A Hunting we will Go!

Casey had been asking Ryan for the last week when he will be able to go with him hunting. Since it was a nice day today and Ryan had some things he wanted to do down at Bert's land he told Casey they could go hunt in his ground blind for a couple hours. Casey was excited to say the least! We packed books, puzzles, and of course a snack bag. Too bad the first hunting experience ended without even seeing a deer. It was a good father/son day anyway. Ryan said there were a couple factors that could have influenced the deer to stay away. 1. Casey's rattling snack bag, Casey talking, and Casey's cough. Oh well, dinner at McDonalds made up for the fact that they didn't see any deer....at least for Casey. Icing on the cake....a Happy Meal toy that was ultra cool...some weird guy that can shoot out of his arm. Doesn't take much to make him happy yet!

Bedtime

Bedtime is often a struggle with Audrey. Some days she naps and other days she does not. On the days that she does take a nap it is very difficult to get her to sleep. She obviously is not tired enough to just go to sleep so we will let her look at books for a while instead of going to sleep. She reads to her babies and as you can see lines them all up for a good book. I thought this was too cute not to share. She looks ever so sweet now getting ready for bed. But watch out when she hears the dreaded words "BEDTIME"!

Silver Park

Last night Holly and I took the kids out to do a little trick-or-treat fun at Silver Lake. There were so many kids there but the kids had a great time. The evening started off with a costume contest which we didn't enter. Then we were off to do some crafts, a little playground time, refreshments and the trick-or-treat walk around the pond. There were some really cute costumes. I just wish it could be for dress up and not for scary costumes. After the fun at the park we were all hungry and I was ready to just dive into the candy they had just gotten. Only problem is that they didn't get that much candy so they would know if something was missing! So we headed back to our house for soup and grilled cheese. And of course with 7 kids...lots of craziness...but good craziness!

Where does the time go?

So I've been slacking a little in blog posting. Maybe for one of two reasons. I can find a million things that need to be done around the house so blogging has not been high on my priority list. The other reason may be that there has not been that much interesting stuff going on here. Seems like kind of the same routine each week. Casey is nicely settled into preschool. Audrey, Chelsea, and I usually make a couple trips to the Y each week where I get a chance to exercise without being concerned what my kids are getting into. That has been a nice break for me and I think we will enjoy being able to use the Y and get out on cold snowy days. Sometimes even a 1 year old can get cabin fever! On Wednesdays we have been attending story time at the library which has also been a nice time to get out for us. Other than that it seems like we have just been at home trying to make each day new and exciting. Little update on the fam over the last month.

Casey can now write his name and many other letters in the alphabet. He is becoming more interested in trying to do things like that himself. He is doing a great job with his Bible memory verses and can say verses beginning with letters A-I. Preschool is going well and he really enjoys going. I think the interaction with the other kids is good for him too.

Audrey spends hours each day rocking, feeding, and playing with her babies. She is learning some of the same things Casey is. She loves to color and does a very neat job. She is also learning verses and can say them through "I" as well.

Chelsea is growing up into a little toddler now. She has a small vocabulary when she feels like talking. She can say, puppy, mama, banana, and I'm sure others but we haven't quite deciphered them yet. She loves attention and gets a little jealous if I'm holding the other two. Her biggest accomplishment in the last month has been her sleeping. She can now sleep through pretty much every night. She still struggles from time to time but is doing much better.

Hunting season has just begun so that means several things. 1. some long days at home 2. lots of cutting and grinding is right around the corner. (Well, I guess how much cutting depends on how good of a hunter Ryan is this year)

Wash Day is Difficult for Audrey

I thought this picture was just too cute. It says a lot about Audrey and her attachment to her blanket. She has a hard time making it through a couple hours without it. That is why it is so difficult for her when I have to wash it. She can hardly stand it that she can see the blanket hanging on the clothesline but she can't hold it and cuddle with it. So this is the next best thing I guess. She was also very tired today and that made the separation that much worse. When she saw that I had washed it she cried big crocodile tears for 15 minutes or so and then settled for just standing by the clothesline cuddling it and sucking her thumb the best she could.

Labor Day in Indiana

Audrey was like Jake's little mommy at the zoo. She loves it when someone smaller actually listens to her. It's like having a life size doll!

The cute baby tiger at the zoo got lots of attention.

Casey and Caleb are holding pet snakes that Brad found in the yard while mowing. The snakes got rides on the slide and got lots of attention before being released later that night.

Since it seems like it had been quite awhile that we had been out to Indiana we decided to head out over Labor Day. We left Saturday morning and came back Monday afternoon. It always seems like kind of a quick trip when we go just for the weekend but we were able to pack a lot of fun into those couple days. Saturday the kids enjoyed just playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Dad got a "new" bike for Casey which he was thrilled about. After his first ride on it he was already trying to make a deal that he would trade his bike at home for this one that dad got him. He said that it goes a lot better in the grass. They played ball in the yard, held snakes that Caleb and Kadin brought over, and enjoyed running around with Chip, mom and dad's dog. Friday night dad made a campfire and we made smores and then the kids had an "outdoor theater" night. By 8:00 they were pretty much all ready to crash. It's was baths and to bed for all the kiddos! Sunday we had planned to do something outside since it was supposed to be nice. It didn't turn out to be quite as warm as we had thought. We went to a park that has a little beach and the kids played in the water a little bit but turned blue pretty fast. So mostly we just enjoyed the park and a picnic lunch. Saturday night Ryan and I had "date night" and left the kids with mom and dad. We went out to eat and intended to go for a walk on a scenic trail through the woods. Our supper was very good and extremely relaxing. Our walk....not so much good or relaxing! We made it about 100 yards and were both getting eaten alive by mosquitos. They put an end to our walk pretty quickly. Monday was probably the highlight for the kids as we headed to an outdoor Amish run "zoo". They had all kinds of animals. The first thing we saw was a baby tiger. It was the cutest thing! The kids all got to pet it. They also enjoyed feeding the animals, milking a "cow", and riding on a pony cart. After eating a few snacks at the zoo, we headed for home. The trip home was kind of long as Chelsea didn't sleep much and she's kind of hard to entertain for that long. We were happy to be back and were also glad for a nice supper than Ryan's mom had waiting for us when we got back. We all pretty much crashed when we finally made it home and to bed!

Casey's First Day of Preschool

I sent my little boy off to preschool this morning. Getting out the door with all 3 kids by 8:00 was quite a challenge and we will have to keep working on that one. I woke Casey up about 7:30 to eat breakfast and get ready. He was fine and ready to go by 8:00. The other 2 were a different story. I have decided that Audrey is not the kind of kid that can wake up quickly and just jump in the van. When I woke her up she proceeded to fall as dead weight onto the floor. After I finally convinced her to get her pull-up off, she insisted that she needed a bagel to eat in the van. I really didn't have time to make her one so I told her a banana would have to suffice. Oh....let the whining begin! Needless to say she needs some wake up time so I think for Wednesday I will plan to wake her up when Casey gets up. Chelsea happened to wake up before we left as well, and I don't think she was all that fond of the fact that I didn't feed her before we left either. I gave her some cut up bananas in a bowl to eat on the way. About halfway to school bananas were everywhere in her carseat and on the floor....o.k. so maybe that wasn't a great idea either! We got to school and of course couldn't find a parking place because everyone else was dropping off their kids. After making a trip around the school and then finding a parking place, Casey did eventually make it to his classroom about 5 minutes late. So a little tweeking to the morning events and hopefully we can make it on time on Wednesday with a little less fussing. He went right into his classroom and plopped down next to Taelor on the story carpet. I said goodbye and gave him a kiss as he was already engrossed in the story. After I left I took a deep breath and could have shed a few tears but I didn't. The time he was there went quickly. When I picked him up he told me all the things he got to do....play with Lego, play with the trucks, play on the playground, read some books, and get his whole body traced. Sounded like he had a good day and he said he's ready to go back. So although it was kind of a rocky start at home, I think it ended up being a good morning.