Sick again!

Jack has come down with his 5th or 6th cold since school started - I'm starting to think we're going to be blowing his nose until next May! I came down with something this weekend too, unfortunately - yesterday woke up with a sore throat and by afternoon it had turned into body aches and a headache, so I was down for the count for the remainder of the day. Still not feeling great today - still have the body aches but I'm only giving in to this thing today - tomorrow I have to be back in action no matter what!! Too much to do! We have a big week coming up - I provide snacks for Noah's class all of this week, the boys have gymnastics tonight, I work in the kids' classrooms tomorrow and Wednesday, we have a field trip for Jack's class on Wed., Halloween is on Wednesday, Mark's birthday on Thursday, and we leave for a 6-day trip on Friday, so somewhere in there I have to get us all ready to go for that!!! Ugghh!! No time to be sick! Aren't moms supposed to be completely immune to these things?!?? Ha ha.

We had a good weekend up until yesterday afternoon, though - Friday night we went out to the Olive Garden with my brother's girlfriend (he's on a hunting trip), so we pigged out (YUM) and caught up with her, which was nice. Saturday we went to Sam's Club, went out to lunch and then took the kids to the movie - Casper - appropriate for Halloween time, we thought! They loved it of course. Late Saturday afternoon my Dad came in from Spearfish to hang with the kids while Mark and I went to a church dinner. Then Dad stayed over, and did our whole Sunday morning routine with us - bagel shop, Sunday School and church. It was fun to have him around - I love how much he loves the boys, it's really a blessing.

And so we're off on another busy week - can you believe October is already over??? WOW!! And can you believe Mark will be 37 on Thursday??!? Bigger WOW!! :)

"All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"

(or Halloween, or Thanksgiving . . . . ) Remember that song? I remember my mom and dad making me sing that one Christmas when I was missing mine . . . Here are a couple pictures of MY toothless baby - remember I mentioned that Noah's first upper tooth fell out a couple weeks ago - - well, the second front tooth fell out on Sunday night, so he's looking really different - actually just adorable when he's caught off guard and looks at me with a huge smile (which isn't that often because he's kind of self-conscious now!). You should hear him talk, it's the cutest thing!! I just love it. We're so mean, we're thinking of words to have him say that you really can't pronounce well without those teeth :) (thistle being one of them!) - he's a good sport though, and is getting used to how it feels. Personally I don't know how he eats, but he's managing! It's so fun to go through these stages, but you know the sentimentalist in me is lamenting over the fact I can remember when those two teeth came in like it was yesterday (it was yesterday, wasn't it???). And so my babies (and their teeth!) keep growing . . . . .

Cold, Flu and General ICKY Season is Here!

I am at home today, tending to my poor baby Jack who got hit from all directions yesterday. He's been fighting a cold and yesterday morning it was particularly bad - nasty coughing, etc. so I brought him home from school around 10:00 a.m. and he laid on the couch ALL DAY - didn't move. Then at 5 p.m. he started throwing up, almost continously through the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours. THEN when I went to bed at 11, he had developed a fever of 102. This poor child, his little body was absolutely racked with misery. His stomach wouldn't even allow him to lay still, he was coughing, nose running, and had the chills with his fever. I prayed HARD that he (and the rest of us!) would be able to sleep during the night, and sure enough we did (thank you God!!). This morning he is doing better. We seem to be through the stomach issue and now he's just really worn out so hopefully we'll have a good day of recovery. It's gorgeous outside here, so I opened all the windows this morning and got some fresh air circulating through the house - it feels good!

Noah managed to sleep nearly 12 hours last night - amazing!! So my prayer now is that he can be spared of this. He's fighting his own cold and his cough is sounding like it might have traveled to his lungs, so we may have to get him in to the dr. today.

I'm threatening to home-school again! We've been dealing with health issues in this house ever since school started - even Mark and I haven't been immune - YUCK! You go into either Jack or Noah's classrooms and nearly every kid there is hacking away with a nasty cough - I'm wondering if we're ever going to get healthy again in the next 7 months! It's only October!! I think schools should shut down for 1 week per month to get everyone healthy and disinfect the rooms. Ha ha - yeah right. Nevermind, that's just my panicky side talking, I know we'll get better and I definitely know things could be much worse . . . .

Needless to say, we don't have anything planned for the weekend - but that's okay with me! I love boring weekends at home, just enjoying normalcy! :)

Cedar Rapids, A Lost Tooth and Pickles!

WOW I'm getting really bad at this - need to try and improve these time lapses between posts!! We have just been crazy busy the last two weeks, but at least with all good things. Last weekend we headed to Cedar Rapids, IA to see my sister Betsy and her family - LONG drive (11 hours!) but very worth it, we had the BEST time! Friday night we got a babysitter and went out to eat and then to the Newsboys concert - oh my goodness, they are my new favorite band! It was just awesome!! Mark and I have both become total Newsboys junkies now - every time we get in the car, that's what we put on. Saturday morning we headed to the MALL where we had a family picture taken for Christmas - and this was no ordinary mall - they have an ice skating rink right and full-size carousel right in the middle of it! So we took advantage of both:

It was the boys' FIRST TIME ever ice skating, and it was a challenge!! By the end, they were doing pretty good, though. Here's Jack starting out:

This is what they looked like most of the time - this is Noah: (but bless their hearts, they were NOT going to give up, and they did improve quite a bit!)
Gaining some confidence towards the end:
and Mark and I practicing our Olympic routine . . . .
Here's my sweet nephew Colby on the carousel (LOVE this picture!):
So, our family picture session was somewhat of a struggle because Noah had an upper front tooth hanging on my a thread, and he kept pushing it with his tongue during the pictures - UGGH! We did manage to get a couple decent ones - - and then wouldn't you know, an hour after the pictures were done, his tooth falls out!! Anyway, it was pretty exciting because it was his first upper tooth to come out and now he really does look different (and talks a little different too!) :)

The rest of the weekend with the Wraneks was great - we always have so much fun there with them. Jack and Noah were very sad to leave Colby - here they are the night before we left:

Back on the homefront, the boys were able to open the first jar of their pickles from the batch we made last month. They made this jar (and a few others) BY THEMSELVES - they just love doing it and they love eating them even more! True Roisums!!
And then we did another of Jack and Noah's favorite things, decorating for Halloween. I started collecting Dept. 56 Halloween stuff when they were babies, and now they have the BEST time getting it all out every Halloween. Here's our favorite piece - "Jack's Carving Studio" (says that on the sign, not sure if you can read it in the picture) . . . .

And here's Mark's favorite Halloween decoration - we got it from a Roisum family friend for our wedding. (The mouth says ROISUM).
So that's what we've been up to! The next few weekends we don't have any plans, other than to spend time at HOME and get our to-do list done! It felt so good to wake up this morning knowing we don't have one thing on the calendar for the next two days - love it!!! Have a good weekend!!

Long Time No Post!! :)

Yikes! Time got away from me - I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I updated this!! I'm surprised at how busy I'm managing to keep myself with the kids gone all day - it's amazing to me that's it's already October tomorrow. I have a few minutes now that all my boys are watching the Vikings - just took the picture to the right a few minutes ago. They are so cute, all piled into Mark's big chair with their Vikings blanket, trying to learn the in's and out's of football. They needed some "daddy time" - Mark was gone at a church retreat on Friday night and part of Saturday, and the boys MISSED him. I love how much they love to be with their Dad.

Had a busy weekend - Mark was gone until yesterday at noon, so the kids and I laid in bed yesterday morning watching cartoons for a while, then went to Target, then went to their soccer game, then got their hair cut, then had lunch, then went to a birthday party, and THEN Mark and I went to an extremely boring Chamber of Commerce dinner. Uggh. At least it was a free meal and the food was good. This morning, I had to be at church at 8 a.m. for a meeting, then we had Sunday school at 9, after which we had to race out to Zion to attend their service for the school's 50th anniversary - all the school kids sang a big medley of songs (8-10 of them!!!) and it was the SWEETEST THING EVER. They made mom all misty eyed - it was spectacular. :) And wouldn't you know, this was the one time we didn't bring the video camera. In some ways, that was good though - I was completely absorbed in them, and not worrying about what angle to get. After an open house in their classrooms, we came home and are looking forward to a quiet evening at home with a movie.

Last weekend (a week ago) we closed out our camping season with our camping buddies the Rossons. It was a really nice weekend - great weather, great time. (Check out the picture of the "crooked cabin"!) On Saturday night as we were "doing bedtime" in the camper with the boys, Mark mentioned that it was our last night of camping until next spring, and within 5 minutes, both boys were in their bunks crying in their pillows because they didn't want camping season to be over. It was really cute, and it made me thankful that we are creating such awesome memories together as a family - it's clearly having a big impact on them - - and I'm sure their eagerness to go camping will diminish a little each year as they get more involved with other things. We made it out seven times this year! It was even sad for Mark and I to put the camper away until next year . . . .


Doing the Hamster Dance with Kyle and Lacy . . .

We also wrapped up the soccer season this week - the boys' team actually has their two last games this upcoming week, but we'll miss them because we'll be in Iowa visiting my sister and her family. I'm posting a couple pictures from this past week. We saw a big progression in the boys during this season - I can't wait to see how they are doing in the spring.

Jack's in the red shoes, center of the picture:

Action shot of Noah:

The kids have been doing GREAT in Awana - they earned their vests and books on the very first night - got through all their memory work perfectly. I thought they might need a little "break" then, but they eagerly did 3 more verses for the following week. In flipping through their books (which they can take at their own pace), it's staggering to me what they have to memorize, but so far it doesn't seem to be a problem. Oh to have that mental capability again!! :) I couldn't do what they are doing, I don't think!

Mark's officially on jury duty starting tomorrow - he has the month of October - but he doesn't have to report this week, so he's happy about that. Only 4 more weeks to go!!! The kids only have school 3 1/2 days this week (yeaahh!) and then they have 1/2 of Thursday, all of Friday and all of Monday off. I'm so excited to have 4 1/2 days in a row with them!! We're departing on Thursday for Iowa and will return on Monday. We have some fun things planned with the Wranek family, so we're all getting anxious to leave! Have a great week . . . . .

Lovin' Life

We have happily settled into a nice routine now, three weeks into the school year. I quickly adjusted (thankfully!) to having the kids gone during the day, and have been amazed at how busy I've been! Both Jack and Noah's teachers have found various jobs for me to do in both classrooms, so most mornings I spend 2-3 hours at the school helping out, which I have been LOVING. I now know all of the kids in both of their classes and have had fun getting to know some of them better. In Noah's class, I've been helping the kids memorize their addresses and phone numbers, helped them on the computer, and gave some extra assistance where needed on writing. In Jack's class, I've done some administrative work for his teacher, and have been helping them on the computers too. Anyway, it provides me with a few extra hours to share in my kids' lives, which is the best!

On Tuesday mornings, I have my MOPS activities - two regular meetings per month, and one Steering Team meeting a month . . . . and then all of the preparation and management that goes on in between!! I'm definitely at the "upper limits" of a MOPS group, but I have such a passion and love for it, I'm going to fully enjoy my last year.

As for the boys, they have gymnastics after school on Mondays, Awana at church on Wednesday evenings (more on that below), and soccer on Thursdays and Saturdays. We only have a couple weeks left of soccer, which is fine with me - we didn't realize they would have TWO games per week when we signed up, so it's been more than we bargained for. Once that's done, our schedule will be a little more home-centered.

Awana - last week was "orientation night", in which the kids got their first set of assignments - they have several things to memorize before they can even get the book and vest. When I saw what they had to do, I figured it would be a few weeks before they got it all done - - they have to completely memorize the motto, the key verse (with reference), Pledge of Allegiance, the Awana Pledge and the Awana Sparks song. I should know better than to underestimate my kids - they already have it ALL DONE and ready for tomorrow night. I'm amazed. The best part is the fire they have for this, and how proud they are of what they've already accomplished. They were bouncing all over the house tonight singing about Jesus. It's AWESOME.

That's it from around here . . . trying to get one last camping trip in this weekend if the weather holds out - wish us luck!

Rainy Sunday Afternoons . . . .

. . . are the BEST! We had an awesome day today - went to church, then picked up KFC on the way home so we could have a "family room picnic" in honor of the Vikings first game today. Football season has begun! And I now have THREE Vikings fanatics in my house instead of just one! It's actually pretty cute how the boys get into the game with their dad, so I won't complain. Anyway, it was rainy and freezing here today so we all put on our sweats and laid around the family room all day - watching football, reading the paper and just goofing off. It was great.

In other weekend news, we have rodents in our house again. Except this time, it's on purpose! Jack and Noah each got a hamster this weekend - after over a year of pleading, we finally agreed. We took them to the new PetSmart and let them each pick one out - Jack named his Brownie and Noah named his Chewy. I can't believe how entertained the kids were this weekend, just laying on the floor by their cages watching them. I have to admit, they are pretty cute. I'll have to remind myself of that when I'm cleaning two cages on a weekly basis. My mom let me have them when I was little, so I'm determined to pay it forward . . . . (thanks again, mom! 25 years later!)

The boys have really adjusted well to their school routine - much better than I thought they would. Noah is pretty tired by 6 or 7 at night, but all in all, they are doing really well and enjoying it very much. Our decision to keep them at Zion was affirmed again this week, when Jack's teacher told me that one day someone in the class asked what a "sin" was, and that led into a 1/2 hour discussion about sins and forgiveness. I LOVE that - what a great environment! This week I start helping out in both Jack and Noah's rooms, so I'm excited to do that.

We are trying to get in a few more camping trips before we have to "winterize" the camper - I can't believe we're already talking about that, it seems like we just got it out a few weeks ago - ?!?! We went camping a week ago with our friends the Rossons - our first trip with them since Mike's surgery, so it was wonderful. He's healed perfectly, it's a total joy just to be around him. We had the best time - relaxing and fun at the same time. We took all the kids through a cave - something we'd been promising all summer - and they LOVED it, of course. The four of us also went on a horseback ride - an hour and a half trail ride, which was so much fun. Jack and Noah hadn't ridden before, and they were a hoot to watch. Jack took to it right away - looked like a mini-cowboy trying to control the horse - and Noah did great too, but didn't like the horses stopping to poop. :) We also got a photo with our "Happy Camper" shirts on - I posted it up on the right. We're hoping to camp the next two weekends, and then that will probably be it!!

There's our update - will try to get a posting on here more quickly next time!!