This is the most wonderful time of the year!
Receiving cards from friends and family is exciting. (Side note here, we ordered our cards this week - a picture of the kids. They will be here just in time to send them out for the new year!)
Favorite things that have been happening over the last few weeks:
Alex took his first steps at my parents home the day before Thanksgiving! He's still a little wobly but he's coming right along!
Jo is growing up, he's becoming such a big kid.
Adie has really matured. She often asks me what she can clean up. She likes to take those disinfecting wipes and clean in the kitchen. She loves to pretend vaccuuming, and to sweep the kitchen.
Crafts with the kids this year have been extra fun.
We've been making cookies for friends in town.
Constantly telling Alex to take his hands off the tree!
Seeing family at Thanksgiving.
My sister coming here for Christmas.
Watching the first snowflakes of the year.
Listening to Jo play his fiddle and get better every week.
A new house practically dropping in our laps!
~Yes, we will be moving! Long story short:
New neighbors moved in a couple months ago and we'll just say things haven't been easy with them there. Lots of things the kids shouldn't be hearing and lots of smoke coming through the walls.
We kind of looked around, but with little luck. Everything was too expensive or just had a deposit put down. We had decided to just stay, especially since it's looking like we won't be here more than 1.5 - 2 years. Well, after we returned from our trip to NM, we received a call from a man we had contacted a few weeks earlier and he had a house to tell us about. It's closer to work, $50 cheaper than what we're paying now, and a little more living space. It was impossible to pass it up! Oh, and it's a house, not a duplex, NO worries about who we could share a wall with.
So, our tradition continues, we move during the winter.
Still one of my favorite things (now believe that or not)! ;)
To whomever still reads this blog, thanks for stopping by. With the laptop slowly fading out, and the desktop in our room, it's too much for me to write everyday. I rarely check email anymore. But I do think about all of our friends daily!
Well, time has come for me to sign off. Jeff took the kids out this morning and will probably return shortly. I still need to take my shower for the day!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!
Saturday, December 20
Wednesday, November 19
Jesus Loves Me
Recently I did a search for as many verses to this song that I could find. My findings were pretty neat, I found seven, five of which I had never heard before.
Then I got an idea! It would be so neat to see how many verses of Jesus Loves Me we can come up with. Leave a comment with one or two verses you know (not including the chorus) and then, I think it would be fun to come up with one original. I'm trying to compile as many verses as possible and would love the help!
THANK YOU! :)
Then I got an idea! It would be so neat to see how many verses of Jesus Loves Me we can come up with. Leave a comment with one or two verses you know (not including the chorus) and then, I think it would be fun to come up with one original. I'm trying to compile as many verses as possible and would love the help!
THANK YOU! :)
Thursday, November 13
Let's Rearrange!
So, Adie definitely has this gene from me!
Late last week, Adie came to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I raranged! Come see!" So I ran up to her room and my adorable little girl had moved her bed over and moved her dresser back to be next to her bed. First of all, the dresser is only 3 drawers high and not heavy at all. I was surprised at first, but if you know me at all, you know how much I rearrange! She was so excited and it looked good so we left it.
Earlier this week, after we had tucked all the kids in bed, she came back to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I can't sleep." So, I went up there and spent a few minutes with her and discovered that she wanted to move things again. Well, I told her we'd work on it the next day. After a few minutes, I left her with a kiss on the forehead and went back downstairs. Ten minutes later, I heard at the top of the stairs, "Mommy, my room is clean!" So, up I went, again. Her room was in deed clean, VERY clean! And she again wanted to "rarange". I eventually got her tucked back into bed with the agreement we'd work on it during the day.
Yesterday, we got her bed moved to the other side of her room and dresser and night stand and bookshelf moved. It is so funny and so cute. She gets so excited to see her "new" room!
I love my little girl and her "rarange" moments! I'm in for years of this and tons of new ways to rarange the room! Yay!
Late last week, Adie came to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I raranged! Come see!" So I ran up to her room and my adorable little girl had moved her bed over and moved her dresser back to be next to her bed. First of all, the dresser is only 3 drawers high and not heavy at all. I was surprised at first, but if you know me at all, you know how much I rearrange! She was so excited and it looked good so we left it.
Earlier this week, after we had tucked all the kids in bed, she came back to the stairs and said, "Mommy, I can't sleep." So, I went up there and spent a few minutes with her and discovered that she wanted to move things again. Well, I told her we'd work on it the next day. After a few minutes, I left her with a kiss on the forehead and went back downstairs. Ten minutes later, I heard at the top of the stairs, "Mommy, my room is clean!" So, up I went, again. Her room was in deed clean, VERY clean! And she again wanted to "rarange". I eventually got her tucked back into bed with the agreement we'd work on it during the day.
Yesterday, we got her bed moved to the other side of her room and dresser and night stand and bookshelf moved. It is so funny and so cute. She gets so excited to see her "new" room!
I love my little girl and her "rarange" moments! I'm in for years of this and tons of new ways to rarange the room! Yay!
Thursday, October 30
Monday, October 20
Our little RED head!
Yes, Alex has red hair! I love it! This is the best picture I could find to prove it!
Good evening.
Okay, I've tried to post something a few times and I'm trying again. I honestly have been aweful at checking email and blogging. It is so hard to believe how long it has been since I last posted and how fast the school year has been going! We love home schooling and I wouldn't go back for anything! All of us are getting so much out of it. If I could only tell you the whole story.
I've got to get much better at journalling our adventures!
We'll see if this post actually makes it!
I've got to get much better at journalling our adventures!
We'll see if this post actually makes it!
Saturday, September 27
So Who is Santa, ... really???
We are getting ready to head out on a trip this morning. Jonathan and I have been sitting here talking about a few things and Santa came up.
Jeff was in the bathroom shaving and Jonathan went to tell him something, then he came back to me and said that Daddy looks like Santa when he shaves. I told him that is interesting and what he thought about that. For some background info here, we haven't really told the kids ourselves that Santa is real. We've been very vague about it and allowed the children to think what they want. We've talked about the "spirit of Santa." So, he came in and we talked about Daddy being Santa. At the end of the conversation here's what his conclusion is:
Daddy is one of the Santas, I'm his wife, and the kids are the elves. I don't know his thoughts about the North pole yet, but this is turning out to be really cute.
When my family told me about Santa, I truly believed that my Daddy was the real Santa who flew around the whole world. This is going to be an interesting Christmas.
(Jonathan just told me that I need to send this to the North Pole, which is where the distribution center is and that there are thousands of Santas!)
Jeff was in the bathroom shaving and Jonathan went to tell him something, then he came back to me and said that Daddy looks like Santa when he shaves. I told him that is interesting and what he thought about that. For some background info here, we haven't really told the kids ourselves that Santa is real. We've been very vague about it and allowed the children to think what they want. We've talked about the "spirit of Santa." So, he came in and we talked about Daddy being Santa. At the end of the conversation here's what his conclusion is:
Daddy is one of the Santas, I'm his wife, and the kids are the elves. I don't know his thoughts about the North pole yet, but this is turning out to be really cute.
When my family told me about Santa, I truly believed that my Daddy was the real Santa who flew around the whole world. This is going to be an interesting Christmas.
(Jonathan just told me that I need to send this to the North Pole, which is where the distribution center is and that there are thousands of Santas!)
Friday, August 15
Alex!!!
At church he's known as *smiley*. Now being added to that is *wiggley*!! When we had Ella here, everything had to be kept off the floor. Now it's for this little tyke! I won't get to turn my head for this one! He's already pulling up on his toy box and in the crib. And yesterday, when I stepped into the kitchen for a quick minute, he crawled over to the lamp, pulled up on it and then fell back and when I heard this, I saw the lamp laying on him! 
Luckily it wasn't heavy and he hardly cried. This is one of his characters. He is ALWAYS smiling! Even when he's upset, he manages to perk up a smile (yes, while crying). Jeff sweetly tells him, "It's okay buddy, you don't have to smile when you don't feel good." One night last week, he had a rough one (ended up in bed with us). He woke up crying and cried for about half an hour. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, but even in the midst of all the tears, he smiled at us a couple times. We could tell something was wrong, but the smiles were still there. He's also constantly laughing at his brother and sister. They are silly and they can really get him going. It is so fun to watch the three of them together. They all love on each other so well! I think one of Alex's favorite things to do is reach out for 
his sister's hair and yank on it when he gets a hold of it! I can definitely see some struggles there in the future! I think he's going to be a little joker...he laughs at the word "no" and when his name is being called.
He's also pretty funny with his bottle. Sometimes he'll finish it really fast. But other times, especially at the high chair, he'll grab on to the nipple and watch all the milk squirt out! Not only does he just watch, but he laughs! We call it, milking his cow. He is a very curious little fellow. I've noticed this week that he likes cords. No matter how many times we've already told him to leave the lamps alone and re-direct him, he's back at it again a few minutes later. Hmm...I wonder what the future holds! He is also becoming verying interested in that floor that goes up where he sleeps (the stairs). It is such an interesting place, everyone goes up and down right there! We've got the gates in place, but for some reason I don't think that he will care, one way or another, he's going to discover *stairs*. Ahh!!! He also loves food. His favorites include: his morning cereal with chickpeas, barley, flaxseed, and wheatgerm; sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash with asparigus, blueberries and pears, peaches and bananas. He loves it when we let him have food he can take to his own mouth, cheerios are at the top of that list. But anything we let him try he'll go for it and want more! He's got the cutest two little teeth and we think more are on the way soon! He's got a few babble words and that's growing too: dada, baba, nonanan (we're pretty sure this is Jonathan!), ada (and this has got to be Adie!). He uses baby signs for "milk", "all done", and "more". We are working on please and thank you, and so many others. He is definitely comunicating though! I can tell that he's going to love books. He reaches for anything that has words, and it's not just with the baby, "I want that." He has an extreme determination and he's going to get what he wants. God gave him a beautiful personality, a strong personality. He is very determined and that is a wonderful character to have! His name means "helper and defender of mankind." With his extreme determination, positive outlook, and ability to laugh, this young man is going to soar to great hights and do amazing things for God!
Wednesday, August 6
Summer Fun! (weeks 4-10)
Real quick, I posted some pictures this morning before things got going. Scroll down to see them! It's quiet time, so I'm taking advantage to catch y'all up on the summer!
WEEK 10 ~ ANIMALS!
We spent a lot of time with our new friend, Ella, learning about puppies. Then on Friday we went to the KC Zoo. It was horribly hot and humid so we couldn't stay very long but we got to have lots of fun with CHALK, meeting new people and making more new home school friends, and we got to see otters up close for the first time! One of the zoo keepers came out and told us all about the cute little creatures. These otters we saw are native to MO. It was neat to hear about them.
WEEK 9 ~ WONDERFUL WATER!
This was a perfect week for water. The heat really started to rise! We played with soaked sponges (the car wash kind), water balloons, and the water hose. We also spent another afternoon at the pool with some friends. At the end of the week we went to down-town KC, to the Crown Center. They've got some fountains that shoot out of the ground. There were tons of children there, all running through the water. It was a delight to watch! A perfect end to a wet week!
WEEK 8 ~ PLANES!
I found a super book at Mardel~ *My American Journey: From Ground to Air with the Wright Brothers* by Deborah Hedstrom-Page.
It's got eight chapters about their story. Corisponding with each chapter, there is a character building section about Patience. Each chapter has some questions and Bible verses and application. We did a few of them for our family devos and they are awesome! The very last section of the book has some activities and exxperiments. We made paper helicopters and paper airplanes. We've been taking our time going through the book and we've all enjoyed learning about the Wright Brothers! At the end of the book, the kids will have honorary flight wings!
We didn't make it to the Amelia Earhart Festival. This was the weekend we took Ella in and decided to stay home with her. Next year we can go and it'll still be great!
WEEK 7 ~ STORY WEEK!
We read lots of books and cuddled a lot. Jonathan did write a short story that I hope he builds on. It was about chickens. At the end of the week, I took the kids to the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm to hopefully inspire more to the story. We saw chickens and they were cute, but we had fun checking out all the cool stuff they have.
Adie also really got into telling us stories, the favorite was Goldilox. It's such a joy to watch and hear her tell it! She's so animated!
Here is Jonathan's story, maybe we will add on to it this year:
WEEK 6 ~ FAMILY CAMP!
Hot dogs, hamburgers, grilling out
This week our family had a camp out!
Swimming pools, popsicles, cooling off
The camp out was full of cool stuff!
Graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows galore
You know the name ~ we had s'mores!
Black and red was the color of our tent
Sleeping outside, the whole night we spent!
We loved it so much I just want to shout
This week our family had a camp out!
WEEK 5 ~ PLAY BALL!
Really there isn't a whole lot to say about this week. We played T-ball a lot andwaatched a few games on TV. I think we also went to a T-Bones game. It was a lot of fun but we didn't do anything too big or exciting. Some times a more relaxed, normal week is good!
WEEK 4 ~ MUSIC WEEK!
The big event for this week was our talent show! Most of the week the kids were singing and picking out their songs and music for Saturday. Adie decided she wanted to sing "Part of that World" from Little Mermaid. Jonathan wanted to sing "Do Re Mi..." and play his guitar with his daddy. Jeff played a couple of songs and then played some chords that we could sing a few of our favorites with him. Then I sang a karaoke song from "A Walk to Remember." Jonathan and I also played on the dulcimer. He played "Twinkle Little Star" and I did the few that I know.
We are turning out to be quite a musical family! Jo and Adie are constantly singing church songs - their favorites are "The Glory Land Way", "Heavenly Sunlight", "Our God, He is Alive" and "This World is Not My Home." Jonathan even has the song #s memorized! They often ride their bikes in circles in the basement singing at the top of their lungs! They both also tinker on the piano and dulcimer. Jonathan has a guitar and keyboard in his room and loves to sneak up there while Alex is awake and play. He also enjoys playing the guitar for his brother and Alex loves it! For a few years now, Jo has wanted to play the fiddle. It's looking like that may be another instrument in our future! We'll see! Oh, and I mustn't forget, Jo still plays his band!
Well, I'm sorry I haven't been the greatest on updating y'all about our planned out summer. But we've really had a great time! I highly suggest planning out the summers, at least some sort of planning. Being able to tell the kids some kind of theme about what is coming up is so helpful. They looked forward to the activities that would come with each week. It was also a neat way for us to do a little research to find out more of the things that are available around the region. We didn't make it to the capitals, but we still intend to do that for sure. We also want to try and make it up to Nebraska and possibly Iowa, but we'll have to judge those.
School is right around the corner. And for my teacher friends, I'm sure most of you have already begun your year! Good luck to all of you. In a way, we are all teachers! I look forward to reading about more things going on in your lives. This week is Bug week - look for details coming up. I've already got so much to write! and Next week is Olympics week and next Thursday (14th) is our first day of school! I'll be posting our school activities as often as possible.
WEEK 10 ~ ANIMALS!
We spent a lot of time with our new friend, Ella, learning about puppies. Then on Friday we went to the KC Zoo. It was horribly hot and humid so we couldn't stay very long but we got to have lots of fun with CHALK, meeting new people and making more new home school friends, and we got to see otters up close for the first time! One of the zoo keepers came out and told us all about the cute little creatures. These otters we saw are native to MO. It was neat to hear about them.
WEEK 9 ~ WONDERFUL WATER!
This was a perfect week for water. The heat really started to rise! We played with soaked sponges (the car wash kind), water balloons, and the water hose. We also spent another afternoon at the pool with some friends. At the end of the week we went to down-town KC, to the Crown Center. They've got some fountains that shoot out of the ground. There were tons of children there, all running through the water. It was a delight to watch! A perfect end to a wet week!
WEEK 8 ~ PLANES!
I found a super book at Mardel~ *My American Journey: From Ground to Air with the Wright Brothers* by Deborah Hedstrom-Page.
It's got eight chapters about their story. Corisponding with each chapter, there is a character building section about Patience. Each chapter has some questions and Bible verses and application. We did a few of them for our family devos and they are awesome! The very last section of the book has some activities and exxperiments. We made paper helicopters and paper airplanes. We've been taking our time going through the book and we've all enjoyed learning about the Wright Brothers! At the end of the book, the kids will have honorary flight wings!
We didn't make it to the Amelia Earhart Festival. This was the weekend we took Ella in and decided to stay home with her. Next year we can go and it'll still be great!
WEEK 7 ~ STORY WEEK!
We read lots of books and cuddled a lot. Jonathan did write a short story that I hope he builds on. It was about chickens. At the end of the week, I took the kids to the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm to hopefully inspire more to the story. We saw chickens and they were cute, but we had fun checking out all the cool stuff they have.
Adie also really got into telling us stories, the favorite was Goldilox. It's such a joy to watch and hear her tell it! She's so animated!
Here is Jonathan's story, maybe we will add on to it this year:
One morning, there were three little chickens and their mom. They told her that they wanted to go out and pick berries. Their mom told them to be careful and not talk to strangers.
So, the three little chickens went out. While they were on their way, they saw a wolf. The wolf's name was Garlic and they knew him from church. So Garlic went with them to pick berries. Then they saw another friend from church, a hippo named Lion! So they were on their way to the berry patch. Before they got there, they saw a stranger! It was a pig named hippo! The pig talked to the three little chickens and they talked to the pig. They talked to the stranger before they got to the berry patch and they got in trouble.
The End
WEEK 6 ~ FAMILY CAMP!
Hot dogs, hamburgers, grilling out
This week our family had a camp out!
Swimming pools, popsicles, cooling off
The camp out was full of cool stuff!
Graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows galore
You know the name ~ we had s'mores!
Black and red was the color of our tent
Sleeping outside, the whole night we spent!
We loved it so much I just want to shout
This week our family had a camp out!
WEEK 5 ~ PLAY BALL!
Really there isn't a whole lot to say about this week. We played T-ball a lot andwaatched a few games on TV. I think we also went to a T-Bones game. It was a lot of fun but we didn't do anything too big or exciting. Some times a more relaxed, normal week is good!
WEEK 4 ~ MUSIC WEEK!
The big event for this week was our talent show! Most of the week the kids were singing and picking out their songs and music for Saturday. Adie decided she wanted to sing "Part of that World" from Little Mermaid. Jonathan wanted to sing "Do Re Mi..." and play his guitar with his daddy. Jeff played a couple of songs and then played some chords that we could sing a few of our favorites with him. Then I sang a karaoke song from "A Walk to Remember." Jonathan and I also played on the dulcimer. He played "Twinkle Little Star" and I did the few that I know.
We are turning out to be quite a musical family! Jo and Adie are constantly singing church songs - their favorites are "The Glory Land Way", "Heavenly Sunlight", "Our God, He is Alive" and "This World is Not My Home." Jonathan even has the song #s memorized! They often ride their bikes in circles in the basement singing at the top of their lungs! They both also tinker on the piano and dulcimer. Jonathan has a guitar and keyboard in his room and loves to sneak up there while Alex is awake and play. He also enjoys playing the guitar for his brother and Alex loves it! For a few years now, Jo has wanted to play the fiddle. It's looking like that may be another instrument in our future! We'll see! Oh, and I mustn't forget, Jo still plays his band!
Well, I'm sorry I haven't been the greatest on updating y'all about our planned out summer. But we've really had a great time! I highly suggest planning out the summers, at least some sort of planning. Being able to tell the kids some kind of theme about what is coming up is so helpful. They looked forward to the activities that would come with each week. It was also a neat way for us to do a little research to find out more of the things that are available around the region. We didn't make it to the capitals, but we still intend to do that for sure. We also want to try and make it up to Nebraska and possibly Iowa, but we'll have to judge those.
School is right around the corner. And for my teacher friends, I'm sure most of you have already begun your year! Good luck to all of you. In a way, we are all teachers! I look forward to reading about more things going on in your lives. This week is Bug week - look for details coming up. I've already got so much to write! and Next week is Olympics week and next Thursday (14th) is our first day of school! I'll be posting our school activities as often as possible.
Finally, the pictures I've spoken of!
Okay, so I don't remember all the pictures I said I'd post, but here are some from the past few weeks. And, I'm working on posting the video over at the sharesite, you should be able to view the link now over to the right. Please bare with me, though, right now. Blogger has been working very slow for me the last couple of days. I'm trying to get lists set up but it keeps blanking out on me! Hopefully I can get all the pics uploaded.
This is from the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm. We had so much fun there during story week!
They have been bouncing off the walls and flipping off the furniture ~ litterally!
This is sweet little Ella.
The kids had so much fun camping out the night of July 3!
This was our trip to the KC Zoo with some friends from the homeschool group.
This was our nature walk looking for bugs this week for Bug Week! Friday we will be going to a Butterfly Festival!
Well, I hoe you enjoyed these pics! I will be uploading some of Alex later. I've got a post for him, but it's breakfast time!
This is from the Deanna Rose Childrens Farm. We had so much fun there during story week!
They have been bouncing off the walls and flipping off the furniture ~ litterally!
This is sweet little Ella.
The kids had so much fun camping out the night of July 3!
This was our trip to the KC Zoo with some friends from the homeschool group.
This was our nature walk looking for bugs this week for Bug Week! Friday we will be going to a Butterfly Festival!Well, I hoe you enjoyed these pics! I will be uploading some of Alex later. I've got a post for him, but it's breakfast time!
Tuesday, August 5
Goldilox Story
We've posted a video of Adie telling the story at our Photo ShareSite. There is also a video of Jonathan playing T-ball on his page there. So have fun and go watch my cuties! (I hope you can view all of both videos - our computer is going too slow!)
:)
:)
AHHH! Puppies!
Okay, a puppy is just too much! We did fall in love with the little sweetie, but she was just too much. She was very mouthy and began to scare me. She did bite Jeff one night and nearly bit me several times. It was all in play but it really concerned us for the kids. What if she got too rough with one of them, or with our helpless little Alex right now. It hurt us to let her go, but we just could not keep her with those concerns. We have decided, though, that dogs are not completely out of the picture for our family. The kids really responded well to having one around, especially Jo. We could see the little boy and his dog in their relationship developing. One day, we will have a dog. Just not a puppy.
I do hope you enjoy the new layout. I've been thinking it's time for a change and I'll be adding new things now and then. I tried to get everything back together yesterday, but the computer doesn't like me all the time.
I was able to get a picture of Ella so I'll go ahead and post it some time.
Have a great day!
I do hope you enjoy the new layout. I've been thinking it's time for a change and I'll be adding new things now and then. I tried to get everything back together yesterday, but the computer doesn't like me all the time.
I was able to get a picture of Ella so I'll go ahead and post it some time.
Have a great day!
Friday, August 1
Reflections...
REFLECTIONS OF A FIRST
I have witnessed a first again. This one makes me sad. My heart is so warm right now. My last baby has just taken his first crawling steps today! I am so excited, but at the same time, sad. I will no longer be able to have children. It is hard knowing this is my last baby and watching all of these firsts is the last time I will see them.
But I've got to get on with the cute story. We've been working with him for a few weeks on crawling. He's been sitting up for a couple months now and I've known crawling was on it's way. He could crawl with his hands for a while, but never did the army crawl. We've been scooting his knees along with him every time his hands would make their movements. Whenever he would try to do it, he would just flatten out on his tummy. Today, it was different and so cute! He did his hand crawl for a couple steps then, his tummy would hit the floor. Usually, at this point he pulls up his arms and bends his knees to where his feet are up in the air. It looks as if he's flying through the sky, about to open a parachute. It's also been as if he's been willing his body forward, saying MOVE body, move! Today, after the tummy hit the floor, he scrunched up his knees and moved them toward his arms a bit, then crawl his hands forward, then his tummy would hit the floor again. He looked like a little inch worm! Tonight, he actually made it about a foot and a half, crawling hand then knee. It was so cute. I can't believe it though. Today is over, the day he crawled for the first time. It's gone and I'm so glad I was here to see it.
"YOU'VE GOT YOUR HANDS FULL"
So many people have been saying that to me lately. I don't quite understand why. The other day, the kids and I were out walking the dog. A woman driving by, stopped where we were and complimented the puppy, then asked what kind she is. Then, she looked at me and said, "So, you have four children then." I replied, "Well, no. 5. We have a cat at home." She made some chuckle noise then drove off. Wierd, never had that kind of conversation before with someone driving by. Anyway. Yesterday, I was at the store with Adie and Alex. As we pulled into the checkout line, the woman in front of us turned around and said, "It sure looks like you have your hands full!" I again thought this was wierd and said, "No, it's really not bad." Then I just smiled. I didn't know what to say, but while I stood there the thought about how many people say things like that started to bother me. What are they really saying? It's as though more than one child is insanity. While this was going through my mind, I came up with an answer the next time someone says anything like that to me.
Yes, my hands are full of love, my quiver is full of children, and my heart is full of joy!
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
I love that song, and our children do to. In fact, I love most childrens Bible songs. They are so fun and they bring sunshine to my soul. Today, we went to the zoo with a group. One of the moms, bless her. I've learned that she can be very opinionated. She's got 6 children and they range from around 16 down to about 4 (I think). I've enjoyed getting to know her, she is a joy! However, today, she said something that really made me wonder, then got me thinking.
She does not like childrens Bible songs that have a deep meaning. They annoy her, in fact she says. I asked her for an example and she gave me, This Little Light of Mine. She also said, "How are kids supposed to get that!" Well, I don't know about every family, but we talk about those kinds of things in our family. And, I know I've heard in their Bible classes talking about shining our lights, sharing about Jesus!
I personally believe that children do need to have some simple songs that have a "deeper" meaning. I believe that children do need to be taught the seriousness of Christianity, in a gentle way. If all they know while they are young is the frills and fun of Bible songs, then how is it going to be written on their hearts and bound on their forheads?
As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. We will talk about these things when we walk, when we play, when we eat, and as we go to bed. We will revel in the joy of knowing the one true God. And yes, we will let our lights shine!
I have witnessed a first again. This one makes me sad. My heart is so warm right now. My last baby has just taken his first crawling steps today! I am so excited, but at the same time, sad. I will no longer be able to have children. It is hard knowing this is my last baby and watching all of these firsts is the last time I will see them.
But I've got to get on with the cute story. We've been working with him for a few weeks on crawling. He's been sitting up for a couple months now and I've known crawling was on it's way. He could crawl with his hands for a while, but never did the army crawl. We've been scooting his knees along with him every time his hands would make their movements. Whenever he would try to do it, he would just flatten out on his tummy. Today, it was different and so cute! He did his hand crawl for a couple steps then, his tummy would hit the floor. Usually, at this point he pulls up his arms and bends his knees to where his feet are up in the air. It looks as if he's flying through the sky, about to open a parachute. It's also been as if he's been willing his body forward, saying MOVE body, move! Today, after the tummy hit the floor, he scrunched up his knees and moved them toward his arms a bit, then crawl his hands forward, then his tummy would hit the floor again. He looked like a little inch worm! Tonight, he actually made it about a foot and a half, crawling hand then knee. It was so cute. I can't believe it though. Today is over, the day he crawled for the first time. It's gone and I'm so glad I was here to see it.
"YOU'VE GOT YOUR HANDS FULL"
So many people have been saying that to me lately. I don't quite understand why. The other day, the kids and I were out walking the dog. A woman driving by, stopped where we were and complimented the puppy, then asked what kind she is. Then, she looked at me and said, "So, you have four children then." I replied, "Well, no. 5. We have a cat at home." She made some chuckle noise then drove off. Wierd, never had that kind of conversation before with someone driving by. Anyway. Yesterday, I was at the store with Adie and Alex. As we pulled into the checkout line, the woman in front of us turned around and said, "It sure looks like you have your hands full!" I again thought this was wierd and said, "No, it's really not bad." Then I just smiled. I didn't know what to say, but while I stood there the thought about how many people say things like that started to bother me. What are they really saying? It's as though more than one child is insanity. While this was going through my mind, I came up with an answer the next time someone says anything like that to me.
Yes, my hands are full of love, my quiver is full of children, and my heart is full of joy!
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
I love that song, and our children do to. In fact, I love most childrens Bible songs. They are so fun and they bring sunshine to my soul. Today, we went to the zoo with a group. One of the moms, bless her. I've learned that she can be very opinionated. She's got 6 children and they range from around 16 down to about 4 (I think). I've enjoyed getting to know her, she is a joy! However, today, she said something that really made me wonder, then got me thinking.
She does not like childrens Bible songs that have a deep meaning. They annoy her, in fact she says. I asked her for an example and she gave me, This Little Light of Mine. She also said, "How are kids supposed to get that!" Well, I don't know about every family, but we talk about those kinds of things in our family. And, I know I've heard in their Bible classes talking about shining our lights, sharing about Jesus!
I personally believe that children do need to have some simple songs that have a "deeper" meaning. I believe that children do need to be taught the seriousness of Christianity, in a gentle way. If all they know while they are young is the frills and fun of Bible songs, then how is it going to be written on their hearts and bound on their forheads?
As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. We will talk about these things when we walk, when we play, when we eat, and as we go to bed. We will revel in the joy of knowing the one true God. And yes, we will let our lights shine!
The "Twins"
There's another story about my two babies that I have to tell you. The other day, I was getting dinner ready and had Alex on the floor with me in the kitchen. Ella was in the living room with Jo and Adie, chewing away at her things. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ella peek around the corner and look and Alex and me, then she just went back. Not a minute later, I saw her coming in with a chew-eez in her mouth and she perched herself under the table, two feet away from Alex. He was chewing on his things and she was chewing on her things. They watched eachother chew. I wonder what went through each of their minds. Maybe, "Hey, is that good? What I've got is pretty cool. I guess we shouldn't share, Mamma wouldn't like it." Or maybe even, "Yeah, you're cute, but this is MINE!" It's fun to think of the things babies might be thinking. Anyway, after just a couple minutes, they both stopped and just looked at each other. Alex continued chewing, but Ella scooched over to him on her tummy, real slow and licked his arm. He then reached over and started to play with her tail. I didn't have the camera in reach, and I couldn't leave the two of them alone there. As cute as it was I had to separate it pretty quickly, dinner had to be made!
But that was towards the end of a fabulous day. Just an hour earlier, all 5 "kids" gave me an hour of complete silence! I've instituted mandatory "Nap Time." Jo ceased his naps over a year ago and Adie stopped last fall. It's begun to wear on me. I love the two little ones, but I've got to have some quiet time in the house! It was so nice, Alex was in his crib, Adie was on the loveseat, Jo was on the couch, Binx was on the Ottoman, and Ella was in her kennel. I sat on the floor and just read. That's something I haven't enjoyed, truly enjoyed in a long time. We got our curriculum last week and I've been preparing for the first month.
As nervous as I am about all the logistics, I'm extremely excited. Homeschooling is going to be absolutely wonderful. Yesterday, I went on a search to find some classical music to play for the children throughout the day and to use during music studies. I found something wonderful on iTunes - Classical Child. It is a series of at least 8 albums. They are so fun! Then, last night I discovered a gold-mine of Classic Children's Poetry. With our budget being tight, being creative is becoming a necessity. I printed off most of those poems and I'm going to turn it into our own collection of poems. Last night, before bed, I read about four of them to the kids and they absolutely loved it! We haven't actually read a lot of poetry together, and so I wasn't sure what to expect. THEY LOVED IT! Poetry studies are going to be a favorite, I can tell. Oh, I guess you'd probably like to have the website where this was found...(don't worry, I was going to share!)
Classic Poems for Children It's a fabulous place to get some pure enjoyment!
Well, It's time to begin my day. We are off to the zoo today, with the homeschool group! Animal week has been kind of weak, Jo was sick the last two days, but he's feeling better. Today, we'll go off and have some fun with friends and enjoy the animals together.
Love to you all!
But that was towards the end of a fabulous day. Just an hour earlier, all 5 "kids" gave me an hour of complete silence! I've instituted mandatory "Nap Time." Jo ceased his naps over a year ago and Adie stopped last fall. It's begun to wear on me. I love the two little ones, but I've got to have some quiet time in the house! It was so nice, Alex was in his crib, Adie was on the loveseat, Jo was on the couch, Binx was on the Ottoman, and Ella was in her kennel. I sat on the floor and just read. That's something I haven't enjoyed, truly enjoyed in a long time. We got our curriculum last week and I've been preparing for the first month.
As nervous as I am about all the logistics, I'm extremely excited. Homeschooling is going to be absolutely wonderful. Yesterday, I went on a search to find some classical music to play for the children throughout the day and to use during music studies. I found something wonderful on iTunes - Classical Child. It is a series of at least 8 albums. They are so fun! Then, last night I discovered a gold-mine of Classic Children's Poetry. With our budget being tight, being creative is becoming a necessity. I printed off most of those poems and I'm going to turn it into our own collection of poems. Last night, before bed, I read about four of them to the kids and they absolutely loved it! We haven't actually read a lot of poetry together, and so I wasn't sure what to expect. THEY LOVED IT! Poetry studies are going to be a favorite, I can tell. Oh, I guess you'd probably like to have the website where this was found...(don't worry, I was going to share!)
Classic Poems for Children It's a fabulous place to get some pure enjoyment!
Well, It's time to begin my day. We are off to the zoo today, with the homeschool group! Animal week has been kind of weak, Jo was sick the last two days, but he's feeling better. Today, we'll go off and have some fun with friends and enjoy the animals together.
Love to you all!
Thursday, July 31
Where'd It Go???
Okay, this just isn't right. Today, I was planning out August and September. Unbelievable!
Synopsis for the summer...
Zoom!!!! Everything was great. We did have our planned out weeks and most of the time it worked, but...
The planning wasn't there. The themes were great, but I was still on the edge of my seat with planning. I now what to do next summer (maybe...)
There was a campout, swimming, we did go to the fountains, a farm, talked about planes, made paper helicopters, played with bubbles, the water hose, water balloons. It was a fantastic summer.
Now, we are getting ready for school.
Oh, wait. There are a few new developements with us. #1: Jonathan has been typing his own blog. #2: Our neighbors are moving...they've been so good and now we need to pray for the new ones to be good! #3: VBS was a complete success! #5: Alex is beginning to get very mobile! Not officiall crawling (unless he does it when I'm not looking;) ) #4: Oh yeah, and we have a dog. No - a puppy.
I am now the proud mother of 5 beatiful children! Our newest addition is Ella. Our neighbors got her a few weeks ago and after two weeks, discovered that their 2 1/2 yr-old daugher is alergic. It was quite sad. They searched for a new family but couldn't find one and all the "safe" shelters were full. Jeff has such a heart for dogs, and I do too, we couldn't help ourselves. Now, we have a black cat and a black lab/mix. She is mostly lab and so adorable! She was born May 17, so that makes her almost 11 weeks! I'll tell you, it is like having twins in the house! With Alex moving around so much, EVERYTHING goes to the mouth! He AND Ella see every little crumb on the floor and want to eat it! They both litterally will put anything in the mouth. They both take about two/three naps a day and love to be outside. We love taking Ella on walks and do that about 3-4 times or more a day. She has to have her exercise or things just go nuts in the house! I've got a picture that I was about to upload. But the puppy is asking to be let out, so I better go!
Talk with you all later!
Synopsis for the summer...
Zoom!!!! Everything was great. We did have our planned out weeks and most of the time it worked, but...
The planning wasn't there. The themes were great, but I was still on the edge of my seat with planning. I now what to do next summer (maybe...)
There was a campout, swimming, we did go to the fountains, a farm, talked about planes, made paper helicopters, played with bubbles, the water hose, water balloons. It was a fantastic summer.
Now, we are getting ready for school.
Oh, wait. There are a few new developements with us. #1: Jonathan has been typing his own blog. #2: Our neighbors are moving...they've been so good and now we need to pray for the new ones to be good! #3: VBS was a complete success! #5: Alex is beginning to get very mobile! Not officiall crawling (unless he does it when I'm not looking;) ) #4: Oh yeah, and we have a dog. No - a puppy.
I am now the proud mother of 5 beatiful children! Our newest addition is Ella. Our neighbors got her a few weeks ago and after two weeks, discovered that their 2 1/2 yr-old daugher is alergic. It was quite sad. They searched for a new family but couldn't find one and all the "safe" shelters were full. Jeff has such a heart for dogs, and I do too, we couldn't help ourselves. Now, we have a black cat and a black lab/mix. She is mostly lab and so adorable! She was born May 17, so that makes her almost 11 weeks! I'll tell you, it is like having twins in the house! With Alex moving around so much, EVERYTHING goes to the mouth! He AND Ella see every little crumb on the floor and want to eat it! They both litterally will put anything in the mouth. They both take about two/three naps a day and love to be outside. We love taking Ella on walks and do that about 3-4 times or more a day. She has to have her exercise or things just go nuts in the house! I've got a picture that I was about to upload. But the puppy is asking to be let out, so I better go!
Talk with you all later!
Friday, July 18
Week 3 - Nashville
Good ole Tennessee!
Week three was wonderful! The first part of the week was spent getting prepared for our trip and planning everything involved. In a nutshell, Nashville week included more books from the library (a trip there on Wednesday for story time); planning our days of travel; a night and morning in St. Louis; seeing grandparents, aunts, ncles, and cousins; four states; a cruise down the river; Tennessee state museum; Tennessee capital; swimming; and learning Tennessee state songs; and an excursion through the "Land Between the Lakes." (I wanted to also include Jefferson City, MO - another capital, but time just didn't permit)
Friday, after the kids and I loaded up the van and Jeff got home from work, we hit the road and headed for St. Louis! This was exciting for Jeff and me because St. Louis was the first major stop for us on our honeymoon. We were thrilled to show
the kids the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River. We arrived in St. Louis around 8 pm and got settled into our hotel. We stayed downtown, right across the street from the arch and got to see lots of fun things right from our window. We saw
horses with carriages on the streets. We all wanted to take a ride, but it was so late by the time we got everything into the room, we decided to wait till the next day. (Well, they weren't available before we left, so we missed out on that one)
There was also a Cardinals game going on and we could see the stadium and hear the fans from our room. So, we sat and watched out the window. We couldn't see the game, but it was fun to see all the red. Jonathan was pretty dissapointed that we couldn't go to the game, but I think he still thought it was cool to be so close to their stadium. Jeff and I finally got the kids settled into bed and headed to bed ourselves.
Saturday morning, we woke up and there was fog outside. It was beautiful! I took a few pictures from the windows, there is an album that you can go see everything. We had brought a cooler with us that had things for sandwiches and cereal and lots of fruit. So, that morning, we had cereal in our room. It was kind of nice to not have to worry about finding fast food on the entire trip down there. After we got all cleaned up, and our things back to the van then checked out, we headed out to explore downtown St. Louis! We walked over to the Cardinals stadium and took several pictures there. We also saw some pretty fountains. Then, to end it all, we walked over to the arch and spent time down in the museum. That was fun and the kids enjoyed it. We did not go up into the arch (that will have to be in about 10 years I think), nor did we watch the Louis & Clark film. But Jeff and I did talk about making another trip in about 10 years when all the kids are old enough to really get a lot out of it. There is so much more to St. Louis that I wish we could have discovered, but I'm looking forward to the day we go back. Before we left town, we had to take the kids down to the Mississippi River. You can't go to St. Louis and NOT touch the Mississippi! So, we walked up the hill, and we saw the river, FLOODED! It was definitely higher than it was the last time we were there.
When we were done experiencing St. Louis, we headed down to TN. It was a fabulous road trip. Everything between here and there is so beautiful! When we got to Nashville, it was beginning to get dark so we didn't get to see all that much. Sunday morning, we woke up and went to church services. That day and Monday we enjoyed time with the family. Monday afternoon, the five of us went to a place called the Hermitage. It is the home of President Jackson. I think it'd be a great place to check out on line (although I haven't yet). We learned quite a bit with just the short visit we had there. We didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted to there because we were going to meet the rest of the family for a dinner cruise on a show boat. The ride on the boat was fun. Jonathan soaked it all in. We had given the kids fun savers so they could take pictures at their level, things that they thought were cool. Jonathan and I walked around the boat for a while and he just took shot after shot. Some of the pictures turned out to be really good. I'm working on getting those uploaded soon. For dinner, the food served was delicious. There was roast beef, chicken, green beans, potatos (the best tasting ever!), and
bread. Dessert was delicious as well.
Tuesday morning, we woke up and got everything packed up and invited the family to join us at the capital and the TN State Museum. On our first anniversary, Jeff and I had a discussion about what we wanted to do with our family in the future. That day we pretty much decided that we wanted to home school. With home schooling would come so many great opportunities for educational travel! We decided that day that a goal of ours would be to visit at least the 48 state capitals. All 50 would be wonderful, but I'm not sure about going that far. So we had to go downtown! Jeff's parents were the only ones who decided to come with us. We had a good time. The museum was neat and the capital was nice. It was a pleasant experience before we headed back home.
On the way home we took out time. We actually ventured off of the Interstate through a place called "The Land Between the Lakes." This is an area of land that looks like a pennensula off of TN. There are all kinds of nature activities to take
part in here. Camping, fishing, boating, horse riding, etc. We just drove through it, to see what it was like. It was absolutely beautiful! It was interesting too, we kept seeing signs for family grave yards. I wondered about any stories behind them, how old they were, who the people were. What history is in that area. Four days for a trip like this was not enough time at all. This one's definitely going back on the list for more time! It was so much fun and I know we'd do it again. We finally pulled into our driveway at 2:00 in the morning on Wednesday. Jeff had the day off and that was nice for him to rest and get ready for Thursday. And it was good to have Daddy home to enjoy for part of Music Week!
You can go to our albums to view the pictures of our trip.
Week three was wonderful! The first part of the week was spent getting prepared for our trip and planning everything involved. In a nutshell, Nashville week included more books from the library (a trip there on Wednesday for story time); planning our days of travel; a night and morning in St. Louis; seeing grandparents, aunts, ncles, and cousins; four states; a cruise down the river; Tennessee state museum; Tennessee capital; swimming; and learning Tennessee state songs; and an excursion through the "Land Between the Lakes." (I wanted to also include Jefferson City, MO - another capital, but time just didn't permit)
Friday, after the kids and I loaded up the van and Jeff got home from work, we hit the road and headed for St. Louis! This was exciting for Jeff and me because St. Louis was the first major stop for us on our honeymoon. We were thrilled to show
the kids the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River. We arrived in St. Louis around 8 pm and got settled into our hotel. We stayed downtown, right across the street from the arch and got to see lots of fun things right from our window. We saw
horses with carriages on the streets. We all wanted to take a ride, but it was so late by the time we got everything into the room, we decided to wait till the next day. (Well, they weren't available before we left, so we missed out on that one)
There was also a Cardinals game going on and we could see the stadium and hear the fans from our room. So, we sat and watched out the window. We couldn't see the game, but it was fun to see all the red. Jonathan was pretty dissapointed that we couldn't go to the game, but I think he still thought it was cool to be so close to their stadium. Jeff and I finally got the kids settled into bed and headed to bed ourselves.
Saturday morning, we woke up and there was fog outside. It was beautiful! I took a few pictures from the windows, there is an album that you can go see everything. We had brought a cooler with us that had things for sandwiches and cereal and lots of fruit. So, that morning, we had cereal in our room. It was kind of nice to not have to worry about finding fast food on the entire trip down there. After we got all cleaned up, and our things back to the van then checked out, we headed out to explore downtown St. Louis! We walked over to the Cardinals stadium and took several pictures there. We also saw some pretty fountains. Then, to end it all, we walked over to the arch and spent time down in the museum. That was fun and the kids enjoyed it. We did not go up into the arch (that will have to be in about 10 years I think), nor did we watch the Louis & Clark film. But Jeff and I did talk about making another trip in about 10 years when all the kids are old enough to really get a lot out of it. There is so much more to St. Louis that I wish we could have discovered, but I'm looking forward to the day we go back. Before we left town, we had to take the kids down to the Mississippi River. You can't go to St. Louis and NOT touch the Mississippi! So, we walked up the hill, and we saw the river, FLOODED! It was definitely higher than it was the last time we were there.
When we were done experiencing St. Louis, we headed down to TN. It was a fabulous road trip. Everything between here and there is so beautiful! When we got to Nashville, it was beginning to get dark so we didn't get to see all that much. Sunday morning, we woke up and went to church services. That day and Monday we enjoyed time with the family. Monday afternoon, the five of us went to a place called the Hermitage. It is the home of President Jackson. I think it'd be a great place to check out on line (although I haven't yet). We learned quite a bit with just the short visit we had there. We didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted to there because we were going to meet the rest of the family for a dinner cruise on a show boat. The ride on the boat was fun. Jonathan soaked it all in. We had given the kids fun savers so they could take pictures at their level, things that they thought were cool. Jonathan and I walked around the boat for a while and he just took shot after shot. Some of the pictures turned out to be really good. I'm working on getting those uploaded soon. For dinner, the food served was delicious. There was roast beef, chicken, green beans, potatos (the best tasting ever!), and
bread. Dessert was delicious as well.
Tuesday morning, we woke up and got everything packed up and invited the family to join us at the capital and the TN State Museum. On our first anniversary, Jeff and I had a discussion about what we wanted to do with our family in the future. That day we pretty much decided that we wanted to home school. With home schooling would come so many great opportunities for educational travel! We decided that day that a goal of ours would be to visit at least the 48 state capitals. All 50 would be wonderful, but I'm not sure about going that far. So we had to go downtown! Jeff's parents were the only ones who decided to come with us. We had a good time. The museum was neat and the capital was nice. It was a pleasant experience before we headed back home.
On the way home we took out time. We actually ventured off of the Interstate through a place called "The Land Between the Lakes." This is an area of land that looks like a pennensula off of TN. There are all kinds of nature activities to take
part in here. Camping, fishing, boating, horse riding, etc. We just drove through it, to see what it was like. It was absolutely beautiful! It was interesting too, we kept seeing signs for family grave yards. I wondered about any stories behind them, how old they were, who the people were. What history is in that area. Four days for a trip like this was not enough time at all. This one's definitely going back on the list for more time! It was so much fun and I know we'd do it again. We finally pulled into our driveway at 2:00 in the morning on Wednesday. Jeff had the day off and that was nice for him to rest and get ready for Thursday. And it was good to have Daddy home to enjoy for part of Music Week!
You can go to our albums to view the pictures of our trip.
Thursday, July 3
Happy 4th Eve!
Okay, so, I've been pretty terrible about keeping you all updated on our 12 weeks of summer fun. Truth is, we've had so much going on! I started a blog (in text) after we got home from Nashville and I haven't even finished it yet. This week has been camp week and we've loved it. Right now, Jeff is out back (it is 11:45 pm) in our tent with Jonathan and Adie. Yes, they are asleep! We thought it wouldn't work, but it is! I would have stayed, but Alex is in his crib and I just felt too wierd having him in here alone. We had the monitor, but I just had to stay in here. Anyway, the reason I'm on is I just had to write about what happened a little while ago.
So the three of them are out there sleeping (on the night before the 4th - what were we thinking?!), our neighbor came home. Usually the car they drive is very loud but this time, it was so quiet! It sounded to me as if they might have been trying to be quiet. Maybe they had an idea with the tent out there (no privacy fences here) that people were sleeping there! I was happy when I heard the car turn off. Within 5 minutes, I heard them, the fireworks. Ahh! These weren't just crackers. I heard the hissing and the crackling and saw the lights. Before I realized it, I was standing outside the door (I really don't remember getting up to go to there!). There they were, flashing up into the sky. I thought the kids would be screaming and crying from startling (I probably would have after being asleep). But it was quiet. I went over to the tent. Adie and Jeff woke up but Jonathan was still out! Adie was fine and actually excited to see them!
Funny family.
Well, I suppose this should be all for tonight. Hope you all have a great day tomorrow!
So the three of them are out there sleeping (on the night before the 4th - what were we thinking?!), our neighbor came home. Usually the car they drive is very loud but this time, it was so quiet! It sounded to me as if they might have been trying to be quiet. Maybe they had an idea with the tent out there (no privacy fences here) that people were sleeping there! I was happy when I heard the car turn off. Within 5 minutes, I heard them, the fireworks. Ahh! These weren't just crackers. I heard the hissing and the crackling and saw the lights. Before I realized it, I was standing outside the door (I really don't remember getting up to go to there!). There they were, flashing up into the sky. I thought the kids would be screaming and crying from startling (I probably would have after being asleep). But it was quiet. I went over to the tent. Adie and Jeff woke up but Jonathan was still out! Adie was fine and actually excited to see them!
Funny family.
Well, I suppose this should be all for tonight. Hope you all have a great day tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 24
Chugga..Chugga...
"I think I can, I think I can," said that adorable little train.
I've always loved trains. I can remember playing on the floor in our house many years ago...pulling my trian along, but every so often, the train would hit a bump. I'd say, "Chugga, chugga, chugga, uh-oh!" Down the train would go and I'd have to pick up all the cars, put them back together and start the train ride over again. There is also a book that I love to read with the kids, "It's Fun Where Ben's Train Takes Him." In this book little Ben loves to draw trains and tracks for his train. Then he pretends all day long in his room where his train goes. It goes through fields near cattle, through a huge city, past large animals. And then, the end of the day comes and it is time for bed. The time has come to say good night.
Today, I feel as though I am pulling a train along. But this time, it's different. I am Ben. I've been drawing that train, my perfect train. I've laid down the tracks. We've been going chugga chugga, and there is the occassional "uh-oh." I've been on quite a ride and I know that I am not the driver...as much as I'd like to think that I am. I have no idea where this train ride is taking me, or my family for that matter. We've been preparing for homeschool and I've been excited about it all, but today, this train has turned into a freight train... Going FULL speed ahead!
There is so much to be learned! And it's not just the three younguns that will be doing the learning! I have a habbit of trying to do too much all at once and maybe trying to take things into my own hands. I am the Conductor - the one who takes the tickets, treats the wounds, handles the paperwork, and my office is the caboose. God is our Engineer - the overseer of all our operations, keeping our locomotive running.
As for Ben, the time has now come for me to begin to head to bed. It is funny where this train has taken us. It is a wonderful ride and I hope you all are enjoying your rides as well.
I've always loved trains. I can remember playing on the floor in our house many years ago...pulling my trian along, but every so often, the train would hit a bump. I'd say, "Chugga, chugga, chugga, uh-oh!" Down the train would go and I'd have to pick up all the cars, put them back together and start the train ride over again. There is also a book that I love to read with the kids, "It's Fun Where Ben's Train Takes Him." In this book little Ben loves to draw trains and tracks for his train. Then he pretends all day long in his room where his train goes. It goes through fields near cattle, through a huge city, past large animals. And then, the end of the day comes and it is time for bed. The time has come to say good night.
Today, I feel as though I am pulling a train along. But this time, it's different. I am Ben. I've been drawing that train, my perfect train. I've laid down the tracks. We've been going chugga chugga, and there is the occassional "uh-oh." I've been on quite a ride and I know that I am not the driver...as much as I'd like to think that I am. I have no idea where this train ride is taking me, or my family for that matter. We've been preparing for homeschool and I've been excited about it all, but today, this train has turned into a freight train... Going FULL speed ahead!
There is so much to be learned! And it's not just the three younguns that will be doing the learning! I have a habbit of trying to do too much all at once and maybe trying to take things into my own hands. I am the Conductor - the one who takes the tickets, treats the wounds, handles the paperwork, and my office is the caboose. God is our Engineer - the overseer of all our operations, keeping our locomotive running.
As for Ben, the time has now come for me to begin to head to bed. It is funny where this train has taken us. It is a wonderful ride and I hope you all are enjoying your rides as well.
Wednesday, June 18
Week 2 - Around the World
Week two of our 12 weeks was fun as well. We picked up some books from the library for China, Italy, Egypt, Kansas, and Missouri. Let's just say that week two was a learning time for all of us. It didn't go quite as planned, but we still learned about those places. In my head, I had envisioned a grand week of tons of cultural activities! Well, what I learned is that (again) things don't always go as planned.
Monday we read our books about China and then planned a Chinese dinner - that went very well! Italy was about the same, we read about families that live in Italy and had Spaghetti for dinner. Wednesday, well, Wednesdays are always more busy. We did read about Egypt but I never went on line to figure out something that could be Egyptian. Maybe we will try that this summer still. (Besides, who says that we have to do cultural things just during that week!) Thursday, I had planned on taking the kids to Topeka, but gas prices are so high and we needed to save for Nashville week. Later on this summer we will do the capital trip. Friday, we got up and got ready to meet our homeschool group at the park. That was loads of fun! I
got to meet more moms and visit with some wonderful women. I also discovered a great math program that I will be using for Jonathan. The kids really had a great time with all the new friends. Alex was passed around and gave everyone great
smiles. Adie made a new friend her age and is excited to have little girls her age to play with. Jonathan really showed that he is getting older and gave me a surprise and a small fright! He got along well with the other kids and had a great time running around with them, but he still showed a tendancy of enjoying time alone as well. When it was time to sit down for lunch, I went over to where I had last seen him. He wasn't there. I looked for a few minutes and I couldn't find him. You
know my heart was racing. I continued to follow the stream (this was Cody park by the way) and found him down close to the tunnel that goes under the intersection. He'd been "fine" he says and he was just exploring! He had taken off his socks
and shoes and was getting his feet wet. We had a talk about safety and making sure to tell me where he's going to be. But I learned a lesson at that time as well, my boy is not a baby anymore. He can venture off and still be okay. It's hard
to let go of the first. (I guess it will be hard to let go of them all). I am just so glad that he didn't go around the whole world by himself!
We had a great time reading about other countries and the kids got a taste of things outside the USA. They are learning that there is more to the world that just the few states we've lived in and there are all kinds of people that God created.
Monday we read our books about China and then planned a Chinese dinner - that went very well! Italy was about the same, we read about families that live in Italy and had Spaghetti for dinner. Wednesday, well, Wednesdays are always more busy. We did read about Egypt but I never went on line to figure out something that could be Egyptian. Maybe we will try that this summer still. (Besides, who says that we have to do cultural things just during that week!) Thursday, I had planned on taking the kids to Topeka, but gas prices are so high and we needed to save for Nashville week. Later on this summer we will do the capital trip. Friday, we got up and got ready to meet our homeschool group at the park. That was loads of fun! I
got to meet more moms and visit with some wonderful women. I also discovered a great math program that I will be using for Jonathan. The kids really had a great time with all the new friends. Alex was passed around and gave everyone great
smiles. Adie made a new friend her age and is excited to have little girls her age to play with. Jonathan really showed that he is getting older and gave me a surprise and a small fright! He got along well with the other kids and had a great time running around with them, but he still showed a tendancy of enjoying time alone as well. When it was time to sit down for lunch, I went over to where I had last seen him. He wasn't there. I looked for a few minutes and I couldn't find him. You
know my heart was racing. I continued to follow the stream (this was Cody park by the way) and found him down close to the tunnel that goes under the intersection. He'd been "fine" he says and he was just exploring! He had taken off his socks
and shoes and was getting his feet wet. We had a talk about safety and making sure to tell me where he's going to be. But I learned a lesson at that time as well, my boy is not a baby anymore. He can venture off and still be okay. It's hard
to let go of the first. (I guess it will be hard to let go of them all). I am just so glad that he didn't go around the whole world by himself!
We had a great time reading about other countries and the kids got a taste of things outside the USA. They are learning that there is more to the world that just the few states we've lived in and there are all kinds of people that God created.
Thursday, June 12
Teeth!
Ta-da!
Mommy, I have a new tooth!
(that is both of my boys!)
That's right, both Jonathan and Alex showed a new tooth within two weeks of eachother!
Today, I noticed Alex's very first baby tooth. And about a week ago or so, Jonathan has a new one coming in behind his baby teeth (not a single lost tooth yet).
Tomorrow, we will be off for our Nashville trip. Goodness, time is getting away from me!
We enjoyed Around the World week. There are definitely a few things I will change for next time, but it was fun. Nashville week has been full of getting ready for the trip. The real stuff is coming this weekend!
I just finished a BIG job of uploading pictures from the camera. Now, when I come back, it will be the BIG job of posting albums and pics here and there!
So many wonderful things going on this summer!
Mommy, I have a new tooth!
(that is both of my boys!)
That's right, both Jonathan and Alex showed a new tooth within two weeks of eachother!
Today, I noticed Alex's very first baby tooth. And about a week ago or so, Jonathan has a new one coming in behind his baby teeth (not a single lost tooth yet).
Tomorrow, we will be off for our Nashville trip. Goodness, time is getting away from me!
We enjoyed Around the World week. There are definitely a few things I will change for next time, but it was fun. Nashville week has been full of getting ready for the trip. The real stuff is coming this weekend!
I just finished a BIG job of uploading pictures from the camera. Now, when I come back, it will be the BIG job of posting albums and pics here and there!
So many wonderful things going on this summer!
Thursday, June 5
When they grow up...
Today, the kids said what they wanted to be when they grow up.
Jo -- "I want to go to college to play football."
Adie -- "I want to be a fixerman!"
Jo -- "I want to go to college to play football."
Adie -- "I want to be a fixerman!"
Week 1 ... Parks!
Park week was fabulous! We really did have a great time. Alex and Adie are sleeping right now and Jo is working on some math flash cards. Meanwhile, as I'm sitting on the couch enjoying the peace, our cat is trying to catch a fly flying on the window behind me. It is quite funny, she is trying to climb up the blinds. If I could only catch it on camera! I will try, for now, to get in as much as possible about last week.
Anyway, okay, let me reach way back into my memory bank and pull all of this out. We started off with Memorial Day Weekend. Saturday we hung out at the house and then had some KS barbeque for lunch. It was pretty good. We ate Arthur Bryant's BBQ, if you ever get the chance to eat it, DO! After lunch, we headed out to Wyandot County lake park. It was pretty cool, and beautiful! We stopped at a small play ground and all had a turn on the swings, I slid down the tall metal slide (the kind I played on when I was five, back in Estancia). Yes, that was me! No one else would take the chance! Ha! It was envigorating to be a kid again! We looked at bugs and watched ducks and turtles play in the lake. We didn't stay too long, it had rained the night before and so it was pretty muddy. So we headed back home for a short rest. Then we headed off to Tonganoxie for a rodeo! F-U-N! The kids loved seeing the horses and bulls and Alex even had fun! When we got there, the stands were pretty full so we got to choose a seat down right next to the action. Oh, did I mention that this was an outside arena? Yes, we were outside (we've only been to inside arenas and got to sit in nice seats). So, with the rain the night before and all the mud, we got to see, and feel ,everything! Adie was so funny! She thought all the mud was poo! When the horses started coming near us, and the mud would spatter on everyone, she yelled out, "There's poo on me!" We all had a good laugh with that. We had the good ole' hot dogs and soda, and just had a great time kicking off summer with a great rodeo.
On Sunday after worship, we headed out to a baseball game. A few weeks ago, we discovered that not so many people were at the Sunday games right now, so we thought that might be a better day to go. So, we went and overall it was a great time, but our seats ended up being in the sun, right next to people sitting in the shade! The seats were so hot and it took over an hour for the sun to go down. But we really did have a great time. Jo is playing T-ball this summer so he was really in to all that was going on. We enjoyed dollar dogs and lots of lemonade. Alex wore his "All American Boy" baseball cap and Adie had her red, white, and blue on. We're looking forward to a few more games to attend this summer.
Monday, Jeff and Jo were both off. We stayed home and did some clean up and, in honor of park week, we went to a park for a little while. There is a park fairly close to us called Cody Park and it is really nice. It's got a great playground, a walking trail, the all important washroom, good seating for parents, and a nice little brook that runs right through the middle of it all. This day we discovered a great little area that is in the shade and is where the water comes from. I savored every moment with my family that day. Jeff and Jo were playing with the bat and ball, while Adie, Alex and I sat and watched the water come into the park (I'm really going to have to take a picture of it). We were in a corner, right under a street intersection. The creek runs under that intersection and pools up then continues flowing into the brook that goes through the park. Adie was throwing rocks, Alex was just wiggling trying to reach for the grass and rocks, and explore all he could! Adie then started making up a story about the cave. There is a monster that lives in there and we had to be quiet, so as to not wake it up! After a while, Jo and Jeff joined us and then Jeff taught us all how to skip rocks across the water. I was able to once and Jo and Adie are still working on it.
Tuesday, Jo had his last day of school. After school, we went to a park that was really cool. It was called David Brewer Park. It has a small soccer field, volley ball sand pit, walking trails, tennis courts, a great playground, a washroom, good swings, and a couple places to sit in the shade. The kids really liked this one, Jo voted it #1 and Adie voted it #2 (Cody is her fav).
Then, Wednesday, my baby graduated from Kindergarten!
Thursday, we went to two parks. Wollman Park was nice, but there wasn't a place to sit and watch the kids (sometimes I just need to take a break - especially while holding Alex), and it was pretty small. The one in Lansing (we didn't see a name) was okay. Pretty small, not a lot of shade, and NO washroom (a must for little girls newly potty trained!).
Friday, we went down to Bonner Springs and found a pretty cool park next to a sports complex. However, I couldn't find the washrooms! And the slides were broken.
Well, that was park week! Pictures will be posted for parks and graduation. Alex is awake now and I'm sure he'd like to eat! Oh, and he slept until 11:30 this morning! It was nice to have the morning with Jo and Adie! And! Jo is getting his first permanent tooth! He's growing up! He and Alex will be getting new teeth together this year!
Better go!
P.S. We voted Cody and David Brewer the #1s for the family. They are both pretty awesome and we could go for just one!
Anyway, okay, let me reach way back into my memory bank and pull all of this out. We started off with Memorial Day Weekend. Saturday we hung out at the house and then had some KS barbeque for lunch. It was pretty good. We ate Arthur Bryant's BBQ, if you ever get the chance to eat it, DO! After lunch, we headed out to Wyandot County lake park. It was pretty cool, and beautiful! We stopped at a small play ground and all had a turn on the swings, I slid down the tall metal slide (the kind I played on when I was five, back in Estancia). Yes, that was me! No one else would take the chance! Ha! It was envigorating to be a kid again! We looked at bugs and watched ducks and turtles play in the lake. We didn't stay too long, it had rained the night before and so it was pretty muddy. So we headed back home for a short rest. Then we headed off to Tonganoxie for a rodeo! F-U-N! The kids loved seeing the horses and bulls and Alex even had fun! When we got there, the stands were pretty full so we got to choose a seat down right next to the action. Oh, did I mention that this was an outside arena? Yes, we were outside (we've only been to inside arenas and got to sit in nice seats). So, with the rain the night before and all the mud, we got to see, and feel ,everything! Adie was so funny! She thought all the mud was poo! When the horses started coming near us, and the mud would spatter on everyone, she yelled out, "There's poo on me!" We all had a good laugh with that. We had the good ole' hot dogs and soda, and just had a great time kicking off summer with a great rodeo.
On Sunday after worship, we headed out to a baseball game. A few weeks ago, we discovered that not so many people were at the Sunday games right now, so we thought that might be a better day to go. So, we went and overall it was a great time, but our seats ended up being in the sun, right next to people sitting in the shade! The seats were so hot and it took over an hour for the sun to go down. But we really did have a great time. Jo is playing T-ball this summer so he was really in to all that was going on. We enjoyed dollar dogs and lots of lemonade. Alex wore his "All American Boy" baseball cap and Adie had her red, white, and blue on. We're looking forward to a few more games to attend this summer.
Monday, Jeff and Jo were both off. We stayed home and did some clean up and, in honor of park week, we went to a park for a little while. There is a park fairly close to us called Cody Park and it is really nice. It's got a great playground, a walking trail, the all important washroom, good seating for parents, and a nice little brook that runs right through the middle of it all. This day we discovered a great little area that is in the shade and is where the water comes from. I savored every moment with my family that day. Jeff and Jo were playing with the bat and ball, while Adie, Alex and I sat and watched the water come into the park (I'm really going to have to take a picture of it). We were in a corner, right under a street intersection. The creek runs under that intersection and pools up then continues flowing into the brook that goes through the park. Adie was throwing rocks, Alex was just wiggling trying to reach for the grass and rocks, and explore all he could! Adie then started making up a story about the cave. There is a monster that lives in there and we had to be quiet, so as to not wake it up! After a while, Jo and Jeff joined us and then Jeff taught us all how to skip rocks across the water. I was able to once and Jo and Adie are still working on it.
Tuesday, Jo had his last day of school. After school, we went to a park that was really cool. It was called David Brewer Park. It has a small soccer field, volley ball sand pit, walking trails, tennis courts, a great playground, a washroom, good swings, and a couple places to sit in the shade. The kids really liked this one, Jo voted it #1 and Adie voted it #2 (Cody is her fav).
Then, Wednesday, my baby graduated from Kindergarten!
Thursday, we went to two parks. Wollman Park was nice, but there wasn't a place to sit and watch the kids (sometimes I just need to take a break - especially while holding Alex), and it was pretty small. The one in Lansing (we didn't see a name) was okay. Pretty small, not a lot of shade, and NO washroom (a must for little girls newly potty trained!).
Friday, we went down to Bonner Springs and found a pretty cool park next to a sports complex. However, I couldn't find the washrooms! And the slides were broken.
Well, that was park week! Pictures will be posted for parks and graduation. Alex is awake now and I'm sure he'd like to eat! Oh, and he slept until 11:30 this morning! It was nice to have the morning with Jo and Adie! And! Jo is getting his first permanent tooth! He's growing up! He and Alex will be getting new teeth together this year!
Better go!
P.S. We voted Cody and David Brewer the #1s for the family. They are both pretty awesome and we could go for just one!
Wednesday, May 28
12 Weeks of Summer Learning!
Jonathan just graduated from Kindergarten! Can't believe that he's done! Well, we kicked off the summer this weekend with fantastic fun and I'll have to blog about that later. But for now, I thought I'd get on and preview for you what we have planned this summer! (I will get on and post pictures - tons coming up soon!)
Drum roll please...
Announcing our 12 weeks of Fantastic summer learning!
1 - Park week ... which park in LV will prove to be the Green family favorite???
2 - Around the World ... capitals of KS, MO and countries of Mexico, China, and Italy
3 - Nashville ... transition from wk 3- meeting Jeff's family there and learn the history of music!
4 - Music ... possibly a tallent show???
5 - Play Ball ... Jonathan is in T-ball this summer!
6 - Family Camp ...tent in the back yard, cook on the grill, and camp activities all week! Finale to be a camp out by the river???
7 - Animals ... two or three different zoos and lots of other fun animals activities!
8 - Planes and Trains ... a trip to Achison will be great, Train museum and Amelia Earhart Festival!
9 - Wonderful Water ... a visit to the fountains at Crown Center
10 - Story Week ... maybe we will write one!
11 - Bugged Out ... Powell Gardens Butterfly festival
12 - All Out for the Olympics ... learn about the sports and our 1st Annual Green Family Olympics!
We wish you all a fantastic summer of fun learning as well!
Drum roll please...
Announcing our 12 weeks of Fantastic summer learning!
1 - Park week ... which park in LV will prove to be the Green family favorite???
2 - Around the World ... capitals of KS, MO and countries of Mexico, China, and Italy
3 - Nashville ... transition from wk 3- meeting Jeff's family there and learn the history of music!
4 - Music ... possibly a tallent show???
5 - Play Ball ... Jonathan is in T-ball this summer!
6 - Family Camp ...tent in the back yard, cook on the grill, and camp activities all week! Finale to be a camp out by the river???
7 - Animals ... two or three different zoos and lots of other fun animals activities!
8 - Planes and Trains ... a trip to Achison will be great, Train museum and Amelia Earhart Festival!
9 - Wonderful Water ... a visit to the fountains at Crown Center
10 - Story Week ... maybe we will write one!
11 - Bugged Out ... Powell Gardens Butterfly festival
12 - All Out for the Olympics ... learn about the sports and our 1st Annual Green Family Olympics!
We wish you all a fantastic summer of fun learning as well!
Monday, May 19
Still Here...
Hey friends and family!
This is a very quick post to let you all know that I'm still here. We are all doing great and gearing up for a fantastic summer! We've been busy. Our family is so fun! Lot's to do though, working on routines, teething, and yes...Alex is beginning to show signs of crawling within a couple months (maybe sooner, but I'm being conservative!)
Jo is almost done with Kindergarten, Adie is so ready to learn to read and write, Jeff is still doing great with the job - so much going on there. And I've been working on lots of plans and getting things in place!
We had a friend graduate from college Saturday - TEN years of hard work! So proud of you!
I do have several pictures to share, but the computers are slow and I just don't have the time to sit and pick out which ones to share right now. I hope that soon I can take time out while Jeff is home so that I can do more blogging. I've been on to read your blogs and I enjoy keeping up with your happenings. Sorry that I don't comment all that often, but I am here!
Love you all so much.
Ta-Ta-For-Now!
This is a very quick post to let you all know that I'm still here. We are all doing great and gearing up for a fantastic summer! We've been busy. Our family is so fun! Lot's to do though, working on routines, teething, and yes...Alex is beginning to show signs of crawling within a couple months (maybe sooner, but I'm being conservative!)
Jo is almost done with Kindergarten, Adie is so ready to learn to read and write, Jeff is still doing great with the job - so much going on there. And I've been working on lots of plans and getting things in place!
We had a friend graduate from college Saturday - TEN years of hard work! So proud of you!
I do have several pictures to share, but the computers are slow and I just don't have the time to sit and pick out which ones to share right now. I hope that soon I can take time out while Jeff is home so that I can do more blogging. I've been on to read your blogs and I enjoy keeping up with your happenings. Sorry that I don't comment all that often, but I am here!
Love you all so much.
Ta-Ta-For-Now!
Friday, April 11
The Incredible Speed of Infant Learning
Everyday, I am amazed at the speed at which our little one is learning. He began smiling at 2 weeks and hasn't stopped since. We've witnessed him learning how to laugh and experiment with his voice. It is so fun to watch and hear him try new things with his mouth. The other day, Jeff was watching him and it was as if he was listening for his own noises. He tilted his head seeming to bring an ear higher to hear better, then he would squeal out and smile then make other noises, blowing bubbles, and gurgling. Jeff started something with him a few weeks ago, roaring. It has really taken off with all of us. Alex loves it! It even seems as though he roars back at us, at times so seriously too!
I have been privileged to witness the gears in his little noggin spinning while concentrating intently on moving that interesting tool called a hand. I often catch him staring at his hands working so hard to make it work, reaching for a toy, opening and closing those tiny little fingers.
He is getting a better handle on how the hands work and has moved to his feet, using his hands to experiment and learn about those interesting toys reaching out from his legs, trying so hard to bring them to the mouth. Watching an infant learn about something with his mouth is so adorable! So often we see infants take things to their mouth and it is to learn everything they can about the object! - What is the texture, is it hot or cold, what is the taste, is it soft or hard? The mouth is an amazing tool!
Now he is learning how to eat with a spoon and is definately learning to love the tastes of the food we eat. So far, oatmeal is a favorite, and we are working on the fruits and veggies.
Yesterday, he nearly rolled over to his tummy. Yay! We take for granted our ability to move, and they practice so hard just to make everything work! Everyday is a new learning experience for an infant and they learn at incredible speeds! We take years to master things such as technology or other trades and in less than a year, infants leap from being 100% helpless to eating, playing, walking, running, and getting into trouble all on their own. How a person can believe that we just came to be or just evolved from nothing is beyond me! We are amazing creatures, it had to take an incredible Designer to make it all happen!
I have been privileged to witness the gears in his little noggin spinning while concentrating intently on moving that interesting tool called a hand. I often catch him staring at his hands working so hard to make it work, reaching for a toy, opening and closing those tiny little fingers.
He is getting a better handle on how the hands work and has moved to his feet, using his hands to experiment and learn about those interesting toys reaching out from his legs, trying so hard to bring them to the mouth. Watching an infant learn about something with his mouth is so adorable! So often we see infants take things to their mouth and it is to learn everything they can about the object! - What is the texture, is it hot or cold, what is the taste, is it soft or hard? The mouth is an amazing tool!
Now he is learning how to eat with a spoon and is definately learning to love the tastes of the food we eat. So far, oatmeal is a favorite, and we are working on the fruits and veggies.
Yesterday, he nearly rolled over to his tummy. Yay! We take for granted our ability to move, and they practice so hard just to make everything work! Everyday is a new learning experience for an infant and they learn at incredible speeds! We take years to master things such as technology or other trades and in less than a year, infants leap from being 100% helpless to eating, playing, walking, running, and getting into trouble all on their own. How a person can believe that we just came to be or just evolved from nothing is beyond me! We are amazing creatures, it had to take an incredible Designer to make it all happen!
Thursday, March 20
Warm Days
My mom and dad have been here for a couple of days and it has been great! Yesterday was nice and warm in the afternoon and today is supposed to be even warmer! I'm hoping to take the kids out on a pic-nic. Wish Jeff could come with us! It's been so long since we've been outdoors. This will be great. Jo has been on spring break this week and I've loved having him home.
Well, hope your Spring is fabulous!
Well, hope your Spring is fabulous!
Saturday, March 15
I am a Wonderer...
My mind is full of wondering thoughts.
It is ridiculously late. I can't sleep. Today I've been catching up on laundry and cleaning the garage. I found a bag and a box of clothes for Alex! And a box of bibs! After washing them tonight, I was folding everything and started stacking the bibs. Every bib that I stacked was from Jo and Adie and brought back so many memories -- first bites, drools, baby food sneezes, and tons of squeals! My baby is 4 months old today and I don't want to believe it! Today, we sat in the living room playing with toys and practicing sitting up. It's going to happen soon, he's pretty strong. Oh, and yesterday, Jo and Adie were playing with him on the floor. When I took something into the kitchen, I heard them say, "Mommy, he rolled!" Well, I came in and he rolled to his side. It's a step though! It was exciting to hear their excitement for all of his little accomplishments. They have an incredibly exciting road ahead of them! It will be so fun to make more memories with these bibs and watch all my kids go through more firsts together.
Who would have thought that bibs would bring on such emotions...
It is ridiculously late. I can't sleep. Today I've been catching up on laundry and cleaning the garage. I found a bag and a box of clothes for Alex! And a box of bibs! After washing them tonight, I was folding everything and started stacking the bibs. Every bib that I stacked was from Jo and Adie and brought back so many memories -- first bites, drools, baby food sneezes, and tons of squeals! My baby is 4 months old today and I don't want to believe it! Today, we sat in the living room playing with toys and practicing sitting up. It's going to happen soon, he's pretty strong. Oh, and yesterday, Jo and Adie were playing with him on the floor. When I took something into the kitchen, I heard them say, "Mommy, he rolled!" Well, I came in and he rolled to his side. It's a step though! It was exciting to hear their excitement for all of his little accomplishments. They have an incredibly exciting road ahead of them! It will be so fun to make more memories with these bibs and watch all my kids go through more firsts together.
Who would have thought that bibs would bring on such emotions...
Wednesday, February 27
Arizona
Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a great evening! --> sleeping hopefully. ;)
I do want to tell you about our trip to AZ, but it is entirely too late for me to be on, I will say real quick that it was fabulous! I truly enjoyed getting to meet all the people from nF. The president of the company (A) flew everyone in the offices from KS and FL for the weekend and we had a great time in Sendona. Alex sure flirted with all the girls and Jeff said a few days ago that they are still talking about him in the office! I wish you could all see how much he smiles. I've never seen a baby so happy and smiling so much, really. Right now, I will post a few pictures and hopefully be back to write about it another time soon.
Good night.
Alex's first flight! Suck, baby, suck!
Lunch with a few nF people in Sedona at Tlaquepaque.
Just one of the beautiful sights of the red rocks at Sedona.
A visit to Montezuma Castle (between Phoenix and Sedona). Awesome place to see history.
Fascinating, amazing, and beautiful Saguaro Cactus. (sa-whaor-o) I learned that there is no "g" sound real quick! There were so many! It was like a forest. Wait, isn't there a national Saguaro Forest??? (I think so) ha! This was just north of Phoenix.
Just a couple of views outside the office in AZ.
Thank you Jeff and Ruthie for taking a few of these pictures! Thank you for sharing your tallent!
And thank you A for bringing us all to AZ for a wonderful weekend. We are looking forward to the next "nFo-Con!"
I do want to tell you about our trip to AZ, but it is entirely too late for me to be on, I will say real quick that it was fabulous! I truly enjoyed getting to meet all the people from nF. The president of the company (A) flew everyone in the offices from KS and FL for the weekend and we had a great time in Sendona. Alex sure flirted with all the girls and Jeff said a few days ago that they are still talking about him in the office! I wish you could all see how much he smiles. I've never seen a baby so happy and smiling so much, really. Right now, I will post a few pictures and hopefully be back to write about it another time soon.
Good night.
Alex's first flight! Suck, baby, suck!
Lunch with a few nF people in Sedona at Tlaquepaque.
Just one of the beautiful sights of the red rocks at Sedona.
A visit to Montezuma Castle (between Phoenix and Sedona). Awesome place to see history.
Fascinating, amazing, and beautiful Saguaro Cactus. (sa-whaor-o) I learned that there is no "g" sound real quick! There were so many! It was like a forest. Wait, isn't there a national Saguaro Forest??? (I think so) ha! This was just north of Phoenix.
Just a couple of views outside the office in AZ.Thank you Jeff and Ruthie for taking a few of these pictures! Thank you for sharing your tallent!
And thank you A for bringing us all to AZ for a wonderful weekend. We are looking forward to the next "nFo-Con!"
Monday, February 11
Just a basic post...
Well, I thought I'd get on real quick while cooking dinner. Here's the low-down. (sure)
Anyway, we are all healthy for the moment...I think. Alex is still coughing, Adie is doing much better, as is Jo. I'm feeling accomplished (got loads of laundry done, dishes unloaded, and dinner is actually cooking!), and Jeff isn't too stressed at work. We are getting ready for a trip at the end of this week. Thursday night, we head down to OK and drop Jo and Adie off at their uncle & aunt's home. Early Friday morning Alex, Jeff and I head to the airport and fly to Arizona! I can't wait for this trip but boy am I nervous! It will be great to finally meet all the people that Jeff talks about. We are going to be spending a couple days in Sedona with everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to get on and write about it!
Love to you all. Just wanted to let you all know that we are doing alright.
Anyway, we are all healthy for the moment...I think. Alex is still coughing, Adie is doing much better, as is Jo. I'm feeling accomplished (got loads of laundry done, dishes unloaded, and dinner is actually cooking!), and Jeff isn't too stressed at work. We are getting ready for a trip at the end of this week. Thursday night, we head down to OK and drop Jo and Adie off at their uncle & aunt's home. Early Friday morning Alex, Jeff and I head to the airport and fly to Arizona! I can't wait for this trip but boy am I nervous! It will be great to finally meet all the people that Jeff talks about. We are going to be spending a couple days in Sedona with everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to get on and write about it!
Love to you all. Just wanted to let you all know that we are doing alright.
Wednesday, February 6
Germs, Germs Go Away!
All of us have been down with something for the last week now. Jo had pnemonia on his birthday (so glad we celebrated the weekend before!), and was out of school four days. I got a touch of it on Wednesday and was out with a fever and chills. Now Adie and Alex both have bad colds. I took them into the doc on Monday, I was concerned about them having what Jo did. Thankfully, both of their lungs sound fine. No fevers in either of them yet. Lets pray it stays that way. The last thing we want is for anyone else to get it.
We sure hope all of you are able to stay healthy this winter.
We sure hope all of you are able to stay healthy this winter.
Monday, January 28
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Two of my boys are another year older! Jeff is having issues with being closer to 30, neither of us can believe that we are 28 this year! Jonathan, oh my baby! He will be six on Wednesday! SIX! I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. Jo is maturing into quite the young man. Saturday, we took the family and a friend to a KU women's basketball game. It was great! They happened to be playing Texas A&M and so that was double fun! KU lost and so Jo was a little bummed, but he had a blast! Actually, all of us did. I fed Alex pretty quick after the game started and so we both got to enjoy most of it. It was unbelievable - Alex stayed awake for the entire time (except, his eyes finally closed with about 2 minutes left in the game)! At one time, I was holding him close to me. He had been fussing a little bit, I thought he was getting tired, so I took him from A, and held him close and was trying to get him to calm down and dose off to sleep. He just wouldn't though, and then Jeff said, "Sendy, maybe he wants to watch the game." I was thinking, sure, he wants to watch the game. Jeff, he's 2 months old! But I tried it anyway. I couldn't believe it, as soon as I turned him around, he calmed down and we both noticed that he started following where the teams were with the ball. It was hillarious! I handed him over to Jeff so he could watch the game with one of his boys. Meanwhile, Jonathan was watching the game with A. Watching him enjoy the game was entertaining enough for me! He was just as loud as the friends we had in college when we would go to games. He was getting into it with all the other fans and when the guy cheerleaders would yell in their megaphones, he would chant right along with them. It was great! It seemed like A was having a great time too, I'm so glad that she was able to come along, Jo really liked having her there with us. Adie had a fun time as well, but when I left to go feed Alex, she had some separation anxiety. But as soon as we got her some popcorn and water, she settled in to enjoy the game again. She bounced around with Jo some. During the last half at one of the longer time-outs, we ended up on the screen! I didn't see it until right before they moved to someone else, but I'm glad they caught the kids up there. Jo was moving his hands playing along with the band (you really have to see it to get what I'm saying - he moves his hands like he's playing an instrument), Adie was jumping up and down, and little Alex was sitting on Jeff's knee wiggling. It really was cute. I hope I never forget that night!
Tomorrow night, we are going to sing the birthday song to both boys (Wednesdays are too hectic) and then give Jo his birthday present. We've had it for a while and I'm so excited that we finally get to give it to him! I can't wait to see his face when he sees his very first guitar! Santa gave him a keyboard and he's really had a lot of fun with it. He is so musical, I'm glad that we've been able to find some nice, affordable instruments for him! I think that he would like to have a nice collection of several instruments! (He sounds like my dad - I'll have to tell that story another time ha!)
Well, I think I've run out of time. I thought I'd get on and type as fast as I could before Alex wakes up to eat, again! And I think I hear him now.
Well, hope you are all having a nice 2008 so far!
Tomorrow night, we are going to sing the birthday song to both boys (Wednesdays are too hectic) and then give Jo his birthday present. We've had it for a while and I'm so excited that we finally get to give it to him! I can't wait to see his face when he sees his very first guitar! Santa gave him a keyboard and he's really had a lot of fun with it. He is so musical, I'm glad that we've been able to find some nice, affordable instruments for him! I think that he would like to have a nice collection of several instruments! (He sounds like my dad - I'll have to tell that story another time ha!)
Well, I think I've run out of time. I thought I'd get on and type as fast as I could before Alex wakes up to eat, again! And I think I hear him now.
Well, hope you are all having a nice 2008 so far!
Friday, January 11
Crazy city driving!
Thank you all for the sweet comments on Alex's pictures! He is getting bigger and I cannot wait until we go in for his next check-up on the 24th this month. It will be cool to see how much he weighs!
Got on to check movie times. We haven't taken the family out in a while and so we are going to go check out the Veggie Tales movie. Sounds like a cute one. ;)
Earlier today Adie, Alex, and I went to get some needed items down in KC. Jeff said that I should blog what happened. ... I had to take I-70 to get there (not an interstate that I like to take). Getting close to the down-town area, I came upon a pretty slow car, so after checking all my spots to make sure it was safe to pass, I proceeded to get into the passing lane. Getting nearly into the lane fully, I glanced in the rear-view again and someone was switching lanes and going super fast. I was already there and couldn't switch so I had to gas it (and could tell that the one behind us was putting on his brakes). As soon as I could get back into the other lane, this person passed and I then realized that it was time to get in the lane for my exit coming up soon (a mile or two). Just as I got into that lane, I saw some construction arrows (there were no warnings of this what-so-ever) and some men running in the lanes! As I drove by, it was clear that they were patching up a hole. There were about 15 cars in the group I was driving in and those men running in and out of the lanes nearly caused a wreck! I could tell that no one really expected to see what we did. Luckily we were all watching, but it sure would have been nice to have a warning of some kind before we got right up to them, and it would have kept them safer! So, moral of the story - be careful driving in big cities! You never know when you'll see people doing crazy things on the interstates!
Got on to check movie times. We haven't taken the family out in a while and so we are going to go check out the Veggie Tales movie. Sounds like a cute one. ;)
Earlier today Adie, Alex, and I went to get some needed items down in KC. Jeff said that I should blog what happened. ... I had to take I-70 to get there (not an interstate that I like to take). Getting close to the down-town area, I came upon a pretty slow car, so after checking all my spots to make sure it was safe to pass, I proceeded to get into the passing lane. Getting nearly into the lane fully, I glanced in the rear-view again and someone was switching lanes and going super fast. I was already there and couldn't switch so I had to gas it (and could tell that the one behind us was putting on his brakes). As soon as I could get back into the other lane, this person passed and I then realized that it was time to get in the lane for my exit coming up soon (a mile or two). Just as I got into that lane, I saw some construction arrows (there were no warnings of this what-so-ever) and some men running in the lanes! As I drove by, it was clear that they were patching up a hole. There were about 15 cars in the group I was driving in and those men running in and out of the lanes nearly caused a wreck! I could tell that no one really expected to see what we did. Luckily we were all watching, but it sure would have been nice to have a warning of some kind before we got right up to them, and it would have kept them safer! So, moral of the story - be careful driving in big cities! You never know when you'll see people doing crazy things on the interstates!
Saturday, January 5
Good morning!
Right now, it is 7:06 A.M. and I'm sitting here watching the news (something very rare anymore). Alex woke us up at 4:30 and he ate for about 45 minutes. Jeff spent some time with him and then took him back up to bed. Jeff has gone back to sleep and all the children are off in dreamland! Meanwhile, I spent some time doing the laundry. Yesterday, I discovered several clothes for Jo and Adie that I had forgotten about. They both have some hand-me-downs that seem brand new! It was like Christmas for me to open up that box and find all these wonderful winter clothes and Adie was excited about it all too! There is a purple sparkly shirt that she can't wait to wear. She didn't want to go to bed without it! I've got that in the dryer right now, it should be dry soon. There were a couple pairs of jeans for Jo and lots of long sleve shirts - that was so nice to find because he is really growing right now. We've been noticing that his pants are becoming high-waters! And he got a "new" pair of shoes (looked brand new) which I discovered was completely necessary. I had him try them on and that is when I found that his shoes we got this fall for school are completely torn up! He hasn't gone through shoes that fast before and I never thought to check them out and he hadn't been complaining about them. I felt so bad and I told him that he should tell me if his shoes are getting torn up so that I can take care of him. He then said, "Mommy, you do take care of me!" What a guy, so sweet. While doing all of that, I filled up two large trash bags with clothes that we need to pass on to someone and I know that today (given the time) I will fill up at least one more, maybe two! Alex is already growing out of things too. He sure is a big boy!
It is hard to believe that we've already hit 7 weeks! I have to keep thinking about it, to really catch on to how old he is. At one month, he was 9 lbs 5 oz. I can't wait to see how much he weighs at 2 months. I'm thinking probably 11 pounds for sure. He's got chubby cheeks, and three rolls on this thighs! He is beginning to loose his hair, I see strands of it all over the place. The first few weeks were a little tough with getting him off to sleep for naps and night time, but things are awesome now! He cries for just a few minutes at first but he soon drifts off for about an hour each time (and is still sleeping through the night - woohoo!)! His systems are working incredibly well, so many diapers a day! He definitely has some of the same mannerisms as his big bro. He seems just as serious as Jo did as a baby, but he is definitely more relaxed. He started talking to me yesterday and it is so cute! He is very quiet though. He just listens to everything going on. Sometimes, it seems as though he's laughing already. His smiles are huge and so cute. I actually caught one on camera that I need to upload. I'll run down stairs and get that done here in a little bit (if no one wakes up). Something that has really taken Jeff and me by surprise, refuses to take a binki. Only a couple of times has he decided to let one enter his mouth and calm down. Most of the time, he gets more mad and pushes it out with his tongue. I've heard people say that their baby refused the binki but I've never seen it - until now. That will be kind of nice, something we won't really have to think about taking away!
Well, I've been on for about 20 minutes. Precious minutes are flying by. I should get downstairs and switch over the laundry and try to upload that picture. Then, I need to rush and take a shower!
Hopefully soon I can begin to read all of your blogs! We sure hope you are all enjoying a great start to the new year!
Oh, I have yet to get a great shot of all the kids to send to everyone. I hope to find the time soon to get something sent out to the family and all our friends. I had planned on getting something out before Christmas, but I didn't even think about how much of my time would disappear! Now, it's coming back (extremely slowly), and I'll be able to get that done soon.
Until next time...
Love to you all!
Well, it is now mid-day and I am finally able to come down stairs and upload the pictures! Here is the one of Alex smiling so good. And after looking through all the pics, I think I found one that we will be able to send to everyone without spending so much $$ at the studio! Enjoy the smiles!
I like to call him Alexsmile!
It is hard to believe that we've already hit 7 weeks! I have to keep thinking about it, to really catch on to how old he is. At one month, he was 9 lbs 5 oz. I can't wait to see how much he weighs at 2 months. I'm thinking probably 11 pounds for sure. He's got chubby cheeks, and three rolls on this thighs! He is beginning to loose his hair, I see strands of it all over the place. The first few weeks were a little tough with getting him off to sleep for naps and night time, but things are awesome now! He cries for just a few minutes at first but he soon drifts off for about an hour each time (and is still sleeping through the night - woohoo!)! His systems are working incredibly well, so many diapers a day! He definitely has some of the same mannerisms as his big bro. He seems just as serious as Jo did as a baby, but he is definitely more relaxed. He started talking to me yesterday and it is so cute! He is very quiet though. He just listens to everything going on. Sometimes, it seems as though he's laughing already. His smiles are huge and so cute. I actually caught one on camera that I need to upload. I'll run down stairs and get that done here in a little bit (if no one wakes up). Something that has really taken Jeff and me by surprise, refuses to take a binki. Only a couple of times has he decided to let one enter his mouth and calm down. Most of the time, he gets more mad and pushes it out with his tongue. I've heard people say that their baby refused the binki but I've never seen it - until now. That will be kind of nice, something we won't really have to think about taking away!
Well, I've been on for about 20 minutes. Precious minutes are flying by. I should get downstairs and switch over the laundry and try to upload that picture. Then, I need to rush and take a shower!
Hopefully soon I can begin to read all of your blogs! We sure hope you are all enjoying a great start to the new year!
Oh, I have yet to get a great shot of all the kids to send to everyone. I hope to find the time soon to get something sent out to the family and all our friends. I had planned on getting something out before Christmas, but I didn't even think about how much of my time would disappear! Now, it's coming back (extremely slowly), and I'll be able to get that done soon.
Until next time...
Love to you all!
Well, it is now mid-day and I am finally able to come down stairs and upload the pictures! Here is the one of Alex smiling so good. And after looking through all the pics, I think I found one that we will be able to send to everyone without spending so much $$ at the studio! Enjoy the smiles!
I like to call him Alexsmile!