From Our Family To Yours...

Look before you go...

Now that Seppy turned two just over a month ago I find myself going crazy trying to keep up with him. It seems as soon as I turn around he gets into a mess. Leaving food or drinks out on the counter is not a good idea because he maneuvers his high chair to access whatever it is. His favorite thing right now is to dump the contents from one cup to another. A great learning skill I am sure but I cannot count how many times a drink is flowing on the counter down onto the floor.

I know we go through this with each child but it doesn't get any easier. I told John today I am about ready to gate Seppy off to certain rooms only which is what we had to do when Pete and Re-Pete were this age. When I think back to that crazy time of our lives with twins at age two I cannot remember how exactly we handled that, although I wasn't near as busy at that time either. And so, onto the latest in the Seppy Adventures.

Missy Blue announced she was going to the bathroom but came back to tell me: "Seppy's bankie is in the toiwet (toilet)!" What? I went to check this out and sure enough. He had stuffed his blanket into the toilet and it was soaking up all the water, at least I hoped it was only water but having this many boys it isn't exactly likely. I was laughing/crying at the same time my emotions didn't know what to make of this as I pulled out the blanket and wrung it out.

Of course, I did decide that I needed to capture this on camera to remember. I do regret not taking a picture of our fish tank when Pete and Re-Pete deluged it with books, socks, cars, and overfed them. No more fish. :)- The moral of the story as I announced at the supper table is to always LOOK before you go to the bathroom! You just never know what you might find. :)-

Girly Jammies

What do you do when your little boy needs new pajamas and all of his are in the wash? I found a pair that no longer fit Missy and so Seppy happily wore pink and purple hearts on his jammies. The boys weren't so sure it was a good idea but they were clean and he has no clue at this point so all is well. :) He looks cute in everything he wears and he definitely looks like a boy!

I was going to post this the beginning of December when it happened but was having problems adding a picture. So here is a jammie update --

Thankfully after a month of searching I found the rest of our 2T boys clothes and it had three pair of pajamas! I was so excited to find the missing clothes!!! It also brings back memories of when so and so wore that. :)

 

Blog -- Under Construction

If you happen to read my blog when things are not matching or some such thing I am working on it. I am trying to update the background and header and change colors of words but homeschoolblogger is EXTREMELY slow tonight and is not letting me get this accomplished. And so, I will let it looking strange for now. And for those of you who still use homeschoolblogger -- is your entry screen different now so that you cannot change fonts, sizes, add links, etc.? My last post I wasn't even able to make paragraph breaks. Kind of frustrating!

Miss Perfection -- Not Me!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week! (More to come on that next post when I can add pictures). Seeing as it was a my house this year (we are in a three-year rotation) I thought that I might get stressed in getting the house in order and preparing but I was so glad that I took each day to prepare my heart and mind for each day ahead and the Lord gave me what I needed for each day. I never did get to the point of frustration.

In having this many children I have learned a lot about going with the flow and not sweating the little stuff. No matter how much I may want things to be, nothing will be exactly as I desire and I have come to the point where I am content with that. Oh, don't get me wrong, I struggle at times wishing I no longer had walls with splotches awaiting priming and paint or that my "free" furniture matched the red walls of the living room but I am thankful that I have new furniture that I did not have to pay for. It may not be my style and eventually I will have them slipcovered but it serves it's purpose. Maybe I missed a cobweb or two or you might find dust in places someone missed but it is okay. Why stress about it and cause strain on the rest of the family? Not that I don't go crazy from time to time when preparing for company but not to the extent that I might have years ago.

The other week we had college students over and I didn't realize it but there was my laundry dumped on the loveseat. Seeing as that is often where it is I suppose no one realized that it didn't belong. :)- I am also very thankful for a husband who willingly gives of his time to help me out even after a long day at work. Last Wednesday I needed to go to church with the kids for Christmas program practice. I was telling John how I still needed to get the kitchen cleaned up after a day of running and the bathroom floor was in desperate need of attention. He said, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." And so he did. I came home to a clean smelling house and everything looked presentable.

I will say, that I am trying to work a little harder on the area of keeping up with the house before it overtakes me but it takes time to de-clutter and time is something I have little of. I read a poem awhile back something having to do with when our children are gone the things we will realize weren't important. And so, I imagine that one day I will think back on the clutter and chaos and wish that it hadn't left so soon. Although, then I can invite all of my grandchildren over to do the same thing. :)

Pretty Onions

I haven't blogged for awhile and I was thinking today that it would be much easier if I blogged the way I do facebook -- just a thought or event every few days or so. Not necessarily with picture, as I prefer, but just keeping up with our life and remembering odds and ends.

This afternoon we worked on the farm down the road packing boxes for delivery. The season is coming to a close and we are only working every other week now. While the boys were trying to be the fastest, Missy Blue, who was putting a red onion in each box was taking her sweet time. She insisted on taking the flaky outer layer off of each one. We kept telling her that she did not need to do that but after 100+ boxes the ground around her was colorful with purple onion skins.

I asked her afterwards why she wanted to peel the onion and she said, "They were much prettier that way". :) Of course, whatever was I thinking?

Boys race while girls make things pretty. Sounds good to me!

My Baby Boy is 2!

Today my Baby Boy turned 2 years old and oh, how I am enjoying him! This is the first time I have ever had a child this age and not been pregnant or having a baby within days or weeks. This is the first time we aren't contemplating a move to a big bed so as not to need two cribs. This is the first time my back gets so sore from carrying a two year old around because with the others I mainly carried a newborn and could not lift a toddler anymore. I cannot tell you how much I am relishing my time with Baby Boy, who now that he has turned two, can no longer really be called a baby. He will now be called "Seppy" on my blog as that is what he is called around here and while my brother-in-law may try to call him "dozer" that just is not sticking.


Seppy is a ball of energy. He almost always has a smile on his face and is quick to laugh and to give love. He seems to be picking up on speaking faster than I recall a few of my others doing and I am amazed at the things he knows. For example, when we are sorting laundry into piles he knows what shirt belongs to who. How that is, I do not know because even John doesn't know that! Seppy still loves to cuddle and I enjoy that immensely. He loves his Daddy and his face lights up and he gets so excited as he runs to hug him when he comes home from work.

Seppy adores his sister (for the most part) and enjoys playing whatever she enjoys and has no problem dressing up and having a tea party. Of course she also can really irritate him as well. Everyone enjoys teaching Seppy new things and getting him to say various words. He is always bringing a smile to our faces.


Of course in the past few weeks I have noticed a shift in the tide as we have drifted into the "testing twos" and he is beginning to test the waters to see how far he can go. I think we have learned enough lessons with the other children that we are ready to make sure we stop certain behaviors before they really begin. He can get rough with the others but will turn around and be so sweet and gentle always rubbing our hair. Sometimes I think he enjoys hitting someone so that he can then say "I saw-ee" (I'm sorry) and hug the victim looking at them with his sad puppy dog eyes.


This is one of my favorite pictures, although it is rare to see Seppy look so serious. I am so thankful for my fifth little boy -- unique and special just as God created him to be.