Monday Pictures-Week 38

Another quiet week as far as Schaeffer and Logan are concerned. We've been getting outdoors a lot and I'm not really sure what to do with the boys. Is it ok to let them crawl around in the grass and probably eat some of it? Is it ok to let them crawl around on dirty concrete? I'm sure before too long I'll be saying, sure, no big deal, but for now I've been carting them around instead of making them crawl on such surfaces. They seem to like taking walks with the stroller and you read about our bike trailer adventure. We've also tried out the wagon a few times, which they seem to really enjoy. I makes for a nice place to put them where they aren't completely strapped down, but they are contained and strapped down just enough I don't have to worry too much. Jack loves the wagon too and enjoys hopping in the middle so I'm pulling all three boys down the sidewalk. Thankfully, by boys are small.

Jack had me set up our tent/tunnel thing in the basement and the brothers had a good time crawling though it once.

By the way, I just thought of this. Did you know that we rarely refer to Schaeffer and Logan as the twins. Rather they are almost always referred to as "The Brothers". That's really more of a side note for me to remember, but in case interest you, now you know.

Beautiful Day

This was a beautiful day. It was also our first Saturday at the new house with nothing going on, our first normal weekend. Jack got to spend much of the day outside which was great. We played golf this morning in the backyard and of course hit a ball into each of our neighbor's yards. Paul worked a little on unpacking in the garage. I got a shower! My mom came over for a bit and then we ate lunch with my mom and dad at Judy's (yum!). I popped in at my in-laws ever so quickly to pick up a large stack of Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons and then I ran a few errands in Peoria. Paul successfully mowed the lawn with his new electric mower. We met one neighbor whose name is Debbie and I'm going to try my hardest not to forget that. And we capped off our day with a bike ride to Dairy Queen. Now my butt is sore cause I don't think I've ridden a bike in a year or more. Yowsa! The bike things was an adventure. Paul got all the bikes ready and set up my new bike trailer. After a practice ride pulling the trailer we put the twins in and headed for DQ. Well, Schaeffer hated it. Didn't help that the sun was in his eyes, he was dressed too warmly and we had paid no attention to the time and tried doing this right at their usual eating time. Also doesn't help that he's just been pretty clingy lately. So after riding partway there with Schaeffer screaming we turned around and came home to feed the boys. Then we tried again. Once again Schaeffer screamed as soon as we put him in the trailer. Finally, we convinced Jack to ride in the trailer so that Schaeffer could ride in the bike seat with Paul. Thankfully, that worked well for Schaeffer and Jack and Logan had a great time bumping along and laughing together. It was cute and I was so proud of Jack for sharing his favorite bike seat with his brother. We made it to Dairy Queen and Schaeffer managed to ride home in the trailer without much of a fuss. I'm hoping he'll grow to enjoy the ride because I thought it was a good workout and fun family time.

God In Control

I've been trying to write this post for a few days, but it's been a struggle. Probably because it deals with feelings, not just a recap of our daily lives. But I feel so strongly about sharing real things so that on the off chance that someone might be reading and feeling the same way they can know that they are not alone, so here I go. The other night I sat down and read an entire blog recounting one family's story about the birth of their twins. When I was finished my eyes were red from crying and I had a lot of strange emotions. Unlike my twins, these twins were born incredibly premature and thus had to spend many weeks in the NICU and have had many health battles to overcome. I felt so sorry for this family and all they have gone through. But then I felt bad because usually people don't want other people to feel sorry for them. But my heart ached for all they had been through and the challenges they faced as parents and the challenges the twins faced regarding their health. I cannot begin to understand what it would be like to be in their situation. I cannot begin to understand what it would be like to have my babies in the NICU hooked up to machines and struggling for breath or having so many tests run to find out what might be wrong. These were all the things I had so greatly feared when we first found out we were expecting twins. But the Lord blessed us with two healthy, full term twin babies (that's not to say that anything else is not a blessing). Along with sorrow and aching for this and other families, I felt guilty. I felt guilty for having two strong, healthy, full term babies (3 county Jack). Why weren't my babies born premature while so many other twins are? Why are my twins healthy when so many other twins aren't? Why do so many ride the NICU roller coaster but I've never set foot in a NICU? I also started feeling guilty for thinking that my day to day life is often a struggle. When I consider the road these families travel, my life is a breeze. Sitting right there with my sorrow and my guilt is an extreme thankfulness to the Lord for the blessing of healthy babies and healthy kids. I don't really know how to process these thoughts and emotions. I don't really know what to say to families dealing with the loss of a child or a child with cancer or with twins born too soon. I have no words of comfort, I have no words of understanding. All I know to do is pray to Jesus for those families, that he would be their comfort and their understanding and their refuge and strength and also give thanks to God for the children he has blessed me with.

I hope that came out right.

I Love Bunco Night

I feel a little silly about saying so, but it's true. I love bunco night. I also feel a little old too. No offense to anyone else who plays bunco...but bunco groups are what my mom and other mom's of "kids" my age do. To me bunco has always been a bunch of ladies/mom's who get together, eat, chat and roll dice. I never knew what the dice were for, I assumed they were playing a complicated, mathematical game that I never understood. Turns out the dice rolling is just a ruse to get ladies together for some much desired social time. After subbing for my mom's bunco group in the fall I decided to start my own. I put out the word and started finding people who were interested. One thing about my mom's group that really intrigued me is how outside of bunco, you might never have guessed that these women were friends. They all come from different towns and backgrounds with a variety of personalities and interests. But bunco has united them into a group of women who have been rolling dice and sharing their lives for years, some of them decades. I wanted our group to be like that...a variety, women whom otherwise may have never met. We started up our bunco group in December and I was excited to realize that no one knew everyone else. Last night we had our 5th bunco night and at the end of the evening I just thought how much I enjoyed myself. I got my butt whipped. Lost every round and I have a handful of quarters (the loser's prize) to show for it. But I also have relationships to show for it. Turns out I'm getting older and bunco group is a great thing for women of my age to be a part of. Who knows how long we'll roll dice together but I'm thankful for the group we have now, however long it lasts.

Monday Pictures-Week 37

Schaeffer and Logan seem to be settling in to the new house a little more. And thankfully they both are feeling better. Despite the colds having passed for the most part I feel that both boys, Logan especially, have been increasingly clinging these days. Perhaps it's the move and all the changes or perhaps it's teething, who knows for sure. Yesterday I took the boys on their first walk around the neighborhood. The weather was beautiful, though quite windy. They seemed to enjoy being outdoors and checking things out. We also played out in the backyard together. Paul put a blanket down in the grass and we put Schaeffer and Logan on the blanket. Both of them would crawl to the edge, reach out and touch the grass and then pull their hand back real quick like they'd been burned...then they'd cry a little. Apparently, they aren't a big fan of grass yet. We'll see how they feel by the end of the summer.

Enjoying their favorite snack, puffs.

Mariana Ellen

Well this post is quite late but I realized last night that something was missing from my blog. Turns out I forgot to post about my newest beautiful niece Mariana (pronounce like Mario minus the o plus than ana, not Mary-ana) who was born March 18th. Matt and Amanda did not find out if they were having a girl or boy before Mariana was born. They enjoy that suspense and surprise. So while no one knew for sure, many people including Amanda speculated that the newest member of the Winkelman family would be a boy. I however, did not agree. I thought she was carrying this baby more like she carried Hailey and less like she carried Micah. But very few agreed with me and I figured with the track record in our family a boy would not be surprising. When Mari was born I guess Amanda's jaw about hit the floor. When I heard they had a girl I whooped for joy. I am so excited to have another girl in the family. These boys were really starting to take over. Mari will have to be a tough little cookie to put up with all of them. I was so excited that things worked out for me to go visit Amanda and Mariana the day she was born. I hardly took any pictures of her because I spent almost my whole visit holding her and rocking her and marveling at her smallness. It's amazing how the teeny tininess of my babies is already a distant memory. All of mine were smaller than this 6 pound 11 ounce beauty and yet I swear I can hardly remember them being so tiny. Here are a few pictures of Mari, hopefully I will get a chance to take some more in the coming weeks.

To Infinity & Beyond Party

Saturday afternoon we celebrated Jack's birthday with a party at our house. He had requested a Buzz Lightyear cake so we went Toy Story theme for the day. Jack helped me make the frosting and the cake. He loves using my mixer. This was the first year we had friends invited to his party, not just family. So we had a lot of people (6 big kids and 6 under one), but it was so fun and Jack had a great time.

The Birthday Cake

(This picture makes it look really good, but the Happy Birthday Jackson 3 is not actually made with fondant. I cheated and used my Cricut to cut that out of heavy poster board and card stock.)

The Big Kids Eating Their Dinner

Jack Being A Big Cheese

Licking the Icing Off Buzz

The Vest Grandkids (up to 7 now with our newest baby Mari)