two. more. days.

We're almost there.  So close.  This past week felt like it took soooooo long.  Similar to the week in between inductions for Levi.  Ha!  This celery harvest has big the biggest ever - they planted more than they ever have.  So, when a normal season feels like running a marathon, tacking an extra week on the end is a challenge.  Everybody is ready to be done.  Yesterday Mike was dealing with yet another personnel issue and was basically like, "We're almost done, we've got two more days left after this.  Just stay away from each other."  Thankfully the weather has been pretty decent.  That certainly helps.  When harvest is done, I think Jackson is going to miss visiting Mike and getting treats from Pete.  :)  He'll even say, "Hi, Pete" now and goes up to him for a fist bump.  Then, of course, he's real good about saying "thank you".  :)

A couple weeks ago we had our annual skeet shoot party here with Mike's brother and cousin.  It was fun and the weather worked out perfect!  It was warm and stayed dry until we were stopping for supper anyways, then it poured.  Mike's cousin brought his four-wheeler and so we had fun taking a few rides around.  Caleb got to shoot a .22 for the first time (I was maybe a little nervous...) and did awesome!  I shot a couple different guns (don't ask me what) and got lucky on a couple shots.  My shoulder had had enough after a bit.  Of course, Mike, Harold, and Joe had plenty of opportunities to show off how good they are.  ;) 

Last Saturday was our Fall Festival at school.  Unfortunately the weather didn't work out so good for that.  The outdoor events couldn't happen, but everyone made the most of it and had fun indoors.  I ran the popcorn machine for a while with another mom, and we managed to talk (a lot) AND get our work done.  :) 

Every fall I make a beef delivery to South Haven for one of Mike's cousins (she lives in South Bend and we meet in South Haven).  I love the town of South Haven and look forward to my drive there every year.  I went last week on a day that I just had Jackson with me.  Normally he does not do well in the car, but he did great this time!  He actually watched the video I put in for him (farm stuff), and we had fun while we were in South Haven.  I took him to the beach for a while.  An older couple gave him a whole package of crackers to feed to the seagulls, and he had fun taking a bite out of each cracker and then throwing it for the birds.  :)  He was doing great until near the end when a seagull took a cracker right out of his hand - I'm not sure if he got upset because he was scared or because he didn't get his bite of the cracker first.  We played on the playground at the beach for a little while (he has a thing for slides right now, always spots them when we're driving places, "slide! slide!"); and then went downtown for a treat before going home. 

I've been having so much fun playing volleyball every Monday night.  We have a fun group, and we've been doing pretty well.  The only problem is, so far our games have been at 8pm.  That's a good thing considering Mike's schedule while harvest is going, but it's a bad thing because it means I don't generally get home until 9:30pm and I can't just go right to bed.  I end up dragging on Tuesday's.  This week I had my "lack of sleep" headache, which made me nauseous by the end of the day.  Ugh.  What is wrong with me that I can't handle an 8pm volleyball game??  Pathetic! 

Mike does a great job making sure everything is in great shape before harvest begins, but now it's been four months and the maintenance issues are piling up around here.  My van needs an oil change (I have brought in in myself before, but I HATE doing it), his truck needs a headlight and a new tailgate (he accidentally backed into a trailer during soybean harvest for my dad - oops), our dining room light is on the fritz (something in the dimmer switch), and our lawn mower is out of commission.  Oh, the lawn mower...  Thankfully, my brother lives right next door and we can borrow their mower.  (I like their's better anyways!)  Last week I used it and I think one of the tires was going soft by the end (I didn't know it at the time).  So this week I get about half done with our yard and the tire goes completely flat.  It needed a whole new tire, so after work Mike ran to the hardware store and was able to fix it for me.  So the next day I'm partway done with what's left to mow in our yard, and the wheel falls completely off!!!  Something about a shaft collar that he had tightened as good as he could, but obviously it still worked it's way off.  Another run to the hardware store that night, fixed again, and finally yesterday I was able to FINISH our yard.  Thankful for a stretch of good weather.  :) 

Wednesday afternoon I got a call that Levi had thrown up at school.  :(  Poor guy.  I got Jackson up from his nap and went to school to get him.  He didn't seem in too bad of shape.  He rested for the afternoon and seemed to be feeling okay.  Just when I was going to load everyone up to bring Caleb and Logan to church, Levi threw up again.  He was fine the rest of the night, got a good night's sleep, and was fine the next day.  Still had to stay home from school, but I'm thankful this wasn't anything too major!  And, so far, everyone else seems fine.

I had a quick chat with Levi's teacher the other morning.  She is moving to the other side of the state soon (her husband took a pastorate near Bay City), and I just wanted to get her input on what she's observed so far this year.  She said Levi is very helpful in class (yay!), and we need to spend time working on his letter sounds.  From what I do with him at home I can see that area needs a little practice, but he has been getting some better, I think, so I'm not overly concerned.  He'll get it!  Funny conversation I had with Levi yesterday:
Levi: "Which vegetable is the best?"
Me: "Like the best for you?"
Levi: "Yeah."
Me: "I don't know...carrots are pretty good for you."
Levi: "Broccoli?"
Me: "Yes, broccoli is good for you, too."
Levi: "Steak?"
Me: "Well, that's not a vegetable, but I like the way you're thinking!"  :)

So, the other day the kids had hearing testing done at school.  We got a note home that they want us to take Caleb in to the Health Department for a retest.  I guess he missed a few of the tones.  When they did the testing in Kindergarten his teacher had mentioned to us that they had pulled him back out to test again, but we never heard anymore about it.  And, I had forgotten about this, but Mike remembered that when we had the boys in to the doctor for their kindergarten screening, Caleb had a few issues with the hearing test then, too.  At the time we weren't sure if he was really missing a couple of the tones, or if he was just having trouble understanding the directions and what he was supposed to be doing.  So, he has a retest scheduled in a month and we'll see what's going on. 

I had just a minute to chat with Logan and Caleb's teacher at the Fall Festival last weekend, and she said that they're both such little gentlemen and that they lead in that area.  That's the sort of thing that makes my momma heart proud!  They are both really enjoying chess, art, and drama at school.  I love it!  They do a lot of memorization at school (catechism, poems, verses) and Logan seems to do especially well with that.

Jackson is in that 'fun' stage right now where I can't leave his sight.  He'll be playing nicely, seemingly not paying attention to me, and I'll try to quick slip to another room to do something.  Just a couple seconds later I hear, "Mommy?  Mommy?  Mommy?" and he comes looking for me.  :)  He is learning so much right now, it's too much fun.  The other day he was pointing to the clock in the hall and I told him that it was a "clock".  Then he goes into the living room and points to one in there - he knew they were the same thing!  He has learned what the potty is, and the other day I was with him in Lowe's in the bathroom area.  We were walking down the aisle with all the toilets and sinks, and he just kept looking at them going, "Potty.  Potty.  Potty."  :)  He is still obsessed with cows, and he also enjoys farm equipment, always thinking he should be able to go for a ride.  This morning the farmer that farms the field right by us was combining his corn and Jackson was having trouble understanding that it wasn't Papa or Daddy in the combine, and that he couldn't go for a ride.  Also this morning, Mike and the older boys headed up north right away to help Harold with some work on the cottage.  Jackson didn't wake up until after they were gone, and he was having trouble understanding that they weren't around.  He kept saying, "Wuvi?  Wuvi?" and looking for them.  And, here's a good one, he had gone upstairs to look for his brothers and then was at the top of the stairs on his tummy facing head first to come down.  I said, "No, turn around." and he stands up and spins a couple circles!  Stinker.  He gets excited to see or hear planes outside..."Pane!  Pane!"  :)  So many cute things right now, I wish I could bottle it up...  Makes me sad that I know I've forgotten things about when the other boys were little, and I know I'll forget some of the things that Jackson is doing right now, too.  The other day I was watching someone's "birth story" video, and it didn't make me want to do it all over again, but it made me want to travel back in time just to remember what it was like.  I'd better stop before I get all sad and sentimental.  :)

october

Normally, the beginning of October brings a sense of relief for me, but not so much this year.  Years previous, Mike has finished celery harvest around mid-October, so when the month starts it feels like we're so close to being done.  However, at this point the projected end date is October 27.  The 27th!!!  The END of the month!  So, even though the four weeks that are left are a small amount compared to what's already been completed, it feels like a long ways away.  Overall, on my end of things, this has been one of the most manageable harvest seasons for me.  As the kids are getting older, it's getting a little easier.  We still miss Mike during the week, but the number of days that I'm DESPERATE for him to get home from work are less and less.  :)

Two weekends ago Mike and I had a chance to go to a quincenera for the granddaughter of a couple that works for him (and I know them from way back when I worked there).  We went with another couple from work that we've known a long time, and had a nice evening.  One thing's for sure, if my parent's had thrown me a party like that when I turned 15, Mike and I would have had to elope - there wouldn't have been any money for a wedding!  I've been to several different events, but this was my first quincenera.  There were a lot of guests, plenty of good food, and loud music.  :)  A live band was coming in just as we had to leave and they sounded really good.  The girl's dress was beautiful and elaborate.  It was interesting to see some of the traditions like her entourage (I don't know the actual term) of young men that sit at the head table with her, and do some special dances with her.  Also, her being presented with some special gifts by her parents and other family members.

Last week was my first volleyball game with the church team I am playing on.  It was fun to play again!  I was worried that I was going to be super rusty, but it wasn't too bad.  :)  I'm no teenager anymore, but it was a good time and I wasn't terrible.  Ha!

Last Thursday morning I was able to be a driver for a field trip for Levi's class.  Jackson spent the morning with Uncle Harold, and I think they both enjoyed that.  We went to The Critter Barn, and it was really neat!  I got to learn all about cows and other farm animals.  ;)  Levi got to hold a chicken and a new baby chick, feed hay to goats and cows, and milk a goat.  Thankfully we had really nice weather.  The heat wave was just over, and it was a perfectly nice day.  In the afternoon I did my last batch of salsa for the season - feels great to be done with that!  In total this year I canned 17 pint jars and 17 quart jars.  Yikes!  We go through the stuff like crazy - and the boys don't even eat it yet.  :)  What am I going to do when they decide they like it, too??

This past Saturday Mike and I went to his cousin's wedding (after a busy day of Mike combining soybeans and having to load three trucks at work).  We've come to really enjoy these cousin weddings - it's a nice kid free time with other family members.  It's been dawning on me, though, that we're just about done with cousin weddings, and we'll soon be started on niece/nephew weddings (and with the quantity and age range of nieces and nephews we have, it's going to last a long time).  I think those will be just as fun - I'm fine with being the crazy aunt!  :)  Anyways, the wedding was very nice.  The ceremony was at a small church in Spring Lake, and the reception was on a farm in Nunica.  It had such a great, old barn!  It was really neat the way they had it set up inside.  I've also decided that the next time we have to get dressed up for something, I need to get new black heels.  I have a pair of heels I keep stashed away for special occasions, but I can hardly walk in them anymore (whether I'm on the flat surface of a church sanctuary or the uneven floorboards of an old barn).  It's time for something with a lower, sturdier heel.  Yep, I'm old.  Let's hope I can still be fashionable.

Sunday morning we slept in and it was wonderful!  We haven't done that in AGES.  It was great to not have to rush off first thing in the morning.  We still had plenty of time to make it to Sunday School and then the late service at church.  During this time of year Mike somehow makes it through the week okay on little sleep, but then on Sundays he crashes.  Even after sleeping in (and we really didn't go to bed all that late the night before), he slept all afternoon and then had no problem going to bed at night.  Will be nice when we can get back to a more normal schedule.  :)

Jackson is still not getting on board with grocery shopping.  I REALLY hope at some point here he realizes it's a lot more pleasant if he just goes with the flow.  My visions of going around town with one child and enjoying our errand running and shopping are not becoming a reality just yet.  We've got a few years to go before Jackson goes to school - it has to improve at some point.  Please!

Jackson is still obsessed with Wuvi, Daddy, Papa, cows, and rides on tractors and forklifts.  He still takes a "fi" (pacifier) at bedtime, and I haven't decided when we're going to work on that.  I'm thankful he's not used to having it all the time, but taking it away at bedtime is not going to be fun.  He's been more focused in some of his play, and that's fun to watch.  He enjoys driving toy tractors and forklifts around, and will really concentrate on it.  His favorite stuffed toy for bedtime is a mushroom that I had as a child (weird, I know), which he calls Mimi.  He tells me when he does a stinky - still a ways from potty training, but there's a light at the end of the diaper tunnel!  Jackson is in a very picky stage right now, and I keep trying to remind myself that it's only temporary.  It seems like there's hardly anything that I can get him to eat right now!  Hard to believe he's getting enough calories consumed in a day.

I still marvel at how focused Levi is on farming.  He can ride in the combine for hours without getting bored, and in his playtime at home he plays with his farm equipment and really plans out what he's doing.  I guess yesterday during quiet time he was combining corn and soybeans, and he told me when I called him down that he had just combined one round of his bean field.  He's very intent on getting some new farm equipment toys for Christmas.  Not only does he play with the farm toys he has, he likes to plan out and build new things with Duplos and Legos.

Caleb and Logan were excited to work on their birthday and Christmas lists for Grandpa and Grandma.  It's a little hard to get them to focus and to understand the amount they can/cannot get.  :)  I also worry about them changing their minds before the time comes, but oh well!

hot hot hot

It is mid/late September and it is HOT out!  My phone says is 88 and feels like 91 right now.  Poor kids and teachers in school!  It was so cold at the beginning of this month and we managed to get through it without turning the heat on, now I'm trying to stand strong and not turn the A/C on, but I don't think I'm going to make it...  I challenged myself to see if we could make it all the way through September without using either the heat or A/C, but this is just ridiculous.

We've had a good start to the school year.  The kids are almost done with their third week already!  Caleb and Logan have had no problem jumping right in, and seem to really like their new teacher, Miss Griess.  Levi seems to be doing fine, he's just a little more shy and reserved than his older brothers.  I've been walking him in on the days he goes, and today I told him I wanted him to go ahead and get in ahead of me and that I would check on him, but that did not go over well.  He knows exactly where to go and what to do, he just likes the security of having me there.  I think once he gets set and into the day he's totally fine.  Levi stays home on Tuesday's and Friday's, and that has been really good.  It's good for both of us to have some one-on-one time (when Jackson's napping), besides just having a break from school is good when you're 5 years old, I think.  :)  We have just a little bit of homework to do on the days he's home, and the very first time didn't go so well (yet again re-affirming why I don't homeschool) but since then it has gone much better.

Jackson does miss his big brothers some, but does fine without them.  I hear a lot about "Wuvi" (Levi, which is what he calls all three of them...), especially right after we drop them off.  And, he's very happy and excited when we pick them up in the afternoon.  I also hear "Daddy" and "Hi cows Papa" A LOT.  Thankfully we visit Mike at work a few times a week (where he gets spoiled rotten by Mr. Pete), and we do usually see cows on our way to and from school.  I'm sure he would be thrilled if we saw Papa more often.  :)  The days we go to get groceries are not Jackson's favorite, he doesn't have enough patience to make it through both Aldi and Meijer in a good mood.  But, we're working on it!  He's going to have to get used to running errands with me, he's got a few years of it to go!  Jackson has adjusted his naptime to the school schedule very well.  Thank you, Lord!  I tried really hard not to worry about it ahead of time, because what good does that do?  But, it was hard not to wonder how it was going to go.  Last year the school schedule was hard with him and then he did so well over the summer.  He's been going down for his nap way earlier and still fitting in a nice, long nap before we have to pick up the other boys from school. It's great!

Our church's Wednesday night program started last week and Caleb, Logan, and Levi are going.  This week the Bible study I go to started, and next week volleyball will start (I'm just playing in a church league once a week).  Mike signed up to be a part of the our new men's ministry at church, and that will be on Thursday evenings.  And just like that we're busy!  I dislike having a crazy schedule so I think that's enough commitments for now, but hopefully these are all good things that we find to be beneficial.

the end

Well, that's it.  Summer's over.  It's done.  Today I'll send three of my babies off to school!

We had a great finish to summer break.  Last week we had a Back to School Night where the kids could bring in all their books and supplies, meet teachers, play with their friends, and we could get the info and paperwork we need for the upcoming year.  It was CRA-ZY.  It's so exciting to see what God is doing at our tiny, little school.  Enrollment is up again this year and it feels like we're just about bursting at the seams of our building.  It should be interesting at drop-off this morning on the first day.  :)

On Wednesday last week we had my niece and nephew, and a friend from school over for the day.  Both their mom's are teachers and needed to be at work.  :)  I tried to mentally prepare for a day of chaos, but it really went pretty well!  It seemed like all the kids played nicely together, and thankfully it was good weather so we weren't stuck in the house for the whole day.  Although, they spent quite a bit of their time working on a massive fort in the basement.

Thursday I was able to do my first batch of salsa for the year.  This is a big deal around here!  Last year I canned just over 30 pint jars of salsa, and we ran out sometime in the Spring.  So, I'm hoping to do much more this year...  Making salsa involves a lot of chopping, but it is so worth it when we pop open a jar in the middle of winter.

Saturday was our last trip to the cottage for the summer!  Wah-wah-wah.  We really lived it up.  I tried skiing for the first time in 20 years - it only took me a few tries to get up!  And, now for the last couple days I've hardly been able to walk.  Ha!  It was fun and I'm so glad I got up the nerve to try.  Logan tried again, but was unable to get up.  I hope he's not too discouraged and will try again next summer.  I went for a tube ride with Logan and Levi and had a blast.  Caleb went tubing a time or two, and Caleb and Levi went for a fun waverunner ride with Uncle Harold (speed is the name of the game...).  Of course Mike went skiing and showed everybody up with his skills.  :)  Jackson had fun again playing around in the water.  He's a little TOO brave, gotta keep an eye on him!  It's so much fun to see, and I hope he doesn't lose that desire to be in the water.  We had such a great summer at the cottage, and love all the memories we've been able to make.  More and more I appreciate all the family time together.

I've got little boys waking up for their first day of school, time to get to work!

winding down

Summer is winding down and I have mixed feelings about it.  Summer Break went super fast, which I am a little sad about, but it will be good to get back to the school routine next week.  We have had such a great summer, with lots of fun memories to look back on, but lately the boys have been bickering ALL. THE. TIME. and momma needs a break!  The one major downside to school starting will be the effect it has on Jackson's naps.  My marathon napper.  (Still can't believe he has earned that title.)

We've had some more fun activities these last couple weeks.  Playdates at the park with school friends, Caleb and Logan went to a friend's house for an afternoon, we've been to the cottage a couple times, last week we went to the community fair a couple times, and, of course, there was the solar eclipse!

The eclipse was SO COOL!  Had travel been more feasible it would have been neat to be in the path of totality, however we were at 80-some percent here and that was still incredible to see.  Certainly part of the enjoyment was seeing it myself, but I also got such a kick out of the kids enjoying it.  Earlier before the eclipse the sky was fairly clear with some clouds, but right before it was going to begin the sky became quite overcast.  We were quite disappointed, and I was doing my best to keep a good attitude (sometimes it's hard to be the adult in the group!).  We hung around outside hoping things would clear up and after a bit when I checked I could see just a sliver of the moon covering the sun.  The boys got their glasses on, and when they saw it, too, they were SO excited.  "I can see it! I can see it! I can see it!!"  Pure joy and wonder and God's Creation.  We really enjoyed witnessing it over the next while, and thankfully it was right at naptime, so Jackson just slept through the whole thing.  :)  It was so strange how the lighting changed outside.  Since it wasn't a full eclipse here it didn't get very dark, but there was a weird twilight-y type of cast to things.  And, it really cooled off noticeably.  We were also having fun keeping tabs with various members of my family and what the eclipse was like for them.

Of course we went to the fair last week.  The boys only talk about it ALL YEAR.  :)  I took them Tuesday afternoon and we just stayed there until Mike was able to meet up with us after work.  I was exhausted by the time we came home!  Caleb, Logan, and Levi each got to do a bunch of different rides, and play a game or two.  Caleb won four goldfish!!  (Almost a week later, and we're down to two.)  In the evening when Mike was there, Logan and Levi rode the ferris wheel with him.  Caleb rode The Zipper with Mike and after loving it last year, he absolutely hated it this year.  He came off in tears.  I'm not sure what the difference was, but I'm fine with him not wanting to ride it!  :)  We went to the fair again later in the week as we hadn't had time to walk through the animal barns with Mike on Tuesday.  Jackson loved the cows (he is obsessed with cows right now!).  Caleb and Logan each got to sit on a horse!  Levi could have, but changed his mind.  :)  (They were tall horses!)

On Saturday at the cottage Jackson was absolutely loving the water.  The week before he had been getting pretty brave, and it was no different this week.  I don't remember any of the other boys playing in the water at that age the way he was!  It's fun, but also requires man-to-man defense for safety purposes.  :)  Logan attempted waterskiing a couple weeks ago (and did great, got up for a couple seconds one time), but wouldn't try this past Saturday.  At this point he's saying he will try this coming weekend (the last time for the summer!).

Jackson keeps on coming up with new things to say.  He had some super cranky days last week, I'm reeeeeeallly hoping it was just the little cold he had and not an introduction to the Terrible Two's.  He loves cows and babies, various stuffed animals, wearing his bright blue rain boots, and being outside.  He likes to be silly when I go to get him out of his crib (laying down again, acting like he wants to stay).  He's like a little tornado going through the house, leaving a path of destruction.  There is no "keeping things in order" with him around.  He likes to look at books and insists on being picked up when I'm trying to work in the kitchen.  He still hates diaper/clothing changes just like he always has.  He looooooooves Daddy - we've done a few video calls now, which Jackson thoroughly enjoys, but he is NOT happy when the phone call is done.  Jackson generally goes to bed very well again - I don't get snuggles, but at least he's not mad and he'll say "nigh-nigh".

I'm looking forward to having some extra time with Levi on the days he's home from school.  I feel like he needs a little extra attention that's just really hard to fit in right now.  Hopefully we'll be able to get into a good routine where everyone is getting enough sleep, and I think that will help, too.  :)

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!  :)

2/3

We're approximately two-thirds of the way through summer break and, of course, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!  Slow down!  We really are enjoying summer.  As school was finishing up in the spring I was dreading summer a little bit, but so far it's great.  (Ask me again in a few weeks...  Last year August was the biggest struggle.)

Since my last post we've been to Harold and Kara's cottage a couple more times, and my aunt's cottage one Saturday as well.  At her cottage we (Logan, Mike, and myself) had a blast jumping off the diving board.  Caleb was SO close to doing it, but then decided not to.  :(  We were able to hang out with Tom, Tera, Luke, and Jude a couple more times before they headed home to Kenya.  All the boys have so much fun playing together, I love it.  A couple weeks ago Caleb and Levi went to our school's soccer camp.  There were a couple hot days, and they (especially Levi) were worn out by the end of the week, but I think they enjoyed it.  Last week Levi was able to go to a friend's birthday party, and I think it was a good experience for him.  He needs to do more things where he's on his own without his big brothers to boss him around.  :)  Also last week I had a school playdate here.  I've been wanting to get together with some school families over the summer, and this worked out really nice.  About 7 other moms showed up, a whole bunch of kids, and we had a nice time chatting while the kids just ran around outside or down in the basement.

Jackson is just too much fun right now.  He's talking like crazy - Emmy, Roxy, doggy, woof-woof, ball, moo, thank you, more, please, down, all done, Mommy, Daddy, Papa, trash (he likes to put things in the trash - he takes care of his own diapers!), awwww (when he's hugging a stuffed animal or when he sees a kitten in a book).  I'm sure there's a few more I'm forgetting, and I wish I could catch it all on camera because of course he sounds so cute.  Jackson really seems to enjoy hanging out in his crib when he wakes up in the morning or after his nap.  Sometimes when he wakes up in the afternoon I'll let him play for a while before I even go in his room, and then when I do he still doesn't want to get out of his crib, so I just leave him in there for a while yet!

I need to be domesticated and start canning pickles today.  Our garden had a bunch ready, and Mike took the older boys to glean pickles from a friend (like we did last year).  At least it's cooled off a bit today so it won't be so hot in the kitchen!