December 20-27

Merry Christmas!

I realized a few hours after last week's post went live that I forgot to mention that we got a new refrigerator.  The pictures made it, but the story did not.  :)  Our kitchen has a cutout space for a fridge and our old fridge fit in a comically small way.  We've been thinking about getting a more appropriately sized fridge for a while and started doing research when the black Friday ads came out.  Unfortunately, our cutout is an inconvenient size: 35.5 x 69.5 and in need of a counter depth fridge to avoid excessive diminishing of the space between the fridge and the island.  During our research, we found exactly one fridge that fit in our space and it was not one that was sold at any major home improvement store.  It DID, however, have the French doors I wanted and the water dispenser that Bryan wanted.  We decided to wait on the fridge for another year or so, but then Bryan's parents offered to chip in as a Christmas present.  The fridge was ordered, shipped, delivered, and arrived two days before we left for our holiday travels.

Kaitlyn is bad at naps.  This is something I've discovered rather recently, but I now realize that it's been true her whole life.  Her average nap length is 45 minutes and now that she's nearly nine months old, I'm lucky if she takes two.  :/  I think her napping trouble results from a combination of noisy surroundings endless curiosity.

We went to Sidney last Sunday to spend the week leading up to Christmas with Bryan's family.  Our first stop was the Barhorst Christmas party where the Olivia and Gretchen got books and Kaitlyn got a toy piano from the Santa that always makes an appearance.  Bryan was proud of his choice of gift for Kaitlyn (we provide the gifts that Santa passes out) because she and Rudy both liked it.  I was proud of Olivia's enthusiasm over the book that I got her.

On Monday Josef and Jacob joined us in Sidney.  I actually met them in Celina so that they could help me pick up the car that Jacque had purchased through us.  Josef drove it back and said it handled well.  Worth noting: before I went to get the car I finished writing my Christmas letter.  :)

Tuesday was the day that the girls and I had set aside to go visit the Kleins, so we met them at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton.  We tried the large twisty tube slide again and I did not have to fish any kids out of the middle.  :)  While we visited different stations and looked at animals and exhibits, I was reminded of Gretchen's ability to stay at one task for amazingly long periods of time.  Unfortunately, the attention spans of the other children are not so prodigious, so I was constantly hurrying her along to the next thing.

On Wednesday morning (around 8:20) I left the girls in the care of Josef, Jacob, and Bryan while I drove to Chicago in a van with no seats to pick up Jacque.  (Side note: I am now humming A Horse With No Name while I type.)  I navigated Chicago, parked in an alley, oohed and aahed over her apartment, and then we loaded up my van while the Chicago sky spit at us.  The trip home was a bit slower due to traffic, weather, and darkness.  We stopped to unload most of Jacque's belongings at my house (while the Lima sky sobbed on us).  While there, we brought in several packages that were falling apart on the front porch and laid their contents out to dry.  Then we continued on to Sidney, arriving just before ten.

Thursday was Christmas Eve and everyone was home.  I played viola to combat stress and then made two lasagnas while Jacob mixed up three batches of stollen to pass out at church.  I also mailed my Christmas letters.  Bryan and I took the girls to 5:30 Mass and then returned to his parents' house for their Christmas party.  At 10 we left the babies sleeping, crowded into Jacob's Civic with Jacque and the boys, and headed to St. Stephen's for Liturgy.  Then it was back to Sidney once again to sleep until everyone got up the next morning.

Christmas day was just as magical as always.  I got to be in charge of handing out presents this year, which means that I also accidentally got a workout while I stood in one place and bent down again and again to arrange presents in piles and pass them to the appropriate people.  I did not make this connection until the next day when the backs of my legs felt very stretched.  :)  Olivia and Gretchen got lots of dresses and Barbies, Kaitlyn got fun baby toys, Bryan got liquor and board games, and I got a 30 quart pressure canner with which Murry is convinced I will accidentally blow up half of Lima.  :)  Zach arrived to join the party about halfway through and after present opening all the boys retired to the playground in the basement to challenge each other in ping-pong and video games.

Saturday was our last day in Sidney and we spent the time relaxing and packing up the cars.  We drove back in time for Saturday evening Mass, but there was a casualty along the way: Jacque called as we were driving to let us know that her car was shaking at high speeds.  :(  I told her how to get home on back roads and Bryan and I spent the rest of the ride marveling at her apparent superpowers.  What else should you call it when cars fear her magnificence so much that they immediately break down in her presence?  Anyway, she did make it home, but we need to take her car in to get it checked on Monday.  :/  She'll be taking our van to Michigan for the wedding she's attending today.

Bossards (minus Joseph) arrived Saturday night and are here for the week.  Oh the exciting week ahead.  :)

Pictures:

December 13-20

The rather large Kaitlyn update:
-She has another tooth.  This puts her at five and means that her teething cold is temporarily absent again.
-She can pull herself to standing.  She cannot be left unattended in this state because her balance and judgement are poor.
-Her coordination has improved enough that all small things go directly into her mouth.  No matter how often the floor is swept, she WILL find some tasty tidbit to sample.
-She babbles using many different syllables and tries to imitate words with absolutely no success.  :)
-She eats a wide variety of foods but favors squash and "whatever mom is eating."

I have less to report on Gretchen and Olivia.  They can trash a playroom with alarming alacrity, but cleaning up is like pulling teeth.  They play with each other all the time and only fight occasionally.  Oh, and they helped me fill a box: I told Olivia that there was a little girl that didn't have any toys so we were going to give her some of ours.  She responded by helping me fill a box with various toys, stuffed animals, and dress-up clothes for the little girl.  Her ready generosity shocked me and I reiterated several times that we were giving these away forever.  I tried not to veto any items, though, unless they were ones Gretchen played with all the time, and soon we had a full box.  Now I'm trying to find a little girl to deliver it to, because simply dropping it off at a local thrift store or shelter doesn't mean much to a four-year-old.

I baked a mountain of stollen and we drove around town to hand it out to people.  Of course, we picked the coldest, windiest day so far this winter, so few people were out and about.  :/

The girls and Bryan put up the Christmas tree and decorated it yesterday.  Olivia and Gretchen were very excited to put all the beautiful things on the tree.  Kaitlyn was excited to beat on the boxes.

Today we're headed to Sidney for a Christmas party and then we're spending the week with Bryan's family.  Actually, we're spending it with several members of my family, too: Josef, Jacob, and Jacque are coming with us.  :)  After Christmas we'll be back home and the Bossards will be joining us at our house.  Now if I could only get that Christmas letter written...

Pictures and Video:

December 6-13

The problem with writing posts weeks after the fact is that you don't get the full benefit of all my witticisms because all the paragraphs I compose in my head while driving (or falling asleep or otherwise being involved in a non-computer activity) have been compacted down into some small, dark corner of my brain to make room for all the new things that have happened.  Then, when I go to write the post, I'm so busy trying to dredge up the old tidbits that I muddy the waters of the new things, too, and you get much less material than you would have otherwise.  Also, I run out of time.  :)  I apologize.  However, this does not change the fact that the aforementioned sequence of events has already occurred for this week's post and I'm now on a deadline to fit as much information in as succinctly as possible.  Therefore, I present a quick run-through:

On Thursday, November 19, we had another baking day for the church cookie walk.  Olivia and Gretchen went to visit some friends and Kaitlyn, Jacque, and I spent the day with the ladies from church making dozens and dozens of cookies.  I had tried to get a head start on the spritz cookies I was making by whipping up a  double batch a few days before, but I did math poorly and accidentally omitted just under half the butter.  I did not realize my mistake until I was creating my shopping list, but trustworthy taste testers later told me that the difference was noticeable.  Jacque and I were in charge of Spritz, Austrian chocolate balls, and coconut macaroons.  We finished mixing everything and baking all the spritz and half the chocolate balls before it was time to leave.  We picked up the older girls, went home to eat dinner, and then finished baking the macaroons and started dipping everything in chocolate.

Friday was supposed to be dedicated to finishing the last of the cookies and packing for the trip to Florida, but I got sick.  I spent all day in bed with a fever of 100 while Jacque and Bryan got things together.  Jacque finished some of the cookies, Bryan offloaded the rest on Elesha, and I struggled to make lists of things to not forget.  By bedtime, my fever had gone down enough for me to help finish packing and we decided we were as ready as we were going to get.

Saturday we were up at five and out the door with everyone by six.  One benefit of my previous day's sickness was that I was incredibly well rested, so I took the wheel while Bryan and Jacque catnapped a bit more.  The trip down to Florida was a mini vacation in and of itself: we made a two day trip of it and stopped for leisurely meals along the way.  The girls liked going to all the restaurants, especially when we managed to find one with a play place.  By the end of the trip, though, Kaitlyn had come to loath the part where she got strapped back into her seat.

The week in Florida was wonderfully warm and free from obligations.  We went on walks, took pictures, played at the park, sat around and talked, and generally relaxed.  Bryan took Olivia and Gretchen to brave the swimming pool on the warmest day, but they only made it about five minutes before deciding that it was too cold.  The Bossards got adjoining rooms at a nearby hotel with us, so we stuck all the kids on one side and put the adults on the other side.  This arrangement worked remarkably well and allowed the adults to stay awake longer.  :)  Every morning we partook of the complimentary breakfast (usually later than the Bossards did) before heading over to the house to see everyone.  Olivia and Gretchen were especially impressed with the range of breakfast choices.  Almost all of the extended family was able to make it for at least a little bit (and we have a picture to prove it!), so we got to visit with relatives that we see about once a decade.  Too bad we're so spread out.  All in all an enjoyable week, though by bedtime Friday we were ready to pile in the car and head home to Ohio.

The trip home was a little more crowded because we brought Rianne and Titus with us.  Before leaving Lima, we had switched the middle seat of our van with the backseat of Presbyera's van so as to have enough space for everyone.  We packed the carseats into the newly extended middle and made the adults crawl in through the trunk.  This meant that on the way down the backseat adult got to stretch out.  On the way back, however, the three backseat adults just had to sleep piled up on each other.  :)  We managed, though, and it was wonderful to have five drivers.  We left just after 7 at night and pulled into our driveway 18 1/2 hours later.  For future trip planning, total drive time did include a stop for breakfast.  Through some fancy finagling, Rianne and Titus (who flew to Florida) had left their car in Indianapolis with the parents of a couple that goes to church with us here in Lima.  When Jon and Elesha went to visit his parents over Thanksgiving, they brought the car back with them.  We had not planned things down to the last detail, so we had no idea what time the car would be returning to us.  Rianne cobbled together a church outfit from various sources (Jacque's dress and my boots, maybe?), and Titus decided that as a South Dakotan he could go out in our mild winter dressed in khaki shorts.  We dropped them off early at church, went to our service, and picked them up late, but at least they got quality time together.  :-P  I think they spent the extra time designing honeycomb bunk beds.  The car returned around 6 and they headed out to Fort Wayne, leaving just our family and Jacque to... pack for Sidney!

After a brief pit stop to exchange seats back, we were on our way to Sidney because Bryan needed to be in Springfield all week.  Keshia and Rudy were visiting for the week, too, so we spent time playing with them.  Rudy was surprised by the amount of noise coming from her cousins.  Olivia and Gretchen were surprised that Rudy was not comforted by shrieks and loud noises.  By the end of the week they were all used to each other.  :)  On Tuesday, Keshia watched the older girls while Kaitlyn and I took Jacque down to sign the contract for the part she got in Dayton.  Contract signing accomplished, we stopped at the store for supplies, tied a rag around my now missing windshield wiper (somehow they got tangled up during normal use and one snapped off), and headed to the bus station where Jacque left us to head back to Chicago.

Oh, something I forgot to mention: I have up to two weeks to finish and ship a set of snapkins.  When we left for Florida, I had zero orders, so I figured any orders that I got I could work on during the week in Sidney.  As we drove down on Saturday and Sunday, I received 4 orders, the second of which was for SIX rolls.  By the time we left Florida, I had twelve rolls of snapkins to make.  The good news is that I already had most of the material cut out.  I did, however, spend much of the week in Sidney sewing.

On Wednesday night, Bryan's parents put the kids to bed so that we could go Christmas shopping at the Dayton mall.  We got most of it done, despite the fact that we didn't realize that there was a second floor until we were leaving at closing time.  Keshia and Rudy left Friday morning and the baking powder dusting (see last week's pictures) happened later that day.  At some point I made no-bake cookies for the cookie walk.  After dinner on Friday, we packed up to go home again.  We stopped by Elesha's to pick up the cookies she'd rolled for me so that I could bake and frost them.  The girls were transferred to beds, I baked and sewed, and Bryan cut out wrapping paper for all the presents we'd bought.  I believe he even wrapped some, although he saved the hard ones for me.  :)

Saturday was the cookie walk, so I gathered my cookies and abandoned my family to go "turn cookies into money."  That is apparently how Olivia interpreted Bryan's explanation that I was making cookies to sell to raise money for the church.  On the way to church I managed to spill most of the yogurt I'd brought for breakfast all over the van.  The granola survived, and I salvaged enough yogurt to make a bowl, but there was a mess to clean up when I arrived.  :(  The cookie walk went very well.  We didn't even have to make too many more after it was over (although about 18 pounds were needed to finish filling preorders).

That brings us to last Sunday, which began a normal week.  The girls and I tried to remember our daily routine (I think we've almost got it).  I had orchestra, but the Christmas pops concert only has two rehearsals, so it didn't mess with our newly recovered way of life much.  We now have a week before holiday visitors (and visiting) start.

A brief update on the girls before I let you go:

Kaitlyn has progressed a lot these last few weeks.  She can now get from sitting to crawling and back again, pick up small bits of food (but not put them in her mouth with any accuracy), say dada, baba, and mama (without any meaning), imitate sounds made by her sisters (especially the shrieks and growls), cross herself in the arm pumping fashion of many young children, and, as I discovered at naptime on Friday, stand up in her crib.  Gracefully getting down from a standing position eludes her.

Gretchen continues to insist on doing everything herself.  She's also becoming inclined to ask forgiveness rather than permission, which is a bit of a problem.  Frequently we hear, "Sorry mommy and daddy" from random places in the house.

Olivia is the epitome of bossy older sister.  There are times when playing between Olivia and Gretchen is really just Olivia playing four different parts while Gretchen holds two of the dolls and follows directions.  As they both seem to enjoy this method of play, we haven't done anything to stop it.

My etsy shop is closed for Christmas, so I'm taking a day or two off before I finish the last few Christmas presents.  :)  The orchestra holiday concert was yesterday, so that's done for a couple of weeks, too.

The weather here has been fantastic for early December.  It was in the upper fifties several days this week, and Bryan kept telling us to go outside and enjoy the weather.  :)

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 8

Olivia: Say Anna of Arenbel!
Gretchen: Anna of...
Olivia: Arenbel.  Arenbel.  Arenbel!
Gretchen: Anna, Ariel, and Belle!
Olivia: Anna of Arenbel!
Gretchen: Anna of Ariel and Belle!

Olivia has been using a new word lately: nerfussur.  We don't know what the word is actually supposed to be, but she uses it in a referee/umpire context.  What follows are her most succinct explanations of a nerfussur.
Olivia: The nerfussur puts towels on the peoples if they don't get the ball.
Olivia: A nerfussur watches people play with a ball and a balloon.

Gretchen, holding up a doll: I have blue eyes, so I am Sofia bad one.
Olivia: Ones with blue eyes are people, too, even if they have blue eyes.
Gretchen, holding a different doll: I have brown eyes.
Olivia: Brown eyes are a good girl.  Blue and black eyes are a bad girl still.

Olivia: I like my daddy, even if he is a boy.

Olivia: One day Gretchen and I will grow up and mommy and daddy will die and we'll be on our own.
Jillian: Oh?
Olivia: And then we can drive ourselves places.

Gretchen: Daddy. *hiccup* Da-*hiccup*-ddy.  I'm farting in my mouth. *hiccup*

Me: Gretchen, put your little butt up here.
Gretchen: No, I have a big butt.

Olivia: I wanna have a little church at our house so I can be God or something.

Gretchen has an owie on her eye.
Gretchen: Can you kiss it?
*Bryan kisses owie*
Gretchen: Can you get some beard on it?

Olivia: Are your mommy and daddy dead?
Jacque: No, they're Oma and Opa.
Olivia: Oh.  Well, pretty soon my mommy and daddy are going to die and I'm going to be big.

Olivia: Aunt Jillian, who are you going to marry?
Jillian: I don't know.  Who are YOU going to marry?
Olivia: I haven't decided yet.  Gretchen is going to marry Uncle James.  I'm probably going to marry Gideon.

Bryan: What kind of fruit do you want on top of your pancakes?
Gretchen: Bacon.

Olivia: And you two, keep it together.

Georgia man: How are y'all?
Gretchen, laughing: He said, "Hi, Ariel," but we are not Ariel!

Olivia: Sorry, mom.  Please don't throw me out the window, that would hurt.
**Note that I had at no point during this exchange threatened to throw her out the window.

Gretchen: When you do not have these glasses you are not a mommy.
Me: What am I?
Gretchen: You are a big one like Olivia.  But when you have these glasses you are a very big mommy.

Jacque: Why are you awake?
Gretchen, still half asleep: Because mommy told us to be in her butt.

Olivia, to Gretchen: Now say, "Don't be so bossy!"

Bonus Post: 30 Before 30 Update

A record of my 30 Before 30 progress thus far.  I have one year left to see how much I can finish.  :)

1. Genuinely surprise Bryan at least once. February 15, 2014
2. Record the psalms.  --Siblings, when are we going to do this?  --Jacob and I have started this project.  We've recorded about 25 psalms with just the two of us.  I'm hoping to rope Jacque into some recording while she's around more these next few months.
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.  --Progress has slowed again.  I need to just start using Spanish for a set amount of time each day.  :/  --I tried to convince Jacque to come live with me so that she could speak Spanish to us all the time.  Does that count for anything?
6. Record all 6 cello suites.  --This goal seems unlikely to be achieved, but I do have plans to record at least one suite, which is a start.
7. Sew Christmas and/or Easter dresses for the girls. --I have patterns! I'm waiting until the girls are bigger to make them.  --This will happen for the upcoming Easter.
8. Minimize (eliminate?) the need for disposable products in our house.  --Jacque says I've made it.  The only disposable product we use consistently is toilet paper, and I'm okay with that.  Every now and again Bryan feels the need to buy paper products for when we host a party, and I'm okay with that, too.
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.  --I was contacted by the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra to play with them.  Unfortunately, I'm already busy the days they need me.  I'm hoping that this means they'll contact me again, though.  :)
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.  --We're thinking this summer.
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. --Dad has suggested several times that I draw from my blog to complete this goal.  I have not written a book based on my blog, but I did find a website that will print a bound version of my blog and I decided to order a volume for each year of writing.  I now have four hard copies of various sections of my blog and intend to continue to get one for each coming year.
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.  :)  --Success, at least as far as I know.  I'm pretending that we succeeded and have started vaguely considering where to host 2017 campout.
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.  --We've started twice and haven't finished only because the group keeps disbanding before we make it all the way through the material.  I've been going for over a year now and intend to continue going until we've finished the book, so I'm crossing this off.
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!  --I have an Advent Calendar that is halfway done.  I'm also planning a music program for the kids in our parish.  Now perhaps when I finish those I will remember to count them.  :)
22. Start a soup kitchen.  --There is a flourishing soup kitchen in Lima already, but I'm working on getting together a Supper and Psalms with a goal of ultimately hosting it once a month.
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.  --Only three left!
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. at all. :(  --I got bowings for the Walton from Steph and we talked about learning it together, but that is the extent of our progress.
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.  --Why did I put this on my list?!
30. Improve a stranger's day.  --I sent a book to one of dad's new parishioners and then realized that now I get to cross something off this list!
31. (Because I thought of one more and it kind of fits in with several of the above goals) Join a co-op.  --It turns out that I AM a co-op.  I organize the buying of bulk foods and distribute them to others.  I'm counting it.

November 22-December 6

Well, we've been to Florida and Sidney and now we're finally home in our own house again, at least until it's time to travel for Christmas.  :)  Here are lots of pictures and videos, and there are two bonus posts coming this week to make up for the fact that I haven't written anything for a few weeks now.  Next week I'll detail our adventures, I promise.  :)

Pictures and Videos:

November 15-22

This post is already late and I'm writing it on my phone, which is an obnoxiously slow process, so it's going to be brief.

Kaitlyn has a couple of new teeth.  One top tooth poked through early last week and the other followed quickly.  She's up to four now.

Gretchen loves to copy everything Olivia says and does.  I find myself regularly testing to see if our house actually has a previously unnoticed echo, but always come to the conclusion that the only echo we have sounds suspiciously like Olivia's every word proceeding forth from Gretchen's mouth.

Olivia had a check up on Tuesday.  She weighs 40.4 pounds and is 42 inches tall.  Stubbornly shy as always, she refused to show the doctor any tricks (walking on her tip toes, hopping on one foot, etc), even when asked.  She WAS the cutest little picture of bravery as she went with barely concealed trepidation into the hallway (alone with the nurse) to be weighed and measured.

After two days of driving, we are now spending the week in Florida with my grandparents and my dad's whole family.  Next week's post may also be late due to traveling back north to face the cold once more.

One Video:

November 8-15

Playtime around here has become very scripted.  Olivia is the writer, director, and producer of everything, and Gretchen is the aspiring actor.  Large chunks of playtime are dictated, and Gretchen does her best to accurately copy the words and emotions.  Bryan and I are less obliging, but that doesn't keep Olivia from trying to sneakily influence us by giving multiple options with slightly different wording.

We had to have a chat this week about how "if it's on the floor, it's Kaitlyn's toy."  One traumatic morning in the playroom seemed to be enough to drive this lesson home, and since then most of the big girl toys have been kept either in the cage or above crawling level and put away at the end of the day.  Perhaps we can keep the "put away" part going?  Happily for everyone, Kaitlyn's movement preceded her pincer grip, so she doesn't have the dexterity to either pick up or eat small objects she might find.  She gets close enough to cause the older girls to panic, though, so by the time her motor skills improve they should be properly trained in keeping small things out of reach.  In the meantime, I can leave her unattended in the playroom and she will happily amuse herself with baby toys for quite some time.

Earlier this fall, we bought some fruit trees to plant in our backyard.  They arrived on Friday and Bryan planted them yesterday.  We won't see any fruit for 3-5 years, but when that time comes we are excited to have pears, apricots, plums, and cherries.  :)

Pictures and Videos:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 7

Gretchen: Mom.  Mommy.

Me: What's up, Gretch?

Gretchen: Don't say "what's up, Gretch," say "what do you need, Gretchen."

Gretchen: Sleeping Beauty touched the spinning wheel and died into a deep sleep.

Olivia, running out of the room: I'm going to touch the boat!

Olivia: Are you married?

Jacque: No.

Olivia: When are you going to get married?

Jacque: When the good Lord sees fit.

Gretchen: When are you going to die?

Olivia: I will be the princess and you can save me from the dragon.  And if it gets me, you can cover me with bandaids!  Okay, go out there!

Gideon: If I go out there, the dragon will get me.

Olivia: No, the dragon is running away because he thinks you are a monster.  You have to go chase him to tell him you are not a monster.

Gideon: Okay! *runs out of the playroom and sprints through the kitchen, yelling* I have to chase the dragon to tell him I am not the monster!

Gideon, returning calmly to the playroom: I killed the dragon.

Olivia, dramatically: Thank you!

Olivia: Did my daddy die?

Me: No, your daddy didn't die.

Olivia: He is just at work?

Me: Yes, he's just at work.

Opa: What was the other option?

Me: Death.

Olivia: When mommy and daddy die then I will be lonely.

James: You won't be lonely because you'll be married.

Gretchen: We will marry you because you're a boy.

Olivia: I won't marry you, I'm going to marry Gideon.

**In the weeks since the above conversation took place, Olivia has also considered marrying Isaiah.  She is currently thinking that she doesn't want to get married at all.

Opa: What does Olivia call you?

Gretchen: Don't know.

Olivia: Kiki.

Gretchen: Olivia calls -- LOLLY calls me Kiki.

Olivia: Is Gretchen a human?

Me: Yes, she's a human.  Are you a human?

Olivia: No.

Me: What are you?

Olivia: A frog.  Ribbit. 

November 1-8

We had some excitement this week: our friends the Hodges had a new baby and we were a third of their babysitting plan.  The baby made her big arrival on Monday night, so Isaiah stayed with us Monday through Wednesday before going back to his house.  Due to juggling of schedules and babysitting duties, Isaiah was not the only spare child running around the house.  When everything started on Monday, Presbytera (who happens to be the grandmother of all the extra children) brought the (two) Creighton boys and a couple pans of lasagna over while she went to pick up the (three) Hodges boys.  All five boys (and Presbytera) stayed for dinner and then she took two Hodges to stay with the Weys.  The Creighton boys were picked up by their mother an hour or so later, and I put Isaiah and the girls to bed.  (Are you following all of this?)  The next morning, I was already supposed to be watching the (two) Wey boys, and the Weys were two-thirds of the aforementioned babysitting plan, meaning I was possibly getting four extra kids (in addition to Isaiah) for the morning.  Presbytera took the youngest, though, so I only got two Weys and one more Hodges.  Four hours later, Elesha (Wey) came and picked up ALL the children that didn't belong to me and took them to the hospital to see the baby.  The girls and I ran out and got flu shots and then came back in time to receive Isaiah again.  Wednesday there were no extra extras, and we did our normal errands with a spare child, but otherwise uneventfully.  Isaiah went home just before dinner, but then we picked up the Wey boys and their father so that they could eat with us before Seekers' Group that night.  After Seekers', everyone went home and our family was back to its normal size.  :)

A note about the flu shots that I mentioned in the previous paragraph: Kaitlyn got a shot.  Gretchen got a mist, about which she was immensely relieved.  There was a moment of panic when the receptionist told us that mists were only for those three and up, but the nurse said that two year olds with no asthma symptoms could also receive the mist.  Panic is probably not the best word to use there.  Olivia was gleefully pointing out (repeatedly) that Gretchen had to get a shot, and Gretchen was resolutely insisting that she only wanted a mist, thank you very much.  Olivia's disappointment when Gretchen did not have to suffer through a shot (the way Olivia had earlier) was almost palpable.

I had orchestra this week, so Bryan was in charge of putting the girls to bed most nights.  I'm always hopeful that a week of Daddy doing bedtime will get Kaitlyn is used to putting herself to sleep and result in her sleeping through the night.  Friday night was a success in that department, so we'll see if it sticks.

Bryan likes to pick up the girls and ask for a big kiss and a big hug.  Olivia almost always starts negotiating, "no, a little kiss and a little hug."  Once the terms have been agreed upon, exactly one kiss and one hug are imparted.  Gretchen, on the other hand, will give Bryan a kiss and then proceed to kiss every identifiable part of his face, usually while naming them out loud.  Eyes, eyebrows, nose, cheeks, ears, forehead, chin, beard (the last two are always separate but get kissed in the same spot).

Kaitlyn has two more talents that I haven't mentioned yet: clapping her feet and waving.  Neither of these is new this week, but I keep forgetting about them.  I'm not sure if the foot clapping is just a baby thing or if it's a result of me absentmindedly patting her feet together when she sits on my lap.  She's quite good at it, though, and practices frequently.  The waving she does less as a wave and more to mean "I want that."  My mom discovered this the day we visited.  Mom was eating a sandwich and Kaitlyn was opening and closing her hand.  When mom waved back, Kaitlyn stopped.  When mom held out the sandwich, Kaitlyn began waving again.  I've since noticed Kaitlyn waving at toys and at the dinner table.

A unique thing I forgot last week:
Olivia and Gretchen use the word "ask" to mean both "ask" and "tell."  I'm going to ask Daddy that I got a shot today.

Pictures and Videos:

October 25-November 1

We came back from Sidney Monday night, beating Jacque by a matter of minutes.  She was coming back from Michigan with a van load of stuff for the basement.  On Tuesday she drove the empty van back and then returned Wednesday with Mom, Donna, and two more vanloads.  The girls and I took her back to Michigan on Friday, spending the day hanging out at the house and visiting Mom, Dad (briefly back from California), James, Jillian, Josef, Jacob, and Donna.

Thursday night was trick-or-treating and Saturday was a Halloween party, so the girls got to dress up twice.  Olivia was a mermaid and recovered nicely from her initial disappointment that resulted when she discovered that I merely constructed a mermaid tail skirt rather than turning her legs into an actual mermaid tail.  Gretchen wore the witch costume that was Olivia's two years ago, and Kaitlyn took her turn as a lion.  I found a wonderful zebra robe at Wal-Mart so that I could carry Kaitlyn around in a sling and pretend she was a mighty hunter on the Serengeti.

Kaitlyn is very talented lately.  This list covers several weeks of recent accomplishments.  She sits well enough that I no longer worry about leaving her alone on hardwood floors.  She's trying to crawl and can successfully get up on her hands and knees.  Her progress in this area has slowed recently since I've been putting her down sitting rather than on her stomach.  However, she has managed to discover that she has forward movement, although it's still only effective if the desired object is no more than six inches away.  Anything beyond that is insurmountably far.She eats varied purees and small bits of soft foods.  She knows the sound "pbbbt," and especially likes practicing it during meals.  She tries to help put clothes on.  Her arms are actually pretty useful, but her leg and head movements are more of a hindrance than a help.

Unique things the older girls still say:
Strapen - verb, to tighten the strap on a carseat - Mom! You forgot to strapen me!
Skatings - noun, roller skates - She has purple skatings.
Unbutton me up - phrase meaning "button me"
Mines - possessive - That's yours and this is mines.

Pictures:

October 11-25

Due to general busyness, I missed last week's post.  Here's what happened in the last two weeks:

October 11 - Olivia and Gretchen went to see a Frozen Sing Along with Grandma.  They got dressed up in Frozen dresses, shoes, and crowns, and they got to take a picture with Elsa.

October 12 - Mom brought a load of stuff down to store in the basement.  She also brought Jacob and Grandma and Grandpa A.  Mom had to go straight back to Michigan, but the other three stayed for dinner before abducting Jacque and taking off.  It was nice to visit with them, and Olivia and Gretchen took full advantage of the extra willing readers.

October 13 - Kaitlyn had her six month check-up.  She's 17 pounds, 6 ounces and 26.75 inches long.  She was incredibly obliging, choosing to demonstrate most developmental traits right as the nurse was asking about each one.  She got all the required shots except the flu vaccine, which isn't in currently.  Olivia also got a shot (her dosage was available).  We sprung this on her last minute since I didn't know it would be an issue, and she did remarkably well.  She was very brave up until the point where they actually poked her.  Now Olivia and Gretchen walk around the house talking about how they don't want to get poked.

October 14 - We checked out the local Classical Conversations, just to see what was going on there.  I don't think I need to be a part of the group since most of the aspects that I liked I could easily recreate at home (also, it's a moot point because we're not currently planning to homeschool).  I did learn more about my children, though: We dropped Gretchen off at the nursery to play, which she did happily for about 20 minutes before coming back to be with me.  Olivia spent those 20 minutes telling me how she just wanted to go be with her sister.  Once Gretchen rejoined us, both of them paid attention relatively well.  Gretchen was more excited to do things and Olivia tagged along.  By the end of the morning (it's a three hour program), they had mostly figured out how to walk in line and Olivia was asking if she could just go ahead with the other kids without me.  Even after being given permission, though, she still made sure not to turn any corners until I caught up.

October 15 - I had women's group in the afternoon, so Bryan left work an hour early to watch the girls while I spent time with adults listening to podcasts and rolling buckeyes.

October 16 - Story time at the library and then off to the Weys!  The older girls visited their friends while Kaitlyn and I drove to Toledo to pick up Jacque from Grandma.  It was overcast the whole drive up, poured for the actual transfer of person and goods, and then cleared up for the drive home.  Once home, we worked on cleaning the house and packing for a trip to Sidney.  Everything got slightly less frenetic when our dinner guests had to cancel due to unreasonably bad traffic (an accident shut down 75).  After dinner, we drove to Sidney to spend the night there.

October 17 -  Bryan and I got up bright and early the next morning (does it still count as bright and early if the sun isn't up yet?) to drive to a conference in Indiana.  We brought Kaitlyn with us, met up with some people from church, and listened to a series of talks on prayer before driving back.  The older girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa to watch movies and play with toys.  Jacque had an audition (followed by a spur of the moment bonus audition) and then helped construct bunk bed hammocks for the Barbie house that Murry is building.

October 18 - In the morning we loaded up the van and drove everyone back to Lima for church.  Bryan decided he wanted to have people over for dinner, so we invited the entire church over for steaks and potatoes.  Jacque and I had to go to three different stores to find the steaks we wanted (did you know Aldi doesn't sell those boxed frozen steaks anymore?).  Most of our dinner guests went home at about bedtime, but a few stayed to play games after the kids were in bed.

October 19 - Six women from church (including Jacque) got together to bake cookies for our upcoming cookie walk.  The babysitting plan was for Josh (one of the husbands) to watch all the kids at his house for the day, but Olivia wasn't feeling well when she woke up, so the party moved to our house instead so that she could stay in bed.  Jacque and I still got to go bake cookies, and we helped roll, cut, and bake 53 dozen gingerbread men, 24 dozen sugar cookies, and 15 dozen rum balls.

October 20 - The girls and I abandoned Jacque to her own devices and went to visit the Kleins.  Gretchen apparently caught whatever Olivia had on Monday, because she slept the whole time.  It's not unusual for her to fall asleep on the drive, but she also napped on the floor for about three hours, finally waking up in time to get about half an hour of playing in before we drove home.

October 21 - Wednesday was the first normal morning we'd had for a while, and the opportunity to get things done around the house was much appreciated.  Jacque watched the kids after bedtime so that Bryan and I could go to schole ("good conversation with good friends, often over good food and drink").

October 22 - Jacque's a busy woman for being semi-employed from her sister's workroom, so we drove her to Fort Wayne to catch a bus to Chicago.  We were going to head to the zoo afterwards, but it was rainy and we would have had to pay anyway (because of some special Halloween program), so I decided to take the girls somewhere else instead.  We ended up at a painting place where you buy the piece and then stay and paint it.  The girls seemed to enjoy it.  Once they were done, we went to Culver's for a late lunch before heading home.

October 23 - By Friday I was feeling overwhelmed by everything that hadn't gotten done around the house.  I also had a few orders that I needed to finish for my etsy shop.  We were half planning on taking the girls to Sidney for the weekend anyway, so Bryan decided to take the afternoon off to get them out of my hair while I got work done.  He left with Olivia and Gretchen right after lunch, Kaitlyn went down for a nap, and I cleaned up and finished sewing.  Bryan came back sans children in time for dinner.

October 24 - It's amazing how much easier one child is when that one is your third rather than your first.  Bryan and Kaitlyn and I hung out around the house and accomplished little things.  After lunch we went and played a game with the Weys and then went out to dinner (using one of my coupons since I'm trying to chip away at that 30 Before 30 list).  Some friends came over for nerd games in the evening and I played my first ever real dungeons and dragons.

October 25 - Today we're headed to Sidney to stay for a few days while Bryan works in Springfield.  Then it's back home (with all our children) for a return to normal.  :)

Pictures:

October 4-11

Olivia and Gretchen have a barbie named "Bad Girl" (as in evil, not disobedient).  She's actually a beautiful collector's barbie dressed as a bride.  She does, however, have a pretty heavy layer of makeup on her face.  When I asked Olivia why she was called Bad Girl, she responded, "Look at her eyes!"

A remembered story that illustrates the difference between girls and boys: When we visited Boston, all of the children were playing happily in the living room.  Olivia and Gretchen began playing together while their cousins ignored them.  I believe Edward was playing with trucks and William was reading a book.  Olivia convinced Gretchen to play Cinderella with her, and they danced around for a little while before Olivia ran away saying, "I'm running away!  Chase me, prince!"  Gretchen complied, and they ran a lap around the room before starting over.  They repeated this a few more times before William noticed what was happening.  As soon as he did notice, however, he immediately dropped his book and jumped up.  With a gleeful "Chase Olivia!", he took off running around the corner and tackled her onto a chair.

Gretchen is officially diaper free.  She spent the whole week in Boston wearing a diaper only at bedtime.  While there, she noticed that potty-training William got to wear underwear to bed and asked if she could, too, but we didn't want to deal with the hassle.  Once we got home, though, she woke up dry several mornings and got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night once, so we gave her the option one night and she chose to do without the diaper.  So far, so good.

Kaitlyn has started sitting up.  She doesn't get a lot of practice because of things like hardwood floors and overly enthusiastic sisters, but she does a pretty good job when given the chance.  She's also been rocking on hands and knees with increasing regularity, which is tremendously exciting to Olivia especially.  I am curious to see how wonderful Olivia and Gretchen think Kaitlyn's crawling is once she starts going for their toys...

Kaitlyn has also started solid foods.  At lunch on Saturday, she sat on my lap (as she often does) and tried to grab my Chipotle burrito out of my hand.  She was quite irate when I wouldn't share, so I pacified her with grains of rice until Bryan could take her and I could finish my meal without losing it all over the table.  On Sunday I mentioned to a friend at church that I was going to have to make baby food and she gave me some leftover rice cereal and a few cubes of vegetable puree the her recently-graduated-to-table-food one-year-old wasn't going to eat.  We started with that and I picked up some vegetables on Monday night and spent a few days steaming and pureeing.  So far Kaitlyn has had squash, spinach, and applesauce and seems quite content.

Yesterday was the first orchestra concert of the season, which means that this last week I had rehearsals every night.  Bryan and Jacque put the girls to bed all week and Kaitlyn's new puree obsession meant that they didn't even have to worry about her too much.  What good timing.  :)  Orchestra was great, and I once again appreciated the fact that once a month I have a commitment that requires me to pick up and play my viola.

Jacque is living with us!  She came with us from Boston and is staying here until she moves to Chicago sometime in the nearish future.  We set up her queen bed (box spring and mattress only) in the middle of my workroom and squeezed her things in around the edges.  She was exceedingly helpful in the babysitting department last week when Bryan had to be in Springfield several days and I had orchestra.  Although I suspect she's still getting her fill of small children, the girls appear to have accepted her as one of the family and thus tend to ignore her rather than resorting to constant performance mode.

Did you know that you can check artwork out of libraries?  Our old library had this option and I always wondered what the point was.  While we were driving to and from Boston, however, I was listening to various podcasts and one talked about having artwork around for your kids to look at.  I had the brilliant idea of letting the girls check out masterpieces from the library and on Monday morning we all marched over to the little visited section of framed art.  Olivia and Gretchen happily picked out pictures (shown below; Olivia liked the princesses and Gretchen likes that there are three) and we hung them up in the playroom where they can admire them.  In two months, we'll take them back and get new ones.  :)  While we were picking out paintings, Jacque found a Renoir that she liked, so I went back on Friday and got that for her to hang in her bedroom.

Tuesday was a trip to the Fort Wayne zoo (because we have a membership!).  We conquered Australia and the Indiana farm before heading home.  The most exciting part was probably the peacock that joined us for lunch before we even got through the front gates, although we also enjoyed the sea lions, the stingrays, and the goats.  We were allowed to pet the goats and help brush them, and Olivia made sure to touch each one exactly once.  Aunt Jacque bought some stuffed animals at the zoo store on the way out, and the girls played happily with their new lion and tiger all the way home.

I've been reading chapter books out loud before quiet time, and we just finished another one.  We've now done Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh, and Beezus and Ramona.  After we read Ramona the Pest, I think we're going to move on to a couple of the Little House books and then maybe Heidi. Secret Garden, or A Little Princess.  Any suggestions would be gladly accepted.  I'm looking at you, reader that is getting a master's in library science and has a job in the children's department of the library.  :)

Pictures and Videos:

September 27-October 4

Oh, Boston.  Where to begin?

After driving through the night last Friday, we arrived at Justine's house at 10:30 Saturday morning.  No one was there, but Justine had left the door unlocked for us.  We unpacked the car into the middle of the kitchen and settled down at the table for a late breakfast.  The Bossards popped in briefly before heading out again, leaving us to our own devices as we recovered from the drive.  By dinnertime we were all present and accounted for, including Jacque and Joseph's sister and her husband.

Sunday was Walter's baptism, which went swimmingly (no pun intended).  The usual priest was out sick, so a newly ordained priest got to perform his first baptism.  Afterwards, we all went back to the Bossard residence, making a brief pit stop at a Radio Shack so that Bryan could purchase a new power cord for his laptop since he'd forgotten his in Ohio.  Sarah and Luther left late Sunday night (after we all looked at the lunar eclipse), bringing the occupancy of the house down to five adults and six children.

Monday was library day, so Justine, Jacque, and I packed up the kids in strollers and wraps and wandered over to catch story time.  Luckily for us, there are two story times in a row, so we were on time for the 11:00 one (after aiming for 10:15).  I was impressed by their story time, which was much bigger, more elaborate, and better organized than any story time I've attended thus far.  The best part was definitely during the song "Shake Your Sillies Out" when twenty some toddlers jumped their jiggles out, briefly turning the room into a pint sized mosh pit.

On Tuesday we thought about going to Boston, but didn't ever make it out the door.  Sleep deprived adults and cranky toddlers decided to hang out at the house instead.  I did take an excursion to the park with my three kids and one nephew.  William made a beeline for the sandbox and Olivia and Gretchen happily followed him.  They did eventually move on to other playground equipment.  A little over one happy hour later, we wandered our way back home and I promptly dumped everyone in the bathtub to take care of the sand in their hair.

Wednesday was rainy, so we stayed in and planned for the next day's trip to actual Boston.  I'm not a big touristy type, but after driving 14.5 hours to the east coast, one feels a certain obligation to at least glimpse the major city.  The kids spent the day inside reading the fabulous book that Aunt Jacque gave William for his birthday.  Then they zoned out in front of a movie for quiet time.

Thursday was Boston day.  First we went to Music Together, which was a very exciting class of nonstop catchy songs.  Gretchen got into the music right away, while Olivia was more reserved and then decided to compensate by being wild.  The trip into Boston was awful and stressful.  Traffic was crowded and three separate emergency vehicles had to muscle their way through the congestion.  Rumor has it that Justine's passengers were quite excited about the close proximity of sirens and flashing lights.  Not so in my vehicle.  Jacque sat in my car and assured me that no one in Boston hated me when I (1) stopped in the middle of an intersection due to a red light three blocks away, (2) covered a crosswalk due to another red light, (3) drove in a bike lane to avoid the car forcing itself into my lane as a fire truck went by, or (4) deliberately ran a red light to make room for an ambulance.  I hated me a little, though, and this experience was enough to cure me of my desire to go to Boston.  As we were already there, we found a parking garage with claustrophobic little ramps that we had to take all the way to the roof to find parking spots (I definitely tried to push off the wall with my hand going around one corner, failing only because my window was in the way).  We got the kids out and walked to the public gardens to see the Make Way for Ducklings statues.  The kids thought those were great, and we took a few pictures before heading back.  We meant to drive to a harbor afterwards to watch boats and planes, but wrangling six children, two of whom are nursing and two of whom are potty training and five of whom still take a nap at least some of the time, is not nearly as painlessly quick and easy as it sounds.  So we skipped the harbor, threw snacks at the kids, and just drove home.  The return trip was considerably less eventful, to the relief of all.

On Friday we just stayed in and hung out together.  The kids got a movie while I ran out to buy new tail light bulbs for the van (side note: they were installed by a Steelers fan; he wanted to make sure my Browns fan husband was aware of that).  Somehow someone turned the movie off before it was done and when Bryan went down to turn it back on it was at the beginning again.  We let them watch the first half over while we made lunch.  After dinner on Friday, we got in the car and began the long drive home, this time with an extra driver.  We arrived back at our house at 9:45 on Saturday morning and spent the day unwinding.

And here ends our Boston saga.

Something of note: William is absolutely convinced that Gretchen's name is Gretchy-Gretch.  He never calls her anything else.

Pictures and Videos:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 6

Gretchen: Mommy, are you Bambi or are you an apple or are you a cup or are you a bird?
Me: I don't know, what am I?
Gretchen: You are just a mommy apple.  When you get bigger, you can be an apple, mommy.

Gretchen: Frozen sings and Frozen cuts the ice and Frozen sings (*deep, growly singing voice*) the frozen heart.

Gretchen: Why did Elsa and Anna say (*singing as loudly as she can*) I can't!?
Me: Because they can't do it.
Olivia: What can't they do?
Me: Elsa can't stop winter.
Olivia: I can stop winter.
Me: You can?  How can you stop winter?
Olivia: With my ice powers.  When I have ice powers, I can stop winter.
Gretchen: When I stop ice powers, I will be Elsa!

Gretchen: I am the littlest mommy and you are the biggest mommy.
Olivia: I am the little biggest mommy.
Me: What's Kaitlyn?
Olivia: Kaitlyn can be... a horse!
Me: A horse?!
Olivia: And you are Prince Hans and Olivia and Gretchen are Elsa and Anna and Daddy is Kristof.

Gretchen: Hearts don't really eat because they have noses.


The following exchanges are part of playing with Barbies.

In this conversation, Olivia plays the part of Mommy Barbie and Gretchen is Daddy Barbie.
Mommy Barbie: Daddy Barbie, can you be Jesus?
Daddy Barbie: Yes!
Mommy Barbie: Okay, Jesus, tell us what to do.
Daddy Barbie/Jesus: We caaaaan... Watch a movie!
Mommy Barbie: That's not a church thing!  Tell us something else.

In this conversation, Gretchen plays both sides.
Tinkerbell: Jesus, will you marry me?
Daddy Barbie/Jesus: Yes.

September 20-27

Kaitlyn's teeth finally came in on Monday.  She is now the proud owner of two tiny pokey things and seems much happier.  She still drools like crazy, though.

Gretchen's potty training continues to be an adventure.  She keeps undies dry about half the time now, which is often enough for Bryan to feel they're worth it, but not for me to bother putting new ones on her once the first pair gets wet.  :/  She has graduated to using the big potty all the time now, which is exciting.

Last Saturday the Kleins came over and Steph and I made lots of applesauce.  I was still working from my big basket of free, albeit sadly wormy and misshapen (but free!), apples.  I confess I was pretty jealous of Steph's big, beautiful orchard apples.  We cut and strained and boiled and canned, and finished the day much richer in applesauce than we began it.  Also, my basket is now empty.  :)  I got three more quarts of applesauce, plus two pints each of strawberry applesauce and blueberry applesauce.  The flavored applesauce is a big hit in my house; I'll have to make that more often.

Mom came down Saturday night with a truck full of furniture and things for our basement as they prepare for their move across the country.  Siblings: If you want things, you have until we decide to fully finish the basement to claim them.  Don't worry, I'll give you some warning.

On Sunday we took mom back to Michigan in time for church and then stayed to visit for the day.  I got some more raspberries, despite this not being the season for transplants, and put them in a newly raised bed located atop the watery grave of the old patch.  Mom said I can have another batch every time a vehicle goes from her house to my house and we're hoping that at least a few from each group survive.

On Friday Bryan and I celebrated our wooden anniversary by packing all the children into the van and beginning the long drive to Boston to visit Justine and company.  Driving through the night went better than last time, although Gretchen woke up multiple times to complain that she wanted to be in a bed.  Kaitlyn did a fantastic job, and everyone was in a great mood after a very morale boosting gas station stop at 4:30 in the morning.  We made it to Justine's house by 10:30, clocking the drive at 14 and a half hours.  An amusing anecdote from the gas station: While Bryan pumped gas, I took Olivia in to go to the bathroom and then we stopped to buy a couple of snacks.  Then I took Gretchen in, and then Bryan went in to buy himself a snack.  Finally I took Kaitlyn in for a new diaper and bought myself an iced tea.  On this fourth purchase in the same location, I got an email from Chase making sure our credit card had not been stolen.  Never mind the three previous purchases (one of which was for gas), the danger was clearly the $1.89 spent on the iced tea.

Now we're in Boston for the week, planning to leave Friday sometime to begin the trek back home to people who know how to pronounce the letter "r."

Pictures and Videos:

September 13-20

Kaitlyn...
...loves her sisters.  Anytime she hears them playing she will look around until she spots them and then smile at their game.
...is beginning to be ticklish.  She has to be in the right mood, though.
...grabs things quite well now.  Beware those with long hair, beards, glasses, necklaces, and/or noses.  Once she was trying to grab a toy on the bed but couldn't because she'd captured the grabbing hand's thumb with her other hand.
...will eat anything, even a door.  If she can pick it up, it's food.  If she can reach it with her mouth, it's also food.  She has sampled every toy she's been given, the hair of the unwary who stray too close, and, yes, a door.  She was quite upset that the door did not fit in her mouth.
...rolls everywhere.  Hence the ability to taste the door.  Having mastered rolling from front to back (either direction) and back to front (either direction) in addition to turning in circles on the floor, Kaitlyn is quite mobile.  She hasn't figured out how to get exactly where she wants, though, so watching her get places is kind of like watching a chess match played with nothing but knights.

Gretchen...
...can drink from a regular cup now.  It took an unreasonably long amount of time for her to master this trick since she always stuck her tongue inside the cup to lap at the water like a cat, but she's got it now.
...knows her colors.  This was kind of a gradual thing, but we didn't work on it much, so it surprised me when I realized that she could do it.
...stays in bed at night.  We haven't put the gate up for some time now, and Gretchen does just fine.  She only gets out of bed if she needs someone to refill her water cup.  This is, needless to say, quite terrifying in the middle of the night when I wake up with her face right in mine as she patiently waits for me to become aware of her presence.  Once I fill her cup, though, she turns around and walks right back to bed.
...can twirl spaghetti on her fork.  I discovered this at dinner on Friday and was very impressed.  Unfortunately, she suffers the same fate as most spaghetti twirlers: all of her spaghetti twirled up into one hugely unmanageable bite.
...opens doors.  This also took longer than usual, but through no fault of Gretchen's.  Our door handles are unusually high in this house, so she couldn't reach them until recently.  Now that she can reach them, however, no room is safe.

Olivia...
...learned to spell her name.  We've been practicing with letters on the fridge as well as spelling out loud.  She seems to have a good handle on it, but I'm not sure she would be able to tell OLIVIA from OSTRICH just yet.
...likes to play her new violin.  My mom brought a 1/8 size violin with her last week (complements of Aunt Jan, via Donna) and Olivia has played it several times.  Mercifully, the e string broke as it was being tuned, so we're only hearing the lower notes.  She is impatiently waiting for the day when I teach her to put fingers down on the strings.
...wants to be the oldest, but not necessarily the most grown up.  She likes being in charge, but becomes helpless when it suits her.  For instance, when HER water cup is empty in the middle of the night, she sits in her bed and wails.

Our car had brake problems when Bryan was driving from Springfield back to his parents' house last week, so we had to abandon it at Steve and Murry's, shoehorn three carseats into the backseat of their Jeep, and borrow their vehicle for a few days.  Everything worked out, though, and our van is once again in our possession and working as well as it ever has.  An unexpected bonus: somehow when they fixed the brakes they also stopped the power steering whine.

Labor day was our fun run, and we had quite a good turn out.  Friends from church came, as well as Matt and Tricia (Bryan's cousin and his wife) and Rianne and Titus (my cousin and her husband).  My parents and some siblings came down as well, and Bryan's family made an appearance at the cookout afterwards.  The big improvement to the fun run this year came in the form of a semi-marked course: I tied yarn on sticks.  Unfortunately, the sticks and yarn were difficult to see and our front runner was color blind and therefore unable to decipher whether he should turn right or left.  Next year I will use large ties of patterned cloth.  :)

Alison and Jacob came down for the weekend before the fun run.  We hung out, Bryan got Jacob addicted to a new video game, and Alison and I tried our hand at cheddar cheese.  We're not tremendously hopeful as to the outcome, but won't know the extent of our failure or success for several months since cheddar takes 4-6 months to age.  The most exciting part of the combined visit came after church on Sunday morning, when Father pointedly asked, "so, do you have any news to share with us?" while staring at Alison's hand.  Keep in mind that Jake and Joe look similar, Alison and Joe were together for all their previous visits, and Alison is now Orthodox, which is always a hopeful sign.  Anyway, Alison looked mildly uncomfortable and then said, "Well, I saved a lot of money on car insurance by switching to Geico."

You may remember from last week's pictures that I made feta cheese after everyone left.  This batch looked much more promising than the cheddar and feta only takes 2 days to cure.  The verdict on the finished product is that I left it in the saturated brine (homemade seawater) too long.  It looks and feels like feta, but is incredibly salty.  Bryan says store feta is sharper also, so that is something that I will have to work on.  I have a couple of ideas to try next time.  If I can perfect this, though, I made a pound of feta for less than $3.50, which is well worth it.

This past Monday, Kaitlyn and I drove up to Albion to visit Jacob.  He had picked up some bulk food from the (kind of local to him) store for me and in exchange I was giving swing dance lessons to his residents.  The turnout was only about 9 people, but I thought it went well.  The one male that came (other than Jacob) said afterwards that he'd be interested in learning the steps to some other dances, too, so I may be going back.

Pictures and Videos:

September 6-13

Just pictures and a video this week.

Video (password BarhorstBrewed)
Gretchen's Milestones

Alison took pictures of her visit:

Olivia sleeps in the car:

Kaitlyn and Rudy:

Gretchen on the table.  I think she was marching:

Playing Pretty, Pretty Princess:

Olivia pins the tail on the fox:

Making feta cheese:

A small frog was on our sliding door one night:

Pictures of Kaitlyn from Kara's wedding (Kaitlyn is almost two months old in these):

Gretchen at Kara's wedding:

Princess Olivia takes pictures with Princess Kara: