Grab A Coffee, You'll Be Here For A While

Whew, August was a whirlwind, or perhaps I should call it a "tornado" instead since we almost ran into some of those as well.  It's been busy and full and sad and happy, and we are grateful to be home. 
On Wednesday, August 24, Oma Vander Deen passed away into glory.  After a painful battle with cancer, she is now free from suffering and rejoicing with our Lord in heaven.  It is difficult to say good-bye and she will be greatly missed by everyone left behind, but we rejoice that she is now in the loving arms of her Saviour, and we look forward to that glorious day when we shall all meet again. 

Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; 

You have made my lot secure.  

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 

surely, I have a delightful inheritance.  

Psalm 16:5-6

We had a camping trip planned with Mike's family to the Pinery at the end of August, but our plans were kept somewhat tentative as we waited and watched for news about Oma.  We had the opportunity to visit with her several times in the weeks and days before she passed away.  We packed for camping, a wedding, and a funeral and left home on August 20.  Camping turned out to be a very strange week, with Mom and Dad gone most of the time, and the campground itself being a bit of a disappointment.  Between filthy bathrooms, a gazillion wasps and stings to accompany them, and being driven home by tornado warnings, it wasn't a normal relaxing week of camping, but we were thankful to be all together as a family.  We were even thankful for the tornado warnings, as we battened down the hatches at the campsite and headed to Mom and Dad's in Strathroy to hold out in the basement for the evening.  It was that evening that Oma passed away, and we were thankful to be together as a family for that time. 
Thursday night we headed home from Pinery, and attended a wedding in Milton on Friday before driving back to Strathroy on Saturday afternoon for the first of two evening visitations before the funeral on Monday morning.  It was one more night in Hamilton, and then a day at school for both Mike and I to work on setting up his classroom for the first day of school while Mom and Dad M watched our three boys at their place.
Now we've had a few days at home to unpack, clean up, and unwind a bit (as much as you can with the first day of school quickly approaching).  I have to admit that not all the camping equipment is put away yet - the tent is still hanging over the clothes line downstairs, the cooler just went downstairs this morning after drying out on the deck, and I still have to organize and put away some of the smaller camping items.  BUT the laundry is pretty much caught up, the main floor is pretty much sand-free, and things look pretty much back to order.  It's good to be home! 
Three sleeps, Peter!  Only three sleeps left!!  Peter is excited about the first day of school on Tuesday.  We have an orientation day where I go with him for an hour on his first day, and then Wednesday is the first afternoon he attends on his own.  It will be a big change for him, and an adjustment for everyone in our family.  He is looking forward to meeting other kids (and girls, he told me last night when I was tucking him in to bed, haha), playing, and learning.  I'm excited for him but a little nervous at the same time.  I'm not looking forward to having to pack all three kids up twice a day for drop-off and pick-up.  His class starts right after lunch, when the two younger boys are ready for a nap - and if they fall asleep on the way to school, naps are toast for the afternoon.  We'll just have to wait and see how things go.  If our days constantly turn into a huge disaster, I have no problem pulling him out after a month or two and keeping him at home with us for another year.    
Aaron is slowly getting used to the fact that only Peter is going to be in school, but he's going to miss having his big buddy around.  Thankfully, he usually naps in the afternoon still, and even if he doesn't, I'm looking forward to Aaron being the big brother in the house for a little while every day.  He's really testing limits the last little while, getting into things that he KNOWS are off-limits or against the rules, and being a trouble-maker.  He is fun to talk with as his communication is improving by leaps and bounds.  He maintains his extremely enthusiastic energy about exciting new things (how's that for alliteration), like seeing animals, construction vehicles, or suggesting things like going to the Big M for ice-cream.  It's pretty much impossible not to laugh when he gets excited like that, and I will make it my task for the next week or so to capture it on video.  He was very enthusiastic about camping in the "forest", but there was a little trepidation about the fact that animals live in the forest, asking "They not eat me?  No scary animals in the forest?"
"Baby" Nate is almost not a baby anymore!  Only two weeks left until his first birthday.  Poor guy will have to wait until then to have his "wings" clipped - the wild curls he has sticking out from his head that go especially crazy when it's humid like today.  Not that I want to give him an all-out haircut yet, just a little trim here and there so he looks a little more under control and less mullet-y.  But there will be none of that until he is officially one.  Besides, his little blond curls are pretty cute!  He is doing well, crawling around like a pro, pulling himself up on everything (including onto the top of the coffee table, an ability I'm not too thrilled about), and cruising around the furniture.  He can stand on his own for 10-15 seconds and is excited to walk while holding our hands.  He's developing a bit of a temper, or perhaps it's more of a sense of entitlement - when you take something away from him he gets quite upset.  For the most part, he is an extremely cheerful little guy, charming everyone around with his constant smile and the sparkle in his eye.  I wonder if he will develop into a trouble maker who tries to charm his way out of trouble.  He hasn't really said any words yet, other than "mama" once at the cottage but I have to admit that it was probably just a fluke.  Hey, I'm allowed to be excited about that right?  Anyways.  He's drinking a little more than he was before, but still not more than between 10 and 15 ounces a day.  The pediatrician wasn't too concerned about the drinking as he isn't dehydrated and he's getting liquid through his food as well.  I do have to be sure he gets enough calcium and vitamin D to make up for the low milk intake.  As far as the persistant cough goes, he has been on a puffer now for about two weeks, which seems to have cleared up the cough finally, and after another two weeks or so the doctor said I can start weaning him off it again and see what happens.  I certainly don't want to have him dependent on a puffer, or any medication for that matter, but I'm glad his chest has cleared up finally. 
He is right at that awkward stage where he's dropping his morning nap and going down to one nap in the afternoon, and trying to get him adjusted without sleeping too late in the day has resulted in him falling asleep numerous times at the lunch or dinner table.  I do enjoy having him sleep on me still every once in a while, because they grow up so quickly and soon enough they don't do that anymore.  Cuddling with a sleeping baby is pretty precious.  How can he be almost one already?  Anyways.  On to the pictures!

One of Mike's projects for the summer was to brick in the milk door.  A few months ago, thieves kicked in our neighbor's milk door and let themselves into their house, taking off with several thousand dollars of goods.  While the most valuable items in our home are not incredibly portable (appliances, furnace, etc), it would be miserable in any case to have someone break in.  So, Mike learned masonry.  I don't know what it is about men and being born with a gene for home improvement knowledge, but I sure do appreciate my handy husband!  This is the wall with the door removed, before being bricked in:

 All bricked in - the mortar is still wet, but
now that it's dry, you can hardly tell!

 Peter trying to hide a smile

 Aaron hard at work with his tools

 Oh no!  It's the masked underwear bandits!  Run for your lives!!

 In case you ever wondered how difficult it might 

be to clean your house with little kids around...

 Ahhhh, this is the life

 I took this picture on our way to the Pinery.  This storm produced an F3 tornado which ripped through the center of Goderich just 45 minutes away- I'm glad we didn't know about this while we were setting up.  It was a pretty intense sky!

Nate LOVED the beach.  It was very dirty at the campsite, so 

he spent most of his time there in a pack-and-play or being held.  

When he was set free on the beach, he was very happy to crawl around
and play with the sand and rocks.  Oh, and eat them of course. 

 What's a day at the beach without some construction projects?  

The boys loved helping their Dad build an island at the shoreline

It was nice to get some time in at the beach, and the kids had fun.  We had to cut our visit short, however, for the sake of Aaron's toe.  When we were packing up for camping a few days earlier, about an hour before we left, Aaron dropped a brick on his toe, so we had been soaking it in epsom salts twice a day and keeping him in rain boots as much as possible.  But what do you do at the beach?  He knocked it on something, and the nail was hardly hanging on anymore, so we went back to the campsite for some impromptu nail surgery.  Poor guy!  I'm sure it will be a long time before his toe is back to normal. 

 I took a lot of pictures the night of the tornado watch, but unfortunately not many of them turned out.  It was a crazy storm, with strong wind and lots of lightning - we heard afterward that there were 1000 strikes every two minutes from the storm, which stretched from Tobermory to Windsor and made its way across southern Ontario over the course of the evening.  My attempts to photograph them were not very successful but these were the best ones.  They were both taken at around 9:30 pm, with a 15 second exposure. 

 100% Boy, showing off a live cicada

 This picture makes me laugh, as it demonstrates some truths about camping with small children.  Peter is studiously roasting a hot dog for the first time, soaking in the experience.  In the background, Dad narrowly averts disaster as Aaron fiddles with the valve on the propane tank.  Keeps you on your toes! 

Yes, I did actually go camping as well!  I figured I should post the one 

picture of me that was taken to prove that I did, in fact, go family camping. 

 I like how this shot of Peter turned out. 

And what camping trip with small children is complete without ingestion of unidentified berries?  Aaron had been warned not to touch the berries, but apparently he had not been told not to EAT the berries.  So he ate them.  After a trip to the visitor's center, we were relieved to have them identified as silky dogwood berries, which are, thankfully, not poisonous