wasn't spectacular enough for Bryan to insist.  We did manage to get a pretty good start Friday morning, which we then somehow squandered so as to be the last ones in Friday night.  We traveled the way Bryan's family does, which is to say we went through drive-thrus and/or stopped at restaurants rather than packing food.  After dinner, Bryan actually admitted that his family's way didn't seem any easier than the way my family does it (and we already knew it was more expensive).  Hah, another (maybe) convert!  Olivia got mild food poisoning from some milk that was left at car temperature too long, so we added some time taking care of her.  The only casualty was one quiet book page, which I discreetly pitched at the next gas station.  We got in to my parents' house at midnight, bringing our total trip time to 14 hours.

The wedding - My weekend was full of wedding festivities because my roommate Danielle got married.  She married and Indian-from-India guy, so there was an Indian engagement ceremony on Saturday after the rehearsal.  I got to wear (and keep!) a saree, and I learned that one can never have enough water when eating Indian food.  The ceremony on Sunday was American (although they did exchange vows in both English and Tamil), so I was in a regular dress and heels.  I haven't worn heels in over a year; this was a terrible experience.  Luckily, the ceremony was short and pictures were well organized, so I was able to kick off the heels fairly quickly for the reception.  An Indian man gave one of the speeches and, since he had never attended an American wedding before, didn't follow any of the usual patterns for speeches, delivering the most hilarious speech/toast any of us had ever heard.  Bryan, Jacque, and I helped clean up a little afterwards and then got back to my parents' house around midnight (again).

The trip home - We left Monday morning to go back to Ohio.  Bryan had to work Monday afternoon, so we left pretty early and spent the whole trip down convincing Olivia that there was no need to stop on such a short trip.  We burned through all the toys we had with us (which lasted all the way back from Nebraska with no problem) in the first half of the trip.  We finally made it home and the girls celebrated by dumping the toys out all over the floor.

The rest of this week has been unpacking and settling back in.  I thought I turned the dishwasher on before we left, but apparently I did not, because I opened it to find a closed soap container and moldy dishes Monday night.  :(  Two sterilizing cycles later, I gave up and rewashed all the dishes by hand.  Luckily, sterilizing cycles reduce the amount of cleaning effort required to a regular-strength hand washing with steel wool, so it wasn't too bad.

My garden suffered from a lack of water while we traveled, so I declared the zucchini plant dead and pulled it up.  It had provided us with 10-12 zucchinis already this season, so I accept its demise.  I also harvested all the carrots, and they were put to delicious use in two meals this week.  My tomatoes are thriving in the heat and look relatively healthy as the plant keeps turning out little red tomatoes.  I've already harvested twice as many tomatoes from this one plant as I got off four plants last year, and there are so many green and light pink ones that are still growing.  :)  My beans are still attempting to grow, although a few of the plants are dead.  Every now and again I spot another nice, fat bean growing, so I haven't pulled them up yet.  The original plan was to plant more carrots and/or beets this summer, but we'll be moving before they're ready to be picked, so that probably won't be happening after all.

Olivia turned 3 on Sunday (the 3rd), so we celebrated on Monday night with Macaroni and Cheese followed by Green Cake with Chocolate.  It was delicious.  Oma and Opa gave her some new books which we read daily and James gave her a beanie baby chameleon that she calls Pasquale, in honor of Rapunzel's.  She got a Barbie from Tom and Donna and a few more from us, so she's now in Barbie heaven (and the one from Tom and Donna gets a chance to rest occasionally, which is good, because it looked rather well worn after just one week at camp).  Grandma and Grandpa came on Wednesday with a light-up cowgirl hat, a new bath toy, and bright green luggage that says "Going to Grandma's."  The first thing Olivia packed in her new backpack was Pasquale.  She has since added as many books as she can fit, all her Barbies, and a baby doll.  She's been walking around the house pulling her suitcase and carrying her backpack for three days now, talking about how she's going on a "long trip."  Sometimes the long trip is camping.  :)  She has one more book (from Aunt Jan) waiting for her at Wal-Mart, but her mother hasn't gotten around to picking it up yet.

And that's our update.

Pictures:

Fun Friday - August 8

Previous answer: Last week's word: Bignonia - Woody tropical vines named for Louis the 15th's librarian.

Last week's initials: I.B.C.A.

1.  International Bread and Cake Association

2.  Incredibly Big Creatures Association

3.  Isaac Bartholomew Carver Anderson

4.  International Brick Collectors Association

5.  Iowa Butter Cow Award



This week's person: Otto Wichterle

July 27-August 3*

*But not really, because the actual post is being rolled to next week.  This week is just hold-over stuff.  :)

Before we start, an invitation:  We will be holding the Second Annual Barhorst Fun Run (at our current house, since we will not yet have possession of our new one) over Labor Day weekend.  You are welcome to crash at our house for a few days or just come down for one, whichever works for you.  We are tentatively planning to have the actual run and after-party on Monday.  Details will be fleshed out as we get closer to the actual date.  Mark your calendars now, though.  You have plans in Springfield the last weekend of August.

Okay, back to the previously scheduled post.

First, house pictures.  Obviously these aren't our furnishings.  I'll put up more house pictures when its filled with our stuff, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like.  :)

This isn't the actual floor plan to our house, but it's close enough (the master bathroom looks more like the option; the other two options we do not have):

Front and back yard (Bryan thinks this is a terrible front picture of the house.  Also, the backyard is much bigger than this, but only the small portion between the house and the garage/driveway is fenced in):

Living room:

Kitchen (and you can kind of see the family room):

The master bedroom has a little room off one side that we will probably use for the chapel (and/or a nursery):

This is the main reason Bryan loves this house.  So much empty, open space to play with!

Next, pictures of the girls.

Gretchen has discovered books and likes reading them as much as Olivia did/does:

The girls brushing their teeth (and Bryan goofing around with them):

Finally, I have some new videos up on Vimeo.  Have you checked out the Vimeo videos yet?  I know it's an extra step, but I started having glitchy problems with the videos that I embedded directly in my blog.  All you have to do to watch the videos now is click the link and enter the password (which is BarhorstBrewed).  I also put all of the videos into an album and arranged them chronologically so that you can see them all in one place any time you want.  Just click the link to the right and enter the same password (BarhorstBrewed) when prompted.  Or, if you're reading this in an email, here is the album link again: Barhorst Family Videos.

Here are this week's new videos:
If You're Happy and You Know It
Gretchen Listens to Books
Bedtime Routine

July 20-27

Gretchen goes up stairs quite well now.  She insists on climbing them herself every time we come up from the basement (which is at least twice a day since our chapel is downstairs).  We're still working on going down backwards, rather than leading with the head.  :)

Olivia is tall enough to reach many of the light switches in our house.  She's even tall enough to turn them back off!  She has also figured out that she can push the steps in the bathroom over to the door and stand on them to lock the hook.  You know, just in case Gretchen figures out doorknobs any time soon.  Luckily, she can also unlock the hook, so we haven't had to break the door down.

Sleeping has improved.  You may recall that we moved the girls into the same bedroom.  It was rough for a month or so.  They'd stay up too late talking or yelling or jumping or whining or whatever.  Gretchen was so excited by Olivia's presence that she couldn't sleep, and Olivia was so busy telling Gretchen to go to sleep that she couldn't sleep either.  And then there was the whole light problem.  But that's all better now.  We remove the light bulb every night, and Olivia hasn't even tested the switch for over a week now.  We're going to continue to "break" the light for the time being, just in case.  :)  We also discovered that everything goes more smoothly if Gretchen is asleep (or at least almost asleep) when Olivia comes into the room to go to bed.  We did that successfully for quite some time, but lately Gretchen has been awake and everything has still been fine.  They're used to each other and are able to ignore each other and settle down relatively quickly.  Hooray!

Gretchen has words word-like sounds.  If you live with her (and are her mother, apparently, because Bryan can't always understand her) you can sometimes make out what she's trying to say.  She has a very clear "yeah" and a getting clearer "no."  Other than that, it's kind of a guessing game.  I'm convinced that she says "I want that," "Olivia," "drink," "I'm done," "want down," and "read again."  I've also heard "floor," "chair," "sit," and "book."

Olivia's clock turns green when she's allowed to get out of bed in the morning.  For a while we thought she had grasped the concept, but then it turned out to be a fluke: she just slept later than the clock most mornings.  Then we went through a few months where we asked her what color her clock was when she came out of the room every morning.  Now I think she's really got it, though.  She waits for the clock and then comes out and says, "My clock turned green, I can get up now!"

My garden is a jungle.  I've gotten several good sized zucchini and three dinners worth of green beans.  We got about 5 pea pods before the combined force of the green beans and the zucchini bullied them out of the garden.  :(  I pulled out all the dead pea plants and then harvested the beets (which were also looking sun-starved), so hopefully my green beans will rally and continue producing.  I frequently prune my zucchini plant because it is taking up way more than its fair share of garden space.  Unfortunately, all the sad looking leaves are the ones on the side where there aren't any other plants.  The healthy leaves are muscling their way into green bean territory.  The carrot we pulled up was a little small, but tasty, so we're letting the rest of the carrots sit a little longer.  The peppers are getting big, and Bryan keeps trying to pick the biggest one, and I keep reminding him that the biggest one is on the yellow pepper plant.  :)  I have tons of green tomatoes of varying sizes and two that turned light pink this week.  This garden is worth it just for the increased tomato yield.  :)

We're moving!  We've been looking at houses in Lima and found one that we really like.  The basement is detached, meaning it is under the house but has no indoor stairs.  Indoor stairs wouldn't be too hard to add, but Bryan likes that extra escape that an office in a detached basement would offer when he works from home.  Anyway, we made an offer, they countered, yada yada yada, and we're closing on August 20th!  The sellers then have a month to vacate, so we won't realistically be moving until at least October.

We're camping this week and then going to a wedding over the weekend, so next week's newsy post will be a bit delayed until the following Sunday.  I've got some pictures and videos (and house stuff) that I'll schedule to go up next Sunday, though, so that you won't suffer withdrawal.  :)

Pictures: