Janie wins the Funny Kid of the Week award

In the last 24 hours, Jane has notched up her goofiness a bit more. She is talking so much these days...and her thinking has definitely been taken up a notch, too. Here goes:

Last night, we were coming home from a family party, way past bedtime, and she should have been pretty tired. But she didn't fall asleep in the car, and as we pulled into the driveway, she assessed the situation, and told Brendan, "I have a lot of energy. You get trampoline out for me?"

This morning she brought her two pacifiers (her constant sleep companions) downstairs and was about to hand them to me so she could eat breakfast. But first she said, "I rinse them off first". And she proceeded to suck and lick each one in turn before putting them in my hand.

And tonight, after she and Lucy had been in the bathtub a long time, Brendan was ready to get them out. So he asked them, "Who's ready to get out of the tub?" Lucy said, "Not me". But Janie elaborated, sure that she could convince him, "Not me. Not Janie. Not Miss Jane."

The Joy of Taking Turns

We have a very small, one-person trampoline at our house, that we keep in the garage and sometimes bring in when the kids have energy and they can't go outside to burn it off. It was getting to be a source of contention, because the child on the trampoline never wanted to get off, and the other two children had a lot of trouble waiting (especially Janie...). So, I started giving them my digital kitchen timer to help them wait...the two big kids know how to set the timer, and they can set it for either one or two minutes, and then one person who's waiting gets to hold the timer until it rings.

It is wonderful! Janie and Lucy are taking turns jumping now, and they both love holding and using the timer as much as they do jumping. It has really made trampoline jumping a peaceful activity at our house:)

Lucy is Down for the Count...

So, Lucy got it. "It" being the bug that's been going around our house lately. She started looking poorly Saturday evening, and on Sunday the thermometer confirmed that she was indeed sick. She's taken her turn on the couch, her turn to eat toast and drink from a sippy cup, her turn to choose the movie of the hour. What did people do with sick kids before the invention of television? Sickness in the house is one of the few times we watch movies, but right now I'm milking it for all it's worth. Mostly because all the kids sit there and watch, and I have a chance to clean up the hundreds of toast crumbs and dirty kleenexes that litter the kitchen counters. And a chance to breathe:) Although I'm afraid I may have breathed in one too many germs, because I have a funny feeling in my throat, and it's not making me laugh...

Please pray for me, everyone out there who prays, that I don't get sick. We have two parties coming up this week for Gene's birthday, and I don't want to spoil them. I was just hoping the KIDS would be better in time!

Compassion in Action

Jane and Gene are still sick today. Janie is the worst, with a fever and an awful cold. Not the flu, but I think about as close as you can come...poor girl! Lucy is still healthy as ever, and she's been a help over the last couple days. This morning she was helping to clear the table after breakfast, when she tripped and fell on top of the sugar container she was carrying. Her hand was caught underneath, and got pretty bruised. I was comforting her, and Janie climbed down from her chair and came over. I saw her thinking, and then she went over to the animal bin. She chose her favorite little dog, and brought him to Lucy.


"You want my doggie?" (no answer, Lucy doesn't usually like to be helped by a sibling when she's sick)

Jane put it down next to Lucy and asked, "You like him?" (still no answer)

Finally Lucy moved over to the couch, carrying the dog, and Jane was ecstatic. "She likes him! She feeling better!"

So sweet:)

Curly Girly

Jane's hair has not always been curly. This is what it used to look like a few months ago:



Pretty straight all over the front and top. It was starting to get long enough to get into her eyes.


The back was getting curly, though...

And then one day she got her first haircut.... Voila! Curls all over!

They started out pretty short (obviously, she had just had a haircut). Now, though, the curls are starting to grow. And grow. And grow. Here's how they look now:

And from the back:


And the most telling view is from the side:


This is definitely hair from my side of the family. If I had some close at hand, I would post pictures of my sister Bekah when she was little, and possibly my Uncle John. Hendricks family, you know what I'm talking about! And how about that family picture of us in our curls and running shirts:)

We love you Janie!

Apple Picking

Here are some pictures from our apple-picking day last week...the kids picked a few, but mostly just ran and played with their cousins. And climbed trees! That was a definite highlight for everyone, as there are no climbing trees in our yard and this is about their only chance to climb a tree for the whole year (although our neighbors the Mitzels have a good tree in their yard, but the kids play in the tree house and it's not exactly the same thing...)






We're going to go picking again for applesauce apples, so stay tuned for more pictures:)

The Next One Succumbs...

Gene is sick now...fever yesterday afternoon, and threw up this morning. He is such a good sport when he's not feeling well, it makes me feel doubly bad for him. We are on our second movie already today, and it 's only 8:30...Jane has already had a bath, Lucy is in the tub now, we've eaten and mostly cleaned up breakfast, I've already changed the laundry, and everyone is dressed and have brushed their teeth. We don't usually accomplish so much on a typical well day!

Sickness

The cold virus has struck our house this week, and Jane is the (first?) unfortunate victim. She woke up in the night with a barking cough (I honestly thought when I first heard her that she was crying because a dog was barking...there would be a few "barks" and then a cry, and more barks. So we watched a baby movie at midnight with hot water, lemon juice and tea made with care in a sippy cup. She is very congested and sleepy today, but in a fairly cheerful mood.

I have noticed about myself (I don't know about anyone else) that when there is a sick child in the house, we tend to have a great day. Crazy, huh? I think it draws out my compassionate side, instead of my "Why don't you go play so I can get some stuff done?" side. I tend to drastically reduce my list of priorities for the day, and I don't mind sitting on the floor and cuddling the sick one.

It's been a really great day so far. Here's to a few more good ones!

Ponderings...

Gene was waiting his turn to jump on the trampoline, and asked me, "If the first will be last and the last will be first, what will the second be?" And a few days later he figured it out while the kids were all jostling to brush teeth. "The last will be first, the second will be last, and the first will be second." He, of course, volunteered to be the last one to brush his teeth. He has a definite competitive streak!

Lucy, staring at my purse one day (one I got just a few months ago after having had my old one for a few years), "Mama, I'm getting bored of your purse. When are you going to get a new one?"

Counting

Janie is in the "counting stage", and is starting to count EVERYTHING! She especially likes to count when playing hide-and-seek, as she can now count up to twenty, and likes to do so often (she used to count up to just nineteen, skipping a few numbers here and there, but proudly emphasizing NINETEEN at the end...) She and the big kids played hide-and-seek with Aunt Fiona this morning, and she had a great time counting when it was her turn. She also entertained Brendan's extended family this evening by hiding her pacifier under a cup, closing her eyes and counting to twenty, and then retrieving it:)

Why Kids Need a Dad

Since Brendan got a new job, he hasn't been home as long in the mornings anymore, so the kids rarely see him when they wake up. He leaves around 7 or earlier, so if they do manage to see him he's usually running out the door. A little different than the usual 8:30ish time he used to leave to walk to his office in town. When he comes home we usually eat, do dishes, maybe play for a bit and then baths and bed. Not a whole lot of Papa time.

So...when they do get a chance to play with him, I have to be a little more lenient with things like bedtimes...because it is so good for them! They are tired of being with me all day, and sometimes their attitude shows it.

Over the last few weeks, Lucy has had many bouts of the "grumps". She is sad, pouting, hurt, mad, whatever...but her reaction to all these things is to cry loudly and then just grump about for a while. I haven't found anything that can really cure it, but I really don't want it to become a habit so I am still trying.

However, I think part of the answer is Papa-time. Last night she was radiant, in her Michigan sweatshirt and blond pigtails, as she came in from playing baseball and practicing somersaults to get a drink. And then she went back outside (in the dark!) to keep playing. Mind you, it was cold last night, and it was past her bedtime...but I couldn't keep her in. She needs that time with him!

I am a person who runs on schedules, but I can't schedule these times...so I just have to let them happen:)