Riding With Their Dad

Kevin has been gone a lot recently. He is driving again, and it has just been extra crazy the last several weeks. At the end of this week he was just going to some pretty close places and grabbing some tractors that will be moved next week. But was home the same day. So Thursday he took Camille on a trip with him and Friday he took Jason on a trip with him.

On Thursday we were waiting for Kevin to come pick Camille up from the house. I told the kids that they could go ride their bikes and when I saw Kevin coming in the Semi Truck that I would whistle for them to come back quickly. Camille got her helmet and was about to go, but then was so excited she couldn't handle being away because he might be coming. She just patiently waited until Kevin came to pick her up, which ended up being about 15 minutes. But she just waited and waited.

Finally Kevin came and picked Camille up and off they went. Camille had a blast. Kevin was telling her a story of when Grandpa Haderlie had a trailer and was going through some construction, but the trailer was too big so it kept hitting the cones. She thought it was so funny and was laughing and laughing. He sent me a video and it is so sweet. Kevin loves when he can get the kids laughing so hard. I think it is his favorite thing to do.

They went and picked up the load and then headed home. Kevin stopped at the biggest truck stop and he and Camille went and walked around looking at all the fun things you could buy. And he let her get a treat and a drink. She thought that was the best.

The next day similar things happened with Jason. I told him to hurry and eat his lunch because Kevin would be coming soon to pick him up. He ate like three shell noodles and then said he was full. I told him that he had enough time to eat more food. So then he finished his plate of food. Per Kevin's usual, he was running a little late. So we sat on the stairs for 15-20 minutes just looking out the window waiting for him to come pick Jason up. The kids looked at every single headlight seeing if it was a semi truck headlight or not.

Finally Kevin showed up and we ran Jason out to him. Jason loved riding with Kevin. Jason said he got to drive a tractor, and he thought it was so great. Jason tends to fall asleep in cars, so he took a short nap in Kevin's truck. On the way home from their trip Kevin stopped to get Jason a treat like he did for Camille, but Jason said he wanted a happy meal from McDonald's instead. So Kevin went with it and got him a 6 piece chicken nugget happy meal. It was almost dinner time anyway. After Jason had finished his happy meal he told Kevin that he was still hungry. So Kevin went and got 10 more chicken nuggets. Jason ended up eating ALL 10 chicken nuggets! He ate 16 chicken nuggets!!! Plus french fries, apples, and his drink. He must have been so hungry. Sometimes this boy can eat two bites and be full, and sometimes he can eat 16 chicken nuggets. He is amazing like that!

Both Camille and Jason think Kevin is just wonderful. Which he is. They had so much fun going on a special ride with him. I don't think we will be doing trucking forever, but it is special that while we are doing it the kids can ride occasionally with their dad and build that special bond.

Silly Camille

Here is the sweetest story about Camille that I just don't want to forget. We are starting our Family Economy Charts tomorrow so Camille can start earning some money for chores. So we talked about what we have to do in the morning to be able to mark off our morning chores block, then I put the kids to sleep. About a half hour later I hear the baby monitor making some noise. It sounds as though someone is touching the baby monitor. So I go upstairs and open the kids bedroom to see what is going on. Sadie and Jason are sound asleep, and Camille has climbed off her bed and was straightening the books back onto the bookshelf where the baby monitor is. She had already made her bed, said her prayers, and was starting to clean the room so that she could mark off her morning charts. As she was explaining all of this to me she said, "I made my bed, said my prayer, but I thought that I would wait to get dressed until tomorrow so I didn't have to sleep in my clothes." It was so sweet. She was so excited to do her chores that she started the night before. I tucked her back in and told her we will do all the chores tomorrow. I love this little girl and the sweet spirit she brings into my life. Why wait to do something tomorrow that you can do today? Love ya Camille!

Jenna's 29th Birthday

Well I am now 29. A year older and hopefully a year wiser. This years celebrations ended up being so nice. On my birthday Kevin had to be gone, but was so thoughtful and sent Marco Polos and texts reminding me about past birthdays and the fun things we have done together. It was sweet.

Then on Friday when he got home he spoiled me and took me to a nice Italian restaurant. It was pretty fancy, and unfortunately really disgusting. Everything I ordered turned out to be a big flop. Same with Kevin. As we were walking back to our car we both felt sick to our stomachs. We decided that maybe we are more 3 star kind of people. Give us some Chili's or Olive Garden and we will be so happy. But this fancy place did not make our taste buds sing. But even though it was gross, it was a fun experience to have with Kevin, and it was so thoughtful of him to take me out to a nice restaurant.

On Saturday we went to the John Deere Pavilion for a combined party for Sadie and I/ Father's Day activity. Everyone had a lot of fun. By the time we got home, it was too late for cake. But we opened presents anyway.

Kevin spoiled me this year and bought me a new pan set. And a nice one! I had written a little reminder of something I might want on a white board, but when it got closer to my birthday I started researching new pan sets and they were so expensive. So I was going to ask for a new frying pan for my birthday. But Kevin never asked me what I wanted. He just surprised me. But he had seen that note I have written for myself, and he went to a restaurant supply store in Denver and got a super nice set. He probably spent way too much money on me this year. But I LOVE the pans. It is so much easier to cook when you have good pans to do it in!

My favorite part of everything was how Kevin wrapped my gifts. He was at work, and just used what was around him. Cardboard boxes stuffed with cut up pool noodles, tied with wire or duct tape. It made me laugh and was totally a Kevin thing to do.

I felt so special and loved on my birthday, from all the birthday calls to Facebook messages and texts. I have made some great friends throughout my life and feel grateful for all of them.

Sadie's First Birthday!!!!!

Where did my little baby go? Sometimes I sit and try to rock Sadie in the chair and she just sits up and pushes her way out of my arms. It makes me a little sad, but I have so enjoyed watching her grow up these past 12 months. She is such a sweetheart with a little fire in her soul. She loves to snuggle and be held, unless it is by Jason. When she was younger she would just laugh and laugh at Jason, and she still loves him, but when he comes over to snuggle with her she will just push his head away. It is almost comical the way she does it.

Sadie is officially sleeping through the night and I am so happy about that. I finished nursing her around 11 months, and after we were done nursing she learned how to sleep through the night fairly quickly. After she slept through the night the fist couple times we ended up moving Camille and Jason upstairs into her room as well. So she went through a big transition of sleeping through the night and sharing a room all within the same month. As always she is taking it like a champ and now loves sharing a room with them.

Sadie is definitely  a third child. I have found in her diaper 8 googly eyes, part of a sticky hand ball, and several beads. I just can't keep things off of the floor and out of her mouth. I am so grateful she hasn't died yet.

Sadie really likes to eat cheese, peas, pepperoni, grapes, bananas, and pasta. Really she will eat a lot of things, but those are ones she really likes.

She loves books. If she can get me to sit down and read one book, it usually turns into at least 10. She will crawl over and grab another one off the shelf and bring it back to me. It makes my heart happy to see how much she is loving books and reading. At night now when I put her down, she sits right back up, pulls out one of her books and flips through it before going to bed. It is so sweet.

Sadie is almost walking!!!! She is cruising around furniture like crazy, and has taken a couple of free standing steps. She should be walking in the next month. It is exciting to see her growing and learning. She is going to be unstoppable once she starts walking. I am almost nervous for it. She will be so fast!

Sadie's very favorite place to be recently is on the counter when I am cooking or cleaning. She sit and pulls all of the pencils and pens out of the drawer, then I put them back in and she pulls them right back out. She also likes to pull all of my cooking spoons and spatulas out of their cup. I worry that she is going to fall off the counter, but she just really loves being up there "helping" me.

For Sadie's birthday we went to Moline Illinois and went to the John Deere Pavilion. It is a big building where you can sit in tractors and learn about John Deere. I am pretty sure Kevin loved it more than anyone, but we all enjoyed it a lot. We picked up McDonalds on the way home. If that is not the best way to celebrate a child's birthday, I just don't know what it.

We have loved having Sadie be a part of our family. I can't even imagine what life would be like without her. I know she is going to grow up to be a strong woman of God and I can't wait to see what He has in store for her. I love you Sadie Anne. You are so precious to me. Love you always!

Swimming Lessons

This year Camille and Jason both got to do swimming lessons. We did them really early in the summer before we left for our trip to Utah. We had them done at the Mercer pool in Iowa City. They have a great park there as well that the kids loved playing at too.


They both really enjoyed it, and they both put their heads all the way under the water. I only had to use large amount of bribery of bacon and happy meals so Jason wouldn't cry each time.

Looking back, Jason might have been a little young to do swimming lessons, but I do still think it helped, even though he didn't do very much of what was being done. He liked to sit on the edge and splash, and when the teacher was working one on one with him, he would do some of the things. But looking back now after the summer is over, I can tell that he did a lot better this summer in the water than if we hadn't had him do swimming lessons.

I hope that someday my kiddos will enjoy the water as much as I do. But until then, we will just keep putting them in swimming lessons so they can at least feel more comfortable in the water.