Jesse.
He keeps the fun in our family. The first one to jump into playing these crazy games with the kids. I like to sit on the side lines and capture the moment.
Jesse is the chief psychologist at the prison. He also does disability evaluations for the State of Wisconsin when they need them in our area. Alderman Frey has become a new hat for him, as he is on the city council board. Oh and he is on the board for building us a new library! When the dress clothes hit the laundry basket and his blue jeans come out you can find him in a jeep, on a tractor, or giving the kids rides on the three wheeler.
Me (Lynn).
I stay home with the kids and we also homeschool. I am the nursery director at our church. Fancy name for we hunt down willing volunteers to watch the 0-3 year olds so the parents can go to church. Being a homeschool family I am constantly on a mission to make this place a smooth and organized operation. I fail at it most of the time which is why it is a constant mission. Most of the time you can find me in the kitchen (I joke with Jesse that I do leave the kitchen – he leaves in the morning and I am in the kitchen and he comes home and I am in the kitchen.) making meals and meal planning and meal prepping. In the warm months I am gardening and canning. In the cooler months I am planning and thinking about gardening and canning. I am also constantly planning and thinking about our schooling and doing prep work for it. Homeschooling has been my hardest job to date. When I took it on I had no idea how consuming it was truly going to be.
When I am in the kitchen I usually have a side kick, Melanie. I think she might be the chef of the family. Or she has attachment issues. Or she is hoping I will give her a sample of whatever I have cooking. She is certainly not content unless she is on my hip looking down into the bowls I have going. I think she is looking for food handouts.
Mallory.
Our first grader. The oldest. Mallory. Oh Mallory. She is growing into such a little girl already. She is my biggest helper. When I need something done, she is the one I run to. She is such a great big sister. Mallory is also competitive, hates to lose, and highly dislikes being timed. She is very artsy. Constantly drawing or making things. She also has some hoarding in her as she can not get rid of the items she draws and makes. I found 3 diaper boxes she snuck off with in her room full of stuff!! They were her “toy boxes” even though she has a toy box. Or that piece of paper on the floor was her doll’s bed. Just this weekend she spent the night at her grandparents and she found a stick that became her gun and she was insistent on keeping it AND taking it the tub with her. Then she was trying to convince them to let her go paint it yellow. (Grandma Connie if you ever need an apprentice – Mallory is your girl.) In school she is doing absolutely amazing! My most proud moment for her is reading! She is devouring chapter books already!! Big chapter books too. Like the characters in the book are third graders! I am so proud of this because at the end of last year she hated reading and I couldn’t get her to do it without a fight. Now she is sailing. Her memory is out of this world too! Her favorite things would be art, stuffed animals, her doll Freckles, and Hank the Cow Dog Audio Books.
Maxwell.
Oh Mr. Max! He is in Pre-School. More like I have to trick him with school. He is all boy. He needs to run and play and not sit still and learn. Hunting! It is his jam! He can tell you anything you want to know about guns and hunting. He checks out hunting books at the library and actually makes us read them to him. He gets the real hunting magazines and I have to read the stories out of it. He also loves to learn about animals. Any kind of animal. He knows more animal facts than any kid I know. He is also the one with the tender heart. A thing we battle with Max is that he likes to get out of work. If something needs to get done he will find an excuse as to why he can’t do it. His leg hurts is a very over used excuse. He loves any moment he can get with Jesse. After hang out all day with a house full of girls he is ready for that boy time! His favorite things are hunting, Indians, Hang the Cow Dog, Hunting Stores and watching shows when we let him.
Melanie.
Coming in at 18 months and the baby of the family. She has us all jumping and doing what she wants at the slightest grunt. She climbs on everything. Gets into every single drawer. This week she figured out how to open doors (Big doors – the pantry door specifically). Getting in the bathroom and getting the toothbrushes is a very happy moment! I swear she has a radar and knows when we left it open and she runs (literally) and looks to see if anyone is watching and gets in there and starts sucking on everyones toothbrush.
She doesn’t play toys much. She would rather follow me around and do what I am doing. Whether it is helpful or not. I have her doing laundry and resorting it. I have her unfolding laundry. I have her in the dishwasher loading and unloading. If I am vacuuming she is right there to turn it on and off for me. If I sit down to write a menu she has to be on my lap with a pen of her own. We already talked about how she needs to cook with me. Shower! Oh she has to be in the bathroom too if I want a shower. And now that she has figured out how to open doors I need to remember to lock them when I need to hide from her.
If I can get her to play toys (usually I have to sit on the floor with her) she plays with her dolls, kitchen toys, or reads books. About once or twice a day she will play with the big kids. It usually ends shortly because she ruins something or she gets hurt and needs my healing kisses.
She is working on potty training, not needing a nuk all day long, independent play, and using words instead of grunting.
In a nutshell that is us and what we have been up to. We are all very ready to get back into our routines and get this new year started. Well… except Max!
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