David plays in the band

Today was a moment for the record book.  David has been taking guitar lessons for a few years. Today, they got put to good use. 

We helped lead a worship service at the Manor here in Evansville at the last minute. With 1 day notice, we agreed to come and sing and play. 

David played guitar, I sang solo, his best friend played piano, and his best friend's brother played base guitar. The 3 boys have been rehearsing for leading worship this coming Sunday.  I had never heard them all together. Then at the last minute, they decide to do the service for the elderly at the Manor. They had no singer as the teen girls who sing with them were not available at the last minute. So they asked me to sing.

We never rehearsed and I never heard them together before going in the door. 15 minutes later magic happened.  They played and I sang and David and I shared the best moment. We preformed Hallelujah by Cloverton. It will  be a treasured memory for years.

John and Jenny Celebrate 20 years of Marriage

I made a little video slide show of our last 20 years.
I noticed a number of things while putting it together:

• We have very few pictures of our years prior to having children (there were 7 of those)
• We don't have many pictures of all of us together 
• We have almost no winter pictures

Click on the link to the youtube video below to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMiwd_ABkYI&feature=youtu.be

911 Emergency

Just another day at the Baierls, except this one ends in an ambulance ride to University of WI Emergency Room. Nathan was totally normal all day and evening, no signs of illness or distress.  But when I went up to go to bed at 12:30 AM, I hear him breathing  and I know there is a problem. I get him up and downstairs and I know right away this is serious. We have seen/heard this before. This is Croup.  Nathan spent a night and day in the hospital for Croup 5 years ago.  After he tries to talk he tells John he can't breathe and feels like he is choking.  I get the shower as hot as possible for steam and John calls EMS.  The steam helps some, but he isn't getting enough oxygen so off to the hospital we go.  He was given oxygen in the ambulance and steroids in the ER.  He was monitored for several hours.  Finally he is discharged at 5:30 Am.  We had a few hard nights, but all is better now. Thank you Lord for modern medicine!

Corn Maze - Help, This is NOT the Way!

This is a relatively new tradition for us Baierls.  We have always gone to get pumpkins and decorated them, but about 3 years ago we discovered how much fun a corn maze can be.  Now that all the kids are old enough to be "lost in the corn" for a short time, it is really fun.  This year we took a few buddies along.  This is so much more fun when you have 8 kiddos getting lost in the corn. Incidentally, look at the picture below.  They all look like they could be my children! See if you can decipher which 3 are Baierls. :) It was especially fun because you could always here one of the kids in the group exclaiming:"This is not the way!" LOL

Here are a few pictures:

Nathan Turns 7!

Superheroes united for a fun filled afternoon of birthday party action at the Baierl house.  Inspired by David's 7th birthday party Ben 10 pizza's, Nathan requested his birthday dinner be unique pizzas also.  This was actually fairly easy (and awfully cheesy!)  I used food coloring to make red, green, and blue cheeses.  Then I used aluminum foil to cover the areas I didn't want colored.  Here is the final product: Captain America's shield, Green Lantern's ring, and Iron Man's arc reactor.

 

Nathan enjoyed having 6 buddies over for pizza, games, cake, and ice cream.  It was a loud and roudy 3 hours, but we enjoyed the last Baierl boy turning 7.  Nathan is such a blessing. Here are pics of the party celebration.

Nathan' s orange glasses

Nathan's favorite color is orange. We have always told him that we love him the orangest. Why not get an orange pair of glasses.

Nathan gets his glasses

Here is the new Nathan.He can see!

Moonlight Sonata

Here is another one by Beethoven. Moonlight Sonata
 Caleb is getting better at this one every day.

Back to School 2014

Nathan is going to public school for the first time.  He will be in 1st grade.
Caleb is returning to public school for 4th grade.
David will be attending 8th grade at Jc McKenna for 2 morning classes and doing the remaining classes virtually via JEDI.

Caleb plays Fur Elise both movements

Every day I hear Caleb play this song. 

This isn't part of his normal weekly lesson practice. 

This is just the song he likes the most.  

Although he did have his teacher help him on some parts,

 most of this Beethoven piece was simply "figured" out by listening and replaying over and over. 

 It isn't perfect, but it sure is beautiful. 

Listen to the end where he plays the last 3 chords with emotion.  

Pure joy to my heart.

Ice Cream Truck

We used to have an ice cream man come each week to our street.
This year he never came, but lo and behold another ice cream truck came the last week of summer break. Boy were we glad to see him! It was hot and muggy and we were stuck indoors. (We were getting our house roof replaced.  No playing in our yard for a week as the shingles and nails came raining down.)

Small things like an ice cream treat from the music playing truck makes for a wonderful summer memory.

Caleb conquers his fear of the diving board

Months of back to back swim lessons are paying off. 

Caleb just passed his swim class with flying colors.
He has been leery of jumping off the diving board for a long time.
On the last class he finally worked up the courage to jump off.
 His teacher was so good. She wasn't willing to take no for an answer.
She simply told him to rise to the challenge. He did!
Here is the video  ( he is the second boy) :

Caleb pitches little league

It was a week of firsts for Caleb.  (The next post will have details on a swimming first.)

Caleb finally got his chance to pitch for one inning for his little league team.  He struck out 1 boy swinging and he grabbed a grounder right at the mound and threw to first base in time for the  "OUT "!  He was jazzed up over that play. He was feeling pretty important last night.

He has come a long way from watching airplanes while in right field.

Baseball

Play Ball! Nathan was the catcher and Caleb was 3rd base.

Camping Take 3 - Crescent Lake Bible Camp

This is the week David waits for all year. The week after his birthday at Crescent Lake Bible Camp. 
This year the whole family enjoyed the camp. David spent a week with the middle school group Young Cruisaders.  He was pleased to be in the same cabin with friends from church.  This is old hat for David. He has been there for several years now and knows all the places to go and things to do.
Caleb went for half the week to Jr. camp.  A friend from church was in his cabin and he really enjoyed his councilor Matthew.  Caleb's favorite part was the canteen. (I like to joke that Caleb's love language is food).  He spent his canteen money on toxic waste.  Toxic waste is a sour candy that comes with a challenge.  This is right up Caleb's alley.  Caleb is a foody and he is competative. He was motivated to be a "full toxie head" by enduring the right of passage of horribly sour candy.  This is eye twitching, pucker producing, eyebrow raising sour candy. He loved it. I had to prove my full toxie head status too as did John. Blech! Caleb also tried tubing (he didn't like it)  and the climbing tower. (he loved it) His favorite.camp activity is archery. Caleb is a good shot!
Nathan also attended for half a week for Jr camp.  He also had a buddy from church in his cabin. He is so little in body size but he was so ready for camp.  It was eye opening watching his little body navigate the cafeteria experience. He was all about being one of the big boys.  He was so ready to go to camp. Nathan also did the toxic waste challenge, but spent more of his canteen money on chocolate.  Nathan did not tube but he loved boating and swimming. He also did the climbing tower and archery. 
As parents of Jr. campers were were allowed to stay in a guest house and come and go as we pleased.  We were able to join in on any activity the Jr camper was doing (John climbed the tower).  John and I checked out some bikes and joined David at chapel, we joined in on the archery and rockwall climbing and other various activities. 
Crescent Lake is a long drive but we are so pleased by their staff,facilities, and food service. I am sure it will be a part of our summers for years to come.

Camping Take 2 - Smokey Hollow

Our second camping trip in June was to Smokey Hollow near Lodi. 

Here we rented a covered trail wagon.  Think of going west during the pioneer days and you will be able to picture the wagon we rented. 

This was an adventure of a different sort. This was FAR from roughing it. 

Devil's Lake we had no electricity. Smokey Hollow we had electricity, bunk beds, a fridge, microwave, and movie rentals.   Ummmm this was NOT how it was for the pioneers! But who cares? Pioneers we are not!

We enjoyed the 3 days and 2 nights with good friends.  Joe and Cassie and their son Miles rented the wagon next to ours.  We went to the beach daily, rode banana bikes, played mini golf, and had an all around great time at Smokey Hollow.  Can you say sunburn? Sunburn!

It was still early June so the water was full of tadpoles. A true boys' delight. Over the 3 days we saw them grow through the stages of frog development.  Can I count that as science class? Who cares? It is summer break!

Camping Camping and More Camping!

June was the month of camping for the Baierls.
 We went to Devil's Lake, Smokey Hollow and to Crescent Lake Bible Camp all in 4 weeks.

Devil's Lake was deserted. It was wonderful! We rented a teepee the first weekend in June.
Due to the cold temperatures in the winter, many schools extended their school year to make up missed days. Not us! We enjoyed the campground at Devil's Lake while they studied.

The teepee was a cool experience. It is an actual canvas teepee built on a wood deck in a cul de sac area of the Ice Age campground.  It was a dogs' and boys' dream. Maddie enjoyed the room to roam as much as any dog would.  We enjoyed the military style cots that came with the reservation. It was a true memory.  Top that off with some boating, fishing, and swimming and you have an A++ camping experience.  

Jenny's 10k race

After months of training, race day arrived! Evansville's annual 4 th of July 5k/10k run and 1 mile walk fundraiser.

Last year I trained for the 5 k run (3.12 miles). I struggled thru the couch to 5k program on my own. It was really about turning 40 and feeling sluggish and out of shape.  I trained alone,but raced on race day with my friend Cassie. It was the highlight of my summer to see my boys waiting at the finish. 

About 1/8 of a mile before the end David asked me:" Did you stop? Did you walk any of it?"  I said:" nope ran it all so far."  He replied:" YES! You're gonna do it mom! You're gonna do it!" and he ran the last bit cheering me on. It was a memory I have replayed over and over. GOAL!

This year I trained with Cassie for the 10k run. (6.5 miles) We are crazy, but we did it. How many 41+ year olds can say they ran 6.5 miles? I don't know - but I am happy to say that I can and I did!

It wasn't easy.  When the terrain got hard and uphill I spoke out: " Better pain than regret!" That worked to get me thru the rough spots.  It was an hour and 6 minutes of grueling jogging in humid summer weather but we did it! GOAL!  We smelled like the high school football bus. Blech.

No time to enjoy this moment as it was only 50 minutes until the parade my boys look forward to each year. I drive home and quickly showered and got to the parade in time. Whew what a morning!

I am in need of the next fitness goal. Any suggestions?

Caleb plays Fur Elise, Here I am to Worship, and 5 Position Waltz

After a year off from piano lessons, Caleb is back at it. 

 (Life is too busy with lessons: Bible, swim, piano, baseball, oh yes and all the school subjects!)

Here are a few piece Caleb has been working on for the past 2 weeks with his new piano teacher.

The first song is a portion of Beethoven's Fur Elise: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Qv1bUfwPo&feature=youtu.be

 The second is named 5 Position Waltz which moves your hand positions about the keyboard.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-NR-sYK7DA&feature=youtu.be

The third piece is a worship song he is perfecting called Here I am to Worship. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acFbCWKVCS4&feature=youtu.be

I hope you enjoy them! 

Now begins 14 years of having a teenager

So it begins with David turning 13. We celebrated in a low key fashion as we are all going up to Bible camp in Rhinelander after David's birthday.

13 years and counting of parenting. It has been the best years of my life. I am enjoying the journey of making 3 little boys into 3 Godly men. As the years pass I supervise less and pray more and more.

David is a spiritualy mature 13 ye
ar old delight. I hope his love for Christ and his joy only grows.

Caleb turns 9

Here is my middle son in all his birthday glory.

Caleb loves all things science. He is my outdoorsman. 

He also has a keen eye (or shall I say tongue) for food science.  He loves to expirement with concoctions in the kitchen. Several of his winners have made it into my cookbook.  I think he should work for Jelly Belly and make the next gross jelly bean flavor.

I have truely enjoyed these years with  the boys. They are flying by now with our many commitments, but it is a good kind of busy.  I am amazed Caleb is already 9.

Visiting the dairy farm

Field trip time!
Finally spring is here so off to the dairy farm we went to learn about milk and cheese production. We toured Larson Acres farms were they milk 2,400 cows 3 tmes day. Holy Cow! It is a huge business.  Here are a few random pics of the boys enjoying the farm.

We are havin' fish tonight!

Nathan caught 2 rainbow trout and Caleb caught 2 brook trout. 55 inches of grilled goodness for supper tonight! Nathan caught the huge 18 inch trout. All the fish were caught with our Spiderman fishing pole. That thing can really bend! Good times.