School Days...

I signed Henry up for preschool in the fall. He is going to Trinity Lutheran school which is the same place that my brothers and I went to as children. They accept all religions (and non) and is a lovely place to learn and grow. I am very excited for him.
On Friday Henry received an invitation to Vacation Bible School at Trinity Lutheran Church. It is starting on the 27th and goes five days. I was so excited that he was invited and that he would get a chance to "practice" for preschool. He'll be in a setting without me and will be able to get an idea what school will be like in the fall. Plus it will be a fun week of bible stories, songs, games, crafts. I preregistered him for it today. And as an added bonus it's FREE! They are taking donations to a teaching thingy in India. I can't recall what it is but we'll give a donation. Have I mentioned that I am very excited for him?!?!
We also got invited to a birthday party this Saturday for one of the great little boys we go to Kindermusik with. I was so pleased to be invited and I know my kids will love playing with the boys. I just hope mine behave themselves! I am really looking forward to this too!!! Chang Po playing "dead dog"

Lulu with her new dog toy. In less then 5 hours she had already put a big hole in it which Dr. Mom so kindly sewed up.

Sunday Pancakes

Okay...I love taking pictures of my kids eating pancakes at the church pancake breakfast.

We had hamburgers on the grill at grandma's for dinner. While we were eating a deer came very close to us. I really think she wanted a yummy hamburger too. I tried getting a picture without scaring her away. She actually got closer then where she is in the picture. I was amazed.

Dinner Out With Grandma

Grandma took us out for dinner last night to the Brookside Inn in Beulah. Dinner was ok but it seems like when they get busy or are having a dinner special then the other meals fall by the wayside. It costs too much for them to fall apart like that. Also they did not have my favorite dessert available and if I am going to splurge on dessert then that is what I want. Our waitress was new too and...I am trying to think of a nice way to put it...but she must not have been brought up to know which fork goes with what. Things needed for our dinner were forgotten and it seemed like it just never occurred to her that we would need them. Oh well. I appreciate that Grandma was treating us to an evening out! The next time we go out for an expensive meal we'll be heading to the Glenwood in Onekama.
The pictures are just random ones of the kids. I need to take more of our surroundings instead of just the kids' faces. Irene actually caught smiling.

Henry hamming it up for the camera.

View outside our window.

4th of July Weekend

This year daddy was home with us for the fourth. We picked him up in Grand Rapids on the first. We attempted to eat at Red Robin again while in Grand Rapids. Every time we try to eat there the kids have a major break down. This time went better and I actually got to finish my meal. After lunch we went to the mall in Grandville that I can never remember the name of. We were just going to ride the carousel. We went for a ride and for some reason Henry did not want to ride on a horse, he wanted to ride on the seat so I rode with him and Mark with Irene.

While we headed back to the bathrooms and our car we briefly stopped at one of the kiosk things that sells fake brand name purses. Irene was checking out a small, round, pink coach knock-off when a woman came up and threw her arms around my husband. My first thought was that a drunk woman had fallen into him. But no...it was his Aunt Kathy and her daughter and grandson. Aunt Kathy is one of his mother's sisters and his favorite aunt. We have not seen or talked to her in over two years. Some of you know that super drama that is his family and certain events that had lead to their removal from our lives. Turns out that the story his parents are spreading is about 100 miles away from the truth and Mark's crazy sister is still stirring the pot two years later. It was an informative visit and it was interesting to learn that Mark's sister is insanely jealous that Mark has a daughter. Supposedly that is why she is still pooping out the drama years later. Anyway it was a quick visit and Kathy gave us her address and phone number. She also bought Irene the fake coach purse and Henry a "The King" car from Cars. Mark also told her about the new baby. We wondered how long Kathy would hold onto that secret. But enough of that drama...it is best left in the past.

Thursday morning we had an early appointment in Traverse City for the Durango. That was another huge drama. Those people tried to tell us we didn't have a warranty while we held the signed warranty paperwork in our hands. Mark got VERY upset with them and we'll never do business with them again or recommend them. (Took from Thursday morning until the next week Thursday to fix the car too) We had lunch and went to the mall where I got some maternity shirts.

Friday we went to the carnival and flea market in town. We also checked out the animals and fed them carrots. By this time Roo was getting a cold and both kids were overtired. We decided not to go to the fireworks since they didn't start until 10:30pm. Both kids were in bed long before that.

Saturday we went to the parade. It was fun but Roo fell down and cut open her knee. Plus we were sitting by a very nice woman and her son. They shared any candy that got thrown near them and actually talked with Henry. On the other side of us was a kid that practically took the candy out of Roo's hands. Geez people...teach your kids to share!! From there we headed to the art fair. I wasn't too impressed overall and didn't buy anything there. We decided not to do the carnival again that day since Henry was getting a cold too. Instead we had naps and then a cook out at Grandma's.

Sunday we planned on going to the classic car show and the carnival. The darn carnival was already packing up! They were suppose to be open that day so I was mad that the kids missed it. But we went and fed the animals and the kids rode the camel. And Henry loved the classic cars. He had to be picked up so he could see the inside of every car. I so wished my brother Pete had been there so they could have talked cars together. Henry would have loved that. He did pick out a very pretty blue corvette that he said uncle Pete could have.

I can't remember what we did on Monday. We bought blinds at Meijer to put up in the living room and a big shade at K Mart to put in the playroom. Tuesday was back to Grand Rapids to drop off Mark. I did learn that I really like the Toyota Sienna minivan. That was our loaner car while the Durango was being fixed. Super-Duper car salesman Pete informed me that I can get one in all wheel drive and now I am wishing for one!

And that is what we did over the 4th of July weekend!!

And Baby Makes 5

I am now in my 24th week of pregnancy with baby #3. Or should I call this baby # Holy Crap How Did That Happen? Yes this little bundle of joy came as quite a surprise to us. I completely blame my husband though. This is a result of that weekend back in January when he surprised me with a two day home visit. I remember at the time telling him that I didn't think it was the best time of the month and then our laughing about it because yeah, right, sure...nothing will happen. Seems we forgot that the other two kiddies we have were both unplanned "how did this happen" babies. Then I think about my friends that are trying so hard to get pregnant and I realize that #1 we are so lucky and #2 we are jerks for laughing about the chances.
So baby #3 is a boy...which I knew it was going to be. I knew what the other two would be before ever getting an ultrasound. I'm not bragging...it's an intuition thingy that comes with being pregnant. At first we weren't going to find out the sex but I was so certain that it was a boy that I couldn't wait. So far things are progressing smoothly. Of course that is after three months of being sicker then I ever was with the other two and then a month of I gotta eat NOW! Hormones seems to have gotten under control a bit and now I am hungry but not eat a bear ravenous.
This baby is due October 24th. He'll be born a few days before that since it'll be a repeat c-section. The great thing is that his birthday will be a month after Henry's so I'll have a lot of baby boy clothes that can be reused. It's all about saving money! Of course I did start a Wal-Mart baby registry with bedding that I feel in love with and some items that we really do need. I keep saying we don't need a lot but the registry was 18 items long (now 16 since my mom bought the bedding and Ashley got the diaper bag). There are just a lot of cute items that match the bedding and blah blah blah.
On a different note...My husband is planning on switching companies at the end of the month. It won't get him home more often then the other company BUT it will cut out the five hours in the the car to pick him up!!! And that is five hours just to pick him up and get him home. We still have the five hour (round trip) to drop him off again. He'll be able to park in town which will save us time and MONEY on gas and food. Plus the kids hate all that time in the car and it cuts into our time spent with daddy.
Well after all that news I am tired and in need of a shower. Things to do and all that!

Happy 4th of July!