Spring!

We have had a beautiful spring! We were able to go camping the beginning of this month with the homeschool group I'm a part of. This has started to become a twice a year thing and the kids love it! It's so fun when the kids start to remember things you do as a family. The anticipation builds as they look forward to whatever it is, camping in this case. It is so wonderful to get away from all the busyness and noise and enjoy God's beautiful creation. 

 Landon's favorite thing was helping build and tend to this fire. He's really growing up and it's so fun to see him mature and grow.

 These two just bummed around. James loves to have his "bear-bear" wherever he goes. It's so fun to see how he treats him like his baby. Tonight I was reading to him a look and find Thomas the train book and he was grabbing "bear bear's" hand and having him find the items with a squeaky voice (talking for bear bear). He's at such a fun stage, he loves puzzles, Thomas and our marble works set. 

Olivia buddied up with sweet Samuel. They had a great time playing together and I found them holding hands quite a few times :)

 I just liked this picture of our "cool" boy :)

 We've been trying to spend a lot of time outside. The homeschool philosophy that I've adopted is the Charlotte Mason method. A part of her philosophy is spending a lot of time outdoors, taking time to notice God's creation. We do nature study which at this point involves drawing pictures of whatever they find that is interesting and writing a few words about it. The last few days have been so much fun - lots of caterpillars, slugs, worms, birds, and watching our garden grow. I didn't realize how much fun our small backyard could be...

 It's these four that make it so much fun. I love to see the world through their eyes. I love to see their excitement over the many things I take for granted. It makes me slow down and watch that caterpillar and be amazed at the Lord's handiwork. 

 We've had a lot of rain over the last few weeks. Last week I decided to take them to the park and let them splash around in the puddles. They had a blast!

Olivia with her little "Sheila" dog. "Bumpa" (my dad) gave her this puppy when she was 18 months and she loves her. I just loved this picture because I don't know how much longer this phase will last, but I am thoroughly enjoying it right now. She says the funniest things as she is trying to figure out the world around her. 

We had a great Mother's Day together as a family. I am so thankful for our sweet mothers that the Lord has blessed us with. I know it is such a rare thing to have amazing moms like we do. They have both been such an example of selflessness, always putting others first. Their love for the Lord is evident from their lives. I am so blessed and thankful for them.

I always like to go out to the cemetery on Mother's Day. It's the closest I can be to having my five kiddos together. I remember my first Mother's Day. My arms were empty. I didn't feel like a mother, even though my heart was so full of love for my sweet firstborn. I longed to hold him and love on him. I remember singing, "Jesus Loves Me" at church and the phrase, "Let the little child come in" catching me totally off guard. I couldn't sing that phrase, it was too hard. A beautiful reminder that my little Samuel was able to go into Heaven's gates to meet his Savior. I felt so torn, so happy for him and yet aching to be with him.

Anyway, I still ache for him. For my little 8 year old. But I am so thankful. My arms are full, I never would have imagined to be where I am at today with these sweet four children that I have with me today. I know all too well, they are not mine and tomorrow is not guaranteed, so we treasure the time we have and look forward to eternity with our Savior. All things will be perfect there with our perfect Savior and our perfect home and our sweet Samuel. Cannot wait.

Where has the time gone?!

Where do I begin? ONE post last year? Wow... well, I guess I'll start with this past week and hope to go back and fill in some blanks.

My newest nephew was born on March 12th, Judah Nathaniel. We were thrilled to be able to go up and meet him when he was only a day old! He was so tiny and precious! We are truly praising the Lord after a very complicated pregnancy. We are very thankful for him to be here safe and sound! Here's a picture of Logan with his new baby brother.

We were also glad to spend a little time with my brother, Josh and his wife Laura before they move even further north. This will be the first time a sibling besides myself will be moving away from Iowa. A little sad for me because I’m used to going back and seeing everyone when we visit. Hopefully, we’ll be able to plan our trips so that will still work out!

It was just the kids and I who went up. Seth was directing his first Teen Retreat back at a camp the same weekend. Thankfully everything went well. It was an encouraging time for all, a challenging time as they looked into God's word and were reminded the importance of loving the Lord Jesus and each other.

We sadly got sick with a stomach bug a couple days into our trip so, it put a little bit of a damper on things. We made the best of it and had a fun time at my parents. My mom was helping Heidi at her place and my dad left to go work, so we had the place to ourselves. I figured we'd have been alone at home anyway, so it didn't really matter where we were! Sarah started to pull up. Can't believe how big she's getting so quickly. She is crawling all over, I have to figure out a solution to the whole Lego situation, if anyone has any ideas, let me know! They end up all over and she will find them...

The weather was nice after we were better, so I was able to meet up at a park with some friends. I'm so excited for spring to pretty much be here! Landon was thrilled to find a tree that he could climb, he's been wanting to for so long. It was sweet of little Roman to share the pinecones he found with Sarah :)

 And we had fun getting free DQ afterwards! I think it was James' first ice cream cone, he loved it and finished the whole thing! So thankful for so many friends and family that stay close even though we are miles away!

11 Months Old

So, this boy will be one next month! How is that possible?? I guess time flies when you're having fun :) This boy is so much fun, his demeanor is so calm and content. He loves to wave and give a big goofy smile with those big teeth of his to everyone he meets! He tries to say "dog" now by saying, "gog" and he also calls birds and any other living creature a, "gog." We call him our "monkey boy", because he's always climbing onto things and wanting to be a part of whatever Landon and Olivia are doing. He's always sitting on his knees like this too.

 And here's a picture of our sweet Olivia

...and our creative Landon

...and our currently sick James :(

Summer

Here's a glimpse of our summer thus far... 

James got to spend time with his cousin, Madison 

We went blueberry picking. It was a lot of fun, definitely something we will try to do every year!

Seth had his work family day at Incredible Pizza, the kids had a blast

Then, we made it out to an amusement park with friends. I loved this place, there was no ride to small for these little guys.

Next was the Fourth of July so we headed north to visit my family. I love this picture of Olivia with Nanny :)

We had so much fun with family and friends

 Landon loved the sparklers! Olivia on the other hand, burnt her foot on one so did not like them a bit. They all really enjoyed the firework show though! 

 I got to take the kids to their first parade, they loved it!

We had a great time at the annual conference as well. I love that Landon is starting to form friendships with my lifelong friends' kiddos.

Landon took swimming lessons, he is getting so close to learning how to swim, he can now sort of doggie paddle, and just loves the water!

We harvested our pumpkins that Landon was so excited to plant earlier this year, I guess we planted them a little too early since they were ready early July! I then proceeded to bake, de-seed and make pumpkin puree - my, was that a project that I do not care to do again! There's a reason that they are supposed to be harvested in the fall, the kitchen was like a sauna.

Then, we had more cousins come to visit. It was a little crazy because we had a huge wind storm that knocked out power for a lot of the city. We had a great time despite the craziness.

The boys got to go to see a real submarine. They all came back talking a mile a minute about how many doors (Landon's guess 100 :) ), bunkbeds, and bathrooms there were and how cool it was!

 We lost a tree at our rental house in the wind storm. Here's a picture of Landon helping Seth cut up all the branches, he's a hard worker!

We have had a wonderful summer so far (it's not quite over). We're gearing up for school now, Landon will be in kindergarten this year, so we're excited to begin this new phase of life.

James at 10 Months Old

 Here is James at 10 months old already. I can't believe he's going to be a year old soon! The other day he tried to say, "cake." His version sounded like, "ca" I guess he's anxious for his birthday.

He finally got his other front tooth, but it's taking a while for it to catch up with his other one. We joke that he looks like 'Mater :) He has stood by himself a couple of times, but I don't think he likes the feeling. We'll see how soon he decides to walk - that'll be a whole new level of crazy!

He's such a silly sweet boy and he brings so much joy to our lives.