We're still kickin'!

I guess I have established a new standard for "not so periodic" updates.  Gosh, has it really been that long?  Let's not figure out how long it as been...I'm just not going to go there.

So what has the Shibata Household been up to since we've last surfaced?  There were end of the summer outings with the kids and a vacation with friends.  There were weekend trips to see family and a wedding.  Birthdays were celebrated, sometimes multiple times.  Of course there was school and all that goes along with it, the first day back, class field trips and celebrations, picture day, lunch duties, school programs, and even homework.  There has been volleyball in the forms of serving as camp director, volunteering at various practices and even a good bit of playing for fun (yay!).  There has been work and the expected challenges and stresses that go along with it.  There has been grad school and late night study sessions.  There were the little holidays that included costumes and candy and BIG holidays, also celebrated multiple times.  And in the midst of all that, our lives are filled with everyday blessings, so many of which we have to remind ourselves to enjoy.  The kids have been growing and changing, providing us with frustrations, utter joys, and many opportunities to grow.  We. are. blessed.

Marie is almost halfway through her 1st grade year.  She is thriving.  It is not uncommon for her to come home from school and "play school".  She claims her favorite subject is math.  Don't get me wrong, she is good at math and is quick to pick up the concepts.  But she is very good at reading and reads well beyond her grade level.  According to her teacher, she gets along with everyone and has been known to say that she has 23 friends at school (there are 24 in her class).  She has always been mom's helper, but she is really turning into a big help around the house.  She is a good playmate for her younger brothers, as long as she doesn't try to boss them around too much.  Marie tried ballet for the first time last fall and LOVES it.  This was a completely new arena for us, definitely embarking into the unknown.  She took to it right away, and to the untrained eye, you can't tell that she is the only one of her classmates that hasn't been dancing for two years.  Marie seems to have a natural grace that she most definitely did not get from her mom.

Joey is just recently four years old!  He had been looking forward to this age for quite some time and had developed quite the list of Thomas the train characters and accessories to have a response if anyone were to ask him what he wanted for his birthday or for Christmas.  He has such a good heart and is generous beyond his years...at times of course.  For example, he didn't think twice when a certain uncle jokingly asked for his last bite of Christmas cookie.  Joey loves "screen time", whether it be TV or on the computer.  We almost always limit "screen time" to educational games and shows.  (Note:  "We" does NOT include Grandpa.)  As a result, Joey has started sounding out letters and picking out an occasional word.  He also frequently shares random science facts that he learns from Sid (the Science Kid).  He recently informed Jon that it was actually friction that slowed him down as he was sliding across our hallway in his socks.  Speaking of sliding, it is such a relief that we finally have snow.  Finally, you might ask?  Yes, finally.  He has only been asking about sledding since June.  Joey has a wonderful smile and sense of humor and makes us smile even when he's not trying.  He has got to be the slowest kid at getting dressed and one morning I asked, "Joey.  Why do you still not have your clothes on?"  His response: "Well there was dirt in my belly button!"

Stevie is our two-year-old that is not quite two.  That is he acts like and gives us as much grief as a two-year-old.  Yet Jon (rightly) contends that he makes me laugh more than the others did, particularly at things he should not be doing.  Stevie has been trying to keep up with Marie and Joey from birth it seems.  Anything they have or are doing, he wants to have and be doing.  He climbs and runs, stays up late and takes or "ruins" Joey's toys.  His laugh is contagious and he is a ham.  He is starting to talk more and is finding it less frustrating that we don't know what he wants or is saying.  He loves hockey, watching or playing it.  He is Grandpa's boy, constantly talking about Grandpa's tractor even though Stevie wouldn't ride in it during our last visit.  He is fascinated with tunnels, for cars or trains and ones that he imagines like under tables, chairs, blankets, or a plethora of other things.  We sometimes call him, "the destroyer" which goes along with the fact that he has a particular love for hammers.  And boy, you should see his face if you even mention the word "cookie".

And as for Jon and me, we are still at our same jobs and still for the most part enjoy them.  We are thankful to have them for sure, and I am especially thankful that I can maintain working part-time so that I can be at home with my kids and see them as they grow.  Jon is still working toward his graduate degree, but (I think) the end is in sight.  I have really enjoyed being able to play more volleyball than I have in years (pregnancies will do that I guess).  Big thanks to Jon for handling the kids while I'm off getting exercise and having fun.  We all continue to be blessed with good health, good friends, and wonderful family.  If we could ask for one thing, it would perhaps be time, but then I'm sure we would fill it up with more of this thing called life.  So I guess when it comes down to it, we wouldn't change a thing.

Thanksgiving and Early December (2011)

If I were to pick a theme for the end of 2011 I think I would choose…road trip. 

The last update from the Shibata's was at Thanksgiving time, when we were in Illinois to celebrate the holiday with the Meinhart clan.  Marie did not have school on the day before Thanksgiving, so the plan was to take that day to drive south. 

As it turned out, we did use that as our driving day, but we didn't get as early a start as we had hoped / intended.  You see, the day before, I had noticed that the furnace wasn't working.  I had this realization in the morning, when it was still in the low to mid 60's in the house.  I figured it wouldn't be so bad; I'd have the repair guy come out and take a look at it.  He had all day, right?  I decided to use the day to do a bunch of baking (at least the kitchen would be warm) and waited for him to arrive. 

It got to be 4:45 PM and still no repair guy.  I called the repair company back and learned that somehow the work ticket had been misplaced and that is why no one had come to check out our furnace.  I was assured that a repairman (presumably the guy in charge) would be there right away, and in fact he was.  He went into the basement, and when he came back upstairs, he informed me that the furnace required a new part and that he might have the part back at his shop.  If he didn't, then he would need to pick up the part the next day and then install it.  I really hoped that he had the part…

He drove back to his shop and called me back to inform me that he in fact did not have the part.  This meant that we would have no heat through the night.  So, we got our (gas) fireplace going and decided  to have a camp out in the living room.  Hopefully it was something fun and out of the ordinary that at least Marie will remember.  At any rate, it was out of our routine enough that we didn't get started as early as we had intended.  (For those of you that are interested, the repairman came over later, replaced the part, and fixed the furnace.  Thanks Uncle Mark for checking on things later that night!)

We were able to make it home and enjoy a very nice Thanksgiving Day / dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart, Uncle Matt, Uncle Dave, and Itxaso. 

Our original plan for Black Friday was to have the whole family head over to St. Louis to celebrate and visit with Great-Grandpa Boedeker.  Since Grandpa wasn't feeling that well, just a few of the adults went over to visit for a bit.  It was much more time in the car than time to visit, but I think that Grandpa chatted just a bit and I think genuinely appreciated it.

On Saturday, we celebrated "Meinhart" Thanksgiving and Marie and Joey were able to play with and spend more time with that side of the family.  Marie is getting old enough to play with and remember some of her second cousins (and great-aunts and uncles), which makes those gatherings even more fun. 

We headed back to Michigan on Sunday, thankful for the time to spend with our family, but as expected, tired.

Not a week later, it was time to celebrate Joey's 3rd birthday.  Mom and Dad drove up to Michigan a couple of days early and helped out with getting the house in order and getting food ready for the party.  That also allowed us to celebrate Grandpa Meinhart's birthday with him.  We are guessing that this might happen on a regular basis in years to come since Grandpa's birthday is the day before Joey's.  We're not complaining! :)  This year, we had apple pie and ice cream and the kids' gave him night crawlers as a gift.  Boy was he surprised!
 

For the kids' birthdays we never have a really big get together or go too far out of the way, but I like to have a little something to make the day special and don't know how I would get it done without a couple of extra sets of hands.  Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah came over and Grandpa and Grandma Shibata and Aunt Jess come up for the afternoon. 

The day after Joey's birthday, I was again able to take advantage of the extra hands and we put up the outdoor Christmas lights and also picked out our tree.  This year we opted for just picking out our tree instead of cutting it down ourselves.  We were running out of sunlight and decided if we didn't get it done that day, then it would be difficult to impossible to fit it in some other day.  As it turns out, it was much less work, the kids still enjoyed it, it was less time consuming and less expensive, and we still got a nice looking and smelling tree out of it.
 

Joey is Two and Winter is Here

Despite all the fun things that have been going on (or perhaps because of them!), I've been extremely delinquent at posting updates of the recent 'happenings.' I'll try to bring you up to speed before Christmas and before things really get out of hand!

To begin, Joey turned two on Dec 3rd...just in time for him to stop asking about opening more presents. Grandpa and Grandma Meinhart and Uncle Matt came into town to help celebrate. Grandma and Grandpa arrived the day before, early enough to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. The kids got a kick out of having a "birthday party" for a grown-up and enjoyed helping Grandpa open his presents.


For Joey's birthday, the Thomas the Train theme was continued, much to Joey's excitement. He had a Thomas cake and got a table on which he can play with his trains and tracks with less assistance (much to my excitement). It takes up a good bit of space in our living room, but it has become the focal point for the kids as they use it quite often.







The other activity that was undertaken during our visitors' stay was to get our Christmas tree. It was a bit cold, but we successfully got to the tree farm, rode the wagon out to the pines, picked one out, cut it down, got to ride the wagon again, secured it to the car, and made it home in one piece. A little hot chocolate when we arrived home helped to warm everyone up. Marie and Joey enjoyed decorating the tree as well and apart from needing to redistribute the ornaments to higher elevations, we thought it turned out well.









Joey also had his two-year check-up. He is definitely not usually a fan of visiting the doctor, even though our pediatrician is absolutely great. This time though, I think he was under the impression that it was Marie that needed to see the doctor. Plus, he didn't have to get any shots, so it was a much more manageable visit. The doctor affectionately calls him "Big Joe" since he always measures on the bigger side. He was 30.5 lbs and 37 1/2 inches which is roughly 98-99th percentile and 2-3 lbs and 1 1/2" bigger than Marie was at his age.

Marie has definitely been enjoying this season more this time around. All kids look forward to Christmas, but she has been really been getting into the Christmas spirit working on her Jesse tree, helping to decorate the house, making presents for friends and family, and lighting the advent candles. Joey enjoys it too, but more often asks his usual question, "Can we open presents?" Somewhere in there, I got to have a wonderful outing to do some outlet shopping (without kids!) with a good friend, Jon and I attended an adults only Christmas party where we always have too much fun and stay way too late, and we had a kid-friendly Christmas party hosted by my boss at a bowling alley. Marie and Joey had never been bowling, but we could hardly tear them away from the lanes. They basically bowled the entire time, only stopping long enough to gulp down a piece of pizza.

In weather-related news, we got our first real snow of the winter on Dec 12. You know what that means…sledding! We went out the same day and the conditions weren't great. It was windy, cold, and the snow was powdery which meant a lot of snow in the face during the descent down the hill. Plus, it was pretty hard for Marie to get all the way up the hill on her own. Since my self-imposed limit is to pull only my pregnant self up the hill, that meant that Jon got quite the workout pulling both Marie and Joey up. Thankfully, we've been out multiple other times and things have been much smoother. The kids could actually go down in their own sleds and Marie has gotten fantastic (to use her own words) at getting up the hill on her own. They have had a total blast. One of their favorite things to do is sled down and run right into the strategically placed straw bales at the bottom. As Joey would say, they go "Bonk!"




Things with baby #3 are going well. He is growing at the appropriate rate and I'm starting to receive quite a few substantial kicks. We are just shy of 30 weeks, so it's hard to believe that we'll have a precious newborn in just 8-9 weeks (based on my history of being induced a bit early). Marie and Joey are anxiously awaiting the baby's arrival. Marie has loved getting to feel the baby move and before bedtime while we are saying what makes us thankful, Joey has been known to say "Baby brother" while giving me a pat on the belly. Not sure Joey really knows what's coming. :)

So that basically bring us up to speed on what's been going on. I know that there are some funny stories that I'm missing about things the kids have done or said. I hope to do a better job at memorializing those things…I can always hope. I did just have to share one more picture that was taken over Thanksgiving and sent to us by Aunt Jess. We hope that everyone has a blessed Christmas!