Jacob

Where oh where do I begin with Jacob...

We're one month in to the new school year and things are going GREAT so far!  He is in the 5th grade, which meant he moved to a new school in our corporation.  His teacher has provided me with nothing but positive feedback.  Throw in his currect grades, A's, one B, and one C (in reading), and that makes this Mama very happy.

Aside from school, Jacob stays incredibly busy with sports and extra curricular activities.  He's playing soccer, basektball, and his favorite... baseball.  He also showed cows and goats at the 4H fair this summer.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for my boy... But for now, I'll enjoy these days because Lord knows, these days will be over before I know it...

Kaylee

I'm going to dedicate a post to each of my kids, in hopes of catching you up on what's been going on in each of their little lives.  Since she's the oldest, let's begin with Kaylee...

She's 12 going on 17.  I love this age... I love all the eye rolls, I love getting talked back to, I love how tidy 12 year olds can be.  Like I said, I LOVE THIS AGE!

Uh hem... what I really mean is, I'm counting down the days until she can tolerate me again (and vice versa!)  Holy cow, not gonna lie.  Some days are T-O-U-G-H!  She's a great kid, don't get me wrong, but somewhere in the midst of her stretching her wings and gaining her independence, she's become a grizzly bear to live with.  The same kid who wants more responsibility and thinks she needs a phone, can't remember to hang up her towel in the bathroom or brush her teeth each evening... Really?  Because hanging up your towel and brushing your teeth is a new thing around here, right?  I know she'll get it, she will... And she and I will be friends again someday, right???  Hopefully sooner than later!

Kaylee is in the 7th grade this year... which I find very hard to believe she can be in the 7th grade since we just brought her home from the hospital, swaddled in a little pink blanket last week...  Where does the time go, really?  She is so smart... She loves math and hates to read.  (Not my kid, I was the opposite!)

She is in the midst of volleyball season right now and is looking forward to basketball season.  She gave up soccer this year since it coincides with volleyball.  She spent 5 days at Taylor University Basketball Camp this past summer.  She was not crazy about the idea of being away from home for 5 days, but the deal was if she went to camp and made it the full 5 days without melting down and begging us to come get her, then we'd get her a cellphone.  She was beside herself when I picked her up from camp with the cellphone in hand.  We were very proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone and making it through camp.

She is still C-R-A-Z-Y about her cows.  Two of them are due to calve any day.  She's looking forward to that!  She will tell you 4H and showing cows is her all-time favorite activity.  She's a huge help to her dad on the farm.  Driving 4-wheelers has become a thing of the past.  She's now a pro with the pickup truck and tractor.  Having not grown up on a farm myself, she amazes me...

So that's Kaylee in a nutshell... Typical pre-teen I'm sure!

Inauguration Day 2013

Because the new Lieutenant Governor, Sue Elsperman, is from our hometown, our School Corporation's 4th graders were invited to attend this year's Inauguration for our new Governor.  They left early that morning and traveled to Indianapolis by charter buses.  They got the attend the inauguration, toured the Capitol Building, and were invited to the Lieutenant Governor's office to have cookies with her.  What an honor and an amazing opportunity for our kids!

 

 

There's Kaylee in the brown coat and striped scarf.

 

 

PTO Performance

The 3rd and 4th graders at Kaylee's school were the entertainment for this fall's PTO meeting.  They did a great job!    Kaylee is the ne in the very center of the picture.

 

 

Her school was honored by being chosen as a National Blue Ribbon School this year. 

HUGE HONOR!

We're so blessed to be able to send our kids to such a great school with wonderful teachers! 

Anden Goes to Preschool

Despite my best efforts to keep him litte, he's decided it's okay for him to grow up and go to school.  Why do they have to grow up, really?  They grow up, they give you grief, they cost too much dag on money, and they make you cry when you realize they really can venture out into this big big world on their own! 

 

See, he's much too little to go to preschool...

 

 

No Anden, you are not SO BIG!  You must stay home with your mommy and let her rock you while we watch Mickey Mouse Club!  (It's just not the same watching Mickey Mouse Club without you!)

 

FINE!  If you insist, we'll go to preschool!  But I will walk you down those basement steps at preschool, because they're much too steep and you are not THAT BIG!

 

 I wonder if your teacher would notice if I just hid upstairs while you were at preschool?  :)

Back to School

Kaylee ~ 4th Grade

Jacob ~ 2nd Grade

Make it a GREAT year kiddos!  Love you!

First Day of School

Say it ain't so!

Kaylee ~ 3rd Grade

Jacob ~ 1st Grade

Anden ~ Still in bed (let's keep it that way!)

End of another school year... This can't be!!

Kaylee's 2nd Grade Class

Kaylee is on the very top, 2nd from the right.

Kaylee's favorite thing about the 2nd grade was getting a laptop for the year.  All the 2nd graders at her school had their very own laptop throughout the entire year.  It came home with her everyday.  She had homework and study guides, took Advanced Reading tests on it, learned how to surf the Internet, played games of course, and learned how to video herself reading a story.  Her final assignment was to make a picture slide show of her 2nd grade year and had music playing in the background.  It was pretty amazing how much she learned.

Jacob's Kindergarten class.
Jacob is in the top row, 2nd from the left.


He LOVED his teacher Mrs. Beck.
On the first day of school I remember him coming home and telling me that,
"My teacher is in love with me because she told me she couldn't wait until tomorrow to see me again."

(I can't for the life of me figure out how to spin this photo rightside up.  Sorry!)

Jacob's class field trip to the French Lick.  They got to ride the train from French Lick to Cuzco.

After the train ride they stopped in Birdseye for icecream.  This is Jacob and his buddy Ryan.

School Program

Kaylee & Jacob had their School Program tonight. 

Each grade did a small musical performance. 

Here are a few pictures from the evening...

Back to School

First day back to school...

Kaylee ~ 2nd Grade

Jacob ~ Kindergarten

First Day of School Photos

Kaylee ~ First Grade ~ Age 6

Jake ~ Preschool ~ Age 4

Back to School

Back to school tomorrow!!! Kaylee starts tomorrow, Jake starts on Monday. You would think that any mother, in her right mind, would look forward to this. I always THINK or try to tell myself that I'm ready for school to start, get the kids back into a routine, and have some time to myself to get things done, but it always hits me a few days before they go back. This year, it hit me last night. I think part of it was that Jesse took the day off yesterday and we took Kaylee and Jake to Holiday World. We all had a blast (even Jesse who hates amusement parks admitted that he had a good time.) As we were going to bed last night, my mind was spinning thinking, "That's it... the summer's over. School's starting, no more playdates with my girlfriends and their kids, no more fun days at Holiday World, no more adventures hiking and canoeing" (oops... still need to blog about that)... And I know that's not really the case, of course they have their weekends and breaks, but it's just not the same. Bottom line, we have SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER and I hate to see it end! You'll laugh when I tell you that since we had so much fun yesterday and since I was hating it that today was the last day of their summer break, the kids and I decided to go back to Holiday World today. Thank goodness for season passes (no actually thank Grandma Mary Lee and Grandpa Denis!)

So anyhow, that's where I'm at tonight. Bummed out that summer's over, and already looking forward to Fall Break. Oh well, can't do anything about it... I've tried telling Kaylee that I'm going to quit feeding her so she'll stop growing up and then she'll always be my little girl. She just laughs at me and looks at me like I'm nuts. For some reason, she's looking forward to tomorrow. Already has her clothes picked out and everything! She obviously adjusts to change better than me. :-)

I'll try to post a few pictures of her tomorrow and let you know how her first day back went.

Has it really been a month already?

My oh my, how time flies. Has it really been a month already since my last post? A few weeks ago, I could tell I was in my nesting phase. Baby clothes, bedding, etc. were washed, the house was pretty well spotless, and I had more energy than what I knew what to do with. Let's just say though, I'm definitely not feeling that way this week. I don't think I've ever felt so exhausted in my entire life. Between the 4 or 5 trips to the bathroom every night, the heartburn that keeps me up, and the aching all over, I don't really sleep too much at night. Then I walk around all day feeling like a zombie. I don't ever remember feeling like this with Kaylee or Jake. The end is in sight and I just keep telling myself it could be anyday, although I've been saying that all week now.

Kaylee and Jake are counting down to the end of school. Tomorrow should have been their last day of school; but due to all the snowdays, they have to go to school tomorrow, next Tuesday, and then a 1/2 day on Wednesday. I really think they're more excited about the new baby than they are about getting out of school. Ever since we told them we were having a baby, they've known it was coming some time around the end of the school year and that's all they've talked about.

We had Jake's Case Conference meeting at school today and his Preschool Teacher and Speech and Language Pathologist are in agreement that he's ready to be placed in the General Education Classroom. Up until now, because of his speech and articulation delays, he qualified for the Developmental Preschool. Beginning in August, he will be in a preschool class with typically developing peers that he will then move on to Kindergarten with the following year. I'm so happy because I think being around other kids who are good speech models for him will really help him. He'll continue to see his Speech and Language Pathologist 2 times/week while he's at preschool to work on some of his articulation issues, but overall, he's doing great. He's really come SO FAR. He's such a social little guy, he loves being around other kids, and will make friends with anyone, I know he'll love it. Jesse swears he's going to be the class clown.

Kaylee has achieved all the Kindergarten goals/standards that are expected by the time they enter the First Grade. I'm going to brag on her a bit here... she got a letter from her Religious Ed. teacher and was able to read the ENTIRE letter to me. And it wasn't your typical easy-to-read, geared toward a Kindergartner's reading level. It had words in it like 'beginning,' 'different,' 'taught,' 'kindness,' 'religion.' She didn't skip a beat when she got to those words! She blows my mind.

Here are some pictures that kind of sum up what we've been up to the last month or so.

Here is Kaylee performing at the 4-H Share the Fun Contest. Her group came in 3rd place!!!!

That's her with the red bandanna.

Here are some turkeys... I mean turkey hunters.

Jake had to take his gun along too, just in case Dad missed.

4/26- Here is Jesse planting his corn crop.

He planted his soybeans last night.

Hey batter batter batter... SWING!!!

Here is Kaylee with her T-ball team.

So that pretty well sums up what we've been up to lately. Hopefully the next time I update, it will be with some BIG NEWS!!!

Busy Week

The kids have woken up each morning this week and have scurried around to get ready for school as fast as they could because they knew that anyday, Bailey (our chocolate lab) was due to have her puppies. They went out yesterday morning and this is what they found. A bundle of black lab puppies. Keyword... BLACK. As I said Bailey is chocolate and we had her bred to a cinnamon lab. Hmmm... milk man?





No, we don't really think it was the milk man. Actually Bailey's parents were black and chocolate and Rebel's parents were black and yellow. So we knew there was a chance we'd get some black, but we didn't expect the whole litter to be black.


The Kindergarten through 2nd grade students at Kaylee's school performed at the PTO meeting last night. They did a great job and really seemed to enjoy showing off what they'd learned in their music class this year. She's grown up so much in the last year or so. She never would have gotten up in front of that many people ever before. We're so proud of her!


Here is a picture of us after the Easter Vigil at church. Some of you may not know that I was confirmed into the Catholic Church this past weekend. After having attended the Catholic Church for several years (almost 10), I finally decided that it was best for the kids if I joined. Kaylee will be going through First Communion in a couple years and I want for her to realize the importance of that Sacrament and not wonder in the back of her head why her mom doesn't take Communion. It really was a beautiful service.


I'm almost embarrassed to bring this up after having said I was nearly finished MONTHS ago, but I couldn't not mention it... I'm FINALLY done with the quilt. At Christmas, we ended up moving the quilt rack down to the basement to make room for everything in the living room. Let's just say I do not enjoy spending time in the basement. For starters, the storage area in the basement is a disaster and really needs to be organized, so it's just best to stay upstairs and not be visually reminded of what a mess it is. Secondly, SPIDERS are down there... big ones! And besides that, the treadmill is down there and well, that's just self-explanatory. It took Grandma Welp stopping by our house and saying, "If you get it finished up, I'll take it home with me and finish binding it!" So here it is, the finished product.

I hope everyone had a Blessed Easter!

ARGH who goes there!

Had a little mishap this weekend, that could have been much worse. Thankfully it just ended in Jacob getting to be a pirate for the next day or so.

While helping Jesse carry firewood and fire Grandma and Grandpa's wood stove yesterday, somehow, Jacob managed to get something in his eye. We think an ash or amber flew out and landed in Jake's eye. He didn't say anything at the time, but wanted to go in the house right away. For the rest of the day, he rubbed at his eye and wouldn't open it. This morning when he woke up he was in better spirits, but still didn't want to open his eye. We took him to the doctor and they discovered that he had an abrasion on his eye. Poor little guy. He's not hip on the eye patch, but he's a little trooper. Took a good nap this afternoon and is back outside now with Jesse cutting more firewood. Nothing can keep him down for long! We go back in tomorrow to have the patch removed.

Each week, Kaylee's school features one of the kids from each grade. This is her week to be "Kindergartener of the Week." She and I worked this afternoon on her posterboard which she'll take in tomorrow and show to her class as well as the principle, Mr. Begle. She did so well picking and choosing pictures, placing them and then decorating it. She's got pictures of family and friends, pictures with Cinderella from our Disney vacation, t-ball and soccer pictures, puppy pictures, pictures of horseback riding, fishing, and even a pictures of her tubing with her cousin Ben. Here she is showing off the finished product.

We also had the annual Christmas party at the Babysitter's house. The kids enjoyed playing with all their friends, not to mention getting a couple presents. We have been so fortunate to have had the same sitter for the kids since Kaylee was a newborn. Here's a shot of them with Diane.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Camping Trip

We had another great weekend. The camping trip to Patoka was wonderful, other than loosing my voice on Saturday. The kids and Jesse enjoyed that part especially! :-) Kaylee and Jake really liked camping with their buddies. They rode bikes practically all weekend. We were just across the road from the playground, so that came in handy. All day Saturday, the campground had planned activities for everyone. In the morning they had arts and crafts for the kids. They got to make nature books and also made a deer foot print out of plaster. Just down the hill from our campsite was the lake. We went on a little hike and took the kids down there. Saturday evening they trick-or-treated around the campground. Kaylee was a cowgirl (her buddy Caden told her, "You make a better a cowboy than a boy does!") Jake was Spiderman. He really got into the trick-or-treating, running from one site to the next to collect his candy. And other than being early birds and wanting to get up at the crack of dawn, they both slept really well in the tent.

Bottom row: Cinderella, Spiderman, Cowgirl, Army man

Top row: Black Power Ranger and Red Power Ranger

Some of you may know, Jesse has been toying with the idea of doing a little farming on the side. It's something he's always wanted to do and there is no stopping him, even if I wanted to (which I don't, just to clarify!) He's got a few acres rented for next year and plans to put out a small crop. Of course this meant he had to get a tractor... Jacob was so excited when we pulled up and he saw this sitting in our driveway.





Jake looked at me and said, "Is that my tractor?" I said, "Yeah Jake, I guess it is." He replied, "Where's my dad's?" Too funny! And Jesse thought he was finally going to have a tractor he could call his own. Couldn't have been more wrong!

And since I'm all over the place with this post already, I'll add one more quick story. Kaylee came home yesterday from school and showed me how to spell her name in sign language. Is she amazing or what!