A poem for Mom

This is the hardest thing that’s been done
To bury a loved one, as daughter, sister, husband or son
The time went to fast; how were we all to know
Her passing was a peaceful as the falling snow
There was so much more to do, more things to be done
More vacations to be had, more hugs, and more fun
We’ve all been so selfish, she gave us so much
She is laughing in heaven, and dancing and such
I am missing my mother, my mentor, my friend
But this is but another beginning, and not just an end
Just as a seed dies, it grows all the more
In our hearts and lives, her spirit will always soar
So yes we will cry, we will laugh, but we’ll never forget
Her life was a gift from God, and it’s still giving yet

Noah versus the Crawl

Noah began crawling this week, and now the game changes. He wrecks his brother's train tracks and gnaws on his sister's toys. Daniel has learned to stiff arm him, and Rachel just raises her voice yelling at him. And he enjoys every minute of their attention. I do have to baby proof a little better now, and make sure I have things picked off the floor too.

Saving the sippy cup for later...

Happy Valentines day with a happy baby in a box with hearts.
Someone is ready for the weather to get warmer.

We have moved Noah out of his infant car seat, because he was just to heavy to carry, in it, and now I need to be sure I have him well covered because before I could just zip him up all bundled up with the cover. But he just looks so cute in the hat.
Kevin's nickname for Noah is Mr. Happy, because he is still so easy going and happy all the time. What a blessing. This week is winter break for the schools, so I have a friend coming and watching the kids a few times this week while I go spend some time at my other job. It is always a refreshing change of pace, but I love my full time job better. We've had a good three day weekend, we find ourselves cleaning and reorganizing whenever both Kevin and I have some extra time at home. Just as an update on my mom, things are looking good for a straight forward treatment of her, but thanks for your continual prayers as she walks this path of recovery.

The Good and the Bad

The good news is that Kevin won an annual award this week for being the best financial analyst on the base. Last week, while Kevin was away, went well until Wednesday night when Rachel woke up with the stomach bug. It eventually went through all of us except for Kevin, who was able to come home Thursday night, and help with the puke and poop.

The good news is that we got folks in the house in NH again, and they love it up there. Kevin went up on Saturday to meet with the couple, and they are set to move in at the end of the month. The bad news on Saturday was that my mom went to the hospital, and now need surgery to take care of cancer and a problem with her liver....

You hear the worship songs in church that says that even when things are good I will praise God, and when things are bad I will praise Him. We seem to be getting a lot of both around here. The kids are doing great, Kevin is doing well, and yet my family is struggling. I don't want to be angry, but we still need to keep it one step at a time. So keep us in your prayers, and I'll keep things posted. But it's ok. The good and bad come along. I am learning that is what life really is about.

In any case, here are some pictures of the kids. I didn't get too many from last week, but they are really enjoying painting. I just wanted to point out the kid's different techniques.

I thought Rachel looked super cute Sunday morning.
Tonight Kevin and I are going on a much needed date, and we have some fun Valentine things planned for this week. I am glad we are learning about the Love of God, because that is what we all need.

Princess and the Pee

Here's Noah with a little reading material as he drinks his bottle.

This past weekend we went down to New Bedford for Kevin's cousin's baby shower. It was a huge shower, and then afterwards we had dinner with Kevin's grandparents.

Here's the party, looks like Noah is having fun.
He loves his cupcakes.

I was thinking about that title for a while and chuckling each time I thought about blogging. Rachel has been doing very well with potty training, and she is the type of person who will yell at the potty to make the stuff come out if it is not coming in her timing. If you didn't catch it she couldn't go to the potty because there wasn't any in her butt. Ah, to be so frank.

So it is Monday, all the kids are asleep, and I have tried to keep things busy this week. So far so good...but it is still Monday. Oh, and yes I am on facebook now, we'll see how that goes.

Not on Vacation anymore....

We came back last Friday and hit the ground running. Noah got his first tooth, Rachel began potty training, and I started a little preschool homeschool with Daniel this week.

Noah is doing well with his first tooth. No major rashes, strange pooping, or exceptional crying. Actually he lately has been sleeping through the night....I almost feel rested in the morning!

As for Rachel, I found her motivation to potty train...the princess dress. She doesn't get to wear her princess dress(s) if she doesn't try sitting on the toilet for me, and so far she has been dry for two days. That was my mom's idea, and it is working very well. I think she likes the feeling of underwear too, and the other two entertain themselves pretty well while I focus on her.

Now on to Daniel, we take a few hours out of the day to work on this preschool homeschooling book called Bright Beginnings. It has laid everything out where we are learning everything from the Bible and manners, to math and science. He is drawing for me, and trying to write out his name. He does loose his attention sometimes, and we just continue on to the next thing. Honestly, I thought it was going to be pretty hard, but I am finding myself really enjoying the times with the kids, and watching them learn things. It is only the first week, but it is a good place to start.

Here we are investigating snow. How cold it it, what color is it, what does it taste like (keep away from the yellow snow), you know all the important things.

Princess Rachel, with her dress on, because she didn't wet her underwear.
Couldn't tell this guy was getting a tooth...
Now I am getting mentally prepared for Kevin to be away next week, and in theory we should hear about this Syracuse program soon....and now onto watching Chugginton on the computer, it's Daniel's new favorite show.

Still on Vacation

Hi out there from Upstate NY. The kids and I flew back here while Kevin is still in FL on work. I think the kids still think he is in Disney World without them, and I have to assure them that he is still in fact working. Here are pictures from the trip so far, and it has been fun. This trip didn't have a long time to plan, so it was strange being in FL again. The kids really enjoyed the characters this time, and we enjoyed the warmer weather.

Here we are waiting for the plane ride. Honestly it is still torture going through the security check points, but all in all, we just take a big breath and try not to get stressed out and keep the kids close.

Noah was happy the entire time. He amazes me because he has gotten the most smiles and attention out of all the kids at this stage. People would go out of their way to say hello to him.
The kids had some pool time in the afternoons. Daniel went down the water slide at least 10 times.
As for the characters, when Rachel saw someone she recognized she ran to them and gave them a big hug. It was the cutest thing. I think Daniel enjoyed the characters just as much, but they were a lot of Rachel's favorites.


My cousin Janelle, her husband Darren, and daughter Hadessa, also came with us this time. It was fun watching all the kids interact and play.

We are recovering from the FL trip in NY, and on Saturday Kevin will meet us halfway between NY and MA to pick us up. Kevin got a chance to meet up with his grandmother while in Florida, so we have covered a lot of ground. We have also eaten out a lot over the last week, so it is time to begin getting back in shape and ready for a few races I signed up for at the end of Feb. I am in one sense happy that January is almost over though, and keeping thing busy has helped me get though the wintertime. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Wednesday Morning

Here's to a mid week blog. It's a new year, I have a new haircut, and Kevin and I have been doing the P90 exercises for the last week or so. It is nice to have a workout partner under the same roof, so far having an accountability is keeping us motivated. I plan on running some races this year, and this is a good way to build up some strength during these cold winter months.

Here are some random pictures from the last week:

Which one is the real baby?

Rachel has been enjoying mothering here three babies. She named them Lila, Jim, and one yet to be named. She puts them to sleep and often carries them around like real babies.
Here are the kids playing in a built up bridge by Daniel. He makes these things often and is enjoying making different train tracks designs lately. I haven't seen two train track set ups alike since Christmas. Maybe that is the engineer coming out in him?

We had a spontaneous "Go Hokies" Day today. Daniel found his VT shirt, so Rachel had to find hers, and then I put Noah in one as well.

The kids have been saying some cute things lately. Yesterday Daniel thanked me for saving his life. What actually happened is that he had the hiccups, and I gave him a spoonful of sugar to help him get rid of it. It worked, and he thought I saved his life. We have been working over the past few nights to get Kevin's application into the AF program that is at Syracuse University, get a new tenant into our home in NH by early next month, and in the back of my mind I am trying to pack for the next two weeks that we will be gone. The kids are all playing in the hallway now, and I should see what they are doing, since it sounds like they are trying to feed Noah something. Have a great rest of your week!