Any Similar Revival

I apologize for the poop theme. I can't help it; it has become a major factor in my life. Today I learned that you can't let a small boy loose in a blueberry patch for over an hour and not pay for it later. I paid, my kitchen floor paid, my bathtub paid, and my washing machine paid. Do you get the picture? POOP CITY AROUND HERE! I blame the green ones, as Little A. doesn't seem to discriminate between ripe and unripe.

They're so PRETTY, though! They look so INNOCENT! But beware! Horrors are lurking!

We all had fun at the berry farm.

And afterwards, we were all very hot and needed to go swimming. So we did. It's much easier to take Little A. when there are TWO adults available to wrestle him into an upright position in the pool.

And my favorite of the day:

hahahahaha!

Hey! This post wasn't as much about poop as we feared it would be! Catchy title, though. . . .

I experienced them both today.
I know. I don't know how I got so lucky either!

Here is the snake:

Heidi, Little A. and I were out adventuring today, tooling about the countryside, and we stopped at a park in Wooster for our picnic. The boy and I were walking down a trail, happy and fancy-free, when from behind us, Heidi yells, "SNAKE!"

We turned around, and I snatched up Little A., and there was this beauty, who was QUITE unhappy about us being where we were. Heidi said it was rearing up and doing that cobra-head bobble thingy. I know it's just a small-ish snake, but it was so grumpy about the whole thing, and even thought it's not poisonous, I'm sure a bite would still hurt. We stood and looked at it for a while, and after it slithered off, we went back up to the car.

WHen we got in the car, Heidi and I were like, "Ew, nasty smell!" It was on the bottom of my shoes. Ground in, of course. Dog poo. Awesome. Thankfully, I had extra shoes in the trunk, so we were able to get away from the stank.

More photos of the day, and of other stuff too. Since I never seem to post any more. Sorry about that.

at the zoo.

I wish I could show you all the photos! Saturday we hit the farmers' market, and while I love living close enough to walk each week, the produce gets heavier and heavier as the summer progresses. Chad pushes the stroller, so I get the bags. With the dozen ears of corn, four huge onions, potatoes, zucchini, squash, green beans, sour cherries, tomatoes, green onions, and Swiss chard. I am going to have huge arms in no time, especially since I am also carrying around a densely built, if still smallish, boy. Then Chad and the boy went to the Akron zoo with the Billys. I stayed home and baked focaccia and cupcakes for the evening's gala event. I also did a bit of cleaning.

We had the gang over for a birthday celebration in the evening. Sarabeth's birthday was Friday, and Joe's is next week, so we combined the two and had a lovely dinner party. I made these:

We grilled some of this:

The boys played:

Jillian was our centerpiece:

I love our friends and their kids! We had so much fun hanging out.

Yesterday, we did church, lunch with Linda and Margie, a nap, some playtime in the sandbox, some fun with video-making, and a relaxing schedule.

I'm feeling ready for my week!

The small boy and I have kept ourselves pretty busy. It's the way I cope best with all the changes in my life–keep moving! We've been going on lots of outings, seeing lots of friends, and doing lots of new things! We come home very tired, ready for dinner, bath, and bed. At least, I do!

Yesterday, Heidi and I took little A out to Smithville to feed the ducks at The Barn and visit Toyrifix. The toy store was an absolute hit–I have to think that he has never been in a toy store before, given his background and circumstances. He didn't understand about packaging and needing to buy things before playing with them. Thankfully, Toyrifix has lots of toys out to play with, including a child-sized shopping cart. Little A. found a baby doll, put her in the seat, and pushed that cart around the store the whole time. He also had a great time feeding the ducks, although he was almost more interested in the whole bread-throwing idea than in watching the ducks eat the bread.

Today, we spent the afternoon with Christi and Daniel. First, we visited her parents' dairy farm and had lunch. The farm was a huge hit. Cows! Tractors! Silos! Barns! Room to run! Daniel has quite a stash of toy tractors there as well. We really liked those. Next, we went to her friend's house who has a swimming pool. I'm pretty sure Little A has never been swimming, and I was a little nervous about how he'd react. I shouldn't have been. It was like wrestling with a small, super-strong, super-slippering eel. He had absolutely NO fear of the water and kept trying to jump out of my arms and throw himself backwards. It was a bit terrifying at times, because he was so darn slippery. He didn't understand the concept of "close your mouth," "hold your breath," "don't jump off the side without me!" The next time we go swimming, having Chad along is a definite requirement. My arms are sore from all the Holding Onto Wiggly Boys. Thankfully, a thunderstorm crashed in out of nowhere and brought me some relief.

After changing into dry clothes back a the farm, we headed to an aunt's house to pick blueberries. (Serioiusly, Christi is related to or knows everyone in Wayne county.) We love picking berries. And we love hanging out with Daniel. I love seeing the boys together.

A big, full day. And now I'm tired.

Bye!

We used to tease my cousin Jordan all the time about getting caught in the "Basement Vortex" at his house. He'd be sent down to get something out of the freezer, and he would just disappear. For hours. I feel like I've been in some New Foster Mother Vortex, and I am only now surfacing. It's been hard, and I admit that I never allowed myself to consider some things before. Like what it would be like to deal with birth parents and all their issues, how my heart would be stretched at the thought of loving this little boy and then sending him back to them. How having a child in my home would reveal all my selfishness and bad attitudes. The first week was so hard, I wanted to quit. I would cry in the mornings as Chad left for work. Who was this little stranger in my house, and why had I thought that this would be a good idea? It has gotten better steadily, to the point where I no longer furtively dream about sending him back. In the meantime, life has continued rolling onward. Here are some photos of the past few weeks. I'm going to try to be more consistent about blogging. It's hard when I can't post the photos of our activities!

Hrubik 4th of July picnic at Granny Annie's:

Uncles.

cousins.


Plundering Granny's raspberries.

My other kids.

A trip to the zoo with Willow and Aidan:

Me mocking the camel.

At home.

Making me pretty with lots of hair clips.

Getting a smooch.

Apparently, it's WAY cooler than I ever DREAMED! This is a common sight at our house these days. A small boy, parked next to his car on the side walk, enthralled by the trucks, vans, buses, and cars that go through the intersection. He is mesmerized, and I have a chance to do some quick weeding and dead-heading.

I feel like this experience is stifling my blogging voice, simply because there is much that I don't feel right about putting out there, since this kid isn't mine, and I need to protect his privacy. Since life has been ALL about this kid lately, it's hard to find other things to blog about. So I apologize for my absence. I can only hope to return soon to my regular blogging schedule.
Here are some cheeky monkeys I CAN post.

And her mother. Nice!

This girl has been an absolute STAR with Little A. I love you, Olivia!

Little A. and I went to Wooster today with Heidi to meet Willow and Aidan. It was fun to have the two little guys together, and we had a lot of fun. We started at Quailcrest herb farm and pulled wagons, rode in wagons, petted the dog, played in fountains, ran around like crazy. Then we went to Broken Stone bakery for lunch and Tulipan for dessert. Yum! Here are some photos that I CAN show, of Willow's Aidan, who is getting to be so big and so ridiculously cute!

With his daddy, who had just cycled 50 miles! Way to go, Luke!

So Cool.

We are still adjusting to the new changes in our life. Sometimes I just want to feel normal, and that's not going to happen for a while.

Well, that's how this feels. That, or the Twilight Zone, and an alternate universe just sounds less creepy. I don't think I could have prepared any differently for suddenly having a child in my home–I think it will take time to feel more normal, no matter what. All weirdness aside, we're doing pretty well. Sleeping has gotten easier for him, and he sleeps in much later than we do in the mornings, which is a blessing! He hasn't gotten to spend much time with Chad yet, so he is very clingy with me and wouldn't let Chad put him to bed last night. I understand completely, but I'm hoping this weekend helps both of them with their relationship. I did finally have a meltdown last night, which made me feel MUCH better. I've had all these emotions churning since Tuesday (just Tuesday??) and I needed to let them out. Today he has a visit with his birth mom, and I don't know how that will affect him. We're taking it one day at a time. One hour at a time!

The county called and gave us a foster placement! Little A. is two-years-old, big and strong for his age. And he's also cute as a button. Things were a little crazy around here last night, especially since he was homesick for his parents and confused about who exactly we are. Hopefully, it will get better. During the day, we are having a marvelous time. I'm not going to post full-face pictures of him online just now, but here he is otherwise!

He really liked this puzzle. He did it like 15 times until he could get it right almost every time.

And he really loves water. I pulled up the step stool for him and let him play in the dishwater (don't worry, it was pretty clean). He could pour water from one cup to another for hours. He has great powers of concentration when he plays–more than in any other kid I've seen. He just turned two in May, and he can really entertain himself and is VERY busy!

Who knows how long we'll have him here. We knew in our heads that this process could be a heartbreaker, way back when we started. I think, though, that we didn't really understand how risky this is until today.

That's where I've been, in case you've been wondering. First of all, I have to show you what treasures I found at the Seville garage sales last Friday. I can't explain why, I can only tell you that I did.

Seriously, though, who could resist?

These little bits of awesomeness were only $0.50 each.
I think this is my favorite:

And this little gem. I can't wait to pass along nuggets of wisdom:

Ok, back to my title, Chad and I decided to check out Rittman orchard this Saturday, since we'd heard through Jill that they had luscious strawberries. As soon as we saw the buckets people were bringing back from the fields, we plunked down $2 for two buckets and very merrily went about our berry-picking way. This is Chad's new favorite activity.

We went home with this, 13 pounds of strawberries.

On Sunday, after church, lunch at Fiesta Jalopenos with Mike, Kristen and Emma, and Emma's dance recital (totally cute), we convinced our friends (it wasn't hard) to go pickin' with us again, even though Kristen was still wearing her church dress. It made berry picking all that more idyllic.

Emma was the best though. She doesn't like strawberries or raspberries "that much," but she has fun picking them and running around the rows of bushes!

Then we hit the raspberries. SIGH.

It became a contest between us and her parents. She'd run back and forth, examining our buckets, telling us she was in charge of the game. At the end, she ran back to Kristen, "I have BAD NEWS, Mom! They're beating you!"

But I think we all won! Almost 5 pounds of raspberries each!

Chad found a good spot. What you don't see is Kristen on the other side of the row, skirt notwithstanding, doing exactly the same thing. The competition was fierce.

So, what have I done with all those pounds of berries? More like, what HAVEN'T I done? I've pureed strawberries and frozen them in muffin pans for smoothies.

I have thirty little ruby-colored smoothie "muffins" in my freezer now!

I froze some whole and some sliced. We made strawberry ice cream Saturday night, and it's enough to make you giggle.

This morning, I got up early and made 8 jars of raspberry freezer jam. So pretty.

Berries are kind of addicting. Once you start, it's hard to stop!

What is with time lately? It is moving so fast I can hardly keep up. After our epic weekend, I've been slow to start back into things. I think I'm tired. Even though I didn't do the hard work, as Chad and Luke did. The weather has been heavy and sluggish, too, and that doesn't help matters. I've been reading the chronicles of Narnia to Olivia while the twins are supposed to be napping. I've been laying on my couch at home reading the rest of the time. In between, I've made attempts at finishing laundry and mowing the lawn. And making dinner. I'm hoping my energy comes back around soon, but if it doesn't, I'm happy to continue laying around on the couch reading.

From Sunday, little Jillian:

And wearing Leah's sunglasses:

Speaking of Leah:

Cuteness all around!

And here is my very own cutie!

Before:

After:

(That awesome orange ladder is what props up my clothesline when it gets heavy.)

During:

Oh, my poor ferns!

Ouch!

Leah liked watching.

Stay tuned for more updates. We still have a long way to go!

I loved today. Today tasted like summer. Today smelled like summer. It was long and full and fun, and I ate and laughed and ran around and threw rose petals in the air. After a sweet little lunch at Heidi's and a turn about her garden, I went to Strongsville to pick up three cheeky monkeys. Instead of staying at their house this afternoon, we headed back to Medina to hang out with Myles. Here they are, having found the box of musical toys that my wonderful friend Jill dropped off yesterday. Thank you Jill, for all the noisy toys. Really. I can't thank you enough. It was so thoughtful.

My cheeky monkeys:

They are fascinated by my garden, especially the herbs. We walked around, rubbing leaves between our fingers, smelling lavender ("It smells like froot loops!" Ben insisted.) and sage and lemon balm ("It smells like candy!" Emma exclaimed.) Then, eyeing my crazy climbing roses, Emma asked in her most innocent voice, "Allyson, can we pick some of your flowers?" I grabbed my trusty clippers and started dead-heading the bush. I handed the big, full-blown, luxurious blossoms to each child in turn, who then joyfully rubbed them against their faces, pulled off all the petals, and threw them into the air, shrieking. Olivia declared that she was the bride and Emma was the flower girl. Ben just liked the throwing part. Since we were having their mommy and Aunt Heidi and Uncle Frank and Jordan over for dinner later, we decided that we were decorating the driveway as a welcome present for them.

They liked playing with the roses too. There is something decadent and indulgent about having huge roses to just play with, to tuck behind ears and study and inhale. I tried to explain to them how rich they were, to have all these roses. They're still children, though, and see it as part of their birthright.

When the porch was sufficiently strewn with blossoms, we headed inside to make signs for the impromptu dinner party.

Olivia's menu explains bread for appetizers, salad, and Swedish meatballs, plus wonderful chocolate ice cream for dessert. Wonderful chocolate ice cream is right, but we'll get to that in a second.

Ok, the ice cream. We got an ice cream machine yesterday! And today, I made some for the first time. Oh. My. Goodness. I started laughing, it was so good. It was ridiculous.

We got a little involved with getting every last bit.

We all agreed, though, that Olivia was really the winner of the Rocky Clean Plate Award. Heidi gave her a prize.

Oh look, those noisy toys again.  Ah, it was a lovely day. Expect to see some more ice cream posts in the near future. I think it's my new favorite thing.

The other day, Emma was looking a bit bored in the backyard. Ben didn't want to go on the teeter-totter (teetew-tottew, in Emma-speak), and Liv wasn't yet home from school. "Allyson, do you have your camera?" I looked at her, all big-shining-brown eyes and crazy Medusa hair, and I melted. And handed it over. "Here you go," I said. "Just make sure you have the wrist strap on all the time, and don't run with it." And off she went. She took a million pictures of everything: the backyard. the toys in backyard. The flowers  by the back door. Each room in the house. Most of them were blurry, as she ran off to take the next photo before the shutter has closed on the previous one. But I love some of them, love, love, love them.

I think we'll spend some time this summer talking about photography–it's never to early to start, right? Especially composition and thinking about what kind of picture you want to make. Right now, the novelty of seeing reality recreated on the screen is too overpowering, but soon, the end result will become important to them.

I spent a loooooong time out by these flowering trees, watching the bees drunkenly sweeping from blossom to blossom. Their legs were so packed with pollen, I'm surprised they could fly at all. It smelled like heaven, sweet, green heaven.

Then I saw this little guy up front.

And who knew leeks could be so beautiful?

Rich, I'm RICH, I tell you!