Christmas Card 2010

Great Wolf Lodge

A couple weeks ago, there was some time off of school so Brad and I took the girls to Great Wolf Lodge. Truthfully, its always been fun, this time was the most fun we've had there yet! The girls were able to do all the slides and were excited to do so! We got to do more as a family and didnt just stay in the kiddie areas! They also had trick or treating and a costume contest for the kiddos which we took full advantage of!

My Punkins Pumpkins

Blogger and I have been in a bit of a fight. I keep trying to post, it wont let me. I stick my tounge out, It shuts down. Hence the 5 week absence. I have a big gap to fill, but we'll start with the present and work back. :)

Monday night we decided to bust out the grubbs and knives and do a little pumpkin carving! The girls had picked out thier gourds the previous weekend at the farmers market with Mommy and Nana. Sabrina immediately went for a biggun while Anabelle gravitiated towards the very petite. We had to keep encouraging her to think bigger so we could actually carve the thing!

In true Anabelle style, she got a little attached to her pumpkin and initally she didnt want to carve it at all! We really had to convince her that she would like seeing it all glowing at night after we carved it! (this is the same girl who has slept with and dragged all round the house the small pumpkin she painted nearly 4 weeks ago!)Sabrina dove right in with all kinds of gusto directing what shapes she wanted for each feature! Sabrina wanted happy cheery and Anabelle wanted something more scary!





Since it wasnt dark enough when we finished carving, we went in and got jammies on and brushed teeth and then headed out to enjoy them all aglow :)

Hola Treescolar!!!

Bienvienidos a la mundo de escuela Sabrina! (Welcome to the world of school Sabrina!)
This last week Sabrina began Threeschool in the El Puente program at Zeeland Christian. This is a spanish immersion program in which the kids will be exposed to and immersed in the Spanish language! Sabrina has been SO excited to begin school and this week could not have come fast enough in her eyes! She picked out her own backpack (had to be purple, her fave color) and wore in aorund the house constantly. She and Anabelle became comnsumed with playing school and it was almost all she talked about at bedtime snuggle time! When the day came there was not a bit of hesitation on her part and she dove right in! The first day I got to go with her for the day and then the second day she went on her own for the two hours. After picking her up I had nonstop chatter about every moment of her day...needless to say she loves it! She is already using a number of Spanish words she's learning at home and is teaching Anabelle as well. I'm finding I am going to have to brush up on my Spanish to answer all her questions! WIth Maestra Hernandez
Doing a craft with Maestra Uribe


Most partents talk about being sad or teary on this day, but with all Sabrina's excitement, it was hard to not just be super excited for her! Right now she goes just two days a week for a couple hours, I imagine when she starts going evey day all day it will be much harder. Anabelle really enjoys the time she gets with just mommy and I do too, her personality is really evolving lately with the influx of language and I so enjoy getting to know this much more chatty Anabelle!

DOnt mind the goofy poses, Sabrina is a tough one to take pics of, she does not sit still and I think she things she's a high fashion model :)

Fishing and life lessons

This post kept getting skipped over and forgotten, but the memories of fishing were some of the highlights of this summer! Poppy had told the girls he'd take them fishing at the cottage this August. He got all our old gear that I remembered from growing up (even the old holey tan glove we use to take the fish off the hook) and headed down the dock with the girls. I was pretty sure this adventure was not going to be long lasting, but oh was I wrong! The girls loved it and the fish were practically fighting eachother to get on the hook! (perfect for two antsy little girls!) ALtogether they caught about 10 fish, mostly pan fish but as you can see, Sabrina got a pretty good sized bass!



It was so much fun watching them learn how to fish with my dad, he taught us girls to fish when we were little and we took lots of little fishing trips to Huizenga park or Lake Laminations (the pond by where my dad used to work). I loved fishing with my dad and I loved that he taught us to fish like boys, not girls. I owe alot of my confidence and willingness to try things that are not tradiotionally "girly" to the fact that my dad never saw having three girls as a limitation to what he could teach us. When we fished, we were expected to bait our own hooks and take our own fish off, thats part of what fishing is why should that be any different because of your sex? Just that small lesson while fishing taught me about not letting the worlds expecations of me as a girl, limit what I can do! My dad always saw us as having unlimited possibilities and juch confidence in us, it was hard not to feel you could achieve anything! So blessed to have had this kind of dad :) and doubly bless to now watch this lesson be imparted to my girls!

And by the way, I still bait my own hook and take fish off :) Thanks Dad!

Here's to 32!

Monday was Brads Birthday :) He's not one to make a big deal about birthdays, but we like try try to make it special, like it or not! The girs and I made him his favorite cake (rainbow chip) and the girls decorated it with sprinkles! We made his favorite dinner and set the table with fine china and candles! It was nothing crazy, but we tried to make daddy feel extra special on his big day!

Blowing out the candles with Daddy!

We love him so much and is definately the backbone of our family. He never quits and always finds a solution to whatever problem arises. He always goes the extra mile and too often without thanks or recognition. Kind, generous compassionate....I could go on all day :) I just feel so blessed that I can call him my other half!

Bristol or Bust!

If you would have asked me what I thought of NASCAR a week ago I would probablly tell you I was pretty indifferent. I have watched more races than I care to say, but I also in that time learned alot about it and know there is more to it then "just driving in a circle". Would I say I have a passion for it? NO. Do I hate it? No, (only when it keeps my hubby too occupied when I need or would like his attention, hehe) there are some interesting things about it, but would never choose to turn it on myself.

THis past weekend, Brad and I and our good friends Mike and Em took a roadtrip down to Bristol, TN to watch a NASCAR race. Truthfully, I was looking forward to it as a trip with great friends with no kids...a break from the norm. I had no idea what to expect from the NASCAR portion of the getaway...

After lots of travel, a night in a WALMART parking lot, and laughs on the way down, we rounded a bend and saw this HUGE arena and a sea of campers and tents....I mean for MILES! All the houses in the area had sold patches of their lawns for tents, cars, and campers. People were parking and walking 5 miles just to get to the venue! It was BANANAS! Unlike anything i have ever seen! This alone would have been worth the trip for me! We got to our campsite and set up shop. We met some really cool people in the lots around us and everyone was very cool and friendly and unhillbillyish! HAHAHA! DUring the day we explored, shopped the vendors, and hung out by the trailer. At night it was racetime!!!!



There were two races we attended, the Nationwide (like the minor leaugeS) and the Sprint Cup (the Majors). We hiked up to our seats (21 stories worth of stairs!) and donned our scanners and microphones. The noise is so loud, you cant talk to eachother without them! You can listen to all the driver chatter and the announcers during the race on the scanner. The races are so much more exciting in person and its so easy to get caught up in it all, fan or no!

The whole weekend was awesome and I cant wait to go again...never thought I'd say that!

Magnus makes our weekend

So as I mentioned in my last post, while camping at the Hungry Horse, we got so spend some time getting to know one of the horses on the property. He was a beautiful black and white horse named Magnus. Dawn, Ranee, and Stephanie brought us our and let the girls help brush, ride and feed him. The just ate it up!

Hungry Horse

Yep, this is my guy, in front of a camper... in the dirt no less! Any of you who know Brad would know that 2 years ago this would have been a pipe dream! This would not have been his idea of fun, but now just look at him, camping with a smile on his face! Love it!

He loves it too :) Really! no Joke! Not sure what changed it, but so thankful for it because we have had a great summer of camping goodness and lots of memories have been made!

A couple weekends ago, Brad and I took the girls camping at the Hungry Horse in Dorr, Mi. This was our first camping trip with "just us" and our first time at Hungry Horse! The draw to this location was that it is very close to Brads shop and he was able to work while we were there. On Thursday, Sabrina went to work with Brad for half a day, she was so excited and had fun riding bikes and playing with her buddy Avery.

The time there was alot of fun. Our site was right next to one of three playgrounds which made life easier for me while Brad was at work :) We also were close to the pool where we spent much of our time in the mornings. There was a hay ride, lots of smores and an awesome night up close and personal with a beautiful horse, thanks to some friends (more about this in a later post).



The girls are smore freaks, Sabrina would begin asking at breakfast time about when we could have the smores!

Just hangin around!

Climbin


At the end of the day, we'd bathe the girls (cuz let me tell you, they were filthy!) and have story time before bed. I just love seein my girlies snuggled up to my best guy! :) I'd like to say, after storytime and prayers the girls curl up in the bunks and drift off, but that is far from the truth....lets just say smores after dinner does not sleepy girls make! Lots of giggles and goofing off till the wee hours! It's all part of making memories, right?

snapshots of a night on the lake

A huge thanks to the geenens for being wonderful hosts!