It was bound to happen.

It happened.  Of course it did.  We're not good about putting away our outside toys.  Bikes n such.  I'm not used to driving the truck.  Do you see where I'm going with this??

I was backing the truck out last Saturday and I heard a really loud crunch, scraping sound.  What in the world was THAT?!, I said to myself and climbed out to see what I'd run over.  Sure enough.  Hannah's tricycle.  Smashed.

I almost cried I felt so terrible.  But fortunately the kids were up by the house and didn't see what had happened.  Kevin quickly threw the tricycle behind the garage and I left as though nothing had happened.

I was on my way to Omaha, so I just made  mental note to myself, Well, I'll guess I'll get Hannah a new bike while I'm out then!

We had a talk about what happened and how we really need to put our things away.  I told Hannah how sorry I was and then we presented her with this...

Because it's nearing the end of the play-outside season for this year and Hannah's getting so big already, we went ahead and upgraded her to a big bike.  She really does quite well with it.  She's a happy girl.  And now we remember to put our play things away at the end of the day.  Live and learn.  There's no better way.

Eli's new room!

Well, it's not entirely NEW.  The arrangement is all the same, the decor is all the same.  But at last there is finally some color on the walls!  Hannah's had her room* painted for quite some time, since the first months we lived here actually, and Eli's been a little anxious for his room to be painted too.  So I'm pleased to finally have gotten that done.

Hannah's room has stripes and butterflies and all kinds of girly things, but I really didn't have ambition to do anything crazy with Eli's room.  The best I was really going to do was to do two walls one color and two walls another color.  Light yellow and blue. And somehow that turned into swirls and polka dots, but in the end I like how it looks.  And Eli does too.  And that's the important part.

oops, still need to take the tape off the top of that corner

Now. If we could just do something about his dangling light bulb. LOL!

* Still need to post updated pictures of Hannah's big-girl room!

Coming along...

Just a quick update to let you know what's happening with the house these days...

In preparation for Lisa's visit we finally got a surge of motivation to continue some of the finish work on our projects.  Kevin put up the window trim for our new dining room windows.  I found a vase for the beautiful flowers in our beautiful new bathroom.  And I painted Eli's bedroom.  

Pictures coming soon!!

Miss Lisa

A week ago my friend Lisa came to stay with us for 5 days while Kevin was on a night rotation.  Lisa and I became friends in CT where our hubbies worked together.  And we've remained friends ever since.  We had such a lovely visit and the kids adored her.  We introduced her to our country life in Nebraska surrounded by fields and fields and fields of corn.  But mostly we enjoyed laughter and good conversation.  Already can't wait 'til next time, sweet friend!!

 

Carter--8 months!

So this is what Carter thought about doing 8-month pictures today...

 

Not sure what the deal was, but we managed to still get the following...

Thanks, buddy!

Now for 8-month updates:

* Oh he's definitely crawling all over the place.  One knee, one foot.

* And now he's starting to pull to standing up to some things.

* He walks when we hold his hands.

* He eats baby food and bits of table food.

* He loves feeding himself Cheerios and Fruit Puffs now and often eats those while we're eating our meals.

* He nurses 4 times a day--first thing in the morning, late morning, mid-afternoon, and bedtime.

* He naps 2.5 times a day and goes to bed at 7:30pm, waking up between 6:30 and 7am.

* He's starting to develop silliness.  He pulls himself back and forth in his high chair, and he likes to lay his head down on a pillow or blanket and smile.

* Speaking of blankets, he sucks on them or small stuffed animals like it's a pacifier. And if he's having a hard time getting to sleep, if I can get him to start sucking on his blankie, then he's set to go.

* No new teeth this month, still just the two on the bottom, but everything still goes directly to his mouth and his pleasure of a toy is based on how good it is to bite on.

* We started putting g diapers on him sometimes.  Just a couple that we're experimenting with until we switch to that full time (?)

* He attended his first air show this month, well last month really, which I have yet to blog about!

Happy 8 months, sweet pea!  We sure do love you!!  And now for some videos I FINALLY took...

Preschool!

Eli  started his first day of preschool on Monday!  He goes MWF from 9-11:30am at one of the Lutheran churches in town.  It's Bible-centered learning, and just an overall fun environment for him to begin his school years!  He was SO excited to go, and when we arrived at the school that first day he just went right in and started playing with toys while I got some things figured out with the teacher.  He'd remembered it well from our visit last spring, and a friend of his is in his class this year, so that does make it easier for him.

This has begun a whole new life for all of us, as it means trucking back and forth from town twice each of those days.  But actually, it's not seeming to be that big of a deal, especially since Kevin's days off are sometimes during the week.  Hannah's still getting used to the fact that she doesn't get to go to school.  That first day she bawled, absolutely BAWLED, ALL the way home, as in could-barely-breathe bawled, so we sat on the porch swing for awhile 'til she calmed down.  Then she got to paint with water colors.  Then we had tea time.  Then she watched a show while I took care of some stuff for MOPS.  And then it was time to pick up Eli.  This time she stayed in the van while I went in to get Eli.  And that's the way we continue to do it.  =)  But gosh, I love it.  Carter naps while Eli's at school so I get blessed one-on-one time with Hannah.  It's so quiet.  So wonderful, so absolutely wonderful.  We have tea time every day (well, every MWF) and she helps me with chores, and we read books, and she paints some more or does some sort of activity.  And did  I mention it's quiet?  Ahh, I love this, REALLY love this.

And then Eli comes home and I get to see his sweet smile again and ask him about his day.  He doesn't say much so I have to ask a lot of specific questions throughout the day.  He has such a great time.  And he got a new backpack, a THOMAS backpack-that's-really-too-big-for-him, since that first day, so I'll have to get a picture of that.  It's just so great to see him do something on his own, to see him excited to learn and be a part of something, and to put all his learning and training into practice away from Sister outside the home.  Before he goes we talk about he can share Jesus at school-- by sharing toys, helping others, listening to his teachers, having good manners--and at the end of his "day" I ask him what things he did to share Jesus.  He doesn't quite understand but it's a good beginning for all the years to come.

A thankful heart.

This morning I was jotting some things down in my thankful journal {that I hadn't written in at all since June 15 by the way}.  Eli asked what I was doing so I told him, and he asked if he could put some things in his journal too.  So for at least the next 45 minutes he kept listing things he was thankful for as he continued to bounce around the living room doing what kids do.  Some things he repeated several times, and at first I didn't write them again, but towards the end I decided I would because it shows what he thinks of most.  He kept going forever, it was awesome!  Here his list as he said it...

1. I am thankful for... friends.

2. I am thankful for... family.

3. I am thankful for... Carter is my best friend.

4. I am thankful for...I am safe.

5. I am thankful for... my house keeping me dry.

6. I am thankful for...my whole house and my room.

7. I am thankful for...I am healthy water and food.  {?}

8. I am thankful for... my bed.

9. I am thankful for... my big family.

10. I am thankful for... I get plenty of drinks.

11. I am thankful for...my chairs.

12. I am thankful for... my whole big blankies.

13. I am thankful for... my whole outside.

14. I am thankful for... I get plenty of air. {as he was looking at the AC unit}

15. I am thankful for...I get plenty of drink energy.  {?}

16. I am thankful for... my pictures.

17. I am thankful for... I get to go to school.

18. I am thankful for...that little helicopter that Daddy got.

19. I am thankful for... I got a lot of water.

20. I am thankful for... my stickers.

21. I am thankful for... Grandma and Grandpa.

22. I am thankful for... Mommy.

23. I am thankful for... my new cup.

24. I am thankful for... Paul and Holly.

25. I am thankful for... Jesus because I can be clean my heart.

26. I am thankful for... devotion.

27. I am thankful for... my big birthday.

28. I am thankful for... Daddy's big birthday yesterday. His Jeep one.  {yesterday just equals the past}

29. I am thankful for...I'm a little airplane. {huh?}

30. I am thankful for... I got energy right now.

31.  I am thankful for... you.

32. I am thankful for... my whole big life.

33. I am thankful for... plenty of sleep.

34. I am thankful for... juice.

35. I am thankful for... my special birthdays and my little lawnmower and my jeep.

36. I am thankful for... I am healthy and strong.

37. I am thankful for... donuts.

38. I am thankful for... my little Carter.

39. I am thankful for... Hannah's princess stuff.

40. I am thankful for... Carter James.

41. I am thankful for... my chairs.

42. I am thankful for... Jesus dying for our sins.

43. I am thankful for... my big giant sleep.

44. I am thankful for... Hannah.

45. I am thankful for... Carter doesn't poop out at night.  AND he goes to sleep right away.  {LOL}

46. I am thankful for... my whole big giant yard and I get plenty of food.

47. I am thankful for... swimming lessons.

48. I am thankful for... pictures.

49. I am thankful for... big, big JUMPS!

50. I am thankful for... blue sky.

51. I am thankful for... this {jumps off the couch}.

52. I am thankful for... Hannah jumping that way.

53. I am thankful for... blue trees.

54. I am thankful for... trees are green.

55. I am thankful for... Jesus.

56. I am thankful for... stickers.

57. I am thankful for... my blankies.

58. I am thankful for... trains.

59. I am thankful for... wagon rides.

60. I am thankful for... family.

61. I am thankful for... Paul and Holly.

62. I am thankful for... socks.

63. I am thankful for... plenty of sleep.

64. I am thankful for... fan, air {con}ditioner

65. I am thankful for... sleep.

66. I am thankful for... sun keep me warm.

67. I am thankful for... my whole body is growing me up and hopefully I'm getting me married soon.

68. I am thankful for... toys.

69. I am thankful for... pillows.

70. I am thankful for... chairs.

71. I am thankful for... tree branches.

72. I am thankful for... Hannah's dancin'.

73. I am thankful for... Hannah's spinning.

74. I am thankful for... dancing.

75. I am thankful for... Jesus on this picture.

What a sweet boy!