December/January

Guess I should tell about our December/January events. For Christmas ,the children searched around the house for the perfect gift to give their siblings. Jack decided to make everyone something out of duct tape. Yes, a gun, backpack, cell phone holder, $20 bill, purse,wallet, etc. can all be successsfully made out of duct tape. He mentioned next he wants to make a suit out of duct tape to wear to church. That would be interesting and give people there something to talk about on the way home. hmmmmmm What do you say to that? Umm, "I don't think your suit will be warm enough in this winter weather." By spring he will surely forget about his master plan. :)



Let's see, other actitivities going on:

-- sledding, building cool igloos, making a fort out of mom's kitchen cabinets, playing fooz ball/ bopit, and building with blocks.

-- Baylie along with many other children put on a great musical, "Singin in the Rain". We all really enjoyed it. There are still days where someone bursts out in one of the songs.

--2 people injured their arm (a hyperextension and sprain) All are mended now.

--various winter illnesses:a few strains of the flu and some colds

--We enjoyed 3 great Christmas's with different family members. Always fun to get together, provided we don't over stay our visit. If we go past the alotted time there is crying, whining, fighting and other various activities that do not ehibit our parenting skills/ weekly character training/and regular child training in general. You can tell when our time is up.
-- New Years Eve was fun. Matt had to work, but the rest of us played various games and had several competitions......sit ups, push ups, splits, stand on one leg, etc. We'll just say mom's body is not quite back into tip top shape after her delivery in Sept. uuhhmmm. Needless to say, mom didn't win many of the contests. Then the annual drinking of the sparking grape juice.
That about sums up our last couple of months. Hope you all are doing well and staying warm. Until next time.....

Here are a few videos from Zarah's last meet. Sorry it is so shaky. Forgot to give those directions to the camera girl.

Annual Zoo Visit

Great day to visit the zoo. It was nice and sunny out. Since we only had about 3 hours, a certain couple of young men not staying with us....leading to us trying to locate the 2 independent lads, mother wanting to take numerous pictures, etc., etc. not much of the zoo was viewed today. We may have to make a 2nd attempt soon.





The new exhibit this year is the polar bear. He was very entertaining.


Here are a few activities we did make it to:

A couple people rode the carousel.

Some animals were fed.

We saw the big cow statue,

some otters,

elephants,

and deer.

Tractors were ridden.

We all enjoyed being outside.

Dan and Daniella showed more interest in the animals this year.

The difference in Dan this year was huge. Last year he rode in the stroller for the entire time; except when I made him walk for a little bit at the end. He put up major resistance the entire time he was walking. ................ This year he walked the entire time we were at the zoo. This is HUGE for him!!!! It makes it soooooo much easier for mom. Yeah Dan!!!! We did have to walk at a little bit slower pace, but hey I'm just fine with that. He has changed a lot since last year. (talking, walking longer distances). It is so great to watch both of them change/develop.

By the end of the time, we were all a little bit tired.

Family

We love when family come to visit. This last weekend we got to see all 3 groups of the grandparents. Great time. Here are some photos from one of the visits. Their 1st time to meet Addie.











Here is a photo of Addie at 6 weeks and me at 10 weeks..........I think I see a little bit of resemblance. Yeah!!












Have a blessed day,
Vickie

Truman's solution

Here is a video of one of Jack's boxing rounds that he fought in last Saturday. He is in blue.

Also, our newest addition Addie is 6 weeks old now. While riding in the van to drop off her sibling at his activity, she begins crying. I ask Truman, one of our 5 year olds, to help Addie with her binky/pacifier. He says she doesn't want it. She cries for a few seconds; then stops crying. There is another episode of her crying for a few seconds; then she stops. Next I hear Truman say, "don't worry Mom; I can fix her". To which I reply, "she's taking her binky now, huh?" pause.........Truman "no mom, I think she likes my banana better." YIKES !!! Not a good thing.

Have a great day,

Vickie

She's here!!

Early Sunday morning our newest addition arrived. She had some fluid left in her lungs after delivery, so that had to be dealt with at the hospital. We are all so very thankful that Addie is well, and we are all home together again.

August

Well, I am a bit late for August. Let me sum up the month. It was hot!! Family swim nights were fun.

Matt and I each had a grandfather pass away. It was a sad time, but we are thankful we had all those years with them. Also, happy that our children were allowed to get to know them. Two great men who will be missed.

Dan turned 5. Yeah!! He is looking older these days. I look back at pictures from when he came home; and he looks like such a baby, in many ways he was. Not now, he is talking so much. It is great. Today he even came up to me and threw his arms around my neck giving me a big hug. That always makes a mom's day.

Baylie tried out for her first musical. We will find out tonight if she made it. I hope she did. There were a lot of really experienced children who tried out; makes me a bit nervous for her. We'll see.

Can't believe we are only two weeks away from the arrival of the new little baby girl Hannah. Is everything ready .........no. Does she have a name yet......no. Am I starting to stress a bit about everything getting done on my list of to do's.......yes. Could I be labeled .....difficult, grumpy, picky, grouchy.......probably. You get the idea.

O.K., there's August.
Talk to you next month,
Vickie