wrap it up

I suppose it's cliche, but I can't believe another year is over!  2016 has been great, and we look forward to 2017 being another fun and exciting year for our crazy little family.

As usual this time of year, we've been pretty busy.  The first week of Christmas break was spent stuck at home with sick kids and a van at the mechanic.  But, after we got through that and Mike started his break from work, we've been able to really enjoy our time!  On Christmas Eve we did our traditional family shopping.  We had the boys draw names, then took them to the mall to help them shop for the person's whose name they drew.  (On a quick stop at Gemmen's on the way Logan found his gift for Levi.)  Things went pretty well at the mall, and we even had time to look a little for Mike's gift for me (snowpants and gloves).  After we finished at the mall, we headed to Meijer to grab some baby things to drop off at Lakeshore Pregnancy Center.  We had fun picking out some girl clothes!

Christmas Day was a nice, relaxing day at home after attending church in the morning.  We had fun opening a few presents, eating a nice breakfast, and just hanging out.

Then this past week is when the craziness began!  Tuesday I took Caleb and Logan to meet up with a school friend at Kids Unlimited for open gym time.  They had so much fun!  Trampolines, foam pits, and mats and such for them to run around and play on.  Tuesday evening was the greater Steenwyk party at my parent's house.  My sister and her family made it into town in time for the party, so it was great to see them and also other family that we don't have opportunity to see much.  That was our first late night of the week...

Wednesday morning I was busy trying to clean the house since my sister was going to be babysitting Jackson for a while in the afternoon.  A bunch of the rest of us went to see Rogue One (Dad, Chad, Katie, Jenna, Eric, Lea Anne, Boden, Heidi, Mike, Caleb, Logan, Levi, and myself.).  So fun!  We saw it in 3D and that was neat.  That evening was the greater Krol party.  I actually jumped in and played volleyball this year (it's been a few years), and this old lady was a little sore the next day!

I think it was Thursday morning that we actually slept in.  Even Jackson!  He's handled the crazy schedule this week like a champ.  Starting mid-afternoon was our Steenwyk Christmas.  Family photos, carol singing, Christmas story, dinner, prayer time, and presents, oh my!  I put Jackson to bed there and he actually fell asleep.  Felt bad when it was time to get him up to go home, but he went back to bed at home just fine.  Meanwhile, the other boys have had so much fun hanging with their cousins so much!  Love seeing how they all get along.  

Friday around lunchtime I met up with my friend Angie for coffee.  Always nice to catch up!  Then Friday evening we went to my parent's to hang out with my family again.  This time was Bingo, birthday presents for some of the kids, and family discussion time (how to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary next year, and our joining in the beef business).  It was another late night and Jackson slept in until after 9am this morning!  He took two naps today, went to bed on time tonight, and hopefully will be back to normal tomorrow.  Levi also napped today, and all the boys clearly needed  a break from all the activity.

Now it's 10pm on New Years Eve, and the boys have been in bed since a little after 8pm, Mike went to bed around 9pm, and I'll be going there soon!  Party animals!

Oh, by the way, Jackson has been walking all over the place, and it's just too cute.  :)  Farmer Levi has gotten alot of work done with the new combine and grain buggy he got; and Caleb and Logan, my little artists, have enjoyed painting an alligator and dinosaur that they got.

these boots are made for walkin'

Jackson keeps taking more and more steps!  Of course, he won't really let me get it on camera.  About a week ago we were all in Caleb and Logan's room and he took about 5-6 steps - we were all cheering loudly and he clearly enjoyed the attention.  :)  We're in a 'fun' transition time right now, but I think he's moving towards dropping to one nap a day.  He's already changing in what he will and won't eat, and becoming more challenging for me.  For example, used to be that he would gobble up scrambled eggs faster than I could keep up, now he won't touch them.  Stinker.

Last week was a little extra busy because Caleb and Logan had a couple rehearsals for their church Christmas program.  Wednesday night they had a rehearsal before Word of Life, and then all Saturday morning.  The program was Sunday night and went really well!  It was a cute program about a birthday party for Jesus, and had fun songs.  The boys were just in the choir part for most of it, then at the end they got to be shepherds.  So cute!  Caleb was a little fidgity up there, but Logan was very serious and focused.  Normally I've got some sort of story to tell after Christmas Program night, but not this time!  Things were pretty tame.  A few times Caleb was sticking his hand in his shirt where he had a button missing, but probably no one noticed?  :)  And, while Levi was up there with his group, Caleb did holler something at him from where he was sitting, but we didn't have any "major" incidents this year.  Levi's group (the 4's and 5's) did great!  It was a small group so we were worried about them being way too quiet, but they did well.  We had been encouraging Levi to go ahead and sing right into the microphone, and he actually did try a few times, but I don't think that one was turned up very much as I didn't hear him.  Hard to believe that next year Jackson will be up there in the 2's and 3's!!

Friday night our school had a Parent's Night Out babysitting fundraiser for some of the highschoolers going on a missions trip this spring.  So we gladly dropped the boys off and headed out for a date!  (Too rare of an occurrence.)  Tacos el Cunado for supper, then Barnes & Noble to just hang out browsing at books and then having coffee.  After the craziness of harvest season, it is SOOOOOO nice to have more time to spend together and actually have conversations.  Kinda funny, on our way to drop the kids off we were all in the truck and swerved a little on an icy patch.  Then on our way to pick the kids up, there was a smaller truck in the ditch in that same spot.  We pulled over to make sure he had a phone to call for help and he was fine.  Glad it wasn't more serious, and glad we weren't the ones in the ditch!

Saturday morning we fit in a drive to Benton Harbor to deliver beef while Caleb and Logan were at rehearsal.  The weather was a little wintry, but not too bad.  On the way back we did see a couple separate vehicles in the median, one looked pretty bad.  Sunday was pretty snowy, but thankfully the program wasn't cancelled.  We drove around in the truck all weekend as the van needs new tires and isn't getting them until Friday.  Of course, I've been slipping around in it this week so far.  Monday school was cancelled, and we had a really nice snow day.  A year ago I dreaded snow days, but it was actually a nice, relaxing, fun day.  I even got to go out a play a bit with the big boys when Jackson napped.

Amy and I have gone to a spin class at Zeeland Rec a couple times now, and it's been great!  It was really rough the first time, but it felt good to get some exercise, and I could notice improvement at the second class already.  Now to try and get moving the rest of the week, too!  I took possession of Mike's old fitbit, so we'll see if tracking my activity motivates me at all.

merry

It's the Christmas season and we are enjoying it!  I have been partaking in Christmas music for quite a while already, but we put up the tree about a week ago, and I just love having it up.  Mike helped me get the little trees on the porch set up, and I just got candles for a few of the windows - it's all so pretty.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend.  Thanksgiving Dinner was at VanBeek's, and almost all of Mike's family was able to be there.  On Friday we ended up going up to the cottage overnight and had such a nice time!  Harold and Kara were up there with their kids, and Friday night we just hung out, then Saturday we took a drive to look at some land for hunting.

Monday evening we celebrated Caleb and Logan's birthday with grandparents.  And then Tuesday was their SEVENTH birthday!!  I can hardly believe it.  My little babies are big boys now!  It is so much fun watching them become their own persons with different interests, talents, and personalities.
Thursday evening was the school Christmas concert.  Caleb, Logan, and Levi were all a part of it, and they did great!  They were all three up front at the same time (with the rest of the elementary), standing in different spots, and it was hard to keep an eye on all three at the same time.  :)  I didn't want to miss what one person did just because I was watching another...

Friday night we were able to get a piano from some friends.  We brought over pizza and hung out a bit, then moved the piano from their place to ours.  We put it in Jackson's room as we don't really have another good spot, and everyone's enjoying it so far.

Saturday afternoon was our first family Christmas party of the season.  With my mom's side at my parent's house.  Nice to see some of the family that we don't see very often.

Yesterday afternoon was our first real, accumulating snow of the year.  The boys had fun playing outside!  We even took Jackson outside for a bit and he seemed to enjoy it.

Jackson is ALMOST walking.  Definitely going to happen soon!  He has taken 1 or 2 small steps, and is much more steady standing on his own.  He says bye-bye and waves, and a couple times has said nigh-nigh.  So fun to see him picking up on different things: he'll hold one of his toy phones up to his head and 'talk', the other day he grabbed one of his shoes and held it by his foot, when I go in the bathroom with him he puts his finger by his ear knowing I'm going to clean his ears, and a little while back when he had a runny nose, not long after I had wiped it, he took his hankie out of the backpack and kinda wiped his nose.  He has been doing a little climbing, which I'm not a huge fan of.

Levi is still pretty focused on farming and combining.  And, he's often looking for ways to work and be a helper!  Love the initiative I see in that guy.  The other day he did say something about missing me some when at school ("When Silas gets sad and misses his mom, I miss my mom, too").  Sweetheart!

Loving Mike's off-season!  We just eat up all the family time.  Every day it's a pleasant surprise when he gets home from work at such a reasonable hour.  And, of course, Friday's off are AWESOME.

it was time

Last week was still a beautiful week.  Friday was even 70 degrees, and a great day to be outside.  And then Saturday it happened.  It got cold and snowy.  Winter had to come sooner or later!  After much effort, I THINK we're all set with coats, snow pants, boots, hats, and gloves.  Phew!  Of course the snow is gone already, now today is just rainy and cold.

During the good weather last week Mike hung a tire swing and started working on a fort in the woods.  So fun!  I can see the boys having hours of enjoyment with the fort.  What an awesome dad.  :)  Caleb and Logan are getting some tools for their birthday next week, we'll see if we get some decent weather for them to help Mike with more of the fort.

Monday and Tuesday this week we had some busy days.  Monday morning after dropping Caleb and Logan off to school, Levi, Jackson, and I headed to a Moms and Muffins time.  It's always nice to have a chance to chat with some of the other moms from school.  After that we made a quick trip to the store and then had to head to the doctor for Jackson's 12 month check-up.  He's nice and healthy!  21 lb 9 oz (50%) and 31.75 in (96%).  His measurements are pretty close to what Caleb's were at that age.  Fun to see him crawling around the room, hiding under the exam table.  :)  He's doing everything he should developmentally, and there are no concerns!  Praise the Lord for another healthy child.

Jackson is mostly eating table food, I just still do some baby food as that's a way of getting some veggies in him.  :)  He's drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup now, no more bottles.  He's been doing some spitting at meal time, which we're trying to nip in the bud, but he often thinks it's funny when we he gets a swat on the hand.  Hmmmm...  A few times now he has stood for several seconds on his own.  He walks really well pushing his walker or scooter.  Jackson loves his big brothers, and tries to get in the mix with them.  :)  I think he has said "bye bye" and "nigh nigh" a couple times - so hard to tell for sure when they're just starting out!

The older boys are on Thanksgiving break now, and overall we've had a nice day so far.  They played for quite a while this morning before even having breakfast.  We did run a few errands which included flu shots.  The boys did pretty well!  Caleb and Logan hardly flinched or reacted, I had to hold Levi down, and he did cry a little, but at least didn't scream.  :)  Of course we had to go through McDonald's drive-thru for cookies after that.  Levi was upset for quite a while afterwards, but finally snapped out of it.  We'd been listening to The Magician's Nephew in the car, so now at home we're watching The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Nothing like The Chronicles of Narnia!

fall

We have had an absolutely gorgeous fall!!  It can stay like this for another month as far as I'm concerned.  I'd be good with just a solid month or so of winter.  A couple Saturdays ago Mike went to a U of M game with some of the guys from his family, and they had a really great day for it.

Last Tuesday was our country's presidential election.  Such a crazy time.  So many thoughts going through my mind.  I don't have time right now to put it all down here, and I don't know that I will.  Although, it would probably feel good to just get it all out and this would be a fairly safe place since only 1-2 other people read my posts.  Ha ha!

Wednesday night we dropped Caleb, Logan, and Levi off at church and then went to Russ' with Jackson for a semi-date.  Oh how nice!!  To be able to sit and have a conversation is a pretty nice thing.

Mike took Wed and Thur off of work to help my dad finish up harvesting corn.  Worked out nice since the boys had 1/2 days at school, and pickup time would have been right when Jackson was napping, so Mike was able to pick them up.  Thursday afternoon we had parent/teacher conferences for Caleb and Logan.  Mrs. Steenwyk seems like a tough teacher, but they are doing really well!  ;)  So thankful that she understands little boys, and she's excited about what they're learning.  Both Caleb and Logan got good and great marks on all their subjects and behavior.  As expected, Caleb has a little more 'energy' shall we say, but nothing out of bounds; and Logan is a little more reserved and conscientious with his work.  Logan loves bugs, which I knew was going to make him a good match for Mrs. Steenwyk; and she knows how to handle boys with some spunk like Caleb.  Sounds like they are respectful, obedient, and get along with all the other kids just fine.  Phew!  Let's keep that up!  :)

Friday was no school, and Caleb and Logan went to a friend's house for a few hours.  Levi was able to help Mike with some work, which was a good thing since he hadn't been able to ride the combine Wed/Thur and was quite disappointed about that.  (He is obsessed with combining.)  In the afternoon we went as a family to help another family clean the bathrooms at school.  Wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't too bad!

Saturday was a beautiful day for a drive to Grand Ledge to visit my Grandma Tiemeyer.  Her dementia is worsening, but she's very pleasant and still knows who we are.  The boys handle it very well, I'm so glad.  We were able to go for a little walk with her and Ginger, and visit with my Aunt Joy a bit as well.  Afterwards we took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch - good times!

one

Taken from my Facebook post earlier today: "It took a little while to dawn on me what was happening, but by this time one year ago today, I realized that I was most definitely in labor and needed to get to the hospital! (I had never gone into labor on my own before, and had a c-section scheduled for the next day, hence the skepticism at what I was feeling. ) Amy Smith was here wishing me well for the next day; I called Mike to tell him I thought things were happening and we'd better head in to get checked out, but I failed to tell him I wanted him to HURRY. When he got home from work and said he wanted to take a shower before leaving, I just about flipped. But, we had to wait for his mom to get here for Levi anyways. Thankful she's close, thankful Mike takes fast showers, and thankful the hospital is only 5 minutes away. Got to the hospital and ran into Mike's cousin's wife on my way in (who had her baby the week before and didn't wait for me so we could be in the hospital at the same time!). Didn't take too long before they had me in surgery and we were anxiously waiting to find out whether we were continuing the boy theme or completely changing things up with a girl. At 2:01pm we were thrilled to meet our fourth baby boy! Certainly the birth of each of our children is special in it's own way, but this one was special because it was the most "with it" and the best I felt for any of them (really helps to not have been in labor for several hours/a couple days before delivery...). We didn't decide on a name right away, but after I was able to spend my recovery time with him and we were brought back up to my room, we decided on Jackson. They weighed him and I was floored that he was only 8 lbs! (After having an 11 pounder, you have no idea what to expect.)

Jackson's big brothers were excited to meet him, and one year later the excitement still hasn't worn off. They LOVE playing and interacting with him, to the point of driving us batty with their baby talk. :) A few days of peace and quiet at the hospital and then it was time to go home and embark on our adventure of managing the chaos of four little boys. I LOVE IT. There are plenty of days that I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it and I don't think there's any hope of guiding these hooligans into decent, functioning members of society, but oh how I love these energetic, rambunctious, thoughtful, creative, imaginative BOYS. From not being sure what God's plan was for our family regarding children, to having four boys...that's pretty intense!

On the one hand, I think God is using Jackson to teach me even more flexibility and that each child is unique and different, but he also fits right into our family. To make sure he doesn't get forgotten, he gets quite vocal (it's a last born thing, trust me, right Mom?), and he loves playing with his big brothers. I can only begin to imagine the trouble they are going to get into together.

Happy 1st birthday to my baby! Like it or not, you'll always be my baby. We love you and are so thankful that God chose to bless our family with your arrival!"

I know it's cliche, but seriously, how did this last year go so fast??  I suppose part of it is just a blur because of lack of sleep and constantly trying to figure out WHAT IS GOING TO GET THIS KID TO SLEEP MORE?!?!  And, then there's the busyness of the three other boys, that kinda makes things fly by, too.  One year ago and for several months following, I had a snuggly little baby that nursed for a long time and fell asleep on me.  Now, I've got an almost-toddler that won't sit still and snuggle for anything and just wants to be on the go.  

This age is a lot of work (what age isn't??), but boy is it fun.  The more interactive he gets, the more his physical development progresses, the more his personality comes through, the better it gets.  Jackson is doing really well walking with his walker, and he almost stands without hanging onto anything.  He eats lots of table food and holds his own bottle.  He has six teeth.  He still uses a pacifier, but mostly just for bedtime.  He can clap, almost do "peek a boo", and sign "more".  He loves having his brothers push him around on his new scooter.  That really gets him smiling and laughing.  He's very vocal - our drive home from church on Wednesday evening's just makes us laugh.  I don't know if it's the excitement of his brothers getting back in the van and being all jazzed up or what, but he really starts jabbering (loudly) then for most of the ride home.  

Love the addition that Jackson makes to our family!  

color

It is absolutely gorgeous out right now!!  Sunny, warm, fall day with leaves changing and falling.  Fall is so bittersweet for me.  I do love the season itself, but I end up dreading it as summer ends just because I know what comes after fall, and that it's cold, dark, and lasts sooooo long.  Certainly the bright side of winter is having Mike around so much more.  That helps!  I SHOULD be out mowing the lawn right now (for probably one last time this year), but Jackson is napping and Mike took the other three boys to help my dad with the combine.

Last week I managed to pickle some peppers!  I had completely forgotten that I wanted to do that, and then Mike mentioned it.  (I love having a garden, but when the season comes to an end I am more than ready for a break.)  Thankfully I have a few pepper plants that have still been going strong, so I didn't have a problem gathering enough to do several jars.  It was easy, and Mike loves them!

Last Thursday Levi, Jackson, and I went on a little adventure to South Haven.  Mike's cousin who lives in Indiana bought a 1/4 cow, so we met her halfway with the meat.  (We've done this a couple times before.)  I'm so glad that South Haven is a good meeting place for us because it's such a neat little town.  We took a quick look at the lake (it was too cold to get out), then stopped downtown for a little treat.  It was a nice day for a drive, and both boys did great!

Friday Mike took Roxy to the vet for a check-up.  She's doing great!  She's only about 52 pounds, which is small compared to what Brandy and Sadie were, but the vet said she looks great.  It's always *interesting* taking our outside dog who is not leash trained into the vet's office.  Kinda like taking our rambunctious country boys out in public.  We all fit well together, I guess!

Saturday was Jackson's birthday party!!  I can't believe it!  We had things pretty well under control, so Mike was able to help my dad combine earlier in the day.  We had a nice party for him in the evening.  My parents, Mike's mom and stepdad, Kara and the kids (Harold was gone hunting), Eric and Lea Anne and the kids all came.  Being close to Halloween we told the kids they could wear their costumes to the party, so that was fun.  I don't think Jackson knew quite what to think of all the people in our house at first.  And, he was unsure of his cake when I first gave it to him, but he ended up digging in.  :)

Early Sunday morning Levi woke up puking, so I ended up staying home from church and Mike took Caleb and Logan with him.  So glad it was just a quick little thing and no one else got sick!

Yesterday was Halloween and it was my FIRST time trick or treating!  We took the kids to Eric and Lea Anne's neighborhood and it was so fun to be out and about with so many other people (it was a beautiful night) and see the kids really getting into it and enjoying it.  Levi tired out after a bit, but handled it well.  Now we have SO MUCH candy and I've got to exercise some willpower.  (And it would be helpful if I actually exercised my body as well...)

I won't be able to describe it very well, but I hope just the mention of it will jog my memory enough that I'll remember it clearly...  So, last night we're walking around Eric and Lea Anne's neighborhood and there's a guy with one arm (for real) who has his stump and his shirt made to look all bloody and he was walking his dog who was dragging along a fake arm.  Pretty good.  (If I ever lose a limb or something I hope I can make the most of it with a good attitude like that.  Anyways.)  From a distance us adults are watching my niece Heidi notice this guy.  She's terrified of dogs, so first she is wary and giving him plenty of space because of that. But then she noticed that he was missing an arm and boy was she dumbfounded and staring at him.  Oh the look on her face!!  It was great.

My baby turns 1 tomorrow.  I'm not sure yet how I feel about that...

finished

Harvest is done!  Harvest is done!  Harvest is done!  I'm just a little bit happy.  :)  They didn't harvest last Monday due to wet fields, so they finished up on Wednesday.  Mike had clean up stuff to take care of Thursday, but had Friday off, and as soon as Caleb and Logan got out of school we dropped the boys off at my brother's, and Mike and I headed out for the weekend!  It was a wonderful weekend away of relaxing, talking, and just enjoying being together.  We stayed the nights at Harold and Kara's cottage, and Saturday during the day we took a drive up to the Baldwin area and drove around looking for Grandpa Krol's old cabin.  Sunday when we left the cottage we headed west to Muskegon then went down the lakeshore a ways.  It was a beautiful fall weekend!

A couple weeks ago I was able to go with Caleb and Logan's class on a field trip to Post Family Farm.  I took Levi and Jackson along, and am so glad we had a really nice day!

Last Tuesday Caleb woke up sick and so he missed school.  Thankfully it was a quick thing and no one else got sick!

On Mike's last day of harvest I went to take a pic of the whole crew.  Again, very thankful for good weather!  In order to fit everyone in the photo I went up in a lift.  Glad it wasn't windy!

Planning for Jackson's 1st birthday party this weekend. I can't believe it!  He's doing pretty well with both his walkers, it's so fun to see.  He's still quite loud and vocal - I think that's a last born trait...  :)  Looking more like a toddler and less like a baby.  :(

a little sad

I just nursed Jackson for the last time.  At the end he pulled off, sat up, and clapped.  Crazy kid.

oops

Whoops, lost track of time!  Realized the other day that it's been a bit since I've posted.  I guess we've been a little busy.  :)

A couple weeks ago Mike and I were able to go to the wedding of a cousin of his.  It was a beautiful night and we had a nice time!  Outdoor ceremony, and the weather was perfect.  Reception in a cool old barn, and we had the chance to visit with another cousin we rarely get to see.  As far as we know, everything went well for the babysitter here.  :)  We did find out that Caleb fell on the treadmill while it was going (he knows full well he's not supposed to be on it without us there supervising...), and he had a pretty good case of road rash on both arms and hands that is finally looking a lot better.

I was able to drive and accompany Caleb and Logan on their field trip to Art Prize in Grand Rapids.  Our group was another mom and myself, and four boys.  Walking around a city looking at various art pieces with four 1st grade boys when there is a busy event going on is pretty fun.  You should try it.  !!!

We had our annual skeet shoot last weekend, and managed to fit it in between rains!  Always a good time visiting with family, and shooting guns is a plus.  Mike's cousin Joe brought his four-wheeler as well, so the kids each got a ride and that was fun.

This past Friday evening we went to another family from school's house.  Caleb had fun playing with the other boys, Logan was doing crafts with the girls, Levi was sad about being left out, and Jackson did pretty well until he got tired.

Mike is ALMOST done with harvest.  We're not looking forward to it or anything...  :)  He has still had some longer days, but also some days that he's gotten home on time and that's been really nice.  Even though we're not really involved in extra stuff (just Wednesday night church for the older 3 boys), it seems like we just don't have much time in the evenings after school.

Jackson is still not a great napper, but we seem to be getting into somewhat of a routine.  Right now he generally takes a nap late morning, sometimes into the early afternoon.  And then he'll nap again after we get home from school in the afternoon.  Sometimes short, sometimes long...  Overall he's doing well at night.  Here and there I have to get up with him.  But, he's been sleeping a little longer in the morning, which is nice.  It's worked out some now that I get him up right before we leave for school, and then feed him breakfast when we get back.  He is still scooting around on his belly - I think he'll skip crawling and go right to walking.  We've got a walker for him that he's getting pretty good at, and he's cruising around the coffee table.  He loves standing up and is pretty proud of himself.  He'll often be happy just standing at the coffee table for a while to play.  I am gradually weaning him, and it's making me a little sad.  I'm still nursing him twice a day, and my end date is two weeks from now.  This is it, my baby's not really a baby anymore!  :(

Levi really looks forward to school and will mention sometimes how much he likes it.  He definitely already knows things that Caleb and Logan didn't at this age!  He's gotten really good at writing his name, he can recognize a few sight words, and he really is an awesome color-er.  I suppose 4 year old girls are probably great at coloring, but for a boy he does great.  (Has the patience to do it, stays in the lines.)  He really was sad the other night about Caleb leaving him out when he was playing with the other boys.  Levi is so used to just being with the older boys and getting to be a part of what they're doing.

We're looking forward to a great fall with lots of family time once Mike is done with harvest!

dependent

I started going back to a Bible study this year, and it began last week Tuesday.  I was looking forward to going again, but Levi did NOT want to go.  I really didn't think about it being a problem, but when it was time to go he kept saying that he didn't want to go, and he was really slow about getting in the van.  I tried to reassure him that Lauryn would be there (Amy's youngest, and they had just been over a few days before), but he was still feeling super shy and scared.  When we got there and saw Amy and Lauryn in the parking lot he wouldn't even look at them or talk to them.  He was very upset when it came to actually dropping him off at his room - he was crying and I literally had to drag/carry him into the room (and he's not a small boy...).  The teacher is great and said she was fine with me just leaving him like that and she would handle it (she had to hold him back from following me out the door).  When I went back to pick him up at the end he was in a much better mood, and the teacher said it just took him a few minutes and then he was fine.  I was very encouraged by that, but on the way home as we were talking he kept saying that he didn't want to go again.  So I was anxious to see how it would go this week.  The night before I mentioned to him that we'd be going to Bible Study the next day and he seemed okay with it (although, he has trouble keeping track of the difference between various activities).  But, that morning when I told him we were going he got upset about it and by the time we got to the church I was worried we were going to have a repeat of the week before (or worse!).  He was sucking his thumb in the car, so I held his hand the rest of the way.  In the parking lot he wouldn't talk to or look at Amy and Lauryn.  BUT, when we got back to his classroom he did so much better!  The other boys that were already there were excited to see him, and he had that shy/scared look on his face, but he walked right in the room and I left without a problem!  Yay!  Afterwards he was very proud of himself for doing so well going in, and his teacher mentioned to me how good he sat for story time, so he was proud of that, too.  I'm expecting big things next week.  :)

So yeah, around the first couple weeks of school I caught Levi several times trying to sneak sucking his thumb.  He's already doing better with it, so it must have just been the stress of starting a couple new things.  Phew.

Last Wednesday Jackson and I were able to visit with our friends Angie, Ian, and Wyatt.  Ian and Wyatt are 1 month older than Jackson, and it was just too cute to see the three of them together!

The other night my dad needed help picking up bales from the field behind our house and it turned into quite the event with lots of helpers!  :)  My dad drove the truck while my mom rode along and held Jackson.  Mike, I, Caleb, Logan, Levi, and two neighbor boys managed picking up the bales and getting them stacked in the trailer.  It went pretty well!  The neighbor boys are only 4th and 2nd grade, but they were "go-getters" and really kept at it.  Caleb and Logan did okay, helping some.  And there were a number of times that Levi was rolling a bale to the trailer and was determined to do it without any help.  So neat to see how hard he was trying and not giving up.

Yesterday I sold Jackson's infant car seat.  Hard to believe we're done with that already!  I've been thinking just the last couple days that he hardly looks like a baby anymore.  :(

finally

School has started...finally!!  We've had a pretty good first week.  Kids are tired (and so am I), and there have been a few small meltdowns (them, not me), but for the most part they are doing well.  School started for Caleb and Logan on Tuesday, and Levi had his first day of PreK on Wednesday.  SO STRANGE going out on Wednesday with just Jackson!  We ran a few errands, he took a decent nap, and we just hung out a little bit.  It's been a challenge trying to figure out when to fit in Jackson's naps with the school schedule - getting the other boys there in the morning is no problem, but afternoon pick-up really puts a damper on nap time.  Yesterday I was trying to quick get a batch of salsa canned before afternoon pickup and Jackson was getting tired and cranky, but there wasn't enough time to put him in his bed to nap, so I brought the stroller in and Levi walked him around to keep him content!

Caleb and Logan seem to have had a good first week!  They are enjoying being back with their friends, and Logan was telling me last night that he likes feeling bigger and older now that he's a first grader.  :)  And, they like having Aunt Emily as a teacher!  Levi was excited to go to PreK on Wednesday, but I think Caleb and Logan were way more excited for him.  :)  Last week at the open house, Levi was very shy and I had to pull him into the room, but thankfully drop-off went much better on his first day.  And, when I picked them up at the end of the day he had a big smile on his face and right away told me he had fun.

As long as Jackson doesn't wake up TOO early, our morning routine goes pretty well.  Yesterday he woke up at 6am, which cramped my style a bit, but there ended up being a 2 hour fog delay for school, so that helped.  :)  The other boys get up at 7am and seem to have enough time to have breakfast and get ready to go.  Logan struggles the most in the morning, so I've been trying to think of ways I can help things go better for him.

This week after Labor Day is one of Mike's most difficult weeks at work.  With the holiday the celery had an extra day to grow (and it was already looking big heading into the weekend), and then on the first day of school he was down several employees as they were taking their kids to school (and they didn't come in later).  So, that meant even longer days and a half day Saturday.

We had a beautiful day for our last Saturday at Harold & Kara's cottage last week!  Good close to the summer.  Mike got up on the wake surf board, went skiing and tubing, and I even went on a tube ride with Levi.  The day was definitely a challenge with Jackson, more so than at the beginning of the summer now that he's mobile.  I'm ready to be done taking him up there for a while now.  :)  A couple weeks ago when we had a rainy Saturday, Mike took the older boys up there after church on Sunday and I just stayed home with Jackson.

A couple funny things that Levi has said lately: I often have to point out to him that his shirt is backwards.  Many times he insists that it's not and then I point out the tag to him.  The other day when I told him his shirt was backwards he said, "How do you always know that??"  Mom's know everything Levi...  :)  This morning Logan was recounting his dream to us.  If you've had any conversations with Logan you know that he can go on...and on...and on...  (In fact, there's a meme I've seen on the internet that shows a skeleton sitting on a bench and it says something like, "What it's like waiting for your child to finish a story." and that absolutely applies here!)  Anyways, after he was several minutes into it, Levi just pipes in and says, "This is getting really long, Logan."  Nothing like telling it like it is!

Jackson is really getting around now, and keeping me on my toes.  He still scoots with his belly on the floor, but on our wood floors he's pretty fast.  I've seen him get up on his knees a couple times, so actual crawling probably isn't far away.  (I didn't encourage the scooting or anything, but now that he is mobile it would be easier if he just learned to walk!)  He is eating all sorts of table food now and loving most of it.  He loves my homemade pizza and zucchini bread, so he fits right in with his brothers!  :)  Today when Mike got home from work Jackson was playing nicely on the floor in the living room, but when he heard his daddy he started "shouting" for him and was making a beeline for the dining room.  Pretty stinkin' cute.

unzip

It's community fair time here!  That's both exciting (the boys have so much fun!), and sad (it's the end of summer...).  We made somewhat of a day of it yesterday.  Tuesday is "dollar ride" day, so we went for a couple hours in the afternoon to do a bunch of rides, share an elephant ear, and walk around.  I had been hoping Jackson would just nap in his stroller, and of course he didn't, but thankfully he was at least content the whole time.  It's a little challenging to walk around the fair with four little boys, including a stroller, and on an especially busy day, but for the most part they did really well.  Caleb, Logan, and Levi each had a green shirt on, so that helped me easily spot them.  :)  I love watching them have so much fun and enjoy the rides and everything.

In the evening we went back with Mike so he could do a couple of the bigger rides with the boys.  Caleb and Logan each wanted to go on The Zipper if they were tall enough.  We checked their height earlier in the day and watched the ride for a bit (it's pretty intense...) and they were still determined to go.  This momma wasn't so sure about it...  Mike went with Caleb first.  Caleb loved it and can't wait to go again next year.  Mike wasn't sure about going right away a second time with Logan, but thankfully he's man enough to handle it, because I sure wasn't going to go!  ;)  I could definitely hear Logan's scream throughout the ride.  He got off at the end and says he never wants to do it again, but thankfully he wasn't upset about it or anything and he says he's glad he at least tried it.  We are so proud of our boys for being brave and going on a big ride!  After that we went and got in the loooooong line for the ferris wheel.  This was Levi's first time going!  I stayed on the ground with Jackson.  :)  They enjoyed going up so high and having such a nice view.  We were up a little late, but all four of the boys slept in a bit this morning.

is summer over yet?

I'm not ready for the summer season to be over, but can the kids PLEASE go back to school???  Wow.  We did great through June and July, but August has been a struggle.  Two more weeks to go!  We have most of what we need as far as clothes and school supplies, just a couple things to get.  No surprise, these boys have grown!  All of their pants were too short, and it seems I'm constantly buying footwear for somebody (and I haven't even got Jackson his first pair yet!).  I know this is payback for what Mike and I and all our siblings put our parents through.

We've got poison ivy like the plague over here.  Mike and the big boys have spent a lot of time in the woods and it's coming back to bite us.  Thankfully, Mike is very aware of if he comes in contact with it, and washes immediately (he had a very severe reaction a few years back and we definitely don't want that to happen again).  However, with the boys we didn't find out until it was too late.  Somehow Caleb has stayed clear, but it started with Logan about a week and a half ago.  He had it right around his eye, which made me nervous, and it spread down his cheek, so I took him in to the doctor.  The doctor we saw (not our normal doc) put him on meds, which did help clear him up, but after finishing the meds he was still pretty itchy and with new spots showing up.  We were in to our normal doc today for Jackson's 9-month, and he said he would have prescribed the meds for longer.  No need to go back on the meds this time, though, just take Benadryl for the itching and wait for it to clear up - poison ivy takes a while.  Levi started showing spots towards the end of last week.  He has an area on his arm, and on his face, and quite a large area on his torso.  Mike has sprayed quite a bit around where he's cutting wood with Round-Up, but he'll be going back out there and spraying some more!

Speaking of cutting wood, we've been selling at a stand up on 48th Ave, and Mike can hardly keep up!!  We've got plenty of dead trees to cut, Mike just needs the time.  :)  He doesn't have a whole lot of evening left after he gets home from work, but he tries to work on that when he can.  This winter he'll really have to get a big stockpile so that he can keep up better next year!

We were able to visit a friend's pool again last week and the boys loved it!  I love watching them enjoy swimming.  Jackson enjoyed being in the water for a while, Levi was even brave enough to sit on a raft without his arm floaties on, Logan dove all the way down in the deep end to retrieve goggles he dropped, and Caleb loves the slide.

So, Jackson's 9-month well child visit was this morning, and you might have multiple children if you go to the dr for one child, and spend almost the whole time talking about other things besides that child!  He's nice and healthy and developing normally, so no concerns.  :)  Jackson is 18 lbs 15 oz, which is 31st percentile; and he is 2 ft 5.5 in, which is 82nd percentile.  Long and lean!  :)  He has been a CRANKY PANTS the last couple weeks.  I hope it's just teething, and not just a general crankiness for no reason...  Not napping well at all.  Two Sunday's ago we didn't put him in nursery because of a cough he had, and yesterday I got called to the nursery both in the morning and evening because he was beside himself sobbing and they couldn't calm him down.  I'll be curious to find out in coming weeks if that was because of his crankiness lately, or if we're dealing with separation anxiety (he's fine when I drop him off, though).  Mike and I were supposed to go on our annual canoe trip this past weekend, but didn't due to bad weather, and even though it was disappointing to have it cancelled, I was relieved because I would've been so worried the whole time that Jackson was just crying and crying without me.  Hopefully we'll be past that by next year.  :)

We cancelled the trip a couple days ahead of time based on the forecast of rain and possible severe storms.  We ended up with tornadoes in the area here!  Saturday we all ended up in the basement for a while as it looked like one of the tornadoes was headed straight this way, but then it dissipated and a new one formed a little further east.  So thankful everyone is okay and it's pretty much "just" downed trees and power lines they're dealing with.

I was up with Jackson at 3am this morning, so I acutally got to see Mike before he went to work!  Kinda nice since I probably won't see him until around 7pm.  Crazy - I don't know how he does it!

wave

Jackson started waving!  It's been just over a week, and we've tested it several times so we know it's legit.  :)  And, of course it's one of the cutest things ever.  Also a week ago he dropped a feeding and is now eating 3x/day like a normal person.  So crazy to think back to the early months...

Last week Caleb and Logan went to VBS at Jamestown Baptist Church and really enjoyed it!  Levi, Jackson, and I enjoyed our mornings together, and even though the summer has been going really well, we are looking forward to school starting in a month.  :)

On Tuesday we drove down with some of my family to spend some time in Shipshewana, IN.  It was a fun day!  HOT, but fun.  Certainly not something I would attempt to do alone with the kids, but with enough other people to help it was doable, and I enjoyed taking a little "trip" with the kids since we're not able to take a summer vacation.  Caleb and Logan enjoyed riding with Boden and Heidi in Aunt Lea Anne's car; and I enjoyed the peace and quiet in my van with just Levi, Jackson, and my niece Katie on the way down.  First we went to E & S, which is a grocery store with wholesale items (spices, flour, pasta, candy, etc., etc., etc.) - Lea Anne and I could have spent a bunch more time (and money!) there, so we may have to go back with just us sometime.  :)  After lunch at the Essenhaus (yum!) we headed over to the flea market.  Phew!  Hot, hot, hot!  We walked around for a bit, but didn't nearly cover all the territory.  It was fun to look around some, but we were ready to quit after a while.  Thankfully, Jackson did great through all of this.  Slept some in the car, rode nice in his stroller at the flea market.  Would certainly have been miserable with a cranky baby.

Wednesday evening we had Tera and Luke over for supper to say good-bye before they headed back to Kenya on Saturday.  The silver lining to them being here longer than expected due to Luke's health complications was getting to spend extra time with them.

Saturday was another nice day at the cottage.  Alyssa, Caleb, and Logan are now diving off the pontoon, Jackson enjoyed his time in the water, Levi went for a tube ride with Mike, and later he fell of the end of the dock when fishing...  I felt really bad for him because I knew he would be upset, but it was still pretty cute.  He just was casting so good that the momentum took him right in!  A good reminder of why the kids wear life jackets on the dock!!

Not only has Mike been very busy at work (as expected), he's been working hard at splitting wood to sell.  It's been selling like hotcakes and he can barely keep up!  The boys have been good helpers with loading and unloading the wood, now they just need to get old enough to help do the cutting and splitting.  :)

hot hot hot!

Last weekend was pretty toasty, and it was the perfect day for us to be at the cottage!  We spent as much time as we could in the water, and it was wonderful.  With all the warm weather the water temp is great, and Jackson loved being in the water, too.  Each of my boys did great in the water, and we had such a fun day!  Levi kept wanting to swim out to the raft, and Logan and Caleb got into jumping off the pontoon boat in the middle of the lake.  (Levi swam out there with us, but didn't want to jump off the boat.)  Logan was brave enough for jumping right away, but it took Caleb a while to work up the courage.  It was pretty funny: we were about to all get on the boat and get going back to shore, when Caleb all of the sudden said, "Alright, I have one more thing to do..." and it jumped right in!  Then there was no stopping him.  And then Alyssa decided she wanted to jump in, too, so the kids really got going and had a good time.  It was even hot enough that I was jumping in - I know, imagine that!  ;)  It was so much fun that the kids begged to do it again after supper, and so we just had to go back out.

It's been a busy week here just managing day to day life.  Tending the garden, mowing the lawn, cooking, laundry, getting groceries, keeping a teething baby happy...  On Wednesday I got an oil change in van.  It's been overdue, and I hate doing it, but finally decided I shouldn't wait any longer.  I purposely chose Wednesday, so that we could walk across the street to the farmer's market.  The boys had fun walking around a bit, and for the most part things went fine.  The whole thing took almost two hours, and we were getting a little antsy at the end.

Looking forward to a fun weekend as my sister is in town and we've got lots of family activities planned!

keeping busy

We are enjoying summer, but it does seem to be going by somewhat quickly.  Mike has been having a pretty good harvest season so far.  The usual ups and downs, breakdowns, employees coming and going, and lots of after-hours phone calls in Spanish.  :)  Yesterday he got home an hour earlier than normal and it was so unexpected it had me flustered!  Getting through the long days with four little boys is a huge mental battle for me, and I've got myself pretty well conditioned for his normal arrival time.

Last week Caleb was able to attend soccer camp at Unity Christian and he loved it!  The first day was cancelled due to storms, and the next few days were quite warm and humid, but that didn't seem to slow him down.  I have no idea if he's any good or not, but he sure plays hard and I love to see that.  He seems to always have a great attitude (not getting upset when his team loses, or when he can't do something), and that is going to serve him well.

Logan had another craft time at Michael's this morning.  This time we took my niece Alyssa along (and left Caleb and Levi with Harold), and I think he really enjoyed having that special time.  Logan has lost EIGHT teeth now!  (Caleb has lost four.)  A few of his adult teeth are coming in pretty good already, otherwise his mouth would be quite empty.  The other night both Logan and Caleb pulled out a tooth within minutes of each other.  Logan is our thinker and always has questions about something.  Love that he's so observant and inquisitive, but I have a really hard time dealing with all the questions!  SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.  How things work, why things are the way they are, how things were made, etc., etc., etc...

Levi.  My sweetheart.  Did you know it's entirely possible for a child to skip over Terrible Two's and Thunderous Three's, and have Ferocious Four's come in without any warning??  I was so lulled into complacency with his easygoing spirit that this shift has been rather shocking.  I KNOW the sweetheart is still in there, he sneaks out from time to time, it's just hard to find in the midst of the craziness of big brothers being home for the summer, and baby brother requiring lots of my attention.  I gave the boys haircuts last night, and I'm pretty sure Mike wanted Levi's shorter, but I just couldn't bear to cut that beautiful hair off.  He gets the perfect blonde highlights in summer.  I'm pretty jealous of Caleb's hair, too.

Jackson is scooting around a fair bit.  I really need to work on gates for the stairs soon...  He's still very vocal, especially during meal time - we're working on not talking/spitting while he's eating.  He has been sleeping well at night, and mostly doing decent for naptimes.  Last week we had to work on him being okay with Mike putting him to bed, and thankfully it only took one night of lots of crying, and the next night he did much better.  I went to a friend's softball game and Mike said Jackson cried for about an hour at bedtime.  It was Mike's suggestion that he put Jackson to bed again the next night to see if he'd do better.  I couldn't be home and listen to him cry for me, so I went out again, but he went to bed much better!  Love it that he needs me, especially as I know it won't last for long, but I've gotta be free to be separated from him sometimes!

State of Jackson

Jackson recently passed the 8 month mark (wait...what?!), and we are just having too much fun with him!  He is so interactive and vocal, he fits right into this family.  :)  His big brothers can sure get him laughing, and that warms a mothers heart to watch.  (As long as big brothers aren't doing their super annoying baby talk with him...)  He laughs, squeals, squawks, and growls a lot - I can't get enough.

After weeks of struggling, Jackson is finally doing better taking solid foods.  For a long time he just wasn't interested no matter what I tried - he would maybe seem excited before starting, but then barely eat anything.  But now he actually gobbles up what I give him!  We've tried several different fruits and vegetables now, and I think we'll just be careful with the bananas thanks to a not so fun constipation incident.  Poor guy.  :(  Jackson generally nurses four times a day now.  Boy, that's a far cry from the newborn schedule!!!  Hardly seems like anything compared to the first several months.  And, he generally doesn't take as long as he did for the longest time either.  Phew!  Ain't nobody got time for that!  :)

Overall, Jackson is sleeping well.  He almost always sleeps through the night, and there's been some times that he sleeps until 7am, which I much prefer to the 6:15/6:30 wake ups.  :)  Just that little bit of extra time helps my perspective of the day.  Also, the last few days he has taken a solid morning nap, and a solid afternoon nap!  Up until then it had kinda been a morning catnap, decent afternoon nap, and maybe another evening nap.  This morning I put him down for a morning nap around 9:30am, and I had to wake him up at 11:45am to go visit Mike at work - that's completely unheard of for him!
Jackson has been pulling himself forward the last few days.  Watch out!  Baby on the move!  He is ALMOST ready to sit up on his own, so close.  He has two bottom teeth and looks pretty cute when he smiles.  :)  He is mostly in 9 month sized clothes.  He likes being outside, and actually likes laying in the grass.

We sure do love our newest addition, and can't imagine our family any other way!

boy mom

We have lots of everyday adventures around here with four little boys - some have become so normal that I forget about them!  And, when it's always on to the next adventure, it's easy to move on and lose track of past events.  :)

This past week had a bunch of crazy things.  Monday was a day of Levi eating dog food (I've caught him snacking on it different times...); Caleb, Logan, and Levi getting a toad stuck in the spout of my watering can; Caleb and Levi both getting stung by a bee; and Levi cutting his finger pretty bad on a toilet from the cottage that Mike was breaking up to put in the trash...  Rough day for Levi!  Tuesday Logan got bit in the finger by a shrew, and then he and Caleb killed it for me.

On Thursday Logan lost yet another tooth.  His mouth is getting pretty empty!

Friday our nephew, Luke, had open heart surgery.  I was able to spend a little time at the hospital with Tom and Tera while they were waiting.  Then Saturday afternoon Mike and I were able to pay a visit.  He is doing well!  Also, Friday evening Mike and I took the kids out for ice cream for our anniversary.  :)

Today we went up to the cottage for 4th of July activities.  Mike is staying overnight with Caleb, Logan, and Levi, but I came back home with Jackson.  So much I want to get done in the peace and quiet!!  But, sleep is starting to win out...

wild and free

Wild and free: that's my kids on these summer days...  I'm trying to provide a little bit of structure (a few chores here and there, regular meals, and afternoon quiet time as long as we're home), but they're getting plenty of unstructured playtime, and as long as they're not fighting and no one's getting hurt, I love it!  :)  It's so fun to see them use their imaginations and see what they come up with to do.

A couple weeks ago we spent the afternoon at a pool with some school friends.  They have a membership at a country club pool, and it was so nice.  The boys had so much fun.  Jackson really liked the water, too.  And the next week I was able to take them to a friends house to swim, so they are getting plenty of opportunities for swimming.  Caleb, Logan, and Levi all did great in the water - they all went down the slide, but Caleb loved it the most.  Levi did a lot of swimming with his floaties on (he was too embarrassed at the pool the week before to wear them, even though tons of kids were wearing them) and kept saying that he wanted to stay there forever.  :)  Of course, last weekend we were up at the cottage again, so there was lots more water fun.  Logan and Levi swam to the raft.  Caleb went tubing and kayaking.

A couple weeks ago a friend who had preemie twins a month before Jackson was able to come over.  What a blessing to see those two little boys!!  They were sooooo teeny-tiny when we first visited them in the hospital (under 2 lbs, and almost 4 lbs).  One of them is having some health struggles, but it's amazing to see how far he's come.

I've been able to take Logan to a couple craft times at Michael's lately - he didn't want to do the soccer camp that Caleb is going to in a couple weeks, and this is more up his alley.  This last time I ended up letting Caleb and Levi go, too, as Logan didn't want to be alone (he was the first time), and that did make it easier for me to just wander the store (and spend some $$$...).

The garden has been keeping me busy this year!  Fun to be back at it after taking a hiatus last year.  Overall things seem to be doing well - keeping a close eye on the tomato plants right now as they just don't seem to be growing much, but they aren't dying either.  Broccoli and brussel sprouts are getting huge, cucumbers growing well, some peppers coming.  Might be able to pick a few strawberries tomorrow.

Mike started full swing with harvest this week.  Boy he works some long days!  So much better than last year with everything we had going on, but still tough.

summertime

What a fun and busy several days we've had!  Just keeping this household running is busy (and fun...) enough, but we've had some extra activities as well.  Mike had last week Thursday and Friday off of work (his last break before harvest begins...cue the "Jaws" music...).  On Thursday his brothers came over and helped with some landscaping - we put edging and stones down all along the back side of the house.  They got a lot done and it looks so much better than the weeds we had growing there!  Tom's wife Tera even got suckered into helping me in the garden, and the kids had fun playing.  :)

Friday morning we headed up to the cottage for a couple days of sun and fun.  It was great weather, and we had a great time being together as a family.  I could have handled Jackson napping better, but he at least did decent overnight.  :)  Our time there was filled with fishing, swimming, tubing, skiing (my 40 year old husband has still got it!), kayaking, paddle boarding, and just plain hanging out.

On Sunday we celebrated Mike's 40th birthday!  I had asked friends and family to send him birthday cards, so he's had a lot of fun reading all the cards that have been coming in the mail each day.

This week Caleb and Logan are going to Vacation Bible School at our church.  They were very excited to see some of their school friends there.  :)  Yesterday morning Levi, Jackson, and I stayed busy mowing the lawn; and today we got groceries.  Gotta make the most of my time with only two kiddos!

Last night was a fun dinner at my parent's house.  My mom had invited my brother Mike's co-worker, Hugo, and his family over; and also my brother Eric's co-worker, Nabor and his wife.  So, we all gathered around the table and had a fun evening trying to converse.  Thankfully there were enough people there that are bilingual (Hugo and his wife, Nabor, and my Mike) to keep things going.  :)  It was a very enjoyable evening.  I've got some tired boys today thanks to being there a little late, especially considering VBS, but I think it was worth it.

Jackson is a little on the cranky side.  Possibly his other bottom tooth?  Or maybe that it's difficult to get regular naps, or maybe the cereal I'm trying with him, or....who knows!  :)

doe

Our devotional after supper tonight was about deer.  Mike tries to throw Levi a soft ball question since his listening skills are....well....not that great yet.  (I think if he actually listened he would get a lot of it.)  So anyways, here's how things went tonight:
Mike: Levi, what is a fawn?
Levi: *no response*
Mike: Okay, Levi, what is a doe?
Levi: A kind of bread?
Oh, bless my heart!!  We laughed, and he felt bad, so I spent some time on the couch with him apologizing for laughing, but telling him I was actually impressed that he was thinking and trying to answer the question!  He just came to the wrong conclusion, and it was awfully cute.  :)

Jackson started working on his first tooth last week.  CRANKY.  We are having so much fun with him as he becomes more interactive.  He's been liking to 'blow raspberries' for a while now, and since last night we've tested him a few times and he'll do it in response after you do it first.  Pretty fun to have a back and forth with him like that.  He's been sleeping fairly well lately - I think we've slept the whole way through for a few nights now.  He'll usually (I use that term loosely) take a short nap in the morning, a bigger nap in the middle of the day, and maybe a shorter one again later.  Now today was slightly different because he dropped a feeding.  Big news: over the last week or so his spitting up has been greatly reduced.  Can it be???  Holding my breath on that one.  I've tried some more solid food here and there (cereal and applesauce), but it's still not going all that great.  At first he seemed pretty into it and ate good, but then at subsequent feedings he would refuse it or gag on it.  Hmmm....  Maybe we'll just take a break again for a while, we'll see.

So far summer break is going pretty well with Caleb and Logan home.  I'm trying to have some structure, but not too much.  They get PLENTY of free play time, but I also have some chores for them, and give them a few worksheets to do during quiet time.

Thursday evening Mike and I did something very neighborly and put an old toilet with a pot of flowers in Mike and Emily's driveway.  :)  When you come across an old toilet you can't just let it go to waste!  We thought it would be a nice addition to Natalie's graduation open house decor.  (The party was Saturday, and we were nice enough to take it back Friday night.)

Friday night Mike, Jackson, and I enjoyed a beautiful drive up to Newaygo.  Unfortunately, our reason for going fell through, but at least we had a nice couple hours together!  We went up there to buy some aluminum edging that we found on craigslist, but the guy didn't show up.  A while after getting back home I got a text from him saying he was sorry - he had been working outside without his phone and lost track of time (we had texted, emailed, and called...).  Nice.

that's a wrap!

Today was Caleb and Logan's last day of Kindergarten!!  I can hardly believe it -it feels like we're just getting into the swing of things.  :)  I'm not sure where the year went, it's all kind of in a "having a newborn" haze...

They had a fun last couple days, and are definitely overtired.  Yesterday was Field Day, so they were outside almost the entire day (and it was quite warm and humid!); and today they had a field trip in the afternoon to finish things off.  They went to Playworld and played HARD for a couple hours.

Both boys had a great first year of school; and as parents, I think Mike and I had a good first year, too.  :)  It's crazy to see how much they've learned in just one school year.  Their teacher, Mrs. Knapp, kept a few papers throughout the year and put together a book for each of the kids which they brought home today.  What a huge difference in what they can do from the first day to the last!

Basically, at the beginning of the year they could mostly write their first name, and count but not write out the numbers.  Now they can write out their whole name (nicely!), and not only write out the numbers, but count by two's, add, and subtract!  They are way better at telling time than I was at that age (I remember really struggling to tell time...).

We have loved school, and part of me is dreading summer, but it will be good to have a break, and we have a few fun things planned throughout the whole summer to keep us going.  :)  I do need to spend a little more time, though, figuring out what kind of structure our normal days at home are going to have.

ouch

This past Monday I took both Levi and Jackson in for well child check-ups at the doctor.  They both needed shots - good times!  :)  Levi weighed in at 42 lbs, which is 91st percentile; and he is 3' 7" tall, which is 93rd percentile.  Not a little guy, that's for sure!  Jackson is 17 lb 5 oz (39th percentile); and 2' 3.5" (76th percentile).  I'm always thankful for good check-ups at the doctor!

On the way to the doctor I gave Levi a heads up that he was probably getting shots, and he took it pretty well.  I was prepared for him to freak out about it, considering how the last shot went, but he stayed calm.  :)  At shot time I didn't have to wrestle him or anything - he got right up on the table, I held his arms down, and he did let out a pretty good scream, but then just cried for a bit.  I wasn't able to comfort him for long as Jackson was getting shots, too, and I had to help with him.

Levi also had to have hearing and vision tests in order to go to preschool next year.  Boy is that a trip with a four-year-old!  I had them do the picture eye test since I know he doesn't know his letters real well.  But, even that was a bit of a struggle.  It was hard to tell what he actually couldn't see, what shapes he didn't know, and what was shyness with the nurses...  Kinda the same with the hearing test - hard to get him to respond like he's supposed to.  For the most part though he did well answering the nurses and doctors when they asked him questions (we had a couple pep talks about that).

I asked the doctor about trying solids with Jackson again, and he said there's no rush to do it anytime soon since he's growing and healthy as it is.  I tried for 2-3 weeks a couple months ago and it seemed to give him reflux or something, and he just never got excited about it.  So, I quit and it's been nice not dealing with that added complication.  :)

Of course Jackson cried for his shots, too, so I had my hands full trying to comfort two sad little boys.  Levi was fine once I got to the gas station just up the road and bought him some candy.  :)  

Last Saturday we loaded up the family in Mike's truck and delivered a whole cow to Midland!  We put an old freezer in the back of the truck, stopped at Byron Center Meats to fill it up, and then hit the road.  We weren't sure how it was going to go having all six of us in the truck, but it really went well!  We were able to visit and have lunch with Mike's stepbrother and his family that live over there and it was a really nice visit.  

4 and 6

Within the last week Jackson passed the 6 month mark, and Levi had his FOURTH birthday!!  I definitely wish I could freeze time once in a while, my babies are growing so fast.

At 6 months, Jackson is mostly a lot of fun.  :)  He can't quite sit up on his own, but he wants to so bad.  When laying on the floor he often does "crunches" to try and sit up to see what's going on.  He's rolling around quite a bit, and I can't trust him to stay in one spot (I'd better get crackin' with babyproofing...).  Jackson enjoys being outside, whether it's on a blanket or in the stroller.  His smile is just darling, and even though he's been acting for months like they're coming, he doesn't have any teeth yet.  He seems awfully close to actually saying "mama".  I know it's just the noise he makes when crying, but boy it sure sounds like he's crying for mama!  Even though I was up with him 3x last night, most nights he does pretty well and sleeps from about 9pm-6:30am, give or take a bit.  He generally eats 5x/day (we're not doing solids yet), and many days has a couple cat naps with one bigger nap in the middle of the day.  Last week we were on the go quite a bit so naps didn't go as well, but he (and I!) are going to have to learn to deal with it - when you're the little guy with older siblings you can't just stay home all the time!  :)

Levi got lots of treats on his birthday!  After dropping Caleb and Logan off to school, we headed to the donut shop.  Then, while we were helping out at a garage sale, my dad came to take him out (since we already had donuts, he had a cookie); and one of the ladies at the sale wanted to get him a donut, but we passed up that one.   :)  That evening, after dinner, we had cupcakes.  (By the way, dinner was ravioli, which  he requested.)  And, on Saturday at the Mother's Day/several cousin's birthday's party with Mike's family, we had the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that he asked for.  :)  Levi got his big boy bike from Grandpa and Grandma VanBeek and he looks so big on it!  He got a kid-sized wheelbarrow from my parents that I'm excited about as he always wants to help with work outside.  :)

On Friday we were able to meet up at the park with Tera and her boys and we had such a nice time!  It was great to catch up with her, and the boys had so much fun playing together.  I think I'm going to have some sad boys when their cousins go back to Kenya.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and it was a nice day.  The boys got me a candle and gift card to a local greenhouse.  We had dinner with my family at my parent's house.  Then we just laid low the rest of the day.  I had things to get done around the house, and the other guys played outside and got dirty.  Of course. :)   There are plenty of tough times with this parenting gig, but I couldn't be more thrilled to be 'mom' to my four boys.  Even when I'm pretty sure that I'm going to LOSE. MY. MIND. I know I'm doing exactly what God has called me to do.

stinkable

If only I could record everything my kids say!  Especially Levi lately, he's full of one-liners.  The other day when he was headed into the bathroom to take care of business he said, "It might be stinkable in there!"  Lately he's been saying, "Okaaayyy, what are we doing here now?" (Even when we're at home.)  I think it was Sunday morning he told me I looked really pretty, and I thought I might melt.  :)  Many times when I tell him to do something I get a cheery, "Okay, yes, Mom!" And, when I've been going outside to work in the yard lately, he asks what work he can do.

Tuesday evening was Libertas' spring showcase concert.  Caleb and Logan sang in about four different songs, and recited a Bible verse.  Some of the skit type stuff that other classes did struggled with the sound, but the musical numbers were great!  "America the Beautiful" at the end of the concert with all the classes plus the band was neat!  And, my nephew Nathan's class sang a fun "Nifty Fifty States" song.  Always interesting to watch my kids up front.  There were plenty of times it looked like Caleb was just moving his mouth and not actually singing the words, but he was really into it!  :)  Logan was much more refined and by-the-book.  They were very happy to whip out their kazoo's during one of the songs.  :)  At one point early on Mike had fed Jackson a bottle.  He was burping him and made a comment that he would probably burp then since it was really quiet.  I was watching him and saw the look on his face, said, "He's working on one.", grabbed the burp cloth, and what do you know, a super loud burp/spit-up came, and everyone around us got a good laugh.  :)

We've been chipping away at some of the yard work around here.  So much to do after last year's project!  Trying to focus on one thing at a time and not get overwhelmed with the big picture.  This week Mike got our new lamppost installed, and I love it!  I moved the lovely clematis from the old lamppost to the new one and it's looking quite sad right now; I sure hope it perks up.  I also split off part to move over by the little spot by the garage (which I got a trellis for and Mike helped me attach it to the wall last night), but that's not looking too hot either.  We'll see.  A couple weeks ago some friends of ours gave us some plants they were getting rid of, so I planted them in the flower bed around the dining room windows.  Doing this work on a budget!!  :)  It's hard to find a large chunk of time to work on things, but at least Jackson will be content in his stroller or on a blanket for a little while here and there.  Getting the lawn mowed this year is going to be a little tricky once Mike gets busier at work.  I've been looking at video baby monitors so that I could mow while Jackson is napping, but $$$...  Last year our mowing was almost cut in half thanks to thing being tore up from the project, but now with the new grass we have even more than before!  Yikes.  Once the boys are old enough we're going to buy each of them a walk behind and let them have at it...  :)

spring!

It's spring now!  Of course, one weekend there was snow on the ground and the next weekend we were running around in shorts - and not because we're crazy northern people, it was actually warm enough.  :)

Last Friday was my birthday, and I had a very nice day.  The weather was gorgeous, the boys and I went for donuts with my friend Amy and her girls, Caleb and Logan went to a friend's house for the afternoon, we went out for supper as a family, and then headed over to my parent's to see my niece's from WV who were there with a church group (and, of course, my mom still had a cake with candles for me).

A couple things to note from that day: when the boys came downstairs they each immediately wished me a happy birthday, and then the next thing Levi said after seeing me in capri pants was, "So, are those shorts or what??"  Ha!  And when he came to the table for breakfast he said, "Okay, where's the cake??"  He cracks me up.  (After hanging out with Amy and her girls this morning, I said something to Levi about being pretty quiet while we were there, his response was, "Oh, I'm just not used to girls."  Also, last week we hid the paddling spoon!  Mike had brought it upstairs one night just in case and accidentally left it there.  The next day it was needed so I went looking for it and couldn't find it.  Levi managed not to say anything to me, but it came out that evening that Levi had seen where Mike left it, took it and put it behind his dresser to hide it.  Stinker!

Jackson rolled from back to tummy for the first time on my birthday!  Gotta keep a closer eye on him now that he's starting to move around just a little bit.  I suppose we should start figuring out what we're going to do to gate off our stairs...  For the most part Jackson has been doing well at night.  Maybe waking up 1 or 2 times just needing a pacifier, but many nights sleeping through.  And, most of the time he takes at least one longer nap during the day.  What's also really nice is that sometimes when he wakes up sooner than I'm ready, I can just open the curtains in his room and give him a toy and he'll stay content for a while playing in his crib.  This is such a big improvement for him!  There are still plenty of frustrating moments, but he really is becoming much more fun.  :)  He still only has eyes for me, his smile melts my heart every time, and I love listening to him "talk".  It's fun to watch him play with his toys  - absolutely fascinating to watch babies grow and develop!  He's mostly eating 5x/day now, and I haven't been giving him any solids anymore.  We'll try again another time.

For as much as they fight, Caleb loves his brothers and can be very kind with them.  Different times when Levi has gotten hurt while playing outside, Caleb will help him back to the house with his arm around him or holding his hand or something.  Last week when there was a morning that Levi woke up not feeling well, Caleb helped him downstairs and was sticking close by him to make sure he was okay.  This morning he held Jackson's bottle for him and loved being able to do that.  Brings joy to my heart.

I've especially been enjoying seeing how Logan has developed at school.  He's quite careful with his handwriting, and really enjoys various art projects.  He's become quite creative and has a good imagination.  I think more and more I'm seeing his similarities to me, and that's both good and bad...  :)

sprinter

I guess "sprinter" is a good name for the season we are currently in.  Not unlike other years, winter keeps hanging on a bit but we get a taste of spring here and there.  I'm not complaining too much, it would be nice to have warmer and dryer weather, but the way it's been has enabled Mike to still have Friday's off.  This week it looks like things are supposed to warm up a bit and be pretty nice by the end of the week, so I imagine they'll probably have  big planting day on the farm this Friday.  Which, of course, is my birthday.  :)  I've had my hubby home on Friday's much longer than expected, though, so I can't complain if his first one back is on my birthday.

Once the weather turns I really need to get cracking on some areas around the house.  One main flower bed that needs to be planted, and the garden.  We completely let the garden go last year with everything going on, so it'll take some effort to get that ship-shape again!  I have plenty to do in the house, though, until that time.  And, it still seems rather hard to get anything 'extra' done beyond the daily tasks around here.

We survived Spring Break and it really wasn't too bad.  The first day felt rather long, but after that the week went better.  Tuesday my mom, the boys, and I drove to Grand Ledge to visit my grandma.  I was SO HAPPY with how the boys behaved.  We had a very nice visit.  They played on the floor of her apartment for a while, and then we all took a walk.  Wednesday was rainy and cold, but my mom had an afternoon of activity planned for the "staycationers".  :)  My parents, my sister-in-law and her two boys, and me and my boys went out to lunch and then we had a shopping challenge at a dollar store, and then back to my parent's to play bingo.  We haven't really done a lot this weekend other than run a couple errands and go to church.  (And it's so nice!)

Jackson has still been hit or miss with his nighttime sleeping.  During the day he'll usually take at least one decent nap, which is so refreshing after months of 30 minute naps!  It seems like he may be having some trouble with the introduction of solid foods - more spitting up, not all that excited to eat, etc.  So, we'll continue to see how things go and he has a 6 month check-up next month anyways.

eventful

We've had a few fun events lately.  Last Thursday was Crazy Hair/Clothes Day at school.  I gave Caleb and Logan mohawks and sprayed their hair blue!  They also had fun digging through some of my old dress up clothes (I had just a few things that boys could wear).  In the evening was a celebration banquet for school that we very much enjoyed.

Saturday afternoon we went to a missions fundraising carnival at church.  Games, magic show, ice cream, balloon animals, prizes...  Caleb used some of his own money to buy a few raffle tickets and won a new light saber!  He had just been saying that he wanted another one because he broke his old one.

Sunday morning we had a very nice Easter service at church, and then dinner at my parent's house with part of my family.

Today was Camoflage/Animal Print Day at school, so Caleb and Logan were excited to dress up in their camo stuff.  And, to celebrate the end of Reading Month they had ice cream at the end of the day and I was able to go help serve.  It was for all the elementary and it was fun to see all the kids.  The boys are going to have to up their game if they want to win any prizes for reading next year!

I believe it was last week Caleb and Logan got report cards sent home.  We are so proud of the reports we get!  Both behaviorally and academically they are doing well.  Sometimes we struggle with the homework, but due to attitudes (Logan) not abilities.  Thankfully I don't think he acts that way at school, I sure hope not anyways.

Jackson has been gradually doing better sleeping!!!  There was quite a stretch there that he was doing bad at night again, but for the most part he's being doing well.  The last two nights he's woken up once, but in comparison that's not too bad.  And, he's generally been taking at least once decent nap a day.  He just seems so big now!  Definitely not a little baby anymore.  He loves watching what's going on, he bee-bops around in his jumper, he "talks" a whole bunch, and I can carry him on my hip.  It does seem like his spitting-up has gotten worse, so that kinda stinks, but oh well.  Not like we haven't dealt with that before!

sick

In regards to my last post, it took Caleb the rest of the week to recover from the sickness.  :(  Logan bounced back pretty quick and was able to go back to school on Wednesday.  Mike did end up getting sick as well, but Jackson and I stayed healthy.  Phew!  I was sick in bed this past Friday, but it wasn't the same thing and thankfully passed fairly quickly.  We thought the Friday before was Mike's last Friday off for the winter, but we're both so glad he ended up having that day off yet.

We've still been able to lay pretty low and not do much, and it's been WONDERFUL.  I know I've said it before, but after the crazy 2015 we had we are really, really enjoying just being together as a family and not doing too much.  It's not that we don't do anything, we just try to be choosy and not get over-committed.  :)  Last Wednesday my friend Jen came over for an early supper (she teaches an evening class at WMU in GR), and then we were able to have Mike's mom and stepdad over for dessert to hear about their recent trip to Kenya.

Saturday morning Mike and I were able to attend a producer's event at Byron Center Meats.  It was really interesting, got us talking about the beef business, and thanks to my bro and sis-in-law taking the kids we were able to do that and have a few hours to ourselves afterwards (which we spent driving to three different Meijer's tracking down a pair of work boots for Mike...but, hey, when you have four small children, time together is time together!).

Caleb has been eating A LOT lately.  Like, third and fourth helpings of stuff.  I'm sure this is only a foreshadowing of the teenage years.  He is not allowed to grow out of his clothes before the end of the school year!!  

Logan has been getting more and more interested in art activities.  Drawing, coloring, cutting out shapes, etc.  It's fun to see what he does and hear the story behind his pictures.

Levi is still my sweetie pie, but sometimes Mike and I refer to him as Mr. Bossy Boss Man or something of the like.  He seems to think he knows best on various things.  He's always got a solution or explanation, and likes to micromanage.  :)  He still takes a good afternoon nap (and clearly needs it if it gets skipped), and goes to bed fine at night.  He's had a harder time waking up to go pick up Caleb and Logan from school.  :(

Jackson.  Oh, my little baby, Jackson.  What can I say?  My most challenging baby, yet he smiles at me and I just melt and forgot all the troubles.  Today he's actually napping decent, but I'm worried he might be coming down with something.  In the last week he had a couple good nights, but otherwise it's been 2-6x/night that he wakes up...  Not cool.  He doesn't need to eat, but cries and cries until I put the pacifier back in and re-swaddle.  He generally doesn't nap all that great, unless it's a school day and he'll be nice and sound asleep when I have to get him up to load him in his car seat to go pick up Caleb and Logan...  I just can't seem to get in a real regular routine with him, and that's a real struggle for me, but I'm doing my best to try and be flexible.  :)  Jackson loves his jumper, and he loves his big brothers.  He seems pretty strong, and when laying on his back will often try to sit up - just looks like he's doing crunches.  :)

It still seems crazy that we lifted our house and dug a basement.  And, I still think over the headaches and money, and wonder whether it was worth it, and then I listen to Mike playing a rousing game of balloon volleyball or freeze tag with the boys down there while I feed Jackson upstairs and I know it was.  :)

wash

We have been very blessed in that our children have always had great Sunday School teachers.  Levi is nearing the end of his time in the 2's & 3's class, and he has such a sweet and very devoted teacher, Miss Stephanie.  She does all sorts of activities to get the kids engaged in that week's lesson.  Yesterday the story was Mary pouring expensive perfume on Jesus' feet, and they talked about ways to show love.  Each child was sent home with a small vial of "perfume" (water) in a special little box - Levi poured it on my feet and it was just the sweetest, cutest thing.  It was cold, and he had to refill in between feet, but it was pretty neat.  :)

Three out of the four boys are sick.  Fever and coughing.  Logan came down with it yesterday, so he didn't go to school at all today; and I got a call at lunchtime to come get Caleb.  Their first school absence!  Levi woke up with it this morning as well.  Jackson had his 4 month visit to the doctor this morning.  He's healthy and growing!  He is 15 lb 9 oz, which is 49th percentile; and 27" long, which is 98th percentile!!  :)  He did get a few shots today, and took them like a champ.  Stopped crying pretty quickly.

Caleb and Logan don't have school anyways tomorrow, so hopefully one more day to recover and kick this bug will be enough so that they can go back to school on Wednesday!

marching on

Last Friday Caleb and Logan had a friend from school over for the day so that his mom could take his older siblings skiing.  Since the three of them together make up half of the boys in the Kindergarten class, I figured we might as well invite the others over for a while as well.  So, one of the other boys was able to make it and come for a couple hours.  So glad we got some snow and they could play outside!  They had a blast sledding behind the tractor and exploring in the woods.  

This past Monday, right after school, we split for Frankenmuth to spend the night at Zehnder's and play at their indoor waterpark.  (This trip is very much looked forward to and talked about for the entire year.)  It went well with the six of us, but I am glad we did only one night.  :)  Sleeping arrangements were Caleb and Logan on the pull-out couch.  Mike and Levi in one bed, me in another, and Jackson in a portacrib right next to me.  In the waterpark was a little challenging since they totally outnumber us, but we just had to trust that Caleb and Logan have vastly improved in their swimming, and that there are lots of lifeguards watching.  It started snowing like crazy on Tuesday, and our drive home took TWICE as long as it should have.  I was very relieved when we arrived home safe and sound.

Yesterday Jackson hit the 4 month mark!  For all the squawking and fussing he does he's a super smiley guy, and that smile melts my heart every time.  He hasn't been sleeping the best overnight, but I haven't had to actually feed him in the night, just get up and give him his pacifier.  So, not great but could be worse.  He's still not a good napper.  I keep holding out hope...  Last week I had some luck getting him to sleep in his car seat - he would do his usual 30 minutes or so in his crib, then when he would wake up I would put him in his car seat, rock him for a while and he'd eventually fall back asleep for a while.  Hasn't been working anymore, though.  This afternoon I didn't have anything real pressing to do, so I just snuggled him so that he would get a nap in.  Love doing that when I can, but obviously I can't do that all the time so he's got to learn how to nap in his crib!  Doing my best to be flexible and go with the flow, but it's really hard for me to not know what kind of schedule to expect each day.  :)  He eats 5 or 6 times a day.  I suppose I'll probably start some cereal soon.  Jackson loves to watch his brothers.  I wonder what kind of trouble he's going to get into with them...  Most of the time, if I'm within range, his eyes are glued on me.  I love it!  He's pretty vocal, and I just love baby noises!  It's a little sad that he's growing so fast, but it's so much fun having him become more interactive.  He's wearing 6 month sized clothes, but some of them are getting tight.  

I certainly have my 'days', but I am crazy about my boys and am loving my role as 'mom' more than ever!

control

I'm not sure that I'll ever really truly learn, but somehow the Lord keeps finding ways to gradually teach me that I can't always be in control...  I kinda like to have my day planned out and be in control of the situations, but this fourth child is proving to be a bit of a challenge.  :)  He's gone back to napping only 20-30 minutes at a time, but for the most part I think I'm doing better at just rolling with it.  It's okay if I'm not getting other stuff done, I won't have a baby to snuggle forever.

I've also taken a different approach to my household management in order to hopefully lessen my stress, especially on Monday's.  I was seeing a pattern of Monday's being really difficult (to the point of me standing there in tears holding a crying baby, and feeling like I just can't do this (mother four children, cook, clean, be a good wife, etc, etc...) and I don't know how I'm going to go on).  After thinking it through I think one of the problems is that I wasn't doing as much around the house on the weekends, so when Monday rolled around I felt overwhelmed with everything that should get done. I am now trying consistently stay on top of things so that I don't find myself on a day with way too much to accomplish.  Rather than waiting until it's "too late" with the cleaning, I'm trying to just focus on one area each day, and not let it get out of control.  This past Monday was definitely better, and today I was able to have a friend over for coffee without scrambling to clean the house because it was already in decent shape.

Two weeks ago Caleb woke up sick and threw-up several times throughout the morning.  I felt so bad because he kept puking so much and was getting so weak.  But, by mid-afternoon that day he was ready for a snack, and he was back to his normal self by evening.  And, no one else got it!  Phew!!

This past Monday I was able to go help out at Caleb and Logan's school Valentine's party.  I love having the chance to see them at school, and interact more with their friends.  It's also a nice chance to meet some of the other moms.

We've still got full on Star Wars fever over here.  The guys just keep watching the movies over and over again (a little bit each evening).  I do enjoy it too, and it's fun to have something that Mike enjoyed as a child that he can now get into with our kids, and they'll hopefully be able to with their kids someday.  :)  I wonder for how long we'll be as into it as we are now, though.  :)

Caleb and Logan are doing well at school, and it's really neat to see them learning to read and write!  We've mentioned to Levi how we're planning to send him for one day of preschool next year.  Today he said something to me about being worried there wouldn't be a backpack for him.  :)

For the most part Jackson is doing well at night, so at least he's got that going for him.  :)  He's becoming more and more vocal, which is one of my absolute favorite things.  Love that smile with his little tongue sticking out, love the sounds he makes when he's "talking" to me.  I love watching him interact with and smile at his brothers, they love him so much and it's really sweet to see.