Quotes to Remember

Some funny things heard around our house.....
1. Matthew: "Daddy, are all 21 pieces there?"
David, while still counting: "I don't know yet"
Matthew: "You're a math teacher! You should know that!"

2. The other morning while I was on Matthew case to get his shoes on and stop doing what he was doing.
Matthew: "Whatever you say, Mom" (with a tone like he was rolling his eyes, which I'm sure he would have been doing if he knew how.)

3. I put this one on facebook, so if you're on facebook, you already saw it.
After having a conversation about his less than awesome behavior:
Matthew: Well, my head is telling me to be good, but my body is telling me to be bad.
Me: Maybe you should listen to your head instead of your body.
Matthew: But my body is bigger and my head is smaller, so my body is winning

4. Matthew: Where is the tape?
Me: It's on the counter.
Matthew: Which counter? The messy one or the not so messy one?
(I was able to tell him "the messy one" and he found it :)

5. Jacob, after peeing in the potty and having bubbles form as he does it: "Oooo! Pop in the potty!"

Meeting Drew

Here is the most recent Koesters/Rudolph kid clan picture (and some others in whaterver order they upload). We used to call them "TiSamMarPhew" for Titus, Sam, Mara and Matthew (Andy's nickname for Matthew is "the phew" - not sure if it is "few" or "phew" Any opinions?) Now what do we call them?

Do not leave this one unattended with a little one...it would be a for sure disaster.

 Beautiful.

 Buddies.

 Does this just not make you smile? So adorable!

 The clan. Everyone is looking. Impressive.

 This one wants a baby. Now he just has to get mom and dad on board.



We enjoyed our short but wonderful trip to visit our good friends. Now we're just praying that Lord brings them back closer after seminary!

This morning

This just summarizes the morning.

But a bin of old happy meal toys provided relief to all. Thank you, God, for providing sanity in simple ways.

Dinner Comment

A conversation at our dinner table last night.
Jacob: (in a curious tone, looking at David) "Daddy, where hair go?"
David: (in a sarcastic tone) "Very funny, Jacob."
Jacob: (giggling) "Jacob funny."

The Result of a Very, Very Busy Weekend

Can we say "behind on laundry"??!!

This past weekend (well, week) was way, way busy (fabulous, but busy). And this is one of the results. This is all clean (and somewhat organized in piles). And there's one more load in the dryer. Guess what I'm doing tonight...and probably all day tomorrow! Gotta love the kids' contribution to the work...the toys surrounding the piles. But, to give Matthew credit, he helped me bring the laundry downstairs, sort it, and put the first load in. Jacob helped me clean out the lint trap in the dryer almost every load. Now if I can teach them to keep from making so many dirty clothes...

Fun on a Snow Day

Daddy's master construction skills were hard at work today. Take a look at what he made (inspiration from Family Fun magazine and boxes supplied by Papaw). It's a kitchen. We need to paint it, and get some play food. The boys are having fun cooking and baking and having a restaurant!

Tribute to Jacob

Oh Jacob...while you are talented in so many ways, a gifted sleeper you are not. Since Matthew was itty bitty, David and I always kind of patted ourselves on the back for the great sleeper we created. He slept through the night early and has been a good sleeper ever since. He can sleep through just about anything (I will never forget the night that we shut the boys door so tight that Jacob couldn't get out. He was so upset and we found him SCREAMING in Matthew's ear, "Brother, open door!" and he totally slept through it. Jacob on the other hand, just has not had that natural born sleeping ability. We were humbled...it wasn't us that made the good sleeper. It's just the way he came. Jacob took longer to sleep through the night (only a month or two, but they were a LONG month or two). He wakes up so easily. Even as a baby, we couldn't go into his room while he was sleeping because he would wake up. We combined the boys into the same room probably 9 months ago, hoping it would help both boys. Matthew was claiming he was lonely, and Jacob wouldn't stay in his bed. It helped some, but I'm sure many of you have heard us complain about the lack of sleep we've had, thanks to Jacob. We have tried every method you can think of to keep him in his bed. In the fall, he was coming out of his room several times each night, for various reasons. We recently moved him from a toddler bed into a twin, and that has helped a lot. He only comes out maybe once a night (but to give him credit, it's not every night, and he's a lot better). But he fights going to bed, for up to two hours some nights. He went through a phase where he just had to be near us. And eventually, we just let him. He would fall asleep in the most hilarious places, often bringing with him every "lovey" in his bed. And being the good parents that we are, we took pictures to show him when he's older. He now is falling asleep in his bed, but still takes a very long time to go to sleep, often not falling asleep much before us! Here is our tribute to our not so gifted sleeper:

At the foot of our bed, taken from our bathroom.

 In his doorway, with absolutely everything but his mattress and sheet.

 Hallway.

 Hallway again.

 We were probably sitting at the kitchen table when he fell asleep here.

 An uninvited guest in our bed. He did this while we weren't nearby.

 Undoubtedly the most comfortable place in the house, under the kitchen table.

Middle of their room, George as a pillow.

Hallway, with absolutely nothing to make him comfortable.

One of my faves, hanging off the top of the stairs. We were in the basement and wouldn't let him come down.

This just makes me want to curl up and sleep....not.

I am pretending, but for awhile, this was a good way to get him to sleep at naptime. And really, how could I pass it up? Those snuggles come with a limited time warranty on them!

This one is a fake. They are pretending.

Middle of his room.

His most recent trend, stripping after we say goodnight.

He went through a phase where he insisted on falling asleep on the couch, and we'd later move him to bed. Sometimes it's just not worth the battle (especially late at night when you're tired!)

And about the lack of posts...sorry. Life's busy. I'll try and get better, but it's not on my list of new years resolutions. Ironing and reading are.