Family Fun in Michigan

Christmas

2012-01-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas was lovely. We woke up and opened our presents. Then headed off to church. We had a great relaxing time.

We had friends over for Christmas eve dinner and it was a lot of fun but for Christmas we learned of Christ and called our friends and family to check in --- There was some playing with Christmas presents as well :) It was just what we needed.

We hope all our families and friends had a Merry Christmas.

Making Gingerbread houses

2012-01-18T12:18:00.000-08:00

Team Work

The Family Results

We had some of our neighbors over for a fun night of gingerbread house making. We had a terrific time watching the dads try to get the homes to stay up. The kids worked so well together and I loved seeing all their artistic ideas.

Mimi and Bapo come to visit

2012-01-04T18:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas came early at our house this year. Mimi and Bapo came the weekend of the 16th and completely spoiled us. We had a terrific time.

The Candles

Opinion on Cake - Score!! Delicious!

Thank you Mimi and Bapo

Friday night we had our family birthday party for Hazel complete with Pioneer Woman's best frosting ever on a chocolate cake and more presents. Hazel loved it!! She knew exactly what to do with the candles and was all about opening and playing. She loved her doll and Elmo. It was so fun to have family to share in our birthdays. John was even home :)

That night we had our Yearly Chiropractic Visits. I was still nervous about Rand's big fall in November.

Then off to bed time stories with mimi and Bapo. What fun!

The next day we woke up and decided to postpone Christmas until the evening. We would go do Christmas photos at FMG and then come home for naps. Poor John woke up and could not function so I had to get the kids ready for our annual Christmas photo without him. Mimi and Bapo and I and the kids headed all dressed up out to FMG and had a wonderful time.

The Best One - Not counting the one I put up on Facebook :)

Working with Mimi

Working with Bapo

Chinese Lanterns--Thank you Scotia!! I love my jacket.

Mousing Around

After our naps we decided that it was Christmas morning and everyone had changed into their special Christmas jammies from Mimi and Bapo and waited patiently on the stairs for the festivities to begin. John was back in the land of the living.

There is the best video of Norah opening her gift. I think it is on John's phone. She has the biggest look of awe and she says, "Oh, my gosh mom...I've wanted one of these my whole life." Priceless.

The theme for gifts this year was burning energy and I am so grateful for it. The winter has just set it and we will use it over and over and over again .... WE LOVED IT ALL!!! Thanks so much for coming MIMI and BAPO!! We know you had a lot of places to visit and we were really glad that we were able to share these moments with you.

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-28T19:58:00.000-08:00

My excuse for Hazel's lame party was that I was in charge of the Ward Christmas Party that was the Friday after her birthday and John was gone up until the last moment for me to get things accomplished. I actually had a great time at the party but I wished I would have picked out my kids things at home. I explained to John what was happening at the party and this is what they arrived in:

Jess gave us the cutest angel dress EVER and it sat at home in the closet:) Every other family brought their children in appropriate clothing so the video is priceless :) Other than our clothes our kids did a great job during the program. The theme for the party was "Shine". The primary did a beautiful program that talked all about us sharing the light of christ when we "shine". They even sang I am like a Star shining brightly and then played the Chimes with it. I LOVED IT!! The Three Wiseman arrived (bishopric) and handed out treat bags with the symbols of Christmas in them. The families all took home homemade porcelain stars that said Shine on them. We had announced earlier that we would be collecting strips of white paper for people to share their good works and had been collecting for about 6 weeks. They were chained together and part of the decorations.

There are things you learn doing things in bulk but I really thought it was fun and about all I could handle under the circumstances :)

Happy Birthday Hazel!!

2011-12-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

For Hazel's birthday we made Pancakes, her favorite and made a face in it. We played and danced and she thought it was terrific. She loves music. She is wearing her birthday shirt from last year in this picture--Lame-o!!

Hazel is so tough. She will try anything and she is a super good listener. She does not want to be called a baby. She is the most nurturing of all my kids. She wears all emotions outwardly. When dad's car pulls into the driveway, you will not find a more excited child. She jumps and runs and yells all at once until he is in and she is in his arms. She literally is changing before our eyes, everyday she pushes her limits trying to get it all in.

Hazel turned 2 this month!! What an accomplishment for all of us :) She is a mover. She wants to try EVERYTHING and do it BY HERSELF. John traveled for most of the month so he wasn't even home for her birthday or birthday party :( So we did it again when Mimi and Bapo arrived :)

For this event we did a Rainbow theme. We made rainbow cupcakes, six different homemade playdough colors and just played with our friends. According to Rand, it was the lamest party EVER :) We did make some decorations but obviously not enough for Rand.

Rand made her shirt using a tutorial from Pinterest. He colored it backwards including her name so when it was ironed on from the Sandpaper it appeared the correct direction. I thought he did a fantastic job. But I should have cut it out and put it on a colorful shirt. Next time we will plan more in advance :) Right? What was I thinking have a kid in December.

Anyway, WE LOVE HER. We are going to keep her :) Looking forward to what 2 brings.

Thanksgiving in the Desert

2011-12-11T18:09:00.000-08:00

We spent the week in San Diego with my mom's brother's family and had a wonderful time. It was by far my favorite trip with all three. They are finally able to travel together and not all get up at 3 AM every day ready to rock and roll. We went to Legoland, Sea World, Gamis, and Outlets. The kids had a wonderful time.

Thanksgiving Party at School

2011-12-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

Hazel, Norah, and I went to Rand's Thanksgiving Feast. We had a great time. The kids sang us songs. Made special place mats. One class was the Native Americans and one class was the Pilgrims. Each class made something to contribute. Rand's class made the corn bread. The kids were super well behaved through the experience (THANK GOODNESS!!!)

Rand has definitely seen better days. The day before he did a crazy face plant into our street and had a huge egg on his forehead. If you lift up that front hair. It is a nasty cut and bruising behind his eyes. He was such a trooper through it.

Rand's Stories

2011-12-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Rand wrote this story all by himself for Grandpa Peter. He only asked for help with Sewer. I think it is a pretty fantastic story :)

Baking Bread together

2011-12-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would share this moment :)

Corn Maze Fun

2011-12-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

We did our first corn maze. It was a lot of fun. We didn't follow anyone and we didn't have the directions and we made it out just about with everyone else. I was pretty proud of my little troupe.

Halloween

2011-11-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween experience. Our family decision for insects all came from Rand's need to be a praying mantis. He wanted his dad to be a cricket that he could be eating while trick or treating. The rest of us were bee, butterfly for ward party and ant for trick or treating, and ladybug. We had a lot of fun experiences in our costumes. Each class had a fun party and parade. We had a neighborhood Halloween party carnival for the kids. We bobbed for apples, did hay rides, dropped spiders into pumpkins, swept pumpkins on a hill, tossed bean bags into pumpkin eyes, pinned the nose on the Jack -o-lantern. During the evening we got a babysitter and went to our old neighborhood dinner party which was Halloween themed. The costumes did not disappoint and neither did the food :) The weather was great for all events. On the actual Halloween night another neighbor had a huge party just before trick or treating and then off to bon fires in the driveways and getting our treats. One of our neighborhood families dressed as the blueman group and brought props to perform. It was fantastic!! Definitely a fun set of days. Can't wait for next year's ideas.

Enjoying the Beautiful Fall Weather

2011-10-18T20:05:00.001-07:00

I think there are actually 10 kids on this log that is wedged into two trees.

Everyone kept their footing--it could have been a bit of a damp trip back home :)

We went on a beautiful walk in the woods this past weekend with our friends. I just love these trees and the fun of running back and forth over the swamp. I am going to need to go back before snow hits : )

Art Prize 2011

2011-10-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Rand and Norah were both in their first Art Exhibit. They each decorated 2 sticks for this art installation 7000 loves. It was brain child of Rand's art teacher -- whom we love--. Mr. P had a large tree fall in his yard after a big storm and he thought how can we take something tragic and bring it back to life and the idea just exploded. He had multiple schools involved and had a great venue.

All made of crayons

I love ART PRIZE!! There is so much to see. I wish they would open it up to two weekends before they close voting. It is close to impossible to get to all 1500+ art displays. But we sure put in a valiant effort. The kids were troopers. The weather was was not as nice as last year for the first week but the second week could not be beat. Amazing! Not as many fun interactive displays as last year though definitely some beautiful pieces.

I love the creativity and the ways they get the masses involved in the creative process. Here is an example : Ji Lee, "Piece of Peace". He had 5,000 mini buddas at UICA and asked for them to be dispersed around Grand Rapids and then take a picture of where you put it. It was so fun to find them all over town.

ArtPrize 2011 - The Music Video from ArtPrize on Vimeo.

Aunt Chris came for the last weekend and it was so fun to share our town with her. We explored art. We made fun spider cookies and we watched British movies ... perfect weekend. Thanks for sharing with us. Year three was awesome!! Friends if you want a fun trip that is super inexpensive come to the Ripples at the end of September.

This is all made of coffee sticks held together by tension alone.

Fall Festival

2011-10-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

We took our neighbor friends to the fall festival and had a terrific time.

First Day of School

2011-09-14T18:18:00.001-07:00

off to school we go....

We ride the bus. Check out our super fun bus driver!!

Notice the fence in the background that is the school property :) We walk all the way to the school boundary and then get picked up by the bus. We will see if I have the patience in the winter for this arrangement :)

I went into her room and she said, "Mom, is this the day I have been waiting for? " I said, "Yes it is ."

Family Visits

2011-09-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

You can't beat a playground on the beach. What a view. There was this band playing in the background and we were all excited to show Cousin Dustin the big lake. Rand had a great time building with him down by the water.

This is how we rolled :) Everyone glued to the movie.

Frederik Meijer Gardens is always a must visit. I love the great lakes boats area.

Fun with Bapo at the Zoo. We had a great time feeding the birds and petting the animals. We can't wait until we are a little bit bigger so we can go on the zip line with Bapo over the zoo.

I wish I had a video to share here: Cassie was the trainer and the kids were all different animals in a Sea-World-like show. It was hilarious and to this day Norah asks if we are going to go in the Hot Tub and do our show again. She has some new ideas for her performance. I am not the trainer that Aunt Cass is but Norah puts up with it so the Show can continue.

We were so lucky in August. We had a great number of visitors. Cassie and her kids came to visit. For a much better representation of what we did and more fun pictures see Cassie's Post.

We had a great time with Bapo. It was such a treat to have him around. The kids just ate him up. We went to multiple Lake Michigan beaches, the zoo, fun playgrounds and we still had time for naps :) Cassie was a trooper because we were still trying to do some finishing work on the house the whole time she was here.

We had amazing food. I will try to recreate what Dustin made because it was honestly one of the best meals of my life :) Cassie and I were in awe at what he could do just with what was on hand. He never looked at a cookbook or recipe. Go Dustin!! Jess if I can get the right ratios I will email you this flank steak recipe. Insanely delicious!! Think cilantro and lime.

What a wonderful way to spend the summer with your family. I sure wish we could do it more often. The kids did great.

Playing Catch Up

2011-09-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

This Summer has gone by too quickly but we have made the most of it. I had the fortunate opportunity to go visit my family without kids for a long weekend. It was for sad circumstances but it was so nice to see family that I hadn't seen since my wedding. My dad's parents and brother had died. They had all died separately but we had the funerals on the same day. Mark's birthday. My grandparents had a lovely ceremony in the veteran's cemetery in NH and then we left for Shaker Village where we had a very special service for Mark. The weather was eerily cooperative for the event. Completely hot summer day with high humidity and then as soon as it was time for the service and bagpipes to begin the sky let loose. It was ridiculously pouring and the military just kept up a beautiful presentation. Completely drenching. So much could be said but I will just leave it with these few memories. I loved the stories of both Mary and Joe. The hardship of war and giving so much of yourself for your country. These two strong willed individuals definitely help shape who I am today and for that I am thankful for their memories. They did not have it easy but they made it work.

I loved going to Shaker Village and hearing more of what Mark had learned from the last remaining women and to be able to give back a Shaker heirloom signed by all of them was pretty special. Mark had a painful life with a lot of hard work. He was known as the Brain in the antique field. He would see details that others would overlook. He had a very successful career with historic american furniture. I am glad that his death was sudden with nothing prolonged. He died peacefully in his sleep. May he rest in peace. I am glad to have been able to share some found memories. There is no one that plays the piano like Mark. His talents will be missed.

On a positive Note : Connor graduated from the University of Massachusetts and is engaged to be married!!! It was fun to hang out. He is doing great. These are the only two pictures I took the whole weekend :) We can't wait to have Jenn as official family!!

Swim Lessons

2011-09-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

We took the most intense swim lessons in July. They were more like swim lessons for Navy Seals. Norah definitely vomited into the teachers hand during the lesson and then was put right back into the water. I could only handle participating in them for one week. Though it must be said that both kids were swimming by the end of the week.

Topsail

2011-07-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing June. We met a few of our cousins in Topsail, North Carolina. They did an excellent job of covering the event on their blogs

Jess had it updated with video within a week and days for the first pictures. She had our food posted and really did an excellent job of covering the event. Hannah was just as on top of things and here is here blog post

Really, I am just lucky to have married into this family:) I love the tradition. We ate amazing food. The kids were great sports about going to bed so we could have fun grownup time at night and the days could not be beat hanging with your family on the beach. We loved it and can't wait for where ever we go next year together. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins.

Hope we get Naomi, Sloan and Crew with Nana and Grandpa next year...

Thank you cousins!!!

Topsail Beach 2 from jessica brown on Vimeo.

preschool graduate

2011-06-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

We have had a great month with little blog posts. Rand graduated from Preschool the first week in June. He learned to ride a bicycle some time before that and then we left on vacation. It has been a very fun summer.

We are so proud of all that Rand has accomplished this year in Preschool. For our records, he can write sentences fairly well. He can read fairly well. He is a great listener and observer. If you are an illustrator of children's books you should have Rand be your editor. He will catch all your mistakes :) He loves to build and design. He is more interested in the way things work than the design of the object. When he draws a picture of home. He concentrates on delivering power to the house and plumbing throughout the house as well as away from the house. He gets up at 6:00 am just so he can have some time to think by himself every morning with no one else around. He normally goes and gets his colored pencils and designs robots that he will build when he turns six --normally-- trying to solve a problem :) He is super self critical. He follows rules and so should everyone else. He works hard. He wants to be the best. We love him.

Windmill Island

2011-05-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

Of course, when I plan something in advance and invite our friends the weather goes dreadfully cold. The entire rest of the week was beautiful and sunny. I can not complain about this week. The weather has really been top notch.

We packed a picnic lunch and ate with our friends at the gazebo, toured the working windmill and enjoyed being outside. It was so much fun to go with our friends and see the tulips. (Norah was in a cuter outfit but within 2 minutes of arriving she managed to get herself wet and muddy and thus we wore pajama pants for the rest of the outing :) Thank goodness we had them in the car. I definitely love this time of year - a little more once the warmth kicks in :)

Happy Easter

2011-05-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter. Our new neighborhood does a block Easter egg hunt which was really nice to be included. The kids seem to be the perfect age for all the other kids. Our section is mostly six and under which is just perfect for us.

I took the kids to FMG to hide the eggs around one of our favorite sculptures and then turned the kids lose to find the eggs. It was a great time. I am definitely doing it again next year.

On actual Easter day we enjoyed church. Though next year I will be quite happy when Norah can go up with Rand to sing. It was complete devastation that she wasn't allowed to sing. I thought it would be fleeting but no--the attitude lasted the whole lovely sacrament.

I invited ourselves over to our friends house for the second year in a row and had a lovely dinner. I brought my first ham to add to the mix. We are sad that we can't share the holidays with our families. It sure is nice to have other families in the same situation to celebrate with. What a lovely Easter. Thank you weather for finally warming up a bit.

We are truly grateful for the Atonement.

Granny turns 75! Grampy is 80!

2011-04-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

I would totally wear this dress .. probably not the hair! I love you Gran!

California Rands - Looking GREAT! And way to much sun for the rest of us :)

Happy Lavallieres -- Poor ELLEY totally sick for this event .. The last two family events have been very hard on Elley. Everyone thinks she just loves to cuddle ... little do they know the real Elley.

New Hampshire Rands - They just got back from Aruba so they look fantastic and have tons of sun as well :)

All the kiddos just missing my momma :(

Maine Rands :) What a good looking pair. Just back from Vegas. I don't know what I was thinking coming so pale and untraveled :)

On April Fools Day, I had a flight to surprise my grandparents for their birthday party. Then the airline called and canceled my flight. So I called my sister and said I wasn't coming. Then I called the airline and they said they would cancel my fees because their was no way for me to get there. Then I called the car company to cancel my appt and they said they wouldn't cancel my reservation because my flight was back on. Thus I called the airline again and they said your money has been refunded you can't come on this flight anymore. I said ... is the flight still going ... I would like to go. So after a ridiculous amount of conversation with managers I was back on the flight. I drove to Detroit to get on my plane and just hoped that I was still able to travel on April Fools Day. I arrived and surprised Cassie and we had a great dinner at T-Bones :)

The next day we picked up Gran's picture cake and got ready for the party. Then we surprised everyone and arrived at the Party. It was really fun to reconnect and be apart of an extended family celebration for a bit.

I made this video for them. It runs for 27 minutes so really just for the relatives :)

80th Birthday Party Pics from Carrie Ripple on Vimeo.

Norah is Three!

2011-04-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Norah turned three! On her birthday we had four really good girlfriends meet us at Frederik Meijer Gardens for the annual Butterfly event. Norah decided that she wanted a Butterfly party when we went to the thrifty outlet in January and they had huge butterfly wings for .50 and of course when I said let's get them she said no . We left and then from that point on she had to have a butterfly party and I had no wings. So the hunt was on. We did not succeed in finding wings for everyone but as luck would have it all her friends had wings. The day of the party we had an ice storm and school was canceled for Rand so he was stuck at the girl party and wanted desperately for Olivia's brother to come to the party. The ice storm was a huge advantage for us because no one was at the exhibit (which is unheard of here. It is always deathly humid and hot and jammed full of people with no strollers allowed). The heat at changed so suddenly that the habitat was completely comfortable and because of the ice storm no one was driving so we had the place completely to ourselves. The girls were adorable. So excited. They instantly started playing Ring a Round the Rosie while we were checking in. Just giggling and having fun. They all grabbed the butterfly guides and could be seen constantly checking them to see what they had found. It was so pleasant and because no one was here they even let me take my stroller in so Hazel was contained :) After the gardens we left for our house which is quite close. We decorated butterfly masks and cut them out. Norah gave them all Butterfly nets and we went on a hunt around the house to find butterflies that were hidden. Then we matched up the butterflies by color on the wall. Then I took all the matches and went up to the second floor where we have a balcony and dropped them off the balcony. Norah gave them all butterfly nets and they tried to catch them in the nets. This was pretty silly and fun. It is pretty hard to catch a butterfly. Then we pinned the butterfly on the flower while wearing our Butterfly masks that we made when we came in. Cake was next. Then presents. We gave the girls butterfly hair clips in a bug jar with their butterfly nets and a few other butterfly knick knacks. I definitely had a blast. :) I think the girls had a good time too.

First Princess Party

2011-04-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Norah completely surprised me with her love of dressing up for this party. She had on every accessory that she could find.

Olivia turned four and invited Norah to her Birthday Party. She had such a great time. When we got out to the car after the party she said, " Mom. That Party was a Blast. "

Great Wolf Lodge

2011-03-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Days are moving fast and furious over here and I can't keep up. John has been traveling like crazy so a few weeks ago we decided to meet him at Great Wolf Lodge for one night before he left on his next trip. We had a great time. I loved the story time. Rand was in heaven. Norah warmed up closer to the end and now talks about it like it was a great trip for her :) Fun break from cold weather.

10 Years

2011-03-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

It is absolutely, crazy for me to think that 10 years ago I lost my mother. She has never met my husband or my beautiful children. The only chance my kids have of ever knowing anything about my mother is completely my responsibility.

I recently read Viktor E Frankl 's Man's Search for Meaning and I was struck by his statements under the meaning of suffering. I quote, " We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that can not be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one's predicament into a human achievement. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

It is all about our ability to change our attitude towards our unalterable fate--- that we can find meaning in our suffering.

Viktor Frankl survived four concentration camps while his pregnant wife, parents, and brother all perished. He argues that we can not avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning, and move forward with a renewed purpose.

I hope and pray that I am able to be half the teacher my mother was to me and that my children will be empowered responsible children that will find their unique roles to play in life which will bring them as much happiness as they have brought/taught me.

I am wondering if any of you have or have heard of nice unique things that people do to remember lost ones every year?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.
Carrie

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-22T19:03:00.001-08:00

Lovely Snow Day

2011-02-22T18:53:00.000-08:00

The Day of the Big Storm. Here we are out in it. Having a great time.

Happy Birthday Rando

2011-02-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

We had a great small birthday party with a few friends from preschool. It was so fun. With the move I haven't exactly had a ton of free time for making things and when Rand walked into our kitchen the night before and didn't see anything taking shape he was pretty disappointed. I ran to our grocery store and began the work on all the typical decorations so he would not be so disappointed when he awoke. We had a lego for the cake. We researched lego ideas by coloring lego pictures, I had hid the matching pictures around the downstairs and after we were all here we went looking for our matches. Then we put them on the wall and played memory. We took out the duplos and made towers, had a lego man for pin the face on the lego man, built cars out of 40 lbs of wheels, raced the cars on a track down the stairs and then we judged the cars. The kids had a great time and Rand was beaming and definitely much happier.

Rand is an absolute sweetheart. He helps with both sisters. He is such a logical thinker and can sit for hours building with anything from legos to blocks to magnetic shapes. His ability to design is so fun for me. He is definitely a keeper ... you can't have him :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa

2011-02-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

The fun news is we moved. The more fun news is that our Grandpa and Nana Ripple were able to come for a visit and help out. The sad news was that they were both miserably sick. Nana got the worst of it -- unfortunately so I don't have any pictures of Nana from the whole trip though she experienced some pretty memorable moments here. She was the first one to see Hazel walk and definitely made a great bond with her. Grandpa celebrated his birthday here with us ( I had no stove/oven). I was able to try my hand at baking in the convection microwave. I was pretty happy with the resulting carrot cake. Grandpa worked on the basement, reading stories, and sledding. Nana was stuck on an air mattress away from home and a real bed. We had front row tickets for Cirque de Soleil for Grandpa's birthday. John had to travel a little and it was nice to have our grandparents at our new house with us.

We definitely are missing having them here though grateful that they are all better and able to enjoy their snow at home :) Thanks for coming and thanks for all the hard work!!

Christmas

2011-01-29T16:50:00.001-08:00

WOW! It sure has been a busy time around here. Pink eye arrived from somewhere and took FOREVER to officially make its exit and then all of a sudden it was Christmas. We love the spirit that Christmas brings into our home. The kids are at the perfect age where things are pretty magical ... except of course for Rand. He is so logical. He is constantly asking questions about Santa's ability to enter everyone's house in one night and ... what about people without chimneys and gas fireplaces - like us? :) I am so glad Santa has to figure this all out and not me.

We had a great relaxing day where we just enjoyed being together and having Dad to ourselves. Pretty wonderful.

Happy Birthday Hasel Basil Adelaide!

2010-12-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

Poor Hazel has been so sick that we couldn't celebrate her birthday until last night. She had a great time. We are so lucky to have her in this family. Thanks for a great year!

Happy Thanksgiving with Bapo

2010-12-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

We had a visit from Bapo for Thanksgiving. Mimi surprised him with a trip for his birthday present. It was a terrific time. The kids woke up as early as they could and worked Bapo hard to get all the attention they could out of him. They played legos, wrestled, ate good food, went to Frederik Meijer Gardens, and picked out our Christmas tree.

Thank you Mimi for sending Bapo for his first Michigan Thanksgiving!

Halloween

2010-11-21T17:46:00.001-08:00

Wow! October and November have just flown by. We had a fabulous extended Halloween. I think we definitely got our moneys worth out of our costumes. We offically wore them at least 5 times and unofficially wore them a whole bunch :)

Rand - Designed, made, and wore proudly his asteroid costume - needless to say he was the only asteroid
Bummer mom was not a better photographer. The mounds on the front and back are awesome and mars off the front can't be beat with stars also coming off the asteroid. Rand paper mach(e')d all by himself. We just painted it for him.
Norah - It was love at first sight of this pirate costume. She still continues to wear it :)
Hazel and Mom - gnome and poison mushroom :)

Mimi Came!!

2010-11-21T17:44:00.000-08:00

Mimi came to visit and we had a great time exploring together.

Art Prize

2010-10-17T18:05:00.001-07:00

Grand Rapids actually owns this piece - We just love it.

Grand Rapids needs to own this one and put it somewhere.

Where is Norah?

One of Rand's Favorites

I did not shoot this video but it was complete and already posted :)

I can't gush enough over this amazing activity. First I will say everyone is invited to my house next year. Don't miss this. Last year I did not give it the attention it deserves and this year I was still behind. We traveled downtown probably 6 different times over the two weeks and we didn't even see close to the 1750 exhibits that were on display. The weather this year was way better than last year so it just begged us to be out exploring.

A little about this ArtPrize - the top 10 all get a substantial $$ prize but the number one position gets $250,000. The judges are us -- anyone who can text or download an app and register. You pick thumbs up or thumbs down for the first week. The second week, the top ten are chosen from the votes-- you have one vote. Every venue is free to get into. There is art everywhere--from restaurants to outdoor displays to every major museum. Any kind of art is allowed. So much was interactive and thought provoking. Each day we found at least two or three pieces that allowed the kids to rearrange, play with, or make anew. We definitely only lasted about an hour and a half walking each night but what a fun 1.5 hours each night. I have never seen the city so alive. Families everywhere. They had these pianos just set up all over the city that were decorated and anyone could play. We heard the most beautiful music and we added a bit of our own to the mix. We were really just taking it all in. I did a terrible job of capturing our favorite pieces but know that it is so worth it to visit. :)

If you want to see the official Flicker photos click here

Apple Orchard Pictures

2010-10-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Memories by Mandy is doing a great deal for pictures at Country Basket. She is still doing more on Oct 12 so feel free to contact her if interested. I have the information listed on my events page in facebook.

Here are the kiddos. She was great at relaxing the kids ... I just get frustrated when I take out my camera :) I think she captured them well especially when I think of the state they were in when we arrived :)

We hope you are all enjoying this beautiful fall. I can't believe how exceptional the weather has been.

Just the Three of US

Hazel

Rand

Norah

Lake Michigan

2010-09-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake Michigan. It was gorgeous.

This dress is completely out of character for Norah. She saw that she had a matching dress with Hazel and she wanted to wear it immediately to the beach. I was not going to argue.

I was not successful with any pictures of the kids all together but we had a great time following them on the paths and into the water. We even ended the whole day with a swim. We were literally the only people on the entire beach. (Rand wore his birthday suit.) The water was warm and so was the weather.

Thank you for one final swim before ....

Apple Orchard Fun

2010-09-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

We had two 80 plus degree days last week and we took full advantage of them. Dad arrived home and met us for lunch at the Apple Orchard. It was the first time Hazel officially asked for something other than food with signs-- which is such a fun moment. Norah, Rand, and John had been sliding down a large tube slide arriving in front of Hazel. They had just moved on to the silo to play in the corn - when they turned around to Hazel she sat up, smiled, and signed more. Priceless. So of course everyone went back to the slides and John took Hazel down for a run of her own. We had a great time.

I sure love apple cider and apples straight off the branch :)

Rand's First Day School

2010-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

Rand's first day of school was so much fun. Everyone that was in his class from last year is in his class again this year and he has the same teacher. Sweet!!!

Dad was again on picture duty and the only one in attendance for the special day. Rand loved every minute of it. Except the lego bin has no wheels ... we will have to do something about that :)

Happy Birthday John

2010-09-09T18:48:00.001-07:00

This is Norah's driving face. She could go all night :)

John had his birthday a few weeks ago. We went to AJs for some true bonding and road skills practice.

We had a few friends over and really enjoyed ourselves. I can't believe he has officially joined the thirty somethings....

We love him and are truly grateful for him.

Potty Trained

2010-09-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

We are so proud of her. Norah knows what she wants.

Panic set in when the Target lady decided to scan her hat while on her head. We have just gotten over the shock of this at the time of this picture :)

Norah has been potty trained for a while and because it was completely different from the Rand experience I didn't want to jinx it by writing about it :) When asked what she wanted when she was finished potty training - Norah responded with , "I really want a green bicycle helmet.." I said, its a deal :)

(We had to go with a purple and green helmet. We couldn't find any girl helmets that we just green and yes that is her official favorite outfit. Purple shirt and pink soccer shorts ---which are actually a skort. )

Childrens Museum

2010-09-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

Did you notice the hat from the Curious George Exhibit - Yes it is still on my head

Surprising ... I found the lego table ...

I am actually out of my stroller!!!!! Exciting!!

We don't have a membership this year so we haven't gone nearly as much as last year. This summer we have been outside, outside, outside, but when a rainy day came... we were called to go. The Curious George exhibit is in town and we had enjoyed it in Boston we decided to see how it changed. We really enjoyed it. In our tiny children's museum it took up the majority of the upstairs and we had a great time. No one wanted to leave. Definitely should have packed a lunch for this one.

Ionia Free State Fair

2010-08-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

We went to the Ionia Free State Fair with our neighbors. I loved the look of the State Fair. It was great to just wander the grounds. We enjoyed the animals and all the farm equipment. We made a short trip to the rides and then it was time to go home.

Rand's Interpretation of Andrew Henry's Meadow

2010-08-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Andrew Henry's Meadow

There are two points to this post -

One : Norah loves that purple shirt and wears it everywhere with shorts - normally they have to have pockets

Two: Rand designed this watering system. It has a reservoir at the top and then it proceeds to enter into a chamber where it then flows into a hose and then makes the water wheel spin.

We just love this book unfortunately it is out of print and we can't seem to find it at a reasonable cost so we just keep getting it out of the library :) Rand designed this watering system for our backyard after seeing Andrew Henry's. If you have a little one that just loves to tinker this is the book for them :) The illustrations are beautiful pencil drawings.

Fourth of July Parade

2010-08-22T18:41:00.001-07:00

We had a neighborhood party on the Fourth of July complete with a kids parade. Thus the reason we made shirts :)

Ludington State Park

2010-08-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed our adventure out to Ludington State Park. I think next time we will camp. They have a bunch of beautiful trails for hikes and the beach is a 2 mile walk to a historical lighthouse....A river and lake for tubing and Lake Michigan for playing ... A complete driftwood cemetery ... etc. We really didn't explore Ludington much but I have heard great things about it. We did go to House of Flavors where they make all their own ice cream. We definitely enjoyed ourselves but a little far for a one day trip for us with this age group :)

Fourth of July Craft

2010-08-17T19:09:00.001-07:00

Fireworks T Shirts

Family Fun Video Directions

We loved these shirts because Rand and Norah could do them all by themselves with slight supervision and then I let them have full artistic control on the backs. They came out great and we had a great time making them.

Just take pipe cleaners in firework colors. We used metallic fabric paint and spread on the end and stamp in a circle. After all our hard work we never got a picture all together :) But the memory is there :)

Simple Fun Garland

A simple Garland that the kids can do. Just cut strips of fabric and have them tie it once around a piece of rope you have hanging around. Hang where needed. Enjoy!

Sailing Time

2010-07-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

We have been out twice now. The weather just lovely. The first weekend we went was during the East Grand Rapids Art Festival. Hazel and I had a lovely time seeing the show while the rest of the crew sailed.

FHE night we decided to do it again and have a picnic in the park. I could do this every night if the wind would allow it :)

I know this will surprise you but Norah now wants to wear her life jacket everywhere so she can be ready to go sailing at a moments notice. We did have to bring it to church the last two Sundays :)

Frederik Meijer Garden

2010-07-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hide and Seek :)

John was able to go with us to see the Chihuly exhibit. I am really loving this exhibit. The sculptures are everywhere...Out in the swamp...waterfalls...bog....hillside... The kids and I have been three times the last few weeks and we still haven't spent anytime in the children's garden because they are enjoying finding all the sculptures out on the grounds.

New Pool

2010-07-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

We have had a month of watching this pool go in. It is right next door. This weekend we will be taking our first dip :)

Summer

2010-07-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing. We are catching bugs and playing and more playing!!

Last Day of School

2010-07-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

We no sooner returned then Rand had to head off for his last day of school. Norah, Hazel and I were invited for the final ice cream party. We had a great time and can't wait 'til next year.

Carnival

2010-07-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

Day two we headed up to New Hampshire to New Boston to introduce the Ripples to Reinfurt/Lavalliere partying and we were not disappointed. Cassie did an amazing job creating this carnival. She hand painted about 30 different signs and decorations which were all out of this world. I think she needs to have an annual carnival now at her house. The kids had a terrific time and Norah was completely in her element. I knew that she liked to dress up and I didn't know to what extend until this trip. I know now that she definitely is lacking in a dress up box and I need to get on that pronto!! Sheri was a gracious host and let us all crash and eat at her house for the rest of the trip. It was a lovely vacation. So fun that the kids were able to see both families.

Zoe's Wedding

2010-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Blogger is now no longer allowing me to upload directly from ? iPhoto? Is anyone else having this problem? I have to export each photo I want to share and then upload it.

Thus the lack of photos and updates :)

Here we all are at Zoe's wedding. It was beautiful and a lovely time. I can't believe she invited all the kids! What a trooper!! The reception was held out in an old barn that looked out on a vineyard. The weather opened up and it was stunning. I wish I was more of a photographer and had captured more of the moments because there were many.

Night One

2010-06-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

We had planned on riding the Swan Boats but no one looked to see if they were open past five. We arrived in the commons and were distracted by this playground. I was throughly enjoying being back in New England and looking forward to a little "Make Way for the Duckling" in the Public Gardens. We all enjoyed being out in the City. We grabbed some dinner and caught up. The five families came from Michigan, Nova Scotia, North Carolina, Maine (Caribou), Ecuador/Nova Scotia) so it has been a long time since we were all together. A few of us went back to let our younger kids rest and a few headed off to the Childrens Museum. A very pleasant afternoon/evening together.

Boston

2010-06-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

John's parents have been gone to Ecuador for the last 18 months and we have not seen them in about 2 years so we all jumped at the chance to catch up and meet in Boston. We had a fantastic time. Though Jess and Naomi have posted about this extensively at their blogs; I will attempt to recreate the visit.

Playing Super Heros

2010-06-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Mimi made the kids terrific super hero costumes and came to play with them in the backyard at Cassie's. It was a terrific time. Norah won't stop wearing hers :) and Rand loved his as well. Though Luke and Norah stole the show with their love of all things make believe :) I need to get more pictures from Cassie.

Visiting NH

2010-06-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

I flew with the three kids by myself to NH for 2 days before a family wedding in Peabody. Babo and Mimi were able to take Thursday off to play with the kids at the Boston Children's Museum. What a terrific day!! Thanks Bapo and Mimi for suggesting it!

Great Lakes Kite Festival

2010-06-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is a not to be missed Festival in Grand Haven. This year was the first year that it was insanely packed with people and 90 plus degrees. The last two years we have been wearing winter hats and coats while watching. It was beautiful. I love the kites. I love that people have a passion for kite flying and I love watching my kids get all excited to see them in action.

Coopersville Train Ride

2010-06-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Emily had the great idea to take the kids on the Coopersville Train Ride. This trip is a little more expensive than the typical day trip but we had a great time and we totally did not pay for the fuel it took to take us on the trip. So it really was a deal :) The kids had a great time. I think it would be really fun to go back when they do a train robbery with gunmen on horses. I am not sure if Rand would be nervous or not. The train is great. The volunteers are terrific. The route not the most picturesque but definitely cool to see them take the engine on and reconnect. The kids had a great time and I had a great time being in the moment with them.

Final Field Trip for Preschool

2010-06-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

This summer has been just beautiful and we have been taking every advantage to be out in it. Here is a combined preschool picture with four preschool classes going to the zoo together. Norah, Hazel and I were able to accompany him and we had a terrific time. Can't believe we are all done with school but excited to see what Summer will bring. (ps. not the smartest to have your two year old potty training for massive class trip :) Though we were successful many, many times :)

Playing Catch Up

2010-06-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

I finally have my new HP home media server up and running. I have my computer hard drive all cleaned up. Thanks to an email from my trusted Skype buddy/Sister-in-law Jess I have backed up my whole blog from the very beginning (very easy -

for more information see this post

) and I can dare to update my blog. I have terabytes of room now :)

Windmill Island

2010-05-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

Rand, Norah, Hazel and I decided to venture out one week before actual Tulip Festival to Windmill Island to see the Tulips. I am so glad that we did. They were amazing. The kids loved it and we were the only people on the island. During the Festival you park way out and have people in every picture you take with the tulips. This was perfect. The tulips were gorgeous. Rand LOVED the windmill and Norah loved the carousel. A terrific visit for all. With no crowds. We literally rode the carousel until we told the attendant to stop it :)

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

Easter Craft

2010-04-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

I have been making a lot of things lately but haven't been posting just with lack of time. But thought I would share the Easter craft ideas. Hopefully you enjoy reading about them :)

I am really enjoying garland right now and decided to use the same pattern that I used for Norah's shirt as a garland. I wish I could take better pictures but you get the idea :) Just cut out multiple bunnies. I rotated mine so they could be kissing. You can sew or use tape to secure to the ribbon.

Easter Craft

2010-04-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

I decided last night that I wanted to try to applique. I had all the supplies on hand but I had never tried it before... I love it! Target had had all kids long sleeve kids tshirts on sale for $1.48 so I have quite a few on hand that I need to decorate. The Quilt shop near my house had fat quarters on sale for $1.00 and I had heat and bond sheets from Walmart for $1.75. Time to make something.

First you find your image. I went to Martha Stewart and cut out two of her Easter table centerpiece ideas. I took my fat quarter and lay the heat and bond on it, ironing on the silk setting; then took the cut out and traced it on the heat and bond side. Then cut out the shape and iron onto your shirt following the directions. At this point you could just wear the shirt. They are adorable.

But Hazel's wasn't girly enough for me. I chose poor fabric for the cute chick. So I decided to embellish. I used embroidery thread and went around the outside edge. Then went to my stash of way old buttons and decided that both animals needed necklaces. When I found the heart button I knew the bunny needed it. Here is the finished result!

Definitely not hard but I need to see how they make it through the wash :)

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

We went to two crazy Easter Egg Hunts in town this year. The first had 10,000 eggs hidden and was over in 6 minutes flat. The second was completely organized candy on the baseball field for over 2,000 kids. We arrived at 10 and didn't leave until 11:30. The kids were super patient and waited their turn ... they even enjoyed the Easter Bunny. We were able to go with friends to both events. All in all very successful trips. Hazel was a great sport being dragged to both. Not a peep out of her :) Just enjoying the show.

Norah's Second Birthday

2010-03-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Norah wanted an animal party. We found the animal hats at Michaels in a clearance bin. We made the hats because Norah thought they needed hats. We made two banners. One like a pennant and one with a picture a month on it showing Norah's progress throughout the year. We covered the clearance Michaels wooden animals in scrapbook paper and I loved how they came out. We sent Rand to school and then invited over 2 neighborhood ladies to come and have their first parties without their older siblings. The girls had a great time. First we colored our initials with pictures. Every item on the page begins with the letter it is in. We then took pictures and read a book If I were a Lion ( Which I love! ) Then we danced a little to some of Norah's favorite animal songs. Off on a Safari for animals in the basement. Then playing with animals in the bean pit. Then just playing. Then pin the tail on the lion. Back upstairs to eat animal cupcakes. Then open presents and time to get Rand from school :) We had a terrific time. We cleaned up and got ready for the evening festivities with our nice neighbors. Norah requested Qdoba for her dinner and then back in time to party. All in all a great day.

Happy Birthday Norah!!!

2010-03-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

We have an official two year old!! Watch out world!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T07:08:00.001-07:00

We had ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL weather here in Michigan and we spent the entire day outside playing :)

Lovely California

2010-03-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

I love this picture. Norah was completely addicted. Even when back she had to ride the monster trucks around Uncle Bear's neighborhood. Norah is wearing Rand's shirt in this picture and she would not take it off for anything.

We had a great visit to San Diego. We packed up the whole crew and headed to beautiful sunny San Diego. We had a great visit with my mom's brother's family. We swam in the hot tub, went shopping, played in the desert, drove "monster trucks", ate delicious food, road the mini excavator, partied with Max and Linds, hung out in the front and back yards, ... John and I even went on a date just the two of us!!! Crazy!!!.

Making crowns

2010-02-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

We were looking for something to make before dinner and these were just the perfect distraction. Everyone enjoyed cutting and glueing. Rand's is the most detailed. I totally want to have a construction paper party...now I just have to talk one of the kids into it :)

Butterfly Time Again

2010-02-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hazel's first time in the tropical weather - What beautiful butterflies mom!

Watching the butterflies ?hatch?

I am not touching the plant mom

BUTTERFLIES

It is not quite official butterfly time but the gardens are getting ready and so it is a perfect time to visit. No crowds... plenty of butterflies to see ....and the favorite reason to visit ... strollers are allowed in for now :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T17:17:00.001-08:00

Family and Friends Valentine's - They will arrive sorry I only sent them on Saturday :(

These were Rand's Valentines for class He signed every single one all by himself and we traced his hand on every single one. I was so proud of him.

We had a very low key Valentine over here with kids that sounded like seals and we ended the evening with Rand reliving his dinner in reverse order so all in all ... not very fun

I totally had to do these cards because Snapfish did a 100 prints for a penny the last week in January and I couldn't pass it up :)

Blessing Weekend

2010-02-14T05:48:00.000-08:00

Hazel with BAPO and MIMI

HAZEL with MOM AND POPS
I felt that John needed a shot where Rand wasn't choking him :)

The Family

Last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to bless Hazel. Mimi and Bapo were able to come for the whole weekend and we took advantage of having them here to PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!

Happy Birthday RAND!!!

2010-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Sweet Aunt Cassie Robot T Shirt - Sweet shirt that arrived before the party--- nice planning sis!!!

Rand in his Robot costume - He decorated this completely on his own. I just covered it in tin foil. Each construction paper part has a function :)

All the Engineers in their work aprons

Handmade blowers and hats I had to cut out the gears, background paper, and robots individually and then glue on the hat. I probably could have made one and scanned it and then printed them but I didn't think of that until had number 8 :)

As Payton would say "Our Snowbot"

Mr. Roboto!!

We had a terrific Robot Birthday Party for Rand. I was a bit nervous for how we were going to make this happen. I went to Pages in Time, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Party AMerica, etc looking for some inspiration and only found one robot piece of scrapbooking paper and just went with it. I could find nothing robots of course now I have found one on Birthday Express if anyone is wondering.

We started with aprons (white piece of paper with construction paper on the sides) on the table and a sign that said Orientation-- as each kid arrived they worked on their apron. Then we stapled them on and put on our hats and blowers and took the picture. Then we went to Research and Development and read a book about Robots. Then Rand arrived in his Robot and each kid took a turn being the robot. The robot did "Robot Says" and the kids were great trying to touch their heads and turn around etc--Such good listeners. We left Research and Development and headed to Design were we colored Robot pictures. Then off to Manufacturing were we made marshmallow robots with toothpicks, Quality Control came next were we pinned the antennae on the robot that I had drawn on cardboard. We graduated from training and had cake and ice cream and opened presents. The kids were all such good sports and went along with it all. Rand loved it. I can't wait to see what he comes up for next year!

A Sunbeam!

2010-01-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it that Rand is a Sunbeam now. I am a little bummed that I didn't take this photo before he got out of his church clothes because he had this terrific Star headband that they made out of construction paper as well. This is all going too fast!

Handmade gifts

2010-01-11T17:18:00.001-08:00

Aunt Chris hat and Cassie clip

mimi and bapo worked hard to build one of these for Rand and Luke.

The making of video/

Sledding

2010-01-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

John and our next door neighbor Josh have become sledding buddies. When one has elected to take their children outside the other will call so they can both be outside together. They have made a kids run with a large berm and then their run with a huge jump. It is quite fun to see them so excited to meet up and then to watch them actually take pictures. I can't tell you how many times John has come back with just one shot but when he is with Josh they have angle shots with one jumping over the other, they have videos, they have multiple sled shots, etc. I have have plenty to choose from when the activity is complete :) I love fun in the snow.

Christmas 09

2010-01-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas. It was wonderful to have two completely enthusiastic participants. Rand and Norah were so much fun. Hazel was just a pleasant cuddlebug.

Norah actually said to me no more ripping.... She had had plenty and was ready to just play. Rand was so patient and so excited to see what everyone else received as well. I loved every minute of sharing this special time with them.

Christmas Program

2010-01-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

This was officially our first trip out in public and Hazel and Norah did great supporting Rand. Rand definitely did great. I love this reserved little guy. Here is a little bit of the concert. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

Front of Card

Back of Card

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Here is our annual Christmas card and Birth Announcement for Hazel. We hope Christmas treated you all well. We missed not spending the holidays with you but are sure glad for blogs and skype!

Family Pictures

2009-12-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the family. Lisa Kae came to our house on Friday after the blizzard and we just had a great time. She was so easy going and had a great eye. Here are some of the pictures she took. Welcome Hazel!

She is Finally Here :)

2009-12-11T17:33:00.001-08:00

We welcomed our newest family member this week. Hazel Adelaide arrived on Monday night at 9:48 pm. She completely surprised me and did nothing like her previous siblings. She was a whopping 9 lb 4.9 oz. and 20.5 inches.

She has been a complete blessing to have in the house.

Cutting our Christmas Tree

2009-12-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

Riding in the Trailer

Cutting the Tree

Shaking the Tree

Bringing the Tree home

We are in the final days until we get to meet our newest member. Last Saturday we went out Tree Foraging and came home with a cute little guy that Rand and Norah loved. The Christmas tree farm is a great time. They have hot chocolate, candy canes and marshmallows to roast by a fire pit, free greens, tractor rides and 250 Acres to explore and tons of helpful staff. The kids love it. Norah and Rand kept asking for more tractor - (Norah asked for more tractor, Rand would correct her and say Norah sweetie, it is a dump truck with a trailer attached :) ) We are contemplating going back for another trailer ride :) I love the greens because I make a huge garland for my front porch every year and their supplies come in quite handy :)

Fun Recipe

2009-11-30T16:58:00.000-08:00

I don't normally do recipes but this one is quite good if you have the time. The ingredients are not difficult--- it is just the freezer time that can be daunting. Rand had rectangle day at preschool and we were in charge of the snack. My Aunt Chris had sent me a recipe for homemade graham crackers but I had never tried it--- thought this would be the perfect day to experiment.

I really enjoyed them but probably won't be making them again for quite some time.

Fun at Picking Apples

2009-11-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

We had a great time picking apples and playing in the gorgeous weather. November has been everything October was not--Completely beautiful and downright warm. Where was this weather hiding for Halloween night ? :)

Preschool Halloween Carnival

2009-11-07T12:07:00.000-08:00

Rand had a class Halloween Carnival and Norah was invited to attend. I asked Rand if he thought that would be ok and he said, "Oh yeah, sure Mom. That would be great to have Norah and you in my classroom." He couldn't wait to show us around. We had a great time. I was really impressed with Norah because it was obviously made for the preschoolers and she did a great job with their routine. We made craft projects, colored, hammered pumpkins, fished for prizes, attempted to do sack races in the hallway, dropped ghosts into buckets, threw balls into jack o' lanterns, etc etc.. We had a full school costume parade and then a huge snack time. It was all in all a great morning and we had great naps because of it :)

High School Trick or Treating

2009-11-07T11:15:00.001-08:00

Rand, Norah, and I went to the high school for trick or treating. It was a perfect evening. The kids had fun dressing up yet again. I love that Rand was helping Norah open her bag and say trick or treat. It was really quite fun to be there with the two of them.

Harvest Festival

2009-10-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

The first Halloween Festival took place in our backyard with 5 other families in our neighborhood. It was so much fun. The kids had a great time and it was so easy for each of the parents because we were all in charge in of one activity/and or snack.

Most of the older kiddies near the haunted mansion

Donuts on a string

Pumpkin Craft

Homemade Jack o Lantern Pinatas for each of the kids (Made by Rand and myself)

Rand loving the Craft

Close your eyes now because this is Rand as a Scary Shark with a fish coming into his mouth (Full Costume designed and made by Dad)

Hayride

We had a ticket booth where the kids had to go to get the tickets for each station. It was great for practicing numbers and counting. The other booths we had were making caramel apples, frosting halloween sugar cookies, eating hot dogs and cider and pin the nose on the jack o lantern :) We had three yards connected so the tractor pulls were a main event that should have been more tickets :) The only thing I would have asked for was a warmer night :) We avoided our water events that we had planned.

First Field Trip

2009-10-27T17:53:00.001-07:00

Rand had his very first field trip on a crisp October morning and Norah and I were both invited to attend. We had a great time. We started out in the barn learning about apples from the beginning to the end. It was a hoot to see Rand completely engaged with the presentation. He did everything he was asked to. From being the tiny apple seed to the bee pollinating. Norah sat with me on the side and just keep asking if she could go up front and sit with Ra Ra.

Then off to the tractor pull which could have been very sticky but fortunately---Rand's teacher had an empty lap--- so we could all go on together.

super skinny tractor seat premom and teacher :)

Picking Our Apples

Picking our Pumpkins

Relaxing on the tractor playground after everyone else had left and we had finally finished our snacks :) Apple cookies and cider yum!

We had a great first trip. Rand was so gracious to have Norah and I included in the trip.

Congratulations Rand

2009-10-18T19:27:00.001-07:00

For everyone else's entertainment :) Rand really wanted his dad to take him to his first day of school so I reluctantly agreed as long as they would promise to take my little paper with him and take a picture outside of the school. This is the photo that his father sent to me today.

Rand is having a great time. I am so glad that he loves his class and teacher. It has made it so much easier dropping him off. Though Norah is still sad every time we leave him and asks for the entire time when we will go back and pick him up.

Congratulations Uncle David

2009-10-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

This is a huge deal but unfortunately Uncle David does this every year and he has never had a family member in attendance to support him at this huge event. He is the actual rider in this video which is why I chose it though he comes in second in the Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show event shown here. He has several horses that are World Champions this year I just wanted to see him riding. He has been the National Morgan Horse Trainer of the Year for at least the last three years. He is the bomb of Morgan horse training and I feel bad that he has hasn't had any family press :) Congratulations on another Great Grand Nationals!! We are very proud of you.

Relaxing

2009-10-11T17:50:00.001-07:00

Hanging out in the front tree

Of course Rand was able to be in the tree so Norah had to follow.

Hanging out in the Kitchen

Just relaxing. Enjoying some time in the house.

Girls Weekend in Charleston

2009-10-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

I had a girls weekend in September where I just left John with the kiddos from Friday until Monday at lunch! WOW! How in the world did Jess talk him into this ... I just got on the plane and blew kisses :) I am still recovering from this great weekend. For more pictures see Jess' blog she did a great job summarizing everything. I stole her collage for this post. Charleston was a beautiful city and the girls were so much fun. I am so glad they invited me to tag along. This is their second girls trip. The first one they went to NYC. I am so proud of them for just picking random places and actually going. Thank you John for making this possible and Thank you ladies for inviting me along!!!

Bapo and Mimi's visit

2009-10-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to have Mimi and Bapo for Labor Day weekend. It was a whirlwind visit but well worth it I think. We had good food and good fun. There was a little Wii battle which was quite entertaining. The kids had a great time visiting with them and we were able to go to the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit at the public museum and see Laborfest all before they had to start their journey back.

Luke and Elle's Visit

2009-09-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great week with Luke and Elle. It was pretty jam packed with fun. We hit the Children's Museum, Public Museum, Frederik Meijer Gardens, Lake Michigan for a cookout, The Zoo, Church, etc. We rode bikes and just had fun being together. We managed to even slip in a clip party for Cassie's new business. It was great. The boys got a long fantastically. I was super proud of both. I had my doubts but amazing what 6 months can due for both. The ladies did very well together as well. I was so excited to see Norah completely in love with Elle. As soon as she woke up she would ask where is baby Elle. She could not get enough of her. Let's see if this holds up in December :)

Children's Museum

More Fun -

My only Shopping Stop the Whole Weekend :)

2009-09-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the store

Here is what 15 minutes of waiting does to the girls Lovingly captured by the dads.

New Purse Here is Norah with her new purse after mom has emerged. I totally think it was worth it :)