daredevil

We've been suspicious for a while that we might have a daredevil on our hands with Jackson.  Seems to be a bit of a thrill-seeker.  (Just what I need!)  The other night Mike was giving Jackson a bath when I got home from taking a walk with Amy (we were late for spin class - oops - so just took a walk instead), so Mike and I were just hanging out while Jackson played.  Anyways, our tub is slanted on one end - you know, like a slide.  Under close supervision, Jackson tried to climb up that part, fell and slid down, and instead of it frightening him, he LOVED it.  He was laughing so hard and kept trying to do it over and over again.  Also, at one point Mike had him on his back in the water with his ears totally submerged - none of my other kids would do that, and he was relaxed and loving it!  This has me a tad worried for the cottage this summer - going to have to keep a close eye on that boy.  I want my kids to be more comfortable in the water than I have ever been, but yet a healthy fear is good!

Tuesday night was a roller skating party for our school.  I'm not sure who had more fun, Mike or the boys!  It worked out perfect with Jackson - we had him in the jogging stroller the whole time, and he loved it!  I didn't skate, but was able to walk around the rink with him some.  Mike pushed him most of the time, though.  Both Caleb and Logan tried roller blades for a while at first, and I thought they were getting the hang of it, but then they wanted to switch to skates, and did well with those, too.  Logan really did well.  At the beginning he would fall, but then get right back up and keep going.  It didn't take long before I could tell he was going longer distances without falling and he just started to look more comfortable with it.  Caleb used a little push cart thing quite a bit and did well.  I think he was having a blast just being with his friends.  :)  Levi definitely improved throughout the night, too!  It worked out nice for him to have the stroller to hang onto.  I enjoyed walking around the rink a few times, and then visiting with other moms.  :)

potatoes

Caleb and Logan had their 7 year well child visit to the doctor last night.  7 years!!  Seems like we were just hauling them in to the doctor in their carseats to see if they were gaining at all!

Logan is 53 lb (60%) and 4' 2" (79%); and Caleb is 64 lb (91%) and 4' 5" (98%).  In the words of the doctor, "If you plant potatoes, you're going to grow potatoes."  I suppose he means we're not destined to have small children!  Ha!

So, so very thankful for my healthy boys.  Caleb and his no-nonsense, I-just-wanna-have-a-good-time attitude, yet still sensitive; and Logan and his thoughtful, sensitive, and creative nature.  It is so much fun to see how each of our children develop into individuals with their own strengths (and, yes, weaknesses...), likes, dislikes, temperaments, and abilities.  We are blessed.

project

We have been working on remodeling our laundry room, and it's been going well, yet it gets to a point where it feels like it's just dragging on, and I just want it to be over with.  Mike has done a ton of work, but there's still more to go (and we're getting into things where I can be involved), and we're having a carpenter come in a couple weeks to do a built-in.  It will be so worth it!  I love living in an old, unique house, but it also means that there is ALWAYS a project.  I started on a photo book of our basement project, and it's amazing what strong emotions that brings out in me.  I am SO GLAD that is over with.  It is definitely nice to have the basement (Mike mentioned how this laundry room project is much easier because of having access to the plumbing and gas lines in the basement), but I'm really, really, really, glad that 2015 is a memory.  :)

We've pretty much just been staying busy going about our normal business of life.  Church, school, working on the laundry room, just keeping the household running.  Last week we had a guy from Mike's work over for dinner, and I think we'll do that more often.  He recently moved out of his mom's house, and it was not a huge deal to just add a plate at the table.  :)

Jackson has had a cold for a few days now, but it seems like he's on the mend today.  Mike is feeling pretty yucky with it today.  Levi has it a little bit, and I think Logan was sniffling some, too.  I can feel it a little bit, but not too bad.  Yuck!  Jackson hasn't slept real great, last night I spend a couple hours in the chair with him, but now he's napping pretty well and I haven't heard as much coughing.

Jackson's main form of transportation now is walking.  The other day I got him new shoes and he is just too cute.  When I got them I tried them on him for a bit then took them off for his nap.  As soon as he woke up from his nap he pointed at the shoes, and when I handed them to him he held them down by his feet.  He did the same thing for Mike the next morning.  He just clomps around the house in them and it's so cute!  It's still pretty cute the way he says "no", too.  He says it when he's going to do something he knows he shouldn't be doing.  So, he often tests it at mealtime - he'll hold his cup or a piece of food over the floor and say "no no".  Or, he'll walk towards one of the lamps in the living room saying "no no".

I've been putting it off for a while, but a few days ago I got all the Legos out for the boys.  They've been enjoying building things, for which I am glad, but the mess is a nightmare for me...  I've mostly been able to keep stuff off the main level so I don't have to worry about it with Jackson so much, but the basement and their rooms are a mess of Legos.

Last week a Chick-fil-A finally opened somewhat near us, and we went there on it's second day open!  The lines were crazy, but they handled it really well.  Mike and I went on Friday with Levi and Jackson, and just went through the drive-thru.  It was so good, and I hope we get one even closer sometime!

wrap it up

I suppose it's cliche, but I can't believe another year is over!  2016 has been great, and we look forward to 2017 being another fun and exciting year for our crazy little family.

As usual this time of year, we've been pretty busy.  The first week of Christmas break was spent stuck at home with sick kids and a van at the mechanic.  But, after we got through that and Mike started his break from work, we've been able to really enjoy our time!  On Christmas Eve we did our traditional family shopping.  We had the boys draw names, then took them to the mall to help them shop for the person's whose name they drew.  (On a quick stop at Gemmen's on the way Logan found his gift for Levi.)  Things went pretty well at the mall, and we even had time to look a little for Mike's gift for me (snowpants and gloves).  After we finished at the mall, we headed to Meijer to grab some baby things to drop off at Lakeshore Pregnancy Center.  We had fun picking out some girl clothes!

Christmas Day was a nice, relaxing day at home after attending church in the morning.  We had fun opening a few presents, eating a nice breakfast, and just hanging out.

Then this past week is when the craziness began!  Tuesday I took Caleb and Logan to meet up with a school friend at Kids Unlimited for open gym time.  They had so much fun!  Trampolines, foam pits, and mats and such for them to run around and play on.  Tuesday evening was the greater Steenwyk party at my parent's house.  My sister and her family made it into town in time for the party, so it was great to see them and also other family that we don't have opportunity to see much.  That was our first late night of the week...

Wednesday morning I was busy trying to clean the house since my sister was going to be babysitting Jackson for a while in the afternoon.  A bunch of the rest of us went to see Rogue One (Dad, Chad, Katie, Jenna, Eric, Lea Anne, Boden, Heidi, Mike, Caleb, Logan, Levi, and myself.).  So fun!  We saw it in 3D and that was neat.  That evening was the greater Krol party.  I actually jumped in and played volleyball this year (it's been a few years), and this old lady was a little sore the next day!

I think it was Thursday morning that we actually slept in.  Even Jackson!  He's handled the crazy schedule this week like a champ.  Starting mid-afternoon was our Steenwyk Christmas.  Family photos, carol singing, Christmas story, dinner, prayer time, and presents, oh my!  I put Jackson to bed there and he actually fell asleep.  Felt bad when it was time to get him up to go home, but he went back to bed at home just fine.  Meanwhile, the other boys have had so much fun hanging with their cousins so much!  Love seeing how they all get along.  

Friday around lunchtime I met up with my friend Angie for coffee.  Always nice to catch up!  Then Friday evening we went to my parent's to hang out with my family again.  This time was Bingo, birthday presents for some of the kids, and family discussion time (how to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary next year, and our joining in the beef business).  It was another late night and Jackson slept in until after 9am this morning!  He took two naps today, went to bed on time tonight, and hopefully will be back to normal tomorrow.  Levi also napped today, and all the boys clearly needed  a break from all the activity.

Now it's 10pm on New Years Eve, and the boys have been in bed since a little after 8pm, Mike went to bed around 9pm, and I'll be going there soon!  Party animals!

Oh, by the way, Jackson has been walking all over the place, and it's just too cute.  :)  Farmer Levi has gotten alot of work done with the new combine and grain buggy he got; and Caleb and Logan, my little artists, have enjoyed painting an alligator and dinosaur that they got.

these boots are made for walkin'

Jackson keeps taking more and more steps!  Of course, he won't really let me get it on camera.  About a week ago we were all in Caleb and Logan's room and he took about 5-6 steps - we were all cheering loudly and he clearly enjoyed the attention.  :)  We're in a 'fun' transition time right now, but I think he's moving towards dropping to one nap a day.  He's already changing in what he will and won't eat, and becoming more challenging for me.  For example, used to be that he would gobble up scrambled eggs faster than I could keep up, now he won't touch them.  Stinker.

Last week was a little extra busy because Caleb and Logan had a couple rehearsals for their church Christmas program.  Wednesday night they had a rehearsal before Word of Life, and then all Saturday morning.  The program was Sunday night and went really well!  It was a cute program about a birthday party for Jesus, and had fun songs.  The boys were just in the choir part for most of it, then at the end they got to be shepherds.  So cute!  Caleb was a little fidgity up there, but Logan was very serious and focused.  Normally I've got some sort of story to tell after Christmas Program night, but not this time!  Things were pretty tame.  A few times Caleb was sticking his hand in his shirt where he had a button missing, but probably no one noticed?  :)  And, while Levi was up there with his group, Caleb did holler something at him from where he was sitting, but we didn't have any "major" incidents this year.  Levi's group (the 4's and 5's) did great!  It was a small group so we were worried about them being way too quiet, but they did well.  We had been encouraging Levi to go ahead and sing right into the microphone, and he actually did try a few times, but I don't think that one was turned up very much as I didn't hear him.  Hard to believe that next year Jackson will be up there in the 2's and 3's!!

Friday night our school had a Parent's Night Out babysitting fundraiser for some of the highschoolers going on a missions trip this spring.  So we gladly dropped the boys off and headed out for a date!  (Too rare of an occurrence.)  Tacos el Cunado for supper, then Barnes & Noble to just hang out browsing at books and then having coffee.  After the craziness of harvest season, it is SOOOOOO nice to have more time to spend together and actually have conversations.  Kinda funny, on our way to drop the kids off we were all in the truck and swerved a little on an icy patch.  Then on our way to pick the kids up, there was a smaller truck in the ditch in that same spot.  We pulled over to make sure he had a phone to call for help and he was fine.  Glad it wasn't more serious, and glad we weren't the ones in the ditch!

Saturday morning we fit in a drive to Benton Harbor to deliver beef while Caleb and Logan were at rehearsal.  The weather was a little wintry, but not too bad.  On the way back we did see a couple separate vehicles in the median, one looked pretty bad.  Sunday was pretty snowy, but thankfully the program wasn't cancelled.  We drove around in the truck all weekend as the van needs new tires and isn't getting them until Friday.  Of course, I've been slipping around in it this week so far.  Monday school was cancelled, and we had a really nice snow day.  A year ago I dreaded snow days, but it was actually a nice, relaxing, fun day.  I even got to go out a play a bit with the big boys when Jackson napped.

Amy and I have gone to a spin class at Zeeland Rec a couple times now, and it's been great!  It was really rough the first time, but it felt good to get some exercise, and I could notice improvement at the second class already.  Now to try and get moving the rest of the week, too!  I took possession of Mike's old fitbit, so we'll see if tracking my activity motivates me at all.

merry

It's the Christmas season and we are enjoying it!  I have been partaking in Christmas music for quite a while already, but we put up the tree about a week ago, and I just love having it up.  Mike helped me get the little trees on the porch set up, and I just got candles for a few of the windows - it's all so pretty.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend.  Thanksgiving Dinner was at VanBeek's, and almost all of Mike's family was able to be there.  On Friday we ended up going up to the cottage overnight and had such a nice time!  Harold and Kara were up there with their kids, and Friday night we just hung out, then Saturday we took a drive to look at some land for hunting.

Monday evening we celebrated Caleb and Logan's birthday with grandparents.  And then Tuesday was their SEVENTH birthday!!  I can hardly believe it.  My little babies are big boys now!  It is so much fun watching them become their own persons with different interests, talents, and personalities.
Thursday evening was the school Christmas concert.  Caleb, Logan, and Levi were all a part of it, and they did great!  They were all three up front at the same time (with the rest of the elementary), standing in different spots, and it was hard to keep an eye on all three at the same time.  :)  I didn't want to miss what one person did just because I was watching another...

Friday night we were able to get a piano from some friends.  We brought over pizza and hung out a bit, then moved the piano from their place to ours.  We put it in Jackson's room as we don't really have another good spot, and everyone's enjoying it so far.

Saturday afternoon was our first family Christmas party of the season.  With my mom's side at my parent's house.  Nice to see some of the family that we don't see very often.

Yesterday afternoon was our first real, accumulating snow of the year.  The boys had fun playing outside!  We even took Jackson outside for a bit and he seemed to enjoy it.

Jackson is ALMOST walking.  Definitely going to happen soon!  He has taken 1 or 2 small steps, and is much more steady standing on his own.  He says bye-bye and waves, and a couple times has said nigh-nigh.  So fun to see him picking up on different things: he'll hold one of his toy phones up to his head and 'talk', the other day he grabbed one of his shoes and held it by his foot, when I go in the bathroom with him he puts his finger by his ear knowing I'm going to clean his ears, and a little while back when he had a runny nose, not long after I had wiped it, he took his hankie out of the backpack and kinda wiped his nose.  He has been doing a little climbing, which I'm not a huge fan of.

Levi is still pretty focused on farming and combining.  And, he's often looking for ways to work and be a helper!  Love the initiative I see in that guy.  The other day he did say something about missing me some when at school ("When Silas gets sad and misses his mom, I miss my mom, too").  Sweetheart!

Loving Mike's off-season!  We just eat up all the family time.  Every day it's a pleasant surprise when he gets home from work at such a reasonable hour.  And, of course, Friday's off are AWESOME.

it was time

Last week was still a beautiful week.  Friday was even 70 degrees, and a great day to be outside.  And then Saturday it happened.  It got cold and snowy.  Winter had to come sooner or later!  After much effort, I THINK we're all set with coats, snow pants, boots, hats, and gloves.  Phew!  Of course the snow is gone already, now today is just rainy and cold.

During the good weather last week Mike hung a tire swing and started working on a fort in the woods.  So fun!  I can see the boys having hours of enjoyment with the fort.  What an awesome dad.  :)  Caleb and Logan are getting some tools for their birthday next week, we'll see if we get some decent weather for them to help Mike with more of the fort.

Monday and Tuesday this week we had some busy days.  Monday morning after dropping Caleb and Logan off to school, Levi, Jackson, and I headed to a Moms and Muffins time.  It's always nice to have a chance to chat with some of the other moms from school.  After that we made a quick trip to the store and then had to head to the doctor for Jackson's 12 month check-up.  He's nice and healthy!  21 lb 9 oz (50%) and 31.75 in (96%).  His measurements are pretty close to what Caleb's were at that age.  Fun to see him crawling around the room, hiding under the exam table.  :)  He's doing everything he should developmentally, and there are no concerns!  Praise the Lord for another healthy child.

Jackson is mostly eating table food, I just still do some baby food as that's a way of getting some veggies in him.  :)  He's drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup now, no more bottles.  He's been doing some spitting at meal time, which we're trying to nip in the bud, but he often thinks it's funny when we he gets a swat on the hand.  Hmmmm...  A few times now he has stood for several seconds on his own.  He walks really well pushing his walker or scooter.  Jackson loves his big brothers, and tries to get in the mix with them.  :)  I think he has said "bye bye" and "nigh nigh" a couple times - so hard to tell for sure when they're just starting out!

The older boys are on Thanksgiving break now, and overall we've had a nice day so far.  They played for quite a while this morning before even having breakfast.  We did run a few errands which included flu shots.  The boys did pretty well!  Caleb and Logan hardly flinched or reacted, I had to hold Levi down, and he did cry a little, but at least didn't scream.  :)  Of course we had to go through McDonald's drive-thru for cookies after that.  Levi was upset for quite a while afterwards, but finally snapped out of it.  We'd been listening to The Magician's Nephew in the car, so now at home we're watching The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Nothing like The Chronicles of Narnia!