It's been a busy first month of summer break, and I'm ready for things to slow to a more leisurely pace! Between church, school activities, friends, and family, we have been on the go a lot. Some of us are handling it better than others. :)
Church
A few weeks ago we had the privilege of getting up in front of church as a family and making an announcement about the nursery. The nursery is always short of workers, and we were hoping that by getting up in front with our whole family and talking about what a blessing the nursery has been to us would be more impactful. We got lots of comments afterwards, but what matters is if people actually went and signed up to help afterwards! (I heard of one.)
Last week was our Vacation Bible School. I was a 4th grade leader along with a friend from our class (Kara); Caleb, Logan, and Levi were with each of their age groups; and Jackson was in the nursery. It was a long week! Overall things went well being a leader, and I enjoyed it despite getting exhausted, but it was a rough week on Jackson and that really weighed me down.
School
The second week of summer break Caleb and Logan attended Drama Camp. They had a couple small parts in a production of The Jungle Book, and it was such a funny and cute play! They went to camp four mornings, and then in the evening of the last day they put on the play. It was a beautiful night and they did the play outdoors. They love Drama class at school, so it was neat for them to have this camp to attend.
The next week was VBS in the morning, and then Caleb and Levi attended Soccer Camp in the afternoon. That's part of what made the week so rough on all of us. I don't like packing so many activities in, a slightly slower pace is more my style, but we thought VBS and soccer were both good things to be involved in, so it was just a bummer that they ended up being the same week. On one of the days I stayed during the camp time to chat with the former volleyball coach (more on that in a minute), and it was basically not good with Jackson. I was definitely frustrated and stressed.
So, a few weeks ago I got a phone call out of the blue asking if I would consider coaching volleyball at Libertas. I wasn't sure what to think at first. It seemed kinda cool, but the timing didn't seem great (both time of year and time of life), and I'm just not sure about my coaching abilities. But, Mike seemed pretty excited about it for me, and the more I thought and prayed about it, it seemed like a neat opportunity. At first the idea of volleyball season and celery harvest being at the same time seemed like a bad idea, but now I figure Mike's going to be busy at work most of the times I'm busy with volleyball anyways, so it's not so bad. I'm going to have to trust the Lord to work out childcare for the boys, and that's probably one of the tougher aspects of this for me. I am both nervous and excited about this. I have so much to learn about coaching, but I really feel this is an opportunity that God put before me to get more involved at Libertas and be an influence to the girls on the team. So, a couple weeks ago I accepted the job, and then this past week I attended Volleyball Camp. Thankfully I did not have to run the camp, I definitely did not have enough time to prepare for that, but I was excited to go and meet some of the girls and be involved. I majorly stressed about working out childcare, so this will definitely be an area of growth for me. If I truly believe that this is something God put before me and wants me to do, then I have to completely trust that this is all going to work out. Practices will start in August, so I've got just over a month to prepare!!
Family & Friends
The first week of summer break Caleb and Logan were invited to two different birthday parties! One was more of a party at the park with a whole bunch of boys, the other was a playdate with a friend from school for his birthday, and they ended up asking Levi to stay, too, so that was nice for him.
There was a weekend that we went up to the cottage on Friday night and stayed overnight. Thankfully Friday night was decent, but Saturday was chilly!
For Mike's birthday I gave him a gift certificate to Action Water Sports' cable wake park. He was excited to take advantage of it, so we went a few days later. It was really fun to watch him! I wasn't sure what to expect for the spectators, but they have a really nice area where you can sit and watch, and a small swimming area for the kids. Mike had a blast and was quite sore for several days afterwards.
A couple Saturday's ago we went to a wedding for one of Mike's step-cousins. We always have fun at family weddings like that! Harold & Kara, Steve & Erin, and Mike & I were together. Somehow we got ushered right up to the front for the ceremony since we're family (even in front of the aunts and uncles!!) - we had a good laugh about that one. And, of course, we all had fun together at the reception.
The next day was Father's Day, and we met up with my parent's at Red Robin.
Last Saturday we went up to the cottage again, and it was another cool day. Hoping it's better next weekend... Tom & Tera are in town from Kenya right now, and we've been having a lot of fun spending time with them. The kids have SO MUCH FUN all together.
This past week was fairly busy, too, but it was so much nicer not to have to rush off in the morning like we did for VBS. That seems to have made a big difference for Jackson, his moods have been so much better. Not perfect, but better. I went to volleyball camp Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons; Caleb, Logan, and Levi went with Eric, Lea Anne, Boden, and Heidi to their church's VBS Monday and Wednesday evenings (they loved it!); and on Tuesday evening we ran the Zeeland Zoom! Logan and Levi did the 1 mile Fun Run, Mike (with Jackson in the stroller), Caleb, and I ran the 5k. Also on Tuesday, a couple friends from school came for a few hours while their mom had to go to work. (Throw in neighbor friends coming to play and my house was busy! I love it that way, though.) On Thursday the boys and I met Tom, Tera, Luke, and Jude at the splash pad in Jenison, then in the afternoon we had to boogie to Zeeland for an orthodontist appointment for Caleb. (Most of the appointment went well, and then Jackson started to break down at the end. I was hugely relieved when Caleb came out all done.) Last night Tom and Tera and the boys came over for dinner and to hang out, and today we met them at the splash pad in Zeeland. We are soaking up our time with them!
Mike
Mike totally rocked the 5k while pushing Jackson in the stroller. Finished 5th in his age group (out of way more than 5...)! He has been super consistent with working out over the last several months, and it really shows.
Celery harvest has been pushed out this year due to our wintry Spring. It feels strange to not be started yet! They will be harvesting some on Monday, but then taking a break for a couple days before getting back at it. And, that's only one packing line, the other line will start up a little later into July.
Boys
We were so proud of how each of the boys did at the race earlier this week. Logan and Levi both took the 1 mile run pretty seriously, and looked like they were really doing their best running hard. Caleb did a great job on the 5k despite minimal training, and Mike said Jackson did really well in the stroller (I wouldn't know, I was too far behind!).
Did I mention before that we got Mike & Emily's trampoline? The boys have LOVED it, and they don't seem to tire of it, they can spend hours out there.
We're still casually working on Jackson's potty training. He's doing pretty well with #1, but we're not making a whole lot of progress with #2. Which is funny because several months ago he did it on the potty a couple times (before ever doing #1 on the potty), but now he refuses to poop in the toilet. We're not pushing the issue too hard yet, but at some point I suppose we will. It's almost unbelievable to think we're almost done with diapers!!!
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Friday, June 8, 2018
Levi
I think I mentioned that Levi had his well-child appointment in May, but I forgot to put in his stats! He is currently 54 lbs, which is 86th percentile; and 4' 1", which is 96th percentile. :)
The other day Mike knew he was going to be running plants for the morning, which is a job he can have a helper for, so he took Levi to work with him. It sounds like Levi worked hard and did great, even learning how to help on the planter. He jumps right in wanting to work, observing how things are being done so that he can figure it out. Mike absolutely loved having him along, and I'm sure wishes he could do it every day. :) Levi was definitely worn out from getting up early and working hard - he took a nice solid nap in the afternoon.
The other day Mike knew he was going to be running plants for the morning, which is a job he can have a helper for, so he took Levi to work with him. It sounds like Levi worked hard and did great, even learning how to help on the planter. He jumps right in wanting to work, observing how things are being done so that he can figure it out. Mike absolutely loved having him along, and I'm sure wishes he could do it every day. :) Levi was definitely worn out from getting up early and working hard - he took a nice solid nap in the afternoon.
Friday, June 1, 2018
journals
Caleb and Logan came home from school yesterday with all the journal writings they did throughout the year at school, and Mike and I thoroughly enjoyed reading through them. Love seeing a little glimpse of what they are thinking and what they choose to write about. I'm certainly keeping my favorite papers, but I'll include a few favorite excerpts below (misspellings and all!).
Logan
"One weekend, I played in my woods and I took logs from the woods and bilt a fort and a few days later I bilt a nother wall that was even higher and the next day my Dad said that he was going to take the MASEY and go into the wood and pull down some trees. and there were the trees. My Dad had a hard time getting in the woods to pull down the trees in the woods and the second tree he pulled down allmost hit my fort! I could not see my fort that good I was scard that the tree hit my ford but it did not but it was about three inches away from my fort."
"Something I would like to learn about is lektrisity and how it works and I know that lektrisity gives us alot of thigs like lights and fans and heters and conputers and lamps and I also know that lektristy is like fire and lighting and if you tuch it you will be elektracuteted and that will not be good and my question is how dose it work how do we egssakly get lights and fand how dose it make thigs." (Also included is a drawing of a person getting electrocuted.)
"My favorite sound in the world is my mom and my dad playing the piano because they play the phantom of the opra and meny other things like that and my other favorite is the wahls when they sing and it is so loud and it just sound super nice..."
"Last weekend I went to the airport with my mom on a Saterday I went there Becuase my mom had to drop my grandparints and they flew to Calufonya and I got so so hangry at the airport and so my mom gave a chees stik but I was still to hangry my mom gave me an appilsose. but I was still to hangry"
"If we got an extra day off of school, I hope it would be a hot day. I would want to swim at lots of places like the water park and the Aquatic Center and Great woulf floge and Zenders and in Salt Lake Oiho because I was there last year and there is a hotel and the lake there is so so sooo warm and there also is a 1 foot deep pool and there is a 4 deep pool and there is a 12 foot deep pool and the lak is so so so sooo shalow and on the bttom is sooo soo mudy."
"The most exciting job I could have would be a shef because I just love cooking so so so so so so sooo muuch and yesterday when it was valintines day me and my mom made a speciel dinner and I realy realy want to work in a speciel reshtwrant and make realy good food."
Caleb
"The most exciting job I could have would be a farmer because they get to drive a tractor around allot. and you would not leave your home to go work all you have to do is go wolk right out of your house and you will see your barn right in front of your face but one of the Bad things is it stinks if you have cows but if you work in the barn you will get yoused to it and it wont Be so bad it Just might be a little stinky and that woud not Be so bad but a nother bad thing is that you might have a lot of rats but it would Be fun to kill it and when you had a party you could have a hay Ball ride it would be so fun and you woud have a lot of cats to catch the rats and mice. The end."
"My favrit sound in the world is puppy bark. Because it sounds super dooper whooper quit and it sounds like quit thing that barks. And this is what it sonds like ruff! ruff! It just sounds so quit! when my dog was small I would allwase make Her bark it sounded so quit! the end"
"If I could only read three books for the rest of my life, I would choose the Bible because, it's God's word. and I would pick my Baby book because it's the life I had when I was a baby. And the noo book we got on Monday it is I'll tell you okey you here it gose oops I fargot oh I just remebered it is when oops, ok it is when my dad went to Guyana it has pichers of my dad and all the others who whent with. And I would never get tired of those books because there imortent to me the end"
"If I could cook any meal for my family, it would be Lasonya because it is sooper fun to cook and make Lasonya because there's a lot of ingreateince to put in it and it is fun to mix everything in it and the best part of all is you get to eat it and jush so you know Logan K. hates all nodels aspeshelly Lasonya!"
"My friends and I went on a pirate ship it was scary but we made it back because I'm realing this to you write now and I saw giantick pirates my freinds were names Evan, Simeon, Simon, Andrew, Logan B., Logan K., William, Isaac, Charlott, Sienna, Adury, AnnaSofia and I it was scary because we were about to sink! and I'm scard when I go on a boat because I'm scared of teh fish wich is wierd."
About a silly made up food: "...If I tried it I think I would say eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!! that was deskusting!!!!! I would make my little brother Levi try it too....now I will make Logan .K and Logan .B try it I Bet they would say eeeeeeeewwwwwww!! the end"
"if I had an Extra school day of I would have it a hot day Because then I would go outside and run down the street for a few miles and my dad would come with me and run Back and get some water to Drink. the end"
Logan
"One weekend, I played in my woods and I took logs from the woods and bilt a fort and a few days later I bilt a nother wall that was even higher and the next day my Dad said that he was going to take the MASEY and go into the wood and pull down some trees. and there were the trees. My Dad had a hard time getting in the woods to pull down the trees in the woods and the second tree he pulled down allmost hit my fort! I could not see my fort that good I was scard that the tree hit my ford but it did not but it was about three inches away from my fort."
"Something I would like to learn about is lektrisity and how it works and I know that lektrisity gives us alot of thigs like lights and fans and heters and conputers and lamps and I also know that lektristy is like fire and lighting and if you tuch it you will be elektracuteted and that will not be good and my question is how dose it work how do we egssakly get lights and fand how dose it make thigs." (Also included is a drawing of a person getting electrocuted.)
"My favorite sound in the world is my mom and my dad playing the piano because they play the phantom of the opra and meny other things like that and my other favorite is the wahls when they sing and it is so loud and it just sound super nice..."
"Last weekend I went to the airport with my mom on a Saterday I went there Becuase my mom had to drop my grandparints and they flew to Calufonya and I got so so hangry at the airport and so my mom gave a chees stik but I was still to hangry my mom gave me an appilsose. but I was still to hangry"
"If we got an extra day off of school, I hope it would be a hot day. I would want to swim at lots of places like the water park and the Aquatic Center and Great woulf floge and Zenders and in Salt Lake Oiho because I was there last year and there is a hotel and the lake there is so so sooo warm and there also is a 1 foot deep pool and there is a 4 deep pool and there is a 12 foot deep pool and the lak is so so so sooo shalow and on the bttom is sooo soo mudy."
"The most exciting job I could have would be a shef because I just love cooking so so so so so so sooo muuch and yesterday when it was valintines day me and my mom made a speciel dinner and I realy realy want to work in a speciel reshtwrant and make realy good food."
Caleb
"The most exciting job I could have would be a farmer because they get to drive a tractor around allot. and you would not leave your home to go work all you have to do is go wolk right out of your house and you will see your barn right in front of your face but one of the Bad things is it stinks if you have cows but if you work in the barn you will get yoused to it and it wont Be so bad it Just might be a little stinky and that woud not Be so bad but a nother bad thing is that you might have a lot of rats but it would Be fun to kill it and when you had a party you could have a hay Ball ride it would be so fun and you woud have a lot of cats to catch the rats and mice. The end."
"My favrit sound in the world is puppy bark. Because it sounds super dooper whooper quit and it sounds like quit thing that barks. And this is what it sonds like ruff! ruff! It just sounds so quit! when my dog was small I would allwase make Her bark it sounded so quit! the end"
"If I could only read three books for the rest of my life, I would choose the Bible because, it's God's word. and I would pick my Baby book because it's the life I had when I was a baby. And the noo book we got on Monday it is I'll tell you okey you here it gose oops I fargot oh I just remebered it is when oops, ok it is when my dad went to Guyana it has pichers of my dad and all the others who whent with. And I would never get tired of those books because there imortent to me the end"
"If I could cook any meal for my family, it would be Lasonya because it is sooper fun to cook and make Lasonya because there's a lot of ingreateince to put in it and it is fun to mix everything in it and the best part of all is you get to eat it and jush so you know Logan K. hates all nodels aspeshelly Lasonya!"
"My friends and I went on a pirate ship it was scary but we made it back because I'm realing this to you write now and I saw giantick pirates my freinds were names Evan, Simeon, Simon, Andrew, Logan B., Logan K., William, Isaac, Charlott, Sienna, Adury, AnnaSofia and I it was scary because we were about to sink! and I'm scard when I go on a boat because I'm scared of teh fish wich is wierd."
About a silly made up food: "...If I tried it I think I would say eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!! that was deskusting!!!!! I would make my little brother Levi try it too....now I will make Logan .K and Logan .B try it I Bet they would say eeeeeeeewwwwwww!! the end"
"if I had an Extra school day of I would have it a hot day Because then I would go outside and run down the street for a few miles and my dad would come with me and run Back and get some water to Drink. the end"
summer!
Unbelievable. Somehow, I blinked, May happened, and now it's June! May was a busy month with lots of activities, and now today is the first day of summer break. So far so good - I'm looking forward to a great summer!
Some of the things we did in May: I had one of my oldest friends over for coffee and we had a great time catching up, we celebrated Levi's SIXTH birthday, went to the last Mom's & Muffins of the school year, I had an outpatient surgery performed, Caleb had a visit to the orthodondist, I babysat Jackson's friend, Kassie, a couple different times, the older boys had their Spring Showcase, we had Mike's family over to our house for Mother's Day, we got together with my family at my parent's house for Mother's Day, we had our last Bible Study for the year, I was able to accompany Caleb and Logan's class on a field trip to Post Family Farm and Hager Park, I participated in a garage sale with some friends from church (and got to witness their crazy neighbor lady), Mike and I went on a date, Levi had his well-care visit to the doctor, we went to the cottage the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, as usual we went to the Jenison Memorial Day parade, I went on a field trip with Levi's class, and in our spare time we've done quite a bit of yard work and Mike has been working on a new fence for the garden! Phew! Just reviewing all that makes me tired.
I am REALLY looking forward to not having Jackson on the school schedule for the summer. Waking him up in the morning for drop-off and in the afternoon from his nap for pickup is BRUTAL. He gets so cranked off. So for that reason alone I am grateful for summer break. I'm not sure if I'm ready for all four of my crazies all day every day, but we'll manage! :) I'm hoping I can provide them with enough structure that they don't completely turn into wild hooligans, but still plenty of free time for them to just enjoy summer and give them a chance to be creative and use their imaginations. Today they've been pretty busy with a baby bunny they came across in the strawberry patch, and catching frogs in the creek. :)
This morning I bought a TON of pepper plants, and several tomato plants. Hoping to get them planted tomorrow! We need to finish our new fence tonight, and I have some weeding to do. For some reason I just really enjoy growing pepper plants - the people I purchase my plants from have a huge variety of plants, and each one has a unique name. (They are heirloom tomatoes and peppers.) Not sure how much help I'll get from the kids - I tried to have them do a little weeding last weekend, and you would have thought I was torturing them the way they acted.
Caleb and Logan just finished 2nd grade, and it seems like they had a really good year. I really liked their teacher, Miss Griess, and they seemed to like her, too. I love how much memory work she had them do.
Levi finished Kindergarten, and he also had great teachers. His class started out the year with Mrs. Knapp, but then she moved to the east side of the state, so Mrs. Baribeau took over (she had been the aide) and that seemed to go really well. At least Levi didn't seem to have any trouble with the transition. He got great marks and comments on his report card, and we're ready for him to do 5-day 1st grade next year. :) For some reason, doing homework with him on his at-home days is AWFUL. It was a battle the whole year for us, and I am very relieved to be done with it. I know he doesn't act like that at school, and he's scoring well in all subjects, so he'll be just fine at school next year.
Jackson. Jackson, Jackson, Jackson. What can I say? We're definitely struggling to know how to best channel his independent spirit, yet help him learn that he does, in fact, have to submit to Mom and Dad sometimes! Basically, if you suggest anything he will not cooperate just based on the fact that he feels the need to rebel against everything. Throw in the fact that he wants to do everything on his own (climb in the van and in his seat, etc., etc., etc.), and my patience is seriously being tested. Love him dearly, and I know his strong will is going to serve him well down the road, but it sure is exhausting in the mean time! (As it was when we went through this with Caleb around the same age as well.) This truly is such a fun age as well, it's just hard to remember that sometimes in the midst of the many challenging moments. He has gotten very good at expressing himself, asking questions, and making observations. He likes to keep tabs on people (Where Daddy go? Where Papa go? Where Jose go?), and he likes to tell his brothers about fun things he did earlier in the day while they were at school (I got a flower cookie, Logan!). He gets excited when he sees the moon, and he loves to play outside. The kid will eat some of the craziest things for a two-year-old: broccoli dipped in mustard, chips and cheese with sour cream, chips and guacamole, mashed potatoes and ketchup...basically, as long as there's some sort of "dip" involved, he's game.
It is 3:30 pm and my two-year-old is still sleeping because I didn't have to wake him up to pick the others guys up from school. LOVE. IT.
Some of the things we did in May: I had one of my oldest friends over for coffee and we had a great time catching up, we celebrated Levi's SIXTH birthday, went to the last Mom's & Muffins of the school year, I had an outpatient surgery performed, Caleb had a visit to the orthodondist, I babysat Jackson's friend, Kassie, a couple different times, the older boys had their Spring Showcase, we had Mike's family over to our house for Mother's Day, we got together with my family at my parent's house for Mother's Day, we had our last Bible Study for the year, I was able to accompany Caleb and Logan's class on a field trip to Post Family Farm and Hager Park, I participated in a garage sale with some friends from church (and got to witness their crazy neighbor lady), Mike and I went on a date, Levi had his well-care visit to the doctor, we went to the cottage the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, as usual we went to the Jenison Memorial Day parade, I went on a field trip with Levi's class, and in our spare time we've done quite a bit of yard work and Mike has been working on a new fence for the garden! Phew! Just reviewing all that makes me tired.
I am REALLY looking forward to not having Jackson on the school schedule for the summer. Waking him up in the morning for drop-off and in the afternoon from his nap for pickup is BRUTAL. He gets so cranked off. So for that reason alone I am grateful for summer break. I'm not sure if I'm ready for all four of my crazies all day every day, but we'll manage! :) I'm hoping I can provide them with enough structure that they don't completely turn into wild hooligans, but still plenty of free time for them to just enjoy summer and give them a chance to be creative and use their imaginations. Today they've been pretty busy with a baby bunny they came across in the strawberry patch, and catching frogs in the creek. :)
This morning I bought a TON of pepper plants, and several tomato plants. Hoping to get them planted tomorrow! We need to finish our new fence tonight, and I have some weeding to do. For some reason I just really enjoy growing pepper plants - the people I purchase my plants from have a huge variety of plants, and each one has a unique name. (They are heirloom tomatoes and peppers.) Not sure how much help I'll get from the kids - I tried to have them do a little weeding last weekend, and you would have thought I was torturing them the way they acted.
Caleb and Logan just finished 2nd grade, and it seems like they had a really good year. I really liked their teacher, Miss Griess, and they seemed to like her, too. I love how much memory work she had them do.
Levi finished Kindergarten, and he also had great teachers. His class started out the year with Mrs. Knapp, but then she moved to the east side of the state, so Mrs. Baribeau took over (she had been the aide) and that seemed to go really well. At least Levi didn't seem to have any trouble with the transition. He got great marks and comments on his report card, and we're ready for him to do 5-day 1st grade next year. :) For some reason, doing homework with him on his at-home days is AWFUL. It was a battle the whole year for us, and I am very relieved to be done with it. I know he doesn't act like that at school, and he's scoring well in all subjects, so he'll be just fine at school next year.
Jackson. Jackson, Jackson, Jackson. What can I say? We're definitely struggling to know how to best channel his independent spirit, yet help him learn that he does, in fact, have to submit to Mom and Dad sometimes! Basically, if you suggest anything he will not cooperate just based on the fact that he feels the need to rebel against everything. Throw in the fact that he wants to do everything on his own (climb in the van and in his seat, etc., etc., etc.), and my patience is seriously being tested. Love him dearly, and I know his strong will is going to serve him well down the road, but it sure is exhausting in the mean time! (As it was when we went through this with Caleb around the same age as well.) This truly is such a fun age as well, it's just hard to remember that sometimes in the midst of the many challenging moments. He has gotten very good at expressing himself, asking questions, and making observations. He likes to keep tabs on people (Where Daddy go? Where Papa go? Where Jose go?), and he likes to tell his brothers about fun things he did earlier in the day while they were at school (I got a flower cookie, Logan!). He gets excited when he sees the moon, and he loves to play outside. The kid will eat some of the craziest things for a two-year-old: broccoli dipped in mustard, chips and cheese with sour cream, chips and guacamole, mashed potatoes and ketchup...basically, as long as there's some sort of "dip" involved, he's game.
It is 3:30 pm and my two-year-old is still sleeping because I didn't have to wake him up to pick the others guys up from school. LOVE. IT.
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