New Dining Room Table

One thing Matt and I really enjoy is shopping for furniture. On a missionary budget, we certainly don't buy a whole lot, but we have accumulated some nice pieces that we plan to use for the rest of our marriage, mostly thanks to gift money from relatives, especially my grandparents, the late Al Ariniello and Mary. So here is our long-awaited dining room table, the Farmhouse Table from Ethan Allen. We will pray for Grandpa and Nanny when we share meals around it. The black ladderback chairs are the ones we purchased with the table. The pink chairs are always a conversation piece - they were in my mom's parents' (Roxie and Tom Podhaisky) kitchen. They are so durable, and so pink...

Fall in Kentucky

We so enjoyed mom and dad's visit last week. I can't believe another week has already gone by.

It's fall - we need jackets to be outside, the wind is blowing, and our noses get red. Ann scraped her little knees on the driveway trying to keep up with the big girls. Homeschooling has its ups and downs, but mostly I am delighted we are trying it out. I think the biggest blessing and challenge is that I view all of life as "school" - this means not necessarily "teaching" all the time (which turns kids off anyway) but looking at every opportunity that presents itself as a lesson in patience and an opportunity for wonder.

For "recess" on Tuesday, Cate and Jane headed out the door for an adventure, coats, boots, bikes, broom from my kitchen. Cate was calling Jane "Becky" and using an English accent. They came in once for lunch and once for Oreos. They built a fire out of stones, sticks and rocks. Their adventure lasted for a few hours.

School on Wednesday was Little Sprouts at the Arboretum. We learned about leaves, found leaves, and made leaf rubbings. That afternoon/evening, I cooked a simple French dinner for the FOCUS team, for the vigil of the Feast of St. Therese. The girls got to see me make whole chickens and they served chocolate mousse in wine glasses to our friends. They loved chocolate mousse! We also watched Babette's Feast, and even though it is in Danish an French, they were attentive through the entire movie!

I have to include some photos from Kiddie Kapers, their little dance class that started yesterday. Both Cate and Jane loved it. It was too short, according to Cate.

"I simply MUST go to the botanical gardens..."

If you have seen or read Brideshead Revisited, you may recall that line. We strolled through the UK Arboretum on Sunday and had to share some beautiful photos. Ann walked almost the whole way while Jane and Cate took turns in the stroller!

Oh, the pink and blue "cool whip tower" is a picture for Nona - she bought the girls foaming soaps for Christmas, but they never worked. I think the altitude change had an effect. We've had three baths with piles of soap like this - and it's still coming! This one they called their wedding cake.

Today was our first day of school, so we took a picture in our little home school (do you like Cate's glasses?). Between Ann dumping blocks and getting stuck in the princess castle, and Jane breaking down because she did not like the way we were singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" we managed to get a few lessons done. Jane liked the looks of Cate's "A" worksheet, so I found her a similar one, and she jumped right in, practicing making "A"s from right to left in her little left hand scrawl. When I read other moms' homeschooling blogs, I get jealous and feel inadequate, so I am going to try not to write too much about school, except to beg for prayers for wisdom, humility and joy as we embark on this new adventure. Tomorrow, we are taking school to the Arboretum and attending their "Little Sprouts" program.

Missing the Panda

Here are a few photos of our house, and one of the girls at White Birch Lodge in Michigan.

I am beginning to feel more at home here in Lexington. Just tonight I found a grocery strore I really like. My local Kroger, only 5 minutes away, is a little cramped and feels old. There is no horse to ride for a penny like at our King Soopers in Louisville, and, perhaps due to the store being crowded and cramped, each time we have been there, we have had meltdowns and people looking at me sympathetically. So tonight I found Meijer - I had my photos sent there from Snapfish, and I went to pick them up and to pick up a few grocery items. I found a nice, spacious, friendly store with a really cool kid cart, great prices, and...a penny horse! They also have an icee machine for 75 cents for a huge cup - we all had a great time. Perhaps it was because Ann was asleep the whole time :), but I felt again like I could brave the grocery store with three kids. Add to that - I found a "back way" to our home from Meijer that avoids the major traffic street, Nicholasville Road.

Speaking of beginning to feel at home, we miss Panda Express! We were reading a Tomie dePaola book from the library the other day and I pointed to the brown meat on a plate in one of the pictures, and asked Cate if she thought it was meatballs. She said it looked "more like the Orange Chicken we get from Panda Express." While we have found most everything we "need" to feel at home, the one thing we do really miss is Panda Express -nowhere to be seen! Just questionably-named establishments such as "Asian too" and "China Express." Can someone FedEx us some Orange Chicken and Chow Mein? Panda had become a family favorite in the weeks of quick meals before we made our move.

Tuckered-out Ann

Can you believe this? Fast asleep while munching meatballs and carrots. Ann has never been a good napper, so she falls asleep at odd times. I thought I was keeping Jane's bottom shot up for too long, so this is a great replacement. Finally have lots of things "in their places" - but way too many boxes remain, and I am still not sure exactly where we will have school time - probably all over the place, with a 3 and 1 year old in tow!

We made it!

After tearful goodbyes and two days of driving in a minivan packed to the gills - we are here in Lexington, KY! Our welcome by neighbors and the local church community has been more than warm, and we have been beyond blessed to have Meghan McCartney with us for a few days to play with the girls, pick up breakfast and snack food and clean a very grimy kitchen before moving our dishes into it. We have a family with five boys who live right behind us (with a kitten named Mr. Weasel and a trampoline) and five other little girls who live in various houses around our cul-de-sac. After weeks of wondering where we were and how long we were going to be there, Jane is finally happy to hear us say, "Yes, THIS is our new house!"Besides the layer of "garshz" (Podhaisky word meaning "muck") which we are wiping away room by room, the house is great and will be perfect for our little family, as well as for having students and the FOCUS team over for gatherings.

The stage photo is from Ann's birthday dinner at Bogart's at the Crown Plaza here in Lexington. The girls found an empty stage and were hooked. When you look at the photo of Jane, know she was singing (and often shouting) "It's a Hard Knock Life"while she scrubbed the kitchen with Meghan.

We miss you, mom and dad, Jackie, Teddy and Tony!

Jane celebrated her third birthday in style at FOCUS staff training in Champaign, IL, with 200+ missionaries and dozens of random high school kids singing to her. She enjoyed the celebration! Then, we spent a week with Matt's family in Swanton, OH, where all three girls rode Baxter with Daddy. Matt looks right at home on a horse. The girls were loving it. We returned home to start packing our house and preparing for our move. We took some time Sunday to enjoy the Colorado mountains by hiking in Nederland - Cate and Jane are great little hikers, even in skirts. Making dandelion bouquets for mom is what keeps them going. Ann is the first of our three to stay in the backpack with only mild squawking.