Oooohhh... shineyyy...

Well, we didn't finish the basement this weekend as we had planned -- we spent Saturday getting this instead:

A new set of wheels!

Yup, we're officially boring and uncool parents. We traded in our chic and sexy little silver mini-ut (must... contain... laughter...) for a grocery getter. However, it is a brand spankin' NEW 3.8-liter V6 with 244 horsepower, 5-speed Sportmatic transmission, ABS, ESC, TSC, ABC, XYZ, 6 airbags, LATCH, power second-row windows, back-seat MOMSPY (TM) mirror, defrost in the rear SIDE windows (you know, the ones that are always foggy b/c the A/C never reaches them), rear seat climate control, stow-and-go back seat, and about 30,000 cupholders Kia Sedona grocery getter.

We likesss it.

It has lots of other nifty little perks, like a sunglasses pocket, infinitely adjustible climate control, thousands of storage pockets and compartments all over the place, hooks for purse and for trash bags, two sliding doors (not power, though, sigh -- but Miriam can open and close them herself), and tinted windows, not the mention the 10,000 mi./10-year warranty. It's VERY roomy. Even Mrs. Pickles' family ought to have enough leg room when they come to visit. :) The only thing I wish it had is the option to move the two middle seats (which are captain's chairs) next to each other -- something you could do in the Toyota. We happen to be blessed with two children who actually get along with each other, so separating their carseats in the CRV was actually a threat to get them to behave. But now they won't be able to hold hands when they fall asleep in the car anymore. :(

Well, now I need to learn how to park all over again, make wide turns (I've hit so many curbs already), and not peel out when I accelerate (6 cylinders go vroom vroom!).

And, most importantly, it's a pretty color.

*sniff*

Katie seems to be well on her way to weaning. *sniff* Our baby's growing up! It's not by her choice, though -- she still wants to nurse before naptimes & bedtimes, but Mean Ol' Mommy (TM) refuses, and for a very good reason. It's like she's forgotten how to nurse, or else she's teething, but either way it's gotten VERY uncomfortable for me -- she's been leaving toothmarks. So, all done nums! After some initial fussing at being refused, she will settle down and accept conciliatory snuggles at bedtime instead. She's almost two (*sniff*) so some might argue that it's about time -- but I know I'm going to miss that close connection time with her at the end of the day. *sniff* A similar thing happened with Miriam -- instead of weaning according to the calendar I waited until the point where I just wanted her OFF me. It's not fun sitting still and trying to relax when you've got the willies.
But still.... *sniff*

Say What? II

Miriam: "Daddy, could you get the red headband for me? It's on top of Mommy's wedgies!"
[translation: wedgies = scrunchies in Miriamese]

I am not Supermom

What I did yesterday:

Washed three loads of laundry, including diapers.
Made three loaves of bread.
Went to the fabric store.
Read Bible stories to Miriam.
Washed lots of dishes.
Made roast chicken for dinner.
Made dinner for a friend who just had a baby.
Reprocessed a jar of apple butter.

(What I did Sunday afternoon, after I had finally found the local farmer's market!)

You think I'd feel some sense of accomplishment after all that. But instead, at the end of the day I felt disappointed b/c what I wanted to do was all the above plus:
Do more schoolwork with Miriam.
Mop the kitchen floor (which is in a sorry state after two hours of apple butter burbling on the stove).
Clean the bathrooms.
Wash three more loads of laundry.
Vacuum.
Clean off the dining room table.
Play the piano.

I couldn't let go of the things I had wanted to do and focus on the things I had actually done. I'm not sure why, but I think it's related to a feeling of failure if I can't stay on top of all the work that needs to be done to keep a family running smoothly. It's like I'm not qualified for my position if I can't keep a clean house, take care of myself, and raise my children well all at the same time.
I felt better after a cup of hot chocolate and several handfuls of chocolate chips. :)
I also remembered that during the newborn days, I considered it a major accomplishment if I could do ONE non-baby-related thing per day. Whoa, what a multi-tasker! I think it would be easier if I had older children to help out with the housework. A friend of mine once called this stage of life "baby bootcamp" -- it's a very intense stage where I feel like it's me vs. encroaching chaos every day. Soon enough I'll have a couple allies in the struggle (I already have a part-time one in my wonderful husband who vacuums and washes dishes and folds laundry when he's home), but for now I need to learn to live with an imperfectly kept house so I can focus on what's really important --

my daughters.

My Response to a Culture Consigning Itself to Perdition

Reading buddies. (I love coming upon scenes like this!)

Cute and a half. (posing in their new fall duds)

Sleeping beauties.
This was taken on a particularly rough day. I could not WAIT until this moment -- when both girls were OUT of my hair so I could have a few moments' peace! And then, when they were lying there together, so peaceful and innocent, I fell in love with them all over again. It's a good thing kids are so cute (especially when they're asleep) -- every once in a while those warm fuzzy maternal feelings need a jump start.

----------

Some spoken gems:

Miriam loves "Spinge Bob." She watched an episode at one of the car dealerships we visited, and still laughs whenever she recalls how Spinge Bob got stuck in his chair. So far that's the only detail about the episode we've been able to get out of her.

Miriam also loves "Boy Music" by which she means one of a CD set of kid songs with a picture of a boy on it. She doesn't like Girl Music as much as Boy Music, though, unfortunately for those of us who maxed out on "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" at about the 100th hearing of it. One day after she had requested Boy Music and I had refused to comply (yes, I'm a mean mother) she said, "You'll get tired if you listen to too much Boy Music -- your head will KASPLODE!"
A-men.

Katie is learning her manners rather well. Whenever we give her something, like a sippy cup, she'll say, "Oh, thankyoumuch!" It's all one word, just like that.

Katie's grasp of English grammar is rather tentative. I think that even though her vocabulary has advanced for the most part to Modern English, her grammar is still stuck in Ancient Rome. The position of the words in her sentences seem to be based on emphasis -- she'll say things like "Cheese eat Key all!" by which she means Katie ate all the cheese -- "cheese" being the most important word in the phrase, and therefore appearing first. I have to admit her use of grammar is very creative however -- although she tends not to use variations of the verb "to be", she does use "are" and "is" very precisely: as in "Sis are?" ("where is Sis?") "A-ha, is!" ("There she is!") It is SO fun watching a little person grapple with learning a language!

Some recently heard Katish:
tricky-doo -- "tricky to do"
more lef -- the last little bit left in her sippy cup that she wants me to remove the cover so she can finish
scuze you -- "excuse me"; used whenever she burps at the dinner table, or when she wants me to move out of her way
Meem -- "Miriam"
Maman -- "Madeline"

This is how Katie counts:
one, tyoo, fwee, four, five, thikth, then, eet, nine, ten, weven, four, five!

Katie has an amazing memory. She may turn out to be an auditory learner like her big sis. The other day we were saying morning prayers which consists of a child's morning offering, a simple consecration to Mary, the prayer to one's Guardian Angel, and our family litany of saints. I had noticed that Katie has been making the Sign of the Cross with us, but I was amazed to hear her recite all the prayers! Granted, it was mostly garbled Katish, but it was obvious she knew all the prayers by heart. Katie can also recite "Little Monkeys" (complete with hand motions):
Monkeys jumping bed. Fell off, bump head! Docker said, no mo monkeys jumping bed!
Next stop, Shakespeare, or pi to 1000 digits!

And lest Miriam be overshadowed by so much brilliance from her younger sister, Miriam's biggest accomplishment lately has been her growing competence in kneading bread. Like most young children she loves "helping" in the kitchen, so for homeschooling yesterday (which was heavy on the home ec) she helped me make bread. I wish I had the patience of Mr. Pickles to let her help me more than I do, but I did let her mix the dry ingredients (that I had measured), stir in the wet ingredients, add cups of flour, and do some of the mixing until her little arms gave out. Then I let her knead it until she got tired while I washed the dishes. She did fairly well -- got her own little rhythm down. (Kneading is actually my favorite part of making bread -- it's so soothing. I can't help but wonder why I don't do it more often than every couple weeks!) Pretty soon she'll be able to milk the cow and make butter all by herself too! :)

Show me a culture that hates chastity...

...and I'll show you a culture that hates children.



Idea hat tip to Mark Shea. I followed his links to other blogs about this, and some of the comments left on one were just unbelievable in their hatred -- they thought the ad was funny!! What a sick society we live in.

It got me thinking though, and pitying the people who hate the idea of having children. It reminded me of my childhood pastor, good old Fr. McHugh, and his sermons about the Four Last Things. Briefly, Heaven is an eternity saying "Thou" and Hell is an eternity saying "Me". Those who prepared themselves for heaven consistently tried to love and serve others, while those who prepared themselves for hell consistently thought only of themselves. If the greatest happiness is a life lived in loving service to others (and who knows this better than a parent?), then people who are willingly closing themselves off to loving relationships, because it might inconvenience them, are already living in Hell. What a horrific thing. I mean, what do you say to someone who is otherwise a very nice, friendly person, but who says "I'm NEVER having children and I'm going to take birth control as long as it takes to prevent it"?

Kind of put an abrupt end to my little pity party, and got me thinking about how I could love and serve my family more cheerfully, instead of giving martyr lessons.

What we did this weekend

Well, it doesn't really matter WHAT we did -- the important thing is that we FORGOT THE CAMERA! URRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!! And this after reminding myself several times to bring it. Well, I guess you'll all just have to use your imaginations.

So... imagine us:
getting lost in a giant cornfield maze;
watching a cannon shoot pumpkins across a field;
sliding on burlap sacks down a giant slide between haybales;
jumping in a barn full of hay (and Katie falling down and getting covered w/it);
eating caramel apples;
the girls bouncing in a bouncy house (Katie hating it and Miriam loving it);
the girls riding pedal tractors (Katie getting bored and preferring the tractor-shaped slide while Miriam has trouble figuring out the steering);
picking raspberries;
and finally, the piece de resistance, Miriam riding all by herself (unless you count the 20 other shrieking kids) in a giant pumpkin pulled by 4 white mice (with help from a tractor).

We went to the annual fall festival at a local farm, Butler's Orchard. At first I thought the admission price ($9 ea.) was a little steep, but when we finally got there and realized how much stuff they actually HAD, I thought it was downright reasonable! Aside from all of the above, they had a live bluegrass band, a petting zoo, hayrides to the pumpkin patch, crafts, face painting, and all kinds of things for the kids to play on. We could easily have spent the whole day there.

Aside from forgetting the camera, the other bummer of the day was that the apple crop was finished. :( So no fresh-picked apples for apple butter this year. :( And we didn't have enough time to pick enough raspberries for jam. (We DID manage to get enough for some yummy ice cream topping, though.)

All in all, though, it was a very fun afternoon. Miriam is still reliving the pumpkin ride. That was the highlight of her life, I think.

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10)

Lately I've been suffering from mild anxiety attacks, for varying reasons, like this, and this, and this, and this. I'm also trying to stay on top of homeschooling, finish fixing up the basement, clean the house more than once a month, and buy a new car. I'm still having some female problems from the miscarriage (it looks like I'm going to need a D&C), plus I haven't been sleeping well either. So I guess you could say I've got a lot on my plate right now.

So the other day when I was feeling particularly panicky (mostly about not being able to protect my children from an all-powerful nanny state), at breakfast I opened my Bible for my daily Psalm reading, and saw this:

Psalm 12
Plea for Help in Evil Times

1Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly;
the faithful have disappeared from humankind.
2They utter lies to each other;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
4those who say, ‘With our tongues we will prevail;
our lips are our own—who is our master?’

5‘Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
I will now rise up,’ says the Lord;
‘I will place them in the safety for which they long.’
6The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.

7You, O Lord, will protect us;
you will guard us from this generation for ever.
8On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among humankind.


I also find myself often praying the verse in this post's title. These are frightening times to try to be raising a family.

The difference between boys and girls

Katie was very excited when we got a trick-or-treating pumpkin for her from Target today. When we got home, she carried it around for a while, putting different things in it. Then, being thick in the little mommy stage, decided it needed more special treatment.


Here she is shushing it to get it to go to sleep:

"Sshhh, baby punkin..."

Now, if she had been a boy, most likely the pumpkin would have been treated like a soccer ball and kicked around, instead of babied and pushed around in a stroller.

Just an observation.

Fairy Princess in a diaper

Mr. Pickles & I were upstairs talking and Katie walked into our room looking like this:

I think the shades really make the outfit, don't you?

Say What?

Out of the mouths of Miriams:

"Mommy, will you be my toilet paper?"
[by which, of course, she means toilet paper holder]

~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. P: Hey Miriam, Mrs. Adele had her baby!
Miriam: Ah! She did?! ...How did she push the baby out?
Mrs. P, confused: Ummmm, well, what do you think? [classic parental stalling answer]
Miriam: Did she push it out the hole in the middle?
Mrs. P, thinking this a perfect opportunity for a little sex ed.: Yes, and what it that called?
Miriam, thinking: Ummmm, Eucharist?
Mr. and Mrs. P: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Scene: driving in the car.
Miriam: Ooh, Mommy, look, a convertible!!! [suddenly very quiet and thoughtful] How do you get a convertible?
Mrs. P: Well, you go to a car store, and you give them a LOT of money, and they give you a new convertible.
Miriam, again thoughtful; then: Daddy says he has a lot of money in the bank!!
Mrs. P: Ha ha, not that much.

We love Ikea.

Mr. Pickles found this at our local Ikea this morning:


I thought those of you who know me well would get a kick out of the name.

They are VERY tasty, too. Those Swedes know how to bake!

Whoever said money can't buy happiness...

...never bought a Winnie-the-Pooh umbrella for a four-year-old.

St. Francis Festival

This past weekend we visited the ol' Alma Mater (and accompanying families) for a fun weekend of partying, Medieval-style! :) Because it's a Franciscan School, they throw a big shindig every fall around St. Francis' feastday. This was the occasion for Miriam's medieval princess dress.

The girls were angels on the trip. They did a fair amount of this:

What, don't you like to fall asleep chewing on a gumby mouse?

I packed the car with snacks, books, and toys, plus we kept driving past fields with cows, so they stayed well entertained for the 6 hour trip. We also stopped halfway at our now traditional stopping-place, a Burger King with a playplace! Woo hoo!

We got lots of good family time. Miriam and Edy attached at the hip the instant they saw each other. We had to surgically separate them before we left.

Two beautiful princesses.

The festival itself was quite fun -- or at least, it would have been if it hadn't been drizzling the whole time. Various Households had booths set up with food, games, crafts, knick-knacks, all kinds of stuff. They even had games like "Kiss the Leper and Earn a Plenary Indulgence" and "Baptize the Heathen with a Water Balloon". Only at Steubenville!

There was even a petting zoo set up on campus, with teeny-bopper owners hovering about protectively. Miriam promptly dropped her guinea pig. Then Katie tried to grab one and it started squeaking. So we left.

I swear this is not painted on.

Later she did better with a kitten.

Painted ladies.

The highlight of the day:

Pony rides!!! Both Edy and Miriam sat very well on their horses. I thought it was cute that Edy kept trying to hold the reins and steer the horse. She knew EXACTLY what to do.

When we got too cold and soggy we went inside the student center for the living chess game. I wish I had gotten some good pictures -- I learned halfway through the game that it was Middle Earth vs. Narnia. Some of the costumes were very clever. One of the black rooks was a guy dressed as the wardrobe: he wore a big piece of cardboard with doors painted on it, and did battle with coat hangers. The other black rook was Mr. Tumnus, wearing what looked like a furry rug and carrying an umbrella. He also had ears that I'm guessing were made out of paper towels tubes. The black king was Professor Digory, played by... one of the professors! When he did battle he read out of a huge book that he carried, then whapped his opponent with it. It's good to see that the professor who taught me Greek & Roman Mythology hasn't lost his comic edge. On the side of Middle Earth, there were quite a number of elves (with bandaids for flesh-colored pointed ears) and hobbits. My favorite, however, was one of the rooks:

Barad-Dur. (At first I thought it was a rocket ship!)

After the game was over, the White Witch of Narnia gave Miriam her crown and scepter, which of course she shared with Edy.

Best friends forever!


Whenever we return from vacation, one of the things I like about unpacking is still smelling the place were we visited on our clothes. While unpacking Miriam's suitcase I held up her pajamas and told her to sniff. She inhaled deeply, smiled, and said, "Mmmmm, it smells all Haroldy!"

In case you were wondering who REALLY wears the pants in the family.

Indian Summer

We've been enjoying some lo-ver-ly weather lately, and spending all the time we can soaking up the warm sunshine! Today for homeschooling we had lots of recess. :) During this photo shoot this afternoon, I sat on our front steps and sipped a cup of tea while the girls ran back and forth.

Taking Dolly for a walk.

Katie demonstrating the proper use of a scooter. (she rarely sits on it -- she learned she can go faster by pushing!) This picture was taken milliseconds before Miriam crashed into the scooter and Katie shrieked.

Katie always waves bye-bye before she leaves.

A Slice of Pickles Life

Most of the time when Katie wakes up from her afternoon nap, she quietly creeps downstairs and says cheerfully, "Hi, Mommy!" Today, however, is not one of those days. She has been whining ever since she woke up. I pulled her into my lap to help her "hatch"while I work on the computer. She continued whining for a bit, then suddenly I realized she was unusually quiet. Looking down I saw she was taking off her socks. This accomplished, she smiled and transformed into her usually cheerful self.

Happiness is...


"yaked" feet!


Epilogue:

Katie [handing me her socks]: Eego. ("here you go")
Me: Does having free toes make you feel better?
Katie: *bellllllch* Mmmmmmm! [snuggling into me]