Kids

Catch up again!

Duncan is still enjoying school. He also enjoys me coming to school on Thursday mornings to help. I really enjoy that too!
The "babies" who aren't babies anymore, turned 3 in November. We celebrated with the family with cake and gifts. They keep us on our toes still, being very ornery. They continue to learn daily, and Duncan loves to help them learn.
Christmas was fun this year. All of the kids really enjoyed all of their gifts. As always, everyone stayed at our house on Christmas Eve. We got up and had breakfast and then went to Mass. Santa came while we were at church. Everyone was excited to get home and open gifts. Lots of fun all day long.
The kids stayed with Grandma on New Year's Eve. They really enjoy that. Tracy and I went out to dinner with Abby and Rodney and then came home and went to bed. exciting lives we lead. It is always nice to go to bed knowing you don't have to worry about what time the kids are going to get up!
Ethan and Owen went to the eye surgeon for a consult in January. Ethan's prescription changed, hoping this will help and he won't have to have surgery. Owen's stayed the same and she is just going to watch him. Ethan goes back in February for a check up.
Elliott had his tonsils and adenoids out today (1-17-14). He did really well. He was a big boy and walked back to the OR with the nurse. He didn't cry at all. When he woke up in recovery he was up. The nurse said he cuddled with her, but would not go to sleep or even close his eyes to rest. He did take a nap when we got home. He seems to be doing well. We will stay on top the pain and all will be well.
Before Elliott went to take his nap, he had my keys to the suburban.... He decided it would be cool to flush them down the toilet! Oh my. So Tracy lifted the stool up, hoping they got caught and did not go down. No such luck. Guess I better get another key made soon. I am always loosing mine. Now with only 1 I will have to keep track of it.
Today is Tracy and my 10th Anniversary. We spend it at the hospital with Elliott. I went and got steak from Big Steer for dinner for us after the kids went to bed. It was a nice dinner at home.

September 2013, kids pictures

Elliott, Olivia

Ethan,Owen

Owen

Elliott

Ethan

Olivia

Duncan, Olivia, Elliott, Owen, and Ethan

 

Owen

Duncan

 

Duncan's first day of kindergarten

The time has come for Duncan to be a really big boy and go to school. He did well the first day, I only cried when he got on the bus! I took him to the bus stop by myself so I could take pictures. He was crazy as always trying to get pictures of him. He had a good first day but of course can't remember what he did! Oh well.
The other kids are adjusting well with him gone as we are in the second week. We walk him to the bus stop every morning and see him off then come home and play until lunch. Duncan does not want us to walk him to the bus, but we do, I like doing that until it gets cold! We stopped on our way home from the park one day last week to go to recess with him. He did give me a hug and kiss, but that was about it. The kids were glad to see him. He told his Dad when he got home he did not like it that we came to school to play at recess! Guess we won't do that for awhile! He must like his time away from all of us, which is good. Would rather have him like it than to cry every day! I am going to volunteer on Thursday mornings, so we will see how that goes!

Iowa State Fair 2013

The kids and I went to the fair on opening day. We made it by 8:30am, I was really amazed we made it. Tracy dropped us off at the campground so we would be there for the twins, triplets and more contest at 9. The kids got 5th place in the least look a like contest. Who knows how many more years we will do it. I guess if they don't want to, we won't! The rest of the morning we just wondered around and looked at some stuff. We rode the bus back to the school early afternoon because they were ready to come home.  We went a few other times too, we saw all the kid stuff, animals, little hands on the farm, there was a Lego display this year they really liked. We also went to the stop, drop and roll both, animal leaning center and down the giant slide. The boys loved the slide and wanted to go again, but I said no! $20 for the slide in one day was more than enough. I paid for the big kids to take the little kids so I could get pictures. Olivia did not want to go, so she sat on the bench with Grandma. We were at the fair on park and recreation day too. The kids played soccer, basketball, bowling, and the big wheel race. Duncan was in the pie eating contest too. They had lots of fun, but everyone was ready to come home by noon. Grandma brought them home so Tracy and I could enjoy the afternoon and evening at the fair. We had our annual eat around the fair day too. Duncan and Tracy hung with Rodney and Hannah for awhile on eat around the fair day while the rest of us went to the camper for a bit. Duncan got to sit on a 4 wheeler that moved around and also got to practice welding in a booth they had. They had lots of fun and he was very tired when we met back up with them. The kids' favorite thing was to ride the bus to and from the fair and go on a tractor ride.
We did not go to the fair as much as I thought we would, it was much more work than I thought it would be and the kids got tired and really needed to take a nap. Next year they will be a little bigger, so we will be able to go more. Hopefully we will get to camp next year and then we can hang at the camper and they will be able to lay down to rest!
At little hands on the farm Duncan and Tracy went all the way through, but the other 4 did not because the lines were to long and they just don't do well waiting in lines. Well maybe it is more Mom, but we just planted food and then went to harvest and got a treat!
It really worked well this year. We left the stroller at Abby's camper and someone would either meet us with it or we would get on the tractor and go to the campground and get it. (We only did that once), but Tracy and I did decide to walk to the gate to go home one day. It was a long walk from the tractor drop off, but the kids did well. We just had to carry them a little bit!

A little catch up since Easter!

Duncan is going to be in kindergarten starting in just a few short weeks! He finished preschool at the end of May. I think he likes being home, but he enjoys school to!
The other 4 did speech 2 times a month for the whole school year. This month the speech therapist came and said they all sound really good, so no more speech! All we have to do is call if we have a concern and they will come back to see the kids. They all are talking A LOT, sometimes I think to much!
Everyone went to the dentist and all is well, he said we are doing a good job brushing teeth. I often times wonder, Owen is a stinker and hates for us to help him. Some days I have to hold him down.
Duncan went to the eye doctor too, all is well there! Ethan and Owen both got new glasses, they had a recheck at the eye doctor. No changes just needed different glasses, they had theirs for a year and were all scratched up and bend out of shape.
Tracy and I went to Bettendorf for a night, it was fun. The kids stayed at Aunt and Uncles. We still have to pack a lot for them, but it is getting easier they don't need quite as much stuff as before. Only 2 trips to truck to unload this time! 
We went to a wedding in June and the kids had a blast dancing the night away.
We went to the park a lot with the Etter's and Dotzler's this summer. It is nice to have some adult conversation. We went to the wading pool at Ashby park and it was fun, but getting back to the truck was a disaster!
Owen is starting to show interest in the potty. He will usually go morning, noon and night! Ethan will sometimes sit and go and Olivia also will sometimes go. Elliott has zero interest. We are just letting them go at there own pace now. I am not going to worry about it, when it gets cold out and we are home, maybe they will be ready! I am hoping that maybe they will just potty train on their own! Wouldn't that be nice!
Since we went camping and the kids got to ride their bikes all day they have been pedaling away. Elliott and Owen have been riding the little bikes with training wheels. Ethan and Olivia can, just not as well. We only have 2, so we are looking for 2 more so hopefully no more fighting. They usually pick out what they want and that is theirs and they don't fight. Pretty amazing to me! We sometimes let Duncan ride around the block since he is getting bigger and we can see him almost the whole time. I am sad he is growing up so fast. That's life I guess.

Tracy is very busy at work. I worked more in the summer since the girls can help out and babysit for us. Much easier to have the kids at home! I am also doing some data entry at home which is nice. I usually work after the kids go to bed. 5 hours a week, doesn't sound like a lot, but sometimes I have trouble getting it done.

 

Guess that is all, we have just been playing outside a lot enjoying the weather!

Camping July 2013

We decided to go camping again this year. The babies are older and they will have lots of fun is what we told ourselves! We did have lots of fun! Randy and Val had a tent we used. We took the pack and plays but then did not set them up. The kids really  did well just laying down and going to sleep! On Saturday we rocked them because they were so tired from no naps, but it went well. They rode bikes and rode some more bikes all weekend! We did have to kid proof some stuff! Elliott above with the kid proofed water spicket! He tried to get it off but was not successful! Thank goodness. Tracy loved being able to cook over the camp fire, although I think he would of much rather cooked something besides brats and hot dogs. I went for easy stuff since we weren't sure how it was going to go!

took kids on a bike ride on Saturday and they fell asleep because they were so tired. It was short lived, as soon as we stopped, they woke up.

  

This is Randy and Val's grandson's. It was "broke" but they all piled on to sit on it. Olivia, Ethan, and Owen

Olivia crawled up on her Dad's cot and went to sleep!

Owen and Ethan (brown blanket)

Big boy Elliott

Duncan playing with glow sticks

Sad Sunday. None of the kids wanted to go home. They sure did sleep good at home on Sunday night though! They all liked being able to go right outside and ride bikes first thing in the morning! Owen still ask in the morning if he can go outside as soon as he gets up! I have to tell him no we have to eat first! Our kids love the outside for sure.

It was a little chilly when we camped. Who would of thought the last weekend in July and it was like 55 degrees at night! I had to go to Wal-Mart and buy long sleeve shirts for the kids on Saturday morning! They wore them on Saturday and Sunday. It was nice but a little windy and chilly all weekend. It was a good weekend and we can't wait to be able to go more. Hopefully next year, we are saving money so we can get a camper again! We had to borrow lots of stuff all weekend which drove Tracy and I both CRAZY!