Summer Siesta

Degen hasn't taken a regular nap in about a year, but sometimes all our running around (combined with staying up too late and getting up too early) can get the best of him and he crashes in the car, or I will send him to his bed for being too cranky and he goes out like a light. Last week, both kids were very sick with a nasty virus that started out with high fevers and then turned into an upper-respiratory infection. I captured these too-sweet moments of Degen napping during this time. I especially love the ones with Brutus because he looks so protective of him. And, Brutus is not one to usually curl up with Degen so he must have sensed that the poor boy wasn't feeling well. Nearly a week of fevers followed by nearly a week of congestion was a hard road to recovery, and I am hoping that we will be free of the sickies until winter... that is probably a bit too much to ask for, but a mommy can hope, can't she?!?!

Summer Kids

We have had a mostly good summer so far! It has been a pretty good balance of running around & fun mixed with being lazy in the AC. I snapped these photos at a park playdate, and they make me smile. The above photo is not the only photo I got of Kyrie, but every photo I did get looks pretty much exactly like that. She is obviously too cool to have her photo taken...my goodness, she had a little attitude that day. (And the next day, she was sick with a fever of 103+, so maybe she had a good reason.) So, my Little Miss 'Tude, does not necessarily make me smile, but that photo when juxtaposed with Degen's photos do. A complete opposite of his sister, he is hamming it up to get as many photos as possible. Folks, this is the difference three years gets you! Well, it is a nice balance... and (more) often enough it is Degen who is grumpy and Kyrie who is smiling & goofy. No matter their moods, I love my darling duo!

Kitchen Remodel VIII

Okay, well, the kitchen is still not done. I feel like mostly we don't notice because we can use it and we just get caught up in our day-to-day and other matters seem more pressing. There has been some progress, including the installation of our missing cabinet in the corner. You can see it in these first three pictures. We got our new crown moulding and some of it has gone up. Most of the trim in the dining room as been put up, too. We have had a few issues getting the trim carpenter here to finish up his part. If we can get him one more time then I think that part of the job can be done. We have decided to have our granite installors come back out to review the installation, too. We noticed a few flaws in the installation and just kind of shrugged our shoulders at it, but then our contractors said that they thought we should have them come out to see if improvements can be made. They are supposed to come out Monday evening.

Some of these photos feel like a spot-the-difference game, don't they?! In these last two photos the big change, if you didn't notice is that the woodwork has been stained. You can see some of the trim work in the dining room, too. We had our new pocket door installed this week- hooray! The pocket door is right off the entranceway, and it is very nice to be able to shut the kitchen off from the living areas of the house. I will have to include a photo in the next post. Sigh...I feel like I keep ending these posts with some sort of hopeful "we're almost there," and we really are almost there...except for the hundred details that still need to be done. My hope for this week is that: the trim work is completed, the backsplash goes up, pulls on the drawers/cupboards are attached and the beverage fridge is installed. As I said, we are pretty easy-going about the whole thing, but as we end month three, I think we are getting a bit project-worn.

Welcome Bentley

At the end of June, I got a call from our old backdoor neighbors (who sold & moved in mid-June). They had moved into a small townhouse and were having trouble with their cat, Bentley. In our neighborhood, Bentley was an indoor-outdoor cat, but they had been keeping him indoors because of the proximity of a busy street. Bentley was not adjusting well to the change and reacting badly. They asked if we would be willing to take him in and save him from being dropped at the humane society. Of course, we could not allow that to happen, so we agreed to take him.

The boys sizing each other up!

Bentley had a rough couple of days to start. He got out unnoticed on the first day and went straight to his old home. Luckily, the new neighbors spotted him and we were able to get him back to our house. He was not happy at all and threw himself at the carrier door on the walk across the yards and in the house. Using our old baby gate system and a piece of plywood, I built him a kennel and put him in the utility room. We knew that he was confused and angry, and we did all we could to make him feel comfortable & safe. Throughout the next week, we would go down to talk to & pet Bentley. These sessions often ended with him hissing angrily at us. Then, he stopped hissing and started to accept our affection more & more. We had never had a cat who wasn't eager to be in a home, so dealing with a hostile cat was a very different experience for us. By the middle of the week, we were bringing him up to our room and closing the door for some extra attention. He immediately relaxed in our room and played or slept on/under our bed. By the start of the next week, we let him out of his kennel to roam the house. We plan to let him back outside when he's been here for about a month, and we have (hopefully) firmly established that this is his new home.

That's not Bentley! I am including this pic of Brutus because they look so much alike (except for their size).

Bentley is a sweet boy! He is much bigger than the other cats and still has his front claws (so far, we haven't noticed any scratching issues). He remains a bit shy, or perhaps he is still not used to our very affectionate ways. You can usually get in a few good pets and then he is ready to wander off or start to play. The other cats have mostly accepted Bentley in that there isn't any real fighting, but there is still some hissing and hostile positioning. He likes to play with ribbons/string, but not so much other kinds of toys. He hid a lot in the beginning, but now I will find him sprawled out on the floor or on Kyrie's bed. I hope that he will continue to settle in and get used to our family so that we can get in some more cuddles.

4th of July

This year's July 4th came during a heat wave, so we spent most of the day just trying to keep cool. Still, we had some fireworks (I use that term loosely because the city is pretty restrictive on what you are allowed to do) and the kids loved them. After Kyrie begged all morning, we settled in the shade near the driveway and let the kids do poppers and dance in the colorful smoke of the smoke bombs. Afterward, we all went swimming in the backyard pool to cool off. That evening, we went to friends to join in their family cook-out and prime firework watching space!

Zuke It Out

Right before the zukes started to die off, we were pulling in extra-large fruit. We prefer to pick it smaller, but it was growing so fast that this is what we would find on the vine. The harvest we pulled in with this zuke provided enough for me to bake, pickle and share with our entire street.

Well, I can tell that these photos are from a few weeks ago when we had an abundance of zuchinni & cucumbers. In about a week, we would lose our first zuke plant and begin our battle with the squash (& other) bugs. Though, as a gardener, you never want to lose your plants; really, we have been blessed with a lot of crop so far this year. We have been able to do everything that we would have wanted as far as cooking, canning & sharing. This weekend, I processed the last of our major zucchini harvest and will use the "last" two zukes to make chocolate zuchinni bread. Darren has already planted new seedlings & seeds for a second harvest- this is the first year we have done that.

This is what the kitchen looks like when I can. I would probably be considered a fairly messy cook as you can see an abundance of utensils, spices and produce lining the countertop. On the stove are my canning pot (the big mama) and my cooking pot. Hot water bath canning is all about heat, and when I am doing a batch, I will have some sort of boiling liquid going for several hours. Thankfully, our new pocket door was just installed (not in this picture) to help keep the heat from spreading throughout the house.

It was just 2 years ago that I did my first ever canning with an apple harvest (not from our property). Looking back it seemed like such a production...and it really is...but now it is no big deal for me to head to the kitchen 2-3 times a week to do a batch of canning. This was my first year to do pickling, and I have made several different versions of bread & butter pickles, dill pickles, relish and squash salads. In the past two weeks, we started to harvest our larger tomatoes & peppers and, yesterday, I did my first batches of salsa & tomatoes. I find myself amazed at the relative simplicity of the process and exhausted by the chore of it all at once. Mostly, I just love to see all those brightly colored jars lined up on the counters with the cheerful ping of their lids punctuating my sense of satisfaction at a job well done.

My pickles!

Wind Storm 2012

We did a double-take when we drove by and saw this mature tree completely uprooted just a few blocks from our neighborhood. Over the next few days, we would see more like it.

Well, it has been a mostly hot & dry summer. When we do get rain it seems to come in minor drip-drops or storm form, and we had big one just a few weeks ago with winds up to 83 mph. For some perspective, a moderate (F1) tornado has wind speeds between 73 & 112 mph. Coming from Kansas & Nebraska, we weren't too concerned about this storm, but (as usual) it did cause quite a bit of damage to our trees. Driving around after the storm, we would be grateful for our minor damage as we saw trees all over our community that were completely uprooted & broken. We were also grateful that we were not among the more than 600,000 Ohioans who were left without electricity during the lingering heat wave surrounding this storm.

Degen (& Kyrie) lend a hand cleaning up fallen branches!

This tree suffered the most damage. Darren standing at the bottom gives some perspective on the size of this lost limb.

Kingdom Chronicles (VBS 2012)

This year's VBS took place the last week of July and had the royal theme of "Kingdom Chronicles." Kyrie was in one of the pre-k classes, and I helped out in the 3-year old class with Degen. Let me just say that VBS is probably one of our craziest weeks during the summer. My baby nightowls and I are up early (for us) to be out the door and to the church by 9:00. We spend the entire morning singing, dancing, playing, doing crafts and learning about the Bible. Being in the 3-year old class, which was comprised of 7 boys and 1 girl was... exhausting! These guys have lots of energy and it takes a lot of energy to keep them on schedule and moving through the morning. Still, I worked with some great ladies this year and we had a lot of fun with these kids! Because I was in Degen's class, it was easy for me to get some photos of their fun while Kyrie was off with her group having tons of fun, too.

Opening & closing ceremonies everyday included lots of singing & dancing!

Cardboard Kingdom

Our most recent homeschool unit was about make-believe & fairy tales. As part of this unit, we used some of the large boxes from our kitchen remodel to make pretend buildings for the kids to play in. The first night, the kids were so excited by their little, cardboard village that they asked to eat dinner out there! Of course, I obliged! The kids played long into the evening and over the next several days until a rain storm soggied the cardboard.

At the Ol' Ballgame

The view from our seats- no zoom!

After the success of our family outing to the Blue Jackets' hockey game, we decided to plan a family night to attend a Columbus' Clippers' game at the new Huntington Park downtown. We bought tickets for a dime-a-dog night to stretch our family dollar a bit more. Unfortunately, the week before the game, Darren found out that he would have to fly to Chicago for a conference, so it would just be me & the kids. I was a little worried about heading downtown and into the crowds at the park by myself, but I figured that if I can handle Disney World by myself than a little, old trip to the ballpark shouldn't be a problem.

Kyrie & Degen enjoying their dime dogs!

The kids had fun with these during our tour of the stadium!

Kyrie showing off her purple cotton-candy tongue!

Because it was dime-a-dog night (yes, that means $.10 hotdogs), the stadium was pretty crowded, but we made it from the parking garage and to our seats without a stroller and without any issues. I sat the kids down with their drinks as the game started and went to get our dinner: hot dogs & nachos. Food mostly occupied the first few innings of the game, but I was also able to explain the basic rules of baseball to Kyrie. After a few innings, we walked around the stadium and bought some cotton candy before heading back to our seats. The rest of the game was fun, fun, fun!

Me with my purple cotton-candy tongue!

Degen doesn't like cotton candy, but he thought he would show us his tongue anyway.

My goofy girl!

With full bellies, we were able to sit back and really have fun at the game! The kids laughed as I whooped and hollered for the home team (who remained solidly in the lead throughout). We clapped, sang & danced to the music and cheered loudly during the hot dog race (Kyrie cheered for relish and I cheered for mustard: relish won). We compared our purple cotton-candy coated tongues and made it onto the jumbo-tron twice. I didn't want the night to end, but, soon after we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch, we made our way out of the park. I got both kids dime-a-dog t-shirts to remember their first game, and they laughed, sang & ran nearly the entire way back to the parking garage (despite it being nearly 10).

Love this pic! A lady sitting next to us asked if I wanted her to take our picture because we looked so happy!

Kyrie showing off her new t-shirt!

Kyrie running back to the car.

We missed having Darren with us to share such a happy evening, but it is a great excuse for us to make it back to another ballgame soon!