Christmas 2011

We made it to Michigan without any issues. First we visited my parents and then we visited John's parents. The kids have really enjoyed having three separate Christmas celebrations. Plus, Jonah and Sam have enjoyed birthday celebrations at each grandparents house in the last week. They are celebrating nonstop! It has been a whirlwind visit so far, but we have made some fun memories. I will share stories later!

The Show

Jonah and Samuel had their Christmas pageant at school today. They go to a Catholic preschool so they did a pre-K rendition of the birth of Jesus. They have been looking forward to it for weeks and talking about it constantly. So, when I found out the date of their performance and realized that it was the day before we left for Michigan we had to do some serious planning. John ended up taking the day off to see the boys' show and get packed, but Wyatt still had school today and was going to have to miss the performance. He was incredibly disappointed. So, I decided that we would pull Wyatt out of school for an hour or so to come see Jonah and Sam's pageant. How long are these boys going to be excited to attend each other's events anyways? Everybody was thrilled that we would attend the event together as a family!

After we arrived, Wyatt was worried that he wouldn't see the boys from our seats so I suggested that he climb on the bleachers and watch, so he watched the entire performance from the highest perch so that he didn't miss a thing! Too funny!



Jonah and Sam were donkeys. They did such a great job singing we were so proud. After the show the families all enjoyed cookies and milk together and had a visit from Santa! We all enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to sharing some more special times with family in Michigan tomorrow!

Here is a little bit of their show.......

Too Much Grinch???

Last weekend I unloaded the last of the boxes from our move. We had 4 LARGE boxes in the dining room full of all of our dishes, china, and crystal. We were going to keep them boxed up until after John painted the dining room (which is painted like a jungle since it was used as a nursery by the previous owners), but the project keeps getting moved to the back burner and we all got sick of walking around the boxes. So, I finally tackled it and spent the entire day last Sunday unwrapping and cleaning our dishes.

At one point Wyatt walked into the dining room and was fascinated by all of our "beautiful glasses and dishes" and I realized that he had never really seen our china before. We have always kept it packed up in the padded protectors safely tucked away in our hutch. We used to use our china and crystal all of the time before kids, but not so much lately.


So John and I talked about it and decided that we are going to make a big Sunday dinner each week (which we usually already do anyways) and eat in the dining room using our good dishes. We want to make it a special meal that the kids can look forward to each week and give us a nice family tradition as well.

I told the kids about the new plan and they were pumped. I even told them that we can have candles on the table while we eat and that idea was a big hit. They want to put 4 candles on the table and use my candle snuffer (which they found when I was unloading the dining room boxes) to put out the candles after dinner.


I am excited about trying this out with the boys. I can even see it evolving into something more down the road where somebody gets to make dessert or makes special place mats to eat or plans the menu. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Anyways back to the Grinch.... yesterday we started the ball rolling and John made a sirloin tip roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans for dinner. The kids kept commenting on how good the meat smelled cooking. They couldn't wait to eat. We are so hungry! Then when we finally sat down to eat Wyatt said, in his most polite voice, "thanks for making this... I really like roast BEAST"!

Fake Christmas

Fake Christmas went well. The kids got up cod (crack of dawn), but we didn't let them start opening until 7:30 am. Then we took a few breaks during opening to let everybody eat or play with their toys for a while. It was nice and relaxed and we ended up dragging it all out until 11 or so! Then we simply had to make lunch and send everybody down for a nap!
Wyatt really enjoyed his digital picture key chain that holds 60 pictures. We uploaded his favorites and he carries it everywhere! Who knew that Santa could score so big on $10?!?!?!?


The kids also liked their mini staplers and mini pillow pets. Small stuff seems so cute when you are part of a big family with big stuff! I remember those days myself!


Shane loved his alligator rocker from Grandma! He is quite the daredevil on it!

I still have lots of stories to share, but this Mommy is off to bed! Christmas is tiring for everybody...not just the kids!!!!

Fake Christmas eve

Here we are on fake Christmas eve 2011. It seems like yesterday that we were preparing for fake Christmas eve 2010! We had a nice day together. John had a vacation day and was able to pick up the kids from school with me...which they loved! We did a bit of shopping with Shane and enjoyed our time alone with our baby. He is such a fun happy little guy! I can't imagine how we ever got so lucky with him! I often say that if Shane was born first I would have sent all of our other kids back! I'm kidding sort of...

Anyways we took Shane to an old fashioned bulk candy store that I have been wanting to check out for a while and it was really fun! They had lots of different kinds of candy that I haven't seen in years including tons of gummies...they even had gummy fried eggs! We got some Amish popcorn and bulk oats and that was it, but it sure would be a fun place to visit with all of the kids! Shane ended up with a 10 cent price of laffy taffy and was happy for the rest of the day! Wyatt would have had the entire cart filled to the rim!

Later we took the kids out for pizza at our new favorite pizza joint. It's great pizza and loud so the kids blend right in. We ordered 2-14 inch pizzas for me John and the kids and there seriously wasn't a single piece left when we were done. The waiter was seriously shocked! Wow I haven't seen anyone eat that much pizza in a while. Yeah, you haven't met Sam then have you?

After we got home we sprinkled out our reindeer food out in the yard so that the reindeer would find our house. Then we showered and read the night before Christmas and the Christmas story (the golden book version of the gospel of Luke). Finally we set out cookies and milk for Santa and headed to bed.....the kids that is. John and I still have tons of work to do! Lets hope that we get to bed before the kids are up for the morning. Merry Christmas!

Teachers Galore

It is such a blessing that the kids are surrounded by fantastic teachers this school year. However, between the kids regular teachers, aides, and speech therapists we have 10 teachers that we are giving gifts to this year. Everyone is getting a jar of homemade jam and a loaf of bread and one of these little guys....


It's a good thing that I paid attention in grad school when John and I were living next door to Fred and living off the land or we would go broke this Christmas!

T Minus 5

Ok, we have truly been swamped here lately! Fake Christmas is in 5 days and we are racing to get everything done before then! Wyatt has actually figured out that our Christmas is not on Dec 25, but we told him that we asked Santa to come early so that we can go to Michigan and not miss anything. He seemed alright with that, and if he buys it the the other kids are sold!

He wore this to the grocery store for 1 week

We had 3 different Christmas programs last week and one more coming up next week! I have been practicing songs and hand movements with everybody so that they knew what to do at performance time. So far it went smoothly except at church. Jonah and Sam were up front singing their songs (which Shane has been practicing as well) and Shane decided to hop right up there along side his brothers and join them. The director didn't realize that he didn't belong and handed him some bells to ring and he was thrilled! It worked out fine and the boys couldn't stop talking about how Shane crashed their performance...they thought that it was hysterical!

Watching the Grinch

Today after picking everybody up from school the kids wanted to drive around the lake and see if there were any ice fisherman, so we checked it out. No ice yet, but the kids sure are looking forward to trying out some ice fishing this winter! That should make for some good stories!

Then on the way home from the lake I overheard the kids talking about next year. "What do you think that Mom is going to do next year when Shane is in school?" (2 hours 2 x per week...so much free time huh?)

Then I heard Sam say "Guys, I know, Mom is going to make cookies every day for us for when we get home from school!" What an idealist!

Early Riser

This has got to be one of our funniest pictures ever of potty training. I may have to bring this one along to his wedding reception some day!


Shane fell asleep while sitting on the potty this Thanksgiving. He might have been up just a little early that morning what do you think?

Family Day

Wyatt had Family Day at his school last week. This involved parents and no siblings and was held at 1:30 pm on a Wednesday...clearly a tall order at our house. Luckily my parents were visiting for Thanksgiving and were able to watch the other boys so that John and I could attend together. Wyatt showed us around his classroom, we checked out his latest artwork,

ate snacks, and then all played family games in the library. It was a nice event and we both enjoyed spending some quality time alone with our big boy!

Traditions

As per tradition we put the Christmas tree up today. My brilliant plan last year of separating the ornaments by kid and putting them into tupperware bins with their names on them really paid off today! It reduced the fighting by at least 90% percent! Everyone cheerfully took their bin and proceeded to hang their own ornaments on the bottom two branches of the tree. It was such a pleasant experience. We sang some carols and read some Christmas books and enjoyed time with the peeps. Then they went to bed and Grandma and I moved the kids ornaments from the low branches so that the other 99% of the tree was decorated as well! It was a lot of fun being a part of all of their excitement!

Thanksgiving 2011

From the Rodgers crew!

Birthday Party

Sam got invited to a birthday party for a little boy in his class. Since Jonah and Sam are in different classes Jonah didn't get invited. I was actually very happy that the kids are getting opportunities to get out and be individuals every once in a while. Jonah wasn't in agreement, but I opted to let Sam go to the party by himself and he was pumped!

Tonight I took him to the birthday party which was at a bounce house place and I was a little worried that he might not feel comfortable playing at a new place all by himself. My fears were short lived, however, when Sam said "Ok, bye Mom. I see Joe and I am going to play with him!" and he ran off. He played for 2 more hours without even needing to check in with me. He had such a great time! Then as we were leaving he said (completely unprompted) "Good bye Joe. Thanks for inviting me, I had a great time. Happy birthday!"


I can not even begin to explain how different (and fun) it is to take Sam to a birthday party versus Wyatt! Wyatt is clingy and shy and needs constant encouragement to put himself out there. After Wyatt goes to a birthday party I am exhausted! It is so much work for me to take him to a birthday party that I don't even tell him about the invitations if I can get away with it!

Sam is like Wyatt's social polar opposite! It is so interesting to watch your own family dynamics develop as the kids get older. I suspect that Jonah would be more like Wyatt alone at a birthday party, but Shane may end up being a little Sam! We will see... They all have different strengths and Sam is certainly a little social butterfly!

Im Back

It has been a while since my last post and so much has been happening around here! I need to document our milestones or they will be gone forever from my memory. My favorite phrase lately is "I used to be smart and be able to remember things...and then I had kids"!

Jonah lost his first tooth last week. He was really thrilled and Sam is incredible jealous. Sam and Shane keep wiggling their teeth to see if any have become loose. I was surprised that he already lost a tooth and he isn't even 5 years old yet, but his teeth came in early just like Wyatt's, so the tooth fairy is armed and ready!

Shane had his first dentist appointment last week. He was so stinking cute sitting up in the big chair all by himself. I can't believe that I actually forgot to take a picture of him!

But here's a cute one of him and Wyatt on a rare morning when only the two of them were home alone with Mommy!

School Pictures 2011

So, Wyatt got his school pictures back and they turned out... kinda! John and I tried to keep a straight face when we saw them and suppressed the urge to ask "Why? Why did you make that particular face? Especially when we have never seen that face at home....ever! He was so proud of them and I didn't want to burst his bubble. On the actual school picture day Wyatt came home and told us "Mom, I must have done really good at the picture day because I got something special from the camera man that nobody else got! Do you want to know what it is? It's this....my very own comb! Can you believe how good I did?"

The innocence... it's priceless!

The Forest

The kids have been enjoying playing in the woods behind our house lately. They haul shovels, rakes, and buckets out of the shed and dig for worms, rocks, and "dinosaur bones" all the live long day. The problem is that up until recently they were doing all of their digging in our neighbors yard. His wooded area is a lot more cleared out and the kids preferred to play there rather than in our woods.

So, this weekend John and I decided to clear out an area in the woods for the kids to play and dig that was officially on our property. We used all of our cutting tools and made a clearing and then a path back into the woods. We gave them a tour and gave them some ground rules and cut them loose.
They were in the woods for 5 hours today! They didn't even come in for lunch or naps! It was amazing. After an hour or so I went back to check on them and they had dug up huge rocks, put them in a circle, and built a fire pit. Then they broke up sticks and put them inside the fire ring in a perfect boy scout pyramid! (They rearranged things in between my first visit and when I snapped this picture with my cell phone) They told me that everyone had a job and they were using teamwork to get it all done!


After I picked my chin up off the ground I made my way back to the house and got a ton of housework done! I am loving the way that the kids are learning to play outside by themselves and I don't have to be worried about them getting hit by cars all of the time! I can not believe that we are at that point now! A few years ago it felt like I would be trapped in kid playland forever! "Watch me Mom!" "Look at ME!" "Mom, Why aren't you watching me?" "Hey here I am!"

Now I can get some stuff done while they are awake! Holy cow we have turned a corner! We are in good shape as long as the kids don't find some matches.....

Professional Development

Last week was professional development day for all of the teachers in Wisconsin which meant that the kids only went to school on Monday and part of the day of Tuesday. I was really relieved to get a break from all of the driving, but I forgot how much work it is to have everybody home all day.
Since the kids were born I have planned a morning activity every day of their lives. Our days flow better (read: Mommy stays sane) if we leave the house in the morning and get our energy out elsewhere. When Wyatt started preschool a few years ago I still even planned morning activities for the other three kids. It was super challenging when Shane was still on the two nap schedule and had to sleep through all of the stuff that we did. He learned to sleep through anything though and it all worked!

After we moved here and the kids were out of the house every morning I quit feeling pressure to get out of the house with them in the mornings. Now when everybody is at school (2.5 hours) Shane tags along with me in whatever I do. If we stay home he plays with me or by himself (not so much) and doesn't drive me crazy acting like a caged animal that needs to be exercised. If I go to the gym he plays in the child care area without issue. If we go shopping he keeps me company and helps find stuff that we need at the store. We still try and fit in a ton of stuff in the mornings, but leaving the house is optional.

This week things were different.

The kids woke up on Wednesday morning with big expectations. "What are we going to do Mom?" "Where are we going?" Hmmmm... didn't see that one coming! I thought that the kids would enjoy a leisurely morning hanging out at home and not needing to rush off somewhere. Yeah...not so much!

We checked out all of the local parks, the local swimming pools, a candy store, a hayride, and tons of other activities...all packed into three short days! I feel like I am a certified expert on the local attractions in our area now! Maybe that could be my part time job next year when Shane is in preschool a few days per week... Certified Kid Activity Planner Extraordinaire! I have the resume to back it up that's for sure!

Apples and School Rewards

It seems like forever since I wrote a blog post. The days are so busy that they are flying by at the speed of light! I need to find a sliver of time each day to blog about our life or I will not remember what we did by the end of the month.

We have a reward system in place to encourage good listening in school. If everybody has a good week of listening at school then we do a special activity on Friday afternoon. It has really helped the kids have something to work towards and look forward to each week. For the last two weeks we have gone apple picking as our good listening week reward.

The apple orchard that we have been visiting is fairly small but the kids love picking. We have to drag the kids kicking and screaming to the van when we have enough apples because they don't want to leave...ever! But there are only so many apples that one family needs each week!


I actually went out and bought a food mill since I make so much applesauce lately. It saves me so much time since I don't have to peel the apples ahead of time and cook them with the skins on. Then I run them through the food mill and it separates the skins! I can fill a 16 quart stockpot to the top with apples and make applesauce and it will be gone in 2 days....seriously!

Last week as we were leaving the apple orchard the owner asked if we would be back again next Friday! I guess that we are starting to develop a habit and the owner has started to notice! If the kids have a good week at school then I suspect that we will be eating applesauce again real soon!

Leaving

Grandma and Grandpa left this afternoon. I drove them back to the ferry and John stayed home with the kids and got everyone to take naps. He said that the boys were super sad to see Grandma and Grandpa leave. We all were!

We had a fun weekend and even managed to get a lot of our home improvement projects accomplished!

We got the hot tub working.. and identified some of the problem areas. The kids loved our new "baby swimming pool"!

We got some serious bush trimming done! I thought that I was almost done yesterday, but ended up trimming another 15 spirea today! Mom helped me attack some bushes that were SERIOUSLY at least 8 feet overgrown on all sides. It took us 3 hours to get those 4 bushes cut! I need a gardener. I keep saying that I feel like I am living in the book The Secret Garden... where I find new things every time that I start to weed and trim! Oh, look some more landscape lights! Holy cow underground sprinkling!



We ate outside every day and enjoyed the wonderful warm weather too! It couldn't have been more perfect!

Thanks Mom and Dad we cant wait to see you again soon!

A Warning

Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) are coming for a visit this weekend. They will be our first official house guests in our new house. We are really excited!

However there are a few things that they need to know....

1. The refrigerator is still in the dining room and you have to go through the family room and front hall each and every time that you need to get something cold. It's super fun! It will be moved back after the tile gets sealed and cabinets replaced! Soon hopefully.......



2. The playroom doubles as the guest room, so it may get a little noisy in there at around 6 am. Remember to bring earplugs.

3. We are prepared to assign home improvement projects to anyone that offers to help.

4. There are potties and choo choo undies everywhere. Also you can not laugh if Shane gets mad about something, grabs his potty under his arm, and marches off in a huff!


5. It's been a while so you may get a "little" extra attention from the boys this visit!

We can't wait!

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The pictures above are from a visit to a farmer down the road who had a wagon full of pumpkins. There was a tin can sitting on top of the wagon to pay for your pumpkins. $1 for little, $2 for medium, and $3 for big ones. As we were picking our pumpkins this afternoon the farmer came over and told me to take a few extras. Then he helped me load them all into the back of the truck . All in all I think that we ended up with 8 pumpkins for $5! Not bad for a bunch of city folk huh?

6 Years Old!

Wyatt turned 6 years old today! He is turning into such a fun little guy lately! I am in love with this age!

We celebrated in our traditional low key fashion and Wyatt had a great time! Keep the expectations low I say... and it is working out really well so far!