Wedding Favors

Today my sister arrived, along with all her wedding stuff, so we could work on some things before the big day. For those of you who don't know, she's getting married in October and she's trying to be the do-it-yourself type of bride, so many of the things are going to be handmade. With time quickly slipping through our fingers, she decided to come out for a couple of days, so we could work on some things. She brought out 250 matchbooks and 250 candles that we had to wrap individually with different kinds of scrapbooking paper and add a ribbony thing to each of them. I didn't know all this going into it. Thought it was just a quick, simple wrap job, so I told her we'd get that all finished in a couple of hours and head to the pool or something. Yeah, well, didn't quite make it to the pool. We spent 3 hours doing the matchbooks and she was actually short about 80 of them, so we still have more to do once she buys them. Then we worked on candles after supper for another 3 hours and still have over a hundred left! Oh my lawn! So much work!!! So, she's leaving the candles for me, so I can get them done and I'll bring them to her this weekend when we're back in IN. She still has invites, centerpieces, programs, flower girl baskets, aisle things, etc.... to make. She's got a LONG road ahead of her. I'm trying to help as much as I can, but being 3 hours away isn't always helpful. Especially with the busyness we have going on here. But, I'm sure in the next 3 months, it'll all find a way to get done. She's recruiting friends and family there in Goshen to help. And, even though today was a lot of work, we always have fun hanging out and laughing and giving each other a hard time like only sisters do (and eating a little chocolate too, of course!). So, to anyone coming to Em's wedding in the fall, you better REALLY enjoy your favors, because it took us an ETERNITY to get them done!!!! ;-)

T-ball Tuesday

Today was Noah's first day of t-ball. We go to the one directed by the Ottawa YMCA. Last year it was a little disorganized, but he didn't care. He wasn't that into it, so it didn't really matter. But, this year, he was really excited about it and they've made lots of improvements, both to the teaching aspect of it and the area where they play. Instead of having it run by high schoolers, they have an older guy who's the head coach and 3 teenage helpers. They will practice every Tues and have their games on Thurs. They have fenced in the whole area now, which is terrific! Last year Livie kept running away and since it's by the river, that's not a great thing to have happen. Plus, they've added this big playground area with sand tables and riding toys and everything. Livie and Madie had a great time playing there while Noah did his thing. And, when Noah was done, he was able to go and play on it for a few minutes as well.

There are about 30 kids - ages 4 and 5 - that he's playing with. His favorite part is batting, so as soon as he got to do that, he was happy as a clam. He didn't stop batting until they absolutely made him. He also really likes running the bases and they did that at the end. Catching is a little hard for him, but at least this year he was really putting in some effort to catch them. Last year he would've just stood there and picked grass. :-) And, he did catch one ball, so that was pretty good. He really tried reaching for the others and even stopped a couple of grounders. The most important thing is that he's having fun and definitely seems to be enjoying himself out there. At the end they got in a huddle and put their hands in the middle and yelled "White Sox Rule!". Now, we don't support that kind of talk here in Cub Country, but we let it slide. ;-) So, here's my future all-star in action!

Noah Paul

My final interview will be with Noah. It's a little harder to get him to sit down to answer questions, but I was able to get the answers while he was jumping off the chair in the living room and finishing up his lunch. Just a little about Noah first though. He's 5 years old and will start Kindergarten next month. He's sooooo excited to be in the big school with Madie. He's been wanting to do that since he was 3. So, he can't wait. Even though he's a VERY busy boy, he really loves school and I'm hoping he'll sit still long enough to do his schoolwork and not talk too much during class. He's so outgoing and will literally talk to anyone for as long as you give him the opportunity to talk. He even talks as he's falling asleep. His eyes can be closing and he'll still want to talk to you about the moon or why cats have tails or something off the wall like that. He keeps me on my toes, but is such a smart guy and really understands things quickly. If anything needs fixed, he'll get his tools out and help Pete fix it. He already knows how to change batteries if they need changing and is very curious to see how things work. Many times I've found him with a screwdriver trying to unscrew something. And, my poor dad has lost a few flashlights in the past, because Noah wanted to see how they came apart and we weren't able to get them back together once he had. ;-) So, here's Noah's interview....

Me - Noah, what is your favorite foods?
Noah - Peanut Butter and chips, because I have it all the time.

Me - What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?
Noah - playing t-ball or going to the pool.

Me - Who is your favorite Bible character?
Noah - Noah! 'cause that's my name!

Me - What is your favorite game?
Noah - Wii. Star Wars Lego Wii and Cooking Mama too.

Me - What is your favorite movie?
Noah - Indiana Jones, because I like how he finds hidden treasure.

Me - What is your favorite thing to do at school?
Noah - play outside with my friends.

Me - What is your favorite thing about your family?

Noah - They help me when I get hurt and play with me a lot.

Me - What do you want to do when you grow up?

Noah - Hmm... that's a hard one. Guess I want to be an engineer like Daddy.

Me - Anything else you want to say in this interview?

Noah - Nope. (and he runs away). :-)

So, those are my kids. Silly, funny, sweet, and most of all - LOVED!

Madeleine Sue

Since Madie is my oldest, I thought I'd interview her about what her favorite things are. But, before I get to the "interview", I wanted to tell you all a little about her. She's 7 and will be starting 2nd grade next month. She's a terrific student and was the first in her whole grade last year to become a rising reader. We were so proud of her. She also loves dance. She's been in dance now for 3 years and will starting her fourth year (a recital year) in September. She's really very good at it and her favorite part of that is the performing. She loves having an audience and is very dramatic, so it works well for the stage. She's my girly-girl. Loves to pick out pretty clothes, go shopping, play with her dolls, etc.... She's also a very good helper. Many times I've taken her with me to the church when I have to get something ready for Sunday School or whatever and she's always ready to help me get crafts ready or bulletin boards put together. Anyway, here is her interview....

Me - What is your favorite food?

Madie - Toasted Wheat Chips, because they are healthy and have lots of grains and vitamins and stuff. And, they taste really good.

Me - What is your favorite thing to do during the summer?

Madie - playing outside. I like to play with the bat and ball and hit homeruns.

Me - Who is your favorite bible character?

Madie - Moses, because when he split the river into 2 halves, I thought that was really cool.

Me - What is your favorite game?

Madie - Wii! I like Cooking Mama the best, because it is really fun.

Me - What is your Movie?
Madie - The Land Before Time II, because it's when Chomper gets hatched.

Me - What is your favorite thing about school? Homework?

Madie - Homework? um.....no. I like packing up all my crafts and other stuff that I've done and go home.

Me - What do you love most about your family?

Madie - I like my brother and sister, because they are playful.

Me - What do you want to be when you grow up?
Madie - I want to be a veterinarian, so I can help animals that are sick and hurt.

Me - Any last words for this interview?
Madie - My family is the best family I ever had. :-)

Olivia Rose

Thought I'd just post a couple pictures on here today of my littlest one. I thought I could spend the next few posts talking about each of my kids individually and what they're doing now for all of you that don't get to see the kids and know what they're up to. The blog is giving me a great way to tell about our daily activities but I thought I'd just share a few things about what each of them are doing. So, here, I'll talk about Olivia. :-)

She's 2 1/2 now and is a very active little girl. She's been taking speech therapy for the past 4 months and has made great strides. Back in April she didn't say more than maybe 2 words and even those you couldn't really make out. She did a lot of sign language and just let her brother and sister talk for her. She wouldn't really even babble when playing by herself. Well now she says lots of words - probably over 20 now - and is trying new words every day. You can tell we have a Wii, because two of her words are "Wii" and "Gonk". That's for "Gonk Droid" on Lego Star Wars. ;-) It's pretty silly. She can't say "Darth Vadar" yet, she'll make the scowl face for him instead, but I'm sure that word will be coming soon.

She's almost completely potty trained now too. She's my miracle potty trainer. Never with any of my children have I ever been able to get them to the underwear stage without stressing out for a good year and dealing with the craziness that always accompanies the training. But she was able to be in underwear in less than a month! The heavens were rejoicing and so was I!!! It's been fantastic!!

Her favorite foods are grapes and ice. This girl will eat ice until there is no ice left in the house! I used to be a big ice eater myself, but I don't get to eat much of it anymore, because if she sees that I have ice or hears me crunch on a piece a mile away, she runs out to find me saying, "ice! ice!". Her other favorite, grapes, is something she eats every single day. If she wants a snack, it's grapes. If she wants lunch, she has grapes with it. Those are by far her two favorites things in the world!

She's also ornery and loves to do everything Noah does - EVERYTHING! I can see sometimes when Noah will pull her to the side and tell her to do something that he knows HE'S not supposed to do, so he'll get her to do it instead. Then when I tell him he's not supposed to do that, he'll say, "I didn't. Livie did." And, she'll do whatever he asks too, because she thinks it's so funny. She loves to laugh and will say, "HA HA" when she pulls one over on you. She just absolutely loves playing with Madie and Noah and if they're doing something, she wants to do it too. I don't know what she's going to do when both of them are in school next month. She'll miss them so much. Anyway, she's just a really special little girl and I just wanted to share a little about her.

Jumping Jellyfish!

Noah came in laughing today about the Backyardigans and how Tyron said, "Jumping Jellyfish!", so I had to use that as my title of today's entry. I had a bunch of jumping jellyfish today! All that hard work paid off today as we went both to swim lessons and to the Marseilles pool. We practiced for an hour last night in the bathtub (as you'll read below) about putting our faces and heads in the water. Well, today, Madie and Noah did a great job! Madie practiced swimming with her face in the water the whole time and didn't freak out. She even put her face in to pick out different rings. And, Noah kept showing off to his instructor Adam that he too could put his face in the water. He was practicing swimming back and forth along the wall all by himself. Granted, he's not going to the Olympics anytime soon, but hey, it was a start! Then Adam had him try and jump in the water from the side of the pool. Thanks to his cousin Trevor's awesome diving board experience the other day, I reminded Noah of how Trevor was scared at first, but faced his fears and jumped in. So, Noah did it and never looked back! He must've jumped to Adam 6 times during swim lessons and did it again MANY times at the Marseilles pool. I was really proud of all of them. Livie had a hard time at first, because she's my water girl. She absolutely LOVES swimming and didn't like sitting on the sidelines while Madie and Noah got to swim. She had to sit with Pete and watch. But, once they were done, we all headed to the Marseilles pool and were there for nearly 2 hours, so she was much happier after that. She watched Noah jump in the pool several times and wanted to try it herself. She LOVED it and she would have us take her to the ladder and she'd crawl out and before we'd get over to her to catch her, she'd be crouched down, on the edge, ready to go! We played water tag and tried to swim to the rope. It was great! We didn't even get home until after 7. And, of course, in Marseilles fashion we arrived to a house with no electricity! But, we didn't care. We had a great time and that's all that mattered. :-)

**By the way, the first few pictures were taken at Mrs. Palmer's house where we have swim lessons and the last several pictures are at the Marseilles pool. They have a great pool in this town. Not much else, but definitely a great pool! It's usually not that crowded and they just redid the whole thing a couple of years ago. We always have a great time there. :-)