We had a wonderful day on Wednesday. Ran a couple errands and then met up with friends (Lynn and Celeste and their boys :)) at Stoney Run County Park. Who knew we had a beautiful county park with SHADE 15 minutes from our house!? Anyway, we had a great picnic lunch and played in the park until it was time to go to pick up Jack and Grace from school. After school, it was the usual getting homework done and practicing guitar, with a little added hurry because Jack had soccer practice and Grace had her program. The kids were great and finished up with an hour to spare before we needed to get ready for the evening activities. Of course, they wanted to go straight outside. Honestly, all I could think about was taking a nap. Grace and Katie headed into the backyard, and Jack soon followed. Mary stood at the door looking sad :(. Of course, I wasn't going to be sleeping while the kids are outside, so Mary and I went out to join them. We decided the garden and flowers needed watering, so on went the hose. Well, I can get a little, um, "messy" with the hose and soon Grace and Katie were "a little" wet. That got Jack excited and raced out to join us (previously he had been "saving" his energy for soccer by reading on the deck). The giggles started, and there was no more thought of a nap. We stayed outside 15 minutes passed when I thought we should be getting ready, which made for a rushed dinner, but we had a wonderful time chasing each other with the hose and just giggling. The energy in giggles escaped my memory until this morning. The bible verse in my devotional today is, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10) The prayer talks about the power of healing in a child's giggle and ends with "enable me to seek my joy and my strength in you. Help me, dear Lord, to giggle again." Just an "in-your-face" reminder for me to stop and enjoy in the busyness of life.
God bless - I'm going to enjoy the beauty of today :)!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Busy April, and now Memorial Day is almost here!
Ok, so I've been terrible about updating our blog. In my defense, we've had some *things* going on :)!
The day before my last entry, my mom and I ran in the Hub Run, a 5K race in town. It's our second year doing it, and we've decided NEXT year, we are going to train before running! Mom was running on a bum ankle (and STILL came in second in her age division). I couldn't figure out why my time was *off*. Well, my answer came at the end of the week - we are expecting baby #5 in December! (I know that's a stretch, but cut me some slack!) We found out on Holy Saturday. What an amazing gift of life for Easter! Of course, Jack wants a brother, but he has conceded that sisters are pretty cool, and it would be ok to have four. As much as I love being pregnant, the first trimester zaps my energy. It could be so much worse, and I am not complaining. Day-to-day is as much as I can do, but I'm counting the days until that 13th week hits!!
So, what else is going on?
Jack is on a traveling soccer team this year. This means two practices a week, for an hour and a half, one being with a trainer who is also a Chicago Fire player, which is pretty cool. We have played in Hammond, Griffith and soon Valpo. (Ogden Dunes was canceled due to snow!) It has been a new experience for us, sitting on the sidelines. We have coached him up until this season. Jack is the youngest on the team (that lovely summer birthday), and the tallest by far. He is enjoying it though, and I think he's learning a lot. The boy is rarely without a ball attached to his feet. He is also taking his guitar lessons. I love his current song because it is one that my grandpa used to sing to me. It's "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half-crazy all for the love of you." I think Jack thinks Mom is a little weird when I start singing it, but oh well! He has reached his goal in AR (Advanced Reading) at school. His goal was to be the first (nothing competitive about this boy!) to get to the 200 point ride. To get to this ride (the teacher puts up an amusement park around the room, and for different points, the students get their picture up on that ride), he had to get 200 points, but also had to read a certain number of fiction, a certain number of nonfiction and a certain number of Arch (religious) books. Then he had to write a book report on one book in each category. His teacher stopped him after church on Sunday to push him along with the book reports. It was just what he needed, and he finished them on Tuesday! It is scary what that boy knows how to do on the computer! (now we just need to teach him to type and not "peck") He changes fonts and looks up words and knows how to Google (we have the computer in the main room of the house, so he is supervised). Anyway, he is amazing.
Grace is also playing soccer this spring. We are coaching her still. This is her last season in U-6. Next fall, she'll be on the big field too. How crazy is that! We have 10 kids on our team - 8 of them from St. Mary's, and the other two are the sweetest little girls and mesh very well. It has been a fun season knowing the parents and the kids from the start. Grace had her kindergarten program last night and is now "ready for first grade." She decided at the last minute that we could get her a little more "fancied" up. So she wore her necklace from Aunt Nancy (pink sparkly) and glitter spray, plus her "high heeled" shoes from Easter and her Easter dress. She looked so beautiful. Then she really had to see if she could make me cry. She kept asking, "Don't I look totally grown-up? See how tall I am. I look a lot older, don't I?" Oh my, as if my hormones weren't going enough. This morning, she was back to her cute self - wearing uniform shorts and a polo for the first time. That's my tom-boy! She has taught herself to ride a two-wheeler. She zooms back and forth. The funny thing is though, she loves her jumpers from school, so half the time she is still wearing it while riding. One day, she stopped and said her bike was making a "weird" noise. It was her skirt stuck in the wheel! She is reading up a storm, definitely following in her brother's footsteps.
Katie has decided most days that she can be called Kathryn. Now if I could only remember that! She loves school and is our social butterfly. She was invited to a tea party at school on Monday with two of her friends and the school nurse and a teacher. It was 6 girls in all. They had hats and gloves and little sandwiches and chocolate-covered strawberries and, of course, tea for them. It was adorable. Katie had the best time! She had her dress laid out for almost a week ahead of time. Bryan asked her if Mommy was going to take pictures at the tea, and she responded, "Daa-a-ad-ddy, it's at sch--oo-o-ol. Mommy isn't going to be there." Guess I wasn't invited :). And, yes, there was THAT much attitude. She said they danced too. Afterward, they took pictures with the ladies in charge and with the principal. Katie helped me plant the garden on Tuesday. She has taught herself how to swing and is a great walker (walking/running the 1+ miles from school without complaining).
Mary is still bald. :) She is adorable and sweet. She is talking up a storm and wants to be right there with the older kids, and many times, she is. She is still our little peanut, definitely the smallest of the kids at 18 months (actually wearing 18 month clothes - so not used to this - the others were close to 3T at this point!). She has learned that bathtime is fun - if Daddy does it (fine with me!). She will even climb into the bathtub (fully clothed) and start asking, "Bath? Bath?" Oh, it is a fun age!
We are playing in quiet this weekend (for us). Grace has a tea party birthday party on Saturday, and we may go to the Dunes to hike or we may stay home and work in the yard. Sunday we have the Johnsen family picnic. Monday we have breakfast with Bryan's mom and aunt and a cookout in the evening.
The kids still have 2+ weeks of school left, and I think I'm counting down as much as they are. This summer is filled with swimming and basketball and VBS and theater and, of course, Wisconsin (the kids have been asking since September when we are going again). We are hoping to try out camping some weekend. I guess we're getting braver in our "old" age (for us anyway) - and yes, camping with tents :).
We are also trying to make some big decisions. As much as we love our home, we are outgrowing it, and not at a time when the economy is going to be nice to us in selling ours. We thought about going the addition-way, but it seems cost-prohibitive. As of today, we are thinking that moving is going to be a sounder decision. I just wish we could take the fireplace and hardwood floors and neighbors with us. So I'm going to add purging onto the list of "things to accomplish." Without the pressing need to move (bunk beds work for the girls, and they are VERY excited to go that route), maybe the best way is to get the house sale-ready and try "by owner" for a while. Just rambling and trying to put an order to my thoughts.... There are other aspects to these decisions, but nothing that can be "public" just yet. Praying God will give us a clear design :). I will be back later to add pictures. Right now, the sun is shining, and we are going to go buy some herbs to plant!
God bless!
The day before my last entry, my mom and I ran in the Hub Run, a 5K race in town. It's our second year doing it, and we've decided NEXT year, we are going to train before running! Mom was running on a bum ankle (and STILL came in second in her age division). I couldn't figure out why my time was *off*. Well, my answer came at the end of the week - we are expecting baby #5 in December! (I know that's a stretch, but cut me some slack!) We found out on Holy Saturday. What an amazing gift of life for Easter! Of course, Jack wants a brother, but he has conceded that sisters are pretty cool, and it would be ok to have four. As much as I love being pregnant, the first trimester zaps my energy. It could be so much worse, and I am not complaining. Day-to-day is as much as I can do, but I'm counting the days until that 13th week hits!!
So, what else is going on?
Jack is on a traveling soccer team this year. This means two practices a week, for an hour and a half, one being with a trainer who is also a Chicago Fire player, which is pretty cool. We have played in Hammond, Griffith and soon Valpo. (Ogden Dunes was canceled due to snow!) It has been a new experience for us, sitting on the sidelines. We have coached him up until this season. Jack is the youngest on the team (that lovely summer birthday), and the tallest by far. He is enjoying it though, and I think he's learning a lot. The boy is rarely without a ball attached to his feet. He is also taking his guitar lessons. I love his current song because it is one that my grandpa used to sing to me. It's "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half-crazy all for the love of you." I think Jack thinks Mom is a little weird when I start singing it, but oh well! He has reached his goal in AR (Advanced Reading) at school. His goal was to be the first (nothing competitive about this boy!) to get to the 200 point ride. To get to this ride (the teacher puts up an amusement park around the room, and for different points, the students get their picture up on that ride), he had to get 200 points, but also had to read a certain number of fiction, a certain number of nonfiction and a certain number of Arch (religious) books. Then he had to write a book report on one book in each category. His teacher stopped him after church on Sunday to push him along with the book reports. It was just what he needed, and he finished them on Tuesday! It is scary what that boy knows how to do on the computer! (now we just need to teach him to type and not "peck") He changes fonts and looks up words and knows how to Google (we have the computer in the main room of the house, so he is supervised). Anyway, he is amazing.
Grace is also playing soccer this spring. We are coaching her still. This is her last season in U-6. Next fall, she'll be on the big field too. How crazy is that! We have 10 kids on our team - 8 of them from St. Mary's, and the other two are the sweetest little girls and mesh very well. It has been a fun season knowing the parents and the kids from the start. Grace had her kindergarten program last night and is now "ready for first grade." She decided at the last minute that we could get her a little more "fancied" up. So she wore her necklace from Aunt Nancy (pink sparkly) and glitter spray, plus her "high heeled" shoes from Easter and her Easter dress. She looked so beautiful. Then she really had to see if she could make me cry. She kept asking, "Don't I look totally grown-up? See how tall I am. I look a lot older, don't I?" Oh my, as if my hormones weren't going enough. This morning, she was back to her cute self - wearing uniform shorts and a polo for the first time. That's my tom-boy! She has taught herself to ride a two-wheeler. She zooms back and forth. The funny thing is though, she loves her jumpers from school, so half the time she is still wearing it while riding. One day, she stopped and said her bike was making a "weird" noise. It was her skirt stuck in the wheel! She is reading up a storm, definitely following in her brother's footsteps.
Katie has decided most days that she can be called Kathryn. Now if I could only remember that! She loves school and is our social butterfly. She was invited to a tea party at school on Monday with two of her friends and the school nurse and a teacher. It was 6 girls in all. They had hats and gloves and little sandwiches and chocolate-covered strawberries and, of course, tea for them. It was adorable. Katie had the best time! She had her dress laid out for almost a week ahead of time. Bryan asked her if Mommy was going to take pictures at the tea, and she responded, "Daa-a-ad-ddy, it's at sch--oo-o-ol. Mommy isn't going to be there." Guess I wasn't invited :). And, yes, there was THAT much attitude. She said they danced too. Afterward, they took pictures with the ladies in charge and with the principal. Katie helped me plant the garden on Tuesday. She has taught herself how to swing and is a great walker (walking/running the 1+ miles from school without complaining).
Mary is still bald. :) She is adorable and sweet. She is talking up a storm and wants to be right there with the older kids, and many times, she is. She is still our little peanut, definitely the smallest of the kids at 18 months (actually wearing 18 month clothes - so not used to this - the others were close to 3T at this point!). She has learned that bathtime is fun - if Daddy does it (fine with me!). She will even climb into the bathtub (fully clothed) and start asking, "Bath? Bath?" Oh, it is a fun age!
We are playing in quiet this weekend (for us). Grace has a tea party birthday party on Saturday, and we may go to the Dunes to hike or we may stay home and work in the yard. Sunday we have the Johnsen family picnic. Monday we have breakfast with Bryan's mom and aunt and a cookout in the evening.
The kids still have 2+ weeks of school left, and I think I'm counting down as much as they are. This summer is filled with swimming and basketball and VBS and theater and, of course, Wisconsin (the kids have been asking since September when we are going again). We are hoping to try out camping some weekend. I guess we're getting braver in our "old" age (for us anyway) - and yes, camping with tents :).
We are also trying to make some big decisions. As much as we love our home, we are outgrowing it, and not at a time when the economy is going to be nice to us in selling ours. We thought about going the addition-way, but it seems cost-prohibitive. As of today, we are thinking that moving is going to be a sounder decision. I just wish we could take the fireplace and hardwood floors and neighbors with us. So I'm going to add purging onto the list of "things to accomplish." Without the pressing need to move (bunk beds work for the girls, and they are VERY excited to go that route), maybe the best way is to get the house sale-ready and try "by owner" for a while. Just rambling and trying to put an order to my thoughts.... There are other aspects to these decisions, but nothing that can be "public" just yet. Praying God will give us a clear design :). I will be back later to add pictures. Right now, the sun is shining, and we are going to go buy some herbs to plant!
God bless!
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