Family Hikes

With the current season of our family's life, it can be challenging to find things we can all do together... at the same time... when no one is napping, hungry, tired, etc :) We love to get outdoors together. Hiking really fulfills all of us - now with two babies, it requires two backpacks, but the prep is always worth it. Plus, it is always filled with good conversation (and a little complaining sometimes!) and lots of exploration, observation, and adventure. We decided to do a 3-mile loop... wow, b/t all of the stops for exploration and caterpillars and butterflies and noises we heard and woodpeckers and snacks.... Jonathan and I were HURTING with these babies on our backs!!! We might have to rethink that next time :) 

the Backyard

When Jonathan and I were looking for houses 5 years ago, we always hoped we'd find a place with a big backyard, lots of space, and a very kid-friendly setup. We wanted kids to want to be here! We've been so grateful for such wonderful neighbors. All of the kids get a long, with minor hiccups, with each other and there is a diverse range of ages. We have regular disagreements over rules, who tagged who first, who fouled who on the court, etc…. but they are always times to teach and train… and correct :) Such good opportunities. Myles and Tessa are the two youngest, and I feel very blessed that they are so loved by all of the big kids. Looking forward to an active summer!




The bottom pics are just bonus pics of days at home with the 3 youngest. Wyatt is such a doting big brother... that can be bad and good :) Usually good, occasionally menacing!

Resurrection SUNDAY

 My heart overflows daily, even in the midst of hard work and repetition, with gratitude to our great God for the good gifts He gives us. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think how blessed we are in the gift of our children… that are really just 'on loan' to us for this time were are here on earth. They are not ours, they are His, yet He is gracious enough to allow us to invest our time into them and hopefully show them a fraction of the love God has for each of them. Children are a gift from God - it is true b/c that is what God's Word tells us. And I am always confronted with the fact that all while we are teaching, training, correcting, encouraging them, WE are the ones who benefit by all the lessons we learn along the way as parents. The sin that is exposed, the vulnerability that is there, the depth of sadness and joy they can bring us… the gratefulness that God plants deep in our souls for their little lives that grow so quickly. Another show of God's abundant generosity to allow us to be apart of this journey. And while that generosity doesn't always appear beautiful on the outside… meaning, children don't always obey, they throw fits in stores, we lose our tempers, or say things to manipulate our kids, or be hurtful and unkind, we question deep down why we are doing what we're doing… but if we allow His Word to guide how we think/pray/believe toward our children and about life, it brings great comfort to know that we are not the authority of the ultimate outcome. He is. He will save, He will soften hearts, He will grow love… I will obey Him. My goal is not to force change, but to show them His Word, teach them His Word, and show them His love. I can never change their hearts, but He can. So we will be faithful to the calling He has given, and give Him the praise in the good and the difficult. B/c He is always working even when we can't see.

These are pictures from Resurrection Sunday! We had a great day - dinner with family and friends, egg hunts, and beautiful weather. Many warm memories.

Clean windows?

Another day...

At least he's got good company :)

Someone's sick...

... and while it's exhausting for a parent to have sick babies, there are moments (or seconds) of preciousness... This little guy just finds one spot, sits, and moans ALL DAY LONG even if you're holding him. All of us, at one time or another, have said, "Myles.... Pls stop moaning!!!" Meanwhile, in the moments (or seconds) that he is content to moan on the floor, I try to simply maintain household chores. It's amazing how a whole week goes by and you're wondering what you originally had planned b/c it's like someone hit a pause button on life. You look outside and wonder what everyone else is doing :) You are forced to choose between necessity and 'the rest'... and I am personally always surprised how much falls in 'the rest' category. It's really kind of telling and usually good for me to have that kind of reality check now and then. Although when you have 4 kids and sicknesses fall back to back, it does get a little tiring. But this will pass and for that I'm thankful! Excited to see spring weather! Yay! Wyatt and I did get out to plant some herbs today... Love season changes!

Wyatt's Hopping

Tonight Jonathan is gone. At 6:15p, we had ice cream. At 6:30p, we all headed upstairs. Henry showered, and after a serious (but hopefully productive) discipline session, I put him to bed. I bathed Tessa and Myles. Put Tessa to bed. Wyatt took a shower while Myles played in the pack-n-play in our room. Then I had Wyatt look at books while I read Myles some books, and then put Myles to bed. Then I came to get Wyatt. I noted in my head, verbatim... "Sweet... it's 7:56p, three down and one to go. I can be exercising by 8:15p!"

But OH Wyatt. My little bunny rabbit. He hops EVERYWHERE. You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not. He hops, jogs, skips, gallops... I'm not sure he knows how to simply walk. So... I let him finish his book while I folded some laundry. Then I said, "Go potty one more time before you go to bed." He hops like a bunny into my bathroom. He wipes out on the tile. He face plants the toilet.

-----Now mind you, after his shower, he was hopping with wet feet on the tile. And I said, again, verbatim... "Listen bud, one of these days you're going to slip and bust your head open." (I feel like my mom when I say stuff like that!)-----

Instant blood is pouring out of his mouth. He's screaming like a crazy animal, and I'm just trying to figure out if he knocked his teeth out or what!!! I HATE emergencies like this... esp when I'm on my own! I finally figure out he popped himself pretty good on the upper lip and banged up his gums, but his teeth seem in tact. We get a cold rag, and I have to make him sit down so he can't see himself in the mirror. For some reason, the more he looks at himself, the more he screams. After about 22 minutes of crying, hyperventilating, panic, inability to talk... He FINALLY calms down!! I give him some tylenol. We have a short discussion on how we handle ourselves when injuries occur. I reassure him it's OK to cry, but that we really need to work on the screaming and breathing. Not sure how much he followed that... but I guess time will tell :) He requests a cold rag to sleep with. But, "Mom, I don't want to have to hold the rag while I sleep. I want to lay flat enough so the rag just balances on my face." (He's always very specific about stuff like this.) Ok... this took some work, but we got it figured out. And he and Chip happily went to sleep w/in minutes.

At 8:49p - I start the exercise video :)

Leprechauns

We take things pretty seriously here on St. Patrick's Day -- the boys leave gold in all of our shoes the night before in hopes that Leprechauns will visit. B/c we have the luck o' the Irish, they always do :) Thank goodness for those Irish roots!!

*Gold in the shoes the night before...*

*Every person in the house has to have gold in their shoe*

*The Leprechauns make everything green... the muffins, the eggs...*

*At breakfast, we decided this little man could be working with the Leprechauns!*

*Evidence the Leprechauns actually came... they left a muffin in the trap!*

Have I mentioned...

 … well, a few things really… did I mention that we have a girl in the house? It's SO fun. I think she is the most fun for me (esp all of those middle-of-the-night hours we spend together!), although Wyatt did tell me today he thought she had a beautiful smile and in this picture on top, Henry actually dressed her. So I guess I'm not the only one having fun :)





And did I mention we had a snowstorm just last week… then about 3 days later it was 61 degrees. So fun to be having snowball fights wearing short sleeves… at least that is the boys opinion. Our opinion is that it's not great hearing our sump pump working every 45 seconds! Yikes!










































And Tessa girl is eating some foods these days… always love this stage… well, kind of… not really, but since she is most likely my last, I'm actually enjoying it a lot more!!

My Babies

These two are keeping me young and giving me my first gray hairs all at the same time!!! ;)

Monday night DESSERT night

Jonathan is in class late every Monday night. The boys and I mourn his absence by having dessert on Mondays before bedtime... Makes us all feel better :)

2nd Street Market

Took a family outing to the 2nd Street Public Market/Trader Joes this morning. The market is downtown Dayton - we get our local raw honey and local maple syrup there. We shared a pretzel the size of our head! We even saw a train on the way out. And of course, we love Trader Joes. With the new budget, we still go once a week, but are now much more strict about sticking to the list :) The kids love finding the cow... b/c they get a sucker... all organic and cane sugar... so much healthier, right?!? Ha ;)