We have an 11 year old in the HOUSE!

Jude turned 11 on Saturday.  And we are in the middle of a pandemic.  I should be writing more about that, but I am trying to keep my head above water most days as this thing just kicked my life into overdrive.  I have figured out that I like a slower-paced life.  And while this social distancing, work-from-home, homeschooling life has slowed things down for some, it has only cranked it up for us it feels like...I now have to manage ALL kids (plus be their teacher...)ALL the time and do ALL the housework (with lots of "help") AND "work" from home.  But that is for another time... Back to Jude!

So his birthday was Saturday.  It ended up being a really beautiful, slightly windy day.  And it was FULL of visiting of all kinds.  The morning started with opening presents as usual.  He got a NASA Saturn V Lego, a new button up shirt, work gloves, a coupon to watch Avatar with mom and dad, and a waffle maker!  So he made us a waffle breakfast and it was delicious.  I got out the chocolate syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles, blueberries, EVERYTHING.  Guess what they wanted?  Regular syrup...kids!  Then WhatsApp with the Herricks and played his saxophone for them.  Then FaceTime with Grandma and Grandpa Ridenour, WhatsApp with the Swindolls, Zoom with some school friends, Facebook Messenger call with Eli, build a little Lego, and lunch.  Whew!  Then in the afternoon he and I drove around to all our local relatives (aka my family!) with cupcakes for a social distance visit outside.  First was Grandma and Grandpa Koester, then Brett and Sammy, then Grandpa and Grandma Erwin, then Hendrixes, then Picks.  Whew!!! Finally we hit up Hy-Vee for our aisles online order and Jackson Express for some pizza. Then it was pizza and root beer float party, feed calves, get ready for bed, watch Apollo 13 (to see his model in action, the 2 bigs enjoyed it and the others got bored...), and bedtime.  BIG DAY!  I think he enjoyed seeing all the important people in his life even though it wasn't quite the same as a normal birthday.  He barely had a minute to build his new Lego so Sunday was devoted to that.  We also finished Lego Masters last Wednesday and it was EPIC.  What a fun show to watch for our whole family.  Tyler and Amy ended up winning with their Griffin model.

Jude also picked up quite a few presents from all of his family along the way of our birthday drive.  And some nice ones and cards in the mail too. Thank you to all who helped make his day special!  Jude, we love you so much.  You are our experimental child so sorry (but your dad and I were too!).  You are 11 and I really just don't know what to do with that information...I'm happy about the young man you are becoming and a little sad as we come closer to the end of your little boy days.  We figured out that you will be a teenager and I will be forty in two years...Yikes!  You have become very responsible and very capable.  You are a big help on the farm and around the house and sometimes even with your younger siblings.  It was such a fun day to ride around with you in the truck!  Right now we really don't know what the future holds, but I'm excited to see what this year has for you.  Last year of elementary school, a lot of lasts with that.  But many more first to come as well!  We love you for your smart, funny, creative, outgoing, honest personality and just for who you are.  

The only one I have from our drive!

FaceTime call with Eli!

Birthday morning...with Christmas wrapping paper!

Yummy waffles!

Lego Saturn V

presents!

That's tall!

sibling shot

Seriously the best waffles!

Toothless 7-year-old wonder! High-five Luke Kirby!

Mikey turned 7 last month...I might as well be resigned to the fact that I cannot be on time with these posts anymore!  Mikey's birthday fell on a Wednesday so we had our traditional morning party with presents (star wars theme with a Lego, shirt, stuffed dragon, flashlight, and book) and then supper at my parent's since mom ended up with them after school and then Awana.  Since February is the month of sick, it is always difficult to plan and actually have parties.  The planned party for the 8th was cancelled due to Thomas coming down with RSV and strep combo.  He was a sick little boy.  And Mikey was also hacking.  We did get a family cake night in that day though.  We had a fun day for him on the 22nd as well.  We took his friends Michael and Drakkan (along with our entire gang!) to Drop Zone trampoline park for the first time.  We jumped, played some arcade games, were devastatingly disappointed at the prize counter, and left with sweaty big kids and the two smallest boys in tears.  That's just how it goes.  Then we hit up Burger King and finally headed home for some Nintendo and attic play time.  It was a good day.

Mikey, you are extremely curious and do not give us a break with your thinking mind, constant questions, and exploring personality.  You have learned to read this year, which when I think about how far you've come from pre-school, just like Luke and still not knowing all of your letters, is so astounding!!!  You have lost I think four teeth now and are starting to look a little like a jack-o-lantern;)  You are very good about helping Dad with chores outside and can be very dependable. You like to know about the cows and heifers and chickens and the status of all the animals.  I hear you are a great student at school and a good friend.  You like to play with Cora or Luke and sometimes Thomas, but usually do best when it's just one other sibling around.  You are a big eater and are getting so tall.  You have a sweet sweet smile and a big silly bone.  You love to laugh!  You enjoy playing Nintendo probably more than any other sibling and are pretty good at it.  We love you so much Mikey and can't wait to see what the seven year old Mikey is capable of (baseball this summer!!!).

Grandma and Luke with the 5-year-old quilt

Mikey's cake time

Thomas sick :(

DropZone little kid area

Luke birthday breakfast

Two-year-old melt down at the claw!

Tay Tay and Lukey

Making Mikey's cake

Swim party

Birthday breakfast

Making cake

presents

Friends and Nintendo

Star Wars cake

Kirby cake

Arcade

Kirby cake time!

What Thomas did while I was making the Kirby cake...

Luke on the climbing wall at DropZone

cake smile!

DropeZone time

Make a wish:)

These two ;)

Swim Smile :)

Burger King

Luke was THRILLED about his birthday this year!  It was a Tuesday where we got to be at home so we again had our birthday breakfast including Fruity Pebbles and presents (you got a dragon canoe Lego, playground ball, stuffed owl, and flashlight).  We had hot dogs and burgers for supper and Kirby cake after that. You and Case enjoy playing Kirby together on Friday afternoons and of course Kirby fits you perfectly!  Then on Saturday we spent the afternoon swimming at the Y in South Sioux with the Pick girls and getting Taco John's after that.  You wanted swimming for your birthday activity and it was a blast (mom couldn't swim because of a mole I had removed a few days before, but I was ok with that!).

Luke, you are a delight of a little boy.  Your twinkling brown eyes and sincere little personality bring us so much joy.  You also love the great outdoors and are so curious about all of the happenings on the farm.  You usually know more about what's going on than I do!  You are doing well at preschool and love going to see your friends and having your afternoons to play at home with Case.  You are learning to write your name and still working on all the letters and numbers.  You still are a great napper and need one pretty often.  You go to cubbies on Wednesday nights.  You like music and have learned to sing "Old Town Road" with great earnest and hard core facial expressions;)  You are still not that into TV or movies (except Wild Kratts), and would way rather farm in the attic, play Lego, play cars, or play anything.  You like riding your bike, exploring in the spiky woods, and keeping up with the big(ger) kids. You still say the cutest things and just love it when I say "don't lay on my pillow" at night and then tickle you to pieces (you and Mikey take turns falling asleep in our bed so you settle down quicker at night).  We love you to the moon Luke and can't wait to see what this year has in store (kindergarten!!!!).

Tommy is Two!!!!

Tommy Boy turned two years old...about 12 days ago!  I'm not gonna lie...this working mom thing is no joke!  I am behind on house work, I was a no-show to Thomas' two year well-check (actually Gil was a no-show as the pick up broke down in a major way and I forgot to call...ooops!), I have a list a mile long on my days off not to mention other fun things like this blog that I feel may NEVER get done.  The big kids are off to school and that is going well...but I really do miss my big babysitters while they are away!  Without them Thomas has turned back into a getting-into-everything-monster!!!  It's like I have to watch him all the time or something 😜 (by the way as I type I am feeding him chips as 11:00 am before lunch because he wants them...he's the baby!)

Anyway, my baby finally turned two!  I have sort of been waiting for this day ever since he was born.  At that time Luke was two and a half and I was so close to being out of baby mode that I could taste it.  I knew these two years would fly by so I tried to soak up all the baby love that I could.  These years did fly by just like I knew they would, but I am really relishing in the fact that I can sleep all night (usually), he can walk, and even talk a little, and is getting much more independent.  Next stop: out of diapers!  I am already planning to set my diaper bag on fire and buy the most gorgeous and expensive purse I want when that day arrives!

Tommy's birthday landed on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.  For some reason Labor Day weekend finds me in the doldrums quite often.  I'm not sure why but that is a low point emotionally for me.  This birthday adds a little happiness to it!  Saturday was a cold rainy day so it was nice to just hang in the house and celebrate the birthday boy.  We had donuts for breakfast, opened his new tricycle, baked a cake, and just hung out and watched some U.S. Open tennis.  Sunday we went to church, packed up, and headed to Weigand.  We boated with grandma and grandpa Koester, the Picks and the Hendrixes.  Then we had a hamburger/hot dog supper and hung out with everyone at our campsite.  We decided to camp out as the sun came out and it was a nice day.  There was a little chance of rain but we got away with just a sprinkle on us!  Monday was another at home getting things done day.  And that was the weekend.

Thomas, I'm still not certain if we are going to stick with Thomas or Tommy two years later!  I go back and forth all the time, so you are both for now!  You are such a go-getter!  I always find myself saying, "wow, no kids has ever done that before!!!" (although admittedly I have realized you might get a little less supervision than the others did...!).  Your bright blue eyes and contagious smile greet me every morning.  And lately your vocabulary is BOOMING so it is so fun to hear what you have to say!  You still love your binky and something to rub your fingers on, preferably my hair or maybe Cora's!  You like to watch your songs, Little Baby Bum ("bum") in the mornings, jump on the tramping, get pushed in the swing, get into every single thing you can get your hands on (which is more and more...you can now open door knobs 😵), and keep up with all your big brothers and sister.  You really do love them and give them hugs in the morning when they go to school and again when they get home on the bus.  You are a great sleeper, a climber, and a jumper.  You are a joy and a delight and we are so thankful that you are part of our crazy cool imperfectly perfect family💕.

Grandma and Grandpa Ridenour came last weekend and brought you an exciting present

Birthday morning!

Happy Camper!

Cake!

You are not a cake fan, but really like the candle and singing part!

Pro

Little Rider

Boat ride

camping

more donuts...🙈

Cora turned 8...a month ago!

So it dawned on me today that I never blogged for Cora's birthday.  I'm only a month behind!  I guess that's what you get when you're born at the very beginning of summer break!  It has been a whirlwind around here.   Something (or two or three or more) fun things are going on every day.  Not to mention all the extra work that comes with summer (i.e. Gil is MIA with all of his farming activities, bottle calves, 200 broilers, mowing, 5 kids running around like maniacs and ALWAYS needing to eat,  plus baseball and/or T-ball nearly every single day...)

Anywhoo, back to Cora Clare who is now an astonishing 8 years old.  The weekend before her birthday we had a shared party with cousin Skyler.  She invited the girls from her class and since Gil was MIA (refer above) my mom brought the boys to help out too.  We skated and had cookie cake and had a unicorn theme, and even though there were some bumps in the road (that place is NOT well organized!) we had a great time!  Then on her actual birthday we had a cake she and I made together (chocolate with chocolate frosting with pink sprinkles...her request and brain child that she DID NOT EVEN EAT ONE SINGLE PIECE OF!) with Papa Lindy who was the only one who could make it that day!  But we had a fun day anyway.

For her birthday Gil and I got her a Chicken Farmer Barbie (how cool is that!?!), a throw back Precious Moments May Iris doll, the Little House on the Prairie first season DVDs, and a new outfit for her O.G. doll including a tiny guitar which she loves:)

Cora, you are an absolute delight.  It is both bitter and sweet to see you growing up.  You are my little girl and each year I see my little girl not being so little anymore.  I think that's why I love buying you clothes and putting your hair in pig tails...so you will want to choose your own clothes (you already do actually) and won't like anything I pick out!  You are such a happy-go-lucky girl.  You love life, you love to read, you love Barbies, you love organizing your room (or anything else!), you love accessorizing and creating and drawing and writing and playing and ALL THE THINGS!  Since I am so late in writing this, right as I type you are in Montana with Grandma and Grandpa Koester for Gretchen's wedding.  I hope you are having fun with your girl cousins and getting a little break from the brothers!  Grandma told me you are being an excellent travel companion as I knew you would be.  I am excited for all you have done in your 7th year and looking forward to the 8th.  This year you will start volleyball and basketball and 4-H.  You will learn cursive and have Mr. Blohm for 3rd grade.  And who knows what else!?!

We love you Cora Clare.  We are so happy you are ours:)

Mother's Day

Ruby, Sawyer, and Paisley were dedicated this day

Rollerama

Uni-girl

skating is hard work!

presents!

beautiful cake you didn't eat...

party time

Love you girlie!

Cora's First Communion

Cora Clare 

Cora had her first communion on April 28, 2019.  She was very very upset prior to this day about having to wear this dress (that Minette, Brittany, Megan, and Marissa all wore) and I wasn't sure how it would go.  But that day she decided to make the best of it (like Cora always does) and she was sweet as can be and oh so proud of herself!  We are proud of her too.  She worked through a workbook with Gil and I and learned all about the Eucharist (thanksgiving!).  We had it at Briar Cliff again like Jude's.  And after she had made chocolate chip cookies that she passed out to our family.  All grandparents came plus the Picks and Alissa and twins.  Thanks Baby Bryn for waiting a little while to be born so Grandma and Grandpa Ridenour could be there!

The kids...

the family

Body of Christ!

MY birthday!

So I was thinking recently that I always post about the kids' birthdays, but never about my own!  I turned 37 a few weeks ago and as I was thinking back on my past birthdays I couldn't remember much about any of them...sad face!  I actually really love birthdays because it is about celebrating a person's life just for the sake of their life!  Not for anything they accomplished or anything they can do or have done.  Just for being them.  So anyway, I am going to try to start recording my birthday and even Gil's birthday (even though he hates his birthday!) and maybe even other important days like Easter that I just did or Mother's Day coming up or most important:  OUR ANNIVERSARY!

So let's go!  Like I said, 37 this year.  I recently commented to some friends that we are almost 40 and I immediately took it back.  WE ARE NOT ALMOST 40!  But the thing is I have been looking forward to 40 ever since I realized that the older I get the more myself I am and the more I don't care so much what other people think.  And I am looking forward to living into that more and more.  Anyhoo, back to my birthday.  It was a crazy week and a crazy weekend.  My birthday fell on a Saturday and Gil had a Briar Cliff event that morning plus probably field work that night and then Cora's first communion (oooh another big event!) was the next day.  Also, my cousin Tori's MS walk was in Sioux City that morning too.  So we decided to do the Briar Cliff service project together and take Jude and Cora along too.  We had to get up extra early, but it was so worth it because we spent about two hours learning about hunger and packing meals for an organization called Mercy Meals.  It was a great thing to do as a family and so good for the kids to learn about hunger and living conditions in other parts of the world.  It ended up being a cold rainy and windy morning so the MS walk actually got cancelled.  Plus no field work...which meant a trip to Target!!!  I did have Gil and Jude and Cora with me, so that put a damper on it (my husband with me in a store makes me nervous!), but I did end up finding a cute pair of jeans plus a new shirt and cardigan.  Then we grabbed some Chick-fil-A on the way home and had the rest of the afternoon to relax at home together.  I think I made Gil watch an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisle with me that night.  I started it the night before when Gil was somewhere...???  Oh yes, the night before he had a mass at Briar Cliff for the president's inauguration and then he took Jude to see Avengers: End Game for his birthday present.  They had a blast.  Anyway I started watching this new show on my free month of Amazon Prime and it is awesome!  By the creator of Gilmore Girls, need I say more?!?!

So that was 37.  Not too shabby!

Oh, I have no pictures.  No one takes a picture of you opening your zero presents or eating your non-existent cake on your 37th birthday:(  However, Gil got me a beautiful plant for the planter, my mom and dad got me some spending cash for the trip to San Diego I just went on, and John and Carolyn got me a Target gift card.  Thanks all!  Oh, and we had root beer floats that night.  Yum!