Rest in Oregon

We went for awhile to collect our ourselves. It is so easy to do when away. We just got back yesterday. It was such a lovely time. I have only played with a couple of shots. I didn't get nearly as many photos as I thought I would. It seems that I was just soaking in the trees.

We each did what we needed. The kids played until they could play no more. Peter read and felt peace. I spent a great deal of time day dreaming and feeling joyful. What a blessing this vacation has been!

Some pictures from last week

The boys went with Peter to work while I was a crazy person (actually cleaning!) this week. They were supposed to be doing school work, but instead they learned about engineering.

Samuel watched while his brothers went up in the front loader. There are pictures of them all the way up helping secure part of the new greenhouse. I didn't put them on here because grandmothers of various generations read here and I don't want to give them heart palpitations.

Esther fell asleep on the floor near her bed because, while being crazy cleaning lady, I forgot to give her a nap. But it was cute so I forgave myself and went to get a camera to take a picture.

Laundry, ugh!

I dislike laundry! I wish there were a way to dress my kids without having to fold laundry. That is really the part that I dislike. I don't mind any of the other parts. Weird, right? I am trying to be thankful/grateful for the things I have instead of focusing of the negative. So, I am thankful that my kids are able to have more than one change of clothes. Maybe if I hold onto that I will be joyful while doing the folding. I may even watch a little TV. Our laundry couch is right next to the TV so it makes it quite easy to let my mind turn to mush.

Snow Pictures

It took me awhile to get these pictures done and put up. These are from our first snow about a month ago. It was a wet snow so we were able to make snowmen!

Cooking music

I have found that even though I do enjoy cooking, I end up inside alone while the other members of my family go outside to play with Peter. I often succomb to frozen things so that I don't have to be inside while they are having fun outside. The days that I listen to music while making dinner I end up making elaborate dishes and really enjoy the time alone. It may be sad that it has taken me TEN years to figure this out, but I'm going to look at the bright side that I did figure it out. Lately I have been listening to Mandisa. Which is pretty amazing since I have never watched American Idol. Not once, ever. Now that we don't have TV that isn't likely to change.

Today I listened to my music while making dough for pizza. And even though I forgot to get out the stand mixer before mixing ingredients(which means in Ruth's kitchen, no mixer), I still enjoyed my tricep workout while kneading the dough. It helps me immeasurably to have music on. I am going to be making the marinara after I hit publish. I'm thinking about a little Jonny Lang. Interesting tidbit, he's a Christian. (Sidenote:Why is his music never on the "Christian" radio stations? Or Mandisa for that matter?) His music is good for stirring and chopping.

And having music on always keeps my prefectionism at bay. I think that I may be enjoying myself too much to get too stressed out about not having coriander. Or cumin. I am ALWAYS out. Except for right now, I actually thought ahead and have cumin to spare. Not coriander. I don't think I've ever had coriander. But cardmom works just as well, at least when I'm carefree in the kitchen.

I wonder do you, valued friends, listen to music while cooking? Or is this just another way I'm weird? Wait-- don't answer that one, let me figure that one out.

County Fair

On Friday we decided to go to the county fair. We had a good time and the boys all had fun on the rides. We didn't go see the animals which some may seem as though it were beside the point.

Sam got a bit scared by the roller coaster. Micah, as you can see, had a great time on the roller coaster.

Sam loved the bumper cars and wanted to drive the bumper cars several times.

Then Peter and the kids watched the alligator wrestlers while I went by the merchant booths. They got a picture with a baby alligator after the show.

Abraham had fun on one last ride before home. I didn't take any pictures of the food. There was a ton, but the best was grilled pork tenderloin Terry from church made and didn't sell. Lesson learned.

Homeschooling

So we started school a couple of weeks ago. I haven't had the umph to take pictures, even if the camera was here. But it isn't because Daddy has to use to bring home the bacon. So the pictures will have to wait. I guess you all will live. BUT if you can't let me know and will take some pictures STAT with my handy-dandy phone.

Anywho, things have been going okay. I am not at all organized as far as planning our time within the day. I wonder if I should have an overall plan. At this point we hit the books and stop when we've hit all the subjects. We haven't started science yet, but I am going to incorporate that next week. So it will be history on Monday and Wednesday, then science on Tuesday and Thursday. With Friday afternoon off field trips, or playing. Right now the kids are playing, no field trip this week.

Yesterday we went to the library because the kids WANTED to go. Isn't that wonderful? I was happy enough with the request to go on a whim. I was more than a little disappointed with the selection again, but I need to keep in mind that we have lived in college towns until now. So in short, I done got over it. Hello interslice will you take my money? Okay, then we can have copies of kids versions of Gilgamesh, the Odyssey and the Iliad. I will have to use them for Esther anyway. But Abraham found other "fun" reading books. Micah found some books on foxes. We couldn't find any on polar bears. We were trying to find out what regions polar bears live in. Is it only North America? We may go see if B&N has any good polar bear books. And Samuel discovered Wishbone. And Esther cried because she can't read.

Next week I will try to think about having a schedule, but I am not going to have my mouth make promises my brain can't deliver.

Boise

So over Memorial Day weekend we went to Boise, well kinda.  We planted watermelons on Monday,  and by we I included myself this time.  I helped Peter do the planting--in the greenhouse.  But onto fun, we did this a little anniversery present to ourselves and made a family weekend of it.  I only took pictures of one day because as I mentioned our camera is broken and were using Micah's.  He hadn't recharged his battery and there were a ton thrown away to boot.  

But we had a lot of fun!  On Saturday we went to Cracker Barrel and then headed to the Discovery Center.  The interactive items were mostly about kinetic energy.  The boys enjoyed manipulating all the displays.

This is not your typical arcade grab the toy game.  It was an actual robotic arm with shoulder and elbow joints included.  Micah did much better than I did.  Who's surprised?  No raised hands, hmm.
This was, umm--I can't remember, but I did have to pull him away from it.
Esther's favorite item.  She was learning about being even cuter, oh wait-- no, it was reflections.
Abraham learning about centrifugal force.
Esther spending more time being cute.  When I shot this I thought, "What if there really were four of her?"  Mommy would be in big trouble!
If you look closely you can see the bubble that Samuel is blowing.  The kids really liked this one.
Then we stopped by some friends' house.  They moved to Boise in December.  They are all really happy there.  It was nice to see how settled and happy they are, as well as getting a chance to visit.

Then we checked into our hotel and went to Red Robin for dinner.  It was a hit with everyone!  

I didn't get any pictures from Sunday(the battery problem), but it was mostly shopping and swimming.  We got some Krispy Kremes before we left Boise.  It was nice to get some real donuts, but they aren't as good as Dunkin'.

Raised veggie beds

We recently made some raised beds for veggies in our backyard.  Okay, it was really Peter.  I think the idea of me with a power tool terrifies him, but he was nice and said that it was my job to make sure Esther didn't get in the way.  If you want a how to and wonderful, helpful pictures go the Pioneer Woman's page on building your own raised beds.  If you want to laugh and not really be informed stay here.

Okay step one in our version is be Dutch.  Go ask business landlord for some really old wood from a building that he is tearing down.  You didn't have to buy any wood, what a good Dutch person you are!  Next completely forget to take pictures of the pile of really old wood.  Isn't that easy.  Okay, now that we are this far let's jump to laying out the wood for where you might want it to go.  

As you can see we decided to put ours in the corner.  And I made sure to get a toy and some trash in the picture to make sure you know this is our yard and I didn't sneak into someone else's yard and pretend that we are industrious.  Peter put the drill in to show he was going to be part of the project.

You can see here the pitfalls of being Dutch.  You get wood with jagged edges and have to make your bed smaller than you may have wished.  But the wood won't warp, it's been prewarped for you.  Now comes the tricky part, you have to leave it there for and get carried away with real life.  I know it's hard, but in order for this to work you have to coach soccer and make money to eat.  There have to be Easter egg hunts.
Now that your week of doing other things has gone by you can get back to work.  Make one bed without your wife even noticing, aren't you awesome now!  Next call her outside to show her the ripping apart of a door from the torn down building.  

Doing work stealthy can make for disjointed pictures, but we aren't professionals so it doesn't matter.  Next your wife has to forget that she is supposed to keep taking pictures and goes inside to make dinner.  Next thing you know have built two beds and there aren't any more pictures of work being done.  It can make you seem like magic.  You sure are awesome now! 

Now add soil that you get from the same landlord for free again.  

Now the raised beds are ready for veggie seeds.  And you have a very appreciative wife.

I have learned alot from this little adventure.  I really appreciate what Peter does around the house.  And I also learned that I have to take more pictures and they have to be closer to the work being done.  Oh, and I need to keep the yard picked up better.  Peter was a full cooperater in this and no Dutchmen were harmed in the making.

Easter

Living Lovely with Family-Special Times

Our favorite time of the year is summer.  We spend more time outside and doing fun things.  It's also when special treats are most likely to happen!  

The boys go to soccer camp and have fun being crazy with friends.  The last day they get to have their faces painted by Mom!  Last year was flags, so we decided on flags from the state where they were born.  

They play baseball and have fun learning about teamwork.  I LOVE baseball, so it's fun to get to watch some with my favorite players!

Sometimes we go for ice cream from an actual ice cream store.   The boys love the variety and cones.  

We go to an airshow.  Too bad there isn't a picture of Daddy looking at the planes.  He's the one who taught the family to love planes.

Since we live far from family we enjoy the special treat of spending time with them when they are in town for special occasions like Thanksgiving.

Heidi at Mt. Hope Chronicles is continuing her series on Living Lovely with Family.  I am so glad to have this as a chance to look our life, to remember and realize what fun we have together.  Hop on by her page and see what others are saying, it's truly inspiring and fun to get a peak into others lovely.

Daily Family Life

Heidi at Mt. Hope Chronicles is having a series about living lovely with family.  Today is about our daily lives.  The last couple of months I have been trying to live with intention.  Before now I never would have thought about the time spent with my family.  We don't have many wonderful, brand new traditions, but we do eat dinner together nightly and read the Bible at the table once we are done.  The boys usually ask for more than one story to be read.  That makes me feel as though we are making an impression on them.  For awhile our attention was diverted to other things, but Peter and I have recently been having discussions about how to have more intention filled relationships with the kids.   

Some Fun

Yeah!

So the mechanic called Peter today to let him know that we will be getting a NEW transmission.  Hallelujah!! Isn't that wonderful?!  The Yukon is still under extended warranty and we will only have to pay a very small deductable to have it completely replaced.  They wanted to try and rebuild it, but that would have cost them too much money.  It was cheaper just to completely replace the entire thing.  The wiring was bad and didn't let us know there were problems so it got completely destroyed.  The mechanic would have had to replace all the parts save the casing.  The Lord really protected us on this.  We would not have had the ability to replace it otherwise.  Yeah for extended warranties!!

Will I ever learn?

So it's 8pm here and my kids haven't eaten!  Yes, I know I'm a bad, bad mommy.  There are extenuating circumstances.  One is that I couldn't go shopping for food until 6pm because we were down to one car today.  Our Yukon is having a tizzy and decided that the transmission had to go.  So we are waiting while her tempermental self gets a new one and can be driven again.  Tomorrow I will have a vehicle so dinner won't be so late, maybe.  

Back to the dinner lateness.  We went shopping late.  I knew that I wanted to try a new recipe, chicken tetrazinni.  I had chicken left over from chicken soup and there's only so many sandwiches I can make myself eat.  I usually try to have all my chopped things chopped and minced before I turn any appliance on.  I'm just not that good to chop and watch things, especially in a new recipe, at the same time.  So Peter stood in as a sous chef.  Talk about different styles!  He's bucket chemistry, I'm precise.  Sometimes I will tamper with the amounts, but only if I have made the dish before and have a pretty good idea about the taste ratios.  

So the dinner turned out okay.  Not enough flavor, but that's because of differing styles by the cookers.  If there had been less chicken and linguini then it might have tasted better.  Oh, well.  Now I have learned to do it myself.  I should have made this tomorrow and had sandwiches for dinner.  I guess you live and learn.  Now if I could just learn a bit more often.

The ridiculous law has been made useful

So the CPSIA law that got my feathers all a fluff has been suspended, kinda.  What the commission has decided to do is to not enforce the law with anyone making items out of natural materials.  I knew natural was better.  LOVE COTTON!  I am pleased to see that our system of government has worked, at least for now.  

I really wanted to buy things online, but I didn't.  I have a hard time actually buying things online, sometimes even in stores.  I'm odd like that.  So it took me two months to actually buy a carseat cover for Esther.  But I finally did.  I love it.  She loves it.  She spent time yesterday just playing in her carseat while it was inside getting it's makeover.  

I got it on etsy.  The seller, Lollipop designs, emailed a few days before she sent it out.  It was a great experience.  I am so happy to have a girl cover for a carseat we bought for Samuel.  And the picture does not have a tungsten glow.  The cover has a yellow background.  I will definately be using etsy again.  Mainly since I don't know how to sew dresses yet.  

Other exciting news

Now that Peter is home we have decided to let people know some other news.  No, we are not having another child!  We have decided to homeschool the kids next year.  Exciting, right?!  I know it will be tons of work and I am going to get a huge I told you so from various people, but I can deal with it.  And plenty of questions like are you crazy and the like, but I'm up for those too.

Samuel and Micah are excited.  Abraham is aprehensive, mostly about not having as much socializing available to him everyday--all day.  It will be a challenge, but I am looking forward to spending more time with the boys and getting to see them learn.  We decided to use The Well Trained Mind model of classical education.  I am also excited to learn along with the kids.  There many things I didn't learn over the course of my public education and my unfortunately shortened, unfinished college education.  One day I'll go back, college was fun!  We are not in this to get our kids ahead of schedule or keep them completely protected from the world.  For awhile I thought about afterschooling, but by the time the kids got home they didn't want to sit still any longer and needed the time to get outside and play. 

Right now I am trying to decide on curriculum.  It's hard because there is so much good and interesting stuff out there.  I am currently trying to figure out language arts.  I think that science will be just as hard to decide on because that is the main subject the kids will want to do. 

So if you want to tell me I'm crazy, that's fine, but it won't change my mind.

Bad juju, and some who cares

So I went to Target yesterday morning.  I was being a good wifey, not spending needlessly.  I had to get essentials and cheap birthday gifts for kids for the year.  Once a year they put the extra Christmas toys on super-extreme clearance.  There were a ton of us crowded trying to get some good deals.  I noticed a group loading up a ton of stuff into mulitple carts.  I stuck my big nose where it didn't belong and asked who they were to others around me.  Apparently they do this every year.  This group buys the stuff on clearance at Target and then sells it for full price on ebay.  So I guess that's the way capitolism works, but I won't be buying anything from those guys.  Why would I pay full price when I could get it, theoretically, cheaper at my local Target?  So I'm just not gonna buy stuff on ebay from people around here, well toys at least.  

I am pleased to announce that Peter should be home next Tuesday.  Or maybe it will be Wednesday, it depends on what time he leaves Germany and if everything is on time.  I am looking forward to him being home.  The kids are too, though Samuel did ask if Peter was moving for two years.  

On an unrelated note, I found out today that doing some socialization in the morning followed by hanging with my girls (Esther and Reveille) makes me a much happier mommy.  I really didn't need much, just talking to Samuel's teacher for 3 minutes did it for me.  Interesting, huh?

The tiredest I've ever been

Okay maybe not.  But I sure am close.  I suppose it was when Micah was 8 months old and had not slept through the night yet.  If anybody saw my eyes, or rather the gigantic, black bags under my eyes they would be horrified. 

Peter is in the Middle East right now.  He is on his way to Lebanon as I write this.  He left Turkey about an hour ago.  The boys definitely miss him, but I miss him more.  I hope he stays safe, but according to him he should be safe.  Why, you ask?  Well, because he is with Manfred.  Somehow the bombs will be bouncing off Manfred.   I am underwhelmed with the decision of them to give money to Lebanon just by going there.  

Anyway, Peter will be home in about two weeks.  We are managing just fine.  Though I am REALLY looking forward to this weekend.  I will be able to sleep when needed.  Having Peter gone with a baby is a lot harder here.  In Oregon I had the indoor park to go to.  It just helped to be able to go somewhere, talk mom talk and kinda veg where the baby was safe.  Esther is into everything all the time, which is normal but quite hard when exhausted.  The most surprising part so far was when someone asked when my mom was coming to help.  I was actually mature and said "she's busy with her own life, we will be okay on our own."  I love my mom and would love to have her here, but I don't expect her to come bail me out.  

It's been interesting to see how the boys have reacted to Peter being gone.  They have been doing role playing with Abraham being the dad.  Samuel has related Peter's being gone to his best friend's absence from school.  Esther hasn't noticed that much, but she hasn't learned permanence completely yet.  Reveille really misses Peter, but that isn't surprising is it?

Happy New Year!

We haven't done a ton yet this year seeing that it has just started, but we did institute a new family practice.  We are going to start reading at the dinner table.  Our kids take forever to finish their meals.  Peter reads a bible story and then I read a story.  I read some of the Jungle Book this evening.  I will continue reading this until it is done.  I haven't made an entire list for the year for family reading, but I have started making a list for myself.  I have started Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for now.  This year I am starting out small.  I want to complete 20 books.  Stating this for all to see I hope will help me to keep to it.  I need to do make a goal for family reading.  I want it to be reasonable so I don't get discouraged.  I guess 10 books would be reasonable.  Now I just need to figure out what all they should be.  Both Peter and I like the idea of reading classics.  And I would like to add some poetry into the mix.  

I am bravely going to take on reading The Closing of the American Mind, but I have been warned that it may take more than a year to complete.  I also would love to read some more C.S. Lewis, and not the fiction.  I also want to finish Celebration of Discipline.  That's about as far as I have gotten.  I should put some real thought into this.

I suppose I have just made a resolution, it seems more hopeful, not as much like a sentence as resolutions tend to be.  If anybody has any ideas I would love to hear them.