Party #1

Sunday was a fun-filled day for Gerrit. Following church activities, he went golfing with dad and Opa. Max had given him his old set of clubs and he was excited to use them. From what I've been told, he does pretty well with them and they are the perfect size!

Uncle Travis and his friend Millie came over in the afternoon to celebrate Gerrit's birthday. Millie did a great job knowing what to get Gerrit - Legos!

 Unfortunately that was soon put to the side because Gerrit opened his gift from Uncle Travis (the helmet) and his gift from Grandpa Bob (the jersey).

Emmit wanted in on the action too:

Next came Grandma Marcy and GG's gift - pads and a number plate. This all was to go with his gift from us - a new BMX bike:

Emmit wanted to show off his cycling skills too:

 The boys paused long enough to get a group photo:

And of course, Emmit wanted to try out the new bike as well:

After we were too cold to be outside any longer, we came in for cake. Gerrit picked out the skateboard cake himself:

It was a little hard blowing out candles with a helmet on (and he wondered why his neck hurt at the end of the night!)

This is better!

Emmit loved the day too - especially the frosting!

This is one happy kid who is very comfortable on his new bike! He can't wait for the races to start this summer!

Learning Lessons

Adam and I learned a lesson:



don't let the boys be outside alone for very long!

Poor Emmit took some dirt to the face!

Easter 2012

**I have no idea why the pictures are all over the place***

 Adam and I were home from our trip in time to celebrate Easter. Saturday was the annual egg hunt at Gerrit's preschool church. It was a pretty cool day and Gerrit was the only one in shorts (a battle we didn't feel like fighting at the time). They are sportin' their sweatshirts they got from their cousins in honor of Uncle Jeff - a beetle car lover.

Gerrit enjoyed decorating eggs. It was just the 2 of us this time as Emmit was busy playing and Luke was not home. Gerrit loved dunking the eggs and using his hand more than the spoon. Needless to say, his hand looked liked a dyed egg on Easter morning! 

Following the Easter breakfast and service, the boys had a little egg hunt at home. Emmit has figured out what to do and Gerrit races to fill his bucket before his brother! Emmit found an egg in the tree - yes, it still has the Christmas lights on it yet (I can't find the holder for the lights so I haven't taken them down yet). I think I might just leave them and be ahead of the game for next Christmas!

  

 The boys enjoyed their Easter basket gifts as well as each other's gifts!

The boys after the Easter service, in front of the 'garden'.

This picture was taken for Grandma and GG - Emmit is really into playing with his 'computer'. He was clapping to the music in this one! 

Spring Break 2012

Adam and I had a wonderful time in Myrtle Beach! It was a much needed time to relax and spend some time together w/o the boys.

 

I spend a lot of time on my lawn chair by the pool. I did get a few runs in on the beach while Adam went for a bike ride. We enjoyed margaritas poolside as well as walks on the beach. Dinner and shopping at night as well as a game of mini golf concluded our few days away. The boys stayed with Dahlen's and didn't seem to miss us one bit! We missed them and felt guilty for a few minutes that they were not with us, but we both got over it fast!  With ZM not really having spring break, I could get used to a kidless spring break trip!

A Few New Things

I finished a new pair of pants for Emmit. Its the same pattern as his bike pants, just the next size up. I found a cute tractor print to use as the main fabric and then went from there. I have fabric to make another pair for him too for this spring. Even though I used too much elastic and they barily stay up, I'm pretty pleased with myself.



Last night, Gerrit and Adam went to the bike shop to build this new beauty:

Yep, I got new wheels! I sold my Hawaiian Towney to my friend Sue because she wanted one (but didn't want to pay retail price) and I wanted a 7 speed instead of a 3 speed so I could pull the burley easier as well as keep up with Gerrit. Lucky for me, I have a brother in law who can get us bikes at cost so it didn't cost much more to upgrade after my sell to Sue. What cost us was my accessories! I chose the color of the bike based on the accessories. Anne helped me pick out the black/white accent color and I'm pretty pleased with how she looks. I  love the back baskets and the front basket has a little cell phone pocket in the liner! The bell is black and white too and sounds like a door bell. We went for a cruise around town today and it was soo much easier! I'm very excited about the bike and think we will get a lot of miles out of it. 

Donkey Basketball

Friday night, Gerrit and I went with Anne and Luke to the FFA fundraiser: donkey basketball. I didn't tell Gerrit we were going until dinner that night in case it didn't work out. When he realized it wasn't a normal basektball game and involved animals he asked: real or costume? When I told him 'real', his eyes got real big.



I had never been to donkey basketball - us city folk don't have FFA organizations and I can't see donkeys being allowed on the gym floor either! We all had a good laugh watching the donkeys buck them off and be stubborn. Gerrit is ready to go next year!

Mr. Responsible

Due to a little miscommunication, Gerrit was at the house by himself this afternoon. I'm not sure for how long, but long enough. My first thought was that he wouldn't be upset or scared and then I remembered he's only 4 (almost 5). My next thought was that he was crying and freaking out that he was by himself! 

When I got home, he was in the basement watching a kid show. He turned the TV on by himself and was happy as a lark. It might have been because there was no one to bother him while he watched TV or it could have been because of the bag of Oreo's he was eating....He climbed on the counter and reached on top of the refrigerator to get the bag. When I asked him how many he had eaten, he started with one and the guilt must have gotten to him because he confessed to 3. I didn't dwell on the Oreos and tried to compliment him for turning on the TV and waiting for us to come home.