We spent last week in Michigan with my (Janna’s) family. 10 adults, 12 kids (ages 7 and under), 2 babysitters, and one dog all in one house. It was chaotic but so much fun 
Here are several pictures from our week.
Grandpa Coates came over on Monday and helped Chloe and Luke get their fishing poles rigged up to use at our church’s pond.
Grandpa was the only one to catch anything, but the kids were excited about it!
Chloe liked using Grandpa's pole better and says she would catch more fish if she could use it all the time. She did manage to snag a few goldfish.
Luke tried to scare up some fish with his net and by throwing rocks all day at them.
Last week we got my garden planted. This year it will be corn, two kinds of tomatoes (I’m trying to get my spaghetti sauce to taste better), sweet red peppers, green beans, carrots, and zucchini. The kids were anxious to help.
We’ve had a busy few weeks here in the Coates household. One of the things that has been keeping us busy is all of Chloe’s “graduations.” First, she had her final performance for her preschool choir, then she “graduated” from Eels to Rays in swim lessons at the Y, and then came the graduations pictured below. The first pictures are Chloe’s graduation pictures from Preschool. I can’t believe she’ll be in kindergarten next year! There is one of her with her two teachers. Grandma and Grandpa Coates came for the ceremony too so we got a group shot (apparently, even though it was overcast, it was bright out and so Chloe, Luke and Levi are all squinting/looking away from the camera .
The next set of pictures is from Chloe’s graduation from Cubbies. Cubbies is the preschool portion of our AWANA program at church. Chloe memorized her verses every week for the past two years. We’re very proud of her!
Tonight our beautiful daughter had her pictures taken at Sears. Click here (on the words Click Here) to see them.
The past two days have been a celebration of Chloe’s birthday. These first pictures are from today. After eating out together for Mother’s Day, we headed home with Grandma and Grandpa Coates for birthday cake and presents. Here’s the beautiful birthday girl. 
One of her presents was a new bat for T-ball. Another favorite was a pair of roller skates. Here she is testing them out. 
When she heard that I had a pair of roller blades she asked me to put them on and skate with her. 
Saturday was Chloe’s birthday party. Here are the cupcakes we made for the day. This year we celebrated with a gymnastics/obstacle course party at the YMCA. Fifteen kids gathered for an hour of fun stations with all the gymnastics equipment (with two gymnastics teachers overseeing/leading everything), and then an hour in the party room where we had pizza, opened presents, and had cake (with a party hostess who saw to all the details). It was a lot of fun. Here is the gang from the party.
Today we went with Nathan’s parents to EnterTRAINment Junction as part of Luke’s birthday celebration. It is a really neat place not too far from us that opened last August. The kids really had fun looking at all the model trains and watching them go on the tracks. The scenery and attention to every small detail was pretty amazing. There was also a large area with activities for the kids so we stayed busy all morning. 
This picture shows just a tiny part of one of the towns. You can imagine the time it took to put this all together. Everything on this set was put together from scratch too! The second picture above is a view overlooking part of the display. To get an idea of the size, look carefully in the middle of the picture…there is a person walking through a path in the display.
Daddy and the birthday boy 
Levi wants to thank everyone who prayed for him. He’s about 98% better now. Yeah!! 
The week before Easter Levi got his first ear infection. He was on amoxicillin for ten days but the ear infection didn’t go away. So a week later I took him back to the doctor where he was put on Augmentin. Day five (out of ten) of Augmentin was Tuesday. At five p.m. on Tuesday we noticed a few bumps on Levi’s neck. Two hours later they had multiplied and spread. I took him to the doctor that night where I was told he was having an allergic reaction to the penicillin (an ingredient in both drugs named above). I was told to give him Benedryl and wait it out. The next morning when he woke up it had spread even more, now his entire tummy and much of his back was red. This morning when he woke up his entire face was covered. So, we’ve been to the doctor for three straight days now. Also today he started running a fever. So now he’s back on different meds for his ear infection (which is causing the fever) and still on Benedryl for itchiness and Tylenol for fever. The official diagnosis is Eyrithema Multiforma but even that is not for sure. The doctor said it could take 2-3 weeks to be gone completely. But still we wait. So, please pray for Levi.
Today Luke turned three. I can’t believe how time flies. I vividly remember the day he was born. Everyone tells you as a parent to savor every moment because all too soon your kids are grown. I often find myself trying to capture moments in my head so that I can bring them to mind as he grows. He is a sweet boy who loves to have fun and craves attention. He almost always has a smile on his face. It seems in the last month or so he’s really started to gain speed with certain things like knowing his letters, learning the words to and singing songs, memorizing Bible verses, and basic conversation skills. His favorite things are cars, trains, cars, playing outside, cars, playing with friends, and cars. We thank God for Luke and feel blessed to have him as part of our family. 
by Janna
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