dark

It is dark out.  It is dark alot this time of year.  Boo!  Caleb and Logan are especially now into paying attention to whether the sun is coming up or going down.

We've been busy!  Nothing new there.  Last Saturday Mike worked all day on the corn harvest with my dad.  The boys and I managed to meet up with him for lunch and then ride in the combine a bit as well.  We got all 5 of us in there!  On Tuesday Mike took the day off of work to help finish up the corn harvest.

Sunday I spent both the morning and evening service in the nursery.  Yay.  Oh well!  Hoping for better "luck" tomorrow and that I'll actually get to sit in a service!  :)

Monday night was the 5th week of the class Mike and I have been taking.  We are really, really enjoying it.  Gotta keep reminding myself each time we pay the babysitter that's it's worth it, but it totally is.  This time it's a 20 week class, so it'll take us right through the winter.

Wednesday morning Caleb and Logan went to their friend Benjamin's house to play.  I had everyone loaded up and out the door by 9am!!!  I didn't have major plans (usually I make a huge to-do list when I have opportunities like this, but things are so crazy I didn't even have a chance to think about what I should do!), so Levi and I just went to Target to get a few things (the new Target in Grandville - don't get me started......grrrrrr......) and then headed home.  After getting Levi to nap, I got a few things done but then laid down myself for a bit!  That's a very rare treat!  Didn't have a ton of time before I had to get Levi up to feed him so we could then leave on time to pick the other boys up, but any bit of peace and quiet is treasured.

Thursday evening I met up with my friend Jen from college.  She's a professor at WMU now, and teaches a class one night a week at their GR campus downtown.  She lived in Florida after college up until this summer, so it's nice to have her closer now!  On my way into downtown I was reflecting on my years working at Crowe, and I gotta say, I do NOT miss it!!  I am so glad to be out of it!  Even though there are plenty of times now that I think I'm going to go crazy and I desperately wish to get out of the house (and be leisurely about it, instead of rushing around to get alot done before I have to get home again...), I LOVE being a stay at home mom and am so thankful that I can do this.

Yesterday was a fun day!  Mike worked a half day then we dropped all the kids off at his mom and stepdad's.  We headed over to the mall to see Lincoln (movie just came out yesterday, it was really good).  We haven't been to a movie in YEARS.  And it's so weird to go to one in the middle of the day.  We did a little shopping afterwards and then in the evening our Sunday School class from church had a get together.

We didn't have any specific plans today, but things still always end up a little crazy.  I went out for groceries this morning while Mike stayed home with all the boys.  This evening Mike is out for a bit with Caleb and Logan getting dog food (which means they went to Meijer, so I'm sure they're spending time looking at the fish and riding the pony).

Caleb has gone on the potty several times today.  He didn't want to wear a pull-up, and he's gone in it a couple times, but he's also been using the potty some, too.  So I don't know where we're at with that.

Logan has been asking pretty much every day this month if we can put the Christmas tree up.  One more week!  That also means it's almost their birthday. I'm not ready for that!

Logan definitely seems to be more sensitive.  The other day was kind of rough, and during quiet time I was in the office upstairs on the phone with Mike for a few minutes and I was crying.  Logan was in their room down the hall and must have heard me.  Way later, after suppertime, Logan said to me, "I forgot to make you feel better upstairs."  I didn't know what he was talking about and asked him to explain.  He said something about me crying upstairs.  Melt!  What a sweetie-pie!

Levi is "talking" more - he's got some new noises.  He's gone from doing just the "ahhhhh" noise to now doing more of a "da-da-da" noise.  And he loves to talk A LOT!  I love having a conversation with him - he really enjoys it when we go back and forth.  He's not quite scooting yet, but we're right on the brink.  I'm totally fine with him staying in one spot for now.  He's really good at a couple of his toys - he likes to play with the music table, and he can do the one toy where you push a button/pull a lever and it pops up.  He loves watching what's going on.

I definitely can't leave Caleb and Logan alone in a room with Levi yet...  The other day the three of them were in the living room and I was in the bathroom getting ready so I was watching them in the mirror.  Levi had bumped one of his toys with his foot and Caleb thought that was cool and wanted him to do it again, so first he kinda just grabbed Levi by the foot and turned him a little, but then he actually started to pick him up....Caleb had Levi about halfway off the floor!  Yikes!