day 18 - calendar meeting

even with all the technology and syncing available using google calendars and my iphone i still love writing everything down on a calendar.  there is something about seeing it and writing it down that works for me.  i also LOVE how the kids can see it and know at a glance what is going on.  dave and i meet at least once a month to have a "calendar meeting" to go over our schedules, coordinate and pray about the upcoming days.  tonight is our calendar meeting - not very romantic but VERY necessary!!

day 17 - what do you see...

lilly jane sees things.  when she looks at a picture of a flower she doesn't just see a flower but all the colors that came together to make the flower.  when she sees the letter "B" she sees a butterfly.  when she sees a baby she sees a little being who she wants to play with.  when she sees me cooking/baking she asks how she can help.  when she sees me cleaning she will grab the duster and get to work.  when she hears music she sees an opportunity to dance.  when she sees glitter and fabric she sees a craft.  when she sees paper and pencil she sees an art project waiting to emerge.  when she sees another child she wants to play.  when she sees a ball/swing/friend/board she ALWAYS chooses to play. when she senses pain she looks to console.  the amazing thing about lilly is that when she "sees" she moves, she does something, she communicates, reacts.  she amazes me - she teaches me. 

today she went outside after school with the intention of playing.  after a while i looked out the window and realized lilly had shoveled the driveway.  not because i asked her to, but because she could see that it needed to be done.  i can't wait to see what God has in store for this sweet girl!

day 16 - family fun

Fun day skiing at crystal mountain. Who doesn't love a day off of school!!!

day 15 - snow forts!

luke could play and play and play in the snow. today, he finally had the opportunity!! the snow plow left a HUGE pile in our front yard which lent itself perfectly for an awesome snow fort with tunnel, slide, steps and hole. he was outside for hours and can't wait to go back out and work some more on his creation.

day 14 - Mary macs tea room

Delish!!!

day 13 - pitty pats

Long exhausting day ended great with drinks dinner and peach cobbler at pitty pats. Love working with such a great gal who I can laugh just as hard as I work with.

day 12 - flying

I realized this morning that one of the great things about flying is that you can fly above the clouds and see the sun. Even when it's raining and gloomy below.

day 11 - packing

i totally stink at packing. i'm leaving for three days and i have enough clothes for over a week. what is my problem?

day 10 - new day|new project

i knew lilly had a friend coming over today and as usual i knew she would want to do some sort of craft.  thanks to pinterest i found the following craft at the blog, a bit of sunshine.  it was soooo easy and the girls and i had a blast making the t-shirt scarves and flowers.

 one of the steps requires that you stretch the t-shirt.  the girls had fun dancing around the craft room stretching out the t-shirts.

 here is a close-up view of the girls masterpieces.  they can't wait to wear them to school tomorrow.

in other news. caleb and his friend finished off their science project today.  here is the video of their rube goldberg project!

day 9 - if you give a kid a pillow....?

they will make a decorative photo frame/pillow with extra fabric, buttons and ribbon....

 lilly came to me this evening and asked, "mom, do you have a pillow you don't need?  i want to make a craft out of it?"  caleb immediately jumped in and got an old pillow he had (as, at the moment she asked i was in the middle of making dinner and was too busy to accommodate her seemingly silly need).  a little less than a hour later lilly emerged from the craft room with this fabulous piece.   i was shocked!  she did the entire project by herself using scraps of fabric, ribbon, buttons and the all important hot glue gun.  i love this girls brain and her ability to create.  i love my caleb's willingness to jump in and assist and love on his sister.  how did i get so lucky?

day 8 - heart shaped

today while baking I looked down into the bowl I was preparing to let my dough rise in and this is what I saw. Heart shaped olive oil. I'm pretty sure the olive oil was trying to tell me that it loved me as much as I love it :)

day 7 - ski day

for christmas this year santa outfitted the family with new skis/snowboards.  today was our first opportunity to try it all out.  although we "lived" mostly on the bunny hill all day - we had a blast!!!!

 old dog/new tricks. dave tried out snowboarding today for the first time.  he and lilly took lessons and both were doing great by the end of the day - way to go!!!

 when i was about 5 years old my uncle bruce brought me to this exact same hill to teach me to ski.  today he taught my boys.  it was so much fun and my cheeks now hurt from all the smiling i did all day watching, remembering, laughing, and making new memories.

 although luke brought home a pretty decent goose egg on his forehead from a big fall - it didn't stop him. 

lilly got a snowboard and after her lesson with daddy she was up and down - up and down all day.  she did get a little discouraged but in the end she didn't let that slow her down but for only a minute.  i am so proud of her - i'm not sure i could have done even a tenth of what she did today.  and more importantly she said she couldn't wait to go out again!!! 

day 6 - multiplication

 

we are currently working on A LOT of multiplication with lilly.  we have had great success using math magician to help her learn and practice her math facts.  there is nothing better than the size of her smile when she runs to share her 100%.  way to go lilly jane - keep up the good work!

day 5 - pay it forward

 

i don't normally choose to re-post or play along with facebook games but when a friend posted about "pay it forward in 2012" it seemed a confirmation to a thought i had earlier in the day...

so, i make bread.  almost exactly a year ago i began making our own sandwich bread, rolls, hamburger/hot dog buns, etc and have LOVED it!!  i have found baking to be its own form of creative outlet and have loved trying new recipes and making up several of my own.  being out of commission the last several days i had fallen a bit out of my normal baking routine and realized this morning it was time to get baking! as i was forming the loaves i began to think about the Lords prayer; "give us today our daily bread..." and was thinking about how i could be used quite literally to be Gods hands in bringing forth His truth by giving away bread - blah, blah, blah - and then i thought about how hokey that sounded.  THEN.... came "pay it forward" on facebook which is all about giving away something homemade.  i LOVED the idea and couldn't think about a better thing to give away then, bread.  why do i doubt the spirits leadings?  with a humble heart i would like to make you bread - all you have to do is let me know :)

day 4 - Little Gifts

thanks to a sweet friend dropping off soup i had some delicious "first food" to put into my depleted belly after a daunting 24 hours of the flu.  although i'm not totally out of the woods i have seen the light at the end of the tunnel.  my prayer now is that no one else in the family gets it.

 the other "gift" came in the way of a superb marketing piece from a darling restaurant we visited a couple months ago in chicago called Sapori Trattoria.  i was so surprised by the gesture i thought it was worth the shout out.  oh and the food was great and the service was awesome - the maitre d' even called me to let us know that our table was ready early at our request.  check them out if you're looking for some great italian food and are in the chicagoland area!

day 3 - flu

 

bring on the fluids to my very dehydrated body. 

day 2 - saying goodbye

today we said good-bye to my mom as she set out on the next journey of her life.  over the last couple of months we have had the joy of her living with us during this transitional stage.  it was hard not to cry and caleb needed a bit of time to just let it all out.  the kids ran with mom's van as it traveled down our street - it was pretty precious.  we love you mom and pray for safe travels!

day 1

it was a beautiful thing to participate in communion this morning with my church family as one of the first acts of the new year. i am thankful for this sacrament and am privileged to share in it.

as we begin a new year i have decided to do my best to document my families moments through pictures. my goal is to post one a day. enjoy!

first day of school!

its pretty hard to believe another school year has already started. it's even harder for me to believe one of my kids is in middle school! that's right, caleb started the 6th grade this year and couldn't be any more excited about it. he has a great group of teachers and friends and is loving riding the bus to school every morning. luke is in the 4th grade and has lilly's old teacher from last year - he has told us time and time again that he, "really likes his class". lilly is our big 3rd grader and can't wait for school to start each day. she loves her friends and could talk our ear off about her day - i love it!!!

gr photo | art prize | family fun

yesterday we drove into downtown grand rapids to participate in the gr photo project that is currently taking place. the goal for the artists, rita & dionel, is to have as many people go out and snap & submit pictures of six pre-determined locations within the downtown area for a collaborative art project for art prize. the finished piece will go on display sept.22 with-in the windows of the van andel arena!!!

what made this soooooo much fun for us and the kids was the "hunt" for the foot prints. in order to get the right shot the girls have stenciled large bright orange foot prints on the ground. the kids had a blast searching for the prints and would start yelling in excitement when they found them. from there the kids would pose in front of the location and i would stand on the footprints and shoot. super simple and way fun!

here are the kids out hunting for the footprints on the blue bridge!!

here are the six photos at each of the spots we took... 1) blue railroad bridge 2) calder plaza 3) van andel arena 4) gr art museum 5) gr public library 6) pantlind (amway grand plaza). if you want further information make sure to go to their website, which is also conveniently mobile ready (which, if you are on location is quick and convenient!) at www.grphotoproject.com. you can also watch a great segment of the artists which played last night on Fox News.

so grab your camera, friends, family, neighbors, a stranger standing close by and go have a fun outing supporting the arts!!

daily commute

four days a week i wake before the sun rises and head out to work. my commute in the morning takes me about 40-45 mins and it amazes me every day how the scenery changes. more times than not i think about how i wish i had my camera to stop and snap a few pictures. yesterday, i remembered!


i stopped at lake harbor park and stepped out on the channel to snap these! the sun was just rising over mona lake and it was AMAZING!!


the fog that settled over the lake and above the ground created such a mystical view. i took a minute and watched a grandpa with his grandson get their fishing gear and boat ready and couldn't help but think of what a magical time it was.


moving from water to farmland - again the scenery changes! the corn is soooo tall and creates such a beautiful contrast against the blue sky. the wild flowers are everywhere and make my heart melt.


hope you are able to enjoy your day to the fullest!!

birthday girl

who wouldn't like to celebrate their birthday in the big apple!! well, that is exactly what our lilly jane was able to do this year. she turned 8 years old on july 31st and we celebrated in style. we started out the day taking a quick taxi ride to the empire state building then had a fancy breakfast at brooklyns finer diner in times square and then finished off the morning at the ginormous toys 'r us in times square before we gathered back up at the hotel to fly home. luke couldn't help but ask if he could celebrate his next birthday in the "big city".

lilly is full of life, energy and enthusiasm. her smile is HUGE and her laugh contagious. she loves to spin (especially when she is wearing a skirt) and she is always up for anything!

lilly and her cousin sylvie (pictured above) are only two weeks apart in age. the girls are two peas in a pod and i can't get enough of watching them skip, dance, talk, sing, giggle together. i can only imagine the trouble they would get into if they lived closer than 2000 miles from each other :)

daily word

“It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us in sending his Son to be the way to take away our sins.” I John 4:10

Salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, and God-originated. The gift is not from man to God. It is from God to man . . . Grace is created by God and given to man.

giving up on fb

yesterday i deactivated my fb account. this was not a decision i thought or contemplated over for hours/days/months. it was one that happened almost rashly :) although i have appreciated the connection fb has allowed me to have with friends and family around the country. the reality is, i found myself depending on those pseudo connections, updates, pictures, etc. to fulfill my need for connection. when the truth is, i wasn't really connecting with anyone beyond a very surface level. i don't want surface level relationships and i have no desire to pursue an illusion of friendship/connection with people. my hearts desire is to build authentic relationships with people who desire to live life with me; the good, bad, and even ugly.

i may choose to reactivate my account at some point. but, for now, i think the better option is to pick up the phone, send an email, play with my kids, or even set up a date to go out for coffee.

market/soccer saturday

ahhhhhh.....the opening of the muskegon farmers market warmed my heart today. even though i knew most of the produce wasn't local i was able to purchase spring lettuce (clipped yesterday) and carrots and potatoes that had been stored through the winter by a local farmer. i also found my way back to the market to buy some brats from creswick farms for dinner tonight. i've already got the buns rising and can't wait to eat them up!




it was all i could do not to buy a bunch of flowers. however, i did hold back since i haven't quite figured out our budget for flowers and what i would like to do yet - but, they were soooo wonderful to see.


one of the tough things about having all three kids playing soccer is that they all play at different times, fields, and even cities depending on the week. i'm not sure i'm going to be able to make it to a single one of lilly's games this year. fortunately dave is her coach and so he is at all her games!


the boys playing out on their fields. caleb's team lost 3-2, luke's team won 4-2 and lilly's team also won 6-2 this week. way to go!!!

the long wait is over!

it has been a long - hard - snowy - wet - cold - winter! and although we have had some nice days over the last several weeks and the grass is turning greener and buds are popping up all over the place and the daffodils, tulips and (my favorite) lilly of the valley are beginning to bloom. the most significant sign to the end of winter is the opening of the farmers market. YEAH!!! tomorrow is the opening day for the muskegon farmers market!! i can't wait to walk the aisles and smell the fresh cut flowers and see all the produce (although it may be few). i can't wait for the week to come that i won't have to grace the doors of a meijers - I AM SOOOO EXCITED!

on a similar note, i am planning on putting in my garden next week. i am already planning on doubling the amount of space i did last year and having one plot specifically for herbs and the rest mostly for tomatoes and then cucumbers, zucchini, squash. my goal is to can as many tomatoes as i possibly can by the end of summer to hopefully get our family through another LONG winter.

so, if you live in the muskegon area go out and support the local farmers market tomorrow!

milk run musings

i was making my weekly "milk run" this past week and realized something, that i thought, was pretty funny. **side note: for those of you who don't know, we joined a cow/herd sharing program at the beginning of the year. what this means; we are part owners of a cow/herd on a dairy farm which allows us to obtain raw milk (as a by-product of the cows) directly from the farm. **

on to the funny observation...
the farm we go to is Green Pastures Farm and Grassfields (where we buy all our eggs & meat) in coopersville. now, this is a very convenient stop for me since i work in allendale three days a week and drive straight through coopersville. if you've ever driven down 68th street (coopersville exit) you are immediately aware of a couple of things, first, the smell - mostly due to the trash dump and second, the farmland. now, i drive this drive ALL the time and it wasn't until yesterday on my milk run that i observed something else upon passing another dairy farm (i don't even remember the name) in which i could see all the cows under a large pavilion one right next to the other eating out of troughs. no idea how many of them were crowded in the space - but it struck me. i didn't get more than a mile further down the road when i came upon another farm (not sure of the name or what they do with their cows) but they too were eating out of troughs, however had more room to move and a hay pile in the center of their "pen" to choose to eat from as well as a pavilion to walk under and lay down. hmmm, i thought as i made the turn to our farm and then i literally laughed out loud as i looked and saw "our" cows grazing in the pastures eating grass, walking around, laying around. i'm pretty sure they were enjoying the day :) in that split second i realized, again, that we are making the right choice for our family and how grateful i am to have this as an option.

so, not sure if you think we are crazy or not but if anyone is looking for more info i'd be happy to answer any questions or at the very least tell you more about our experience.

new eyes...

we found out a couple of weeks ago that luke needed glasses. he is the exact same age both caleb and dave were when they first found out that glasses/contacts would be a part of their life. we ordered the frames online (great pricing!) and had the script filled today. i'm so happy he is excited about them and isn't at all apprehensive about his new accessory.

blowing it

i blew it today. no, i didn't stink out my house. i blew it with my husband. the person whom i want everyday to know that i love deeper today than yesterday. the person i share children with. the person i treasure above all others on earth. and still i blow it.... BIG....at times. what is it in us that makes us more aware of ourselves, our needs, insecurities, wants, desires, etc. that allows us to "fail" so miserably with the ones we love the most. the worst part about today is that i somehow feel justified in my actions and emotions. i find myself thinking things like, "didn't he hear me when i said..." or "he did this more for him than for me". marriage is hard, and i am reminded of that today. i am reminded of the fact that i will probably cry as much as i laugh. that i will feel anger for as much as i feel joy. that my kids will hate and love me all at the same time now and as they grow older. that dave will fail me as many times as i fail him. that life is hard.

hmmmm....i'm obviously having quite a day. anyone else out there ever feel like this?

creative jar

it seems the most common phrase i hear lately is, "mom, what can i do?" or "i'm bored!". although the easiest solution at times is to let them play on the computer, watch tv or play video games, dave and i have felt compelled not to let them fill their free time with too much of any of that and help them pursue other creative ideas. in theory, this sounds like a great idea, right? however, the execution is much more difficult when the question, "can i watch tv?" comes when i'm in the middle of making dinner and i can't come up with a creative idea to save my life.

my solution has come in a creative jar. dave and i spent an evening this past week coming up with 20 or so different creative ideas and put them on little slips of paper and then inside a glass jar, which now sits on our kitchen counter. the only rule to the creative jar is that if you pull it you have to do it. we promised the kids there are only fun/creative tasks nothing like cleaning the toilet.

the kids are so excited about our new game and couldn't wait to dig-in to the jar and pull their first slip. here is a snapshot of what each of them created. caleb had to create a recipe he would like to make and write/draw it out. you may not be able to see it clearly in the photo, but he made up "caleb's kung pow serano dish". lilly's slip required she make a picture only using hole punches. because she became really overwhelmed by the idea of gluing down a million tiny circles i decided to let her use any of the larger punches i had. she made a house. luke's creative pull was to make a time capsule and map. i forgot to take a picture of his actual time capsule before he buried it in the backyard. but, i did get a shot of his map, which says, "open on march 6th, 2016".

i know we are going to go through this jar rather quickly - and it took us a long time to come up with ideas we did. i would love any suggestions you might have!