Saturday, March 29, 2008

Fine Motor Skills


Caleb has been writing his name for a while now, but he was not super interested in further developing those fine motor skills much. He'd color, and draw here and there, but it was not on his list of fave things to do. But its like a lightbulb came on for him last week when he was coloring. He was coloring in a Buzz Lightyear page, and had colored in the legs really well (barely going out of the lines), and then he called me over to see. I was really impressed, and that excited him, so he continued part by part to color the whole picture in really well. Definitely the best by far he's ever done. We went on and on telling him how good it was, and then last night I was working with him a bit on his letters, and he got really into tracing them, with a pen, and doing a great job. Its like his fine motor skills made a big leap all of a sudden. Then tonight at church, he called me in to see his drawing on the whiteboard. First it was a robot, but a very good one, then he proceeded to do a family portrait, the first he's ever (to my knowledge) attempted. It was so cute, it melted my heart. Since I couldn't save it, I took a picture, and thought I'd share its cuteness with all of you!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Happy Birthday Kellan and Ethan!




Our twins are one!!! We'll do some presents and cupcakes tonight, but their party will be on Monday evening, so anticipate more pictures then. :) Can't believe a year has gone by!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Finally, our first ER visit...


So, we had an awesome day at the Zoo yesterday. (We checked out the Niabi Zoo in the Quad Cities for the first time yesterday, with Grandma Joy) But... afterwards we stopped at Fazolli's for lunch, and Aidan turned around in his chair, and tipped it over, gashing his forehead open on the nearby booth corner. Ouch. He cried, it bled, we had the attention of the whole establishment... Thankfully, a nurse just happened to be there. She got us ice, counseled us that, yes, it would require an ER visit, and pointed out where the nearest ER was (literally on the other side of the parking lot). Aidan calmed down, and was a real trooper throughout the whole experience (they had to 'glue' it together since it was a pretty narley gash), and actually had the sweetest little disposition the rest of the day. They said it might leave a little bit of a permanent scar, but hey, it looks cool on Harry Potter, right? We always guessed it would be Aidan who would land us there for the first time. (Funny side note, he also fell pretty badly on the play equipment at the zoo a few hours earlier and that left him with a purplish/blue puffy eye) I'm sure with 4 boys, we'll see it many more.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

houses... sigh...






Wanted to write a quick update on our house situation here in Galesburg. As most of you know, we've been looking for just the right house for our family since August, and are currently living in a duplex.

We have literally been inside any home that might possibly work for us, and we scour the newspaper daily, receive updates each night on new listings, and drive around town periodically looking for For Sale By Owner signs. Everyone knows we're looking, and helpfully pass along any leads they uncover. But no luck.

We have found 2 (in our price range) that we love. However, 3 times now we have had our hopes dashed. The first time, when we went to make an offer (the one on the left), we were told by their agent that they were no longer accepting any (why they even showed us the house is the mysery). About 6 weeks later, the same house went back on the market, for less. We found out the pipes had burst, and the original buyer backed out. We tried again, but by the time we put in our offer (the same day it was listed), another one had already been accepted.

This takes us to last Thursday night. We saw a new listing and thought it looked quite perfect(the house on the right), but they weren't allowing showings until the following Monday. So we saw it Monday, and loved SO much about it. I'd describe it but I might get depressed if I think about it again. Anyway, we put an offer in, and they said they hadn't received any others and would get back to us by 5:00pm on Tuesday. We got a call Tuesday afternoon saying the received another offer in the AM, and we had one chance to make our final offer (but they couldn't tell us how much the other offer was for). So we did, going a little about the asking price even, and then we find out about 5:15 pm that they accepted the other offer, which was $500 more than ours.

I know God must have something even better waiting for us, but its so hard to keep our spirits up sometimes. I start to question if we should 'settle', i.e. are we looking for 'too much' of a house. But I feel we've already had to adjust our expections so much when our CA sold for about 75,000 less than we originally had hoped for about a year prior. I know I won't be able to purchase the furniture I'd like, and decorate how I'd love to, but we need a house that will fit our big family and make for an inviting home... right? I don't want to let go of that yet...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!


We had a fun weekend decorating eggs, searching for them, and especially celebrating Christ's Resurrection! Don't they look sweet?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!






We had a fun day celebrating our Irish heritage! :) Enjoy the pics!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

First Oxley boy bloody nose goes to...

Ethan! He fell backward in the nursery and as he did he pulled a toy down right on his nose. Poor guy! Luckily it didn't bleed too much.

"Does God have a...


belly button and is it ticklish?" That was Caleb's question of the night.