Go Redeemer Rams!

Sydney started cheering for Redeemer this fall. It's for all 3rd-5th grade girls who want to participate and she's had a great time so far. She cheered at the school's first basketball game last week, and here is a video. I love the "knock you out" cheer!

It's been good for Sydney to have time with girls, especially some older girls. I think it gives her a break from living in boy world here at home. She initially was interested in cheering because, "I like to jump, yell, and wave my arms around...so cheerleading is the thing for me!" But it's going a lot deeper than that as she learns to trust and encourage her teammates. I'm excited to watch her throughout the season as she continues to learn and grow.

Halloween

Happy Halloween! Sydney dressed as a die, Ethan as Obi Wan Kenobi, Reid as a Transformer, and Jake as the cow that all of our children have worn for Halloween as babies. We had a good time going from house to house in our small neighborhood!

We dyed a karate ghi to make Ethan's jacket.

This costume was a find for Reid at a neighborhood yard sale. He loves to dress up!

Our #1 and #4 in b&w costumes

Sydney & I had a blast putting together this costume in our driveway this afternoon.

A transformer pushing a baby cow!

Our pumpkin looked awesome shining in the dark once the sun went down.

I Found My Toes

Jake found his toes today! In the midst of taking a video of him making this great discovery, a fight broke out between Reid and Ethan. You rarely capture something like this on video, so have a look at what typical life is like in the Chandler home. Ethan wanted to speak at the end, but my card ran out of memory, so it cuts off prematurely.

Beach Trip & First Food for Jake!

We just got back from a week at the beach. After the year we've had, it was so nice to get away. Life was so different a year ago. We had recently found out I was pregnant, I was beginning to feel pretty sick from the pregnancy, we were incredibly busy getting ready to open the practice, and I was preparing for another year of homeschooling. It's been a wild year of change, a too fast pace of life, and a year of experiencing God's mercy time after time after time. His plans were different than our plans, but infinitely better! On our beach trip, we talked about ways to slow our pace of life and set better boundaries with our time and energy. Busyness is self-imposed and does not come without consequence to our bodies. We need to respect the limits that God has given us as human beings and work within those limits.

Sydney has some relaxing time at the beach reading a new Ramona book

At the water park

Reid did not care to go down any water slides, but he owned this boat! ("I'm on a boat, y'all!")

These were the monster water slides that Jeff, Sydney & Ethan went down...I was happy to stay with Reid on the boat!

Playing in the sand...the Mountans joined us for a few days at the beach...what a treat! Reid was pretty scared of the ocean, so he stayed in the sand every day.

Jake ate his first solid food today- a beautiful, bright orange, pastured egg yolk. I always know my babies are ready for solids when they start waking up in the night to eat, which Jake has done the past couple of nights. He actually ate more yolk than we expected him to, and he seemed to like it! See, he's even licking it off his fingers! :-) We've discovered that our kids' first food tends to be their favorites, so we try to choose that first food wisely!

Happy Birthday Sydney!

Sydney turned 8 yesterday! We gave her her present first thing in the morning: a new bike! Thanks to Grandma & Gran who helped us buy this for Sydney. She rode it around the neighborhood in her nightgown.
She got to pick her breakfast: French toast with raspberries and powdered sugar.

After we dropped Ethan at wrestling camp, we came home and baked her cake. Then we went for a swim with a friend, picked up Ethan, and came home to get ready for party guests to arrive. She had 3 friends over from school for a party complete with pizza, a movie, presents and cake. Her friend Ella got to spend the night. All of the girls were eager to get their pjs on even before dinner, though, so here they are all ready for a sleepover!

This morning we picked blackberries- at least $60 if we had bought them in the store!

Here's Jake this morning!

We spent 2 weeks in VA for Sydney, Ethan & Reid to have private swim lessons- bday gifts from Grammy & Papa, and it's amazing what they can do in the water now! We were able to join our community pool this year, and Jeff & I have had fun taking the kids and playing with them in the water. Ethan just finished up a week of wresting camp, and his coach said he was "fabulous!" Jake can roll both ways and love to "talk" and smile. Our new PT sat for her boards yesterday, and should be ready to start next week- thank you Lord!!!

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school. This school year has flown by, and when I reflect on it, I am overwhelmed by the changes our family has been through, but I am also overwhelmed by the tender love and care of our Heavenly Father through all of this. Sydney & Ethan are sad that school is over, and I am too, as it brings closure (though it is temporary) to one of the best gifts God has given us this year.

I took this picture this morning. Ethan will be recognized at chapel this morning for perfect attendance. Sydney wore this dress the first day of school, and wanted to bookend the year wearing the same!

Here's Jake!! I took this picture yesterday at Ethan's end of the year party. Jake has been full of smiles and laughter these past couple of weeks. He loves to "talk" to us. At his well baby exam a few weeks ago, his pediatrician diagnosed him as anemic (she said his lips were a little pale and his hemoglobin did turn out to be low), so I started taking an iron supplement which I think has helped us both. I've had more energy since taking the iron.

On Wednesday, Ethan's class had a Kindergarten Showcase. The kids decorated the tables with flowers they picked from the garden, we did an art project together (Ethan drew me and I drew him), he picked out a book for me to read to him in a special spot in his classroom, he served me snack, gave me a present (a Museum Notebook- a collection of his work from the year, like replicas of Van Gogh's work!), and we planted a cherry tomato plant to take home!

This is from the Shakespeare Festival in May. The 6th graders performed Julius Ceasar, but all the grades had some special part in the evening. The Kindergarten class collected entrance fees- "A pence to enter!"

The 1st and 2nd grade girls danced in the Maypole Dance. It was lovely! And it was a perfect evening for an outdoor dance. Sydney is in the pink and gold dress (thanks Ruthie!)

Reid at the Festival, sporting a new shield and sword from the Mountans.

The Mountans were with us for the weekend of the Festival. Saturday morning the kids made lemonade and iced tea to sell in the neighborhood, and did fairly well considering we live in a small neighborhood! Saturday night we went to our family's favorite restaurant, River Birch Lodge. We got to eat outside, and here are all the kids after dinner.


Ethan joined our church the next day. He had been taking communion since last spring when he professed faith in Jesus, but had not yet taken his membership vows. Here he is with Luke (in his K class also) and Ben who also joined Redeemer that day.

8 Weeks

Jake Martin is 8 Weeks Old!

It's been quite a busy week! Last Saturday, we celebrated Ethan's birthday at the Lego Store in Concord with 2 of his friends. The kids had an amazing time! Sunday was Easter and we had Jeff's parents and my mom with us. Tuesday was Ethan's actual birthday- how is he already 6? He had outgrown his bike, so he got this new one.

Sydney on Easter Sunday

The boys...Sydney said our family has a rose and three thorns.

Jake has been smiling quite a bit. He gave Sydney a whole bunch of smiles several days ago, and he was full of smiles for Jeff this evening.

I discovered another thing I love about being dairy free- ice cream made with coconut milk. It is so amazing! I bought a container of the chocolate kind and had it after dinner tonight. I would eat this instead of dairy ice cream any day. The coconut flavor is delicious too, but I have really been missing chocolate since giving up dairy for sweet Jake. The coconut hazelnut creamer is fabulous in coffee too. :-)

7 Weeks

Jake on Thursday, 7 weeks old, in his new "baby sitter." It's really called that! We returned the swing in favor of this more portable bouncer. He really likes it! Wednesday was a big day for us, as I returned to work and he went to my dear friend Jen's house with Reid. He did just fine, and so did I. :-) I was really not looking forward to it (and it's just one day a week, but still a big change for me because I've always been home full time with all of our kids up till now), but it was really nice to be back at the clinic. I have been working from home in small pockets of time, and it really felt great to have a day at the clinic to focus just on work.



Sydney has been making newspapers for our family and some neighbors. Here are a couple:
This one is complete with a joke and a birth announcement. The part about Jake says he has the smallest, sharpest nails. :-)


This one has her advice column"Answer Elyse," in it. She has a box set up in the kitchen for us to put our life problem questions in. I wrote one about feeling bad that I couldn't eat dairy, and made a point that I couldn't have cream cheese & jelly sandwiches because she likes them so much. (The part she mentions about ketchup is because around this time of year, her allergies make her break out when she eats tomatoes, strawberries, citrus). Ethan put a problem in her box that he needed gum and someone to work in his store that he has set up in his room.

Ethan's Wresting Tournament

Ethan participated in his first wrestling tournament this past Saturday at Parkland High School. He wrestled 5 matches. He won his first match, and lost 4, one of which went into overtime. He worked so hard, and our family is so proud of him! He and Jeff began going to our local wrestling club about a 6 weeks ago. Below is the video of the match he won.

Shaking hands after a match

Jeff and Ethan after the last match
We celebrated with lunch out afterwards. As Jeff told Ethan, the best part of wrestling is getting to eat a big meal after!

6 Weeks

Jake Martin is 6 weeks old!

I didn't update my blog in the middle of last night as I have been doing because...Jake slept through the night!!! It was his 3rd night sleeping through, and 3 nights in a row usually seals the deal. :-) I consider 8 hours of sleep as sleeping through the night because that allows a full night's sleep for me.
Below are pictures from the past week.

Here is Sydney this morning. She's sporting new Keens from Grandpa & Grandma Z. All the kids got new shoes and were super excited!

Ethan made his own Zhu Zhu pet using a remote control car and his camouflage bear named Ethan:


And here is Reid this morning. He has blueberries on his face from breakfast! He keeps us laughing with all the different ways he likes to dress himself up.

Sydney and her little twin in her bed last night. All the kids beg for Jake to sleep with them in bed.

This is Reid at Redeemer School's poetry recital last Friday.


Ethan's class at the Poetry Recital- Who Has Seen The Wind? by Christina Rosetti

The 2nd graders recited poetry by Emily Dickinson, and Sydney helped give an intro. It's pretty hard to hear, but I thought her grandparents would at least enjoy seeing her and the rest of the 2nd graders.


"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

5 Weeks: Smiles, Coos & Dairy Free

Week five of Jake Martin's precious life have brought little coos, 2 real smiles for Mommy, and a check-up at the pediatrician. He weighed 9lbs,13oz (50th %ile) and measured 22" (50th %ile). He checked out great, except Dr.Hunsinger noticed his belly looked bloated. Because of that and since he still has congestion from birth (due to C-section), she recommended I go dairy free. She also had me start him on probiotics and gripewater. He's a lot less gassy, but still has some congestion. I thought a dairy free diet would be a lot harder than it actually is; I'm sooooo thankful for coconut creamer for my coffee! Sleep is going well; he did a 7.5 hour stretch last night/this morning. Enjoy this week's pictures!

On our way to church last Sunday

All ready for Tuesday morning Bible study in a cute shirt from Nadine&Daniel

Jake reminds us so much of Sydney when she was a baby.

Sweet times

Reid dressed himself like this...accessorized with the lunch box and all! He says he's in the army when he wears this raincoat.

I asked Ethan to rock Jake's carseat when he was crying and I was packing lunches. Check out the rope; Ethan said he made "an electric machine!"