Out of the Blue!

This happened in the evening of Bella's first day of Preschool.

Mike and the girls were playing outside before dinner, and a strange - yet very sweet - dog ended up in our yard. Mike looked at the dog's tag, and saw that they lived in our neighborhood, but quite a ways away. Since I was still buttoning up my work for the day (recruiting volunteers - ugh!), Mike decided to take the girls with him to walk the dog to his home! Faith had her rollerblades on, and Bella was all decked out in her sweet, light-up Tinkerbelle Helmet on her bike, and off they went! Mind you, when they left, the sky was blue!







Just a few minutes later, this is what I saw coming up our driveway!






Where did that come from?

Baby Girl's First Day of Preschool!

Since the first day that Faith went to Preschool . . . Bella has been begging to go too!

Here's a picture of Bella, after Faith had been picked up for Preschool carpool back in 2006. I wish you could hear what she was saying! Everyday, after Faith left for Preschool, Bella would cry and say, "War Thaif go? War Thaif go?". Imagine it in the most pathetic, crying voice ever! You can just see the anguish in her little eyes!

Well, Baby Girl! Your time has finally come! Unfortunately not until 12:30p, however . . . which means every school morning is filled with, "Is it time for school yet, Mommy? Is it lunch time yet, Mommy? (no, it's only 9:00a!!!)"

Woo Hoo! The first day is here! The outfit has been picked, and laying out for over a week!

Adorable!

Feelin' Groovy! (that's what her shirt says)

Walking to class . . . doesn't she look small compared that backpack?

Mrs. Konyndyk

Mrs. Clark

Faith and Dylan making their name tags

Hearing the story of "The Kissing Hand"

You made it baby! You're finally a preschooler! I'm so proud of you!

Oh What Fun it is to Play When Mommy has to Work!

As many of you know, I Direct the Children's Ministries for my church. This affords me much flexibility, and allows me to work from home much of the time.

The down side is, I have to keep my kids occupied in order to get anything done . . . OR . . . they keep themselves occupied, which, as you are about to see, can sometimes be worse! He he he! All I know, is they were playing SOOOOOO nice together, which doesn't always happen! When they're playing nice . . . I don't interfere . . . I let them be!

When I went into the garage to check on them, this is what I found!

and this . . .

By the time I had checked on them, they had moved on from playing "Orphanage" to playing, "let's give Lucy a bath"!

You can see from this picture, how much Lucy was enjoying herself! When a dog's ears are down, that means they're happy, right?

You can almost hear her swearing, can't you?

The important thing was THEY were happy!

Too bad getting them to clean it all up wasn't such a "happy" experience!

Big 2nd Grader!

It really is amazing how fast time seems to go! It seems like just yesterday that Faith was starting her first day of preschool . . . and now, here she is a big 2nd grader! She's reading, writing, socializing, and growing up a little too much for my taste! Suddenly she's turning into a young lady instead of a little girl! When did that happen?

Big 2nd grader!

Sporting the backpack, and her new school duds!

One proud mama!

Her amazing team of teachers! Mrs. Seif, Miss Glover (student teacher from Calvin) and Mrs. Nieuwsma! We have been praying for the right "teacher match" for Faith all summer. And she got 3! God knows it will take a team! Ha ha ha!

Her crazy class!

A Weekend Away

The weekend before Labor Day, Mike and I took off for a MUCH NEEDED weekend away! A huge word of thanks goes out to my mom, who watched the girls for us (just a week after her last chemo treatment)! We had a blast! Here are some of the highlights:

We drove up to the Petoskey/Harbor Springs area the first day, and that evening went to a fabulous little place called The Legs Inn. The atmosphere was amazing, and the food was a curious mix of Polish and Native American! Curious, but delish!
Mike and I in front of the restaurant

The back side of the restaurant, where the outdoor dining was

The view from our table (Mike took a picture of his dinner with his camera phone, so if you're interested in that . . . contact him)! He he he!

Seriously . . . this was the view from the back yard of the restaurant! Amazing!


The next morning, we drove to Petoskey State Park to hike the trails!
Hiking in the woods

We propped the camera up on a log for this shot . . . not bad!

The end of the trail came out to the dunes and Lake Michigan - here we made another attempt at a self-taken photo!

That night, we drove down to Traverse City and took a vineyard/wine tasting tour of one of my favorites - Chateau Grand Traverse (they make a yummy Riesling)!


View of the vineyard from the road

Mmmmm Riesling grapes! How I love thee!

The Hudsonville Fair

Bella and "Billy" (get it? billy goat?)
Faith and Claire and "Silly" (get it? silly goose?)
Bella and Jo Jo
A crazy group of kids! Friends are the best!
Sisters
Claire and Faith - BFF's
That's my girl!
Crazy Claire!
That's my other girl!
BFFs

Last Day at the Beach

The end of August, when I should have been busy recruiting volunteers for Stepping Stones Sunday School, Faith, Bella and I played hooky, and took off for a day at the beach!

Bella
Faith
America's Next Top Model
My girls!
H1
H2
Mommy in her "happy place"
Bella Boo - warming up!
Sing with me, "There's a hole . . . there's a hole . . . there's a hole right next to the sea!"

Can I just say I LOVE GRAND HAVEN!?!