Maleah's 6th Birthday!

How can I have a six-year-old already!  Thankfully, turning five seemed like a much bigger jump than turning six.  First grade though?  That sounds much bigger than Kindergarten.  Gah.  Anyway...

It was a lovely day celebrating my sweet pea, Maleah.  She had Asher here for the day, and we did all things fun!  She is so easy going, so she never asks for presents or parties or attention, which I treasure so much about her.  She is grateful, content, and plain ol' happy.  I couldn't be more proud of her if I tried.

We started the morning with birthday doughnuts, of course.  Then it was to the Parkersburg park and her choice for lunch and supper.  We got real crazy and decided we would go lunar bowling.  For kids who are in bed between 6:30-8:00 most nights, staying up for lunar bowling is a BIG deal!

We stopped at Walmart first, and got her birthday present...a new bike!

 After leaving Walmart at 9:00 (that's an adventure in and of itself), we headed to the bowling alley.  It was Sturgis Falls weekend, so we were the absolutely only ones there.  Perfect!!  It was the Wessels kiddos' first time, and quite the big hit.  Fun memories and a great time!

After bowling, we got some Dairy Queen ice cream.  Living large for the birthday girl.  It was a really full, and really fun, day.  

She was thrilled with her great birthday!

Happy Birthday, Maleah!  I just know your sixth year of life is going to be fantastic.  I love so many things about you; how you take care of your little siblings, the way you ask me every day how you can help me, your ability to just be chill, your beautiful singing voice and sweet fingers on the piano, your extremely generous heart, how you love to follow rules (but sometimes it's ok to relax a bit!), your love for the Lord, and our confidence.

I love how well you fit into our family.  You, sweet girl, made me a mommy.  Thanks for giving me grace as I figure out what in the world I am doing as I raise you and the others.  Being a mom is hard, but so very worth it.  You have a beautiful way of teaching me that.  

Happiest of birthdays to YOU!  You are so worth celebrating.

Hello...

We are still here.  Between being busy with adjusting to four children, spending some time away vacationing, and an extremely moody computer, my blogging has been few and far between.  But not for lack of stories, photos, or desire to keep up to date on life.  I love looking back on here, and am vowing right now, to get back into the swing of things. 

Ruby isn't short on attention or stimulation, that's for certain...

More to come.  Soon.

Maleah's Last Day of Kindergarten!

How can we be through our first school year already?  I remember when sending Maleah off to school, thinking..."this is the first of many, many years of this."  Well, that first year just flew by!

I was a week overdue by Maleah's last day, but actually thankful, as it made it possible to go to all the end of the school year activities.  I am totally *that* mom, who loves being involved and a part of what is going on.  I'm also *that* mom who LOVES the last day of school, because it means I get my girl for the summer!

The last day is sports day.  It is like a field day, where they have different competitions, games, relays, etc.  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, so sports day had to be moved inside.  It was a total bummer, but the kids still had tons of fun.  Parents go watch and help, and they end the school year with chapel all together, and some goodies.  Good times!

Maleah and her best school friend, Abby.  Two peas in a pod.  I was so thankful she quickly became pals with such a sweet little gal.  We love their family, which is definitely a perk.

We debated, contemplated, talked, stewed, seeked advice from her teacher, and on and on about whether we should send Maleah to school last year instead of this year.  She did awesome, and excelled in every area.  On the last day, her teacher said to us, "Maleah absolutely needed to be in Kindergarten this year."  Yay!  So reassuring to hear. 

It was such a great year.  Not one day did she drag her feet to go, she had the world's best teacher ever, and we were overjoyed with the school. 

I cried when she came home the last day.  I was reading through her journal from the year, and felt so proud of her.  I'm not going to lie.  I was really afraid to send her to school.  I liked having her home, I was afraid of all the inconvenience of it, the potentially bad influence of others, all the work, and just the thought of having a child old enough for school put me over the edge.  All of a sudden, time seemed to have gone too quickly.  But to think that the year I was so worried about (don't get me wrong, I was also so excited for her!), turned out to be an absolutely fantastic year, I felt overwhelmed in gratitude.

Kindergarten; check!  How cute is she!

Ruby Joy

Let me introduce to you our newest pride and joy, Ruby...

Ruby Joy was born on June 6, at 4:33 p.m.  She weighed 9 lbs. 9 oz., and was 21.5 inches long.

We went in at 7 o'clock in the morning to be induced.  I was ten days over, and we were finally going to meet our little lady!  They told us it would be a couple hours before they could get to us, so we ventured across the hallway and hung out with our great friends who had baby Kora the day before (perfecto!).  It was such a fun and eventful time for our families to share together. 

About 10:15 or so, they came and got me, and we got settled in.  They did the gel about 10:30, broke my water about 2:30, and Ruby was born at 4:33.  It was hard.  Quick, but hard.  Her size blew us away, and made for my most challenging delivery.  She didn't even look like one of "our" babies at birth.  We couldn't believe it!  She was chubby as could be, her hair was a unique strawberry blonde, and she was sweet as could be.

The kids came to see her about 7:00.  They instantly adored her.

And now, a family of six...so in love.

Blessed.