A new season begins

Well, the long awaited day has flown past. School has started again. No one has looked more forward to this day than our Bella, who began her first day of public school in the First Grade.



Everyone had a great day. I loved hearing all the details upon their return home. Noodle had homework (Darn 5th grade teacher! :)), and Doodle had a large scab due to a playground wipe-out, but all in all it was a good start.



Lanman and I had a great day. After teaching one of the kids in the mornings for the past 5 years I couldn't believe how productive our morning was! We read together, and he took a great nap in a quiet house. We took a walk to the hardware store, grocery store and post office, and learned an important life lesson about the dog dish that I am sure I will have to repeat daily. :) ( I would say, "No, Lanman." to which he would heartily shake his head "Nooooo..." as he climbed in with that chubby little fist for more Kibbles.) Oh, what a treat he is, naughtiness and all. :) I loved my day with him.
Here's a photo from the bath Noodle offered to give him the other night... Entitled, "Mom, you've gotta see this!"



Oh, and I leave you with our newest portrait:



Have a great week!

Well, summer is drawing to a close and with it my internal instinct to become organized, schedule things and purge our belongings. Which brings a new twist this year as it is the first in five that I won't be formally educating any of our children! :( Their excitement for school is contagious, though, and when I come to realize seasons come and go I am excited for what is on my plate for this season.

I get a second chance at a first child! Which is not exactly the truth of it, but Lanman and I will have one-on-one time all day long, which is kind of a first child thing. I pray I'm a bit more relaxed than I was with Noodle at this age. I'm sure Lanman will have plenty "baby of the family" traits but I am looking forward to the 1:1 time that I didn't have as much with our middle kids.

I know myself pretty well, and know that a lack of structure isn't what is best for me. I am looking to dredge up an old friend- my index card box! Those of you who I attended church with will remember the system a dear friend taught us of organizing your tasks with Daily, Weekly, and Monthly cards. Didn't fit our lifestyle for the past five years real well, but I think a revised system will help me get to all the things I want to make a priority this year. Like finishing the Bible Studies and books I've started but never quite finished, and make exercise a regular part of my routine for the first time in my life. Allowing myself an hour a day to do things like that will feed my "check it off the list" hunger I have! :)

I look forward to settling our things into the basement rooms as soon as they are finished, and look forward to going through the abyss of a garage we are storing everything in for the time being.

I found out about the fall Bible Study at our church yesterday and look forward to taking part in it weekly. Childcare is provided!

I look forward to getting into menus and cooking again. I love trying new things and looking through cookbooks to find recipes for things we have on hand. This hasn't happened for a solid year and a half. I love having family meals and things ready for them when the kids walk in the door. I look forward to making banana bread and cookies and having time to chat with them about their days!

I think it's going to be a quieter fall. More quiet than last year, anyway, which isn't a stretch. :) Not everyday will be orderly and calm, BELIEVE ME- I KNOW, But I'll take it as it comes. I am excited to see what's in store.

Glimpses of our kids

I think this photo is from June- at the local lookout bluff.  They've grown so much since then!Big news for Bella-  She lost her first front tooth!  This was July... and man she's got a hummer of a tooth coming in to replace it.  Poor thing got her Mommy's huge teeth!I could just gobble him up!  Such a sweet little guy!

Whoo Hoo! *Edited to wonder what happened to my paragraphs!??!*

We are back from slack!  We are online at home after a very long hiatus and if anyone even checks our little corner of the world anymore- we will be back to blogging in the days and weeks to come. We are well.  It's been a wonderful summer and I am holding on to every last second I can.  :)  I will miss my kiddos terribly when school starts, but am thankful we live so very close and can be involved.  Noodle has the very most handsome and wonderful teacher this year... Don't tell Jake I said that... Oh, yeah, it is Jake, my dear friends. :)  I am so happy they can share this year together.  I'm pretty sure I'll be his "Copy Lady."  :)  Doodle will start 3rd grade and Bella is thrilled to be starting in 1st grade.  Lanman and I have piles to sort, bike trails to conquer and blogs to upkeep. :)We have loved our time together this summer- swimming often, playing lots of little league, coaching a soccer camp, spending time with cousins galore as they came to visit, trips to camp, meet up with friends, and camping with family.  We've worked and waited (mostly waited) to finish our basement.  It's waterproofed now and Jake's working on putting the walls back up. We're hoping to have a big family room, two bedrooms and a bathroom by... Well, soon. :)  The Lord's been molding me to withstand most anything in the "disorder" department which for those of you who know me well, is quite a stretch. :) A good one, really.  I'll share some quick photos to close off for now before my battery dies.  Ok, Tried and failed.  Blogger doesn't want to show you my babies tonight.  I'll try again tomorrow as soon as we're all going.From home.Cause I can.  :)

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?

I meant for this to be an update... but a photo will have to do. We are alive! And well! Ane missing the internet. Oh, what luxury it is to be online- one I took for granted and miss so much. :( When that house sells- we are reconnecting immediately! Here are our kiddos...

We are moved and semi-settled in the new house. A friend is staying with us as he works in town for a couple weeks and has helped us start to finish off the basement (2bedrooms, a bathroom and family room... along with storage space). Until then it is kind of like living in an apartment, but we are thriving despite the "transition" (aka mess) stage our home is in. :)

I miss you all and send hugs over the internet!
Love ya... Molly

Embracing Chaos

Ok.
The good news is that we closed on the new house this past Tuesday and have full access to our sweet new home. It's going to be great- once it gets settled.

The down side is that we have 98% of our stuff in one state, but the two houses we are transitioning are both in complete "thrown up" mode. Neither have any semblance of order. It's really, really yucky.

My hope is that we get totally OUT of the Aunt and Uncle's house in the next week. Stuff out, Cleaned, Everything back in its place... Finito.

THEN I will turn to settling, organizing and finding places for things in the new house- which really is the better of the two jobs.

We are still going to come over here to use the internet sporadically, but are not able to connect at our new house until our other house sells. :( I am hoping to use the wireless through the library every now and again. It makes me sad not to have all of you at my fingertips, but all the more reason to pray hard for a quick sale. :)

I am really missing all my friends. A lot. Without a date for "next time" it feels like a more permanent separation. That and the turn of seasons. Spring... and we are still here? Not going "home?" I love you, my friends and am thinking of you with tears more often that you know! I'm kind of glad all the moving and cleaning is taking my time up right now. Less time to dwell on missing ya'll!

I will be here the next few days to clean out. I hope to be able to jump on line a couple more times.

I better run. LanMan is probably screaming for his Mommy. Jake is holding down the fort while I "run over and get a load." I will check back soon!
Love you ALL!

Professional Shots

Here is a sampling of the pictures we had taken of Lanman by a WONDERFUL photographer in our area. His three month portraits! I'm posting them for all you far-away loved ones to get a glimpse of!

Some more photos of our boy...

 

 

 

 

For Marti :)

Some house photo updates....
The wood for the floors:

The kitchen countertops:

Opinion needed!!! What would you do with that ivory metal plate/backsplash thing behind the stove? There will be a black microwave/rangehood there soon- I want to just take it down, but am afraid of what I might find behind it!

The new counters and faucets for both baths- laundry room/ half bath and main bathroom:

And then she was six...

Earlier this week I asked Bella what she wanted to do on her birthday. She asked if we could write a note to the boys' teachers and tell them it was her birthday so they could stay home and play. (one of the perks to being new to town is that the kids see each other as their closest friends. This is not a bad thing! :)) I said, no, but we could pray for a snow day! So we did, and wouldn't you know the forecast looked snowy and the Lord answered her five-yr-old prayers! :)

Daddy made her a big ol' breakfast. She had a stack of presents accumulated that rivaled Christmas morning. Her boys were all there to witness her open them slowly and tauntingly. :) The princess was in her glory!

 

(again, I apologize for the photo quality. Our camera battery is enjoying a much-needed charging as we "speak")

She spent most of her day dressing her Molly doll, and playing with Doodle. Noodle spent much of his day nose-in a book (Thank you, Auntie Lottie! It arrived at 1:30 and by supper time he was on page 200! He's aiming to finish it this weekend.) Lanman spent most of his day marveling at the whirlwind of activity going on around him. Jake and I both stole 15 minute naps. :) We baked cookies, a chocorama birthday cake and had two generations of grandmas for dinner. :) It was a fun day, start to finish. We ended up with 5-6 inches of snow and today is bright and sunny, but 20 below. A good day to enjoy the sun from INSIDE.

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles...

Yes, I've been singing a lot of "Fiddler" songs lately. :)

We had the Lanman in to the doctor on Wednesday for his four month check-up. He had shots (boo), but thankfully he slept hard for a few hours directly afterward. The pathetic whimpering only lasted a few hours when he woke up. It's so sad to see him that way, my little smiley man.

The above stated "wonder of wonders..." is that he weighed in at 14lbs. 13 1/2 oz.- in the mere 50th percentile! To give some perspective, Noah was 20lbs. 8 oz. at 4 months. I think the lowest percentile we've ever had was 75th for one of their heads at one point.

Here are the other stats...
He was 25 1/4 inches long (50th-75th percentile) and his head was 16 1/2 inches
(25th to 50th percentile). Interesting for grandmas only perhaps, and then maybe they aren't interested either. :)

He's still nursing every three hours. He has had a couple nights where he'll stretch it out to 4 hours, but I am envious of those whose babies sleep through the night from early on.

Much to the pediatricians dislike, we started cereal in the evenings. She "would have liked to see us wait until 6 months." He suckles it down without hesitation and had been wanting to nurse even more frequently- so I am not waivered. He was ready.

I am hoping to get word that his 3 mo. photos are ready to be picked up soon... She had hoped to have them done for today, so I'll keep you posted!

What a weekend!

Life continues to roll on quickly in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.
LanMan is 4 months today! He's been rolling over pretty regularly from front to back since December, but is on the brink of rolling from back to front. He arches his back, rolls to his hips and cranes his neck back- just can't get that lower shoulder out of the way. He loves to jibber-jabber, and adores his older siblings. :)



This weekend we surprised the kids and brought them to an indoor waterpark about an hour and a half away. They were even more surprised when they opened the door to our cabin and their cousins were in it! :) They had a blast together swimming, and Bella's 5, soon to be 6-yr-old dreams came true when we got to "Build a Bear!"
(Sorry for the blurry photo- my battery was running L-O-W...)



Doodle and his floppy Boo-Boo...



Noodle and LanMan...

LanMan is so much like his oldest brother- we have even discovered that he has a slight blond spot in his hair like Noodle! :) He took the waterpark in much like Noodle would have- very serious about it all. He LOVED the steamy air around the hot tub. It put him right to sleep.

We had a huge pizza party Saturday night, a visit from Yogi and Cindy Bear,a trip to the arcade, and a big ol' breakfast buffet Sunday morning. They gave us an industrial-pan sized cake- 54 huge pieces! The kids got to have a sleep-over with their cousins and a ton of fun to boot! Thanks Cousins! We had a blast and can't wait to see you again soon!

Pictures of the new house

I wasn't going to post these until we sign and things are "official," but here are a few photos of the house we are **hoping** will be ours in about 6 weeks. We chose carpet today, and are hoping the wood for the floors will be in the house to make acquaintance and acclimate as early as this weekend!
The front:

The view from "the front door looking in:"

To the right:

A peek into the kitchen:

Obviously this is a work-in-progress photo shoot... Like the rose curtains? Yeah, they're going. Tools, plastic on the windows, torn-apart bannister? It should all come together soon. :) I'll keep you posted.

Dear Grandma and PaPa K,

I have missed you So much! I want to tell you all that I have been doing since I saw you last in Madison! I lift my head up really high, and when I do, my eyebrows go really high, too.

I like to play with the toy you gave me for Christmas. Usually one of the big kids stacks it for me, but Mama can tell I'm learning my colors and the order they go in. :)

Mommy and Daddy say I'm looking more and more like my biggest brother Noodle- Especially when my face looks round and moon-like. Like this:

I really like to eat things. Like my hands, my blankie and anything else that comes within reach. This is one of my favorites- my bunny from Miss Heidi!!!

Well, I'm lookin' to get swaddled up. Yeah, I know I'm getting big, but I still like it. I can't wait until Feb. 29th. I'm glad it's the shortest month of the year. I love you and look forward to your snuggles!

Love,
Lanman

Hey There!

We are still here!
January is more than half over, and my hopes of weekly updates to you, our friends and family, well- are dashed.
We had a delightful weekend with my sister and brother-in-law. Mom, Lottie and I had a blast in Chicago at "Phantom." Lottie also brought us to "The Italian Village"- Chicago's oldest Italian restaurant- for a wonderful lunch before the show. Here we are in the lights of Chicago.



Here's a tidbid of info- We were there Jan 5th and they were "undecorating" for Christmas. Hundreds of trees were lit like these, and they just have a wire cutters and snip all the light strands out- in like 10" pieces. It surprised me, but I suppose paying people to carefully unwind them all would cost much more than new lights each year. Put that in your trivia bank.

In other big news- LanMan has found his thumb. He's not a huge thumb sucker (still prefers the pacifier when he can manage to hold it in), but has founds his hands and likes them.



Bella has a new social engagement each Tuesday- She accompanies her Great Grandma to quilting at her church. Bella is especially enjoying the time, though I think the ladies all enjoy having her, too. Last week they helped her sew and tie this little quilt for LanMan, which he loves!



We are enjoying another big snowstorm today! :) I love it! Huge soft flakes falling very quickly! I think we have about 5 inches thus far!

We are really enjoying having "Bird" of Helm's Deep with us this week as her parents are perusing the Caribbean. The girls have been apart for long enough that this is a treat and so far, are getting along swell. I will have to share photos of the paper people they made- too funny!

Well, I'm off to clean as Jake's Aunt and Uncle (in whose home we are staying) are coming home for a visit this weekend. I want their house to sparkle for them when they arrive. With four- no five- kidlets, that's a full-time job!

Happy New Year!

Well, I need to apologize for my lack of updates, but life (especially with a baby) has a way of trotting on. We had a great Christmas with my family and enjoyed a RELAXING New Year with wonderful friends. :) Relaxing as in about 15 crossword puzzles!

Here are some photo updates from Christmas... featuring the boys this time:

Our little man:



Doodle's favorite gift- A "Rocket Fishing Rod:"



Noodle, his little bro and one of HIS favorite gifts, a book, of course!



SMILEY MAN!



We also need to share some (prospective) exciting news... We found a house and have signed an offer to purchase. It was in the flood, but a man bought it and has cleaned and rebuilt it meticulously. He is working toward having the main floor complete by March 1st when we need to move out of our current accommodations. Yesterday we went to pick out hardwood floors, paint, counter tops and vinyl flooring! :) (We got in on the deal just at the right time for picking things out!)
Lord willing, all will go well. Please pray with us that it does, and that our house in Chetek will sell in His time. It feels as though we have a lot balancing on our plate right now! The van is on the fritz, too, and I am awaiting a phone call from the shop (sadly not "The Shop," Tam) to hear the verdict. Ugh. We are supposed to be headed to Madison tonight so that Mom and I can enjoy our Christmas present from Lottie with her tomorrow!
Again, we will wait on the Lord. :)He is good- All the time. Even with daunting debt and finicky vehicles. ahhh...

Love to all! Happy 2008!

A quick plug...

Want to tell you quick about a great series of DVD's we stumbled upon a couple years back- "Praise Baby" is a DVD/CD series that puts praise and worship music in a "Baby Einstein" format. We've enjoyed the CD's, and have the newest DVD. They have come out with a Christmas version this season. Check them out!

Smiley Man!

This brings sunshine to any snowy, gray winter day:




The smiles of our 8-week-old little man.