First Class Felt Like... (hmmm, what rhymes with class?)

Last Tuesday (Aug 16) was my first class at etown. According to my directions, it should take roughly 38 minutes to get from our house to this campus in York. But, with all the construction, a broke-down tractor trailer on route 30 that forced the already bottle-necked traffic to merge into one lane, and an accident on 83 that shut down yet another lane, it took me well over an hour and a half to get to class. Instead of being over half an hour early, I ended up being 20 minutes late. Nothing like walking in late to make a good first impression! It stank. But, I kept reminding myself that at least I wasn't the one in the accident - my car and body are still in tact.

My mentor had suggested ordering pizza for class the first night. I was glad that I did (and even more glad that I ordered it to arrive later than the start since the delivery gal came almost immediately after me!). It helped make up for the fact that I was late. Meanwhile, I had no idea where anything was or how to use the equipment, but with a class of only five students, the pizza worked well as we met one another and class started.

Class runs from 6-10 pm. Unlike Millersville, if we are finished covering topics, I am not permitted to allow these students to leave even a minute early. And let me tell you that four hours is a LONG time to discuss anything with anyone - I don't care if it was your wedding plans with your best friend, four hours is simply LONG! I was bored. I tried to make class interesting, but it was a long night. I tried not to think about my kids, especially little Ryan. I had to pump half way through the night, giving the students a longer break in the middle. My minivan was 85 degrees inside and I couldn't open the windows because I needed their tinting to cover me. It was awful. I kept reminding myself how much I love my baby!

Finally, the clock crept to 10 pm. As I was driving home, I hit the cattle shoots (is that what they're called) where the lane narrows and there are two cement walls on either side of you on the highway. Tractor trailers were redirected as the lanes were smaller, and I went through with my knuckles white on my steering wheel. I was exhausted from a long class, no sleep the night before, etc. This was a lousy way to end a rough first day. All around, I was NOT impressed with my experience. Thankfully the material that we're covering IS relatively interesting. It's just not interesting for four hours (again, maybe that's just me!). I came home and told my hubby all about it. It was good to hear his perspective. Ryan did fine taking the bottle (he was just starving because he's obviously eating way more than the 4 oz. that is normal for his age - I got over 5 pumping and they say your body doesn't respond nearly as well to a pump as it does to your baby). He had scratched his own face in an attempt to eat his hand/arm since he was ravenous. But, Shawn faithfully walked him around to keep him happy. And the baby ate well for me the second I got home, which was also a relief to me.

With that said, we talked about how many hours I typically put into preparing for classes. Even with all the hard work, I'm still making more than an average part-time job, doing something that is far more rewarding than waiting tables. And we could use the money. So, even with the long drive and gas prices factored in, it's still not a bad gig - not as good as Millersville but not as bad as flipping burgers. If I would be asked to teach the same course, it becomes even nicer as the prep time is already finished (which they haven't asked yet, but you never know what the future holds). And, hopefully tonight there won't be all that road construction. The material for the second week is also "beefier" so there should be more to discuss. And my students all seemed nice enough and had read the material (at least for the first class!).

I am SO thankful to be at home with my babies during the day on most days. I am glad that Shawn agrees that this is important. And I'm thankful to have some steady income from part-time work. So, I truly shouldn't complain. Here's to hoping that class goes better, traffic is less burdensome, and the boys do well again for Daddy for the rest of the semester. At least after tonight there are only three weeks to go! Then my next class is in Lancaster...

Fun That Is Funny When the Sun's Being Sunny!

On Monday, August 15, we met our friends from Study & Share at Calvary's playground. Once again the only two from the group who could come that morning were Tara (pictured center) and Rebecca (pictured left). Our kids are all approximately the same ages, so it works out to be a really fun time of us catching up and the children playing together on the equipment in this beautiful fenced-in playground.

Tara is expecting their third child (a boy) any day now. She asked to hold Ryan. Then to my surprise she went to let her son hold Ryan, and I said that she MUST hold onto him as well. She told Luke (her little guy) that he'll be able to hold their baby. I'm not keen on anyone under the age of 20 holding our son. Why put him at risk? I don't think she was too offended. Luke is the same age as our Caleb Luke, and their daughter is a few months older than Joshua.

While we were there, I tried to snap a photo of all the kids together when they came over to eat snacks. I took goldfish and the other moms brought cookies to share. Here's the group, minus Ryan who was back with me.

Rebecca's little guy kept getting chased by the older ones. I wasn't sure how it started, and my sons love to chase and be chased, but I noticed that he was the ONLY one being chased. I think her oldest often picks on his little brother, but eventually it didn't look all that nice to me. I took my boys aside and told them that they needed to find a different game to play to give him a break. Joshua said that they were enjoying chase, but I explained that he needs to stand up for the little ones and get his friends to follow him rather than following the crowd. I wasn't sure he understood at that moment, but it gave me an opportunity to talk to him about being a leader (and Caleb, too!). I am SO thankful that my boys are not aggressive or mean. They immediately obeyed and stayed out of trouble, and I know they weren't intentionally trying to intimidate the smallest child. But, I was glad when they started doing other things, including using their imagination to pretend all sorts of adventures.

We had a great morning out all in all. I heard about a truck that backed into the lake at Blue Marsh, and we talked about babies and delivery, and the upcoming Bible study and all sorts of mom things. It was great, and the boys had a blast playing outside with friends. Even Ryan enjoyed his time in the sunshine, I think. I am so blessed to have made these wonderful friends this year.

I'm Tired! Roll Over! So the One Rolled Over...

Today (Monday, August 22) Ryan rolled over for the first time from his belly to his back!

 Great job, little buddy! You are growing SO BIG!

True Story

This morning as we were leaving to head to church, we saw our next door neighbor Paul working on his son's car. He was looking intently at the engine, almost seeming to be searching for something. Caleb in his little innocent voice asked, "Have you lost your marbles?"

Grateful

After I fell, there were several days that every movement felt like torture. Finally, I knew that I NEEDED a shower more than I needed to be without pain. While the hot water was rushing over me, I felt so thankful for the feeling. Is there any better feeling, I wondered, than a nice hot shower when you feel grotesque? It got me thinking about everything I was thankful for that day, which I decided to post on facebook. I wrote:

Things I've appreciated today: the smile of a baby, the laughter of children, the help of my mother, the care of my husband, the clean feeling after a shower, the coolness of A/C on a hot day, the hug of a son, a message from a friend, and the joy in knowing that we are saved by grace and not "perfection." I'm thankful to God for so many blessings in my life that are simply priceless!

Happy 59-months, Joshua Douglas Good!

I posted on facebook a little while ago: "Do you ever feel like someone has hit the fast forward button on life and you'd rather hit the pause instead?" That rings so true for me lately. How is it that my beautiful boy only has one month left of his fourth year of life? He is SO excited to turn the BIG NUMBER 5 (as he says it). I remember turning five; it feels like just yesterday in some ways and yet life is flying by faster and faster.

Joshua will be returning to preschool in the fall, and he is super excited for it. He has been working on things that we've asked him to do to get ready for school, including buttoning his own shirts and being more conscious of not dropping everything to go potty. He's been doing well!

Joshua has also been working on sounding out words and is starting to string them together. I love to see when he's enthusiastic about reading.

Joshua loves to look at the clock to tell time. In fact, he won't go to bed unless it says that it's at least 8 and typically over the summer it's been 9. So, we advanced his clock by an hour to try and get them to go to bed sooner. It hasn't worked, but Joshua caught onto us. He said that his clock was faster than the clocks in the rest of the house and needs to be fixed by Daddy. He's too smart for his own good! ;-)

The thing that I continue to love about Joshua is his gentle spirit. He isn't mean or rough with other kids. While many boys are aggressive, he is patient and kind. He reminds me of his Daddy that way - Shawn is SO strong (he even accidentally broke a guy's ribs when he wrestled in high school) but he would never intentionally hurt anyone. Joshua has a very sweet and sensitive spirit even though he is all boy. Along those same lines, he is such a great big brother! He legitimately cares when Ryan is crying or just playing on the floor. Joshua will go up and try to make him smile and talk to him. He loves the baby! Shawn & I both think it is so sweet.

I also love to hear Joshua sing. And the expressions he comes up with lately are hilarious! We think he is so funny and such a ham.

Finally, Joshua is a huge helper. He cleans up after himself and often after his younger brother at times. He enjoys things being neat and orderly, and he knows where all the toys go. He likes to help the mama and enjoys the praise we give him for helping us. He even gets out his toy vacuum cleaner to vacuum the floors behind us.

There is so much more I could write, but this will suffice for now. I can't believe this is the last month my oldest boy will ever be 4-years-old. When I post again about his growth, he will be 5! Insane. But, I'm SO thankful that he's healthy and growing, so I'll just appreciate each moment we spend together. I love you, Joshua!

Reverse

The other morning in my devotions was the verse Matthew 18:10-11: "See that you don't look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." I've always liked this verse, but once again it had special meaning to me. As I go to work, as they go to school, they have angels who behold the face of the Father. God loves them and will protect them; and He can do a far better job than I can, of course!

I told the boys the verse, and we talked about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego - I asked Joshua what happened in the fire, and he remembered that there was a fourth person - an angel - who came to be with them, which the king had seen when he ordered that the boys be brought out and that all people in Babylon worship their God.

We talked briefly about angels and how God loves us and is always with us, and how He looks out for us so we never need to be scared. Then we completed this craft. I helped them cut out the picture from one of their coloring books (which was about the Bible but didn't have a single angel in it! so we used another picture that there was two of). Then, they traced their hands (I helped Caleb while Joshua did his own). We cut these out and used them as wings. The boys each colored their angel before we glued them onto the paper. Then I suggested we write the verse on the page, and then they signed it.

When I talked about writing the "verse" on, Joshua asked me if we were going backward. What? I asked. He said "reverse." I said "No, silly, I'm talking about a Bible verse." His response? "Well, I'm talking about cars." Yes, indeed. I cracked up. :)

The boys that night in saying their favorite parts of the day mentioned the craft; playing outside in the garage with their bikes, dump truck and cars; and going on a shopping trip for their friend, which we told them was also a toy exploration to give Santa ideas. Joshua loved picking out things that he wanted (and his list is a mile long!). Caleb also found plenty of toys that he liked. Anyway, I'm glad they enjoyed the craft time. I still need to get left-handed scissors for my Bean, but I want to keep working with them both on cutting and pasting. :)

Thank You, God, for providing Your angels for our little ones!

Sundae

On Sunday, August 14, the boys were up extremely early, even though we hadn't gotten home or to bed until really late the night before due to the picnic. With the time the baby nursed, I thought we had just enough time to get to church on time. We ended up being a few minutes late, and I needed to register Ryan as a new family member. This was his first time going to church! He slept in his car seat the entire time, which I was thankful for. There were two workers and more than a half dozen baby - ALL BOYS! But, with two crawlers and a couple fussy babies, I knew Ryan wouldn't get any attention. I told them to page me if he needed anything, but thankfully he slept away while we enjoyed the service. The sermon was about "gluttony."

Caleb was also in a new room this time since he turned three in July. He was a "Crab" (while Joshua is a Sea Turtle). The rest of the day, Caleb told us "I'm a crab!" And I would laugh. How can you not at this sweet little face?

That evening, I got bored. Let's do something, I said to Shawn. He agreed. We got in the car. And we ended up at the McDonald's play land on Manheim Pike (since it had poured that day and parks were out of the question). We got ice cream cones (while Shawn got a hot fudge sundae since he doesn't really like vanilla ice cream) and let the boys have fun on all the play equipment. It was a nice night, and a good day all around.

Oh, these are the people in your neighborhood

This past Saturday was our neighborhood picnic, organized by a woman named Cathy who lives down the street. She always plans the events in the 'hood, which I appreciate. As soon as she told me that she had set the date of August 13, I had marked it on my calendar. But, when the day came, it began to POUR! The heavens had let loose and it was really coming down. I wasn't sure if she was still planning on having it or not, so we decided to wait and see if the rain let up. But, it continued to soak the ground and everything in between. We saw our next-door neighbors get in their minivan and head that direction - but I know they are close friends with the organizers, so I thought they may just get together. We continued to wait. We saw some more folks heading down, and we decided eventually to give it a go.

I cut up watermelon & cantaloupe and added other fruit like grapes & blueberries for a fruit salad to take as our side dish to share. We decided to grill our own meat at home rather than taking it along because, as Shawn put it to me, "we have a lot of kids to be worrying about cooking and what they're doing." It struck me that from two kids to three kids and we are now in the "a lot" number, but it felt so true. We ate our sandwich and headed that way. An hour late, we were one of the last families to arrive.

The kids saw other kids playing out in the rain and eventually warmed up to the idea - they jumped in puddles, splished and splashed out in the driveway as the parents sat in a circle with our outdoor chairs in their two-car garage. They also had a beach tent up in front of the garage for overflow, which was nice. Shawn ended up hanging out there talking to our neighbor Paul and other neighbors Mike & Greg also joined in on the 'guy' section. At the end of the night, we took pictures of some of the people who were hanging out. Here are the guys that were left (many families like the Breeder's and Anderson's had already said farewell, along with Paul and Bernie, etc). IF I'm not mistaken, from left to right as you're looking at the picture it's Shawn, Caleb, Chip (in red), Joe (in front of him with his hands out), Greg and Mike.

We had already taken pictures of some of the women. Here I am with Susan and Shannon (in order of appearance in the photo below), who both live across the street. Shannon's daughter was in Emma's kindergarten class last year and her son Peyton will be in Joshua's grade at school as well.

Susan had her daughter Allison two months before Ryan, and she also had Dr. Conslato do her c-section. Allison weighs 12 lbs 6 oz (if I'm remembering correctly) at four months and Ryan already weighs 13 lbs 9 oz at two months. Here we are below with our babies.

Some of the other women are below. They joked that we were the 30s crowd picture, and they are in the 40s club. Cathy the organizer and host is on the left, Karen our sweet next door neighbor is in the middle, and Betsy is on the right.

The kids had a great time and were so well-behaved the entire night. They had a great time playing in the water. When the bigger kids went across the street to get their bikes, Caleb followed right into the street, but Joshua stayed on the sidewalk even though he was desperate to go along. We caught Caleb and told him he was NOT allowed to play on the road or cross the street without an adult. But, they had fun anyway. They even learned some new expressions and dances from the neighbor kiddos! ;-)

Ryan was also a gem. He didn't fuss while Daddy was walking him around, and eventually I took him back to our house to feed him and came back to the party with him in his PJs. While I was out, Daddy asked me to grab him a couple beers out of the fridge to bring along down. I didn't have enough hands to carry everything, so I put the bottles in the baby carrier with him. People laughed when I came back with the baby looking like this.

When it got dark, the rain had stopped. They brought out their fire pit and let the kids do sparklers and roast marshmallows for s'mores. The kids thought this was great fun! They were soaked through to their underwear, but we had brought old towels for them, so they cozied up in their little chairs with their towels wrapped around them to watch at first and then eventually joined in.

At the end of the night, they started playing ball with their friends and our neighbor Mike joined right in in helping them play, which we thought was nice. I also had a great time catching up with the neighbors and hearing all of their stories. Shawn & I exchanged guy and gal stories when we got home. I joked that it's not gossip if they're telling you their own stories! We also learned the names of more of the neighbors on our street. It was a fun evening and a late night for the boys, who still woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning. :)

I've said this a million times, but it's still true. While our house needed a ton of work when we moved in (and still needs quite a bit with all we've done to it already!), I am glad we live where we do. I truly enjoy our development and the very sweet neighbors who live here.

A TOY STORY

I emailed Shawn at work the other morning. It read:

You have some explaining to do... 

Joshua came bursting into the room saying "You've got a date with destiny!"

So who's Destiny?

Based on his response, I knew he got the joke (since this a line Woody says in Toy Story that Joshua was copying). :) :) :)

The Book Mobile

Does anyone else remember the "book mobile" that used to be on wheels and go through neighborhoods and stop at schools? Anyway, this post is all about books, but no mobiles this time!

Saturday morning, we took the kids to the Manheim Township Public Library. It is so nice inside (maybe not worth all the money we pay in taxes to have such a nice facility - after all, does it really need to be built with all that fancy stone work? But anyway...) We headed straight for the kids section, where the boys started out by playing with some of the toys they have in their like the kitchen sink, etc. We also noticed that there's an entire lego room that could be played with up until 12:30 pm. We didn't go in there because I wanted to look at books for the boys. We found several good ones!

The first one I'll mention is Amelia Bedelia. I loved her when I was little! She's a little housekeeper that mixes up the meanings to words. For example, in this book she gave a surprise shower (with a hose) to a newly engaged woman, she pruned the hedges by adding prunes to the bushes, she iced fish by coating them in chocolate icing, she scaled the fish by weighing them on scales, she "ran over the table cloth with an iron" and left shoe prints... and so many other classic little things that made me smile. The book was a little too old for the boys, but the mama still enjoyed it!

The next book was a book about mommies and how each one has their own style (some drive minivans while others drive motorcycles, some cook big dinners while others order pizza, etc.). But, the book said some mommies have universal traits, like loving their children and wanting them to be who they are, etc. It was a cute book, and the boys would say which one their mommy did on the pages. We enjoyed reading it together.

I got two more "easy reader" books for Joshua, but they were stage 2, which I didn't notice when I grabbed them. One was from the movie Tangled (which I read to them) and the other was a Thomas story.

We also got a "Biscuit" bedtime book, which is also an easy reader. It is highly repetitive with simple words, and we're reading it together at night before bed. The next book we got was a Dr. Seuss book about hands, fingers and thumbs with monkeys that drum diddy drum diddy drum. I think Dr. Seuss books are so clever and catchy! Which reminds me that we rented a Dr. Seuss movie "The Lorax." I've been trying to remember which movie we saw in school for a long time about how we pollute the earth and there won't be any more trees if we keep building and building and building... and this was it! The boys weren't all that interested, or so I thought, but Joshua has talked about it since he saw it, so maybe he was watching more than I thought. We'll borrow it again when they are older.

The last book, though, was our family favorite. Even the librarian said it was a good book. It's "Naughty Little Monkeys" which is about 26 naughty monkeys doing things they shouldn't do - each one doing something with a letter of the alphabet - from flying on Airplanes to jumping on the Bed to eating too much Cake, etc. It all rhymes and the boys laugh and laugh at the naughty little monkeys. Joshua & Caleb tell me the letters and guess the words (although the Bean is good at memorizing books, too, so he's eventually not reading but reciting what he's heard). It's an adorable book and one I would highly recommend. We've read it over and over and over again.

In the picture above, Joshua is showing his book to Ryan and describing the pictures in it. He is such a great big brother! And Caleb is enjoying all the reading and books as well. I'm glad Daddy recommended a trip to the library. :)

Petting Zoo & Fruit Stand Too

On Friday, August 12, Shawn called in sick for the first time in a LONG time. He looked terrible the night before (as I had mentioned previously) and was up all night hacking up a lung. He slept downstairs to try and keep us from waking up all night, and I felt terrible for him... he seemed to be in so much pain as he coughed and he was so worn out. I thought maybe he was trying to keep more upright in the recliner to breathe better, but then I saw that he eventually moved to the couch. And I realized that Ryan was in bed with me. I fell asleep nursing him and slept so hard that I didn't even recognize he was there, which startled me. I put him right to bed after his next feeding.

Anyway, I knew Daddy needed to rest. And, just in case he didn't have the same cold Joshua had experienced, I also didn't necessarily want the boys in his face. So, I called Mamaw to see if she'd like to come with us to the petting zoo. She said sure and met at our house, where we all climbed in the minivan, except for my sick hubby who stayed at home to work on work stuff (sigh) and sleep. Mamaw & the older boys are pictured above in front of the donkey.

Joshua LOVES to feed the ducks. But there was an entire group of elderly folks that pulled in in a bus in front of us and then another group of what looked like daycare kids that came after us. Both groups had their own bread when signs everywhere say "feeder food only" for the safety of the animals. With all those people there, it wasn't nearly as fun as normal. But, the boys still enjoyed it. They let the goats eat the feeder food out of their hands (which is a whole whopping quarter - why people ignore the signs is beyond me!). Then we looked at the other animals that were there - the bunnies, the pig, the deer, the turkey, etc. And eventually we found some ducks who were hungry. :) Many of the animal cages were empty that morning, which I've never seen before. And I've also never seen so many people there at one time. Such is life! It's still a nice place to take kiddos.

On the way there, we stopped at the little Amish lady's fruit stand - but she was already sold out of watermelon (which she sells for $1 each). Bummer! So, I went to the stand down the street a little bit. They had watermelons for $1.50 (although I don't think they were quite as good tasting as the $1 variety) and cantaloupes for .25 (only these were seconds rather than just normal price). We also bought some of their homemade whole wheat bread, which tastes amazing. And I bought a big thing of peaches for around $1 which were seconds. I threw out as many as I kept, but it was enough to make my Grandma's peach pudding recipe in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. That night, we also ate corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes and red-skinned potatoes from that stand (at least the boys & I did) along with grilled chicken. YUM!

After we were done at Hayloft Candles, we stopped at AC Moore. But alas, Ryan was hungry and ready to go home. He also didn't love the STUPID carts there that didn't fit his car seat. I had to turn him around backwards and shove it down in, and he was still in an awkward position. So, we didn't stay more than five minutes or so. The boys each picked out a new easy reader book that Mamaw bought them (thanks so much!). I'll have to go another time to look at crafts to do with the kiddos.

We were going to head to the park from there, but with Ryan waking up, we headed home instead. I fed the boys and got them to their naps in hopes of giving Daddy more time to rest. Thanks for coming along for a morning out, Mamaw!

Best Baby

Shawn looked at me the other night and said, "I hate to even say it, but do you feel like Ryan is the best baby?" I knew what he meant - you hate to brag and then be 'proved' wrong, but Ryan has been AMAZING so far. We had a little bit of a rough start, but for the most part, he has been very easygoing and easy to take care of. He cries when he's hungry or needs a diaper change, but I'm starting to know his cries. He sits nicely when we're out; we've been able to take him out (which is HUGE for me) and he's sleeping decently at night in between feedings. We've had several nights where he's only woken up once to eat. He likes to be walked around so if I'm not home, Daddy can wear him and walk him around and he's content. We've gotten into more of a groove. I can't explain it, but he does seem easier than the other boys. Maybe it's partially us? We've gotten a little more used to what's expected or something? Or maybe it's because he doesn't have the health issues Joshua had (like reflux which would make him feel so much pain that he was fussy, etc). I don't know. Either way, we'll take it! Ryan has been deemed "the best baby" by his parents. Not in comparison to our other boys at this age but just as a baby at this stage, in and of himself. We LOVE him! And our other boys! We are truly blessed. :)

Random Other

If you’re like me, you like to have things organized. When I don’t know what category to put things into, I often call it miscellaneous or ‘random other’ ... which is what this post is full of. In trying to catch up on blogging before school starts, I’ll do a brief recap of our last couple weeks. My goal is to get better at blogging "by the moment" so I don't forget as much of our fun times and the kids' hilarious sayings. We are constantly laughing and I think "I have to put that on the blog" but I get busy and it's too quickly forgotten...

On Wednesday, July 27, Ryan took a bottle from Daddy for the first time because I had a meeting in Etown for my upcoming classes. I worried about my little guy the whole night, but Shawn said he took the bottle just fine. In fact, he ate over 4.5 ounces! I hope I can keep up with our big guy. Anyway, I was glad - please pray that he continues to do well for Shawn as classes start tomorrow night!

On Saturday, August 6, I went out to breakfast with my girl friends from high school/youth group. It was great to catch up and hear what was happening in their lives, particularly my close friend who I used to spend the most time with since she and her twin lived in my development growing up, went to school with me and we went to church together. We had mutual friends and we were together most days. I love her mom as well, and it was good to hear what was happening in their lives. I had been planning on taking Ryan with me, and the girls said they were anxious to meet him, but he hadn't ate well that morning and I feared he might get fussy. Shawn told me to leave him and go have some fun since I haven't been out much since having our little guy. I was so blessed! It was great to see friends, and I watched the clock to get home in plenty of time to feed the baby. It was a nice morning. :)

The following Monday, my Mom did the same thing - she had come over just to watch the older boys while I went to get my hair cut, but she offered to keep Ryan too and I agreed. I love my kids, but it is nice to have an hour here or there to myself. Mom said that Joshua told her that we have a new baby who's name is Ryan Josiah but that Mommy calls him Schnookie. Indeed, I do. So do they now. Shawn told me that there's some show on TV now about New Jersey or something with a girl named something similar. I'm not into pop-culture (who has time these days?) so I had no idea. Obviously, that wasn't where his nickname came from... I'm thinking it was from his pacifier being called a nook and me singing to him about doing it all for the 'nookie' and then calling him 'schnookie' as I would sing it. Anyway, he is my little Schnook. :)

I had another meeting the following night for Study & Share, and I wasn't sure if I would be okay to bring Ryan or not. They seem kid-friendly, but I just didn't know so I left him home. [I came to find out later that they would have been fine with it after all.] When I got home, my Ry-guy was SO hungry and slightly upset that I wished I would have taken him (and I even left early because I could feel that it was time!). My poor baby! I so worry about him when we're not together. But I know Shawn does a GREAT job with all the boys. I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is willing to be my helper even though he works all day and all week long.

When I got home, all the boys seemed excited to see me. My neighbor had stopped to say hello (they are so sweet) and I saw Joshua peeking out the window at me, so I came in and gave them big hugs. The older boys told me that Ryan smiled at them. They love their little brother! And I know he'll love them, too! More stories to come! And some of them even have some pictures! ;-)

Taking Turns

I was trying to get a picture of the boys together, and until I got Caleb next to Joshua, Ryan decided he wanted NOTHING to do with the camera anymore - go figure!

The morning of August 10, I put this as my status on facebook: 
Last night Ryan was up once again at 3 am to eat; I got back to bed by 3:45. Then Caleb came in our room at 4 am wanting 'snuggles.' He went back to bed by 4:30. Ryan woke up again at 5:15 and fell back to sleep by 5:45, about the time that Joshua came out of his room proclaiming "GOOD MORNING!" Yeah, it's a caffeine-and-hopefully-nap kind of day. Thankfully, I love my kids much more than I love my sleep.

I was SO tired that morning, and we were meeting Grandpa Georgia for breakfast. I would have liked more sleep, but again, I know this is only for a season. Since then, Ryan has only woken up once or twice a night and slept well in between and the other boys haven't kept us awake either. I joked about them taking turns to keep us going crazy. But I love each one of them and would give up anything to enjoy time together. :)

Come On Over!

On Thursday, August 4, Cousin Jess [Shawn’s cousin Don’s wife] came over with their son Benjamin (who’s around four months older than Caleb) and their daughter Jordyn (who's about three months older than Ryan). This was the first time I was seeing little Jordyn because I had to cancel our other gatherings due to one of the kids being sick when Jordyn was first born and then me falling and breaking my toe right before getting together. I warned Jess that Joshua was sniffly that week from Bible school, but she said that a little sniffle didn't bother her. I'm glad because he actually seemed to be feeling pretty good by the time Thursday rolled around.

At first we went to the playground but I think our neighbor kid who hangs around intimidated Ben (not on purpose, but just because he lurks around the younger children), so we came home. The kids had fun playing together after lunch, though. And, even though Jess appropriately called us the "mama-razzi," neither one of us thought of cameras that day. I had even gotten mine out and put it on the counter so I wouldn't miss it but then got interested in our conversation and seeing the kids and didn't think of it. So, I took this picture of her kids from her blog. :)

We had more visitors this past Thursday night, August 11. Our friends Chris & Lisa came over with their daughter Isabella for dinner and to play. The kids all have a great time together, and they are one of those rare couples that Shawn gets along really well with the husband and I get along really well with the wife and our kids play well together, etc. It is always a fun time when we see them. I warned them that Shawn now has a cold, and they said that they wouldn't be "snuggling" with Shawn so it should be fine. But, when Shawn came home that night, I could tell that he was worse rather than better. He could barely breathe, his nose was red, he was coughing. I felt bad for him. He looked wiped out. We had fun, but I'm praying they don't get whatever he had! I think he's on the upswing now. I enjoyed our time so much that I didn't get out the camera but just enjoyed visiting with our friends.

Our next visitors came the afternoon of Sunday, August 14. Shawn's Grandma & Grandpa Dziedzic came over to meet Ryan. She had knitted the baby a beautiful yellow blanket and she also had a gift of puzzles for the older boys, which I thought was kind. We had a nice visit with them - she told me about raising her three boys and how she used cloth diapers on them and how times were simpler then, etc. They stayed for about two hours until it was time for me to feed the baby again. I wasn't sure how they would feel about pictures since we don't know them all that well, so I didn't take any while they were here. 

But we have enjoyed our visitors these past couple weeks. :)

Automatic Sprinkler

Ryan is my third boy. I feel that I've gotten pretty good at changing diapers... but Ryan proved me wrong on Tuesday night of this week. I had gotten him undressed, and I had his PJ's next to me on the rocking chair. I noticed that his diaper wasn't very wet as I took it off - right as he started to SPRAY everywhere! I had the clean diaper right there and tried to catch it, but it merely deflected it onto himself and ALL over the changing table. There was a river on the cover of the changing table. Shawn heard me shrieking and came right in (the other boys were already in bed, thankfully!). Not wanting to get yet another clean diaper wet in the lake that was on the changing table, I moved a naked baby into the crib to clean him off.

He was no more than in his crib and I was giving him an extremely quick wash off (since he had urine all over him and it was so late at night) when...HE PEED AGAIN!!!! This time, it hit all of his crib bedding. And again, it was so much that it went right through to the mattress protector. Shawn yelled at me, "COVER THE PICKLE!" I couldn't stop laughing. How had he erupted twice within seconds of each other? So, I moved him back over to the changing table (which Shawn had already stripped down), cleaned him up, got the diaper on, and put his PJs on. I got this blue cover out for the changing pad, and a new crib sheet. Daddy put the wet things all on a pile... that I immediately stepped in. So, next I went to the bathtub to wash my feet. I had lots of laundry to do, thanks to my little Ryan Josiah. The next day, I wore his outfit on him that says 'Automatic Sprinkler.' That about sums it up!

Taste & See that God is Good!

On Sunday, July 31, we dropped Caleb & Joshua off at Forest Hills Mennonite Church to experience Vacation Bible School for the first time (well, Joshua went one night with his friend Kyler right after the baby was born, but this was his first full-week experience!). Uncle Mike was in charge of Caleb's 3-year-old class, Aunt Jen was helping with the crafts, and Joshua's teacher ended up being Bonnie Sharp, owner of the "Sharp Shopper" in Leola (a discount grocery store that we love). Cousin Daniel was also in Joshua's class. Bible school started at 6:15 each night and ended at 8:30. When we dropped the boys off we saw: my friend Tara from Study & Share with her husband bringing their two kiddos in - Luke was in Caleb's class and Elizabeth was in Joshua's; Shawn's cousin Zach & his wife Megan bringing in their two boys - at least one of which was in Joshua's class; my twin friends' cousin Josh bringing in his daughter; a couple from the LCBC city campus who also went to Calvary preschool bringing in their daughters; and of course, the McGowan kiddos.

The theme for VBS this year was "Taste & See that God is Good!" I LOVED it! They sang songs each night and learned motions to them, and Joshua said that this was his favorite part every single night. I was also impressed that they gave us a CD of the songs to bring home at the end of the week, and Joshua knew all the words (okay, MOST of the words) and all the hand motions. My favorite was "Taste and see that God is good, down on the farm!" which said "Taste and see (down on the farm) that God is good (down on the farm); we've got seeds (down on the farm); we've got weeds (down on the farm); plenty to eat (down on the farm)." There was much more (I honestly don't know all the words), but both boys enjoyed it and doing the hand motions. We've played the CD a LOT! And another song that was on it was one I used to help lead when I was on the worship team at Lord's House of Prayer - it said "Ain't no rock gonna cry out in my place, as long as I'm alive, I'll glorify His holy name! You've got to PRAISE His holy name, as long as I'm alive, I'll glorify His holy name - yeah, yeah, yeah!" Well, Joshua yelled at me for singing 'praise' His holy name because he INSISTED that the song said 'MAZE' His holy name. I just laughed. How often do we sing the words to a song and then realize later that we had them mixed up a bit? So cute!

Each night, the kids would come home with crafts that they had done, which my sister had helped with. The first night they planted seeds in a pot (which ours haven't grown at all, but that's okay!) and decorated the pots with foam stickers. I think they were chives and parsley. I'll admit I have no green thumb to help them. The second night, they made these aprons with their names on them. They colored them and then the aprons say "Taste & see that God is good!" The third night, they made these little baskets with snacks in them. The fourth night, I'm going to say that they made place mats and the fifth night necklaces. I could be wrong, but I think that's the correct order. Both boys could recite the verse "taste & see that God is good," too. Their offering money went to a charity that helps poor people grow their own food, and they also took a collection of canned goods in grocery bags to donate to a local food bank during the week.

The boys highly enjoyed themselves (thanks for inviting us, Aunt Jen!). Sunday night Caleb came home and told us it was VERY loud. In fact, Uncle Mike said that Caleb wasn't too sure about all the noise. Joshua, on the other hand, was in his element! Monday night, the boys came home and went to bed after having a busy night. When I was nursing the baby late that night/early morning (can't remember what time, but I'm guessing midnight-ish), I thought I heard Joshua whispering. It sounded like 'Daddy' to me (maybe wishful thinking on my part!). So, I nudged Shawn to go check on him since I had my hands full with little Ryan eating away. Shawn came back and said "he's not whispering, he's sniffling" and went right back to sleep. So, after Ryan was finished, I put him back in his crib in his room and went over to Joshua and asked him what was wrong - why was he crying? I thought maybe he had had a bad dream. He replied "I'm not sad, Mommy, I just can't breathe." I was startled. It was true - he was having an asthma attack!

I told him to come to my room immediately for a breathing treatment. But, just as surprising, he said he didn't want to. He was so tired he just wanted to sleep. I said "NO WAY!" and got him moving into our room while Shawn heard us and got out the nebulizer. Praise God, Joshua's body responded to the breathing treatment the first time round. I can still picture his little face telling me "thank you, I feel SO much better!" Thinking of it makes me shudder - what if I hadn't heard him? Praise God that Ryan was eating and I was coherent enough to hear my little Bean. While he was absolutely fine when he went to bed, he woke up schnarky.

I debated on what to do about VBS - he didn't have a fever, he was just sniffly the next day. He would cough a little, sneeze here and there, but sniffle in the mean time. And his lips were chapped, which seemed to bother him the worst. I called my sister and asked for her input. She said if it were her kid, she'd take him. He didn't have a fever or thick mucus, which are signs of being contagious; he wasn't constantly needing a tissue to be taxing on the teacher; and chances are he had picked it up there anyway. Grandma had come over that next morning and we went to the Pottery Barn outlet and then the Disney store (where she bought them both Mickey Mouse ambulances that were on sale - they are having a fun time playing with them; thanks so much!). She also said that she would send him.

I asked Jen if she would be willing to keep his inhaler with her. He seemed so much better during the day that I thought he may be fine to go. But, I wanted someone there that would be able to give him an immediate boost if he had an attack there. I knew she would keep an eye out when he came through for crafts, and I demonstrated how to use it to her. She agreed. When we arrived, I had his inhaler in a little baggy to take back to her; and his teacher stopped to ask me about it. I explained that he was a little sniffly and had had an asthma attack the night before. She told me that she also struggles with asthma and would "watch him like a hawk." I told her that my sister would have his inhaler since she had SO many kids under her wing. She smiled and replied "we are busy!" I was so thankful that his teacher knew the signs of asthma to watch for.

But I was most impressed when we went back that evening. Mrs. Sharp told me that she kept a close eye on him all night, and while he was sniffly, he was not wheezing at all. Then she told me that she was also a registered nurse. I felt like that was my answer to prayer! Here was a very watchful, concerned woman who knew the signs of asthma and was also an RN! I couldn't have asked for a better teacher - out of all the workers there, she was the one in charge of Joshua's room! I was thrilled. All the teachers were volunteers, of course, and there were lots of volunteers there but God had placed the Bean under her care. And as Shawn had noted the first night, she "ran a tight ship." While the rest of the room was a bit chaotic, she had her children sitting on their colored mat waiting for the night to begin. She also knew each child's name every night. Even that she noticed the inhaler in my hand before I approached her was impressive to me. I was so thankful that she was there!

I also saw a little boy "helper" that was so sweet. When he first arrived, I thought maybe he was a student at VBS. I would have guessed him to be around age 10, but dressed to impress with plaid shorts, a "cool" shirt and a hat on sideways. But, when we arrived, he gave Joshua a big grin and a high five. I thought it was so cute that an older kid would pay attention to the Bean, who soaked it up! Then I saw that he was a student helper, and he would sing the songs and do the motions with the little kids, continuing to smile as he served. I was quite impressed because Joshua thought he was great. I hope my kids are big helpers when they are that age! All said, the week was great. Both boys had a blast! We came home knowing lots more songs & motions. And Shawn & I had some time to ourselves during the week. We went out to eat at an outdoor restaurant twice - once with a gift card from my friend Suz (thanks so much!) and once to a place near his work that had .75 tacos. The food wasn't important - it was being out together. Ryan was a GEM the entire time. He sat and cooed and smiled and didn't fuss at either place.

God is good! Taste & see!

Knock-knock! Who's there? Forgetful Mama...

When we went to my friend Rebecca's house on July 23, I forgot that the boys learned how to tell knock-knock jokes. They laughed and laughed at the silly things they came up with. Noah started it with Joshua. He would say knock-knock, and tell the Bean to ask who was there. Joshua got right into it, too. Of course, his favorite would be to say "Banana" and then "Banana Head" and giggle. Then the process would start with his friend, and they often told each other's joke right back to the first one. But, the laughter cracked me up. You would have thought they were both comedians. Caleb joined right in, but he always says "knock-knock, who's there" and then waits... but he's already asked us who's there. This makes me giggle because we can tell him who's at the door, which is what he prefers. My favorite knock-knock joke is... Oswald...Oswald my bubble gum. Shawn always rolls his eyes because I bring that one out anytime a knock-knock joke is performed. :) :) :) 

 

But, that's not the only thing I've forgotten to post about. I also forgot to write about Emma's birthday party, which was Saturday, July 16. Joshua thinks his cousin Emma is the cat's meow. She's pictured above (right) with Faith next to Joshua in the black dress. Mamaw had knitted both Daniel & Joshua new little vests, which Joshua is modeling for the picture.

Emma & Mamaw share the same birthday, July 19. Emma had already gotten her face painted before getting the picture taken above with her "twin" (I'm thinking maybe this was to be a butterfly, but I'm not sure...).

I had forgotten that Aunt Jen said they'd be playing water games. So, I didn't have the kids' suits along. At first, Joshua was highly upset with me. But, I told him to either play in his clothes or miss out, and he quickly decided that playing in his clothes sounded just fine. They split the kids into two teams, and the idea was to fill up one bucket on the other side first with a sponge and then race back - whoever's team completed the task the fastest was the winner (or at least that's how I think it went - I was busy feeding baby Ryan across the yard). They did silly things in this relay race like run with the wet sponge over their head. The boys LOVED it! I think they had a fun time.

I can tell our boys are getting older because they didn't require a lot of parent supervision. Not that we weren't watching, but Shawn didn't even take a chair assuming he would be running after them the whole night. He ended up sitting in the neighbor's chair (which they offered since they were at the party). The boys played great with all the other kids there and did well throughout the evening.

The other thing that Mama has been doing lately is forgetting to take her camera along to places or taking pictures at home. I simply MUST get better at this. Thankfully Mamaw snapped a few pictures at the party, which is where I got all these from that are on this post (thanks!).

On Wednesday, July 27, I was feeling like doing something. But, my activities have been limited by my inability to walk real well yet. So, I called my sister Jen and invited us over to play in her backyard. That's the nice thing about sisters - I knew she'd tell me if it didn't suit, so I didn't mind asking if they were busy and wanted company. She agreed, and the kids had a blast playing in the back yard. Joshua loves his cousins, and Jen has a nice shaded yard with a nice swing set and slide, etc. I was able to feed Ryan as they played and talk with Jen. When we left, Joshua told me how much fun he had that morning and asked when we can go back to Aunt Jen's and play again. Hopefully we'll schedule another play date soon. :)

Aunt Jen also invited us to their church's Vacation Bible School, which was starting the following Sunday. After talking to Shawn about it, we agreed to let them go. More stories from that week to come!