Still Here

I go back and forth about blogging anymore. In the mountains the isolation seemed to lend itself to the time and purpose for posting pictures and such of our life. Normal has taken on a new definition since returning to Ohio. Although we are finally into somewhat of a routine of life, life is a much fuller and busier thing. That is good though. We wanted to be involved with people and involved in living beyond ourselves, which we are. But with that comes less time for other things. The pieces of the pie can only be cut so thin. Often I walk by my scrapbook boxes (many still unpacked) and think that one day again I'll dig in and scrap. I still have my fabric that is waiting for my creative energy. Books are still stacked to be read. Yes, it is a busy season. I'm not unhappy in my priorities but rather have finally come to understand that the time I'm in now is not forever. I know when the oldest kids were preschoolers I often felt overwhelmed with all the needyness that little children bring with them. I was certain life would always consist of that craziness. But as older, wiser woman assured me, this time did pass. Quin is on the verge of potty training and is too big for his crib. Before long we will once again be a "no diaper" family. He needs to be out of his crib but the search for a free mattress thus far has turned up nothing. (Why is it that there are a million free beds when we don't need one but none when we do?). So life does move on and change. There will be time for other pursuits (old ones even) ahead. We work now though.

My evenings are consumed with working Dragons' games and at Fraze. I enjoy the Fraze work and find being in the middle of the concerts quite a diversion to the other stresses in life. I was pleasantly surprised to run into Bev from Dingleberries who works concessions. Since losing Greg, she has found solstice in the old music and the people. I was glad to see her doing well after such a sudden loss.

Unbelievably, Jot broke his arm again. That is twice in less than a year now. This time the break is up near his shoulder and thankfully only requires a splint. He goes back for a checkup in a couple weeks.

Hannah completed her summer school Health class enabling her to use her school year schedule for other courses. She is signed up to take JROTC. We tried to let her choose all her own classes with minimal counsel from us. Both Tim and I had regrets for the classes we took in school and hoped to avoid that with her. There were things I wish I'd taken but just didn't think I was allowed to, so for Hannah, we want her to explore the interests she has. Personally I think the History and a leadership skills ROTC will offer her will be quite appealing to her. She doesn't mind the uniform requirement which I thought would be the excluding factor. We'll see how she likes it.

Emma and Jot both finished the school year well and are enjoying their more relaxed schedule this summer. Faith is as eager as ever to begin Kindergarten and I'm wondering what life will be like with just one at home. It's been 10 years since there's only been one here :)

Taking pictures is one area that I've also cut back on. Therefore, I don't have any to post at the moment. My computer required reimaging a couple of weeks ago and I've yet to reload any of my pictures. Eventually I'll get to it and appreciate your patience :)

It's March now....

My goodness, I sure fell off the blogging bandwagon didn't I? We were inundated with birthdays as usually happens each year ;) I'm sharing a few pictures of the adventures. Forgive the blurry one of Quin, but I couldn't resist the adorable smile.

Life has been full of late. Hannah has had several guard competitions. Their group is doing quite well this season taking 2nd place at most of their events. Hannah has signed on for fall guard which means she'll march with the band at football games and competitions as well. It seems early to be thinking of next school year already but we've had our "welcome to high school" meeting for 8th grade parents and the official marching band meetings as well. Hannah has to have her course requests in the computer by last week. It'll be here before we know it!

Quin is still getting into everything, but still cute as ever. He loves playing in the mud and I discovered paying full price for rain boots at Target was a worthy purchase. Washing off rubber boots is way easier than washing and drying sneakers several times a day. He and Kelly are destroying the backyard, but at least they're having fun right? He gets daily baths, occasionally several and goes through clothes like a teen-ager. He gives mess a whole new meaning. Talking is finally overtaking him too... he'll mimic most everything. His latest daily interaction with Faith is to say "-ock, -ock" to which Faith replies with the typical "Who's there?" and Quin just laughs himself silly with no reply. I think these Knock-Knock jokes are better than the ones that make no sense that we hear from Faith ;)

Jot just finished up "business day" at school where he made Grandma Alexander's hamburger cookies. He established his small business and kept records for expenses, etc. as well as creating his own marketing signs and posters. It was a fun project for him and he seemed to really understand the business concepts that were taught. He continues to do well in school even though he still pushes Emma and Faith around.

Emma is also doing fabulously at school and just loves Mrs. Miller's second grade class. She went to a slumber party for a classmate over the weekend and had a fun time at that brave mom's house. The girls were up most of the night and Emma ended up napping nearly all of Sunday. Too much birthday, as the Berenstein's would say. Her own birthday was a more subdued affair with grandparent's and family. After weeks of indecisiveness, she choose Max and Erma's carryout for her birthday dinner. I will admit that it had been a very long time since I'd had a Max and Erma's burger and it was yummy! She enjoyed her special day and now she is 8!

I began training for my summer part-time job at The Fraze. I'll be working in the box office selling tickets and handling the cash office duties for the pavilion. A few shows have already been announced with the first of those going on sale this Saturday. So far the biggest named event is Crosby, Stills and Nash. I imagine it'll sell out quite quickly. I think I'll enjoy the work and it will be some nice added income to help with expenses.

Tim and I will also both be working a concession stand at the Dayton Dragons games to raise money for the Band Boosters. We earn voucher credits for each game we work toward Hannah's guard fees. It will also be a great way for us to meet other families in the area. From what others say, it is an absolute blast working these games. I'll be available for more games that Tim, but we've signed up for several together so if you're in the area, stop by :)

If you are not local to me, you might have read in the news about our big snowstorm/possible blizzard that hit a couple weeks ago. I guess it has been decided that there wasn't enough wind to classify it as an official blizzard, but it was a lot of snow for here. Not much compared to the mountains, but good enough :) It was pretty, but didn't last hardly at all. I've included a picture of Kelly at the back fence to give you an idea of the depth. I think we topped out at 14 inches. It is gone now though and we're currently, as I type getting a ridiculous amount of rain. Over 4 inches in just over 24 hours.... thank God for our two sump pumps. They are both running about every 15 minutes now. Amazing!

Yes, I'm still alive.

The kids have not killed me yet I just continue to find myself incredibly busy with our new schedule. Well... Quin is giving a good effort at killing me. He is a mess looking for a place to destroy. Unfortunately for Kelly, she has been the recipient of much of the mess Quin creates. Knives, cheese, whipped cream, mud, syrup... the imaginative methods to create chaos are infinite in number for the little one.

Hannah's winter guard team has been doing quite well and took first place in their last competition. Jot has been annoying his sisters at a daily pace and Tim and I find ourselves befuddled in what to do to get his attention about the matter. TV restriction doesn't seem to affect him anymore (yes, we too are shocked). Emma has given up her dream of a life of cheerleading since she saw her first guard competition. She has decided 'THAT is what I want to do!" Miamisburg has elementary guard (thus their excellence at the high school level), but as for Springboro, she has several years to wait, so perhaps cheerleading will have to tide her over. Faith is ever eager to begin school and finds being at home boring...especially with Quin. Was I ever bored at her age? Seems to me I was rarely at a loss for stuff to do. Maybe that is where Quin gets it from....

Speaking of which, he has been awfully quiet for some time. I need to go find him.

It's January again

Here is the picture we sent out with our Christmas cards. I will post Tim's letter soon too. It is saved on his computer and I don't have access to it just now. I still have a couple cards that were sent to wrong addresses that need to be redirected... if you are one of them perhaps you'll have it by Easter ;)

Jot is now 11 and so far he seems to be enjoying being so. Last night we had pizza, cake and ice cream. I have to say that I took advantage of the Papa John's deal of three medium pizza's with unlimited topping for $7 each. I picked chicken, bacon, roma tomatoes and mushrooms and boy was it delicious! Anyhow... Dad and Sharon came for presents, cake and ice cream which was nice. I can't remember the last time another of our relatives was at our home for a birthday. Jot has a decisively Cars birthday getting several cars, two playsets (Flo's and Guito's) and a sheet/comforter set (from Mom and Ron). He also got Brother Bear (one and two), clothes and a new bike helmet. Fun was had by all.

I have been overwhelmed with unpacking boxes and trying to find places for things. Christmas/birthdays that seem to fall at the busyiest times of the year! One down and three more to go before the big summer break of birthdays. I began tackling the boys room yesterday trying to get stuff sorted and put away. We need to either thin out the toys or begin rotating them. Poor Quin's toys get pushed behind the Command Station, Fire Engine, TWO police cars, Space Ship and the zillions of big-footed nightmares aka Rescue Heroes. Kelly is finding various gourds, tomatoes and cucumbers in different costumes aka Veggie Tale playsets. The Cars avalanche of last night will only add to this mess so some order is in desperate need. We recently got an additional loft bed/desk/dresser for the room (Craigslist) that matched Jot's old bed so the room will be set for Quin leaving his crib at some point. Now that that furniture is set I can begin finding homes in there for all the stuff. We need to hang another rode in the closet and possible some shelves, but eventually there will be a place for everything (I hope). I'll tackle the little girls' room next. Pollies, Barbies and Doll clothes will be the foe in there.


Christmas was quite enjoyable. Mom and Ron were here a good portion of the time in between their hopping around to visit other folks (and gaining an appreciation for what we endured on trips to Ohio for years). It was wonderful to have them here as well as being able to visit family ourselves. We hosted Tim's family the day after Christmas which went fine for the first time doing that. I'd change a few things for next time, but all in all it went well. Christmas eve was spent at my Granny's with all my aunts/uncles/cousins from my dad's side of the family. It has been over 20 years since I've attended and it was a very fun night for us. Seeing everyone after such a long time was so nice. We were well received and left feeling quite loved and appreciated. A nice thing indeed.

We've continued to visit churches with not much in the way of a good fit. We seem plagued to walk into "if you're a visitor excuse us because this is not the normal service we'd be having".... ugh. I guess it is to be expected around the holidays but it does seem that many people go to a great effort to make church more difficult than it need be. We have intentions of heading up to Faircreek again this weekend. It is a drive and hard to manage with the little ones, but there are good friends there. The encouragement is a valuable thing at this point in time. We are looking forward to hearing the pastor there too (relatively new). We were married in that church (in a different location and different name), served for many years there and have a deep love for many that are still attending 2o-some years later. We continue to pray about when to begin the home study here. There is a desire among some we've talked to for some simple verse-by-verse teaching which is exactly the thing in which Tim excells.

I have rejoined Weight Watchers (actually did last month) and am enjoying my journey back to goal. I attained my Lifetime status back in Philly and then fell into old habits when we moved to the mountians. Without the meetings I tumbled down. I really need, I've discovered, the face to face encouragement of those at the meetings. The support and sharing of ideas cannot be done on my own. The leader I've found here is excellent and reminds me a great deal of two of my favorites from Philly. She is enthusiatic, knowledgable and fun. I think I'll do quite well with her. I've learned that the leaders are a really important part of a good meeting. I've always said if you don't click with your leader, find another one. I've been fortunate to find a leader that is close (a mile maybe) that I like. Go me!