BBC Christmas Program

BBC also put together a Christmas program.  Violet, Calvin and Vanessa were all involved in this one because they're all in Sunday School there. 

The group performing this year was pretty small.  You could hear all the kids sing out!  Violet was in front with her friends, Ivy, Casey and Rachel D.  They all had a part to say as they sang the story of the birth of Jesus.

Calvin's part was "We are just children but we come with a life changing message."  I don't remember Violet's - she said it with a group of kids.

Vanessa's class was featured quickly and sang a song to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but it was different words.  After her part she wanted to sit with Diane W.

Eli moved into Calvin's room

Along with the room switch, Eli lost his own sleeping space which was the crib in the guest room.  I wasn't really ready for him to move in with Calvin yet, but I really didn't want him down in the new basement guest room all alone so far away so I reluctantly went along with Dave's suggestion of moving Eli in with Calvin.  The main reason I didn't want to move them in together yet is because Eli sleeps in and Calvin needs to get up so early for school.
Its been working out so far.  I'm blogging about this about 4 weeks after the switch and life hasn't exactly been normal because of Christmas break.  Calvin and Violet love the new guest room so much they've been sleeping in it every chance they get so Eli has actually been by himself a lot sleeping in.
My plan for school mornings is to set out Calvin's school outfit in the hallway outside his door so he can wake up, sneak out, and put his clothes on with out waking up Eli.  He has done it a few times and its been fine.

Room switch

One thing we wanted to get done before Dave's second foot surgery was to switch two rooms in our house.  One Sunday afternoon, we let the kids watch some of their favorite shows and we got to work.  The plan was to switch the locations of the guest room and Dave's office.  So Dave's office goes upstairs to the old guest room location and the guest room becomes the basement room.  We had a few guests arriving over the next month so we thought it would be nicer if guests had their own "floor" and their own dedicated bathroom.  After taking measurements, it was nice to find out that the downstairs room is only a foot shorter in length and the same width as the first guest bedroom.  Not much smaller and Dave's office location gained a foot in length.  It was not easy moving heavy furniture.  Dressers, end tables, a (very heavy) queen bed, and a crib were moved out of a room and Dave's big desk was moved upstairs along with all his office equipment.  A few hours later the room switch was complete, and it felt "right".  The guest room looked so cozy and comfortable - and it was nice to have Dave's office location right next to our bedroom. 

Jeff and Denise Winters (and Nicole, Michael and Zachary) stayed with us the night of Fri, Dec 20 and enjoyed having a space to themselves.  Shawn and Kim Thompson also stayed with us New Year's Eve and said they liked the spot too.  I put the heated blanket on the bed that Mama Row gave us so it can be warm and toasty in the bed if a guest wanted it.

Masterpiece

Tonight I read the kids some of the Psalms and talked about how people, of all God's creation, are His masterpiece.  I asked the kids if they knew what a masterpiece was.  Violet was closest in saying it was a really big painting.  I explained that a masterpiece is an artists greatest piece of work.  The light bulb went on for Violet and she exclaimed (in complete seriousness), "It is kind of like when I was making my flubber into the shape of a piece of bread.  It was my masterpiece flubber bread!"  And there you have it - the word 'masterpiece' illustrated as an adult never could.

And, if you don't know what flubber is...google it.

Dave

WCS Christmas Program 2013

I'm finally catching up on writing about some things going on with our family.  I have an hour of a window of time when my older 3 are with Dave at AWANA.  I didn't go because I didn't want to take Eli out and it was "gym and pizza" night - not really necessary for me, the secretary, to sit by a table and do nothing.  So I am using this hour to catch up on blogging.  My memory of these events has faded quite a bit and I've forgotten details I wanted to capture, but either way, I'm writing about it now and I'll record whatever I remember.

This year's program involved Violet and Calvin, since they are both in school full time at WCS.  Violet is in 2nd grade, Calvin in Kindergarten.  The program the school chose to perform is The First Leon (Noel spelled backwards) about a boy named Leon.  I don't remember the exact story line but the performance was one of the best I've seen yet, it is the third one I've seen the school has put on.  The music seemed more contemporary, there were real funny moments, and the kids seemed to enjoy performing.  Violet was a shepherd gal and Calvin was a sheep. 

Rachel and my mom were also able to come see it too!

Calvin

Violet

 

Selah, Violet and Alexis

Thanksgiving 2013 - Elgin, IL

We made a trip to the Chicago area for Thanksgiving this year.  Roger and Mary Butler hosted the meal on Thanksgiving day but we stayed at Josh and Carrie's house from Wed through Sat.  I'm writing this blog a week after we got back so my memory is already weak.  We drove there on Wednesday before Thanksgiving with plans to make it there in time to have supper together.  Carrie prepared teriyaki chicken/pineapple with coconut rice and asian salads.  The drive was uneventful except for the last 15 minutes when we ran into a detour and couldn't find a direct road to their house.  This pushed dinner back extra time and everybody was super hungry so that wasn't so fun, but we got there and enjoyed a yummy dinner together.  Of course everybody was excited to see each other.  The cousins all have a really tight relationship and bond from so many visits in the past and also the week spent together in Michigan.

The kids ran around for awhile and after getting them to bed (girls in Renee's room, boys in Austin/Wesley's room and Eli in boys closet)...Josh and Carrie and Dave and I got a chance to chat for a few hours.  A lot of things were discussed, ranging in topics from Josh/Carrie's church stuff, Dave's personality, etc.

The kids were up so early the next morning (Thurs).  Poor Eli got woken up at 6:00 so he had to be put back in bed.  The boys were all so excited...and crazy...

I don't all remember what we did.  We ate cereal here and there for breakfast, eating light anticipating a big feast later in the day.  Carrie put together a cheesy mashed potato dish to bring along.  We left for Mary's house at 11:30 am (the drive took an hour to get there).  Some members of Mary's family were there too, so the gathering of the meal took place in her well-decorated and homey-feeling garage where all the tables would fit together.

I brought along some crafty things for the kids to do in the basement while we waited for food to be prepared and afterwards during clean-up and dessert time.  The kids also were fascinated with a big train set Roger put up in his basement to try connect with some younger nieces/nephews on Mary's side of the family.  It was a very nice "hobby shop" type of train set with a remote control to control the tracks switching and real smoke coming out of the engines.  The kids also played with balls on the pool table and played ping pong here and there.  Eli ran around too, causing all sorts of trouble.

The meal was served around 2pm.  Turkey, ham, gravy, 2 potato dishes, green beans, tomato bake, a salad, squash, cranberries, dinner rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, peach/cherry pie. and apple bars were served.  Oh, and lots of wine. And water. :) Super delicious.  Kids ate little food and lots of apple bars.  I think Calvin ate 5 bars.  Oh my, that kid and sugary treats.  At least he doesn't complain when eating fruits, veggies, and oatmeal. :)

So the kids got wrapped up (no pun intended) in making paper loops and connecting them with staples.  The paper chain grew and grew until it stretched out across the basement floor.  When it got too long to manage we took it upstairs and draped it across the bushes in the front of Mary's house.  Even the boys got into adding paper loops onto the chain.  It was really fun (and little mess!).

The rest of the day was relaxing, listening to Christmas music constantly.  Kids played games, made a little fort in Renee's room under the space where her trundle bed usually is tucked in (which was out so Violet could sleep on it).  I constantly was losing Eli's pacifier.  Eli was running after either of their two dogs, growling and yelling at them.  He wasn't scared at all, he just liked running after them and grabbing them.  The dogs didn't seem to mind at all either.  Josh and I dueled playing tetris on the playstation.  I wasn't familiar with the control buttons so he beat me.  Josh and I also enjoyed playing ping pong.  He beat me, winning 4 games out of 6.

Vanessa woke up not feeling so good Friday morning.  She actually threw up on me right after I was done getting dressed after a shower so I had to change.  She threw up liquid only, mostly watery.  Martha came over to hang out with us that day too and she brought over some homeopathic meds to give her.  Vanessa seemed lethargic and slept on the couch for an hour or so, waking up to throw up a little more liquid in a bowl.  She then seemed to hop off the couch, had some color in her cheeks, and say "I'm HUNGRY!" so we let her eat 1/2 a banana with caution, and kept the bowl near.  She kept it down, and begged for more banana.  She finished the banana, then started running around.  Bounced back from whatever she was bugged with SO quick.  She also scarfed down a piece of toast and kept that down too, and seemed to return to normal amazingly quick.  I've never seen a kid bounce back from a little sickness like that so fast, it is usually more gradual.  We were all so happy she seemed to be 100% again. Nobody else got sick either.

Dave helped Josh put Christmas lights up on their house at some point during the visit.  In the evening, after a yummy chicken taco supper, J&C and kids ran out to buy a Christmas tree.  We had some more time to chill out/relax and Martha even stayed overnight.  The drive back to her house was about an hour and she avoided the drive by staying over.  She had planned to make breakfast for everybody on Saturday morning anyway so she slept on the couch Friday night.  That evening we sang Christmas songs - Martha played her autoharp - and Carrie brought out the crackers, cheese, and more wine.  Fun evening...lots of music.

Saturday morning Martha made green pepper sandwiches (for me...nah...) - which the LaMarche boys were loving.  She also made up a big batch of creamed eggs (hard boiled eggs cut up and put into a cheesy white sauce) which gets spread over toast.  Its a heavy, hearty breakfast which sticks to your ribs for an entire day.  The kids really love eating that too but I'm not used to cooking so heavily so its a rare treat in our house.  The kids all helped Josh decorate the Christmas tree - and after that activity it was time to get outside, so we took a long walk "in the woods" after playing at a little park by their house ...which is a trail that loops between a lot of trees.  Turns out everybody loved it and had fun.  No snow, lots of sun, but a cold wind.

We ate lunch with whatever leftovers were in the fridge - Dave packed up our stuff and loaded the van.  Then we said our goodbyes and headed out.  So nice to visit and reconnect - I feel like this post was really abbreviated and short, but I had to sit down and write it out before I forgot.  Also, I forgot my camera on this visit so all I had to work with was my phone's camera, which seems to have been on some setting that made bad photos.  I am not happy with the way the photos turned out, but oh well.  I'll post some anyway.

Something I really wanted to remember to post was something funny Eli did on the drive home.  We played music the entire way (including songs from an album that Dave listened to as a child).  After each song would end, Eli would yell, "HEY!" when it was over.  We thought it was a fluke at first but consistently for a number of hours, a song would end, and he would yell.  It was too funny!! He also loved learning how to "ride the rollercoaster" which is a toddler toy in their basement.  He would yell "Go!" and Vanessa would push him to start rolling.  He yelled "Yayy!" and "Whee!" over and over.

Violet and Calvin wanted to put this in a helium balloon

Kala and Adam's wedding 11-9-2013

I'm not going to be able to re cap this trip in as much details as I hoped, as the event was nearly 2 weeks ago and I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about it.  I started once but didn't finish.  The trip to Bowling Green, OH overall was really great.  We took a couple days to get there and pit-stopped at Martha's in Chicago, had breakfast at Yolk downtown with Jeff/Denise and Martha, and drove the rest of the way the next day.  Utilized our Ipass (boy that is nice to have, makes paying tolls super slick). We had a great time hanging out with family, swimming in the hotel pool (silly mom forgot swimsuits, so we made a run to Walmart for swimming items that weren't necessarily swimsuits, ha!), got nails done, got all dressed up for the wedding, played a small part in the ceremony by leading the group singing the Doxology, partied at the reception (kids were babysat by their older cousins!), met Kala's new husband, and drove the entire way home on Sunday.  Lots of music was played, kids did overall very well in the car.  I'm sure Violet completed many parts of her minecraft world on my kindle while we were driving.  Dave serenated me with the "My Maria" song on our long 9 hour drive.  Many pit stops for bathroom, food, and stretching.  I will post pictures that will recap the weekend better than I could in words.  It was really fun and we loved seeing many from Dave's side of the family as well as celebrating Kala's marriage to Adam.

Eli - Fall 2013

Eli is almost 18 months old (on Dec 4th he will be).  He's a little toddling bundle and is generally very happy child.

Eli:
- likes to say "mom! mom! mom!" over and over until he gets what he wants.
- says "more, more more!" when eating for his next bite and makes it very obvious by turning his head quickly if he is done eating
- loves milk
- if he's in his car seat and wants his paci/blanket he will reach down to his right thinking they are down there saying "more, more, more" to indicate he wants them, but they often aren't there.  I think from our recent road trips he tosses them down there and thinks they're always there.
- has learned to run in the last few weeks.
- has learned how to climb up on a chair and up onto the table (yikes!)
- sticks legos in his mouth all the time and never swallows them.  If he sees me coming up to him with something in his mouth, he take it out and gives it to me.
- is wearing 2T clothes
- weighs almost 30 lbs
- is trained to use the toilet only if I take him. He won't do this on his own.
- still sleeps in the crib in the guest room
- takes one nap a day, sometimes at 11 am, sometimes not til 1pm. I'm happy if he gets one good nap in every day.
- likes to reach up and switch off/on the light above his head when I change his diaper.  He twists and turns and is our current "battle" if you want to call it that...to lay still during a diaper change.
- has started going into Maggie's sunday school class - she said she'd take him and work with him since the 2 yr old class is pretty small.  He does ok.  Sometimes cries, but he'll grow into it.
- sits in the stroller a lot of places I go so he doesn't get into trouble
- likes raisins, grapes, cheese, chicken nuggets, pancakes, oatmeal, cheerios, cooked carrots, noodles, popcorn, bagels with cream cheese, and has recently discovered candy, after the onslaught of candy from Halloween.
- is teething right now, getting 4 in. eye teeth and canines.
- still loves those blankets and pacis.  I can't find but only one paci lately so he's a mess if I can't find it.  He snuggles his blankets and whimpers if its not available at the moment.
- is getting over his first ear infection.  He slept terribly at the hotel one night in Ohio, we suspected something could be wrong.  I saw infection in his ear when we got home and took him to a doctor and he was put on antiobiotics right away.  He's feeling much better now.

11-22-2013 - update
Just in the last hour, I have found Eli:
- digging in the corner cabinet banging the glass jar of molasses on the tile floor.  It didn't break.
- flushed the toilet and ran away
- found him with his teeth sunk into an onion he must have dug out of the cabinet
- found him on top of the dining room table with legos in his mouth
- climbed onto the seat of the green trike and fallen over three times
- knocks over Vanessa's stacking cups whenever he gets a chance
- plugging and unplugging everything he can find
- pushing buttons on the small oven controls



he is keeping me on my toes!!

Vanessa - Fall 2013

When I think of Vanessa, I think "personality!" She's very social, will attach herself to just about anybody who will give her attention.

Vanessa:
- is almost 3.5 years old
- is starting to speak her words more clearly, although there are sounds she can't make.  She can't say "duck", instead she says "guck".
- loves puzzles
- loves books being read to her.  She would sit on the couch all day with me and read books if I had the time to do that.
- loves Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  She watches 2 shows every day and memorizes the little tunes and songs and sings them all day "Everyone is Big Enough...Big enough to do something" and "If you have to go potty, stop and go right away...flush and wash and be on your way" and "You can take a turn, and then I'll get it back.." and "You gotta try new food cuz it might taste good.." there are tons of them, but she really loves to sing them and it helps her sometimes to try new things or remember to wash her hands after she flushes.  When two shows are over, she turns off the receiver and TV and says "Fank you for wetting me watch Daniel Kiger"
- really enjoyed dressing up for Halloween as a princess.  She says "you say trick or treat, then they give you candy, then you say thank you!""
- goes to preschool Tues/Thurs mornings at OHCP for 2.5 hours.  She loves it!  She does have a hard time with being nice to her friends sometimes.  Her teacher says she uses her hands to bother other kids, either tickling their faces or something, but she's improving.  I help her by motivating her with 2 pink gumballs.  If her teacher gives me a good review, she is rewarded.  If her teacher says she had to be reminded to stop doing something then she doesn't get them.  The other day when I went to play bunco with my friends, on my way out the door, she said, "mom, be nice to your friends!"
- starting to write some letters in her name
- loves Violet's friend Alexis.  She runs excitedly out to the playground after Violet and Calvin are done with school (if I let them play for awhile) and hugs her.
- is learning what it means to obey.  She says, "but I don't want to.." if I ask her to do something and is getting better at obeying.  The last battle we had was me asking the kids to come to the van while on the playground.  Calvin came running first, followed by Violet, but Vanessa ran the opposite direction.  I told her she couldn't play next time because she didn't come when I called her.
- loves pink.  absolutely loves it!  she dressed today in pink pants, a shirt with pink hello kitty, pink socks, and asked for a pink bowl to eat her pink cereal she picked at the store (strawberry frosted mini wheats).  She talks about pink all the time.
- sleeps with her dark pink/striped blanket and a few babies she hasn't really attached herself to yet, and her little Ariel princess figurine. 
- wants us to "tweep" (sleep) with her at night, sometimes we do, sometimes we don't.  Last night she woke up in the middle of the night crying because she wanted someone to sleep with her.  I laid down with her for a few minutes until she went back to sleep and then I snuck out.
- wants "pwetzels and pea-da butter" for snacks a lot. "Look at dis udder big one!" showing me a big lump of peanut butter on the tip of her pretzel
- says "I'm firsty about milk" to say she wants a drink of milk. 
- says often, "I can't fink about it" (I can't think about it) if she doesn't know the answer to a question
- loves Berry Kix
- likes filling up a square building board with square legos
- asks for oatmeal squares all the time
- purposely shys away from the camera and won't smile.  She dodges photos.  Occasionally I'll capture a great smile out of her.
- still talks about Andrew, her swimming lessons instructor.
- takes me along a series of why questions...every answer I give is another reason to ask why to that answer.
- doesn't like her hair up in ponytails.  She yanks them out.  Her curly crazy hair is hard to control so she looks like she's got bedhead about 90% of the time except for right after a bath when the curls she has form nicely and look great.
- stores socks in her shoes all the time, I don't know how often those socks get washed.
- can buckle and unbuckle her carseat by herself
- still bothers Eli all the time by pinning him down with her legs or arms.  He fights it and gets out of it sometimes. 
- is getting into coloring more.  We print a lot of pictures, and the pink marker gets used most of the time
- doesn't regularly nap. Maybe a couple times a month, she'll lay down to sleep for a nap but its too much of a struggle for me to get her to sleep so I don't push it.  I have to leave every weekday at 3:00 to pick up Violet and Calvin anyway so I'd have to wake her up to go do this if she was sleeping.
- won't let anybody call the place she goes twice a week "school" .  "No!" she says, "its PREschool!"
- has less snot-blowing sneezes but they still happen.  I still hear sinus congestion when she talks.

Calvin - Fall 2013

The biggest change for Calvin this year was starting kindergarten.  He says he doesn't like school, but I think that's just typical boy behavior.  The first few weeks were a little rough as he adjusted to the schedule and not having as much time around the house to play.  His teacher, Miss Smits, says he is compliant, cooperative, respectful, and seems to enjoy school.

Calvin:
- likes putting on his belt when getting dresses and gains satisfaction by the fact that he can get it through all the loops correctly and buckle it.
- learned to tie his shoes last week or the week before - it just took a few days of practice.
- is outgrowing ALL his pants.  He is going through a growth spurt.  When I hold him he feels so strong and thick, and doesn't have an ounce of fat.  His Uncle Josh commented on Calvin's physique while observing him in the swimming pool on our recent trip to a hotel for Kala's wedding.  He runs so fast too! 
- loves oatmeal with maple syrup or bananas
- loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
- is a mom-and-dad pleaser.  He often says "yes mom!" or "yes dad!" when we ask him to do something.  He is motivated to be caught doing good and have the reports be sent to his teacher at school.  Other times I think he says "yes mom!" or "yes dad!" to upstage his siblings behavior. 
- is working on controlling himself.  He gets upset really quickly.  Just this morning, Dave used some water to smooth down his "bed head" hair and got some drips of water on his sleeve.  Calvin almost lost it in a fit of tears because he didn't want a wet shirt going to school. 
- his handwriting has improved dramatically since starting school
- recognizes his sight words more regularly.  "the" and "mother" are ones I can remember. 
- learned to spell Vanessa's name.
- does things for his sisters like drawing them pictures is something he likes doing.  He wanted to print a picture of Vanessa's favorite princess (Ariel) and made it all pink.
- still fights with Violet and Vanessa over "the first stool" on the island.
- says Natalie is his favorite friend in school
- found Bennett's (school friend) toy on the playground after school and brought it back to him the next day at school
- listens with intent when Dave or I read the Bible story, even if he's upside down somehow, he's listening.
- gets easily distracted when asked to do a task
- knows our address and phone number
- loves to play on my kindle - his favorite thing to do.  The kids earn "minutes of time" to play on the kindle (only allowed on the weekends).  He likes angry birds, subway surf, minecraft, and candy crush.
- is learning to ask for things nicely (i.e. May I have a mint please? instead of "can I have a mint?")
- absolutely loves all things chocolate

Violet - Fall 2013

Violet is almost 8!  Almost.  I will enjoy her being 7 for nine more weeks. 

She's going through second grade very well!  She's reading very well, working on math problems like 85-49 and learns to correctly spell 20 words a week.  She made a birdfeeder yesterday at school and I helped her climb a ladder outside and hang it in the tree.  Of course, its brightly rainbow colored.  She is very creative.  She made a coloring book herself by asking me to print some coloring pages on the computer.  She decorated the cover herself.  She and her friend Casey have thought up to make a Thanksgiving journal they will trade having and write in it things they will do for Thanksgiving coming up.  Her favorite friends at school are Selah, Alexis, Casey, Reagan, and Ashley.

My mind comes up with things about Violet and here are some:
- She loves dresses.  She likes wearing dresses/leggings to school and if none are clean, that's when she will pull out the pants and polo shirts.  
- She loves honey bunches of oats for breakfast. 
- She sleeps on the top bunk in the girls room and is surrounded with 5 pillows and her blankets.  She doesn't have a top sheet or comforter - those things get in her way of the "nest" she created.  She got some new warm pajamas recently and has her cozy Dora blanket she uses to cover up with if she feels cold.  Up in her bed is a Kleenex box and her alarm clock.  She still sleeps with her favorite pink blanket (she says she likes it because its cold) and her baby doll.
- She generally wakes up happy, even though I have to drag her out of bed at 7:00 am every morning as quietly as I can so I don't wake up Vanessa.
- She loves to whistle.  Through her teeth and normally - she's just like her dad.  She's constantly whistling and it annoys Calvin. 
- She loves music!  She always wants to listen to music in the car, and she likes all kinds of music.  She recently heard the song "The End of the Beginning" by David Phelps and really loved it and wanted to hear it multiple times in a row.
- She LOVES the Bible story at night.  She turns the chair by her desk around so she can face Dave or I as we read it at night.  Her and Calvin enjoy acting out whatever story is being read if there is time to do that. 
- She also likes helping me in the kitchen.  If I cook noodles she dumps them in the water and stirs, and of course, tests them to see if they are ready yet.  Not yet! She ways...one more minute! Its still crunchy.  She says her favorite food is mac and cheese, but really, anything with noodles she will end up loving.  She also loves soup and bread.

Maria - Fall 2013

I feel strange updating things about ME.  I start typing and come up blank, wondering what to write about. I've enjoyed recently the reality that our family is complete and since Eli stopped breastfeeding, I feel like "a free woman"...and really peaceful that I won't have to deal with the stress of having another baby.
I'm imagining all the things we can do as a family that won't be restricted by having a frequently napping/nursing baby...it's all I've known for the last 8 years. 

Life is probably just as busy, but in a different way.  I am constantly feeding people, cleaning up, doing laundry, sweeping the floor, and engaged mentally with everything that the kids need all the time and thinking of what things they can do to keep busy.  What clothes do they need for the next season? What fits, what doesn't?  Organizing their clothes is a full time job, putting away and organizing things that don't fit that I'll keep for a younger child, or what I want to sell or give to a younger cousin. 

This season of life:
-I like to run errands when Vanessa is in preschool on Tues/Thurs AMs, this way I am taking just Eli with me to the store. 
-I go to women's Bible study twice a month on Thursdays - we're reading a book called "Being A Great Mom Raising Great Kids" which I'm pulling things from to help me.
- Our small group is starting a book by Henry and Melvin Blackaby called Experiencing the Spirit.  I am very excited to learn more about this.
- have had some dental work done recently, I got a crown (forever a princess!) put on my upper right molar and have two new inlay fillings to be put in in January 2014.  Its nice to see my dad and his office staff working so well.
- I'm working on improving my wardrobe.  I pulled 90% of the contents of my closet out and got rid of them.  Stuff that was visibly worn out, didn't fit, or was way out of style.  The tired-looking workhorse nursing bras in the garbage, maternity clothes out.  That left me with 4 long sleeved shirts and a pile of sweatshirts for winter.  So I've done a little shopping here and there when the budget allows me to and buy some new things for winter.  I have found this process to be exhausting.  I can't easily just go shopping.  Shopping online is convenient but I hate shipping back and exchanging things.  I need basics.  Like cami tanks, plain tops, and my undergarments need an upgrade.  Its fun to buy new things but the process of shopping, finding them, and trying them all on is hard for me.  I have to figure out "my style"...what I feel most comfortable in.
- The time from 3:30-bedtime is super busy.  I get the kids and bring them home from school.  Violet usually has homework which is reading, studying spelling words, and practicing her memory verse.  She also needs to practice piano for 20-25 minutes.  Calvin sometimes has homework too.  Getting backpacks in, folders opened, papers out and reorganized takes me a long time.  Vanessa is excited to see her siblings but also is tired by this time of day and can be a pill.  Then I make supper, we eat, someone cleans up dinner and the other goes upstairs to help get kids to bed.  We start the bedtime process by 7pm because it takes an hour, even longer if there is a bath involved.



 

David - Fall 2013

A recent thing Dave went through is the first of two surgeries on his feet.  He had two procedures done that corrected his flat feet (Cotton Osteotomy and Extra-articular Talotarsal Stabilization).  He had his first foot surgery done on September 17 by a podiatrist in the Minneapolis area since nobody local would do the procedure.  One of his foot bones was cut and a metal plate and screws were inserted so his foot would have an arch.  The cotton procedure helped his ankle bone have more structure.  At least that's how I understand it...a little googling would help anybody who wanted to know more about it.  He was unable to put weight on his foot for 6 weeks, which made life a little difficult for both of us during that time.  His right leg was sore from hopping and his knees got callouses from crawling.  His armpits got sore from using crutches.  He did use a special walking boot that allowed him to walk with out his foot touching the ground, which overall was helpful, but big, clunky, and hard to wear for long periods of time because his leg would sweat from the thick plastic thing he had to put on before the brace to help it not slip.  A friend of his from church let him borrow a wheel-cart thing that allowed him to "bike" through the house on one knee. 

He didn't complain through all of it.  He chose to do his best possible in every situation and managed to be helpful with the kids on one foot.  He continued to drive the kids to school in the mornings.  There were times he even cooked me breakfast.  I'm amazed.

The 6 weeks seemed to crawl by moment by moment.  They went by and at his 5 week check up, the doctor said he could try walking on it.  He is putting weight on his left foot now regularly and said it feels great.  There's some tightness that will have to be stretched out when he has full mobility, but overall, he said he's very happy he got it done.  He is appreciating walking more than ever!  The right foot is scheduled to be done on December 17. 

Dave is a busy guy.  He's wearing a lot of hats right now, and manages to keep his wife and kids a priority above it all.  He's recently become a new elder at our church, is the Commander of the Awana program, leads a small group, and he and I help manage the coffee nook at church and keep things clean and stocked.  His work is demanding.  Then there is his relationship with me and all the kids.  He helps clean up the house and empties the dishwasher when he can.  He helps me manage the finances on the computer program we use to keep track of the budget.  He's willing to watch the kids a few evenings a month when I can get out of the house to socialize with friends and family.  Writing all this down makes me realize how much he does.  He keeps the Lord a priority as well by waking up before the family and meets with God.   

Thank you Lord for David!

Family updates to come - see next few posts - Fall 2013

I don't really know where to start with what's been going on with our family since it seems so busy all the time.  I'm going to post a short update for each member of the family and tag them since in my mind that's the easiest way to get things recorded.  My goal with this blog is to help me remember "what life was like when I had little kids" because I can't even remember what I wore yesterday or what we did. 

There's a song stuck in my mouth

While driving today, I told Vanessa I had a song stuck in my head and she replied "no, you have it stuck in your mouth!" :)

Vanessa's little people

Left to right she drew dad, mom, and Vanessa. 

Calvin's quotes

I have been a lazy blogger lately.  I will catch up at some point!

This one is nice and short because I wrote down what I wanted to keep.  Calvin said a couple funny things lately.

While putting his shoes on getting ready for school - I opened the garage door at the same time.  He was leaning over, tying his shoes (he learned how this week!) and coughed.  He said in all seriousness, "That cough will go outside and get lost."

Next one was after driving home from school last week and he said, "I have an itch but it keeps running away and I don't know where it is!"

Love your enemies...

Dave here...

This morning Calvin came crying into the bathroom where I was getting ready, complaining about how Violet said she wouldn't play with him and shut herself in her room.  Often, I would fetch the other sibling and have them talk it over.  But, this time I felt a different approach would be more appropriate.  I empathized with Calvin, and let him know that he would experience rejection in life and that it is hard and it hurts.  He acknowledged that it hurt his feelings.  I have a chair in the bathroom, since I have a healing foot, so I pulled him into my lap, where he curled up and I just held him until he felt a little better.  I then explained that the Bible tells us we should be kind to those who are mean to us.  I'll admit, I had low expectations regarding how he would respond to that.  To my surprise, he 'got it' and announced that he would give Violet a piece of candy.  Then, unbeknownst to me, he went downstairs, got out a piece of paper and wrote 'i LOVE ViOLet'  He put a sticker on it and then gave it to her with an orange tic tac from his own personal tic tac box.  I was beyond amazed and very touched by this.  My 5 year old son set a great example for me today.

I love you, Calvin!

Dad

Eli - 15 month well baby check up (at 16 months)

Took Eli in for his doctor check up today.  I completely forgot he needed a check at 15 months for measurements, vaccinations, etc.  So I got in a month late. 

Stats:

26 lbs 14 oz (75th percentile)
32 1/2" tall (75th percentile)
19 1/4 cm head circumference (90th percentile)

Eli, we've always known you had a big head. :)

I took him alone since Violet and Calvin were both at school and Vanessa was in preschool.  It felt odd to be the only one pushing the stroller and pushing all the handicap door opening and elevator buttons.  Those things are always decided on if I go in with all the kids for someone's appointment so there is no fighting.

We arrived early for his 9:45 appointment time.  I dropped Vanessa off at preschool at 9:00 am so I took the liberty to fill my mug with Starbuck's coffee on the way and sip it on the 20 minute drive to the doctor.  thanks mom for the SBux gift card!  Made it to his appointment around 9:25 so he got plenty of time to run around the play area.  He loved going in and out of the little play house, down the hallway, and smacked his hands on the concave mirror on the wall.  When the nurse came back to call us she found Eli in the hall by the waiting area and had opened the control door for an air conditioner unit she never knew existed.  She thought that was pretty funny.

He got weighed on the scale, measured, then came to the exam room with me.  He was constantly walking and getting into something.  He wanted up on a chair, across the little side table, on my lap, back down, and the circle continued.  The only time he did sit still was for the doctor to listen to his heart and check his ears.  He seemed pretty interested in all of that.  He was reported to be very healthy.  I opted for tylenol for him before he got 3 shots and got over those pretty quick.  He was so happy sucking his paci and had his blankets before the pokes.  Screamed pretty hard, then when I picked him up went right back to sucking. 

I was pretty close to Rachel's place so I stopped over to see her for about 45 minutes before I needed to go get Vanessa.  She let me borrow a few dresses to try on for a wedding I am going to in November.

pics to come, I'll transfer them later.

Women's retreat recap

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to attend a women's retreat this past weekend with a bunch of other women from Bethany Bible Chapel.  The purpose of the weekend was to strengthen the bond between women, learn as a younger woman from older women, and focus on what is the basis of our worth.  I drove there on Friday, Oct 4th as a passenger in Rachel's car and I came home with Faith on Sunday (Oct 6th) afternoon.  (Rachel went on to IA City after the retreat for an ortho meeting)  Dave was home with the kids, but with his left foot still healing only 3 weeks past his flat foot surgery, I asked my parents to help out with child care.  My dad came on Fri night through Sun morning to help out and my mom came Sat evening and stayed til I got home Sunday afternoon.  I am so grateful to have such loving supportive parents to help out in times like this.

We did lots of singing together, hearing testimonies from 2 ladies, and had time to break up into small groups for part of Saturday and discuss this topic in detail and pray together.  Our culture does not communicate worth through the eyes of Christ, so we must look past "culture" and focus our eyes, hearts, and minds on the fact that our identity in Christ is what makes us worthy in His eyes. 

There was lots of discussion about this verse:

1 Peter 3:3-4

³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Some struggled with the phrase "gentle and quiet spirit" because they were given louder or more boisterous and outgoing personalities.  It says "spirit", not "personality".  This verse is describing the spirit and motive that drives your personality, not the personality itself. You can still be outgoing and strong and passionate, while also possessing a quiet and gentle spirit underneath.

That said, it’s also important to note that a woman can be painfully shy and quiet, while also possessing a rebellious and bitter spirit. It’s not the personality that this passage is addressing, but the guiding compass behind it. God cares about your heart.

Another point brought out was regarding this verse:

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the human to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.” . . . but for the human no suitable helper was found. Genesis 2:18 & 20

I had to look this one up to explain it again correctly because I didn't take notes during the conference.  But this article sums it up exactly as it was explained.  I like how this is written.

http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/a-suitable-helper/

Woman was created as "helper" which in Hebrew is specifically the word "ezer".  It is a combination of two roots, meaning "to rescue, to save" and "strength".   Ezer describes aspects of God’s character – he is our strength, our rescuer, our protector and our help!  And ezer was the Holy Spirit’s choice of word to describe the first woman.  Eve was someone who would provide valuable and vital strength and assistance to Adam.

The ladies as a group also ended the retreat with a fancy dinner where we got a chance to dress up formally and enjoy a tea party/dinner together and listen to Laura Woodhouse, our guest speaker, explain these same things about a woman's worth to us in her fun, southern way.

B elieve
E ndure
A dore
U nderstand
T rust
Y ield

Vanessa's preschool painting

Just taking a pic and posting. :)

Vanessa's snot blowing sneezes

Sorry for the gross-ness. I don't know if this is blog-worthy, but I just feel the need to write about it.  I completely lost track of how many times a day Vanessa sneezes and completely empties the contents of her sinuses into her hands.  She blows huge snots out of her nose, and the sneezes and snot blowing always occur at really bad times, like when I'm in the middle of cutting fat off raw chicken (hate "chicken hands") or when I'm changing a diaper.  Poor girl.  I don't think it bothers her, but she's at the point now where if she sneezes, she catches it in her hands, and freezes in that position until someone comes to help her. 

Calvin's question

Calvin knows all the words (not by reading, but by memory) to a book we have at our house called There Was A Coyote.  It's a play on there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, except this coyote eats things like cowboy boots, a cactus, etc, and eventually the moon.  He burps at the end and asks "Is breakfast soon?" on the last page.  Calvin woke up hungry the other morning and wanted to ask Dave when he could eat so he went to the book and copied the letters from that question on this piece of red construction paper and gave it to Dave. 

Calvin's idea to set up breakfast for the family

Calvin got Violet on board to help with his idea to set up breakfast for the family on Saturday morning.

He had her write a sign....spelled like this:  It said "Mom we did are best to make it mom day. We got out evrything for you!"

They think they got up "in the middle of the night" ... but really it was closer to 6:30 or 7.  The sun hadn't peeked above the horizon yet so to them, it was nighttime.

They decided they wanted pancakes, so they put every ingredient on the counter top they could think of that went into pancakes.  A tub of flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, non stick spray, oil, peanut butter, and syrup.  Violet put 3 eggs in a plastic bag in the fridge.  Calvin put two of the grape tomatoes that were in a little dish in the corner of the kitchen right in front of all the ingredients for me to eat because he knows I love tomatoes.  They set out plates for everyone, and found a bag of butterscotch chips and put 3 chips by each plate for a little treat.  Forks for all.

It was very sweet.  They tried their absolute best to make my morning super duper easy.  It was very sweet and thoughtful.  I made pancakes for them and they loved it!

Calvin's motivation for doing this was "to get caught doing good" ~ a concept they're doing at Waterloo Christian School.  Teachers catch students being good and send notes home to parents, and in return, we can catch our kids being good at home, write down the event on the slip of paper, and sent it back to school to share with the teacher and the rest of the class.  I wrote up a note for Calvin's teacher, Miss Smits, and sent it in his green folder so she could read it.

Calvin is off to a great start in K!

I see Calvin's paperwork come home each week and have been happy to see he has scored perfectly on everything he has worked on so far.  Good job Calvin!

Eli - turning into a little climber

I noticed Eli grunting and walked over to watch him.  He had gotten one leg knee up on the coffee table and was trying with all his might to conquer and climb on top.  He reached his arms further, got more grip with his knee, and climbed up to the top and stood on the table.  He grinned so big! 

Strike a pose

Yesterday's thunderstorms were the first storms we've had in a long time.  After school Violet and Calvin went outside on the front porch to enjoy the steamy, rumbly, wet weather.  They started pretending the front porch was their stage, and every time a car drove by, they would strike a silly pose and freeze until the car passed by.  They showed me their favorite pose and it consisted of Calvin jumping into Violet's arms and she held him suspended in the air while he made a goofy face and stuck his arms and legs out as far as he could.  She can't hold him long and dropped him in fits of laughter.  Such creative and silly kids!!

Vanessa wants to trade eyes

Vanessa was grumping about not finding a highlights sticker puzzle activity today.  She said her eyes don't work.  I asked her if her eyes were broken, and she said, "yes, I need new eyes." 
then she thought more and said, "I can give my eyes to Hannah Beth and she can have mine."  Ok honey.

Yellow morning

As the sun rose this morning the color creeping in the windows was very yellowish.  Something about the clouds, the fog, and the sun...made it seem like that.  Calvin noticed this and told me with absolute authority: "Mom, we are IN THE YELLOW of a rainbow right now."

On our drive to school, he noticed how it was no longer yellow, instead it was foggy and gray, and said, "huh. I didn't think there was gray in a rainbow."  

First few weeks of school/preschool 2013

Whew!  My "morning rush" is over.  I woke up at 6:30 and haven't stopped moving until now (9:04am).  From 6:30-6:50 I'm hurrying to shower and get dressed.  At 6:55 I'm dragging kids out of bed, which wasn't TOO hard this morning because they were all sleeping by 8:00 last night. 

Last night the girls wanted to sleep together in Vanessa's bed which I let them do for about 15 minutes.  They were being too goofy so I had to split them up, Violet went back to the top bunk.  She was crying and upset that I had to separate them and I asked her why, and she said, "Vanessa was putting her arm around my neck (I think in a loving way) and I liked it and I'm sad."  Which made me sad...I love to see the girls loving on each other and connecting.  It was sweet to hear that Violet missed Vanessa's affection.  Vanessa's affection is something Dave and I have been praying for specifically.  She used to be the kid that said, "no!" with a scowl if we asked her for a hug or a kiss.  Now she happily climbs in our arms and snuggles and gives us hugs.  Its pretty amazing. 

Dave is having his first foot surgery to correct his flat feet today, and he has been in MN for his pre-op appointment yesterday and today, and hopefully he will drive home tomorrow.  His procedure doesn't require putting him out, he'll just have a local nerve block and sedation.
So that means I take Violet and Calvin to school and getting all the kids IN the van by 7:40 is a challenge.  Not impossible, however, just requires much more effort than I'm used to exerting so early in the morning.  My priorities are getting Violet and Calvin dressed for school, fed breakfast while I pack their lunches, and they get shoes on and backpacks in the van.  Vanessa is usually out of bed and dressed in something other than pajamas.  I never quite know what she is going to pull out of her closet and put on.  Today she put on her pink shorts with pockets (she loves pockets!) and a tank top.  She rode in the van to take V and C to school with that on and I realize how chilly the morning felt.  So I had her change into warmer clothes - she decided to put on a purple hooded sweatshirt (with a pocket!) and some jeans, which she needed help getting on.  They were 2 inches too short.  Oh well.  Its preschool, and I guess she has to grow up. :)  I gotta get out the 4T pants for my little Vanessa!!!!

So while the older 3 were buckling in the van, I got Eli out of bed and changed his diaper as fast as I could and got him a sippy cup full of milk and got him buckled in the van.  That usually keeps him pretty happy while I'm driving to W'loo and back.  He is so snuggly in the morning, its hard to put him down.  He clings to my chest and sucks on his paci and clutches his favorite blanket.  I put him in his car seat and he stays happy usually.  Calvin is sitting near him in the van and Eli started clapping and smiling when he saw Calvin.

So when I get home from taking V and C to school, I cleaned up the kitchen, ate breakfast (I shared my egg/sausage sandwich with Eli), and made sure Vanessa was ready for preschool.  She absolutely loves going to preschool.  She is excited to go every morning and I can tell she has a great time.

Calvin is having the hardest time adjusting to life in school.  He says he likes lunch and recess the best.  He says time in the classroom is boring and he doesn't like doing so much work.  I asked Miss Smits how Calvin was doing in general last week and she nodded and said, "He's doing quite well! He's very respectful and not a problem at all."  So I was happy to hear that.  I just know he is having a tough time adjusting to the fact that he is not at home as much, gets less time to play legos or whatever else he wants to do, and gets less time to play on my kindle.  This past summer I let the kids each play for 20 or 30 minutes each day if they had their responsibilities done in their room (beds made, shades open, fan off, dressed, pajamas put away, etc). 

Well, I decided to make "kindle time" on weekends only.  My kids are a strong magnet to any screen if its lit up (no matter the show!) playing something and if one kid gets a turn on the kindle, the other two INSIST on watching, and this is usually how fights break out.  Someone bumped someone else making them lose at their game, etc.  Some games require moving the kindle by tipping it to move their character so its touch/bump sensitive.  The reason I decided to eliminate the kindle on weekdays is because the kids all get so little time together after school that if they ALL get a turn, then an hour and a half goes by and they are staring at a screen and not interacting with the family during the only hour and a half we get together after Dave is done working and after supper is over.  They have homework to do, piano to practice, and legos to build.  I was happy to get Calvin's packet of worksheets in his kindergarten folder back, and he scored 100% on every paper he did.  He had some letter T writing homework and he was agreeable and did it cheerfully and asked for markers so he could color in the pictures of the turtles.

Calvin's not a fan of this kindle-on-the-weekends-thing.  He often breaks down crying and says it will be forever until he can play again.  He thinks I'll forget to give him a turn. 

There was no real adjustment for Violet to school.  Its her third year going all day (2nd grade) and she thrives in the classroom, loves her teacher/friends, and does well.  She can be a pill sometimes and say things and interrupt Calvin because she knows exactly what makes him upset, but overall, she's doing great.

Eli is napping so its eerily quiet in this house. I am going to get to work on some Awana things.  I'm the new secretary for this Awana program at BBC and its honestly big, big job.  The record keeping is so laborious, so I'm making a decision to change things and buy a software to make the job easier.  Lots of data entry but it NEEDS to be done.

Vanessa watercolor painting

Vanessa enjoyed painting watercolor circles this afternoon.  She would exclaim "Yes!" when she colored in a circle.  She loves being observed and constantly asked me what color I wanted her to use next.

I also showed her how to draw a square with dots in it and she copied me and did a great job.

Vanessa's first haircut

It was time to do something about Vanessa's crazy scraggly/straight/wildly crazy hair today.  Rachel picked Vanessa, Eli and myself after I dropped off our van for a few hours at Community Honda for an oil change and other work.  We killed some time by walking around the mall, getting some pizza at the mall for lunch, deciding to get Vanessa's hair trimmed, and walking around Hobby Lobby.

I picked Salon Elite because it was close and I've always had pretty good experiences here.  Vanessa was the only client! :)  She said she didn't want a haircut but sat on the booster, wore the cape, and watched really quietly and sat still.  My main concern with her hair was to not take away length, but cut shorter the straight/fuzzy pieces that laid on top that hid all the cute curls underneath.  The lady knew exactly what I was after and she cut those pieces shorter to create some nice layers on top of her hair. 

Before:

After (and she said, "I wike the haircut!" and an hour later said, "Can I get another haircut?"):

More pics from beginning of school year 2013

Vanessa's first day of Tues/Thurs 3/4 yr preschool at OHCP

Vanessa went to her first day of preschool yesterday on Tues Aug 27th, 2013.  She was excited to take pictures with her backpack by the door and smiled for me (that is rare).  When I tell her she starts school too like Violet and Calvin she says, "no, PRE-school".  It sounds more like "PEE-school."  haha!

She didn't recognize her teacher's helper, Mrs. Netz, so she was hesitant to go to her when I dropped her off.  I helped her find her hook for her backpack, hang it up, and I took her to her classroom.  Mrs. Nuece greeted her, gave Vanessa her nametag, and Vanessa took it and put it right on her shirt.  I got her distracted with a purple dot painting thing and then she seemed happy.  I told her I love you, quick hug, and that I'd be back when it was over to get her.  I made a quick exit while she was happy.

I picked her up at 11:30 and went inside the building to get her.  I did see her playing on the playground on my way over with the rest of the class and she was running around happily.  When she saw me in the hallway she said, "THERE'S my mommy!" and gave me a big hug.  She was excited to run over to where her backpack was hanging on a hook.  Her teacher said she did great.  Vanessa's review of the day was this.

"Mommy, I had fun at preschool!  I had a snack, I went potty, and played at the park and I have friends!" (which she pronounces "twends")

Today she said she wanted to go back to preschool.  So that is great!  She saw this blog post and the pictures and said, "I want to go to preschool.  I will have fun! That is my backpack!  Can I go preschool again?"

Vanessa's teacher, Mrs. Nuece (pronounced "Neese") 

Calvin's first day of kindergarten

Calvin started kindergarten on Monday August 26th.  He didn't seem nervous at all and was happy to get some new things for school.  A new backpack, a lunch cooler, new water bottle and thermos for it, and some new shirts.  When getting dressed and ready, he really wanted to do his hair like dad.  So Dave helped him stick his hair up a little.  It was adorable.  He seemed to take the introduction to kindergarten in stride.  Violet got to her classroom first, then we waited in line with all the other kindergarteners and their families who were greeting Miss Smits and taking photos.  I snapped a few pictures and got a great one with him and Miss Smits.  He seemed happy, gave us kisses and hugs (even gave them to Violet, so sweet, I wonder how long THAT will last!) and walked to his locker and classroom with ease.  I was excited for him, and not really sad at all.

He wasn't very chatty when I picked him up.  He gave me his lunch cooler and told me there was kind of a lot of garbage inside it.  :)  A few wrappers from food.

Violet's first day of 2nd grade

Our whole family went to the first day of school to send the kids off together.  Violet said on the way there "I hope this isn't a dream!" meaning...she couldn't wait to go!  She was excited to start school and meet up with her friends who she hadn't seen much at all over the summer.

Her teacher is Miss Oppman.  Miss Oppman substituted teaching Violet in kindergarten for a few months when Miss Smits was out with eye trouble.  So she is pretty familiar with her and seems to enjoy her.  Violet does say frequently that she misses Miss Schoonhoven from 1st grade.

My friend gave me a few shirts that could work for Violet.  Her daughter is the same age but weighs more and the shirts didn't fit her daughter.  So Violet picked out this pretty white shirts that was given to her and really wanted a white flower in her hair to match.  She looked pretty cute!  And not to mention, very grown up!   

Her review of the first day of school pretty normal.  She said it was like a normal day except she had a different teacher and the classroom is pretty normal.  This school thing is pretty routine for her, I'm happy she adjusted so well.

Eli - 15 months

I'm a week ahead posting this (what!...ahead?) but had a moment of quiet time so I thought I'd post.  Eli is officially weaned.  He stopped nursing 2 days ago.  The transition was very easy for him but I think its harder for me somehow.  I will miss it.  I know it would only get harder to stop nursing if he was older.  He's eating most things and drinking lots of milk and water. When he doesn't want something he spits his tongue or makes a "shhh" sound with his mouth. He almost runs around the house now, and is trying to say more things.  His speech consists of these words:  more, mama, meena (he says this when he wants a drink), Bye-let (Violet), Eee-yii (Eli), here, uh-oh, a word for Calvin that is not understandable, and bye.  He sticks his arms straight up in the air and squeezes his fingers into a fist and opens them quickly when he wants to be picked up.  He still takes a paci and snuggled in his swaddling blankets when he's tired and ready to go to bed. He really loves it when I hold him and start bouncing 3 times and count to 3 then toss him up in the air and catch him.  He giggles and laughs every time.  He's such a little sweetie.

And of course, he can't stay a baby forever.  He is starting to throw these (I have to say it, they're pretty adorable) little mini-fits.  If he's upset about something, he'll sit on the ground purposefully, lay down, then start whining and rolling over.  The little fits last about 20 seconds and he gets over it and gets up and walks away.  He's also a cabinet digger - opens all the doors he can and pulls stuff out.

He can get up and down stairs very easily.  He usually goes down stairs backwards but this week he figured out how he can scoot down a step forwards one at a time.  He also likes throwing everything down the stairs, and into the pool on the deck.

Vanessa still bothers him all the time.  She is constantly taking things out of his hands, putting her hands on his body as he walks to "guide him along" somehow but ends up knocking him over.  She splashes him with water and takes his paci and blanket away from him.  Its no wonder he doesn't seem to like her at all.  I'm praying about their relationship.

Violet loves him to pieces

he wasn't all that happy with me that I put him down to take a picture, but it turned out alright.  He's getting there, becoming "one of the bunch"

yeah, he hangs out in his pajamas a lot

Bridal Bunco

Last night I played at the monthly bunco group I'm part of with 11 other ladies and the theme of the party was "bridal" ~ so bring along a pic of your wedding, and wear your dress if you can.

It (barely) zipped up so I went for it.  Veil and all.  And of course, flip flops under the gown.

A friend snapped a pic of me and some others who wore their dresses.  Such a fun night!!

Visited Jeff and Denise Winters - accompanied Dave on a work trip

I wasn't sure whether or not to include a blog about this.  I just wasn't sure what to write.  Dave had 2 weeks of travel planned back to back for work so he convinced me to go with him to Minnesota and stay at his cousin's house with him for 4 days.   Jeff and Dave both worked so Denise and myself hung out with the kids.  They have twin boys who are age 1 and a 2 yr old girl.  So it was a lot of kids.  We got out to the pool on Monday (with Jeff's help because he didn't work that day), and Denise and I went to the zoo another day.  Some highlights:

- seeing Dave's Aunt Laura, Uncle Duane, cousin Kyle and his new baby Elec, cousin Brad, Aunt Joyce, his cousin Sara and her husband Andy and their daughter Evelyn. 
- kids enjoyed playing in the sandbox outside, walking through their big garden, playing bean bag toss, serving up fake food on plates and blowing out candles on a plastic cake. 
- Jeff and Denise's cooking is fabulous.  Homemade e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.  Even homemade salad dressings, cinnamon rolls, pizzas, etc. 
- getting to know Denise better
- seeing Christina Davis and her kids at the park one afternoon.

Calvin - funny stuff

just some random things I jotted down that Calvin said:

"If we didn't have Eli, he wouldn't be so funny."

"My hair is dry, that means my whole body is dry."

Eli's first molar came in

I noticed the tips of his first molar coming in on Monday, Aug 12.  The runny nose is explained!

eta: *His second molar poked through on Sept 3, 2013.