June 12-19

Last Sunday Bryan and I dropped the girls off with Grandma and Grandpa and then went to a Dayton Dragons game.  That's single A, which means the baseball was okay, the extra entertainment was every half inning, and the free hats did little to combat the amount of sun one gets sitting in the bleachers.  We had a good time, despite the spectacular sunburns.  We were a little torn in our allegiances: The home team (logical choice?) of Dayton is a farm team for the Reds...  We did get sweet orange hats with dragons on them, though.

We packed the girls into the car at bedtime, hoping they'd fall asleep on the way home.  Kaitlyn did, but Olivia and Gretchen did not.  We hustled them into bed anyway.  :)  In the morning, Kaitlyn was making noise before the other two were awake, so Bryan went to fetch her into our bed.  Five minutes later, Gretchen came sprinting through the kitchen.  "Mom!  Mommy!  MOOOM!"  With panic in her voice, she gasped out, "We forgot Kaitlyn!"  I assured her that Kaitlyn was, in fact, right next to me, and her relief was palpable as she also crawled into our bed and promptly fell back asleep.  Kaitlyn, should you ever doubt Gretchen's love for you, reread this paragraph.

The girls spent Monday visiting Elias and Simeon while I drove to Michigan to retrieve Mom, Jillian, and James for their last week in the midwest.  The rest of the week was busy with bowling, a visit to the zoo, gardening, chalk drawings, and more silhouettes.  Jacque arrived Thursday night and Jacob joined the madness on Friday evening.  On Saturday Jacob took Mom, Jillian, and James back to Michigan while Jacque came down to Sidney with us.  We attended the Holy Angels Parish Picnic.  Bryan was disappointed in the things that have changed since his childhood, but enjoyed himself nonetheless.  Gretchen was too short to go on most of the rides.  We also got to observe Gretchen's fear of heights first hand as she inched her way through a toddler obstacle course.  Grandma had half the dollar store in her purse for the girls to open and play with on a blanket in the brat tent.  Jacque spent $7 to "win" a cake, Bryan and Gretchen spent $4 to pick out some cupcakes, and Kaitlyn and I got a steal of a deal on a $1 pie.  :)

Gretchen had a fever on Friday.  Olivia got it for about half of Saturday (she perked up at the parish picnic), and Kaitlyn had it from Saturday afternoon through Sunday.  Kaitlyn was wonderfully behaved in church as a result, and we're wondering if perhaps she'd like to have a fever every Sunday morning.

Also of note this week, we got a cat.  A kitten, actually, and "got" is a loose term since it will be an outdoor cat, primarily relegated to controlling the mouse population in our shed.  Jacque got a cat, too, that she intends to take home with her to live in her apartment.  In keeping with the theme started by Bryan's brother, Brad, we intended to name our cat something along the lines of Rubbish or Debris (so far the Barhorst cats have been named Garbage, Trashcan, and Dumpster).  Olivia, however, wanted to name it Amber.  So our little black kitten is named Princess Amber Debris.  :)  Both cats are currently occupying the garage.  They've been contained by some strategically placed dressers and bookshelves to keep them from hiding all over the garage.  We did have some trial and error in that department, and Jacque and Jillian got quite good at finding and recapturing the cats.

Pictures:

May 29-June 12

Oma and Uncle James have been visiting for the past two weeks (except on weekends, when they go to Michigan to see Jillian and Jacob).  We've gotten a lot done, and Uncle James did a great job playing with the girls.  He even got to do some solo babysitting on Friday morning for about an hour.  They'll be back (with Jillian!) this week and then they're off to California.

Tom and Donna visited to help organize the basement.  Mom and Donna and I made a garage sale pile and then sorted all the remaining things into duck-taped bays along the wall so that people can come grab their piles whenever they have time and space.  The garage sale pile went to a community garage sale at the house of a friend of a friend.  We didn't even have to stay after unloading all of our marked and priced things.  Whatever remained after the garage sale was taken to Goodwill, never to darken the basement doorstep again.

Mom and I spent an evening getting my giant laundry pile to ground zero.  I'm happy to report that as of now my living room is still laundry-free.

I've been meaning to make a morning schedule for the girls for a while.  We found some fancy stationery and Oma drew pictures on the so that Olivia and Gretchen would know what to do.  They're very excited about their "map" (shown below) and even follow it somewhat.  :)

The stickers I ordered for the calendar arrived.  This is also very exciting.  Perhaps I'll remember to take a picture one day.

Twenty-six tomato plants are in the ground in my garden.  I'd say about seven of them look really great, but I have hope for most of the others.  Even seven is more than I had last year.  I also have four watermelon plants that we given to me when Sarah ran out of room in her garden.  They're sharing a bed with my peas.  Speaking of peas, they're doing great.  I planted three varieties, and one is definitely the winner.  I think it's the Burpeeana Earlies.  I have two volunteer lettuce plants that have been happily supplementing our salads lately.  Corn has been planted in the not-broccoli bed, but isn't up yet.  Just yesterday Bryan and Josh put dirt in my last two beds, so I can fill those this week.  The girls planted sunflower seeds in the holes of the cinder blocks.  I had them go down two rows, hoping that when they grow there will be a tunnel.  :)  We still need to plant wildflowers somewhere so that they have flowers to PICK.

Our blacktop has been getting lots of use.  Bryan draws roads and the girls ride their tricycles and drive their cozy coupe.  Kaitlyn especially likes the umbrella stroller, both giving and receiving rides.  Chalk is a big hit with the girls, although Kaitlyn mainly uses it as lipstick.  :/

Mom and I tried to do silhouettes of the girls one morning.  I had to hold their heads still, but Olivia and Gretchen did very well.  Kaitlyn, not so much.  James also had a turn, as did I.  This week we need to smooth out our scrap paper drawings and transfer them to nice paper so I can hang them up.  :)

We've also been spending a day here and there in Sidney.  We saw Aunt Keshia, Uncle Tyler, and Kaitlyn's twin Rudy.  Their dogs were there, too, which impressed the girls less than seeing their cousin.

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 11

Olivia, covering her ears: Mommy, I am covering my ears to see if you can hear me.  Can you hear me?
Gretchen, closing her eyes: Mommy, see if you can hear ME.
Me: I can hear both of you, can you hear me?
Olivia: I don't think so.

Olivia: Mommy, Gretchen is not listening to you.
Me: Olivia, you are not minding your own business.
Olivia: I will mind my own business when Gretchen eats her banana.

Me: Are you all right, Gretch?
Gretchen: No, I am not alright because my belly is feeling well.
Me: Your belly is feeling well?
Gretchen: No, my belly is NOT feeling well because it is dark outside.
Me: Oh.
Gretchen: And when it is dark outside our bellies are not feeling well and we have to go to bed until the monsters come.

Gretchen: Aunt Jacque, are these glasses on backwards or sideways?
Jacque: Those are on upside down.

Olivia: Well, she does it in the movie.  She doesn't in the book.

Olivia: Are we at Grandma and Grandpa's yet?
Bryan: No, we are still in Lima.
Olivia: Because we have to get closer still?
Bryan: That's right.
Olivia: I am going to ask about it until we get there.  Are we closer are we closer are we closer are we closer are we closer...?

This would not normally be in a Sound Bites post, but the circumstances warrant the addition.  The girls were helping me make cookies and we had just added the cocoa powder...
Olivia, peering into the mixing bowl: *gasps, then squeals with delight* Oh, how cute!

Olivia-Barbie: Just a minute, bad guy, I have to show the turtle my shoes.
Gretchen-bad guy: Okay
Olivia-Barbie, to the turtle: Look at my shoes.  And did you see my beautiful purse?
Gretchen-bad guy: I like purses!  I'm going to be a nice guy.

Gretchen, to Justine: I'm kissing your baby.  Babies like kisses.

Me: Gretchen, do you want to wear the blue dress or the Minnie Mouse dress?
Gretchen: The blue dress.
Me: The blue dress?
Gretchen: No, not the blue dress.
Me: Oh, not the blue dress.  The Minnie Mouse dress?
Gretchen: No, I want to wear the blue dress.
Me: You want to wear the blue dress.
Gretchen: No!  I don't want to wear the blue dress!
Me: Okay, then you're going to wear the Minnie Mouse dress.
Gretchen: I want to wear the BLUE dress.
Me: Blue dress.
Gretchen: No.
Me: Gretchen, are you going to wear the blue dress or the Minnie Mouse dress?
Gretchen: The Minnie Mouse dress.
Me: The Minnie Mouse dress?
Gretchen: Yes.
Me: Okay.
*two minutes later*
Gretchen: I didn't want the Minnie Mouse dress!
Me: Well, you chose the Minnie Mouse dress so you have to wear the Minnie Mouse dress and you don't get to change your mind any more.
*two minutes later*
Gretchen: I changed my mind, I'm wearing the Minnie Mouse dress.

Gretchen, about Walter: I'm going to push him down.
Justine: Don't push him down!
Edward: Edward's not pushing him down.
Gretchen: Well when I push him down then I say sorry fast.
Edward: If we push him down he will cry.
Gretchen: No, he would hit the floor.
Justine: Don't push him down!
Edward: Edward's not pushing him down.
Gretchen: We can just pretend to push him down.
Justine: Don't even pretend to push him down!