Wyatt

It's hard to believe that in just over a week, Wyatt will be 7 years old. He seems very ready to be 7 and at times seems like he has already been 7 for awhile, but it certainly doesn't seem like it's been 7 years since I became a mom! That sounds like a long time....and so much has happened since then. When Wyatt was born, Matt was still in school and we were living in Des Moines. 4 moves, 3 states and 2 kids later, it's hard to believe all that has happened in 7 years. But Wyatt was with us every step of the way (poor thing!). But he survived and is actually thriving! But 7 years...man, we are halfway to 14....YIKES!!!

Wyatt's 1st grade picture

His class

Wyatt came home from school on Friday and we all headed outside to play in the snow and do a bit more shoveling. While we were shoveling, Wyatt said, "Mommy, do you know that Cayden in my class doesn't believe in God?"

Me:"Really? How do you know that?"

Wyatt:"He told me. He said that God is dead"

Me:"What did you say?"

Wyatt:"I told him that's not true. But isn't it sad that he thinks that, Mom? I told him that Jesus is God and He did die, but he didn't stay dead. He came back to life 3 days later. I told him that Jesus dies on the cross for our sins and that if any of us believe in Him, we can live with him in heaven forever."

Me:"What did Cayden say?"

Wyatt:"He just said he didn't think it was true but I know it is."

Me:"How do you know it's true?"

Wyatt; looking at me like I was being silly because I knew....."Mom......because it's in the Bible. But Mom, everyone in my class believes in God except Cayden, Noah O. and Will."

Me:"How do you know that?"

Wyatt:"Because we talk about it. I asked Cayden if he went to church and that was how we started talking about it."

I was so excited to hear about the conversation he had with his friends at school and how boldly he was willing to share his faith. And I loved that he brought up the questions to the other kids. I know it won't always be that easy, but I love that he realizes not everyone believes what we believe and that we are called to tell others about Christ's love.

Wyatt continues to amaze me in his observation skills. I guess maybe it wouldn't be called a skill as much as a part of his personality, much like his father. He pays close attention to everything--he doesn't miss a beat. In fact, we have noticed him doing things at hockey just like his Uncle Ty, who plays for Bethel, and who we watch often. Wyatt loves to watch Uncle Ty and then play just like he does. (Yes Ty, Wyatt has even taken to being the last kid off the ice....wonder where he learned that?!) But it happens when you don't even realize he is listening or paying attention. For example, we were sitting in church last weekend and he was in 'big service' with us since we are trying to find a new church home right now. We told him he didn't have to go to the kids' sunday school classes until we decided on a church and so he has been coming to service with us. He can get a bit antsy towards the end of the sermon and he is usually writing or drawing on paper. But last Sunday evening when we were sitting around the table talking about what we were going to be working on for the upcoming week and how we could pray for each other, he brought up the exact things that were talked about that morning in the sermon. I was amazed and he even remembered what book of the Bible we were reading from, went and got his Bible, and opened it to read the very scripture we had studied that morning!

And speaking of reading, he has really taken off this year in 1st grade. Many people warned me that 1st grade was much more academic/difficult/more work and they weren't kidding. But what a difference I have seen in Wyatt. He absolutely LOVES school and his teachers and acts like people are crazy when they ask if he is excited to be off school---what a change from just 2 years ago when he cried and clung to my leg everyday at preschool drop-off for months. He has gained so much confidence and is such an answer to our prayers. For awhile there, I had visions of that happening all the way through middle school!

I have to say that I think hockey has also given him a lot of confidence. Ironically, he has come to love hockey and hasn't once complained this year about going--he literally can't get enough. But again, 2 years ago when we signed him up for hockey, he cried every time we went to the rink and it was a serious battle. Matt and I agonized over the decision to let him quit (we don't quit in this family--and the kids will hear me say "we are Sorensens and we don't quit"..they might not choose to continue in an activity after it's over, but no quitting in the middle of it) or to make him finish the year out. Knowing his personality, he had never been a kid to try anything new on his own. We always had to push him a bit but then he would end up loving it. So we knew his personality and with this particular activity, we just couldn't tell if we needed to push him to make him stronger and more confident or if we were going to crush his spirit if we did. This was probably one of the toughest decisions we had to make as parents up until that point and we spent many hours agonizing over what was right. We ended up quitting hockey and never brought it up again. That is, until Wyatt started asking Matt to play hockey outside with him all last winter. He loved playing and was getting pretty good at it. So we determined that his hesitancy had more to do with the organization of practices and the number of kids on the ice than it had to do with the game itself. We told Wyatt at the end of last winter that he would be playing hockey this year but that it would be different.....the same 15 kids on his team all year long and the same coaches AND one of them would be Matt. The first day he was still pretty timid and Matt and I had flashbacks to 2 years ago and wondered again if we were making the right decision. But once he met a few of the kids and could count on the same kids being there each week, he was a completely different kid.

I took a few pictures and some video last weekend since so many of our family members have been asking to see some....I am usually not at hockey since Matt coaches and the two of them go, but since Matt's been out of town the past few weekends, I have filled in (I still can't tie Wyatt's skates like Daddy does--despite a demonstration from Matt--and I am embarrassed to say that I have to bring a pair of scissors to cut the tape when I tape his socks--thankfully Wyatt is patient with me)

He has to wear his jersey tucked in on one side, just like Daddy always did

He is on the black team and is #17 (blue socks, white tape)

The 'celebration'....again, just like the big guys do it!

His team....we have a really great group of families and it's been fun getting to see each other every weekend and occasionally during the week.

And now a video highlight reel.....well, some highlights, some of Sadie and Blake at practice, and some oops'...the one thing that I have noticed when i do come to watch him is that he is very defensive-minded. Not only does that fit with his personality but uncle Ty is also a defenseman and Wyatt has picked up a lot from watching him. He doesn't do everything perfectly, but he seems to have a keen sense of where he should be in relation to the puck and other players. A lot of the kids his age will automatically race towards wherever the puck is, but Wyatt often times (not always) thinks one or two steps ahead and as a result, is in great position for the next play. He usually plays in their 3-on-3 games with his friend Jack and they have gotten great at passing to each other and reading what the other is going to do, as you'll see in the video. Although at times their celebrations last a bit long and they miss the next play! And now that I have talked him up like an all-star, here is the video! (I am a proud mom, what can I say?)

Like I said...

Sadie and I had a girls night on Monday to go get her some new jeans (she was in desperate need) and this was what she brought along with us....

(the new bathtub served as a carseat for baby Alive)

So sad

Apparently our enthusiasm wasn't enough to carry the Pack to a win.....

To say we were devastated would be an understatement....I am still considering counseling to deal with my depression over this....

But it could be worse....we could be Viking fans!

Blake's 2nd surgery

Last Monday Blake had his second surgery to put another set of tubes in his ears and to remove his adenoids. I didn't bring a camera with me, obviously, but I did take a few pics of him in his little hospital jammies....

passing the time....waiting for the surgeon to finish the case before us.

Post-op...everything went really well and unlike last year, he was really drowsy after the surgery. Last year he woke up really agitated and upset and it was hard to calm him down. But this time he was just really tired. They usually make you stay about an hour after surgery just to check stats and make sure they are eating and drinking ok, so we were able to spend most of the hour like this....

Once he did fully wake up, he was incredibly thirsty and initially bothered by the thing on his finger that measured his O2 saturation levels.

When I was able to convince him that it was cool to have a flashlight finger, he left it alone.

There's a smile!!!!

He was a champ and the recovery was pretty much nonexistent....we left around noon and he took a good nap that afternoon, and was back to his normal self that evening. The ENT was telling me that most kids do quite well with tubes and adenoids, often times because it provides relief from the constant pain they are used to....poor guy!! No wonder he's so tough! He was pretty excited to bring home the mask they used to sedate him with....he got to pick out the flavor of chapstick (bubble gum) that they coat the inside with. He showed Wyatt and Sadie and they thought it was so cool that he got to bring him it home, along with his little socks he got in the hospital!

Who's who??

Blake has a horrible habit of ripping Wyatt's glasses off his face if he is trying to get his way with something. So we thought we would let him try them on in hopes that he might not have such a strong desire to grab them if he didn't see them as off limits.....

They do look a lot alike, don't you think??

Skiing

We have been waiting all winter for snow and it appears that we won't be getting much this winter. We have been waiting for many reasons....sledding, snow angels, snowmen, snow ball fights...but most of all for skiing. Wyatt got skis/boots/helmet for his birthday last year and he got to use them quite a bit last winter, but not this year! So we decided to just go regardless of there being real snow (yes, they do make snow every night, but it just isn't the same).

So much fun....can't wait to get Blake out there...possibly later this winter! But having 3 kids makes the chair lift situation interesting...any tips Steph or Bill??

Sades and I

We made the mistake of going the day after we did our 'kid swap' with our small group and had 9 kids at our house until 9:30pm the night before. Sadie was exhausted by noon so Matt drove her home quick and then came back and met Wyatt and I for lunch. Wyatt was still going strong at 3pm (we started at 9:30am) and was so upset that we were leaving. He did, however, crash once we got home and sleep for over 2 hours! Can't wait to get back out there.

Good-bye Christmas

Two weekends ago we took down our Christmas decorations, much to my husband's dismay. I believe there was one year when we left all the decor up until February, solely because he loves it so much. But with his upcoming travel schedule and our weekends being occupied by other activities, we needed to get it all down.
There is a legend in Matt's family (his Dad would call it legend, the rest of the family would call it history) that one year, his Dad tried to shove the Christmas tree up the fireplace while it was going....you can imagine the scene that ensued....dry tree on fire, people watching in amazement, Matt's Dad running through the house with a ball of fire and out the front door, burning the bushes by the entrance to their house...thankfully not the house!!!

It is a story that has brought much laughter and amazement over the years and for which Matt is thankful as there was never a dull moment in his growing-up years. So we had the idea to do something a bit similar (memorable) yet safe.....

Yep, we tossed the tree out the back window...and why not? It was about 45 degrees and we were going to haul it out back anyways....plus I didn't have to follow a trail with the vacuum out the front door!

The kids thought it was great, however, I wish I had gotten a picture from outside....I'm sure our neighbors think we have officially lost it (or maybe they already knew).

My girl

I have been jotting things down on random notepads or in my phone that I want to blog about and am finally taking the time to do so. Hopefully I will get to do a bit of an 'update' on each of the kids and what they have been saying and doing lately.

Sadie continues to be a very girlie girl and we can count on at least one baby being brought with us at all times. She is my accessory girl and rarely leaves the house without a purse, bag, lipgloss, notepad, blanket for her baby, etc. As a result, the backseat of our car has turned into Sadie's space. I try not to get frustrated and kindly ask her to bring the items back in the house with her whenever we get home, but I inevitably forget! I have written in the past about how messy she can be and then came across this....

I thought of getting it for her room but didn't think the print really looked like 'her style'...more my style....this next one would definitely be her preference of the two....

I am not sure if I should get the print to put in her room as it might allow to think that it's perfectly okay to be messy and not pick things up. Or it could affirm her...what do you think?

I am constantly torn on how to appropriately guide her when it comes to cleaning up her room. In fact, many times when I ask her to clean up her room, it seems such an overwhelming task so I usually offer to help her out (she is, after all, only 4 years old). One day when I came in to lend a hand, I said, "Sadie, do you see how messy this is?" since I think there are times when she doesn't even see the mess....

Her answer? "Mommy, it makes me comfortable. I like it like this."

And there it was....from the mouth of my creative imaginative little girl...mess makes her comfortable.

Sadie is also very sensitive, especially when it comes to other people. She absolutely hates to see anyone in pain and when we have to take Blake in to the doctor, she always asks if he is going to get a shot. When he got his 2-yr shots, she asked if she could wait in the hallway and was tearing up even before it was time. Her tenderness towards others is so sweet. She also started to tear up one day when Wyatt was talking about something at school about a kid making fun of him (don't worry, his friends all backed him up and apparently the teacher intervened and thankfully, Wyatt didn't seem too bothered....he just acted like something was wrong with the other kid!) And we have recently noticed how Blake picks up on Sadie's compassion.....he is usually the first kid awake in the morning and we will be sitting at the counter eating cereal when Wyatt and Sadie come down the stairs. Blake immediately runs over to Sadie and says, "Sadie hug....Sadie hug"...and of course, my cuddly girl obliges and loves the greeting! And if Blake is in timeout and upset, he cries, through the tears, "Sadie....Sadie hold you...Sadie hold you" and it breaks Sadie's heart that she can't go over and hold him.

Sadie's Pre-K school picture---her First school picture!!

Her teacher recently pulled me aside and said what a joy it is to have Sadie in class. She is always excited to be there and enthusiastic to learn. But her teacher really appreciates Sadie's willingness to be an extra helper. There is inevitably one or two kids that might struggle on any given day, whether it be separation anxiety or difficulty with something they are working on, and she always asks Sadie to help that child and she gladly does so....and enjoys it as well. Sadie has one friend that still struggles being dropped off by her mom (reminds me so much of Wyatt at that age) and her mom will asks Sadie to help her do her 'morning routine' at school and Sadie embraces that role fully. Her teacher said Sadie's smile can light up the classroom and is so infectious......I love it!! And obviously, so does Sadie.

Sadie continues to love school...both at school and playing school at home. She remembers every bit of the story from Jesus time at school and one night, I was reading a Children's Storybook Bible to Blake. Sadie looked at the picture and saw the shepherds with their sheep coming to meet baby Jesus. She instantly said, "Mommy, that's not right! The shepherds went quickly after the angel told them.....they couldn't have taken their sheep with them if they went quickly..it would have taken too long." Sure enough, I looked up the story in Luke 2 to see what the Bible said and it said, "SO they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger" Luke 2:16. She loves listening to people tell stories and as a result, she has learned so much from BSF and school this year. And I have caught her on occasion, as I walk by her room, sitting in a chair and holding her Bible, telling her students with very large eyes, "This is THE most important book, the true word of God...these are true stories of real people" and it just warms my heart. The last part of that is directly from BSF and I love it...each week when they tell the story, they remind the kids that these are true stories of real people and Sadie gets it!

She even tried to use this to put off her bedtime one night as we were getting in to bed she said, "Mom I want to read my Bible some more". When I told her we needed to go to bed, she responded with, "But Mommy, it's the most important book and we should read it more than any other book. I am supposed to read it all the time".....she failed to remember that she can't actually read her Bible yet and it was already past her bedtime. But you gotta give the girl credit for trying!

A few other things about Sadie.....

She has a wonderful imagination and is so creative...we were recently in a store looking around and she told me before we walked in, "Mommy, can you call me Ashley?" I said, "sure", without thinking much about it. As I was walking around I said, "Sadie, honey, can you come over here?" And she looked at me and said, "it's ASHLEY!!" I tried my hardest to remember and failed several times, but when I did remember, she was pleased as punch that I would enter in to her make believe world and engage with her on that level. I can guarantee I never had such a wonderful imagination and sense of creativity, and am so thankful she does! She seems to constantly be in a wonderful, dreamy world of her own---how blissful!

And finally....there was a day when we were eating lunch and Blake was done eating, so he had gone off to play. Sadie and I sat at the counter and talked for a good 10 minutes about whatever it was she was interested in that day. I then had to put Blake down for his nap and Sadie down for her rest time (she naps about 50% of the time) and she said as we were talking upstairs, "When can we do that talking thing again?"

I had no idea what she was talking about and literally thought she was referring to some sort of game we had played earlier. When I realized she was simply talking about our little chat after lunch, I thought it was so precious that she called it the 'talking thing' and wanted to know if we could plan a time to do it again!

And finally---Sadie is an amazing sharer. Whenever we have other kids over or even with her brothers, she is so willing to share any toy with anyone. She never worries about anything getting broken, and in fact, when it does happen, she just shrugs her shoulders and says, "That's okay, we'll get another one someday". Her spirit of generosity really comes through whenever we are going to someone else's house. She isn't great about planning ahead, so we will be heading out the door and she'll grab a toy and say that she wants to give it to whoever's house we may be going to. Or she will have a friend over and if they like one of her things, she'll just tell them they can have it. It is wonderful, but I have had to explain that there are some things we can't just give away (like her brand new Christmas gifts or her favorite doll)......should I do this?? Or am I crushing her spirit of generosity and should just let her give anything away? This one really has me confused. But proud at the same time!

And that is my Sadie girl.....so wonderful, sometimes frustrating, and constantly teaching me things--and i mean constantly! The Lord clearly knew I had many things to work on in my own life when he gave me my daughter as my teacher....so humbling.

2012 Rose Bowl

The next day was the Rose Bowl and we were poised for a big upset by the Badgers. But it wasn't to happen..so sad! It was a great game and a nail biter to the end. I guess we can be thankful our team won the Big Ten Conference and made it to the Granddaddy of them all---it was a great year!

New Year's Day Party--3rd Annual

So it's officially a tradition, I would say, after you have done something 3 years in a row, right? I guess it doesn't really matter how many years it's been, but we had our 3rd annual Annual, as we call it. It's a party we have at our house of New Year's Day afternoon/evening with all of Matt's college friends. Usually there is broomball being played, skating and sledding with a bit of snow football while the women and the little kids hang out inside. The weather this year, however, put a serious crimp on the usual activities. We still had the party, of course, but everything was inside. We didn't have quite as many people this year due to travelling and sicknesses, so it wasn't too bad. We still had lots of fun and it's great to be able to catch up with people who we only see a few times a year.

Wyatt helping me make some of the appetizers that morning

Ready for the big game!!!!

(l to r) Aaron Merritt, Ben Geisler, Noah and Josh Miller

Matt, Danny and Andy and Missy Lutz (who announced that they are expecting baby #3 this summer....3 kiddos in 3 1/2 years!)

Logan Merritt checking out the tree

We decided to play some games that included the kids before we put a movie in for the kids and played adult games. They loved pictionary and really got in to (so did Redman!)

Micah Miller and Wyatt go head-to-head

I believe Anna Miller may have beat Lutz! No wonder Andy hates Pictionary!

That's Aaron Redman off the right....I told you he was into it...calling out the kids on their inaccuracies!

Noah Miller (4 yrs old) vs. Danny Lutz (almost 3 yrs old)--with some assistance from Wyatt

Those were some interesting drawings!

I didn't get as many pictures this year, but just enough to verify that we did still have a party and the tradition continues. And the best news of the day---the Packers won! Go-Pack-Go!

Christmas Part V

Most of our time was spent just hanging out....

Blake and his buddy, Uncle Ty

...loving his Aaron Rodgers jersey....he wanted to wear it everyday

(not sure what Santa was thinking, though, in getting a very active 2-yr old boy a white jersey!)

..and a master on the iPhone

Matt's mom had bought these special pancake molds to use with the kids...

...patiently waiting...

...the elf, reindeer and snowman

Finally enjoying them!

Uncle Ty and his #1 fans

Blake assisting Grammy in the kitchen

We had a great time in Madison but really missed the snow and ice this winter. The warmer temps were fine, but hopefully next year we will have more pictures of us outside skating, skiing and sledding!