Week 46-48: Week 46 was a no work recover from sickness/snow week and week 47 was pretty slow too. We're struggling to get back into pump out mode after the holidays. But we did get a new generator and got the tile in the upstairs bathroom started. Week 48 was tile in the upstairs bathroom, we got our doors and trim delivered, and the fire sprinkler company installed our water tank and cover plates.
January 20, 2024
The whole crew came up to watch him lay the first tile.
January 27, 2024
Still so much to do but tile on the floor is complete. ✔
CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT believe that our sweet little blonde hair blue eyed baby boy just turned 13! It feels like just yesterday I was walking miles and miles huge and pregnant with Uncle Robert who had come down to surprise me for my birthday trying to induce labor.
As a toddler we quickly realized how sweet Wyatt was and what a big heart he had. He would do LITERALLY anything his big sister wanted and gave the very best hugs. When it was time to leave small group or Grammy's house I remember him going around and giving every person a hug AND a kiss goodbye. It was the cutest!!!! I also remember the day when we were at the park with a new friend from church and I had to explain to him that he was to big to give EVERYONE a kiss. It was a sad day!
That said he also had a stubborn streak that had me at the end of my rope many many times when he was little.
One of my greatest hopes for Wyatt as he grows is that he will see his personality, his soft heart, his intense desire for justice, his great sense of humor, his unwillingness to back down from a challenge, as the gifts that they are. I believe God has uniquely equipped him to defend those in need, to stand up for what is right, and to protect the friends and the loved ones that God will give him throughout his life.
Wyatt has a strength of character that I think sets him apart from most boys his age. He's not preoccupied with being the best or the coolest or the smartest although he is extremely smart and funny and athletic, but rather he is concerned with doing what is right, being a loyal friend, and having a good time. I love that he doesn't take himself too seriously but rather just jumps right in and enjoys what life has to offer whether that's being a student, or a baseball player, or a part of the youth group, or even a big brother. He has such a great attitude about so many things and I love few things more than watching him smile and listening to his crazy long stories.
So thankful for the man Wyatt is becoming and that God blessed us with such an incredible son.
Wyatt got his very first real gun a Ruger 10/22.
Not sure who was more excited about this.
We had Wyatt's buddy Cole over for dinner before they headed off to batting practice.
Saturday we celebrated again with the family!
Love this girl so much! Our family is TERRIBLE, I mean really terrible at singing until we get to the silly part at the end and Payton's all in. Makes it so much fun!
I'm gonna just keep saying this because I never want to stop being thankful for this family of ours. Our homes bust at the seams for family gatherings, and they're loud (sooo loud), but these are our people and we love them so much!!! So thankful that they've journeyed with us these past 13 years of Wyatt's life or however many they've been here for. As I made his slide show I was just a puddle remembering the million memories and so so many of them are with these people. We were younger for sure and a little less crazy back then but this is Wyatt's village and they'd do anything for him.
It was fun to watch this slide show together and to hear the kids' excitement over the things they and remembered as they waited for things they knew were coming like new additions to the family.
Time truly does fly. Another year has come and gone. A majority of this year has been spent building our house, helping 5 kiddos with school work, cleaning and cooking and grocery shopping and doing all the things over and over again that seem small and overwhelming to me all at the very same time. Yet I'm reminded that faithfulness even in the seemingly small mundane things matter and it's such a good life I've been blessed with.
I had a great birthday. Brandon and I went out Thursday night for dinner.
Friday morning I had to run up to Albany to pick up some groceries and then Maddie had to go potty... I'd already planned on driving through Starbucks for my birthday drink so instead of doing the drive through we went in. Aubrey had no shoes and Maddie forgot about how bad she needed to go potty and never went, but it was actually nice to get out of the car with these 2 for once. They really are growing up right before our eyes.
Maddie Jane
She only licked it. Never took a single bite but when she offered it to Aubrey and Aubrey started to take a bite she was upset. Go figure.
Aubrey
Aubrey on the other hand was all about the cake pop.
Katie invited me over for lunch with mom and all my sisters which was a lot of fun. Should have gotten a picture of that. Opps. While we were there Amanda gave us dresses for the girls to try on for the wedding and I accidentally took Harpers so after pick up from school we swung back by to drop the dress off and Uncle Robert talked us into swinging by the dairy to meet Storms new puppies.
And we ended our day grilling burgers as is our Friday tradition. Fridays are good days for birthdays I've decided. :)
One of our new traditions is to share something you like about the birthday person on their birthday. This year I made sure to write them down so I wouldn't forget. Usually the kids say pretty typical kid things but this year I really appreciated their complements.
Aubrey and Maddie said they like snuggling with me.
Evie said she likes that I'm her mom.
Hazel said she likes that I do homework with her. (Funny cuz we fight about homework most days.)
Cooper said I don't know how you do ALL THE QUESTIONS! (This made me laugh out loud.)
Wyatt said I like how even though you don't have a job it's like you have a little job and you work hard to take care of us. (Again laughing inside but sweet he recognizes how much work I do)
Sadie said I always make sure everyone has everything they need.
Brandon said I take care of my people better than anyone he knows and work so hard to make other people happy.
Anyway meant a lot to hear what they had to say and I wanted to record it so I wouldn't forget.
As I said life had no intention of easing us back into things. 9 days post vacation, 17 days into the new year, and we are all very out of rhythm and all very ready to get back into a routine. The kids, for the most part, are ready to be back in school and I'm definitely ready to get everyone back so that I can attempt again to get our house in order.
This said we're very thankful to have kept our power on all week, to have Wyatt home safely from camp, to have had some extra days with Daddy at home, to have had a little extra time to work on things like speeches for schools and blogging :), and to have made some more great memories playing together in the snow.
This winter storm was unique to any other we've experienced in that it was primarily sleet. So basically it looked like snow on the ground but felt like tiny pieces of hail. By Sunday a majority of the sleet had stopped and it had frozen into a solid sheet of ice more or less. Not good for driving which meant Wyatt got to spend an extra day up at camp and church was canceled, but great for sledding down the driveway. Over the course of the next few days it just got slicker and slicker and by Tuesday we'd broken a couple of the sleds but they weren't even necessary. The kids were just sliding around the yard in their snow suits like a bunch of goofballs at this point.
Saturday: Day 1
Sunday: Day 2
Hazel did Aubrey's make-up. I promise she's not frozen.
Maddie
Evie was a wild woman on the sled.
You can already see how much more packed down the snow was by Sunday.
Cooper
Sadie
Aubrey
Monday: Day 3
I sure missed having Wyatt at home the past couple of days although I know he's having a blast at camp. It was a weird realization for me that at some point not ALL of our memories will be made ALL together. There was definitely an element of fun missing without him here but I'm thankful he was safe and had a great time up at camp.
Tuesday: Day 4
School was cancelled Tuesday as everything remains icy and they're predicting a possible ice storm this afternoon.
Like I said no sleds necessary. It was like watching a bunch of penguins sliding around on the ice. I love kids!
Wyatt got right to building an igloo out of chunks of ice he broke up off the driveway and a little igloo wouldn't do. It needed to be big enough for all 4 of his little sisters. Love his heart and enthusiasm. Like I said we missed him. He always keeps us moving.
An tiny ice storm moved in Tuesday afternoon but nothing major and by middle of the night it was mostly rain so everything was slowly starting to melt.
Wednesday: Day 5
Going a little crazy here today. Everyone is a little stir crazy, its really wet and rainy out and the ground is still slick, but I think we'll be back to school tomorrow. The rain is doing it's job, slowly melting the ice, and we just saw a snow plow go by so fingers crossed we'll get a couple of days to catch up on life before the weekend.
In the meantime although the volume of my house is not enjoyable I am enjoying watching all 7 of my kids play together. After breakfast they all built boats out of the recycling which they then took outside to test. After that they moved on to coloring i spy pages and I couldn't help but wonder as I watched them how many more times this will happen. "The Teenager" as we call her at times has very little patience for all these little ones and her "occasionally" annoying brothers and so we will find ourselves wondering if their days of all playing little kid games like this together are over, but then we have these moments and that thought helps me to embrace the chaos, though I'm not going to lie its still A LOT!
