Thanksgiving celebration

The first grade at Ethan's school has a tradition where they celebrate Thanksgiving like the first Thanksgiving. One class dresses as Pilgrims, one class dresses as Indians, and then they get together for a feast! Ethan's class was the Indians, so they spent a lot of time working on their vests and their headdresses.


I loved how his teacher had them make the headdresses--the kids made/received a feather when they were doing something well. So, his teacher had them make feathers when they lined up well, when they didn't run in the hall, and when she noticed them listening well. The kids were very excited when one of the parents sent in real turkey feathers for all of them.


The parents were able to come and take pictures of the class and then follow along and observe as they prayed, sang, and recited Psalm 100. Then, the kids literally feasted! They had turkey, potatoes, corn, rolls, popcorn, and pumpkin or apple pie.

It was fun to watch all of them learn in such an active way!

Halloween 2009

I realized that I didn't go crazy taking pictures during the month of October. I remember wanting to go back to bed for most of the month (but not being able to say why until we told our family our news later in the month!). I think I was just so exhausted that doing things like take pictures of my darling children fell to the bottom of my priority list. Some days (or in this case, weeks) are like that!

Anyway, I pretty much took only a few pictures of the boys dressed up in their Halloween costumes. This year Ethan decided he wanted to be a ghost...and when Micah heard that idea, he was totally on board with the costume! I wasn't going to argue with that simple of a costume, so we borrowed white sheets from my mom and went to work.


I'd say the final result is not exactly what I was hoping for, but they were thrilled and they could walk and see (well, Micah had a little trouble seeing sometimes). So, I consider this homemade Halloween costume a success. They were also very successful in their haul from trick-or-treating, so I kindly assisted them in eating the candy from their buckets. I figured I'd share with the baby. :)

September 2009

I need to catch up on some updates! Here's a few highlights of what happened with our family over the month of September:

Ethan was delighted to go back to school. Unfortunately I didn't check my camera battery the night before, so I was greeted with a dead battery when I went to take his first day of school picture. I snapped a few with my cell phone, but can't seem to get them loaded to my computer from my cell. So, I have a few from the open house that we went to later that day.


He loves first grade and really enjoys going to school all day. I'm getting used to packing lunches every day, but have to admit that I'm thankful for hot lunch days! He had the typical "I'm exhausted from being in school all day" mood swings, but we expected that! We love his teacher and Ethan seems to respond to her really well. He is reading more and more each day and he loves to read anything in sight--and to anyone! I caught him kindly reading to Micah and Colin one day. I love it!


Micah and I are getting used to being home with just each other for a majority of the day. I think he likes it a lot--and I love rest time when I can steal a few moments of "me" time! We play a lot of games, trains, cars, and run errands. The day goes by quickly!

At the end of the month, we welcomed a new nephew/cousin into the family. Alexander Joseph was born on the 29th to Jason's sister Merridith and her husband, James. The boys love to look at him and talk to him! He's a precious little guy and I've made sure I had my share of cuddle time!



I had a big milestone in September, too. I turned 30! I've decided that's not really very old at all. Though sometimes I do feel old. :) We celebrated my big day quietly at home. My favorite present was one I couldn't talk about with anyone except Jason...the week of my birthday we found out that we were expecting another little one in May! We are incredibly blessed and are excited to meet our new little one!

Cottage 2009

One of our favorite summer activities is heading to the lake. Each year my parents rent a cottage and invite all of the kids and grandkids to come out to stay and play. We stayed...and we played!

Here's a few stats from the 3 weeks that they were out there, just 'cause it's fun:

• Number of siblings I shared a bedroom with: 2 (and 2 siblings-in-law), but not all at the same time
  
• Most people that slept in one bedroom: 6
• Max people that could be found at the cottage at one time: too many to count, 15 maybe?
• Number of tube rides that I went on: 1
• Years since I've been on a tube ride: 15+
• Times I fell off said tube: 2 (I think my brother was being nice)
• Times Ethan went tubing: 3 or more? More than his mother!
• Kayak rides: sadly, only 1
• Fish caught: One for each of the kids! Enough to keep them fishing!
  
• Times I was thrown in the lake: only once, and this year it wasn't in my clothes!
• Number of ice cream bars I ate: not telling
• Cans of pop I drank: not telling
• Pounds I gained: again, not telling
• Hours/days of fun with family: too many to count!

Now, on to the fun part, the pictures! Enjoy!

Ethan's first tube ride...

We hung out in the hammock...

Read lots of books...

Zoned out in front of the television...(don't they look exhausted!)

Took naps...

Micah was proud of the fish he caught...

Took endless jumps off the dock...

Spent some more time fishing...

Took lots of boat rides (Micah loved to drive)...

Celebrated birthdays...

Played on the water trampoline...

Wrestled...and yes, it appears Charlie is winning!

And finally, we played in the water...then played in the water some more! This video shows how brave Micah finally was in the water (and yes, he has a shirt on. He liked it). The boys were tossing balls back and forth and he kept going out deeper. Make sure you're paying attention to Micah at the end of the video. :)



Overall, we had an awesome time with family and I can't wait to go again next year!

4th of July

I still have pictures from July that I wanted to post, so let's step back in time!

We've developed a family tradition where we invite all of our family over to breakfast on the 4th of July. It works out great to have breakfast and visit while we wait for the parade to come. Since it comes right by our house we don't have the hassle of searching for a spot--we can just walk out the front door (also convenient for bathroom breaks and children who are scared of loud noises!). This year my grandma, our parents, our siblings, nieces, nephews, and a few friends came over. A total of 28 people, and we managed to feed them all (it helps that it's potluck style).

Once we're full, we head outside to wait for my favorite part of the day. I love watching the parade with the kids (and of course eating the candy), but the best part of the day for me is the flyover. I love watching the planes fly overhead...and I love how noisy they are. I managed to catch a picture this year. Well, a picture of the power lines with two planes in the lower part of the picture. :)


Since we're at the end of the parade route we occupy our time by posing children for pictures and playing with the empty candy collection bags. This was Ethan, Micah, and Colin's turn:


During the parade we managed to gather this crew of cousins (and a few adults thrown in for supervision). Rachel, Charlie, Evan, Kathleen, Micah, and Ethan. They are obviously distracted by the parade rather than the mother/aunt shooting pictures. Also, we've had such a cool summer that my sister felt the need to wrap up in a blanket during the parade. Crazy!


Later in the day Grandma pulled out sparklers for the boys. Ethan was familiar with them and had fun making designs and writing his name. On a side note, do you notice my potted plant in the background? Isn't it lovely? It looks like it could be filled with nice herbs. It's not though. If you don't fill a pot with flowers the weeds grow. And if you let them be, they fill in just like flowers! The weeds were tall enough to disguise a pop can that someone left in there after the festivities. Small tangent.


Micah was a little unsure of the sparklers...once he warmed up to them he enjoyed them! We just had to keep reminding him of where to hold it so he wouldn't get burned.

Jason, Ethan, and a few other family members finished the day at the fireworks. I stayed home since Micah was in bed and I needed to pack for the cottage. Pictures of the cottage are coming soon!

Way to go!

I have more catch-up blogging I want to do (also known as all the pictures from July), but I had to take a break from that to show everyone what Ethan learned how to do over the last week or so:


He's perfectly content to ride around in the parking lot for now, but he's getting braver! His legs are getting stronger and the parking lot has a little hill so that's helping him practice pedaling harder and faster.


I took a little video because he loves to watch videos of himself. It's also perfect for a blog posting! Way to go, Ethan!

Cherry Picking

We love cherry season around here! There's an awesome orchard not far from our house and we decided to meet some of my family members there and pick sweet cherries together. Since the weather has been cool around here, it was a perfect day to pick! I'll take cool and overcast on cherry picking days!


Micah was pretty good at cherry picking. There were lots of cherries that were low enough for him to reach. He ate a bunch, but also managed to fill part of his bucket!


Ethan has really gotten the hang of cherry picking over the years--especially the eat one, put one in your bucket system! He loved getting on the ladder to reach the high ones and I'm pretty sure he filled most of his bucket by the end of the morning!

This is my niece, Kathleen. I love this picture because she's so happy to be helping pick! My sister would show her a low branch and Kathleen would pick away. She didn't even eat that many!


This is the whole kid-crew (with my dad in the background). Quite a bunch! They had fun in and around the trees and chattered away to each other the whole morning. Cherry picking is much more fun with a crew!

Last day of kindergarten

It seems like Ethan just started kindergarten, but already he's finished! I made sure I took a last day of school picture so we could see how much he's changed...and he has!


All of the parents were invited for a last day of school picnic where we were entertained by a magician. The kids loved it and he finished his show by making a balloon animal for each of the kids. Ethan wanted an alligator. It was very cute! I was impressed with how many balloon animals the guy made in a row. I was out of breath just watching him!


Ethan and I went into his classroom to gather up his backpack for the final time. I asked him if he wanted one last picture in his classroom and he thought he should have one in front of their main bulletin board. This was the wall where they did their calendar and charts and time and all the other things they do in a kindergarten classroom!


Ethan had a wonderful teacher and teacher's aid this year. These ladies patiently taught my son and nurtured him mentally and spiritually. I thank God that we are able to send Ethan to a school that openly teaches the Gospel and helps him know more about the wonderful world we live in. What a blessing!

The magician made balloon hats for all the teachers. :)

Anniversary Trip

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Enough of you are on my case that I felt I should finally blog. Everyone that asks for posts should at least comment to prove you read when I do post! :) I have a lot of pictures that are fun to post, so I'll catch up and work my way through them. We've been busy over the last two months!

At the end of May, Jason and I took a short trip to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It was wonderful to get away together. We loaded up our bikes and headed to a lovely lake shore town. When we arrived and unloaded our bikes, we were met with this bank of clouds:


Thankfully the clouds didn't hold too much rain and we only had to wait in the van for a little while! We unloaded again and spent the afternoon biking and hiking and just enjoyed the scenery.


We spent so much time biking that I ended up with a major cramp in my leg. I guess someone needs more exercise! In my defense, I don't often bike two miles through sand covered trails. Thankfully an Aleve and a good night's sleep helped and we biked more the next day!


We wandered through a park and down a pier while we waited for the sun to set on the lake. Unfortunately, the gnats were so bad that we had to retreat to the van and watch the sunset from there! We had gnats all over out clothes and had to cover our mouths so the wouldn't fly in. I tried to take good pictures of the sunset, but I wasn't willing to open the van window for a better shot so they weren't all that clear. I did manage a nice self-portrait on the pier where the gnats were not as thick.


I enjoyed hanging out with my hubby--we tried out little restaurants and wandered down trails because we felt like it. I'm looking forward to the next time we can get away together!

Tip of the day

Do not play at the park on the first Friday of the month at noon. While this sounds just fine, it is not good when you don't realize that a tornado siren is right next to all the toys.

On a side note, if you're looking for a way to have 40+ children stop dead in their tracks (and then have 20+ parents scrambling to cover ears), I now know just what to do.

My ears still hurt. An extra set of hands would have been nice so I could cover my ears and not just Micah's.

10th Anniversary

Ten years ago today two kids were married. Look at them!

The last tens years have been incredible...filled with laughter and tears!

I'd do each and every year over again because it brought us to where we are today. I love my husband and I thank God for him every day!

1 day...to 10 years!

Ten years ago today we were working through all the final details at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding rehearsal. We really had no idea what the next ten years would bring, but how quickly the time passed!

The next "item" I picked that's been around for the 10 years of our marriage is us. Jason and Janna, Janna and Jason, Mr. and Mrs. (well, I can't say that I felt like a "Mrs." for all ten years, but I guess I technically was!)


My darling husband has been by my side for the last ten years...or maybe I've been by his side...or maybe just a nice mixture of both! :)


He very rarely will take picture with me, but since I had this post in mind for a while I made sure we snapped some photos together over the past few months. I love the above picture because Jason's smile is so genuine and I'm laughing. A great combo in my opinion!

The picture below is not what many would choose as their favorite, simply because you can tell that Jason's talking. But, I love this picture the most because it is a reflection of so many times in our life--Jason's saying something out of the side of his mouth that makes me smile.

I love this man. I can't think of anyone I'd rather hang around with for 10 years.

Stick around for tomorrow's post. I'm going to try and post a wedding picture of the two kids that got married that day. Well, only if Jason helps me. It's sure handy to be married to him!

2 days...to 10 years!

Two more days until our anniversary! It's still hard to believe that 10 years ago we were in the final stages of wedding prep!

Today's "been around for 10 years" item is my wedding ring:


I wear this ring 24 hours a day and I love what it symbolizes. It's my favorite piece of jewelry and the only thing you can count on me wearing all the time. I mean it, I don't even take it off to sleep! About two years ago I had to stop wearing it for a while because a prong was loose. I was so glad to be wearing it again once it was fixed. It was kind of like when we were first engaged, I'd just look at my hand and grin! I love that Jason gave me this ring, but even more, I love the promises that we made when we exchanged our rings!

3 days...to 10 years!

Down to number three!

The next item that's been around for all 10 years of our marriage is this Bible:


We actually have a number of translations of the Bible around our house, but this is the one we've recently been using the most. This past September we set a goal to read through the Bible in a year. I've never done that before and I wanted to have a way to keep myself accountable. This is a great way to read the Bible together and we can hold each other accountable to keeping up! We've missed a few days here and there, but we should be able to finish pretty close to September! I'm to the point where I'm enjoying the consistency of reading the Bible on a regular basis more than the goal of reading through it in a year's time.

4 days...to 10 years!

Four days until our anniversary! Scroll down through the last few days if you're behind!

The next item I found that has been around for all ten years of our marriage is this ornament:

We bought this ornament on our honeymoon in Toronto (awwwww). I loved it then and I still love it today! I think it's adorable! I love getting it out each year to put it on our Christmas tree. Now I can tell the boys about this and other ornaments and where they came from and what they mean to me. I think that's my favorite part about decorating the Christmas tree. Maybe we should seek out a sled with four people on it...I know they made one like that ten years ago!

5 days...to 10 years

Out of all "ten things" in my countdown, this item is the one that makes me laugh the most. I can't believe it's still around after 10 years of marriage (as I type this, I'm thinking it will probably stop working before Thursday just to mess things up). Anyway, the item is our TV:


Jason purchased this TV secondhand just before we got married. He paid $20 for it. It's really a nice size TV and it fits our entertainment center well. When he bought it, he figured it would be a cheap TV that would last us a few years until we could afford to buy another one. Much to our surprise, it's still working today! The picture is a little grainy sometimes (no HD here!) and the bass is downright comical, but it fits our needs and our pocketbooks! It will be interesting to see how much longer it lasts!

6 days...to 10 years!

The countdown continues! Today I have this champagne flute--we used a set of these at our wedding reception for the toasts. Not for champagne...I was too young to be served!

Unfortunately, a few years ago one flute in this pair broke. I believe I knocked it over on the counter. I didn't want to get rid of this one though, so it stays in the cupboard with another set of flutes that I have (I know, I said I like sets, but I must be getting over that!).

This flute has been used on many occasions to toasts New Years, new babies, new jobs, and on previous anniversaries to toast each other! I enjoy getting it out and remembering the day we first used it!

Slip and Slide

It was a beautiful day today so Ethan was looking for some water to play with! Thankfully he remembered the slip and slide that had been stashed in the closet since his birthday. We hooked it all up and he set off on his first slip and slide experience.


It took him a little bit to get used to it. For quite a while he would only get about halfway down it. Eventually, everything clicked and he started sailing all the way to the end.


He celebrated when he made it to the end by turning the surf board into an air guitar...I managed to sort of catch it on camera once. He's so goofy!


Micah was taking a nap, but we started it up again when he woke up. He took one look at it and announced he was not doing it. Then, he watched Ethan go sailing down it and promptly stripped to his underwear so he could give it a try. I ran inside and quickly grabbed a bathing suit for him (which explains how I grabbed one that's way too big so I just folded the waist over a few times to try and keep it from falling down!).




Micah only wanted to try a few times--I think because the water was cold and he really didn't like being totally out of control as he slid down. He hung out by me for a bit and sat and laughed at Ethan's antics. As you'll see in the video he gave it one last try, but was not happy about the ending!



I have a feeling the slip and slide will be out quite often this summer. We'll see if Micah decides to give it another try!