Grocery Shopping

Today I had the pleasure of taking all three girls grocery shopping with me. I really didn't want to go to the grocery store but we were out of all the basics. I could not physically feed them one more meal without grocery shopping.

I was hoping when we got to the store they would have one of the red carts that holds two and still has the spot in the basket for the third. Charlotte isn't feeling well today and I knew if she had to walk for the entire shopping trip I wouldn't get much done before I had to call it quits.

We were in luck they had 2 red carts left! I put the three girls in and all three cracked up. They thought it was quite funny to be sitting that close together and see each other. The laughing lasted for a good five minutes. It was adorable! I love it when they actually enjoy each other.

Of course since I had to go to the store that meant we had a lot of items to purchase and grocery shopping took a little over an hour. That is a long time to entertain three girls in a shopping cart. Ruby kept trying to pick up the eggs and smash the chips. Eliza was happy as long as she had a snack (we went through a package of nabs, a piece of fruit leather, some sample cake something or other, and a snack trap full of apple jacks).

By the end of the trip Charlotte was in tears and had lost "buddy buck" privileges for not being a good listener and for bothering her sister. She has this really annoying habit of messing with Ruby. She just won't leave her alone. Sometimes it is touching her head or holding her arm, today it was pulling up her pant leg and shaking her leg. Ruby did not like it but of course couldn't get away from her.

Ruby's solution? She bit Charlotte's finger hard enough to leave a mark but not break the skin. Sad thing is Charlotte didn't get much sympathy from Mommy. And I had a really hard time telling Ruby that "we don't bite." If I had been Ruby, I would have bitten her too!

Poor Charlotte...

The funny thing is grocery shopping took so long I had to pick up lunch on the way home. But at least I can now make dinner!

Oh Happy Day...
Jenn

I still need to write about our trip to Silver Belle Ranch, the Pine Wood Derby and Rehm's new career as an author...Hopefully I'll get caught up this weekend.

The Magic Washing Machine

It seems that the people living with me in this house think that our washing machine has magical powers. You see they think that if they lay something with stains on it (such as ketchup) that the washing machine magically treats the stains, puts the laundry in the washing machine, soaks it, washes it, gets it in the dryer, dries it, and gets it out and folds it! Lo and behold the washing machine is so great it can even find the stained things that are just thrown in the laundry hamper and get them clean too!

Do you see anything magical about the washing machine? All I see is a 12 year old machine that "ain't what she used to be" as stains seem to be harder to get out (but maybe that isn't the washing machine's issue...) but keeps on, keeping on.

Now I know some of you are thinking "She's complaining and her family gets things to the washing machine or hamper! What is her problem? What does she expect. I'd be thrilled if my family got things that far!" All I have to say is you probably don't have a cat that pees on anything made of cloth that is left on the floor. At my house if you don't want to smell like cat pee you don't leave clothes on the floor.

I can not buy a front loader until this machine dies...I can not buy a front loader until this machine dies...I can not buy a front loader until this machine dies...I can not buy a front loader until this machine dies...

Jenn

PS. I do have to say that I believe in the Lunch Box Fairy. He is this very magical fairy that comes in at night and makes lunch for whoever needs it the next day. He even makes lunch for me! I love the Lunch Box Fairy more than I can begin to say. So I guess having a Magic Washing Machine is a very small price to pay.

Ketchup

Yesterday I was feeling like a good mommy so I made the three girls scrambled eggs for breakfast. While getting something out of the fridge Ruby spotted the ketchup and asked nicely for some. My first thought was "no way!" and my second thought was "why not?" So I got the ketchup out and let all three girls have a little with their eggs.

Of course by the time breakfast was over they were all covered in ketchup. Faces. Shirts. Everything had ketchup on it. Did I mention that the ketchup was the only part of breakfast that Eliza Claire ate? I got the wipes out and worked on faces, hands and clothes. After everyone got down I worked of faces again because they were still covered.

Then the mental battle started over where to change their clothes or not. On one hand they were going to get something on them at the next meal so why change their clothes. On the other hand, was I bad mom if I sent them to school in "dirty" clothes. Because I can't have people thinking I dress them in dirty clothes, but people have to know they have to eat. If I change them that means that much more laundry and that much more time before we can leave the house. If I don't change them they go to school looking like rag-a-muffins. (OK so what is a rag-a-muffin anyway? Hmmm I'll have to google that in my free time)

In case you are wondering I sent them to school without changing their clothes. Tracey, I know you are laughing right now because we just had this conversation this weekend about dressing before or after breakfast. I thought about you during my mental battle.

We get to school and I get everyone out of the car and what do I see on all three faces? Yep, more ketchup! How in the world did they still have ketchup on their faces? I wiped their faces two or three time each! I swear ketchup is a very evil thing.

Next time someone asks for ketchup for breakfast I'm going to be a mean mommy!
Jenn

Onomatopoeia

Today I was in the car with all the kids. Rehm was in the back reading his beloved Pokemon book. I hate this book and Pokemon in general as he is obsessed with them, but he actually reads the book and makes charts comparing the different Pokemon so I deal. He was sounding out one Pokemon name. It had the "dr" sound and he asked me what sound "d-r" makes. I told him " 'dr,' like drip, drop and drink" and went back to listening to the radio. A few seconds later I heard him mutter "Onomatopoeia."

After I recovered from the shock, righted the van and closed my mouth, I asked him if he just said onomatopoeia and he said "Yeah" in that "so what's the big deal" tone. So I asked him if he knew what it meant and he said "Yeah that is when a word is like it sounds."

I was completely shocked and pleasantly surprised that onomatopoeia is already in his vocabulary, I didn't hear the word until I was in high school.

Next thing I know he'll be able to spell it!
Jenn

Prayers

Last night I was doing Charlotte's bedtime. After we read our stories we said our prayers. Here is Charlotte's prayer:

Dear God, thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Ruby, Eliza, Rehm - even though I don't like him, Cici, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, and Granny. Amen!

She didn't pause, skip a beat, change her tone, nothing! I guess the good news is she is praying for him even though she doesn't like him. It could be worse, right?

Jenn

A year later

I realized Monday while having lunch with a friend that I have been doing this blog thing for a year. When I started it was just a way to make sure my NC family had somewhat regular updates and pictures of the kiddos. Somewhere along the line I found I really liked recording the history of my family and that my outlook on some of the things my kids do was more positive when I thought about the the "blog entry" it would produce. Another thing I noticed is that I take a lot more pictures because a story is much better with pictures.

Over the course of the year I've found things are much more humorous when I'm blogging. I love being able to look back at all the silly, fun, educational, etc things my family has done. I mean would I really remember Frank the fairy shrimp or the 6 baby birds that hatched outside my kitchen window if I were not blogging? Would Rehm be getting regular gifts of Propel from my family if I weren't blogging? Would all of you appreciate your grocery shopping trips as much if I weren't blogging? Would I have so many great and funny pictures if I weren't blogging? Probably not.

I enjoy sharing my family with you all. I hope you all enjoy living a little vicariously through us.

This seems like a good time to do a little updating so if I don't have your blog listed in the friends blog section please leave a comment with the link so I can add you. I promise it isn't that I don't like your blog I just keep forgetting to add them.

Also for all of you that read regularly and don't comment would you please leave a comment just so I know who's reading?

Thanks and please keep reading,
Jenn

I'm not sure what this says about my life...

Today as I was working on the grocery list and weekly meal plan, which I do in a spreadsheet so I can sort it according to the order things are located in my store, I thought "I need to put the meal plan on the calendar. Then I don't have to remember what I came up with it would be quicker to find as I check it anyway." So I click on my google calendar, start to add this week's dinner, and realize I don't want what's for dinner to get lost in all of our appointments - it needs to be easy to see.

My solution, I make it its own calendar. Yep, in google calendars I have six calendars on my normal view. They are Michael, Jennifer, Rehm, Charlotte, Ruby and Eliza (they share a calendar as most of their schedule is the same), and What's for Dinner?. That way everyone (or thing in the case of dinner) has their own color so it is easy to pick out what you are looking for. Michael wanted to know if I would be inviting What's for Dinner? to appointments and meetings.

So what does this say about my life? I have too many kids? We have too many commitments? I desperately crave organization? I'm anal? I'm a control freak? I like pretty colors? I have too much time on my hands? I'm not sure, but if you figure it out let me know. OK, on second thought, don't - I'm not sure I really want to know :)

I know you are thinking that it isn't so much the calendar that says something about me but the grocery list spread sheet, weekly meal plan and calendar altogether that really scares you just a little bit . Yes, I know, I know, apparently I like to have a small sense of control in my crazy life.

Happy Day,
Jenn

PS. I really like google calendars and highly recommend them. They have been great for our family. I have access to all of our appointments any time I have internet access - I can see it from home and work and so can Michael. No longer do either of us have the excuse of not having seen something on the calendar. It really has been great since we made the change. Now if I could just access it when I was on the go...But that would require me to have a data plan on my phone and that would require $$$. Oh well. It is still better than my calendar just being available in my kitchen.

Christmas Is Over

As my grandfather would say, "Well, Christmas is over!" He would always say this as soon as his last gift was opened. At our family Christmas gatherings he was always the last to open presents and when he was finished he would declare Christmas over. I have found myself smiling fondly several times in the last week as I have declared Christmas over, as it reminds me of him - he passed away 11 years ago New Year's Eve. I said it when we opened our last present. I said it again when we ate the last piece of Christmas cake, when the outside decorations were taken down, when the inside decorations were taken down and finally when the last piece of fudge was eaten.

We had a wonderful holiday. We stayed home and kept is simple. We had very few places we had to be and just got to hang out as a family and catch up on things around the house. Michael had 10 straight days at home! I told him we need to win the lottery (which would mean we would have to actually buy lottery tickets) so we could both stay home full time. It made parenting four kids seem manageable. It also made me remember what kind of mom I used to be when there were fewer kids, fewer activities and few responsibilities. I was actually Super Cool Mommy, well at least on occasion. It felt good.

So what did we actually do?

We ate out way too much and mostly pizza and mexican food. The best was Shady Grove where I had awesome enchiladas. They are not on the menu but apparently always have them. They were brisket enchiladas, corn tortillas filled with brisket and cheese and topped with chili and more cheese. Not exactly low calorie but very, very yummy. I highly recommend them.

We went to church on Christmas Eve. Well, Michael, Ruby, Eliza Claire and Rehm did. I worked getting the animals and people set up for the live nativity we had between services. Charlotte spiked a fever due to a sinus infection and had to stay with Grandpa. She was very upset not to get to wear her Christmas dress, but was mollified when I told her she could wear her new Christmas PJs (thanks Dallas, Cathi and Griffin).


After church several couples who all have small children got together for dinner. It is such a fun time with all the kids running around excited about celebrating Jesus' birthday and singing happy birthday to Him. They have a great time and so do their parents. Fortunately for us, unfortunately for our friends that host, their son also had a fever and nasty nose so they and the other families were OK if Charlotte came as well. She was so glad to get to come to the party she didn't even notice that she was the only one in PJs.

Then it was home to get ready for Santa. We left out fudge and milk for Santa and spread reindeer food in the front yard (oatmeal mixed with glitter). Then it was off to bed for four very tired kiddos.


Christmas Day Rehm and Charlotte were in our room at 6:45. We were all waiting for Ruby and Eliza Claire to wake up. At 7:00 we decided it was time to wake the little girls as the big kids were getting very antsy and it seemed cruel to make them wait any longer. Ruby was sleepy but more than happy to get up. Eliza Claire on the other hand wanted no part of Christmas morning if it meant waking up already.

The wrapped presents are from family not Santa

Santa has indeed visited and the kids were delighted with what he brought and all the other presents they received from their parents and other family members. Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the kids open their presents and have breakfast (stolen, breakfast casserole, and pecan rolls). We spent most of the day hanging out in our PJs playing with all the new toys. Eventually we decided to put on some real clothes and venture to the playground at Rehm's school to get some energy out. We had planned on making a 7 cheese lasagna for dinner but decided we would rather hang out with the kids than cook. So our Christmas dinner consisted of mac and cheese and frozen pizza. The kids of course loved it.

After Christmas we took a couple of days to just hang out and recuperate. Then on Friday we went to Sea World with our friends the Weatherbys. They children the same age as Rehm and Charlotte and then a 2 1/2 year old. The kids had a blast and so did their parents.

Rehm talked to a diver from the shark exhibit about what they do and what kind of education and skills you need to work there. Did you know that if you want to be an animal trainer the best degrees to have are psychology or education? For other areas zoology or biochemistry are good. We also saw a giant pacific octopus while we were there. We've all seen the exhibit many, many times but this was the first time the octopus was where we could find him. He was out on the glass of his tank and started moving around it was fascinating.




Several rides and shows later it was time to call it a day.


We also got to see our friends the Wevodaus and Olney at Zilker Park. We took the kids to play at the play ground and for a ride on the Zilker Zephyr. And of course there was visiting with everyone on New Years Eve.

And those are the highlights of our holidays. I hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours were.
Jenn

Where We Come From

Tonight I was reading Charlotte a Bible story. Actually we were reading the Little Blessings book What is God Like? It answers questions about who God is on a preschooler's level. On the page where it talks about God being around before he created the world she stopped me. She said, "That was before there was a Jesus." I replied that I thought Jesus was living with God at that time. Then Charlotte said, "Mommy, I know where we were before we were born, behind the clouds where no one could see us. We were little tiny tadpole thingies (at this point she holds up her thumb and forefinger pinched together to show me how tiny), way up in heaven, with God."

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Charlotte has solved the question of where we were before we were here. We were tadpoles swimming around is a random cloud in heaven.

Happy Day,
Jenn

Happy New Year!

It is 9:00 pm and we have already been to our New Year's party, rung in the New Year, launched fireworks, had a balloon drop, caught up with friends, driven home and put all four kids to bed. This is how you celebrate New Year's Eve when you have small kids and all of your friends have them too.

It is amazing how things change. Gone are the days of going out to celebrate. Gone are the days of having the party at our house because we are the only one with a child that needs to go to bed - so that way we could still enjoy the celebration until midnight with our friends. Gone are the days of ringing in the new year on East Coast time because most of our friends didn't have kids. Now we ring in the new year with some yet to be discovered island in the Atlantic! Yes the new year for us began at 7:00 pm CST on 12/31/07.

Thanks James and Tracey for a very, very fun evening. And thanks for sending the kids home with noisemakers - they made the ride home memorable!

May you all have a wonderful 2008!
Jenn

PS. No, Rehm had not been sneaking adult beverages. He just can't say Happy New Year without looking goofy.

PPS. No, Eliza Claire does not normally walk around with a paci in her mouth. We have a only at nap or bedtime rule. But when it is an hour after her normal bedtime and there are loud, bright fireworks within 20 ft it seemed only fair.

Merry Christmas

We are having a wonderful holiday. We have spent lots of time with family and friends doing lots of fun outings and just hanging out at home. I promise to update everyone on it all but for now I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. Now I'm going back to enjoying my family for a few more days. I hope you get to do the same.

Jenn

What was THAT?

That was Charlotte's room after quiet time. At 3:00 I told her she could come out of quiet time when ever she was ready and had cleaned up the things on the floor (a few blankets and pillows). She informed me that she wanted to stay in her room a little longer. I of course was thrilled.

The twins were actually napping for the first time in a week or two, Rehm didn't have homework and was happily parked in front of the TV, I felt terrible and just wanted to sit down! I enjoyed an hour of surfing the web and watching TV. When the twins woke from their nap I was surprised to realize I had not heard anything out of Charlotte in the last hour. I should have known at that point that something was up. Silly me thought maybe she had actually fallen asleep on all the blankets she had arranged so carefully on the floor.

Charlotte came into the hallway and informed me that she had gotten out a little too much during quiet time and needed help picking up. I opened her door and was shocked by the sight that met me.


How had one little girl done all of this in one hour? What was she thinking? Where did it all come from? Does she have any clue how long this will take to clean up?

She had decided, for reasons I do not know, to empty several boxes of hand-me-downs and the box containing all her special mementos and pictures.

I surprised myself. I did not yell. I did not lay down in the floor and cry. I did not run screaming from the house. I calmly told her that this was unacceptable and I was disappointed. I told her I could not deal with her right this minute and closed the door. As I walked down the hall I heard her start crying. Apparently what I said was effective and she understood the gravity of the situation.

Now, several hours later. All of the mementos are back in the right box, all of the clothes are piled in boxes and sitting in the hallway. In my spare time this week (because I have nothing else to do) I will need to sort and fold them all. Before going to bed Charlotte cleaned up all of the blankets and pillows instead of having story time.

So you ask was it worth it? I'll let you know after I get all the hand-me-downs re-sorted, folded, and stored.

Jenn

The Price of an Hour of Peace and Quiet

Fashion

Last week Charlotte and I were putting away clean clothes in her room. She saw a pair of black tights in one of her drawers and the following conversation took place.

Charlotte (holding up the tights): Mommy! I want to wear my black tights. I haven't worn them yet this year!

Me: That is GREAT Charlotte! You're going to get to wear them soon, on Christmas Eve with your Christmas dress!

Charlotte: No Mommy! I CAN'T wear them on Christmas! I need to wear white tights on Christmas!

Me: Charlotte, white tights don't match your Christmas dress, they wouldn't look pretty. You need to wear your black ones. [Her dress is black with red bows embroidered on it and the shirt that goes under it is cream.]

Me thinking: Didn't she just say 30 seconds ago she wanted to wear black tights? Isn't that how this conversation started?

Charlotte (almost in tears): But Mommmmmmy! I wore black tights LAST year with my Christmas dress! I can't wear them again THIS year!

OK she is four! First of all I'm shocked she remembers what color her tights were last year. Second, she's four! How in the world can she know these things matter. Third, do they matter, it isn't like I'm asking her to wear the same Christmas dress two years in a row! They are tights for crying out loud.

I'm crossing my fingers that I have her convinced to wear the black tights. Though I do have a pair of cream ones just in case...

If these are the issues I'm dealing with at four, just think what my life will be like in ten years...
Jenn

Bandy Snatcher Catcher

Rehm came home a few weeks ago and announced he was making a Bandy Snatcher Catcher in QUEST (one of his classes at school). The conversation went something like this

Rehm: We are making Bandy Snatcher Catchers for QUEST!

Me: What is a Bandy Snatcher Catcher?

Rehm: Something to catch a Bandy Snatcher!

Me: What is a Bandy Snatcher?

Rehm: Something that catches a Bandy.

Me: What is a Bandy?

Rehm: I don't know!

OK so you don't know what a Bandy is, but you know it is caught by a Bandy Snatcher and you must build something to catch said Bandy Snatcher? Did I get that all? Yep that was the basic idea.

So the kids had a worksheet where they had to decide what a Bandy was and draw one. Then they had to do the same for a Bandy Snatcher. After that they had to devise a trap using exactly 17 items from a specific set of items (including a specific number of things like paper clips, straws, cups, paper plates and string). Any broken or lost items could not be replaced but broken items could still be used.

Rehm's Bandy had a bunch of different shaped heads, had wings and a stinger. He said it was a sea bee. The bandy snatcher looked basically the same but it could change shapes and colors (like a chameleon). He thought he should use a fake bandy to catch the bandy snatcher.

Today they presented their Bandy Snatcher Catchers. They had to describe how the Catcher worked and then read the book they had made about the Bandy Snatcher.

Here is Rehm's presentation and his book.







The book can be viewed here if you can't see the slide show.

Jenn

Wind Blowing

Today Charlotte came into the room and said, "Mommy it would be OK if you called my the wind blowing name today." I had no idea what she was talking about and asked her what she said. She repeated, "I want you to call me the wind blowing name." I was stumped, what in the world had we played that had a wind blowing name in it? No I don't go around calling her my little fart muffin or anything so I just didn't know what she could possibly be talking about. Then she said something about the lady on the Christmas tree...Aha! She wanted me to call her Scarlett! I have several Hallmark ornaments from "Gone with the Wind" and she loves to look at all of them and admire Scarlett's pretty dresses. In her world "Wind Blowing" equals "Gone with the Wind."

Later at lunch she was looking at a kid cookbook. She announced that we needed to have Kid Cook Night more often because Mommy and Daddy Buffet was getting BORING! She didn't want to go to Mommy and Daddy Buffet anymore she wanted more variety and Kid Cook Night is much more better!

Ah, what will she think of next?
Jenn

Camping

I can now officially say I have been tent camping. I made it 34.5 years without having the experience. And well, while I'm sure I'll go again, I'm not sad it took me this long to go.

Michael, Rehm, Charlotte and I went with Rehm's Cub Scout pack. We went about 1.5 hours from our house to Canyon of the Eagles. We had to take two cars because I needed to come back today and Michael and the big kids are staying until Sunday morning. Last night driving down a winding 2 lane road in the dark in the middle of nowhere following Michael I was sure we were lost and crazy. When the road ended, luckily we were at the right place! In the process of finding our actual site we stumbled on the Lodge - I told Michael I would happily go back and stay there :)

We found the rest of the pack and picked a spot to pitch our tent. Everyone was headed to the Observatory so we sent Rehm off with another family and Charlotte, Michael and I started setting up camp. The first thing we discovered is we had forgotten the adult flash lights. Our only source of light were two kid flash lights - one a lion that roars and the other a zebra that giggles. Oh, and they turn off every two minutes.

About halfway through setting up the tent I mention to Michael that the lights on the van were dim. I went to start the van and yep, it wouldn't start! We had drained the battery! Luckily we had our other car and jumper cables. However neither one of us could find the latch for the hood. I had to get the owner's manual out and look it up, using a roaring flashlight whose batteries died in the process.

Back to setting up the tent. We got the first two poles done properly in no time but the second two just weren't doing what Michael remembered when he had set it up with our friend John (who we borrowed the tent from). Of course I asked where the directions were. Of course we had none. After a few more minutes of fiddling with it we figured it out and had the tent ready to go.

I looked around us at all the other tents and then looked back at ours and asked Michael where he was planning to sleep. It was tiny! He assured me we would all fit and it would be fine. I knew we wouldn't have to worry about staying warm as we were going to be very on top of each other.



From there things started smoothing out. We put the kids to bed and sat and talked to some of the other parents for a bit. When we went to bed it was well, comical. We were completely squished. I swear at points during the night Charlotte was taking up 1/3 of the tent. How can someone so small take up so much space?

When I left today Charlotte was in a tree and Rehm was off with his pack on a spy mission. At least I know they will sleep better tonight as everyone will have more room.

I'll definitely go camping again but only with a larger tent and an air mattress! Oh and a couple of flash lights that don't make any noise.

Here is a link to all the pictures if you can't see the slide show.

Don't Expect a Christmas Card from Us!

I had high hopes that I would actually get Christmas cards done this year. But alas it is already December and I still don't have anything that resembles a decent picture of my family! So now even if I get a decent picture soon, I still have to order them, get them in envelopes and mailed. Then they have to get to everyone...It starting to look like the Mahams will be sending Valentines Day cards again this year!

Here is a sample of my attempts at a Chirstmas card. Can someone tell my kids to stand/sit still for a minute or ask Santa to send me a digital SLR camera. Otherwise, I may never get a good picture of all of them together.



Jenn

Dada!

Today when I opened the girls door after nap time that tell tale smell met me, you know the one, that someone pooped! Eliza Claire had been babbling for about 30 minutes before I went to get them so I assumed she was the culprit.

I got her out of her bed and was talking to her telling her "you need to learn to say 'poop, mama, poop' so Mommy will know you have poop in your diaper and come change you!" She giggled and babbled back to me. Then I said, "Eliza Claire, can you say 'poop?'" to which Eliza Claire said, "Dada!" Again I said, "Eliza Claire can you say 'poop?'" Again Eliza Claire said "Dada!" with a big satisfied smile. I wonder what her father will think of that...

Once I got to her diaper I realized she wasn't the one with poop after all. So I guess she thought I was pretty dumb to be telling her she needed to let me know when she pooped when she hadn't actually pooped. She was probably thinking "Duh Mom, don't you think I know that all ready?"

Apparently it doesn't bother Ruby to sleep with a poopy diaper but it does bother Eliza Claire to try to sleep while smelling someone else's...I guess all that babbling was "hey, it is stinky in here, can you get me out now!"

Don't you just love reading about 'dada'?
Jenn

Jello

Rehm just asked me if we could make Jello this afternoon. I asked him if he was really going to eat it (since usually when I make it he eats a little and I end up throwing the rest out.) His response, "Well, it's just squishy animal parts!"

So tell me would you make Jello for him? I mean doesn't that just sound super appetizing. I know we all know what Jello is made of but I don't need the reminder.

Ah the joys of being a six year old boy!

While talking about silly things Rehm says. Last weekend we had a big family dinner with my parents, Michael's parents, both of Michael's brothers and their families. Right when we started fixing plates the power went out. We rushed around finding candles and flashlights. The kids all started eating and Rehm piped up with "Well, at least we have each other!" Indeed we do!

Jenn