A miracle on NE 130th St.

Elena felt that she should sign something, too. Chances are, this will be her house someday!

Here is Kevin signing the Title to our NEW HOUSE!!! The seller still needs to sign and some judge needs sign something else... but all hurdles are jumped. All papers are sent in. All holes are fixed. All mold is vanquished. Banker is happy, government is happy, real estate agent is happy, the trustees are happy and we are very, very happy!! We will close Monday or Tuesday and move in by the end of the week.

The building was non-descript and across the street from a gas station. Some might call it ugly. This did not dampen our spirits.

This morning we woke up very, very early, piled the kids in the car and drove to the Offices of Wanda Reif Nuxoll, Esquire, in Issaquah, Washington.

Jesse at 6 months

What an awesome baby! He is in the 90th percentile for height and head and 60th percentile for weight. He can sit up now with only a little support in case he tumbles and drools constantly. His shirt is soaked by the end of the day (and no, I refuse to put him in a bib all day.) He is the cuddliest little guy all night, all curled up beside me, and always wakes up with a big smile.

WELCOME BABY ERIC!

The Krentz Family joyfully welcomes Eric Johannes into the world. We can't wait to meet you! Congratulations to Dr. Hausfrau and her family!! Hip, hip hooray!!

It aint over till it's over

Are we moving to a new house??? Well, the verdict is still in. We have been jumping hurdle after hurdle after hurdle for the last month and we aren't done yet. Just when we start to think we have jumped them all, another one comes along. Then we manage to scrape by-- barely--- and start to get excited again. I can say without a doubt that if it were not for the grace of God we would not possibly be this close to getting this house. Not to mention, my husband's vision, perserverence, and good sense and both of our hard work day in and day out. At this point, we are using our own money (and labor) to fix a leaking roof and minor mold infestation in a house we don't own so that the government will agree to give us a loan to buy it. We also still haven't rented our current house-- there have been many agonizingly close calls, but no takers yet. Those are the last few hurdles... we think... but who knows what is around the corner. So, stay tuned...

Meet Missy Mouse

A couple weeks ago, one of Kevin's student's mother gave Elena her daughter's old Angelina Ballerina doll as a gift. It came with a bag of frilly clothes and a couple Angelina books. It was in such perfect condition I thought she had bought it new. Elena took a liking to the mouse immediately, renamed her "Missy Mouse" and proceded to love on that little stuffed creature more in the last two weeks than it ever had in many, many years. Missy Mouse has been to church, the grocery store, the floor of the car, in spaghetti sauce, pancake syrup, in the garden, and most importantly, tucked under Elena's arm all night. She is no longer spotless white, but a rather dull gray. A few days ago, Missy Mouse met Baby Gorilla (a consignment shop find-- yes, I know-- hand-me-down stuffed animals seem a bit unhygenic, but what you don't know can't hurt you?) and it was love at first sight. Baby Gorilla insisted on hugging Missy Mouse all day and the two-- now three-- are inseparable. Jesse grabbed Baby Gorilla the other day and Elena immediately burst into tears and would not stop until she had her odd couple back in her arms. We have since insitituted a rule in our family: all toys must be shared except for a few special toys that are particularly special. (Sort of like "All toys are equal, but some toys are more equal than others.") Missy Mouse and Baby Gorilla (along with Tammy monkey, Bath baby, and Baby Llama) are now part of the select few who never need to fear the sticky fingers of baby brother.

A few things I don't want to forget

1. This afternoon, the kids and I were coming home in the car from doing errands and from the back seat I hear Elena and Jesse screeching at each other and laughing hysterically. Elena's timing is perfect-- she knows how to wait for Jesse to laugh with glee and screech a response before she lets another one rip, then they both dissolve into the most adorable golden laughter you have ever heard. I am momentarily stunned and can't help myself from joining in. It is just so amazing and wonderful to see my children building a relationship.

2. "Too fit!" Elena went through a really rough patch a couple months ago when she refused to wear clothes or shoes. She is pretty much over all of that except for a couple things-- Her head is SO BIG, so hardly fits into most 24 mo sized shirts. It is only the shirts with snaps up the side or boat necks that fit her head. The rest involve a lot of tugging and screaming. So now when she sees an unfamiliar shirt coming, she instinctively gets fearful and tries to push it away. I have to trick her into putting on a new shirt by distracting her or ensuring that it is okay. Also, her feet seem to be growing really fast, so even shoes we bought two months ago are tight. So she wears her rubber boots or shoes one size too big most of the time. In both these cases, she insists that the shirt or the shoes are TOO FIT!! I keep trying to think of a way for her to tell me that I am too fit, but the occasion has not presented itself.

3. Today I was searching for my slippers and said absentmindedly, "I need...." and Ellie filled in "a haircut!"

4. "or something"-- Now Elena randomly puts "or something" at the end of phrases for qualification. E.g. "Do you wanna read stories... or something?"

5. She also fills in her name when I ask her things: "Do you want some yogurt?" I ask. "Ellie?" she says, like I forgot to add that I was talking to her. This afternoon, Jesse was nursing and fooling around and I said, "Hey, don't bite!" and Ellie finished off with "Me!"

Kevin passed his orals!

Kevin is now officially ABD (All But Dissertation) towards his DMA (Doctorate of Musical Arts). He plans on finishing up officially to become Dr. Krentz #2 by the fall. And knowing Kevin, if he says he'll do it, he'll do it-- come hell or high water. My vague understanding of his dissertation topic is that it has something to do with "A scientific analysis of shifting techniques for the cello: Implications for teaching and performing." (Those are my own words, so I am sure I got it wrong.) I am very proud of my brilliant and hard working husband.

For your reading pleasure, here is the list of "20 topics" he had to be prepared to discuss during his oral examination:


*The Changing Demographics of Classical Music Audiences

*The Life of Lester Young

*Current Trends in Chamber Music Festival Programming

*Historical Methods behind the Arching of Violin Family Top Plates

*Theories and Overview on 17th Century Northern Italian Varnish Grounds


*Innovation in Mark Summer’s Julie-O

*Employment of Variation in the 4th Trio of Daron Hagen

*A Harmonic Analysis of the Bach G major Prelude for Solo Cello

* Historical Approaches to Piano Trio Orchestration

*The Haydn Cello Concertos


*The Physics and Physiology of Vibrato on the Cello

*An Overview of Current Left Hand Position Teaching

* Electric Cellos

*An Overview of Current Shifting Teaching and Theories

*The Physics and Physiology of Shifting on the Cello

*The Technologies of Dedamping (Playing-In) String Instruments

*The Myth behind the Elgar Cello Concerto as his “War Requiem”

*Current Vibrato Teaching Methods

*What We Teach that the Pros Don’t Do

*Janos Starker’s “An Organized Method of String Playing”

Welcome Baby Lily!

Welcome to the world, Lily Marie Pless! We love you already! the Krentz Family

Sweet babes

Bread update

My obsession with the bread machine continues. (Both Jesse and I are also obsessed with watching the machine knead dough.) Despite this being one of the most stressful times in the Krentz Family, I have religiously made bread every other day for about a month. When I go by the bread in the grocery store, I swell up with domestic goddess pride and start to fantasize about the next golden brown loaf emerging from the machine like magic. I decided to branch out from "sweet rich white" and "honey 30%-wheat" and try a full-on hippie-style 100% whole wheat loaf. I got some gluten flour to aid in tenderizing and even used molasses to make it that much more wholesome. Kevin calls this "liberal bread." I think it came out great! It reminds me of the bread you can get in Germany: dense and slightly sweet. However, my toddler rejected it, even when slathered with butter and honey (see previous post.) My next loaf will be half whole wheat and half white flour with Hawaiian honey. It will be called "Obama bread."

How to get your toddler to eat vegetables

1. At every meal, offer her some toast or a sandwich. Make sure the toast is 100% whole wheat "liberal" bread. She will be confused because she usually loves bread, but this bread tastes like cardboard. She will stick her fingers in it and claim to be done after only a few bites.

2. Take toddler on a long walk around the neighborhood. When she asks to ride in the stroller, telll her that she is too big and won't fit.

3. Play fun new game with toddler that involves climbing up and down the stairs repeatedly. When she asks for a glass of water tell her "We are out of water! I guess we'd better put it on the list."

4. When she starts to eat crumbs off the floor and tries to drink the water out of the toilet bowl, suggest that she help you make a salad. She will gladly agree. At this point, she will do anything that involves food.

5. Involve her in the salad-making. Let her sprinkle the vinager and tear up pieces of lettuce. This will give her ownership of the salad, and pride in her work.

6. Tell her that she can have just one taste of the salad.

7. Tell her that she can have just "one more bite."

Result: Toddler eats half the bowl of salad. Hooray!

A few pictures from the week

No pictures! Lots of stress!

A friend borrowed our camera to go on a backpacking trip in Chile...so no pictures this week. I tried taking a few with our old camera, but it was on a funky setting and I ended up with a bunch of fuzzy pictures of squirmy kids. But rest assured that although we have no pictures to prove it, there is plenty going on. We still don't know for sure if we have the new house, but we are getting more confident as the days pass without a counter offer. We put our current house up for rent (3 BD 1 BA lovely 1926 bungalow!) and have been going crazy getting it in shape for renting and a very important appraisal Thursday morning. We are all enduring high levels of stress at the Krentz household!

A few light moments in the week from Miss Elena:
U: Let's put your bread in the popper. (This is what she calls the toaster)
E: TOASTER. Mommy, it is called the TOASTER.

E: Hi Jesse! Hi sweet little man! Hi buddy boy! Hi baby bear! Good morning!

U: What do you want to watch for quiet time, sweetie: Elmo or Raffi?
E: No Elmo, mommy. Just Raffi. I just want to watch the Raffi concert. Raffi is Ellie's favorite.
U: Okay, honey, let me see if I can get the TV to work.
E: You can do it, Mommy. You can do it. Good job, Mommy!

Elena makes a poop in the potty..
E: Mommy, I am so proud of you!!

E: Mommy, can Ellie have a cookie? Cookie please, mommy. Ellie wants a gusa cookie. (Girl scout cookie)
U: We don't have anymore. We ate them up!
E. Better put it on the list, Mommy. Butter, eggs, oranges, gusa cookies.

E: Mommy, this room is called the loving room.
U: You mean the living room?
E: Yeah, the loving room.

E: Mommy, mommy, I love you, too, Mommy.

E: Noo-night Daddy. Noo-night. Noo-night! I love you, too, Daddy!