Summer Begins

Summer officially began a couple days ago, but our "summer" has been in full swing for four weeks already!  One of the great things about homeschooling is we can pick our own start and stop dates.  And it's been so nice to be done!!  I think I'm more excited about summer break than the kids are!

The most exciting thing that's happened so far this summer is that I had a "mom work day."  A few of us moms at church are swapping kids on various days so we can each have a day to ourselves.  And let me tell you--it was glorious!  I had about 9 hours all to myself.  I worked on my list of projects, and actually got them all done, believe it or not!  For that entire day I worked uninterrupted. . . no breaking up fights, no feeding or changing or disciplining children, no one interrupting me to whine or tattle or say they're bored or hungry, no one making messes, no one making me lose my train of thought or leave a trail of unfinished work behind me.  It was truly wonderful!  Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids!  And I even enjoy being with them.  But having uninterrupted time to myself is a very rare thing, and it was truly a blessing.  I have two other days like this planned and can't wait to see what all I get done!  :)

The other exciting thing we've been doing is Park Quest.  I hesitate to blog about it because the more people know about it, the more competition to get in!  So, Marylanders, cover your ears.  :)  They only allow 1,000 families to register.  I registered three minutes after it opened, and I was number 600!  I'm so thankful we made it though.  This program gives you a "passport" for the state parks, and you try to go to at least 10 of them throughout the summer, completing a "quest" at each one.  And the passport gets you into the parks free!  I couldn't ask for a better use of our tax money!  We've done four parks so far, and it's been a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures:

at Sandy Point State Park overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay Bridge

at Cunningham Falls State Park (with our friends the Slades)

at Assateague State Park

 

at Gunpowder Falls State Park (We got to play in the stream for this one!  Very fun!)

Assateague is right on the beach, about 3 hours away from us.  So this was our beach day trip for the summer.  After our "quest" we spent the rest of the day on the beach.  One of the nice features about Assateague is the wild ponies that wander the area.  At least I USED to think it was a nice feature.  Now I'm not so sure.  The ponies are not afraid of people.  Not one iota.  And they're smart too.  You're not allowed to feed them.  OK, that's fine.  But just what do you do when they decide to help themselves?!  These two hooligans pictured actually stole a bag of my sister-in-law Bekah's homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Out of the cooler!  The cooler was completely shut, but it had a broken hinge, and the ponies managed to push the lid open, grab the cookies and eat them right in front of us.  There are warnings and pictures of the bites they can inflict, and you're not allowed to "harass" them, so what were we to do?  We basically stood helplessly while they ate the delicious cookies right in front of us!  It was pretty funny, but if I had baked those cookies I think I'd be a little mad at their demise!  It was a very fun day though, and we all had a great time.

the Pony theives

Oh, one more exciting event is that Rayanna is potty training!  While I despise the process, I'm thrilled that soon it will be over.  I can't wait to not have to buy diapers ever again!!  Tabitha's medical issues in that area have shown some improvement, so I'm hopeful that one day we might not need pull-ups either, and maybe I won't need to have any involvement in anyone else's bathroom procedures ever again.  Let's hope so anyway.

So that's the start to our summer.  I love having more downtime, but somehow there's still plenty to do.  It's no wonder I often feel like there aren't enough hours in the day when we have school to do as well!  Some other things we're looking forward to this summer . . . Our church Day Camp is this week.  We're hosting another Latvian chaperon for the orphan hosting program; she comes this Thursday for a week.  Tabitha and I will take a trip to Cincinnati for tests to see if her last surgery was successful.  My sister Carrie will come visit for a few days.  The kids are taking some fun classes.  And hopefully we'll have plenty of time to relax.  It's already hot enough that I'm wishing for fall, but I'm also very happy to be enjoying some time off.  Long live Summer Break!

Absent from the Body, but Present with the Lord

Heath's grandmother, Lillian Runkles, passed away today.  I'm thankful that our children and I had the chance to know her these past several years.  She will be greatly missed, but we are thankful to know that she's in a better place and will be spending this Christmas with her Savior.  

Thanksgiving Week

Last week was a busy, crazy, but good one for us!  On Monday Tabitha and I drove out to Cincinnati, and the kids stayed at Heath's parents' while he was working.  She had a quick surgery on Tuesday to remove the stents in her kidneys and the tube and urine bag (hallelujah!).  Everything went well with the surgery, except that the next day we met with her doctor and found out she had a kidney infection.  So now she's on antibiotics every 8 hours until Sunday.  We'll get a renal ultrasound done here, send it to her doctor in Cincinnati, and hopefully everything will be fine.  

So now we're back to her usual routine--cathing every 4 hours and a daily hour-long enema.  Using her new Malone is much nicer than the old way of doing the enemas.  She can do the whole procedure sitting on the toilet instead of on the floor.  Hopefully she'll learn to do it by herself in the near future too.  Once she's off the antibiotics we're hoping for complete success with the enemas so that she can get out of pull-ups.  That is the worst part of all her problems.  Those of you who pray for us, please just pray that her body cooperates and she's able to stay clean and wear normal underwear.

Wednesday Tab and I came back home.  Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we had a fun day with Heath's side of the family!  That evening, my side of the family arrived at our house.  We had a second Thanksgiving on Friday, so needless to say....we've had plenty to eat lately!  It was a great weekend of fun with them, and they headed home Monday morning.  

Much to be thankful for!

Prince Edward Island

Heath's mom an I just got back from a trip to one of the most beautiful places on earth!  Prince Edward Island, famous for red sand beaches and Anne of Green Gables.  Hardly any people, sunny and 75-ish degrees, perfectly amazing.

For four peaceful days, we marveled at God's gorgeous creation and soaked in the beautiful weather.  We enjoyed lobster, raspberry cordial, and delicious breakfasts at our B&B (called "Kindred Spirits" of course),  We also learned a lot about LM Montgomery (author of the Anne books).  It was a very relaxing trip.  Rather than ramble on about it, I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Christmas Blessings

We've had an eventful Christmas week!  We were with Heath's extended family on Christmas Eve.  Then on Christmas Day we had our own family time in the morning, went to church together, and then spent the rest of the day with Heath's immediate family.

the kids with Mommom & Granddad Runkles

The next morning we left for North Carolina to be with the Stuenzi side of the family at the beach.  Just before leaving, we found out that my aunt Lisa, who's been struggling with cancer, had gone to the ER Christmas morning.  While we were driving we found out more information and it looked pretty bad, like she might not even make it.  My grandparents and all their kids had gone to the hospital in Charlotte to be with her, but the rest of the family (about 40 people) were still at the beach so we kept going.  It was a scary time for everyone, wondering how things would turn out for Lisa.  The next morning Lisa had surgery, and it went wonderfully!  It was such a relief that it went well, and such a blessing that the family could be together, and many of them be with her during this time.  We all live scattered all over the country, so having this happen at a time we were all coming together anyway turned out to be a blessing, even if it's not something you want to happen at Christmas!  You can read her story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisastuenzi.  It's not over yet, and we certainly appreciate your prayer for her.

We all had a good time at the beach.  It was full of the usual chaos, noise, fun, games, food, and fellowship.  I'm so glad we got to go, but I sure am tired out from it all!  We came home yesterday (New Year's Eve) and were in bed by 10:30.  I normally love celebrating and counting down on New Year's Eve, but we were exhausted!   

Rayanna's first beach experience (She wasn't too thrilled about the sand.)

Rayanna trying out Grandpa's glasses

Tabitha with Great Grandpa

Stacy, Tammy, and Debbie playing some strange late-night card game

As we end 2011 I'm so thankful for all the blessings God has given us and all the things He's brought us through.  As we start 2012, I'm looking forward to a fresh start and a year full of new adventures.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Thanksgiving and "Christmas Tree Day"

We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving and so much to be thankful for!  We had our traditional pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, and then made our "thankfulness pages".  We started doing this when the boys were really little.  We each decorate a piece of paper with pictures, words, poems, or whatever we want, to tell what we're thankful for that year, and then I save them all in a notebook.  It's fun to re-read the old ones, like when Jesse was thankful for scissors and Ethan was thankful for the number 9.  =)  After a relaxing morning at home watching the parade and dog show, we went to Heath's grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner.  We ate way too much delicious food, but it was a nice time visiting with the relatives on that side of the family.

Each year, for as long as I can remember, the day after Thanksgiving has been "Christmas Tree Day."  When I was little that was how my family did it, and we've carried on the same tradition with our kids.  This was Rayanna's first Christmas-Tree-Day experience of course.  But it was kind of anti-climactic.  She didn't really even care!  The good news is she hasn't been attacking the tree ornaments like I thought she would.  We had a lot of fun getting all the decorations up, and thankfully there was no Stink-bug Surprise awaiting us this year like there was last year.   =)

I found a cute little advent plan online that we started December 1st.  Each night we read a Bible passage or a book and do a little activity or craft.  Then we open that day's door on our nativity calendar and take out the miniature ornament inside.  And at the end everyone gets a piece of candy.  The kids love the special routine, and I have to admit, I do too!  Today we started making some Christmas treats, and of course I have Christmas music playing most of the day to set the mood.  In those rare moments when it works and everyone's getting along and feeling the holiday cheer, it's delightful!

Now, if we could just get some snow . . .

One Week From Now!

One week from now Heath and I will be on our way to China!  I'm sure I'll be feeling a lot of things at this moment....exhaustion (because I'm sure I won't sleep much the night before), sadness at leaving the kids behind, gratitude for my in-laws and the fact that for 12 days I don't have to empty any ostomy bags or break up any fights, excitement and nervousness at meeting our new daughter!

Although this trip will be very similar to the last one (pictured here), there are some big differences too.

Obviously, since it's just Heath and me going this time the dynamics will be very different.  Probably easier than last time, but also lonelier.  It was very special to have our whole family together to welcome Tabitha into it, and to have Stephanie (Heath's mom) and Amy (Heath's cousin) sharing that with us.  This time it'll just be us, and we won't be able to take a "new family" picture until we get home.  On the other hand, we'll have plenty of time to focus on Rayanna, and I imagine the whole 12 days will be a lot more peaceful than it was last time.  =)  

I know we have so many people praying for us, and we are so thankful for each one of you!  Please also remember to pray for the kids, that they'd do OK being away from us for so long.  (The longest we've left them before is 3 days.)  And pray for Bob & Stephanie a lot!  They're about to be suddenly back to the stage of life they were in 20-30 years ago, parenting young children!  Pray especially for Stephanie, since she'll be handling Tabitha's medical care.  Just pray that no complications come up while we're gone.  And of course, pray that our kids behave like the perfect little angels they are (ha ha ha), and Mommom and Granddad aren't done-in by this adventure! 

We're still waiting on our itinerary.  We don't even know which day we're meeting Rayanna, or any of our in-country travel times.  Our agency promised to have it to us next Monday at the latest, but I'm going crazy!  If this were a normal vacation trip, I would've had every day planned out months ago.  So having to wait until 5 days before we leave to know what we're actually doing is killing me!!  Not to mention, we only have a "cost estimate" and don't know the actual price until then either!  Oh well, I guess it's good for me to just go with the flow and learn to relax.  I'm sure they'll get it all figured out and we'll have a great time.  =)

I still have some shopping to do, and lots of packing, but I'm getting there.  We should be ready on time, and hopefully without forgetting anything important.  On Friday evening we'll bring the kids to Heath's parents, and we'll spend the night there too since we'll have to leave for the airport at 3 am or something like that!  So my goal is to have everything ready by Thursday, so that Friday we just throw in the last-minute items and can relax and have fun together before we go.  

I doubt I'll be blogging again before we leave, so plan on my next post being from the land of Zhong Guo!!  Zai jian for now!  =)

A-Hunting He Will Go

Much to my dismay Ethan has taken an interest in his Granddad's favorite pastime--hunting. Now don't get me wrong....I'm not philosophically opposed to hunting, and I don't worry too much about his safety. I'd just rather not think about where my hamburger or the gobs of meat on the pizza I had last night came from! It makes me sad to inflict pain on poor, innocent animals. And sitting out perfectly still for hours, usually in the freezing cold and/or the dark, probably with plenty of mosquitoes, waiting for the right animal to wander by, hoping you hit it, tracking it down and then hauling it out of the woods? No thanks! BUT, Ethan went out all day with Heath's dad last week, and he LOVED it! Not only did he shoot and kill the groundhog in the picture here with a perfect shot, he also shot a deer! A REAL DEER! I've never even hit one with my car, let alone with a bullet from 245 yards away! But he did it. Oh, in case you don't know us personally . . . Ethan is 6. Yes, 6 years old. I thought he'd start hunting when he was maybe 12 or so, but it seems I've been overruled. =)

Despite the maternal feeling that I need to hold him back from such traumatic sports, I really am happy that he enjoys it so much, and that he has a hobby to share with his Granddad and can build a close relationship with him.

Sorry, Bambi and friends.

10 Years

Yesterday Heath and I celebrated the completion of our first decade of marriage! Hard to believe we're that old already! We got to go out to dinner at a restaurant we hadn't gone to since the early days of our marriage (thanks to babysitting from Matt & Bekah!) =)

We also opened our 10-year "time capsule." Do any of you who were at our wedding remember filling out your guesses as to what our lives would be like in 10 years? Well, we really left them sealed up without sneaking a peak all this time, and yesterday we read them. Some people were pretty close, and some....not so much. In case you're interested in seeing who was right, here are the questions and the names of those who got them right.

Where will we be living? (Maryland) Suzi Creps, Stephanie Runkles, Beth Barch, Grandmom Taylor, Dan & Carolyn Sigmon, Tod & Lisa Lipman, Deb Spink, Amanda Trietley, Jessica Stuenzi, Valerie Hurley, Anonymous.

How many kids will we have? (3) Steve Napolitan, Greg Williamson, Phil Dennison, Stephen Stuenzi.

What kind of cars will we have? (F250 and MPV) The only ones who got BOTH vehicles correct (though they only said minivan and truck) were Kevin Williamson and Will Allen.

What will our favorite date activity be? (going out to dinner) Kathy Palese, Dan & Carolyn Sigmon, Anonymous. Greg Williamson had a very true answer as well--"getting away from the kids." =)

What will our favorite hobbies be? (Heath--working on his truck; Erin--reading and sleeping....do those count as hobbies?) No one got this totally right, but Valerie Hurley and Will Allen did write "sleeping", so I think that counts for mine anyway. :)

What will we look like? My favorite close answer was Will Allen's: "Heath will have a bald spot [Um, that spot takes up his entire head] and Erin will be "as beautiful as now." Aw, thanks Will. =)

Where will our favorite vacation spot be? This one doesn't have a winner because we don't know what the answer is! We've been lots of great places and hope to go to many more!

How will we be involved in our local church? (Heath plays guitar in the worship service, and he is also helping to finish some interior things on our brand new building!; I work with kids' classes and occasionally play keyboard and also work in Awana) These people got at least one of those things correct and added nothing incorrect: Dan & Carolyn Sigmon, Paul Best, Lori Wells, Stephanie Runkles, Josh Monge, Jessica Stuenzi.

There were many other answers; some were quite--shall we say--creative. I don't have time to list them all, but to all of you who filled those out....thanks! It was great to read, reminisce, and laugh at all the answers and all that's gone on in the past 10 years of our life together. Thanks for being a part of our wedding day and our lives--whether that was more than a decade ago or currently. We appreciate each one of you.

Heath, thanks for being such an awesome husband for these past 10 years. I love you. Only 14 days until our Anniversary Cruise! Yippee! =)

Beach Trip!

We had our one-day summer vacation this week! We drove to Fenwick Island (the beach just north of Ocean City), which is about 3 hours from our house. We spent several hours there and then drove home. We've never done a one-day trip like that before. It was a long day, but very worth it. The kids had a blast! Heath's mom came with us too, which was really nice (and made it easier to keep the kids from floating out to sea). The boys loved the waves and were fearless playing in the water.

Tabitha, on the other hand, was terrified of the sand, the water, the waves, the seagulls, and probably a few other things. But after awhile she did get brave enough to step off the blanket and play with a bucket of water and some sand toys. And I did hold her on my lap and sit down at the edge of the surf and make her at least touch the water. You can't go all the way to the ocean and not touch it! This was her first time at the beach, (if you don't count the 15 minutes we spent on the North Carolina beach last December when it was 40 degrees).

After getting nicely sunburned (Heath missed a big spot in the middle of his back when putting on sunscreen) we went out to dinner, took a short walk on the boardwalk at Bethany Beach, and came home. It was really a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got to go--even if it was only for a day.

Happy Birthday to Tabitha! (and me!)

Tomorrow Tabitha turns 3. It's hard to believe she can be that old already! It's a bit of mixed emotions for me because we're celebrating her 3 years of life, and yet we've only been a part of her life for the last 6 months. She's already on her 3rd birthday, and yet we're just getting to know her. I guess there will always be a part of me that grieves the loss of knowing her during her first 2 and 1/2 years, but then I remind myself of her birth parents and the grief they must feel. I know we are truly the blessed ones in this situation.

Yesterday we had her birthday party. (My mixer broke in the process of making the cake frosting. Heath's remedy is pictured above. I'm not sure whether to say "Necessity is the mother of invention" or "You might be a redneck if . . ." Anyway, it all worked out, and the cake was ready in plenty of time.) I'm not sure Tabitha really knew what "birthday party" means, but every time we mentioned it she'd get all excited and say "Yay!!" Ethan and Jesse helped decorate while Tabitha took her nap, and all 3 of the kids were quite wild waiting for the party to start! She did great opening her presents and blowing out her candles, and she really enjoyed all the festivities. We saved the presents from Heath and me to give her tomorrow on her actual birthday, and we'll probably sing again and have leftover cake. She's going to think every day's a party, especially since mine was today too!

Yes, today was both Mother's Day and my birthday. So it was doubly special! Heath and the kids showered me with gifts and kindness all day. I got a new mixer so I no longer have to use the drill, a photo album, a new alarm clock since mine broke, and framed drawings from Ethan. (He's becoming quite the artist!) Heath did pretty much everything all day, and I just relaxed! We also went over to his parents' house to see his mom. And my dear family left the Happy Birthday song on the answering machine, complete with cha-cha-cha's. (Thanks everybody.) =)

Yes, it was a very good day. It's official that I'm old now though. This morning the kids all came into our bed, and Heath said, "Mommy's older than Daddy now!" (which is true for about 33 days). And, very nonchalantly, good ol' Jesse commented, "Mom, you're going to die soon." He didn't seem especially worried about it...just stating the obvious facts since I'm old now. I guess he forgot my age within a couple hours though because the teachers had the kids make mother's day cards at church, and in answer to the question, "How old is Mommy?" his card said "12." So I guess I might last a few more years after all.