Blog Slacker

Yes, I know - I've gone one whole month without publishing anything on this blog. Shame on me. Life has been crazy busy lately. Anyway...here are a few updates of things going on.
Grant has always been very good at keeping himself occupied. He can sit for a long time and just play. He can sit in his sand box, build blocks, play with his Thomas trains, and lately - build with Lincoln Logs and color. He just loves sitting by the table and coloring and also going into our bedroom (because his little sister is on the demolition team) and building with his Lincoln Logs. He's come up with some pretty great log houses all on his own. Below is a picture of one of the houses he did all by himself - absolutely NO help from mom or dad (which I think is impressive considering there are windows and a door in this thing!).

My little boy has also taken the next big step towards big boyhood. He is riding his bike without training wheels! I had gotten some great video clips of when he first started trying to ride (crying) and then when he had mastered it about a week later (excited); however, unfortunately, the video clips were taken on my new camera in HD format, which is not compatible with either of our computers. Thus, no video clips to show. I'll try to get video of him in action for the next post (now that I've figured out how to record in regular video format), but for now, the following pictures will have to do. It was sooooo cute watching the kids at our neighbor's daycare cheer him on as he was really starting to get the hang of things.

Now onto my oh so active daughter. Gotta love the girl dearly, but she is into EVERYTHING!! I swear - she is all the exercise I need to keep in shape. On the table, in the toilet, in the drawers, running away from you, pulling things off the counter. Let's just say she definitely has a zest for life and will probably be the child to give me my first gray hair. She's starting to say more and more words (although sometimes it's hard to interpret what she's saying!) and understands everything you say to her (not saying she always listens, though!). She also does a great job at pointing out all of her body parts (even the elbows - "bows" and knees - "ees"). She's always trying to keep up with big brother - which can be a good thing, but can also be bad, as it can lead to little skirmishes between the two.

We've had to move all of our dining room chairs into our entryway, as dear daughter uses them as leverage to get onto the table. She's now also mastered the art of our bar stools, which gives her access to the kitchen counter - not sure what I am going to do with those!

My sister has been home for the past week, which has been great. Chad came out this past weekend, as the school year at Penn State has come to close, so now he's able to spend some family time in West Michigan. He is officially DONE with school and has earned his doctorate. Congratulations Chad! We are now teaching our children to salute him as Dr. Uncle Chad. Ha, ha!!

Our little "snack picnic" in the backyard on one of the beautiful afternoons we were together.

As Tulip Time comes to a close, we've spent a bit of time this past week downtown. We ate junk food last Saturday night and took in the parade on Wednesday with my mom, Kathi, and Brielle. Thanks to Kathi's father-in-law who works right downtown, we scored some great seats. Grant watched intently, Brooke couldn't sit still - tis the story of my life. At least she sat still enough to get a few pictures.

Grandma and her grandkids :)

I just love the month of May. It's is an incredibly busy time of year, with school winding down and many other activities going on, but it's a taste of what's to come - SUMMER! :) (well, with the exception of the winter like weather we had yesterday - brrrrr!)