A New Year .... 2009

I decided to try the old Dutch tradition of ringing in the New Year with some yummy OLIEBOLEN (I don't know if that's how to spell it). With a little of my Mom's help with the dough - her original recipe and the tricks on how to make it taste just so...... You need the dough and HOT oil - not always the safest on the stove, but a must to ensure 'cooked to taste'!!

In the oil they go..... okay so mine are not as perfect in shape as Mom's....
But they taste just as yummy!

Oddly, my kids love these too!! What a great way to say good-by to 2008 and HELLO to 2009.

Christmas Liturgy

Today was an extremely busy day for me. I just was go go go all day and into the evening. I had the priviledge of accompanying Reuben's class on a visit to Christian Horizons (which is a group home for the Mentally Challenged - is that politically correct??). The grade 1 class just went to sing songs and read the story of the candy cane. It was so cute the kids LOVED it and so did the residents, Sara one of the residents was so happy to see us, she had to be reminded sooooo many times - no more hugs Sara, no more hugs.
Unfortunately I had 4 different places to be in the evening and couldn't do it all so I missed Mason's school Christmas program. Darren said it was great, I did get to see a video that he made of the evening although I could barely hear the song I watched Mason do his thing. So cute, he's so little to me - I forget that he's already in school and doing all these 'big' kid things. If I could figure out how I'd attach the clip of his class singing, but for now I'll just note how cute it was.
This week is busy at school for the boys, the last week before Christmas - parties, singing, programs, just so much fun. Reuben is so excited for 17 sleeps before he goes back to school in 2009. It looks like the snow is arriving just in time for Christmas this year..... oh how I love this time of year. My shopping is done, the house is decorated, the cards are mailed, now to wrap and to prepare the eats..... Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Visit to the Sytsma's in GR

This weekend we toured over to Grand Rapids, the purpose: a wonderful weekend to catch up with our cousins & Uncle Jerry & Aunt Lynn. WE HAD A BLAST!

All eyes were on Uncle Jerry's magic tricks, just how did he do it??
Wow....Uncle Jerry you are amazing!!
Even Julianna was watching eagerly!!! We went to Ada Christian School and played at the park for a couple hours, running around like crazy - the kids loved it..... even the big kids.

SWINGGGG......

ARRRRRROUND..........

Run like crazy Jules :)

Pretty Erin

Taking a rest from chasing the kids.

okay quick Mom, Uncle Jerry's coming!

Smile

This sun is G-R-E-A-T!!

Where's the boots?

Mason received Cosmic Catch for his upcoming Birthday present. The game is tons of fun, the kids played it over and over.........

But it's really tough when the ball says..... "YOU'RE OUT!"

We had such a wonderful weekend, Lynn & I shopped til we dropped.... well actually we got up at 4:40am and were at ToysRus by 5am and we were not the first by far. We scored some really good deals and were home by 10am. I totally finished my Christmas shopping, wooo hooo!!!! The guys and the kids went to see a movie together in the afternoon and the rest of the weekend was spent enjoying eachother's company!! The kids had so much fun, play, play, play and we (the adults) had fun too, we even got in a game of Blokus, guess who won???? of course it was Lynn, who else? We got home from church and it began snowing, YUCK! So we thought we should head out, good thing we did - cause it took over 8 hours, but the kids did GREAT so we were pretty thankful - here's what we looked all the way home..

It was kinda pretty though!!

Where is my Camera????

Where did I leave my camera? oh ya...... at the Ouwehand's! Apparently they were busy testing it out, here's what I found.

FUNNY & CUTE!!! Love you Justin & Lisa!

Professional Pictures

We thought it was about time we had a professional take some photos of our family (since we've never done that, unless you count Sears/Walmart pictures). So Shannon, http://www.shannonarchibaldphotography.com/ suggests Ruthven - the very place we had our wedding ceremony and pictures for the background..... weird, Darren & I hadn't been there since our wedding 9 1/2 years ago. So off we went, the weather was a little chilly but I think I the pictures turned out great. The kids were fantastic - have a look and see what you think.......

Leg warmers back??

In regards to my post of Reuben's 80's Spirit Day at school..... I took Reuben to the movies last night to see Madagascar 2 (excellent movie by the way). I was standing in line to buy popcorn and I could not believe my eyes. There standing beside me was a girl (maybe 15/16) and she was wearing chocolate brown legwarmers?!?!?!? I couldn't believe my eyes, it was difficult not to keep watching her.... then behind her in a line another girl similar age ALSO wearing legwarmers?!!!

Do I live under a rock, when did the 80's come back? More importantly how did I miss that?

Spirit Days at School..... 80's is the Theme

Today Reuben was asked to dress up in 80's attire... so what's the first few things that come to mind in regards to 80's fashion - leg warmers, big belts and BIG Hair! So that's what we did for Reuben's costume, a local store ironically sells leg warmers and the grocery store the belt and a lot of hair gel and spray and here's what you get!!

First prize winner for Grade 1B!!!
Look at that hair!

And I thought this was a good shirt to complete the 'outfit'! A friend of mine bought this shirt for Reuben and I think it's pretty cute. Anyway, Reuben had a really fun day today and was pretty proud to have won the Mars bar - the prize for best costume. For those who know me, it's pretty weird that my child would win best costume - I do NOT like dressing up myself, but it's fun for the kids.

Halloween

Trick or Treating is so much fun!!! The night always seems to be FULL of crazyness, but the kids have so much fun. Lisa & Marcy usually come down with the kids, we scarf down some dinner and the kids are WILD. The weather was so great this year, we even took the picture outside.

Pirate I (Justin), Pirate II (Jordan), Superman (Mason), Ninja Turtle (Reuben), Pirate III (Andrew), Unicorn (Alex), Winnie the Pooh (Julianna) and the Butterfly (Leah)

The boys are trying to keep Julianna sitting still!

"Trick or Treat"

Julianna was pretty offended that she didn't get to come out with us..... next year sweety....... next year.

Spiderman was SUPER-DUPER excited.

I thought this mask fit perfectly with Reuben's personality!!

Ahhhhhh.... Halloween is over for yet another year!! Cheers.

Jackidy Lanterns

Today the kiddies were SOO excited to carve our pumpkin - I was not so thrilled, carving pumkins - dressing up.... halloween isn't really my favourite but the kids sure do LOVE it. Here are some shots of us turning our pumpkin into a super cool Jackidy Lantern (that's what Mason calls them!! :)

Justin and Andrew actually like getting their hands dirty with pumpkin 'guts'.... yucky!

Mason and Reuben did NOT want anything to do with the 'guts'.
Julianna on the other hand, she was in there like a dirty shirt!

Did I mention Lisa carved it for me!!!

It took serious consentration.........

But it turned out SUPER cool, Thanks Aunt Lisa!

My GENEROUS 6 year old!

This year a few weeks before Reuben's birthday I began asking him what he would like for his birthday gift. He thought about it for a day or two and came back to me and said, "Mommy, I thought about my birthday present and I have a lot of toys maybe we should buy a toy for a boy who doesn't have any toys." I was so proud that this was what he had come up with, but to be honest I wasn't sure that this idea would stick. Boy was I wrong, he kept insisting this was what he wanted. So off we went to Toys'rUs, he picked out a couple of things and today we brought them to Dorette at the Caledonia Food Bank. (Mason was pretty excited too and wanted to be in the picture)He was excited to bring this, but was hoping to be able to give the gift directly to the needy family. We talked a lot about giving of our gifts to those who need our help, Reuben is excited to do so. I am so proud of Reuben, his generous spirit and his sweet, thoughtful personality.

Baking with the Kiddies

Reuben has the day off of school today and tomorrow. The boys were begging to make something, cookies, cake whatever..... so we got some ingredients together to make Banana muffins.

Already to start.
Everyone wants a turn holding the beaters.

Some are more proud then others.

Such big helpers!

And the princess couldn't keep her eyes open, tiring stuff!! The muffins weren't even out of the oven yet and next thing I know this is what I find on the couch!!! What a cutie.