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Today was a crazy day for the Koetje's!  Brianna had a 10:00 Softball Game and a 12:00 Soccer Game.  PLUS we had snack duty for both!!!

Here's her 1st at bat.  She had a bit of trouble hitting the ball foul.  Her second and third time, however she had nice even hits and made it on base.

She had 2 outs at second! 

Nate was "bored" so Jeff made him run races against himself.

Even Cocoa made it to the game!

 Bri has improved so much from Fall AYSO.  She used to be afraid to be aggressive, now she can handle the ball and isn't afraid to take on an opponent.

 Notice the purple shirt?  We didn't have time for her to change shirts, so she just put her AYSO jersey over the Softball Shirt.

Two nice stops as goalie!

Two of Brianna's biggest fans!  (It was very cold, hence the blankets)

2 More Muilenburgs in the world!

Wednesday night, May 2, 2012 saw the arrival of two new little guys: Austin James and Zachery Joel. 

Mama and babies are doing well. Zach needs a bit of help to breathe and is hanging out in the NICU, but showing signs of improvement already.

Brianna had an orthodontist appointment on Thursday morning, so afterward we decided to take a detour before school/work and meet the newest members of the family. 

Here is Austin.  What a peanut!

Big Brother - Kam, Big Sister- Maddie and Big cousin-Bri

Austin is making the rounds...

... Bri thought it felt like an eternity before it was her turn.  She could hardly wait.

Evening Prayers

"Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

Guide me safely through the night

and wake me with the morning light"

Those are the prayers that our kids have said since they were old enough to speak.  Through the years the annunciation, emphasis and alliteration have changed.  The overall message, however, was the same and, frankly, I think that the heartfelt mis-speaks make God smile.

For years Brianna would end her prayers with:

"God bless mommy and daddy, nafan, madeline and ben-german."

When Jackie was pregnant with Grace, Bri's prayers changed to:

"God bless mommy and daddy, nathan, madeline, benjamin, kameron 

and help the baby in Aunt Jackie's tummy to grow big and strong"

When it looked like Grace was going to be a "large" baby (Thanks to ultrasound technology) Jackie kindly asked Brianna to remove the "Big" from her prayers.

 Tonight Jeff was saying prayers with Nate and he was correcting some "mistakes" that Nate made.  I know that all too soon Nate will have mastered the prayer and I just know I need to capture the way he said them tonight:

"Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the morning light

God Bless Mommy and Daddy

Grandmas and Grandpas

Aunts and Uncles

Breezy, Maddie, Benny and Kam

Help Gracie to Grow Big and Strong and

help the babies in Aunt Sara's tummy to grow big and strong

and help me not to have any bad dreams like lions or tigers

Amen"

Nate is going to Kindergarten.  I can't really believe it.  How did my baby grow so fast?!  Today we had his evaluation and he (of course) passed with flying colors.  I am so blessed to have such happy healthy kids with a love of school!

Only 2 years ago we were in the same spot with Bri. Here is the link to her page.

Happy 30th Birthday, Jeff!

For Jeff's 30th birthday I decided to surprise him with tickets to a Red Wings game.  I kept this secret for weeks; but in the end I could not keep from spilling the beans the night before.

 Just outside "The Joe"

 They won Game 22 in their record-setting win streak that night!

 After the game we were able to go down on the ice.  If Pharm Tech work fails, I believe he has a future as a goalie.

 The Fox Sports Detroit guys left their mic unattended.  Too bad for them.

Whoa Bessie!

I can't believe how Blog Deficient I have become! It's time to start a new resolution: keep up with my kids.

So, I will be posting both catch up and new posts as we go. Here's to (yet another) fresh start.