First Day of Kindergarten

Yesterday was the first day of kindergarten for Alexandra, Amanda and Joshua. I took them to school for the first day and was able to sit in their class for a little while and then we all went to chapel together.

They all enjoyed it and there were no tears by anyone.

Today was their first full day and they got to ride the bus to school and home again.

Isaac gets to start pre-k next Wednesday. He is very excited! But for today we got to spend a little time just the two of us.

Starting next week I will have 3 mornings to myself and 3 afternoons with just Isaac. Many wonder what I'm going to do with all my freedom. Well, my September calendar is already looking pretty full. Any spare time though will be spent getting all the things done that I have not had a chance to do the last 6 years. For instance: their baby books, I am 4 years behind in picture books, organizing and cleaning the house from top to bottom and some shopping trips all by myself! I think I'll find plenty to do!

Professional or UnProfessional?

This is what it looks like when 3 non-professionals install a gutter in the freezing cold temperatures of a November NW Indiana day.

These 3 will remain unnamed but I will give you a hint. I am married to one and my sisters are married to the other two.

Good try guys but I looked at this for about 7 years and it was time for a change.

This is what a professionally installed gutter looks like.   Sometimes it's better just to pay someone to do it.

Isaac Turns 5!

Yesterday my baby boy turned 5!

And who can forget his first birthday when he dove right into his cake!

I'd share more old pictures but honestly, I am that far behind in my picture books and I'm too lazy to go through all my Cd's of pictures.

This little boy has brought so much joy to our lives! He definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing. His goals for being 5 are to swim without his life jacket (which he can do, he just chooses not to) and he promises he is going to stop hitting (we'll see).

Yesterday he was able to have a fun day of swimming with his friends and cousins. He ate from his pirate treasure cake. His choice for lunch - peanut butter and jelly. His choice for supper - pancakes. He's a no fuss kid!

Some of his presents included a Color Wonder Painting Poster, a stand and strap for his guitar, Spiderman shoes, a backpack, legos, a Bears shirt, water guns, and some little Star Wars guys.

He is having fun today playing with all his new stuff and so are his sisters and brother.

10 Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today Brad and I vowed before God, family, and friends to love eachother and be faithful to one another for as long as we both shall live.

Wow, 10 YEARS! What a milestone in our lives!

When I first looked at this picture (and all my wedding pictures) I thought, "Look how thin we are!" I had one picture that was full length and I really envied my abs of back then.

Although we have grown a little in size since then, thankfully our marriage has grown, our family has grown, we have grown in maturity, and we have grown spiritually. I am so thankful for my husband and that he loves the Lord, loves me, and loves our children.

First Camping Trip of the Summer

Last week I was busy getting ready for our first camping trip of the summer. Did you figure that out since that is what I titled this post?

Of course, I have to admit there was a little lounging on my raft in the pool too.

We went camping for a couple nights this weekend to the Indiana Dunes with our friends the Wories and my sister Nikki and her family.

I took a whole whopping 1 picture while on this trip. This is Isaac with his new flashlight on his head, an early birthday present which he was so excited about!

Basically, we sat in the heat, got eaten alive by mosquitoes, got rained on, got dirty, sat at the beach, sat in lawn chairs and talked, sat by the campfire, ate, and got a little sleep. It was all very exciting and as you can tell, it is very exciting blog material.

Since we got home I've been busy cleaning the house, grocery shopping and doing loads of laundry!

Living for That Day!

I'm not really sure what to call it, but my mom liked cemeteries. I'm not even sure I should use the work "like." She went there often and inherited this trait from her father. My grandpa had lived close to the cemetery where my grandma is, where he now is, and so is my mother.

They knew the caretaker by name, they often knew when a new hole was dug and who it was for. My mom was also an avid obituary reader and she was concerned who was buried around her when picking out a cemetery plot, when she is raised she wants to be surrounded by familiar faces. You may laugh, but it's true.

That is not me at all. For awhile after she passed away I did scan the obituaries because I no longer had her to tell me who died. I don't do that anymore. 

(On a side note, I do have an odd fascination with the whole embalming process and would love to see this but you have to be licensed to even be in the room.)

Sometimes I feel guilty that I just don't like going to the cemetery and only go a couple times a year. One reason I go is because I know my mom would go if that was me. She would make sure that I had the most beautiful flowers on my grave and she would water them and keep them alive. I'm barely able to keep plants alive in my yard. This year I did go to plant flowers, other times I go and bring fresh flowers. She loved flowers!

But to me, this is not where my mom is. It's simply a place where her earthly body is. She is with Jesus and the memory of her is with me. I just don't feel a NEED to go there.

It's been 4 years now.

I can tell that I have healed a lot. The last time she came to my house was around 1 pm on July 3. The last time I had a conversation with her was around 4pm on July 4 when I went and visited her in the emergency room. Every year I would remember these dates and these times. This year I thought about those dates before I got to them but then they passed and I was already to July 5 and didn't stop and think about it at those times like I have in the past. With this though comes guilt.

Am I forgetting her?

I'm not. I think I'm just healing from some of the pain of those days. But I think because those times were not on my mind as much, August was a little harder for me this year.

Over the past years there are many times when I have selfishly wanted her back.

I've thought:

I wish I could ask her this recipe.

I wish she was here to see.........

I really could use her help watching the kids, or helping me take the kids a certain place.

I wish she was here so we could can vegetables together.

But do you see a common word here? It's the word "I". And that is when it hits me. My wanting her to be here is for ME!

She has reached her ultimate goal. Isn't that what we are living each day for? To be with Jesus? She's gotten there and I selfishly want her back. This is then when it hits me that instead I should be jealous. She has gotten there, I'm still here. I need to be longing to be there too, not wanting her back here.

That is what has given me strength each day through the past 4 years! I hope it gives you strength too as you struggle through hurts and pains on this earth.

Live for that day!

There are two days on my calendar: this day and that day 

 MARTIN LUTHER

Indepenence

From the time our children are born, they are completely dependant on us for EVERYTHING! As they grow we teach them how to do things on their own. With multiples it can be very wearing on one. Especially when they were small it was constant feeding them and changing diapers.

As they have grown it has been exciting to watch them gain their independence and have one less thing that I have to do for them. Feeding themselves, potty training, dressing themselves, getting into their car seats themselves, buckling and unbuckling themselves in the car, cleaning up their toys, and the list goes on.

For some time now I've been working on them bathing themselves. Part of not giving them complete control over this is that I'm cheap and didn't want them using a bottle of shampoo or a bottle of body wash in a week. But last night, I gave up my control issue and started the bath water for them and told them to wash themselves and their hair and then I walked out of the room. One more thing they are not dependant on us for!

About the only thing left is food. They can get their own snacks, but I'm afraid their snack would be 10 cookies every time so that one I will be monitoring for awhile. They also occasionally need their food cut for them. Once they learn that, they will be pretty self reliant.

Well, of course, except for money! I don't see that going away anytime soon!