Everyday stuff & nothing

So it's Thursday. At this point in the summer I only have one girlie in a summer program. After JuneBug got on her bus, I drove Husband to work with Ballerina and Songbird in tow. We then enjoyed the "pleasure" of almost TWO hours in Target gathering supplies for the next school year. In fairness, we had to run back & forth for bathroom breaks and browsing the toy aisle for clearance stuff....so it wasn't ALL supply related time. I'm really lucky they were patient & helpful with this shopping trip!

I was glad there was still a bunch of stuff still in stock - because I usually wait too long. When that happens the very specific "red, plastic pocket folder" is unlikely to be found. Many times I've ended up with something in the "wrong" color, or material. Ballerina was taking charge by price checking supplies for me. Songbird was chilling out in the cart....at 6, she can still fit, somewhat, in the seat in the way its intended. However she has her own way to do just about everything, and she was sitting "sidesaddle" with her legs dangling out. She was mostly bored throughout the process, but had to have her say when it came to inspecting backpack/lunchbox fashion. She instantly popped out of the cart to try on some gear. She strutted her stuff up and down the rows, trying "first grade" on for size. I found almost all the supplies on he list - I only had pencil issues (is it possible the third grade team wants 80-120 pencils per child?! When you ask for 10 PACKAGES of pencils, that leads me to believe the teachers feel that they need pencils in the thousands in their classroom.)

In between loading up the cart with all the neccesities, I found myself discussing generic vs brand name with Ballerina. She was pointing out the signs that said "sale", and we inspected the other brands to see if they were truly a good deal. She also pointed out the brands with box tops....she loves finding those for her school. It was a productive outing for money talk.

We returned home via the new bakery in town. Songbird is enamored with their cupcakes and Ballerina with their brownies. The rest of the day was filled with play, dress up, friendship bracelet making, naps, reading, watching Anne of Green Gables, playing some more and learning how to juggle. This is what made me laugh. Ballerina brings me a giant kid how-to fun book that used to be mine as a kid. In it were instructions on how to juggle. I told her I cannot juggle, but I would help her follow the directions. She ran out to find balls, yelling to Songbird "Mom's gonna teach me how to juggle!". Husband just looked at me...."I don't know how to juggle" I protested.....it didn't matter - I was GOING to teach her! In the end if you count a two ball juggle (all we had was a tennis ball and a koosh ball) as juggling, I CAN juggle....and now so can Ballerina. Don't anyone hand me three, for I would surely disappoint.

After dinner we feasted on our cupcakes and, excited about the upcoming Olympics, pulled out our DVD with the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Four years ago we'd just returned from Beijing with Songbird less than 3 months before the Olympics. The girls were fascinated with the ceremony and all the performers. Watching the news package that preceded the ceremony moved me to tears. There was a brief recap of the May 2008 earthquake and the aftermath. It occured to me that I never saw American coverage of this huge disaster. We were in China during that earthquake. I instantly felt what my family and friends must have felt when they heard the news, knowing we were in China, but not knowing how close we were to the epicenter. We were fortunate to have been very distant from the tragedy. Watching the ceremonies brought me back to those early days with Songbird. We were in China during Olympics fever, and then newly home with her as the Olympics unfolded. So much has changed in her life, and ours since then.

Is this a disjointed post? Yes, yes it is! I have my mind on a to-do list. I will be busy tomorrow taking books down, and pictures off walls in my kitchen....getting ready for Husband's big wall sanding project. I am taking my girls to Long Island on Saturday and he will be handyman without interference while we're gone.....should be fun!

Okay - enough of this nothing....good night!

Fruitless

What a day! We started off this morning with a plan: after mass we would pick up some lunch items and head out to pick some berries - blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and maybe some peaches.

At mass we ran into a friend who also has girlies from the other side of the world, and we invited her along. Flash forward to an hour later - we're all packed in our cars and stop for lunch provisions. After an unpleasant encounter with a woman who was upset by my need to use the microwave at Whole Foods.....the public microwave that is there for the customers....I can't even go into this unpleasantness as I will get rattled all over again.....we finally were on our way.

First I will tell you that our go-to farm is a place called Jones Family Farm. Its in Connecticut and we love it. We cut down our Christmas tree there most years, and they have a very organized berry picking procedure, complete with a "berry ferry" and assigned interns out in the fields directing you to fruit laden bushes of your own - PLUS they have water stations so you don't get dehydrated, due to your own forgetfulness. They have a daily recorded message on their phone line from "Farmer Jones" - he sounds like a folksy kind of a guy who is pleased as punch you're calling and wants to give you the highlights. It's corny, it's charming, and we love it.

Jones' was not open today.....bummer. Last night the Husband did the research and we narrowed down our choices between two other farms we'd patronized before for both berries and apples. Somehow the decision was made to go to Fishkill Farms in NY. We'd been there many years with friends on big apple picking trips. As we turned into the dusty driveway I glanced at the sign that listed Peaches and Nectarines....no berries of any kind....hmmm...

We unpacked our two cars and let out the "STARVING" girls who promised they wouldn't whine in the fields about being hungry if we ate lunch first. That was fine, we could easily accommodate that request and we settled down under a shady tree to eat. After cleaning up our meal, we got ourselves a map of the fields and grabbed some green cardboard pint containers and headed out. Dave snagged a person with a staff shirt who said - "no more blueberries". Apparently he was also pushing the nectarines - eh. Ok, we headed towards the marked raspberry & blackberry fields. As we tramped through a strawberry field that had a little bit of fruit, we had some wilting girls who lagged behind, and the moms walked slow with them. The energetic girls sprinted ahead, leaping over the rows to find bushes with fruit. Eventually the dads determined there was no berry we could pick. This was extremely frustrating.

So, we headed over to the peach trees. There was obviously no shortage here. The trees were heavy with the fruit. We bypassed the nectarines and the girls went to work on the peaches. We quickly realized the berry containers we had were not suitable for the large peaches. As the girls filled them up quickly, Husband ran up to the farm store to get bags. He came back and reported that the peaches were not "ripe" according to a grumpy lady up there, and we were to only pick nectarines - they were having a special on them. Not one of us was interested in nectarines. We just stopped picking peaches - though I looked at them and doubted they were NOT ripe. I wondered just how big these peaches were supposed to get if they weren't ripe yet. We adults stood there chatting and downing our water while our girls ran up and down the fields. A young staff person walked over and started talking about the peach trees. "We know, we're not supposed to pick them, we stopped" I told the young guy. He was good natured about it and said there was a peach fest next week and they were saving the peaches for that. Then he gave us the nectarine spiel. When Husband suggested they update their website to say ONLY nectarines, he was apologetic, but offered that the website is no good, and they only update their Facebook page regularly. As he ambled off, I realized that the peaches were NOT underripe, as reported, they just didn't want all the peaches scooped off the trees before the peach fest. It almost made me want to fill the bag up - why couldn't the grumpy lady just SAY that?! Also, their sign in the driveway listed peaches as a pickable fruit! Argh!!

Needless to say, we humbly returned to the store with our sad, half filled sacks of peaches wondering if we'd even be allowed to BUY them. Our cashiers were kind souls who didn't make a fuss, but I witnessed the grumpy lady in action. She asked for all potential picker's attention. She laid down the law on pickable fruit - as she eyed a family who had gathered peaches in their big floppy beach hats. I glided out of there quickly, in case they changed their mind about the "forbidden fruit" we'd already paid for. We returned to the car with girls who were happy enough, having had some outdoor running around, but adults who felt a little empty-handed.

I'm seriously wondering what to do with my peaches. My guy is not crazy about fruit baked in dessert, so peach pie is out. I don't think any of my girlies would eat peach jam....I think we'll just work on eating them fresh, and that will have to be THAT!

Our next fruit picking will most likely be Fall apples - we'll just have to see. I can tell you this, our farm choices have been made easier after today!

Long Time no Write!

Seriously.....it's been a long time since I blogged. It's been a while since I wrote in general. My "go-to" journaling was always a pen and paper journal brought out when I went on retreat, when significant events happened, or when I was traveling. I brought my journal to China the first time and kept a log of our daily happenings. That was also the first time I blogged about our trip. When we returned the next two times, I kept the travel blog a daily part of our trip....my journal not so much. I am glad I kept a daily accounting of the ups and downs of each day. It's been lovely to revisit those early days as our family grew.

It's been two years since I blogged - we were on a "every two years" adoption trip schedule. We have officially disrupted things, as we are not currently in the process of adopting. This is not to say we wouldn't want to adopt again, but our current small apartment would probably burst for sure if we added one more kiddo to the mix. Yes, I've crossed into another decade in age, but I will never rule out another treasure from God.....we'll see what the future brings :-).

But, I digress. I recently picked up my old pen and paper journal when we took our THREE girls on a camping vacation. Our other vacations were jam packed with lots of running around, and I never even packed my journal. This is not to say that we weren't planning an active camping trip, but there is something about camping that lends itself to journalling. At the end of each day, as the sun set, or after it already set, I would sit in a camp chair near the fire.

Around me were girlies roasting marshmallows, my husband keeping the fire going, and my sweet Ballerina mirroring my posture with her own journal and pen. That was a wonder to me. Sometimes over dinner I would read the girls bits from my journal. They reveled in hearing of their own antics and silly words that I documented, and even asked me to include certain things they were sure I'd missed. Ballerina once commented that I took longer to write than she did, and she wrote different things. I didn't pry, but one day she offered to read me some of her own observations. Instead of a short list of what we did that day, she wrote beautifully about the parts of the day which made impressions on her mind, that truly I didn't dwell on. She included in her description of our campsite (um....cabin...not quite tent ready!), a note about the lone daisy that grew under the steps of the porch and poked its sunny head out to the side to soak up the sun. She talked about the various treasures she admired in the antique store. I tell you the girl has a poet's eyes for sure!

All this to say, it's been a long time away!

I tentatively dip my toe back into the blogosphere. I intend to keep this up better than I have! Where have I been spending my online time in the previous two years? - Facebook and Pinterest. I have been using Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/heatherkcs/) lot lately to create new recipes and source new decorating ideas, not to mention a bunch of craft and gift ideas. I have half a thought to write about some of my forays in to Pinterest-world projects. We'll see. I have brief infatuations with finding the perfect recipe for a particular jam, or maybe a great dessert that includes nutella. When that happens I tend to talk about it, to the grown-ups in my world, way too much. I'm sure that blogging it (again, to an audience of Dave alone, I think) should save them my incessant gushing on the topic!

So enough about that. To borrow a line from The Princess Bride "Let me explain - no too much - let me sum up" the last two years.

I am now Mama to a 14 year old - JuneBug. Home from China two years. She is sweet, quiet, shy, jokey, smiley, and attached to me with a fierceness I could never have imagined. She struggles to understand our words some days, and others anticipates our unspoken question. She is not a "typical" teen on most days, and on others shows me that I assume too much, and she can be a emotional teen that has a stubborn streak. She has many services at school - though I'm gearing up to fight for more. She is slowly learning better communication, and after many long frustrating interactions with our newest girlie - we are committed to learning better to communicate better too! There is still a swirl of mystery around JuneBug - medically, historically, emotionally. We find there are some times that we peel away part of that mystery, but some we know will always remain. As Dave says about her in general - JuneBug "is happy to be here!". Every little new step for JuneBug is a major event around here. Her milestones, and breakthroughs are slow in coming and we treasure them. A dialogue with JuneBug is usually brief and she relays on gestures a lot, but she is speaking more and for a girlie who has a lot stacked against her, that she is making strides and understanding a lot of what I say to her - in ENGLISH- she is cheerful and happy to be a part of a family....our family, with meimeis (little sisters) to boot!

I have a new "middle child" girlie that I still have trouble identifying that way. Ballerina is home 6.5 years. She is 7 ("and three quarters") and I usually refer to her as my "first daughter". It is a more accurate description of my girlie who still assumes most of the big sister role among her sisters. Ballerina is smart, curious, a rules girl who loves school, loves to read, and thrives on a busy schedule....though at the same time is sensitive to disappointment....of her own making! With her perfectionist tendencies, if she doesn't achieve the high standard she holds herself to, she can crumble. My Mama job with this girlie has grown to include guiding her to set some smaller goals before getting to the bigger goals - she would rather skip right to the end result. She is learning this, she is able to reflect on achievements she has made and the work she had to put in to get there. Of course she wants to set lots more goals- she dreams big. My girl who is so patient with teaching her sister a new word, or dance move wants to be a teacher ("at 16, like Anne Shirley") a doctor ("who doesn't just sit in an office looking at reports, but helping people") an astronaut, even though "Jack says nobody goes into space anymore", a Mom, a horse-owner (who plans to ride her horse, and bicycle everywhere - she will "not own a car" but will be an excellent driver since she is "practicing now"), she will live in a solar paneled, energy efficient house, and when she takes vacation some summer, she plans to walk the Appalachian Trail. Our Ballerina is a graceful dancer who recently attended a camp where she participated in acting exercises, and learned some Broadway Show tunes - she loved it, and I can see more in her coming years!

Songbird is my baby, at 6 years old, has been home 4 years. She recently had a birthday and I felt that her babyhood was left behind when she crossed from five to six. She is vibrant, expressive, dramatic, FUNNY, loving, affectionate, musical, sympathetic, sweet, clever, princess loving, an expert at pretend play......and stubborn, and prone to messy! This little girlie is a joy and a challenge. She has a big personality and makes her presence know when she enters a room - she makes grand entrances often! She is super confident and eager to show her affection for someone she knows. She will also offer spontaneous compliments that show that she is attuned to her internal fashion sense. With albinism, our Songbird has a visual impairment. You wouldn't know it by her interest in clothing and eye for fabric. Many a fluffy princess dress, dance costume, wedding attire will gain exclamations and approval from Songbird, but she still has positive comments to spare about the long skirt another mom wears, or a pretty necklace on her teacher! If she gets her hands on a microphone she will use it to sing or monologue. She gives us endless hours of laughter at her performance antics....which we sometimes have to suppress when she is displaying naughty behavior in a particularly funny way. She has proven that her visual challenges will not define her. Though she may need services to help her in school, she is meeting every challenge that comes her way - she learned the basics of reading faster than I expected, and I delight in hearing her read a story out loud. She dances, she sings, she creates stories that she acts in and directs (I cannot come up with my own script when playing pretend.....she has it all mapped out!). A diplomat, actress, singer, dancer, counselor, fashion designer- we can see it all in her...and she would add dentist to the list - but that baffles me. I think she really likes her dentist! Songbird is the last one asleep and the first one awake - I want to figure out her secret, as this is NOT me!

Those are my girls. I am still home with them, and active in their school, PTA and with scouts. I am the driver for all after school Dance classes, Chinese lessons, Speech therapy, and scout meetings. I like those days when there is NO schedule that requires us to pile into the car and travel to another town for something extracurricular. On those days we can head to the library, or create a craft, or eat a meal that we were home to prepare at a slower pace, instead of rushing to fit it in after activity & homework & before bedtime.

I have been trying some new recipes which has been extremely satisfying as they are more old fashioned, not quick shortcut type recipes. Canning jam last year for the first time, I had new offerings for teacher gifts. I'm not using those "emergency" cake mixes as much, and I've found that cooking at our campsite, was really fun. Baking cornbread in a Dutch oven over/under coals was in itself a new adventure. I have some eager helpers in the kitchen lately. JuneBug is a good chopper, Ballerina has been choosing and executing new recipes (and WANTS to wash dishes every night!) and Songbird delights in the "chef attire" and wants to wear a matching apron and stir whatever ingredients I'm using.

Dave and I have both crossed into our fourth decades since I last wrote on this blog. He has finally finished that Masters and is working back at a company he always liked, and is happily teaching and expanding his experience through new opportunities. We've been blessed with 16 1/2 years of marriage, and definitely feel, abundantly blessed, with our three sweet girlies. They are gifts, jewels God entrusted to us, and we are grateful for the priveledge!

We have had some tough times adjusting to the new normal with our JuneBug, and have faced the death of Dave's mom just two months ago. The past two years have not always been sunny, but we have learned a lot about ourselves, each other, and what it takes to tackle the challenges of parenting. We, I think, are thriving on those challenges!

Is that enough of a sum-up?.....Dave?.....I know you are the only one reading this!