Dear Scott,

When are you coming? I bought these chocolate and mint chips today and think they will be so good in some of your brownies!


It is very cold in our house. The only way we can survive is with lots of blankets and a fire. It is in the 30's and 40's at night and as you know we do not use the furnace. Pack lots of sweatshirts.

Hope to see you soon!

Love,
Denise

the first birthday celebration

We had Dad, Kari and Shi over to celebrate Clare's birthday. She kept asking when we were going to have her REAL birthday...the one where her friends come over. I was so busy last week I knew I couldn't handle the stress of having a party for her so we are going to wait 'til after Thanksgiving break to have her friends over.

Clare decided she wanted cake for this birthday and choose green frosting w/ pink decorations. For her real birthday she wants cupcakes.





From Calvin, Mom, Dad, Lex and myself Clare got pink legos...she was super excited about this!

she also got some puzzles since she is getting really good at puzzles and spends lots of time on them at home.


Clare is a sweet girl. It was fun to celebrate her!

Happy Birthday to Clare!

Clare got this new dress from Kari and Bob and the necklace from Grandma Linda. Both made her feel very special!


Clare bear is 5 today. It was a fun day.

I love how lex is growing right into all of Clare's old clothes. this was a favorite and is just so cute on Lex just as it was on Clare



Also, it was so fun to see Calvin in Oliver this weekend. He had a blast!
here are some of the little orphan kids/fagin's gang kids. some are girls but the girls wore wigs to look like boys!

Over the course of preparing for the show (especially the last couple of weeks where we were there a TON) the kids became good buddies!


taking a break in the lobby and reading the program.



The principal said no to a teacher change. so, now we're figuring out what to do next.... I did send Calvin to school Th and Fri and he did great. Maybe now that I've stirred the pot a bit the teacher and principal will be a little more careful with him....

anyway, haven't had a quiet moment in a week. I am going to relax now!

life at our house

is a little crazy right now.

this post will be lacking in many many details but here is the short story of why I'm hangin' by a thread this week.

1. sickness. calvin has strep. dave and i have bronchitis. i don't get sick very often and i can't remember ever being sick for so long. it has been a full week now for me.

2.oliver. (calvin is in the musical production of oliver this weekend) so, this is tech week. It is very time consuming and trying on my patience. monday we were asked to be there at 4pm. Rehearsal did not even start 'til 7:30. Last night little ones were supposed to practice from 6-7:30. I left at 7:30 and they were just getting started (calvin was too sick to practice anyway but we were there just to watch).

3. (this is where there is a big story missing- maybe i will have time to fill in details later). this week i requested a teacher change for calvin. if he doesn't get a teacher change I will pull him out of school for the rest of the year. the principal will let me know today. mon night I had nightmares all night about big fights w/ the principal...but it wasn't too bad talking to him.

4. chorus. we're a little behind so this week (minimum days) i decided to have a couple of extra practices. This would be a little easier if I actually had a voice.


On the happy side of life I discovered a new dinner that is fabulous.
ratatouille with cauliflower instead of eggplant. I love cauliflower and can't find enough ways to work it into our menu.

calvin wore an ohio state sweatshirt last week. I got it on him b/c as he got out of the shower I stuck it in the dryer so it was nice and warm for him. He could not resist.



(calvin cut his hair again this week. when he looked in the mirror he cried b/c he didn't like it. maybe he is learning that it is not a good idea?)

Lake Poway

Friday we had no school and we had a very fun day doing a picnic and hike at Lake Poway with some friends from school. The weather has been lovely. very warm and sunny during the day and cool by 5:30 when it gets dark. I am still trying to adjust to the early dark time!

In other news, Calvin is sleeping through the night. After Dave's week with him when I was in Ohio Dave decided we should try melatonin. We found an 8 hour time release tablet that seems to be working for him. Hopefully we can use it long enough for him to get used to sleeping all night and then take him off of it in a couple of months.

conversation in the car

Clare: I love onions.

Alexey: I hate onions.

Mom: Lex, you like onions.

Lex: NO...I hate onions.

Mom: No....you like them. Remember how you like them on your in-n-out burgerLex:

Lex: No....in-n-out no have boogers. Boogers in my nose.


(at in-n-out she eats a grilled cheese w/ grilled onions. I have probably never called it a burger before).



I love the funny things kids say!

today

**Calvin went to bed at 5pm, right in the middle of a room full of kids (we had friends over for dinner). He laid himself down and went to sleep even though the kids were protesting. This fall time change is the one that KILLLLSS us. No school for him tomorrow...he has 0% chance of success there. my day tomorrow will likely be an interesting one as well!

**Alexey went to church with a beat up face: everyone kept asking her what happened but she had no idea what they were talking about since she had fallen yesterday, cried and recovered. She was a pitiful little sight, even though she felt good as new (and don't you love that we have one kid who will wear Ohio State clothes?) 2 year olds are always covered in scratches and bruises! Lex is not afraid of anything and will try everything so she is often getting lots of scrapes!

**Dan cleaned his room....for most of you, you do not realize the monumental task cleaning Dan's room is.... here are his 6 trash bags (of trash) that he will hopefully take to the trash can before Tressel makes a mess of all this.

sweeping and mopping and 10 loads of laundry are hopefully yet to come!

he's #1

Our good friend Marc DAvis ran for school board and WON!! He gave all the kids t-shirts the evening of his victory party (while waiting for results to roll in). They all wanted to wear them to school the next day.

When Clare's teacher asked her if she knew marc davis, she said, "no, we were just rooting for him." she is a funny girl. We only sit with his family at church every week!!

A side story here, but sitting with the Davis family is the only reason I have saved my sanity over the last couple of years. I love them to pieces. the Davis' have 7 kids -- one of them was the little one who passed away 2 years ago in a drowning accident. They have 4 teenage daughters and a little one Clare's age + a son on a mission. They are very special to us .








PS. Heard a song on the radio that I loved today. Jar of Hearts by Chiristina Perri.

finishing up the columbus trip posts

went to the temple on day. It was beautiful. The grounds were breathtaking of course

(nobody was there to take my pic, so I took one of myself)!


what trip to columbus would be complete without a stop at good 'ol buckeye village?! Our first apartment in CMH.


We went walking through campus one day...saw the stadium
I got $10 for wearing my soccer shirt in public as a tourist!




also we shopped for some Ohio State clothes.





I went on a beautiful hike with April(and her cute baby kate) at a metro park. It was amazing to walk through the woods. We don't really have woods here so it has been awhile since I have been in such amazing trees!


Overall a fabulous trip. It was so nice to have a break from the stresses of life for a few days. Also, it was nice to have a break from email, computer, phone and things that make life a whirlwind ...those things are good but tend to pick up lifes pace so much. While I was gone I decided I would have more days with no computer. Also, being away from home and having a few minutes of down time gave me more time to ponder, read, and think clearly. It was nice!

And of course, the people was the best part. It was fun to observe strengths (no weakness found) and home and parenting methods of everyone, and think about how I can incorporate thosse things into my life!

Halloween

One of our favorite traditions is trick-or-treating with Shi. She is very sweet to do Clare's hair and Makeup for her to make her feel even more like a princess!

Clare and Lex were monkies for the school parade.
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