February

Highlights:

All of Theodore's pants have holes in them, probably because they've been through at least one other boy before making it to him (and that's best case scenario). Pajamas I just lop off above the knee and call them shorts, but for regular daily wear he needs long pants, so I've started patching. I don't have jean patches on hand, but I do have a fabric room! I went downstairs, picked out some scraps he would like, and started carrying around a sewing kit to patch tiny pants while I'm waiting for lessons.

Apparently making elaborate Valentine's Day boxes is a thing. In the past I've been able to get away with giving the girls some heart wrapping paper and a cereal box, but this year Kaitlyn had dreams. She wanted a flamingo. In the name of using up even more fabric scraps, I convinced her to do a patchwork thing using shades of pink. We painted glue on the box and stuck scraps on and then made some wings and a head out of more cardboard and scraps. I think it turned out pretty neat! I am not sure I want to have to do this every year, though.

Pictures:

Theodore's patches: 

Olivia looking very grown up playing piano:

Dinosaurs!

Picture with the boys:

The best toy -- a broken necklace chain:

Kaitlyn's valentine box:

Gretchen school photos:

January

Highlights:

Grandma came over to stay with Theodore while the rest of us went snow tubing with Bryan's siblings. It wasn't too cold, but that didn't matter because they use mostly artificial snow anyway. The kids had a great time, especially when their lower weights meant they flew a little going over the hills. Matthias needed help getting out of his tube because he didn't have long enough legs to leverage himself out. The moving sidewalk back up the the top was an exciting adventure to navigate with children, but we managed. By the end they were even getting pretty good at maneuvering themselves and their giant tubes onto the belt without slipping. Two hours of tubing is a long time, so we were pretty ready to go by the time our reservation was over. We got some hot chocolate before we left, which was a popular decision.

Catholic Schools week was at the end of January, and Gretchen and her friend Ava saw some blue fuzzy fabric and decided to make matching pajamas for pajama day. This was a bigger project than anticipated, and we did not leave nearly enough time for it, so Gretchen and Ava's parents ended up doing most of the sewing. The self drafted dream included facing the fuzzy side in -- for comfort. I got to add a strip into one arm that was cut a little to skinny, and did some makeshift gussets in the armpits for better movement (thanks to Ava's grandmother for that suggestion!). Both got done in time, though, and they proudly wore them to school.

Pictures:

Trying to make creepy crawlies:

A visit from Rudy and August:

Justine wanted pictures to put on Dad's mug:

Trying Jacque's fitted sheet mess containment method:

Snow tubing at Mad River Mountain:

Gretchen (with some help from me) made this nightgown for pajama day at school:

Euphemia does not trust Kaitlyn:

Video games:

Bryan turned this candy cane into a carrot and was very proud of his creativity:

Happy (scary?) Kaitlyn:

We got Kaitlyn tattoo pens for Christmas. The first thing she did:

More snow tubing pictures:

And hot chocolate afterwards:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 66

Matthias: Can you get me a stick?
Me, still asleep: I'll do it when I get up.

Matthias: Or I could ask dad to do it since he's not the laziest.

Irene: Oh, my present is a da-car.

Matthias: Not a da-car. A ka-tar.

Irene: Oh. Dacar.

Matthias: Katar.

Irene: Katar.

Me: Guitar. It's a guitar.

We were in an Airbnb in Colorado. Bryan was not with us.

Josef: Where's your dad?

Matthias: In the basement.

Me: If you're unhappy about it, I can set up a rotation so everyone is unhappy once a month.

Matthias: Why do people always measure dinosaurs with elephants?

Matthias: Can I play a S-G-R-E-E-N?

Me: It's S-C-R-E-E-N.

Matthias: It sounds like a G.

Me: It does when we say it, but it's spelled with a C.

Theo: Well, have you heard of N?

Josef: Are you the strongest of your siblings?

Kaitlyn: Probably. I have a 4 pack. But daddy's stronger.

Matthias: Mom, is there any emergency?

Theodore: We are superheroes and superheroes kill people!

Me: Superheroes save people. Supervillains kill people.

Theodore: Oh, we are supervillains.

Matthias: Mom! Emergency?

Me: Sounds like there's a couple of supervillains running around.

Theodore: No, we are superheroes and we will kill the other people with swords!

Kaitlyn: What can I say, I'm really good at rinsing things.

Bryan: Between Matthias mishearing me and Theo's three-year-old speech imperfections, we are currently watching the Cincinnati Bagels play the Pittsfart Smellers.

Matthias: I'm bored.

Theodore: Oh! We can play the drinking game!

Kaitlyn: You should get Euphemia to do dishes like my mom has me do, then you don't have to do any work.

Theodore, drawing his sword: Mom, I'm going to cut you! But then you're going to be fixed!

Me: How does that work?

Matthias, wielding a hammer: Hehehe.

(Jillian: He's Fix-it Felix!)

(Justine: No, he's Fix-it Fias.)

Matthias: Dad, when you go to work, how many quarters do you get?

Notes from 2022

Theodore slowly whittled down his naps over the course of the year. By the time we reached December, he was only napping involuntarily, usually on long afternoon car rides.

The kids love balloons. They don't even need fancy balloons, just regular blown up balloons that they can toss in the air and chase around until they pop.

One of our sliding doors abruptly stopped working during the tail end of winter. Luckily, we discovered it on the way to get an oil change. There was a snapped wire poking out, so I turned off the automatic door setting, muscled it closed, and took it to the shop. The mechanic checked it out and asked how much the automatic feature was worth to me. I told him not much and he replied, "$900?" Nope. Our kids have a 90s van now.

Theo makes me wait to turn off the car until the music ends so that he can finish the song.

Kaitlyn calls McDonald's Mickey.

Bryan has rediscovered Magic the Gathering and decided he's interested enough to assemble several decks. He also made decks for Olivia, Gretchen, and me. His efforts were met with varying levels of enthusiasm. He claims that the decks he has now (3 of his own) will suffice for quite some time, and then maybe he'll eventually add another one or two. We shall see. He is currently quite motivated to go and play with his friends, and actively tries to recruit non-Magic playing friends so that they, too, may share in the experience of being a nerd in high school.

Theodore has taking to collecting his things in one giant pile. He used to keep all his treasured belongings (all the dinosaurs he could find) in a backpack, but the number outgrew his space, so he started a small but tasteful pile on a table in his room. Over the next few days, the small but tasteful pile grew into a small mountain. No one is allowed to touch his pile, including, perhaps, Theodore. Any new treasure he happens across is immediately taken on a pilgrimage to the pile for safekeeping.

Theodore's if-then statements are if-then-if. "If I'm hungry then I need a snack if I'm hungry." It does make him sound very persuasive.

Matthias likes to do "by number" books. He started with sticker by number and very carefully peeled and placed all the little stickers. He is now starting to get into color by number, although the pencils are a pain to cart around. He's also been doing a lot of puzzles. He mainly prefers large floor puzzles that he can do himself, but he has a couple dinosaur themed puzzles of varying sizes that he'll do with me on the little pink table (which we then shut in a room so that Theodore can't ruin our progress). We went to the thrift store and found a new dinosaur floor puzzle and an unopened pack of colorful puzzles of varying sizes, which was very exciting. He's happier with the floor puzzle. :)

Olivia gave a Famous Ohioan presentation at the end of 4th grade. She was Victoria Woodhull, who was, among other things, the first woman to be nominated for president (but received no electoral votes). We called Justine to figure out how to dress Olivia for the 1870s and borrowed clothes from Elesha to make it work. Pictures in April.

Gretchen participated in the 3rd grade market fair and made little fairy houses to sell. A picture of some of her wares is in March.

I started running again last year (with Elesha and Jill) and this year we had some goal races in mind. Well, one goal race for them, but I added more because I like to have something to aim for. We ran in Carmel in April (10k for me, half marathon for them) and then did some local 5ks over the summer. Then I ran the Columbus Hot Chocolate 10k, followed by a Turkey Trot 4 days later. Bryan got me some super magic cheater shoes (Nike Vaporfly Next%2, which looks like a password but is apparently a shoe name) as an early birthday present and surprised me with them before the Hot Chocolate run. They are indeed fabulous, both for faster times and easier recovery.

June was the great road trip out to Colorado and back. The kids and I joined Justine and Joseph and their crew to caravan halfway across the country four hours at a time. Bryan stayed home to work. The kids and I began Sunday night with a trip to Indianapolis to stay with Jon Wey's parents. We spent Monday morning at the Children's Museum there and then headed to St Louis to meet up with the Bossards at the Gulseth house. Our (borrowed) tent got tested that night in the heat and humidity of Missouri. Thankfully, the camping got more pleasant from there. We stayed two nights in Kansas, once on the east and once on the west. Then we crossed into Colorado and when we reached Colorado Springs we had an airbnb waiting for us. Sarah and Ben were married on Saturday, and by Monday we were on the road again, taking the northern route through Nebraska and Iowa to come home. We mixed kids up between the two cars and had a pretty good routine of driving two hours, stopping for a picnic lunch at a playground, and then driving two more hours before pitching tents in the daylight. Not the most efficient trip, perhaps, but it worked for us.

December Pictures

New and improved craft fair setup:

Couch pictures:

Finally finished this puzzle (beginning picture in January, progress picture in February). Just in time for Christmas to come again. Only one piece left over.

I turned a nightgown into a dress:

This is how 3 year olds wear coats when their mother makes them bring a coat even though they "don't care about cold." 22 degrees, but who is really bothered by that?

Gretchen making dinner and dessert for the family:

Cousins finishing up at Hero Day:

Bryan and Matthias, living the videogames after bedtime dream:

Found this apple on the counter:

Birthday apple pies for me: