Artistic Endeavors

The girls wanted to paint, so of course the boy wanted to, too.

And here's a little-known secret: Mr. Einstein is quite artistic, too.

Spring Break

This is quite possibly the first spring break since E was born that I haven't actually wanted my husband to go back to work. Usually he's quite the task master during spring break, because thingsmustbedone.

And they always are done. And this year they were all done, too. But it was nicer, more relaxed. The kids are getting older, the landscaping is getting maturer, and the weather is getting nicer, all making for a nearly-perfect spring break.

Mr. Einstein finished his National Teacher Board portfolio and mailed it off (yippee!) We had E's birthday party at the bounce house with homemade knock-off Oreo ice cream cake (yummy!) at home.

We went to Seattle to visit family and Ikea (love!) and bought some new armchairs. We rearranged some furniture, and our house finally feels comfortable and looks like grown ups live here.

We did some weeding and some pulling. I dug up tons of nasty aster plants in our front planter and, sadly, had to throw some of my beloved day lilies away with them. Mr. Einstein mowed the lawn for the first time this year and got the sprinkler system all ready.

We bought seeds for the garden we're going to put in this year and replaced some weather-stripping (stupid cats).

I started to organize all my recipes online (yay!) and made a huge donation of baby stuff to the crisis pregnancy center here in town.

We filed our taxes. Yes, we are that family.

We spent Saturday in Leavenworth "hiking" along the river. We had a blast! I think we're going to start making hiking our family activity, assuming we can find some good, easy trails out here. The kids had a wonderful time, and so did Mr. Einstein and I. It was overcast and warm, but not humid. It was so relaxing, and we randomly ran into quite a few people we know. Small world! One person we hadn't seen since college. (That's more than 10 years ago!!!)

Sunday afternoon we went to Potholes State Park and hung out with some friends from church grilling hot dogs and watching our kids play (18 kids among 4 families!). The wind blew, the rain fell, but we had so much fun! What a perfect ending to a wonderful week!

And because I like to post pictures, here are a few from our day in Leavenworth. All are unedited, straight from the camera. I liked the muted colors, so I left them.

August 25

August 25, 1970-something.

Mr. Einstein was born.

He came into the world, though not willingly.

(This explains a lot. Trust me.)

And though the bond between mother and child is strong, the bond between Mr. Einstein and his mother is even stronger.

For not only was Mr. Einstein born on August 25, he was also born on his mother's birthday.

Happy Birthday to my handsome husband!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother-in-law!

When Life Must Go On

October was a rough month, and though nothing happened to me and mine, we felt things very deeply that month. And still do.

On October 18th, a beautiful baby boy was born to friends of ours. On October 20th, he went to be with Jesus, leaving his mom, dad, and brother behind. He had some complications at birth, but doctors are calling it a "medical mystery" as to why he died.

On October 20th, the husband of another friend was admitted to the hospital with complications from pneumonia brought on by H1N1. He was comatose, though showing signs of improving. On October 31st, he went to be with Jesus, leaving behind a wife, two sons, and an adopted daughter. He was the sole breadwinner in his family, for almost 10 years traveling across the pass every week to go to work and traveling home every weekend to see his family.

Also on October 20th, Mr. Einstein's beloved grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. He's in his 80's, the darling of his family. It's the same kind of lung cancer Mr. Einstein's other grandfather died from years ago, caused by asbestos. He's undergoing chemo, but is having problems after his first treatment.

So much tragedy in so little time. So many mind-shifts. So many things taken for granted. So many opportunities missed and so much insight gained.

Life must go on.

And it does.

The baby boy's family? They've found comfort in Jesus and are still feeling blessed by the very little time their son was a part of their lives.

The widow and her kids? They are clinging to God's promises of eternal life, knowing they will see their husband and father again someday.

Mr. Einstein's family? Those who pray are doing so diligently. Other than that, there is much impatience, much waiting. Plans have been changed, have become fluid. No one knows what the future holds.

But life must go. And it does.

And it will continue to do so.

Yes, I Am Fully Aware New Year's Has Come and Gone

I am so behind the times!

We spent a wonderful New Year's week up in Lake Wenatchee with lots of family.
The 5 of us, Prince Charming's parents, my parents, Prince Charming's brother and sister-in-law, and her parents all lived cozily together in a beautiful lodge for 5 days.

There was snow galore! So much snow, in fact, there we were a little worried we might actually be snowed in. Well, not us; we didn't have to cross the passes to get home.
There was so much snow that we actually lost satellite reception on New Year's Day.

Yep. No football for us. At least not until evening.

That's okay. We had fun anyway.
We ate way too much food and drank way too much wine.
We played cards and games.
We watched TV.
We chatted in front of roaring fires.
We napped and worked on puzzles.
We sledded.

It was a wonderful week, and we're definitely doing it again next year!
In fact, we've already got it booked.

Now if only my sister and her fiance would join us...

The first evening there, we had another Christmas.

The girls opened presents...




...while the adults took pictures.

The rest of the week, we sledded.

And Sleeping Beauty refused to keep her mittens on.

Here's the gang.
One would think that with 10 adults in the room, at least one of them would think to turn some lights on while we took group pictures.
We didn't.

I'm already looking forward to 2010 to do it all again!