December

It's officially the final day of December.  And with all the busyness of the holidays, I just haven't had the chance to sit down and post our pictures.  So here they are in the nick of time! Our month in pictures.   

Cuddling on a cool winter evening.

George and his buddy, Will, pose in their matching Christmas outfits.

Julie, Lily and Theresa came to my rescue one wonderful day earlier this month.  Not having had a chance to decorate, they came with their holiday gear to help me get our home ready for Christmas.

The kids picked out a perfect tree for us.

I love my sleeping baby.

Joe did a great job as narrator for our church's Christmas program.

And, of course, the kids did a great job, too.

Our little angel.

Great Grandma's Birthday!

Claire's School Christmas Program

Making gingerbread houses at the library.

Enjoying his expanding menu of fruits and veggies.

George and Sam Koopmans visit while their families had fun bowling.

Ready to roll.

Claire loves keeping busy in the kitchen.

Coming Soon..

Christmas Day and

Pokagon Pictures

The Truth about my Brain

(Thanks Kate for a good chuckle!)

Halloween {Past & Present}

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

This was the year of "Frozen".  I tend to push back against the overly popular costume suggestions. And this year, Princess Elsa dresses were ubiquitous.  Despite that, it is the one day of the year that our kids can be whatever their little hearts desire.  And this year, Claire's little heart longed to be Frozen, and the boys were happy to play along.  

George was dressed as Olaf, the snowman.

Henry was dressed as Kristoff, the mountain man.

And of course, Claire was dressed as Elsa.

Reading Halloween books with Daddy.

In the evening, Joe took the kids out Trick or Treating around the neighborhood while George and I stayed behind to pass out candy.

My Little Pumpkin

Returning with his stash.

 

But of course...once the kids were in bed, George couldn't resist snooping.

I think he has his eyes on those m&m's.

Another Halloween of Happy Haunting!

Another Hodge Podge Post

Some recent pictures, as well as some cute kid quotes.

It's that time of year again.  

Claire and I working on her Halloween costume.

Claire's dress design, so I know how to make her costume.

Claire's Prayer:  "Dear God, thank you for my teacher.  Thank you that gym class went well.  Thank you for "Frozen".  That's all.  I mean...Amen."

Henry knows that Daddy will always share his food with him.

Henry recently came up to me and started kicking my leg.  So of course, thinking my son was bent on destruction, I sentenced him to a timeout on the steps.  Along came Claire and this is what I heard:

Claire: "Are you in timeout?"

Henry: "Yep"

Claire: "Why?"

Henry: "Because I was kicking Mommy."

Claire: "Why were you kicking Mommy?"

Henry: "Because I was pretending she was a soccer ball."

I was glad to know Henry wasn't acting out of violence, just sheer imagination.

The local fire station had an open house.

We're so thankful for their service to our community.

Couldn't get any cuter than this.

Enjoying our dinner of homemade mac & cheese, I asked Claire, "What will we do if George doesn't like mac & cheese?"  

Claire: "That would be a disaster."

Some friends of ours had an Art Prize party.  

We each had to contribute some artwork to share with the group.

We had a lot of fun stretching our creative muscles, 

as well as enjoying everyone else's creativity.

The boys watch as the action begins.

It all started Sunday morning with a cold shower and a call to DTE Energy.  What we thought would be a quick fix turned out to quite the ordeal.  An emergency crew closed off our road as they dug a 7' deep pit to fix our gas line that had apparently corroded.  They worked late into the night and well into the following day to ensure I could once again have a nice warm shower.

Birthday Blessings

Me and my girl.

My dear friend Julie, surprised me with 

Monkey Bread and a lot of laughter!

Joe and I wanted to spend the day enjoying the 

beautiful weather so we went downtown for Art Prize.

Joe made me a yummy lunch.

And then we spent the afternoon at Frederick Meijer Gardens.

A perfect day spent with my family.