Bicycles!

The section of town that Mark's parents live in have a weekend yard sale once a year. Everyone in the area knows about it and they get a lot of traffic through there. This year, since we are living down here, we added some of our stuff to the sale. We decided that any money we made would go toward buying the children bicycles.

Thankfully, we made $250 at the sale!! Henry and Irene each picked out the bike they wanted from Meijer. The bikes each cost $54. Not bad! We had a harder time finding a tricycle for Gavin. Meijer had some plastic fold-up ones but they cost almost as much as the bikes and I was not willing to spend that much on a crappy trike. We finally found a metal one at another Meijer store in a different town.

All the kids got helmets and Irene got a basket and bell for her bike. They've been doing really well on them. Henry is a speed demon and Irene is very careful. Gavin can peddle and does it well, but he gets mad because he can't keep up with the other two.

They've been having a lot of fun with the bikes and I am happy that we were able to get them. Thank goodness for yard sales and cleaning out unwanted stuff!  

The Wonder of Wilf

There is a blog that I read every day. I can't remember when I started reading it, but it has been for quite some time. I can't explain why I love this blog so much. I just do.

Yesterday, the wonderful Wilf passed away.

I shall miss that fluffy little polar bear. He brought me a daily dose of wonder. Sometimes funny, sometimes sweet, sometimes sad, but always with love.

Wilf the PON discovers France

Pajama Day

 It was a rough week. Busy, with children that got upset easily. They miss having daddy home. Mark was suppose to be home sometime on Saturday. He wasn't never near Michigan until Saturday night. Hopefully, He'll be home sometime tonight.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling very unwell. I decided we would have pajama day and watch movies. Thankfully the movies got the kids to stop bickering for a bit. I actually picked up my knitting for the first time this week. 

Late afternoon Mark's mom called and invited us for dinner. I had to get everyone dressed, but it was worth getting out of the house. The kids played a bit outside. Henry had multiple breakdowns with crying and telling me he hates me. He is not taking daddy being on the road again very well.
Neither am I.

Life, or something like it.

So many updates, where should I begin? Well, we found a dentist here in town for the kids. The best part is that it isn't just a hole-in-the-wall-we-take-your-state-dental-plan kind of dentist. It is a nice office and within walking distance from our house. The kids went one morning during spring break. I think we were the first appointment of the day. The kids were very good, even Gavin! He sat in the chair and let them clean his teeth like it was no big deal. I was so impressed!

We are STILL looking for doctors for the kids down here. Nothing. I am discouraged and am about to schedule Irene's 5 year appointment with the doctor in Traverse City...an almost 3 hour dive from here!

Henry has been doing well in school. He tries to earn 5 stickers each day from the teacher. If he gets all five he gets to choose a small toy. Usually it is a small car or ball. If he has a good week we get him a Matchbox car. We've also been having him go for half an hour of tutoring each week. His tutor is the woman who was the substitute teacher for his class while his other teacher was out for several months. We were very upset when the teacher came back because Henry had done so well with the substitute. Thankfully, the sub offers tutoring. Henry has done an amazing job with her! He can count to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's. His writing is getting much better and he is doing well with letter combination sounds. This week he brought home a book and read it to us! I am so thrilled!

Irene's report card came from preschool. She is smart, confident, and is a bit hard on herself. She is ready for Kindergarten! Irene has also been taking a baton twirling class. She loves it and is really good at it. She'll have the opportunity to be in the 4th of July parade here and some other parades around the area.

Gavin has become a talkative little boy. He is still in love with dinosaurs and Buzz Lightyear.

In other news...Mark has finally found a job. This is a good thing because we have been living off of our small tax return. Between Henry's tutoring, paying for preschool, and all the other small expenses that add up to large sums, we are in desperate need of money once again. Unfortunately, the job is another over-the-road truck driving job. He is driving for a small company and is only suppose to be out a week at a time. Still, he left yesterday and I don't know when he'll be back. This is usual since they rarely give you a return time until they know what your return load will be. It is hard having him gone. I miss him and the kids miss him. Living in this small town is hard since I know no one around here besides Mark's parents. I don't have the funds for gas to join any knitting nights or mom groups in nearby towns. Another difficulty is taking the kids to school or any activities. If I take Henry or Irene to school that means I have to take all three kids. Ugh. I'm tired and overwhelmed and lonely.

i am trying to find the bright side of it. One thing is that my in-laws are about 7 miles from our house. If we have a problem it wouldn't take long for them to get here. Plus, they own the house we live in, so my landlord will be quick to take care of any problems with the house!

I think that about covers things for now. As always, please feel free to check out my knitting blog by clicking here.

Easter!

Running around and hunting for Easter eggs at Grandma's house.

Posing for pictures in the sweaters I made them for Easter.

It's hard to get them to all look and smile at me at the same time!

Very windy out there! Was difficult to get the pictures I wanted.

The Easter bunny stopped at our house and left some goodies and a small gift. To Grandma and Grandpa's for yummy dinner cooked by Grandma and an Easter egg hunt set out by Grandpa. All this followed by a lot of time spent outside playing. A good day spent with my kids!

Updates on life coming soon...not that we live an overly exciting life ;-) And, if you'd like to read more about the Easter sweaters, you can check out my knitting blog by clicking here.

Right now, in this moment, Everything is Perfect

I know that this won't last. In a few minutes or even just seconds someone is going to start to yell or cry, but right now is perfect.

The sun is shining, there is a lovely breeze, the wind chimes are tinkling. The children are playing happily and quietly. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots are cooking away in the crock pot for tonight's St. Patrick's Day dinner. I've just pulled out a loaf of Lazy Irish Beer Bread from the oven. The house smells wonderful.

There are towels washing in the washer. Even the dogs are napping. Time to pull out my knitting and work on the Easter sweater I am making Irene.

Enjoy the day, everyone!

Monster Jams

Last weekend my father-in-law took Mark, Henry and Irene and their cousin to the Monster Jams show in Grand Rapids. Henry and Irene were very excited about going. Henry loves Grave Digger and couldn't wait to see him.

Mark said they had excellent seats and were four rows back. It was very loud, but my mother-in-law bought the kids the ear muff ear protection. Mark and his dad had ear plugs.

Grave Digger!

The Van Andel Arena is a bit too small to hold Monster Jams so the trucks were not able to do as many of the stunts and races. Still, the kids loved it and I think Mark had fun too.

Gavin and I spent the afternoon together at home. We went for a walk and fed the ducks. We even splurged and went to the coffee shop. Gavin had the triple espresso ;-) When we got home we watched Octonauts and he took a nap. It was nice to spend a little one on one time with my little guy and it was good for Hen and Roo to spend time with their daddy.