Keziah is just slightly excited to be riding on a bus! They are heading to Garnett Pond to learn how to do some fishing!
Sitting with friends!
Anybody have questions? Um yes, that is my daughter with her hand proudly held high!
Slimy gooey worms!
I'm sure she is telling someone about how much fishing she does and how many fish she has caught at the river! I wonder if they believe her with as much frill she has to her! Keziah insisted on wearing this cute skirt, sweater, sparkly head band and flip flops to her fishing field trip today despite my advice not to!
Waiting patiently!
Beau, Keziah, Paul and Abbi
Keziah caught one right at the end!
Paul was the lucky guy to take it off!
Just a little guy! The kids think Paul should give him a kiss!
Fish lips!
I didn't get to go on this field trip but April and Paul (Abbi's parents) did and were nice enough to take all these pictures for us! Keziah had a blast and even loved the bus ride! She is already looking forward to the next field trip!
AND on a side note...Keziah is officially an all day Preschooler! She couldn't be happier!!
I have a heavy heart. My mom called last night to let me know Dad had an accident. She right away said, "He's alive, he's going to be ok, but we are at the hospital." Dad was working on some shelves for the church and ran a board through the table saw. He pushed it through with his left hand, I guess and then reached across to pick up the board on the other side of the saw with his right hand. His perception was off and he got his right fingers caught in the saw. His thumb is fine but the first two fingers are hanging by a thread of skin, the next finger he actually pulled out of the chainsaw himself and laid it on the table, his pinky is still MIA. I can't imagine how he must be feeling. I can't imagine how he was feeling when it happened. I am so sad for him. He was aware enough to walk over to an area in the garage that had some clean rags and wrapped his hand up. He then called the neighbor who took him to the hospital. I'm not sure how mom found out from there but she was at aerobics until 6:30. She was the one who brought his finger from home that he pulled out of the saw. The doctor was giving hope as to whether the fingers could be re-attached so my sister and brother-in-law came to the house and looked for his pinky for an hour and a half. It turned out last night when the surgeon started working on his hand there wasn't any way to save any of his fingers. They had to cut away his knuckle to allow the skin to reach over and be sewn shut so all four fingers are cut below the middle knuckle. It looks like he has five thumbs. We know that God has a plan and that he will work this out for good somehow, but we are hurting for him. Please pray for him. He also has a very low tolerance to pain meds so just be praying that they can find one that works well and doesn't hurt his stomach.
We spent labor day weekend at the river and it was so much fun! We came up Friday after school. I opted to take Austin out of football just this once!! The weather was amazing! The older boys (Joshua, Austin and Jonathan) decided it would be a great idea to sleep outside one night...it wasn't!! They got eaten alive by mosquitoes! You could tell which body parts weren't covered because that's where all the bites were! For Austin, it was his ankle and foot...I'm surprised he had one left after that night! He also had a hand out at some point in the night because that is all chewed up too...it just gives me the willies!
Joshua actually had a cot to sleep on...the other two used cushions from various places!
Emily and the kids came up for a night. Adam had to work. Here's Alanna strapping in her Mini to give her some lunch! She would get so frustrated with that darn tray...it's about as big as her!
Kezzie caught another fish! She is becoming quite the fisherwomen! Dad just got back from taking Emily and the boys fishing!
I thought this was so sweet and a scene we saw often...Kez and Ethan fishing together!
Grandpa and one of his favorite people, Eden! We are so blessed to be able to spend time relaxing with family! Eden loves her papa!
The three boys (Ethan, Bennett and Austin) fishing out of grandpa's boat...LOVE this photo!
My boy is growing up...and so is the Joshua I held in my arms so many years ago! Now Josh is driving and has his own boat and there goes my oldest baby with him out on their own, navigating the river! Oh Lord protect them!
The water is soooo low that we are able to fish right off the bank. Ethan pulled this log over for somewhere to sit! We really didn't catch much (compared to the amount of tangles/snags) but it was so relaxing and the kids had so much fun doing it!
Here is our view from the bank...how could you not love this?! And when the kids aren't fishing, they are looking for crayfish and clams! Austin likes to boil them over the fire and eat them...I think he's crazy!
Here's my Aunt Cindy and Eden...again I can't say enough how blessed we are to have so many family members around to spend time with! This is Eden's great Aunt and she is going to grow up knowing her quite well...what a blessing!
And this face pretty much sums up all the feelings that my kids get when we are here! This is as big of a smile as Adah can give me! She is such a sweet princess!
Mommy and Eden! We get lots of snuggle time since there are a lot of rocks on the ground! Sometimes I pull cushions out of the camper for her to lay out on in the sun and play!
And the little ones keep busy with this most of the time. I don't think they ever take their suits off except to sleep!
Here's my Uncle Perry and his youngest boy, Jonathan. They went out and caught these big Northern together! They laid them out on the cement before cleaning them and they were a huge source of entertainment for all the kids!
Keziah and Leora always find ways to stay busy!
Keziah REALLY wants to jump off the dock like the other kids...she just can't quite convince herself to do it!! Maybe next year!
My sweet Adah-Cakes! I don't know why we call her that, but we always have! I love her fun personality and sweet smile! I have been told so many times (and agree) that she could be a little model. She should have on a prairie dress, frolicking in the meadow! Everything about her screams peaceful and sweet! Her hair has such a natural flow to it! And quite often I have to have her repeat things she says because she is so quiet in her voice!
Adah adores her sisters and wants to do everything Kezzie and Austin do. I forget that she is only 2 and find myself filling her plate with the same things/amounts, expecting the same understanding out of her, and asking her to do things that the older ones are doing. She will always try, bless her heart!
Adah is in the book reading stage. If she and I ever get a moment alone (and we are getting more of this with Kez in school) then she will grab a bunch of books. I LOVE sitting in the chair just snuggling with Adah and a bunch of books!
Adah is still taking a good nap in the afternoons. She will lay down when I put Eden down around 1:30. She typically sleeps about 1.5-2 hours. She wakes in the morning around 6:30/7:30. She loves the idea of eating cereal with milk but rarely finishes it (and I only put a small handful)! She is addicted to "samiches" (sandwiches) and will request it every time she is given the chance. She also loves Kraft Mac-n-cheese (NO other kind will do-she seriously won't eat it) and pizza! She isn't totally in love with any particular fruit but will pretty much always eat carrots, broccoli or sweet pea pods! When Adah gets up from her nap she requires a great amount of cuddles. It has taken me a while to get used to this because Keziah wasn't ever like that. Adah needs it to wake up properly or else she is a bear! After cuddles she wants a snack. Her favorite things for snack time are fishy crackers mixed with raw almonds and raisins. Supper time is a struggle though (maybe it's the snack that ruins it-who knows), she takes AGES to eat her supper. We eat around 6 every night so I wouldn't think her snack is interfering! She just piddles and pokes but eventually eats everything! I hope this is just a phase!
At bed time (around 7:30/8) she gets out of bed a hundred times before she falls asleep. She will claim she has to pee, needs a drink, needs a kleenex, and then needs to throw the kleenex away...it goes on and on! If she isn't getting out of bed she is singing and talking to herself for an hour! This too is just a phase, right?!
I love Adah's ability to pretend. She will mother any stuffed animal or baby she comes in contact with. And she is so gentle and loving when she does it! Sometimes I think she is nicer to her dollies then Eden!! She loves to put them in their strollers and push them around the house, claiming to head to grandma's house or the doctor's office or library! She is so tender and fun to watch! One thing is for sure though, if you don't know where she is and it is QUIET...not good! She is still holding on strong to that sweet but secretly naughty personality!
I love you miss Adah! You are fearfully and wonderfully made by God! What a wonder you are!
OH MY! I cannot believe this day has come!! I am the mother of a 14 year old! A handsome, funny, kind and giving one at that! How blessed I am to have a son who is as fantastic as Austin is. We celebrated the day with a trip to Palmer's Family Fun in Waterloo. We took Ethan and Keziah along so Austin would have someone to enjoy it all with! We started out with a round of miniature golf. I'm not sure why we even paid for me, but in the end it didn't matter because for the last putt I made the siren go off which meant I won a free game or free pass to any of the other activities there. We used it for an extra round on the go-karts!
The go-karts were a HUGE hit! Austin and I went together the first time. It's not supposed to be a race but how can you not when he's taunting you!! Here is the course...it's not huge but it was still a lot of fun! I didn't expect it to be that fun (this was a first for me)!!
Notice I'M the one ahead?!!
Somehow Austin got around me...aren't I a nice mom for letting him beat me a little?! Ha! Ha!
He's pinching me out!
Ooops! We may have gotten a little rough, but I think that was Austin's fault...he just got too close! A worker came to the rescue!
Back on track, but I am long gone by now!
The second time we rode we took Ethan and Keziah with us. You were supposed to be at least 17 to have someone under 7 ride with you but since Austin just drove and since we were the only ones on the course they let Austin drive Ethan. Ethan and Keziah LOVED it! And notice the cars that each of them picked out? Keziah of course wanted the pink Scratch Cupcakery one! The car Ethan picked out must have been much faster than the one Austin had before because I didn't do anything different and there was no way I could keep up with them!
One of the fun things you can do there is a huge jumping pillow! Ethan and Keziah had a blast! It was sprinkling a little so it made for a really messy ride home (because of the sand), but they liked it anyway! They were jumping, running and sliding on it...I really wished we all could have jumped but we got a punch card and only had so many punches to do all the activities. It was worth it to do the go-karts twice anyway!
Ethan and Kez enjoying the jumping pillow!
We celebrated with the rest of the family after church today. The kids all swam for a while and then after naps we had Austin open his gift that we all went in on to get him. It's something he has really wanted! It's going to be a challenge to figure out how to actually run the thing, but it will be worth it! He is super excited! He told me it was something he wanted a while ago and little did he know I actually ordered it! We didn't want him to have an idea that we got it for him so I put a few random things in gift bags for him to open as if he had several gifts. One of the bags had cans of pop in them (he thought this was a true gift since he never gets pop), another had a miniature car in it that was similar to the one he got. I asked him, "is that the kind of car you were talking about?" He sadly said, "no." I said, "oh, well open the next one then." In the bag was a car just like his but it was a toy one the kids always play with that has a bunch of buttons to push. I asked him the same question and again he sadly said no. I said "Oh, hmmm. That's too bad. Maybe it's down stairs." I went down and got his actual car. He was thrilled and of course wanted to get it running right away. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. We are going to have to recruit the help of his old science teacher who is very much into this kind of thing. He will know exactly what gas to use, etc. In the meantime, Austin is going to have to learn some patience!
I am always writing reports on the girls and how they are coming along, but seldom do I write about Austin. He is becoming such a young man. He really takes to heart when you need his help with something and feels quite accomplished when he is done. We will often put him in charge of keeping up with the campfire at the river and he takes it seriously (and it helps that he loves fire!). I have noticed this with helping when something heavy needs carried. He will step in for me so I don't have to do it! He is an AWESOME big cousin and big brother. I cannot believe the amount of patience he has with all the little ones on Sundays and how nice of a job he does at keeping them entertained and [not fighting]!! He is very responsible in the way that he sets his own alarm and gets himself completely ready in the mornings (this is something he has been doing for a few years now but surprises me every time the new school year starts how easily he picks that responsibility back up)! He enjoys basketball, football, track, RC cars, youtube videos, history and getting ice cream with his mom!! If he isn't doing one of those things then he is working on a project. He gets big ideas and I usually have to try to talk him down a bit. He loves to build things (with wood or electric). He always watches youtube videos on how to make random things (ie. potato launcher, miniature cannon that shoots peas, etc.). He also recently got the idea of building some loft beds in the tree house. That's one thing I am trying to talk him down a bit on because something like that really needs to be safe and done right!! He is so smart and creative though...I can't take that away from him and wouldn't want to!
He is and always will be my baby...Happy Happy Birthday Austin! I can't wait to see what God has planned for your next year!
School starts today! Is it possible that I have two in school now? Despite my efforts to want to home school, Brian really wants Kez in school so I am sadly sending her off today! Just for a half day though. I get to pick her up around 11:15! She is going to LOVE her teacher and LOVE school and the consistent schedule it offers. She is going to miss Adah a lot and she has no idea how much Adah will miss her! I am so proud of Keziah! Happy First Day of Preschool sweetie! Love you!
My beautiful Keziah! She got herself dressed today! Pretty good, huh? She insisted on the pink shiny belt! She will wear pretty much anything that sparkles! She is my glamor girl! But refuses to ever have anything done with her hair. She is extremely strong-willed but like my Aunt always says, "the world needs people like that too!" She's right and I try not to squelch that personality! Keziah loves to play with mommy. I can't believe how much she follows me around just begging me to play with her. I love her to death and try to remember that someday she will be grown up and won't want to play anymore! She is so sweet but sometimes her persistence is exhausting! With school starting tomorrow I keep thinking her teacher has no idea what is coming to her! Something tells me that her teacher is going to love her though!! Keziah is pretty excited about this new adventure in her life and is already asking if she can stay full days instead of just half! For now we are going to keep her at MWF half days. I'm sure I won't be able to resist letting her stay all day especially if she is really enjoying it. Keziah is super smart too and the afternoon is when they do more school type stuff like math and science. We went a couple days ago for a 'meet the teacher' type thing and Keziah insisted on bringing her walkie talkies that she made out of colored pencils and duct tape (she laid them all out on the floor in the shape of a walkie talkie and then just started taping)! Her teacher was really impressed with her creativity! She is a creative one, that's for sure!
I can't believe my baby is getting so big and already ready for school! She has a few great Christian friends that will be in class with her and I am so looking forward to seeing her shine! God has great things in store for her, I can't wait to see what the school year brings! I pray that she puts that leadership personality to good use for the glory of our Heavenly Father! What better place then in the classroom!!
It's been a long time coming! We finally got back to the river! Austin's birthday isn't too far (and neither is school) so he got to bring a friend along. It wasn't until I was getting ready for the trip when I realized our back seat was broken (the back rest is crooked so a car seat won't sit on it). So instead of having Adah and Kez in the back seat and Austin in the bucket seat so he could talk to Logan in the front, we had to have one of the boys sit crooked in the back with Keziah and one all the way in the front with me. Either way was uncomfortable for Logan but that was the only way we could go! Although it was chilly at night, it was pretty comfortable during the day!
Austin and Logan caught a huge clam on a three prong hook. The clam bit down right on one of the hooks. The boys had to pry it out of his mouth! And a sink full of fish can only mean one thing...fish fry! Love these summer days at the river with family!
This is our newest 'toy'! We went to the Harvest Church pool party on August 10th and at the door we put the kids' names in to win a door prize. Keziah's name was called! She was so happy! She has bugged me every day to use it. Every time we have a chance to use it it's been rainy or too cold and even today was sprinkling and cool. But the girls couldn't be happier! I couldn't hold them off any longer! Oh the memories!
We could certainly use a better hill then what we have it on but it will have to do! Actually we will probably take it to my parent's house since they have some pretty big hills!
Here is my baby 8 months old!!! The picture in the bottom corner is from today (I didn't have very much luck getting a smile out of her), the rest are from yesterday (the 13th). Purple is probably my favorite color and she looks adorable in it!
This is one of my favorite so I separated it out from the others to make it bigger! Love her sweet smile!
This month is going to be pretty brief and listed...I have been keeping track of some things but in a list form so it isn't going to flow as nicely!
Eden started sweet potatoes 7/15/12. (not a huge fan but did ok). I kind of feel like they were sour for her tummy...she spit up a lot after.
We tried green beans next and she seemed to love them.
Next we tried bananas, again not a huge fan.
Next we tried sweet peas and she didn't seem to mind them.
We did apples at the same time and she loves apples.
Then we tried carrots with a little oats mixed in and she loves them!
We have also tried putting apple in the mesh bag thing that they chew on and she doesn't like that. I then tried bananas and she didn't like that either. She just sat there and squished it in her hand! I think it's the texture of the mesh bag that she doesn't like. Oh well, she will just eat them mashed.
Eden started sleeping in her crib all night on Friday 7/27/12. Prior to this she was napping in her crib but sleeping next to me in the pack-n-play in my room. And even now that she is sleeping in her crib upstairs I have been putting her to bed in my room after her 7:00 feeding and then when I wake her for a dream feed before I go to bed I take her upstairs and nurse her in the recliner before laying her in her crib. This will soon end as I am sure she is ready to do without the dream feed.
At 7.5 months here is Eden's schedule:
Between 6:30/7 Eden wakes and nurses
Eden goes down for a nap at 9ish and sleeps until 10/10:30
Eden nurses around 10:30/11
Eden sits at the table while the girls and I eat lunch and she eats a half of a container of #1 veggies.
Eden nurses around 1/1:30 and usually almost falls asleep on me.
I have started swaddling just her arms as doing no swaddling was causing her to wake often. So I swaddle her arms and lay her in her crib. When I wasn't swaddling her for a few days I would always lay her in one spot in the crib and she would wiggle herself to another. So now I just lay her in the spot I know she likes. She is pretty particular about this as she will use her legs to adjust herself perfectly if I don't do it just right. She loves to have her head shoved in the far left corner of the crib and the rest of her body coming out at a 45 degree angle! She is sleeping so much better since I started swaddling her arms. I think for the week that we weren't doing any swaddling she was up 3 times in the night and always woke at least once during a nap or would take a much shorter nap. One thing I have noticed about Eden is she doesn't quite have the sense of something dropping and where she might be able to find it. When her paci would fall out she wouldn't think to just grab it from beside her head. It's like she just thinks it disappears. And with her arms out she would grab onto her paci when she was upset and then drop it and not be able to find it. It is just easier to have her arms contained so she doesn't get a hold of her paci.
Eden wakes around 4/4:30 and nurses.
She will sit at the supper table with us and have the other half of her veggie jar around 5:30.
Eden nurses again around 7/7:30.
And then nurses again around 10/10:30 before I go to bed.
Here is a video of her in her exersaucer. We just recently discovered that she loves it in there! But this video is mostly of her interacting with the girls...they make a burp noise and she just laughs hysterically!!
Here is another physical therapy photo. "The Ladies" brought these rice bags this month to help support Eden while she is strengthening her core for sitting up. They have been a tremendous help. I now feel like I can put these around her and leave the room for a couple minutes at a time...and she is getting a work out in the process!
We have been going to a lot of birthday parties lately! Here was another fun one! Gavin is 7 already! I can't believe he is growing so fast! He is all boy but yet very caring too! Casey and Nate rented the Phelps Youth Pavilion in Waterloo so we got to do some exploring and miniature golfing and they had a craft for the kids to do. There was cake and ice cream of course too! The miniature golf was a new thing since the last time I was there and Austin and I had a little friendly competition! The balls were like a nerf ball and the clubs were pretty light but it was fun anyway! Happy Birthday to my sweet nephew!
Ethan is 6 on August 7th and Alanna is 2 on July 30th. Since their birthdays are so close, we celebrated them together at the UNI wellness pool. It was so much fun! They rented it for 2 hours and were able to bring in pizza and cake to celebrate! Ethan was really hesitant to go down the slide but eventually did (especially after he saw Alanna doing it!). I don't know if Bennett ever did! Keziah and Adah did it and loved it too. Of course, they all had to go down with an adult!
Here we are in a group photo. This is pretty much everyone! I think Adam's parents had already left at this point but we did good to get this many! It was such a great time!
Adah and I coming down the slide together! She LOVED it!
Eden enjoyed the water too and Kezzie is getting so comfortable with her face in the water!
Emily and Alanna coming down the slide together! It was easier getting her to go down then her big brother Ethan, but he eventually went too!
Keziah and I coming down the slide together. She also LOVED it!
Big girl Alanna is a walking pro these days! I had to share her newest skill since she is 2 now!!
Happy 3rd Birthday Rylan! It was such a cute party. There were buckets of sand for the kids to dig through and find bugs, there were bug masks, a bouncy house and each kid even got to bring home a bug catcher and net with some bugs in them!
I can't believe Rylan is already three...he's growing so fast!
Starting at the top left: Ethan is digging, Eden and I, Eden and Emily, My mom and Arianna (Rylan's sister), Ethan in his bug mask, Adah in hers, and Keziah in her mask, Rylan opening gifts, more digging, Rylan and his cupcake and candle, another gift to open and last is Rylan with a gift and his Aunt Crystal and Jamie.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
