December 20-27

Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

We did not go to Sidney last weekend as originally planned because of covid complications. No one we know has it, but they're working with people who are exposed so... We've rescheduled for January. This left us with several unplanned for days at home (and Bryan was off work). It was quite calm and lovely.

We had lots of church on Thursday and Friday. Royal hours at the Orthodox church on Thursday afternoon. Mass at the Catholic church on Thursday evening (not midnight, though, because they offer a 7:00 that is much better for our kids). Liturgy at the Orthodox church on Friday morning. And then, finally, presents. The kids did great. Except Theodore.

An amendment to my observation that Theodore needs to be held all the time: This does not apply in church. In church Theodore would prefer to be down and running around.

Theodore has a word for when he's excited to see a parent: "Dada!" He has another word for when he's whining or yelling at a parent: "Mom!" Both words are used for both parents, depending on his mood.

When the kids grow up with no sense of time, it's because I say "You have twenty minutes" and then forget to come back for an hour.

I make ginger beer now. Will graciously walked me through the steps for my first batch and now I'm comfortable enough with it to feel relatively confident in my abilities. It's good enough to drink straight but also works well as a mixer. I did try to branch out one time into something of a mulled ginger beer, but that was a failure. I'm back to good old reliable plain and perfectly happy about it.

Two thirds of Theodore's Christmas presents are squeezy pouches. We're a little worried that he'll start raiding under the tree whenever he needs a snack.

Josef and Angelina arrived on Christmas afternoon and stayed for the weekend. Then Josef went back home today to work for a week and Angelina decided to stay and party with us. The Bossards arrive tomorrow sometime.

Pictures:

November 15-December 20

Features that will exist on Gretchen’s ideal house when she’s ready to buy one:

A star
A porch
A chimney
Stairs
A fancy front door

Just before Bryan and I left for our anniversary trip, Kaitlyn cut her hair. She was trying to get rid of her bangs and regretted it immediately. Unfortunately for her, she'd cut off rather a large amount. She resolved to not go anywhere where she might have to see someone. Since keeping her hands over her hairline for the next six months was not a viable option, I suggested that we invest in some stretchy headbands. She has, over the past few weeks, come around to the idea and embraced the headbands. I am hopeful that they'll keep her growing bangs out of her face long enough to avoid another haircut.

Theodore needs more adult attention than our other babies. Actually, it probably just seems like he needs more attention because he has to fight so many other people to get it. Regardless, he often wants nothing more than to be held by whichever adult is willing while life carries on around him. The fastest way to become Theodore’s best friend is to never put him down.

Kaitlyn has mastered short vowel sounds and is now in the second set of readers working on long vowels. She's picking things up quickly and doing very well, but she still despises the suggestion that she should maybe read today. I half remember Gretchen going through these growing pains as well, so I guess we'll see when it gets easy enough for her to be excited about reading.

I took the younger kids to the zoo one beautiful day in early November. Kaitlyn insisted on wearing her bunny ears. This turned out to be a fabulous decision, because the river otters were quite interested in playing with the ears. Of course, they couldn't get the ears through the glass, but that didn't stop them from trying repeatedly.

Gretchen might be a procrastinator. She is constantly distracted from the task at hand, but she had a book report due on Tuesday and after all the other kids went to bed she finally buckled down and finished it. She required no nagging or assistance, and her finished product was beautiful. On second thought, maybe she’s just a hermit.

Olivia got to play a piano piece for the Ribbon Festival, which is a series of little recitals put together by the local chapter of the Music Teachers National Association. Since she’s only been playing for a few months, her teacher gave her a melody to learn and then played a harmony with her.

Thanksgiving saw the Bossards, Jillian, and the JA Fentons visiting us for most of a week. We were supposed to meet Austin, but he had to cancel his trip due to covid. :( The week was as calm as it can be with 17 people sharing a house. The weather was beautiful and the kids quite a bit of time outside.

We had a surprise visit from Tom last weekend. He dropped in on his way from Valpo to Cleveland and managed to catch Zach's visit at the same time. Matthias and Theodore greatly appreciated borrowing Gwen and Silas's grandpa for a weekend.

The night before Thanksgiving, Gretchen came out of her room while the adults were playing games. “Mom, I can’t sleep in my bed because of the feathers.” “...What feathers?” “From the hole in my pillow.” “Did you help the feathers escape?” Gretchen nods. “Did you help the hole exist?” Gretchen nods again. “Bring me your pillow.” Her once stuffed pillow is now only half full, and a four inch gash can be seen in one corner. I send her back to bed and sew up the pillow. When it’s finished, I go into her room to give it back, but not before securing it inside three pillowcases. The carpet by the door is barely visible beneath a pile of feathers. “Here, Gretch,” I say, tossing the pillow on the bed. “Go to sleep.” Pooof. A small explosion of feathers erupts from the bed. “I’m on the floor, mom. There are too many feathers up there and they keep poking me.” I snag the pillow and toss it across the room towards her. Pooof. A feather geyser appears as the pillow sails overhead, ruffling feathers in its wake. I set her up in a sleeping bag in the corner on the room furthest from the feathers and promise to survey the damage in the morning. Thanksgiving morning dawns and, after breakfast and a quick survey of what needs to be done before lunch, Gretchen and I return to the scene of the crime, vacuum in tow. The feather spread is impressive. “Why, Gretchen?” “I just love feathers. Can we maybe keep some?” Request denied. I decide to empty the vacuum canister before we begin. We vacuum feathers out of two full plastic shoe boxes. Gretchen tells me that she and Kaitlyn collected them as they fell the night before so that they wouldn’t bother Edward and Walter, who were sleeping below the beds. We vacuum the floor in front of the door. I leave Gretchen in Angelina’s capable hands and together they vacuum under the beds. Then Angelina notices the feathers on top of Gretchen’s bed. I return, and together we shake feathers off of everything and hide the clean things in the closet. We strip Gretchen’s bed completely and Kaitlyn’s halfway. The floor looks like we haven’t even started. After a second run over everything with the vacuum, the feathers are nearly vanquished. Eventually, we declared it good enough. We emptied the canister 6 times over the course of that morning. Our backyard looked like we’d plucked an entire flock of turkeys for the Thanksgiving feast. Even as I write this, there are still pockets of resistance, hiding among toys and nestled in corners, reminding us of what happens when you love feathers too much.

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 55

Matthias: I am a dinosaur with lion moves and fire in my mouth.

Jillian: Hi!
Olivia: What? Oh, hi!
Gretchen: Aunt Jillian, I thought you were my dad!

Kaitlyn: Wait, why am I the one who has to go get all the supplies?

Angelina: Well, you live here, so we're asking you where things are.

Kaitlyn: But why can't Gretchen go?

Gretchen: I'm too artful for that.

*car brakes suddenly*

Me: Who lost their stuff?

Gretchen: Matthias.

Me: What did you lose, Matthias?

Matthias: I losed everything.

Gretchen: If I convince everyone in Pennsylvania to leave and then I move monsters in, it could be Transylvania!

Matthias: Are we in California?

Me: No.

Matthias: Are we in October?

Me: No.

Matthias: Are we in Sunday?

Me: No. It's a Tuesday in September in Ohio.

Olivia: We're there already? You said it would be 8:30. So your estimate was wrong?

Me: Yes, we got here earlier.

Olivia: Yeah, you were way off.

Gretchen: Are you a mom?

Angelina: Do I have any kids?

Gretchen: No. But you live in your own house.

Angelina: Where should I live?

Gretchen: With your mom!

Gretchen, in front of her godfather while about to receive communion: Wait, MOM! Am I Orthodox?

How Kaitlyn doctored a stuffed dragon back to health:

First I broke his body. Then I took all the fire out and threw it in the garbage. Then I closed him and poked some nails in. Then they dried and now he's all better. Well, he's still a little bit dead. I don't think I was supposed to use nails, but I'm still learning. That's why I'm a little girl.