No Sleep and No Eat November!

I had very few photos to organize and collage for the month of November!  Fortunately, it's not because I am still feeling terrible, as I am actually starting to feel more like myself, as long as I stick to my safe foods.  I do believe the lack of photos is an indicator of all of the products I made this past month for the Holiday Season at Harding Honey.  I usually try to stay on top of my inventory so that I only have to make one or two items a week, but because I was so sick the last couple of months, I definitely fell behind!  I made up for it in November though, and it is nice to be back.  Here I am below, getting help making beeswax candles.  All three of my girls helped cut paper to mod podge onto the lids, and they also helped put wicks in all of the jars and stuck on stickers for the labels. 

My kids had never used mod podge before and so were excited to try it out.  By the time we were done with 50 or so candle lids, Lucy told me she would be good if she never saw mod podge again.  Fortunately, she hasn't grown tired of color coordinating the supplies for the floral crowns that I make.  This past month I made her methodically show me how she came to her color conclusions and after realizing that her choices were spot on - both methodically and just playing it by eye - I have decided that color coordinating is her job from here on out, or as long as she enjoys doing it at least!

We have been struggling with listening, efficiency and general good moods at bedtime and again in the morning.  It takes way too long for them to go to bed, resulting in going to bed too late which is not remedied by any sleeping in the next morning.  In fact, they get up even earlier.  Mostly Violet is the main challenge, but all three of them have issues with this.  I am trying out the theory that they are not physically worn out enough at bedtime, and so I have been doing my best to get them out for a brisk walk with lots of intermittent jogging to tire them out.  It has helped some.  On days when we just don't make it outside for our walk, Will does a good job turning all three levels of our house into an obstacle course which includes the mini trampoline in our basement, the ride-on bouncy balls in our living room and two sets of stairs.

I miss the warmer weather already.  Even if I send them to play outside, it is for a half hour here, or an hour there, not the all day outside play of warmer weather.  The girls are squirrely and rambunctious and an annoyance to each other and I think even themselves by the time dinner rolls around.  We have done lots of stories, games, puzzles and movie nights but again, I would trade it all for those warm summer nights!  Photos in clockwise order from top left below: Will reading to the girls, me snuggling a cranky Violet who went to bed too late and got up too early and won't take a nap, Emma and Violet soaking their feet while they watch TV, Emma and Violet channeling their energy into yoga in the living room with a kids yoga DVD, the aftermath of some great snowflake creations, Violet making a "pat-er-en" out of math manipulatives, and Lucy drawing while relaxing on the couch.

All three kids enjoy cooking with us in the kitchen.  I have to be honest and say that Will is much better at involving them in meal prep than I am.

Violet, who used to be our least picky eater has now become the pickiest eater.  Besides bedtime and wake time, this causes me the most stress in our day.  Between my minimal eating list and each kid's list of what they refuse to eat, I feel like a short order cook.  Lucy has graduated from picky eating (thank goodness I have this light at the end of the tunnel proof) and doesn't give me any grief but between Emma and Violet, it is exhausting sometimes to work so hard to make healthy foods in the kitchen only to be met by rude manners and then the subsequent follow through on consequences on my part, which also result in cranky kids because they leave the table still hungry.  It is a lose lose situation until they are on the other side of this phase.  Some days I am able to pull off meals (a combo of various leftovers from the fridge) that everyone will find something to eat from, and other days I play the odds of being mentally strong enough to deal with their crankiness when there is nothing on the table that they would prefer to eat.  And don't even get me started on when I am convinced by them to give them a simple snack - it is reminiscent of the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".  I am mentally prepared for the prep, clean-up and feeding of three meals a day, but the work that "simple" snacks cause me always takes me by such disappointed surprise!

Our activities this past month included ballet, piano, nature club, swim class and yoga class.  Violet participates in yoga class with her sisters and still loves it.  In the photos below, from top left in clockwise order:  Lucy and Emma on the far right at ballet class, Violet playing under some chairs while Lucy and Emma are in their piano lessons, Violet pouting at nature class, Emma enjoying nature class, Lucy making a leaf craft at nature class, and finally, Violet joining in on Emma's piano lesson.

Our Baby T 5 is wiggling more and more in my belly, and this past month the girls were able to feel her move from the outside.  Will also put together the bunk bed that was given to us by a friend who no longer needed it.  The bunk bed was an extra long twin, and the girls bedroom only would fit regular twin length, so Will was able to cut it down and make it work with a few extra pieces ordered from the manufacturer of the bunk bed.  It was a very cost-effective gift from our friend to make room for our newest baby girl arriving this march.  Will said he was just going to set up the bunk bed in the girls room to make sure it fits, and then take it down, as he knew I wanted to wait as long as possible to integrate Violet into Lucy and Emma's room.  Of course we all know that as soon as that bunk bed was up, the timeline was no longer in my hands and Violet moved in that very night.  Which I guess is also making sense for the current bedtime and wake time struggles we are having.  

We had a lovely, family-filled four day weekend for Thanksgiving this past month.  We spent Thanksgiving day at Will's parents house and his brother and partner came to town as well which made for an extra-special day.  We also celebrated my brother's 30th birthday by wearing beards that my sister-in-law provided to all of my brother's close friends and family and simultaneously text him our birthday wishes while sporting beards to rival his own.

 The day after Thanksgiving we decorated our house for Christmas...

 ...and on the last day of our four day holiday weekend, we celebrated the baptism of the youngest child of our close family friends.  It was a beautiful ceremony and we felt honored to be a part of it.  We also hosted a luncheon at our house this past month that brought together friends old and new.

What a great way to end the month of November, and get us all excited for the next month of holiday traditions!  Let's hope we can get the sleeping situation under control with our three little ladies so that we don't have any cranks at Christmas!

Celebrating our Favorite Guy and Our Littlest Gal in October

October brought with it beautiful weather, fun fall activities, Will's birthday and Halloween.  Putting together the photos for this blog post made me smile and realize that despite me still not feeling well, we still managed to have a good month.  If it wasn't for Will and my kids, I don't think I would have left the house, but with them, I can do great things!  Here we are below, in clockwise order from top left: Lucy holding a frog she found on a fall hike, the girls pausing for a picture on the same fall hike, Will and I posing per Lucy's request at a cider mill, and the girls posing at my request at the same cider mill.

We made a point to be finished with all of our school by lunchtime, and then spent the beautiful October afternoons outside whenever possible.  In clockwise order from top left below: Lucy dressed as Mary Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie filling a crate of water balloons, Lucy and Violet playing in the rain, enjoying a fall lunch outside, Lucy artfully arranging gourmet plates of nature's finest ingredients in her backyard kitchen, the girls playing with sidewalk chalk, our amazing Japanese Maple tree in all it's autumn glory with the sunset adding even more depth to it's already vibrant fall red, and finally, Emma pulling Violet in the driveway.

At the beginning of this month it was warm enough for water balloons and popsicles on the front porch but by the end of the month it was winter coats, hats and gloves.  There were several mornings where, frustrated with my kids inability to roll with the weather changes, I had them repeat after me several times, "Mom does not control the weather."  Sure, I'd like a scapegoat too when cold weather hits, but I find it unfair that I am being used as their cold weather scapegoat and then have to deal with their whining when they find out the hard way that yes, mom was right, and flip flops and capris are too cold for when there is frost on the ground.

In the above picture, a woodpecker pecked a hole in the side of our garage in a matter of hours.  We then realized that it was inside our garage, apparently making a nice, roomy home for the winter.  I am sorry to say that Will scooped up Charlie, brought him to the upstairs of our garage and within a minute that woodpecker was no more.  I felt bad that the woodpecker had worked so hard just to be eaten, but I also understand that we cannot have a woodpecker living in our garage.  Charlie has enjoyed these last warm days of the year, and has found a new love - sleeping in leaf piles.  He snuggles into them until just his head is peeking out and take it from me, as adorable and cozy as he looks - do not pet him when he is in his leaf pile - you will get scratched.

The girls and I enjoyed a fun afternoon at the park with Will's mom where we had a picnic lunch, played on the playground and discovered a grove of sassafras trees, enjoyed a birthday party for Will and my sister in law at my parents house, and in the bottom, right hand picture below, we are on a hayride at a local nature center.

 We enjoyed time with friends...

 ...and the girls and Will helped me with Harding Honey, from shopping for supplies, helping me with the last of the year's bee classes, and winterizing my hives for the winter.

 In clockwise order from top left below, Emma at piano lessons, Emma getting out of the car at swim lessons and realizing she left her shoes at home (come ON!!), Lucy and Emma looking for frogs in a pond at a nature center, the girls at our monthly nature class, Lucy and Violet dissecting an owl pellet at the nature class, and Violet shopping for Halloween costumes at the Salvation Army with me while Lucy and Emma were in dance class.

 As the weather turned cooler, we spent more time inside.  All three girls have been playing together very well lately.  It is so nice that Violet is old enough to be able to participate and for the most part, Lucy and Emma are accommodating to her.  In clockwise order from top left below: the girls playing Duplos, playing Legos, playing dominos, Violet building a puzzle with me, a note that says, "Ken we watch TV yes", and Violet and Emma eating a bedtime snack of homemade applesauce after baths.

 Lucy came in the other day holding the last bunch of carrots from our garden for the season, and would you believe that a picture of her holding a bunch of carrots from our garden had come up on my Facebook Timehop that same morning?  She still loves harvesting from our garden, and I love that as much as she has grown and changed, some things stay the same.

 Despite my limited diet, I still need to cook for some rather picky and fussy girls.  I made a huge batch of pancakes one night for dinner when Will had to work late, and froze the majority of them to have on those mornings when I just didn't have it in me to make them something.  I also have continued to cook "safe" meals for me in bulk, and then freeze it in individual portions for me to have throughout the week when the kids are eating things I cannot have.  My favorite picture below though is of Emma swiping some left over bites of pancake off of Violet's plate after she had left the table.  Between the three of them, their plates are always cleaned.  What one sister doesn't like, another one surely does and after some musical plates, there are no crumbs left for the chickens.

 Violet is in the throes of being three and despite her sweet smile, can get herself into trouble faster than you can say, "Don't kick your sister."  This past month we had our long awaited genetic blood test where Will, myself and Violet all gave blood to see if we can find out where her genetic mutation came from for Ectodermal Dysplasia.  We are hoping to find out exactly what variety of Ectodermal Dysplasia she has as well, but we were also prepped by the genetics department that there is only a 30% chance of gaining any new knowledge from this test.  We are still hopeful though, and grateful that our insurance decided to cover this expensive test.  Violet was a brave girl for the blood draw.  We talked about it for weeks before hand, and she decided that she wanted me to have my blood taken first, then Daddy's, and then hers.  The phlebotomist did a great job taking her blood, and had a little bee that vibrated that they put on her arm while they did the blood draw and Violet didn't feel a thing.  That is, until we were driving home and her arm started to ache - she looked pale faced and decided that she didn't like having her blood drawn after all.  Let's hope it is a while before she needs another poke.

Our Violet has been struggling with shyness lately.  She used to be my most outgoing child and now is extra nervous in new situations and especially with new people, and most especially with boys.  She started the fall so excited to take dance classes, and after a few classes, she has decided that she doesn't want to go back.  We finished up the month of October's dance classes, using bribery and talking with our sweet and understanding teacher, but it just didn't get any better.  So we are taking a break from dance, and I am trying hard to not worry about this current phase.  She ended the month taking a yoga class with Lucy and Emma - this did not make her nervous because the class consists of only four girls - her sisters, and a pair of sweet sisters who Violet knows and loves so she isn't shy.

Violet is always making us laugh, and I hope that she overcomes this shyness so that the rest of the world can know her like we do.  The other day she handed me (well, Violet doesn't really hand anything over - it is more of a toss or a throw) an outfit from her drawer and said, "This dress makes me feel boring.  You can donate it."

Several weeks ago I had a meeting to go to and didn't get home until the girls and even Will were sleeping.  In the morning I was awoken by Violet coming into my bed, full of exciting things to tell me about the night before.  Apparently, Will took the girls for a walk in the cemetery as we often do, and a police officer came to close the gates of the cemetery for the night.  Violet told me this very clearly, and then told me that Daddy said, "Let's run!" and they started running away from the police officer.  THEN, Violet stood up on my bed and very animatedly mimicked what happened next - she put her arms out in front of her with her hands in a fist and made a sound like, "TZZZZZZSSSSTTT".  Trying not to jump to conclusions, I started asking questions like, "Did the police officer know that daddy was surely joking about running away from him?"  And, "Did daddy get tasered???"  Fortunately, at this point in the conversation, Lucy and Emma joined us in bed and clarified the story.  Yes, daddy was joking about running from the police office who was on a SEGWAY.  It all started to become clear - the "TZZZSSTT" sound with Violet's arms straight in front of her with her hands in a fist was not Daddy being tasered but the police officer riding a segway.  Phew!!  Needless to say, I lectured Will later on appropriate times for joking and being serious - never joke with your children to run from a police officer!

Here we are below, kicking off the weekend before our funny guy's birthday at his mom and dad's house.

The day before Will's birthday I had scheduled our 18 week ultrasound for Baby T 5.  I wanted it to be on his birthday, as he happened to have a half day that day, and I thought it would make a good birthday present, but we settled for the day prior as that was the only available time the office had.  It was probably for the best that it wasn't on Will's birthday, as I have some serious apprehension when it comes to ultrasounds, and it all stems from my pregnancy with the original Baby T 1, as every ultrasound we had with him - and there were many - we were told more bad news.  It is always such a relief when we learn that all is well with our babies, and I will never take that for granted.  Sometimes we have lucked out and got a really nice ultrasound tech who is great at helping me feel at ease.  This time, the ultrasound tech was not very talkative and left my anxiety ridden mind wondering for too long in my opinion.  I realized after we were given the brief statement that, "all looks good" that I had held not only my bladder (you have to show up with a full bladder so they can get a good picture of the baby), but also my breath for most of the twenty minute scan.

What a relief to know that Baby T 5 looks healthy on the ultrasound!  And, we also had confirmation that Baby T 5 is a girl!  I had a blood test very early on in the pregnancy to screen for the most common genetic issues and it also said the gender was a girl.  We had the gender part mailed to us by the doctor, and handed the unread letter to an employee at the local balloon store who put the appropriate gender balloon into a box that Will had brought while Will discreetly walked the aisles of the store so that he could be surprised at the same time as us when he brought the boxed up balloon home.  It was a great moment when we opened the box and the "It's a Baby Girl!" balloon floated up and out.

We are all very excited about Baby Girl 4, and especially since some of our favorite literary characters come from families with four girls - Little House on the Prairie, The Penderwicks, and Little Women to name a few.  I feel like another baby girl is a bonus in so many ways - as each sister wears the cherished and sentimental baby clothes of her older sisters and the toys, books and games are all passed down as well.  Will and I jokingly tell people we are excited to have no learning curve at this point, and nothing to buy as well. The truth of the matter though, is that there will be plenty to buy if Baby Girl 4 is anything like her older sisters, who want the exact same things that each of them have.  We have already started to look for certain dolls and toys that each sister has and are starting to realize that at this point, with almost a decade gap between the first sister and the fourth, that eBay may be our only saving grace to ensure that every sister has the same thing as the next.

With the good news of Baby Girl 4 being healthy, we headed into Will's birthday in great spirits.  He had a half day of work and came home in time for lunch and then a lovely hike at a new trail we had found earlier that month.

It was a perfect day with gorgeous weather, and we finished off with his request of homemade chicken enchiladas for dinner, and rice krispie treats for dessert.

After Will's birthday comes Halloween and the girls received some fun Halloween treats in the mail from family.  Violet vacillated between being Cinderella or being one of the Ingalls sisters from Little House on the Prairie with Lucy and Emma.  Will vacillated between being an Irish Synchronized Swimmer or a Safari Guy covered in bugs.  When my brother pointed out that the tiny chip clip holding up his towel may not be sturdy enough for wearing to work, Will wisely settled on the Safari Guy costume.

Violet succumbed to sister peer pressure and was the third Ingalls sister after all.  We trick or treated at the Farmer's Market, picked pumpkins...

...carved pumpkins...

...and trick-or-treated with friends on Halloween.

Overall it was a great month, celebrating our favorite guy and finding out that our newest member of the family is a healthy baby girl!

Finding Happy Places in September

We started back to school in mid-August, but the true reality of back to school really hits when all of the kids activities start back up again.  Some perks of homeschooling is that we could take full advantage of the gorgeous September weather we had, and played outside whenever we could during regular school hours.  In the pictures from top left, in clockwise order below: Emma and Violet modeling matching dresses that my mom bought them for the fall, Lucy convincing me to buy a top for her at a store when we did our back to school clothes shopping after everyone else was back in school for some great deals, Emma making a project for her yoga class, the girls enjoying 'art class' outside on a gorgeous September afternoon, and finally, my attempt to help the girls practice their piano more efficiently than just playing their favorite one or two songs over and over again during practice time - popsicle sticks with each song they are supposed to practice in a mason jar, and it has helped a little.

This semester, Lucy and Emma are in swim lessons, ballet, piano, yoga and catechism.  Violet started her first dance class too.  This is too much running, but Lucy and Emma are very close to graduating from swim, and so when that happens, I think our schedule will be just right.  I have also arranged their daytime classes (swim, piano and yoga) for around 11:30 on their various weekdays, which is the perfect time for us to have a laid back morning and complete most of their schoolwork for the day.  That leaves the afternoons for playdates, naps and quiet time, and usually with my kids, creative crafts and play.  In the below pictures from top left in clockwise order: volunteering with fellow homeschool friends at a local food bank, our monthly homeschool nature class, Emma learning a rhythm on the drums during her piano lesson, Violet at her first day of dance, Lucy at her first day of dance, and Violet looking cute at her first day of dance class.

Here are the girls below, enjoying various creative pursuits during our homeschool day, in clockwise order from top left below:  Lucy making Disney princesses out of polymer clay, Violet playing and coloring, Emma and Violet relaxing and reading stories, Emma literally climbing the walls, Lucy and Emma making a backdrop out of an Amazon box for a play they are going to put on in the living room, Violet doing yoga while waiting for her sisters to finish up school so she can have playmates again, and finally, Violet keeping me company as I attempt to take an afternoon nap.

Violet and I enjoyed special time at the playground while Lucy and Emma were in their yoga class this past month.  I was impressed by her fearless ability to climb the ladder to a slide that was three stories up on the playscape, and have no hesitations when she slid down the super tall slide.

Most school days really are pleasant and enjoyable.  However, to paint a true to life picture, we deal with moods, so many moods, sibling fighting, and my nagging to finish school, stop dawdling (or in Lucys' case, Doodling & Dawdling), and do your chores throughout the day.  It can be exhausting to not get a break to just respond to a few emails or make a simple phone call uninterrupted, and my least favorite, to be whined at while I am in the bathroom to read someone their spelling words.  Plus, I have a feeling my kids would treat a traditional teacher with way more respect and sweetness than they treat me, their scape goat, for frustrating math problems, spelling words or tiring reading lessons.  Even so, it is worth it to me to take the cons of homeschooling over the cons of traditional schooling just as I am sure a lot of parents are happy to take the cons of traditional schooling over the cons of homeschooling.  Parenting is hard no matter which way you work through it, and I am just grateful that we have a choice in the matter.  In the photos below, clockwise from top left: Will 'operating' an ice cream shop after the girls were bummed we said no to the Ice Cream Truck that went by during dinner time, Charlie enjoying some wet cat food so he stops trying to eat the girls ice cream, and finally, the girls drawing our family in chalk, complete with a silhouette tracing of each family member including our amicable Charlie.

For me it is the little moments that add up to a great or not so great day.  Sitting outside while my kids play in the sunshine, eating a leisurely breakfast or lunch with them, having Emma read to me from her reading book while we snuggle on the couch, watching Lucy go from frustrated and struggling at the beginning of the school year with cursive to being proud and confident as she develops her own signature and artistic look to her handwriting - these little moments in time really do make for a good day.  In the below photos, in clockwise order from top left: a trellis Will made for my sweet autumn clematis that has moved with us to three different houses and is now happily draping over a statue of a mom holding a baby close to her heart that Will's aunt gave me after Luke died, and the girls playing Little House on the Prairie in a fort they made in the backyard.

We also enjoyed water play - both the slip and slide and the kiddie pool this past month as it was unseasonably warm.  Lucy pointed out the irony of their kiddie pool next to a pile of raked leaves.

Our new neighbors have given us their blessing for having chickens, and so this past month Will brought home seven chickens that the biology class at his school had hatched from eggs earlier this year.  Our original chickens are still living a happy life in the courtyard of Will's school, and so we thought we would go with a smaller and younger flock this time around.  The girls have named all of the birds, but have especially taken a liking to the runt, a chicken they named Ivy.  Ivy is at the bottom of the pecking order and is picked on constantly by the other chickens so Lucy, Emma and Violet take extra special care of her.  Ivy has repaid them by allowing the girls to carry her around and play with her.  If I come anywhere near Ivy, she skitters away, afraid and unsure.  This is very inconvenient when it is dark and the other birds have not let her into the safety of the coop for the night and I have to hunt her down and put her in the coop myself on the nights that Will works late.  If chickens cannot get into their coop, they will roost in the highest spot they can find - not convenient for their owners, but safer for them to get through the night.  Picture me holding my phone turned flashlight while climbing a fence to reach a bird that is as afraid of me as she is a raccoon. Yeah, been there done that.  Otherwise, it is nice to have chickens back - it feels like all is right in our little world again and it is a fun responsibly for the kids each morning whose job it is to open up their coop and feed them.  Our suburban farm still had plenty of tomatoes, another crop of raspberries, rhubarb, and a decent crop of pears this past month and in about a month or two, our chickens will start laying eggs.  In a bottom picture below is a stock pot full of concord grapes that I have waited all year for from our favorite farm at the farmer's market.  Unfortunately, my pregnancy food issues will not let me enjoy them or even have the energy to can them, so I cooked them, strained out the seeds and froze them in the hopes of being able to enjoy them in a couple of months, and if not enjoy them, have the energy to make jam with them.

Ah, pregnancy food issues.  A couple of months after Violet was born I experienced an anaphylactic reaction from a home-cooked turkey dinner that resulted in an ambulance ride and my first shot with an epi pen.  After all of my allergy tests revealed that I was only allergic to cats, dogs and house dust I continued visiting various doctors for an answer to my reaction.  Finally, after multiple more severe anaphylactic reactions from unknown causes, a naturopath diagnosed me with histamine intolerance and possible Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.  Finally, things started making sense.  Food has varying levels of histamine in it, and your body naturally makes histamine in the digestion process.  After I began following a low histamine diet, I started experiencing relief.  I still had the occasional reaction, but usually it was after eating something I forgot to check the ingredients on or taking a risk and eating restaurant food.  Foods highest in histamine include alcohol, fish (highest being shellfish which I have been severely reactive to since junior high and did not test positive for on my allergy test so it is interesting that this mystery finally makes sense), and the older a food is, the higher the histamine levels in it.  The turkey dinner that sent me in an ambulance to the hospital?  It was a handout from our neighbor whose chest freezer had died and after inquiring, had probably been in his freezer for several years.  I thought I was managing my symptoms through diet until I became pregnant this summer.  It's like my symptoms with food have been magnified and I am now only able to eat a very small handful of 'safe' low histamine foods without having severe digestive distress.  One day when I was feeling especially hungry and depressed about my current relationship with food, Will bought me an Instant Pot.  Think pressure cooker that works like a crock pot.  The big deal for me though, is that it cuts typically long cooking times into a half hour.  This is a huge deal for limiting histamine in my food and has been such a blessing for my food choices.  I can eat soup again (typically too high in histamine because of it's long cook time) and I have been rotating making beef stew and chicken soup, and then freezing individual portions of the leftovers for me to heat up right before I eat them.  Thank God I live in modern times with Instant Pots and freezers.  Granted, I probably wouldn't have this weird intolerance if I had lived in older times.  It does seem to be a new problem, and more and more people are suffering with it.  I just wish modern medicine was a bit more advanced on solving it.

At one point this past month I was craving a chicken taco that I remembered eating at Will's work Christmas party last year.  Will text his boss to find out where it was catered from, and needless to say, that night I enjoyed it for dinner.  Granted, all I could eat was the lettuce, chicken and chips, but it satisfied my craving.  Oddly enough, pizza sat well with me this entire month - but no toppings unless the pizza joint had fresh mushrooms.  Sadly, pizza is no longer sitting well with me, but I have to say, I'm shocked for how long it did considering dairy and gluten are not the best for histamine issues.  Fortunately for my social enjoyment, pizza was still my friend when friends of ours invited us to join them in the suite they had at the baseball game over Labor Day weekend.  It was our kids first real baseball game, and we all had a lovely time, made especially great by our friends, the pizza we shared and the en suite bathroom.

The girls and I also enjoyed a tea party with family as a going away party for Will's cousin who is studying abroad for a year.  She is a collector of vintage hats and graciously let us all borrow them for the tea party at a local tea room.  My food issues allowed me to eat apple slices and apple scones and it was hard not to be embarrassed when I explained my allergies to the waitress.  It really makes no sense, and I wish that food wasn't so isolating for me right now.

 It has been good for me to see the pictures of my kids smiling faces and all of the fun things we still did this past month with me feeling less than great.  I definitely have been a comfort food eater, and was known in my house as the late-night snacker.  Nothing ended my day with contentment more than a slice of homemade apple pie, or some chocolate chip cookies.  An individual prepackaged cup of applesauce just doesn't have the same feel.  I am slowly changing my nighttime ritual for comfort though, and have a giant stack of great fiction books from the library, and am learning to indulge in other ways.  I usually read nonfiction, but I think now is the perfect time to read a book that is more like dessert than meat and potatoes.

My children decided this past month that they wanted, no NEEDED, a mermaid Barbie that they saw when shopping at Meijer with Will.  Our policy on buying things for the kids that aren't necessities is we never buy it on first impulse, and then, if we still want that item, we wait for it to go on sale or to put on a birthday or Christmas wish list.  After a week of first seeing the mermaid Barbie, they still wanted her just as bad and started hounding us to go back to Meijer.  When our response wasn't soon enough for them, they resorted to leaving little slips of paper with Meijer's logo on it in strategic places around the house - by Will's car keys, in my purse, next to the tooth brushes, in the fridge - you get the idea.  Here are our persistent little beauties below, finally on their way to Meijer.

Fall is great weather for Ectodermal Dysplasia - says Violet.  Anytime it was slightly chilly, or a cool breeze blew by us, Violet would look at us excitedly and proudly tell us, "This weather feels great for my Ectodermal Dysplasia!"  I love that she can pronounce such big words, and that she is understanding more and more what her body needs.  We have gone on several fall hikes, taking advantage of weather that is good for ALL of us.  I never realized how little I care for overly hot and humid weather either, and since learning about Violet's lack of sweat glands, I have definitely enjoyed the benefits of our lifestyle change - playing in water when it is hot, avoiding being outside if we are without water play during the hottest parts of the day, and really getting out there and enjoying any temps that are Ectodermal Dysplasia friendly.  It has caused me to be more aware of the weather, and to fit our activities to the temps, instead of doing our activities regardless of the weather.

Going on hikes with my family is definitely on my happy, non-food list.   I can't explain it, but when I am hiking with my favorite people and breathing in all of the fresh air, and enjoying all of the natural beauty, it uplifts me in a way books and even food can't do.

If hikes are my happy place, my ultimate happy place destination was discovered this past May when we went up north.  After that trip, we immediately booked a September encore trip to the same cottage.  When I found out we were pregnant mid-summer, I smiled with relief when I saw that our September trip would be a week or two into my second trimester and thankfully I would be feeling better, as I assumed this pregnancy would follow suit like my last four had.  It's a good thing I had this trip to look forward to, and to keep my spirits up when the second trimester rolled around and I was feeling no better.  

The girls favorite story to tell about our trip was that when we got to the rental cottage, the previous renters were still there.  As in their stuff was still there but they were no where to be found.  We called the owner of the cottage and long story short, we ended up at a hotel forty minutes away as he couldn't get the previous renters kicked out and the place cleaned up in time for us to spend the night there.  All of the hotels in the area were booked for the weekend, and it was a bummer to miss out on a night of a campfire, watching the sunset and just relaxing.  We ended up watching the sunset from the car as we made our way to the hotel the owner had reserved for us for the night.  We made the best of it the next morning and enjoyed a hotel breakfast, spent time at the farmer's market, the beach, downtown shopping and a lighthouse.  

When we were finally able to unpack at the cottage, we wasted no time in getting out to our favorite hiking trail and enjoyed a beautiful evening hike.

 We love the view of Lake Michigan from this hike, and in clockwise order from top left below: Will and the girls at the end of the trail, Lucy writing her name in cursive in the sand, us hiking back to the cottage, a porcupine we followed for a bit on the trail with some apprehension when we realized there was no cell service and we couldn't google if porcupines were aggressive, Violet next to a white violet that was in bloom along the forest part of the trail, and finally, the view we love so much at the end of the trail.

Instead of three nights of sunsets and campfires, we had two, and we definitely made the best of them.  One of my favorite books that I like to read to the girls - especially on vacation - is called "All the World" by Liz Garton Scanlon.  Lucy realized after I read the book one night at our cottage that, "Mom, this book described our day!  We went to a farmer's market, the beach, watched the sun set and had a nighttime fire!"  It hadn't occurred to me until then, but this book describes my opinion of a perfect day.  And that perfect day is easily had up north at our now favorite cottage.

We spent the rest of our trip exploring the national park near the cottage, playing at the beach and sleeping very soundly.

 A highlight for the girls was a sand dune climb we did...

 ... and having their national park passport books stamped at the ranger station.  Despite the slow start to our trip, it was still a lovely time and we were sad to leave.  We are already hoping to book at least a trip or two next summer, and until then, we will dream about the feel of the cool sand between our toes, the spectacular views, the fresh air, and the laid back days and nights.

When we got home, it was time to harvest our honey.  This is such a busy time of year for us with back to school, Will's job is very busy, and of course the honey harvest.  Will was such a team player and did almost the entire harvest without me as I am sad to say that honey is making me sick and I really don't want to create an aversion to it from this pregnancy.  The photos in clockwise order from top left below: the girls playing cards in the trunk while Will lugged heavy honey boxes to the car, Lucy enjoying fresh honey on her oatmeal, our car hitch loaded down with honey boxes, and finally, the girls helping to box up the jars of honey we harvested.

It was a small harvest this year, and not enough for me to publicly sell.  We made sure that our neighbors got first dibs and then family.  I want to really emphasize though that if it wasn't for Will's hard work (and of course the work of our bees!), we would not have had a harvest at all this year.  I feel like I get all of the fame of beekeeping but the reality is, Will is a major part of making it happen,  even when I'm not pregnant and nauseous!

Here are my sweet girls below, snuggled in their jammies for an evening movie.  I am so grateful for this life and this blog helps me through the tough times as it serves as such a great reminder of all of the life that I live and the love that I share, despite any bumps in the road.