First Day of School

A Screeching Halt

That's what happens to life when kids start puking.

I was on a roll . . . a large mound of laundry was in the hall ready to be folded and put away. I was getting ready to mop the floor and vacuum the carpets. The girls' rooms were picked up. My house was on it's way to being in order. And then Abby started puking.

I am still staring at the large pile of unfolded laundry, which has grown in the past 12 hours:) Toys are everywhere and floors never got cleaned.

But I don't entirely mind. I got to spend a good 12 hours with Abby, who refused to be anywhere but next to me. This mommy job is okay by me:) We spent the day yesterday (in between puking, which Abby handles like a champ) watching movies, tv, and reading books. It is kind of nice to not be *able* to do all the housework that needs to be done, because my little girl needed me more. I was certainly okay with that.

But one of the hardest part of this mommy thing is juggling work and kids, especially when they get sick. I love working part-time and I love my job. It has given us a nice balance that works for our family. But when one of the girls gets sick, I really struggle with having to be at work and wanting to stay home with sick kids. Nate can rearrange his schedule much easier than I can, and he is usually our first option when considering who will stay home with the sickos. Not only am I hourly, but we can't call substitutes anymore due to the budget cuts. So, Nate usually stays home, and I really struggle with that.

Nate had big plans today . . . the man weekend. He went to the delta (which I really have no idea where this is) with a friend of his for a few days of man weekend type things, which include a houseboat, beer, and lots of good food. I'm pretty sure he will come home tomorrow night in the same clothes he left in. He was supposed to leave at 7:30 this morning, but couldn't leave until 12:30 because we couldn't have a babysitter over and get her sick too!

So it was a struggle. But Nate is off to his man weekend, I am trying to entertain two kids who are sick of being in the house, and hoping that no one else get sick!

Not Fair

The last week and a half have been some of the most difficult times we've had in ministry. We have been thrown a curveball and are currently doing our best to honestly seek God's will and not our own. A conversation with our girls pretty much sums it up:

Nate: Girls, I need to talk to you about something very important. Another church in Orchard Park, NY wants Daddy to come be their pastor. We don't know if we are going to live here in California or move to New York.

Jenna: What happens to Mount Olive if you aren't their pastor?

Nate: I don't know.

Jenna; What happens to the other church if you aren't their pastor?

Nate: I don't know.

Jenna: Well, that's just not fair.

Abby: (Too busy to say anything because she is attempting to eat her spaghetti without any utensils. Picture a faceplant in the plate.)

Nate has received a Divine Call (Lutheran speak for job offer) to be the pastor at St. John's in Orchard Park, and I never fully understood the "divine" part of a call until this past week. Yeah, I know that God has his hands in everything, but we have experienced God in ways this past week that we never have before. Nate asked God to help him discern His will for us in a very specific way, and God is showing up. Big time. He asked him to help him figure out what to do through his dreams. Sounds a little crazy, I know, but God works in all kinds of ways, and he sure has been working overtime here. 10 dreams in 6 nights. God is also speaking through other people. Some in our church, some old friends, and some people we barely know.

. . . We did not seek this call out. We did not have Nate's name out on a call list and we are not looking to leave Mount Olive. The past four years here has been amazing. The people are wonderful, the ministry is wonderful, and we are happy here. But it is clear that God is doing something with this process and we are working hard to figure out what that is. Is He growing us here or moving us to New York? Considering this call is a matter of obedience at this point. When God speaks, we listen. And God is speaking.

Next week, we'll all fly out to visit St. John's and Orchard Park and will have a decision soon after. Please pray for both congregations involved and for us to discern God's direction for our lives. The thought of leaving our church, our friends, and our life here is very scary. We love the people of our church--they have been our partners in ministry and life for four years. And seeing the sadness and disappointment and even anger in some of them has been especially difficult for both of us.

In the end, I know that God is good, in control, and ultimately knows what's best. And that is a huge comfort to me.

Newspaper Thievery

I am ticked and am going to do something about it.

We get the newspaper every day, and reading it is an essential part of my morning. As I come downstairs for breakfast, I stop outside to get the newspaper that is either still in the driveway or sitting nicely on our porch where Nate threw it when he left for work. I get breakfast ready for all of us, make my peppermint green tea, place my newspaper to the left of my breakfast and endulge in quiet bliss while I eat.

I love news. I love watching news, reading news, and debating what's in the news. I secretly love and follow politics. I read the police log faithfully and never miss a Mr. Roadshow article in our paper. If I could have one channel (or two) on all day, it would be MSNBC and Fox News. (I like to switch back and forth. The best is watching Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow at the same time, switching back and forth because they are so crazy and polar opposite.) But you see, I cannot watch news all day. I can't watch the news at all. If the tv is on at our house, certain little redheads are whining about putting Yo Gabba Gabba or the Backyardigans on. So I often leave the tv off.

That's where the newspaper comes in. I love it and savor the ten minutes I get to read it while the girls are eating breakfast.

But we have a newspaper thief and this ruins my love affair with the newspaper when it is stolen. Earlier this spring, we had about a month where the paper wasn't being delivered regularly. We thought that we just had a bad delivery guy and called and complained. After a while, the paper was being delivered every day and we haven't had any problems. Until yesterday. No paper. Okay . . . maybe Nate took it with him to work and forgot to tell me. Nope. He never saw it. Today, Nate said he saw it in the driveway when he left at 6:45am and by the time I got downstairs at 8:30 (I know, that's late, but I'm still on summer vacation), it was gone.

So I have deduced that we have a newspaper thief and this is what I'm going to do about it.

I am going to put this in a plastic ziplock bag and somehow attach it to the back of our car in the driveway, so that the thief can see it before he leans over to steal our paper. Crazy? Probably:)

We shall see if it works . . .

Girls Rock!

Beautiful Girl

Many of my posts about Abby are about her getting into some sort of trouble or making a gigantic mess, but this one is not. Abby is adventurous, messy, curious, and busy, but she is also incredibly sweet, sensitive, and cuddly. She loves to be held and carried and cuddled.

Yesterday morning, I was up before the girls reading the newspaper in the soon to be gone silence of the day, when Abby strolled out of her room and onto my lap. Jenna is usually the first one up, but yesterday, Abby and I had a good ten minutes of solid Abby/Mommy cuddle time.

Sometimes, kids say the sweetest, cutest, most endearing things that absolutely make all the craziness of the day go away. Yesterday morning was one of those days.

Abby: Mommy, I haf to tell you sumpin in yo ear.
Me: Okay sweetheart.
Abby: You are my bootiful Mommy and I yuv you yots.

:) :) :)

I always tell Abby and Jenna that they are my beautiful girls:)

Seven Dresses

A typical day at our house involves lots of changing of the clothes. On with the Snow White dress up, off with the Snow White dress up. On with the fairy dress and wings, off with the fairy dress and wings. On with last year's Easter dress, off with last year's Easter dress. Today was a little different, however, . . . Abby skipped the 'off" part of dress up and ended up with 7 of her dresses on. Yep, all seven, one on top of the other. She's had them on for a few hours now and insists on keeping them on. Even if it is nice and toasty outside!

Jenna's Preschool Graduation

The middle of June was crazy for us. School was ending for me and Jenna and we were getting ready to go on vacation. We had graduations and parties and all the craziness of end of the year stuff. So much happened in that week, that I forgot to post pictures from Jenna's graduation. My mom gently reminded me, so here it is Mom . . . .

Jenna's preschool experience has been awesome! She had wonderful teachers and good friends, and we couldn't have been more happy with her two years there. Thank you to Mrs. Khokhar, Ms. Khou, Mrs. Pang, and Ms. Prow for a wonderful year! Kindergarten here we come!

Jenna got to be the flag leader during graduation.

All graduated from preschool!

Jenna and her best friend, Kiara.

Before the kids get their diplomas, the teachers read a small paragraph about each child. Last year, I was surprised (and a little bit mortified) that Jenna wanted to be a cheerleader when she grew up. Guess what she wanted to be again this year? Yep, for the second year in a row, Jenna wants to be a cheerleader:) Hey, if that's what she wants to be, that's great. I was just hoping to hear author or nurse or zookeeper:) We will see what the future holds!

I Love This Place

I am place person. By that, I mean that there are certain places, as in phsyical places, that I attached deep emotional meaning to. (sorry for ending my sentence with a preposition, fellow grammar geeks.) A few of those places are the Balsams in Eagle River, WI, Cindy W's kitchen in Kingwood, TX, our vicarage church in Kingwood, TX, my parents house, and Camp Pioneer in Angola, NY. It's not necessarily about the places, it's about the experiences I've had there and the memories made.

I am thinking about camp this weekend for two reasons . . . 1--we just finished up a week of VBS and I felt like a camp counselor all over again--songs with crazy hand motions, fun games, and girl drama. 2--there is a staff reunion at Camp Pioneer in Angola, NY this weekend and many old friends are there. I'm a tiny bit sad that I can't be there. I would love to see this tonight . . . one of my favorite things about camp.



I went to camp as a middle school camper, volunteered every summer in high school, and then was a counselor for four years in college. I have quite the history there. I guess it's 9 summers total. Lots of people who are camp counselors are there for one or two summers, but that wasn't me. I was sold out to Pioneer. 100%. It was a place where I experienced God, a place where my faith became my own. It was the place where I learned to serve others and how to love people who weren't like me. I have a deep attachment to this place because it is one of the places where I can always immediately feel God's presence.

Some of my favorite memories include staff training, learning how to break into the kitchen, sin ice cream, the craziness of special camp, siestas, furiously trying to memorize my lines for the woman at the well monologue, house parties, the sound of hundreds of kids singing "Oh How I Love Jesus," and doing the Johnny Got Run Over By a Bus skit a million times. I love the memory of Nate and some of the other guy counselors performing Ice Ice Baby. But I mostly remember the people I worked with. We had some really fun times and those summers were some of the best I've had.

Nate and I met at camp and spent two summers there together:) I thought he and his friend, Dion, were the craziest people I had ever seen when I first met them, and here we are 12 years later--married for almost ten years with two little redheaded sweethearts. Pioneer holds a lot of memories for us and I'm thankful for the time we spent there. I know that we touched many lives while we were there as counselors, but I also believe that the counselors and staff are ministered to just as much as the campers that actually paid to come. At least I know I was:)

Explosion

We have had two water issues in the past week. First, Abby snuck into my bathroom and played with my makeup (which she knows she's not supposed to do) while I was drying Jenna's hair. In about fifteen minutes, she managed to overflow the sink creating a pool of water on the counter, on the floor, in the drawers, and in the cabinets. I was mortified when I heard a waterfall type sound coming from my bathroom. My sink was slow (needed to be snaked) and she left the water on:) It was all cleaned up and everything's fine. I was just glad that the water ran through the ceiling into the garage and not into the living room.

Then yesterday, we had this.

We had no idea what happened at first. Was our dishwasher broken? Did I put too much soap in? How could this have happened? Good thing the "wet" part of the wet/dry vac worked. We never had to use it before. After thinking for a few minutes, I realized that this was all my fault. Right before I closed the dishwasher, I threw in this dish.

This is the clean version. But I use this dish to rest my sponge/dishwand thing on and it gets caked on with dried soap. It was pretty thick. I didn't rinse it:) So we had a dishwasher explosion!

At least our dishwasher doesn't need to be replaced!

Please Pray for Stellan

Please join me in praying for this little guy. He needs our prayers and so do his parents.

Blurb.com

If you are like me, this site that I am about to introduce to you will make you so, so happy!

Before I tell you about it, let me tell you this . . . .

I started blogging because my friend, Jocelyn, had a blog and I thought it was cool. A little uneasy about my writing skills, I didn't post very much. But then I realized that this blog could put all of my guilty scrapbooking feelings to rest.

Everyone around me scrapbooked. My best friend is God's gift to the scrapbooking aisle at Target. Everyone gave me scrapbooking stuff. I have all the gear, tools, and stuff to create scrapbooks. Too bad I had zero interest in making scrapbooks mostly due to my distaste for crafts and inferiority complex when it comes to creativity. So blogging not only became my way of letting friends and family into our lives, but it became my way of documenting our lives, and I was totally okay to do so without the cute stickers and stamps.

I have always thought that I should just start printing out my blog so that my kids could have a copy of it for their keepsake boxes, but I never actually did it. I wondered how I was going to print out so many posts and how I would exactly go about doing that.

Until today:)

I ran across this site called Blurb.com. This site allows people to make books. Now you can make a book from virtually any piece of data--word doc, pdf, and EVEN BLOGS! Yay! First you have to download their FREE (did I say free?) software that allows you to import your blog (pictures and all) into a book. You can design your book and have it sent to you in a few weeks. Of course, you have to pay for the book, but the prices are very reasonable.

I am not sure how I am going to do this yet, but I think I may create a book for every year and have it to document our lives. If this excites you at all, go to blurb.com and download your free software and check it out!

Yay for blurb.com!

A Bachelorette Rant

I totally realize that The Bachelorette is not a show that correctly exemplifies love or the way relationships realistically happen. There's a lot wrong with this show and the girl (or guy) hardly ever end up in a relationship, but I.Love.This. Show. Think what you will of me:)

I have watched every single episode of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette since its beginning. Tamara and I (and even her husband Chuck) make a bet at the beginning of each season about who will end up with the final rose. I would nicely like to point out that Tamara and I both bet on Ed and Kiptyn ending up in the finale with Chuck's picks being kicked off fairly early in the show:) In addition to our betting, we debrief every Tuesday about Monday evening's show. At the end of every season, we also seriously consider boycotting the next season because we have been so disappointed in the past few years. But every time the trailer comes on for the new season, we admit that as much as we'd like to not watch, we just can't help it and get sucked back in. I really wish Tamara lived close because we would have one fun finale party next week!

Now there are only two men left, Ed and Kiptyn, and next week she will pick one of them (although Reid comes back and probably finally communicates his feelings-which he should have done in the first place). I vote for Ed to win. I do think that Reid MAY have a shot at winning, but I am still going to vote for Ed here. It's just a hunch--not based on a whole lot, but that's my vote.

And since this is my blog and I have a platform here, I have to express my deep annoyance with the improper use of grammar used by Jillian every time she said "him and I." I am a grammar geek and am a tiny bit bothered by this offense. If she said it once--fine. But it's several times an episode. It's "he and I" Jillian. He and I.

Ahhh . . . I just thought of something. Next Monday is my husband's birthday. Hmmm . . . do you think he'd watch it with me? :) Good thing we are celebrating his birthday the night before!

Dancing Queen

This weekend was our very first dance recital experience. Jenna's been in class for almost a year now, and our time finally came for the big day! I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about the whole thing--probably much more than Jenna. Would I be the only mom not taking her daughter to get her hair and makeup done? How would her shoes turn out after the nice dance lady told me that I had to "hand sew" the necessary elastic on her tap shoes? (seriously, I haven't sewn anything since high school home ec. class.) Would I get kicked out of dress rehearsal because I brought Abby along even though they specifically told us not to bring siblings? Should I have had her dress altered instead of pinned to make it fit? Would Jenna actually dance on the big stage or get freaked out and stare at the crowd?

The whole dance recital experience turned out to be awesome:) None of my nervousness was warrented and Jenna got out there and danced her little heart out with a dose of confidence that was wonderful to see. When we first walked into the theater at the convention center, Jenna's eyes got real big. She turned to me and said, "Mommy, that is the biggest stage I've ever seen and I am get to dance on it like a rock star!" After watching her in dress rehearsal and then in her performance, I realized that she probably has gifts and talents similar to her daddy. She likes to perform:)

Our first year of dance was everything I hoped it would be. It was a year of pure joy for Jenna. She loves to dance and felt really good about herself at the end. What more could a mommy want?

Jenna, Nate, and Abby practicing before the recital!

Isn't that the cutest outfit ever?

A sweet wave from the stage.

So proud of herself!

5 conversations you must have with your daughter

This book has had a profound impact on how I think about raising our girls. It is a book for parents (geared mostly for mothers although Nate has started reading it too) of girls of any age. It doesn't matter if you have a newborn, a five year old, or a high schooler. It is applicable to all for all ages.

Vicki Courtney is a Christian mother who is "in the trenches" raising her own girls and offers her experience and insight as a leading thinker in the area of ministry to girls and their mothers. A handbook of sorts, this is an invaluable resource to help mothers navigate the waters of life and culture and influences that their daughters will undoubtedly face. Each chapter is written for each conversation which are:

1. You are more than the sum of your parts
2. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up
3. Sex is great and worth the wait
4. It's okay to dream about marriage and motherhood
5. Girls gone wild are a dime a dozen-dare to be virtuous

As a mother of two girls, ages 5 and 3, I am so thankful to have read this book. Vicki Courtney gives lots of information and truth about the things girls face growing up, and she offers practical advice for each situation. Do I agree with everything she says? No. But, I agree that letting life happen to my daughters without my intentional guidance isn't in their best interest. And I want them to know what they are going to face in this life, moreso, I want them to know the truth. Not what they see on tv or read in magazines, but the truth. Especially from a Godly perspective. I want them to know that they are loved my me and by God--unconditionally.

5 conversations addresses so many good situations that we are all going to encounter as mothers. What do you do when your child wants to play at someone's house who you don't know or might not approve of? How do you address weight and dieting with your daughter? When is it appropriate for kids to have a Facebook or MySpace account? What rules do you have for boys who are interested in your daughter? What do you do when you find out your daughter is having sex? So many good questions, and they are ones that I want to think about and have a plan for before Jenna asks me to go on a date with a boy!

If anyone has read it or has questions, I welcome comments! This is such a great book--I recommend it for all parents with girls of any age!

Disqualified

Today definitely, 100% disqualifies me from any chance of winning the Mother of the Year award. Really, I shouldn't even even be considered ever again after today.

We had a weekend full of activity and not much time at home. I was drained physically and emotionally, and today I took a break. Here are a list of my offenses for the day . . .

1. It actually all started last night. Our friends left close to 11pm and I made the bad decision to stay up for almost two hours watching The Bachelorette. Seriously . . . I had to be ready to discuss this week's episode with Tamara today!

2. I didn't brush the girls hair today. It was all knotty from yesterday and I didn't feel like listening to whining and crying when I brushed their hair, so I hastily threw it up in ponytails. No one noticed, right?

3. I did not anticipate doing this, but I watched almost the entire Michael Jackson memorial service. That means that I had to convince the girls to play upstairs so that I could watch the service and them at the same time. Definitely a bad mommy.

4. I ignored every ounce of cleaning, laundry, and dish washing that had to be done today. Maybe I can get it done in the hour before Nate gets home.

5. I decided to ignore all the food I just bought at the grocery store and pack the kids into the car to go through the drive thru at Wendy's. I was too lazy to take them in a restaurant and just wanted food I didn't have to cook or take my children out for.

6. I also flat out lied to the girls and told them that Taco Bell was closed when they asked to go there. (I hate Taco Bell and Nate recently introduced them to it.)

7. The girls had chicken nuggets for both lunch and dinner. So nutritious!

8. I didn't order just one jr. bacon cheeseburger, but two. I ate them both and loved every bite of them.

9. And this one has nothing to do with today, but I feel a little bit bad about it even though I probably couldn't have prevented it. Abby got some sort of stomach bug when we were on vacation. But I don't think it was a stomach bug. I think she got sick because she drank too much lake water. Gross. I saw her do it once, but I'm sure she had more than that. Just feeling a little guilty about that.

So I think that completes my list of reasons to be disqualified for mother of the year. In the next few hours, I will furiously try to make up for my lazy behavior today. The kids need a bath (and yes, I plan on brushing their hair this time) and I can at least put the dishes in the dishwasher:)

A Swimming Milestone

Yep, that's right . . . Jenna is officially a graduate of the AVAC Sea Horses! This is her ribbon that proudly hangs in her room. In case you can't read it, it says, "AVAC Swim School O-Fish-al Sea Horse!"

After our awful day last Tuesday, she completely did a 180. She did everything her teacher asked of her and did it happily. She was determined to swim and we are proud to announce (after almost two years of lessons, 16 weeks sitting on the steps, three sessions in the Sea Horses, and money I could most certainly use elsewhere) Jenna can now swim! Yea!

Last Friday, she surprised us with two thing . . . swimming completely on her own and earning the above ribbon that moves her into the next swimming group. So Jenna is now officially a Jellyfish!

We are so very, very proud of her. I know most kids get in the water and swim easily. But this wasn't the case for Jenna. This was a huge struggle and fear for her for about two years. We kept her engaged in swimming and here we are . . . over the fear and a proud swimmer! It's a good place to finally be:)

Farewell to Matt and Megan!

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is one of our favorite places to go. It has lots of fun kid rides and a beautiful view:) This week, we took Matt and Megan to the Boardwalk because they've never been there and they will be leaving us next week: ( Matt is our vicar, aka student pastor, and we have enjoyed their year with us here in CA and will miss them a whole lot.

For the first six months, our kids referred to them as Map and Megan. I never corrected them because it was so darn cute. Abby finally figured it out and he's now plain old Matt. Megan looks like she could be the mother of our girls, so she fit into our family quite well! Over the past year, they have become like family to us and I am especially thankful for Megan. She sat with me in church to help with the kids. She was the designated crayon holder, back rubber, and kid watcher when I had to take Abby to the nursery. She watched the girls on occasion and gave me the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever tasted. She's been my friend and I will miss her, but I know how happy she is to get back to the Midwest to be closer to her family! I am happy for them!

We had a picnic on the beach, and here's a good shot of Megan.

Matt offered to buy funnel cakes for us. He came back with two--one plain one and
one with ice cream and strawberries and whipped cream. I think he and
Jenna at that one all by themselves!


Matt got to experience the joy of having Abby ride on his shoulders!
She doesn't sit still, pulls ears, and often tries to get down.
Needless to say, this experience didn't last long:)

Good Times Part 2

After we left the Hartke family wedding, we made the two day trek to Tenkiller State Park in Oklahoma. We met my parents there along with our dear friends, Mike and Cindy Woltemath. Mike and Cindy brought three jet skis and Nate and I fell in love with them while we were there. We took several 50 mile round trip rides up the huge lake and back and absolutely loved every minute of it. We are totally lake people. We'd much rather be on vacation in a cabin on a lake than at the ocean. I love everything about it.

During our time in OK, we, of course, made a trip to the ONE doctor in the small town near the state park. We thought Abby had an ear infection, but it ended up to be a nasty virus that made her feel yucky most of the time we were there.

Overall, it was a great trip . . . we love Mike and Cindy dearly and are thankful for them in our lives:) Here are a few pictures from the trip.

My mom with Abby before she got sick.

On the jet skis . . . Abby loved the jet ski, Jenna not so much. Nate took her on the "tippy one" and she got thrown off. Mind you, she was going 8 mph, but given Jenna's fear of the water, this wasn't good. We now call her Jenna Jet Ski. She loves it:)

Us with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Cindy

My parents and Mike and Cindy

The Swimming Saga Continues

I signed the girls up for the summer session of swimming at the swim school we've been attending for the past year. In the past, only Jenna has been going (because Abby could only go in the parent/child class and I was waiting until she could go independently). She's been going once a week, but this time, both Jenna and Abby are attending five days a week for two weeks. The girls are in separate classes, but at the same time. Swimming bootcamp is how I like to think of it.

Given that swimming is a struggle for Jenna (afraid of the deep water, reluctant to try new things, and sat on the steps for 16 weeks of the Y lessons) I made two rules for the girls. #1 Do everything your teacher asks you to do, even if you don't want to. #2 Try something new every day.

The first day was awesome! Both girls loved their teachers and did everything they asked. I was sure that this awesomeness would continue. It did for Abby. Yesterday, she had another great day. But Jenna struggled. She was doing fine and then all of the sudden I saw her crying. She didn't want to flip from her back to her tummy and was putting up a fight. From that moment on, she was scared to do anything else. This isn't like her. She hasn't been uncooroperative since our Y days.

In the car on the way home, I found out why. She told me that her teacher called her "hard." She has two teachers--the main one and a helper. There are two other little girls in Jenna's class, and the helper went to grab Jenna from the wall to practice, leaving two others there. Jenna says that the lead teacher told the helper teacher to leave Jenna for last because she was "hard."

Well . . . Jenna heard this, and all the confidence she had in the first day vanished. I suspect that she gave up and felt awful for the rest of the swimming class--which would explain her downturn towards the end of the lesson.

In the car, she just cried. Her head in her lap, she asked me why she can't swim as well as the other kids and why she is "hard." All I could do was give her praise encourage her.

I hope things are better today and that her teacher knows that when he thinks those little ears aren't listening, that they really are. I'm hoping for a better day today!

A Sweet "All Better" Card

That's what this picture is according to Abby. You see, I have swimmer's ear--which has turned out to be very painful and annoying. In the midst of our busy day of cleaning, running errands, and going to swimming lessons, I sat down in our recliner for a few minutes. When asked if they could go outside, I told the girls that I needed a few minutes to rest because my ear just really hurt. (Time for some more Advil.) In a matter of ten minutes, both girls presented me with "All Better Cards," and I just had to share this one with you.

Abby made this. To you, it might just look like a coloring page with a very red, scribbly Cinderella, but there is a lot of thought behind this for a three year old. Abby chose Cinderella because she is my favorite princess and she chose to color it red because it's my favorite color. If you know Abby, you know that she is obssessed with the color purple, and for her to color an entire page red, is a big deal!

Thank you to my sweet, thoughtful little Abby!

Sickos

I have more vacation pictures coming, but I just have to vent about one vacation annoyance: getting sick. Someone always gets sick when we are on vacation. It's to the point where I scope out urgent care facilities or emergency rooms on our way into a new town so that I know where to go. Usually, ear infections are the culprit, but this time was different.

Nate: viral pink eye
Laura: fluid in the ear that won't go away and is very, very painful
Abby: stomach flu

I swear, our health insurance carrier must love us because 1. we always have out of network charges when we go on vacation and 2. they've seen a lot of the Hartke family already this week.

Is going on vacation worth it when someone or many of us get sick? Yes, but very, very annoying.

I Don't Get It

Really . . . Jenna is on her bed right now crying her eyes out over a box. I have no sympathy or patience for this situation and I really just don't get it.

Jenna got a jewelry box for Christmas and the box that it came in has been sitting in the garage since December. I save those kinds of boxes to mail stuff in, and today I was wrapping a gift for my friend, Tamara, and that box was perfect for what I had to mail. As I was putting the gift in the box, Jenna said that she wanted the box (most likely because it was pretty and pink and girly). Of course, I said no that I needed that box for the gift and I didn't have another box to use.

Jenna proceeded to throw a fit about how she's been looking for that box and just didn't want to tell me about it. (Yeah right, for six months she's been keeping this all inside!) She sat at the table, staring at the box and is now saying "bye bye" to the box. She told me that she needs the box so that if anyone tries to steal her jewelry box then she'd have the box to put it in to hide from them. (Did I mention that we call her The Negotiator?) Seriously . . . . she just wants what she wants and is using every tactic she can think of to get it. I am not falling for it, and I will not unwrap the gift so that Jenna can have this box.

Am I a terrible mother for not giving her the box? Should I have bought another box to mail this gift in? I think no.

I am trying to divert her attention to something else, but all she keeps doing is complaining about this box. A great start to the day! I can't wait to take the package to the post office. I'm sure we're in for more fits over this box. Oh how I love parenthood sometimes.

Good Times--Part 1

We've been on vacation for a little over a week now, and here's what we've been doing . . .

First stop: Pittsburgh, PA to visit with my parents. One of my favorite places is Kennywood, a local amusement park. Jenna and Abby LOVED this ride and we spent a good deal of

time there. For those of you Pittsburgh folk, this is the Kiddie Land version of

the Whip (which is sadly gone now).

Second stop: Sandusky, OH to spend time with the Hartke uncles and aunts at the Great Wolf Lodge, which is a hotel with an indoor water park. Lots of fun! This picture is of the Hartke grandchildren: Timmy, Allie holding Jeremy, Jenna hugging Abby, and Joey.

Third stop: Toledo, OH to visit with Nate's parents and attend Nate's youngest brother's wedding. Every time all the Hartke's are together, we play wiffleball. One might think that this is an innocent game played among siblings. But no . . . the boys are serious about their wiffleball. Unfortunately, my team didn't win this year:(


Jenna and Allie were flower girls for Jon and Emily's wedding. Congratulations Jon and Emily!

Classic. Nate trying to kiss Jon. Jon wanting none of that:)

The whole Hartke clan. All 22 of us. Soon to be 23 in October. Beth is having a baby girl!

The Joy of Flying With Kids

A busy day stresses me out. Meeting a deadline stresses me out. Having to clean my house in a short period of time stresses me out, but nothing makes me crazy like a six hour flight on the airplane by myself with the two redheads. Make that 9 or 10 hours of craziness--I didn't include the getting to or from the airport, sitting at the gate, and keeping Abby from cutting her fingers off at the baggage claim carousel. A l o n g day of traveling seriously stresses me out.

In three days, I'll get on a plane with my girls to go to Pittsburgh to begin the Midwest Extravaganza. As I've been thinking about getting ready (notice I did not actually say that I am getting ready) for our trip, I decided to write down all the helpful things I've learned as a seasoned traveler with children.

1. When I travel by myself, Nate can get a pass from the ticketing agent to come through security with me and sit at the gate with us. An extra set of hands to help get shoes off and on, strollers unloaded and up on the belt, jackets off, and everything back on is awesome! Going through security and hanging out at the gate exhausts me before we even step foot on the plane. A helper is nice:)

2. I don't know what did before we bought our own carseat bags! For several years, our carseats were checked in just a clear plastic bag, but then we found the carseat bag. It is AWESOME! We bought an Eddie Bauer bag at Target for $25. When I looked them up, they are up to $76 on Amazon. Target has other kinds that are just as good, but not as expensive. Click here to find out more. These bags not only better protect your carseat, but they give you more space to pack stuff! We packed diapers, wipes, jackets, and all the bulky stuff that was a pain to pack in the suitcase. The bags even have a shoulder strap for easy transport. I am a huge fan of these:)

3. DO NOT sit in close proximity to other families with children. When we fly, we often make friends with the other families at the gate while we are waiting to board the plane. Some parents think that it's a good idea to keep all the kids together and sit close together on the airplane. I strongly disagree. If there's a little kid in front of or behind us, guess what Jenna and Abby are doing the whole time? Playing, being loud, and distracting everyone around them. I have been known to get up and move seats (on Southwest's open seating) if there are other kids directly around us. Mean? Maybe, but it makes for a much more enjoyable trip.

4. Do not attempt to give your children Benadryl on the airplane if you haven't tried it at home first. I do not drug my kids on the airplane. I don't give them Benadryl or anything else in hopes that they will sleep. However, we did have a Benadryl incident that made one particular trip a nightmare. I flew to Detroit with Jenna by myself when she was just over one. I had the bright idea of booking an overnight flight, thinking that she would sleep. And she probably would have, if I hadn't given her Benadryl for her cold that she had. You see, I had never tried Benadryl before with Jenna and assumed that the medicine would help with her cold as well as make her a little drowsy. A bonus, right? NO! There is this tiny statement at the bottom of the label that reads, (I have this memorized and will never forget it) "may cause excitability in some children." Yep, Jenna partied all night on the plane while the rest of the adults tried to sleep. I was exhausted by the time we got to Detroit:)

5. Some airports have family bathrooms. I am in love with these particular airports. Chicago-Midway is one of these airports and I always choose a connecting flight there simply because I can take my kids, stuff, and all our craziness into one room without disturbing anyone else.

6. I always bring my own plastic trash bags for the airplane. The flight attendants don't come around enough to pick up all the trash that we accumulate. This way, I can keep our little area clean:)

That's all I can think of right now. If you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Abby's Garden

These pictures are of our flower bed in front of our house. Notice the green leaves awkwardly sticking up out of the ground? They are Abby's creation:)

Yesterday at TBall, she made me carry around two small bushes of what I think is a magnolia plant. She told me that they were going to go in her garden. And they did:) She took the leaves and VERY CAREFULLY placed them in the flower bed.

So cute!

The Royal Highnesses Season Comes to a Close

Yesterday was our last day of TBall. It was technically the "championship" game, but all four of the mini teams won their championship game:) In mini's everyone wins . . . all the time! We just try to keep that bit of information from the girls.

So yesterday was our last game and closing ceremonies. The girls got tropies and their yearbooks, and Jenna has not let them leave her side since she got them! The trophy and yearbook went to bed with her and I had to talk her out of taking them to church this morning.

Here's to the end of a great first season of TBall! Looking forward to next year!

The Brink of Summer

I have been in a blogging slump, and I'm sorry about that. We have been incredibly busy over the past month or so and I just haven't found the time or energy to write. Our craziness started with our trip to San Antonio for PLI. Then I took the girls to Illinois to visit my grandma, and I don't think I ever put any pictures up from that trip. I'll have to do that soon. Then we made a trip back to the east coast and on Friday we are heading out for our annual Midwest Extravaganza trip.

I call this the Midwest Extrvaganza trip because we do this sort of thing every summer. Since we live so far away from our family, we have to make one big trip out in the summer to see everyone. There's usually a wedding on the Hartke side of the family or a big trip somewhere with my parents. This time, Nate's youngest brother, Jon, is getting married and Jenna's a flower girl. But the trip begins before that! On Friday, we fly into Pittsburgh and spend a few days with my parents. (I go first with the girls and Nate comes after church on Sunday. I am SO excited about flying by myself with the girls, can you tell?) Then we head to Sandusky, OH for a few days at the Great Wolf Lodge, and indoor water park. We will spend time with Nate's siblings there. It'll be a first for our family--getting together somewhere other than Nate's parents' house. This trip has been full of drama already and I wasn't sure if anyone but us and Tim & Beth's family would show up, but it;s looking like it'll be a great time full of Hartkes! Then off to Toledo for the wedding weekend. And THEN we drive 900 miles to Oklahoma to spend five days with my parents and our dear friends, the Woltemaths.

See why I can't call this trip a vacation? It's not. It's a trip. It will be a fun trip and it will be so good to see everyone, but it is absolutely not a vacation:)

Jenna graduates from preschool on Wednesday and I am done with school on Friday. And after our Midwest Extravaganza, we are ready for summer! I don't exactly know what this summer holds for us, but I do know that I will be spending lots of time with the girls and yet again, battling Jenna's fear of swimming with more lessons. But this time, Abby gets to join too. We don't have anything major planned, but I look forward to lots of good time with the girls. Stay tuned for updates on how all that good time goes:)

Not Happy At All

I haven't worn glasses regularly since I was in 7th grade. I hate wearing my glasses, mostly because I hate having them sitting on my face. I hate when they slide down and I hate that everyone has to comment on the fact that I am wearing glasses or that I look different or whatever . . . .

But I went to the eye doctor today, and I am going to have start limiting my time in my contacts. I am not happy at all about this. Apparently, I have an astigmatism in both eyes, which is what has been driving me nuts over the past few months. I have blurry vision and at night, my eyes get so, so tired. My doctor told me that I have dry eyes and that over time, my contacts have shifted the shape of my eyeballs to cause the astigmatism. I have no idea if this is true or not, but she said that I have to reduce my contacts wearing by 50%. That's a lot and I hate wearing my glasses.

So I posted a picture--I apologize for the cheesy self-portraits and awful lighting. And please excuse the eyebrows that are so badly in need of a waxing. So if you see me in my glasses, you now know why:)