Two Blog Posts for the Price of One

Outside my window...birds are chirping and it's 75 degrees and sunny!  I love the breeze blowing though the open windows.

I am feeling...happy to have Mark home for an extended period of time.  He worked so much this month that he was rarely home.  At one point he was home 5 out of 18 days.  It was so exhausting to do the daily grind solo for so many days.

I am struggling...with our mini-van.  It still has a squealing that the mechanic has no idea how to fix.  My latest idea is to take it somewhere else and then bill the original shop if a new one can fix it.  I'm at my wits end!

A favorite quote..."May you make of your homes another Nazareth.  May Jesus be able to come and rest, to bring peace, love and joy to your hearts and to your homes." -Mother Teresa

If I can get my hands on an overhead projector, I plan on putting several quotes of her's on my walls.  One in the dining room and one in my bedroom.  I really learned to love when I started reading about this special lady and I've never looked back.

I don't ever want to forget...Nash saying, "I  'wuve' you so much again, Mom".  That "again" is because he already told me he loved me within the hour.  Melt my heart!

I am learning...that being positive and occasionally distracting my children out of a bad mood go along way to maintaining a loving home and in no way diminish my parental authority.  In fact, they feel more loved and respected than when I drew that hard line in the sand and shoved them over it and are more loving in return.

I am wondering...if we will get a foster baby anytime soon?  Mark went to a foster parent meeting where most of the new families were waiting for babies.  We are not opposed to older kids in general, just not until Nash is closer to five. May the Lord's will be done!

Around the house...a new pendant light for over the kitchen table and a ceiling fan for our bedroom are waiting to be hung.  Thanks to our credit card reward points, we got them for free.  Now if Mark could just be home long enough to install them... :)

I am thinking about...the Easter Vigil where Catholics all over were welcomed into the Church.  It also has me thinking about all those who have fallen away and rejected the teachings of the Church.  When we are far from God we can see no merit in a  faith that expects us to live these hard truths.  There is so much beauty in the plans God has for us, but so few people have a relationship close enough with the Lord to be able to appreciate it or to even consider the leap of faith it would take to live that out.

I am praying for...Brooke.  She's taken a turn for the worse and she had a day recently that was reminiscent of the days prior to her diagnosis and her medication.  That day she ate almond flour pancakes (which she hasn't eaten in months) and she flipped her lid and the mattress of the queen size guest bed in the basement.  She was so angry and didn't know why.  That hasn't happened in a long time (or thankfully since earlier this week), but I pushed her doctor's appointment up a few weeks to see what can be done.  It's so hard watching her struggle and it's so stressful for the rest of us as well.  Your payers would be greatly appreciated.

I am excited about...the new drinking fountain in our garage!  We are the envy of the neighborhood.  :)  It's a long story, but the short of it is at my dad's request, my uncle bought a drinking fountain on an online auction for $37.  Shortly after the purchase, my dad called to tell me that he and my uncle were planning on installing it the next day.  There was a minor snag in the installation, but in the end it all worked out.

On the Internet...I love the humor of Brianna Heldt.  She's a convert, a mother of many children, and did I mention she's funny?  You can check out her blog here.  Today she's talking about the impeding canonization of two popes tomorrow.  It's good stuff!

Future plans...the beach!  I just dropped $180 on new DVD players (and accessories) for the car which on an 11 hour car trip will be much appreciated. I thought we'd download movies on our iPads, but to do that legally, it would cost a fortune. Brooke will be pulled from school and we'll be hitting the road soon. Yippee!

So thankful for...our recent camping trip to the Hocking Hills in nowhere Ohio.  We camped in a rustic cabin and did lots of hiking.  More on that next!  :)

On Fridays during Lent we prayed the Stations of the Cross at home because taking Stella and Nash anywhere at 7 PM (which is when most churches have it on Friday nights) is not in the cards.  We had some friends, the H family, come over twice.  I found the idea of using candles on Pinterest and I also found short, simple meditations and prayers specifically for kids.   The kids took turns blowing out the candles after each station so by the end, it was almost dark.  It was a beautiful experience meditating on the Passion of our Lord.

Mark was able to get off work for the American Heritage Girls Father Daughter Dance.  It means so much to Brooke that we were all relieved that they could go.

My baby is half way to ten, people!

Our pet morning doves.  The Mr. and Mrs. came along every day for almost a week.  Apparently they mate for life which explains why they were a package deal.

There were no iPads during Lent except on Sundays and you can see they did not take their turn lightly.  It was such a positive experience that we are continuing that practice even now that Lent is over.  I'm really going out on a limb here because the kids would not agree. We, the parents, thought it was awesome.

If you eat as many eggs as we do you're bound to come across a double yolk. However, have you ever come across 3 yolks in one egg?  I felt like I hit the jackpot. I texted a picture to Mark and then called my mom.   It was also a good biology lesson for the kids to show when a mama has triplets they are usually smaller than singletons.  Case and point.  I almost didn't want to eat them!

We finally had some warm weather for a couple of days so the kids made sure to put on shorts because I finally let them.  They want to wear shorts whenever the sun  shines, so I have to be the voice of reason.  If it is over 60-65 degrees I let them.

"I smile for your picture, Mama!"  I want to eat him up!

We also ate outside one day because I was having cabin fever.  Here Brooke was reading a favorite bedtime story to Stella, The Seven Silly Eaters.

We took our pasty whiteness to the park for a little hike.  Mark said it was always awkward the first couple of times you wear shorts because of the whiteness. To which I said, at least that goes away for you!  Yes, I'll be as white today as I will be in September.

Nash walked most of the 1.7 mile hike, but at the very end he started to get cranky.  I almost did too.  :)

One Sunday afternoon, the temperature rose to about 75 degrees and of course, we busted out the pool.  The water was freezing and the breeze, although warm, was a little too breezy for a cold pool.  The kids didn't care and then...

two days later, on April 15th, it snowed!

I've gotten into the habit of getting up early and one morning before I got into the shower, I sneaked downstairs for something first and saw this beautiful moon.  

As it turns out the condenser isn't working, but it gets the job done.  Now I don't have to worry about thirsty kids tripping in and out and recovering forgotten cups on the play set.  My uncle brought over an adapter to hook up to our spigot (that is used for our hose) so now we can use both the hose and the fountain.  The only other special thing is that it isn't hooked up to a drain so we have a bucket underneath to catch the water that doesn't make into mouths.  It's been working like a charm!

Brooke got formally allergy tested and as it turns out, she's allergic to trees, German cockroaches, and mice/rats.  I did this because her Spring time allergies are pretty severe and I wanted a paper trail should she be in a bad spot and need some medical help.  She consented to allergy shots also which was a huge deal. We will see how that goes.

Mark was working on Easter and I didn't have the heart to battle the crowds at our usual 9:00 AM Mass so we got up before dawn to attend the 7 AM service instead.  You may think that's crazy, but to get a seat we would have to be there 45 minutes early and with Nash, that extra wait time would have been the final nail in my coffin.  It worked out that the kids each got one gluten free donut before we left and then I made our normal breakfast when we got home. They were more than willing to pop out of bed for Easter baskets and a donut treat!  It was also very peaceful because not many families with little kids go to Mass that early.  We may try that at Christmas too.  

I taught Nash to sing You are my Sunshine and today he sung it to me.  He is truly our sunshine.

 Post lunch Easter egg hunt.

 The usual players...Luke, Nash, Stella, our friend Anna, and Brooke

Nash really likes my nieces boyfriend.  Either he really likes Nash too, or he's a very good actor.  Nash requested to sit on Brian's lap to eat dessert.  With their blond hair, it looks like Nash could be their son.

Speaking of hair, my nephew doesn't have any, but that doesn't stop the kids from liking him.  :)

 Please just hurry up and get married.

 Yes, Brian is very tall, but my niece Carly and my sister are also just short.

 There's a running joke that my mom never has pictures of my nephew on display at her house.  I take tons of pictures of my spoiled nieces, but not so much Jamie.  Easter was the day!  I am also excited that Jamie is going to the beach with us again this year.

 Now interspersed with Thomas is Bob the Builder.  It's such a relief!

 Last year we didn't renew our zoo membership, but this year my mom gave us some money for Easter that we used for our pass.  Nash doesn't obviously remember the zoo so it was fun to do it all over again with him.  Before we got there he was worried the animals would bite him.  :) The tulips are plentiful and amazing. Looks like we'll have lots of fun this year.

Check out the post below for our camping adventures!  Two for the price of one.  :)

The "Danger, Camping" Glasers Go Camping

 We went camping for two nights in Hocking Hills, Ohio over Brooke's Spring Break.  It took us 2.5 hours to get there from our house, but it was totally worth the drive.  Just ask Nash...

 or maybe not.  He really does go from being deliriously happy to downright fuming.  It comes with the territory when you're newly 3. It might also have to do with traveling at nap time.

 We left on Wednesday around 10:30 after breakfast and packing the car.  We drove right to the park where we did two different hikes before checking in at the campground.  Anyone want to buy a slightly dented Honda Odyssey that may or may not squeal?  We'll give you a good deal.

 Rock skipping lessons from the master.

 I really had very low expectations for this trip not because I thought it would suck but because I just wanted to be outside for a while.  I was shocked to find that the reality far exceeded anything I could have imagined.  I was awestruck by our first hike to Ash Cave and from there it just kept getting better.  I had tears in my eyes as I descended down the trail into this gorge. I just kept thinking that God made this for our enjoyment because He could.  The Glory Be prayer kept playing over and over in my mind and in my heart.  I was so thankful to get to experience nature this beautiful.

 Awestruck.

 There was a nice couple who offered to take our picture.  Apparently there was a "Shoot the Hills" photography contest going on while we were there.  Some lady told me about it on our last cave and I just smiled and nodded because I was secretly peeved that something was not right with my camera settings.  I couldn't figure out why so many were over exposed until we were exiting our last hike when I realized that basically my camera was set in portrait mode because that's what I usually shoot! Literally, walking out.   I was so ticked and trying not to dwell figuring that Lightroom would fix some of my mistakes.  The perfectionist in me wants to throw myself on the ground and have a little temper tantrum, but the mom of 4 in me just let it go because life it too short and things are rarely perfect.

 All the fresh air must have gone to Brooke's head because I cannot recall a recent time where Brooke ever willingly kissed and hugged Stella. Brooke is not Stella's biggest fan for some reason.

 We took in two hikes on the way into "town" so we didn't have to pay extra to check in to our cabin before 4 PM.  It was a great plan and it got us all excited to get up and do it all over again the next day.  The hikes were relatively short, each one about a mile round trip.  The terrain was sometimes easy and sometimes pretty strenuous.  Nash walked the whole way the first day and then we carried him a little the next.  Brooke and Luke were so excited that they prattled on how we were born to hike and how our middle names should be "Camping" and/or "Danger" (the danger part because some parts of the hike were a little adventuresome for our little people and one mom who is apparently afraid of heights). They were so cute!

 So the campground didn't turn out to be exactly what was represented on the Internet.  I suppose I should have at least expected this but, none the less, I was surprised that it was much dumpier than planned.  The hilarious part is that it ended up being perfect for what we needed! There are too many discrepancies to recount here, but I don't think Mark and I will forget all the funny things that turned out different than we expected. Above, Brooke and Luke are hauling firewood off the trail that went behind our cabin.

 Behold, our sleeping quarters!  Yes, it looks like a pile, but it suited our needs with a space heater, a toilet, and enough beds for us all.  There were two bunk beds, a single over a queen in which Mark slept with Brooke and Stella over top and then Nash and I shacked up and Luke was over us.  We brought our sound sleep machine and we all slept as well as can be expected if you don't count Nash waking up at 3 AM saying it's too scary both nights.  I am so glad we decided against tent camping because the first night it got COLD.

 The kids had a blast playing at the playground located almost across from our site.  We also brought bikes and they had such a good time riding around the gravel roads.  The first night we were all alone expect for the very nice campground hosts, but the next night lots more people showed up which kind of surprised us all things considered.

 The bath house (left) was reported as "new" and "modern".  I will go with freshly painted and clean.

 Our food was very good thanks to some of Mark's Troops of St. George camping experience, my planning and some successful experiments.  I think food just tastes better when camping because the expectations are lower too.  :)

 The campground host showed us this nest of eggs from a pair of Killdeer birds.  We got one on one special treatment since there was no one there on Wednesday night.  :)

 One of the waterfalls of Old Man's Cave.

 I wanted to pinch myself hiking these trails because the care and construction of bridges and walkways to make it possible to enjoy the sights were a work of art themselves.

 We hiked a lot of stairs.  It was so awesome that Nash walked most of them because he would have been a load tripping up and down the many stairways.

 We walked a few rim trails only to find we preferred the gorge trails because we didn't have to worry about losing people over the edge.  It was very nerve wracking for me a few times.  It's partly because kids are just clumsy.  Everyone but Luke feel flat on their faces at least once.  I prayed the Guardian Angel prayer aloud several times.  :)

 When I told Nash he was a good little hiker, he said, "No, I big!".  Here the big hiker was starting to melt on day two.

 Our last hike of our trip was to a place called Rock House.  It was supposed to be the shortest but most intense hike we took. It ended up being long and intense because we passed the entrance to the cave and had to go back! No one was in the cave at the time and when the kids started to venture "off" trail Mark made sure that everyone followed the rules and we soldiered on.  When we got to back to the top, we realized that we totally missed the entrance and that the place the kids wanted to explore was actually the Rock House itself!  At one point I was so worried about falling to my death or the kids that I felt a little ill.  It all ended well with only a splinter and a few minor boo-boos.

 I usually carry Nash because I'm smaller and the carrier fits me better, but I was too tired on the last hike and Nash kept saying from Mark's back, "It's too squishy in here!".

 The Rock House was so spectacular, but I might have enjoyed it more if I wasn't fuming over the camera issue.

Right as we exited, I said a little prayer and into my head pop the reason for the malfunction.  Stupid me, I should have sought divine intervention in the first place!

We had an incredible time (even with Brooke hanging on by a thread at times) and we can't wait to go hiking and camping again.  Mark said the problem is that we can't just settle for some regular hiking when we've just done something so exciting.  We give Hocking Hills two thumbs up!