Lake Erie Beach

I took the children to my parent's house last weekend. I wanted to make up for missing mom's birthday. We had also been looking for an opportunity to take Paul and Julia to the beach. My mom and dad offered to take us over to one of the islands.


We took the ferry to Put-in-Bay. Mom and I took turns with the children in the water. At the beach, Paul quickly befriended a woman who was tossing a stick in the water for her dog. She turned out to be an island native and former 1st grade teacher. She gave Paul pointers on how to jump into the waves, and he had fun running around with the dog. All this from the boy who didn't like to have water in his face at the beginning of the summer! Swimming lessons have brought him a long way.

The waves and the stony beach were a little bit too much for Julia, but she still got in the water a little bit and had fun.


After a picnic, Paul, Julia and I went back in the water. Grandma and grandpa helped Petra take a nap. Grandma pushed her around the parking lot a few times in the stroller. Petra stayed awake. Then grandpa put her on his chest and lay down in the grass. Petra fell asleep. What is it about Grandpas that makes babies sleep? The wind had picked up and some of the bigger waves on the lake were 3 feet tall. We played at jumping on them like ocean waves. You can see that I was holding Julia for it. I would warn them when a bigger swell was coming. They would shriek in mock fear and cling on to me. Being buffeted around made me laugh out loud.


Paul did really great, but the swim ended on a bit of a sour note. As he was coming in, a big swell came up behind him, and he took on some water. He needed help getting out of the water so that he could sputter and breath.


You can see from our hair that the wind was really whipping on the ferry ride back. We hurried home to ensure we didn't caught get caught in a storm.

It made for a good little adventure.

life insurance

I'm having one of those days where I feel like I can't stay ahead of my kids. They seem to make new messes even as I'm requesting them to clean up old messes. So it helps me to refrain from losing it when they come up with gems like these.

Julia: Mommy, why do moons sit in their orbits?
Me: I don't know Julia. Why do moons sit in their orbits?
Julia: Because they don't have chairs.

and

Paul: Mommy I gave Julia my bakugon [a prized possession] forever. She can just keep it as a souvenir to remind her of me when I marry someone else.

Petra just charms me by reaching into the laundry basket, selecting underwear and waving it around grinning as if she just discovered a rare blue carbuncle.

Water Heater Pics

Here's a few pics of the old water heater...(Notice the 0386 leading the SN. That's for 03/86, or March 1986. On a related note, you can see a lot of rust damage on the bottom in the 1st pic.):





And new water heater:

Water heater in an old farm house

I took the kids to my parents' house this weekend. We had fun.

Steve decided that our absence provided a good opportunity for him to replace the water heater. I was reluctant to replace the water heater yet, because the old one was still working. He wanted to replace it because
A) it was old
B) he was persuaded it was the culprit for the rust that has been staining our laundry
C) the timing suited him

He and his dad started the job around noon on Saturday. The job included
A) 4 trips to the hardware store
B) ~20 man hours of labor
C) replacing the wiring so that the new water heater would be grounded
D) a side job of fixing the chlorinator pump
E) a quick search on the internet out of curiosity to find out the age of the old water heater. The serial number on it dated it to March, 1986. For real.

I am delighted that
A) Steve and his dad are handy.
B) He decided to replace the 24 year old water heater on his own timing terms rather than waiting for it to break down or start leaking in the middle of the week in the middle of winter,
C) I had the kids out of the house for all that ordeal,
D) He hasn't told me, "I told you so."
E) He wiped up the dirt they tracked on the kitchen floor.

With any luck
A) our whites will be whiter
B) we'll save a little with a more energy efficient heater
C) we'll get the old water heater out of our yard soon!

yum

Juicy



Dark



Cherries.



Excuse me for being sparse with words.
My mouth has just gone on vacation.

forecasting

Julia has told us that she wants to be a prima ballerina when she grows up and that she will have four bunk beds for her eight ballerina babies.

Paul has claimed that he wants to be a frogientologist.

I think our little explorer, Petra, is showing promise toward becoming a parks ranger like her cousin, Liz. She will moonlight as a drummer in a classic rock band.

Setting Goals

Around New Year's I was wishing for some grandiose goals to drive toward. Some big, challenging, glorious target at which to take aim. A race to run hard.

I came up with a couple of ideas that stirred my heart. One is to hike to the summit of a 14,000 foot mountain, like Long's Peak.

I think about that goal. It is doable. Part of me wants to dive right in to it. Another part of me pulls back. Not out of fear, but out of uncertainty about the appropriateness of the goal.

There are time investments with these dreams. And if I say yes to the dream, I must say no to something else, like time with my children.

And God doesn't give to all of us that we should accomplish the grandiose. Sometimes he says that the glory of our work will be revealed in the next life, not this one.

I know that helping my children see Him more clearly is work for the Kingdom, and it is building God-like-ness, which is the most wonderful thing of all. Maybe the work He has set before me has more to do with washing dishes like Brother Lawrence than conquering mountains.

At the same time, God does give some of us a hunger for adventure. And I'm not sure how to tell if my dreams are God given, or a way of seeking my own glory.

Any thoughts?

And while I'd like to climb mountains, I might just settle for the time being with keeping the kitchen floor clean enough to keep the baby safe.

The rug picked the wrong day to mess with me.

I came home from work Monday evening to discover that Paul had conquered our tree house. Yay! He was scared by the height when he was smaller and that fear has blocked him even though he has mastered several other taller climbing sets. Grandma had been watching the children and coaxed him up the ladder to the tree house. Once he realized it was not so bad, he climbed up and down the ladder a dozen times or so before I got home.

Julia, who has been in mastery of the tree house for a while now, was playing some and resting on a blanket spread in the shade. Grandma commented that she had been resting a lot.

Petra was enjoying her time in the dolphin swing, which grandpa had attached to the swing set.

That evening Julia had an excessive crying fit over something Paul did to her, and fell asleep on the couch rather than forgiving him and joining us for supper. That's out of character for her. She was feverish. Nuts.

Her fever lasted about 24 hours, and then she was back to her old self.

----------------------------------------------------------
On Thursday, Steve took some time off of work and shuttled the American teachers for the English Camp in the Czech Republic to the airport.

On Thursday, I was supposed to take the children grocery shopping with me.

On Friday, I was supposed to go to play group at the Arboretum.

On Saturday I was supposed to celebrate my Mom's birthday with her and take the kids to the beach.

Instead Paul and Petra came down with fevers on Thursday. It seems like Julia had her fever from some sort of 24 hour virus. But Paul had his fever for 3 days, threw up once, and appeared to have an infection in his throat. And it looks like Petra's fever has been due to teething. She has three teeth coming in at once. For real? 3 children, 3 fevers, 3 different reasons?

So Friday night, Steve and I were feeling rather sorry for ourselves. Paul and Petra were still running fevers. Petra was refusing to eat. The heat and humidity were stupidly high. We weren't where we wanted to be (Czech Republic or at Grandma's for her birthday.) And we were WORN OUT.

On Saturday, Paul and Petra were starting to feel better. And the humidity was coming down. Blessed relief! While Petra took a morning nap, Paul and Julia helped me to empty the dishwasher. I took the opportunity to rearrange the medicine cabinet so that Paul could reach his own toothbrush and toothpaste. That lead to cleaning the sink, which lead to cleaning the toilet, which lead to cleaning the floor. As I picked up the little rugs from the bathroom floor, large swaths of the rubber bottoms pulled off the rugs and adhered to the floor. AAaaaaaaaaack!


They picked the wrong day to mess with me. The rugs are in the trash. And I'm feeling better now.

Staying Indoors

Dear Steve,

I know you need to get some extra time in at work today. And that you need to go to the church meeting this evening.

You know that Julia is feeling a little under the weather and the weather is rainy. With scattered thunder rumbles. So the children and I are mostly staying indoors.

And I know that sorting things and creating order is soothing to my spirit.

So I will not be held responsible for the compulsion that has lead me to reorganize half of the cupboards in the kitchen, such that you will never ever be able to find the nut crackers, cheese grater, mixing bowls, measuring cups, or children's plates ever ever again.

You can blame it on the rain...

Produce

Lifting my sleeping baby from her car seat,
Carrying her up to the house,
A little pumpkin in my arms,
Pale as a cabbage.
It should not be such an insignificant thing
To heft a human being,
A whole life and world of possibilities,
As easily as a cantaloupe.
She lies peaceful on my shoulder
In the summer breeze
Between shade and sunshine
Unknowing, relaxed, trusting.
An immortal soul,
More amazing than a cauliflower,
Belonging to God,
Resting on my arm.

4th of July

Steve and I tried to use the 4th of July Parade as an opportunity to teach Paul and Julia about treating the flag and the national anthem with respect. To teach them to honor those who put themselves in harm's way to serve us.



I didn't know him, but he was one of ours. Let's not forget them.

Remembering our troops.

Spring Mission: R&V Wedding 1

For our first full day in the Czech Republic we went to Radka and Vojta's wedding. We had spent the night in Vojta's home. Shortly after breakfast friends and family started arriving at the home. His family had prepared sausages (breakfast hotdogs) and bread for people to eat because the reception would not be until 15:00. The party had started!

In the U.S. we say it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding ceremony. In the C.R. it is almost the opposite. The bride has someone help her get dressed, but otherwise, she stays hidden in the room at home.



Then a big parade of people come from the groom's home. The groom goes to find her in her home so that he is the first person to see her in her wedding dress.



She then goes to the wedding ceremony with him.

My Big Question 7/5/10

Babies of the world,
so relaxed,
with your little fingers curled,
and your knees tucked under,
and your little fannies sticking up in the air,
how do you sleep like that?

Spring Mission - Flights

I'm afraid the only way I am going to get remembrances of our trip last May down, is to select pictures as they move me and write about them. It's going to be disjointed. But I figure I can re-organize them later. So here's my first wack at it.

Our flights to and from Frankfort airport went really well. I had been concerned because
1. Petra was teething
2. Eyjafjallajokull was erupting in Iceland and disrupting air traffic.

On the way there, Petra was acting like her mouth was really bothering her. We gave her some pain killer on the plane, which also helped her to sleep for the whole transatlantic flight. Sleeping on the flight helped her adjust to the time zone change, which was a huge blessing.

All of our luggage made it with us. And back.
On the way home, the transatlantic flight took one hour longer than originally planned so that we could route north around the volcano. We took this picture from the window of the plane. Our neighbors in the center aisle asked us to take a picture for them too.



As we stumbled through customs back on the U.S. side, Petra hung out in the backpack and flirted with the other people in line. We were near the back of the line for our plane, so some of the people behind us were coming out of the first class seating from the next plane. Steve and I think she may have been waving back and forth with Andie McDowel.

We made all our connections and I'm delighted to report that we spent as little time in airports as possible.

Fun at the museum

We had some fun running around the children's museum. Petra allowed herself to be hauled around peacefully in the backpack.


Paul and Julia's attention spans are still pretty microscopic. "Look Paul and Julia, it's an exhibit on deserts of the American Southwes... twhere'd you go?"



We ran through the display on planets, and glanced briefly at the hall of exhibits on trees and tree products. We lingered a little longer for the mini-zoo of animals. We were impressed by the giant gerbil wheel made for an oppossum named Murphy.

Grandpa K's birthday

We celebrated Grandpa Kuhlman's birthday last month.



Aunt MaryJo, Aunt BettyLou, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Larry made it out for his birthday dinner. Grandpa got his favorite dessert - pineapple upside down cake. Paul was completely taken in with the one relighting candle on the cake.
"It's going to light again! WATCH! It's going to light AGAIN! SEE!?!"



Before coming to the party, Aunt MaryJo taught Uncle Larry how to make the Kuhlman Family Coffee Cake. This is a big deal in the Kuhlman house. Uncle Larry is lucky. When Uncle Paul learned how to make the coffee cake, he had MaryJo AND Lou tutoring him. (They, perhaps, didn't always agree on some of the baking details. "Mom never cooked it like that!
Yes she did. All the time!
No! When?)


In any case, Grandpa approved of Uncle Larry's finished product.

Their mom, whose maiden name was Mina Schaefer, was there in spirit I think. The brothers and sisters had a lot of fun joking with each other and the recipes for the cake and coffee cake were from her. The kids and I never got to meet Great Grandma Mina, but Julia shares her birthday.

Dressed in Sunday Best

My big boys.



Taste and see that the Lord is good.



Love these.