All in a Week's Time...

Some of our most memorable moments from the last week:

Double fisted talking!

Apparently either Mom is on the phone a lot or this youngest child has a lot of conversations that need to be had!  You can bet it is the second!

Just no one tell her those are business calculators (which had a very important role in the dating life of her parents and a much less significant role in the passing of our corporate finance class)!

We can check this one off the 'did your child ever do that' list

Our experimental four year-old decided to discover 'what would happen' if she put popped popcorn up her nose....

fortunately she wasn't very fond of the feeling...and we were able to help her blow it out!

The popular fellow!

T and J recently visited an assisted living facility with their homeschool co-op group and their teacher referred to the residence as an 'old folks home'. 

One night, this week, after a dinner in which we had all been talking about the outing,
Z (who has never been to such a place) asked T, "what was the place called where you gave those cards out to all those girls?"

Without waiting for a response he asked again, "wasn't it called the old fellow's home?"

Oh dear...I don't know if we ever got that one straightened out.  I wish I could see the mental picture he has of this place...

The Naked Warrior

M has taken to a new habit.

One evening I was changing him for bed.  As I took off the day's clothes and began to remove his diaper (fortunately only wet), before I even knew what was happening, he immediately slithered quickly away, giggled, and took off running at top speed around the house completely naked! 

As he ran he raised his right arm straight up high and began yelling HIIIII-YAWWWW.... down the hallway, through the kitchen, through the school room, and back to where I was sitting, hysterically dumbfounded....

Now, it seems, that if I am at all mellow about the changing process this whole scene will repeat itself at least once a day.  And seeing as this whole scene is highly entertaining I must admit that I don't necessarily try to avoid it (you know you wish you had this much entertainment every evening).

No pics of this one people.

What a difference ten days makes!

About ten days ago this was our Saturday fun:

And this was the weekend work on that same day:

Three truck loads later we were ready for winter to come in a month...or not...how about today?

I got the older three kids up early from their rest time today to go play in this:

I love the absolute thrill on their faces with every first snow...

T even went and drew candy canes and made snow angels, but do you notice how everyone of them decided they needed a bit more clothing???

And the snow was so wet that Z had his very own snowman made in about ten minutes

And since it was blowing at least twenty degrees outside I was especially surprised that they all lasted about an hour. 

But then what else was I to do except put them by our wonderful crackling fire (thanks to a local gentleman for the wood and my own hard-working guys) with some good hot chocolate.

2011-2012 School Pictures

Welcome to this year's school photos!

A few weeks ago I gave our drowned camera a go of it.  The mantle and walls were still displaying year old pictures of the kids.  So, new ones were needed.  I think our camera is truly on its last leg, but it hung in there for this drizzly morning photo shoot.

Z-Our second grader. 

I am looking forward to an increase in school independence for him this year as his reading skills are miles beyond last fall.  And he is looking eagerly forward to our new homeschool co-op this fall in which he will get to spend some great time with some of his friends from church.  I hope, this year, to balance encouraging him plenty (he needs it and I am not the best in this area) while developing some consistent diligence in him.

T-Our five year old first grader

T is becoming a natural writer and it is very exciting.  She is the over-achiever in the family and demands perfection of herself.  Rules are her way of life and she sticks closely by them.  It is a delicate balance of challenging her while not overwhelming her young mind.  I am excited to see the world of writing and reading grow so much wider for her this coming year!  But then will come the challenge of finding her enough books that don't trouble her very tender heart.

J-Our four year old 'partial' kindergartner

First of all: Don't you just love the dimples!  J is our instinctive learner.  She reads by feel; you can almost see it.  Phonics rules are what got her reading, but not what keep her going.  She picks things up quickly if they 'make sense'.  In reading and writing I expect her to easily travel through the K material.  I am going to wait to see how her stamina for 'school' is before adding math in.  But I'm sure she will readily join us in great history and literature reading.  And hopefully Z and T will be able to make some scientific discoveries before J informs them of the 'logical' conclusion.

M-Our 2 and a half year old P.E. specialist

Fortunately M is excellent at entertaining himself.  Unfortunately this often involves some round projectile.  Thus, he adds many good P.E. elements (and unexpected laughs) to our school day.  He can be found coloring from time to time and hopefully tackling playing a great deal with S.

S-16 months and marching

If you aren't very familiar with our S I invite you to click on the very-commonly-written-about-category labeled S on the right.  Let's just say that when it comes to school this year she has a lot to learn and none of it can be found in a book.  We might begin with 'no dancing on the school table'.  During the second week I might tackle 'no climbing on top of Z's desk'.  The third week I am thinking she might learn that it is not kind (nor safe) to take her older siblings' pencils away and then run squealing around the house.  On the fourth week, well, we might have to have a spiral curriculum for her and go back to the first week.  You get my drift...

Those are the students in our school.  We will begin in about three weeks....

This post is linked up with HOTM's Not-Back to School Blog Hop.  Watch next week for a day in the life of our school (where I post my schedule which no one is allowed to inform S of)!

Precious Time and Late Easter

I have been very absent here on this blog, but for good reason (at least I think so). 

My ninety year old grandparents from across the country came for a three week visit to our neck of the woods. 

I grew up with these grandparents as an integral part of my life.  I was used to them being at every birthday and holiday, sporting event, musical presentation, etc.  My grandma taught me how to make pies, tutored me in some sewing, and introduced me to making rolls all from a very young age.  And I have been told many times how much like her I am and I am very grateful for the comparison.

My grandma is one of those people who has had at least four or five little ones named after her (including our T).  She values her family above all others and takes any in-laws in immediately. She is never idle (until being forced to more recently) and many enjoy the fruits of her labors.   I hope to follow her example...

But now we live very far away and it grieves Ryan and I how little we see of them.

So our family has spent as much time as possible with these dear family members the last few weeks.  Our kids read to them, they read to the children, Z learned card games with them, T and J did puzzles with my grandma, M loved hearing great-grandpa read, and S enjoyed and entertained them. 

I learned some fantastic ways to improve my sewing from grandma and we cooked together.  Ryan and Grandpa worked on the bunk beds he is making for the boys.  And Ryan and I relaxed many evenings while playing pitch (a great strategy card game) with them.

I hope there are many more enjoyable years for my grandparents here on this earth, but no matter what we certainly treasured the last few weeks and hope our kids remember them as well.

Seeing as I have been so absent Easter pictures are still not up and S did turn one nearly a month ago.  For now, I hope you enjoy these Easter pics and you may anticipate a S birthday posting very soon.

J turns 4

This post is quite overdue.  Our J turned 4 about three weeks ago.  She and I had our party together (our birthdays are only a couple of days apart) with family about two weeks ago.  We had a good time celebrating J (and myself) while J twirled in her birthday dress, oohed and awed about all of the polka-dot decorations, and everyone ate Chicken Pitas (my choice) with Doritos spicy chips (her favorite).

J is our middle child.  In the middle of the girls.  In between the boys.  Two older siblings, two younger. 

Ryan and I are both the oldest in our family and that being so we often sympathize with the plight of the firstborn.  However, we have learned that the middle child in a larger family has its definite disadvantages.  J has shown us that. 

Most parents struggle with the child that is the most wilful.  Not me.  I was one of those and understand the will and appreciate it to an extent.  J is not a strong willed child; I struggle with how to parent J.  She has a lot of my looks, but is so not like me.  As was recently stated to Ryan and I by a family member, "you guys needed J". 

J is a free-spirit.  She loves "tolka-dots", and I mean loves.  J can put on a dance show without a hint of bashfulness.  She can keep a beat and sing out a tune better than either of her older siblings.  Her giggles are beyond contagious.

We were shocked to discover recently that J can read!  I had not taught her...she just picked it up.  And oh, how delighted she is with her reading talent; her eyes twinkled so bright when she shocked the socks off her grandma the other day.  

J knows what it means to dilly-dally and she is a pro at it!  J and organization are not good friends.  J does not have time for serious role playing.  She prefers flitting around in dress-up clothes and getting dizzy from twirling her skirts. 

When we take a walk she loves running through the breeze, laughing at herself while she tries to go backwards, and then taking our hands to be swung through the air.

Our little J does not like being rushed.  She is in no hurry to grow up.  This is where being a middle is so hard on her.  She wants the assistance, cuddling, and freedom that her younger siblings have.  However, she wants the independence and privileges her older siblings enjoy without the responsibility that comes with that.  This is where I struggle daily at affirming her yet setting appropriate boundaries for her.

Ryan worries about her.  I couldn't say it much better than this picture:

But in case the picture didn't speak a thousand words, I'll fill you in.  You see, two of her birthday gifts were ballet clothes and a nerf gun.  She had passionately requested both.  And she uses them simultaneously.  Yes, she is one of those girls. J can throw a baseball like a boy, take a nerf gun shot like a champ, but be a girly girl, flipping her hair and all, at the same time.

And oh, the funny spunk that one has.  She makes quips that she doesn't even realize are funny.  At our birthday party, I opened up some flip-flops that apparently T had insisted upon giving me, despite Ryan knowing they were not 'Heather' in the least.  As I tried to hide my shock at the style, J says, very casually without hardly glancing up, "Mom you don't have to wear those if you don't want to." The room erupted in laughter.

But the two most precious things about J that I hope to encourage are her gentle sensitivity and her desire to understand the Bible.  I have to remember on a daily basis to talk extra gently to her; her spirit is fragile and I don't want to crush it.  And it astonishes me how she remembers Biblical matters!  On Good Friday we read part of the Easter story and as I got to Jesus's last breath I asked the older three kids what happened when He died.  J quickly and boldly said, "The curtain tore in the temple!" Not what I had expected, but what a joyfull surprise.

May God continue to impress His word upon her heart, teach us how to love her, and direct her paths where He wills!

Happy Birthday J!

Our Firecracker steals the show!

Lately, everywhere I go with S she attracts a ton more attention than any of my previous children ever did.  Maybe it is her ever waving hand or her constant LOUD dialogue with any person within eye or ear shot.  Possibly it is her rather unusual bold shade of red hair.  Or it could be her many new facial expressions which are not typically seen in public by us normal people. 

I don't know what it is, but it is all I can do but be sassy to all of the innocent onlookers as they make their many comments and questions.  I can't tell you how many times Ryan and I have been quietly looked over with a quizzical eye and then asked, "So.....where does the red hair come from?"  Sassy me inside, thinking, "the milkman, lady, who else would it be? But really, if it was as scandalous as you look like you hope it is then do you really think we would spill all of our beans to you, right here in the meat department in front of, you know, like, eight small sets of ears..." But I digress.  Poor Ryan, never gets any credit for the bit of red hair genes he gave his daughter (they come from previous generations; he has no red on his head).

Then there are the many comments of, "Oh, she is so sweet, darling, happy, etc..."  These poor souls have no idea how hard it is for her straight shooting mother to smile and bite her tongue. I ponder how I have stayed up more dark hours with her than all of my previous children, combined, and how she is learning to not swim in the dog bowl or toilet, already at ten months, or how she likes to throw good, homemade bread on the floor for the dogs or how she will protest a new food at a volume which I deem completely unacceptable for even the outdoors and how she has already broken a piece of seasoned stoneware (a cardinal sin, if you know what I mean).  But I smile and say, "Thank you, of course she is a good baby" because although she is rather difficult I do know that Gad made her very good in His eyes. And, honestly, she is a blast, at times, if you can hold on to your seat belt.

Last Sunday, though, she really put on a show.  Ryan and I have been attending a Sunday school class with the hope of meeting some more people in our new town and church.   As a result of a number of new couples in the class, the leader decided to go around and have everyone introduce themselves.  I was walking around the back of the room trying to get S to go to sleep as it was past her morning nap time, but, of course, she thought it was social hour.  When it was our turn Ryan spoke a bit and passed off to me.  As it was my turn to talk I wanted S to be still for a moment so I could concentrate.  Thus, I turned her out toward the class and put her upright.  I began to talk but everyone was very distracted.  I finally glance down toward S's face where she is doing one of her, "I'm going to see it I can touch my bellybutton with my tongue faces"  I try to finish up with my sentence.  Then she begins to wave, everyone begins to ask her age, name, etc.  Then the room falls apart after she sports one of these:

Next, for her final act, she spit her oatmeal breakfast up all over the floor!!!!!!

She hasn't spit up anything for at least two months.  Apparently she was saving up for just the perfect moment. I suppose no one will forget us, or at least the very special red haired girl that will probably be in the nursery next week.

Double the pleasure (or poop)

I'm sure most of you would proudly nominate your husbands for many awards.  However, you will need to excuse me as I proclaim mine the grand prize winner today.

Yup, that's two at a time. 

He rocks!

Shoe Dress up

Today J and T ventured into my closet for some shoe dress-up fun:

Then M joined in the fun.  At least we can console his dad with the fact that he chose rain boots!

Then again, maybe not....

M is 2!

In the last week our little M officially entered his twos.  What a special guy he is! Maybe every large family has an M in it somewhere, but we never saw one quite like him coming.  M truly blesses our family daily. 

From the beginning he and Ryan were connected like none before.  He would fall asleep with Ryan anywhere, anytime.  They interacted with ease.  Little did we know that there was a reason they got along so well!

There is easy going, really easy going and then there is M easy going! He will sit in his booster and wait for his meal for twenty minutes or more without a peep.  So, he's really hungry, you say?  Well, he then plods through his meal for twenty minutes beyond how long everyone else does.  And when mom takes a brief trip to another room while he finishes up she comes back in to find him nowhere and his plate gone. As mom is calling for M and looking for a guilty looking dog, he comes walking into the kitchen very nonchalantly.  When asked where his plate is he opens the dishwasher and pulls out his plate from the upper rack, shows it to mom, and puts it back and closes the dishwasher! 

M sits on our lap in church or during our small group and hardly makes a peep.  We know that most outsiders think he is a shy, nervous and passive child.  But we cherish that he is so very outgoing, carefree, goofy, and interactive with those he knows and trusts well. 

Of all our children he shows some of the best social skills.  He understands he can be rough and wild with Z, but needs to be calm and patient with S.  He knows when to be loud and when to be quiet.  M understands giving and receiving apologies. And he loves to play.  His favorite words are 'tickle', 'peek-a-boo', 'ball', and 'car'.  

Opening gifts scared him.  But he loves shooting his nerf gun with serious gusto.  Candles on a cake terrified him.  But he will sword fight with his brother and take blows like a brush on the cheek.  He won't go near a burning fire.  But throws a  baseball almost as far as Z.  He loves his bath, goes and gets his own diapers and wipes.  He sits still for haircuts and lays down and goes to sleep when we tell him to. 

Seriously, where did God find this mold???? I say, God found a lot of it in Ryan and a tad in my dad (who is quite a bit like Ryan).  We are very blessed by M and I adore that he is so much like his dad!

Happy Birthday M!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Bathroom?

by Ryan

:-)

Our Home for the Holidays

We have been on 'vacation' for the last two weeks.  We are taking a break from school and apparently also blogging...Really, Ryan has had a lot of days off and we have been enjoying the holidays.  Thus, I have some catching up to do here. 

A few days before Christmas the kids and I cut out and baked the last Christmas cookie for this year, gingerbread men.  Every year the kids crack me up by running to the oven as the cookies bake calling their other siblings in a very panicked fashion to come and make sure the 'gingerbread men don't run away'.  I never had this much imagination...I'm glad they do. 

That night Ryan and I took on the task of decorating the 50 or so brown boys I had baked.  He took the first go at the frosting and created the poor man on the top left in the picture. 

I did the rest of the decorating.  Ryan says it was because of his cookie's costume.  I say it was because it took ten minutes to create the gingerbread's persona.  Either way, Ryan continued to inspire most of the characters that evening.  We had a blast and laughed harder than we had in a long time! Here are some of our crazy men.  Of course, we had to 'honor'(make fun of) Brett Favre (this is serious Packer country, people) and his injuries and make a Wisconsin Badger gingerbread man. 

On Christmas Eve, Ryan and I have made it a tradition that we celebrate Christmas with our kids all day.  There are no chores or laundry (believe me, I did extra the day before!).  The day is spent enjoying each other and taking lots of time to have fun.  We even decided to use paper plates for a lot of the day to cut down on the dishes.

The morning began with a yummy breakfast of cinnamon buns, prepped the night before.  Check out Nikki's Blog, once again, (my friend with yummy bread recipes) and click on her recipe tab for the details on this very nummy breakfast.

Did someone forget to tell S it was Christmas?  Or is it simply that she spent half the night awake, once again?

The girls thoroughly enjoy getting all dressed up, having their nails painted, curling their hair, etc.  So us girls had fun for about an hour while the boys played.  Then, of course, I had to take some pictures of them.

After games, puzzles, a relaxed lunch, and some naps we sat down to our candlelight Christmas dinner.  This year we had turkey, cheddar mashed potatoes (Z's request), Caesar salad (Ryan's favorite), Cranberry Jello (everybody's favorite), and Cherry Cheesecake (Also, Ryan's favorite).

After dinner we read and talked about the Christmas story from the Bible.  Then we begin gift giving.  The way we do it at our house is that we take turns giving a present to someone.  We want to emphasize the giving part of Christmas and that is one way we do it.  The gifts this year were highlighted with the girls receiving their first 'non-baby' doll and the boys receiving nerf guns (the real deal for Z and a foam ball blaster for M). Our house is now a war zone-another post is brewing on this one.

There were some other really fun moments caught on camera.  M found his new bowling game to be a blast and J thought a 'chicken' in her new pretend microwave was hilarious!

Somehow we managed to get all of the little people into bed only a tad past their bedtime.  It was a good thing as the next morning was an early one.  On Christmas morning we give each of the kids their stockings and an ornament to open that says something about them and the past year. M was still not awake, but did manage to find his new toy (no, he did not sleep with it!).

Then it was off to Grandma's house....over the hills and through the woods we went.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!