WOW!

Well, I have been seriously neglecting my blog lately....but only because we have been cra-zy busy around here!! Since I know that without stressing over it and spending hours updating, I'm not going to...I'll flip in a few (ok, lots!) pictures here and there, but mostly this is going to be a list-update on what's been happening in the lives of the Calonder Crew!
Where to start???Hannah got her tube pulled!!!! On Good Friday (what an awesome day to have it happen?!?), we went in and Hannah was doing so well, we were allowed to pull the ng tube that day!! We were so excited and it has been going really well!Well, obviously you know from this post that the triplets have started preschool!! They went Fridays for three weeks towards the end of the year to get used to their new school that they will be attending in the "fall" (school begins for them August 18). During the summer they are attending a transitional preschool two days a week in Cedar Falls. It's been great for them! They also are attending VBS this week at our church with Aidan. They love it!! It's neat to see them as they get older, but hard also!

Ethan got glasses! Poor little dude couldn't see at all! I think he looks adorable, don't you agree???
Nathanial got another set of tubes and Hannah got her first set. We had no idea Hannah was having issues with fluid, but she had three ear infections in three months, so we did the referral and she had a ton of fluid. They both did awesome!Austin had his 8th grade field trip to the capital and Living History Farms. He loved it and got an awesome shot for fair of the dome!
Austin and Aidan found the tent in the back of the garage that hasn't been used in years and dug it out and had a little background camping! They had so much fun...I was positive they would be inside at some point (it got COLD), but they made it the whole night!There has been a lot of outdoor fun at our house lately...baseball playing in the backyard...
...slipping and sliding and spraying...
...bounce, bounce, bouncing good times in the bounce house....
After all those good times outside, sometimes we just like to relax inside....
...and sometimes we get hurt and have to get our first set of stitches. :-(

But don't relax too long, because if you do, Mom might redo a room on you!

Whew....that wore us out!
{and we're not done yet....watch for lots more updates soon!!!}

Ethan's Messy Leaf Pile

To know Ethan is to know that he is a neat freak. Apparently, that extends to the great outdoors. We have been having so much fun outside lately, but parts of it are stressful to Ethan. Take, for example, the leaves. He was talking about the "buwn piyew" (aka - burn pile) and I thought I'd video him talking about it. It turned into this (and, apparently, I am irritating to him, as you'll see at the end):

Nathanial and the Garden

Nathanial was enjoying trying to figure out what the garden was (never mind that we didn't do anything with it at the end of the year - it's a disaster) and discovered what we do with all that rabbit "waste."

Noah and his "Draper"

Noah was enjoying his time in the sandpit area of our yard when I thought for sure he was asking for a diaper. I could not figure out why! Until the very end...

November/December Fun

The end of November and the entire month of December brought bitter cold temps, huge dumps of snow, and nasty windchills - which means we had to come up with lots of creative ideas to spend a lot of time indoors. The triplets were quite fascinated by the first blizzard of the year as they did not remember snow from last year. It was so fun to watch their excitement at the snow coming down and piling up.

{Ethan loves to write}

{Aidan loves to draw and Hannah really wanted to try}

{Hannah "drawing" with her syringe}

{Ethan and Aidan - writing and drawing}

{Noah loves to scribble}

Nathanial put on a little impromptu concert for us all one day and everyone loved it!

{Noah and Hannah enjoyed the performance}

We were so amazed by the snow falling outside we sat and watched it in the dining room for hours, it seemed!

The next morning, we woke up to a winter wonderland in our backyard!

Somebody had to go outside and clear all that snow from the driveway and sidewalk!
{Hint: It really wasn't Aidan}

{Austin was truly freezing, but a HUGE help to Dad}
{Aidan enjoyed playing in the snow!}

A Brother's Love

It isn't often that we are able to capture moment between Austin and the triplets. He likes to mostly be alone and when he does spend time with a brother, it is usually Aidan. We went to the park and Ethan started following Austin around. He would chase after him. Austin noticed and started playing with Ethan. I think Austin was really touched that Ethan looked up to him as much as he did.

Ready to go on the slide?
I'll get you up there...
Here...need a little help over that bump?
Bottom of the slide (contrary to the face, Ethan was giggling and loved it!).
On the the bouncy thingy...

A Day at the Park

Nathanial having fun on the swing, hair blowing in the wind:After he was finished on the swing, Nathanial had fun exploring.
Check out this sand!
Ohhh...a lion!

Noah loves the swing!

Ethan waiting his turn on the swings.

Aidan playing in the sand, his favorite spot.

Austin (left) and Mason playing on the tractor.
Ethan getting his turn on the swing.