2009 Resolutions

It's time for reflection. It's time for contemplation. It's time to revisit those 2009 resolutions and see how I did:
1)Plant a garden
I did plant one garden with two tomato plants that produced quite well, one zucchini that outdid itself, 2 eggplants which were promptly eaten by rabbits, and two pepper plants which did okay. Mostly, my zucchini and weeds did really really well.
2)Lose 30 lbs this year
Ahem, well what do they say about good intentions? The road to he** and all that. I'm down from where I started last year, but not 30 lbs worth.
3)Use Breadmaker all year long
Did quite well with this one. Used the breadmaker almost all year and tried a few new recipes. Found one I liked so this resolution is a success.
4)Make more meals at home
Depending on the week, this was hit or miss. I think I made more overall but could definitely do better.
5)Organize closets
I did everyone's closet but my own. And, until Hubster decides to do that with me, it's not happening.
6)Repaint bathroom, den and downstairs bath ceiling.
Finished the bathroom but no progress on the den and ceiling. There's always next year.

Not perfect, but progress. As the Nester would say, "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". That's my life, beautiful!

Snow Angel

In the first few days we had snow, the kids had a blast outside. Lots of fresh air, rosy cheeks (both kinds!) and hot chocolate. And, our own personal Christmas angel:

Foiled Again

No, I'm not talking about cooking (foil, as in aluminum, you know?!) S had his first fencing tournament recently. Considering he has only had 6 lessons, I thought he did well. He perked up before it finished, once he won a bout. Poor guy, he lost the first five bouts, didn't score a single touch in any of them. But, he did really well in the one he did win.

In fencing, there are three blades with which you can fence; epee (pronounced ep-ay), foil and sabre. S fences with a foil. A touch is when you touch the target on your opponent with your blade (before they touch you). In foil, the target is the front and back of the fencing jacket but not the sleeves or anywhere else on the body. And you musn't cover the target. That's why in the next picture you see S grabbing his strap behind his back. That way, he doesn't get a warning and possibly lose a point. It' pretty interesting but I must say it's the only sport that a lot of the time, I can't tell who the winner is.

It's fun to watch S practice and gain confidence. And, yes, I do let him practice in the house. But only with Hubster's supervision and only in the basement. Definitely not when it's only S & C. Now that would definitely be something to foil.

School Helper

Friday was fun. I was able to go into Wolfgang's class and help with a special project. The kids made chocolate lollipops. They were so fun to watch, concentrating so hard on getting the chocolate into the molds, trying really hard not to lick off the excess chocolate that managed to get on their hands. They turned out great and we had a blast.

By the way, it was pajama day and yes, I wore jammies too and I also wore my lovely apron.

The kids liked them both and I was super comfy. And oh yea, chocolate, mmmmm.....

You Better Watch Out

Saturday, we visited with Santa on the trolley. Princess was so excited to see him, she promptly forgot everything on her list, but did manage to get it together enough to ask for a Snuggie (loftly goals for my girl). She is thoroughly convinced that this is the REAL Santa. Wolfgang didn't agree but was happy to give his list and get a candy cane.

And the days of writing a letter to Santa? Over, with a capital O. We emailed Santa this morning (www.emailsanta.com) And, almost immediately, we got a response back. And there was much rejoicing in our land with multitudes of munchkins (well, at least, my two muchkins thought it was cool).

Personal letters from Santa, life doesn't get any better.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Wolfgang's Gems this Week:
W: "Did you know that my Jewish friends light candles on the Norma?"
Mama: "Umm, did you mean menorah?"
W: "Yea, I think so."
_________
W: "Did you know that Clara went to High School in India?"
Mama: "Hmmm, are you sure it wasn't Indiana?"
W: "Yeah, maybe that's it."
___________

Reading and Writing, No 'Rithmetic

While it has been nice to see Princess reading and writing, it can be a real pain when we're trying to talk about something and not let her know. The days of spelling things out are long gone around here.

But, then, there are times like this. I found this on my door this morning.

Maggie Claus

One way to torture your dog:But endlessly entertaining for me!

Look Before You Leap

So, in the rush of the morning and trying to get ready before the kids left for school, I grabbed the water spray bottle and spritzed my hair. It helps tame those flyaways and wayward curls and trust me, in the morning, I need all the help I can get. I started combing through it and thought, hmmmm, my hair smells like there's something in it. What the heck? Then I looked down at the counter. Let me tell you, the water sprayer and the spray Resolve carpet cleaner look suspiciously the same when you're in a hurry. On the bright side, I guess I don't have to worry about high traffic marks in my hair this week.
Guess I should have labeled this post, Look Before You Spray.
Just sayin'.

Questions I Don't Want to Answer

Mama, I know that the mommy has the baby, but exactly how does the Daddy help make a baby?

Why don't you have a real job?

Why didn't God give us any more babies?

Why do I have to get hair 'down there' when I get big?

Why do I have to get those squishy bra things? (a.k.a. breasts)

Love Your Heart

I had the privilege of going to the Quilt Expo not long ago. Lots of fabric, quilts, and gadgets all together in one place. A quilter's dream for sure. Two of my sisters and some friends were also there and so we decided to commemorate our day with a special picture. UW Women's Health had a booth where we could express ourselves pictorally. Little did I know that I would have a brush with quilting royalty. Nancy Zieman, of Quilting with Nancy fame, horned in, I mean, jumped in the picture with us.
Stunning, aren't we?!

Furnace Repairs

When the weather turned colder after our few days of warm weather, I noticed that it was getting chilly in the house. So, after putting on a sweatshirt and still feeling chilled I decided it was time to turn the furnace on. Off I went to flip the switch on the thermostat. I flipped it, and....nothing happened. Well, that's not necessarily unusual, Hubster says I must have a loose wire (guess it's better than a loose screw) so I waited a few minutes and tried again. Nothing, nada, zilch. Temp is now 63 degrees in the house. I tried every trick I could think of to make it work. Went downstairs to the basement and turned the furnace off and on, took out the batteries from the thermostat and replaced them, etc. etc. Still nothing.
So, about 3 hours later, after I finished muttering just a few choice words and lamenting the fact that the furnace people were here not 2 weeks ago and didn't it figure that it worked then but now, nothing, I thought I'd look one last time at the thermostat and hope for some divine revelation on how to repair it without costing an arm and a leg.
And, I found out something.
The furnace works really well when you turn it to "heat" and not "cool".

Success Measured in Small Ways

We had carpool success today! Right off to the van and hopped right in. Ah, much better than yesterday. Happy Mama :)
I forgot to add one thing yesterday. When calming Princess down, I told her to go get her new necklace. I put it next to my heart and then put her finger on my neck where she could feel the heartbeat. "See? I'm putting all my heart's love in this necklace and if you get scared or lonely at school, just touch your necklace and it's like touching my heart. I'll know you're there and you will feel better," I told her. "Oh yes!" she replied "It's just like I know Jesus and God and Mary are all in my heart too. Now I'll know you're all there together." Gulp! I love it when I see this shining through!!

School Days

I was not feeling well this morning. So, I was quite happy to send the kiddos off to school and go back to bed for a bit. At least, that was the plan.
The carpool van came, I hugged the kids and sent them off, shut the door (cause they were getting in the van), went upstairs, crawled in bed, turned on the tv, shoved the dog over, and DING DONG! Errggggh, I crawl out of bed, clomp downstairs and there's Wolfgang "I can't get Princess in the car. She won't go in the van today." I look over and sure enough, she's standing there sobbing and refusing to get in the van.
I tell the carpool Dad to go on, I'll deal with the child and off he goes. Did I mention that I'm barefoot, it's raining, and I have my pj's on? Anyway, we walk back in the house and after a few minutes of crying (her, not me), drying off (me, mostly, some her) and talkng (mostly me), I determine that she's scared to go to school. Yesterday, she panicked in the firehouse that the Fire Dept brought to school and she was afraid to go in there again. So, after much reassurance and a quick change into clothes, off we go to school.
Poor thing, I felt bad for her but I was so irritated that she pulled this. And, then, felt guilty for feeling that.
So, I'm off now to drink my oj, take my ibuprofen and snooze a little. What a Wednesday.

Oh Canada

We had a wonderful time in Vancouver. We took a carriage ride through Stanley Park, took the ferry to Victoria (and we saw seals just out beyond the trail of the ferry), ate lots of Asian food and toured a fun market. We also crossed a 100 ft high suspension bridge and walked the rainforest on a series of raised wooden walkways.

Vancouver has a large population of Asian folks (I think mostly students) so we had Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and a couple different kinds of Chinese. We had absolutely delicious food and surprisingly it wasn't a big weight gain week for me. Yeah!

The market had a whole case of different pate(s) and one with more olives than I have ever seen. Most of it was just pretty food and nicely presented. And it had awesome gelato, yummm.

I would definitely go back to visit again. Fun, fun, fun!

Lake Pictures

Finally, after much anticipation, here are my lake pictures (Note: even the adults were jumping for joy!)

Fun at Target

How do you get kids to behave at Target? Bring along a camera! Oh and finish with a hot chocolate.

Connected with Wolfgang

We were riding home from school yesterday when Wolfie was telling me about a book they read at school that day. It was "Tales for the Perfect Child" by Florence Parry Heidi. In it, Harriet whines to get her way. Apparently, she whines a lot. And it works all the time.
Wolfie suddenly exclaims "Hey, I can make a text to self connection!"
I'm thinking 'huh, where the heck do you get this stuff?!' but say "Really? What's the connection?"
"Well, Harriet whines and whines to get her way and I know someone else just like that!"
Feeling a little apprehensive and rather knowing the answer, I ask "and who would that be?"
"My little sister of course!"
To which Princess replies "HEY! I do nooooot!"
Now I was torn. Do I say good job on making the connection or don't treat your sister that way?? I went with Good job.

Fun at the Lake

Question: When does Lake Michigan look more like the Atlantic Ocean?
Answer: On Weds, 9/16! I have never seen such large waves so close to shore.
We went to a beach in Illinois with some friends. The kids had a blast and were completely soaked to the skin. But, really, they had such big smiles I couldn't be angry about the yucky laundry that would be required at home and the sandbox amount of sand that got transported home with us in the van. I think most of it had been in the Princess' underwear and in Wolfgang's swimsuit! Only one problem, he didn't take off his regular shorts before he got in the water. Really, what is going through his head sometimes? I think it's better I don't know.
Here's some pictures of the fun:

Why Silence is Not Always Golden-Part Two

And then, I walked into the dining room and this is what I saw:

It appears the Princess has set up her own beauty parlor with a special focus on hair cutting.

Poor Barbie, I guess she wanted a new 'do for school:

Oh Pretty Little Pony, I remember your long flowing locks that have been tendered by the amateur hair stylist:

And then, I saw the real evidence....

A pile of blonde, brown and multi-colored hair. Lots of blonde, brown and multi-colored hair. It seems the little stylist decided everyone needed cuts.

It's a good thing school started. Hopefully she won't be opening up shop there and offering her services to classmates. Holy mackerel!

Why Silence is Not Always Golden

When your daughter is nicely, quietly playing in the other room allowing you to get all your work on the computer done, this is why you need to check on her:

The hair is approximately 1/4 inch long at the biggest of the small lengths. At least she only hacked off half of her bangs and none of the back or sides of her hair. When she looked in the mirror she declared "I should have cut more to make it even!" Heaven help us.

By the way, did I tell you that this happened the night before the first day of school and the night before we got our pictures taken for the new church directory? Lots of pics to preserve this 'precious' memory.

First Day of School

Yeah, first day of school. We were mostly excited, a wee bit nervous, and very happy at my house. I'll let you figure out from the pictures which one was nervous. ;)

The kids went happily off to school and had a great day, although Wolfgang requested a bigger sandwich for lunch tomorrow.

I was glad to pick them up, hard to believe it, but I missed them today. Now off to get church family pictures tonight for the new directory.

Sorta Apple Cobbler

Tonight, I made teriyaki chicken drumsticks, green beans, pan fried potatoes and some apple cobbler for dessert. The kiddos RAVED about the cobbler. Once they finished it and had their dishes put away, I told them my little secret. My sorta apple cobbler did not have any apples in it. It was made with zucchini! Neither of them believed it at first and then Wolfgang requested that I make more healthier things that taste as good as the cobbler. I did have to tell them that it still had a lot of sugarand it is, in the words of Cookie Monster, 'a once in a while food' but it was quite tasty. The recipe I had was for Zucchini pie but I didn't want to take the time to make pie crust (and I had no crisco) so I made cobbler instead. It was very yummy and I will definitely make it again although I would add at least 1/4 cup less sugar. I'll post the recipe when I have a little more time.
It's fun to fool the kiddos. I need to do this again!

Trial Run

Princess is a big Kindergarten-er this year and Wolfgang is a mighty 3rd grader. To ensure that we get our morning routine down, we had a trial run at getting ready for school today.
So, this morning we got up at school time, had breakfast, and got ready. The kids even packed their backpacks with their imaginary lunches, homework and water bottles (well, Princess used her real Dora water bottle, guess the imaginary one was leaking or something). Then, we got in the car and drove to school.
And, we were 10 minutes early! We didn't actually get out and walk up to the school doors but we looked everything over really well before we moved on.
To celebrate our successful trial run, we drove through McDonalds. A couple hashbrowns and a cinnamon melt later, the kids decided that we needed at least one more trial run to practice.
I wonder if they realize that Mickey D's is not included on a regular school day?

Old Navy Bargains

This Saturday, 8/22, you can buy Adult Basic Tee Shirts for $3! Limit of 5 per customer.
And, you can get some kids and toddlers socks for $1/pair, limit 5 also. Offer good while supplies last.
Great bargains if you need some shirts and socks.

Summer Swimming

Princess completed her summer swimming lessons. I was so proud of her. She can now put her whole head in the water, float a little by herself and is just much braver in the water. Thanks to an awesome swim teacher, she's got a whole new confidence level.

Pink Friends

Today I had the privilege of having brunch with a group of ladies that I haven't seen in a while. It was my former (definitely not OLD) pink group from MOPS. I had forgotten just how much fun we could have together! The kids played outside, had snacks outside and got completely water soaked outside. Fun for them! Inside, we shared food, coffee, family lives, ups, downs, concerns, laughter and prayer requests. Wonderful for us!
I had been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately because my friend time (really my 'keep me sane' time) had been at a minimum for a number of different reasons. That was cured today by the resurrection of these precious friendships. Once again, these ladies were in my life at the perfect time.
Love the Pink Ladies!!

Good Vs. Bad

There are some everyday things that my kids do that just make my day. Like when Wolfgang feels the need to explain EVERYTHING, including knock knock jokes, his explanations are priceless. And, when Princess can't say Vacation Bible School but says Va-Bi-Ca-ble School. Princess's laugh when Simon makes a joke and she understands it before he explains it. Wolfgang giggling at Maggie's antics and the way he cannot, under any circumstances, say Abominable Snowman.
And, then, there are the other times when I wish I could find the good side. After Princess spills her yogurt drink in the garage and doesn't tell anyone and I don't find it until I see the massive trail of ants coming in to feast. When Wolfgang tries to help water the flowers and my pitiful garden and leaves the hose running to create a muddy mess which I discover only after I have traipsed in the dog poo that hasn't been cleaned up in the yard (did I mention I was barefoot?).
Guess the bad is there so you appreciate the good.
At least, that's what I will keep reminding myself.

A Loud Princess

She is so going to get me for this one day.

:)

Good Bye Thomas

The other day, Wolfgang told me that it was time to pack up Thomas the Tank Engine and all his train buddies. It was a sad day for me. I wanted to tell him no, that he needed to stick with his friends but he's a big boy now and too old for his Thomas trains. Geez, Mama, he said, I'm way too old for this stuff. I like real trains and I would like to put up the Model Railroad Grandma got me for my birthday (by the way, thanks a lot Grandma.)
So, we're off tomorrow to look for a big plastic bin to hold the round house, track and engines. I will put them away for when his little boy will play with them. But, I will miss those cheeky little guys and I will forever remember the many many hours Wolfie spent with his English pals.
Good bye Thomas and Sir Topham Hat. You will surely be missed.

Have You Seen Herman?

A couple weeks ago, Hubster and I were able to have a mini vacation alone. Without kids. Did I mention we were alone? It was lovely. We went to Herman Missouri and stayed at a B&B. But, we stayed in the private cottages there. So we had our own space, with a private deck that had a hot tub and grill. We also brought our bikes along and one day we rode on the Katy Trail. It was very nice but terribly hot. We took a nice long bike ride and I was feeling it a bit once I got off my bike. Good thing I could soak in the hot tub when we returned!

This was the view we woke up to every morning and what we looked at from our hot tub. There was a lot of wildlife around complete with small rabbits that would run almost up to our deck.

We also toured a couple wineries in the area. The wine tastings were fun and we brought home a few bottles with us. Notice how relaxed we look? This was at the start of the wine tasting so it really was the time away and not the beverages we were drinking.

Our trip was really a lot of fun and I can't wait for our next visit away.

Mama Mia Pizza

My menu plan this week included pizzas for dinner tonight. But, not your average throw the frozen pizza in the oven and bake it kind, not even the call Papa John's and pick up a hot one (pizza that is) kind. Not even the 'please can we please go to Pizza Hut' kind. Nope, we did it the old fashioned way. We made our own pizzas. Dough from scratch and each of us got our own private pizza.

Wolfgang made a double decker pepperoni pizza.

Princess made a ham and pineapple pizza and so did I (but mine was bigger of course).

And, I made Hubster an onion and pepperoni pizza since he wasn't home from work yet.

The kids bit into them and said "MAMA!!!!!!"

Crap, I thought, here we go with complaining about what's for dinner again and I just busted my butt getting these individual pizzas done. Well, truth be told, the kids rolled out their own dough and put on their own toppings, but still. Don't these kids appreciate my culinary expertise???!

"We LOVE these pizzas!" "Even better than Ruffalos pizza!" my youngest declared and that's high praise indeed.

Guess that's what I get for jumping to conclusions. Too bad that kind of jumping doesn't count as exercise.

Oh, and this is what Maggie did while the pizzas were cooking. Right next to the oven with a forlorn 'all I want is a bite!' kind of look. Darned cute though.

Summer Reading

I just finished two good books. The first was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and the other was "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven." I liked them both although they were quick reads for me. The first book was for my book club and I'm really hoping I can convince the club to read the second book. I think the discussion would be great.
Now, I'm off tomorrow to the library to find another good read. What are you reading right now and what would you recommend?

Mad Tea Party

In a spur of "if I don't find something for these kids to do, they're going to end up driving me crazy" I decided that we should have a tea party. This was met with much enthusiasm and when I suggested we invite Louisa, our across the street neighbor, the kids were ecstatic. So, Wolfie made the invitation and Princess helped with some decorations. When they tried to deliver the message to Louisa, she wasn't home and it was a sad, sad moment to watch their little faces fall and walk (well, OK, run) dejectedly back home. But, a few hours later, they delivered the invite and she said she'd be right over. Now, what you must realize is that the original invitation gave me over an hour to get ready. So I planned to set up the table outside, make some yummy sandwiches and goodies and get myself all gussied up and the kids to get their faces cleaned and hair combed. When Louisa wasn't home, I figured I was off the hook. But then, the kids spied her and before I could stop them, off they bolted to deliver the message. Holy Crap! She was coming over in a few minutes and I looked like I had stepped out of a tornado and judging by the clothes I was wearing, I was color blind as well. Luckily, I had made muffins for the next morning's breakfast so we could eat them. And, I quickly made up a pitcher of lemonade, a.k.a. kid's tea.
Then I rushed upstairs (which in and of itself was quite a spectacle) and threw on a black skirt and a clean t shirt. Ran a brush through my wild mane and put on my white hat with flowers that I have exclusively for tea parties. (What, you don't keep a hat for such occasions? Well, remind me to tell you about my tiara that I use when I vacuum.)
Anyway, we had the table set up on the deck, the tea accoutrements ready and over walks Louisa. In her tea hat. Bearing mini cupcakes. Oh joy in heaven!
We had a lovely time drinking tea and when the muffins and cupcakes were devoured (guess next time we need to talk about proper etiquette of eating) the kids ran off to play. Louisa and I continued to sit and chat while the kids ended up breaking the trapeze on the swing set. Who knew kids and chains don't always mix?!
It was a wonderful tea party. While I'm no psychic, I predict more of these in our future.

Mother Daughter Tea

In June, we had a mother/daughter tea at church. Princess and I dressed up in our finest and headed off. It was nice to spend time with her, but I must confess, it was not the most interesting event I have attended. I think it was intended for older daughters. So, to pass some time, we did some self-portraits and I must say they turned out all right.

Princess entertained herself as well. Here is how she spent her time while the speaker was talking:

Hey, as long as she was quiet and not bothering anyone, I wasn't about to ruin her good time. I'm not sure if I would go again, but Princess declared it the best one ever (which is not hard when it's the only one you have attended)!