All gone!

For the sake of my family and friends, please indulge this photo display of Josiah's first haircut. John convinced me that I could do a good job, so this afternoon I gave it a shot, making a deal with him that if I completely botched it, I could take him to someone professional. It was a bit of a three-ring circus, with all three of us working to keep him still and/or distracted, but in the end it turned out not so bad. He badly needed it, but it has definitely made him lose that 'baby' look in exchange for that of a little boy.


BEFORE the cut: my shaggy baby and his mullet, with a look that says "What are you going to do? And why are you holding those scissors?"


In several places, I cut off FOUR inches! A lot of the 'strawberry' red is now gone. :(


Lucy handed Josiah teddy grahams and a sippy cup of water to help distract and keep him somewhat still.


His thumb helped, too. Toward the end he sat more still, so I didn't have to do quite so many acrobatic moves to get at the right angles.


A view from the back.


"Please, can we be done now?"


After a bath and some dinner, he's looking pretty stylish. Oh, and he was so happy to know that, even with all that hair gone, his milk cup can still balance on the top of his head.

While Daddy was away...

John got home yesterday, a day earlier than planned, from 11 days in South Africa. This was the Big Doozie conference he and his staff have all been working toward, and he worked hard for those days. We were able to talk every day, which was great, and I sent him pictures as often as I could. Besides Oktoberfest, here are a few things captured by the camera of our time at home:


I helped Lucy make a paper caterpillar, and each day at breakfast she took off one link. Then she could count for herself how many days until Daddy came home. This was a looooong caterpillar, and after about Day 3, I was counting the links, too!


We stayed in our pajamas extra long on several mornings. The kids love to 'wrestle' and giggle. Here, Josiah is showing his brute strength, and that he's catching up with Lucy's size.


WARNING: Plastic bags are not toys. Do not let children play with plastic bags. If you do, you're a terrible parent. (Really, he just wanted to unravel them and stuff them back in, and I had to limit what I said 'no' to.)


My mom came to visit for the last few days on John's absense. She was a tremendous help in accomplishing some projects around the house. Here is Josiah's lavender bedroom BEFORE...


...and AFTER! This creamy yellow was half way between Eggnog and Cornsilk. It's perfect with the nursery decor.


Next we tackled Lucy's blue room. Here it is BEFORE...


...and DURING (we let her help after covering the entire floor in plastic, which wasn't hard since she has no furniture right now except a mattress on the floor and a bunch of stuffed animals)...


...and AFTER! The soft petal pink is perfect with her new flowery bedding. It's wonderful to have her in a girly room after having to share with Josiah for so long and match the neutral crib bedding.

Hooray for paint! Hooray for a visit from Grandma! And HOORAY that Daddy is back at home with us!

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Calories

This weekend I took advantage of a local event to teach my kids about their German heritage. Okay, really it was just a fun excuse to check out Oktoberfest here in Parker, Colorado. But truly, I am nearly 100% German -- with a very small fraction of Polish and possibly another small fraction Native American, but that's another story for another time -- and I thought it would be fun to check it out, and a great excuse to get outside with the kids on a beautiful September day.

I pushed them down -- and by 'down' I mean downhill -- in the double jogger. Our house is just shy of two miles from the town center where the festival was taking place, and about a 250 ft change in altitude. That may not sound like much, but keep in mind that we live just above 6,000 ft and have had our double jogger in storage until just four weeks ago when we moved into our house. The farthest I have pushed it so far in my life is about three blocks to the neighborhood playground. Stupid? Perhaps. Adventurous? Indeed.

We made it there, enjoyed the polka band and the Bavarian dancers. Lucy and I shared a wonderful apple strudel with whipped cream. (Truth be told, she only had one bite of the strudel and some whipped cream, then told me to eat the rest, which I gladly devoured!) And then I pushed them back home. It was really helpful when Lucy was singing songs to 'help' me go faster uphill, but it didn't work.

That was a well-deserved strudel. I think next year I'll drive.

Politics as usual

I hate politics. I understand it is a necessary part of our lives, I appreciate the work our politicians do to keep our country a free nation and our lives safe, I don't mind honest discussion about issues and where candidates stand, and I vote. But it's certainly not my topic of choice.

Today I read a political editorial in our small-town paper that just irritated me enough that I felt like doing something about it.

This particular editorialist gets a spot every week in our paper, and for the last few weeks, the only thing she has had to write about are her petty personal complaints. Having been on the staff of my college newspaper, I understand that an editorial is, by definition, opinion. And she is entitled to hers. But as the Democratic representative of the reading community, she ought to consider putting some real meat into those few inches of black and white each week, if she truly wants to sway her readers to her point of view. As of yet, she has not written a single word about why she is supporting her candidate.

Maybe you can guess that her columns have been about Sarah Palin. But none of them have had substance. The last few weeks' text included these comments: "Her voice grates me the wrong way," and "She is just too 'cutesy' right now." She also writes, "Just because she chose not to abort her youngest does not mean she is the greatest mother." The writer worries that Palin will not have time for her grandchild and writes about the "Republican hypocrisy" argument that she must not truly have good values if she has a pregnant teenage daughter. I believe it's due to articles and 'issues' such as these that I hate politics.

This week I decided to let the editor know how I felt about the editorialist's comments. This is my first true foray into the political arena, if you can call it that. I'm just tired of the Palin-bashing.

And now I'm done. Enough politics for me for now.

Like Christmas

It's only the first week of September, but this whole week has had a little bit of the feel of Christmas in our house. As I've been unpacking, I've been discovering things I've been looking forward to unboxing, some I'd forgotten about, and some I didn't even know I had. Today I unpacked a box of things that were wrapped in newspaper from November 1999. No wonder we didn't have any closet space at the condo! (Many of those things will be finding a new home, thanks to our local Goodwill store.)

It's been like Christmas for the kids, too. I have put aside the boxes of toys, and each day I unpack one of them in our nearly empty front room. I open it during their afternoon nap, and when they wake up I enjoy the gasps of delight from Lucy as she reunites with her ponies or joyfully builds a miniature house with the mega blocks. It has kept Josiah quite busy, too, as many of these toys were put away before he could even sit up on his own. Now he runs across the room dragging them behind or discovers the wonderfully loud noise they make when thrown onto the kitchen floor--all of which lead to squeals of happiness.

As the boxes have been unpacked, it has been easier to determine what is in the remaining few in our garage. But last night I had to open them all to find my food processor. I knew I had one somewhere, but I have to admit that I've never used it before. It seemed be an optional appliance, and the part of me that remains old fashioned figured I could just chop things by hand. Well, that changed yesterday when we went back to our old neighborhood for a visit. My friend Heidi was making peach sorbet. She not only gave me the recipe, but generously gave me a bag full of Colorado West Slope peaches. And if you know West Slope peaches, you know what a generous gift that is! I knew I had to use them right away. I was inspired by the simplicity of the recipe, and also by the extra counter space and the fact that I actually knew where my kitchen appliances were. Well, most of my appliances. I did in fact find it in the very last box I opened, and today I used it for the first time. After realizing it is indeed a useful and handy tool, I have great plans for keeping it an accessible place, too!

So, now all the boxes are opened. There are a few that contain some mystery items wrapped and buried, but for the most part my 'Christmas' in September is over. Not a twinge of sadness here, though. It means we are really getting settled in!

A Good Day

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you can do it all? The kids play happily together while you whip up a wholesome dinner... The house is sparkling clean and the air holds the sweet smells of baking... The laundry is all done and the pantry is full... No? Me either!

But I feel like I came closer to something of that sort today than I have in quite some time. The last few weeks have been all about traveling, packing, moving, cleaning, unpacking, and somehow managing to keep the kids out of harm's way and off the brink of starvation. Yesterday was stressful for me, as I was feeling the urge to just be normal and not have to make decisions or find places for things (or simply find things). It doesn't help that Joey has had a cold all week, and that Lucy skipped napping all but two days. But I can't blame my attitude on them. At least not entirely.

So today I just ignored the boxes that were crying out to be opened. I looked past the counter top where piles of who-knows-what were begging me to put them in a proper place. I indulged Lucy every time she said "Mommy, do you want to play with me?" I giggled when Joey giggled, and we threw our heads back together and guffawed in joy. I thought about dinner before dinner time and threw something in the crock pot. I baked some treats while getting lunch ready. And when both kids took 3-hour naps (!) I was able to clean my badly-neglected wood floors.

I have to think that my kids' good behavior today had something to do with my lowered stress level and that I was putting less pressure on myself, and therefore on them.

The boxes didn't disappear, and the counter top is still invisible beneath those piles, but they can wait for another time. Today was a good day.

***

My favorite quote today: Lucy, when seeing a mosquito bite on my knee, said: "I didn't know they think you are tasty, too!"

There's no place like home...

We've moved! Saturday was the day we bribed, I mean, asked our friends to help us move from the condo into our new home. There were 13 of us, and there's no way we could have done it without each of our fabulous friends and their muscles! I'm especially grateful to my sis-in-law who took the kids outside and kept them from being trampled, and for my dear friend (who also called our condo 'home' for a few months last year) who packed some of the remaining loose items so well that I knew exactly where they were when I needed them as we unpacked. We were done in just a few hours with the big stuff, but we still had to return to the condo for some of the remnants and to make sure there weren't any buffalo-sized dust bunnies lurking in the corners for the new owner...

As expected, I was a little bit emotional about 'saying goodbye' to what had been our home for six years. I admit to being a sentimental fool, having to be the last out the door so I could have my one last long look at the place we have been doing life for more than half our marriage. Lucy was just a little bit teary as we pulled away, and I tried to be genuine in my feelings and reassure her that I was a little sad, too. She recovered pretty quickly, and then made up a song to sing to me. She sang that it's okay to be sad to say goodbye to the condo, but to be happy because we have a new house to call our home. She also told me to let her know anytime I was sad and she would sing to me again. It was so sweet, and it definitely helped!

Sunday was a fun day of unpacking and trying to locate things we needed. The kids were quite helpful, as you can see.

Mostly I feel like we were pretty organized, but I admit to spending a very frustrating half hour searching for the bag of screws so we could hang the paper towel rod in the kitchen. Ugh.

We met quite a few of our neighbors during the first two days we called this place home. On Saturday we met many of them out front as we were unloading the truck and assessing the piles in the garage. But on Sunday, the weather brought the whole neighborhood out in our backyards and on the roofs as we stood in a virtually windless place and watched a tornado forming just a few miles away! The beauty of the open landscape of Colorado allowed us to see this amazing natural phenomenon, and with our new house up on a hill, we had a bird's eye view as it tore into the landscape on the other side of town.

People saw us come out and shouted their hellos and waved to us over the fences or from their rooftops. One neighbor joked that we should have waited a week to move in, just in case the neighborhood wasn't here after the storm. It gave me goosebumps to watch, and we are so grateful to know that because it touched down in a rural area, there was no major damage and no injuries or loss of life.

We all went inside when the hail and rain came, but having a front porch allowed us to show Lucy the marble-sized hail.


An hour later, the setting sun returned and shone in stark contrast on the dark storm clouds that had passed to the east. A beautiful double rainbow, pictured here from our front porch, was the perfect way to end this first full day at our house, and a humbling reminder of God's promises to us.

Tomorrow is The Day

Tomorrow we sell our condo and buy a house, all within the span of about three hours. I've been packing like crazy, while still trying to keep my kids happy. Really, it's been a pretty good week, aside from one or two moments where I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to just crawl into a hole until September.

Today I got enough done that I decided we needed a break and I took the kids to the pool after naptime. It was great fun, and both of them were loving it. (Josiah sometimes isn't so sure of the water, but today he was all smiles.) As we swam, with the pool completely to ourselves, my mind kept coming back to all the little things that I will miss when we move. Today, it was primarily the pool! But I also thought about the great expanse of green grass in view from our windows where Lucy loves to play with her neighborhood friends. And the friends themselves.

I've been so excited to move into our new house! The more I tell people about it, the more I can hardly wait to settle in. But inevitably, change is hard, and as reality settles in, the sentimental side of me peeks through the cracks of my excitement. I'm just hoping I can hold it all together through our hours of closings tomorrow.

Use it or Lose it

As a member of our museum, I get a magazine each month with upcoming events, interesting scientific articles, etc. As I was browsing it over my bowl of cereal this morning I read the following tip for exercising your brain:

"Pack Your Bags: Planning trips, going to new places, and having engaging experiences with different people helps keep your brain stimulated and healthy."

With all our travels -- and assuming that packing for a move counts, too -- my body may be weary, but at least my brain is being stimulated. Looking at my schedule from July and for August, I'm on my way to becoming the next Einstein!

Somewhere in middle-America

I could barely remember my own blog address tonight as I sit here in Omaha, Nebraska, in a hotel room with my kids sleeping and my husband watching the Olympics. That's how long it feels since I've blogged! We have had a pretty incredible 10 days in the midwest, and we're on our way home, taking this break for what we hope to be a good night sleep.

There's so much that I'd like to write about, but I'll have to save some of the fun stuff for later. Since the month of August began, we have spent three whole days on the road in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Day Four will be tomorrow as we finish our drive home. The kids have been phenominal travellers and we are so pleased with how well they have done as we've dragged them all over creation.

The purpose of our trip was to participate in the joyful celebration of John's sister's wedding. Since she planned to get married in Wisconsin, just two hours' drive from one of our favorite families, the Joneses, we made a sort of vacation of it. After spending a day on the way with John's grandparents and parents, we arrived in Madison and spent four days soaking up as much time with each other as we could. They also planned a day with us at the Wisconsin State Fair, which I can only describe as artery-cloggingly delicious!

Not only did we spend wonderful time with the Jones family, but our paths also crossed with dear old friends, the Kabuthas, who live in Kenya. They just happened to be in the US this summer, and just happened to be driving through Madison on the last day we were there. It was a brief but refreshing time, as it has been three years since we last saw them, when our daughters were the ages that our sons now are.

I could have stopped there and felt my cup was full, but on our last night in Madison, I also got to spend several very fast hours sipping coffee with my childhood neighbor and best friend Jess, who I reconnected with this past fall. This was only the second time I've seen her in the last 19 years, and it was such a sweet time togehter. I felt my cup was overflowing.

To top it all off, yesterday was my sister-in-law's wedding. John's youngest sister, Anna, was only 12 years old when I met her, but yesterday it really hit us both that she's no longer 'little.' She was radiant as a bride! The two days of rehersal and wedding festivities was exhausting and yet seemed to pass too quickly. Lucy did a truly beautiful job as a flower girl, and Josiah was a trooper through it all. (We took upwards of 800 photos, but you'll have to wait to see them until I get home and can sort through the best of them.)

We will finish our drive tomorrow, then as soon as we are finished unpacking from our trip, we'll begin packing for our big move which will take place in less than two weeks. Hmmm. I might not be blogging as much as I'd like to, but I'll at least update with some photos and maybe a few fun stories from these travels.

Good night from Omaha...