Fresh Start

The Fabulous Spec Chart
Steitler with the Sign Guy
Steitler with the menu

As some of you may know, I have been working on the menu and start-up of a new restaurant called West Virginia Bistro. Today at 4pm, with a little over a 48-hr notice, West Virginia Bistro will open. The planning and details, though stressful at times, have been some of the most enjoyable work I have ever done. After 2 straight days of teaching classes, having meetings, and taking and making 8 dozen phone calls, I am losing my voice. I am so pleased and quite honestly, proud. Enjoy the pics!

Crazy Week

It is Crazy Week at Maddie's school.
Monday- Hat Day
Tuesday - Crazy Feet Day
Wednesday - Mismatch Day
Thursday - Career Day (Maddie chose to be a ballet teacher)

Ahhh, the memories

There have been some requests to elaborate on certain events mentioned in "Four No More" about Maddie's exciting year as a 4 year-old. I will attempt to explain a few.
The picture posted above was taken a mere 5 minutes before the broken nose of '05. Maddie and Steitler were playing Cinderella and Buzz one sunny summer morning. I was in the kitchen and heard a very loud crack and thud. I ran to Steitler's room to see Maddie on the floor with blood running out her mouth and nose. She was having trouble crying because it was in her throat. I grabbed her and she is screaming, "Don't let it get on my Cinderella dress!" I am trying to get the dress off (sans blood), calm her down , keep myself from sprinting out the door, and find out if she is missing any teeth. We get in the bathroom and the blood just keeps on coming. I am checking her mouth and I cannot find any cuts or knocked out teeth. In fact, all the blood coming out of her mouth was from her nose. It was really quite disgusting but when you are in "Mom Mode" you think about all that later. After about 20 minutes, she was still bleeding considerably from one side of her nose. I dress Maddie and grab Buzz and we are out the door to Women's and Children's Hospital. At the emergency room, Maddie is very brave as they examine her and push and prod. The bleeding finally trickles to a stop. A pediatric ear, nose and throat doctor is brought in to examine her. Maddie's nose is broken and very swollen. She talks like she is wearing a clothespin pinched on her nose. While waiting, surprisingly not too long, I get the full account of how this accident happened. Apparently, Buzz was trying to teach Cinderella how to "fly" off his bed. Maddie was scared to jump so Buzz, being the superhero he is, gave her a small push...off the bed and onto the floor, face-first onto a small toy tractor. Between the floor and the tractor, I am not sure which one actually did the nose breaking. Maddie is cleared to go home, watch the swelling and other side-effects and see her pediatrician for a follow-up. Within a few days she was back to talking normal and the bruising on her nose and her little black eyes were healing. Her pediatrician says she has a deviated septum and that she will have a little bump across the top of her nose from the break. We were thankful her injuries were not more serious. We have also established stricter superhero practice requirements. All stunts must be performed in the presence of an adult and the said superhero-trainee must be properly attired for each individual stunt.

Picture This

Ben took a disposable camera with him on his cross-country road trip. There were several blurry "Welcome to ..." shots, lovely landscape pictures, and first glimpses of our new state. This picture was by far the most interesting. I was a little surprised that Ben would want to memorialize his road trip with a shot of a Harrah's Casino sign. He does enjoy a good poker game but taking a picture of a casino sign?! Just when I was about to pick up the phone and call him, I took a second glance and noticed the lovely Arch in the background.

Days Go By

If we walked very carefully today and avoided any smudge of shade, we could venture outside without wearing a coat.
Steitler and I went to to the airport to see our friend Ashley off to Mississippi while Maddie was at school.

This afternoon, I painted the side wall of the house and Maddie and Steitler played in the yard.

On Tuesday, as I was walking Maddie up the stairs to school, she turns to me and says, "Hey Mom, do you think you could brush your hair before you pick me up this afternoon?" Any other day this may have been a valid question, but that day I had not only brushed my hair, but showered, dried it and straightened it before leaving the house.

Ben seems to be doing well. It has been 2 weeks tomorrow since he left and it is getting harder to fill up each day so that we do not miss him as much. He likes his new station and his new senior manager. Oddly enough, as I was writing the part about filling up our days, Ms. Anna from church called to invite us for pizza and a movie tomorrow night. The hardest decision that Ben and I had to make about this move was leaving our church. God led us to find Covenant Presbyterian Church, from an internet search, after a month here in WV.
We walked into a church full of people who loved Christ, were friendly, and genuine. We have said many times that if the sole reason we had moved to WV was to experience a church family like Covenant than it was worth all the hassle and homesickness. We have learned so much from the teaching and praying at Covenant and it is our only real reason we have for staying here. But we are moving on, faithful that we will find a church in WA for our family.

Matt says the kitchen cabinets are done and he hopes to have them in by this weekend. I have to paint the hallway walls and trim, paint the bathroom ceiling, and repaint in the kitchen. After that, we will be ready for an Open House.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

March 19, 2006
"I'm 5 today!" I heard Maddie say * Birthday songs all day long *A cupcake dress and new Littlest Pets * Applebee's for lunch and balloons by the bunch * Hooray! What a day!

4 No More

Four

Days full of mermaids and Madelines, preschool and new friends, swirling and twirling Princesses, scared soccer player, brave gymnast
Broken nose, bumped head and a one-of-a-kind haircut by a mischievous brother
Sporty Spice traveled the East Coast from Sodus Point, NY to Greenville, SC and stops in between
Flip-flops, pink tennis shoes and knee-high boots
Sunglasses, lip gloss and nail polish safely tucked in a purse
Tree-swinging, grass-dancing

Kids Day

Kids Day with Edsel the Clown at Uno's - Feb 2006
Steitler scared himself when he looked in the mirror and Maddie cried when she had to wash her face.

Picture This

March 12, 2006
Cousins: Clovelly, Kinsale, Ryn, Maddie, and Steitler at Nana's
Maddie and Steitler at Kids Planet Park

It's Closing Time

February 21, 2006 -
Closing time
Open all the doors and let you out into the world
Closing time
Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl
Closing time
One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time
You don't have to go home but you can't stay here
Closing time
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end
"Closing Time" - Semisonic

Picture This

February 28 2006- Ben's last day at his station in WV. Sad but exciting. The first time it felt real. We were moving on. No turning back now.

Almost Birthday Day

The Almost Birthday

Maddie will be 5 on Sunday so today she wanted to take cookies to her class in celebration. We attempted #5 cookies but it was too tedious to cut out 25. So, we made 5's for Maddie, 4's for Steitler and big stars for Maddie's classmates. Maddie iced hers in pink with green sprinkles and Steitler iced his in blue with green sprinkles. Maddie was crowned "Birthday Girl" at school. I will hopefully be able to look back on these pictures, see the damaged kitchen, and laugh...one day. At least the stove works!

Break Glass In Case of Emergency

The damage to the kitchen from the fire. Matt had already taken down the damaged cabinets and cleaned the floors and counters by the time I returned home today. He and his dad are going to try and fix the cabinetry. I am so thankful no one was hurt.
This reminds me of my own house -sitting nightmare. I was in college and staying at Billy and Maria's house. As I whipped my car into their driveway, I took out the entire side of their truck. I have no idea what happened. I had been driving for 5 years and must have just judged the driveway space wrong. Of course, the neighbors really enjoyed watching me chase the truck's hubcap as it rolled down the street. These are also the neighbors who called the police the next day when I had to open the garage window and jump over a wheelbarrow full of gardening tools because I had left the garage door opener in my car and was driving Ben's car. They promptly called the police and informed that there was a burglar and sure enough, a nice officer came to the door in about 5 minutes. After verifying my story, he shook his head and chuckled.
So, what is a little fire?

Ben-WA
Ben has been checking out our new town today. He even found me a new favorite bookstore in Port Angeles last night. His first day is tomorrow and he seems very excited...now... if I can just remember about the 3 hour time difference.

Saving The Best For Last

I present the fabulous Cupcake Dress. It is missing the pink pom-pom cherry but will be attached tomorrow.

2800 Miles and a Cupcake Dress

Ben - Washington
Ben arrived in Washington last night. He left WV at 9 am on Friday and traveled 2800 miles in 3 days. To say he was excited seems a bit of an understatement. He is settling into his small garage apartment today and reports to work on Thursday. A friend recently told me how proud he was of me for making this cross-country move an adventure and not a burden. I have thought about that alot this week whenever I am especially stressed out and when the panic starts in my throat. Even on days when I learn that there was a "small" grease fire in our kitchen the previous night. Matt, a friend from church, is Zoe-sitting while the kids and I are in SC and apparently some fried shrimp got out of hand last night. The good news is that no one was injured, the bad news is that there was some damage to the kitchen. I was initially dragging my feet about having an open house this Sunday, so I am off the hook until the kitchen cabinets can be repaired and the stove fixed. I told the kids that we would stay an extra day in SC and got no complaints.

The Machine and Unattended Pants

Last year my mom purchased an embroidery sewing machine. At first, I was skeptical about the practicality of being able to put letters on clothing. The first time I saw my daughter parade by in a shirt that said "Maddie" in pink letters, I was a changed woman. This has been especially nice for my son, Steitler, and for my nieces and nephews who have unique names, since they will never find their name on a keychain or on a small, plastic license plate for a bike. Steitler decided his basketball number would be 10 and had Nana embroider it on the sleeve of his church league T-shirt. Maddie looks in stores now for clothes that would be cute with her name across the front. This sewing sensation has created a new house rule. Never, ever, leave your pants unattended or you will find your initials on the back pocket. 90% of my mother's pants are initialed on the back pocket and yours will be too, if she has the chance.
The machine has brought us together, given us something to do on Sunday afternoons for hours and kept us freshly creative. The phone calls just to say "I saw the cutest thing...I think we could do it this way." The excitement over a completed project that is beyond fabulous. The nervousness to try a new stitch or a new texture.
The Cupcake Dress came from a request to make Maddie something special to wear on her 5th birthday. Mom and I talked it out and picked fabric. Em came the next day and we perfected the technique and the sketch and the colors. Out of this creative brainstorming came a birthday dress that will forever be the way I picture my daughter at 5. Spinning around, bobbed hair and bare feet dancing in her Cupcake Dress.
I will post pictures when I return home.

Nothing Could Be Finer Than To Be In Carolina

"Mom, where's the Peach? Are we at the Peach yet?"

The Peach is a huge water tower in Gaffney, SC that has been painted to indeed look like a peach. On a 6 hour trip from WV to SC, the sighting of the Peach is critical. Once sighted it is a mere 45 minutes to Nana's house (30 minutes if you forget you no longer have a SC license plate and speed a tad.) Most of our travel is done during the day, but yesterday we left WV at 5pm, putting us at the Peach around 10pm. Weary and anxious, we topped a hill and there she was, the Peach, all lit up and shining like a huge flashlight. We were in Nana's driveway in 41 minutes. This visit was a surprise so we snuck up to the door and then knocked on the glass window. It is always a toss-up as to whether Poppa will fling the door open, gun in hand, or check the window first. Luckily we got a window check. My mom had just dozed off, heard all the noise and came into the kitchen. By the look on her face, one might have thought Ed McMahon was at the door with an oversized check.
I just may have to stop and take a picture of the kids under the big Peach on our way home.


Ben started his cross country drive yesterday. He was in Missouri last night, just north of Kansas City. The kids and I are charting his trip across on a map poster. He called today from Nebraska and said it was flat, very flat. This is especially interesting as we have spent the last 2 years in WV where you are lucky to have a flat spot in your yard.

Omaha
Somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It's the heart that matters more
-Omaha - Counting Crows

http://www.gaffney-sc.com/Waterpeach.htm

Picture This

Maddie - 4 and Steitler - 3 /February 2006