Easter

For Easter this year we celebrated on Saturday night at my mom and dad's.  It was another gorgeous day and we were outside most of the time.  I made my first batch of Deviled Eggs and I am proud to say they were a success!  Easter morning we went to church in Laurel and then had a brunch at home.  That afternoon we dyed Easter eggs, watched Mary Poppins Returns, went on a bike ride, and a 4-wheeler ride as a family.  Then we had some BBQ chicken out on the deck and more outside time.  Such a nice weekend...until Monday was rainy and cold!  

Thomas just wants the candy!

Mikey found one!

Cora filled her bucket

Luke found something yummy!

getting some big brother help

Hail, Hail, the gang's all here!

New twinning outfits from grandma

new cups for the kitchen, and bubbles and candy

the kids, boy's new shirts from Grandma Lori

After church Mom's mandatory photo

I went to San Diego!!!

So I went to California (San Diego) for the first time ever for six days and six nights (April 10-16) with six (including myself) college friends.  I cannot even believe that actually happened.  Ashley (the doctor!) got us hooked up with a place to stay and some wheels to drive and got the ball rolling on the whole idea.  Valerie and Kelly and I flew out of Omaha together and met Ashley (from Tennessee), Amy (from Rapid City), and Anna (from New Ulm, MN) there.  We had a fabulous house situated between the Pacific and Mission Bay.  We went whale watching (saw some giant Fin whales), kayaking at La Jolla, sight-seeing at Mt. Soledad and the Sunset Cliffs, to Old Town, and to Coronado Island.  Most of all we enjoyed the ocean and each other's company. And the weather really is as amazing as you think it is!  What a blessing to have these friendships in my life all these years.

watching the sunset

well said

in Old Town

first morning

in Old Town

Mt. Soledad

Coronado Island "gold" sand!

first morning together

at the Pier

selfie time!

Jude...DOUBLE DIGETS!

My baby turned 10!  How can this be!?!  2009-2019...wow!  Well I got back from my San Diego trip on the 16th, so I tried to prepare a little ahead of time and got his presents all ordered and his sign for the door made.  The 18th fell on the Thursday before Easter so they had an early out from school.  We were able to drive to Wayne and pick up Eli Hansen for a sleepover that night.  The boys played nerf guns, trampoline, basketball, destroyed the piñata, ate pizza, watched Ralph Breaks the Internet, and played some Nintendo Switch.  Friday morning they went fishing for a while with not much luck.  That afternoon after dropping Eli off we stopped at the Concord park for a long time.  It was a beautiful day!!!  We have had a lot of those lately.  For his birthday we got him an Avengers Endgame Lego, Gil is going to take him to see that movie tonight, and a Mario shirt and a Cabbage Patch doll (he was the only one who didn't have one yet!).

Jude, you are all the things your birthday door sign says you are!  Most of all you are YOU and we thank God for you.  It has been so fun to see you grow and change and learn these past ten years...maybe not ALL fun, but definitely all JOY!  You are our experimental child (just like dad and I both were in our families), so sorry that we mess up and expect more than we should sometimes.  Thank you for being patient with us..."patience is a virtue!"  Some of my favorite things about you are your love of reading (dad and I have that too!), love for creating, love for humor, and general enthusiasm.  I love that you are a good communicator and have so many interests.  I love that you are playing basketball and baseball.  I like to watch you play and improve.  I am happy you are going to try camp for the first time this summer.  I love that you are doing 4-H.  And I love that you are 10!  I know I feel that these years go by too fast, but they have been good and we have done them, every one, every day, together.  Thankful and grateful and joyful.  

Love you so much biggest boy!

And sorry, not sorry for the overload of pictures.

Birthday morning

presents!

Mario Boys

All 5

birthday streamers

basketball time

cake time...that's a lot of candles!

putting 'em to work

retro Mario

You are good

And then you were 10...

Lukey is 4!!!!!!!

We had another birthday in the house!  This one is always a long time coming because it is soooooo hard for little brother to wait 20 WHOLE days after Mikey's birthday until HIS!  But it finally came.  And after a lot of practice learning that he is three, now he's four!  He already knows it though and is ready to tell all who will listen.  He also has the four fingers down pat.  When you turn four a lot of things change.  Like now you are taller, you know so many more things, maybe you can take down a brother you couldn't before (maybe!?), and you can for sure pour your own milk on your cereal...????

We celebrated this year a day before since his birthday landed on a Monday and Gil is nowhere to be seen on a Monday.  Instead we had Grandma and Grandpa Koester and Grandma and Grandpa Erwin over for some cake and ice cream and presents on Sunday afternoon.  And since the wind came and blew the snow all around and winter decided to start in February we didn't even get to church that morning.  But we were glad we still got to have our party with the Blue Yoshi cake and some Mario Kart and new toys and lots of candy too.

Luke, you are such a special little boy.  You are sweet and sincere and curious and friendly and love playing "combine" and outside and Legos and keeping up with the bigger kids!  Your big dark brown eyes and long lashes get me every time!  You love getting out of bed to get one more drink or ask one more question or to say, "See ya in the morning!"  You love crawling into bed with me at 6am and getting a few snuggles.  You still love your nap most days, but ALWAYS ask if I can lay with you.  Sometimes I do and I always cherish that time.  You love reading books with me.  Dr. Seuss and Berenstain Bears are favorites.  You love Wild Kratts on the iPad and playing endlessly with cars and building forts and doing all the things.  You have a great sniffer and often say. "What smeeellls?"  You live life with happiness and smiles and gusto.  I admire you Lukey!  You add so much to our family.  We love you and are proud of you!

Mikey turned 6!

So kid number 3 turned 6 last week.  How is that possible?  Man I can (too) clearly remember the panicked drive to the hospital that cold February morning.  And then Michael Johnnie was here, just like that!  And now he is Mikey in the middle, what a perfect place for this blond-haired spunky boy.  

For his birthday we had Trix and a few presents at breakfast.  He got a police parachute Lego, a sea turtle stuffed animal, and a puzzle he can draw his own picture on.  That afternoon I worked hard on the Mario Kart cake!  For supper we had pancakes and strawberries and bacon (his choice) and some birthday cake and ice cream.  We also had our septic tank pumped during supper which made it a little less appetizing...but that is another story...stupid septic issues!  After supper Mikey got to open his last gift from us, a new 20" wheeled bike!!!  It has been too cold to ride it, but I know it will be getting many miles put on it this summer!  Mikey also got $20 in a card from Grandma and Grandpa Ridenour, a pull-ball Lego racer from the Herricks, and a toy chainsaw and a t-shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Koester who came over the next night for a visit.  

Mikey has really changed over the past year I think.  He is becoming such a sweet, caring boy.  Some of his "difficult-ness" of his younger days is waning (thank goodness?!?!).  He loves school and telling tales of his day with great earnest.  He gets along well with his friends and is very good with his baby brother, Thomas.  He plays great with Luke and/or Cora and sometimes even Jude...sometimes not...but when all goes well it is wonderful!  Mikey is hesitant to try new things and craves regularity and routine.  New situations still throw him for a loop sometimes, but we are learning that about him which helps everyone (I think he gets this from his mama:)!  He is learning to read and do simple math problems.  He loves listening to books, building and playing with Legos, riding his bike (Cora taught him at the end of the summer!), helping dad with anything outside or farm/animal-related (wearing his new belt and pliers holder!), he is a GREAT eater even though it doesn't show at all on his tall skinny frame, and he of course loves playing iPad and Nintendo, especially Mario Kart!

We love you Mikey in the middle!

What We are Thankful For

At Thanksgiving time we participated in the good old fashioned going around the table and saying what we are thankful for tradition.  The three year old, Luke, didn't quite understand.  Each time (we did it on two occasions) he started rattling off his Christmas list instead.

Me: "What are you thankful for Luke?"

Luke:  "I want a new bike and a blue combine!"

Me:  "No, what do you already have that you like and are thankful for?"

Luke:  "I want an owl costume too!"

Lists of what we want are always on the top of our minds.  More money, a promotion, a new sweater, a vacation, to lose the weight, that awesome new phone, to be more like so and so...We want want want and if and when we get it we just want some more.  Stopping wanting long enough to be thankful for something is not a thing we practice very often.  I have obsessed with wanting that new pair of shoes for months.  But when is the last time I obsessively thought about how grateful I am to have the 20+ pairs already in my closet?

I have always dreaded this routine of saying what we are all thankful for somewhat.  Not that I am not thankful...it's just how do you say it without sounding trite.  We go around the circle and we all begin to realize what really matters: family, friends, health, etc.  It gets repetitive.  And then there are ones that don't get mentioned quite as often: jobs, healthcare, safety nets, homes, food, clean water, heat, etc.  I gets weighty and complicated.  What about ALL of the people without these basic things?  Then there is the list that almost never even gets a thought, ones that are too much to even utter: air to breathe, lungs that can breathe it, the sun that sustains all of life, our miraculous planet, etc.

For me Thanksgiving is such a vital holiday.  I don't often give it the credit it deserves.  It gets overlooked as I have my Christmas list on the tip of my tongue!  My wish list of all the things I want but don't yet have.  Instead, Thanksgiving is a time to realize what we do have, and maybe what we don't actually need.  This year, I want to try to keep my focus on Thanksgiving.  Keep my mind full of my list of gratitudes, not my wants.

Baby No More!

Baby boy turned one year old last week!  What?!?!?  He has turned into a little monster who screams, throws food, plays in the toilet, and tortures everyone (and STILL doesn't sleep through the night!)...but man is he cute!!!  He also laughs, dances, plays, is taking more and more steps each day, and his sibs just adore him to pieces, and mom and dad also!!!

We had a shared birthday party with Ashtyn (10) and Taylor (3) on the day of his birthday.  I made him a bunny shirt (the struggle was REAL on that one!), some bunny cupcakes and smash cake, and a few banners to decorate.  Turns out I like to craft, who knew!?!  We had a lot of fun at the party with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, bubbles, and glow sticks!  Even Brittany and Bryan were able to join us (although I stink and getting pictures of everyone and regret it afterward!).  Also baby Paisley, just 10 days old, was able to be there.  Just two days released from NICU!

Thomas was lucky enough to be born right before Labor Day weekend so we had a nice few days to celebrate afterward as well.  We went boating in Yankton on Saturday with G and G Koester and the Pick fam.  And were able to relax and get some housework done on Sunday and Monday.  

The birthday kids (plus Luke!)

The crazy cousin crew!

the shirt (not quite finished)

The cake table

the cupcakes

Yummy!

that is a happy scream!

the glow sticks

birthday kid banner

on the boat

he didn't really love it...

just sit still and smile!

last sticker of the pack!

look at that twinkle in his eye!