Nate's Birthday

Nate's Mom was able to celebrate with us

No cake please, but homemade cinnamon rolls

Gardeners helping Grandma

Such a cute picture

Having fun with Grandma

I am struggling with keeping the blog updated.  By the time the kids are in bed I just want to relax and not think!  But, I will regret not recording memories. 

Nate's 33rd birthday was September 25 and it was the last day his Mom was with us.  Not very often she gets to celebrate with Nate!  Actually Nate worked until 7 pm, we had cinnamon rolls, opened presents, got the kids in bed and then Mom had to leave.  Unfortunately birthdays can be anti-climatic as an adult.  At least it was a better birthday than last year when something broke at the plant- which he called the scariest day of his life. Which then led to this last less than stellar year at the plant.  We all love Nate very much and are so blessed by him! 

Nate's Mom stayed with us for 5 days and it was great.  The kids had so much fun doing crafts, reading books, and playing outside with her.  Mom also helped me organize our toys, no small feat!  She got to spend time in Caleb and Isaac's classrooms which they thoroughly enjoyed.  And Mom had great things to say about their new school which makes me happy.  The day after Mom left I got hit with the 24 hour stomach flu.  Figures I get sick after the help leaves!  However, I was very relieved that she didn't get sick too.  Actually no one else in our house got it, guess it's just my weakened pregnancy immune system.  It's probably the worst feeling to be sick in the bathroom with your kids pounding on the door saying, "MOM! I need help!!" and all you can do is gasp out, "I am sick, leave me alone!"  Ah, motherhood memories.

I took the kids to a sibling class at the hospital.  I remember going when I was 8 years old before my sister was born.  We colored a picture that was hung on her bassinet after she was born.  So I guess I had warm, fuzzy memories of the sibling class and wanted the same for my kids.  We walked into the room and all of the kids were about 2 years old.  Caleb just looked at me like, "seriously Mom?"  And the fact that I was the only one there with 3 kids, everyone else was expecting their second child.  The instructor was trying hard to engage Caleb, probably would have been better if she just left him alone.  She tells all the kids to pick up a realistic looking baby doll and feed it with a bottle.  Caleb picks up the doll by its foot and dangles it in front of him.  Isaac was holding his by the neck.  Julia was totally into it, cradling the baby and giving it the bottle.  The kids then had to practice changing the diaper and swaddling the doll.  Oh it was funny watching the boys.  Caleb was proud of how he propped the bottle up so the baby could feed itself.  Julia kept wanting to change the diaper over and over.  The kids were interested in looking into the real baby nursery.  We don't see tiny babies like that often.  So who knows what kind of memories my kids will have of the sibling class?

I am now 32 weeks and time is flying!  I really need to get some pregnancy pictures of myself.  I have to admit, I'm looking good this pregnancy.  Granted I'm not done, but it must be because I'm running around after 3 kids!  The baby is not as active as he was a couple weeks ago, but I think that is because his space is limited now.  It was fun to go through the baby clothes and remember Caleb and Isaac wearing them.  We still need to paint the baby's room.  I would also like to get a bunch of meals in the freezer.  We have a feeling I'll go into labor earlier than December 2, but we'll see! 

Caleb's Birthday

I made him a Green Bay Packers cake

The party favors were Packers cake pops, not made by me

Eating pizza with friends at our house

First gathering at the new house

Lots of boys!

The grandparents

One of the slides at Crazy Bounce

Caleb and Ethan pounding each other

Nate knocking Isaac off his feet

Caedmon, Eli, Lucas, Wesley, Julia, Maddy, Xavier, Corban, Caleb, Isaac, Ethan, Micah

One of Isaac's best friends, "Wucas"

So proud of our 8 year old

Caleb celebrated his 8th birthday!  On his actual birthday Nate brought donuts home for breakfast.  Caleb asked for rice krispie treats to share at school and we opened presents after school.  We gave Caleb his first watch and some Ninjago legos.  We did little store bought cupcakes because the real cake was for the party.  Caleb had his first birthday party and we held it at Crazy Bounce.  Crazy Bounce has a bunch of inflatables to play/bounce on.  We invited Caleb's friends from South Haven- the Morrisons, Grosses, Smalls and Slots.  My parents came out and Grandma DeMaster is visiting, very fun!  We invited everyone to our house for pizza as many of our friends hadn't seen our new house yet.  We then headed to Crazy Bounce.  The kids (and adults) had a blast.  The kids were drenched in sweat by the end of the evening.  I made a Packers cake and we gave out Packers cake pops for the party favor.  Caleb said it was an awesome birthday party! 

Caleb's 8th year will be a year of transition.  A new house and school and then a new baby in the family!  Caleb is meeting the challenges head on and we are proud of him.  We love watching him grow physically, athletically, intellectually and spiritually.  He does great in school and is a loving big brother.  He is now 4'7" tall, which puts him in the 98th percentile.  He gets tired of always being the tallest kid, but we remind him it probably won't be forever.  We thank God for another year with Caleb!

Camping

Julia's class at the apple orchard

Caleb and Cardale bouncing

Cardale, Isaac and Julia wading

The kids playing on the beach

This past weekend we went camping with Cardale's family at Tri-Ponds in Allegan.  We couldn't have asked for a better camping weekend.  The weather was great, sunny during the day and cool at night.  Another bonus of fall camping is that the sun sets at a decent time so the kids aren't awake til 10:30 pm.  The kids had fun playing together and the adults got to relax a little bit.  We were talking about how it has been 3 years since Cardale lived with us, time flies!

Julia went on her first field trip last week to an apple orchard.  There was a reporter from the Holland Sentinel there and her picture ended up in the paper, very cute!  This orchard had only 2% of its crop because of the frost this spring.  It's sad not having many apples to pick this year.  Our neighbor's little girl is in Julia's class and I was going to bring her to the field trip.  Well, Asha got sick that morning and couldn't go.  Julia was devastated, I was shocked at the intensity of her disappointment.  She was wailing and refusing to get in the car because she didn't want to go without Asha.  I could also hear Asha crying at her house.  Two sad little girls.  But, once Julia was on the field trip she had a great time.

Isaac gave us a scare recently.  The boys were playing outside with friends and I was inside.  Caleb runs in and says, "Isaac got hit by a car!"  I just looked at him and said, "what?"  Caleb said, "He doesn't have any broken bones or anything."  I had all the windows open and couldn't hear screaming so in my gut I knew it wasn't SERIOUS, but I was still scared.  Isaac had been riding his bike on the sidewalk and decided to turn around in a neighbor's driveway.  At that moment the neighbor was backing her minivan up and bumped Isaac.  She hadn't seen him and he hadn't been paying attention.  He fell off his bike, but wasn't hurt.  He was scared though.  The neighbor was very kind, giving him a hug and saying we both need to be more careful.  I was really hit with emotions the next day thinking about how the outcome could have been so different.  I've said many "thank you Jesus and thank you for guardian angels!"  Caleb also gave me a scare recently.  We were walking home from school and he darted in front of a truck without looking.  It's like his brain just shut off for a minute, even he was surprised at what he'd done.  These incidents have reminded me I don't really have control over my kids.  When they are little you can control almost everything they do.  As they get older all I can do is train them and recognize they will make their own choices.  I know, not exactly a new idea!

We're looking forward to Grandma DeMaster's visit this week!

A New School Year

2nd Grade

3's Preschool

Young 5's

All the kids going to school!

It finally happened!  One of our main reasons for moving to Holland was for the Christian school and now we could start what we've been talking about for months. All 3 kids are in school and they are all in the same building, for one year at least! Caleb had been anxious all summer about starting at a new school.  Once he met the teacher and saw the classroom his fears lessened.  He started school a week before Isaac and Julia so I thought that might make him anxious, but it didn't.  The first day of school for Caleb went well overall.  As a parent it was hard to hear him describe swinging by himself at recess and not having anyone to play with.  I just wanted to go in and fix it for him!  However, by the third day he found a boy to play with.  Now that he has 2 1/2 weeks under his belt, things seem to be settling in.  He has some boys he plays with at recess and he likes his teacher. He has 25 kids in his class which is the largest class he's ever been in. He also thinks it is cool that they have ipads in the classroom.  We can tell he still has some stress because of all the changes, he's been acting out more and getting frustrated easily.  But, we know this is a big change so we're not too surprised.  Caleb also started soccer which is a good outlet for him.  The team he is on is not as good as the team he had last year, but he is having fun and that is all that matters. One of the girls in Caleb's class lives a couple houses down from us.  Today they were riding bikes and playing together.  I overheard her say to Caleb something about Julia being a stepsister.  Caleb corrected her and said she was adopted from Korea. Good to know he can set people straight!

Isaac started Young 5's.  He attends 4 mornings a week.  He is kind of a homebody so I think he enjoys being home every afternoon.  However, I also think he would have been fine all day at school.   He is bored in the afternoon with Caleb gone and Julia taking a nap.  He has a new friend in the neighborhood, a 4 year old boy, Patrick.  Unfortunately Patrick attends school in the afternoon instead of the morning.  It was hard to get a read if Isaac was nervous about school.  Isaac generally has a "go with the flow" personality.  I think it was  helpful for him to watch Caleb go to school a couple of days before he started.  Isaac likes his teacher, but he is very quiet at school.  He has 10 kids in his class and he is slowly telling me about which boys he plays with.  Most of the time he says, "I played with this boy, but I don't know his name."  Isaac is getting very comfortable with our neighbors.  It's fun to watch him riding scooters and bikes with Patrick.  Isaac also feels comfortable sitting on his bike on our older neighbor's driveway and watching him wash his car, putter around, etc.  As a parent it makes me nervous when my kids just sit and talk with an adult neighbor.  I keep thinking, "I don't really know these people, even if they have kids, what are they saying to my kid right now?"  It's a hard line between being overly paranoid and a good parent who is keeping their kids safe.  We've had a lot of talks with the kids about not going in other people's houses or backyards, asking before they play with a friend, etc.  I LOVE that my kids have friends to play with in our neighborhood, but figuring out how to do that safely has been interesting. Isaac is also playing soccer for the first time.  He's not actually on a team or play games.  He has soccer once a week for 1 hour and a parent goes with him.  There are a couple coaches and they split the kids into groups to do drills.  Isaac has pretty good skills for a 5 year old. 

Julia is in 3 year old preschool.  She attends two mornings a week for two hours.  I also think she would have been fine with 3 or 4 mornings a week.  She loves going to school.  She has been asking to attend school ever since Isaac was in preschool last year.  She has 16 kids in her class, 12 girls and 4 boys.  I helped in the classroom one morning and discovered the girls are quite domineering.  As the mother of a child with a strong personality it made me feel good to see other children with strong personalities in the class!  After helping in the class I once again thanked God I am not a preschool teacher.  I can handle one 3 year old, not 16 of them.  Trying to get these kids to form a line was nearly impossible.  Our neighbors have a daughter, Asha, who is in Julia's class.  The girls also play together in the backyard.  It is awesome to see Julia playing with other kids instead of following me around all the time. 

This morning I said a little thank you prayer.  Nate was working today and I drove the kids to school.  However, after dropping them off my van wouldn't start.  After talking with Nate we determined the battery was dead.  Thankfully school is close enough that I could walk home.  Our neighbor was home and kind enough to drive me back to school and jump the van.  I couldn't use the van the rest of the day, but that was ok.  The weather was nice and I could walk to school to pick up the kids.  Nate put in a new battery when he got home.  I am thankful for a school that is so close and helpful neighbors! 

Our new house

Welcome!

Entryway- will be bluish paint

To the right of entry- fireplace room

Kitchen

Down hallway- laundry room

Little bathroom off laundry room

Mudroom at end of hallway- garage to right

Continuation of kitchen

Sunroom=toy room/computer/guinea pig room

Dining area off kitchen

Family room, connected to dining area

Top of stairs- baby room to left, guest room, boys room, Julia's room to right

Baby's room- totally ready for baby to move in, ha!

Guest room

Boys room

Julia's room

 

Hallway to our bedroom

Kids Bath- total disaster

Our bedroom, not sure about the drapes

Our closet/vanity area/bathroom

Our backyard

Uncle Pete and boys destroying the basement

We have moved!  We have been in our house for 2 weeks now.  Nate had 5 guys from work help us move, it was awesome.  We rented a huge truck and they got everything loaded up that morning and unloaded at our new house by early afternoon.  We weren't able to fit everything in the truck though.  It is amazing how much stuff a family accumulates over the years, it was kind of sad!  We have been slowly unpacking and finding places for everything.  Nate's brother Pete visited for a couple days and was very helpful.  He moved furniture around and started destroying the basement with Nate.  The basement is unfinished but the former owners had a finished rec room.  At some point there was bad water damage so all of the rotten/mildewed drywall had to be ripped out.  The boys thought it was great fun to help out. 

I know there are alot of pictures, but this way we'll remember what the house looked like before we fixed and decorated it.  And it was hard to post pictures of my messy house, but I got over it.  Now we just need you all to come visit us!

Isaac's 5th Birthday

Birthday cupcake for the actual birthday

Cars 2 characters

Caleb gave Isaac a Beyblade toy

Doc Hudson car and whoopie cushion from G&G Jongsma

Cool Cars cake from the local grocery store

Isaac turned 5 on August 15, can you believe it?!  He thought his birthday was anti-climatic during the day, where is the cake and candles and presents?  But, we opened presents and had birthday cupcakes after Nate woke up in the afternoon.  We also went swimming at the outdoor pool for the first time, which Isaac said, "made it the best birthday ever!"  The nice scab on his face is from the pool.  For his birthday supper he requested pancakes, eggs and bacon.  Today we celebrated Isaac's birthday with Tim and Jenny and my Dad.  My Mom is sick right now.  I didn't have time to make a birthday cake so Isaac picked one out from the grocery store.  Caleb desperately wanted to buy a birthday present for Isaac, it was very sweet how much he wanted to give his brother a gift.  The one present Isaac said he wanted for his birthday was a whoopie cushion and he got one from Grandpa/Grandma and one from Tim/Jenny.  Which is good because I think one will break quickly.  You can't help but laugh at how much joy Isaac gets from the whoopie cushion.  His belly laugh is just contagious. 

Isaac is starting Young 5's next week and he met his teacher the other day.  He liked seeing the classroom and meeting the teacher, but he did not want to meet the other kids.  He will like school, but he is pretty quiet in group situations.  There are only 11 kids in his class so I think he will become comfortable quickly. 

At some point I will blog about the move and share pictures of the new house!