It was a wet, soggy situation outside and the hubby was all out of projects that didn't involve tearing apart the whole house, so I got the chance to sit down at the computer again!
This time I am going to write about our family members as I have been planning to give an update on the boys since their birthdays and decided to just do the whole family while I'm at it.
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| Picnic! |
LEVI turned three years old in January. He is quite a chatterbox, and always full of new discoveries to share with us! His latest antic is to add "...is that silly?" to the end of everything he tells us about. Levi loves to read, sing, listen to music or stories, play outside, drive his Cozy Coupe car, and play in his toy kitchen and workshop. He loves helping Daddy and hearing Daddy's answers to all of his questions.
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| Visiting the eye doctor! |
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| When Blessing comes over to play, the boys always take her downstairs so they can "get their hats on so they can have church." They also collect their ties, baby, diaper bag, and other church necessities. This day Levi put on two "hats" and it looked like he had his hair in a bun. |
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| This is all routine. Levi pulls up the piano bench, finds a book to read, and preaches. Usually one boy is Dallas and one is Seth. Those pillows on the floor are the ministers' chairs. I will mention that the real Dallas and Seth get along much better than the pretend Dallas and Seth. |
As our left-brained child, he took off reading on his own right around his third birthday and now loves to read about anything his attention span will allow. The boy memorizes and remembers numbers, details, words, everything. He spends a lot of time reading, but also enjoys playing outside or downstairs with Micah. Most of his personality can be described as left-brained. He weaknesses are his impulsiveness, insensitivity, and activities requiring physical coordination (such as feeding and dressing himself, pedaling a bike, climbing, etc.). But he is growing up more all the time and I have to remind myself often that none of my children are finished products yet!
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| Recently he has been making all kinds of Lego creations. He created this "King's Palace" after he saw a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Massner in front of a palace in Austria. |
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| The same day, he made a "Camel Bird." |
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| Then he made a see-saw for Asher's birthday present. |
Levi loves his blankie and would probably lay around all day in a daze with his blankie if I let him. The blankie has some sort of tranquilizing force on him. He is a good sleeper at night, and still takes occasional afternoon naps. Levi is a good eater; generally he's not afraid to eat anything if it is mixed with other things in a main dish. Potty training? I am getting tired of that phrase, for the record. He's doing pretty good and is starting to go through the night.
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| As I said...the blankie is all it takes and he could fall asleep anywhere. |
Unsurprisingly, he was SO excited to do an interview and came back later begging for more and more questions! Bear with us here, this was all candid and unfiltered.
INTERVIEW WITH LEVI, AGE 3
What things do you like?
I like a pig, and I like sheep.
What do you like to do?
Help with Daddy. With what?
With some projects. I like to bang hammers, and I like to NOT bang drills.
What is your favorite thing to play?
Joanna's dolly, and my puppies, and that's all.
Who are your friends?
Asher and Abram. Do you have any more friends?
Shadrach and Taren and Brenda and Seth.
What is your favorite memory verse?
Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep.
What is your favorite thing to do with Micah?
Play, play, play!
What is your favorite thing to do with Joanna?
Play, play, play!
What do you like to do outside?
Play, play, play! With what?
With chairs and stuff.
Where is your favorite place to go?
Grandma Schulz's, Grandma Massner's, and that's all.
What is your favorite shirt to wear?
The Iowa State one. Two Iowa State ones. The Iowa State sweatshirt and the Iowa State shirt. That's all I like. Why do you like the Iowa State shirts?
Because I want to go to Iowa State! Is that silly?!
Can you sing a song for me?
Um, I like Jewels!
Can you tell me about Jesus?
Jesus and God are in Heaven.
What toys do you play with?
That's what you already talked.
What do you like to eat for supper?
The family! Hehehe...I like to eat families because I don't like anything. Um, I like green eggs and ham!
What is your favorite book?
The Bunny Book. What is it about?
Bunnies. What happens?
Nothing happens. But this hammer is crusty.
Tell me about going potty.
I like to go potty because I keep dancing.
What are you going to be when you grow up?
A daddy bunny! And I will hop, hop, hop, hop...have little babies, and have a mother. They will hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop...
[Later:]
Ask me some more questions!
Tell me all of your family.
I love Daddy, Micah, and Joanna, and Mommy, and that's all.
Tell me what you know about Daddy.
I know Daddy about Jesus... because the spirit is in Heaven.
What do you like to play with?
I like to play on the piano.
What do you like to eat for a snack?
Blueberries.
What do you eat for breakfast?
Green eggs and ham.
Where does Daddy work?
At Stanley Consultants and at Muscatine.
Can you tell me about your glasses?
I break my glasses so I can get new glasses. Hehehehehe!
Who are some more of your friends?
Levi, there is another Levi. A Levi is a neighbor. A Levi can be a neighbor too. That's my friend. [Note: I have no clue what or who he is talking about...]
How do you help Mommy?
Like, wash the dishes, and clean up the home, and that's all.
What does Daddy like to do?
Work on projects with the boys inside and when Joanna's inside.
What kind of projects does he like?
To make a piggy. I was thinking we could make a horse. But, we didn't make a horse, so...
Tell me a story.
I like Lulu and Mimi. Once upon a time, there was two little boys named Lulu and Mimi and there was a little girl named JoJo. And they were elephants and they went to the jungle. That's the end.
Where did you hear about Lulu and Mimi?
From Daddy.
What does Mommy like to do?
Wash the dishes with the boys outside and with the other girl playing.
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| At the library! |
MICAH turned two years old in February. He is our sweet, sensitive boy. I am going to stick with the half-brained theme for Micah because he is quite right-brain dominant. I am not sure it is possible for two brothers to have such different personalities. He loves hugs and affection, and is very sensitive (for better or worse). While he has been slow to learn to talk and learn book smarts, he is very active and can tackle any kind of hands-on task with ease. He is already getting himself completely dressed (though sometimes pants and shoes end up backwards), loves working with tools, climbs over anything, and even started driving his bike with training wheels. He is coincidentally the one who is always full of bumps and bruises. He also enjoy things like coloring, stickers, puzzles, blocks, and shoes. He really likes shoes. The boys' latest hobby has been taking laces out of shoes and trying to lace them back up.
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| BIG SHOES! |
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| Sigh... |
Micah has never required much sleep. He is often the first one awake in the morning and is starting to phase out of his afternoon naps. However, when he is tired, he will fall asleep anywhere...often at the supper table if he missed his afternoon nap. He has done better at staying asleep through the night the past few months, but if one of the boys wakes up it is almost always him. He also eats really well, and potty training has been successful with Micah to this point.
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| Micah's Lego creation. He said it's a tower. |
At this stage, he is always coming up with cute expressions, such as tagging on "OK?" to every statement. "I'm really tired, OK?" is a common quote whenever he gets sad (which seems to be often given his emotionally sensitive nature). Whenever he needs to go potty, it's "Go potty quick!" He got a runny nose a couple weeks ago, and now whenever he needs it wiped, he cries "NAZI'S ALL O'ER THE PLACE!" (snot-sies all over the place). After initially panicking about our house being invaded by a German army, I usually find that there's just a runny nose needing wiped.
He is talking more and more, and has started doing well at singing songs, learning his memory verses, and even some sign language for fun. Micah doesn't sit still or focus on anything for very long. He is a BUSY boy!
INTERVIEW WITH MICAH, AGE 2
What things do you like?
Jesus.
What is your favorite memory verse?
Quench not the Spirit!
What toys do you like to play with?
Puzzles! All done! [runs away]
[Me calling after him] What do you like to do outside?
Zoom! Zoom! All over the place. [runs off to the garage to drive his scooter]
[Later:]
What is your favorite book to read?
Jesus.
Who are your friends?
Joanna, OK?
How do you help Daddy?
um... [gets distracted]
What do you put on your feet?
Socks. [Starts pulling his pants down]
Take off pants quick.
Do you need to go potty?
Yeah. Potty quick.
[End of interview.]
JOANNA is 10 months old. She is as cheerful, sweet, and content as can be. She took her first steps at 8.5 months and has been very active ever since! She LOVES reading books. If she is quietly entertaining herself, she can be found by the bookshelf reading her board books. Joanna also delights in going outside. She has recently taken great interest in driving the Cozy Coupe car.
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| Poor exhausted girl following a miserable evening of garden planting. I took a picture of her to exemplify how I felt about gardening. We must be related. |
We are starting to hear the likes of some words...a few distinguishable ones are "yeah" (with big eyes and a dramatic nod),"drink," "bye-bye,""Dada," and "Mama." Along with reading books, Joanna loves stuffed animals, her dolly, and music. I catch her humming along when I am humming and dancing when I sing. :) She loves to clap her hands at any excuse to do so.
Joanna is also a good eater (even less picky than her brothers). She has eight teeth right now. She is still nursing three times a day. She goes to bed around 9pm, nurses around 5am, and is up for the day around 8am. Then she takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. We are thankful she has been very healthy!
MATT is three days short of being 31. He loves working on projects around the house. He often talks about quitting his job so he can work on all the projects he wants to do around here and everywhere. I often have to convince him that he needs to stay at his job so we can keep food on the table and afford to live in the house he wants to take care of. We are thankful he chooses to get up and go to work every day because he loves his family. As long as he isn't traveling or working away from the office, he mostly works nine hour days and has every other Friday off. With a forty minute commute both ways along with a lunch break, that means he leaves at 6:30 and gets home at 5:30.
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| He may be short on help, but never short on helpers! |
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| One of Matt's latest projects has been his"aquariums" involving several tadpoles, mussels, and a baby turtle...all things he found outside this spring. |
Around the home, he loves to fix things, build things, improve things, and maintain things. Between raising children and keeping the lawn mowed, he hardly finds time to work on all the things he wants to do. But he keeps this place well-maintained and I am thankful for that! He also loves being a Daddy, playing with his children, and teaching them new things!
STEPHANIE (that is, I)
will be 25 in a month. I talk about myself enough on this blog that you probably feel like you already know me. My favorite activities mostly involve food, music, and children. I also enjoy organizing and keeping the house tidy. Note I didn't say clean. The house is tidy, but dirt and dust unfortunately (and fortunately) usually don't bother me. Most of my time gets filled up with intermittent toddler potty breaks, diaper changes, feeding children, recovery aid for miscellaneous childhood tragedies, and six piano lessons a week. I am thankful for the opportunity to train up my children to be God's helpers!
Sorry, no pictures of me today because the only one I can find is of me eating breakfast in bed with Joanna on Mother's Day and I don't want to make you all jealous of how beautiful I look when I wake up in the morning. I'm sure you're already jealous that I got breakfast in bed on Mother's Day!
Oh, fine. I looked harder and found a picture with me in it, doing what I love best. Eating.
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| The Massner kids got together for pizza at Mom and Dad's while they were gone! :) |
I can't find any pictures of me that don't involve food. A few days ago, I was commenting on how whenever we go to someone's house, my kids go straight for the toy kitchen and dollies. Other boys go for the tractors, trucks, and animals, but not mine. I eventually decided it makes sense because that's what they watch me do all day: work in the kitchen and take care of kids! Other mothers clearly spend their days driving tractors and herding cows.
That's enough food for thought for today. Have a beautiful summer!
