Playing Hookie

Not really, no daycare and well visits caused me to spend the day with the boys. We made a day out of heading to the cities and went to Como zoo after the dr.

Gerrit has not wanted to ride in the stroller in over a year (we would have to force him and buckle him in if necessary) until today! Luckily I had the sling along and could wear Emmit so his highness could site see in style. Not all the animals were outside and a few exhibits weren't open but we saw enough animals to satisfy a 3 year old and his mother. We will go back this summer with friends and/or family as this is a favorite zoo for Adam and I seeing we lived in the area when we first moved to MN (and the zoo is free).

The day ended with bike riding and playing outside together. The only bummer to the day is Emmit has to go back for his shots because he had a fever over the weekend and they don't like to mix fevers and shots. Gerrit was a trooper and did well despite having shots.

I'll be back to post their stats from the visit once I find Gerrit's stats from 4 months.

The Big 3

As a family we celebrated Gerrit's birthday on Saturday (you'd think the kid had enough parties already!). We started by having breakfast at Bridgett's with Dahlens. Adam took Gerrit and Luke to a bike race nearby to watch (in the rain). After lunch Gerrit opened his gifts:

He made out quite well too. I wrapped all the gifts that were sent in the mail from family and his fellow birthday friend Marion (my mom's college roommate and Gerrit share the same day). He didn't quite understand the hobby horse but Adam does a great job 'riding' it! Adam enjoyed setting up the Hotwheels stuff he got from his cousins in MI. A fun little series of Hotwheels that will be fun for him to add on to in the future. I think his favorite was the 'football shoes' I found on clearance. I think they are soccer cleats, but he doesn't care (and they are a bit big too). He wore them all day and would choose to wear them all the time if we'd let him! He quickly asked where the helmet, jersey, pants, and pads were to go with the shoes. (He'll have to wait till Christmas for that!) He got a basketball jersey too but of course the shoes overshadowed everything!

We've enjoyed celebrating and can't believe it has been 3 years. We made it through the 2s just fine and are bracing ourselves for a tough year of 3s. We've already seen a glimps of the evil, pushing the limit Gerrit and really hope he doesn't stick around all year!

The Big Gift

Friday Gerrit celebrated his birthday at daycare so he wore his birthday shirt. Because it was suppose to rain all day on Saturday (which was his actual birthday), we decided to give him his bike early so he could ride it.

Gerrit was 'outgrowing' his push bike. He was going to either fall over because he was going too fast or go through a lot of shoes trying to stop (and wear out the soles). So we thought it was best to get him the next size bike (none of Team Beat had this size - go figure! But we have 2 16" bikes waiting). He loves the bike but is a bit timid to break. He still puts his feet down (we may still go through a lot of shoes this summer!) to stop instead of pedal backwards. He loves to stand up and ride and after a few days, has already gotten better at stopping and 'pedaling backwards'.

The only downfall to a new bike: getting him to come inside for the day is a fight we have every night!

Birthday Party II

Last Thursday night we had Dave and Pam over for dinner and birthday cake. Gerrit started eating his cake before we could get the candles on and lit! He was just as embarrassed as the last time we sang happy birthday to him a month ago when the family was here for baptism!

A Birthday 'Pony'

Here is the finished product from last night's post:

A felted hobby horse made by none other than me!

I'm pretty proud of it and hope Gerrit has fun with it. Gerrit has been asking to ride horses at "Deb's" since last fall when we were there! Since we can't ride horses, I thought I'd get him his own to ride whenever he wants.

Don't kids usually ask for a pony for their birthday?

-not our kid - he wants football shoes, helmet, jersey, and pads!

Stay tuned as the birthday festivities continue this weekend.

QUIZ

This is one of Gerrit's birthday gifts...what am I?

(Oma and Aunt Cara can not guess....they know the answer!)

Doesn't Skip a Beat

Last night I ran a few errands in preparation for Gerrit's big day on Saturday. He wanted to come along and I told him I was shopping for his birthday presents and in order for them to be a surprise, he couldn't come along. So I left a very tearful almost 3 year old behind and ran errands.

This morning when Gerrit woke up, he walked downstairs and found me in the kitchen. He then went back into the living room and looked around as if he was looking for something specific (usually he asks for a pop tart or oatmeal before anything else). I asked him what he was looking for and he said 'my presents'. I had to tell him that his birthday wasn't until Saturday (as if he understands that!) and he seemed ok with having to wait.

In the meantime, while I was out shopping, I left both boys home with Adam. Gerrit snuck out of the house and rode his bike without permission. Adam found him down the street on the sidewalk (the good thing is he knows his boundaries). Adam called him back and told him to ride his bike back into the garage, and go inside. When Gerrit got to the driveway, instead of going up the driveway, he pedaled even faster and continued down the side walk! At this point, Emmit is crying and Adam is running around the house to get the little speed demon! Adam had to carry him and Emmit into the house, both screaming as he went. Gerrit was put in a time out while Adam picked up some of the toys outside only to have Gerrit pee his pants!

Needless to say, there is no riding bike today....he did understand this when I asked him about it this morning too...we'll see if he remembers when it comes time to come home after daycare.

Finished?

The driveway and sidewalk are officially finished (Nick's part isn't done yet on his yard though).

We love that we no longer will be tracking major dirt into the house!

We didn't realize how much MORE work we would have once the driveway was finished.

We planned on the basketball hoop (which should be done in the next 2 weeks) but not having to raise up the area between our house and Nick's (a pretty good sized step was created by the cement), and having to rework the yard to match up with the side walk. Plus we have landscaping to do next to the house (Adam and Gerrit worked on removing the rock etc from this area in the pictures above).

Many neighbors have stopped by to admirer the driveway. A few comments that went with the admiration:

"if there is a shortage in cement, we'll know why" (Bryan)

"when does the dance begin" (Duane and Mary Anne)

"the garage looks like a dog house" (Adam - and now he wants a new garage but knows the kitchen comes first!)

The other night after it had rained, Gerrit wanted to go outside and play. In a matter of 2 min. he returned from the neighbors splattered in mud and his hands filthy! (bottom right photo) We decided that some people call it spring but we call it: the 'tub/shower every night' season.

Happy times around here. Gerrit loves the level sidewalk (as do the neighbor's grandkids) for riding his bike or trike.

And so our next who knows how many weekends will be filled with "finishing" the driveway.

Facelift

This was what our driveway looked like this morning:

This is what our drive way looked like this afternoon:

Gerrit asked Adam why he took that machine home. (Can you imagine Adam driving a bobcat on hwy 52?)

Spring is Here

Gerrit's new thing to do is to wear my cycling shoes while riding his bike. He usually gets sick of them and will leave them on the side walk and end up riding his bike with just his socks. In the 'basket' part of this trike is a bunch of golf balls. He will bring the trike on the grass and dump out all the golf balls. He will get Adam and I a club as well as one for himself and we are to play golf in the back yard. When he is done, he will put all the balls back in the trike and bring it in the garage. Clever....

Emmit's new thing is to hang out in the exersaucer. I'm thinking we need an indoor and an outdoor one this summer!

3 Years, 3 Months

Here are a few of the pictures that were taken this weekend. The rest are on Shutterfly now and can be ordered. (We own the rights to the pictures.) Gerrit was a real 'pill' and wasn't the most cooperative 3 yr old. We even tried the car (even though it didn't match his outfit). I havn't decided which pictures we are going to order but I love the fact that I can order and do what I want with the pictures!

Pictures

I uploaded the Easter pictures per request. You can get to them by going to the 'our pictures' icon on the right hand side of the site. We just had professional pictures taken this weekend of the boys and I will be able to upload them as soon as we get the CD, which should be Tuesday. We are excited to see how they turned out! So stay tuned and you can order them too. I'll let you know when they are posted on Shutterfly as well. Enjoy the nice weather!

Emmit

I took this picture tonight and it pretty much sums up his personality.

He's laid back and a happy kid (now that he has started to outgrow his reflux).

Emmit's sportin' his cousin's outfit that is 12 years old (so glad I like my sister in law's taste!).

Egg Hunt #2

Following church, we came home and noticed the Easter bunny had visited our house. Gerrit knew what to do this time and found a lot of eggs in the yard that led him to the front porch where he found his Easter basket as well as Emmit's. I love how Gerrit took Emmit's book and started to 'read' it to him! Gerrit enjoyed a new book, garden gloves (so he doesn't always wear Adam's), flash light, golf balls, cars, and of course some candy!

He's wearing a new pair of bike gloves he got for Easter from Luke and Paul. He rarely takes them off - even wears them to bed! At least Adam gets his gloves back!

Following the egg hunt festivities we headed over to friends for the 'orphan dinner' as she called it. 3 families joined together to celebrate as our immediate families were too far away to get together with and celebrate.

It was a beautiful day too and Gerrit enjoyed playing outside with the boys. We were able to take a nap only to head over to other friends' for a bike race viewing party. (This is where Gerrit thought he could stay outside and play Ghost in the Graveyard).

Having great friends sure makes it easier to be away from family!

Easter

One of my favorite parts of the Easter service is the beautiful garden that is up front (and the smell too). I remembered the camera so we could take a few pictures in front of it. Gerrit was not the happiest kid as he was tired - he wouldn't even wear his sweater or let me comb his

bed head! Emmit didn't mind the bunny hat I made for him and wore it proudly all day.

(Sometimes 3 month olds are easier than 3 yr olds!)

Go STATE

Saturday afternoon we headed to our friends in the cities for our annual Final 4 party. This year was extra special because MSU played. We had to sport the colors and rub it in to our friends that our wonderful Spartans were playing. Emmit has on his 12 month onesie and the hat I made him while Gerrit wore his Junior Spartan shirt. Of course Adam and I too had on our green and white.

Even though our Spartans lost, we are still proud they made it as far as they did.

Egg Hunt #1

Sat. morning we headed over to the Lutheran church nearby for their annual Easter egg hunt at the park. It is a little outreach service they do - they read the Easter story and then let the kids hunt for eggs. Very well done and organized. Gerrit was too overwhelmed by all the kids (over 120) that he froze when it came time to look for eggs. Good thing I was along to find them for him! He liked the ending when we opened the eggs to find candy, stickers, tattoos, and bracelets in them.

Maybe next year he'll be more assertive (guess he takes after his father and dislikes crowds).

Coloring Eggs

Friday night Luke came over to help us decorate eggs. As you can see by the top left and bottom right photos, Gerrit has a bit to learn about handling eggs! And he didn't think he needed the little dipping tool either (it took a good day to get all the dye off his hands). Gerrit enjoyed dipping the eggs and hanging out with Luke. Emmit liked hanging out with Anne and watching us as well. Most of the eggs have a nice blue/green hue to them as those where the 2 colors that were closest to Gerrit too. [I was pretty proud of myself as I blew (and Cara helped too) quite a few eggs ahead of time (during my baking sessions) so we didn't have a ton of hard boiled ones to eat.]

Oxbow Zoo

Monday after baptism was a beautiful day - too nice to stay inside. After a slow start to our morning, we decided to head towards Rochester to a little zoo that is free. It houses animals that are found in MN so no giraffes or elephants. I have a feeling we will be visiting this zoo a bit more this summer.

You're ONLY 3!

Tonight we were at Dahlen's watching a bike race (surprised?) and Gerrit was outside playing with the kids (3rd grader, 4th graders and 6th grader). It was a beautiful night and they played football and who knows what else. It was dark and we were getting ready to go when Maddy (4th grader) asked me to get Gerrit and bring him in because they were going to play "ghost in the graveyard". I had to laugh because Gerrit did not want to come in - the little 3 year old wanted to stay outside in the dark with the big kids!

I will post Easter pics hopefully tomorrow night or at least some time this week. I head back to work tomorrow. Should be an interesting morning for all - especially Gerrit and myself as we have casually gotten up these last few weeks. Emmit - he goes with the flow!