Random February

Random February 2013 Happenings

Matthew's preschool class had a Valentine's party and Emily and I were able to go and help out with it. The highlight for Matthew was musical chairs. This boys is pretty competitive and won a few of the rounds. Emily and I enjoyed the entertainment. 

We usually make sugar cookies for Valentine's day to take to teachers, friends and neighbors. This year we decided to do cinnamon rolls instead. I did a double batch to make sure we had enough. Mom Stevens always says that cinnamon rolls are a "labor of love." I think she's right! It takes time, but it's sure fun to give them away (and enjoy them ourselves!!)

Jeff and the kids wanted to do a surprise for Valentine's Day this year too. Jeff bought a bunch of fun things for a special Valentine's breakfast and the kids helped set everything up. They did crepes, fresh berries, a fuit bowl out of a watermelon, muffins, chocolate milk and juice. They definitely know how to go all out! We enjoyed a fun breakfast together!

Emily and Matthew and I enjoyed a couple more trips to the gymnastics academy. It's such a fun place!

Jeff and I went out for Valentine's Day to a local restaurant. I thought it would be fun to do a fun dinner for the kids while we were out. I found this cute idea for an angry birds pizza and Jacob helped me make it. The kids said it was the best pizza ever!

Jeff and Matthew had "Dads & Donuts" at preschool another day during February. Matthew thought it was so cool that Jeff could come to school with him. They had all sorts of fun activities and of course- donuts.

Late in February, Jeff's hospital had a special ski day at the local ski resort. Skiing in South Dakota is pretty relative- it definitely doesn't compare to skiing out West, but this was the very first time for our boys. They were all pretty excited to go! Emily was a little bummed she couldn't go too, but we went out and ran a few errands, then picked up some dinner and watched her new Cinderella movie so she was happy with that.
Jeff said they had fun skiing. Of course there was the time that Caleb got lost. Jeff told him to wait at the top of the hill while he helped Matthew who had fallen down. Long story short- Caleb decided he wanted to just go by himself. So he made a few runs down the "mountain". All the while, Jeff and the other boys kept going up and down also, looking for Caleb. Eventually they all met up again and everything was fine, but I think it will be a little while before Jeff takes all three boys again. :) No, they really did have fun and I know they'll go again. I just got a good laugh out of the story!

February Projects

February 2013

After the new year, I really started wanting to get projects done before the baby arrived in April. In February, we were able to get a few of the big projects done. From the time we moved into our home, I really dislike the color in the kitchen/dining room. It was a really ugly golden yellow with a hand-painted glaze. Some people like that sort of thing, but it just isn't my thing. I don't know why it took so long, but one day I had had enough! I did a little searching for the right paint color, and one afternoon I just went to town. Jeff was a little surprised when he came home from work and half the kitchen was a different color. I tell you- I wish there was some way to bottle all that energy at the end of a pregnancy! I finished the project in just a few days. It really made such a difference! The kitchen and dining area looks so much better- like night and day difference. 

Another project we've worked on is getting cupboards in our basement. We had a big empty wall, and no great storage space for toys, etc. Jeff found a great guy who does cabinetry and we started the project. I found several ideas of things I liked, then Jeff (the cabinet guy) drew up some different plans. We finalized what we wanted and Jeff built them (so much cheaper than even buying pre-made cabinets from a home improvement store!) Once he was finished building everything- he brought it back and installed the shelving part. Our Jeff then did the painting- and that was a pretty big project in and of itself! I felt bad for not helping out, but being 8 months pregnant- Jeff didn't want me doing any of the painting.
Once the painting was all complete, Jeff R. came back and put everything together with all the finishing touches. We love the finished product! It has been so great for toys and basement storage. No more bins stacked up on top of each other- everything has a home and it looks so great! I will add some decorations/photos to the top shelves, but these cupboards are fantastic!

Wrestling

February 2013

Our boys had their first experience with wrestling this year (2012-2013). It's been busy, but it's also been fun to watch them. They had their biggest meet during February. Jeff has been involved with wrestling most of his life and says he's never seen an area where wrestling is so big! I can't believe how many people are so involved around here! The tournaments are huge, and there are multiple tournaments every single weekend. This particular tournament was only about 35 minutes away. It was on a Friday night, so we took the whole family and went down for the evening. It was really fun to watch all three boys wrestle. It was a little crazy- there were tons of people, but it was also really fun. Emily was the best little cheerleader and I got a kick out of watching Jeff help coach the boys! He really gets into it! Each of the boys did great! Jacob took 1st, Matthew took 2nd, and Caleb took 3rd in their divisions. Most importantly they all had fun. It was a fun way to start off the weekend!  

8th Month/32 Weeks

I hit the 8th month/32 weeks on Friday, February 15th.  I know I say it every single month, but the time is just flying by. I think especially once you hit the 3rd trimester mark. I love feeling and seeing this sweet baby move around. We're still trying to figure out a name. We have a few options, but nothing set just yet. I'm starting to get baby clothes ready and working on the room for the girls. I'm excited to meet our baby girl, but also enjoying the pregnancy- I really do love it and don't mind going up to the due date. I'm sure these last 6-8 weeks are going to fly by!

Random January 2013

January 2013

January was filled with lots of wrestling. We weren't able to do many tournaments because many of them were really far away and others were on Sunday. One Friday night, Matthew had a tournament here in town. Jacob and Caleb would have participated too, but one of their best friends had a birthday party. It was sure fun to watch Matthew. He did a great job!

This is a very rare sight in our house. It was a Saturday and the kids had been busy working on projects and chores. I don't remember exactly what we did all day, but at the end of the evening all three boys were asleep on the floor by the fireplace. They were tired boys!

In January, Matthew's preschool did their annual "Moms & Muffins." It was so fun to be able to go to preschool with him and enjoy the fun things together. We did some crafts, played some games, read stories, did a few activities with the class and of course had muffins & juice. More than anything, I loved seeing how excited Matthew was to show me everything in his classroom. I loved seeing his favorite toys and books and seeing the things he loved. He's sure growing up- we're getting ready for kindergarten registration and I'm still having a hard time believing that my little boy is already old enough to go to kindergarten. He's such a sweetheart- I'm really going to miss having him around all day. The moms & muffins afternoon was a lot of fun and I was so glad I could go and spend the afternoon with Matthew!

Jacob has been busy with scouts and was able to receive his Wold badge this month. He earned it a while back, but we were out of town in December. We've got a pretty great group of scouts here and I'm glad Jacob gets to work with such great leaders.

Matthew's class pictures came back. It's actually kind of funny- I didn't end up ordering his pictures because we had just had some taken- but Matthew was SO sad when he didn't get to take home a class picture like his friends. So one afternoon I just asked his teacher Miss Terra if I could snap a picture of the group picture so Matthew could have one. I know my lesson now- I need to always make sure I order the class picture!

Jacob has been doing the advanced program at a different elementary. It's a little tricky because he now goes to a different school than Caleb. He actually has to catch a bus at 7:25am. It's been a different schedule for us and makes it a little tricky to balance everyone, but he's been enjoying it. During the month of January- their classes had a big robotics competition. Each group had a robot that they had to program to do different things. They had a challenge course set up and each team had a certain amount of time to get their robot to complete as many of the challenges successfully as possible. It was really fun to go watch & Jacob's group did very well! In fact- they ended up winning the competition. It was great to watch him and see their hard work pay off.

I finally got a picture of Emily's hair right out of the bath. She was lucky enough to get some of daddy's natural curl. So believe it or not, this is what her hair looks like right out of the bath. I feel pretty lucky because it sure makes my job easy- especially on days when we're in a hurry. I can get her out of the bath, get her dressed, fluff the hair a little and we're ready to go!

This isn't the greatest picture, but I love this cute shot of the kids all gathered around dad for some stories before bed. They have such a wonderful dad and I'm so grateful for all of them!

One morning in January- we had school cancelled. It wasn't because of snow- it was actually because the temperature was down at 40 below zero! They don't cancel school very often around here, but apparently a -40 degree day will qualify. We were ALL excited! The big boys stayed home and we played and baked. I love having school cancelled.

I was looking at my schedule of maternity dr visits. I can't believe that I'm almost to the point of every 2-week visits and soon after, weekly visits.  Seeing it on paper like this really makes it seem close!

Happy 9th Birthday Jacob!

Jacob turned 9 years old on January 28th! I think his very favorite gift for his birthday was a 2-hour late start to school because of snow. He still had to go to school, but at least it wasn't until 10:15. We were able to make waffles-Jacob's favorite- and have breakfast as a family. It was great!

At 10am when the kids had to get to school, we loaded everyone up and first took Caleb to school, then I drove to Jacob's school and dropped him off with a big platter of cupcakes for his class. It was nice that he didn't have to ride the bus on his birthday either.

That night we had a family celebration with dinner, gifts, and birthday cake of course. I'm not sure why I didn't get more pictures, but it was a fun night to spend together. 

We are so grateful for this wonderful boy! I can't believe he's already 9 years old. He's been such a great oldest child, and a wonderful big brother and friend. I'm always so grateful for how responsible and mature he has always been. There have been just a couple times earlier this year when my alarm didn't go off for some reason. I woke up- seeing the clock say 7:30 and completely panicked because Jacob catches the bus at 7:25! I ran downstairs, but Jacob was nowhere to be found. This 2nd grade boy got himself up, got breakfast, all his school supplies together, a lunch packed and got himself on the bus all by himself before 7:25am. I felt terrible for missing it- but I am so grateful to have such a sweet son who is so responsible. He has been this way for his entire life. He has always been very aware and sensitive of others. He is kind and thoughtful and responsible. Our whole family is so grateful every single day for our Jacob!

Happy Birthday Jacob! We love you!

7th Month/ 28 Weeks

Well, I've officially hit the 3rd trimester! I'm now in the 7th month/ 28 weeks along. I'm feeling great- and really starting to feel that need to get everything done! I've really noticed the extra energy this time around and have been tackling all sorts of projects. I seriously wish there was a way to bottle this stuff! I've been organizing closets, cupboards, drawers, going through everything and finishing projects I've been wanting to do for years. Anyway I'm trying to take advantage because I know it'll probably be gone once the baby arrives!
 I even finally had the courage to start potty training Emily. We waited longer for her, mainly because I didn't want to do it during the first trimester of pregnancy, and then I didn't want to worry about it over the holidays. Of course, as soon as we got going- Emily was potty trained in 2 days. It was so much easier than I had anticipated. (Luckily, most of our kids were pretty easy- there was just one who gave us grief- and the poor boy, I can't say I blame him. We moved multiple times and had a new baby.)
I've got 10-12 weeks left, and there is still a lot to do, but I'm really just enjoying the pregnancy. I might not be the norm, but I really love being pregnant. I love feeling the baby move, and although there isn't nearly the time to sit and daydream about the new upcoming baby by the time you get to #5- there are still brief, fleeting moments when I can just sit and enjoy and be excited. I'm so grateful for this new little one.