06 March 2016

February 21-March 6

Gretchen can spell her name.  She does not recognize any of the letters, but she can recite them in order.  She can also recite Olivia's name, and she recognizes the O.

I ordered a bound version of my 2015 blog posts, but I mis-remembered the settings I used for the first four books and got small pictures instead of medium ones.  :/  I am still deciding for sure if it bothers me enough to order another copy, but 75% of the time I think that I'll probably get a new one.  Is anyone interested in a bound copy of my 2015 blog in the event that I do reorder?  I've got a spare...

Since the new year, I've been working on instilling new habits.  They're not really resolutions, especially since I've been adding them one at a time as I think of them, but the timing was convenient.  I started by making sure the table was clear and the floor was swept after dinner each night.  Two weeks ago, we had friends over for dinner and Sarah helped wash dishes while I was putting Kaitlyn to bed.  I decided at that moment that I would take the base zero kitchen as an opportunity to create a good habit.  I'm happy to report that every night since that one my dishes have been done before I've gone to bed.  I spent a week sending pictures to Sarah as proof.  I also told Justine about this project, and she began keeping her kitchen clean, too, so we send each other pictures of our clean counters, usually with some short commentary on the evening.  :)  Next project, conquer the laundry.

Another habit I'm working on is more complete dinners.  It started as a joke with Bryan because he grew up with many sides and I grew up with complete meals in one dish (otherwise known as casseroles and stews).  On and off throughout our marriage he's made fun of me for how I never really serve a true meal because there are no sides.  Apparently I serve appetizers.  Or snacks.  So now he's getting two sides (most nights).  AND a salad if I'm really on top of things.  It's not as consistent as my clean counters yet, but I'd say I'm putting "real" meals on the table five nights out of the week.  The goal, of course, is to make this an automatic thing, too.  :)

I've started my garden.  In my laundry room.  I decided in January that I wasn't ready to start my own seeds indoors yet, but then I realized that next year (when I am ready) I'll probably have a newborn.  Then February came and brought with it beautiful weather and I got antsy to be growing things, so the laundry room garden was born.  I started broccoli seeds that I saved from my plants last year, but they didn't really take so I'll be starting some seeds from packets soon.  I also planted 21 peas (in the box that Shar used to mail my newly rehaired bow!) and 13 are up and growing beautifully.

We visited Bryan's cousin, Amanda, and her family in Toledo last Friday.  Her son, Dawson, is two months younger than Kaitlyn.  We visited that evening, stayed overnight, and then drove back to our house after breakfast on Saturday.  Apparently Dawson likes Mickey Mouse, so Olivia and Gretchen played with Mickey Mouse toys and watched Mickey Mouse cartoons.  Bryan and I have been singing "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog..." all week.

Jacque's show in Dayton wrapped up last Sunday night, so she came to our house on Monday to reorganize her things before heading back to Chicago.  She and I figured out the recording system and did eight psalms before she left.  We also left all the recording equipment set up so that next time we don't have to mess with anything and can just start working right away.  I might get to cross number two off my list yet.

Also on Monday, I managed to injure my foot in what can only be described as a fantastic display of grace and poise.  I may take after my mother.  It all started because I wanted something from the top shelf in my pantry...  I pulled a folding chair (not one that collapses; one of the safe ones) over to the pantry and hopped up quickly, as I am wont to do when needing something that is out of my reach.  This particular time, however, I must have hopped up too close to the front of the chair, because I managed to flip the chair over.  I banged my right elbow, my right thigh, and the inside of my left foot on... things... as I came down.  I'm pretty sure the door frame got my elbow and thigh, but I'm afraid I will never be certain what pulverized my foot.  My best guess is the cardboard box of potatoes.  Anyway, I immediately put my shoe on and tied it to provide some sort of compression and then, the pain having diminished somewhat, continued with my day.  An hour later I couldn't stand anymore, and my foot was beginning to swell.  I elevated it slightly, tied ice around it, and (of course) called my mother to ask if it might be broken.  After a series of very scientific questions, guesses, and experiments, we decided it was NOT broken, and that I'd just crushed the soft tissues of the instep.  As I write this, it's been almost a week and my foot feels fine except when prodded, but no bruise has appeared yet.

Ricky dropped in for a surprise visit on his way to Fort Wayne this past Wednesday.  He got here around ten and hung out with us until 5ish on Thursday.  Bryan and Ricky and I played several games of Dominion, Ricky and I talked books, and Ricky ground two hoppers full of wheat for me (breaking his previous record with a 13:54) and built all of our megablocks into a tower that touched the ceiling.

Bryan took the older two girls to Chuck E Cheese for dinner on Thursday night.  Apparently they had a fabulous time running around and eating pizza.  When they came home, Gretchen demonstrated the Chuck E Cheese dance for me (reminder to self: get said dance on video).  Every time Olivia talks about this magical experience she puts her hands on the side of her face and opens her eyes wide with a look of dreamy excitement (note to readers: follow that link; it provides a remarkably accurate portrayal of Olivia's Chuck E Cheese look)(reminder to self: try to get a picture of the face, too).  Also worth noting from the Chuck E Cheese expedition is this text that I received from Bryan: "Olivia almost died of happiness over whack a mole, but I can't get a picture because she's awful and keeps asking for help."

Also, my taxes are done.  Neener neener?

I've been remiss about posting videos, so some of this week's videos are several months old.  There should be another sizable batch of videos later this month as I continue to process the backlog.

Pictures and Videos:
Video password: BarhorstBrewed
Happy Sisters
Olivia and Elias Dance
Gretchen Stacks Cups
Zero Steps
Olivia Exercises
Big Girl
Cajoling Kaitlyn
Hands and Knees

Kaitlyn took a selfie:

Kaitlyn tries to use a spoon:


Having fun at Chuck E Cheese:


Gretchen and Olivia sitting nicely:

My foot injury:

Gretchen smiles for the camera:

Some laundry room garden pictures:


An old picture of Kaitlyn trying to get out of a cupboard:

3 comments:

  1. No picture of the mega blocks tower? :(

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    Replies
    1. I think Ricky took a picture of it. I'll have to ask him.

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  2. Whack a Mole is my favorite :)

    ReplyDelete