Trying To Find Audio

I want to play this piece of sheet music I bought. It's Beautiful Savior/ Lead Kindly Light arranged by Kay H Ward. I got it because it looked like a challenge. It is. I think I need to hear it in order to make sense of it, but I can't seem to find a recording of it anywhere. Any advice?

The both Picked Their Own Outfit

Shortly after this photo was taken Greg tripped on his boots and skinned his knee. He then refused to wear the boots.

Charlotte wore this outfit to go running. I kept trying to convince her that a dress wasn't really running clothing, but she insisted that she was wearing the right shoes so she'd be fine. And she was.

On Having Second Thoughts

The wonderful honeymoon phase in Rochester is over. Dan has been home, but studying all week, which means he really hasn't been able to be around much. Then today he really was gone. And also it's been cold and rainy. It's the end of June and we're wearing long pants and jackets. Also it's been overcast and rainy for a while. Somehow the rainy weather has sort of rained on my emotional parade.

Today I took the kids to the indoor play area at the local mall and found half of Rochester there as well. As I was sitting there waiting for a friend to show up I started to think about our plans for the coming year.

Specifically about Charlotte and preschool. We decided that we can't afford preschool. On the one had this is probably going to be the tightest year financially we've had so far. She's also pretty smart and socially capable. On the other hand winter is long here. We don't have too many friends and not huge prospects at making too many more. (Or is that just the newness talking?) And also? Having nothing planned for the fall scares me since I've been doing the co-op preschool with Charlotte for two years.

I sat there watching my kids running around being free to be kids and do whatever they wanted there. They were so happy to be out and about. And it almost made me cry. What am I doing here without a Magic House or Science Center or Zoo? What did we get ourselves into? When I ask people what sort of things there are to do here I get this list of outdoor activities and then a list of three indoor activities. Maybe that's why it seems like all the kids Charlotte's age are in preschool. That's what there is for them to do here.

There are no guarantees in parenting and right now I wish there were. I wish I knew someone that seems to fit my style of parenting that chose to keep their kid home from preschool and was super happy about that decision. I wish I were certain that I could come up with the mental, emotional, and physical reserves needed to help my kids to be their best. I wish I knew what the next year holds for me, my sanity, my kids and their sanity.

Cutest 50 meter Race Ever

He was so serious about running until he realized that he was alone. The Rochester track club set up this event for kids. It was awesome.

I loved her hair bouncing behind her.

They both got participation ribbons.

Writing a Better List

This morning I decided to make a list so that the chores I had to do today would get done and I would feel a sense of accomplishment. It is now 2 pm and I've been working up a sweat most of the day and all I've got done from my list are changing linens, a few loads of laundry, breakfast, lunch, and some dishes. Gah! I should have added:

• getting kids dressed
• playing with kids
• reading scripture stories
• ready every book out of the storytime book bin from the library
• setting up all three play tents and tunnels in the basement
• making lunch a picnic on a blanket in the living room
• playing memory
• rescuing Greg from Percie
• helping paint rocks with Charlotte

When I add those to the list I realize why I feel like I've been working so hard.

Something new

If I could only find the cord to attach the camera to the computer I would show you some awesome photos. Also if I could find one of the three battery chargers we own I could take more photos of the kids. I'm sure you are all waiting for them. Be patient. The dust will settle. At least that's what I'm going to assume. Let's just hope that when it settles I will have found where I put the dust cloth. Also, did you know that I am currently in possession of three, count them three, vacuum cleaners, none of which have full function! I would love a new vacuum.

In the mean time we have managed to have a few new exciting buys for the new house. The first being a new lawn mower. Not really exciting, but Dan said that the Honda works great. I insisted on a self propelled mower since our yard isn't flat and once work starts it's any body's guess as to when he will have time to do it.

Also, we purchased a new kitchen table. Our original little guy was just perfect for our family, but with the years, and let's be honest the kids, all the finish was rubbing off the top. We were going to just refinish it. Then earlier this week we were window shopping a new furniture store in Rochester. They had a $700 table in the scratch and dent section for only $98. That is cheaper than just refinishing our old table. When we got home Dan looked online and found the exact same table on Amazon for $250 which made us feel pretty smug. He did end up purchasing four matching chairs online so they should come soon. This sort of behavior is so very out of character for Dan!

Once we got our new table Dan has been oddly protective of it. In order to not have his head explode every time Greg comes to the table we went to JoAnn's today and bought clear vinyl to put over the top. This way the top (which was in no way scratched or dented when we purchased the table) will remain nice.

Also we purchased some outdoor pots for plants. They were %70 off at JoAnn's and it was Dan's idea. I was again shocked that he bought them. They will make a nice arrangement on our front step and for herbs maybe on the back deck?

Ok, so maybe it feels like a spending spree, but once I wrote it down it doesn't seem like that much. Either way it's been a nice change of pace for the two of us.

Eating Right

After almost three solid weeks of eating out and eating treats and having pop around all.the.time we made our way to Rochester. We are coming down off the junk food high pretty well, but, well, let's just say that our digestive systems are still adjusting to the whole wheat, fruits and leafy green veggies.

I will forever chose sweet over salty. I mean salty is good sometimes, but for the most part I chose a sweet treat. I have found that once I've started into the pattern of having lots of sweets around I always want them around. That seems to be the only hiccup in the whole situation. I want sweets just about every night after the kids go to bed. Does that happen to anyone else? I hope so.

At any rate the sugar detox started last week and I have been surprised at how well it seems to be going. Of course the kids are asking for pop and sweets, but since we don't have it around the house it's easy to say no. And also we've kicked off the summer veggie eating.

Here are a few options that we've tried lately that have been surprisingly well received by my children:

-Muhamara dip with pita bread and carrot sticks for lunch. (Dan thought this didn't really constitute a lunch, but I noticed he didn't need any snacks between that meal and dinner.)

-BLT bread salad which is a baby spinach salad with crumbled bacon, tomatoes, feta, green onions and homemade croutons. It was simply delicious and the kids even ate the spinach!

-"Mock Gyros" which is really just pita sandwiches. Mindy gave me the recipe, or rather left it at my house so now it's mine!

-Indian-spiced salmon with basmati rice. I totally over-cooked the salmon, but everyone still ate at least some of it.

-An orecchiette salad with baby spinach tomatoes and roasted bell peppers. This one was not so enthusiastically received by the family, but I loved it. Dan gave his usual answer to vegetarian dishes, "This is good. You could add some salami to it."

-Cilantro lime black beans which is also a recipe that Mindy "gave" to me. These made excellent enchiladas.

With this success in getting my kids to eat things that look different than normal and have a higher percentage of veggies I've been very happy.

And Also?

Reflections from today:

When the dog is in the house the cat hides inside the sofa. As soon as the dog is out of the house the cat sits by the back sliding glass door to taunt her.

Hilarious.

Having a puppy and a two year old means I actually have two toddlers.

Frustrating.

Today we went to the nature center here, which is not surprisingly much smaller than the St Louis nature center, but with much better hiking available outside the actual center. It was our very First Rochester Family Activity. It is the middle of June and we were all wearing sweatshirts from the slight chill and the drizzle. Just like Pacific Northwest summers. We saw a wild blue jay up close and personal.

Thrilling.

Charlotte told me that the nature center wasn't our First Rochester Family Activity. Our First Rochester Family Activity was when the two of us spent 45 minutes coloring her Tinkerbell coloring book together after Greg was in bed last night. She told me that it was her special Disney world coloring book so she wasn't going to share it, but that I could have pages if I wanted to. She and I decided to have a repeat on that activity during nap time today.

Touching.

YouTube helped to teach my kids that sand dollars aren't just white decorations in the bathroom. The kids and I spent a half hour or more watching them move along the sand and other beach and tide pool creatures. It felt like a trip back home.

Fascinating.

All in all I think it's been a pretty good day today.

Lessons In Homeownership

Our new place has two bathrooms.

It seems so luxurious.

Today the kids were helping Dan with the dog in the bathroom upstairs.

I needed to use the bathroom.

No problem! I could go downstairs.

Not two seconds after I sat down all three of them were calling for me.

Then the two kids came and constantly knocked on the bathroom door.

I guess having two bathrooms doesn't necessarily mean privacy.

More Than Dishes

There is a job I have discovered I dislike more than doing the dishes. Packing. I hate it. I'm not very good at it and I feel like I need a break just about every hour. I keep thinking, wow, I'm getting a lot done. And wow, I've been working for so long. Then I look up at the room and I'm not even close and only been working for thirty minutes.

We got back from our awesome Disney vacation on Sunday. We have to be packing up the truck Wednesday afternoon and leaving Thursday. Now that is one hard transition.

What Life Feels Like Right Now

First we find out we might not be able to buy our new house. When that gets figured out we might not be selling this house. Finally that gets figured out and our new mortgage letter isn't filed and then its found. Then the St. Louis house has a really bad inspector.

I feel like I've been hiking the house selling/buying hike. I would be able to appreciate how beautiful my surroundings are if I weren't so exhausted.

Happy Graduation

We all knew this day was coming.

At first it seemed a long time off.

Then as we approached it excitement built.

So many plans have been made and scrapped and made again.

At first I dragged my feet, but seeing my family's happiness I couldn't hold back any longer.

We are so excited to present our new doctor.

And his dog.

He spent an hour and a half in the backyard with her today.

In the rain.

With Charlotte's pink princess umbrella.

Just trying to get house training to start right.

Nothing happened.

He came back inside.

Then she peed on the kitchen floor.

I laughed.

I've potty trained before and this seems to be exactly the same.

Happy Birthday-Let's Just Make it Another Year

After Greg fell down and had to get stitches while on vacation a friend of mine told me about her son. He's Charlotte's age and has had to get stitches once a year, every year of his life. We had a good commiseratory laugh over the crazy differences between boys and girls and I secretly prayed that I would escape that.

Well today is Greg's second birthday! Hooray! We got up and had our small family party complete with pancake cake, cantaloupe, and present opening. The presents were lovely and all adored.

After the present playtime was over I got Greg dressed in his new gorilla shirt from Grandma and Grandpa and we readied ourselves for a trip to the Botanical Gardens. While I was getting my clothing out for the day Greg climbed onto my bed and was digging through the bin I had taken off the top shelf of the closet and not replaced. You see the matches for the birthday candles were in it. Also in it was all of our families medications. I heard him shaking a bottle around and turned just in time to see him having opened one of our Rx bottles and trying to put a pill into his mouth. I practically screamed, "NO!" to him and tackled him off the bed. He was understandably upset and crying. I ascertained that he didn't eat any others. Then threw the whole bottle out. Then I asked Dan about the whole thing and he said the pills were so huge there was no way he would have been able to easily and quietly swallow any of them without me knowing. Although I was shaken I kept on getting ready for the day.

After we were all dressed I went to the basement to dig out our sunscreen from after the camping trip. Greg followed me. On the landing he tripped. Then he slid head first down the stairs. I lunged for him, but wasn't able to catch him before his head smacked every step and came to a stop on the concrete floor of the basement. That trip gave him a good bump and some scrapes on the noggin and one good puffy bump right where his stitches are. Dan heard the fall and came running and ascertained that there wasn't any serious damage.

While finishing our preparations to leave I tried to put the sunscreen on Greg. I put it on my fingers and rubbed it into both hands then went for his face. I hadn't even touched him yet when he moved to avoid me and ended up hitting his eye on my sunscreen hands. There was a lot of sunscreen that made it directly into his eye. So then we had to flush his eye. He was screaming and yelling as I held him down and Dan used the spray from the sink to get it out.

It was at this point that I started crying about how my son wasn't even going to make it through his second birthday. What a pretty picture the two of us must have made for Dan. Greg, banged up, wet, and screaming and me overreacting about the whole situation. Then our friends called to tell us that the gardens were packed.

We decided to stay home, invite friends over and play in our little pool out back. That made for a much more mellow and better birthday morning.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

A Star Is Born

This happened the other week and I wasn't going to post it. Then I read my sister's blog about how she's never been on TV. So click the link and you'll see my debut on the local St. Louis TV show Great Day St. Louis.

A BIG WEEK

There weren't any posts because we went camping. We had loads of fun and I took tons of photos (so you will be happy Katie). They will come later.

The really big news happened while camping was that we accepted an offer on our house! YEAH! I think it ended up really nicely and everyone in the situation seems to be satisfied. Now we just have to make it through the inspections and closing and then we're home free.

The closing date is June 3 which is the same as ours in Minnesota.

Easter 2011

Well, even with the frustrations Easter seemed to be a success. See for yourself.

They used the Easter baskets they made with Daddy at the Home Depot. I then decided that in order to not break every egg they should be lined.

We dyed Easter eggs on Friday. Greg thought they were balls so he threw them and stepped on them. He only got to do three. Then we put his three in the decorative shrink wrap in order to have them be usable.

We also went to the SLU alumni easter egg hunt on Saturday. Unfortunately it was indoors since we were having residual rain from the tornadoes that ripped through St. Louis Friday night. Being indoors made it really cramped and I didn't get any good photos. Charlotte got her first ever face painting that we had to wash off immediately after getting home because it was making her face itchy.

Here are the Sunday dress photos. I think they both look pretty good, even if they don't match.

I couldn't get Charlotte to just sit normally. This is the least weird of the poses she was insisting on.

Then Charlotte wanted to get behind the camera so Greg and I let her take some more photos. Should it disappoint me that she's just as good a photographer as I am? Not sure.

I Am Not A Runner

Not sure if anyone noticed, but my New Year's Resolution was to get myself in shape. Boy was that half hearted, huge flop for the beginning of the year. Then my friend, a runner, had her baby and was cleared for exercise at her six week check-up. Most of her running friends were still pregnant. I told her that I would join her since nobody else could and also she was six weeks postpartum. If someone who had a baby six weeks ago can do this then I can.

So we started. Then we were joined by her other running friends when they were cleared for exercise. Now we go so long as the weather co-operates, (nobody wants to run with a severe weather warning on our hands) our husbands are home to watch the kids, and we have enough new nursing mothers who aren't too tired to run. Sad to say, but even with all these other ladies just having had babies, I'm pretty sure I'm still the slowest. I'm super lucky to already be really close friends with them. I know that even if I slow them down, they're happy I'm there.

I'm still not a runner. I'm not very good and I wouldn't say I enjoy the feeling of breathlessness that running induces. My friend, the runner, says that nobody (not even runners) likes building up to being able to run 2 miles continuously so I'm trying and hoping she's right. After that I hope I enjoy the exercise more.

Even with all that I think this process has taught me a lot about myself.

• I may not like exercise, but I do like and even crave being with other women talking and not worrying about my kids.
• I need to have someone else counting on me to show up in order to exercise. If I don't then I wont go.
• Exercising makes me sleepy. REALLY sleepy. The past three days I've taken a nap in the afternoon and still gone to bed sometime in the 8 o'clock hour.
• I kind of like the idea of being a runner. I'm not there yet, and I'm not sure if I'll get there, but it would be cool to have something I "do" if that even makes sense.
• Though I got new running shoes at the beginning of this process, I'm becoming more aware of the running clothing that would be nice to have.
• I'm now worried/nervous about building up my abilities just to move and lose not only people to run with, but time in which I can run.

Banging Around

I love, love, love it that right now Dan has taken Charlotte down to his "shop" in the basement. They decided that Suzie really did need a cat house/climbing tree thing and since it's rainy today they have the perfect opportunity. From upstairs I'm hearing, "OK now hit the nail here.....Stand back while I make this piece shorter." And floating in and through Daddy's words and the sounds of wood moving around and pauses is the constant stream of words from his eager young helper.

Daughters need dads.

Family Photos

Yesterday we went to Purina Farms. I figured we needed to go see it at least once before we moved from St. Louis. Charlotte and Greg had great fun petting the farm animals and watching the dog show. Dan keeps using every interaction with dogs to remind the family that we're getting a dog soon. I'm fairly certain that he's way more excited than the kids about that one. After the show we wandered back to the car and on the way let the kids run in a field. We had a friend use my camera to take some family photos. Then we saw this tree and thought a photo would look pretty great in that tree.I think it looks pretty good, but in order to get into the tree here's what had to happen. Firs we start on the ground:Then he lifts me up and tickles me at the same time! It's amazing I didn't fall on his head.

Easter Frustrations

First off, I'm not crazy. I maintain that it is not crazy to want my children to coordinate in their Easter outfits and also for my son to have a shirt and tie. The holiday is on a Sunday. Every year. You'd think it wouldn't be so hard.

Second off, thanks to grandmas and aunts, I have very rarely had to purchase any clothing for either of my children. We are all so grateful for that. They have much better clothing than we could afford.

Third off, we had heard nothing about Easter outfits from anyone. I figured this year must be the first year I've got to figure this one out on my own. Not so hard I figured. Hahahaha! Not so hard! What a joke. Target had a slew of little girls Easter dresses on sale thanks to my procrastination. I found one that was appropriately cute and had other colors than just pink in it. There had to be some pink because Charlotte was with me and helping me pick one out, but I needed another color to coordinate with Greg's tie.

Then we had a week long torturous running around trying to find a white button up shirt and green tie. Also we needed new church shoes, mostly just for Greg, but I really wanted to find some cheap white ones for Charlotte. That way they would match her white Easter hat.

Why do boys get the short end of the stick with cute church clothing? Or really any Sunday appropriate clothing? Do manufacturers think boys can show up in wrinkly casual clothing to anything and be fine? Ridiculous! I found oodles of things that were adorable for Charlotte she even got new lace trimmed socks. Greg? I compromised by finding a white button up shirt without a tie and then getting a shirt and tie set at JCP. The set was a blue shirt with yellow tie. I figured I could use white shirt yellow tie. It wasn't my original idea, but it would work even though there's no yellow (or blue) in Charlotte's dress at all.

Then we went on to find shoes. We spent approximately 5 minutes in payless shoes before we found the white shoes of Charlotte's dreams. (Mom! they have jewels!) Remember she doesn't really NEED shoes, but they were on sale and cute so we got them. Greg, who has zero church shoes that fit found zero new church shoes that fit. They had exactly one option that he started screaming about as soon as it was on his foot and they weren't even that cute to begin with.

So for Easter, my daughter will have a brand spanking new out fit from head to toe that I absolutely love and my son, through no lack of searching, has whatever works and is shoeless.