Sincerely Yours

Video: Carter making up games

2012-02-02T17:03:00.000-05:00

These are some of the sweet moments I get at home with Carter when the big kids are at school. Notice how QUIET the rest of the house is... I LOVE IT!! And I love this sweet boy and his cute games.

He was playing peek-a-boo with his sippy cup for almost 10 minutes straight (a LONG time in toddler world!!).

Then I was trying to get Carter to say some words for me but then it just triggered another little game! LOL How silly!

Almost walking!!

2012-01-31T01:07:00.004-05:00

Oh I've been soo anxious for Carter to walk again. And to be able to really play outside with Eli and Hannah and to walk to and from the car by myself so I can carry the other things I usually have. But the Dr did say it was going to take at least a couple weeks. And it has. But now, just finally this week, Carter started putting actual weight on his foot, then taking steps with his toes curled up, then standing flat-footed, and now taking hobbly steps all by himself and even doing SPINS! It's about as exciting as when he first was learning to walk at 1 year old! And now here he is again! So excited for him!!

By the way, I've been realizing how I need to get some video of him before these days pass me by! He's been learning lots of new words lately and I want to try to capture them on video in his cute little voice before he grows out of it! So more video clips will be coming...

a moment in time.

2012-01-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

(Eli watching over Hannah's shoulder as she is writing Eli's name in her notebook) Eli: "It's E-L-I but that's not quite right. The dot has to be floating in the air."

LOL "floating in the air" what a cute way to put it.

I love my babies.

January 5, 2012.

2012-01-21T20:18:00.001-05:00

The winter of UNREAL weather! Seriously!

Leave it to Kevin to come up with this. =)

I love the shadow on the wall.

I am so thankful for where we're at in life right now. So blessed.

Come be our guest!

2012-01-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

Lookie what Kevin has built for our family!! Using wood from our attic walls, all he had to purchase was the posts for the legs and polyurethane! It looks GORGEOUS in this room and it's fun to have so much SPACE at the table! I can't wait to have guests! It's definitely motivating me to continue finishing the rest of the room!

the bench still needs refinished and we'll eventually purchase or make matching chairs, but we'll get there.

The picture is frame is from our old front door. It had been out in the shed and Kevin brought it in the other day. I put together a picture collage and now there she hangs!

Healed!

2012-01-21T19:46:00.001-05:00

The day before his birthday Carter got his cast off! He was given another x-ray and it came out clear and his leg fracture healed perfectly! {I was bummed we didn't actually get to see it though!} I was HOPING Carter would just miraculously walk right away, cuz I had a few ideas I wanted to do as a family that weekend in honor of Carter's birthday since his party isn't for another couple weeks ago, but Carter is NOT walking yet and I decided it would be better to just wait on our fun. He still has a really nasty nickle or quarter-sized pressure wound on his heal from his first cast, and it's very tender, so I believe that's the reason Carter is still avoiding standing on his leg still. The Dr. said it could take a couple weeks anyway, even without the heel wound. Once it's healed, he'll probably take off again. But of course he's zipping around all over the house anyway! It sure would be nice not to have to carry him everywhere though, but I'll be patient! We're just thankful his bone healed! It's amazing how God has designed our bodies to take care of themselves!

"Christmas morning"

2012-01-21T19:38:00.001-05:00

Sorry this is quite delayed! Picture posts take awhile get loaded up so it takes awhile for me to get motivated to sit down and do it. But here was our Christmas...

Christmas Day was a Sunday this year, and I played my French horn along with the Christmas hymns, along with another woman who plays trombone. It was so fun and I loved it! Kevin worked Christmas day though, so we celebrated as a family the day after. No big deal. The kids were pretty patient about it, and it just made sense to wait til we had time to really ENJOY it. And that we did. Started with stockings first of course!

And then presents already. Usually we'd wait til after breakfast, but I decided what's the point? Then we'd have a later brunch and not have to worry about lunch, and the kids wouldn't spend all morning anxiously waiting!

We went home New Year's weekend to celebrate with our families. I enjoy celebrating Christmas more and more every year as the kids continue to get older and have more understanding of the holiday. We are so blessed.

Carter {2 YEARS}

2012-01-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

Today we wish our baby boy a happy birthday!! We will party with family in a couple weeks in conjunction with Hannah's February birthday. But still today, we take a minute to look at our baby who is not so much a baby anymore. Who brings us all such JOY with his bright smile. Who is growing more independent every day yet still loves his momma to help him. Who is becoming more interactive and verbal. Who continues to develop his own unique personality that we love and adore. We are blessed. Happy birthday!!

Our first break

2011-12-27T14:39:00.003-05:00

It happened last Monday afternoon. I wasn't in the room, and it's killing me that I don't know the full details of the incident. All I know is that Eli was going potty and Carter was in the bathroom too and trying to take Eli's glasses. Eli was gently pushing Carter away from him to protect the glasses, and somehow Carter broke the glasses straight in half anyway and must've fallen down wrong in the process and I don't know what else. Kevin was the one that went up there first and dealt with the situation, then I went upstairs and found Carter sitting on the floor of Eli's room crying. I figured he was sobbing because of the situation. We continued getting ourselves ready to go out for dinner. There was a fundraiser for Eli's school at Pizza Hut. Carter finally calmed down in the car but started crying as soon I got him out of his car seat. I was taking Eli and Carter in to Pamida real quick first to pick out Eli's small present for his class party and a few other things. Carter was fine in the shopping cart, but cried when I got him out. Fine when I held him, cried when we sat down at Pizza Hut. Fine when Kevin held him but cried when we tried to put him the high chair. Fine when Kevin held him in his lap but cried whenever Kevin tried to shift position. He didn't have much of a nap in the afternoon so I knew he might be grumpy because he was undoubtedly tired, but I couldn't help but think to myself "It's like his leg hurts..." The more we carried on, the more it confirmed my suspicions. Then when we got back home and started getting the kids ready for bed, as I was changing Carter's diaper he'd cry when I tried to lift his leg to put the diaper under him. Then after the diaper I tried to stand him up on the floor and there it was, he wouldn't stand on his leg at all. Clearly he was lifting the one leg.

We finished getting the kids in bed and I plopped on the couch, heaving a big *SIIIIGH*

Carter slept all through the night wonderfully without a peep and even late. I actually had to wake him up at 8am (he's usually awake in his bed around 6am, 7 at the latest) because I wanted to check him out before taking Hannah to preschool. He again was just not standing on his leg at all so I called the Dr. and got an appointment scheduled so I could do it in the same trip as Hannah's preschool.

The Dr. examined him and then ordered an x-ray from hip to knee. Carter layed on the table perfectly and didn't make a peep. The x-ray, however, came out clear and we were sent home with orders for him to just take it easy, and if after a few days he's not improving or if he gets a fever, then bring him back.

During those couple days Carter seemed to be improving. He went from just being content in a chair to crawling all the floor and even pulling up to standing. But he still wasn't standing on his RIGHT leg at all; he'd always leave it bent so it was off the floor. So I knew if he's crawling all over it must NOT be his hip afterall. So I set him in my lap to wiggle around his toes and foot and that seemed fine too.

By Friday morning he was still avoiding his right leg so I scheduled another appointment to get an x-ray of the bottom part of his leg. 2+ hours later alone with three kids at the Dr's office with NO TOYS or books or ANYTHING remotely entertaining other than the crayons I'd brought and counting ceiling tiles, we finally got official word that Carter does indeed have a fracture. The bone is still very well aligned so it won't take long to heal and he did not require a cast. Instead he has to wear a full-leg (past the knee) splint for at least a week, then he'll be checked and re-evaluated. I have a feeling it's going to be a long week for a busy toddler not able to walk or even crawl now. He's a trooper and does scoot himself around but you can tell he's not comfortable. =(

being so sweet and cooperative!

look at the adorable little baby "cast"!

BUT Dr decided it did in fact need to go over the knee as well so that adorable little baby "cast" gone redone

Okay, update, he's MISERABLE. Crying constantly since he woke up from nap when I was typing the earlier report. I have tried to pamper and spoil him but he's irritable and wants nothing. He was only quiet for the 3 minutes he was eating a lollipop. I even tried to distract him with an activity like play dough but he was only happy to throw it on the floor.

Getting him to bed was a doozie. He was SO TIRED, yet he just couldn't get comfortable. Finally at about 8:45pm I got him back up and gave him some Benadryl and I rocked him a little while waiting for it to maybe kick in. Then we took him upstairs and laid him in our bed with us. He was content and almost asleep, for awhile. Then he started to roll around and turning sideways, taking up the entire bed, so Kevin and I both moved to the guest bed. But I couldn't rest. I was worried Carter might fall off our big bed. I went in to position pillows along the edges but his head was already at the edge of the bed. And after all the screaming he did all afternoon there was no way I was going to move him when he was finally sleeping so peacefully. I went downstairs for a little bit to take some pictures of the Christmas tree, trying to relax a little bit. Went back upstairs to check Carter and his head was now most of the way off the bed but still sleeping peacefully. So I moved the pillows to the floor below him, went to lay down on the guest bed again, and 30 seconds later, thump and CRYYY! Carter fell off. Kevin jumped out of bed and grabbed him and he stopped crying immediately. Kevin puts Carter back in his own bed and we move back to ours. Carter's still just fussing fussing again. So I get up, surround the guest bed with proper pillows and blankets and lay next to him for a few minutes. He's calm and content so I slip out and go to my own bed. With more room to thrash around but not worry so much about falling, Carter then slept peacefully from about midnight to 5:30 am. Ahh... I then laid next to him and he stayed mostly quiet until 7am when I finally decided to just get up. We went downstairs to find the big kids coloring and Carter happily joined them. I'm hopeful that today will be a MUCH better day!

look who's smiling again!!

Praying for speedy healing for our lil' guy!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2011-12-25T18:06:00.001-05:00

Eli and Hannah wanted a picture together and individually

and Eli wanted a picture of bear too

and Hannah ran to her room to get lamb too =)

This has probably been my favorite Christmas so far! Every year we create new traditions, find more and more ways to make Christmas so special as we strive to teach our little ones what Christmas is really about and KEEP to what Christmas is really about, not just making it a side note. Here are some things we've done this season...

* I never did get around to starting The Jesse Tree devotions this year. But, using an idea I got from a friend, we individually wrapped all of our Christmas story books and each night, or every other night or so, the kids got to open a book from under the tree. It's been a year since we've read them, so every night was a new surprise. We'd pull out some applications and lessons from the book, and if applicable, we'd do an activity that went along with it. Mostly we just read the books with no activity and that was fine enough. But I have already been brainstorming some ideas for next year! One of their "books" was actually a puzzle so that night we worked the puzzle together. For next year I have ideas of "unwrapping" cookie mix and making late-night cookies. Or family movies. Spread it out so there are more of those "activity nights". Such fun and definitely a highlight of this Christmas. Many nights as soon a I said, "Kids get your pjs on, then we'll unwrap a book, Carter would dash off straight to the tree and rip open the paper before we even had a chance to stop him!" LOL And many nights, there was great arguing over who was going to pick the book and who was going to open the book. Ahh, the realities... but a fun tradition regardless. =)

* For this last week heading into Christmas I've also been reading aloud The Nutcracker chapter book. 2 chapters each night and we'll finish the last one tonight, and Netflix is sending us the movie on Tuesday. It's actually a strange story, but the kids and I have really enjoyed it. Perhaps we'll read it every year? Or perhaps we'll read a different book every year? We'll see... For this year though, it was fun.

* I created this fun family board game, and we've had a great time playing again and again as we learn the real Christmas story and the meanings behind traditional Christmas symbols.

* We didn't do much with presents. We did select a few simple things for each child and a few things for the kids as a whole, but we didn't talk much about it, and gifts didn't get put under the tree until last night. They haven't spent the whole month talking about what they want, what they want, what Santa's going to bring them, and I've so appreciated that. I hadn't yet talked to the kids about getting something for each other but a couple weeks ago Eli whispered to me that he wanted to get Hannah a Barbie doll. So I helped him find one and wrap it for her, and I'm so happy for him. He's such a sweet boy. And they've been along with me as we helped choose some things for family members. But that certainly has NOT been what these weeks have been about.

* I also haven't spent all month baking and giving and baking and giving to everyone I know and love. I would love to. But that's just too BUSY for me. In most cases I find a meaningful card enough. And I'm also brainstorming a "Christmas in July/every month of the year" sort of thing regarding blessing others and their families...

* Christmas Eve I really like to watch The Nativity Story movie as a family. The kids watched it last year for the first time and Eli remembered much of what was about to come, like "Ooo, this is when the snake is to come out!" He was also thrilled to stay up late and asked often, "Is it past YOUR bedtime yet??"

Kevin's been working this weekend, so I planned many fun activities for the kids and I at home.

Shape blocks on Christmas patterns

Christmas game

A short lesson about Santa and Jesus, from here and here. (Brainstorming about Santa for next year. The real St. Nick didn't just give gifts at Christmas time. This was his life. Want to maybe also talk about some other people who have dedicated their lives to serving the poor.)

Book reading and coloring sheet

Cookie making

Tomorrow when Kevin's off work we'll celebrate as a family and open stockings and presents and have brunch and a nice dinner. We are so blessed and our hearts are full of JOY!! MERRY CHRISTMAS to all our readers!!

Christmas Holiday Concert

2011-12-23T18:46:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago the kids had their Christmas programs. The same night, the same time, in two separate towns. And Kevin had to work that night. So Grandma and Grandpa came to the rescue so they could take Hannah to her program and I could attend Eli's. I couldn't stand having our family split like that. I want to spend great effort through the years having the kids support one another in their activities. And if that means we can't sign up for certain things, then that's how it'll be. But for that Friday night, that's how it had to be.

Being a school program, of course Eli's choirs couldn't sing about anything ACTUALLY about Christmas and Jesus. It was some goofy program about Santa in the 50s. But the great thing to watch was Eli participating and having fun with it. Such joy.

After the elementary kids were done with their portion of the concert, there was an intermission so parents could retrieve their kids from their classrooms. While there they took a few class pictures.

Look at Eli. You can tell he's getting so comfortable in his own skin and proud of his class. I'm so proud of him and happy to watch him grow!

In case they never get posted...

2011-12-22T15:40:00.002-05:00

... in October I took the two little ones to an AWESOME pumpkin patch with some MOPS friends. There was sooooo much to do there, all appropriate for small children. It was a bit chilly at first, but then the sun came out and we had a grand time!

... in early November we participated/hosted a fall family scavenger hunt for Hannah's preschool class. My friend Nikki and I spent quite a bit of time preparing in the weeks prior, collecting pine cones, and feathers, and acorns, and pea pod thingies, and leaves of different colors and shape, and caterpillars, and pumpkins, and apples, and corn, and measuring devices, and pencils. It ended up being REALLY windy that afternoon for such an event, and the leaves we'd spent so long collecting and even pressing blew away instantly, BUT the kids and their families had FUN and had a good learning experience in the midst!

... we spent Thanksgiving weekend in Minnesota. It had been a couple years (since before Carter, for sure) since we'd been up there, and since Carri and Lucas couldn't come down that weekend, we went to them! We had a fun time! Carri had thought up some fun activities for us to do while we there, and we spent a morning at House of Bounce and an afternoon at a Christmas Tree Festival.

Carter was playing ball with the boy. But the other boy had no idea. lol

Hannah's favorite tree

this was Carter's FAVORITE tree. he wanted to just sit and look at it.

we don't do Santa but the kids wanted their picture with him anyway

While we were there I also got to visit my good friend Emily!

And then on the drive home, we stopped in Des Moines to visit my friend Amanda!

... Kevin had a birthday. He turned 31. Eli often tells people that randomly. Kevin was working nights then, and he happens to love breakfast food, so as soon as Eli was home from school we enjoyed a breakfast feast together, complete with eggs, muffins, sausage, hash browns, fruit, and goblets of orange juice.

The NEW current project!

2011-12-22T08:32:00.002-05:00

The attic project rolled us right into the next project. Isn't that how it works? =) Using boards that were on the attic walls, plus a few boards off of the barn, we decided to make a new dining table, 8 ft farm table style.

We have a very nice dining table that we purchased after our move to Connecticut. But even if with the leaf in it, it can only SQUEEZE 8 around it. For birthday parties we often have several more than 8 people. But setting up the square card table at the end of an oval table just makes for an awkward fit. And lap type of meals doesn't work well for much of our family members. So we've been browsing new table options but just not quite finding what we were looking for.

And then. We came upon the idea of the farm table style. We saw some nice ideas online. We found a guy somewhat local that makes them. And then I found wood from the attic. And said to Kevin, YOU can build it. I KNOW you can! So we he found a plan, modified it a bit. And to work we he went!

We brought the boards inside and layed them on top of our regular table, just to get an idea for size and style. I like this rustic style but it doesn't really match the rest of our house, so we'll be staining it dark to match the floor.

This giant bench has been in the attic since we moved in. The table still won't be quite as long as the bench, but close enough. Instead of fitting inside the legs of the table, it will still stick out longer, but whatever.

Now here is the table in actual building process...

the box for the skirt, or apron, (the under edge of the table) is made and the support boards are all in place. Just like the box frame for the bunk bed, except more narrowly spaced and instead of being inset for the mattress to sit down inside, the support boards are placed flush with the top of the table.

Planks are all glued and screwed. The boards from the attic were interlocking, so that's where they're also glued and clamped. The leg posts are also cut and in place but not actually attached.

table top has been lightly sanded

sample stain piece laying on top

the top has been stained, the bottom apron part is taped off

Now the apron has also been stained, spots have been touched up, and clear coats are ready to go on! Then the legs will be prepped and stained, the table pieces will be moved upstairs to the dining room and assembled there. The goal is to have it ready before Carter's (and Hannah's?) birthday party.

More to come...

Eli - School Update.

2011-12-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd update about how Eli is doing in school.... He really likes it, he's doing very well and absorbing the new information quickly, he's making friends, and behaves well for his teacher. He never has any homework yet, but I do some things with him at home after school. So far it seems he's mostly doing things with beginning reading and graphing things occasionally. But I know he can do more. He's very smart with his numbers and just "gets it" easily. So not only do we practice flashcards with his sight words and lay them out to make sentences and practice spelling and sounding things out, I give him number problems.

Here are some of the things we've done lately:

adding big numbers!! though we're still practicing how to SAY them

fractions

teaching him Sudoku! this website goes step by step, building up to this full-size game where just a few numbers are missing

somewhere along the way (this summer I think) Eli got really good at coloring. Coloring a picture completely and staying in the lines.

I'm so proud of our little school boy!!

Current project.

2011-11-16T14:25:00.001-05:00

The latest project at our household has been the attic. Re-insulating in preparation for another winter. And also making steps toward the future when we want to have this space actually be FINISHED and usable. This included taking the old unused and leaking chimney down and planning where we want electrical outlets and a light later on. I love this space and got a vision for it the first time we saw it when touring houses. And now that we're here this is what I hope for it: I want this to eventually, when the kids are a little older, be a space they can hang out with their friends, away from the family but still under our own roof and on safe ground. I picture sleepovers, movies on an old TV, video games, a futon, and low furniture like those rolly gaming chairs. The attic has its own staircase behind the door right in between the kids' bedrooms, and it's really such a cool loft area.

this is the attic pic I took when we were first touring the house (this is the view standing IN the attic and looking toward the steps) The HUGE antenna was in the attic, but since it doesn't work anymore, Kevin took it down. All the old insulation was falling down and crumbling all OVER the floor (not when we were touring though of course!)

NOW: this is part of the stairway leading up to the attic

the attic all cleaned up. Kevin has already pulled down all the old yucky insulation and taken down the "knee wall" boards that help square off the roof top to make a room. In case you're wondering, all of our STORAGE stuff is and always has been in the basement.

Now here the insulation is half-way sprayed and already looking nice!

And now complete. For now....

AWANA 2011-12

2011-11-15T14:06:00.000-05:00

Here is our Sparkie and Cubbie for the year! Eli's 2nd year and Hannah's first year! I wanted the kids to stand close together so I told Hannah to hug Eli and they started posing like a married couple. Too cute! And the last one is too goofy to not post, with Eli and his extremely fake smile and Hannah just looking like a goon! =) Love those kids!

Playroom Makeover

2011-10-19T21:14:00.000-04:00

In the past two years I've had several different ideas for the playroom, and I finally came up with something I'm pretty excited about. You can see more pics HERE...

A mini project.

2011-10-17T16:24:00.000-04:00

I've seriously been lacking some bloggage material lately but I assure you, some small updates will be coming, as well as pictures (of course)! Well, here's a quick one... Adding railroad ties and mulch to the swing set area. This idea had come to me earlier in the summer, or maybe it was spring, and then I saw one of my friends has her swing set surrounded exactly like this (makes it easier to mow around), and THEN there was the bee incident. And after that I was MUCH motivated to go ahead put in the $ to complete this mini project. NONE of which I actually did of course! But check out how nice it looks now! Well done, Kevin!

School pictures. Sort of.

2011-09-19T22:56:00.000-04:00

Today were school pictures for Eli. While walking down for the bus I decided to snap a few pictures of my own first, while he's looking all handsome n all. So glad I did! Look how sweet he looks!!

More!

2011-09-19T22:50:00.000-04:00

Just as Kevin and I were discussing and seriously contemplating how to get rid of all of our cats, what did we discover?? ..... another litter of kittens! OF COURSE! *sigh* So here we go again...

We saw the kittens, already somewhat big and walking around, then they were gone again. Hiding under the massive pile of cardboard in the garage. Or somewhere. Who knows. And then. The other day look who decided to come up to the house for a visit!

Two of the new kitties!

Once they moved away from the door enough I could OPEN it, I snuck out for some pictures of the sweet little things. Forgive me for the number of photos, I just cannot pick and choose!!

Then we let the kids out to see...

Then we spotted the 2 other kittens in the barn! A second calico and a yellow cat.

So there we have it. 4 new kittens! Again.

Rodeo

2011-09-19T22:25:00.000-04:00

Gosh, we've just been cruising through the school routine, there really hasn't been much to report! Last weekend, however, was Homecoming at school, so we did the parade, BBQ, and part of the football game. Then the next night was our county rodeo. The last two years it's been at the end of June. I remember, because there would be a semi-trailer parked there selling fireworks, and that's when we'd buy our stuff. 4th of July started to approach and I watched for signs for the rodeo, and I never saw anything?? Time passed and I just let it go. And then a few weeks ago I saw the sign up downtown. The Rodeo, Sept 9&10th at 8pm. Ooo, goodie!! With homecoming stuff Friday, we opted for Saturday. I just love things like this! Something different from the everyday, that's for sure!

We got drinks and popcorn and stayed for the first half. Lots of calf-roping. The good stuff like bull-riding was at the very, but we just couldn't stay that long. It was 9:30pm, Kevin had worked that day and still had to work early the next day, and it was going to be super late for the kids by the time we drove home and got them tucked in bed. But we had fun!

Camping Weekend

2011-08-29T11:39:00.000-04:00

THE best thing about my college experience was the really great wonderful like-minded Christian friends I made there. I was really hoping when we got out of the Navy we'd wind up in Eastern Iowa so I would be close to those friends. But it was not so. We ended up in Nebraska instead, about 6 hrs from many of our friends. Every year at the end of summer I try to get everyone together. Usually for a picnic or something, but I think we all agreed it just wasn't enough time. With kids running all over, the day would be over and we felt like we still hadn't had a chance to REALLY talk with everyone!! So this year I suggested camping overnight, and it was wonderful! Though still not enough time! =( The weather was absolutely PERFECT and we had such a good time!! I already can't wait til next year!!

GORGEOUS views

Making new little friends

FOOD TIME

Playground fun

S'mores OF COURSE!

BEAUTIFUL morning!

GREAT FRIENDS (just a few of them!)

First Day of Preschool!

2011-08-23T14:58:00.000-04:00

Last week we got Eli settled into Kindergarten. Now today was Hannah's first day of preschool! Tuesday and Thursday mornings for 2.5 hrs at a local Lutheran preschool. Same place where Eli went last year, so we're all quite familiar with the whole routine.

isn't she sooo sweet!!

I felt pretty good about Hannah going to preschool. Wasn't too worried about her since she's much more social than Eli, never the clingy one. So I was surprised when we pulled into the parking lot and Hannah started crying, saying Can we just go back home? We sat in the car for several minutes waiting for some of our other friends to arrive, and during that time Hannah calmed down and when it came time she walked right in and straight to the toys. She'd already said she was going to play with necklaces today. She didn't say much about it afterward, and I think it'll take a little time to settle in, but I hope she has a GREAT year!

As for Carter and me, I'm so excited to use that 2.5 hrs to go for walks, run errands with just ONE baby, spend quality time with just Carter, or enjoy a quiet house. It's a whole new year for us, that's for sure!!

Summer's NOT over!

2011-08-23T14:46:00.001-04:00

Just because school started does mean that summer is over! We got a new sprinkler the other day and the kids had a blast! Their expressions are priceless!

Then Carter finally woke up from nap and I let him join in on the fun...

Or not. He hated it. Or there was a bug or something.

So. I filled up the water table instead.

And he was MUCH happier.

What a FUN afternoon!!

Day 2: The Big Yellow Bus

2011-08-18T22:20:00.001-04:00

Eli came home from his first day of school with a weekly newsletter in his bag, listing what the menu is for the week and a list of students for grades K-6, and other information for upcoming events and so forth. Well, being the Type A that I am, I cross-referenced Eli's bus list with the class lists, so I could find out who was going to be on Eli's bus and how old they are! There were 6 kids or so I couldn't find on the class lists so they must be older than 6th grade, but the rest of the kids were scattered across all 7 grades, including 3 other kindergartners! That made me feel better seeing there would be three other kids from ELI'S CLASS!

We got up this morning following our normal school routine which so far is going very smoothly! and we went out to wait for the bus, making sure not to be late or he'll be left! I asked Eli if he was nervous about the bus and he said No! =)

We waited...

We listened quietly...

We thought we heard something coming down the road...

And sure enough...

A yellow bus with flashing lights popped over the hill!

A bus was coming just for ELI!! Ooo, I felt so proud!

He climbed right on...

and without looking back...

off he went!

And I enjoyed a day with my two littles.

Then

in the afternoon, while Carter was still napping, we started waiting again

In great anticipation

of that yellow school bus!

Here it comes in the distance!

we're so close to town we can see almost the whole ride

We're so proud of our boy! And you better believe we're ALL going to be there waiting to tell him so!

The beginning of a whole new adventure!

2011-08-17T09:58:00.003-04:00

Last night there was an open house/orientation/book fair at the school. Kids have the opportunity to see their new classrooms, talk with the teacher, and bring all their school supplies. I seriously think that's the best idea ever! As soon as we arrived last night Mrs. S remembered Eli's name right away! And she even mentioned that she hadn't remembered the glasses to which I explained he got them when we went for his required checkup. She showed him his desk and backpack cubby. We got his P.E. shoes tucked in the little bin and then perused the rest of the classroom while we waited for the short instructional meeting to begin. It was nice to come home again with our hands free of all the STUFF that kids need for school. Kleenex boxes, clorox wipes, nap mat, tennis shoes, and the pencil box full of crayons, glue, eraser, scissors, etc. We rested well and got up this morning raring to go!

It was a little rough heading out the door. We were all ready to go and then Carter started pooping his diaper. Not wanting to wait on him, I agreed to let Kevin just stay home with him and Hannah while I ran Eli over to the school. So Kevin gave him a hug and I gathered Eli and we headed out the door.

Hannah was crying because I'd gotten her ready to go and then she didn't get to go. I felt bad really, but we left anyway. I was quite nervous too and would rather just have Eli to care for at the moment. We snapped a quick picture and got in the car.

Eli was ~~pretty~~ really nervous but he did his best to muster up a smile for me outside the school.

And then we went in and met the rest of his class in the gym {by the way, this is the old gym, used for the lunchroom now and meeting place in the mornings}

And that was it!

But then I remembered I'd forgotten to tell the teacher helper that Eli's lunch money was in his bag and asked if she wanted me to take it to the office. But she said they'd take care of it.

And that was it! Off I went!

But then I remembered we'd forgotten to grab Eli's lunch box out of the refrigerator when we left! So I went back into the gym again and told Eli we'd forgotten his lunch and to just get school lunch today, we'd save the other for tomorrow.

And THAT was it. I left. Came home to Hannah and Carter and Kevin. Kevin went off to sleep. And now it's just the little ones. And it's quiet. No fighting. And when Carter goes for nap in just a bit, Hannah will do her Little Girl devotional and probably get out some paints. And at 1:00 we'll go back to pick up Eli. Today is only a half-day.

Tomorrow we'll do the school bus, it'll be a full day of school, and the REAL ADVENTURE will begin!

The ONLY good thing about friends moving away...

2011-08-16T11:51:00.000-04:00

...is acquiring their things they are getting rid of. We have yet another new outside toy at our house, completely free! A trampoline! It's pretty old, some rust on the springs, but definitely still good enough to use! We ALL have such fun on this and it's great exercise! Now we just have to make sure it doesn't blow away!!!

(this video is before we had the side netting up)

Summer Recap.

2011-08-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

This summer has by far been the busiest we've ever had ever! {for us who like to keep life on the simpler side} A few trips, lots of visitors, parties, appointments, playdates, etc. Here's the recap....

Myrtle Beach Vacation

Ladies night for church

Sleepover

Holly's birthday BBQ

VBS at church

Amana Colony Weekend

Photoshoot for the Martin family

5K Race

Father's Day BBQ

Visit from the Fred Fritz family

MOPS planning meeting

Visit from Carri and Lucas

4th of July party

Omaha visit with Michelle from Virginia

Day visit from Holly

County Fair and Parade

Eli's birthday party #1

Eli's eyes exam

Mommy sleepover

Omaha visit with Lynne from college

Birthday party #2

Babysitting

Carter appointment

Sarah's weekend trip to Ohio

MOPS meeting

Eli glasses

Night with Claire

Church music

Visit home to see Grandparents from N.C.

School registration

Women of Faith weekend conference

School!

WHEW!

T - 6

2011-08-11T00:01:00.003-04:00

... DAYS UNTIL ELI STARTS KINDERGARTEN!! How can this be???

A mommy getaway.

2011-08-10T23:58:00.001-04:00

After Eli's birthday parties were done, I could start getting myself ready for my own little getaway to visit my good friend Lisa in Ohio! Kevin was working night shift so the kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend, and I went and enjoyed a couple days just for me!

Early Saturday morning we got our hair cut and done (my request since I hardly EVER get a hair cut and desperately needed it), went shopping, successfully grilled dinner all by ourselves, went for a lovely evening walk, and then went out for ice cream! Sunday we went to their church, saw an afternoon movie at the theater, and then had our own little fondue party. Then first thing Monday morning, we were off to the airport again. It was such a great weekend! Very truly!

Shawn and Lisa

a sunrise flight!! It was seriously SO EARLY, especially considering the airport was 1+ hr from Lisa's house. Knowing I would be on-the-go again with the kids as soon as I got back, I invested in one of those neck pillows! It wasn't fantastic, but it was enough.

Thanks for such a wonderful visit, Lisa!!!!!

Not just an ordinary evening.

2011-08-10T21:27:00.005-04:00

{Friday.} It was a long day, I was sooo tired, sooo frustrated, and sooo done with the day. But Eli was insisting that we all do a race out in the yard after dinner. So we did. That got our lazy butts outside for once. We've been in a bit of a funk ever since that extreme heat hit a few weeks ago. I got motivated to yank some weeds, and the kids were happily playing. Then there was a RAINBOW in a bright blue sky.

look closely, the rainbow is quite faint

And later as the sun started to set there were SUN RAYS breaking through the clouds. It was a beautiful evening, and in my head I was already composing a blog post entitled "Surprises in the sky".

Then I went to check the mail and set it inside on the dining room table, along with my camera, and headed back down to the kids at the swing set. As I stepped out the door, I heard crying. Already exhausted from a long day, I immediately sighed and thought "What now..." and continued down toward Eli who was crying that he'd gotten stung by a bee. He was gripping a swollen pointer finger and when he showed it to me, it was indeed stung by a bee, so I shooed him on to Kevin so I could go get Carter from the swing set.

TURNS OUT...

Just a moment earlier, Eli and Carter were riding in Eli's power wheels Jeep. I'd watched as Eli parked it under the swing set. It was a fun little spot and it fit perfectly. BUT apparently, in that long grass where we can't fit the mower, there was a bee nest. And when the car invaded, the bees went into attack mode, swarming around and around Eli and Carter. Eli got out right away, heading up to the house where I met him. But Carter was still sitting in the car just crying and crying. I rushed down to him but freaked out when I saw the swarm of bees and blood dripping down my baby's lip! I screamed to Kevin GET HIM OUT OF THERE! GET HIM OUT OF THERE! And he ran down the hill and without hesitation yanked him out of the car! We ran up to the house and I yelled to Hannah who was on the trampoline, GET INSIDE NOW!! I helped her off and we rushed inside, making sure to shake any bugs off! It felt like they were still on me because I could still feel the stings! The bees, just flying and bouncing off your skin was a STING, I couldn't believe it! We got inside, killed a bee that was still in Carter's shirt, and Carter's lips were already swelling a lot, so Kevin decided to take him to the ER. He had so many stings, and his lips were swelling, I just wanted to be sure his throat wasn't swelling too. But I stayed home with Eli and Hannah. And ohhh, it was so hard to be away from my baby boy, not knowing how he was!! I've seen the old movie My Girl, and in that movie the boy DIED from bee stings!

At home I gave Eli Benadryl and cold wash cloths for his stings. I kept the kids up for awhile to be sure there wasn't any further reaction to the stings, but after an hour, Eli seemed fine (Hannah wasn't stung at all because she'd been up by the house at the time of the attack). In the meantime I was already on Facebook, calling for prayer and was immediately "surrounded" with wonderful friends and their support.

Kevin reported that Carter threw up several times in the ER but they'd given him Benadryl and he seemed to be doing okay, though still unhappy. After an hour or two they released him and they were able to come home with instructions to continue doses of Benadryl.

this is right after they got home, still wrapped up in a hospital sheet since he'd thrown up on his clothes

the bee that was still in Carter's shirt

We got Carter bathed and down for bed. And we were just getting ready for bed ourselves when Eli was up saying he couldn't sleep, when clearly he had vomit all over his shirt sleeve and alll over his bed. Sooo.... Kevin finished HIS shower (because he'd been puked on in the ER) and we got Eli all cleaned up and all that comes with it. And at last we were all down for bed unsure of what the night would bring.

The kids actually weren't sick in the night but Carter cried in his sleep all night long. At 4am when he seemed more awake I got him up for another dose of Benadryl and some water. He drank quite a bit so I thought that was a good sign.

In the morning Eli was already up and at 'em and Carter seemed pretty well too. We managed to get to town for a quick errand (out of diaper wipes!) but before we got back home, Carter was fading. Even though he'd slept til 8:30 that morning he was clearly VERY tired and needed a nap. He threw up in his nap though and there it started all over again. He was up and down all day, feverish and continued vomiting. Kevin was at work, and I just really didn't know what to do. I'd called the Dr again to see if we needed to bring him back in, but because he wasn't wheezing they didn't think it necessary. So I put him down for afternoon nap, hoping he'd be at least a little better after some good rest. And he was. Thank goodness!

It was certainly a roller coaster ride for sure! Carter's still been flushing out his body with some nasty diapers but he's finally seeming all himself now! See?

So very thankful. Thankful that Kevin is a man and so fast-acting without hesitation. Thankful that Carter didn't have an actual allergic reaction (just a hard thing getting a DOZEN bee stings and you're only a little guy!). Thankful Eli bounced back quickly. Thankful for modern medicine. Thankful we're well again!!

We've since been still quite fearful of playing outside at all. We still haven't ventured down anywhere near the swing set yet. And Carter cries every time he sees anything so much as a fly! Here's Kevin preparing for battle with the bees. Every inch of skin completely covered before he goes to stir them up and find where they're at. In 90-degree weather, all that clothing was HOT!

He used the tractor scoop to lift that end of the swing set, and immediately the bees starting flying up. Then he SPRAYED. First with bee killer which, from watching from the house, looked like it mostly just blew away. Then he sprayed all the grass with a couple gallons of gasoline. BRAVE man he is!

He sprayed a little more the second day and we think they're mostly gone now. Here's HOPING!!!

Presenting to you...

2011-08-07T19:26:00.000-04:00

Eli's new look!

Eli got his glasses last week! He's been doing pretty well with them, though for awhile there he kept using every excuse in the book to take them off. Doesn't he look sooo handsome! AND he recently made a trip to the barber for the first time with Daddy. Now NEXT WEEK is Kindergarten! This boy is growing up sooo fast!

Now back to the continuation of birthday posts. I promise I will get them finished up!

Birthday Week {Saturday}

2011-08-07T19:25:00.000-04:00

At last, the last post of Eli's birthday week. The family birthday party! So thankful we live so close now and we can all circle around to celebrate the life of our children and each other! It's definitely not something to take for granted so parties are in order!!

the typical scene for family birthdays

Eli's favorite thing is to hook and tie with things, so I got him so carabiners to help him out

Eli got LOTS of fun books for his birthday, including Magic Tree House books from Paul and Holly!

Carter brought the book to grampa and plopped in his lap for a story

I have the parallel girls devo book for Hannah and I LOVE it, so I got the boys book for Eli

love how Carter has his hand on Eli's back. so sweet!

build-it-yourself kit. makes a race car that also flips into a robot

big boy now

playing with the Trio blocks. We LOVE these!!

For Eli's kids party the weekend before we'd invited about 26 people and a cake box makes 24 cupcakes, so I'd made a second batch to have on hand but left them unfrosted so I could freeze and use them again the next weekend. It was very handy having done the two cakes all at once. This time I used store frosting (yuck!) but it was convenient so we'll let it slide this time. I didn't want ALL cupcakes again, so I made half-cupcakes, half-round cake and tried out the tiered cake like on the cake box. And well, it didn't work out exactly like on the box, but it was a fun try. I'd even refrigerated the cake so it wouldn't melt because of heat, but it still started to melt just having it out getting it ready. Oh well! This family sure doesn't care what a cake looks like!

blowing candles

again

and AGAIN! (those silly relight ones!)

What a fun way to wrap up birthday week! Love you, Eli, and so thankful God gave us you!!

Birthday Week {Thursday and Friday}

2011-08-05T11:38:00.000-04:00

Thursday and Friday were actually Mommy Days for me! Thursday night I had a sleepover with girlfriends. Last one before one our hostess moved away! This time Kevin was off the next morning so I could leave the kids and stay up late without having to get up with the kids at the SAME 7am time in the morning.

Friday evening I headed off AGAIN, to Omaha to meet up with an old college friend who was in the area for the weekend! She's getting into photography as well, so we went out to dinner and then explored downtown Omaha with our cameras. It was so fun! We've grown up in the Omaha radius all my life pretty much but I've never really SEEN downtown! It's a BEAUTIFUL area and I can't wait to go back again with Kevin and the kids!

the kids would love this!

the pedestrian bridge across the Missouri River

It's funny, we showed up wearing practically the same outfit!

So great to see you again, Lynne! I had an awesome night!!

Birthday Week {Wednesday}

2011-07-27T17:43:00.000-04:00

Wednesday was Eli's scheduled eye exam as required for school entry. Kevin was working so I brought Hannah and Carter too. It was a sort of long wait. And a sort of long wait again in the exam room. But the kids did fairly well. Eli didn't cooperate 100% with all the little tests but he did okay and was in good spirits. The doctor was soooo great with him and very kid-friendly! And then there was the end-of-exam report... "Well, Eli's a little bit far-sighted and needs glasses..." I was confused, I hadn't seen it coming, Kevin wasn't with me for such "big" news like that! I asked if maybe his tests could have been affected since he was tired {from having the sleepover the night before} and he said no. So, getting glasses was for real then. The doctor further explained that while he doesn't necessarily need them NOW because he's still young and doesn't do a whole lot of close-work, come 1st grade he will be, and his eyes {and brain} need to be adjusted to wearing glasses already. Fine. We then proceeded from the exam room to the front room again to look at frames. Here it's almost 5pm and the office is waiting to close and we have to stand there picking frames. The wall is covered with lots of different selections for girls. But boys, not so much. The assistant chose about three to pick from in his size, so we went with a wire-framed, rectangular-shape, greenish-color frame. They'll come in August 3, and then we go back for the real-deal. Until then, we're enjoying the last days of glasses-free...

Birthday Week {Tuesday}

2011-07-26T23:33:00.000-04:00

Mom and Birthday Boy

With Kevin working Tuesday and several new toys from the previous party, the kids and I just stayed home playing and having fun all day. During nap Eli and I played his new game, Tumblin Monkeys, and built with his K'Nex set. And after work we met Kevin in town for Chinese buffet since that's Eli's favorite. But what the kids were REALLY looking forward to all day long was their sleepover. Ever since Eli got his new bunk bed, Hannah keeps trying to sleep in with him. I'd been thinking it would be fun to let them have a sleepover sometime and then I realized his birthday night would be a great time!

We set them up with a movie {Cars.} on the laptop up in Eli's room (no popcorn though since they weren't being watched, didn't want anyone to choke). The idea was that for one night there would be no bedtime rules, except no jumping on (or from) the beds, but I did end up checking on them several times throughout the movie and fetching drinks and so forth. And they were so tired when the movie was over at 11pm they got tucked in, both on the top bunk with heads at each other's feet, that they fell asleep almost instantly. I was nervous having them on the top bunk for the first time and BOTH of them being up there, I hardly slept a wink and ended up going back and forth all night between my bed and the bottom bunk.

The kids had great fun though! And now IF they can stay in their beds on regular nights, they can earn themselves another fun sleepover!

Birthday Week {Monday}

2011-07-26T23:14:00.000-04:00

I'm tellin' ya, we literally have something on the calendar for {almost} every day of these last days of summer! After Sunday night's birthday week kickoff, we had plans to go up to one of Omaha's splashparks with friends, but with temps reaching almost 100, we postponed that idea and decided to meet at Lincoln's Chuck E Cheese instead. Fun times, but I forgot to bring my camera inside. Oh well...

Hannah climbed all over the tunnels and slide. Eli walked around considering carefully how to spend his coins. And Carter was happy to just sit on all the "quarter machine" rides. Fun day!

Birthday Week {Sunday}

2011-07-26T23:02:00.001-04:00

The rest of us have winter birthdays--December, January, February, and March-- so with Eli's birthday in the summer, we try to make it FUN! And he's the one that gets two parties, one for his friends and one with the family. Well, to be fair, I WAS going to let Hannah have some friends over for a tea party or something and let them all come in their dress-up clothes, but good friends of ours had just moved and I really couldn't think of many GIRL friends for her to have over for a morning! Anyway... Eli gets two parties. We don't go crazy really. I try to keep it simple and don't especially get into much with decorations and games. Living in the country, we like to set out a couple baby pools, the slip n slide, and some water guns. What more do you need?? We tell the kids ahead of time to bring swimsuits, and from what I can tell, everyone has so much fun! We throw in some cake and ice cream and birthday presents in there, and we have a birthday party!

This year the party list kept growing and growing, and I was getting overwhelmed trying to figure out how to feed everyone a meal, and with it being county fair weekend in our town, instead I changed it from being a Saturday afternoon (or late morning) thing to a Sunday evening cake-n-ice cream only thing to "kick off Eli's birthday week". It ended up being great timing because his party was in the middle of our heat wave and earlier in the day would've been TOO HOT. But by 6:30pm, the weather was PERFECT!

Spiderman theme, per Eli's request. I can't ever get red OR black frosting color quite right and in trying to keep things simple, I decided to spend a little more on plates and cupcake decorations to make it easier...

The kids were either splashing in the pools, going wild on the slip n slide, or fighting over Eli's power wheels truck. =) A good time was had...

Several times when we'd be at the store, Eli would mention something about wanting a pinata. After enough times I made a mental note to look for one for his birthday this year. Not that they're terribly expensive but we did tell him that this was his pinata year, we're not doing this EVERY year. So here it is...

It turned out that it's not a bat-at-it type of pinata. Rather, you have to pull the correct string to open the door for the candy to fall out. Never heard of that before but whatever. Birthday Boy got to go first....

... and I don't know if he actually pulled the right string or the pinata just didn't work right, but the candy fell on the first try!! I was pretty disappointed, very anti-climactic but the kids didn't care, they all raced to get the candy and fill their treat bags!

We played a little more and then said farewell to our friends! What a fun evening and GREAT way to kick off Eli's birthday week! Thank you all!!

Genetics.

2011-07-24T23:46:00.000-04:00

The boys' blonde hair... comes from Kevin. He was blonde until he was 6 or so, then turned brown.
Eli's and Hannah's brown eyes... come from Kevin. Hannah's are dark brown and Eli's are a bright brown, more like Kevin's.
Carter's are more greenish, like mine.
Eli's personality, being a rule-follower and perfectionist... from his mama.
Hannah's more laid-back personality... from her dad.
The boys' fair skin... from their dad.
The boys' eczema... from their mama.
Hannah's golden tan... from her mama.
One of the children who possibly grinds teeth at night... from their dad.

And now Eli who has to get glasses... from his mama.

Thanks, genetics.

4th of July

2011-07-21T15:39:00.002-04:00

It's becoming a fast tradition to host a 4th of July party at our house. Last year it was rainy during the day but cleared enough toward the end to still do some fireworks. This year it was PERFECT weather! Sunny, not too hot, and a slight breeze! We set up lots of outdoor games--croquet, badmitten, horseshoes, and the baby pool for the kids.

We started with food of course though... The menu? Sloppy joes, veggie salad, fruit salad, watermelon, and chips.

Then play time!


grandma with her two granddaughters

a pie for my mom's "birthday cake". My new FAVORITE cheesecake! Sooo easy to make and THE creamiest!

Ward, Linda, and Kara were so sweet to bring Eli an early b-day gift...

He loved this and carried it around all night!


once the sun finally started to go down we played a few "games" of badmitten

Hot and sweaty we all went inside to cool off a little while we waited for it to get dark outside to do fireworks which I did not photograph. We had such a fun day!!! Thanks, family, for coming! Looking forward to next year!

Happy 5th Birthday, Eli!!!

2011-07-20T13:04:00.001-04:00

I feel bad not get anything posted yesterday on Eli's actual birthday but we were so busy having fun and playing together here at home (and working on a Shutterfly album before the coupon expires today), I just didn't have the time.

Eli at 5...

* Has a very sweet heart. He just asked me to cut an M&M in half so he could share it with Hannah.

* I made him a get-well sign when he was sick a few months ago and he just laid in bed staring at it. It was several weeks later til he finally took it down. He said he'd make me one whenever I get sick.

* One day when I was sad and crying on my bed he came to me and gave me his bear telling me it would make me feel better.

* He still sleeps with his blankies and stuffed animals.

* He is timid in large groups and usually stands back just observing.

* He loves the water. LOVES water slides and will go again and again. However we did skip this summer of swim lessons.

* He loves building, usually airplanes and rockets.

* Is big into superheros, especially Spiderman and Superman.

* Is good with his numbers but is slow with reading though we are making progress.

* Will draw elaborate pictures of just about anything.

* Loves bunk beds. (he told me to write that on this list)

* We've started reading "adventure books" together in the Magic Tree House series.

* Is very active and aggressive, usually too much so, with Hannah and Carter.

* Is best friends with Hannah and they do everything together. They spend very little time in their rooms. (although as I read this to him, he said Asher is his best friend, not Hannah)

* He has first-born syndrome and often tries to be me by reprimanding Hannah or Carter for something. He's pretty responsible and usually plays the big-brother role quite well.

* He finished his first year at preschool and was considered a delight to his teachers and became friends with several of his classmates. He is proud to be heading to Kindergarten this fall with all-new kids.

* He also completed his first year of the AWANA program at our church AND his participated in his first year of VBS, along with Hannah, which they both LOVED!

* Just the past couple of weeks I finally stopped napping him in the afternoon. He'll do a little bit of quiet time but mostly we spend that time playing games together, practicing his reading, doing computer games, working on a project, or reading in his adventure books.

We love you, Eli, and are so proud of the young boy you are becoming!!

Here's a little interview I did with him yesterday on his birthday. It's in 2 parts because the camera shut off on me during the first one...

Bunk bed

2011-07-16T22:43:00.001-04:00

For Eli's birthday and turning 5 and heading into school I thought it was time to move him to a big-boy bed and revamp his room a little bit. We've been looking at different types of bunk beds for awhile now and not really finding the simple version we wanted, we decided to build one ourselves! We found a plan online, adapted it just a little, and we started at it!

What started as this and just boards being cut and layed in place in the grass...

gradually turned into...


bed frames are together and posts are clamped on and getting pre-drilled in the basement

guard rails are boxed together

IN the room now for assembly. Posts getting bolted on.


second set of posts getting bolted on

all posts are on and bed is upright and in place

under-bed storage bins are in place (cuz I was excited)


ladder is constructed

plywood pieces are cut and in place for under the mattresses. A blanket is covering them so the kids could play on it without getting splinters. The rest is all sanded smooth though.

a preview of the guard rails. Instead of using two sets of rails for the top, I think we're going to use one set for the top bunk and one for the bottom instead of the partial toddler rail we had in mind. Might as well, since the second rail is already made.

for now though, until we do move Carter, we'll keep the bottom bunk open.

A bed!!!

the mattresses arrived the same day we got all this assembled so we picked them up and got the final placement of the guardrails, and it's all ready to use!

And this is where we're at now. Eli's been sleeping in his new bed this week, and we love it so much! Although the size of his room seems to have suddenly shrunk with the installation of this bigger bed! But with under-bed storage and some toy organization in his closet, it will look tidy. The bed still needs stained but we're doing some color samples first. Kevin did a FANTASTIC job, and I'm loving Eli's new room! There's still some finishing touches, so stay tuned!

Carter: 18 months

2011-07-14T23:33:00.001-04:00

Oh my heart, how can my baby really be 18 months already?? He's growing up so very fast, and it's making me sad. You know, bittersweet. You're excited to be getting to an easier phase, excited to see a little more freedom, and the joy of getting to spend more time working on marriage. But the babies... they're so sweet too. And to see that slipping away... sad.

* Carter is definitely moving up in the world. Literally. He's my climber. He's learned how to climb onto the dining chairs (IF they're not pushed in all the way) and climb up onto the table. Yippee. He climbs onto the coffee table in the playroom and he can climb himself up onto the piano bench. Oh my.

* He's also moving down in the world. One scary morning the kids were playing and all of a sudden I could NOT find Carter. ANYWHERE. I search all the rooms in the house, upstairs, downstairs, peek to the basement, upstairs again, downstairs again, my heart absolutely in a panic as I ran through each room and yelling at Eli to HELP ME FIND HIM and then I looked at the basement again and saw a little boy totting around! My goodness! I did NOT know he knew how to go down steps, and I really don't know why the door to the basement was open. But I am just SO THANKFUL Carter was okay and there wasn't a big fall involved. But now we know! Carter DOES know how to go down stairs and he does it quite well in fact.

* This month he got 5 NEW TEETH. And big ones. One upper molar on each side, plus the tooth that's in between, and one more tooth on the bottom. He handled it pretty well, but he did have a couple nights of wakings that I could only assume were because of those teeth!

* He's still growing with his "words" but he's definitely not an early talker! No concerns though.

* Really growing more independent at the table and likes to put the fork in his mouth himself although i'm still the one that fills the fork.

* He's still in transition between 2 naps and just 1. Depends on the day and what we have going on.
* Weight: 25.2 lbs Height: 31 1/4 "

* Mama gave him his first hair cut, and those adorable curls are now gone... Regret.

But no matter what, curls or no curls, you're still my Carter and still sweet as could be! So thankful for you!

Happy half-birthday!

Fritz family visit

2011-07-13T16:44:00.000-04:00

Toward the end of June my uncle and aunt, Fred and Gayge and their two boys Sam and Ben made a stop through Nebraska on their way out west to visit Gayge's father who is now living in Wyoming. We were thrilled to see them again, only a few weeks after seeing them at the beach and to show them our place! The weather wasn't the best, very windy and cloudy and cool both days, and they had to be re-routed due to Missouri River flooding, but we made the best of it and they made it here safely! And we sooo enjoyed their visit!! What a wonderful family!

by evening the weather finally cleared a bit and we enjoyed a LOVELY evening outside

{Sam} climbing

{Ben and Carter} kitty scouting

{Eli} binocular wearing

Sometimes I feel like we live in a painting! The countryside is so gorgeous!

{Gayge} baby snuggling

{Gayge and the boys} kitty petting

{the next morning} playing ball, notice the jackets

before departure...

Family Photo. Love you all sooo much!!

Thanks for making the effort to stop our way!! What a gift!

Arbor Day Farm

2011-07-12T13:59:00.000-04:00

Alright, back to Father's Day weekend in June. My mom came on Friday so she'd be here early for the 5K race Saturday morning. She had requested to see some local attractions this visit, so I brainstormed and got really excited about the possibility of FINALLY going to the Arbor Day Farm! I'd been wanting to check it out ever since we moved here 2.5 years ago, but we just hadn't yet. I was blown away by all the fun things to do there, and 3 hrs was not nearly enough time! We'll have to go back with Kevin so he can see too...

First we headed on the nature trail. It's less than a mile walk around, so I knew the kids could do it. There were SO many learning things for kids-- booklets to stamp along the way, boxes to smell, footprints to observe, buttons to listen to bird sounds, tunnels to run through, etc. We didn't have time to stop at all the things, so we'll have to do all that when we go back...

This was the tree house. It was a little unimpressive but all the rest was sooo cool!

Then we got to the kids "learning classroom". So many different stations of things to do here!

Climbing...

Water play...

An outdoor xylophone...

Make-your-own-hammocks...

There were many more things to play there with art or building blocks, etc but we ran out of time because... we had to catch our tractor ride tour of the whole farm. We were all hot and tired and ready for a ride! 45 minutes long though!

What a fun adventure! Thanks, Mom, for giving us a great time to go!!

Mini Vacation: Amana Colonies

2011-07-11T23:46:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks after our beach vacation we headed off again, this time to eastern Iowa for a weekend vacation with Kevin's family to the Amana Colonies. I wasn't sure how much fun the kids would have going through shops n stuff, so I suggested we stay at the nearby hotel with a little waterpark inside! A little something for us and a little something for them. And boy, did they LOVE it!! Eli was exactly tall enough to go down the water slides, and that he did! again and again and again and again, even the FAST one! And there was another smaller waterslide in the kiddie area for Hannah and Carter (and Mommy), as well as lots of other water-fun activities. We had a good time with the family, ate TONS of food at the family-style restaurants, and enjoyed relaxing and splashing at the hotel!

You can view all the pics HERE!

Always something fun

2011-07-11T21:02:00.000-04:00

Daddy's always coming up with something fun to add to our yard for the kids to play on! At first it was this, and now it's this too. I love country livin'...

Much to come!!

2011-07-11T18:24:00.000-04:00

This part of the blog has been a little neglected lately. Life has been moving much too fast to keep up the documentation of it! The thing is, I take too many pictures and then a simple post or story takes a long time to get together! But I'll figure out how to make it easier, or how to simplify or I'll do more Snapfish sharing, and if you're on Facebook, then you'll get the news there first! But adventures coming soon...

A mini vacation to the Amana Colonies

Our day at the Arbor Day Farm

A visit from the Fritz Family

4th of July BBQ

Our zoo trip

Bunk bed progress

Very exciting times these days! We have almost exactly a month left until school starts for both Eli and Hannah and the days are dwindling!! As full as the calendar is most weeks, it's still nice not to be stuck in a rigid schedule with nap and bedtimes. If we want to stay up late, we can! If we want to go to the city in the middle of the day we can. If we want to schedule a play date with friends, we can arrange ANY day not just M-W-F. We definitely are loving the freedom and time together as a family!!

Father's Day 2011

2011-07-01T17:18:00.000-04:00

On Father's Day our town hosted its annual chicken BBQ, complete with kiddie tractor pull contests, chicken toss, volleyball tournaments?, funnel cakes, kettle corn, and a performance by the community band. It's quite the event for a town with population 323! So I invited my parents down to join us!

After perusing the local library that I've literally NEVER seen open in the 2.5 years we've been here, we got Eli and then Hannah signed up for the tractor pull contest. Being excited for his first try at this, Eli had actually prepped and wore tennis shoes and even picked out his tractor T-shirt to change into after church. Hannah was given the opportunity to just give it a try, so in her dress and flip-flops she joined in too!

Eli actually WON the contest for his age group! They mumbled it such that we barely even heard that HE was the one that won, but exciting it was! =) They were both given participation ribbons.

From there we enjoyed a delicious chicken (and sides) dinner, watching the remainder of the tractor pull contest for older kids, the band concert, funnel cakes, AND ice cream! FUN evening and PERFECT weather for being outside!

In progress...

2011-06-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

With Eli turning FIVE in just a few weeks I thought it was time to move him to a bunk bed (from his current toddler bed), with Carter soon to follow (from his pack n play). Around-abouts Eli's birthday we'll make the official room transformation (if all goes well???) We couldn't find a simple wood-framed bunk bed like we were wanting, so we're making it ourselves! And by we, I mean Kevin of course! I really am thankful he's so handy--makes life so much more fun!

Even on Father's Day he was busy cutting and sanding our pieces for the bed frames!

Now the bed frames are assembled in the basement. Next up will be more cutting and sanding of the posts and guard rails. Then more assembly! It's exciting to see it come together! Stay tuned for more progress and hopefully soon, the finished product!

Sweet brother

2011-06-23T23:18:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how it came about but one day Eli wanted to paint Hannah's nails. So under my supervision, I permitted. Look at that sweet face... What a good big brother!

That's one thing I really love about Eli. He's ALL boy. Rowdy, aggressive, too loud, often crosses the line when it comes to being in other people's space. BUT he likes to play dress-up with Hannah and "take her to the ball", he likes to dance, he'll paint her nails, play Daddy, and put headbands on his hair. It's little things like that that make me think he's going to have a good understanding of Sister and girly things, and that will help him later in life when he {hopefully} chooses a wife of his own. What a sweet boy!

BEACH Vacation Pics

2011-06-23T21:38:00.000-04:00

Finally I have the final few pictures added to the album and it's ready to share! You should be able to view the album with the following link to Snapfish, and there you can order any prints you want! Let me know if this does NOT work for you!

VIEW BEACH PICTURES!!

All in one post.

2011-06-19T10:59:00.001-04:00

Just a random bullet point list of things going on around here...

* We spent the weekend with Kevin's family at the Amana Colonies, Iowa last weekend. Will post pictures soon.

* Almost ready are the beach pictures in a way that others can order prints. =)

* While on our beach vacation our calico mama cat died. The mother of our two litters of kittens, last year's and this year's. I was sad to hear the news from Kevin. Didn't realize I cared about those cats until then.

* Then about 2 weeks later Eli's kitten Meesa also died. She'd had eye goopies, as most cats have at some point, but then the next day Kevin found her on the sidewalk lifeless. Still not really sure what happened, and I was sad about that one too. But I told the kids what happened, not sure of Eli's reaction but wanting to be real with them, but he was actually fine about it and just replied, "Oh it's okay. I didn't really like it anymore anyway, it always scratched me." Alright then. He's since adopted our littlest kitten as the new Meesa, though he doesn't pick the kittens up much anymore.

* Kevin and I ran a 5K race for our town yesterday. My first 5K. More thoughts on that HERE.

* We're just starting to build Eli's (and Carter's) bunk bed for their room. A big-boy room is sort of the gift we're giving Eli for his 5th birthday next month. And I'm so excited to get the project started! While Kevin works on his projects, Eli builds nearby with all the scraps. And boy, it's my FAVORITE thing to watch Eli build! He's so good! He mentioned also that he doesn't like to play trains anymore, he just likes to build the tracks. Can't wait to see what he becomes in life! I sure am proud of him.

* Speaking of Eli, I never mentioned it, but he's big into super heroes now. Even though he hasn't seen any of the shows or anything to know really WHO they are. And he's asked for a Superman birthday party. And then when I went to confirm that with him, he said Spiderman instead.

* I've been working with Hannah to get her to pronounce the "th" sound correctly instead of substituting "f", "d", or "s" in its place (like "sank you", and "wif" and "udder") and she's actually GETTING it! Kind of makes me sad at the same time. She's growing up. She's also really improving her handwriting and starting to write parts of her name by herself now! When it comes to writing, she's a natural!

* And Carter, growing up so fast, as you've been reading in his monthly updates! =)
* Remember the story of our baby pool blowing away last year and many months later finally being spotted out in the field? Well, we lost our new baby pool this year to another night storm Friday night. This time it was a big inflatable one that we had tucked under the porch swing. Somehow the big thing got free and up and over the porch rail and off it went. We've driven all the nearby mile roads and searched all the fields, but it's nowhere to be found. And surely if we ever do, it will have been popped by the barbed wire fences. So, there goes another pool, darnit. Sometimes the country winds are really irritating. Just a tad.

'Spose that's all for now! More posts coming soon!

Carter: 17 months

2011-06-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Every month...

growing...

changing...

learning...

discovering...

becoming...

my sweet

little

big boy

Updates:

* Caught a glance of about three (or more??) new teeth coming in in the back! Who knew??!

* Is finally starting to copy quite a few words now and has added the signs "please", "banana", "thank you"

* Gets really excited when he sees a dog and usually heads straight for it or stands there pointing and saying "Daw, Daw!"

* His favorite toy is still by far a BALL. Loves it!

* I THINK he's figuring out how to go down stairs, though I've never really given him the opportunity to learn. He can do one step now though without falling off.

* Is definitely a toddler and can throw quite a little tantrum.

* Often hits me in the face almost every time I pick him up, and is now into throwing things, like big things. AWESOME. *sigh*

* Is still a big eater, although I have observed that he's not a cheese lover.

* Is starting to use a fork and spoon if I help him get the food on it.

* We're trying to switch out his blankie for a new one. He's sucked the life out of his other one and we'd like to at least have one to alternate it with in the laundry. But so far, no such luck. He just a'CRIES until we finally give him his blankie back. So now we have both blankies in his bed and hopefully after a little bit of time, he'll get more used to the new one. Sure wish I could've found a duplicate but it's nowhere!!

* Went on his first vacation to the beach! Did OK in the water, but it just depended on the moment. Sometimes he'd charge straight into the waves. And other times he'd cry as soon as he got near it! But mostly he liked to dig his fingers in the wet sand or wander the open beach. He did great on the car ride! I was wonderfully surprised!

* Also went on his first vacation to the Amana Colonies Iowa. We did a little waterpark there too. The first day it took him a good hour to finally warm up to the place and have fun in the kids splash area. The second day he took right off!

Testing

2011-06-08T23:22:00.002-04:00

Trying to figure out how to share the beach pictures such that family members can order them directly if they want, and it will also spare me from me posting a bazillion pictures into Blogger. Was going to do Shutterfly but that option is not available, but I think Snapfish will. Before I go uploading all my pics to there, I wanted to try an album I already have there. If you can view this album, let me know! Note, you do have get a free account in order to do so. Thanks!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW RANDOM ALBUM OF SARAH'S PICS

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-30T11:37:00.000-04:00

Eli's last day of preschool was May 18. He had such a great year and his teacher's report was so wonderful, I am so proud of him! I can't believe the school year is over already and we'll start the process of getting him ready for Kindergarten here over the summer! Dr checkups and immunizations and school supplies and all that stuff...

We left for the beach immediately after Eli's last morning of preschool so we missed preschool graduation the following Saturday. I was given his cap and "gown" though so this is him before school the last day. Once we got there we were then given his completion certificate but I'd already taken the picture so oh well.

And here he is with his teachers, who will be Hannah's teachers next year! Wonderful ladies!

Excited to see all the ways you will learn and grow next year in big-school! You're leaving a great example as Big Bro and we love you so much!!

Claire, 6 months

2011-05-30T11:28:00.000-04:00

I did a mini photo shoot with Claire while we were helping put together Paul and Holly's new picnic table. Click HERE to view more favorites from the day. And stay tuned for pictures of that picnic table!

Summer Layout.

2011-05-29T11:54:00.000-04:00

Finally we got a new family pic so I could change out the Christmas header and blog layout. So stop by and take a peek!

We're back!

2011-05-27T11:08:00.001-04:00

We returned from our week-long Myrtle Beach trip Wednesday night and now we're trying to get caught back up with things around the house! When I get back to the blog, I have loads of things to share: Eli's last day of preschool, Kevin's and my overnight trip to Kansas City, vacation pics, and Claire pics. Stay tuned!!

Always full of surprises

2011-05-16T00:29:00.000-04:00

When Eli was outside one day playing with his kitty, he found another little kitten, a little bit smaller than the last litter, hiding under the bushes behind our house. I was SURE it was a new one because it was short-haired gray and the other two grays we had were long-hair. But then after that evening I just didn't really see the kitten again. And then several days later I would. I suspected the white and yellow cat was the momma this time but I wasn't for sure. I never really saw it with the kitten, and I was never sure if Little Gray was going to survive or where it was. But the last couple days it's actually been out more with the kittens. In the garage still. It's smaller than the others and not frolicking about like the others, but it's at least present. And I've seen our calico mama nurse it, so I know it's being cared for. And my, is it another cutie!! So surprise, we DO in fact have another kitten!

Carter: 16 months

2011-05-16T00:19:00.000-04:00

Updates:

He's a busy boy growing up so quickly and definitely turning into a toddler! Where has my baby gone??!

* He's still very much into my kitchen cupboards and drawers. When hungry he often goes to the cupboards and pulls out the cereals to eat. Now I try to keep it locked.

* He's also found out about my drawer of Saran wrap and aluminum foil and little plastic baggies! And of course... unrolls them and pulls them all out! AWESOME! Just try to catch him right away on that one! =)

* Loves to climb in and out of the kids' little chairs now.

* Big motivation in life is to sneak into the bathroom, any bathroom, to splash his hands in the toilet.

* Also will find his way up the stairs if the gate wasn't shut all the way.

* Is starting to do better in the church nursery, but still gets anxious around other people, including daddy.

* Likes to put things away now, and I'll ask him to put his sippy cup in the fridge when he's done and heads straight for it. We open the fruit drawer for him, since that's the right height for him, and he tosses it right in and is so proud of himself and claps! He's also a great little helper when we pick up Legos and cars and other little toys!

* Still doesn't have a lot of words, but his big brother was exactly the same way, so I'm not concerned.

Our new toy...

2011-05-16T00:02:00.000-04:00

AWANA--awards night

2011-05-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

This year was Eli's first year participating in AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed 2 Tim 2:15) at our own church. It's a Bible memory program for kids 2yrs to 6th grade and is open to public, not just our church. The kids, including Eli, worked hard all year long memorizing a new verse every week, and at the end of the year they are rewarded for their efforts!

It started with fun and games and food...

And then the big event every was waiting for (well, besides awards itself). Donation coins to throw pie in Commander Bill's face.

Eli's waiting in line with his friend Sam but in the end Eli chickened out


what a trooper!

Awards Ceremony. There's my Cubbie!

a class of ALL boys this year!!

So proud of you, Eli!!

Movie night....

2011-05-11T19:44:00.000-04:00

little friends and all! =)

Allie.

2011-05-04T00:08:00.001-04:00

After Eli adopted "Meesa" Hannah adopted the identical orange kittens and calls her "Allie". They're both Allie, according to her. Now Hannah is NOT fond of animals so she is being SO brave to hold the kitten. She won't pick them up herself, but she'll hold her arms in a cradle and have Eli lay the kitten her arms. It's so sweet. The kittens are definitely out and about now, I can't believe how fast they grew! And it's been fun to send the kids out for a visit!

a couple of Eli and Meesa again

P.S. Notice Hannah's lovely outfit combo she picked out?? LOL Doesn't match at all!

Anyone??

2011-04-30T08:43:00.000-04:00

Does ANYONE read this blog?? Because there's seriously NEVER any comments!! Anyone can comment, even without any Blogger account. So send me a hello and let me know you're out there!!

Thanks!

Little Mommy

2011-04-28T00:33:00.000-04:00

Carrying her "baby" in her pouch. =)

Meesa.

2011-04-28T00:30:00.001-04:00

Our newest bunch of kittens are out now! After their birth, mama moved them to a huge cardboard box in the garage and they've stayed there for the last several weeks. We peek it on them periodically, watching them grow. Then yesterday when Kevin's Aunt Sheila was here for a visit, we were going to go look at the new kittens, and Eli came back to the house reporting that they were out of the box! I said What? and we went out to see. And sure enough, all the kittens are out and about now and crawling along the ~~ground~~ garage!

Eli's sort of adopted one of them, the one that was brave enough to be held. I asked Eli if he should name it, and he came up with Meesa. By the way, he can really come up with some unique, beautiful names! So meet Meesa...

Easter 2011

2011-04-28T00:21:00.000-04:00

a handsome picture of Eli while I'm taking a test-picture

our babies!

love these three!!

This year Easter was a little different. Being in the midst of Outage we just really couldn't plan anything as a family. The kids and I decorated Easter eggs, but we tried the Pearlescent package which really is just dropping the dye directly on the egg and smearing it around with the provided plastic ~~glove~~ baggie. So I pretty much did all the dying and didn't get any pics. Won't be doing that package again--didn't look like the picture on the box at all and the eggs stayed really sticky. And when peeling the eggs to EAT, the dye comes off all over your fingers. So anyway, we DID eggs. And we also did some Easter projects that week. But the actual day of Easter we didn't have plans, other than me singing in church that day. Which was perfect BECAUSE we were invited to celebrate the day with Pastor's family.

And we had such a wonderful wonderful day! Complete with FABULOUS food, excellent dessert and coffee, an afternoon walk as a group that ended up at the park, games, laughter, and conversation! Finally at 8:30pm I decided I really HAD to get the kids home for bed! Hopefully next year Kevin can be a part of the fun!

Carter's new favorite thing

2011-04-21T00:31:00.000-04:00

When Carter first started walking he was obsessed with the kitchen cupboards, daily unloading cans of food, cereal boxes, noodle boxes and everything else you store in cupboards. Then I re-arranged and got him to move on to a little cupboard of his own that just has tupperware-type bowls. He still unloads those at least once a day, and if he's hungry he'll dump ALLLL the cheerios out onto the floor otherwise leaving the rest of the food stuff alone, but now he's more interested in the drawer. A drawer. Where he can pull out all the little baggies from the box. And unroll the wax paper or the aluminum foil.

LOVELY.

Preschool Track & Field Day

2011-04-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

Wednesday Eli's preschool had track and field day, hosted by Head Start, with all the other local preschool classes, totaling something like 200 kids! Each class got a different colored T-shirt, although there was another orange team like ours.

Once I finally got into Eli's head that it was TRACK and not tractOR rides, he got super excited, and all week he was talking about how he was going to win the race. We'd talked about having a good attitude and having a fun time regardless, but he was still set on winning. I'd prepped him that there was probably going to be several other events than just running, but he was still disappointed when there was no running races at all, just GAMES. The football field was covered with super-fun things like jumbo croquet, hoola hoop things, sack races, mini hurdles, and tons more! Our class ended up leaving after the snack break (not really sure why??) so we missed several more events. But the kids had tried so hard and were getting pretty worn out as it was! Although we did go to the park afterward for more outside fun!

Eli's class, his teachers are in red sweatshirts

Hannah got to hang out with her friend Olivea

the first event: hit the ball along the ground with the foam bat thing. Or just run with it as Eli started to do.

this was all during Carter's normal naptime, so I pouched him in my Ergo, and toward the end he finally fell asleep.

All the kids got medals. Eli was so proud.

Carter: 15 months

2011-04-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

How fun is this background! Nevermind all the wrinkles I didn't bother to iron--it just takes WAY too much time and effort for just a monthly picture! (ever try ironing with a 1-yr old around? Holy STRESS!!! Afraid to set the iron down even for one second to adjust fabric/clothes for fear that he'd knock the whole thing over onto himself!)

Updates:

* No more bottle. Drinks from a sippy cup full-time now and will even take other sippy cups when he's at other people's houses.
* Learned how to drink from a straw, specifically from a juice box. Don't know yet if he'll do the big straws then.
* His new favorite thing to do while I'm unloading the dishwasher is to set in his sippy cup (or a vacuum attachment, ya know, whatever) and close the door.
* Has same sleep patterns: Morning and afternoon nap, bedtime 7:30.
* No new teeth though he's biting on his fingers like he's got some coming.
* Loves him a game of peek-a-boo especially if you're laying on the couch with a blanket over you. He'll come over to peek under the blanket.
* Loves to play with his gumball machine or toy airplane, both have balls you drop in.
* His favorite toy is a ball, any size, and will flap his arms in excitement.
* Still has major stranger danger but there are a couple select friends he does fine with.
* Is cautious about step-downs even if it's little like a crack in the sidewalk. But if I'm there, he just walks over the edge with no fear.
* Loves to brush his own teeth. (with the help of mommy)
* Now he signs "all done"
* Words: mama, dada, ball, bye-bye
* Waves bye-bye to people without prompting.
* Learned how to do a summersault and did it again and again, laughing hysterically in between. Now he doesn't really do it at all.
* Weighs 22.5 lbs and is 31" long. At his appointment it also showed he has an ear infection, even though he's show no symptoms or fussiness!

Outage. What IS it?

2011-04-07T21:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, here and my personal blog, you've probably heard me mention several times now about Outage going on at Kevin's work. And I've also probably given a brief description, but I thought I'd explain a little bit better...

Kevin works at a power plant. So when you hear "outage", think "power outage". Every year and a half the plant hits the OFF switch and they completely shut down for routine maintenance while other plant(s) provide the power for our area in replacement. Additional temporary workers come in from out of state, and locally, and there's a whole big list of maintenance to-do's and the goal is to complete it all in about a month and half (years ago it used to be like 4 or 5 MONTHS!!), but we all know it's probably going to take a little bit longer. Not sure yet at this point if they'll be done by Easter or not, but here's hoping...

During that month and a half ALL the workers maintain a pretty grueling schedule: 12-hr days (which for Kevin is his usual shift anyway) but they work 4 days on, then get 1 day off, and repeat for the entire duration of outage. Some of the head-honchos (supervisors and engineers, etc) end up working almost 15-hr days at times and they're paid salary so they don't get overtime pay for all those hours. Kevin got put on the night shift this outage AND last, and since his day off is, well, just that, one day off, he still sleeps the day away and then has a night up by himself. We do get a little afternoon/evening time and that's still a blessing but errands, projects, and phone calls also have to fit into that time too, and the day is gone before we know it.

Outage means...

* The kids and I have to stay fairly quiet during the day while daddy's sleeping. (he gets home around 6:30am, sleeps til about 3:30pm, and leaves at 5pm) He's a pretty heavy sleeper and our bedrooms are upstairs so that is helpful, but still we have to be relatively quiet with our play (nothing rowdy, no piano, no upstairs playing, and we REALLY have to avoid crying fits!)

* I hardly get the laundry put away, because Kevin's sleeping in there. And the bed rarely gets made because for most hours of the day SOMEONE is sleeping there (me obviously at night, and Kevin during day)

* Except for the fabulous hot-cooked breakfasts Kevin has been making for us (yes, he's amazing), we don't eat meals together. Definitely not dinner, so the kids and I scrap big-time and our fridge is often completely empty, though I DID just stock up on tons of fresh veggies!

* I go to church alone with the kids every Sunday. I go everywhere alone with the kids, unless it's a short enough errand I can slip out during nap time while everyone's sleeping. But that would mean another trip to town which I try to avoid unless necessary.

* I plan as many fun things for the kids as possible. Yes to play dates (though I try not to host), yes to park days (though we're STILL waiting for some good weather!), yes to children's museum, zoo trips, the circus, Omaha trips, walks at the pond etc. Anything to pass the time when the days get long.

* We get a little extra snuggling in. The kids occasionally take turns laying for nap next to daddy, or even less often sleeping in my bed with me at night.

But we're all getting along quite well. Really. It helps so much that it's the beginning of spring and we can get outside on the nice days. It helps that there are a hundred other wives and moms going through the exact same thing. It helps to have been through this before and know what to expect. It helps to just expect NOT to see Kevin and when we do, it's just bonus.

And still, we count the days til it's done so we can resume normal life and togetherness once again!

Silly boy!

2011-04-01T23:21:00.000-04:00

Carter LOVES to play peek-a-boo. He often initiates it. Here he is laying down, being silly with his blankie around his head. You have such a FUN personality, I love you to pieces!!

When Daddy's away...

2011-04-01T21:53:00.000-04:00

We PLAY!!

With Kevin working so much, I've been busy keeping the kids occupied with fun things. I'm pretty sure I've said that before. The kids also take turns laying for nap next to sleeping Daddy, or going to bed in Mommy's bed at night. Not always. But sometimes. Last weekend I planned a living room sleepover. I'd just taken apart Carter's crib (we never used it anyway) and his mattress had been laying out when I got the idea that we'd bring down Eli's and Hannah's mattresses too (they're soo light and easy to move) and do a sleepover after movie night. We waited til Carter was put in bed for the night and had a fun night together! As I recall, last time we had a sleepover on the floor-floor I slept horribly. This time having the mattress I slept fine! (I added a couch cushion to make my bed longer) We had so much fun! This Outage, we're making it!

The birthday card that almost was.

2011-03-30T15:48:00.002-04:00

Eli was trying so hard to make me a card on my birthday. Eventually he ran out of time and had to get to school, and afterward he was no longer interested. He was getting so frustrated because he couldn't get it to look like how he wanted. But I LOVED what he had, so I took pictures of all his different papers...

MOM with a party hat on. how cute is that!

birthday cake, trying to spell MOM

trying to spell "birthday" all by himself! such a great start, considering we haven't worked on sounding out spelling AT ALL yet!

there he got it! =)

The count is 8.

2011-03-30T11:42:00.002-04:00

2 yellow kittens - 1 yellow kitten + 2 new kittens (white and calico) + 3 kittens (black&white, gray, white&yellow) - 1 yellow cat - 1 white cat + 4 new kittens.

Mama cat had kittens the other day. This time I actually had some warning. I had noticed she was looking a little fat, so finally one day I asked Kevin to pick her up and see if she felt pregnant. He reported that indeed she seemed to be with "child". This time I knew that cat gestation is quite short so I should be prepared for delivery soon. The maternal instinct in me KNEW she'd pick the stroller in the garage as the place for her babies to be born. I had JUST told Kevin, "I think we should clean out the garage. I just know Mama Cat is going to have her kittens in the stroller." Well, he's busy working right now and it didn't happen and sure enough, 2 days later, kittens are born (we noticed in the morning that Mama Cat wasn't up at the house waiting for food, like normal) and where is Mama perched? The stroller. I couldn't see kittens for sure but I could tell by the way she was just staying there and seemingly hovering over something in protection that she'd probably had her babies. Later in the day we got the slightest glimpse.

Mama has since moved her kittens to the huge box that was for our deep freeze. And finally today I peeked in on a nursing session and counted 4 little kittens. Can't remember the colors. Gray, 2 tabbies, and a black & white one maybe.

Later in the day when I saw Mama Cat out in the yard, I stuck in and got these pictures during cat nap

So here we are again, less than a year from last spring's delivery. I love watching animal mothers with their babies. It's nature at its finest. And we welcome these little kittens with excitement! {We might not keep this litter because more kitties >> more food. But for now we'll enjoy their presence and watching them grow!}

Mama Cat of all these kitties

the runt of them all.

gray cat again

the pretty white and yellow one

"Pool time"

2011-03-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it's okay to break the rules. Jumping off of tables n such. Inside. The kids dragged out all the blankets, we pushed the kids' table in from the play room, and the kids changed into the swim suits, and they went swimming! Splashing and jumping and having the best fun ever! How can you say no to that??

Carter's 1st Year - Album

2011-03-28T13:39:00.001-04:00

I DID IT! I made Carter's 1st Year memory book! (considering I really haven't done ANYTHING but BLOG pictures since ELI was born, this is a HUGE step for me!!!) Yesterday I happened to see in my email inbox that there's a Shutterfly sale on photo books right now, ending TODAY, so I got started right away, finished the page layouts last night at midnight, and finished up the details this morning, and just placed the order right now! I think it's a pretty good deal because it includes the price of printing pictures, buying scrapbook paper, the album itself, and any add-ons, not to mention that you can "assemble" the entire book in 1 day! So here I am to share with YOU! ENJOY!

Note: you can follow the links to view it full-screen but it probably still isn't big enough to read all the text. It still gives you a glimpse of the creation...

Click here to view this photo book larger