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:
27 December 2015
20 December 2015
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:
-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:
13 December 2015
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:
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:
10 December 2015
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!"
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!"
08 December 2015
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 happeningas 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.
1.
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.
4.
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.
9.
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.
12.
13. *
14. Go on an overnight vacation with just our family. --We're thinking this summer.
15.
16.
17. Sew a skirt that becomes my favorite.
18.
19. Go through RCIA. Edit: Arrange to talk to a Catholic priest several times. RCIA won't answer the questions I have.
20.
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.
24.
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
27.
28.
29. Make a new friend. --Why did I put this on my list?!
30.
31.
06 December 2015
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:
Pictures and Videos:
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