4 in the Basket

Vacation and other adventures

2009-07-23T13:53:55Z

I am feeling like a negligent pet owner. Not only did we lose Mika a couple weeks ago, we found our middle cat, Vito, very very ill a week ago from this past Sunday. Of course, there are no vets open in town on Sunday. We knew there was something wrong when we found Vito under our travel trailer, howling and drooling thick mucus from his mouth. He could barely walk at that point, and by later in the evening was totally paralyzed. Our best guess is that he ate something poisonous. Needless to say, he didn't make it and is buried next to Mika in the backyard. Who would have guessed that we would lose two cats in two weeks. It's been strange having only Katie to love on.

We were able to head up north last week and spent five days relaxing at a campground in Christmas. The weather was in the low 70's during the day, and it rained almost every night, but we were able to spend some time in the Big Lake and do some waterfall exploration. We have a great book of Michigan waterfalls and ended up doing some backwoods hiking to Memorial Falls, which is off the tourist route. After an interesting switchback hike down into a deep (remember, deep is a relative term in the midwest) gorge, the girls spent some time exploring fantastic sandstone caves and having fun going behind the falls. The falls are only about 3 feet wide, but descend from such a height that they seem impressive -- especially to kids under 10.

After our stay in Christmas we headed over to Marquette for the Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival. This year we had friends who saved us "a space" and we ended up forming a compound with their trailer and the trailer of a neighboring festival goer that kept most of the night noise to a minimum. Or perhaps the economy prevented people from buying too much beer? This year's performers were a nice mix of blues, folk, zydeco and, of all things, accordian. The biggest treat was the donut shop that ended up being included in the food vendors. I thought I had gone to heaven with the warm, fresh mini-donuts straight out of the fryer and dipped in chocolate. Wow.

Our trip back home took almost 9 hours, only because we stopped a couple of times. Lakenenland is a free sculpture park created by Tom Lakenen on M-28 between Marquette and Munising. Our walk around the sculptures took almost an hour, and was thoroughly enjoyable. I can't say I agreed with all of Tom's political statements (in fact, we are probably on the opposite end of the spectrum, politically), but I was blown away by his skills as an artist.

RIP Mika-Moo

2009-07-02T16:08:22Z

Our 17+ year old cat was euthanized last night. It was such a tough decision. She didn't seem to be in pain or suffering, but it was so hard to watch her health fail. She had lost weight and muscle mass to the point of being only 4 pounds, she was drinking way too much water (a sign of kidney failure and/or diabetes) and missing the litter box (along with having accidents in inappropriate places downstairs). We got Mika from the Humane Society in Milwaukee, in the spring of 1996. She had had a litter of kittens, who were all adopted out, 8 weeks before we got her and she was as skinny as a rail. I wish I could find the picture we took of her when we got her home on the first day. Her eyes look haunted.

Once we got her home she quickly regained her health and ended up being a fantastically intelligent and curious cat. She was so incredibly kind and patient and loyal. We joked, during her time with us, that she was actually part dog. She would come when you whistled for her, would take walks with us -- to the point where we had to put her inside when we walked because she would follow us for miles down the road, would beg in the kitchen for her favorites - - tuna, chicken, turkey.

Most importantly, she was great with the kids. She "survived" three girls who loved her intensely. It didn't matter if they carried her around, gave her a "furcut" (which did happen) or snuggled with her under the covers in bed. She patiently put up with all of it, even though she probably didn't like everything they did to her.

I know it's probably not in line with our Church's theology, but I do believe God has a special place prepared for pets who have died. I believe we'll see Mika again. How could it not be possible? Love is love, whether from a pet or a person.

Last night in the rain we buried her in our backyard, under the tiger lilies that are just coming into bloom, with special pictures the girls drew of her. And she's covered piles of flowers the girls picked from the catalpa tree that soars over her grave. I hope she knows how much she was loved by all of us.

One more in the family

2009-06-16T15:41:49Z

Well, I need to change my blog name somehow. We now have 4 in the basket. Camille was born near the end of March, four weeks past her original due date, and three weeks past her "revised" due date. Labor was 7 hours, pushing was about 10 minutes and our beautiful new daughter, who weighed 10 lbs, 1 oz and measured in at 22 inches or so, was born into the world. It's hard to believe she's almost three months old already. Her sisters absolutely adore her, and she is one laid-back baby. As long as she's fed, her diaper is dry and she's not tired, she is happy.

What else is new? Not much. Keith is working 4 10's during the week with every Friday off. The long weekends are nice, but the long hours during the week are not. I'm adjusting, as are the girls. Now that school is out we have more flexibility as far as staying up later in the evening and the girls can sleep in the next day. Last night was in the low 70's and sunny so we went out for a walk before bed to enjoy the weather.

I'm back to working from home part time doing Web posting and database stuff. The work situation has been good so far, as long as I focus on limiting my hours. I could be working 40 hours a week, if I wanted. No thanks. We "hired" Alina to be a mother's helper this summer. She is 10 now and is pretty responsible for her age. While I'm working she's able to change Camille, get her sisters breakfast, keep an eye on them up at the local school playground and get them lunch. By that time I'm logging off from the computer, and she can be "off-duty." It's a pretty good deal for us both - -she gets $1.50 hour ($30/week) and is getting some experience watching kids, and I have someone who can keep an eye on Elise and Nadia while I work. Alina figured out early on, when we first started talking about paying her, that she would have a chunk of change to call her own by the end of the summer. It will be interesting to see what she spends it on.

We have a couple of camping trips planned for this summer, noteably a trip to Kingston Lake and Hiawatha Music Fest in July, then we head up to the Leelanau Penninsula the weekend after Haiwatha to camp with some good friends of ours. We'll probably go to Wagner Lake in August sometime, as well.

Alina, Elise and Nadia head to nature center day camp after we get back from our camping trips. Alina gets to go on a two-night overnight for the first time, as well as kayaking and lots of hiking. Hopefully next year she'll be able to move up to a trip to South Manitou Island for four nights/five days. Elise is just doing regular day camp, as is Nadia.

We put in a patio made out of recycled patio bricks that came from behind my mom and dad's place. These bricks have really been around: they were out in back of my parents' place for about 20 years, came over to our place as part of our front walk, and have now been moved to the back patio. It's just the right size for our picnic table and we've been enjoying our dinner outside every night now that weather is finally nicer. Now all we need is a sun canopy, as our oak tree only shades so much when the sun is angled low.

Winter update

2009-01-22T16:15:10Z

I know it's the middle of winter, not because of the piles of snow in the parking lots or the deer desperate for something to eat, but because Nadia has been begging to go camping. She sees our trailer in the backyard and wonders when it is we can use it again. Me too. How to explain to a girl of almost four that it has to be warmer before we can go anywhere. I tried talking Keith into a quick trip down to South Carolina before the baby is born, but he looked at me like I was crazy. Hmmmm. I'm just glad we can head up north this summer. I missed our trips to the U.P.

I'm officially 34 weeks (out of 40+) into the pregnancy and have been moving pretty slowly. It's a good thing I'm not very sensitive about what people say to me. I've had more than one person approach me in the past week, inquiring "Are you always this big during pregnancy?" or "When are you due? It's got to be soon!" It's not like I don't know I'm big. I'll be lucky if the coat I've been borrowing from Keith still fits me in another couple of weeks.

The girls have been having fun feeling (and seeing) the baby kick and roll in my belly, so there are some benefits being large.

Keith is brewing a batch of beer tomorrow, and is looking forward to drinking it after the baby is born! (Me too.) Not like I'm going to be drinking much, but a nice glass of beer sounds SO good. I'm weak, I'll admit it.

Our family

2009-01-20T15:01:17Z

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

Made it!

2009-01-01T16:53:35Z

Elise and Nadia made it until 9:30 last night, Alina until 11:30 (we think -- she was downstairs reading). My mom stayed to watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars with us (better movie than I thought it would be, although it took a while to get into it), then Keith and I spent the rest of the evening by ourselves watching Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Matthew Fox, etc. (didn't get it the first time around? Don't worry, they make sure you see it on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time). I made it until midnight! Gave and received a very *nice* New Year's kiss to and from Keith, then promptly went to sleep.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T20:16:51Z

While Keith wrestles with the dishwasher (which Elise kinda did a job on when she accidentally fell on the open door), I'll try and pretend he's not swearing in his head and write this update.

Christmas was a low-stress, family-filled event. Went to Christmas Mass on the Eve, then spent all Christmas Day hanging out until our family gathering that night. Adults in our family don't "do" gifts, so I was surprised when my mom handed me a largish, soft package. My brother got one, too, and as we both opened them we realized what they were. Ever since my dad passed away over four years ago, Mom has been hanging on to Dad's flannel shirts, shirt-jacks, t-shirts, ties, jackets, bandanas, etc. Instead of giving them to Goodwill, she tracked down a woman who made the pieces of cloth into two quilts. Talk about an emotional Christmas. It's funny to think that pieces of cloth could bring back so many memories, but I can remember each and every shirt on that quilt as something he wore. I can even remember how the fabric felt on my face when I hugged him. In the middle of the quilt is the center panel of a t-shirt I had given him many years ago, that he wore and wore. On it is a graphic of a fisherman in front of a full tacklebox, and above the graphic it says, "So many lures, so little time." The funny thing is that the guy in the graphic bears an eerie resemblance to my dad. The other great thing about the quilt is that Mom had two pictures put on the back, one of my dad and I at my wedding and one of my dad, brother and I after one of our squirrel hunting expeditions when I was 12 or so. I keep forgetting that I'm a redneck at heart. :-)

Keith and I both have work off until the 5th, so we've been spending the past week relaxing and enjoying the break from the normal routine. We were going to go to our friends' house for a party tonight, but she's in labor to have a baby, so instead we'll just stay at home, enjoying a dinner of homemade lasagna, salad and bread, then enjoy some pie and a couple of movies. We've told the girls they can stay up tonight. We'll see how that goes.

I have given up teaching natural childbirth classes and am officially in training to become a homebirth midwife, although I'm still not 100% convinced I'm meant to be one. I assisted my midwife at a birth this past weekend and am going to be assisting at another couple of births in January. I do realize that it is a true honor to be at these women's births; I just know I have tons more to learn.

Oh, and we bought a new (used) truck last Friday. After much discussion, we decided not to go the route of buying a third row seat for our Yukon. Keith needed a new vehicle and we needed a car big enough to haul the four kids (boy, that sounds weird to say), so we're selling the Jeep and invested in a 2005 Chevy Suburban. The ironic thing is that we paid LESS for the Suburban than we did for our Yukon which, when we bought it, was a year older than the Sub. And it's got a ton more options on it. I guess we're the only crazy ones in town who want to buy a kid-cargo-and-trailer hauling V-8. Now if we can just sell the Jeep. Anyone? Anyone?

Happy New Year's everyone!

Ready to get ready for Christmas

2008-12-04T21:48:04Z

The family spent Sunday afternoon up at the cabin (or "camp," as those from the UP would call it; 10 acres about 25 minutes north of town that has a garden, orchard and one-room cabin that was recycled by my dad out of a 100 year old grainary). Back when Alina was a year old my dad planted dozens of pines, one of which we choose every year to cut as a Christmas tree. This was the last year for getting our tree from up at the cabin, I'm afraid. We chose one of the smallest and it still takes up almost half our living room -- after trimming it. It was nice getting out with mom and my brother and his family. Mom made venison chili to enjoy with homemade bread, and the kids, Keith and Uncle Steve had a grand time having a snowball fight; until a couple of the kids got snow down their necks, that is.

Monday and Tuesday evenings we spent decorating while enjoying egg nog and homemade snickerdoodles. YUM.

Tonight Keith and I head over to his division's work party at a restaurant in a neighboring city. It's only a couple hours long, and it will be nice to have some time together as our schedules have been the antithesis of togetherness lately. Off to make pasta for dinner for the girls before mom gets here to watch them...

Thankful

2008-11-28T21:13:43Z

Had a very relaxing Thanksgiving spent with family, eating turkey with all the trimmings. The fact that I went to bed last night with my belly full in a warm house, with my kids and husband all healthy, made me feel very blessed.

Found this interesting Website today. I'm hooked; for all the right reasons. It's time to teach our children the REAL meaning of Christmas...

www.adventconspiracy.org

We're doomed

2008-11-07T19:01:45Z

I was thinking to myself, "Okay, maybe we can make the best of this. Maybe he'll prove he's able to pull this off."

And then I see this in the NYTimes. Notice the woman to Obama's right. Yes, that's right, folks. Jennifer Granholm it is. With what she's done to Michigan's economy, I can only imagine what she'll do for our country. Keith has suggested we all Google and learn the anthem for the former Soviet Union...

President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. met with members of an economic advisory board in Chicago on Friday. From left: David E. Bonior, Robert E. Rubin, Jennifer Granholm, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., President-elect Obama, Paul A. Volcker and Richard D. Parsons.

Recovering!

2008-11-05T15:56:33Z

Nadia's fever broke last night (finally) and she seems to be on the mend today, so we're crossing our fingers that whatever bug was in her system has finally been defeated. I'm just looking forward to a full-night's sleep after this ordeal. My psychological condition does not do well when I lack sleep. Just ask Keith how weepy I've been lately. He's been incredibly patient and supportive through all this.

I promised pictures of Halloween, so here they are. Nadia was sick Friday, obviously, but she wanted to get into her costume for the picture. The big thing this year was the fact that Alina and Elise got to wear lipstick and blush as part of their costumes.

ER

2008-11-01T15:43:23Z

Well, I'm feeling pretty much like a horrible mother. Or maybe it's just because we've had good luck all these years, so this just hasn't had a chance to happen yet.

Nadia was complaining Thursday evening of not feeling well, and by midnight was running a fever. We brought her up to our bed, tried to make her comfortable and gave her a dose of children's ibuprofen. Our family tries not to use meds, especially when a fever is trying to do its work, but nighttime is a different story, if only to let the child get some sleep and keep the fever down some. For some reason (too small a dose?), the ibuprofen didn't touch the fever and by morning she was still raging hot, acting lethargic and sleeping lots and lots. She was feeling so terrible she had to be carried to the bathroom.

Keith decided to go to work, as I was at home all day, and Nadia seemed to be resting quietly on the couch most of the morning...that is until she started making choking sounds. I checked on her and found she was having a febrile seizure. Talk about scary. Blue lips, no breathing, eyes rolled back, stiff arms and legs. I never want to have to go through that again. When the seizure ended (which seemed like forever, but probably lasted only 30-45 seconds), I called the Dr. who told us to head to ER.

I felt so bad for her. Since there were no other signs of illness (ear infection, UTI, cough, etc.), they recommended a spinal tap. It was a hard decision to make. 9 times out 10, you know it's viral, but what if it's not? And of course, since she had to be sedated, they had to administer an IV. It took three nurses plus Keith and me to hold her still. All the while she screamed and screamed because she was so scared and uncomfortable. Thank the Lord everything came back clear and we were able to get her fever down a bit.

It was a long night last night and she's been sleeping most of this morning, after throwing up several times, so I'm taking a breather. Hopefully this will run its course quickly and not be passed on to the other girls.

Life update

2008-10-24T15:54:06Z

I've been waiting to post, because there's been nothing to post, really. We've lost most of the leaves on our trees (except for our oaks, which will finish up closer to Thanksgiving) and we finally got a hard frost a couple of nights ago.

Life has been crazy hectic, with work, school, piano and basketball practice for Alina. We were able to get out to the local nature center a few weeks ago for a hike, however. The sun was setting, leaves were peak and temps were in the 60's. Especially beautiful was the great blue heron in the middle of the river, silhouetted against the setting sun. My friend Kathy would say that seeing so many herons during the past few weeks means something. I need to look it up; she gave us a great book on animal totems. I will say I do believe the Lord (or Holy Spirit) can communicate with us in many ways, including animals. I remember when my dad was dying we had hummingbirds come to visit him every single day until the day he died. They would come right up to the front window beside his bed in the living room, hovering in mid-air as they looked in on him. During the summer I still get visits from hummingbirds, especially on days when I need to feel Dad's presence.

In other news, the girls have decided to trick or treat as the following: Alina -- poodle skirted, 50's girl; Elise -- witch; Nadia -- dragon. I'll be sure to post pics after Halloween.

As for the baby, I was able to feel it kick on the outside for the first time last night, but Keith was downstairs being a good husband, finishing the dishes, so he wasn't able to be there. Hopefully tonight...

My mom was lucky enough to be offered a fantastic, beautiful bedroom set for the girls from one of the lady's she cleans for -- for FREE. We went to get it Monday night and finally got all the pieces (2 regular dressers, a dresser with a mirror, an upright lingerie dresser and a student desk) into their rooms. It seems so weird to having matching furniture for all of them! And of course the girls were totally psyched to have them. Elise says she feels like a princess because she has the mirror in her room. It was funny to watch them all brushing their hair in front of it this morning.

We are still a couple

2008-10-03T20:25:26Z

Keith and I had big plans to send the kids to my SILs house last weekend, while we spent some quality time up north (relatively) camping in the Jordan River Valley. It would have been our first weekend away together -- alone -- since Alina was born. Good thing we didn't pack our things. I got a call Thursday afternoon to come pick up Alina from school as she had a fever. It didn't let go until late Friday night, so we had to say goodbye to our camping plans.

On the other hand, since she was better Saturday morning, we were still able to pawn off the kids for a day and a night. We ended up heading over to a canoe livery a little over an hour's drive away from us, renting a canoe and spending a good portion of Saturday afternoon paddling the Chippewa. The weather was gorgeous and we got to see some fantastic wildlife, including a great blue heron spearing a fish (is the fish truly speared? or is the fish caught in it's beak?) Dinner was spent eating perch fish fry at our favorite local hang-out, then we rented The Bourne Ultimatum and the Spiderwick Chronicles to watch at home. Most importantly, we found we can still hold a decent conversation that is NOT about the kids! Don't get me wrong, I love the kids. It's just nice to know that we can actually be a couple, instead of just parents.

This week has been as hectic as the last few, although we really do try and limit our extracurricular activities. Most of the pressure I'm feeling has to do with the fact that I'm working extra hours trying to fill the gaps made by the fact that we still need to hire a full-time employee to replace my "old" position. It was nice, though, that the president of our organization called me in earlier this week to let me know he values my skills and hopes I'll stick around in some capacity, even with having more kids. I'm not planning on going anywhere. Our budget won't allow it; and I do find my work rewarding. I've fully shifted over to Web posting and cleaning/formatting news clips for republication to our constituents (versus doing database management), so things are different from, but just as good as, what they were before. I did almost have a breakdown when I first started making the transition -- feeling the whole, "My God there is no way I can learn all this!" But I have, and it's all good.

Keith has been in the midst of his busy season at work, too, making, on average, three high school visits per day to schools all over mid-Michigan, as well as heading to college fairs at nearby colleges. He comes home some nights so hoarse from talking that it's hard for him to speak at all. He is really good at what he does, though. For him, it's more than just getting numbers (and $$) in the door. It's a mission to help people improve their lives and think about their futures. Delta is lucky to have him.

Lastly, we got a McCain/Palin sign for the front yard, as well as a "say NO to Proposal 2" sign. I'm certainly not high on McCain being the perfect candidate, but the alternative is so much worse (among other things, I do NOT believe that higher taxes and bigger government are the answer, I have NO interest in a universal health care plan, and I DO NOT want a President that supports abortion!) that I just have to put it up. Proposal 2 has to do with a constitutional amendment that would tax Michigan citizens for funding stem cell research on human embryos (which private funders won't even touch because it doesn't work!). Okay -- I've already mention that I don't like taxes or abortion, so you can guess why I'm voting no, and want other people to do the same. Grrrr. Show me the ballot box.

Take your picture.....RIGHT NOW

2008-09-22T00:50:53Z

take a picture of yourself right now. don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture. post that picture with NO editing. post these instructions with your picture

School, paydirt & pregnancy

2008-09-13T20:49:58Z

Rain, rain and more rain coming down so I thought I'd post an update, since I'm avoiding housework and I've already taken my afternoon nap.

Went with Alina and her class to a hot air balloon demonstration at a park just up the street from her school. The balloon was great. The guy who was passed out in the park gazebo, and who was being hauled away by police, while the demo was happening, not so much. This local park is quite well-known as a hang-out for transient homless people and drunks, unfortunately. One of the other moms I spoke to about the park's reputation was taken aback, possibly by the fact that it's a reality that our town does have its share of people who are down and out. The police do a pretty good job of keeping them well-hidden, but sometimes the bubble is broken.

It was first full week of school for Alina and Elise, and Nadia's first day of preschool was this past Tuesday. This is the youngest we've ever sent a child to preschool. Up until now, I was of the mindset that at-home time with mom until 4 years old is a good thing. But with me working from home her TV viewing had gone sky high, and I figured it would be better for her to at least be in a learning environment. She does seem to enjoy it. And the preschool is a nature-based program at our local nature center, which gives her the opportunity to spend an hour outside every day, rain or shine.

I am going to start alter serving for weddings at our church. Alina has been doing it on the occasional Saturday, and usually gets paid $10 a pop by the church to be there and help with the service. Not bad money for a 30-45 minute gig as a 9 year old. Today she went to serve and got paid an additional $20 by the couple, on top of the $10 she's getting from the church. How do I sign up??? That's like getting $60 bucks an hour!

Baby just kicked in my belly, so I have to comment on it. I've been feeling flutters for the past couple of weeks, but during the past couple days especially the baby movements have been more noticeable. I'm looking forward to the time, in a few weeks, when the baby can be felt from the outside, so the girls can start interacting with it. As it is now, Nadia loves giving my belly hugs and doing daily "growth updates." ("Your belly's growing, mama!") I'm into maternity clothes already, at just over 16 weeks, so I can just imagine was the future will bring.

Last trip of the season

2008-09-02T12:56:46Z

We were finally able to get up to Wagner Lake the weekend before last. It's a fantastic little rustic campground just an hour and a half north of us, with a 26 acre lake that is perfect for swimming (except for this year, which I'll explain in a minute). We all (including my mom) headed up after Keith got off work and found when we got there that our favorite spot, with a wonderful view of the lake, a large field for the girls to play in and only a short walk to the beach, was available. We got camp set up in no time, made a quick dinner of the premade macaroni salad we brought then set out with the girls for a swim (they did the swimming; we wimped out and just watched from the beach) before making a fire and cooking up s'mores.

Saturday was spent mostly napping and playing games in the trailer, as an intense thunderstorm rolled in a little after noon and didn't let up until close to 4:00. We were able to fit in a campfire with the wood we had wisely stored in the back of the vehicle, and Keith told his last installment of "The adventures of Tommy Two-Toes," a story he came up with last summer and continued through this year, all about interesting characters such as Tommy Two-Toes the cat and Slim-whiskered Slim the rat and Cracked-hoof Hank the horse. Oh, and I can't fail to mention Limp Lucy, the parrot who was raised by Peruvian bats and had never learned to sit upright on her perch. There's nothing like a fireside story about Chicago gansters to put your kids to sleep. Keith really is a wonderful storyteller.

We found out Sunday morning, when we took the girls down to the lake again for their promised "last swim" that the swans we had noticed from afar Friday night were a family -- mom, dad and three cygnets. They had taken up temporary residence near the swimming beach and the girls got an up close look at how large the birds really are. The largest adult was taller than Elise! You can imagine, with that much body mass, how much these birds crap. Well, we found out after the girls swam. I had to put into action the trusty remedy of using diluted bleach water to kill the parasites that had burrowed into the girls' skin and had turned into swimmer's itch. As much as I loved seeing the swans, I am more than half-hoping they won't be making their home there again next summer.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

End of summer

2008-08-18T23:25:04Z

We've had a fantastic few last weeks of summer. Had some quality visiting time with our good friend Frank two weeks ago, before he heads off to Korea to teach (again). He brought for the kids a sweet Goodwill find -- an Egyptian hiroglyph stamping set. And our dear friend Kathy visited last week, bringing gifts of quality chocolate and a book! She is every woman's dream friend!! Our whole family loves spending time with each one of them.

The girls have been getting along -- for the most part -- coming up with fantastical plans for playing "house." I often wonder if they would play together so much, and so well, if we allowed regular TV (we don't have cable, and don't allow them to watch network TV), video games and iPods. Though I do have to admit that if an iPod dropped in my lap, accompanied by a Bose speaker system, I wouldn't object. Our CD changer, which is going on 10 years old has just about had it. I get tired of singing along to one of my favorite songs, only to have to either backtrack my voice four measures, or go forward two. Dreams are nice, aren't they?

We have finished school shopping, thank goodness. The girls were so excited by the folders, pencils, crayons, etc. that they came home and packed their bags right away. All that's left for the first day of school is lunch.

I am trying to be patient in waiting for this pregnancy fatigue to end. I can tell I'm 35 this time around. A nap in the afternoon is SO totally necessary for me to function normally. Luckily for me, the girls have become accustomed to my lump of a body on the couch for a while as they play together. And for the most part they are willing to help out. Tonight after dinner, Alina volunteered to take a bath with Nadia and wash her up to "give me a break." She is a sweet kid. And I took her up on it.

Long time, no post

2008-07-31T14:48:46Z

I realize it's been a while, but things have been busy! Got to go camping last week(end) for 5 days with some good friends of ours. The weather wasn't all that great -- rainy and cool for the most part -- but we did get some swimming in, both inland and on Lake Michigan, got to visit the Dunes and got to listen to some good music at Interlochen Center for the Arts. Alina has also discovered the joy of snorkeling. We nicknamed her Fish because she never wanted to get out of the water.

I also spent a good portion of my time off of work sleeping. Yes, sleeping. And avoiding any kind of sauce with Italian seasonings, since they aren't agreeing with my stomach. Oh, and I just happen to cry at the drop of a hat, especially when it involves a sappy movie. Come on, I even started crying during The Sound of Music. Soooooo, perhaps you've guessed already that the reversal was a success. :-) #4 is growing as I type this and will hopefully make its entrance into the world near the end of February or beginning of March. Everything is going well so far, but I'm only just going into my 10th week of pregnancy (out of 40), so we're saying a special prayer that the baby hangs in there. We lost a baby between Alina and Elise, when I was 12 1/2 weeks along, so that thought is always in the backs of our minds, of course. I'll be going for my first prenatal appointment with our midwife (we're planning on a homebirth again -- this will be #3) in another few weeks and hopefully we'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat.

Keith returned home this past Tuesday from a three day camping jaunt with a couple of guy friends. They went up to the Jordan River Valley and enjoyed some "manly" time away from the family -- chopping wood, building large fires, swimming in ice-cold streams, doing a death-march hike. All good ways to restore the spirit.

Elise's big news

2008-06-20T15:36:21Z

The tooth fairy got to make a visit to pick up not one, but TWO of Elise's baby teeth last night. Here she is making a call to Nana to tell her the news. This was a momentous occasion, as Elise was one of the only kids her in her class who hadn't lost any teeth yet. Thank goodness she has a big sister who could help her with the technical aspects of pulling loose teeth!

Busy weekend

2008-06-16T15:53:14Z

Instead of our traditional school's-out camping trip, we stuck around town and did some local activities.

Thursday evening we packed a dinner of lentil and rice soft tacos, black corn tortilla chips, baby carrots and grapes then rode our bikes down to meet our friends at the Center for the Arts for a free (and short!) conedancing (NOT pole dancing) performance by a group called Dream Engine. It was pretty good, but I think the last year's pole dancing (on top of -- not around -- and clothed) performance by a different group was better.

Friday evening, the scheduled heliosphere performance down at our local minor-league baseball field was canceled due to thunderstorms rolling through, but we hung around and stayed for most of the baseball game. Luckily we had our umbrellas with us as the rain started in again at the bottom of the 5th inning and by the 6th inning Elise and Nadia were asking to go home. We were quite a sight trying to keep warm and dry under our waterproof blanket. We did manage to fit in popcorn, cotton candy and a brew made by a local micro-brewery especially for the Loons games during the summer.

Saturday we enjoyed the 2nd annual Scottish Highland Festival at a park just up the street from our house. There's nothing quite as enjoyable as hanging out with friends in the shade, feeling the breeze in your hair and hearing the grunts of mighty-fine kilted men throwing cabars through the air. Also impressive were the highland dancers and the sheepdog demonstration. And, of course, there were bagpipes and drums.

The two older girls started day camp at our local nature center today, so we'll see how tired they are when they come home this afternoon. Alina is old enough this year that she gets to go to the two-week camp and start doing fun things like a day-long hike, a canoe trip on a local river and an overnight at the nature center. Elise was psyched because she gets to explore something new every day -- bugs, birds, mammals, reptiles. It's all right up their alley.

Here are a couple pics of the girls from a hike at the nature center a couple weeks ago and also the game on Friday:

Summer starts

2008-06-09T17:47:53Z

We've been getting an extraordinary amount of rain here. Thunderstorms have been a nightly occurance, and the rivers are roaring. No flooding yet, and the sun is out today, thank goodness.

The girls are on the countdown for school being out. Today was their year-end picnic at a park that is within walking distance to the school. They came home muddy, sticky-mouthed and tired. All signs that they had a good time. Keith volunteered to boil hotdogs for lunch and was saying it must have been a hard job, because the three doing the cooking were a Priest, a doctor and a community college administrator. What a bad joke.

I am getting a late start on planting the garden this year, mostly because, up until a week ago, it has been so cold at night I've been afraid of losing the plants. We were able to snag some starters yesterday on our way back from visiting Keith's parents in the thumb area...tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow crookneck, zucchini, basil, brussell sprouts. Believe it or not, I know it's the right time to plant because our poppies in the garden just bloomed. It seems that poppies and planting go together, at least at our house.

A couple weeks ago I was able to get to a local nature center's native plant sale. Every year they host a greenhouse that specializes in plants that are native to Michigan. Sounds strange, I guess, to purposefully plant vegetation that should be in the woods, anyway. I picked up some wood poppy, blue lobelia, false sunflower, butterfly weed and a couple more I can't remember the names of. We'll see how well they do with all the rain we've had. At least the fiddlehead ferns we have planted in the front of the house are loving the wet weather. This the the best they've done in the five years they've been out front.

Ah, so domestic, aren't we? I feel like I should be writing for Martha Stewart.

Wheatland Traditional Arts Weekend

2008-05-28T01:25:31Z

We made the difficult decision to trade our annual trip to Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival in Marquette with a more local festival. I hated to give up Hiawatha. The atmosphere and music, not to mention the friends we see every year, are what keep drawing us back. But with gas climbing as high as it is, I just can't see how we can make the 600+ mile round trip.

At the suggestion of a festival friend named Charlie and in an effort to get in our yearly quota of music, dancing and fun, we decided to try Wheatland's Traditional Arts Weekend, which is only an hour away. We got to enjoy groups like Tanglemere, Detour and Jive at Five. We also got to attend workshops on Irish Step, Clogging, drumming, making juggle sticks, printmaking and hearing a fantastic storyteller.

Now the trick will be to not give in to my crazy desire to head north at the end of July and we'll be all set. I'm already missing our loved ones up there.

Here are a couple pictures of the girls from the festival...

Yet another use for mother's milk

2008-05-12T12:37:40Z

Fair warning on this video -- if you are at work or have an aversion to seeing a bare breast you may not want to watch it. On the other hand, if you want to see yet another benefit of breastfeeding, by all means, click the link. (Blame my pro-lactation friend, Amy, for this one!)

Bruce Hornsby

2008-05-07T20:37:32Z

This past weekend was awesome! Although Keith guessed where we were going the morning we were to leave -- and I had done so well at keeping it a surprise for 2 months! L I nicknamed him Snoopy for the trip. He just couldn’t stand it that he didn’t know what were doing so it did all the searches he could online and came up with the concert in K-Zoo. I did surprise him with a trip to Bell’s Brewery Café for dinner, though. He does love his beer (in a healthy way). My mom and Nadia had a good time at the hotel room while we were at the concert, and Alina and Elise loved the music. Bruce Hornsby is a musician that loves going out in different directions (jazz, techno, contemporary folk, improv, etc.) and in this case the concert with Ricky Skaggs was almost all bluegrass. Since Bruce has a tradition of inviting women from the audience on stage to dance, I got to get up on a stage with two other women for some “clogging” (in front of 850+ people). The rest of the audience was in shock, I think, as this concert was part of a larger WMU piano festival and the typical audience members were a bit (okay, A LOT) more reserved. Keith said the girls were embarrassed, but I told them you can’t worry about what other people think – if you want to have fun, and it’s not hurting you or anyone else, go for it! I think if the girls hadn’t been so tired they would have come up with me…they love to dance. All I know is that from the dance portion onward, the audience really got into it. Anyway, we bought a CD at the concert and the girls certainly haven’t had any reservations about dancing around the house (and recruiting me to do the same J). It was a fantastic way to celebrate my b-day and our anniversary. It’s hard to believe it will be 15 years on the 14^th!

Oh, and I learned a couple of things while dancing on stage: A) Wear an athletic bra if planning on getting onstage, B) Wear something other than a snug fitting shirt, especially if *A* hasn't happened and C) Take care not to sit next to a total stranger who just happens to have a camera that takes video of said dancing portion without athletic bra in snug shirt (I am totally anticipating a debut on America's Funniest Home Videos). Also, take an inhaler. I ended up with a doozy of an asthma attack immediately after doing my jig.

Wanna know more about Bruce? Here are a couple of sites: www.brucehornsby.com and http://www.bruuuce.co.uk/