Haiku Friday - my kiddos

First came Mikayla
Then came Gus, Owen and Zeke
Now Baby Mary

The love of siblings!

Child spacing in my life ....

I was thinking today about how our 5 children are spread out in ages over almost 13 years. All the different stages and ages we will have filling our house. As I'm washing teeny tiny baby clothes and stocking up on diapers and wipes, I'm also helping my eldest to write and type a missions support letter for her first mission trip. Its only 6 days long and they will only be about 5 hours away, but ... wasn't she just the baby I was preparing for? And in between those two I have other children learning to read, trying to learn to ride a two wheeler, longing for a deer hunting licence, and the two year old with a never slowing vocabulary explosion :-) Ahhh, the chaos and joy of it all ... I can't even begin to find adequate words.

I enjoy each age and stage immensely. I just wonder how we will juggle it all. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such sweet spirits, such growing and such love!

Wordless Wednesday - Kids can ski!

My sister and my dad took her kids and my kids to ski in the "miniloppet" a kids race the day before the Vasaloppet.

Friday's Ultrasound

Quick explination about these pictures: top one is full baby profile, with head toward bottom left and butt and legs toward top right. She is quite a wiggle worm, so not the clearest of ultrasounds. The second photo is of the area were you can tell is it a boy or is it a girl.

We took all 4 kids and went to our 19 week ultrasound on Friday. The Dr. doing my ultrasound was great about the full room. He walked in, looked a little surprised and said with a big smile "Great! a party!"

Up until this ultrasound I'd been saying I wanted to keep the gender a surprise, but the kids wanted to know so badly and something told me I should go ahead and find out. So at the very end of the ultrasound our Dr. says "last chance to find out..." I told him "go ahead ... tell us boy or girl". He was great about it and really tried to explain each part on the baby so the kids could get it. But it basically boiled down to, "if it were a boy we'd see a little boy part right here, but we don't, so you are getting a baby sister". It made it worth losing out on my surprise at the birth to see the look on my Rosebud's face when she heard that. It was shock for about 30 seconds and then just a huge grin and giggle. She has hoped for a sister each pregnancy, but as you know she has only gotten brothers up till now. Honestly, I am thrilled to just have a baby. Boy or girl does not matter to me one bit, but it was so much fun to see Rosebud's reaction. But as we are all giggling and smiling about it, O(our 5 year old) says "A girl baby?! That's my worst nightmare!!!" We assured him it was no nightmare and I know he'll love and cuddle on her just the same. It really was a fun day! And now I guess we can go shopping for pink :)

Our Crazy Little Z-Man!

Christmas Shopping

Well, the season is here to brave the crowds and find those perfect gifts to express love to family and friends. Of course a pregnant mom with 4 kids in tow, is not the best candidate for this job. But we try. Last night we were pleasantly surprised by an event at our local christian bookstore. They held a Children's shopping night. I registered our 12, 9, and 5 year olds a few days before and we arrived just before they were closing the store to normal business. From 6-8:30 it was open only to the families who signed up for this experience. Parents filled out "lists" of who the kids were to shop for and how much the child could spend of each gift, then we purchased a gift card for the total amount, when we registered. So last night the kids walked in with gift cards and lists, ready to independently choose the gifts they would give mom, dad and siblings. The were so excited and very proud to be keep their purchases a surprise. The store has a coffee shop where the parents hung out and waited, they also had snacks and crafts for the kids who were waiting their turn to shop. The kids went in shifts as there were only 8 "personal shoppers" (store employees) to escort the kids thru the store. They helped them stay with in their price parameters, gave them gift suggestions, helped them checkout, and then helped wrap each gift they bought. It was so much fun to see my kids so excited to pick out gifts for each other ... it will be even more fun on Christmas to watch them as they watch each other open those gifts. So that was the beginning of our Christmas shopping ... we'll see if the rest goes so smoothly

My 5 year old with my camera

So, I let my 5 year old wander around the house with my camera taking pictures of some of his favorite things ... these make me smile. I'll admitt I wish the TV were not one of his favorite, but at least it was off :) The others are the Beta in his big brother's fish tank, his little brother drinking juice and his latest kids meal toy

Ahhh... its Sept

Well, Sept is a crazy month for us as 3 of our 4 kids have Sept. birthdays:
Rosebud turned 12, Gus-Gus turned 9 and our Baby Z turned 2.

Mr. O (aka Daddy's Shadow) will turn 6 in Feb ... lucky for him he gets a party all to himself. He doesn't think he is so lucky ... poor guy just wants birthday gifts now like everyone else. My mama heart did give in and bought him a webkinz.

So here are pictures of the birthday kids (plus O, cause I just could not leave him out)