Family Fun instead of Halloween

Last night we went met up with a group from church over at a neighboring city's community center.  We hung out, ate pizza, played in the gym and then went swimming!

I didn't plan very well and only had the older boys bring their swim suits with.  I really wasn't thinking anyone would go swimming bc I didn't want to have to deal with suits, wet items, towels, etc etc...plus I had it in my head that there was just a deep pool or something so A & J wouldn't be able to really swim anyway.

With that being said, Ariella was super sad when we decided that the older boys *could go swimming since everyone at the get together was going swimming.  So I was trying to explain to her that she could just watch the boys with me (yeah, real fun mom!).  I told Melissa (yes, her and her family were there too...we do a lot of things together :) that I didn't bring a suit for Ariella and wouldn't ya know that she just happened to bring two suits for Lydia! (her daughter that is Ariella's age).  So she was very happy!

Then there was Jaeg.  Since it was a zero enterence pool, meaning that it was like the beach, just slowing started getting a little deeper...and like 2 feet was the deepest it got, he could have gone in.  Well, I didn't bring his suit either...so I just took off his shoes and rolled up his jeans.  Yeah, that lasted all of 30 seconds and his pants were wet.  Thankfully, another friend had an extra swim diaper that we could use so he happily put it on and in the water to "wade" he went!

Selah on the other hand, HATES the water and cried anytime I tried to get her near it.

Before we left, Ariella really wanted to try to go down the big water slide.  She had a life jacket on and was tall enough so I figured I let her.  She came back down the steps just sobbing bc the rules are that you can't wear a life jacket down the slide, you need to know how to swim.  One life guard saw she crying and asked if she was okay.  I explained the situation and she said that if she's tall enough she can go.  I said she doesn't know how to swim without a life jacket on and her reply was "I'll watch her...if she can't stand up after coming down, I'll jump in and get her!"  She insisted that she go since A really wanted to.  So the lifeguard got all undressed and prepared to jump in after A if need be.  Ariella went down the slide and got her feet planted right away and did great!  So fun she did it again!

Once dressed and ready to go, Jaeger's pants were too wet to put back on...so he left in his shoes, shirt, and jacket.  He tried to pull his coat over his legs once we stepped outside in the cold.  It was so funny :)  I had to take my jeans off in the van once it warmed up in there (good thing it was dark!) bc they had gotten wet up to my thighs...hey, someone had to go in the water with Jaeger! :)

Selah was so zonked once we got home! I think it was stressful for her being around water for that long! First time ever I was able to change, undress and dress again a child and they kept sleeping!

Women's Retreat

Following a weekend of getting away with Nathan, I was able to go on a women's retreat with church!  I was a little reluctant to go because 1) it was another weekend away from Selah especially, 2) I had to figure out getting my parents to watch the kids while Nathan was working Friday and 3) I didn't really know any of the ladies that were going except Melissa.  Well, it turned out that Nathan isn't working Fridays currently so he could watch the kids and take the older ones to school etc so I figured I should do it just because I hadn't done anything like that before.

So we left Thurs evening...Melissa picked me up about 4:30 and we were off!  We stayed in a large rental cottage on a lake north of Alexandria.  There were 21 women total.  Not much planned for the weekend except lots of relaxing and devotions.  It stretched both Melissa and I out of our comfort zone with being with ladies we didn't know, etc. but by the end of the weekend, we were starting to get to know them better.  We got home around 4:30 on Saturday.

Let the wknd begin!

Well, first we had to stock up on snacks... :) 

Beautiful morning sunrise

After our 2.5 mile walk...

And the kids were alive when I returned....although Selah's onesie was on backwards... :)

Day 2

Our weekend away continues...

Day 2

Slept in til 7:15, earlier than I wanted to wake up but I think as parents, it's just a part of you now to get up early. We started the day with a walk, and then went to Park Rapids.  We stopped at Walmart and the dollar store before checking out downtown. Once there, we ate lunch at Good Life (the best battered fries), and had dessert at Minnesota Fountain. (Malts and shakes!)

I said that I didn't really like going to shops and stuff but the first place we stopped at was SO neat and exactly my style!! I was in love!! Such cute stuff!!!

Nathan also picked up an Under Armour shirt before heading back to the cabin.

Once back, we played some Scattergories (much to Nathan's dislike!) and pictionary. (Girls won :).  Then we watched a movie, ate a lot of food and played some more pool, darts & ping pong. 

Checked on the kids. Sounded like they were having fun. (They were making slime before the sun was even up this morning so I'm pretty sure they are doing fine without us!)

 Love this clock!!

Haha :) Yes....

Good reminder to start the day!

Wanted to get these letters for the kids but they didn't have "J" :(

New nephew

A couple days ago, Nathan's youngest brother Jonathan had their 5th biological child (7th total), Jedidiah Russell! He made 35 on the list of nieces and nephews, whew! I brought them a meal this morning & got to snuggle the little guy, aww...so sweet! Selah is 11 months old today and can't believe she was that little just a handful of months ago! 

Random selfie to send to Daddy a couple Sundays ago

The great gran kids with great Gma and Gpa for their little surprise party for their 71st wedding anniversary over at jack and Judy's.

Weekend Getaway--Day 1

We got away for the first time since Selahs been born for an over night weekend with good friends. Wade and Michelle took us up north to Park Rapids to their family friends cabin. It's is massive house (they were thinking about 6000+ sq ft). It has 7 bedrooms (plus a queen bed in the master closet so almost 8 bedrooms)...and these aren't just normal size...a couple bedrooms have 4 & 6 beds each in them!! It also boasts 4 bathrooms and 5 living areas. Enough space for the 4 of us! The kids stayed at grandmas and we were off!!

Day one consisted of driving there, game of rumikube, pool, darts, ping pong, and listening to loud music :) We felt "young" again!!

When the cats away....

....mom cleans. :)

So the time when I am the most productive are the times when Nathan is gone. I guess Id rather be hanging out w him when he's home than doing anything else so not much else gets done. It's prob a good thing he doesn't work from home...we'd prob be in trouble!

Well, last time he left, I decided to change around the rooms downstairs. Tiernans room consisted of his queen sized bed and dresser and then a bunch of boxes (filled with stuff I'm selling on eBay). It was an eyesore of a room. Plus him and Jaeg never really slept in their bc they'd sneak over to the others boys room after we put them to bed. So I decided to put all the boys together.... I connected the 2 sepate beds back ino a bunk and moved the queen bed and dresser into that room. Then what was tiernans room was changed into a playroom for the little kids. The other playroom has things like the trampoline, fooseball table, etc & not so much room for the little kids stuff. 

So I stopped at a couple thrift stores and picked up a couple things, painted a couple helps we already had, and voila! A little kids playroom :)

After I took the bed out...

A clean slate!

The big kids playroom..

At 10 months, Selah

Today I had Annette over for coffee, was nice time visiting. Then the rest of the day consisted of regular day to day things and planning some fun for us next spring :) we aren't going anywhere but are prepping to make ourselves a little "home away from home"...more thoughts on that later :)

Enjoying Daddy Day

Today was a nice relaxing day at home, enjoying the time we get with Dad. He has 64 hours of hot time left in the apprenticeship and he will be done!! 4 years in the making. Not sure where the next step will take us, we will have to wait and see where The Lord leads. 

There's a fine balance between letting the kids enjoy dad as much as possible and trying to get "us" time in. Today we decided to rent a couple movies for the kids so they were occupied and then we were able to sit and chat and actually we took a nap! It was so nice!

The weather was extremely warm today for it being the end of sept, 83 degrees. It was perfect to sit on the deck and drink a cup of coffee together this morning. After Selahs morning nap, we drove out to the land and walked around, dreamt about where our future house will go, where the animals will be fenced in, etc. the kids had fun playing in the trees and on the rock pile. 

Then we went and got milk (the kids just *had to get out of the van which lead to Tiernan picking up a stick and swinging it around and not paying attention to where Jaeg was standing...which lead to him smacking Jaeg right in the face with the stick...poor kid). After milk we picked up some Arby's and Culvers for a late lunch treat and back home we went.

Once it started to cool off outside, we played some quick kickball in the backyard and went for a walk. I wanted to walk a good ways, a few miles around a loop near us. B & C decided they didn't want to come with so we let them stay home. (When we got back, C exclaimed "we didn't even sneak any food! Only water!" Lol) But after we started out, we got about 1/4 of the way and A started fussing and whining and just stopped on her bike and refused to go any further. We kept walking awhile but then figured we should turn around and try to go on a walk in the morning when the kids are still sleeping!! Is there such thing as the 'terrible 5s'??

Now Nathan is downstairs reading "the little house in the big woods"...the first in the series, while I clean up, write this post and watch this sweet girl....

I swear they all have their own beds...and I tell them each night to *stay in their own beds....they love sleeping on the floor next to each other and in front of the fan.