T-ball

Here are some pictures I took at the boys' second to last t-ball game last Sunday. It was a billion degress outside, and they even had the game in the evening! I don't even want to think about how hot it would have been during the afternoon! They are doing a great job playing t-ball. They're starting to get the hang of the bat and running the bases. Throwing and catching is another matter entirely. So is fielding. But, they're enthusiastic, and that's what counts.

Once t-ball ends, we're finally done with all our summer activities. They went to two week of day camps, a week of bible school, and two weeks of swimming lessons everyday. It's nice to finally have some non-busy days. Consequently we've spent a lot of time at the pool this week! And a good thing too. It's been so hot!!! I do think they enjoyed every activity we put them in this summer. They did marvelously at swimming lessons! Xander and Grace took the next higher level and Will gave it one more try on his beginning level. Glad to say that Will finally passed that level! I think really all it took was him getting super comfortable in the water, putting his head under and jumping in voluntarily. He has come a long way swimming this summer. Xander, the little fish that he is, passed the higher level on his first try. He loves to swim, and you should see him go! Grace didn't quite pass the higher level, she'll repeat it, but she's also doing well. I think I am going to hold off on another round of lessons until this winter. They start soccer in late August, plus with piano lessons and getting adjusted to school, I didn't think they needed another thing to do. And speaking of piano lessons, we took some time off from practicing early in the summer when we were busy, but I'm proud to say we've gotten back into it regularly. The kids are making great strides. They're halfway through Suzuki Book 1 and 3/4 of the way through their primer method book. I'll get some video maybe yet this summer to post for you to see the improvement. That's about all our news for this week. Hope everyone is staying cool in this ridiculously hot weather!

Xander's big news!!

I posted last week that Xander had some big news. It took me all week to get around to posting it, but here it is.
Xander lost his first tooth last Monday! Can you believe it? I have kids old enough to start losing teeth!!!  We had known since the 4th of July that it was wiggly. Sunday night I looked at it and noticed it was super close to falling out. I knew it would be in the next few days it would fall out. When I picked them up from camp on Monday afternoon, the counselor told me he had lost it at lunch. When I asked Xander what happened, he said it fell out into his mouth, so he spit it out and put it in his lunchbox. Then, he told one of the girl counselors that it had fallen out. She put it in a HUGE gallon ziploc bag (see picture 2). And wrote "Xander's Tooth. Lost on 7-12-11" on it and put it in his lunchbox. As you can imagine, they bombarded me with the news when I picked them up! He was a little shy about it. I couldn't decide if he was wierded out by it, or just shy from all the attention he was getting. He put the tooth, bag and all, under his pillow that night and the tooth fairy brought him 8 quarters. Let's do the math on that, shall we? 8 quarters x 20 teeth (per kid) = 160 quarters. Times 3 kids, that's 480 quarters. That's $120 dollars, folks, that we will be spending on lost teeth if the tooth fairy keeps that up. Wow!!! His new tooth is already growing in and he has two other teeth that are starting to get wiggly. He will be a toothless wonder before long! Will has one tooth that you might say is wiggly, and all of Grace's teeth are still firmly in place. So, the tooth fairy may visit Xander again before the other two. No corn on the cob for Xander the rest of this summer!

Congrats Nick and Meagan!

At the rehearsal dinner with Uncle Nick and (soon to be) Aunt Meagan.

 With Sebastian and Meagan's nephew Zachary, he's 3.

 Getting her hair done at the salon with the bride and bridesmaids!

 All dressed up! Adorable!

 All the feet decked out in Converse.

The boys walking up the aisle. They are carrying items for the time capsule. Will and Xander are holding Sebastian's hand. He's not carrying anything.

Grace throwing her flower petals.

Coming back. They are supposed to go with with my parents in the front row.

Meagan and her mom coming down the aisle.

Will and I at the reception at the Rococo.

Brian and Grace.

The kids went up to the balcony and waved down.

The kids with Nick and Meagan, right before it was time to go home for bed!

Group hug!

Congratulations to Nick and Meagan, who is now Aunt Meagan. They got married on July 9th. Some of you may have heard that they were supposed to get married on the riverboat on the Missouri River in Brownsville, NE. But, the flooding had other plans. About 3 weeks before the wedding, it got canceled and they got all their money back. So, they spent that time scrambling to find another place, in an un-flooded area, to have the wedding. They ended up using Antelope Park for the ceremony and the Rococo theater for the reception. It worked out well, and everything was beautiful. It was hot at the park. My dad helped out by parking his RV in the parking lot and running the generator for some AC. We camped out in there before and after pictures, before the ceremony started. The kids ate snacks and watched movies while the adults also hung out. The kids did a great job doing their jobs as ring bearers and flower girl during the ceremony. As I said earlier, the boys each carried an item for the time capsule (newspaper, printed emails and a watch) and Grace threw dried flower petals from bouquets that Nick had given Meagan over the years. The boys did a great job helping Sebastian up and down the aisle. Grace had a melt-down at the rehearsal and didn't want to walk up the aisle, but Brian used his magical powers of persuasion and talked her into it. She did a great job (She exclaimed to me after the wedding "Mommy, I did it! I was a flower girl!") Thank God for Brian's patience and persuasive arguments!

The reception was fun. The kids got to dance, which they loved. Besides Sebastian and Zachary, there was only one other kid there. So, they got the floor all to themselves for a while! By about 8:00, they were so tired! Brian and the kids goodbye and went home for bed. I stayed a while longer and visited with family I hadn't seen in a while.

That night, Saturday, got a little interesting at home. Brian woke up in the middle of the night and said he didn't feel well. That he had a sharp pain in his stomach and he had really bad chills. We debated going to the emergency room, but decided to wait and see what happened. We got up and went to my mom's for brunch and present opening and all the while, Brian just wasn't feeling well, still with pain in his stomach. We got home, and debated whether or not he should go to the hospital. He decided about 1:45 to go ahead and go. We were babysitting Sebastian and he was sleeping, but the boys had a t-ball game at 2:00. We skipped the ball game and everyone took a nap while Brian drove himself to the emergency room. When everyone woke up, I shipped them off to my mom's house and went to the ER with Brian. After a CT scan, they determined he had appendicitis (which we had suspected all along). They admitted him and after a looooooong wait, he went to surgery at 10:30. The kids spent the night at mom's house. I got home from the hospital around 1 am, then got up early to take clothes, lunches and sunblock to the kids to get them off to their first day of camp at the Y. I went back to the hospital with Brian and ended up taking him home after lunch. Ellen picked the kids up from camp and took them home for a while to give Brian a chance to rest. All in all, he is fine. A little sore and swollen from the surgery, but it was laproscopic, so there were only 3 small incisions. He stayed home from work on Tuesday, but went back Wednesday. It wasn't too bad, as far as appendicitis goes. It was caught early and wasn't close to rupturing. He's on the mend and we appreciate everyone that helped us out as we dealt with this unexpected event!

The kids have been enjoying day camp at the Y everyday this week. They go to parks and fish, do nature hikes, play, do crafts, eat lunch and swim. They did this last year and had fun, so we repeated it again this year. They come home very tired! Xander had a fun development this week, I'll save that story and pictures for another post. Check back soon for that exciting news!

4th of July (actually the 3rd of July!)

 Will getting ready to shoot fireworks.

 From left: Will, Carter, Camden, Sebastian, Grace and Xander.

 Poppers!

Throwing poppers. The favorite!

 Smoke bombs and parachutes in the street.

Teaching Xander how to use a punk!

On Sunday the 3rd of July, we had our friends over for a little BBQ and fireworks. It was the second night in a row we let the kids stay up until 10:30 to watch fireworks in the dark. Our neighborhood was hopping with fireworks all around us, so we got a good show. The kids had a great time watching, shooting fireworks and playing with cousins. Boy were they tired the next day, but it was fun!

A trip to the lake!

Here is Xander, jumping off the dock for the 400th time. This is all the kid did that afternoon, was swim up, jump off and repeat. They taught him how to do a cannonball.

 Ready for a boat ride with cousin Carter.

Waiting for fireworks to begin! We kept the kids at the lake until about 10:30, then drove home. It was a late night and they were exhausted! Slept until 9:00 the next morning!

Us with Uncle Chad, Lisa, Camden and Carter!

Randy and Judy Bailey, friends of Dale and Ellen, live on Middle Island in South Bend. They have a huge 4th of July thing every year, and they always invite us out. It was on Saturday the 2nd this year, so we were able to go. We got there around 4:30 in the afternoon and the kids went straight into the water. We drug them out at 6:30 for dinner, then they got back in. We drug them out again about 7:30 for a boat ride, then they got back in. We drug them out at dark, got cleaned up and waited for fireworks. The cabin owners at this lake all pitch in and do a HUGE fireworks show, that is great. Very professional. It was fun to watch and the kids loved it. As I said before, we didn't get home until 11:30 that night and the kids luckily slept until 9:00 the next morning (and took a nap that afternoon). What a fun night - Thanks Randy and Judy!!

Summer!

Summer is half over and it's time to celebrate the kids' half birthday. Here is a pic from their luau (see posts below for more pics from the party). Also, see below for a little info about each kid at 5 1/2. We have three kids who are growing up very fast and are less and less like preschoolers and more like kindergarteners every day. I can't believe they're so big!

Will at 5 1/2

5 1/2 year old Will is so funny. He's very bright and smiley and loving. He's the most sensitive of the three and will cry big huge crocodile tears when sad. Still drools some (Brian thinks he doesn't have any sensory receptors on his chin, because food and drool go unattended all day long). Still is dealing with asthma and will cough for days when getting a simple cold, but he's very good at taking his inhalers all by himself with no parental supervision! Reads at an early kindergarten level and is very enthusiastic about playing the piano, even though it is a little harder for him. Is the most cooperative of the three and least stubborn (although can be stubborn at times!) A little afraid of swimming, but is getting much better this year. Loves to make up silly words and sounds and will do anything for a laugh (future class clown?) Loves sweets and can really eat fast! What a goof! Love this boy!

Xander at 5 1/2!

We're not sure if Xander is a genius or ADHD. The boy can get distracted so easily. We don't know if his mind is just so active that he keeps thinking about new things and doesn't do his intended task or if he is just completely distractible with no attention span. He has tons of random thoughts throughout the day, usually voiced at completely inappropriate times. Some recent ones: "I can't feel myself growing!", "Why is air invisible?" And my favorite:  "I wish I was everybody so I knew what the inside of their houses looked like. But, I'm only just me."

He is also pretty stubborn, actually I will amend that, he is the most stubborn of the three. We've had to get pretty creative in dealing with his attitude. But when he's not being stubborn he is the sweetest, most loving little boy (the best cuddler!). Loves to be teased, tickled, tossed around and bothered. Still thinks he is as small as a toddler and can jump on you anytime, even though he's huge! I think he's somewhere around 43-44" tall, because he can touch in the 3 ft deep water very comfortably. And speaking of water, the boy is a fish! He absolutely LOVES swimming. He'd do it for hours if I let him. He will absolutely exhaust himself jumping in and swimming underwater.  Also, we just discovered he has a loose tooth. It will probably come out in the next mont or so, if you can believe it! What a kid! Love him!

Grace at 5 1/2

Here is a picture of Grace at her birthday party luau. Let me tell you a few things about the 5-and-1/2-year-old-about-to-go-to-kindergarten Grace......

She is very smart, sometimes she uses it for good, sometimes she uses it for evil! (By evil, I mean doing sneakily ornery things and trying not to get caught). She's a little bossy (hmmmm, I wonder where that comes from) and likes to tell people what to do, but also can be mothering and nuturing. She's strong-willed and confident (have you ever seen her walk? She does it with purpose!) However, she can be so loving and affectionate when the mood strikes her. She can read at a kindergarten level, so she's a little ahead of the game. Is pretty naturally talented at piano and is excelling quickly. I think she will enjoy school and really develop her individuality away from the boys. Doesn't really love playing with girly things (barbies and princesses), but will play cars and superheroes with the boys. Is tall and skinny, very coordinated and hates having her hair brushed. Happy half birthday, silly girl. We love you so much!

Happy Half-Birthday! It's a Luau!

 All the kids eating outside - it was, luckily, a nice evening!

 The tropical fish pinata. I converted it into a pull-string one myself. Note to self: Next time, just shell out the money for a factory made pullstring one. Did not work so well!!

 Family and Friends

 A gift card to Lost in Fun! Excellent!

 Xander in his new Iron man mask. This has proven to be a big hit!

 Will with his new Thor hammer. Loved it!

 All the cousins before the pinata!

 Grace and Sarah (the american girl doll) in matching outfits made by Grandma Ellen.

 More outdoor toys!

Will and his Thor mask!

Last Sunday was the kids' birthday party. As the title says, it was a luau. We decorated with bright colors, leis and flowers. We had family over for dinner, a pinata, ice cream sundaes and fun! The kids really had a good time, even though the boys were an hour late to their own party! (They had a t-ball game at 4:30 and all the guests came at 5. They got home a little before 6 when we were ready to eat.) The kids got lots of fun presents, including gift certificates to the movies, mini golf, ice cream, restaurants and Lost in Fun. Gifts that keep on giving for mom and dad, too!! They are begging to go see Cars 2 and we will sometime soon. The boys have been playing superheroes everyday, they love their new Thor and IronMan things. Grace got 2 matching outfits for her and Sarah and has been playing with Sarah a lot! Thanks to everyone for fun presents and celebrating the half-birthday milestone with us! It's been a great year!