How Did We Get There?

I was going to do a bit of venting about the fracas at dinner tonight, but then my son meekly knocked on my door and came in to apologize, so, never mind.

When I cook beans for dinner I'm really not out to ruin his evening, but somehow it often does. We told him, as he sat there on the verge of a mental and emotional breakdown over his bowl, that someday he might have a girlfriend who's a lousy cook, but he would need to be able to choke down whatever she makes in order not to hurt her feelings. His response?

"I'm allowed to have a girlfriend?!"

Oh boy...

The Popcorn King

Isaac is the Popcorn Selling King! Girl Scouts sell cookies in the Spring, Boy Scouts sell popcorn in the Fall. Isaac patiently went door-to-door throughout our neighborhood, one street after another, over a couple of weeks. Who can resist a Boy in uniform, really? Evidently, not many folks around here can. By the time he was finished Isaac had sold $1100 worth of popcorn!

This morning we picked all that popcorn up for delivery to the wonderful folks who bought from Isaac, and learned that his were the highest sales in the Troop! His Scout Camp for next year is now paid for, and there are several prizes for him as well. He and Jim sorted all of the orders this morning and are now out delivering a car-full of goodies.

We're so proud of Isaac for sticking to his task and accomplishing such a feat. Persistence, determination, hard work. Way to go Isaac!

Isaac at Camp

Our baby is off to Summer Scout Camp. For a full week he will be sleeping in a tent and enjoying the great outdoors with his buddies as they all learn from their Leaders and advance in the acquisition of Merit Badges. For the past two Summers he has gone to the day camp, sleeping over maybe one or two nights at a time- and with Jim there too. This is his first full week away for any reason. He was so excited, and so very meticulous about packing for the trip in his new foot locker, for the week before he left, Camp was the only thing on his mind.

The badges he hopes to earn include fishing, for which he needs to catch two fish, one to release and one to eat. Upon learning that he was expected to actually eat a fish he was immediately grossed out. Eat something that he had caught alive?! He declared that he would be fine with that if it was a Salmon- which I highly doubt he will pull out of the lake at the camp...

Friday I'll carpool up with some of the Moms and we will have a chicken dinner with the campers and get a peek at all they are doing up there. Then we will come home without the guys, picking them up on Saturday from the meeting point. We have been sternly warned to not bring our Scout home on Friday night. Leaving early spoils the bond built all week at camp and few who do so continue in Scouting. We certainly want him to continue. Scouting itself is character building for a growing boy who is otherwise surrounded by influences that would tear him down, and this group in particular is just a great bunch, from the kids to the Leaders.

When I took him on Sunday to send him off with the group there was some bit of flurry as last minute forms were filled out and his trunk was loaded. But I was given a spontaneous hug and "I love you Mom" from him before I left. Dear words indeed.

Archery

Isaac has been going with his friend from Boy Scouts, Emmett, to archery every Tuesday evening. Last week was my first opportunity to join them, so I took the camera, of course. What a treat to see his skills and patience that have been developing these past few months.

Isaac's 11th Birthday!

Okay, I am a mere 9 days behind here, but I am trying to catch up in chronological order, instead of skipping around the calendar, which would thoroughly confuse an already fragile mind- mine.

On December 10th Isaac turned 11 years old! Our sweet boy is growing up so very fast. The first birthday treat when he got home from school was a skype call with Kate, and he opened his gift from her- a Guinness hat and flag of Ireland.


When given a choice between eating establishments he chose his new favorite restaurant, Panda Heaven. Not actually a place where pandas go when they die, it is a restaurant with that ever popular feature- an Hibachi grill! (Yes, I meant an; in front of an H it still seems right somehow.) At Panda Heaven Isaac has discovered that they not only serve steak, (my little carnivore) but they also serve a soup which he loves. A clear broth with a mushroom or two floating in it accompanied by barely discernible onions and, I'm sure, plenty of msg. Yet, he loves this soup and we'll get a show as well, so off to Panda Heaven we went!

Isaac, loving his soup!

The three left at home- thrilled to be out to eat where someone else does the dishes!

Our Hibachi chef- rather soft-spoken, but fun nonetheless.

We begin with FIRE! Always grab attention at the beginning of a performance; flames work wonders in this department.

Isaac loves this part.

I see a face, a woman singing... I'm selling this flame on E-bay, it's my ticket to wealth. Yeah, buddy.

The ever popular Onion Volcano!

"You'll poke your eye out kid!"

And now the real fun begins...

This is where these sadistic chefs get their own laugh by throwing vegetables at the customers and making them do sea lion tricks...

Toss me one of these shrimp here and I'll bark for you too...

This kid's appetite has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few months- he really cleaned up here, and they serve a mountain of food by the time the meal is over!

Once home, Isaac got a call from Nathaniel in Hawaii!

Happy, happy eleventh birthday, my sweet Isaac. You are a blessing to me in so many ways. I love how you are living up to your name, so often ready with a joke or funny comment to make us laugh. Your smile lights up any room you're in- even all the way across the school auditorium. May you grow in wisdom and stature as you achieve your full measure of maturity in Christ.

I pray that "according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
(Ephesians 3:16-19)

I love you!

Scouting Resumes

Another Scouting year has begun, and Isaac is now a Webelo 2. Tuesday was the first Pack Meeting of the year and the awards for summer activities were handed out. Every one of the boys were busy over the summer, but Callum Smith and Isaac Kelly had their every move written down and consequently they earned a whole lot of goodies for their uniforms!

Isn't he cute?

Mr. Mangan reads the list...

Webelo Activity badges for :
Aquanaut
Geologist
Scientist
Compass Point
Academic/ Sports Awards for:
Badminton
Bicycling
Bowling
Chess
Communicating
Computers
Fishing
Geology
Music
Swimming
Table Tennis

(Whew!)

We're so proud of our little guy!

Since we moved to the area Scouting has become such a neat part of our lives here. When we moved, as we have several times, we expected to find friends through whichever church God would settle us into. This has been the pattern in the past, and held true here as well. However, what we didn't expect were the friendships we'd make through scouting. This group of parents has proven to be so warm and friendly, whether we are at a simple meeting, a parade or camping. They are all from the community near us and we run into them outside of scouting as well. There are many years to go yet, and knowing this bunch, they'll be fun ones!

Next Few Videos

And now again,... videos- The first few are still in Indiana. Once the clothing and targets change, it's Kentucky. Jina Mei was the camera operator for a number of the Kentucky shots... These kids sure know how to have fun! I'm sure they did more than shoot, but this is all that was captured on video...

Overdue

Okay, here are the long-ago promised videos. Taken during trips to Indiana and Kentucky, featuring Kate, Alex, Isaac and Jina Mei, lots of weapons were involved in the making of these videos...

The first three now...

Enjoy!

Catching up on Some Missed Photos

Well, our home is rather quiet now, half of the occupants are now in different states, Jim is working in Philly- flying soon to Chicago, and only Erin and Isaac are here with me. Let's see if I can recap it here.

Our last week with Alex here flew by too quickly. The proposal took place on Saturday, and that evening we had a lovely champagne toast to their future. Sunday Kate had Alex by her side as she showed her ring to friends at church- a few tears flowed along with many congratulations. Those who were concerned enough to ask me if this was indeed good news were reassured by my exclamations of delight.

Monday was Kate's birthday- for which we really had not done much planning... and we had friends over to help us celebrate. (there has been much to celebrate lately...!) For her cake I had chosen the Cinderella theme cake, with Prince Charming down on one knee in front of his Beloved; it seemed appropriate.

Tuesday was somewhat normal as I had to work and Kate had some catching up to do with her Mission planning. Alex went to lunch with the Seminary student who is interning at our church this Summer- again, I'm so blessed to see how our church has embraced our future son-in-law.

Wednesday evening Jim and I took Kate and Alex out to dinner at the Canal Street Restaurant and Pub. Nice place, great food, good wine, and someone else to do the dishes.

In the slide show below, I have backed up to Alex picking up The Ring from the jeweler and showing it to me and Rebekah. Funny, it was impossible to see The Ring without dropping one's mouth open in amazement... (pass your mouse over the individual photos to read the captions)

All of this leads up to their departure for Florida on Thursday. Kate has been needing to get down there and see some of our friends from our church and speak to them about her upcoming Mission work in Ireland. She has also been asked to work at a camp down there and the timing came together perfectly for Alex to drive her down as the end of his leave was drawing near. They graciously agreed to drive Bekah down as well since she has been wanting to see friends and get some beach sand between her toes. So the three of them drove away Thursday, taking a good piece of my heart and a whole lot of prayers along with them.

Friday afternoon they arrived at our friends, the Bucks, and dropped Bekah off before heading to Coral Springs. Staying with friends from our old neighborhood, Kate and Alex enjoyed their final day- for now- together before saying goodbye Sunday morning when he dropped her off at our church and turned his car toward Fayetteville. She had mixed feelings- to say the least- sorrow at being separated from Alex while joy at seeing so many dear friends. I've spoken to both of them and they have a balanced perspective on this time before them. While it won't be easy after being together so much, they realize what an extreme blessing these past weeks have been and that the months ahead will not last forever. There is much planning to do and timing to figure out, so hopefully it will pass quickly.

I've put together a slide show of the photos Alex brought back from the two trips to Kentucky, (with a stop in Indiana on trip 2). As you can see, they had a whole lot of fun with the arsenal on the farm in Indiana, some of which went to Kentucky with them as well. Alex's sister, Jina Mei, appears in these photos, but sadly, no one else in his family does. I've been getting to know his mother already through notes hand-delivered by our travelers and Facebook and can already tell that we have a wonderful relationship ahead of us. We will be more than in-laws, we'll be friends. (again, mouse- photos- captions, you get it by now)

On The Road Again

I just waved goodbye to Alex, Kate and Isaac as they left for Indiana and Kentucky. Alex has a Grandmother in Indiana to stop and see on the way back home. Isaac is on two different medications for his Lyme Disease and swollen knee, but hopping around rather well, so he gets to join them for this trip. The sweethearts ought to get more talking time in the car than they did with Erin, because Isaac sleeps in the car where Erin was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the whole way there and back. They better take pictures this time!

Having spent another several days with Alex here has again been a blessing. The strength of his devotion to God is every day more evident, and his desire to pursue an honorable course with Kate is amazing to see. Though I prayed for so long, when God answered this prayer I am still struck by the answer- far more abundant than I could have dreamed. The way in which Alex has just fit right in with our crazy family has been nothing short of a miracle. Conversations that I have been priviledged to have with him on serious issues touching his walk with Christ, the time he spent in Afghanistan and his feelings for my daughter have grabbed my heart and, on more than one occasion, brought me to tears.

Meanwhile, the house is quieter than I've experienced for a while. Those three are off and away, Jim is in Philly, Erin is with friends at a nearby Walk for Life and Bekah is at work. I hardly know what to do first, something grown-up and responsible, or something silly and selfish...?

And before I forget, here are photos missing from recent posts. My computer isn't working yet, but I've been able to load these through Bekah's laptop. Enjoy-

Half of our giant swing tree, down in a storm....

Isaac gets his blood drawn for the first time,... next time won't be so easy.

John Fromuth fits Isaac with a pair of crutches- Thanks John!

Diagnosis

Isaac has tested positive for Lyme Disease, so we are already proceeding with his treatment- two weeks of antibiotics. Now if only there is some improvement between now and Friday morning...

Thanks for praying!

My Dead Computer, Poor Isaac, and Other Thoughts...

A week ago Tuesday, Alex, Kate and Erin left for Kentucky for the purpose of taking Kate to meet Alex's family. I took pictures in the driveway of them preparing to leave.

Wednesday morning we awoke to find that half of our giant swing tree in the backyard had come down in a storm the night before. I went out there and took pictures.

Wednesday and Thursday Isaac went to two different doctors besides getting his very first x-ray and having blood drawn; again, I took pictures.

Saturday a friend from church graciously brought Isaac a pair of crutches and taught him to use them- momentous and touching, naturally, I took pictures.

But since my computer died in the storm that took down that tree, I haven't yet been able to upload any of the week's pictures to my blog! So I will simply have to go back to mere writing about what has happened before I forget it all.

(By the way, I am using Bekah's laptop to email and check the web for pertinent information, such as the latest bumpersticker my daughters have added to their facebook profiles...)

The most urgent thing happening is that Isaac showed up Sunday afternoong telling me that his knee looked funny. His right knee was swollen twice its normal size, yet without pain. A couple of hours later we asked our friend at church, who is a Physical Therapist, to take a look at it. No apparent injury led our friend to recommend a visit to the Doctor, and soon. I was able to get him in to our new Doctor, (we are in the process of changing...) on Wednesday evening. She was very thorough, and very concerned. To the point that she had us get an x-ray and bloodwork Thursday morning and an appointment with an Orthopedic that afternoon. Isaac was brave for the x-ray and surprised with the bloodwork. "She just stuck it right in!"

The Orthopedic we saw is the very man we have been taking Bekah to for her scoliosis. He was also rather thorough, asking a lot of questions before numbing the knee with Novocane- not fun- and drawing 50 ccs of pink fliud out of the knee with a huge syringe- also not fun. What we were able to determine at that point, and by "we" I mean Dr. Cook, is that there is no bacterial infection going on, the x-ray shows no injury, and the tests run on Isaac's blood were not enough to answer the Doctor's questions.

More tests were ordered for the remanining blood and for the fluid and we have an appointment for an MRI on Wednesday. It seems that the concerns are at this point leading to Lyme Disease, perhaps. We live in a wooded area, own a dog, have recently gone camping, and Isaac often plays outdoors and finds the occasional tick on his body.

Since his knee has become rather stiff and sore he is now hopping along on crutches thanks to our good friend who was generous to bring them by, fit them to Isaac and teach him to use them.

Not only is this a lousy way to begin Summer for a ten year-old, but Isaac was supposed to accompany Kate and Alex to Kentucky this past week. It worked out perfectly for Erin to go, and they are going again at the end of this week, so we hope he can ride along this time! He has been informed of the possibility of dirtbike riding in Kentucky, so I am praying that he will be able to go. He will be so disappointed if he can't.

This leads to the next important thing that happened this week. Kate met Alex's family, and they love her. More importantly, Alex's Mom loves her. I know that my baby was so nervous about such an momentous introduction, but it sounds as if the week there was perfect. According to my girls, Mary Larsen and I will be the best of friends once we meet. We already share a lot in common, not the least of which is a love for these two kids of ours. She also has prayed for her baby's spouse for his whole lifetime and her approval of,... no, delight in Kate melts my heart.


The three adventurers are home now, another week has begun, and there is much to do. This month is flying by... I hate to see it go so quickly.

Fort Mifflin!

This weekend was camping at Fort Mifflin with the Webelos! I have to admit that originally, I wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was a blast!

When we arrived we discovered that not only was it near the airport, the Fort was directly in the flight path for landing aircraft! Every 4 minutes, like clockwork, another jet flew right overhead... After several hours we barely flinched anymore.

Sleeping overnight in a national landmark, Revolutionary era Fort, is fascinating enough. Learning that it was the subject of an episode of "Ghosthunters" on the Sci-fi channel is just a teeny bit unnerving. We had the choice of tent camping in the grassy area or sleeping in the barracks. I chose the barracks since our family is sleeping in tents next week. Then, right before we went to the bonfire and S'mores, Wayne the caretaker regales us with stories of the "other" inhabitants of the fort- one of whom supposedly occupies the room almost above where I was planning to sleep- alone. I don't believe that ghosts have any power to harm me- but I am susceptible to a good case of the "willies" now and then- and this was a tailor-made case!

Cassandra Trostle was kind enough to join me in the room for the night and we weren't disturbed once- slept like babies.

Enjoy the slide show- pass your mouse over the individual photos to see the captions! (some of them are cut off- sorry)

The Rocket's Red Glare

This week has held lots of fun for our Webelo, Isaac! From launching homemade rockets at a local park on Tuesday to a day-long trip to Baltimore on Saturday, we've seen and done a bunch! Tuesday was our final meeting for the year, and we ended with a bang; meeting in Wyomissing park to set off the rockets that each scout had made at home. Engines were handed out and put in the rockets once we arrived at the launch site- for safety reasons, I'm sure.







The trip to Baltimore for Fort McHenry- where Frances Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner- and the Aquarium was a blast. Erin joined Isaac and me with the rest of the Scouts for the day. She ended up accompanying Katie Sanford and Grace Smith around the sights as the boys were more interested in their friends than their little sisters. I've not included captions in the slideshow below- too tired and not enough time, but enjoy these snaps from our day.

Pulitzer Material... maybe not.

I wrote and re-wrote this posting several times Monday night as I was on my hands and knees on the bathroom floor, and it would have been a prize winner if I could remember all that was racing through my head. As it turns out, our sweet Erin has shared whatever gastric ailment she had with her brother, Isaac.

After we were all tucked in and sleeping soundly, Isaac bolted from his bed for the bathroom. When I found him he was standing- yes, standing- over the toilet emptying himself of the little bit of dinner he'd consumed. (when did his legs get so long?) As I rushed to hold him and give what Motherly comfort I could, I slipped- bad sign. My tired brain struggled to grasp the meaning of the wet floor as I waded in to get to him. Meanwhile Kate, who had heard him first, was running downstairs to get him a cup of water with which to rinse his mouth.

After he finished I steered him to my own bathroom to get him into the shower. He's quick, but wasn't quite quick enough to avoid soiling his jammies. As he began showering I went back to the scene of the accident to clean up. The smell hit me like a wall as I re-entered the bathroom. Kate very helpfully stood way out in the hallway telling me emphatically to get the air freshener from the bathroom closet- further into the stench. I wadded paper towels over my face and plunged onward, splashing and slipping as I went.

Air freshener sprayed, I grabbed the bottle of concentrated Pine Sol and started flinging it all over the floor, toilet and walls, (walls?!?) As I've already said, I was still in a fog of sleep, aggravated by the adrenaline now surging through my body. Paper towels in hand I rolled up my pajama bottoms above my knees and got down to some serious mopping. As I worked my way through the slurry I started to wonder why in the world it was also all over the walls. Once I had arrived at the toilet and began the cleaning there I saw what happened. He had made it into the bathroom, but not in time to open the lid. Poor baby.

As an infant sleeping in my arms I knew that I would climb mountains and slay giants for this precious child. What I have learned with each of my five darling babies is that I will rarely, if ever, be required to enter burning buildings, lift cars, or dive into swirling waters to rescue my children. More often the heroism required of a mother is accomplished in the smelly, revolting, yet mundane tasks in the course of ordinary days and nights. Mopping up a vomit-coated bathroom in the middle of the night, literally up to one's knees, then cradling the sick child while knowing that I could catch whatever he has, is how I slay giants in our home.

Two days later he is still rather green around the gills and content to stay wrapped in a blanket on the couch. Erin will return to school tomorrow- and begin Track practice- but he may need another day to be completely recovered. Poor baby.

From the mouths of Babes...

As Isaac and the girls are discussing whether we should allow him to get a hand-buzzer to pull pranks on friends, they started to recall how very often his Whoopie cushion showed up back when he had it. Then it was remembered that Dad popped it once when it was stashed in the car seat to surprise him. So Isaac says, perfectly seriously,

"That was the most depressing thing I've ever seen".

We're only now picking ourselves up off the floor... How quickly they grow.

Too Cute

I have to post this since we keep going back to it so often. This is just precious!

Psalm 23

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Meanwhile Isaac is home again, this time with a bellyache. I think we're just going to run through every possible illness in this grading period and get it out of the way. Poor sweetie. He is plastered into the big comfy chair listening to "The Philadelphia Chickens", a fun musical cd loaned to us by a friend. Once that's finished we'll put on Jungle Jams. I'd rather he not spend time home glued to the television, but rather exercise his brain by listening to these cute radio programs instead.

Snow At Last!

We finally have snow! And the temperatures to keep it! It started falling in the early afternoon and there was enough accumulation by 4 pm that Bekah and Isaac's bus had a hard time getting all the way up the hill. They were 20 minutes late getting home, so they wasted no time getting into their snow gear and back outside to play before it got too dark! Erin was already outside with friends. I made a video of Isaac's first use of his Christmas snowboard-




Bekah pulled out a sled for a test run as well!





This past Sunday we had a neat afternoon with friends at an art gallery of sorts. The Goggleworks was, years ago, a manufacturing facility for safety goggles. Once the business moved the building stood empty for I'm not sure how long. Skipping to the present, it now holds art galleries and artists studios as well as a theater and dance studio. On Sunday we went to explore the Goggleworks since they were having an open house with demonstrations free to the public. As it turns out, several friends from church were also going, including a family whose kids are Erin's and Isaac's friends.

We got to watch a glassblowing demonstration which was absolutely fascinating. Working as a team, four guys made a life-size pike (fish). Their teamwork, considering the weight of the material, the heat of the furnaces and the crucial nature of the timing was amazing; like watching an elaborate dance. When they reached their suspense-laden finale the whole audience applauded and cheered. Wow.

After the glass work we visited several art studios where the artists were all in residence, working or explaining their work. Another friend of ours was singing with her folk group in one of the galleries so we enjoyed an interlude of their music. The "can-we-go-nows" didn't begin until the afternoon was actually over, which was very nice indeed. The only drawback was that I forgot my own camera. (Our friend Mike took some photos which I will post when he emails them to me.) For a closer look, check out http://www.goggleworks.org/.

In the meantime we will be lighting a fire and enjoying the snow, hot cocoa, and the American Idol tryouts!

A Little Boy and a Very Large Cat

Lookie what I found on the computer! We have a camera that I've set up on the computer, but haven't used much. One evening while Jim and I were out Isaac figured out how to use the camera,... with some help from Milo.

Winter Is Sure Settling In!

The past couple of weeks have been busy between getting settled with Kate home again and winter weather disrupting our routines a few times. Kate has begun work with a "friend-of-a-friend" who owns an internet-based retail business. She has been packing orders for shipment and enjoys the flexible hours. She is still filling out applications for "real jobs" to sustain her until she is finished with the application and preparation process with Mission to the World. Once that process is complete she will be jetting off to (hopefully) Berlin to intern with a Missionary family there, possibly this spring.

We've spoken to Nathaniel several times and, as expected, his adjustment to Hawaiian life has been painless. He has received the Christmas gifts that we ordered for him- yet still can't get the math of the time differences straight. When he texted the news that he'd gotten his packages I'd just fallen asleep. The phone going off on the bedside table caused an adrenaline surge that shot me out of bed! Still, I'll take that any day over wondering if he got his gifts and how he liked them. This year he'll be able to be on the phone with us when he opens his presents instead of in Iraq emailing us about them!

Last week we celebrated Isaac's 10th birthday! It's hard to believe that our baby is already in the double digits. Since he has lately become quite the carnivore, we took him to Texas Roadhouse for dinner where he chose his own steak before we were seated- and ate all twelve ounces of it- medium well! The next night we took one of his friends to play laser tag; Jim and the girls played along as well. Now that Jim has experienced Laser Quest, I have a feeling it won't be long before the kids talk him into it again!

Saturday the 15th was our Church's Christmas Brunch for which I've been planning the menu and organizing volunteers to cook. This has been happening annually for a number of years with the exception of last year. So I've never been to one, yet have been hearing the stories for the entire year we've lived here. When Annie, who hosts and coordinates the brunch, asked me if I'd be willing to help I said, "of course"! But being in charge of the food was more than a little intimidating. Fortunately our church is blessed with many willing volunteers and good cooks. So I give all the credit for the success of the food to this group of ladies. I chose what I like to eat, (my primary talent) and they did the cooking!

The cool thing about the brunch though, is that we once again had Andree Seu come speak to us.! She spoke at our retreat in September and I have been reading her articles in World Magazine for years. Her writing touches my heart and listening to her speak gives me a voice for when I read her each week. So very down to earth, she spoke on joy. When God promises us the fruit of the Spirit it isn't for someday, it is for today. As Christians we need to exercise "muscular faith" and take hold of those promises now- regardless of the circumstances. Before she spoke I had the "joy' of introducing Kate to her, as Andree had been at L'Abri in the 70's. They discussed the changes that have apparently seeped in since the passing of the founder, Frances Schaeffer. What a treat for Kate to talk to someone who already knew what L'Abri was and had been there in the "glory years".

Meanwhile we have had a bit of snow and a whole lot of ice. Two ice storms disrupted power- most recently for the whole day this past Sunday. School was delayed once and yesterday I canceled school for our family because we'd spent the night with friends and it was simply too hectic to get everyone to the right places in time! The ice storms have damaged many of our trees, breaking branches and toppling whole trees even! We are still hoping for some real snow that stays so we can go sledding. It's funny though, after the storm has passed and the sun breaks through, all of the trees look like crystals blazing in the sunshine! And once the melting starts it's as if Aslan has returned to Narnia!

Finally, Erin has recently announced that she is now a vegetarian... sniff. Yes. Evidently her health teacher had a class on just where our meat comes from and the various processes it goes through and the additives with which it is, um, altered/ polluted/ poisoned (?), and decided that she'll consume it no more! For health reasons, of course. I'd like to get a hold of that propaganda-pushing health teacher and... well, maybe not. So mealtimes have an added dimension, and I have to think more in planning! (Not more thinking! Nooooo!) She's determined though, and ridicule is not allowed. She is my one athlete and far be it from me to discourage self-discipline and the desire for healthy habits.

That's all for now. I hope to be posting more often- we'll see! Cheerio!