One Thing - 5/28/14

This afternoon, Jonah participated in a track meet put on by the city parks and rec department.

Waiting his turn for the long jump

Jump #1

Future runner?

Silas had fun in the long jump pit after the event was over

The start of the 200 meter dash - Jonah is the 2nd from the right in the white shirt

Finishing strong!

One Thing - 5/27/14

Jonah's first t-ball game was this evening

He started in the outfield and also played catcher and first base

Getting some hitting instruction from one of his coaches

It was a little warm and humid as you can tell from all those red cheeks

Taking a swing

Our "baby" for not much longer!

Although Jonah enjoys playing t-ball, I don't think it is yet his thing...when we got home from the game, he asked for his new piano books and spent much of the rest of the evening sight-reading new songs! 

One Thing - 5/24/14

Lydia somehow found this book on her bookshelf today. We haven't read it in months. She requested to read it before both naptime and bedtime. I don't think she has any idea of what is coming in the next week or so. We haven't put up a crib or gotten out much baby gear. But, maybe her female intuition is already developing...maybe we will have our new baby here soon?!

One Thing - 5/23/14

First evening eating out on our deck. First night of strawberries and blueberries. Wonderful!

About the best pic I could get of this girl who was excited to eat her fruit

One Thing - 5/21/14

This afternoon, Mike and I had the wonderful privilege of meeting up with some friends from college. Bob was recently diagnosed with cancer and is receiving chemo treatments in Omaha. Thankfully, it seems that the cancer was caught early and the prognosis is good. Praise God! It had been a couple of years since we had seen this couple. And, it was such a great encouragement to visit with them. Their lives always have been and continue to be an amazing testimony of God's grace. The Lord has already used them in mighty ways through campus ministry, medical missions (Natalie is a doctor), and now as they minister to people in need in the community they live in. God is continuing to use them for His glory even as they journey through this difficult season in their lives.

And, as you can tell from our pregnant bellies Bob and Natalie are expecting, too! 

One Thing - 5/20/14

I woke up with some energy this morning...quite unusual these days! So, by 8:45am the kids and I were outside ready to plant our garden (something I wasn't even sure we would get to this spring). We planned a simpler garden this year. Just green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers. It warmed up quickly. By 10:00 we were happy to have the garden planted. And, the boys enjoyed some sprinkling by the hose as I watered our seeds and plants. Then, we went inside for some lemonade and snacks.

After lunch, I took the boys for haircuts. I love their hair a little shaggy, but with the warm summer approaching it was time for a trim. 

Before

After

Late this afternoon, we all walked to the ball fields down the street for Jonah's t-ball practice. Silas and Lydia had fun playing on the playground while Jonah was with his team.

After baths and a quick supper, Mike was off to a meeting. The kids and I are watching a movie before bed and relaxing from our full day. I'm SO thankful for another day with my 3 and am ready to welcome #4 whenever he decides it's time!

One Thing - 5/19/14

It was another great day at our house today!

We spent a lot of time playing this morning. For a short time, all of us were playing with our Fisher Price zoo. It was mine when I was little. My mom had kept it and gave it to Jonah when he was a toddler. It has gotten lots of use at our house! 

This afternoon, Jonah accompanied me on a trip into Omaha. I went to my chiropractor for an adjustment and for acupuncture to encourage labor. Any of you blog readers ever tried acupuncture for labor? I'd love to hear some personal stories! After my appointment, we stopped at Target. Jonah wanted to look at Legos, and I needed to get a few things for supper. 

We enjoyed a yummy supper tonight including corn on the cob that was on sale at Target. It was Lydia's first time trying it on the cob. I think she liked it!

After supper, we went out for a walk. The boys rode their bikes. We are in this scary phase for me as a Mom to these boys. Jonah is trying "tricks," which mostly consists of riding really fast around a usually empty church parking lot near our house. He picks up as much speed as he can then gets super close to boundaries before turning or stopping. He is a boy and needs freedom to try out new things, but it makes this Mommy nervous! Silas has just recently started riding his bike more instead of his trike. Last year, he never got the hang of braking and would get really scared going down even the tiniest hills. So, he went back to his trike. This year, we have encouraged him to get back on his bike because the trike is just too small for him. But, he still struggles to brake when he needs to. The past few nights we have been working on it with him. He is starting to make some progress!

Another thing we have enjoyed recently is watching our new baby birds in a nest that sits on top of a light fixture on our garage. We think there are 3 baby birds. They are starting to fill out the nest, so it probably won't be long before they take off. 

One Thing - 5/18/14

I have been busy the past couple of weeks sorting through boxes of baby/kids clothes. Partly because we have a new little boy coming soon and partly because we are planning to have a garage sale at the end of June. So, I have been trying to weed out the boys clothes that aren't in the best condition or that I don't really care for. The timing has been very good because it has also allowed me to get the clothes slightly more organized so they will be ready for when our new baby brother needs them. As of tonight, I have gotten through all of the boxes of clothes, cleaned out the kids' closets, and washed, dried, and packed away all of the kids' winter gear from this past winter. On top of that, we have been slowly getting ready for #4's arrival. One of the last things we needed to do was get the car seat out of its storage place in our garage. Mike switched around all of the car seats in our van and installed the infant seat base this afternoon. Then, he brought the seat inside. Lydia had tons of fun with it before supper. At first, she got in it herself and tried to buckle herself in. Then, she got out and put one of her dolls in it and rocked the baby, covered her with a blanket, and played music on another toy next to it. It was SO sweet to see her caring for her dolly. We can't wait for our new baby to arrive!

Little girl is a bit too big for the car seat

She sure has grown in the past 20 months! :)

One Thing - 5/17/14

Jonah had his first piano recital today. He was SO excited about it all morning and would keep asking us how long until we would leave for it even though he can read the clock and figure it out for himself. I don't know that I have ever seen him so excited/anxious for something to start. He did a GREAT job! I can't seem to upload the video or to link to my facebook video, so pictures will have to do on here.

Jonah's piano teacher always holds her recitals at our church, so it was a familiar place for J.

Playing "Trumpet Song"

All of the students of Jonah's teacher (who you can just barely see in the back center)

One Thing - 5/15/14

Lydia helped Jonah practice piano this evening

One Thing - 5/14/14

We had a great day today! This morning, we got together with some friends at the boys' favorite park which is in a tiny town about 15 minutes away. The weather was gorgeous! I think we could have been there all day long, but little sister started getting a bit grumpy and tired around 11:30. So, we headed home for lunch and naps. Not long after naps, Mike came home to mow the lawn. I purchased annuals last Saturday but hadn't been able to get pots planted. So, the kids and I headed outside to work on them. It was a perfect afternoon to be out! Lydia had a great time "helping" me with the flowers. The project definitely took longer than I expected, but the extra time spent was well spent with my busy toddler as well as stopping for a few minutes here and there to visit with friends who happened to be walking or driving past our house. By the time I was finished with the flowers and Mike finished the yard, it was 6:45pm. Mike gave all of the kids baths while I made supper. Then, we ended our night by sitting at the table with clean kiddos in jammies at 7:30pm for supper. Definitely not the norm around here but wonderful nonetheless!

Lydia had no problem digging right into the dirt with me.

One Thing - 5/13/14

Silas' reason for the baby to arrive soon - "Because then your tummy will get smaller and you can pick me up to push the button to start the washing machine and you can give Jonah piggy back rides again." It's the little things when you are 3 years old!

One Thing - 5/12/14

Our Mother's Day yesterday was sweet...

Lydia and I hung out during Sunday School

During nursery, the kids made Mother's Day cards. I just LOVE how Silas wrote out my name "jooili."

After church, we picked up some lunch to enjoy at home.

Everyone surprised me with a thoughtful gift...

A Dutch oven! I have been wanting one for quite some time. Now to try out some new recipes!

All of us rested/napped in the afternoon. Then, we went to another graduation party that was held at a church about a block and a half away so we were able to walk. We enjoyed visiting with people there until the thunder started rolling. With the threat of severe storms, we decided we had better make our way home. Not too long after we got home we needed to move to the basement. Thankfully, even though the sirens went off and we were in tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings, all we got was very heavy rain. And, we got about an hour and a half of quality family time playing together!

I am so thankful for our family and the time we have to spend together whether or not it is Mother's Day. But, the extra hugs and the extra "I love yous" sure were sweet!

One Thing - 5/11/14

I'm so thankful for these 3 who have made me a mom and am anxiously awaiting #4 to join us soon!

One Thing - 5/10/14

We celebrated the high school graduation of one of our church's high school seniors this afternoon. Evann and her family are some of our kids' favorite people. Evann is so sweet to our kids at church and babysits for us occasionally. Also, when I play piano for our worship service every other month, Lydia (and sometimes the boys) sits with her family. We are going to miss her in the fall when she goes off to college! 

Even if Evann didn't let Lydia play with her phone, I know Lydia would still love to hang out with her. But, playing with her phone is definitely an added bonus! :)

One Thing - 5/8/14

After dropping Jonah off at an activity, I took Silas and Lydia to Runza for some ice cream. Yum!

(And Sy's cold really needs to go away. The soreness under his nose has him looking a little like an infamous dictator!)

One Thing - 5/7/14

As of this morning, we have a preschool graduate in our family!

Silas looks awfully proud of his big brother 

 Jonah got the math award for writing his numbers up to 107. And, he got the alphabet award for writing all of his uppercase and lowercase letters. 

One Thing - 5/6/14

Yesterday, we received a bound book of pages that Jonah had made throughout the year practicing all of the letters of the alphabet, numbers 1-10, and colors. For each one, he practiced writing the letter or number and then drew a picture of something that began with that letter or that matches that number. These were a few of my favorites:

One Thing - 5/5/14

,'Today, I had the privilege of being a driver/chaperone for Jonah's last preschool field trip. We visited the Lincoln Children's Zoo. It was a beautiful morning to be out! I loved having some time with him and his classmates. (And, I figured that at 37 weeks pregnant spending the morning chasing a few 5 year old boys around a zoo might do some good!).

Jonah participating in the penguin show by counting how many fish his penguin Lima Bean ate.

Riding the train at the end of our day

This evening, our whole family got to spend some time together outdoors as we went on a walk/bike ride. I'm hoping we can get lots of these walks in throughout the next couple of weeks. We're anxious to meet our baby brother!

Another lovely bouquet of dandelions

Lydia LOVES to be outside!