February

Another special milestone, Claire turned 8 years old.


To celebrate, we treated ourselves to a mother-daughter trip
to a hair salon and then a little thrift store shopping.

Very much a party planner, Claire enjoyed decorating
her Shopkin - themed birthday party.

Yogurt Parfaits, Cinnamon Rolls and Fruit

Playing Shopkin Bingo with the grandparents

"Cookie Cookie" Birthday Dessert

For her birthday gift, we added a few finishing touches to her bedroom.  To make this happen, she spent the night in Henry's bedroom while Joe and I got everything in place.  Then in the morning, she opened her "present".  

Her gift included:

A new comforter, pillow and reading light.  

The supplies needed to make some art to hang above her bed.  She found something she liked on Pinterest, so I thought this would be fun to do together.  

The curtains are set to be hung, but we still need to paint the hardware.  A project for another day.

Also, we did move her desk in, but will wait till the weather warms to paint it.  

And last, but not least, Joe hung her marker/magnet board.  

Some details to finish yet, but overall, she seemed happy with how her room is coming along.

After "opening her gift" and going to church, we picked up her best friend, Alaina, and took a trip to the Children's Museum.

Fun with mirrors at the Museum:

Later that evening, a surprise birthday visit from four deer, a first for us here.

The following weekend, we continued the fun.

Joe and his buddies, Casey and John, participated in 

a Ping Pong  Table Tennis Tournament at a local elementary school.  

After the tournament, we headed to Grand Haven for 

a shared birthday party for Claire and Gracie.

Grandpa and Grandma's gift, an interesting game called "Water, Fire, Trees", 

kind of a mix between Checkers and Rock, Paper, Scissors.   

Grandpa teaches the girls some strategy.

Party Poopers

Moving on from Claire's birthday, another 

fun day in our house - Valentine's Day.

On the left, Henry's pencil arrow Valentines for his class.

On the bottom right, Claire's button Valentines for her class.                                          

On the top right, George's Cafe Vienna mix Valentines for his speech teachers

Treats for class parties - Cupid's Arrows Cheese Sticks and Popcorn Bags.

On a side note, when Henry asked about Cupid's Arrows, I explained that it is just a story about a small angel who shoots arrows at people to help them fall in love. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Well, that's dumb."  Yeah, I guess so.

And to wrap up our month, I just couldn't help myself with this gem of a picture. 

George has been basking in the freedom of taking his clothes off lately.  Time to get this kid potty trained.  Sigh.  

Well, that was our February!  Thanks for reading.

January

I'm not sure what happened to January.  It came and went in the blink of an eye.

One thing that does stand out was our day trip to Legoland Discovery Center.

The kids had each gotten $20 for Christmas - a lot of money for them!  So after years of asking to return to Legoland, we gave them the option of pooling their money for a little excursion.  

They happily agreed.  And because George could get in free, they even had a little spending money for the gift shop afterwards, something we don't typically indulge in.

So we waited in line for a good half hour for this ride.  We were the very next in line when we were told that the ride had malfunctioned and would need to be shut down for a while.  Fortunately for us, the place cleared out later that afternoon and we were able to ride it several times without having to wait in line.  These are the things we will remember in years to come.

 

Not sure you can see in the bottom picture, but George actually scored higher than Henry.  That gave us a good chuckle.

 

{ Omphalocele Awareness Day }

On January 31, we wear black and white to remember

the lives affected by this birth defect.

Our brave "O. Baby".

No longer a baby!

 

Also, worth noting in the above picture, Henry's first tooth to fall out.  Joe and I picked him up from school, and right away we noticed the missing tooth.  I said, "Henry, you have a hole in your mouth!"  He responded with a confused, "Huh?"  I pointed out his missing tooth and he yelled, "Hooray!".  Poor kid; we didn't even realize it was loose! 

That night, I tried to tell Henry that the tooth fairy wouldn't mind that we never found the tooth.  He looked at me and said, "Mom, I know that the tooth fairy is just for pretend."  Oh yes, he is growing up. 

Love Grows

Love grows one by one, 

two by two and four by four.

Love grows round like a circle 

and it comes back knocking at your front door.

Happy Valentine's Day

December

December is always a fun, but full, month.  So getting in the right mindset to tackle all the pictures isn't an easy task.  But this afternoon I finally sat down with a warm drink and got to work.  So without further ado...our December memories.

Last year we were in the in the process of selling our home, which meant no tree, no lights, and few decorations.  So this year, we were excited to bust out all our decorations and even get our very first full-sized tree.

We had a fun family evening, getting into the Christmas spirit.

After an evening of decorating, the kids got cleaned up and snuggled into their footsie pajamas.  And boy did their eyes light up when they saw me stroll into the room in my very own footsie pajamas.  It was awesome.

And then, of course, we had a dance party, rocking out to our favorite carols.

Welcome to our home, ping pong table.  

It is already obvious that we will enjoy having you here.

Happy Henry

Colorful Claire

Our first Christmas party of the year was with my side of the family.  Kate, Ruby and Kels came into town, and we all settled in for a weekend of late nights, lazy mornings, yummy food, games and laughter.

This year, all three kids participated in our church's Christmas program.

Henry was designated to be the star.  Unfortunately, when it came time for him to put on his star costume (a yellow towel with a star drawn on it), he refused.  Hence the need to recruit his little brother.  George was ready and willing to play along.

The rehearsal was...interesting.  At one point, George picked up baby Jesus and started swinging him around the stage.  Yeah.  Needless to say, I was little nervous heading into his live performance.

Here the boys waited for their cue until, hand in hand, they walked down the aisle.

Claire was an angel...again.  She must be a natural!  I think this was her third year in that role, but she didn't seem to mind.  She even had a line, "Do not be afraid."

Everyone did a great job, and baby Jesus even stayed in the manger.  Whew! Fortunately, our church is very loving and gracious, always encouraging the kids as they participate.

After the show, I found George here, sitting on the stage.  

Waiting for his encore, I think.

Christmas Break allowed opportunities to spend time with friends.  Claire spent some time with her best friend Alaina.

And we had quite the adventure when the Koopmans family brought their inflatable bouncy house, which fit perfectly in our living room. 

That, along with Mario Kart, made for a great day.

For Christmas this year, we tried a new tradition with gifts.  We gave each child something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.  It was a great way to narrow in our focus for each child.  

[ The Kids' Gifts ] 

WANT: Claire received a new doll and a book of patterns to sew clothing for her, Henry received walkie talkies, George received a tool puzzle

NEED: Each kid received a bag with their own body wash, chapstick and toothbrush.  I seriously underestimated how excited they would be for this gift!

WEAR: Claire and Henry each received a North Park shirt that they can wear to school on Fridays. George received a vest.

READ: Claire received "Ramona the Pest".  Henry received a set of Bob Books. George received a few storybooks about cars and dogs.

Claire and I began putting those patterns to use to make new clothing for her doll.

Our next party was with the Puplis family.  Grandpa and Grandma always put out an amazing spread, and we enjoyed a relaxing evening, talking and reminiscing.

And our last, but certainly not least, party of the year was with the Rosens.

We had a delightful evening playing ping pong, games, and building Legos.

Whew!  My coffee mug is empty, and my eyes are starting to glaze over, but I made it.  That was our December.

It really was a great Christmas.  Each family party was a special time with loved ones.  We have so much to be thankful for, including of course, the birth of Jesus.  A great reason to celebrate!