The Schad Blog: First Half of 2018

Well, between the cabin and the kids and pregnancy and work I have struggled to update the blog with our lives! In an effort to catch up and move forward I'm going to do a catch up post and then start fresh from there.

Here's an update on the kids and us:

Owen

Owen finished first grade this summer. He loved school this year, and rode the bus to school every day! Riding the bus was always his idea and he stayed strong even when he didn’t have any friends riding with him. He would wake up on school days, put the clothes on that he laid out he night before and start watching the clock from 6:30 AM until 7:30 AM when he got to leave for the bus. He made his own lunch and walked to the bus stop by himself. Joey and I were ready and willing to help our little six year old out—but he was Mr. Independent and we thanked him for being so helpful in the mornings!

We are most proud of his teacher’s review that said Owen was kind to everyone and a friend to every kid in first grade. That’s all we can ask for!

Owen celebrated his first communion this June. He also was an alien in his class play. He loves the basketball hoop grandpa sent us. His true love of the year is all things Pokemon. It is a big deal at school and Owen has drawn 100 different Pokemon characters, does chores specifically for Pokemon cards, and the only book he wants to read is Pokemon (which is SO hard for Joey and I to read—all the character names are too hard to pronounce!)

Owen is a huge help with his siblings! He gets up in the morning and pours Levi and Abby their cereal and milk. Joey and I are amazed at this transition to a child that can do some things around the house! We take full advantage and drink coffee together while Owen gives the other two breakfast. We know that he is going to be a huge help with Baby #4. He is so excited!

Levi

Levi did awesome at Preschool this year with Peggy! He loved hanging out with his friends Collin and Henry. He is doing great with his letters and numbers and is SUPER excited to start Kindergarten this August!

His highlight of the year had to be turning 5! Collin and Henry both turned five before he did, and it seemed like FOREVER before he would be old enough to turn five! He asked us so many times “how many more times do I need to sleep before I turn five?” We all celebrated Levi turning five on June 4^th. He got to have Collin over all day and then we all went to the “pizza store’ Round Table for games and dinner. The night ended with a water gun fight turned hose fight and it was a very fun day!

Levi is always making us laugh with the things he says! I swear to myself I’m going to start writing things down. One thing that stands out to me is when Joey took the afternoon off to hang out with just Levi and they went mountain biking. He came home from that special day with Dad and told Owen “don’t ever go on a bike-hike with Daddy!” haha Joey always goes with a little more adventure than necessary. I guess the trail they took was a little more vigorous than his four year old legs could handle.

Levi is an awesome skier! He keeps up with Owen and Joey like it’s no big deal. On another Joey and Levi day Joey accidently took them on a Black Diamond and he said Levi did awesome! What a little champ. I will hopefully never find myself on a Black Diamond, but I am proud that Levi could do it at four years old.

Levi loves to play! He loves tennis, basketball, skiing, “working out” with us, and playing with anything inside! If he is up first he always wants to wake Owen and Abby up so he has someone to play with. And he usually does.

Abby

Abby is such a good tempered sweetheart! We are enjoying every minute of her sweet disposition! Especially knowing that without fail our kids have all gone through the “terrible threes” and because we had such a tough first year with her! She wakes up with a smile on her face and loves everyone she meets! She is outgoing and loves to sit in someone’s lap. We just got back from a week in Butte Meadows with my parents and she came in my room the other day and said “Papa is my friend and Grandma is my friend” When we were in Butte Meadows she asked my mom—“ is Papa your friend, he’s my friend.” She is a great little talker and we crack up at most things that come out of her mouth.

She had two friends at Peggys this year, Tula and Caylen. She thinks there is nothing funnier than saying to one of us “hi Tula!” or “hi Caylen!’ She says that and just bursts out laughing. Funny girl. She holds her own with the boys and fights back if they are trying to take something for her. It has been so fun to see the differences between raising two boys and a little girl. We are so excited for her to meet her new sister in three weeks!

Joey

Joey is working very hard on the cabin on top of his regular job. He is making phone calls in between patients trying to get things set up in Butte Meadows. He also just got the job as the Medical Director of our County Jail. He is doing an awesome job with his regualar jobs and the cabin. The cabin is turning out SO amazing and it really is his vision coming to a reality! It is a ton of work but it really is paying off!

This past winter Joey got to go on a ski trip in Canada for ten days. Other than that he and the kids took quite a few trips over to Northstar. He takes Wednesday afternoons off to hang out with the kids and is always finding something fun and adventurous to do with them.

Karen

I am winding up my last three weeks of pregnancy! Feeling a little hot and swollen at the moment, but am thankful for the light at the end of the tunnel that is August 3rd! It has been a tough pregnancy and I am thankful to finish it off and meeting out newest little girl. I say girl with hesitation since I was told adamantly that we are having a boy and then two months later that we are having a girl. We've never found out before, and didn't want to find out this time either, but the ultrasound tech let us know. But between the two different gender predictions we are still wondering what we are going to have. :) It is kind of fun that the surprise is still kind of there!

I am a year and a half into the pharmacy project, and took my first full week off last week. It was wonderful to get away and my amazing staff did just fine without me. Good thing because I'm about to take six weeks off for maternity leave! :)

It has been a fun stage of ages for our kids and we are really enjoying them! We find ourselves laughing at least as much as we are disciplining so that's a nice ratio. :) Our favorite times together are in Butte Meadows where we have no distractions and I'm not trying to multitask. We are looking forward to a lot more summer memories up there!

Here are a few pics from the past 6 months: