My life as a Circus

Life has a way of spiralling out of control every once in a while.  Take this week for example: my husband, a banker worked 16 hours yesterday.  SIXTEEN!! With hours like that, no one should ever make comments about him working "banker's hours." Anyway, this post is supposed to be about my circus life.  We're a little crazy around here.  Homeschooling, sick kids having chest xrays, Mom2Mom on Fridays, plus all the prep time, and redefining the term "banker's hours." So isn't it appropriate that this year our family Halloween theme was the Circus!

We even made a "Rodies' Big Top" trunk for Trunk or Treat this year.

My dear scruffy husband is certainly the ringleader for this crew.

Chloe kept reminding everyone that she was a "male" lion, because the females do not have manes.

Micah is definitely our "class clown" so I thought the costume was appropriate.

Jadon loved the elephant costume that we borrowed.  I heard a trumpetting elephant all week after this.

And, yes, that is my sick little man out in the cold.  Don't worry, we didn't stay long.  And he still managed to get well, despite the cold weather and all the sugar the other kids kept sneaking him.

A Recap: Spring!

Spring has arrived, and full force I might add. And along with the warm weather comes lots of playing outside and the abandonment of the computer.  So we'll do a brief overview of the last month to make up for my absence from this blog.

Isaac turned 7 months old: he's adorable for sure, and rolling and squirming to get wherever he can go

He's also learned to sit all on his own which makes life much easier on this Momma, since he's happy to play alone or with the other kids for good stretches now

Jadon learned to pump his legs on the swing.  Our regular babysitter dropped by the yard to play with the kids a couple weeks ago and taught him how.  Awesome! (this Momma is thrilled to not hafta push too!)

Chloe is nearing her 8th birthday.

She's such a HUGE help around the house, I don't know what I'd do without her.  There are days that I have to remind myself to let her be a kid. Since she likes to help out, I sometimes take advantage without realizing it. But the help with Zac is awesome! I can even get supper fixed on time most nights with her help.

Micah hasn't changed much.  He's still a baseball fanatic, and he loves playing outside.

I spent last Friday repairing every bike we own so they can ride in this awesome weather we've had.  Micah asked to go out and ride at 8:00 this morning!  No wonder he's so stinkin' skinny!

Jody and I spent a day last week preparing meals for the freezer, along with another friend.  Together, the 3 of us made 36 meals: that's right, 12 full meals for each of us!  Now my freezer is stocked for those days I just can't get dinner ready, or nights when I've got something else going. 

Kevin shot his second turkey ever on Saturday. 

Oh, and the Rodies won their first tournament of the year!

                      (dodgeball tournament that is)

So that's what has been happening around here.  Tonight marks the start of softball season, so we'll be busy, busy.  Hopefully, I'll find some time to post updates on here, but if not, you'll know what we're doing... watching softball of course!

A night with my guys

Every Wednesday, Kevin takes Chloe and Micah to AWANA and I get to hang out with Jadon and Isaac.  I usually try to get Isaac down early so J and I can have some time with just the two of us, but tonight Zac had other plans.  So Jadon and I had to make do.  We played a little Wii.

And read a book.  And then we made some cookies.

That was, of course, the best part.  Actually, I think the best part was eating them!

Chocolate chip is Jadon's favorite.  Just look at that grin!

Isaac didn't get to try them today, but he still had fun playing with Mommy and brother.

Yeah, I know it's been a while...

But instead of writing about my life, I've been out living it.  So I hope you'll forgive me for my absense.  In the meantime, lots has been happening around here so here's a little update.

You missed Isaac turning 4 months, so here's a shot of that.

                   

He started getting really smiley and happy about this time, but he wasn't really fond of Mommy's big black growth *read: camera* on her face.  But sleeping baby photos are fun anyway, right?

Also, Zac has lost quite a bit of hair and is now sporting this cool mohawk look.

Someday, he's gonna use this shot as an arguement for a real mohawk, I just know it.

What else...  oh yeah, we got a Nintendo Wii a few weeks ago.  The kids love it, and I'll confess, I do too.  We do try to limit screen time, but at least this encourages a lot of activity.  Jadon has the most innocent face begging for the Wii don't you think?

Oh yeah, this guy got a new job!

Kevin is now officially a financial consultant and he's loving every minute of it!  I don't think I tell him enough how proud I am of him.  Love you honey!

So that little recap brings us to now.  Zac actually turned 5 months old yesterday so we had another little photo shoot last night.  I leave you with my favorite shot from that one.  I just love this little guy!

It looks like Christmas!

We finally got our Christmas tree up last weekend.  Usually we do it while Kevin is hunting, sometimes first season, but usually second season.  We are fake tree kinda people, sorry to all of you purists out there, but it's just simpler.  However, that thing is HEAVY!  So I tasked my husband with the job of bringing it up from the basement before he went off hunting... 

Then I tasked him to bring it up after he came home from hunting...


Finally, a week after I had first asked for it...        I dragged it up the stairs myself.  And then I ripped the bag in the process. (That's why he's supposed to do it.) 


It's a prelit tree, but when I plugged in the first of the three sections, only one strand lit up.  Those suckers are very complicated to get off.  In the end only 2 or 3 of approximately 8 strands worked. Our basement flooded last spring and even though we set the tree up in the backyard to dry (yes I know, very white trash but you do whatcha gotta do) I think the water shorted out the lights.  So after several hours of unstringing and restringing lights, we got the tree up.  Then we still had to wait for Daddy to decorate with us, because life is just more fun with Daddy around.


The kids do all the ornaments.  Jadon was really into it this year along with Chloe's instruction.

Most of the ornaments ended up front and center, because that's how my kids roll, but Daddy tried to help distribute them a little more evenly.

Isaac wasn't really much help, but he sure is cute under there.

Micah was more interested in his reflection in the ornaments than anything else.

After we were all finished with our tree, we made our way to Grandma Ellen's to play with Ilese.  And of course Grandma's tree still needed decorations, so they got right to work over there. 

Ilese and Chloe worked diligently to make that tree look awfully pretty.

Of course Grandma is a little more into her Christmas decor than I, and she had already done the rest of the house.  And she decided her home could not be complete without her very own Rudolph. 

This must be where my husband gets his sense of humor.

Our own little pumpkin patch

Last night was Trunk or Treat.  I had already planned on Isaac wearing the pumpkin costume I made for Jadon when he was a baby

so Micah and Jadon wanted to be pumpkins too. 

Chloe wanted to be different and be flower this year.

So we got them all dressed up to go to the church where Kevin's cousin and his family actually had a jungle theme set up in there trunk. They even included the boys' costumes in the theme.

The kids were adorable and they all had a really great time. I can't wait to see what they come up with next year!!

Are you ready...?

...For some Football?

The last two weeks have been completely chaotic.  I must have been insane when I filled my schedule to overflowing just a month after having a baby.  We have had dr appts and photo shoots and retreats and just a few birthday parties.  But we survived and had a little fun on the way. 


Micah and Jadon's birthdays are exactly 4 weeks apart, and because of the sheer number of fall birthdays in the Rodie clan, we've celebrated them together the last couple of years.  Last year, we had an airplane party at the church where we threw paratroopers and foam gliders off the balcony into the gym.  I wasn't sure if we could top that this year, but we sure had a good time trying. 


Everyone agrees that Micah is the king of baseball, but Jadon has become a pretty big football fan.  And what's more appropriate for fall birthdays than football?  So we borrowed some flags from Aunt Jody, and invited all our friends.  And then we prayed for good weather.  It turned out to be a perfectly fall day.  We did get a little sprinkle during the game, but not too bad at all.


So how do you throw a football party with a bunch of kids ages 3 to 7?  Well first you need teams.

Kevin and Justin were our captains.  They did a great job teaching the kids how to play.  And how cute are these little football huddles?


Then you start running!

Caleb was a little intimidated to begin with, but he quickly got the hang of the game.  Look at him go!!


Of course we had to have a cheerleader.  "Touchdown!" 

Eliana was happy to oblige.

After an hour, all the kids were pretty tired and sweaty so we headed inside for some cake and yummy hot chocolate.  What a great party!

Camp Akita!!

One of the great things about homeschooling my kids is that I get to spend so much time with them.  But one of the hardest things for them is how much time they spend with me.  Don't get me wrong, they spend lots of time with friends and cousins, but sometimes they just need a fun day with other kids.  So that's what we did today. 


Camp Akita is just a little over 30 minutes away from us and they have opened up their camp to our homeschooling coop for free once a month.  Today was our first day out there and we had a blast!!  It was a little cold and wet, so we spent several hours out there at the lodge doing crafts and playing games.  Look what a great time we had!

Petra supplied a craft for all the kids to do together.  Even Micah enjoyed that and he doesn't usually like to stay in one place for too long. 

Jody organized games for the kids.  Relay races are always fun! 

This game was a big hit.  I can't remember what she called it but we used to call it "the blob"!

Who says you have to group kids together by age?  We had 15 kids ranging from one month to 13 years old.  While I don't think Isaac actually had any strong opinions, the rest of them seemed to have a great time together despite their age differences.  And how great is it to see the big kids playing with the little kids? 

Science lesson

Remember the "Song of the Cebu"  fromVeggie Tales?

Well I always thought they were fictitious animals.  Apparently, though, they really do exist.  Right here in central Illinois.  Even Mommy has to learn something new once in a while. 

There is a pumpkin patch north of us, about 45 minutes that I've always wanted to go to, but I've never gotten around to it.  So last Friday Jody, and Megan and I had plans to take the kids finally.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.  So on Wednesday, after naptime, I packed up my troupe and took them myself. 


They had a blast!!


This place has fun little petting zoo with, you guessed it, Zebus!! 


They've got a fun playhouse, big enough for my girl, with slides for getting down from the house.

They've also got a corn maze that looks pretty cool, but it's kinda expensive and not something I want to do with four kids anyway.  But they also have a "corn shock" maze just for the kids.  All three of my biggies will tell you this was their favorite part. 

Of course they have pumpkins, some of them are enormous!!

This bad boy weighed almost 900 pounds!!


It was really great to do something fun with the kids.  I think they've been getting a little stir crazy because everything seems to be about the baby lately, so I was glad to get out with them.  Of course we did bring little Isaac along and he stayed warm and content with Mommy in his snuggly little sling right up until we left. Then we had to document the day with a picture of all four of my kids together.  I just think they are darling!