Random Musings

Recent Blessings:
- A Saturday where I had nothing scheduled except a potluck and pantry swap (swapping extra canned goods with others). My friend Sian hosted a fantastically tasty potluck and I got to trade some of my extras for goodies like blueberry jam, rhubarb ginger marmelade, and bread and butter pickles! I didn't feel rushed to leave and could really just enjoy the conversation. Note to self- quit overscheduling. :)
- I have been hitting the thrift store circuit and scoring big on shoes! I think I purchased something like 10 pairs. It has enabled me to get rid of some that really had seen their day. I've also gotten a bunch of clothes and all of it at 30-50% off the marked (thrift store) price!
- My mom continues to babysit Mirabel almost every Friday and I get a date night with my hubby.
- Mirabel is liking school instead of pulling fake sick days. Since we figured it out and did some intervention, she hasn't missed a day. My vacation balance and work schedule are happy about this.

Funny Mirabel Story:

When in the car, we sing songs to pass the time. A favorite is the Wheels on the Bus. Because I can't handle the same verses again and again, I started making up verses. The doors on the bus open and shut, the dogs on the bus go bark, bark, bark, and so on. Last week, I started singing the Mirabels on the bus go (wait for M to answer) and without missing a beat she said "I'm so cute! I'm so cute! I'm so cute!" Trying hard not to laugh, I asked what the Paulinas on the bus said. (Paulina is our foreign exchange student.) They say "I'm so cute," too, in case you were wondering. Apparently, mommies and daddies and all adult women say "Shh, shh, shh" but uncles make odd noises (which is true for my brother and brothers-in-law) and Opas and Grandpas say "Ha, ha, ha."

It was also incredibly fun to come downstairs for our first winter wonderland (fortunately on a Saturday) and see her excited little face...Mommy...it's snowing Mommy, it's snowing!! Can I see it? Can I touch it? Can I eat it?

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Big, big, big BOOM!

We had a great 4th of July celebration yesterday- church, then a BBQ party after church, then hanging out at home, then off to the Party in the Park. Mirabel saw a few fireworks set off by individual households during the music session and was dancing all around, but when it came time for the real display, the booms scared her. Last year we watched the show from someone's yard, and it must have been far enough away that she could just enjoy the show without being scared of the sound.

We went to the park with my friend Lisa and it was great to be able to bike home faster than the cars! We finally tumbled into bed around 11:30...the latest she's been up since she was a little skipper!

(Note the excitement of my day...I bought an Old Navy tank top in 2003, which has been my goto shirt for the 4th ever since. I found a matching tank for Mirabel for 50 cents at a garage sale and it made me smile all day long.)

Getting Organized....

Just a quick post...big organizational changes at the Pestel home. I'm finally getting to cleaning the dungeon (uh, basement). Dave asked for it for his Christmas present and after 5 years here and having a kid, I'm finally ready to part with some of my clutter stuff. My dear friend Lisa came over today to help me out and we got a game plan together and went through all of my wrapping materials. I culled of at least 2/3rds of it, which I offered to people at our church. (We have a cool email list where you can give away things or put out a need and most of the time someone will take it or has what you need. A redistribution of things within the church body as it were.)

Dave's sister is coming over next weekend to help us rearrange our first floor (we don't feel like we really utilize two of the four rooms to their full extent possible) and I am so excited to get organized. I felt really overwhelmed but with these two ladies helping out I feel like I can finally do it!

In other news, we are still looking for someone to move in with us- no inquiries yet.

And a brief note...do not eat months old yogurt in a tube, even if it hasn't been opened. Those two ounces can harbor a lot of bacteria and make for a generally unpleasant night and following day. This is the first time I got food poisoning, and I did it to myself!!

There IS room at this inn....

We just found out that we will have both rental rooms open in our house come January. We have been trading rooms for part-time childcare, so with the opening in rooms comes a need for a sitter/s for Mirabel, too. We can make it through January on some stopgap measures, but will really need to have someone in here and able to sit by February.

So...if you or someone you know is interested in a swap, we trade two days of sitting/week in exchange for each bedroom. That includes all utilities (water, electric, sanitation, internet, basic phone line). If a married couple wanted to take both rooms, we could put up a door that blocks off the two rooms, hall, and bath to make a semi-private suite. We share the main living space. We can furnish the rooms.

Our ideal candidate is someone who is Christian and is willing to commit for 1 year, likes kids (Mirabel is now closing in on 20 months), and would like to live in a little community. We think this arrangement could work well for someone who is single and wants to have a couple of part-time jobs (one bedroom- work for us 2 days, another job for cash income), a married couple with one kid or without (there are two rooms- one for them, one for the kid, mom able to stay at home and earn the rent by sitting for Mirabel 4 days and still get one day a week and weekends by herself without Mirabel), a missionary couple/family on furlough (we have all the house stuff, rent is free in exchange for childcare, they'd just have to cover incidentals).

We would like someone who comes referred, since they would be living in our home and caring for our daughter. Let us know if you or someone you know might be interested. Thanks!

They dropped like flies....

My sister, Micaiah, and I were talking awhile back and thought it would be fun to go on a family weekend away. We haven't done this since we were all single (last family vacation was 10 years ago) and now that we have spouses and even some grandkids, we thought it would be nice. We made reservations at Heartwood, only to learn that my sister, Tirzah, and sister-in-law, Kat, got sick in the days just before we left. They didn't want to infect the rest of us, especially newborn Korbin, so they (and their husbands) stayed home. That meant the rest of us had to make more fun for ourselves, but we managed to do just that. And we just made reservations for Memorial Day weekend next year to (hopefully) get the whole family involved.

We had a lot of fun looking at the leaves, running around, playing games and talking inside the cabin, eating, and generally being away from the daily grind. Micaiah got more sleep than she does at home, Josh was very good at holding Korbin, my mom was in heaven getting to spend time with two grandbabies, and I enjoyed hearing my dad play guitar. Dave, Mirabel, and I went on a hike in beautiful weather and I am looking forward to returning when everyone is there.

Happy Halloween!

We had a nice Halloween yesterday. I love the dress up and imagination portion of the holiday (as well as the candy- who can turn down sweets?) Mirabel is still too young for candy, so she just dressed up and ran around. We sent her to a festival party with my parents and she loved looking at all the other costumes.

We went down to visit my sister, her husband and their new little baby, Korbin, who was born exactly 18 months after Mirabel. He's wearing the little pumpking tshirt and socks we got for him. He was a peapod for the evening (same costume that Mirabel wore last year.) What started as an odd family joke has now turned into a mini-streak. Let me explain. My brother's birthday is on May 22. He married someone whose birthday is on March 22, and they decided to get married on July 22, which was a Saturday the year they wed. They told me I should have my baby on the 22, which I actually did. (April). Now Korbin popped out on Oct 22. Kat (my sister-in-law) said she can't handle the pressure. They aren't expecting or anything, but it will be interesting to see if anyone else manages to get a 22nd birthday!

Anyway, Korbin is in the picture with us. Frankly, I can't imagine heading back into the newborn days right at the moment. My sisters are almost exactly 18 months apart and my mom had two other kids at home...but I'm just now feeling like I'm emerging from the baby fog tunnel and I would like to enjoy a little bit of time there before heading back in.

That's one way to lose the baby weight...

Mirabel shared her flu bug with me. She was sick last Thursday, and I had hoped it was just teething. Alas, on Sunday at church I was hit with a sick feeling which progressed into full fledged flu. I ended up losing 5 pounds between Sunday and this morning. I'm feeling a lot better than I was, though still a little under the weather. The nurse says I'm contagious through today so I'm not back at work until tomorrow.

I've gone through about 3 loads of laundry just from me and thank goodness for David and our nannies, Betsy and Dorene, who have kept things running and helped me out. I hope none of them get this bug!

I wouldn't recommend this as a diet plan but I am hoping I can keep the weight off...this gets me back to pre-pregnancy weight.

Blue Sky Guides and Odd Clothing Choices

I've been trying to sell out of 2009 Blue Sky Guides (coupon books that have an eco-focus). I'm a leader for my company's "Green Team" and this is a little fundraiser. The books normally sell for $20, but we are selling them for $7 since they expire the end of November. Sales have been decent, but we still have 16 left, and I'm trying to sell them however I can. (Craigslist has been a good outlet...) I'm stopping short of putting up a poster in our front yard or wearing a badge that says "Ask me about how to get your copy of the Blue Sky Guide" but I'm not that far away from those solutions. :)

My friend, Lisa, Mirabel and I went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival yesterday. We know several people who work/perform there, so we are typically able to get free tickets. Which makes the money we spend on food and trinkets a lot easier to swallow. We had fun eating and shopping our way through the fair, listening to Jeremy and Scott's band, hearing my brother-in-law, Adam's singing group, and people watching. My favorite outfit was the black underwire bra with some hand-sewn coin fringe. (I didn't notice what the person was wearing on the bottom, so taken aback was I by the top.) I worked at fest the first summer we moved here (15 years ago) and I was astonished by the fact that some of the very same performers are still there- including the fairy, Twig, who today is the picture at the top of their home page. I don't know how old she is, but I'm guessing she was at least 18 or 20 when I was there, and so she's probably at least my age now...

Mirabel rode in a little butterfly ride and was all smiles and she also enjoyed the petting zoo. (She also enjoyed eating dirt and putting all kinds of rocks in her mouth, but what kid doesn't like that?) We got tired out, dusty as all get out, and just a bit sunburned, but it was a very enjoyable day off.

Congratulations!

Weddings all around in these parts- congrats to my little sister, Micaiah, and her new husband, Josh, who got married in a ceremony at our house on August 4. We've never had a wedding here before- it was kind of fun. It was also very casual, as everyone, including the bride and groom wore pajamas. I didn't personally snap any pictures but we could try to find some.

Other than that, the last week of July we went up north and rented a couple of cabins with Dave's family. We had a lot of fun- the cousins entertained Mirabel, we were able to sleep in (Mirabel slept until 8am every day!) Then we came home and went to our nanny's wedding- congrats to Betsy and Jamie!

We also had fun hosting a neighborhood block party this past Saturday. Great turnout and who can go wrong with potluck food? Now we're enjoying the last lazy days of summer, though the mornings this week have been feeling more like fall.

Time flies....

Goodness, we've been busy with life. Nothing tremendous to report- but it's been a long while since I posted. Mirabel has been working on showcasing her personality lately. A funny story from yesterday- she signs several words (more, eat/food, please, milk, all done, washing hands, toothbrush, and cheese). Well, I was trying to feed her supper, which included some bananas mixed in yogurt and some cereal. She is not a fan of bananas with yogurt, though she'll gobble each independently. So, she was vigorously signing "all done" as I tried to get her to eat the yogurt. She tolerated the cereal. When I attempted to put some of her yogurt in the cereal and offered spoon with mostly cereal and a little yogurt, she watched me do it, took a sniff, and again signed "all done." I dumped that spoon, took only cereal, and the little bugger leaned forward, stuffed her nose in the spoon, and then lifted her face, smiled, and ate up. Then I gave her some sweet potatoes, which she really likes, but she pushed those away and started signing cheese. I told her she needed to eat some actual food before getting cheese, at which point she started double-fisting the sweet potatoes in her mouth and then emphatically signing cheese, cheese, please, please. What a happy little camper when the cheese finally came.

Things like this, laundry, working in the basement (got all the baby clothes organized!), helping alter our nanny's wedding dress, finding a new nanny to replace her when she moves out, work, processing cherries from the cherry tree, and other such things have been filling my days. Dave and I are looking forward to celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary this coming Sunday. And I'm attaching a picture of Mirabel at a recent Civil War outing and one from when she was 2 months old. Some people at church gave us their climber set, and Mirabel has spent many a happy hour playing on it.

Sweet retreat

David and I went away this weekend without Mirabel for the first time. We went to Heartwood (Thrivent members get half-price lodging and a bunch of free amenities like bike rental, hay rides, and river tubing). It was a lovely time away. We did a spiritual focus and Dave created some Bible studies (where we've been, where we are, where we're going). We try to get away two weekends a year and focus on some aspect of our relationship- spiritual, physical, intellectual, financial, emotional, and/or social. Many thanks to my mom and sister, Micaiah, or sitting Mirabel while we were away.

In other news, Mirabel is popping out tooth #5, getting dangerously close to walking, is signing several words (all done, milk, more, food), and she ramped up her "talking" although she doesn't really seem to be saying much (at least, not much that is understandable to us).

I'm very happy that warmer weather is on the way. I hope my tomato plants do well this year. Last year's were duds. I'm hoping for better crops this time around.

Happy Easter!

We had the opportunity to go to a Seder (Passover) meal at a Messianic Jewish congregation on Palm Sunday, which was a very fun experience. The whole meal throughout points to Jesus. We've participated in Seder meals before, so some of the things I knew. One new point was that the Passover lamb that was sacrificed was roasted, but not on a spit like we tend to think of today. It was upright, feet on the ground, head uppermost and a crossbeam put through its chest cavity to hold it open...just like a cross. Also, Jews today do not eat lamb at the passover meal because there isn't any temple and you can't have a lamb sacrifice.

Then we went to this congregation's service on Saturday (they stick with the original Sabbath day). Then to church on Sunday morning and then spent the day with Dave's family. It was a very enjoyable weekend. Attached pictures are me and Mirabel and Mirabel searching for Easter eggs. Her grandparents were nice enough to hide a string of orange eggs that were right on the edge of things, so she got to find 8 eggs without too much trouble. Her cousins spent the rest of the time running around finding the rest of the 70+ eggs that were hidden throughout the yard.

Also, our taxes are now filed (hooray!) and we're getting a nice refund back which will help pay for some new windows for the house.

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Sick of Snot

Mirabel has had a snotty head cold for what seems like forever...it appears to come with new teeth for her and we now have a bottom tooth to join her top two teeth. But I've also been sneezing and snotting myself for the past few days. This experience has reminded me of the little ditty from childhood - "Don't kiss your honey when your nose is runny, you might think it's funny, but it's (s)not."

We're trying to figure out where we'd like to go for a vacation and whether or not to take or leave Mirabel or try to travel with someone else. We've wanted to go to London for a long time, and with the dollar being stronger against the pound than it has been in a long while, it seems like a good time to travel. But if we went there, I'd want it to be for at least 10 days, which seems like a long time to leave our little one behind. So then the question is how to take her, or if we go somewhere else....has anyone else had this kind of experience? If we left her, she would be in our house, with her normal care providers, and we'd probably have them care for her in the evenings along with grandparents (who she knows). Other options would be Guatemala or somewhere else in central America. I've also heard there are some babysitters that you can hire in another country (e.g. associated with the hotel) but that seems a little odd to turn over your kid to a stranger in another country.

I'm getting a little cabin fever and am looking forward to warmer weather and more sunshine.

Ok...off to exercise and then off to bed. We're doing a mini-challenge with some people at work where you set a goal (mine is to lose 5 lbs) and then have weekly goals during the week. If you meet the weekly goals, you're good. If you don't, you pay a $1 penalty. You pay $2 to participate in the challenge and whoever meets their goal at the end splits the pot. My weekly goals center around limiting sugar and exercising, and I need only one more exercise session to avoid paying $1. So...off I go!

Wedding pictures

There are two ways to interpret this post. One is that we have Tirzah and Adam's wedding pictures, which I've added below. Tirzah decided to get married in a red dress and the bridesmaids wore white. The wedding was in the evening, so Mirabel was tired and also had a cold...she spent most of the time clinging to me and generally looks like she was drugged in the photos (though she was not under the influence of any substance....) sigh...our opportunity to get a good little family shot didn't turn out so well.

The other thing is that after 5 1/2 years of being married we are finally getting our official wedding album. We took three years to get the order in and then I'm not sure what happened but we finally reconnected with the photographer and we're getting it this week. We've had our proof book with 300 pictures and now we get the fancy book with 24 pages that we selected ourselves (the pages have multiple layouts and pics on them). I'm also excited to get our disc. Our proof book has 300 pics, but he took 700 or 800, so we'll get to see a lot more photos that we haven't seen before. Even after this long, I still love my hubby and love remembering our wedding!

Life update

We've been doing the normal life stuff- eating, sleeping, working, Bible study, errands, etc. Tirzah got married a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to update some photos but we didn't take many and the official ones aren't ready yet. Mirabel was a mini-me of the bride. Welcome to the family, Adam!

I was running around today to a bunch of different places and came home and Dave made this movie this afternoon. It's Mirabel's beginnings...so it's from awhile ago but I thought it was awesome. Now I have to talk him into making one for each year....

There's always room for one more....

So, we haven't posted in awhile, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. We currently have two renters- Eric and Betsy. Eric has lived with us for just over three years and Betsy moved in this summer and also babysits Mirabel a couple days each week. Eric is getting married just before Christmas and his (soon-to-be) wife, Candace, is moving in after the wedding. So we've been busy with all sorts of preparations.

Eric and Betsy are swapping bedrooms this weekend, but that doesn't really impact us. We've been focused on clearing out extra stuff from the basement to create some storage space for Eric and Candace and tidying up the living space down there. They are going to have a "living room" downstairs, the bigger bedroom upstairs (not ours- but we have a 10x12 and 10x10, and they get the 10x12 now.) We're also clearing out a bit more space for their pantry stuff. And they are going to get the house one night a week, but that is just a schedule change.

Well, I'm off to clean, sort, and organize in the basement. We're getting a whole new pile of sell/giveaway/recycle stuff (we sold most of what we placed on Craigslist before...so now it's off to round two!)

Trick or Treat!

Here's a picture of us from Halloween (I was Dr. Crusher from Star Trek: the Next Generation, Dave was a construction worker, my friend Lisa was a woman from the 1950s, and our little sweet pea!)

Mirabel also had her 6 month appt today. She is long and lean...85th percentile for length but only the 5th for weight. But she's hitting her developmental milestones well and I'm not really worried about it. Breastfed babies are often behind the curve on weight gain. She's a little under the weather after getting her flu shots (and the 6 month series). Poor little thing.

Denied

I received a notice from my county district court today...notifying me that cases settled that were scheduled for trial next week, they have too many jurors and "YOU DO NOT NEED TO REPORT ON MONDAY OR ANYTIME DURING THAT WEEK." Followed by "Your service will not be rescheduled. No further action is needed from you. Thank you for your understanding."

Wasn't that nice of them to thank me? :) I'm looking forward to having the time at work as it was hard to figure how I could possibly get my work done as well as my jury duty. But I'm a little bummed to miss out on the juror experience. I think I would make a great juror.

I guess this means next week will be my first 5 days in the office stretch since April 21.

Girls Weekend!

My college friend, Lisa, and I packed up the car and Mirabel and headed up to the Wisconsin woods this past weekend. We had a great time just hanging out in the room and hitting the outdoors. We went on a little nature walk, drove to Spooner (highly recommended if you like poking around small towns with cute little shops), and took in some absolutely breathtaking fall colors. I've uploaded a few pictures of Spooner...a cute general store (I'm showing off my new lip gloss with my pouty lips), Look painted on the downward ramps at curb crossings, and note the "wobblin duck saloon" sign. I love girls weekend getaways. Dave had fun at home with a football party and he also was a champ and did some stuff around the house. I didn't even ask him to do it, I figured if I was having fun he could, too.

In other news, Mirabel has discovered how to string rolls together and she traverses our living room quite adeptly now. Yesterday she made it over to the tv stand and was kicking up at the VCR from the floor. We need to babyproof...I'm guessing it won't be long until she starts scooting around on her stomach and then it will be crawling and right now we are sorely un-babyproofed.

Goodbye summer, hello fall....

Just like that- September hit the calendar and it turned cold up here in the northern tundra land of MN. I like a lot of things about fall- pretty colored leaves, fall harvest, Thanksgiving...but I'm not so excited about the colder weather. I swapped out Mirabel's clothes today to get the warmer things ready. And I have to admit a certain sadness to putting away some of the super cute clothing she's worn this summer since I know she won't get to wear it again. (I felt the same way about my favorite maternity clothes...since I went early I didn't feel ready to be done being pregnant and it was like I never got to say goodbye to my faves.) Oh, well, I guess that's part of life. A cycle that continues on. I like how God has a predictability but yet has differences. Like sunsets. They happen every day yet none of them are exactly the same. What a creative God we have!

Happy fall.