sharing a bit from my past...

we had a family packed day of fun today beginning and ending with great food! dave and lilly opened up the "diller diner" for breakfast this morning and made blueberry waffles - yum! we then proceeded to head to grand rapids to watch avatar in 3D at the imax. we thought that an hour early would get us there in plenty of time to get tickets - but the show was already sold out. so, we ended up just seeing it in 3D. we all really enjoyed it - caleb and luke "loved it". afterwards we headed to east town for chili dogs and one of my old stompping grounds; yesterdog! it was awesome!! it brought back so many memories walking into the joint and realizing nothing has changed - i swear the same kid behind the counter is the same one that served me back in highschool. caleb L-O-V-E-D his cheddardog, luke was not as impressed, which began an evening debate about who made a better chili dog, portillos or yesterdog. don't get me wrong i love portillos - but when it comes to chili dogs yesterdog has my vote!

exact quote from luke as i was taking his picture, "i get they are going for an old look, but i don't like the 'dirty' look". he cracks me up!

yum, yum, yum!!!

lilly jane

sweet lilly jane is 6 years old and in the first grade. as of this past week she has lost another front tooth and loves to flash her toothless smile to just about any one. speaking of her smile - she has one of the best smiles i have ever seen. there are times when i think her smile might swallow her face because it is SO big! hmmm, lilly jane.... she is bursting with innovation, creativity and athleticism. she struggles academically - however she knows/understands colors and style unlike any other child i have ever met. she radiates confidence and isn't afraid to walk up to a complete stranger to compliment their shoes, hand bag or even nails if she is so inclined. she still sucks her two fingers and uses one of my shirts to snuggle with. she is very sensory oriented and needs to touch EVERYTHING. one of her favorite colors to use while coloring is brown - she told me once she loves to use the color brown because it seems to "go with everything". what little girl, or kids for that matter, loves to color with brown? lilly will find out this weekend that she will be repeating first grade. i'm a bit nervous at how she will take it - since she is very social and has a lot of friends however we know that it will be the best thing for her and her academic future. lilly LOVES her babies and shows off her lovey dovey side when she is playing with her baby dolls. for christmas we bought her a guinea pig and she treats it like her very own baby, wrapping it in a baby blanket and pushing it around in her stroller throughout the house. i love watching her play "mommy". lilly is a natural leader. my daily prayer for lilly is that she won't be discouraged when she academically struggels and that we will find ways to help her work to her strengths (which are many!). I pray that she will continue to be surrounded by people who will encourage her creativity and not squelch it. i love my sweet lilly jane and can't imagine my life without her energy and enthusiasm.

luke duke

where to begin with this one! out of all the kids i feel like he is our most complex...or maybe he is the one i have the hardest time figuring out. luke is funny - really funny and yet very unsure of himself. although he can cry easily - he fights hard. he loves to play and will invite anyone to join in on the fun. if he believes he is surrounded by something unfair he will do everything in his power to make it right. he struggles with anxiety yet can come off as though he is the most confident kid in the room. he is very competitive yet struggles with competition. he asks very difficult questions and seems to be ok when we are unable to give him a definitive answer. he embodies justice and can become physically ill when he is made aware of a cruelty or injustice whether it be in our house, community or world-wide. he oozes love and compassion. he is a math wiz and loves to figure out stategies. my daily prayer for lukie is that he will find peace throughout his day and not fall victim to his anxiety/worry and that God will continue to build on his innate character to love justice and mercy. he is amazing!

caleb david ...

since i posted newborn pics of the kids yesterday i thought it would be fun over the next few days to post their most recent pics and share a bit about each one....caleb is 9.5 years old and in the fourth grade. caleb is very smart and has an amazing ability to communicate his thoughts, feelings and emotions both verbally and written. he works really hard to be funny (which he is about 60% of the time) and isn't easily intimidated. he is strong, not strong willed, but strong in spirit. he is quick to be compassionate no matter the cost to his reputation and regards friendships as precious. he loves to read, draw and write comics. he is both clever and creative. my daily prayer for him is that God will protect his innocence and further grow his compassion for people. i adore him!

when they were babies....

this past weekend we re-did lilly's bedroom and in the mix of it all i found her newborn hospital picture. as i stared at that little wrinkly baby in the photo i started to cry. now don't get me wrong i can cry along with the best of them, but this cry was different. it quite literally came out of nowhere. in that moment i realized that i didn't remember her or the boys as babies. sure, i remember the crying, the not sleeping, the spitting up, the not sleeping, the soar nipples, the not sleeping, but i couldn't remember what they looked like. over the last couple of days it has driven me crazy trying to remember, so i finally went in search of newborn pictures of each of them and thought i would share them (they are all 2weeks old in these photos). it's hard to imagine how fast time goes by when you are in the throws of it all.

allowances

in case you haven't noticed, i haven't blogged in a while :) so, i thought i would start off the month of february with a BANG and try to post every day this month! although the last several months have been filled with fun and adventure i've decided to release myself of any need to write about what has happened in the past months (unless of course i want to) and instead focus on what is happening in our lives at this moment.....

today we are introducing allowances to our kids. yes, dave and i may be a bit on the delinquent side of this however we just hadn't ever really sat down and came up with a good system in which to distribute money to our kids and in turn help them to understand what appropriate giving, saving and spending looks like. now i'm not saying we came up with a fool proof plan/idea however i am excited to begin this process of stewardship with our kids.

although all of the kids will be receiving their first allowances this week we decided that the amount in which each child will receive is dependent on their age (caleb $2, Luke $1.50, Lilly $1). however, in an attempt to make our lives easier and help the kids to feel as though things are more equal we came up with "diller dollars", theylook similar but each have a different value. this way we are will be able to distribute our "diller dollars" accordingly each week and then have the kids cash in their "diller dollars" at the end of each month for real money which we can then help them divide into what will be given, saved and available to be spent.
in accordance with receiving their allowances we are also establishing a "responsibilities" sheet for each child. this sheet will list out each of the kids daily & weekly responsibilities which will be expected of them in order to receive their allowance. at this point we have kept them pretty basic, because at the end of the day i really want my kids to stay kids for as long as possible.so, now i'm curious.... parents, how do you "do" allowances with your kids? what are your thoughts on allowances? how did receiving or not receiving an allowance shape you?

passion

lilly is in gymnastics and up to this point has enjoyed it. however, yesterday i saw something come alive in her at the gym. for the first time yesterday she did a back flip on the trampoline. i had a perfect shot of her face just before she jumped and then as she landed on her feet. her whole body emitted this kind of new life and energy that is hard to describe. i told dave it was like watching passion being born. anyway, it got me thinking about where passion comes from and how it drives us to do things. it got me thinking about what i am passionate about and what i am actually doing to fulfill my passions, dreams and desires. kind of ethereal, i know, but something to think about....

luke duke

i got this great shot of luke a couple weeks ago when we were playing at our friends house. i know i have said this a million times but, it is so bitter-sweet to watch your kids grow up. thankfully we have cameras and photographs to help capture all of these precious moments.

hierarchy of swear words

kids ask A LOT of questions. it seems as though most of my conversations with each of my kids since they began talking was in response to one of their "why" questions. as the kids are getting older the questions have not ceased - however they have gotten much more intense, funny & significant. our oldest, caleb, is never shy of asking for a more thorough explanation for whatever is on his mind. at the ripe age of 8 we had a full blown trans-gender conversation. a few months ago we had the "sex" talk with him. and the other night we talked about swear words. he began this conversation, out of the blue, by asking, "what does the 'f' word mean?" and why is it SOO bad?" i took a deep breath and began in with my best answer. he than asked, "is one swear word worse than another... like, darn, dang, damn?" to this (with a slight giggle in my heart) we started talking about the hierarchy of swear words. it was so funny sitting there with my 9 year old talking about how the level of offensiveness determined how "bad" the swear word was....to be honest i hadn't ever thought about it like that before.

so, what kind of funny conversations have you had with your kids?

gap casting call....

so, i was looking for another way to waste time yesterday and entered the kids in the gap casting call contest. these are the pics i chose to enter. so, if you are looking to waste a few minutes (like me) CLICK HERE to vote for the kids (you can vote once a day if you are REALLY in to it!) and once you login you can also print out a 20% off gap coupon!!!

thanks!

all about caleb...

calebs first project this school year was to create an "all about me" poster. i had to share it. i love how creative he is and willing to think outside the box. i love that he wants to be a cartoonist when he grows up. i love that he drew a picture of a monkey taking a shower! seriously, you can't make this stuff up!

10 years

our wedding day - september 4, 1999

on september 4th dave and i celebrated our 10th anniversary. it's amazing how fast time has gone by and how much our lives have changed over the years. i thought it would be fun to highlight a few of the major events that have happened over the past 10 years

• had three babies and one miscarriage
  
• moved homes 5 times
• changed jobs 5 times
• planted a church
• lost 3 grand parents
• gained 5 new nieces & nephews
• moved to michigan
• turned 30
• family vacations
  
• the kids started school (all day!)
• vacations for just the two of us

as i sit here i am reminded of how privledged i am to be married to my best friend, team mate, and love of my life.dave and i soon after we got engaged! aren't we young!!

ten years later!

back 2 school

we are back into the full swing of school but i still wanted to post our first day of school pics!
our traditional pic of all three kids on the front steps. if you scroll back through previous years posts you can see how much they have all changed in the past few years.
caleb is 9 years old and started the 4th grade. he is happy to be "upper el". i feel like he is getting bigger and taller by the minute - it won't be too much longer until he is bigger than me! the other night he came and sat on my lap and told me that he missed being cuddled. he is precious, tender and so sweet.

luke is 7.5 and started 2nd grade. his teacher is the same one he had for kindergarten so the transition has been awesome! he is our one that tends to get nervous when he doesn't know exactly what to expect. it was answered prayer to find out who his teacher was! luke is loving school and is doing really, really well. i am so proud of him.

lilly is 6 and started 1st grade. which means she is at school all day! as dave and i walked away from school after dropping them off i felt a mix of emotions -- it is weird. lilly is a social butterfly and didn't skip a beat. she loves that she gets to eat lunch at school and see her friend "every day".

fun in chicago

this last trip to chicago was quite a whirlwind! we had so much fun going downtown to the museum of science and industry and seeing the harry potter exhibit and then going back down the following day to go to the bears family day!

can you spot the diller clowns?

they were SOOOO excited!

thank you papa & mimi!!

growing up before my eyes...

caleb turned nine last month. my baby...nine years old. i am still trying to wrap my brain around it. he is an amazing kid and it is so much fun to watch him grow up!

inked

all my boys got inked this last tuesday at the morg. dave got a "real" tat and the boys got matching henna ones.

storyville coffee company

i love coffee. i love the process of making it, the smell of it as i put each scoop into my coffee maker, the aroma of it brewing and of course, that first sip. so, when i found out that the coffee manufacturer storyville coffee company was donating 100% of whatever is purchased from them in the month of may to international justice mission, i had to take a second look. although, i haven't ever had their coffee before i found myself drawn to their story and their mission. i bought a $39 month pack and i can't wait to get it next week and brew it!

the gift of sight

about a month ago i got a letter in the mail from the health department telling me that caleb had failed his vision test and that i needed to take him to have his eyes checked by a professional. first, i was surprised. he hadn't EVER complained about not seeing something. he does very well in school and again had NEVER complained about not being able to see......
so, i arranged for an appointment at eye care one and took him to have his eyes tested. as soon as he found out that he was having his eyes checked i was overwhelmed by his sudden loss of vision and his many questions/statements about glasses and how cool they were. the more he spoke the more i convinced myself that he didn't need glasses but wanted them because he thought they were SO cool. before the appointment began i pulled the doc aside and told him to be on the look-out for any embellished reactions caleb might have for him. he assured me that he would be able to see beyond whatever caleb could throw at him in terms of how accurate his vision was. phew, i thought. until it came time for caleb to read the chart. he read the big "E" and then i watched as my son struggeled, i mean really struggeled, to read the second line. after the appointment the doctor pulled me aside and said, "you can't fake that...".
as caleb put on his new glasses there was a moment of sheer joy as he said, "AWESOME, that's what it looks like over there". for the rest of the day he kept making comments about how crisp everything looked. he loves his new glasses and i am thrilled that he has them and very embarressed that i never realized it earlier. it made me think about how much, as parents, we miss no matter how close we think we are. it was a reminder to be always praying for each of my kids and resting in the fact that they are in their Creators hands.

what a surprise!

last week wednesday i celebrated by 33rd birthday. dave and the kids planned out the entire afternoon and evening and we had such a blast!
the kids thought that since i LOVE coffee that it would be great to take me to get a cup of joe - they were so excited. i knew they had something up their sleeves. that and the fact that dave couldn't sit still for a minute. after i got my cup of coffee the kid working behind the counter handed me a birthday card. it was from dave and the kids and it had a sticker inside with the numbers on it. dave then proceeded to hand me my present..... it was a bike seat.......

we went outside the coffee shop and there chained to the tree was my new GREEN bike! the numbers inside the card were for the lock (very clever). the kids chased after me as we rode around downtown grand haven. we had a riot and laughed so hard!!! then.....

we went to K2 (upstairs to kirby) for dinner. the five of us sat around our table and began to order when all of a sudden friends started arriving one, two, three at a time. i wish i had more pics of the evening but, i was too surprised to remember to take pictures! needless to say it was such a fun evening and i LOVE my new bike!!! after we got home (about 11pm - on a school night) we had the kids put on their helmets and we took a quick bike ride up and down our street - it was awesome!

good-bye grandma

Grandmas 80th Birthday Party - Fall of 2004

my grandma sandoval passed away this week. today was her funeral and although i was unable to be there (salt lake city, ut) in person i was there in spirit. if you have a minute to spare read her obituary (scroll down) - my aunts and uncles did a great job writing out her life in just a few sentences. she was an amazing woman. she loved and prayed for her entire family every day. she was a wonderful testimony to one of Gods faithful servants here on earth. she will be missed.

visiting grandma & aunt ernestine last christmas in seattle

lilly & grandma coloring

all of the grand kids circa 1986

Juanita "Jennie" Sandoval 12/12/1924 ~ 2/22/2009 Grandma Jennie - "mother extraordinaire", beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, and friend went to join her Lord and Savior and her beloved husband Max on Sunday, February 22, 2009.Born to Jesus M. and Jose O. Sanchez in Castlegate, Utah. She was blessed with a loving step-father, Louis Canchola whom she cherished as DAD. She inherited a strong work ethic from her mother which served her well later on in life. She married Max Sandoval on October 21, 1942 and they started their life together in Price, Utah, later moving to Salt Lake City in 1951. God blessed them with 21 children and she never tired of having a child around the house, even if they weren't her own. She worked endlessly, making sure her family (and anyone else who was lucky enough to be there) was well fed and taken care of. Everyone loved her hand-made tortillas and wonderful Mexican food! She spent countless hours cooking, cleaning, sewing, babysitting for others and still made time for her family. Flats of eggs, garbage cans full of flour, rice and beans were the norm - all of this without Costco! She played a big part in the upbringing of many of her grandchildren by babysitting them, as well as raising her beloved grandson Jeremy, until she suffered a stroke in 1989. Throughout her remaining years, her grandchildren continued to be the light of her life. Her Christian faith was her life and she used that influence to raise her children. She and Max were founding members of the Salt Lake Christian and Missionary Alliance Church where she selflessly served in various positions and made many long lasting friendships. It was her faith that gave her the endurance, energy and amazing strength to accomplish such a remarkable life. She was truly loved and admired by many! Survived by children: Ernestine, Gilbert (Becky), Carl, Max (Brenda), Anita (Mike), Peter (Phyllis), Jennie-Lee, Elaine, Duane (Lauri), Samuel, Nathan, Patsy (Elgin), Jacob (Julie), Andrew (Cynthea), Daniel (Karen), Becky (Paul), Jennifer (Stewart), Rosellen, 46 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Preceded in death by her loving husband Max, twin infants, Mary and Joseph, son Jerry, mother Jesus Canchola, step-father Luis Canchola and brother Fidel Sanchez.

one more under my belt

over the last year i delved into the art of web design. although i know virtually nothing about how to write code and all the ins and outs of how a website comes to be. i know what i like to look at and how i think a website should function... that's a plus, right? well, i have an INCREDIBLE cousin (pete) who, with his partner (cavan), have started their own company Adrogen and they are an amazing duo in all the web stuff they can do. so, i get to do all the fun design work and they do all the icky coding - we are becoming quite the team. well, i mention all of this because our latest site went live this past week and i wanted to share it with all of you. drum roll for, naperville covenant church. enjoy!

gym ritual

dave and i have started a new gym ritual. we (and a couple other friends) have started meeting at the gym at 4:45am to work out together. ok, i know that sounds insane to many of you - but, it is the best time for us. and, since nagel lives with us, we have an adult in the house to care for the kids. well, this past monday the alarm went off at 4:30 and dave and i hopped out of bed, got dressed, got in the car, drove to the gym, sat on the couches tying up our gym shoes (at the gym) and then looked at each other and decided that we NEEDED to go back to bed. i found myself back underneath my covers in a matter of minutes. it was SO worth it!!!

a thousand questions

this past week dave and i went to chicago for the annual mid-winter conference put on for our denomination. it was an amazing time of reconnecting and resting. below is about a 10 minute video produced by willow creek that we watched at the end of one of the sessions. it is very moving.....

in case you were wondering.....

1. 
   
   Choose a kiwano that is fully ripened. It'll have an orange rind with spikes. If you can't find a fully ripened fruit, wait for it to turn orange before eating it.
2. 

   
   
   Cut the fruit in half transversely (along the equator, as shown in the picture). Set one half aside.
3. 

   
   
   Hold the remaining half up to your mouth. Slowly, but firmly, squeeze the fruit from the lower end. Small, semi-slimy sacs of fruit, each containing a cucumber-like seed, should come to the cut surface of the fruit.
4. 

   
   
   Lick or suck up at least one sac of fruit and seed.
5. 
   Pinch the sac of fruit gently with your front teeth. The seed should be between your teeth and closed lips. Suck the sac of fruit through your top and bottom teeth. Your teeth should be pinching enough to hold the seed on the outside of your teeth, yet still allowing the sac of fruit to be sucked to the back of your mouth.
6. Don't spit the seed out into the bowl unless you don't want to eat it. They aren't toxic, by the way, they just don't have any taste.
7. Chew or suck on the sac of fruit, swallowing it once you have savoured the flavour. Repeat until you've had your fill of kiwano!

into lukes head

have you ever wished you could get into someones head in the hopes to better understand where they were coming from? lately, that is how i feel with our middle child, luke. i love my luke and yet find myself struggeling to understand him more times than not. as a parent you learn quickly that you cannot parent each of your children the same way - because they are each so different and in turn respond differently. for as confident as luke can appear on the outside i don't know what goes on his mind to make him incapable of doing certain things. for example, yesterday he woke up and told me that he had decided not to go to his friends birthday party because they were going to go and play laser tag. i was shocked. not only was this a very good friends birthday but his big brother was also going. however, luke had it in his head that he did not want to play and did not want to go. when i asked if it was because he had never played laser tag he said, "no, i just don't want to go....". i told him not going wasn't an option - however, if he got there and still didn't want to play that he didn't have to. sure enough, luke got to the laser tag play area and chose not to play and stood on the sidelines and watched on for the next hour and half as his friends and brother played their little hearts out. what is it...? what, as a parent, can i do to encourage him and help him with his anxiety?

any thoughts.....suggestions.......

what would you do for $10 dollars?

if you live in west michigan than nobody needs to tell you about all the snow we have gotten over the last several days. yesterday alone we got like 15 inches. thankfully the bitter cold has blown away and we are welcoming the 20+ degree weather (i can't believe i just said that....) the kids were able to go out and play in the winter wonderland - caleb and his friend z were out there for over 2 hours! you can get a perspective on how deep the snow is when you see the pic of lilly - she is standing straight up in the snow and it goes well above her knees! so, nagel bet dave ten dollars to run out in his bare feet around the play-set and back (probably 30 yards total). dave, in all his wisdom, said, "show me the money and i'll take the run." before we knew it dave had the money in his pocket and was running - it was pretty funny!

christmas plates

every year we talk about giving something more creative for christmas than another set of gloves, dvd or one more settlers of catan (i think we have given out at least 20 games to friends and family who NEED to have the game). so, this year we did it - we came up with a great idea and actually followed through...... we made plates! everyone got one, from my 6 month old niece to my brothers girlfriend, rita. dave and i had so much fun making them - i can't remember the last time we laughed quite so much.

dave drew each of the cartoons and then i scanned them in and did some digital touch-up work and colored them in and added the head shot. there is this great new paper out there called inkjet water-slide decal paper which allows you to print and then transfer the image to a solid object (plates in our case) and then bake the image on. it is a bit of a process - but so worth it!

good-bye nickelodeon

last night we sat our kids down and told them that we were canceling our cable. the first thing out of each of their mouths was, "will we still get nick?". it was a tough reality for each of them to swallow as they began to realize that sponge-bob and icarly would no longer be an option. caleb definitely took it the hardest. he cried crocodile tears as he reminisced about all the shows he loved and the time spent in front of "nicki", our tv, affectionately named after one of our favorite babysitters.

so, why are we getting rid of our cable? well, dave and i have been talking and praying for weeks about what things our family could do or possibly give up so we could do and give more with the resources we've been given. i guess you could say it is our new years resolution. our goal, with Gods help, is to become more creative with how we live our lives and in turn see God work and move in new and creative ways in each of our lives. because this is something we are passionately seeking i decided to start a new blog for the sole purpose of documenting our families journey to give more by living on less.

blessing to you in the new year!