Its Happening....

So it's happening, it's really happening.

In one week from today the kids will ALL be going to school. Full-time. From 8:15 am to 3:00 pm. We will officially have a 2nd grader and 3 kindergartners! I'm really not sure how it happened or when it happened but all of the sudden it's here...the day they all go off to school together.

I'm not going to lie either. There have been times that I have dreamed for this day to finally come, but now that it's here...I'm not so sure.

To add to my mixed ball of emotions we decided to pull the kids from our great public school (I'm not even being sarcastic about that either, it really is great) and put them in a private school that we are hoping praying will be even greater! My favorite saying so far about this whole transition is by Olivia, "Maybe we will learn more about God and less about math!" And for her sake I hope they do!

So for the next 6 days I am going to try really hard to not wish away the hours when the kids are at each others throats, making a huge mess of the house, and/or driving me bonkers. And I'm going to really, really, try to enjoy every lunch, snack, smile, and even whine while I can. I know it's cliche but time really does go by fast.

Turning 5 and the Start of a New Book

As we tucked the kids in bed tonight it was a little bitter sweet. It was their last night as four year olds. They are excited about waking up and being five years old tomorrow morning, and I am too...kind of. 

The thing is, I've been wishing them older a lot the last 2 years. But now that they are getting there I just don't know that I'm ready for it. I'm going to get real honest here for a minute... ages three and four have been a little tough, or should I say rough. There has been a lot of fighting, yelling, screaming, crying, pleading, begging and praying, and I'm not talking about all these thing coming from just the kids either. :) It's been a trying couple of years. But there has also been a lot of growing, caring, sharing, learning, loving, forgiving, and praying going on these last two years too. The fact is my babies will be finishing up preschool this spring and after a summer full of fun, fights, and travels they will be starting kindergarten in the fall. KINDERGARTEN! A part of me wants to jump up and down singing praises to the Lord for making it this far, but then the other part of me just keeps saying, "Kindergarten...how did this happen!" And I know what some of you might be saying, "Kindergarten, that is still five months away!" 

I feel like them turning 5 isn't just a new chapter but the start of a new book. As for the ending of this first book, I would have to say that the last four years have been the most exhausting of my life. Not just physically, but emotionally, and mentally as well. Everyday has been full of ups and downs. But the things that have kept growing daily are my children, my love for this family, and my faith in the Lord. And in the end what more can I ask for.

Jonathan

So this is Jonathan. My little boy. His sweet smile melts my heart every time. 

Jonathan is all boy, and sometimes kitty. (When the girls want to play house he wants to be the kitty. Today I saw kitty peeing outside the playroom, pretend peeing that is, sounds and all. Like I said, he is all boy.) Jonathan has a heart of gold. His sweetness could melt the grumpiest of old men and his sense of humor could make the saddest smile.

Here he is with dad at Aunt Aubrey's wedding. He had so much fun dancing I could hardly believe that this was the same boy that would hide and cry when he was in front of people he didn't know well. He is really coming out of his shell and becoming much more outgoing.

This picture was taken at Bloomsbury Farms, otherwise known as "Blueberry" Farms, during a preschool field trip this fall. He had so much fun jumping on the jumping pillow and exploring all the things that there is to explore out there. I am finding that Jonathan really loves being outside. Whether he is in the backyard, riding his bike, playing baseball, or just relaxing.

I LOVE this picture. It's from our summer vacation "Up North". Jonathan walked up to the lake's edge, took a seat, and seemed to be soaking in all of God's creation. I'm not sure if this will make sense to some, but I could literally feel how at peace he was up here. I can only imagine what was going on inside that head of his. Anyways, we also found out that Jonathan loves fishing, being out on the boat, and casting his Spiderman fishing pole. He was in Heaven! 

Jonathan also got to experience some Iowa farm life this fall. His first was with my dad combining beans, and then just a week or two later he got to go out again with Mr. Fritz and drive the combine through some corn. I think I was just as excited to go out with Mr. Fritz as Jonathan was. I have such great memories of being out on my grandparents farm as a kid that I really wanted them to be able to see what it's like. Thankfully we know some really wonderful people that let us come out to there farm for the afternoon. Mr. Fritz, Cathy, Cari, Casey and kids...we love you!

Jonathan also loves helping dad at work. He loves anything with moving parts and likes to figure out how things work and move. I don't think Sadler Power Train will have a hard time recruiting this young man someday. :)

Hayden

Oh Hayden, isn't she beautiful...

This little girl is smart, caring, kind, she loves big and falls BIG. I'm pretty sure this girl is ready for the drama stage already. Just the other day we were having a family meeting (These usually happen when we want to talk about a behavior that we have been seeing too much of. They also usually consist of some sort of role playing on what we are seeing and what we would like to see. The kids actually love family meetings because of the role playing, I'm almost positive that wont last long! Can you imagine trying to role play with your teenage kids on how you'd like to see their attitudes improve! Ha!). Anyways, we were talking about whining, or what I like to think of as nails on a chalk board. It was Hayden's turn to pretend to be whining about something and then practice what we would like her to do if, and when, she starts to whine. Hayden starts up and all the kids are watching. She then goes to the spot where she is suppose to until she cools off. (Thanks Audrey for the idea!) While she is sitting on grandma's bed she continues to whine and cry to the point we all start looking at each other because we can't tell if she is serious or if she is still role playing! Olivia finally asks her if she is still pretending and when she stops to say yes, Olivia says, "Wow mom, she is really good. I thought she was really upset!" Now I am wondering how many times I have fallen for her act!

Hayden also loves to do anything her big sister Liv is doing, and when she can't I start to see a lot of what I was just explaining about above. :) 

Hayden loves to help in the kitchen and is pretty creative when it comes to drawing and coloring too.

 Here she is putting on a little show. Thankfully this show just consisted of singing and no whining.

She can also be very serious at times. Here Hayden is with her uncle Josh driving the boat on our family vacation this summer they both have great serious faces.

 And Hayden loves posing for pictures.

And I love that sweet face!

Halloween and the Switch Witch

Trick-R-Treat!

This year we have (left to right): Hayden as Princess Aurora, Jonathan as Johnny Football, Olivia as Vampire Rapunzel, and Hannah as Wedding Rapunzel. 

Since Hannah was sick earlier this week she stayed home to answer the door for me so I could hand out the candy. Adam was then assigned to take the rest of the kids trick-r-treating. Adam and I decided to give the Switch Witch a try this year and hoped that the kids would go for it. We let them pick out 5 of their favorite pieces of candy to keep but then they had to put the rest in a bag for the Switch Witch. The Switch Witch then takes the candy during the night and leaves behind presents. It felt like Christmas the next morning! The kids were up early and running around with excitement to see what the Switch Witch had left them. Success! But now what's a mom to do with all that chocolate hidden up high???  I think we all know exactly what's going to happen with the chocolate...it will slowly start to disappear from it's secret hiding spot during preschool, rest times, and bedtimes and then quickly start reappearing on my butt, hips and thighs. :)

The Switch Witch left Hannah a Hello Kitty alarm clock, Olivia and Hayden a fancy mirrors, and Jonathan a superman bank and alarm clock.

The Switch Witch will definitely be coming back next year and I will be taking advantage of it for as long as I can!

Hannah

This is Hannah...

She is my mighty mini. She is the smallest of our triplets but not by much and what she lacks in size she makes up for with spunk! Never afraid to be the first to try anything...that is unless you ask her to, then she's shy all the sudden.

Today Hannah is staying home from preschool because last night she woke up with the pukers. But even sick she can barely stay still for more then a second. This morning, after a long night, she wakes up at 7:45 bright eyed yelling (we are forever working on our quiet voices) and jumping, "Mommy, I don't have the pukers any more!" Hannah is also a jumper. She loves to jump. But mom's aren't always sure jumping and yelling is a good idea for someone that has just spent the night throwing up. So in my attempts to keep her from jumping up her breakfast I resorted to letting her play on my iphone.

 I'm not one for a lot of video games, in fact the only game console we have is the original Nintendo and even that is buried in a box somewhere in the storage room. However, Olivia has been struggling with her math lately so I downloaded a few kid friendly educational apps and the kids are loving them and learning from them too. Anyways, Hannah has not had any more of the pukers since last night so I'm hoping that it was some fluke deal and the rest of us won't be getting it!!!

Here are some other pictures of Hannah over the last few months.

She loves her Packer shirt (seriously it's her favorite) and she loves making things. These are her glitter pumpkins she made this fall. A few of Hannah's favorite creative outlets are coloring, painting, using sidewalk chalk, and putting puzzles together. And she loves, Loves, LOVES wearing swimsuits! Everyday this summer she would get up and put on a swimsuit no matter rain or shine. She still tries to sneak one on every now and then, but then I have to remind her that when it's cold outside swimsuits are only for hotels. Then she'll ask when we get to go to a hotel. :)

Hannah also loves head bans, this one in particular. She got it from her Great Aunt JoJo this summer for being one of the many beautiful little flower girls in her wedding. (Which I want to write about as well sometime.)

Hannah loves to have fun, be silly, and push buttons, as in peoples buttons. :) And course I think all my children are smart but I always have thought that Hannah is sneaky smart. You never think she is listening or paying attention but somehow she gets it. And the thing I love most about Hannah is that she loves with her whole heart.


If you are interested in the apps I recently downloaded here they are.

• Farm Fun - Animals Play and Learn All in One
• Monkey Preschool Lunch Box
• First Math for Preschool 3 to 6 years
• 1st Grade Math: Splash Math (This one was for Olivia and she really likes it and it seems to be helping)

Olivia

Seriously now, isn't she just the sweetest looking thing you've ever seen! Okay, so I may be a little bias but she really is the sweetest little girl. Olivia is my little helper, my little mini me. She is kind hearted, caring and sensitive. She is a protector of her younger siblings, always watching out for them and sometime tattling on them. :) Liv has been learning so much at school and she loves to try to teach her brother and sisters. She is also getting more into fashion and doing her own hair. So far she has learned how to pull her hair back into a ponytail, and braid. I'd like to say I taught her how to do both but I'm pretty sure she learned it at recess. Don't get me wrong, this little girl can give some attitude from time to time but she is always quick to turn it around.

These two pictures and the one at the very top of all four kids were taken by Adam's cousin Muffy Sadler. She can capture some pretty amazing things with her camera. 

The rest of these pictures are just a few of my favorites from this summer.

 After she lost her first tooth.

 In the suite at the Kernels baseball game.

 Having fun on a giant blowup slide!

 Talking with some new friends she made at dad's Red Top baseball games.

Trying out the pool on our first big family vacation.

I just love this little girl

Okay, So It's Been a While...A Long while

Alright I know, it's been a while since my last post, but what can I say I've been pretty busy the last two and a half years! There's been potty training, tantrums, toddler beds, big kid beds, birthdays, holidays, preschool, kindergarten, first grade, field trips, family trips, and moving just to name a few. All of which I am wishing I would have recorded in this blog, because lets face it, unless I have it written down and documented I am probably not going to remember it. It's a sad fact for me, but now that I am willing to admit it I am hoping that it will help encourage me to keep on journaling in this blog. 

It would take me days, weeks, and probably months to try to go back and talk about all the things I have listed above so for right now I am just going to talk about right now. And then maybe if I get in a grove I might post some throwbacks every now and then.

So here we are. This picture was taken at my beautiful sister-in-laws wedding. I would like to thank the hair, makeup, and the fake tan people for making me look less like a frumpy, yoga pant wearing mom, and more like normal person. Also the things you can do with the right photo editing tools is amazing!

Olivia is 6 and in 1st grade at Prairie Ridge Elementary. She is a little mommy and an awesome big sister. 

Hannah, Hayden, and Jonathan are 4 years old and in preschool at the same school as Olivia. They are having a great time learning, exploring, and making new friends. So far we are keeping them all in the same classroom. I'm not sure what we will do in Kindergarten but for now that is the plan. They seem to be pretty independent so I don't worry about that, but what I do worry about is everyone forever asking them them "Which one are you?" Obviously this only only happens to the girls. :)

This summer we moved to Fairfax, which is literally less then 5 minutes from our old house. We loved the house because of the neighborhood, location, backyard, and space. But there were a few things that weren't really going to work with our family dynamics so for the last four months we have been working on a few thing things to make our "new house" our "new home" and I'm happy to say that we are finally there, just a few minor details left to complete. I am planning on posting more on the remodel later. 

So I'm really hoping that in between dropping kids off at school, running errands, picking kids up, meals, family time, church, clubs (and I'm not talking about nightclubs), cleaning (or my attempts to clean/pickup) I'll be able to take some time and just write.