Olivia has a new bike

Greg and I wanted to get a new bike for Olivia for Christmas, but we just couldn't find one we liked in our price range. Finally, after Christmas, Greg found this adorable bike on sale at a friend's bike shop. Olivia has named it Snow Flower. She can't reach the ground when sitting on the seat so it will take a little practice to get started on her own, but she can stop fine. All she needs is a basket on the front (we are still looking for the perfect one) and a little more experience riding and she will achieve her dream of riding with me to the store. We can hardly wait!

Here is a little video of her riding: http://www.vimeo.com/8521648

Christmas and Looking to 2010

Here is just a little about our Christmas. We bought all the children a lamp for their beds. Often they will wake up before everyone else and want to read, or some want to go to sleep before others are done reading. They were all happy about us letting them open the gift on Christmas Eve. They all got other presents on Christmas Day, from us and the grandparents, the most exciting being sleeper pants for each of them (truly they were all very excited about these) and a Wii game (obviously exciting).

Unfortunately, the kids began getting sick again right about Christmas and are still recovering over a week later, and although the coughing is definitely less, it is just as definitely ugly. Despite the illness we were able to go to Dad and Eunice's for dinner with Rick, Kathy, Felecia and Darin on Sunday (except Greg who struggles with asthma at Dad's and Louis who was just not feeling up to it with his cough and cold). Those who went had a great dinner and a great time. Monday we met them all at Powell's Books where we had another great shopping spree thanks to Rick and Kathy. I think this is the third year in a row they have given us this treat. I got my copy of Atlas Shrugged for the reunion next summer. As many who like are reading it to discuss at the reunion. I am determined to finish Truman by David McCullough first.

Perhaps I will ramble about my goals on my rambling page, but to summarize, I want to do better with routine and scheduling. We have had such a wonderful year in this home, made so many new friends, and spent so much time relaxing and enjoying life. It has caused me to suffer with anxiety over not accomplishing the things I feel I should. I want to improve our diet with more Nourishing Traditions cooking. I want to ride to the store always (excluding illness). I want to pray more.

December

When I was younger I remember people saying that the older you get the faster time passes. It was true this year. We always at least think about making 'nuts and bolts' (a snack of seasoned cereal and pretzels) during the Christmas season; not this year. The first time I even thought about it was last night, Christmas night.

On the 13th Dad and Eunice took Olivia and I to see The Nutcracker ballet. Olivia brings it up frequently and always lets me know when she hears any of the music. It was lovely and delightful.

The 21st was Olivia's 6th birthday. Greg at least got the camera out when he got home. The night before we had dinner with Dad and Eunice which they made into a celebration for Olivia. They gave her the sweet outfit she is wearing. I will have to write about Christmas later.

Trying to get with it.

So much has happened since I posted last. I haven't been taking any pictures, rarely even thinking about it. The leaves have all changed and fallen, and I will post a picture from mid October. This was taken through our dining room window.

One of the biggest challenges to blogging has been illness. We have had one thing after another for months, seriously in August Henry had a cough that began our rough journey. It must have been last month when we caught the dreaded swine flu, though we didn't go in for a diagnosis the symptoms made it quite clear. I began to wonder what I was doing wrong. How could I make our diet better, keep our house cleaner, etc. Then God reminded me that we have not really been ill for 5 years. We might get a cold or virus of some sort once or twice a year, but nothing like what we have just experienced. We are sure that a lot of the reasons were timing, being exposed to new germs when our immune systems were still trying to recover from the last bug. Also, our exposure is greatly magnified. Two of the children we care for are in public school or have siblings in public school. The adventure has caused me to be more active in strengthening our immune systems and prevention of infection. For example, we have some elderberries in our tea at least once a day. I have super tonic in the cupboard and when it is ready we will have some at the absolute first indication of any illness and maybe just everyday through the winter. We have also begun taking vitamin D3 and cutting back on our sugar intake. I thought it was so great that I had begun to regularly make cookies and yummy treats for snacks. They were made with freshly ground whole wheat flour and less processed sugars, but sugar of any sort in larger doses still makes the immune system work harder. I am going to be cleaning with Enjo products which are much more effective and will get all chemicals out of our house. Anyway, we are all feeling good now and I will enjoy it as long as it lasts, and I feel hopeful that it will last awhile.

End of Summer

Usually we just continue with school all summer, maybe lightening the load, but not too much. This summer the children had almost as much of a vacation as kids in a 'normal' school situation. We have never lived in a place with so many kids playing right outside our front door in such a beautiful courtyard and so many parents enjoying the atmosphere. It has been like living at a resort.

I had been looking for some child care work to do in our home for a little extra income and I found it. Sophia is eight and came over each day during the week for the summer. Also, Aven, who is now 19 months, began coming Monday through Thursday. They both live in our complex. Now that school has started we don't see Sophia as much, but we now have Lincoln before and after school. She also lives here and it has been a new experience to take a child to the bus and pick her up afterwards. One more addition is Tyler (15 months) who does not live here, but we have known his parents for years and they are living in the area and were looking for a M - Th just like Aven. It makes for busy days, but God seems to do that with me because without the outside commitments I get lazy. I am forced to adhere more closely to a schedule or we could never accomplish the many things we must. The children have been thrilled with having little ones in the home again. I don't know if I could manage without their help so I'm glad they enjoy the sweet children. I did grumble a little that we always have boys and can't seem to get any girls in the home for long. (Lincoln is a girl and Sophia, but they are older and Olivia would so love a baby girl to watch over.) However, when seeing the older boys playing with the younger I know that it is the best situation. At least our neighbors had a baby girl last month and she is a real treat for us.

The kids were tracing their shadows and then drawing in the person. Here is Olivia's, you can see how the sun has moved since it was traced. Also, Molly and her scooter.

A few of the girls living here: Sarah, Cherish, Olivia, Lily and Mattie.

Solomon traced Otto's shadow and then colored in a great face, not intended to be a representation of Otto.

More friends here: Jacqueline, Cherish peeping over Sophia, Olivia and Josephine.

Tyler, Solomon, Aven and Otto.

Video of Hike in July

We have had quite a summer. I'm not going to elaborate right now, but here is a video Greg put together of a hike we took in the Columbia River Gorge back in July.

http://www.vimeo.com/5568491

Olivia in Ballet

So, it has been over a week since we took these pictures at Olivia's last ballet class of the season. She took a pre-ballet class at the Cedar Hills Recreation Center just down the road from us. We walked to every class and had so much fun. Impressively the teacher taught Olivia and the other girls many French words/terms used in ballet and I am hoping to be able to get her into another class after the summer. She usually wore her ballet clothes all day, often complimenting them with other dress up clothes, and practiced all her dancing through the house. It is amusing and delightful to have a girl in the home. God has given us a great blessing in Olivia.