Sorry, Nellie

I had to revise a recent blog post because I made reference to a "favorite boy" at school and it was too embarrassing for Nellie. So I deleted it, of course. As I did, I asked, "but he is your favorite boy, right?" She responded, "I can think of at least 5 others I like more."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

[Didn't miss a beat] "God, Jesus, Dad, DJ, Eddie."

Love that girl.

Christmas 2015, in pictures

Just a fun shot I found on Kevin's camera 

Nellie being Mary in the school performance

Not a great shot, but Annie is right in the middle 

Riding the giraffe at the zoo

Girls with their gifts

Grilling hotdogs 

Batcave!

Chilling with his candy cane

Being Sparty in his new hat and Kevin's shoes

Christmas 2015

Not to be outdone by DJ's birthday interview, the girls want to do a Christmas one. So here it is! We've had a fun season.

So girls, we've been busy this Christmas. What has been the most memorable part?

Nellie: Christmas morning. Sitting around the Christmas tree, trying to be patient, waiting to open Christmas presents.

Annie: Since we were going oldest to youngest on stockings, I was just so eager to open my stocking presents. It was so...you know...worth waiting for!

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Nellie: Putting up the nativity scene and exchanging Christmas presents.

Annie: I like decorating the Christmas tree, getting the presents, and wrapping the presents.

What present were you most excited about giving?

Nellie: Probably DJ's polar bear set. The one I got from Potter Park Zoo when we saw the lights.

Annie: I was, like, really excited about giving mom her wallet, because she really needed that. [I lost mine in a snow bank in a parking lot, only to have my mom find it a week later when the snow melted.]

What was your favorite present you received this year?

Nellie: That's a tough one. Probably my Truly Me American Girl doll, or my crossbow.

Annie: I really liked my Kindle and the special fishing box that Dad gave me, because you have to use it on a special kind of fish.

What's your favorite Christmas movie that we watched this year?

Nellie: I liked particularly White Christmas, the Grinch...I liked all of them! I liked the play that we saw of the Christmas Carol.

Annie: Are you kidding?! White Christmas, of course! And the Peanuts Movie!

What's your favorite Christmas song?

Nellie: I like Hark the Herald Angels Sing, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Away in a Manger.

Annie: [Starts singing] Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad! ... [I don't know how to spell the rest.] And ALL OF THEM!

What did you like most about going to Holland with Grandma Linda?

Nellie: Probably opening up my present from Charlotte and thinking, "what is it, what is it," then opening it and finding out, "yes! It's another science kit! And you can eat it!"

Annie: Everything! Playing Twister and sleeping in the top bunk!

What are your favorite Christmas colors? [Annie's idea]

Nellie: Red and green.

Annie: I like all of them, but I especially like green.

Is there anything else you especially want to remember about this Christmas?

Nellie: I remember saying that this is the best Christmas ever, because I finally got what I've been asking for every year--a look-alike American Girl doll! Also I really liked getting Sorry. And opening a pack of arrows and being like, "what are these for?" Then Dad walked in from the laundry room holding my bow and I was like, "yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!"

Annie: I liked getting new books on my Kindle. This is the best Christmas ever!! Wait, do I say that every year? Whoopeeee!

I know one thing I'll remember. Listening to you [Annie] recite the whole Christmas story by heart, and singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve while Nellie played piano. Then staying up until midnight putting together toys!

DJ, 4 years old

How do you feel about being four?  

Good!

What kinds of things do four-year-olds do?   
Drink milk all day. Eat gummy bears and cookies. Touch my eyeballs.

What are you most excited about for the next year?
Only four days until my birthday party! I get to have Batman cake. I get to have broccoli from our house.

Who is your best friend?    
Uriah. Joey S. from school.

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Annie. You. [What about me? - Nellie] Daddy, Nellie, and Eddie.

What kinds of things are you good at?

Um, making silly faces. Playing with Annie. [What's your favorite thing to play with Annie?] Duck Hunt. Cleaning up...but I'm not.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Firefighter and a police officer.

Why do you want to be a firefighter and a police officer?
Because I work a lot. And I go to Woldumar a lot. They need firefighters and police officers at Woldumar. There was a firefighter at Chuck E. Cheese!

What’s your favorite song?   
God is Bigger Than the Boogie Man, Old McDonald, Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

Favorite movie?   
Star Wars. [Actually, he just started singing the song. Then he showed me that he chewed his cookie into the shape of a Star Wars fighter plane.]

Favorite book?   

All the Veggie Tales stories.

Favorite color?   

Green and blue and orange.

Favorite food?   

Corn.

What are some things you like to play?   
Super Hero Squad, my dinosaur, play with Eddie.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
That my dinosaur opens its mouth and when you push the guy down it moves his arm and opens his mouth and says stuff. "May the Ferb be with you." [Quote from Phineas and Ferb] Mommy, what are you writing? May the Ferb be with EYEBALL! The last thing I like to do is watch T.V. My favorite show is Dragon Tales.

A bit of excitement

Our first day of "vacation" yesterday was full of activity. Kevin's car needed some emergency service so we picked him up at the shop, then dropped off Nellie to a Star Wars birthday party. The other kids and I went to a great party at my mom's office. Then it was back to pick up Nellie at the movie theater, where all the kids had to go to the bathroom (in two separate trips, of course) and Nellie realized on her way out the door that she'd left her jacket in the theater.

We finally made it back to the van, only to find that it wouldn't start. I had a vague recollection that the low fuel light had come on right as we parked, and since I was parked nose down, I guess it couldn't get enough gas to start. This was a first!

Emily lives nearby but I couldn't reach her, and Kevin was at home without a car. Plus, I could see a gas station from where we were parked. So, I herded the four kids through the rain across the parking lot and across the street (at a busy Christmas-time mall) to the gas station. Where I learned that they don't sell gas cans.

Plan B. (C?)

I assessed the distance to Walmart and the likelihood of being able to carry Eddie there, and decided it was our best shot. But a man had overheard me asking about the gas can and asked if we needed help. I explained the predicament and he told us to sit tight, he'd drive to a nearby gas station to get the gas can. He bought the gas can, filled it (refusing payment) and let us pile in the backseat of the truck for a ride to the van. Don't worry Mom and Dad, his wife was with him, I noted the make, model, and license plate of the truck, and kept my cell phone in my hand! Broke all kinds of seatbelt and carseat rules, though.

The point is, we had rescuers! The kids' guesses as to his true identity: A Christmas angel, Santa Claus, Iron Man.

I learned two good lessons. One is that people are still kind, and I need to get better about looking for ways to pass on this kindness. I get so focused on my own little circle of neediness that I barely notice what's going on around us. Would I have paid attention to a mother and four kids huddled by a gas station trying to figure out what to do? Would I have held off on my plans for an extra hour?

And two, fill the tank when in gets down to a quarter, darn it! It's what my dad's been telling me for years, but come on, I'm a teacher, I know we learn best when we figure things out for ourselves.

Rock 'n' Roll

Annie, to DJ during a light-saber vs. Incredible Hulk battle: You're fired...like bad medicine!

We've been listening to a lot of Bon Jovi, lately.

Partially decorated Christmas tree

We got our tree tonight! We've been going to the same little lot in Lansing since we first moved there in 2004. It was fun to see all four kids running/toddling through the trees looking for just the right one. They finally picked a winner--the primary thing it had going for it was that it's "already decorated" because it's covered in little pinecones.

Annie plans to talk to the tree every day because she heard on the radio that it helps it "grow." Nellie named it Amanda. DJ insists it's his turn to put the lights on it.

Mary, Mary

The big news in the Wernet house is that Nellie auditioned for and got the part of Mary in the school play. She's thrilled and proud.

We are also thrilled and proud. When I asked Nellie about her lines, I learned that she doesn't have any. I asked about her audition. She said, "I had to look scared, then walk around the classroom next to a boy without giggling or acting like, 'ew, I don't want to walk next to a boy.'" 

Apparently she's good at those things! Life skills, folks.

So 2003

Kevin's mom gifted us her old (amazing) vacuum cleaner. As I hauled our old one to the curb, I was reminded of how we'd had it for almost 12 years. It was a replacement for the one we bought off our wedding registry. Kevin used the original to clean up broken glass in the bottom of our apartment dishwasher a few weeks after we got married. That's how we learned that dishwashers have standing water in them, and water kills vacuum cleaners. We also learned, though, that Bed Bath & Beyond has a great return policy.

That reminded me of when I was a kid, and my mom and dad would always say things like, "we got that toaster/towel/pillowcase/bowl" as a wedding present. I would be all like, "geez, this is 15/20/25 years old? Are you going to keep it forever?" I couldn't imagine owning stuff that long.

But as we approach our 12th anniversary, I can look around and see that most of the stuff we own is about 12 years old...and that doesn't seem like a long time! Our towels are frayed, the shower curtain has been retired, and the vacuum is no match for four kids and three dogs, but the rest of it is hanging on. I love our Christmas decorations, most of which we received as wedding and shower gifts. I'll admit that I surveyed our mantle today and thought how outdated it looked compared with the pictures my friends are posting on Facebook.  It's so 2003. The stockings don't match and I noticed mine has a tear at the bottom. The stocking hangers Kevin and I bought on our first anniversary are a little tarnished and there aren't enough letters in the word "Peace" to hold all our stockings anymore. (Nor does the word describe our general Christmas experience!) 

But it's our outdated mantle decor, and it's perfect. 

Thanksgiving 2015

I'm not sure we took a single picture this weekend, so I'll just have to paint one! The first half of the weekend was full of cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. We threw in a little laundry and cooking for good measure. Then the families arrived...we hosted nine Wernets (and friends) for Thanksgiving brunch in the morning and 14 Tuinstra/Wacyks in the afternoon for dinner. It seemed like a good idea to host two events in one day the month before, and right up to about noon on Wednesday. Then it seemed like a silly idea. Once we made it to dinner, it was fine again!

The day was a bit of a pleasant blur, and it was lovely to have (almost) everyone together during the day. We were especially blessed to have Dave, Laurel, and Roger there, because it's been awhile since we saw them on Thanksgiving, and who knows where they'll be next year! The kids--eight and eight, now--are mostly old enough that they kind of disappear before and after the meal, and giggle endlessly during it.

Annie searched for "pilgrim girl" costumes and created her own. She also led everyone in her Thanksgiving prayer from school:

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day

We bow our hearts to you and pray.

We thank you Lord for all you'd done,

Especially the gift of Jesus, your son.

When I finally sat down (late) that night, I thought I'd never get up again! Luckily, we got to enjoy the fruits of our labor for the rest of the weekend. That is, we got to eat leftovers in a relatively clean house. We mostly sat by the fire and watched White Christmas, Charlie Brown Christmas, and football. After a long stretch of school without breaks + hunting season, it was great to be together for so many days. We saw The Peanuts Movie at the Sun, taught the girls how to play Scattergories, played many rounds of Uno (Annie tries to sit strategically because she doesn't like to play Draw 2s and 4s on me!), and made cookies without an electric mixer because we forgot we loaned it to Laurel. Kevin and I went on a date (the shooting range and the mall - something for everyone) while the kids played at his mom's, and--with lots of help from the girls--we decorated the house for Christmas.

It's back to school and work tomorrow...sniff. The especially wonderful thing about Thanksgiving break ending, though, is Christmas break right around the corner--and all the fun in between!

More fun with DJisms

All day, DJ has been telling me, "Mom, I just prayed. God made this holy ground. Take off your shoes." It's sweet, and funny, and weird.

After bath, Eddie was in the lion towel and DJ was in the butterfly towel. DJ said, "Knock knock." (His cue that he is going to tell a joke.) "Why did the butterfly cross the road?" "To get some nectar?", I guessed. His response: "No, to eat the lion."

This morning I woke up to find that DJ was already up, and had gone to wake up Annie. He was standing at the top of the stairs wide-eyed. "Mom," he said very seriously and calmly, "Darth Vader is in Nellie and Annie's bedroom. I can hear him when I lay down." I went in to listen with him, already guessing the source. We listened for a minute. It was Nellie sleeping in the top bunk, deep-sleep breathing, and DJ didn't know she was there. He was so relieved.

Annie's joke

"I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is, there's no good news. The good news is, there's no bad news."

It's quite philosophical.

Fun DJ-isms

To be updated regularly.

1) DJ's been into Veggie Tales recently. So, he was singing a song from the worship album in the car. The lyrics are, "Remember your people, remember your children, remember your promise, Oh God..."  His version goes, "Remember your people, remember your children, remember your father-in-laaaaaaw."

2) "That [cookie dough] looks delicious, dude!"

3) After I told the girls--in stressed tones, no doubt--that we were late and they needed to get in the car, DJ ran panicking into the kitchen. "Wait for me, I don't have my shoes on!" He was only wearing underpants, as it wasn't a school day for him.

4) "Mom?" "Yes, DJ." "I am smarter than a merry-go-round." Ah, the competitive stage.

DJ-the-almost-preschooler

My first thought when starting this post was, how is it possible that our "Baby #3" is headed to 3-year-old preschool? But, here we are. It's time. DJ is a headstrong kid and affectionate and a sweetheart and a riot and a handful all rolled into one. Unlike the girls, he's perfectly happy to play on his own and "make his own fun," as we say. He loves pretty much all the classics: trains, cars, construction equipment, Transformers, all things Batman or Avengers or other superheroes, dinosaurs...you get the idea. DJ loves his sisters but does NOT love when they tell him what to do. He also does NOT love when terrible things happen to him, such as: he drops something, his hands get sticky, his shirt gets a drop of milk on it, someone looks like they MIGHT want to play with the thing he wants to play with, a dog bumps into him.

In true Wernet-kid form, DJ believes the funniest word in the English language is "eyeball." He loves to make us laugh...usually by saying "eyeball." Soon--very soon--I think he'll enter that awesome helpful-four-year-old phase. Just today, he was very interested in helping with the dinner waffles and when I picked him up from my mom's this morning (he spent the night with grandma and Xander for the first time!) he'd gotten himself dressed. He did have his shorts on backward, though, and when I helped him turn them around, I discovered he was wearing the clean underwear over the other ones. We'll keep working on that.

At the doctors office, DJ weighed in at 34.4 pounds and is 40.5 inches tall--I need to throw those stats in here so we can remember how much he's grown...and compare Eddie someday.

DJ is a wonderful, loving child whom we love enormously. Just thought I'd let that preface the next sentence. When I went to find summer pictures of DJ, I didn't have many. He's one of our "not-yet-proficient" kids when it comes to being photogenic. He is adorable, though.

While the girls were at day camp, DJ and I got to be buddies for a whole week. We did this Avengers puzzle. I said, "DJ, let me take your picture with the cool puzzle." He said, "Okay. I'm going to make this face." And this is what I got.

For Annie's birthday party, the kids dressed up as their favorite princess or in ninja black. DJ wanted to be a baseball player.

Camping. Also, going on a mission to Mars.

Cutie.

Eddie is #1! (Well, #4, but he is 1)

There's something of the miraculous in Eddie. I'm sure there's no way to describe it well, but he was born at the front end of a rather tumultuous time in our lives. He was born early in a summer when Kevin was going through rapid change and new responsibility at work, I was preparing for a new job and in the middle of writing my dissertation, and my family experienced a complete upheaval. The year proved a difficult one overall.

And here was this sweet, content, wonderful baby. I'm not just saying that. It is an objective fact. He's my fourth baby and I have seven nieces and nephews--I've seen many kinds--and Eddie's an easy one. His first morning home from the hospital, he woke up in my arms, looked at me as I sang the "Good Morning" song, and smiled. A real, happy, smile. I know--babies don't smile that early. But it's true. The girls' piano teacher swears her two-weeks-overdue son smiled at the nurses at the hospital, and I never believed her until I saw Eddie do it. And he's hardly stopped since. Kevin's nickname for him is Eddie Smiles.

Not just that--he's also perfectly happy to watch the other kids or entertain himself. If you've ever seen Disney's Phineas and Ferb, Eddie is our Perry. Several times a day while I'm cooking or cleaning or whatever, I realize I don't know what he's up to and I ask the other kids, "Where's Eddie?" And he's just off playing ball or dropping pieces of chalk into empty paint cups or sitting in the dog kennel. I actually would not be surprised if, like Perry the platypus, he's a secret agent.

His favorite place to hang out. I really don't know why.

Anyway, I'm not sure how I would have managed a high-maintenance baby this last year. God knew what he was doing, and His timing was perfect, though it didn't always seem so. He sent us this little guy who just seems to ooze a "life is good" mentality.

And now he's one! As I told Kevin, birthdays just seem to be made for a kid like Eddie. Easy-going and unassuming, he's happy with whatever. It was great to celebrate him for the day.

Eddie was actually pretty grumpy on his birthday (teething), but Kevin managed to get some happy pictures before the complete meltdown.

 Let's see, what else...at his checkup he was 22 lbs. 14 oz. and 30.75 inches tall--not a whole lot bigger than at eight months. He's sleeping better but still wakes up at night. His first words were "ball" and "yum." Funny stuff. Now he mostly says, "Uh oh _____." Like, "Uh oh Daddy," or "Uh oh baseball." Eddie loves his blankie and his big brother and sisters. He loves playing ball. He's not walking yet, but he's been butt-scooting around for months and will crawl when he feels like it. He can climb stairs and get on the couch on his own. He's crazy about brushing his teeth. Aunt Emily is probably his favorite non-parent grownup--they've spent a lot of time together this year, after all.

We're so thankful Eddie's a part of our family, and I can't wait to see what the next year holds!

His first time camping! All he wanted to do was climb in the chairs. 

Chillin' poolside

It took awhile before we noticed Eddie scooping macaroni and cheese out of the dish and into the water glass while out to eat at our family vacation.

These kids

"Be careful how you perceive the world: It is like that."

-- Erich Heller

So, Kevin thinks I have a tendency to pigeon-hole our kids. Like I over-generalize their personality traits. I try to be careful about that. I mean, if there's one thing grad school taught me, it's that the stories we tell about each other significantly contribute to the development of our identities, for better or worse. (Luckily, that's not the one thing grad school taught me. For example, I now now how to save Word files as PDFs. Also, what the words "gerund" and "Glenda Lappan" mean.)

That said, I love to look back on the stories about our kids on this blog. It helps to remember how much they've grown and changed, but it's also telling about their more enduring personality traits. There are just things they say and do and aspects of their "way of being" that are a lot like the things they said and did and were years ago. And you start to see...yeah, they're like that.

Since I've been so bad at keeping up these past few months, it's time to say a bit about each of the kids--my time with them this summer and what they're up to. I'll try not to let my perception define them--but I am their mom, after all. I like to think I know them better than anyone else, plus I'm sure they'll all be in therapy someday because of me, anyway.

They'll each get their own post, but I do want to mention: We kind of have two teams in this family. Yeah yeah, we're all on the same team, but the kids are a little like the puppies on Disney's Lady and the Tramp--some just like the dad and some just like the mom. There's what Nellie calls "Team Wernet," with their strong emotions and sleeping with their eyes open and wanting savory foods for breakfast. The rest of us tend to be pretty easy going and could live on cold cereal until the end of time. In pretty much any fight, I'd predict my team loses, but that's okay.

Actually, Eddie's tough and Annie's scrappy, so maybe we'd hold our own.

I've (still, always) got a little catching up to do

As in, I haven't written a blog post since spring. I'm not sure why--I think that once the dissertation was submitted, I was just burned out on writing much of anything for awhile! Also, it seems that the realities of having four kids (and, you know, several jobs) has set in. There are always, always, always so many things to do and so many needs to meet. I'm not complaining, it's just true. So. Here we are, at the end of July, with few updates these past months. Let's try to hit the highlights.

Spring was fairly uneventful, as I remember. We just kept plugging away at school, and counting down the days to spring break (when all of a sudden time seemed to pass in double time). Uneventful except when I GRADUATED! I can remember a time when, several years in, I quit the program (in my mind) for about the 300th time. I was driving. An image flashed in my head that was basically this picture, though Eddie wasn't even a twinkle in our eyes at the time:

Without fail, seeing this picture makes me think of the verse, "if I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all wisdom and all knowledge...but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2) I actually don't have the gift of prophesy and I can't fathom all knowledge, but I do have love! And a little crazy.

Anyway, the little vision kept me going for another day, which turned into weeks, months, and then years, and finally the day arrived! Graduation was quite surreal, but the parties and celebrations were very fun. There was a bounce house.

We also celebrated Easter in there, and Annie's graduation from kindergarten--I still can't quite believe she'll be a first grader next year.

"O is twisted alley-oop!"

Of course, I suppose I should mention we got a puppy, Bolt. Hmm, what can I say about that? ... Let's go with, it is not the worst thing that ever happened to me.

Nellie, age 8 (!)

How do you feel about being eight?  

Happy, but...happy. Because I get money by babysitting, and it means only two years before I can stay home by myself! [Not so sure about that.]

What kinds of things do eight-year-olds do?   
Babysit! Talk differently. Like, learn different languages.

Do you have a favorite birthday present?
I like all of them, but I really like the gift cards I got, and the money, and the Ever After High Books. I'm talking to you, Grandma Lisa! 

What are you most excited about in the next year?
Learning cursive! [Singsong voice] I like cursive, I want cursive!

Who is your best friend?    
Avery Hartzler. [Annie: Are you sure not anyone else?]

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Everyone who I know. If I know them. Well, in other words, everyone, if I know them. But then again, I like meeting new people, and playing with them, and being friends with them. I especially like playing with my cousins and my siblings.

What kinds of things are you good at?

Reading, sewing, hide-and-seeking, drawing, writing, watching...like bird watching and babysitting and that stuff.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Well that's a hard question, but I want to be a math teacher, and then I want to be a clothes designer. Like I want to earn money by sewing clothes. Like I'll have a little shop and put up signs everywhere so people will come if they have holes in their clothes. 

Why do you want to be a teacher and a seamstress?
Well, I like helping people in my own special way. I really like sewing at this particular moment. This day, and this year. 

What’s your favorite song?   
Well, any song that doesn't have any bad words in it. I really don't like any funeral songs, because they're all sad, and they're about dead people. Well, I like funeral songs that are about God.

Favorite movie?   
The Minion movie, but basically, any movie that doesn't have any bad words in it. [Have you seen movies with bad words in them? N: Yeah. Like "Oh my ___" and "I hate that" and "stupid."]

Favorite book?   

The same thing as the last question. Right now, Ever After High books, and pretty much any chapter books.

Favorite color?   
Green-blue.

Favorite place to be?

Usually home, but if it's someplace like a hotel--that's my favorite place to be. Or Aunt Pam's, or any place you can swim.

What are your favorite things to do?  Let me guess--swim?
Swim, read, sew, draw. I really like to draw. I like to knit, but I've only knit one thing, and it kind of turned into a disaster.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
Um, well, like I said, I really like to sew and I hope that can make good abilities out of me. I like to sew and knit, then I can give them away to people who don't have enough clothes. And if I get rich someday, I can give them money.

Annie, age 6

How do you feel about being six?  

Good.

What kinds of things do six-year-olds do?   
This one's really funny--watch TV!

What do they watch on TV?
[Giggling] Phineas and Ferb?

What are you most excited about in the next year?
First grade!

What are you excited about for first grade?
Girl Scouts!

Who is your best friend?    
Hmm. Robynne. Nellie. And my baby brother, Eddie. Eddie's one of my best, favorite babies. Mama. [In the background, DJ's yelling, "what, NOT ME?" Annie said he's one of her "suffocating friends." Poor guy.] 

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Mommy, Eddie, and Nellie! Sometimes DJ.

What kinds of things are you good at?

[Laughing uncontrollably] Watching TV! Working on puzzles. Helping people. Cooking. [Nellie: I have three things. One, sewing. Two, reading. Three, doctoring.]

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A doctor. Wait. First a teacher, then a doctor.

Why do you want to be a teacher?
Because I want to follow my mom's footsteps and work at MSU. I might even go to it for school someday.

What’s your favorite song?   
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

What's your favorite food?
Fudge brownie goldfish.

Favorite movie?   
The Minion Movie!

Favorite book?   

Harold and the Purple Crayon. 

Favorite color?   
Purple!

Favorite place to be?

Heaven. But I've never been there before. [How about your favorite place that you have been?] School.

What are your favorite things to do?   
Watch TV. Play on the iPad.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
That I'm jealous of my sister. Because she has diving rings!

Hello, spring

Wow, it has been ages since I've last posted. Life! Crazy! Soon I'll catch up. But first, this little story from Annie, which unfolded over the afternoon and evening.

Annie's story, Phase 1:
She found a robin's egg at recess! No, she didn't show it to her teacher. But she did show it to her friends. It was blue and it was pretty.

Annie's story, Phase 2:
There was a real yolk inside the egg! Yes, it broke. She wasn't sure it was real, so she broke it. It was real. One of her friends buried it.

Annie's story, Phase 3:
"Mom, can I tell you something that's kind of funny and kind of gross? When I found the robin's egg I thought it was Easter candy. So I took a bite of it. I didn't really get any in my mouth, though. I threw it on the ground."

"Oh....um....[how am I supposed to respond to this? I don't want to freak her out, but it's so funny! And so gross!]...next time you find something that looks like candy on the playground, even if it really is candy, please don't eat it."

"Okay."

Eddie's 8 month interveiw!

Hello everyone! This is Nellie here, and I'm reporting on Eddie's interview!!!! First of all Eddie absolutely LOVES balloons.  Here is a picture to prove it:

                                          Ha!!! Proved it!

                                       
                                                                           Cute huh?


His new things are: Waving Bye-bye,  saying, yaallow (while laughing) and raad (which are yellow and red). Not blue ......yet...anyway. He was exactly 21 lbs and 2 ft 4 in at his 8-month check.

Well that's the scoop on Eddie for now! This is Nellie signing off for now!  Goodbye!

Fast years with Nellie Wernet

Nellie and I spent some time reading old posts last night--one of our favorite things to do. It struck me how, when Nellie was little and the only two-year-old we'd ever had, I thought she was your average two-year-old. The funny things she said and did just seemed to be what kids her age said and did. But in looking back as the mother of four, I can see how her personality then was her personality now. She's always been so Nellie! And I'm sure it's like that, or will be like that, with the other kids, too. Kevin might say I shouldn't pigeon-hole them, but I say I'm the mom, and it's my job to know who these people are. :)

Nellie was playing with Annie the other day, and later I found a note that said something like, "Dear Annie, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you before I left for college. I will miss you so much this semester. I will Skype with you when I get to college. Love, Penelope." First of all, cute. Second, oh my gosh--this could happen someday! Some day that's coming like a runaway train.

Nellie's actually been full of questions about the future. We had this conversation yesterday after she asked me where I think she should go to college:

Nellie: So, how do you tell your college what you want to do for your job? Do you just like, write it on your permission slip?

Me: [Explained about applying for college, majors and minors, etc.] And then you apply for scholarships because college is really expensive, and the schools will tell you how much money it will cost and then you decide where to go.

Nellie: Ooh, maybe we should start having some fundraisers.

If you ask her, she's quite certain what she wants to be when she grows up. In order, she wants to be a math teacher, a librarian, just a regular book-reader, or a circus clown. Some days, it's a math teacher AND a circus clown.

I could see Nellie having a future in mathematics! I taught her the old, "1, 2, skip a few, 99, 100" years ago. This week, I overheard her saying, "1, 2, skip a few, 99 million, kablooney-pants!" I laughed. Kablooney pants? Then she told me, "Well, if numbers go to infinity, there's got to a funny one in there somewhere!"

Yup. So Nellie.

First snow day of 2015!

It was very welcome. I had the whole day to work on laundry, picking up, and cleaning house to prepare for our weekend guests, though there was a good amount of relaxing and spending time together, too. I did learn one important thing to tuck away for summer break. There are exactly two things that guarantee our children will spend time together playing quietly and without conflict: impending bedtime (which I knew) and chore lists. Give 'em a chore list and all of a sudden there are so many great things to do and play! ;)

Best part of the day...warming up under a blanket with Annie. You can't see that we're both holding my coffee mug to unfreeze our fingers!

DJ ran away from me because he didn't want to eat lunch. I finally found him.

She was doing her chores, putting away her last Christmas presents, when she came across A Little Princess. This is how she spent the rest of the day. (Wearing a maxi skirt as a dress, of course. I mean, it was a whole 5 degrees out or something like that.)

Chief knows the best napping spot.

DJisms

1) Here's one we hear a lot: "Well...that was awkwud."

2) Me: Wow DJ, you really need a haircut. DJ: [brushing his hair down with his fingers] No. My hair is perfect.

3) "I not like the train track breaking! I am grumpy! This. Is. My. GRUMPY FACE."

DJ was crying loudly in the other room. I found him stuck in the baby bouncer. Like any good mother, I took a picture before un-sticking him.

He loves his new superhero toys from Christmas and his birthday.

Christmas 2014, in pictures

Of course, we couldn't really capture the whole holiday in pictures. There was a lot of holiday. We started when John and his friend, Sue, came down from Sault Ste. Marie the weekend before Christmas. We had a pizza party together Friday night, the (big) Wernet family Christmas Saturday--a raucous affair in a community center this year, then the (small) Wernet family Christmas at our house on Sunday. Tuesday was cookie-baking and Genny's birthday, Wednesday was Christmas Eve with a party at Lisa's, and then Christmas was spent at home in the morning for the Wernet/Ward/Harrington waffle party and with the Wacyks in the evening. Try as we might to "keep it small and simple," put simply, it wasn't. But as usual, we packed in the fun until it was coming out of our ears.

Building a gingerbread barn with Sue (Alli and Nellie traded houses after the party Saturday)

Papa John always gives beloved books!

Frosting cookies with Aunt Genny and "Fun"-cle Jason 

Nellie's sew-it-yourself doll

DJ's big gift--a hand-me-down train table! Kevin had to put this baby together Christmas Eve night.

Excited kids waiting for us to make the coffee and the fire.

Busy boy Christmas morning. We didn't get a good shot of his first reaction because he was moving so much the picture was blurry.

Spy glasses

Fox socks

Eddie's first Christmas! He got a bath book, a board book, a sippy cup, Puffs, and baby food.

Annie's big gift was a scooter...

...but she was just as excited about the Christmas cereal this year.

Nellie's big gift--a [used, refurbished] Kindle. I love this picture!

Aunt Pam and DJ working on a fire truck puzzle the girls got him

Just scootin' around in my PJs, Life is Good shirt (everyone got matchy-matchy shirts from Kevin), and my Anna wig

I took a turn on the scooter