Little Rock

This rock may not look very big (which it's not really), but small enough to put up your nose? Wednesday night I got to have a little mommy time away while Ryan watched the kids, a belated Mother's day gift of sorts:) Anyway, when I got home the kids were already in bed and Ryan told me that Kailyn had told him she had a rock up her nose....so he looked and felt around in her nose and had her blow her nose, but saw and felt nothing. So he concluded that she had a large booger up her nose and that was what she was talking about, end of story! On Thursday morning before we started to do her hair for school, Kailyn looked up her nose in the mirror and I could see something white! I immediately called Ryan and told him that she was not kidding, she had put a rock up her nose....now to get it out!!!!!! I tried grabbing the rock with a tweezers, but it was too big and too high up in her nose. So we tried blowing her nose, and when she realized the importance of getting this rock out of her nose, she blew really hard and almost got it out. So I was able to grab it with the tweezers and we could all breathe easier.....definitely not something I'd like to repeat.

Volksparade 2010

Wednesday was the annual Volksparade here in Holland for Tulip Time, and as usual the kids and I walked from the house armed with an umbrella!! This year the chance of rain was 60 % and the radar showed a small band of showers coming across the lake, so the kids and I took off around 9:30 to try to beat it, but also to watch the dutch dancers at 10:) So we packed a lunch, some extra clothes for Will "just in case." the sunscreen, camera and activities to do while we waited for the parade to start! We also had our weekly stop at the library (which I hurried us through becuase the sky was getting darker and darker). The kids watching the dutch dancers....it turned out we got downtown right at 10 and picked the first available spot, only to look up and see Mrs. Brouwer, Kailyn's teacher, right in front of us....we were pleasantly surprised as she was only subbing and we hadn't planned on watching anyone in particular....how special!!!!

Just after 11, it started to really rain, so we headed to the Phys. plant to seek shelter!!! We were going to meet Ryan for lunch anyway, but it worked out perfect. While we waited for daddy the kids colored pictures, watched Ice Age on our portable DVD player that I thought to grab, ate snacks and read the new books we checked out at the library....God is incredibly good!
The kids tried their hand at dutch dancing with the dancers before the streetscrubbing began. The roads and everything had actually already dried up and things were beautiful:)Kailyn kept calling this the "hangnail" instead of "windmill", it was hilarious, how she got hangnail out of that I'll never know!The kids loved watching the parade with grandma and their cousins....what a beautiful day for a parade!!!!

Tiptoe through the Tulips!!!

Holland, is the second happiest town in U.S. and during tulip time we could probably be #1!!!! Tulip Time is one of my favorite times of year and makes me proud to be a Hollander:) This year, the weather has been so gorgeous, that most of the tulips are already in bloom.....so we headed downtown this weekend to tiptoe through the tulips and take some pictures before all the tourists arrive! Pictures of late are harder and harder to get, especially with my drama queen and king:) I included some silly ones just to give you an idea!The kids each picked out their favorite color tulips at Centennial Park to get some pictures by!Of course T. needed to get in one:)This picture was a cool concept, but the kiddos were not cooperating!Hanging around on Hope's anchor!The kids got to ride back to the shop with daddy in his Toolcat....they loved it!!!! Then we headed downtown to grab some subs at Subs-n-More before heading to the Peanut Store for our customary laffy taffy!We tried for one more pic on the way back to the car....as you can tell, they were hamming it up!! Such a wonderful relaxing night...can't wait for more!

Father's Night!

Kailyn's teachers put on a special Father's Night this week, complete with some singing, a craft and rootbeer float treats! Kailyn and I spent some serious time getting her all dolled up for her time with daddy:) She was so excited and even requested they ride in daddy's truck for the short ride to school! They had a great time and we are so thankful for her wonderful teachers!

Pretty as Princesses!

I'm not super proud of this picture, but it is way too funny and adorable not to share!!! The kids had a riot playing princesses together the other night (and afforded me a chance to get some housework done). Just so you know, I'm asking for some boy dress-up items for Will's birthday!!

Earth Day!

In celebration of Earth Day, the kids and I did a few special things!!! For starters, we made dirt pudding, complete with worms....ewwww! We also did a few crafts and finished the sentence, "the earth is worth protecting because....", Kailyn said because Jesus made it and Will said because people play on it! We watched a short slideshow with 5 ways we could help save the earth and the kids have been really aware of water running and lights left on.....even trash in the yard! We also sang, "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" and went to Earth Jam on Hope's campus for a little while on Friday afternoon with daddy!We even had a few extra dirt cups for Kailyn to hand out to her teachers:)One of our Earth Day crafts....a simple coffee filter, washable markers and a spray bottle!

We also decided to make a cake to celebrate Earth day....so hence the trees, flowers and butterflies! I also took the opportunity to tell Kailyn and Will that God left us in charge of taking care of the Earth...it says so in the Bible! They are taking the responsibility pretty seriously:)

Taking Advantage of Spring!

When given a beautiful, summer-like day in April, nobody needs to tell me to take full advantage of every second, because in Michigan the weather changes all the time! So on Wednesday, with the temps forcasted to be in the low 70's and sunny, I figured we better head to the zoo:) I realized that not all the animals would be out, but my kids loved it anyway. We still got to see the lions, bears and penguins just to name a few of the favorites. We also got to spend some quality time with grandma after her trip to Pennsylvania:) So with packed lunches and lots of sunscreen we had a awesome morning:)The octopus was amazing and the kids got a kick out of it! Such an interesting animal.Not wanting to pose for a picture, but one of the few where they're at least together!I got to ride home with a monkey and a snow leopard as grandma bought the kids some souvenirs on the way out of the zoo!!!!! Thank you lord for such a beautiful day (and also for discounted rates at the zoo!):)