Pictures of the school room

Our chalkboard (a great flea market find, only $12!). It also has a stand but then it's too tall for the kids to reach. This chalk board is a big hit with the kids that come to play. I would have LOVED it as a kid. :)


Our two desks. The one on the left is from Great Grandma, the one on the right is a craigslist find ($5...I love sharing my great deals!)



We are even as "official" as having the alphabet on the wall! :) I need to do more work, but haven't gotten there yet. It's a work in progress...

Prayers for little Bethany

We have a prayer request...remember me telling you about our friend who has brand new twin girls, Grace and Bethany? Well, she also has 3 other children for a total of 5 under 5 years old! Kady's struggle with life in general (getting sleep, getting 5 children ready for the day, enduring the day, then getting 5 children down for the night, as well as breastfeeding 2 twin babies!) has been amazing...now they have a new challenge.

This woman is AMAZING! The struggles she has been through, in her past and her present, as now her future...

Please read the email from Kady and PRAY!! Above are pictures of Cade helping me babysit the twins when they were 7 weeks old...

Hi Friends, I'm sorry that I haven't updated many of you on what's happened with Bethany. She has a very rare condition in infants called Mitral Arcade (or Congenital Mitral Regurgitation). She'll need Open Heart Surgery or possibly a transplant in months / years to come. Her condition is evidently "severe" or serious.. but the doctor feels good about her chances because of how hard she's fought thus far. We don't know how quickly she's been deteriorating so now we have a starting point to compare to. She is on 3 different medications at this point and seems to be tolerating them pretty well. We'll be seeing alot of the pediatric cardiology dept at Mayo and are thankful for their expertise and care. I'm planning on setting up a caring bridge site in the next week (hopefully).. in all of my spare time ;). Karl and I are confident that God's already got all of this figured out and His purposes are so much greater than anything we can imagine. Our prayer requests are for #1 a miracle if that's God's will, #2 her heart to grow stronger and last until she's a little older for surgery.. her chances are far better the older that she is. #3 that she won't have pain from all that her body is having to go through #4 for strength for our family and finally #5 for God to use her for His glory! Please feel free to share this with anyone.... the more prayer warriors the better :) In His Arms, Kady

34 weeks and counting!

Since I now know that people are reading my blog, maybe I will have the motivation to keep up with posting to it...

Today I am officially 34 weeks pregnant! That means 6 weeks to my due date AND 3 weeks until the baby is considered full term! It's hard to believe! For everyone out there that wonders if we have a name picked out...WE DON'T! I am getting a bit stressed out about it, but Mark doesn't seem worried. We are open to suggestions though!

I posted pictures below of the boys' new bunk beds. Mark made them himself...pretty good, huh? They are really very nice and both boys love sleeping on them. Liam would love to have the top bunk, but Cade has laid claim...and...I wouldn't let him anyway.

Mark has really worked hard on furniture making this summer. I am very proud of him, and thankful for all the hard work.

Tomorrow I will try to get some pictures of the school room posted...it isn't that exciting to look at but we are loving it!

Mark's homemade bed...

It's a "Train table" but we should rename it a "Liam table."



Mark's latest handiwork...




Isn't it great?!?

Mark's Flea Market Find

Liam update

Just to inform those of you I bothered with all my worries about Liam...

He had been acting very odd over this entire week. His attention span was very short, he was zoning out a lot, just wanted to watch tv, and was very irritable. Most parents would probably shrug it off to a phase, but Mark and I pondered whether or not something more was going on in his beautiful brain. I emailed his epileptologist and she suggested getting an EEG. The morning I got her email response was after I had worked a night shift and Mark said that Liam had coughed all night long...we just held our breath waiting and praying that he didn't get a fever/have another seizure. Well, he does have a cold...a minor one with a cough and runny nose, but seems so much better now in regards to his behavior.

We are holding off on the EEG until after the cold resolves, hoping that his weirdness resolves too. I think it is already. He is acting so much more normal now. It's insane how strange he acts at the beginning of an illness, of course it doesn't take much to freak us out when it comes to Liam.

Today is HOT! I am refusing to turn the air on because the electric bill was $230 last month! It has been cool, until today...I am not too sure this pregnant mama can make it too much longer baking in my own home though!

Happy 9th Anniversary, Mark!

My love, we have to do something special next year for our 10th anniversary...PROMISE! Something special means LEAVING Rochester, seeing something else in the world!

A few pictures from the fair

Port-A-WHAT!?!

Tonight we took the boys to the Dodge County Fair in Kasson. We had a great time riding rides, petting animals, and eating cotton candy. Walking back to the car Cade was asking questions about the port-a-potties....

"What do you call them again?"
"Port-A-Potties, Cade," while pronoucing each syllable clearly.

Silence.

"I know why." Cade says, "because they are important?"

Important Potties! HA!

Funny boys

Lately Liam has really been playing with Cade. This is sort of new because Liam has always been the type to do his own thing, while Cade needs someone to play with. Of late it has been very obvious that Liam adores his big brother and it has been such an awesome thing to witness. Cade is enjoying it immensly. Today, for instance, Liam decided to "wrestle" with Cade. I think Cade was so suprised by this that it kept him from wrestling back, all he could do was laugh. I laughed and laughed too watching Liam growl at Cade, wrapping his legs around him, and pinning him to the bed.

Tonight I called from work to check on everyone and say hi to the boys. Cade was trying to pry the phone out of Liam's hands so he could talk to me. Liam yells, "NO YOU WON'T CADE! YOU BE NAUGHTY! YOU GO TO YOU ROOM!"

So much for brotherly love...

A day in the life of...

I really wasn't kidding about not being a good blogger, huh? The last post was April 29. :) What can I say?

Anyway, let me share a moment in the life of a pregnant mama with two very active, spry young boys. Today, we traveled to Spring Valley, Minnesota to pick up some beef that we had processed. The boys and I enjoyed a ride in the country, forcing me to remember how much I miss home. Once there, Cade came inside with me, while Liam staying sleeping in the (no worries we were in the middle of NOWHERE). After Cade gets a good whiff of raw meat he holds his nose and exclaims "raw meat smells different than cooked meat!" The nice girl helping us says, "if you unplug your nose, I will get you a popsicle." He was hooked. Then, she gave him little tour BEHIND the counter and window where all the chopping was taking place. I loved it for Cade because he was having a great time, asking a million questions, but I couldn't help but eye that popsicle in his hand as he made his rounds. It turned my stomach just smelling the place while thinking of food. Oh and by the way, I did not participate in the tour. I stood my pregnant self right up front where customers should stay.

Anyway, once back in the car, loaded down with LOTS of frozen beef and Liam now awake, we enjoyed the 35 minute drive back looking at horses, cows, combines, corn growing...seems the boys have an eye for lots of things that I don't even see.

Once home, they help me unload the beef into the freezer. Cade gets a crazy idea about "catching a cat" and appears in the garage door with a bowl full of milk. I had flashbacks to being a kid and being told to NOT waste milk on all the cats. I never understood it then, but, of course, I do now. As I am attempting to understand why and where he got the idea, he spills it. All over the rug by the back door (think...milk in a rug...yuck!). I just get it cleaned up, when Liam comes around the corner with wet pants...our potty trainee is lacking motivation on most days. Cade reminds me that Liam was standing in the back of the car, indicating that the back of the car was probably coated in a nice layer of Liam pee. He was right.

So, all before noon, this pregnant mama experienced a room full of raw beef, spilled milk, and a car with fresh little boy urine....

I have to say though that tonight, while putting the boys to bed, in their newly transformed "together" room (second attempt...first was a total failure), I got really teary eyed. My love for them is so deep and wide. They are truly wonderful kids. Even mundane, seemingly borning days are full of so much joy and fun when they are a part of my world.

Next posting: Our new "school room"--Cade's room redecorated for school starting August 3!