Snapshots of the day

We had nice weather today for December, it was sunny and I don't know how warm but the girls and I spent quite a bit of time outside playing with the dog and cleaning up the yard and chicken house. I set the baby on a sheet and she happily scooted about (she doesn't crawl, she scoots) while I moved chicken litter from the hen house to the garden beds and raked leaves into the pen. I think I'll do fine this winter if we have lots of this kind of weather!

At one point I overheard Ellie calling Julia "Baby Chestnut" as part of some game they were playing. Sophie told her that was a weird name, to which Ellie replied "what else do you want me to call her, Baby Chester? Now THAT would be a weird name!"
Ah, the impeccable logic of the 6-year-old.

Anna now has an imaginary sister named Daisy that rides in her flower car and follows us as we drive around town. Anna has taken to shouting to me at regular intervals as I'm driving, "I see her, Mom, look, it's my sister right beside us in her car!" If I don't acknowledge Daisy, she'll just keep screaming at me until I do, which can be pretty distracting in heavy traffic. She (Anna) also refused to get into the van today until I pretended to take Daisy's hand and help her into her car. Just add that to my list of things to do.

The day was pleasant considering we started the morning with a fire in the living room. Tony got up early, and went into the living room, and screamed "Fire!!" which woke us up pretty fast. It was a mess. I guess I left a candle burning and it ignited the plastic tray of Julia's high chair which was for some reason sitting on top of the bookcase next to the candle and some papers. I could have burned down the whole house had it all ignited sometime earlier in the night, or had Tony not decided to get up early. It has made me painfully aware of our lack of emergency planning, so we're making a fire safety plan right away. I'm also going to get a fire extinguisher and replace batteries in the smoke detectors.

I leave you with a several months old but really cute photo of Julia.

Insert New Post Here

Insert witty text here, explaining my intention to update the blog and introducing the new layout and slideshow.

It's been a bad blogging year

I've been meaning to get back to the blog for some time, but for some reason I just don't feel like talking too much these days. Several months have gone by with no posting, but a lot has been happening...

Eleanor became a 5 year old girl. :)

We discovered that same week that we are expecting a number 5 Jacobs baby. (Preemptive answers to the standard questions are...no, we aren't trying for a boy, no, we don't know if it's a boy or girl, and no one was more surprised about the baby than we were.)

The garden started out great, but suffered severe neglect when I began to experience the 24 hour a day nausea that has been my new friend for the past 6 months. I am anxious to start again this spring.

Tony became a licensed architect (way to go Tony!) and has managed to at least stay employed through layoffs and pay cuts at his office... we are very thankful for his job.

We said goodbye to Maggie the bear dog finally, it was a very sad time, and we still miss her daily.

Our lovely easter eggers began laying lovely blue eggs, before all of the chickens started molting for the season and stopped laying. We're really missing the backyard eggs!

The shrinking income and uncertain economic future would have us down, but we still have these:





And someone gave us this:



I will post more about that later. ;)
And then there's always Christmas around the corner



Life is good.

Thursday Update

Things have been a bit hectic, not much time for blogging. Right now I'm listening to Maggie barking at Margaret outside, Sophia screaming at me from her room, and Anna getting into the knives on the kitchen counter...better make this short!

A few gratuitous pictures:

Crazy Ellie and Anna (Sophie took this one)

Bedhead Anna


Anna just started the dishwasher again, so I'm off...

Thursday Update

Well, we've been finding an egg a day in the hutch, and a few days ago we found two so I'm sure there is more than one chicken laying, but we still haven't figured out who it is (besides Hyacinth). The girls are having a lot of fun going out there to check for eggs!

With the holidays behind us we are getting back to routine around here, getting lots of school done, and the middle girls started up gymnastics again this week. Sophia got a ribbon for her vaults on her first day back!

Here are some funny shots of Anna, taken this morning, with her new, ummm....Fun toy purse thing that sings and will soon have no batteries. ;) She was making it play this little tune over and over and dancing along, with her tutu around her ankles. She will only wear the tutu around her ankles for some reason, and sadly by the time she's old enough to explain this to me she won't remember it. Good thing we got pictures I guess.

Thursday Comings and Goings

I went to a yarn store today that I've been meaning to check out for some time. It's a lovely store, and I was particularly happy to find it because the last time I went to a lovely yarn store I was unable to look at anything. (I'm speaking of a store in Lawrence that was so kid-unfriendly that I would get fed up with the salespeople following me and the girls around and saying "Don't touch that, please don't let them touch that" and leave before I really got a chance to look around.) This lovely store actually had a little room with toys for the girls to play with and they were politely amused when I laid the sleeping baby down on the floor and left her there to look around. I bought some yarn to make some leg warmies for the girls, and I'm planning on going back soon and often.

We went out again in the afternoon to take Margaret to play practice, and in the hustle to get everyone to the car we could not find Anna's single pair of shoes that fit her. (We used to have two pairs that fit her, but she lost one of her boots at church last week, so that pair became a single.) I was exasperated and decided then and there to get her some new shoes. So, I went, unaided, to Target with the three little girls and tried to shop for shoes. It was a bit like trying to herd the chickens around the backyard. I managed to get them all to the shoe area, but Anna simply refused to try on any shoes. I was desperate, so I bought a pair of size fives and I'm happy to report that when we got them home she consented to wear them and they fit.

By the time we needed to go and pick up Margaret I was pretty sick of getting everyone in and out of the van, so I decided to park along the street and just wait for her to come out. I actually saw her peek out of the building a few times, look right past us, and go back in, but I was so weary that I just waited for her and she found us in the end. I spent the time looking longingly at the other moms with kids that get into the car and buckle themselves in and wishing for the return of those times when simply going somewhere wasn't so much work.

Here is my start on Anna's leg warmies.



In the end, a pretty good, typically exhausting day. :)

Thursday Update

Ill. Most of us are, anyway. It started with Sophia and has worked it's way through Eleanor and Anna and as of this morning, me.

The cough and runny nose did not keep the middle girls down, though. Yesterday afternoon in fact they strapped on parachutes (that is, pillows tied to their backs with scarves) and literally screaming all of the way down they jumped from a plane (the sofa) and landed face down in the middle of nowhere (the living room floor). It was so much fun that they did this about 12 times.

I've prompted Margaret to give an update to her play try-outs but since she hasn't I'll just say she got a part that isn't big, but I'm sure she's going to have a lot of fun with it anyway.

To get inspired for the Christmas shopping season, we watched a documentary called What Would Jesus Buy?
The Jacobs family review of it is that it was quite funny in places, a bit depressing in others, gives a lot to think about, and is (for those wondering) not necessarily coming from a Christian viewpoint. Having a simple and traditional Christmas shouldn't seem like such a challenge, but we need inspiration at times to ignore the pressure around us to buy, and just stay home and bake cookies.

Here are a few pics and then I'm going back to bed.

A beautiful pink unicorn, part of a series of animal drawings Sophia did this week, based on this book.


Our chickens have been spending the chilly days pecking about the leaf-scattered backyard and digging up what remains of the garden. Margaret's favorite afternoon past-time is going outside to chase the chickens around. They are surprisingly fast, and outrageously funny to watch!


Edited to Add:
I almost forgot, I actually gave myself my first black eye this week! In a surprising feat of clumsiness, as I was sweeping around the table and leaned over to quickly rescue a teacup that Anna was about to grab, I stuck the end of the broom handle in my eye. It really hurts, and it's pretty embarrassing, and I can't wait for it to go away. I'll skip the photo. :)

Thursday Update

So Wednesday, I (Margaret) auditioned for the play Best Christmas Pageant Ever at our local children's theatre. I was invited to the callbacks earlier tonight. I still don't know what part I will get, but I have that wish (that all kids get) to have the BIG part.

Sophie and Ellie are rejoicing in the large amount of toy catalogs arriving in the mail for the holiday season. They have cut out hundreds of the little pictures of toys out of the catalogs and have been playing with them for hours at the table. As usual, Anna climbs onto the table and tries to play too, making them scream as she crumples the cutouts up.

Right now, everyone is exhausted. Mom has been breaking up fights, and Dad has been juggling family life, work, and church. Sophie and Ellie are throwing fits randomly. Now Dad is reading to them 'The poetical works of Spenser'. I think they are asleep. Anna is sobbing because Mom set her down to do the dishes.

Thursday Update

My cleaning efforts have been hampered lately by Eleanor's paper dolls.


She makes dozens of them each day


And leaves them all over the house




They are really cute, though.


We had several nights below freezing this week so I've been cleaning up and mulching over the garden for the season. Today we cut down the cannas that grow next to our patio, which means that the chickens will have to find a new favorite hiding place until next summer.

We have about as many leaves on the ground as there are on the trees now.


Maggie isn't doing too well, but for now we're just waiting to see what happens with her. I believe we will have to put her to sleep soon, and it looks like I will have to take her. I'm not looking forward to it, but I suppose when the time comes we'll just do what needs to be done.

Thursday Update

Currently, Sophia and Eleanor are busily making pictures and doing worksheets at the crafting table while Anna is hanging out under the table trying to steal their papers and causing Sophia to shriek at regular intervals.



Last night the towel-clad littles, fresh from the bath, came to visit me in the kitchen while I was making dinner

Earlier this week Anna fed the chickens some leftover stir-fry,

Eleanor came outside to let me know that she was NOT happy (I can't remember why)

and the chickens considered coming inside to explore the kitchen, but decided at the last minute to run away instead.

Thursday update

Anna figured out a new way to get into the drawer where we keep the games


Eleanor circled all of the things she wants in the Magic Cabin catalog (which is almost everything)


Margaret is practicing overtime this week to get ready for her recital this Saturday


Sophia put my ankle weights on the see saw so that she and Anna would be more evenly matched


Our garden flowers are blooming and looking very colorful and happy


It's one of those perfect fall days when the sunshine is piercing and the air is clear and the temperature is just perfect and you wish it could be this way all year! I also took this little video of Anna hanging out with the chickens this afternoon. You can see they are getting bigger, but they aren't full grown yet. They are 3 1/2 months old. Anna wouldn't look at the camera for some reason, the stinker. The quality is a bit poor since it was just taken on the digital camera, I really should get a video camera

Thursday Update, of silverware and dreams

We have had a soggy week with much rain and more in the forecast. Not much else notable is happening, just the usual endless stream of silliness with the occasional screaming fit added in for variety.

Sophie and Ellie have recently developed a weird habit of bringing several forks a piece to the table during meals, and having them all talk to each other and act out dramatic scenes while they eat with their fingers. Even Anna joined in the other day by holding up her fork to the other girls and saying "hello!"

Ellie had a bad dream last night and woke up yelling "no!" She later told me a long, drawn-out tale of how she dreamed she was running and then she ran into Count Olaf (this is a character from a movie the kids have seen) with Hanna's two sisters, and she said "can we eat this?" because they were hungry and a scary guy chased them around and then they ran into count Olaf's office and he had food, so they ate his cookies. It was very cute to hear her explain the dream. This is Ellie's nightmare world, scary guy and lack of cookies.

I also had a really bad dream last night in which my mother (sorry, Mom :) came to visit and painted every wall in my house a pale yellow. It looked awful. So glad it was just a dream. I guess my nightmare world is one where someone else is taking over and making bad home decorating decisions for me.

Our Girls

The chicks (starting to look more like chickens):



Anna, hanging out:

Margaret, looking smug:

Eleanor and her flora collection:

Sophia found some honeysuckle:


Everyone is fine, Anna had roseola but she is fully recovered, we're busy and it's hot. Pretty much sums it up. :)

Catch up time

I've been busy and sick, which is a bad combination since being busy while sick inevitably leads to being sick longer than necessary. Due to the long interval between posting, we have lots to share, mostly in photos, so here goes.

These are our Pascha baskets from back in April. Pascha came much later than western Easter this year, causing confusion amongst our family and friends. Here is a fairly concise explanation of the disparity, for those who are interested: http://orrologion.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-dating-pascha-or-why-orthodox-in.html
The dark brownish-red eggs were dyed with onion skins, something new we tried this year and they turned out very nicely.


Maggie, aka the world's only midwestern bear dog, fell asleep under the crafting table and got covered with bits.


The girls had a nice day at the zoo recently, and Sophia made a new friend.




I tried to capture the beauty of the lilacs at twilight, but you really can't photograph the lovely smell, so this was the best I could do.


Anna was hanging around and doing that funny scrunchy nose thing she does, but due to the low light the photo is a bit blurry.


Margaret created this lovely greeting for me on Mother's Day that made me smile.


We have growing things in our Square Foot Garden beds at last. The black pots on the left have potatoes in them, the beds have beans, tomatoes, some herbs, lettuce, kale, spinach, and swiss chard in them.


I have more, but I'd better save them because blogger is acting up and I don't want to lose what I've posted so far.

Change is Good

I decided to change the blog template in hopes of renewing interest in it. Hopefully I can get the other contributors to contribute, and get myself motivated to post more often.

Here's what we've been doing. We've been on quite a few field trips the past week, here are the girls at our local Great Plains Nature Center.



We've been busy navigating our switch from Windows back to Mac, and learning about what's changed since we were here last.

Also, we've spent a considerable amount of time here (for fun), and here (learning all kinds of cool stuff about Mesopotamia).

I must go now and stop Anna from eating paper (her new favorite food).

I also want to add a request that those who read this post a comment, we really love the feedback!

Exciting things are happening at the Jacobses...

We just haven't taken the time to blog about them!
For starters, the playroom is up and running (I don't have any pictures, you'll just have to take my word for it.)
Margaret, who has been wanting an electric guitar for some time, saved up enough babysitting money to buy one at last and now has a new guitar and amp (once again, no pictures, I'm trying to persuade her to let me make a video of her playing it.)
Sophia got a great new haircut and is mostly happy with it. I'm very happy with it because she looks super cute and her very curly hair is much easier to detangle when it's not so long.




I don't have any news about Ellie, but she's doing well and behaving like a crazy 3 year old.





Anna is now sitting on her own and putting lots of random stuff in her mouth.




Here's a happy picture of the four girls: