Nicolas had his first preschool field trip yesterday. We went to Crane's Apple Orchard in Fennville, MI. It was a lot of fun. I helped to chaperon almost twenty four year olds! They were all so excited, despite the crisp fall weather! They lined up in front of the pumpkin house for a group picture in front of the pumpkin house. All these kids and yet not one pumpkin hit the ground! Amazing!
Nicolas had a wonderful time along with his two "best friends" Parker and Michael. They rode together on the hay ride, picked apples, ate, and made mischief as if they were one mind. Boys will be boys and that's exactly what they were. They ran through the fields giving our guide a workout as she tried to explain how apples are made, how cider is made, and how corn comes off a cob!

The hay ride was so much fun as we went around curves, up steep hills and down the other side, through apple fields, peach trees, forests, and by lakes and ponds. Parker and Nicolas wanted to sit in the back and you can tell they are having a wonderful time! We brought home some tasty apple cider donuts, apple cider, and beautiful self-picked apples for a treat!

The orchard also has a corn maize called "Walk on the Wild Side" which is supposed to be adults only fun - aka scary! We might go try it out this weekend if we can find a baby sitter!

Ninja Nick

Nick just started doing Tae Kwondo and he just earned his first belt! Check out his white belt! He is super proud and learning respect for self and others as well as discipline. The studio is a Christian based studio so he gets good mentoring. He's taking a break until November so that he can do soccer and then he'll be working his way toward yellow!

Caitlynn turns 2!

Yesterday my baby turned two years old. Sob! I can't believe she is growing up so fast! We celebrated in fine style - we went to dinner and then to the circus! She had such a good time. We all did actually. My mother wanted to take her as part of her birthday gift. We had already had a party on the 9th at Italian Festival but we felt it was important to celebrate her birthday. Here she is in one of the princess dresses she got. My mother-in-law created a special dress-up box for her that she just went wild over! She is all girl and loves to dress up so we filled it with pretty princess dresses and other dress up items such as jewelry and a make-up bag (fake of course). She is so into Barney so I called three stores until I found one that made Barney cakes. She went crazy over it! We tried to keep it cold but in 99 degree weather it melted just a bit! It was such a fun party for her. The festival has little carnival games and races so all I had to do was bring the cake and the presents and balloons! Easy as pie.
Just like we did on her first birthday we went to eat at Applebees! They all came and sang to her and gave her a chocolate dessert shooter. She smiled and just looked all around at everyone like she was the happiest girl in the world. When they placed the shooter in front of her and she saw all that chocolate she grabbed the spoon and said "Oh, my birthday cake!" and dug right in. She was covered. At the circus she and I rode an elephant and my kids pigged out on popcorn, peanuts, and snowcones. They got light sabers and inflatable toys courtesy of my mom and had a wonderful time. The clowns seemed to be the hit of the show although I think Caitlynn liked the tigers quite a lot! By the time we left it was rainy and late but we were so happy and tired. She got calls from almost everyone in the world and wouldn't talk to a single soul but her great-grandmother in Illinois. She is really turning into a beautiful and sweet little girl and I am both proud and sad to watch her grow. I hope she doesn't grow to fast.

New desktop

I created a desktop with the help of Shabby Princess! Check it out! I'm going to change it each month from now on!

Growing up is hard to watch!

My husband's company had their annual company picnic this past Friday. They held it in Grand Rapids at a place called Craig's Cruisers. First, let me say that they did an awesome job! Better than any Army picnic we had ever been to! Second, my son is growing up. He drove a car for the first time! Ok. It was a go-cart, but you have to know the feeling of watching your first born behind the wheel of a car makes you feel two things - old and sad. Oh to keep him young forever! But alas, it is not to be. Anyway, here is the video of my son's first turn around the "block".

The things we do for our children...

Ok. Get ready to laugh. We went to the county fair and they had a children's presentation called Pirate Island. It was billed as interactive and since it was free and looked very cute, we decided to make it a point to see it. I didn't know interactive would mean that I would get turned into a mermaid! Yes, we were selected from volunteers. I thought we would go up on stage, see or be part of a magic trick, and then sit back down. Instead we were led to a tent where the lead pirate's wench put us into various costumes.

Yes, this is me - complete with mermaid costume, a ring of flowers, and some weird headband with little alien fuzzy things out the top! I had to do the mermaid cha-cha (which was a lot like the hula) and take part in a story of mystery, intrigue, betrayal, and magic. My only consolation was that it was fun and that my baby looked ADORABLE as a mermaid. My laughing husband, however, was no help at all! Oh well!

Sweetness at its best!

I took my kids downtown today to play in the fountain. For those of you who don't know. Our town has a beautiful downtown. During the winter the sidewalks have underground warming systems to keep them snow and ice free and during the summer there is a fountain that kids just go nuts in! Water squirts up in large streams from several different areas of the ground. They come and go in a random sort of way and the kids loved chasing them.

Needless to say, they got soaked! Good thing Mom was planning to take them so we had towels and a change of clothes! Caitlynn was running away from the water here. She got so excited just to reach out and "wash my hand, Mama!" Nick was full into the water. He ran through the streams, stood over them and let them soak him through, and even tried to use his feet to contain the water underground. Our day was filled with fun! Later we took a walk and went to the park. Then we sat down on the living room floor and spent some quality time watching a movie and eating chips with nacho cheese. I love my babies so much! They try my patience at times, but in the end, love is always there!

Summer Fun

We have been having quite a lot of fun this sumer with many days being spent out at the beach. Lake Michigan is a wonderful stop for fun. Nick and Caitlynn started in early May preparing for a summer of beach fun. They stopped for a rest under a beach tent that was for sale at a sporting goods store. They looked so cute reclining on the chairs with their shades on and, of course, baby near Caitlynn's side. Yes, she is in that stage where a baby must go anywhere and everywhere with us. Our first trip to the beach was just the kids and I. The weather was perfect, although the lake was still a little cool (in the 30's). You would have thought the water was perfect for Nick though. The child played and spashed with other kids until I had to pull him out because he was shivering. He played in the lake about 45 minutes. I thought he was going to freeze - I know I wanted to.

Caitlynn wisely realized that the water was to cold for her as yet and contented herself with playing in the sand - quite happily I might add. By the end of the day she had buried herself more than once up to the waist and myself countless times. She doesn't remember going to the beach last summer I am sure - we only made it once. It is so nice to live just 5 miles from the beach instead of 90 minutes. A state park pass allows us unlimited access to the beach during the day. We have been making the most of it on the good days. I tried to get in a little early tanning and Caitlynn thought it would be fun to copy mommy and join in. She laid down on the towels next to me and tried to copy my posture. The opportunity was too good to miss and I had to grab the camera and snap a shot. We look forward to more time at the beach. Come and visit and you too shall become a "beach bum"! Love ya'll!

4th of July 2009

The 4th was a wonderful weekend for our family. We actually had three whole days of celebrating, not just one! Our fun started on the 3rd with town activities and then fireworks that night. I was a little bummed about not having fireworks on the 4th, but hey, at least we had them. The show was awesome! One the fourth I had to work for a few hours but then we had our BBQ, just the family this year. We are still getting to know people and working hard on our home and in our jobs. Bills to pay and all that nonsense. The kids had a blast. We went and rented a canoe on the 3rd (the date on the pic is off). It was so much fun and the kids just had a great time! On the 5th we went to the beach and had a cookout and played in the sand and the waves. We were all so exhausted (me because I worked some all three of these days and cooked, cleaned, and played). Love and miss you all! Angel

Moving blues

I have moved! I know, many of you might not understand why that statement seems so happy when you read the title, but let me explain. Moving stinks. Yes, really. The people who were renting this place before us had never heard of the cleaning aisle in Walmart, mold and mildew were normal bathroom companions for them, and landscaping is something that only people on tv do. I not only have had to move in and unpack but I have gone through three bottles of cleaning solutions, two cans of dust spray, countless washcloths, more weed eater string than humanly possible, and have emptied my vaccume numerous times. The bonus of all this - I AM IN A LARGER, CLEANER, SAFER HOME WITH A FENCED IN BACK YARD JUST EIGHT BLOCKS FROM THE LAKE AND DOWNTOWN!!! That alone is enough to make me happy. My husband is happy that I am happy and my kids love their yard and new neighbors (there is a little boy Nick's age next door). My dogs are happy because they can run around a yard again without being chained up and my cats are happy that they have a basement to slink off to when they are feeling anti-social. All in all, life is turning up. I got a new job and I am so happy with that! I will be able to work a flexible schedule and get some great experience and maybe some help finishing my BSN in the future. I honestly feel that working makes me a better mommy. Some might be confused, so let me explain. Spending time with my kids is awesome, but getting some time away from them makes me miss them and realize just how important they are to me and how important that time I have with them is. I get a break, earn a little extra spending money, and relax for a while. My kids go crazy at their grandmothers and get a break from mommy. All in all, we get along better with these break times. My time at Trendway was awesome, but 9 hours a day away from my kids for 6 weeks almost killed me. This will be much less and will be flexible around my family so everyone wins! Hooray! Anyway, it is so late. I have been to the swimming pool, an interview, the store, and have worked outside in the yard for several hours while playing with children today. I have been staying up to 11:30 every night to unpack and clean and I think that I am to the point now where exhaustion is about to take over. Love you all! Come visit! We now have room for you! A

One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days when you planned for something wonderful to happen and then somehow a bunch of crap just hits you like a ton of bricks? We had one of those days on Sunday, literally. It was a beautiful day and we had just finished having company for two days straight. I love having our family around close by, but we had company two weekends in a row and were so worn out after two long weeks of work and such. My little man had his ballet recital on Saturday. It was so adorable. I'll post about that later. Anyway, to get back to the real story, Mike suggested we go to the zoo. They have some new exhibits which opened this weekend with some new animals. The kids and I were super excited as we packed a travel bag, got lunch to go, and hit the road for Grand Rapids and John Ball Zoo.

Now, remember when I said that you can plan for a wonderful day and what can happen? Well, crap happened five minutes after entering the zoo - duck poop to be exact. We were standing and watching the pelicans that are at the entrance when three ducks flew in from behind us to land in the pond. What's wrong with that you might ask? Nothing. Except that these ducks flew about three feet over our heads and decided to relieve themselves at that exact moment. Let me empasize - ALL THREE OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME!!!! Yup, you guessed it. DUCK POOP WENT EVERYWHERE! At first we stood there in shock and then began to assess the damage. Duck poop was all up the back of our bodies - jeans, jackets, back pack, my husband's hair. Caitlynn, protected by our bodies and the stroller top, was the onlyone who walked away clean.

Luckily we had brought spare clothes and the weather was warm enough. We stripped off jackets and changed Nick's jeans. Mike and I took turns scrubbing duck poop off the backs of each others jeans and shoes. I washed it out of his hair while he scrubbed the backpack clean and then dumped the soiled articles in the car. Thirty minutes later we bravely re-entered the zoo and RUSHED through the pond exhibits to bigger, and hopefully cleaner, things.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. We spent a fun-filled day at the zoo enjoying the touch tank (sharks and rays), the pettying zoo (barnyard animals galore), riding a camel (Nick and Dad), cursing and plotting the death of any and all ducks and much more. What had started out as a crappy beginning turned into a beautiful awesome day. We concluded our day by taking a spin around the pond in the swan paddle boats. I know, I know. Hadn't we had enough water fowl for the day? These seemed tame enough though. Then it was time to head back home. Nick has been begging to visit Craig's Cruisers, so we made a quick stop there so that he and Daddy could have a go-cart race. Caitlynn and I found a place to feed the fish. Feeding fish is an understatement - fish frenzy would be more exact. Carp were everywhere, much to the delight of my daughter. They would come out of the water for the pellets floating on the top, sucker mouths making all sorts of kissing noises. It was a madhouse and she loved it! The day was done - started pretty nasty, but ended up good. More than one good thing came out of the experience, first of all, it will be a zoo visit we won't ever forget. Secondly, now we can laugh about the fact that the poop doesn't hit the fan, it hits us!

Tulip Time Dancers

Tulip Time

Ok, so here in Holland, MI we have a yearly 10 day festival called Tulip Time. During these ten days thousands of tourists descend upon our town to view the tulips, visit the Dutch theme parks, and watch hundreds of high school students dressed in provential Dutch attire and wooden shoes dance their way around the various downtown areas. Complete with carnivals, fireworks, food, drink, music, concerts, and various other forms of entertainment, Tulip Time is an awesome experience! Oh, an lest I forget, those lovely tulips. We had such a fun time going around and looking at all of the beautiful tulips and enjoying our day together as a family. My babies were lovely in front of this tulip bed at the Dutch Theme Park. But I must confess, I am glad that Tulip Time has come to a close for the year. Thousands of tourists descending on us and not knowing how to drive in our town has gotten a little old. Turning left at stop lights on highway 31 is not allowed, you have to turn right and do these turn-around things. But tourists don't read signs and do it anyway. Accidents galore! Also, they tend to see some pretty tulips, throw on the brakes, park in the middle of the road (illegal? yes. do they still do it? Yes.) and get out to spend ten minutes taking pictures of tulips. Apparantly they didn't notice the parking area one block ahead. Our favorite thing to watch, however, were the Dutch dancers. The costumes were so cool. Here are a couple pics of one of our town criers and his wife. I took some video and here it is. Oh, FYI. Those shoes they wear are made of wood and they do sometimes come off. When we were at the Dutch Theme Park one shoe flew about 35 feet through the air and landed in the water! Watch out for flying shoes is indeed good advice. My children, husband, and I watched fireworks over the lake and enjoyed every minute of the carnival and fun to be had. Fair food tasted pretty good again! Next year we hope to do and see more, but Caitlynn got very sick with Right Lower Lobe Pneumonia and a Urinary Tract Infection. Poor baby, her fever rocketed from 99.6 in the morning to 103.8 in the Urgent Care that evening. She is good now with an intensive antibiotic treatment underway, but we were really worried about her. It came out of nowhere and shocked us all!

Seattle Fun

Yesterday we spent the day in Seattle, Washington having fun with my best friend Sarah and here two little ones, Courtney and Alex. We drove up in the morning, leaving Lacey, WA in the bright sun and arriving in Seattle under dense cloud cover. The first place we visited was Pike Place Market. While we were hoping some fish were going to fly past our heads the only entertainment was a gigantic Monk Fish. Hanging out over the side of a vender's display of ice and fish, this UGLY specimen was a perfect photo opportunity for me. I encouraged Nick and Courtney to stand next to it for a picture. Upon getting close to the fish, however, they were frightened out of their socks when the fish suddenly "jumped" into the air at them. The joke was on us. Amid frightened tears of my daughter and Alex and wide-eyed stares from Nick and Courtney we realized that the long tail of the fish was threaded through a tunnel in the ice. A rope was attached to said tail and the vendor took great delight in scaring anyone who came near this ugly monster by jerking the rope, thereby causing the fish to "attack". The visit to the Market was like no other. Vendors called to you offering samples of their wares and street performers play various musical styles as you proceeded through a vibrant display of colors, taste, smells, sounds, textures and sights. A visit to Pike Place Market is truly an experience that invites all of the senses to participate. Vibrant displays of flowers and fabrics line the aisles. After sampling such delicacies as chocolate linguine we decided that our starving children needed some more nourishment than the busy Market could offer. During lunch dockside at a Red Robin we noticed that the day seemed to be clearing up. We were blessed with sunny clear skies and warmer weather upon leaving the restaurant and celebrated by visiting a Starbucks on the corner. No visit to Seattle would be complete without a Starbucks beverage, I was told by Sarah.

Next we visited the Pacific Science Center to see the IMAX 3-D version of Monster's vs. Aliens. We had a wonderful time and the kids loved watching the movie leap off the screen towards them. Even with Alex deciding that his nose the perfect place to store a spare Reese's Pieces candy, the movie was a great success. We then ventured into the museum itself to see moving dinosaurs, play with fluttering butterflies, and investigating bugs, music, and other fun times.

Finally, we ended our day with a trip up the Space Needle. Walking so high in air was thrilling and yet slightly terrifying at the same time. After exiting the glass elevator, we ventured to the outside (yes it is actually outside) observation deck and took in a 360* view of Seattle, Puget Sound, and the Cascade Mountains, including Mt. Rainier. The breathtaking view was the perfect end to our perfect day in the Northwest. Tired and a little hungry, we trudged back to the car and began the drive south towards home. It will be a day none of us will soon forget and we are so blessed to have shared it with our friends.

Fun in a box

Have you ever noticed that kids have a lot of fun with the simple things in life? Our TV broke and we sent it off for repairs. They sent us a new set in a BIG box. I cut a door with a handle and two windows with shutters in the box and the kids painted it. I have rarely seen so much fun to be had with cardboard! It was a house, a fort, a shelter during the tornado (mom was vacumming), and a roller coaster ride with Dad (mom tipped the box onto various sides with Dad and kids inside, sending them rolling in various directions). I can honestly say I don't remember the last time we laughed so hard as a family.
It is a reminder that the simple things in life can be the most rewarding and fullfilling. To often we get caught up in the technology and the various outlets (malls, Chuck E. Cheese, etc) and think that we must be entertained to have fun as a family. Not so. There is fun and family time to be had in just taking a nature walk, going to the beach, or playing in a giant cardboard box.

Time with Dad

A son's time with his father is precious, to be sure. When they are little times seems to fly by so fast. Mike is working the second shift (6p-6a). This means that sleeping during the normal waking hours is a must for him on his days on the job. Days off are family days for us and we try to do family activities whenever possible. Today was a red letter day for Mike and his son. Nick and Daddy went to Home Depot to take part in their monthly kid activity. Today they worked together on building a birdhouse. Mike read the directions and guided while Nick learned how to hammer and screw and glue pieces together in the proper order. He received an offical apron for working with tools and a pin. For each project he finishes he will receive a pin to add to his apron displaying the project he finished and a certificate of completion as well as his hard earned project. He took this picture displaying his apron, birdhouse, and pin (on right shoulder). They had a lot of fun together and built Mommy a beautiful bird house to hang outside. The back is plexiglass and it hangs on a window with suction cups so that if, and I stress if, a bird happens to build a nest within it, we will be able to see the babies. Nick wants to paint is up pretty for the birds so I guess that finger paints will be coming out tomorrow. What was most important was that Nick and Mike spent some quality time together. This happens rarely and it is important that Mike sees Nick as a little boy and that Nick sees his dad as a loving father. This happens best when they spend one-on-one time together and it makes Nick feel special (he is doing something with Dad, man time, etc). Next month they already have plans to attend the May session and build a wheelbarrel planter (nice Mother's Day project yes?).

A memory...

My husband and I were talking about the past last night. We were going over old times and remembering our dating years. We laughed over some of the times we had and silently pondered others. I remember meeting Mike long after he says he noticed me. He claims to have first seen me a few months prior singing in the Homecoming Concert at ONU. I first met my husband to be after my first Christmas break in College. The year was 2000 and I was going to a rehersal for Shakespeare in Love with Chocolate. I was to do a scene from Hamlet as the fair Ophelia and a guy I then knew only in name was to play Hamlet. I was not to impressed at first, having just come through a very hurtful breakup. But he called a few days later to ask me out. Still not wanting to get my heart broken again into tiny pieces I tried to scare him off but he wasn't easily detered. We began to date and soon I realized that I was with a very different class of guy. He was gentle and loving and stood by me through hard times. He was also fun, spontaneous, and exciting. He proposed to me August 18, 2000 and I said yes. I joke with him that it was partly because he had me stuck on the top of a ferris wheel and I am terrified of heights. We were married in front of family, God, and friends July 27, 2002 and after some tough times, fun times, heartbreaking times, and times where we wanted to just chuck it all in and cut our losses we feel closer and stronger than ever. Praise God for the love of this man of mine.

How do you overcome profound despair?

How do you overcome profound despair? When you loose something so close to you that it actually takes a physical part of you with it when it leaves? I do not know. This is a question that I continue to ask myself daily two weeks after I entered into such a state. My tiny little baby, only a short time into life inside of me suddenly ceased to exist. The tiny heart that had developed from atoms to small for the naked eye to see suddenly ceased to beat. The image that I saw on the ultrasound, while beautiful and precious, suddenly ceased to live. The cause? Unknown. A blood clot between placenta and wall is thought to be the killer of my precious little life. To make matters worse, I was to undergo a procedure that would remove my little one from me. I gave birth, in a way, to a baby that I never got to hold and never got to meet. When you are expecting, planning, rejoicing, and loving something and then find out that it is not going to be, your heart breaks. You feel as if you will die of the hurt that is now slowly building up inside you until it cascades out of you in torrents of tears, blood, and emotion. It should kill you but you continue to live. But unlike a bullet, there is no easy fix for the pain. A bullet can be removed, the hole repaired, and medication given to ease the pain. Time, they say, heals all things, but I am still waiting to see how much time it takes to heal my pain, fill my emptyness, and stem the tide of tears. Two weeks is a very short time and while I look forward to the time when I might be able to again feel that tiny life growing inside me, my heart still yearns for the one I lost. Is it wrong to look ahead to another new life when I still grieve and yearn for the one I lost or is this just another step in healing? Time will tell.

Easter 2009

Easter is drawing near, just short of two weeks away. As with any holiday, Mike and strive to make a memorable day for our children and for our family. This Easter, we sought out some special outfits for our children and took them for a special Easter sitting at the local portrait studio. My sweet children took such beautiful pictures. Isn't it wonderful that we are blessed with the technology to capture these moments for remembrance far down the road? Watching my children pose, smile, and enjoy their brief moment of "fame" brought tears to my eyes and laughter to my lips. I even confess that the sin of pride in my youngsters reared its head a bit. But look at my babies. Easter is a special time of year for them. They look forward to the bunny, the eggs, the candy, and the fun. But as I was reminded by my little boy "Easter is when Jesus did magic". He is, of course, referring to the fact that our Savior raised from the dead and saved us from eternal death. Let us remember that although the world tells us that Easter is about baskets, outfits, candy, and giant rodents the true meaning of Easter means so much more!

I'm actually doing this...

I find it funny that I actually have the time to sit down and blog. My life has been so full with finishing school and all the hectic stuff that we have been hit with since last July that I can't imagine having time to myself anymore. That won't last long. I have found time to actually start digital scrapping and I can't believe how far behind I am. Four years behind, if I think about it. My little man is growing up so fast and it has been fun to look back as I sort through pictures and see how he has changed. My baby has grown so much as well! Caitlynn, my little 18 month old going on 13. Yes, she is acting that mature. Even wants to put make-up on with me in the morning. Ahh.... Time flies by so quick. Well, I need to get a move on if I am going to go hit the sale this afternoon at the mall. Kids outgrow clothes so fast! Love ya all!