Getting Sold on St. Patrick's Day

I had no intention of celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  I assumed the green cupcakes I made was celebratory enough.  In fact, I knew nothing of the holiday other than there is usually a lot of green in the stores.  However, Ella and Madeline came across a St. Patrick's Day enthusiast at a childcare while Ryan and I played tennis, and came home quite excited.
"Mom!" Ella said, "Did you know if you hang your shoes the night before Saint Patricks day, they will be filled with gold?"
No, I thought, I didn't know that, but this sounds suspiciously like you're trying to talk me into celebrating this holiday.
"Can we look on the internet to find out how to make a leprechaun trap?"  Madeline asked.  

In the end, this is the trap they came up with.  The hammer-like thing sticking up is an arrow, pointing the leprechaun to the underneath section of the triangle, where he will be lured by the gold coins and fall into a hidden hole in the middle of the covered portion.
Just to be sure though, both girls insisted they would sleep in the living room to make sure the leprechaun didn't get away once it was trapped.
Grandma and Grandpa Swapp were swayed by their creativity or their pure belief, and ensured their shoes had one dollar come morning.  As for the leprechaun, Ella asked me last thing before she went to sleep whether I thought her trap would catch the sneaky fairy.  I could think of no way to trap anything resembling a leprechaun and keep it, so we left the trap empty.

Back to the Doldrums-

After six weeks traveling, we arrived back to Minnesota the same weekend that winter arrived.  Seems some of the tropical weather we had in Florida and the DR had wafted to MN, and they enjoyed an unseasonably warm winter.  January and February didn't treat us too badly either as we settled back into the grind of a schedule.  Following is a conversation I had with Ella smack dab in the middle of sacrament meeting as the speaker commented that they knew Jesus Christ lived:
Ella (leaning over and whispering):  "Mom, how do we know that Jesus Christ really lived?"
Jenn: "Well Ella, that's a good question, and sounds like a great conversation to have when we are finished with church." (standard answer when I need to think about how to respond)
Ella (quiet and contemplative for a few seconds, then leaning over again):   "Ooh, I know, I bet they found the fossils of the wise men."
How could I give a more definitive answer than that.  From now on, I might have to borrow that answer in the future.

In January, we happily celebrated Ryan's birthday.  Madeline and Ella planned activities the whole drive back from Florida, and prepared many presents for him.  We enjoyed thinking about him and planning that special day with him, and of course, everyone enjoyed birthday cake.

Max had to cover Sam's mouth so Sam wouldn't blow out the candles.  Even with that difficult task, he still managed a smile.  

the kids all claiming a candle to lick.

In February, we celebrated Valentine's Day.  Gratefully, Ryan and I went out to dinner the previous Saturday, because V-day itself was rather busy.  We had a candlelight dinner (all 6 of us), something Madeline has been requesting for a year.  By the time I had the food and the table prepared, I was too tired to take any pictures. We all enjoyed the steak dinner, with rolls, potatoes and salad, and complete with Apple-juice/sprite drink, and red velvet cake for dessert.

This is how all the cooking and baking happens in our house.  Two little boys sitting on the counter-tops, helping add salt, cinnamon, and other essentials, touting their toys and costumes.

Sam tries out the Valentine's Day cake

Max enjoys the cake batter

Madeline had her first sleep-over last night (one where parents don't spend the night too).  She has been begging us for this, as she feels it's a right of passage.  Her good friend, Allison, had a sleep-over birthday party, and Madeline and 4 friends survived the night (as did her parents).  The big take away for Madeline was that it was the best time ever, and that she wanted to buy a Nintendo DS, since two of her friends have one, and she played it at the party.

She started doing some research when she got home, and when she discovered they cost between $130-$170.00, she decided to make a paper Nintendo DS until she could afford a real one.  Interestingly, she convinced Ella of the utility of it, and Ella now has a paper Nintendo DS as well.  They have also created a couple of games to play on them.  This project occupied several hours today.

Mad-ella share a candy stick that one of them earned from my treat basket

While in Florida, do as the Floridians

Actually, if we had done as the Floridians, we would have spent our time inside, coming out in winter coats and jackets.  But 60-75 degree weather is perfect for us Minnesotans.  We spent much of our time outside, and many afternoons found us at the Jacksonville beach.  Since it was winter, the stores had no sand toys, and until my sister Flossie came to visit and left us with sand gear, we made do with kitchen supplies purchased at the dollar store.

When we arrived at a beach, all the kids would drop shoes, clothes and towels, and run full speed towards the water, where they would play, fully occupied and entertained for hours.  There is something about a wide expanse of sand and an immeasurable amount of water that assures children they will never become bored.  We chased birds, watched kites, played in the surf, and build hundreds of sand castles.  When the tide was going out, the kids, headed up by Madeline, would find the divots of land that still held baths of warm water, and makes houses in them, one being a bedroom, one a kitchen, and so forth.The girls noticed left-over cardboard boxes the homeless left (it seems that the homeless will sleep on the beach), and worried about the fury of the wind, they dug out areas of refuge in the sand.  The kids collected jellyfish on the beach, as well as more shells.  We watched the surfers and fishermen, and the fishing boats further off the shore.

Sam would play with his siblings for a spell, then come back to the blanket, sit on my lab and watch the beach with me.  We started playing a game where I would dig a little hole, big enough for his foot, put his foot in and cover it up. He wanted to play that every time we went to the beach, and I loved the time spent watching the three kids playing with Sam peacefully sitting in my lab, turning around every so often to stroke my face and say, "You're cute".

Our most unfortunate experience with the beach involved a sand crab that I caught and gave to Ella.   Ever on the lookout for a pet, she named him Crabby, and insisted he was coming home with us, to which I acquiesced on the condition that he would reside in a sand bucket outside the apartment.  I helped the girls identify on the internet the crab type and what they eat-algae.  We decided we would collect algae the next time we went to the beach, and that in the interim, Crabby would likely subsist on water and left-overs.  Ella loyally checked Crabby's sand-bucket every day, sifting through the sand until the found him, tossing in food she suspected he would enjoy, and we all lived in peace for a few days.

One day,  unbeknownst to me, Ella, overanxious for the well being of her crab, walked down the lake right outside our apartment, passing the sign which states in enormous font, "For your safety, please do not approach the lake" (Alligators are a problem in Florida).  Max, curious, followed her.  Ella bravely collected algae from the brackish water, and brought it back to feed crabby.  By this time, I was looking for Max, and when I discovered the breach of family rules, I, with passionate determination, took Crabby's sand-bucket down to the lake and hurled him into the great abyss.  Ella boldly accused me of  surely sentencing Crabby to death at the jaws of the alligators, and even Ryan looked at me as if I had killed the family pet.

Aside from this misadventure, we mostly enjoyed the each others company, and when we didn't there was plenty of room on the beach for separation.  After a fun-filled afternoon at the beach, we would often stop at Chick-Fil-E for an ice cream cone on the way home, spent and content, listening to Ella Enchanted or Rosanne Cash as we drove home.

Christmas with the Dalias

We had settled into our apartment in Jacksonville for all of 4 days, barely long enough to get our internet hooked up and unpack, when we packed kids and presents (conspicuously absent was the imported Dominican Christmas Tree, which along with our seashell pictures were our sole decorations in our apartment), dosed kids with travel medicine, and headed north towards Charlotte.  We wondered at our decision when we saw all the traffic headed south, and realized people love to spent Christmas in Florida, and we were heading north.  

Four of the 9 little boys ages 2-4.  Sam intimidating Will by giving him a hug and once he gets a response from someone he continues the same behavior. (Clockwise:  Max, Marcus, Sam and Will)

The girl crew here, often led by Emmie and Alisa. We could tell our kids were Minnesotans (or else the only neglected ones), as they were the only ones running around without jackets, socks or shoes. 

(left to right: Tali, Ella, Alisa, Madeline, Emmie, Katie, and Addie)

We stayed with Erin and family for three fun-filled days.  Early Saturday, we headed to Sarah's house for a family get-together.  One of the top ten things my children love to do is to enter the Dalia Chaos.  This could perhaps qualify as a newly defined experience, encountered when one aligns with 17 siblings, two parents, 6 spouses and soon to be 21 grandchildren (all under the age of 8) in any public place or even private home.  My kids look forward to this, talk about this, long for it--to be one of the gang again.  They do not need any entertainment, they provide their own-- they just need space.  My girls dream of being part of a gang like this, and the idea of leading a gang just excites them.

Since Will was sleeping, Sam was the youngest and the first to open a present.

I realized that Max smiled in all the pictures where he had a present, but in few of the pictures where he did not.

This gathering could hardly be qualified as Dalia Chaos.  There were only two parents, 12 children, 3 spouses and 9 grandchildren.  Yet my children's yearnings were satisfied, and this was likely their best of all Christmas presents.  We had a wonderful meal, some Mitt Romney chit-chat, and kept all kids from danger.  The highlight was opening presents, my kids loved the attention of opening a present under the watchful eyes of 25 other oohs and aahs.  The only disappointment was that we were only together for 3 hours before we all had to leave.

Ella had the largest gift of the day, a gigantic horse book, which garnered much attention.

Madeline loved her American Girl Doll and books.

After the family get together, Erin and I prepared for Christmas, we helped the girls make cinnamon rolls for Santa Claus,  we chatted while the guys watched some football.  For Ryan it was like going back to his boyhood; sitting with his childhood friend (though I have heard Ryan would beat on Tom and Mark some), watching football and reminiscing about Greg's glasses, someone's high pitched siren cry, and the neighborhood football games.  Eating pulled pork that Mark had smoked only added to the appeal.  I still chuckle sometimes at the happenstance of my sister marrying my husband's neighbor.

The boys weren't always as social as the girls were.

Everyone was good-natured about Sam yelling "this is dumb", and "stupid", and all sorts of other offenses.  Luckily he entertained with sweetness just as often.

Christmas morning chaos

Madeline treasured her gum, a gift from Ella.

Another smile from a happy boy.

The girls all loved playing together, crafting together and singing together, whenever we had the girls car (because of course, we divided the cousins along gender lines when driving places), they all sang along to the Peter Breinholt Christmas CD.  The boys enjoyed cars and trains.  We had such a fun time together, that when we left Monday morning, we pulled away a crying Max again, who sobbed for 45 minutes while intermittently yelling at us to stop and turn the car around.  We weren't able to get him to take his travel medicine until a good 2 hours into the drive.  And we also put a damper on an otherwise great Christmas cd, as when we listened to Peter Brienholt the next day in the car, Madeline said she could barely listen to it because it reminded her so much of singing with Katie.  That aside, we had a wonderful time, and realized how much we enjoy being with family.

The girls before we went to church on Christmas day. (Katie, Ella, Madeline and Addie)

Sam's personality matched his expression.  As usual, there was someone at church who grew up with Ryan.  It's an ongoing joke we have that any church we visit will have at least one family from North Ogden, UT.  Having grown up in the Appalachians, an hour from church, I don't have that same network.

Marcus, Mark, Katie, Addie and Erin.

Dominican Republic- 10 years later

Ten years ago, in a trip that tested the short bonds of our marriage, Ryan and I traveled to Haiti.  We left Utah during the winter olympics, even when many of the events were being held in little Midway, where we lived, for an opportunity to travel to a Caribbean country (we were thinking in terms of the Bahamas).  We were checking out an orphanage for my parents; who were interested in becoming involved in charity work.This was back in the days when you could pack two big suitcases a person, and a large carry-on.  In our suitcases, we carried a disassembled cement mixer, which is quit heavy, even when dispersed into 4 different suitcases.

  

We had flown into Miami, and neither of us had made hotel reservations, so we hopped on a shuttle that would take us to a Holiday Inn.  When we got to the hotel at midnight, it was full, but the shuttle driver assured us he knew another motel he could take us to.  This happened to be a rent-by-the hour/by-the-week motel in downtown Miami.  We dared not touch anything in our room, we laid out our sleeping bags on the bed, didn't dare shower, and left at the crack of dawn.  Ryan said more swear words that night that I've heard from him in 10 years combined.

The rest of our trip was similar to this, it was not a luxurious vacation on a Caribbean beach.  It was pretty hard work, and quite an adventure.   We had heard the DR was a nice visit, so our last day, we took a bus over to the DR- hoping to visit a nice beach once on our trip. When we arrived the DR was going to charge us some minute amount of money for being American, we decided to go back to Haiti without seeing the Dominican Republic, which we have both regretted. 

With Ed and Jayne in the Dominican Republic, we decided to give the other 1/3 of the island of Hispanola another go.  A lot more planning went into this trip.  We lined up our trip to the Dominican Republic with a month-long rotation at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, so we would be gone for close to 6 weeks.  We loaded our car, and started out at 4:00 pm on Friday, watching the temperature climb from -2 all the way to 80 by the time we reached Miami on Sunday afternoon.

  

To keep things fun on our trip, we stopped at Chick-fil-e in Georgia, a luxury since there is only one Chick-fil-e in all of MN.  We watched movies, and everyone learned how to play on the IPAD, including Max.  As soon as  I learned to give everyone a sliver of a travel sickness pill at the beginning of the driving day, our car improved in smell.  

This time I made reservations on Priceline.  I have a sort of addiction with the "Name your own Price" feature on Priceline.  I am enamored with the possibility of getting the absolute lowest price for a room, and I love the gamble of a hotel choice (unlike our first Miami trip, I insist of 3 star or above).  Our children LOVE to stay in hotels, so each night was a treat when we pulled into our hotel.

Our first day, we visited Happyland.  Max said, "we went down so fast, it made my mouth scream open".  Ella looks terrified, but this was her 7th time.

We stayed in an apartment on the temple grounds about half the time we were in the Dominican Republic.  The temple is very beautiful, and we all enjoyed walking around the temple grounds.  One evening, Ryan and I walked down the street to get an ice cream cone, and then walked around the temple grounds at dusk.  I love eating an ice cream at dusk in December as I take a walk.  

Reminiscent of my mission, I got up every morning to exercise.  I relished running and walking around the park next to the temple, with the warm Carribean air wafting a promise of another gorgeous day.

Our second day, we visited the church camp in the mountains of Bonao, where we experienced a zip line, a man-made merry-go-round, a rip orange grove, and the magnificent mango trees.

Grandpa winding Madeline up the Merry-go Round.  This Merry-go Round literally takes your breathe away.

I recognized many of the regions in the Dominican Republic, and the experience was  more familiar because of reading the wonderful books, "In the Time of Butterflies" and "The Feast of the Goat".  Ryan read and enjoyed, "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao".

"Sam-well" as the Dominicans called him made friends where-ever we went.  By the time we got back to the states, he would walk around chanting "Samwell, Samwell".  Here he is chatting up a vendor outside of Los Tres Ohos (Three Lakes), an open air limestone cave on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. 

This is the third of three lakes, and it looks like something out of the Pirates of the Carribean. 

On our third day, we went to the beach, which had been much anticipated. Max spent hours laying in the surf, rolling with the water.  He also spent a lot of time collecting seashells.

Sam loved "going in deep" and having an adult swim him around.  And resting-once. 

These girls couldn't have been happier, playing in the water, on the sand, and collecting seashells, all with the company of grandparents and parents.

The sand and the water still make me dreamy.

The kids got the hang of the buffet pretty quickly, requesting noodles and cheese, and choosing all their colors from the plethora of sweets on the dessert table.

They routinely requested buffet, as the dinner or breakfast of choice when we got back to the states.  We loved the fresh bananas and pineapple, along with the fresh juices.  Our favorite food, though was the great avocados, so tasty with everything.

One of the beautiful birds we saw.

Sam loved to visit the Flamingo pool, and often tried to dodge the barrier ropes to swim with them.

Everyone enjoyed playing in the sand with Grandma. Madeline and Ella also looked forward to opening a gift every night, a Dominican tradition.  The kids loved reading books with their grandparents, and we all enjoyed a fun game of Dominoes, another Dominican tradition.

Sweet boy.

Max has this same look in an alarming number of pictures, it's hard to capture the joy he routinely experiences.  After the beach, we headed to a small church to do a seashell picture.  Max loved a picture of Captain Moroni heading up a battle, and the girls loved beautiful pictures of the temple.  This made me chuckle.

We enjoyed the time we had together to play and talk with no other obligations.  Ryan loved the ready supply of pina colada and frozen lemonaide.

Ryan and I with the Christopher Columbus house in the background.  We enjoyed the rich history of the DR. 

Still at the square where Christopher Columbus lived with a gun pointed out at the water, and the beautiful blooming Bourgainvillea bush.  I tried everyone's patience at the market trying to find a necklace made from bulls horns. One of the memento's from a vacation to remember the time we all kept our mouths closed to prevent swear words or snarky comments.

Max was crying the whole way to the airport, and Ella kept peppering him with argumentative banter. He cried all the through the airport, insisting I carry him.    The promise of Angry Birds when we got on the plane pacified him only a little. Instead of a cement mixer, we came back with pounds of seashells, and a mini Christmas tree donated by Grandma Jayne- as the girls couldn't stand not having a tree for Christmas.  The airport staff was very friendly to us as the largest family there, and assisted us at every step.

After all the customs, the kids sitting outside the Miami airport watching a movie while we wait for our shuttle.

Finally on the shuttle back to the Miami hotel.  The end of our Dominican trip, but the beginning of our Florida trip.  We drove to Jacksonville that night, arriving at our apartment at 3 am.  

We delighted in our (second) trip to the Dominican Republic;  the people, the food, the landscape,the weather- all aspects were so lovely.  

Recent Violin Recitals

I read recently in, "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee", about an old philosophy that good parenting requires 1/3 love, 1/3 discipline, and 1/3 sitting on your hands.  As I like concrete ideas, I immediately applied this to violin practice time.  I like efficiencies, and am someone who will often take little things for-granted.  I will often not notice the efforts my children make.  Now, when I sit with them to practice violin, I spend about 10 minutes of time marveling at what the child has accomplished, and pay a sincere compliment, allowing time to show me new songs they've learned or new ideas they want to try.  I spend about 10 minutes of time trying to learn something new, or improve technique.  For the 10 minutes of sitting on my hands, I will leave the room, while they finish practicing.

In an effort to remind myself to not take for-granted, I make a conscious effort every morning and every night to hug and kiss each child, and comment on my gratefulness for their existence.

Madeline playing "Happy Farmer" .  

Ella playing "Minuet 2"

The Last October Hurrahs Brought....

... a lot of clarity.  Looking back on photos, I see that we spent a lot of time outdoors. Each outing was prefaced with, "This is the last nice day we'll have for six months".  With such realization, we off-loaded any other responsibilities and headed outdoors.  We could double justify the many outings because Ella's birthday is in October, and we celebrated her birthday many times.

We headed to our favorite near-by state park.   This time, we walked a long the river, enjoyed the beautiful fall color (which we reputed to be the best in 10 years due to the alignment of many factors), and finished off with a picnic and s'mores.  

After the s'mores, we headed for our last family bike-ride of the season.  Regrettably, we have no pictures, because they would tell the story much better than I could.  I told Ella she could earn three cinnamon bears if she would ride Madeline's bike about 1/4 of a mile on a flat wide trail.  She grudgingly agreed, and started out fine, slow, but fine.  Then she realized what she was doing, and she turned her knees in, and she started wobbling a little.  She averted disaster by driving off the trail and crashing in the ditch, something I remember doing myself as a child. 

She was furious with everyone, insisting she would never ride a two wheel bike again. She would would stay on the tag along indefinitely.  A picture flashed through my mind of Ella leaving for college, not knowing  how to ride a two wheel bike, still peddling a long behind my bike on the tag along, and I wondered whether I had a greater responsibility to recognize her right to choose for herself, or to persist that she continue to practice riding a two wheel bike so that she could learn that she could do hard things, things which she thought might be impossible.

At one point, Max really wanted a turn on the tag along, so Ella rode his little 3 year old bike.  She was further humiliated by this, and by the time we got back to the car, she was barely saying a pleasant word to anyone.  I think we'll try again next year with her to ride a two wheel bike.  

October is also the month that reminds me the most of living in Croatia and Slovenia.  The colder weather, the harvesting of the last fruits and vegetables meant that the women started to cook.  Our last meal from our garden was a cherry apricot mint lassi, along with roasted swiss chard, and a roasted eggplant, red pepper sandwich with fresh mozzarella.  It was memorably delicious.