it's been a long time...

life has been busy.

here is what we have been up to in no particular order:

lily and wyatt "graduated" preschool.

i went to cedar point.

we enjoyed time in pools and at the beach.

lily learned to ride her bike without training wheels.

 

we took a train ride.

we celebrated mother's day.

we re-landscaped part of the backyard.

lily and wyatt had s'mores for the 1st time.

i learned to roller blade again.

we went to lily and wyatt's first baseball game.

lily and wyatt went camping for the 1st time (with Grandma and Grandpa).

i went to chicago for a "tourist-y" weekend: navy pier, millennium park, cubs game, magnificent mile

lily and wyatt went fishing with grandpa (and cousins).

we ate some ice cream :)

we spent time in grand haven.

lily and wyatt started kindergarten (all day, every day) -- they love it...mom isn't so sure.

i started working 3 days a week.

we made 2 trips to chicago to celebrate with family.

lily went to her 1st birthday party for a friend.

we went to 2 parades.

we met baby symphony.

we met the baby born from the embryos i donated -- what a treasure for my heart!

lily and wyatt went to vacation bible school

August in Pictures

It has been almost a month since I have written anything on the blog. It is definitely not because we have had nothing going on -- we have been BUSY! During August we:

went to swimming lessons.
spent a day at a cottage with a friend.
went to the zoo with friends.
enjoyed a night at the local fair.
attended our church's annual KidZone Blitz.
had a visit from Grammy and Auntie Amanda.
spent time being silly.
created a countdown to preschool.
had a sprinkling system installed.

The greatest joy in my life also happened during August: Lily and Wyatt both asked Jesus to live in their hearts!

July 2010 -- In Pictures

If you are friends with me on Facebook all of these pictures have already been posted.

a day at the beach...

My friend, Nikki, took all of these pictures! Thanks, Nikki! :)

Labor Day

It is already Wednesday and I have not blogged about our Labor Day adventures.

Our day started early with a quick trip to Babies R Us. Even though Wyatt has only been in his convertible car seat for 18 months, he has already gotten too tall for it. Evidently it is supposed to fit kids up to 50" tall, but not so with my little boy. He must have a long torso because he has outgrown the tallest strap. I moved him into a car seat that will eventually turn into a high back booster and then just a regular booster. He seems to like it a lot, hopefully it will be the last car seat that I have to buy for him.

We then headed to one of the local malls to meet up with two of my former students. One of the girls is attending college out here and the other was up visiting her for the weekend. Is it really possible that I am old enough to have students in college? My first year students are starting to turn 21 -- wow, I feel old! (I taught them when they were in 7th and 8th grades.) Hillary and Eva it was so good to catch up with you!

After spending an hour with the girls, we met up with my parents and my aunt and uncle for lunch in the food court. We then headed out to my Great-Aunt Penny's cottage (that means she is Lily and Wyatt's great-great-aunt...crazy!). It was beautiful day to be out at Silver Lake. Evidently my family has been going out to this lake for 5 generations (Lily and Wyatt, along with my cousins kids, being the 5th generation), I think that is incredible.

Lily, of course, loved being in the water, but Wyatt wanted nothing to do with it. I was a little surprised about his hesitation because he had so much fun in the water at the campground on Friday. There were boats and Sea-Doos in this lake, so I am not sure if that was the difference or not. They did enjoy playing with all of Aunt Penny's toys, especially the barn and silo! I was able to enjoy riding on the Sea-Doo which I haven't done in about 7 years. It was nice to be alone on the water and just relax and have fun.

I don't have any pictures of our time at the lake because I forgot my camera in our rush to get out of the house. My dad took a lot of pictures, so I will have to get them from him and upload them so stay tuned...

"camping"

My sister and her family, along with my aunt and uncle are camping this week. There is usually a group of my relatives that goes camping every August (this year the group is much smaller) and we usually go and visit for a day. This stretches me a lot because it disrupts our entire routine (i.e. no naps) and it is very dirty (those of you who know me well are laughing).

We had a great time! The campground is only about 30 minutes from home, so we arrived shortly after lunch. The kids played at the playground for awhile and then it got warm so we decided to go swimming. I figured that Lily would go in the water a little bit and that Wyatt would just sit in the sand, but they both just walked right in. By the end of the afternoon, Lily was walking in up to her shoulders. Wyatt went in up to his waist, but then there was an episode of "drinking" the water so his water adventures ended for awhile. They both enjoyed playing in the sand with Casey and Aunt April (Charlie was sleeping and Jack was kayaking with the "big boys") and filling up buckets with water to pour on peoples' legs. My mom, my aunt and I put our chairs in the water and enjoyed having our legs washed while enjoying the sun.

Later, Lily "helped" Aunt April clean the corn on the cob, while Wyatt relaxed in Aunt Paulette's chair. We played some games around the picnic table and Aunt Paulette had some toys in her trailer to play with as well. Of course, the kids are following the Holwerda tradition of bouncing on the inner tubes (something my sisters, cousins and I did as kids).

Click on the picture below to see a slideshow of our day "camping".

The Blitz

Tonight we went to The Blitz at church (with Nana and Papa). The Blitz was a big event for kids to promote the different activities and groups for kids during the school year. They served a hot dog dinner followed by a magician (who shared the gospel as well as entertained the kids).

Then everyone headed outside for ice cream, cotton candy, face painting, fire trucks, fire hoses, and blow up activities. Lily and Wyatt had gotten bored during the magician so we headed outside early. It was great. We went down the HUGE blow up slide four times (I went 2x's with each kid), because no one else was outside yet. Then we got to sit inside the fire truck and spray the fire hose. The kids loved it (except the noise of the fire truck)!

The kids got to actually spray the fire hose (Wyatt sprayed it too, but it was before I got the camera out of the car). Lily thought that it was great to splash in the hose and get all wet!

Here is a picture of the kids and I in front of the fire truck. The engine was running and it was really loud. We also sat inside the fire truck which they thought was great (again, the camera was still in the car).

These are the pictures that I got of the slide. It really was huge. Both Lily and Wyatt loved going down the slide and who have gone down many, many times if Mommy could have carried them up anymore.

This Week In Pictures

Tractors at the Hudsonville Fair

Horses at the Fair

A toad outside our front door -- I was a brave Mommy and showed it to Lily and Wyatt. (I HATE reptiles and amphibians!)

Playdoh with Tody & Beggin (Wyatt's way of saying Cody and Megan).

A beautiful sunrise...God's masterpiece!

A Bad and Good Day

Yesterday was both a bad day and a good day rolled into one.

The bad part was made up of two different things:

First, I had found a house online that is adorable! Loved the pictures; loved the neighborhood; loved the school district; loved the price. It is HUGE -- almost 1800 square feet on the main floor (that is big compared to the 1100 sq. ft. we have on 2 levels now). It is only a two bedroom, but I figured I could eventually have my dad put an egress window in the basement and build a 3rd bedroom(don't think brother and sister should share forever). Only one small problem with that....no basement. It is a brick house in Michigan with no basement....

Secondly, I was on the laptop yesterday afternoon and enjoying some lemonade. Unfortunately the stand that the computer was on had a malfunction and the lemonade spilled all over the keyboard of the laptop (yes, I am aware that you are not supposed to have beverages by computers). It started typing funny at first and then it just shut off. The Geek Squad guy at Best Buy was not very encouraging when I called to ask what to do -- his solution was to buy a new laptop. He told me I could try letting it dry out for a few days, but.... The good news is he thought they would be able to save the information (i.e. my 100's of pictures) from my hard drive.

Now for the good part of my day:

First, I took the kids to our local fair for the first time with a friend. Wyatt LOVED the tractors, but was crying and shaking around all of the different farm animals. Lily, of course, was loving everything, but limited by Wyatt not wanting to even enter the animal barns :) We ended up spending a lot of time climbing on tractors! :) It is always fun to try new things, even if they aren't a complete success.

Second, I had a great time last night with the girls! They came over and we had some girl time with NO kids -- yeah. I am continue to be so grateful to God for the wonderful people he has put into my life. Thanks, Girls!

It's Been a Few Days

It has been a few days since I last posted. We have been busy, but not with anything in particular. We have been enjoying some visitors as well as the BEAUTIFUL weather.

I have also started "cleaning out" Ryan's things -- mainly the boxes and boxes of medical supplies that have been sitting around the house. It is a weird feeling to go through his things. I don't know that I am ready to get rid of everything yet, but at the same time I am the complete opposite of a pack rat. It is also a daunting task because his stuff is spread through three houses (we are still storing stuff at my parents' and my grandma's houses).

The fact that our stuff is located in three houses drives me crazy and leads me to a prayer request. I have been contemplating buying a house. It is overwhelming to think about moving again, but I hate renting when I know that buying is a much better financial decision. It then becomes overwhelming to think about what to buy: a condo with someone else responsible for lawn care and snow removal or a house with more room, but more responsibility. I would love to be able to move into a house, but I am not a lawn person and I hate shoveling snow. AHHH. Please pray for wisdom, patience, and doors to open and close.

MORE PICTURES:

We had a great visit with Papa Steve (Lily and Wyatt's new name for Grandpa Steve). He joined us out for dinner on Saturday night where Lily and Wyatt got chocolate milk for the first time (LOVED IT!). He stayed through Sunday afternoon and the kids loved, loved, loved playing with their Papa.

CHOCOLATE MILK!!!!

I know I already posted about the zoo, but he had taken some cute pictures on his computer so I am including those here.

Lily was very excited about seeing one of the animals. Wyatt and I were watching the spider monkeys together.

Sunday evening another visitor arrived at our house. Jamiee and I lived together after I got out of college and before Ryan and I got married. We had lost touch, but she found me through facebook while Ryan was at U of M. We had a fun time just doing "normal" things. The kids had a great time playing with Jamiee.

Lily and Jamiee working on a masterpiece with sidewalk chalk.

Wyatt and Lily enjoyed coloring in the different pictures that I drew for them -- then they would say "Ut-oh". Wyatt was actually telling me not to take his picture, but I think it is better to say he was showing me his chalk :)

Movies, Movies, and More Movies

I was "cleaning out" our video camera today and I found a few movies that have not been shown before.


My favorite is one that includes Ryan that I didn't even remember taking. It was taken the day that Ryan came home from Spectrum in March. Since he had to spend his birthday in the hospital he ended up getting a few balloons. Lily and Wyatt had so much fun playing with those balloons together.

Daddy's Birthday Balloons

This is a video from June soon after we moved back into the townhouse. Jumping was something that the kids started learning to do while Ryan and I were at U of M. They aren't great at jumping in this video, but they sure are funny!

Lulu and Boo

Here is a video collection of the last week with the kiddos playing outside. They have enjoyed being outside this summer.

Summer Silliness

The last video is from our trip to the zoo today. It is very short and not very good, but I thought that some of you might enjoy it anyway. We were watching the spider monkeys from up above. If you listen carefully you can hear Lily making monkey noises.

Little Monkeys

Here are some pictures from our time at the zoo. Grandpa Steve came to visit for the weekend, so we thought that the zoo would be a fun treat for the kids. Lily was actually more hesitant at the zoo than Wyatt, which really surprised me. Neither of the kids was as excited about the animals as I thought they would be. Their favorite seemed to be the tiger, but I didn't get any pictures because I was holding Wyatt the whole time.

Wyatt and Lily looking at the lily pads. Lily and Grandpa looking at the llamas.

Lily and Wyatt looking at the spider monkeys.

The brown bear (which they did not like at all) and the apes. All of the animals seemed very lazy today.

Pool Time Video

Here is some of the video of Lily and Wyatt playing in the pool together (pictures in the previous post). I love how their personalities shine through as they interact together. Wyatt cracks me up as he says, "Ouch, Ouch" when Lily pours water on him or splashes him. Lily makes me smile when she pours water on herself.

I continue to thank God for the wonderful blessing that they are in my life!

Remember to scroll to the bottom of the blog and pause the music so you can hear the kids.

Pool Time

I decided that since it is already August I should probably get the pool out for Lily and Wyatt. It has taken me so long for a few reasons: we don't have a hose or hose hook-up so I have to fill the pool by hand, Wyatt hates big pools and sometimes his bath, and we have been really busy.

Lily was very excited when I told her about the pool after naps; Wyatt was more hesitant, but they both got in the bathing suits (for the 2nd time this summer). Lily climbed right into the pool when we got outside. Wyatt didn't want to go in, but I put him in anyway and they both loved it! They even took turns pouring water over each others' heads.

Enjoy the pictures now and I will try and post the video later.

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

Happy 6oth Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday. One thing that my Dad loves doing is kayaking, so the entire family (minus Lily and Wyatt) went kayaking this morning on the Rogue River in Rockford, MI. This was the first time that I have ever been kayaking. It was very fun although my arms are really tired from having my niece and nephew take turns riding with me. All of the kids did great and I think the ice cream at the end was worth the patience of riding in a kayak or canoe for 2 hours.

A picture of Dad and Mom and a picture of the grandkids: Anna 6, Casey 3, Jack 6, Charlie 2, Noah 4

The Hayes Family took a canoe so they could all ride together. The Palmbos Family was in two separate kayaks; April always managed to avoid the pictures.

This is a picture of us getting started and a picture of me to prove that I was actually kayaking.

Everyone enjoyed ice cream after the long trip!