Zachary's First Birthday

On the actually day of (August 10th), it was just Mommy and Daddy all to himself for the whole evening, and we played non-stop till bed-time, tag, peek a boo, ball, and general tickling! We really had a great time, and what a great way to spend a first birthday, just being adored by your parents! The big celebration was not till the 18th, so that Nana and Papa could be here. What a celebration it was. You may remember the storm we got that evening, pretty bad, but it didn't put a damper on the festivities at all, we partied hard! We had a construction theme, Zach's cake read, "Zach digs being 1", it was such a fun theme to do! I found some things a long time ago (at least 6 months) and thought it would be so cute, and it was! I got a catalog called Celebrate Express ( www.celebrateexpress.com )and they had the neatest construction cone cups and I also found hard hats for party hats (so cute!).
Notice the matching theme shirt, I just loved it, it was a must have! Very reasonably priced, I thought, too. The cake was Price Chopper again, because they really do good work. Zach is not a big fan of cake, he really hates to get his hands messy too, so the best part of his cake, he thought, was the trucks on top. He wanted those imediately and played with them while everyone else ate cake. He did have some of the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, which is his favorite! For Zach's first birthday I made a list of "Zach's Facts", I think everyone enjoyed getting to know some special things about him.

Zach's Facts
Actual birthday is August 10th, 2006
Weighed 8 lbs 8 1/2 oz. at birth
Was 19 1/2 inches long at birth
He was born at 10:28 am, C-Section
He rolled over for the first time from back to front January 5, 2007
He rolled over front to back January 25, 2007
He crawled at 6 months of age.
His first tooth broke through on February 16, 2007
His first word was "Papa", second word was "Dada", third word was "Dog"
He walked for the first time August 1, 2007
He prefers a pacifier over his thumb
His favorite toys are balls and cars
He would rather be spoon fed than eat with his hands (too messy)
He loves to be startled or scared, he thinks it is so funny
His favorite music to chill out to is Aerosmith
He HATES diaper changes, but would rather not wear clothes
He loves baths and swimming
He tackled climbing the stairs at 10 months old
He started coming back down them on his own August 2, 2007
His favorite all- American food is McDonald's french fries
His favorite ethnic food is anything Mexican, he liks it spicy!
His favorite drink is apple juice or pop (thanks to Grandma!)


How did we get from this tiny little newborn, to such a big boy?







I love getting everyone's predictions about the kids height, and career choice and reading their best advice. It's something I have done at first birthday parties before and we did it again for Zach.
Some of guesses for height were 5'7", 5'10", 6'1", and some of the career guesses were "President at Frito Lay, Architect, Contractor, and Dump Truck Man (That was cute)." Everyone has great advice too! "Make sure your walls are straight and your head is straight too," "Listen to God and do His will," and one more good one, "Remember no matter how much you think you know, be patient with your parents, they still know more than you do.", all great advice! Thank you to everyone who came and shared in the celebration and thank you for all the good advice!

Mom's Here!

You know I'm gonna be excited! She called me yesterday morning and said "Guess what I'm doing" (this being my mom on the phone she could have been getting ready to jump out of a plane or climb Mt.Everest!), "I don't know", I replied. "I'm driving to Topeka", YEAH! She's staying for another whole week and I have a feeling it has something to do with a certain grand baby of hers starting to walk while she was in Ireland last week! This week though no laying of floors or other major projects, just a vacation, can you blame me, I'm just burnt out! My Mom, the "Energizer Bunny", would, I'm sure be up for it, if I really wanted to get something done, but I DON'T, sitting on the couch eating bon-bons is more what I'm thinking (yeah right). But I did take a 20 minute power nap on THIS- THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Yes, all my elder children were out the door to the first day of the school year. Keith was first, I think I saw a glimmer of excitement for being a "top dog" at his school this year. Grace and Ethan wanted to ride their bikes to school, so the four of us rode to school because it was a beautiful morning and then I rode back to pick them up in the HEAT at 3:30! My bad, but boy, they felt grown-up getting to ride bikes to school. This was Ethan's first day of kindergarten, and I thought I would be more emotional, pre-school was worse for me actually, Ethan did want me to stay there with him, but Zach on my hip, I had to go, he understood, and thinking his teacher is sooooo pretty he agreed to stay by himself.
They each had wonderful , full days to tell us all about when they got home! I actually was folding laundry while Zach was taking a nap and I noticed the quiet and for a minute, I missed them. They are going to have a great year, I know it. So much determination and so much learning and growing to do, they can't wait for tomorrow.
Yesterday, Grace's only advice for the new student at her school (Ethan) was that he had to "quit doing gross stuff, or you're gonna get in trouble, like picking your nose, you gotta stop that", to which Ethan very seriously vowed, "I'll try", which was not good enough for this big sister, "Don't try, just do it!". "Okay!" he said, with a roll of his eyes!

Bikes

Do you know what we have never done as a family? Ride bikes together! After dinner, we all, including Zach got on bikes and put on helmets (so we can be safe!), and went for a ride it was so much fun! I don't know why we never have done that before! I told Rob that I think we found something that we all enjoy doing, Zach just rode along behind me, but even he liked the scenery and the sound of the locusts is so amazing on the Shunga Trail right now and a ride at dusk, my favorite time of day to be outside. I have to admit the awe I felt going over a bridge on the trail that went directly over the creek, it baffles the mind to think that creek at any point was such a raging angry river running through our house. That creek and I are not friends again yet, I don't know that we ever will be. Tonight I am thankful for family, family is such a wonderful blessing, one thing about family is that everyone is so different and still one part of the same family, everyone has something to give, a part to share that makes the family complete. There are amazing, unique people in our family, each one is so special in such different ways. I am not diluted there are always going to be problems, or struggles at some point in time, but the thing that keeps us connected is that thing called family. Tonight, it felt like we had built our own bridge in our family, something that connected our 5 year old to our 13 year old and our 13 year old to our 8 year old and I got to take a back seat view of all of my precious ones, interact with that wonderful man they call "Dad" anything that can do that I am all for. I hope this will be the first of many family rides, when they keep this growing up thing going like they do, any chance to connect is heaven sent, so tonight, "Thank you God for this precious family, and the time to spend with them. And thank you for the extended, wherever they may be, always in our hearts."

Finally, it's Summer?

Really, my summer has just begun and it's the last week! I hate that I didn't get to spend more time with the kids, play more, swim more, all of those fun summer things! The pool was out the other day though, the kids spent two hours in it that day, and it was a blast! I even got in and cooled off for a bit! Zach, loves the water and the older kids love having him in there! This is how my summer was going to look, and even if it's almost over, at least I got to enjoy what was left! I have been guilty of praying for the first day of school to get here, but this year, I want more time, more summer, funny, how things in your life can change completely one night. These beautiful faces are such a great reminder that when everything seems to go wrong, there is still days when the sun shines and you can just be happy.

A Ball Teenager!

Yep, Keith is a teen now! July 29th he burst onto the scene! Coming home from his week at Super Summer, he turned 13. He was very proud to gain the teenager status and reminds me regularly that I do not have four kids, I have three kids, and a teenager! So sorry, my bad! I was amazed at his excitement over his plate that I made him too, I got a "really cool", and a "thanks!", he really liked it, I am so happy, his was the one I was so nervous about, and apparently I succeeded , it was cool enough for a teenager! Yeah, Mom! He had previously e-mailed all friends and family that he wanted only cold hard cash for his birthday , he has plans to save up for an ipod and maybe an XBOX 360, I'm glad he has goals! He did loose the MP3 player we got him for Christmas before we could even download any songs on it, but maybe since he is saving up for it himself this time he will take care of it! He has been mowing a few lawns here and there for money too. Rob and I decided a while back to not let the kids get jobs full or part time until they graduate unless it was a lawn here or there or babysitting, we want them to really enjoy their teens and focus on school too. Keith is very determined to focus on his school work this year, he has opted to not play any sports in hopes that he can bring home good grades and have less stress this year! We commend him for this very wise decision and hope that it proves to be a great school year for him! Going into the eighth grade this next week will be more responsibility and he is ready for the challenge I believe. We are so proud of him and we love that he feels the openness between us and can talk about anything he wants to with us (sometimes even more that we want to know, but we're glad he does!). Keith is following Christ in his life and is willing to be a witness for Him, He made some new friends at camp and hopefully they can support each other this year in school. One of his friends that he made through UPWARD basketball a few years back also went to camp with him and accepted Christ as his Saviour, and was even baptized on Sunday, what a celebration that was! We're pretty proud of our new teenager and hope to give updates regularly of his mighty steps of progress into adulthood. Happy Birthday Keith!

Home

We are home! Tuesday, July 31st we spent the night in OUR very OWN home! I can hardly describe the tremendous relief to be back in our own space again! It is not completely done, but it is livable, we will still be working on it, but at least we can cook and sleep here too now! I again, do not have pictures yet, but I will soon, I promise, I have been without internet for the week and I wanted to make sure that I updated the blog for everyone. It feels so good to welcome friends and family into our own home again, and the kids are so happy to be back in their rooms again. We are loving this thing called a bedroom door! It does this thing called keeping out your kids! I love it! Zachary has decided that he is a big boy now and has started walking, pointing to what he wants and shaking his head no if you guess wrong. He also has accomplished, riding his little push car and rocking horse, all by himself. He has his own space now too, and that is so much fun for him! WE have gotten back in the swing of things as far as being home, I kid you not, I don't leave unless, I HAVE TO! It feels so good to be home!