Home Again...

Fall 2009
Early in the morning with Daddy...too early for Cole!

Cole-style swimming

Marcus and Daddy

Marcus

Carson swimming laps

This is much easier he finds out

Running off energy in Falls Park

Marcus - almost 5 yrs

Watching the waterfalls

Twins

Cole - 3yrs

Marcus

Carson - 3yrs

Levi's time in South Dakota was productive as he was able to finish up his heart rotation, as well as defend his thesis. Thankyou for your prayers, I know he really appreciated it. He seems to think it went well, although they have not heard officially how they did. I know he was just relieved to have it over with and behind him. The boys and I drove up last Friday and joined him, kind of made a vacation of it.

We all had the weekend together, which included lots of swimming, going to the Apple Festival, and of course a visit to Chuck E. Cheese. A funny thing happened there, the twins were up by the stage watching the robot-like Chuck E. Cheese sing and dance (as well as dancing along with him, which was funny enough all by itself...) Levi and I totally thought Marcus knew it wasn't real, and he was sitting by us hearing us talk and laugh about the twins trying to get Chuck's attention...Carson and Cole came back and were all disappointed that Chuck wouldn't talk to them. Everyone went about their time there playing games and eating lunch...then all of a sudden someone dressed in a Chuck E. Cheese costume comes walking out to greet some kids who were having a birthday party. After that, he was nice enough to come over to our boys and give them hugs and say hi to them. (Which obviously made their day!) Marcus comes running back over to us and points at us and says, "I KNEW he was real! I KNEW it!"

That next week it got pretty cold there, and was rainy most of the time. The boys and I just spent time swimming and playing while Levi was in classes. It was a nice getaway, but it's also very nice to be home. We are really thankful for the Lord's protection in all of our traveling lately, everything has gone very smoothly. Have a great week, and enjoy these pic's!

On the Road Again...

Marcus, Jacob, Stan, Cole, Carson, Mike, and Marty

Come on!

I think this one's too heavy for you Carson

The little guys helping Daddy

Well I haven't taken any new pictures this week, so I decided to post a few from last month as it seems we crammed so much into the month of August I didn't have a chance to blog about it all...One of the pic's is from a weekend that we celebrated David's birthday, and had Brian and Becky and their boys stay with us. We had a great time with them, and only wished it could have been a longer stay! They just had twin boys, and already had two boys...SO if you are doing the math that is 7 boys under the age of 6 in our house...(as Becky wrote on her blog, it's amazing we all made it to church on time on Sunday too!) What a fun time!
Most of the pic's above are when Levi arrived home after his month long rotation in Iowa. The boys were ecstatic to have him back home with us...as you can see they quickly wanted him to put the suitcases and books away and just BE with us. The Lord was kind enough to see him through that rotation and watch over the boys and I.
Today Levi had to leave again, but this time to SD to get the rest of his heart cases, and then next week to go to classes and conferences for school. Also next Monday (9/21) he will defend his thesis, so if you think of him please pray that it goes well. He is excited to get it all over with! :) The boys and I are going to go up and join him on Friday, as a little vacation get away...so we're all looking forward to that!

First Campout

The kids making shadow puppets

Meghan and Marcus

Carson, Ryan, and Cole

Meghan and Amanda

Ryan and Cole

Carson and Ryan having fun

Daddy and Carson making treats

Hanging out

Carson and Marcus by the fire
Watching Uncle David cook marshmallows

Mmmmm.....smores
All the kids singing and dancing around
More dancing

Getting ready to go to bed in the tent

Friday night we took the boys on their first campout. We invited David and Deann's family to join us, and Grandma and Grandpa Kelly came out for a little while to see everyone. We all had a really fun time, and even though we got rained on early in the evening, the rest of the time we were dry and having a good time. The boys were so excited all week, and could not wait to sleep in their tent. We just went out to the State Park that is only about 5 miles from our home, in the event that it was a total disaster we could just get in the car and go home. Thankfully that was not necessary, as everyone had a great time and enjoyed the whole experience. While Marcus was eating a smore (a camping essential) he asked me to lean down, he whispered in my ear "This is the best camping trip ever Mom!" I just love having these family memories!

This Week...

McKenzie, Cole, Marcus, Maven, and Carson
Friends

My little brother

The guys

The boys blowing an air horn

Dad and all of his grandson's

Carson

Could we cram anyone else in there? :)

Fun in the garage

Saturday the boys and I drove down to KC to spend the day with my family, and to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday. A group of Mom and Dad's lifelong friends got together for dinner and fun. The Dill's hosted Dad's party, which was so nice of them. It was neat to get to see everybody, it had been a while since I have seen them all with all of the moving around and changes my little family has been through. The boys had a great time and had fun playing with Bob's granddaughter McKenzie. She had all three of them wrapped around her finger pretty quickly! ;) It was funny to see them come out of their shells a bit, and before long I was watching them sing and dance for everyone...all the while wondering "Who are these kids?"

We came home the next morning, hoping we would get to spend some time with Levi. He was on call over the weekend, and apparently worked most of it, however was home with us all Sunday afternoon...which was so nice! An extra bonus was that he told me they gave him Monday off since it was looking to be a light day, and he had worked most of the weekend. So Monday we got to spend the day together and really enjoyed all of that time. If you know us well, or have been reading this blog long, you probably hear me say things about "time together" fairly often. While Levi's been in this graduate program "time" is something that is sometimes pretty limited (and I'm not complaining, because we knew that going into this)...so when we are all together as a family it is really appreciated and we are very thankful. The Lord has been very faithful to keep our family together and keep us looking to Him for our next steps.

Preschool Update

Well it's been a week and a half since Marcus started preschool and I'm happy to report it has been a huge success.  Each day he has been very excited to go, not had any tears since day 1, and on the weekends (he's off Fridays too) he's asking "how many days until I get to go back to school?"...I know THAT stage only lasts a while, but we are so thankful that he likes it and has fun while he is there.  He has made a few new friends and likes to talk about what they do each day.  Carson and Cole are enjoying their time alone with Mommy in the mornings as well.  Mostly this week we've just got things done around the house or errands ran while Marcus is at school, but normally I'm hoping to use the time to work with the twins a little on some learning activities and reading books.  They are pretty upset that they don't get to go to school yet, so we'll call it their "school time" to make them happy! :)

Levi had a good week back to work, and is really thankful to be back.  He's on call this weekend, but tomorrow the little boys and I are planning a quick trip to KC to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday with him.  It should be a fun time!  

Please be in prayer with us for Levi's Grandma and the rest of his family.  Last week we learned that his Grandma's cancer has spread even more, and hospice is now helping to keep her as comfortable as possible.   Levi's Dad is flying out to AZ next Saturday to spend time with her.  I know he would appreciate your prayers.

First Day of Preschool

Marcus with his teacher
Playing on the playground

Before school with the brothers

Our Preschooler

Excited to start the day

Our baby is growing up

Marcus started 4 yr old preschool today. I have to say it went very smoothly, and so much better than what we had anticipated or expected. It was funny, last night he had trouble going to sleep because he was so excited! This morning he was the first to awake, and all we heard was chatter between he and "the brothers" about school. Cole was a little upset he didn't get to go! Marcus made sure to impress on him that it was just he that was going, school's only for big boys... ;)

There were no tears shed until we were on our way there. He had a tough time saying goodbye, but his teachers were so good to get him interested in something while I left the room. A minute later I peeked in and he was as happy as could be! We are so thankful! I was really kind of concerned as to how it all might go down.

When I picked him up at 11:00 he was all smiles and took a quick picture with his teacher. He talked nonstop in the car on the way home...told me that they prayed to start the day, he made a friend but could not remember his name, they painted their names and then cleaned up, played inside, and played outside...oh, and "if you have to go to the restroom you should knock on the door first, then if no one answers you can go in". Life lessons... Thank you Lord for a good first day!

Back Home and Our Staycation

Boys at the Zoo
Mommy and her boys
The African Safari

Riding the train

Train fun

Marcus "helping" make the cakes

Cars rug that Gma Gpa Kelly got the boys

New bikes

Fun with Maven

Opening cards

New legos

Silly boys

Carson and Daddy

Fun on the Carousel

Carson

Cole

Funny bird that would run back and forth along the fence with the boys

Daddy and his boys

Brothers

Cole monkeying around...

Hippo up close to us...

Cole

Celebrating with Payton and Cade, after an afternoon of swimming

Birthday boy "A"

Big 3 year olds

Birthday boy "B"

Well as of last Friday we are all back home under one roof again. Levi did get all the required neuro cases but was still lacking 4 hearts. His director is able to send him to SD for a week in Sept to finish up that portion of specialty rotations. Things didn't go exactly according to plan, however Levi is satisfied with the new plan and at peace with it all. He has to go back for a week of conferencing in Sept anyway, so now this will just be added on to his other week, so at least he won't have to make the drive up there twice. We are thankful for God's mercy in all things.

Wow, the last month has whirled by in a hurry...Levi was able to come see us each weekend while we were in KC. On the boys 3rd birthday we took them to the KC Zoo, afterwards came home and had a family party. Grandma and Papa Ballew, Grandma and Papa Kelly, Greg, Alexis, and Maven were all able to be there. On their actual birthday we had the Minnis kids over for swimming and cake. This year I decided to make them each their own cake. They love to play ball, so Cole got a football cake, and Carson got a baseball cake. Marcus was such a good helper in making the cakes, but especially good at cleaning up! ;)

Tomorrow Marcus starts preschool, and he is very excited about it! I'll post some pic's of that in the morning. On Sunday we had an ice cream social at his school to get to meet the teacher. She is very nice, and we know Marcus will have a great time there. He will only be going 4 mornings a week for 2 hours. I'm expecting a few tears in the morning, so say a prayer for him if you think of him.

This week we are enjoying having Levi home with us, as he took a week of vacation. It has been at least a year and a half since we've had that much time with him. (He had 15 days to use throughout the whole program, and so far has only used a few) We are just staying here in town and enjoying being home. I have a mega TON of pictures from our last several weeks. Today is the first time I've been able to slow down and get them downloaded on the computer. Some are from birthday celebrations, and some are from our visit to the Zoo, none of which are in any specific order... Hope you enjoy!