February Special Day

Sylvia had another Special Day at preschool in February. I hung around during centers time and got to play with her and her friends...and take some cute pictures.

Spelling her name for Mrs. Fink.
Counting all 16 gumballs for the number of the week.
Playing with Kyle, Emory, Elizabeth and Parker at the carpenter shop drama center.
Hanging at the puzzle table with Mackenzie and Carleigh.
Making a jellyfish with Elizabeth at the fine motor table.
Helping Mrs. Fink with the question of the day. Who made dinner for you last night?
Posing with her girl that she dressed for the day's weather.
Share time with her Angry Bird and kaleidoscope.

Goodbye 804 Eastmoor Dr.

It's taken me a little while to figure out what to write for this post. We sold our house on Eastmoor Dr. to the city back in October. Since being offered a buyout, we knew that the house would someday be torn down. When we moved out, there was little left in the house. We took our kitchen cabinets, appliances, closet systems, doorknobs and even the carpet. It really didn't look like our home at that point. Over the past few months, we've seen windows and siding removed as well as the interior walls. The kids, especially Sylvia, have enjoyed watching the backhoe tear down numerous houses in our neighborhood over the past three years. Sylvia would sometimes ask if the backhoe had gotten our house as we drove down Eastmoor when we were living there. We explained that we would live a new home before the backhoe "got" our house. It has been a great lesson and reminder to us that the things of this earth are temporary. Because of Sylvia's interest, we knew we wanted to watch our house be torn down. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, when we got a call around 6:15am on Monday, February 13 letting us know that they'd be taking it down in about 45 minutes we knew what we had to do. I don't know if we've ever gotten the kids ready so quickly. My parents met us at the house and actually stopped the demolition crew from taking their first bite. We were expecting more notice, but I think it may have been nice in the end to not have time to think about it too much in advance. It was a cold and snowy morning and we, especially Drake, were thankful that our neighbor across the street invited us in to watch most of the demolition. Sylvia said a few times that morning, "They haven't gotten my bedroom yet." The rest of this post is spoken through pictures and I think they say more than enough.










One last thank you to everyone who supported us through the flood and helped us re-finish our house. Your efforts weren't a waste. We actually lived on Eastmoor longer after the flood than we did before. It was a wonderful place to begin raising our family and we're thankful for the years we spent there.

I'll leave you with a few quotes...
"My favorite thing about my house is the people that live there."
"It's not the house that holds the memories. They are in your heart."

Hawkeye Cousins

A couple of pictures of the Hoefer cousins from our trip to the Dells.

Wisconsin Dells

The Hoefer family enjoyed a trip to the Wisconsin Dells earlier in February. My parents were able to book two condos for a week through a friend's timeshare. Grandma, Grandpa, Gretchen and I, along with the nine kids, spent the whole week up there since we didn't have to be at work. Gretchen and I enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the house with our new little ones. Bill and Becky's family as well as John and Dan joined us later in the week for a long weekend together.

The beginning of the week was pretty relaxed. We headed to the water parks in the morning and came back to our room for lunch. The little ones napped while the older kids did some school work. Sylvia was a little jealous of her cousin's school work so I bought her some new coloring pages to work on with them. After eating dinner together and getting the younger cousins to bed, Grandma and/or Grandpa headed back out with Evan and Margaret for some more swimming.

Introducing the new cousins.
Our units had full kitchens so we did most of our meals in house. We did some prep at home so it wouldn't be as much work when we got there. The kids took turn sitting up at the bar.
Checking out the news.
We brought plenty of toys and activities with since we didn't know how easy it would be to take the kids swimming before the rest of the crew showed up. Sylvia, Raymond and Carl enjoying the tent that Grandpa fixed for us.
I was so impressed with my mom's patience during this game of sorry with two 4 year olds and 6 year old. I don't think I would have made it.
Another game with Grandma!
Eric and Raymond building towers with Dan's and John's supervision.
Playdough is a favorite for Eric...as long as I can keep him from eating it. Eric has been talking a lot about his Raymond since we've been home.
Learning how to play Mario Cart from her older cousins (and daddy).
Drake (12/9/11) and Philip (12/28/11). My baby can definitely beat up that baby.
Raymond (3/14/10)and Erickson (3/6/10). My money may be on Raymond in this one.
Drake getting some love.
Sylvia enjoyed sleeping in the king size bed...until mommy and daddy came to bed and moved her to the floor.
We could not have done this trip without our strollers! We did lots of walking and this is how the little ones were transported.

We didn't get many pictures at the water park earlier in the week since our hands were pretty full with all the kids. Plus, Drake ended up being sick part of the time so I didn't do as much swimming as planned. We took Drake to the doctor and the emergency room while we were gone and got a breathing treatments and steroid shots for croup.

We were at Wilderness Territory and there were lots of water parks to choose from. There were plenty of little water slides for Sylvia to do. The wave pool was also a favorite. Eric liked swimming but wasn't a fan of all the shooting water in the kid's areas.

Erickson and Grandpa on the "lazy stream" as Sylvia called it.
Sylvia lounging in the water with a few of her cousins.
The swings were a safe place to be...unless the big bucket of water was dumping. Sylvia got really scared the first time it happened but was excited to try standing under it on our last day. It ended up knocking her over and she cut her knee on the bottom.
Playing in the wave pool. I always wondered why parents made their kids wear goggles, water shoes and life jackets at places like this. I learned on this trip that it may not be the parents making that decision :) Drake enjoyed a dip in the wave pool on our first day but ended up getting sick and didn't do anymore swimming.

Sylvia was brave and tried out a few waterslides. It only took a few trips down before she decided she loved it.
The grin on this guys face lets you know what he thought about the water parks.

The whole crew went out for dinner at Buffalo Phil's on Saturday night where your food is delivered by model train. Sylvia sat at the kid's table with most of her cousins and did a great job. I'm recently realizing how much she is growing up.

Aunt Becky helped entertain Eric with her cell phone while we waited for our food to arrive.
After dinner we stopped in at Knuckleheads with some free tickets for the indoor train roller coaster. It wasn't the smoothest ride but Sylvia had fun.
Our kids enjoyed "playing" some video games. I'm such a cheapskate I won't even put money in those cars at the Coralridge Mall.

We stopped on your drive home to feed Drake and let the kids. Luckily, I remembered seeing a McDonald's playland on the way there and Drake was able to hold off until we got there. Sylvia made a friend while we were there and wanted me to take their picture. Yes, he was dressed as Spiderman at the McDonald's playland. I think that's why Sylvia wanted the picture.

escaping the crib / big boy bed

Written on 2/22/12

I've snuck into Sylvia and Eric's room a few times recently. Here's how I found them a few weeks ago. This boy almost always has a foot or arm hanging out of the crib. For a time, he would scoot his head up to the head of the crib so his head was smashed against it each time you laid him down.I love that we still catch her sleeping like this from time to time. Reminds me of when she was a baby.
Eric is a gymnast in his crib. He's often putting his head on the mattress and walking his feet up the sides. Here are his newest moves. He climbs up and sits on the rail and says, "horse." He successfully climbed out of the crib a few weeks ago, so we knew it was time to move him to the big boy bed.
We waited till we were back from a week long trip. I knew I wanted him in the pack 'n play while we were in the Dells. Dan set up the bed while the kids and I were gone, and shortly after returning we moved him over. The first night was difficult. I laid down by him and when I'd go to get up he'd scurry out of bed and make it to the door before me. Bedtime is now going well after only a few days. Naps have been a harder transition. He's been in his bed five days now and three of those days I've been able to lay him down after he's fallen asleep in the car or at lunch. The other two days he's ended up in the closet or partially out of the closet for the sleeping portion of his "nap." Today I found him cleaning his room with wipes when I went to check on him. Must have learned that from big sis.