April Update

Ummm....we're half way through April!?!?  How did that happen?

Here's what we've been up to:

Luke celebrated a belated birthday party (April 1) with a couple buddies from school with a sleepover.  He knew he wanted to wait until we were in the new house to have them over because he wanted them to know where he lives and because he thought they could take over the basement for all things boy (Xbox, nerf guns, sleeping bags on the floor, etc).  They are all great boys and had a great time together:)  Luke's sleepover was also the kick off to his spring break.  He spent three and a half days at the Blue Papa and Gma's house with Piper and Nora and had a full day home with Daddy and Nora on Friday.  The week was low key, but he did get to spend an afternoon at Chuck E Cheese with Gma, had a belated Easter egg hunt with the Beckmann cousins, and took a little road trip for lunch one day.

Monkey bread for breakfast (Luke's pick) after the birthday sleepover

Nora had her preschool screening (April 4) with the Stewartville School District.  She was very excited from what we told her: "a teacher will measure you and ask you questions about your letters and numbers".  She did great when we first got there, which included checking in and being weighed and measured.  Once the actual screening started, she was supposed to go to another room without us.  That is where the tears started.  The teacher told Brent he could come and he just sat in the back of the room while Nora went through all of the steps of the screening.  We had an exit interview at the end and learned Nora is right on track, has no vision or hearing troubles, and is currently slightly taller than average and slightly lighter than average (she stretched out this winter).  We also learned what we already knew, she has trouble separating.  Oh, this is a burden on my heart!  I am really focusing on getting her into classes and situations where she needs to be a "brave and big girl" and go by herself.  Say a little prayer for me!

Coloring while she waited before
her preschool screening

Last weekend we had our first overnight guests at our new place.  Greg, Cally, Mekhi, and Annalise came on Saturday for a "sleepover".  Our kids were psyched!  Nora had Annalise sleep in her room in the trundle bed, Mekhi slept with Luke in his full-sized bed, and Greg and Cally had the unfinished guest room downstairs to themselves (they get a queen bed and four walls, just no dry wall or carpet:)).  Saturday morning most of us met for Nora's favorite story time at ABC & Toy Zone, then the bigger kids met Ethan for rock climbing at Prairie Walls.  Saturday night, the adults (neighbors included) played Small World while the kids played and watched a movie.  Sunday, we had all of the Pickers over for lunch and hung out.  It was a full and fun weekend:)

Three families of kiddos snuggled on the sectional to watch a movie

They segregated boys and girls themselves:)

A few other random tidbits:

Brent and I finished shopping for kitchen chairs and bar stools and are very happy with how it all came together.  Our table came from Hom, the chairs came from IKEA, and the stools came from Wayfair.

Ice cream treat after our IKEA shopping trip

All of our seating!

The chairs have padded seats.
We bought four stools, but only use three on a daily basis,
hence the stool in the corner.

Last week, Luke realized he had more money in his wallet than he thought.  He proceeded to tell me "I'd like to buy Nora a shirt with my money.  I know she's growing a lot and I'd like to pick one out for her."  As you can imagine, my heart melted!  A few days later, I was at Target with the kids.  I asked Luke if he wanted to pick something out for Nora, but he said he wanted to do it when she wasn't around.  We have yet to get to the store without her to make the purchase, but I was so blessed by his generous desire:)

This week we're finally getting weather in the 60s and 70s without rain!  Last night we learned that the Dairy Queen in Stewartville is an easy walk from our house so we took a family walk for some ice cream.  This could be a dangerous convenience this summer;)

Some other random pics from April so far:

We have an awesome view of the sunset from our house

Fun new wreath made by my friend

Lukes' spring pics from school

Enjoying Mom and Dad's big tub together

Piper LOVES Luke and got attached to him over spring break.
She pulled him into the tent and gave him books to read.

Adding Nora to the mix

"Playing" Bananagrams

Proud of her finished product

High Five for Friday

Easter egg hunt at church last Saturday 

They both loved it:)

Our budding artist

Easter gift: new supplies for the artist

Easter gift: new Star Wars game

I love how they play together:)

High Five for Fridays

I had aspirations of doing High Five for Fridays in the midst of our move, but it never happened.  Here's a bit of what we were up to the past few weeks, other than packing, moving, and unpacking, of course:)

Luke

Luke had a great time playing in the 2016 RCYBA Boys Basketball Tournament with the fourth grade JM traveling team the weekend of March 5-6.  They played 3 games Saturday and 1 game Sunday, finishing in fourth place.  Even though Luke only played in one tournament, he also attended the team pizza party this week with the team.

Nora sleeping on Mommy during one of Luke's games
SO precious!

Luke finished up Math Masters for the year at Gibbs.  This boy loves math and problem solving so it's a great fit:)

We got to enjoy our last Gibbs Elementary School Carnival last week too.  Nora, Luke, and I met Audra, Ethan, and Alaina for some fun.  We let the boys explore on their own while Audra and I walked the girls around to games and activities.  They all had a great time!  After the carnival, we all landed at our house to watch Michigan Men's Basketball play Notre Dame.

Proud of the eye patch she won

Getting her face painted

Audra & Alaina

Finished products

She sat very still and
loved her rainbow paint!

Yet another prize:)

Giddy with excitement

We came outside to crazy-huge
snowflakes falling!

Luke is also loving having his own room where he can sleep in the quiet and dark:)  He's shared a room with Nora for over a year and has been very accommodating to Nora's desires for lights and music on while she sleeps.  He's also gotten to upgrade to a full size bed!

Nora

Nora has been her regular fun-loving self the past few weeks even though she fought another (or continued???) cold the beginning of the month.  She's been extra sleepy this month which I'm hoping is just a growth spurt and not any lingering sickness.

Nora has been a trooper moving to the new house!  We weren't sure how she would do sleeping in her own room again after sharing with Luke for as long as she could remember, but she's doing great!  She has definitely surprised us:)

Nora and Piper enjoying a warm
day on Papa and Gma's deck:)

"Working" on their toy car

Play-do nose 

Snuggles with Momma while the boys were gone

Brent & I

Even in the midst of the move, we've still made time for some fun and time together:)  Brent watched lots of NCAA men's basketball last weekend with friends as the tournament kicked off.  I have also had time to spend with special friends, volunteering, and reading.  And, I've been enjoying the settling process at the new house.  I really like to organize, find everything a home, and make a place a home for our family, so the past couple weeks have been fun for me, even though it may seem like work to many.


I'll leave you with this funny from during our move...

I am a busy body and am not good at sitting still (besides, when I do, I tend to fall asleep...think watching a movie with the kids).  One night while we were still living at Brent's parent's, Brent says to me around 10:30pm, "When are you planning to settle down?  You're still in fifth gear."

The comment was so indicative of me and how well he knows me that it struck me funny:)

It also made me think of this quote from the Jesse Owens autobiography that I related with:

It might sound strange, but being in motion--moving--was always what made me tick.  It's what made running so natural to me, those long hours and years of practice you have to put in--and want to put in--to become a champion.  It was why, though I missed my family terribly at times, I felt natural in planes crossing oceans and trains traversing America.  It was as if there were jets inside me and I felt at home hearing and feeling gigantic jets of the aircraft, or as it there were whirling metal wheels always turning inside me, and feeling the speeding train wheels under me was like feeling part of myself.  I loved to walk, as fast as I could, for the same reason.  I hated to sit or stand still.  

I am, of course, no Jesse Owens, but I understood his innate desire to be in motion:)

Settling In

The Pickers have officially landed in Stewartville...as of last week!

Brent and I had the awesome opportunity to have last week off work so we had plenty of time to unpack and settle into our new place.  We are especially grateful to the great work of Two Men and a Truck for moving nearly everything from our storage unit to the new house, and to our families who helped with many details that made our move much smoother.  We are so very blessed!

I've mentioned before that we built with Radcliffe Homes and we highly recommend them.  Our contact, Bob Robertson, was wonderful!  

Without further adieu, some pics of the house after settling in for a week:)

Front (we're still waiting on more spring weather for concrete and sod)

Finished stone work

Looking at the front door from the living room

Front door/stairwell

Living room

Dining area (a work in progress as we furnish:))

Kitchen

Luke's room (facing the front of house)

Luke in his room:)

Main bathroom

Nora's room (facing back of house)

Nora's room

Mud Room (leading to garage)

Mud Room bench 

Laundry room off mud room

Other side of laundry room

Master bedroom

Master bath

Master bath

Basement living space (doors on right lead to
 unfinished bathroom and two bedrooms)

Basement living space (scanning right to left)

Basement living space

Basement living space

There is so much more to share about the building process, what we learned through the process, what we're enjoying most about the house...but those posts will come:)

For now, we are home...and trying to soak in the reality that this is ours and  not somewhere we're staying on vacation:)

High Five for Friday

#1
Weekend Get Away!

Last weekend, we decided to cash in on a free hotel night for a get away with the kids.  We visited Wild Rumpus Bookstore, browsed Creative Kidstuff, explored Edinborough Park, swam at the hotel pool, ate junk food, relaxed, and swam some more:)  It was a lovely get away together.

Nora enjoying Edinborough Park

Cone head

#2
Basketball Reboot

We decided against Luke playing traveling basketball this January-March due to our impending move and trying to keep life more manageable.  But, this week we received an email from the coach asking if Luke could play in the final tournament of the season since they were going to be short players.  Luke jumped at the chance, attended a couple practices this week, and has three games tomorrow.  Even though the entire season did not work out, we are glad it works out for him to join the team for this tournament.  I always love a chance to watch one of my boys play basketball:)

#3
Date Night

I've been wanting to see the Race movie since I finished reading Jesse Owen's autobiography a couple weeks ago (which Luke also read recently).  I decided to invite Luke on a date to see it tonight.  It was a very good movie which sparked some good conversation and hopefully future learning and conversations with Luke.  Of course it didn't hurt that we finished the night off with some Culver's ice cream;)  Since we were having a date, Brent and Nora had one as well.  We talked about it today and Nora was very excited.  She didn't exactly know what a "date" was, so she kept asking Brent what was next and if the date was going to be over:)  They got dinner, picked out a new coloring book, had a treat a Caribou, and watch Frozen at home.  They had a great time too, even though Nora didn't understand why my and Luke's date lasted longer;)

#4
House Happenings

LOTS happened at the house again this week!  I'm losing track of what happened which week, but this week I know the following were installed:

• wood laminate floors 
• stair railing
• appliances 
• plumbing fixtures and toilets
• gutters
• stone on the fireplace
• water heater
• cabinet and door hardware
• counter tops

See, lots has happened!  We also made a couple of our final purchases: bathroom mirrors and a screen door for the front of the house.  We're getting SO close to move in that we find ourselves lingering at the house every time we visit...just wishing we could stay and settle in:)  

A few recent pics

Entry with railing

Mudroom built-in

Master bath

Kitchen

Living room downstairs

#5
Reading

(Warning, Jen's ramblings ahead...)

I've always loved to read, but I find myself on what I call "reading kicks" where I quickly jump from one book, to the next, to the next.... and I feel like I simply can't get enough time to read.  I've been on a reading kick for the past few months.  I'm finding myself sucked back into nonfiction books about the early 1900s and persecutions, prejudices, and life during that time frame.  (I'm sure this sounds SO interesting to the rest of you;))  Anyway, I finished reading One More River to Cross: The Stories of Twelve Black Americans and this wonderful quote stuck with me:

When such men as Dr. Bunche also become 'great heroes' in the eyes of millions of Americans, we will be approaching maturity as a nation.  Until the world's peace makers become our heroes, too, we will not have achieved that maturity.

This book, combined with the Jesse Owens autobiography and the Race movie, as well as currently reading Trapped in Hitler's Hell, all have me doing a lot of thinking about the inequality that still exists in our world today and my part in loving all people.  This Bible verse also stuck out to me this week:

Proverbs 20:10 ~ Differing weights and different measures--the Lord detests them both.

I realize the weights and measures are referring to fairness in the marketplace, but it also made me think of how we hold people to different standards and "measure" them differently as well.  This was a wonderful reminder that God sees all people, his children, equally, regardless of color, creed, sins, etc.

Another good read from this week and that coincides with this topic.