The Saturday 7

1. Good news, guys. We've made it through 3/4 of February!! The worst month of the year is almost over. And, actually, as Februarys go, this one has been better than most. We haven't been blasted with bitterly cold temperatures, or dumped on with inches of snow, or even experienced weeks without seeing the sun. Every morning as I drive the girls to school, I praise Jesus when the sun is shining. And we've had lots of sunny days recently! This February has also continued to be crazy-busy, and next week is shaping up to be just as insane, so what's left of the month should fly by!

2. And of course, Levi's first "real" birthday is a week from today. He's the victim of "third child syndrome" and I haven't bought him a single gift yet. Oops! He also has the unfortunate position of last in our string of birthdays/holidays from December to February. I've spent so much money in the past few months on Christmas, Lena's birthday, Justin's birthday, vacation, even Valentine's day. So now I feel like not only does he already have too many toys he doesn't play with, I also don't want to spend any more money! Haha. Thankfully he's still young enough that he won't care if his gifts come from Goodwill! (Although, let's be honest. When will I ever have time to shop without him this week? Amazon, for the win!)

3. I came across some funny genealogy gems this week from Justin's ancestors. With a name like VanderKodde, he's pretty obviously Dutch. My mom's side of the family hails from England, so I didn't have any trouble deciphering the old documents I found. Unfortunately, my grasp of the Dutch language isn't quite as strong, so I was floundering for a while . . . until I discovered Google Translate. It just opened up a whole new world to me! Anyway, this is the Google Translated version of some old documents I came upon this week:

Pieter Ghijsbrechtsz van der Codde

Notarial deed: Oct.1, 1603
Offense: Deception and forgery

Requirement: Flagellation and confiscation 

Verdict: Fine of 20 gld 

Notarial deed: March 1, 1604 Lieden
Offense: Insult and threat to an official

Requirement: Geseling, 12 years of exile from Leiden, Rhineland, The Hague and Haagambacht, subs. lifelong exile from Leiden, Rhineland, The Hague and Haagambacht and confiscation

Verdict: acquittal 

Notarial deed: 1608 in Leiden

Offense: Insult and threat with a knife
Requirement: Flagellation and confiscation
Verdict: Fine of 3 gld.

Apparently Grandpa Pieter was a bit of a troublemaker. I'm guessing the "Requirement" is what the lawyer requested as punishment, but the verdict was what he actually received. It looks like he got off pretty easy! Ha! There's also this hilarious bit of history . . .

Daemis Aadrijaens van der Codde

Notarial deed: June 23, 1616

Cornelis Symonsz, blacksmith, and Daemis van der Codde, commander of the inner guard, neighbors. Cornelis discharges his filth through a hole made by him into the secret pipe of his neighbor, who here is caused by odor nuisance; Daemis requires repair.

The translation isn't perfect, but you get the idea! 🤣🤣🤣

4. One day this week, Levi and I ran a bunch of errands. I generally try to avoid taking him shopping with me, because he's a bit of a terror, but it was unavoidable this week. Something that makes me really angry is when other people (strangers) try to parent him. I'm coming to accept that I'm a bit of a "free range" parent with him, because I'm old and tired and have been around the block twice already. So I'm not as strict about things as some people are. Case in point: at Goodwill he was running back and forth from the register to the door with a sucker in his mouth, and the cashier loudly exclaimed to him, "Oh! You shouldn't be running with that sucker in your mouth!" Hello, I am right here. If I was concerned about him running with the sucker, I'd stop it. I'm obviously not, so bug off! Lol. Or at Lena's ballet class . . . we have to wait in the hall for an hour. There's no wi-fi so I won't let him use my phone, and there's nothing else to do. There is, however, a really fun handicap ramp. We're the only ones in the building until halfway through Lena's class, and there are a grand total of 2 other moms in the hall. So I don't think it's a big deal that he runs up and down the ramp. He's not in the way, he's not bothering anyone. He's a 3 year old boy releasing energy. But when the instructor for the next class came in, she immediately said to him, "Oh honey, don't run on the ramp. I don't want you to get hurt." Give me a break! If he is in imminent danger or is being naughty or disrespectful, by all means, y'all have permission to get after him or to intervene. Otherwise, please just trust that I'm aware of what he's doing and am choosing to allow it. That probably makes me a bad mom, but I'm too tired to care.

5. While we were out and about, we stopped to get an oil change. Apparently Levi has never been with me when I've done it before, because he was absolutely in his glories. I let him climb up into the front seat so he could watch, and he rolled the window down so he could look out. After a minute he turned to me excitedly and exclaimed, "There's a hole under our car . . . and there's guys working down there!!" He loved watching them use all the tools and thought it was awesome that they put more air in my tires ("our car is going to have monster truck wheels now!"). Then he asked when they were going to lift the car up in the air like he's seen at the mechanic. Haha. I crushed his hopes and dreams when I told him they don't do that while there are people in the car. He was also a big fan of the oil change place because they gave him candy!

I let him wear a diaper while we were running errands on Alpine (mostly because I didn't want to have to take him in a public restroom), but that afternoon I made him wear undies on our drive to school, then while we were at the library and ballet class. And he did awesome! There is hope!!

6. Tonight we threw a surprise party for my sister in law, Esther (Ruby's mom). Luke asked me a few weeks ago to be in charge of decorations. I should've just put up some balloons and streamers, but I wanted a bit of a theme, so I came up with something quirky and fun. Esther is a freak about presidential history. And it just so happens that Presidents Day was last week, two of our major presidents have birthdays in February, and Esther has a birthday in February! So we had a triple-birthday celebration for Esther, George, and Abe!

How about that artwork?? 🤣🤣🤣 I wanted some big, blown up pictures of George and Abe, but I didn't want to pay $20 each for poster prints, so I consulted the trusty Internet for step by step tutorials on how to draw Washington and Lincoln. I did George first (Lena colored him) and realized I made him way too small, so I may have overcompensated with Abe after that. Haha. I am so not an artist, so I was proud of myself that they were at least recognizable! Lol.

The kids were big fans of the streamers. 

And Esther was genuinely surprised, so that made it really fun. 💓

7. More pics

Guess which one of my kids wrote this! 🤣

This girl has such an imagination, and turns everything into a game or a story or a project. Her favorite phrase is, "I have an idea!" Her ideas usually result in messes, but I love that part of her personality.

Adorable little ballerina

"Leftover brownies"? I know not of what you speak!

 

Bedtime snuggles tonight. Soaking up these last few days of toddlerhood before he's a big 4 year old. 😭