Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

As I write this, I hear the boys talking to Grandpa and Grandma N. Now that they are here, our snowman Christmas countdown is counting the days until Christmas rather than Gpa & Gma's arrival. We also look forward to spending time with Jill and her family over Christmas and New Years. What a joy it is to have family around us at the holidays! To the rest of our family members celebrating this season, we will miss you!

I know the traditional Christmas letter includes looking back over the year, but since you are reading this post, you have a pretty good idea of what we have been up to in 2010. In case you don't want to go back over all the entries, here's a quick recap of this year's highlights:

January: basketball coaching for Paul and many games attended by the boys and me; worship symposium in Grand Rapids (yep, I stepped onto Calvin's campus which I admit was beautiful); visit from Gma B. who watched the boys while I was gone

February: more basketball for all of us; a visit from D's sister and nephew

March: visit to the emergency room for Isaac to get a staple in his head; visit from Gpa and Vicki

April: nothing too exciting to report besides regular life

May: birthdays for both boys; playing violin in the high school musical for D

June: basketball camp for P; quick midwest trip for D to deliver the boys for their extended stay with the grandparents; Hawaii for D & P with friends

July: quick midwest trip for P to pick up the boys; Camp Dunamis and Hollywood Bowl for D; camping with friends; and a road trip to the midwest to vacation

August: vacation with family; B & W's wedding; study skills class for D; preparing for and starting school for P

September: the start of preschool for Isaac

October: youth workers' convention for D; visit from Beav & Denise; Ephesians life group (through December)

November: Thanksgiving with D's cousin and family; baking holiday goodies with the boys

December: a weekend with the girls; learning about Jesus' birth and what that means for our lives today through Bible readings, picture books, and reviewing the story of the first Christmas with our Advent calendar each day with the boys; visit from Gpa & Gma N.; Christmas with Jill and all

Once again it is a joy to see the evidence of God's working in our lives this past year. We are blessed to have wonderful families whom we love, and we have been blessed richly with good friends in our lives. We pray that God will be foremost in our hearts this Christmas season and that we will continue to grow in him on a daily basis in 2011.

Girls--3, Boys--3

Maddie and Mackenzie spent a weekend with us while Mark and Jill got a couple days away as our thanks for the great pix Mark took of the boys around their birthdays. (Thanks, Mark, for doing such a great job--I smile every time I pass their smiling mugs hanging on our wall.) It was chaotic at times, but it was so fun to have all of them under one roof and an even number of boys and girls as well!

If you look at the date on this, you will see that I did start writing this while they were still here, but I must have been needed since I never got back to this post until more than a week later.

A few things learned:
1. Four kids really are not that much louder than two. (Notice only two kids looking quite crazy in the picture below...this was the end of the week, and they were showing how much fun they had.)

2. I do a better job of making my boys' hair look nice than two little girls with fine longer hair!!! (As you can see from the pix, that last one deserved three exclamation points since the bow from my wrapping box improved the look of Mac's hair!)

3. I'm glad the boys are old enough to feed themselves and use the toilet. I had to remind myself to check the li'l one's diaper (no worries, Mark and Jill--I don't think she got a diaper rash on my watch).

4. Have all the food on plates and drinks in cups with plenty of napkins handy before even letting the kids know that food is coming.

5. Even boys like playing with a princess or Barbie-type doll--though she turned into quite the superhero in the boys' hands.

Like father, like son

When I picked up Isaac from preschool this past week, his teacher greeted me with, "So, the other teachers and I were talking about Isaac today."

As a former teacher and now parent, that is not usually music to one's ears so I asked, "Is that good or bad?" And this is how our conversation continued from there:

Mrs. Michelle: "Oh, no, it's good. We were just saying that Isaac is quite the ladies' man." (Again not necessarily something a mother wants to hear though a dad might be proud of that one. ;-)

Me: "Oh?!?"

Mrs. Michelle: "Yeah, at recess all the girls yell for him to come and play with them. He just kinda looks at them with that 'silly girls' look on his face, ignores them and goes back to playing with the other boys."

We continued chatting for a bit, and I was reasurred that he is playing okay with others and is being nice. (I was concerned when she mentioned that he is pretty "popular" since that word conjures up images of kids with power who don't necessarily treat others very well.) Paul and I had a good laugh over this teacher chat and were thankful it was nothing too serious.

Isaac with Mrs. Michelle

We also got his first "report card" which gives a summary of Pre-K things that he can or cannot do. He was able to complete all types of things (i.e. recognizing letters, shapes, colors, etc.) except for one--he has not mastered clapping and marching in rhythm. We really laughed when we saw that since he is so surrounded by music and should have no issues with that. Oh, the things that will keep us on our toes.

Oh, the title to this post refers to Mrs. Michelle's description of Isaac at the beginning...not the marching and clapping in rhythm. (Paul has mastered that!)

Mmmmmm.....

We are starting to get into the holiday spirit. Yesterday, I spent the morning baking cookies with my youth group. When I got home, our boys were disappointed that they could not test any of the cookies so I told them we could make cutout cookies. They proceeded to help me mix the dough with the anticipation of being able to bake them after their rest time.

Rolling out the dough & cutting cookies

After naps we rolled out the dough and cut out a variety of shapes--including a cowboy boot, dinosaur, and a semi-truck (none of which were Christmas-related but ones the boys wanted). Once I relaxed and did not worry about fitting as many possible cookies for each rolling-out of the dough (very, very, very hard for me to do...ask Paul), we all had fun cutting out the cookies.

Decorating our cookies

After "patiently" waiting for the cookies to cool, the boys finally went wild frosting their cookies. Each year it gets a little easier as the boys are more adept at frosting. They both got quite creative with designs and adding faces to their cutouts. I think Caleb licked nearly as much frosting off his fingers as he put on the cookies. (We made a point of separating out the cookies the boys decorated and the ones we did in case we decide to share our cookies with others.)

***After reading this entry to Isaac, he told me to be sure to tell everyone that Caleb was so excited about the cookies that he frosted his first cookie and proceeded to eat it as soon as it was frosted. He just kept nibbling on that cookie the rest of the night.

Preschool Happenings

Isaac is LOVING preschool, and that is an understatement. It has been fun for Paul and me to see his enthusiasm for school each day and the joy he has when sharing about his morning. Most nights before school he picks out his clothes and makes sure his backpack is ready (the study skills teacher in me is trying to make this a habit early on ;-).

He usually wakes up on his own, but one morning when Paul woke him up, Isaac got out of bed and said, "Thanks, Dad, for waking me up." Since that time he usually asks Paul to make sure that he is awake and to not forget to wake him up.

Hanging Isaac's letters

I still have not figured out exactly what a typical day looks like in the preschool, but I do know that each week they focus on a specific letter and its sound. They have a little rhyme that they recite for each letter, and every letter has an animal and a name attached to it (i.e. this week it was "Jaguar Jan"). They also decorate the letter of the week with words that start with its sound. Isaac has been taking these letters home every week, and I have been meaning to post them on the wall somewhere. This past week we finally put them up in the playroom much to Isaac's great joy (as shown below)!

Potty Training...

Check that one off our list. Caleb is officially using the toilet on his own and has been for about a month now. That is a tremendous "praise the Lord!" in this girl's opinion!

For those who could do without the potty information, feel free to scroll down to see the picture and not read this entry. It is too momentous of an occasion for my not including this part of our journey.

I always heard people say that potty training your second child is so much easier than the first so I was really looking forward to sitting back and enjoying the ride this time around. Ha! Ha! Ha! Whoever said that does not have a second child like Caleb. I know that some day I will be thankful for his strong will and fierce independence in doing what he wants when he wants...I mean, this will probably serve him well as a teenager when he faces pressure to do things (good and bad) and is able to stand up for himself. For potty training it translated into a frustration for Paul and me.

We decided to try to get him to use the potty already at the beginning of the summer (though I did not push it hard since I knew we would be gone and traveling a lot in the weeks to come). We even requested that the grandparents take care of this training while he was visiting them, but, alas, that did not happen. When we hit it hard in August, we pulled out all the stops--stickers and a chart, prizes, candy, voices filled with excitement when talking about using the potty, talking about everybody else who uses it, etc.--and even tried the nearly naked method (no underwear).

This little boy just rose to the occasion and held it. I lamented to my girlfriends that I was not sure how to accomplish his peeing on the toilet when he was able to hold his pee all day--seriously, he would pee twice a day (in his diaper early in the a.m. and usually soaking the bed and again around dinner time)--since it was really hard to find the right time to put him on the pot. Like clockwork I put him on the pot every thirty minutes, and he just sat there and talked to himself for as long as I left him there.

Bless his little heart, though, he always got so excited while sitting there convinced that he had peed and was always so disappointed when he stuck his head into the little potty to try and spot the missing pee (yeah, I was grossed out that he always put his face so close to the toilet but what can you do?). Every once in a while he did put a couple drips in there but always stopped himself. (I actually think he did not quite understand the concept of putting the pee in the toilet since he usually said "uh-oh" when he did drip a bit.)

I think his first sticker chart took nearly a month to fill up. And then one day it just clicked! He went from going twice a day to peeing regularly. We were so excited and took him to Mc Donalds and Red Robin to celebrate!

Now on to #2...grrrrr! Long story short, he did a repeat of the above though this was more of a pain to clean up. For those of you who know the history of potty training Isaac, I just wanted to let you know that we did use the same things (his getting to clean his undies and even using the hose for clean-up), but they did not work as quickly for Caleb as for Isaac. Like with the pee, it just clicked for him one day. I was actually at a conference the first weekend in October and got a message from him that he "poop-ed on the potty," and he was in undies from that point on. He is such a champ that he goes to the bathroom without our even knowing until we hear yelling for help from the bathroom.

Granted, he does have an accident now and then, but to be honest this part of the training has been easier. He has had less accidents and is also in underwear and staying dry through the night. (I think we used a lot of pull-ups for Isaac before he mastered the sleeping through the night and staying dry.)

To celebrate once he was using the potty regularly, he got to stop the ice cream man's truck and buy a treat. He chose a popsicle which is what he is happily holding in this picture. :-) For fun, below is a link to a blog post from two years ago which includes a video show of Isaac eating his Spiderman ice cream potty training treat: http://plapka.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunday-afternoon-snacks.html

Thanks for bearing with me as I relived the past few months. As my mom would say, "TYL that this part of our journey is past!"

Halloween 2010

We started our evening at Aunt Nita and Aunt Pat's house. When we got there, the boys had to get into their costumes and then go to the door. At first they were not too excited about putting on the boxes, but after getting handfuls of candy they decided it was worth it.

Our first stop

After that we headed to our friends' house where we had dinner together before we all went throughout their neighborhood to trick or treat. It was so cute to walk behind the kids--two little Lego bricks, a cheerleader and Cinderella--and then see their excitement after each house.

We walked their entire neighborhood which happened to include a very big hill. Halfway up the hill, Caleb started asking when we were going back to their house. I think his little legs were tired, but he was a trooper and stayed with it to the end.

We had only one mishap during the night. Isaac was trying to keep up with the girls and cut a corner which caused him to trip and fall over on his back. He was fine, but he just couldn't get himself back up. When Paul went to make sure he did not knock his head, Isaac said, "Help, I can't get up!" (Thinking about the image of his lying on his back with his arms and legs wiggling out of the box holes makes me laugh. It reminded me of the little boy in the snowsuit from A Christmas Story when he falls down in the snow and cannot get back up.)

The Lego bricks were a success, and many people commented on how cute they were. The only trouble with the costumes, though, was that the boxes were a little wide for the boys. If the people did not put the candy in the boys' baskets but let the boys pick their own, the boys were unable to reach far enough with both hands to drop it into their own buckets! (We will have to remember that the next time we dress them up in a box!)

Paul with the boys towards the end of the night

Giving back to God

We are trying to teach our boys that everything we have comes from God and that, as a result, we need to give back to him. We just started giving our boys an allowance each month to help them learn how to manage money (or at least start understanding a little more about money). They get $1 for each year of their life so Isaac gets $5 while Caleb gets $3.

When we did this the first time last month, we talked about how it is their paycheck just like Dad and Mom get paid each month and that it is their responsibility to do with it what they want. However, to teach them about tithing and saving, we added the following rule when they get paid: one always goes to God and one goes into saving; the rest is theirs to spend however they want. (We got this idea from some friends and from the whole "Love and Logic" parenting principle.)

It all sounds pretty basic and straightforward...to us adults. To a three year-old and five year-old it is not always as obvious. Below are two different conversations we have had with the boys who are obviously trying to still figure out the tithing part of it.

Isaac's perspective:
At first Isaac was not too excited about losing one dollar and actually said, "That's okay, I think I will just keep this one." (Yeah, we had a little talk about its being a gift from God in the first place and that we need to give back to God with joy...I am not sure that he was still totally convinced.) Our conversation continued, but he got a little hung up on actually giving it to God; he took us literally and thought God was going to be at church to collect his money. When we further explained that the deacons collect the money to help God and others, his next question was, "But how do they get it to him? Do they send it up to him?" (The image I got from his question was one of the deacons sticking our money in one of those bank tubes and shooting it up to heaven...maybe that is something like he was imagining. Who knows???)

Caleb's perspective:
Since our boys leave for children's worship midway through the service, the boys have not been in the sanctuary to put their offering in the plate. Today was the first Sunday this month when they were still with us for the offering and able to put it in the basket as it passed by. Rebecca, a good friend of ours and the boys' teacher for moms' group preschool, is a deacon and happened to be up to usher today and handed us the offering baskets. Today at lunch we were talking about giving our money to God since it is the beginning of the month again. Without missing a beat, Caleb asked, "Is Miss Rebecca Jesus?" (It took us a moment to put together what we said and the fact that he put the money in the basket she passed to us.)

To see our religious beliefs and the things we do because of our faith through a child's eyes is so amazing! I catch myself at a loss for words in trying to explain something that is such a part of my being. I am thankful that God uses our children to make me stop and really think about why I do things so I can not only explain it more clearly to them but also live my faith with meaning and not out of habit.

Cooking with Grandma

The grandmas reading this post may be asking themselves how they made the title when they have not seen their grandsons in a couple months. Although they aren't here physically, grandmas have been part of our cooking and baking lately. Let me explain...

Baking bread together

Isaac has always loved helping in the kitchen whether it is washing the dishes or creating something. He still loves to help in the kitchen, but now that he is at school Caleb is getting his chance to partake in all parts of baking and washing rather than having to wait his turn. He absolutely loves it and is always quick to get the stool and stand it up by the counter where I am working!

With that little aside out of the way, here is where the grandmas come in to play. My mom made and gave the boys their own aprons last year for their birthdays. Unfortunately, they were not too sure about wearing them at first. It took a good half a year before they willingly put them on when I pulled them out of the cabinet. Now, they both run to grab their aprons and put them on whenever it is baking time. That is the presence of Gma B while working in our kitchen.

Caleb removing stickers from the apples

Caleb baked cookies with Paul's mom this summer, and she actually let him crack and break the egg into the bowl. Although he does not like getting the egg goo on his hands, he insists on cracking the egg himself just "like with Gma N"! And that is the presence of Gma N the last few weeks.

Since it is apple season and the stores are running sales on all apple varieties, we have been making and freezing applesauce. Every time I make (and eat) applesauce I think of my own grandmas. They always had homemade applesauce that we got to eat whenever we visited them. I remember that both grandmas always had the best applesauce in the world. While in college I asked Grandma Dekkers how to make it. I did not get a specific recipe, but she did give me her ricer which is something I still use today. And that is the presence of both my grandmas in my kitchen.

Isaac squishing the apples through the ricer

With the holidays coming, I know that we have Chex mix, Christmas cutout cookies, and homemade donuts in our baking future. And that is where Paul's grandmas will grace our kitchen with their presence.

I know that I love baking and cooking in the kitchen, and this post reminds me why that is. I not only get to spend quality time with my own boys but get to enjoy "time" with some of the women that I love most.

So, you think you can dance?

Well, our boys do! They get a little bit crazy on our dance floor, and we are at the point where we need to limit it to one dancer on the floor at a time. Here is a video of Isaac showing his new moves--some crazy rhythmic hand waving and serious kicking. (Unfortunately, Caleb was not interested in dancing for the camera since he had been taken out by his brother just a little bit before the camera started rolling.)

Isaac also has been doing back somersaults off the couch and happily did one for the camera along with some more of his stellar moves. :-)

Our little Lego boys...

Halloween is only one week away. Isaac informed us of this today at lunch and explained that he is keeping track of the timeline using his new Transformer silly bands--he takes one off for each day as part of his countdown.

In past years we have been fortunate to have costumes that have been passed down by my sister or some friends here so we have not had to be too creative when coming up with a costume. We like to give the boys some say in what they want to be but also try to point them in the direction of a costume that is do-able.

I happened upon a website that showed a Lego brick as a costume and thought the boys would be pumped to be that since they (Isaac especially) are into Legos these days. Isaac was sold immediately, but Caleb had other plans and announced that he was going to be a bird (not sure from where he got that idea).

I was a bit concerned with how I was going to make a bird costume but thought I had it mostly figured out after about a week of wrapping my head around the idea. Caleb stuck with that idea for nearly a week and told everyone that was his plan until we told him that he would have to wear a beak and feathers to be a bird. (Actually, I specifically said, "Caleb, if I make you a beak and a feathered costume, you have to wear it. I don't want to do all that work if you are not going to put on the beak.") At that point he changed his mind and told us he was going to be a "Yego" too.

We had two boxes already so yesterday we went shopping for the two items we needed to complete their costumes--paper bowls and spray paint. I know it is not halloween yet but wanted to share our creation process and the end result (though the boys will wear sweatshirts and pants in the same color so they blend into their bricks better).

Isaac enjoyed painting part of his costume with Paul and was ready to put it on even when the paint was still sticky.

At first Caleb was not too sure about having on a box, but last night he kept asking Paul if he could wear his costume. Phew! I'm thankful he went with the Lego costume v. the bird and that he loved the final product!

Knock, Knock

Lately, our boys have been into "knock, knock" jokes. They have not quite figured out the play on words needed for a successful joke but just find great joy in creating their own. Below are some samples to give you a taste of what I mean:

Caleb (first one he created this summer): Knock, knock
Us: Who's there?
Caleb: Cow
Us: Cow who?
Caleb: Cow caught on fire. MOO!

Isaac: Knock, knock
Us: Who's there?
Isaac: Me
Us: Me who?
Isaac: It's actually me!

As you can see, these jokes are just funny when watching the boys deliver them and then laugh at themselves.

Visitors

It's slumber party night at our house tonight. Maddie and Mackenzie are overnight while Jill and Mark are at a meeting in San Diego tonight. Paul is reading our book to all the kids--after the boys caught up Maddie on Ralph and his losing the motorcycle during the vacuum scare. The girls are enjoying it as much as the boys.

Mackenzie was in bed but started crying so she joined story time. Caleb had compassion on her and put his arm around her to comfort her. If you look closely below, you can see his hand around her side. The boys love taking care of her and so far she is willing to let them them baby her. :-)

Beaver, Denise, Anna (their foreign exchange student) and Amelie (her friend & not sure about the spelling of her name) also visited us today--coming to church this a.m. and then for lunch afterwards. It was wonderful catching up with them. Unfortunately, they picked the cold weeekend since it is "chilly" and drizzly here this weekend. The weather is supposed to warm up the day they go home. Go figure!

3 year-old drama

We played one of the longest games of Sorry! with the boys today. Although Caleb quit 3/4 of the way through the game, he still managed to win. Go figure! Anyway, we wanted to share the first moment in the game when Paul decided to knock off Caleb--caught on video. To translate his response when Paul asked him why he shouldn't be the one knocked off, he crossed his amrs and said, "I be so mad." (I think Paul picked Caleb just for dramatic effect and good video footage. ;-)

This second video is from the middle of September and shows Caleb's celebrating when he got a set of four matching fish in Hawaiian Go Fish that the boys love to play.

Our mouse tale...

We received a bag of books from one of our youth group families, and in this bag was one of Paul's favorite books--The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. He has started reading it to the boys. Each night before bed he reads a chapter (or more if they can convince him to keep reading).

The first time Paul read to them, they weren't so sure about listening to the story and decided to color while he read. As the story progressed, the coloring became less and the attention turned to Ralph and his adventures. Our routine now is to get jammies on and teeth brushed and then park ourselves in the living room--Paul in our very worn and well-loved recliner and the boys sprawled on pillows on the floor. And on the nights when I am caught up on work, I get to enjoy the story as well.

What fun for us to see how our boys love books and their stories! During my violin lessons each week, Paul takes the boys to the library to return their books and movies and pick out new ones. Isaac gravitates towards the Lego Star Wars and super hero beginner reader books while Caleb is mainly about picking out his movie (usually The Wiggles or Go, Diego! Go! types). Paul would say that I have fine-tuned the art of reserving books so he always hits "our" reserve shelf and adds those books and movies to our bag. (A friend of mine has an "L" last name so we joke to each other about taking up the entire shelf since she likes to reserve books as much as I do.)

Paul has been talking about the day when he could read his favorite chapter books to the boys, and we can't believe we are already at that point! Oh, the adventures and characters to come...the boxcar children and the world of Narnia are at the top of our list. But for now, we are enjoying the ride with Ralph the mouse.

Boys...

...will be boys. Life at our house can be a bit chaotic at times. My boys love to wrestle and throw balls and jump off things and be fast and the list goes on. Today was one of those days where it felt like they had a little extra energy.

Isaac had school today so Caleb and I had a peaceful morning together. We went to the grocery store. We made dessert for Paul to take to school tomorrow; Caleb loved smashing the Oreos just like he did for Gma. N's dirt cake. He helped make and get things ready for lunch before we left to get Isaac. The rest of the time he spent playing by himself with a variety of toys. My favorite thing he is doing these days is making imaginary conversations between his toys, and today was filled with his making his football guys talk to each other.

Random side note regarding Caleb: He is in the process of potty training (yeah, I know he is three, but he is a stubborn three and is going to go when HE wants to go) and has finally mastered #1. Today while going, he said to me, "I really like peeing on the big potty now!" with a huge smile on his face. He also informed me tonight that he really does not care for pooping on the potty; I did not tell him that we had already noticed that.

Okay, back to our day. We went to pick up Isaac from school, and the boys proceeded to start yelling and wrestling as soon as we got home. We had some tears (many very fake if you ask me!) and yelling and whining and tattling and some timeouts between lunch and rest time but survived until naptime during which both boys fell asleep for a few hours.

Like I said earlier, boys will be boys. It has been hot here (upper 80's and into the 100's) so they have been inside more than usual which is part of the reason for their squirrely-ness. After dinner while cleaing up, I heard a crash and a shattering of glass. When I went to the hall to investigate, Isaac was nowhere to be seen and Caleb was standing in the hallway with very big eyes and saying, "Sorry!" His throw to Isaac was a "bit" off, and he managed to hit some of my Delft from my grandma off our ledge that is between the living room and hallway. He felt bad, Isaac was quick to clear himself of any wrongdoing when he came out of hiding, Paul cleaned up the broken Delft, and I went back to the dishes thinking about where I need to relocate the rest of my surviving Delft.

Oh, the joy of boys! I would not trade them for anything! (P.S. Right now they are both in bed resting up for tomorrow's adventures...)

Happy Birthday, Danae!

Sunday was Danae's birthday. I'd like to say I had everything planned out perfectly, but those who know me would only laugh at that thought.

I managed to make Danae a cake in the morning after she left for Praise Team practice at church. Not seeing the frosting in the cupboard, the boys and I decided we'd stop and get some at the store on the way to church. So, I got Isaac ready, saw Caleb playing with toys and decided to take a shower. Everything sounds normal, right? Yeah...leave Caleb playing...that was my first mistake. I completely forgot I let him wear big boy underwear after a successful potty time. I came out of our room and the living room had an extremely nasty scent lingering around. Caleb had pooped in his big boy underwear and was sitting down playing his little heart out. So, the extra time I did have to run to the store was now needed to clean him up and try to salvage his clothes in the process.

We made it to church on time, left right afterward and went and got our frosting. The boys picked out pink frosting, cuz "Mom is a girl." Isaac and I had an in-store argument over what color flowers to buy Danae--my choosing the orange bouquet and his wanting the pink. I knew Danae loved orange but try telling that to a 5 year-old.

We made it home, frosted the cake, wrapped the present, and put the flowers in a vase. We were just completing the customary birthday banner when Danae pulled into the garage. The boys ran out to stop her from coming in while I taped up the banner. All this was going to be a "surprise," but having an excited 3 year-old stop Mom from coming in wasn't the right solution. He spilled the beans on what was inside, even holding the door wide open so she could see everything I was doing!

In the end, we had a great day! Happy Birthday, Danae! We hope you had a great day and have many more in the years to come!

Another Step in our Routine Climbed

I loved our summer and time of relaxing, but I am glad to be getting back into our school year routine. (Paul would probably not agree since his school routine is a bit fuller than mine!)

Today was the first meeting for the moms' group that I attend at our church. We had a potluck brunch and a baby shower celebrating one of our newest additions. What a gift these ladies have been to me since the birth of Isaac! We share our problems with each other, listen and share helpful hints that have worked for us, and laugh together a lot! Oh, and bless the hearts of the childcare workers who allow us an hour and a half of adult time--they are our heroes!!!

The joy for today (besides getting to be with my friends) was that Caleb got to attend the preschool part of the childcare with Isaac. Because he is three, he has advanced out of the nursery. He was so excited when I told him two days ago. In fact he thought he was missing it yesterday when Isaac and Paul left for school without him; he yelled, "Wait for me!" and proceeded to pull on his flip-flops and run after them in his pajamas. (Before getting to church, I did try to prepare him for not getting to be part of it in case they required a fully potty-trained child...something Caleb is not but that we are working on. Sylvia said it would be fine and let him come.) Wow! Did he have a great time! He got to do artwork like Isaac finally and even created his own little salvation caterpillar--all of which he proudly showed me and explained to me afterward. (Notice the very exact and carefully painted dots that he did on his fish! His teacher said he was very careful to get them in just the right spot, and I am guessing his tongue may have been out for part of it. ;-)

It was so nice during the brunch to hear so many little ones crying for and missing mom in the nursery and knowing that it for sure was not my child! Now, to master the potty...

ALOHA!

Hawaii has been one place that both Paul and I have wanted to visit for a long time! A few years back we had the opportunity to go with our friends to Maui but instead decided to have another child--Caleb instead of Hawaii was a great trade-off. Anyway, when these same friends approached us last fall about possibly going with them to Maui this summer, we jumped at the idea.

Our friend's parents own a place in Lahaina and let us stay there for the week that we visited. That meant we had to get ourselves there and decide which activities we wanted to do. Our great trip planners (P & K) got on the research wagon and started watching airfare prices. Once we booked our tickets, we then got busy booking other activities and making plans for the week.

The highlights of our week included relaxing, going to the beach and snorkeling, relaxing, swimming in the pool, reading books (even Paul read the new Dan Brown book while we were there), relaxing, playing games, eating a lot of wonderful food, seeing some amazing scenery and sights, catching up with friends, and more relaxing. The big theme of the week was relaxation.

Having no children with us helped with that even more. What a joy it was to just decide to head to the beach, sunscreen ourselves, grab our bags, and leave! And then when we got there, we just sat in our beach chairs and talked and read books and enjoyed the ocean...never once having to keep an eye on anybody!!! (Thanks, Grandpas and Grandmas, for watching the boys!)

To make this possible, though, I flew with the boys to Fargo and left them with my family a few days before our big trip. I flew back home for a day to finish packing, and then we all headed out of San Diego on June 21 landing in Kahului later that afternoon.

We stopped at Wal-Mart and Costco to get our basic necessities and then headed to Lahaina (about a 40 minute drive). The condo where we stayed was beautiful and spacious with the most gorgeous view of the ocean. It was easy to call it home for the week we were there! And we had the best tour guides on the island who showed us around all week.

Food:

~Ululani's Shave Ice in downtown Lahaina (thinking about it makes me drool!)

~Leilani's for Hula Pie and dinner

~Aloha Mixed Plate

~Lahaina Grill

~All the meals prepared in the condo

~Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with granola bars at the beach

~The hole-in-the-wall donut shop in Makawao

The Ocean:

~We couldn't get over the extreme blue-ness of the water
~Snorkeling (It took me a bit to get over the claustrophobic feel of the snorkeling mask and not being able to take a really deep breath nor breathe out of my nose, but I did eventually get out and marvel at the beauty of God's underwater creation!)

~The reef was spectacular

~Amazing sea creatures including sea turtles (swimming within a couple feet of us and much larger than I expected!), tropical fish galore (my favorite was the Moorish Idol--"Gil" from Finding Nemo), octopi, and a snowflake moray eel

~Nakalele Blowhole

~The Olivine Pools

Other Activities:

~We went on a zipline tour partway up to Haleakala. This included zipping down five ziplines including one that was 750 feet long. We LOVED this and would do it again if given the chance.

~Another day, we went kayaking which included snorkeling in some coral gardens that could only be reached by boating in or climbing down the sides of the cliffs. Paul and I rode in a double kayak and worked together okay once we got the hang of it, and we did not tip at all!

~Warren and Annabelle's (a magic show) where we ended up getting the best seats in the house--front and center--since we were picked to sit at the magician's table and "help" with his tricks. Our friends were giddy just thinking of our being up there (they had been there before and knew what we were getting into), and Paul thought it sounded fantastic. The one who was a little leery of it (ME!) ended up sitting at the magician's left and, of course, got called on to help with most of the tricks. It ended up being a great time, and being in the spotlight was not as bad as I thought it would be. We'll just say that I ended the show by pulling a $100 bill out of a lemon!

We ate well all week but dressing up and going out for dinner at Lahaina Grill was a highlight of the week. I have always scoffed at those fancy chefs who put a tiny tidbit of food on a plate and decorate it with greens and some fancy sauce on the sides of the plate and then charge an arm and a leg. After eating there, I admit there is something to their talent at pulling amazing flavors out of the food! Wow! Everything was so delicious. (The place was so fancy that one of the attendants...not our server but one of the people who hovers and takes care of all the extras like refilling drinks and more...refolded my napkin and set it on my plate for me while I was in the bathroom.)

We returned home on June 30 (actually early morning on July 1 because of some complications with our airplane). Most people don't want to leave Maui, but after sitting in the airport for nearly four hours waiting for our plane to be repaired, we were ready to be home. Our ride changed plans and picked us up in LA at 1:00 a.m. and drove us home.

The next day Paul flew to Minneapolis to get the boys (who finished their week with his side of the family), and I headed to camp for a day. What a wonderful week! Thanks, Friends, for sharing this trip with us!!! And thanks to our parents who watched the boys and gave them a wonderful week in the Midwest while we were gone. Below is a picture video that Paul created. Enjoy!

Ahhh, Summer...Sweet Summer!

I finally made it to church yesterday (and again today) to touch base with Athena and Dawn after my weeks away from the office. Before leaving, I told them that I felt like my head was finally "back in the game" after being removed from the normalcy of daily life. The bliss of summer sometimes means escaping the everday for a bit, and we definitely did that this past summer!!!

We had such a wonderful summer catching up with friends and family doing so many things--most of them away from home. In fact, I think we were gone as much as we were home this summer. Of the 87 days of summer vacation, we logged 50 days away from home this summer. That number makes me understand a little better why I barely feel ahead of things as far as programming for this fall in youth group and in worship!

Most of you probably know where we were, but here was our summer in a nutshell:

*Elementary basketball camp for Paul

*Vacation in Maui with a couple really great friends and NO kids!

*Paul and I each either flew the boys out to or back from the midwest to spend time with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins while we were in Hawaii.

*For Danae--a day at Camp Dunamis and then to Beaumont and the Hollywood Bowl for the LA Philharmonic and Vince Gill concert which ended with a fireworks show set to music.

*A couple days camping at San Clemente State Beach with friends and all the kids this time

*A few youth group activities scattered throughout the days when we were home

*One week spent driving across the country to visit family and also return home

*Three weeks with family for fun, sun, and Brian and Whitney's wedding!!!

*Back to reality--study skills class for Danae and preparing the classroom for Paul

We have so many pictures of this summer that it would greatly overwhelm the readers of this blog who are used to a scattered amount of postings throughout the year. :-) To save you all from the shock, I have included a couple teaser photos and will work on adding more in little bits.

A New Chapter--Preschool

School has started up again. Paul had meetings last week, and the students joined him in class on Monday. Here is to his 13th year!

Paul, however, is not the only one heading to school this year. Isaac started preschool today. Despite some nervous visits this last spring and the last couple weeks to "prepare" him for it (we'll just say that he "hugged" the doorway and bolted as soon as we mentioned heading for the car), his first day went delightfully well.

He picked out his clothes and made sure they were washed and folded and ready for him this morning. He actually set them out already on Monday. (Thanks, Gpa & Gma N.!) He packed his backpack with his new Batman folder and a few unnecessary things (which I removed last night while he was in bed...) and was ready to go. This morning he woke up bright and early, got dressed and joined Dad for breakfast.

He decided that he wanted to go to school with Dad and ride in his car so I took his picture, gave him a hug, and waved goodbye. He was ready...climbed into his seat and waved happily back. We had it set up that one of his friends (who has been going to the preschool for a while) was waiting for him to go in to school at the same time, and she proudly showed Isaac to school and helped him very well.

Caleb and I spent the morning running errands and spending time at church. Caleb proudly pushed the mini-cart at Henry's and loaded all the produce into his cart. It was fun spending some one-on-one time with him. We picked up Isaac from school at 11:30. (The director greeted us with a big smile and the assurance that he had a great morning and never stopped smiling. She and the rest of the teachers are so wonderful!) The new preschool mom that I am had to ask where to sign him out and the procedure for picking him up and gathering his things, but we made it and headed home for lunch.
The boys made up for lost time with each other this a.m. and immediately started bugging and yelling at each other. Ahhhhhh, preschool is going to be a great chapter in Isaac's (and our) book of life!

The Big 3!

Caleb turned 3 on May 29. He had to be the world's most excited soon-to-be three year old out there! If you ask him what he is looking forward to most as a 3-year old, I bet you'll be surprised. He can't wait to be 3 because then he can go to "Sunday School"! It's really the Mom's group craft time at church, but I am not going to burst his bubble!

We celebrated with Mark, Jill, Maddie and Mackenzie. He chose a baseball cake and football cake, much to his mothers liking, and couldn't wait to open all the presents!

Just don't sing Happy Birthday to this little one...he'll start to scream and bury his face in you lap or back!

We love you, Caleb! You are an awesome 3 year-old, and you bring a smile to our faces quite often!

5....ALREADY???

Someone once told me that your kids grow up without your realizing it. I used to roll my eyes and say to myself, "As my kids grow up, I'll savor every moment."

Wow! I can't believe I am saying this, but, "Where has the time gone?"

Today Isaac turned 5. If you are reading this and saying to yourself, "5, really?" join the club!

With presents galore, a pirate ship cake specially crafted by Mom, and a small party with friends, this birthday boy celebrated his special day as much as any new 5-year old could.

Happy Birthday, Isaac! What a joy you are to us. We pray that you'll continue to live each day as full of joy as you had today!