About Time

As our time in North Eastern PA (NEPA) comes to an end, I am attempting to regain a routine of writing that (if I ever get another assignment) will bring in some extra cash when we move back to Chicago. For the time being, I am hoping that my forgotten blogs will benefit from my new schedule. I'm sure my poor children will be more often in front of the TV (well, more likely, they will spend the same amount of time in front of the TV, I will just be writing instead of doing nothing on Facebook), but I've also scheduled in some time to "do school" with them in the morning (we purchased Volume One of Five in a Row, a children's-literature-based, early childhood education curriculum), followed by getting out of the house to a park, a playdate, or just on a walk. I'm not sure I'll have time for everything I've scheduled (especially that pesky housework), but it's worth a try!

In the next month, in addition to trying to get some more productivity out of our days, we will be wrapping up our time in Simpson. Andrew is finishing his second to last week of classes this week and turned in a major paper today. Maggie is coming to the end of her year of Suzuki piano lessons with Mrs. Lichtenstein and will have a Progredi Class on Friday (a sort of group lesson/pre-recital) and a recital at the end of the month. (For those of you incredulous that a three-year-old would have anything to do at a recital, apparently all the little ones do is their bow, which they begin and end piano time with -- her teacher says that you only do something for a recital if you are completely confident in it, and Maggie is very good at her bow). Susannah continues to add words to her vocabulary and is very verbally communicative; she also loves to climb and "walk with Mommy's hand" around the block with the family. As for me, tonight I am attending a dinner in honor of the "graduating" seminary wives (and I am not sure whether I am considered one of those or not, since Andrew is not graduating, per se).

This next month will bring many goodbyes and a ton of packing, with a good measure of uncertainty as to our future. As we know more, we will share. At the moment, all we know is that we are being sent back to Chicago to serve with Fr. Pat Reardon at All Saints, which we are looking forward to immensely. We don't have a new address yet, and may spend some time living with my parents, although we keep threatening to do this and keep disappointing them, so I'm not going to commit to anything right now.

In the next post, I'll add some of my favorite poses from a recent trip to Cracker Barrel, which most likely, you've all seen already, but for the few of you hold-outs not on Facebook, they will be new.

Move Along

If there are any readers of this blog left, you probably already know from other sources that we are moving to NE PA (northeastern Pennsylvania), and the date is fast approaching! We drive out of Chicago on the 9th of August and will arrive (after a few stops) in the Scranton area (no, I have not seen The Office) on the 12th. We have an apartment waiting for us, Andrew will be attending seminary at St. Tikhon's, and we'll have the monastery community and a new church in Wilkes-Barre to adjust to. It should be an interesting adventure!

In blog-related news, we were given a new camera by my parents for all of our birthdays this summer. So, we should be better at updating this thing -- especially since we will be so far from so many friends.

Here are a few recent shots -- many are from a tiny birthday party we had for our family's birthdays since we'd be moving when most of them occurred.

Gramma Baum with Susannah

Looking for kitties

Birthday gifts with friends, Sofie and Delaina

A birthday card for Maggie

Susannah with Delaina and Clifton

No, it's not a cigar... it's a wooden teething toy/rattle....

Singing Happy Birthday... notice Maggie is hiding (just like her Daddy used to do)

Sorry, Hal. I couldn't resist putting this up here.

Get your own.


It's empty, I swear.
(OK, so now this post contains photos that make it look like I let my 11-month-old smoke and drink....)

Decorations made by a friend

Susannah loves being able to get around on her own

Maggie being cute
(These are small because I wasn't paying attention, and then was too lazy to change it!)

Sleepy babies just waking up in the morning

Andy's test photo... containing our family motto

Speaking of Moving

This is our friend Jordan who helped us numerous times while we were moving -- packing and unpacking boxes, holding kids so I could pack and unpack boxes. Thank you, Jordan! (We still have some boxes to unpack if you want to come back....)

I'm posting this...

...because my daughter has a beautiful smile, and I want the world to see it. These moments make up for the opposite end of her emotional spectrum. (Taken at the St. George house while we were moving out.)