Wish he were mine...

Hannah holding 3 week old Andrew. He is Maggie (my friend from college) and Eric's 2nd son.
Mini-reunion...we had a great time together...hard to believe it's been 10 years since our college days! Not much has changed...we are still the same in so many ways!
I've been trying to get all the photos from Yellowstone in my scrapbook. Doing all 8.5 x 11" pages these days. How do you like that gigantic polka-dot "i"?

Curious incident of the dog in the night-time....a book

That's the book I'm delving into next...I'm currently taking a class called "Exceptional Children" every Tues and Thurs, so I drive straight there from the nursery school. Then, go home to my dear husband (who has been cleaning house...XOXOXO) and homeschooling our girls and when he leaves for work, I take over.Seems like we know so many people who've had a baby recently...here, Olivia is holding 7-day old Bridget, her newest cousin. Saturday, my Aunt Sarah had a baby boy, Gideon. And tomorrow, we go to visit my college roommate, who had her son, Andrew 2 weeks ago...
Isn't that SO darling? Found it at: http://www.bakerella.com/ One of my favorite websites...scrumptious recipes! Lots of great party (for tea, a birthday or holiday) inspiration.

2 weeks ago today I was in the hospital...I feel so much better now, but kinda wonder what my life will be like without my appendix. I do believe it has a purpose, although it is a mystery. God does everything for a reason.

Homeschooling

When we got our boxes from K12, Hannah said "This is like Christmas!" She opened up box after box of text books, paints & brushes, oil pastels, prints (she's holding one of St. Basil's cathedral for her art class), goggles, a beaker, magnifying glass, compass, globe, tambourine...Olivia got a slide flute, a scale, math counters, books (Tales of Amanda Pig, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Frog and Toad, etc.), dry erase markers and board...and more. This week, we looked at paintings (the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, for example) by several artists and talked about what makes a portrait. Then, the girls each had to do a self-portrait. I highly recommend this homeschooling curriculum...we LOVE it, so far!
So sad...we discovered our monarch butterfly dead in the potted mum on our front porch. I wonder if she tried to fly and got trapped in there, or what? I think we learned some good things about life and death, throughout this whole experience.
Just to let you know, I had a follow-up appointment today with the surgeon. My 3 little incisions from the appendectomy are healing up nicely. The doctor took off the steri-strips...no stitches at all. Unfortunately, while on amoxicillin, it's common to develop a yeast infection...so I'm dealing with that right now. Everyday I feel better. This has made me more sympathetic towards others who are undergoing surgery! I thank God I'm alive. I read this article by Dr Mercola on the appendix...very interesting! It is not a useless organ.

I'm on the mend...

{giveaway} NEWS...Xenia, expect some mail soon,
YOU are the winner of the handmade coin purse! This was our table at the Russian Fest, Rob took a turn there...I was happy to see while I sang folk songs he started making "matroshka" cards...he's quite the artist.

Shortly after the fest, I began to feel stomach pains, thought it was gas...but it persisted and I ran a fever. Sunday I tried to go to church, then finally Monday night went to the ER. At 3am Tuesday after drinking "contrast" (awful stuff that makes your insides glow), I had a CT scan, which revealed I had appendicitis and a minor perforation. So, at 7am I was moved into the surgery room...

Wednesday, I discovered I cannot have vicodin, had a horrible reaction (panic attack, strained my stomach muscles, blurred vision, dismal thoughts, I prayed through it all, but just felt like I was going crazy). Hannah took that photo of me above Thursday, yesterday, when we got home. I have ice packs on my belly. It really hurts when I cough or laugh.
I'm so happy to be home. I'm thankful for my wonderful family and friends, who've brought over food, flowers and helped out with watching the girls. Rob took yesterday off work, but went back today.
Saw an empty chrysalis when we got home...discovered the new, wet, crumpled butterfly and Rob helped her get outside so she could dry her wings...guess she flew away. I loved seeing the cycle of life!

We're babysitting a turtle...

Tomorrow is the Russian Fest and here are some of the goodies I've made to sell:...lots of piroshki. I've used the leftover egg whites to make some meringues and coconut macaroons...yum!I've been crocheting and sewing some yo-yo's with buttons and such...to make some hair clips:
This is the preschool class pet...a 3 inch red ear slider turtle...who we are watching for the weekend! I am enjoying being back at work (just 20 hours/week)...I get a lot more done at home, too!
We're homeschooling Hannah and Olivia again this year. Things are going okay...we're going to give this a try!

A chrysalis...on our piano

This is how our caterpillar (who Olivia named "Milkweed") looked last night...
...and this is what we saw when we woke up this morning!!! The vase (of now dying flowers) is on our piano.

Short hair...

Just a few more days...til I announce the winner of the {giveaway} for the purple corduroy change purse!
Our caterpillar has been growing and growing...this morning it seems to have attached itself onto one of the branches, like it's going to hang there and turn into a chrysalis!We celebrated the Dormition last week, almost everyone was wearing blue in church. One woman brought lots of beautiful flowers to put on the icons...

The smallest pumpkin in our patch this year...I wanted to give it to Isaac (my sister's baby), but Hannah and Olivia can't part with it.

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Oh, and did you notice the haircuts? Olivia had 10 inches cut off and Hannah had 12 inches cut off...donated to Locks of Love!