what's up weekly.

Hello, hello!  It's the best day of the week again, and time for a rundown of all the other best days of the week.

So, one thing I have failed to fill you in on so far is that Juni is walking now!  (She started a couple of weeks ago, the week that I failed to get the WUW post up - that post is still in progress.  How's that for delinquent?)  She is also starting to use sign language... and verbalizing what she means at the same time.  So, now that she can sign "more," she can also say "mo, mo".  Which kind of defeats the point of sign language, but who cares - I think the point remains that my baby is a genius.

She usually walks better than this, she was just trying to show off.

Last weekend, we headed out of town to the capital, which is about 30 minutes from home, to get some grocery shopping done and grab dinner.  I forgot that Aldi stores used to be small and rinkydink, and apparently some still are.  This Aldi was crammed into a storefront in a strip mall, and the carts were about the size of an umbrella stroller.  By the end of my trip through the store I looked like I was the Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio.  

My cart was piled, with toilet paper and frozen raspberries balancing precariously on top of Mt. Food-For-Nine.  (It also didn't help space allocation that I was also buying a number of things for an Amish friend who also has seven kids.)  (In case you were wondering what the Amish buy at Aldi, it's a lot of sugar for canning and flour for baking, and also plenty of BBQ potato chips.)

I show you this photo that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of our cargo space.  I mean, the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge.  And also our cargo space.  God bless the Kraken.

After our Walmart pickup and my Aldi run, we grabbed some fast food and headed to a local playground. 

On Sunday, Todd preached, so I stayed home and listened online from the comfort of my own couch while the kids wrestled like maniacs.  That is, until I got coldcocked with a toy tank and then banished them to the far reaches of their rooms.  Just like the Ingalls family used to do on church days.

On Monday, our air conditioner started making a weird noise again, and if you're caught up on my sporadic Friday posts, you would have seen this coming.  It was all very deja vu: it started making The Noise, it stopped blowing The Air, then the thermostat summited Mount Holy Crap.

It was hooooot.  It is July in Missouri, and that temperature reading does not include the humidity that is no longer measured in percentage, because there is no percentage reading for "This is what it feels like to live in an armpit."  So, "Ninety Degrees and Armpit" was our living and sleeping experience until Thursday afternoon.  This was the official Van Voorst uniform through the whole ordeal. 

Some of us rocked the look better than others.

But anyway.  This time, we called a different A/C guy to come look things over, and he replaced the fan motor without the dire prognosis of having to replace the whole unit, so I like to think that's a win.  I also like to consider it a win that, since it was fixed a few hours ago, our house is only 84 degrees (and falling) at the moment and I feel like I'm drinking margaritas in Oymyakon.

We've been spending a lot of time reading while we've been on break from school.  The kids have been engrossed in personal audiobooks all week: Atticus has been listening through HP and The Goblet of Fire, Penelope has been listening through HP and the Order of the Phoenix, Finneas has been listening through The Tale of Despereaux, Laurelai has been listening to The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Rocco has an audio recording of a picture book about a spy during the Revolutionary War that he has been listening to on repeat.  We finished Mary Poppins on audiobook in the van, and started Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.  We're reading through The Wind in the Willows at night during family time.  And I finished "Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture" by Anthony Esolen (really, really excellent) and started The Fruit of her Hands by Nancy Wilson, Heaven Misplaced by Doug Wilson, and the Art of Natural Cheesemaking by David Asher.

Okay, they're not actually reading in this photo, but you can't fault me for trying to slip it in under the radar because they're just so adorable. 

It turns out when we're not doing school, we're freed up to... do more school.  But like, in the best way.

And a few last items of note this week: first, Rocco knows how to play Go Fish.  The best part is when I ask him for a seven or something and he whispers back at me, "What does a seven look like again?"

Second, Penelope's zinnias are starting to come in strong.  Pretty soon here, she will have bouquets for sale!  So if you're local and could use a little brightness in your life (and let's face it, it's 2020, and you could use a little brightness in your life), consider this an invitation to support a local business startup AND make your life prettier AND make a ten year old very, very happy, all in one fell swoop. 

And those are the announcements!  Every week that passes makes me just that much more excited to see what the next week has in store for us.  Happy weekend!

what's up weekly.

This week has been the most mundane week, with just a few little items of note to keep it spicy - and I have looooooooved it.

Last weekend, we started exploring our neighboring cities a little more.  (I'm still working on last week's W.U.W. post, and I can fill you in more once that's completed, but the main gist is that our city passed a very strict mask ordinance so our outings have needed to look different.)  On Friday night, we went a few miles south to a little town of about 4,000 people.  We grabbed pizza, stopped at the little grocery store for my Friday night steak, and headed home, so it wasn't of any major note but I did find out that steak is about $6 per pound cheaper there, so... that was a serious win.  I like to think the savings paid for the gas to get down there...?

We've been spending more road trip time in the Kraken lately, and the kids have repeated how much they've loved the extra family time it has afforded us.

On Saturday morning, there was really no "out" to go to on my morning out, so I curled up in bed with coffee and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom and got some serious reading done.  I had just finished up the Diary of Anne Frank the day before, and lately I'm finding myself feeling grounded, strengthened and encouraged by hearing from writers from the past.  I got rid of Facebook last week, and I've been trying to spend my newly freed up time getting more substantial reading done.  I'm trying to have one theological book, one work of fiction, and one history/culture book going at any given time lately.  There is nothing like that combination to help me look at the current moment with a little bit of clarity, I'm finding.

Saturday afternoon, I spent some time outside, pulling poison ivy out of my flower beds and garden beds.  Because it just KEEPS COMING.  But that seems to be the theme for everything this year, so I'm trying to face it head on with as little trepidation as I can convincingly pretend.  It's building character and whatever.

On Saturdays, the kids have their own liturgy: special breakfast burritos made and served by Chef Todd, then Coffee and Cash, then time in the afternoon to type up stories or draw along with Art Hub for Kids.

Saturday night, we headed to another little town at dinnertime.  This one is about half an hour west of us, and was so adorable.  It was about 8000 people and sits right on the Missouri river - right across the river, actually, from the start of the Santa Fe Trail.  It was first settled in 1817 by the sons of Daniel Boone, and hosts the longest-running live theater west of the Mississippi.  It is surrounded by cornfields, and has an adorable baseball field in the center of it (which is also immediately next to a prehistoric Indian mound).  The city itself changed hands multiple times during the Civil War, as it was a port city fought over by the Union and Confederacy.  Also, the kids would like to point out that it features a park with a double twisty slide.  I was losing my mind.  It was like all the best things I miss from Iowa towns - cornfields, an historic downtown, no houses with tarps for a roof - and all the history and beauty of a Missouri River town, all rolled into one.  I could go on and on.  If it wasn't actually in Missouri, I'd want to live there.

View this post on Instagram

Adorable girl in an adorable town! (Boonville, MO)

A post shared by Paige Van Voorst (@theminivanvoorsts) on Jul 11, 2020 at 5:01pm PDT

On Sunday morning, we headed out of town to a friend's house to watch Anthem's livestream with a few folks from church, and afterwards drove around a little town about ten miles north of us.  That town was a bit of a letdown, but I guess they can't all be winners.

Then launched the Very Normal Week: the true love of my life.  The kids did some math most mornings, but other than that we're on break from school.  I spent my time reading, getting some house projects done like cleaning out the basement and finally getting a handle on all the crazy amounts of laundry that had gotten backed up during the worst of my poison ivy days.  I hung a few things on the wall in the boy's room and our room.  We had some friends over for dinner on Tuesday night.  You know.  Fantastic normal stuff.

On Wednesday, a friend joined us up at the Amish for the morning, and then another friend came to give me and the big girls much-needed haircuts.  

Yesterday, I pulled yet more poison ivy and spent some one-on-one time with each of the big girls.

Nothing major, but at just the right pace for me: days with freedom to read and motivation to organize, and fun stuff to do in the evenings and on the weekends, without feeling 'booked.'  I wish all of life could be summer break (minus the poison ivy).  Is that a thing?

Here's to another exciting, exploratory weekend - I think tomorrow we're going to head to Jefferson City, our state capital, for the first time since moving here 4.5 years ago... we're clearly behind the eight ball.  Plus, Todd's teaching this Sunday at church, so it should be a really fun weekend!  And here's also to another hopefully normal week.  Gosh, there's so much to love about life right now.

gearing up for school planning.

And just like that, it's July (it's nearly MID-July!) and our school year is getting ready to kick off.  Well, actually, we start logging hours July 1 each year, so I guess it kind of already has kicked off.  I admit, it has caught me off guard.  So this week I've jumped into the thick of planning.  

This is my Plannin' Setup: One laptop open to Ambleside Online, one laptop playing Scrubs.  Also, this is my Plannin' Uniform: tie-dyed La Croix shirt, pajama pants, scrunchy-bun, and LEGS WITH HUMAN-LOOKING SKIN!  Glory, hallelujah, my poison ivy is finally starting to clear up.

We're taking this month off from most of our work (except math - we've hit the dreaded Depths of Division, and we can't suffer any loss of forward momentum or we'll all just peter out and give up the ghost) and we're planning to jump back into a full schedule the first week of August.  Probably. So I've ordered all our books, scheduled our weekly assignments, and am now working on prepping my yearly Staples Order to End All Staples Orders.  I need to grade last term's papers, assemble portfolios, print off photos, and organize and store last year's books.  And I've got about three weeks in which to do it.

But at least I'll look cute doing it, see above photo.  Or see below, ever-so-slightly different photo:

With All the Books and Charts this time.

So if I'm a bit sparse around here for a bit, this is why.  Wish me luck and Godspeed and all the other wishes.

what's up weekly.

Well, that was a quick turnaround.  It feels like I was just writing one of these posts.  Partly because I was just writing one of these posts, and partly because the big girls have been at my mom's this week, and I feel super weird and disoriented.  I'm ready for the girls to come home and life to return to its glorious normal!

Last Friday, we were all still together, and we got to celebrate Callista's third birthday!  It's hard to believe she's three - sometimes she acts like she's about 19, and I honestly don't know how I'm going to hang onto any level of authority over her for much longer.  (Haha, as though I had any in the first place.)  Other times, I look at her and her giant bald baby head and wonder how she's already three.  Kids always throw you for a loop.

She is electricity.  She's sharp and bright and energetic and a bit dangerous.  She is sassafrass.  She knows her own mind, and she has her own voice.  She is an absolute force.  She spends most of her time pretending to be a kitty, or swaddling her babies, or cooking me pretend food and forcing me to eat it, even when I'm not even pretend hungry.  She loves brushing my hair and "painting" my face with dry paintbrushes, and she's super gentle.  She hates seeing anyone get hurt.  She loves playing outside for hours on end, and dancing her own brand of ballet.  She is so affectionate, and so very gentle and kind with Juni.  The two little girls will often go off and play quietly together for an hour or more.  She is a full-spectrum person, and I just adore her.

After pizza and ice cream (our traditional Friday night routine), we all hopped into the van to drive up to Iowa to spend the next day at my parents'.

On Saturday, the kids played on the new playset in my parents' yard, and we had a birthday party for Lissy - an AC/DC birthday party, to be exact.  Because AC/DC is her favorite band.  (Every time they come on the radio, she loses her ever-loving mind.)

This was the face she made opening EVERY present.

She received the ballet leotard from me and Todd, and the unicorn shoes from Laurelai.  She got these on Saturday - it is now Friday, and she has not yet changed outfits at all.

On Sunday morning, we loaded back up into the van to head home, but Penelope and Laurelai stayed behind to spend the week at my mom's.  I am so glad they have the opportunity to have so much fun - I've heard they've been to the zoo, to the beach, out for ice cream - but they're coming home tomorrow and I could not be more excited.  We don't typically spend much time separated from each other, and it feels like I'm missing my arm or something.  Like, I can function without my arm, but why would I want to?

In the afternoon, I put together Lissy's new trike.  I had an excellent helper.

  

The rest of the week has been kind of a blur.  I've spent much of it applying poison ivy remedies (including one I made from plantain leaves and salt, which has proven shockingly effective) and hunting the yard for poison ivy.  (It's everywhere.  Everywhere.)  I haven't really let the kids play outside much, even though it has been nice much of the week, since I can't stand the thought of them catching it or tracking it into the house.  However, we did go out for a bit one morning so I could finally get the compost bin finished up.

On Tuesday morning, a friend came over whom I hadn't seen since before quarantine - she had a newborn the last time I saw her, and now she has a twenty-pound five-month-old.  HOW WARPED HAS THE PASSAGE OF TIME BECOME?!  That night, we headed to another friend's house for a pool party with a couple of families.  That's pretty impressive socialite behavior coming from an introvert facing a second-wave lockdown.  (Or perhaps you think I'm irresponsible?  That would be the first time in my middle-aged life that anyone would have charged me with that, as I've always been a Type A firstborn control freak - so maybe I need to feel honored!  Irresponsibility does seem to be a virtue these days.)

On Wednesday, it was storming in the morning, so we waited until late morning to head up to the Amish.  Because I can't call to let them know when plans change, they just have to guess why I'm not there on time.  This time, my friend Irene said she was pretty sure I didn't show up because I had landed in the hospital from the rash on my legs!  Apparently that's how bad they looked.

Luckily, most of it is finally beginning to clear up.  My skin is still dry and itchy, and I'm still getting small new patches many days, but nothing like the initial contact rash.  And it doesn't appear that it will scar, which is a major relief.  I'm also starting to sleep better - last night I didn't take Benadryl, or need to get up in the middle of the night to ice my legs.

Yesterday, we just laid low around the house.  The boys are experimenting with stop-motion videos, so I got to spend my morning filming a Lego police chase for them.  In the afternoon, I organized my deep freeze.  Thrilling, thrilling stuff - and I don't mean that sarcastically.  It actually feels really good to have spent some time with the boys on a project, and I'm ecstatic I brought a little bit of order to a messy corner of the house.

So.  Poison ivy, missing my kids, being socially irresponsible for the first time in my life - it was a weird week.  Luckily we had big things to celebrate, and fun things to do to anchor us in joy.

father's day 2020.

Father's Day was so much fun this year! The kids all spent time planning gifts and making cards.

Penelope and Laurelai got him some nice pens, "because he uses pens."  The boys got him underwear and socks, probably because he uses those, too, and also because he asked for them.  I got him Man of the House by C. R. Wiley, a watch and some good coffee.

I love that most of the kids' cards had drawings of him.

This card from Rocco, with art commissioned from Finneas, definitely shows Todd in his most musical light.

This drawing by Callista is EVERYTHING.

After nap time, we surprised him with a popcorn party - in his brand new POPCORN TROUGH (a galvanized bucket big enough for the six bags of popcorn we pop)! We also had M&M's and gummy bears, and he got a couple of fun family movies for us all to watch together.  (Courageous and The Emperor's New Groove.)  We ended the night the best way we know how: eating popcorn and candy for dinner, watching Courageous, and loving being together.

To say he is World's Best Dad is not an exaggeration.  He is fun and funny, principled and kind, hard working, a memory maker, a reader, a learner, a champion in prayer, a teacher, a provider, and a cheerleader.  He is our entire world, and we could not love him more.

Happy Father's Day, Todd!