Excuse the Interruptions

Everybody is taking naps at the same time AND I've already had mine. So I am sitting down to start writing a long overdue blog post. The "everybody sleeping" thing will probably not even last till the end of this sentence and then I will have to step away for another week before getting back to this.

...wait for it...

Hey, I guess I'm still here. We'll see how long this lasts. SO (which stands for September/October). September and half of October have just flown by! It seems like these are always busy months around here. To avoid getting overwhelmed at all I need to catch up on, here are the basic things that happened in the past month and a half:

- We started up piano lessons at the beginning of September. I have six students, split between Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Tuesdays the mothers stay to watch the boys, and Thursdays Jesse comes to watch them. Things are going smoothly so far.

-The second weekend of the month, we were sad to say goodbye to our 94-year-old neighbor and Great-Uncle Virg. His overflowing optimism always made it so much fun to visit with him. It was hard to see his empty chair in the living room when we went to visit Aunt Barb the next week.

-Outings of the month involved a trip to my Aunt Diane's cabin in Illinois, a few young couples events, Lanz Nauvoo, Baby Joy, a few church events, two trips to town for doctor's appointments and two others to get groceries. Along with church on Sunday and Wednesday nights and a few nights spent with family.

-We survived our first overnight with Matt gone for work.

-We TRAVELLED (can you believe it?!) and thoroughly enjoyed a trip to Remington the first weekend of October for Matt's cousin's baptism. Ever since Matt got out of Sunday School this summer, I have been itching to travel the world. Indiana seemed like a good start. The kids all traveled very well, other than Micah's intermittent complaining about not feeling well ("oweee...oweee..."). After Saturday's supper at a cabin, we enjoyed our after-dinner show of a screaming baby and the worst case of the runs-y blowout I've ever dealt with in a toddler. Long story short, I smelled like poo the rest of the weekend. 

From there, it only got better. Really, it did. We dropped the boys off for the evening and were very encouraged to hear three testimonies of souls who have eagerly chosen to serve the Lord. The fellowship was also very refreshing as we have not seen many of the faces out there since our single days. We really haven't traveled much in the past few years and it stirred up a renewed appreciation for all of our Christian friendships. Sunday went well, and the trip home was very peaceful due to Camille and Adriana entertaining the back end of the van for us. Micah started up his complaints again as soon as we dropped the girls off, but fortunately we only had 15 minutes left in our trip. :) He has since been feeling much better. 

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Excuse the brief interruption. As I wrote that paragraph, Levi woke up with soaking wet clothes. We have since taken him potty again, gotten him his potty treat, and changed his clothes. And now he is sitting here in front of me on the desk as I type, saying "Hey, Mommy, that says Levi!" "Hey, Mommy, what's this for?" "Hey Mommy..." Good thing I don't have to read my writing as I type because I can't even see the computer screen. I'm going to continue, but just know that I am accomplishing a major feat here. That's why blog posts have become such an infrequent happening around here.

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-Joanna has turned two months old and is already pushing the three month mark! We love her giggles and bubbly personality, and she is so content to just sit and watch all the action around here. Levi does a good job of entertaining her. She sleeps 7-8 hours at night now. She has been known to get colicky at times, but for the most part she is very happy. I have found that if I don't get enough to eat, that usually makes her fussy. Which is a problem that I am more than happy to fix. But sometimes I get busy and don't spend the whole day stuffing my face with food, and then she gets upset with me. 

-Micah is learning to talk. Levi is learning to read. I am learning to be a better housekeeper. Matt is learning...um...not sure. I think he actually knows everything because somehow he manages to keep up with us all.

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Excuse the distracting audio story of Rumpelstiltskin playing in the background. But Levi is finally content. 

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Now for pictures that can hopefully fill in the blanks.

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"...I'll spin the wheat straw into gold..." Ahh this story is so distracting. Sorry. Where was I? Pictures...yes...

Our beautiful six week old baby! 

Levi, Micah, and Ryker sharing some good times around the campfire at Young Couples! 

On Labor Day, we spent the day with my Aunt Diane's family at her cabin in Illinois. They had this big water slide in their backyard! The boys had so much fun on the water that day! 

We attended a housewarming singing shower for Peter and Mandy. It was quite interesting to see what a shower would be like with children invited! Kind of like a ginormous birthday party...none of them seemed at all turned off by the fact that the gifts consisted mostly of towels, dishes, and bed sheets. 

Olivia S. came to visit a few weeks ago and brought some super-cute outfits along! :) 

Then there's Micah. He thinks he needs TWO pacifiers at a time.

This isn't Micah. The unnamed child above loves hats and was so happy for the opportunity to wear one. Plus I wanted to see if there was any resemblance to me when I wore the outfit back in the day. 

"I need to eat another cookie for Daddy so he doesn't get fat." Umm...not gonna buy that excuse, Bud. Maybe an offer to eat one for me would have been more convincing.
So. This was my first successful attempt at making healthy chocolate chip cookies that actually tasted AMAZING (for healthy, that is...). Chocolate chip cookies have always been my weakness so it was very exciting to enjoy them again!

Blessing S. has been coming on Wednesdays to help out, so one day we picked all the apples from two of our trees and made applesauce! Mom came over a couple weeks later and we made another 23 quarts so hopefully we will be set for the year! Ahh...what an accomplishment!  

Matt spent one Saturday helping on the cabin at his Mom and Dad's! 

...Micah just woke up. We'll see if I can keep going with him climbing on top of me.

Levi loves Joanna so much. It melts my heart to see how sweet he can be with her! :) 

I'm still learning the ropes of this girl stuff. Apparently it is a good idea to take off the headband before putting her in the car seat, or it will turn into a blindfold on the way home. I was wondering why she was being so quiet back there... 

Did I mention this boy loves his hats? Apparently underwear makes a great hat. It does more good on his head than on his bottom anyway (*woeful potty training sigh*). 

Did I mention Levi loves his sister? Yep. This is getting to be a very repetitive blog post. 

Did I mention Joanna is so sweet? Hehe...sorry.

Two months old! It is fun to watch her fun personality emerge!

And then there are two boys who couldn't wait to get in front of the camera. They weren't very thrilled to find out we were really there to take Joanna's picture. 

...Excuse me as I appease Micah's unhappiness.

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...Wow, I didn't get very far. Now Joanna is waking up. This could get disastrous. 

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...And next up on the soundtrack after Rumpelstiltskin is the Bible story of Creation. Didn't realize we had such a decent story on here or I would have played it first. Levi is still listening intently. Micah has retreated back to his bed. Joanna was satisfied by a pacifier. So let's keep moving.

Jesse and Mom's birthday party

Lanz Nauvoo (The only picture I don't have is the one that I am in!)

A cotton candy machine showed up at Nauvoo this year!

Matt always makes fun of me for eating all my food and forgetting to feed the boys. I didn't realize how true it was until he was gone one night and the boys had to fend for themselves. 

This was the first time that all three kids slept at the same time in the same room. Successful! I don't think we have done it since, though. 

The boys like to "be like Daddy" when they get out of the shower...AKA wrapping up in their towels. 

Just because she's adorable. :)

We finally got a hold of some old records to play in our record player! It actually plays CDs and tapes too so that is what we usually use it for. But it was fun to play a couple records! 

Matt spent a day working at Phil and Kelli's as they prepare for their addition!

Pretty dress:)

Levi made a "piano" with his blocks.

The boys got all bundled up and then Levi wanted to go outside and play in the snow. He was very disappointed to find out that he couldn't play in the snow because it was still a sunny day in September. 

Riding home with Aunt Camille from Remington! She was a great help on the way home! 

...Joanna is officially awake. I will see how long I can put off nursing her. And now we are listening to the story of Abraham and Lot.

"Door-ty!"

...Matt just called to say he's on his way home so Levi is talking to him on the phone now. Excuse me as I get supper in the oven. 

"Mommy, take my picture too!" 

Matt got a new phone and is having too much fun with it. :) 

AND...THE FINAL "HAT" PICTURE OF THE DAY.

There, all caught up. Please forgive me for this abrupt ending so I can finish supper, nurse my baby, feed my family, clean up supper, and get everyone ready to leave for church in the next hour and a half.

Life is Bliss

Yep, life is pretty much bliss. ;)

I realized the other day that one blessing of this stage of life is that we get to spend a lot of time together as a family. Most of our evenings are spent together, all of us under one roof, with nothing to do but enjoy each other's company. Because, honestly...where do we feel like going with our little tribe? Nowhere that we don't have to go. And...what are we going to accomplish if we try to get anything done? Nothing. So, we sit at home, eat our meals, keep the house running...and spend our evenings together. And you know what? It keeps the pace slow, and it's kind of nice. Someday we will probably be much busier and eventually the times with everyone together under one roof will become fewer. So that is something I am appreciating right now. :) 

I recently met a good friend from high school who graduated last year after completing a five-year college degree and now has a job at an architect firm as she prepares to take her certification exams in the next year or two. She has been following this dream ever since we were very young and is almost there...yay! Then she asked what I've been up to. And I didn't know what to say. Umm...raising children? I really haven't been up to much else. But it is the most fulfilling job I could have!

Honestly...everything is going SO well. As in, much better than anticipated. Sometimes I feel like the more children I have to corral, the more natural it feels. I grew up the oldest of six, so that's basically what I spent the first nineteen years of my life doing. Well, minus the first few years of my life when I probably wasn't much help.

Since we are spending our time at home these days, it seemed like the perfect time to start potty training Micah! Ok, so I just woke up one day and decided to teach him how to use the potty. He was getting jealous because Levi was getting treats for using the potty, so I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone and get them both trained at the same time! THE WORLD'S MOST BRILLIANT IDEA (besides a lot of other more brilliant ideas like the light bulb and wheels and stuff). Because they motivate each other. When number one sees number two go potty and get a treat, it makes him want to go! Peer pressure is the way to go, folks. Now I am almost ready to call Levi officially potty trained and Micah is doing great at home (though I spent the first two weeks scrubbing poo out of every corner of the house until one glorious day it suddenly clicked and he started putting it where it belonged). 

So. I guess potty training is as exciting as it gets around here. :) We don't get out much. Yet somehow I just rambled for a really long time.

It's picture time. The last couple weeks before Joanna arrived...

We enjoyed a visit from Suzanna, Shelby, and Camille! The boys LOVED having them over! 

We finally captured Micah in his classic "fix-it" position.

Coloring! :)

Matt needed me to make cookies for work so I gave Micah the beater when I was done. He sat there with this expression frozen on his face...for about two minutes straight.

The Sunday before Joanna was born...we were getting VERY impatient!

And then the big day arrived! Hopefully you've already seen enough pictures from that wonderful event! :)

Matt took the week off work after we brought Joanna home...and got lots done during naptime! These are all the weeds he pulled out of the landscaping! Yikes!

Corbin came over that Friday to help Matt out on a few projects...their projects didn't all go as planned, but they did enjoy some time on the water afterwards! 

The next weekend we spent with the Schulz family at Mom and Dad's. Joanna got to meet some of her cousins! Kyra needed some practice because her Mom is going to have a baby soon! 

Rocket balloons with Grandpa!

The second week Matt went back to work and we have had lots of help around here ever since! Up through last week, Camille and/or Shelby came on Mondays, my Mom helped on Tuesdays, and Hannah came on Wednesdays. Matt has been off every Friday but worked two of the Saturdays. So...that means I only had about five days to tackle on my own, and none were consecutive. Wow, I have an amazing support system. We are so blessed and thankful!

Enjoying day one with Camille and Shelby...uh oh, this girl business must be contagious! 

Levi and Daddy worked together in the shed one day and came in with this bench that Levi helped make! It was already cut into four pieces and he helped push the button on the drill to screw it together. :) 

Another day Micah put a bench together so now the boys have been playing "church" on their benches.

Levi's old glasses were rediscovered recently, so we popped out the lenses to give Micah a chance to model them! He looks so funny. :)

We spent two other evenings at the Massner house for summer birthdays. Johnny gave Micah some tree climbing lessons. I think he was pretty impressed! 

Then...back to the Schulz's to get together with the whole family when Steve and Julie came to visit! The night was filled with fun for the kids! This picture followed shaving cream twister! 

While the big kids swam in the pond, the little ones found the water balloons and had a blast popping them all! 

Krista was so thrilled to hold Joanna...I was quite impressed that she sat there holding her very gently for such a long time! My boys last about thirty seconds before eyes start getting poked (though they are improving!). 

Another family night...this time with the big Schulz family since Uncle Victor and Aunt Peggy were home! (Sorry for the blurry picture...) 

And of course...we can't forget our sweet baby! 

Levi loves her so much... <3

Oh, and Levi loves Joanna. You can tell he loves her because he is sharing his blankie with her. ;) 

And...yes! Can you believe it? Joanna was one month old last week! She is doing great - sleeping well at night, happy during the day, and...the smiles are coming and we love them!! :) 

I have been wanting to make a healthy pie and a good picking of blackberries gave me the opportunity! It turned out really good! And it even came out of the oven at pi time (3:14) so it was obviously meant to be. 

I had a little leftover dough so I baked a small pie crust and made it into a fresh strawberry pie for the three of us to share...yummy! 

Report on the rest of our fruit - we have gotten just enough of everything to eat fresh and I haven't had to put anything away yet...perfect! We got a half bushel of peaches and have picked a nice amount of blackberries and raspberries. I gave away the grapes because we still have a lot of juice left over from last year. The only thing I am still hoping to do this year is applesauce.

This week I had to make two trips to town for doctor appointments. On Tuesday everyone was along (with my mom) so we enjoyed a picnic at the park! Levi was getting really brave climbing around on everything! :) 

And so it goes...hope you all have had a good summer! We are looking forward to the arrival of fall - our favorite season! :)