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.)

Our little bean counter

I was eating dinner with Mirabel the other night and she took a handful of her green beans out of the dish and plopped them on the table. Slightly frustrated, I said to her that I thought it might be better to keep them in the dish. (I'm sure that's exactly how I said it, too.) I went back to eating my meal and heard her talking. Vun, too, free, for, fiv!! Clap, clap, clap. I looked over and she had lined up five green beans right in a row. I didn't even know she knew how to count, but I guess she has been paying attention to her number books and puzzle.

Our little wonder turns two next month and we're looking forward to other wonders this spring and summer. I'm hoping one of them is potty training. :)

Winter Weekend

I enjoyed going to Winter Weekend this year- it's our annual celebration of winter in my living history group. We dressed up in 1860s clothes on Friday night and played various parlor games (including cards and the largest sized game of pickup sticks I've ever seen- the sticks were taller than a toddler). Saturday was the ball and today we had a party/lunch at a member's home. Then two other members and I went out coasting (sledding). What fun! You can see a video of us here. I have the purple dress and blue hood with the white maribou (swan feather) trim. Many thanks to my mom, dad, and sister for taking turns with Mirabel babysitting this weekend.

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!!

Baa

So....we've been doing Advent preparations at our home over the past month or so- Advent calendars (two of them), Advent wreath with candles, Advent devotions. We have several nativity sets that are Mirabel friendly (and several that aren't). Mirabel has been having a lot of fun with the Christmas decorations- lights, tree, ornaments, Advent, baby Jee and the whole bunch. We also have a lot of books about the nativity and of course, there are lots of animals on the scene. Mirabel loves to make animal noises, but she isn't very good at baa. So I've been making the sheep sounds and she has been focusing on the cows, horses, cats and dogs.

A couple of days ago, she transitioned from calling me maa to baa...apparently in response to the fact that I had been baaing quite a bit lately. Several days later, she's still doing it...probably in response to the immense laughter coming from her father. It's now been reinforced with my whole family as we spent our Christmas celebration with them today...she totally knows that isn't really me or my name, but she gets an impish little grin on her face and sweetly points to me and says "Baa" to get my attention. Baa- baa!

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.