The Reason I'm Home

Field Trip!!!

2014-05-10T18:47:00.002-05:00

Paige went to Des Moines this Friday (May 9). She went with the junior high from her school
(Ireton Christian School). First they went to Living History Farms.

Learning about the 1800 farmyard life.

Trying to find our way out of the farm onto the rail road station.

Learning about the 1900 farmyard life.

Waiting for the rest of the crew while Hanah Van Beek tries to stick her leg under the deck.... crazy her!

Then they went to The Governor's Mansion. Paige said that they were not allowed to take pics inside, but here are a few from the outside.

Their tour guide explaining the history of the the mansion's backyard..... did you know there use to be a pool back there!

The tour guide is now explaining how the town's people come and plant flowers in the mansion's garden every May.

This is the whole group standing in front of the Governor's Mansion. Sounds like they had a lot of fun!

Ant no, I did not go.... Deanne Dekkers took these pics. So thank you Deanne for sharing them!

Encouragement

2014-05-10T18:01:00.003-05:00

You can do anything if you TRULY wantt to do it. Winners never quit, and Quiters never win

ADORABLE!!

2014-04-22T20:45:00.001-05:00

These are just a FEW of Sadie's birth announcement pictures. Paige also got her an adorable outfit that says: I love daddy! Bow down... therefore the princess has come before us!

Happy Easter Everyone!!

2014-04-21T08:17:00.001-05:00

This is Paige's last year science fair experiment. Thought it would be a cool one to do w/ the way the stone rolled away from that door.

This is the whole clan before Easter church service saying, " May God bless you all"!

Now Introducing........

2014-04-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

Sadie Jade Fedders was born on Saturday April 12. She was 8lb & 1oz. This little miss was very tired by the time we got home from the hospital!

Sadie is 4 days old today!

Tea Party

2014-04-07T20:06:00.001-05:00

Kids enjoying the fruit punch and fruit!

Making faces with the food.

K really got good at it!

Goofy girls.

All granddaughter gather around Grandma for a picture.

Even adults need to dress up!

Smile K!

Paige and Emma liked the idea too!

Happy 4th of July

2012-07-06T15:54:00.003-05:00

Annual 4th of July photo

You knew with 5 kids this picture would be impossible :-) Especially on a HOT day

Enjoying the day at home

Master Chef - Grilled burgers for dinner, then steak and potatoes for supper. Yum!

A Mouse in the House

2011-12-30T15:45:00.011-06:00

There is a mouse in our house, but know one minds because it's Mini Mouse! Especially our Peanut. She LOVES Mini Mouse. She has a Mini Mouse cup, she only wears Mini Mouse panties, and if she does something wrong she says that Mini Mouse said to do it. That's why when I found this huge, soft, Mini Mouse, I just had to get her. Sure enough, Peanut loved her! She took her out of the box and with a huge smile she said, "She's just my size!" Here are some pictures of the other kids enjoying some of their gifts.Mimime with her first pair of dangly cross earrings. She's also sporting a new watch from Grandma F. LiviJ is SUPER excited about getting the movie Rio, while rarely taking off the Lion stocking hat she got from Grandma F the day before.Bman loving his remote control helicopter.K is super excited about all of her gifts. Everyone enjoying the new Wii.And last, but not least, a Christmas picture of the kids after their Christmas program. I am really enjoying their Christmas vacation. I have seen so many smiles, and heard so many laughs coming out of the toy room this past week. The kids have been building forts, playing house, making puzzles (the kind that take hours to put together), playing with their new toys, reading, and just enjoying each other's company. I'm soaking it all up. We pray you all had a blessed Christmas.

Halloween 2011

2011-12-13T18:51:00.003-06:00

I know these pictures are a little late, but wanted to share the kids' Halloween pictures. This year we had an Indian, an Angel, a Clown, a Karate Kid, and...a ladybug It didn't take my clown long to figure out how this worked.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-03T16:22:00.006-06:00

Decorated Christmas cookies and enjoyed our first snow of the season with some friends today! Had a great time and the snow is still accumulating!

1st Birthday

2011-11-04T11:00:00.015-05:00

I have to get back into the routine of updating this blog. Since my last post, my little baby K turned 1!!!! I can hardly believe it! We had fun celebrating with family.
Here she is with her #1 cake. (We were all about the polka dots:-)And here she is enjoying it!
She shared one of her parties with her cousin Zach who turned 15, so we made the cakes work together:)Come on, rip it open!And here is the loot she ended up with - A beach towel with her name on it, a rocking chair, 3 outfits, a rocking horse, a shape castle, a pony book, and a toy camera. Thanks everyone!Today she had her second set of tubes put in her ears. Her first set lasted only 6 months, and then she got 2 ear infections within the first 6 weeks of losing them. Surgery went well and she's sleeping it off now. They were able to use the regular size tubes this time instead of the microtubes, so hopefully this set will stay in a little longer. Thanks for checking in on us.

I'm Back!!

2011-09-21T15:11:00.002-05:00

My computer has been down for FOREVER!! Even the last couple of blog posts were done from my mom's computer, So what's it been...6 months?? I kept thinking all summer, "oooh, i should put this on my blog", but couldn't. Now that I'm back on here I don't even know where I would start. We had a fun summer. We did a lot of camping, LiviJ turned 7, Peanut turned 2, and so much more. Maybe I'll sporatically post fun things from this summer.

Kids are doing well. The older 2 are back in school full time. LiviJ was excited about it, Minime was not so much. Just a difference in personalities. Minime is the "domesticated" one. She doesn't care so much about book learning. She'd rather be at home mothering her little sisters, bake, cook, etc. But now that they're back in the routine, it's not so bad.

Bman started preschool this year and likes it. I had a hard time sending him. He's my buddy and I was just not ready to see him leave me. After I picked him up from his first day he sat in the car and said, "Mom, things are going to start to change around here." I asked why and he said, "Cause I'm going to school now and I'm going to be learning things." I had to laugh. He also doesn't understand why they have to be in lines ALL the time. He's very restless during rest period and doesn't enjoy that at all. But, for the most part, I think he enjoys the rest of it.

Peanut is still hamming it up for me every day. I've really enjoyed having her alone on the days Bman goes to preschool. Just her and I (and the baby) alone in the house has not happened often in her lifetime and we are trying to make the most of that bonding time.

Baby K is almost 11 months old already! Where is the time going?? She waves bye bye, shakes her head 'no ', and already knows how to fight with Peanut. She's very easy going and will just sit and entertain herself for hours. Really, seriously, HOURS. She's so happy and an easy smiler and she's such a joy.

Anyway, I guess that's a quick 6 month update on life over here. Hope to be back sooner this time:)

Cast Free

2011-05-27T16:54:00.006-05:00

On Monday, the 23rd, Peanut got her cast off. She went into surgery at 8:35 to remove the 3 pins and cast. Here she us all drugged up and ready to go in.
She was done at 9:10 and was in recovery for only 10 minutes! What a difference from last time. She whined as she was coming out of the anesthesia, but there was no fighting and no throwing up. So thankful! We headed home around noon. For the next 3 weeks she needs to wear this sling all day except naps and bedtime.

Her elbow is really sore to the touch, I believe from the pin sites. We keep bandages on them for now. She's not being so cooperatve with the sling because she knows that it came come off, and she knows how. I wish I could keep her in a bubble for the next three weeks so that she doesn't fall or bump it, but we'll just pray she takes it a little slow. (yeah, right). Thanks for thinking of us.

6 months

2011-05-09T17:24:00.003-05:00

Wanted to share a couple of pictures of K since she's 6 months now. She's pretty content and is starting to catch on to sitting. She doesn't take a pipe or a bottle, so she's pretty much attached to my hip wherever I go. Hoping to start her on cereal soon. She's an easy smiler and we love her to pieces.

Mothers Day

2011-05-09T17:10:00.003-05:00

Happy Mothers Day

Sporting Pink

2011-05-03T13:47:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago when Peanut got her cast, they put a slit the whole length of her cast to allow for swelling because of the surgery. She wore a sling full time the first week, except for naps and bedtime to keep her arm as elevated as she could. The second week she didn't wear it as much. Yesterday she had her 2 week checkup and xrays show that there has been no shifting so they went ahead and wrapped up her cast in a bright neon pink to close the slit in the cast. She doesn't need to wear her sling if she doesn't want to, so now she's walking around sporting her new pink fashion.
She will be like this for three weeks, then she will have another surgery to remove the cast and pins if the the xrays look good at that time. After that she will need a splint, but I don't know yet what that all is and how long she will need that. Please pray for patience for her. Kids seem to adapt so well, but there are times she gets really frustrated and has a hard time sleeping comfortably. Thanks for checking in with us.

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T16:29:00.005-05:00

Here are the kids on Easter morning."There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lighting, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples; 'He has risen from the dead.." Mark 28:2-7a

The Climber

2011-04-21T16:14:00.023-05:00

For a long time I've been meaning to do a post on how much of a climber our Peanut is. I spend a lot of my time taking her down from things. Here are some pictures I've taken in the past. Note that a lot of these were taken in one day.
On the bunkbed:Playing in the toy room:On the kitchen counter (this particular counter she is on several times a day and I have multiple pictures, but will just post this one): On the pool table: On the bathroom counter - and to make matters worse, got into the vasaline: On the kitchen table:On the phone counter:First, I will have you know that I do tell her "no" when she does this. She has also gotten spankins for not listening, but it just doesn't seem to matter to her. I've moved the chairs from the counter and she pushes them back herself. When there's a will, there's a way. And let me tell you, she has a strong will.

Well, it would be the bathroom counter that would finally do her in. On Saturday night she was trying to get the tissues and lost her balance. The hubby took her in Sunday morning to the walk in clinic, got a temporary cast and came home. Monday the orthopedic surgeon from SCity was at our local hospital so I took her in at 9am to get it set and get a permanent cast. Ater more xrays I was told she broke it by the elbow and would need surgery and 3 pins. She was in surgery from 12:30 until 1:45. She was in recovery until 2:30 and then came up to the room. If any of you have had your kids under anesthesia, you know what they are like coming out of it. She cried and fought with me until 4:00 when she finally threw up, got more pain meds and fell asleep. I let her sleep and she woke up around 6pm. She was a little crabby, but was able to pull off some of those classic Peanut smiles. We left for home about 7pm.

Now that it's been a couple of days, she's starting to adjust to being one-handed and amazingly it slows her down very little. It's the nights that are bad. She doesn't sleep even though she's had pain meds. I don't know if she just has trouble getting comfortable, or what, but I'm running on very little sleep over here. If I'm not up with her, I'm up with K. So forgive me if you see me and I stare thru you like a zombie. But, we're taking it one day at a time. We are so thankful that God has provided knowlegable doctors to fix this and pray that it heals correctly without any lasting problems. So, without further adoo, here is the new Peanut:

Fun Stuff

2011-04-12T09:59:00.034-05:00

Sorry it's been so long, but my computer was on the fritz. But, I'm back and we've been having so much good stuff going on here. 1-SHE CAN HEAR: First, we are praising God for K's PASSED hearing test! Finally! 5 months old and she passed all speech frequencies in both ears! Thank you all for your prayers, but most importantly we thank God for answered prayers. Along with that comes some adjustments. No more nap times in the living room because the noise of the kids keeps waking her up. No more coughing or sneezing at 2:30am because she WILL wake up (Yes, this happens). She startles with sudden loud noises, and cries when it's too noisy. I'm sure this will settle down soon, but this is a whole new world for her that she needs to get used to - and you won't hear me complaining (yet). 2-BIRTHDAY PARTIES: On April 11, we celebrated our oldest daughter's birthday. I can't believe she's 8 already! After school I just let her do whatever she wanted to do. They played with the dog, swung on the swings, jumped on bales, and then she flew her new kite from Grandma F. The weather was perfect and we spent a lot of time out there! It was 7:30 before we even thought about supper. Still had to do baths and homework, too-oops. Obviously, bedtime at 8 didn't happen, but we had a lot of fun, so that was worth it, right? Here are some pictures from her parties over the past week. Cupcakes for the F side and an applebread for the S side. Both per her request. 3-GRANDMA BIRTHDAYS:The kids made Grandma F a cake for her birthday. I won't tell you how old she is, but I will tell you how old Grandma S is! She turned 60 this year, so we had a surprise party for her. Had a good time with family and friends. 4-GRANDPARENTS DAY: It worked out well this year that both kids have the same teacher. That way all grandparents didn't have to switch from room to room and miss anything. In the morning they gave a program called Down By the Creek Bank. It brought back a lot of memories, as I also sang those songs when I was their age. It took weeks to get "Germs, Germs, My Invisible Dog" out of my head. Great time! Grandma F, Minime, Grandma S, LiviJ, and Great Grandma DJ.5-FUN WITH MARKERS: Why does she look so surprised? Does she not remember doing this to herself? 6-BICYCLE FUN: How many people does it take to give Peanut a ride on this bike? They were having a good time. 7-EASTER EGG HUNT: Got an early start on it this year. 8-SKATING: There's a first time for everything, and the older two girls had their first skating experience. We had an all school skating party. It started out a little shaky, but by the end of the night they had aquired bruises (mostly egos), some minor aches and pains, but also polished up their skating skills and were all smiles. The hubby also had a lot of fun with it and joined in on the games. He actually won his heat. Way to go daddy!

Surgery

2011-03-11T16:21:00.003-06:00

K's surgery went well. They had to do the micro tubes, since the other tubes were too big for her ear drums. These tend to not last as long and they can get plugged up faster, but it's what they needed to use. The Dr told us there was a lot of fluid and puss packed in there. He cleaned it all out and is feeling very confident that that was her problem. He tried to do a hearing test in the O.R., but kept getting abnormal results. So, again, we don't know if this was 100% her problem. He will do another hearing test in 2 weeks at her checkup. More waiting.....however, I did notice today that when I yelled at the kids while she was on my lap, she startled. I was very excited by that! Thanks for praying her through surgery and thinking of us as we continue this waiting game.

It's NOT a go

2011-03-04T20:25:00.003-06:00

No tubes for K today. We've got the flu going around here. Hopefully next week Friday we'll be able to have surgery. Thanks for thinking of us.

It's a Go

2011-03-01T15:23:00.002-06:00

Well, we're finally going to put tubes in Baby K's ears. The date has been set for this Friday, March, 4. I'm asking for your prayers for her. I'm very nervous for a couple of reasons. First, she's so young. If I could choose, I wouldn't want her "put out" while she's so little, but it needs to be done. Second, I feel like this is answer time. Will this solve her hearing problem or not. Before putting tubes in, we could always hope that it's just fluid causing problems. After tubes, we should know for sure. No more guessing. That could be a good thing if she passes the hearing tests, but if not, then there's no more hope that it will get better. Am I ready to know for sure? I think the hubby and I are. If the results are good, we'll be glad to be done worrying and wondering. If not, we're ready to move on with what we need to do to help her. I may be putting the cart in front of the horse with all this worrying, but it's what a mommy does, I guess. Please continue to think of her this week. Thanks!

Fun February Fridays

2011-02-25T11:40:00.008-06:00

Every Friday in the month of February, the girls' school does something fun. Thought I would show you. The first Friday was school spirit day. They had to wear school apparel or school colors which are, obviously, red and black.The second Friday was pajama/slipper/crazy hair day. Minime ratted some pony tails and LiviJ put a hanger wire in her braids.

And today was hat/shades/gum day.

They really look forward to these crazy days and Minime says it helps so that school's not so boring:)

The Chef

2011-02-25T11:07:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I decided to bake - for two reasons. One, I was in the mood for cookies and no longer had any of those convenient premade/preportioned frozen coookie dough in the freezer, and two, Bman wanted me to play with him. I figured he could help me bake instead of me wearing out my knees playing more tractors with him. He agreed to help. So, I started getting out the ingredients as he pulled up a stepstool and found his spot by the counter. He says, "Mom, maybe I could put the stuff in the bowl for you." As I finished gathering the remaining ingredients I said, "That sounds like a great job for you." Upon my arrival back to the counter, this is what I found.

I just had to laugh. I thought to myself, "Normally I crack the egg and remove the wrapping from the butter before I bake, but he did what he said he was going to do." Apparently he needs a little more practice in the kitchen:)

A Dog and it's adventures

2011-02-18T18:21:00.010-06:00

Meet Walker, our new dog. The kids love him - but, it's only day 2 :)

Today after school the girls decided they all should take Walker for a walk around the farm. Great idea. I was enjoying some quiet time since Peanut and K were napping and the older 3 were outside entertaining themselves. Until....Minime was pounding on the door yelling for me. Apparently, in an emergency, she had forgotten how to open the door and come in. Anyways, I ran to see what was wrong and she told me I had to come quick because Bman got stuck in the mud and LiviJ went to pull him out and now they both fell on their butts and are stuck in the mud. The first thing that came to my mind was, "What a perfect photo opportunity!" So, I grabbed my camera and ran. By the time I got there they had made it back into standing position, but both were still screaming hysterically.

I first snapped a photo and then told them to, "Calm down! You are NOT going to die!" That didn't seem to help. LiviJ calmed down enough to grab my hand as I helped her pludge through the mud to dryer ground. But Bman was stuck! I really thought I was going to be the next one in as I pulled. Finally, he became air born, leaving his boot still embeded in the mud. I told LiviJ to hold him up while I tried to free the boot. That thing was suctioned in there good!

Once again snapping a picture, LiviJ says, "Stop taking pictures!" I said, "Oh, but honey, some day you are going to think this is funny." She said, "I will NEVER think this is funny!" On our somber walk back to the house Bman says through his tears, "Mom, I'm never going to laugh about this." But it's amazing how a bath, clean clothes, and a few hours changes things. A few minutes ago we were showing dad the pictures and both kids were laughing :)