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.

Halloween 2011

I think this was the first year that my kids were actually willing to pull the gunk out of their own pumpkins.  They were so excited to carve pumpkins with Benny and Gracie and go trick-or-treating with Kam and Maddie.   

 Bri had to have a dolphin for her "face".  She's very into dolphins right now.

 Cleopatra and.... her puppy?  Nate was a puppy for the second year in a row.  We tried talking him into another costume, but just the mention of anything other than his "spot" costume caused massive drama in the Koetje household.  So, Spot he was!

 Check out this cute smile.

 ..and this one!  Look at all that eye make-up. 

 Rapunzel, a Lion, Spot and Cleopatra

More Fall Soccer

Nate also played soccer this fall.  He was on the Wyoming Parks team.  Look at him go!

 One of the most important steps in soccer prep: Check and re-check your shin guards

 Getting warmed up

 Nate's favorite position is goalie.  Each time the coach asked for a volunteer, Nate's hand shot right up.  Notice the orange socks?  His favorite color AND just like Breezy's - a double score!

 Whenever Nate noticed us watching him he would give a thumbs up. 

Fall AYSO

This fall Brianna started AYSO soccer.  She was so nervous about a new sport, new friends and new challenges; but she rose to the occasion. 

 Celebrating a goal scored by the "Orange Lions" with her teammate

 On the sidelines waiting for her turn to play.

 Her number one fan

 Look at that serious goalie!