Who moves in December?

Moving in December is the LAST thing I thought I would do.  For 3 1/2 years I have been praying for contentment in the house God put us in.  We were in our own house after spending 5 years living with Rob's parents.  Wasn't that enough?  

Four years after God led us to Nebraska,we had been living with Rob's parents who were graciously allowing us live with them however long we needed to for Rob to go to school, I had a conversation with Candace from church.  I knew we could afford a small place of our own, but not all the bills associated with it.  Our savings had been spent on school.  I would have to go to work fulltime rather than parttime and our priority was that I be with our two kids.  She told me about Lincoln Housing Authority.  I did some research online and realized we may qualify for help with rent.  So, I did the paperwork and got on the 1-2 year waiting list.

Six months later we got a call that they were ready to get the process started for us to get our own place. We were elated!  I began scouring the paper and the internet looking for a place for us. Throughout the search process, I prayed that God would take us to the neighbors He wanted us to have.  I wanted this to be more about where He could use us than about me and my desires. I didn't fully understand how the numbers worked, but I quickly realized that the budget they expected us to have did not lead me to desirable housing situations.  I was beginning to think we were better off staying put.

I walked into 331 N 30th St.  It was neat and clean and actually kinda cute inside.  I could see us living here.  The neighborhood had an inner city reputation so I was concerned.  I knew a couple of people that lived in the neighborhood so I talked to them about it.  I drove by the place numerous times during different parts of the day trying to figure out if it was safe or not.  Most of all, I prayed and prayed and prayed.  On April 1, 2007 we moved in and we looked forward to continuing to grow our family as we had dreamed of doing.

Fast forward to Sunday, Nov. 29, 2010.  Our family had enjoyed a very relaxed Thanksgiving at our home.  We slept in that morning and sauntered across town to church for the second service.  We went to one of our regular places for lunch and headed home for a nap.  We drove up to the backdoor and drew a quick breath.  Our backdoor was open...

Memories and panic flooded my brain.  Almost 2 years ago to the day, I had come home from work for lunch to find the same backdoor open, kicked in, and we had been robbed of as many electronics as they could shove in Rob's backpack. Ever since then, every time I drove up to our house I would subconsiously check the backdoor.  It hadn't been open again...until today.  This couldn't be happening, could it? 

From that moment our lives were put on Holy Spirit autopilot.  I felt literally pushed to look in the rental classifieds and research them online that night.  I felt like someone steered my car past one of the houses the next morning, dialed the phone number on the sign and made an appointment to see the house the next morning for me.  I didn't want to move right now!  By Wednesday, it had been confirmed over and over to us that this was the place and we put a deposit down.  EVERY detail was obviously pointing us to the fact that God was completely in control and leading us to move quickly. 

This is where the wonderful community of friends we have made here in Lincoln get to shine.  We made some pleas on facebook and in person to help us move little stuff - stuff we didn't even have in boxes yet - to the new house on Saturday.  The night before 2 girls from our Small Group showed up with boxes and filled them to be ready for Saturday.  We were literally blown away!  No less than 15, possibly 20 people showed up!  There were more hands than boxes.  Rob's grandma gave us the Christmas gift of movers for the big stuff.  They came on Wednesday and we spent our first night in our new home.  Friends continued to help with meals and doing final cleaning in the other house.  And the snow waited until the next weekend.

Here I sit a week later, surrounded by unpacked boxes but feeling so incredibly blessed..  Our new house is wonderful.  I love that we have 4 bedrooms - everyone shares and Rob gets an office.  Our kids have a 500 square foot family room in our basement to play in.  I cannot wait to send Zac out into our fenced yard and watch him play as I do dishes in the kitchen.  I love that we have a doorbell and a medicine cabinet and more closets than I know what to do with right now.  Our commute to church is cut in half.  Justus is looking forward to starting his new school in January.  I could go on.

Moving in December is the last thing I ever wanted to do.  But God's plan is perfect and we trust that He moved us in his perfect timing and we are firmly in His hands.

Our first ever 5K.

Five weeks ago, I asked my kids if they wanted to walk to get some ice cream.  Really, mom!  Get ice cream - let's go!  We were almost back home when I explained to them that I was thinking of signing us up for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning - that it was the same distance we had just walked.  Easy mom!  Let's do it!

We walked a couple more times for ice cream and then we tried other walks that didn't involve food.  During our final practice,  winter weather hit.  It was 32 and windy.  We bundled up, but we determined another layer was necessary.  Thankfully it looked like the weather would warm up before race day.

Thanksgiving Day arrived.  We all got up and out of the house by 7:15am.  That's right - Me - who HATES to get out of bed before 9am - and my family of 6  got bundled and out the door on time.  The van  thermometer read 17!  I was so glad I had bought extra layers for everyone. 

The race started at 8:30am.  We left the warmth of the YMCA building and headed to the starting line.  The run was through the cemetery across the street.  I was relieved to see 2 other strollers - granted they weren't double strollers like mine.  Yes that's right - a regular double stroller.  We have a single jogging stroller, but I needed one for both our 2 yr. old and 6 mo. old.   I was about to run/walk my first 5K pushing 80-100 pounds.

The plan was for Rob to run the whole thing and then catch up with us.  We got started and to warm up my body temp. I ran several paces ahead of the kids.  I realized this would not work as Justus (who started with his dad in the front of the pack) quickly became the last person by quite a distance, so I had to stop and wait for him. 

Pushing 80 pounds and dragging 100 got harder when my pride started getting hurt.  You see, the course was a "turn-around" course - you get halfway and then you turn around and go back the way you came.  So ALL those runners who were in front of us passed us coming back and saw that we were dead last.  These were people I knew from the Y baseball team, the boys swim instructor, etc.  I struggled with embarrassment and started having a bad attitude towards my children who were holding me back from winning the whole thing, of course. 

Thankfully Rob finished and caught up to us at the halfway point so I was able to do more running the 2nd half than the first.  We finished behind everyone else, but we finished.  Justus was not last - Zac got out of the stroller and walked the last 1/8 mile with daddy and proudly crossed the finish line asking "Did we win daddy?"  Of course we did.  Our time was embarrassing - we had never done it that slowly. BUT - we did it!  My kids walked a 5K!  I pushed a stroller and ran/walked a 5K!

You know what else is amazing?  For the first time since 5th grade, I ran - I ran in the cold - and did not have ANY asthma!!!  This is life changing.  I used to play basketball in 5th - 8th grade.  I had to be benched every game because of an exercised enduced asthmatic reaction and it was ALWAYS worse in the cold.  For so long, I have been held back by my lungs - this means I can run again.  I CAN RUN AGAIN!  That is such a freeing feeling.

I can't wait to run my next 5K, but next time we're getting a sitter.

Hi! It's me, Esther.

I was looking at the books on the shelf the other day and noticed that my brothers all have a baby book.  There's not much inside Zac's, but there is one.  Mom hasn't even gotten one for me yet.  So I figured I'd better start keeping track of stuff for her before I grow up and she forgets.

Last week, I turned a half a year old.  So far, I've rolled over several times, but I don't really like laying on my tummy so I stopped doing that.  I love to sit up by myself and play with toys.  I enjoy sitting in my exersaucer and dad loves to put me in the Johnny-Jump-Up.  I get laughing pretty hard when I'm jumping around in that thing.  I recognize my daddy and mommy.  I love to smile really big when they walk in the room and hope they come and get me.  I get daddy's attention by saying "a-da" and mom swears I'm saying "hi dad".

I figured out who my brothers are, too.  Ethan takes care of me for the 10 minutes it takes mom to go get Justus from school everyday so he's a great big brother.  Justus loves to make me laugh.  Zac seems like he will be really fun to play with as soon as I can keep up with him - he's pretty fast. 

I started trying out some food on a spoon last week.  I wasn't feeling well, so mom's not sure if I threw it up as a reaction to the cereal or because of my congestion.  Now I'm trying green beans.  I hope other food tastes better than this does. 

Mom has some of the cutest clothes for me that she got from some great friends and family.  Sometimes I get bored so I overfill my pants.  Then I get a fun bath - I love to kick in there - and a new outfit!  There are times when I reach up and find that mom has put a flowery chew toy on my head, but she never lets me chew it for long.  That's one of my favorite things to do, too - chew on anything I can reach.  Mom says I'm probably teething. 

Well, it's my bedtime.  I'm pretty tired.  A couple of times I've slept for 12 hours!  I think I might try that again tonight.  It seems to make my mom and dad more pleasant people.  Good night!

Thanks Times Thirty

I was very inspired by my friends on facebook who are faithfully updating their status with what they are thankful for each day of this month.  I admire that they have the time and energy to do so.  Being a new mom of four has rocked my world more than I expected it to and so I decided to take it easy on myself.  I wanted to come up with a list of things I am thankful for, but I'm gonna do it all in one sitting when my kids are all in bed and I have some quiet to think.  Thirty one things is a LOT, but here goes.

I am thankful for...
1.  Jesus Christ - without Him, my life would be wasted and without purpose
2.  Rob - He is such an awesome partner to do life with.  He gets me.  He loves me for who I am, yet challenges me to become a better me.  He is also an extremely intelligent individual and I am so proud of his work and his teaching ability.
3.  Ethan - What an awesome kid.  I love his gentle spirit that wants to do the right thing and to be helpful.  His love language is touch and I LOVE getting my Ethan hug and kiss every day.
4.  Justus - This kid thinks so deeply that he challenges me to think more deeply.  He blows my socks off and on a regular basis I have to remind myself that he's only 9.
5.  Zac - My little buddy who wants to be just like his big brothers.  I love to watch him learn and connect the dots right now.
6.  Esther - What an amazing blessing to have a daughter.  I already see that she prefers to be around me.  Her dimpled smile brightens my day. The nuzzle and whimper she uses to tell me she's sleepy make me stop and cuddle daily.  What a good break in my day!
(So glad I have 4 kids, makes this list a bit easier to make)
7.  My family - mom, dad, brothers and sister.  I am so incredibly blessed to have a family that longs to spend time together and thoroughly enjoys being with each other.
8.  Rob's family - I would never have chosen to live with Rob's parents, but I still thank God that they sacrificed and allowed me to work part time and stay home and homeschool my oldest 2 boys while Rob went to school fulltime and worked part time.  That would never have worked without them.  I love Rob's siblings as my own.
9.  My church family - The best example of how awesome they are is that when I gave birth to Zac and then to Esther, I did not cook for weeks each time!  That's how blessed I am to have an extended family here.
10.  My middle school youth group girls - before I had my own daughter, they were my surrogates and will remain so in my heart.  I love having fun with them.
11.  My teaching job - I LOVE getting paid to do something that I would do for free.  (Don't tell them that).
12.  My MOPS group - Every other Thursday morning is sacred time for me.  Time to invest in my mothering.  Time for me to share my heart with friends and "talk shop" with other moms.
13.  The Shelter God has provided my family - for the situation that we have been in, God provided a great place at the right time for our family.  We may be bursting at the seams - but they ain't busted yet!
14.  Facebook - I love being able to connect with friends I have from the 7 different places I have lived.  I love knowing that the friends I am making here in Lincoln will remain my friends not just in my heart, but can help me transition as we look towards Rob graduating and getting a fulltime job somewhere.
15.  a Hope and a Future (Jer. 29:11) - God brought us to Lincoln, NE and He has been with us the whole time.  I know He has something in store for us once Rob graduates and I can't wait until He lets us know :)
16.  Our cars - since we have lived in NE, we have had NO major issues with our cars.  That is truly a miracle.  I praise God for keeping our cars running other than minor repairs and upkeep for the last 8 years.
17.  My health.  - I have not have health insurance (other than for pregnancy and the 6 mo. I worked fulltime) for 8 years.  Praise God I have remained healthy.
(okay, now this list is getting harder)
18.  the Seasons - I dreaded winter when we moved here and now I can't wait for it.  I love having times in the year when we snuggle inside together and then other times when we enjoy the outdoors as much as possible.
19.  cooking - what a fun creative outlet for me to show love to my family.  Thank you God for making such an incredible variety of food to create with.
(had to take a break here, so this actually took a couple of days to do)
20.  my creativity - I love crocheting a hat or hot gluing a hairbow or scrapbookking a picture book or creating a card or repainting furniture or sewing a curtain.  Thank you God for this wonderful outlet of being able to share a piece of me.
21.  peace that surpasses all understanding - I have come to realize this is truly a gift from God that in the midst of extremely stressful circumstances, all I have to do is turn to him and the floodwaters of peace cover my soul and I just know that He is in control and I can rest in him.
22.   God's protection - anyone in Lincoln will say that they would never choose to live in the neighborhood I currently live in.  Daily the drug dealers take a loop around my block, assaults and robberies happen consistently in my neck of the wood, and yet God has protected my family. 
23.  my Pampered Chef business - not only has it been a source of significant income for me these past 7 1/2 years, but it's given me adult time , wonderful friendships, an outlet for me to feel accomplished and flexibility
24.  my kid's full closets - seriously, I do way too much laundry.  I praise God that our dressers overflow when our bank account does not.
25.  coffee - I don't know how I'd get going in the morning without it.  Actually, I wouldn't - I've tried.
26.  the Wii - as much as I fought having a gaming system in my house, I love the fact that I can have 30 minutes of no one crying "mom". 
27.  Weight Watchers - I have struggled so much with overeating and I am grateful that I joined 2 months ago and have actually lost 10 lbs.  in the midst of being a busy mom, teacher, etc.
28.  technology - I remember when Ethan was born and no one was myspacing or facebooking or blogging yet and I was SO lonely.  I am grateful that I can connect with others while being stuck in the house with a baby.
29.  God's gift of faith - I took a survey 8 years ago and found out one of my spiritual gifts is faith.  I never thought of that as a gift before.  In the thick of this adventure in Nebraska, my faith was taken away from me and I found myself floundering and begging for it back.  I am thankful that I can trust a God that exists beyond my five senses and proves Himself to me over and over.
30.  A legacy of faith -  I count myself quadruply blessed to have 4 grandparents who were faithful in their relationship with God and taught it to my parents who in turn taught me.  I am excited to continue passing on this legacy to my own children.
31.  a great big turkey dinner - I cannot wait to make the spread for my family this year.  I love me some good turkey :)

Wow!  I have a LOT to be thankful for this year.  What are you thankful for?

Halloween 2010

Following our traditions, this year we carved pumpkins and went trick or treating.  Rob is the accomplished carver in our family.  He set aside some time to help with the task, only this year Ethan was at a friend's house during that time.  Justus and Zac made great looking pumpkins and we wondered whether Ethan's pumpkin would get a face at all.  Our 11 year old came home from his friend's house and carved it completely on his own - from putting down newspaper to throwing away the chunks he had cut out!  Rob and I are amazed at how independent he is already. 

Sunday afternoon, we headed for the first time to the trick or treating offered at the mall.  I figured the littles would enjoy this part of the evening and the bigs could go out later for "real" trick or treating.   Justus struggled with his costume.  The one he had me buy apparently didn't fit him right and he refused to wear a "hand-me-down" costume (you know, the one worn for 3 hours last year by his older brother).  He figured one out from our dress up stuff.  Here's our army man, bat (he insisted he was NOT batman), cow and strawberry.

The mall was very busy and I was amazed.  I didn't think Nebraskans could be that rude.  Really.  For the past 8 years I've been impressed by how Nebraskans are so polite.  Not at this event. Don't think we'll be going back.  Anyway, Justus' mask totally bugged him the whole time so we headed home for dinner and a quick costume change for "real" trick or treating.  Amazing how a little makeup, gel and an additional accessory can turn a bat into Darth Maul!

After every single house, Zac would turn around and hold up the treasure that had just been placed in his pumpkin basket and say "Mommy, look what I just got!  Can we do more trick or treating?"  EVERY house - for an hour and a half!  He did slow down and I held his basket for him the last block, but he was a trooper.  We headed home for a potty break and for me to take over caring for Esther.  I thought for sure my little cow would be done for the night.  But, oh no!  He wanted to head right back out with his brothers.  Now, how do I get rid of all this candy without us eating it all?

A visit from Juli and Tate

For 5 busy and fun days we got my sister, Juli and my nephew, Tate out to the midwest.  Noah was hunting, so it was better for her to be with us anyways.  I realized during her visit that I am horrible at taking pictures of us doing stuff because, well, we're doing stuff.  Thankfully Juli grabbed some so I'll be able to include them in this blog.

While my sister was here we had a lot of fun together.  Saturday we went to a football game in Crete - our cousin Joel is a coach and his team was playing Doane College.  It was perfect weather and there was plenty of space for our toddlers to walk around while we caught glimpses of the game.  The best part was Joel's team won.  Sunday, after church and before our small group meeting, Juli and I headed to Nebraska Wesleyan Theater and enjoyed a very well done show - Oklahoma.  Monday was Juli's birthday.  We headed out to Roca Berry Farm's Pumpkin Patch.  The big kids were on fall break and were able to join us.

  Tate got friendly with the animals.

 

 Essie was just Essie being cute.

There was so much to do - corn maze, big tricycle racetrack, 10 foot slide out of a castle, lifesize Candyland, 3 haunted houses, a shooting range, mini petting zoo, and a hayrack ride for pumpkins.  We could have stayed longer, but the little kids were in need of a nap.  We celebrated Juli's birthday with a delicious pie and

 then Juli and I did our nails, watched a movie, and did a puzzle.  (We finished it for you Juli!)

 A perfectly awesome way to spend time with one's sister :)  Tuesday I had to work, but Rob surprised me and told me to take Juli out for dinner for her last night with us.  We went to Bread and Cup and enjoyed some SUPERB food and then headed to Coldstone (I had a coupon that would expire that night so we HAD to go).  All too soon our time was up and Juli and Tate headed back to CA.  We made some wonderful memories.

A Monday without Ethan

On Monday, the elementary schools celebrated Columbus Day by having no school.  The Middle Schools were, however, in session.  This was the first time Justus had a day off and Ethan didn't so I let Justus choose something special to do.  He chose to go to the Lincoln Children's Zoo and then get a movie of his choice from redbox.  We have rarely been to the Children's Zoo since I prefer the Omaha Zoo and save up all summer for a trip there, so this was a special treat for Esther, Zac, Justus and I. It was weird to not have Ethan with us, but nonetheless we enjoyed our morning out of the house - it was such a beautiful day.

Justus realized very quickly why it's called a "children's" zoo - tons of fun places to stop and play.  Did you see the dirt pile?  They spent more time on that then seeing ANY animal.  We did the whole zoo and a train ride (J's waving from the 3rd row) in under 2 hours. We headed back home where Justus watched his movie (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) while Esther and Zac took their naps.  Can't wait for another day like this.

Justus turned 9!

Because Oct. 5th was already a jam packed day, Justus lucked out.  His birthday celebration got spread out over 3 days!  The Saturday before his birthday, we had his friend birthday party.  He asked for an Indiana Jones birthday party and we delivered!  He and his friends went on the "Search for the Holy Grail." 

 We used the park near our house to host the event since 10 4th grade boys simply don't fit in my house.  When they arrived, they had to run the gauntlet to prove they were worthy of the quest.  They raced from one end of the park to the other keeping an egg on a spoon.

Then they had to find the ancient necklaces buried in the sand.  On the necklaces were hieroglyphics that they had to put in the correct order in order to figure out where the first part of the treasure map was.

The next clue told them they needed to find the ingredients for a scorpion-bite antidote mixed in with the spider guts (a borax solution with food coloring).

The final portion of the treasure map had to be purchased with 50 pieces of gold.  The gold coins had been scattered throughout the park similar to an egg hunt.  Once they had all the pieces of the map, they could figure out where the grail had been hidden.

And it was a mad dash to the final destination!

Once the search was complete, we had an Indiana Jones style feast.  We ate:
- a snake sandwich (I baked pilsbury dough in the shape of a snake)
- chilled monkey brains (strawberry/banana jello with crushed pineapples and cut up strawberries)
- fried caterpillars (cheetos)
- butterfly wings (bbq chips)
- alligator eyes (grapes)
- spider sacs (black olives)
- chocolate beetles (chocolate covered raisins)
- jungle juice.

The party was a TON of fun and really, not a lot of work.  I borrowed most of the ideas off the internet and spent a few pennies at the dollar store.

Monday night we had our family celebration with a real cake and candles and presents. 

On the day of J's birthday, Rob and I were able to sneak over to have lunch with him before I headed off for my first day of teaching.  After school, J helped with the book fair right up until the time we picked him up for his football game.  Rob was able to stay for most of his game before he headed off to teach his Tuesday night class.  We are so glad we made memories with him to make his day special.  We love celebrating our Justus!

What do you do without a camera

Two weeks ago our camera broke.  Whether it was because we let our kids take pictures with it or because I never put it back in the protective case or because of the numerous times it was dropped on the ground, we'll never know.  The lens would catch as you turn it on.  Then I tried to fix it and ended up pulling it apart accidentally.  So, it's dead.  This was the first straw.

Then we got our electricity bill.  Having a summer like Florida without the beaches made our bill triple what we normally owe!  That made me sit down and do math.  Not only did we not have enough for a camera replacement, but we may do without a food budget in September!  Our normal modus operandi is to check our budget about 3-4 times a year, otherwise I tend to obsess, worry, and make our lives miserable.  And so after doing the math, that's exactly what happened.  All the "if only's" ran through my head over and over:  if only SCC had needed me during summer quarter, if only I had done more Pampered Chef parties, if only I hadn't used the money the boys helped me raise to redecorate their room....  And then the "I can"s began:  I can sell x,y, and z on craigslist, I can return the decorations from the boy's room, I can make a bunch of stuff and sell it on etsy.com.... 

So I went for a walk to calm myself down, yelling out to the Lord.  And then I heard it, that still small voice whispering "I've got it under control, just watch."  I sat back to watch.  Waiting, wondering how he was gonna do it this time AGAIN.

Rob called me this morning with an obvious smile in his voice.  "I got my paycheck today."  BIG PREGNANT PAUSE.  "And?"  I expectantly answered.  "It's twice what I've gotten the past 2 months."  WHAT?  I have no idea why or how or who.  Actually, I do know.   

Ethan's 11th Birthday Celebration

To celebrate Ethan's birthday, he had a Geocaching party.  According to geocaching.com, "Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices.  The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online."  A treasure hunt was perfect for a group of 9-11 year old boys.  They had so much fun traipsing around Lincoln, they forgot to pull out the camera.  After all that work, they came back to our house for pizza and ice cream cake.  One of the boys gave Ethan a nerf gun, which in our house ALWAYS leads to a full on nerf war.  I am still picking up the bullets. 

The Geocachers

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Dear Ethan...

I wish I had video of the burping contest going on at this table :)

After the friends left, I took a nap along with the two littles.  Ethan's birthday money was burning a hole in his pocket so we headed to the mall for a couple of hours.  We ended up back home for dinner where we enjoyed the Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad Ethan had requested.  Yes, a SALAD!  This dish has been requested by both my big boys for birthday dinners!  Here's the recipe:

Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad (from Pampered Chef):
croutons                                 2 roma tomatoes cut into wedges  
3/4 cup ketchup                      1 cup (4 oz.) cheddar cheese   
3/4 lb. ground beef                  1 small red onion, divided
1 TBSP yellow mustard           8 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce
1/2 cup finely diced pickles or pickle relish


Cut onion in half.  Slice one half into thin rings and set aside.  Chop remaining onions and cook with ground beef over med.-high heat 5-7 min.  Finely dice pickles or strain relish until you have 1/2 cup.  In a bowl, combine pickles, ketchup, mustard and cooked beef.  To serve, arrange lettuce on serving platter.  Spoon beef mixture over lettuce.  Top with cheese, tomatoes, sliced onion, and croutons.  Serve immediately.

A Once in a Lifetime Experience

The US Special Olympics were held in Lincoln, NE last week.  Last time it was in Beijing, next time it will be in Greece, this time - little ol' Lincoln, NE.  I knew I couldn't let this opportunity pass by without being involved in some manner.  I tried signing up to volunteer, but I was on the waiting list - with 1500 other people!  So, I just packed up my four kids and showed up to cheer the athletes on.  There were about 10 events to choose from everyday, we only made it to a couple of them.  We saw a couple of basketball games - my boys readily chose sides and heartily cheered them on.  The boys met an athlete who had won a gold medal in Beijng and got to touch and feel it.


Another day we went to the swimming events and I remembered my camera.  Justus brought a notebook to get autographs of the athletes and someone from the New Hampshire team gave him an olympic pin.   Ethan commented on how slow someone was swimming and I asked him if he could swim a lap in the pool - he can't quite yet.  My favorite part about cheering on the athletes was not the cheers that went up for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, but the consistent cheering until the last athlete touched the wall - even a full minute after the winners.  It honestly brought tears to my eyes.  This is the kind of athletic event I enjoy - congratulating someone on actually getting out there and doing it!  As we were leaving, the people around us who had interacted with us asked if the person we had come to see had won.  It was great to say, we came to just cheer everyone on.  We may never have the chance to see a special olympics again, but my prayer is that my boys will see that if someone with limitations can get out there and do this, so can they.

Our spot in the stands

Athletes prepping for their race

Justus getting autographs

We got to see a medal ceremony

My boys and the Nebraska Swim Team

She's 2 months old

We took Esther in for her 2 month checkup and were pleased to hear that she gained another 1 1/2 pounds and another inch!  She is 12 lbs. 6 oz. (96%) and 24 in. long (80%) - in other words she's a big girl.  Duh!  She was cooking for 2 extra weeks!  She is now smiling a lot, cooing, and drooling in the few hours she's not sleeping.  She will sleep all night, loves the swing, and enjoys being held by her older brothers.  Here are a few pics.

Our trip to Wisconsin

Rob and I grew up taking road trips as vacations.  We have a love/hate relationship with them.  We have driven from Nebraska to Florida and Nebraska to California twice with our older two.  After this road trip, we will wait a while for another one.  Having a potty training toddler and a nursing newborn tested our limits.  We also have a newborn who loves movement and an 8 year old who takes Dramamine for his motion sickness. We were wise and never made timelines for ourselves.  It went against everything in me to stop every 30 miles when Zac said he had to go potty.  The one time we tried to test our limits, he had an accident, so we stopped every time AND put him in pullups.   It was not the driving time that made this trip memorable, however.  It was the family and friends we visited along the way.

Our first stop was at the Turners in Twin Lakes, WI.  We went to college one year with them, and they became my in-laws in-laws - essentially our extended family-away-from-family in Fresno.  Between our 2 large families, we had kids ages 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 mth.  We got spoiled by Marcy's cooking and entertained by Steve's unique fireworks display.  Let's just say the old man has the "hops" still  :)   . 

My older boys got to ride jetskies

ride on quads (after a safety lesson from Steve)

 and play video games with Trey and Cy

while Zac enjoyed bonding with Dayne over puzzles and games.

 

Ellie enjoyed holding Esther and playing with Zac.  We could spend hours and hours with the Turner family.


Our second stop was in Germantown, WI at the home of my Aunt Holly and Uncle Scott where we met up with my mom and dad as well.  I have ALWAYS loved visiting their family because I learned a lot about generosity, hospitality, and how much fun a big family can be.  I believe I have 4 children, not just 2, because of our visits. They have 8 children, 4 of whom still live at home and 1 a mile away.  Two of their out-of-town girls were in town at the same time we were.  The weirdest thing happened, though:  We had dinner one night with JUST Holly and Scott - none of their kids!  That has never happened before.

The other night we were there, about a dozen family members went to a Brewers game (the Brewers got crushed, but it was about the experience, right Rob?) and half a dozen of us stayed home to play cards.  I got beat, once again, by my lovely Aunt Diane - I kept saying I didn't want to play her because she beats me EVERY time!  I enjoyed mall shopping and a long walk with Holly, Tonya, and Kristin.  Apparently my camera got stuck in my bag because I have NO pictures of our time with them!  Not even when my dad met Esther for the first time.

Our third stop was in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the impetus of our trip.  My cousin Sarah was getting married.  We arrived in time to swim in the hotel pool before getting dressed for the rehearsal dinner.  It was a mini-family reunion (for my family:  Aunt Barb, Uncle Rick, Aunt Sue, Judy & Kyle, Joel & Emily,
my dad & mom, Jeff & Kara, Uncle Dan, Aunt Maryanne, Brian & Jedotta, Kim, and Kyle) and so much fun.  My hero husband took all four kids back to the hotel to put them to bed while I got in on a Bachelorette party where I was the oldest and most experienced one there.  Heehee :)  

The next morning I was the last one to breakfast.  The first thing Rob said to me was "Dan's in the hospital!"  I said "Poor Uncle Dan.  I guess someone else will have to perform the wedding."  He said "No, not your Uncle Dan, the GROOM Dan!"  Apparently Dan's appendix decided it would have nothing to do with Dan's life with Sarah.  So at 8:30am, the groom underwent an appendectomy while the rest of us waited to hear whether or not there would be a wedding later that day.  At noon, we got the text.  The surgery had gone well, Dan was being released, the wedding would go on at 4:30pm as planned!  I guess after a 2 year engagement, he was letting NOTHING stop him from marrying his true love :)  We all breathed a sigh of relief when the ceremony finally allowed him to sit on the bench and chuckled when they vowed "in sickness and in health" and completely understood when he limped down the aisle leaning on Sarah.  But they did it!  They even danced the first dance together at the reception.

They weren't the only ones dancing their first dance. 
Look who we dragged out there - my dad!

My husband, who only dances with me because I love it, took the little ones back to the room for the evening.  Ethan showed off his awesome dance moves while Justus read a book at the table!  Crazy kid.  It was a lot of fun to dance with my aunts and cousins.  I felt my age and lack of workout regimen when I pulled my hip muscle about 3/4 of the way through the dancing.  Time to get back to the YMCA!

The next morning we made an appearance at the Gift Opening, said good-bye to family and piled in our van.  We started the car, heard a funny rattle and the engine light came on for the second time this trip.  The first time had happened at a gas station on the drive up.  We had turned the car off, prayed and turned the car back on to find the rattle gone.  This time when we turned it off, prayed, and turned it back on the engine light flashed.  We piled back out of the car and asked our Green Bay family members where to take it.  We decided to check it out now rather than end up on the side of the road with all 4 kids hot, tired and hungry.  Rob took it in while the kids and I headed to Uncle Dan's house where the family had been invited for lunch anyway.  God knew I wasn't quite ready to leave yet.  Thankfully the problem was a driveable problem that didn't need to be fixed right away.  So, after lunch with the family and a second round of goodbyes, we piled back up in the van and headed home.  We arrived home just in time to get Ethan to his baseball game and Justus to his baseball practice.  Back to life in Nebraska.

She Smiles!

Someday I'll Laugh at This, Right?

In my last post, I was so proud of myself and how I was surviving with four kids.  Pride comes before a fall.  This past week has proven that statement. 

The boys went to VBS last week which meant we were all up and out of the house by 8:30am every morning.  That was a test in and of itself.  Since it's a 20 minute drive, I tried to find things to do on that side of town from 9-11:30.  One of my new church friends who has a son 1 month younger than Zac and a daughter 1 week older than Esther, had us over for a playdate for 2 of those days.  A 3rd day was a playdate with our MOPS group and we had to spend a morning at Wallmart (which I'm proud to say I left without buying a thing!).  So, every time we picked up the older boys and headed home for a 20 min. drive, Zac would fall asleep in the car.  Thankfully, he made it to his bed most days, but naps were shorter because he hadn't gone potty or eaten lunch ahead of time.  We would get home, I'd sneak him to his bed, feed the older boys, get Esther down and then Zac would be back up again wanting food.  All that to say, I had NO naps all week long. We also had several fun evenings of baseball and having friends over for dinner.  We had a LOT of fun, but my energy level was waning and I didn't notice until it was too late.

Friday afternoon, Rob and Ethan left to go to Timberlake Ranch Camp with the Middle School Youth Group.  I knew they were gonna have a ton of fun and I planned to head up there on Saturday to spend time with the girls I had been with at Middle School all year. 

Friday evening was the VBS finale event and I took a very tired 2 year old and a very energized 8 year old.  Justus HAD to go.  He, all on his own, had made about 30 phone calls soliciting donations for the "House of Joy" - the project they were raising money for that week.  I was very proud of him for being motivated and taking this on all on his own.  He raised over $200!  He wanted to find out the final amount they had raised and get his prize if his "team" had won the fundraising contest.  Well, they blew everyone else out of the water.  The goal was to raise $600 and his team alone raised close to that. In total, enough was donated to sponsor 2 kids instead of just 1!

At the end of the program, everyone was invited to have ice cream and enjoy the activities (bounce house, etc...)  I really wanted to stay for Justus' sake, but my very tired 2 year old was out of control and of course, Esther was cranky because she wasn't able to sleep through the program.  I felt bad, but we headed home.  Bedtime was the tricky part.  Esther tends to be fussy from about 8pm until she finally conks out for the evening.  She will "go to sleep", but wake herself up several times before staying asleep.  So I took her upstairs with me while I was getting Zac ready for bed.  I asked Justus to hold her while I read to Zac, knowing she would fuss, but fuss less if being held standing up.  I started reading and then glanced over to see Justus sticking a toy in her mouth to try and quiet her!  I lost it, then, emotionally.  Just started to bawl.  Justus took over reading to Zac and I held Essie and just bawled.  I tried to call Rob, but he didn't have enough cell coverage at the camp.  I sent Justus to bed then, too, and exhaustedly dealt with the fussiness until we were all finally asleep.

Saturday, I had made plans for Z and J to play with friends while I went to camp.  I knew I couldn't handle it so I ended up staying home, but my friends were wonderful and took the 2 boys so I could get a nap that day.  Justus ended up spending the night at their house (which he LOVED).  The rest of the weekend is a whirlwind until Rob and Ethan got home at 4:00pm on Sunday and the tornado started.  We had to get Ethan to his 5:30pm baseball game and Justus to his 6:30pm baseball practice. 

This morning is another example of the craziness that I am experiencing.  I woke up, fed Essie, took her to the kitchen with me and made eggs for me and the older boys.  I had gone into the basement for something and realized the project E and J had worked on yesterday was still all over so I sent them down to pick up after themselves.  As I'm eating, Zac comes out of my room and says "Mom, I squeezed something."  I fearfully walk into my room and realize he has squeezed my liquid foundation ALL over - my nightstand, in my nightstand drawer, on my fan, in Esther's Moses basket next to my bed, all over the sheets, on the floor.  AHHHH!  I hurriedly start cleaning so nothing sets in.  Rob, my hero, is holding Esther and said he would wait to leave until I was able to clean up the mess.  So I ran to Walgreens to get carpet cleaner, got home, sprayed the carpet, got everything soaking, and went upstairs to let Rob off the hook.

As we were talking and making plans for our anniversary date tonight, we failed to glance over at our 2 year old.  When we finally do, we realize he has - for the 5th time - broken the rubber band (our version of a toddler lock) we have on the game cabinet and has begun to dump the games and all their contents on the floor once again!  AHHHHH!  My hero came to the rescue.  While I put Esther down for a nap on her stripped down bed and did a second scrubbing on the spots on the floor, Rob rallied the troops and put the contents of the game cabinet back together.

I will laugh at this someday, right?

My first week with all four kids and I survived!

Ahhhh.  Big sigh.  I CAN do this!  I was so nervous about being a mom of four with ALL of them being home, but we had a lot of fun together.  We played computer games, we did projects, we made tents in the living room, we played in the sprinklers.

Zac decided to share his bath toys with Esther - ALL of them!

We enjoyed spoiling Rob on Father's Day.  We took him to his favorite Mexican Restaurant and then all 6 of us went to see Toy Story 3 in the theater.  Esther woke up to eat the last 15 minutes, otherwise she slept through the whole thing!  It was a very good movie especially since we were all together.