Marie is 12!

July 13, 2016 | Stacy

Twelve years ago the doctor said, “It’s a girl!”
I was first shocked- I only “knew” boys; then over the next 24 hours I grew so excited. Before God showed Abraham the stars in the sky, He knew this little girl would be my daughter. I trusted Him then and there to show us how to be girl-parents.

We woke up Marie with our traditional birthday songs.

And I somehow convinced my jam-loving crew that today was the day to get the raspberries we needed for jam. We picked for 90 minutes in 90○ F sunshine.

We grabbed some pool time.

And I did the jam up quickly. (Raspberry jam is the most expensive, but the easiest to make.)

Nan, Nene, Ba & Poppy joined us for dinner. And what a dinner it was! Marie and I fabricated our own dish of tortellini, Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and spinach, garnished with fresh tomatoes. Oh yeah.

She opened a few gifts and cards.

And then we sang to her over her requested frozen strawberry cake.

Marie wasn’t the only one getting new things on this day. Look at the smile on Johanna’s face for her new math book. (That joy stops around grade 3.)

And I got some souvenirs from the berry patch. Oy.

‘Nuggles

July 6, 2016 | Stacy

Mama wasn’t available for a ‘nuggle. But Marie was.

Baseball night

July 5, 2016 | Stacy

I realized a while ago that we’d never taken the kids to a baseball game. In fact, the last time I went to a baseball game I was 40 weeks pregnant with Stewart. j

Johanna and Katriel slept over with Nan while John and I took Stewart, Nigel, Marie, and Tabitha to the game. We watched the Red Wings take on the Mud Hens. The Mud Hens won by a lot. But we all had a great time.

And we bought them all sodas the size of their heads!

Last day of baseball–pizza party

June 24, 2016 | Stacy

Dad was out of town, so it meant Mama went to the game and enjoyed the pizza with the whole crew. I was even able to see some of the games (although little Miss Three Year Old didn’t exactly settle in for inning after inning).

What is a mom to do when her 3 year old decides she no longer wants to wear the ears she brought with her?

Hanny had her own soda. Yes, she did.

Hanny got to blow the horn to warn the teams that the end of the game was near.

She finished grade six English!

Image | April 18, 2016 | Stacy

Rapunzel?

April 12, 2016 | Stacy

Tuesdays are a bit busy. Mind you, they are not crazy-busy, but they are busier than some of the other days.
For some reason, Tuesdays also seem to draw out the imp in Katriel.

Now, about an hour before this photo was taken, she had caused the toilet in the upstairs bathroom to overflow while I was doing school with Marie. It took more than thirty minutes to clean, mop and sanitize that room. And I didn’t freak out when Marie carefully informed me that water was showing up on the kitchen ceiling. Nice.

Oy.

While I was doing school with Nigel, Hanny burst in my room (where we were doing school) to tell us that Katriel had markered on herself. I got up – truly more concerned with what else she may have markered on and what kind of marker was she using – and found this.

When I first saw her she covered her face with her hands and braced for the coming scolding. I actually held it together and tried to decide if I should laugh or cry. I was kind of shook up. I decided to take a picture while I stabilized. She smiled and posed; she made sure her hand art was in the photo, too.

Oy.

I asked, “What were you doing?”
”I’m Rapunzel!”
”You look more like Mother Gothel, Katriel!”
Thoughtful look on her face.

Later she told someone she was being Mother Gothel.

Marie cleaned her up. Marie often jumps in when she thinks it may keep mom from popping an artery in her brain.

When Tab went to gymnastics and the other three to Spanish, I went to Target with the little ones to sugar up.

Just another day in paradise.

(My cross-eyes didn’t work. That makes it funnier!)

The Story of Job

March 23, 2016 | Stacy

We’ve been studying Job at CBS since Christmas.
The PJT classes put on The Story of Job for the adults.
Tab played Job. Marie played Satan. The boys (who hadn’t been to CBS in 7 weeks) played minions of Satan. And my camera didn’t work. AND then my PHONE camera stopped working. I have exactly these photos and nothing more. Sad smile

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

March 20, 2016 | Stacy

It was nothing short of God’s great love for us that Stewart, Nigel, and Marie got to be part of this fantastic production.

Friday night John, Tabitha, and Johanna went to the show.
Saturday afternoon, after Tabitha, Johanna and Katriel had their last swim lesson, Tabitha and I went to see the production. I then ran Tabitha over to the church where John was taking a class and I went back to get the performers for a pizza lunch at Cam’s. It was excellent! And yes, the kids DID wear their make-up to the restaurant!