Gr8 to be 8

A pile of presents,

a favorite toy gun,

a BRAND new bike,

a football cake,

all add up to one happy Kaleb!

As busy as life is around here these days, Kaleb sure did have fun turning 8! He opened one present before school--an Eagles shirt that he could wear all day long. After school he told me, "When I was working on my math today, I just kept looking down at my shirt." :) I wonder if he got any math done? It was tough to convince him to take that shirt off at bedtime. Daddy picked the boys up after school, and we enjoyed a visit from Kaleb's cousins as he opened up the rest of his birthday gifts. Aaron took special care this year to give Kaleb "extra" presents. Like a package of gift tags hidden in another gift. And a small gift bag filled with more gift tags and a gingerbread man bookmark. :) He also put a bow on each present and made his own gift tags...Aaron sure did make Kaleb's packages that much more special. Some of the ways I made the day special for him: red balloons tied to the mailbox, birthday message written on the bathroom mirror, gifts picked out with great care, favorite meatball supper, and chocolate cake to top it all off. Birthdays aren't just for the child. They're for the mother too. :)

November 30th is an eclectic day of sorts. I have halloween candy on my counter, turkey placemats on my table, birthday decorations in my living room, and Christmas music playing on the radio. But if I allow myself to go back 8 years, all the clutter clears away and I can see us holding our new baby, Kaleb Matthew. All 9 pounds, 10 ounces of him! Red skin, blond hair, with a candy cane hat on his head. I wondered how I would be a mother to two little boys. Would I have enough love for both of them? Funny thing, it all worked out one day at a time. And it still is. :)

Happy Birthday Kaleb. You bring your parents such delight! You're a patient brother, placed in the middle, able to play the role of little brother at times and big brother at other times. You say the funniest things without trying to be funny. We love you gr8-ly. :)

Thankful for Much

Today was such a super day...a day of giving thanks while enjoying yummy food with my family. How can it get any better than that? The past 2 years we've had sicknesses surrounding Thanksgiving, so I'm especially grateful for good health this year! We celebrated Kaleb's birthday with his grandparents/aunts/uncle/cousins today, which enriched this day even more for me. Our son Kaleb is such a blessing to us. God knit him together in such neat ways--I see so many things in him that are different from his brothers. He brings great joy to this mommy's heart. :)

Kaleb with his wii-Jesus shirt :)

Things we learned about Kaleb today:

He's thankful for his life

His dream job is to be president

If he had $1 million dollars for a day, he'd like to buy the Philadelphia Eagles

He'd like to talk to 3 people from Bible times if he could: Caleb, Matthew, and Luke

His favorite thing to do in his free time: play flag football

His favorite food is a toss-up between: spaghetti, meatloaf, meatballs, chinese, and little smokies--this boy likes to eat meat!

His least favorite food? Chicken fettucine

Funnies from Kaleb this past week:

When Derek got a deer, Kaleb asked, "Is it a doe or a duck?" (he meant a buck)

When asked what he'd like for his birthday, he replied, "Umm, a credit card would be nice!"

At our fellowship dinner at church, Kaleb filled his plate with...ham and a dinner roll. And a small tub of butter. That's it. But when he went up for dessert? He came back with 4 different things on a very full plate!

At supper last night, Kaleb cleared his plate and finished dessert. He looked at me and said, "More?" I asked him, "More of what?" He said, "Of whatever you're going to give to me!"

Funnies from Aaron:

For whatever reason, Aaron's latched onto Star Wars lately. He called Luke Skywalker "Blue Skywalker" for a while because Luke has a blue light saber. :)

He draws out Yoda's name like this: eeee-yo-da

if you look real hard, you'll see Aaron's Yoda sticker he's so proud of!

We discuss over and over how the "wemperwere" (emperor) died and how "dark vader" died, who killed "obi-kenobi-one" (obi-one-kenobi), and why Anakin is a kid in movie #4 yet an adult in movies 1-3! Such a lot for him to take in, but I try to explain it anyway. I'm so thankful for a dad and brother who loved Star Wars so I could grow up and be able to explain the story line to my son!

a wolf and a webelo this year...I sure love my cub scouts :)

As Time Goes By

Can you believe this is our Ginger?

I recently looked at pictures of when we brought her home.
I hardly recognized her.
She is 7 and 1/2 months old and she is not done growing.
Between raising 3 growing boys and one growing dog, I wonder why my food budget can't grow too!

This week I've watched my husband take a week off from work to deer hunt with his buddies and his dad. He visits land owners ahead of time to obtain hunting permission. He stocks up on ammo and camo. :) He completely renovates the garage to turn it into a meat processing center. I wash sheets and towels, make up extra beds, and of course--cook extra food. I also take on the boys and all their comings and goings by myself. Not to mention scraping the frost off my windshield in the morning since I can't park in my garage...

It is quite exhausting.

But through all the extra work, I've seen my husband have so much fun. I've gotten some down time from the kids when they join the hunters in the garage at night. I even got to go out to breakfast with JUST Derek when the kids were all in school. We also took a day and went shopping for Kaleb's upcoming birthday, among other things. :) I used to wish that Derek had a hobby he could enjoy...and here we are.

flowers from my sweetie before this week began--he's learned a thing or two about a happy wife=happy life :)

Lots of things coming up in the next week or 2. Might be a while before I post again. Cub Scouts cake auction on Monday, Thanksgiving of course, a road trip to move our friends out here, and Kaleb's 8th birthday. Plus our dog needs 2 teeth pulled. Under general anesthetic. Good grief. Friends' birthday parties, small group activities, and extra school happenings...

Even still, I am thankful for all of my blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

Here and There

Here we are in the middle of November already! Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.

Due to some grounding, our boys spent a few days earlier this month without their screens: tv, video games, computers, etc. They couldn't play with friends either. Or eat any of their Halloween candy. Why does this kind of punishment end up punishing the parents too? However, after the first day, I kind of enjoyed the no screens rule. Braylen found his kids cookbook and picked out a recipe. We went to the store and he bought his own tube of biscuits to make monkey bread! (he insisted he pay for it himself.) I'm sure the cashier thought I was a nutcase when my 10 year old pulled out his wallet to buy the biscuits and a pack of gum. A Friday off from school, grounded, and yet--we had a great day.

the finished product :)

Braylen and Kaleb put on an amazing show for us last week at their school programs! Kaleb sang his way through the holidays from January through December. He even had a speaking part for a patriotic holiday--Veteran's Day. Kaleb LOVES anything related to Washington DC, presidents, and American History. His teacher unknowingly picked a perfect part for him. He did such a good job at the microphone. :)

waiting for his cue, and tucking his lower lip under his teeth while he waits--cutie pie

Braylen sang his way through the decades, beginning with music from the 1900's. My favorites were "Blue Suede Shoes" from the 50's, "I Wanna Hold your Hand" from the 60's, "Lean on Me" from the 70's, and "We Built This City" from the 80's! For weeks I've been listening to Braylen sing these oldies around the house and it's been lots of fun to hear! It surprised me to hear my son singing Elvis and Beatles songs at first. Especially since he knew more words to them than I did! It humbled me to see the kids on stage dressed 80's style. Did we really look like that? It also took me back...music has a way of doing that. The girls were so cute in their leg warmers and big hair. The boys looked like little studs in their rolled-up jeans and spiked hair. Braylen did a great job with his speaking part too. He spoke of music videos and MTV transforming the music industry. In the car on the way to the program, Braylen put the accent on the word industry like this--inDUStry, rather than INdustry. Cute. :) During his program though, he said it correctly.

jeans with a tight-roll, polo shirt with collar sticking up, and spiked hair! 80's boy!

Aaron earned a reward last week--a new set of Lego's. He's my only son who really enjoys Lego's, and I have fun helping him put them together. I'm not surprised he's such a Lego's fan. He's always enjoyed puzzles, stringing beads--anything that involves fine motor skills. I like to think that means he might be blessed with a patient spirit. :)



Our good friends Shawn & Rebekah showed up Nov. 12th to kick off deer season around here. Our house immediately goes from normal, everyday life to anything but normal! People coming and going, a 2 year old to keep track of and a 4 month old to snuggle with, garage transforming into meat processing central, dog going wild at the new smells... It's enough to keep my head spinning. Derek hunted with his dad, his friend Shawn, and Shawn's dad and brother. That's a lot of deer! My boys love watching them come home with their bounty. I'm glad they like it. I like to stay inside with Rebekah and watch a good chick flick. :) This adventure will last until the end of this week, so we have much more fun ahead of us. I'm thankful for a husband who keeps the mess outside. My kitchen is NOT used for any of his processing or clean up. Thank goodness! I did find a red leaf on the floor inside tonight--then I realized it wasn't a leaf... Oh well. Our freezer will be full and when I mix the meat with beef nobody will know the difference.

Derek on a recent turkey hunt with Braylen and Aaron.

Kaleb stayed home and had a breakfast date with me!

Derek and Shawn in the field

Aaron learned all about tendons and ligaments, and how they affect movement...backstraps and tenderloins...Derek loved every minute of it with Aaron, and Aaron had lots of questions for Daddy!

As I wrap this up, I have one thought from Aaron. Tonight he said, "Is a person a boy or a girl?" What a reminder to me that my kids are just that--kids. I'd like to enjoy them more and fuss over them less. As the song says, "Just let them be little..."

Kaleb working on his math homework with a smile :)

Lunches With Aaron

This is my third (and last) year of daily one-on-one lunches with Aaron. My older 2 are in school, and my husband can't come home for lunch. So Aaron and I are on our own. When all 3 of my boys were little, I used to wish for these days I'm enjoying now. They are pretty great. Yesterday I swirled some ketchup and mustard together to dip a corn dog in and Aaron said it looked like a seashell. He demanded (cutely) that I take a picture of it! Hooray for digital cameras. :) Every now and then Aaron and I go out to lunch "just because." Today was one of those days.

While driving away from preschool today, Aaron asked if we could go out to lunch. Of course I said yes, and then I asked him where he'd like to go. He replied, "King Burger!" Otherwise known as Burger King. :) While we were eating our hamburgers, Aaron pointed to the sesame seeds on his bun and said, "What are these things? Are they hamburger seeds?" Hee hee. :)

Aaron is quite a talker. He has many thoughts running through his mind at any given moment. When I actually listen to what he has to say I come away thinking, "This kid is so much smarter than I give him credit for." He pays attention to everything. Like one day he heard a song on the radio (which was turned down low and just background noise). It has this phrase: "Impossible is not a word; it's just a reason for someone not to try." Aaron says, "Impossible is too a word!" Anyway, one of the things he said at lunch today was that we need to buy a bluegill TV. Hmm. He adamantly said he heard Daddy and I talking about a bluegill TV and that we were thinking of buying one. Now, we DO need a new TV at our house. But I'm quite certain there's no such thing as a bluegill TV. I finally figured out he meant blu-ray player. This is how our conversation spiraled from there:

A: what's a blu-ray player?
M: it plays movies, and looks clearer than dvds.
A: grampy needs that. his eye-sees (eyesight) is having problems. his ears are having problems too. he's just having problems all over!
M: ooookay, but we're not getting a blu-ray player. dvds are fine with us.

That was my lunch with Aaron today. I'm sure my dad is glad to know Aaron thinks his vision and hearing are failing. :) Still, I loved our conversations and his chattiness. I will miss this next year. Good thing I'll be able to take him out of school now and then for some more lunch dates. Many times they are the highlight of my day.

Fall Fun

pretty leaves in our own backyard

All 3 kids still went trick-or-treating this year...but not all 3 kids went with me. Braylen's entering that phase where he'd rather be with his friends than his family. I think this phase might last a while. Like for the rest of time. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm happy to see him growing up. I'm happy to see he has some good friends. But part of me wants to hold on to those days when I was all he wanted or needed.

Originally, my 10 year old son wanted to trick-or-treat as a member of The Beatles. I was wondering how to turn him into a Beatle. Then he saved me from that task and told me he just wanted to be a hunter. How easy! Now, what goes with a hunter? A deer and a turkey of course! Aaron volunteered to be the deer. Kaleb said he'd be the turkey, and then he said no way. He went as a football player. Oh well--it was easy! :) We had a beautiful night for trick-or-treating, and I realized Ginger needs a costume next year. This year I'm sure she'd just try to eat it.

Halloween 2009

our little deer

wearing real antlers from one of Daddy's bucks!

We built our house in a new neighborhood 6 and 1/2 years ago. Therefore, we've never needed to rake leaves. Well, this year we finally had enough leaves on the ground to rake! I know, someday soon we'll wish we didn't. But this year we had fun with the leaves! The boys even fought over our one pitiful looking rake. I felt pretty silly telling them to take turns with a chore!

proud of their leaf pile

This past weekend Braylen brought his classroom hamsters home. To bad he forgot to bring their food. :) I diced up some carrots and apples Friday night and they gobbled it right up! The boys loved playing with Smokey and Midnight. Saturday morning I found them in their room, letting the hamsters run through a maze they'd built with colored duplo blocks. Braylen even covered the carpet with paper towels. I can't believe how much entertainment 2 small rodents could bring to our house. Then again, I loved my hamster when I was growing up. Nothing made them laugh more than watching those hamsters run around the house in their ball. We had some sad fellas on Monday morning, when Smokey and Midnight returned to the 4th grade classroom.

Braylen with Smokey

All smiles as they wait for me to tell them they can play!

The cage is taped because Smokey escaped at school and was missing for 3 days. He's quite a Houdini!

To wrap up this post I have to say "Happy First Date Night Anniversary" to my husband. 15 years ago today, we went out on our first date. 15 years! How can that be possible? Last week at a coffee shop the girl behind the counter saw my high school sweatshirt and asked me if I had kids at the high school. Aggghhh! Whatever happened to the days where people like that thought I was a high school student?! I told her my husband works there, and my kids are in elementary school. I wanted to say, "Do I LOOK like I have high school kids??" But I'm afraid of what her answer would be! :)