Boys, Berries, and Birthdays

Hi all! It's been a busy couple of months for us...I've started this blog post a few times and then run out of time to finish it before things start getting busy and suddenly everything is all out of date again!

We'll see how it goes this time...

For starters...let's take a look at our growing boys! Micah turned five months...then six months...then seven months old a few weeks ago!

The most frequent thing we hear from every random and non-random person we meet is, "He's such a happy baby!" And that is correct. He is so quick to smile at anyone who will look at him!

18 1/2 pounds and 27 inches long at six months! 

He is getting good at entertaining himself with books, toys, and (...oh no!) crawling and pulling himself up on things to get around!

He also loves table food, though I have been pretty inconsistent about feeding him at meals. Mealtime kind of turns into a circus when I am trying to feed two hungry (and messy!) toddlers at once! You'd think I'd be losing weight since I barely have a chance to feed myself...but somehow that's not really how it works.

He got his first tooth the other day so maybe soon he will be able to actually chew something!

I am happy to report positively on Micah's nights. The first time I started writing this blog post, I was about giving up on the thought of ever having a full night's rest again. Then, last week I changed it to how excited I was about him finally sleeping through the night for a week straight. Now, I am just going to report favorably about his nights because the past couple nights have required me to get up a couple times. Nothing unmanageable though. 

Such a studious baby!

Ready for his first haircut! (6 months)

All fours!!!

Next, we'll move the spotlight over to Levi. This kid is getting to be more fun all the time! He is talking in full sentences now, is almost potty-trained, loves making "tents" with Daddy, helps Mommy around the house, had so much fun during fruit season, plays all kinds of music on the piano, and takes good care of his little brother!

"Mommy, Mess!" 

Duet time! 

He decided to play "Llama Llama" on the piano the other day...I guess any book can be used for playing music. 

Tents at bedtime...

BIG NEWS: LEVI GOT GLASSES IN AUGUST! They told us back in May that his eyes were fine, but when we returned for a follow-up appointment at the beginning of August they changed their minds. The glasses are an effort to correct a lazy eye, but his vision isn't too bad. 

The first day was a little rough, but he's been doing well with them since then! 

The boys enjoyed the nice weather in August! 

 

This is what happens when Mom gets distracted after a crazy day...she accidentally puts the pajamas on the wrong boy! Yes, I really did get that far before realizing I had the wrong boy. 

Apparently Levi thinks Micah's walker is his new hammock or something. 

We spent an evening with the Schulz family at a park in Fairfield a few weeks ago! These baby swings sure are efficient. 

Another day, we finally got up to Muscatine to visit Matt at work for lunch! We got our groceries up there too...Aldi's amazing two-child-seating carts never cease to make me giddy! :)

Reason #428 to love Aldi...!

Playing in the fountains with Daddy! 

August and September kept me busy with fruit harvest from our backyard orchard. Blackberries, then peaches, grapes, and apples. I also did some tomatoes with my mom. 

From apples...

...to sauce! Vienna and Hannah S. came and helped for the day. 

Has anyone else ever made your own bottled water? In case you ever want to make something with water, you can just go down to the canning room and get a jar of water. Super convenient. 

I also put up strawberries and blueberries from Aldi when they were on sale...that is only $24 worth of fruit right there! 

Now I am just dehydrating the rest of the apples in my spare time so things are slowing down a bit in the fruit department. Thankfully I didn't have a garden to worry about this year!

I didn't mention raspberries. But this is pretty much the story of every raspberry picking: Levi stuffs them all in his mouth as fast as he can and they are gone by the time we start heading back to the house. He is obviously his father's son in the raspberry-loving department. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, nor does the raspberry get far from the bush. Excuse me as I amuse myself. 

Then there is the landscaping project, which is making slow progress...but progress is progress!

We brought in the skid loader to help out! 

Many thanks to Jonathan and Zach for their days of help.

Looking good! We are hoping to have this wall done by winter.  

As for our "social"ish lives...

A few fishermen came out to spend one of their last days of summer vacation.

Matt decided to stick Levi in the "Money Hunt" at Town and Country Days. He didn't find any money because he was having too much fun playing with the shredded paper. :) 

Waiting for the parade!

The next weekend we spent a day at Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant. You know you're desperate when you lock yourself in jail just to get a some rest. 

At the end of August, our new little nephew and cousin was born to Seth and Brenda! Little Abram is so precious!

We went up to Morris, MN for my Aunt Brenda and Jerry's wedding last weekend. It was such a blessing to be with them on their special day! God continues to provide and we pray He will bring many blessings from their marriage. 

We stayed with Eric and Brianna for the weekend and enjoyed our time with them! 

Levi found a giant zucchini in Brianna's garden to bring home. 

Matt found a magnifying glass in the engine compartment of our van. Who knows what we'll pull out next...a treasure chest? 

We had a surprise 50th birthday party for my mom at Pizza Ranch in Morris with a good chunk of her family. The surprise was a success! 

Still dumbfounded by how she could be so "dense" as to not have a clue this was coming... 

Party hats and all...

Next on the 50th birthday agenda was a ladies' luncheon for Mom at our place. Vienna helped me host and we all had a very nice time! I even got out Grandma Knobloch's China for the occasion! 

I failed to get a good picture of everybody...or of the food...but here is the birthday girl! I just noticed she wore the same outfit to both birthday parties. I probably shouldn't have pointed that out. Though it is obviously a great party shirt. :) 

Yesterday was the annual Lanz family gathering in Nauvoo, IL.

Dad told me the children seemed to be "having a ball!" 

A portion of the Ed Lanz family ladies and in-laws.

Micah had fun sharing some giggles with Warren on our walk!  

One last item of excitement was our first real rain in a long time. Two and a half inches one day last week! Matt accused me of filling the rain gauge with water when I sent him this picture. I can't believe he thought I was clever enough to come up with something like that. Nope, this is real rain, folks.

This Daddy LOVES being a Daddy! He has so much fun with his boys that it is hard for him to get anything else done when he is home! :) But it is perfect that way. 

Well...can I finally say we've gotten everything all caught up in the documentation department? 

Until next time...have a blessed autumn season! What a beautiful time of year!

Massners in Minnesota

Well... August pretty much just blew up in front of our faces. 

I don't know where to begin, so I am just going to share pictures of our family vacation for now.

We spent the last week of July in Minnesota with my family in a house on Wynne Lake, which is about an hour and a half north of Duluth. 

But first! The four of us stopped for the night in Minneapolis and got to spend the afternoon and evening catching up with Alice. It was so nice to spend some time with her and very encouraging to hear about her new walk of life as a Christian. 

The boys took a liking to Alice! 

We met up at our hotel, walked to the sculpture garden, and then enjoyed some Vietnamese cuisine for dinner on our way back. 

The Big Rooster

Cherry on a Spoon

LOVE

While we're on the subject of love...we accidentally ordered the "Romance Package" at Holiday Inn Express...thus, the rose petals, candles, and box of chocolates awaiting our arrival. And a crib. Seriously, how much more romantic could it get?

After church, we headed up to the house where we met up with the rest of the crew. Everyone was able to make it - even Billy & Vienna chose us over a trip to Cancun with her family! ;) Ok, so they had to forfeit a trip to Cancun because they didn't have space for Billy once they got married. But I like to think they would have chosen Wynne Lake with the Massners any day over a luxurious resort in the tropics! :) 

Micah was happy for a quick break from his car seat halfway there! He is always full of smiles! 

My parents rented a pontoon for the week, so after retrieving it on Monday, all of us went to Lake Vermilion and spent the afternoon boating, tubing, fishing, and swimming.

Levi may have been a little premature for the tubing experience...

...but driving the boat was probably his favorite part of the day! 

We cooked breakfast and supper at our house every day except Wednesday. Lunches were mostly packed ahead and eaten on the go.

On Tuesday, a few of us went to the pool to swim. Levi loved the water, especially the hot tub!

Micah enjoyed the pool, too! 

Wednesday was our big day, and the day of the matching family vacation shirts. We drove about an hour to get to Gooseberry Falls and spent the afternoon hiking and enjoying the beautiful falls and view of Lake Superior!

Apparently my brothers were lamenting that they weren't allowed to even get close to a waterfall until they were at least 12 years old...hmm...apparently I should be questioning the way I am parenting my 18-month old. 

Our shirts said, "Got Nothin' to Wynne About"

We drove another hour to Duluth, where we boarded a train that took us on a 2 1/2 hour ride along the North Shore of Lake Superior. They served us pizza for dinner. It was very beautiful and relaxing!

Playing with the trains at the station museum before the ride. 

Thursday we went boating on Lake Wynne, where we were staying. It is a pretty small lake, but great for tubing because we about had the whole lake to ourselves!

Enjoying the evening around the fire.

Friday several of us spent the morning/afternoon on the beach. Then...packing and laundry! Matt and I got to go on a bike ride in the evening while the boys stayed back with the crew.

Most of the week, my brothers went out fishing in the mornings and evenings. Their efforts weren't super fruitful, but we did have a few fish to fry up by the end of the week!

Biggest catch of the day! 

Johnny caught a minnow! It was probably one of the smaller fish he caught. Pretty impressive that he caught a fish that was smaller than his hook...

Levi spent the week sleeping in the bunk room with his uncles! Here he had fallen asleep reading his Bible storybook...  

Saturday morning we got all packed up and had just locked the doors of the house when the cleaning lady pulled in at 10:00 sharp! Whew, that was a close one. But hey, at least someone was there to get a full family photo!

We arrived home around bedtime. Back to reality! It was such a blessing to spend a whole week confined to a house with the family. :) And to enjoy some downtime, relaxing, and more of God's beautiful creation! Northern Minnesota is such a beautiful area. 

And I might add that the boys loved the endless attention.

Two days later, August arrived in full force. I will leave you on that cliff hanger for now.

Ok, don't feel like I am leaving you hanging too much. I don't even know what happened in August except that it was a whirlwind.

For now, God's blessings to you in September...fall is such a beautiful time of year!