Early Dec update

Well, today is Sunday and I was on call Friday (called in from 9-12), On call Sat (called in from 2-5), and I work today from 3-11! After that I don't work very much for the rest of Dec, so not so bad I guess. We have been busy with Kevin finishing up this semester from, well you can call it what you want. It has been crazy and feeling like we need to get to know eachother again! On a positive note I found a flat top beige stove on craig's list that replaces our other stove that was quite old and the door didn't close. Engie of course was interested in seeing how that worked, so we thought for saftey it was time. We got a good deal and it works great! We also purchased a new couch and chair that should be coming this week Tuesday, I am so excited! We have had hand me down living room furniture since we got married. Since I have difficulties spending large sums of money, I freaked out it first, but we need it and have been saving and preparing for it for a long time. Yeah, perhaps I will post pictures of these new items.

On another note, the paper I have been working on for the state has taken yet another turn and I have a new outline. I am thrilled to say I was able to pump out the new version in 1/2 hour, now I have to do re-working to get it to register at a 6th grade reading level in Microsoft! Kevin is off with the kids today so I can get that done before Monday. I have a deadlines of Dec 21, so I should be done by then on it! Yah hoo! I am dreaming of getting back into hobbies, like reading and knitting. Best be off!
Kerrie

Thanksgiving in Iowa

We had a great time at Thanksgiving in Iowa with a whopping 13 people in one house! We kept very busy and it was chaotic, but always a hoot to watch the kids play. Nate played non-stop with Nick on the tractors. Apparently, we never captured him on pictures. So he is included her at a picture from home in leaf pick up. Which reminds me, we really need to get out there and do more before the snow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween

A kitty/couger/cat with faded wiskers. The tail is the cutest part...can't be seen on these pictures...
Builder/Construction worker on a firetruck

The gang, minus Nate, notice the costume Nick has on...two construction workers, ready to pound and cause havok when needed. Jaden, kept making very dramatic poses for a princess face. Engie, is matter of factly being cat. Lily is a cute little dorothy "and her little dog too" (for more drama say the quoted portion with a witch voice).

Weekend away

This is a picture of Nate's preschool class at a pumpkin patch.

Kevin and I were able to go to Traverse City for the weekend, Kristi and Tom watched our kids. We had a great time! The colors were incredible! We did a few wineries, lazed around and hiked in sleeping bear dunes (a very short hike!) We came back feeling refreshed and very eager to be with our little munchkins again.

Here is a picture of us at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Boo!

So, we carved a pumpkin, that was a bit "large-mouthed" in the first place. Then after putting it outside some critter, added to it's scaryness and had pumpkin pie!

Fun in the Sun in October?

We had record breaking temperatures in the upper 80's this past weekend. Nate, Engie, Aiden and Alex (neighbors) ran through sprinklers. Today it is 40 degrees and we have sweaters, coats, etc on! Gotta love the midwest...Here are some pics to remember our last days of summer.

what you do to keep your kids busy...

It is very simple...you let them dig a big hole in your back yard. This is Nate and Engie with our neighbors Aiden, Ryan and Megan. Nate has dug a very large hole (Nate yells when I call it this, because don't you know, it is a "construction site") in our back yard that could trap a small animal (or a small kid). I really can't even believe we let him do this and tell people we know about it. But, it has been the best play activity in a long time, albeit dirty. He digs a little deeper each day and has gotten really good at using a real shovel...unfortuanately he has gotten too good at it... soon it will be filled in with new grass seed. If you hear wailing and screaming and you live 1/2 way across the world, it will be Nate when he learns we can't always have this hole (construction site) in our yard!

Labor Day

My parents visited this last weekend and we had loads of fun. Kristi and Tom are building a pool and so they have this big pit of sand in their back yard, it is every little boy's heaven on earth. Nate literally played for the whole day their this weekend. We went up to Pentwater and did the doon rides and went to the beach. Here is a picture of my family at the beach at the doon rides.

Grandma and Grandpa Wisselink Visit!

Well Nate turned the accomplished age of 5 last week, his mother turned the young age of 25...um um..yeah that's it that's the ticket (anyone remember Sat night live in the 90's?). Kevin's parents were here to celebrate with us and we had a grand time. Kevin's dad patiently played building toys for hours on end with Nate. We did mostly fun stuff around home.

Here are some pics of those events.

Go Carts, frog jumpers

Here are some pics of our trip to Craig's Cruisers with family this weekend.

Fun Day

So, for our anniversary gift Kevin keeps telling me weeks before that I am going to love my gift. I didn't even know what I wanted let alone what he might know that I want...thinking in terms of things, anyway. So, on our anniversary he gave me a card that announced with cash a day away, he would take the day off and I got to do what ever I wanted! What a load of fun and something I really wanted. This Thursday I planned a day with friends, I left early, picked a New York Times, read every page, without having to be interrupted! I met Deanna, Tracy and Delia for coffee and sweets at Wealthy Street Bakery, and from there and got pedicures, met Rhonda had lunch. We even enjoyed some fancy drinks, which reminded us we need to not have two cocktails at lunch again...
Then did some relaxing shopping in downtown Holland. We leisurely did what every we wanted and had a load of fun! I came back to a quiet house (with all the laundry done...I know what a great guy!)
Now we (by we I mean Kevin, and my verbal support) are finishing the trim in the basement, when we get a little farther I'll post some pictures. Well best be off to get the chilen's to bed, and then we can watch the Last King of Scotland. Anybody watch it...hopefully good.
Until later

Folks we have a walker

Engie is 16 1/2 months and now walking. My sister is friends with a Physical Therapist and happened to be at a birthday party while they were watching Engie. The physical therapist said Engie is strong enough, just has a larger bottom, so it changes her center of gravity, so it makes her want to sit all the time (who can't identify with that!). At that party she started walking, seeming to disprove any fears of the adults there, and when we picked her up that evening, Tom and Kristi informed us "you have a walker!" So, much for staying home so you don't miss those moments! Ha ha, just kidding, it is all a process, she is slowing transitioning from crawling to walking, and it has been so interesting to hear everyone's comments, one wise stranger told me, "it is really good for them to crawl a long time, it helps with sensory integration, they feel and touch every thing".

Nate is a big time into sand toys, mainly bulldozers and playing building roads. He has made up the term "section man", which is the men that stand around while they are building the roads and he tells the other guys what to build and do next. Thanks to our neighbor boy Aiden, they spend hours playing outside, they are having a great time!

Iowa Trip

You may be wondering what these all have in common, well it all happened in Iowa! We celebrated my Dad's 60th Birthday with about 80 of his closest friends and family to celebrate with him. We had a great time! My mom's garden was at a peak, so we made some great bouquets. Something grandparents do so readily is buy things parents don't buy and that was battery operated vehicles, Nate drove around for hours acting like a cool cat on a battery operated John Deere Gater and some other vehicles of that sort that they have gotten. He even had a passenger seat in one of them and drove Engie around. She also exhibited pride and excitablity by sometimes rocking back and forth trying to get it to go faster. My sisters and I were able to go see Barack and Michelle Obama speak in Pella, which was quite the experience. There weren't a ton of people there, so we met Michelle (like how I call her by her first name) and were able to get our picture taken with her! Yes, we are sporting Iowa Girl Tee-shirts with pride. It is hard to sum it all up there is more, but those are the highlights. Nate's goal to be a pilot has been trumped by farmerhood, he now wants to be a farmer so he can drive a 4 wheelers and get stuck in the mud alot, after all, that is what being a farmer mostly consists of doesn't it?

Pineries Provencial Park Camping

This weekend we went camping to the Pineries Provencial Park in Ontario, it is right along Lake Huron. We had a great time, the beach was just a short walk down the road. Nate had a grand time playing with Evan and Collin, Joel and Marsha's children (Left), Deanna and Kevin are in the back row, Tracy and Kristen and Dave and baby Gabe on the right. Delia and Conrad are in the front. Us adults enjoyed time with friends, remincsing and eating some yummy camping food. All in all it was a great success. We have plans to do this annually, but all agreed, some more amenties, upgrading to cabins and going a bit longer would be better. The second picture is of a pretty darn good sand castle that Conrad and Kevin Elzinga made.

Birthday Planning/Reminiscing

My dad turns 60 this year, (my mom next year), we are planning a party and making a traditional cheesy slide show and I have come across some old pictures that are pretty funny, worth sharing.

Here is my family circa 1978

The next is of my dad as a young child.

Bike ride anyone?

We recently purchased a bike trailer that can also be used as stroller, Engie seems to like it, as you can see in the picture. Nate is always very cautious before consenting the ride? Will it be a long one? Where are we going to go? And then when we are riding, he gives us orders "faster, turn that way". I can't blame him for not enjoying it, his sister does harass him trying to keep entertained she pinches his face and can't keep her hands off of him. Yesterday, we had Jaden and Nick (my sister Kristi's kids) over to swim, they are posing. They had a grand time, lots of wet water. Another hot, but nice day here.

Cheers and ode to the inclusion of women!

Okay, when I first told my sister I was making a blog, she said, "now your not going to write about your feelings and stuff..." I have mostly kept to kid reportings, but I can't help but share my enthusiasm and joy at the news of our large body of the Christian Reformed Church (the denomination I grew up in), called synod, permitting women to be delegates to synod and leaders in the church. This decision only confirms for me the gifts of so many women I know and love in their ability to proclaim and share the gospel and TO VOTE on key matters of the denomination. I celebrate with our church's, Paster Lynn Likkel and Erika Dekker and many others who have worked so hard to follow the spirit and the calling they can't deny to be leaders in the church, despite some very hostile situations. All I can say IT is HIGH TIME and I was an inpatient, cranky person in this process. I am so thankful for the women and men who have been working tirelessly (and been kind, surprizingly NOT cranky in the process) on this issue since 1974 (the year after I was born). The Grand Rapids Press had a nice article featuring this great news http://www.mlive.com/grandrapids/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-36/118173690883190.xml&coll=6. I could go on and on...but I am so happy and rejuvenated in the my denomination and proud of the decision. Other newsworthy notes, Kevin has one class left in his summer Tues/Thurs class, Yeah for him and Yeah for us, we will get to see him more! It has been a hot summer day, we have spent the last couple of days in the pool on the deck, dumping, filling, refilling, drinking lemonade, more lemonade...Over the weekend, Kevin's uncle John Wisselink came to town (actually for synod) and we were able to go to lunch with him, it was a joy to see him, he is a kind wonderful uncle that we unfortuantely rarely see because he hails from Telkwa BC. We had a great time and of course I didn't bring my camera, but you can try to imagine a man that looks like Kevin's dad, a little more hair (sorry dad :). Well off to bed after a long day, Love to all Kerrie and Fam

New basement Floor and Tree on our deck

We have had all kinds of excitement here over the last couple of weeks. We finally finished our basement floor, working hard over the Memorial Day Weekend and beyond. It had some nasty carpet that should have been gone long ago. The new floor is a wood looking laminate and is great for all the abuse we put it through. Kevin and I actually survived installing it ourselves, learning that if I stood on the already installed floor he could get the other pieces to lockin to place. Needless to say that wasn't in the instructions. We love it and already love wipeing up the messes,verses, scrubbing them into the carpet fibers. We also has some excitement of a big storm last weekend. My friend Michelle was here with her twin boys for supper and we were watching our big canopy of trees sway with the strong winds and Michelle asks me, do you ever worry about trees coming down being under the trees, and before I could answer her, BOOM, the tree fell on our deck, we were standing by slider and nearly sent us both to anxiety attacks! What a surprize! The tree did overall very little damage to our deck, but made a big mess. Our neighbors already took all the limbs off the tree, so now it looks a lot less threatoning. I didn't get out there with my camera soon enough. We are all thankful we are okay and really just a good story to tell in the end.

Here are some more pics, the first couple are from our trip to IA, Engie is feeding Grandpa Van Weelden some popcorn, who wouldn't like their face stuffed with grimy baby hands---grandpas, I guess. The next one is of some of the Van Haaftens examining rocks! My Grandma Van Haaften died in 2005 and has a massive rock collection, we had fun getting them wet to see all the colors and details and then trying to identify them. My grandma was full of knowledge and zest about rock hunting! The last couple are recent ones of Nate and Engie. Engie stuffing her face, she just got done licking the bowl. Nate older and more mannered, uses silverware and smiles like a champion for the picture.

Ear tubes!

Nate had new ear tubes put in today and had his adnoids removed. He went to outpatient surgery. He did very well. This is a picture they took with a polaroid and gave to us just before surgery. They gave him some drugs before he went into surgery that made him very groggy, he was slurring words, trying to talk and couldn't, which is a little hard for a parent to take. We got home around noon and he is already running around, feeling close to normal! They found lots o' gunk in his ears and they said it would not have drained on its own. So, it was good we did it. We are so glad it is over. Kerrie

Tulip Time

We are in Pella enjoying celebrating our roots. Here are some pics, me and Engie and My friend Kelly Oberhouser, who now lives in Texas. We happened upon eachother in the baby parade! The second picture, thanks to good connections we were able to get Kevin, Nate and Jaden on the SinterKlause Float! Kevin is the one in blue and Nate and Jade look very tired in front of him. Also in the picture is Jennifer, our cousin. We are having a great time!

Off to Pella

We are off to Pella today to go home for Tulip Time. We hope to do the whole 9 yards of festivities--scrubbing streets, marching in the baby parade-- my mom has costumes for all of us! Anyone have any ideas of how I can tempt Kevin into getting into one? Nate is very excited and has for some reason marked coming back from Pella as a new era of independence. At supper he announced when we got back from Pella he would put his own shoes on by himself and no longer use us booster seat at the table. We shall see, all right by me! Engie unfortuantely has some bug that keeps lingering. Hopefully she can recover fast...if she seems to still have it we might stay home today and leave tomorrow. Until later...
Kerrie

Early season beach bums

We went to the beach on Saturday, we were one of the few out there, took our kite and had a good time! It was only 55 degrees out there, but we were able to stay out of the wind it was actually very nice. Nate even waded in the water and claimed it was warm...we didn't feel the need to prove him wrong. Nate had a ball digging and running around. Engie was a little overwhelmed by the whole beach thing and stayed in one place. At first Nate asked if we could carry him on the sand because he said there big holes and he might fall in-tee hee hee.
Take Care, Kerrei

Spring means rebirth, including the blog

Okay we are back after a little, okay 5 month, break. All is well here, the weather is finally turning into spring, daffadills are blooming, hostas poking through the ground (just waiting to be stomped on by little feet who don't see them) and yes the wonderful tempatures. We have begun living on our deck, eating, reading and folding laundry out there. Kids are fine, Engie is 13 soon to be 14 months and trying to walk every now and then. Nate is doing great at school, loving going and telling me all of his learnings. Today, he told me this month is "April, it should rain alot." I am getting a break while Engie sleeps and Nate watches his favorite Airplane video that we over-rent at the Library, (bring it back one week, get it again the next week). Here are some of the more recent pictures...especially of Engie, I feel bad after looking through pics I barely had any of recent Nate pictures, he must be harder to catch. Well, more to come. Blessings, Kerrie