Busy-ness is a blessing!

Brigs is now 18 months old.  Officially 1 1/2 and so. incredibly. busy. Ah!   He is 'talking' quite a bit and can repeat many of the words we ask him to say.  His new word this week is 'Mamie'.  I'm still trying to decide what it means, but I'm guessing it's either mommy, blankie, movie, or Jamie.  He hears other little ones call me Jamie all day long so he may have picked this up from them!  A few of the other words he says are nose, eyes, baby, duck, up, and hot.  He knows that my coffee is hot, the oven and stove are hot and that if his food is hot he needs to blow on it.  He still doesn't eat too much and if I was asked what his favorite thing to eat is, I wouldn't even know how to answer!  He still won't eat mac-n-cheese or spaghetti, but will eat pizza, grilled cheese, cereal with milk in a bowl and chicken nuggets and fries.  He has 12 teeth completely through.  4 top front, 4 bottom front, and his 1 year molars.  Just this morning I looked in his mouth and saw his top 2 eye teeth popping in!  One of my favorite things he has started doing is waiting outside the shower for me.  He sits so nice and reads a book or eats his snack and then when I am all done, he hands me my towel, and then my robe.  It is the sweetest thing. 

 

Brigham learned how to swim in the tub!  I have a horrible fear of a child drowning in the bathtub, so we just put the baby seat away.  I kept him strapped in that thing as long as I could!

 For now, Boston still doesn't mind taking a bath with his brother.  They laugh and SPLASH a lot!

There have been a few meltdowns about not getting to have his blankie in the bathtub with him!

 'Hey what's under there?!'  :)

 

Boston is loving Kindergarten!   His favorite things so far, besides recess, are going to the library and gym class.  He loves getting out his notebook and writing notes or letters to people.  He still brings his own lunch to school 1-2 times a week.  We look over the menu on the weekends and go from there.  That seems to work well.  We were having some troubles with Boston lying, but that seems to have gotten better.  A few weeks into school he came home 'telling a story' about something that happened in the lunch room.  I emailed his teacher and Mr. Covey to get the official rules on home lunches & peanut butter sandwiches, and as soon as Mr. Covey replied to my email, it dawned on me that Boston had more than likely lied to me.  I confronted Boston about it, saying Mr. Covey and I talked and then I asked him again what had happened in the lunch room and his exact words were 'I will go to my room for lying!'.  I believe this incident was a blessing in disguise though, because it got us talking about how lying is wrong, but that it hurts more than just mom & dad, and now he had hurt Mr. Covey & Mrs. Wynja's feelings too.  I can't recall a time he has lied since!

Boston started Sunday School last Sunday and he has asked me every day since then to get him a real Bible.  He thinks Sunday School is pretty fun now, but come February I take over teaching his class... he may not think it's so fun then?! 

I started another year of GEMS this week!  I will be working with 5th grade girls this year.  It will be my 3rd year in a row with the same group, so hopefully they aren't tired of me yet!  I am also looking forward to starting a new Bible study with some girlfriends & new recruits in mid Oct.  We are going to do a Beth Moore study on James.  Derek are I are also in a couples Bible study that meets one Friday night a month, and have signed up to do the 5 Love Languages study at church prior to Sunday service!  It works out well because Boston is in Sunday School during that time, and they have nursery available for Brigs. 

Whew, that's almost overwhelming to type!  As you see, our family calendar is FULL.  There are days I look ahead to the next week's schedule and feel a bit overwhelmed, but it's good for us to keep busy & involved!  I just keep telling myself that the busy-ness is a blessing!   It is Sioux Falls Christian's Homecoming week, so Boston looked forward to marching in the parade today.  I had daycare kids this morning but closed at 12:30 so that Brigham and I could make it to the parade and Family Fun Festival with Boston.  The Kindergarten class dressed as the Incredibles.  The theme for Homecoming was 'Super Charged' so it was all super hero themed!  So cute and the parade was great

He sure is an Incredible kid :)

 

 

 

Auntie Shana is coming to babysit Brigs in a few hours so we can take Boston to the Homecoming Football game!  Go Chargers! 

 

 

Time Out.

The month of September has flown by.  I shouldn't be surprised though as they all seem to move at a much faster pace than I would like.  The calendar is always full of something.  I decided tonight that I needed to give myself a time out so that I could catch up on some blogging.  Speaking of time outs.. Brigham learned about these lately.  He is just such a stinker!  If you ask him if he wants a time out he shakes his head no.  He's really just too cute and most of the time we end up laughing at his cute little personality.  He sits on his time out step and smiles, says 'cheese', plays peek a boo between the spindles and crosses his arms like he's upset and then smirks at you!

Not sure what we are going to do about his blankie obsession.  He throws a fit if we don't let him have his blankie with him while he's eating.  It goes outside with us and in the car with us at all times or he's screaming for it before we get out the door!

On Saturday, Sept. 8th, I got some much needed time with some girlfriends from church!  We met downtown for the Sioux Falls Arts Festival & then had lunch at Minerva's.  I walked away with one purchase...A bow & arrow for Boston!  He was SO excited!

That afternoon we got a surprise visit from my Grandma LaVonne & Grandpa Harold!  They hadn't gotten to our new house yet so wanted to see it before they headed back to TX for the winter.  Boston had checked out a book from the school library about wolves, so Grandpa read it to the boys.. and then kept reading all the facts to himself.  He was so into the book, Grandma and I had to laugh.  I told him I knew what to buy him for his next birthday:)

Brigs was not in the mood for sitting still.

Boston has soccer practice every Thursday night and a game every Saturday.  He has really improved over the past few weeks & even scored his first goal this week...and I missed it!  It was a make-up game on Monday evening at 5:30 and I was babysitting, so got there a few minutes too late.  I'm sure there will be many more goals, but missing that first one is a huge bummer for this mama!

Saturday morning it was only about 40 degrees during the game! I'm not sure we are ready for temps that low yet!

 

 Grandma Lisa & Grandpa Ron came to watch B's game and help me entertain Brigs.  He is so busy & just runs in every direction.

 Here is Boston with his team.  The boys have lots of fun!

 

I better wrap this up so I can get Boston to bed!  He likes to stay up late like his dad, so getting him to bed at 9 on a school night can be a chore.  We have been reading the Magic Treehouse books, and he is really into them! We are starting book 4 tonight! I usually tell him we can read 2 or 3 chapters before bed if he is laying down and ready to go by 9.  It usually works!

'You need new sweats..'

Last week, my husband kindly told me I should consider going shopping for some new 'comfy clothes'.  He told me I needed new sweat pants & shirts, and a few cute little matching jacket & pant outfits..He thought my daycare families were probably getting tired of seeing me in the same-old same-old every morning.  I just looked at him with a 'Are you kidding me look?!'..  he couldn't figure out why I was upset.  He thought I would be excited to go shopping for myself!  So anyway, I guess I'm on the hunt for new work clothes, although I am positive that any mom (or dad!) reading this knows perfectly well that sweat pants & t-shirts are the most comfy things ever to chase kids around in.. and get pooped on..peed on.. barfed on.. you name it! 

I really couldn't ask for better kids to take care of.  Not one of them is a handful (other than Brigham!) and 9 times out of 10, everyone plays well, eats well & naps well, so I really couldn't ask for more!

Here are a few pictures of the kids from the past few weeks.

This little guy's previous daycare provider told me he would be the easiest kid to watch.. she was right!  

 

 We did some painting last week!  I told the kids it was magical paper & that once they started to cover the paper with paint, their name would magically appear!  It worked!  :)

      Gracie gets so focused when she paints or colors!

 I didn't dare give this little guy a paint brush, so he got a snack instead!  Bennett just celebrated his 1st Birthday!

The older kids love to play games.  Memory, Trouble, Connect 4 and Candyland are some of their favorites!  I usually have to supervise closely or they start to blame each other for cheating!

 Makinli loves it when I read books.  She listens SO WELL and then likes to read it back to me.

Each week we try to do a letter craft for a capital & lowercase letter.  It takes quite a bit of prep work on my part, but the kids love it & it's adding some nice direction to the cement wall in the basement :)  I found the idea here for anyone that is interested. 

 

I've had a lot of people ask me if I am enjoying having a daycare.  It worked well taking a few kids here and there, but I was skeptical of taking on permanent part-time families.  It was something I had always thought of trying, but there was a part of me that wondered if it would drive me crazy. I'm a clean freak and having kids around messing up the house all day was a huge worry of mine! Silly I know, but I was more worried about the mess than the stress :)  I am very surprised at how well it has gone.  There are definitely days that I look at the clock, patiently waiting for it to be 5:30, and I love having a day or 2 off a week...but overall, it has gone much better than I ever expected!  The kids are awesome, and so are the parents, so I am very blessed!  It took me awhile to get into a groove that worked well, but I have found that it works best for me to clean the entire kitchen during rest time every day & that all the kids help with clean up around 4:30 or 5 so that when the last kids are picked up, you would never know there were kids playing here all day!  Speaking of cleaning the kitchen... I better get that done.  All the kids are sound asleep, or resting their eyes quietly!     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Come Work For The Lord...'

On Monday morning, August 27th, Derek's last living grandparent was called to her heavenly home.  Glady's mother, Jennie Vis, was 96 years old.  She lived a great long life, and she left an incredible legacy to her 9 children, 33 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren.  The service celebrating her life was one I will never forget.  

The grandchildren & great-grandchildren stood in front of the church and sang In Christ Alone, while Boston and the other little ones sang Jesus Loves Me & God Is Good.  4 of her grandsons spoke at the funeral sharing memories of their grandma. It was incredibly touching.  I sat in the pew and cried thinking 'What an amazing woman!'  I never had the chance to visit with Jennie and get to know her on my own.  Her mind had started to slip several years ago, so many of the times that we saw her she didn't know who we were.  They spoke about how there Grandma was never wealthy, and that she never had many material things, but she was rich in the Lord.   One of them closed with saying he was so proud to be a part of the Vis family.  I am proud to have married into it.  After hearing stories of her life, how she set such a great Christian example & how deeply proud her family was to be a part of her life... I couldn't help but think 'I pray that when it's my time to go, my friends and family can say the same things about me'. 

Chelsea & Grace made the trip home from Zuni, New Mexico for the funeral. It was great to see them and spend time with them. On our way home from the funeral in Leota, MN on Thursday, we made a stop in Valley Springs.  Derek wanted to stop and see his dad's grave site.  Always an emotional stop.  We all left the cemetary in tears (Brigs was sleeping).  Poor B cried all the way back to Sioux Falls about missing his Papa. 

 

Yesterday, Sept. 2, was 3 years since Derek's dad had died.  The years have gone so fast, yet it still seems like yesterday.  It was so nice that Glady could have all of the kids together as a family this past week, as she mourns the loss of her mother, and we all remember Jerry & the incredible man he was.  Friday night we all got together at Glady's for supper.  We had ice cream cake in celebration of Grace's 1st Birthday at the end of the month!  Saturday morning Glady, Chels & Grace came over for coffee and then the boys and I went to Glady & Les' for lunch and playing! 

 

 Brigs learned how to say 'Mam-Ah' and Glady thinks that's pretty special!

Earlier this week he found a picture on our fridge of  Mam-ah.  He would point and say Mam-ah over and over again.  We lowered the picture for him, so now he carries it around the house.. even given her kisses! 

He even knows how to say 'Papa'. 

 

Derek has worked the. entire. holiday. weekend.  Even though the boys and I have loads of fun & keep plenty busy, I still struggle after 3 years in the car business, spending the long holiday weekends just me & the boys. 

 

I came down with a horrible cold on Thursday so the boys and I have watched several movies, done lots of snuggling on the couch and enjoyed several naps!  It's been wonderful and I am finally feeling better.  

 Last night after Derek got home from work, I took B to the movie Brave!  We had been wanting to see it for a long time so it was something we both looked forward to all day! 

 The boys find new ways to entertain themselves all the time!

'Look mom, no hands!'

 

I best wrap this up & tackle a few things on my to-do list.  I haven't been real productive these past few days but I have enjoyed every single minute of soaking up time with family, remembering loved ones & the blessing that my 3 boys are.  I will leave you with these last words..  Jennie Vis had hand written this quote on a piece of paper that was tucked away in the back of her Bible.  It has deeply touched my heart.

 

'Come work for the Lord.  The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low, but the retirement benefits are out of this world.'