Proof we really went on vacation

As most of you are aware, we took our first "Spring Break" with kids this year. I know many of you have been patiently waiting for this evidence (thanks for your continued patience as i weed through the pix). It's quite a daunting task to weed through all the snapshots that were taken over 10 days. I guess that's what I get for liking to take pictures :) We had an EXCELLENT time, however (as previously mentioned), forgot the SPF rule of REAPPLICATION. I had peeling legs on a 10 month old (not something to brag about!). We had WONDERFUL, SUNNY, HOT weather to enjoy. We had to find some "out of the sun" activities to do by our third day down there due to the sunburn. We looked through the lists of reciprocal botanical gardens/museums (through our Frederik Meijer Gardens membership) and found a fun children's museum to occupy our time. We also visited a great outdoor (mostly shaded, thank goodness!) botanical garden (that was also free b/c of our membership in Grand Rapids - what great perks to have!) in which the boys enjoyed chasing chameleons all over the ground, plants, trees, etc. We made the trip to Sea World (thanks to my aunt that sent us free tickets!). We definitely got our exercise in that day (along with a HUGE test of patience as we waited early to get seats to the Shamu show). Lucas rode on his first roller coaster ride with me. The rest of the week we spent either lounging by our courtyard pool (only a matter of steps out our condo) or at the beach (across the street). We also visited Siesta Key (one hour south) for an afternoon. It was definitely worth the drive and wait for a parking spot (to me at least :) Tim just asked why we needed to drive an hour to the beach when we had one across the street (remember the beautiful turquoise waters and powdery sand, Tim?). I took the little ones for a walk along the shore in the double umbrella stroller - PULLING the stroller works WAY better than pushing the stroller through sand/water (remember that next time!). It put the little boys to sleep (on Siesta Key, go figure :) We topped off the vacation with an outdoor meal a few miles south of our condo while enjoying a beautiful sunset. It was good to get back and into the swing of things, but SERIOUSLY, when is the warm weather coming back??? And I sure am glad gas was NOT $3.76 while we were filling up every 300+ miles. Stay tuned, I might add more PIX to this posting (if i get a chance)......................

Sweet Baby Brooke

These are a few shots from a couple weeks ago I took of my newest niece, Brooke Lyn Kraker. There's just something about a newborn sleeping that just melts my heart!

Intimidated?

So I'm often intimidated to blog just text as I read other blogs (especially of those who seem to write so eloquently). So.......instead of updating this post with a few paragraphs I will be taking a different approach - one big list! Why not? I live my life in lists (grocery lists, to do lists, etc.) so why not blog in a list?! So here goes!
1. I realized tonight my oldest was singing a Hannah Montana song while picking up his toys (and Reece was singing along)
2. You get to guess which parent actually sings along to one of her tunes :)
3. Proof my kids live in the 21st century: Lucas asked me to "just email" his teacher because he forgot to thank her in person for a gift.
4. I would be rich if I could invent a computer that is voice activated (if that's already invented - please inform me!). Imagine how much MORE i could get done around the house if i could iron while blogging!!!
5. If you're wondering why I haven't posted pix of my kids lately, I'm waiting for my new photo software to arrive (and I've been buried in like 10 loads of laundry - SERIOUSLY!!!) :)
6. I'm having buyers remorse as i recently discovered this fantastic FREE software for editing photos at www.picnik.com
7. Tim and I failed SPF 101 this spring break as all 3 of our kids burned and PEELED!
8. I'm getting old - Lucas just said to me (as i was stumbling for words to say) "You'll get it out mom!"
9. Goodwill ROCKS!!!
10.I recently rediscovered the Lakeland Library Cooperative - what's better than being able to "order" books, dvd's, cd's, etc to be picked up at your local library (well, being able to do it while ironing would be WAY better!) - and they are all FREE!
11.I love posting this way as i can interject my most random/add thoughts at whim!

Stay tuned......

We are back from our trip to Florida (we got home Sunday am and have been catching up on sleep and laundry since). The kids survived the 50+ hours in the car (most of them consecutive 20+). We even made it back sans tickets/car problems (probably shouldn't have mentioned that last one, now we're due for some van trouble, right?!). I will post some pix once i get them off the cards and onto our computer and sorted/edited.......no guarantees on a timeliness manner though :) Sorry in the lack of posting lately - we actually went 10 days without the internet!!!

Think outside the BELLY

This photo was taken this morning at my house. My sister-in-law (Vicki) has been meaning to have me do a maternity shoot with her and we've been putting it off (illness, conflicting schedules, etc.). I told her she could call me any time of the day if she thought the baby was on his/her way soon - well she did! She called me around 8am saying her contractions were 15 minutes apart! I told her to come on over and we'd get a few before the baby was out. Approximately 12 hours later Brian and Vicki welcomed a baby GIRL into this world (name to be decided) - CONGRATULATIONS!!! We are glad mom and baby girl are doing well :) We look forward to hearing the name soon!

Cingular commercial anyone?

This was the scene on our counter top tonight. Can you guess the illness? Let's start with bottle #1 - cough medicine for Tim (happy birthday honey!!!). He also was treated with an antibiotic (that wasn't as aesthetically pleasing to the photo) for bronchitis and flu last weekend. Bottle #2 is for Jackson. He has an ear infection...............AGAIN!!!! Fortunately (???) he is NOT a good candidate for tubes at this point. Bottle #3 is an antihistamine for Lucas - he has the flu (aches all over his body and fever - did i mention ALL FOUR boys have had fevers the past few days?!!!). Bottle #4 is ibuprofen for Lucas and Reece to treat the aches and fevers. Bottle #5 is also ibuprofen in infant concentration for Jackson's ear. Praise the LORD I am STILL healthy (am I begging for this illness by composing this blog post at 1:24 in the morning?). Tim is finally back to work after 2 days off last week and I'm tackling germs like it's a full-time job around here!



This was a recent picture I took of Lucas one Sunday afternoon.



Notice the GREEN milk mustache - Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!!!

A note on "pillow crumbs"

So over the course of like the past 2 months my boys (Lucas and Reece) have coined the term "pillow crumbs." They say it so randomly that I never really thought anything of it. Well, I finally posed the question a few days ago to Lucas. The conversation went a little like this:
Me: "Lucas what are you saying?"
Lucas: "Pillow crumbs!"
Me: "PILLOW crumbs?!!"
Lucas: "Yes!"
Me: "Well, what are 'pillow crumbs'?"
Lucas: "You know mom, INDIANS and PILLOW crumbs."
Me: Running as fast as I could to record this coined term on paper so I wouldn't forget it (and of course laughing all the way :)

This makes me wonder even more what these children are interpreting from the things they hear...............

A few noteworthy happenings since my last post (sorry all you in blogland who have been patiently waiting......)
1. $3.45 - the price of gas in Allendale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Jackson is now pulling himself up onto whatever he can get his chubby hands onto
3. Jackson is disproportionate according to his 9 mth checkup (95% head, 50% height, and 25% weight)
4. I'm officially a 30-something
5. Reece (strong-willingly) skipped 3 meals in a row yesterday - now that's determination!
6. We made our inaugural visit to the FM Gardens to check out the butterflies (it was very warm with 85% humidity inside!)

I will try to post more regularly again :)