Bonus Post: Sound Bites 10

Olivia: Oh, how delightful!

Gretchen: Mom, I found something very amazing!

Olivia: Where are you going, Gretchen?
Gretchen: Um, to buy some gas station.

Bryan, to Olivia: You can have bread or vegetables.  Which one would you like?
Olivia: Well that is a dumb question.

Gretchen: Daddy goes to work and you go to the store!

Me: What are you girls playing?
Gretchen: Just boi boi.
Me: What's boi boi?
Gretchen: Boys come and take us to their house.
Me: And then what?
Gretchen: I look out my window and in my bed...  I say, "what are they doing," Olivia says, "I don't know"...

Gretchen: What is this?
Me: That's beer.
Gretchen: To get Daddy more beard?
Bryan: Yes, that's my beard juice.  Whenever I need more beard, I just drink beer.

Gretchen: How does the fly and Tuesday song go?
Me: The fly and Tuesday song?  I'm not sure I know that one.
Olivia: *to the tune of "Addams Family"* There's Friday and there's Tuesday...

Olivia: Can I pick first?
Me: Yes.  You are the picker firster at lunch.
Gretchen: And I am the picker seconder!

Gretchen, standing right next to the dishwasher during its heated dry cycle: I am standing next to here to keep my ear warm.

Me: Gretchen, do you need help?
Gretchen: No, I was just panicking.

This conversation came after we visited two open houses for preschool.  One school had cookies prominently displayed and available for snacking.
Me: What did you think of the schools?
Olivia: They were good, but I wanted to look around more in the other school for cookies.
Me: Yeah, we did not try very hard to find cookies in the second school.  Which one did you like better?
Olivia: I like schools with cookies.

And two old quotes that I found jotted down when cleaning the car--
Olivia: We've been here for miles.

Olivia: My belly is not feeling good.  How about I watch cartoons while I wait for it to feel better?

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:

February 14-21

There's a story Mom and Justine like to tell about some social readiness (or was it school readiness?) quiz that was given to me when I was four.  As an experiment, the same quiz was given to two-year-old Justine.  The questions posed different problems and challenged us to provide a solution for each one.  Justine's answers were varied and thought out: "I'd give it to Mom, she can fix anything!", "I would crawl around the tree to get the ball.", etc.  Having had two two-year-olds now, I do wonder if her answers were as complete and understandable as we've been led to believe.  Regardless, the gist is clear.  My answers for each question were all identical: "I would cry."  There has been some debate about whether those answers were more due to my personality or my age.  I tell you all of this to reflect on the current behavior of my own four-year-old.  I'm not sure Olivia would admit that her solution to every problem in her life would be to cry (do I get retroactive points for honesty?), but she does burst into tears an alarming number of times each day over seemingly insignificant obstacles.  Gretchen closed the door (Olivia was already out and besides, she knows how to open it).  Kaitlyn took a toy (that Olivia was not playing with at the time).  Mom told her to eat another bite of carrot even though she already ate three bites (okay, maybe that's worth crying about).  You get the point.  My one consolation is that I grew out of this stage, so presumably my daughter will do the same.

Kaitlyn is our messiest baby.  This is discouraging because it means that they've been getting messier as we progress, which does not fit at all with my idea that each baby should be an improvement on the one that came before.  Every meal ends up in her hair and she's constantly dripping with slobber and/or snot.  The problem has been exacerbated by the fact that she recently discovered that her finger fits perfectly inside her nose.

The girls got Twister for Christmas and we played it for the first time on Thursday night.  They're actually pretty good at it.  Bryan declared himself the official spinner and said I had to hold Kaitlyn as a handicap.  He did allow me to use a wrap, but the only one I had available wasn't fabulous, so he rescued her when she began to look uncomfortable.  The new and improved Twister game has two new options on the spinner: Air and Caller's Choice.  What sadistic person puts "air" on a Twister spinner?

Our friends the Creightons brought over a couple of little boy dress up outfits so that all the little boys who visit can wear something other than fancy dresses.  The girls also think it's great to dress up as Captain Hook and Peter Pan.

Pictures:

February 7-14

I promised you a story about Kaitlyn and her standing skills.  She can indeed stand unassisted for short periods of time.  Whenever we catch her standing, we make a big deal about it and cheer for her.  As a result, she knows that she can stand and that this is something of which to be proud.  She's developed a game of sorts, pulling herself up and then letting go with both hands for a second or two while looking triumphantly at the other people in the room.  After this brief moment of euphoria, she immediately throws her hands back down to safe anchorage.  This will be repeated any number of times in one session.  :)

A common word around our house is "great!"  I don't think Bryan and I use the word great a lot, but perhaps I am mistaken because both Olivia and Gretchen use it on a regular basis.

Kaitlyn seems to have two consistent words.  One is "gog," which means "dog" (or, in one case, "large button that I am going to eat").  The other, more frequently used word is "dada," which means "parental unit."  At first it seemed that just Bryan was Dada, but we have come to realize that Dada also refers to me.

An amusing note: Olivia's most common song of choice when going to the bathroom is "Let It Go."

I went on an organizing spree this week, probably because I didn't really have the time to be organizing and so of course I was motivated.  :/  I've started alphabetizing all the books Dad left here so that I can list some of them for sale and repackage the rest in some sort of easily referenced order.  I also rearranged the workroom-turned-Jacque's-bedroom so that her things and my things are separate and the bed is no longer in the direct center of the room.  I wish I had taken a "before" picture so everyone could properly appreciate the progress.  The picture below DOES have a clearly defined line where the bed used to be, and you'll just have to believe me when I say that there used to be only about a foot and a half of walking space on three of the sides (the last side had no space).  It looks much better now.  :)

Last week, Fr. Mark mentioned in his sermon that happy, well-adjusted children sing.  I decided to try an experiment on myself and sing whenever I wanted to yell at the kids.  I didn't worry about tune or rhyming but instead made it all up as I went, giving them directions in song.  It worked remarkably well, and I sing often enough over the course of the day that the girls didn't even seem to notice that something might be amiss.  The one downside is that once I start singing I find it difficult to stop...

I had an orchestra concert yesterday.  The music was Mendelssohn and Beethoven and it was refreshingly familiar.  :)  Next month is our Star Wars concert, where we play selections from each of the first 6 movies.

Pictures:

January 24-February 7

Saturday (the 23rd) was Eva's birthday party.  Bryan was on a retreat with the guys from church, but the girls and I attended the event before heading over to the Klein house for dinner.  The party was at Run Around Fun Town, which is pretty much an indoor playground for kids.  There were bounce houses and slides and lots of toddler sized playthings (kitchens, grocery stores, tiny treadmills, etc).  Olivia and Gretchen stuck together like glue, apparently by mutual consent.  I think Gretchen was overwhelmed by the number of people and Olivia felt it was her duty to take care of her younger sister.  At one point I took Gretchen to the bathroom, and when she came back she couldn't find Olivia.  She turned in aimless circles, searching, while I pointed Olivia out, to no avail.  Finally, I caught Olivia's attention and told her Gretchen was looking for her.  Olivia immediately ran to Gretchen and jumped in front of her.  Gretchen threw her arms in the air with a joyful exclamation and gave Olivia a hug for a good twenty seconds before Olivia grabbed Gretchen's hand and led her off to the bounce house.  :)

I think the next big thing was on Thursday when I drove up to Ann Arbor to take care of various musical things at Shar.  My bow is now rehaired and I have new strings on my viola.  I got an old violin appraised (found in mom and dad's basement when they moved), and learned that it is a German commercial model, probably worth repairing someday but not now.  The bow that was with it would apparently "make a wonderful tomato stake."

On Friday, I left for a two day trip to Toledo.  One of my Christmas gifts from Bryan was a nice hotel room in Toledo and an overnight trip with some friends from church.  The only child invited was Juliana, who is three months old.  Bryan and the other men took care of the rest of the kids while the mothers vacationed.  We got massages, enjoyed the heated pool, ate ice cream, watched movies, played games, visited a tea shop, and saw a musical.  We had a lot of fun.  :)

Sunday night was Jacque's play and she was fabulous, of course.  The whole play was quite amusing.  Bryan and I have season tickets to this particular theater, and our friends the Creightons, the Kleins, and the Alison were able to join us.  We made sure to cheer loudly for Jacque at the end and pay special attention to her when greeting the cast after the show.  We even went through the line twice.

Other notes:
-Olivia and Gretchen call Alison "Alice."
-Kaitlyn claps her hands and stands unassisted.  Story about the standing next week.
-Shadows are "shades" in our house.  This was first noticed over Thanksgiving in Florida when Olivia was jumping on Oma's shadow and talking about how she "got your shade!"  I was reminded of it this week when my shade was gotten.  :)

Pictures:

January 17-24

Kaitlyn can turn off light switches, though it takes her a small eternity to do so.  She has also developed a fabulous stiff-arm which she uses to great effect on her older sisters when they try to crowd her.  She excels in the balance department but is lacking courage and thus is not standing unassisted much yet.  Unfortunately for cruising along furniture, she decided to skip the "move your feet" step of learning to walk and is now discovering the hard way that one shouldn't cut corners if one has no idea what one is doing.  She might be mine.

Gretchen wants to do everything that Olivia does.  She eats the same breakfasts (mostly cereal), dislikes the same vegetables (all of them), prefers the same colors (green and orange), plays the same games, reads the same books, loves the same princesses, says the same words...  There are times when we are able to remind her that she is her own person (who actually likes eggs and bacon for breakfast, doesn't mind vegetables much at all, and shows a preference for pink and purple), but for the most part she is content to echo Olivia.  She's been enjoying galloping around since Edward visited and showed her how.  Also, Gretchen knows that two choices amounts to no choices.  There is no pacifying her need for independence by giving her two acceptable options, thereby tricking her into thinking she's making important decisions about her own life.  She's on to our game and can see through the deception.

Olivia has a construction paper crown that Grandma made her.  It's green and says "Princess Olivia."  Shortly after it came home over a year ago, I covered the whole thing with packing tape so as to not be constantly patching rips.  It would seem that she now thinks that this crown is a hair accessory.  She wears it every day and if I ask what she is going to wear to keep her hair out of her face she looks at me like I'm a bit off my rocker and says in a patronizing tone, "I'm going to wear my crown!"   Long able to spell her own name, Olivia can now spell Gretchen's name as well.  We have a song we sing when spelling names, so that helps.  Unfortunately for me, she has developed the unsettling habit of needing to be inside my personal space bubble anytime she talks to me, which means she's often playing with my braid, stroking my arm, and/or breathing in my ear.  It drives me nuts.

Marshmallows in our house are called shmarshmallows.  The girls are not, as far as I can tell, being goofy; they legitimately think that's what they are called.

We spent some time in Sidney this week so that Bryan could go to Springfield for work and the girls and I could go to Dayton for Eva's birthday party.  The Kleins visited us while we were in Sidney, and Steph and I took the kids downstairs to play foosball and pool.  A note about foosball tables: those rods are right at two-year-old eye level.  Only two kids got hit, though, and we enjoyed quite an exciting game of foosball.  None of the kids were able to maneuver the players very well, and Eli and Gretchen had to stand on a trampoline if they wanted to see inside.  I was playing one handed while holding Kaitlyn.  I think Eva was the only child who understood what we were trying to accomplish (get the ball in the goal), but she was occasionally fuzzy on which goal.  At one point, though, Steph missed a block with the goalie, allowing me to score, and Eva said, "Here, Mom, let me show you how."  :)

Bryan had an interview in Columbus on Thursday for a contracting job with the Columbus Crew.  For those of you that don't know, the Crew is a professional soccer team.  Bryan contacted the owner (manager?) once about applying some analytic analysis to the team (similar to the movie Moneyball) and has been talking back and forth with him since then.  He's had several meetings and has now been offered a one-time job with the possibility of future work depending on their needs.  He is excited to be officially working for a professional sports team, though he says he'd be just as happy getting paid in "season tickets and soccer balls."

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 9

Olivia: I don't know who made this big mess, but it wasn't me!

Olivia: I don't know who Kaitlyn's going to marry.
Me: Nobody knows who Kaitlyn is going to marry.
Gretchen: I do!
Olivia: Who is Kaitlyn going to marry?
Gretchen: A prince.
Olivia: What prince?
Gretchen: Um...Santa!
Olivia: But Santa's a girl!

Gretchen: Olivia is my sister and mommy is my mother and daddy is my father and Kaitlyn is my Kaitlyn bug.

(This next conversation is from about two years ago.  I was reminded of it when Kaitlyn ate one of Gretchen's art projects.)
Bryan: What happened to our tag word game?
Me: It died.  Olivia pulled the score sheet off the fridge and Gretchen ate it.

Gretchen, while reading a book: Lion.  Rar.  Monkey.  Oo ee oo ee.  Frog.  Ribbit.  Giraffe.  Shif-shaf.

Olivia, after Grandma successfully navigated the electronics to start a movie: Good job, Grandma!  You didn't even need an adult to help you!

Gretchen: Barbies are not arrows, barbies are just barbies.

Gretchen is coloring with a purple marker.
Me: Gretchen, make sure you are only coloring on the paper.
Gretchen: I am.
Me: Okay, I was just reminding you.
Gretchen: And I taked a yucky out of my nose and put it in this purple thing!

William: We are big boys.
Olivia: I am not a boy, I am a big girl.
William: I am a big girl, too.
Justine: You are a boy.
William: Edward is a little boy and Gretchen is a little boy.
Gretchen: I am a middle girl.
William: And Edward is a little girl!
Justine: Edward is a boy.

Olivia: Kaitlyn's head is under the stool so she is crying and I can't see her eyes.

Olivia: You don't have a mommy, you just have a daddy, and that means you're a mermaid.

Olivia: Hey, Kaitlyn, you little bumby baby, why is your mouth on my a-- AAAAAAAAHH!
Olivia, in tears: Mommy, Kaitlyn bited me.

Gretchen: Aunt Jacque, can you do something for me?
Jacque: Sure!
Gretchen: No, you don't say "sure," you say "absolutely!"

Gretchen: I don't like vegils.
Me: Which one is a vegil?
Gretchen: This corn is a vegil!
Olivia: Mommy, is corn a vegetable?
Me: Corn is a starch.
Gretchen: I don't like starches!

Olivia: Where are you going, Daddy?
Bryan: I have to go to the bathroom.
Olivia: Ugh!  Why does he have to do that EVERY DAY?

January 10-17

Kaitlyn had a checkup this week.  She's 19 lbs, 15 oz, and 28.75 inches long.  This week she also started actual crawling (rather than using her old but effective method of dragging herself forward in an army crawl) and shaking her head.  She knows how to open cupboards and spends her time getting into all sorts of things.

I took Olivia out to get new winter boots on Monday.  I was hoping to find old fashioned galoshes that fit over shoes, but alas, those are a thing of the past.  We settled for bright pink rain boots.  Afterwards we stopped to get ice cream to take home and share.  As we left Coldstone, each holding a bowl of ice cream, Olivia turned sideways and shoved her little hip into the door to open it.  It was super cute, which is why this otherwise uneventful story made it into the blog.  :)

Number 21 on my 30 Before 30 list is nearly done.  That's the one about completing three things from my projects list.  I recently found a place where my list was written down, and was able to verify that I have finished a growth chart and Dominion dividers.  I still intend to finish the Advent calendar and the music class, so I'm hoping it won't be too long before I can cross this one off.

The girls attended their first kids only birthday party on Tuesday.  Elesha and her mom had the kids from the congregation over for an hour and fifteen minutes to celebrate Gideon's birthday.  Now it's up to me to decide if this becomes a trend since we have the next two birthdays in line...

Look for a bonus post (Sound Bites!) on Wednesday.

Pictures:

January 3-10

General notes from last week:
-Kaitlyn got three new teeth, bringing her total to eight.
-The cousins played so happily together that Olivia didn't ask to watch a movie at all (typically she asks at least once a day).
-One batch of granola is not nearly enough to feed the crowds that visited, even with other cereal available.  Justine and I made a batch Sunday night and it was gone by Friday morning.

Our friends Antoine and Jasmine came to visit for a few days this past week.  Then Bryan's former roommate Albie dropped in on his way to Columbus on Friday.  My former roommate Robin is stopping by this next Wednesday and then I think we're done expecting visitors for a bit.

Gretchen runs almost everywhere.  I don't remember Olivia running from room to room very much, but perhaps that is because our old house was smaller.  In this house, though, Gretchen has plenty of room to get some speed and she takes full advantage of it.  The pitter-patter of her bare feet hurrying through the kitchen is a common sound.

A few Gretchen things:
-She calls for "anyone" when she needs something.  "Anyone, come find me.  I'm hiding, anyone."  "Anyone, I need help!"
-She's very concerned with which foot is right and which is left.  She also wants to make sure that the right and left shoe (and right and left sock) go on the appropriate feet.  Before she became so obsessed with right and left, though, she would just talk about her "other one foot."  "Do one foot.  And other one foot."

Kaitlyn is big enough to be a nuisance to her sisters.  She pulls herself up on everything now, and her stubby little arms reach remarkably far.  Olivia and Gretchen have taken to playing in the baby cage so that Kaitlyn can't get their little toys.  Kaitlyn's response to this is to stand outside the cage and holler at them.  :)  Eventually she remembers that she has toys of her own, though, and is content to just play in the same room as her sisters.

Olivia thinks our house is named Lima.  Or perhaps she thinks the entirety of Lima is contained in our house (which is ironic, given that we're not even technically IN Lima).

Pictures:

December 27-January 3

This was a busy week.  You may remember that last Saturday we returned home from Sidney in time to meet Justine and her boys as they came from Michigan.  Since Josef, Jacob, Jacque, and Zach were with us, our house was rather full that night.  Sunday was the day that the Bishop visited St. Stephen's, so we had a longer-than-usual service followed by a potluck meal.  Tom and Donna met us at church after the service to pick up some things of Zach's (but not Zach himself) and to say goodbye to Jacque before she went to Michigan for a wedding.  She took our van because her car was misbehaving, so Jacob ferried everyone home in his Civic.  Several trips later, we were all back at our house, and Tom and Donna stayed to visit for a bit before heading on their merry way.

Bryan went back to work on Monday, but everyone else was free to sleep in (or not, in the case of the children) and hang out during the day.  Jacque returned from Michigan, bringing Joseph along with her (he'd stayed for an extra day, knowing that she was making the trip).  Josef, Jacob, and Zach stayed until mid-afternoon and Keshia and Tyler (Bryan's sister and her husband) came to visit about the same time.  After dinner and games, Keshia and Tyler returned to Sidney and Sarah and Luther (Joseph's sister and her husband) showed up on our doorstep.  :)

Tuesday was the day that Jacque took her car to get fixed.  Justine and I started feta cheese and resurrected my sourdough starter.  That evening, I ran to the store and then picked Jacque up from the car place in time for dinner.  I couldn't take her back to get her newly healed car, though, because I had orchestra rehearsal.  When I got home from rehearsal, everyone had been taught the game Dominion and they were all happily playing using the two new expansions that Bryan got for Christmas.  We also got a call from Ricky and Nathan (Fenton side cousins) asking if they could sleep at our house on their way from California to Times Square.  Two more air mattress beds were constructed and I cleaned the kitchen while waiting for them to arrive.  Of course, their car overheated eight miles from our house, so they didn't arrive until just after two...

Wednesday morning I stumbled out of bed at 6:15 to fish the feta cheese out of its brine.  Note to all cheese makers: 10 hours in the brine is better than 12.  It was much less salty this time.  Second note: Hang the feta to drain for 4 hours (rather than letting it sit in a colander like the directions say); it gets much drier this way.  Having returned to bed, I got another hour of sleep before Gretchen woke me up and the day got started.  Bryan did NOT make it out of bed, having lost too much sleep up to this point.  Justine made sourdough pretzels, using my starter up completely since I decided that I just don't care enough to keep up with it.  She also made muddy buddies, because why not?  Danielle and Wilson (my college roommate and her husband) arrived in time for dinner and we all played teledraw after the kids went to bed.

Sarah, Luther, Danielle, and Wilson stayed until just before lunch on Thursday and then took off to continue their Christmas visiting elsewhere.  Joseph drove back to Michigan to ring in the New Year with some friends from college.  That afternoon I had an orchestra rehearsal, followed by dinner at home and then the concert.  After the concert I stopped at Wal-Mart hoping to find A Cinderella Story and apple cider for a throwback New Year's Eve party with Justine and Jacque.  Fail on both counts.  We made our wassail with apple juice and debated watching The Prince and Me on Netflix before deciding to watch Parks and Recreation and play Dominion with Bryan instead.  The new year came in an understated, unheralded way: we only noticed because I checked my phone before going to bed at 12:04.  That's about how our parties always went growing up, too.  :)

By Friday morning the house felt empty and was only getting emptier.  The Bossard crew waited until Joseph came back with the van and then packed up to head back to Massachusetts.  Jacque hung around until after dinner before taking off for Dayton.  Bryan and I played a couple more games of Dominion and then crashed.

Saturday my batteries died.  The morning went pretty well, but I fell asleep reading my book around 2:30.  I woke up to go to Mass with Bryan and the kids at 4, but during the car ride felt quite unwell and ended up staying in the van.  As soon as we got home, I went to bed for the night.  Happily, I felt quite recovered by the next morning.

Pictures: