My Grandpa Loren died

Sad news.  My dad's father, Loren Hardinger, died on Tuesday evening.  Last week he suffered a stroke at his home in Arizona, my grandma Rowena found him laying on the bathroom floor.  He was transported to the hospital, and they found out he had suffered two types of strokes (one blockage and one burst artery), each treated differently.  He declined quickly, and was transported to hospice so he could be as comfortable as possible.  Our family is not going to the funeral, but we will attend an Iowa memorial service later.  I am going to miss him so much!  I will miss his positive "yes!" and "whoop whoop!".  I shared with him a love for coffee.  The last time I talked to him he called us up to muse over how Calix stock was performing.  I'm so glad my kids got a chance to know him.  He (Rowena too! they were always together!!) was a very dedicated grandfather, and made an effort to come to many of my activites through my life; band concerts, diving meets, track meets, gymnastics shows and competitions, school graduations, birthday parties, visited us many times on the way to and from having their teeth cleaned in Mason City, and hosted us many times at their place in Albia.  He and Mama Rowena supported us in many ways after our house flooded in 2008.  He was very dedicated to his family and loved spending time with us.  I pray he repented of his sins to receive forgiveness from God for his salvation before his death.  I also pray for Mama Rowena to have a smooth start over to life now with out her husband.

A few pics:

Daddy's 35th birthday

Today is a lot of things.  Good Friday and Earth Day, but more importantly, Daddy's 35th birthday!  He is coming home from a trip (he was gone Sunday through today at sales meetings in California) on his special day.  The kids are very excited to know its daddy's birthday, and we are all excited to see him when he gets home.  Will write later about the weekend, its going to be fun!

"Morning red"

This morning I woke up before all the kids woke up and took a shower, got ready for the day, and went down to get some breakfast.  Calvin is always the first to wake up, he started crying because he couldn't find me in bed (which is pretty typical of him, he usually wakes up at 6:45....but this morning he slept in til 7:30).  I told him I was downstairs so he came right down and asked for some cereal.  As he and I ate our cereal together at the table, we had a conversation about the color red.  His pajama sleeves were red, my shirt was red, and the dishrag I was using to wipe up his milk spills was red.  He took note on the red colors and said "Wook mom! Da colors are all red! My weeb (sleeve) is red, the dikrag (dishrag) is red, and your kirt (shirt) is red!"  I made a comment that my shirt was sort of dark red, and he said "yeah, mine is a morning red".  Silly boy.

Weird weather

We had a "thunder-snow-storm" this morning.  Freezing rain turned to tiny beads of hail, thunder was crashing, then the precipitation turned to wet snow.  Ick!  There was one very loud crack of thunder that freaked the kids out this morning.  It happened while I was trying to get the 3 kids out the door to Bible study.  I was putting Vanessa in her car seat in the garage, and the other two kids were screaming their heads off scared mostly because of the loud thunder crack (it shook the house! It even startled me!) and the fact that they couldn't find me.  I knew they'd be terrified so I bolted in the house ASAP and heard frantic wailing immediately.  They both grabbed their baby blankets and needed a snuggle on the couch before we left.  The discussion in the van on the way to BBC was all about the weather.

Vanessa - 10 1/2 months

Since Vanessa's top two teeth have come in, she's discovered her new ability to grind them.  Ohhhh its like nails on a chalkboard, soo annoying!  She clicks and rubs her teeth together and it is very hard to listen to.  Dave heard it for the first time the other day while he was holding her and he had to put her down and walk away!
Thankfully she doesn't do it all the time, just moments.

She also consistently crawls with her right hand in a fist and left hand open.  She likes to be in the middle of the action with the other two kids, and they frequently interact with her.  Calvin has to be watched carefully around her - he mindlessly drops things on her and sits on her.  Violet is very careful, safely picking her up and relocating her if she is in danger.  She's a great helper! 
They both enjoy making her laugh!

St. Louis last weekend

The highlight of my trip to the ICAN Conference in St. Louis was going downtown Saturday night with a friend and seeing the arch at nighttime.  It was so pretty!  Otherwise, the weekend was sort of draining emotionally, but chock-full of great information, and allowed me to make some really important connections with others.  Vanessa came with me, and was a challenge for the entire time.  Now that she is crawling and pulling up to stand on everything, her preference was to be OFF my lap and on the floor moving around.  Kept me busy for sure!

Vanessa's top teeth

Vanessa's top two teeth are starting to poke through her gums today.  I sure hope once they poke through completely she will stop being so fussy!

Quote of the day - Violet

while waiting for her painted nails to dry today, Violet said this...

"I really wish my hand wasn't connected to my body, that way I could just leave it on the table and let it dry."

I think she inherited mommy's impatient gene.

Beautiful day today

I think its time I blogged about something other than bodily fluids. 

It was so nice outside today!!  I think the high temp in Cedar Falls was 77.  Dave and I took the kids out to the river house to check it out - a week or so ago there was a significant flood and we were unable to drive up to the house because the water was too deep going across Cottage Row Rd.  It didn't touch the house though, thankfully!  The kids mostly enjoyed sitting near the water's edge with us and throwing stick in the water.  Violet ended up with major attitude about some tiny thing that blew up out of proportion (doesn't everything seem out of proportion when you're 5?) so we left and decided to put them in bed for naps.  They all slept, but the problem was they didn't sleep til 4 pm - so we had to wake them up to get to Cubbies and Puggles.  They were NOT happy to be woken up.  V and C grudgingly got out of bed (Calvin pretty much screamed for a long time), got shoes on, and buckled in the car....both with grumpy faces.  It took them awhile to cheer up but by the time it was over, both were running around giggling and smiling. 

I took a walk outside with Vanessa and Silas (Selena's baby) for about a half hour, and the wind picked up so I headed inside.  The heat felt so nice.

On another note, Dave and I both were asked to sing during the music today at Bethany.  We practiced with the band Saturday morning.  It went well and we both enjoyed it, and we learned a new song.  Oh Glorious Day by Casting Crowns.  Great song!

Calvin is throwing up

Fun....this sickness is flowing through our whole family.  I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.  I knew it was going to happen too, because Calvin has been complaining that his tummy hurt all day and didn't have much of an appetite all day (very uncommon for him).  I picked him up to give him a hug, and he immediately started throwing up.  His tummy emptied all over the tile floor (and convenient timing...Dave had walked up the stairs just 5 seconds before I picked him up to give him a hug).  Dave saw the whole thing...I had to leave immediately to get my gross clothes off and Dave helped wipe down Calvin and clean up the puke.  Thank you Dave!  I wonder if it was a stomach bug ... since he threw up, he's acted all happy and cheerful. 

I feel indoctrinated again...this "mom" world can sure be messy and gross!