The End of May

I can't believe it is the end of May. Where is the time going?

I love the little moments where everyone is getting along. 

So, to conclude this very busy and full month, Kev decidede that we should move the furnature around in our Living Room. I believe he mentioned something about being very concerned that Bug was going to go over the couch and through the window. When he confirmed that he was actually having nightmares about it and that he was feeling impressed that it was urgent I went along with him. We spend several hours working on this room. 

Our options are fairly limited, so we decided to clear everything out and see where we felt inspired to deposit it when we were done. 

Kevin is a super-trooper about these late-night adventures. 

It always gets worse BEFORE it gets better right?!

Zee's First Solid Food!

In an effort to possibly halt the barf train that Zee seems to be on and because he will be four months old tomorrow we decided to introduce our little guy to rice cereal. 

Overall it went pretty well, and as you can see he does not seem to bothered by this new experience, now we are really hoping he will be throwing up a little less. 

I love this little guy and I can't believe he is growing up so very fast!

Memorial Day Fun

It is Memorial Day weekend and so we headed out to the Lake for some work and some fun. My Brother Shane is totally awesome and always makes time to pull the kiddos behind the boat. As you can see they thoroughly enjoyed their time out on the water as always. 

My heart feels happy as I watch my children make happy, wonderful memories in a place that is so special and important to me. 

Sharing

I happened to catch a sweet moment where Buggy was sharing one of his toys with Zee. I sure love my boys!

I want to always rememeber the moments when they care completely sweet with each other. 

Playing with Fire

Today the kiddos and I went to a nearby glass institute for their open house and they got to make glass beads. So awesome!

I was a little nervous about them working with the flame and when the instructor pointed out that the flame was about 2500 degrees (hotter than the oven for glass blowing) I was REALLY nervous!

Both of them did really well and Peanut made me a bead for my bracelet and i love it! Bean made an awesome bead for her to wear, they made 7 beads total between the two of them. I need to get some pictures of the beads.

It is an awesome activity and I am sure we will be doing it again, if you get a group of ten or more you can do this for $15 per person.

Date night!

Oh and doesn't Peanut look awesome in those glasses?

 

Michigan Peaches

My friend Robin and I often go to the Farmer's Market here in Kalamazoo. I love and enjoy market time, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go with her today. The highligh of my day though was this display of "Michigan Peaches."

I LOVE this! 

We have a few stands at the market that are run by brokers, they advertise Mighigan Peaches in May that are succulent and beautiful. I can assure you that those peaches are NOT from Michigan, not at this time of the year. I think it is extremely important for shoppers to be aware of these types of con-artists at different markets, if shoppers are not aware then well meaning people that are trying to shop locally end up supporting these brokers and NOT the local farmers. 

Looking forward to a summer of Farmer's Market shopping!

Father-Son-Daughter Campout

Today was supposed to be the Father-son Campout, however after a very long week, we talked to all of the children and everyone decided it would be more fun to have a campout at home. We felt it would allevite the stress of having only one car and half of our family pretty far away, we could all spend more time together and Bean would be able to join in on the camping fun. 

We had a truly delightful evening as a family. We had a nice fire, all of the children enjoyed the time outside and I think the children had a lot of fun camping as well. I really love our little fire-pit and I welcome any opportunity to use it and to have some outdoor fun. 

One content little guy!

Buggy is just loving being outside, he is our outdoor kid. I think he would prefer living in a tent to living in the house most of the time. 

Peanut enjoying his spoils! With an awesome looking tent all set up and ready to go, thanks to the VanderRoest family!

 Bean is really, really focused on cooking her hot dog. 

Zee was really digging being outide, I cannot believe how BIG he is getting. 

A Half-day at the Museum

Today we went with some friends to a nearby museum. We were completely slow about getting there, but in the end the chidlren had a great time! I had not been to the museum since they had updated it, there are a lot of really fun things for the children to do there. We went with some dear friends and all of the children really, really loved playing with the mock news studio and 50s cafe. I was really happy because Zee zonked and took a binky, success!

Always Interesting

I can honestly say that I never know what I am going to find in the Fridge. 

I love my son!

I smile everyday.

Quick Fun Visit

We had a Sister that served her mission come by for a visit while her and her husband were in the area. It was so nice to see this sister and to see how awesome her life is now. I think if she were closer we would all be great friends. I found myself wishing they could stay and hang out longer. It is fun to reconnect with the wonderful missionaries that serve here after they are home. I hope we will be able to see them again.

Thanks for coming Preston and Heather!

 

Side note: this is my first post from the iPad.

Awesome!

 

Baby Shower

Today I ran four miles for the first time post-baby. I am not sure I am going to be able to walk later, but it was totally worth it. 

A kind woman at Church thought it would be a fun idea to have a little get together to celebrate all of the babies born in the last year. There are a few missing, but this was the picture we got of the ones that came. Our little Zee is in the stripes at the bottom, he is one of the youngest there but obviously not one of the smallest. We sure love that little guy!

In this picture the babies were all lined up by age, the oldest ones are the farthest ones away. The little guy next to Zee is several months younger. 

The shower was fun, they had anyone that wanted bring books and then let the mothers pick. We came home with a few new books to add to our collection, it was wonderful. My favorite part however was the cupcakes. I am not going to lie, I thought they looked okay and was going to pass. Someone mentioned that they were really good so I grabbed one, Alisha (the host) had made them and had frosted them ganache! I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. 

We shall not state how many cupcakes were had, but it was more than 1. Sooooo good! I will never frost a chocolate cupcake with frosting again. 

Life changing. 

L.O.V.E.

I saw this cute idea for Mother's Day on a parenting website. They suggested you print letters and take pictures of the children holding them, then stick them in a four picture frame. We had a lot of fun with this today, plus my rhododendron is in bloom and looking amazing. While we were out taking pictures Peanut was getting all crafty with the letters. A friend stopped by and then offered to take a picture. I may have made some effort to look nice had I anticipated this, but alas. 

I made three frames, one for my Mom, one for my MIL and one for me. I think this has been my favorite Mother's day gift ever!

I included some of the outtakes from out little session.

Always a comedian, just like his older brother. 

Bean is such a pretty girl, kind and sweet. We love her so much!

Bug was not super cooperative, we got maybe four shots while he was whacking everyone with the letters in between pictures. We had to work with what we could get. 

Zee was not sure what the heck was going on.

Peanut was really proud of his idea to include a blossom in each photo. I think it was pretty creative and it reminds me how often he really does try to make things better. What a great kid! 

I had Kev make a picture with all of their pictures that we actually used for the frame. I love this so much! My family means the world to me and although there may be many times that we don't have everything everyone else does I hope my children will always be able to say that there was love in our home. 

Holland for the Day

Today I was supposed to run my first post-partum race, but I totally bailed. We arrived in Holland too late to get to the race but we did have some time to hang out at the State Park for a bit before HP made it back home. 

Peanut and Bug were the only ones interested in venturing out in the drizzle. 

Bean was on a Fairie tour with Grandma today so Kev and Zee stayed in the car and Peanut, Bug, and I hit the beach.

Bug was not sure about this new environment, but he was excited to show his trains around. 

It was decided that we should venture out on the pier/walkway. 

Brothers and Best Buds.

I thought it was really sweet that Bug wanted to hold Peanut's hand, he was totally not interested in holding my hand, but he is loving his brother. 

These two were so sweet.

I love this picture with the light house in the back and my sweet boys.

This was a quick stop that I want to remember forever. I loved this time with these two. 

While we were trying to get back to the car Bug discovered sand, he was facinated. 

I think he would have been willing to stay there all day. 

We only were at the park for about 20 min. but it was wonderful. 

These are the moments that I never want to forget with my beautiful children. 

After the beach we headed over to HP and Steve's house for an amazing breakfast and fun time visiting with our new little ones. I could not find my camera so I do not have any pictures from HP's. No pictures of the adorable little S. and Zee. 

It was an awesome day with my cute family and my dear friend.