Visit to Tom & Kathe's

The girls had two days off from school so, we took the long weekend to go visit Tom and Kathe.  We had such a great time.  It was awesome to see Lake Erie frozen.  We all cooked up a storm.  Jeff got to go see the building where Tom and Kathe's new restaurant is going to be.  I think they are incredibly brave to undertake such a big venture.  But, like the house they are in now, they have a vision and can see the potential.  I have no doubt they'll make a huge success of it.  And the environmentalist in me is so glad to hear that they are going to emphasis seasonal and local foods.

Tom and Kathe

Gwen walking on Lake Erie

One of the best parts of our trip was getting to play with the dogs.  Pic is getting old and slow and that just endears him to Gwen.  She is quite fond of dogs that don't jump and are calm and peaceful.  She trusts Pic.  Caitlin immediately bonded with Petey.  Petey is huge and full of puppy energy.  But he really is gentle and so loving.  He is a very intelligent dog.  I think he understood that Gwen was a little frightened of him.  He had totally won her over by the end of the trip.  Gwen even tried to initiate play with Petey, trying to play the chasing game and throwing his chew toy.  I'll admit, that I even played his chasing game.  It was fun and good exercise too!

Petey giving Caitlin kisses.

Caitlin playing Petey's favorite indoor chase game.  Petey is the size of a small pony, but he was absolutely as gentle as a lamb with my girls.

The girls doing Just Dance 2.  What fun!

Gwen checking out the lake.

Lots of good food was made, but there was lots of cleaning up to do.  Gwen was so sweet about lending a hand.

Gwen and gummy animal rights

Gwen and Caitlin were eating gummy bunny snacks and Gwen says to Caitlin "bite the heads off first, it is more humane."

Caitlin's Creative Solution

This morning, Caitlin helped me make the family pancakes.  We love to bake mini chocolate chips and pecans into the pancakes.  Sometimes I will use the mini chocolate chips to make smiley faces.  Well, for one batch, I was putting in pecans AND chocolate chips.  Caitlin had put pecans on one pancake, but I didn't realize she had made a smiley face design with the pecans and I messed it up by dropping a chocolate chip on top.  At first she was sad and she wanted me to remove the offending chocolate chip.  But almost immediately, she perked up and said she had an idea.  She added a few more mini chips and gave the smiley face a mustache!

Braces off!

Gwen had her braces taken off this week.  Her orthodontic work isn't done, it is just moving onto the next stage.  The next stage is a completely removable retainer.  No brackets, no wires, no food limitations.  Needless to say, Gwen is a very happy camper.  Check out this grin.

Louder than words

It appears that my little "year of no extra purchases" had more impact on Gwen than any book or lecture could ever have.  Since that year of seeing me window shop for items that I used to love (like shoes) and passing them by saying, "I really don't need that", she has shown a lot more awareness of the difference between want and need than the average 10 year old.  And she really has a good sense of our consumerism affects people.  She understands the concepts of buy-local, fair-trade, and low-impact more than most adults.  She is not oblivious to her responsibility to her fellow human beings like so many pre-teens are.  I am so proud of this young lady that I am raising.  

This is a photo of Gwen opening one of her Christmas presents.  It is a skein of organic and fair-trade yarn from a local (not chain) craft store.  She loved it.  She loved it because it is beautiful, because she loves to craft, and because something that is fair trade and local adds love to the world.

Caitlin as a ball.

When Caitlin doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning, she curls up into the exact same little ball as when she was a little baby, feet tucked under and crossed. I just love that. I almost wish I didn't have to get her up for school.