Summer calls for it.

As much as I love his beautiful, long locks it is hot here! It is hot and humid and the poor boy only has an oscillating fan in his room that sometimes his big brother stops on himself. It was time to have a cooler do for the summer. He looks like a different kid.

The Van man is 4!

Honestly....I'm tired. So the pictures are staying in the random order that they uploaded. Deal wit it.   Van's birthday was simple and chill. I love seeing him grasp the idea that the day is about him before he gets too greedy. He had one request; a puppy cake. We did have some errands to run that day so we went to burger  crap for lunch and the kid meal came with a crown. How fortuitous!  He loved it and preferred to wear it over the felt one I made for him last year. I was okay with it.  Happy Birthday buddy. You are so much fun, and sweet and I can't imagine our family without you. 

A Van Moment

Marriage on the Rocks

Somebody went against my wishes upstairs.....of course he's still cute, but that's NOT the point. I dare say our marriage will survive this.

Other fun earlier that day.

*some construction mine :)

Spoiled

Not this guy. Me. I am spoiled. I do not have perfect, all the time easy kids. But most of my day is spent with this guy and I would say that 85-90% of the time he is a piece of cake. So much so that I have to make sure I'm proactive in spending purposeful time with him. He plays so well by himself and is very content "snoggling" on the couch. I can piddle around the house and he'll play with his trucks. This was yesterday morning after the older two had caught the bus. Love my mornings with this little man. (right now he's on the floor talking to and then smashing ants. i don't know why they are in my bedroom!) B loves catching a little quality time with his pal gal Sydney.

Getting warmer...

Fizzy Foamy Science. The kids always ask to do this and I almost always put it off for rainy days. This time they asked Dennis. It is pretty fun!



Play dough bed for Luke Skywalker. Everyone in the rebel alliance is going to want one of these.




Saturday we went to the farm and Den and the kids spent the afternoon finding and marking the iron pins that designate the lot's boundaries. I even got to use a borrowed metal detector. I want one.


Pounding in the steak. J was in charge of spray painting them. Until he lost that privilege after repeated random sprays. Life lessons are tough.

Somebody learned something at church last week.

And sweet neighbor Martha gave the older two pony rides on Diamond.

My daffodils are about to burst because it is getting warmer!!

And I bust out my high fashion footwear for such occasions. If you'd like to create this look w/o the high price just ask and I'll fill you in on my fashion secrets.

He spent the morning outside and loved it. He's old enough that he can play in the back by himself and I can watch him through the windows.

We don't have as many cats around so picnics can be fun without having to shoo the little beggars away!

What He Does

You think you'll remember but you don't. I think that I'll remember that everyday he lines up his cars and trucks on his toy chest and talks to them and moves them and drives them off the edge. This is what he does.


He also plays play dough with me.

V is 3

Please enjoy some straight from the camera, completely unedited, red eye pictures from V's big day.


It made my day that he wanted to wear this for the rest of the afternoon and night!



After dinner with Mom Mom and Pop Pop it was time for presents.



And then time for cake.




He did a great job of spitting out his candles.





V appears to be having some sort of reactions to that much chocolate. But I will still treasure the rare shot of me and all my babies.

Happy Birthday to the little man that cracks me up in so many ways. He was the first baby we actually tried to have. He was my first completely natural, unmedicated birth. The first baby that I was able to hold on my chest right after he was born. So amazing. When he was a baby and still nursing he would cry when he was hungry, but when I held him and he would stop crying to wait for me to have myself ready to feed him and look at me as if to make sure it was me or perhaps say thank you. He loves his siblings and copies the older two. He is great at sharing for a 3 year old. Not perfect, but I'm impressed by his ability to share unprompted with smaller ones or even his older brother and sister. He can be so goofy and make us all laugh. He loves to sing and dance and has some moves that come from who knows where. He's a lover, a cuddler and has a sweet spirit that always seeks reconciliation with a "so sorry" as he's crying. I'm treasuring this time with him as it flies by. He is truly a joy in our lives.

3

Winter bleh.

I'm just not a winter person. No secret there. But to focus on the positive I will list a few things I do appreciate about the colder months.

• the excuse to not go anywhere w/ four children in tow
• I can stay in my sweats or pj's all day (except for when I leave the house) in order to keep warm
• the snow can be pretty
• hot beverages: coffee, tea, hot chocolate
• reading with the kids on snow days

That's all that comes to me right now.

Yesterday we tried to make butter. Skimmed some cream off the top of our raw milk and had a shaking party.


Everyone got in on the fun, and we were able to produce a few chunks. Haven't tried it yet.

Last night Dennis and I had a date. These date nights are rare for us simply because we are too cheap to want to pay for a babysitter, or to mess with trying to find one. It's ridiculous. But, my man arranged for his mom to come up last night and we went and used his gift card he got for Christmas at the Olive Garden. And for the first time in a long time I wasn't disappointed with my meal. Then we wandered around Target. Yes, we can live it up. Don't be sad that you can't be us. There is only one us.



High Fashion.







And this is what this morning was about. Sitting on the potty. We did get one result in the pot and no accidents as of yet!

Closing November

We're going to close this month with bullet points and pictures...ahem...

• visited both classes of the kids on Wednesday before T-day. J was having a class meal where he learned how to properly set the table, push in a chair for a young lady. His teacher also went around to each kid and expounded on something that he was thankful for about each student. It was really beautiful to see the kids respond. You could tell that some of these kids might never hear it at home. E's class had a feast of snacky things but the teacher changed the time of when they were going to do it so I missed it! Boo. But I still stopped in and grabbed a pic of her and her teacher who J had in first grade too. We love her!

• Thanksgiving day was cold and rainy, but still a really good day and Den's parents. I made the annual cheese ball turkey ( i don't make the cheese ball, i just turn it into a turkey), dolls joined in on the fun, and V and Joash were said to look like the E trade babies as they sat in their high chairs. We dropped into a couple other family drop ins later that night and it was so good to see everyone.

• Then on Friday I decided it was time to say goodbye to someone. I have an issue with holding on to the past. But I believe in personal growth and saying goodbye was a big step for me. Van didn't quite understand.

"Why mommy? Why?!?!?"

"Because it's time, my love. It's time"

"I still don't understand."

Goodbye James....we had some good times. I still have small mementos of you hear and there; magnets, a picture, your 3 films. But I can no longer have you cluttering my life. Farewell.

Take a moment and wipe your eyes if you need to. Okay, ready to move on?

• Friday night Den and I built the tree and put on our sad little lights. EVERY strand was only lighting up halfway. Odd. Part of me wonders if it's not our electricity. Saturday we decorated.

• Also on Saturday we had our own turkey dinner. A simple menu of turkey, stuffing, and baked sweet potatoes. We also broke out the china and the sparkling grape juice. Nothing was actually broken. The bird was beautiful and deeelish...thanks dad for the tips!

• In closing our two youngest crack us up. It's so fun to see their personalities come out when they are young. Dennis took these two pictures.

um....can you say perfect baby bum? However I must admit that I'm a little reminded of George Costanza.

Dennis said when he first saw V like this, he was snuggled up with his cheek on the Millennium Falcon. He moved while Den went to get the camera.

*this post is dedicated to my dearest Carla who gave me James many moons ago....