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.