swimming

Carsyn has been taking a red cross swim class for the last 8 weeks. She was amazing! She passed with flying colors and is on to level 3!


look at her form!

the comfy cozy quilt

At the beginning of the JK school year each child drew a picture of their family on a fabric square. Mrs. B then took all the squares and turned them into a beautiful quilt. It circulates through all the families (along with books to read while curled up with the quilt). This past week was Luke's turn. It was a lot of fun- we read "about 1,000 books" (according to Luke).


notice the hummingbird/feeder at the top of L's square...



In a few weeks the quilt will be for sale at our school auction!

my beautiful girl

These are the first images I took with my new slr camera. The setting was on automatic though. I am now brave enough to go manual (thanks SO MUCH jodie!) Tomorrow I might be bold enough to post my first shots....

school stories

When I picked Luke up today he said:
L: Mom, I made a gang today. It's me Briggs and Gracie and that's it.
M: Really?! What's the name of your gang?
L: The JK gang. It's just us three. Well, Evan can be in it too. But that's it.
M: Why do you have a gang?
L: So we can be friends and play. Oh, Jonathon and Christian are in it too. But that's it!!

We have been reading

The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare

(it has to do with Too Tall and his gang). The kids decided that it's better to have a "good" gang than a bad one. Not sure about forming a gang at school. We'll see what Mrs. B thinks...


We were at the RV show the other night. In one of the RV's the tv was showing an episode of The Simpsons. Reagan said, "I love this show! Can we watch it?" I said, "you have never seen this show and you don't need to start now." She commented, "Yes I have seen it. Mrs. Heinemann showed it in 3K class." :) Interesting. She tends to "blame" things on Mrs. Heinemann a lot...

so different

I love that my children are so very different.

C: very serious. a rule follower. does NOT like it when someone strays from the set course and will quickly let them know.

L: goes with the flow. however does not like large crowds or loud noises.

R: blazes her own trail. always has a smile on her face- even in the midst of mischievousness.

While getting a haircut:

C: sits very still. does not speak unless spoken to and then only gives one word answers.

L: does not like being singled out with all attention on him. very shy.

R: dances in her seat to the hip-hop music while talking, chewing gum and smiling.

At bedtime:

C: goes right to bed. waits for one of us to come lay with her. falls asleep directly.

L: gives 1,000 hugs. several sweet kisses. stays in bed but needs his closet light on.

R: climbs the ladder to the top bunk but stops at each rung to do a little dance. gets in bed arranges her animals. asks for "just one more" (very specific one). asks for a drink of water. declares in a loud, rushed voice "i HAVE to go to the bathroom!". climbs downs. goes potty while singing. declares "don't come in here- i don't need help!" then climbs ladder once more (again dancing). needs chapstick. then one more hug and kiss. lays in bed awhile then falls asleep.

cake decorating 101

For the last 4 Tuesday's Sarah and I have been taking a cake decorating class. Since neither of us have had "formal" training we decided to take the basic class (plus you have to take 101 before you can take a fondant class). I have made many cakes in my adult life but I definitely learned things that will make them look WAY better! It was a lot of fun too. Carsyn's birthday is coming up so watch out for a new and improved cake....

week 2:

I made a rainbow cake to go with the rainbow decoration (it was so yummy!)...

week 3:

week 4:


We have had SO MUCH cake lately. This last one is headed to Westminster...

How well do you know your spouse?

I saw this "tag" on facebook and was sure my friends were tired of me filling out these notes so I decided to put it on my blog. Do I really need a questionnaire to see if I know Dale well?! NO but it's sort-of interesting info...

1. He/she is sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? 24- it's the ONLY show he watches

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he/she get on salad? blue cheese

3. What's one food he/she doesn't like? anything "foofy" (his own made up word)

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he/she order? sweet tea

5. Where did he/she go to high school? Arthur Mennonite School

6. What size shoe does he/she wear? 9.5

7. What is her/his favorite type of sandwich? homemade bread, german bologna, thick slice of farmers cheese, thick slice of onion, mayo, mustard- all open face of course!

8. What would he/she eat every day if they could? pizza

9. What is her/his favorite cereal? Lucky Charms (which I NEVER buy!)

10. What would he/she never wear? leather pants

11. What is her/his favorite sports team? he likes college basketball but does not link himself with any team (although we own A LOT of Illini gear)

12. Who did he/she vote for? freedom/justice/America

13. Who is her/his best friend? Amy (awww.. yes, I know.)

14. What is something you do that he/she wishes you wouldn't do? put my "deathly cold feet" on him when we get into bed

15. What is her/his heritage? German

16. You bake her/him a cake for her/his birthday; what kind of cake would it be? jello poke cake (is there any other?)

17. Did he/she play sports in high school? yes- basketball

18. What could he/she spend all day doing? reading, working outside, building something, surfing on the internet, sailing, hiking, running (well, he wishes), playing with his children.

19. What is one "big dream" he/she has? "sell up and sail"

20. What would be an ideal vacation for him/her? Dale would love to go to this extreme rock climbing thing in China with his father and brothers... (I think it's in China)

early birthday

Carsyn's birthday is in 1 month BUT Aunty Andrea and Grandma/Grandpa Swank sent their present early so she could take it to Florida (in 12 days!!) It came in the mail today- who could resist?! She opened it and found a DS!!! She is SO, SO, SO EXCITED!!! She has wanted one for awhile. THANKS Aunty, Uncle, Devan, Karen, Eli, Sam, Grandma and Grandpa!!

my "cake of the week" (M was over today. aren't they SWEET?!!)

they each claimed a clown...

the package...

what?!? is this a purse??

"i know what this is!!"

she can't stop grinning...

daddy helping her out...

crazy

Here is our conversation as I was getting my socks on:

Reagan:
Mom, where are you going?

Mom:
Crazy! :)

Reagan:
Is that far from here?

Mom:
Nope!

Reagan:
Is that right by our house?

Mom:
It's SUPER close!

more v-day treats...

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the box of goodies!!!
Carsyn already made french toast!





We will be cooking again tomorrow...

love you

Happy Valentine's Day to all our cousins: Cori, Jeryl, Devan, Karen, Adam, Alysha, Drew, Trevor, Eli, Sam, Thomas and Mister Micah Vaughn!
We love you,
Carsyn, Luke and Reagan

space treat

We received a Valentine's treat in the mail today. Grandma and Grandpa sent stuff to make bird feeders (pictures will come later), a deck of president cards and astronaut ice cream! The kids are "into" outer space, space ships and astronauts so grandma thought they might like a taste of astronaut life. Before we opened it we talked about what it might be like: Carsyn thought it might look like space rocks, Luke thought it would be like milk, Reagan was just thinking ICE CREAM!!! It was not bad, once the chunk hit the warmth of your mouth it melted and tasted surprisingly like ice cream. I would definitely NOT sit down and eat a whole "bowl" of it BUT if I were in space and had a craving it would fit the bill...

pox

Happy Valentine's Day, or is it Happy Friday the 13th? Here is your gift: a case of the chicken pox! Lovely, I know. Reagan had the flu, Carsyn had the fever thing, and now Luke has the pox (PTL:it is MILD because he DID have the vaccination!).

Seriously! My FL trip is in 15 days. I am praying it will happen...

NOTE: for all you JK moms who read my blog- I apologize if your child gets chicken pox in roughly 14 days....

v-day parties

All 3 kids had a Valentine party at school today. I volunteered in 3K (it's ALWAYS fun). I *love* v-day parties (with the exception of all the processed sugar)!
game time

fun dip girls (C spilled most of hers- hooray!)

making a bracelet

Briggs giving Luke his valentine

Reagan passing out her valentine cards

R making a valentine for me

i DO love my girls

Really, I do. But this morning I had to make that choice- I wasn't feeling it...
Reagan came in my room at 6:43 this morning and asked if she could turn on the light and read books. This happens almost every morning at our house. The kids wake at 6:30ish but are not allowed to get up until 7:00- so they read. I told Reagan that IF Carsyn agreed then they could read. She bounded out of our room, slammed her door (it's a tight fit- house is OLD), and flipped on the light. There was no asking or even CHECKING to see if Carsyn was awake. I heard C start crying. I let it play out for a minute but the crying turned into something worse so I dragged myself out of bed (which I was not wanting to do) and busted into their room. I immediately turned off the light. C said, "mom, she woke me up!" I looked at R (she had a sheepish grin) and reminded her of what I had said. She obviously didn't care- she started scream/crying that she wanted to read. Now we are all about literacy in our house but seriously?!?!!!!! I tried to pick her up the loving mother way but that did not work. So I picked her up the fireman way and tossed her into her bed (on the top bunk). I almost took the ladder down but changed my mind. She continued to SCREAM. I told her in a voice that could only have come from God- "after you are finished screaming I will come and get you." Then C and I walked out of the room. She continued to SCREAM- I'm talking about the kind of high pitched, full-on, someone is cutting my toes off, tantrum scream. OH and she threw in the "I WANT MY DADDY" thing too. It's 6:58 in the MORNING!!! What the hell??? 10 minutes later I called Dale, the screaming stopped and he talked with her. She apologized in the sweetest way- it was like Jekyll and Hyde.

That was just the start.

C has been home with a fever for the last 2 days (can you say cabin fever?) She and Reagan were at it ALL morning (no details..)! At naptime I sat them all down and gave them a warning- NO talking, singing, reading or coming out of our rooms! If you can't sleep- pretend! 30 minutes later as I was drifting off to sleep I hear sobbing from the girls room. Great. Once again I dragged myself out of bed, opened the door and found C sobbing. R was sleeping (THANK YOU LORD) so C came into my room. She finally calmed down and said (still kind of crying), "I couldn't sleep!!! I have to keep wiping my nose!" Then starts sobbing again. I have no "mommy patience" or love at this point so I said, "that's not really something to cry about." NICE, huh?!? I know, not my best moment but I remembered to hug her. I get points for that, right?!? I told her she could sit in my closet and read (seems harsh but we have a reading nook in my gigantic closet!) So that is where we are at right this minute. Not sure if I am going to make it thru the day. Good thing Dale is coming home at 4:00 AND we are eating at church tonight! Maybe being at church will help me (remember I did say hell.....)

happy birthday grandpa beachy

We love you. Hope you had a great day!!!

mh

This afternoon we went to the Magic House. They have a monthly guest artist series that is fun to go to. We saw an African Drummer. He performed a song and a story. He had guests from the audience come up and dance too. Of course we played awhile too- it was fun.





notice Reagan- she didn't go up to the front

62 and sunny

Cabin fever has lifted (as well as R's fever). It was beautiful today- we spent most if the day outside...
playing a little tag....



that's about all the snow we have...