Fall and Winter 2012-13

I've become accustomed to just doing massive blog posts, so here's another doozy.  It's been very chilly here these past few weeks, and the cold, snow, and ice have managed to close school 4 times this winter.  I think we've only had one five day school week in the past 5 weeks!  Crazy!

Here is a timeline of the last few months, starting with fall:

We ventured out a few nights for various Halloween festivities.  For the first time, we decided to go to the Outdoor Discovery Center's Treats and Trails Event.  There was hot chocolate, games, s'mores, tractor train rides, and of course, candy! :)  We had a really nice time and will likely go back!  We also went to an activity night at our church, followed by some good old neighborhood trick-or-treating.  Our Spartan football player, ladybug, and flower were all as cute as ever!

 

Speaking of Spartans, Grant had the opportunity to check out a MSU basketball game in November with his buddy Breslin.  Love this picture of him with Sparty!  He had a great time!

Our dear middle child continues to amaze us with her abilities to nap during the dinner hour.  Yes, my friends, she is sleeping, face down on the dining room chair, with her legs tucked underneath her.  If you look close enough, you will even see a small pile of drool on the chair.  She will eat part of her meal, be consumed with tiredness (maybe you shouldn't have given up naps when you were 2 1/2 years old, Brooke!), and will cash out.

We celebrated both girls birthdays together in early December.  Given the vast number of parties that we have over the holidays, I just didn't have it in me to schedule two separate parties.  Brooke turned four and Grace turned one.  Brooke continues to adore the one day a week that she goes to school.  She has just really turned into a little girl over the past few months - no longer a toddler.  It amazes me so.  Her vocabulary continues to greatly expand, she can write her name, and can also write a majority of the letters of the alphabet and can recognize all of them.  She loves, loves, loves to read books, so we spent many hours doing just that!  She also has an expansive imagination.  She can spend a ton of time playing with her My Little Ponies, her princesses, Barbies, etc.  I just love listening to the conversations she has with her "friends."  She loves to dress up like a ballerina.  Her favorite shows on TV are Ruby and Max, Kratts Kreatures, the Cosby Show and the Brady Bunch (love the fact that she enjoys watching re-runs of the last two shows!).  She also has a very good memory - just like older brother. :) 

At 14 months, the age Grace is while I write this, our little one is constantly on the move.  She is a very happy kid who loves to run and climb (the dining room table, for instance!).  She adores taking baths, and if she even hears mention of the word, she will run to the bathroom trying to take off her clothes.  You can't get her in the tub fast enough.  She likes playing with shape sorters, ride her rocking horse, go down her Little Tikes slide, and play with stuff she is not supposed to be playing with.  She loves sitting in the pantry and taking things off the shelves.  She also likes playing with Grant and Brooke's things.  Needless to say, bedroom and bathroom doors need to stay closed, or legos get destroyed and toilets get played in.  While her vocabulary isn't huge yet (mama, uh-oh, ball, bye), she comprehends so much.  She's also cut a lot of teeth lately (up to 7 now), so that has made for some runny noses and stinky diapers!  On the food front, this girl can pack it away.  She's a decent size kid for her age, but seriously - the amount of food she consumes amazes me.  We have to order her a kid's meal just for her when we go out for dinner.  A typical lunch at home consists of a piece of bread, sliced turkey, cooked carrots, a whole banana, a string cheese, and goldfish crackers.  She and Grant have her father's appetite and my grocery bills are beginning to show it!

Our two divas

Brooke can't wait to open her presents!

 Love this picture of Grace opening a present.

I am not a fancy birthday party planner, so simple pink and purple cupcakes served my one girly girl just fine and my other not so girly girl great too, because it was food (and she LOVES to eat).

 

The Petroelje kids don't mess around with the birthday treat at age 1.  Dive right in, boys! Too bad I forgot her birthday hat in my bedroom!

 Mmmmm...delicious.

A few bites later.  All gone.  That was tasty.  Can I have another?

Unfortunately for Brooke, a few days later she got into an edible Christmas tree Brooke made at school out of sugar cones and green frosting.  It's the naughty and delighted look...

In early December we also hosted our annual friends' Christmas party.  Here is the clan this year.  Unfortunately, we were missing a few kiddos, as Eric and Marcy were not home for Christmas this year.  Hopefully next!  We had the "real deal" Santa this year (Dick V.D. from church), as Grant almost busted Eric's cover last year.  As you can see, Grace was less than thrilled.

And the Christmas parties continued...  Overall, we had 8 Christmas parties, and by the end, we were all plum tuckered out.  Unfortunately, the sick bug hit out house hard, and all but Eric had one type of illness or another, which forced some of us to miss some of the parties.  Not cool.  Here are just a few pics from some of the gatherings:

At my Grandma Grotenhuis' house with the cousins

 Mom and Dad P. with the grandkids

One of Uncle Brian and Aunt Allison's gifts to Grace.  She had a riot emptying every last tissue from the box.

 This next picture is far from flattering, but I had to post it just to remember the photo op and get a good chuckle every time I look back at it.  We set the cameras up like we do each year to get an annual family picture.  As I was running to my place and sitting Brooke on my lap just prior to the picture being snapped, her foot got caught underneath my leg, and there was this incredibly loud popping/cracking sound that came from her ankle.  Thus, as you can see, my expression reflects the terrible noise I heard and Brooke's expression reflects the terrible pain she felt.  Fortunately, all was good, and we were able to proceed a few minutes later with the next picture.  Nothing spectacular, but a family picture none the less.

 

 

 I just love this picture of my Grandma with Grace.

The three kiddos in jammies celebrating just our own family Christmas.  Given the fact that were weren't moving or having babies this year, I even put up the Christmas tree!  Unfortunately, as you can see the decorations aren't exactly perfectly on the tree.  Grace's interest in the tree forced us to relocate many of the ornaments to higher ground for fear of demolition. :)

For New Year's Eve this year, we celebrated with our church small group.  Lynn put on quite the party, and we had so much fun. 

The kids did Just Dance 4 on the Wii.  It was so funny watching the kiddos dance moves - especially Brooke.  Should I be nervous now already for high school dances?

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Craft time!  Another big hit!

We also played BINGO, ate a lot of good food, and watched the ball drop.  Even Brooke managed to stay awake until 11:45 - when she fell asleep watching a movie.  So close!!

The second week of Christmas break we decided to venture north to Mt. Pleasant.  Soaring Eagle Water Park and Hotel was recently built and they were running a special that could not be passed up - an overnight stay with 4 water park passes for $70 total.  Unbelievable.  We had a lot of fun!  I'm hopeful they run the deal again next year, because we would sure return.

In late January, I traveled to Florida with two good friends for some "mommy away from kids" time.  We stayed with two wonderful, gracious hosts from our church, Jerry and Donna, and had such a great time in Ft. Myers Beach.  We relaxed, relaxed, and relaxed some more.  The weather was gorgeous (low 80's and sunny), and we spent a lot of time just sitting on the beach reading soaking in the sun, reading books, and taking walks.  Jerry even taught us how to play shuffleboard.  It was fun!!  The trip was so heavenly.

And back to reality - when we returned, we got a good deal of snow, so the kids have been taking advantage of the powder and playing outside.  Grant put to use the snowboard he got for his birthday and is doing really well.  The hill on the side of our house has been a great place for him to practice.

We also participated in the soup and sledding event with our church Sunday School group after church yesterday.  Grace was very content just sitting in the snow and watching everyone else.  She couldn't get around very easily in all of the get-up she was wearing.  She had her chance to go down the hill a few times and enjoyed that, too.

Brooke LOVED going down the hill with the older girls.  She really thought it was big stuff that they would allow her to ride in their sleds with them.  Here is a picture of Brooke and Brooklyne coming up the hill!  So cute!

Eric is again coaching girls' JV basketball, so we've been trying to attend as many of the home games as possible.  With the season winding down, I'm looking forward to some time to be able to start running again.  For that sake, I am getting ready for the weather to warm up and the roads to dry off.  I cannot believe that we're in the middle of February already, though.  Wow.

Summer and Fall 2012

In an attempt to try and update my blog before my youngest turns 18 and I've not documented any part of her life, here is a recap of our last few months.

At the start of summer, we were in full gear, participating in many activities.  Grant had basketball camp, which he loved.

The kiddos had swimming lessons.  I was quite nervous at how Brooke would do, as it was her first year taking lessons and she's my stubborn child (can't imagine where that comes from!).  However, she loved it and did really well.  Sigh of relief...

 Grace was so content while we sat and watched lessons an hour a day for two weeks.  Such a happy kid!

Grant was also involved in t-ball again this year.  This kid just loves baseball.  Of the pictures that I took of him playing, I had to post this one to remind myself of a few things.  First, we always got the biggest laugh at the kids on his team because nearly all of them loved, loved, loved to slide.  So, any chance they got, they would do so.  Second, poor Grant takes after his mama in the sliding department.  Not the most graceful! :)  Regardless, we had a blast watching him and his teammates this year.

We ventured out to Craig's Cruisers in the early part of summer.  Grant loved taking his swings in the batting cages.

 Brooke and I had a ball riding the go carts!  "Go Mom, go!"

Our dear G-man turned SIX in June.  Whoa!  The kid continues to bless us with his zest for life and love for learning.  At six, he loves ALL sports.  Yes, my friends, ALL sports.  As you can see from the pic below, roller blading and snow boarding (we'll see how that goes this winter!), in addition to baseball, basketball, soccer, football, golf (he desperately wants us to take him to a real golf course), badminton (you read that correctly - he's great with a birdie!), and any other sport you can think of.  He also LOVES the Michigan State Spartans.  One of his buddies, Breslin (yep - named after the Breslin Center on State's campus) has had quite the influence on his collegiate interests.  So, we have about 4 State t-shirts and a football jersey just waiting to be worn for Halloween! :)  He loves to draw (Detroit Tigers old English D's and Michigan State Spartan heads are his favorites!).  His favorite books are anything sports related and the Magic Tree House books.  He continues to amaze us with his math abilities (adding in double and triple digits, subtracting, learning fractions, doing some multiplying).  He also loves to write, and can spell very well.

 I've always been one for buying a cake at Meijer for birthdays because frankly, I do not have any interest in  making my own.  However, my sister showed me this idea for making baseball cupcakes, and G loved it, so I obliged and made them for his birthday.  Next year, though, he asked for footballs!  How the heck and I going to do that? :)

 We camped at Tri Ponds on two different occasions during the summer months.  We just love this place.  The first time around, we went with a group of friends. 

Grace loved the pool!

Grant loved the basketball hoop by the pool.

  

Brooke loved the pool, too, but I didn't have a picture, so I've posted one of her feeding the goats instead.  So cute!

 

 Playing chubby bunny with Uncle Kurt with the gigantic marshmallows from Aldi!  That is only a single marshmallow in each of their mouths. :)

 Isaac and G loved fishing.  They caught a fish that won the fishing tournament so each got an ice cream treat!

A picture of the whole gang.  Marcy and the girls were home from China so they visited us as well, but unfortunately, weren't around for this picture.

In early July we went to the Tigers game with the Petroelje clan.  It was so hot out, but we had great seats in the shade so it was much more bearable.  We had a riot and the kids were so good that even the gentleman behind us leaned over and told us how well-behaved our children were.  He didn't think they could all make a full 9 innings and be so good, but they did!  (I think it was partially due to the fact that Uncle Brian and Aunt Allison brought squirt fans!).  Tigers won!  Yippee!!

In early July we also had the opportunity to go to Allison's parents' cottage again for a day of fun.  So generous of them!

Brooke went out in the kayak with Eric.

Grant and Tim tubing.

Even Brooke gave tubing a try, but wasn't a huge fan.

She did however amaze us with her willingness to try to ski board.  She did great!  So cute seeing such a little pipsqueak "skiing" around the lake!

I took Grace's six month (well...seven, who are we kidding - by the time you get to child 3 the 3, 6, 9, 12 mo. pics go out the window!)  at the beach.  Not an easy task when there are so many things to explore, so this was the best I could get.  Loving that dimple!

Spent some time out at the beach while my parents were camping out there.  Chad and Kathi were in town for a bit, so the kids got to hang out with Brielle and Bryce.

This was our best attempt at keeping Grace from eating sand and crawling away.  Fill the sand toy bucket up with water and let her play.  Worked quite well!

We managed to get a large group picture with the Carlson, VanOverloop, and Yonker kiddos.  Pretty impressive that the kids could all sit long enough!

Round two at Tri Ponds in mid-July.  This time with my cousins.  We had a group of lots where we could have all the trailers facing each other in a giant circle.  It was so awesome because it provided a huge area for the kids to play.

Grant kayaking all by himself.  He was a pro!

 Grace and Bret.  Both about 7 1/2 months old.  We got so lucky because Grace started crawling the day after we returned from vacation.  Phew!  Didn't have to chase her all over Tri Ponds!  Love Bret's smile!

Brooke tuckered herself out and took a nap.  Quite an accomplishment for a girl who will fight naps to the end!

Love this pic of the two boys fishing.  Grant caught his first bass on this camping trip!  We got the biggest chuckle, though.  Eric B. and Mitch were having a conversation about whether or not hot dog bait could catch a bass and the consensus was not.  No two minutes later Grant came sprinting over to the camp site to inform us he just caught a big bass - with a hog dog!!  Ha!

Same photo spot, different group of kiddos!  Too bad we didn't think of this when Bryce and Brielle were visiting, though.  Would have loved to include them in on the pic.

In early August we took a short trip to Chicago.  We visited the Museum of Science and Industry as well as Navy Pier.  The kids' favorite part - swimming in the pool.  Go figure - could have saved a bunch of money and just gone to a local hotel for the pool.  Oh well!  It was still a lot of fun.  The hotel we stayed at was super convenient and incredibly helpful (Best Western River North, for anyone who is considering a trip to Chi-town).  We also couldn't make a trip to Chicago without visiting our favorite Chicago-style pizza restaurant, Lou Malnatis!  Too bad the kids were impatient and loud, or it would have been an enjoyable dinner!

Our princess posing in front of what she referred to as the "princess castle" building.

Family picture on Navy Pier with the Chicago skyline in the background.

On the Ferris Wheel!

After Chicago we ventured a bit further south for a visit to Chad and Kathi in their new house in Charleston, Illinois!  Yay - they are only 5 hours away now, rather than 9!  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures.  This is the only one I got, but at least it's a cute one!  Bryce and Grace in the Burley, ready for a jog with me and Chad!

Early September brought upon us the start of school.  Grant started Kindergarten and loves it.  From riding the bus, to playing at recess, to learning new things, he's just thriving.  Of the 20 kids in his class, 15 of them are boys!  God bless Mrs. Pitcher! :)

Grandpa and Grandma G. bought him a new Spartan backpack!

Brooke started threeschool at Zeeland Christian this year.  She goes one day a week, but if she had the choice, she'd love to go more.  She cannot wait for Wednesdays so she can go to school!  She has met many new friends and unlike Grant's class, her class is full of little girls!  I believe there are only 2-3 boys of the 15 kids in the class.  It's been a lot of fun watching her excitement for learning.  At age 3 1/2 she knows her ABCs and can count to twenty (although we still don't always have down some of the teens in the right order yet).  She also can recognize most all letters and numbers 1-10. (Sorry for those of you who could care less about the stats of my children.  This is the only way I keep track if it though, so it's more for my benefit than yours!)

In September, spur of the moment we decided to go to the circus.  The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus were in town at Van Andel.  That was one of the best spur of the moment decisions ever.  Truly one of the greatest shows I've been to.  We all had a blast and there was nonstop action from start to finish.  Well worth it!

 In late September we made our annual effort to get family pictures.  Not exactly something I look forward to, as trying to get three kiddos to cooperate is quite a feat (and trying to figure out what to wear is not enjoyable either!).  Eric's mom took 5 pictures in their back yard, and voila - we got one that worked!  Yippee!  Sorry if you are the recipient of a Christmas card from me.  You'll probably get a duplicate picture from the one shown below.  I don't have the gumption to take another one between now and the holidays! :)

Still loving that dimple! :)

We also managed to get a cousins picture when Chad and Kathi were home for a weekend.  Kathi actually got the best pic on her camera, but there's something about this pic that I giggle at.  Brooke's pose and Brielle's expression are priceless.

Grant decided that if we weren't going to take him to a golf course, he'd take matters into his own hands and do some driving in our yard (on a cold and windy day of course!).  The cardboard is his tee box! :)  Fore!

And Grace - our dear, into everything, happy as a lark, laid back Grace.  Cannot believe she is going to be a year old in just a month!  Ahhh!!  She's added such joy to our lives (and has burned many calories from our bodies by chasing her around).  She's crawling like a maniac, standing and walking around furniture, and can stand alone.  She's taken a few steps here or there, but is not "officially" walking yet.  I am totally okay with that.  The other day I found her in the bottom drawer of the oven.  She's also taken a liking to toilets.  This past week she went into the bathroom, closed the door behind her, and opened a drawer that blocked us from being able to enter the bathroom to get her out.  Eric had to take a pencil, squeeze it through the crack of the door, and try to slide the drawer shut.  Luckily, he managed to get in before she had heyday with the toilet paper roll and toilet.

Lastly, God's handiwork in our yard has been just amazing.  We have been thoroughly blessed with vibrant colors.  I just love looking out the windows each day to such a beautiful sight.  Country living has treated us so well.  It's hard to believe it's been 10 months since we've moved, but we've enjoyed every minute of it (except the fact that the Internet is expensive and my data is limited, so blog posting is not a regular occurrence!)