Life

I can tell you I never took a picture of any of the other kids unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper; it's life, messy, but darn cute, and kinda funny!  Here's to closing the bathroom door and having a happy weekend!

We are in the right place

 

Caleb opened his first birthday present, thankfully he has a few more months to practice

So I am guessing this post actually shows up first, but it's my second one today.  I just wanted to share what a blessing our school is.  On Friday I had an IEP meeting for Emily, and I just walked away in tears, happy tears, so thankful for a great staff, and so thankful that God brought us to this place.  This was the second meeting in a month, as we are rearranging her IEP so that the medical one is primary (I am so glad I don't have to do all that paperwork for a living!)  Much of the meeting was review, and nothing changed necessarily.  Emily speaks up for herself quite a bit, which is great.  She has been having back pain off and on and so they are working on a solution, hopefully something along the lines of a fully cushioned chair (she already sits on a cushion, but the back of the chair is bothering her).  Emily has been working hard and is at grade level with her reading skills; I would say she has improved considerably just in the last month (I think our school is great about being proactive and getting kids help with reading immediately).  Emily's teacher shared stories about her, how she is quite the character at school, very funny and a great friend.  Emily repeatedly tells me that "school is her happy place".  And Caleb talked the whole time, and loudly.  The speech therapist has him all evaluated, of course.  But the principal, she just kept commenting on how happy he is, no matter when she sees him.  She said, "You must have a very happy house".  I laughed of course, because our house is loud and chaotic, and you should see us when we all need to shower and there is no hot water and there is wardrobe drama x3 and the baby won't sleep and there are dishes falling out of the sink and we need to leave now (ie., Saturday morning).  This is a blessing though, that God has us in the right place, in a place that takes good care of our kids, and I know I can trust Him, I can trust in His plans for the next house and the next school year.  Praise God for His blessings!

Fear

Strange picture, right...I have several updates to share, I will post those in a second entry.  So you can barely see it, but my pointer finger is bruised (on a side note, I have ridiculously fat fingers, I have my mom's wedding ring and I can't get in on!)  Last Thursday I was changing Caleb's diaper and in picking him up I must have maneuvered in a strange way because suddenly I could feel my pointer finger filling/puffing up, throbbing and it was bruising instantly.  I quickly handed Caleb off to Justin and sat down, for fear of passing out (I have a tendency to come very close to blacking out, from pain or shock).  I believe I popped a blood vessel and my finger remained swollen and bruised for several days.  It's really not a big deal, but it made me think about a tender topic. 

I turn 34 in a few weeks...my mom got sick when she was only 34.

It really means nothing, but someday, Lord-willing, I will turn 37, 38, 39, and I will have lived longer than my mom.  To have reached this age is a little sobering, thought-provoking, and a little nerve-wracking.  My ladies from Moms in Prayer shrieked when I told them I was only 33 (they are all mid-40's); I am young, and so was my mom.  I am a little more aware of "weird" symptoms; I do notice how often I have headaches, or pay attention when some new bruise shows up.  Or wonder what I did to make a blood vessel pop. 

There is little I fear in life.  I am afraid of losing Justin or one of our children, but I am not afraid of dying.  In fact, I am eager to enter Heaven, I can't wait to see what awaits us!  Several years ago my dad made a comment about how my mom was ready to die, she was tired from fighting cancer, enduring chemo and endless tests.  And I was a little offended, because she was ready to leave us, leave me.  But I understand a little better now.  I hope that I get to live a long life and see my children grow, see them graduate, see them off to dances and dates, see them marry, and meet many, many grandchildren.  I hope that I can grow old with Justin, see him into retirement with a head full of gray hair, riding his trike (eventually he may have to get off of 2 wheels and onto 3, haha).

I don't fear death, but I do fear cancer.  I don't think I have the fight in me, the fight that my mom had, and the fight that my aunt Joyce had.  Part of me feels like I am "tricking" God, you know "you can't let me have cancer because I won't try to beat it" kinda thing.  I am being honest and open, I am afraid of getting sick; not that turning the age my mom was when she got sick means that I will get sick too, but there is that little thought, in the back of my head.  I guess that means I should live my life a little differently, a little more motivated, a little more intentional...

Luke's and Caleb's 14th

Well, it was the 14th, so it must mean it is someone in our family's birthday!  We celebrated Luke's big 10 (and Caleb's 9 months)!  Luke and I were able to enjoy lunch together and Justin and Luke really enjoyed the archery range.  Two desserts later and the day was done!  Thanks for all the calls and cards!  We will likely do a family birthday party again in July, though I may do Caleb's 1st by himself, we will see what comes together (I don't want to think too far in advance, time needs to slow down!)

It's funny how quickly kids catch on with what to do with a phone, and I rarely talk on the phone (that's Justin's phone, so maybe Caleb gets it from him, haha)

Can you tell I am on a black and white kick; I figured out how to customize a few buttons on my camera so switching "colors" is easier

I love that he smiles for the camera already

Inside the orange frosting is a camo cake

Caleb pulls himself up onto everything

Caleb has gained a sense of humor

Caleb loves his food and knows where to get it!

It's a long weekend here and so far it's been a rough day, I think we will be catching up on sleep!  And I have a few sewing projects and a giant mountain of laundry, thanks to a slew of clothes for Caleb that came from my childhood friend.  Happy Friday!

Handmade holidays

This was my biggest project this Christmas, new stockings (they ended up being more time consuming than I anticipated).  I made them from men's sweaters I found at Goodwill, lined them and hand sewed the lace/pom-poms, etc.  After I got them all done I decided I didn't want to use them for our stockings that we actually stuff things in on Christmas morning, instead they are for decoration.  Hopefully someday they will once again hang from a fireplace mantle.  I did end up making another stocking for Caleb to add to our "real" ones (I pictured those another year as they are some of my favorite Christmas decorations).  And to the left is the "ruler" that Justin made me! 

So I have a thing for vintage ABC blocks and have collected them for a while now.  I made this block tree last year and it's a favorite of mine.

More ABC blocks (not vintage, but useful for crafting).  I made these as our ornaments this year (I try and do one new ornament for each kid every year, it was something my grandma did).  There are two pictures per block.  I made a few other ornaments as gifts too (somehow I feel like I need to explain what I do with my time since I don't officially "work")

I made these for our niece, Aubrey.  The little dolls come out of the little cups for a matching game of sorts (she is a little over 1).  I really liked the colors and she was happy to put the heads in her mouth :) )  My SIL and I decided to do handmade for all the kids, which was fun, we will see if we repeat it next year, but I loved the things she made for our kids (clothes for AG dolls, a felt checkerboard game and a CALEB book)

So, here are a few crafts from December.  I also made a few gifts for Justin that I didn't take pictures of.  And he gave me a set of letters to use for metal stamping, as I would like to learn how to make stamped jewelry, so I will share some of that when I get some pieces done.  Well, the decorations are all down and packed away, and the kids are back at school.  Praise God, Luke had no issues yesterday and went to school very easily!  Emily is having a rough time getting up in the morning, but who can blame her.  And of course we are hit with the harshest winter weather just in time to get back to routine.  We have another birthday next week and then a 4 day weekend, and generally things should be quiet for a while!

Justin's birthday card

Here is a link for a jibjab card my parents made Justin, it's pretty cute!  Happy Birthday Justin!

http://www.jibjab.com/view/cQcQSu-YQk6VQqHVYr1-9Q?utm_campaign=URL+Copy&utm_content=celebrate_birthday_group&utm_medium=Share&utm_source=JibJab&cmpid=jj_url

Bloopers of 2014

I can count on Emily to make some silly faces!

You will laugh when you see it :)

Sometimes it is easier to just tell them to make goofy faces

I think Em was mid-cough

Emily, not happy about taking more pictures

Caleb, too funny

These loaded out of order, the next picture down came first

it's the "look at the camera"

this was a cute blooper, again Emily is coughing

There is a whole cake pop in there

Anna and Heidi's biggest struggle (or mine I guess), keeping the eyes open when taking pictures

I think they might eat him

Flash fright

it was a phase of silly sniffy thru his nose

Emily's hair is often a problem, so much and so out of control

"it's too sunny" happens a lot too

no cooperating from the boys

it just looks funny

babies are great for goofy facial expressions

my feet on Easter

I have quite a few of Caleb crying, oh well, part of baby life

I love taking actions shots outside, clear photos and fun expressions

I thought I would share just some of the bloopers from last year's photos.  We are all human and make some crazy faces and laughter is good for us, right!  I hope everyone had a happy New Year, we celebrated with our usual silly string and sparkling grape juice.  All 5 kids stayed up until midnight (Caleb was not intentional).  I can't believe it's 2015 already!  I don't think I have any resolutions this year, maybe some goals though.  I am always trying to improve my photos and learn more about my camera and I need to continue to de-clutter.  I would like to find something, or a few things, that I can make and sell for a few extra bucks.  My biggest prayer for the year ahead is for a year of peace, calm and routine, which really boils down to good health, continuous work, housing needs and school stability.  God doesn't allow us to be in lulls for long, we get stagnant and lazy in our relationships with Him and others, but I am praying for some smooth sailing ahead.  We can only take a day at a time, of course, and trust His plans for our year.  I am just thankful to be in His loving hands!  Happy 2015 all!