Opal at 33 Months

Opal is slowly adjusting to pants.  But only outside.  And not a second longer.  I'll take it.  She is also slowly adjusting to a jacket.  Also only outside.  And not a second longer.  In fact, as I type this, I think we are through the worst of that phase.  What a relief!  She is learning to self regulate too - see how I found her one morning after I told her 'no' to something she wanted.  After searching for her, I found her in her room in the rocking chair, using my jade facial roller on her face.  Another morning she woke up in a bad mood because she was sad that Will was at work.  She told me, "I need to FaceTime daddy so that I can feel happy again."  

Opal loves learning whatever her sisters are willing to teach her.  Violet taught her "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" complete with hand movements and it was adorable.

Opal loves her sisters and her sisters love her, unless she is messing up their Legos, or hogging the TV with Barbie or a show called "Shimmer and Shine."  Opal's big sisters are on a Netflix binge of Liv & Maddy, or as Opal calls it, "Chicken Patty" and she loves the songs in that show that they call "Pink & Blue" and "Froyo Yolo" and Opal can sing all of the words with hand movements as well.

Opal's favorite things to ask this past month are: "What's that sound?" and "What's that smell?"  Usually she is asking these things because she doesn't like the sound or the smell, but sometimes (on very rare occasions) it is because she smells chocolate on my breath.

She is still a loyal caretaker of our friend's stuffed kitty, and in the photos above, she is feeding her Meow Meow "blueberries" for a snack, and below that photo she is feeding Mama kitty a pancake that her older sisters keep sneaking bites of in order for Opal to believe that the Mama kitty is eating it.

Opal's favorite thing to do on our daily walks is to throw rocks into water.  In the above pictures, she is throwing a stroller tray full of rocks into the river by our house, but she will and has settled for puddles and sewer drains.  She loves the splash that rocks make in water!

Opal, you are the spice that gives our family flavor, and we love you so much!!!

November 2020

Oh Charlie, remember that time you snuck in the house and no one noticed?  The bottom two photos below show him hanging out like he owns the place and no one is the wiser.  The top two photos show HIM none the wiser, as he sleeps in the leaves outside, and in his blankets in his favorite spot in our garage.  The funny thing is, if anyone but Will opens the door to the house, Charlie will do his best to sneak in.  If Will opens the door, Charlie runs the other way.  Charlie knows who the alpha male is.  

With our free time this past month, thanks to our laid back COVID schedule, Lucy and Emma sewed clothes and accessories for their American Girl dolls.  I love how the girls don't use any instructions and if they need to know how to do something they have envisioned, they gain the necessary skills via YouTube.  I am just in awe of their fearless learning and vision.  We all made sock snowman from a fun tutorial and supplies that Will's aunt gave us.  

We had a gorgeous buck by our bee hives this past month.  I got a blurry picture through the window and it sent chills up our spine to hear the clip clopping of his hooves on our driveway.  Will harvested the last of our honey.  It was a small harvest, but it was enough for family and friends.  The kids jumped in and helped me finish a new product - well, modified new, as this is the upgrade on the canvas outdoor garden flags that turned out to be not weather resistant.  To save all of these beautiful canvas signs, I had Will cut down and drill dowels and the girls helped me string them so that now these beautiful signs can be indoor banners.  I also ordered a 40 pound bag of cherry pits to product test another new product.  Turns out I think I am allergic to the cherry pit dust, but I still want to love them because it is such a clever way to make the stuffing for heat packs - utilizing something that would otherwise go in the trash.

Will finished up his electrical project this past month, and removed the eyesore of a pole that the original electricity fed into our garage from.  It looks so much better now that it is gone.  Now, to hopefully soon deal with the rest of our eyesore of a garage - the peeling and rotting wooden siding and ancient and ugly windows.  Baby steps!  Will also finished the fall leaf and kid clean up.  There he is in the photo below, dragging the leaves and the kids to the compost pile.

The week of Thanksgiving is a short school week, and so I've built it into our school timeline to use the three days before the holiday to finish up miscellaneous projects.  This usually means catching up on half a year of the girls scrap book journal.

The girls enjoyed lots of indoor play this past month as the weather continued to get colder.  In clockwise order from top left below: the girls coloring holiday pictures, fort building, Emma reading Violet a bedtime story (when I found them like this, my heart melted), Violet with a creation from some magnetic toys we have, Emma with a fake mustache made out of a hair net, and Emma, yelling for me because she got her leg stuck in our play mailbox.  I can't make this stuff up.

We had a few bonus warm weather days this past month where I tried to take full advantage of being outside as much as possible.  My kids did too - note the sun dresses.  No one was happier than Opal who didn't have to wear sleeves or pants.  Some of my favorite seated activities for my kids to do outside are "science experiments" where they basically pour colored water back and forth between containers, and PlayDoh.   Both of these activities keep them happily occupied for hours.

We were also able to have an outdoor yoga class with our friends and yoga teacher.  We built a snowman with Will's aunt, and had a picnic and hike with my parents.  COVID has caused us to look at the weather, and plan our social visits accordingly.  I rather like it - I've never been outside more than I have this past year.

So we had sun dresses and snow pants all in one month, and fully enjoyed both extremes.

COVID has changed so much about our lives.  Below is my drying line in the basement - lined up with freshly laundered face masks, and the photo below that is the way we now make Sloppy Joes.  Thanks COVID.

Holiday baking has started in earnest this past month, as we made pumpkin and apple pies from scratch for Thanksgiving, and Lucy made coconut and Hershey Kiss cookies for our turkey day dessert as well.

Emma tried her hand at baking apple crisp one night when I was working, and it was delicious and marvelous to enjoy it warm, over cold vanilla ice cream while feeling like I have finally arrived.  Homemade baked goods from scratch that I didn't have to make?  Yes, please and thank you.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving with just the six of us, and it was cozy and lovely.  I am so grateful to be quarantined with my favorite people in the world, and I understand that this window of time in my life is not lined up for many other people who are missing loved ones through COVID.  I promise you I am not taking it for granted, but I also will be honest and tell you that sometimes I dream about being quarantined ALONE for just one day.  Either way, I'll take what I got, and thank God that my nest is full during COVID.

Opal, Pantless at 32 Months

Opal still hates pants.  But, she has added another article of clothing to her dislike list: jackets.  October weather was confusing to a toddler as some days no jacket or pants were needed at all, and then others only pants were needed to add to her dress or shirt when playing outside.  The key to toddlers is consistency, and October weather just wasn't consistent.  So, some days were bonus days and I would explain to Opal that it was warm enough outside that she didn't need any pants or a jacket.  Other days I would explain what extra clothing she needed and brace myself for the fallout.  Here she is below, in a compromised jacket and compromised pajama pants at the park.

Most girls pants these days are leggings, which fit snuggly.  I can see how that may not be a good feeling for her, so I am okay with her wearing looser pajama bottoms - really, I'm just happy she has pants on at all.  Don't worry though, she has me take them off her the SECOND we are back inside.  Here my little pantless wonder is below, wearing one of Violet's old dance costumes with her Meow Meow dressed in a costume too.

She loves Meow Meow so very much and brings him with her everywhere.  She informed me the other day that his real name is Charlie but she calls him Meow Meow for short.  A good friend of ours knows of Opal's love for her little black kitty, and decided one afternoon to give Opal her favorite stuffed kitty from when she was younger.  I remember this special stuffed animal of hers, and when I saw her give it to Opal, I kept asking our friend if she was sure, as I know how much that stuffed animal meant to her.  She assured me that she wanted Opal to have it.  I couldn't believe the sweet generosity, and was so humbled by it.  Opal was sooooo EXCITED!  She takes Mama kitty, as she calls it, with her everywhere in the house and not only makes sure that Mama kitty and Meow Meow eat at every meal, but also get tucked in every night.  Our friend certainly found a good home for her Mama kitty.

Opal said some pretty funny things this past month.  One of them I am not proud of, and fortunately I haven't heard her say it since (I've since cleaned up my under the breath mutterings) so I can see the humor in it more now, and will relay it here so I never forget that they hear everything I say, no matter how mumbled I think it is.  The other day I told Opal it was time to go, and to go get her pants at the backdoor.  Opal then proceeded to stomp to the back door and I heard her say under her breath, "For **CK Sake."  Let me go on record by saying that when you are quarantined and your husband is a saint who never swears, that I knew exactly where she learned this from.  

After eating candy one evening, Will asked Opal: "Why do you have chocolate coming out of your nose?" Opal responded: "Because it's Halloween time."  Duh!

I came home one afternoon from running errands and Opal greeted me at the back door by saying, "Miss me?"

Opal loves music and dancing.  She loves using song lyrics in every day conversation, which is something positive I am hoping she learned from me.  Or it is just genetic.  Either way, the other day, she called to the girls that it was lunch time by singing, "When you're ready, come and get it, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah."

She loves the new song "Faded" and the lyrics say "where are you now" and so now she looks for me in the house by singing "where are you mom."

Will is famous for his home improvement projects that involve multiple trips to the store to complete.  During one of his standard projects, Opal asked him: "Dad, why you keep going to Home Depot?"  To which I looked at Will and asked with my laughing eyes, "Yes, why is that?" I've been teasing him for years on his disorganized project completion.

I was working on my computer while Opal was watching TV with a giant bag of pretzels.  I asked her if she could bring me a pretzel and she told me, "You have to be patient and give me a moment."

When Opal is feeling loving towards a member of her family she will say, "I love you too."  She believes that speaking love is a four word statement, not three.

And finally, she believes that love is not only words but deeds as well.  The sisters know they are in her favor when they do something nice for her and she tells them, "You can sit next to me in the car."  The three older sisters never sit in the seat next to her without her blessing, which is hilarious to me.

Opal really is a snuggle pants, despite not liking pants.  It's hard to believe the baby of our family talks in complete sentences and even makes us laugh with her humor.  In the below photos in clockwise order from top left: Opal wearing pants in the car, Opal and Meow Meow snuggling me before bed, Opal with curls springing out on the back of her head after her first haircut this past month, and finally, Opal two fisting it with scissors.  This girl LOVES cutting paper with scissors.

Opal, our pantless wonder, we love you so much!

October Sweetness

It's a bit strange to write about October as we are more than half way into December.  The main thing that occurred to me while collaging my photos from October was just how gorgeous the fall colors were, and how much life we lived that glorious fall month!  Here we are below, living October to the fullest.  I think the key to our full and happy October was the fact that we had the impending COVID winter looming ahead and so we knew that these glorious fall days weren't here to stay, and hence we appreciated them all the more.

Here's Charlie below, who stayed close to home in October, thus giving my anxiety about his safety some rest.  In clockwise order from top left below: Charlie peering in the window while Opal's favorite stuffed animal Meow Meow peered out at him.  Charlie snuggling me on a towel, to save me from some allergies, Charlie being menacing to our next door neighbor's cat who just wants to be friends with Charlie, Charlie visiting another neighbor's grandchild who she was babysitting, and Charlie taking a snooze in a random location - against the garage door.

The girls and I haven't had haircuts since January, and our hair has never been so long.  We decided to get Will's cousin (who's been cutting our hair for years at our house) over before the weather got too much colder, so we could at least have hair cuts outside to make it safer for everyone.  We had a random colder day of course the day she came, so Will busted out the space heater to make it more doable.  He also provided a lovely spread of snacks and we made a little party out of it.  Thanks COVID, for making even haircuts seem like a good time.  Granted, we always enjoy it when Will's cousin comes over but adding in snacks and a space heater made it positively festive.

We have been inspired by an aunt of ours to stay connected with her during COVID by giving each other art projects to do.  This month it was our turn to come up with an art project to share, and so we all collected leaves and then sent each other photos of our creations.

I was surprised one school morning when I came downstairs and found a love note from Lucy for Teacher Appreciation Day.  I can't tell you how much that meant to me, as being a mom is mostly a thankless job.  This is our eighth year homeschooling, and who knew that it would be so handy this year during COVID.  I feel like this is the first year that the outside world doesn't view this part of my life as crazy.  Homeschooling is a lifestyle for us and fits pretty seamlessly into how we just live our life.  It is a very different experience to homeschool based on desire and ability with planning than it is to be forced into it.  My heart goes out to all of the parents juggling their own work and school for their kids in this unforeseen year.

We had lots of indoor playtime this past month.  I'm really enjoying not having to rush here and there with the kids, and the fact that COVID has taken away any guilt I would normally have for just staying home more.  I really do think, despite my kids missing their extracurricular classes and their friends, that they will look back on this slow and undisturbed time at home with fond memories.  In clockwise order from top left below: Violet and Emma playing a game of Monopoly Junior, some rock candy we tried to make (it failed), the three youngest twirling in old dance costumes, Opal with a dance costume for her Meow Meow too, more dress up with the three youngest, Violet with a drawing she made with REAL hair she saved from her haircut (this could be COVID inspiration at it's finest), and finally, Emma doing my hair.

Lucy got inspired with some succulents I brought home that were on clearance for the season at our local hardware store.  I was going to make a little indoor fall planter with them, but Lucy took it over and based on the happy, creative zone that she went into with it, I realized that this project was meant for her all along.  She ended up begging me to go back to the hardware store and buy out the plants (which I did) and she sold a few of her creations to friends and family.  The money she made ended up covering all of the supplies, so she was very happy as it allowed her to arrange to her hearts content while still allowing room in our house for people, and not just plants, as she found good homes for her creations to go to.  She has loved arranging plants from a very young age.  She was a toddler at a great grandparent's funeral when we found her at a table rearranging the bouquets that people had sent.  And she's been like that ever since.  She amazes me with this gift of hers.

We were able to be safely social this past month and kept our visits to the great outdoors.  In clockwise order from top left below: We met my parents at the local cider mill for some treats and a hike, we ran into a friend of the girls from dance on an evening walk and chatted for a while, and we stopped by another friend's house for an impromptu outdoor playdate on one of the last 70 degree days of the season.  In the bottom, left hand photo below I treated the girls to a Friday breakfast picnic with cider mill goodies at a local park.  Sweet dreams are made of times like these.

We enjoyed many gorgeous walks and hikes in October.  Looking at these photos, I can't help but feel so very grateful for the town that we live in, and the natural beauty that is all around us.

In October I got to go on a trip all by myself up north to visit with my college roommate and her sister who were in town from Ohio.  I hadn't seen my friend in over a year, and so this was a treat for me on many levels - my first trip away from my kids and Will since I was pregnant with Violet seven years ago, getting to be up north (my favorite place to be when not at home), and getting to spend uninterrupted time with friends who are like family to me.

We had glorious weather, and a glorious time.  My only complaint is that my motel room door flew in when I was sleeping on my first night there and about gave me a heart attack when I woke up in the middle of the night with the wind blowing in my room.  It freaked me out so badly that I really couldn't get back to sleep.  So much for being able to catch up on sleep on my mini getaway!  The next (and final) night I was there, when I went to bed for the night I had my friend try opening my door from the outside to be sure I was locked in tight this time.  I slept a little better, but still not great.

The highlight of this trip though, besides spending time with my friends, was witnessing giant fish come up out of Lake Huron and swim up river.  It was an amazing experience, and one I will never forget.  My friend, her sister and I watched in awe as meaty, giant fish, almost three feet in length, struggled with all their might and jumped their way up the river.  I wished that Will and the girls were with me to see it.  We are going to try and plan it next fall, and hopefully all of our significant others can join us.  The yellow leaf below was peaking out at us on our last hike before I had to head home, and it looked just like a little yellow smiley face.  

Lucy put in my backpack a little fairy and a little mermaid to remind me of them on my hikes and requested that we photograph them in cute little places.  I thought it was an excellent idea, and I was so happy when my friend and her sister embraced this idea even more than me and helped to stage the photos.

We got some great shots.  The kids got a huge kick out of it too, and when I came home, we started taking the little figurines on our hikes together.  Maybe there will be an Instagram account someday for the fairy and mermaid's travels.

While I was up north, Will had fun with the kids.  They played with three old-school LiteBrites that his mom had found in her basement, and also enjoyed a pizza picnic at the park and several long walks and hikes.

As much I was sad to leave my friends and the great up north, I was so happy to be reunited with my kiddos and Will when I got back.  I need to take time away for myself more often, as reuniting is so sweet.  Missing them helped me appreciate all of their quirks and gave me more patience for the weeks ahead.

We harvested honey this past month, and sadly, both of my hives perished.  We had a very strong wind storm this past month and that did them in.  We did replant a pine tree that had died in our backyard, and we baked lots of pies and treats as well.

Will tackled a fairly big project as he connected electricity to our garage underground, instead of how it has been for the past probably sixty years - strung in the air from our house to the garage.  Now it is up to code, but we had to laugh on the evening he completed the project we lost power.  As soon as our power went out we all shouted Will/Dad and I could tell he was a little concerned too.  Then our neighbor FaceTimed us with her daughter, and all of the kids were relieved to know that on our side it wasn't faulty wiring on Will's part and on their side, it wasn't a ghost!

Violet accidentally dropped her appliance this past month and a piece broke off.  Violet's appliance is one of a kind and took MONTHS to make.  We were sick to our stomachs about it but fortunately, the dentist was able to fix it in house, no charge.  We had twenty-four hours in between dropping it off to be repaired and picking it up where we didn't know if it was fixable or not, so we were so excited when they called to say it was all set.  Thank GOD!!!  Here Violet is below getting her appliance fixed, and showing it off when we got home to her sisters.  Good as new!  Now, when she takes it out to brush it at bedtime, she plugs the sink and fills it with a bit of water to cushion the appliance if it were to slip out of her hands again.  This was a tip from another person with Ectodermal Dysplasia.  When we shared Violet's story of how her appliance broke when it slipped out of her hand as she was brushing it, so many others shared stories of their own.  It made Violet smile and feel not alone in her mishap.   Our favorite story someone told was when he was little, he had the stomach flu and his appliance landed in the toilet.  His mom decided to leave it there until his dad came home from work and let him fish it out.  In the meantime, grandma came over and flushed the toilet, as any good grandma would do.  They heard the appliance banging through the pipes all the way through the house.  

Will turned 40 in October, and in true Will style, didn't want to do anything major to mark the occasion.  He read somewhere that the weight you are at 40 is pretty much the weight you will be for life (not sure on how valid this is!).  If this is his mid-life crisis, I'll take it.  He is working with a coworker who used to be a personal trainer, and is taking his workouts and eating more serious than I have ever seen him.  To sum it up with a real-life example: he has replaced the pasta (his favorite food next to the marinara or bolognese sauce you pour over it) with spaghetti squash.  And eats it almost every day for lunch at work.  I never thought I'd see this day.  Never.  He turned 40 on a work day, and his coworkers spoiled him well.  He put in a half day, and came home to more spoiling.  

We met him on his way home from work for a birthday lunch and hike.  I picked up pizza from our favorite place, and we enjoyed a warm lunch despite the chilly weather that day.  We had a wonderful hike together, and then headed home to open presents and for me to make him a birthday dinner and dessert.

We had a couple of mishaps on his birthday - the first being that the shovel he casually mentioned to me this summer that he wanted (and I slyly took a photo of so I wouldn't forget) was the shovel on the left and not the right.  Of course I bought the wrong one.  It's hard to mess up a gift where the person specifically points out what he wants, but I did!  I also made him two desserts, as he couldn't decide which one he wanted and since Will never wants to be a burden, I took this as my rare chance to spoil him.  Thank goodness I made two desserts, as the one we put candles in ended up melting from the bottom up (???) and made the dessert almost inedible.  Will spent a good amount of time picking out the wax, but there was not much of the dessert left after the wax was mostly gone.  

We celebrated Will's birthday with his parents a few days later, and were grateful that COVID numbers were low enough to be able to celebrate indoors with them.

After Will's birthday, the next celebration is Halloween, and we enjoyed pumpkin carving and getting the girls Halloween costumes ready to go.  

Lucy was a suffragette, which was perfect as this year marked the 100 year anniversary of women getting the right to vote, Emma was a construction worker, inspired by the road work that happened this year in front of our house, Violet was a scientist and Opal was a black cat, inspired by her beloved Meow Meow stuffed kitty.

We only went trick or treating at the neighbors that we knew, and enjoyed the fact that our next door neighbor and her mom came with us.  We masked up, and put the candy on a three day quarantine before we let the kids dig in.  Our neighbor two doors down text me on Halloween morning, and told me that she had made up treat bags for all the neighbor kids, and that she had put them on quarantine for three days already so that our kids could have something to eat on Halloween night.  I teared up when I got her text, as that was so super thoughtful, and that simple deed really made our night.  My kids favorite part of Halloween is sorting their candy after trick or treating, and the fact that this woman thought of a way to safely let that still happen, meant more to me than I can say.  Our kids also lucked out in the fact that although we didn't go to many houses, all of the neighbors dumped crazy amounts of candy into my kids bags.  When we got home and quarantined most of the candy, we had a late dinner and a Halloween movie night with the kids.  It was a great evening, despite COVID revising our plans this year.  Plus, while we were out trick or treating we had the good fortune of watching the full moon rise over our neighborhood.  Memories were made, for sure!

I am still working on the launch of my new business, and spent October finalizing fabric, my logo, jewelry designs and testing out tea recipes.  The manufacturer that I am working with for my tea told me this past month that the main ingredient I chose for my first tea flavor is a no-go as it jammed up his machine too much.  He agreed to stick to our business agreement and run this first batch, but swore on his life that he would never run it again.  I decided to go back to the drawing board, and have since (two months later) found a way to get the ingredient that I want processed in a better way.  My manufacturer is also on board, but the ingredient is on backorder (thanks COVID) so we will hopefully be able to get started in the new year.  It is interesting the different delays and challenges that have been presenting themselves while I try to roll out this business.  I have to say though, that I am trying to keep an open mind, and I have a new mantra that I have been repeating to myself: One step at a time, there is no deadline.  Which is so true - as much as I am so excited to launch this business, there is no deadline.  This is coming from my heart and no one is forcing me to do anything.  So why rush it?  I am really trying to enjoy the process, and to see how the details always get worked out on their own, perfect timeline.

I was hoping for a fall launch to this business to be able to take advantage of the holiday shopping season, but now I am hoping for a spring launch.  It's great to have goals, but it is also great to be the one in charge at the end of the day so that when things go wrong or take a sudden plot twist, I have no one breathing down my neck and can repeat to myself, "One step at a time, there is no deadline!"  

Opal and Problematic Pants at 31 Months

If I had to sum up September with Opal, it would be entitled "Problematic Pants".  Opal absolutely hates pants we found out this past month.  It seems she got used to the easy, breezy days of summer where her legs were free from the restrictions of material.  Once the thermometer dipped below 60 degrees, as any good parent, I wanted my toddler to not catch a cold while playing outside.

Thank God for our quarantine type schedule as we power through this "Problematic Pants" phase, as mostly I do not have the energy to leave the house if it means I need to fight the battle for pants.  We have even made up a song about how much Opal hates pants, to the tune of BINGO, in an effort to help Opal work through her strong feelings about pants.  And, in case you are wondering, for the most part I let her go outside sans pants, despite cold temperatures, in the hopes that she would get chilled and ask for the warmth that pants would provide.  Nope.  Nope.  And nope.  She could be shivering with blue lips, but NO PANTS!!!

So we spent a lot of time indoors, while I felt like a bad parent for not having the energy to deal with the pants drama, and then had guilt iced on top of that because I knew that despite the weather now requiring pants, that this weather was still good weather and that soon enough it would be winter and I was missing the best fall days of the year.

I know her extreme feelings about pants is hard to believe, based on the cuteness she presents below.

I think it's only fair to mention what Opal loves right now, to balance out all of the hate she has for pants.  She loves cutting paper with scissors, she loves playing with her sisters, and she loves taking showers.

She also loves chocolate and making banana bread with me.  She is stellar at greasing the baking pan and mushing the bananas.  

She also loves eating anything that Will or I are eating.  I am still on a careful, low histamine diet, and so a lot of times I am eating a previously prepared meal from my freezer while she and the rest of the family enjoy something that is high in histamine.  My food is always more appealing to her though, and I still haven't learned to freeze my food into bigger portions as inevitably, I will have to share what I thought would be a single serving with my toddler.  The good news is, I feel like she is a true foodie, as she is not afraid to try new foods (my first kid with no fear about trying new food) and she takes a moment as she chews back and forth to decide whether she likes it or not, like a judge in a top chef contest.  She has no problem spitting it out and taking a drink of water if she doesn't like the food, but when she does like the food, she is so very excited!  It is adorable to watch.  

This girl knows what she wants, knows what she likes, and knows what she will not tolerate.  I know this will serve her well in the future, but in the meantime, send prayers my way.  At least she is cute and I love my feisty, spirited and confident girl!