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!

May 22-29

We spent a few days in Michigan visiting my parents.  Dad left for the airport on Tuesday.  After he left, Justine and I put the backseat of my van into her van, packed up the six kids, and headed to Lima a bit ahead of the rush.  Bryan finished working in Jacob's computer room and then came down with James.  Mom and Joseph followed the next morning.

We bought Olivia and Gretchen bikes on Tuesday night and promptly removed the training wheels and pedals so that they wouldn't know that their bikes were supposed to have training wheels and pedals.  They picked out helmets on Wednesday but since then haven't been much interested in riding their new bikes.  All the little boys we've had visiting lately have enjoyed them, though, so at least they're getting used.

The cousins stayed to visit for a day and a half before leaving after lunch on Thursday.  We'll see them again at Aufdy camp in a few months.

Mom and James stayed until Saturday morning and plan to be back next week.  Before leaving, Mom made new construction paper crowns for Olivia and Gretchen.  The crowns were laminated in an attempt to give them a longer life than is typical for crowns in our house.  Olivia wears her crown constantly (including to bed).  Gretchen is less attached during the day, but has come out of her room two nights in a row looking for her Oma crown to take to bed with her.

Pictures (not in chronological order) and a video:

May 8-22

It seems I have a lot of Gretchen updates this week.  They will make up for the fact that I generally have little to report about our poor, neglected middle child.  To begin, she had a checkup recently so I know that she weighs 34 pounds and is 38 inches tall.  She was willing to follow all the doctor's directions and was relieved to learn that she would not be receiving a shot.

You know the part in The Little Mermaid where Ariel has to sing for Ursula as she trades her voice for legs?  Somehow that scene made such a big impression that the "wah wah wah" song is now background music for every change that Gretchen's dolls make.  Anna turns into Elsa, Sofia becomes a mermaid, Rapunzel changes her clothes...  Gretchen holds the character up in the air and sings "wah wah wah, wah wah wah, wah wah wah, wah wah wah..."  Judging from the amount of time she spends singing, we've decided that some changes are more difficult than others.  Gretchen's sense of pitch isn't particularly well developed yet, so the resulting incantation is quite exciting.  She does let her pitch rise somewhat incrementally, but when she hits the top of her range she just continues singing yelling a monotone "wah wah wah."

Gretchen cannot stand still.  She is constantly fidgeting, even walking in large circles around the living room while she and Olivia discuss who is going to play which part in their games.  She does moderately better at sitting still, but even then is prone to constant readjustments.

Gretchen has a method for choosing things: When asked to make a choice, she says, "um, whichever one I touch."  Then she wobbles back and forth between her decisions saying, "I touch...  I touch..." before finally picking something.

"Powers" are a physically visible thing in our house.  This is a result of two barbies that we have who came with accessories meant to represent their superpowers.  Elsa has an ice clump that shoots from her hand and a superhero has a splash of purple magic.  Now when Olivia and Gretchen play, they say things like "I take my powers off.  I give my powers to you."

Kaitlyn has a few things she says, but the most common ones recently are "no", "stop it", and "don't do that".  The last one is admittedly a stretch, but that's what her babbling sounds like and the meaning is clear.  This must be what it's like to grow up with two older sisters.  Sorry, Jacque.  :)

The biggest house news this week is our new driveway.  We had a company come out and cover our loose stones with asphalt.  Our driveway is now wonderfully paved and smooth so that the girls can ride bikes and cars won't get stuck in the winter.

My snapkins got mentioned in an online article recently, which was pretty exciting.

This weekend we are in Michigan to attend Jillian's graduation and visit with family.

Pictures and Videos

April 17-May 8

Greetings, strangers.  Christ is Risen!

Things that happened:

Gretchen's birthday - Little Miss Gretchen turned 3 on April 24th.  We didn't have a big party, instead choosing to celebrate alone and then have some friends over for her baptism birthday.  She got a Doc McStuffins doctor kit and a box of REAL bandaids to use whenever she wished.  The bandaids (all 60 of them) were gone in less than 24 hours.

Holy Week - April 24th was also Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church, which meant that the days following it were filled with church, church, and more church.  We actually had less than some (I know Justine's parish had services twice a day, but we only had evening services), but it was still a lot.  We tried to keep activities to a minimum during this week so that we (read: I) would not become overwhelmed.

Pascha! - May 1 was Pascha, which meant we all got dressed up for a vigil service at 11 the night before.  Olivia was too excited to sleep, so she stayed awake long enough to get dressed and dance around in her finery before falling asleep in the car on the way to church.  She slept on a pew through the whole service (and the party afterwards) and then complained in the morning about how we forgot to walk around the church (we didn't).  Gretchen refused to wake up, even through the transfer to and from the car, and slept on a pew in her pajamas until just before communion, when she suddenly realized that she was missing things, rubbed her eyes, and stumbled into line, bedhead and all.  Kaitlyn woke up as we were getting ready to leave the house, wore her dress, and stubbornly stayed awake for the entire service and half the party.  She was not cranky, just awake (and rather proud of the bell that she got to hold).

Bright week activities - The week after Pascha is called Bright Week and the people at St. Stephen's try to make it an especially festive and social week.  We all went bowling one day and spent another day at a park.  While bowling, we learned that our bowling alley has a program where registered kids get two free games every day during the summer, so we now have two registered kids and an accompanying family pass so that we can go bowling whenever we want.  (Your local bowling alley may do it too: KidsBowlFree.com)  Women's group did a paint and sip, which is an event where everyone drinks wine and paints a picture based on the a masterpiece.  Carrie, one of the mothers here, was an art major in college, so she led the painting for us.

Gretchen's baptism birthday - Since Gretchen's birthday was on Palm Sunday, we moved her party to her baptism birthday on May 5.  This will probably be a common occurrence.  It was a kids only event featuring ice cream cake.  I had a couple of games planned, but no one cared because it was a nice day and our back yard has a rockbox AND a trampoline.  This was the easiest party ever.

Other items of note:

The girls helped me fill alms bags with non-perishable items and toiletries so that we can hand them out to homeless people.  We keep a few in the car and restock as needed.

The bandaids were such a big hit that we put two more boxes in the Pascha basket for Olivia and Gretchen to have.

Bryan dug out the grass and added to our patio walkway so that it's the same width as the fence instead of being one off-centered line of tiles.

The Pascha dresses were done a full two hours before the service began.  They would have been done sooner (Olivia's and Gretchen's were both done a few days before), but I took a break to make and eat dinner after putting Kaitlyn's zipper in.  The were all wearable by 3 in the afternoon.

Kaitlyn walks all the time now.  She also says "no" and means it.

Gretchen's bathroom skills have improved.  Or perhaps it's her listening skills that have improved.  Either way, she's not currently in a "run around in crazy circles" phase.

Olivia's screening results came back.  One school suggests preschool, the other says they'd take her for kindergarten but they want her to work on 9 of the 13 core things that they look for.  We have decided that she will be doing preschool at home next year.  I have a curriculum and everything.  It's super exciting.

The girls' calendar is a big hit.  Such a big hit, in fact, that I bought them a large desk calendar and some stickers to decorate it.  I also found a place where you can make custom stickers, which I will be doing shortly so that I don't have to draw the same pictures (mostly of visiting friends) over and over.

Tomatoes and banana peppers are started in my laundry room.  The cloche that was over the broccoli bed has been moved to begin warming up soil in another bed.  The broccoli (and accompanying weeds) looks great, and my second planting of peas (after the first batch perished during the transplant) is growing nicely.

I am hoping that it won't be another three weeks before I post again.  Good thing Jacque has been stepping up her blogging game (8 posts since my last one!) to mask my failures.  :)

Pictures:

April 10-17

I made the girls a calendar.  They want to know when things are happening, so I drew a calendar with little pictures on it and we cross of a day every night.  I'm hoping this will help with Gretchen's confusion about when her birthday is -- she knew at Kaitlyn's birthday that her own birthday would be in a month, so now she's just patiently waiting: "Is it month yet?"

Olivia had her school readiness screenings this week.  I was given very little information, but I know that she got to use scissors once.  They're sending results ...sometime.  The two big disappointments about the screenings (from her point of view) were that Gretchen didn't get to come and that the school that had cookies for the open house did not also have some at the screening.  :)  In the car on the way to the first screening, I had to combat a litany of "I am only happy if I am with Gretchen.  I love Gretchen.  I will be sad if Gretchen is not there."  At least she loves her sister.

Gretchen has been taking control of her play a little more, creating her own dialogue rather than following Olivia's lead.  She got an hour of being the oldest while Olivia was at school and didn't quite know what to do with herself.  She did help me decide what to make for dinner, so I guess that's something.  :)

Kaitlyn is walking about half the time now.  She tends to speak in tongues, but has the occasional "uh-oh" and is beginning to say "no."  Her favorite word is still "dadadadadada."  She loves being outside and will stand at the window staring outside for long periods of time, waiting for some unwary visitor to open the door and let her out.  I'm trying to give her more time outside now that it's warm again.

Bryan built a rockbox for the girls.  It's an in ground sandbox, but with pea gravel instead of sand because we didn't want to deal with the mess.  Olivia and Gretchen have some buckets and a couple of large plastic trucks and are quite happy to dig in the rocks.

On the garden front, our fruit trees are getting leaves, which is very exciting.  My raspberry patch has 13 plants with leaves, which might be more exciting.  I have three rhubarb plants growing and the peas and broccoli are in the ground.  :)

Pictures:

Bonus Post: Flashback -- May 2010

Just some pictures from May 2010 because I love this album every time Jacque reminds me that it exists.  Back row: Justine, Jacob, Jacque, Josef.  Front row: Jillian, James, Johannah.

April 3-10

Kaitlyn's one-year check up was Tuesday.  She's 21 pounds, 10 ounces, and 29.75 inches tall.  The doctor speculated that perhaps Kaitlyn had been wiggling during the length measurement since her weight has been holding steady at 75% but her height has been swinging from 60%-80%.  Otherwise all is normal.  :)  Kaitlyn is the exact same size as Olivia at the same age (if we give her a quarter inch of wiggle room).  Gretchen was a tad thinner.

Olivia and Gretchen both walked late (14 months), but once they started taking steps they were walking and didn't really go back to crawling.  Kaitlyn takes a few steps here and there every day, but has decided that crawling is faster and safer most of the time.

Kaitlyn has a fake "everyone else is laughing so I should, too" laugh.  I believe the video was in last week's post.

For everyone hoping for the baby news they know is coming at any moment... there isn't any.  :-D

When Kaitlyn gives hugs, she pats the huggee's back (or, more accurately, shoulder).  It's pretty cute, and when she started doing it I remembered that Gretchen used to do the same thing.  It was cute then, too.

All three girls lean in for forehead kisses.  If I say, "give me a kiss," they'll run their foreheads into my mouth.  Olivia still does that even now.  Gretchen is the least likely to do it, opting instead for a real kiss, but I know she used to do it.  Kaitlyn will sometimes lean in so forcefully that she's in danger of chipping teeth (mine, not hers).

Kaitlyn is ... wait for it ... sleeping in her crib!  In her room!  With her sisters!  This development comes after three months of sleeping in a pack and play in the oratory that is connected to our room.  She also spent about a week sleeping in the pack and play in the old workroom, during which time she also finally conquered sleeping all the way through the night!  There's a very happy mama over here.  No regressing now, Kaitlyn.

Gretchen "reads" several books.  We have 24 books that come with an electronic reader that reads them aloud.  It's pretty much the 2016 equivalent of books on tape.  Olivia and Gretchen love all the books and read them to themselves before bed almost every night.  Both of them quote large portions of the books throughout the day, but Gretchen took it a step further by "reading" the Cinderella book that she got from the library.  Note that the book from the library is about 50 times longer than the one with the reader.

Most people needing to go to the bathroom will simply excuse themselves, walk to the bathroom, and take care of their business.  Not Gretchen.  When Gretchen needs to go to the bathroom, she immediately runs to tell me (despite the fact that she was playing less than five feet from her bathroom, the one with a step and potty seat already set up).  Then she runs in increasingly frantic circles around the house -- to the bathroom, to me, to the living room for no apparent reason, to me, to the bathroom, through the playroom, back to the living room, to me, to the bathroom, into the playroom again -- until I either physically put her on the potty or she pees on the floor.  "Well Johannah," I hear you saying, "just take her to the bathroom when she first tells you and the problem would be solved."  That would be a fantastic idea, except that she tells me when I'm nursing Kaitlyn, or trying not to burn dinner, or changing a diaper.  This in addition to the fact that she doesn't actually NEED my help.  Most of the time she doesn't even want me to help her, she just wants someone to watch while she does it herself.  Also, I'm trying to encourage her to take care of things herself.  Because she CAN.  She's doing better lately, for which I am grateful.

The end of last week was spent at a homeschooling conference.  We haven't decided one way or the other about homeschooling vs regular schooling, so Bryan and I are both trying to be open minded.  I'm heavily in favor of homeschooling, he's more interested in a traditional school experience.  Regardless, this conference has many different kinds of talks and we went with friends (and without children), so it was fun.  We learned a lot about various things and Bryan said he'd even go back again, especially if I let him walk across the street to get a beer when he needs a break to think about things.  :)

Pictures:

March 27-April 3

I have found recently that I have little time for blog updates.  Sorry about the lateness of, well, ALL of them.

This week's quick synopsis:
Kaitlyn turned one!  Sunday's weather was beautiful and warm, so we took the cake outside and she smashed daintily picked at it while a crowd of admirers looked on.  Bryan says the cake destroying is getting better with each subsequent child, but he thinks there is still plenty of room for improvement.  Kaitlyn did not have to worry about being able to blow out her own candle (she can't) because several of the gathered children blew it out before her cake got to her tray.

Kaitlyn's cake was entirely fast friendly.  I have a good vegan chocolate cake recipe if anyone wants or needs it.  WE need it, because I've just discovered that we only have one birthday that is not during a fasting period, and that one (Gretchen's) still falls during Lent about half the time.

Jillian, Jacque, and I went to a 2Cellos concert on Monday night.  It was a lot of fun, although noisier than I thought necessary.  I might be turning into an old fuddy duddy.

On Tuesday the girls and I took Jillian back to Michigan.  We ate lunch on Oma and Opa's old porch while Jillian sorted stuffed animals for the trip back to my house.  Then we dropped Jillian off at her current residence, visited the guys at Lube Cube (because the van needed an oil change), and were back on our way home.

On Wednesday we all traveled to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Bryan and I were attending the homeschooling conference in Cincinnati over the weekend.  Kaitlyn got Grandma all to herself for a few days and Olivia and Gretchen had a two day sleepover with the Kleins.

Pictures and Videos: