From the mouths of babes...

Working on catechism questions: I ask Josiah "Who wrote the Bible?" The answer is "Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit." I decided to give Josiah the first word. I say, "Holy..." he pauses for a moment and then shouts out, "COW!"

The other day we are driving and Josiah says, "Remember when me and daddy and Poppy and Joshua went to see the Lobos game?" I say, "Yes I remember, that was fun wasn't it?" Josiah continues, "And the girls went to see...what was that?" He's thinking, processing...my mind wasn't connecting the dots and I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Finally he says, "the graham cracker?" It finally dawns on me..."yes, the girls went to see The Nutcracker!" :) I totally laughed out loud at that one.

A couple Sundays ago we were in church and they were passing the offering plate. Josiah leaned over and asked why we put money in the plate. I told him we are giving our money to God. He looked up at me and said, "Does He have a wallet?" I couldn't stop giggling for a long time. Sometimes that boy is so funny!!!

Fabulous Florida

Even though the weather didn't cooperate for our trip to Florida we still had a great time! We got to spend time with Grammie and Poppy and Uncle Mikey and Aunt Dana and we went on fun adventures everyday. The kids were a little disappointed that they didn't get to go swimming in Miss Jackie's pool but they still had loads of fun!

Joshua insisted on bringing the hockey sticks and puck and I'm so glad we did. He and Josiah pretty much played outside every moment that we were at the house.


Grammie and Poppy and Miss Jackie took us all out to a special place for breakfast where you get to make your own pancakes right on your table! Miss Jackie turned out to be the expert pancake maker...she even created Mickey Mouse pancakes!


It was cold on the day we went to see the manatees. We had a picnic lunch and even got to go on a boat ride to see all the wildlife on the St Johns River. We saw all kinds of birds, even wild turkeys, and a couple baby gators!
Can't keep this kid out of the trees...even pokey looking ones!
Joshua has been working on his chess game and wanted to take Poppy on...Poppy took him down but it was still a good game! We also played a few rousing games of Sorry and Uno.
Here we are at Gatorland. In case you can't read it the sign says, "Trespassers will be eaten!" The kids loved it and even got to sit on a real, live gator for a picture. None of them were even the least bit scared!


Another day we hit the Sanford Zoo which also has a super fun ropes course! Abigail, Joshua and Josiah all tried it out. Chloe decided she would rather cheer them on from the ground. Everybody did really well on the course and Grammie and I decided that next time we are going to do it too. :)


On our last day the girls went out to a tea room for a lovely party. We had a great time trying on hats and sipping tea (and hot cocoa) with our pinkies out. Our lunches and fancy desserts were delish! We rounded out our time in Mt. Dora by stopping in a few of the little shops and meeting the horses who pull the carriages around town. While we were being girly girls Unlce Mikey took the boys out to lunch and bowling. They had a great time too. Unfortunately Poppy had to go to a conference for the weekend so he missed out.


Finally, the boys wanted hair cuts so Uncle Mikey helped them out. Joshua talked us into a mohawk and Aunt Dana spiked him up real good. He loves it. Uncle Mikey will be getting a buzz cut of his own as just this week he has returned to serve in the Army. Please remember him and Dana in your prayers as he goes through re-training (he served in the Army years ago).
So that was our trip. We are already back into our regular schedule but looking forward to the next time we can head south!

Made By Me

On Monday we went to "Made by Me" and painted some pottery. The kids were so excited today to go pick up their ceramic masterpieces! :) The boys went for the abstract look on their little aliens. Chloe made a cute cupcake that opens (of course she chose something that she could put things in) and Abigail opted for the piggy bank. Their choices are so reflective of their personalities! This was a fun activity...I only wish it wasn't so expensive so we could do it more often.

Come to my kitchen

I decided to try another one of Pioneer Woman's recipes today...this time for cinnamon rolls. Let me just tell you my dear friends that this recipe is worth trying for the smells alone! It's a bit of a process but the reward in the end makes it all worth while! YUM-O! And the frosting...OH THE FROSTING! It has coffee and maple flavoring in it! Even if you are not up for making the cinnamon rolls from scratch, make this frosting and find something to put it on! Get some Pillsbury Grands and throw their frosting away and use this instead. It is so good! My kitchen smells like a genuine bakery right now. Fabulous!
So her recipe made 6 pie plates of cinnamon rolls. In her cookbook she recommends baking and frosting them and then freezing the pans you aren't going to devour right away. This sounded like a good idea to me. Now the kids will have cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning breakfast for the next 2 months! And if anyone decides they need to come visit me...I'll be ready to treat you to a most incredible breakfast!

I remember the day you were born...

That was then.....


This is now.....



6 years ago today my little Chloebear was born. I remember that it was Sunday and we had lunch at the Pastor's house. It must have been painfully obvious that I was ready to be done being pregnant because the pastor's wife suggested that I drink some castor oil to see if we could get labor going. It sounded good to me, but I didn't exactly know what castor oil was for. We stopped at Meijer on the way home and I picked some up. Put Abigail and Joshua to bed and I drank my concoction of castor oil and orange juice. It was TERRIBLE!!! But...after 4 hours of unpleasantries I started having contractions. Bob and I went to the hospital in the middle of the night. The doctor, who happend to be the same guy that delivered Joshua, wanted to make sure that I was really in labor and told us to walk around the hospital for a few hours and they'd check again later. We saw every inspirational poster in the place. When we finally went back to the labor floor they checked me and sure enough I had progressed enough to prove that this was it. After 2 completely natural births I decided I was ready to try an epidural. Unfortunately for me it didn't take on one side and I felt totally gyped. They finally got me all numb just as it was time to push, what a waste of a needle in my back. When Chloe came out the cord was wrapped around her neck but it was really short and the doctor couldn't get it off. She was a little purple and we didn't hear her cry right away. It was very scary for those first several moments. Bob had a very worried look on his face and he was just praying. The doctors did what they do best and Chloe's apgar was totally normal the second time they did it.
We are so thankful for our Chloebear. She has this snuggly little way about her and people just fall in love with her. That could cause some trouble in about 10 years. Good thing she'll have Joshua and Josiah to be watching out for her. Chloe loves to play with baby dolls and stuffed animals. She always has purses and bags filled with stuff that she feels the need to carry around with her. She has a sweet spirit mixed with a little mischief and spunk. :) She is the special gift that God gave us 6 years ago and it is my privilege to be her mama.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHLOEBEAR! I love you!

Josiah's 1st day of school

Today was Josiah's first day of preschool. He was so excited! He will be attending 3 mornings a week. Maybe it's a 4th child thing but when I dropped him off he went directly to the table where the kids were playing, looked up and said, "Bye mom." That was it. No kiss. No clinging to my leg. He was ready. I think that's good....isn't it. When I picked him up his teachers said that he did great. They said it was like he had been there all year. He really enjoyed painting and loved playing outside! He even gets to eat lunch at school and that is really cool. I think it is going to be a great experience for him and we are very thankful that he has this opportunity. He's looking less and less like my baby everyday!

Christmas Memories 2009

This is my chronological photo documentation of Christmas.

It all began on Saturday, December 19. We had "Early Christmas" at home; I even made monkey bread to make it really feel like Christmas.

We got Mario Kart for some family fun. The boys tried it out and discovered that it is a little tricky and we'll need some practice learning how to get the cars to go in the right direction. :)

I included this not because it's a great picture of me...only because it is literally the only photo taken in the entire two weeks that includes me! Isn't that how it always is?

Josiah got his own shaving kit for Christmas. Bob gave him some pointers and now he's a pro! He remembers to shave everyday...can't say as much for his daddy!
This is what happens to little boys when they stay up late the night before Christmas and then expend a great deal of energy opening their presents. Couldn't even stay awake long enough to eat his monkey bread...don't worry it didn't go to waste. I ate it. :)
Here we are at Bob's parent's house on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed some yummy pizza and had fun playing with Uncle James and Cousin Faith.
As always we observed the Dutch tradition of eating our chocolate letters on Christmas Eve. Joshua had his devoured in about 10 minutes. Yummy goodness.



I just love this picture of Abigail and Bob. People have been telling us how much she looks like him since birth but I REALLY see it in this shot.
Christmas day after attending church with Bob's parents. We've found that if we let the kids pose for a wacky picture....

...then they do better for the real one!

We enjoyed a nice Christmas dinner and then it was time for shenanigans with Uncle James!
We rounded out our time in Grand Rapids with some shopping, bowling and a visit to the children's museum...and I forgot to bring the camera. Then we headed to Kalamazoo and spent time with our dear friend Barb and her family and also with Chuck and Kathy and their family. Finally we said good bye to Bob, who is staying in Michigan for the month of January, and headed down to Dayton for New Years. The children were ecstatic to see their buddies and had a wonderful time! Joshua and Keith figured out how to get connected on their DS's and played lots of games together.

Ok totally wacky...Tracy and I bought these sweaters for the girls completely independent of each other. Even matched up the right color for the right buddy. When we discovered what we had done Jeremy's only comment was, "scary." :)
Best Friends Forever!
New Year's Eve festivities!

After the kids went to bed on NYE I enjoyed playing some euchre with our friends (no one in Boston plays euchre!) Got to bed way to late but enjoyed every second (only thing missing was my honey). New Years Day I set out on my journey home. 1 mom, 4 kids (including 1 that was puking), snow flurries, engine light turned on....but in the end we made it safely. The bad news is that the check engine light was indicating a serious problem and my mini is now getting a major repair. The good news is that it is completely covered by the warranty and the dealer gave me a loaner until it is done.
Praising God for all the many ways He blessed our family this Christmas! And wondering what He has in store for us in 2010.
Merry Christmas and a very happy new year!