Milk buddies

Jaeger 16 months.      James 8 months

Love her.

As I am enjoying my occasional root beer soda...

Ariella: Mom! You shouldn't be drinking that! Babies can't be drinking pop!

Me: You're right honey. Should I drink some water instead?"

Ariella: Yeah.

Me: Could you get me some?

Ariella: Yeah.

After she brings me a glass...

Ariella: Once my baby _______ comes out, then you can drink pop.

Ok, honey :)

.....And, of course, as I'm writing this nice sweet thing about her, she sneaks into the freezer to try to get some frozen cherries which I told her not to eat, and the container of milled flour crashes on the floor, breaking...and flour is everywhere!! Guess I'm off to clean up a rather large mess....

I <3 Wednesdays

I love Wednesday's. Well, I love Wednesday's that I need to go to town...and by myself...which doesn't happen often, but if all the stars line up (bc thats pretty much what needs to happen for the above to take place), I love them because I can get a 16oz vanilla breve at 360 cafe for $1.13. And that, my friends, is fabulous :). If you want to get in on this goodness, get yourself a capital one acct (formerly ING). And if you need a link, just let me know and you'll get $50 in your acct (& ill get $25)...just another perk. But truly the coffee tastes better, especially since that's like a fifth of the price of anywhere else. Just thought I'd pass on the info :) Enjoy your drinks!!

Updates!

(sorry pic are kinda cut off...don't know what's up with that??) 



2 months.....how does 2 months go by so incredibly fast?!  Well, here is one reason that I hope to blog more often...I've learned that I can make my blog into a book in 2 seconds flat, instead of working hours and hours and hours on it like I've done in the past!!  For the last...well...however long I've blogged...5 or 6 years, I've made each year into a hard cover book so we can keep them for memories since I use this more as a journaling and scrapbook for the family.  Well, to compile all the posts AND pictures and make it look all cute and pretty takes time...a LOT of time.

 Time that I just don't have right now, so honestly, the thought of having to take more time to work on the book, prevented me from posting!  Crazy, I know!  But thanks to my friend Angel, who's a blogger as well, I've found a site that in one click, it compiles all the post and pics in about 10 seconds into a book.  In order. With pictures. Done.  Granted it doesn't look as pretty, it's just white pages with black writing...but really, for hours upon hours upon hours of time it saves me, black and white is not all that bad!!  So all that to say that printing my book is no longer a problem!  So I hope to blog more just because of that :)  I'd like to post a quick something each day...or every other day.  Some picture or thought...some funny thing said or memory I want to keep.  Would y'all still follow??  Might be more interesting than me posting every 2 months :)

So what's been happenin' around our neck of the woods??  Well, what hasn't been happenin around here is the better question!

In May, we had 2 lovely sisters, Haley (20) and Hannah (18) move in with us.  They share the guest bedroom downstairs next to the boys' room (lucky them).  It's nice to have their help and their company when Nathan is working out of town. (which is often since he is on a job in Sioux Falls currently....but it's hot time so we are trying not to complain...too loudly anyway).  The kids love them and to have 4 extra hands come in handy sometimes!  The first week they were here, I sat on the front porch (on a very oddly warm day) while Hannah rubbed my back and Haley made supper.  Um, yeah, I could get used to that!

In February (I know, long time ago...), we found out that (surprise!) baby #6 is on the way!!!  And yes, it was a surprise to us.  I was getting comfortable with 5....guess the Lord had 6 planned!  We had our mid-way ultrasound this morning and we also found out the sex!!  Guesses???  Let's just say that I cried happy tears ;)

This morning before my ultrasound....end of week 19/start of week 20

Update on the kids:
Tiernan: Is both bummed and excited school is out.  Still sneaks food from anywhere and in anyway he can....grrr... Is very good at playing baseball with dad.  Loved to plant the garden with dad last weekend. Built a big fort in our back trees and will put his lunch and almost everything else he owns in his backpack and sits out there.  Losing teeth left and right.  Cut his head open at a friends house and while it was getting glued together, the glue dripped down his face and onto his chest, causing it to get stuck and us having to rip the skin off of his neck and face where the glue dripped. yeah, it was lovely.  His head healed just fine :)

Caedmon: Did awesome in school this year and is excited about next year already.  Loves anything and everything soft.  Is always trying to convince me to let him have more stuffed animals.  Loves that he made new friends at school, esp with the 'upper graders'. 

Brayan:  Will start school in the fall.  Is getting awesome at reading and sounding out words.  Has the biggest and toughest will out of all the kids.  Fights with Ariella constantly.  Instigates a lot.  Likes to play legos while stories are read in the evening. 

Ariella:  Totally keeps up with the boys and has the sharpest wit out of any 4 year old I know.  Can think so fast on her feet.  Says the funniest things.  One thing in particular she's said recently...A: "When's snack?" Me: "In an hour." A: "That's too long!" and stomps her foot. Me: "Well, now it's in an hour and 10 mins because you stomped." A:....gets real close to my face and in the most stern and serious tone says "I didn't stomp...I was starting a marching band"...and marches "band-like" away from me.  Oh boy.  What to do with that girl!!  She bothers Brayan just as much as he does her.  Knows how to spell all the boys' names and writes words constantly.

Jaeger:  Does his "scary" face to anyone who asks.  And will keep doing it if you laugh.  Is 15 months old and does not walk nor stand on his own yet.  He can pretty much run behind his push toy but has no sense of balance on his own yet.  I don't mind.  The slower speed they are, the easier they are to catch!  *loves* his "ba-ba" (bottle) and will go down for nap and night time without a peep if he's got it.  Says 'yes' by shaking his body instead of his head.  Likes playing hide and seek with the kids.  Will go up the ladder and down the little tikes slide like it's his job. 

Nathan:  Loves getting the garden going and can't wait to live back in the country...although I have other thoughts about that.  Been having a hard time with his back lately.  Is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as his apprenticeship goes, although he still needs quite a few distribution hours.  Just started wearing his wedding ring again after 9 years without it on (he lost it a few months after we got married). 

Dawn:  Tries to stay on top of housework, although it seems like it's always an uphill battle.  Wants to start finanical coaching people as a side job instead of a hobby, although I'd always do it even if I never got paid for it.  Listens to Dave Ramsey's radio program throughout the day instead of music.  Was so super excited to have my ultrasound done today and to see baby all healthy and strong. 

Boys' Birthday Party

Better late than never, right?

Well, here are some pics from Tiernan and Jaeger's birthday party!  Tiernan turned 8 on Feb 23rd and Jaeger turned 1 Feb 18th.  To keep up with tradition, our family friend Ana was kind enough to make Tiernan's birthday cake!  2 years ago she made a baseball, last year he requested a football and this year he was asking for a soccer ball...until about 2 week before his birthday, then he changed his mind.  He wanted a crocodile cake!  (Prob thanks to all the man vs wild episodes he had been watching).  Ana agreed to take on the challenge of a crocodile cake and it was amazing!  I had no idea how she was going to make it, I thought she might just draw one in frosting on top of a normal cake.  But nope! He got a whole crocodile.

 

Jaeger wasn't as picky and didn't request anything :) So I just said she could make his cake very small and in the shape of the number 1.  It was cute and fit him perfectly. He started poking at it and eventually stuck some in his mouth.  He held his right arm out to the side of his body the whole time which was kind of funny :) And since I wasn't sure what to expect with the crocodile and didn't exactly know how many people yet to expect at the party, I decided to order a 1/2 sheet cake from Sam's club for everyone to eat as well.

 

Guests starting arriving about 10:30.  First it was Ana and her family, who had to leave shortly bc of other plans.  Then gma Barb and gpa Ron, Jonny & Becky & kids, pastor Matthew's wife Susan and 2 boys, and gma & gpa Legatt!  First it was lunch, then cake, then presents.

Tiernan was estatic to get a few cool toys, including legos, but the coolest he thought was the remote control helicopter he got from gpa Ron.  He's been practicing on his and always asking to fly it, and since he was getting pretty good at it, we all thought it was time he got his own.  He loves it!

24 hour date

Because of the easter weekend, Nathan got 3 days off. What better way to kick start the vacation than with a date night! The kids (ALL of the kids...which btw was Jaeger's first time away from mom overnight ever so needless to say this hasn't happened in well over a year, can't even remember the last time actually...) went to gma and gpas house around 1:00 in the afternoon and shortly after, I left to run some errands. Nathan got off work a tad early so he could catch the chiropractor while he was still open and then after that we were free as two love birds! What to do???

Well, we started the night by driving around town trying to figure out where to eat. First place we stopped, Texas roadhouse, was so busy that there were at least 75 people crowded in the front waiting to be seated, nope! So off we went to Boulders. We'd never been there before and ordered a bunch of appetizers to share...buffalo wings, cheese curds, artichoke dip...ya know, low fat stuff like that ;)

Then it was to the mall to wander and do some shopping. Here comes the crazy part...we closed the mall down! I mean, I know its only 9pm when it closes but it might as well been 2am bc if I'm still awake and kickin after 8, its a good night!!

So after we left there, we picked up a couple movies and headed home. And oh the house was so nice and quiet when we arrived. No kids yelling, no teeth to brush, no pjs to put on, no bedtime stories. Now, don't get me wrong, not that that stuff is all bad, but having a one night break from it all is quite the change of pace!

The morning was just as weird. No kids coming into the room at 5:30am saying good morning, no thumping of feet hitting the floor after jumping down from the kitchen counters, just quietness. Ahhh. We got ready and left for morning errands. The mall (again), thrift store, post office, oh...AND....a coffee stop!!!

Now, if you know Nathan, you know he normally wants NOTHING to do w coffee and rolls his eyes whenever the word is mentioned or even when I say coffee smells good. I was even a little reluctant to ask him to swing past the cafe for me to get one quick. But he sure surprised me! He says "well I can come in with you and get something" uhhhh...."yeah u could get a smoothie or something" "no I think ill try coffee" wwwwhhhhaaaatttttt????? Wait, who are you and what did u do with my husband???  So in we went and I ordered him the same thing as me so that way if he didn't like it, I could drink it :) and also bc I know nothing about coffee except what I order so I have no idea what else there is. So 2 16oz vanilla breves it was. Best part was that they we're only 1.13 a piece..gotta love the 360 cafe!  And you know what the result was? "That wasn't that bad" said Nathan. Wow. That's one giant leap for mankind folks!  I wanted to take a pic of him drinking it for proof but he put it in the floor and wouldn't let me. I put mine in front if him hut he pushed it away. Small steps here people, small steps :)

After our errand running, we grabbed lunch quick on the way back and headed to pick up the crazy kids. Gma and gpa had a busy 24 hours and were ready to take a nap by the time we left. We don't do that often but its sure nice and appreciated when we get the chance to. So thanks again mom and dad for willingly watching our crazy herd of kids. But now they might reconsider the couple days they agreed to over Nathan's birthday. Haha :)

Pic of us before we left.
Crazy hot husband driving me on our date
Pic of Nathan pushing away my coffee :)

First week completed!

Well we made it through the first week of school for the boys! And not once was I late dropping them off or picking them up, which I say is a huge accomplishment in and of itself!....esp since I have to leave the house by 7:20am with 5 kids up, dressed and fed. At first I thought that I would roll out of bed, fed the older boys, and throw the other three in the van and feed them when we got home, but I found myself getting up early (totally a God thing bc I would NEVER do that on my own) getting somewhat ready, and having time to feed all the kids! Then last Wednesday, I joined the Y and plan on going after I drop the kids off at school on M, W, F. I made it twice last week so I'm on track! Although, oh my goodness, I have never been so sore in my life!! My legs hurt so bad that I couldn't even stand up straight without the muscles in my inner thighs pulling, lol. Nathan called me a "sissy" so I felt the need to remind him who delivered all 5 of his babies at home with no meds?...oh yeah, right... ;)

So back to the boys...once they got over the "we are going to school AGAIN?" thing, they were fine. Caedmon told me each day he made more friends and even on the 2nd day, I turned to say bye to Caedmon after they hung up their stuff and he was already in the classroom playing with things. Alrighty! Guess he is doing fine! :). Their teacher sent home the first weeks worth of papers and Tiernan had mostly As, a few A+s, and few Bs of some sort and Caedmon had mostly A+s with a few As. I think for the first week they did okay! One day after I picked up the boys, I asked Tiernan how school was, his reply was "It was AWESOME!!" Great! What made it so awesome? "We had 2 recesses AND lunch!" LOL! You are SUCH a boy!! :)

The home had a little different dynamics without the 2 here. I only had 3... 5 yr old, 3 yr old, & 1 yr old, but it is strangely quiet. A nice strangely quiet. I was even able to take a nap one afternoon! At one point I remember that Jaeg was taking a nap and the other 2 decided on their own to play a card game in the living room and I noticed that all was quiet and i could actually hear the soft radio music that was playing, ahhhh so nice :) also, Ariella and Brayan are learning quickly that they need to be nice to each other because otherwise they have to play by themselves, there is no one else to go to.

So the first week was a success and we are all looking forward to the next few months before summer break!