In like a lion? lamb?

I'm not completely sure what we've been up to lately.  I feel like we've kept busy, but I'm really not sure what all we've been doing.

The girls spend their time playing.  And fighting. Since Emmy has figured out that she doesn't have to put up with Cecily taking her toys... there is very little playing quietly happening.  Although, sometimes they stuff all the things in the tent and are very happy.

We went to my Grandpa's birthday party.  They pulled taffy, which is great, but it was super warm that weekend so it didn't really get all nice and brittle.  Emmy loved it; Cecily refused to try it so Grandma gave her chocolate instead.   

Aunt Shelly went shopping and got them new outfits, which they love and insisted on wearing right away.  We have such an exciting neighborhood... they are watching the grave diggers... *grin*  

Our former neighbor and dear friend Beulah died last week.  Her daughter let us know around Christmas that it was coming... She was a sweet woman.  When we moved in she brought me her church cookbook and wanted to know if we had a church to go to because we were welcome to go with her.  I enjoyed visiting her at Restmor (even though we didn't go very often) and the girls liked to see her stuffed animals and pictures of cats.  The girls and I went to her visitation Wednesday morning.   I've heard it said that if you want to be a sweet old lady, you have to be a sweet young lady... so I'm pretty sure I've got a long way to go to be like her. 

Silly girls...she can actually get some sound out of her trumpet like this.

Story hour started up again... they had a music program for the first session.  Cecily loved it, Emmy was not so sure... but she may have just not been feeling well.  Bob came home from work sick that day and then she woke up the next morning with a pretty high fever.  It only lasted a day, thankfully, since there's some nasty stuff going around.  We spent it on the couch.

Oh my busy little bee... I was getting lunch ready and she was getting lunch ready for her dolly.   

She's talking a lot now.  Which is good and bad.  I hear lots of "Want hold you," "hab it," "choc-at," "come on, come on, come on," "want tab-et," "miiiiiine!"  Oh, and "potty!"  Because apparently she wants to potty train herself.  Which I am not really ready for.  At all.  I was just talking to someone about how I had no plans to try potty training pre-baby, and then the next day she decided she wanted to sit on the potty.  And she's actually gone in it a few times.  Aaaahhh.  I know, this is good, right?  I just don't want to.  Maybe she'll lose interest for a while.  She mostly just wants to waste toilet paper and wash her hands (soap bubbles!).

I have hit the point in pregnancy where I must!finish!all!the!projects!  Not so much nesting, just have to get things done while I feel mostly well and still have time. 

According to the blog archives, this was the 3rd Saturday quilt club quilt in 2011.  I think.  So I finished the small blocks in 2011, pieced the center medallion and sashing in 2012, had it machine quilted in 2013.... and finally finished the binding last week.  woot woot! 

The girls' little table has a new top.  It's aspen... it was the only decent board they had in the right size that wasn't red oak.  I looked it up because I've never played with aspen... the recommendation was for gel stain to fight blotchiness... so that seemed to work ok, but it did bring out some factory sanding marks.  And then my final poly coat had some issues.  Grr.  I keep reminding myself that this is for the girls to destroy play with, and they've already put some pencil marks on it, so I should just chill.  I may still attempt to learn a new skill and 'rub out' the topcoat.   

Checking things off the list to get the kitchen completely done- it'll be a year since we tore into it in May-  under the sink used to have a lovely piece of genuine Congoleum in a delightful shade of mustard yellow.  Gag.  I mean, I have nothing against the color yellow, but that particular shade under the kitchen sink just didn't do anything for me.  So Cecily helped me cut up a piece of leftover vinyl from the bathroom to replace it.  New always feels so much cleaner, so we can all pretend it's now very clean under my sink!  I'm such a good housekeeper!  And I won't be embarrassed the next time the plumber has to stick his head under there.

Rob was here the other day and put in a box and replaced the light over the sink... Cecily talked his ear off the whole time.  At least this time she didn't tell him I was grumpy.  So once I get the ceiling patched and painted, the kitchen refresh is DONE! There will be great rejoicing and probably lots of pictures.   

The weather has been so back and forth we really haven't been outside much.  Or if we are, one day we'll be in sandals, the next day we'll need shoes and socks and winter coats.  I wish it would just decide to be warm or cold.  It would save many arguments with a certain 4 year old.

Blessings.

Valentine's

We had a busy week last week... busy for us anyway.  Sewing club, doctor appointments, valentines... 

And I've been catching up on projects and some light reading in the evenings.  Ha.  My former boss is up for promotion and review this year and he let me know that the reviewers may be contacting me about some of the projects that I worked on.  Yikes.... I remember very little of the particulars so he also sent me a bunch of the papers and patents that are relevant.  Oh man.  I love chemistry and science, but technical writing and scientific literature put me to sleep!  I despise reading research!  Even the stuff I did!  I know, I know.  They used to have me proof read their papers before they submitted them for review... ugh... one of the post-docs loved commas way too much. I have been slowly slogging through them. 

This is probably why when someone tells me they've "done their research" on a scientific/medical topic I raise my eyebrows a little bit; I'm very impressed you've actually read things like, "The diffusion coefficients of water in bio-based hydrogels were measured with a simple NMR method. This method tracked the migration of deuterium oxide through imaging data that was fit to a diffusion equation. The results show that a 5 wt % soybean-oil-based hydrogel gave an aqueous diffusion of 1.37 (60.21)  109 m2/s. The value for a 0.5 wt % saponified starch– polyacrylonitrile graft copolymer was 1.28 (60.26)  109 m2/s, which remained about the same at increased poly-mer content in the hydrogel."  Actual research is mind numbing to read, although it is rather gratifying to see, "The authors thank Jennifer R. Koch for gel preparation and experimental work presented herein," in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science.  I'm famous!  Sort of.  Ha. 

Cecily has been begging to make valentines for weeks so we did more than once.  These were some kind of paint markers- not washable.  Woot.

 They both had fun with them.  We cut hearts out of their masterpieces to send to people.

 Another time they got stickers and glitter glue.  Cecily glued everything to one piece of paper.

 Emmy had just woken up, but she wanted to do stickers too.

 It is very festive... *grin*

 We haven't been outside much, so they make messes inside.  And go fishing in their boat. 

Friday I spent the day cleaning and getting the house in some semblance of order because Bob invited his coworker and family over for supper on Saturday.  We had been invited to their boys' birthday party last summer so Cecily was super excited to play with them again.

Saturday morning the girls and I went to Meg's to make valentines and do crafts... then we delivered flowers and their creations and got McDonalds for lunch. I've been ordering an extra glass of water and diluting a little bit of "Pop! Want Pop! Hab it" into it so that little Bee can have her own glass of pop...

I was nervous about the evening.  Even though I've met them before, I don't do small talk well.  And I take after my grandmother and I'm always nervous about the food, whether I need to be or not.  I was glad I went with soup... I didn't have to come up with side dishes!  And creamy chicken and wild rice soup in bread bowls is pretty much my favorite right now.  After all my worrying, we had a really good evening.  The girls played well with Alex and Rafael, and we didn't lack for conversation with Hassan and Denisse.  They're moving to Ecuador soon and they say we should come visit.

Having people over always makes me wish I was less introverted... since Bob is too.... I/we want to be hospitable, but it's just hard! 

We didn't have any plans to go out on Valentine's day (crowded restaurants are not my thing) so we were glad to accept Dale and Meg's invite for heart pizza.   The girls thought it was the best thing ever, especially since they got to sit at their own little table.  Emmy was so proud sitting by Hanna.  Our neighbor randomly brought us a strawberry pie so we enjoyed that with them... overall it was a great Valentine's weekend! 

This week we played in the snow and built a short lived snowman and that's about it.  I love it, the girls are getting stir crazy. 

Emmy prefers to eat her sundae cones with a spoon.  Silly Bee. 

Blessings.

Chill February

And the last of the January doldrums.

One day the girls and I met Kendra ("Krenda") and William at the pool.  They loved it.  And I was glad for another set of eyes to keep an eye on them...

 I never remember pool toys, good thing they have some built in.

 Emmy and William... aww.

 Bob and I went to Rustin and Sharon's for a chuck-wagon themed potluck... smoked brisket with all the trimmings.  It was super yummy, probably rivaled all the chuck-wagon suppers Dad dragged us to out west.  It had kind of been a long time since we were with them all, so it was a good night.  And you won't believe what Greg said to me.......  just kidding Greg! 

We took the girls to Bass Pro Saturday evening just because.  They wanted to see the fish and the animals, but they spent the most time exploring the boats.  And the ATVs... 

 Emmy wanted to drive them all.

 We need one of these, right?

 My parents and Jake invited themselves over and brought pizza Sunday evening. 

We've been spending most of our time inside coloring, playing, fighting...

 Stepping on Bubble wrap...

 Putting stickers under our shirts...

 We made cornbread one night for supper.  I measure, they take turns dumping.  Then they both wanted to stir.  Somehow it all stayed in the bowl!  They like cooking a lot more than it looks like in this picture. 

 I've been cooking all sorts of things again!  Whole meals that don't come from a box or the Schwann's man!  It's amazing.  I even made a whole turkey that I bought on sale last thanksgiving.  It turned out great... nice and moist and delicious.  I even made gravy from the drippings!  And the carcass is in the freezer for making broth (once I get around to it or I'm tired of it taking up space in the freezer)!  Can't let Shelly be more domestic than me...  hehe. 

Mom needed a grandma day so she took the girls Thursday... I went shopping.  Anymore I much prefer online shopping... I'm getting old or something.  The girls had lots of fun at the farm with "Ga-maw" and "Ap-aw."

So I had great intentions of rehabbing this little table and chairs that were mine as a child in time to give it to the girls for Christmas... didn't happen.  I'm just finally getting started now.  Originally my plan was to paint/ stain them to match our kitchen table and chairs.... but.... all those spindles.  And the chairs are in decent shape.  After tightening screws and re-gluing spindles and armrests, I used Restor-a-finish on them.  It works really well- the chair on the left hasn't been done yet, the one on the right has.  They still don't look brand new, but the scratches are less obvious and the finish looks nice and shiny again. 

 Oh this poor table.  Apparently the four Wyss kids were hard on their toys.  Ha.  Tape, paint, scratches, missing edge banding... we did a number on it.  Although, I don't remember paint being allowed on it so that must be Michelle's fault.  Anyway, waffling about what to do with the top... it's thin veneer on plywood so it would be a waste of time to refinish it. My trip to Pekin Hardwood for a replacement was fruitless... so if Menards doesn't carry edge glued panels in the size I need I'm not sure what I will end up doing.  I'm painting the legs white so the table will at least sort of look like our table.

Anyway, it's been quiet, the girls are going a little stir crazy, but next week looks to be busier so they'll be happy.
Blessings.

Grandma will give me a ticket to the Symphony

It's been very quiet around here... at least in terms of going and doing things.  The girls have been alternately snotty so this past Wednesday was the first time in a long time that we've even all been at church. 

She thought she was big stuff eating out of Daddy's cereal bowl.

 And Bob got roped into reading ALL of Cecily's new Highlights magazine.  (I think it pretty much firmly ensconces me in the terrible parent category, but I really don't like reading out loud....)

 Little Bee was rocking two pony tails in a slightly ineffective attempt to keep hair out of her snotty nose.

 No idea.  Doesn't everyone wear church shoes with their umbrellas inside in the winter?

 Getting ready to go outside with Daddy!  Emmy is trying to put on my ski pants.

 He managed to get enough snow stuck together to make them a snow man.

 And he carried little miss I-don't-want-my-boots-to-get-snow-on-them around.

 They named him Henry.

 Bob also gave them a sled ride. 

 So my cousin Ned has been playing with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra this season... and last Sunday they had a family matinee concert: Fairy Tales and Scary Tails.  There was going to be a narrator, "captivating imagery," and a costume parade.  I waffled a little bit about taking Cecily because the stories behind the first two pieces are really kind of creepy, but we decided to try it and I'm really glad we did!  All ready to go after church... in her Elsa dress.   

 We met up with Dad & Mom, Shelly & Nathan, and Troy.  Cecily was very excited about handing her ticket to the guy at the door.  But she was really unsure about the crowds.  (She takes after me- new things make me nervous too) If we would have gotten there early they had face painting and pop corn and drinks and Princesses to meet.  She acted very shy, but I think she liked taking a picture with Anna and Elsa. 

 So then we found our seats; she's so little she could barely keep hers down.

 We were in the 1st balcony. "When I'm five I can sit down there, and when I'm six I can sit in the boxes."  Okay then. 

I had played the music for her a couple of times before we went so she recognized some of it... but she was still a little bit scared of "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Danse Macabre."  Understandably. They creep me out a little bit too. The narrator was really good and they had a slide show with pictures that fit the story... she kept whispering things (thankfully there were lots of other kids there making noise too) but we made it thru to the more benign music.  Yay Sleeping Beauty! Right before intermission they had a costume parade down on the stage that she really wanted to go do.  We all talked her out of it... such spoil sports!  And then she was a little disappointed she didn't get to eat popcorn with grandma and get a drink, but she didn't say anything until the second half was starting so I felt bad about that. 

The second half was the "Broom song," aka the Sorcerer's Apprentice, which is just fun.  Although she was worried about Mickey getting in trouble.  And "Carnival of the Animals" was the last one.  She was getting tired by the end, but she did like listening for the animals.  The "Cuckoo" song is her favorite, probably because it's easy to hear the cuckoo. Anyway, she did really well considering it was a two hour concert after a full day at church and she's only 4.  I think she enjoyed it because she's been talking about it off and on ever since. *grin* And after she gets to sit in a box (ha!  I doubt I will ever want to pay for that!) when she's seven she can ride the elevator.

I enjoyed it too, although I don't feel like I really got to listen to the music as much as I could have if she wasn't along... oh well.  Introducing her to the orchestra and great classical pieces was the whole point.  And seeing Ned play.  (She was very shy when he came out afterwards too.  Silly kid.) 
Otherwise, it's quiet around here.

Oh, and my dad took my suggestion... this story makes me cry every time I hear it...

Blessings. 

To Sleep, perchance to dream-

Ay, there's the rub.

So while I finally feel (mostly) like a human being again, the girls have been coughing and snotty and I seem to be picking that up... mur... and Bob had a rough few days of illness last week. Woot. I'm already longing for spring. 

It snowed last Saturday!  It was very pretty.  The girls were so excited.  Emmy kept pointing out the window with big eyes, "Ook, ook!"  Cecily wanted to go out in it buuut I didn't want to and Bob was sick so we didn't.  They got to go to the farm during testimonies so I think that made up for it.  I mean, driving Barbie cars down the stairs is way better than playing in wet snow.

Fred and Dianne came for the baptism... and some elevator people that I vaguely remember from when Dad was on the board... I was very glad Dianne was there because Bob was home sick and there's no way I would have been able to stay in with both girls alone, so it ended up being a pretty good Sunday.

I did let them go out in the snow after church.  Cecily loves it... Emmy doesn't want to get snow on her boots.  And Cecily insists I stay within 10 feet of her at all times.  *sigh*  So I did a lot of carrying Emmy around the yard while Cecily made snow angels.  Then we had to hurry and head to Gridley for our last Christmas!

I didn't take any pictures but we had fun.  We always have soup, which is amazing.  And the California box made it in time.  The girls got to play with Cristina's toys.... and we got home kind of late.  Oh well.

Our new mattresses came bright and early Monday morning!  Woot woot!  So, Bob has not really been a fan of our full sized bed.... that was my Grandparent's... that my Grandpa died in... (my dad should really blog about it and then you would realize why that fact doesn't bother me in the least.) 

Anyway, for Christmas, I got him full-to-queen conversion rails so we can use the headboard and footboard with bigger mattresses.  They're marketed for antique beds and are designed to sit lower to the floor because mattresses are much thicker than they used to be; I was also really hoping that we might end up with not so tall of a bed.   I looked into just buying a new queen headboard and frame but it was way more expensive and I'm not sure what style would go well with our 50's bedroom set. 

The girls thought the empty frame was the best thing ever.

 And new mattresses.  Notice that it's still really tall.  Boo.  Even with the lower side rails its about 3 inches taller than our other mattresses.  Sadness.  You should have seen Bob's face when I sat on the bed and said, "I don't like it."  Ha. Woe is me.  He says they aren't going back so I will just have to 'deal about it.'

It was about that point that we discovered that there is such a thing as "new mattress smell."  I don't like it.  So we haven't even slept on them yet, we've been camping on the couch bed in the living room which is NOT comfortable.  At all.  It was warm today so I shut the door and cracked the window and it seems to be dissipating finally...

Oh well.  I should not complain.  I get to keep my solid cherry bed with the spot on the headboard where the finish is worn from a humidifier when my mom was sick as a kid.... and Bob gets three extra inches of mattress on his side. 

Tuesday was pretty cold so I didn't want to go outside.  One of my HS friends is a nanny and posted pictures of her charges playing with snow in the bath tub.... so we tried it.  They were very unsure at first.  "Why is there snow in the house?"  "What is it doing in the tub?"

 But then they warmed up to the idea. 

 Enough that I felt like I was winning at parenting for once.  Ha.  It was worth it to not have to get bundled up to go outside with the temperature in the teens.

That evening I got to go out to eat with my Washington girls.  It was really good to see them... I have lots of great friends of all ages, but there's something about spending time with people who have known you forever and through so many stages in life... and where pretty much no topic is taboo.  *grin*  We laughed a lot.

So yeah, other than all that and a hilarious (after the fact) incident involving Emmy getting mad that we wouldn't let her have a can of ginger ale and her throwing it on the bathroom floor and it exploding, it's been quiet around here.  I'm ready for all of us to not be under the weather and for spring.  And I'm ready to sleep in a real bed again. 

Oh and Emmy is happy as a clam outside if she's being pulled in a sled.  That way she doesn't get snow on her boots.  Or gloves. 
Blessings. 

Operation Save the Potatoes!

I despise desprouting potatoes... and since we've had a warm fall and winter so far our basement hasn't really been cold enough to store potatoes.  After all the work it takes to grow weed them and dig them I am not giving up the fight to save them and eat them!  Anyway, optimum temperature for potato storage is 45-50 degrees with 90-95% humidity.  Sooooo... my friend just happened to be selling a mini fridge and we just happened to be in need of a cold storage option for what's left of our potato crop.  It's on the warmest setting and we stuck a couple of open containers of water in there and we should be good to go.   Ha.  I feel so crunchy or something.

Anyway, Christmas number 5 ended up getting postponed due to the ice storm... probably a good thing in the long run because Emmy came down with a fever that afternoon.  Boo.  It only lasted about a day though, so not too bad.

The rest of the week was pretty quiet.  Cecily got sick at 3am on the 31st.  Woot.  It's a good thing Bob got up with me because my poor stomach could hardly handle the cleanup...  so we all sat on the couch the next day.  Yes, Emmy is only wearing legwarmers with her diaper.  Her choice. 

"When you're sick you can watch whatever you want."  *Ahem.* 



 Emmy and I made it to New Years Eve service but then we came home and sat on the couch with our poor sick girl.  She refused to take any medicine and she wouldn't even drink the Dr. Pepper I laced with Tylenol.... *sigh* 

"Oook, Oook"  This time it was more Mom-doesn't-feel-good than sick kids.... you don't want to know how many times we've watched Robin Hood over the last two weeks...

She was acting well enough the next afternoon that we let her go to Bob's parent's for Christmas.  My camera didn't make it out of my purse, but I think Bob took a few pictures... we skyped Matt, which was nice.
Cecily got this ironing board but Emmy was pretty sure she needed it.  "Cheeese!"

The rest of Bob's time off work was spent relaxing and playing with all their new toys.  And Legos.

 "Cheese!"  She likes to line the horses up and say, "ook, ook!"

 A new dollhouse just for her! 

'What's on your shirt, Emmy?'  "Duck!" 

Slowly, slowly I am feeling better.  Yesterday I gagged on my toothbrush but didn't throw up!  Yay!  It's the little things...  

Blessings.