Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a great Christmas and that you have a great 2009! We miss you all and look forward to seeing you all sometime soon!

Here are some fun vidoes of the boys opening gifts

Sunday afternoon snacks

It's always fun to watch the boys eat. They both love their snacks! Isaac got a Spiderman ice cream treat from the ice cream truck that comes through the neighborhood. Caleb got a chocolate chip bar that Mom made. Oh, Caleb also got to be the "big boy" at the big table.

Ready or not...

here I come!

sorry about the cameraman's work!

Happy Birthday, Danae!

Friday was Danae's birthday. We tried to make it a fun week by giving her a present a day all week. Giving the presents was easy, keeping secret what we got for Mom was not! Isaac told Danae what we got for her within the first 5 minutes after we got home. Although I didn't find it that humorous, she loved asking what else she was getting and Isaac loved telling her!

Happy Birthday, Danae! We love you lots!




Danae got the cake and flowers from her youth group! The shirt was from the boys!

Haircut Day!

Now that we have returned from vacation, it is time for the family haircut! Danae is the only one in the house who actually needs to go anywhere for her haircut. We three boys on the other hand have a much easier solution--Mom does it right in the comfort of our living room. For Isaac and I, the haircut isn't anything too special--we've had it done before. But for Caleb it is his very first cutting. Break out the scrapbook, here come the locks!

I know that everybody loved Caleb's long, mullet like hair style. We left it like that just for you all to see while we were home. But, that style went out a few years ago and we thought we'd catch him up to modern day.

I admit it was kind of a shock to see our little boy transformed into a bigger boy!

So, without further comment...here is our all new boy!

Before:

After:

Together Isaac and Caleb

Just so you all know, this video shows that no child was harmed in any way during this haircut! :)

Caleb is 1!

Better late than never!
Our "little" one turned 1 on May 29!
We had a great day and big brother Issac couldn't wait to open, or help open, Caleb's gifts! We are pretty sure Isaac has played with the toys more than Caleb has!




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Happy 3rd Birthday!

Kinda hard to believe that Isaac turned the big 3 today! WOW!

After a rough sleeping night (both of us thinking we saw every after-midnight hour on the clock) Isaac was ready to celebrate his birthday! He was kinda confused by the banner his Mom made, complete with balloons, taped to the front door. He said, "What's that, Mom?" Once he realized what it was, he was very excited.

Next he saw his presents sitting there waiting to be opened. "Can I open it now, Mom?" was heard all day long.

The baseball and football birthday cakes were a bit "hit"! He thought they should be eaten for breakfast.

He loved talking to those who called to wish him a happy birthday. He may not have seemed interested to those who attempted to talk to him, but he was smiling on our end! He also loved the birthday cards he got in the mail. He ripped the envelopes open piece by piece and read each card. He then proudly displayed them on the piano.

When he was finally able to open the presents, after Dad came home, he insisted upon using his toy saw to cut open the paper. (The night before we were talking about opening presents and he rummaged around to find the saw so it was ready for the next day.) He had a great time opening and playing with his gifts, that was until his little brother scooted in to steal them!

Next we set off for Red Robin to eat. Isaac received his free kids meal coupon and couldn't wait to go use it. He got himself a hamburger, baby carrots sticks with ranch, and pop! The pop was his favorite! To top it off, the Red Robin workers came and sang, "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a free ice cream sundae. It was quite the feast!

We came home and enjoyed some birthday cake with some of Isaac's adult friends. His friends are coming over Friday to party.

It was a good day. God has blessed us with a terrific 3 year old! We still see him as our little boy, but realize when he talks and reasons through things he not so little any more. He may only be three in our eyes, but to him he's going on 14. His new favorite phrase or answer is, "Huh?" Huh, wonder where he got that one...


Happy 3rd Birthday, Isaac! We love you!

SNOW!

Isaac got to see and play in snow for the first time in his life! He was not too sure about it when he was looking eye to eye at a snowbank when he got out of the truck, but he got used to it pretty quickly when he realized how much fun it was! (He did wipe out pretty badly on the ice at one point and screamed loudly, but he stayed outside to make snow angels, sled, and eat the snow.) The first couple days were cold, but things started melting by the final days so we were able to throw snowballs at each other and even make a snowman! As you can see from the picture below, he made a pretty good one-armed snow angel! :-)

Although we were home for Grandpa's funeral, we had a really nice weekend visiting with family and playing with everyone. Originally, I was going to only take Caleb with me but thought Isaac would love the time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins so I took him with me, also. Yep, I am sure we were quite the sight--a harried woman hauling around a baby and a toddler and all the gear that goes with them through the airports and onto the planes (I actually forgot to put one of my carry-on pieces on the conveyor belt going through security since it felt as if I had already put so much up there by the time I took off Isaac's and my shoes and put each piece up one at a time). Fortunately, we eventually had seats and boarding passes for all of us and actually made it home. I was very thankful to have survived the journey and decided it was worth it so Isaac could spend the weekend with us. (Our trip home was uneventful unless you count a cancelled flight and sitting in the airport for five hours waiting for the next flight something of an event. ;-)

Once we got home, we were so blessed to visit with family and spend quality time with each other though we really missed having Grandpa there with us. It definitely was a sad weekend but also a neat time "hearing" Grandpa's testimony through the scripture and songs he picked for his funeral. Psalm 27:1 was the verse he wanted read and reflected on for his funeral. Throughout the weekend I was reminded of how thankful I am for the families God has given us--what a blessing it is to have parents and grandparents who taught me (and Paul) about Jesus and modeled unwavering faith in him! Seeing everyone on my dad's side of the family and a lot of family on my mom's side (including both my grandparents) and Paul's brother was the highlight of the weekend and such a joy!

The video below is of Isaac once he realized he could eat the snow. He liked it for the most part until he picked up a pile of snow with a little dirt sprinkled on the top of it.

We also got in some serious sledding--both being pulled and going down the hill. The video below is the second ride down the hill for Isaac. He went fearlessly down the first time not knowing what to expect--in fact, he copied his cousin and actually jumped in the sled and went down on his stomach! You should have seen his eyes. Sorry, I was not ready with the video for the first one. He did not want to go down this second time, but we got him to do it so we could catch it on video for Dad to see.

I feel better now that my child has experienced the snow. (I had a great time in it as well, but I do have to admit that it was nice to go back to temperatures in the mid-70's at home.) Paul was bummed that he did not get to come with us and was especially sorry to have missed the snow time--the girls' b-ball team had their final game over the weekend we were gone.

March Madness

This is something new--I am actually posting something rather than Paul. :-) So much has happened since Paul's last posting (I am sure that some of you are thinking, "Of course it has; you guys have not put anything on here in nearly a month!") Well, we are all still here and doing well--just recovering from the basketball season that turned into quite a ride!

To let you know, Paul went back to the gym this year and was one of the assistant coaches for the varsity girls team. They had quite a season, and Paul really enjoyed being back in the coaching seat. The boys and I had a lot of fun going to games and then talking about the girls and their games (yep, even Isaac had his favorite moments--cookies from Nicole, running around on the floor during half-time and after the game, and getting to cheer on the girls especially during their free throw shooting). Anyway, our postseason ended up being a blast--the girls went further than any team before in our school's history. They made it to the "final four" in the state high school play-offs for our division which is quite a feat when you think of the size of our state. We had some exciting games and just got to keep enjoying the season as the girls kept on winning! What a rush it was! The pix above are of Paul and the team when they played the division finals at Cox Arena.

I also got to really enjoy a couple of the games since I had an extra set of hands and eyes to help with the boys. Paul's mom was visiting the week that we got into play-offs and played at Cox so it was fun for us to have her here--she got to see Paul coach in a couple games and also watch him play b-ball on his church league team which was fun for both of them.

Although Paul had to work, we had a wonderful week at home--Isaac loved playing with Gma N. and getting to go for walks (he actually ran quite a bit from what I heard) with her. He was very sad when we had to take her to the airport and he did not get to ride on the airplane with her. I did not think he understood it very well until a plane flew over us on the way home from the airport, and Isaac waved while yelling, "Hi, Grandma!"

I used to think that Caleb got his determination from me and my personality, but after watching Gma N. work with him every possible moment to get food into his mouth, I realize that some of that spirit must come from her as well! It was quite humorous watching the two of them--Caleb determined to not get food into his mouth and Gma. determined to get it in there and get him to like it. :-) She was very successful, and by the end of the week, he would actually open his mouth for more food off the spoon. At the end of each day we had to laugh at all the food on Gma's shirt and in Caleb's hair! He definitely still likes to feed himself more than having to eat off of the spoon from us! In these pix you can see that Caleb loves his green veggies!

A long time has passed...

So, this was supposed to be something that I could regularly update and keep current. As you can see, I have failed. The humble person in me apologizes. Anyway, many things have happened since our Christmas posting. The biggest was that we got busy which is our excuse for the delay.

Life is flying right along out here. We enjoyed a visit from Danae's mom and sister Vonda for a while in January. The winter rain has been falling on us, and we are still standing...with a few leaks in the garage roof. Danae has been busy with church stuff, violin lessons, and everyday mom stuff. I am almost done with baskeball season. It's been a great season, and the girls have done very well.

Isaac is watching and soaking in all the things we do. The other day he sat down by the computer and said, "Just a minute, Mom, I'm gonna check my e-mail." He loves his early morning TV shows (as does Mom and Dad) and his brother. He is constantly looking out for Caleb and what he thinks is best for Caleb.

Caleb is now mobile. He started scooting across the floor and loves to get into everything! Each day his rate of speed is getting faster and faster. At least we can still hear him grunt his way around to keep track of him. He is slowly (very slowly) taking a liking to food. We realize that he prefers to eat things he can put into his mouth himself rather than what we try to spoon feed him. He has a liking for Coke, Tootsie Pop suckers, cookies, French fries and anything we would label "junk food." I think he gets that from his Dad!!! :) We may have to dip his Tootsie Pop in pureed vegetables & fruit to get him to eat them...we're not at the point yet, but it is tempting.

Okay, there is the update some of you have been bugging us about (Denise). We will try to get back into a regular routine of updating this.

One more Chirstmas present...Great-grandpa Kooi (or "Grampa Tooi" as Isaac says it) made the barn that is in this video, and Danae's brother Brian and mom filled it with presents before shipping it our way--there is a Fed Ex guy out there with a sore back ;-). Isaac loves playing with it and also uses it to help during a quick clean-up time--some kids throw everything into the closet or under the bed, but Isaac just throws it all into the barn! Caleb is really starting to enjoy it, also--he loves opening and closing the doors and trying to get out all the "treasures" Isaac threw into it during clean-up.

Time with Grandma B.

Grandma B. and Caleb are posing with all our freebies from the grocery store. Yep, part of her visit included being the second coupon user to utilize the double coupons at the grocery store. I think she had as much fun as Danae in getting these things. :-)