Fall Fun, Merit Henry's Birthday!

Merit's Birthday was yesterday! It is hard to believe we have an eight year old

in the house. We are sooo proud of Merit! He is a wonderful student, a fun brother,

an amazing son and a great friend to many.

Yesterday we enjoyed having a party with his entire second grade class at school. Mrs. Hammond, his teacher, is soo sweet and helped make his birthday special!! We all enjoyed Dominoes pizza and celebrated Merit.

After school we had a fun party here at our home!

 Eight years old! We are CRAZY about this kid!!

Thanks Kelly for your help and company!

We had a great time!!

for the birds

 Hazel, Willem and I headed down to the cabin after lunch today. The weather is beautiful and I thought it would be fun to get a few shots of Hazel. I want to work on her one year pictures this week. She will be one on the 21st!! When we arrived at the cabin, Willem noticed there was a trapped woodpecker inside the wood stove. We called Vance to ask advice on how he thought we should try to get it out. He suggested we open the stove door, open both man doors, at that point he was pretty sure it would fly right out. Willem told me this was a job for him and that Hazel and I should just wait outside the cabin! He was man in charge on this little mission and I found it to be SO fun to snap pictures of him while waiting out on the deck.

yeah,  he felt a little freaked out

So then we wondered, why isn't he flying out? Willem grabbed the end of the mop to see

if he could be coaxed.

He did fly out. It was very startling!! Yes, we were expecting it, but he seemed large in this tiny cabin.

And, he didn't fly out - of the cabin. He headed over to our candy dish and jars of buttons...

I went around the the outside of the window and tried to shoo

the woodpecker away. Hoping it would head for an open door.

We heard some "knocking" and Willem said "I think he is pecking!

Do you see his pecker?" I had a hard time staying upright. This whole

rescue mission had me laughing my head off.

I started getting loud and making large get out of here gestures with my hands.

But, he found a different, more lovely perch.

Hazel was so ready for a nap at this point, so we got her up to the house, gave her a little snack and to my amazement she fell asleep in her highchair!! I don't think our children have ever done this before. Once we laid her down, Will and I checked to see if the woodpecker had flown away - and he had!

Each day is an adventure. And I love hanging out with these kids!

October is such a fun month!!! Autumn colors, two birthdays in our family, football,  Halloween, soccer - we are enjoying it.

Merit is so, so excited for his birthday Thursday! We will have an eight year old in the house!

So thankful for these kids!!!

 THESE TWO! Exploring together, looking to big brother for comfort, hanging out, having fun...

 These Three! I love the photo shoot with these cuties!!

This one is a favorite.

Have a wonderful weekend.

 Exploring Moses Lake is always fun.

10 things that make me smile:
Merit's determination when he does his school work, practices spelling words or plays sports.
Watching Hazel walk
Willem's imagination
Merit's teacher
Imagining having Thanksgiving at my dads. Although no plans have yet been made to travel over this holiday, I have really fond memories of being in his shop last Thanksgiving.
Dreaming about maybe someday, some way, adding a 4th child to our family.
My friends
Thinking of some day being in the classroom TEACHING!
Vance
Attempting dinner at the Whitehouse Crawford in Walla Walla

ok, #11 - I had to add one more. That is so me. I wrestle with simplicity and have to be a little random.
Watching Hazel and her cousin Kendal interact today made me smile

I LOVE listening to the songs our boys come home singing! These are songs that they have learned at school that have catchy tunes and make me smile! Hazel likes to dance to them. :) This week we have been singing about the letter C (Willem's letter of the week at Happy Hearts). And we have been singing about Butterflies. Merit is studying butterflies in his classroom. The vocabulary words he is coming home with are so impressive. I love hearing the definitions. Also, they have caterpillars in their classroom!
Well, fall is officially here but this weather is warm and beautiful!! Yesterday we took the boat out. It was 80 + degrees. It was fun to be out on the water. The boys fished for a little while, but we didn't catch anything this time. We ordered Woody Burgers and ate them on the dock and dipped our crinkle fries in fry sauce -- yum!  It is fun to enjoy these warm, fall days.
Tonight Merit had a soccer game. They played awesome! It was really fun. AND Papa Stan and Gramma Adie were here to watch it.
They are staying with us tonight. So I am going to run...
I'll be back with some fun pictures sometime this weekend.
More soon!! Michele

Monday greetings

I love all the colors of fall.

Vance mowed the field. I spotted him out there on his big FORD.

And then saw the little Ford... a first birthday gift for Merit from

Grandpa Vic and Gramma Kris... hard to believe our youngest will be ONE year old

next month. All three of our kids have enjoyed driving this little tractor.

An evening hike with my camera in hand was good for the soul.

God's creation is breathtaking.

We had a gorgeous sunset last night.

I enjoyed taking the Valdez Family's photos Saturday afternoon. Those pictures are on my photography blog linked to this one. I had kind of a blah week last week, but we had a great Sunday yesterday. And I have a feeling this week will be better. Enjoy your day! I will be back soon.

Lil' Miss Blue Eyes, Life with the Jansen's

The boys are playing a made up game called Cats and Rats. They try to toss underwear up on our hanging light fixture that hangs on the higher ceiling above our staircase. They laugh, holler, scream... Merit just came to me telling me they have been disqualified. Their dad told them Cats and Rats had gotten TOO LOUD!

These boys!

I made Pear Butter today... oh my goodness yum!

Vance and I tried to write our will yesterday. I am still

emotionally exhausted. NO one could ever love these kids like we do... I know this is how every parent (almost every parent) feels about their children... but oh my.

Also, it is very real to me that people die. Both my mom and my nephew Case died without any warning. Completely healthy and then gone... so I need to be realistic. It is responsible to plan for what would happen if I were no longer here.

Natasha is such an inspiration to me as she continues to allow God to heal her as they miss Case deeply. She finds JOY in life and is such a loving, kind, reasonable, responsible person.

Reese, Natasha and Lane are remarkable and I thank God for that.

I feel very misunderstood since Case's death. I can't imagine how Natasha and Reese must feel at times. Also, people say really strange things sometimes and it is hard at times to let those things go. But there has been a great deal of support and love shown too. Many people expect one to get over the loss of a loved one soon... no one wants a "downer" for a friend, mom, niece, wife... you get the picture. Funny, I didn't mention sister... that is one thing that is fabulous about my siblings. I think they would still spend time with me even if I were a "downer"

Really I should stop now, because I am usually the girl who just kind of smiles through the frustration or sadness. I have so much to be thankful for and can usually remain positive. My smile is fading a bit today however... poor Willem had a crying UNO partner earlier this afternoon. He asked if I needed to take a break and rest on the couch for a bit!! But I am certain tomorrow will be a better day.

I am loving these kids and am "running" a lot. I am tired at times, but mostly it feels really good.  Tomorrow I will get a much

needed chunk of exercise and try to introduce a healthier diet. Today I had coffee, coffee and more coffee and ate some of the kids meal scraps... oh yeah and I sampled the Pear Butter!

Hazel has been sleeping good at night. This is a huge blessing.

Hazel is taking STEPS!!!

Hazel, I'm girl crazy cause of you.

I love you sweetie.

Mom

Weekend

I get to spend all weekend with these three!

We are enjoying it.

Willem, Hazel and I stopped yesterday to take a look at this old Ford truck

on the side of the road.

When I showed Merit these pictures the first thing he said was

"Were you trespassing?"

Huh? Funny kid. And yeah, we sort of were. There was a NO HUNTING

NO TRESPASSING sign ON the truck, but we didn't touch the truck or go in.

I would like taking a family's pictures in front of it however. :)

Enjoy your weekend!! I love September weekends.