Hickory Hill Lodge

Holy Sisters Batman!

2011-04-06T11:01:00.001-07:00

Last wknd. 4 sisters of the "Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary" came to town to do a girls' camp day/retreat/vocations day. Sweet, quiet, but not at all shy nuns in full habits doing songs and crafts with about 35 girls. The kids were shy for a little bit on the first day, but by the second, they were much more familiar and comfortable with these rarely-seen creatures. By day 3 Sophie wanted to know what her favorite sister's room at home looked like. And her buddy wanted to know how many layers she had on under that black thing... After a whirlwind weekend of events with the sisters, PLUS performing at 4 shows in the high school's spring musical ("Sound of Music") we all crashed into deep Sunday-night-after-an-insane-wknd. of events sleep. Later on evaluation of the experience, Sophie noted that the sisters were "so pretty and nice." Rachael said, "They were so fun and real and nice." Emily said, "I'm so impressed that they can wear those clothes, and get stared at so often because of their love for Jesus." She then resolved that if they can do it, she can do it. (She also had to laugh at one of the sister's craving to get a Coke one night. "She loves Coke??!!" Emily said. lol) It's hard to be Catholic in the south without a regular diet of scorn and questioning, so, imagine that for a pre-teen! The sisters really were impressive, and kind, and devout, and HAPPY. What a breath of fresh air for all of us.

More vanity

2011-01-23T21:26:00.000-08:00

Not that anyone cares, but my hair is a mess. I've been trying to go "natural" and stop using shampoos. So, last spring I switched to baking soda/water as a cleanser, and vinegar and water as a rinse. Result: Straw. Clean straw. So I changed the rinse to water/honey. Result: Ants in the shower and all over the spray bottle of honey/water, and dry, but less frizzy hair. Next, switched to olive oil based bar soaps. Homemade ones, like you get at the farmer's market. That plus the giant bottle of cheap conditioner you get at Costco. So I've been using that for a while, but lately noticed on closer than normal inspection, that my hair is so dry and brittle, it's breaking all over the place. Forget "layering," it looks like someone sat me on a spinning chair, spun the chair, and just started clipping wherever the scissors landed. It's not pretty. So I'm back to normal shampoo/conditioner for dry, curly hair. I did some research and found some products that will help cure my dry hair problem, but to buy them, I'd have to opt not to eat for a week or so. But I did find a cheaper version of the same, and am on day 2 using it, and am very pleased. My hair is shiny again, and is much softer. Hoping this will protect the remaining chopped hairs till they grow longer. The next option is just to stop washing my hair for months on end, which I have heard leads to beautiful, shiny, luxurious hair...yeah. Whatever.

Inspired

2011-01-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

I chiselled about an hour this morning to do some reading with the kids. Instead, I read blogs and made the kids read alone. That's just how it goes. After 30 minutes, Michael had dumped the toybox and was searching it for lost treasures, Emily (who's birthday it is today, was painting the girls' nails) and I was getting inspired and belly-laughing at the witty humor of several blogging Catholic moms. I'm no writer. I really wish I could inspire such laughter and commeraderie that these women do as they describe the mundane tasks and thoughts about life. Here's my current life: I have a teenager who thinks he's in love. He's mentally absent since he's texting "her" constantly, but when he does come around (from a physical whack to bring him back) he's all floaty and happy. Good for him. My pre-teen is still sweet and creative and pining away for the day when she will be wrapped up in a busy, event-filled life of a teenager. (hoping for a soft version of that). My little girls are still playing pretend and perfecting their hip-hop and ballet, and my 2 yr. old is finally potty-trained. He is a force to be reckoned with. All boy: superhero's, muscles, fighting invisible bad guys, showing off his muscles and flirting with all women/girls he meets. My husband is plugging along through a bad economy, trying to make the best of economic challenges, keeping us warm and fed, and working nightly to get our wood floor put down. In the meantime, we are living on the subfloor, and NOT utilizing MOST of the common area downstairs. Not that I'm complaining. (see above about being warm and fed) My 25th high school reunion is coming up and I'm WAY excited about taking the kids "home" to see where I grew up. I want them to swim in "my" beaches, and drive on my old roads. Hubby is not for going. I'm going to keep working on him so it's as painless as it can be. My hair is turning grey, but I'm determined to keep my muscle that I gained last summer, and not flab away to a soft, 40-something blob. Vanity. Haven't figured out how to reverse the wrinkles, so they're here to stay. Crap. So that's my every day. It's all good. Sometimes it's sucky, but then bedtime finally gets here and I shut down to recharge and do it all again the next day. And somewhere in the middle of it all, someone says something to make me laugh till I think I'm going to pee. Like my sister. Or my Sophie, who the other day, pointed out the car window and yelled, "SHAVED CAT!!" Where???? "Made ya look!"

Fall 2010

2010-11-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, my blogging hype seems to have gone away, but I'll try again! This weekend we had Bret's Eagle scout ceremony, which was really nice. Lots of great friends came, lots of good food, and super proud of my little boy who's magically gotten big. I loved seeing our old friends Dot and Frank Watts, who were our first good friends here in Memphis. They were little Bret's surrogate grandparents for many years, and I am ever grateful for their presence, guidance, laughter, encouragement, and lots of hours of chat and cooking class with Dot and I! Love and miss you guys! In other news, work on the house continues, and the sub-floor is going down a little at a time. I feel like the slave-driver, urging my tired husband on to get it done! lol

Fall

2010-10-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends in Memphis is leaving to move to Alaska in about a week. I don't think it's fair of me to whine and cry, since it's clearly a "God thing" that they are going. So I really haven't cried much. I know we'll still call often, so I know I'll hear her thoughts and live her new life vicariously over the phone. I know we'll still be great friends and will forever share too much information between us. So none of that will change, but I'll just not be able to see her anymore. Unless she gets skype like she promises. Then it'll be like she never left, except I'll have to squint to see her through her walrus-fur hood. I can't really believe she's going, but as I said, it's part of God's plan, so it's going to be really good ultimately. In the meantime, I will try and go on here, as normally as I can. Alone for a while, a little island for a while, till we get used to our new roles. I have such great support here, so I'll be okay. Great women of faith and humor. Great men of faith and example. I couldn't ask for more to walk through this life with. I get to skype someone in Alaska in the middle of the night. I'm counting on seeing those Northern Lights at 4 a.m. Kim!

Fall

2010-09-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Fall is coming. I know it is. The calendar says that the first day of fall is 2 days away, but it's 99 degrees here. I'm wondering how the leaves still know to start falling even when it's this hot. I had a great summer which was totally focused on ME and getting back into shape. I lost 16 lbs. and 15 inches overall; I'm tossing a good number of clothes that I've been wearing for the last several years, which made me feel fat and sad, so good riddens to them! I feel so much better, and my husband seems to be happier with me instead of resolved to be married to a "fat frumpy wife." So. It's all good, right? Now to re-balance my spiritual development and exercise, which both seem to want to happen in the morning. Early. Yikes.
The kids are all good, we're full-swing back in school, and this year we have ballet, boy-scouts, and hip-hop along with history and now science group.

Summer

2010-06-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

So, the summer is here, we had our parish VBS, which was a huge success, and now 3 family members are away at camp. MUCH less laundry, and lots of projects getting done here in their absence! AND I'm on the move in my weight loss efforts, which is totally encouraging. I have a great exercise and accountability partner, which has made a WORLD of difference, and as my clothes start to get all big and floppy, it adds more motivation. It's all good! I told the kids that this summer was all about MOMMY, and I am selfishly doing just that--working on me!

Some clips from the girls' recital

2010-05-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

Been a long time!

2010-05-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Emily is getting her hair done by Christina, her ballet teacher before the recital.

A little demonstration of their skills set.

All the cute little dancers!

A sparkling hike through the woods on Mother's Day.

Emily WOVE this Lacrosse stick head and fashioned him his own stick. He loves to use Bret's, and now he has his own!

It's been too long! We've been busy all winter and spring...logging lots of miles as I drive kids to all their events, having fun with friends and family, and generally doing well. Hey, in my book, if there's no tragedy or drama, it's a good day!

SLEDDING!

2010-01-31T06:46:00.000-08:00

So we got the perfect mix of ice and snow for sledding this weekend: a rare event in this part of the country! The first night, although still a bit rainy, the girls and I spent several hours sledding down the driveway on our trash bags. It was just as fun as I remember sledding on new snow by the moonlight in CT. The next full day, we blazed lots of "trails" in the front yard: the "slip and slide," the "slip and slip," the "turn and twist," the "tree-stopper," "fire and ice," and "the cliffhanger." They don't even know about skiing and naming the runs! Anyway, about halfway through the day, a kindly neighbor lent the kids 3 plastic sleds. Everything changed! The tame front yard trails through the trees gave way to high-speed sledding from one neighbor's yard, across the cove, and up into another neighbor's yard! Spinning, wiping-out, screaming with fits of daredevil laughter, the sleds piled with kids, hit death-defying jumps over the ditch and tumbled everyone into a pile of adrenaline rich snowgear. I was screaming and laughing harder than all of them! Michael loved it! That night, at about 7, daddy came home with a borrowed sled with runners and they went back out to go sledding from the top of our driveway all the way down to the intersection at the end of the street. Steering changes everything! It had gotten REALLY cold and icy by then, so that session of sledding was short. I am so glad that they got to make those memories and feel that thrill of sledding...it had been an experience I was mourning they might never get living in the south. Today, the sun is out, and the sparkling snowy ice calls to us again, before it melts! More fun!

Not a REAL blog

2010-01-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

So, I watched Julia/Julie last night, and realized, first, I'm not a gourmet cook, AND second, this apparently is not a real blog. It has no real purpose. I'll have to rethink that concept. New Years came and went for us; Bret and I went to his high school reunion's party. Kind of a disappointment in attendance, but we had fun on the dancefloor anyway. Emily turns 11 in a couple of days and had a giant sleepover this weekend. Lots of chatty girls, and some boys even came for the early part of the party, so that was fun for them. Michael is getting so smart; he puts lots of concepts together, and although he can't tell us what he's thinking, we all know. It's great to see the older kids getting excited about what he's doing or figuring out. A friend asked me why I don't put Michael in some kind of daycare during the day, so I can get school done more efficiently. After I had my surge of indignance, I thought to myself, "hmmm..apparently society feels that a whole room full of 1 yr. olds will have better luck teaching themselves about sharing and caring than their mom and older siblings." That's got to be it. Now, I know my friend was trying to suggest something to make my life easier (although she had no indication that I was having any trouble with him while doing school, which I'm not), but how un-thought-out the attitude of our society. I'm sad about the solutions that push out our kids on underpaid/undereducated girls to "watch" our kids while we get "work" done. I know my kids better than anyone. I know their strengths, weaknesses, what motivates them, and what distracts them. If I get stuck, I give it some time and figure it out. Then we move on, using that new found information to help better the situation. I like knowing my kids are on the edge of the bell curve in schooling, in social awareness, in kindness, in activities. It will give them that special edge in life. They will be endearing, kind, generous, industrious, and committed people. They will be able to empathize and also lead. Okay, I'm going to get off my soapbox. I love my kids and want the best for them. Later!

Christmas!

2009-12-30T21:48:00.001-08:00

Emily and Rachael in the Missionaries of Charity's Christmas pageant.

Sophie tries on Emily's home made apron.

All the kids helping Michael figure out how to shred paper.

Sophie and her favorite Santa gift.

All of us after Mass on Christmas eve.

We had a great Christmas here! The girls sang on Christmas eve; yes, I cried at "Ave Maria," and "O Holy night." Uncle Scotty spent the night in order to hear the morning squeals of kid-happiness. They were up at 5! Then, in the evening, our friends Melinda and Leo came over for dinner, and we had such a nice visit! The kids all played while we caught up. We missed my family, but thankfully we had the chance to "skype" everyone for a little while one afternoon. That rocks for keeping current! There are still remnants of gifts floating around here and there; mostly from Michael emptying new things to explore and play with. Now we're gearing up for tomorrow night's New Yrs. eve party!

Advent activity

2009-12-14T06:33:00.000-08:00

Emily's nativity

St. Nicholas day

Our annual picture at the Christmas tree farm.

The girls singing at the Peabody with the children's choir

Getting ready for Christmas here! Of course December is completely packed with events, but it's been fun so far. The house is decorated, most of the crafty stuff is done (but not cleaned up yet..thus we're doing school at the kitchen table), Michael is doing the cutest stuff and we're all so enamored with him! AND, it is very hard to do school as we get closer to Christmas!!! The girls all want to be making something, wrapping something, or decorating something! Turns out my family won't be here after all for Christmas, but it's okay, they'll all be making their own family memories, as will we. As Bret gets older, I'm really embracing these holidays, because I know how fast things will be moving in the next several years. Happy Advent!

2009-12-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Start of the holidays

2009-12-01T06:30:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving a week early this year. My sister, her family, and my parents came for about 2 days. We had the best time! The kids totally occupied each other, and they were happy and cute. We adults had lots of laughs and easy, effortless time spent together. Shannon and Fabrice even decided to come back for Christmas! Here at the house, we started making Jesse tree ornaments for the big Christmas countdown, and we've started making and buying gifts, so all is going well. Today we're putting together a baby Jesus cradle to fill with straw for each kind act during advent. We're going to focus this week on putting up one area of Christmas decorations each day, so the whole task isn't so overwhelming.

Getting ready

2009-10-26T05:02:00.001-07:00

My parents and my siblings recently figured out how to video chat, all at the same time. This picture was taken off my screen 2 hours after working together to get the technical details down...and moments before we signed off from exhaustion! lol

Sophie, the "Girl Musketeer" and Michael the stubborn dalmation who would not wear the adorable ears..

Emily caught this moment in the car one day...so cute.

For extra credit in science, Bret had to create a pumpkin that looked like a famous scientist...do you recognize Stephen Hawking? This totally cracks me up.

Josie and the pussycats will be debuting this week here locally....

The kids are getting ready for Halloween. There are multiple costumes in the works, or finished. Emily is the mastermind for most all of the final products, so, she gets all the credit. Fall has been pretty nice here, and I think we're almost hitting peak color in the neighborhood. We went camping with the boy scouts one wknd, and the older girls just got back from camping with the girl scouts. They had fun and got lots of crafts done. Sophie and Michael and I went to the neigborhood halloween party while the others were gone, and she had a blast playing games; Michael had a blast dancing in the middle of the "cake walk" circle. He got lots of attention and loved it. Another performer is born... I am struggling with a transmission in my car that is failing day by day, but at least I'm not on the side of the road yet!

Rain, rain, rain

2009-09-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

We are stuck in what seems like an Exodus-like weather pattern! Rain and more rain. It started out with spectacular storms and stormclouds, and is now just wet and falling nonstop. Our outside work-outs have come to a halt. It's tai-bo inside, or just doing the stairs repeatedly. But, although I have not breeched that 5 lbs. lost yet, I am fitting into lots more clothes! Shopping in the closet is always fun! I guess I'll be wearing some of those winter clothes that I threw back into the cedar chest with discouraged disgust the last couple of winters! Preliminary changes...tendons in hands more defined, chain is falling further and further south, underwear droopy. All encouraging. Man, if the pounds would just start melting away! Sundays I can eat whatever my heart desires, but come Sat. night, I'm trying to figure out what I want the most: Cheese? Giant greasy pizza? Huge cheeseburger with onion rings? An entire chocolate cake? lol. Kids are all good, making progress day by day. High school is a total natural for Bret. There's an annual enormous yard sale this wknd., where I'll be trying to outfit Michael and Emily for the winter. Crossing my fingers, and praying to St. Anthony to head me in the right direction!

School day

2009-08-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Lunch (I'm not sure why these added in the opposite order I had planned them). The smiling is mostly because school is done!

Rachael working out those tricky "ABC" ordered words.

Sophie successfully read her first "Bob" books.

Even in home school, much time is WASTED sharpening pencils!

Michael helps me to wake the girls up. Later, I'll get some pics of morning exercises.

So here's a little look at some of our school day experiences.

SCHOOL!

2009-08-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, school has begun. We all started last week, including Bret, who started high school. How this is possible, I don't know. How do I have a kid in high school when I'm still mentally IN high school?? He's having a blast, loves his new school, has lots of old and new friends there, oh yeah, and there are classes too, btw. Even went to his first football game. The girls have plunged into school here, and are doing well. There's always that first week, where you go, "remember, these shapes are numbers, and these are letters!" I'm talking about all the ages here! Girl scouts are about to begin this week too, and I anticipate ballet soon as well. And, today was the first day of choir at SFA for the girls. The swirling schedule begins. It's been fun to get back into a routine though, truly, it's good for everyone. Michael gets cuter and cuter as the days go by. He's almost one and a half now. Amazing. I wish I had 3 more just like him! (well, all of them for that matter.) I'm sure there's lots more going on, but it's late, and I'm wiped. The weather has been exceptionally nice and cool this weekend, so we've played outside for most of it. (thus the newest fairy house pictured above) I think I have over-oxygenated myself. More later!

Vacation at my parent's

2009-08-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

The front porch of my parent's place..and all the grandkids

Rachael, Maya, and Sophie

Shannon and me.

Michael looking over his shoulder at the raging river and thinking about how to get there. Later, of course, big brother Bret fell into said river-with the camera in his pocket!

We went to a "gem mining' place where the kids sift through a bucket of dirt to find lots of treasures. It's a huge hit.

We spent a really fun week at my mom and dad's place in N. Carolina. My sister, b-i-l, and their kids came as well. We swam, walked, shopped, fished, ate out, waded, cooked, laughed, entertained guests, argued, made smores, and even fit in a little sleeping-in late in the mornings. It was great. My sister and mom busied themselves in the kitchen mostly as I slacked off lounging around the house...thanks guys! The breakfasts and desserts were always great, and I am sporting the extra 5 lbs. to prove it. Now, it's back to the grind here, cleaning, cooking, washing and finishing the last details to be ready for school to begin.

Beautiful weather..

2009-07-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Sophie receiving Emily's gift: a home made pinata.

Yes, this is my hubby's butt. I couldn't resist.

Princess.

This is how germs are shared among families.

Here's my home-grown band, complete with 1-yr.-old drummer.

We are having some fabulous weather here. Clear air, sunbeams streaking down through the tree branches, cool mornings. You know, the kind of weather that makes you want to inhale deeply. I can feel the summer slipping away, and the demands of schedules and the business of fall coming. Oh well, time marches on. But life continues to cycle, as my good friend just found out she's expecting, unexpectedly! That drumbeat keeps on even though we get busy with other stuff doesn't it? Congratulations!!!! Sophie is about to turn 6, and we celebrated as a family last night. She is so cute. She wants me to start calling her "Zoishia" (the Polish version of her name, which I'm sure I've butchered). Yes Nancy, that's your fault! :-) Bret is off again to St. Louis for a boy scout trip. He had a great time at his Steubenville retreat last week. We're getting ready to go and visit Gramma and Grampa for a week as well as my sister and her family. It'll be great for the kids to play. The kids are most excited to fly somewhere! Anyway, laundry calls, so I'm off to fold the multiple baskets.

I smell smoke

2009-07-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

I smell smoke, because I smell like smoke! I spent the better part of today clearing up debris in the yard and burning it in the firepit. The girls meandered in and out of my work, in-between finding lots of busy fun in the yard. Michael is the same way, except he likes to freak me out by filling his mouth with hickory nuts, then running. We had smores for lunch. That rocked. Rachael likes to point out that she ate a turkey sandwich previous to that, which was a healthier choice. She's right, of course. But let me say again, I had smores for lunch. We stopped briefly to head to confession this afternoon.

It was a sparkling summer day, nice and breezy; it felt more like early fall than July. It's supposed to be that way again tomorrow. I'm drinking it in. Things in my life feel a little clearer altogether too. It would be too much to write in here, but let's just leave it at that.

Michael was stung by a really evil-looking hornet yesterday. I think he tried to pick him up and got bitten on the thumb. Poor baby cried for an hour at least. He kept holding his thumb up like a hitch-hiker. He's fine today. Last night the girls had a handful of friends over for a slumber party. They played guitar hero, ran outside around a campfire playing "ghosts in the graveyard," and stayed up too late playing hide and seek and watching movies. It was a great success. Bret is away in St. Louis at a Steubenville youth retreat. I can't wait to hear how it went. Next weekend is TOTALLY packed with fun busy-ness for us. And once again, Bret will be in the St. Louis area, this time with the boy scouts for their annual summer adventure. Must be nice! :-) Things here are nice and calm. Maybe I'm just appreciating the good times more because one of our little leukemia friends passed away today. He had relapsed twice in 7 or 8 years, and just couldn't hang on after transplant. It was so sad, he had fought so hard. Anyway, not to end on a sad note, because it's not sad, he's totally content! But that's about all the update for tonight!

4th of July, and hair

2009-07-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th at our friend's the Strini's place, swimming and eating and generally having fun. Michael had fun throwing anything he could lift into the pool, including most everyone's abandoned shoes. Late in the day, he decided the pool was fun to jump into, repeatedly. Now, he has no fear of water; crap. My husband is accumulating a fan club of people that think he looks like Keith Urban. I guess he's some country music singer, don't know, never listen to the stuff, but since he's sporting a beard and long hair, they think he looks like him. I remember marrying a clean-cut guy, which has always been appealling to me, so I'm really struggling as um, well, clean-cut is SO much more appealling to me. So, I try and grin whenever the next country-music-fan gushes to my husband that he looks "just like Keith Urban!" and wonder, painfully, how long this phase will last. This is one of those marriage things right? What I like, and what I had is gone, and now I have to embrace the "new and not-so-improved" (totally in my opinion). Sigh. The struggles of being married to famous look-alikes.

Two posts in one day?

2009-07-01T22:26:00.001-07:00

My dad, Michael and me at the zoo.

Bret and his friend, and fellow MOC volunteer, Kathleen

Dad, Michael, and Rachael playing in the zoo's "Nile River"

Mom and I, dorcus and dorcus keeping out of the sun.

Sophie, dad and Rachael

Here's some pics of my parent's recent visit. They were here for about 30 hours! We can sure cram a lot into a visit...we just don't sleep! lol.

Back in time

2009-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

My grandparents as I always remember them! Gram and Gramp!

Nancy, my "new" cousin! Standing under our common heritage! lol!

My grandfather is about 18 here, and is in glasses.

This is my grandfather's childhood home, his sisters, and parents.

This is my grandmother's family. She's about 17 here. We think it's all but one sibling, (and she had a twin that died at birth) and my gram is the second one from the left. My kids think I look like her, and I'm kind of amazed at the resemblance too.

So, I reunited with a long lost cousin (we share the same great grandparents) and it's been really cool to catch up and try and figure out the nuances of our family. Thanks to you Nancy, I have new pictures of my relatives. (and info!) My dad and I recently tried to piece together much of my grandfather's life chronologically, and it's funny to realize how much we don't know! That stoic generation of MEN, "you just don't talk about that stuff." Anyway, it's interesting and enlightening. Summer is going by, and the 4th of July is upon us. From here it always seems to go fast right into school. Bret has been volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity summer camp as a counsellor. That's been fun for him. I think he's crushing on one of the girls there. (insert eye-roll) We're getting some stuff done around the house, but trying to just take it easy before the busy fall hits again.

VBS

2009-06-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

VBS at our parish this year rocked. 218 kids. 100 teen volunteers. A couple handfuls of eager adult volunteers. An office full of somewhat fearful parish staff, and priests...2 maintanence guys shaking their heads in disbelief. It was so fun. It was the last year for our friend Laura who has run it for the last 7 or 8 years, and is now moving on to Las Vegas. It was bittersweet for that point only, and we sent her off with a video montage of the last several years, which made most of us cry and cry. I decorated the place and then during the week, I helped in the dramas room, which is essentially like an interactive theater. We totally deck the place out with sets and props and costumes. The guy who is now running this room has access to a full theater prop room (I won't admit from where!) so we are lacking for nothing! The kids are just holding their breath to see what we have waiting for them behind our door! This week, it was the story of Moses leading the people out to the desert after the original passover experience and the plagues. How often we hear "oral tradition" but essentially, we function as storytellers in this part of VBS, so oral tradition is reborn. The kids love it. I love it. Enjoy!

Too long

2009-06-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been too long since my last post...but I was depressed! My computer crashed and I lost all my photos from the last 8 mos. Don't even get me started. Since then, let's see, Emily just got back from a week at girl scout camp, Bret is heading to camp tomorrow, and we start VBS Mon. morning. I am doing the decorations for it and we've been in the whole mindset of it for the last 2 wks. or so. I'm all about the "Louisiana bayou" and all it has to offer. I love getting the church looking all "in theme" and different for the kids to walk in and see the first time. It's like their own little mini Disney for a week. We're actually not in the church proper, but in the family life center. I do tons of painting and scavenging of props, etc. Anyway, it's fun. My friend Kim just had her 12th baby. Unbelievable. (pictured above) I started walking again. I do it every time I have a baby or some weight to lose (which seems like my whole lifetime!) so that's good. I'm trying to go 4 miles most days. Right now we're cleaning up the yard after a huge storm blew through yesterday and knocked a jillion branches into the yard. That's about all.

Ballet, graduation, and a snake

2009-05-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

"Cinderella" the ballet, went off swimmingly. The girls were beautiful and the backstage energy and excitement were totally exhilarating. 250 little girls all twirling and sparkling in their crowns! The next morning we were up and out again, this time to celebrate Bret's 8th grade graduation. He looked so grown up in his coat and tie. It was like a glimmer into the future. I told him that night, "well son, now the fun part REALLY begins!" You know how jr. high is kind of a blur with highlights of memories? Then high school begins and the memories get more intense? And for me anyway, the fun began! I'm excited for him to move on, and at the same time, holding on (and back) to the girls and their childhood innocence. Girls and boys. Sheesh.
I got a ton of yardwork done this wknd, including mowing the lawn, isolating the berry bushes, and planting a few more tomatoes into pots. This is like a new world for me, planting in pots. It's weird to not have a big sunny patch to just plant in, but I'm hoping to be up to the challenge. Watering, that is. My planting efforts now, might net me nothing but shrivelled up stubs!
So, I also constructed a cage for my compost. Totally cool, until I poured in the big bag of Starbucks' coffee grounds and out slithered a snake. Okay, not much can instantly evoke such hostility and rage in me as a snake, and, as such, the snake didn't make it past the fervor of my rake. I shudder even remembering it. Don't ask how big it was...I mean, does it even matter? Big, small, it's still a snake! We also went to baby Eli's baptism this afternoon. Such a cutie. He's going to be one tough cookie growing up with 3 big brothers that already think he's one of the boys! lol. I also got to see my old pal from chiropractic school, Liz! She's lived in Norway most of our post-graduating life, and just moved back stateside, and then had a 45 min. layover in Memphis this morning. We got to actually see each other after 15 yrs.! How can that be?? 15 yrs.? 45 minutes? It doesn't seem fair, but it was fun anyway, and of course Liz looks exactly the same. We had lots of fun times in Chicago all those years ago, downtown, at clubs, parties, school, labs, finals, studying, cooking, in trouble, laughs, tears. Good to see you Liz!!!

Girls' recital rehearsal pics (cause we won't get any good ones at the real thing!)

2009-05-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

So here's a few of my little ballerinas at their rehearsal plus Michael painting with paprika, one of Bret and Don at scouts, me and Michael...and I think that's it:

Dinner with nothing to eat

2009-05-14T17:50:00.001-07:00

The boys are at scouts tonight, so it's just me and the girls for dinner. I love this day of the week: no pressure to cook anything. But, we have pretty much nill for food here. Emily is having a frozen pizza. Now, understand that these were on sale many mos. ago, and Bret (big) got a ton of them thinking they would be our staple food or something. They suck so bad. They look bad, taste bad, and smell questionable. No one wants them. Rachael and Sophie had grilled cheese. I'm having leftover Chinese hot/sour soup. Oh yeah, and for an appetizer, I had the leftover black olives and half a banana dipped in caramel dip. No, I am not pregnant. I'm just a freak and have lots of tastes that I love. We made it through the rehearsal for the girl's recital tomorrow night. Michael was not happy once little Bret left, and we just gutted through the next hour and a half. I also painted the rest of the living room ceiling today, so WHEW! That's done! Little Bret helped me get all the little pain in the butt spots around the fans, etc. We started un-wrapping the plastic off of the LR, and vaccuuming all the remaining dust which is still scattered everywhere. I kinda forgot what our room even looks like done!

Getting older!

2009-05-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

I turned 40 something this week. I had a fun birthday where I was taken to bkfst. by my friend Suzie, then to lunch with my "grouping" group, then, a spontaneous mom's nite out with a couple MORE friends! We ordered Chinese and watched the biggest loser. Totally chillin' out all day. The kids were so sweet and told me many times "Happy Birthday Mommy." Several of my pals from present and past called to wish me a happy day. The next night I celebrated with my family when Emily made me a lemon meringue pie, which we devoured after we tried a new Italian place. Totally memories of "Gann's" for those family members who read this blog!!! Next time you come, we're there. Anyway, my impatient teenager is waiting for his turn on the computer so he can saturate himself in the land of facebook. More about HIM later!

First Communion for Rachael and signs of visitors..

2009-05-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

This morning Rachael made her first Holy Communion. She loved getting all dressed up, and was glowing. It was a beautiful ceremony, all 5 first Communicants did great. My dad even was coerced into coming out of "extraordinary minister sabatical" to help out Fr. Mike. Bret was an altar server, which he said was a lot nicer to do for 5 kids than it was to do it for 70 kids a couple of wks. ago. (the rigors of the altar, you know, lol). My parents came into town for the event, and even though it's always a short visit, it was fun nonetheless. Whenever they come to visit, I come home to find "signs of Gramma and Grampa" around the house. Coffee cups 1/2 full scattered here and there, forgotten magnifiying spectacles, dad's tiny travel sized bottle labelled "hand lotion," leftovers in the fridge from being whisked out to lunch or dinner somewhere, new shoes on the kids feet... lots of laughs, and a good time had by all. Thanks mom and dad!

Life goes on

2009-04-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

Why is it that when you are about to walk out the door in a hurry, both baby's shoes are missing and someone (same baby) breaks a glass on the floor? The whirlwind that we live is such a comedy. You can choose to freak out and scream at everyone (occasionally I have done this) or just roll with it and continue to plow through the series of events. I looked at my house this week, which after caring for Debra recently, looks like a giant snowglobe that someone shook. I actually thought of just shifting rooms around since all the contents of each room had been swapped anyway. It took us yesterday morning to get most things back in order. Perspective, perspective, perspective. I prayed that I would learn that perspective, but more importantly, KEEP it after going through Rachael's cancer. Michael is growing up fast and already has mastered how to dangerously make his way to the tabletop. Rachael is getting ready to make her first Holy Communion this week, so there's lots of conversation between she and her sisters about her hairstyle for said event. (eyeroll here). Sophie is getting excited about their ballet recital in 2 wks.. Bret continues to play and improve at Lacrosse, which I still think is an opportunity to whack kids with a stick...hard. Summer is coming and both Bret and Emily are going to scout camps. Emily, my little maternal girl, is currently trying hard to nurse an injured butterfly back to health. Nature's cruelty is hard to swallow when you're 10.
It's been a busy 2 weeks here, and as I talked to another homeschooling mom, we all agreed we're pretty whipped. I don't know how I would have gotten through so much stuff in the last year without my faith and my church. I know that sounds cliche, but really: to walk from life issue to life issue, I feel like I took each step with the crutch of the sacraments, and with a priest to administer them. Lucky for me, I also have found priests that can not only administer the sacraments, but that can explain their relevance to our life. Fr. Bauer and others can take real life, and join it to the mystical life, and help you to weave it into your day-to-day. Each big step has some developmental milestone attached to it. Natural death, birth, growth and maturing, unnatural early death, the teen years, choices, decisions. We are on this wheel of life, where we have the chance to see its meaning in life lessons, and also have the chance to contribute to the good in the world with our actions. To know that you are making this effort because of the benevolence of God, His Son, His mother, and that ultimately, it all has a payoff, even if you can't see it daily. I like knowing that there is so much more to our walk of life than just drudgery. That suffering can be useful, that sorrow can dig your well of compassion a little deeper, that kindness matters since we're all shouldering our own burdens. Anyway. I'm in my thoughtful funk as Michael is chopping on my leg with a butter spreader...where did he get that??????

Easter on pause

2009-04-22T05:57:00.000-07:00

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Well, here's the Easter pics I've kept you waiting for. I also missed Michael's birthday in this blog, but he did indeed turn one, and we had a nice time watching him smear cake/icing all over himself. His Godparents joined us to watch, and brought him a statue of St. Michael along with a huge fluffy puppy dog that he drags around the house. Yesterday we buried Bob, and it was a beautiful sunny day, and everything went perfectly. Alex standing up to speak about his dad was a heartbreaker, but he did a great job. Bret and the Firehammer boys and Mark B. were altar servers, and of course, as a mom that's always a proud moment. Bret was a pallbearer along with some of the other dads and relatives. Lots of tears and laughs in the same afternoon. We head back there today to help to put their house back in order from the descent of all the people. It's still so surreal.

The edges of life

2009-04-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

This week I have been at Debra's place for a majority of my time. My girls play with Elizabeth and keep her occupied, and my Bret plays with Eric to keep him busy. I keep busy and keep Debra distracted. I am not alone, of course. The house is always busy with people coming and going, planning and hugging, etc. So much food!! I swear I've gained weight. The movement in the house seems to wear down the edges of the painful grief like a file. Then early this morning, (4:30 a.m.) I got the call that my friend Sarah was in hard labor, and I was her doula. We raced over to the hospital, and little Elijah Karol was born about a half an hour later. Easy. The joy in the room, and the new and changing dynamics of their family, "moving over" to make room for little Eli was great to watch. The two realities of life, each with their own layer of hope, within 5 days of each other. Death and life, hope in both. A lot for me to process. I feel like I need to be quiet about it all, and just sit back and let both moments saturate me with their meaning. It's too simple and too complex both, to say much about...at least, too much for this brain...operating on little sleep and emotional highs and lows. Now we will serve both families; the grieving and the joyful, and it will fill our life with, well, with what life is all about.

Sick at heart

2009-04-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to update with some new Easter morning pictures, but in light of recent events, I just can't. I'm posting tonight about a family in our homeschool group, who's dad was tragically killed yesterday afternoon. He was riding his bicycle and was hit by an older man driving a truck. It was a beautiful sunny day; how he didn't see Bob, I still can't understand. The sadness in the Firehammer house is palpable. That slow moving, don't-know-what-to-say reality is there. You want to take their pain away a little, reverse time, change ONE thing in the day's circumstantial line-up. I know that feeling of time stopped. Shock and confusion. "Can someone explain this to me again??" type of helplessness. This can't be real. Only it's not me this time, and someone else; my friend Debra has to feel the physical and emotional pain. Our unbelievable, fantastic homeschooing families rushed to her side, and we all took turns consoling, holding, and crying with Debra. Food, paper products, drinks, priests and rosaries all appeared as if out of nowhere. At one point we all prayed a rosary, led by Fr. Bauer. Moms, dads, kids, teens, all connected and praying for the consolation that only a mother can give. Yes, our heavenly mom. Debra said it best, "I have to hold onto the hope that I'll see him again." That's the gem that our faith holds: hope of a future in another life, another time. See you then Bob!

Signs of spring

2009-04-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, the title above is "springy" but right now the temp. outside is dropping as a rouge cold front is passing through. It's all okay though. It'll help us appreciate those 99 degree Memphis days coming. Ahem. So we had the weekend of Easter egg hunts. One at St. Francis, one at Bass pro shop, and one in the neighborhood. Lots of candy. 30 second Easter egg hunts. The Bass pro shop had a promotion for a vacation house in MO that we picked up for our family to all get together at next summer sometime. Cool! All of our kids will be a year older, and by then we'll all crave each other's company. Not that we don't all the time, but it helps take the sting out of waiting (and saving up $$) that long. Well,... not really!
Bret's Lacrosse (note, the "cool" way to write this is Lax apparently. Just want you to be in the know) is going well. The team as a whole is still trying to win games, but Bret's skills are getting better and better. It's fun to watch and just a little bit frightening too. Michael is walking so well, and getting a cute sense of humor. He now knows his "ball" and loves to throw it. The girls are doing great in school. Emily has 5 more lessons to finish her English! She was so happy to discover that last week! She's devouring the "Trixie Belden" series currently.
The girls all decorated their Easter baskets for a contest at the neighborhood egg hunt. They worked on themes, and picked flowers, and made a general girly-creative-effort. All three of them stood poised by the contest table, holding their breath as the 17 yr. old girl, dressed as the Easter bunny, picked....of course...the store-bought basket. Emily was, let's not beat aroung the bush, pissed off. She decided to ban next year's contest. I dutifully told her she was being a poor sport, but secretly agreed with her. The other two didn't care too much. They were occupied with candy.
Bret and Bret went on a boy scout campout this weekend, a skills-contest actually. Their patrols all got blue ribbons. They had 3 patrols represented. Each has about 6 kids. There were almost 600 boy scouts there! So, they rocked! And got sunburnt. :-)

Not too much to report

2009-03-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

Life goes on at full speed around here. Sometimes I miss the days of forced solitude at home when Rachael was immune-suppressed. Bret played his first Lacrosse game last night. It was cool to watch...kind of a combination of football, hockey, and soccer. Clearly, I am a novice as a Lacrosse spectator. I kept wondering if there was a hat trick coming??? Spring break for Bret went by too fast, and the girls took a mini-spring break while he was home. The homeschooling conference was this past weekend. Hey, we're all broke right? I say we barter. Sales were down and we all wanted more than we had $$ for. The speaker was great though and it got us all back on track. During that weekend, Rachael, Sophie and Michael all spiked high fevers at night. Not too much sleep for me, so I think I'm still recovering from it. Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Joseph, and we all get a break from our lenten fasts. Cool. The girls made this cool lenten craft called the "lenten garden." It's supposed to depict Golgotha, the tomb, and the garden of Gethsemane. They added the Sea of Galilee and some grape vines. Cute. And that's about it here.

Me vs. nature; or me helping nature.

2009-03-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today I spent most of the day outside doing battle with my backyard. I counted 119 trees; but that's probably not accurate since I was counting while in motion on the rider mower. It's probably close though, give or take a few trees. Therefore, we have a blanket of leaves that need some attention. My whole neighborhood worked daily through last fall to eliminate every single leaf from their 2 acre (ave. size) lot. They have the elimination process down to a tee. Backpack leaf blowers, lawn services, etc. We, however did nothing. I have this theory: trees in a forest (which is kind where we live) drop their leaves annually, and they sit there and decay, forming over time, a rich humus-y soil layer right? So, why would it be beneficial to eliminate the fallen leaves every year? Isn't that depleting a nutrient source for the...119 trees?? (and I haven't even talked about the front yard!!!) So, I'm leaving the leaves. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy, but I think it's a good thing. I ran over most of the backyard repeatedly with the mower, mulching down all the leaves into teeny tiny shreds to help them decay faster. As I mowed along, Michael on my lap, I looked over at each neighbor's pristine yard, wondering if I was providing enough material for them to talk about at dinner tonight. "Freako tree-hugger-new-neighbor" came to mind. "Lazy, cheap, no leaf-blowing family" was another one. But then I thought about my happy trees, and helping mother nature along, and I felt better. So my husband likes to call me "haphazard," and honey, I sure was today. It was so theraputic to wind in and out of those trees in no particular order, mulching leaves down. Totally and blissfully haphazard. I picked up fallen limbs all over the place and stacked them in the fire-pit pile for the first campfire of the year. It's great. Later this week, I'll work on the front yard. It's hilly and a little more treacherous, so I'll work out my strategy first, so the visual of me rolling down the incline on the rider doesn't manifest...lol. Of course I can only do all this because Bret is on spring break this week and can help watch Michael. I also painted several spots on the front porch where squirrels and wood bees are snacking on the wood (geez!). So, I'm pretty much the home maintenance girl this week! And lastly, here's a few pictures of Michael sporting his new haircut.

Snow

2009-03-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Another snow day here. It was totally beautiful, inspiring, cold, adventuresome, breathtaking, melty, and fun. Enjoy!

Overload of pictures

2009-02-26T20:17:00.001-08:00

I know, I'm overloading the pictures, but that's partially why I created this blog...to keep the family updated without blitzing their emails, (although I still actually do that..) So to you who are family genetically, and those who are my family non-genetically, here ya go! Fairies in the frontyard! And to my sibs and my dad...hopefully you'll not be offended by the series of Michael using Gram's dresser as a changing table. The cuteness of his fat folds might decrease your disappointment in the new use. Recently my 2 little girls have gotten on this singing kick. Doesn't matter where we are, it's like they're living in an active musical...especially at the grocery store. 2 little girls, hand in hand, singing and skipping through the produce section at the top of their lungs. Totally cute, totally innocent. Ah childhood!! Oh yeah, and we have about a zillion Girl Scout cookies if anyone is looking to buy some overpriced calories.

Random pics

2009-02-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

Here's some random pictures worth sharing!

RETREAT!

2009-02-24T14:35:00.000-08:00

My (big) son Bret went on retreat last weekend with the St. Francis youth group. He was the token jr. high kid amongst all high school kids; invited to "groom" him for leadership in high school. He had a blast. He knew all the kids already from the youth group, and some from VBS volunteering, and of course, all are on facebook! lol. I have always loved going on retreat, but in my life have only done it a handful of times. Each time I'm always rewarded with some spiritual gem, some moment of intimacy with my creator. All the talks, the food, the silence, the small groups, all are sort of filler for that one moment I get. It's all worth it, and the food is always good too...I'm so glad Bret has started on that path of "retreat moments." They last you a lifetime and sustain you faith whenever you end up in a crisis. Otherwise in the house, Emily dodged the bug last week, but it caught her today. Michael is a bundle of energy ready to run all over the world, and heaven help you if you attempt to restrain the little bugger. He wants to run! I can't wait to let him out to play this spring and summer! Ash Wed. begins lent tomorrow, and everyone has their plan to focus inward (that's code for "giving something up") in prep for Easter. We as a family will add another prayer to our repertoire, I think the anime Christae (spelling it is part of the learning it...), and add a daily Mass to our week. We might stalk Fr. Martin's daily Masses. Okay, onto other things!

Bug B Gone

2009-02-21T14:41:00.001-08:00

We're better from "the" bug. It was actually pretty quick; less than 24 hrs. for each case...Rachael on the other hand is feeling great, but hasn't quite kicked one of the symptoms.. And life keeps going! Little Bret is on retreat with the SFA youth grp. this weekend. He's the only 8th grader..they're "grooming' him for leadership next year. He was really excited to go. Emily had her first basketball game this afternoon, and her team won. She's really psyched about that too. It's good to see them work on a team that's not just their siblings. Michael is all over the bleachers and adamant that he wants to run out to his sister and play ball. Sophie and Rachael are two peas in a pod. Constantly together. All week Sophie has been waiting for this morning for she and I to make oatmeal raisin cookies: ALONE. At the last minute, she invited Rachael to share in her time with mommy. Rachael was very gracious, and we had a nice time. Now the 2 of them are upstairs, pretending to be teen-agers dressing up to go to a dance. It's a fancier dance than I ever went to! lol. Big Bret ran 16 mi. this morning in his marathon training, so he's wiped out for the rest of the day. I am working on transforming Gramp's room into a guest room, that will transition into Michael's room eventually. So if you're planning on coming to visit, come on! You'll have your own real guest room! Spring is teasing us here in Memphis. We have a big flock of daffodils growing in the backyard, which of course is a surprise to us, as we haven't been in this house in spring yet. One nice day last week I worked all afternoon on cleaning up some of the leaves in the back around the firepit and the patio (this is no small task when you live under a huge canopy of trees), but it felt really good to do the work! Michael loved his first time outside under his own power, and he sampled many things, acorns, leaves, twigs, etc. Nothing good enough to swallow, thankfully. The girls build a hammock while I was working. I guess all my efforts must've made them tired out and they needed the hammock to rest. We also have started some movements in working on the house (remember, one bit at a time!) and the ceiling in the living room and kitchen have had all that nasty, old, smoke-stained popcorn scraped off. Next week they'll do some patching and sanding and painting. Wahoo. One step behind us! Okay, well, you're up to date. CYA

The bug

2009-02-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

We have the bug. The intestinal one...you know the drill. Your stomach starts to hurt a little. Then a lot. Then you know you must run, not walk, but run to the bathroom. Rachael and I battled it on Valentines day. The next night, Sophie came into my room and promptly threw up on my blanket at 2 a.m. Puke, clean, repeat. All night. Big Bret jumped on the bandwagon at about 5 a.m. after Sophie. We woke up this morning (well, some of us were already up..) and apparently little Bret felt the same way during the night, but was less, "symptomatic." And this, on his birthday. Poor kid. He always requests fettucini alfredo for his bday dinner, but not tonight. We'll have to do it in a couple of days, when we all can handle it better. Emily seems to have dodged it, so lucky her! Today has been a day of tackling the laundry mountain resulting from the last 3 days. I'm almost done. One last set of sheets washing right now. Seems it's going around the city. Lovely. I promised I'd wake Bret up later, when it's his REAL birthday moment...so I'll keep cleaning till then!

Rest in peace Gramp

2009-02-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

My grandfather passed away on Feb. 5th. In the days before his passing, he was able to spend one really good afternoon with my dad, you know, the "Hallmark movie" type of afternoon. The day before he passed, I spent a couple of hours with him, and although he was too weak to talk anymore, I think he knew I was there at least once. I prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet over and over, as well as the rosary. The next day, he was very weak, and we were able to stay with him most of the day and into the night, praying and keeping him comfortable. He received last rites while still pretty coherent. That night, my parents and I came home, all of us tired. Gramp had a nurse from the Phillipines that night. He was Catholic (a total rarity at this particular hospital). His breathing changed late into the night, and this nurse sat with him until he passed, less than an hour later. I know he was praying at his side. What a comfort that our beloved prayers were surrounding him even when we couldn't be there with him at that moment. My brother and sister came out for his funeral Mass a few days later. We had such a fun time, in the midst of sadness. Overall, we were all more relieved than anything that Gramp was finally done with this long, often lonely, journey. When we were all together, that silliness that close families breeds came out, and the laughs just kept coming. It was very comforting, and gave my stomach muscles a good work-out. My dear friends came and supported me and the fam at the funeral and later, at home for the reception. Thank you all for your help, your presence, and your prayers! My friend Fr. Bauer was kind enough to say Mass for Gramp, and at the end of Mass, even sang an a capella "Hail Holy Queen" in Latin, to Gramp's remains, and of course it was totally moving. He'll be buried this week, next to my Gram in CT. I'm so glad to have been available for Gramp in his last months. We learned a lot about him and the condition he had come to be in, physically and mentally. I am shocked and amazed that he had continued to live alone in CT as long as he had. Oh well, it's all providential right? Anyway, grant his soul eternal rest, Lord, and "Dona nobis pacem."

Hot chocolate anyone??

2009-01-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

SNOW fell at our "lodge house" today!!! (I call it that so in my mind I'm on a perpetual ski vacation) Wahoo! By 8:30 a.m. all the kids were dressed to the point of immobility and ready to go out and play. The snow here is so beautiful! It's so rare that each flake is cherished...and eaten if it doesn't melt first... Even Michael was dressed up in Emily's old snowsuit and went out with us. (that explains the baby diva look...) School was cancelled, so Bret was thrilled to go out and play with his neighborhood friends. We slid down the driveway on a makeshift sled; wicked fabulous! Went for a walk through the snowy streets, threw snowballs, and came home to find we were out of hot chocolate! CRAP! Oh well, Emily made cookies. Our friend Laura asked if they posted the closing of homeschool on the news...lol. Bret and 2 other boys just left to go and serve a funeral Mass...he's been doing a lot of them lately, and is making some CASH. Who knew? Is there an ethical concern with signing him up for funerals all through the summer I wonder??

Post-partem burst of energy

2009-01-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

It always happens to me when my babies are around 8 or 9 mos. I suddenly feel like I'm BACK again. Like, my strength settles in, and I can DO STUFF again. Lift, work, and generally throw myself into things again. It's when I usually start working out; and tackling bigger projects. Yes, I've been busy and back in a routine for the last several months, but this is different...it's like I'm strong again. So yesterday, I vacuumed the whole house. Really good. You know, not just the surface obligatory stuff. And the day before, I put on the old sweats, and some old Nike's and headed outside to work in the yard and go for a quick walk in the cold air. Today, I walked a mile and then..drum roll....ran 7/10 of a mile!! I think that was the longest I've ever run without someone (Bret) forcing me to! And it wasn't killing me! So that was totally encouraging. I'm still working out a back injury from lifting my grandfather whenever he had fallen, but it seems a teeny bit better. I'm hoping the activity will also help speed the recovery.
Bret and I went to see that new Clint Eastwood movie tonight. The audience was funny....mostly grey-hairs (not quite blue-hairs...just grey) It was pretty funny. Low budget, had a Catholic effort (inaccurate here and there, but nice try) but entertaining to watch. Go see it if you get a chance. Little Bret and his basketball team are now 10-0, so they think they're pretty unstoppable. Great games to watch, although to be the mom is SO hard. You want to fly off the bench and have a "good talking to" to whomever just checked your son, or worse, FOULED him! Geez. I'm sure it's good manly character training, so I just stay planted on the bench, and keep breathing through it. Michael is full-on walking around the house now, with the occasional plunk down on his butt. Chub and diapers must be saving him. He's not really eating signifigantly yet, but he's sure sampling a lot, and making a mess. Lastly, the girls are forever wanting to hear stories about when I was a kid. Recently I've been telling them about lots of my skiing adventures in Vermont and Maine. Yesterday, Sophie came out in the living room ready for any beginner trail out there! She also, in an unrelated event tonight, was caught shaking, venting, and repeating, to a bottle of sprite. When asked why, she said, "I don't want people to burp a lot." So there you have it. Oh yeah, and to update the RASH...it's still here, but steadily fading in intensity and in itchiness. Freako, but pretty normal otherwise...:-)

The rash, the Russian, and the rest home

2009-01-11T17:01:00.001-08:00

That's my life right now. The rash. A ginormous rash that has morphed all over my limbs, back and belly. It seems milder today, thankfully. The stress-related rash that makes me look like a lizard woman. The Russian. Feeling all gross from the RASH, I decided to get a quick trim of a haircut and spruce things up. "Tatianna," had done a good job with little Bret, so, what the heck? I had a babysitter with Bret there, so I went for it. Let's just say, "language barrier" and leave it at that. Now I'm covered in layers of hair that I didn't want. I have half my hair left. SIGH. Maybe some prenatals will speed that growth back!! The rest home. This week, I am relinquishing Gramp to a rest home. His issues have gotten too big for me, and he is falling so often now, it's downright dangerous for him and us. I swear the man is made of titanium. There you have it. I'm off to finish dinner.

A LLLLOOOONNNGGG day at St. Jude

2009-01-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

Today was our 2 yr. post treatment check-up at St. Jude. STILL IN REMISSION!!!!! THANK GOD!!!!! Previously, we go in, draw blood, have bkfst., see Dr., and head home (once her bloodwork comes back still in remission.) Today, we arrived to see that our schedule was full of testing till 5:00 pm! I hadn't planned on this, and had girl scouts, a basketball game, an after school pick up, and boy scouts on the schedule! Lots of phone calls, one dead cell phone, and a couple of ruffled feathers and confusion later, we finally came home. Thank you so much to my friend Michele who not only picked up Bret from school, but then drove him to meet Bret for a game! I'll make it up to you I promise!! Going to St. Jude for a check-up is a multidimensional thing. It's hard to even put into words that will express what it's like. The kids love it! For them, it's like going to camp, where everyone knows and loves them! For me, my stomach is in knots for days before we go. It's like knowing you have a paper due that's worth 50% of your grade, but as if you're in a foggy dream, and don't know how to go about writing it. You live normal day-to day, but there's this foggy, nagging angst that you can't "fix" that gets closer and closer as the date approaches. Then there's the doubt...and the knowledge that you gained in the 3 yrs. of chemo. Is that a new bruise?? Rachael was really tired the other day....how will I handle the news of a relapse in front of the girls?? All of this is processing under the regular din of life's demands. Going back to St. Jude is joy and pain together. Gratitude to tears that they did all they could to save your baby. She's here and that's a miracle in itself. Pain that surges up from somewhere SO DEEP inside you when you hear the 'beep" of an iv pump going by you in the hallway, or smell their hand sanitizer. It's only fleeting; a flash of a memory; like getting hit again by a truck...but just a little. You keep saying to yourself, "did we really go through that?" Seeing the familiar chubbed out cheeks of a sweet bald child, being rocked by their stressed mom, and then a moment later, laughing with a nurse that helped you get through the night when your baby had pneumonia; or the sweet volunteer who became like a grandmother to your kids. Then halfway through the day I realize I have a mystery rash all over my legs...??? What the hell???? Stress???....manifests in many ways. Standing in the hallways, commiserating with moms who went through the same thing...as we cling to each other and say, "it's over...we HOPE." And all the while, coming up with fun things to do, places to venture in the hospital. You visit and revisit your faith in eternity as you walk those halls, knowing how many parents leave there without their kids. Some of them angry, some sad, some grateful that the suffering is over. You can't help it. Okay, enough for now. There's just not enough words to describe it, but today, there's the overwhelming relief that she's still all clear, and we don't need to go back for a whole year!!!!

Christmas

2009-01-05T18:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I'll give the short summary of Christmas. It was so nice. We went to a beautiful midnight Mass, my family all came to visit...my sister's kids were able to experience their first Christmas, and their first visit from Santa...we celebrated my Grandfather's 98th bday all together...he requested fruitcake, which was the simple storebought "log," but later was a homemade one from (as Gramp says) "the good father," Fr. Bauer. I got to just hang out with my sibs and my aunt whom I rarely see anymore, so that was great. My parents were there, but we see them quite a bit, so, I'm not ignoring them, they're just not as NOVEL as my sibs are in my house! (go ahead and call me now mom...) It was chaotic and peaceful at the same time. The perfect mimic of life right??? Can't wait for the next time!

OH MY GOSH A WII!!!

2008-12-16T15:45:00.001-08:00

Last week, I took all the girls and Michael to the live broadcast of "stories of light," a local make-a-wish fundraiser. The stories were from wish kids who went on air with FM100 and told about their make-a-wish, of course, in hopes to motivate people to call in and donate toward next year's wish kids' fulfillment. Rachael was scheduled to go on air around 9:30 or so. To be perfectly honest, they solicited us to do this, and we did it ONLY BECAUSE THE WISH KIDS WERE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING TO WIN A WII SYSTEM. I might as well admit my (our) selfishness. Okay, once we got there, of course it was great, and we saw all our make-a-wish coordiators and friends from 2 yrs. ago. It was great! They spoil and pamper the kids and parents totally, and just gush love on you. Going there is like getting hugged, but you don't know why you're getting hugged, you just sorta enjoy it till it's all over. Anyway, I choked at the end of the interview, with a rush of emotion that comes up and visits me frequently when I access those memories. Well, the D.J.s cried, the volunteers choked up and teared up, and I just couldn't get any more words out. I'm sure it generated thousands of dollars in donations..... :-) Once I got my voice back I apologized for my loss of control, and Rachael goes, "Mommy, you always cry when you talk about my cancer." Too true. Okay, well, yesterday afternoon they called us to tell us that RACHAEL WON THE WII!!! What a thrill for her and ALL my kids! It came with guitar hero, (the new one) and "wii play." I'm not sure what that one is, but the kids are psyched!!!! Bret said he thinks God let us win it so we could have lots of fun times with all of our family that's coming to town next week. :-) I guess God knows! Update on Gramp: all is well, he seems to be staying up later at night, no more fainting spells, and eating like a big piggy! I know he's been snacking because I can follow the trail of raisin bran crumbs (he eats them dry like a snack) through the house...hey, it helps me find him!

Fiber

2008-12-09T21:29:00.000-08:00

Michael is into lots of things. Totally orally fixated, which is normal, I know. This was him as we were putting up our tree. Surely can't hurt him if he doesn't actually get any bark down, right? Then there's Gramp's oral fixation...let me define. Pipe smoking, (but only once since he's been here, cause he can't get outside without a little help) and denture cleaning. The girls stare at him fixated whenever he pops his dentures out to lick 'em clean of any food debris. They're horrified, but can't look away. I can't help but laugh...Emily turned and slowly put her yogurt back in the fridge after one such episode...I was dying. She said, "I just don't think I can eat right now.." Too funny. Well, Christmas is getting closer and closer! I haven't sent cards yet; heck I haven't even begun to get the pic processed yet! I'm tempted to do the whole ecard option. It's probably a greener option anyway... The days are SO busy lately, it's like the energy level is ramping up, and then Chrismas week it all settles down, thank God! Maybe I'll be able to drag my kids over to my poxxy friend Kim's by then, if they're all "pox free." We've all had it, but not Michael, and I'm selfishly trying to avoid poxxy baby at Christmas. Plus, I'm pretty sure it would be bad for Gramp...although, he is ONE TOUGH COOKIE. He fell over into the bathtub the other night. Yes, from standing upright to falling over; right into the bathtub. The leaning tower of Gramp. Broken bones? Bruises? No. Nothing. Like he's made out of petrified rock or something. What is it that makes him so well-preserved??? Milk? (always drinks it) Sardines (either he really loves them, or he just ate them to gross out my Gram) Smoking a pipe for 50+ years??? Who knows! It's amazing. Although, he is losing some of his sharpness, and maybe it's from those "fainting spells" he was having at my house a couple of weeks ago...can't remember which siblings are still alive or not (none), where his money is (my dad's running that ship), or how he ended up in Memphis of all places! He's given me the address of the funeral home back home several times, in case I should forget. "One of these days you'll have to put a tag on my toe and ship me home to CT!" Grim. Yes, but he says it to make me laugh, so I do. "Which toe Gramp?" lol.

Who needs amusment parks?

2008-12-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

Not me! This is one of those blog entries that you'll probably figure I'm drunk or hormonal when I write it. I just want to ooze my gratitude for my friends here. Who needs a thrilling roller coaster ride when I can just go out to our fav. corner hang-out and spend a "mom's night out" with the girls and run the full gammit of conversation?? Or in someone's living room, dining room, or kitchen? We can go from one end of the spectrum to another within 2 seconds. And everyone hangs on and can ride with it...we can be splurting out our drinks with laughter in one breath, and delving into depths of consciousness and faith in another. My SIL once said that we spend so much time "finding our people" during life, well, I've found mine. All the filters are off with them. So many of our criterion are the same.. and the raw experience of life is exposed. We don't need to spend time figuring out how each other feels about this or that. We already know. So then we can jump into the nuances of our daily struggles with zeal and understanding, and curiosity, and appreciation like I've found with no other groups of people. Maybe a handful of people in life can get that moment of commonality, but here, we're all onboard. It's times like this that I'm so grateful for these friends. After laughing till my cheeks hurt, and contemplating life in new ways, I leave SO fulfilled and grateful!!! AND, I'm sure we'll all be financially stable from the proceeds of our BOOK once it's published. Thanks to each of you who I treasure! I LOVE this roller coaster ride!!

Christmas tree hunt

2008-11-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

We spent yesterday afternoon out cutting down our Christmas tree. This has been a tradition in our family forever (before I was married even!) and now it's part of our family's fun. Nothing better than to get the kids all psyched up to race through the fields of trees, then have to drive an hour to get there.."are we there YET?" Then get 6 people to agree on which one's the best, only to walk away for a minute and when you come back, someone else has cut it!! AAAHHH! In the end, we got a great one, that's waiting to be part of our Christmas celebrating. Gramp is home now, he got checked out well and his meds have been changed, so maybe he won't be so sleepy all the time.

Give thanks

2008-11-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a while, because last time it took hours to keep trying and re-trying to get a new post to work. I guess I figured that if I left it alone for a while, the little mouse that works in my computer would get it all straightened out for me! So, all goes well here. My parents came last week for a visit with Gramp, and we had our Thanksgiving dinner a week early; we had the whole big meal. Of course Michael got sick in the middle of it with a fever and wicked crankiness (translation: I ONLY want mommy to hold me, and then I'll just moan and writhe around). It was fun anyway, and I know Gramp was really glad to see dad. The kids are loving the massive leaf pile we have at the end of our driveway. They can literally jump into it and they disappear and have to crawl their way out. It's totally a hoot to watch. Like a swimming pool of leaves. I have an account on facebook now and have found so many old friends from high school, etc. It's really weird to just be able to go online and see what's up in their day now. Kinda like a freaky time warp, but fun, and train-wreck-like...you just gotta go and have a look at what they're all doing!

Gramp likes PIZZA!

2008-11-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

Haven't updated this week. Let's just say my stress level was up too high. Things are a little more stable right now, so I'll give you a peek into today. Gramp loves pizza. Pepperoni. He had it last night for dinner and today for lunch. He had me go and get some last week as well. Who knew? He's been awake for a majority of yesterday and today, which is new. Friday he had a fall off the bed (he says he just slid off of it) which shook him up a bit, but now he seems fine. Michael is pulling up to stand on everything, but I think mostly my legs. Then there's the constant imminent fall, of course. Little Bret plays his first basketball game tonight, and we've spent today tackling the enormous amount of leaves that our forest-like yard produces. AND we left most of them in place!!! We only cleared the back patio and walkways! Anyway that's that. Tonight I have a thick and garlicy smelling beef stew in the crock pot to combat the chilly air outside, and the girls all had hot chocolate this afternoon after an hour of using a push-broom to "sweep" leaves down the driveway at breakneck speed.

Cracker Barrel

2008-11-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

We took Gramp to Cracker Barrel and Shelby Farms yesterday. He had bkfst., and read the paper while the kids and I ran around the playground. All went well, but today he's sleeping it off for the most part. Otherwise, nothing too wild to report here. School as usual, kids all doing well. Rachael and I worked and worked at "getting" the concept of rounding numbers. Just when you think she has it, she doesn't. So, we did some creative stuff that involved drawing various shoe styles on the number's "feet" and personifying the number, and VOILA! She gets it! I love homeschooling! The muppets should do homeschooling videos for various subjects; don't you think Cari?? OH! I forgot to mention the MOUNTAINS of leaves we have amassing at the bottom of our driveway, from the friendly neighbor with a leaf blower. I'll try and have pictures one day. Just picture the girls running from the top of the driveway to the leaf pile at full speed, and barely denting the pile!!!

first time out

2008-11-08T11:19:00.001-08:00

Last night we went out to dinner with Michael's godparents. Without Michael. It was really a fun time; we had such a good laugh! But, the poor babysitter who kept Michael didn't have as much fun. My friend Kim's daughter Sebrina (along with Emily and the girls) listened to Michael scream for the better part of 2 hours. I'm sure they were miserable. The poor girls, and poor Michael! I hate those first few times you have a sitter for your baby. Both mom and baby are miserable (even though mommy is laughing on the outside...inside she knows what's going on at home!) But he finally wore himself out and passed out. Whew! Today we're hanging out at home rearranging stuff and catching up on laundry. Gramp is doing better the last 2 days, not sleeping quite as much, and more interested in his developing room as I try and re-create his old apt. He really loves Michael and even reached out not only to grab his chub hand today, but to actually hold him. Cool!

Fall leaves and Gramp's hats

2008-11-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

No words needed! We had a fun fall day!

Being prepared

2008-11-05T17:35:00.000-08:00

Gramp's furniture arrived today, and I rearranged his room to accommodate it all. He was actually asleep on the couch as it all arrived and I set it up, so I thought it would be a GREAT surprise for him to walk in and see all of his dear things in place and pictures on the walls! Well, he went in, said that he remembered all those things, rolled back out and started reading the paper. Hmmmm......Okay then! Clearly not the excited homey memories I had anticipated! I think all that stuff being here is pretty final for him, so maybe he's more sad that he's not going back to his safe little apt. again. Great! All my efforts for naught! :-) Oh well, he'll get used to it. Back to the food game. I also had my good friend, Fr. Bauer come out to meet Gramp today, and he was able to give him Communion and Annointing of the Sick. Hey, as long as he's on MY watch, he's not going anywhere without being ready to go! So I'm really relieved about that being accomplished. He actually wants him to come back and bring Communion again! So, that is great. On a lighter note, literally, Bret shaved the Canadian lumberjack beard off this morning, but the hair's still here. One thing at a time. And, Michael is making TRACKS all around the place! He's getting so interactive and funny. Every couple of days I'll say to the kids, "his brain grew again!" Which I really believe!

Not the Waltons

2008-11-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

Although I may envision our house as the warm, stable, welcoming place, neat and tidy and predictable...somehow that's not exactly what happens. Our weekend summary: Bret finally made it home!!! The kids were thrilled when they were woken at 6:30 in the morning to see his tired, travel-weary face. Well, that and the werewolf beard and hair. To which Emily said. "Daddy, that's got to go." (My sister Shannon saw Bret before he left FL. She said, "He looks like he was left in a forest...and then found as a lone survivor..." )He's been asleep for the better part of his time here...I'm sure trying to catch up and get used to sleeping, rather than working, at night. Then he jumped on his Harley to do errands. (Did Mr. Walton have a Harley?) Also, in my eager efforts to keep up this wknd, I washed Gramp's clothes. All of them. Including the billfold and the HEARING AID. Yes. The hearing aid. It's not designed for Maytag rides. Luckily, my sister has cable. And infomercials. She had ordered, and then mailed to me the "as seen on t.v." "LISTEN UP," a personal amplifier thingy. It works. And he's using it. I'll try not to wash it. We also had our annual "all saints day party" with the homeschoolers. It's adorable. The kids all dress up as their fav. saint and get to tell about their lives and what made them holy. (and play games for candy) We always love to dress up for it. Except this year. It was all I could do to prepare for Halloween, AND our history group. The kids went as "all-Saint's-Day-observers" this year. BUT, we also ran the "save the shroud from the convent fire" booth. Which is fun because there's fire, and squirtguns. It's a recipe for fun!! I picked a room to set up that had no fire sprinklers. ('cause you KNOW we'd get hosed !) So anyway, on Sunday when Bret walked by Gramp's room and his bed was covered with cash bills spread out on newspaper, he wondered what the heck??? I simply explained that we'd been laundering money.

Trick or treat!

2008-10-31T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from the big night! We stormed into our new neighborhood in style this year! Michael rode in the wagon, and on the long stretches between houses, Sophie (and sometimes Rachael) jumped in too. After a long night of candy-collecting, we went back to our friends, the Hardy's house for chilli and sausages, and of course, for candy- sorting and counting! It's so nice to have some nice friends in the new neighborhood to hang out with! Thanks Hardys! Michael even got his hands on a lollipop and was MORE than pleased with it. Gramp has had a couple of days feeling a little weak, but I got him his wheelchair today, and now he's like a speedster through the house. He loved it! Now he rolls up to the bkfst counter and is ready for tea or dinner, or whatever I can give him. Thanks so much to my friend Michele who has taken on watching over Gramp for us on Fridays. No drama, remember Michele, no drama. I came home to a sparkling kitchen and all was well. HUGE feeling of relief!! You know Michele, you have been around me for many of my big life changes here in TN, so, I hope you plan to stick around! Who knows what's next!

Jen weilds a knife

2008-10-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

We had a totally spectacular afternoon today. Thankfully we had finished school, and the girls and I went out to crank up the fire-pit and work on some pumpkin carving. My parents had come for one evening as they were speeding through the work of emptying out Gramp's apt. in CT, and then delivering some of the smaller more valuable items here. The rest of the loot (cases full of cash and collectible gold and silver items....) are on a truck headed this way. So, unfortunately they missed the pretty day and the smokey fire; sorry guys! You were missed too. Bret called during school and talked to all the girls, making everyone more anxious about his returning sometime in the next several days. (Maybe then the burgers on the grill will come out less..."blackened" looking). So, the pumpkins are carved, the burgers are burned, Gramp is eating well, and all is looking good as we wrap up October

The strategy of food

2008-10-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

So Gramp just MIGHT be "getting it." Tiny specks of reality and acceptance are creeping in. (that he's here to stay, that is) I don't know what else to do to get to him, and help him make the transition....except....the old standby...food! I put on my "gram memories" and start making some of the foods I remember her cooking for him. Potatoe pancakes. Keilbasa. Oatmeal. Tea. Ham sandwich, don't forget the mustard. Corned beef hash. There's some stuffed cabbage and stuffed peppers on the horizon. I need to get some dark bread too. The kids are less excited than Gramp is about it, to say the least. But Emily and the girls made pizza tonight and he was quite entertained to watch them work. And he even ate some! 3 meals in a day! The man might just get fat!! Bret went to hang out and shoot some hoops at a friend's house today. When he got home there was a story that involved several other kids in the neighborhood, a "stolen" golf cart, an airsoft gun, a kid hanging off the back of said golf cart, and pulling an Indiana Jones to make it to the front, and a locked house, but a garage door that could be "rolled under" to get in. I really didn't want to hear the rest did I???? Again, no police. All good. Now that everyone is asleep, I'm going to try to vacuum a little. Michael is practically crawling, and has that advanced dexterity that allows him to scoot from crumb to crumb, or dried leaf, or stringy thing and pick it up in his curious little fat fingers and eat it. So, prevention time! Oh yeah, tooth #2 is here!

Fat and happy

2008-10-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Gramp continues to do well, and is eating more and more! I guess eating, sleeping, and pooping are my normal indices of how the kids are doing, so why not impose the same things on Gramp? So far so good! In other news, Emily is camping with the girl scouts this wknd., and Bret slept over at a friend's place with about 4 or 5 other boys his age, and the police were NOT called, so it's all good. Rachael, Sophie and I, along with Michael were able to go to the neighborhood costume party last night. Emily designed everyone's costumes this year, and they came out so cute. Rachael was Mulan, and Sophie was a cowgirl (but she also has a robot costume ready if she wants to swap next week). To my husband Bret, who is, as he put it, "in purgatory," I want you to know how much we appreciate the discomfort/irritation/loss of recreation, etc. you are going through. We are all just hanging on until you get home. We love you and cannot wait for you to get back, because we all miss you.

Settling in...

2008-10-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well, after a little anxiety and some disorientation last night, we are doing much better today. Gramp seems very relaxed, took some naps, read some papers, and is getting his bearings around the house. We are getting his services all in place. He had a couple bites to eat, but really doesn't have any desire to eat much...but then again I NEVER remember him eating too much of anything, so, it's pretty normal. I'm just giving him the reins to eat and do what he wants, when he wants, in the hopes that he acclimates and claims the place as home better if I'm not pushy. Thanks so much to Ellen and Steve who talked me down last night when the reality hit me. The kids are just following business as usual, except they now have the added issue of a blasting t.v. on btwn. Gramp's naps....:-).

Holy Hell!

2008-10-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

So I found out today that my 98 yr. old grandfather is coming to live with us.... tomorrow. Yes tomorrow. I have less than 24 hours to get ready. I said he could come and live with us instead of the crappy nursing home he was destined for, and surprisingly enough he agreed! NO ONE in my family anticipated his EVER leaving his home in CT, but he is! We're all a little apprehensive, but excited to have the opportunity to spend a little time with him in his waning years. I'm sure it'll be an education for everyone involved. And I have to give a HUGE thanks to my husband for not freaking out, and agreeing to let him come here. Thank you Bret! I think you could tell how much this meant to me to help him out. Anyway, today I transformed the room that is supposed to be for Michael (someday) and was also a catch-all room since we moved in, into a little bdrm/apt for Gramp.

Pumpkin hunt

2008-10-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

The girls and I did the big October deal today, minus Bret (who's at boyscout camp). This one pumpkin patch has a whole hayride/playground/photo op/etc. deal. It's really a family's backyard and land, so they're very enterprising. There were a ton of people there today because it was so pretty out. Enjoy!

Milky milk

2008-10-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Cari, this is just to make you drool: observe, from left to right, butter (freshly churned), cream, milk.

Keeping up with the culture...

2008-10-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

This post is purely to get a chuckle out of my mom and her cluelessness about current use of computers. Listening to her reading something on line today, I hear her read, in the text, (insert a sing-song melody here) "lalala." And I'm going, mom, did you just read "l-o-l?" "Yeah." MOM!!! Do you not know what LOL is? "What, lalala?" I can imagine all the emails I've sent with an lol stuck in there, and my mom is thinking I just sit around singing lalalala while at the computer. Okay, well she's on the phone with me as I type this and is saying something about the fourth commandment.....okay, mom, say it with me now, LOL! NO SINGING or HUMMING allowed!!! Also, Michael really cut his first tooth yesterday!!! A bottom one! Yay! Bring on the steak!

MMMOOOO!

2008-10-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Mr. Peter's farm! He is a sweet old man who came to live here from Germany many years ago and loves dairy farming. He says he has never had a bad day at work! The girls got the "talking tour" of how to milk a cow, and life on the dairy farm. I was ashamed to say that the first thing out of Mr. Peter's mouth when he met the girls was, "looks like they need to get out in the sun some!" They met the goats, the cows, the dogs, the kittens and the calves. We brought home 5 gallons of fresh milk, and next we'll make some butter from the milk fat. So fun. We're such city people, we've lost so much knowledge! Anyway, enjoy the pics!

Not terrapin, but tortoise!

2008-10-14T13:28:00.001-07:00

We found 2 "turtles" hanging out together in our side yard today. A little research later, we found they are identified as a box tortoise, due to the underside (the belly part) having a hinged flap that allows them to pull in all their limbs and close up the spaces completely. So fun to live in a zoo!

Zinc and night visitors

2008-10-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Bret built a couple of Zinc-y prototypes, but then landed on a brilliant idea and built it this morning out of an old building set of "k-nex" pieces and air soft pellets. Youthful creation meets teenage war games. Last night at 1:30 a.m. I was washing the mirror in the kids bathrm. (I'm not sleeping quite as much since I'm home alone) Suddenly there is a deliberate noise at the window like someone picking a lock. Frozen in adrenaline rush, I arm myself with a toilet paper dispenser and quickly pull back the curtain, hoping that the element of surprise will startle the intruder. There is a young smallish raccoon hanging by all 4 paws on the screen, eating moths. I didn't startle him at all. He was pretty focused. He and I sat nose to nose pondering each other, and then he went on eating moths. Who knew? When I opened the window, he jumped down and looked at me for a minute from the porch before he took off.

birthdays and terrapins

2008-10-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Rachael had a successful "spa" birthday party this weekend. Several little girls came over and obliterated a pinata, ate ice cream sandwiches and various other junk food items, and watched "The Parent Trap" while they had their nails painted. Then they slept under a tent that big sister Emily engineered. The girls did their Clare of Assisi skit at history group; all went well. We spent the afternoon at Octoberfest, and now Sophie has a stomach ache (hmmm...too much junk food maybe???) I got a little more painting done on two rooms that are "in process," and Bret said it like it truly feels, "I don't think we're ever going to finish painting!" Tonight I had a nice laugh with several parents at our annual parent's dinner with the homeschooling grp. Michael was my date, and he definately had fun attempting to get lots of attention, although his little buddy Simon was a little competition in that department. Thanks to Adam for giving him a man-fix. Now I'm going to try and get some sleep before someone else wakes up in an abdominal crisis after all the candy/soda/fried dough. Yes. I did give them all of that. I'm blaming myself!!!! :-)) Oh yeah, and the girls found a terrapin! I thought it was a 'turtle' but Bret corrected me and told me that it's a TERRAPIN, so, there ya go! They only kept it for a little while and then let it go. Faith wanted to know how to tell if it was a girl or a boy. Hey, I thought it was a turtle, how should I know?

Wild about blogger

2008-10-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

So, I'm hoping that new bloggers are typically overzealous bloggers. I am! But really I'm adding pictures because I'm overly proud of my kids! Okay, enjoy our obsession with little Michael, here sporting his New England-ish cableknit sweater. He's only 6 mos., but very fashion savvy.

Household scraps

2008-10-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

So, Bret has to create a model of Zinc out of things that he can find in the house. I can see him eyeing my jewelery, cutlery, etc.. I have to keep him centered on stuff that we don't NEED. And then there's the hot glue gun left on late at night, the boxes of consumable craft stuff slung all over the place...it better be a fabulous atom when it's through! Emily is writing a report on St. Clare, and the girls and I made some habits for a skit they'll be doing about her (extending one loaf of bread to feed almost a hundred) people tomorrow. Rachael said everything felt scratchy (that would be the burlap, honey) and she hoped they could get it done fast. :-) Today is the perfect day. Not quite crisp in the air, but just a hint of it with blinding sun. All the windows are open and the wind is slighly billowing the curtains. Makes you want to take deep breaths.

CatholicVote.com - Resources

2008-10-08T07:20:00.001-07:00

So, here is a video link that many of you that I know (current AND from long ago) should take a minute to watch. I know you're hit with so many of these during election time, but hey, it's ELECTION time! It's time for us all to talk and share. It's maybe one minute. Sit down, click watch. Please, share yours too if you feel strongly about them! www.CatholicVote.com

Just to keep it light

2008-10-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

I promised some fun. I couldn't resist this picture of the kids...yes, they ARE spoon hanging.

Rachael's birthday and a plug for water pik

2008-10-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today was day 3 of our keeping a friend's 2 yr. old while she is out of t0wn. (just one more day). I say "friend" but mean Bret's co-worker's son. i.e. we don't know either very well. So put a 2 yr. old who has no sibs into my mix for 2 days. He is perplexed at sharing, prayers, dinnertime banter, etc.. And he's 2, so, "there ya' go" as Mrs. Palin says! Overall he's been okay, and has bonded with little Bret and Rachael pretty well. He was psyched to be at Rachael's birthday party; and yes, she is now 7!!! I'm always so happy to celebrate with each of them, but especially HER. Bret is still out of town, and we're plugging along without him. Poor guy is going to sleep for a week when he gets home. (he's working nights under deadline pressure). Random thought-shift. Now that I have old teeth, I found a fab. new product. This handheld little water pik. $30 at Walgreens. Totally fabulous for getting REALLY clean gums. (amazing what you do with your time when your husband is out of town) We also went to a pro-life event this weekend. We were in a procession with a local parish, to a busy artery here in town where we stood and prayed, and were just a visible awareness for passers-by. You won't see us in the picture because we were at the END of the procession. First we screeched in just after they left, and second it's hard to catch -up when the girls are busy picking up all the pretty rose petals that had been thrown on the ground. :-)))) It was a national thing. The paper came by to take pictures, but of course, stories like that NEVER get published! And that is the news here. I'm going to try and post some pics of Rachael's birthday, but if I'm unsuccessful, I'll consult my friend Cari and see if she'll give me a blogspot tutorial.

2008-10-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

HI!!!! Welcome to my NEW and improved BLOG! I'll think of lots of witty and creative things to post on here to keep your attention and brighten your day a little! Okay, well, the journey begins! Stay tuned! Jen