Greetings from the Cave-lady

Ahhh... Just crawling out of the cave-age to let you all know we are alive and well. :) Very well in fact, as the Lanman slept... 9 hours last night! Since his 6 mo. check up and the doctors insistance that Lanman can go 8-10 hours without nourishment (See? another fact I wanted to look up online... it's my lifeline, people! I am an idiot without checking things on this wonderful WWW!!!) We, as in Jake, has been trying to get up and settle him back down without feeding. He's done 5, 6 and now a 9 hour stretch. I think we're getting there!

We have recently had our only bout of illness this whole winter, when Doodle came down with a stomach bug last Tuesday during the night. He stayed homw Wed and was FINE... Then Noah got it during the night Thursday night. Right before the big Fourth Grade play on Friday! :( He tried to go to school, came home at 11, then after a nap and peppermint tea went back for the performance. He was ok after that... just a little under the weather. I hit the wall Saturday evening after a fun day shopping with my mom. :) Thanks so much, Mom!
Now Jake is iffy and so far Bella and Lanman are hanging in there. It was a "knock on wood," blessed to be healthy winter, and if this is the worst we'll get- we'll take it. The photos are all still on the camera of the play... to those who remember... It ranked right up there with "The Spoofydoof's Funnybone!" (LAURA!)

Lanman weighed in last Monday and was in the 25th percentile for length (25 1/2 inches)... an unheard of statistic in our family! Our sweet little shrimp. :) He really jumped the percentile ranks in weight... he's up to the 75th percentile (19 lbs 2 oz). The rolls at his wrists, ankles, knees, thighs, etc. are wonderfully smoochable. :) He has officially passed his year-old dainty girl cousin. :)
Here's our sweet boy. Growing and changing, but still looking a lot like his eldest brother:




(sorry for the blurriness of that last one. 6 month olds are wiggly.)

Bella is loving dance class and is very excited for her upcoming recital. She is making friends through dance and was excited to receive a birthday party invitation! She recently met two neighborhood girls about her age and has a new friend in sunday school, too. :) She's a little social butterfly who will adore going to school with daddy next year.

Doodle and Noodle are both well. Excited for the end of the school year and enjoying being outside more and more. They are thrilled to have the trampoline set up and spend hours on it. Still haven't found those great close friends that I assure them are out there. Little League and the swimming pool this summer will hopefully help establish some good friendships.

We are "church shopping" a bit. We started going to a church in town that we do like- nice people, aligned with truth, etc., but recently visited a bigger church in a town 20 minutes away that we really liked too. This big church has very established kids programs and a huge array of things to become involved in. We would need to find our nitch, as it's bigger than what we are used to. The small church has a good Children's Church program and a quizzing program Noodle really enjoyed, but not much else for kids that is set up until Junior High. Hmm. We are praying for direction and wisdom as to what is best. I think we are leaning toward the big church... where Jake's student teacher is a worship leader and we also found a family that moved away from our home church a couple years ago! (Hornby's, for those who know) Pray with us, would you? :)

We are looking forward to a trip out to South Dakota this weekend to visit friends who, like us ventured from Chetek. It will be fun to see where they are at and see their little girl. :)

We love you all and look forward to visiting the north country... Sometime soon?