Birthday Fun!!

Thanks Aunt G and Uncle D!!!!
We love you!!!

All Things Drew

Okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to dedicate an entire post to my youngest child. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up and how fast he is acquiring new skills and abilities! It is certainly a bittersweet thing to watch your children grow up. On one hand, I am amazed and so thankful for a healthy, smart and funny little guy. But, as he becomes more independent and develops his language and motor skills, I feel a tiny ache in my heart. It seems like there are so many "last times" in his life. You know, last time for a bottle, last time in this carseat, last time in the crib, last time for this toy, last time in the highchair... Sadly, I am clinging to his babyhood because I know that very soon (whether I like it or not) I will have to admit that he is no longer a baby. He is very much a toddler. I passed by the baby section in Target the other day and actually felt a little sad as I realized that the ONLY thing I still need from that section is diapers. So, here I stand with one very stubborn foot in the baby stage and one very tentative foot in the grade school stage. I look at the current baseball games, spelling lists, reading books, soccer games, sleepovers and endless questions and realize that even though "the best is yet to come", I don't know if anything can top these baby years for me! Hey, I never proclaimed to be good with change!!!
Here are a few of Drew's latest moments. I hope you enjoy them.

Things to do in our neighborhood...

Yep, this is it!

Prom Night

Well, my husband went to his very first prom last weekend. Can you believe he didn't ask me to go with him? I wonder if it was the four kids I had hanging off of me that discouraged him from asking. Rodney grew up overseas and had never experienced prom before. I think his overall opinion was that it was "much ado about nothing." Maybe he'll feel differently when our kids are old enough for (gasp) prom. We had a good time here at home. I picked up a ton of appetizers and we pretended we were eating at Applebee's. 'Cause seriously, who would take four kids out alone to the real thing? So, now whenever we pull any kind of appetizer out of the freezer, Ben quickly proclaims..."yeah, we're eating applebee's!" We had dinner and a movie. I have to say, the kids were a blast to be with and I felt a little sad for Rodney because I knew I was having more fun than him.

Girlfriends

The words from the "Cheers" theme song come to mind. "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came..."
Last weekend, I took a camera shy Dawn (not pictured) and Kim and met up with a group of girls from "up North". I can't begin to express what therapy it was for me to be with very good friends again. It has been very lonely here in a new town. It takes a lot of effort and time to build friendships. Lately, I feel like life is a long line of introductions. Hello, my name is Jill, I have four kids, yes...they are ALL boys, blah blah blah. I had no idea how completely relaxing and wonderful it would be to just "be myself" with good friends. You forget how important it is to just have a history with someone. I slept little, laughed hard and cried even harder at the thought of saying good-bye again. We all went to a conference for moms called, "Hearts at Home." I could write an entire page on the conference. It was very affirming and encouraging. I picked up some great advice on every topic from marriage and parenting to cleaning and organizing better. My highlight was meeting the author of a book I've had for 9 years about moving. How appropriate (as I'm currently clinging to her book) that I would have the chance to tell her thank you for being obedient to God and writing it. I got to room with my very dear friend, Jenny. We shared some big laughs and a slightly uncomfortable bed with a large mirror for a headboard. It doesn't get any funnier than that! I guess despite the tears over parting once again, I can say that I have a deeper appreciation for friendship. I feel blessed to have people in my life (even though they are far away) that know me very well and love me anyway. And as I ponder the fascinating concept of friendship, I am reminded that this kind of love from 'sisters' is only possible because of the amazing love of the One that created us. We love because he first loved us! 1 John 4:19 I love you, friends, and I already miss you!

Where Art Thou, O Tooth Fairy

A milestone: Nate lost his first tooth. He was excited when he told us that it was loose, but a little freaked out about what came next. Over the next few weeks, he worked on the tooth until it was lying perpendicular to the rest of the teeth in his mouth. :) Daddy helped him pull it out and we put the tooth in the pillow where Nate anxiously fell asleep next to it waiting for the tooth fairy. At 5am, Nate woke up to use the bathroom. When I was helping him back into bed I noticed that he was messing around at the foot of his bed. He very sadly proclaimed that the tooth fairy had forgotten him. I quickly responded that maybe the tooth fairy had several stops to make and would be stopping by later in the night. Hmmmm, well, the tooth fairy didn't sleep after that. She went back to bed plagued with guilt over forgetting something that she had been celebrating a mere 9 hours ago. She then worried about getting older and forgetting things. After sitting in bed for what seemed like an eternity...she crawled into Nate's room and traded the tooth for money. With four kids and lots of teeth to go...the tooth fairy better start taking her Vitamin B supplements and hope her memory improves!

This place is a zoo...

Okay, so we were actually at the zoo. We took a Sunday afternoon to visit the zoo as a family. What a difference it is to see the animals on a 45 degree day instead of a 95 degree one. The animals were very active (including my own animals). But it was one of those days that just worked out great. We had a picnic in the car, saw the animals and enjoyed being together.

Family Hike

We hiked around a little lake in January and I took a few pictures of the boys enjoying the fresh air. Strangely, on the day we took this walk, it was 65 degrees.

Snow Days

In Wisconsin, we NEVER had snow days. The only time I remember them canceling school was when we got 17" of snow in one day. Down South, they cancel school every time snowflakes start flying. And even more interestingly, they don't wait to see what it is like in the morning, they cancel the night before the snow even starts. We've officially had five snow days this year due to snow, ice and sleet. What an interesting transition it has been for these "northerners"!! When 4-8 inches are expected, the news crews go into "storm mode" and update the weather every 15 minutes. It is a frenzy! They tell us that this has been the 'snow-iest" Winter in years. We have enjoyed sledding down the hill in our backyard. Hopefully you'll enjoy the pictures.

Fell off the face of the Earth...

I wish I could give a good reason for not updating since November of last year. But I can't, so I won't. Let's just say that it has been a bit difficult to get into my groove here in this new location. But hopefully things are on the upswing! :) I'll post a few pictures to show you what we've been up to over the Winter. Enjoy

Stay-at-home Mom

One day very soon, I will be deeply entrenched in my career again. I'm sure that when I look back on these days at home, I will long for them again. I feel like I always have so much to do, but not much to show for my hours spent here. The schedule is so laid back and flexible, but I always seem to be running late for something. So, here is my day at a glance. A huge thank you goes out to the woman that taught me how to be a mom. She set up many forts and picnics on the deck. She also endured some pretty questionable lunches served by her French waiters, Jill and Jock (he he) If you've ever thought...jill's a good mom...it is because of her influence in my life. (And the grace of God that keeps me sane with four boys in my home)
Love you, Mom!!

*people I helped get ready for the "real" world today...3
*people who are still here following me around begging for Halloween candy...2
*number on the clock when I finally grabbed a shower...11:00
*Loads of laundry washed, but with no hope of getting folded today...3
*number of diapers/pull-ups I've changed so far...5
*Times I've wiped Baby's nose...1,000,000
*Times I've kissed Baby's soft chubby face...1,000,000
*Biggest accomplishment of the day...made a fantastic fort
*places I'd rather be today...nowhere
(unless of course, I could take the whole crew with me. Then, I'd maybe pick Cabo) :)

Hopefully, NO means YES!

Entertainment

This is what we do for fun!

Cops and Robbers

Okay, for Halloween this year we wanted to go with a group theme. After tossing a few ideas out the window, we settled on cops and robbers. The older two were easy to convince. I mean, what little boy wouldn't want to pretend to be a police officer? But when we got the costumes for them and Boo didn't get one, he was a hard sell. Until, I informed Boo that he and baby would be robbers and they would have handcuffs and steal the candy from the police. The mischievous twinkle flashed in his eye and I knew he was in. I must admit that we were putting black electrical tape on sweatpants at the last minute. But we got the costumes finished and had a great time. Our neighborhood was fun to trick or treat in and even mom and dad participated. Pictures not included. Hope you enjoy!

Scooby's Birthday

What a big kid. I can't believe 8 years have passed since we brought this little guy home to our tiny flat in HK to the sounds of jackhammers below us. If the past eight years have gone by at lightning speed, what will the next eight be like? It's too sad to think about. I have to say. I am so proud of Scooby. I am proud of the wonderful guy he is and I can't wait to see what God does with him. He has a very compassionate heart. I love how sensitive he is to others and what a great big brother he is. He is definitely very loved by everyone that knows him. I think he had a nice birthday. We tried to make it special. His cousin and best buddy in the whole world came to spend the weekend with us. Nana and Papa came to celebrate with cake and presents on Sunday. Our family party was on Tuesday. Scooby got some cool presents. One of the presents was a computer game that he is now obsessed with. Now, if only I can figure out how to slow down time so I'm not on here in a flash commenting on his ninth birthday.
Happy Birthday, Z. We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Day with Aunt K

One of the advantages of living closer to family is being able to see them more often. Today was a day with Aunt K. We had a great time together. We managed to fit in a trip to Target, Panera, and Sams. Aunt K had a smile on her face the whole time...even when we were checking out at Sams and Baby made a game of throwing his shoes while Boo was begging (passionately) to get out of the cart. We splurged on ice cream (cause it's still warm here, and we can). :) Scooby and Spike were excited to see that Aunt K had brought a project for them to do. Big thanks go out to Aunt K. for her enthusiasm and wonderful snacks and projects. We all had a wonderful time with you and we're so glad you spent the day with us. And Boo especially thanks you for the very warm and very "Diego" blanket you bought him today. In fact, he's upstairs wrapped up in it right now. Thanks for feeding the obsession!
Hope you like the pictures.

Apple Farm

For the past seven years, it has been our tradition to trek out to the apple orchard and pick our own apples. This is one of our really fun family experiences. I'm guessing God gave us great times like this to offset the dinner hour, bedtime stress and trips with our kids in the car. Because these are the times that I look at my children and see each one individually. I watch Scooby carefully look through the trees for the "perfect" apple, and notice that Spike is more interested in quantity than quality. I see Boo trying to set a record for how many apples you can eat while walking through the apple orchard. And there is Baby in the backpack carrier laughing and grunting for more bites of apple. I am thankful for these moments. It makes me feel especially blessed to be a mom and especially proud of my children. Hope you enjoy these pics. And if it doesn't inspire you to go to the apple orchard, it just might make you hungry for an apple pie!

Baby is now called Bruiser

Well, it was bound to happen. When you've only been walking for a few weeks, you're bound to take some falls. Unfortunately for Baby, the kids' shoe bench was in his path. We quickly got acquainted with our local emergency room. Baby is going to be fine. Nothing is broken. He's just swollen and bruised. And I don't think the kids in the church nursery are going to give HIM any trouble! Rod says that he actually looks like our future football player. :) The day after the fall, Baby developed a high fever. Must have been a gift from his big brother, Boo. Boo was out on Tuesday with a high fever. Ahhh, parenting...does it get any "funner" than this? Only slightly kidding! My nervous breakdown followed on Thursday night. Fortunately for all of you, there are no pictures to show that meltdown.

Our Home

Many of you that we love dearly have never seen our home. Hopefully you will enjoy this little tour. The pictures are showing up randomly. But you'll be able to see our open family room/kitchen, as well as the basement that my wonderful husband and our equally wonderful uncle labored over. We have plenty of room for guests, so come on over and we'll give you the tour personally.