COLD

It was a *rough* week getting back into the swing of things after the holidays.  Okay, not really, but this week might be!  New Years was on Monday, and everybody was still home on Tuesday.  Wednesday it was back to work and school!  But then Thursday school was closed for plumbing repair, and we went to have lunch with Mike at work.  :)  Friday was our normal schedule for this winter, which means Caleb and Logan have school, but Levi doesn't, and Mike is home.  But, this coming week is a full regular week, and I'm not sure I can handle it!!

Last week Caleb went in to the orthodontist for x-rays, etc., and this week he'll get his braces and retainer.  Sigh.  Hope this all goes well!

On Wednesday Caleb and Logan had a belt promotion in their Martial Arts class at school.  They are now yellow belts!  It is so neat that they have this class at school.  I was able to attend the belt promotion and see some of the things they do.  I don't necessarily care so much about the specific movements they learn, but I love seeing how they are learning to listen and follow direction, and the instructor puts a real emphasis on respect.  It's pretty cool.

The last week or two it has been bitterly COLD.  We're talking subzero temps.  Not real good for playing outside.  Yesterday it started to warm up a little, and today is much more tolerable.  Except that means the snow is starting to melt and it's going to get messy! 

Yesterday our family were greeters for the late service at church.  The boys did great, I'm so proud of them!  (We didn't try to have Jackson join us, just wanted to leave that wild card out of play for our first time, but maybe next time.  He'll actually probably do really well, he is not shy and loves to say 'hi' and shake hands.)  Anyways, we've done some coaching on firm handshakes, eye contact, and saying 'hi' to people, and they did really well.  And, last night Logan helped Mike do some ushering.  He walked a couple people down to their seats all by himself, and I thought my Mommy heart was going to burst. 

I know I've said it before, and I hope I can say it for a long time to come, but Jackson is just too much fun right now with all his talking.  He will repeat almost anything you say, and is constantly asking what things are.  He's a giant sponge right now just soaking EVERYTHING in!  I wish I could catch all the cute things he says on camera, but of course when I hold up my phone he stops and says, "Cheese!"  How do they learn that so young??  Some of my favorites right now are:
1.  Pockeet (pocket) - he loves pockets and is noticing when people have their hands in their pockets.  He also tries to put his hands in his pockets even when the pants he's wearing have none.  (Meaning he's putting his hands down his pants...)
2.  Paparoni (pepperoni) - he got a little pizza set for Christmas that he loves to play with and he likes "paparoni" on his pizza, so I get to hear about it alot.  :)
3.  Ooo-ooo-ooncle Mike (Uncle Mike) - after seeing my brother come get the tractor a few weeks ago to plow his driveway, we hear his name mentioned once in a while.  And, after enjoying time with my Uncle Don at the Steenwyk party and seeing him the next night at Rainbow Grill, we heard "Ooo-ooo-ooncle Don" a few times.
4.  Vroom (tractor) - "Ooo-ooo-ooncle Mike vroom!"  :)
5. He now consistently uses individual names for his brothers rather than just calling them all "Wuvi".  (I'm a little sad about that one.)  Caleb is something like "Kinye" or sometimes "Kanye"; I'm really not sure how to type Logan's out because it's so nasally, and of course Levi is "Wuvi". 
6.  And I can't forget zoop, choop, and doop!  (zip, chip, dip) - He says all those short i sounds with a oo.  He recently became very interested in zippers and well as pockets.  He loves to dip stuff (ranch, sour cream, ketchup, whatever), and you can't have any chips out without him noticing and begging. 
7.  Here's a good one.  There are a few consonants Jackson consistently says wrong (Pombine instead of combine, Foffy instead of Roxy), and a few days ago the other boys were trying to teach him the correct consonants.  So, they were telling him "Say, c-c-c-c-combine" and his response was "c-c-c-c-pombine!"; and "Say R-r-r-r-Roxy" and Jackson's response was "R-r-r-r-r-Foffy!".  We had a good laugh at that one.  :)