In many ways this was a better week.
We were able to cross a few things off of our bucket list. Woohoo.
We went on the pedestrian overpass. This was a ton of fun for them. I just went to the one going over 200th St. What amazes me is how kids can find so much joy in little things like this. They truly don't ask for much. Most of the big things on our list are either overdue special birthday dates that are allowed and meant to be big and special or they are my ideas.
Here we are climbing up toward the over pass part of the bridge and stopped to spot our van.
Walk, walk, walking along. The love these boys have for each other is really quite delightful :)
They were so taken by the whole thing. Even I thought it was quite cool :)
Esther and Tommy have also been developing a much closer relationship as well. More on Tom later. Very sweet :)
We obviously didn't stick with walking very long.... Haha! I love everything about this pic. But Danny shoes on the wrong feet just absolutely MAKES it! :D
I definitely didn't mean to take this shot. I must have accidentally pressed the button as I was walking. So no creativity points for me. But I love how it turned out. Says so much about my Esther bunny. She's got a style all her own - and I do love it. Most of the time ;p
On the way home I saw a sign for a little garden center that I have been meaning to check out. So I decided "Why not?" and took the crew in. It was such a fun little store. With tons to see. Not just plants and pots etc as you would imagine. But things from picture frames and vases and wind chimes, and kids clothes, and hand made hats and wonderful and fun displays - even a sneak peek at a Christmas display! I wish I could better describe it. But I can't. I could have spent so much more time in there. And money!! But I was good. I bought myself a little something and we found Auntie Meg's birthday present and we were done. The kids were wonderfully well behaved so I spoiled them with an ice cream treat :) My plan was to have Tommy share mine. But obviously things didn't turn out as I had planned. He did super well!
It was a super fun day :) Even if we did get home and wind up having breakfast for dinner because I completely lost track of time. But I have a fabulous husband who doesn't mind at all and was just glad we had a good time.
Since Maria bailed on her bike and is now without training wheels (As is Esther! Woohoo!!) I decided to go out and buy them bicycle helmets. They LOVE them and feel so very cool while wearing them everywhere. Here is Tommy's new favorite thing to do. Be pushed on the trike :)
They make up the funnest games. I love that they are starting to involve Tommy more and more. We went for a bike ride around the property again. This was the very first time that the horses in the moms and babies field came near enough for us to touch and feed! It was very exciting! Tommy is also now hating being in the stroller but, of course, is too young to walk the whole way. And doesn't understand about having a destination in mind while walking. I think he walks about 45 times as many step as I do to get the same distance. Up and down and round and round. Haha! SO I take the stroller and let him out once in a while. Which he loves. He thought the horses were pretty fantastic, too.
I love that he still comes round for some Momma snuggles :)
Feeding and petting and so much fun.
Thomas all tuckered out. And. We found his beloved bee stuffy this week! Hooray!
We renewed our zoo passes this week and met up with our friends for a special trip to the zoo. We took our bikes for the first time and had a BLAST! On the morning of Danny came sprinting into our room, jumped on our bed and with the hugest grin imaginable he whisper/shouted (Yes. it's possible) "We're going to the ZOO today! HeeheeHA!" Bryant and I laughed so hard - even if it was 6:30 am. It was a long 4 hours leading up to our arrival at the zoo ;)
We haven't been in such a long time. Tom was just a wee little one last time we went. And look at him now. All big and handsome. This first pic (to me) is just such a grown up pose! I love it!
The kids were SO excited about riding their bikes. This was the first time that they were allowed to ride their bikes not at home or Oma's So that was really exciting for them. Having Jaxon and Alivia riding along with them was just icing on the cake :) It was a bit of a gong show - but not as bad as I had anticipated. 5 little people on bikes and 2 strollers went pretty well. We did get a lot of looks but for the most part, i think people were pretty patient and amused by our little traffic jam causers.
Here they all are checking out the hippos.
It seemed like the animals were all out and about for us to see. That way this was definitely a very good day! We even got to see the grizzly. Not that you can see it in this pic. But I still like it anyhow.
Danny loved this little "Water thingy" and explaining to us all exactly how it worked. Oh, this boy :D Such a little Bryant. And I love it! Have you ever stopped and marveled at how amazing and wonderful it is to have a child with someone you love to pieces and then see them turn out just like them?! Goodness. It just blows me away! God is good.
I always joke that the zoo puts these statues of animals everywhere because the real ones are always hiding. Not so this zoo trip. But we still loved having photos taken with some animals.
This photo made me laugh SO much! Just the way Tommy is standing and his little fluff or hair as he pokes his head through the hole in the wire was hilarious. But the look on Jaxon's face as we shared that funny little moment together was so great. I just love this picture. So much!
Maria was super excited to see the zebras and giraffes. But they were all too far away to really see well. So we settled for a picture in front of the wooden painted giraffe, instead.
More pictures with statues :)
Hahahahaha! Oh, Tommy :D
Waiting at the train tracks :)
The flamingos were nice and close. I love that God made such fantastically beautiful animals! I love how graceful flamingos are and their color is so stunning!
Such a fun day :) We all had a blast telling B about it at dinner time. He loves sitting down at dinner with us and hearing us all tell him about the favorite part of our day. When we ask him his favorite part of his day he often says "Just hearing about YOUR day is my favorite part!" Oh, I love him.
I was telling him that the kids should sleep well. Especially Daniel because he had rode his bike for nearly 4 hours straight. Maria looked at us and said "Well, Mommy he turned sometimes, too." Haha! I love how children don't always understand phrases.
Danny has been hilarious lately as well. I have been terrible at writing things down. So sadly most of them are gone forever. Boo. But Meghan and Isaiah came for a little visit the other day and as she was leaving Danny said "See you yater, Meggie. You're a mystery" Haha! I have NO idea where that came from but it made me laugh so much. Goofy kid.
Otherwise things have been going well. We've really been enjoying lots of amazing sunshiney weather. The garden is pretty much a complete disaster. I am struggling top work in there as Tommy is still falling a lot and falls on my plants or just plain gets fussy and clingy. And I just don't have a ton of energy for it. The kids are eating out of it, though. They especially love the spinach and green onions. I have a few green tomatoes and the carrots seem to be getting close to an eating size.
I have taken up knitting again. Now that I started again I'm reminded of how much it helps me. It sounds weird but for some reason knitting helps with my headaches and sore back. Weird, right? But it's been really fun to take on a new project again and to have my kids sitting on my lap and saying the "Knitting poem" over and over. And over. Maria is working at finishing her scarf for Teddy and has started a scarf for Charlotte for when we are at Oma's. Even Esther is picking it up fast! Surprisingly after only a very few minutes of sitting with me she is nearly ready to attempt a stitch on their own. Thankfully there is a lot of Bryant in our children. My mom had to sit with me for hours (Ok, ok, DAYS!) before I actually got it. Maria is able to sit beside me now and knit on her own. She still needs a lot of help and drops stitches and gets frustrated and confused (That's from me) but at least she notices her mistakes and that's a great start. These kids are growing up. So fast. I cannot believe that I'm starting to get nearer my half way mark with Maria. Of when she'll likely be moved out. I'm excited for what God has in store for this sweet little girl. A good reminder to make the most of my sweet and short years with her. And I need to make sure that I'm living intentionally with her. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut and let the days slip by. But they turn into weeks and then months and then.... Anyway. I'll give my head a shake :p
Last night Meghan, my mom and I all had a special night together. It was meant to be a fun night out with the pregnant moms in our church. But two of the moms wound up having their babes 5 and 6 weeks early. So they weren't able to make it. And the night kinda fell apart from there. But we decided to go ahead anyway and have a special night together. I picked up Dairy Queen ice cream shakes and Meghan brought chocolate mind triple decker Oreos and we watched a chick flick and then Meg and I chatted the night away. I didn't get home til 12:30. And we are both exhausted and have little grumpy pantsers as sons but it was worth it. Such fun.
And. I was going to update on Thomas. He was going through this really rough time. It seemed like h was the sweetest kid for such a long time. Not needing much direction as he never really pushed any limits. But he made up for that. Big time. It has been a rough time. He seems to hate everything. Shopping is sort of a disaster these days. And he's kind of a lot of a bully. Purposefully being mean and annoying to his siblings and myself. And I just felt like I was not getting anywhere with him. But then suddenly yesterday he walked up to Esther and he gave her a hug. I think this was his first really real show of affection. Esther reacted beautifully. I was so proud of her. It totally made me tear up a little. She just dropped everything and gave him her full attention and loved him back and said "Thank you, Thomas!" in the squeakiest, silliest big-sister-talking-to-a-baby-sibling voice ever. And Thomas grinned his super cheesy, happy-as-can-be baby grin and that was the beginning of a gentler,kinder Thomas. He loves to give hugs now, he'll often come sit on his siblings laps (So adorable because he's so huge! And even more so because they love it!) and he'll come and pet Danny's hair. He also holds hands with us now when we pray together at meal time and seems to love that. These break throughs are so great! Like the sun peeking through on a dark and cloudy day. There are still hard moments but I feel like we're through the worst of it. I know it's just one stage and there will be so, so many more issues to be dealt with as we go along. But I'm just so glad God doesn't leave us there.
Anyway. That's enough for this day. My big 3 are out at the creek on a "date" with Daddy. EVERYTHING is more fun when you call it a date. True story. They're out there working. B took his chain saw and weed wacker along and they're going to cut a tree down to make a bridge and clean up the area down there. They are so excited. And Tom Bomb is napping (Hooray!) so off I go to clean. Or knit. Or whatever. We'll see.
Hope you are all doing super. Thanks for reading :)
We were able to cross a few things off of our bucket list. Woohoo.
We went on the pedestrian overpass. This was a ton of fun for them. I just went to the one going over 200th St. What amazes me is how kids can find so much joy in little things like this. They truly don't ask for much. Most of the big things on our list are either overdue special birthday dates that are allowed and meant to be big and special or they are my ideas.
Here we are climbing up toward the over pass part of the bridge and stopped to spot our van.
Walk, walk, walking along. The love these boys have for each other is really quite delightful :)
They were so taken by the whole thing. Even I thought it was quite cool :)
Esther and Tommy have also been developing a much closer relationship as well. More on Tom later. Very sweet :)
I definitely didn't mean to take this shot. I must have accidentally pressed the button as I was walking. So no creativity points for me. But I love how it turned out. Says so much about my Esther bunny. She's got a style all her own - and I do love it. Most of the time ;p
On the way home I saw a sign for a little garden center that I have been meaning to check out. So I decided "Why not?" and took the crew in. It was such a fun little store. With tons to see. Not just plants and pots etc as you would imagine. But things from picture frames and vases and wind chimes, and kids clothes, and hand made hats and wonderful and fun displays - even a sneak peek at a Christmas display! I wish I could better describe it. But I can't. I could have spent so much more time in there. And money!! But I was good. I bought myself a little something and we found Auntie Meg's birthday present and we were done. The kids were wonderfully well behaved so I spoiled them with an ice cream treat :) My plan was to have Tommy share mine. But obviously things didn't turn out as I had planned. He did super well!
It was a super fun day :) Even if we did get home and wind up having breakfast for dinner because I completely lost track of time. But I have a fabulous husband who doesn't mind at all and was just glad we had a good time.
Since Maria bailed on her bike and is now without training wheels (As is Esther! Woohoo!!) I decided to go out and buy them bicycle helmets. They LOVE them and feel so very cool while wearing them everywhere. Here is Tommy's new favorite thing to do. Be pushed on the trike :)
They make up the funnest games. I love that they are starting to involve Tommy more and more. We went for a bike ride around the property again. This was the very first time that the horses in the moms and babies field came near enough for us to touch and feed! It was very exciting! Tommy is also now hating being in the stroller but, of course, is too young to walk the whole way. And doesn't understand about having a destination in mind while walking. I think he walks about 45 times as many step as I do to get the same distance. Up and down and round and round. Haha! SO I take the stroller and let him out once in a while. Which he loves. He thought the horses were pretty fantastic, too.
I love that he still comes round for some Momma snuggles :)
Feeding and petting and so much fun.
Thomas all tuckered out. And. We found his beloved bee stuffy this week! Hooray!
We renewed our zoo passes this week and met up with our friends for a special trip to the zoo. We took our bikes for the first time and had a BLAST! On the morning of Danny came sprinting into our room, jumped on our bed and with the hugest grin imaginable he whisper/shouted (Yes. it's possible) "We're going to the ZOO today! HeeheeHA!" Bryant and I laughed so hard - even if it was 6:30 am. It was a long 4 hours leading up to our arrival at the zoo ;)
We haven't been in such a long time. Tom was just a wee little one last time we went. And look at him now. All big and handsome. This first pic (to me) is just such a grown up pose! I love it!
The kids were SO excited about riding their bikes. This was the first time that they were allowed to ride their bikes not at home or Oma's So that was really exciting for them. Having Jaxon and Alivia riding along with them was just icing on the cake :) It was a bit of a gong show - but not as bad as I had anticipated. 5 little people on bikes and 2 strollers went pretty well. We did get a lot of looks but for the most part, i think people were pretty patient and amused by our little traffic jam causers.
Here they all are checking out the hippos.
It seemed like the animals were all out and about for us to see. That way this was definitely a very good day! We even got to see the grizzly. Not that you can see it in this pic. But I still like it anyhow.
Danny loved this little "Water thingy" and explaining to us all exactly how it worked. Oh, this boy :D Such a little Bryant. And I love it! Have you ever stopped and marveled at how amazing and wonderful it is to have a child with someone you love to pieces and then see them turn out just like them?! Goodness. It just blows me away! God is good.
I always joke that the zoo puts these statues of animals everywhere because the real ones are always hiding. Not so this zoo trip. But we still loved having photos taken with some animals.
This photo made me laugh SO much! Just the way Tommy is standing and his little fluff or hair as he pokes his head through the hole in the wire was hilarious. But the look on Jaxon's face as we shared that funny little moment together was so great. I just love this picture. So much!
Maria was super excited to see the zebras and giraffes. But they were all too far away to really see well. So we settled for a picture in front of the wooden painted giraffe, instead.
More pictures with statues :)
Hahahahaha! Oh, Tommy :D
The flamingos were nice and close. I love that God made such fantastically beautiful animals! I love how graceful flamingos are and their color is so stunning!
Such a fun day :) We all had a blast telling B about it at dinner time. He loves sitting down at dinner with us and hearing us all tell him about the favorite part of our day. When we ask him his favorite part of his day he often says "Just hearing about YOUR day is my favorite part!" Oh, I love him.
I was telling him that the kids should sleep well. Especially Daniel because he had rode his bike for nearly 4 hours straight. Maria looked at us and said "Well, Mommy he turned sometimes, too." Haha! I love how children don't always understand phrases.
Danny has been hilarious lately as well. I have been terrible at writing things down. So sadly most of them are gone forever. Boo. But Meghan and Isaiah came for a little visit the other day and as she was leaving Danny said "See you yater, Meggie. You're a mystery" Haha! I have NO idea where that came from but it made me laugh so much. Goofy kid.
Otherwise things have been going well. We've really been enjoying lots of amazing sunshiney weather. The garden is pretty much a complete disaster. I am struggling top work in there as Tommy is still falling a lot and falls on my plants or just plain gets fussy and clingy. And I just don't have a ton of energy for it. The kids are eating out of it, though. They especially love the spinach and green onions. I have a few green tomatoes and the carrots seem to be getting close to an eating size.
I have taken up knitting again. Now that I started again I'm reminded of how much it helps me. It sounds weird but for some reason knitting helps with my headaches and sore back. Weird, right? But it's been really fun to take on a new project again and to have my kids sitting on my lap and saying the "Knitting poem" over and over. And over. Maria is working at finishing her scarf for Teddy and has started a scarf for Charlotte for when we are at Oma's. Even Esther is picking it up fast! Surprisingly after only a very few minutes of sitting with me she is nearly ready to attempt a stitch on their own. Thankfully there is a lot of Bryant in our children. My mom had to sit with me for hours (Ok, ok, DAYS!) before I actually got it. Maria is able to sit beside me now and knit on her own. She still needs a lot of help and drops stitches and gets frustrated and confused (That's from me) but at least she notices her mistakes and that's a great start. These kids are growing up. So fast. I cannot believe that I'm starting to get nearer my half way mark with Maria. Of when she'll likely be moved out. I'm excited for what God has in store for this sweet little girl. A good reminder to make the most of my sweet and short years with her. And I need to make sure that I'm living intentionally with her. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut and let the days slip by. But they turn into weeks and then months and then.... Anyway. I'll give my head a shake :p
Last night Meghan, my mom and I all had a special night together. It was meant to be a fun night out with the pregnant moms in our church. But two of the moms wound up having their babes 5 and 6 weeks early. So they weren't able to make it. And the night kinda fell apart from there. But we decided to go ahead anyway and have a special night together. I picked up Dairy Queen ice cream shakes and Meghan brought chocolate mind triple decker Oreos and we watched a chick flick and then Meg and I chatted the night away. I didn't get home til 12:30. And we are both exhausted and have little grumpy pantsers as sons but it was worth it. Such fun.
And. I was going to update on Thomas. He was going through this really rough time. It seemed like h was the sweetest kid for such a long time. Not needing much direction as he never really pushed any limits. But he made up for that. Big time. It has been a rough time. He seems to hate everything. Shopping is sort of a disaster these days. And he's kind of a lot of a bully. Purposefully being mean and annoying to his siblings and myself. And I just felt like I was not getting anywhere with him. But then suddenly yesterday he walked up to Esther and he gave her a hug. I think this was his first really real show of affection. Esther reacted beautifully. I was so proud of her. It totally made me tear up a little. She just dropped everything and gave him her full attention and loved him back and said "Thank you, Thomas!" in the squeakiest, silliest big-sister-talking-to-a-baby-sibling voice ever. And Thomas grinned his super cheesy, happy-as-can-be baby grin and that was the beginning of a gentler,kinder Thomas. He loves to give hugs now, he'll often come sit on his siblings laps (So adorable because he's so huge! And even more so because they love it!) and he'll come and pet Danny's hair. He also holds hands with us now when we pray together at meal time and seems to love that. These break throughs are so great! Like the sun peeking through on a dark and cloudy day. There are still hard moments but I feel like we're through the worst of it. I know it's just one stage and there will be so, so many more issues to be dealt with as we go along. But I'm just so glad God doesn't leave us there.
Anyway. That's enough for this day. My big 3 are out at the creek on a "date" with Daddy. EVERYTHING is more fun when you call it a date. True story. They're out there working. B took his chain saw and weed wacker along and they're going to cut a tree down to make a bridge and clean up the area down there. They are so excited. And Tom Bomb is napping (Hooray!) so off I go to clean. Or knit. Or whatever. We'll see.
Hope you are all doing super. Thanks for reading :)
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