A look at our silly & mischevious side

I like to think that we are a half-way normal family but if you were to judge us by these pictures, I'm not so sure. I'm hopeful that stuff like this happens in your household also.

First, it is 20 degrees outside with a windchill of zero. Emmet's first choice for snack is a freezer pop. And then, as you can tell by the picture that his fingers were getting cold so he requested a pair of gloves. Also note how short his sleeves are on that shirt. We were purging the closet of "too small" clothes and he grabbed onto this 2T shirt and insisted on wearing it and I chose not to fight that battle. I also did not fight the battle that the freezer pop Emmet chose was a Pedialyte "medicine" one.


The second two pictures are Eliza. We made monster cookies on Wednesday. Eliza was sitting on the counter helping. I want it known that his picture was not staged. One hand in the chocolate chips and one hand in the peanut butter--just like her father!

And then there is Eden, who seems to have a fettish for headgear. First it was Daddy's hat. And then Emmet's (clean) underwear. . .

Yes, this really is what happens in one day at our house. God doesn't give us more than we can handle, right?

Spit and 911

Spit is a fast-paced card game that I grew up playing (some of you may know it by Nertz). After getting married, I taught it to Seth and his family. At first we played it rather slow, but it is fast-paced now. Anyway, at the Van Zante Christmas, Seth's grandma Elizabeth saw how much fun we were having playing Spit and decided that she wanted to learn (keep in mind that she's 91). So, today was the day. We planned a card party at Elmer and Elizabeth's home. Here's a picture of the adults playing cards.

Here's a picture of Eden and Eliza playing cards :)

Eden is in the pink and Eliza's in the purple. You can't see it very well but Eliza has pigtails in her hair.

Then it was coffeetime in the kitchen. When we were done eating but still talking, the kids were in the other room playing. The boys come running in . . "Eliza pushed the phone and the red light's blinking". I race to the living room and sure enough, there is this bright red light on the phone blinking (meaning, the red emergency button the phone had been pushed)

I pick up the receiver and talk to dispatch. I apologized that a child pushed the button and assured him that there was not an emergency. There is a single red rapid dial number for 911 on their phone and it is a favorite for the great-grandkids because this isn't the first time that it has happened. . . apparently Caleb has pushed it once also. It doesn't surprise me that Eliza pushed it.

What's new with us?

Here's the latest with our family this week:

1. We are almost done with our family dose of antibiotic. And everyone seems healthy.

2. Emmet is still going potty on the toilet. We had a bad day on Sunday and I feared that maybe he was regressing because of the move. But he rebounded pretty well and even went #2 on the potty tonight. He was rewarded with a treat from the potty treat bucket. He picked the scented markers.

3. We are still trying to unpack. I'm not missing anything yet and we did find this puzzle piece that had been missing for a long time. Funny how that happens. We hope to hang some pictures on the wall on Saturday and then I hope to take you on a virtual tour. Emmet had two meltdowns about "going back to the old house" but I think it was mostly because he was exhausted.

4. Ephraim is riding the bus and enjoys it. He boards at about 7:20 and gets off just before 4pm. With Ephraim riding the bus, the girls and Emmet haven't been in their car seats in the van since church on Sunday!

5. Seth took the kids outside today to enjoy the "warm" weather. Eden is the one in the green plaid, blue hat and Eliza's on the right with the brown hat and pink boots. Eden sure looks a lot like Emmet when she's wearing his hand-me-downs.

Moving Day

We're moved! It all started when our help showed up shortly after 8am. We had a lot of the stuff packed by 10. We had an early lunch and then drove a few miles to the new house and unpacked. It is the unpacking that takes the time. There are some boxes that won't get upacked for a while. Most of the toys went to the basement because they need sorted and organized. The kids handled the move very well. They are all asleep in their beds now, so that is an accomplishment in itself. It was quite chilly today, so we are grateful to our help who braved the temperatures to help us. I'll have pictures to post later.

Strep throat, Round 2

Eden and Eliza had their 15-month check-ups today. They are both doing well and rising from previous percentiles. Now they are more in the 50-60th percentile. Eliza weighs 21 pounds 13 ounces and Eden is 23 pounds 9 ounces. I wanted to have Eliza swabbed for strep throat because she's had some really bad days and nights lately with a random fever. Her strep test came back positive. Basically, we still have the strep bacteria in our house and that means a round of antibiotic for everyone, again. Six bottles of medicine on the counter (or in the fridge)--some are taken twice a day, some are three times a day and Eliza's Omnicef is once a day and she can't take it within 4 hours of having dairy products. I'm hoping to keep this all straight.

Oh, and we are still on track to move on Saturday.

Where's Eden?

Seth and I were both in the kitchen Saturday morning. We heard Eden start to cry but we couldn't initially see her. We found her wedged between the table and the chair. Before rescuing her, I couldn't resist the urge to take two pictures.

Eden is the one who will climb onto the chair and then climb right onto the table. So, I know that's what she was trying to do here.

Misc. Christmas pictures

Here are a couple of miscellaneous Christmas pictures.

This is the Ferguson side with Seth's mom's side of the family. We got together at Steve and Janet Boender's shop. It worked out really well. I was excited that the girls slept for the first half of the party so I could actually eat my meal first. Here are two pictures. We are in front of the green tractor. The boys are on the tractor wheel.

Here are most of the great-grandchildren and a few grandchildren. Ephraim is by the tractor seat. Emmet is in the blue shirt by the front wheel. The girls on the chairs in the front. All of these kids are 8 and under.

Also, here's a picture from Ephraim's school program. He has a smaller class of 10-12 kids (they've lost a few and gained a few so far this year). His best friend is Charlie (on the far left). Ephraim is in the middle with the green shirt, orange stripe.

Tidbits from the week

1. I need suggestions on "How to keep a 15-month old from biting her siblings". Eliza has taken on the bad habit of biting to get her way. Eden is usually the victim but Emmet has taken a bite, too. The other night, Eden had two sets of bite marks on her arm. I'm hoping this is a short-lived phase.

2. Ephraim has a favorite shirt he got for Christmas. He got it last Saturday and wore it Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I convinced him to wear something else on Friday. I do try to wash this shirt at least every other day. I told my mom to check the store to see if they had anymore of these shirts with fighter jets on them.

3. Emmet is on his way to being potty-trained, at least I hope so. We've had two good days. It all started Saturday morning in the living room. I saw Emmet putting on a pair of underwear. At first I was struck with concern knowing that Ephraim had just changed his cl0thes and could have potentially left his underwear on the floor. (Yes, I thought Emmet was putting on Ephraim's used underwear). So, I ask "Emmet, where did you get that underwear?" He replies, "From's Ephraim's drawer." I breathed a sigh of relief. For lunch we were meeting my friend Julie and her family at Pizza Ranch in Pella. Wouldn't you know it, we took three or four trips to the bathroom for Emmet and we were successful each time! And then today (Sunday) was another great day with no accidents. The "good-job-going-potty" treat bucket is about empty. But if this keeps up, maybe I won't have to refill it.

Happy New Year!

I rang in the new year asleep and that is right where I wanted to be. The past couple of days we have been up with sleepless girls, so Seth and I have been pretty tired. They are both getting more teeth so Ibuprofin is our best friend. I need to buy it in a gallon jar--the little bottle just isn't enough.

We moved several items to our new house today. Now, we are preparing to move on Saturday, January 17. The carpet and vinyl flooring will be laid sometime this next week.

We praise God for 2008 and wish you His blessings for 2009!