The Doolittle Gambit

Grand Old Time

2012-01-29T13:28:00.004-05:00

We have a good time around our house.

Usually there's a fair amount of silliness to our good times, like Aliyah sticking her head in her pasta bowl at dinner,

or Theia dancing like a crazy person.

Most often Joe and I get to be a part of the good times and silliness, but on a recent morning when Joe and I were home, all four kids disappeared behind the closed door of the girls' bedroom. After sometime had passed without any arguments, fighting, crying or whining, I poked my head in to investigate.

"What's going on in here?" I asked, while observing all four kids happily playing on the bed amidst blankets, pillows and stuffed animals.

Xandra proudly announced, "We're having a grand old time without you and daddy."

And they were.

Interior Redesigns

2012-01-28T13:26:00.000-05:00

Occasionally the girls will shout, "Mama, Come take our picture!" I never know what I'll see when I round the corner. On a recent evening, when they were supposed to be quietly laying in bed and/or sleeping, this is what I saw:

A little night time bedroom redesign.

Not long after the great unveiling, all was quiet and this is what I saw:

From a distance they all look so peaceful and asleep. Up close, it's a different story. Sneaky bandicoot.

Here's a recent nap time masterpiece:

Who can sleep when there's so much interior redesign to be done?

Crafty

2012-01-27T13:25:00.000-05:00

The girls got a lot of wonderful gifts for crafting at Christmas this year. We've been enjoying using some of them up in the weeks since.

The favorites currently are finger painting, water colors, Color Wonder princesses, puzzles, magnetic dress up dolls, and Theia's busy box which is full of various crafting projects for her and any available adult.

Keepin' Busy

2012-01-26T13:24:00.001-05:00

We love when Grandma & Grandpa come for a visit. We like to keep them busy in lots of ways, like book reading,

and wrestling,

and romping,

and climbing,

and tackling,

and snuggling,

and reading,

and hanging out,

and reading,

and baking,

and crafting.

I'm guessing that when they get home, they do lots of this:

Glory to God in the Highest

2012-01-25T13:33:00.000-05:00

I have no idea why they started doing this, where it came from, or what prompted it, but they did it frequently throughout the Christmas season. They also did it once last week around the coffee table in the front room.

Two other notes:

1. I love that Joey's always in the middle of it all with some random toy in his hand, being knocked to and fro, and perfectly content.

2. Joe's ability to sit in a room completely undisturbed and unaware of the small children running about, making large volumes of noise, seems to be hereditary.

Unwrapped

2012-01-24T14:09:00.001-05:00

After dinner clean up, the true festivities began. Grandpa Tim, in an amazing turn around from previous years' yule log mishaps, actually trimmed off a small portion of this year's yule log and packed it in his suitcase. It's good Gramps was on the ball because in the great clean up of 2011, in which Joe broke with the tradition of leaving the ENTIRE tree intact until Christmas Eve, our cut up and neatly stacked yule log disappeared into the wood pile or otherwise made its way to the local dump in the back of the van. If it weren't for Grandpa Tim, there would have been no yule log.

There would also have been a lot less silliness (and heresy) at our Christmas celebration.

Once the yule log was on, the Christmas story read, and we listened to a Christmas song, the paper began flying.

The girls were quite excited at the Tinkerbell jammies and robe from Grandma & Grandpa DeShon.

Joey was quite excited to just be able to rip, tear and destroy something without getting in trouble.

Besides the cardboard boxes, Joey also liked his sippy cups.

There were lots of craft supplies for the girls, which we all love.

lunchboxes, which are carted all over the house and rarely used for lunch,

nightgowns with matching bear nightgowns,

bear snugglis made by mama,

and lots of other beloved gifts!

After the presents, we always enjoy some hot cocoa (with marshmallows) in the chilly outdoors,

and then send the kids off to bed.

The next morning the fun starts again with stockings.

All that little loot, makes little girls happy,

until Joey gets his hands on it

and starts eating the oranges.

After all the gifts the night before and the stockings that morning, that was all that was left to unwrap.

Final Preparations

2012-01-20T12:58:00.000-05:00

For Joe and my family growing up, Christmas Eve was the time of gathering to celebrate Christmas. This year, since Christmas was actually celebrated at our home on Christmas, we kept the Christmas Eve tradition alive. Also in keeping with tradition is my tendency to wait until the last possible moment to wrap Christmas gifts. On the morning of Christmas Eve, then, everyone was barred from the office while I wrapped gifts. Everyone, that is, but the troublemaker.

He hung around to help.

After naps and graham cracker houses in the afternoon, the girls watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special while the final touches were put on dinner.

They were glued to the screen.

Dinner involved some traditions from home like cookie salad, jigglers, sparkling cider, and rolls,

and one item to celebrate our last Christmas in Maryland:

crab cakes (and hotdogs for the kids).

While the adults enjoyed dinner, the kids just wanted to get on with the show: there was a pile of presents just waiting to be opened under that newly decorated Christmas tree!

Trimming

2012-01-19T12:53:00.004-05:00

Staying in Maryland for Christmas and having our home on the market altered a few of our traditional Christmas plans: like celebrating Christmas on December 15th and buying a tree the day after Thanksgiving. Instead, we left it all to the end: Christmas on the 24/25 and tree purchasing on the 22nd. It turns out that sometimes fortune smiles upon the procrastinators of this world. Our late purchase allowed us both an adventure and a good deal. For $15 we were able to visit a local tree farm/orchard and pick out our very own tree and cut it down.

It was a rather unseasonably warm day (notice the absence of jackets) as we ventured out with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Tim to cut down our very own Christmas tree.

When we'd found the perfect tree, Grandpa offered to let the girls cut it down.

They decided instead, to supervise. They had to give him some pointers on where to cut,

but eventually he figured it out.

After the tree felling,

he carried the tree for us,

until he got tired and couldn't carry it anymore.

Then daddy helped him carry it the rest of the way and tie it to the top of the van.

Once home, Grandpa Tim and Joe put it in its stand and hung the lights.

We turned off all the lights to admire their handiwork.

Then we turned on the Charlie Brown Christmas music and got to work decorating.

It all looks so serene and peaceful in picture. Lest anyone have any doubts what it really was like, here are a few videos:

The next video is kind of long, but it captures a few funny things:

1. Aliyah did not care anything about ornaments. She just wanted to play with Gramps. I don't think she hung a single one on the tree this year.

2. Joey was oblivious. He sure liked that box, though. Midway through the video he broke the box, but that didn't stop him, he just carried on his merry way.

Favorites

2012-01-18T14:25:00.002-05:00

For the second year in a row, we joined the Aman family for their annual caroling party.

The kids are still too young to sort out many of the lyrics,

but they're happy just to hang out with one of their favorite people:

Beth.

Fringe Benefits

2012-01-14T13:32:00.003-05:00

For many years, one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season has been the making (and eating) of many goodies. Now, it's even better, as the kids are old enough to help.

This year, my goal was to make only goodies the kids could help me make.

Our goodies were simple, but delicious and made good gifts for friends and teachers.

This mischeif maker, supervised from the floor

while we lined up pretzels,

unwrapped Hershey's Kisses,

and did all sorts of other big kid baking tasks.

Grandma Mary & Grandpa Tim came for a few days of Christmas. While they were here, I finished up some last minute Christmas presents,

while Grandma kept the girls occupied with baking sugar cookie cut-outs.

Even daddy got in on the goodie making action. On Christmas Eve he helped Xandra and Theia build a graham cracker house while I worked on dinner.

We didn't eat the house

despite the girls' frequent pleadings to the contrary.

They did, however, get to try one piece of each kind of candy that went on the house when the house was complete. A nice fringe benefit of helping create goodies!

Upon further review, it is now unclear to me how much my kids enjoy helping with the goodie making and how much they just enjoy the fringe benefits.

The Troublemaker

2012-01-13T15:57:00.000-05:00

Kids are good at calling it like they see it. At our house, they can oft be heard calling the littlest among them, "The Troublemaker." It seems they may have good cause for their nickname.

as he climbs on step stools in search of

forbidden candy buckets,

ventures up ladders he's not supposed to climb,

apprehends purses he's not supposed to have,

sits in a basket that instead belongs on the shelf (this is one of his favorite playing spots),

and eats chocolate he found who knows where,

that he's too young to eat, at least by the Pull house standards.

They may have it right, he is a bit of a trouble maker, but when he flashes that winsome, slightly mischevious, yet striving for innocent, smile at you,

one has a tendency to momentarily forget and possibly forgive any kind of troublemaking.

Packed with Care

2012-01-11T10:45:00.000-05:00

Recently, our friends, Joe and Carolyn Liller, have joined the GAIN (Global Aid Network) staff. GAIN is the disaster relief arm of Campus Crusade for Christ. They do lots of things besides disaster relief, including sending CarePacks across the globe. CarePacks are full of basic school supplies and, in many cases, enable the children who receive them, to attend school.

This summer our Care Group set a goal of packing 100 CarePacks. We collected school supplies through the back to school season and then in late November, we gathered to pack the Care Packs.

We brought in some reinforcements for the evening.

Our girls were very excited to help pack the Care Packs as they had helped me gather and sort some of the materials.

Each CarePack included 1 notebook, 2 pencils, 2 pens, a sheet of stickers,

a pack of colored pencils, a pack of crayons, a pencil sharpener, an eraser, and a toothbrush.

Julie L. & Doug H.

Andrew G.

Maureen H.

Jon L.

It didn't take long to get everything packed up.

This is the packing crew: The Hesses, Glenns, Lockards & Pulls. There are others in our Care Group, all of whom helped in some capacity with the CarePacks, unfortunately, they just weren't able to join us for the event.

Another bonus of the evening, was that Joe and Carolyn, who live in Pennsylvania, came down for the evening and shared about themselves and GAIN and then personally delivered our CarePacks to the GAIN distribution center.

Giving Thanks

2012-01-10T15:21:00.000-05:00

It's no secret: I love traditions. As a consequence, I've tried to incorporate several into each holiday we celebrate (Joe likes to tease that I'd create a tradition for everyday of the year, if he didn't reign me in). The good news is that the girls are now old enough to start to remember and anticipate some of our holiday traditions. It was no surprise, then, when they knew just what to do with these

a few days before Thanksgiving. It's still unclear if this crew knows exactly what a pilgrim hat is or who the pilgrims were,

but they have no problem making these chocolaty pilgrim hats year after year.

Another family tradition developed over the last few years is inviting a crew of people over to enjoy a meal with us on Thanksgiving Day. This has resulted in another tradition of me buying the largest turkey I can find at the grocery store. This year's turkey topped out at 26 lbs.

He was a challenge to lift in and out of the oven, but he was no match for me.

He also happened to weigh more than this one year old turkey that spent his day wreaking havoc in my kitchen cabinets and drawers.

For a moment, each year, it seems a shame to cut into such a beautiful bird.

Then my stomach growls and I happily asked one of our guests to do the honors of carving the big bird.

Mr. Holmes (Brad's father) got right to work and carved the bird up while the rest of the spread got put out.

Others, like Beth, kept busy entertaining the nine small children, aged six and under, on the premises.

We had several special people join us for the day: The Holmes (Brad, Lauren, Jillian, Faith & Anna), The Tangs (CheeKin & Niina), The Holmes Grandparents

The Lockards (Jon, Julie, Ava & Andrew), Doug Noble, and the Amans (not pictured here, James, Nancy, Josh, Tim & Beth)

After dinner, we gathered in the living room to play a game of Thanksgiving Jeopardy!

Joe, sporting his Thanksgiving Turkey pin made by the girls (another kind of tradition), was Alex.

There was a lot of fierce competition between the three teams,

but in the end

the Aggies won on a question involving their favorite president and the state of North Dakota.

To my knowledge everyone was still friends afterward.

We were grateful to spend the day with so many special people.

We ended the day with an over the top dessert bar

provided by our guests,

and with hearts full of gratitude for the many blessings God has so generously and graciously poured into our lives.

Upgrade

2012-01-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

Xandra has designed a new home for us to live in when the one we're currently living in sells. It's still got some of the same characteristics of our current home...flowers and lots of colors.

One big upgrade is the addition of a garage.

Do you think it's big enough for a mini van?

Moonlighting

2012-01-06T13:26:00.031-05:00

Since December 1st I've been moonlighting. After all our fall home improvement fun, we put our home on the market and I've been moonlighting by maintaining another blog.

Let me introduce you to our new blog: 3313 Floral Court.

Feel free to pass along the address to anyone looking for a home in the DC area. Desire for a home in the DC area aside, we're equally happy to talk to anyone who has some extra cash lying around they've got a burning desire to spend.

Reinforcements

2012-01-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, I spent much of the fall painting nearly everything outside our home. Painting wasn't the only thing happening around our home this fall.

I spent the better part of a week bleaching siding.

Before I started, the entire side of the house looked nice and green like the left side in the picture below.

Joe and Xandra repaired a leak in the roof of the shed next to the house. There's nothing like being midsentence with one of the neighbors, only to have them interrupt with, "Oh my, your daughter is on the roof."

Fortunately, she, like her father, has a healthy fear of heights.

When I finished painting and bleaching outside, I headed inside with my paint brush. So long my bright red friend.

The list of items for cleaning, repairing, organizing and painting was so long, that we had to call in reinforcements.

Jessica and her sister, Lauren, spent several days with us in late November watching the kids and assisting me with various projects.

Their projects were much more fun than mine. They involved cuddling with the kids in the chair and baking chocolate chip cookies.

We also called in reinforcements from our care group, who voluntarily came to our rescue one Sunday afternoon. They spent an afternoon doing various jobs, big and small all around our home.

Some of the highlights from the afternoon include: Julie helped me iron and hang freshly laundered curtains. Lauren and Kristin cleaned lots of dirt, spiders and spiderwebs from the kids' firehouse. Lindsey found a half decomposed mouse on a glue trap in the furnace room (that's not embarassing in the least). Doug clear cut our front yard with his weed eater. Several men raked and hauled and raked and hauled and raked and hauled leaves. Carpets were vacuumed, grills cleaned, widows washed, spider webs removed, and junk hauled away.

Some were brave enough to get on our roof to bleach gutters and siding I couldn't reach.

Some, like Brad, were lucky enough to be entrusted with the hose.

Joe and I spent most of the afternoon bossing people around. I'm not sure how they captured a picture of him actually doing work...I think this one must have been posed.

He was even smart enough to rub some dirt on his knees in this picture. It looks like he's really been working.

We did allow people to take a break, at some point. But only for a few minutes before we began yelling, "Back to work, you lazy slugs."

Everything was going great until Brad climbed up on the roof.

Then, where previously calm had reigned,

panic overtook.

Thankfully no one fell off the roof. The only casualties of the afternoon were a few unsuspecting spiders and Dave's split lip. We forgot to tell him the axe was for splitting logs not lips.

In five short (or long, depending on your perspective) hours the group accomplished what would have taken Joe and I innumerable hours to accomplish on our own. We're so grateful for their kindness and hard work. It is a true picture of God's graciousness poured into our lives through His people.

Maybe more amazing than their work ethic, is that after all that work, they all still speak to us.

Three Little Bears

2012-01-04T13:54:00.000-05:00

Richmond Run

2012-01-03T14:18:00.000-05:00

On Veterans Day we loaded up the car and headed out of town for another Pull racing adventure. This time our destination was Richmond, VA for the SunTrust Richmond Marathon on November 12.

We headed out of town mid afternoon with plenty of time to arrive in Richmond and pick up Joe's race packet. It twas good we were so far ahead of schedule because we experienced some VERY slow moving traffic followed by a mishap with Mapquest and Trisha which dumped us in a not-so-nice street in the middle of Richmond nowhere near our final destination. Once we got our bearings, we headed off to the correct location. We didn't make it but a few feet when Joe stopped the van, backed up and rolled down his window to talk to someone in a stopped car in the middle of the street, all to Trisha's begging and pleading not to stop for fear we might all be shot. I guess Joe didn't think the 20-something blond girl in the VW bug, waving her arms for help, looked threatening. In the end, it was good we stopped, as she, too, was lost and was headed to the same place as we were. Her presence also helped justify my mishap with Mapquest...I wasn't the only one who had done it!

After roaming around the packet pick up area for awhile, having another small mishap at the gas station wherein someone else accidentally prepaid for our gas, we headed to the hotel (hootel according to the girls) to get settled in for the night.

As we were unpacking the car, I realized that I'd forgotten one important detail: the pack n play. Not wanting to pay the hotel to use one of theirs, we simply blocked off the corner of the room, placed blankets on the floor and then watched Joey climb out of his "bed" approximately two minutes later. Fortunately, it was late and he was tired, so once all the lights were out, he gave up climbing out, cried for a few minutes and then settled down to sleep.

The next morning we packed up our gear, left behind our makeshift pack n play and headed to the start line.

The morning was VERY chilly. Despite hats, gloves and mittens, the girls were having a difficult time staying warm. For awhile they hid in this faux doorway in an effort to get out of the breeze.

We saw Joe several times along the course

The girls, especially Aliyah, were very careful to make sure Joey didn't go anywhere he shouldn't.

At mile 19 we found Joe, a bit behind pace and walking. Despite his excellent start and ahead of pace 1/2 marathon, and all my heckling to get his lazy bones moving, his finish was difficult and disappointing.

The one upside to a difficult finish is that he had plenty of time to run across the finish line backward. He said he'd always wanted to do that and so, in one small way, he redeemed what had otherwise been a pretty terrible run.

Joe recovered with some post-race food, which included complimentary Papa John's Pizza, while the kids and I enjoyed being out of the elements.

After a bit of playing,

resting and visiting the bathrooms of this rather posh hotel lobby, we escorted a limping and tired Joe to the van and headed back to Maryland. Thus closes another chapter in the Pull race anthology.

Fountain of Youth

2012-01-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

I'm no spring chicken anymore. My husband, who just turned a mere 31 takes great delight in reminding me of this. In just under six weeks I'll celebrate my 34th birthday and while inside I feel much younger than my 34 years, on the outside I see signs that tell the truth about my age. Recently I took up a campaign to bring back some of my lost youthfulness.
While others might turn to beauty serums, hair dye (I'm considering this one) and plastic surgery in search of youthfulness, I've found a different answer.

Before:

After:

I'd say the braces make me look like I'm about 15, wouldn't you?

Impulse

2011-11-16T15:22:00.000-05:00

They're not the greatest pictures,

but it was a great moment.

Theia just saw the huge pile of leaves neatly raked by the sidewalk and on impulse just jumped in. She couldn't help herself. The other two couldn't either, as they joined her moments later jumping and romping in the leaves.

Autumn Applelooza V: It's All Fun & Games

2011-11-15T12:54:00.004-05:00

Autumn Applelooza, our annual celebration of everything fall, descended upon our house the weekend before Halloween. An unplanned snow and freezing temperatures

could not dampen the celebration or the fierce competition. It did however, bring all of our previously anticipated outdoor activities to the indoors. Three teams of two competed in a day's worth of activities to be named Autumn Applelooza V Champion.

It was all fun and games with bobbing for apples

three legged races through the house,

a sensory tub loaded with autumn related things that our competitors had one minute to touch (no sight involved)

and then put their heads together to create a list of what they had felt,

or thought they felt,

pumpkin carving,

and pumpkin Jeopardy! The competition for Pumpkin Jeopardy! was so fierce, we forgot to take pictures.

Of course, as happens every year, Team Shuman won the first three events and anticlimactically secured the overall crown at the earliest mathematically possible time. Their eternal nemesis, Dan Yi, repeatedly came up short, each time when he was certain that he had defeated the Shumans in an event for the first time ever. (The last five years have given Dan many opportunities, but the Shumans always beat him. It's quite remarkable, because every year all of the events except pumpkin-carving are new, never-been-tried-before.)

So, in a desperate attempt to inject some faux drama into the final event for the evening, we instituted a capricious and utterly unprincipled midstream rules change. We declared, ukase-style, that the winning team in Pumpkin Jeopardy! would be this year's overall champion as well.

The teams were well matched, and the contest came down to the wire. Through the combination of a proper alignment of the stars, baby Jacob distracting the Shumans, domination of entire categories of questions by Tim Johnson, and timely answers provided by late-arriving reinforcements, Sarah & Beth, Dan's team eked out a narrow victory. The Shumans' reign of terror over Autumn Applelooza was broken.

As for the younger set, the girls enjoyed playing with Jacob

and they thought Jacob's daddy was a good reader.

Joey stayed awake for more of the festivities this year.

And when all the guests left, the girls enjoyed their favorite Autumn Applelooza tradition:

a closer look at their pumpkin (carving by daddy, direction by Xandra)

with the lights off, of course.

Contributions of text in Italics by Joe Pull.

Running in Circles

2011-11-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

These three are a hoot.

even when they're just running in circles.

Weekend Projects

2011-11-13T13:12:00.007-05:00

Fall at our house has meant lots of small home improvement projects. We've torn down, repaired and painted a fence, painted the shed outback, painted the ledge that goes around our house, painted some steps on a patio, painted the area around our house numbers, repainted our famous trash rack, touched up paint on the firehouse, cleaned out a shed and disposed of three dead rats, got rid of a brush pile with three trips to the dump, replaced the outlets and light switches around the house, ripped apart a rotting bench and threw it away, gave away two broken lawn mowers, and that's just the list I can remember. It feels good to take care of these projects. It's tidying up our house and making it look fresher and cleaner.Sometimes, however, it's good to just stop on a weekend and do something different. Here's a look at another kind of Saturday afternoon project we worked on last weekend.

It was a family affair. Even I helped. I tend to think of blocks and building as daddy's territory. He's very good at it. He spent many, many hours as a child building out of legos. This time, however, they were having so much fun, I couldn't resist joining in. Theia and I worked on the yellow part of the great tower.

The finished project was taller than Aliyah,

with lots of steps that I was glad I didn't have to climb,

and three very proud architects/builders/designers.

While it didn't spruce up the outside of our home, it sure made the inside a lot nicer.

It's my favorite project all fall. It didn't involve any paint and it only took an afternoon to create!

It also only took about 30 seconds for this guy to demolish.

What are little brothers for?

Kittens & Candy

2011-11-12T13:39:00.026-05:00

On October 31st we had three little kittens,

who lost their mittens.

and one little brother who found them.

Our three little kittens, had three unruly tails,

cute little faces,

small black ears,

and signs inquiring if anyone had seen their mittens.

They also had a little brother, even more unruly than their tails,

who made off with their mittens and our neighbor,

Ms. Carol's entire bag of candy.

Ms. Carol thought it was funny. The kittens did not.

After recovering the candy and the little brother, we took another, happier picture,

visited our other neighbor, Ms. Lena

and set off for our friends' place, The Holmes, in search of mittens and more trick or treating fun. Before the trick or treating got under way, we carved a pumpkin with Mr. Brad.

While he carved, he talked about our sin being like the inside of the pumpkin...gross!

He shared about how once we allow God to take away our sin, like we scoop out the pumpkin seeds,

His light can shine bright in us from the inside out, just like a jack-o-lantern.

Once the pumpkin was finished, we headed out for more trick or treating with this crew.

Front row: Minnie Mouse x 2 (Ava & Annie), Spider Man (Ellie), a princess (Faith), a knight (Andrew),

Middle Row: Three Kittends (Aliyah, Theia, & Xandra), a princess (Jillian), Joey (as himself)

Top Row: a flower (Anna), and Nemo (Bennet)

After trick or treating, we enjoyed another Halloween highlight. Our three little kittens (aka farm cats) who lost their mittens, found their mommy and daddy some $2.00 Chipotle burritos for dinner (Chipotle ran a promotion that if you dressed like a farm animal, they would sell you a $2.00 burrito on Halloween). For their kindness to us, they each enjoyed an extra piece of Halloween candy. We have found in the weeks since that despite their difficulty with mittens, our kittens seem to have no problem keeping track of their individual buckets of candy. Funny how that works.

Someones In the Kitchen

2011-11-10T16:01:00.000-05:00

Baking around here is a family affair.

Even the littlelest among us won't be left out.

After all, someone's gotta throw the butter around,

and put it back in the box,

and take it back out again,

and put it back in again, etc.

And if one kid's doing it,

then everyone else has to also.

I did limit the rolling out of the cookies to these two turkeys.

That's what naptimes are for...division of labor.

They were excellent pumpkin and leaf makers.

They were also world class decoraters.

The proof is in the aftermath.

In case you're wondering, we took Joey down from the counter for the decorating. He preferred to supervise

from the comfort of his high chair.

The finished prodcut was delicious, thanks to the help of four little someones in my kitchen.

The Dash

2011-11-09T15:24:00.000-05:00

Sometimes Joe gets these crazy ideas, and try as I might, I can't talk him out of them. Instead I'm simply forced to go along with them. His most recent crazy idea was that we should take the girls up to the track at the nearby high school, and time them running the 100 yard dash. His thought was that we'd do it each year and write down their times to see how they improve from year to year. Please note that his original pitch did not include any mention of him or I running.

In theory, I liked his idea. In practice, when he suggested we go to the track at almost dark, I balked at him, as I am often prone to do, even when it's not dark. I went along with him, because he gives me no choice, and because usually these things turn out better than I anticipate.

There were a few hitches as we arrived at the track, as there often are with us. Xandra had to go potty really, really bad once we got to the track and I lost the writing utensil that was to record times on the way to the track from the car. While I returned to the car to search for something to write with, Joe took Xandra to a dark corner to have her pee in the grass. We're a classy lot, aren't we? Unfortunately, she peed all over her skirt and leggings. Even more unfortunate was that I didn't have a stitch of clothing with me to change her into. After deciding that the leggings weren't that wet and she could get by with just them and listening to a nearly unbearable amount of whining, we recovered ourselves enough to get down to business.

When we got to the track, for the second time, Joe took the girls one by one to the other end

and I stayed behind with this guy clinging to my legs while I tried to balance the camera, flashlight and timer.

After a few minutes he found something far more interesting than my legs.

The girls who were left behind also entertained themselves in various ways.

Each girl was VERY proud

of herself,

and a little silly, after she came across the finish line.

Joe even made me run. This is the proof, although not a great picture, that I ran the 100 yd. dash

21 weeks pregnant

as fast as I could in flip flops, which, by the way, is not very fast.

The times came out as follows:

Joe - 15.61 seconds

Trisha - 23 seconds

Xandra - 29.78 seconds

Theia - 34.58 seconds

Liyah - 1 minute 6 seconds

After the 100 yd. dash, Joe and the two older girls also completed a 1/4 mile. Joey, Liyah and I got a bye this year since they're too little and I'm too big.

It was REALLY hard work for the girls,

but they did it.

The 1/4 mile times were as follows:

Joe - 1 minute 18 seconds

Xandra - 2 minutes 53 seconds

Theia - 3 minutes 38 seconds

It was a crazy idea, but it was also fun. Don't tell him I said so or there will be more of these kinds of events in my future. Never mind. There will be more kinds of these events in my future, whether I like them or not and whether you tell him so or not. Still, don't tell him. I have a grumpy image to maintain. There was an added bonus that he treated us to Little Caesar's pizza afterward, too. I hope that part of the tradition continues, too. I can always use a little bribery to get myself movin' a little faster and a little happier.

Mysteries

2011-11-08T09:36:00.001-05:00

Lately, this is Aliyah's favorite way to sleep at naptime.

She's got the whole room to herself and she crams herself into a tiny laundry basket to sleep.

I'm not complaining. The next day she climbed into my bed for nap and had an accident that required me to wash my bedding. I prefer the laundry basket. I just don't understand it. It's one of many great mysteries concerning the mind of a two year old.

Sneak Peek

2011-11-07T13:47:00.000-05:00

Clancy had his first photo shoot three weeks ago. I never tire of getting a sneak peek at all of those moving, working parts on our babies in the womb. It's such a miracle to see those perfectly formed parts of the body on a 20 week old baby. It really causes me to be awestruck at God's power to create. Only he could do something so amazing. Clancy looks good and all his parts are there and healthy.

He's got spine & ribs (above),

and four chambers to his heart.

His heart was beating along at 150 beats/minute.

We saw two arms,

Two feet (above & below),

Two hands (above & below),

a face

and a profile.

The only thing we didn't see was Clancy's gender. The technician didn't even look. That's okay, we'll get another chance to check in about 17 weeks.

If I Had A Bucket List

2011-11-04T15:14:00.000-04:00

surely this evening would have been on it.

Through some divine miracle, I was able to convince these six ladies and a newborn baby (she didn't actually have any say in the matter) to drive to the middle of nowhere, MD (aka Accident, MD) for a Sara Groves concert, an artist whom I love, but of whom most of them had never been exposed to...I think it was the unbeatable combination of a just ladies, child-free Saturday and late night roadtrip with drive-thru milkshakes. A mingling of the present as we drove around in our super hip minivan, talking about the very kids we were taking a break from; and the past - driving around late in the night, gulping fast food, laughing, and enjoying each other like a bunch of college kids.

After a 2 1/2 hour drive, we landed at a very hometown Italian diner-esque establishment. The food was good

and so was their humor.

It took some of us awhile to digest the humor of the above sign. It's okay if you need to read it twice, too.

The concert was held at a very small Mennonite Church in Accident, MD. The concert had a very intimate feel because of the location and because of the attendance at the concert, which was small.

A few notable things about the concert:

1. Just prior to the concert, Naomi and Baby Lucy attracted the attention of a kind, dark haired woman in the hallway, who stopped to chat with them and oooh and ahhh over Baby Lucy. When Sara Groves came out on stage, Naomi realized that kind woman was Sara Groves!

2. There was a string bass and cello used in several of her songs throughout the evening. These are incorporated throughout her recordings and it was wonderful to see in the concert setting, too.

3. Other things that were delightful about the concert: She brought her two older boys out on stage, she sounded just as good in person as in her recordings, the concert wasn't showy or flashy, just very much in line with her music and what one would expect at a Sara Groves concert.

Afterward, we congregated in the hall to talk about the concert. Lauren had gone ahead to the CD table and wouldn't you know that when we came around the corner, Lauren was TALKING to Sara Groves. I, of course, immediately wedged my way into the conversation, while everyone else hung back to watch me make a fool of myself.

I felt like a 13 year old girl meeting a famous person for the first time. I think I may have even said that too her. I'm confident I said nothing intelligent, and I still had a swollen/bruised cheek from my wisdom tooth extraction, so I couldn't fully smile without pain,

but she sure looks captivated, doesn't she?

I think she was probably wondering when this lady was going to shut up and move on. We did eventually move on, but not before she signed a few CDs for me and I bothered her

for another picture.

We took one last group shot for the evening, and I had the self-control to leave Sara Groves out of it,

From left to right: Maureen, Trisha, Rian, Christine & Baby Lucy (she belongs to Naomi), Anna, Naomi and Lauren

then we stopped by to talk to Audrey Assad, the other artist at the concert, who was also VERY, VERY good.

She happily held baby Lucy and cooed at her a bit, signed a few CDs and then we began our slow descent back to reality, but not without a stop for chocolate milkshakes on our way. I find a chocolate milkshake always helps ease the transition, at least until the next morning. Reality was harsh at seven the next morning when my kids came bounding into my bedroom happy to see me again. At that time all thoughts of milkshakes and music were long gone from my sleep-deprived brain. Over breakfast I sat and told Joe about every detail of the concert. He patiently endured my monologue and then we rushed out of the house to church, where I saw a few of my other happy, but sleep-deprived cohorts in the halls.

ITunes continues to play a steady stream of Sara Groves and Audrey Assad these days. I've always enjoyed their music, but now I've got a few fond memories attached to the songs being played. I'm looking forward to our next adventure. Anyone up for hot air ballooning? Don't worry, we can get milkshakes afterward.

Masterpieces

2011-11-02T09:27:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of creative expression around here, and I'm not talking about the drama that comes with four females living under one roof. I'm talking about masterpieces like these:

from Theia

from Xandra,

and from Aliyah.

This was a craft from MOPS. Really the first craft Aliyah has made successfully in her young life. Even after two other children, it's still exciting to see her making little crafts.

Theia's first week of preschool Sunday School she met me at the door and announced two things:

1. They had juice for snack!

2. A short recitation of that they learned about a fire by night and a cloud by day. Her teacher was standing right there and I think she was pleased to realize that at least someone caught what she taught that day. This is the accompanying craft.

I love how different my children are from one another. After two years of questions and prodding of Xandra, we've never received this much information about Sunday School and Cubbies combined.

Moses from Theia

and from Xandra.

One of Xandra's Sunday School teachers has been bringing watercolors for the kids to use. She reports that Xandra is very careful and works VERY hard on her paintings. I can tell. We've been very impressed with the results.

An assignment from Character Builders last week:

Liyah

Theia

Xandra

This was also a Character Builders assignment. It includes Xandra's first drawing of a house (our house) as well as some birds (she made sure to tell me that the M's were birds) and everyone in our family (Joey's in there somewhere but I can't find him at the moment). The Sesame street stickers were an added bonus. They weren't part of the assignment.

We also love Strawberry Shortcake (Xandra),

princesses (Xandra),

flowers,

(Xandra)

(Theia)

self portraits

and anything else we can find to color.

Liyah (above and below)

Theia (above and below)

Of course, we've got seasonal decorations, too.

Aliyah

Xandra (left) and Theia (right).

Seeing their masterpieces develop over time from scribbling messes to recognizable pictures and artwork is a tangible reminder of the change occurring before my eyes in the form of three little girls. It's a beautiful masterpiece, too.

Silver Linings

2011-10-28T07:19:00.000-04:00

I would not consider myself a naturally positive person. It's something I work at for if I'm left to my own devices, I tend to only see the negative in every situation. God has a way, however, of putting things in my path that force me to smile and be grateful when I otherwise would not. Here are a few practical examples from the past month:

1. The negative: Last month I found rats in our shed. Not only were there rats, but they were nesting in our infant carseat that I had washed, packaged and put away in the shed to await the arrival of Clancy.

The positive:

After cleaning it up, it sat in the hallway where my kids entertained themselves for a morning. What's not to love about a 3 1/2 year old shoved with all her animals into something designed for someone 1/4 of her size?

Also, the rats are dead. Joe put out some poison and we happily found 3 decomposing rats a few weeks later in the shed. I love happy endings.

2. In the process of moving our computer to the sunroom a few weeks ago, it broke. Joe unplugged it, carried it across the house and when he plugged it back in, it didn't work. Not good.

The positives: 1. We had an old laptop called dino we were able to use in the interim. 2. We got to see the inside of the computer. 3. Joe got to fiddle around inside a computer, which I think he secretly loves. 4. With $50, a new power supply, and a few hours of his time, he fixed it! 5. Now you get to read my blog posts and see the inside of our computer while I type on it. The wonders of technology.

3. The negative: I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed (as seen in yesterday's video) a few weeks ago. It was followed by large amounts of pain and swelling, sleepless nights, and long days at home with small children. All of this was accompanied by some tears.

The positive: Milkshakes. And my family enjoyed a quieter than usual momma. Also, by the end of the week, I was eating pork tenderloin and enjoying the company of these folks:

Mike & Jeanne Corbin are the parents to one of my dearest friends, Sara. They stopped in for a visit one recent Sunday afternoon while they were in the DC area.

We enjoyed their company so much and pork tenderloin never tasted so good. I don't know if it was the Corbins or the week long hiatus from food.

Also, no matter how hard your week's been, I can't help but smile when I see pictures of these four,

even when they're being uncooperative.

5, 3, 2, 1

2011-10-27T16:08:00.000-04:00

Many moons ago, my husband suggested that I write a "Day in Our Life" kind of post for the blog, so I could remember what our days looked like when the kids were little. Today I'm finally crossing his long-ago suggestion off my always too long to do list.
No day is the same, but I find recently that our days at home certainly have a rhythm to them. Here's a peak at a typical morning.

Theia, our child who needs the least sleep, is usually the last to fall asleep at night and the first to wake up in the morning. If she wakes up and Joe or I are still in bed, she crawls in bed with us to snuggle. Snuggling is the only way I actually enjoy waking up. If we've already vacated the bed, sometimes she moves in anyway

for some quiet reading before the day begins.

After everyone is awake for the morning, the whole family enjoys oatmeal with bananas and a glass of milk. If daddy's home, he eats his with brown sugar, no bananas and a glass of juice. If daddy's not home, sometimes a bear joins us for breakfast. He's just there for company, he doesn't eat.

At some point before, during or after breakfast, the girls help daddy pack his lunch.

The argument over who gets what and how much is also part of the routine. After daddy's lunch is packed and everyone has stopped him at least three times to give him a hug and a kiss, usually with him forgetting to kiss me in all the chaos, he heads off on his scooter for work. At least one of the girls is still convinced he works on his scooter.

After breakfast, I try to sneak in a quick clean up of the kitchen, a load of laundry or some other chore. The kids are generally happy to play on their own or complete their own chores during this time. In early September, I made a more intentional effort to include the girls in the completion of some of these daily chores with a new chore chart and reward system. I've been pleased with the results, thus far, as the cat gets fed, outside lights get turned off, plants get watered, peed in diapers get put in the trash can, and teeth get brushed with minimal nagging from me. Candy is a wondrous bribing mechanism for small children, and for me, come to think of it. One of my favorite surpirses with our new chores is that the two older girls can now completely empty the dishwasher, minus reaching the high, breakable items, of course. Theia takes the job most seriously:

(Nothing like the removal of an impacted wisdom tooth to give you a swollen cheek, an inability to smile, and a real spring in your early-morning step.)

Since September we've also been incorporating some school-type activities into our routine, at least three days a week. It usually involves: a calendar time where we fill in a large wall calendar with dates, days of the week, weather, etc.; some very hands on math that all three girls enjoy; and

reading time where Xandra is learning how to read. We also spend time working through our Cubbies books. New to our Cubbies routine is a supplemental book called Character Builders. It's got extra verses to memorize each week and a few activities, too. The kids are really enjoying it and it's a good challenge for Xandra, our third year Cubbie. Joey doesn't really care for our school time, so he finds other ways to occupy himself and generally cause mayhem and grief to his mother.

The bathroom cabinet with feminine hygiene products seems to be his favorite stop on his morning rounds between the tupperware cabinet, junk drawer, sippy cup cabinet, crying at my legs, pulling numbers off the calendar and push pins out of the wall, dumping toys, magnets and who knows what else into the trash can, eating Cheerios in his high chair, climbing on the dishwasher

and dipping whatever he can find into the toilet.

After a break to clean, check email, clean up Joey's messes, wash some laundry, break up a few arguments, etc. sometimes we play a game or read a few books before lunch. A new favorite game around our house this month has been Zingo! It's a pre-reading game similar to bingo.

Even our littlest girl enjoys it and can win on occasion.

Lunchtime is last for the morning. Between doling out food and keeping Joey sitting in his highchair, I've been reading a chapter book to the girls during lunch most days. So far we've tackled Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, and are now finishing up our second Pooh Book by A.A. Milne. Lunch is followed by a much needed rest/naptime for the entire crew.

It all sounds so perfect and idyllic when I type it out. Many days it really is nice. It's never perfect, however, and sometimes it's crazy and chaotic and I wonder what in the world I'm doing. But I'm learning, ever so slowly, to take the good with the bad, to enjoy the moments playing with my children, watching them learn, grow, and interact. They're growing up before my eyes and I don't want to miss it just because sometimes it's exhausting, frustrating, and everyone's grumping, fighting, complaining, whining, and I can't get anything done. I wouldn't trade the joy of learning and living with them, watching them discover the world and be delighted by the simplest of things like a game played on the living room floor, a lunch packed for daddy or an early morning snuggle in bed for even a few less tough days. Someday I'm gonna miss these days, even the frustrating ones, I suspect. I know I can never have them back but thanks to Joe's suggestion I will be able to read about them and remember again what it was like when Joey, Aliyah, Theia, and Xandra were 1, 2, 3, and 5.

Thanks God for these precious gifts. Give me the grace to properly love, train and enjoy these precious ones you've entrusted to me. Help me to remember that our lives are but a vapor, here for a little while and then vanishing.

The Best Day of the Week

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

By far the most oft asked question in our house in the last year has been, "When do I get to go to Cubbies?" The question has been spoken by Theia, usually in her best whining voice, and has long resounded with the answer in the fall (or after Xandra's birthday) after you turn three. I'm confident there has been no event more anticipated than Theia's first night of Cubbies. The girls could be heard talking and dreaming about it in their bed at night. Xandra would tell Theia all about it and they would both say they hope they got to be kangaroos (Xandra's book group with the famous Ms. Meuschen) together. Xandra promised her over and over to show her all about Cubbies and help her so she would know what to do when. It was then with great joy that the girls prepared their things on that long awaited night in September.

Theia's normally silly, but when she gets excited her silliness takes on a whole new level.

Xandra made sure to wear her Cubbie vest, Cubbie shirt (under the vest) and bring her Cubbie bag and book from last year.

The first night of Cubbies the parents get to stay for awhile. We enjoyed songs, a puppet show, and a special parents-only meeting.

The first week received rave reviews and Theia was most excited to report that they got juice for snack. I'm pretty sure she had four dixie cups worth.

We worked all week long on our verses and the following week Theia was awarded with her very own Cubbie vest. The slideshow below needs little narration. Thanks to my quick-fingered friend, Maureen, for the pictures. It would have been a shame to miss this moment.

She's now earned her first patch and will be getting her second patch tonight. Pretty amazing for a girl who often substitutes the word poop right into the middle of a Bible verse to which she has momentarily forgotten the words. I've no idea if this type of recitation is reserved solely for me or if Ms. Meuschen also has the pleasure of being the recipient of this very unique translation of the Bible. Either way, she's a bona fide Cubbie now, and just like it has been for Xandra for the last two years, the best day all week is Wednesday.

My favorite part is seeing them enjoy it together.

Binturong Birthday

2011-10-25T20:21:00.000-04:00

Our binturong turned a big one year old on September 11th. In keeping with Pull tradition, he enjoyed his first fruit smoothie for breakfast,

and his first homemade pizza for dinner

which was enjoyed by the whole Pull clan.

After dinner, he gave opening presents a shot,

with some help from daddy and sisters.

His first present, a book featuring a binturong, was enjoyed by all, except Joey, who could have cared less.

While they read the book he tore into a basketball hoop

It took him awhile

but he finally conquered it.

Once opened it required some assembly from daddy. What birthday isn't complete without something for daddy to assemble?

Then everyone took their best shot.

There was also a fun toy (I mean plate and utensils) from Grandma DeShon. It's unclear who liked it more: Joey or daddy.

He last present, also a 1st birthday tradition, was a stuffed binturong,

which Aliyah rather enjoyed

before he made his new home in Joey's crib.

Joey joined his binturong in bed a few minutes after we shot this video of him playing with his new toy:

Happy First Birthday Sweet Binturong!

Retreat

2011-10-21T16:01:00.000-04:00

On the weekend of Joey's first birthday, our church hosted a family retreat at a beautiful

and rustic camp in rural Maryland.

We made plans last year to attend, loaded the car and drove to pick Joe up from the metro station. While we were waiting to pick Joe up I started having contractions. Needless to say, we missed the retreat last year with another kind of wonderful adventure, but we were glad to join in on the fun this year.

We enjoyed: family-style dining where Xandra spent a meal at a table with other kids instead of our family's table;

times of corporate worship,

where our kids were more entertained by playing with the pills from this doormat than by the service;

a chilly swim in the pool,

where Joe raced Colin only to find out he was the only one racing and where Aliyah proved how big her mouth really is;

smores by the campfire, where Joe found the PERFECT marshmallow roasting stick and Joey was so exhausted that he slept in my arms;

pretend cakes created by Xandra

this was Joey's birthday cake.

and lots of

family time,

sweet smiles

outdoor adventures,

and fun.

Also on the list of adventures was Theia and Xandra's first night in the top bunk of a bunkbed and two nights in a room with the entire family. There are some advantages to sleeping three children ages 5, 3, and 2 in the same bed in the same room at home. They don't bat an eye when three other people join them for the night.

All in all, it was a great weekend, however, sleeping six to a room, chasing kids around camp for a weekend, killing spiders bigger than Joey's hand, staying up late playing the train game and enjoying the company of fellow friends has a way of making one feel like they need a retreat when they get home from the retreat.

Wonky

2011-10-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

He loves to

climb and crawl

chew

and grab.

He's an active boy.

It was no surprise then, when the week before his first birthday,

he started walking everywhere,

albeit a bit wonkily.

He also had a short stint as a one-toothed wonder.

One cute, wonky tooth

for one cute, kinda wonky kid.

The Festivities

2011-09-11T13:12:00.002-04:00

After being escorted into the tea room and seated at the table,

the official tea party began.

There was a wide variety of food

and plenty of tea to go around.

Joe prepared the cheese plate and it was by far the most spectacular of all the dishes.

Our tea party guests also dined on other little known tea party food like, pigs in a blanket, grapes, butterfly fruit pizzas, cheese sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shape of flowers.

The tea was also served cold and was sweetened with fruit juices and was eventually replaced in all tea cups with water before the tea was over, as our guests' palette preferred the latter.

After each guest was filled to the brim with food and drink, we painted fingernails.

The girls requested that each nail be painted a different color.

Once the original coat of polish was dry, we applied white designs over top on some of the nails. Favorite requests were hearts, smiley faces, and flowers.

The end result was sheer beauty.

Once the nails were complete

we brought out the birthday cake

Xandra made a birthday wish

and blew out all five candles.

Unlike most tea parties, ours came complete with entertainment.

The guests gave our entertainer

rave reviews.

I gave him the boot when he brought out knives for juggling.

We played some high stakes tea party bingo

where everyone won but Joe.

After bingo, Xandra opened her presents from Jillian.

She was delighted to receive Connect Four and a raccoon.

Jillian's mommy also gave Xandra the box set of Little House on the Prarie.

We look forward to reading it together! After Jillian and Lauren left, all the girls settled in for naptime, I cleaned the kitchen and Xandra and Joe decided to work on professor phonics. A reading program he had used to learn to read when he was a child.

After naptime refreshed the girls they were again ready to play

and open a few more presents.

Among Xandra's favorites were a Furreal Honey Bear from Grandma Mary,

a butterfly pillow pet from Grandma DeShon, and a baby bee pillow pet from Grandma Mary,

handmade twirly skirts from our neighbor, Ms. Carol and Marbleworks from mommy and daddy.

It was a fantastic day and now we have an official five year old strutting around our house.

Happy Birthday, sweet porcupine of mine!

Every Since

2011-09-11T11:46:00.001-04:00

Happy 1st Birthday, my sweet Binturong!

I've loved you since the moment I first saw you.

And I've been amazed by you every since.

PreParty Tea Party

2011-09-10T13:06:00.002-04:00

The week of Xandra's fifth birthday brought much excitement to our home. On the Tuesday before her birthday, we survived our second Maryland earthquake, a 5.8 on the richter scale. We also endured the joys of the stomach flu travelling through all six family members and awoke on Satruday morning (her birthday) anticipating the effects of hurricane Irene to hit our area in the late afternoon. Despite the added drama and setbacks to birthday week, the celebration of Xandra's fifth birthday continued as scheduled. The morning began with waffles and milk enjoyed with our special day cup and plate.

At 10 o'clock Xandra's friend, Jillian (and her mom, Lauren), arrived for a tea party birthday party. We had invited another friend, Ava, but she got sick the morning of the party with the aforementioned stomach flu and we were forced, after some tears and explaining, to celebrate without her.

To start, the girls decorated some fruit pizza shaped like butterflies. The adults helped too.

Next we gave each girl hats, gloves and purses and they decorated them to their liking with ribbons, flowers and sparkly gems.

Even daddy, as most daddys of three little girls do, got into the decorating.

Everyone's bear got a newly decorated hat, too.

Once the girls and their bears were all decked out,

they headed off to a bear tea party in our sunroom while the adults worked to finish up last minute food preparations for the real tea party.

Once all the preparations had been made,

each girl was escorted, with bear, into the tea room.

Part II continued tomorrow

Removing Doubt

2011-09-09T13:52:00.000-04:00

After being asked four times in one day about my "baby girl", I decided that it was time to trim up Joey's hair. While his hair is rather short on top, he's always had a fair amount in the back. That hair in the back had grown out enough to cover his neckline and ears with cute little curls (Look closely on the left side of his head in the picture below. At times, both sides can look like that).

While Joe held him down, I quickly snipped with the scissors and ran the shaver through the back, too. There was no fussing or grumping, but then it's not perfect or straight, either.

It does remove doubt regarding his gender, I hope.

Although this stuff

never helps.

A Fair-ly Good Day

2011-09-08T15:51:00.000-04:00

On a warm and beautifully sunny Saturday in late August we made our way to the Montgomery County Fair. We've never been to a fair as a family, but the week prior to attending the fair I finished reading Charlotte's Web to the girls and it just seemed to fit as the perfect ending to our reading of the book. If you're not sure of the connection between the book and the fair, you should check out Charlotte's Web from the library. It's a quick, fun and easy read. If there are a few small children around, they'll like it, too.

We started at a display sponsored by the fire department. They had a moon bounce shaped like a fire dog and the two older girls had a grand time of jumping in it.

Aliyah kept repeating that she didn't want to go inside. So, she hung out with the Joes while I supervised the jumping. It seems our next stop, the sheep and goats

were much more her speed.

They were incredibly soft and kind of cute.

Joey was clueless about the animals, but enjoyed people watching from the stroller.

We watched some goat judging in the arena after seeing the sheep. The girls were fascinated by this and sat for a very long time watching the goats in the arena come and go.

We made a stop to see the bunnies, marveled over how one judges a bunny, ate some sandwiches and fruit for lunch and then played some games. The girls really wanted to do this bean bag toss.

After having the rules explained both Xandra

and Theia give it a try.

Theia met with some success and they were both rewarded with a small packet of candy.

Afterward we played in the community square, a spot designed just for kids with lots of free activities. These crazy bumper donuts were one of their favorites.

They also played in the soybeans and played life sized Connect Four.

We found a free face painting booth with ice cold water and stickers. The girls were very patient and happy while they waited their turn. There was only one person in line when we got there, so we also had a very short wait.

The Joes headed off exploring while we waited at the face painting and when they returned Joey had literally fallen asleep while being carried up on Joe's shoulders. He had his head resting on Joe's head and was completely asleep. We moved him to the snuggli for a more comfortable rest and ventured on to see some cows, get some free balloons and find the horses. On our way we stopped to watch some very small pigs and ducks race.
After watching for a few minutes we decided to head on our way only to realize that Aliyah was missing, for the second time. She wandered away in the sheep barns and almost before we knew she was missing a nice lady was returning her to us. This time we were on a busy sidewalk with hundreds of people and we had no idea how long she'd been gone or in what direction she'd gone. I stayed with the kids, looking this way and that and Joe headed off in the direction we'd come to see if she'd wandered in that direction. Joe found her looking very sad and looking as if she wanted to ask this other little girl for help, but instead she was just standing there pouty faced and staring.

He snapped this picture (she's the one over by the wagon and if you look closely, you can see her pouty lip) and then talked with her and they rejoined the rest of us. After the horses, everyone was pretty hot and tired, so we ended our day at the fair and stopped on the way home at McDonald's for an ice cream cone. Each girl got their OWN cone and they were all in heaven.

They were also very messy, but they didn't care one bit about the mess as they happily marched around outside eating ice cream and singing.

It was a fair-ly good end to a fair-ly good day.

Houdini

2011-09-05T14:30:00.002-04:00

When I left the kitchen, he was sitting, happily in the seat of his highchair. When I returned to the kitchen, he was like this:

I think he was impressed with himself.

Underestimated

2011-09-04T13:59:00.004-04:00

On a recent morning as we were finishing up breakfast, Xandra looked over at me and said, "Mommy, you know what I'm thinking?" I replied, "No, Xandra. I have no idea what you are thinking." "I'm thinking I should go and get the vacuum and sweep the floor in here for you," she replied. I, thinking there was no way she could even physically get the vacuum out of the closet, replied, "Uh. Okay, Xandra. Go ahead." She then prceeded to go to the closet, get the vacuum, bring it into the living room and vacuum the floor.

I was shocked.

And happy. With some guidance, she did a fairly good job.

Then, of course, Theia and Liyah, never wanting to be left out, asked if they could have the broom and dust pan. I happily obliged and they, too, got to work

sweeping the bathroom floor.

Or at least moving the dirt around some.

A few days later Joey decided he, too, wanted to help. After watching me vacuum the front room carpets and head outside to put something in the car, he got to work.

He managed to move the lever, pull the canister out, dump it over and aright it in the time it took me to walk to our car at the curb and back (a total of 1 minute, max).

I had no idea they were capable of such things. Clearly, I have underestimated all four of them.

Accessorizing

2011-09-03T13:58:00.002-04:00

Shared Chaos

2011-09-02T14:02:00.002-04:00

We're always happy to share a bit of our chaos with anyone who's brave enough to enter our home. Late July and early August brought some such courageous individuals, otherwise known as guests, to our our home. Our friends, Jeffrey and Keri, with their son, Clark, in tow, stopped by for an afternoon of fun.

Jeffrey and Keri used to live here. Literally. The summer they moved to San Francisco, where they now reside, they spent their last two weeks living with us. We liked that.

We didn't have as many kids then as we do now, but they are every bit as wily now as they were then, maybe more so.

This is the whole kid crew. The extra on the right is Clark. He and Joey are just a few weeks apart in age, but Clark is an entire head taller than Joey.

It didn't take long for Clark to get the hang of things around here. In the picture below he's playing with pretend blush. Sorry Jeffrey & Keri.

Before they left, we wanted a picture of all the adults. Since Xandra has lots of past experience snapping pictures, she did the honors.

Not bad for an almost five year old. Before they left Mr. Jeffrey wrastled (intentional misspelling) them all up a bit.

Whenever he stopped, he was inundated with cries of "Me, me, me." Clark has much to look forward to in the wrastling department.

We also enjoyed hosting "Mr. Seth", as he's known around these parts, for a month while he attended classes in DTSS (Downtown Silver Spring).

Mr. Seth slept in our sunroom for the month on a bed that was much too short for his 6'7" stature. He was a very diligent studier and the perfect house guest. He never complained about the bed, the questionable food, the screaming children, the cranky pregnant lady, or the messy house. He has two little ones himself and a third one due in November, so he was no stranger to having fun with small children and the kids all loved him. They also loved his phone. That's where he kept all his pictures and videos of his kids and wife. They were happy for any opportunity to sit next to him and snoop through his pictures.

Aside from the adventure of living in our chaos for a month, he won $100, got caught in a hail storm on a bike, and ate at nearly every restaurant in DTSS in a month. An impressive list of accomplishments, although I never asked him what he considered his greatest adventure: biking through the hail storm or sharing in a month of our chaos.

Hit The Trail

2011-09-01T13:53:00.001-04:00

On a warm summer morning in mid-July, we headed off to Seneca Creek State Park for a 10K race. Different from our normal routine, this time Trisha was running and Joe was kid-watching. We started the morning with lots of grumping, whining and our traditional pre-race shot.

Then the kids played, swung, and ate ground particles (see video) while I readied for the race.

A few race facts:

1. Name: Blue Crab Bolt 10K

2. It was a small race with just a few hundred competitors.

3. It was a trail run. I had no idea what this meant prior to the race.

4. Mid-week they emailed to let us know that they had extended the length of the run and it was now a 10.8K run. Can they do this? If I wasn't intimidated enough before, this just about did me in. I could barely run the required 6 miles, now I was being required to run even further to complete the race.

5. It was hilly. The race advertised "challenging hills." This is not a good sign. Usually races advertise "rolling hills" meaning steep, terrible hills. What does it mean when they advertise "challenging hills?"

Despite being intimidated, I hopped in line and began the race. That's me at the very, very back waving.

While I ran the kids played some more and Joe took pictures of the racing map.

After a long, arduous journey on wooded hiking trails (no pavement or gravel) with rocks and sticks and tree roots, climbing up hills so steep I could only walk, falling three times, following a gurney and two paramedics headed toward another competitor who had not fared well in the race, and meeting a lovely girl from Tennessee who got me through the last mile of the race, I happily crossed the finish line.

Xandra came out to finish the last bit with me and so did Theia. Actually, Theia started crying because we were leaving her behind, so I picked her up and carried her across the finish line while holding Xandra's hand. A fitting end to a tough race.

I was very proud to have finished this difficult race and I was dirty from head to toe from all of my falls.

I also couldn't walk for two days because my muscles were so sore. All in all not bad for a pregnant lady 8 weeks along. I can say it'll be awhile before I hit the trail again.

Lunch

2011-08-31T15:51:00.000-04:00

This is lunchtime at our house. Everyone sits at the counter to eat.

even Joey.

Pests

2011-08-18T14:24:00.000-04:00

In mid July we discovered this in one of the cedar trees in the front yard.

This humongous hornets next was about 15 feet in the air and was home to hundreds and hundreds of very large hornets.

Gross, yet amazing.

We called in a pest control service and for a mere (cough, cough, choke) $250

they happily put on their bee keeping suit,

put their can of toxic, smoky chemicals on the end of a very tall poll, knocked down the hornet nest and

provided about 45 minutes of entertainment to Xandra and Theia during naptime.

At the end of naptime, the nest was gone.

So was $250 and naptime.

What a bunch of pests those hornets turned out to be!

Ridin' A Bike

2011-08-18T13:28:00.000-04:00

She's learning to ride a bike.

and

soon she won't need our help!

Stayin' Cool at the Pool

2011-08-17T13:12:00.000-04:00

It was hot when Grandma and Grandpa were here. That made it perfect weather for a trip to the pool.

During the safety checks, we ate crackers

and grandpa played with his crackers.

When Joe got off work, he joined us at the pool,

just in time for Grandpa to treat pizza for dinner.

Joey liked the peppers best.

Our evening of fun was unexpectedly cut short by an approaching thunderstorm that mysteriously never caused any rain. Joe felt confident it was a ploy by the pool workers to get off work early.

We headed home for some promised popsicles

and clean up before bed.

Men In Charge

2011-08-16T13:26:00.000-04:00

This kind of stuff only happens when the guys are in charge.

Sing-a-ma-Tim

2011-08-15T15:23:00.000-04:00

He's my father-in-law. He's a little crazy. And he never ceases to amaze me.

A Colonial Kind of Day

2011-08-14T14:51:00.006-04:00

On Saturday of Grandma & Grandpa's visit, we drug the whole crew to Mt. Vernon. In the almost four years we've lived in the DC area, we've never visited. The day started with lunch just outside the grounds under a shady tree.

Then we made our way inside to the visitor's center.

Everyone liked it but Joey, who was briefly confined to his stroller and very unhappy about it. It's hard to be the baby.

Here's the mansion, under construction.

Evidentally they were rustificating old George's house. You can read about it below.

One of my favorite parts of the afternoon was a stop in to hear Mrs. Washington talk. They had someone dressed as her who was talking and answering questions about their life. Very interesting and also air conditioned.

While Mary, Tim and I toured the mansion, Joe was on kid patrol.

It looks like they enjoyed their time overlooking the Potomac.

Other highlights of the day were the blacksmiths (Joe) and also helping winnow the wheat from the 16 sided barn. The people below are historians who work for the Mt. Vernon estate. They dress like this everyday and spend their time working in the fields, winnowing wheat, and educating people like us about the ways of the colonial folks. Fascinating, really.

The property included some beautfiul wooded areas that we hiked through on our way to the museum.

The museum had more information than one person could absorb in a week. They also had a fun interactive area for kids that we found much too late in the day.

The best part of the interactive kids room was the dress up.

The girls thought this was grand.

After this shot was snapped, the kids and women headed home

and the crazy, ambitious men among us headed to Manassas for a guided tour of the battleground there.

Seven

2011-08-14T07:41:00.004-04:00

Seven years ago today, we were married.

I love you today, Joe, more than I did then. How much more will I love you in another seven? I have no idea, but I look forward to the journey. Each step with you is a good one.

Happy Anniversary!

Not Quite Happy Endings

2011-08-13T14:31:00.000-04:00

While Grandma Mary was here we took her to visit one of our favorite summertime spots: the butterfly garden at Brookside Gardens.

We learned about butterflies, catepillars, and cocoons and saw a ton of butterflies.

Joey was the only one lucky enough to have a butterfly land on him,

but each girl did get to hold a real (dead) butterfly before we left.

The butterflies are very fragile and very soft.

The girls were surprisingly careful

with some additional guidance from grandma.

After we'd seen the butterflies, we went to the gazebo over the pond and had a picnic lunch while we watched the turtles and geese swim. We made a second attempt at visiting the butterfly garden before heading home, but it proved to be too much for our crew. A few moments after entering the garden, Liyah, for the second time that morning, bit one of her sisters. Xandra's howling and then Liyah's howling was more than anyone could manage. We made a quick exit and headed home for naptime. Not a pleasant end to a mostly pleasant morning, but it's rarely all fairy tales and picture books at our house, even when Grandma's in town.