Little Lukas turned 5 yesterday... WOW time sure does fly. I was a nice day full of football games and the rodeo. Lukas came second in Muttin bustin again(sheep riding) he might have come in first but his sheep ran right into the heard and he kinda slid off. He said I was not letting go! Noah tried for the first time and did not even get the hang of holding on... lol After the rodeo we came home and had Cake and gifts. It took no time for Lukas to blow out the candles on his spiderman cake. I love watching the older kids buy gifts for their younger siblings. Alayna used her own $$ to get him candy and cookies. Mason got him some beyblades. Caleb gave him some action figures and even put a dollar in his card. And Caleb does not give up Money easily. It just amazes me how quickly time goes by. They grow so fast and even though there are times I look forward to them getting to certain milestones I really want to cherish the stages we are in :)

End of Summer... Time for School

Well we ended summer the usual way relaxing at the cabin. It was along drive but always worth it. WE got to drive home through the UP and the drive was beautiful. The kids got to wade in 3 of the great lakes... Michigan, Huron and Superior. Now we are back to the grindstone with school starting this week. All 5 get to go this year. Caleb loves his first year of HS and was the first one to get homework. Mason is enjoying 6th grade, though he is pretty closed mouth as usual. Alayna has made friends with her desk buddies in the 3rd grade, Lukas loves preK says is teacher is nice and he plays with a brown boy. Love the innocence of this age. and Noah was so proud to go this morning! HE goes 2 days a week to Preschool! The house is very quiet but the day care kids keep me busy!

Loving Life

We have only been here in North Dakota since Feb. but feel that we have really settled in. We have a great place to live and are looking to buy in a couple years. The kids are settling into camps and scouts this summer and I have started by own business in home day care. I have been watching kids at home for a couple month now and am really liking it. I am currently watching 7 different at different times most are part time. It has really given us the freedom to take a couple vacations this coming year and be better prepared when life throws us for a loop, like the van needing a new transmission. I feel we are really putting down roots here... I love God's plan for our life. For the first time I am not searching for the next distant adventure. Being content is life is amazing! Looking forward to getting through this week and starting our vacations! This weekend we are heading to St. Paul, mn to meet my sister and do our yearly cousin swap. This year I get Matthew and she get Alayna, but she is taking Lukas too... he is soo excited!! We plan to pack in alot this weekend the zoo, Mall of America and the lake. Then we head home til we leave the next Friday for Grayling, MI where we switch back and spend the week relaxing at the cabin and lake with my parents, my aunt and cousin and her kids! then we are home for a week or so before school starts. Can't believe summer is almost over :(

They grow up so fast!

I am not saying being a mom is easy but sometimes it is really tough. I feel really confident when they are little(most of the time). Now Caleb and Mason are getting into their teen years and things get complicated. I thank God that they are good boys and that they look out for each other. It just hit me this year that I have 4 years to prepare Caleb for life on his own. That is crazy... I just started letting him go further than the block and only with his brother. Yes he has gone camping with scouts, Church camp and to friends to stay the night etc. But always with adult supervision and supervision I trusted and knew. He has a good head on his shoulders and I am very proud of him, but only 4 years are you kidding me!!! I guess these last four years are just as important as the first 4... they learn so much so fast! I just a month Caleb graduated 8th grade, got a job and is preparing to take his drivers permit test!!! I just feel like every decision from here on out effects his life greatly. We are pretty sure that we are going to switch school and send him to a larger private Catholic high school so that he has more choices in classes and more extra curricular opportunities. We want to give him the best start in life we can. God has blessed us so much! I thank Him everyday for the blessings we have and continue to have. I pray that we make the right choices for our kids and that our kids look to Him for the right path in life. I just never thought that I would be this effected by this stage in life. I just do not want to mess it up!

Moved again!

Yes we have moved again. Since you read in my last blog that Rob lost his job in Indiana and quickly found another one, we knew it was only temporary. We move here to North Dakota in February and LOVE IT! The first couple months were rough living in a one bedroom apartment with 5 kids. But we were blessed to have a roof over our heads! Many people are living in their cars and RVs here. there is an oil boom and housing is expensive and hard to come by. The one bedroom was just down the road from the kids school so they got to walk everyday, which we all liked. We have sinced moved into a 3 bedroom plus Condo and love it! Alayna hase her own room and the little boys have a toy room and an office that they use for their room. their is an upstairs living room and downstairs family room (with a fireplace for those cold North Dakota winters) The kids love having their own space, but even tonight they are all in their big brothers room watching a movie together! y The town has a great rec center that we love. We have taken to the sport of raquetball and enjoy swimming in the indoor waterpark. Caleb enjoys the rock wall and both boys like shooting hoops with their dad. We live close enough now that the big boys can walk their by themselves. The little boys like the indoor playground too. Since moving here we have gone to see Medora which is only 30 min away and beautiful! the bison are so close you can almost touch them. We have tried to make camping plans, but everytime we try it rains or like this weekend it not only rained but is 40 degrees! We will go a few time this summer though! We have met a couple great families here already and they have girls... Alayna has had quite a few sleepovers already! They are great Christian families and we love it. We also love the little Christian school the kids are going to. They are starting a high school next year, so Caleb gets to continue there which he loves. They all have made frinds pretty quickly which is nice. We love it here. Because of the oil boom it really feels like the land of opportunity. There are jobs galore here. I started watching kids at home again, because the need is so great. Caleb is getting a job this summer to save for a car, because at 14 they can get a liscence in ND! We are really enjoying ourselves here and plan to stay for a long while... at least for us anyway... lol

Life's Changes

Well here we are... Rob lost his job almost 2 weeks ago. Something about circulation numbers need to go up Blah... blah... blah... The newspaper industry needs to change because the world is changing. Circulation numbers are not going to go up... why pay and read the paper version when you have internet!!!! Especially when they take your circulation manager away. Who cares that you spent the last year rebuilding bridges in the community that the last Publisher spent 5 years burning. ANd those brides bring in advertising. OK enough venting, we knew that the newspaper industry needed to change and if the company wasn't willing to make the changes our family was going to have to. We were just expecting it on our terms not theirs. We do not know where God wants our lives to go from here? We are praying and waiting praying and waiting. Rob is filling out apps, sending resumes and having meetings to find a job. But everything is so unsure and I do not do well with that. just give me a plan any plan... OK God really instead I know you are teaching me patience. Some lessons are just not fun learning! I know that God has always provided for our family and will continue to do so. WE are just praying and waiting to see where God wants us next. It could be here which is fine with us. Just pray along with us, so that we are truly doing his will and not our own.
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Vacation

I just spent the most amazing week with my family. We went to my aunts cabin in MI to just relax and that is what we did. No deadlines, meetings or kids activities. We tend to live a pretty fast paced life that it was nice to have a relaxing vacation. We did some boating, tubing, swimming and fishing! We chatted, ate and played games. I was really looking to this vacation and it totally lived up to my expectations. We got to spend some great time with my family and the cousins got to play with each other all week... with really no big fights or problems. Noah bite his lip a few times and one time almost all the way through, but he is fine. I look forward to many more vacations just like this one.

I cannot believe that school starts in just a couple days though. This summer has really gone by quick! It seems like they just got out yesterday, there was so much I wanted to do with them this summer, but it seems like camps took over! They had a fun so I guess that is what matters! No to readjust our schedule back to the school year. We are trimming back a little this year. And whenever things get a little crazy I think I will just sit back and count my blessings!

This is the crew enjoying the lake

Cooking by the campfire