Recent happenings

In the last month or so, in no particular order, we have:

Worked on a science fair project

Seen some beautiful BLUE eyes!

Helped Mama ice her knees

Enjoyed an afternoon at the beach with typical Kodiak weather
(chilly and rainy for those who aren't familiar)

Defeated the baby gate to get upstairs
(The Duchess's foot is barely seen next to the wall)

Gone shoe shopping for me
No.  The shoes didn't fit.

Hiked at Ft Abercrombie

Talked on the banana

Played doctor

Worked on Mama's computer
(it had been closed and hiding under the couch...)

Bundled up to go for a walk with the new jogging stroller

Played in the snow (in late April)

Tried to sneak a cookie
(the orange cookies are a hit around here)

Shared with sisters

The Duchess comforted her Miss E after Miss E got in trouble

Swept the front porch

More shoe shopping - still nothing

Beautiful sunrise at the Buskin again

Coming home after a hike

Enjoyed making faces in her open top cup at the galley

Time for a workout! Bear crawling through the kitchen!

A rare sunny Kodiak day

Where we found a fallen tree and had to figure out how to get around it

Watched Lady A's very last soccer game

And worked on Mama's computer again.
(the Duchess is the engineer of our family)

It has been so much fun hanging out with these girls.  Birthday updates shortly!

Labor Day

We had a great plan! Swimming at Laddie's. Chili cooking in the crockpot while we swam and ready for lunch without any trouble.

Problem was, I got a phone call from Rachel. She was running late. No big deal, I still had a few things to finish prepping. We left the house around 10am instead of 8:30am. By the time we arrived, it was time for lunch and the chili had not yet made it to the crockpot. Plus I still needed to make a quick run to the grocery store for some snack items I had planned to bring.

We decided to skip the crockpot and cook the chili on the stove. I got it put together and made the quick trip to the store. I arrived back at Laddie's just in time to serve the chili. It had just needed to be heated up.

The adults began serving themselves since all the children were upstairs playing Wii. As soon as we were ready to sit down to eat, 4 children came downstairs and proclaimed they were ready to eat or swim. Because of thunder, we asked that they wait and because we wanted a peaceful meal, we told them we'd serve their bowls when we were finished eating.

After the kids ate, they jumped into the pool. About 15-20 minutes later I heard Michael call me. He asked me to take Miss E because it was getting ready to storm again. And sure enough, kids were jumping out of the water left and right. Pool toys went flying onto the side of the pool and adults herded everyone inside.

Poor Miguel was standing in the dining area with his arms out from his sides dripping water all over the floor. In the rush to get inside, he wasn't given a towel. In his parent's defense, they were getting toys and floats out of the pool.

We decided to call it a day. It rained pretty hard several times while we were at Laddie's house. So our great plan was drastically revised.

No pictures though. I realized about halfway to Laddie's that I had forgotten to bring the camera.

At any rate, it was fun to hang out with family, even if things didn't go according to plan.

Our notice...

I gave our (new) property management company our 30ish day notice.

Our last definite day here will be July 16th. Michael's new unit has requested that he check in to the unit earlier. We are still waiting to hear if the current unit will play nice with others.

Even though things are all up in the air, we at least know where we will be going and that we will have family very close by.

So, the praises have to begin. Otherwise I think I'll lose my mind.

Praise #1 - See above statement. (paragraph 3)

Praise #2 - the Spanakopita turned out well, even if the butter was a bit overwhelming.

Praise #3 - Michael went to pick the girls up from church and the house is quiet with Miss E sleeping.

Praise #4 - I walked for almost 30 minutes today. And got a shower while I was at it!

Praise #5 - The drop-off location for our trash & recycling was open today.

Success hurts!

Now, don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful evening.

I got up at 7am to feed the littlest one. By 8, I was in the kitchen working on dinner. At 9:45, we drove out of the garage on our way to pick up a few last minute items and pay a couple of bills.

We were home by 12:30 at which time I fed Miss E again. By 3 we were at the church with pans of Orange Cake and a crockpot full of meat for the Pastichio.

A few missteps later, I had the cream sauce going and the pasta cooking. Unfortunately, I didn't get done as quickly as I had thought I would. Instead I spent almost 2 full hours stirring the cream sauce. First to heat it up, then to cool it down. I placed the pot with the sauce over a larger pot filled with ice and water. It took much less time to cool than it did to cook. Dinner was in the oven by 6 and we were eating by 6:45.

Since I was standing with the cream sauce, I missed A's soccer practice and got Michael in a bit of trouble. We are not supposed to leave children A's age at practice without a parent. Which totally does not work with our schedule. N has art lessons on Mondays at 5pm. A has soccer practice on Mondays at 4:45pm. Michael has not been home to help with the dropping off, but he was able to pick the girls up tonight. So, for about half of A's practice, I have to drive N to art and then drive back to the soccer fields.

We ended up with a total of 17 people at dinner tonight instead of the 35 or so that had been invited. It was a wonderful time.

But, now that I am home and sitting down.... I hurt! My legs, knees, feet, ankles... they hurt! But it is totally worth it!

Trying again

Dinner is back on!

We need to run get the final touches, but as of 8:04 am EST everyone in our home is well.

I am really looking forward to this.

Pray it goes well??

Gluten Free

Since my dear sister has a child who is allergic to wheat, I've sent her websites/blogs that I run across that deal with that subject. I was reading a blog tonight and I have copied several recipes that look amazing.

I'm going to try these over the next couple of months. If anything turns out good, I'll share.

Hopefully we will be able to find some things that my nephew can eat when he comes to visit. Which I hope will be often!