FEAST!!!!

Wow. I love the Feast. Yesterday we went out for the "School Fun Day" and it was SO fantastic. I couldn't believe how much we all learned and how nice and informative all of the people were. It was like going to a living history museum. The kids all had such a wonderful time.

Then we went out today for the real event. We wandered around, ate yummy food, and had our picture taken by crazy stalking photographers. Seriously. My mom made Andrew and the kids fabulous indian costumes, so people kept taking their pictures. One girl even had her boyfriend take a picture of her and Andrew together -- weird!! And a little creepy.

Anyway . . . we we nt to the trading post and the kids really liked that. Which surprised me because I always HATED the trading post when I was a kid. Making up stories about why my acorn is better than your acorn was never really my thing. Even now, as an adult, I still can't come up with a good story! And now for your viewing pleasure . . .

Let's NOT go swimming.

Remember my last post when I said PeterXavier wandered away and that he doesn't seem to care that he is going to give me a heart attack?!? Well today, he topped it. He FELL into my parents POND!! Christopher had to pull him out!! Seriously. I was inside talking to my mom when all of a sudden Christopher comes running into the house yelling that PeterXavier "drowned in the pond!" Clearly, he has missed the really definition of "drowned" because there was his little brother sopping wet and grinning. I'm still a little shaken from the whole event. The rest of the evening I was completely paranoid about his whereabouts. I used to make fun of those kid leashes, but now I'm thinking they aren't such a bad idea. Or maybe I'll just rig up one of those running lines that people put their dogs on?? He'd LOVE that!

I hope tomorrow is boring. I've had enough adventures to last me a while.

Pushin' Thirty

As much as Annie would like to convince me that I am still "a quarter of a century", it is not true. Not that I mind all that much. It's been a pretty good 28 years, and I had great people with whom to celebrate the day.

We headed down to Indy for the Irish Fest early enough to get to the Mass as well as get in for free with this entrance fee of donated canned goods!

My parents and Annie's family met us later on. Unfortunetly, Annie and Martin had to leave because Anja Pie was sick. Boo.

Chrisopher LOVE climbing th rock wall and repelling back down. He quickly scaled to the top and pretty much flew back down. Grace gave it a shot as well, but I didn't get to see her. BECAUSE by this time we realized that PeterXavier was missing. He's wandered off before, but this time he was GONE. I was just about the get frantic, when I saw him walking back into the kiddie area with a very nice man who had found him. He was wandering around out in the main area when this man noticed him. He trotted back in like he was thinking"come on guys! What's the big deal? I just needed a little air!" I think his goal in life is to give me a heart attack.
The kids got to try their hands (or feet, rather) at Irish Dancing. They had lots of fun, although I think Christopher enjoys his (hilarious) free style better!

And this is what a long day Festing it up will do to little monkeys! They are so much fun to take places!

Silence

It is unusually quiet right now and I am loving it! Andrew took Christopher, Grace, and PeterXavier to the park and Isabella is just stirring from her nap. She still isn't feeling 100%, so she has kind of been snoozing all day. I just puttered around getting this and that acomplished. It's great to be able to pick something up, put it away, and know it will stay put for more than thirty seconds!

Tomorrow is Indy Irish Fest! Hurray! I think Christopher may be looking forward to it even more than I am. He claims that Irish is his favortie kind of music. What a smart boy.

Blah blah blah.

That's how I feel. Blah. I have had a rotten cold that just refuses to leave me alone. And now poor Isabella has it as well. I just pray that PeterXavier doesn't get it, because he always gets it a zillion times worse than anyone else.

Andrew and the kids are out helping a friend build a pole barn, but the sun set about an hour ago and they still aren't home. Either someone is lost in the woods, or they are gorging themselves on s'mores. Scratch that. They just got home. No one is wandering aimlessly through the woods. But they are quite, so they must have had fun and snoozed on the way home.

I just found this cool web site to make little bows for the girls hair -- super cute! And SO easy. That's my fun little craft for the evening.

Sorry for the totally lame and boring post. I need sleep.

Great Big Weekend of Exhaustion

Well. We survived the weekend, but just barely. Saturday was a beautiful day -- the Country Fair was great. I totally lost the pie baking contest, to my mother no less. Not that her sugar cream pie isn't great, it is, but seriously!

German Fest was . . . enormous. I basically corralled tired children while my husband worked some insane shift in the food tent. Everyone, including me, melted at one point. And I had a beer for dinner. The kids got third place in the Lip Sync contest. I think there were only three entries, but we wont tell them that. They were darn cute.

Can you tell who they are? Grace was supposed to be there (with a red shirt!), but she wasn't feeling well. And PX was in costume, but opted to hang out with Daddy instead.
















The highlights of my evening were finding the long lost Liederhossen and seeing my son look like this. He was great!

On Sunday, through torrential downpours from our pal Ike, we attended the Ivy Tech Homecoming, organized by their totally awesome director of alumni affairs! The noon music was fantabulous, plus allowed us to visit with Nana, Martin, and Anja!

Can you see Belle's hat in this picture? She's her Daddy's Ivy Tech "homey".

Unfortunately, due to rain, the Elephant Rides at Prophetstown were canceled, and I lost all gumption to drive all the way out to Jonah's birthday, so the only big event of the day was Homecoming. But by the end of it all, I was completely exhausted, so my wonderful hubby took us out for dinner. It was totally relaxing and gave everyone a decent meal. It was much needed after surviving on pizza and hot dogs all weekend!

Busy Busy Weekend

Here's what's on tap . . . Country Fair and pie baking contest, 4:00 Mass, GermanFest ALL NIGHT LONG!, Andrew goes to Ivy Tech Homecoming at the crack of dawn, More Country Fair (Elephant Rides!!), Ivy Tech Homecoming for the rest of us, Jonah's birthday while Andrew cleans up homecoming. Monday -- SLEEP.

Homeschooling in this house is going really well. This morning, Grace brought me "My First Book About Space" and said "Read this book called ABC Letters!"

Our Babies Got Bling!

I tried to blog this about ten times yesterday ,but my computer was seriously mad at me. I think we are friends again today, though.

Annie and I took our girlie-girls out Monday night and got their ears pierced!! It was super cute. The girls didn't exactly have a great time . . . but they sure look CUTE now!! And, if they could talk, I am sure they would agree that it was worth it.






I think this picture of Annie is SO PRETTY!

Poor little Anja-Pie was a little upset. When we took Grace to get her ears pierced as a baby, it was so much less traumatic. She hardly even whimpered! We got Anja a cookie and she cheered right up. We have yet to get a picture of both girls together, but I am sure you'll see it when we do!

Musical Fun

Last night we went to the free family concert by the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra out at the amphitheatre. It was GREAT! The music was fantastic -- famous pieces, upbeat enough to keep the kids attention, many things they recognized. Christopher was excited to see his violin teacher in the Orchestra! They also had kids activities on the grass beforehand and a comedy show that was a little silly, but the kids loved it. The newspaper took this picture of PeterXavier, but I don't think they ran it. Boo.

Republican National Convention

Did you watch it?? Did you LOVE it?? Do you wish you could have coffee with Sarah Pailn, in hopes that some of her energy and conviction will rub off on you?

Despite the fact that my husband has a degree in Political Science, I have never had one iota of an interest in politics. Until now. Until Sarah Palin. Until someone I could really relate to started fighting for the issues that are really important.

Last night we watched the RNC through our Internet connection, for lack of cable. Last night, for the first time, our nation saw a woman contending for a place in the White House. Sarah Palin is a woman in the truest sense of the word. She is not a woman trying to be a man. She is a woman, embracing her femininity and womanhood as a tool with which to better our society and our nation. That is true Feminism. It is not some pseudo-machismo that unhappy and insecure woman are trying to achieve through "choice" and "empowerment".

Despite all of the truly fabulous things she said in her speech, perhaps her actions and those of her family as they received the applause of the masses told even more of the convictions of Sarah Palin than any words ever could. Her embrace of baby Trig and the presence of Bristol's boyfriend as a member of the family spoke volumes on her incredible pro life stance. She leaned down and listened intently as her young daughter (who has perfected her princess wave!) had something "important"to say. This is not a woman who pawns off her family to daycare and babysitters in pursuit of her own self-gratifying career. She is woman who can be a Mama and a powerful national leader all at the same time!