Looking Up

Yesterday turned out to be a much better day. The weather was hot, the fishing was great, and everybody is on the road to recovery!

Memorial Day 2011

We are in grand haven for the weekend. Our trip has had a rocky start.....

The weather is NOT warm here in Michigan
Grandpa bill and john have taken the boys salmon fishing two days in a row and the boat broke down both times before they could even get their poles in the water
Great grandma Rodgers was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia yesterday
Triston came down with strep throat this morning

So... We are hoping that tomorrow will be a new fresh start for us.

Terrible Two's????

Even though he is 2 and a half, Shane still has a lot of baby fat.....especially in his face!


I can not explain how adorable this little guy is! He has the sweetest personality! He adores his brothers and follows them around like a little duckling. I have even started to let him walk around in stores by himself without a cart or stroller and he stays right with me! (His brothers would have never done that at his age!) He is the most easy-going kid that you have ever met.


How did we get so lucky? (well, other than the fact that Wyatt makes up for him 110%) The terrible two's haven't touched him at all.... yet!

Biggest Worm Award

Jonah has won the biggest worm of the year award. He grabbed this guy in the garden. Apparently there was a bit of a struggle as the worm tried to escape, but Jonah was able to block him and get him into the bucket.


When Jonah told Wyatt about this worm on the way back from preschool he described the worm as being as big as our van!!! Apparently exaggerating about size is just built into a boy's DNA! I guess that you can't fight nature!

p.s. Notice that Jonah has his shirt on backwards (happens fairly often). Anyways the pocket was in the back and Shane followed Jonah around all day putting his hand in Jonah's pocket! It drove Jonah crazy, but Shane thought that it was hilarious!

Preschool Graduation #1

Jonah and Sam graduated from 3-year-old preschool this week. Wyatt was at school so Shane and I went to watch. The class sang us a few songs and then their teacher presented each one of them with a flower and a diploma. Shane insisted on lining up with all of the classmates at the front of the classroom! He was really worked up that he didn't get a flower and a diploma either...next year little guy! They did not make a huge deal and go all-over-the-top with it. It was simple and sweet.


Then we went into the auditorium to watch the 4-year-old preschool graduation which WAS over the top. Pomp and circumstance, marching, diplomas, speeches, etc. My boys were literally bored to death! But we sat through it all and headed to the rec room to eat our picnic lunches. The kids really enjoyed eating together at their school.


They had a GREAT year at school! I can not believe how much they enjoy school and how much they have retained! We are going to miss their teacher next year tremendously! I hope that whoever ends up teaching their 4-year-old preschool class has just half of the talent that their teacher this year did!

My kindle

I got a smart phone last November. I absolutely love my phone. It is an motorola droid x by verizon. I can check email and the internet from anywhere. My phone has saved me so many times it is shocking.

I have received emails about canceled appointments while I was already out and about with the kids. I have been able to send John emails to pick somebody up from preschool because something has come up and I couldn't get back in time. I have emailed John that we were locked out of the van and received help when he wasn't at his desk to answer his phone. I have looked up directions and store hours countless times without having to go home. We even booked a hotel room once from my phone while on the road!


But my absolute most favorite thing about my phone is the Amazon Kindle app. I download books all of the time and read them on my phone. My mom has my amazon account on her phone too so we can share books. It is so wonderful. I never thought that I would be one of those people who enjoyed reading ebooks, but I am hooked!

I can even read something on my phone and come home and read where I left off on my Ipad! I still like non-electronic kids books because the pictures look better, but my little Kindle phone is amazing!

Tis The Season

Allergy season is upon us. It started a few weeks ago and we have been in trouble ever since. I've had the itchy eyes and throat but limited runny nose issues. Wyatt, on the other hand, seems to have inherited my terrible childhood hay fever allergies.

He can' stop sneezing and itching his eyes. He is absolutely miserable. Zyrtec helps him a lot, but it also makes him tired and cranky!

He was a wreck after we spent last weekend at the farm fishing!


I hope that this passes shortly and we can enjoy the summer weather without worrying about allergies!

Fishing on the Farm

We have been absolutely swamped with the end of the school year festivities! I have been going to bed exhausted every night.

Last week John took a rare day off work in the middle of the week to enjoy a beautiful sunny day fishing at our friend's farm. The night before John told the kids to find some worms in the yard. They were out digging in the garden for about 20 minutes. I was shocked when they came in and John told me that they had about 50 worms in the bucket! They should set up a roadside stand selling containers of worms! I am not going to suggest that to them because it will probably happen and my neighbors aren't really the needing-worms-for-fishing type of people. I'm just saying in the right location they could make a killing!


The next morning John and I headed out with the boys armed with fishing poles, worms, lunches, and a picnic blanket. My friend's pond is full of bluegills and bass and the fish bite as fast as you can get the pole in the water. The kids were so excited. I ended up helping bait and take fish off the hooks because John just could not keep up with the fishing frenzy.


Shane loved checking out the fish in the bucket!


Fishing in the morning and bluegills for dinner... a perfect summer day!

Mother's Day Fashion Show

Today Jonah and Sam had a Mother's Day Tea and fashion show at their preschool. A few weeks ago I had to send them to school wearing some of Daddy's clothes. They had to tell their class about their parent's clothes and then their teacher took notes on what each kid said. Then she read their description today while each kid modeled the clothes for all of the Moms. We had brunch with the kids and they each presented their mom with a flower in a pot that they had decorated themselves. It was very sweet!

For the record, I tried to prep the boys on the way to school to be sure what they were going to say. They were both wearing camouflage shirts and hats. They both said "Mom, I know what to say...you don't have to tell me".

So I was surprised to hear this from each of them....

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend my parents took all of the kids while John and I enjoyed a weekend alone. It was the first time that we have had a weekend alone since all four kids were born! It was wonderful! We are so thankful that Grandma and Grandpa were brave enough to help out... I'm sure that it wasn't easy. But based on this video it looks like they put everybody to work. Good thinking guys!