Lap of Luxury

Farming anyone?

2012-01-27T15:17:00.000-05:00

Going through my drafts folder and found this link to a farming community. According to the site, you can help with the farm or just sit back and enjoy the view. Not sure how that works; do you still get all the organic produce if you don't help farm? In any case, I like to think about this type of thing sometimes. Living off the land, away from all the crazy-busy in the suburbs. But I think I like the mall too much and pizza delivery.

Published!

2011-10-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

So the Archdiocese switched from a newspaper to a magazine and Jim and I were asked to write for the parenting journey column. I haven't received my copy of the October issue yet, but it's online so I thought I'd post the link here. It's pretty cool to see our words in print and cute picture of our family next to them. I will note though that I didn't think the kiddos would be included in the picture, so I didn't fix there hair or try to dress them up or make them match us. What you see is pretty much how they look all the time, messy hair and all. I did make sure that Joshua had a clean shirt on though.

Enjoy the article and let me know what you think. Oh, and if you're on FB be sure to stop by the Phaith magazine page and click Like! (You could also say how much you liked that parenting journey column and what a nice family and all that - but don't tell them I said that. :) )

One lost in the drafts folder.

2011-10-10T08:55:00.001-04:00

End of the school year wrap-up.
It's been while since I posted here, though I've written several blog posts in my head over these past months. Maria has finished her Kindergarten year and has spent most of her summer thus far reading. She going though books so fast that she's pretty much read all those that I got for "summer reading". Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time at the library this summer.

Surprisingly enough, Amelia's reading too. Somewhere over this year, she taught herself just by watching me work with Maria. I had done a few lessons with her, but not enough for her to read as well as she's reading. So I think that this will prove to be a challenge for the fall. How to work with my reading not quite kindergartener.

Joshua will also be a challenge I think. He loves being outside, but can't be trusted in the yard by himself. But if he doesn't get outside time he starts running around the house like grunting and thrusting "swords" at everyone, chasing the girls and make them scream. Not sure I can handle all the boy energy. There are a few things that he likes to do though, like taking all the DVD's out of their cases and inserting them in the slit between the door to the tv cabinet. This is very fun, especially when you open the tv cabinet and get hit with a DVD avalanche.

I have nearly all my books already for next year. Now I just have to sit down with them and figure out a realistic schedule for working through them. I think this year I planned to do too much. So I'll be tweeking things a bit for next year. Including doing science more consistently. We do a lot of nature study - we don't even have to leave our school room to do it most days. But Maria is interested in doing experiments, so I'm going to try to include more of those next year. I'm just really bad about gathering all the supplies ahead of time so that it doesn't take half the day to do one thing.

For now though, my main concern is re-organizing the school closets, finding my desk and maybe doing a mini-portfolio for the girls. I saved pretty much everything that they did so I at least want to go back and pull some of the best work out, just to get the papers to a manageable level. I've been watching a lot of "Hoarders" on Netflix so I'm pretty motivated to deal with the clutter before it eats me.

I'm hoping to post here more often in the next few months since, presumably, I'll have more time to do so. Though I'm beginning to see that homeschooling moms don't really get much of a summer with all the paperwork, curriculum shopping, planning, re-organizing and deep-cleaning (that didn't get done during the school year). And I love that Maria is enjoying her break and reading so much, but I am a bit jealous of her, because I remember when it was my summer break and I got to do this:

First week of School.

2010-08-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

So Maria is somewhat officially a kindergartner. She is the "right age" to go now, so when we meet someone and they ask her age, and she says she's five, this is usually followed up by, "Oh, so you'll be starting school soon." To which Maria answers, "Not yet. In the fall. We're homeschooling now, but in the fall I'll do dance class and Living Bridges enrichment day." So I suppose that will be the "official" start of school in her mind.

She generally follows this up with a brief ballet demonstration, so I'm never able to judge people's reactions to the news that we're homeschooling. Jim however has noticed that most people just abruptly change the subject, as though Maria has just revealed some dark family secret. Unless that person is a teacher or former teacher, then we usually get enthusiastic questions about how "it" works, this schooling at home thing. They want details and thankfully, are generally supportive and encouraging.

Perhaps our experience is not typical. Maybe we have yet to meet the really opinionated anti-homeschooling crowd or maybe we'll get more negative reactions later when Maria's older. If we continue that long. I plan to take it year by year, and see. This seems the best way to handle schooling. Kids grow so fast; Maria's needs may be drastically different in a year's time. Our families needs may be different too. But for now this is the way things are. I just hope that I can step back from all the planning to enjoy it.

One thing I realized this week is that I tend to overplan. I always think that I can get more accomplished in a day than I actually can. I broke things up in 15/20 minute segments. I tried to pad the schedule with 5 minutes of transition time between each subject. However, I forgot to plan "getting Joshua down for his nap" time (20/30/40 minutes?!? really, just go to sleep already!) and I think that trying to have Maria do 4 math worksheets in 15 minutes was a little over the top, even if it is review. So I'll be tweaking things for next week. I'll also change up the toys available for Joshua, and hopefully make a better schedule for Amelia Although painting works, I think that using all of her new watercolor paints in a two weeks time would be a bit much.

Here are some pictures from the week:

I set the table with some new school supplies and special back-to-school clogs that I found at a consignment store. Joshua got a building set, also from the consignment store.

Maria modeling her new "reticulated" clogs. Giraffes are her favorite animal, so she has been wearing these lot this week.

Amelia got purple clogs, and there's the paint. It's mostly gone now. At least the black is; she seems to be going through a dark period in her painting.

Joshua was with me when I got these, but he was still pretty happy to see them. Any ideas about what they are? I know I've seen them before somewhere, but I don't know what they're called.

The girls doing math.

Joshua found this toy downstairs and became engrossed, so I brought it up to the schoolroom. It's a house and garage, with people blocks and car blocks. If you put the blocks in the top of the house or the garage, it will name the block (ie, "Mommy!) and play a little song. He sat and played happily with this for nearly an hour. Then he left and came back to it several times. It's nice to see his ability to concentrate developing. Plus it's nice to have something that will keep him busy so we can "do school".

Sometimes the bin is just as fun as the toy.

Maria, coloring a cricket anatomy worksheet. She decided to color each part different colors, so she could see them all easily. We cut it out and put it in her nature journal.

Amelia's paintings.

A fawn munching the leaves of the dwarf sumac tree that fell into the yard during last weekend's rain. We watched her for a while from our classroom.

As always I have more pictures that I'd like to share, but I have to go cook dinner, so they'll have to wait. Hopefully I'll get some more up later this evening, after I get my lesson plans done.

Our schoolroom.

2010-08-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

Here's the line-up.

2010-08-25T15:48:00.000-04:00

We've started school for this year . Maria will be doing Kindergarten/1 grade level work, though by the school district this would be her Kindergarten year. I'm planning to have lots of Montessori style activities for Amelia to do and possibly some for Joshua too.

Math: Math-u-see, Primer & Alpha
Reading: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons; Phonics workbook; Faith and Freedom Readers; Bob books, Dr. Seuss, etc.
Handwriting: Seton 1st Grade; Writing Can Help; copywork
Religion: Image of God Pre-K/K
History: Connecting with History; Story of the World Vol. 1
Science: Handbook of Nature Study; ; Handbook of Nature Study blog
Art: Mommy It's a Renoir
Music: 36 Latin Hymns; classical cds

I still need to work out how to do the history stuff. There's a lot to cover, so I'm thinking that I'll probably let use this for next year too. For religion, I also have Faith and Life: Our Heavenly Father and the First Communion Catechism. I may switch to these at some point during the year, or just wait till next year. Right now I have Amelia working with Maria during Math time, but she's moving a little slower. I want to move Maria quickly through Primer, as it's mostly things we've covered already.

I hope to have some time in the next few days to post some pictures of our classroom and the kids working. But right now I'm hearing a strange thumping upstairs, so I think I should investigate it. Sounds like naptime is over.

Some pictures of the kids so my Aunt will stop bugging me. :)

2010-07-17T00:41:00.000-04:00

These are from a few months/weeks ago. The most recent ones are stuck on the camera, as I keep forgetting to get new (lithium) batteries for it. I have regular batteries that would work to let me upload the pics, but if I put them in I'll forget to get the lithium ones and then I'll be stuck somewhere with dead batteries ('cuz the regular don't last as long) and I'll be really upset that I can't take pictures and post them to my blog for my dear Aunt to look at. (Hi, Aunt Rosey! I think you're the only blog reader that I have left. :) )

Look what I found!

Yep, that's Amelia. She was two months old then. And rather grumpy. Oh, wait, I'm supposed to be posting new pictures. Hmmm.... Let me see. I stopped posting at Eastertime. So I'll start way back then. :) This should be fun.

Joshua's first time in a swing? At least the first time this spring, I think. He definitely liked it.

Hey, who's that handsome man in a suit? Right there in front. Yep, that's my Eagle Scout husband, with current and former members of his Scout troop, which celebrated 50 years this year. Very cool.

Some memorabilia.

Jim looking dapper.

And not so dapper. But definitely manly.
Yep, that's the washer he's fixing and it still works too.

What's that? Oh, right. I'm supposed to be posting pictures of the kids.

Here's some from our co-op's preschool. Can you find Joshie in the second one?
Yep, crying. I don't remember why. But the other kids are cute, right?

Here's one of Amelia in our yard. She's bringing me a dandelion, her favorite flower. See how happy she is. This is why we won't get "real" grass, there'd be no dandelions and Amelia would be sad.
This give me a chance to finally blog a great Amelia quote: We were at the playground and Amelia came over to me and said, "Mommy, I gave that girl a dandelion so when meanness happens she can raise it in the air and make happiness again." Yep, no real grass around here, just lots of happiness.

Maria all girly in the stream. She was afraid of getting her dress wet.

Joshua and I, a self potrait. I look ok, 'cept for the large hat. J
oshie looks stunned. Too much fresh air perhaps?

Family walk. No chance we'll blend in; such bright colors!

Ack! What's he doing here?

Whew! Good thing he's sleeping. And there's very thick glass.
This was from our mother's day trip to the zoo.

So is this. They were having a culture fair - Asia and the South Pacific. This was Kung-fu.
Jim was very pleased indeed.

The girls are such hams.

Joshua liked the hippo statue. Even though it was seeringly hot. Yikes!

Hey, look! A hedgehog!

And some hippos!

My favorite. Don't laugh.

And yes, it's because I would love to lounge around all day mostly submerged in a cool pool of water.

Right, back to the kids. This was from Mom's birthday trip to the Penn State Creamery (and later dinner).

Joshua's wondering, "Where's mine!" He did have some too. And he was very happy with it.

Jim did this. They're lying outside the Palmer Museum on campus. See how happy they are to oblige daddy, and lay on the dirty cement in the middle of the hubbub of graduation weekend. (Yes, some poor planning on our parts...maybe next trip to campus we'll be able to get a picture of them at the Lion Shrine without having to wait in a ginormous line.)

Our toad. He lives under a tree root right along the path in the woods. He's almost always there.

Amelia was beside herself with joy when he peed on her. She thought it was the funniest thing since we saw the hawk pooping. Yep, she's recently potty-trained, how could you tell? :)

Our second favorite spot to play in the creek.

Amelia pushing Joshua on the swings. These two are gonna have some good times together.

This group is from the girls' dance class.

I have some video of their "recital" but I'll figure out how to post that some other time.

Amelia at the hairdresser, getting ready for her first haircut.

She looks a bit concerned.

But she did great, and it was just a quick trim anyway.

Joshua got his hair trimmed too! At least most of it. A boy can only sit still so long.

Especially when there's a cute dog to chase around.

Maria got her hair trimmed too. But she's an old pro. This was her third haircut.

Whew! That brings me up to the end of May. I'll have to do June/July in the next post. Which I'll try to get to this weekend. :) Really.

Some Easter Pictures.

2010-04-23T23:22:00.000-04:00

Finally posting some pictures from Easter. I may get a chance to do a few more this weekend. Some egg dying ones and some random spring ones. We'll see. I want to post more often really. But life's crazy and I keep getting sidetracked painting stuff, watching Jim fix things and gathering the socks which seem to sprout from the floors. Such is the life of a mom of three little ones, in a big old house that is in need of repair. At least now that we know has a job (for awhile longer anyway) we can plan the next round of major projects, starting with the foundation fix and maybe some landscaping.

So enjoy these pictures anyway. It may be some time before I get a chance to post again.

Community Easter Egg Hunt.

The Glorious Field of Eggs and Prizes.

Waiting is so hard to do.

The girls and the Bunny. Amelia proudly holds her football.

Checking out the candy.

Yep, that's Sponge Bob. He lives at Grammie's house.

Nothing to see here.

The girls inspecting their Easter baskets.

Joshua inspecting the girls Easter baskets and ignoring his.

Miss Maria, all dressed for church.

Miss Amelia and Uncle Kerry.

Joshua and Grammie. (Notice how much he loved his hat. Sigh. Next time I'll get him one with straps.)

Kerry, Becky and my niece or nephew. Can't wait till November. :)

The Family. Too many cameras, we're all looking in different directions.

This one's pretty nice, Joshie looks suspicious though.

Sitting pretty.

Maria being shy?

Nope. Just fooling around for the camera.

Jumping rope, almost.

Getting better. Looks like we have to get a good jump rope for the girls.

Family Egg Hunt. Look at 'em go.

Really, Becky was just helping the kids, not hunting eggs. Really.

So fast!

Hey! That's mine!

Animal shaped eggs. This one's a tiger.

Easter at home.

Finally some more pictures of the kiddos.

2010-03-10T17:56:00.000-05:00

Since we moved this fall, I feel like I'm running around in circles just trying to accomplish everyday tasks. We're still quite disorganized and unpacking, and have a long to-do list of household projects. All this and trying to homeschool the girls while Joshua exercises he newly acquired crawling and cruising skills has been a challenge to say the least. He especially likes swiping everything off their work table and gets really excited when he's able to grab a pencil or crayon.

I haven't had much time to even take pictures but I'll be making more of an effort at that in the coming days. We have two "field trips" planned, so I should have something nice to share this weekend.

For now, I'll post a couple from the past few months.

Moving In: First week in the new place.

2009-11-10T09:43:00.000-05:00

Getting the moving truck down the driveway was pretty exciting. This was the first attempt... they ended up backing out and then backing down before unloading. Glad I wasn't here.

One of the first things that had to happen was removal of the 'wall fabric' in the hall bathroom. Very satisfying!

This was our surprise on the day of walk-through, a full blown roof leak into the master bedroom. After the room is done, our contractor will remove this gross ceiling and replace it. In fact, he's already started by having one of his guys stick a foot through it from above. (Fortunately no one was hurt, but it just shows how bad the roof was.)

Maria clowning around, after eating a blue lollipop. (No, her teeth aren't always that color.)

View from our deck.

Living room floors before refinishing - actually the best looking area of floor. It was the pet stains in hall and master bedroom (and the water damage) that prompted the refinishing. And I figured while we were at it, I may as well change the color too.

Kitchen cleaning. There were cobwebs in the cabinets; such fun.

Temporary bunk room.

Becky stuck behind a wall of the girls' toys.

Becky wearing Jim's old Halloween armor.

Last picture in the old yellow room.

Girls, saying goodbye to the green room.

My enclave of peace and homeyness. The only thing I've decorated as of yet. Can't wait to get upstairs and start painting and really unpacking.

Giant dumpster of doom.

The crane lifting supplies up to the roofers.

A heavy load, swinging right towards the window, all controlled by a handheld remote.

Joshua, oblivious to all the banging and whirring. Wish I had a bouncy seat too.

Driveway chaos - four contractors in one day: roofers, electricians, heater and floor guys.

A rare sight, all three kids asleep at the same time.

Progress, the roof half done.

Shiny new floors, after the first coat of finish.

Stairs - looks like we'll have to restain that hand rail too.

Our first visitor, seminarian Steve. He'll have to come back and see the rest of the house, after the floors are done.

Joshua update.

2009-11-09T10:38:00.005-05:00

Sorry for not posting much... things are crazy. We're in the new house now, but not in all of it, since we're getting the floors refinished. So we have all our stuff squashed into four rooms. I did want to put some new pictures of Joshua up and maybe if the kids cooperate, I'll get pictures of the new house up too. First, some of Joshua.

Three months old.

Hey, Mom! Watch this!

Grab lion, eat lion.

Hmm, what's this?

Oh, yeah! I've got this rolling thing down. Now how do I climb outta here?

Turning on the charm.

Four months old...

My sisters love me.

Love snuggles.

Gotta love those toes.

Stats: 15lbs, 12oz., 25 inches long; eyes, still blue - the doctor says they are usually set in their color by 6 months, so they may still change, but for now we're all enjoying Mr. Blue Eyes.

Some pictures of the girls.

2009-09-03T10:07:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from our recent walk in the local nature area. There are apparently several trails and streams in this 89 acre nature area. The property that we're most interested in has 1.5 acres that adjoins this nature area, so if all goes well we'll be living within walking distance of this stream.

This is Maria and her rattlesnake. During a recent conversation about snakes, I mentioned that if you see a snake you should get away quickly, especially if it's a rattlesnake. Maria said, "Ya, but you can PLAY with MY rattlesnake."

Morning.

2009-09-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

You know that the morning is going to be interesting when you go into you room to get dressed and return to find your nearly three year old lying in her bed cuddling a cheese stick. This would be her second one this morning... I'm thinking growth-spurt.

Joshua Tree

2009-09-01T07:59:00.001-04:00

A link to a picture of a Joshua Tree. Just because it's sooo cool.

Two Months.

2009-08-24T14:06:00.004-04:00

I'm trying to post here more often, really I am. But with the kiddos and all the cleaning and packing and trying to sell the house... this takes a backseat.

I did at least want to post some pictures of Joshua, now two months old. We have his check-up later tonight, so I'll edit this post later to add his weight and height.

For now some cute pictures:

Update: Joshua is now 12 lbs 14 oz, and 23 inches long.

The things kids say...

2009-07-25T12:14:00.003-04:00

1. While in the van on the way to Joshua's checkup, Maria and Amelia were poking at and pushing each other. Jim told the to stop, and had Maria put down her armrest, which was the cause of the incidence.

Maria's response: "But Daaaadddyy! Without my arm rest, my arm will not rest!"

2. Amelia wanders into my room this morning, at about 10am. She had already eaten breakfast and just had a snack of a hard boiled egg.

"Mommy, I want a plum! Dere iz a plum in da fridge. I saw id. Pleeeesss, may I have da plum. I am sooooo hungry. If I do not eat my bones will break!"

Thank you, Sid the Science Kid. (warning the link has sound... if your kids are around don't go there, unless you want them crowding around the computer and asking to play Sid games...but maybe that's just what my kids do.)

7 Quick Takes Friday.

2009-07-24T08:04:00.005-04:00

Ok, I've been too lazy to do this before, but since it seems that there may be a prize come Monday, then I'm in for today. If I can think of 7 random things, and if I actually have a chance to write them, with three little ones, and 80 different chores to do.

1. It's amazing what a little paint will do. We're trying to get our house ready to go on the market but then end of this month, so my brother-in-law has been coming over to help us paint. (I know, we've got great family.) Yesterday, he finished up the linen closet door and rehung it. It brightened up the hallway so much that I'm almost rethinking my decision to stain the new pine doors. If I didn't have two of them done already, I might just do it. As it is, I want to paint all the "core" doors on the closets, but Jim doesn't like it when I add to the list.

2. Trying to do anything substantial with a one month old is pretty much impossible. I'm still trying. Yesterday, my MIL had the girls, so Joshua and I went to the Lowes and Target. Since's he's nursing every 2-3 hours this makes for and interesting time. While waiting for the blinds to be cut, he got hungry. The binky sorta works to keep him calm... but only if I hold it in for him. This makes pushing the cart difficult. One thing that makes the trips easier is having the van, there's so much more room to relax and nurse. I'm thinking of getting a sign that says, "Don't look now! Breastfeeding in progress," just to post on the front and warn passerby who become overconcerned that the engine is running and decide to peer in to make sure someone's there.

3. I'm thinking about starting a lending library. I've already packed up about 7 boxes of books, and have probably about a dozen or so more to go, if I were packing them all now. Many of these I have not read... I pick up used books at yard sales, flea market and the library's sale, so that's where a lot of the unread ones came from. I also have a habit of buying books from conferences and retreats that I attend. Those are another chunk of unread ones. I'm thinking that if I take the time to catalog all my books, then when I want to read something, I'll be able to easily look it up. Also, my friends will be able to come over and browse the collection, then check one out... this way I'll know who took my book. Ideally, when we move, we'll have a room just for the books... I suspect this will only happen if we win the lottery before we buy the next house though.

4. Hmmmmmm, I wonder if my "quick takes" are too long. I have a habit of rambling when I tell stories. My mom used to say that I was "writing a book," everytime I wanted to explain something that had happened to me. I like to think of this as being detail oriented... something I can put on my resume should I ever need to return to work.

5. I've had my first failed attempt at leaving the house for today. I had the girls ready, Joshua "packed" in his car carrier and was almost out the door, before I remembered that my sister will be dropping of boxes today. I wouldn't have made it back in time to be here when she arrived, so now we're all having a snack and waiting. I'll make another attempt later... before lunch and naptime comes, if I can muster up that my energy again.

6. I want to know why it is that both girls must try to talk to me at the same time. There will be minutes of silence, then both of them talking at me at the same time. It makes my brain want to explode. Often Joshua will be crying at the same time, usually when both of the girls "urgently" need my attention. When I try to get them to talk one at a time, I just add to the noise, since the fact that I'm speaking doesn't prompt them to stop and listen. I'll take any advice on how to fix this.

7. This is what happens when "boy toys" are introduced into the home of girly girls.

The princesses pile-in for a joy ride.

It's been one month...

2009-07-22T22:12:00.004-04:00

...and I'm still having trouble figuring out the camera. :) But I'll try to post more pics in the next few days.

welcome joshua robert!

2009-06-26T18:54:00.002-04:00

born monday, june 22, 5:06 pm
9 lbs 12oz, 21 1/4 inches

(typing one handed is fun!)

Getting ready.

2009-06-08T13:13:00.002-04:00

Yikes, those newborn diapers are small!

If I get motivated I'll take/load some pictures of our other preparations... the co-sleeper's set, and the van has been purchased. I've unpacked toys and tiny baby clothes, blankets and towels.

We also got a new camera, as our old one was dying and then was misplaced by one tired pregnant lady and a small unwary accomplice. (Amelia probably took it and played with it while I was catching an afternoon nap on the couch... I remember her bringing it to me... but I don't remember anything after that. I keep waiting for it to turn up in a toy bin somewhere.)

Now, I just have to make sure that Jim knows how to use the camera, so we'll have good shots of baby's 3 first moments out in the world. :)

Because I said I would...

2009-06-08T12:35:00.005-04:00

...here are pictures from Becky and Kerry's wedding and rehearsal. This is like time travel, because blogger hates me and completely reversed the order I loaded them in. They are mostly in order... just backwards order. Grrrrrrrr....

Tired Flower Girls.

Maria and Daddy.

The Happy couple.

Amelia and Daddy.

Mmmm... cake!

No comment.

Chicken dancing.

Cake!!!

Ah, sitting down and eating without having to cut anyone else's food. :) I should be a bridesmaid more often.

The wedding party.

My hair. 56 bobby pins, 2 rubber bands and a lot of hair spray. I didn't win... Becky had a lot more.
Kerry's family.

Our family... note how serious the girls look.

The kiss.

Not sure why everyone but Kerry looks grumpy here.

Lighting the candles.

Practice!

Who's that massively pregnant lady standing up front? I can't see anything!

Hurry up Maria! I think they have candy up there!

Overheard....

2009-05-21T10:41:00.002-04:00

Maria standing at the screen door jiggling the handle:

"Hey! Hey, bird! Look! There's a human right here!"

She must be lonely with her sister at Gymboree and me on the computer.

Easter 2009

2009-04-27T16:09:00.007-04:00

We stayed down here this year. I think it's the first time that we've made it to Easter Services at our own church. It was a nice weekend, thought we did miss seeing everyone in Central PA.

Here's a play by play of the weekend (more or less).

After we got the kids down I changed up the buffet. Meaning I cleaned it off and set out the flowers I'd hidden downstairs.

Easter baskets filled.

Easter morning: sleepy but excited.

I'm happy to say that the first thing that the girls noticed was that I'd reset the prayer table... Jesus on the cross - gone, replaced by a Sacred Heart statue. Pretty candle holders and a white doily to "re-dress" the formerly stripped down table.

Once prompted Maria spotted the baskets.

I think they were happy with the contents.

Breakfast, complete with Empty Tomb rolls.

An after breakfast snack - one expensive duck (from Harry and David's - yay coupons).

Family portraits at Westover - courtesy of Uncle David.

Later, after a second round of desserts, an Easter egg hunt. I missed it... completely felled by the mass quantities of desserts, I had a nice nap on the couch.

Afterward, the girls posed with their haul, showing off their make-shift shoes - plastic baggies rubber-banded over their socks. We forgot to bring play shoes, and the dress shoes needed to stay nice for Aunt Becky's wedding. Also, I think Maria's sugar high just wore off.

Easter Monday: Operation Dye Eggs without Dyeing Kids (or anything else).

We used crayons on most of the eggs first. This proved too much for Amelia - several eggs were lost in the process. Fortunately, I was planning on pickling a few anyway.

The pretty results.

Becky's Shower #2

2009-04-27T15:44:00.003-04:00

Is this a little late? Yes, indeed it is. I will be attempting to post these pictures, Easter pictures and wedding pictures in the next day or so. I figure that I may be able to accomplish this, since the oppressive heat make it impossible for me to do much more than move my fingers. It's still April right?

Anyway, here are the pictures:

The favors: mint filled hearts and a crocheted washcloth wrapped around pretty-smelling bar of soap. My hand cramps just thinking of those washcloths.

The cake: Yum!

Most of the guests...some annoying bug kept several people away.

Becky's helpers.

I think she had a good time. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day... Surprise!

2009-03-18T10:42:00.005-04:00

So all of us are sick. Some sort of head cold. I, so far, haven't been completely wiped out by it... but I anticipate the worst, and expect to be dragging around by Saturday, just when I'll need energy to pull off Becky's Shower #2. It should be pretty fun.

Yesterday, as you all know was St. Patrick's Day. A day to wear green and drink enough beer so that your skin ends up matching your outfit. Or maybe it's a day to celebrate being Irish - so you should go around speaking Irish brogue and eating corned beef and cabbage. It may also possibly have to do with a Saint who did something important a long time ago... involving pirates and possibly snakes, but who remembers that now?

In any case, given my cold I planned to spend my St. Patrick's day wearing my pink flamingo flannel jammies (close-up above) and laying on the couch, semi-comatose, while the kids trashed the place. This was not to be however, as my good buddy, Delbert (not his real name), had decided that on this day, in honor of the saint and all things Irish (he's Irish - so this makes sense), I would be receiving a bouquet of fruit.

Yep. Fruit.

And being that this was coming from Delbert, who has a knack for knowing when I'm indisposed - and this works both ways, we're perpetually calling one another just as the call-ee is entering the bath - it would come on my Pajama Day, so that I would be forced to receive it, blushingly, from a very polite, though slightly startled delivery man.

I probably wouldn't have answered the door at all had it not been for the small pajama clad person who, upon hearing the doorbell, ran to see who it was, then stood jumping and pointing, in full view of the door. This combined with my looking out to see the truck, which read Edible Arrangements, and realizing that whatever he had was probably perishable, compelled me to answer the door.

I'm glad I did, really, as the fruit was yummy. Some of it was even chocolate covered. And for whatever reason this pregnancy, especially recently, I'm been craving fruit of all kinds. (Just another example of the weird connection that Delbert and I share - even from miles and miles away he can tell that I want fruit, preferably already cut, and chocolate covered.)

So, thanks, Delbert for the surprise, the fruit and the story. I really needed something funny to post on my blog.

Becky's Shower #1

2009-03-18T10:23:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I know that people are waiting to see these pictures. I wanted to try and get them up here before this weekend, when I'll have pictures from her second shower to try to post. Plus I figured that I ought to post these pictures, before posting my St. Patrick's day surprise pictures....that will be my next post. Hopefully, I'll get that up by this afternoon.

These are the best pictures that I got, ones of the present opening. I was moving around so much the rest of the time that I didn't really take the time to take nice pictures.

This was where is was for most of the day... near the kids, trying to keep them happy and away from danger... such as falling boxes of ceiling tile and stoves. Guess I didn't do such a great job. But at least here they are contained for five minutes or so... until the crayon eating started.

Faschnaut day.

2009-02-27T09:48:00.003-05:00

Yummy donuts! Lots and lots of them.
Thanks, Sophie!

Obligatory pictures of the kids together on a couch.

Can you tell what Uncle/Godfather Steve was doing to get the kids to look at the camera?

Take two, a few more smiles here.

Final take... C's making a break for it, and Maria's makin' a move on S.
Time to end the photo shoot.

These aren't great shots, since my camera's dying a slow death.... but it was a very fun day and definitely good prep for Ash Wednesday's fasting.

Something to think about...

2009-02-19T08:53:00.002-05:00

...when I read this post, from Jen at Conversion Diary, this morning I realized that it speaks to where I am spiritually.

Particularly this section:

I knew that the threat of losing favor with the Emperor would be more than a person like Pilate could take. ..." My "Emperor" was something different than Pilate's, of course: his was an actual man who had the power to make all Pilate's wildest dreams of riches and success come true; mine was a symbolic Emperor comprised of all my desires for things like comfort and pleasure and money and control and success and acclaim, an Emperor whose friendship I sought over doing the right thing on at least a daily basis.

Not that I'm struggling with any one great sin at this (thank God), but that I find myself seeking comfort more and more, not wanting to give up the little things that I think I need. I want things to be easy now... as if in striving towards holiness you get points for hanging around for a long time.

But in reading the saints, I know that the opposite is true... the closer you come to God, the more of what you believe to be yourself must be burned away. Purgation is never fun, nor comfortable.

I suppose these are good thoughts to have now, a week before Lent. Perhaps I'll actually buckle down and stick with my Lenten resolutions, instead of caving to the crowd of my "needs" and my desire for a comfortable life.

Sunday morning fun.

2009-02-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

Your 80s Song is "Walk Like an Egyptian"

If you were transported back to the 80s, your life would be all about having fun.

You love the wackiness that the 80s represented. Everything back then seemed a lot more colorful!

You'd peg your jeans, get a "totally tubular" hair cut, and even wear one sequined glove.

You would skateboard, play Pac-Man, and hang out at the mall. And of course, you would walk like an egyptian.

What's Your 80s Karaoke Song?

Standing in the way of Spiritual Growth.

2009-01-30T10:02:00.004-05:00

I found a couple great quotes from yesterday's reading of "In Conversation with God" by Francis Fernandez (ICWG). These fit with where I'm at spiritually, and go well with some recent posts by a friend.

From reading 22.1, ICWG Vol3:

"The difficulties, temptations, internal or external obstacles we come up against cause us to grow; the greater the difficulty, the more grace we receive. If He permits us to experience great temptations or setbacks, the Lord will give us still greater help to overcome them. Then all those things that seem to retard our struggle for holiness, or even make succeeding in it seem impossible, will become the cause of spiritual progress and of our effectiveness in the apostolate. It is only a lack of love, nothing less than lukewarmness, that causes the soul's life to fall sick or die. Only a bad will, a lack of generosity towards God, can delay or prevent our union with Him."

From reading 22.2, ICWG Vol3:

"There are various reasons that cause us to make scant progress in the interior life, and even to lose ground and give way to discouragement. However, these reasons can be reduced to just a few: carelessness, negligence in the little things connected with service to God and friendship with Him; drawing back from the sacrifices He asks of us."

(emphasis mine, in both cases)

Definitely something to pray about and meditate on...

How am I impeding my spiritual progress? What "little things" is the Lord asking me to do for Him that I refuse to do or only do grudgingly? (think everyday tasks pertaining to one's vocation) What sacrifices am I being asked to make and how am I trying to get out of them? Do I really seek holiness or just the "warm fuzzies" of knowing God?

One last quote, something I found in my college days:

"I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please - not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.

I don't want enough of God to make me love an enemy or pick beets with a migrant; I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."
Wilbur Rees

Maria's B-day.

2009-01-29T15:54:00.004-05:00

These are from Maria's fourth birthday. She requested a castle cake, again, and princess themed plates and decorations. She's decided that next year she'll have Tinker Bell.

I didn't include the detailed views, but there is a princess looking out of the tower window while holding a rose (right side). On the left, the king, in white, and the queen, in blue with a red crown, look out their 1st floor windows. Such was Maria's vision for her cake....one that almost went unfulfilled, as the icing was not very cooperative.

A princess graciously accepting the adulation of her subjects.

1st bite.

"Look, more clothes!"

Maria's daisys.

Waiting patiently.

"Take picture of my bite!"

What a lady likes...

2009-01-29T15:38:00.002-05:00

I finally got my floor mopped yesterday after several weeks of trying. Maria and Amelia "helped." Maria did pretty well, but Amelia had her sponge taken away for getting way too much water on the floor.

Somewhere in the middle of the scrubbing, to make it more interesting to Maria I mentioned that Cinderella also had to scrub the floor. She thought about this for a minute and then said, "Yeah, ladies like to mop the floor. It's one of their favorite things to do."

More pictures.

2009-01-29T15:28:00.002-05:00

Another two images from the ultrasound. You may have to enlarge to read the labels.

Sneak peek....

2009-01-26T16:38:00.004-05:00

Baby 3 grabbing his/her foot.
(no,we didn't find out the sex)

More 'pictures' to come. :)

The hazards of parenthood...

2009-01-22T13:36:00.004-05:00

...remember to check under your pillow and between your sheets before you lay down to sleep.

Finally... Christmas pics.

2009-01-22T13:00:00.006-05:00

I know, I know... it's not Christmas anymore... it's not even the Christmas season any more. However, I know you all still would like to see the Christmas pictures, so here they are. I'll be trying to get more pics up later today, and maybe a real post or something. I'm always optimistic that today will be the day that I figure out how to bend the laws of space and time to accomplish all the things on my to-do list. :)

Oh, and these are in backwards order... starting with Epiphany.

..."we two kings"...

Mmm... cookies!

Christmas aprons... thanks Grammy!

At Mom-mom and Pop's Christmas day!

Christmas morning 2 am.... thanks to Jim for the picture, and the cleanup!

"Why'd we get these unassembled again?"

Christmas morning, 12:30 am. Still wrapping gifts, and putting things together.

Christmas Eve - Cute dresses courtesy of GreatAunt Rita!

Wreath making - When did Maria get so grown up?

Aunt Becky and her wreath.

Outakes from the Christmas pictures.

Say, "CHEESE!"

This makes me laugh everyn time I see it...

2008-12-19T15:28:00.000-05:00

The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

Snow...sort of...

2008-12-18T17:17:00.004-05:00

Here's some pictures of the girls playing around in our recent "wintery mix." It did contain some snow, but mostly ended up being little ice pellets. This did not deter the girls from wanting to go outside and play in the "snow." They enjoyed it, but we slightly disappointed that we couldn't make a snow man. Maybe soon we'll get some real snow... I think it's on Maria's Christmas list. ;-)

Poking at the "snow" on the bush with sticks. This kept them busy for about 10 minutes.

Ya, that swing set shouldn't really be out there...but there's no room in the garage.

Maria had to improvise a sled since we still don't have one.

Amelia very much enjoyed eating the snow, even thought I told her not to about 75 times.

Hot cocoa is the best way to warm up.

Yum!

Feast of St. Nicholas

2008-12-07T20:29:00.003-05:00

Maybe next year, the kids will get more appropriate St. Nicholas day gifts, but for this year there was a princess theme. And instead of putting out their shoes to get gifts, they got slippers from St. Nick.

Then we baked Specuulas cookies. (Scroll down on the linked page for the recipe.)

It was fun, but exhausting, since I caught the annual "trip to Centre county cold." Wee!

The kids really got into it... they especially liked "trying" their new rolling pins. If I'd let Amelia roll the cookies would have looked like a mountain range - all peaks and valleys. Maria did pretty well, after a little instruction.

All in all, a fun feast day, and good start to the Christmas countdown.

Maybe next year we'll get one of those fancy St. Nicholas cookies boards, or at least a cookie cutter...but for now this one hand shaped St. Nick will have to do.

First Look.

2008-11-19T09:24:00.004-05:00

Here's a small preview of what's to come.... Baby Volpe Number 3.

Baby is facing the "camera", with the head at the left, then two little dots for hands, then the body on the right. Baby looks just fine and was moving around a lot during the ultrasound. Baby is ten weeks young. :)

Praying for Life!

2008-11-11T13:11:00.002-05:00

Join in the fun, and pledge to pray for our country here. You can still join in. I think that this is a great way to handle any post-election depression, and you might finally be able to make praying the rosary every day a permanent part of your spiritual life!

Now more than ever... support Pro-Life Causes.

2008-11-07T11:27:00.002-05:00

A Baby's Breath Crisis Pregnancy Center
will host it's annual Silent Auction
on Friday November 14th
from 7:00 - 11:00pm
at the Sheraton Park Ridge
480 N. Gulph Road, King of Prussia PA 19406

Tickets can still be purchased
Call Maria Diesel for tickets/donations
610.430.0271 or email help@ababysbreath.org

Ugh... Obama Babies???

2008-11-07T10:50:00.002-05:00

I find it terribly ironic that the followers of the most Pro-Abortion politician, now president-elect Obama, are actually celebrating his victory by having babies. It would be more fitting, if those who in a fit of revelry over his win tossed the contraception out the window only to regret the decision, days, weeks or even months later would then take advantage of the liberal, abortion on demand that Obama promises. That would seem more in line with his ideals and agenda.

Not that I'm suggesting this course of action however. Hopefully, if anyone does have regrets about going for an "Obama-baby" they will seek out help at the nearest pro-life crisis pregnancy center.

Please watch...

2008-10-29T14:49:00.005-04:00

... a choice for Obama is a choice for more stories like these.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ht: American Papist

Happy Birthday Amelia!

2008-10-21T14:31:00.003-04:00

I can't believe she's two already. Maria was very happy for her, but also wanted to keep her in her place. She kept telling Amelia, "I'm three and on my next birthday, I'll be four! I'm a big girl. You're one, but you'll be two on your birthday. You're a BIG baby! And I know what big babies are called! They're called Toddlers!" This was pretty much the breakfast/lunch/snack conversation for the whole week preceding Amelia's big day, with a few other comparisons worked in for good measure. "I'm a big girl, I don't need a bib, but Amelia is a big baby so she still needs a bib!" and "I'm a big girl, so I get to sit in a big girl seat, but Amelia is a big baby so she needs to sit in the booster seat."

It's no wonder then that Amelia staged a small revolt the on her birthday and refused to wear a bib to eat her soup. She kept saying, "No, I big! I don't need bib!" and "No t'ank you!"

Of course, we may have set a precedent the night before at her party when we allowed her to fuss her way into sitting at the kids table for dinner. Though it did seem wrong to let a girl cry at her own party.

Here's some pictures from her party.

For Delbert.

2008-10-13T23:10:00.002-04:00

I actually have four pics of the Egret eating the Mouse. In these two you can kinda see the mouse.
For all those who are confused see the comments here.

Random Pictures of the Girls and Stuff, in Random order.

2008-10-01T14:48:00.005-04:00

Maria can climb very well now... even in a dress.

Maria: Soccer Star

Pillow Pile Playhouse.

What you find around the house when you have girls.
[Note: No, I didn't receive any money from either company who's products/logos appear in this photo. But I wouldn't be opposed to them sending me some. :) ]

Praying Mantis - How'd he get there?

Amelia zonks out on the floor after contemplating Mommy's Wii Fit for too long.

My pumpkinhead.

Maria's room of many colors. (Complete with a Tipsy Tower of Stuff Mommy doesn't want anyone to touch on the headboard of her bed.)

Impromptu Picnic of PB & J's on the Park Bench.

"Ook! I swinging!"

To lighten the mood a bit, some quiz results.

2008-09-17T08:18:00.002-04:00

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Prioress

You scored 5% Cardinal, 56% Monk, 59% Lady, and 43% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

I like the part about me being a saint.

I suspect, however, that I shouldn't bet on the accurancy of this quiz.

Hate blogger, can't get the underline to go away....grr....

Who's looking out for the little ones?

2008-09-16T10:17:00.003-04:00

I don't tend to post on politics, but I saw this picture at Mommy Life and felt I had to post it here.

It's from Milehimama, at Mama Says. Here's a link to her post.

I think that it puts forth in one image what the choice is about this election. Can we vote for someone who voted against the protection of infants born alive after botched abortions, or not?

If he's not willing to protect the "least of these" what reason do we have to believe that he'll protect the rest of us?

Check out Jill Stanek's site for more info on Obama's record.

Funny Fortune for You.

2008-09-14T18:48:00.004-04:00

I've been too busy with the Run for Life and other A Baby's Breath things to post, but we got Chinese food today and I had to share this fortune:

Update on Amelia.

2008-08-29T09:21:00.002-04:00

Well, I, being quite resourceful and having knowledgeable friends, managed to avoid a trip to CHOP, having discovered that they have a satellite diagnostic center near the KoP Mall.

So Monday morning, Jim took the morning off work, and we took Amelia for her testing. Siblings weren't allowed in the testing rooms, so Maria had fun in the toy filled waiting room, being zombified by the cartoons on tv.

Amelia did very well with the tests, pretty much taking everything in stride.

It turns out that she does have moderate urinary reflux, on both sides, meaning that when her bladder was being filled with the contrast, it traveled part way back up the ureters towards her kidneys. Obviously this is not a good thing if it's happening frequently and if it causing bacteria to infect the kidneys, which can cause permanent damage.

The treatment? Preventative antibiotics. Which may or may not work to prevent kidney infections, or reduce damage to the kidneys if an infection does occur. So even with antibiotic treatment we still have to watch her for signs of infection, so that she can be treated immediately if one should occur.

We don't like giving the kids medicine, unless we know it's needed so preventative antibiotics that aren't necessarily proven kind of rub us the wrong way. Fortunately, they are doing a study, in which some kids will have the standard treatment of preventative antibiotics and some will have a placebo.

We are hoping to take part in this, and of course hoping for a placebo. We already know that we'll be watching her more closely, so adding an antibiotic doesn't seem all that helpful. If we don't get in the study or choose not to do it (once we hear the full protocol) then we'll have to take Amelia to a urologist who will help us decide what treatment to follow and will help us monitor her to see if/when she grows out of the condition. Because most kids do grow out of it. And it seems that they are finding that it's increasingly being linked to the time of potty training.

So all this is a rather long way of saying that Amelia'a ok, and probably will be ok. Which is a nice change after all that excitement.

Another First for Maria.

2008-08-29T08:55:00.003-04:00

I almost forgot to post these... Maria's first pictures. I just set up the camera, told her which button to push and let her do it. This is what she came up with. Not bad, huh?

Note: I hate Blogger! Despite the fact that I'm always able to move my text to above my photos after they're added, today's it's not allowing me to do that and it's trying to make everything bold. Grr....

What Maria's been doing....

2008-08-26T14:48:00.005-04:00

What with all the excitement of summer, I haven't had a chance to post an update on Maria. Somewhere around the beginning of the summer, maybe early June or something, she drew her first ever stick person.

It's Amelia with one blue eye and one yellow eye, brandishing a spoon. I'm so proud.

Then more recently, while Jim was working at the computer, she reached over and wrote her name on the white board next to him, all be herself (except for a little help with the letter r).
I'd only had her practice tracing it three or four times, months ago. I think homeschooling just might work out. :)

She also moved into her very own big girl bed. And she stays the whole night.

(At least she did until recently when she decided that if I don't kiss her goodnight when I come home from A Baby's Breath, and if she doesn't wake up when I'm kissing her goodnight, then it's important to come in at 4 am and ask for a kiss and a snuggle.)

At the CCL convention, she got her first face painting, a rainbow, which she didn't want to wash off and which stained her cheek red for days afterward. She also had her hair French Braided, for what will most likely be the 1st and last time, since I'm incompetent in the area of fancy hairstyles.

And although I don't have a picture of it she very much enjoyed catching her first lightening bug. She exalted afterwards, "Today is a very special day, because today, I caught my 1st lightening bug ever! I'm soo proud of me! Do-do-do-ta-do!"

Note: This post has been edited to cover up the author's stunning lack of proof reading.

"A" is for Adventure!

2008-08-21T10:24:00.000-04:00

It's also for "accident" (not us), "ambulance" (us), "Amelia" (who else) and "A-mergency room" (k, that's a stretch I know).

*** Don't worry everything's fine. Just normal childhood illness, but I'll get to that in a minute. ***

Note: This post was started two weeks ago...so the time line is a little off.

So, we got back into town Sunday evening. Amelia slept or almost slept most of the trip. I didn't think much of it as she (and we) didn't get a lot of sleep the night before. (She seems to know just when it would be best for everyone to have a good night's sleep, and this makes her very agitated... so much so that she wakes up and cries, squirms and fusses thus keeping everyone up. Caves under the pressure I guess.)

I also didn't think too much of it when she felt warm at the rest stop. I assumed that the air conditioning wasn't high enough in the car. So I cranked it up for the rest of the drive.

When we got home, there was no mistaking it however. Amelia had a fever. It was high...104ish.

So I ran a lukewarm bath, gave her Tylenol and watched her. Till about 11. When the fever was back in the low/normal range, I got her to sleep.

Monday, no fever she was acting fine all day. Maybe a little tired, but fine. Until Monday night right around 10:30, when Jim called me as I was coming out of the grocery store (yes, late I know). Amelia had woken up and was crying and saying something over and over. I tried to get her to tell me what was wrong over the phone. The only thing I understood was "hurt." And there was something weird in her tone.

I assumed the fever had come back and I had Jim get her an ice pop. When I came in she was eating the pop and watching Barney. But when the ice pop was gone, she started to cry and then was breathing strangely, in short gasps as though it hurt to take deeper breaths. I tried to get her to nurse, but she wouldn't. She was also sitting very stiffly and her stomach was tense and hard.

So I had Jim call the pediatrician. When he heard her symptoms, he told us to go to CHOP. This made us more afraid that it really was something serious. We got Jim's mom to come and stay with Maria, who was still sound asleep and unaware of what was going on.

When we had just gotten on the expressway, we saw traffic stopped dead in front of us. With all the rescue vehicles, we knew something serious had happened. I was just contemplating driving up the shoulder to the next exit when three cars shot up the shoulder and blocked us in.

Amelia was awake again, now that the car wasn't moving, and starting to fuss. I rolled down my window and tried to reason with the man in the car next to us, asking him not to move any farther forward to block us in. I told him we were trying to get to the hospital with my daughter.

He just said, "It's not my fault, I didn't cause this," and rolled up his window. Argh.

So I called 911, to see if they could send a cop to help us get out of the jam, or to at least tell us how long a wait it would be. The man I spoke with recommended that I get an ambulance, as it would be "quite awhile" before we'd be moving again.

So Jim and I got out to flag down the ambulance. Rescue workers from the accident scene ahead of us came back to see what was going on, and help the other ambulance find us. They asked a few questions and stayed with us till the ambulance arrived. Then the helped me climb over the barrier between the East and West bound lanes.

We decided to go to a closed hospital now that the fastest way to CHOP was blocked, and thankfully someone told Jim, who had to stay with the car, where we were going.

In the ambulance the EMT put leads on Amelia to monitor her hear and other things, and dangled a oxygen mask near her face to help her out a little, though he said her "oxygen saturation" was good.

When we got to the hospital, Amelia started screaming again, having fallen partly asleep in the ambulance. When the nurses checked her temp it was up to 103. They gave her some tylenol and we sat down to wait for the doctor.

I was quite surprised when Jim showed up about 20 minutes after we did. After giving him an update on Amelia, I got the story of how he made it to the hospital so quickly. Apparently, a state trooper told him to turn the car around and go, saying, "If anyone says anything to you, tell that that Trooper Scott said it was ok." So Jim wove in and out of the parked cars on the expressway, until he got to the entrance ramp, where cars were still getting on (and blinking there lights at the crazy person going the wrong way), where he drove on the shoulder and finally turned onto another road, finally going the right direction again.

I am very glad that I wasn't in the car while he was pulling that maneuver. But I was also very glad that he had made it to the hospital.

After waiting a little longer, the doctor came in and assured us that this most likely wasn't appendicitis, which is what we had feared. He ordered a blood test and a urine sample, which he was going to have a nurse get with a catheter. Yuck. I was clear-headed enough to ask if maybe we could try to have Amelia pee in a cup to get the sample rather than do a catheter. He said that it's been his experience that it wouldn't work with a kid her age, but he was willing to let us try.

Amelia did very well with it and was able to provide a nice sample for them. She also did beautifully when they put the IV in to take the blood sample. I think she was too tired and loopy at that point to protest much, but still she did very well, with no crying at all.

After the tests came back, and after they'd given her some fluids via the IV, we left thinking that all this adventure was caused by a virus.

But two days later, the culture showed that she had a UTI. So she was put on an antibiotic. Which we've since learned, through and all over body rash, that she's allergic too. So now we have a second antibiotic and are facing some follow-up testing at CHOP to rule out something called urinary reflux.

All of this shows that you don't have to go looking for adventure... when you're a parent the adventure comes to you.

Arts Fest.

2008-07-22T10:36:00.001-04:00

We finally made it to central PA for Arts Fest. The last time that I went was three years ago and I carried Maria around in a backpack. (See hiking pictures below... I'm too lazy to link it.)

This year I had the girls in the double stroller. It was an entirely different experience trying to see things with the girls. We arrived later than I had hoped. Then we stopped for five minutes or so watching a real balloon animal maker person (those of you who were at Jim's party know what I mean), while putting sunscreen on the girls. Ya, poor planning. I should have done that on the bus from the parking lot.

It was hard to get Maria past the kid fountains. But a promise to come back to them made her quiet down. Then we got in line for lunch...and after a minute in line, back out to find a restroom for Maria. After 15 minutes, back in line for lunch. Then 15 minutes or so of eating, after a minute of whining about having chicken fingers (that she'd asked for) instead of the hot dog (that she'd said she didn't want).

We just made it to the library, where they were doing kids art and got the third to last piece of paper, which Maria and Amelia had to share. After some fun painting, the girls played with the Brio trains for about 30 minutes. Finally I bribed them to leave with promises of seeing "sand castles." A poor choice of words, since this is what was really going on:

So finally we got to see the artists' booths. But it was more of a buzz by and I didn't buy anything. I'd really wanted to bit up some more interesting pottery, but a nearly incessant whining prevented me from looking at anything for more than a few seconds.

By the time we'd made it to the sand sculptures, the girls had each had a cupcake, each had gotten a free balloon and Maria had released all the helium from her balloon, nearly throwing herself into the street in despair (at least the streets were closed). At the sculptures, Maria tried to be happy just looking at the sand (she really wanted to play in it) and Amelia ran in circles screeching at anyone who came near. It was way past naptime at this point.

Finally we headed back to the fountains, and I let Maria go through the "mister."

Swamp Thing? No, just Maria.

Then we walked across campus so that I could see some of the new buildings. We were getting pretty hot and tired, so when we came upon the new creamery, we had to stop for a treat. Maria enjoyed her giant ice cream and I shared mine with Amelia. (I had strawberry cheesecake, and Maria had vanilla.)

Kiddie Size? I think not.

A nice end to a long day.

Just when you thought I was done with French Creek...

2008-07-22T08:38:00.003-04:00

I really wanted to do a funny post with some of the cute things that the kids said on the camping trip. But I lost my notes. Yes, I made notes. And then I thought that I had washed them.

Fortunately for you they've turned up again. So here is "the cute things that the kids said while camping" post that you all were waiting for. (Yes, we've done other things since then, and yes I'm way behind in my posts. I might do it this week. Or not, since we're getting ready for NC.)

Maria

Mommy: Do you want to use your folding potty?
Maria: No, I will use the camp potty (in the motor home) with my Dora seat, because it's campier.

While hiking, Maria made up a great song about what we were doing. It went something like this:

Oh, we're walking in a line! Walking in a line! Mommy and Amelia! Daddy and Maria! And Aunt Becky way far away! We're walking in a line! (repeat for five minutes on so at the top of your voice)

(I suppose this song is another reason why Jim was so tired at the end of the hike.)

Maria to Aunt Becky: God wants you to move. God wants you to move over here so you can play with your niece.

Amelia

When allowed to walk: "I running way! I running way!"

When invited to please sit down in the canoe: "No, thanks!"

When hearing rain on the roof of the motor home during nap time: "Oh! Clapping! Gammy clapping!"

When seeing the fire for the first time: "Candles!"

(Thanks to Kerry for the pictures of the girls.)

In the Canoe at French Creek.

2008-07-16T11:34:00.003-04:00

Here's Amelia "helping" Daddy fill out the paperwork to rent the canoe. Notice how the hat has already been removed.

Geese. There were lots of them. Amelia like yelling, "DUCKS!" at them. Therefore we never got very close to them.

My view from the back of the canoe (notice I've put Amelia's hat back on). This was after Amelia's first attempt to exit the canoe, at which point I moved her closer to me. I think this was before I gave her crackers to eat to keep her still.

Maria imitating the geese flying away.

Ok, this one's not of us in the canoe. This was at the campsite on our last day. Thank goodness for camera's with timers.

Jen's attempt at "Art" from the French Creek Hike.

2008-07-16T11:25:00.004-04:00

Indian Pipes

Teaberry on a Rock

Canoes

Little Bridge

Forest Flowers

Wild Blueberries (Yum!)

French Creek 2008 - Still more pictures.

2008-07-16T11:09:00.002-04:00

This is zombification from a different angle. Rainy days are a good reason to have a motor home while camping with kids. And a satellite dish.

From our two-hour hike. This is Jim at the start of the hike. I didn't take a picture of him at the end, but if I did I'm sure he wouldn't have let me post it. A hike is much harder with and extra 35-40 lbs on your back.

Here's one of Amelia and I. Not the best one of me, but Amelia's cute.

This is the best one of our navigator, Becky. I had one of her with the map, but it was fuzzy. However, this shows what my view was like much of the time, Becky blazing ahead unhampered by a backpack full of wiggling, hair-pulling, screeching fun. (Becky is also in better shape than Jim and I so I'm sure that helped too.)

More Camping Pictures.

2008-07-16T11:08:00.000-04:00

These are from our walk/playground stop on the first day there.

Maria heard Becky and I talking about running and so she needed to get out and run. Maria made Becky and I be on her team and run with her. Then Amelia tried it...she spent the rest of the weekend yelling, "I running way!" every time we let her walk by herself. (No pics of that though, too busy chasing.)

The kids enjoyed the slide.

It was nice to have extra hands around to help with the girls. Aunt Becky did a lot of chasing and "spotting" while we were at the playground.
A fun time for all.

Note: I had intended to post this last week, the computer ate it. Luckily, blogger saved it right after I uploaded the pics so I was able to come back and get it posted finally.

Camping.

2008-07-07T11:15:00.003-04:00

Zombification in Progress.

2008-07-07T11:12:00.001-04:00

Finally more yarn pictures.

2008-07-07T09:59:00.003-04:00

I know that you are all waiting for a pictures of those socks... right? Well, you'll just have to be satisfied with picture of my yarn swift and ball winder, and my two little helpers.

The one on the right is the sock yarn that was tangled. I had hand wound it, and finally have re-wound it properly now that I have the swift and winder. I probably won't retry those socks for while though. I have a scarf and sweater to do first.

When baking with toddlers...

2008-07-07T08:10:00.002-04:00

...don't put the cooling racks within reach of small hands. Or you'll end up with something like this.

Because Jim did it....

2008-06-19T15:31:00.002-04:00

...I had to do it too.

Movie Reviews

Not bad considering that most of my posts are pictures of the girls. I may have to write a few more "wordy" posts just to see if I can match Jim.

Hanging out on the deck.

2008-06-18T09:42:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Father's day.

2008-06-18T09:02:00.003-04:00

Here's one of Jim and the girls engaged in a favorite daddy and daughter activity... playing/watching a computer game.

The rest of the girls at the pool, while daddy was off catching a movie with his dad.

Amelia spent the first 30 minutes or so running around gathering every toy in sight, often falling face first into the water and drinking pool water.

She calmed down somewhat, and by the end was spending her time poolside pouring water or floating, relying on the armbands, with her head barely out of the water, somewhat like a crocodile.

The boat was supposed to be for Amelia, but since she abandoned it within 20 secs of entering the pool Maria claimed it and spent much of her time cruising around in it.

She also very much enjoyed meeting new friends and playing with their toys.

Maria's Camel

2008-06-16T09:40:00.002-04:00

Maria's got these domino's as a present a few weeks ago and loves to play around with them. When I saw this, I had to take a picture. She explained to me that she'd made a camel. Do you see it? The head is in the upper left hand corner, the legs are closest to her. When I asked her what that little bit on the right side was, she said, "My camel is pooping."

Yep, she made a pooping camel. That's my daughter for you.

In her defense, she has been to the zoo twice recently, so I imagine she may have seen any number of animals pooping and thought that it was interesting. Gotta love the zoo.

Now where did I put that apron?

2008-06-13T14:50:00.001-04:00

As a 1930s wife, I am
Superior

Take the test!

The other picture.

2008-06-13T09:11:00.004-04:00

I mentioned that I would be getting a picture from the day of my sister's engagement, so I'm finally going to post that now. Becky says that she likes it a bit better than the one that I took.

"Once upon a time...

2008-06-08T09:37:00.003-04:00

...there was a little girl named Cinderella, whose father, the king had to go and help the church. So Cinderella stayed home to play with her mean step-mother and mean step-sister, and they played with their cooking-stuff. The End."

A new fairy tale, as told by Maria.

Engaged!

2008-05-28T09:37:00.005-04:00

My little sister's engaged! Yay!

I've been promised some pics from the actual day, but until then here's one I took Monday night of the happy couple. Aren't they cute?

Becky and Kerry

Of mowing, gardening and decapitations.

2008-05-28T09:35:00.001-04:00

Friday we got the chance to go outside and take care of some yardwork. (Not all, of course, I still have more than a few plants to get in the ground, and the weeds keep coming back.)

Before mowing, Jim had to pick up the massive pile of weeds that I left in the yard after pulling them out of the flower bed.

Maria and Amelia helped me plant some flowers. Amelia really enjoyed dumping dirt as we filled a planter. She also decided that I needed to have more dirt on me, and dumped a pot full on my back. Sorry, no pictures of that. Maria is really starting to be a good helper in the garden. Here she is patting dirt around a newly planted calla lily.

Amelia soon got bored with dirt and decided to play t-ball instead.

Maybe one day she'll be able to hit the ball more than a few inches from the tee.

While we were having fun with flowers, Jim was down near the soon to be ground-hog buffet, I mean, veggie garden, clipping the high weeds surrounding it. I heard him give a shout, but he wouldn't tell me what happened until the girls were out of earshot. Apparently, while clipping the grass, he accidentally decapitated a snake, only seeing it after the deed was done. He chucked the body off into the weeds, but the head is still down there somewhere for me to discover.
Fun, fun.

The second decapitation of the day came later, when the girls and I were out on the deck. Amelia picked up the turtle bird feeder and dropped it. I'd say it was a banner day for us.

Nobody nose the trouble I've seen...

2008-05-23T23:59:00.003-04:00

and her name is Amelia.

When Maria was younger, I thought that she got into trouble and did lots of strange things.

Now I know that she was a very good baby.

In the last week Amelia has fallen down the stairs (totally fine except for rug burn on the bridge of her nose), eaten copious amounts of sand and finger paint, and "discovered" the contents of her diaper and shared it with me.

I thought she'd slow down a bit after that list of accomplishments. But no, she had to top it all. Last night at dinner, she looked at me, rubbing her nose, and said, "Nose!"

Which I took to mean that she had a boogie in her nose. So, as any good mama would I looked in her nose only to discover... corn. Yep, she'd shoved it up there pretty far. Luckily, I have an assortment of tweezers and was able to retrieve said corn.

Being a mom is so much fun. ;-)

Another spring day.

2008-05-20T11:07:00.002-04:00

Too Cool!

2008-05-19T11:49:00.002-04:00

Danielle Bean just added me as her one of her Facebook friends!

Facebook is too fun.

Painting.

2008-05-13T23:41:00.003-04:00

This was Amelia's first experience with painting. I think she enjoyed herself. The girls made pictures for their grandmothers for Mother's day. A good time was had in the process.

A sunny day.

2008-05-13T22:17:00.002-04:00

These are about a week old or so, but I wanted to get some more kid pictures up. And maybe one day a sock picture or some other knitting.

I just want to say, too, that I am not responsible for Maria's attire in these pictures. She insisted on wearing that sweatshirt over a long sleeve shirt, even though it was a warm day. I didn't feel like arguing. And don't mind the tall meadow like grass... it's cut now, though the garden is still overrun with it. Maybe someday soon I'll get out there and weed.

A Mother's Day post.

2008-05-12T00:02:00.002-04:00

I found this post, When Mom was a Kid, and enjoyed it throughly, so I thought I'd share. It's worth reading the whole thing, really.

My Retreat.

2008-05-11T09:52:00.003-04:00

I was going to do a nice long post about my retreat last weekend. But that's probably not going to happen as I've been very busy all week doing stuff for A Baby's Breath. (We're finally getting clients at the new center. Now all we need are more advocates. Volunteers? Anyone?)

I will just say that it was a lovely weekend, the musicians were talented (even if the song writers weren't), the talks were excellent and I'd definitely go again if given the chance.

The grounds at the retreat house are quite nice, and I got some good nature pictures, including this shot of a wrinkly mushroom. I love taking pictures of mushrooms, don't ask me why, I just think they're neat.

Lourdes Grotto

Random Kid pictures.

2008-05-10T22:48:00.004-04:00

Another picture of Amelia falling asleep while eating. This time she was This is what happens when mommy's busy cleaning out her closet.

Yes, Maria's dressed in her Mrs. Santa dress...
Amelia's in Maria's old Easter Dress, so they had the two major holiday's covered.

Another picture of Amelia falling asleep in the high chair, the only difference is here she was eating breakfast (note the pj's). This is what happens when you stay up all night partying.

I can't believe that my husband added this link to his blog without telling me.

2008-05-08T11:13:00.002-04:00

I was just checking Jim's blog and found a link to this site, Stuff Catholics Like, in in his links list. I don't think that he ever told me about it, but I went there today and it's just great!

Here's a link to one article on clapping at Mass. It's sooooo funny. And scary at the same time.

Mary's month.

2008-05-06T14:36:00.005-04:00

( statue at Malvern Retreat House)

It's May again so it's time to pull out all those Marian devotions that you've been ignoring. :)

Since I told Rob that I would, this post will include links sites dealing with Marian prayers, devotions, and apparitions.

I'll start with Our Lady of Guadalupe. I learned a lot more about her this past weekend at the Women of Grace retreat. One of the speakers, Dan Lynch has written several books about her, and Our Lady of America, the only appearance of Mary in the U.S. which has been approved. You can find out about Dan, his books, and the missionary images here.

This is another good site for info about the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego, as well as prayers, pictures and other links.

Since Rob mentioned it in his post, here is a link to St. Louis Mary de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary. It's fairly long, so purchasing a copy might be a better idea. It's also not a good idea to hand someone a copy of True Devotion to Mary if you're trying to convince them that we Catholics don't worship her, as the language he uses to describe devotion to Mary is rather strong. However, it helped me to understand devotion to Mary as a new convert to the Faith, so I do recommend it.

In a nutshell, here's my version of True Devotion. As Christians we are engrafted into the Body of Christ. Thus as members of the body of Christ we are called to walk the path that He walked, to do in some limited sense, but to the fullest of our ability, what He did while He was on earth. (WWJD?) Jesus began that journey in Mary's womb, entrusting Himself entirely to her care. So how could we go wrong to entrust ourselves to her, and to have her lead us in His path, the same path she walked with him from the manger to the cross?

(Really, you have to read the book for a fuller explanation.)

I think I posted this link before but here it is again. The University of Dayton Mary page. Click on the link on the top left, About Mary, and you'll come to a page full of links to others Marian sites with prayers and info about Mary and Marian devotions. There's even a link to a printable coloring book.

As for what to do with kids, I'm hoping to pray the Rosary as a family more frequently this month (i.e. at least once or twice would make it more frequent for us). Catholic Heritage Curricula has a nice set of rosary prints, showing all the Mysteries of the Rosary, available in two sizes. I think it's nice to have visuals for kids, especially ones that aren't cartoons.

If all those links aren't enough for you, here's a link to the Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on Mary.

Rescued from the Laundry...

2008-04-23T13:41:00.002-04:00

one doll chair, an unclothed Strawberry Shortcake doll, several magnetic letters.
Strawberry was very happy to be found, having had the harrowing experience of being drooled on and carried around by the hair by a toddler who shall remain nameless, then being unceremoniously shoved deep into a tangle of dirty sheets and towels. The chair had no comment.
The letters were shaken-up as well and it may be several days before they return to normal.

Run for Life 2008

2008-04-23T12:51:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday was the Run for Life for A Baby's Breath, CPC. Jim and I went without the girls thanks to my in-laws who took them to a family event for the day.

Start of the 1 mile fun run.

Becky and her boyfriend came and ran. Becky was very excited that she beat him to the finish.

Jim got pulled into being a race marshal so he had to stand around waiting for slowpokes like me to finish. I ran/walked really fast/stopped to stretch (stupid shin splints) my way to the finish line in about 38 minutes, better than my best time so far.

And good enough to get me a second place medal (thanks to a lack of women in my age bracket). That beats Jim's surprise third place finish from last year. Not to brag or anything.

First Socks?

2008-04-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

Awhile back, I joined the Yarn Pirate Booty Club. Each month you get an exclusive club colorway of her hand-dyed sock yarn. It's really a lot of fun to receive yarn in the mail not knowing what the colors are going to be till you open it up. Kinda like getting a present.

Here's the March colorway, Emerald City. It's definitely my favorite so far. So I decided that I'd use it to make my first pair of socks.

However, getting the yarn from a hank to a center pull ball is much harder than I thought (and I expected some difficulty) if you don't have a yarn swift and ball winder. (And I don't...yet.)

It ended up in quite a tangle that took about a week to unknot. I do have it wound up now and have cast on for a gauge swatch. Don't have picture yet, but soon. Maybe once I'm done swatching and actually have progress on the sock.

Little Monkeys.

2008-04-05T20:13:00.003-04:00

The Magic Monkey Sleeping Bag.
(Now if it only put them to sleep.)

Easter at home.

2008-04-04T16:13:00.003-04:00

When we got back to our house, we gave the girls their Easter baskets. I filled them mostly with non-candy stuff as I figured there would be a bounty of candy from the Egg hunt (and I was right).

I'm really happy with the enamelware dishes... Jim and I have been trying to rid ourselves of the plastic kids ware for awhile now, and these bunny plates work well.

This last picture is from Palm Sunday dinner with Jim's family.

Easter Pictures.

2008-04-04T15:50:00.003-04:00

Finally, some pictures of our Easter trip to Grammy and Pappy's house.

We were surprised by an snow storm on Holy Saturday. There was about 6 inches or so on the ground when we woke up, so of course, we had to rig up a snow suit for Maria and let her go play.

In this picture you can see her "oh, so stylish," plastic bag boots. The gloves that she has on were sized for an 8 year old, but it was the best we could do.

I think that she was very happy to finally be able to make "Frosty."

Here are the girls in their Easter dresses... yes, they matched including the shoes. That hat was not part of the outfit but it was all we had for an Easter hat for Amelia.

Maria really cleaned up at the family Easter Egg Hunt... held inside due to the snow.

Prayers please...

2008-04-01T08:13:00.003-04:00

For the family of Border Patrol Agent Jarod Dittman. He was the son of my mother's pastor, Cathy. He is leaving a wife and young daughter behind. There is a memorial page set up here.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.
May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
Amen.

Look, it's a....

2008-03-20T10:56:00.003-04:00

CowDuck!

Yes, I had to have it. Luckily, I have kids so I could pretend to be buying it for them. It's just so...awesome!

Strawberries anyone?

2008-03-20T10:49:00.004-04:00

Thought I'd provide a "palate cleanser" after that last post. Strawberries as big as my hand.

Yummy!

The end of an experiment.

2008-03-20T10:26:00.003-04:00

Ok, so when I watched this documentary I was inspired to create my own experiment. I went to "the French Fry House" one day, and despite having watched what this type of food can do to you, ate everything in my combo except for a few fries. These I stuck back in the carton, which I wrote the date of purchase on, and set on my kitchen window sill.

Now, a year later, I give you my results. This photo was taken one March 6, 2008, one year and one day after the fried were purchased.

They still look pretty yummy, don't they? They're hard and smell like rancid oil, so I don't think anyone would mistake them for fresh french fries, but its still rather scary to see that they have maintained their original shape and color without breaking down and getting moldy, like any normal food would.

I have to admit, I have eaten the fries there, even after seeing these sit around so long. But I didn't enjoy them the way I used to.....couldn't stop thinking about what might be in them to preserve them for so long.

I did think about keeping them longer, just to see if they ever break down, but I decided that one year is enough evidence for me. So into the trash they went. Maybe they'll finally break down in the landfill?

Another day, another baptism.

2008-03-20T09:59:00.003-04:00

This time we were late and didn't get any pictures of the actual event, since we rushed from the car to the church without grabbing the camera. So again, these are just some pics from the after-party.

This is the only picture I got of the newly baptized little one, catching some zzz's while getting a ride from Daddy.

Toys were provided for the benefit of the many 5 and unders present. Note the Veggie tales coloring book behind Jim. A sign of a great party indeed.

Look! Yet another shot of Maria stuffing cake into her mouth.

I'm not sure what's going on in this picture. I was just trying to get a shot of Amelia and E. coloring. But when I looked at it in Adobe, I noticed that E. appears to be levitating. So the grace from the Baptism must have rubbed off. Either that or someone spiked the punch.

D. playing host and entertaining the guests like a good big brother.

Laundry Day....

2008-03-20T09:42:00.002-04:00

...with two little 'helpers.'

And yes, that's the dirty laundry they're playing in.

Lunchtime napping: Part II

2008-03-17T12:52:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Jim for the photo.

A fun day...

2008-03-11T11:35:00.003-04:00

Here's some pics from E's baptism. All my shots of the actual event are dark and haven't been edited yet so you'll have to be satisfied with party pics.

I've got about 6 more, uh, "poses" of this shot, so if you don't like how your kids looks in this one I may have a better one. If anyone wants, I'll send pics to you (uhm, if I know you... cuz that would be weird otherwise).

Ready to Learn?

2008-03-11T10:51:00.005-04:00

We just finished re-certifying to teach NFP for the Couple to Couple League and have started two classes. Jim took these photos one night just before class.

I love their faces in the first one. It's kinda like the look we got from the first couple who were required to come to our class. They were not happy to be there, and didn't come back for the second session.

This second shot is more like the majority of our students, happy to be there and ready to get started.

Note: the kids were banished to another room for the actual class.

Just because....

2008-03-11T10:32:00.003-04:00

You Are Grass Green

Down to earth and a bit of a hippie, you are very into nature and the outdoors.

You accept the world and people as they are. You don't try to change things.

You are also very comfortable with yourself, flaws and all.

Optimistic about the future, you feel like life is always getting better.

What Color Green Are You?

I think this is pretty accurate... except maybe that optimistic thing. But I suppose I'm getting better in that area... I used to be much more of a pessimist. I may also take issue with the "don't try to change things" part. I think that I do try to change the things and people around me, but I try to be very gentle and unobtrusive about it. Anywho, that's enough self-analysis for the moment. I'm going to write a real post now, I promise.

One day of winter....

2008-03-06T15:14:00.004-05:00

Here are pictures from the only day that the girls got to go out and play in the snow. I should have posted them that day, but I got sidetracked as usual and so I'm posting them now, on one of the springiest days we've had so far.