Radio Silence Terminated: Quick Takes

Well hey there, blog reader friends... if any of you still exist.

I've been pondering for a while how best to post after such a long absence, and while originally I thought it best to fill you all in on the many changes that have happened for the Sugar and Spice Family in the last six months or so, I'm guessing that most of you who check in here at all probably already know that stuff.

So, since it's Friday, and blogging on a Friday just has to be some lighthearted quick takes... let's do this.

--1--

I do hope to write about the aforementioned changes for our family, because I think it would be good to maintain the collective memory on all of those subjects for sure.  However, I don't have a lot of confidence that I'll be able to find a slot in my day for regular blogging anymore (unless I make a habit of waking up at 4:30... which believe it or not, I have considered!  I miss blogging that much!).  In the next few months I hope to devote most of my free time to getting our house ready to sell if we should decide to do that (long story there-- basically, the girls are now in school where M works, nearly an hour's drive from here, so the goal is to get closer), and so I'm sure I would feel a lot of guilt if I did much blogging any time soon.

In fact, the few months since school started have been an exercise in being mostly frustrated with myself and wondering why I'm not able to get more accomplished.  Here I am, three less children at home, and without having to do any homeschool planning or execution, and it seems the house isn't really any cleaner than it was, and various home improvement projects still remain undone.

Granted, we have had a string of expected and unexpected events happen since September... I traveled to Colombia to attend my brother's wedding (wonderful).  The new Acura that M bought this summer decided not to start repeatedly, we replaced the battery on it, it still wouldn't start, so I took it to another shop and they replaced the starter on it, it still wouldn't start, then I took it to another shop where they finally discovered that the Bluetooth system was drawing power from the battery and disconnected it, and finally, the vehicle will start reliably.  Then that same vehicle sprung a leak somewhere-- every time it rained M would open the driver's side door to find the carpet and front seat wet, so we thought it was the windshield and I had an insurance inspection done to cover the damage, then I took it to a body shop and discovered it wasn't the windshield, it was the sun roof, so I had to take it to a sun roof specialty shop and have the sun roof fixed, all while juggling the obtaining and returning a rental car over the course of the four weeks this took to figure out, with a three-year-old in tow and limited options for transportation to and from said rental car locations and fix-it shops.  I dropped my iPhone and spent about two weeks trying to obtain parts to fix the touch screen that stopped responding, only to give up and trash the old phone and buy a refurbished one on Amazon.  Our oil tank started leaking in our basement, and given these things cost in the neighborhood of $2000 to replace, I had to do research and call several different oil companies for estimates, then finally choose a company with M's help and schedule the replacement.  We had a trip to the ER after C had an anaphylactic reaction to pine nuts (not a known allergy), followed up with a few appointments to see her allergist and have further testing, and then had to completely overhaul the groceries we buy and the meals we prepare due to discovering that she's also allergic to dairy (which we knew), wheat, fish, shellfish, most tree nuts and peanuts, and sesame.  Then, wouldn't you know, something went wrong in the TPMS system on our other car, plus we drove over a couple nails, so the tires were leaking slowly and needing to be filled every few days (of course this happened while the first car was in the shop having the starter replaced).  M finally was able stop by the dealership and have them fix that problem on the way home from school one day (thankfully, it only took a few hours).

So yes, I do have less to do in the homeschooling department, but I have been a little busy I guess, with everything mentioned in the previous paragraph, plus the normal everyday dishes, laundry, food preparation, lunch packing, taxi driving to activities, a minimal (let's say very minimal) amount of housecleaning, and everything else it takes to run a six-person family.  (And I do write one heck of a run-on sentence to boot!)

And right.  I also teach violin about 10 hours per week, and have 2-3 rehearsals per week for professional singing groups.

Funny how I can still beat myself up about my house not being perfect?  That's one thing that I can say, I'm very skilled in the self-flagellation department.  Bonus points there.

Well, that take was neither lighthearted nor quick.  Let's see if I can do any better.

--2--

Can we go back to Colombia for a wee minute???

Ahhh.  There.  I'm feeling less stressed already.

San Andres, I hope I can visit you again soon!  What a joy it was to celebrate these amazing people that I love so dearly in such a beautiful place.

--3--

Both older girls played travel soccer this fall, and although it was insanely busy on top of everything else that happened in our family this fall (see quick take #1), it is always so much fun to watch them grow as soccer players and be a part of a team.

The younger ones patiently sat through lots of double-headers, and occasionally got some playground time too when there was a park nearby:

It was great to enjoy the last of the outdoors before winter set in.

--4--

Yes, that's right... winter.

We had our first snowfall the week BEFORE Thanksgiving-- and not just a dusting that melted the next day; it was an actual named winter storm and we got about 6-8 inches in these here parts.

The kids were ecstatic to get an early start on sledding.  M and I?  Not quite as ecstatic about the early start to shoveling.  Here's hoping Mother Nature got it out of her system and we'll have a calm rest of the winter.  Fingers crossed.  Not holding my breath.

But I mean really... how can you not share some of her joy?:

--5--

Halloween was also super fun!!

...and Thanksgiving!!

--6--

In order to combat the sadness of having to leave our family after the Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to get our very first real Christmas tree the next day.

The living room smells piney, the house looks festive, the kids are excited.  I think it's going to be a great holiday season.

--7--

If you have a child who is into sensory, tactile play, you may be feeling the "slime burn" as I have these past six months or so.

I have to admit I nearly cried when the slime still didn't come out of C's brand-new school dress, even after multiple washes, and multiple tries of fail-safe methods touted in YouTube videos that promised to remove the stuff from clothing.

Well, I have found the solution.  Oobleck.

Oh don't get me wrong-- it's still a huge mess.  But at least it very easily washes off hands and clothing.  And just two simple, inexpensive ingredients-- corn starch and water.  So if you have a room with a wood floor where you don't really care too terribly much about spills, this is the goo for you.  If there must be goo in your life.

Have I become "That" really old and burned out cynical Mom?  It seems maybe I have.

But to my credit, I did sit out on the porch for about 45 minutes with J today, playing Oobleck.  When you pick up the Oobleck you can sort of form it into a ball, but then when it encounters the warmth of your hand for more than a few seconds it starts to melt into glue-like strands.  So we would form balls and then when they started to melt I would say, "I'm meeellllting, oh what a world what a world!"  And J would chime in "what a man what a man what a man..."

Yes, that's right, she knows the Salt n Pepa song.  Learned it when one of the groups danced to it at C's dance recital last spring.  She doesn't know all of the words, thank goodness.  No shocking repetitions of that in church or anything.  Yet.  ;-}

Anyway, 45 mintues of Oobleck play surely means I'm not too far gone into Mom Cynicism, right?

It feels good to share with you, friends!  Hopefully I'll be back here again soon.  :)  Happy Weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain't the Lyceum!