Our Side of the Mountain

Random

2012-01-11T08:52:00.001-08:00

Here are some random pics from the last few weeks. Miss M is such a good baby and is growing too fast. She's interacting with us so much now, cooing and smiling, and she's
Sleeping about 6 hours at night! She's already 8 weeks today. These early months of babyhood are my favorite, they're more settled and sweet and cuddly and not mobile yet!

Christmastide

2012-01-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

We spent the Christmas season at home, at grandparents, visiting with friends, and now home again to welcome the new year and get back into the routine. Traveling was great and the newest member of our family took it so well, but now she's got her first sniffles so we're resting and taking it as slow as we can. I'm grateful everyone's back to school and work this week. It was SO wonderful having everyone home, but it's time for the new routine of 5. I've already been so productive this morning and have high hopes for organizing things, calendars, and meals. I've joined a website called Cozi which helps you keep a family calendar, plan meals, and organizes to-do lists and shopping lists. Both ^J^ and I can add to it and update it, so far we're loving it. I've got this week's meals planned, we've gotten groceries for 2 weeks, and we're adding everyone's scheduled events to the calendar. Oh and it's free! Free is good.
Here are a few photos from our Christmas celebrations:
At Home:

Taking it all in

Sleepy but excited!

Opening goes so fast these days!

The aftermath

With Family:

Preparing

2011-12-12T08:23:00.001-08:00

We're trying to enjoy the quiet calm of having a newborn as much as possible and being able to do it during the Advent season is just perfect. Last week we ended up being a little too busy and it took a toll on us so we're reminded to slow down again this week, although we have quite a few Christmas parties and pagents to attend.
We're slowly preparing the house for Christmas. We got our tree from a fundraiser by the Youth at church, its from a NC farm and smells just amazing! We decorated the tree last Sunday. The kids were a huge help this year and even though the decorations may not be spaced perfectly, it's done, and no ornaments were broken this year! Yay!
Yesterday while A and J had a date at the Nutcracker, H and I made Snowflakes to decorate the front door and then we made our first batch of Christmas cookies. They are now mostly gone though so we'll be baking more goodies this week. A picked a coconut macaroon recipe from our Christmas cookie book and I'm wanting to do peppermint bark again this year. Little M is best at hanging out in the sling and taking it all in or napping. And she has a whole lot of helpers to keep her entertained!

She is here

2011-11-30T13:43:00.001-08:00

Little Miss /M/ is here. We're soaking her in.

Waiting

2011-11-15T19:09:00.001-08:00

We've entered a period of waiting. Waiting on baby girl to decide when she's ready to enter the world. Everything is in wait-and-see mode. RSVPing for events means we say "maybe", J has to begin every work commitment with "if the baby's not here yet", and the "when's that baby coming?" comments have begun.

We can't wait to meet you little one but we know you'll come on your own schedule. It'd be nice if your schedule was more of the "on time" kind than your brother and sister, but we'll try to be patient.
Ella kitty thinks you're pretty cozy just as you are.

Halloween '11

2011-11-12T17:29:00.001-08:00

Here are the highlights of Halloween this year. (A) stayed home sick after our busy weekend in Sewanee so she looks a bit "off" in some of these. They each did their own pumpkins this year and we think they turned out great! Then they got dressed and waited not too patiently for it to get dark enough to go. This was the first year I didn't go trick-or-treating with them, but I was happy to veg on the couch and answer the door to hand out candy in my very pregnant state. The kids got a big haul and that was even with coming home before finishing all the streets. The witch and bat were wiped out from our big weekend, and after checking out (and tasting) some of their goods, they were off to bed.

"home" coming

2011-11-03T12:44:00.001-07:00

Going back to Sewanee truly felt like a homecoming. It was wonderful to be welcomed by so many friends and so great to see people from our 3 years there. I didn't realize how busy we'd be trying to catch up with everyone and trying to get the kids to be able to see all their buddies. We hit the leaves at peak time as well so we were able to be there during one of the most beautiful times. We actually got a true dose of Sewanee weather with warm temps changing to fog then rain and then cold, all in one day. I was so glad we brought the kids too, they were SO excited and nostalgic about everything. We drove by our old house and the pond and all our favorite spots and they made sure to point it all out. As we were driving around, *A* informed us that she was "so happy, she was crying". Sweet girl.
When we walked up the hill to the seminary they exclaimed "I remember this hill!" (and this tree, and this blade of grass!) Not really, but it was too cute to see them remembering all the places including the sledding hill outside the seminary that I wouldn't have thought would have had such an impact on their memory.
We enjoyed the lectures and dinner/dance too but really the best part was being with friends and being able to be on vacation in Sewanee. YSR!

Driving to the Cross

We couldn't pass up Abbo's Alley!

They miss hiking and just had to bring their backpacks along!

Almost Time

2011-10-25T09:10:00.001-07:00

It's almost baby time around here. I've been pretty "nest-y" lately, insisting J get the stuff down from the attic, washing what few baby things we have, etc. It's not all done and we may still have a few weeks yet but I'm anxious to get it all situated. We just found out the church is having a joint shower for me and the other new priest's wife (who is due 3 weeks after I am), so we went and registered some things we don't have anymore. I was amazed at how many new products there are out there since we last did this baby thing almost 5 years ago. We are experienced enough to know most of the new things aren't necessary, but some of them are pretty cool.

We registered the kids for a Sibling Tour of the hospital a few weeks ago and it was better than we expected! They got to bring a favorite stuffed animal or baby and practice diapering and they were able to tour the rooms and see what to expect. I knew A would be into it, but I was surprised at how into it H was, he listened to every word the nurse said and was eager to answer her questions.
So sweet!
They both got big brother and big sister hats to wear when the time comes to visit their new sister in the hospital.

Ren Fest

2011-10-21T13:21:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago we went to the Renaissance Festival in a town just north of Charlotte. We'd been to the one in Atlanta pre-kids and it was fun, but this one is pretty amazing! It's located on old farm land, open for 2 months, and the buildings are permanent structures including 7 stages, counter service food places, medieval rides/games, and more retail shops than you can imagine. There were actually so many things to see and do that we didn't get to see everything we wanted in one day.
(H) was over the moon with the jousting, pirates, and various places to buy swords (he of course had to add a wooden one to his collection). A loved the ladies in fancy dresses, places to get your hair elaborately (and expensively) braided, and this great fairy named Twig who played a double penny whistle thing and gave glass trinkets to her "favorites". She chose a tiny bottle of fairy dust on a necklace as her souvenir.

Apples!

2011-10-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the mountains and went apple picking. This is the first time we've been to a pick-your-own apple orchard and it was such fun!

The kids were able to run with abandon and play among the trees and we could taste as we went along if we found an unusual variety. Some of us thought it would be a good time to practice our juggling too!

It was quite cool that day and we were happy to visit the bakery on site for some warm apple cider and a new-to-us delicacy, apple cider donuts!

Oh my gosh, so good! Apparently something about replacing the milk in the donut recipe with cider makes it extra tasty and a bit more crunchy than regular donuts. I'm anxious to try to make them at home now.

After our snack, we went on a horse-drawn hay ride. All the other hay rides we've been on have been pulled by a tractor and watching the driver manipulate the horses was pretty amazing. They liked to run up the hills (to get them over with I'm guessing), so we really had to hold on at these parts!

It was a pretty perfect way to spend a Saturday in October!

Animal Blessing

2011-10-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the Blessing of the Animals on Saturday. It was a beautiful morning and the animals were so fun to watch! Most of them behaved well, a few barked through the service. There was only 1 cat and we brought the only hamsters, but there was a guinea pig. No scratches or injuries and we received tags with the church's info saying "I've been blessed". Oh and there were treats for the animals and people afterwards, this church thinks of everything!

Fall-ish

2011-09-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

I'm in full Fall anticipation mode. I keep checking the weather looking to see just when it will be officially cool. This weekend seems to be the time, highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s, perfect weather in my opinion. I think we're going to head to the mountains this weekend for some apple picking. There are a few good places between here and Asheville, and only about an hour away. We may just pick-up a pumpkin while we're there too since this weekend will be October too, my favorite month! The kids are seeing Halloween stuff everywhere and wanting to get our Fall decorations out. Of course they haven't narrowed down their costume choices yet, that's always an issue. So far *A* wants to be a witch or a girl pirate and (H) wanted to be a pirate forever but now he's saying a ninja (which is totally out of nowhere). I'm totally obsessed with Wicked still so I want to be Elphie but with my extra-large belly that may not work, I may need to re-create my pumpkin belly shirt.

Also this weekend is the blessing of the animals at church. *A* wants to bring her hamsters but then she decided not to because she had it in her mind that there was water involved. I think she thinks they're going to get baptized because she was all worried they would drown. I assured her that they would be safe and so now I'm just wondering how we're going to get 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 hamsters (plus 2 kids and 1 mommy) to the church all in one piece. I think ^J^ is the main priest in charge that day too and he requested there be a first aid kit available. Yikes! Maybe we can have a private blessing at home for our animals who may not do so well in the public setting. That's one benefit of having a priest for a daddy right? Let's just hope he returns home with all his fingers and relatively few scratches.

Ah Rain!

2011-09-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

It's been raining on and off for 3 days now and I just love it. Today has been the biggest rain causing a "mini-flood" as (H) pointed out in our backyard, and causing me to want to do nothing but bake and drink tea. So I'm planning to make Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Cookies today, I've been craving oatmeal cookies for a while now and we were out of butter, but now I'm all set to have a morning to myself baking and catching up on blogs.
It's been a while sorry. It seems with the kids back in school, I'm limited on my alone morning time and I've not been able to blog because I'm trying to get chores, errands, etc. in before pick-up time. They are both loving their schools which makes me so happy. It's kind of a weird schedule *A* goes at 7:45, (H) at 9:15. Then (H) is done at 1 and *A* at 2:45, so we have some weird breaks in our day that end up being not really much time to do anything significant. We're still surviving on one car but the only way this is working is because we live to close to *A*'s school and we can walk to drop her off and/or pick her up. It's not really been difficult to coordinate when ^J^ needs to car for hospital visits or what-not, and if I need to run errands, I usually just drop him and (H) at church and then we can swap at pick-up time of we need to. We did have to rent a car this past weekend, it ended up being super-cheap so that's a new option if we get stuck. ^J^ wants a vespa which would be helpful somedays, unless it was raining, or cold, or he has to go on the highway. I think he likes the idea of driving a vespa around town in his clericals, and he of course wants a black one with a white stripe so it will match him.

Anyway, last weekend ^J^ had church obligations all weekend and it would have been hard for him to try and find rides, and the kids and I needed to drive to Atlanta so I could have a girl's night and the kids could attend our niece's birthday party. So renting a car was a great option and the kids were super-excited about "our new car", if only for 3 days! For months now, some of my Sewanee friends and I have had a trip to Atlanta planned to see Wicked and spend the night and just hang out. It was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. I under-estimated how much I needed that time with old friends. People who know me, and I know them. We all talked about how natural it felt to be together again, just like no time had passed at all. It was great. I was able to be a sort-of tour guide in my old stomping grounds and picked some Atlanta landmark restaurants for us (Mary Macs, The (original) Flying Biscuit, and of course, The Varsity) which they all loved. Wicked was amazing, I'm now obsessed with the music and listen to it on grooveshark daily. I can't wait to take the kids when they're a bit older. When we listen to the music, they both want to know what's going on in the story and how it's related to the Wizard of Oz, I don't want to give away too much because I really want them to see it when they're old enough to get all the connections. Ah, so good. If you haven't seen it, go.

Ok, I'm off to clean the kitchen so I can mess it up again with some cookie-baking. Then maybe some knitting while I catch up on shows from this week, have I told you how much I love having a dvr? Happy rainy, lazy day!

Shhhhh....

2011-09-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

You hear that? It's silence. That hasn't been heard in this house for sometime. Both kids are now in school, (H) is still only half-day in Transitional Kindergarten at Josh's church's preschool, but it's 4 hours of me-time that I will certainly take. So far I've gotten a whole lotta nothin' done but I'm ok with that. I've been remembering what it's like to have some time alone. I joined a women's bible study at church so that was most of yesterday morning, and today I'm being all domestic by catching up on laundry, baking chocolate-chip banana bread and putting dinner in the crock-pot. Fall is in the air and it makes me quite happy. I've never been this pregnant in the summer before, and the heat has taken it's toll. It's so nice to be able to not be sweating all day long anymore. I'm just hoping it will last and this isn't just a tease. Don't we deserve an early Fall after that hot summer?! I think so!
Speaking of summer, I have some pictures to share of one of our last days of summer. It was hot and I wasn't willing to go to the Y pool this day, so we broke out the sprinkler. I've been playing with my camera more and trying to shoot on manual, so here are some that actually turned out. I'm still not sure what I'm doing but it's becoming easier the more I play. I would love to take a class to learn all this and one day be able to take pictures like her and her. So inspiring!

Watch out!

Working hard together

Love her!

Gracie observing from a safe distance

Almost...

2011-08-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's almost time for school to start back and we're so ready. A starts in 2 short days and H won't start until after Labor Day, but it's A who needs it, and I need it for her. She just gets in this unhappy space of needing structure and rules that I don't seem to provide enough of (or don't provide them in the right way), and as much as I would love to homeschool her, I just don't think she would do well. She is such an extrovert and thrives when others are around. She loves being among people, and as hesitant as I was last year about sending her to traditional school, she's at the age and mindset where she gets off on all those rules that make me cringe. She wants to please and seems to follow school rules better than the constant pushing we get at home. Hopefully this year will be just as successful and I'm hoping those rules will rub off on our home rules that seem so unimportant when we're smooshed together 24/7 in the summer. I am concerned for her to go to a bigger school with (five 1st grade classrooms!), but I really think she'll be great. She has been missing having friends since the move, and I think she'll quickly find a few buddies and at least she'll have an outlet for her social needs.
H on the other hand is a mini-me and his transition to school may come with a little more resistance. I'm glad to have a few weeks with only him home, we'll have fun and he actually enjoys mommy being his teacher so we're going to do a bit of homeschooling and see how it goes while we're waiting for preschool (transitional kindergarten) to start back. I'm not entirely convinced he needs to go to school, I really do think I could homeschool him, but with the baby coming in November, it'll be a good thing. I've heard great things about his teachers and he'll be at the church with J so it's a good place for him to start post-move.
Anyway, we're off to meet A's teacher tonight and then enjoy one more day of sleeping in and watching tv during the week.
P.S. I have lots of wonderful pictures to share but a slow computer that won't upload them so I'm hoping I'll have more time to work with them later this week.

Post-Michigan Post

2011-08-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

We're home from Michigan, it was super-fun but super-hot. No cool breezes, no need for those sweatshirts I packed, and no A/C. The first night was miserable, after a big thunderstorm, it finally cooled off enough to go to sleep, around 2am. The next day, the fridge broke and the landlord brought over a new fridge and A/C unit for the window upstairs so that helped a bit. Basically to beat the heat, we went to the water.

Thank goodness for the water, it was WONDERFUL and we spent so much time there trying to cool off that we're quite tan now. We had a blast and didn't do much outside of stay in the little village we rent in and go swimming. We typically go sightseeing or touring around, but this year it was fun to just stay put; get donuts (almost) every morning,
visit the marina, go to the street party, and be with family. We missed Daddy a lot though and we were happy to get home and see him.
The street party was hot and there weren't any of the cool crafty booths there but it was fun. We hoola-hooped, each in our own way,

and ate and played, but then we *had* to go take a dip in the lake. Ahhh, so refreshing! H didn't even bother changing into his bathing suit.

Swimming at 9pm has it benefits, besides cooling off before bed, you get to stay and take pictures of the sunset, I took way too many, but here are a few.

It was a great trip and we can't wait to go back with Daddy next year! I have more photos to share that I'll put in another post but now I'm off to make pesto since our basil went crazy while I was gone. Mmmmm, pesto!

Weekends

2011-07-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

Weekends are a bit different around here these days. Saturdays are *sometimes* a work day for ^J^, there is a morning Eucharist and sometimes he does it. This past weekend, he had Saturday off so it seemed luxurious to have him here the whole day. Sundays are a get up early affair for all (especially with only one car currently) and, while the summer schedule is a bit lighter, it's kinda exhausting for everyone. I can't imagine what it'll be like when there are 4 services and Sunday school thrown in the mix in the Fall. However, we've decided everyone naps on Sundays and that makes it seem like a lazy day even if it does start early.

The best part of our new weekends are that Mondays are ^J^'s official day off so that makes the weekend seem extended even when Sunday is so busy. Who knew that Mondays could be a positive day? Most people dread Mondays but we're fans now. It's errand running (IKEA!), house cleaning, pool-going, daddy-time day and that makes all of us happy to start the week.

Here's some fun from a weekend or 2 ago complete with a living room camp-out.

(H) made it the whole night but *A* ended up in our bed at some point. It was good summertime fun and we're looking forward to more in the coming weekends!

Easy Sweet Treats

2011-06-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've been having way too much fun in my new fancy kitchen lately. The other night ^J^ brought home some sub-par ice cream (store-brand vanilla, yuck) and we didn't have any chocolate sauce to put on top or root beer to mix-in, so I decided to make my own hot fudge. It was disturbingly simple. Seriously, I apologize now for how easy and awesome-tasting this is, but I feel it is my duty to pass it on:

Disturbingly Good and Easy Hot Fudge:
Boil a small amount of water in a saucepan.
Put a few handfuls of chocolate chips in a glass bowl.
Put the glass bowl on top of the saucepan (don't let it touch the water).
Stir until the chocolate is melted.
Add some half and half (as you can see, I didn't measure anything, just put in enough to make the chocolate saucy)
Stir until mixed, if you want it thinner, add more liquid.
Take the bowl off the heat and add about 1tsp of vanilla extract.
Stir and serve over ice cream (or eat with a spoon). Again, I'm sorry.

Then today, I was making banana pancakes for our Saturday breakfast and remembered we had peaches. So here's my
Disturbingly Simple and Delicious Peach Pancakes:
Chop up peach and throw the slices on the hot griddle (I left the skin on but you can take it off if you want)with a bit of butter and sprinkled some sugar on top. Let it cook for a minute or so letting the sugar caramelize a bit. Serve over hot pancakes (banana makes it even better) and a drizzle of maple syrup. This actually melts in your mouth.

Ok, the kids are literally bouncing off the walls so we've got to get out of the house. I think the pool is in order today (especially after all that sugar I just wrote about). Happy Weekend!

Lazy Bones

2011-06-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

I'm being lazy this morning...because I can...at least until VBS is over at 12:30. It's been nice having VBS this week, I thought I'd get a lot more done, but I'm just enjoying being able to do what I want while I can. This morning the most productive thing I've done is make breakfast for the kids (it was eggs, so that did take *some* effort) and water the garden and the dogs.

Did I mention I got a garden for my birthday? I'm so happy. We made a 4x4 raised bed for now and we have room to add another one if we want. We didn't buy enough dirt to fill it though, so it's only full on one side but it's enough for my Mr. Stripey tomato, a orange pepper plant, basil, a few marigolds and (because *A* had to have it) a watermelon plant. I put some mint in a pot so I could bring it in in the cold months, but I think the 98 degree heat killed it this week. I should have waited, it's nice today. Oh well.

Today is cooler (only 86!) and breezy. Kinda feels like a Michigan day...ahhh, Michigan. Let's pretend we're there...

We're going back this year but without ^J^. I guess he has to work and all, but it sucks he can't come too. He deserves it after all this busy, exciting, stressful change we've had the last month and a half. :( Here's some more...

Ahhh...

I found a great new blog today. Here's the link. I love her, I want her to be my friend in real-life. She has 5 kids and she does these fun summer lists each year of things they want to do. Here's the link to her list for this year. It's so pretty. We're going to work on our list today, but I want the big chalkboard and funky chairs like she has too!

Summer Reads

2011-06-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's been all about the books around here lately. We've discovered the libraries and we're happy people!

Here's a sampling of what each of us are reading currently:

(H):

Age of Reptiles Omnibus (Vol. 1) - (what he's reading above) Comic book style, realistic dinosaur life.

Inside-Outside Dinosaurs

H is for Home Run

Courdory

Bats at the Ballfield

Eyewitness Books: Earth

Intro to Bowling (!)

*A*:

Any comics she can get her hands on. Favorites are:

Owly, Scooby-Do, and a great early-reader series called Sugar and Spice (Phonics Comics)

Moonbear books

Huggly books

The Foggy Foggy Forest

Parts

The Bones You Own

^J^:

Too many for me to list, and they seem to change daily, but a few highlights i've noticed lately:

The Hunter

With the Grain of the Universe

Natural Grace

At Home in Mitford (!)

and many comics I can't seem to keep track of...

Me:

The Hunger Games Trilogy (just finished, so good!)

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 (graphic novel)

Grow Great Grub

Connection Parenting

Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots

And Together:

The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe

Life As We Know It

2011-06-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Has changed.
We've graduated both Kindergarten and Seminary, gone to the beach, packed our home, said good-bye to so many wonderful friends, moved, set up a new home, and have started a new life in Charlotte, NC. It's weird and exciting and sad and promising and frustrating and fulfilling. We're starting to meet people at the church and in our new neighborhood, but it's nothing like Sewanee. In Sewanee, everyone naturally comes together because we have nothing else. Either you're all in the same boat or you've been in the boat before and want to make it a better experience for others. In the "real world", as we like to call it, you have to find where you fit all over again and people have their own lives established and don't naturally reach out to pull you into their lives. People in the church have been wonderful of course and we're getting offers from young families to come to dinner or go swimming, but it's hard to go from having this 3 year built-in community to starting from scratch.

One nice thing is that we have been able to re-establish what it means to be a family. In seminary we had constant friends around, the kids' friends and ours, which is wonderful, but it can be hard to be a family. There were times when extroverted *A* would crave other people so badly and not understand why we were having a meal with just the 4 of us. It has been just the 4 of us for almost 2 weeks now (with occasional meals or playdates but nothing like in Sewanee) and it's starting to feel like we have our own routine again. Moving has done a number on the kids' behavior and we're having to re-learn a lot of manners and rules. If we didn't have this time together, it would not be as easy to reinforce those things to the kids. We're trying to get into a summer routine because we don't have constant activity like we used to with no time at home. We have LOTS of time at home now (with fancy cable tv) so we have to set some parameters and stick so some kind of schedule.

This week they have really gotten into the swing of things, especially *A* who seems to thrive on routine and rules lately, and it has helped with behavior. My favorite part of the day is right now, rest time, where we all go to our rooms and rest for an hour or so. Sometimes they sleep, and if they do we get to stay up late and do fun stuff like catch lightening bugs or have a movie night, but if they don't we all get a quiet break and they play better in the afternoon.

So, it's going well and it's getting easier. We still have boxes around but we're slowly unpacking and getting things organized. We try to take a break in the late mornings or afternoons to explore the city. The kids and I found these "spraygrounds" around town that are free cooling-off fun. And summer starts today for public schools here so I'm sure we'll start seeing more kids around the neighborhood and such. We have a huge YMCA next to us and we hope to join so we can add swimming to our daily routine. Library summer programs start next week too, so that will give us some fun things to do too. Another thing I've learned is that in the "real world" you kind of need a paycheck (which we haven't had in oh so long), so once that starts, we can breathe a little easier and keep finding fun things to do. This city is full of family-friendly places and activities so we're excited to be able to explore all summer long. But in the meantime, we'll keep running through the sprinklers, riding our bikes in the evenings, catching lightening bugs, drawing, reading library books, and making yummy treats that don't involve turning the oven on.

Enjoying the Latta Park sprayground!

And now that I have rest time, hopefully I'll be able to share more here. I've missed this space and I apologize for the long absence and the fact that I probably won't be able to catch up on all the great events that have happened to us in the past months. Hopefully I'll be able to throw in a few catch-up posts about the big events that I actually have pictures from like graduation and such.

Under the Weather

2011-03-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've declared today to be movies and pajamas day; ^J^ is super-sick, *A* has her cough, we've been on Spring Break with busy schedules, and we have the thickest fog I've ever seen in almost 3 years. In Sewanee, the fog is famous. We have shirts with "Fog Happens" written on them. When I mentioned the fog this morning to (H), he reminded me that it's really the inside of a cloud. I guess he's been paying attention. The reason we have such thick fog is because we're so high above everything else, so we end up actually being in the clouds. It's probably raining down the mountain, but here we're just getting the cold dampness of the cloud. Some people hate it, it does put a weird white haze on the world and it's pretty much impossible to drive in, but I think it's great. Especially if we don't have to go anywhere. I'm really going to miss the fog when we leave.

Sorry for the words-only post, I have lots of pictures to share from Spring Break and whatnot, but I'm not motivated to get them downloaded right now. Maybe later today I'll get to it. Or maybe not.

We're all perfectly content snuggling under the blanket, eating chocolate chip pancakes, and watching old movies. I think The Sound of Music is in order today, and maybe Singing in the Rain since it's done nothing but storm for the past 2 days. But for today we'll enjoy being wrapped in the cloud and avoid the rest of the world (since we can't see it anyway).

This boy

2011-02-24T14:06:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of quality time alone with my boy lately. This past weekend when ^J^ was out of town, *A* got invited to a sleep-over so (H) and I had lots of quality time together. Also, with him no longer taking naps most days, we have a few hours together in the afternoon. We take trips to the pond, read books, go grocery shopping, cook, and of course, play pirates. Pirates are (H)'s newest obsession.

It's awesome. Except when he wants to constantly bring his arsenal of weapons with him wherever we go. Sometimes we allow it, but often I find myself saying "No, weapons aren't allowed at school".

My favorite times lately have been playing outside during the in-between time when (H) gets out of school but before *A*'s out. It's been sunny and warm so we're rarely inside; we play t-ball, ride bikes,

eat a secret chocolatey snack (the 2nd child gets so many privileges the 1st doesn't get), and soak up the sunshine, hoping it will stick around so we can do this everyday.

And we're back!

2011-02-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

Um, hi. I'm sorry. Did you forget about us? Will you forgive us? You see we've had a lot going on:

First it was snowy, for a LONG time and I was tired of posting snow-related stuff.

Then we got sick, not too bad, just one of the many nasty bugs going on around this mountain lately.

Then the sun came out. Ahhhh, warm glorious sun!
So for the past week we've been outside at every possible moment. After school all the kids want to do is be out, we go to the park, we go to the pond, we play t-ball (or a version of it that *A* made up called "high-five, really cool game" where you slap hands at each base and then everyone rotates spots to get a turn). When the sun starts to set, we head home, but I still can't get them to come in. They continue to play in the yard, feed the birds, ride bikes, and play with the dogs. One day they decided to "organize" the back porch while I started dinner. Our back porch is a mess, it's dirty, and neglected. It's where the dogs live. Well they got the broom and got to work. They pulled out the toys and put them in a separate spot, they dusted things off. Apparently Spring Cleaning affects 4 and 6 year olds too.

So we've been busy. And it's about to get worse. This weekend is kind of the calm before the storm. ^J^ is gone to a bachelor party weekend for his best friend (Otherwise known as a bad joke: a deacon, a biologist, and a librarian walk into a comic book convention), so the kids and I are hanging out and doing more of that Spring Cleaning. Next weekend we're off to the wedding (^J^ is basically running the show as much as he is able) and celebrating our nephew's b-day. Then the next weekend we're off to visit a church that ^J^ has interviewed with.
That's the other thing that's been occupying all available brain-space: what comes next. ^J^ has had 3 interviews and will have another one in a week or so, plus has his name in for 2-3 more positions. We found out we might not be going back to Atlanta because no positions are open right now, so we were given permission to look elsewhere. We've tried to focus on a few positions in the Southeast but suddenly people are randomly contacting ^J^ from places we didn't instigate and it's kind of overwhelming. It's all good and it will all work out somehow, but if I think about it beyond this beginning stage, I get kinda frazzled. There is just SO much that needs to be decided in the next 3, yes 3, months and getting a job is actually only the beginning. So, I'm not thinking about it too much, at least not about much beyond the interview stage. It's just too much to try and deal with when there are still so many variables in the air.
But it's exciting stuff too! So, I promise to be better and keep this updated (really Melissa!). And maybe next time I'll even have pictures.

Snow Week...again

2011-01-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

It snowed last Sunday, probably the biggest snow the South has had in a long time. We think we had about 10inches total. It didn't really stop flurry-ing until Thursday. I know it was a big pain for much of the South, but in Sewanee, it's beautiful. It's fun. It's kept us home all week. Pretty much.
Our car got stuck in the driveway so ^J^ moved it to the gravel parking spot in front of the house. Then the plow came by and we had a big hunk of snow to try to drive over. It was fluffy and soft so we didn't think it would be a problem but when ^J^ tried, the car rebelled and slid the other direction into our yard. About a foot from the base of a large tree. So it stayed there, we used our generous neighbor's car when we needed to. Finally, yesterday, after lots of shovelling, pushing, and revving, we got out and it was just in time to avoid a total cabin fever meltdown. A trip to our local Piggly Wiggly seemed like a major adventure out into the world. We stocked up on a few essentials (you know, milk, cheese, dill pickle chips), got some movies at the library and came back home to settle in for the weekend. Sledding has been our one sanity-saver. As soon as the kids start to get stir-crazy, we don all our layers (it takes a good 15 minutes to get ready) and head down to the pond behind our house where we've finally discovered an awesome hill within walking distance. Both kids now love sledding and it's super-fun to watch them race and come up with new ways of sledding: backwards, on their knees, on their bellies(superman-style), etc.
Tomorrow it's finally supposed to be in the 40s but I think this snow will be here a while still. Probably just melt in time for the next system to come through, and Winter really has just begun...sigh.

All bundled up and ready to go!

Lots of snow!

Sledding is so fun!

Don't you love the hand-knitted items for a snowgirl?

Our street

Helping Daddy shovel the car out

Shovelling is kinda fun!

That's one way to make a snowball!

Dogs love snow too!

So much fun!

Christmas Recap

2011-01-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas was magical this year to the kids. Santa is a BIG deal now and the magic of all that is so fun to watch. Scooters were the big requests this year and they've been such a hit! How are scooters a hit in the winter you might ask (especially with close to 10 inches of snow currently on the ground)? Well, we've discovered they are actually great indoors too because of the hardwood floors and the "loop" around the house. Yesterday, at a peak of cabin fever, the kids had a scooter race around the loop while ^J^ and I sat on the couch and acted as spectators and announcers. On Christmas morning, the kids just had to take a scooter ride outside so we headed down to the pond which was barely iced over and they had a blast playing with the paper thin sheets of ice. Later that day we headed to Atlanta to do Christmas with my family which was fun and relaxing because we got to spend the whole day there. It also snowed which is a rare event anytime in Atlanta, but especially on Christmas. I think I was in middle school the last time that happened. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

Christmas Eve

Reading The Night Before Christmas

Cookies and Milk for Santa

Santa came!

Christmas Morning

Discovering her scooter

He was so sleepy but *A* lured him out of bed with presents.

Vroom!

(H) would fish them out and *A* would throw the ice on the iced pond and watch it shatter.

The Recap Begins...

2011-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a really great Christmas break so far, and it's still going, at least for me. This week the kids are back in school, ^J^ is taking his BIG ordination exams, and I'm off for 2 more weeks. Next week ^J^ and I will have off together which will be nice, we can get some things done and organized for the upcoming semester, the LAST semester here. Oh my goodness. Perhaps we'll start packing boxes. glup.
The week before break we had a pretty big snow so school was actually cancelled for 4 days, the last day we had planned to not send the kids because we needed to be in Atlanta to prepare for ^J^'s ordination to the diaconate. So they basically have had 3 weeks off school instead of 2.

Speaking of Ordination, it was a great day and a beautiful service followed by a ton of pictures. We joked that it was like getting married again and being tired of smiling. There were so many people there from all parts of our lives, college friends, extended family, Sewanee friends. It was so fun to have all that support and share the day with everyone. Afterwards we went across the street for pizza and beer with family and friends and it was a perfect way to end the day. Here are some photos:

The 7 ordinands from Atlanta

^J^ and our bishop

With the priests who have helped us along the way.

More holiday recap coming soon...

Snow Day(s)!

2010-12-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday we woke up to snow and it continued the rest of the day and on into Monday night. We usually have a snow this early in the season, but it isn't usually this much! Once it was all said and done, we probably had 6-8 inches. So, of course we've been playing in it the past 3 days and of course the kids have had off school. It has also been extremely cold so our playtimes have been pretty quick with multiple layers of clothing that end up in big wet piles all over the foyer. But it's so fun!
Monday I invited a bunch of families to come over and have a snow day at our house. We had 7 moms and 13 kids ages 6 weeks to 11 years. It was a blast! Everyone was so thankful to have a place to go and not be cooped up at home all day. We stayed mostly in our yard that day becasue we tried to venture to the golf course and the wind was so cold, no one could stand it for long.

Yesterday we had PMO because it rarely closes for snow, but the elementary school was closed to *A* got to come with (H) and me. We went caroling around the seminary and then send sledding. Super fun!

Today *A*'s school is still closed and they're calling for a wintry mix this afternoon. (H) went to school which is good because *A* now has the fever virus that's going around so she's been asleep all morning. The snow is getting kinda yucky but it's still fun to look out and see white and be able to stay warm and cozy inside. On today's agenda, celebrate ^J^'s birthday and start baking holiday goodies to give as teacher gifts!

Catch Up

2010-12-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

Between the tree incident, hosting Thanksgiving, illnesses, planning Morning with St. Nick, lessons and carols, and trying to close out the semester, I've not had time for this blog. I'm hoping to improve since this time of year is my favorite time for reflecting and sharing holiday fun. Here are a few fun things to catch up on...
We've enjoyed many fires the past couple of weeks. After a mild start to Fall, we are making up for it now with highs in the 30s and lows in the teens the past week or so. It's not just the humans in this house that like fires...

It was too warm on Thanksgiving to have a fire, but the next day was freezing so the kids were glad we had a chance to have S'mores. YUM!

Sadly, these were the only pictures I took during Thanksgiving weekend. It was a great Thanksgiving this year though and I felt like I was actually able to spend time with my family while still hosting and cooking. It was relaxed and everyone stayed until Friday afternoon, so we were able to share more than just one meal together. We talked about how this is a year of "lasts" and how this would be our "last" Thanksgiving in Sewanee. While that is sad, it is also exciting to think about where we might be hosting next year!

Last weekend we had a few more "lasts" with Morning with St. Nick, Lessons and Carols. ^J^ was able to read at Lessons and Carols as student body president and get us great up-front seats, it was as beautiful as always and the sparkling tiny snowflakes all night long made it really special.

We also went to get our tree and the kids picked a very full one that is just an inch shorter than our ceiling. We've been slowly decorating it and trying not to rush the season, but we're all a bit anxious about Christmas this year since we'll be gone longer than we usually are and we want to be able to celebrate at home as much as possible.

Things are slowing down though for the semester and we're starting to pass on some of our responsibilities to get ready for our departure. I've been able to start thinking about what the future might hold. It's becoming exciting. Looking forward to more exciting Advent happenings this week and then a nice long break.

The Tree Incident

2010-11-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is why we are SO glad we rent...

We are all fine and have a lot to be thankful for, the house is almost back together, the kids were scared but now think it's pretty cool to have this construction stuff and giant tree in the yard. Hoping Thanksgiving week will be a little more low-key.

Finally, Halloween

2010-11-08T19:30:00.000-08:00

A certain rockstar and jedi I know had a fabulous Halloween (and so did their parents).

While I was against the local ordinance to have Halloween a day early, it actually ended up allowing us to stretch the holiday out all weekend and enjoy a variety of Halloween events. Saturday we went trick-or-treating to a few of the "big" houses in town, like the vice-chancellor's house, and then ended up at a friend's house helping hand out candy and enjoying cider and caramel apples.

Sunday Nana and Gramps came for a visit (Gramps was on crutches for a sprained knee and the kids were very concerned so they gave him lots of attention) and then we headed to the park for a cookout followed by seminary trick-or-treating. The seminarians decided amongst ourselves that we were going to celebrate on the actual day so we went around to each other's houses and enjoyed the semi-quiet night since no one but us was around. Although, that was quite a lot of people as you can see, and this is just a picture of those who were in costume!

This year *A* totally got it about trick-or-treating. (H) was still a little shy and at some point decided he didn't need anymore candy. We were able to borrow a really cool, fancy lightsaber from one a friend and after that he was done with candy. He just wanted to have lightsaber fights with Daddy. It made for some really cool pictures too!

When we got home, even though it was a school-night, I let *A* dump all her candy and go through it. This is how she organized it, then she counted it.

That was so me as a child, I loved looking through my stash after a night of trick-or-treating and seeing all the good and not-so-good things I got. I do not remember meticulously organizing it like this, because that was so not me. But I loved watching her and remembering.

We ended up with way too much candy this year with all the events, but Sophie-dog took care of most of it the other night when I forgot and left the bags out. Crazy dog!

A Perfect Fall Day

2010-10-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today we had *A*'s last soccer game and then came home to carve pumpkins. The kids were so involved in it this year and insisted on scraping the seeds, drawing the faces themselves, and *A* even wanted to cut most of hers herself.

Afterwards, ^J^ and I worked around the house, roasted pumpkin seeds, and enjoyed the day off while the kids proceeded to play outside for hours.

Here they are pretending they "had no home and were poor". They would find food (acorns) and cover up with blankets. (H) told *A* they weren't poor because they had blankets and toys. They used Ella-kitty as a means of transportation for their stuffed animals. She was very patient.

I even had time today to play with my camera a bit and take some photos with my big lens. Here are some of my favorites. I'm hoping to get some good Fall leaves shots this weekend too.

Happy Halloween tomorrow, even though no one wants to celebrate it then, but we still are! Boo!

My Little Pumpkin

2010-10-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the pumpkin patch with (H)'s preschool. I went last year with both kiddos and we had such a good time I knew I wanted to go again this year. I volunteered to drive (H)'s buddies and my friends (their mommies) down the windy, scenic road to the pumpkin patch, which is actually in Alabama.

It was a beautiful Fall day and we had a blast!

The corn box was the favorite thing to play in and they even added a cotton box this year.

(H) and his best friends, they play so well together!

Petting the animals was fun too and the tractors were a big hit!

My pumpkin and his pumpkin

Riding the Rails

2010-10-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip to Chattanooga to celebrate my mom's birthday. We wanted to do something we hadn't done yet, so we decided to do something we've always wanted to do, and take a train ride! It was so much fun! The kids didn't know what was happening until my mom handed them their ticket and they were so excited! (H) was literally shaking with excitement! Afterwards we tooled around the city and enjoyed the beautiful weather and many festivals going-on.

This kid couldn't stop smiling!

Here it comes!

We ate lunch on the train

We loved watching the world go by

Turning the engine around

We got to visit the shop where they work on these old steam engines!

Tunnel! So cool!

So much fun!

Weeeee!

This part was kind of scary!

Cuties!

Cooling off after in a new-to-us fountain

Playing and listening to the bluegrass festival

Followed by a tickle-fest

Welcome October!

2010-10-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

My favorite month has arrived! I'm celebrating October today by making time for myself. I decided to give up a few things in my busy schedule because life was feeling too rushed and too stressful. I do not want to look back and remember my last year here as busy and hectic. (H)'s school is closed today so we're taking it easy this morning with a few cartoons (a rare treat on a weekday!), some knitting, and a good old-fashioned house cleaning. It was so nice this morning to just walk at his pace back to the car after dropping off *A* and not feeling like I had to rush to get to the next thing.
We're looking forward to a weekend of fun: date night, soccer, celebrating Nana's b-day in Chattanooga (I think we're going to take a train ride! The kids are going to go nuts!), and a visit to our sponsoring parish. I'm off to enjoy this lovely day with the windows open and leaves falling.

Reminiscing

2010-10-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

The weather today is beautiful! It feels just like it does when we go to Michigan in the summers. I'm wishing I had a hammock and a beach right outside my door today. In honor of this Michigan-esque day, here are the final pictures from our trip this summer.

Soccer Time

2010-09-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

I've been so slack with this blog lately, lots to share (even pictures!), just not enough time to do it! Hopefully this lazy, rainy Sunday will let me get caught up a bit. Soccer is in full swing this Fall and it's amazing how much difference a year makes! Last year we were having a hard time convincing *A* to get out there and take the ball away, and we wondered if she was just not really into competitive sports. Well, apparently kids kind of "get that" in Kindergarten. She is now one of our best players and has scored goals and totally gets it. It's so exciting to watch her and cheer for her from the sidelines (instead of telling her what to do all the time). And it's made even more fun this year because ^J^ is her coach! We were rained out Saturday, but she's had 2 great games and we're looking forward to games all the next month.

*A* was selected as team captain to watch the coin toss

Throw In

Action shot

Our friends came to cheer her on and get a few early soccer tips

Sweaty Monkey after the game

Good game! I think this is their favorite part!

A Good Busy

2010-09-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Life is busy but good. I've filled almost all of my alone free time this year and it seemed a bit out of control last week, but I think I'm getting the hang of it this week. I started EFM this year, so that takes up my Friday mornings, and I've been volunteering at *A*'s elementary school library on Mondays so that takes up most of my Monday mornings. Both days start later than my crazier Tuesday-Thursdays so I can be lazier and relax a bit before I need to be somewhere. Afternoons have been great, busy of course, but (H) and I (and sometimes ^J^) have been able to spend some quality time together until it's time to go get *A* from school. My favorite days are when we go get (H) and treat ourselves to lunch somewhere and then all come home and nap. This doesn't happen often but today is one of those days and I love being able to have the time to do it! After school it's pretty much a mad dash to get things done (homework, grocery shopping), or get to soccer or choir, and occasionally we just go to the park and play. Yesterday *A* had a friend over after school so we went to the park and I just sat and knitted for an hour. Ahhhhh.

I much prefer less stuff to do, but everything I'm doing this year I love. I think I'm trying to get all these wonderful opportunities in while we're here, and I'm really just trying to soak up our last year in Sewanee. I also really want this year to go slowly, but unfortunately busy and slow don't seem to go well together.

I'm really ready for Fall and cooler temps. I finally feel like in our 3rd year, I know what to expect with Sewanee weather, as much as anyone can, but I'm anticipating the cold and the grey days and looking forward to soups and fires and rain boots. To being "cozy-warm" as my kids like to say.

One thing I'm missing right now is my camera. I have taken NO new pictures for over 2 weeks, and have had no time or inspiration to do so (hence the lack of pictures on this post). This makes me sad so I'm keeping my camera with me all weekend to play with and become inspired again. We have *A*'s 1st soccer game of the season and a trip to see family and celebrate my niece's birthday, so there will be ample opportunity.

It Begins

2010-08-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

Our Senior year at Sewanee has arrived. Last week we had Quiet Day and Matriculation followed by the Dean's dinner. Saturday was the Picnic at Lake Cheston.

The kids had a blast in the water as usual and I'm not sure they ate anything except cookies and brownies while we were there.

One of the new seminarians brought her kayaks and all the kids had fun taking turns on those.

Yesterday was a taste of Fall with temps in the high 70s and lots of breeze. We went to church at All Saint's and then had a playdate and then went blueberry picking at a friend's house. They also own a horse farm with 23 horses, and have a large and random selection of other animals: a llama, parrots, a miniature goat, a pig, 5 dogs, etc. The kids were in heaven and I kinda was too. Watching them (especially *A*) run around this farm so naturally and totally happy was awesome. After visiting and petting all the animals many times, the kids rode the "gator" over to the garden area where we picked a bucketful of blueberries. Apparently this is very late in the season and they were just over-run with berries this year. The berries were growing in huge clumps on the branches like grapes, all we had to do was put our bucket underneath and kind of pull the berries down and off the branch. ^J^ said he felt like he was milking a cow. There was also a pear tree and the kids decided they needed to eat it right then and there warm from the tree. There was an apple tree as well so we got a bucket full of those too. Oh and they had a few watermelons leftover too so we each took 2. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I only have a picture of our loot after we returned home. Time to start freezing, canning, and baking!

Food Stuffs part 2

2010-08-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so how about some irony. Last week I wrote about not wanting to partake of school lunches; this week we got a letter from the school board that we qualify for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Sooooo, I've been trying to weigh this conundrum in my mind and the other day I decided to try and see if *A* would agree to "buying" her lunch maybe one day a week if it was something she might eat. Yesterday they were having chicken sandwiches, tater tots, and lime (weird) applesauce. Not terribly appetizing but something I thought we could get away with and save $ on one lunch this week. So I approached her with the idea and she promptly replied, "Mom, all they have is junk food!". Um, ok. How can I possibly argue with that. I did end up convincing her to just try it for one day and it seemed to go fine, but she hasn't been interested in doing it again yet. I was even looking ahead on the lunch calendar and saw they are having cheese pizza on Monday, but nope, no dice.

So, tonight I bring you some of my recent go-to, meat-free, healthy lunch and snack items (Kindergarten eats lunch at 10:45 am so I also have to pack an afternoon snack). Hope these are helpful, I'm sure as the weeks progress I will be adding more, so maybe I'll post a sidebar link for future reference. Feel free to add more suggestions in the comments and I'll add those to the master list as well. Oh and I reject the notion that school lunch needs to center around a sandwich with some stuff on the side. We do that, but often I'm just happy if we have a protein or 2, some fruit or veggies, and a healthy carb. So we mix and match the items below often for variety and convenience. None of them are terribly ground-breaking or novel, mostly this will just serve as a list to remind me of what to pack when I'm in a rut.

Good 'ol Stand-by PB&J
Grilled Cheese
String Cheese/Babybel Cheese
Yogurt, plain, vanilla, often with granola on the side to add in. Our new favorite easy yogurts are the Horizon squeeze tubes because they were on sale and had a coupon at Kroger so we stocked up.
Bagel with cream cheese (with or without sliced cucumber)
Veggie roll-ups (cream cheese spread on a tortilla rolled around carrots, cucumber and/or pepper slices)
Cheese Quesadillas
Cheese and crackers - our favorite is goat cheese and Triscuits
Apples and peanut butter
Dried fruit, we're still loving our stash of dried cherries from Michigan
Trail Mix, I love to use up the last bits of snacky things and throw them all together into a trail mix
Peanuts
Pistachios
Pita Chips
Annie's snack items, Cheddar bunnies, etc.
Leftovers from dinner
Mommy-made muffins
Nature Valley granola bars (or ones from Trader Joe's)
In-season local fruit, right now it's apples, cantaloupe and watermelon
In-season local veggies, currently we're overloaded with cucumbers, zuchini, and peppers. Unfortunately this child keeps trying but still hates tomatoes, so the dozens of cherry and grape tomaotes we get from the CSA are not an option.
Tortilla Chips

Ok, that's good for now. I'm hoping to experiment with cracker-making this weekend since I didn't get to it last weekend. Oh and here's a great post about yogurt making, we tried to make yogurt a long time ago but couldn't get the temperature right. I'm liking her suggestion of how to get it just right so maybe we'll have to try it again soon.

Food Stuffs

2010-08-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

One day's garden bounty

We've been enjoying some pretty amazing food around here lately so I thought I'd share for anyone who's interested. For the most part, we've gone vegetarian for meals at home. I'm no longer buying meat at the grocery store unless it's from a source I feel good about. If we go to a Trader Joe's I try to stock up, but normally we're eating vegetarian with the occasional seafood thrown in. *A* loves shrimp and they both really love fried tofu. After seeing many trucks of animals on our trip to and from Michigan, *A* has been more sensitive about eating animals, although she has always sort of been a vegetarian anyway.

We've been so excited that many of our meals lately have been almost totally local. We like to call it "Everything Local but the Starch". Between our garden, the wonderful online local farmer's market, and the CSA we joined, we have lots of local produce to choose from. We also bought a herd-share from a local goat farm so that we can have local goat cheese each week. Unfortunately we don't yet have a local resource for flour or other starchy foods, but we do enjoy a few things that are totally local like a frittata with local eggs and veggies. The other night we had pasta with local vegetables and goat cheese topped with homemade pesto (made with basil from our garden). Lunch yesterday was a bagel with goat cheese, tomato and basil leaves and an apple; again, everything local but the starch.

I'm all about the pesto right now, we're putting it on everything. I used this recipe from my neighbor. Although I did use pine nuts because I had some on hand. My kids love pesto and they really love basil, they will eat basil right off the plant while I'm watering the garden!

We're also all about the granola this summer. This is our favorite recipe. I've tried many others, but this one is the best. I'm not a big fan of granola with molasses and this one uses honey (we use local). It's definitely not a healthy granola recipe, it's pretty full calorie, but it's homemade so no preservatives and it's cheaper! I can't tell you how much I love being able to completely pass up the cereal aisle at the store! We like this granola with milk of course, but also with yogurt, in pancakes, and even on ice cream!

My next culinary adventure is to try making our own crackers. I'm so annoyed at the amount of "stuff" in a box of crackers and now with a school lunch to pack, I'm having a hard time finding snack-type foods I feel good about sending. So, I'm hoping this weekend to experiment with graham crackers and another wheat type of cracker. Although I have found that Triscuits are the best bet on the cracker aisle with only wheat, oil, and salt listed in the ingredients! It's been fun trying to figure out interesting things to pack in *A*'s lunch. I want her to be more interested in what I pack than what's offered in the lunch line so it takes some creativity. So far she's not interested in what they are offering at school because it's very meat-based, but I know she'll enjoy buying her lunch some days. I will do another post sometime with some of the ideas I've come up with for packing lunches.
Ok, sleeping kids are up and it's time to go register *A* for soccer. Happy weekend!

1st Day of School

2010-08-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

Monday was the first day of school for both *A* and (H). Big girl *A* is entering Kindergarten this year and we struggled for a long time about what to do, but finally decided to take the leap and put her in the public elementary school. We figured this is probably the smallest and best community school we will ever experience and it would be a safe place to try it out. I am slightly concerned about the amount of new schools she's experiencing (new school last year, new school this year, new school next year), but luckily she is a very resilient child. She went for a meet the teacher, fill out forms, etc day last Friday for only an hour but as you can see, she was very excited about that.

Monday she wasn't quite feeling 100% but she had a great time and when asked how it went (dozens of times), she always said "it was great!". Only half the class attended Monday and the other half yesterday, so today is the first full day with the whole class. She has P.E. today which I had to explain to her what that was, and so she decided to wear her converse so she could be ready to run. So things are going well so far. ^J^ and I are having a hard time with some of the odd public school things (behavior charts, etc) that I used to have to do and that we've been so against all these years with our Montessori background, but we're just taking it as it comes and as long as *A* is safe, happy and learning, we can deal.

(H) seems to really enjoy preschool a lot more this year. There were many days last year when he did not want me to leave, but he's doing a lot better this year. He has moved up to the big kid class that *A* was in last year so he's really excited about that, and he has 2 good friends in there with him including our neighbor. The first day we (yes, we) had some tears, but the past 2 days at drop off he has just needed me to sit a minute with him and then he gives me a kiss and I leave. One new thing this year is that when I pick him up at noon, he and I get 3 hours together before we have to go get *A*, so that'll be fun.

Ok, here they are on their first day. Enjoy!

And their proud parents:

Catching Up and more Michigan (finally)

2010-08-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe summer is almost over and how slack I've been on the blog this summer. Hopefully once the kids go back to school, I'll do better. We have been trying to live up each day of summer left around here even if that means sweating profusely while doing so. The other day we went to visit the sand pile on the intramural fields behind our house and while we were there the sprinklers came on for the fields. It was such a treat to be able to cool off and run through sprinklers and we thought we might get in trouble when a groundsman came by, but he said we were allowed to do it anytime as long as we didn't twist the sprinklers around. Yay! So now when we're too hot to do anything but melt around 4:30 pm, we know where to go!

Last night was *A*'s Kindergarten Open House. She was super-excited and knows so many of the kids already from preschool, dance and swim team. There are going to be 4 kindergartners from seminary families this year and they are all girls, so that should be fun! Poor (H) needs a new buddy though. Luckily he's at an age where girls are still fun to play with because there are a few 3.5 year old girls he enjoys playing with at the cookouts and they'll be in his preschool class too.
Ok, I have so many fun things to share still from our Michigan trip so here are some more pictures. Enjoy!

So after our mini-family vacation, we headed Up North a bit further to the Traverse City area. We were actually staying outside of Traverse City this year but we ventured to "the big city" a few times. We arrived on the last day of the National Cherry Festival just in time for the parade. I'm a big fan of parades and this is one of the best. Marching bands, hundreds of floats, and lots of cool stuff to watch. It was very long (and very hot, especially for Michigan) but there are so many things (and ice cream vendors), so the kids were entertained the whole time. Here are some highlights:

After this we headed up to our cute cabin and spent the next few days lounging on the beach and swimming.

I'll post again soon about a cool road trip we took while there, but to close, here are some sunset pictures of our beach. Ahhhhhhh.

almost Up North

2010-07-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Now that we've had a week to get our house back in order and have *some* of the laundry done, maybe I can find the time to get some pictures from our Michigan trip posted. The kids have been clingy monkeys this week, I'm not sure what's going on. Maybe just the transition back home. Anyway, we had a great trip. It was beautiful weather and we didn't need our sweatshirts because we didn't have any cool nights like we usually do. We were at the beach almost everyday and we came home tan, too well-fed, and so relaxed.

We were able to leave a little earlier than planned so I found us a "mini-cabin" at a state park about an hour or so south of the house where we were staying with the rest of my family for a week. It was a great way to start the trip off and get in vacation mode.

We arrived at dusk (which in Michigan is about 10:30pm) and the kids were still up so we let them explore a bit. They loved our cute little cabin and trips to the bathroom because then they could see all the big campers with their fires and lights. I loved this too and wondered why it's taken us so long to camp again.

We stayed here for 2 days, it was bliss. Rode our bikes everywhere, had the beach to ourselves if we went early enough, had campfire dinners (and S'Mores of course) and enjoyed our favorite Michigan beverage, Vernor's ginger ale! Enjoy the pictures from this part of our trip and I'll do a new post for the next part of our adventure.

Our View

Our path to the beach

On the 3rd of July...

2010-07-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

we walked to the festivities

Entered Gracie in the dog show

She won 2nd place in the biggest dog category and stole the show when she wouldn't leave the ring

We played fun games

And won cheesy prizes

One of us got her face painted

We ate bbq picnic-style

Waited for the parade

Took a rest

And had a refreshing beverage

Finally we heard the loud sirens

Ran for candy

And were proud of our efforts

Then one of decided her hair needed to be more festive (for the wrong holiday maybe)

Then we walked home, drank buckets of water, and talked about how this may have just been the best 4th (on the 3rd) yet.

1st Meet

2010-06-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday *A* had her first swim meet. It was exciting and loud and wet and very hot. She did great except for the part when she couldn't hear the buzzer to start and stood on the deck a bit too long. Her backstroke was much better, it is so amazing how much her skills have progressed in the past few weeks and we can't wait to cheer her on again at the meet this weekend.

Summertime...

2010-06-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

and the livin' is easy.

From swimming trips to pools, downtown waterplay places, and lakes, we've been big fans of summer around here lately.

Hope your summer days are full of bathing suit fun!

goodbye, hello

2010-06-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

It's official, all of our Senior friends have moved away. We miss them. There is a different feeling about this place with them gone. Not bad, just different. It's an interesting thing, this 3 year residential seminary program, each year things shift and rotate and revolve. The first year you are clueless and everything is new, you're constantly trying to get settled and find your fit. The 2nd year you are an old pro. You help the new people along, you've got it down, you know what to expect. But something happens at the end of your 2nd year. Last year when we were saying goodbye it wasn't a big deal. It was sad that we were losing a third of our population but it was exciting to be gaining new people, so we didn't worry about it too much. This year it was real. Now all of a sudden people we've known and become close to for 2 years were suddenly leaving, and now all of a sudden we were next! Graduation was where I felt it the most. Last year graduation was fun but it was so far in the future that it didn't matter too much. This year, it was suddenly very apparent that in one *very* short year this would be us. Again, exciting and sad all at the same time.

Now we're Seniors. I'm not sure what the theme of this year will be because I haven't yet experienced it, but I have a feeling it will be the year of "lasts" and a year of closing. Jobs that we've taken on will be passed on to others, new families will come and we'll be excited to be with them, but we'll know that they won't know us like they should. I'm not ready to be a Senior. Everyone keeps saying we're Seniors now but I'm not letting myself think that until the school year starts. I'm going to enjoy the summer of my *Middler* year and try hard not to think of the year ahead. I'm sure that once it comes we'll be ready, and it will be SO exciting, but not yet. I don't want to live our Senior year with "one foot out the door" as some do. I plan to enjoy all the events as much as the first 2 times and not lament or wish them away, but it's inevitable that we will be looking out and to the next step in this process.

Wednesday we said goodbye to our friends The Krouses. We were lucky enough to get to spend some extra time with them these last few weeks and helped them pack (and inherited some of their stuff!) and watched their kids for some extra playtime. While I truly love all the seminary kids, the Krouse kids hold a special place in my heart. Here are some pictures of a playdate involving our own backyard waterpark (and nakedness of course!).

Miss you guys.

Where we spend our days

2010-05-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

*A* is on swim team this summer and she totally rocks. I absolutely love the coach (who happens to be the coach for the university as well) and love that she enjoys swimming so much. When she first started going to conditioning for swim team, she wanted to play around, like you usually do when you go to a pool, but she quickly realized swim team is not about playing. It's work! They make it fun but they are teaching specific skills that will improve their strokes.

It really is amazing to me to watch how he teaches 5 to 18 year olds some of the same techniques, and how everything *A* learns has a purpose as I watch kids three times her age using those same skills. Swim team in Sewanee is one of those things I am going to hate to leave behind. We love to go watch her master new things everyday and I just know her first meet is going to be so fun!

We've also been spending a big hunk of our time these days at our new garden spot. Sewanee has a large Community Garden which we've learned rarely has openings. However, a friend's neighbor had extra space in her plot and offered it to them. They asked if we'd be interested and we've since asked a few other families. I think all together now we have 6 families contributing. It's a huge area and if it all works out, we're going to have so much food this summer! We went out there today and transplanted our strawberries from last year's failed garden spot at our house. So far we have tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash, cucumber, brocoli, carrots, radishes, beans, lettuce, strawberries, blackberries, and cilantro. We plan to add melons and pumpkins too.

The kids love going out there too and finding worms and eating any strawberries that may be ripe. I'm hoping to start a blog about the garden for all the families to contribute and share their experiences with it. I'll post a link here when it's up and running.

Reluctant Summer Fun

2010-05-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, summer is officially here. We've been having a blast but sadly this means many of our best friends on the mountain are gone. We made close friends with many of the families one year ahead of us because we all had kids the same ages. It was a great group of people to introduce us to seminary life and help us on our journey since they'd all been there one year before us. However, it was not so fun saying goodbye. They've graduated, gotten jobs, and packed their moving trucks (or are about to). Many of them are moving to far away places like Texas and Virginia and we just don't know when we'll see them again. We'll keep up on facebook and blogs of course but it just won't be the same as our almost daily playtime at the park or constant last-minute dinner invitations. The moms had a blast in Nashville a month or so ago and we plan to have an annual girl's trip somewhere, so that will be a treat. I just hope we can all keep it a priority once real-life sets in.

Anyway, we've tried to capture as much time as possible with these families in the last few weeks while enjoying our time off together. Here are some pictures of the graduation picnic at the lake, one of the last times we were all together. We're gonna miss you guys.

Up and Running

2010-05-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Finally we're back up and running around here. In more ways than one actually. Yes, we now have Internet again but we're also up and running each day now that summer break is here. We're up and outside as soon as we're dressed (except for (H) who prefers to be mostly undressed) and we're either fishing, gardening, playing/eating on the porch, catching snails,

watching for hummingbirds, riding bikes, making flower soup, playing in the sand pile, or just talking a walk around the ponds. We spend most of our days outside now and we've got the bug bites to prove it. We're remembering how wonderful it is to be home and to be together in this town that empties out so much in the summer that it seems like it's our own personal resort.

Tech. Issues

2010-05-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

No Internet=No updates.
According to evil DSL provider, should be up later today...
Have lots to update.
Stealing Wireless while watching *A*'s 1st swim team practice! Go TigerSharks!

Buckle Up

2010-05-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, Here's an attempt to catch up on the past few whirlwind weeks.
Please forgive any lack of clever writing, basically, there are just too many events and pictures to post.

First up, (H)'s End-of PMO Program: cute songs, memory books and kids freezing up when faced with a large audience. They did really well though and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so as director of PMO, I count that as a success. Each kid was presented with their memory book and since Mother's Day was that weekend, they had planted basil plants which they gave to their moms. There were 8 kids from Senior families who received special recognition for "graduating" from PMO since they had been there all 3 years, some of them from birth. These kids are all very dear friends of ours and we will miss them dearly next year. I honestly don't know what PMO will be like (or our seminary community for that matter) without these kids.

Here's (H) with his best bud who is moving to Texas in a few weeks. And here he is after getting his memory book. What is it about our kids and sticking their tongues out?!

Next up, Mother's Day Weekend and my cousin's graduation from Emory:

Sunday we headed to Atlanta and after a nice lunch and the children's symphony concert with ^J^'s family, we headed down to Decatur for a celebratory graduation dinner at one of the best restaurants I've ever been to: The Iberian Pig.

Both of my cousins are major foodies and I was super-excited when I heard he was picking the restaurant because I knew we wouldn't end up at some generic chain place. When we got there, the staff was so helpful and genuinely nice, we had to wait for a table and so my mom said she'd order a round of drinks. They had some really unusual cocktails and great beers and wines. ^J^ got some vodka drink with essence of violets and they hand-chip the ice off a huge hunk of ice with an actual ice-pick! The kids had fun watching that! I realized they'd never had a shirley temple so I let them order one and *A* would not stop talking about her "fancy drink".

The Iberian Pig is Spanish-themed which means lots of tapas, and while it has regular entrees as well, we opted to order a bunch of things off the tapas menu and share. It was ALL so heavenly. My favorite thing was probably the bacon wrapped dates, I see these all the time on the Food Network but I've never had them and they were like candy! So good! There was a bunch of interesting flat breads, like a really crispy pizza with toppings like arugula and shaved cheese and mushrooms with truffle oil. I tried so many things I'd heard of but never had the chance to try before, things I may not try again (like wild boar sausage), but I just had to try everything even if it was odd because it was just so fancy and fun! Here's the menu.

The next drink ^J^ ordered was this bacon-infused rye drink. It was odd and smokey-tasting, but he loved it. After so much food, they started bringing out desserts. I didn't think we'd ordered any but we dug right in anyway and those were amazing as well: some kind of fruity gelato with hardened white chocolate on the outside and cinnamon donuts with dark chocolate dipping sauce. yum! Come to find out, our waitress gave the desserts to us on the house because she felt bad that they were out of a few things we asked for. She felt so bad in fact that she gave all of us gift certificates to use the next time we came! It was a wonderful night and we closed the place down!

Our kids were so great too, it was like they knew it was a special place and they behaved accordingly. They tried most all of the food we ordered and (H)'s favorite was the eggplant fries. *A* loved the goat cheese tortellini and of course the desserts!

We spent the night in a hotel near Emory that night and went to the ceremony the next morning followed by a brunch reception. It was a great time to celebrate and spend time together as a family!

Here are the kids with their Great-Great Aunt, aren't they so matchy and cute?!

Waiting for the ceremony to start.

We all clapped and cheered when his name was read aloud and we are so proud of where he's been and where he's going, although we will miss him. Hopefully he'll come visit lots and California won't change him too much because *A* now has a slight crush on her 21 year old 2nd cousin!

Although, really, who could blame her?

Ok. I'm tired so I'll catch you up on the fun-filled seminary graduation events of last week...tomorrow.

Catching Up

2010-05-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

On laundry, blogs, work, laundry, photo downoading, bills, laundry, saying goodbye to graduating seniors, cleaning, garden stuff, oh and laundry...be back soon I promise...

The Market is Open!

2010-04-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we headed to Chattanooga for the day to shop, eat, and go to the opening of the Farmer's Market. We discovered this market last year and we love it. It's full of local produce, plants, cheeses, and artwork of various kinds. Also, each week they have live local music and typically some kind of cooking demonstration. We enjoyed browsing, snacking, and the sunshine.

We enjoyed it so much we were worn out on the drive home. The sign of a good day.

Local Fun

2010-04-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend St. Andrew's a local Episcopal upper school hosted Trails and Trilliums, an annual event with guided trail walks, native plant sales, and of course family fun. We went last year and had a blast and really loved that all the family activities are free! This year a group of seminary families came out for the fun and despite the cooler weather, we had a great time!

Our first stop was the horses so of course we hopped right on. Last year (H) got on and rode for about 4 steps but then wanted off. This year he was hesitant but willing and eventhough he wanted one of us to walk with him, he rode twice!

*A* was all over it of course and had no hesitation at all.

Next up was the animal petting area. They had local animals from farms and things in our backyards. The bunnies were a favorite as were the turtles, especially the baby turtle!

They had baby mice too and in a much farther away location: snakes. If you are squemish about snakes, I'm sorry, you'll just have to deal. I can not tell you how proud it makes me that this girl is not afraid of turtles, snakes, worms, etc.! Spiders and bees are a different story, but this child has *almost* no fear!

(H) is a little more cautious but he was braver this year and held one!

There was also a hay ride and marshmallow roasting.

This boy loved the tractor! We tried to go on a tour of a cave too but we missed it by a few minutes because we were too busy petting a horse. Oh well, it gives us an excuse to go back next year (as if we needed one!).

We Love to Fish!

2010-04-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a visit from Grandpa John. He brought his blue kayak and we *almost* got to go out on the water with it. Here the kids are sitting in it posing with fishing poles while the kayak was on top of his car! The day we had planned to go on the lake with him, the kids weren't feeling well so we'll have to wait until next time for our kayak trip. We did have some fun times fishing on the pond behind our house. Both kids love to fish and *A* especially loves to catch the worms. I was on a girls' trip to Nashville this day but I've been told *A* was quite the fisher-girl this day and was even taking the fish off the hook all by herself!

Our Little Ballerina

2010-04-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was *A*'s ballet recital. She was so excited and they rehersed on the big stage all week long.

I know this picture is blurry but it shows her signature move, the "skip, hop". she has loved this move since she learned it and frequently moves around the house this way. In my not-so-humble opinion, she did it the best out of everyone in her class. :)

Here she is on the big day (she was so happy that they had to wear make-up)

and after with her flowers.

She was so proud, we were so proud, all the family & friends that came to see her were so proud.

Poor (H) slept in Gram's lap through the whole thing, but he had to sit through all those rehersals so he was forgiven!

She's ready to start ballet again but I told her we have to wait until next Fall. I think swimming will take the place of ballet for the summer as her favorite "extra-curricular activity". We just found out that she can join pre-swim/conditioning for swim team and practice her swimming skills 4 days a week. Everynight for the past few months, she has asked me if we can go to the pool tomorrow and now I can finally say "yes"!

Easter

2010-04-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

What a glorious day! The weather was warmer than I ever remember an Easter being, church was beautiful (although we spent much of it outside in the sun since it was standing room only!), the kids were wonderful, and we had fun with friends all day long.

The junior Easter bunnies waited patiently as Mommy Bunny hid the baskets.

Then they found baskets full of fun toys (thanks $1 Target bin!) and not so much candy.

But the candy we did get was much enjoyed!

Then we headed to friend's house for a yummy Easter lunch. And family photos of course!

Then it was time to change into play clothes and line up with our friends for the egg hunt at the park.

(H) worked hard to get his eggs and decided after about 8 that he had found enough. *A* was considered one of the big kids this year (!), so when she came to me with a full basket and I gently reminded her to save some for the little kids, she took a handful from her basket and re-hid them for the little kids to find.

After a chocloate fix, it was time to relax, play games, and cookout. A time to celebrate and feast! Just what Easter is all about!

Pre-Easter Events

2010-04-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

As always, there is lots to do up here on the mountain during Holy Week. It's busy but it's good busy. Everything is focused on Holy Week which allows you to really get in the right frame of mind to celebrate these events. On Maundy Thursday, the seminary stops classes and offers a Quiet Day for students and spouses.

This was my third Quiet Day and it is something I've really come to look forward to. It was 80 degrees this day so along with lots of quiet on the beautiful campus of St. Mary's convent, I also got a sunburn.

Good Friday was quite busy and I was very appreciative for the previous day of quiet. ^J^ preached at 7am at All Saint's on campus, then we had the seminary service at 9am, then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and walked to the Stations of the Cross service which occurs down University Ave.

Here we are on our way and here's ^J^ taking a turn helping carry the cross.

That night we had a relaxing dinner at a friend's house and we played our new favorite game, BananaGrams!

Saturday was a bit more laid back and we went to the 2nd Annual Crawfish Boil hosted by one of ^J^'s classmates from Mississippi.

*A* really liked them and so did Gracie who decided to eat 3 shell and all!

Saturday night we got a babysitter so we could attend the Easter Vigil service. ^J^ was a reader and it was as always a powerful service follwed by a yummy reception.

I'll save Easter for tomorrow seeing as I've already made this quite a long post.

Zoo Trip

2010-03-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Friday was beautiful so we decided to take a trip to the Nashville Zoo. We got a pass for the zoo last year and we love it so much. The best part is that we can get friends in for free with our pass so we ended up having 4 Moms and 8 kids under the age of 5. While crazy at times, we had a great time seeing animals, riding the carousel, playing on the gigantic playground, and soaking up the sun. I'm glad we got it when we did because it's snowing today. Go figure.

Yellow Happiness

2010-03-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

We've had a wonderful Spring Break so far and the weather actually felt like Spring today so we headed down the mountain with some friends to see if the daffodil field was blooming. We got lucky and it looks like we caught it early as some buds were not open yet, so we can hopefully go back with Daddy this weekend. *A* loved picking them and seriously couldn't get enough, luckily they are only 2 cents a flower!

Hello Sun!

2010-03-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend and explored a new trail. It ran along the bluffs which called for hiking while holding hands at times,

but there were some great spots to stop and enjoy the view and have a bite of lunch.

The trail mix was a hit and apparently even after you have just had lunch, you *need* trail mix to keep you going.

This swirly tree stump was very intriguing to me and (H) thought it might have a creature living in it.

We're planning on spending as much time as we can outside today because it looks like rain for the next week or so. On the bright side, it'll be Spring Break soon so even if we are cooped up inside, we'll be on break!

Space Boy, Snow Mommy, and Dancer Girl

2010-03-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

(H) has discovered Star Wars, can I just tell you how happy that makes his daddy? Anyway, he's not quite outfitted yet so he uses what he has. He had some birthday money leftover and the other day decided to purchase his first Star Wars action figure. I see the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Yesterday we woke up to 3 more inches of snow. It was beautiful and while I'm ready for Spring, I was excited this was finally a wet snow so we could make a proper snowman. It was the fastest snow person in history because the snow was so perfect for rolling and stacking. The kids ran inside to get all the proper implements (carrot, bottlecap eyes, scarf, hat), and once it was dressed and ready they announced, "It's you Mommy!". Here they are with their Snow Mommy:

Today was our 2nd "Watch Day" at ballet, they have been practicing for the recital this semester and while there have been many snow days and sick days, we were SO impressed with *A*'s dancing.

Of course we're totally biased, but there seems to be some real natural talent there. I see this being something she will excel at her whole life if she chooses to continue. At the end of class, they got surprised with their recital costumes. She was thrilled and said "Do we get to dance on a real stage Mommy? I've never been on a real stage!". She just had to try the costume on as soon as we got home. Here she is showing me first position. Once I finally convinced her to take it off, I quickly hid it in the closet so we can keep it nice for the next month.

The Sunny Side

2010-02-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

I was totally going to write a post about how sick I am of sickness around here (*A*'s been sick/under medical care of some form or another for the past month and our car has been in and out of the shop almost equally as long) but after a really relaxing day home (b/c we had no car to go anywhere and b/c of *A*'s cough and ear infection), I am focusing on the positive. The kids played AMAZINGLY well today. I was able to get so much done (which is good because this coming weekend is prospective student weekend at the seminary and we're hosting a dinner), and we had some long overdue quality time together.

As much as I love how much there is to do up here, it gets a little overwhelming and over-busy and it's nice to just take a day off of all responsibilities. It was about this time last year that I was having similar thoughts, and I decided to drop choir to put a little freedom back in our schedule. I'm considering doing that again actually. Must be something about February.

We're trying to make conscious choices about what we do with what little time we have here. It's great to fill our days with fun and friends but lately we've forgotten what it's like to be just a family. Monday nights are our new family night. We're going to try our best not to schedule anything on these nights because it's the only night during the week we're all home together. This weekend, we made a conscious decision not to do Little League. *A* wasn't really all that into it and we decided our schedule is pretty full already without trying to fit in a night for practice and then games every Saturday. Perhaps next year when both kids can play.

It feels good to be able to say "no". To step back and just be. I think the kids appreciate it too. Today they were kind and agreeable, friendly and silly. We only had one minor spat and it was because (H) hurt *A*'s feelings when he was frustrated and used his words too loudly.

Anyway, I'm kind of struck at how positive this post turned out after the past few weeks of yuckiness, and I am struck at how calm and peaceful I feel after a day of being home alone with the kids with very little interaction from the outside world. I know after days of this we'd not be so positive, but it's something to remember when everything is so busy and spinning out of control. I leave you with a glimpse into our play-filled day:

**As I'm loading the dishwasher and making dinner, *A* comes into the kitchen with her apron on, pad and pencil in hand.**
A: "Can I take your order please?"
Me: "Um, Yes, I'll have a grilled cheese."
A: "We don't have that."
Me: "Ok, I'll have a hot dog."
A: "We don't have that either, we only have soup. It's very good."
Me: "Ok, I'll have the soup."
A: "And what would you like to drink?"
Me: "Orange juice please."
A: "We don't have that."
Me: "Ok, what do you have?"
A: "We have Coca-cola. You like that."
Me: "Ok, that sounds good, thank you."
A: "You're welcome, your order will be right out."
I just love that she's pretending to feed me and cook for me while I'm in the process of doing the same for her. I especially love that this time of day which is normally the craziest part (kids cranky and hungry and underfoot next to a hot oven) was probably my favorite part of today because of our little conversation. Thank you sweet girl.

Finally!

2010-02-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

We finally had a big snow here this past weekend. All the snow that hit the south last week missed us completely (because we were too far North!), but we heard more was on the way this week so we kept our fingers crossed. Sunday night while driving back from Birmingham (after *A*'s run-in with a bookshelf ending in 2 stitches), we got to the top of the mountain and were greeted with huge snowflakes falling in great numbers. Apparently it had snowed on and off all that day, but overnight Sunday was when the most fell and by Monday morning we had about 5 inches. It kept on snowing until yesterday actually, and we now have about 7-8 inches on the ground! It's so fun and so pretty! It stuck to everything and was so fluffy. We went sledding, made a mini-snowman(the snow was too fluffy to make a big one), and apparently ^J^ thought it was good bike-riding weather! Enjoy!

Love Bugs

2010-02-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

The kids and I have taken to a big family nap in the afternoon these days. Ever since their rooms have been combined, the kids haven't napped well. Which isn't a big deal, they still have "quiet time" and give me some moments of peace (and then they're ready for bed at 7 which is *really* nice). But occasionally we NEED a nap and especially with our bout of strep, it seems we've needed more naps than usual these days, so the best way for that to happen (surprisingly enough) is for all of us to pile in my bed. After a few moments of giggling, pushing, talking, and cover-stealing, they're out.

I just had to capture these cuties in their matching red outfits all tuckered out after a big day of preschool Valentine's parties. It was so fun today when they came home and went through all their valentines. *A* wanted me to read each and every word on hers while (H) made short work of his and had devoured 4 starburst before I even realized what was happening.
Happy Valentine's weekend to you and your Love Bugs.

Afternoon Hike

2010-02-04T12:33:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago it was warm enough to go on a hike so we headed out to one one of our favorite trails. I love hiking, but I especially love hiking in Sewanee because there is never a dull moment. I've been on many a Georgia trail that had absolutely nothing interesting to look at except maybe an occasional creek. This is not the case in Sewanee, around every turn there's always something interesting(or a giant cliff you might fall off)! I'm pretty sure this is why the kids love it so much. For example, on a sunny 50 degree day when you thought all the snow had melted from the previous snowstorm, you might turn a corner in the trail and discover an entire world of ice:

Or some shelf fungus,

Or a cool ice formation in the muddy ground.

Needless to say we couldn't pass the giant frozen waterfall of ice and continue down our normal route, so we took a different trail we'd never been on and once again found a great place to hike in Sewanee.

Even the boy with the cape kept up. This was the first really long hike we'd done with both kids sans backpacks or having to carry someone part of the way. They did awesome! *A* even found sticks for all of us which actually really came in handy on some of the icy patches. I was so proud of our little hikers!

Three

2010-02-03T18:32:00.001-08:00

We love you our super-sweet super hero!

Five

2010-02-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

We love you our sweet Pixie.

Please Stay Tuned

2010-01-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

Life as we know it has returned to normal so I've been taking some time to get reacquainted with schedules, deadlines, obligations and such. Plus our home computer has decided it doesn't want us to connect to the Internet anymore, so it's been hard to keep up with things online. I can use ^J^'s mini-laptop when he gets home from school, but it doesn't have my pictures on it, so until I figure out what's going on with our other computer, please stay tuned for updates including the double birthday festivities and the fact that we now have a 3 year old and 5 year old in the house...oh my how the time flies.

More snow and less hair

2010-01-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our adventures outside this weekend. We bundled up and went around campus taking pictures of some of our favorite places covered in snow.

We stopped mid-way for a hot chocolate warm-up at All Saint's Chapel.
Then we were ready to take on the sparkly snow and bitter cold again, and proceeded to make Sewanee Snow Angels!

That night after baths I decided it was haircut night. *A*'s been asking on and off to have her haircut short for about a month now. It started one day when she came home from school with a mysterious layer around her face. Upon further investigation, she told us she wanted short hair so she cut about 4 inches off a small section of hair around her face. It looked kinda cute actually but I had to act stern and tell her not to cut her own hair. She told me she wanted all of it cut to her chin, but then decided a few days later she didn't want it that way because she wouldn't have ponytails or "tinkerbell hair" anymore. Anyway, the other night I was just going to trim an inch or 2 off and she looked in the mirror and told me to go shorter, so I did:

Cute right?! She loves it and so did I except it just didn't seem short enough, so the next morning I went to "even it up" and ended up cutting a few more inches off, so now we have this:

Super Cute! We are both very pleased. I am SOOOOO happy not to have the tangled hair struggle in the morning and she loves flipping it around and all the compliments she's been getting. Plus we can still do ponytails and stuff so that's good. The only problem with it is that she now looks SO big, and SO much like the almost-five-year-old girl she is. *Sigh*

Fire and Ice

2010-01-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

For Epiphany this year we decided to invite the neighbors over and burn our Christmas trees. We ate chili and cheered as we watched the flames rise higher and higher.
It was good old fashioned primal fun (with a fire extinguisher close by)!
Yesterday we were predicted to get some of the snow that was hitting the southeast. It started out light and the deer were quick to have a snack before the snow got heavier.
It continued through the day and we went sledding before dark. All in all, we've probably gotten 2 inches with a steady snowfall continuing today. During naptime, ^J^ and I took turns taking a walk alone to enjoy the snow and the stillness. The kids have fun, but they can only last so long when it's in the single digits.

Here's scenes from my walk. Hope you enjoy your winter wonderland this weekend.

Frozen Lake behind our house

Some brave soul's snow angel *on* the lake

Me standing on the lake (just the edge!) looking at the back of our house

And snowflakes on my coat!

Christmas Recap

2010-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

We've been enjoying our time off and time together so much that I haven't really had time for this place. Yesterday was a partial return to normal, the kids' preschool has resumed, so I have some time now to sit and download the thousands of Christmas pictures we took and catch up here.

Our Christmas started off with Christmas Eve at the Children's Creche service where *A* was asked to bring Joseph down the aisle. Then we headed to our friends' house where we enjoyed a yummy dinner and each other's company despite losing electricity (yay for lots of candles)! We headed home opened new jammies and quickly went to bed so Santa could get things ready.

We spent a leisurely Christmas morning at our house opening gifts and playing with new toys. I'm not really sure at what point (H) lost his jammies but this seems to be the norm with him lately. He loves to strip down to his undies and proclaim "I'm Maked Boy!"

Anywho, we headed to Atlanta just as it was starting to snow, it was very pretty but not sticking, so we weren't too worried about missing a white Christmas. We had a nice time relaxing, eating, and opening gifts with my family and the hugs were plentiful.

Then we headed to Josh's parents' for Christmas #3 with his family. More presents, hanging out, good food, Night at the Museum 2, and fun. The cousins loved having so much time together to play and they shared each other's new gifts quite well. Even my nephew's highly popular Nintendo DSi was shared around (with only a few quibbles about who's turn it was).

Then we went back to my mom's house to spend an afternoon visiting with my extended family.

I love seeing my kids play with the same cousins I grew up with, although it still weirds me out that they are in their 20's now. I also love the way they are with my great-aunt. They don't have many family members from that generation left and when I see them together it reminds me of how much I loved being with my great-grandmother as a child.
To end our whirlwind trip, we met up with some old middle school and high school friends and let our kids play while we caught up on each other's lives. With a full car and full tummies, we headed back to the mountain and proceeded to lay around in jammies and unpack slowly. And here we are, slowly returning to normal. Slowly, slowly...

What We've Been Up To...

2009-12-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

We're in full holiday mode around here, here's a glimpse:

Finally seeing Daddy and getting to celebrate his birthday and his being done for the semester with a favorite dinner and favorite cookie

Annual Cookie baking with Nana, using my grandmother's Spritz cookie recipe, it's a 4 generation tradition!

Loving that all it takes is a card or two in the mail to brighten our day

Lots of Christmas crafting, our first experiment with shrinky-dinks, so fun!

Yesterday was the biggest Holiday Fun-Fest ever! We did all the "must-dos" when in Atlanta for the holidays, I'm not not sure they're recommended to be done all in one day though! We were exhausted by the end of it, but it sure was fun!
First, we went to the Varsity for lunch,

MMMMMM, frosted orange...

Followed by a girl's day at The Nutcracker,

Followed by a visit to Lenox Mall to ride The Pink Pig,

Followed by a visit with the big man himself!

Here they are deep in conversation. I was so proud of both of them for actually sitting with him and talking to him after having such a long day with no real naps. I think finally we're at the age of not freaking out. (H) was a tad nervous though, you can tell by his protruding tounge! I think he wouldn't have done as well without the knowledge that he was going to get a candy cane from him afterwards.

Today we're recovering from all that and trying to get everything ready for the upcoming multiple Christmas celebrations. I'll try and post a bit here and there but life's gonna get pretty busy so I'll say Merry Christmas now and see you again in 2010!

Settling

2009-12-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

Life is slowly coming to a halt of sorts, a nice easy pace.

Things are ending for the semester. Winding down. Coming to a close. Sort of.

After many weeks of rushing about and to-dos, it seems my brain is less full. I keep having this anxious feeling of things I should be doing, but when I really think about it, I don't.

Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of things going on in the next week or so. Shopping and baking and wrapping and visiting and such, but it will happen in a time of vacation and when we're together. ^J^ has a lot of work ahead of him but I think he's starting to see the light at the end. I know we are. We're ready to have him home and in-the-know again.

I'm feeling like vacation is here for the kids and I already though, and we're just waiting on daddy to finish finals. We're totally taking it easy today after a whirlwind trip this weekend and yesterday. We spent yesterday in Birmingham at a dear friend's ordination to the priesthood and caught up while the kids played. Tonight I am going out with some friends to the big city to eat at a real restaurant, and Friday I'm having a shopping day with my mom followed by our Annual Christmas cookie baking day. While our plate still seems a bit full, all the things we still have planned between now and the new year are fun things and I'm looking forward to each one even if it means we're active and travelling. But for now, I'm off to nap and enjoy this day of settling.

Cousin Fun

2009-12-11T12:36:00.000-08:00

Last week ^J^'s parents came to visit and go to Lessons and Carols and they brought our neice with them. They spent the night and the kids had a great time playing and exploring the campus. We went over to All Saint's Chapel to take pictures of the beautiful flowers they had up for Lessons and Carols and the kids were mostly willing to get their picture taken too.

This weekend we'll get to have more cousin fun as we have a full day Sunday with the kids' Christmas symphony, and ^J^'s parent's church's Christmas show. Tonight we're headed to the seminary's holiday party (now that (H) is better), and we're continuing ^J^'s finals countdown. Have a great weekend!

Home

2009-12-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

I'm home with a sick boy and since he won't let me leave his side, I've been checking out some fun stuff online while we chill on the couch and watch Christmas movies.

Here's what I'm loving right now:

**The smell of christmas tree in our house**

**This bracelet**

**Being amazed at our kids' sense of humor**

**These Advent ideas**
Here's how we adapted them into our own Advent Calendar:

(Inside each envelope is something to do each day until Christmas. The kids thought of each idea with only a little prompting from me for certain things like "Make Christmas Cookies". *A*'s ideas were very thoughtful and kind. After suggesting lots of things to give to people who don't have much, she wanted to "Make soup for the whole....WORLD!" I gently explained that would be awesome but way more soup than we could ever make, so she settled on making soup for our neighbors. Her new High Five magazine has a project for soup in a jar and she thinks the layers of lentils, rice, etc. is pretty cool so I think that's what we'll do when that envelope is chosen.)

These camera straps

**The way things are coming to a close for the semester and the long break ahead of us**

**Getting out our favorite Holiday cds, especially this and this**

**The reminders all around me to slow down during this Advent season**

Hope you enjoy some unexpected downtime this week.

Some snow, a saint, and a tree walk into a bar...

2009-12-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

We woke up to 3 inches of snow Saturday which was super-exciting, but we couldn't stay home and play in it too long because we had the Morning with St. Nicholas event to get to. The kids were itching to get out and play in the snow though, so they threw some warm clothes on and ^J^ took them out (at 7:30am!) while I finished getting ready.

Gracie and Sophie were excited to play in it too!

Then we all changed into dry clothes and headed to Morning with St. Nick.
Here we are with St. Nick, as you can see, the kids wouldn't sit with him by themselves, and even with us in the picture, (H)'s trying to escape and *A*'s clinging to my neck for dear life. *A* did enjoy coloring pictures of St. Nick with her friends and here she is discovering gold coins in her shoes after the program.

Afterwards, we went to our friend's The Krouse's house and ate pizza and the kids played in the snow some more.
We were all pretty exhausted after this jam-packed morning so we came home and took naps. Then we watched Christmas movies, made a cake, and decorated the tree! The kids loved opening each box, getting out as much as they could, leaving it in various places in the living room, and then starting all over again on a new box. Can I just say how messy our living room was? Oh wait, here's proof
Sadly in this process, a few ornaments were broken but the kids were really excited to open all the boxes and in the end, after much rearranging of kid-placed ornaments, we have a finished tree. Whew, what a day!:

First Snow

2009-12-04T21:13:00.001-08:00

Just have to say how much I love living somewhere that we actually *get* snow, not just the threat of it. And in the first week of December too! More tomorrow after the PMO Morning with St. Nicholas event I've been helping plan all week, followed by playing in the snow! I found a great resource if you would like to incorporate celebrating St. Nicholas into your Advent tradtions. It's here. Enjoy!

Off and running

2009-12-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well our break was fast and busy, not the usual thanksgiving lazy break I was hoping for but it was nice to see family and I got some knitting done (although I can't currently find it). We have 2 and a half more weeks of the semester and then we have a month off...ahhhhh. The end of the semester is crazy, busy and we don't see ^J^ much but we're keeping our eyes on that long break coming up with very little obligations and lots of holiday fun!

Last night were the monthly board meetings for Parent's Morning Out and the Spouses of the Seminary. It was sad to say goodbye to the Seniors who will be leaving at the end of the year as the gave up their jobs on each board. I'm anxious and excited to see what the new people will bring as they assume leadership roles. I keep my job as Parent's Morning Out Director but I have a new job for the Spouse's organization, I'm the Discretionary Fund chairperson which means I get to help families in need. I'm very excited to take on this job as I know how much it meant to us when mystery money would show up in our mailbox last year when we were really struggling financially. Speaking of which, if you feel like praying for a worthy cause, please pray that the bank will accept the short sale on our house. We are feeling very frustrated and discouraged by the bank right now (I was on hold off and on for 2 hours Monday) and have had to renew our contract with the buyer because the bank is taking so long, so we just need this stress gone from our lives. Sorry for the prayer request on my blog but I figure it can't hurt.

Anyway, I'm off to the big city today to get supplies for a seminarian craft show tomorrow and for the Morning with St. Nicholas program on Saturday. Never a dull moment! I promise more pictures and less complaining next time! :)

Leftovers

2009-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

Today both kids took a nap (as did mommy and daddy) because we're all trying to recover from our fun but busy weekend. I woke up and felt the need to do something with all these leftovers, so my inner Julia Child came out and I made homemade turkey noodle soup and turkey pot pie. We had made turkey stock Thanksgiving night so that was already done, you could use chicken stock if you don't have any turkey stock on hand. We also had a ton of raw veggie leftover from the appetizer my mom brought so I just threw in as many veggie as I could. Here are the recipes if you are interested:

Turkey Noodle Soup
Saute lots of cut up veggies: carrots, celery, onion, zuchini, squash, tomaotes, brocoli, etc. in 2T of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and a teaspoon of poultry seasonings. Add 8 cups of turkey stock, 3 cups chopped turkey, 1 can of Rotel, and 1/2 big bag of egg noodles. Simmer until noodles are cooked al dente, add a few sprigs of chopped fresh parsley stir and serve. YUMMMMMMMMM! I was kind of worried how this would turn out as I've never really made homemade chicken(or turkey) noodle soup, but it is SO good. It makes a lot, so plan to freeze some or share with a friend.

Turkey Pot Pie
I used this recipe, but I added some white wine when I added the stock and did it in a casserole dish instead of individual bowls. It's in the oven but I'm fairly certain it's gonna be a hit!
Happy Sunday!

Thank-full

2009-11-27T08:40:00.001-08:00

For grandparents who bring treats to make while Mommy and Daddy are working in the kitchen
And for more grandparents who bring goodie bags of things to get us excited about the upcoming season
And for family walks to the lake even in the bitter cold in hopes of a possible fish
And for *A*'s beautiful turkey handprint place settings on our table to remind us of beautiful simplicity
And for an abundance of food
And for a little boy who knows his limits
And for a little girl who always tests her's

Hope your day was wonder-full!

Turkey Day Countdown

2009-11-25T06:51:00.000-08:00

The cranberries are done, turkey's smoked, house is *almost* clean, firewood's delivered, and break is HERE!
We're expecting 10 people for Thanksgiving this year, which is actually a small number compared to year's past, and we're so ready to have a few days off, good food, and family togetherness. My dad came up yesterday and presented us with a few early Christmas presents/Thanksgiving presents that we're so excited about playing with this weekend.
The blog will be improved by these gifts too so look forward to awesome pictures with my new camera lens, and we'll now be able to post videos again too thanks to our super-cool, super-small new video camera!!! We feel very tech-savvy right now, thanks so much Dad!

Last night was our annual Soup Night at our friends the Krouse's. Soup Night started before we arrived in Sewanee and it typically happens the night before Thanksgiving break, people bring pots of soup, bread, cheese, desserts, etc. and we all have a pre-thanksgiving feast. This year there were 50 people there and it was, as always, a great time. There was a bonfire, good company, kids in crazy dress-up clothes, and yummy food. This is one of my favorite events of the year and I'm sad the Krouses won't be here to host it next year, but maybe we'll just have to carry on the tradition!

In other unrelated catch-up news, ^J^ was elected student body president for the School of Theology and he was accepted as a sacristain for the chapel. It's going to be a busy 2010 but an exciting one too! For now, we're looking forward to enjoying this weekend and the mix of excited hectic rushing with complete calm laziness afterwards. This weekend is traditionally a very crafty time for me, I feel like I have time to just sit and be creative when the house is clean and fridge is packed full. I'm looking forward to a lot of this:

This:

And this:

And lots of hiking, sleeping, and Advent preparations. Enjoy your weekend!

Kid-Feast

2009-11-19T12:17:00.001-08:00

Today *A*'s preschool class hosted a Thanksgiving Feast complete with each student's choice of food. This preschool is pretty awesome and it is as close to Montessori we're gonna get here(it's Reggio), I wish I had found it sooner actually. *A*'s teacher was very insistent that we honor our child's choice and provide the food they requested. They asked each child what they wanted, and then sent home the list so that we'd know what to prepare for today. *A*'s choice was mac-n-cheese which was pretty tame compared to some. There was everything from pancakes to chicken fingers from a certain restaurant, to hamburgers with mushrooms to "noodles with white sauce and lima beans". It was truly a kid-feast with very little green things represented. It was lots of fun and *A* and I were able to spend some rare quality time together.

Afterwards, the kids we're high on syrup, juice, and chocolate chip cookies so they ran laps around the adults at the tables. They also sang us a Thanksgiving song and decorated and set the tables beforehand.

Scenes from a Weekend...

2009-11-16T19:46:00.001-08:00

...spent almost completely outside...

Our Side of the Mountain

Random

Christmastide

Preparing

She is here

Waiting

Halloween '11

"home" coming

Almost Time

Ren Fest

Apples!

Animal Blessing

Fall-ish

Ah Rain!

Shhhhh....

Almost...

Post-Michigan Post

Weekends

Easy Sweet Treats

Lazy Bones

Summer Reads

Life As We Know It

Under the Weather

This boy

And we're back!

Snow Week...again

Christmas Recap

The Recap Begins...

Snow Day(s)!

Catch Up

The Tree Incident

Finally, Halloween

A Perfect Fall Day

My Little Pumpkin

Riding the Rails

Welcome October!

Reminiscing

Soccer Time

A Good Busy

It Begins

Food Stuffs *part 2*

Food Stuffs

1st Day of School

Catching Up and more Michigan (finally)

*almost* Up North

On the 3rd of July...

1st Meet

Summertime...

goodbye, hello

Where we spend our days

Reluctant Summer Fun

Up and Running

Tech. Issues

Buckle Up

Catching Up

The Market is Open!

Local Fun

We Love to Fish!

Our Little Ballerina

Easter

Pre-Easter Events

Zoo Trip

Yellow Happiness

Hello Sun!

Space Boy, Snow Mommy, and Dancer Girl

The Sunny Side

Finally!

Love Bugs

Afternoon Hike

Three

Five

Please Stay Tuned

More snow and less hair

Fire and Ice

Christmas Recap

What We've Been Up To...

Settling

Cousin Fun

Home

Some snow, a saint, and a tree walk into a bar...

Food Stuffs part 2

almost Up North