Reviewing our life: What have we been up to?

Well, to answer that, a whole lot of everything. Seriously, we stay busy. This is really another post where I'll just show you rather than tell you what we've been doing. Pictures are more fun anyways.

 1. Museum Tours
Now that our oldest is 5, it definitely seems like a good time to get out and explore venues nearby. We went to a local train/prairie museum that focused mostly on the old west days period of time. This was perfect for our kids who are currently obsessed with Little House on the Prairie any thing. They loved playing in an old school house, seeing a hotel from the early 1900s, and touring a train. There was also a playground that represented what children used to play on in the early days and the kids had a blast on this and didn't want to leave.

 2. DIY Projects 
I'm trying to get a few things of my own done. Here is our new WELCOME sign and refinished matching chair for our front deck. The succulents are also new additions this year as I have an increasing love for these low maintenance plants!

 3. Art Projects, Outside, and Easy Fun Stuff
I am almost always down for an art project that lets the kids express themselves creatively. When paint is done outside you are almost guaranteed a total win. No inside mess to worry about and clean.

A friend of mine showed their kids painting cardboard while laying on their swings. We decided to give it a try and had a blast.

Outside of art projects, you can find us running through the sprinklers, riding bikes, watching chickens, and walking our side road regularly! This year corn is growing next to our road and it makes our road feel more private than ever.

 4. Friends and Parties
With everyone preparing for back to school, we have seen a lot of all of our friends, which we love. We have had several play dates a week, evening barbecues, and recently a baby shower complete with a bounce house and trampoline. All of our kids are having a blast. And are oh so tired.

 4. Bath time fun
Bath time is a regular part of our routine each night. Jayden is sometimes joining in on the fun with the big kids but this picture entirely represents that time. Busy big kids, baby taking front and center, and what you don't see, mom and dad a tad nervous about this arrangement. Not ready to make this permanent yet, but soon baby Jayden. Soon.

 5. Way too much TV
Yes, there is a thing of too much screen time and yes, we are meeting that point. But, when the two big kids lay like this and ask nicely for a show I just can't resist. I know when we get back into the groove of a schedule, we will slowly wean ourselves off of tv again. Pray for us during that time.

 6. A 3 year old dressing himself
I have started to give this little man more freedom to dress himself and he always shocks me. He picks the most dressy outfits he has and rocks them so well. I love seeing our children's personalities come through and getting to know more and more about them and what God given talents they are blessed with.

 7. Story time and picnics outside
We love using our outdoor blanket and heading outside to spend some time reading and eating. I haven't done much of this during this summer like I planned but we are totally making up for it in this last week.

 8. Popcorn and more screen time
See #5. Definitely too much screen time but we love a good movie with popcorn. The kids recently discovered our biggest popcorn container (formerly used as storage for our smaller containers) and now constantly beg to use. It's huge! And it's loved!

 9. Baby Snuggles
It won't be much longer and this boy will be ditching us constantly. He is go, go, go but since he isn't quite mobile yet we can hold him as much as we want still. Our days are numbered though. We are soaking it in as much as we can.

 10. Harvesting
Our garden is producing so it's back to the grind of harvesting food for the winter. We didn't grow corn this year but were given some last week and so we spent a morning working on that. The apples in our yard should be ready soon for us to start and we are already roasting tomatoes.

This is a time where I am spending a good chunk of my own time on personal reflection. This will be our last year to not have all our children at home with us as next year our daughter will start kindergarten. I'm soaking this all up and working hard to enjoy this, albeit short, season of life. Time goes so quickly and I feel like I'm going to blink and all my kids will be in school.

We hope your summer is wrapping up as well as ours is!

Camping Birthday Party and the County Fair

A few weeks ago, one of my babies turned 3. We celebrated his day by taking our annual extended family camping trip that weekend so he really got a full few days of fun celebrating how great he is.

All Riley wanted was a dirt cake, paw patrol, and tractors. So, we combined it all together. It was simple. It was easy. It was so much fun.

My parents were there, my husband's parents, and my siblings and their families were all there. Both sets of our parents rented the cabins available while most of us camped in campers. We had a blast just hanging out and keeping everything low key. The kids loved making kinetic sand, riding bikes, chasing ducks, and doing all things kid outdoor related. And us adults all survived with 7 kids under the age of 6!

We came back home and had a few days of rest before my husband's parents made the trip to see us. It happened to coincide with the start of fair so grandma helped the kids make cookies to enter and we rounded up a few pictures the kids have made over the year to enter in as well. Riley also wanted to add in one of his lego creations (a motorcycle) he recently put together with his daddy.

Their hard work paid off as the kids had so much fun finding their items at the fair and learning that every item they entered placed either first or second.

Both kids won $5 each and they are so, so excited.

Our fair is a lot of fun and we look forward to it each year. Monday night we went to the free dinner, looked at all the animal exhibits, found our fair entries, and got free balloon animals (or a mermaid and ball in my children's cases).

Yesterday, we went back to have supper again and ride the Ferris wheel, one of the main goals my children plan for each year. I think this has to do with a Barbie book Payton has where the child only wants to ride the Ferris wheel. I wasn't sure if Riley would do it despite how much he talked about it. He surprised me by acting so brave and doing it! We also rode the carousel and let the kids play the duck game to earn a few toys. They picked play guns...

We ended the night with the bounce house and sno cones.

It was the most beautiful few nights. I love our local fair.

And, it must be said, I am so thankful for an easy baby #3. He hung out, observed intently, and slept the entire fair time.

County Fair 2018, you were a total hit for our family. We can't wait for next year!

Riley Turns 3 and Time Can Officially Slow Down

Somebody has a birthday around these here parts!

Hey, Hey, Mr. Riley, you are now officially 3! And I have no idea how we got here so fast. You are a running, walking, talking, counting, playing machine. Your language is huge and so is your heart. When you grow up you hope to fly airplanes and how timely was this picture we were able to capture:

You love your sissy so much and play with her constantly. The few times you have been apart from her you have had no idea what to do and felt so lost. You want to hold your brother and help with him. You currently have a baby doll named Jayden that you love to care for at the same time mommy helps Jayden. 

Lately we let you pick your own outfits and polos are totally one of your top picks. But you rotate between husker themes, Cars theme, and your Dusty (Planes) tshirt. 

You want to go to school so bad and talk about your future teacher. This hurts my heart but I am so excited for the things you are excited for as well sweet boy. You are sure to move mountains in this life.

Of my 3 children, you are my early riser. You play hard and sleep hard. Naps are hit and miss but early bed time is always where it's at for you. And then you beat the sun up and hit the ground running. Thanks for our quiet mornings together my baby and holding my hand or wrapping yourself in my hair as you fall asleep. Your love just can't be beat.

Happy Birthday Riley!

Our 7 Month Old Baby

 Well my little baby, we are wholeheartedly loving you! You definitely have so much sunshine to offer this world. I don't think you can take a bad picture and you are all smiles, even between the crying and begging for a nap.

And holy growth spurt baby. You have grown so much in 4 weeks. I had pulled out 6 month clothes for you after posting the 6 month baby update and 3 days later, we made a jump to 6-9 months. Today, you are mostly wearing 9 month clothes (like the onesie in the picture above). You have just grown unbelievably fast. 

Developmentally you have made leaps as well. I went to our 6 month well child checkup and was concerned about you not holding your head up. You didn't love tummy time and seemed unmotivated to even try looking around. Then, about a week later, you just decided you were ready and spent 2 days working super, super hard on these skills. You learned to hold your head up and roll at the same time. Today, you are a rolling machine and use it to get anywhere you want to go.

Sleep has been a struggle still. You love naps and are still taking tons of naps a day and then don't want to sleep at night. My night owl? Maybe, probably. The tricky part is your siblings go to bed early and your brother rises extremely early. This mom is struggling to manage a night owl and an early riser combo and it's making me overly exhausted. We are trying to convert you to the other children's schedule. Wish us luck in the next month.

Baby Jayden, thank you for all your smiles, love of toys, and curiosity in everything. You are constantly looking for social interaction. We can't wait to see what the next month unfolds. We love you so, so much!

Wrapping up June

With the 4th of July approaching, I feel like this summer will be over and done with before we know it. June is almost over and I have to say, we piled it on thick this month. Dance camp, swimming lessons, visitors most weekends, my mom for 1 week, library family dance night event, and camping one weekend. It was a lot and we are really, really tired. We squeezed in gardening, fairy garden making, jumping in puddles, park and splash pad, diy projects, and dates with each child. But, we can see the light to the slow down period and I am very ready for a bit of a lull. This past weekend we headed to my husband's parents as my father-in-law retires and he had his retirement party. It was good to see our children play with their cousins.

On Monday, we were greeted with our first week of no summer activities scheduled. We were so relieved and excited.

In any case, some pictures of our June.

Dance camp for Payton was a blast and we loved supporting her. She completed 2-3 art projects a day and learned a dance routine.

And because it's too cute not to share and she may someday want to see this, here is her big performance after 4 days of working hard at dance:


Happy 4th of July, we hope you have a great time!

Jayden is 6 Months

This post is about a week over due but Jayden hit the half a year mark. He's growing up quickly and has sped my time up the fastest. But, as they say, babies don't keep.

 Oh, our little Jayders, you keep life so light and fun. You are always down for whatever we are doing, laugh about everything, and your smile melts my heart. You talk and talk and talk. Your curiosity for your siblings continues to grow and, I can tell you this, you brother and sister love you so, so much. Your mommy and daddy do, too.

Taking pictures of you is easy, baby Jayden. You are one of the happiest babies.

In this month, you started trying food and are okay with it! You are still working on strengthening your muscles but that has made a huge leap in growth just in the last few weeks. You love putting weight on your legs though.

Nights are rough as you had a slight sleep regression possibly due to a growth spurt. You could also be teething, I'm not entirely sure. At night and for naps, you only want momma which is good and bad. I'll take it, in any case.

You love, love, love books and being read to. Any toy (or momma or sissy's hair) that comes within reach makes you swing your arms around excitedly and attempt to grab. You still aren't a huge fan of tummy time but you are used to doing it.

I don't take many pictures of your scars from your surgery when you were born, nor do I discuss it much, but I realize that one day you may ask me about it. So, at 6 months, here is a photo of how you're healing, which in short, is so well!

You can see your incision mark under your arm, across your back. There is a second mark below there where your ribs are. It's amazing how well you have healed. Jayden, you may be the strongest person I have ever met, already enduring invasive surgery right after birth.

We love you so much and can't wait to see all you have to offer this world.

Cheers to 1/2 a year my littlest love!