I think the time lapse since my last entry illustrates clearly, the lack of time I have to devote to writing and computer related ventures these days. Apparently, the parenting of three children takes up a considerable amount of one’s personal time. Who knew? So, since late April, we’ve been busy with the kid’s activities.

Joe generally plays hockey a few times per week, and Darren quite enjoys going to the rink, and occasionally gets a chance to skate around, too. Joe also took a soccer class for six weeks, which just ended last week. He’s quite the sporty guy these days. His energy always astounds me. He had his annual cardiac check-up today. Everything looks great. That’s always a relief.

Zofia has transitioned smoothly into the toddler phase of her life, and is keeping us on our toes at all times. She loves her older brother and sister, and is always curious about what they are doing. We see her modeling their behavior already, and are always pointing out to Flo and Joe the important role they have in her life. This doesn’t always sink in, especially when their fighting over who sits next to Zofia in the car.

Flo is growing up fast. I can’t believe she’s going to be ten this August. She loves to read, and spends so much time doing so, I often have to work hard at getting her to do anything else. She is taking ice skating lessons again, and enjoying a class that is working towards a small group performance. She had her piano recital last week, which we enjoyed attending. She’s finishing up her last guitar and piano lessons next week, and will take a break for the summer.

Speaking of Summer, we’re looking forward to our trip to Vegetarian Summerfest in Johnston, PA in July. Darren’s niece, Samantha, is coming down to join us for that. I haven’t been anywhere since before Zofia was born, so I’m definitely looking forward to a change of scenery.

The other summer event that draws a lot of attention around these parts, is the “Mile Long Yard Sale” held in our neighborhood and the ones surrounding it, all day on the fourth of July. We’re spending the next few weekends TRYING to organize our stuff, to make a valiant effort at decluttering this year.

Other than that, it’s business as usual. Darren’s still enjoying the relaxed pace of working at home, with only one weekly trip to DC to drop off his cases, and pick up more. We really are appreciative of the opportunity to have him around so much, especially while the kids are young.

We hope everyone is enjoying the emergence of the warmer weather, and has a healthy and happy summer!

Darren & Tara Model 1993 has upgraded to the 2009 Model… looking good… room for a few future upgrades, but boasts high functionality, ease of use, and comes with an unlimited warranty!

The past month has once again escaped me. Darren returned from his brief Italian getaway feeling revitalized. I, on the other hand, am awaiting my respite. We have, however, just registered for Vegetarian Summerfest for this summer, so I am very much looking forward to five days away on the Johnstown Campus of The University of Pittsburgh, where we can relax and I won't have to cook for anyone!

So, all is well in our world. Will write more when I come up for air!

Almost two months have passed since my last entry, and Florence keeps sending me emails, reminding me to update our website, so I figured I’d finally oblige. I’ve been sick for over a week now. I think I’m starting to emerge from it, but it really knocked me out. It started out as a sort of flu, then progressed into a nasty sinus infection and respiratory thing. It has not been pleasant. Darren has had to take a couple days off of work, and despite his best efforts to help out with the kids and meals and such, a lot of the housework like basic cleaning and laundry have fallen way behind. If I don’t get better soon, I’m going to have to call in support services. But, I’m hopeful the next few days will see me regaining my strength and feeling better. My birthday is on Monday, and I certainly would like to feel better before then!

Everyone’s doing well. The kids are keeping us busy. Zofia is into everything, and getting a lot more expressive. Flo is into Club Penguin and enjoys getting computer time whenever possible. Joe is rather computer savvy, too! We’ve really had to set limits on it, though, or I swear they’d sit there all day. Thankfully, we have plenty of other things to keep us busy. Flo and I have been working on writing a lot, and she and Darren have been working on a Geography/History curriculum for the United States. Joe is still progressing through some basic reading stuff, and most of the time is easy to work with. His main focus, though, is always hockey! He loves hockey!

Darren is heading to Italy next week for a short vacation to visit his good friend, Alex. He’s excited to get away for a bit and have a change of pace. We briefly pondered all going, but the cost would be way too expensive, and 2009 is our year of no credit card debt! And besides, even if we could afford for us all to go, I’m thinking that toting three young kids around Italy might not be the relaxing experience we’d be aiming for. We’d be better to try that in five or six years. We’re going to try to find something local we can do this summer for an overnight as a family that will be fun, affordable, and as relaxing as possible.

So, off to find the box of tissue and head back to bed, hopeful that Zofia is tired enough to join me. Good night!

Today was a milestone for Zofia and the onset of a new challenge for me. She climbed out of her crib and promptly landed head first in a basket of laundry. We don’t use the crib much for sleeping, as she’s usually cuddled up beside us in bed, but it’s been a useful tool while I’m taking a shower, or need to ensure her safety while I get something done. Well, those days are over! Zofia is seventeen months old today, and I guess there’s no containing her now!

The New Year is starting off well. We’ve already launched into an array of activities, including music lessons, hockey, book club, Earth Scouts, and various social activities. Last weekend we hosted a vegan potluck at our house through MeetUp.com and had quite a good turnout. And on Friday, I hosted a Mom’s Night Out here, and got a chance to spend a relaxing evening with friends. So, all in all, besides being a little busy, and the usual challenges of time management and sleep deprivation, all is going well, and we’re looking forward to the promise of a new year!

Darren and I just watched the ball drop on TV with the kids, and welcomed in our 20th New Year together! That country song "Don't Blink" comes to mind, because I swear, it was just yesterday that I had just met Darren, and we were celebrating our first New Year together.

We spent the evening with friends at church for their annual "Alternative New Year's Eve Celebration." Unfortunately, our kids were a bit challenging, and we spent more time wrangling them than actually socializing, but it was nice to be in good company for the last day of the year!

The onset of a new year brings to mind many resolutions, but I think I'll keep it simple this year and just work towards balance in all areas of my life. Simple... but not so simple, I guess. We continue to focus on our nutrition and exercise, but also, a big focus this year is to simplify our spending and start the year with a month-long “buy-nothing” challenge. This really is just a month of trying to stay out of stores, and not needlessly purchase things without some forethought. We will keep a journal of wants versus needs, and try to impart to the kids the importance of distinguishing between the two. So, we’ll see how it goes!

Happy New Year!

My last post left us just a few days prior to trick-or-treating, and now we’re on the last day of November, having cruised through Thanksgiving and being thrust into the hectic holiday season. Time sure does fly!

November was an eventful month. The energy surrounding the presidential election was exciting, and even the kids got into it. On that day, we went and voted, toted the kids around to an Earth Scouts meeting, and later yoga, then came home to watch the drama unfold on TV. Flo colored in a map of the electoral votes as they came in, and I went about our nightly activities with the television keeping tally in the background. It was definitely exciting to be part of such a historical election. Flo said she knew all along that Obama would win, and I said he had to win, just so I could hear Joe say his name… Bawak Abama!

This month also brought a new source of nourishment to us. We had been participating in a local organic produce co-op for a bit, and delivery was just down the street to our friend’s house. After a few weeks, it became apparent that her front porch would not accommodate the task of sorting producing at midnight in the cold of winter, so we decided to reroute delivery to our garage. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now, and aside from the one very late night once a week, it’s been great having access to such great produce. It’s really helped our grocery bill, the time we have to spend going to the grocery store, and has got us eating a greater diversity of fruits and veggies.

We rounded out the month with a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home. We made some nice stuffed squash, bean soup and a pumpkin pie. We just enjoyed some time to have nothing on our schedule and hang out together. In the evening we took a ride around town to see how many people already had their holiday decorations up. We were surprised to see people camping out in front of our local Best Buy store, apparently awaiting its opening the next morning. I’m not sure what it was that would inspire someone to do that. I speculate some new video game or gadget, or the promise of some exceedingly good discount.

To join in that consumer-induced, shopping energy, we decided to go out on Black Friday, to get a couple things for Joe for Christmas. My mom watched him for the afternoon, so it gave us an opportunity to just shop without Joe’s predictable shopping-induced anxiety attacks. Thankfully, we didn’t have much of a shopping list, so the crowds weren’t much of an obstacle.

Finally, as we say good-bye to November, and get in gear for the festivities of December, we joined a group of homeschooling mom’s for an evening of baking cookies and socializing. Flo came along to help with Zofia, but enjoyed playing with our host’s daughter more than wrangling her little sister. Social outings are definitely a little more challenging with a one-year old, but it was fun to see friends.

So, with just one month left in the year, we’ll try to soak in the spirit of the holidays and enjoy yet another season of anticipation and joy with our kids!

The transition from Summer to Fall just seemed to happen overnight. We’re just days away from Halloween already! October has been another eventful month with lots of activities. The kids are enjoying the new “school year” with music lessons, homeschool co-op, yoga, hockey, photography class, art, journaling club, birthday parties, and an array of other social activities.

Florence and Joseph are looking forward to Halloween, as usual. Flo wants to be a princess this year, and I think Joe has a hand-me-down Star Wars outfit he’s planning to wear. In addition to trick-or-treating, we have a homeschool Halloween party on Thursday, too, so they will have plenty of opportunity to dress up.

Darren is still enjoying the luxury of working at home. Our schedule definitely is much more pleasant this year, than it was when he was commuting five hours a day. We certainly never become complacent about how fortunate he is to have this opportunity that allows us to spend so much more time together. He goes to DC just once a week to drop off his case load and pick up new ones, and just that one day getting up at 4am is tiring, and he’s still home by late afternoon. I don’t know how he did it every day for three years, not getting home until 8 or 9pm! Like I said, life is good!

Zofia is growing fast. She’s babbling a lot and is always on the go. Her favorite activities are digging in the Tubberware cabinet and dumping all his sister and brother’s toys out in the playroom (much to Flo and Joe’s dismay). I can’t believe how fast the time is going, and we really try to savor all the little moments of newness with her, even amongst the chaos of being a larger family and all that is going on around us.

So, that’s about all for this month’s update. Finding time for journaling has been somewhat of a challenge lately, but I try to record my thoughts every now and then, as it’s always interesting to look back on.

Once again an entire month has gone by with hardly a moment to sit and reflect upon it. It’s been an eventful few weeks. As summer wound down, and we started the new “school” year, we started a few new activities for the kids and kept busy toting them around, as well as, focusing on a few new academic paths for the upcoming year.

Last week, our 21 year-old niece, Samantha, came down from Ontario, Canada, for a two week visit. She took the bus down. It’s a twenty-hour ride, which is far longer than I could tolerate. But, I guess that’s what age and the prospect of traveling with three kids has done to me! Anyway, Samantha is still here, tagging along to our various activities, and getting a front seat view of our hectic, but pretty nice life. I think she’s having a good time, and the kids are enjoying visiting with their cousin, whom they couldn’t even remember, as it had been that long since we’d seen her.

Tonight, our friend, Jen, and her son, Conner, are staying for a night during a few day visit back down here to Hagerstown from New Jersey. They used to live in the neighborhood across from us, but moved away when hubby got a great job offer in NYC. So, they often come back to participate in various homeschooling activities. This evening, their car broke down just down the street, so their intentions of an early departure may have been thwarted. But, Flo and Joe are enjoying visiting with their friend, and hopefully, their car repair will be simple and timely.

So, all is well with our family. We’ve been taking lots of photos to post on Flickr. Sometimes I feel like uploading and describing photos is a part-time job. But, I think someday the kids will appreciate the memories and the photographic story of their childhood, so I keep at it.

The day’s end is drawing near, and with it goes my energy. As usual, the list of things to accomplish wasn’t quite a match with the time in which I had to accomplish them, so some items remained to be checked-off. But, that’s okay… there’s always tomorrow, and today was pretty good!