Half Way There!

I am happy to report that this pregnancy is half way over! Today we went for another ultra sound to see how "Pipsqueak" is fairing, and all looks wonderful - thanks be to God! The ultra sound took quite long (much to Alvar's worry out in the waiting area) - but no worries - it was only because of the acrobatics this baby was performing for the technician that made getting measurements a little difficult! Esther came with today as well, and I think was pretty impressed with what she saw - Pipsqueak continued to do somersaults while Esther was watching, so she probably didn't get the clearest view (saw the head and body fine, but only quick shots of the hands and feet) - but she got the gist of what baby #4 looks like at the moment :)

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So we continue to wait - seems like it's been forever already - but we are so very much looking forward to meeting our little one in 20 more weeks!!

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**Oh, and just an aside - at lunch today Anna declared that this baby is a boy - totally out of the blue (previously when asked, Anna was bound and bent that she would end up with a sister at the end of all this - I mean really, whenever Anna speaks we all listen cause she's the authority around here!). I really have no idea myself, I'm not a very good predictor when it comes to this kind of stuff (although you'd think after 3 I should have some sort of "feelings" as to what the outcome will be!) - at this point, as most parents would say, we are just very thankful that this baby is growing healthy and strong!

Old MacVandenbeukel's House

Old MacVandenbeukel had a house

E-I-E-I-O

And in the house was lots of construction

E-I-E-I-O

With a bang bang here

And a bang bang there

Here a bang

There a bang

Everywhere a bang bang

Old MacVandenbeukel had a house

E-I-E-I-O

And in that house there was no more trim or baseboard

E-I-E-I-O

With a draft draft here

And a draft draft there

Here a draft

There a draft

Everywhere a draft draft

Old MacVandenbeukel had a house

E-I-E-I-O

And in that house were wwwaaayyy too many layers of paint

E-I-E-I-O

With a scrape scrape here

And a scrape scrape there

Here a scrape

There a scrape

Everywhere a scrape scrape

Old MacVandenbeukel had a house

E-I-E-I-O

And in that house was a very patient wife

E-I-E-I-O

With a "It's ok dear, it'll get done sometime!" here

And a "I love you lots dear - it'll look great when it's done!" there

Here a hug

There a kiss

Everywhere a hug, kiss

Old MacVandenbeukel had a house

E-I-E-I-O

(Thanks Alvar for all the hard work you're doing - it's gonna look fantastic when it's all done!!

Love Laura)

Mmmm....Ice Cream!!

P.S. That's about as far as Anna got in eating her cone - I think it was just a little overwhelming for her!

What do you get with 4 adults and 11 kids??

A fun day for all :)

A "few" of us met at Westfield Heritage Village today to take advantage of their Maple Fest and also to take a look around at how things were done in the "olden days".

The kids had a great time (from what I could tell) - and now looking thru the pictures I see how attentive they were while listening to the volunteers tell us of how things used to be done. We were able to walk around from building to building, learning lots of new things - and also took a wagon ride (even had to wait in line for that!) thru the area as well.

The weather was perfect - the rain held off - the kids got their exercise (and Mom too!) - and it was just a great way to spend part of the day during March Break!

How maple syrup used to be made

How yarn/string was made

Just look how attentive they all are!

The loom - very impressive - looks like a whole lotta work to me!

Caleb thought this was hilarious - it's a toilet, in the master bedroom of a "rich family's house". Padding and everything! Now that's a throne!

Most of the kids took their turns being minister in the Church (the only opportunity for the girls will be here!)

Anna just chilln' in the pews in the Church

The kids really enjoyed the blacksmith

Well, except for Anna and "Baby C" - they relaxed outside for a while together

Wagon ride!!

I think this was a hi-light of the day for most of them

The 3 older kids scored a front row seat on the wagon

The maple farm - checking out ALL the buckets - and when I say ALL - I do really mean ALL of them - thankfully Esther could reach most of them on her own - I was able to observe from a distance instead!

Our attempt at a photo shoot of all the kids - as you can see, it didn't really work out so well! Anyone have any ideas on how to get 11 kids under the age of 8 to sit together for 2 minutes??

Caleb was very disappointed that we couldn't go into the train - standing outside it was just not the same! (he still liked the train regardless!)

I wanted a nice picture of my 3 kids in front of the train, Esther and Anna waiting patiently while I tried to convince Caleb that it was safe....yes SAFE to stand in front of this train! But he would have nothing to do with it - he was fully convinced that the train would start moving and would push him down the track! What a guy!

As you can see from Anna's lovely expression on her face here - she was pretty much done for the day - probably a combination of being a little hungry and all the extra walking she had to do today (we took a chance without the stroller for once!). I was pretty happy to get her in the van a short while later - fed and back to herself again :)

Esther quite enjoyed the school house - we had just watched Little House on the Prairie the other day, and this school reminded her of just that. She very quickly obeyed the school master and wrote down the homework from the board while we were there today :)

Caleb also enjoyed the school work - he wrote his name several times and also tried to copy some of the math equations on the board - I think he might be ready for school in September!

Welcome to our Zoo

Well, March Break has officially started today! Esther is now off till next Friday - so we have a whole week of taking it easy - relief from the craziness of getting ready in the morning - now we can just laze around - I do love March Break!

Although some families will be off to warmer places - or just visiting friends and family closer by - we will be sticking around here at home for the most part - which is fine with me :)

We have, however, expanded our "family" during these holidays - we've adopted a fish, named Flash and a bunny, named Thumper. The kids think this is just fantastic to have animals around the house - something to keep them busy - a nice novelty to have for a short period of time ;)

So welcome Flash and Thumper - I'm sure you'll be getting a TON of attention around here - you guys might need a vacation from attention when you return home - Esther, Caleb and Anna

will make sure of that!

Lots of hard work hey Dad?

This is what I heard about 100 times yesterday from Caleb as the 2 of us tackled the renovations in the house. Caleb is becoming quite the handyman eager to learn everything he can and I'm sure he just likes using the tools and swinging the hammer around too.

The plan for yesterday was pretty straight forward. Remove the old trim and baseboard from the living room and hall and then remove the panelling from the stairway. When Caleb caught wind that I was going to be working he got pretty excited and there was no way he was going to let me work alone. I told him he had to get dressed first and get his shoes on which he did in record time (even today he was still talking about how fast he got ready yesterday). Then off we went to start ripping out the baseboard. Anna helped us a little as well while Esther kept watch from the sofa as supervisor since she wasn't feeling well.

Caleb gets all "manly" when he is working with me. His voice gets into a serious tone and he keeps reminding me that he is being careful for the nails and he is also making sure Anna is careful. The funny part was the number of times he let out a sigh and said "Lots of hard work hey Dad?" which I obviously had to agreed with. I cannot count how many times he said it but he sure was working hard and loved every minute of it.

After the work and cleanup it was time to relax. As Laura mentioned in a previous post, puzzles are quite popular in our house right now and we found a great online puzzle site called Jigzone. Caleb and I did some online puzzles (mostly Caleb actually) while Anna and Esther watched a movie. After the movie Anna came up to watch me finish a puzzle. Having Anna watch you do a puzzle is a real "feel good" experience. Every single piece I matched up she would say "Yay Daddy". A 40 piece puzzle is 40 "Yay Daddy's" plus a "YOU DID IT!!!" cheer when the puzzle is done. Later she was doing a floor puzzle on her own and I would heard her say "Yay Anna". Looks like she is going to be a great cheerleader.

A Few Things....

Some random pictures from the happenings at our house this week...

After pretty close to a year of waiting, my orchid has finally bloomed again - I seriously thought I killed it, but it came back (Esther thought I was crazy when I came home to find it blooming - I got all excited and then ran to grab the camera for proof that I can keep some plants alive and well!!)

Anna's favourite thing to do lately - puzzles - she'll sit on the couch for an hour doing the same 3 puzzles over and over again - Caleb has also gotten into it (thanks to Oma!), so there have been some pretty intensely quiet afternoons here lately :)

What NOT to dry your clothes on....I needed a flat spot for my sweater to dry...apparently the old computer desk is not a good choice - oops - left a bit of a mark,eh! Anyone know where I can buy a drying rack (specifically for sweaters?)

I'm sure everyone was outside at some point today - who wouldn't be at 16 degrees!! The kids were out a couple times - soaking up the sun

And what's warm weather without a freezie!!! I know, I know...a little bit early for that, but I couldn't help it and the kids thought it was great too :)

No More Carpet

Well, we finally did it - took the old, dirty carpet out of our living room. We've been talking about it for a lllloooonnnnggg time - but were always waiting for the 'right' time. No time like the present ;) We are hoping to paint our living room (and the hall, bedrooms etc) - so while we wait for the quote, we started the preparations (no sense in getting a nice paint job with ugly carpet on the floor!). So Alvar and the kids went to work on Saturday, taking it all out - the kids had a blast....doesn't take much to entertain! They all had their "jobs" to do - Esther hammered down nails, Caleb took the under padding off the floor (piece by piece) and Anna vacuumed up the remnants of staples, nails and other stuff off the floor. They were all very helpful - and Alvar's pretty sure they helped to make the job quite a bit shorter in the end!

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Once all the carpet was up and the floor cleaned - it was pretty easy to see that the hardwood was not going to be useful anymore (if you need about a million nails - come on over - that's about how many have been used to nail the wood down - a real pity!!). So, now we wait till the laminate is on sale at Home Depot - then we finish off the floor (living room, hallway and our bedroom) - pretty soon we'll have a "grown-up" house with real paint (sorry, I don't consider pink paint in the living room a proper colour!!) and a nice floor too - we can't wait!!
One section at a time

The master "nail-hitter"

The master under padding destroyer

The master pony-player - oops...well, Anna did vacuum, I just didn't catch with the camera! The vacuuming didn't last too long , playing with toys is a little more fun I guess!

Yah, sure, they look all innocent on their own - but put a million of these nails together

and you have quite the army!

And the aftermath - not too bad - we find it completely changes the look in the living room - makes us look forward even more to getting the floor done 'right' and the walls painted!