A Year Full of Change

I thought that keeping up a blog would be easy to do, but it's turning out to be the exact opposite. I love to read blogs, but keeping one myself has proven to be difficult. But I will continue to press on and update when I can.

So I will have to say that this past year has been a year for change and it's a good thing that I adapt to change well. In fact, I can get pretty bored with the mundane. This past Fall, Jerimae and I decided to put the boys in public school. I have to say that it has been a very positive experience thus far. The boys have been blessed with amazing teachers. Kaleb, who is my socialite, had no problem transitioning to school. Zarek, on the other hand, had more of a difficult time adjusting. He's not so much of a socialite and has always depended on Kaleb. So this was good for him to start being his own person and depend on God. The first week was the hardest for him and me. We both spent a lot time crying. However, it was an amazing time of growth for both of us.
First day of school

As a parent you constantly doubt your parenting skills and wonder if you are making the right choices and reacting the correct way. And even though we will never be perfect, you hope that your children will not remember those times of failure. I will have to say, I don't know what I would do without my Savior, Jesus Christ. I would be in constant anxiousness over my children and my choices, if I didn't have Him on my side and know that I have the perfect Father to come to for direction. It is nice to hear once and awhile that your boys are "great role models in class" and their teachers say "I wish they had a whole classroom full of your boys". We have had nothing but amazing feedback from both Kaleb and Zarek's teachers. When I hear those comments, I feel like we must be doing something right. However, I don't take the credit, it is all God. I'm so proud of them and the achievements they have been making in school. I am so blessed to be their mother.

Maeci is growing so fast in front of me. She is such a blessing. I have loved having time with just her while the boys are in school. She is definitely a very opinionated little girl and very bright. I'm amazed of how well she communicates and how much she comprehends and understands.

In September we "adopted" a graduate student into our family. She just graduated from Bethel College this past spring and lived with us from Sept. to Dec. It was wonderful having her with us. The kids love her too. It was sad to see her move.

The biggest change in our life came in October. We found out that I was pregnant. I wish I could say that my first response was excitement. However, I was quite shocked. Jerimae and I had become quite content with just 3 children. In fact, he was going to the doctor to discuss having a Vasectomy. We found out the day before his doctor appointment. It's quite comical now, but at the time, not so much. God's plans are not our plans. I will say that the shock has worn off and Jerimae and I are really excited to have another little Yoder. I'm due June 24th. Only 13 more weeks left. I can't wait!! And we found out that it is another BOY!!



We are starting from scratch with baby #4. I had gotten rid of almost all my baby stuff. So I will be going to lots of garage sales this spring and summer. I'm also doing a lot of sewing. I decided that I would make as much as I could to save money. I'm attempting to make a diaper bag, nursing cover, burp clothes, blankets, and a couple of different slings. I will post them as I get them done. I'm also making a quilt for Maeci. My goal is to get it done by her birthday in July.

We had a great Christmas and celebrated Kaleb's 8th birthday. Everyone seemed to stay pretty healthy this time around. Only a few colds to deal with. Christmas was wonderful. It's always fun to watch the kids open their presents. I thought Winter would never end. I'm not a fan of snow. In fact, I think I could live without it.





In the beginning of January, Jerimae's job as part time worship pastor ended due to lack of funds to keep him on. He is, however, still leading along with another couple of guys from church. His business has slowed down tremendously also, so it's been a tough couple of months, but God has been so faithful and is continuing to provide for us. I'm amazed at the all the blessings He's given us.

In March we celebrated Zarek's 7th birthday. I'm amazed of how fast time is going by. The boys seem to be growing up way too fast.

So far Spring has been wonderful. I'm anticipating the arrival of our little boy and I'm in full "nesting" mode. There is a lot to do around the house before he arrives. For Spring break we went down to Indy for a few days. We spent a few days at mom's house and stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool for a couple of days. The kids had a blast swimming. We also spent a day at the Children's Museum. It was nice to just get away for awhile.

Well, that's been our life over the last few months in a nutshell. The boys will be finished with school in just 5 weeks. They are looking forward to Summer break. And Asher will be here the end of June. I hope these last few weeks fly by.

Summer Sewing

So I spent some time sewing this summer too. One of things I love to do when I can find the time is to sew. I decided that I would make Maeci some pillowcase dresses and a skirt. The first dress is a pink and brown stripe. I made it especially for a friend of mine's baby shower. Her colors were pink and brown. The other dress is a Strawberry Shortcake pattern. I made it along with a backpack to match for her 3rd birthday.

The skirt in the picture below, I made for 4th of July. It is a star pattern.

I also sewed a bunch of burp clothes for some friends of mine that were having babies this summer. Here are some pictures of a few that I remembered to take pictures of.

My last summer sewing project was a window curtain and shower curtain for my bathroom.

I'm working on some other projects. I making some new pillows for my couch, a quilt for Maeci for Christmas and a carseat cover for my cousin. I will post pictures of those when I'm finished.

Summer Fun

I know that I'm way behind but here is a quick rundown of the summer. So Summer has come and gone and I will have to say it was amazing. The weather itself was fantastic. We only had to run the air conditioner about 2 weeks out of the whole summer. It was nice on the pocket book too. We went to the beach as much as we possibly could and took many family bike rides to park. The one thing I love about Northern Indiana is that we are only 1 hour from the beach. The kids absolutely LOVE the beach.

The biggest event of the summer was Zarek getting his tonsils and adenoids out. He came through it really well and he had a pretty speedy recovery. It was the best decision we made. He had suffered with enough episodes of strep throat and he snored terribly. He now no longer snores and hasn't complained of a sore throat for a very long time.

In July we celebrated Maeci's 3rd birthday. It was a Strawberry Shortcake theme. I even made a homemade strawberry cake topped with icing, sprinkles, and strawberries. We had a great time. We invited family and a few friends. She had a blast and couldn't open up her presents fast enough.

Jerimae and I also celebrated 11 amazing years together. I am incredibly blessed to have such an amazing husband that loves me so unconditionally. I couldn't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. I look forward to see what God has in store for us in the future. We celebrated our anniversary in South Haven, MI. It happened to be the Blueberry Festival there too. We stayed right downtown at the Hotel Nichols. That was totally a gift from God. Because it was the Blueberry Festival, there were absolutely no vacancies anywhere. Jerimae started to just call around and we were able to get a night there at the hotel because there happen to be a cancellation. We had such great time together, then again, we usually do.

Another amazing time we had together was at the Coldplay concert in Indy. Jerimae and I love to go to concerts together and enjoy a lot of the same music. The Coldplay concert was by far the best one yet.

I did quite a bit of sewing this summer also. I will blog about it at a later time.

I'm looking forward to next summer. I hope it is just as amazing as this one.

Just Not Enough Time in the Day

Well, I'm realizing how difficult it has been for me to keep this blog updated. We've done a lot over the last few months, but I just haven't found time to blog. I'm counting down the days til we are done with school; it can't come fast enough. We have decided for the boys to start school in our local public school. The boys and I got to have a tour of the school and they are super excited (and so am I). I'm ready to have a break and spend some desperately needed one on one time with my Maeci. We are really looking forward to this summer. The location of our house is perfect. We are a short bike ride away from a park and we discovered that it even has spray grounds for the kids. We can also bike to down town and enjoy all the great little shops.

The following is going to be an overview of the last few months here in the Yoder household:

In January we went on a field trip to The HealthWorks Kids Museum in South Bend. It's a great little museum that helps the kids learn the importance of staying healthy. They have a lot of fun activities for the kids to do while they are learning. Here are some pictures:

The boys have been spending time with Jerimae learning about music and playing the guitar and djembe drums. One night they made up a song. Maeci joined in on the fun too. Check out the video clip.

For school we've been studying insects and butterflies, so one day we made a bunch of our own insects and butterflies out of a bunch of craft supplies we had around the house. Here are some pictures:

In March, we celebrated Zarek's 6th Birthday. He got to have a slumber party with his friends and he chose Cowboys for the theme. I had a lot of fun planning this party. I made a jail out of big cardboard box and took pictures of each of the boys in the jail. They loved it.

The boys did an obstacle coarse with stick horses, played a bunch a games, and beat a pinata. When the boys finished each game they received a new part of their cowboy costume.

We then had cake, opened presents and watched a movie.

We had a total of 7 boys. It was crazy. Let's just say that we will not be having another big birthday party until the boys are 10 yrs. old. Needless to say, the boys had a blast and that's all that matters.

Zarek received a surprised present on his birthday...he lost his first tooth. Then just a couple of days later he lost his second.

Then in April for Easter we went downtown South Bend for some Easter festivities. We met up with our friends the Bouchers. The kids had a lot of fun.

For Easter, we had an Easter Egg Hunt and Maeci won a Dora Kite.

This gets us through til Easter...I will post more over the next few weeks.