Happy New Year

Please excuse me for a little "blog-therapy". I have no picture for this post. Why, you ask? Well, because I'm busy sanitizing the house and carrying around throw-up buckets. Three out the past 6 years we have spent New Years Eve with throw-up buckets instead of noise-makers. Once again over Christmas one of the kids picked up the stomach flu and this time it happens to be Levi. In an effort to keep the rest of the family healthy my entire life centers around cleaning and quarantining the sick child. Jim getting sick is simply not an option so I need to do everything in my power to get this bug out of the house. Jim can't miss school and we can't afford for him to miss work either. So, it will be a while before I'm able to post anything else I'm sure. I sure don't remember this "gift"being on any one's Chritsmas list!

Dancing Queen!

Rebecca absolutely cracks me up! Today was the day...the day to try on the skinny pants. Come on girls, we all have them. you know, the ones that call out to us and laugh in our faces every time we look at them, daring us to try them on. Well, today I had to try them on because in addition to being my smallest pair, they are also my favorite pair. It didn't look too good at first since I tried putting them on just after the shower, but once I dried off, they fit, much to my delight! Now this is especially meaningful to me since fitting in these pants after having 4 kids doesn't come easy. I have to deprive myself of many of the foods that I love and work my butt off at the gym...literally. So, in victory I was doing the skinny pants dance in my closet....enter Rebecca. She just smiles and starts dancing right along with me. No music or anything and she doesn't think this is strange at all. Finally, after a few minutes she says "Mommy, why are we dancing?" I told her we were doing the happy dance and she said "Oh mommy, I'm soooooooooooo happy!" and continues dancing. What a goof! Any reason to dance is reason enough for her!

867-5309

This really should be my phone number as I am such an eighties girl at heart. For those who are not aware, there was a song in the eighties called 867-5309/Jenny all about a girl named Jenny. I just can't seem to handle the technology of this era. I just got my first real cell phone a month ago and still can't figure out how to turn off speakerphone when I accidentally turn it on. However, my sister apparently has the same problem so I don't feel quite so bad about this one. I also frequently need to call any number of people for help when using my new computer and now this morning was the real kicker that convinced me I should really still be in the eighties.

My wonderful husband bought me an MP3 player even though we weren't exchanging gifts...go figure. But, he felt bad about all my complaining about the gym music. I used to have a simple 5 station walkman that grew very tired about 6 months ago and stopped working. Since then I have been forced to listen to the gym music. Since I go to Powerhouse, a weightlifting gym, they play screaming music...literally. I used to enjoy listening to peppy yet sane music that would get me ready to start my day and now since I have to listen to all this yelling, I find myself ready to strangle people when I get home from the gym instead.

As I walked into the gym this morning, ready to enjoy my new gift it really would have worked out well if only I could have remembered how to turn this newfangled thing on! As I stood there baffled by this thing not much bigger than a postage stamp I just had to laugh at the thought of answering Jim's question of how it worked with the response that I couldn't turn it on. Determined that this thing wouldn't get the best of me I just began pushing all of the unlabeled buttons. Would it be so hard to just label these buttons for retards like me? Well, eventually I did get it turned on and enjoyed listening to the Newsboys and songs like Strong Tower and Devotion instead of songs from Korn and other people singing (read screaming) at me about how they want to kill me! Thank you honey for the much better start to my day!

I am slowly figuring our how to live this century but I really should have been born much before my time and life would be much more user-friendly for me! The only thing left to figure out about it is what to do with all the sweat that rolls into my ears and is now trapped there by the earphones and then it feels like I have water in my ears. Let me know if there are any ideas out there!

Is the Doctor In?

The darkness of my previous blog was depressing me so it was time for a change. I don't have much in the way of Christmas pictures to share because my sister and I got our identical cameras confused and she currently has most of my pictures on her camera. So, there will be more to come after we get this all switched around. But, I do have a few good ones to share. We had a very busy, sugar-filled weekend. Jim had to work on Christmas, so we had to extend the festivities.

Of course I was on my own Christmas Day which was complete with medical traumas. It's never a good sign when your child comes into the bathroom crying and covering his head with his hand and blood is seeping out between his fingers. The paramedic student was at work so I was left to deal (or panic )on my own. Luckily Jim was able to get home to look at it and it was determined that he didn't need any further medical attention. The blood stained patch on his hair made for memorable pictures I'm sure!

The day continued to go smoothly when Emily blew out the bottom of her diaper all over my pants and Grandma's good, fabric chair (sorry grandma). All in all, we had a very eventful Christmas Day.

Now I am of course on my own to put most things away as Jim is once again working and trying to do this while having kids in my way all the time continuing to make messes along the way has me ready to pull my hair out! It would be really nice if Jim were here to help out with the kids, but alas, this is not my life right now.

Jim got some much needed things for work including Mountain Dew (this is a necessity for him) and some "toys" to try out. Now I'm trying to get Emily back on her nap schedule and detox the others from all the sugar and hopefully the noise level will return back to normal as well! I'll post more Christmas pictures when I get them.

And, Action!

Well, in keeping with tradition, we are just putting the finishing touches on our Christmas Musical. I figured the kids would get this type of thing in school, so we started doing this last Christmas ( for those grandparents who get this as a Christmas gift, enjoy the sneak peek!) and we will be all done with it this weekend. I never quite thought of myself as a choreographer, but I don't seem too bad at it. Teaching a three year 3 songs and dances is the hard part; but, in the end it ends up being well worth it as the kids have a very entertaining and original Christmas gift and memory for the future. Becca never ceases to crack me up at her loud and off key singing but she definitely gets as A+ for effort! And then there's Levi who always gets to play his drum for one song. He beats it like it's flapping around on the ground and he's trying to beat the life out of it...he even taps his drumsticks together for the beat in the beginning of the songs like he's seen real drummers do. He insists that he can't play the drums and sing even though we try to convince him that the drummer for the Newsboys does, but he still insists that he cannot. He does seem to have trouble doing two things at once anyway. So, enjoy a peek at our Christmas production and you'll just have to take my word for it that it really is priceless!

Emily Update

Well, it's official...Emily is perfect! She went to see the Neurologist this morning and the results of her MRI are normal. Her crazy eye movements have also pretty much stopped and she is still developmentally fine, so all is well with her. Then she went to see her Pediatrician today and she still continues to be on the charts for both height and weight which is totally amazing for the kids in our family. Her Dr. just laughs at her because it is so strange for kids in our family to have rolls in weird (but cute) places. Emily continues to learn new things every day. She has developed a new liking to sucking on her index finger. I haven't really seen this before, but it makes her happy, so, whatever. I left her on the kitchen rug the other day and went to take the trash out and came back in to find that she had rolled over. She loves standing in her exersaucer and laughing whenever anyone else laughs. It's really cute. Now with all these crazy Dr. visits past us (we've been going between all the kids at least every two weeks) we can finally get ready for Christmas!

Lesson Learned

Upon reading the title, the assumption is most likely that Annalise learned a lesson. This assumption however, would be false. I think I have the sweetest, most thoughtful six year old daughter. Today I was getting lunch ready for all of us at the same time. Annalise is a girl after my own heart in that she likes things with "the works". Hot dogs with everything on them including onions, tacos the same way and sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and onion even. So, today I was making her sandwich and I cut up the rest of the tomato I had in the fridge. Then I went to cut up the last tomato for my sandwich and found it to be rotten. I said "oh, bummer". Annalise questioned what the problem was and when I told her she said, "aw mom, you can have my sandwich instead." I said, " no sweetie, you just enjoy your sandwich". So then several minutes later I saw the rest of her food almost gone and her sandwich still sitting there. When I questioned her about it she said she just felt bad about eating it since she had tomato and I didn't. Who says these things? (I'm even ashamed to say I may not have given her the tomato had I known it was the only one!) Another great lesson learned today from my daughter...how to truly be selfless!

Ooooh, those cheeks!

I thought I'd post a picture showing what I spend a ton of time doing every day...these cheeks, I just can't get enough of them. And then there's her thighs, she has so many rolls and cracks and crevices things could get lost in them. I've never had a baby quite like this. My mom said I was chubby like this, but this is new to me. She looks so cute wearing tights with her short, fat legs. She is just so cute we all can't get enough of her. Jim even calls her a sweet baby during her few fussy times. She has been such a blessing. We are getting geared up for her MRI on Monday morning at 9am. The challenge will be getting her to go 4 hours without eating. Every once in awhile, she might do that at night, but most times it's every 2-3 hours. Speaking of sleep, there really is a downside to having flannel sheets...they are so warm to have to get out of. Since I have to get up usually 3 times a night, it really is becoming difficult to drag myself out of them. The good thing is that Emily just waits patiently until I get up to get her. She sleeps right next to me and she just makes grunting type noises when she wakes up to eat, she never cries and then smiles from ear to ear when I finally do get over to her. I can't complain about that!

Barlow Girl?!?!?!????

When you look at these three do you see the next Barlow Girl? I'm not so sure but Annalise is convinced. For those who don't know, Barlow Girl is a Christian music group made up of three sisters who play all their own instruments and sing. I guess I would call their music alternative, but Annalise and Rebecca LOVE their music...they are one of my fave's as well. Annalise has it all planned out (of course) of who will play what instrument and the only question was "What to do with Levi?" This was the topic of discussion at lunch today. It was settled that Levi will be the stage manager and of co use drive the big truck with all their stuff. Levi then piped in that he wants to start his own band like the Newsboys (his favorite group..another Christian alternative band except this one is all guys). He of course will play the drums, but he's not so sure about the singing part. He says that we obviously need to have some more babies that are boys to help make up his band. I find it so funny that my kids are so into their favorite groups. Emily's favorite music is by far Sara Groves. The instant I put her on, Emily stops crying. Maybe it's because she's my favorite and that I listen to her music so much. In fact, her music was playing while I was in labor and even when Emily was born. Whatever the reason, Emily has got to be her number one fan. I would love to have a musical family, but even if not, it made for interesting lunch conversation!

Movin' and Shakin'

Emily is doing all kids of new things. She is spinning around in a circle on her back. She often turns a complete 360 in the time it takes me to wash the dishes or take a shower. She also has favorite places to lay which are quite funny. She loves to lay in the bathroom. I think she likes the bright lights. She lays there while the other kids are taking baths, but then we just leave her there because she is so happy there! She also likes the laundry room for the same bright lights. But, the funniest part is that she likes to be under the dishwasher door when I'm putting dishes in it. I think she looks like a mechanic under a car. It is quite funny to see these little legs moving and "running" while they stick out from under it. I LOVE newborns and have been sad to see her getting big so fast, but I had forgotten how much fun this discovery age can be!

Hooray For School

I am so excited about the day we had with school. Annalise had a ton of testing and assessments which for English, she only has 4 times a year so I don't get much of a chance to make sure that she is really "getting it". Not only did she pass, but she got 100% on all of it. The testing alone took 1/2 hour which shown how lengthy the tests were. She also did her math and Spanish really well. Sometimes her Spanish is so hard. She is in an immersion program that requires her to type full sentences in Spanish which involves spelling words that are more difficult than her spelling words in English. She got all the spelling right and her math was a breeze. She filled an entire notebook page with what she remembered about the history we read which I'm usually lucky to get 1/2 page out of her. The great day continued with Levi who when reading his sentences started reading some words without sounding out each individual letter, which is a major stepping stone in reading. What a great day that we're going to celebrate with a pizza party tonight!

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Did you know that the Muffin Man is also a mechanic? Levi seems to think so. The other night we were on the way to my parent's house to sit in the hot tub. We passed the place where we'd taken our van last week to get some work done. When we passed Muffler Man, Levi said, "Hey, there's the Muffin Man!" That caused some serious laughs! The hot tub was great and it was Rebecca's first time. In our family Grandpa's hot tub is the reward for becoming potty trained...a feat she has mastered since last winter. Speaking of Rebecca, she got up this morning and pronounced that the clothes I got out for her she couldn't wear because they were "dangerous", whatever that means. I also love this picture of her bad hair day, she's such a sport to humor my picture taking moments! What a hoot life can be over here!

Elmer Fudd?

Levi cracks me up. This hat is a Pooh hat and it is supposed to velcro under his chin to keep him warm, but he insists on wearing it this way. Other people think he looks really cute, but I can only see Elmer Fudd. He insists that he looks "cool" with his hat this way. He's in this phase where he's all about looking"cool". I hear this countless times a day...his overall goal in life is to be and look cool! I thought girls were the ones that were so into their looks, but maybe not. Apparently he's too cool to be warm.

Still Going

Is this some new age type of the latest TV you ask? No, it's the kids still watching the washer yet again this morning. And yes, they are covered up with a blanket for viewing comfort...go figure! At least I'm not the only one that thinks the new washer is pretty cool!

Special Delivery

Yes, I know that I am pretty lame to publish a post about my new washer, but this is a really big deal to me and my time. As you can imagine the amount of laundry that we accumulate in this house especially with Emily who needs 4 outfits and 4 blankets a day alone is quite substantial. I have put up with a washer that was way too small that I overstuffed all the time which made it malfunction and take up even more of my time than if I probably did more but smaller loads. But, NO MORE!!!As I type, my new washer is washing away and when it spins it sounds like it's going to take off into flight...the kids have been entertained all night just watching it...how's that for cheap ( or expensive ) entertainment? My old washer was purchased by a little old man that I'm sure will not abuse it in the way I did and I'm sure it will work just fine for the amount of laundry that a man in his mid-eighties must generate. Have I mentioned that Craig's List is my new best friend? I sold my Total Gym and washer all within 4 days of posting them. I thought ebay was pretty cool but this is amazing and no shipping to worry about. The next time you come to my house you may find it empty because I may take up selling things just for sport. I seriously am trying to think of what else I can sell to get some more easy money in my hot little hands. Out with the old and in with the new, I say.

Emily and Mom

I always do a "portrait" with my babies and this weekend was it for me and Emily. I love her little face in this one. It's so cute and yes, her cheeks are really that chubby. They get kissed and sucked on countless time each day. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to not spit up long enough to actually snap the picture, but I'm happy with the end result. soon enough this will be hanging on my wall next to the other precious "Mom and Baby" portraits.

We're Going on a Tree Hunt

Yes, it's that time of year again...time for the annual Christmas tree hunt. It was a good day for weather and the kids did really well...it was really a great time. We went with my parents as usual and this year both of my sisters were able to go and it's been a really long time since Marissa has been able to go. That was really fun too! Emily slept most of the time and we tried a new place where the ground was really sandy and therefore the kids had a much easier time walking and less tripping. After much walking ( or running )we finally found one that was just right for us after we chopped a bunch off the bottom. And then what's tree hunting without hot cocoa and Krispy Kreme's thanks to Grandpa and Grandma (thanks Mom and Dad). I could have stayed all day since I was actually hot with my down coat and my wool mittens, but everyone else was cold, so we got on our way. My arms were SO tired from carrying Emily that by the time we were done they were actually shaking quite a lot. I guess I can skip lifting on my biceps at the gym tomorrow! But then again that will give me some more time to work on cardio to burn off the extra calories from the Krispy Kremes!

Thanksgiving Thursday

Thanksgiving Thursday was indeed better than Thanksgiving Wednesday...except for the fact that Jim ended up working later than planned...so the turkey went back in the freezer for another time and we had our annual Thanksgiving breakfast casserole with the traditions I had planned for at lunch time in the morning instead. Dressed in Sunday best ( one of my requirements and traditions) we each have to write 3 things we're thankful for on our place cards and I'll share what the kids said as they are too cute.

Annalise: Our family, our cat (she doesn't have to clean up the pee and vomit!) and extended family

Levi: Stuffed animal from the Dr. yesterday, his dinosaurs, everyone in this house

Rebecca: Special things she got for her birthday, our family, food that's from groceries

Emily: (as decided by the group) Our family, her swings and going for walks

Annalise was also required by her teacher (me) to write a list of things she was thankful for earlier in the week. This list was quite long and included things like God, God's Son, our house and kindly people...(that's right, she used the word kindly...who but Annalise would use this word!) Jim and I had more practical things on our list like good health insurance (for xrays and MRI's of course), the fact that Jim's almost done with school (YIPPEE) and of course my emotional thanks for Emily. Even though the past few years have been a little rough around here, it was great to take a day and reflect on the fact that we DO have A LOT to be thankful for and have such great things that are so close to FINALLY happening this next year. I am also so excited that as of 5am this morning I am indeed the proud owner of a new washer to be delivered on Wednesday...no more sitting on the washer will leave me with so much free time I'll have to take up another hobby. I'm so glad that I have a husband who doesn't mind shopping, which I detest, and dickering with salespeople ( I wonder why) and I was able to be home, snug in my bed while acquring this new washer. Jim's so social he decided to walk around the mall just to take it all in (I would run as fast as I could in the OPPOSITE direction ) and acutally socialized with quite a few people that he knew and apparently had quite a good ol' time.

Thanksgiving on Wednesday

Why is Thanksgiving on Wednesday and why did I post pictures of Levi's thumbs you ask? Well...Thanksgiving came for me today because...

1. I'm thankful that I only had Levi with me at his Dr's appointment today.

2. I'm thankful that I was in the parking lot of the Dr's office when he slammed his thumb in the car door, thus saving me the drive there.

3. I'm thankful that Levi is all boy and was not crying so much about his mangled thumb as he was about the shots he was supposed to get today.

4. I'm thankful we didn't actually have to get the shots today.

5. I'm thankful that Jim was already taking the morning off work so that he could take Levi to get his xray done since being with Annalise while they xrayed her broken leg was more painful for me than it was for her.

6. I'm thankful that his thumb isn't actually broken, just very swollen and bruised

7. I'm thankful for his sweet personality that is taking this all in stride and not complaining at all ( I just can't picture my girls doing this...or myself for that matter).

8. I'm thankful that my girls love their brother so much that they cried when I told them what happened to Levi ( and made him get well cards of course).

9. And finally, I'm thankful that Thanksgiving on Thursday can most likely only be better than Thanksgiving on Wednesday was this year!

Family Day

With Jim's crazy schedule he isn't around very much and the kids are always asking when Daddy is going to be here ALL day and if we're lucky, that usually ends up being once a month. We were so lucky on Monday to answer that question with "Today!" We had some great family time and some things that really made us laugh. We went to Sears to look at washers as I think I have finally decided that I can put up with my washer that needs to be babysat during every load no longer! While working with a salesman, Annalise saw a sign that said:

they will.

you will.

thank you.

Annalise said to the salesman "Excuse me, but you have a problem with your sign."

We all said "What?"

"Well, you have a period but the first letter of the next sentence isn't capitalized!"

She's so smart sometimes it scares me, I think in a few years she might be teaching me school!

It is very important to me that my boys are able to be good men when they are grown, so we have a phrase that we use in our house a lot and it is "Boy's work". This is things that Levi does like helping Dad or Grandpa anytime there is something being done with tools. He hauls dirt for me in his little wheelbarrow and this year he stacked almost a full cord of firewood by himself while Jim was chopping. Yesterday was another boys work day as Jim was hauling a bunch of firewood from the backyard to put up closer to the house for the fire he had built. Levi was hauling 3 or 4 pieces at a time, working very hard and it was cold enough to "see your breath". Levi said, "Dad, why is there steam coming out of me?" How cute.

I also included a picture of Annalise with Emily because this is one of the many pictures I have with them like this because I probably hear 15 times a day "Can I hold Emily?" And then of course, Levi showing his big muscles! Precious times all on a family day!

Emily Explained

I wanted to take a few minutes to explain what happened with Emily for those who may be reading but don't know. Here it is...She has been doing these really weird things with her eyes, they are spasm, seizure like movements anytime she would look down. I managed to catch one of these episodes on tape and took her in to the pediatrician. Her physical exam was fine, but he was very concerned when he looked at the tape. He called and consulted a pediatric neurologist from DeVos Children's Hospital and he basically said that we were most likely dealing with seizures or very serious brain stem issues. We had an appointment to see the neurologist the next day. This 24 hours is where all the tears and prayers came in. The next day, he examined her for 11/2 hours and everything with that turned up fine. When watching her episode, he ruled out seizures right away and eventually ruled out the brain stem issues as well because she would have other signs, symptoms and developmental issues which she does not. She is developmentally fine...in fact she smiled, cooed and laughed at him the whole time. He ended up saying that although eye issues like this are usually of great concern, he can't explain what hers are...only that they are not any of the previous fears. They are just one of those medically unexplainable things that sometimes happen. The best way that he could describe her condition is that it is similar to any of the other"twitches" that babies can often have as they are forming all the pathways in their brain and that she should outgrow it. She does have an MRI on Dec. 17 to be thorough and completely rule out brain structure and tumor problems, but he expects those results to come back normal as well. We were so relieved and thankful to God to receive news that was far better than what the pediatrician had prepared us for.

Blessed

Had to share a picture of Emily today as she has been the subject of countless tears and prayers over the past 24 hours. Please look past the dried tears and snot stuck in her hair from her mother but washing them out just hasn't been a priority today. I can't take my eyes, hands and lips off her and yes a few tears have been shed today also. What a whirlwind the past 24 hours have been, but also the longest 24 hours of my life. There have been many miracles big and small from the innocently appropriate prayers of my other children who knew nothing of the situation to a good friend driving behind me on the road on the way to the Dr's office making me somehow feel comforted to the unexpectedly somewhat unexplainable news from the Dr. it has been an amazing day from the sleepless hours during the night until now when I am finally ready to rest my swollen, very tired eyes. I did want to take a moment to share with all of you a glimpse at the very special Emily today and thank you for sharing all your thoughts and prayers with us as we are still learning of how far reaching they really were. Honestly, the more people I hear from I'm realizing the number has to be in the thousands as many prayer chains were put into motion. As my eyes are flowing yet again, thank you again for loving her and loving us and for believing in the power of prayer.

Ready For Snow?

Is Emily ready for snow or what? Not really. Since she has reflux so bad she sleeps in a swing every night. The problem with this is, that she can't be covered up with cozy blankets to keep warm. The snowsuit is the perfect solution! So, this is what she looks like every morning when I walk in to get her up and see her smiling face...a little Eskimo baby! In reality the last thing I am ready for is snow since I absolutely HATE winter. I inform my family of the weather conditions in Colorado Springs daily since this is where I'm hoping to move. Much warmer, less snow and sun...lots of sun! We've always dreamed of moving there every time we vacation there, now with AMR headquarters there, we actually could, YIPEE!!!!!! The kids had fun doing their cave paintings today. They've been lusting after doing them for the past week and it was finally a calm enough day when I could get all the paints out and let them dive in. Their assignment was to tell a story with their pictures like the Egyptians that we're studying in history. Quite the mess since Rebecca thinks you paint with the water and not use it to rinse out your brush so her picture pretty much is just puddles of water...yikes! Annalise on the other hand created a masterpiece...it actually looks quite authentic. Now we're on to learning about the animal of choice for today...a horse, of course!

Sweet Dreams

Had to share some cute pictures and stories. Jim even thinks that Emily is an unusually good baby and doesn't mind hanging out with her since she's rarely fussy. Now for the cute stories...The kids were sharing their dreams during breakfast this morning and they made me laugh. Annalise was being attacked by a baby tiger that got into our house. Levi was being attacked by a giant mouth that was stuck to the ceiling with gum and Rebecca found a giant muddy foot on her bed. What in the world could these dreams possibly mean? Perhaps it's just all the candy over the past 2 days!

TGIF

I'm sitting here still sweating like a pig from my workout this morning. I'm still trying to lose those last 5 pounds...and I will!!! Scraping the frost off Jim's car didn't even cool me down. Maybe it's just my anticipation of the day today. This week has been crazy and teaching Annalise school has been nearly impossible. We'll see how today goes, but I may just have to cut us all some slack and take the day off if it starts off badly yet again. I'm sure teachers have to give their class a break every now and then (right Stephanie?). Even if they don't, Annalise really is doing well and I'm sure a day off that is not scheduled won't set her back. I had my first real panic attack last night when I was driving home from Alto and it was pitch dark. I got all turned around and panicked about what state I was even in. I have been dreaming on the Internet this week of all the other states we could move to once Jim finishes school...states that actually see the sun during the winter months and doesn't have such a RETARDED state government. During this attack I just pulled over, not sure of how to get home, terrified that Emily (the only kid I had with me) would start crying soon, having no idea of which way to turn, tried to use my pre paid cell phone that I keep for such emergencies to find that it was dead, and started crying in some person's driveway. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and out in the middle of nowhere it was pitch black and it felt like the darkness was actually choking me. Still crying and gasping for air with my face on the steering wheel I prayed loudly "Please help me find my way home because I can't!" Soon after the tears subsided and I felt my mind returning and knew I needed to turn the opposite way I had been traveling. Twenty minutes later I was home. We're supposed to paint cave drawings today on paper bags as part of History among all the other subjects. Maybe it would be a good day to just put in a movie for the kids and camp out on the couch with them...eating bon bons of course! Something about Little Orphan Annie is just good for the soul.

Farm Fun

Another day, another field trip. Today we went on our annual outing to the farm up the street from us. The kids always have a blast and it was a nice sunny day, although quite windy. The kids get more brave every year about feeding the goats and Annalise gets faster at reading the story inside the "Haunted House". We were lucky to have Jim with us since I had to carry Emily around. The kids were disappointed that the hayrides are not running during the week, but hopefully we'll be able to go back on a weekend. Complete with a "trunk picnic" we couldn't have had a better day!

Birthday Boy

Levi had his 5th birthday this week complete with a party. It's hard to believe that he's 5 already. He's changed so much this past year as I realized when I went back and looked at pictures. He is definitely ALL boy. He learned how to ride his bike without training wheels at 4, pretends he's a superhero or Diego, Dora's animal rescuing cousin. He hangs from the top of the swingset and whips across it like Tarzan, he always declares"I'm O.K. as he's on his way to some type of accident and he even had a probable broken nose this past year. He chews with his mouth open, attacks his pizza like it's going to jump off his plate and charges into a pool or any body of water with absolutely no regard to notice if anyone is even watching him. He reads Sports Illustrated and changes whatever name he likes to be called almost daily. He's been Brett Favre, Tiger, Beaver, Chipey, Diego and many more over the year, and he can control a remote control skate boarder with like 9 different buttons that need to be coordinated simultaneously and I couldn't even figure out how to turn it on. He loves to headbang to any kind of music that has a steady beat. He is always making some type of car or fighting type noise and LOVES anything monster truck. He has grown a ton taller but is SO skinny that I can hardly keep his pants up, even with a belt! Maybe it's because he goes from the time he gets up in the morning until about an hour after I put him in bed! He teaches me new things every day as I am learning all about the wonderful world of boys!

Generations

We had a class trip for school today to visit my Grandpa...my Mom's Dad. It was the first time he'd seen Emily and it'd been a long time since the rest of us had seen him. It was so neat to see his face light up when he saw the kids. He has some good days and some not so good days and it was special to be part of a good day. I wish that my kids would have had the opportunity to meet all my grandparents before 2 of them passed away. When I was growing up I took for granted all the wisdom they had to share and now I would love to sit down and listen to them for hours, but the 2 grandparents I do have left aren't able to do that anymore either. My Dad's Mom loved children....especially babies and I wish she could be a part of Emily's life. When I was first pregnant with Rebecca things weren't going well with the pregnancy and I was in the hospital for surgery at the same time that she was in the hospital struggling at the end of her life. The first time I talked to her during all of this all she wanted to know was how I and the baby were doing. Even then, her thoughts were not of her fight to live, but of the baby that was fighting inside me to live...this new life that was happening through her. Older people can enrich younger people's lives so much. There is something to be said for past generations and even other cultures where the generations live together...those kids must have had such a different perspective on life just having been exposed to their great grandparents. It was interesting to me to think as I drove home that together my kids and my Grandpa span 2 centuries and even over 2 millenniums with their combined lifetimes. Deep thoughts for a Friday!

Beautiful Blessings

Emily was baptized this past Sunday. I always find this to be such an emotional experience and it has gotten more and more with each kid. Maybe it's because now that I have older kids I know a little more about what's coming. I know the questions like "When was God born?" and "How can God be everywhere?" will one day come from Emily too. Maybe it's because with each child I am more and more in awe at what a gift and responsibility each child is. I found myself choking back tears several times this Sunday while trying to take in every moment. I realize more and more what a privilege it is to be parenting what are His children even more than they are mine. I'm learning what this concept really means each day that goes by when I find myself trying to hold on too tightly to my children as they grow older each day and the days just keep flying by SO fast. Emily has changed so much and grown so much already that keeping the perspective that these children really aren't mine and that they are a gift for me to raise for this moment has helped me rejoice in their growing and changing instead of regretting those lost moments that have seemingly flown by without me noticing. Sunday was a beautiful day in more ways than one and we are so thankful to have another beautiful daughter to raise in HIS ways! We may not have all the blessings that the world often thinks of, but we have been blessed richly with His blessing of children.

Sibling Love!

I think it warms any mother's heart to see her children love each other, but I think it is especially meaningful for me because I didn't have any siblings for the first almost 9 years of my life. In fact, the one thing I wanted most in life was a sibling. It is one of the best parts of every day when I see my kids loving each other; it's one of the greatest things to me about having a large family. Just like they fight unprompted (like they sometimes do), they love unprompted too. Like yesterday when Levi walked over to Annalise and gave her a huge bear hug or when Rebecca runs to Emily's side the instant she starts fussing. Levi often finds "love notes" under his door or on his pillow from Annalise. Then there's Annalise who says several times each day "What can I do to help with Emily?" The picture of Annalise and Emily happened a few days ago when Annalise was entertaining her while I was making yet another batch of applesauce ( I get at least 3 bushels of apples every fall and freeze it to eat all year). She was playing patty cake with Emily and Annalise had her laughing for the first time. Annalise and I kept laughing and laughing and the 3 of us laughing continued for what seemed like hours. It was one of those moments that I purposely thought to myself "I want to remember this very moment for the rest of my life." I do that every now and then, and somehow in my final days I hope I will be able to draw these moments out; even if my memory is totally gone. My days certainly have their trying times (as you read in an earlier posting!) but for the most part, having 4 kids is the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

Baby Switch?

I keep wondering if somehow they switched babies at the hospital with Emily. Now after today I know they must have. I took Emily to the Dr. today and she is in the 90th percentile for weight and the 50th for height. None of my other kids were even on the charts until at the earliest, Levi was 3 years old. On the charts is one thing, but 90th percentile?!?!?!How's that for breastmilk. The Dr. said that everyone who harasses me for having small children can stop now because she's a chunker! Not only that...she sleeps!!!!This is a great thing. None of my other kids slept...EVER! They were awake ALL day EVERY day. Emily sleeps all the time and she even sometimes goes 5-6 hours at night. My others were over a year old before they did that. I miss her she sleeps so much. I'm one of those weird mothers that actually doesn't want their kids to sleep thru the night. I really cherish the time that we have just me and her and that only happens in the middle of the night. Best of all, she never cries...except the few times my mom's had her (sorry mom). I do not know where this child came from, but she's just what I ordered. I don't know how many times during my pregnancy I said I didn't care what sex the baby was, just that they better be easy...I've paid my dues! Well, I actually got what I ordered. Seriously, I guess God knew what he was doing when He gave us Emily; He always does, but it just so happens that this time my ideas and His actually line up! Don't you love when that happens? The Dr's parting words were "She's perfect!" I happen to think so too!

Is it Bedtime Yet???

Had to share a bit so that you can have a good laugh because Iam SO not laughing...I know this all started when I didn't go to the gym today becuase otherwise I would have enough endorohines to be laughing along with you. I did 6 loads of laundry today which isn't a big deal except that my washer has been broken for about 2 years...it doesn't actually spin without being readjusted about 6 times every load and then I have to sit on it to make it actually get any water out. Multiply that by 6 loads and that's alot of time spent spinning on the washer. Oh and then when I finished the 6th load my lovely husband discovered that the cat peed on the clean sheets in the laundry basket that I had just washed yesterday...she is a bit senile. I finally sent the kids to their seperate rooms because they couldn't stop fighting with each other so house rules are that they don't get to be with each other anymore for the day. Next I retreated to my room to change my shirt that Emily so kindly spit her dinner all over and preceded to step in something warm and sqishy...cat throw up...another lovely quirk of our 12 year old cat (she has done this for 12 years). It was about this time that I wondered "What is that smell?" and I soon realized that the muffins I was baking (multi-tasking anyone?) were actually becoming a charred treat. Oh, and as I was standing doing dishes I noticed my socks getting wet and saw that the sink that my husband so kindly fixed today is now leaking like CRAZY and I'm sure he'll enjoy that when he gets home from school at 11:00! Annalise next handed me a letter that she wrote me in an envelope for a bill with a real stamp on it which was about the last straw...until I read that it was a letter about how mych she loved me and wanted me to teach her how to better obey God's words and how to be a mom when she grows up...momentarily melted my heart until I heard the "band" that the kids are putting together in the basement. By the way, I am still wearing said shirt because when faced with deciding what shirt to put on I felt completely overwhelmed and decided that this shirt isn't THAT dirty.
Anyway, I did catch myself smiling and experience a warm-fuzzy when I noticed that Emily had finally stopped crying (she hardly ever cries but today of all days) and I found Annalise playing music for her and talking to her while rubbing her head (I had let her out of her room to fold laundry which by the way was neatly folded beside her). Anyway, enjoy a good laugh at my day...in a few days I'm sure I'll be laughing at it too.

Baby Laughs

Had to share that earlier this morning I asked my mom exactly when babies laugh as I had forgotten. She thought around 3 months. As I sat here putting the finishing touches on my last entry Emily was laying on the floor next to me. I looked down at her and saw that she had once again spit up her lunch and said to her in that mommy voice "You are a spitting up fool." She looked right at me and laughed. I then said "You think that's funny?" Another laugh. I guess Emily decided 9 weeks was a good time to start laughing at me.

"Clippety-Clop"

We spent last weekend up in Mackinac Island for a family wedding and a little vacation...long overdue. Thanks to both of our sets of parents as we couldn't have done it without them. Me being the homeschooling mom that I am checked out some books about the Island before we left. The kids' favorite one had a boy who liked hearing the "clippety clop" of the horses, so our kids pointed out that noise...repeatedly while we were there. The horse drawn carriage was their favorite part...perhaps it had something to do with the fact that we didn't make them hoof it (no pun intended) for the 2 mile trip between downtown and our condo (which we did make them do several times too). Speaking of our condo...thank goodness we had a washer and dryer...ah the joys of a refluxy baby as I did 7 loads of laundry while we were there! We had great weather and the wedding was beautiful. Sleeping (or lack there of) with the kids was a bit of a challenge, but got a little easier every night. Levi was a bit out of sorts as well but Annalise cried about leaving..."she missed Mackinac Island already" (we hadn't even left the ferry dock yet). All the kids want to know when we're going back...precisely when (our kids only deal in specifics...no generalities allowed). Hopefully we'll get back there soon!

Welcome to the year 2007!

I thought it was time to create a blog. What with 4 kids, homeschooling and teaching classes my plate is not quite full enough so I thought I'd add one more thing. Actually, I thought it'd be a good way to keep family and friends updated with life around here and put my digital camera to good use. I'll do my best to stay updated on postings and we'll see how it goes!