Resourceful

This is what I found Saturday:

I was working in the yard and knew Emmit had gone inside but didn't think too much about it because I knew Gerrit and Luke were inside too. I guess Emmit was hungry and couldn't wait any longer for lunch! That is a donut box (empty) on his left and a bag of crackers on his right! 

Gerrit's Big Debute

Tonight Gerrit had his spring program at school. We took our own video of his part for your enjoyment.

Gerrit's 'girlfriend' is in the pink next to him. The lighting in the church is not the greatest, hence the yellow cast....

The first song was School is Cool and they spelled out cool (O in the top right photo). The 2nd song was the Funky Chicken which are the middle 2 pictures, and the last song was Jesus Loves Me - Go Fish style.

The teachers do such a good job with the kids we will be sad to leave them but it won't be for long - Emmit will start 3 yr old preschool in January. He's well on his way to starting school too - he is sort of potty training himself! He's asked to go 2 times and both times he actually went (usually he just sits there). I was hoping to train him when I was done with school, but we might not make till then! I won't complain! :)

Party 2 and 3

Tuesday we had a little party seeing it was the 'official' day. Dave and Pam stopped by for cake and visited with Oma and Opa. Dahlen's stopped by too to say good bye to Oma/Opa and enjoyed some leftover cup cakes as well. Gerrit received a few gifts from everyone including an MSU basketball jersey (which Emmit is trying to put on in the bottom right photo). Emmit too received a gift and is trying out his crayons. 

Seeing Oma and Opa were still here, Gerrit went to preschool to celebrate with his friends and then spent the afternoon with Oma/Opa. He beat Oma at numerous games of Uno. I took a picture of them playing after dinner while we waited for dad and Langley's to come and open presents. 

I think he had a fun filled day yet was anxiously awaiting his 'friend party'.

Saturday afternoon was filled with 4-5 yr olds and LEGOS! I had a lot of fun planning the details (even if the kids didn't notice). The games went way too fast but thankfully the kids just wanted to play so we filled the time we had left with nerf guns and playmobil!

Olivia (in the pink) is Gerrit's 'girlfriend' and based on how she conducted herself - she's a keeper! I can only hope he sticks to girls as sweet as Olivia is towards him! She enjoyed putting together one of Gerrit's gifts (from her). Pin the Lego head was a hit for a few minutes, decorating their own Lego head dudes (aka baby food jars) went over well (except when Adam spayed clear coat it messed them up so they didn't take them home). Gerrit helped me make Lego dude candies as well as Lego dude crayons which were in their goodie bags. I made a litle Lego necklace for Olivia as Gerrit requested. The hide the Lego dude was the most exciting seeing everyone had a chance to hide the 5 Lego dudes while the rest waited in the kitchen. Spending 1.5 hours with these kids just reinforced why I don't teach elementary and I could never do pre-school! I'll stick to secondary!!

Gerrit had a blast and is already talking about his next birthday party theme! Guess I'll start surfing the web now!

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!