Michaelmas in September

September was a month of exuberant festivals! We attended Buffalo Bill Days, complete with line dancing, face painting, donkey riding, and outhouse racing. We also took part in a wonderful barn dedication at Lambourn Farm. I think my favorite of the September festivities, however, was Michaelmas. This was our first time observing the feast of St. Michael, me being the fledgling wannabe Waldorf mama that I am, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I wish I had taken more than a week preparing for this festival, and will remember to do so next year. For those interested, you can read a little more about Michaelmas over at Parenting Passageway. I drew ideas from many of the links on this page, and also from the book All Year Round.

 We invited my sister and her boys to take part in the festival, and we told the story of St. George and the dragon with little peg people I clothed as the characters in the story. My nephew Ethan especially liked the knight with his tiny little sword. Hans was a rather flamboyant puppeteer, and my narrating just couldn't compete with his theatrics. :)

Hannah and I also sculpted a dragon out of beeswax to go on our Michaelmas candle, which is meant to be lit every night until Halloween. It is a symbol of keeping darkness (the dragon) at bay as the days grow shorter, and we begin to turn inward to find the light and strength that will carry us through winter. 
                                        
 After telling the story and lighting our candle we ventured outside and reenacted the St. George story, with nephews as knights, Hannah as the princess (of course) and Hans as the dragon. I think this was the boys' favorite part. What little boy doesn't like being given permission to beat on his uncle with a sword?

                          
Doesn't this chivalry make you swoon? :) After role playing, we came inside for a warm supper of chicken noodle soup and dragon bread, of course. I got the recipe for this yummy bread from the book All Year Round, and have since used it at least three more times! My bread sculpting skills could use improvement . . .

We then took the children outside for a Grandpa-built bonfire that ended up being a little more than we'd bargained for. Hannah spent the entire time nursing the "dragon" back to health. She was quite distraught that our knights had to hurt him. I'm thinking next year the story needs to go " . . . and then St. George told the dragon to 'be good!' and the dragon obeyed, and took up baking bread with his fiery breath for the village baker. The end." 

 

Almost caught up! Thank you for bearing with me and reading through these memories with me. This has been a wonderful exercise in record keeping. I'm excited to finish up though, and talk about all the fun things that are happening now!

Acting From a Place of Truth

Remember that little bit about playing Cinderella? While all our other crazy adventures were happening,  I was also rehearsing my butt off 5 nights a week! Our community theater's production of Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" went up in August. I love taking part in community theater, especially in summer when spirits and energy are high. You might remember the down feeling I had after "Annie" last summer, but I had very little sense of loss when this show was over, not because it was a negative experience, but because I wasn't using theater as a diversion from reality this time around. I was in a much better place in my life, a place where I could give much more, and consequently I took away much more. Not only did I have my ever-thickening pregnant belly to nurture, but I gained wonderful new friendships and a healthy boost to my number of piano and voice students. Plus, who doesn't like to dress like a princess and sing and dance across the stage? :)

 It isn't always easy to explain why I love performing so much, especially at this little old theater. You rehearse to ungodly hours of the night (I sometimes didn't get to see Hans, because as soon as he came home from work I had to leave for rehearsal, and when I came home from rehearsal he was fast asleep in bed). You deal with the oldness of the building - broken air conditioning in the middle of July, dust, feathers and bird droppings (and sometimes whole birds) are constantly falling from the rafters and invading your senses. The water gets shut off and you have to go hours without a bathroom during performances. Our tiny backstage area is always ripe with drama - the kind that doesn't entertain or make anyone feel good. Oh, and did I mention the being pregnant while performing part?

Many think that theater is a self-centered hobby. That we like it because we like the attention. That's true. But I wouldn't dismiss it as anything less than a meaningful and worthwhile art form that enriches the souls of both the actors and the audience. I don't have many opportunities to step in someone else's shoes, or truly sympathize with an infamous character in literature. In fact, I always thought Cinderella was kind of a drag. This show allowed me to not only find worth in this short fairy tale, but to inject it with the spunk I'd always felt was missing!

And then there are the people. The "community" in "Community Theater." People from all walks of life - small business owners, insurance agents, district attorney assistants, physical therapists, teachers, stay at home moms - somehow manage to come together in this musty old theater and share their love for music and acting, and breathe life into their characters in ways I hadn't thought of. They are a joy to watch, and a pleasure to know. I treasure these people like my own family, and every show I'm involved in expands the family a little more.

And isn't that what community is all about, anyway? It invites new people to play a role in our lives - allowing them to influence us, love us, and remind us that our separateness is a lie. The truth is not that we all long to be connected, but that we already are.

Photo credits: Nick Schale Photography

July Part II: Everyone Needs an Uncle Paul

Later in July we had a special treat - a visit from my brother Paul and his kids Morgan, Connor and Riley. I hadn't seen them in about 3 years, and this was the first time Hannah would actually remember meeting her uncle and cousins. We missed having Paul's wife Sara for the visit. Hopefully we'll be seeing them all for Christmas this year (hint, hint!). :) Paul is closest to me in age, and though we have two older siblings, much of my childhood was spent with just him. Watching him play with the kids in the pool reminded me of being launched across the swimming pool by my brother, and I just had to smile at the full circle those adventures have made.

We'll start off with my single most favorite photo of the summer:

                                          

Pure glee. There are no other words.

This is the position Ethan usually assumes when uncles are in the pool.

This is the face Hannah inspires in most people.

Lessons in bravery . . .

Another sweet moment.

Tandem cannon balls.

 Pizza in a hammock. Can you think of a better way to spend a July afternoon?

We also celebrated the 10th and 11th birthdays of Zach and Morgan, and my sister Amy made this fabulous Harry Potter cake, complete with sorting hat, golden snitch, glasses and monster book.

Love their faces while we're singing to them. Let the embarrassed phase begin. :)

This was my gift to Zach, it's called a Loopz Game, and a really funny video advertisement can be found here. So naturally, Uncle Paul the Pianist had more fun with it than anyone. I think he did this for a solid half hour. I kind of want to post video of it too, but I've had such a hard time loading photos that it sounds like a daunting task (anyone else finding blogger slow and cumbersome with uploading photos? Tips, please?)

Those were our happy times in July. I'm on a roll, so help me stay motivated and tell me your favorite memories from this past summer!

July Part I - Utah.

July was a month of visiting and being visited by family. We took Hannah on her first extended road trip, which means it took us 24 hours to drive to Utah, as opposed to our usual 18! To be fair, it wasn't only Hannah's fault we had to stop so much. I was in the clutches of first trimester nausea, and embraced every rest stop like it was heaven on earth. During our short few days in Utah we went to Hans' family reunion, where Grandma Hansen celebrated her 91st birthday! This was our first family reunion since Grandpa passed away a year before, and I have to admit there was a melancholy feeling of missing him among the family, and many wondered how Grandma was faring without him. It's obvious she would rather be with her sweetheart than here on earth with us, but even she couldn't help smiling as her hundred some-odd posterity sang "Grandma, I Love You" in the midst of the beautiful Utah mountains.

While in Utah we stayed with our good friends Rick and Aileena, who we met in Japan, and their sweet little girl Audrey. Hannah loved how little and cute Audrey was, and they played together nicely. I miss those guys so much, and can't wait for another chance to see them. So here's what July looked like:

Our fearless leader drives across the Western plains of Kansas. Probably the most boring scenery you'll ever see.

 Hannah looked like this most of the time.

 Tending to a killer tension headache with a heating pad. So glad we had the A/C adapter to do this.

One of our desperate rest stops was at the "Tallest prairie dog in the world" zoo, full of really sad, dirty animals, including "muntant" chickens (that's how the sign was spelled. I renamed them "mutant mutant chickens") and three legged cattle. I'll save you from the grotesqueries and leave you with this. Yup. That's it. The tallest prairie dog in the world, standing in the dusty, 106 degree heat of Hayes Kansas. Totally worth the $5 admission. 

We finally made it to Utah, and Hans water skied to his little boy heart's content on the Deer Creek Reservoir. I'm impressed his form is still so good! Grandpa taught him well.

Meanwhile, I spent some quality time with Rick and Aileena's sweet little sprite, Audrey-Camille.

. . . and Hannah traveled the foreign land of Utah in Style.

We drove over a thousand miles for this photo. Again, worth it.

 Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren wish Grandma a happy birthday.

. . . followed by some muddy fun in the creek. :)

Hans and his cousins have a longstanding tradition of building a dam to create a swimming hole in the creek. Good work, boys!

Some of our favorite people, Rick and Aileena. Thanks for letting us crash at your place!

 . . . and just like that, we were on our way back, this time with Uncle Jed as an extra driver, which shaved a good 6 hours off the drive. Here is Hannah, fervently reminding him NOT to poop his pants in the car.

Tomorrow will be July part 2 - where the visitors come to us (yippee!).

What happened in June

June was momentous. Not only did I audition for and get the part of Cinderella in our summer community theater production (more on that later), but I found out I was pregnant with our second child! Actually, I found out about both on the same night, so needless to say it was difficult getting to sleep that night. I was worried about how I would keep up with the rigorous demands of playing a lead role if I wasn't feeling so hot, but luckily this pregnancy has been pretty easy breezy so far. We are having a boy in February. More on that later, too. :) Here's what the rest of June looked like:

We went strawberry picking with Kerri and Golden and picked about 4 lbs of strawberries! Hannah probably also ate a pound, as none of the berries she picked made it into the basket.

I figured the best way to use them all up was to make puree. So I started stemming, stemming, stemming . . .

 We made the best popsicles and sorbet EVER, but I couldn't find my photo of the sorbet. It didn't last long.

 We also made strawberry cupcakes with strawberry butter cream on top. They were as divine as they look.

Hannah acquired some new skills. Woodworking, for instance. She worked hard in Home Depot's kids workshop to make a cell phone caddy for Father's Day

She also learned how to paddle around Aunt Amy's swimming pool in floaties and a life vest, which made pool time infinitely more fun for all of us!

Lots of Daddy-daughter time was spent in the hammock. :)

And I finally caught the thrifting/garage saling bug. Leavenworth has phenomenal thrift stores and yard sales. This was one of my first exciting finds - a handmade train table, complete with tracks and trains, for $35. The best part is the legs fold under, so you can slide it under a bed for storage, if needed.

  

 We had a couple fun encounters with our Kansas state reptile this summer, including this one we rescued from the highway. If you're a parent, you'll understand why this event deserves three photos. 

 Setting him free for new adventures.

Be safe, little thrill seeker!

Thanks to Uncle Pete's mad negotiating skills, the best slip 'n' slide ever was procured from a local construction company that was downsizing. With a little dish soap and water, those kids were flying down the hill at record speed. Luckily there were giant bales of sod to stop them from hitting the barbed wire fence at the bottom.

And we continued to eat well, getting a large portion of Jed and Amy's swiss chard overload. I love Hannah's face in this picture. "Swiss chard? Again?"

Growing a fetus, playing a princess, rescuing turtles . . . that about wraps up June! We did quite a bit of fun crafting over the summer, but I'll post about those in an all-craft post! Stay tuned!