November Happenings

We started off the month of November with Violet having a mouth procedure.  Violet was resigned yet brave, and did an amazing job.  As I sat in the waiting room, waiting for the dentist to come out and tell me that Violet was finished, I had a very small glimpse of the worry that parents have while their child is in surgery.  It is a terrible feeling, and I would have rather had the procedure done to myself, than to wait while Violet went through it.  As minor as her procedure was, it was still quite painful afterward, and my heart broke on the drive home with Violet crying in the backseat.  When we arrived home, Will, Lucy and Emma greeted us in the garage and led a sad Violet into the house where there were blankets, a comfy couch and a bowl of ice cream waiting for Violet.

Watching the love and care of my daughters towards their sister filled my heart with such pride and amazement.  If the last ten years of parenting have led us to this moment, then I can say without a doubt that all of our hard work has paid off already.  Violet was so cared for, and lots of family and friends sent their love, prayers, and get well gifts and cards, making Violet feel so loved and special.

For the first couple of days, Violet had a lot of pain and could only eat soft foods and liquids.  After that, she started to improve and after eight weeks of stretches and mouth exercises, she is completely healed.  We had to do the stretches and exercises six times a day, which was brutal when it was painful for her.  We resorted to bribery, and we got through it.  I am so glad we are past that now.  Violet did such an excellent job.  It is hard not to get caught up in the thoughts of how unfair it is that Violet was born with birth defects.  However, I try to remind myself that it could be so much worse (she has the most mild gene mutation documented as everyone else with this specific mutation was born with a double cleft lip and cleft palate).

 Now that she is healed up, we will soon be starting the next phase of her dental plan, which includes some mouth appliances and some cosmetic dentistry on her teeth.  Violet is at the point now where she is struggling with other kids and even adults comments about the way that her teeth look, and it breaks Will's and my heart to see her go through this.  When you hide your smile, or hold back your joy because you are afraid of what people will say about your teeth, it is heartbreaking as a parent to witness.  It's as if other people's comments make our Violet wilt, and we want more than anything to instead watch her bloom.  We are currently fighting our insurance to cover Violet's dental needs, which is another added stress in an already unfortunate situation.  If Violet's teeth were lost or damaged due to decay, our insurance would cover what she needs.  But because Violet was born with a genetic condition that left her with missing teeth and misshapen teeth, not a cent of her dental work is covered.

November was emotionally tough on us, and we are glad to be moving on to the next phases for Violet.  We were also glad that Charlie stayed close to home, and we have yet to take for granted that he is back with us.  A friend of ours gifted us a book which arrived in the mail this past month, and is called Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore, which if that doesn't sum up Charlie, I don't know what does.  It's a story of a cat who has six different families who all feed him, and believe he is theirs, and theirs alone.  Sound familiar?

 We enjoyed time with friends this past month, with the girls putting on plays with their friends, and an impromptu pizza and movie night as well with other friends.  Note in the top, right hand picture below that our friends humored us and wore blue-light blocking glasses right along with our kids, which is our rule when watching any screens after dark.  Now that is true friendship.

 The below two photos show views out of our front window.  The first are our Halloween pumpkins, covered in snow and the second is a large buck that sits across the street each day.  We feel so lucky that we live in the house that we have - we feel like it is perfect in so many ways - with Green Space directly across the street from us and yet the close proximity to downtown that allows us to walk to most things.

 I was busy this past month prepping my inventory for Christmas, and sold out of beeswax ornaments several times.  I have to melt the beeswax outside, due to my honey bee allergy (the airborne particles when the beeswax melts provoke my allergies), and let me just say that next summer I hope to remember to do this part, as it was FREEZING outside.  It took me a full 24 hours to warm back up when I was finished with a weekend of outdoor beeswax melting.  Unfortunately, all of my bees have already died for the season, but the good news is, because they died early in the winter, we were able to harvest the remaining honey.

 The kids and I spent most of November at home, due to an unfortunate run-in I had with a landscape rock and Will's car.  I was pulling into a parking lot, and somehow hit a landscape rock that lined the driveway.  Will's car is old, so it was the equivalent of a 90 year old falling down the stairs.  And, due to the GM strike earlier this year, the parts that we needed to fix the car were on back order for a solid month.  We made do, and I have to say that thanks to family and friends, we were able to pull off having only one car for four weeks.  In the photos below from top left in clockwise order: Lucy hugging Opal in between her dance classes, Opal sitting next to the little boy statue at our library, all of the words Violet can read so far, cut up and made into a few silly sentences by me, the landscape rock that almost totaled out our car (a friend told us we should from here on out refer to it as a boulder for the sake of a good story), all of us on a walk, and a typical homeschool morning with all four of my girls working at the table.

 We had a snow day this past month, which helped with our one car situation.  If it's going to be cold out, I would much prefer there to be snow.  It gives the kids endless hours of outdoor fun. Take that same backyard with the same cold temperatures but no snow, and you would have to bribe them to go outside.

 We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  Below in clockwise order from top left: Opal dipping her Thanksgiving breakfast bacon into a pile of whipped cream (a new twist on buttering your bacon), my dad, brother and niece, celebrating my brother's birthday, and finally, Will's entire family celebrating Thanksgiving.

 We spent Thanksgiving day with Will's family, and then a few days later we celebrated my brother's birthday which was a great way to spend Thanksgiving weekend with my family too.

 Thanksgiving weekend we put up our Christmas decorations...

... and ushered in the holiday season.  I have such strong and happy memories of the holidays when I was a kid, and everything from the smell of the Christmas decoration boxes brought up from the basement, to time sitting by the Christmas tree, while reading a book and watching snow fall outside the window.  The foods and treats that my mom would make each year, and the anticipation of Santa and time off from work and school are some of my most happy memories.  Now, as I am the creator of my own kids memories, I can't help but long for some quiet by the Christmas tree that I would never take for granted again.  Here my four daughters are below, making some of their own memories, and I can't help but hope that they are as great as mine are.  

If you had told ten year old Liz what future Christmas would be like, I'm not sure she would have believed you.  Now to find some quiet time for myself, while living a life better than I could have dreamed!

Opal at 20 Months

Opal discovered tattoos this past month.  She saw her sisters putting them on, and of course, needed to have one too.  Imagine her shock when she realized that it is semi-permanent, and won't come right  off.  She started yelling "OFF!  OFF!  OFF!!!"  

She was even more disappointed when we told her the quickest remedy for tattoo removal was a bath, and she doesn't like baths any more.  She dislikes baths so much that if the girls want her to stay away from something they will tell her - "Opal if you come over here you will have to have a bath."  Mean? Yes.  Effective?  Yes, as well.

Opal's love for Elmo continues to be strong, and she loves to demand Elmo drawings out of whoever will listen whenever there are paper and writing utensils near.  Sometimes I feel like I am her trained monkey, and wonder at what level is her Elmo obsession our fault.  Don't answer that.

 I prefer to leave Elmo at home so that he doesn't get dirty - or lost (gasp).  Sometimes this takes a very skilled negotiator to get Opal to part with her beloved Elmo.  See top left hand picture below, where I came up with the brilliant idea to have Elmo wave goodbye to Opal from the window, and to be the first to wave hello to her from where he was propped when we arrived back home.

 The photos above show the Sesame Street books Opal found at the library.  She saw her sisters asking the librarians for book locations, and so she piped up in her little voice and asked, "Elmo?"  I was super proud of her, and of course we checked out every last Elmo book they had.

Opal loves eating off of our plates, and drinking out of our cups.  She is somewhat picky about the food she eats off of her own plate.  One afternoon I found a plate of cucumber slices with a bite taken out of almost every one.  Opal!

Opal likes to play the piano when her sisters are trying to practice.  In the below photo, Emma gave up on practicing because Opal was being a very persistent musical nuisance.

 Opal has not slept through the night a single night in her life.  She sure is cute and snuggly though, and at least Will and I are not surprised in the least that our fourth daughter sleeps just like the first, second and third did.  The best news though, is that we know there is a light at the end of the sleep deprived tunnel.  The three older girls sleep much better now, thank goodness!

Until this phase has past however, we sleep any which way we can.  We love you Opal, and despite our sleep deprivation, you make our life so much better by being in it!

October, From Sunrise to Sunset

This past month we enjoyed time in the yard as much as possible.  I'm so glad that we have all four seasons where we live, as each new season brings something to renew the outdoor interest of my kids.  Fall brings with it the excitement of playing in leaves.  The girls made mazes out of leaves, jumped and slid into leaf piles, and of course, found ways to fight over the leaves as well.  

 Lucy and Emma are reading so much these days, that I told them to get outside at least, so they are getting some sun and fresh air while they read.  October reminds us that there is little time left for sitting outdoors.  We discovered some interesting insects in our yard this past month...

...and were able to get out to some parks for some fall hikes.

The kids kicked off October with a lingering cough from a cold they had in September, so I took them to a salt cave near our house to see if that would give them the boost they needed to get their lungs healthy again.  They loved it, and so did their lungs as the cough was gone two days later.  While in the cave, the owner gave us sand toys for the kids to play in the salt that was all over the ground.  It was a great way to add some interest to an otherwise ordinary day.

I took the kids the shoe store this past month so they could get their yearly athletic shoes.  We don't buy our kids very many shoes, and I want this one pair they wear on all of our walks, hikes, and playing to fit them well.  We utilize hand me downs for all other shoe needs, and we are lucky that Will's parents buy the kids snow boots every year if the hand me down boots don't fit.  Even still, it was a big price tag when I walk out of that shoe store each fall.  In the photos below from top left in clockwise order:  the girls waiting to be fitted at the shoe store, Opal getting her foot measured (she was the only kid who didn't get new shoes as she is still small enough to utilize hand me downs, but the sales associate humored us so that Opal wouldn't feel left out), Violet at her weekly mouth therapy session, the girls with a friend at a local Children's Garden, and finally, me, meeting a friend of mine's friend at a local rock and gem show.  I've only heard about her, and when we started talking, I had a feeling like I knew her - and sure enough when I asked what her name was, I had to take a selfie of us so that I could send it to our now mutual friend.

The day I took the girls to the shoe store, we also hit up the local cider mill and craft store, and then came home and had a crafty afternoon.  Will was working late that night, so it was going to be a long day.  We decided to embrace it and have a girls day.  Behaviors and moods of certain children put a damper on things, but as I always say, there's no free ride!  The photos in clockwise order from top left below: Opal and I making pony bead and pipe cleaner harvest corn for a table decoration, Emma and Violet wearing the blue light blocking glasses I bought for all of us this past month for when we watch TV or use screens after dark, me trying to organize all of the dress up clothes and doll clothes into the closet in Opal's room, and finally, Lucy baking cakes and some delicious caramel apple cookies.  She loves baking, and I love being able to eat homemade baked goods that I didn't have to make.

 Charlie went missing this past month, and had us so worried.  Fortunately, we had him microchipped as a kitten, and so we utilized his microchip membership to send out a notice to all of the local vets and shelters, as well as posted on social media sites for missing pets.  We met a neighbor during our search that we had never really talked to before and she told us that she hadn't seen Charlie either since the last day we had seen him, and that she was worried sick.  Then we found out that she feeds Charlie every single day, and even when she is out of town, the person who takes care of her own pets is instructed to feed Charlie as well.  What a well fed cat we have!  She sent me the photo in the top, right hand photo below of her dog Coco hanging out with Charlie.  Charlie came home four days later, well-fed and no worse for the wear.  We think someone may have taken him inside since he wasn't hungry when he showed back up.  Talk about a happy and tearful reunion though.  We may have never known what had happened to him, and I am just so grateful he is back safe and sound.  He is a one of a kind cat to us, and irreplaceable.  The below pictures were taken moments after he returned home, and I can tell you it was worth every single hive to snuggle him.  I text my neighbor when Charlie returned, and she came over to see him for herself, and imagine Charlie's excitement to have two of his gravy trains together in one place.  We have talked about putting a GoPro camera on him to see where he goes, but not sure if that would be hilarious, or make me even more worried for his safety.

We celebrated Will's birthday this past month - with Will's family one night, and then on Will's actual birthday we spoiled him with all of his favorite foods.  The top left hand photo below are the girls at an Instant Lotto Ticket kiosk, buying their daddy his birthday present.  What else do you get the man who has it all?  Well, the girls and I also bought him his favorite kind of pillow, because one by one, he has given it away to a daughter, and each time it is replaced, another daughter claims it as her own.  Finally, all daughters have the same pillow as their dad, and this pillow is finally his for keeps.

I love the photo in the bottom right hand corner of the girls with all of their cameras, taking photos of Will and his birthday candles, like a regular lot of paparazzi.

I participated in an outdoor craft show at the end of this month and had a lot of fun with my friend who stayed to help me the entire day.  The crowds were minimal and I didn't make much money, but it was a laid back day, hanging with my friend and holding the tent down from the gale-like winds.  I probably will be hard pressed to do another outdoor craft show that late in the season again, but memories were made for sure!

 We had fun trick or treating at our Farmer's Market, which is one of my favorite days of the year.  This year Lucy was Amelia Earhart, Emma was Eleanor Roosevelt, Violet was a dentist, and Opal was the honey bee that each of her sisters were before her at that age.  Lucy and Emma read a book called Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride by Pam Munroz Ryan that inspired their costumes, and Violet's was inspired by all of the great people who have been working with her at the dentist.

 Opal was old enough this year to understand the concept of saying "trick or treat" and getting candy. She was amazed and delighted and if she could articulate her feelings, I think she would have said, "what a world we live in!!!"  The night of Halloween was freezing cold with sleet and snow, and so we only went to the neighbors that we knew and then headed off to a Halloween party at our friend's house.

 It was a great night, and memories were made yet again.

 Here is a photo of the sunset that Lucy captured in our own backyard.

I am trying to make it a priority to witness more sunrises and sunsets, and I hope that I can continue to find balance in my life to do this.  The days go by so fast, and most of the time I can't even tell you what made my day or my week so busy.  Caring for four darling daughters and finding time to spend with Will, not to mention taking care of my own needs leaves little time left for extras like a missing cat, holidays and projects.  But, as I head into November, the month of thankfulness, I am reminded of my blessings and any day with all of the people and the cat that I love in it is a good day - throw in a sunrise or a sunset or both, and I have everything I could possibly want.

Opal at 19 Months

The older Opal gets, the more integrated her story is with ours.  With that being said, there are only a few photos of just Opal this month!  But, I do believe the few photos I have, sum her up perfectly.

Opal is obsessed with Elmo and Sesame Street.  Obsessed actually is an understatement.  She says Elmo while she is sleeping, and when she is awake.  She is hard pressed to wear clothes if they do not have Elmo on them, and she only likes to read Elmo books.  She can name all of the Sesame Street characters, and most days you will find us with "I've Got a New Way to Walk" on repeat on the TV.

When we go to the library, she MUST find Elmo books and DVDs.  Imagine her excitement when she found a Grover puppet.

When we go to any store, she rides in the cart while repeatedly yelling, "Elmooooo!  ELMOOOO!  ELMOOOOOOO!"  People look at us, but obviously Opal doesn't care.  And you would be surprised to know that Elmo is EVERYWHERE.  Even when I'm certain there will be no Elmos to spot, Opal finds them.  And just when Will or I have convinced ourselves that we would not leave the store with yet another Sesame Street item, out we come with a happy Opal and a sheepish look on our face.  The best was when I dropped Will and the girls off at the store one day while I ran another errand near by.  When I pulled up at the curb to pick them up and saw Opal in the cart, squeezing a brand new Grover stuffed animal, all I could do was laugh and assure Will that I was not judging, but happy to know that he also struggled with telling Opal no.

Even when Opal is playing with her next favorite thing, water, she must do it while wearing Abby Cadabby shoes and Elmo pants.

Opal, your obsession with Elmo, and the sweet love you show as you care for him, and kiss his nose a hundred times a day, shows how loyal and full of love your heart is.  Our family is so lucky to have you show us such devoted love each and every day!

September

Sweet September seems so far away as I type this on the first day of November.  We had a busy and fun September, and the highlight was a visit from my brother and niece from Florida.  Here we are below, apple and flower picking with my family - it was great to have all of the cousins together after almost a year apart!

We loved watching Opal and my niece interact together, and hope that as they grow older they form a lasting bond since they are only three months apart.  

Another highlight was meeting our neighbor's newest little one, and getting to have all the newborn snuggles.  Sadly, our first meeting was also a goodbye, as they have since moved out of state and we aren't sure when we will see them again.  Thank goodness for FaceTime and videos for keeping the love alive and well with both my niece and our old neighbors!

We also visited the local art museum with a friend of mine in September, and my favorite part was watching my kids use their own digital cameras to capture their favorite pieces of art as well as at the end of our trip when we got to make our own watercolor postcards.

Opal wasn't as much of a handful as I thought she would be, but she still sapped a large amount of Will's and my energy.  She does not want to be restrained in a stroller but instead wants to explore on her own two feet and run the opposite way we are trying to go.

 Lucy and Emma have really developed a love for reading this past summer, and are finding new ways to fit it in now that school has started back up.  Here Emma is below, reading her book and exercising at the same time.  Violet is feeling a bit lonely, since she cannot read on her own yet and her two best playmates are constantly answering her requests to play with her by saying "after I finish this chapter."  My heart hurts to see Violet left behind on this new milestone, however I am trying to remind myself that for every new challenge or phase, there is also a silver lining.  Sweet Violet is still trying to figure out what that might be, and in the meantime, I am wishing that Opal was a tad older and could play with Violet more.  Opal does love to play with Violet, but it usually ends with her getting hurt, or the two of them fighting.  I am proud of Violet for being the only family member who does not give in to Opal's demands, however it doesn't make for very harmonious play.

The center photo above shows a praying mantis that Will found on his car one afternoon after work.  Will worked super hard this past month, not only with all of the stress that comes with back to school, but also with landscaping our backyard when he was home from work.  He worked so hard, and so efficiently - and saved us about $8,000 with his own manual labor and finding a wholesale source for the trees.  He planted about 26 arborvitaes and 2 white pine trees, to give our backyard a more private, up north feel.

Living on a corner, our backyard is not very private.  Lately, it seems like the cars going down our side road are speeding at 100 miles an hour, and it really does make our backyard feel more like a front yard.  I hope that these trees will help promote a more peaceful feel, and I think as they grow bigger that they will.  I only wish that we had planted them ten years ago when we first moved in, but the truth of the matter is we were broke back then!

Next up on our landscape goals is to convert the strip of land along our driveway into a native meadow.  Again, trying to bring the up north feel that we love so much to our own property.  The first step was cleaning out the plants that were already there and the second step was putting down a roll of landscape tarp to smother the grass and weeds without using chemicals.  In the spring, our hope is that the soil will be ready for planting our meadow!

As if the outside home improvements weren't enough, we also tackled some things in our bedroom that I have been wanting to do for a long time.  I bought a refinished desk this past summer and finally made a space for it in our bedroom.  I am calling it my happy place and I love it so much.  I also found a cute little shelf on Etsy and added a fabric backing to it and a coat of fresh mint colored paint to hang by my new-to-me desk as well.  While Will was helping me hang some other items in our room, and touch up some paint on our walls, Opal quietly tackled her own project of finding a wet paint brush and painting our bathroom counter.  And thus goes home improvement projects with toddlers...one step forward and another step or two back.  Fortunately, most of the paint came off of the counter and her hands.

The kids are motivated to continue the four day school week that we started last year, and so we work extra hard to have an extra day off.  It works well, because there is always something that comes up during the week that makes it difficult to do school at home that day.  This flex day has helped us to stay motivated on the four days we do school, and to not let us fall behind when life happens since we have it built into our schedule.  In the below photos, clockwise from top left: the three oldest doing school in their rooms right when they wake up (that was September, and now at the start of November they are no longer doing this! Ha!) Violet overjoyed to have her friend and neighbor in her dance class this year, a drawing Lucy did that makes me so happy every time I see it, and finally, Violet on her first day of dance class for the year.

Here we all are at the dentist, one morning this past month.  Homeschooling gives us great flexibility for doctor appointments since we don't have to wait until after school when everyone else is trying to get in. 

Lucy has really upped her baking game this past month, and we are going through butter faster than I thought possible (and that is crazy, because I use a lot of butter).  She made a fancy brownie cupcake for her first solo attempt at baking and they looked picture perfect.  One bite though almost choked me, and after spitting it out, we determined that she mixed up the salt and sugar proportions in the recipe.  Will made the comment that you could die from too much salt as he too started choking on his first bite, and I realized that the mistake was only in the fancy coconut topping and that by scraping off the tops, we could still eat the brownie below.  She was so bummed though, and redid the recipe a few days later, at which point we all declared them a yummy, baking success!  Below in clockwise order from top left: Lucy's first attempt at brownie cupcakes, her well-received second attempt, a buttermilk pie that she made from a recipe in a book she read, and some oatmeal apple rhubarb bars that she made.  The center photos are of my first attempt at chicken and dumplings which was a huge hit with everyone except Emma and Violet, and finally, some beautiful eggs from our chickens.

With all of the baked treats we've been having, you would think the kids would be immune to the song of the ice cream truck.  Yet another reason why we are looking forward to our more private yard.  I swear that truck drives by extra slow by our yard because of all of the kid toys strewn about.  The top photo below is of all four kids, looking sadly and longingly as the ice cream truck drove torturously slow by them.  The bottom photo below is of the one time I did let them get a treat from the ice cream truck.  Even Charlie hung around to see if there would be any treats for him too.

Below are photos of fun times this past month, found in just ordinary days.  From top left in clockwise order:  Emma reading a Berenstain Bear book to Violet, Violet tying scarves and handkerchiefs on her and her dolls heads to all match, all four girls playing with Opal, Lucy paying me some money that she owed me, but doing it in a creative and beautifully tied handkerchief, and finally, mealtime.  My favorite meals are when everyone likes the food we've made, and Will is home.  This doesn't happen nearly as much as I would like, but when it does, I am happy.

This photo below made my heart happy.  The kids realized they were all together on the couch and so ran to get "Luke's teddy bear" so he could be there with them too.  The teddy bear was given to us at Luke's baby shower by Will's grandma.  Who knew that it would become so very loved by everyone but Luke, but that when the kids hug and hold this teddy bear, they feel that Luke is near.

The above photo is of our first cold of the season.  September seemed way too early to already be sick, but with Opal in the house, she is for sure the germ carrier.  I know this not only because she is always putting her hands in her mouth when we are out and about, but because she is always the first one sick.  And since the rest of us can't resist kissing her or eating the leftovers on her plate, it is just a matter of time before the rest of us have whatever contagious thing she has.

Here I am below with my girls.  Opal fell on the driveway this past month, and had a swollen upper lip.  When we realized that she couldn't smile in our selfie, we decided to all make "duck lips" so that she "matched". 

May we all be so lucky to have friends and family who share "duck lips" with us when our upper lips are swollen.