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!