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.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
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!
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!
Monday, August 8, 2016
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. :)
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. :)
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