The This and That of Everyday Life

Conquering the Dust

2012-01-09T14:17:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning I decided that I was going to make some changes to my bedside table. We had some some rearranging in the living room and a larger end table was no longer being used. I decided that I wanted it by the bed so I would have a little more space.

So, I moved the smaller table out of the way and started picking up the variety of items that had fallen off it. I happened to look behind our bed, mistake or not, I am not sure, but what was there surprised me.

Huge globs of nasty dust! I never imagined that all that dust was a mere foot away from my head as a slept! Gross!

Earlier in the week Nick and I had been talking about the dust build up around the house. Dust is one thing that does not bother me. Food crumbs sticking to the bottom of my feet - yes. So the vacuuming and sweeping usually get done while the dusting does not. All of a sudden the dust seems to have a life of its own and is sticking to everything and is EVERYWHERE!

My guess is that prior to moving into this house 5+ years ago, Nick and I had never lived anywhere for more than 22 months. Moving often means that dust doesn't build up, right? (Well, at least not to the extent that it does after 5 years.) We were also only a family of 2 or 3 (after Micah came along) and now there is 5 of us living and breathing and stirring things up around this house.

With that all said, I am thinking that I might just have to change my tone on dusting and break out the dust rag once and awhile. The dust behind the bed is no longer there and we are swiping it away whenever we see it.

Once again, fun times from our exciting household.

(You know that life is exciting when you are blogging about dust.....)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-09T14:02:00.004-06:00

I know, I know.... it is a little late, but late is better than never, right? :)

For us Christmas is only partially over. Yes our Christmas tree is down, but the celebrations are not over. My sister, brother-in-law and niece are scheduled to come home in early February so we have on last celebration with them once they arrive! (We are sooooo excited to see them!)

For now, here is a brief recap of our Christmas celebrations. Of course, I forgot to take pictures at all the gatherings. :(

My dad's family got together on the Friday before Christmas and we met at a hotel and the kids (and their parents) went swimming. As always it was a good time. Some of my cousins who live out of state were able to make it home so it was a good time of reconnecting with them.

Christmas Eve found us heading to a beautiful Christmas Eve service at our church with my parents. We had supper together and then the kids opened one gift each from Grandpa and Grandma. My mom had made all the grand-kids PJs and my niece had already received hers so it was my kid's turn. They were excited to try them on and then get on down to bed so that morning would come!

Christmas morning found us at home as a family. The older two woke up Olivia and she was less than thrilled with the idea. :) I tried to get a picture of the kids in front of the tree, but it didn't work so well. They are modeling the PJs from Grandpa & Grandma though. :)

Christmas noon found us with Nick's mom's side of the family. The kids all received one gift from Great-Grandma and then we all played BINGO. It was a huge success and I look forward to playing it again next year!

The older two received Pillow Pets which have been used night and day since they received them! Who knew that a thing would be such a hit!

Christmas night was spent with Nick's parent's and sister. It was a relaxing enjoyable time with family. Olivia conquered her big gift and spent most of the evening banging and standing on the box.

The kids received a few smaller gifts and then they had one "big" gift from Nick's parents......

A Wii!!!! They were thrilled and it has been put to use a lot since it was opened. I think that we are going to have to find a way to get some more games for it very soon!

It has been a great start to our Christmas season! Can't wait for my parent's to set their tree up and celebrate one more time! :)

Christmas Program Weekend

2011-12-11T20:27:00.001-06:00

The 2nd weekend in December is quickly becoming Christmas Program weekend at our house. Friday night the school has its Christmas program. Saturday morning is program practice for church and then Sunday night is the the church Christmas program. While it is a big weekend we plan in advance and there are NO other activities scheduled for this weekend. We give the kids down time while they are home and there is the required Saturday morning sleep-in and Sunday afternoon nap. :) With all of that in place the kids all did terrific! So proud of all them (even Olivia who managed to stay in the pew for the entirety of both programs!) Here are some photos from the programs.

The K-2nd grade playing the bells at the school program. Micah is in the back row on left and Rebecca is in the front row on the right.

Rebecca waiting to begin. Not sure what she is doing....

The entire student body at the children's school.

Church program - Micah is in the back row 5th from the left and Rebecca is in the 2nd row on the left.

Micah had a reading part and did a wonderful job!

Miss Olivia enjoying some Cheerios and the church program. Still smiling!

Rebecca was in charge of hanging on of the ornaments on the Jesse Tree. Stretching as high as she can!

All of the Sunday School kids ages 2 1/2 to 5th grade.

I am so thankful for all the teachers at school and at church who take the extra time to teach our children some of the important lessons at Christmas time. We appreciate all that you do for our children and we know that you reward will be great!

Cute Kids

2011-12-03T20:39:00.001-06:00

I hate to break it to you folks, but our kids are the cutest. So thankful to have these blessings in our lives.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-03T20:22:00.001-06:00

Before Christmas is here I wanted to take a moment to stop and post about Thanksgiving.

The kids both had plays at school right before Thanksgiving. Micah's class acted out the 1st Thanksgiving. Micah played the Indian Chief.

Here he is telling the white settlers how to hunt and how to fish . (He is in the red and white striped shirt)

The first Thanksgiving meal.

Our Indian Chief! :)

Rebecca's class had been reading several versions of the 3 Little Pigs. So, as a class, they wrote their own version and then acted it out for us.

Rebecca and one of her classmates held up signs for the audience so that we would know what was happening.

Our cute pink pig!

We have kind of developed a routine with our family gatherings and so it has been easier to plan for them. My family on Thanksgiving Day and Nick's dad's family on Friday night and his mom's family on Sunday. I don't have pictures from all the gatherings, but here are a few.

On Thanksgiving Day the weather was beautiful! Normally a large group takes a walk or does something outside. Some years it has been really cold and so not many have gone. This year there was a nice breeze and so my dad dug out his kites and we flew kites for a while in the afternoon. What fun it was!

Grandpa and Rebecca

My cousin and Micah!

Flying the stunt kite with Daddy.

Olivia and my cousin's daughter. So cute!

Friday evening was spent swimming in a hotel pool with extended family and cousins. Of course the kids loved swimming and it was Nick enjoyed visiting with some of his cousins that we only see every few years.

Sunday lunch was again a good time of reconnecting with family and remembering all that we have to be thankful for.

God has blessed us in many ways!

Not a baby

2011-11-21T21:05:00.001-06:00

We are officially done with the bottle and the pacifier. Sigh.

Much like our older two, Olivia gave up the pacifier and the bottle without much fuss. I forgot the pacifier when I brought her to the babysitter's one day and she did quite well with out it and so we decided that it might just be the easiest time to get rid of it.

I really wasn't ready for Olivia to give up the bottle, but she was. I kept hoping that she would drink her bottle, snuggle down and fall asleep in my arms one last time. Olivia, like her older sister, isn't much of a snuggler. Sigh.

While that is a WONDERFUL thing, it is also a little sad to think that my baby doesn't need these "baby" items any more. The bottles are sitting on my counter all ready to be boxed up and put in the basement. The pacifiers are in her dresser drawer just waiting for me to throw them away.

I am so grateful that my children are healthy and happy and that they are growing and learning just as they are.

Maybe getting rid of the bottle and pacifier is just another sign of how much I have to be thankful for and to never take my growing children for granted.

Trick or Treat

2011-11-06T20:49:00.001-06:00

Once again we dressed the kids up for Trick or Treating, seeing some relatives and visiting my work. Yes, if you know our family you will notice that some of these costumes have been worn before. :) Just trying to get our money's worth out of them! The kids had a ton of fun and it is always cute to see them all dressed up!

Trying to get a group picture. Trust me - this is as good as it got. :)

I dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz (thanks to Melissa for letting me borrow the costume!) and the girls came to hand out paystubs on October 31. So Dorothy had the Cowardly Lion and Glenda the Good Witch!

Our pretty princess.

At my parents - Olivia was really not sure what to do. :)

Me too! Don't forget me here in the back!

Again!

This is so much fun!

Done Trick or Treating and now handing out candy to others!

Fun times by all and PLENTY of candy for all! :)

Stitches

2011-10-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

For the 2nd time in her 5 years, Miss Rebecca had to have stitches. Sigh. I truthfully never imagined that she would have more stitches than her brother. Just over two years ago she had 2 stitches in her ring finger after getting it pinched in the mechanism of a reclining couch. After two rounds of liquid stitches the dr. opted for the real thing and apparently it is one Rebecca's first memories.

Two weeks ago tomorrow night, Rebecca was being such a big girl by helping me set the table. We were literally minutes away from sitting down to a supper that I knew everyone would eat without complaining when she slipped and her feet went one way and her head went the other way and smacked (and I mean smacked) into the corner of our decorative floor boards.

After much screaming, blood and a consultation with grandma (who is an EMT) it was a determined that trip to the ER was necessary. Of course the dr. first words upon looking at the injury were "Yup, that's going to need stitches." Rebecca started getting all worked up again and I could have smacked the dr. Rebecca whimpers, "I don't want stitches, stitches hurt!" (Apparently she remembers the battle to get the stitches in her finger.) After lots of comforting words from mom and dad, a sheet (to wrap her up like a coon - which she thought was awesome!) and some magic medicine the dr. was able get 7 stitches in without much drama. Whew!

Ouch!

I must say that the incident has not changed one thing about her. She still skips and "floats" around the house like she has no care in the world and there is not a single ounce of danger. I find myself telling her to be more careful all the time. I don't want her to lose her care-free attitude, but I would like this to be the last round of stitches for her!

Still smiling!

A Minute in Olivia's Life

2011-10-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

I took a little video of Olivia the other day. It seems to be a good representation of how she is nearly every minute. Just imagine this video 60 times over for about 12 hours a day. Busy girl!

Happy 1st Birthday!

2011-10-10T21:30:00.000-05:00

A few days late, but Olivia's 1st was on October 6. There are days when I truly can not believe that she has been with us for a year and then there are days when it seems like she has been with us for 10 years! She is a smiley, happy, ornery little girl who keeps us all on our toes, but showers us with smiles and hugs. We love you baby girl!

Olivia just a few days old. We were so impressed that she would sleep without being swaddled!

From her 1st birthday party. Such a big girl! They grow and change so much in that 1st year! (I love the bib that says "I'm a Hoot!")

Happy Birthday Aunt Melinda!

2011-09-28T20:42:00.000-05:00

Couldn't get this to post to her facebook page so I had to put it here. Happy birthday Aunt Melinda from you favorite nieces and nephew!

Return to Blogging?

2011-09-24T20:47:00.001-05:00

Over the last several weeks, I have kept telling myself that I need to return to our blog. Since Olivia's arrival it is one of those things that has been put on the back burner especially since I actively participate in Facebook. Facebook is wonderful because you can post photos with a brief caption and then move on. However, I don't like it because so often the little details of a story or how you are feeling get lost. So, with the hope that after next weekend things might slow down just a bit and I truly hoping to return to blogging. (The 2nd weekend in October is only the 2nd weekend since the first of August that we haven't had something significant on the calendar.) Poor Olivia has been severely neglected from the blog and, let me tell you, there are plenty of stories from her first year of life! So here's to hoping that I can return to blogging! Don't wish me luck - wish me a less busy schedule! :)

Tornado

2011-06-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

I never thought that I would be able to say that a tornado hit the town where I lived. I figured the one that hit my grandparent's house a few years ago would be as close as I ever got & that was just fine with me. On Monday morning that changed.

We arrived home from vacation on Sunday evening at 5:00 and got ourselves someone settled back into our house. Everything was inside except for the pool toys which were still a little damp and so I put them on the table on the back patio to dry.

Between 5 & 5:15 Nick and I woke up to hard rain and what we thought was hail. We noticed that the electricity was flickering and eventually went out. We both dozed in and out until we got out of bed in the morning. Sometime between then and 6:30 Rebecca woke up screaming because their basement bedroom was pitch black and Nick went outside to visit the neighbors and assess the damage. At that point we all thought that is was just straight line winds.

This is what we found out later in the day. An EF1 tornado came through town with absolutely no warning. What Nick and I thought was hail was actually our neighbors tree branch landing our our roof. The wind eventually took the branch off our roof and put it on our neighbor's roof. My parent's (who live diagonally across the street from us) lost a huge branch out of their tree and the wind carried it to our driveway preventing us from getting out of our driveway. We lost a few shingles and we are not sure what will have to be done about that, but that was the extent of our damage.

Many people in town had water in their basement. (Thanks to dear friends we borrowed a generator to keep our sump pump running and the water out of our basement.) Trees all over town are thinner or completely gone. All together 3 of our neighbors lost 6 huge pine trees. Sheds, fences, and patios were damaged, but no homes sustained major damage. A storage building near our home lost a chunk of the building and is now condemned and the debris from the building knocked over headstones in the cemetery and was spread all over the cemetery and football field. (A little even made it to our yard.)

We are so thankful that it was not any worse. You look at pictures of Joplin, MO and hear the stories from there and you realize just how blessed we were. No warning, everyone asleep in their bed and no one was hurt. Thank you Lord for your protective hand.

This is our neighbor's to the west. Those two trees were probably between 25-30 years old. I now understand why they went to the basement.

From our front step, cleaning up the 2 pine trees. We can now see our neighbors two houses down!

The pile of branches left in mom and dad's front yard. Someone took the large pieces of the stump, but left the branches. I didn't get a good picture of it across our driveway. To many things going on at that time!

Where the branch feel from. They also have some that are still hanging in the tree. They are talking about taking the whole tree down. The ice storm a few years ago and now this tornado have taken a huge toll on this tree.

The neighbors to the west from my parent's garage. It looks like it did when I was growing up and the pine trees were just little!

Our neighbor to the east watching the tree company take care of his debris. It was their tree branch that landed on our roof and the blew over to their house.

A little hard to see, but we all had leaves, grass and junk stuck to the south and west sides of our houses.

A piece of my childhood

2011-05-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

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?

2011-05-22T19:23:00.000-05:00

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

2011-05-09T21:02:00.001-05:00

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!

Shoebox Swap

2011-04-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

Once again I participated in the Shoebox Swap put on by Carrie at with all that i've been given. It was so fun! I love getting packages in the mail and this is a great way to meet someone and do some giving! Here is the picture of items that I received from Crystal. The theme was Nest and what makes your home your nest. Crystal did a great job of sending me items that I can use! Thanks Crystal for a wonderful shoebox!

Springtime Fun

2011-04-19T21:49:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't know it today (it was super cold and rainy!), but spring has arrived. The kids are outside more and are loving the sunshine and fresh air. I love the fact that they have more room to run! Here are some photos of our spring thus far!

We had a storm on a Sunday evening and the kids were fascinated with the hail. No damage, which was a good thing!

Super flexible baby! She loves her toes and she always wants them in her mouth!

Watching the kids outside!

Becca and one of the neighbor boys.

Yes, Olivia is almost crawling. She is growing so fast and is already scooting way faster than her older brother & sister ever did! I think that she will be moving way before I am ready!

Little League

2011-04-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

Micah is moving up in the baseball world and is making the step from t-ball to rookies little league. He is sooooo excited! He has a couple of practices under his belt and you can be sure that there will be more updates here through out the summer!

Becca playing on the pile of sand/dirt during practice.

The little man in action!

What do you do when your baby wants to sleep during practice? Put them in the trunk! LOL! She only slept for 20 mins, but it was so cute! :)

Baby Ellie!!!!

2011-04-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

Out of all the babies that have been born the last several months the one that I was most excited for was my sister and brother-in-law. Ellie Elizabeth was born on March 23. She was nearly a week late and so we were thrilled when she finally decided to make her appearance. We have only seen her over Skype as they live in Uruguay, but my parent's were able to go down and see them for two weeks. We can't wait until she is able to come to the States to meet us all but technology is wonderful. Tonight Rebecca and I sang "Jesus Loves Me" to her over the computer and it seemed like she was really listening to us! :) We love you Ellie Elizabeth (and Brian & Melinda)!

Singing to Ellie.

3 weeks old

The gifts that I made for Ellie and sent down with my parents. A bottle bag and couple pairs of booties!

Kindergarten Round Up

2011-04-12T21:47:00.000-05:00

At the end of March, Rebecca joined her big brother on the bus and rode to school for Kindergarten Round Up. While she is doing well is preschool I can hardly believe that she is old enough for kindergarten! However she is more than ready and was thrilled that she was able to ride the bus with Micah to school. This fall will be really different when they are both gone to school all day. At least Olivia will still be around for a few years to keep me company. :)

She was soooo excited to be able to carry her pink lunch box! :)

Bowling

2011-04-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

We decided that it was high time that we took the kids bowling and while we were at it we thought that we would take Grandpa & Grandma along as well! So much fun!!! I don't quite remember what the scores were, but I know that the kids did just as well as adults! LOL!

Winter Photos

2011-04-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

Lots of photos of the kids during the winter. I have been making an extra effort to make sure that I take lots of pictures of Olivia as a baby. Don't want my 3rd child to think her mommy didn't care enough to take any photos! Here are some pictures from our winter.

Sleepytime with dad

Micah's 1st grade class with the 2nd class at chapel. Don't remember if they were singing or reciting their memory work....

Not sure what to say about this.... :)

Olivia had a bout with RSV. She didn't have to go the hospital, but it was a long recovery and really drained mom & dad.

The kids helping me with my Supper Swapper meal. I think that we made something like 120+ meat balls.

Friends & Babies!

2011-04-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

Seems like everyone we know is having babies these days! Sooooo exciting! I have had a chance to get together with a few of them.

These are my friends Amy & Beth. Amy's daughter Autumn was born the first part of January and Beth is due in June. It has been along time since we have seen each other and our visit was short, but it was still a lot of fun!

4 of my family members were/are expecting within 6-9 months after Olivia was born. 3 of them are here and they are all girls and we know that the last one is a girl too! We are talking 5 baby girls in 10 months! That is a lot of pink! This is picture of Olivia and my cousin Cali's little girl Lilly who was born right before Christmas. Lilly was baptized a little more than a week ago and we joined her for the celebration. It was the first time the 2nd cousin met and it was so fun to see them check each other out!

SuperBowl

2011-04-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

This year the Super Bowl held a little extra excitement as the Green Bay Packers were playing. We had some friends over and had a wonderful evening. Micah was extremely excited that we let him stay up and watch the whole game and to top it off the Packers won! Not sure that Micah grasps how rare it is for your favorite NFL team to win, but it sure was fun!

Just a little pre-game fun!

Winter Time Fun

2011-04-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

The last several years Nick's parent's have treated us to a winter getaway at a local hotel. This year we spent a night at a resort in February (yes I know I am behind!). It was a nice reprieve from the winter cold! Here are some photos from the weekend.

The Stuff

2011-03-02T18:57:00.001-06:00

This is quickly becoming my theme song for my life. Not that I have lost my keys or phone or been pulled over, but it resonates with my heart because there seems to be so much "stuff" that is a normal part of life that is just driving me crazy! Dirty dishes, piles of laundry, sick kids, lack of sleep, crazy schedules and a lack of sanity to name a few! It is a reminder to me that despite all this "stuff" God is present and I truly am blessed.

I put two versions of the song here because I wanted you to know what the lyrics say. The first one has the lyrics and the second is a live performance of the song.

Living Room Sleepover

2011-02-22T07:45:00.000-06:00

The kids get to sleep here.....

when their bedroom looks like this.

Didn't know you could get water in your basement in February!

Downloading

2011-02-13T17:06:00.000-06:00

I realized a few days ago that it had been awhile since I downloaded the pictures of our camera. I was just taking a few new pictures every week and didn't take the time to download them to our computer. I also realized that I hadn't updated the blog in a few days, er weeks. So I am combining both efforts. Here is a brief review of what has been going on in our house for the last month!

Olivia received a Baby Bumbo as a gift. It is fun to see her sit up and enjoy the world. This was taken back in mid January so she has changed quite a bit since then!

Micah is still "in love" with his baby sister. However you can see that Olivia has more than a few concerns about her goofy big brother.

Nick's parents took us all to a local resort that has an indoor water park. It is a nice reprieve from the winter doldrums. This was Olivia's first time in a swimming suit. She seemed to really enjoy herself, but she got cold pretty quickly.

Of course, Micah and Rebecca were more than thrilled to go swimming. Last winter we were at the same resort and Rebecca was extremely timid. However after some swimming lessons she has gained a lot of confidence in the water and even went down the smallest slide - quite an accomplishment for this one!

Micah was thrilled that he was finally big enough to go down the "big" slide. He made many trips down. I think that he is going to inherit his father's sense of thrill!

When we stay in a hotel the older two end up sharing a bed. It becomes quite an ordeal when the run into each other in the night. As you can see they don't really "stay on their own side."

Happy Baby! Olivia has learned to roll and often she rolls off the blanket we put on the floor. I would rather that she stay on the blanket - she doesn't have much hair on the back of her head and I am sure the carpet isn't helping matters!

Here is our version of a Super Bowl pre-game show - wrestling with the guests! It was an exciting Super Bowl for us this year as we are Packer supporters. Micah was soooo excited that his team won! He was also excited that we got to have some friends over to play with during the game.

I love this little outfit that Olivia received for Christmas. The smiley flower on her backside just makes my day!

The easiest way for me to see how much Olivia has grown is see Micah or Rebecca hold her. They were able to hold her pretty easily when she was born, but now that she has grown and can wiggle around it isn't always so easy for them any more!

Sisters soaking up some afternoon sun!

Our dear little one all wrapped up and sound asleep. I don't think we will be able to do this for much longer so I wanted to record it.

So I think that you are all caught up with us now! Come back next month for another update! LOL! :)

Growing

2011-01-14T13:01:00.000-06:00

Even though Olivia is still just a little peanut according to the medical charts, I still can't believe how much she has grown in the last 3 months. It is easy to see when one of the kids try to hold her. She fit so nice in Micah's arms a few months ago and now he has a hard time handling her head, arms and legs! :)

She has been a good little baby, but has only slept through the night once. (This mommy would really like it to be a little more often.) It seems like we have a little stretch where we struggle with something, but then it passes and things are well again.

Here are some new picture of our little one!

Nick always brings Olivia to see me right after her bath and she can pull some funny faces!

She is smiling all the time these days and is so close to being able to roll over. Growing up so fast!

She had her first taste of baby cereal the other night and she loved it!

She is really enjoying laying on the floor. Here she is laying on the quilt that my mom made for her and she is being entertained by her big sister!

Olivia is pretty happy as long as there is someone nearby who looks at her every now and then. That is what was happening during this peaceful moment.

More smiles!

Snug as a bug! Like the other two she sleeps best when she is wrapped up. She actually got her hand out during this nap time and was still sleeping! So precious!

Christmas

2011-01-14T12:44:00.000-06:00

So I know that Christmas is long past, but I wanted to get a few pictures posted before I completely forgot. Christmas was a wonderful season and we enjoyed it with many family gatherings!

Olivia helping me with the monkey bread for Christmas morning breakfast.

Micah & Rebecca enjoying their gifts from my parents.

Olivia enjoying a little snuggle time with Daddy.

At Nick's grandma's for Christmas lunch.

Two of the requested items - a Packers helmet & a Barbie!

Future Packer?

At Nick's parent's on Christmas night.

Christmas exhaustion set in for Olivia.

Swimming with my dad's side of the family.

Sibling Love

2010-12-13T20:49:00.000-06:00

I thought I had better write this post while I still think it is true. :) Before Olivia arrived we wondered how the older two would react with a new baby in the house. We have been pleasantly surprised. Both Micah & Rebecca have taken to Olivia and are always wanting to help calm her when she gets upset. We have been able to capture many precious moments on the camera so I wanted to share them with you. I will probably look back at this post in the years to come and try to remember when the kids "liked" each other.

Farewell

2010-12-01T10:10:00.000-06:00

My sister and brother-in-law (Melinda & Brian) left on Monday night to start their mission work in Maldonado, Uruguay. It was a heart wrenching moment when we had to say good-bye to them, but God has asked to send them on their way with our blessing and so we are doing so. They arrived safely on Tuesday night, but their 10 pieces of luggage are dragging their feet and decided that they didn't want to arrive on time. While we will miss them terribly we are so thankful for the modern technology that allows us to stay in contact. (Facebook and Skype are wonderful!) Here are some photos from the airport and the final good-byes.

Melinda finishing the taping and zip-tying of their totes. We wanted to weigh them before we sealed them all shut.

The kids playing on their luggage.

A final photo with my them. Olivia has loved having Uncle Brian across the street - not sure what she is going to do without him!

Up the steps to security they go. We miss them already, but we love them and know that they are following God's plan for them!

Baptism

2010-11-18T11:45:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday we had the privilege of baptizing Olivia. It was a special time for us to commit ourselves to raising her to follow our Lord and Savior. It was extra special because friends of our baptized their twins who were born just a month before Olivia. It was wonderful to share the day with them!

Olivia wore the same dress as her grandma, mom, aunt and big sister.

It was also special because Micah & Rebecca were able to sing in church with their Sunday School classes. I actually got some good pics because we sat so close to the front! :) (Micah is 2nd from the left in the back and Rebecca is in the 2nd row about in the middle.)

Trick or Treat

2010-10-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

This year we had a pit crew member, a mouse and a little tiny puppy. Not much candy, but they still had tons of fun! :)

Poor Baby

2010-10-29T13:30:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know our family, know that we have a history of ear troubles with our kids. Micah had several (& I mean several) ear infections prior to his first (& only) set of tubes. Rebecca has had the same difficulty but to a higher degree. More ear infections and 2 sets of tubes along with her adenoids being taken out. (Both of them are doing much better, but I do anticipate that Rebecca will have at least one ear infection this winter.) What I can't believe is that our littlest member is heading down the same path as her brother and sister.

Just over a week ago Rebecca came home with a cold. No big deal for her, but for her 2 week old sister it is a big deal. Try as we may to keep them apart, Olivia came down with her sister's cold starting last week Friday. Of course I was concerned that Olivia would come down with RSV just because she is so little. We kept a close eye on her all weekend and with no improvement I decided to take her to the doctor on Monday just to make sure everything was okay.

On Sunday evening I had said to Nick, "Watch, I bet that she has an ear infection." I really just said it in jest and we both dismissed it because we had never heard of a 2 1/2 week old with an ear infection. Besides she didn't act like her ear hurt.

Monday morning came and I took her to the doctor. After closely listening to her heart & lungs he checked out her teeny, tiny ears and low and behold - fluid and redness(!) - a sure sign that there is an infection. Both the doctor and I (and the student doctor) were so surprised. Here it is only October and the smallest member of a family with a history of ear infection has an ear infection - sounds like it could be a long winter....

A round of antibiotics was prescribed and Tylenol on an as need basis and things seem to be looking up for little Olivia.

Sleeping has posed some interesting situations and Olivia has slept in several different positions in the hope of getting her to sleep. Here is a photo from yesterday. I smashed the Bobby pillow into the cradle to both prop her up and hold her tight. Big brother has also been great at holding her and comforting her.

We hope that it was just a freak one - time occurrence, but we will have to see what the coming months bring.

Welcome Olivia!

2010-10-11T07:07:00.000-05:00

Olivia Faith was born at 7:45 on Wednesday, October 6. She weighed 6 lb 6 ozs and was 20.25 inches long. She is a wonderful addition to the family and her big brother and sister are absolutely in love with her. Here are a few snap shots from her first days of life.

Getting closer!

2010-09-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

The kid's paper chain is getting shorter and mom is soooo thankful! Becca was sitting on the couch by me earlier this week and she rubbed my stomach and said "Mom, I think it is time for the baby to come." All I could do was sit and agree with here. We are all getting a bit impatient, but we know that God has everything planned. Hopefully this little one will be arriving soon!

Tooth Problems :)

2010-09-05T11:19:00.000-05:00

Someone is going to have a hard time eating in the next few months! :)

Fishing Round 2

2010-08-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

Uncle Brian & Aunt Melinda got Micah a fishing pole for his birthday and since Micah's parent's do not fish that means that they have to take him! :) Thursday afternoon after school was a perfect afternoon for a little bit of fishing. He had a marvelous time even if the Lighting McQueen fishing pole didn't bring any fish in.

Checking out the afternoon's catches.

The kids were very curious. Becca even touched one! I was so shocked!

Micah holding up the fish (even though none of them belonged to him).

Great photo with Uncle Brian and Aunt Melinda! Micah had a wonderful time again and Becca was just thrilled to be there for 5 minutes! :)

Birthday Party Fun!

2010-08-27T12:43:00.000-05:00

As in the years past we celebrated Micah & Rebecca's birthday at the same time. (Both August birthdays - it is a lot easier to do just one party!) It was a fun night with the family and, of course, food! :)

Recent Flooding

2010-08-27T12:36:00.000-05:00

I finally find time to do this post now that the rivers are going back down. It is hard to believe that amount of rain that we received a few weeks ago. One Sunday we were going to go to Nick's parents for the evening and started to hear reports that there was water over the road. So we headed out like normal. :) Fortunately the water never made it over the road, but as you will see from the pics it was as close as anyone had ever seen it.

What I find crazy is that there shouldn't be any water in any of these pictures! There should be crops growing where there is water! At least it stopped raining, but not before many farmers lost their crops and many homes were damaged. :(

Ozarks Fun

2010-08-15T21:22:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we had the treat of heading to the Ozarks for a long weekend with Nick's family. A lovely relaxing weekend was had by all!

Becca first trip down the waterslide. She was terrified, but she went 2 more times!

Micah slipping and sliding his way down.

At one point we shared our pool with a large frog. Micah was not to excited about this swimming beside him.

After much commotion and work, Nick was finally able to capture the unwelcome guest and threw him far into the timber.

My handsome men after a hot night of mini-golf!

Fishing

2010-08-02T18:39:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Uncle Brian and Aunt Melinda took Micah (and Nick) fishing. Micah had a great time. He didn't catch anything, but he was thrilled with the experience and hopefully there will be more fishing in his future!

Micah tells me that this was the 1st fish of the day. Can you see the excitement on his face?!?!

The little fisherman.

Probably getting some tips from Uncle Brian, the resident fishing expert.

Thanks, Uncle Brian and Aunt Melinda, for a great afternoon!

Rain Fun

2010-07-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

This is something I rarely let me kids do.

It was an afternoon last week and the kids had had it with their mother who can't do anything fun this summer. I stirred up some sidewalk paint and sent them outside with some new paint brushes. I knew that it was probably going to rain, but they needed to do something different even if it was for only 10 mins.

It started to sprinkle and Micah got a little nervous (we have a new found fear of storms). After explaining that it was just rain and that a little water wouldn't hurt him he went back out to continue painting. Well, it wasn't long and the skies opened giving my kids and outdoor shower. I just sat back and watched them splash in puddles and get soaked from head to toe.

Yes it was pouring!

My soaked pretty princess.

I think the fear is gone. (At least for this day!)

Nothing like a little rain to bring out a little brotherly/sisterly love!

Sparkler Fun

2010-07-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

No fireworks for us this year, but we let the kids do some sparklers. Amazing how a little sparkle on the end of stick can wow the children! :)

First sparkler of the evening.

Me Too!

Takes a steady hand to get one lit on a windy night.

Our very own Lady Liberty. :)

Crazy Girl

2010-07-07T17:17:00.000-05:00

I think that this photo speak for itself. To cute to not post.

Counting Down the Days

2010-07-07T17:16:00.000-05:00

The kids are having a little bit of a difficult time understanding just how long it is going to be before the baby arrives. Every time I go to the doctor Becca asks if I am getting the baby today. :)

My solution to this problem was to create a paperchain - one link=one day until my due date. Not exactly scientific, but it gives the kids a better idea of how long it really is until the baby arrives.

Here is the current state of one of my living room walls, nice decor, huh? :)

It is helping the kids, but it is also a reminder to me of just how much longer I really have to go until this baby arrives. (Big sigh)

Changes

2010-07-02T11:06:00.000-05:00

When we moved into this house 4 years ago we had several little projects (painting bedrooms, egressing a window, new carpets, etc) that we wanted to get done. Well... here we are 4 years later and those projects have not been done.

Well with the pending arrival of another one some of those projects have had to be moved into action. We recently had the window in the basement bedroom egressed so that it could officially be considered a bedroom. However with that came a lot of work call pulling wallpaper - ick. It hasn't been so bad - just time consuming. The kids were a huge help with the lower section, but the can't help much with the border at the top. Anyway here is a photo of the bedroom in progress. Both of the kid will move down here and then we will paint their bedroom upstairs for the baby.

Messy, huh? It is getting better, but slowly. Hopefully things will be done before the baby arrives! :)

Last T-Ball Game

2010-07-02T10:59:00.000-05:00

I am a little behind here, but I wanted to post photos from Micah's last t-ball game for the season. (I am sure there will be more baseball in our future! :) )

Micah had a terrific time and was always very understanding when the games were canceled because of the weather. He also was a great support to all of his teammates - some who were not always as enthusiastic as he was! :)

Not a great picture, but I had to post it because when I first looked at it I couldn't find the bat. If you look really close you will see the bat in Micah's right hand, but all you can see if the very top. Crazy!

Batter up!

Look at all the people who came to see Micah! He is one lucky little boy. There were 10 family members present for his last game. Yes, we were half of the cheering section. :)

Coming home.

Receiving his participation trophy.

Go Lighting! Great job buddy! We look forward to many more seasons!

Shoebox Swap

2010-06-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

I recently participated in a Shoebox Swap with Carrie from with all that I've been given. I had missed a previous swap and so I jumped at the chance to participate this time. This idea particularly appeals to me because I like to see how much stuff I can fit in a shoe box. It was a lot of fun and hope to participate in the future!

Here are the items that I received from my partner.

The movie has been great for the kiddos and I can't wait to figure out a way to wear the scarf. The peach tea is also welcomed as I am a little limited in what I can drink.

Here is what I sent her.

I hope that she enjoyed everything!

Vacation

2010-06-24T21:12:00.001-05:00

This could very well be the longest post I have ever done. So set aside a chunk of time, grab a glass of your favorite beverage and enjoy!

Mom & Dad and Melinda & Brian in the other vehicle on our way down.

Here we are visiting the fish hatchery. We were all pleasantly surprised when Becca got her face this close to the fish! She did the same with the snakes and spiders.

One of our many picnic lunches.

Table Rock Lake

The kids just had to throw rocks in the water.... :)

The fountain and fire show down in Branson Landing. The wind was blowing when we were here and so the water was blowing on to the sidewalk - it felt good!

Snuggle Bugs. When you are so tired it doesn't matter who you sleep with!

Silver Dollar City - The whole way down Becca was talking about riding the roller coaster and how much fun it would be. She kept saying Yahooo! anytime that we talked about them. However after actually riding one she changed her story. A little hard to see, but Aunt Melinda is riding with her in the 3rd car - you can hardly see her because she has her head buried. Uncle Brian and Micah are in the 4th car - no fear there!

Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City - finally a ride that was up her alley. Nick just about didn't fit...

Silver Dollar City - and her favorite - it just went in circles....

Silver Dollar City - The Lost River - A favorite of almost everyone's including Becca's until she thought she spotted a monster in the cave at the end.

Silver Dollar City - Micah's favorite The River Blast- everyone had water cannons and you got to shoot water at the people on land. The people on land had cannon to shoot back though.

Silver Dollar City - Micah's favorite The River Blast

Vacation is such hard work! Yes, my 5-year-old did fall asleep on my lap!

The only show that we saw was Noah which was playing at the Sight & Sound Theater. It was incredible and I encourage anyone who has an opportunity to see any production by this company to do so. We participated in the Behind the Scene tour prior to the show and had a marvelous time. We were able to see some of the animals, stand on stage, see how the show works from behind the curtain and see the dressing room. Nick was asked to participate in a demonstration of how they change costumes so quickly between scenes. They had a little error, but that is okay because that happens during the show as well! The only bummer was that you can't take any pictures, but I would encourage you to check out their website. It is a show worth seeing again!

White Water - water park fun - waiting to see if the rain is going to pass over - it didn't, but we came back another afternoon to finish our fun!

Go-Karting! (A vacation favorite of Micah's) Becca was okay as long as you didn't go to fast down the hills. I think her and grandpa probably got lapped a few times. :)

What vacation is complete without a hot sweaty game of miniature golf?!?!?

Silver Dollar City - the kids participating in a "show".

White Water - see the smile on the little man's face?

White Water - racing slide - one of Micah's favorites!

You can see the smile from this far away already, but.....

Check out this smile! :)

A little shuffleboard to keep the kids busy while the suitcases were being pack.

It is a little dangerous to give this 3-yr-old a stick this long! Watch out Uncle Brian! :)

Good times were had by all and the memories will last us a long time!

T-Ball

2010-06-04T22:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Micah finally got to play his first T-Ball game. He was soooo excited and had so much fun! It is interesting because they don't track runs or outs and everyone gets to bat every inning. However, Micah kept track of how many times he crossed the plate and how many outs he participated in. :) Think that he is ready for the games next week! Here are a few photos from tonight's game.

Pre-game pep-talk.

1st time at bat.

Waiting at 3rd base

Becca trying to entertain herself during the game.

Showing his speed to get to home plate.

During the 2nd inning Micah played the pitcher position. No pitching, but a lot of fielding ground balls!

Fielding work in action.

His 3rd at bat. I didn't get his 2nd at bat because he hit the first pitch! No tee for this one - he hit the coach's pitches every time!

Summertime Smiles

2010-05-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

So I know that it isn't quite summer yet, but it sure felt like it this afternoon.

I have had it in the back of my head that we needed to get the sprinkler out for the kiddos to play in. The weather turned warm/hot about a week and half ago and we have not had any space of time that was long enough to merit getting the sprinkler out. (Yes, our kids are only 3 & 5 and we were really that busy over the last 10 days. I can't imagine what it will be like as they get older.)

Well, tonight was the first night that we were all going to be home together so as soon as Micah got off the bus we turned the sprinkler on!

Didn't take long and it looked and sounded like summer on our driveway. Check out these smiles!

Hope our summer is filled with more of these happy faces!

Chicks!

2010-05-12T19:42:00.002-05:00

Heavens, no, there are no baby chickens at our house! But there are baby chickens in Micah's classroom. Micah has been talking about the eggs and when they would hatch. Well this was the week. Monday morning we heard that they were starting to hatch and by yesterday afternoon the classroom was filled with the chirping of 27 baby chicks. Since Micah had been talking about them so much Becca was all excited as well and HAD to see the chicks.

So I took her to school today. It seems like everyone is enthralled with the baby chicks in the kindergarten room. My kiddos just loooooove them and it was hard to peel them away so that the teachers could go to their meeting. Here are few photos of the encounter.

I was so surprised that she reached right in and tried to hold them. There was a few that got dropped and squeezed, but I think they will be alright. :) She actually thanked God during prayer at both supper and bedtime for the little chicks!

A bunch of scared chicks! At one point there were 5 kids (ages 18 mo to 6 yrs) all trying to touch and hold them along with several adults laughing and watching! :)

Much thanks to Micah's teachers for allowing us to come and see the baby chicks. And even more thanks that we don't have to bring any home! LOL!

Ladies - Can you relate?

2010-05-12T19:31:00.001-05:00

I came home from work on Monday and my daughter announced that she could "snap". I asked her if she meant her fingers and she said no, her pants. Now this would be wonderful because there have been many times when I have not realized that her "snap" was undone and her jeans would fall around her ankles. (Not that she cared. She thinks it is fun! :) ) So I asked her to show me. The next few moments would leave me laughing at my dear daughter. These photos were not taken at that moment, but rather this morning. However they look just the same.

Now, ladies, how many of us can relate to the battle with our blue jeans?!?! (or any article of clothing for that matter.) Holding our body and our hands just so, so that the jeans fit or so that they look just right. It made me think of this post by fellow blogger Andrea (to which I can completely relate). Why must be battle so? I hope that this is a short-term problem for Becca.

Tulip Time!

2010-05-08T15:19:00.001-05:00

You know its Tulip Time when....
... you get sunburn on Thursday and wish you would have brought your winter coat and long-johns on Friday.
... your children sleep until 8:45 am on Saturday after busy Thursday and Friday afternoons.
... it is a struggle to pick out your meal from only one of the 50 food stands.
... you walk to places in town that you normally would normally drive to.
... you scan the crowds for faces that you haven't seen in 5 years. (and you find some!)
...every where you turn there are adults and kids in Dutch Costumes (even if they are not Dutch!)

There are some of my favorite people in their Dutch Costumes.

Honoring the Fallen

2010-05-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Nick and I attend the funeral of the father of one of our dear friends. I can still hardly imagine that the father one of my friends was suddenly taken away from his family. He was young (around the same age of my parents) and died of a sudden heart attack while serving his (our) country overseas. It still just breaks my heart to see our friends dealing with this tragedy. It makes me reflect inwards to my relationship with my parents and how much I appreciate and love them and how infrequently I tell them.

The visitation and funeral also reminded me of how often I take our servicemen for granted. This individual had served his country for over 30 years, through numerous deployments and countries. I have always known and appreciated the work that they do, but I have never personally known any servicemen. In fact, I did not know my friend's father either. However I do know my friend and after this weekend I feel like I know a little (just a little bit) more about her father and the sacrifices that he and many other have given for me and my family. So often I think that I just glance over them and do not give a thought to what they daily give so that I can enjoy my life here.

The weekend was a display of honor and respect for a fallen soldier that I will not soon forget. I also hope that I will not forget the sacrifice of my friend's father and the other soldiers who have gone before, those who are currently serving and those who will serve.

My respect, my honor and appreciation to all soldiers and your families.

Planting

2010-04-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

With the thought that it was going to rain last night we decided that we needed to get a few things in the garden. I didn't help to much, but then again we plant a very small garden. Green beans, onions and a few sunflower seed that the kids got from McDonalds were all that went in the garden last night. We will also plant some carrots (to windy to plant those tiny things last night) and some tomato plants. Not much, but it covers some of our needs and, truthfully, I won't be helping much with the work involved this year! :)

"Farmer Boy" creating furrows for the kids to drop the seeds in.

Micah planting the green beans.

I think this is the only time that Becca helped (covering up the seeds) and, of course, when we done she was upset that she didn't get to help in the garden.

Hopefully we can keep the rabbits and other critters out of the garden!

I don't need a nap!

2010-04-30T09:01:00.000-05:00

I guess this is what happen when you don't need a nap and fall asleep on the couch.

Summer is a Comin'!

2010-04-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

There is always a sure sign of summer at our house. When the boys are out playing ball! Especially baseball! Micah is signed up for T-ball this year so there has been add enthusiasm for baseball!

Of course when the boys play, Becca wants to play as well. At least Micah is helping his sister out this time.

Apparently Becca was getting a little frustrated if you look at the whole picture it appears as though she is beating the ball into submission! LOL!

Oh the fun of summertime!

Misc. Happenings

2010-04-18T20:57:00.001-05:00

I was uploading some photos from the camera when I discovered some that I had forgotten about. (surprise, surprise!) Some of them are a lot of fun so I wanted to share them with you!

This is what happens at our house when you splash to much water out of the bathtub!

Daddy gives you some towels and says "Clean it up!"

One of things that I appreciate the most about Micah's education is the emphasis on Scripture memorization. I know many of the verses that I learned as a child at this very same school as still with me today. It is my prayer that they will stay with him as well. I am reminded how easy it is for children to learn/memorization at a young age and how difficult it is for me to do the same now.

The current verse in progress is Psalm 23. Here he is one day after school working on it. He was quite excited to be able to use Dad's Bible to look at. It is quite something to see your 5-year-old studying Scripture!

New Dress!

2010-04-05T19:54:00.008-05:00

So Rebecca loves dress. We are both so thrilled that it is getting closer to summer when she can wear all the little summer sun dresses that she wants to!

Several months ago I had stumbled across this adorable pattern for a little girl’s dress and since I had received a sewing machine for Christmas I thought that I would tackle the dress. When then baby made its presence known and my upset stomach didn’t even want to think about tackling the dress.

Fast forward a few weeks and I came across this post on a friend’s blog. I was quite sure that I knew that gal who had made the adorable outfit so I posted a comment and got the answer that I had hoped for!

Vicki is the mother of 5 children and yet she finds the time to sew these adorable outfits! So I sent her the pattern I had hoped to make and guess what came in the mail today?!?! The finished dress! It is so darling and Rebecca is absolutely in love with it!

Vicki (and her husband, Justin) were in our small group for a short time before we left northwest Iowa and we attended college with them as well. We loved our time getting to know them and they are a great example of a family living in the light of our Lord and Savior. Unknown to me when I asked her to make the dress was that they are raising support for a summer of serving our Lord.

She would love to help any of you with a outfit that you would like for your little gals. (I even bet she could find something for you guys as well!) If you are interested let me know and I will pass her info on to her.

Of course Micah didn’t want to be left out of the picture taking so here is his picture as well. :)

Good Friday

2010-04-03T15:37:00.002-05:00

MIA?

2010-04-02T16:10:00.002-05:00

Is our family missing in action these days?

No, but mommy is not feeling on top of things and then the blog suffers. My apologies to all you regular followers. (Not sure if there are many of you, but you have my apologies!)

We are expecting our 3rd child on October 11 and the 1st trimester has been a little rough on me! I will say that things are improving, but I am still not completely on top of the things. We are all excited about the new little one and the kiddos are just thrilled. We talk about it daily and we have already had the discussion about how the baby gets out of mommy's tummy - I knew that one was coming.... Becca is quite taken with the idea of a baby brother which suits Micah just fine! We will have to see what the Good Lord has in mind!

Anyway, I wanted to get something posted to explain our absence because our Easter excitement starts tonight and I am sure that there will be things to post after this evening.

So, no, we are not MIA. Still here, just a little preoccupied right now. I hope you can all understand!

Happy Easter to all!

NCAA Tournament

2010-03-21T17:18:00.002-05:00

Any of you who know my husband know that he loves his sports and Micah is quickly following in his footsteps. (At this moment they are outside either tossing the football or playing baseball.)

Anyway the NCAA basketball tournament has been on our TV all weekend. We were able to watch the beginning of the UNI/Kansas game yesterday, but had a church gathering last night so we were not able to watch the whole thing. We had to convince Micah that he needed to cheer for UNI (we have some friends who are alumni and some who are currently attending UNI) because one of his friends at school is Kansas fan (I believe his dad is an alumni). After Micah was convinced he cheered with all his heart.

I am not sure when Micah found out that UNI won (either last night or this morning), but he was quite excited. (As were all of us!) However we were watching the interview on CBS with UNI's coach and one of the players. We were discussing that they would not play until next weekend and that they were able to go home and practice at home. At this point Micah jumps into the conversation and says something about them coming home and being able to practice at home. He thought that was good because then they could come home and practice with their basketball hoops that are on top of their garage. LOL!

I am not sure that he grasps how involved Division I basketball is! That is okay. It will be soon enough that he figures it all out!

Swimming Lessons

2010-03-12T20:24:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago the kids started taking swimming lessons. They love it! Today was the first day that I went along, usually my mother-in-law takes them (Thanks, Linda!). It was so entertaining to see them in the water and see how much they have learned in just 3 lessons. We have some video footage of them, but these are the first still pics we have.

Becca trying to float. It actually looks she is floating in this pic!

A little hard to see, but Becca actually has her face under the water!

Micah doing Tickle, T, Touch. I remember that one from my swimming lesson days!

Pay attention to your teacher and mommy! At least he is smiling!

The biggest problem that I can see is that the kids are not ready to get out of the water when their lesson is over! Even with only a 20-25 min lesson they are exhausted when they are done!

Feels like spring

2010-03-05T16:56:00.007-06:00

The sun is shining and the snow is melting!!!!! It finally feels like winter might be loosening its grip on us. I know that it is still the first week of March and snow often falls in March yet, but I am still rejoicing that some of this snow is leaving us! (We should have know when it snowed in early October that it was going to be a nasty winter....)

With the sun shining the kids got outside to play with a few less layers and actually dug out the bikes and scooters instead of the sleds and shovels. It took Micah a few tries, but he got the hang of his bike in short order (apparently his head grew over the winter though because he is going to need a new helmet!) Becca also gained some confidence on her scooter. It was fun to see them playing and enjoying their "summertime" toys!

We did have our first owie for the season. And yes that little red dot required a band-aid. :)

Snow Much Fun!

2010-02-14T19:00:00.003-06:00

Since our to-do list was rather short on Saturday Nick and I spent sometime outside with the kiddos. We have these rather large piles of snow at the end of our driveway and Nick decided to see if he could tunnel through one of them. (Much to Micah's delight!) They were successful. We will have to see how long it lasts as we are quite sure that the next snowfall along with the city snowplow will probably block once of the openings. Well, it is fun while it lasts!

Becca wasn't willing to wait until the tunnel was complete before testing it. Good thing she is little!

However, Micah was right behind her. All smiles!

A little more digging and Nick wiggled his way through as well! Thought that I was going to have to dig him out at one point!

Not sure why she is smiling. She had probably wet her pants already at this point.

Some "snow" activity inside this afternoon! It is amazing how much entertainment can come from a few torn up pieces of tissue paper!

Happy Valentines Day!

Hawkeyes

2010-02-12T10:03:00.006-06:00

Last weekend my aunt and uncle invited us to a Women's Basketball game. Micah who is taking after any kind of sport these days was thrilled!!!! He didn't care what sport it was or if it was boys or girls playing - it was the HAWKEYES! LOL!

We knew the weather didn't look the greatest, but we went any way hoping that maybe this time the weatherman was wrong (have they be wrong yet this winter?!?!?!)

It was snowing lightly during our drive there, but we made record time and made it to the game. The game was a ton of fun. Micah loved watching the game and Becca tried her best to keep her eye on Turkey (aka Herky). Becca was not a big fan of Herky and in fact when I took her to the bathroom during the game she needed to verify that Herky wasn't going to come in the bathroom while she was there. LOL!

It was great to watch the game with my aunt and uncle and to catch up with them a little bit. We enjoyed some pizza at their house afterwards and watched about 20 mins of the SuperBowl before we decided that we had better head home. There had already been at least 2 "incidents" on the hill in front of my aunt and uncles house and it was still snowing.

The ride home was a little more stressful due to the snow. The kids feel asleep and that made it a little easier to concentrate on the road and the other cars. It took us a little bit longer to get home, but not to bad. We were thankful that it wasn't blowing, otherwise we probably would have been stuck in Iowa City for the night.

Thanks, Retha and Ray for a great afternoon/evening. The kids are still talking about the Hawkeyes and Becca is still a little concerned about Herky! LOL!

Saving Money In a Different Way

2010-02-01T18:56:00.004-06:00

So you are all thinking. Why on earth is she posting a picture of a booster seat on her blog? Has she gone of the deep end? This really isn't anything exciting. At first glance it may not seem that exciting until I tell you that I got this booster seat for Becca for FREE!!! Yes, FREE!!!!

Now you are all curious, right? For the last several months I have been Swagging! (Yes, it is a legal activity.) I registered with the website SwagBucks and I use their search engine every time I want to search for something on the internet. (You use it much like you would Google.) The only thing is that everyone once and awhile when you are searching you get a SwagBuck (or maybe 2 or 3 if you are lucky). You collect several SwagBucks and after time you can turn them in for great prizes or gift certificates. 45 SwagBucks will get you $5 to Amazon. I turned in enough SwagBucks to have $25 in Amazon gift certificates and I got this booster seat for free!

This is something that I would have had to purchase because both of the kids will need one at the same time. I could have spent $15 on your bottom of the line booster at Wal-Mart, but instead I got this name brand one for free! Just by doing what we all do anyway on the internet - searching!

If you want you can check them out a little bit more. I have posted their info on the side of my blog. I would also be happy to answer any questions you might have. There are a few hoops to jump through, but they are worth it in my mind! Free stuff is always great!

Besides the packing material works as a great source of entertainment! We traced the kid's bodies tonight on the huge sheets of packing paper. They are lovin' it!

Fun At Honey Creek

2010-02-01T18:44:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we had the joy of finally visiting Honey Creek Resort. Several of our friends had been and said that it was a lot of fun for families with young children. And you know what?!?!? They were right! The water park was just perfect for our kids. Becca was a little timid of anything new and had to do it by herself without prompting from anyone. Micah turned into a little fish and was wanting to go down the big slide! (However he was about an inch to short.) It was a great time with family and we hope that we can go again sometime!

Micah, Nick and Aunt Tricia making a train in the lazy river. (Against the rules, but we didn't realize that til much later and no one stopped us!)

Becca just doing her own thing. In the shallow water she was a little fish!

Becca enjoying the fountains!

Nick getting ready for splash down at the bottom of the slide.

Family photo at the restaurant on site at Honey Creek. The meal was great and we would recommend it to anyone!

Randomness

2010-01-25T22:15:00.003-06:00

The weather of the last several weeks has led me to a random post. There really isn't anything new or exciting around here (unless you count snowstorm after snowstorm!), but I wanted to update you on a few things.

*** Yes we are still tired of winter and wish that it was over. Our biggest concern right now is that the public school that my sister teaches out be done by June 12. We have a family vacation scheduled!

***While Micah's progressive schedule hasn't been very progressive (missing to many days!) he is enjoying school. It was a little rough after Christmas, but we are doing much better now. I am constantly amazed by how much he picks up! His class is currently working on memorizing Psalm 100. It is a blessing for me to hear Scripture from my 5-yr-old!

***We have taken up doing puzzles to pass some of the winter doldrums. The kids have really enjoyed putting theirs together and are getting quite good at them. They even try to help with with my 300 and 500 piece ones. If you have any puzzles that you would be willing to let me borrow I would appreciate it!

***I am still enjoying clipping coupons and finding a good deal! Several friends have also join me and we clip for each other! It is great! Saving a few $$$ is always a good time for me! I am always looking for new ways to save, so if you have ideas or websites please pass them on! I would love to hear about your ideas!

***I finally finished a projected that I started a long time ago. It always seems that I purchase a part of a project, but then it takes me forever to get it finished. This wasn't that big of deal, but I had to have my hubby cut the wood and then my grandpa cut the pretty edge and then it was the priming and painting and then getting up the courage to put the words on! However I am quite pleased with the outcome and it is a nice addition to the bathroom!

I hope that you are all staying warm and healthy during this winter fun! LOL!

ENOUGH!!!

2010-01-21T15:46:00.002-06:00

Okay. So I understand that we live in Iowa and the weather here can be, well, not so nice at times. However I am to the END OF MY ROPE!!!

Once again both yesterday and today were totally altered from their orginal plans because of the "little" ice storm that we have had. I have not been able to get groceries or run any other errands because the time that I have been in town desperately needed to be spent at work. I have barely been able to keep up with my tasks at work and the time that I am at work seems to fly by. Micah had school today for 3 hours (went late and then got out early because the power went out) and so my mom and I had to juggle things around so that we were home on time. I am tired of changing plans only to change them a few hours later only to change them again!

I also have two children who are about ready to go crazy because they are running out of activities to do at home! (They are taking their mother with them.)

Please, Lord, this is enough. No more terrible winter weather. Please don't let the weather men be correct....

A Glimpse Into October

2010-01-21T15:30:00.003-06:00

Some of you may or may not know that my sister and brother-in-law have been called to be missionaries in Uruguay. Their launch date is 10/10/10 and they in the midst of raising funds, making preparations and getting to know their teammates.

Recently some of their teammates (Peter & Naomi), who are currently based in Kansas City came up to visit Brian and Melinda. We had the priviledge of having lunch with them while they were here as well. It was so great to meet them and their 3 lovely children!

It was very nice to put faces and personalities with the individuals that Brian and Melinda have mentioned. It was also a blessing to hear their stories and see their excitement in serving.

It is our prayer that finances come together for all members of the team and that they work together to futher the Kingdom.

Long snow days

2010-01-10T21:44:00.003-06:00

Man, oh man, oh man and I glad that it is supposed to be warmer this week! We have been stuck in a very cold spell with more snow which means no school and some very long days in the house. (Especially for this mommy!) Christmas break was just over, Micah went to school for 1 day and then had 2 more snow days. Crazy. Wednesday-Friday of last week were so out of the normal that I don't even know what happen on each day any more. I have some photos from the days, but I really can't remember which days they were from!

Micah really needs to get back into the routine again. He has always been my routine loving child and it so begins to show after weeks like this. Tomorrow morning starts his 4-day weeks for kindergarten! Becca usually goes with the flow, but she is even starting to hang on Nick and more than normal and just needs to get out and about more.

I really don't mind the time at home, but with it being so cold (I mean were talking 4 or 5 degrees for a high) I really can't let the kids outside to play. Even 30 mins outside can make a world of difference.

So here's to hoping that our snow days (and super cold weather) are done for the winter and that we can just all get back into the swing of things. (I am not holding my breath on this one!)

Playing nicely with Micah's bend-a-roos that he got for Christmas. Lasted for a few minutes and then the arguing began....

Friday morning I had a eye doctor appointment and I was determined to keep it! (Needed to get out!) So we had lunch with Grandma and Auntie Trish at Breadeaux! As you can tell, the kids love it and it was nice to spend some time with Grandma and Auntie!

One of the mornings. Just soaking up some Curious George. The one thing that know will guarantee some peace and quite.

I know that I have posted a similar picture before, but I still can't get over how tiny these things are! Becca had an ENT appointment before the storm on Wednesday (drove home in some not to nice weather...) and her ear were fine, but the tubes were laying in her ear canal. The ENT removed them and I asked if I could keep them. Expensive little suckers!

There was one morning (it must have been Thursday) when I notice that it was like 15 degrees and so I decided that we would bundle up and head out for a few minutes. The kids so love the snow, but it was so cold!

and bright! :)

Micah was having the time of his life, but I noticed that his cheeks were starting to turn white (what do you expect when he digs right into the snow head first!) and so I had to force everyone back into the house. (Not without a few tears and fits though.) The few minutes of fresh air was worth it though.

This is probably my least favorite part of playing in the snow. The pile of wet clothes and the puddle of melting snow. And there were only 3 of us! Oh well, like I said that fresh air was worth it.

Hope that you were able to enjoy your snow days as well! I know that there were a lot of you who were in the same situation as we were!

Disappointment & Curious George

2010-01-04T19:25:00.004-06:00

Several weeks ago a few of our friends mentioned that they had received some information through their employers that there would be a Curious George production at Vets in Des Moines. Nick and both agreed that this would be a perfect outing for the kids. They both love Curious George and it is neither overly girly or boyish (such as Disney Princess or Monster Jam - which we all know only one of children would really enjoy). We bought 4 tickets through one of our friends and decided that the two families would go together.

Secretly I was really excited about this outing. I was excited to see how the kids would respond to this sort of show and we have never really done anything of this nature before. It really wasn't a conscious decision, but we did not tell the kids in advance of the show that we were going. Which it turns out was a good thing.

I always check on the kids before I crawl in bed at night. Friday night was no different. I went to check on the kids and I noticed that Micah was sleeping a little different, like something was wrong. I right away thought "I hope that he is feeling alright. It would be such a bummer if he got sick."

Saturday morning we were sleeping in a little bit and the kids got out of bed first. Micah went to the bathroom, got a drink and came into our bedroom. He stopped by my side of the bed and said "Mommy, my tummy...." and off he ran to the bathroom. He promptly threw up all the water that he had just drank. My heart started to sink a little.

I was still hopeful. Maybe he just drank to much water. Kids do that and that can make their tummy feel funny. My hope didn't last for long. He ate about 18 Cheerios and promptly returned to the bathroom.

It was decided that since we already had the tickets purchased that Becca and I would still go and that Nick would stay home with Micah. Micah was so concerned about where Becca and I were going. (It was soooo good that we hadn't told him!) He was concerned that we were going to Grandpa & Grandma's to play with their new kitty. :)

So.... Becca and I took off for Des Moines. Met our friends at McDonalds for our planned kids friendly lunch and went to see Curious George.

It was a really neat performance! The characters did any excellent job and the dancing and songs left Becca dancing in front of her chair. Here are a few photos of the afternoon.

Becca and I from our seats in the balcony. There really wasn't a bad seat in the house.

Becca with her favorite monkey!

Opening scene.

Opening song. They used the song from the PBS song which was great because it is easily recognized by Curious George lovers!

When the show was over I packed up a tired little girl and made a few Christmas exchanges and then we headed home. By the time that we got home Micah was asking for pizza and was upset that I wouldn't give hime 2 pieces. According to Nick it was about 2:00 in the afternoon (the same time the show was beginning) that he started to feel better. Since he wasn't able to go Becca and I got him a monster truck which seemed to brighten his day.

So glad that he was feeling better, but it would have been nice if he could have gotten sick a day earlier or a day later..... As my sister say, "It is what it is." Maybe we will try again another time....

New Years Eve

2010-01-04T17:28:00.002-06:00

New Year Eve was rather low key for us this year. Our party didn't even last until midnight! LOL! We spend the evening in our church fellowship hall with several friends and their kiddos. As always it is riot as the kids nearly outnumber the adults. I really thought that I had taken more photos than this, but this is the best of what I have. Here are a few photos from the fun, fun evening!

Suppertime at the kiddos table. Notice the cars in the middle of the table. The boys didn't want them out of their sight for to long...

Jenny has more patience than I could ever hope for. She played Clue Jr. with a bunch of the older (and by older I mean 3-6 year olds) by herself! Good work Jenny!

Some of the guys trying to figure out one of the games that we played that evening.

Becca decided that she had had enough of the noisy kids and dug into our church library. (Sounds a little like something her mommy would do!)

I hope that you all had a very happy New Year and that this year you may all know the peace and joy that only our Heavenly Father can give.

Christmas!!!!

2009-12-31T15:33:00.005-06:00

So I thought that I should get my Christmas post done before I had a New Years post to do as well. Here are a bunch (I am a bunch) of photos from our many (and I mean many) Christmas parties. No time to put captions on each of them so I will leave that to your imaginations! Merry Christmas!!!!

Preschool Christmas Program

2009-12-23T09:06:00.003-06:00

Becca has been attending a 3-year-old preschool this year and they had a very brief Christmas program on Monday afternoon. Here is a part of one of the songs that they sang. Not a big fan of the song, but apparently Becca noticed that a problem with her pants in the middle of the song.

I am guessing that her pants didn't get buttoned after using the bathroom and she realized it halfway through the song! I was slightly embarrassed, but then again there is always someone who does these kinds of things! Pretty cute if you ask me, but I am a biased! LOL!

Church Program Pictures

2009-12-17T16:17:00.003-06:00

Thanks to a great friend who was sitting closer the night of the Church Christmas Program we have received some wonderful photos of the kids in action that night! Enjoy!

The group of younger children. They sang songs that had a lot of actions! Becca is in all pink and Micah has on a yellow shepard's costume.

Who know what Micah and Levi and are doing with that "fire"!

Becca is in the back, but here are the littlest ones (the sheep) peaking into the manger.

Becca's class singing Away in the Manger. The teachers did a great job of singing and the kids did great with the actions! LOL!

Thanks for the great photos Jenny! I owe you one!

Christmas Program Weekend

2009-12-16T18:47:00.005-06:00

WOW! It was Christmas program weekend at our house last weekend. There is nothing like a weekend full of children singing about the birth of our Savior to put you in the Christmas mood!!!

Friday night was Micah's school program. I think that everyone was a little worried because there were 3 cancelled days of classes earlier in the week. Despite the lack of practice the children all did a wonderful job! It was so good to see Micah, his classmates and schoolmates all working together to worship our heavenly Father!

Becca wasn't so impressed with the band and the chimes. (I loved the chimes! It reminded me of my bell playing days!) She was rather content to travel from one lap to the other (she had 12 to choose from) and visit all the family members in attendance.

You can see Micah in the front row second from the right. Most of Micah's class is in the front row of this picture with him. It was really hard to get good pictures. This is the best one! Thanks Aunt Tricia!

Saturday morning brought 2 1/2 hours of Church Christmas Program practice. I decided that I would try to get a few photos during practice because I didn't know where I would end up the night of the program. It was a good thing that I did because we ended up sitting quite a little ways back. Once again it was hard to get photos, but you can at least get a little bit of an idea.

The shepherds and the angels. How cute are they! Micah is in the front row 3rd from the right.

Here is Becca (front, right) with her sheep ears on. Not sure what she is doing. Probably goofing off! :)

Sunday night brought the Church Christmas Program! Our camera doesn't take picture very well in darker conditions so I didn't get any photos during the program, but I did be sure to get photos before they started!

Our little sheep, who watched the manger where Jesus lay, the night of the program!

Our handsome shepherd getting ready for the program.

All in all the kids had a great time singing and praising God. They are still singing their program songs and it add to the Christmas festivities at our house! I must also say a public thanks to the teachers and directors who put these programs together. Both programs were absolutely wonderful and they truely reminded all in attendance of the true Christmas Story.

Snow Day #2

2009-12-10T14:33:00.003-06:00

Snow day #2 started with some indecision on Nick's part. The neighbor and him where trying to decide if they were going to attempt going to work. Through a variety of events (the state highway being closed and not being able to get across town) they decided to stay at home.

The neighbor then decided to help us uncover our driveway with his snowblowing lawn tractor. It worked wonderfully and really cut down on the work that Nick had to do.

The remainder of the day was spent inside and out of the wind. We did venture to Grandpa's and Grandma's to break up the day and for all of us to get hair cuts! By the end of the day the kids were so tired of being cooped up that they just started running like crazy. My hope is that it warms up soon so that they can get outside a bit and enjoy the snow!

The nice neighbor clearing our driveway!

Micah and Becca playing a basketball game. (They played so nicely for about 30 seconds and then it went down hill.)

The view out our back door before it really started blowing.

The view down our street while the wind was blowing! It looked pretty deserted! You could hardly tell where the road was even though the snow plow had been down the road.

Becca coloring so nicely. The kids have been doing a lot of this!

Micah racing his cars and loving every minute of it!

Snow Day #1

2009-12-09T08:10:00.003-06:00

Tuesday morning when we woke up we figured that the day would be as usual as school was still on and the roads were only slighty covered. However within 20 mins it turned it a snow day for the kids and I! School was cancelled and I decided that I would just stay home with the kiddos versus trying to get to work for only a couple of hours.

Snow days are kind of like the gift of time at home and right now that is a gift I will gratefully accept! The kids and I had a lot of fun, but I got a lot of stuff done that otherwise would have remained undone.

We went out for awhile in the morning because the temps were supposed to drop making it to cold for the kids to go out and play. Becca seems to have developed a love for the snow and just laughs and giggles the whole time we are outside!

Snow Angels!

Trying to dig tunnels in the "small" drifts.

Naptime in Mom and Dad's bed because I washed the sheets on the kid's bunk beds. (My exercise routine for the day!)

My cleaning buddy! (We also made a mean coffee cake last night that we enjoyed for breakfast this morning! It was delicious!)

Daddy using Grandpa and Grandma's snow blower to clear the driveway (Yes it is still snowing, but it was supposed to snow and blow a lot during the night and we wanted to get the first layer off.) Micah is trailing him. You can't see it, but he is dancing and jumping the whole time!

Stay tuned as the whole family is home today for Snow Day #2!

Ebates

2009-12-07T21:12:00.002-06:00

I typically don't do posts like this, but since most people I know are trying to save a few bucks this year I thought that I would pass this info on to everyone.

A few months ago one of the blogs that I follow recommended at site called Ebates. It is a cash back site for on-line purchases. This is how it works.

Say you want to shop on-line at Old Navy (or Kohls or Borders or Cabelas or 100s of other stores). You go to the Ebates web page, create a log-on and password, find the store, click on it and it open a tracking ticket that takes you to your desired site. Because of the tracking ticket it remembers how much you purchased and then based on your stores percent of cash back that amount of cash is returned to you! For Example: For the month of December, Old Navy has 10% cash back. I purchased a few items on cyber Monday for $26 and will receive $2.60 back through Ebates!

I was skeptical at first I admit and I have been waiting to share any info with anyone until I actually received some cash back. Well, last week I finally received my first check for $10.12 - Yippee! Now that I know it actually works I will share with you.

When you sign up you receive either a $3 or $5 sign on bonus, but you do not receive it until you have made cash back purchases that match your bonus. (My $10.12 check was $5 of sign on bonus and $5.12 of cash back.) My first purchase was made clear back in April and I just got my 1st check last week. Not speedy or a huge money maker, but in my mind every little bit helps!

If you want to check it out futherclick here. If you have any questions let me know. I am no expert, but would be happy to help you try to figure out a way to say a few bucks!

COLD!!!!

2009-12-04T12:09:00.003-06:00

I don't know how it happened to fast, but I guess that fall is over and winter is here. On Monday someone told me to take the afternoon off and take my kids to the park and today it is so cold and windy that even venturing across the street Grandpa and Grandma's requires a full bundling!

Despite the cold and a very tired Daddy we all headed to a nearby town for the annual Lighted Christmas Parade. The preschool that Becca attends had a float in the parade and they wanted the students to ride. I am glad that we went because both of the kids had a ton of fun, but man, did they wear a lot of clothes!!!! I think that I had them more bundled than at any other time in their life!

Unfortunatly I wasn't able to get any pics because I forgot my camera!!! (What kind of blogger am I?!?!?!)

Hope that where ever you are today you are nice and warm!

Catch-Up

2009-11-24T20:23:00.005-06:00

It has been way to long since I have posted. Life has just been so busy around here! I can hardly imagine what the holidays will bring!

Here are a few photos to catch you up on the going ons at our house!

Yes this is what I discovered in my basement this evening. My entire family playing on the "skins" team! Apparently the boys got hot from playing basketball and so they took their shirts off. Becca thought it looked like fun and join the crowd!

Micah has been learning to read in school and it is amazing to me how fast he is picking it up. He now is picking up books that we have read to him and is picking out words that he can sound and figure out. This afternoon he was tucked up in his top bunk reading away.

While Micah was reading in the kid's room, Becca was sitting on the pile of blankets in our bedroom "playing computer" as she puts it. You would have thought she was working on an important spreadsheet!

Now here is a sneak peak at our Christmas card! Let's just say it was a little challenging!

That Can't be Comfortable!

2009-11-08T22:19:00.002-06:00

I guess this is what happens when your 5-year-old is kept up way after his bedtime! And yes he was really asleep! This was taken after we had pulled in the garage, shut the van off, shut the garage door, opened the van doors and taken several photos already! Must have been really tired! Oh and by the way... little sister was still awake and singing! LOL!

Reading

2009-11-04T21:18:00.002-06:00

Last week Thursday Nick and I met with Micah's teacher for our first ever parent-teacher conference. The conference went well and during our discussion she informed us that they would start reading on the following Tuesday. :)

Tuesday afternoon Micah come home with two Ziploc baggies in his book bag. Each baggie had 3 cards in it, each with a word on it. (Apparently these were the words that they started to read at school that day.) These baggies were accompanied by a note saying that as parents we need to review these words with our child.

So.. the review didn't happen last night and since he has school tomorrow I thought that we should review the words tonight. He pulled them out and in no time had the words figured out. Two of the words were gas and big. He was trying to put the words into some kind of order to make a phrase. It went something like this.

"Big...... Gas....."

"Big... Gas...."

"Big. Gas." (I hope that you can see where this is going....)

"Big Gas"

"Biggas"

"Bigas"

He stopped at this point. Now we do not use this kind of language in our house and he had no idea what he was saying, but it was a little difficult to not scold him! (He didn't know! So how could I!) Nick and looked at each other and just chuckled to ourselves.

I am sure that there will be many other stories like this in the future as we head down the road of reading and phonics! :)

Trick or Treat!

2009-10-31T21:30:00.003-05:00

Trick or Treat from a little mouse and a race car driver (or a member of the pit crew, depending on when you ask!).

We are blessed to have grandparents living across the street. About an hour and half before we were to go trick or treating I went to the basement to move the laundry on and walked into a puddle of water. Water was pouring out of our tub and toliet in the basement. (Yuck.) So while Nick and I dealt with the plumber and the water, grandma took the kids trick or treating. Thanks grandma!

(I think that I would have rather been a little chilly and gone trick or treating....)

A trip to a much loved place

2009-10-31T21:20:00.003-05:00

Last weekend, we had a chance to go back to NW Iowa and visit some wonderful friends. The church that we attended when we lived there was celebrating it 125th anniversary and so that gave us a great excuse to head back and see some friends!

As always it was a great time and we were able to reconnect with a bunch of great friends. Of course I forgot to take my camera and so the only pictures that we have are the ones that Shellie took while we were hanging out on Saturday.

One of my favorite times of the weekend was when I was able to reconnect with a friend from high school. Due to distance and busy schedules we have not be able to keep in close contact over the last few years, but it was as if no time had past during our couple of hours together. We were able to visit and connect like good friends should. It was wonderful!

The bummer of the weekend was that I came down with a cold which has since turned into sinus infection and me feeling quite crummy. (You can blame my lack of posting on this illness!)

Thanks to everyone for making us feel like we still belong! :)

Guess What Grandpa & Grandma Got

2009-10-18T20:04:00.003-05:00

Saturday night we spent the evening with Nick's parent's sister and grandma. We had a very nice supper and then when back to his parents house. Grandma had told the kids that she had a surprise for them. We were thinking that it was a new toy or some new clothing for the kids. Boy were we wrong!

The surprise was, well...

A kitty!

Must say that we were quite surprise. Their last cat, TJ, died just over a year and half ago and we thought that was the end of the pet era, but I guess that we were wrong! This little kitty, who has yet to be named, is about 8 weeks old and is really cute. Lucky for us it also got use to the kid really quick! The kids love it and this cat is probably going to have to put up with a lot!

Becca trying to carry the kitty which she did many, many, many times.

Most of what the kitty saw on Saturday night. Four little feet chasing after it!

The kids trying to get the kitty to play with her new toy.

Micah and the new kitty.

2009-10-11T19:21:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe, but we had the first snowfall of the year here yesterday. October 10 seems a little early to me (and most of the population in our area), but it was a good trial run to see what I still need for the kids for winter. Realized that maybe some different mittens and some boots for Micah are probably all that we need. Yippee!

The kids sure enjoyed the snow, but I personally hope that we can wait a month or two before the next snowfall!

Waking up to snow! Unfortunately the kids had to wait until I got done making 7 batched of meatballs to go outside! They were just a little impatient!

Becca really enjoyed the snow. As she played I realized that this will probably be the first year that she will really be able to enjoy the snow. Last year she could get around, but with all the layers it was still plenty difficult to get up and down.
Snowangels! There is something wrong with a snowangle with GREEN grass underneath it.

Tasting the snow. The decision was that it tasted pretty good!

Just trying to be like big brother and eat the snow!

Look who's "getting married" next!

2009-10-04T19:11:00.006-05:00

My counsin Chandra married a lovely young man named Mike yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful wedding and a great time with family. There was the dance and the usual tossing of the bouquet and garter. Both of the kids decided to participate in all the activities and throughly wore themselves out. However the evening got a little exciting for Micah when he....
caught the garter. (Who knew that it could double as a head band!) He had no idea what it was, but he just knew that it was thrown practically right at him. He was quite surprised to find out that catching the garter meant that he was the next one to get married! He then stated that he was going to marry Lydia who is my counsin, but is only a few years older than Micah. We then had to explain that you can't marry your family. I think that we had him a little confused. This getting married business is tough to figure out!

Cinderella Came to My House Tonight

2009-09-25T19:41:00.003-05:00

I was mopping the kitchen floor and look who showed up! LOL!

Shocking School Experiences

2009-09-24T16:42:00.003-05:00

This is the first year for us and the 'real' school routine. (I know preschool is school, but the routine is just a little different than that of K-12.) The early mornings, the bus in the driveway, the rushing around to make sure we have everything, etc, etc.

This has been a little bit of a rude awakening for this mom. Yes I work and yes I have to be there on time, but that time was not set in stone and so it can be a little flexible. If the kids were a little slow in the morning it usually wasn't a bit deal. However now there is a van in my driveway three days a week for Micah at a very specific time. Crabby or happy, slow or fast, awake or asleep that van is there to take Micah to school. It is also the same on the other end. That big yellow bus drops him off every afternoon and this mom had better make sure that she is home when it does. (Thankfully grandma can come to my rescue when I get stuck in construction on the way home......)

The newsletters, book lists, field trip, school lunches, etc all need to be remembered and put on the calendar and not forgotten (otherwise I will be reminded by a sad kindergartner). I just don't remember all this stuff from my school days (maybe my mom does, but I do not) and it is a little bit of a shock to me and my routine.

However the most shocking experience of kindergarten has probably happen to Micah. Micah is loving kindergarten. He doesn't always tell us a lot, but what he does tell us is usually spoken with excitement in his voice.

About a week and half ago Micah's kindergarten class was having story time. The teacher was reading some lovely story to the class when my son discovered a staple laying on the floor. (Not an unusual item to find laying on the floor of a class room.) Apparently he also discovered an electrical outlet on the wall and decided that the little slot in the wall would be the perfect home for the staple that he had just found.

As you would expect sparks flew and scared Micah and everyone else in the room. From the reports that I have heard (Micah has yet to tell us about it) Micah didn't know how to react (along with his teachers!) Since we have not heard any of the incident I would suspect that he is embarrassed and is afraid that he would get in trouble.

A male teacher came and rescued the staple from the outlet and the kindergarten teacher has since purchased outlet covers. :)

Birthday Party Time

2009-09-12T15:44:00.004-05:00

Shortly after school started we had the kid's birthday party. Since they both have August birthdays we just do one BIG party for the both of them. Like last year we had a campfire in my parent's back yard and made pizza pies for the adults and hot dogs for the kids. Of course the kids got spoiled with lots of gifts, but it is a great time to get our family all together at the same time! Enjoy the pics!

Enjoying their hot dogs.

Let the gift opening begin!
Becca got distracted after her first gift contained new books! :)
Continuing to open gifts. (There were a lot!)

A new table and chairs just our size!

Trying not to dig into our yummy cakes!

Daddy and Micah playing with his new basket ball game. I think that Micah may have won this round.... :)

Becca Starts Preschool

2009-09-12T14:57:00.003-05:00

Clear back on September 2 Becca started a pre-preschool type of class. They call it preschool because there are 3 & 4 year olds in the class. However she will go to preschool again next year. So far it has been really good. The good news is that the children don't have to be completely potty trained before they start. that is really good news since Becca is struggling to figure out the potty business. Here is a photo of Becca before leaving for her 1st day!

Can't hardly imagine that my children are both old enough to be going to a school of some kind. I am just glad that they both really enjoy it!

Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip

2009-09-10T19:24:00.003-05:00

Okay so I am way behind on blog posts about our summer. I am hoping to do a few this weekend since we are finally home. Unfortunately I have a ton to do so we will have to see where blog posting falls on that list.

This last weekend we went camping with a group of friends. All told there were 10 adults and 8 kids. It was a ton of fun! Here are some pictures of the weekend. On Sunday we rented a pontoon boat that held all of us - it was crazy, but a wonderful experience. The weekend holds lots of very fun memories which we will cherish for a long time. One of my favorites is Becca eating a green acorn. She thought it was food! She now tells you that acorns do not taste good. :) Enjoy the pictures!

Campfire cooking.

Ring Around the Rosie on the beach.

Enjoying the God's beautiful creation!

The little girls were a few of the brave to get in the chilly water. Her is Becca with Nick.

Becca and Allie eating Theresa lunch. :)

Monkeys in the trees!

Becca helping to pound a stake into the very hard ground. Unfortunately mom and dad were not any more successful than Becca.

Happy Birthday Micah!

2009-09-01T16:26:00.003-05:00

I can hardly believe it! My oldest is 5-years-old! No longer a toddler he is turning into a little boy right in front of my eyes. We are blessed to have our little man and we thank God for him everyday. We pray that God blesses him and that he continues to grow to love his Lord and Savior!

Happy Birthday Micah! We love you!