Due to Life...

Due to life I have slacked in a few areas, like blogging and cleaning my windows.  I want to remember things that the kids are doing, but how do I have time do settle down enough to even write?  Geez life is nuts.  I keep HOPING that it will slow down, but it never does.  With 4 kids to 2 parents, or 4 kids to 1 parent during the day, makes life kinda interesting.  I am however super excited to say that I have not NEEDED to edit one photo this month, what a wonderful break, maybe I'll continue through until Feb when I have my next scheduled photo shoot.  

Time changes things, it even changes my kids - they grow, they learn, they get smarter and smarter, they learn to walk, and talk etc.  It happens before my eyes!  Hannah has been walking for a few months now, and she says close to 20 some words.  She is a little ham at times, she loves making the big kids laugh and she will do anything to make them crack up.  She is also rather daring like Grayson - she likes to climb and jump off things, like the back of the couch or climb on our bed and then dive off.  Thank you God for watching over my children! 
Joshua (he has corrected me a few times on the fact that he likes to be called "Joshua", not "Josh" - okay buddy!) and Saray love Pre-K, they have done incredibly well.  They've only had to miss one day of school this year, and boy did we have tears about that, thank goodness it was a short lived sickness.  The things Saray enjoys: project centers, chapel (once a month), seat work time and her teacher.  Josh enjoys: recess, coloring (never used it), listening to story time and playing with the kids.
 Grayson is a busy 3 & 1/2 year old with TONS of energy.  He has been going to the gymnastic buidling for on Wednesdays from 1-2, he loves it and can do close to 15 flips on the trampoline with the harness without stopping.  He is quite strong; his strength reminds me of Jeremiah's strength.

I am excited to be closing in a year mark with braces, one more year to go!  God truly has done a work in my heart and my smile this past year.  I never dreamed that I would be able to look in the mirror and not criticize myself and myself.  The next 12 months I plan to smile more and grow out my curls, it's time for a change.  Along with that change, I have decided to start to simplify my life.  Life is so incredibly busy as it, might as well cut out stuff that isnt needed.  It's amazing how the stuff we buy ends up owning us and our time.  Enough.  I've started getting rid of alot of our big baby gear and will continue to do so in all areas until I feel at peace.

Here are some pictures of the kids.  I have no idea what I have posted, so if it's a repeat, I apologize. 

Lots of Change has Come our Way

Life is always full of change, sometimes we realize it more than others.  During the months of May, August and Sept we experienced a lot of change.  Grayson turned 3 on May 11th and got glasses Sept 10th, Hannah turned 1 on August 10th and has a handful of words and has started becoming interested in walking, Josh and Saray turned 5 on August 29th and 30th and started Pre-K at Black Hills Christian Academy on Sept 3rd!!!  All of a sudden I was buying school supplies, mentally preparing the kids and myself for school and now I am packing lunches and changing up my morning and even routine to fit school into our lives.  Life is BUSY!  I thought that somewhere along the line that my life would slow down once the kids were in school, but nope, I seem to fly at a much faster speed, maybe it's the knowing that I have x amount of hours of just having 2 kids home, one of them even naps while the big kids are gone.  I thought I would have more time to edit photos for clients and I would have time to work and accomplish a HUGE list of projects that has been building up for over a year now.  I am however, enjoying my time running to the Rec Center with Grayson, or taking them to a special place. 
Josh and Saray are LOVING school, they love the school, their teacher, their classmates (and yes they are in the same class - there are only 2 Pre-K classes, and one is a 4 day class and other is 3 days, which is the one the kids go to).  They go Tues - Thurs from 8 to 3pm.  It's been quite odd to not having them at home every day every single moment but we're adjusting.

Hannah turned 1!  August 10th - Four kids, 5 years and under.

Grayson - 3

Josh - 5

Saray -5

Hannah - 1

Josh and Saray's cars and princess party

Birthday twins and Grayson :)

Happy birthday to my little one year old

Grayson's 3rd birthday - baseball theme of course

Grayson wanted baseball cupcakes

Funny faces for Grayson's birthday/

Josh and Saray on their first day of Pre-K - Sept 3rd

Anyway, so there you have it, that's what's new. 

I Blinked and it's Nearly Over...

I hardly have time to write anymore, but I want to remember the moments that I am living, even if they are small routine moments.

Josh and Saray start Pre-K Sept 3...one month away!  Grayson is in full "I'm three" mode. Hannah turns 1 one week from today!  Josh and Saray turn 5 August 29th and 30th!  How did all this happen?
Our summer is nearly over and we haven't gone camping, but, we did make it to the lake!!  We've been busy working on building/planting/replanting after hail/tending to our garden, building a shed and planting grass and maintaining the yard and the house and all the usual stuff that comes with that....dont forget to add taking care of the kids, hubby, etc!  Thank God we don't own any pets!!  I feel a little behind on the house work and things are starting to pile up and are screaming at me to deal with it, but I will not deal with it (unless it necessary) , not just yet...I'd rather go to a park, geocaching or go on a bike ride/walk or something with the family.

Here's to the month of summer we have left before school starts....Enjoy the rest of the summer!! 

Beach day! 7/20 - Saray 4.5

Beach day! 7/20 - Josh 4.5

Beach day! 7/20 - Hannah (11 months) and Momma

Bike ride/walk

Beach day 7/20

Beach day 7/20 - Grayson 3

Beach day - 7/20 - Hannah 11 months

Just Jer and I went geocaching for my birthday upto community caves in Spearfish Canyon 7/3

Look who turned 31 on 7/2

Community caves

Tradition - carnival - family of 6

Impossible to get the kids to all smile at the same time...4th of July parade

Community cave geocache/hike

Geo-caching

Hey look we're alive!  We've had an incredible BUSY last few months.  I have done 3 photo shoots, we've worked incredibly hard on our garden (which got shredded by pingpong ball/golf ball size hail on June 22) and raising kids and trying to keep up with this house and all the projects that comes with it and Summer time.  But I figured I'd better write and keep a little record of what's been going on here.

It's official, we are hooked to Geo-caching! For Father's Day the kids and I got Jer a GPS and stated that we should try out this awesome form of treasure hunting.  Unfortunately, Jer had to work on Father's Day (just like Mother's Day - he should get over time on these days as well, just saying!) but we on our first "treasure hunt" on his next day off.  Boy, did we have a blast!  We ended up doing three hunts in one day and since then have done a handful more.  We have managed to get my parents/family hooked and a few of our friends that were visiting.  It's a great way to get out and explore our city or our surrounding area.
If you have never tried Geo-caching, you should!!!  You'd probably find yourself totally hooked just like us.  We did pay to be a premium member with geocache.com (only a small fee) just so we have better maps, etc.  But its worth it.  If you have a smartphone, you may be able to get a GPS app or something like it....but don't take my word for it.  Just something to look into.

 Here are some pictures from our "treasure hunts". 

Trying to figure out the GPS...

And we're off!  (our first hunt)

Success!

Hannah (10 months) and Daddy

Hannah and Mommy

Kids had a blast and really enjoyed the opportunities to explore the great outdoors.

Geocaching with my family.

"Arrrrggh!"  We found out treasure!

Spearfish Falls Geo-cache with our out town friends.

Success! 

Stop Growing Up So Fast, Miss Hannah!

I have a seven and half month old little sweetheart...excuse me!!?  How did that happen?!  Just yesterday (at least it seems like it) I had a newborn that liked to eat, sleep, etc.  But now little Miss Hannah is no longer a newborn...we are now closer to the one year mark then we are to the day she was born!
Miss Hannah is growing so quickly and changing constantly.  Just this morning I was sitting on the floor across from Hannah, I was singing "pat-a-cake" and while I was singing little Miss Hannah started clapping and patting her leg all on her own.  I had no idea she could do that!  Also, this morning after her bath I laid her the floor while she was rolled up in her towel, she began to play "peek-a-boo" with Grayson and I.
She sits up great, rolls over mostly from her tummy to her back, and loves to jump in her jumparoo.  She eats like a champ and sleeps very well when she is in her own bed (take her bed and routine away and you have yourself a poor sleeper and a lot of fussing through the night and at nap time.)

She is also an eating machine!  This morning I cut up a large peach and gave it to her with the skin on (easy handling).  She proceeded to eat all but 2 slices of the peach.  She'd manage to eat the peach off the skin and spit the skin out.  How do they do that?!  Especially considering she still doesn't have any teeth.  She also finished off a half of itsy bitsy pita bread pocket with hummus and a large scoop of plain yogurt.  She loves to eat...her little feet just kick and "clap" together all while she in her high chair.  Its such an enjoyment for her and also for us to watch her eat, and to eat just about anything we put in front of her.  She loves yogurt, pita bread, any kind of fruit and any kind of veggie, meats, any kind of dried plain cereal (like rice krispies or cherries or gerber puffs).  She has exceeded my expectations with this "Baby-led Weaning".  My life busy and full of running and to have a little one feeds herself right along with the rest of the family is just awesome and freeing! Another amazing thing I have found with "Baby-led Weaning" is that I am not frustrated with nursing.  With the other kids I found I was ready to throw in the rag with nursing at 7 months and by 8 months I was completely done, mostly cause they just weren't nursing enough or often enough.  I have found feeding Hannah after she nursed has saved our breastfeeding and once again has saved me from many moments of frustration.  Nursing is still supposed to be the #1 source of nutrition for babies until a year old...I heard that all the time with the other kids, but, I had no idea how to put it into practice, until I read "Baby Led Weaning".   Thank God for the help that He brings and the wisdom He gives us for each child...

She had her wellness check up the other day; at 7 months she weighs 14 lbs and is 25 1/2 inches long.  She has almost tripled her birth weight (5lbs 15 oz) in the last 7 months.

Well, now that I have documented all this for my own sake, it's time for me to log off and get back to work.  It's lunch time and I have not started anything just yet...yikes. Better get on it before I have 4 screaming kids.

 

This is Why I Rarely Blog....

Pretty sure life is going to by too fast to keep up with my blog, but I want to keep up with how the kids have grown.  Time flies and they grow right before our eyes.  Stop.growing.so.quickly.

Hannah will be 7 months old on March 10th - not sure how I went from having a newborn to having a infant.

Choo choo train or a fire truck depending on which kid you talk to.

"Baby Led Weaning" has saved my sanity and this kid LOVES IT!

Fort/fire truck/train

Homemade cornstarch finger paint (Finger Paint Recipe - 3 TBSP Sugar, 1/2 cup cornstartch, 2 cups cold water, food coloring (gel food coloring works great), a pinch of detergent (dawn soap works fine). *Mix the 1st two ingredients and then add water (do not add detergent til later). Cook over low heat, stirring constant until well blended and thickened (takes maybe 7 minutes or so?). Remove from heat, add pinch of detergent. Divide the mixture into 5 or 6 portions. Add a different food coloring to each portion. Enjoy!)

Fun was had by all that got involved

Saray loves spelling her name on everything

Grayson Carl

Hannah was awe struck by the finger painting

Ready for Spring/Summer

Joshua and his giggle smile.

Check out my car...

Little Jumping Bean