Wrap Ups (I hope)

Ever wondered about the termites? The writing? The smokin' beans?
This hodgepodge post is the wrap up.

First though, every post is more fun with a picture. Here's a four generation picture from this August. The girls had just taken a bath. I bet you can't even come close to guessing how old my grandma is.

So I never finished the termite story. I lost steam and couldn't keep going. It got to the point where I didn't even want to write about it. I just wanted it to be done. I walked around the days after the treatment grieved to see the little demons were still happily mentioning the wood in my garden and muttered things like, "Die little bugs, die." I was sick of hearing people proclaim surprise about having termites in Michigan. And a little angry at the termite men for making a giant dusty mess in the basement, which led to more anger when they said the termiticide might kill a few of my plants growing next to the house. While I gladly pictured the bugs dying, I tried not to picture my plants dying or to worry too much about that chemical deep in the ground potentially affecting my veggie garden. They assured me it was safe. But by late August I had adopted Tom's pessimism and didn't really believe them. But I willed myself to move on and we ate the veggies and we cleaned up the basement (thanks to my husband who is a super fast, super thorough and amazing worker), and eventually even the termites in the garden disappeared (I prefer to think they suffered a slow, painful death). Yesterday we had our first post-treatment inspection and we passed. I'm glad but it's hard to cheer. That was a big chunk of change to spend on bugs!

The day after the Smokin' beans post I bought Febreze. And candles. I sprayed rugs and walls and curtains and furniture. I'm not a lover of fake good smell so I also planned a few full proof slow cooker meals. After all, how many smells can one house hold? The Febreze appeared to work for about 24 hours. Then the smell returned. Muted. But still present. Desperate I googled "burnt beans." Gotta love the Internet. Not only did I find a whole slew of ideas about the burnt bean smell and how to deal with it in one of those post a question and random members will answer, I found camaraderie (wow did I spell that wrong the first try) and comfort in the knowing that others had burnt not just food but beans and most of them had actually left the house! Whew. But their ideas sounded like a lot of work. Rolling up my sleeves I made a plan, but then the next the smell was gone. It lingers in far corners sometimes, but mostly it's been forgotten.

I'll post more about my time without kids later, but have I told you that I've writing about an article a month for the local magazine? They pay me pennies but it is so fun. All the issues are online so here's a link to the most recent issue. Flip to page 35 and read the green article. You can use the buttons on the side to zoom in. This is an article I pitched. I had to redo it three times because my vision and my editor's vision ended up not being the same. So the article isn't quite what I wanted but I still hope it blesses someone. Still, I got paid, right? Now I am writing an article about how to keep a busy family eating well. Right up my alley. Too bad all the ideas have to come from the interviewed expert. It's still fun.

Grilled cheese

Beware: the simple joys of the weekend cause a few too many cheesy similes.

Slowly. Very slowly we have been adding dairy back into Kassy's diet. We started with a slice of cheese. Then another the next day and then another. Her big eyes would glow with anticipation as she tasted the forbidden food. Probably cheese is that much creamier and wonderful after a three year hiatus, especially when you can't remember eating it at two. She got bolder and started asking for yogurt. She's been eying yogurt for well over a year. She watches people eat yogurt the way an infant, who is ready for something other than mama's milk, watches people eat.

So it's been three weeks of small, daily doses of dairy--either cheese or yogurt. And nothing. No side effects. No illness. Just silent rejoicing. The kind you hesitate to share because what if it goes away? This weekend was the pinnacle of the experiment--yesterday at a friend's birthday party she had ice cream. Not frozen fruit ice granules with fancy names like Italian ice or sorbetto but real ice cream. Ice cream was a staple treat of my growing up years. I fondly remember bike rides on hot summer days to Baskin Robbins and a scoop of Gold Medal Ribbon (did you see they are opening up a BR here--right by Target--memory triumphs taste for me and I will always prefer BR to Cold Stone Creamery). But really, have you ever teared up giving your child ice cream? I did.

And then today. Oh today I wish I had thought to take a picture. For a variety of reasons Kassy earned a privilege today. She picked, "Choose favorite meal for mom to cook." This treat gets picked with some frequency---only rule is you must plan a balanced meal. I asked Kass what she wanted and she smiled like a kid who had opened a long wished for birthday gift and said,"Grilled Cheese." She sat in the kitchen watching every step. Memorizing them. Supervising the placement of the cheese. And then she stared at her sandwich on the griddle as I silently hoped the tapioca bread would brown well. And if she had been a dog, she would have been drooling. And I laughed as asked for the tenth time,"How much longer?" She never eats fast, unless she LOVES the food. And this sandwich she ate leisurely, too precious for high speed, eyes closed, with a giant smile on her face. It turned out perfectly just pleasantly brown with the cheese completely melted. And I wondered---where did she learn to close her eyes when eating something delicious? Is it instinct or do we learn by watching?

Tomorrow for lunch? She wants me to make Annie's Mac and Cheese with Rice Pasta and put it in her thermos!

We haven't tackled cows milk. The proteins in that are more troubling to a stomach than cheese and yogurt. For now, I'll let her relish the joys of these foods that were once denied. Praise the Lord!

Who's Smokin'?

It's embarassing to tell this story since it happened on a morning when both kids were in school--no fighting children as an excuse. So I was cooking beans. In a pot. Black beans. the stove was on low, and I went downstairs to exercise. Beans take forver to cook. I wasn't worried. I have no idea how long it was--45 minutes? And I started to smell smoke. Not fire smoke but who's- been- hanging- out- at-the-bar smoke? For a second I thought the used couch  was emitting a previously hidden smell. No such luck. I followed my nose upstairs. The upstairs was hazy, filled with smoke. Not cough, hack, crawl- on- your- knees- to- breath- smoke, just haze and stink. I ran to the bean pot, removed it from the heat while noting the lack of liquid in the pot and then turned on fans and opened windows and doors. Now there aren't many windows to open. It's been so cool this summer and we've been so busy that we never took off the storms (yes we still have the original windows). So I could really only open the doors. I figured the smoke would clear our. It did, but the smell stayed. And we had a party Friday night and all the guests politely said nothing when they walked into the stinky house. Saturday and Sunday I kept wanting to shower and wash clothes to escape the smoke smell. Nothing has worked. It reeks in here. You get used to after about a minute but why isn't it going away? And why does it smell, not like fire smoke, but like cigarette smoke? Ick. Now today I have to solve the mystery of why none of the smoke detectors went off.

Empty nester for the school days

I've imagined yesterday, the first day both girls would be in school all day, for over a year. (Yes, Kindergarten is an all-day gig here). I've fretted, gotten excited, and cried--all before the day came. Here's the truth: while Kassy's food allergies make school a bit more difficult, I was ready--so ready I almost felt guilty. I didn't cry and I didn't feel sad. Okay, okay, when we were praying morning prayers and Kassy started sobbing saying she wanted help not feeling nervous, I shed some tears, but that was it.

Yesterday and today are my adjustment days. A little bit of extra time to relax. Now, here's what scares me. I've been home, for seven years. The only skills I've perfected have to do with mothering. I didn't go to college for seven years (thankfully); I didn't teach for seven years; I didn't work for a publishing company for seven years. Now what? Who will I be? I can start again and reinvent my future.

We live in Michigan, home of the worst economy in the nation, for almost a decade. People don't stay home with kids after they start school so I don't have any examples to mimic. And I doubt I could get hired as a teacher--almost no one gets hired here, just laid off. And as I wonder what to do next, I 've been confronted by my own insecurities. Turns out that even after staying home for seven years, I still place a disproportionate amount of value on jobs. Let's say my "Finished" list at the end of the day reads: emptied dishwasher, put laundry away, cleaned four windows outdoors, called my mom, called friend to see how she was feeling, weeded garden, read one chapter in a book for book club, updated my blog, prepared for interview for magazine article, prepared dinner mostly before the kids got home so I could focus on them when time came, helped Hads with homework, drove to soccer practice, cleaned up dinner; read to, snugglied with, and prayed with both girls before bed, prepared lunches for tomorrow.  My brain focuses on "prepared for interview for magazine article." It reads this list item as "the only job-like thing" on the list and placess more importance on that accomplishment than the others.

Ok, I tell myself, reread the list. What might be glorifying to God on that list? Serving my family by helping to keep things organized and clean, serving my family by making sure what they eat is healthy and good for them, loving people by spending time and calling them. Yes, Yes, Yes. That's who I want to be. But, I still read the list and place importance on the job-like thing. Oh I have a lot of growing to do because I don't write most of these things down on my to-do lists. So at the end of the day if the list has just three "jobs" accomplished. I feel like I didn't do much.

So that's the mental jump I need to make. (For the record, this is a post about what I am learning, not a post about why women should or should not stay home) Still, you wonder, what is Laura going to do? I assure you there is plenty. For one, exercise. I've never climbed this mountain in my life. I've started the ascent but never gone far enough to see the view at the top.  I am slowly setting up exercise partners and placing a priority on this task. Two--write. In my dreams, I would make enough money freelance writing to not need another job. Never mind that with all the newspapers going out of business that the freelance market is saturated with better trained, more experienced writers.  I still want to try. And after seven years of 24/7 mom duty, I am giving myself the gift of trying for at least this school year. What else? I will be in the girls' school doing picture parent lessons(art history lessons) and helping in other ways. I have a Bible study I love and some mom friends to hang out with and do the book club thing. And then there is the long list of household projects that I never get to. Maybe now?

But dang it, I am doing it now-- telling you my plans and hoping you won't think me lame or lazy because my goals aren't more concrete, my time isn't more filled. But that's the gift of this season for me, unfilled time. I 've been guarding it, trying not to volunteer for every need that presents itself. Soaking up time with the Lord more. Waiting to see, what does He have for me now? I could fill my time, find a job. But I might miss His direction. Wait, Laura, wait. Be still and know that I am God. I wonder when my philosophies will match my reality?

Oh and Kassy? She liked Kindergarten. She is treading cautiously. Watching others, staring with those big brown eyes and waiting. Waiting to see if this classroom will be a safe place to show others who she is, hoping no one will bother her for having "special" snacks, looking for a distressed little girl who is shy too that she can befriend. Oh she is precious and I might cry if I keep writing about her. Sometime I will post about how we manage food issues in Kindergarten.
For now, it's 2 pm, time to start dinner prep!

Tidbits

I've gotten behind. Here's a few snapshots of what's been going on. I'm always amazed at what pictures I forget to take.

Let's see. We had our annual bike parade and neighborhood picnic. Hadley won the bike decorating contest again. Great, except her bike doesn't look much different from Kassy's and and last year Hadley took second and no prize for Kass then either. Next time I'll be tempted to tell the judges not to pick Hads.

We took a long weekend to visit Illinois. We stopped first at my parents in Rockford and were able to see my grandma. It was a nice visit and I know we took pictures but they must all be on my mom's camera?

Then we went to Chicago to stay at Tom's Grandma's. Aunt Becky lives with grandma and Grandma and Grandpa Wells came, along with Aunt Tricia, Cousin Eva, and the newest addition--Cousin Eva. Remember this post, about my sister-in-law and how she and her husband were trying to adopt? Their wish came true in June thanks to prayer and a French exchange student, they now have two daughters. Here's baby Ingrid. Not the best pictures, but she is beautiful, healthy, and happy. It was so exciting to meet her.

While in Chicago we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I swear that must be the zoo that every movie uses if they need a zoo. It was gorgeous, the animals were awake and not sleeping, and it's free (if you don't count the $18 parking fee...but still you COULD walk right in).

 

Can you see the tiger back there? Aren't the cousins cute? They love being together.

One of my favorite shots. 

I felt so bad that I didn't get any pictures of Grandpa Chris while we were in Honduras, I tried to make up for it here. Cute, huh? For those who wonder, Grandpa is the source of the red hair gene.

Here are the girls with Tom's younger sister (Aunt Becky)...I think she was looking at Tricia's camera, while the girls were looking at mine.

The weekend after our Chicago trip, before Tom dove head first into school, he agreed to pick blueberries with us(but not to get his picture taken). We brought most of our Bible Study with us. It was a bit chilly but we were zealous pickers. The nine of us picked close to 60 pounds of berries! Personally we brought home 22 pounds. We are stocked for the year and our oatmeal is very happy. 

The first day of second grade--complete with backpack stuffed to the max with supplies(it's the tissues and clorox wipes and paper towels that make it look so big!). She was so excited though you can't tell in this picture (camera was on the wrong setting and I couldn't tell in the view finder). Hadley loves second grade and has come home singing it's praises for the last two days---even though she had 40 minutes of homework tonight (some of that was her own distractability). Kassy starts Kindergarten next week. I don't know why. It would have been exciting to send them off together...but look for more next week as the emotions will be running strong and I'll need some blog therapy.