Spotted Turtle

Quote of the day

2010-08-08T09:44:00.002-04:00

Peter had "pioneer" for a spelling word.

I mentioned that scientists who are making new discoveries in their fields are sometimes called "pioneers".

Pause.

Peter said, "Well then, shouldn't they be called "bioneers?"

In the Water

2010-08-01T20:48:00.003-04:00

This has been a familiar scene in our house the past few months. Throw on your swimsuit, grab your towel and mosey on down to the beach.

These pictures are from late May before school let out (for everyone else) - we had the beach entirely to ourselves.

The lake is pretty shallow, so the boys can touch bottom even out at the raft.

Toes were the only part of Molly I could get into the water at first, but now she crawls and waddles around in the water and sand like she's in the tub.

Luckily we have some shade trees, so Molly doesn't always have to squint.

We're Home!

2010-03-26T21:35:00.004-04:00

It's been a long haul, but we've finally returned to our home state. We sold our house December 30, drove to Minnesota that day (and the next two days...), arrived to celebrate a late Christmas with family, and searched for a new home. After living in temporary quarters (i.e. in-laws' homes) for two months, we moved in to our new place.

Our neighborhood is across the road from one of the many lakes around here and we have a little beach. Last week on a warm day we went out to explore. The kids were ecstatic to get out and to imagine all the great times we'll have here once that frozen lake thaws.

The boys braved the ice a little in mid-March. All the vehicles and ice houses were off already, but next year I'm sure we'll have fun on the lake even in the winter.

A cross-walk action shot.

The view from our back porch this week. The snow is nearly all gone now.

The inside view of our house is a little less serene, but the mountains of boxes are getting shorter every day.

Snuggling

2009-12-17T14:36:00.003-05:00

Somebody in our house loves warm laundry.

9 Month Molly

2009-12-12T14:53:00.003-05:00

Pun(s) of the Day

2009-12-10T18:59:00.003-05:00

Peter has become a linguaphile after my own heart (i.e. "nerd").

Two recent puns:

"If someone mistook Pippin for a woman, he would call him 'Miss Took'."

"A corridor is a hallway, right? Well, there's another kind of corridor. If there was a passage to the middle of the earth, we would call it a "core door".

Renaissance Festival

2009-12-06T19:18:00.005-05:00

Peter chose to do a birthday trip this year (instead of a party) and since his birthday coincides with Halloween, we took advantage of the Renaissance Festival's kids' free day in celebration of the 31st. There was much more to see than you can see from our few photos. My favorite show was the falconry demonstration at the end of the day, but I didn't get any shots of that because Molly finally objected to sitting in her stroller.

Jousting with plenty of bawdry humor, luckily over the kids' heads.

The boys got some target practice. I tried a shot too, but my poor form would have offended any true archer, I'm sure.

Molly somehow maintained her cheery demeanor with no nap despite all the craziness.

Grace was her skeptical self, clutching her treat bag and staring silently at the chaos.

Many of the booths gave out candy, a few of them reluctantly.

Is this a redneck halloween costume? His shirt reads, "Never Apologize for Being Right."

"Dad, can you make this for me?"

The World According to Grace

2009-12-06T19:05:00.003-05:00

Grace paused in the middle of drawing to hold up her pencil and explain to Molly, "This blue colored pencil is green."

The Carolina Way

2009-12-05T11:31:00.003-05:00

Two things you don't get with a free car wash here...

...at least they're upfront about it.

Quote of the Day

2009-11-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

Nate and I were riding in the front seat enjoying the rare quiet that follows a trip to the library when a fit of coughing interrupted the silence.

After a moment, Peter's voice croaked from the backseat, "My epiglottis failed!"

Have a Seat

2009-10-20T15:04:00.002-04:00

Despite my numerous and frequent recommendations for the sake of comfort and practicality, Alex still often finds himself in this position while doing math.

Not enough baby to go around

2009-10-18T16:44:00.001-04:00

Each big sister gets her turn to snuggle with Molly before bedtime.

The Sisters

2009-10-17T20:38:00.001-04:00

7 Month Molly

2009-10-17T10:41:00.003-04:00

(more like 7 1/2 months)

At 18 pounds (!) Molly is just as laid back and content as ever, except when she has a stuffy nose. She despises rice cereal, but is happy to eat fruits or veggies. She's starting to get around using the roll, wiggle, squirm and stretch method.

An Article on EE

2009-10-09T14:30:00.002-04:00

If you're interested, here's a laymen's article about eosinophilic esophagitis, which Peter was diagnosed with last August (2008).

Our treatment for him has been an elimination diet with occasional use of a corticosteriod (an asthma inahler which he swallows rather than inhales) to minimize inflammation.

Quote of the Day

2009-09-24T15:23:00.002-04:00

I finished reading a volume of Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry to the kids today. As I closed the book, I saw on the fly leaf that he died at the age of 44 and said:

"All the geniuses die early."

Peter said, "I hope YOU don't die early."

Apple Pickin' Time

2009-09-22T12:11:00.002-04:00

This weekend we took our yearly apple picking trip to Sky Top Orchard. On the way, we stopped at a drive-in hamburger place (Sonic). My cheeseburger was as big as Molly's head! You can see by her expression that Molly's getting her first tooth - she spends all her time feeling it with her tongue.

A photo for our northern family and friends. It looks like snow, but it's really a field of cotton.

As we neared our destination, we realized we hadn't picked the best day for strolling in an orchard: dense fog and pouring rain.

We happened to see some friends there and were able chat in the old-timey store area.

Some of us braved the weather for a few minutes.

Alex appreciated the display of local flora and fauna - especially the snakeskin.

This year we decided to get a 1/2 bushel of apples since last year the kids ate all the apples before I had a chance to make pie!

Quote of the Day

2009-09-21T14:18:00.002-04:00

I got my hair cut this weekend and Grace was enamored with my short hair the entire day.

She appeared in my room bright and early the next morning and, as I groggily sat up, she casually noted:

"Oh! You still have your haircut."

A New Sport

2009-09-17T18:48:00.002-04:00

This morning we had our first gymnastics class. Our local gym offers morning classes for homeschoolers at a very reasonable rate - and at a reduced rate for each successive kid (very good for us!). The pictures are terrible because I was shooting through a smudged plexiglass window from the parent viewing area.

Peter and Alex on the bars.

Peter satisfying his hunger for extremes - extreme height, in this case.

Alex frozen stiff in the middle of the rope.

Sara about to do a forward roll down the incline (...or is it decline?).

The boys doing a sort of obstacle course involving pommel horses.

I didn't get any good shots of Grace in the preschool class. On the way home, Peter said, "I can't tell you how much fun we had!"

Exoskeletons

2009-09-16T14:32:00.002-04:00

We often have a container or two like these sitting around in our house. It's the current season's collection of rocks, feathers, nuts, and creatures who are mere shells of their former selves. But recently, it became necessary to designate an "exoskeleton-bin-which-stays-in-the garage".

Alex takes it out now and then to admire his collection. The newest gem is the snakeskin.

He added that to the cicada exoskeletons, beetle, and expired butterfly.

"Hmmm...I think I'll put a beetle's head inside the snakeskin. That would be neat!"

Half Year Molly

2009-09-10T21:06:00.003-04:00

Hitching a ride with big brother Pete.

Enjoying the brisk weather (upper 70s).

"Ahhh. It feels so good to air out my neck."

Quote of the Day

2009-08-28T11:32:00.001-04:00

Alex calls out to me from the next room, where he's working on his math page. (He's starting to learn remainders.)

"Mom! What's half of 9? I'll figure out the other half."

Adventures in House Showing

2009-08-27T20:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, someone made an appointment to see our house at 10:30 this morning. The house was mostly clean before we went to bed, so I had very little to do this morning before I got myself and the kids out of the house.

We all tidied up after breakfast; I put Molly down for her morning nap; we settled on the couch to read stories (and keep the house clean).

At 10:15 I told the kids to get their shoes on and went upstairs to get Molly up from her nap. Lo and behold, she has performed an activity I've been waiting for for two days: there's a magnificent yellow spot on her back. Fortunately, her crib sheets are still clean since she's on her tummy.

The rest of story may remind you of "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back".

The saga:

1. Lay the changing pad on the floor, peel off the layers of immensely soiled garments, carefully use 50 wipes to clean from upper back to mid-thigh, pause for a minute to plan my next move, and then gingerly stack said soiled garments on the soiled changing pad and set it all next to the baby.

2. Open up a fresh, clean diaper, lift up baby and discover that I missed a spot and there has been a transfer to the carpet.

3. Slide baby over and scrub carpet with new wipe.

4. Get up and take dirty diaper and wipe to bathroom garbage. Tie up garbage bag and replace with a fresh bag.

5. Return to room, hand garbage bag to Peter and tell him to take it out. (More on this later).

6. Turn my attention back to baby, who has now rolled over and left a wet spot on the carpet.

7. Use new wipe to soak up wet spot and very quickly diaper and dress baby.

8. Stand up, gathering baby in one arm and carefully balancing the stack of soiled laundry in the other.

9. Notice that I need to open the blinds to make the room look bright and sunny for any potential buyers.

10. Lean forward (with hands still full) to open shades.

11. Step back and realize that there has been another transfer: there is a giant yellow streak along the wall next to the window.

12. Clean wall with yet another wipe.

13. Fast forward. All the kids are in the car and we're pulling out of the driveway. I look down and notice that Peter has put the dirty garbage next to the driver's seat.

To me, my life is just as exciting and much more realistic than an episode of 24.

Quote of the Day

2009-08-20T09:23:00.002-04:00

Grace came to me early this morning to complain.

"Alex was rude to me."

"Why, what did he do?"

"Him sticked out him's hand and hims tickled me."

Rolling and Rice Cereal

2009-08-19T16:15:00.002-04:00

You can't see it from your vantage point, but there was a crowd of children surrounding me as Molly was initiated into the world of regular people food. Well, rice cereal isn't exactly "regular" food, but it's a robust start.

Molly was so distracted by her audience that I'm not sure she was even aware that there were spoonfuls of tasteless, drippy mush being shoved in her mouth.

"What is that stuff?"

On the other news front, at 5 1/2 months, Molly has turned over twice (TWICE!) in her crib during naptime, much to her great frustration. At this rate, she is competitive with Alex for the most relaxed approach to baby milestones.

Flashback

2009-08-18T09:47:00.002-04:00

The girls were entertaining themselves with an old box of dolls and things from my childhood when they suddenly appeared wearing these stylin' outfits. I remember wearing the dress to school and I have pictures of me in both outfits.

Queen Molly

2009-08-07T18:18:00.002-04:00

You can see who gets the royal treatment around here. Good thing she's not very demanding. Every day I look at her and ask her why she never complains. She's keeping that a secret, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts (:

5 Month Molly

2009-08-06T16:01:00.001-04:00

How to Grow Beans in a Lego Bin

2009-07-30T09:10:00.002-04:00

Beans can grow anywhere. Here's one method we use at our house:

1. Play with a large bin of pinto beans, accidentally forgetting to keep all the beans "on the mat".
2. Beans distribute themselves into nooks and crannies around the house.
3. Make several boats out of Legos.
4. Test the boats in the bathroom sink.
5. Put the boats back in the Lego bin, transferring some "seawater" in the process.
6. Let fester.
7. Clean out Lego bin and harvest the sprouting beans from the watery bottom.

Superbaby!

2009-07-23T12:50:00.000-04:00

Silly kids

2009-07-23T10:42:00.002-04:00

I was on a pajama-making campaign earlier this year, and when I asked Sara to model her new pjs, things got a little silly. You can see the silliness just beginning in Sara's face here:

And it spread to the whole family...

Turkish Delight

2009-07-13T12:04:00.002-04:00

Nate has started a new bedtime story for the kids: "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." At the end of Chapter 3, Sara and Alex excitedly bounded off to find me and tell me what had happened.

The big news in this chapter is that, "Edmund ate the turkey of delight!"

[As a side note, I have to say that Turkish Delight is anything but delightful.]

Tweet Tweet

2009-07-09T08:58:00.003-04:00

Going to get the mail has been a bit of an adventure lately. A family of bluebirds has taken up residence in the newspaper portion of our mailbox. For a few weeks, every time I went to the mailbox, I was nearly hit in the face by a fleeing mother bluebird who would then squawk at me from a nearby tree.

Yesterday, we noticed that the little nest was filled with brown fluff and eyes. Alex discovered the new arrivals after he removed the piece of advertising mail that was blocking the entrance. I'm sure the poor mother was relieved.

4 Month Molly

2009-07-03T19:19:00.002-04:00

Counting 101

2009-06-29T19:03:00.003-04:00

A pizza-grease-covered Grace shows us how to count. I can't wait until she goes past five... or past 10.

Miracle Toast Post

2009-06-28T21:57:00.005-04:00

The following photos are not staged. (Otherwise this would not be worthy of a blog post. Of course, it may not be anyway.)

Nate heard his bedtime snack pop up, and was delighted to discover his toast waiting for him on top of the toaster.

If Nate hadn't eaten this acrobatic toast, I think we could've sold it on ebay.

Our family has a small collection of toast stories. One time, years ago, I heard my toast pop up, but when I went to retrieve it, no toast was to be found. I didn't find it until two years later when we moved.

Another time, the toast flew out and landed squarely on the waiting plate.

We'd love to hear your toast stories.

A Great Hot Summer Day Activity

2009-06-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

Transportation Museum

2009-06-27T20:53:00.004-04:00

We took a day trip for Alex's birthday (yeah, this was a while back) to the transportation museum. We took a train ride (actually we rode the train twice since it was free with our reciprocal membership with the WNCNC), rode the turntable and toured the exhibits of old cars, trains, planes, wagons, hot air balloons, etc.

Interesting view from the train window.

A dismal attempt at getting a nice picture of all five kids. Grace was not pleased that we wouldn't allow her to hold Molly.

Confessions

2009-06-24T20:04:00.002-04:00

During her bedtime heart-to-heart tonight, Grace revealed that it was indeed true that she had hurled her (ceramic) piggy bank at Sara's head last night because Sara refused to open it for her.

She also confessed that she's excited we're moving to the "castle house". Three year old minds aren't bothered by financial constraints, apparently. We toured the Biltmore House on Sunday for Father's Day (free admission for fathers and children). It's a lovely house with 43 bathrooms, a swimming pool in the basement, and 16th century Flemish tapestries.

However, we're simple people and will be looking for something a little more modest.

Back to the Motherland

2009-06-22T21:59:00.002-04:00

It's true. As soon as our house sells, we'll move back to Minnesota. Nate's job is transferring and, incidentally, so is mine.

We've loved it here, so it was a difficult decision, but there are many things we've missed back home and will be able to experience yet again. Such as:

1. Fresh banana cream pie from the ubiquitous family restaurant.
2. Proper vowel enunciation.
3. Minnesota nice.
4. Four discernable seasons. (After 6 years in the South, I still dress warm in September as if it will really cool down.)
5. Strangers never call you "sweetheart", "darling", or "honey" and they respect your large personal space.
6. Nine months of bitter cold, ice, snow, sleet and slush. (Just kidding).
7. Oh yeah...our families.

To our friends here: "We'll miss y'all."

Random pics

2009-06-22T21:35:00.003-04:00

We don't recommend sliding across the driveway on your face.

Molly really loves sitting in Peter's lap.

At 3 1/2 months, Molly has more than doubled her birth weight. Can you tell?

Sometimes Molly joins us for supper.

Sara and Grace help Molly play dollies. I don't think Molly's aware of her participation.

House For Sale

2009-06-15T20:43:00.003-04:00

It's official. As of today, our house is officially for sale. Come and get it.

Comparison

2009-06-15T16:41:00.002-04:00

I was having a little fun comparing baby versions 4.0 and 5.0. We didn't have a digital camera before Grace, so I'd have to actually scan photos of the others. I didnt' realize how much more hair Molly had than Grace.

Three Month Molly

2009-06-03T20:12:00.002-04:00

3 months already! We can't believe what a happy, content little thing she is.

She smiles a lot now, especially at her favorite . . . the ceiling fan.

Quote of the Day

2009-06-01T15:18:00.003-04:00

This quote comes from someone who spends her whole day with small kids. You may find it amusing or . . . sad.

I changed the sheets today and as I was putting on fresh pillowcases, I wondered, "Why do I keep using this holey, pilly, ratty old pillowcase when I have plenty of nice ones?" So I balled it up and took it to the garbage.

As I did so, I caught myself muttering, "This is going bye-bye."

Hair: Before and After

2009-05-28T13:16:00.002-04:00

It was painful, but had to be done eventually.

Grace had never had a haircut!

I stood the girls on a stool in the bathroom and went at it with my sewing scissors, brushed them off and stuck them in the tub.

Voila! In looking at the before and after pictures, I'm really glad I took the plunge. I think they look a lot better.

Each of them lost exactly 12 inches. Phew! Grace went around the rest of the day sucking the fingers on one hand (as usual) and feeling her hair with the other hand.

Cardinals and Loons

2009-05-26T16:52:00.002-04:00

We were distracted one morning during math by the frantic tweets of the baby cardinals in the nest outside our front window. We'd been observing this nest for a week or two and were waiting for the big event. It was great fun to watch the "daddy bird" and the "mommy bird" fly to the lawn, retrieve food, fly back, and place it in the tiny beaks sticking up just above the nest rim.

You can barely see the nest in this bush.

It's nice that male and female cardinals look so different that Grace was able to tell them apart and yell whenever one of them arrived at the nest.

For your OWN bird-on-nest viewing pleasure, you can visit the 2009 Live Loon Cam.

Zoo

2009-05-25T17:57:00.005-04:00

This being the third, and last, exciting installment of our "Our Tennessee Mountain Vacation".

It was a sweltering April day (in the 90s) when we stopped at the Knoxville Zoo on our journey home. Zoos always remind us that we don't belong below a certain latitude. The combination of vacation fatigue and wretched heat made for one sluggish bunch of people - except for Alex, who excitedly urged us to exhibit after exhibit.

We were well pleased that our membership to the Western North Carolina Nature Center got us in free. Tickets for our whole family would have cost more than the membership fee did.

The kids' area had a petting zoo, or rather, a "brushing zoo". Who doesn't want to brush a goat?

A Smile for You

2009-05-20T20:53:00.001-04:00

Never Alone

2009-05-20T12:03:00.002-04:00

Or you could say, "Never left in peace."

Molly has reached the stage of staring at and accidentally playing with toys.

Vacation, part 2

2009-05-19T10:32:00.004-04:00

...continued from Part 1 of our "Tennessee Mountain Vacation."

We gave Peter a horse ride for his birthday a while back, but hadn't found a good place to get one until now. Peter was the only kid old enough to ride, so he and Nate took the trail ride alone.

He looks so tiny on that horse.

Whoa! Fallin' off the saddle.

As expected, he was in seventh heaven.

And...some parting shots of the "unit" that was our home for a week.

1970s ambience.

Something I'd Never Thought to Google

2009-05-17T21:05:00.002-04:00

Last night we enjoyed our church Bible study class's annual spring luau. Joy, Molly and I went sporting coordinating Hawaiian-style outfits that Joy has been sewing this last week (sorry, no photos available yet), while the rest of the kids stayed home to play with friends.

One of the several competitions during the evening events was the Limbo. Justin out-limboed everyone (for the second year in a row) by clearing an impressive two feet five inches. But that got me thinking, just how impressive is 2'5"?

So when I got home, I Googled "limbo world record", something I had somehow never thought to search, and was rewarded with this happy surprise:

Justin's 2'5" performance is nearly a full 2 feet off the record.

Modern Art

2009-05-11T21:46:00.004-04:00

This is what we call "Form Over Function".

Thanks to Alex, we now have a piece in our bathroom that might be well-suited as a display in the public restrooms of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which famously features this:

Alex is happy with his efforts, but we have been getting some complaints from the others...

Oddly enough, the desire to create things out of empty toilet paper rolls must run in the blood. I once made an entire nativity scene out of rolls I'd collected. (This was a long time ago. Honest.)

Baby Pilates

2009-05-10T19:52:00.003-04:00

2 Month Molly

2009-05-08T16:15:00.002-04:00

Vacation, part 1

2009-05-03T20:36:00.008-04:00

Last week we spent 6 days in the Tennessee mountains at a very quiet little resort. A friend of ours had a time-share week he couldn't use and we bought it from him - it was an incredibly good deal.

Molly hung out on the lovely hotel bedspread while we unpacked. She's in between two dollies Grandma Kaye made for Sara and Grace.

Molly brought her own bed and slept very comfortably. I had to settle for bringing my own pillow.

We went swimming every day and had the pool mostly to ourselves.

Molly found swimming to be relaxing.

We bought the one week "family pass" for mini golf. A "family" to them was four people, ha ha ha, so we took turns. 18 holes takes long enough with four people anyway. We went golfing 3 times (actually 2 1/2 - the third time around, 9 holes was enough).

Molly really got into it.

Look at the tiny pink golf club! Sara thought the best part was choosing the ball color.

Woo-hoo! A hole in seven!

We were happy to find a playground situated near our unit. Alex finally made it across these bars, with much coaxing. He's not the daredevil his brother is.

Molly loves, loves, loves the outdoors.

Here's the daredevil I was talking about.

Heads and Feet

2009-04-17T10:50:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday, Alex!

2009-04-11T20:30:00.002-04:00

Alex turned a whopping 7 years old yesterday. I still can't believe it.

He's our smiley, artistic, detail-oriented, and fashion-forward one.

Happy Birthday, buddy!

He chose a birthday day-trip for his celebration this year. (Pictures to come.)

LOTR Poetry

2009-04-10T11:53:00.005-04:00

When Nate first read the Lord of the Ring series long ago, he (gasp!) would occasionally skip over the numerous (long and boring) poems and songs.

I, on the other hand, would occasionally re-read the numerous (clever and rhyming) poems and songs.

Now that Peter is reading the series for himself (he didn't want the fun to end after Nate finished reading the books to him and Alex), he has introduced a third approach to LOTR poetry and song: memorization.

He came to me the other day, took a deep breath, and recited this in lightning-speed fashion:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

So much for Wordsworth and Rossetti.

Whoa, Molly!

2009-04-08T14:35:00.003-04:00

Molly is already an overachiever.

At her one-month checkup, it was revealed that she was 11 pounds, a 3.5 pound gain since her 3-day-old checkup - that would be 50% of her body weight.

The doctor looked at her chart, flipped back to her previous chart, and said, "Whoa!"

That's good sustenance for long stretches of sleeping at night - 6 1/2 hours last night. Thanks, Molly!

One Month Molly

2009-04-03T19:22:00.005-04:00

First swing ride . . . er, nap.

Lounging in "duck chair" inherited from cousins.

All Things Minnesota

2009-03-26T20:13:00.004-04:00

Last Thursday, when my brother James was in town on spring break, we couldn't resist driving up to Greensboro to support the Minnesota Golden Gophers who were appearing in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005. They lost to Texas in the end, but made a game of it.

Today, James is back in our hometown, Moorhead, Minnesota, fighting the rising Red River. Thousands of volunteers in Moorhead, Fargo, and outlying communities have been sandbagging since early this week. Unfortunately, the forecast (and situation) keeps getting worse. The estimated crest was raised to 42, possibly 43 feet, just this afternoon. According to Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland at a press conference earlier today, "[W]e are going to start a 24 hour operation to get our dikes up to 43 feet." Raising a dike by one foot at the top starts with a widening of the base by at least two feet, and then working the way up. Since the press conference, mandatory evacuations of parts of Moorhead and Fargo have begun.

At 7pm the river passed the level of the infamous 1997 flood, and is expected to eclipse the record of 40.1 feet, set in 1897 (probably by midnight). Joy and I remember well the flood of '97, and the thousands of sandbags we helped to fill and then pile onto the dikes.

Sorry we can't be there to join in the fight this time around.

JAARS Day

2009-03-17T19:30:00.002-04:00

The weekend before last, Nathan and the kids visited Grandma and Grandpa in Waxhaw for JAARS Day, an activity-filled event put on for visitors. G & G are volunteering at JAARS for 3 months this year. Some good friends of ours from Virginia, Jim & Michele and little Luke, also came down to visit.

The guys got to take a ride in a jungle plane. Nathan remembers riding in one of these (an earlier version, I'm sure) in Papua New Guinea when he was 9 years old.

The girls kept their feet on the ground and enjoyed the park.

Sara tries to climb the ladder one-handed with her haul of goodies.

Couch: Before and After

2009-03-16T14:27:00.004-04:00

A while ago, some friends gave us this couch (fortunately along with a slipcover). It was comfortable, in good condition, and ugly. But we saw the potential...

Armed with a 40% off coupon, we went to Hobby Lobby for 8 yards of fabric. Nate did the unstapling and restapling and I stitched the seat cushion covers and a few of the couch pieces. We reupholstered a couch once before about 5 years ago, so experience probably sped the process up a bit. We also borrowed a powered staple gun. All in all, it took a week to do.

We had plenty of help.

The trick is to disassemble the fabric to see how it's been put together, and then put the new fabric on the same way.

Sara took this photo of Nate removing his 2,000th staple. She made the newbie photographer's error of getting one's own feet in the photo.

Baby Quotes

2009-03-08T10:44:00.002-04:00

When I got home from the hospital, Sara and Grace were introduced to the "traditional" method of babyfeeding. Their response: laughing their heads off.

Sara said: "There's milk in there? Ha ha ha!!! What's in the other one?"

Peter: "Her hands are even smaller than a hobbit's!"

Alex: "Yeah, she couldn't even hold a light-saber!"

I put Molly down to change her diaper and she started crying. Grace asked, "Why you make her cry?"

Grace is enamored with Molly's smallness and often says, "Her a precious baby." I'm glad the usurped-one is taking it all in stride (:

Mainly for the Grandparents

2009-03-04T13:10:00.004-05:00

Ok, so casual readers of the blog probably dropped off after the first post or two, but we continue because a) Molly is an outrageously darling baby, and b) Molly has relatives hundreds of miles away. Grandpa Tony called to say that, with the wireless computer speakers he has installed, grandma was pleasently surprised to hear vigorous finger-sucking sounds reverberating through the house (see video from previous post).

More Molly

2009-03-03T21:50:00.004-05:00

And Then There Were Five

2009-03-03T21:17:00.006-05:00

Molly Christine was born this afternoon at 1:40, weighed 7 lbs 10 0z, and measured 21 inches long.

Snow pics

2009-03-02T15:58:00.007-05:00

We got three inches of snow in the night and many things around town are closed. (snicker... snicker...)

The kids spent the entire morning outside with Dad, making "snowmans" and sledding.

One highlight of the day for Nate was harvesting carrots from our garden to use for the snowman noses.

"Need go potty, mommy."

Quote of the Day

2009-03-02T10:07:00.001-05:00

Peter: "Playing in the snow without Dad is only half the fun. When Dad plays with us in the snow: that's the whole fun."

It's Snowing!

2009-03-01T19:15:00.002-05:00

That's news in these parts.

Sara just informed me that: "our back porch is covered with hundreds of snow!"

Pronoun Osmosis?

2009-02-28T12:16:00.003-05:00

It doesn't surprise me that Grace learned to count (without my intervention) by listening to her siblings.

Sara surprised me today, though, by saying:

"Ok, here's an activity for you. Listen carefully: Alex went down the stairs."

Me: "Huh?"

Sara: "No. You're supposed to say: He went down the stairs."

She gave me about 20 more proper noun replacement exercises before concluding I'd done a good job.

Internet Shopping

2009-02-27T09:46:00.007-05:00

From bartering with salt tablets in a Phoenician seaside market, to trading with beads and beaver skins, to browsing the general store, to strolling indoor malls, to . . . shopping online! What next?

I'm glad for our modern option because, well, it's easier and more efficient. I did most of my Christmas shopping online this year. I don't think I'll ever buy shoes online, but a short while ago Nate and I bought something else we never thought we would: eyeglasses.

After reading a positive review on this blog about the Hong Kong store Optical 4 Less, I thought, "Why not give it a try?"

Nate entered the numbers from his most recent eye exam. I measured his pupular distance with a ruler (one of the weirder things I've done) and helped him choose two frames. He chose the lens-slimming option, which costs more. So in the end, each pair cost $60. And the shipping was free. After a few days we received a notice that, "Your glasses is shipped." A week or so later, our mailbox welcomed two perfect pairs of glasses.

Well...they would have been perfect if the optometrist had had better handwriting. We took the glasses in to be examined and the Sam's Club optometrist said the glasses were "spot on" according to the numbers we had input, which weren't quite what the prescription card said. Happily, he deciphered the card for us and Optical4Less (out of good will) gave us a discount on 2 more pairs of glasses. This time they were perfect.

In the end, we still paid far less than we would have for even one pair of glasses.

Little Mother

2009-02-26T08:06:00.000-05:00

Sara helps out with Grace's post-nap snuggle.

Happy Birthday, Sara!

2009-02-25T16:45:00.004-05:00

Sara turned 5 yesterday! Thus ends our spate of February birthdays.

The girls opened their gifts from Aunt L and Uncle D together: magnetic dress-up dolls. Grace made me take a picture of each new outfit. Notice that the dolls are pictures of Sara and Grace themselves. You can see better pictures here. Warning: if you suffer from craft related self-esteem issues, avoid this site.

Sara makes a dramatic presentation of her new watch from G&G Karen and Arne.

Sara models the cape I made her. Even though she saw this in a pattern magazine and asked for it, she was disappointed with the annoying ball fringe hanging in her face and the fact that there were no sleeves. She did, however, like the Hello Kitty ribbon. Ah, well.

Sara poses with her new doll napkins and tablecloths from G&G Kaye and Tony.

All the kids together. Someone thought she was being really funny.

Tattling

2009-02-24T16:04:00.002-05:00

The most recent "tale" comes from Sara:

"Mom! Alex was making a disgusting noise and he was tricking me that it was a frog. So can he stop?"

It's Confirmed

2009-02-19T09:57:00.002-05:00

My husband is crazy. He went to IKEA on opening day. And yes, it was nightmarishly busy.

Do You Miss Pluto?

2009-02-18T13:11:00.002-05:00

Pluto was discovered 79 years ago today. It was officially named on March 24, 1930.

Unfortunately, Pluto's glory ended in 2006 when it lost its status as a planet.

Grace's Birthday, part 2

2009-02-14T12:47:00.005-05:00

We had a little birthday party with the family and Nate's parents. We ate Grace's favorite food, jiaozi, followed by presents and cake.

The doll bathtub went to bed with her that night.

Mesmerized by the wand.

Still looking at the wand.

Modeling the fairy costume I made her.

Happy Birthday, Grace!

2009-02-12T12:02:00.002-05:00

Grace turned 3 on Sunday. I'll post party pictures later.

Front view.

Back view.

The sisters.

Grace at 3 months.

1 year.

2 years.

Quote of the Day

2009-02-02T08:55:00.002-05:00

Today's quote is neither clever nor funny...but it IS something I never thought I'd say:

"Don't draw on your cheese; eat it."

Question of the Day

2009-01-31T13:20:00.001-05:00

Alex asked this after gazing at the Mexican mural on the wall of Qdoba restaurant:

"Were the Israelites Mexican?"

Miss Fixit

2009-01-30T08:46:00.002-05:00

I wonder if Grace is taking after Daddy, who has the unusual (and useful) ability to fix anything.

One time Nate used a paper clip to fix an automatic car window which refused to raise and lower.

Does it make you want to find some old episodes of MacGyver to watch? Last year, Nate and I actually rented the first season of MacGyver - such fond memories. However, so many years later, the show seemed more goofy than intriguing.

Quote of the Day

2009-01-29T16:28:00.001-05:00

One of the little-known acts of Jesus while He was on earth, according to Alex:

"He healed the leopards."

Sara's Pterosaur

2009-01-29T16:17:00.002-05:00

We've just finished a unit on Pterosaurs, long-extinct flying creatures. Sara copied a photograph of a pterosaur fossil out of our zoology book and chose a random phrase from the text to copy at the top of the page - text which happens to say "designed to fly".

Being Silly

2009-01-28T15:58:00.002-05:00

Chocolate Chip Banana .... Bean? Muffins

2009-01-27T20:08:00.002-05:00

Five months ago, when we found out that Peter cannot eat any sort of grain (except rice) or grain-like plant or eggs or a dozen other things, Nate and I didn't really imagine that we'd come to a point where we didn't feel like we were losing our minds trying to cook for him.

Although traveling is difficult--because we must take a supply of homemade items with us and there are almost no eating-out options for him--home cooking has begun to approach normal. Albeit a new normal. The diet for the rest of us has changed a bit, since I try to avoid making 6 (as opposed to 3) meals every day. We eat a lot fewer baked goods and grains in general, which means we focus on vegetables, meat, dairy, beans, and fruit.

The muffins pictured above are a recent success. I quickly gave up trying to make "alternative" breads in loaf shape. The muffin shape holds together much better. For this recipe I used bean, tapioca and rice flour instead of wheat, an egg substitute, and corn-syrup free vanilla extract. I also added guar gum to hold it all together. Peter gave them two thumbs up.

Our Annual Snow Dusting

2009-01-25T19:22:00.005-05:00

Last week the kids were thrilled one morning to discover "all this snow" in our yard. We got far less than the forecast 3 inches. Every year we've lived here, we've had exactly one morning of snow. Last year it was a short-lived sleet. This year it was dry and fluffy.

It wasn't quite enough for sledding.

Peter tried to make snowballs, but the snow was too dry. Peter and Sara were VERY excited about the snow and ran around like banshees.

Sara tried making a snow angel.

This year, Sara was the one who fit our pair of kids' snow boots. Our kids' snow gear consists mostly of size 3T and 4T boys' items gathered when we were still in the Great North.

As I dug through our bin of winter clothes, I sighed over all the seldom-used items Nate and I have hauled around the country. Was it a sigh of sad reminiscence or of relief that I never have to wear my snowpants, boots, silk stockings, and faux-fur lined leather mittens anymore?

Rainboots worked just fine. Grace was pretty subdued about the whole experience. Subdued and perhaps a little stiff.

Alex wandered around the yard smiling like this. After a while it did occur to me that maybe he was too uncomfortable to do anything because of those much-too-small snowpants.

Our mailbox garden was still blooming.

"Look at all the snow on my hands, Mom!"

Most of the snow melted by noon. Maybe we'll do this again next year.

Historic Moment

2009-01-24T14:06:00.004-05:00

Four kids sitting still for a few moments to watch the inauguration. (Yes, it's true; this is our family TV viewing area.)

Treebeard

2009-01-21T18:38:00.005-05:00

The Lord of the Rings obsession continues... Here is Alex's rendering of Treebeard. You can see Merry and Pippin on the bottom right. Quickbeam, the "hasty one", is leaning over.

If you have no memories of these fellows, you're missing out. Go read the books, for pity's sake!

Get Your Grubby Paws...

2009-01-19T16:10:00.001-05:00

off my strawberries!

What were YOU doing at 4 o'clock in the morning?

2009-01-18T11:35:00.003-05:00

In our house, 5 of us were sleeping.

The 6th person, having finished "brushing" her teeth, was busily spreading toothpaste on the bathroom wall. A LOT of toothpaste.

[Groggily get up, turn off water, put kid back in bed.]

In the morning, Grace explained that she had been "cleaning the wall".

Two days later, the bathroom still smells minty.

I Like it When This Happens

2009-01-16T18:58:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day

2009-01-15T08:39:00.000-05:00

Alex: "Hair is a bunch of mustaches on your head."

Literary Obsession?

2009-01-15T08:35:00.004-05:00

Nate has been reading the boys the Lord of the Rings series. For the past several months, their play has been absolutely consumed by hobbits, dwarves, elves, and wars in Middle Earth. Yesterday I overheard them doing a "battle of three armies" with their Playmobil figures.

Here are Frodo and Gandalf on a journey. Alex (I mean Frodo) is a little stiff because he's wearing a large plastic breastplate under his clothes as a substitute for mithril. He looked extremely uncomfortable, but wore it until I made him take it off for bed.

Lefse Making

2009-01-12T12:13:00.003-05:00

Since we don't live in the Midwest, we have to make our own lefse. Last year Nate got a lefse griddle for his birthday, and this Christmas he put it to use for something other than huge batches of pancakes.

We had to laugh at one section of the recipe instructions:

Place 1/4 cup butter in a 1-cup measuring cup and add water to make 1-cup
measure.

It sounds like the beginning of a good Ole and Lena joke.

Further into his lefse-making project, Nate read aloud:

Form into balls, a little larger than golf ball size...

And here comes the strangest coincidence of the year: at that moment I happened to be passing through the kitchen with a golf ball in my hand. I had found it on the floor and was taking it to the garage.

Perfect!

Finished product.

Lefse can be eaten in a variety of ways, but we generally butter and sugar it and roll it up. Sometimes Nate uses it to wrap around leftovers.

When Nate and I stayed in Norway with relatives almost a decade ago, they served us reindeer stroganoff wrapped in lefse baked as you would bake enchiladas.

Nate's culinary and photography skills meet in a new art form.

It's a little disturbing . . .

2009-01-06T11:20:00.003-05:00

...when I offload the camera and find pictures like this:

This time it wasn't the kids. It was Nate documenting his handiwork: dinner!

Two More Quotes...

2009-01-05T15:42:00.003-05:00

to be filed in the "7-months-pregnant" category. Both of these occurred at recent Dr. visits.

Scene 1: I'm sitting in a chair trying to chug a large cup of horribly sweet orange liquid while the nurse hovers over her chart, awkwardly trying not to stare at me.

A few moments pass. I take very large mouthful and mentally prepare myself to swallow it, and she says, "If I had to drink that first thing in the morning, I'd throw it up." She's lucky I didn't spew all over her nice white shoes!

Scene 2: Dr. cheerfully enters the room and says, "30 weeks! You're 75% of the way there!"

I say, "Yeah, 2 more months."

She says, "I'm one of those people who likes to see the glass half full rather than half empty." ... and continues to explain the usefulness of that approach while I'm thinking, "Sure, it's easy for you to be so chipper..."

Quote of the Day

2008-12-30T14:44:00.002-05:00

I struggled to get my 7-month pregnant self off the floor and mumbled something about the effort involved in doing that.

Sara asked, "Why?"

I said, "Because my tummy is getting bigger and bigger."

Sara said, "Maybe you need to be carried . . . by 300 people."

Sleepy Photography

2008-12-18T19:26:00.004-05:00

Bernd Hagemann, a German transplant to China, has stumbled upon a unique and inspired photography niche: Chinese people napping in public.