Quick Takes

I'm beginning to despair of ever getting this family log updated.  I have three-- no, four drafts in the queue, waiting for me to make the time to finish editing them.  (the curse of being a perfectionist!  every word must be carefully weighed!  is there a better way to say that?  must proofread!  too wordy -- delete delete!)  (this is why I was always a better research paper writer than essay test taker.)

But stuff has been going on, and I don't want to forget about them before I finally have a chance to write about them.  I also want to prove to you all that we're not dead.


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Mr. Pickles and I went to see Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center this week.  To a 1:30 show.  On a Wednesday.  All the weekends were booked solid by the time we started looking at tickets.  A dear friend in our baby sitting co-op bent over backwards to watch all our kids so we could go.  The last time we saw Les Miz was before we were married -- Mr. Pickles took me to see it in DC and I was so impressed that he was willing to spend so much money on me!  The show was great -- the singing was A-MAZ-ING -- the staging was fairly simple but interesting -- the final scene was heart-wrenching and inspiring... and the sound was L.O.U.D.  I think everyone was miked, and they had the speakers set to "bleeding ears."  It was like watching a movie at the loud theater, only louder.  Our ears were ringing afterwards.  But we had awesome seats!  Orchestra level at the Kennedy Center is the way to go.  That's a tip, kids; write it down.

It was fun getting all dressed up in the middle of the day.  But then we had to pick the kids up and bring them home and change out of our lovely raiment to feed them... back to the humdrum.  After Mr. Pickles makes his first million I'm going to get season tickets. :)  (Sigh, I miss student prices for Pittsburgh shows!)

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My second-worst fears as a housewife have been realized: it seems that Mr.Pickles has a sensitivity to wheat.  (The worst fear is that we'll have lice. Or bedbugs. They're equally terrifying.)  Whenever he eats white flour, it makes him feel ill.  It's such a staple in my meal planning that I've been hard pressed to find alternatives for him.  I have to say, though, that it hasn't been as involved as I thought it would.  He pretty much takes care of his own breakfast and lunch each day (yes, I know, I am a neglectful wife).  And for dinner I've been making things with the wheat component separate.  For example tonight we had chicken and broccoli in white sauce over pasta -- but for Mr. Pickles I made rice (it was supposed to be rice pasta but the grocery delivery man forgot a bag on the truck, thanks a lot, PeaPod).  Last night it was fried sausage & potatoes (no wheat at all), and the night before it was chili with cornbread on the side.  Tomorrow we'll have bean soup with rolls on the side.  The only meals I won't be able to make are things like pot pies, a couple casserole dishes with biscuit dough baked on top (unless I separate a serving of the filling before adding the dough, which I have also done), or baked pasta.  So it's not the end of my career of cooking with simplicity.  But man, that gluten free stuff is going to break the bank.

All is not lost, however -- it turns out that he is only really sensitive to white flour.  Whole wheat doesn't seem to bother him.  I'll need to try to experiment with that white-wheat flour to see if I can make bread that doesn't weigh as much as a brick.

Oh, and he might have a parasite.  Fun times!

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In other food and budget-breaking news, we're already spending more on groceries b/c we're trying to eat real food type things and avoid stuff like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and nitrites.  It's not until you start reading labels that you realize how pervasive those things are.  Real food is hard to find, especially convenience foods.  However!  There is a good side -- we have found some really delicious things this way.  We found a brand of root beer that uses sugar instead of corn syrup, and oh, my, it's worth the $1 a bottle!  It tastes like real live actual Root Beer -- you know, like homemade soda made out of real sassafras and brewed in your best friend's basement, or something equally awesome.  And the only ice cream we've been able to find is, I think, Dreyers -- again, it tastes like Real Food.  This is the reason we try to make our own bread, and yogurt, and jam.  For one thing, you know exactly what you're putting into it.  And for another, once you've tasted homemade it's so hard to go back to store bought -- it just tastes fake after you've had the real thing.

The next step we're contemplating is getting a freezer chest so we can buy a half a hog, or a quarter of beef, or some other obscene amount of real meat from healthy animals that actually get to see the sun and walk on real ground and eat real food themselves.  There are several nearby organic farms out here -- a lot of our friends will split the costs for large amounts of meat, butter, eggs, and the like.  I'd even like to buy a share in a cow so we could get fresh milk, much to the horror of my mother.  But I've tasted some at friends' houses, and my oh my, it is SO good.  I'm just happy we're in a place now financially that we can consider all this.  Yes, it is harder trying to stick to a budget this way -- I have to sacrifice a lot of convenience foods and make more things from scratch to save money (although we can't seem to wean ourselves off of crackers for the kids -- there are some things I'm willing to let slide).  It takes time, but all in all the gain in health and flavor makes it worth it.  I think the smell of the house when I'm making bread is worth a million times the inconvenience!

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We've been shopping for new carpet for the basement.  I will be so happy when we get that living space back again.  I didn't realize just how much I had come to depend on it until I tried doing school all on one level.  It's so hard -- I can't do any reading with the girls unless at least one of the boys is asleep.  Otherwise the boys spend all their time running around and yelling at each other, because they don't have anything else to do (and it's fun).  They just get bored living in one room.  But when we were doing schoolwork in the basement, they had shelves of toys to keep them busy, and if one of the girls was getting distracted by them I could send her upstairs to the dining table for a few minutes to complete her assignment.  I'm hoping our days will run more smoothly when we have all our living spaces put back to rights.

Aside from providing a fully functional basement, the new carpet itself isn't too exciting -- it's pretty similar to what we had before.  What IS exciting is that we decided to go ahead and get new flooring in the dining room AND kitchen too!  I KNOW!  We are just crazy party animals here.  We had been talking about burni replacing the carpet in the dining room for several months now.  Who -- WHO! -- in their right mind puts beige carpet in a dining room??  (And who in their right mind lets their children -- especially babies in high chairs -- eat food in a dining room with beige carpet??)  So our carpet, formerly known as beige, was untouched by the steam cleaning I gave it... whenever ago it was that I cleaned it.  It had gotten to the point where I cringed every time one of the children lay down on it to play.  So, you get the picture -- it's time for it to go.  We are replacing the carpet and the kitchen sticky-onny tiles with wood, yay!  No, not the real kind -- the "composite material with a sticker," as the salesman calls laminate flooring.  But it should look pretty long enough for us to enjoy it and then move out and let the next owners deal with replacing it. :)  And look pretty it will!  I can't wait to have a floor that can (in theory) be cleaned after every meal.  At least, easily cleanable.  I have two sources of cheap labor now -- I think it's about time for Katie to be introduced to Mrs. Swiffer!

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Finally, costume season hath arrived!  The last couple days I've been sewing up a storm because, me being me, I waited until the last possible second to start working on the kids' costumes.  (Really.  I figured out -- subconsciously actually -- how much time I would need to sew the things I needed to sew, and started working on them when I knew I absolutely couldn't wait another minute or they wouldn't get done in time.)  Once again, I made the kids pick two-fers -- the costume they wanted had to work for both trick or treating and our homeschool group's  All Saints party.  Katie got around that by using last year's costume, with a couple amendments, to represent a new saint this year.  And Daniel is big enough that he could use Jojo's from last year.  But still, four children times two occasions means eight separate ensembles with accessories to think about, plan, and purchase!  Fortunately I still love all that stuff -- I just wish I had occasion to dress up too!  (Kids get all the fun. *pout*)  I'll save all the rest of the details for another post, when I have more pictures.

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So, you see?  Not dead.  Just handling life with lots of people, a few minor emergencies, and not quite enough energy to stay on top of everything!

Miriam's Holey Ears (more wedding)

So as I pointed out earlier, Miriam now has holes in her ears!  Edy's mom and I discussed the matter beforehand, and since both the girls had been begging for pierced ears for a while, we decided it would be super fun to surprise them with a joint trip to Claire's for Aunt Katie's wedding!

We arrived in Steubenville Thursday before the wedding, so the next morning I told Miriam what we had planned to do. She was SO jazzed! Another little cousin (secret code name "Little") who was going to be the flower girl, decided she wanted to join the party, too, so Friday morning we all met up at the mall. We were quite a group -- 3 girls, their moms, MY mom, and Aunt Carlin (my mom's sister-in-law)!

Miriam was the only brave soul who was willing to go first. :)

snuggling with the Claire bear, all excited and nervous!

"Little" was so brave -- she was only six, but she did really well, and held the tears in after the first punch. "No pirates!" Aunt Carlin said -- once you do one, you've got to go through with the other!

yay!  so sparkly!

The lady who did the piercing was wonderful. She lied through her teeth -- she told the girls she was using a numbing solution to wipe their ears (it was just alcohol), and then she would pretend to pinch their earlobes and ask if they could feel it. She even had me convinced -- until I saw her fake pinching, the cheater. Well, howsome'er it was, it certainly helped Miriam endure it. I'm still deciding whether or not to tell her. :)

Aunt Katie was privy to the secret, so for her gift to the girls at the rehearsal dinner she gave them sparkly jewelry -- including new earrings!

Six weeks later (to the day) we took out the studs and Miriam tried on every single pair of earrings she has.

Since then there has been daily drama involved with taking them out or putting them in (after all, she is a nine year old girl), including a scary brush with infection, but all in all she's enjoying her new bling, and we're trying not to regret letting her have them. :)

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

...it's usually because they're up to no good.  (at least in our family)

what?  I'm just here, yep, just the baby, being cute...

just gotta climb...  shoot!  she noticed!

uhh, nope, not climbing the table, nuh-uh, I was just--  uhh, stretching, yeah, that's it...

okay, now I'm only up here so I can look out the window, yeah, that's it...

what!?  how dare you malign my character!  I am insulted!  I am outraged!

...I need a nap.

Katie's Wedding

So! The big wedding! This was something we'd all been looking forward to for a while -- although as I said before, it seemed surreal. How is it that Katie and Stefan are old enough to get married? They're mere babes! (never mind the fact that they're barely a year younger than Mr. Pickles and I were when WE got married...)

It's a beautiful thing watching someone grow, and mature, and blossom into a person with integrity and a beautiful soul. I am 12 years older than Katie -- I remember the summer right before she was born, when her whole family flew out from Ohio to vacation in California. I remember Aunt Terri's bulging belly, full of the life that would become this beautiful woman.

Katie turned 6 soon after I arrived in her hometown as a college freshman. Her family gathered me in and loved me and made sure I didn't miss home too much.

this is the best picture I have of walking down the aisle -- the others from the wedding day were all blurry :(

I got to watch her grow through some fun years. I remember how cranky she was because she wouldn't take a nap on the car trip we took to Niagara falls my freshman year. A couple years later I attended her first Holy Communion. She asked me to be her sponsor for Confirmation. When I graduated she was 9. She was a junior bridesmaid in my wedding, and present when my first-born was baptized. We were there when she went to senior prom, and again for her high school graduation.

presentation of the icons -- a Ukrainian tradition

It wasn't until last summer, when she lived with us, that I got to know her as an adult. But I've been privileged to watch her grow from a little tyke with pigtails and who loved pwincesses, who endured the razzing of 3 older brothers (who I'm sure are gagging over most of this post, if they bother to read it at all) and regularly had her little feelings hurt, to someone who has grown into a sweet, understanding, capable and generous woman. I think she is much more mature and empathetic than I was 12 years ago. :)

astounded by Aunt Terri's traditional beautiful wedding embroidery (the one she made for us is still enthroned next to our front door!)

All this goes to say that I love her like the little sister I'd always wanted. So what a privilege it was to be able to share in one of the happiest and grace-filled days of her life!

leaving for the church!  they live just a few doors down from their parish -- Katie said she'd always dreamed of walking down the street to get married in her home parish!

Queen of the Day and her entourage

I can't tell what I love more about this -- Uncle Jim's tender kiss to his baby girl, or the look of unbridled joy on Stefan's face!

 Because Stefan comes from the Ukrainian Rite, there were many Ukrainian touches added to the wedding.  Katie is Roman Rite, so the Wedding Mass itself was western, but Katie and Stefan were basically married twice -- once with the Roman exchange of vows, and again with a Ukrainian priest marrying them in the eastern tradition.   As her brother Phil (who's been married 11 years) said, "Hey, I only feel half married!"

being crowned King and Queen (that's the gorgeous head of Nana in the foreground -- the materfamilias watching her youngest granddaughter getting married!)

The Ukrainian traditions added a lot of richness to the ceremony.  At one point half of the congregation (the Ukrainian side) :) began singing in Ukrainian a song of blessing for the newly married couple.  It was so touching!  It truly was just a beautiful wedding.

awwww...

What a great-looking family.  Good job, Aunt Terri and Uncle Jim!

Learning to use his manners

In baby sign language, "please" is touching your chest. "Thank you" is like blowing a kiss.

I think Daniel has the most enthusiastic "thank you" of all our kids. (Joseph used to say "please" by rubbing both hands over his belly with gusto)

September is for...

Picking apples!!

Yesterday (I KNOW!  I'm actually posting sooner than a month after the event!) we took a trip up to Maryland to pick apples.  Our favorite go-to pick-your-own orchard admitted that several busloads of school kids had cleaned them out last week, so they kindly directed us to another cute little orchard just down the road (which ended up being another 10 miles or so, but I digress).  They had tons of apples still on the trees.

they also had tons of wasps

Joseph has a holy terror of all flying insects.  He did not love being surrounded by bees.

he still managed to pick one or two -- Katie found a tree with lots of apple-laden branches at small person eye-level

Sadly, I do not have a picture of Katie at the orchard, because just I was about to snap one of her examining a grasshopper, one of the aforementioned pointy-ended winged insects took a vehement dislike to her left hand. :(  Much screaming ensued.  The ladies in the farm market very kindly prepared a bag of ice for her, but needless to say that cut our picking time short.

We still made out with about 18 lbs. worth of apples!  And of course, what do you do with 18 lbs. of apples?  (assuming you don't consume all of them immediately)

You make apple pie!  (Miriam is off to the left, merrily peeling apples for me.  Katie helped too.  It was really a collective effort!)

Miriam did the lettering. :)  and yes, the crust is messy.  I don't aspire to perfect pie crust.  it tastes awesome regardless of how it looks!

Once again, I SO wish our blog had smell-o-vision.  It was heavenly while this was in the oven! 

Next stop, apple butter!

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

So, the word on the basement: the water only soaked part of the carpet, which Mr. Pickles was able to rip up and throw out before it got moldy, hooray.  (God bless the man -- he was up until 3am the night we returned from vacation, and he worked every day at it until it was all OUT.)  So we have half a basement (enough to watch movies and build train tracks -- really, what more do we need?).  We're still not entirely sure why only certain parts got wet -- why only along one wall?  Why the carpet, but not the subfloor?  Why the subfloor, but not the carpet?  Why the bathroom?  Why the utility room next to the washer, but not right next to the sump pump?  Our best guess is that the lousy back door which most likely wasn't properly installed (thanks, Lowe's!) let in enough water to seep slowly across parts of the room.  It was all very weird, but fortunately, not terrible.

speaking of terrible, WHO found a tissue and ripped it to shreds?

Of course, the downside is that the insurance won't cover it, since we can't absolutely pinpoint it to a failure of the sump pump to handle the water draining into the back stair well.  So we have to recarpet our entire downstairs on our own dime.  But we're thinking of doing the floor in the dining room as well, since that floor covering formerly known as "beige carpet" needs to go post-haste.  What's another couple thousand more or less, right?  So all in all, we've been trying to see this as an opportunity!  I've been wanting to de-clutter and reorganize the downstairs ANYway, so there you are!

hahaaa!  you'll never catch me!

The biggest hitch is that I was planning on doing our school work down there, where all the toys are, so that the boys would be occupied while I worked with the girls, instead of tormenting each other and making lots of noise and generally being disruptive, as they are now.  Joseph in particular is going through a pesky stage (again -- we just got over one!) so I think losing his best play space has been the hardest on him.  And OF COURSE it's been raining a lot so we can't go outside to burn off energy much. The days that we do have sun I declare a half day and we stay outside as long as we can.  (Sigh, I miss that California sunshine.)

he likes to pause here and look through at us -- one of the fun aspects of having see-through split stairs

But!  We make do, I've cleaned a lot, the living spaces are more livable, and I've organized all my sewing and crafting stuff, which desperately needed doing.  See, opportunity!  So after I finished with the main tidying, I've been focusing on school planning, including the Charlotte Mason co-op we're a part of, as well as getting back to knitting.  Got some big, big plans!  Who knows if I'll ever finish them before I retire. :)  Miriam has been plugging steadily away at her blue striped purse -- the other day I had to ask her how to do a purl stitch b/c it had been so long!  We have lots of ideas for Christmas presents this year.

almost there!

I've also discovered the joy of Ravelry.com (which explains why all my computer time has NOT been spent on blogging, as it should have). :)  I plan on going to an honest to goodness yarn shop tomorrow to shop for sweaters for the boys.  I plan on making the Baby Surprise Jacket, which looks so fun to make!  I felt inspired by Elizabeth Foss's blog -- she made me feel that if she could do it, I could do.  I'm really enjoying knitting -- I have a hard time sitting still and resting, which I really need to do more of.  But sitting with my feet up and still being able to be productive, I can embrace!  I find my mind wandering all sorts of places while I knit (that is, when the children are all contained some place where they can't get in trouble, like in bed, asleep).  It can be a very meditative time.

I made it!

Well, speaking of blogging, I've got a half-finished post from Katie's wedding that I've been trying to put up for almost a month.  I've also got several sets of pictures I want to share -- I would have more but I swear our camera has legs and runs away and hides just when I want it! 

later!  places to go, things to destroy, havoc to wreak...

I really want to make this blog a more interesting place for you to visit.  I'm trying to be a better manager of my time so I can do that.  It's always a four-ring circus around here, but I find that I always have time for things that are priorities (like Sudoku). :)

Please feel free to start whining if you think it's been too long since I've posted....  (Joe, I'm sure you can help me out with this, right?)  I do better when I'm held accountable to someone. :)

(Don't) Carry Me Back To Old Virginny

Last week:

This week:

Because nothing says "welcome home from your happy west coast vacation" better than a soggy basement!

We don't have it nearly as bad as some others in the area -- but that also means that we're going to have to wait a long time until restoration companies can get to us.  Ug.  So now you know why it will be really quiet here for a while.  Happy vacation pictures will have to wait while I attempt to restore some order to the chaos formerly known as our living room.  A little prayer for peace and strength and clear-headedness would be much appreciated.

{phfr}, wedding edition!

{pretty}

note the sparkly ears!!

{happy}

the new Mr. and Mrs.!

{funny}

Daniel vs. lemon (at the rehearsal dinner)

{real}

a budding mathematician exploring binary (i.e., in/out, open/closed) :)

Visit more {phfr}!

(Seems to have been a good weekend for weddings!) :)

The Great Western Trek, part the last (finally!)

So, I know you've all forgotten about our Big Trip back in May, BUT, being the meticulous person I am, I can't in good conscience write about current things (like, oh, I don't know, WEDDINGS) until I've finished up with past things.

So we left off still in Minnesooota.   Our next stop was a longer visit with Uncle Dave & Aunt Katie in Chicago.

Katies and bunny!

Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate too well.  We were able to make it to the Lincoln Park Zoo, however.

mmm, sneakers and denim skirt -- SOOO "homeschooling mom"

I guess we wore Joseph out.

too tired even to finish his Teddy Grahams!

Because of the rain we spent a lot of time inside doing puzzles.

Moxie the cat helped

I realized afterwards that we had brought backpacks full of activities for the kids... which were left out in the car and which no one (meaning me) thought to fetch in the rain.  So Uncle Dave & Aunt Katie got to experience what it's like keeping children entertained, or at least out of trouble, inside all day. :)  However, it WAS Memorial Day weekend, which, as any racefan knows, means THE INDIANAPOLIS 500!!  So watching a bunch of funny-looking cars go zooming around and around a track over and over kept the kids occupied for a couple hours.  Joseph was FASCINATED.  The race ending was pretty spectacular, too.  Poor J.R. Hildebrand.

Finally, the last day we were there, the sun broke out, so we took our traditional walk down to the awesome park.

hooray for sunshine!

Dave got a chance, once again, to practice keeping small children alive.

yes, those ARE bunny ears.

Katie knows a willing slave when she sees one...

It was a lovely visit, and we're so grateful for their willingness to put up with us for so long! :)  I highly recommend staying with them whenever you're in Chicago.  Katie is an excellent cook.

After Chicago we made our way to Sandusky, Ohio, to stay in what we told the children was "a hotel."  What we didn't tell them until we pulled into the parking lot was that it wasn't just ANY old hotel, it was a GREAT WOLF LODGE!!  We are now officially the COOLEST parents EVER!!

For the uninitiated (or just those who still have money in their wallets), it's a giant hotel with a water park in the middle.

...a water park with a giant bucket that dumps something like 500 gallons of water every 10 minutes

Since we arrived right after the holiday weekend, there was hardly anyone else there.  There were almost no waits for the slides, so we were able to stage races.

the inner tube with more, ahem, ballast, wins!

Daniel was a WILD MAN.  It was like the biggest bathtub he'd ever seen in his life!

he's trying to figure out how to climb up to the baby water slide

Jo-jo had a great time -- so many slides just his size!

Of course, half the fun of the hotel was the cub's cabin in the room with BUNKBEDS!

wild animals not included

We spent just one night there, and then headed back to our beloved Steubenville family, who graciously hosted us even though THEY had just returned from vacation themselves!  But as Rachel said, "Hey, you guys are family, you don't count as houseguests!"  I know the frenzied feeling I sometimes get preparing for houseguests, so I'm always glad when someone HASN'T bent over backwards to host us. :)

We had such a lovely time, as always!  With all our kids, whenever we get together now it's an automatic party!

pool party!

look at this bathing beauty!

the "baby" pool

splashing action shot!

I'm all wet!  and loving it!

Libby and Daniel play so nicely together

...when they're not stealing toys from each other, that is

After 2 fun days in Steubenville it was time to wend our weary way home (with a quick stop at Eat N Park to bring back smiley face cookies for a family whose oldest daughter is an incoming freshman).  It wasn't too hard saying goodbye because we knew we'd see everyone again in a couple more months for THE WEDDING!

We always try to stop in places with play towers so the kids can climb and stretch their legs.  We found a new favorite place right near Cheat Lake -- much better than the stinky BK at Frostburg -- with a little slide just right for little tykes!

with help from Sis

and Sissie!

We were happy to be home at last, and ESPECIALLY happy that home was still standing!


The next day we rounded up our pets, learning in the process that one member of the family who watched our rabbit discovered that she is deathly allergic to rabbits... halfway through our trip!  God love them.  I don't think the squeaky cheese from Wisconsin quite made up for it. :) 

Many thanks and blessings to all generous friends and family members, who made this trip even possible!

THE END!