Joy!

Brianna (at the top of her lungs): "Joy to the world the Lord is come ...... and Heaven and Manger Scene, and Heaven and Manger Scene, and Hea----ven and Hea---ven and MANGER SCENE!"

Thanksgiving...finally

Each Thanksgiving we go bowling with the Koetje Family. As they get older, the kids get more and more into the game.

Here is the almost full group shot. From top left Rylee, Bri, Kaylee, Nate and Maddie.Bri getting ready to make a big move

Nate lining up

In the position

Great shot! We were very excited anytime the ball actually made it to the end of the lane.

Funny Boy

I was sitting here working and everyone else was asleep (or so I thought). Curled up in the recliner with my laptop and paperwork I suddenly found that I had been joined by a small blonde sweetie in footie pajamas.

Without a word he went over to the book basket and picked up his "Touch and Feel Farm" book, opened the front closet and pulled out a blanket, climbed onto the couch and curled up to go back to sleep.

After a short while he disappeared just as quickly as he appeared.

"Swim" the Fish

Tonight was Grandville Christian's Family Fun Night. Bri has been counting down the days all week. We went early and had supper in the gym. The kids were all smiles from the moment we got out of the car.

It was very interesting to be back at a family fun night more than 17 years after my last one... Some things have changed, some have very much stayed the same.

The highlight of the night was the fish pond. Silly me, I thought the fish pond was where they would stick poles over the side of a "pond" and get a prize.... What I soon discovered was that the fish pond is a game where you toss ping pong balls into a field of cups and if you land one you get a goldfish. Of course, I realized the prize only after Bri had lit up like a million-watt light bulb.

You see, for a few months now she has been begging for a pet. A dog, a gerbil, a bird...anything. The kid just wants a pet. Last week at Meijer I had to pry her off of the aquarium display as she was convinced that a fish was the perfect pet.

So, when she saw that the opportunity for a pet was within her grasp she became intensely focused. While she was in line I watched child after child throw and not win a fish. Whew. We're probably safe. These kids are 8 and over, Bri is only 4..there's no way were going home with a fish.

When Bri's turn arrived she cautiously stepped up to the line with her first ping-pong ball held firmly in her fist. The determination on her face was amazing. Carefully she aimed and "pop" landed that ball right in the cup. Oh, but we were not done yet. She still had two more balls. "pop" "pop".

We picked out the most orange (and non-floater) fish from that table and off we went to tell daddy and Nate the good news. Nate was thrilled, Daddy...not as much.

Bri nearly had tears in her eyes as she bounced up and down and told us how she was going to tell all the kids at school about her new pet.

So, as we walked to the car Jeff and I debated over the best way to handle this new addition to our family. Surely we could not let him continue to live in a styrofoam cup..or could we...no. definitely not.

He was also probably going to need a bit of fish food in the morning. Oh crap, will he live till morning? How are we going to explain this if it doesn't.

Excited about her new pet, Brianna called Grandpa Don from the backseat of the car- because he is a fish expert and she knew he would share her excitement. Meanwhile, we drove to Pet Supplies Plus in order to gather the things we would need.

So, $38.00 later we had a home for Swim and all the supplies that should be necessary to keep him thriving. As we put the 1.5 gallon aquarium, cotton candy colored gravel, filter and other paraphernalia together, Bri exclaimed "I was going to wish for a fish for my birthday and now I don't have to because I already have my wish".

So, here I sit, blogging about a fish who I am watching very carefully.. I have made Jeff come into the room 3 times already because I think he is swimming "funny". Jeff has assured me that he is not and that I need to "stop obsessing over the fish".

Here's to you Swim. May you have a long, healthy fish life!

Halloween II

Brianna fell in LOVE with this costume.. so Ariel she was (the little mermaid). Don't even ask me how hard it was to make her hair "beautiful".Nate was a monkey. What a monkey he was!
Grandpa Jim couldn't resist giving him a banana.

Here's the whole trick-or-treating crew. Bri, Maddie, Kam {The Sleeping Pumpkin} and Nate

Happy mom with a mermaid and a monkey. Nothing could be better.

Halloween-Part I

Pumpkins!

I'm not a big fan of Halloween. In fact, I don't even like scary movies. Don't even get me started on the "meaning" of it. However, I love to carve pumpkins and celebrate the fall with my kids. Here are this year's creations:

First Day of School -2009

This is Bri's first day of School. She is in Pre-K at Grandville Christian School. It's hard to believe that I am at the place in my life where I have elementary-school aged kids. What's even crazier is that both Jeff and I attended Grandville Christian.

This photo may seem silly, but it is very important. My mom would take this photo of me each year on this very same front porch...did I mention how strange it is that I'm the mom now?

Of course, Nate needed to get in on the photo action as well.

At the entry way--During orientation (a few days prior)There she goes..my big girl heading down the hallway to her first day. (with Eli Mulder).

Welcome, Baby Kam!

The newest edition to the family made his debut. Welcome Kameron John Muilenburg! The kids could hardly contain themselves on the way to the hospital
The needed to check out every inch of him. Thankfully, he obliged.
Here, Bri is checking out his fingers.
Nate giving the toes a once-over

"awwww" was said very frequently by both kids.

Camping at Gun Lake 2009

This is, hands-down, what vacation should look like!The two boys getting ready for a bath...hmmmm which one is which?Uncle Bruce brought Great-Grandpa Elzinga's cane poles out to the lake.

Here Bri is, fishing in the channel.Nate giving it a shot, with some help from daddy.
Nate managed to get a bit ahead of himself on the road

Fishing with Grandpa

At Bri's request, Grandpa Don and mommy took her fishing. The trip started out with a special treat; thanks to locking airbags, Bri could ride her booster in Grandpa Don's truck. The drive alone brought on major cases of the giggles and "look at this!". She had never been so high up in a vehicle, let alone able to see the entire view.

For bait, we used wax worms. Here you see Bri pointing to them.

She would go as far as to hold the container of worms,

but was really not interested in touching them.

She did, however pick out the "right" ones.Obviously her choice in bait worked. Here she and Grandpa are posing for a shot with her first fish of the night. Notice how she's leaning away from it?

She still will have nothing to do with touching them. Unfortunately, you can't see her face; but Bri is facing the shore and shouting

"Here fishy fishy...glub, glub"I absolutely love this photo. It gives me a smile each time I see it. Bri loves to do everything just like Grandpa. See how she's standing on the ledge in the boat, just like him?Bri is an expert at navigating with the fish finder. Every time she sees a blip she say "that's a big one, get it Grandpa!"Watching the bobber.

I even manged to get a line in the water a few times.Silly face! Look how dark it is getting in this picture. Grandpa kept saying "Bri, do you want to go home?" and she'd always respond. "Nope!" Toward the end of the evening it was getting a bit chilly,

Bri pulled her fleece over her life jacket.

Father's Day 2009

This father's day I was totally on top of it. I picked out gifts long ahead of time, had them wrapped, and even had cards.

Boy was I suprised when Dad Koetje opened his gift and found a piece of garlic bread in a sandwich bag.... Bri had "Packed" it in there so she wouldn't forget it. Oh well, who wouldn't want cold garlic toast with their polo shirt?

Bri also picked out Dad Kooistra's card. She found one of a man fishing and when you tilt the card the man pulls the fish out of the water. She knew it was perfect.

In the evening my folks came over to our house for dinner and the kids played outside. Here are a few shots from the night.

A step back in time

When I was a kid I absolutely LOVED the muppets. Yup. The muppets. Especially Miss Piggy. Tonight I watched "The Muppets Take Manhattan" with my kids.

It was so strange I think it's been more than 2o years since I've seen that movie..and I still remembered much of it! Bri wasn't so sure what she thought - she really did not like Animal. She thought he was a scary monster.

Nate, on the other hand was singing (loudly) and dancing along to all of the songs.

All in all it was wonderful to share something from my childhood with them.

Binder Park Zoo

The weekend of our 6th wedding anniversary we decided to take the kids to Binder Park Zoo. We took them both last year on our actual wedding anniversary. It's always our "joke" that we had a "5 year plan" when we got married and we ended up taking both our kids to the zoo on our 5th wedding anniversary. Now taking them there around that date is becoming a tradition.

This year Nate was still a bit young to handle all of the walking, but he was certainly not willing to sit in a stroller throughout the park. Here is how he checked out most of the exhibits:

In the children's portion of the zoo, they had this fun little activity. Looks like bri is still short of a grasshopper. Nate didn't quite get the concept.

I'm not sure exactly what he was doing here. Taking the giraffe off the wall perhaps?

I think Jeff enjoyed the petting zoo more than the kids.

In fact, he bonded very quickly with this goat.

I may have a slight obsession with taking photos of my kids on statues.

Jeff and Bri walking down the trail into "Africa".

(Note: I am pushing Nate in a stroller over a wooden boardwalk (that curves) with one hand while taking a fantastic picture with the other hand. Am I wonder-woman or what?)

Feeding the giraffes. Neither of the kids was willing to risk being licked, but they sure loved watching it when Jeff and I fed them.

At the end of our trip each of the kids was allowed to pick one stuffed animal from the gift shop. Nate picked a fuzzy zebra. (he also took "eee-eee" with him that day)

Bri picked out a giraffe and named him Purple because the giraffes at the zoo had purple toungues. She also has Polo (The small zebra) with her because that is who she brought home from our trip last year.

What a trip home from the zoo should look like: