Its Monday

It has been 2 weeks since I have been to the grocery store. Supplies are running low, so this was our errand for today, a nice long grocery list and getting Violet's 6 month pictures taken. We got the pictures taken, smiles were in abundance, everyone is happy. Then while grocery shopping, still everyone happy, Rachel is sitting in the basket and Violet in the baby carrier in front. I am shopping away, when all of a sudden Rachel throws out the Ragu container. It burst all over the floor. Ragu is everywhere. I am standing there with my mouth hanging open wondering "did this just happen, and where did this come from?" There were several people in the aisle, and I am so thankful no one got splattered. I however, wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. My kids are not even fussing! Where did this behavior come from??? Rachel was very silent and very still. We had to find a little clean-up man to help us and then needless to say we checked out what we had and went home. On the drive home we had a little discussion about throwing things. Hopefully this will not happen anymore. It's a Monday, the beginning of the week and I hope it improves!! I have no flour or sugar, I guess we will need to make another grocery trip sometime this week, what a bummer. But for now I am still recovering from this grocery experience.

Soccer Game

We had our first soccer game this afternoon! It was so much fun to see the kids enjoying themselves. They are on the same team, and it is fun to see them together. When Ashley was running after the ball she had a constant smile on her face. This picture of her is while playing defense. They have an excellent coach who lets the kids play all different positions. Every one has an opportunity to "run after the ball". Jacob didn't want to play defense, but he did good.

Jacob did come very close to scoring his first goal, maybe next time.

Rachel, Violet and I sat on the sidelines cheering them on. They did wonderful, and even won the game. And tonight, they are very, very tired. We are looking forward to a fun, busy weekend!

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.

After school fun

This week has flown by, and I am trying to get used to having the days slip away. Some days I getmething done, and other days I think I am going to get something done. We have spent some time outside enjoying this beautiful weather. Here Rachel is in her dress (the outfit for the moment) playing in the dirt. One bonus to living in a constant construction zone is the piles and piles of dirt we have. The kids don't know what it is like to live without dirt! Ben cut down some trees, and left this pine tree for the kids to play on and let me tell you we have walked all over this tree. It is very long/tall, and we have played follow the leader, and practiced balancing on this tree. Ashley loves walking on this tree and even Rachel can walk on this fallen tree.

We also got the baby swing up again, with the rope fixed, so Violet has enjoyed swinging. I also was able to get the garden somewhat ready for fall while she sat in the swing and watched.

Jacob is enjoying 2nd grade. His group of friends have discovered the sport of kickball, so when I ask about school, I hear about the eventful kickball game during recess and who ran the fastest, etc... I guess that's what is important. One afternoon after school I was able to get a quick picture of his afternoon activity of playing cowboy. Hmmmm, once again, I am thankful for dirt.

And of course, I have to include a picture of this beautiful baby of mine, who is just growing so fast and is just amazing. She is near crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth and then ends up on her belly. She wants to crawl, but hasn't quite gotten there yet. When I went to work the other night I left specific instructions that Violet was not allowed to crawl. I didn't want to miss her milestone. So the kids were excited to tell me the next morning that every time she got up on her hands and knees, they made her get on her belly again. It also helped that Ben put her in a bag sleeper to make it more difficult.

Now this evening I need to get supper ready. I have been in a slump recently regarding supper plans and ideas. Hopefully I will pull out of it soon. I just feel like I fix the same ole things over and over again. No one here is complaining, it's just my thoughts and we do seem to end up with a balanced complete meal. Just a tired cook dreading the clean up process after bedtime. UGGGH! Oh for a cook, housekeeper and laundry assistant, then I could sleep and play, what fun that would be!!!