It's been awhile

Here's the latest news: Violet is crawling! She is on the go, and is venturing outside her safety zone of "the rug" It is fun to watch her crawl around and every day she is mastering the skill better and better. At times while in the "crawl" position she will straighten her legs and stick her behind way up. It is so funny, I wonder why she does this? My concern is what is she going after and what is she going to put in her mouth? It is a bit of a challenge to keep the older children's small toys away from a mobile Violet. Violet went for her 6 month check up today, she weighs 15lbs and 1 oz. She is in the 90th percentile for height, although I can't remember her measurement. After her dr's appt I was planning a big grocery stop, but in the store, Rachel fell apart (unusual for her). I do believe she is tired after getting up so early. So, no groceries later, I am home trying to think up a plan for supper.
This is a picture of Jacob, yes, he is running on the treadmill. He likes being the fastest runner in his class, and this year another boy runs around the track faster than Jacob. So we told him he just needed to keep running and after some practice, he would run even faster. Jacob came up with this idea that over the weekend he needed to run on the treadmill to practice. He ran one mile on Sat and again on Sun afternoon. Come Monday at school, his legs were tired and he still couldn't pass this one boy. So we encouraged him to take it a little easier. He is playing soccer and is running there!

It really warms my heart to see my children playing together. When every one is getting along and having fun, I feel like we are doing something right. Just a dirt pile entertains them for a long time.

I caught Ben reading the girls books before bedtime. This doesn't always happen like this, our evening routine varies. Sometimes I am rushing off to work at 6:00pm, soccer practice cuts our evening short, and homework changes things. Plus, we are pretty good about the 8:00 bedtime, but it makes our evenings just fly by!

Ben's parents were here from Wed to Monday morning, and it was so nice to have extra hands and open arms for the children. We all enjoy having them with us. Thanks dad and mom Bast for all the help you give to us! We love having you here.

I have started working an 11pm-7am shift at work. It touched my heart when I came home, and Jacob poured a cup of coffee for me. He seems to really help out when I am gone. I am trying to do this without a babysitter. Fatigue and I are already close companions and so far, I am managing. My laundry pile is getting huge, and the dust is collecting, but oh well. I am Just thankful I can work as little as I do.