Vacation, Part 4

Our trip home from the beach was also a really great time, thanks to a number of things:



We stayed overnight in Richmond with some great friends/college alumni, Caleb & Melissa. (That's Caleb on the right and their oldest daughter, Emarie, in the pool.) They have a rockin' kiddie pool/slide set up in their yard.



Gabriel exclaimed, "Caleb & Melissa sure know how to beat the heat!"

After a great time with Caleb & Melissa, including Daniel visiting their home church Saturday evening with Caleb while Melissa & I stayed at the house with kids, we hit the road for our final stretch.




We'd saved one bag of goodies that Diane had given just for this day. It included activity/sticker books,



...car games (tic-tac-toe is ALWAYS a hit with my crew),



...and even a new toy for the babe!



We literally ate every. single. meal. on the road IN the vehicle, except for one last dinner on the way home. We'd been traveling for 10 hours (that DAY) by then and figured the kids (and we!) could use the break. Dinner also included a brief stroll to stretch legs a bit.

The End.

Vacation, Part 1

I did a lot of this.
(Eric & Lisa, see how carefully I drove??? I was so paranoid about wrecking your awesome vehicle!)



What the kids looked like much of the trip-- the boys were too engrossed in their movie to even look at the camera, apparently.



We were so glad to be with the Story's for 2 days! Mrs. Story spoiled us all.



We went to a playground near the Story's home.



Mr. & Mrs. Story have playdoh!



...and bubbles!



...and a wonderful dog that Bronwyn fell head-over-heels in love with!



Mr. Story sure did love on Claire a lot.



We would have stayed with them a week if we'd had the time!

I am...

... SPOILED! Sometimes I look around at all the wonderful things I have and I wonder how much more blessed a girl can get-- and then God goes and pours out more on me!

So here are some pictures of the latest spoils around here:

The Diaper Bag, handmade for me by my engineer/seamstress sister Danica. I love the orange lining that contrasts the charcoal and white stripes! It's so all-purpose, all-season, while still being a bag I like carrying around, which is exactly what I'd really hoped for.

I requested a long enough strap to wear it over one shoulder and across my body, since that is a necessity for when I'm out and about and trying to carry and infant car seat along with managing 4 hooligans children. I love the angled pockets across the front: the deepest is tall enough for my 27oz klean kanteen while the shallowest is small enough that I can drop my keys in it and not have to fish around forever to find them again. The middle one is currently holding hand lotion, blistex, and chewing gum.

This is just a picture of the backside, which also has 2 angled pockets. You can see a burp cloth poking out of the one on the left.




Pockets, pockets, pockets!
She lined the inside with 2 good-sized pockets on either side. Then she divided the whole thing with a zippered section. Just so you know how much is in there right now, I have a change of clothes for Claire and 3 of her diapers + 1 of her covers on one side and then 2 diapers for Aubrey on the other, plus the zippered wet bag in the middle, my girlie products in 1 side pocket, my wallet and misc. monies, cards, etc. in another, and then wipes in another (and 1 is empty).





Claire was recently given another handmade gift: a special blanket and burp cloth made by a great friend from Pittsburgh, Sarah (you can visit her etsy shop here to see more blankets and burp cloths she's made and is selling). It's flannel with satin lining and is so very soft and cuddly. Her "special" blanket (each of the kids has one of their very own). We love it!





These are the dessert plates I was given by the church family Friday night at Daniel's ordination. I have 12 altogether and I love them. I'm already trying to figure out what luncheon or small occasion I can plan in the near future so as to use them with a bunch of friends who will oogle over them as much as I have.





And lastly, though not new to Claire (it was actually a gift from Mom to me when I was expecting Gabriel), I just had to show a picture of perhaps my all-time favorite handmade gift: this baby bassinet that a basket-weaver at Plymouth Plantation was commissioned by Mom to make just for me. All my babies have used it and I absolutely adore it.

(Oh, and if you're wondering why it's on top of my bed, it's because it slows Aubrey down enough that I can usually catch her before she's climbed into the bassinet with Claire.)

Rambling Weekend Recap

On Friday night, Daniel was ordained and set in as a pastor here at our local church. To say it was a special and significant evening would be a huge understatement. At this point I feel rather at a loss for words to summarize the night, but I will say that it is an amazing thing to witness what God does through and with human vessels. Daniel is a gift from the Lord to the Body and he is the real deal, all the time.

Daniel's parents, his brother and sister-in-law and 2 nephews, his uncle (who was our pastor in Pittsburgh) and aunt, and two couples that are very dear friends of ours (along with some of their children) all came up for the weekend from Pittsburgh to celebrate with us. There were some college alumni who also drove in, as well as a pastor and some of his family from the Rochester area. On Saturday we had an open house of sorts so that we could have a better chance of visiting with everyone, and that was a lot of fun. It led into an evening of game-playing and pizza-making (thanks, Daniel and Matt!) at our house and I've gotta say, if you've never played a game with Tim Ross, you've missed out on a really good time. The guy's hilarious.

Both Daniel and I were so blessed by the incredibly generous gifts we received Friday evening. I knew (Daniel didn't!) beforehand about the significant gift of money for a new guitar that our church family collected and the amazing Steelers tickets good friends of ours arranged and coordinated to give Daniel, but I didn't know about the beautiful dishes and flowers, that's for sure. This weekend was better than Christmas! Wow.

Today we said good-bye to the last of our out-of-town guests, and my mother-in-law was one of the departing visitors. We are going to miss her a lot this week. It dawned on me today that I'm actually going to have to start doing the dishes again! It was a great ten days with her and I am so grateful for all her help and companionship as I adjust to being a mother of five.

Speaking of being a mother of five, Claire is three whole weeks old today. These newborn days are slipping like sand between my fingers. I know everyone says it goes faster every time, but that's because it's true! I am completely undone by it and, yes, rather sad. The other day I found myself holding her close and just wishing I could somehow bottle the feel, the smell, the newness up to be enjoyed in later years. Just stay little, my girl... please?

And, for the record, Claire is still being a dream baby in the sleep department. She rarely wakes up more than once during the night and has even occasionally slept right through until morning. I'm still pinching myself because, trust me, this is nothing I'm doing and 100% that she is an absolute peach. There are some fussier times during the days and lots of cluster-feedings in the evenings, but I honestly am glad for that because otherwise she would probably be so easy that I wouldn't have the excuse to sit and snuggle her as much as I'd like!

Well, that's that for my rambling weekend recap. Daniel is at a meeting this evening and his computer is here, so I thought I would take advantage and do some catch-up. Hopefully I will get some pictures posted soon. I am especially thinking of new photos of Claire, as well as a few snapshots of my amazing new diaper bag and the dishes I was given on Friday evening.

Home again

Last night we arrived home from our 6-day trip to Pittsburgh. The drive was... rough... but the days spent there were well worth the many hours spent in the van listening to Aubrey whine.

We packed a lot into our visit: the zoo, an extended family Father's Day lunch, a day at Idlewild, guitar browsing, the first ever stop at Ikea Pittsburgh, two church services, playtime with cousins, Panera Bread, game playing, dinner with friends, and more. It was all really, really wonderful. And the weather, believe it or not, was idyllic.

Today has been spent catching up: laundry, grocery shopping, mowing the lawn, cleaning dusty bathrooms, getting good naps, etc. Tomorrow I hope to get out to the gardens, which exploded while we were gone! The perennial bed is coming alive with the buds and blooms of the bee balm, shasta daisy, delphinium, yarrow, batchelor's button, and astilbe. Our lettuce and spinach plants are suddenly in full production mode, which meant that I didn't have to buy any lettuce at the grocery store this morning and I did get to make a salad with greens that came straight from the garden only minutes before dinner. I picked up some tomato cages while I was out since we've only staked up the cherry tomatoes and desperately need to do something for the Big Boys.

The kids are glad to return to their toys but sad to be over 500 miles away from Grandma and the other friends and family we were able to spend time with. Fortunately, an hour or two spent splashing in the Ockrin kiddie pool this morning (while I shopped) seemed to help alleviate some of the sadness!

We forgot our camera (boo, me), but already a friend sent some that she took during our amazing day at Idlewild:

Our trip to Pittsburgh

We returned last night from our wonderful trip to Pittsburgh. It was such great fun to be able to visit with many, many friends and family without feeling like we were rushing or having to "pick and choose." I loved worshiping at both services, playing games after the kids went to bed with Daniel, Beth, and Mom & Dad Paladin, having a playdate for my kids with my friends' kids, going to a parade downtown, and more.

Here are a few photos from our time away, in no particular order:

Our friend Tim playing with Gabriel

Daniel, his brother Larry, and his nephew Malcolm watching the Pitt game



Mom Paladin entertaining Aubrey while we got hot chocolate downtown



dinner with some of the best friends in the world



Bronwyn and Jackson helping Grandma Rah-Rah sew up the turkey



Larry (Daniel's brother), Emily, Larry IV, and Malcolm on Thanksgiving Day



watching the Christmas Parade in downtown Pgh Saturday morning



getting a quick family snapshot before church on the 30th

Here in PA

We made it Friday night around midnight, even in spite of running into some snow in Syracuse and then quite a bit just after crossing the Pennsylvania border. The kids traveled amazingly well and I think we would have made the trip in less time if it hadn't been for the storms.

Since getting here, we've been able to visit with lots of people we hold very dear. Grandma and Pap-Pap, of course. Also Uncle Larry, Aunt Em, and their boys, church friends yesterday morning, and various friends and extended family members who came over yesterday for a little open house. Today the kids and I spent the day at Michelle's house, where we were joined by Stacie and Sarah and their kids (yes, there were 13 kids 6 and under, not including the baby girl due in February), while Daniel met the corresponding husbands for lunch downtown.

This visit has been a great time to catch up with everyone. I'm really glad we have quite a few more days, because I feel like we've barely scratched the surface!

How the days fly by!

This semester is almost completely filled up. Yesterday Daniel and I sat down for a few minutes together to discuss good potential dates for Aubrey's procedure before I went ahead and called the cardiologists. We thought it would be an easy task, but weren't we surprised to find that week by week we went through the calendar and struggled to find many options between now and Christmas. In the end, of course, we'll do what we have to do to get it squeezed in, but it won't be as simple as we'd thought it would be.

I am loving autumn this year. It's been breathtaking and unseasonably mild. The only blip in it might be Halloween, which is just an ugly and awful day, in my opinion. [Bunny trail: I have yet to find any activity that redeems it, though the years my family spent it eating at dinner at Sergi's sure came close to doing the trick. If anyone has any suggestions...] However, it's been hard to find time to just enjoy the weather and outdoors. I try not to be offended by the fact that the bathrooms still have to be cleaned and the laundry still has to be done even when I'd rather just blow it all off and take the kids on long walks.

In about 5 or 6 weeks (we have yet to nail down exact travel dates) we'll be heading to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. Um, wow: the end of November is only in 5 or 6 weeks??? We are super excited about the trip, if less than enthused about the rapid disappearance of time. Besides Daniel's trip Memorial Day weekend with 3 kids to Cook Forest, we haven't been to PA in over a year. Aubrey has yet to meet many of her Paladin relatives. It is high time!

Busy days can tend to crowd out relationships. I am doing my best to not neglect them. So over the weekend, we had good friends stay with us for the weekend. Area friends joined all of us for dinner Saturday night. Sunday after church we gather with the family for a big meal before Mom headed off to California for a month. Tonight we're having more friends over for dinner. It's just good to be with people and remember that the never-ending list of Things To Do is not the most important thing in life. Not to mention, it's a lot more fun than crossing one more thing off.

The stuff of [my] life::

:: I'm off sugar. For real.

Well... (you knew a well was coming, didn't you???) except for on the weekends.

I can't make a rule like Except For Special Occasions, because when you're part of a big family and a big church and have lots of wonderful friends and family members, there's a special occasion most every day of the week. Like tonight. Like yesterday. Like the day before that. And like the day before that. (I kid you not...) And the problem with just saying I'm off sugar with no exceptions is that I would fail. Probably tomorrow. But if I know I just need to hang on until Saturday for a chocolate chip cookie or a serving of apple crisp, I think I can make it.

Ask me how I'm doing on Wednesday afternoon when my body is absolutely craving a sugar rush and, please, tell me I can make it.

:: I've got thrush again. (You knew something besides good conscience spawned this no sugar thing, didn't you?) This is the second time since I stopped taking my probiotic faithfully. I ran out in July and I haven't felt like spending the $30 to get more. But I've been paying for it in a major way.

Seriously, anyone who gets thrush as much as I do needs to do her body a favor by reducing her refined sugar intake and just. spending. the. money.

:: Jackson has impetigo on his bum. Poor kid. I would never have known what it was except for the cloth diapering forum I'm part of. I saw a thread about staph infections and when I first realized that Jack's sore wasn't going away, I got curious. A few questions and one google search later, I was pretty sure he had it.

I spent the last week treating it with colloidal silver, but I brought him to the doctor today for something a little more potent. Fortunately, I do think the colloidal silver kept the infection from spreading because the doctor was fairly confident that a skin cream will do the trick and that an oral antibiotic *shudder* won't be necessary.

:: my friend got amazingly good, put-a-smile-on-my-face news today! I am so incredibly thrilled for her.

And I'm excited for all of us who have stood in prayer with her. I know for sure that I needed the reminder that God doesn't have to work on our (or our doctor's) timetable in order to give us the miracle we need.

:: Aubrey has learned  how to crawl up stairs. She's only gone so far as the first two before deciding to back down, but for those of you who are familiar with our house, you know that once a kid learns to scale our steps, s/he can handle any steps anywhere. (They're against-modern-day-code steep.) Last week she figured out how to get her first knee up the step, but then she gave up for a couple days. This morning while the 3 big kids were upstairs doing their morning chores, she resumed her anxiously awaiting position at the bottom of the stairs. I guess the desire to be up there with them totally overtook her, because the next thing we knew she was going up.

Aubrey's also gotten downright grouchy when she wants food and we don't share. Like the cake at Mom's house yesterday. My goodness did she know it was yummy and let us hear her displeasure about not being allowed to partake!

Little reminders that my baby is growing up every day.

:: I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I'm so thankful for Daniel. My sister sent me this photo today with the following note:

"ohmygosh.  best picture ever. you're so in love.  seven years and four children later and so in love.  awesomeness."

God has really blessed me with a man who loves me stubbornly.   Daniel doesn't give up on me or quit no matter what. I'm so thankful.

(But wait a minute, seven years? Ummm... where did the time go????)

Lately

:: Friday night I pulled out all the fall decorations. I hadn't been planning on doing so until after Aubrey's birthday, but I had about an hour of spare time and the weather the day before had been so autumn-like that I just couldn't resist. It was almost comical that Saturday and Sunday were then so warm and muggy. My fall decorations were entirely out of place. Ah well. They feel very appropriate today.

:: Daniel's mom and dad were in town visiting, especially to celebrate Aubrey's birthday with us. It's always so nice to have them and we only ever wish they could stay for longer. I'm blessed to have in-laws that it's so easy to feel that way about.

:: Over plates heaped with pasta and brightly colored veggies and soft homemade bread, we celebrated Aubrey's birthday with a good number of friends and family. She seemed to enjoy the evening immensely, particularly the pretty pink candle in the pink frosted cupcake and all the tissue and wrapping paper that her gifts came in. Her actual birth wasn't the joyous occasion most births are, which made this first birthday celebration all the more sweet.

:: Our family room was packed last night with visitors who came to cheer on the Steelers with Daniel. I think he was especially glad to be able to watch a game this year with his dad. The occasion did, of course, call for kielbasa (ewwww).

:: I hardly slept a wink last night once the wind and rain picked up. It was quite the storm and I was amazed that we never lost power, seeing as how we've lost power multiple times this summer in much milder storms.

:: Today we waved good-bye to Grandma & Pap-Pap and then began our normal Monday routine. Daniel headed out and the kids I began school, which is so enjoyable for us all. When putting sounds of letters together today, Gabriel "got it," which was super exciting for both of us. It was cool to see him realize how reading works. Such fun!

:: Tomorrow is Daniel's day off. He will spend most of the day painting the exterior of the family room. Assuming all goes as planned in that regard, I will try to post pictures tomorrow evening of the initial priming, along with pictures from Aubrey's party. (I can't find the camera-computer cord right now...)

Pictures

Daniel, Aubrey and I hit the road Thursday afternoon to begin our trip to Maryland for Daniel's cousin's wedding and we returned last night at about 9:15pm and almost 1200 miles later. We had a really, really, really great time. I'm very glad we went, if rather tired today!

We stopped our first night at the home of the Trelease's in the Syracuse, NY area and had a wonderful time of visiting, eating steak (!), taking a walk, and enjoying them and their home.

Eric & Jen's daughter, Eleora, is just 1-1/2 months older than Aubrey-- it was fun to watch them try to figure each other out!

Eric reading the girls a bedtime story

We arrived in Maryland Friday afternoon and did a quick settling in our hotel room and changing before the ceremony at 5:30pm. It was a beautiful wedding-- every detail was accounted for and even the weather was gorgeous.

Daniel, Aubrey, and I immediately following the ceremony on the church steps

Daniel and I especially enjoyed the exceptional live music at the reception, as well as the unbelievably good food (fillet mignon and stuffed shrimp, among other things-- yum!). Aubrey entertained herself much of the evening with spoons.


Daddy and his girl

On Saturday we went to a lake house that Daniel's Uncle Ed (father of the bride) and his wife Nancy rented for family to join them at. It was a huuuuuge house right on the water. I was very thankful for the chance to visit with this side of Daniel's family since I hadn't even met some of his aunts, uncles, and cousins before now.

Daniel got most everyone involved in a 1000 piece puzzle at some point or other.
Here he is with his cousin Chris:


The bride (Daniel's cousin) and groom looking at an old photo album with Grand-Daddy Huber


Aubrey loved her second cousin Sophia


Daniel's grandparents (his mom's side of the family)


Aunt Nancy holding Aubrey


We were very glad that Aubrey got to meet her Great-Grandma Huber, who is one of her most faithful prayer warriors

I took lots more pictures-- like the 5 up-close shots of the unique bustling on Jackie's bridal gown that I want to show Carina-- but I'll end now.

I'm glad to be home with kids, pleased with how exceptionally well Aubrey traveled (these were her first overnighters away from home, excluding hospital stays), and so incredibly thankful to have met/spent time with some really great family that Daniel really loves!

It was a fun 5 days.

(Well, except for the 13 hours it took to get home yesterday. )

Us Girls

We were a foursome this weekend, us girls. All within a couple years of one another's age. All young wives and moms.

In addition to us, there were two nursing babes and two swollen bellies full of hidden blessing.

Being. Eating. Laughing. Telling stories. Sharing thoughts.

They slipped out this morning in the wee hours while my baby and I slept peacefully. There wasn't a good-bye (I never thought I wouldn't wake up and I'm sure they didn't want to wake me), but it was almost better that way. We might live far apart now, but our friendship is ongoing.

I'm thankful for these friends. Tangible expressions from God that I am not alone in this thing called life and serving Christ. Encouragement that it can be done and that there is great support and joy along the way.

The Weekend Update

Daniel and the kids are officially off on their camping adventure. This mom thinks the real adventure of the weekend will be the 7-1/2 hour trip Daddy is making solo with 1 toddler and 2 preschoolers. I'm already anxiously awaiting updates as they go, saying that they are making good progress. They're so excited and I've no doubt they will have a great time.

This morning, before they left, our new mattress and box spring arrived. Finally. (The company we ordered it from shipped it in the 2 weeks they said they would, but the local delivery company took a ridiculously long amount of time to then get it to us.) It's set up in the bedroom and I just finished putting the bedding back on it. And I must say that it's huge.

Huge.

I never thought of our full-sized bed as being particularly small, but this thing is so.much.wider. The queen-sized duvet I made work on our old bed no longer drapes on the floor at the bottom corners. In fact, I might even need to consider purchasing a bed skirt now. I think I will feel a bit lost in it tonight-- Daniel won't be even be here-- but I anticipate quickly getting used to it and appreciating the extra room, especially when little people visit us in the early mornings.

Stacie, Michelle, and Sarah are on their way up to visit (I assume the trip is still going according to plan!), along with 21-month-old Mariah, for the weekend. I'm so excited to spend time with them!

My projected weekend forecast is looking very good, if a little unusual.