Boy Oh Boy!

Welcome to this world little Theo! 

Theo Timothy was born on April 18th, two days after his "due date", but in God's perfect timing. He weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces and 22 inches long. We have been enamored! He has been a pretty chill little baby; he loves to snuggle and still sleeps a lot, even at night...woo hoo! 

He first got to meet Leila and Sy who were spending some quality time with Grandma Lo and Grandpa Jer. Earlier in the weekend, they went on an easter egg hunt where Silas found the ultimate egg- filled with one loud, green whoopie cushion! Yes, he brought it with him to show Theo :)

Who can resist these faces??

...And these :)

A little later, this crew came with GG and Gampy to meet their brother/cousin. Sam and Gretta are wearing "big sister" "big brother" medals from Auntie Amy...so special!!

Theo was born exactly two weeks after his cousin Reuel! Good buddies, hand in hand.

Auntie Linds and Mommy

A few weeks earlier we celebrated Sammy's 6th birthday at Chuck E Cheese with a few buddies. They had a blast!!

This is the ticket machine for the birthday boy...he caught one worth a lot in his crown!

And here we are at Grandma Lo and Grandpa Jers celebrating some more!

Cousins, cousins, and more cousins, Oh MY! We have been having a blast with all of these cousins in the area! From sharing meals to movies to sleep overs to haircuts, we are trying to fit it all in before they leave for La Crosse in a week...sniff sniff!

Sy's face sums up his whole day. Everyone else had a blast at the gym!

Making pizzas...yum!!

Let's go mom!!! They beat me to the door :)

Auntie Amy had James Rick a day after Theo was born....little baby boys all over the place!

Happy cousins and siblings!

Theo's first bath = success. He loves getting his hair and face washed...must remind him of a place he has recently been :)

Bye for now!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

As of late...

Leila (almost) always wants to do school work too. She loves drawing little circles, and sometimes adds little "v" lines to make people. So cute!

My sweet friend Sarah was in WI (all the way from AZ!), so we met at Olive Garden before her flight left. This was also the first time we met Elise; what a big girl already!

Baby bellies! Two sister-in-laws (Danielle and me) carrying two little ones...so fun to experience pregnancy together! Thanks for the unique camera angle, Phil :)

Our all morning field trip to Camp Tapawingo included snow shoeing, stamping, dissecting owl pellets, and compass reading among a few other art projects...

We sure had fun, but ready for a nap by the time we got home :)

Tim had gotten me this beautiful bouquet, so a few days in, we decided to...

...experiment with color and water. I thought the transformation would happen quickly, but it took over a week for each flower to take on a light color of the water color...sorry, no after pic!

Our friend RJ turned 3 and had an awesome birthday party at a hotel with a pool...the boys loved it! 

"Weeeeeeee"-Sy Guy

Super Sam

My mom made us this lovely meal one night...so great not to cook, and eat something delicious :)

We had such a blast on this play date with our friends. Carly showed us her new violin, and the kids played vet, doctor, and chase....so thankful for mommy to mommy talk time too :)

The kids and I went to Play60 at Lambeau one weekend and met some cousins there....above, the kids are working on yoga stretches....they also got their faces painted, ran through bounce houses, and watched an amazing acrobatic team preform. 

This was not planned...we were at the library and when I looked up, here were the three stooges enjoying some good books.

And finally, if you can see it behind Sam, is a huge Malaysian Box Turtle we met at a Kingdom Anamalia presentation. We also saw other exotic birds and reptiles and learned all about the care they need.

Playing in the Snow

Two weeks ago on a Monday, Gretta complained of a sore throat, and her tonsils were pretty swollen. Verdict: Strep Throat. Silas had some sort of a rash on his face and it was getting progressively worse (high school kid going through puberty-looking). Took him in on Wednesday and the verdict: Impetigo. Thursday night, Sam was up a few times throwing up and had a fever. Verdict: Strep. With our cases of amoxicillin packed, we ventured up north that weekend. Either we rest on the couch here or there, right?! So glad we went! Sammy had a restful day, and then enjoyed snowmobile rides, warm meals, and sledding like no one's business! Grandma Lo had fun crafts planned, like making rain sticks and homemade treats for the birds (upper right) while Grandpa Jer took up the reading portion of the weekend. There is nothing like the quiet and the bright night sky in the woods. We were all refreshed!

After seeing this project on Lindsey's blog, we thought it looked fun and gave it a whirl. We started with glue and salt and water color before finding directions on what order to do those things. They turned out pretty; next time we will look up directions first :)

See the four little people if you squint? Super Dad is taking them to the park after work one night. 

This momma got a much appreciated break!

Here are some of the members of the Hosanna Choir that Gretta has been apart of all year. They have been working hard on Beauty and the Beast, and get to preform in May.

The first picture is my view going through the car wash. As a kid, I always remember loving the sounds and smells and colors of a car wash. Sy and Leila on the other hand closed their eyes almost all the way through. The time after this one, I had to wait until Leila was sleeping.She wanted nothing to do with it!

4 Feldner kids + 4 Gremore kids = a blast! We had a great weekend visiting our good friends in Minnesota and also got to see some friends home on a little furlough.

"Hi Daaaaaaad!!" Tim was gone one night, & everyone wanted to show dad how much fun playing in the snow has been. These kiddos just love it; Sam and Gretta were outside for 2 hours yesterday and could have stayed out longer. The next couple of days will be pretty frigid, but they are eager to get outside some more; hopefully not too far away!

I just love this guy and his look :) He came in from outside and immediately jumped in to help me with making yogurt, bread, and jello jigglers. 

Gretta at her 7 year check up....seven?? yes, seven!!

Every Wednesday we have Classical Conversations all morning. They are now distracted by the movie that some of the kids watch who stay the whole day.  We love CC! 

Last week, we went to Kidstown for the first time...a large room with lots and lots of toys and games etc. for almost every age. As we were leaving, the lady behind the desk offered to make everyone a balloon creation. Serena and Leila chose a flower. Sam and Sy chose a sword, and Josiah chose a dinosaur. I wish I had a picture of it...it was green with white eyes and white teeth- so cute!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! 

We had a joyful month of anticipating the celebration of Christ's birth as we added a magnet each day to a special calendar we have hanging in the kitchen. We talked about many different characters that played a part before, during and after Christ was born, and had the treat of letting the littlest one (it was Leila this year) place baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning. 

God is so good, and we are thankful he so graciously carried us through another year! 

We pray that you too find comfort in His nearness as we enter into 2014.

(See the baby shoes next to Leila?? Only a few more months to go and we get to meet this little one!)

If only I had time to learn Photoshop better :) This was taken at Gretta's 7th birthday bash with the relatives.

Gampy and Leila singing to Gretta...

And here is the cake Gretta decorated! I can hardly believe she is seven. Gretta loves loves loves reading (Nancy Drew, American Girl, you name it! though it is getting tough to find quality reading material in her age group these days). She also enjoys playing in the snow, building legos, & sharing with us the latest Leila quote that gets us all rolling with laughter!

Here is Mr. Eric with the kids from Sunday school singing a few of the songs they had worked on for weeks leading up to the service, including a clever rendition of "Happy Birthday Jesus". 

Gretta and some friends are standing in front of "pin the antenna on the butterfly". She requested dirt cake and crafts. Tim took the boys to grandmas while we worked on our art projects.

The girls colored for WAY longer than I anticipated, almost an hour! They were in their element.

We made some graham crackers with "graham" flour. Who knew??

Grandpa Jer works for the mill, and every year they host a Christmas party at the movies. Each kid picks a toy to bring home (organized by age group after the show). Leila, of course, chose a doll. Gretta picked an outfit for her doll. Sam chose an angry birds set and I can't remember what Sy got. Too bad it's not in the picture. Grandma Lo is fun!

At VFW with Uncle Phil and Auntie Danielle celebrating Phil's graduation a year after the fact. 

Phil was surprised, I think!

Kids and stockings...we actually remembered St. Nick's Day this year! Maybe a first? They were pretty excited :) 

One last good bye for now from Gretta and her doll in adorable matching outfits...thank you GG!