Growing up too quickly!!

Look what we can do now!

Time to settle into a routine

Well, the boys are off to their first day of preschool/daycare. They went late today because they were up late last night. Breakfast was hurried and they weren't very happy. They both were in tears before we left the house and when we got there Jonathan burst into tears and cried until we got into the 4 yr old room and met their teacher, Miss Bev.

They were given a tour of the room. They get cards with their names on them and then they pick where they want to play and they stick the cards with the velcro on the wall in that area. The idea being that the names on the wall in section of the room are the children responsible for cleaning up that area when the time comes. Nice idea, we'll see how it works out. Our boys are horrible about cleaning up for us, hopefully they will do better in school.

We are thinking their biggest challenge will be meals. They get breakfast, lunch and snack at school and the school supplies them. Jonathan is not happy they do not serve any peanut products at all. Today will thrill Matthew because lunch is cheeseburgers. Yesterday's lunch was tuna salad with peas. Good thing they started today! We hope they will learn to eat some new things watching the other kids.

Matthew is excited because there is another Matthew in the class so he is Matthew K. in school on his name tag, his cubby, his cot, his mailbox and play card. Anyone want to place a bet on how long before Jonathan asks for a K on his things too??

We did send them in different shirts today to help the teachers. Can't wait to see how they did at the end of the day when we pick them up. Bad mom that I am, we forgot to take a camera but it probably wouldn't have been a good idea anyway. By the time we left they were playing happily and didn't even turn to watch us go. We walked by outside a bit later when we left the church and saw them through the window. Matthew waved happily and pointed us out to Jonathan who looked a bit sad and wouldn't wave but was totally fine. I think they are going to love it there.


In other news, they had a few last adventures this week. They spent Monday night at Grandma and Papa's and the weather was cruddy but they had some fun. Tuesday they went to Papa's cousin's farm and picked blueberries, corn and tomatoes. They loved that.

Yesterday they went to the circus here in town. They set up the tents with help from the elephants and it's a wonderful little circus. Luckily, they went to the 4:30 show because the night show had a horrible thunderstorm and the boys would have been terrified.

We drove them down to the lake to see the storm. It was a bit more storm than we bargained for and probably not such a good idea after all but they wouldn't have gone to bed during it anyway. We saw some awesome lightning.

That's about it for now. Time to settle back into a regular routine and settle things back into a normal schedule after a busy summer. We did join the Y and the boys are signed up for more swim lessons this fall and an intro to soccer class where they learn how to play the game.

New High School Stadium

Today the new high school stadium was open for the public, the first games will be played this week. It is quite the complex as you can see from these photos. The boys and Daddy went to check it out during a break between the rain today. There are bricks in the walkway with their names on them thanks to Grandma K and Papa M.

My uncle Ralph was one of the architects for project and was there today to show them around. They climbed to the top 2 times and met the school mascot too. They will be Class of 2021 if all goes well!! Hard to imagine.

We had a great time at Jeff's company pool party on Friday. The weather was beautiful and not too hot, a little breezy. The boys watched their new video "Amazing Coast Guard Helicopter Rescues" on the way over with their kiki's and headsets in hand. They had fun playing in the huge yard with all the kids and toys and swam alot. They loved that the dog was allowed in the pool and they got to go for a ride in a cool big truck and ride in the front seat. They sure crashed out quickly on the way home!

A sneak peak for Halloween

After much consideration and debate....!!! The boys really wanted to be Wonder Woman and a pink Powder Puff girl!! They are still mad I didn't let them get pink snow suits last year or pink Crocs this summer. I can't help it they love pink, I sure have no idea where they get it from!! HA!

All of a sudden, I am way behind in blogging again. Sorry about that.

The boys finished a week at YMCA last week, Big Truck Camp, and they got to see a cement mixer, tow truck, dump truck, police cars, and a trolley up close and check them out. They had a great time and are excited about going back to the Y for swim lessons this fall. We hope to get at least two more sessions in this winter. Papa Mark has learned that they need to be able to swim for 5 minutes in order to take sailing lessons next summer so we have been working on that.

Last Friday they went camping with Grandma Cindy and Papa Terry and the Henry side of the family. They had fun with all the other kids and swam and rode jet skis and bikes. Dad went and got them Saturday. (They didn't camp, they stayed in a hotel overnight, not quite that brave yet!)

Today, they went to John Ball Zoo with Grandma Kris and Papa Mark. They were pretty tired when I got home so I haven't heard many stories yet. We are off to Daddy's company picnic tomorrow so hopefully I will get the scoop in the car tomorrow.

They have suddenly decided they LOVE showers. We scared them to death by making them shower during one nasty flu bug when they threw up on us when they were little and have been scared of showers ever since but they have gotten brave this summer and now love them.

They are now DIVING into the pool, something their mother never could do right!! They swim the pool lengthwise and can do all kinds of flips and stunts. Their favorite is a big cannonball into the pool right next to whoever is innocently standing in the pool hoping to not get too wet!!

In Recognition

The boys got this from some of my co-workers in honor of their big achievement this week!

BIG BIG BIG NEWS!!!!

MIRACLE IN GRAND HAVEN!!!

The boys FINALLY gave up their long refusal to poop on the potty!!!! Jonathan did it this afternoon and then Matthew could not be outdone (or miss the promised Thomas engine or ice cream) so he did it too!! They both did it again before bed and are quite proud of themselves. It's been a long road since they were pee trained a year ago but no matter what we tried they would not poop. They just needed to wait until they were good and ready.

Very special night in our house. And just in time to start preschool!

A day with Grandma Niecey

We had a wonderful visit yesterday with my grandmother who is visiting from Florida. My sister and I picked her up and took her to lunch on the Grand River where we could see the Coast Guard boats still tied. Town is cleaned up after the carnival left overnight and the fireworks the night before. (More on those later!)

We played at our house for the afternoon and let the kids make s'mores inside since it was dreary outside.

We had a good dinner and then took some pictures. Our kids are hams....it was so much fun!

Coast Guard City USA

Grand Haven is busy celebrating the Coast Guard Festival. The boys and cousins went on a tour of the cutter Mackinaw and climbed all the way to the top. They also got to try on a helmet from their much adored big red helicopter!!

We made our way across the bridge and visited with the Blakeslee side for a bit afterwards. They have a full group at the Coop this week. Happy birthday today to Young Bill who tried to claim he his 39 but we weren't falling for it!

Traipsed back to Cozy Corner and down to the beach for the afternoon. Have I mentioned that Lake Michigan temps are in the 70's this week??? It's been awesome.

We stayed and enjoyed a Highland Park cocktail party on the beach and then enjoyed a pizza dinner and beautiful sunset with the Stoepkers. We didn't come home until nearly 10pm and enjoyed every last bit of the day, just the way it should be.

The boys have been having fun exploring the boardwalks around the cottages with their cousins despite a splinter or two and a fall off the boardwalk for Matthew that nearly caused Aunt Mareman a heart attack! They had a great time night before last with Pied Piper Tim Stoepker as he took them all for a walk and back to their cottage for popcorn.

Today is the grand parade and fireworks and we'll be in the thick of it and dinner at the cottage. Tomorrow is our last day with the cousins and Aunt Mary Anne and Uncle Doug. We are going to pick up Great Grandma Niecey from Grand Rapids and bring her out for the day. We had planned an afternoon at the pool tomorrow but there is rain in the forecast so we'll see.

Jeff has already been up and out to the Farmer's Market this morning to get 3 dozen ears of corn for the next few days. The corn has been outstanding as usual this summer. The kids can't get enough of it.

After the Newman's head out on Monday the boys have a busy week ahead. The are going to Big Truck Camp at the YMCA and will see a trolley, dumptruck, tow truck, cement mixer, police and ambulance. They are so excited! Wednesday they have a physical for preschool, they will not be thrilled about that. They are going camping Friday with Grandma Cindy and Papa Terry and the Henry side of the family. On August 23rd they will start their new preschool/daycare at our church and a whole new adventure for their last year before they head off to real school, so hard to believe!

Meanwhile, there is much more summer to enjoy here on the shores. We have to get more adventures in and we will!

Tubing in Spring Lake

Yesterday Papa Mark was very nice and took us all tubing in Spring Lake for four hours. The kids all took turns and had a ball, I think Uncle Doug had almost more fun than they did as you can tell by the grin on his face!

Thank you Papa Mark and Grandma Kris!!

The boys spent the night last night with Gma and Papa and learned to dive down and pick things up from the bottom of the pool. This morning they went with Daddy to check out the carnival rides, I think the three of them were scoping them out for later today.