Crazy . . . Messy . . . Boys

 Asher likes to play with his food sometimes . . . usually this is our clue that he is finished eating.  As you can see he is quite proud of his smarty pants skilz.

 Briella and Gideon helped me make these sugar cookie bars...they were very proud of their sprinkling.  Do you see where I realized Gideon would require more assistance while sprinkling?!?  We gave most of these away ...but enjoyed ourselves, too.

This is Gideon's new favorite game to play with Asher: pull him around on his blankie :)  Asher laughs hysterically . . . until he slips ...

A couple more Gideon funnies to share:
**We went to a hockey game Friday night.  Tuesday I was dressing Asher while Gideon dressed himself and then he gets up on his toddler bed and jumps over the foot board and says . . . "Now I can play hockey, Mom"

**While listening to the minister read the introduction to the ten commandments, Gideon turns to me and asks, "What's bondage mean?"  (I found it a little tricky to explain quickly and quietly in church.)

 


 

Thanksgiving Travels to Iowa

 Asher and Andrew met for the first time . . . Asher was not thrilled with the camera in most of these pictures . . .  I was thrilled to meet and hold Andrew for the first time!  However, my arms (which I thought were well toned from my own lug) started going numb after 8 minutes so I had to share.

 Briella had tons of fun playing with her big cousin Emma and Gideon and Aiden had a blast together, too.  The boys played lots of cars and chasing and bugging their uncles.

 Briella and Gideon enjoyed lots of Grandma hugs and books and snacks :)

 Dad and Mom needed a picture taken for their church directory so I thought it would be nice opportunity to take a picture of them with our kids.  Asher was again not pleased with my idea . . .

 Asher loves the steps and when he saw this gate he thought he found a way past the obstacle.  He was quickly frustrated . . . poor guy.

I'm not sure what was so interesting on TV, but these three were in this cozy spot for awhile.  I think Dan was licking his wounds after I beat him at Settlers Cities & Knights ;) or was it Garbage?!?!

We spent nearly a week in Iowa and were so thankful to see so much family, but the time always flies by and by the time we get home it seems like we just left.  We are thankful for safe travels and mostly happy travelers.
 

A year later

 

About a year ago we took this cute picture of the kids.  We kept talking about trying it again, so the other night we stacked them up on the couch ... well a lot has changed in a year and it wasn't as easy as it was the first time.  So here are some of the pictures we got :)  Kind of fun to see the various facial expressions. None of them were very cooperative . . .

Quiet Book #3

 In a weak moment I had a great idea to make another Quiet Book, this time for Zion's Auction . . . So I have been working on this off and on for a few weeks.  I am making it with a friend and she suggested the handles which I am really liking and I decided to try a 9 x 9 size so the pages aren't so squishy.  Overall I am pleased with how this one turned out :)  It is for sale Saturday night so we will see how it goes!!

 I made the shapes with an extra layer to hide the sewing of the snaps and to make them a little sturdier.

 My friend got puffy paint for me to add to the road above... and she found the apple puzzle idea that I think turned out really cute.  I saw this take on the weave page where you sew down three sides and leave space between the strips.

It went quite a bit faster this time, so that helped a lot!

Art Prize 2012

The past few years we enjoyed an afternoon checking out ArtPrize in downtown GR.  Usually there are entries lining the streets, filling parking lots, in hotels and museums, even hanging in the air.  Some of the art is very cool to see, other pieces are interesting and some are plain dumb . . . here are a few that caught our eye:

 This was an entire arctic gathering of animals made of junk . . . bowling pins, spatulas, car parts spoons, etc.  Kind of interesting.

The kids thought it was fun to hide behind this one and take pictures . . . although I'm not sure how I feel about Briella the mermaid?!?

 This seal is made out of wood, the artist said he used wood burning to make it look and feel like fur, pretty cool.

 I thought this one was going to be Stephan's favorites, but the next one was his top pick.

The artist was working while everyone watched and they had buckets of sand for kids to play with. Her assistant was spraying the sculpture down with a mist of water to keep it from blowing away.  She also told Stephan they add glue to the water for the final spray.  Gideon just asked me, "When are they going to bonk it down?"  I think he wants to volunteer to help.

 This party of horses is made from sticks and quite impressive (it got votes from the jurors and the public).

Last year there was a family a bears catching fish in the fountain at the Ford Museum, this year the penguins took over.  There were even a few swimming at the top. It is fun to see and I found myself waiting for one of them to jump in!

We aren't really artsy people, but this is a mostly free, mostly family friendly event and we don't get downtown GR too often.  It is fun to see/hear which entries make the top 10 and then the winner . . . We even voted this year for the first time! (Mostly because Stephan did not want the guy with a teepee set up that had a black curtain inside of it to win--yes seriously! People were in line to see inside this thing and I was watching reactions and one kid says "What is that in there?" after he had been in there . . . the artist says "art" then two ladies walked out and whispered to me "It's nothing. Nothing!"  The kids wanted to see so Stephan went in with them and found out it was nothing!)

I think that it is quite interesting that many of the top entries are animals . . . humans are creative, but God is ultimately The Creator and we just can't do much better than the animals He has created!

Entry Way Bench/Lockers!

A long time ago Stephan and I started talking about a bench with hooks that he would make for our entry way area . . . I pinned a bunch of ideas and we sketched out our ideal entry bench!  Stephan took it from there and built this beauty!!

 I need to find baskets and maybe make a cute pillow, but we are loving this lovely addition to our home!  So glad to have such a handy man :)

Briella is 5

 Briella helped me pick out what cake she wanted and then we went shopping for jelly bellies (the most exciting part for me).  We had to do some research and ended up buying M&M's which were really fun to put on the cake, but melted into the frosting after a few hours?!?

Briella has been anticipating turning 5 for several months and keeps telling people "I'm 5 now!"  She was looking in the mirror that morning and said, "I don't look 5 Mom . . . maybe I'm still 4?!?"  She was measuring how much of her face she can see in the mirror, so I think she was planning to be a few inches taller when she woke up as a 5 year old.  Funny!

Five days later my sweet girl had her first day of school.  She was possibly more excited about this day than turning 5.  I was rushing around getting it all together and asked her to grab my shoes for me.  She brings them to me and says, "Here Mom, we are kind of late!"  It was at least 10 minutes before I had planned to leave.  She was literally bouncing around, giggling.  She jabbered all the way to school about how she loves to learn and her favorite thing about school is learning, not just playing and how God loves to see us learn about Him (all things we have been teaching her). And then we walked in the building and she froze. She clung to me and didn't want me to leave.  We walked around the classroom but I couldn't get her to walk far enough away from me to take a picture of her!  When the bell rang and the kids lined up to go to their classrooms, I gave her a hug and walked away.  When I peaked behind me she was holding her teacher's hand, no tears (big relief for me!).

 I am not sure who was more excited for 4:00, Gideon or myself.  We walked to the end of the street about 15 minutes early and here is our favorite Kindergartener getting off the bus :)

 

She looked SO tired, but was smiling and had lots of stories to tell.  Sounds like they had 2 birthday treats (including hers), she can't remember anyone's names, she got to rest on her new owl pillow (thanks Grandma B) right by the teacher's desk, she ate all of her lunch like I said, she didn't need to go to the bathroom, one boy had to sit by the teacher because he was getting a little wild even when she told him to stop (the teacher, not Briella . . . I think), she stood by the fence during recess because there were too many kids going all over, some boy brought her back to her classroom because PE was scary, and she was not naughty all day because her name stayed on green.  It was so fun to hear about her day and I am so thankful for a Christian school to send her to and I prayed for her, her teacher, her class, the school all day long as I thought about her and missed her :) 

PS: Uncle Nate, I am sure there are K's scared of you, right?!? A big guy in a big gym!  I told her she will be staying next week and it is not scary!!  Any tips??

Asher is ONE!

 The past 12 months have gone very quickly and it is amazing to see how much he has grown!

 Asher got a new shirt from Grandma Buys and I made him a special crown for his birthday.  Briella and Gideon 'helped' me decorate Asher's cake.  It turned out pretty cute, too :)

 Asher enjoyed his new car carrier and his cake--what a fun night!

Upcoming Birthdays

 My baby is turning one next week and my firstborn will be 5 the following week!  It was time for a little photo shoot :)  We went to a nearby park so the kids could play while waiting.  I thought I would share a few of the cute ones that didn't make the cut to be printed . . . if only I was a little savvier with my camera and wiser about lighting . . . then they would all be wonderful!!  Enjoy.