Randoms

I love this girl.  She has her own unique little sense of fashion.

 Sometimes they get along really well.

 I love this face she makes.  She was drawing a person here- "face, eye, eye, leg, leg, arm arm!"

 Here is Shane on one of his last days in Kindergarten with his teacher Mrs. Fisher at  Field Day.  We really liked her- maybe in part because she reminded me a lot of myself as a teacher;)

 I took the kids to a new to us park close to Josh's work after stopping to say hi one Saturday- he is the only senior resident on his hospital service this month so basically if he has gotten any days off it has been because he has gotten someone else to cover for him (who he already covered a day for in return).

 I usually encourage the kids to try something they think they can't do.  Shane was freaking out on this one- "I will die!  I am going to die!"  And his mean mom took a picture, even though I am afraid of heights and actually get his complete irrationality.

Sadie caught the puzzle bug and is getting pretty good.

 Josh and I took advantage of his lighter schedule last month and Shane being in school to take the girls on a few bike rides.  Some day Shane will learn to ride his bike right?  Anyone want to come teach him?  I will pay you $100- seriously.

 When I was in my tired phase and wanting to nap a lot of afternoons, Marissa would actually join me sometimes.  Waking them up to go pick up Shane from the bus stop was always a buzzkill though.

 Marissa's favorite thing is to help me in the kitchen.  She will drop whatever she's doing when she hears me starting dinner.

 I just thought Sadie looked so grown up here.  And beautiful!

I was brave (or stupid) and took the kids to the Lowe's Kids Clinic by myself.  We managed to get all 3 Ironman Avenjets built without Josh, yea us!

 He did get to come with us to his work picnic at the Tincaps game.  The kids had a blast and we stayed through the fireworks.

 We have spent a lot of days swimming at the Y

and going to the zoo.  On this day they had finished their chore chart and got to ride the carousel as their reward.

Who Stole My Tonsils?

Shaners had his tonsils and adenoids taken out today!  They were huge, and we had noticed it affecting his breathing more and more lately among other things.  So I was so thankful when we took him to the ENT and she didn't even make him do a sleep study, she thought he was a great candidate for the surgery.  He was nervous beforehand, and I told him that he wouldn't even know what had happened, and he would just wake up and say, "What the?? Who stole my tonsils??"  He thought that was pretty funny and it helped him relax.

Everything went really well, and he is doing great so far.  He didn't even fuss or anything coming out of the anesthesia, he was just mostly concerned that he couldn't talk- of course that was his #1 worry, he has a lot to say!  He was super excited to get to eat ice cream and donuts and whatever else he wanted.

 The girls did get to share some of the treats, but I think they were just as jealous of the whole doctor experience!  So when he wanted to take a little nap, we played doctor.

The doctor said later on around day 5 is actually the hardest part of the recovery so wish us luck!

On Baseball and Life Lessons

The little town Shane's school is in has a baseball league, and so Shane decided he wanted to play in that league this year instead of with the Y.  So I said sure, but after going to the first couple practices I was wondering what we had gotten ourselves into and how he (and I) would make it through the season.  Baseball at the Y was super low key, they pretty much just made sure everyone got up to bat once and ran all the bases, if they couldn't hit off the coach's pitch they would pull out the tee for them, and everyone just kind of did whatever in the field.  In this league the rules of baseball were actually followed and the kids were hitting off a pitching machine, and I was sure after watching him the first few practices he would never get a hit all season.  Not to mention the playing in the dirt and obliviousness in the field.  But enter his awesome, patient coaches, some practice at home with daddy, a lot of positive encouragment, and Shane blossomed before my eyes.          

 I felt bad after the first game not because he was bad (which he was) but because he wasn't really doing what his coaches asked or following directions like he should be, or trying his hardest.  I am not a crazy sports mom by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think those are all super important life skills that he needs to be developing.  So when we got into the car afterwards I told him he needed to give me his snack and that he wasn't going to get to eat it that night because of the way he had acted and told him what he needed to do if he wanted to get it next time.  He was sad but understood, and we struggled at home to work with him the first few times without him crying about being afraid of getting hit by the ball or losing, etc.  And I'm not exactly sure when or how it happened, but little by little he started trying his hardest, really listening to what his coaches were trying to teach him to do, paying attention to what was going on, and having FUN!  

 This was the night our friends the Ashbys came to watch him play.  Katie had asked me for his schedule and I pretty much told her not to come until I was feeling a little more sure of things. But she managed to ask Shane his team name and found the schedule on the webpage and came one night!

 And they must be his good luck charm because he got his first hit that night!  He was so excited, and so was I!  And so were his coaches!

We had told him we would get him ice cream if he ever hit the ball, so it was a celebration!

 Little did we know how many times he would end up hitting the ball!!  It was so much fun to watch his confidence grow and see him realize that something that started out hard for him he was able to get good at with some practice and determination, and how fun it could be too.  (Here he was about to score his first run).

I ended up being really happy we decided to have him play in that league- though they expected more out of the kids than what I had been used to, they helped the kids achieve that in a very nice and positive way, and he learned so much.  The girls loved playing at his playground, and it was a lot of fun to sit with neighbors and friends during the games and play against familiar faces from school.

 And as icing on the cake his team won the championship!  He was pretty excited about that.

 And my little "Rocket" as his team fondly nicknamed him, got the award for most improved player!! (Following the Nebeker tradition:) ).  It was really cute, I heard one of the players on the team telling him in the outfield on one particularly good game of his "Shane I'm really proud of you buddy, you had some great hits!"  I think he really felt a sense of team unity and had  a lot of fun, and his coaches all told me how much fun they had with him and how proud they were of how far he had come.  He may not ever be a "star" or even continue playing baseball for years (though he definitely wants to play next year!), but I hope in our crazy competitive world he will always be able to play sports of some kind or another  because Josh and I think they are so good for kids for exercise and so many important life lessons.  

I wanted to write this all out to remind myself, and all my kids, in the future, that we can do hard things!  Not everything comes easy or naturally at first but with a little work they can be achieved and when they are it is even more rewarding because of it.  We are so proud of you Shane!!!

Day to Day

Shane went to his friend Ellynn's birthday party at a painting place.  Each kid got a canvas and the lady walked them step by step through painting a fish with their own unique touches, it was a lot of fun and I love the way it turned out!

 We started a Friday movie night, partly as an incentive for good behavior at school. 

 Shane can be very spiritual minded.  One Sunday he came and showed me how he had written a page on Heavenly Father and Jesus, then later I came across these- "The Holy Ghost" and "Thomas Monson".  He turned them into a book on "all the important people in the world" and included Nephi, Adam, Moses, and several others:)

All my kids had a love affair with dandelions this spring, and couldn't believe that they are weeds.

Sadie can go from full speed to suddenly sleepy in the blink of an eye, and when she does she is OUT.  This time it was while Shane was reading to us.

Marissa is 4!

Josh  informed me that I never posted anything about Marissa's birthday.  Sadly, I don't have any pictures to show for it, but we did celebrate.  With her birthday being the day after mine, we kind of combined and celebrated on mine since it was first and not as busy of a day.  We went to play at the indoor play place at Jefferson Pointe with her friend Fritz, ate dinner at Chic-Fil-A, ate peanut butter texas sheet cake per her request (no complaints here!), opened presents, and just generally did whatever she wanted:)  She plays "birthday" all the time so I think it was her dream come true that it actually was hers!  She went around announcing to everyone for months that she was 3 1/2, so I think it took her a minute to change and say she was 4!  Here are a few things about Marissa at 4:

-Always a mess, still.  Sometimes I think she must have to try to get that messy.
-A great eater.  She loves fruits and vegetables, so much so that I have to tell her she needs to eat something different sometimes because her digestive system can't quite handle all that!
-Getting a shy streak, especially during primary at church.
-Loves to draw and asks me all the time how to spell words so she can write them, she would go through a ream of paper a day if I let her.
-Always dancing or skipping around the house
-Sometimes the way she plays drives me crazy- it usually involves packing up a bunch of toys into some kind of container and dumping them out somewhere for a "party" or "picnic" and then not actually playing with them.
-Loves to help me around the house, and is actually getting to be somewhat helpful!
-Can be a little on the bossy side with her siblings
-Loves to build with legos and is getting pretty good
-Will correct you when you say or do something she thinks is wrong by saying, "No silly..."

Happy late birthday Marissa, we love you!!!

Gerbils Take 3

I don't know what it is about my husband, but whenever I am pregnant Josh suddenly wants to get gerbils!  We got our first two when I was pregnant with Marissa, the second two when I was pregnant with Sadie, and he hadn't talked about getting any for awhile until I got pregnant again!  I of course said no like I usually do, but he volunteered to take all three kiddos out for a few hours to shop for them and I was sick and pregnant and too tired to fight it.  And I got the best nap ever out of it, which at the time seemed totally worth it.  Even when he came home and told me that he got 3 this time, because when the older two were picking their's out Sadie kept asking, "mine gerbil?" She totally has daddy wrapped around her little finger!  So now Cutesy, Dandelion, and Sven are a part of the family and it has actually been really fun having them, these ones aren't as jumpy and the kids enjoy checking on them several times a day.  We'll see how long they last!