HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ETHAN!!  (Yes, I'm a little late, but such is the story of my life right now!)  Ethan was 2 years old Tuesday--November 17.  He was 15 days past his due date and a huge baby.  However, we're thrilled to have the cute, little guy in our family.  He's a sweetie and all the kids love to play with him, too.  In the past couple of weeks, he's gone from being a baby to being a little boy--I'm not sure I'm happy about that!  I want my baby to stay a baby a while longer :)  He's learning so many new words.  I didn't think he was going to talk until he was 8 (like Einstein!), but I was wrong.  Just this morning, he came into my room and then walked away and said, "See ya!!"  (It sounded more like, 'ee-ya', but you get the idea.)  It was so cute.  Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from yesterday.  He loves LOVES cars ('ars'), so I attempted to make a car cake.  It's far from perfect, but he looked at it and said 'ar'--it passed :)





We put candles in his muffin for breakfast


I told him to smile :)

Ok, today I start what I hope will be the first day of review.  I'm still pregnant (14 weeks!), nauseated, and exhausted, but I want to catch up a bit.  A lot has happened in the last couple of months.  So, I begin with our trip to Kalamazoo, MI which took place September 18-19.  We took the kids to the AirZoo and camped overnight at a park.  The AirZoo didn't end up being as exciting as their webpage promoted it to be, but it was free!!  We had a good time and even went putt-putting later that night.  We also camped for the 2nd time--it was a nice night.   We left the top off the tent so we could see the stars.  However, it was FREEZING in the morning (we went to Mc Donald's and got hot chocolate!).  We were also about 100 yards from a railroad track.  Yes, a train came by at about 5:30am and blew it's horn no less than 1 zillion times in the next 20 minutes or so.  We could hear it all the way down the track.  For time's sake in getting caught up, I'm going to use the slide show thing again.  As soon as I'm caught up, I'll try to go back to just pictures--they're easier to look at.  Anyway, enjoy Kalamazoo!

KALAMAZOO TRIP

Well, I just typed in 3 or 4 paragraphs explaining how things were going.  Then, Firefox shutdown and I lost it.  I'll update soon.  I'm feeling a tad bit better, still tired and nauseated, but better.  Be back real soon.  I even had pictures ready to go.  I don't like when that happens :(

Wow, it has been awhile since I've been here.  It's been a busy month.  We went camping the last weekend of August, had the Koskis over the next weekend, had a teen activity the following Friday, and then went camping again the next weekend.  I do have a bunch of pictures that need to make their way onto this blog somehow, but right now I'm fighting nausea and exhaustion.  I'll try my best to get them on as soon as I can.  This was just a quick note so no one thought I was dead (not that anyone would because I see most of my readers at church 3 times a week!!!!!!!!).  Our lives really aren't all that exciting :)


Here's the cutie boy!  More to come soon :)

This past weekend we had the 3 "little" Koski kids (!!) come and stay with us while their parents took Jacob and Bethany to college.  Our boys enjoyed having yet another boy to play/wrestle/argue with--oh, and, Mr. Weadock did finally assign a job to Nathaniel!!  The girls loved having 2 older sisters for a few days.  They were sad to see them leave.  Sunday night, they were already planning a time for them to come over again.  Sarah and Rachel loved playing with the new dolls and having Abby and Sarah do their hair :)  Thanks Abby and Sarah for being good big sisters!!  We had a good time even though we didn't do anything super spectacular.  We played at the school park, painted a wooden ship and put it together (we made it a contest), played on the Wii, made s'mores, and survived the weekend :)

Here's a slide show of the weekend.  Enjoy!!
Weekend with the Koski Kids

Happy Birthday, Goober!!  Andrew is 8 years old today :) 

Andrew was born at 1:00pm at UM.  He was my first (but, sadly, not only) baby to cause back labor--ugh!!!  However, he was worth it :)  He was also my first (but, again, sadly, not only) baby to sleep through the night from day one!  He slept good, long nights every night except maybe 2 or 3 when he was several months old.  He was a great baby.  When he was old enough to walk, he would even walk into his room and put himself to bed :)  He still likes to sleep and waking him up is almost impossible sometimes!!!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!!  Here are a few pictures of the little goober (our cute, affectionate name for him!!)

Asleep on the changing table!
A bit blurry, but that's Andrew and Peter

Peter is 10 years old today.  We didn't have a digital camera when he was a baby, I don't think.  If I can find some baby pictures, I'll post them later.  But, until then, ...

Peter is 2 and 3 in all of these pictures.

Ok, here are the tennis pictures that I promised.  My parents came down last week to play with the kids (and I played some, too!).   You'll probably notice that Peter is in very few of the pictures because he preferred climbing the tree :)


My mom and Ethan

My dad and the girls

Daniel--aka Smiley

Sarah trying to hit the ball

Rachel--notice the "tennis" shoes.  At least they're not flip-flops!!

Daniel trying to serve

Rachel

I think that's the neatest picture!  One of the boys took it :)

My  mom and Rachel--and Ethan (her shadow for the day)

It's tennis, Daniel, not football!

My dad!

Cute, little Ethan--he's reaching for the camera!

Here's one picture of me to prove that I did play!

Nathan serving

Peter posed at the end so I would at least have one picture of him :)

Time to go!  By the way, the building in the background is/was Clinton Elementary School--the school I went to until the 4th grade.  Aww, the memories... :)

Here's the picture of grass I promised, too!  Actually, it is grass, but not from our house.  We went swimming last Friday at the W.'s and this is grass from their yard.  I thought it was a cool picture.  It's the picture on my computer desktop right now :)

Here are a couple of pictures of the 3 youngest sleeping.  They're so cute when they're asleep...and quiet!!  Sarah and Rachel usually sleep in their bed (novel concept, I know), but for some reason, they were scared and wanted to sleep in the doorway--go figure.  Tom put them in bed later so they wouldn't roll over and get their hair stuck in the fan--OUCH!!  Rachel fell asleep during her naptime (again, novel concept, I know).  I'm not sure why they enjoy sleeping on the hard floor, but at least she was asleep.  Then, of course, there's sweet, cute Ethan

Nothing terribly exciting has been going on.  We're just sitting around, watching the grass grow!  Actually, we have been doing a lot of that lately :)  We planted grass seed in the front yard and part of the back.  We still have  a lot of bare spots, but it's exciting to see some of them start to fill in.  Maybe I'll take a picture of the grass sometime :)

I do have some tennis pictures ready to go, but I need to go get dinner ready and stop spending time on the computer.  Maybe early next week, they will appear--with the much-anticipated grass pictures!!!!!!!

Since Tom has no, none, nada vacation days, we've decided to try to do a few day trips.  (He doesn't work on Fridays.)  So, last Friday, we headed up and over to Indian Springs Metropark.  We had a great time and the weather couldn't have been better!!!  I took over 200 pictures of the kids   I won't bore you or take the next 25 hours posting all those!!  Here are several of them.

boys spitting cherry pits

Andrew decided to be goofy in all the pictures






He's a real kid--picking off the frosting first!!


I love this face :)












Peter had just fallen off a spinning chair thing and landed on his face!!

















These 'green' pictures were all taken under the pond--it was super cool!!
Here Daniel is telling Rachel to smile!

She kinda did and then the rest of the kids didn't :(

Andrew again!

Better, but now we have Peter goon!!

Tom likes this one

I like this one!



This is the pond we were just under :)


It was so pretty there!


Well, that was our day in a (large) nutshell!!  We really did have a lot of fun for $4 :)

Any suggestions for our next trip?!?!

OK, OK, here are the pictures from the Field Day.  I really didn't forget about them, I just kinda ignored them!!  Since some anonymous reader has requested them, here they are.  I'm putting them in slide show format to save me a little time. 

Next up (probably):  pictures from either our 3rd of July 'celebration' or pictures from our future vacation.

Field Day 2009

Here are a few pictures of the three boys named above!  I need to take some of Andrew--he seems to avoid the camera (like his mom!!).
 
Nathan and Daniel successfully took their first high school math test last week.  They are starting some high school classes this year (I'm really not THAT old--Tom is.)  Here they are working hard on their Prime Factoring Final Test!

Nathan prefers working at the table

Daniel prefers the floor!



Ethan was trying to play with Nathan while Nathan read a book!!






That's it for now--time to clean and make dinner

Just some more pictures of our humdrum life!!

Ethan, Rachel, and Sarah--watch how Rachel's face (attitude) changes in the next 3 pictures!



Now, we're back to our normal, smiley self :)

The girls decided to kiss Ethan.  He loves it

Ethan was so cute one afternoon, just playing with his truck all by himself!


He even made the tongue-sticking-out car noise!

Nathan and Daniel listening to a math lesson--they're thrilled!!

Here is our resident copy cat!!  Ethan loves Daddy's tools.  He was doing what he saw Dad do--cut trim.  (For all of you who are wondering, the saw is unplugged, the safety latch is on, there is a guard on the blade, and I was there the whole time.  We are very careful with tools!!)  Ethan is muddy because DAD (ie not Mom) let the kids play in a mud pit.  They were practically swimming in it.  It was awful!!!






What a super cute little guy!!  I hope he grows up to be just like his Daddy :)

Nathan and Daniel playing soccer (after their mud bath!)

Nathan on his bike

Peter on his bike


Next up: sprinkler pictures.
Sometime before next May:  Friday School Field Day pictures

Last Thursday, June 11, I took the kids to the zoo!  Yes, I went alone with 7 kids.  I was feeling fine, in my right mind and everything :)  We went to the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, MI.  It was  a perfect size for us.  It was small, yes, and they didn't have every animal imaginable, but it was a lot of fun.  The kids enjoyed themselves, there were very few people there, and I didn't have to keep counting heads!!  Ethan was even super good :)  Well, here's the beginning of the story.  I had checked the weather report all week and no rain was predicted for Thursday.  So, I chose that day to go.  I know, pretty smart, right?!  Well, we woke up Thursday morning and it was cloudy and cold.  Hmm.  I checked the weather again and there was an 80% chance of rain in AA and 40% in Lansing.  Ugh!  I talked to Tom and he said,  "Pray and go."  Ok, we'll try it.  I wasn't thrilled with the idea of driving an hour and getting soaked, but we had seen the Lord stop the rain for us on a previous vacation (neat story for another time).  So, we loaded up (in the rain) and started driving.  We prayed in the van--each kid prayed and then I prayed.  As we were driving, the rain got harder and harder.  At one point, I couldn't even see the road.  When we turned west, it seemed to clear up a bit, but the rain continued and even got harder as we got nearer the zoo.  However, when we got to the zoo, not a drop of rain!!!  We didn't get a single drop of rain until we were headed out of the zoo :)  It rained most of the way home, too.  What a neat thing for the kids (and me) to see!  Daniel said on the way home, "It'll be easier to believe next time, too."  That's exciting to hear coming from your son's mouth :)  When we got home and talked to Tom about it, he had some more news to tell us.  He said that it had rained all day in AA.  And, he said that he checked the weather later for Lansing (around 2pm--when we were there) and there was a 70% chance of rain!  He looked at the radar pictures, too, and noticed that the rain was all around Lansing, but not in Lansing like it was supposed to be :)  It might not seem like a huge deal, but it was to us.  It was very exciting to see the Lord answer prayer so specifically.

I have a zillion pictures from the zoo, but I don't want to bore people with all of them.  Here are a choice 'few'

Looking at the monkeys

Ostrich

Hanging over the fence

Cute Sarah

Birds--we went into the bird house!  The birds were flying around everywhere!!

Mom and Ethan by the llama

Ethan showing Nathan what the camels do!  They spit :)

Camel

Sarah lion

Ethan trespassing!

This peacock was so beautiful!  He was trying to impress his lady friend (the white one) :)

Rachel lion

Rachel looking at the mountain goats (maybe?  I can't remember the technical, zoo name)

Sarah petting a goat

Rachel petting a goat

Ethan loved the goats!  He was laughing and walking right up to them.  It was so funny :)

Ethan petting a goat  (The older boys wanted nothing to do with the goats!)

Starfish--by Nathan

Kookaburra  (We're reading a book series right now that takes place in Australia and talks about these birds.  It was really neat to see one!)

I HATE snakes

Nathan- and Sarah- roo

Daniel- and Rachel- roo

Peter- and Andrew- roo

Mom- and Ethan- roo

Mom- and Rachel- roo 

The kids loved climbing on these giraffes.  We spent so much time here--it was the last thing before we left.

This was a neat exhibit, too, because we had just studied about crabs and sea anemone.  We got to see a lot of both--super cool :)

Underwater--by Nathan

Time to leave--bye Ethan!


I hope the pictures aren't too overwhelming.  I took 181 pictures that day :)  We had a really good time, but we were tired when we got home.  Ethan stayed awake the whole drive there, the whole time at the park (4 hours), and all the way home, minus about 10-15 minutes!!  Everyone slept well that night.

I still have pictures from Friday School Field Day coming.  Be patient!!

Here are some pictures of the kids playing outside from about 2 weeks ago.  Daniel loves to climb trees--so the other boys (and one girl!) had to prove that they could, too!

Peter in the tree

Andrew in the tree

Andrew jumping out of the tree

Daniel in the tree

Daniel hanging in the tree

Daniel still hanging in the tree

Daniel jumping out of the tree

Rachel trying to climb a different tree

Rachel--almost there

Rachel--what a cute, little girl!!

Nathan sitting on the bench--he doesn't care to climb trees

Sarah, our resident book worm!

Rachel and Ethan

Ethan blowing bubbles (after having his mid-morning snack of mud!)

Andrew and Ethan blowing bubbles

Nathan and Ethan blowing bubbles

The next day, Nathan and Sarah blowing bubbles (a very rare moment captured on camera!!)

Lots of helpers with Tom's haircut!!  Rachel and Daddy

Rachel :)

Sarah and Daddy

Sarah

Even Ethan wanted a turn--look at that face :)

Such a big helper :)


Ok, that's it for now.  The next one should have the field day pictures.  I need to make good use of this rainy day and get some sewing done.

I have lots of pictures from Friday School Field Day and some other assorted, miscellaneous pictures to put on here.  BUT, it's midnight and I have a baby shower to help put on tomorrow (or, rather, in a few hours).  So, I'll try to have them on here later today or Monday!  Thank you for your patience, SK!!

We had a nice day yesterday--the weather was beautiful!!  We didn't do anything special, but it was wonderful to be outside most of the day.  We did a bit of yard work and took the girls and Ethan to the park.  The older boys stayed home and made a mess in the backyard.  They were trying to build a fort out of old wood and mud (father-approved, mother-disapproved!)  Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from the park.  The kids had a great time!!

























Then, it was time for baths and lunch and a NAP!!!

So, we've had chicken pox this week!!  I'm so happy--we wanted Rachel and Ethan to get them before they got too old.  They were exposed 2 weeks ago and Ethan started popping out on Tuesday.  Rachel started Wednesday afternoon.  I'm also glad they didn't get them from each other as the second child in the family is likely to have them worse than the first.  Anyway, Ethan has pox just about everywhere imaginable, but he's not covered in them.  He has them on his head, ears, eyes, mouth, belly, back, arms, legs, diaper area, and bottom of his feet.  He's doing great--he's not fussing, crying, or scratching!!  I really expected to be sharing my bed with him this past week, but NO!!  He's been sleeping like a log :)  Maybe we should have chicken pox all the time Rachel has a handful of pox on her belly and back, a couple on her arms and head and 2 on her lips (!).  She's itchy, but she's fine as long as she's not thinking about it!!  I think the kids are just about done getting knew ones;  hence, their contagious period is just about over!!  Rachel looks fine--no one would ever know she has them unless they look super close (however, I guess that could change if she decides to sprout some more pox tonight!).  Ethan, though, looks a little worse!!  His face took a beating :{  Here are a couple of pictures of him.  I'll try to take some more tonight.

He's trying on Rachel's garage sale sunglasses!

He's not crying from the pox--he's upset that his sunglasses have been taken!


Last night, Tom went to the teen activity with the 3 oldest boys (Nathan is now officially involved with the youth group!).  I had the challenge, uh, er,...opportunity to stay home with the 4 youngest.  We had a good time except that Ethan was incredibly crabby--he missed his afternoon nap and let us know about it   We had dinner, watched a video, and went to Wendy's for Frostys!!  We got home, read some new library books, and then, I fed Ethan.  While I was doing that, Andrew, Sarah, and Rachel said they were going to take a nap (it was 9:30pm!!).  I was thinking, "Whatever!"  But, they got their pillows and blankets and laid down.  The girls were silly for a few minutes, but by 10pm, all three were out cold!!  AND, Ethan was sound asleep, too!!  I thought, "OK, now what?  I'll put Ethan to bed, let the other 3 sleep and enjoy the peace and quiet until the other boys get home."  The activity went from 6:30-9:30.  Guess what time they got home?!?!  11:10--go figure!!  Anyway, here are a couple pictures of the sleeping beauties (and the beast--Andrew probably doesn't want to be called a beauty!!).



Isn't he so cute??  A good picture to bring up at graduation time :)

These first pictures are from earlier in April when we had snow (ugh!).  The boys went outside and got some of the awful, cold white stuff for the girls and Ethan.  They had a good time eating it in the family room!






Now, here are some more pictures from Easter--I know they are a month late :-P

Andrew

Daniel

Nathan

Peter

Rachel

Sarah


Sweet Tom!!

Now, for all you Ethan fans...here are a bunch of pictures of the cutie :)







Two more pictures to end things for now--I need to get dinner ready!!  Grandma and Grandpa Weadock came to visit at the end of April and brought these sweatshirts for the girls.  They brought neat shirts for the boys, too.  I'll take a picture later (when they all have them on together--all 5 of them!).

We now have a teenager in the house!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh no :)  Our teenager was born May 2, 1996 at 4:15pm after 13 long, awful hours of labor.  He weighed 8 lbs, 13 ozs and was 21 1/2 inches long.  Today, he's much heavier and much taller (he should easily pass me this year).  Here are some random pictures of him.  No, they are not in order.  No, I don't have one from each year.  I'm still in the process of organizing all my pictures.  We didn't even have a digital camera when this guy was born.  So, since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 11 thousand of them :)

Here he is in Dec 2001 (5 1/2).

Here he is in January 2002.

Here he is in March 2002 (almost 6).

I'm guessing on the date here (I have it written down somewhere, but I'm too lazy to go look for it!).  I think he's about 2 1/2 here (Ethan wears that same outfit now and it fits pretty well--it looks a bit small on him.)  He's directing songs, by the way :)

This is in our old apartment--he's probably almost 1 1/2.


He fell asleep in the van and Tom put him on the clean laundry basket!!  He's 1 1/2.

AWW!!  This is Christmas 1997 (1 1/2)

Trying to copy little brother!  Again, he's 1 1/2 here.

Here he's 2 1/2.

This is in our backyard.  He's about 2 1/2 here.  Love those cheeks :)

Happy 13th Birthday, NATHAN!!!!!  We love you