Claire's 10 year old trip with Aunt Kat- Boston, MA

Guessing time is over! We just got back yesterday afternoon from BOSTON! Remember Elaina's trip last year? Well, it was time for Claire to take her trip. I came across some ridiculously cheap flight tickets from Nashville to Boston ($68 round-trip!), compared calendar dates with Kathryn, and started planning. Contour airlines in Tupelo has a thing going on where they do several flights a day between Tupelo and Nashville for about $30. Jason's parents, aka my babysitters for this trip, live near Tupelo (as does Kathryn) so it was a perfect set up for all the traveling details.

We drove to Tupelo on Friday and got there about four in the afternoon. We dropped off the girls and then headed to get Kathryn. We had plans to get our nails painted (you know, since we did that on Elaina's trip and it must be the same, lol) but the one and only place in Ripley was busy and we wouldn't be able to get finished in time to go watch my cousin's basketball game. (Kathryn's youngest brother, Shafer, was the ballplayer.)

SATURDAY

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and Shafer was a sweetheart and drove us to the airport. This was the MOST FUN FLIGHT EVER! It was a really small propeller plane that only had nine seats. We got to walk out on the runway and actually go up the stairs into the plane.

The plane was super loud, though, so Claire used her headphones as earplugs.  

We landed in Boston at 1:30 their time and immediately searched out a nail place near our "house" so that we could cross that item off our check list. We only did our fingernail since we still had all our luggage and were wearing our winter boots. We had rented an airbnb apartment in the Beacon Hill area which ended up being the perfect location for walking to the main attractions. Our address was 103 Myrtle Street and we would always laugh at this door as we were walking home. You don't often see ninety-nine and a half as an address. 

There was a lot of this streaky green on buildings around the city and we are guessing it was some kind of metal that had turned. Anyone know?

That first day we went to Boston Commons park and saw a "Bert-from-the-70's" in modern day time. 

We also saw the duck statues from Make Way for Ducklings. Claire and Kathryn each own Polaroid cameras, Kat's is standard size and Claire's is a mini sized camera, so I didn't take pictures with my phone that often. 

After walking around a bit, it was time to go back to the apartment and get ready for dinner. This was our only "nice" dinner and according to The Internets, it was a "hidden gem" and not to be missed. We had Uber take us over to the Italian district of the city and made our reservation. Then we walked up and down the street, going in to various pastry and meat stores. We bought a couple of pastries at the coolest Italian shop from an Italian/Northern lady with the best accent. 

There were a lot of meat shops on this street and there several things like this on the sidewalk. 

We ate at Euno's Restaurant and had the most snooty and snobbish waiter. But despite that, we gobbled our food. It was delicious!

Creme Brûlée. Always get the Creme Brûlée.

On our walk to meet the Uber to get home, we passed a tattoo place that was raising money for Lyme's awareness. So random and funny.

SUNDAY

The next morning the weather was gorgeous and after a delicious breakfast/lunch at Tatte Bakery (best food EVER!) we got to the start of The Freedom Trail and then stared walking and walking and walking. The entire trail is 2.5 miles and we walked the whole thing and then back home again. 

So the Freedom Trail is basically a brick path that takes you past the historical places in Boston that played a roll in America's freedom.  I actually think it's a brilliant idea because it allows tourists to easily find all the places without using GPS or a tour guide. 

Sadness. Paul Revere died.

There was a spot to stand if you were a republican that was opposite of the donkey so that you could resist the democrats. 

Fun info on the walls of the Faneuil Hall bathroom. 

Paul Revere's house was a fun stop along the Freedom Trail. They let you walk through some of the rooms and walk around outside in his courtyard area.  We found out later that we could have gone to services at the Old North Church where the lanterns were hung to alert Paul Revere. That would have been a very neat experience and we were bummed that we missed it. We did get to go inside the church and take pictures in the spot where Teddy Roosevelt sat. 

That night we went to see Disney on Ice- Follow your Heart. Claire seemed to really enjoy it and got a plastic sword as a souvenir. That ended up being a blast to carry through the airport. NOT. And then it was left on the last plane and I had to go all the way back to the airport the next day to get it. It has proven to be a popular toy, much more than I thought it would, and I have to say it was worth the drive to retrieve it. The Nemo hat mysteriously disappeared before we left Boston.

MONDAY

Monday we took the Metro to Cambridge to visit Harvard University. It was really cold that day so we were a little hesitant to just walk around outside. Three students came up to us and asked if they could interview us for a class project. One of the students had been a tour guide the previous school year so he kindly offered to take us in the library and show us something cool. Fun fact: You can't go into the Harvard library unless you are with a student. 

There was a family, a billionaire family, who had a son named...something. And this son liked to search for valuable books when he was traveling. One day, in some country (Don't you like how I pay close attention to details?), he stumbled upon a Gutenberg bible. Quite a find, don't you think? Then, he and his parents were on the Titanic and even though they all had seats on a boat as first-class passengers, the father and the son gave up their spots for other women and children. The mother made sure take the Bible with her so it didn't perish on the boat. Eventually, the son's library and the Bible were loaned to the Harvard library. The only stipulation is that NO ONE is allowed past the ropes and into the room except the head librarian. She is to keep the room dusted and every morning must place a vase of fresh flowers on the desk. If this rule is not followed, they can lose the book collection and the library. 

 After visiting the library and saying goodbye to our new Harvard friend, we sat on some steps to some amazing-looking building and tried to warm up in the sunshine. We weren't sure what to do next and finally decided that even though it was freezing, we had to eat some of Toscanili's Ice Cream- the best in Boston! OK, well, I don't know if that was true but they did have some crazy delicious flavors. I had the mint and 3B. 3B was just so good I can't really describe it. It was brownie, browned butter, and brown sugar. YUUUMMMMMM!

After that, we sat and tried to decide what to do next. After a bit of web surfing, we discovered that Boston had a children's museum and right next to it was the Boston Tea Party museum.  We Uber-ed our way over to that part of the city and originally thought we would just glance at the Tea Party place and spend the rest of our time at the children's museum, but after giving it a second glance, we decided to forget that plan and just spend all our time with the BTP people.  That was the most unexpected fun part of the trip. The have a fantastic hour-long tour that is worth the price of the ticket. We had such a great time learning how to say Huzzah!, hiss and boo our objections, and how to pound the bench with great enthusiasm. Then we went onto a replica of The Eleanor and tossed "tea crates" overboard. Then we went below deck and learned some more interesting facts about that night. Afterward, we went to a tea room where you could taste all the flavors of the tea that were on board that night.

At some point (I'm past being able to remember everything) we went to the USS Constitution museum. They had a lot of fun little activities that let you experience life on the boat. 

Scrubbing the deck

Attempting to stand on a rope while tying up the sails. This was risky when you were high up in the air!

Their hammock beds were actually really comfortable.

 TUESDAY

Tuesday was our last day in Boston and we only had a few hours before we had to head to the airport.  We had two things on our agenda:

1) Eat at Tatte one last time and I was determine to get there before they ran out of their avocado tartine. It proved to be as delicious as it sounded. 

pastries done right

My Beloved Tartine

Every day Claire had been asking to ice skate on Frog Pond and every day we kept postponing it. I PROMISED that we would make it happen before left, so immediately headed there after eating. I think for her it was the best possible ending to our trip. By the time we left, she had gotten pretty comfortable and confident on the ice. The weather was perfect and we left Boston smiling. 

February 15th

Did you do anything Valentine-y yesterday? We went to CC and the kids exchanged valentines with their classmates. I gave my tutors some delicious chocolate covered strawberries and I think only two of them were eaten. That was a nice waste of money.

It rained the entire day. I was planning on wearing a cute red and white shirt with some nice jeans, but once I saw the rain, I opted for jogging pants and a t-shirt. It was a good thing, too, because the lid to my coffee wasn't all the way on and when I took a drink, it poured all over me. I mean, I was soaked. So that was great fun.


The weather is warm, then it's hot, then it's cold, then it's rainy, then it's cool, then it's windy and warm, etc.... You get the point. As a result, there is some major snotty noses over here. Well, it's mostly Nora but I've heard a few sniffles from a couple of the other girls.

Want some clues as to what the fun event is this weekend?
1- Mallards
2- History
3- Ice
4- Lanterns
5- Disney

That's all the help you're going to get. 

Mondays

Did you know that Mondays are my very favorite? Maybe it's because I was always in trouble and getting grounded, etc..., but I love the idea of a fresh start. Every Monday is a fresh new week, an unchecked, but ready to be checked, to-do list. I'm also in the process of slowing down our lives and every Monday, I look at our schedule and think, "At the end of this week, all these things will be finished and don't ever have to be repeated." And I like the way that feels. This week we will be finished with all the Valentine stuff (boxes, cards, food) that we needed for our CC group, Elaina will have a dentist appointment so we won't have to do that for another 6 weeks or so, I will direct my last tutor meeting (EVER), and at there's a fun event taking place at the end of our week but I'll wait until it's finished before I tell you about it. So there. That's why I love Mondays.

Also, I start to get caught up on laundry on Mondays so there's that, too.

Friday

Do you know what the word Flotsam means? I do. I mean, I only learned its meaning recently so I can't act too proud, but I do feel like I could take down a level or two on Trivia Crack with that knowledge. Unfortunately, Trivia Crack allllwwwaaayysss lands on the sports category so I look like a complete dunce to the person playing against me. But if it ever lands on geography (maybe?), I will rock that Flotsam question.

Our house is so dirty. There is thick dust everywhere. Feel free to come write, "I wuz here" on my dresser.

The girls have all been sick this week with a fever-cough-congestion-type sickness.  Somehow Jason and I have avoided getting sick but I don't feel convinced that we will continue to avoid it. It seems to last for about 2.5 days. I don't have that much time to be lazy and unproductive.

Nora has peed on every bed in the house except Eily's bed, but Eily's bed has broken-fever sweat all over it so guess what I am going to be doing all day. Please send powerful back pain medicine my way. I LOATHE changing bunk bed bedding. (Alliteration Alert!)

Wouldn't this post be more interesting if it was full of beautiful pictures?

You know what? I almost never have pictures of Elaina and I am taking less and less pictures of Claire. They are just busy, I guess. And they aren't cutie little babies so the natural instinct to "capture the moment" doesn't happen as often.

We are finally in our groove with school. I guess it's about time SINCE IT'S FEBRUARY. It looks like we will be doing school on and off all summer just to get caught up in math.

Jason and I have plans to go to Italy this summer. He's teaching a workshop and I'm eating a lot of pasta. I also plan on spending a good bit of time in Switzerland. It's an hour by train from where we are staying and it's been on my bucket list for a long time. Want to come with me? I need a travel buddy since Jason will be busy.  Rome is also an hour away so I will be taking the time to make all the Roman Holiday stops. Maybe I should get a pixie cut before I go.

Write, they say

"When are you going to post?"

"Why haven't you blogged in forever years?"

"Hey! Post something!"

These are the words I hear (or some form of them) all the time. And I'm pretty sure it's the same five people that say them to me, but those five people matter and so I will try to write more often. I actually do sit down to my computer and click on the NEW POST button, but then I just stare at the blinking cursor and nothing happens. And I decide that a blank post is very boring so I delete the draft and go eat some chocolate chips.

Speaking of fat...
I think my body is beginning to fail me. Or I'm lazy; that could be it, too. I am really packing it on the old waistline and it's not really coming off at all. I did stay very focused for two weeks. I tracked my food intake and exercised in some form every. single.day. No skips. No breaks. And while the scale went down a couple of pounds (see? that's not a very motivating number) the inches around my waist didn't change at all. So I did think, "Oh good. I'm making a difference somewhere on this old body.", but apparently I also thought, "Well, that's done. I can eat a lot of cheese now." Because that's what I've been doing and I have quickly reversed everything that I had accomplished. So I'm kind of back at it again today and I'm using this photo for inspiration. I know I look extra rough in this photo, but I get so much enjoyment from it. The best part about it is that I'm holding food. I mean, obviously I was starving myself. :)  I've logged my food into MyFitnessPal app all day, and I put on yoga pants with the hope that it will inspire me to jump up and down a few times. Actually, scratch that. Jumping and my bladder strength are not a good combo. 

My goal for this year is for most of our days to be spent at home. And we have actually had many weeks where we only left the house on Tuesday for CC and Sunday for church. So while I can say that most of our days have been spent here, we have also done a lot of things. It's kind of weird how that's working out that way. My cousin, Logan, married the beautiful Caroline in Waco, TX, at the end of last month. We went a day early so we could stay one night with my good friend, Laura, and do a little sightseeing at The Magnolia Market and Silos the morning before the rehearsal. 

I want this greenhouse/shed thingy

When I look at this I get all inspired to garden. Then I look at my actual garden and laugh. 

 After the rehearsal, we dove to Georgetown to stay with one of our most favorite families ever. Barbara is related to Logan on his mother's side of the family we were all on the same time schedule for the weekend.

Back row: Claire(10), Cord(11), Denman(8), Eily(8), Elaina(11)
Front Row: Teague(6), Lola Kathleen(4), Nora(5)

If these two ever marry, they will make the most firecracker of a couple there ever was. 

 After we come home from Texas, there was one snowy day. And that was our whole winter. And I'm ok with that.

Claire has no idea she's about to be hammered with a snowball.

Also, we were in the nutcracker again in December. Nora was a sheep, Eily was a Buffoon, Claire was a party boy and an Arabian gem, and Elaina was a party boy. Lillie, the girls' cousin was also able to be a Party Boy and Uncle Josh and I were Party Parents. 

Meet the Sacrans

Reposting this from last year

Hi there. We are the Sacran family.

My name is Rebekah.  I'm the Mama Bear and I like things neat and orderly. I like to decorate rooms in my mind, I like to solve Algebra problems, and here lately, I like to eat two eggs fried in coconut oil with some avocado on the side every morning for breakfast. I do not like pancakes, cucumbers, or folding laundry.

Jason is our Papa Bear. He's an artist, a hugger, and resident picture hanger-er. He likes art, movies, our kids, and soup. He does not like algebra, raw onions, or tying shoelaces.

We have four little female cubs.

Elaina is the eldest. She's tall like her Daddy and skinny beyond reason like her two grandmothers were at her age. She loves art, eating food, and sports. She has a heart the size of Texas and will do everything in her power to make everyone around her feel appreciated and loved. She does not like tomatoes, ballet, or making people mad.

Claire is the oldest-middlest. She's built and colored a lot like her mama. She has a natural mothering instinct, a great eye for color and design, a very dramatic flair for all things fashionable, and is as sassy as can be. (Bless her beautiful hide :) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anyone?) She dreams of being a ballerina. She does not like t-ball, mushrooms, or being quiet.

Eily (eye-lee) is the youngest-middlest. She has somehow remained tiny, even as she continues to grow. She loves black olives, washing dishes, and doing schoolwork. She can fold laundry and sweep a floor like nobody's business. She does not like scary music, having a messy room, or waking up early.

Nora is the littlest and "though she be but little, she is fierce!" She is all things energetic and loud. She's almost caught up to her older sister in clothing size and she loves to change those clothes forty times a day. She also likes to eat a lot of bananas, and do any and everything with her daddy. She does not like going to bed, vegetables, or being left out of anything.

We are the Sacrans. We are loud at times, we always have a lot of laundry (thanks for that, Nora), and we have our moments of disagreements. But we are so fond of each other, have the best time being each other's friends, and love to live our lives together.

Home Sweet Home

Well, our house sold. Just like that.

We've been living in our new/old house since the middle of October.

Life just keeps on moving forward. 

Grand Lake, Colorado

We went with Jason on one of his business trips to Colorado. We stayed in Grand Lake, but the event was officially held in Estes Park, Colorado. The town of Grand Lake is very charming. It's an old mining town and a lot of the cabins are 100+ years old. The town is incredibly safe and you will see young kids running around and biking along the roads and trails. It's very neat to get a glance of what it was like when that was typical in every town. We stayed with Dr. and Mrs. Kelley, and they are prominent members of the town so we had access to places we might not have otherwise. We got to go explore the yacht clubhouse and see a wedding reception that looked like something out of a movie. The first night that we there, we pretty much came in, said hello, and went to bed. It was very late our time, and we had traveled over 14 hours total. Saturday, we explored the town with Mrs. Kelly. Grand Lake is a very small town; I think the population is around 400, and most them are multi-millionarirs. Therefore, the cabins and landscapes are so great. You just can't stop looking.

Elaina's 10 Year Old Trip with Aunt Kat

It's been a hard day so I think I'm going to try to de-stress by posting about our trip to Virginia.
We've got some funny vacation combos going on with our family this year. Claire and Eily get to go on the cruise this coming March, so Elaina got to go with me to visit Jason in Richmond, Virginia.

My cousin, Kathryn, came to me last summer with an idea that I thought was fabulous and fun-sounding. She wanted for me and her to take a trip with each girl as they turned 10. We kept trying to make it happen after Elaina turned 10 and it only took nine months to be successful. :)

Elaina and I left the house very early Monday morning and made it to Memphis in record time. If you are wanting to travel from FS to Memphis and meet no construction on the road, do it in the early morning.  Since "Aunt Kat" happens live in Memphis and we had a couple of hours to spare before we needed to be at the airport (and because she got the call that her car had officially died earlier in the day), we picked her up and all three of us got mani/pedis so we would look amazing during our vacation. :) Elaina found it hilarious that she got stuck with the man worker. Kathryn took us to the airport since she was going to use the Suburban until it was time for her flight the following morning. We got there a little early so we stopped for lunch- BBQ of course! It was the Memphis airport, after all.

Waiting for our flight to see Jason

We finally arrived in Baltimore and then stood in line for about on hour to get our rental car. The man said that they had run out of the kind of car that we paid for so would we mind driving a SUV for the same price? Of course not. So when we walked outside, we died laughing because it was a huge Dodge RAM truck. Oh well, we are from Arkansas, after all.

We drove the hour to the house where we would be staying with Jason. The house itself was fabulous. It was a historical house and we stayed in the servants' quarters in the lower level of the house. We got up early Tuesday morning and drove to DC to collect Kathryn from the Regan airport. I have traveled enough in the past two years to have learned this one things about myself- FOOD is the most important thing to me when exploring a new location. I never care about shops or about what all there is to do, I just want to know- WHERE ARE THE AMAZING RESTURANTS? So of course I had put in some research and knew that the first stop must be 2Amys. It did not disappoint. (Well, Elaina wasn't a big fan.)

They had amazing pizza, amazing appetizers, and the most world-changing wild-flower honey sorbet. 

Pizze d.o.c. means that these pizza had been recognized as official Italian pizza from the Italian government. 

Elaina's drink of the trip was Ginger Ale. She said this bottle was the best of the trip. :)

Risotto balls and delicious deviled eggs

Pizza for everyone!!

We waddled out of 2Amys and made our way (much longer way than we anticipated) to the Metro station. It was a very rainy day and we got a little wet here and there.

They had these funny picture things all along the street. 

Elaina worked on her Metro skills the whole day. I would try to explain to her where we were going and see if she could keep up with where and when we needed to get off the train.

Heading down to the Metro!

Our first stop was the Natural Museum of American History. This is one of my very favorite places to visit in DC. There are always really interesting things to see.

Lincoln's hat he was wearing when he was shot. 

Kathryn and I have a mutual love for food and how to prepare it, so we both get a little "fan-girlish" when we see Julia Child's kitchen.

The kitchen is her literal kitchen. They moved everything to the museum and kept everything in it's exact place. You can walk around and look at it from every angle. I could have spent a couple of hours looking at everything but Elaina was ready to move on to another exhibit. 

I loved looking at the books on her bookshelf. I may copy every single thing. 

We finally left the museum and headed for the Mall. It was really looking very stormy at this point but we didn't let that deter us. I had bought a flimsy umbrella from a guy on the street but Kathryn held her ground and wasn't tempted. She later regretted that. :)

Elaina and Kathryn in front of the Lincoln Memorial

It started raining really hard while we were at the Lincoln Memorial but we saw a taxi sitting by the curb and decided to make a run for it. Well... he wouldn't take us because we were too wet. And believe me, we were completely soaked by that time. My umbrella had decided to invert itself and be of no use and poor Elaina and Kathryn were just drenched.

At this point, we really couldn't get any wetter so we decided to walk back to the Metro station and go home.

George!!

The next morning, we went to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. We bought every type of macaroon they served and a few other delicious pastries. We may have gained a few pounds during this trip. :) Seriously though, the grapefruit macaroon was heavenly.

Our location on the schedule for Wednesday was Colonial Williamsburg. This was by far the highlight of the trip for Elaina. She was desperate to completely envelope herself in the time and place so we decided her birthday gift should be a period dress and hat. She bummed hard that they didn't sell genuine leather hand-made shoes. Haha

They do actually make them there but they are just for the people who work there. Elaina has also decided that she wants to work there one summer. I have to say I agree it would be an amazing experience. I would try to get a job in the shop that made the rugs and cloth. (Plus, their shop had air-conditioning. )

Learning to make a notebook with paper and thread. 

We spent as much time as we could at Colonial Williamsburg. It was so much fun. I hadn't been there since I was a teenager so it was fun to come back and watch my daughter have all the feelings I had the first time I went. It will for sure be a place that I come back and bring all the girls.

We went home again and visited a little with Mr. John, the man who owned the house where were were staying. His wife had left so we didn't get to meet her but she did write Elaina an email that I will attach at the end of this post. Mr. John is from England and his wife is from France. It was fun to listen to him talk and take notice of his impeccable manners. 

The next morning we drove to George Washington's house, Mount Vernon. Now in hind sight, We should have gone there the day before. Once Elaina had been to Colonial Williamsburg, nothing else could compare. She liked Mt. Vernon but she kept mentioning that she would love to just go back and spend the rest of the day at CW. :) She did, however, wear her costume in case there were some other people in their costumes.

That evening, we went with Jason to an artists' dinner down the street at another old, historical house. This one even had the only kitchen in the basement. The poor women helping host the event went up and down the starts about 50 times. And they weren't exactly spring chickens! The granddaughter of the woman hosting the event was also there and she and Elaina struck up a quick friendship. Her name is Colette and they plan on being pen-pals.  

We didn't linger long at the dinner. We were tired and Jason was completely exhausted. We came home and played some cards and watched a cooking show. The next day was Friday and Kathryn and I headed back to the airport. We got in extremely late so I stay the night and left early the next morning. I was very, very happy to see this sign. 

Jason and Elaina didn't leave until the following 

Monday. The spent the weekend picnicking with Mr. John and doing several Plein-Air painting sessions together. The did have an awful time getting home. They ended up having to stay the night in the airport and then catching a different flight home. At least Elaina had this memory to carry her through the ordeal. :)

The email from Mr. John after we were back home:

Jason,

I believe you are about to land safely so hopefully this will reach you just in time!

Thank you so much for the absolutely wonderful painting - I showed it to Benedicte via Facetime as soon as I returned home and then I took a photo and sent it to her as well. I must say her initial intake of breath was sufficient, it really is beautiful and one we will treasure for all the  time we have left  on this planet - be in here in Richmond or back in England. It will hold a very special place in our home and bring back memories for me which I will always remember. 

Now - I do wish Elaina had her own personal e-mail address so I could communicate directly to her how much pleasure her drawing gave Benedicte and me today. We both thought it was SO SO SPECIAL - and we loved the real message you wrote to us. So Elaina - thank you so very very much.

In particular will always remember you and our talks together -Paris, tailwinds, currencies ( 2000 lira  = $X), the Boston Tea Party, Donuts (thank you Daddy!) how I met Benedicte (and thus discovered how your parents met) the picnic (and your multiplication tables - 9X9 !) English crumpets ( so-so) and marmite (awful !) ice-cream ( my apologies Mummy !) and I loved to see how you looked at Daddy - that was, in the best American way I know,   - "real neat". So - thank you so much for our picture - it's so very special. 

What I did forget to do was give you Collett's address so here it is. Do hope you can find the time to write to her. ( You could always suggest to Mummy that it could be an English lesson !) 

     Colette 

     *removed for privacy*

So - Jason and Elaina - thank you so much for staying with us - it was a real pleasure to get to know you both !

John and Benedicte ( from London)

I told her all about our adventure together  

p/s Just as you are both landing it has start to pour down with rain in Richmond - so you see we are not happy to have lost you both and the sky is angry !  

    

And this was the email from his wife, who we never met in person but was still a gracious host.

Jason and Elaina,

I certainly couldn't have put it better than John. 

I really was so happy to see both painting and drawing. It is one of my favorite view of Richmond, we often go to the park for a walk and look both to the river and the town. 

Thank you so much for your wonderful gifts, with their own personal and special message, I will treasure them very much. I am just sorry I was not in Richmond for the event as I enjoyed it so much in the past. 

I know John enjoyed having you to stay and I see that Elaina experienced Richmond to the full.

Hope to see you again next year.

With all my thanks

Benedicte

---

Apparently I'm chatty now

Not that that's a new thing, it just hasn't been a current thing when it comes to the blog.

We buried my little nephew yesterday. His name is Able Isaac. He was born at 19 weeks but lived 18 weeks. It was a sweet, painful, God-honoring service.

Training for Classical Conversations starts tomorrow. Life just keeps going no matter what's going on during the day-to-day. Eily is with Mom and Dad, the older girls are taking a sewing class, and Nora is going with me to the training.

I have so many friends going through such hard things right now. I feel helpless so I just pray for them. Adulting is no fun sometimes.

Females, do you shave your legs every time you shower?

Whole 30 can be easier than you think. Try it.

Whole 30- Day 1

So I guess that I started the Whole 30 (my version) today. That means that sometimes I eat cheese and I still put creamer in my coffee. I thought I had started it a few days ago but then I found out that a smoothie I was eating to kind of beat the sugar craving had tubinado in it. Super Bummer. So I've started back in on my exercise routine that I was doing before the recent trips, and I ate a smoothie- minus the sugar.
Breakfast- egg white omelet with sausage and salsa
Lunch- Strawberry Limeade with Mint Smoothie
Supper- Zucchini/Sausage Hash stuff that I made up and enjoy, Fried Egg

That's my Day 1.
I feel sleepy but pretty good.
What I have not done well- drinking water

July 4, 2016

This seem like a good day to take up blog writing, yet again. It's America's birthday!

I've been on hold with American Arlines for 22 minutes and 57, 58, 59,...seconds. I have yet to talk to an actual person. It's just great. Oh wait. I finally talked to someone and and she said you can't actually talk to a real person. you have to go online and fill out a report and just hope that you get what you need. Yeah right. I'm thinking we are just going to forget the compensation thing. Moving on.

So that's my holiday so far. I'm hoping the rest of it is more pleasant. If I ever feel like spending a lot of time typing, I'll tell you about Maui and Harmony Hill and Virginia.

Happy 4th!!

The Wolf in the Woods

It's coming for us, no doubt about that. We had our annual Family Day last weekend with my Dad's side of the family. We all visited and hing out together and the locals hosted the traveling family members in their homes. And now at least seven people are down with a stomach bug. I'm just waiting. I know it's out there, like a wolf prowling in the woods. I just don't know when and where it's going to strike. We've been using some essentials oils in hopes of keeping it away, but we may have started using them too late.  At least this week is spring break so we don't have CC, music, or ballet.

This not knowing is driving me crazy.

Oh man. I am so tired. How are you doing? I feel very disconnected from everyone sometimes, even though I really hear from you all fairly often. I just get so busy with what we have going on in our household that I can't even deal with what is going on in your household. Sometimes I love the busy and sometimes I hate it.

The girls are doing great. Elaina is writing some pretty cool stories these days. Claire is rehearsing with Eily for the upcoming ballet, Alice in Wonderland. Eily is also mastering the violin. Nora is large and in charge. So nothing is new there. :)

Jason has started his 2016 season of traveling and competing.

Life is pretty much consistently changing and evolving.