A piece of my childhood

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

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

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

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

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

How much fun can you have with a cardboard box?

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

Tulip Time

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

 Micah picking out his bike for the parade on Thursday.

 Rebecca with one of her future classmates.

 My little Dutch kids!

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

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

 Pretty girl smelling the pretty tulips!

 Super happy baby!

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

Shoebox Swap

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

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

 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!!!!

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!