forever brothers

I realized this week that I have several recent pictures of the girls together, but none of the boys together. And I also realized I have been neglecting my "Front Door Friday" pictures for the past three weeks. Having children becoming sick does something to your schedule. You forget things.

The good news is that everyone is healthy - finally! And so we have all been enjoying the beach, counting down the days left of school (only three!), and looking forward to "a very, very busy June and July," according to Nathaniel.

For the record - he is right. We have plans about every other week - Camp Agape for the kids (and some alone time for me - Anna said to me last week, "Mom, won't it be so strange to be here by yourself when we go to Camp Agape? I mean, you are with us all the time. You won't know what to do!" "Oh, honey, you're right, it'll be weird without you. I'm not sure what I'll do with all of you gone," I answered, trying not to grin from ear to ear. I love my kids, but I am looking forward to a short, sweet break that week!)...

Where was I? Oh yes, a week in da UP, eh? (upper Michigan for those in the dark), then a couple weeks at home to prepare for

drum roll, please.....

an Alaskan cruise! Glen and I are going by ourselves - if you can call traveling with Glen's co-workers alone - and leaving the kids in the very capable hands of my parents and Camp Agape.

Now, I have to stop because my six-year-old is reading what I'm writing as I type it. He can read much better than he likes to admit.

And he loves his older brother very much - more than he likes to admit. Can't you see the love?

Happy weekend!

Looking Out My Front Door

The results are in! I finally had a chance to calculate the winner of the Leichty Family March Madness Pool. Isaac, as I predicted, came out on top. The clear winner. I took this picture of him with his picks paper, and then he asked me what his prize was.

"Bragging rights," I told him.

"What's that?" he asked. "I'd rather go to Dairy Queen."

A boy after his Papa's heart. That's where we always went as kids to celebrate a victory, end of school or just because I was his 'favorite eldest daughter.'

So, the final results:
1. 6yo Isaac: 41 wins -22 losses
2. 8yo Lydia: 38-25
3. 10yo Anna: 37-26
4. ?yo Mom: 35-28
5. 42yo (on Sunday!) Dad: 35-28
6. 12yo Nathaniel: 23-40

Anna gets the prize for picking the most upsets. (For those who care, Anna was 16-6 in the first round - unbelievable! If she had only picked Duke out of the South, she would have beat her younger siblings handily.)

Nathaniel gets the prize for most loyal. He picked Florida to win it all. Again. Every. single. year. he picks Florida. The first year we each did picks, Florida actually won. He was elated. Now, no matter what, he picks Florida, and could care less if they lose in the first round. What loyalty! What devotion! What... well... craziness?

Glen and I are in a draw this year. He owes me some ice cream. Just because I love ice cream and I look for any excuse to get some. So since he didn't beat me, he owes me. :)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Looking out my front door, I'm reveling in the daffodils and tiny hyacinths (I think) blooming down my sidewalk. The daffodils are starting to show their age, so I tried to get some pictures before they fade away....



Happy, happy Spring!

One More Year

One more year - until I am officially a mother of a teenager. Nathaniel celebrated his 12th birthday yesterday - where on earth has the time gone?

We celebrated by going to Old Country Buffet - Nathaniel was so excited. And, in typical 12-year-old style, he tried to not eat much before we went. Then he ate so quickly, he got a stomachache. Fortunately, the restaurant was pretty empty, so he was able to lay down in a booth nearby for a few minutes to let his stomach settle before going back for more.

Ah, boys.

And of course, this mother brought her camera, enjoyed her dinner and managed to get through the entire celebration without taking one, single solitary picture! Big. Ol'. Sigh.

The good news is that the daffodils are blooming! The first one bloomed this morning - just in time for a picture.

The bad news is that I'm leaving on Monday for a week. I'm afraid they'll all bloom without me! My friends have promised to take pictures - it won't be the same - but it's something.

Enjoy these days my friends. I cannot believe how quickly they fly by...

Longing for Sunny Faces

Last fall I happened to be in the right place at the right time. Glen and I had had big, ugly bushes removed from the front of our house, and we hadn't planted grass in the bare spot yet. I've always, always, always wanted tulips, hundreds of tulips in my front yard. However, we're in a major deer zone, so that was out of the question.

I was in Sam's Club (rare occasion indeed!) and spotted a bag of 100 daffodil bulbs for under $20. Perfect! I had done enough research to know that deer are not fond of daffodils, and if I can't have tulips, then daffodils are the second best.

So, I bought the bag. Planted 100 bulbs. 100. Oh, was I sore! I was praying that I had planted them deep enough, far enough apart and that all that work would not be for naught.

Out my front door this morning I'm seeing some green shoots! I'm so excited! Nathaniel said today, "Mom there are, like a hundred of these shoots. How many did you plant?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

I cannot wait until those flowers show their sunny, cheerful blooms!

I'll be sure to post a picture.

It's Friday Already? ( Week in Review)

And Friday's almost gone! Time goes so quickly...

This is the view from my front door this morning. My two youngest are always up for a picture.

Then I spotted my Mom's car coming in the driveway, which distracted Isaac. She was coming to pick them up for the morning so I could study. But Lydia looks so cute here, I had to post it.

Yesterday, we read about batteries, circuits and switches in our Sonlight science book. Isaac was completely inspired by the light hat and Justin dressed up as a miner in our Science DVD. He insisted on putting together his own light hat. I was busy with schooling the older two, so he and Lydia worked on it together, and got it working! He and Nathaniel went down to the crawl space to try it out and Nathaniel took this picture. Isaac is so pleased - he can't wait to show his cousin this weekend. I'm sure they'll be playing 'spy' or 'explore' with it all weekend.

Look at these lovely young ladies! Anna successfully completed Suzuki Book One for the piano and I learned from her friends who take violin that students are to host a recital upon the completion of each book. Sunday was her recital, and her good friend agreed to play with her on her violin. They played three songs together, and Anna played several on her own. I cannot believe how mature my Anna looks here! Her recital went well. And quickly - it took only eight minutes.

Is It Spring Yet?

It's hard to believe that in just one week all that snow has melted out of our front yard.

This morning, this was the view out of my front door - my younger two children riding their bikes in our driveway. They were so excited to be outside!

All four children spent most of the day outside - mostly on the swing set in the backyard. We took a walk in the neighborhood this morning - enjoying the sun while it peeked through the clouds.

This week's weather has been a tease - making us think that spring is here. I keep telling myself that the cold will come back. It could even snow a couple more times before the real spring is here.

My kids are ready for spring too - not just to play outside. The girls have changed the flannel sheets on their bed, pulled out their flip flops, and asked to get out their shorts! I'm trying to temper their enthusiasm so they're not devastated by a probable late-spring snowstorm.

But today - today we reveled in the relative warmth of the day.

monday

On Friday, I was frantically finishing Isaac's pizza, packing my clothes, cleaning the kitchen, making sure the children were packing their clothes so Glen and I could drop off the children and head out for the weekend.

Yep, by ourselves. With no children. For a whole weekend.

What a treat!

But in my frenzied state, I forgot to have Anna take a picture of Glen and I before I took them to my mom & dad's for the weekend. Thankfully, my camera has a timer.

Once we took the picture, I realized I had shut down my computer. So, I thought I would just work on it at the bed & breakfast where we were spending the weekend. After all, Glen never goes anywhere without his laptop (just in case the world ends at work).

Famous last words.

Well, Friday's gone. The weekend's over. We've been there and back again (I cannot stop with the Lord of the Rings references!), and had a wonderful weekend.

Just the two of us.

Front Door Friday

Fridays is usually our day off school. However, because Glen had Monday off for President's Day, and because we were traveling, we had schoolwork to finish today. That threw off my schedule - so I almost completely forgot about taking a picture out my front door.

If I had remembered earlier, I could have taken a picture of the children building a snowman by our driveway, or sledding down the little hill next to the road, while their mom said good-bye to me and tried to herd them into their van.

If I had remembered earlier, I could have taken a picture of my children sledding down the bigger hill in our backyard. (Finally! Of course they decide they must sled when half the snow has already melted.)

I remembered now, and am documenting the end of the second sunny day in a row this week. It's funny how I count sunny days now that I've returned north from the land of sunshine, otherwise known as Florida.

I spent eight sunny years in Florida, where I counted cloudy days because our a/c didn't run as much and they gave us a relief from the relentless sun. Plus, they didn't come very often, and rarely more than two days in a row.

Now, I rejoice when we see the sun two days in a row, giving us a break from the relentless clouds which hover over Illinois nearly all winter long. Those sunny days don't come often and rarely more than two days in a row.

Front Door Fridays

For various reasons, I am up early this morning even after a late night last night. I thought about waiting until a bit later to snap my Front Door Friday picture, but decided to catch the pre-dawn, chilly morning outside my front door.

We had about a foot of snow this week - I was thrilled, because I hate seeing patches of grass between snow drifts in the middle of winter. Those patches make me think spring... and we are far, far from that.

The day after the snow, I opened my living room curtains to a thick white blanket of snow, marred only by the prints of deer as they meandered through my yard at some point in the night.

It was beautiful.

Front Door Fridays

Here are my girls, running in the front door after an afternoon hanging out with Papa and Nana at the church. (The boys were there too - just didn't run in the door at the same time.)

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Mom if she could take my kids for an afternoon during the week so I could have time to study. No - not for school, but for a Bible study I'm writing for the women in our church.

She generously said yes, but wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, so we postponed this week's afternoon until today.

The kids report they had a great time - playing soccer with Papa, 'bowling' in the gym, and I think, maybe, practicing dribbling and shooting a basketball.

Meanwhile, I had a quiet house in which to study a really evil person... Jezebel. Hm, I think this Bible study is going to be ... well ... interesting. (tease, tease!)

Happy Friday!

Front Door Fridays

This morning my friend Michele took my four children to see a play at the Raue Performing Arts Center in Crystal Lake. In return, I watch her youngest, Dylan. We've been doing this a couple of times a year for the past two or three years, and in that time, Dylan and I have become buds.

Last year, Isaac stayed with us because he had to go to kindergarten. He and Dylan had a great time playing until the bus came. So when I told Isaac the plans this morning, he said to me, "I'd much rather stay here and play with Dylan than go to a play."

He did go to the play, and right now Dylan is digging through the boys' room, seeing what he can find - an accordian, the guitar, a princess wand that belongs to the girls. "What's this doing in Isaac's room?" he just asked me.

Good question, bud.

Front Door Friday

Today, as I thought about what was going on in my life that was photo-worthy, I couldn't think of much. Then my friend Dawn, and her two children, Ezra & Lucy, walked through the door.

(They actually came through the garage door instead of the front door, but details like that don't really matter, right?)

Dawn and Ezra and Lucy come to my house almost every week, usually on Fridays. I used to take my crew to her house regularly, but since I am car-less (another story for another post), Dawn comes to me now. Ezra and Isaac play, the girls keep Lucy sort-of occupied and Dawn and I have a cup of tea, talk together and pray together (in between the constant interruptions of six children).

It's a highlight of my week!

Front Door Friday

The veiw of my front door this week includes my oldest son, anxiously awaiting his ride to church for his weekend with his best buds. A weekend of boys, snow, camp, no sleep...

Certainly a weekend to remember!

Front Door Friday

Here is what's happening outside my front door this Friday. Well, through my front door, because I decided that it was too cold to actually open my front door. As you can see - lots and lots and lots of snow.

The children are loving it - Fridays are our 'no-school' days, so they've been in and out all day, sledding with various friends who have come over. Fortunately, our house has a short, but steep hill in the backyard which provides hours of fun for them without requiring me to actually go outside myself. Yes, I love to look at snow. I don't even mind shoveling it. But I don't have the gear, or inclination, to actually play in it.

I will never claim the title "Fun Mommy," but I'm OK with that. (grin)

Happy Friday!