First Day Of School!!!

We started home schooling again today. We like waiting until October since September is the start up of MOPS and Taekwondo. It's nice to be able to ease back into a routine. I really think that all the kids were ready for school to start back up. Although I'm sure their feelings will change a bit once the novelty of it all wears off!

 

 

Jackson

2nd Year of Preschool

4 years old

 

 

Andrew

2nd Year of Preschool

4 years old

 

 

Owen

Kindergarten

5 1/2 years old

 

Unfortunately I did take any pictures while we were doing school. I'm sure that has to do with the fact that we are teaching 3 active boys while having to maintain control of 2 two year olds and having to run up and downstairs trying to get a newborn baby to sleep. It was crazy, but it was fun and I'm looking forward to all the wonderful things the boys will learn this year.

 

Just for the recording purposes our days include...

 

Pledge to American & Christian Flag & the Bible

Calendar Time

Days of the week and month songs

Phonics

Exercises

Recess

Story & Snack Time

History or Science

Math

Song Time

 

We are still getting together at Kim's house on Monday and Friday, but new this year is the fact that Owen will need to work on his Phonics 5 days a week....should be fun!

Brotherly Love!!

 

Our precious third boy! During my pregnancy I had so very much hoped that we would have a girl...you know 2 boys and 2 girls. Even numbers and all! I'm so happy that we did not find out that he was a boy until he came out. I really truly believe I had those feelings of waiting early in my pregnancy so that I would enjoy my pregnancy more. Not that having a boy is a bad thing, but I wanted Ella to have a sister so badly.

 

 

And now...I feel that God blessed me with 3 boys and I wouldn't change it for anything. I love my boys!

 

 

And they love each other...even if Jack and Owen drive each other bonkers sometimes!

 

 

And Owen is already teaching Zeke to make crazy faces!

 

In Michael's words, "How did we get so lucky...we only have to put on one wedding!"

Zeke's Gallery Pictures!

In our dining room we have what we call the gallery pictures of the kids. They are taken between the ages of 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 months. Owen's were taken by a professional photographer who wanted to beef up her portfolio. After that we've just copied the poses and done them ourselves.

 

Click here to see Owen, Jack & Ella's Gallery Pictures

 

 

The other day we decided it was time for Zeke to have his gallery pictures taken. He's such a happy baby it wasn't hard at all to get great pictures of him. It's so nice to have all our kids pictures up now.

 

Here are a few of the shots close up...

 

 

The first thing people say when they see Zeke is...wow he has the biggest eyes! He sure does! He is definitely our beautiful, bright-eyed boy!

 

 

Ahh...Daddy Love!

 

 

Cute little pigs!

 

 

Adorableness times 10!!!

 

 

I guess Daddy & Zeke were both a little tuckered out from taking pictures!

A Year Ago Today...

Ella was being checked into Mary Bridge Hospital to have her shunt put in.

 

 

 It was a scary day, but an exciting day too. Knowing that the doctors had found her Hydrocephalus before it caused permanent damage....what a blessing!

 

 

Sleepy, recovering girl!

 

 

Incision!

 

 

It's crazy that it's been a year! Ella is doing splendidly...her vocabulary has taken off this year and she is much more stable on her feet. She's perfect in every way...including her sassiness! If you'd like to read about Ella's ordeal you can click here.

Guess Who's Back At Our House....

Logan!!!

 

 

Look at this cute grown up girl. Seriously in 4 months she went from baby girl to little girl. I really enjoyed my 4 month of maternity leave, but I was really to get back into the swing of things. I love me some schedule and routine!

 

 

This was the kids on Tuesday. It was Logan's first day back with us and the first day of MOPS. I didn't even mean to dress the girls alike. Logan did ask me to put her hair up like Ella and she actually left it that way which was shocking. The kids were SO happy to be going back to MOPS...I guess they like routine too!

 

 

These two girls just picked up right where they left off. It really is like having twins even though Logan is 8 months younger than Ella. They have so much fun playing and laughing together. They do of course get on each others nerves sometimes, but that's to be expected.

 

 

I love that 3 days a week Ella has another little girl to play with and Logan enjoys being with us too. On Wednesday when Jen came to pick her up and Logan went out in the garage to drive around the coupe car and Jen said, "Okay Logan I'm leaving" to which Logan replied, "Bye mom!" I think she likes us! :)

This Baby Of Mine!

Update...Zeke rolled over for the first time from his tummy to his back yesterday!!

 

I haven't posted an update about Zeke in a while so I thought it was high time.

 

Zeke is seriously the most easy going baby ever...I know I said that about Ella too, but he's even more so. He just rolls with it! He's a fourth so he sort of has too, but he doesn't mind at all.

 

He is sleeping through the night again. He did great on vacation and camping, but then when we got home from camping he started waking up once a night for a week. I think he was going through a growth spurt. He usually sleeps from 7:30 until I wake him at 6:45. Don't hate me because my 3 month old sleeps! ;)

 

 

He is a serious looker...I mean come on doesn't this picture just make your heart melt! This mama is in love!!!

 

He loves to be talked to and will give anyone that talks to him huge smiles as a reward.

 

He really enjoys his play center where he can see himself with the mirror and reach for the toys. I've even found him laughing at himself in the mirror before.

 

 

Contemplates things like pooping...as seen above! ;)

 

Isn't too crazy about the car.

 

He loves to be worn in the baby bjorn. I wear him a lot when we are out and about. He's started to fight sleeping in it though. He loves to look around and see everything and he doesn't want to miss out. I'll be walking around a store and all of a sudden I feel a thunk on my chest and it's his head as he finally gives in and falls asleep.

 

 

Zeke hasn't rolled over yet, but I'm sure that's partially my fault. I don't put him down for tummy time that often. He does sleep on his tummy though. He is really strong and can hold himself up when he's on his tummy so I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

 

He loves to chew on his fists, blankets or fingers.

 

This little last baby of mine melts my heart and I'm treasuring every moment of him since I know all too well that it will be over too soon!

Welcome Home!!!

We might have only been on vacation for 1 week, but Ga-Ga, Pa, Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie were on vacation for 3 weeks! On Friday the day they got home the kids and I needed to head down towards Ga-Ga & Pa's house to take our van to the dealership so I figured why not stop in and put a Welcome Home sign for them.

 

 

First we rolled out the big long butcher paper in the much more spacious since we moved the island kitchen. Then we got to work...

 

 

Owen's very first heart!

 

 

Owen's 'Welcome'...love how his 'C' is backwards!

 

 

Then his 'Home' which actually came before his 'Welcome'. We'll work on word placement this year.

 

 

Then I asked the kids to tell me a little message and I would write it for Ga-Ga & Pa. It's hard to see with the flash, but Owen had me write, "We love you with all our mights...we hope you are not at work!"

 

 

Jack was very thankful for their new coats that Ga-Ga had bought them.

 

 

He also drew batman's face with two big eyes! Looks a bit more like spiderman to me, but he was sure it was batman.

 

 

Here is Ella's contribution...pink (of course) scribbles.

 

 

This is what she wanted me to write!

 

 

And here is the sign all hung up in Ga-Ga & Pa's garage. It really was a perfect place to hang it up so they saw it right when they opened the garage door, but I did originally want to put it in the house. Unfortunately when we got to their house that is when I discovered that I don't have a key to their house and that door behind the sign that is not normally locked....yeah locked! We had a whole fun day planned of playing in the backyard with the slip and slide one last time, but it wasn't meant to be. Thankfully I had called a friend who lives in Graham to see if she would come hang out with me and when I called to tell her we couldn't get in she invited us to her house and the kids got to play on their slip and slide. It was such a fun, impromptu time! Thanks Christina! Can't wait to see you and the kids again!

Annual Labor Day Camping Trip!

Every year we go camping at American Heritage and we usually take Michael's parents trailer, but this year we stayed in a little cabin instead. I have to tell you I wasn't really looking forward to it. When I say little cabin...I mean tiny!!! Plus the amount of moss on the roof of the cabin had me a little worried about the condition of the inside.

 

 

I was thankfully and pleasantly surprised when I opened the door and found this very clean, nice smelling, cedar lined cabin.

We had planned that Michael would be sleeping in a tent with the boys, but after the first night and Michael having a horrible night sleep we all slept in the cabin. Owen was on the top bunk and Ella and Jack slept together on the bottom bunk.

Zeke slept in his pack and play and he slept great the whole trip! Since we've come home is another story. I think he's going through a growth spurt because he's been waking up once every night.

Do you think she's just a wee bit excited???

Once our friends showed up we got the fire started. See the tent in the background? That's where Michael and the boys slept the first night. Once we knew they weren't going to sleep in it again we just let all those boys play in it, jumping on the air mattress and wrestling. They had so much fun they ruined the tent. It was already in pretty bad shape...we've had it since we first got married, but they put the final nail in the coffin for it. After that we just had the air mattress out on the grassy air so the kids could play. They ran and jumped on it over and over and it never popped. Seriously it was one of  the best things that entertained the kids.

My little pyro! He was CONSTANTLY asking us if he could light sticks on fire and he was always going around gathering up the dirty paper plates so he could toss them in the fire.

 

 

Mr. Fred aka The Woodsman!

 

 

My handsome man!

 

 

Zeke is the youngest baby we've ever taken camping and he was super easy. Over the weekend he started chewing his fist and hasn't stopped....I think teething is on the horizon!

 

 

Playin' card! We also learned a new dice game called Farkle...the boys love it!

 

 

The absolute best form of entertainment was our little motorcycle. They even hooked up the bike trailer so the little kids could get driven around. I think Michael ended up filling it up with gas 3 times over the weekend. It was great fun!

Sometimes I Feel Like A Cool Mom!

While we were on vacation my friend and neighbor Rachael watered our garden for us. When we got home we had two giant zucchinis waiting for us. I really only like zucchini when they are smaller. These big ones don't have very good flavor and I'm not one for shredding them and making zucchini bread. So what do you do when you have two giant zucchinis and two big boys??

 

 

 

 You give them to the boys and let them have some fun!

 

The boys walked up to the desk and tossed them over a couple times.

 

But mainly they just picked them up and threw them. Over and over again!

 

 

Wham!!! It was really fun watching them.

 

 

Finally the zucchini lost the battle!

 

 

That's when it wasn't very fun for Owen anymore since I had him pick up all the guts. Oh well....you can only be the fun mom for so long! ;)