Weekend fun

We had an exciting weekend here at Mom and Dad's.

Baby and his grandparents spent some quality tummy time together. He was NOT sure what was going on, but got a kick out of all the attention.

Blase helped Grandpa hang some paneling in the basement. He's a good helper! Notice the pencil in his mouth. I think he got that from his daddy.

The big surprise of the weekend was waking up to snow on Sunday morning. I took a picture of the temperature outside and then what it looked like out there. INSANE!! I think we had about 6 inches of snow. It had rained before the snow, so we have a sloppy mess outside.

Baby cut his first tooth on Saturday. He is chewing on anything and everything. This was taken this morning before he got dressed. I have tried to get a picture of his tooth, but he ends up trying to eat the camera. Oh well... He is a pro at sitting up now. He also stood up against the bathtub for a little bit by himself. I think he was too busy watching the others in the bathtub that he didn't realize what he was doing.

We have another busy week planned with so many visits to friends and family. Darren flies back from Italy on Friday and will fly out here on Saturday. I wish I knew where all the time went! Hopefully I will have more pictures to post by the weekend.

Pirate Birthday

Yesterday was Stephen's 6th birthday. He requested an "army man" birthday, but instead got a full day of pirate fun. We invited his cousin Shelby over for the day as well as a sleepover. Mauri was babysitting a little girl, so she joined in the fun too. When we counted them all up...there were 9 kids 8 years old and younger. We were trying to decide if it was a circus, zoo or just a day care.

The day started with the kids playing while I decorated the birthday cake. Here's what the finished product looked like. Cormac helped me "undecorate" by eating the first three letters of Stephen's name. We teased Stephen by calling him "Phen". I don't think he thought it was as funny as we did.

Then we started some pirate school. We worked on a lapbook about pirates. They learned about things that start with 'P', colors, and played a game about pirate terms (swab the deck, walk the plank). Everyone picked pirate names and wore bandanas.

Captain Stephen, Shivery Timbery Shelby, Crazy Cormac, Fearsome Loman working on their own pirate flags.

(and I was Whip Crackin' Karen)

Here we are feeding parrots in our pirate terms game.

After some school work, lunch and some more playing, we decorated for the birthday party. The kids played a pirate version of pin the tail on the donkey. Fearsome Loman won the game. Here's a few pictures...

Stephen's turn and then Fearsome Loman takes first

Don't you love Blase's eyes??

Then we had Pizza Hut pizza and cake with all the Bestgen aunts, uncles and cousins who live in the area. After that most of the kids and a few adults hurried our way to the movie theater to watch Monsters v. Aliens with Stephen's Aunt Courtney and our friends Sharon and Dyson. Then home again for more cake and ice cream and BED!! When Stephen came out of the movie he said it was the best birthday he had ever had. I'm beginning to think its the best birthday any of us ever had. He's one lucky "Phen"!

Today we finished up our pirate lapbook. They had a great time and loved being pirates. We spend some time teaching them that pirates were not nice people, but we were going to be pirates that ARE nice. I have to admit that I had just as much fun, if not more fun than the kids. Oh...and I have to thank Mom and all the aunts (plus Katie) who helped us with the lapbook.

Now, I'm off to the day spa and an evening out with my bestest friend Lori.....ahhhhh....

Fun times

We made it to South Dakota and have been going full throttle ever since. Good Friday we traveled most of the day and ended by having supper with Darren's family before arriving late at my family's house. Then Holy Saturday we decorated Easter eggs with the kids and my sweet niece Sarah. That evening Darren, Mauri, Brech and I watched my brother Luke race in an indoor moto race. Great memories that night...

Easter Sunday was wonderful with Mass in the morning and eating, eating, and more eating in the afternoon. We made rainbow jello and Irish Cream Chocolate cheesecake for dessert - yummy!! We also kept up the Bestgen tradition of kipping. John's egg took first prize as far as I know. Darren's parents and sister Courtney also came for the meal and some visiting.

Monday I took Darren to the airport after a bit of shopping for Stephen's birthday. Darren flies out to Italy this coming Saturday, but had to work this week. I also spent some time in town with my mom and sister and her boyfriend, Peter. Tuesday was my dad's birthday so we celebrated with presents and leftover cake from Easter. Wednesday was my parents anniversary (31 years). Today my three sisters, Brech, Rex and I went shopping in Rapid City. I am on curtain making duty this weekend so we had to stock up on fabric. Tomorrow the boys will get to play with their cousin Shelby. It has been a jam-packed week!

Brech had a few firsts since we have been here. He clapped for the first time I could recall during one of the races Saturday night. He sat up on Tuesday for a full minute by himself. He also drank from a straw that day and said his first word "Dad". Of course he couldn't say it when Darren was around.

I also had a first. I ventured to see my brother Mark's headstone for the first time. I cried and smiled and laughed. I cried because I miss him, alot. I smiled because the headstone was perfect and the picture on it was wonderful. Also, having my other brother and his headstone moved over near Mark was special to see as well. I laughed because of all the deer droppings that covered Mark's grave. I had to laugh because it was nice to know he was visited everyday! :)

Tomorrow the kids are going to learn about volcanoes. It should be fun - especially when we make a homemade volcano. Who doesn't love that?!

Trip Routine

Since Darren and I have been married we have made many trips "out west" to visit family. Over the years we have gotten VERY good at packing a lot into a small area. We ran out of room in the van a few kids ago, so now we have to pull a trailer if we are going on a long trip. My job - prepare the goods for travel, Darren's job - load the goods. Here is my usual trip routine...

One day before travel:

1. Make a list (Stephen made sure that each of the boys were on the list. Can't forget anyone now.)
2. Wash laundry
3. Pack clothes
4. Round up extras I'm taking to Mom's (example - clothes for my little brother, books for school)
5. Run around like a chicken with its head cut off
6. Pick up the house
7. Change diaper
8. Feed anything and everything to the kids (cleaning out fridge and cupboards is a must!)
9. Waste time sitting on computer (ummm, ok - yah so I got that one covered!)
10. Fall into bed trying to remember what it was that I forgot

Day of travel (if we leave after work- otherwise this all has to happen day before)

1. Wash last load of laundry
2. Clean house from top to bottom (there is nothing worse than coming home to a messy house)
3. Mentally go through every box - Did I remember everything?
4. Check list
5. Load last minute things (like diapers and juice boxes)
6. Check list
7. Run through house making sure everything is picked up
8. "Did you go to the bathroom? Dad will be home soon!"
9. Load kids
10. Oh crud, someone forgot to pee - get them out of the van
11. Check lights and furnace
12. Watch Darren check lights and furnace
13. Check doors
14. Watch Darren check doors
15. Trailer brake light check
16. Answer (for the third time) "When will we be there?" "We haven't even left the yard yet!!!"
17. Turn on the radio and relax
18. Drive 15 minutes to town and by McDonalds
19. "You can't possibly be hungry already!"
20. Yup, its gonna be a good trip!! Watch out South Dakota - here comes the Gebes tornado, full force and right on target!!!

Lapbooking

I just finished listening to a preview chat for Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2009 hosted by Cindy Rushton. If you homeschool and you haven't looked up Cindy Rushton...you are missing out! Tonight's preview was about lapbooking and it was given by Tammy Duby from Tobin's Lab.

The boys and I have been doing lapbooks for a couple years now. I have used lapbooks for science, history, geography and literature. Sometimes I use ones that I have bought and sometimes I create my own. Tonight's session inspired me to take lapbooking a step further. In the past I have pretty much made a schedule and stuck to it. We worked on lapbooks based on what I thought would be interesting for them to learn, plus a few thrown in that they requested. Starting next year I'm going to attempt a more "go where the wind takes us" outlook. I can't wait to see what we end up learning about.

I am actually printing out two sets of lapbooks right now. One is about volcanoes and the other about pirates. I will be teaching both of them to the boys and my younger brothers and sisters when we are back in South Dakota. I have to admit, I get just as excited about them as the kids do. I am certain I have learned more using lapbooks than I did in some of my high school textbooks.

Peek in the past

This is me helping Dad build the house in 1980ish. Some of my best childhood memories include helping dad. I remember thinking he could build ANYTHING. For the record, I still think he can. I love you Dad...

Overloaded

I was hoping I would sleep like a rock after my first post last night. It isn't every day you accomplish such a monumental step. Well, no go!! I laid awake thinking of a million (ok so maybe only 50) things I could have posted last night. I reminded myself that yesterday was just another day and peacefully dosed off. That lasted a whole hour before the baby needed to eat. Yup, just another day/night in my life.

Treasures for Heaven - this title is two-fold.

First: My children are treasures for heaven. They are precious souls entrusted to my husband and I. There are other treasures in my life. They include my parents and siblings, my grandparents, friends and family. I also think God's gifts in nature as some of the most beautiful treasures among us. Each treasure has been blessed by God and given to me as a reminder of His love for me. My day is full of treasure!!

Second: It explains the ideas I'm trying to instill into my children by means of little daily reminders. Luke 12:34, "For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." St. Matthew and St. Mark have basically the same message in their Gospels as well. I want my boys to have heavenly treasures. I NEED them to have heavenly treasures.

I plan to include posts on all aspects of my life. Marriage, parenting, homeschooling, gardening, sewing, quotes from the boys, random thoughts and my Catholic faith. I am only hoping I can give you a realistic portrayal of our lives. I fall. I fall a lot. Sometimes I get back up with a smile, sometimes I'm crying buckets of tears. I am weak. I am strong. So sit back and enjoy my daily journey, collecting treasures for heaven.

The first post - a lasting impression

My first blog post.....hummmmmm.....

I thought at first I should post something unforgettable.
Then I thought maybe something deep and theological would be ideal.

Then I stopped and thought (deep and theologically, mind you) what exactly is this blog about. I realized I would be blogging about what happens in my everyday life. I don't know about you, but every single day is unforgettable for me. Its amazing how deep and theological life with little boys can be. BUT...that still left me with what to post....ummmm....

Unforgettable + deep + theological...ok let's face it...just ain't gonna happen. So let's try real life.

FIRST OFFICIAL POST:

Stephen ate all his spaghetti tonight without complaining more than 15 minutes. I am still in a shock and awe stupor. Could this be the dawn of a new day? Could this mean ALL the boys will eat spaghetti without giving me heartburn?? I highly doubt it, but a mom can dream can't she???