Connor's Art

I wanted to share with you Connor's wonderful art work. I am so proud of him.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas in Michigan this year. On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at Brian and Vicky's home and then attended church service at 7:00. Christmas morning was AWESOME. The boys ate breakfast and repeated "Mom, just be patient!" I couldn't help it. I was too excited.

After presents, my dad, Kurt's parents, Bradley, and grandparents came over and enjoyed the whole day. It was wonderful. At one point Connor said to me "Mom, Jesus' birthday sure is fun. He must really love us." (Heart touching). Oh ya, by the way, my 4 year old got a lap top for Christmas. What's next!!!

A week before Christmas, Connor had his Christmas program at preschool. They sang Christmas songs and did a great job. I laughted at myself because I realized that I was "that Mom" that was waving at their kid in a Christmas program saying "Connor, honey, hi, I'm over here." Oh my. I did NOT just do that. Oh boy.



Our Thanksgiving was great! We went up north to Kurt's Uncle Mike and enjoyed fellowship with his family. Just like every year at Thanksgiving, after dinner the "men and boys" adventure outside to shoot. This year Kaden had a chance and loved it... I, on the other hand, would prefer him not to be handling firearm at the young age of 2 but Daddy said "Yes".

The gifts God has blessed us with are priceless. To witness and shape their lives has been the greatest joy of our lives.

Kaden is our version of "Tigger". Witnessing God's creation blossom has been awesome. Kaden's

imagination is like nothing I've ever seen before. We have to

continuously remind ourselves that he is only 2 1/2 years old. He is definitely a boy... all around and enjoys every single minute of it.


One day, after dropping Connor off at preschool, Kaden and I ran around town. We had a few stops to make. It wasn't long before Kaden had "found" a baby owl! Because the baby owl was real only in Kaden's heart, I had to ask him what color the owl was. He said black. He then continued to talk to the baby owl and love on him. He was very concerned about the owl and where he's family was. He kept the baby owl warm in the cold Michigan winter weather. He carefully carried the owl into the post office and had to show it the EVERYONE and ANYONE who would listen to him. This warmed my heart. He adventured with the owl into Hobby Lobby. After a few hours, as we were driving down the road, he asked me roll the window down. I did. He hugged the owl. He kissed the owl. He told him he loved the owl. Then he gently let it go.

Connor is becoming this "little" man (all 32 pounds of him). His little grown-up comments crack us up. It amazes me that he is already 4 1/2 and this summer he will be 5 years old. I have no idea where the time is going. He brings a smile to face and love in my heart every day.

He loves his preschool and is doing awesome. They adventure off every month on a field trip. They are preparing for their Christmas Program next week. I can't wait to see all these little kids sing. He's really beginning to understand the true reason for Christmas. He wants to make Jesus a birthday cake because that's why we celebrate Christmas. So, a birthday cake for Jesus it will be. We had to make a paper link counting down the days until Christmas and that's working out great.

Kurt has been extremely busy at the store and we are blessed for that. We're still finding time to have some date nights here and there. We are doing great, as usual, and just enjoying the love God gave us for one another.

October 2007

Michigan sure is beautiful in the fall. We've been enjoying the nice days and the cooler evenings. We adventured off to the pumpkin farm where the boys got to pick out they Halloween pumpkins. They always love visiting "Gene the Pumpkin Man"... even though we think it's too commercialized. The boys love it.

Last week, Kurt and I got away for a long weekend and went to Kentucky. The boys stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's. We visited the Expo in Louisville. We also had the opportunity to visit with my high school best friend (Michelle) and her family. It is such a blessing to reconnect with an old friend. It's amazing how God can take care of so many worries and warm hearts so we can enjoy the company of an old friend. I'm excited to say that I think we will stay in contact!!!!

Halloween was AWESOME! Connor "The dragon" and Kaden "The Lion" loved dressing up. Connor enjoyed his Pumpkin Party at Preschool and at 12:00 we had the opportunity to visit with all our friends at Lisa's house. That night, we went Trick-or-Treating with the Russell's and the Steensma's. I have no idea what we are going to do with all this candy.

On Friday, Connor and Kurt blew the leaves in the yard. Connor loved powering his very own leaf blower and even said that Daddy helped "just a little".

Love being a mom!

We had a wonderful time at the Apple Orchard a few weeks ago. The whole preschool was there and even Kaden was invited to come along. The class took a ride out to the orchard and got to pick apples right from the tree. They loved that. Afterwards, they were able to share doughnuts and apple cidar with their friends and burn off some energy on the slides and corn mazes!

It's been on my heart lately about how to show the boys that God is working in their lives! On Sunday, Connor and I went shopping together. We stopped at Old Navy to see if they had Halloween costume. I explained to him that we may or may not purchase one... we just had to see. He immediately saw a dragon that we loved! But, unfortunately, they did not have one in his size. He's little heart was soooo disappointed. We picked out a few more costumes that they did have in his size. I explained to him that we didn't have to purchase one today and that we could keep looking around. But he decided on the zebra and handled the situation very mature. My heart was sad and proud at the same time. I was sad because I knew he really didn't want to be a zebra... he really wanted to be a dragon. And proud because he chose a wonderful attitude about the whole thing. As we walked to the counter to pay, I was still feeling for Connor. Just then, I looked over and in a corner, was this dragon costume! "God, please let this be a 4T." And it was!!! Connor and I were sooo excited. I immediately explained to Connor that God had saw that he chose the right attitude and God blessed him. God made this available for him! He was so excited. When we got home, Connor ran to Kurt and said "Look at what God gave me!" God wanted Connor to be a dragon for Halloween??? Not really, but Connor showed the right attitude. Thank you Jesus!

the last few weeks

In the middle of August, the boys and I joined my in-laws on vacation up north. We went swimming, shopping, and enjoyed the wonderful weather. The boys had a blast swimming! Connor showed a lot of confidence and wasn't affraid to just jump in! It's so nice to get away and spend quality time with family. We did, however, get attached by bumble bees! Connor and I were the only ones who got stung but we are all okay! We returned home and within one day, we lost power for 4 days! That was fun, let me tell you! My in-laws were still up north so we moved into their home! Thank you Mom and Dad!

Then, Kim and baby Lindsey visited us from Florida. The boys loved having their "Aunt Kim" around and I loved spending time with Lindsey. She has grown so much in just two months! She's smiling and begining to talk! I love it. She is such a wonderful baby and Kim is a wonderful Mommy! We went to the zoo and hung out around town. On Labor Day, we went to Carol's and the boys and I went tubbing! Ah! They absolutely loved it!!!

Connor begins preschool on Monday and I begin Mom's Connection on Tuesday! We've really enjoyed our summer but are excited to get back into our daily routine and back to school! I such am thankful for all that the Lord has provided for our family and extremely grateful that I have these years to be at home with the boys!

Summer Pictures

The boys and I joined the DeBoer's for a trip to Binder Park Zoo a few weeks ago. Joel loved the DVD player in my truck. We had a wonderful time at the zoo with Amy and Joel! The boys, all of them, loved feeding the goats, riding on the train, and feeding the giraffes! We wore Joel out! It was awesome. And it was really fun for Amy and I to hang out and watch these boys discover all the animals.

Last week Mel and Sheri came over along with all their kids! That was great. A toys hurricane had ran thru my house! They had so much fun. Everyone helped clean up before they left. Well, that night, we got ready for bed and Puppy, Kaden's dog that he sleeps with, was GONE! Oh no! We looked everywhere for it and no sign of Puppy. Finally, I put Kaden to bed with another stuffed animal and told him I would keep looking for Puppy and we'd find him in the morning. He didn't like that, but he was fine. I got to the bottom of the steps and I hear Kaden begin to cry. His little heart was broken! I felt so bad. Okay, where is Puppy! I have to find him. I did find him outside in the back of our toy Gator. I brought him up to his room and his little sweet face lit up! He hugged Puppy and said "Thank you Mommy!" Ahhh, my eyes just filled with tears. He then looked at Puppy, kissed him, and said "I missed you!". Ahh, what a sweet heart!

Kurt, the boys, and I got in a huge water fight last weekend! This pictures is worth a thousand words! Oh ya, this picture was taken after Kaden asked me if he could go swimming in our little kids pool. It took Kaden 20 minutes to realize that he was FULLY clothed! We laughed so hard!!

Here are some pictures from my 30th birthday party. I thank all of you who could be there and everyone for your wishes and thoughts!

The month of August will be pretty laid back. My best friend, Kim, and her new baby, Lindsey, are planning to visit us from Florida and I'm really looking forward to that.