27 Months

*He is pretty good about saying thank you (dak oo) and please.

*He has started to get cold and hot right.  He recently starting crossing his arms and saying "brr" when he's cold.

*He's taking more of an interest in the potty.  He has accidentally gone (mostly) on the potty once.  He picked out big boy Thomas underpants but has yet to even try them on.  I think potty training a boy is going to be messy!

*He will randomly come up to us, grab our hands, and dance.

*He insists on sleeping with his matchbox cars and lines them up all in a row in bed with him before he falls asleep.

*He has become very finicky about being sticky.  He regularly asks for a napkin or washcloth when eating.

*He has become very "sensitive."  If he gets the slightest bump, bang, or tumble, he says "ow" repeatedly and holds it out or points to the "ouchy" for me to kiss.  Usually after I kiss it, I ask him it it's all better, which he responds "ya."  I'm glad that I still have the power to make things all better with a kiss :-)

*He has really started to push his limits.  When we're outside and he turns, waves, and says "bye" I know I'm in trouble.  I he usually then takes off down the sidewalk.  Multiple times I've had to run after him down the street and carry him back under my arm while carrying his tricycle under the other.  I'm sure we're quite a sight.

Love

All About Hannah

Now that I no longer do monthly updates on Hannah, I don't often do a post on just her.  She really is turning into a little lady, so I thought it was time to do an update:

*She is in 4t clothes, soon to be moving up to 5, and size 10 going on 11 shoes. 

*She is really a good helper.  Some of the things she helps with include laundry, unloading the dishwasher, and dusting.  She's also very good at making her (and Jack's) bed in the morning.

*She gets herself dressed every morning and pretty much picks out all of her own outfits.  She's actually really good at matching.

*One of her favorite things to do lately is play story time.  Of course, she's the teacher, and Jack and I get to listen on the floor as she reads us stories.

*She is a scheduler and a planner.  She wants to know details like what time we will be someplace or what day we are going somewhere.  She is not satisfied with just a general answer of later or far away, but we must be specific.  It's also pretty common to catch her with a pen and paper making a list (can't imagine where she gets that from!). 

*She loves to color and paint.

*She loves to make forts out of blankets and get their sleeping bags out to "camp" in the middle of the living room.

*She is a very good big sister.  She really helps Jack and likes to give him directions that may or may not be received well :-)  It is really nice to be able to ask her to help with Jack and know that for the most part she will do it.

*She has a flowered nightgown that is her absolute favorite and would wear every. single. night. if I didn't throw it in the laundry and hide it myself.

*She has really gotten into taking care of her baby dolls.  She has several and dresses them all up in old baby clothes, gives them naps, puts them in their high chair to feed them, etc.

*She is very excited to go to school in a few weeks!

 

*She's becoming sensitive to right and wrong and learning to apologize.  Several times after she has done something wrong, she will later come back to me and apologize all on her own without any prompting from us.  It's so encouraging and rewarding to see God developing his character in her.  We are truly blessed.

Crashed

After a hard night of partying with their friend Jake, this is how we found Jack in bed.

Surprise!

Jason's dad turned 60 at the beginning of the month, so when we went to visit them in Lewiston we knew we needed to do something special.

The caution tape and 60th birthday decor did the trick.  His dad was totally surprised/amused.

Of course, we had to get him a few gifts including new glasses.

We all then went to dinner at Pat's favorite Lewiston hang-out Talley's.

After dinner we came back and wrapped up our celebration with cupcakes and bumbleberry pie (another of Pat's favs).  Here's to another great decade! 

August Happenings

We've been so busy this month enjoying the end of summer that blogging has obviously gotten put by the wayside.  Here's a little bit of what we've been up to..

We're slowly remodeling the kids' room.  Since we sold their dresser, their clothes had been in bags all over their floor, which was driving me insane!  However, we wanted something older that we could paint the way we liked it.  We totally lucked out when we went to the Allegan Antique Fair and scored this dresser, already painted in the perfect shade of blue for a steal of a price!  The only thing we needed to do was paint the knobs.  We couldn't be happier! 

(A side note, the model in the picture is wearing a dress that's about 30 years old :-)

Once again, we got together with Jason's former Jedco buddies for our annual family picnic.  Every year it seems like our numbers grow.  This year, Sarah is expecting a new little guy in their family.  It's so much fun to see these kids grow.

The Jedco guys and kids.

Sand Dunes (a.k.a. the desert)

A couple of weeks ago we took the kids up to Silver Lake.  When we crested the hill and could see the dunes for the first time, Hannah gasped and said, "Look, the desert!"

We were planning to take the boat out, but since it was so rough and busy we decided to stay at the State Park.

For as beautiful as the sand is on the other side of the lake, the beach at the park was not the best.

So we packed up and went on a Mac Woods dune ride instead.  We did this with Hannah when she was a toddler, but she was too young to remember.  This was Jack's first dune ride, and he had a blast!

Because there was an endangered bird with freshly hatched chicks on the Lake Michigan shore, we had to skip the shoreline part of the tour but instead we got to get out at the top of the dune overlooking Silver Lake.

A perfect day at the dunes!