Grace

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Yes, it has been another year. Grace is 8 years old today. I can't believe she is already 8 and in the same breath can't believe she is only 8!

Grace,
We are so blessed to have you as our daughter. As we watch you grow and mature we are amazed at your beauty...inside and out. You are still our hugger. A day doesn't go by that we don't get at least a hundred hugs from you....please never stop hugging us :). 8 years ago I was laying in a hospital bed in the quiet morning hours after you were born just staring at the miracle in my arms. As you slept in my arms I prayed for you to be happy, blessed and above all I prayed that you would never forget you are true princess, a daughter of our King of Kings. As you grew we watched you become a strong girl with your own ideas. You many times showed Jack who was boss ;). One thing that has remained contant with you is your love of GREEN! I can't believe your favorite color since you were 2 has not changed for even a day. I believe you may wear a green wedding dress someday like you keep telling me.
You are such a blessing to your brothers and sister. Kate and Luke are so very lucky to have you as a big sister to look up to.  Thank you for playing with Kate and making Luke laugh. I am so happy that you and Jack are so close and can have such a great time together. The bond you have with Jack, Kate and Luke is amazing and I pray it only gets stronger as you all grow older.
When you were born we loved to watch you smile and laugh at Jack...you thought he was amazing!

When you were one we couldn't believe you were walking and talking so much before your birthday.

At 2 we thought me may have to lock up or throw away all the yogurt in the house since you were sure it was finger paint (as well as the Desitin, butter, foundation makeup and red ink pads)...let's just say your love of art started early!


When you were 3 we were so happy that you knew what you could and couldn't color on ;). You were growing so fast people were sure you were 5 and going off to school!  You were probably smart enough to go to school but you had a couple more years to stay home with me.

At 4 we got to celebrate your birthday at Disney. I loved sharing my favorite place with my favorite princess. We had a fantastic time and again I was so amazed by your courage. You were going on rides that I was afraid of!

When you turned 5 we were getting ready for 2 big events. Your first day of kindergarten and your baby sisters birth! Who knew it would all happen on the same day. I wish I could have walked you to your classroom that first morning but I was a little busy having Kate that morning. You were so excited to have a sister!


At 6 you loved 1st grade and still loved playing in mud and dirt :). You were always ready to help with Kate and loved teaching her how to say your name "Goose".


When you turned 7 you were so excited to start 2nd grade. I asked you stop growing so tall and you refused...hmmmm...not listening to mommy. Just kidding! You will be tall just like your Aunty Joleen and Daddy. You are a very lucky girl! Your love of horses grew after your birthday party out at a local stable.

8....I can't believe we are already at 8. You still have the nickname Goose. You still love the color green. Horses are still a favorite. I watch you ride during your lessons and wonder how time can go so quickly. You were my little baby just yesterday and now you are confidently sitting on top of a huge horse! You got to be right by my side as we welcomed your baby brother into the world and were such a great helper. Again, I ask that you please stop growing taller...and you just smile and say "NOPE".

Well, my princess, Happy Birthay. May you have many, many more. We love you so much!

 Love, Mommy

Luke

Luke is doing awesome! He is such a happy little guy.  He is most likely our last baby and it makes me a bit sad, but it also makes me excited to take in everything the kids are doing at the stage and age they are.I am reminded how quickly they grow when I look at Luke at 4 months old and then at Jack who is now 11.

We were blessed to have Luke born at home. It was by far the best birth we have had. A bit crazy at times toward the end. He was breech until about week 38 and then my water broke and he wasn't born for 36 hours...but when labor did kick in, he was in my arms within 1 hour! Luke was 10 lbs 6 oz...same size as big brother Jack. I can't tell you how awesome it was to be in my bed with my family there. Grace wanted to be with me to help at the birth. We watched some videos and talked about what she would see and hear. She did great and I am so proud of her. She was calm and so happy when Luke was born. She got to hold him first out of all the other kids.

Grace, future midwife? Luke is about 20 minutes old.

We did wake Jack and Kate up (it was about 1 am) so they could also meet their new baby brother. Then we were all tucked into bed and slept soundly until morning when the kids woke up and couldn't wait to go to school to tell their teachers and friends (I never asked Grace how much information she shared...I am a bit scared to know!).

Jack and his little brother...I think he is a bit happy :). Luke is about 6 hours old.

This is my favorite picture of Luke and Kate...it was the 1st time she really talked to him.

Fast forward 4 months and Luke is now 17 lbs 3 oz and 26 1/2 inches of cuteness.  He has rolled over twice (the first time no one saw him do it and the second time I watched and cheered him on).  He has a wonderful smile for everyone and rarely cries. He thinks the other kids are absolutely hysterical and has the best laugh. As much as I can't wait to see him walking and talking, I won't wish this time away for ANYTHING.  I treasure every snuggle and toothless smile and thank God for all my blessings that are running around making messes in the house.

April 22nd...almost 1 month old

May 15th....6 weeks and Soooo Tired.

June 28th...a couple days shy of 3 months. 1st time in a bumbo chair and a bit confused :).

July 29th....4 months old. My happy happy boy!

Luke's 4 month Packer Picture. I will post the other 3 kids at 4 months old when I get them scanned in!

Summer fun!

The kids are having a great summer!

This year we biked to Verona Hometown Days parade and carnival. It was great fun. Kate road in a seat on my bike and Jared pulled Luke in the bike trailer.

Jack decided this year he was not scared of any rides and got on the big ones. It is always makes me nervous watching him go on rides that I won't go on because I am a HUGE CHICKEN...yep, I will be the first to admit it :).

Grace decided she only wanted to play games but we did get her to ride one ride (The Tornado)...then let her play some games. She came home with a stuffed bear that is only about 6 inches tall and cost us about $15 :).

Kate wanted to do it all this year...carnival rides, horse rides, play the games, eat the fair food...you name it she wanted to try it. She did get to ride some rides and take a pony ride before we left. She LOVED the pony rides the most. Her pony's name was Nemo...it is still all she talks about. That and the Alligator rollercoaster was too fast. She did ok for the first couple go arounds but by the 3rd one she was D.O.N.E and trying to unbuckle and get out so they stopped the ride to let her off.

Luke got to experiance his 1st fireworks at our neighbors picnic/4th of July party. He was ok for the first couple shots but after that he was not happy with the noise so Jared took him home so I could enjoy the fireworks...I LOVE fireworks! Kate loved them this year and sat in her little chair clapping and yelling the entire time. Jack took the paddle boat to the middle of the lake to watch them with some other kids. He is getting so big. Grace sat and talked to her friend Lydia, who was TRYING to watch the fireworks :).

We have had some bonfires in the backyard.  Jared was up north helping my brother in law build a shed so it was up to me to build the fire. Lots of cardboard and some sticks made for a great fire....for about 5 minutes. So of course I put more cardboard in....it works everytime! By the time the fire died down (10 minutes later) the kids were headed inside. We had a great time for the short 30 minutes we were out though.

Jack got his first babysitting job. He gets to go to our neighbors house while she plays an hour of summer volleyball and watch her 2 girls. Grace wondered why she couldn't babysit for them....um, maybe because Lydia is 8 months OLDER than Grace! Grace is about a head taller than Lydia so she is sure she is much older :).

I got to go out on a date with Jared for our 14 year anniversary to our old favorite restaurant, Porta Bella's. It is just as we left it many years ago and the food is still yummy!

I also got to out to see a movie and dinner with my friend, Jenn, for my birthday....with NO kids.  That alone my friends is a major accomplishment. From what I have heard, Luke gave Daddy a run for his money. Everyone survived but Luke was NOT a happy camper without his momma there to feed him as soon as he wanted.

So that is our summer so far and it is just the beginning of July. We still have horseback riding lessons (Grace), Vacation Bible School (Grace), Toby Mac concert (Jack, Luke & I), a couple canoe trips (all of us minus Luke) and Grace and Kate's birthdays to look forward to before school starts!

Brushing off the cobwebs...clearing out the crickets....

I can't believe I haven't been here since December! Time to shake it up a bit and get back on track. I love blogging...it is my way of scrapbooking while I am not scrapbooking. So let's catch up. Do you have an hour or two? Grab your coffee of choice (I prefer water)....
Ok, biggest news first. Luke Charles Holthe was born at home on March 31, 2011. He weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz. of pure love.  He is now 9 weeks old and weighs right around 15 pounds. We certainly aren't known for our teeny, tiny babies around here :). He is smiling and cooing and has even started laughing. I could look at him all day long....so much more fun than looking at the dishes or laundry.

Meeting Luke

Our 1st 'Family of 6' picture



Luke 9 weeks old

Kate is LOVING being a big sister. She is very caring and loves to just sit and quietly (I know...I said Kate did something quietly...quit laughing) talk to him. She is still our funny little girl growing up way to fast. This summer we are working on pedaling a bike, potty training (she pee'd in the potty 1 time so far!), and taking less than the normal 2 hours to fall asleep at night when we put her to bed. Those are some pretty lofty goals but I am confident we can accomplish it...if Kate agree's and is willing and the sun and moon are aligned perfectly...pray for us!

Grace is just finishing up 2nd grade and does not want school to end on Friday. She loves school and her teachers and her friends. We are chopped liver around here! She is excited for summer because she gets to take some horse camps at the stables we celebrated her 7th birthday last fall. She loves, loves, loves horses...actually any animal.  Hopefully we can get some friends over for some play dates so she isn't too bored hanging out with us. I think one of her highlights since Christmas was being able to be there when Luke was born. Jack didn't want to be and Kate was sleeping but Grace was my helper and did great. We did a lot of preparing her before the event occured and she did great.  She loves Luke so much and is going to be a great mom someday...a long, long time from now :).



Grace holding Luke when he was only 15 minutes old!



Grace doing some gardening...in WHITE shorts.



Goose and Luke

 Jack is just finishing up 5th grade and CAN'T WAIT FOR FRIDAY...yep, he is pretty much done with elementary school. He is almost a big middle schooler...YIKES...pray for us! We have gone through middle school orientation and he is very excited with the classes they get to take and even more excited they get LOCKS on their lockers.  Little does he know the anxiety that comes with those stupid wonderful locks...or maybe it was just me that would have dreams the week before school started that I couldn't remember the combination and then forgot my class schedule? He had a great time going out with Jared turkey hunting this spring and is really ready for deer hunting this fall. He has taken hunters safety (and passed). This summer he really has no plans other than to tease and torment play with his sisters. Football doesn't start until the end of summer. Oooo...he does have summer plans...SUMMER BAND LESSONS...how could I forget! Tonight we have his middle school band orientation and we get to pick up his instrument...The Bells. It is the first step to playing percussion.



Jack and his brand new brother!




Happy 11th Birthday Jack!




Jack will only allow us to take pictures of him when he has Luke.

 Jared is working hard at both offices still. We both feel so blessed to have been able to move the office back into the house. The kids are happy having us home all the time and I love being able to have the little kids take naps in their own beds. He decided to try turkey hunting this spring for the first time. He found it to be a bit different than deer hunting...those turkeys are...turkeys. With the brain the size of a pea, they were still smart enough to stay just out of shoot distance...until the last day. Jared was so excited when he called to tell us he got a turkey on the last morning of the season.  So far he has made some wonderful Turkey Noodle Soup for us and it was YUUUUMMMYYY! If you want to see the hunt and kill you can look it up on his facebook page.

Jared & his turkey

Jared and his other turkey :).

As for me, I am happy that school is done (or at least the homework part) and am looking forward to days playing in the sprinkler and sand box.


Me and my crew!




Me and my Lukey!

 Life just got a little crazier but that's how we roll the best!

So, now that we have had a chance to catch up I hope you will check back again because I really want to start posting here more often...seriously, I need this so I can remember all we do each year.

O Christmas Tree!

Thanksgiving was over. We made it back from Nana's and of course the kids know what the next step in the holiday process is....Putting up the Christmas Tree!

Last year we decided not to put any ornaments on the tree because Kate was so.....busy. Instead we let the kids make ornaments and we decorated with those. It actually turned out quite nice. We strung popcorn...and that was nice until I found Kate eating it off the string :). Our tree ended up fully decorated with beautiful creations from the kids.

Well, this year we decided to get the ornaments out and keep the less breakable ones to the bottom for Kate and all the others to the top for the big kids.

All 3 were so excited and could hardly wait for Daddy to fix the strings of lights at the top of the tree that were not working for the past 2 years. Time was spent playing in the tree tub and looking in the ornament bin.

Finally it was time...let the decorating begin!

Kate started with her favorite ornament. A wooden rocking horse....she did great getting it on the branch all by herself.

Then, it was Grace's turn. She chose an Ariel ornament...the one that sings :).

Finally, it was Jack's turn. He picked the Weiner-mobile ornament....funny :)



Then it was a free for all. I tried my hardest to keep up with the kids. My job was to unwrap the ornaments and pass them out...making sure no one got to put on more ornaments than the others. We stopped many times to talk about where an ornament came from, whose ornament it was, why we got it....I love that part. There are MANY ornaments on the tree that were mine when I was a little girl. Grace loved being able to put my childhood ornaments on the tree just like I did when I was little. 

Finally, it was time to put the star on the tree. Jack and Grace thought it was would be fun to have Kate do it because she has never gotten to put the star up on the very top. So, with help from Daddy the star was placed on the top of the tree and it was done...until Kate started re-arranging her ornaments!



So, now we patiently wait for Santa to fill our stockings and put some presents under the tree. Kate is not too sure about the whole Santa coming to her house thing. A patient asked her if Santa was coming to her house and she very boldly said "NO WAY"....obviously we won't be going to visit Santa at the mall this year too! If you ask Kate what Santa is bringing her she says, "toys and bubbles"...He just better leave them somewhere for us to pick up because he is NOT coming to her house!