Jump, Jump!

This weekend, the weather forecasters made it very clear we should get out and enjoy the sun and warmth. They were right, as it's 43 degrees and pouring rain this Monday morning. So, we took their advice and had a blast outside!

40 is Sporty

Last week I turned 40, which is the new 30.  And, I feel 25.  I did the math and it seems I'm 29 again!  I haven't talked much about it on this blog, but I spent a good portion of the last year feeling miserable.  It's been a very frustrating, painful and isolating journey, trying to find out what was causing my horrible nausea.  Doctor after doctor had no answers.  Friends would tell me, "Wow you look great!  What's your secret?"  Most of the time I would just say thank you and tell them I play tennis a lot.   The truth was, I spent days (and weeks) not eating.  Or, eating just enough rice and fruit to function.  Some days (a few in particular I will never forget) were very difficult.  Looking back, I don't know how I got through them.  If you can imagine spending every waking minute feeling like you're about to throw up, it was affecting every aspect of my life.  Grocery shopping, fixing meals, sitting at a restaurant, were straight up torture.

Thankfully, my primary care Dr. referred me to a GYN who seemed confident a change in hormones would help.  She was right.  I haven't had a single symptom since I started taking a new medicine and it feels like a miracle.  I have a new appreciation for feeling good...and normal.  I feel free to make plans and have fun, knowing I don't have to worry about nausea striking me down.


So, imagine my delight at the Corbett's Chef's Table for the Birthday dinner!  I could actually EAT!

 

Matt brought roses and Perrier home.  I guess after nearly 20 Birthdays together, he knows my style:)
:


On a different day, we decided to ask a couple over for dinner.  Which is a perfect time to try making a 14 layer cake!!  This is my kitchen prepped for baking.  The cake turned out great, but was a BEAST to get layered up.  The top 1/3 kept sliding around until I got the whole thing chilled in the fridge.  Our company seemed impressed!

 


More Jam:


After 2 batches of strawberry jam, I wanted to try Blackberry.  (Plus Costco's Blackberries looked amazing)  Dev had a few days off school, so we went to work.  The jam tastes great, but I'm not a fan of all the seeds.  Next time, I will strain off the seeds before putting it in the jars.

 

Dev attended a Birthday party of a friend last weekend.  Remind me not to have 15 1st-4th graders at my house.  Ever.

Although, they did have a lot of fun!
 

This is one of her new, favorite friends who is a 2nd grader.  They really seem to have a great time with each other and I'm so glad has found girls she can have fun with.

It's In the Can

For the first time in a couple of years, there will be NO Disney princess running around our house for Halloween. That's because Dev chose a "Bat Witch" as her costume!  She seems thrilled with it & I'm glad we have a "warm" costume...I think we're going to need it next week.

We had a great report card and conference from her 1st months at school.  Apparently, someone has blossomed into quite the social butterfly.  Our only concern is that she's getting enough work done in the mornings.  Her teacher says she's very content to chat, write stories and color....flitting about the room with all her friends.  Although I'm glad to hear she's coming out of her shell a bit, we're refocusing her efforts in the morning towards more meaningful school work.


 

They say there's a first time for everything and this week was my first time canning.  I read Pioneer Woman's Advice and called my Mother-In-Law to see what she thought.  Turns out Pioneer Woman uses the basic "Ball" recipe, as does my MIL.  It took me about a week to gather everything I needed and I waited for the first cold, rainy day.  Turns out that day was yesterday!

See.  I was ready!!!



Overall, it was very easy and a lot of fun to make.  I most enjoy baking because of its' science-like qualities and canning is very similar.  At the last second, I read in the "Ball Bible" that it's important to measure the dry ingredients (sugar) exactly.  Sure enough, I had almost a 1/2 cup too much.

I think mashing up the strawberries was my favorite part.  I'm going to make another batch this weekend with Devin home, so she can see how much fun it is.




All fires burning!  The cold day made it nice to stand by the stove all morning.


Finished product!  I made 8 jars and had some extra for the fridge.  It tastes AMAZING!  There's no comparison to this and say, Smuckers.  This morning, I checked all the lids and they are concave and not popping or moving.  SUCCESS!  I did forget one step, to scrape off the jelly "scum" after boiling.  I guess I didn't see much of it, so I forgot.



So, I'm off to Costco ASAP to get more strawberries and hopefully some peaches.  These little jars will be perfect for our school Bake and Craft Sale in November.

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

The only way to describe the past few weeks is pure joy. Everyone is healthy and thriving & we spend most of our weekends outside. Someone FINALLY lost the other front tooth, which was a big deal. The Tooth Fairy made another visit and even left a note:)

Last weekend, we walked up and down Bardstown Road.   Devin enjoyed going into all the little shops, always looking for new earrings.  We'll be able to change her pierced earrings by the end of the week.  There's been no trouble with the starter set and her ears healed perfectly.  

I was shocked a few weeks ago, when I found one of her stuffed Golden Retrievers covered with "make up."  At 6.5 years, I figured we were past this stage.

Dev is growing up fast.  Her school experience has been amazing.  We couldn't ask for a better start to 1st Grade.  This weekend, we helped at an Open House for prospective families.  When I told her it was time to go, I heard an amazing sound...a whine of "awwwwww."  She said, "I wish it was a regular school day, so I could stay."  

The older children in class continue to be a source of inspiration and (sometimes) frustration.  She gets SO mad at herself if something she does isn't perfect in her eyes.  We're trying to help her manage expectations and value "mistakes."  I explained how I play certain tennis matches, knowing I will most likely lose.  But, it's the experience I enjoy...the exercise, the competition and learning from mistakes.  

Here's the happy girl, practicing her hand stands.  It's a borderline obsession at the moment.

A Few Firsts

It was a week of firsts around here.

She's been "ready" to ride a bike for awhile.  But, she needed a bigger bike and we decided to wait until the Fall to buy one.  I figured the heat of the summer was best spent at the pool vs. running behind a bike and listening to her scream and cry.

After many frustrating attempts at teaching her to ride, I Googled "How to teach a child to ride a bike." They had a GREAT You Tube video about the subject and it held a miracle secret for us...take off the pedals!  Once we did that, she started instantly coasting and balancing.  All she had to worry about was coasting and steering.  Which is a lot, actually.  After a week of coasting up and down the sidewalk, I put the pedals back on and she was riding in 5 minutes.  No falls, no screaming, no tears.

Thank you Google.

After many tears,


crashes,

and skinned knees and elbows,
 


she finally
 

 figured out,

how to ride her bike:




We are spending lots of time outside in the glorious weather.
:



 I spotted this huge Praying Mantis in the garden:



At school this year, they are ALL getting violin lessons.  Can you imagine the sounds??  She showed a lot of interest and excitement so we decided to rent her a violin and split a private lesson with one of her friends.  The music teacher offers private lessons during regular school hours, so it's NOT another after school thing.  Chess on Mondays, violin on Tuesday and tennis on Thursdays is more than enough.  But, she seems happy and rested throughout the week.  I've observed at school how students can really take a breather when they need to...read a book, get a snack, work on the computer.  It's their choice during the day:)

She brought her first violin home. You might want to turn down the volume before hitting play:

6 Weeks In

Somehow, 6 weeks has already passed since school started. I didn't think time could go any faster than it did this summer, but I was wrong. Devin is continuing to "love" school and has adjusted to the elementary program nicely. We're certainly seeing more traditional "work" coming home...spelling lists, math problems and science research. We still see some sewing work and she tells me about doing geography puzzles and working on "stories" with some of the older children. I think the influence of the older kids has been good for Dev. She's currently obsessed with cursive handwriting and doing handstands, both something her favorite 3rd grader in class can do.  She wrote this anagram for her friend, I love that the "a's" both equal "outstanding."

(d=delightful, i=I love her, n=Birthday in November)


Dev is still very connected to her "old" friends, who make up the 10 1st graders in class.  She wrote this "story" for them last night.




This week brought the first Field Trip for Dev's class.  Of course, I was happy to chaperone so I could take lots of pictures get an official tour of Huber's Farm.

I think she was most excited about the long bus ride.


I loved seeing the older children, take care of the younger ones.


There were white pumpkins.

We saw how they make Apple Cider.


Apples

Our school's apple!
 


Each student could pick 5 apples from the orchard.  Devin and her good friend "C" were the first done!



Then, it was time for Pumpkin picking!  They each could choose a small pumpkin to take home.


Picking pumpkins was tough!


And, this Bamboo Maze was even tougher.  I think Devin was lost in there for 30 minutes.


This was not a small course to pedal around.  By the end of the field trip, the kids were happy and exhausted.  We had a great day!