de Finkibus: A Blog about Finks

IPoD 1.24.2012

2012-01-24T16:16:00.003-05:00

Last week's snow storm before this week's rain melted it all...

WPoD 1.24.2012

2012-01-24T16:16:00.001-05:00

Busy with Grandpa Fink and Grandma Blossom

2012-01-24T16:13:00.001-05:00

GPoD 1.18.2012

2012-01-18T08:43:00.002-05:00

Consider yourself warned.

Snow and Crafting

2012-01-13T16:57:00.000-05:00

GBIW PoD 1.13.2012

2012-01-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

Rosie and Real Magic

2012-01-05T10:04:00.001-05:00

William is walking!

2012-01-03T17:17:00.001-05:00

Sweet Bea

2012-01-03T13:36:00.000-05:00

Fun at Scott and Emily's

2012-01-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

An Imaginary Friend named I-Love-to-Sing-and-Dance

2011-12-21T21:50:00.001-05:00

Sunday Morning Sandra Boynton Dance Party

2011-12-18T10:20:00.001-05:00

Buddies

2011-12-15T13:37:00.001-05:00

Baking

2011-12-15T08:31:00.001-05:00

Tree Decorating

2011-12-06T21:20:00.003-05:00

Sunday Morning Concert

2011-12-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

William's latest words: Thank you!

2011-12-01T08:40:00.001-05:00

2011-11-16T18:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, from our turkeys to yours!

Week in Review

2011-11-16T17:48:00.004-05:00

Uh-Oh

2011-11-16T17:47:00.001-05:00

A short movie of a mess by William, which would be even cuter if it was right-side up.

GPoD 11.3.2011

2011-11-03T10:48:00.003-04:00

Graham's leaf creation, inspired by Lois Ehlert's Leaf Man,

Bop and Gaga's septic system

And his first missing tooth!

Halloween

2011-11-01T16:38:00.005-04:00

"Happy Halloween!" The pictures might have been better if they weren't actually screaming this as I was taking pictures. And if the giant gorilla man hadn't been two doors down.

"Trick or treat!"

We did a little trick-or-treating with our friends before supper.

If one of our children inherited the wild Slinger streak, it's this one.

Will chewed on corn candy. Thanks, dad!

Socks

2011-11-01T16:35:00.003-04:00

I have to wrestle this child to the ground to get socks on him. And then he smiles, pulls them off, and throws them as far as he can. I don't know what we're going to do this winter.

Graham's School Parade

2011-11-01T16:33:00.003-04:00

The end of October

2011-11-01T16:18:00.004-04:00

The kids helped make pumpkin sugar cookies

We enjoyed the nice weather and some adventurous gator rides

Graham has his first loose tooth!

Three Little Pumpkins

2011-10-27T21:28:00.000-04:00

AU Homecoming

2011-10-16T12:05:00.003-04:00

Homecoming was chilly this year, but Aunt Ginnie's hats kept us warm!

Busy

2011-10-16T12:02:00.004-04:00

Sibling Rivalry

2011-10-10T11:40:00.003-04:00

Graham really despises Inga's purple Harmony Care Bear.

WPoD

2011-10-06T20:49:00.000-04:00

He's not walking yet, but he's getting close!

Love

2011-09-26T18:19:00.001-04:00

Two Cubbies and a Sparkie!

2011-09-26T18:18:00.000-04:00

2011-09-26T18:15:00.000-04:00

Katie, Tim, and Elijah came on Saturday. While Katie, David, and Graham were brewing beer, Will and Elijah played their own bottle game.

Ebay Find

2011-09-26T18:10:00.002-04:00

David had these books as a child. After introducing Graham to Star Wars last weekend, David continued his quest to relive this portion of childhood and bought the books on ebay. Quality literature they are not, but I'm not sure Seven Brides is a high quality musical either.

Simple Pleasures

2011-09-26T18:05:00.003-04:00

Graham Joins the Empire

2011-09-22T18:45:00.002-04:00

Facebook posts can be dangerous. Especially when grandparents read them.

Cheap Cereal

2011-09-21T08:20:00.002-04:00

Many of you know that I pride myself in finding grocery deals, especially cereal. One would think, with all of the cereal we go through weekly, that our children would be plump little carb-babies. Instead, Graham and Bea are on the lower part of the growth chart and Inga continues her streak of never gaining enough to make it on. Even Will, with the rolls up and down his thighs, is only at the 60th percentile for weight. This is not where the cereal is going. It's going to the stomach of our fifth child, Big Red. Which is why I have to buy cheap cereal.

Bea recites Five Little Pumpkins

2011-09-19T17:24:00.000-04:00

Inga sings

2011-09-08T21:18:00.001-04:00

Bug Fest!

2011-08-27T16:47:00.003-04:00

Our park district held a bug fest this morning at a local nature center. While daddy was greeting incoming freshmen at AU, I was pushing our large stroller up and down paths and encouraging seemingly friendly spiders to crawl on my children. The kids were each awarded their own bug collecting kit which they put to use in our backyard as soon as we got home. Graham successfully caught a bug, but was less successful in encouraging the bug to eat the bit of tortilla chip he dropped next to it during lunch.

Graham's first day of kindergarten

2011-08-24T10:16:00.004-04:00

Camping with G Fink

2011-08-13T21:57:00.000-04:00

Birds

2011-08-11T19:56:00.002-04:00

William loves to watch the birds at Bop and Gaga's house. He said 'bird' for the first time this morning and hasn't stopped since!

2011-08-06T11:11:00.000-04:00

One Big Birthday Bash

2011-08-06T09:53:00.009-04:00

Graham turned six yesterday! This Friday Bea and Inga will be three, and our baby is one on the following Wednesday. We celebrated our week of birthdays last night with family and friends. In the chaos of fifteen children, thirteen candles, five cakes, and numerous sword fights and skipping princesses I felt so blessed. Just a year ago we did not know most of our guests. Our gracious God has surrounded us with thoughtful, caring friends who are raising children to be followers of Jesus. We are so blessed!

On guard!

Princesses in the castle

The kids played before we ate

Will gets in the sword action

You're almost one, big boy!

Present time!

Inga was VERY excited about the little puppies she received from her good friend Ella!

Bea loves her puppies, too!

Aunt Katie and Uncle Tim gave Graham a lion marionette.

One of our favorite pictures of the evening in which our good friend Nick made a heroic leap across the family room and rescued a glass of wine from his one year-old.

Cousins :)

Will liked his presents, but he really liked shaking the tissue paper the best of all.

Dressing Problems

2011-07-29T19:18:00.001-04:00

The good news: Inga is potty-trained. Pretty much. The bad news: She can't for the life of her figure out how to put her big-girl underpants on by herself. The problem with being such a skinny-bones is that her whole self fits easily through each leg opening.

I dot my awm bat!

2011-07-27T20:45:00.003-04:00

Just another Wednesday morning

2011-07-27T20:43:00.000-04:00

Happy kiddos

2011-07-26T16:18:00.002-04:00

Will of Iron

2011-07-26T16:09:00.003-04:00

After a stern warning to stop the partying, Inga was again transferred to the guest room for her nap, screaming for her big girl bed the whole way down the hall. She refused to sleep in the guest room bed, so I just left her in there and closed the door. Twenty minutes later, this is how I found her.

New Bike

2011-07-23T14:09:00.005-04:00

Graham got his first brand-new bike today, an early birthday present. As you can see, he's pretty jazzed.

The handbrake is key.

Graham tries to get Will to say cat

2011-07-15T08:58:00.001-04:00

William says 'cat'

2011-07-15T08:18:00.001-04:00

Here's bad footage of William playing this morning. It's unfocused and the camera tips often, but he does say, 'cat' at the end!

Asleep

2011-07-12T21:57:00.002-04:00

Graham likes to read in bed before he falls asleep. Since William moved into his room last month, however, this has been difficult. So sometimes we let him curl up with a book in the loft until he goes under. Here's how I found him tonight.

Inga's new cast

2011-07-06T18:36:00.000-04:00

Inga came back from the doctor today with a more permanant cast. The x-rays didn't show a break but did show fluid and swelling so she just needs to wear it for three weeks. Bea has decided that she might want a hot pink cast, too.

Fireworks

2011-07-05T09:11:00.000-04:00

Graham loved last night's fireworks. Inga and William were only moderately impressed. Bea offered a continuous string of whining, peppered with her favorite phrase, "I'm not happy!" To which we replied, "You're kidding. We thought you were loving every second of being up two hours past your bedtime to hear loud booms and get eaten alive by mosquitoes." At least Graham loved it.

These Fingers Don't Suck

2011-07-04T15:46:00.001-04:00

Nothing Humerus

2011-07-03T22:51:00.001-04:00

Daddy and Inga just back from the ER--with an intratrochantric fracture on Inga's left humerus.

Cooling off

2011-07-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

Sweet Cousin Time

2011-06-24T22:09:00.004-04:00

Scott and Emily are in Duluth for a wedding this weekend so Libby is staying with Bop and Gaga. We spent the day playing hard at the park, drawing with sidewalk chalk, checking on Daddy and Uncle Adam's deck, and thanking the good Lord that he blessed us with twins and not triplets.

Rest

2011-06-24T21:59:00.002-04:00

We decided to extend our visit to MN to let William recover from the nasty virus he was fighting. And then because Adam needed help building a deck. And then we thought, "Well, David will be gone for four days and it would be so nice to have help with the kids during that time." So, our one week vacation turned into three. I took a few pictures from my parents' house right after a storm a few days ago. This is why it doesn't take much to convince us to stay!

WPoD 6.7.2011

2011-06-07T20:02:00.000-04:00

My boys

2011-06-07T20:01:00.000-04:00

Summer Preview 2011

2011-06-04T12:13:00.002-04:00

To help us be intentional about family time this summer, David and I made a list of things we want to do with the kids. My cousin Kristi posted this on facebook and I loved the idea! The font is by Emily Jones and would look tons better if I hadn't traced it with fat washable markers. But we don't have a color printer, so it is what it is. And the point isn't to have a cool list on the fridge anyway. See where it says, 'Build a rocket'? It came today! Get ready, Minnesota! It's going to be launched into your beautiful, blue skies next week!

Sunshine and Water

2011-06-03T20:57:00.003-04:00

Memorial Weekend Whirlwind

2011-06-01T07:51:00.007-04:00

This weekend we celebrated cousin Elijah's first birthday, clapped for William when he learned to pull himself up to stand, spent time with Grandpa and Grandma Fink, waved flags at Aurora's Memorial Day parade, and hosted a Memorial Day barbecue. It was a fun, busy weekend!

William's first chocolate chip cookie

2011-06-01T07:36:00.000-04:00

William tried his first chocolate chip cookie last week. It was a hit!

Standing up!

2011-05-31T15:29:00.000-04:00

In which Graham and Inga sing different songs at the same time

2011-05-26T13:56:00.001-04:00

Fink Four PoD 5.24.2011

2011-05-24T15:34:00.000-04:00

Ways to burn calories

2011-05-23T15:27:00.004-04:00

Climb the steps.

Go for a walk.

Hunt roly-poly bugs (and burn a few extra calories for dramatic pleading to keep them as pets).

Stand up, sit down. Stand up, sit down. Beg for m&m's.

Pull yourself up to the coffee table and chew vigorously.

Laugh, laugh, laugh.

Chase the children around all day long.

Awana Sparkie Awards

2011-05-15T21:49:00.004-04:00

We went to awards night tonight. Graham finished his first year as a Spark in Awana and received his first book award for memorizing lots of verses and all of the New Testament books this year. I'm so proud of our little Sparkie!

William and Bop

2011-05-15T16:30:00.000-04:00

Bop and William spent some quality time together this weekend. Here they are: William, and William when he's 62. He's Bop's mini-me!

Ice Cream Cones

2011-05-09T21:49:00.003-04:00

It was the perfect night for ice cream cones outside: blue skies, slight breeze, and no bugs.

Good to the last bite.

Spring

2011-05-08T21:05:00.003-04:00

Monkey Man

2011-05-08T21:04:00.002-04:00

Mother's Day Mud

2011-05-08T20:59:00.002-04:00

The kids love to play behind our shed in our backyard. There are three pine trees back there and a few piles of lawn compost, so it makes the perfect place to hide from bad pirates, hunt naughty bunnies, or turn out super oozy mud pies. Today was mud pie day.

This was Bea's second outfit of the day after her first one got sufficiently drenched. She picked it out herself. Don't judge.

Nasty hands! And yes, Inga is eating a graham cracker with her hands like that.
I'm that kind of a mother.

William can crawl!

2011-05-04T15:53:00.000-04:00

Tundra Lodge

2011-05-02T22:11:00.011-04:00

We drove four hours north to Green Bay this past weekend. David was asked to officiate a wedding for two members of his reserve unit so we decided to make a weekend of it. Some of you may remember the WFH '09. We are happy to report that this past weekend, though equally exhausting, was better than THAT one. Nobody threw up on this trip.
We stayed at Tundra Lodge, home to an indoor water park, numerous dead deer heads mounted on the walls, and a very friendly man dressed as a moose (the current love of Bea's short life).

The water park opened at 9 am Saturday morning, so we had PLENTY of time to eat pop tarts for breakfast in front of the Disney channel.

William worked on his crawling moves over the weekend and can move his fat little body a lot faster, now.

Water park time!

The kids loved watching the fish

and petting the bears.

William loved the mirror.

Saturday afternoon David left for the ceremony and I stayed in the hotel with the kids. We were all invited to the wedding but we like the bride and groom and wanted them to still like us after their big day. The first few hours were fine. The girls slept and Graham, William, and I played with toys and watched tv. We had a family suite, but suite or not, we were all feeling a little cramped by the end of the afternoon. We went on lots of hotel walks, races, hops, etc to see the dead deer, dead bears, fish (one of them was also dead), and ride the elevators.
Finally, it was time to get dressed for the wedding.

The kids were so cute in their outfits and I tried really hard to get a good picture, but it didn't work.

Then Inga started standing on her head, and I felt like I might have to do that, too.

Finally Daddy came to pick us up and we went to the National Railroad Museum for the wedding reception. First, we went on a train ride.

Then, we ate salad. The kids thought this was the meal and kept asking for cake the second they finished their last croutons.

This was the second wedding this month for our family, and Bea and Inga started asking questions about getting married. Earlier this week Graham asked if we were going to the royal wedding (ha!). They got to meet the bride and see her beautiful dress. Then Bea announced that she was going to marry Grandma. (Surprise, Peggy!)

There were lots of train engines and cars to explore - so fun!

Here's the highlight of the whole trip for Bea and Inga, and maybe even Graham:

All in all, it was a good trip. But we left exhausted.

Just another morning

2011-04-27T10:59:00.002-04:00

Here's what we're up to on this dreary, rainy morning.

William can move forward!

2011-04-26T15:31:00.001-04:00

We miss you, Fink and Grandma!

2011-04-26T14:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter - Part II

2011-04-24T22:28:00.006-04:00

When we got home from church we found a note on the doorknob, leading the kids on a wild treasure hunt to find their Easter treasures.

Graham read each clue and then told his sisters where to go!

Daddy played a riveting game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos with the kids. They demanded a rematch.

Egg hunting time!

All of the morning clue-chasing, egg-hunting, and chocolate-eating made us hungry for our Easter dinner.

William and his cousin Elijah hung out together on the floor, taking it all in.

Later in the day we took a family walk to the pond to feed the ducks their Easter dinner, and then played in the backyard.

Daddy and Uncle Tim pushed and pushed and pushed!

Grandma helped the kids try out their new bubbles.

By the end of the night, some of us were sleepy,

some of us were still enjoying the effects of way too many chocolate bunnies and rainbow skittles,

and some of us were just content to be with our family.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T16:15:00.000-04:00

WPoD 4.19.2011

2011-04-19T20:59:00.000-04:00

William has mastered the squinty smile, which is especially cute when it's covered with graham crackers, egg yolk chunks, and banana slime.

Bea and Inga

2011-04-18T09:20:00.002-04:00

Graham and William

2011-04-18T09:11:00.003-04:00

Stinkin' Bunnies

2011-04-12T22:09:00.001-04:00

They didn't get this one...yet.

Pockets full of posies

2011-04-12T22:01:00.002-04:00

When we were in MN two weekends ago Bea and Inga were reunited with their cousin Libby. Ring-Around-the-Rosy was the first of many songs and games, and a glimpse at what will certainly prove to be a sweet relationship with my sister's daughter!

Swinging Saturday away

2011-04-09T20:09:00.002-04:00

Quick MN trip

2011-04-01T09:28:00.004-04:00

We survived the grossest flu we've had, thanks to Gaga's willingness to drive down to IL and care for us, lakes of vomit and all. The kids and I drove up with her a few days earlier than we had planned for a family wedding this weekend. We spent the late afternoon and evening at Fink's last night, playing with Rosie, hangin' with Uncle Josh, getting kisses from Fink, Grandma, and Grandma Great, and cheering on an intense bowling game on the wii.

At Bop and Gaga's house, William's been practicing his best crawling position moves and Graham, Bea, and Inga have enjoyed collecting duck eggs, watching the birds, doing science experiments, playing with Uncle Adam, Uncle Aaron, and Aunt Beth, and eating lots of treats.

Silly Hair, Hyper Boys

2011-03-21T11:21:00.001-04:00

It was silly hair night last night at Awana. William thought it was pretty funny.

Love from Clara City

2011-03-17T16:39:00.000-04:00

Thanks for keeping us toasty warm, Aunt Ginnie!

Getting ready for church...

2011-03-13T09:25:00.002-04:00

is so

MUCH

FUN!

Sarah in Texas: Day 1

2011-03-08T20:31:00.010-05:00

Yesterday Sarah and William boarded an airplane for Texas, where they'll spend the next few days with Auntie Emily, Uncle Shock, and Cousin Libby. Daddy called for reinforcements, and together with "Fink" (that's what the kids call my dad), we're holding down the fort till mommy's return. Grandma-Great offered her contribution to the keep-daddy-sane effort with a bag of Cuties, below. The girls discovered them immediately upon waking up this morning....

Bea, undaunted by Fink's new beard, feeds him grapes for breakfast.

After we got dressed , we all piled in the van and headed downtown--to the Shedd Aquarium. "Hish, hish!" Inga loves fish.

Inga had a blast swinging on the railings all day long.

Here's Graham, checking out the Tiger Stingrays.

Inga squeals with delight as a ray puckers up for a kiss on the glass.

"Inga, put on your life preserver RIGHT NOW!"

Inga cooks up a second breakfast for her siblings.

An Alligator Turtle--possibly the kids' favorite animal attraction at the aquarium.

Penguins. What fun.

By far the biggest hit of the day, however, was the play submarine in the underwater display in the bowels of the aquarium. It nearly took a crowbar to get Graham out of here.

Run silent, run deep....

Bea takes the boat up to periscope depth.

Listening to the girls try to pronounce "anemone" was worth the trip all by itself.

Bea was enamored of the...

Belugas. Of course.

Banana Slime

2011-03-06T22:24:00.000-05:00

Conversations with Graham

2011-03-05T08:21:00.003-05:00

Every day Graham has a rest time when Bea, Inga, and William take their naps. And every day Graham comes down with a new identity. Sometimes he's a rock star, sometimes he's a sloth, sometimes he's a Care Bear (shared in the spirit of transparency, much to David's chagrin). Last week he came down as a Mexican. I recorded it to remember these sweet naptime conversations. He'll be in kindergarten every afternoon next fall and I think I'll miss his imagination.

Indestructibles

2011-03-05T08:10:00.004-05:00

William received this book from our dear friends the Kinghorns. We were delighted to add to our library and especially delighted that this book claims to be indestructible. So far, it has lived up to its name!

William's first swing ride

2011-03-04T14:07:00.001-05:00

Changing diapers

2011-03-04T14:04:00.000-05:00