More Updates

Happy 4th, everyone!

Here are a few recent photos and tidbits from the Charlebois home.

Our little Ruby Ann is changing so quickly! She turned 9 months old on the 29th, and if you look away for one instant, she's changed or developed in at least some small way. Besides being a master crawler now, she has also started pulling herself up to her feet AND climbing stairs. You would have never imagined my shock when I ran upstairs for just a moment and upon returning found her up three steps. Time to break out the gates, I guess.
Ruby finally sprouted two bottom teeth and has been gracefully struggling her way through the teething process. She is our little snuggle bunny, and also our little rough-and-tumbler. She loves to get dirty and climb into tight spots or over obstacles. She brings us so much joy!
Israel is equally as amazing. She wows us every day with just how smart and attentive she is. She can count in English and in Spanish and can recite her ABC's perfectly. She's a little comedian, and loves doing funny things to make mommy & daddy smile. She loves to sing, and her current favorite tunes are "Old MacDonald" and "The Farmer in the Dell." We'll also spy her sitting in a corner making up songs for her dolls, or singing to herself about how much she loves various people in her family (usually Ava). She loves to swim and to take naps in mommy & daddy's bed.
Right now we are struggling through our third try at potty training. Some days she's great, other days are frustrating for both of us. I know she'll get the hang of it -- I just wish it were sooner rather than later!

Remember my post about the garden we started in our window sill? Remember how excited I was that they were all growing? Well, they all died. They died because I didn't transplant them quickly enough. But we are trying again. We started our seedlings in the window sill again and then moved them out into 5 gallon buckets on the deck (We decided we didn't want to invest the time and money into tilling up a garden at a property we don't own). We have lettuce, corn, green beans, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, bell peppers and cucumbers. And SO FAR, so good.
Today we took the girls strawberry picking. There is a little berry farm not more than five minutes from our house -- all you can pick for $1.70/lb. Rae loved the adventure, but probably ate more strawberries than she put in our box. It only took us about 7 minutes to pick more than six pounds of strawberries. Maybe that's a good thing when you have two small kids, but it was also sort of anti-climactic. Rae was covered in strawberry juice, as was her WHITE shirt. What was I thinking?That's it for now. Our doctor has been on vacation, so Ruby will have her 9-month checkup sometime in the next week or so. I'll post that update soon.

Camping 2009

We had a wonderful camping trip this past weekend! Despite discouraging weather forecasts and a rough start, we ended up with beautiful weather pretty much the whole time, and the girls did great. This was Ruby's first camping trip, and she was amazing.

Rae & Daddy try out the new camping chairs

Ruby quickly adjusted to camping...and eating grass...and dirt.

I am in LOVE with this picture.

The adventures began as soon as we arrived. It didn't take us long to notice that after driving all the way to William O'Brien State Park, we had forgotten our tent poles at home! It was very frustrating at first, but we quickly realized how blessed we were that the campground was only about 45 minutes away. There was no better place for us to make a mistake we'll never make again!

JP ended up driving home to get the poles, and I stayed with the girls at the campsite with only a few items that had gotten pulled out of the van: one box of food, a kiddie pool, a screen gazibo, some blankets, and the pack-n-play. I set up the gazibo and tried to get the girls to nap in it (Ruby in the pack-n-play, and Rae on the ground), but that just wasn't happening. Neither of them could sleep, so I got them up and we played in the pool until daddy got back. We had no bug spray, and both Rae and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Ruby escaped with only one bite. After setting up camp we roasted hot dogs and headed to the beach to cool off before bed time.

Friday was filled with more swimming, nature walks, and time around the camp site. We also let Israel stay up with us past her bed time and roast marshmallows. But after two nights of sitting around the fire by ourselves, JP and I were both missing the company of our family we're used to having on camping trips. We were excited when my brother Joe and his girlfried Becky joined us on Saturday. After setting up their tents, we headed down to the St. Croix River to let the dogs swim, then we hiked to the "sliding rock," a large, sloped rock we used to love to play on as children. It was fun for me to see Rae having so much fun in the very spot I used to play as a little girl.

Pay no attention to the rear end in the background

Becky's black lab (Jake) and Joe's bulldog (Beau) were there, too.

Ruby thought it was hilarious when Jake would lick her all over her face.

Rae on the sliding rock

Our friend Eric also joined us for a few hours on Saturday. It was so great to see him, and he and Ruby really hit it off!

On Sunday, the rest of my family showed up for a Father's Day picnic. The day was a little cooler and more overcast than the other days. My mom brought a huge lunch for everyone, and we hid under the trees as we ate our bar-b-que sandwiches. The kids had a blast running around in their rain coats, too.After lunch we went back to the beach for more swimming. By 2:15, all of the kids were so tired from playing that they kind of started to fall apart. We had to quickly get them loaded into the car and head home before chaos erupted. My girls were both asleep by the time we pulled out of the park, and after transferring her to her bed at home, Rae slept until 5:30 pm.
It feels great to be home and I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in the air conditioning last night. I think JP has all but decided that we need to keep our camping trips to earlier spring and in the fall to avoid the hot weather. Now I just have to tackle the unpacking and laundry...

Quick Update

Tomorrow we are headed out for our long overdue first camping trip of the season. The forecast says thundershowers tomorrow and Friday, but we're praying for that 40-50% chance that it WON'T rain! Pray with us!
This was a big week for Ruby. She is now officially a crawler! We got her very first crawling experience on video, so hopefully I can get that uploaded soon. With the crawling came the confidence to try pulling up on things as well. It won't be long till she's walking along the furniture, I'm sure! Ruby also started clapping yesterday, which is the cutest thing.
Israel is doing very well using the "big girl potty." We've started and stopped so many times, but only now have I really seen the motivation on HER side to do it. Rae doesn't like it when you call her a baby; "I'm just a big girl," she'll tell you. So the other day, JP explained to her one day that diapers are for babies. "Ruby is a baby, and she wears diapers. If you really want to be a big girl, you should use the big girl potty. " That seemed to do the trick! Now she just wants to be big!
That's all for now. I'll have lots of pictures and stories when we get home from camping.

Time for a T.V. fast???

Rae: (watching Diego) "I loooove watching T.V."
Mom: "Oh, great."
Rae: "But we don't always watch T.V."
Mom: (feeling encouraged) "That's right!"
Rae: "Yeah, cuz sometimes we have to eat!"

Pen Pals

Since Micah and his family moved to North Carolina, we are trying to keep the kids connected by writing letters and sending packages back and forth. We send pictures and drawings and let the kids dictate (with some help) the letters we write for their cousins.
The other day we received a letter from Malachi that was SO CUTE, I just had to post it. Rae's response was equally as cute, so hers is after that.
We miss you, M/M/M/Z/A!

Dear JP, Audra, Israel, and Ruby,
Hi! How are you? I love you and you are my cousin, Rae Rae! I liked the picture you sent us, and the letter. Thank you for the box! Thank you for the glow snakes and for the gummies with juice in them. Yes, I like my new house and my new pool. The birds come to eat the bird seed and the deer come to eat the corn. Yes, I like to swim in my new pool. Yes, Anna is getting big. I want to dance and blow bubbles with you, too!
When you come and visit us, we can swim in our pool, and jump. We can also play wrestle, go exploring, and play with the hose, and put blankets on our heads and bonk into things! :) We can do diggers and play in the sand, and we can go to a store and look at things, and go on a walk and take pictures! Wow! That's a lot! It will be lots of fun! Talk to you soon!
Love,
Malachi (and Uncle Micah, Auntie Missy, Zach and Anna)
P.S. When we take a walk, we can eat snacks too!

And Israel's scatterbrained response:

Dear Malachi and Zach,
Hi! I'm doing good! Thanks for your letter and the pictures. I have a Bible and I have flowers. My Bible has pictures about Jesus.
When we come see you, we can go camping and play games! We have been praying for George the kitty cat [their cat was lost, but he's home now]. We saw a turtle at my Gammy's house. Mommy catched him but he scratched her. Then he swimmed away. Now he's under the dock.
I have a new tricycle that my G & Bompa bought for me. It's red and white and it has a bell. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to Target and have fun!
When we go on a walk, we can eat Dora snacks!
My favorite part about the pictures you sent is the trucks. Maybe we could ride in a wagon! I could be happy!
Ruby eats big girl food now. It's cereal. It's yucky.
I went to a park, and when I slide down the super big slide I was afraid. But then I wasn't scared anymore and I climbed up the slide. Maybe another time we can go back to the park and you can come with us and climb. And we can do the swings!
I lub you,
Rae Rae
P.S. My full name is Israel Hope Charlebois. And Ruby's nickname is Ruba-dooba.

Never Give Up!

Two nights ago, we all piled into the RV and drove to a new park we found not far from our house. The park had one of those little rock climbing walls, and JP wanted Rae to try climbing it with his help. She resisted and whined about it, but he encouraged her to give it a shot. Once they got to the wall, Rae really decided she did NOT want to climb the wall and that it was too hard for her to do. JP explained to her that we should never give up, even when things are seeming too hard for us. She wasn't too happy about it, but he urged her along all the way up the wall, helping her with each grip and each step. Finally she made it to the top.

When Rae looked back down at what she had done, she got SO EXCITED and started laughing and cheering for herself! She was so thrilled that she immediately came down the slide and went right back to the climbing wall. But this time, she did it all by herself! You would have thought she had been climbing walls all of her life! She was up that wall in seconds, then back down the slide to do it again and again and again.

Standing at the top saying "I did it! I didn't give up!"

After that, Rae was so confident in herself that she started tackling all of the "big kid" things to do at the park, including learning how to climb up the slide and hang from the monkey bars (keep in mind, she's only 2). By the end of our time at the park, she was walking around saying stuff like, "I don't give up anymore! Never give up!" We were (and always are) so proud of her!

Typical Night

The following is an example of a typical evening in the Charlebois home. All I can say is -- I love my life.

Just Add TLC

Last week, JP was browsing craigslist for nothing in particular when he ran across a listing that caught his eye. It was a 1977 Dodge Sportsman RV with only 57,900 miles on it for $1000. JP has always dreamed of owning an RV for the many road trips we plan to take as a family over the years. He decided that it was worth seeing, so that night he drove to St. Cloud to check it out. When he got there, he found a treasure!
It may not be the most gorgeous thing to look at, but this "camper truck" (as Rae calls it) has all the bells and whistles, AND it runs! All it needs is some TLC, which we intend to give it! And the very best part is that JP was able to talk the guy down to $560!!!!!
This truck has it all -- a large bed over the cab that folds up to provide extra head-room when not in use; an eating area; a cabinet bed over the eating area; a couch that folds down into another bed; a stove/oven/sink/fridge in the kitchen area; a bathroom with a shower and linen closet; AC and heat; tons of storage; and an exterior that has very little rust.
JP and I are both excited to redeem this truck! Some of the greatest blessings in our life together have come from redeeming things that other people didn't want. Take JP's work van, for instance. He bought that 1983 Chevy for $1300 and it has been an INCREDIBLE blessing to us and our business. JP took the time to learn how to work on it and has all but replaced the entire engine for just the cost of parts. He repaired all of the rust and turned it into a vintage treasure that makes us money every time he takes it out. And because he took the time to do that, he now knows how to get this RV into perfect working condition. Some new belts, new tires, minor tune-ups and a facelift, and we've got ourselves one heck of a family-mobile.
Keep checking back. I'll do my best to keep you posted as we move forward with our new project. JP has already fixed the screen door and some engine parts. We got new tabs for it and drove it to Menards as a family the other day. :) We've cleaned out all of the junk the previous owner left behind and plan to move on to cosmetics soon: tearing out the orange shag carpet (even on the ceiling!), sewing new curtains, replacing the upholstery, etc.
If all goes well, we'd love to take our maiden voyage by mid to late summer. Where to go first...decisions, decisions!

Here she is! What a beauty!

View looking towards the front. Notice how the passenger seat swivels around to face the rear! The sleeping area is above, and the couch on the left has seat belts, so car seats are no problem. Also, the dash is in immaculate condition. We'll probably just add a CD player.

View facing the rear

Fold-down bed over the eating area
The kitchen. Not pictured: paper towel dispenser and fire extinguisher!

The bathroom. Can you read the little plaque? (click photo for larger view)

The shower. Who wants to go first?