How is barf made?

Nice title, huh?  That was the question that Carly asked me in the van today on the way to a play date at the park.  The story behind it is that Ella has been sick for about a week (yes, with vomiting).  Carly was very appalled by her sickness and would yell "I'm not looking!" every time Ella would have to throw up.  Can't say that I blamed her!  So her inquisitive 5 year old mind was just wondering today how exactly barf is made.  Try and explain that one!  

The summer is quickly coming to an end.  :(  I am slowly coming out of the haze of having a newborn in the house again.  Little Nora is doing great.  She is up to about 10 pounds and is sleeping through the night.  Now momma needs to get back on a regular sleeping schedule too!

The big kids start back to public school next week.  Bryn will be a senior (insert a heavy momma sigh here).  She gets her senior pics taken in October.  She has already applied and been accepted to Iowa State, so we will have a Cyclone in the house next year!  Ethan will be in 8th grade.  He will continue to take a couple of classes at Holmes Hr High and then will be homeschooled for the rest of his classes.  Brian will be teaching Ethan his Biology class this year.  Ella will be in 3rd grade.  She has become an avid reader.  I hope I can keep finding books for her.  Carly is VERY excited to be starting Kindergarten this year.  She is starting to read and she cannot wait to be able to read books in bed at night before she goes to sleep (like her big sister)!  Ella and Carly will be learning about American History and doing Astronomy together for their science classes. 

Carly is going to be taking ballet, tap and jazz dance lessons this year.  Ella is contiunuing with her guitar and drum lessons.  The girls will also be taking a music class together at UNI where they play instruments, sing, and dance.  Ethan was in a summer theatrical production at UNI (Aladdin) and will be trying out for some other plays at the Black Hawk Children's Theatre this Fall.   He will also continue in playing his guitar in the CHAOS band (our church Wednesday night high-energy youth group gathering).

Graysen's favorite pastimes these days are looking at picture books (he loves Elmo and Mater from Cars), going to the swimming pool and building towers with blocks and then promptly knocking them down.  He loves his new little sister who he calls 'Dewa'.  He thinks her name is Dora and he can't quite get the 'r' sound out.  So her nickname is now 'Dewa'. 

She be a fun and crazy year for us!

'Tis the Season!

Well (insert sigh)....we made it through another 10-day sprint as we call it here in Sankeyville.  We have 3 birthdays and Christmas in a 10-day span (Dec 15-25th).

We had lots of good food (i.e. expanding waistlines), made lots of goodies (i.e. expanding waistlines), ate lots of birthday cake (note 3 birthdays above which equals expanding waistlines) and had visits from lots of friends and family (i.e.laughter therapy that hopefully helped reduce above mentioned expanding waistlines).

Brian turned 41.  Not a big celebratory number as far as birthdays go.  But the very important thing about 41 is that when he started his nine year plan to become a physician it was always, "I will be 41 when I am finally in practice."  Well, 41 has finally arrived. (insert big happy face here!)

Graysen turned 2 on December 23rd.  He is such sweet little boy.  He loves yogurt and drinking from a straw.  His dad and sisters introduced him to chocolate milk the other day.  The next morning he was standing in the fridge (yes, in the fridge) pointing at the Hershey's syrup and yelling.  I just looked at Brian and rolled my eyes.  He loves cell phones, DS's and any other toys that he can get his hands on that belong to his older siblings.  Ella is his second mommy and he often goes to her first when he gets hurt (insert mommy sad face here).

Carly turned 5 on Christmas Day.  She still believes all the Christmas lights are her birthday lights (I hope she believes this forever).  December 25th is starting to overwhelm her a bit.  We were up at 6am to do Santa and then we opened our family gifts.  We then switch to Carly birthday mode in the afternoon.  Her godparents (and their kids) came over and celebrated with us.    We had a Buzz Lightyear cake that one of the gals from Happy Time (the kids' old preschool) made.  She loved the cake ("Mom, it exactly what I wanted!  Insert Mom comment: 'I am so glad, because it saved me hours of not having to make little frosting dots which I don't have the patience for!")  By the time she had opened all of her presents she came up to me and quietly whispered that she wanted to open more presents.  Sigh.  She wasn't being bratty, just honest.  How do you explain to this not-so-consolable child that this is it for presents for her for the next 364 days.    I know....we may have to start considering the half birthday idea for her.  Or maybe this is just a life lesson she is going to learn (endure) from a young age. 

We are now into a new week.  Brian had to go back to work today (he was on vacation last week).  He is chief for the next 2 weeks which means some long hours.  Only 6 more months I keep reminding myself.  The kids are off school for another week.  They are running around and playing with their new toys and going to friends' houses to check out their new toys. 

We were up most of the night on Christmas Eve and Christmas because Graysen got croup.  We have all had the sniffles and sneezes as of late.  I am ready for Spring (I know this is wishful thinking).  We did have a beautiful white Christmas (8 inches of snow fell on Christmas Eve).   We do live in Iowa, and we do have crappy winters.   I don't mind an occasional blizzard if all of my family is home and safe.   I just really don't like ice or being cold.  Thank goodness for warm blankets and snuggling!  :)

I hope all of your Christmases were joyful!  I hope your new year is blessed!  There are so many things to be thankful for everyday!

Off to chase my monkeys....maybe that will help with the expanding waistline!  Or else when the monkeys are in bed tonight I will be looking into ordering a new treadmill!  :)

Alana

Summer Blessings

Ahhhhhhh.....  That is not a yelling ah, but an ah of joy and relief.  I am so thankful that after several years of contemplating (and tears) that my husband was able to convince me that the decision for me to stay home could happen a little earlier than we had planned (this year instead of next). 

This summer has been a true blessing for my spirit.  It sounds dumb to say you are 'nervous' to stay home everyday with your own children, but I was just that.  I have worked since I was 15 years old.  Being a salary earner for our family was part of my identity.  Being the sole earner for 4 years while Brian was in school was a must. 

The transition to being at home was a lot smoother than I thought it would be.  Our summer schedule was not even a schedule.  It was a 'get up whatever time you wake up' summer.  Thankfully, we now have a toddler that likes to sleep in like his mommy (even if he still gets up several times during the night).  :)

As I type this blog entry the school bell just rang down at the elementary school for the first day of school.  Another ahhhhh moment (again, not a yelling ah).  My littlest ones are not even out of bed yet!  We have decided to start homeschooling this year.  We actually started a few days ago.  We are easing into that schedule too.

My world is a much better place when done at an easy pace.  Not a hectic pace.  Not a harried pace.  Not on someone else's time schedule.

Summer blessings:  no schedule, ice cream trucks, swimming, slip and slides, learning about the world around us from a child's point-of-view.

Fall is in the air now.  Windows are open.  Cool breezes.  My favorite time of year.