Changes

Josiah says "monkey" instead of "mon-monk" now. Who can say when these things change? You just go through your days and all of the sudden he looks across the kitchen bar and says, "Hello, Caleigh" as she saddles up slowly for breakfast. And he waits...for her to reply appropriately. His "miiiilk" is nice and southern. He laughs and runs surprisingly fast and still plops backwards into your lap with a book and demands (verbally now) for you to "read!"

Caroline has stopped saying "mulky-mulky" and says a good crisp "milk" now. She is adamant about being "three and a half!" even as she creeps toward four. She takes on a sing-songy beautifully loving voice when she is trying to help Josiah do/learn something. If he doesn't pull her hair out, she is quite pleased to help his through his day.

Zach is a couple days away from learning to swim. Three days down in his class and he's making great progress. He is making grand inventions with his legos. He believes his neon green striped running shoes make him FAST so he *is* running faster. "Sure thing" is what you hear when he is asked to go outside and help Daddy x. A natural helper.

Caleigh is maturing her helping nature. She is a speed reader with a hunger for more...More...MORE! And it's fascinating what she pulls from what she reads and uses with gusto later. If I gather something new from her she tells me, "you really should read more, Mama." (which is true...). She is getting better (as is Zach) at making acquaintances at the pool/park. It's always fun to listen in on young kids' conversations, but the more they practice with their peers, the better.

Summer is flying by. Swim lessons, French and Spanish mini-courses, Rockwood park adventure camp, three VBSs, trips to Floyd/Galax, vacation to MI/OH/VA. Good stuff. And chickens! Back to four eggs today (had been 2/day for a week or so). Grass is coming in well out in the field. We need to mow. We are hosting Sasha and Ira five nights each and having a BLAST! Busy stuff but it is so worth it!

 

The curse of Facebook and a busy life

So...I post little tidbits of our life on FB. And I take a ton of pictures and videos of our life and occasionally download them and keep them safely tucked away on the computer. But so much of life happens so fast that this little blog suffers.

Today...let's just start with today. Colleen came over for tadpoles from our creek and the kids all played together for a bit before taking Zach along in their car home with them. There is a "boys club" at her house later and we'll pick him up from there and then meet Dan out to look at cars to replace the 1997 Honda Civic. Pity it only lasted 202K an 16 years (July). The girls are outside, Caleigh pushing Caroline around on the fancy tricycle. They just helped me hang out clothes. Josiah is asleep so I'm thankful not to have had to wake him up to take Z to boys club.

Caleigh is slowly finishing 1st grade. I should order her test soon. Caroline is very excited about being old enough for Sparrows and Keepers. We have been enjoying Maymont and Lewis Ginter and the parks. Such a nicer spring than the hot one we had last year. And our grass in the field is growing! And the kids love playing on the playset out back, and the sandbox, and with their bikes.

I perpetually feel behind in keeping up with the house. We just have way too much stuff. I have good intentions of sorting and purging and organizing...then life happens and we're just having too much fun! So it nags me, but not enough for an overhaul.

Mom and I are meeting in Galax the Th-Sat before Mother's day. To clean and shop for furniture and dream and talk. Fun!!

Josiah seems like he's almost making sentences. Lots of words and inflections...confidence is rising in him.

Sawsee - sorry
Sare! - command to give him something
Tank u - thank you
C'mon (with a hand motion) - come here now
Peas - Please
'Siah - Josiah
Animal sounds
Alligator and Elephant are words he trying to enunciate
Sure - his affirmative answer to most things
Yes/No are go-to words

Ending up 2012

Back from a 1.5 weeks in Floyd and slowing rolling through a lazy Saturday. It's raining and we still have a car load (or two!) of stuff we didn't carry in last night from our trip. But there is a party! to prepare for and a roaring fire and Dan let me sleep in until 10 and he is getting the older three through a bath...we lost power for a bit this morning but the guys got the fire going and all is well.

We visited Angels in the Attic a couple times, walked around and ate on the Roanoke Market, had the Blackwell breakfast on Dec. 22, went shopping on Dec. 23 (and to Cracker Barrel!), had everyone to Judy's Dec. 24, and Grandma, Judy and Tracy to Mom's for Christmas Day lunch (with baked brie as a desset!). Logan, Ciera and Anna came over after Christmas Eve service at the Baptist church and again Christmas Day morning before she hosted her family for their first Christmas in their house.

Kids were delighted with their gifts. We were all amazed at the number as individually wrapped Attic finds can really add up! Zach didn't get his combine, but we were proud of how he reacted. We really didn't know it was tops on his list until too late, but he said he loved everything he got and it was fine. Especially his electric Cat train set and the slew of other tractors he got. Caleigh is awash in horses and books, just like she asked for. Caroline was very excited to get a cash register with money in it (and it talks!) and a horse trailer with her own couple horses. She immediately offered to share her trailer with Caleigh. ;-) Josiah loved his stacking cups. He was gifted Wiki Stix but the others loved playing with them hopefully he'll still be able to use them when he gets interested.

We listened to a lot of country Christmas CDs but didn't get out this year to a cantata. Josiah didn't make it through the Christmas Eve service so maybe next year he'll be ready for longer outings staying in church. The olders were excited to hold a candle, but Z just ended up blowing his out after I'd held it the whole time. Missed Grandma Gearheart at service this year, but blessed she could participate in the other events over those two days.

Got in a playdate with Mack and Krey Thurs afternoon after being stuck in the house two days with the ice storm. Lots of power out, but we only lost it Thursday a.m. for about 10 hours (midnight - 10). Josiah was a waking bear all night w/o his sound machine. It didn't help that Caleigh woke him up needing headache medicine at 2 and Caroline woke up screaming b/c of the dark at 4. Sigh.

Spent Friday a.m. touring around Meadows of Dan and Galax. ;-)

And the march toward 2013 continues

The tree is up and decorated nicely...we enjoyed a fun outing to cut down our Christmas tree from a field. A great new tradition! Into our second field we found a glorious white pine standing 9' and very full bodied. Dan cut it down to size (8' ceilings!) and we have nice boughs for hanging around outside. It was an unusually warm Dec. 1. The kids ran from tree to tree, pulling the 'sled' for the cut tree insisting each one was "perfect!!" We are all happy with the lovely  tree gracing our family room.

The wood keeps rolling in...we have enjoyed many nights around the cozy fire. We are thankful that Dan and Zach keep us in the wood! Zach and Caleigh are also working hard to keep us in the leaves, sweeping and shoveling them into the flower/garden beds to make dirt over the winter. We love our wood stove!

Cookies are made...more to come, but we love this family tradition (and eating them!).

First (annual?) Christmas party scheduled for Dec. 15 at our house. We are hosting a hymn sing to enjoy fellowship and Advent and Christmas hymns with our friends, Sycamore Pres family and neighbors. Lots of Christmas cheer and yummy goodies to be had by all! And a fun craft for the kids while they aren't busy eating and singing with their parents. So excited about this!

We are currently members of Lewis-Ginter Botanical Garden, and enjoyed their member night Festival of Lights. It was a warmish evening for end of November. The kids oohed and ahhed at the dragon form of lights and the kids section full of mazes, huge lite vegetables and the beautiful tree house. We are also members of the Children's Museum and we love to go there to play a few hours away (mostly the Chesterfield location). And we are new members of the Science Museum of VA (thanks, Colleen! for the discount price!) and we look forward to enjoying the member benefits there and with the reciprocal memberships in 2013!

The house continues to come together. New family room lamps, pictures of the kids going up in the foyer and family room, and general straightening and more pictures up in the living room. Hopefully we'll get that big wall of bookcases around the tv this next year!

Another thing to look forward in 2013 to is getting another bunk bed and moving the guest room to Caleigh's current room. The girls and boys will start sharing a room once Josiah is out of the crib. With no baby to push him out there isn't a date for that yet. I guess when he tries to climb out or his legs outgrow the length? ;-)

Josiah is saying lots of words now at 17 months. My favorite is tractor but he also says ball, mon (for monkey when he sees the picture), liol (with his tongue sticking way out at the "l" for lion), cat (while faux petting it in the air), milk, dog. He says "ca" for "cow," but is excited to moo whenever he sees a picture.  He is still running full speed and trying to imitate his sibs.

We are caught up on our Advent tree. Pulling out the little ornaments and hanging them up is always fun. We have visions of making more cookies, reading the Christmas story and seeing more of what our area has to enjoy during these holidays. But life is busy and good and we can't stay sane and do everything! We did enjoy seeing the Jefferson Hotel in it's Christmas glory (grand staircase, three level decorated tree, large nativity, and giant gingerbread train!) and the hundred+ lite deer in a field in front of the Omni and the inside decorations (huge nutcrackers, fishing Eskimos and polar bears). Fun night out with Grandma!

We leave Dec. 19 for Floyd and festivities so not much more time to enjoy Richmond. But we'll come home to a holiday party at the Prys' and some rest at home before the new year starts for school! And Oma and Jochen are moving within a 1/2 hour Jan. 2! This coming year shall bring more changes, I'm sure. Hopefully the kids will learn to sew and bake at Oma's and we'll have more time to spend one-on-one with kids and have more date nights as they can visit Oma's house periodically. Much to be thankful for and much to cherish.

Thanksgiving 2012

And away we went. Six in a minivan, packed superbly by Daddy and filled with expectation on our adventure. No one in OH or MI had met IV and MI folks had last seen Caroline at nearly 3 months and OH folks had a two year gap as we missed the Thanksgiving trip last year. So...off we went from Saturday to Saturday to see what we could see. Kids were excited about the indoor pool at the OH hotel. And loved the play structures (one looked suspiciously like a John Deere-inspired one) near Grandpa Will and Grandma Gwen. We had a great time with the at church and afterwards for lunch and hanging out. And spending most of the day at the Air Force Museum was a hit on Monday. It helped we rewarded ourselves with Mimi's for dinner and ice cream at Cold Stone. Felt a bit like Christmas with all the lights and large tree at the outdoor mall. The kids ran around it. Josiah and Caroline in particular got really close to the large central tree and gazed up so high at the magnificence of it.

A 'short' ride north with fun stops and playing before four nights at Aunt Connie and Uncle Bob's. We so enjoyed being around them and playing with their gobs of toys (they run a day care *well*), and visiting Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Reed. The kids especially liked visiting with their Getter cousins every day! Game night and dinner provided ample opportunity to plat at the Getter house. Thanksgiving was full of the whole gang (nearly 30!). Friday we were off to Meijer Gardens to view the trees decorated from around the world, and also enjoyed some art, the catcus and tropical rainforest rooms, and the trains! Wow! More playing at the Blain's house before leaving somewhat early Saturday (after pancakes!). Too short a visit but a long 13.5 hours door to door. We maybe will go back in the summer when we can visit Lake Michigan's beach and perhaps catch a wedding. ;-)

We couldn't ask for better weather, though. Warm enough in both states to play outside in the sun without a jacket. Until...Friday when the temp dropped 20-30 degrees and snow blew and no one wanted to play in the sand pile. But the kids got everything they wanted short of riding a sled down a snowy hill. And we enjoyed visiting so many relatives, too. And we'd love to host them (hint...hint...).

It has been a ridiculously long time...

It is July 19, 2012. Let's just start with where we are. Powhatan, VA. Four kids. What else is new? ;-)

Caleigh is reading like a pro, speeding through my beloved "Black Stallion" books. She is reading about 1 every 2 days and there are 20. It warms my heart that she said she'd like to give them to her daughter one day. She is now a fish in the water. Eight swim classes ago she was a timid water-goer. Now she is jumping in by herself, swimming underwater, can swim the length of the pool without stopping, and is gleeful for hours in the water. She loves to ride her big girl bike, run, jump, dance, kick the soccer ball, make Josiah laugh. Her sense of humor is developing. She cracks jokes and loves to read us things from books she deems funny. She has a shyness about her humor, though. She has a slow, small smile like she is trying to hold it in a bit, or wait to make sure you agree or wait to make sure you even get the joke.

Zachary is his own man. Scooting from balance bike to big boy bike w/o training wheels at a mere 4.5. He is a thinker and has recently been more apt to let you in on his thought processes. He is an inventor. He would like to build a conveyor belt linking Oma's to home and Grandma's to home so he could go quickly and whenever he wanted without having to wait on the parents. There is also talk of helicopters and airplanes (he told us recently we needed to buy seatbelts, and seats, and probably a whole lot of other stuff for the airplane he wants to build). He told me today he thinks I should watch his John Deere tractor video as they said it was "entertainment for the whole family." He is protective of his younger sibs, telling us when the yarn isn't securing the kitchen cabinet doors (Josiah), holding his sister's hand across the parking lot to church, and patting Caroline on the back reassuringly when he is sure of what is coming next. He has recently taken over the hall as his farmland.

Caroline loves to sing. And smile. And tell you a whole lot about whatever is going through her mind. Sometimes you ask her a question and you can SEE something clicks and she is going to give you an earful. And you listen intently because you need to catch the words you can (to make sense of the ones you can't understand) and because her little voice is so cute that you sink into rapt attention easily. She is happy to have been promoted to the balance bike. She is independent -- getting her own milk out of the refrigerator, putting her used snack bowl in the dishwasher, getting dressed, going about and playing on her own. I love to see her off by herself nodding her head and talking to herself, in her own little wonderful world.

Josiah is 1. Can't believe it! He is almost walking, cruising around on everything he can get his hands on. He loves the cat and doesn't mind when the cat jumps over his head or races in front of his face...he just waves and makes a high-pitched "meow/hello" sound. He likes to "hide" standing behind my back and pop out when I ask where he is and peek-a-boo with a huge grin and laugh. His humor is coming along. He likes to page through books and sit in the plastic bin on top of and with his toys.

And that is all for now. We cleared and acre of land and put up a play set...we lost 6-8 trees in a recent storm...it's hard to keep up the house and play with the kids and enjoy life...it's fun to host friends and family and have space to spread out and be back in VA...we're making it well here. More soon!

Feb 14 2011

Caleigh looks way too old here! We enjoyed a Valentine's party with some friends - crafts, treats, cards...the whole deal! Everyone had a blast. Caroline loved this giraffe chair!

End of Feb 2011

Just hanging out on the rental house steps. I think I hadn't taken many pictures since we moved and started clicking. Group shots are hard to come by!

At the downtown Children's Museum (of Richmond)

The kids call it the 'apple tree' museum because of their love of one display. This visit was earlier in the cooler spring and Zach enjoyed wearing his matching Oma-made hat and sweater. ;-) The dinosaurs are a big hit, especially 'riding' down their tails and off. It's a fairly big location and we sometimes get a little separated. I am thankful the older two can be trusted to stay together and where I plant them as I chase an ever-faster Caroline. I wonder at if I will ever leave the house with four wee ones aged 5 and under, but I'm sure we'll all be able to handle it in time.

Out back and at a diner

Caleigh was the only one who would try on the diner hat. Dan got a sepia tone out of his camera phone, which looked cool.

VA Tech is big around here, so we're glad to be sporting some Hokie-wear on Caroline. Just having fun in the backyard!

Busch Gardens

Grandma and Papa let us come along on their day trip to Busch Gardens. The rented scooter came in handy for one and all! Octoberfest, standing in Italian wine buckets (Mama has a picture of her doing this at about 5 years old!), rides in the sky, by train and while being buckled down, beautiful flowers...and the new Elmo section were all enjoyed. We've now taken the kids to an amusement park each of the last three summers! We hope to get back to BG this summer as Grandma and Mom have season passes and the kids all get in free (since they are 5 and under - whoo hoo!). Daddy took one for the team, riding all the rides with the kids except one (Mama got to take Caroline on a spin in dinosaurs!). Mama also LOVES the swings so she rode on that and luckily (a) fit in the chair w/harness down, (b) didn't fall ill after all that round and round and swooping, and (c) refrained from going into labor.

The first picture is of Caleigh on the train from the car to the park - umm...a bit excited! Zach most loved the rides he and Caleigh could do themselves - the first was in the dragon boat. The close ups of Zach and Caleigh are when they first came off the (best ever!) roller coaster - relieved and delighted (you can tell which is which). Love love love these pictures of the girls in front of flowers. Such hams and in such good spirits!

Sold!

As of May 25, 2011 we are no longer homeowners. Yeah! From listing to offer our beloved 51 Windsor in Upper Darby PA was on the market and available to one and all for 2 months 2 days. We had the most motivated buyers ever -- offered pretty much what we asked and requested nothing be done post-inspection (a bit crazy if you ask us, on a 90 year old house!). So...Caleigh was a mere 6 months old when we sold our TH in Alexandria, VA and now just over 5 years when we sold the only house our kids have known as home in PA. The kids didn't make the trip up from Richmond, VA after our going away party mid January...so no throwing kids up in the air in glee at selling a home picture this time. You'll just have to enjoy the happy couple who are ready to start a life in Richmond, give birth to #4 around early July, and feeling quite blessed about the whole move.

Fishing...no...Christian inflatable music party!

Mama picked the wrong county for the lake we were to go fishing in, but we were led to a Baptist-sized party a Saturday in early June with inflatable jumping fun houses as far as the eye could see. So...Zach still mourned a little we weren't fishing, but they all enjoyed the free food and drink, pony rides, petting zoo, clown making balloon animals, music booming and jumping around. A good & tiring couple of hours for all.

Norfolk zoo!

It was fun...it was fun...it was fun...! The kids thought is was fun, although hot. Dan was a good sport, pushing and lifting and managing the kids because Mama was HOT and TIRED and could barely make it around the blasted zoo. ;-) But it was my bright idea to go before our Philly membership ran out and Norfolk is the closest zoo of any size to us and I thought it would be fun...;-)

The best times were in the shade or riding on metal animals, it seemed. But the kids did enjoy looking at the map and figuring out what animals came next. Zach was glad there was no cheetah in the gazelle enclosure! We were very happy to find the rhino and the elephants most of all. Dan wanted at least one picture of my belly so here it is. ;-)