kindergarten

Levi went on his Kindergarten shopping day with Grandma a couple days ago!  He's all set up with new clothes and supplies for school.  Not a huge surprise, he picked out a John Deere backpack.  :)  I still need time to get ready for school.  I have most of the supplies and books set, but I really need to go through their clothes and I VERY MUCH dislike that job.  Having kids try stuff on, deciding what they really need....not fun.  This has been a great summer, and going so fast!  I can honestly say that I'm not desperate for school to begin (that is pretty huge).  I'm starting to see the signs that maybe I'll be ready when the time comes, but I'm not yet wishing for summer to be over.  :)

We've had lots of fun since the last time I was able to update the blog.  Last week Caleb and Logan went to an Arts Camp at a local church.  Levi went to a Vacation Bible School at another church.  It was a little crazy getting everyone where they needed to be each morning, but they were both things we really wanted to do, so we made it work.  Caleb and Logan loved Arts Camp!  Caleb took Photography and Chalk Art classes; and Logan took Cooking and Grilling.  They really enjoyed it and I'm so glad it worked out for them to go.  Levi went to VBS at Jamestown, so it was in a familiar place (it's where I got to Bible Study), there were a few kids he knew, and my best friend always leads the Kindergarten class, so that helped, too.  She did comment on how quiet he is, which is something that has really come on strong in the last year or so.  I don't like overloading on organized activities, but something like this was a good fit for Levi to do something 'on his own' (i.e. without the safety net of his big brothers).

The garden seems to be doing fairly well.  The cucumbers produced very well, so with all of ours combined with those that Mike and the boys gleaned a couple weeks ago, I have canned A LOT of pickles.  My boys love 'em!  The zucchini plants are doing well, I have some peppers coming, and most of the tomato plants are looking pretty good.

Last weekend at the cottage Levi, Logan, and myself went kneeboarding, and it was so awesome!  Mike did it, too, of course, but that's no big deal.  ;)  He did it to show how easy it is, and then Levi agreed to go.  He did great!!  I didn't have my phone with me on the boat because I didn't expect all that to happen, so after he went and Logan said he wanted to go, I got my phone to get a few pictures, then Levi agreed to go again so I could document it!  Logan fell after awhile because we had to go through some pretty good sized waves (actually, he stayed on longer through the waves than I expected).  And, Levi needs to work on his 'dismount'.

Yesterday morning I went kayaking with a group of women from church, and it was so great!  We went down the Grand River from Grand River Park to Eastmanville.  It was a beautiful morning and an enjoyable time hanging out with the other women.  We saw a bald eagle!  It seemed like we ended up against the wind a fair bit, and my arms and shoulders are quite sore now.

It was pretty funny the other night - I think it was the first time big brothers actually got frustrated with Jackson.  They were trying to build things with Duplos in the living room (Caleb a farm, Logan some sort of building, and Levi had celery wagons behind his tractor), and Jackson was messing it up.  I heard "Jackson!!" on more than one occasion.  Of course, at the time I was trying to cut corn off the cob for freezing, and if there wasn't a problem in the living room Jackson was grabbing at my leg wanting to be held, so that simple job took me probably 5x as long as it needed to (par for the course).

Jackson is talking more and more.  I don't have a good list of all the words he's saying, but I just heard him say "thank you", and he says that A LOT.  He is my most polite child!  When he says "Awwwww" when hugging a stuffed animal or seeing a picture of a cat or a baby, I think I might melt.  "Belly" is another one of his favorites (sounds like "bye") - he says it while pulling up his shirt.  The other day in front of some friends he tried to pull up my shirt while saying "belly".  Ummmm, no.  Ha!  He has said "moo" for a long time, but now he actually says "cow".  There are a number of things he says that aren't real discernable, but I know what he's saying (I love that) - like "fi" for pacifier, and I don't even know how to say what he says for "trash" (he loves putting things in the trash). He also says "outside" a lot.  There are so many things I wish I could remember...

We've got poison ivy like the plague around here.  I started with it a few weeks ago and just can't seem to get over it.  The main areas I started with have cleared up, but I keep having new bumps and itchy spots popping up and I'm about to lose my mind.  Logan must have got into some at the beginning of the week because he has ended up with it - mostly on his face, but a few bumps elsewhere.  Levi has a few spots on his leg that are looking like poison ivy.  JUST GO AWAY!  I'm not going to let it keep me from enjoying the rest of our summer, though, so take that, poison ivy!  :)