Birthdays

In February we celebrated Ian and Clara's birthdays. Yes, I know their actual birthday's were a couple months earlier, but how many more parties do two kids need around Christmas time?

We celebrated with family - grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. We always have a fun time.

In order to make Clara and Ian both feel like it is their party, they each get their own cake. They begin thinking the day after their birthday what kind of cake they want for the next year. This year Clara chose Kit Kittredge and Ian wanted a batman cake. Hmm. Those were fun for me to try to create. Here are a few pictures. They tasted pretty good, no matter how they look.

Great Wolf Lodge

In February, we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge to spend a couple days swimming, relaxing and having fun. It was awesome. The kids loved it, and I loved it too. I also realized it was the first time we have done a vacation with just us and our kids - no other family or friends.

We wanted to surprise the kids (and not have them ask every hour when we were leaving) so we didn't tell the kids we were going anywhere. I was able to pack all our stuff up without the boys realizing what I was doing. They were a bit confused when Mike came home from work early and we went to pick Clara up at school. When everyone was in the car and we were on the expressway, I gave each of the kids a bag with a new bathing suit and new sandals. Then we had them guess where we were going. They didn't guess the right destination, although Clara did guess Disney World and Mexico. They were very excited - which lasted right up to bedtime in their kid cabin; they couldn't go to sleep.

The next morning they were up at 6:30, ready to swim. Too bad they had to wait for the swim area to open at 9:00. We were down there at 9:03 and running under the water buckets. The best part was by far the water slides. I loved them, maybe even more than the kids loved them. (I also love roller coasters, swings, fast boat rides, airplanes, and would love to skydive.) Ian liked swimming and really wants to take more swimming lessons. John loved the hot tub area, the giant bucket of water and everything else.

Clara was my water slide buddy.John did not want to go home.

We had a great weekend, and I am ready for a repeat trip next year.

Christmas

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas season. We had a wonderful couple weeks off school and work. There was snow for the kids to play in, cookies and candies to indulge in, friends to play with, fires in the fireplace and games with the family, Christmas trees at Meijer Gardens and doughnuts at Krispy Kreme (also dentist appts. and flu shots thrown in). It was wonderful to see our families, with mostly good traveling weather. There were also the annual Christmas services at our church, which we have grown to love: the candlelight choir service, the kids' program, and the living nativity.

Through all this we have been trying to emphasize with our kids the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Although we do give presents and we wait expectantly for Santa to fill stockings, we remember that the birth of our Saviour, our Messiah, our Redeemer, is our true joy of Christmas. Even though "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas" may be their favorite song this year, it is wonderful to hear John sing "Away in a Manger," have Clara ask if she can be an angel next year for living nativity, and see Ian acting out the birth of Christ with our wooden nativity.

I hope that you are able to experience the joy of Christ's birth throughout this whole new year.

Adventure food

We are a family that loves fresh fruit and vegetables. The kids like to pick out an adventure food when we get groceries or go the the farmer's market. This summer John picked out purple potatoes at the farmer's market. We thought they would be purple skinned and then white or yellow on the inside. Nope, bright purple all the way through. They tasted just like a regular potato, maybe just a bit sweeter. I baked them in the oven with just a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I thought they were very good. Everybody tried them, but Ian liked them the best.

Off to School

Clara and Ian have been back to school now for a week. They both love school - they would probably rather be there than at home. They love their school - Millbrook Christian - their teachers and their friends. We are so happy to have a school that allows them to grow academically, socially and spiritually.

Clara is in a 2/3 grade split class, and is pretty sure that second grade is going to be the best grade ever.

Ian is so excited to be able to ride the bus this year. He is always making sure that we are going to be on time to the bus. He would never want to miss it. However, we live just down the street from a middle school that starts at 7:15. The buses drive down our street so he is constantly worried that his bus is going by and he is missing it.

John likes having time with just me, but I think he misses his siblings. On our first day at home with out the older kids, he asked if he could go outside and play fetch with his doggies. Hmmm, we don't have any doggies. He then showed me his stuffed animal doggies. I said sure and then watched from the window. He would throw a ball, then throw the dog to the ball. He would then put the dog on top of the ball like it had caught it. After fetch they played baseball - he would hit the ball to the dogs and they would field it. Very cute, he was having lots of fun, but I think it might be time for a real dog.

Clubhouse

Here are a few pictures of the clubhouse that we have been working on this summer. All that is left to do is put the shingles on. The kids have been enjoying the sandbox and upstairs for a few months. It is 6'x6' - plenty of room for 6-7 kids in the sandbox and room for kids and chairs on the top. Mike designed and built the whole thing. I suggested a balcony on top with a porch type swing hanging below. Obviously, my suggestion didn't make it into the design plan. I did help though - "Corrie, hold that board, pound a nail right there, hold this board, does that look straight?" (I pounded exactly one nail) But the kids love their clubhouse and love showing it to their friends, and I love having a husband who can design and build things. We are very proud of him.

Where have we been?

Good question. Where have we been? Well, with quite a few trips to Mike's parent's cottage, family weddings, vacation in Kentucky, camping, day trips to fun places and so on, we certainly haven't been home much. We have had adventures - hikes and swims, tried new foods, built a clubhouse, read good books, two-wheeler trained and potty trained, planted new flowers and watched old ones grow. And usually all in time to take naps in the afternoon. I am hoping in the next few weeks to post some pictures of our summer. School starts in two weeks and then we will need to settle down a bit. But who knows what new adventures we can fit in before then.