A piece of my childhood

Olivia has been getting into everything!!!  She crawls everywhere in the house and pulls herself up on almost everything.  Nothing is safe any more.   (I had hoped that she would be stationary for a little while longer, but she is preparing to walk before she is 10 months old.)  With that in mind I knew that I was going to have to do something about Micah & Rebecca's toys.  Princess shoes and Kinex are not ideal toys for an infant who puts everything in her mouth.  I didn't feel that it was right to make the older two keep all of their toys in the basement all the time and I didn't want to drop a load of cash on a baby proof toy organization system.  So, what did I do?  Raided my parent's basement for a piece of my childhood!

My great-grandpa made us a toy box or a deacon's bench (not sure why it is called that) when I was a child.  It has been buried in my parent's basement with treasures from my brother's childhood stored inside.  My mom had offered it to us at some point and I finally decided to take her up on her offer. 

It is neat to have a piece of my childhood sitting in our living room and see my children enjoying it!  Of course we had to take some photos before we filled it up with Micah & Rebecca's toys and books.

 Olivia in front of the bookshelf that once contained her brother & sister's toys & books, but now hold her stuff!

The deacon's bench with Micah & Rebecca's stuff in it.  How long do you think it will stay this neat? :)

How much fun can you have with a cardboard box?

Just how much fun can three kids have with one cardboard box?  Any parent will know that answer - A LOT!  I ordered some shoes online and it took me awhile to get rid of the box.  As you can see - the kids didn't mind!

Tulip Time

Early May always means the Tulip Festival for our family.  With our deep Dutch heritage we can hardly imagine missing it and Micah's school is heavily involved in the parades and with a food booth.  The kids and I all acquired Dutch costumes this year (Much thanks to my mom for making Olivia's and mine!) and strutted our stuff in the afternoon parades on Thursday & Friday.  Micah rode and old bike with the school kids, Rebecca rode in a wagon with the school kids as a "Student of Tomorrow" and Olivia and I walked in the baby parade.  On Saturday I volunteered at the school's food booth.  As always Tulip Time is lots of fun and lots of work!  I can hardly believe that we are just starting to get involved with the craziness of Tulip Time.  There will be many, many, many more years of Dutch costumes and volunteering ahead of this family!

 Micah picking out his bike for the parade on Thursday.

 Rebecca with one of her future classmates.

 My little Dutch kids!

 The whole Dutch family, wait, we are missing Daddy!  :)

 Not sure what was going on here, but it is a fun picture!

 Pretty girl smelling the pretty tulips!

 Super happy baby!

I convinced my friend Theresa to join Olivia and I in the baby parade with her twins.  There is nothing cuter than a bunch of babies in Dutch costumes!  Thanks for joining us!