Shake, Rattle & Roll

Our middle school youth group had its biennial 50's Car Hop fundraiser at church a few weeks ago. It is a great night for our church to get together and socialize in a totally different setting and for our youth to serve the members of the congregation. Besides eating and listening to music from the 50's, the night also included trivia, hula hoop and bubblegum blowing contests and dance lessons.

Remember the teaser about Paul shaking his hips?!? Well, here he is--the winner of the men's division of the hula hoop contest.

Preschool Wisdom

Caleb is in a stage where he is picking his nose a lot. I know it is gross, but we are thankful that he usually finds a tissue in which to put the booger. Last week when I told him to stop picking his nose, Isaac very calmly added his two cents and said, "Caleb, we pick roses, not noses." He told me that Mrs. Michelle says that a lot (at school).

Also, last week I hung out with Caleb at the preschool for a bit before I took Isaac home. I got to see the Pre-K teachers dancing with the kids which was wonderful because it explained Isaac's funky dance moves that I have been seeing lately at home. His teachers have taught the kids how to not only do the hokey-pokey but also the macarena. Their fancy dance moves include the lawnmower and sprinkler as well as a little bit of the time swimming. I was laughing so hard watching four through six year-olds dance like we did in college. Thanks, Mrs. Michelle and Mrs. Jessica, for opening the world to our kids!

Relightable Candles

Here is proof of how "thrilled" Isaac was about the relightable candles on his birthday cupcake.

Birthday Weekend Festivities

Isaac turned six yesterday. Time flies when you are watching your own kids grow and learn new things daily! For his birthday he decided he wanted to go to Sea World with some friends of ours who also have passes so that is what we did yesterday.

He opened his presents and had birthday cupcakes when we got home. I was excited to have relightable candles this year; he and his friends were not so sure about them since they spark quite a bit if you wait too long to blow them out. Maybe he will like that kind of candle a litte bit better in a few years...As you can see from the picture, he was very spoiled this year. (Thanks to Dad & Vicki's visit, he was convinced that one of the packages had an Ipad in it since he put it on his list.) To back up, though, Isaac's birthday seemed to last this entire weekend since Paul and a friend cooked up some fun family plans starting already on Friday. He informed me midweek that I would not need to make dinner on Friday and that we were doing something that would involve being out late that night. Our friends brought over pizza, and we all headed to the Padres game after we finished eating. We had such a fun night, and the Padres even won the game (in extra innings which we missed b/c we had to get the kidlings to bed so they had some sleep before our big Sea World day).At one point in the game Caleb stood up and batted from his seat. He carefully watched the pitcher, waited for the pitch, and then swung as the ball passed over home plate. He has really been into baseball lately and plays by himself in the back yard--running like mad around the yard when he hits a "home run" and letting me know when he hits the ball over the fence.

Because it is Mothers' Day today, Paul and his co-conspiring friend also decided to take us ladies out for breakfast yesterday before we went to Sea World. They took all of us to The Cottage in La Jolla where we enjoyed a lovely breakfast on the patio. Here is a picture of my eggs benedict which were delish!

From there we headed to Sea World. We had a fun-filled day--rode the sky tower ride which was surprisingly interesting and fun, saw lots of animals and a couple shows, played in the Sesame Street play area, and survived the day with no serious meltdowns (despite four very tired children). The boys even bought things for themselves--a beluga whale in a jacket for Isaac and a stopwatch for Caleb (no buddies for him--he actually had a set of binoculars as well but changed his mind when I told him it would cost all the money he had in his wallet). Below are pix of us with the boys in two rides in the Sesame Street play area. Today we went for lunch at Dairy Queen--Isaac's birthday choice--since we did not have time on his actual birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed my hot fudge shake (thanks, Dad, for getting me hooked on the taste of this years ago!).

Grandpa Walker

In March we said goodbye to Paul's Grandpa Walker after he got sick and passed away quite suddenly. This post is long overdue.

I consider myself extremely blessed to have wonderful in-laws who completely include me as another member of the family. Grandpa and Grandma Walker are no exception to this rule and have shared their love with me as a granddaughter-in-law since the first time I met them. I had the pleasure of meeting Paul's grandpa and grandma in 1997 when Paul and I were first dating and headed to their house for a weekend away from Dordt. That visit was the first of many wonderful times and memories with Grandpa and Grandma.

When we moved to California, they visited us in our first apartment. We also had the opportunity to visit them in Arizona when they spent part of the winter there--first just Paul and me and then once with Isaac as well (he was always on the floor with the kids playing with them and throwing balls with them--something our boys absolutely loved--as seen below). During those AZ visits, we shared many laughs, played lots of card games, spent time at the pool in the sun, and played many games of pool and mini golf. (I never was any good at golf or betting in the card games, but Grandpa always had an encouraging word or suggestion to help me out.)

For me most of my memories of Grandpa are tied in with Grandma since they were always together and cared for each other so well. I think the thing I enjoyed most in spending time with both Grandpa and Grandma was their love for each other and for their family and that he loved spending time with each of his family members. I love hearing Paul and his family share memories of visiting Grandpa and Grandma and being visited by them (for holidays and all their school activities). I am thankful for the wonderful example that Grandpa set for Paul and the rest of the family and for the love and laughs he so freely shared with us.

Playing cards at the Walker Family Reunion in 2008

I am so glad that we were all able to make it home in time for the funeral. It was such a joy to be with everyone in Grandpa and Grandma's house. When I spent the first Christmas with the Walker family, we all fit in the living room to open presents; however, the family has grown so much we spilled out of the living room and into most of the rooms upstairs during this visit. Below is a rather random shot--the sight of most of our shoes piled up in the entry at Grandpa & Grandma's house when we were all home for Grandpa's funeral. It was odd not having him there with us. In fact I kept expecting to see him come around a corner or see him sitting on a chair with his legs crossed or tucked underneath himself and a cup of coffee nearby. We were so sad to have to say goodbye, but a piece of Grandpa lives on in each of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Grandpa, we love you and miss you so much!

For Easter our church displays lilies in memory of loved ones. This is a picture of us with the Easter Lily we bought in memory of Grandpa.

Some April Happenings

Because of our blog absence during the month of April, prepare yourself for a lot of pix and happenings. This does not cover all of April but gives you a little idea of what has been happening here the last few weeks. I hope to follow up with a few more things from March and April in future posts including Paul shaking his hips. Consider that a teaser!

A friend from church is letting us borrow the bounce house she has for when her nieces visit. The boys love it and are in it almost daily. We feel spoiled being able to blow it up whenever we want. It is just the perfect size for them--you can get a feel for its height by looking at the boys peeking over the top of it. And the second one is just a funny one of Isaac smooshing his face against the netting.

Brad had a conference in San Diego at the beginning of April so we got to spend a lot of time with him. He went to his conference each day Monday through Thursday and was back at our house in time for dinner and games that night. It was so fun for us all to catch up. Thanks for including us in your trip, and thanks for dinner at Pat & Oscar's, Brad!!!

At the beginning of April we welcomed a new niece to the family--another Katelyn Marie! (Thankfully, she came early enough that Brad and I were able to visit her in the hospital before Brad went back home.) The boys LOVE holding her (and that is an understatement) and will sit with her for as long as she stays quiet though Isaac will even keep her while she is crying (must like the challenge of quieting her).

To give Jill and Mark some time with Katelyn, we had the older two girls here for a slumber party. We had such a great time (though I was a little worried when Kenzie woke up and threw up in her bed the first morning...thankfully, it was not the flu that spread to the other three kids!!!) and did a lot of fun things together.

We spent a lot of time outside Making chocolate popcorn using the air popper

We got to spend a lot of time with J & M & family in April since we not only wanted to see Katelyn on a weekly basis but also because they all came here for Easter. We had our annual egg hunt. This year we also made Resurrection Cookies to help the kids semi-experience the story of Christ's death and resurrection (of course I have no pix of this process since that is all on video--this post is long enough without adding the video so I'll see about adding that another time).

Caleb was not too happy for this group pose

Caleb pointing out his egg in the grass he planted at our Moms' Group preschool

Notice how tall our one geranium plant has grown. I guess it likes sitting on the water line.

Overheard Again...

Here are some of the random things heard around our house in the last few weeks:

First of all they think anything to do with the bathroom is hilarious. We are trying to cut back on their potty talk and reserve it for the bathroom. A couple of the books we have read recently just tickle their fancy because of this. An example is when the book has a character that is a "party pooper."

One of their favorite books/series is the Walter the Farting Dog books. If you are unfamiliar with it, the main character is a dog that has serious gas issues. Throughout the book it is a serious problem, but each book ends with Walter saving the day because of his flatulence. Caleb is our little farter, and after one such slip he said, "Oops, I'm Walter." (One kid from my youth group teased me about reading these books to our kids and said, "What parent reads farting books to their kids?!?) Caleb has also become our polite farter (if there is such a thing) and tries to run to the bathroom to do his deed informing us when he returns, "I just farted in the bathroom." (Now, Paul is trying to get him to stay in the bathroom for a few seconds so the smell stays there...)

Caleb's favorite line: "Are you seer-yus?!?"

Caleb to my sister when watching his new cousin nursing for the first time (with big eyes and in a really loud voice): "She's eating you!"

We play the slug-bug-no-returns game (thanks to their oldest cousin for introducing this game!) and love to keep track of who gets the most. When we get quite a few we say that person is on fire. Or if you are Caleb, you would say, "I'm IN fire" or to congratulate Paul, "Dad's on ice!"

And finally, Isaac's sense of humor is growing. The other day when I said I was going to "run to church," he said to me, "Really? That could take you a while."

Anatomy conversation with Caleb and Isaac:
C: "Babies don't have a penis."
Me: "Um, baby girls don't, but baby boys do."
C: "Uh-uh. Babies don't have penises."
I: "Caleb, boys have penises. Girls have lines."

(Most of the babies we know are little girls so I am not sure that Caleb has ever helped change a baby boy's diaper. Anybody with a baby boy willing to let us change his diaper so Caleb can be set straight on this little mix-up?!?)