Jack's First Deer

This has been Jack's second year of hunting and he finally got his deer! He has spent countless hours in his tree stand waiting for a deer to come along. I sit in the house at the window praying for God to just bless him with the excitement of this accomplishment.

Our good friend Rod fell from a tree stand last year and was hospitalized for several months with two severely broken ankles. Well, in the process of visiting with him during his recovery period, Jack and Rod got to talk quite a bit about hunting and Rod invited Jack to come with him for a weekend to a hunting lodge that he takes some of his family members to. The guys had a great time over the weekend hunting, playing games and cooking. It was almost like summer camp for grown ups!!

Anyway, Jack got his first deer while he was out there and was very excited to share this experience with Rod and his son Daryl. We are very grateful that during this time of a very poor economy we are able to be blessed with this opportunity for free meat to take care of our family. God can be so cool!!

Amanda and Stephen sitting in a tree........

I am so excited to write about the fact that Amanda is engaged!!! Stephen came into her life several years ago and they have been friends, but at the beginning of the summer they began to date and now they are engaged and I get to help plan her wedding for this April!

Amanda has been a part of our family and a huge part of my life for about seven or eight years now. God has a special place for her in my heart that I can't quite describe. It's almost like we are twins that were born in different years, in different towns, by different mothers........ well I told you it was hard to describe!! :)

Anyway, We've been very excited to add Stephen to our little clan here. We knew he was going to fit in when about half an hour after meeting us, he shared a chewed up, dropped on the floor apple with Jackson. He is a very loving person who absolutely adores Amanda. They laugh a lot and are comfortable with each other in any and every situation while challenging each other daily in their relationship with God. I'm so grateful that God has answered our prayers with this wonderful man who He has prepared for her.PS - Emma is the flower girl and Jackson is the ring bearer :) and of course, I'm the matron of honor ;)

Halloween

The scary Dinosaur Dragon
The beautiful TinkerBell
Not too much to say about Halloween this year except that we had lots of fun and got LOTS of candy!

We brought the kids to see all the great-grandmas as usual. They just love getting to see the kids all dressed up. Also, Amanda and her boyfriend Stephen came to spend the weekend with us as all. So many special people that we get to share so much fun with!
Grandma BGrandma HamstraGrandma GGGrandma FergusonJackson, Stephen, Amanda & Emma on our way to the Halloween parade.Jordyn, Cole, Kirstyn and their friend Katie stopped by to say hello and get a little candy :)

Emma Turns 7

So now for some catching up on the blog! Emma had her 7th birthday on Oct 13. She was very excited about this new milestone. Jack and I on the other hand, were not so excited. Seven sounds so much older than six. Five and six are still that little girl possible Kindergarten age but seven sounds so much more grown up. Guess we'll have to get used to this as now she already talking about eight!! Lord help us!

We got up in the morning and of course she was SO excited. She had a special outfit that we had bought for her birthday that she got to wear to school. Speaking of school........ she got to have anyone she wanted come to have lunch with her in her classroom at school. It was so fun!After lunch we got to go to the playground with her. Here is a picture of her with some of the girls from her class. (Yes, mostly Dutch children go to her school!!)After school we packed up and took her out to dinner at Red Robin. We let her bring a friend and she picked her friend Karissa.
When we got home we had family over for cake, ice cream and of course PRESENTS! Emma was very shocked and excited that Grandma Kathy got her Kit! Her very first American girl doll. Honestly I think they are way too expensive and not near worth the money but Grandma loves to spoil and Emma was very grateful and of course excited.We got her a guinea pig but had to give it to her a week early because that was when he was available. she named him Hooper like the guinea pig host of PBS kids. Sadly, Hooper dies this past Sunday. She was pretty upset but is doing better now.We are blessed with this amazing little girl. She truly is a gift from God. We have our struggles with her but she has an amazing heart for others and an amazing heart for God. She loves to memorize her scriptures for school and not only memorizing them but understanding them. She asks a lot of questions always wanting to make sure that she understands what things mean. She is now reading at over a third grade level and has only ever missed one spelling word this whole year. (the last test before Christmas break, must've been really excited because she hadn't missed it at home all week!) She is very eager to learn and always willing to share and help other (besides her brother of course!). I love the way she is with younger children. Always very patient and loving. What a bundle of joy we have in this child!

Coming up on a Clear Schedule

See pictured here my monthly calendar. Notice the bottom week (the week of New Years), it is actually clear!!! Not even everything is added onto this dry erase calendar because it won't all fit. All of the things that I do during the day aren't even added! So, that being said, I will be catching up on the blog in the next few weeks since i have a clear schedule. Thanks to those of you who have still been checking it :)

Just a quick update: No foster children yet :( Still watching Alaina :) Still caught up with my read through the bible :) :) :) Still having playgroup every couple of weeks :) Emma and Jackson are doing fine :)

Keep checking :)

Jackson's First Field Trip

Today we got to go to Harvest Tyme Pumpkin Patch with Jackson's preschool class. He was very excited and had been looking forward to the trip for awhile now.

Of course one the the most exciting parts was that he got to ride a school bus for the first time!!They had a "sandbox" but it was filled with corn. Now this is something I could get into to!! I've never let the kids have a sandbox because I don't want to have to strip them down every time they come in from going outside to play. (I know I'm terrible but they do have lots of other fun toys to play with outside!). This was fun and no mess!Of course he LOVED riding the tractors!They also had this fun water race game where you pump the water and try ot get your rubber ducky to the end first. Very neat!
They also got to watch a movie about how pumpkins grow. Not necessarily something that preschoolers are real excited about, but he did have fun picking up hay and throwing it at his friends :)

He got to go on TWO hayrides! He loves tractors (and pretty much everything "boy").We rode the hayride out into the pumpkin field and he picked out one for him and also a nice one for Emma.When we got back with out pumpkins, they had little kits for the kids to put a foam sticker face on their pumpkins. It was a very fun, easy way to decorate them, however contrary to the box sandbox statement above, I do like to get messy every now and then so we probably will be carving the pumpkins so we can have fun playing in the goo and the baking the pumpkins seeds.It was a very fun day that I got to spend with my little man. As he reached over and laced his fingers with mine to hold my hand and laid his head on my shoulder on the bus ride home, I was reminded how completely blessed I am to spend these days with him and watch him grow into the wonderful little boy he is. I am blessed to have children with manners and respect for others and a wonderful love for learning and fun. Jackson has been learning so much this year and I love to see him want to do homework and get so excited with himself that he counted to 100 without any help. I thank God for the blessing of these children.

2nd Annual Dunes Camping Trip

This was our second time taking our pop-up camper to the Dunes at Lake Michigan for camping. Last year we took it in late September because he had just bought it and wanted to try it out but the weather was a little chilly. So, this year at the beginning of summer we went online a book a campsite for us and our friends Rick and Anna for the middle of August so that we would have nice warm weather and the kids would be able to swim in the lake this time. Well....... we wore sweatshirts pretty much the whole weekend!! What has been up with the weather this year?!? We did have a GREAT time anyway!

Even though it was cold we did take a walk on the beach. We let the kids take off their shoes and walk int he water. I bet you can guess which one of my kids ended up tripping and being soaking wet!!!

It was so fun having Rick and Anna with us this year. We each took turns making meals. We, of course, made our pizza pudgy pies, breakfast birds nests and hot dogs. (I so for easy and no dishes to wash!!) Rick and Anna made us some very yummy goose kabobs from the geese that Rick hunted on my parents property last year. That was our first time ever trying goose and we all really liked it. He had marinated it in teriyaki and it was delicious! Then Sunday morning Anna made pancakes and bacon and she and Emma had come up with the idea to make chocolate chip pancakes because Anna taught Jackson and Emma to make their own trail mix the day before and it had chocolate chips.

Emma helping and Jackson tasting.... sounds about right!

I love camping at the Dunes for many reasons but a few would be that it is, of course, BEAUTIFUL, there are many, many trails to hike and also because the nature center there always has fun activities going on. This year we got to go to "turtle time" where they taught us all about the different kinds of turtles. It was really fun!

Jackson finally got the nerve to touch the turtle. I was so proud of him!

Took her a bit but she finally psyched herself up and held it. So cool!!

There was also a little park right by our site and the kids played there pretty much the whole time! It was great!!

Jack and Rick also had fun playing bean bags and or course spent lots of time talking about hunting :)

The Dunes will definitely be a yearly trip for us!

My Baby Boy Goes to School

So it's been forever since I have had time to get on here and I can't believe that I never blogged Jackson's first day of school!

Jackson loves school! He is going to the cooperative preschool at DeMotte Elementary. He has the opportunity to be in class with kids who have various kinds of disabilities. It is a great environment to learn that we are all wonderfully made in God's image (OK, I teach him that because the school isn't allowed to) and that we just all learn at different speeds and in different ways. He already knew his letters and the sounds that they make but he needs some practice on his writing skills. For some reason I just never got out makers and pencils for my kids at a young age and then I'm always paying for it when the time comes to use those skills. He is doing a GREAT job learning though and is always very willing to sit down at the table to do his homework time with me to practice. We are only a little over a month into school and he has already learned to write his name. He cracks me up because I have now heard several times, "mom! Why did you have to give me such a long name!!" I'm sorry buddy, I didn't think about that when naming you!

Every day when he gets in the car he always gives me an update on what they had for snack that day and what kind of fun he had in gym or gross motor time. I ask what else they learn and he doesn't really say much but then all of a sudden he'll bust out something like the pledge of allegiance and I ask him where he learned it and he'll say "uh, school mom!" Can't wait to see what he'll come up with next!

I am so very blessed to have two children who are so ready and willing to learn and also that I have the time to spend teaching them!

The end of an era

So here I sit. Quiet house. My baby girl is gone from me all day, every day in first grade. I can hardly stand it. Has it already been almost seven years? That can't be possible. All along people tell you how fast time will go by but it's another one of those things like when people tell you that the love you have for your children something so amazing; both are indescribable until you experience them.

I can't help but think but the future. From now on, for the rest of Emma's life she will spend the majority of her time away from me. At first I just kept saying "for the next twelve years" but then I got even more sad when I thought about the fact that at that time she'll probably be leaving us for college or whatever other adventure God has in store for her. It is actually completely boggling my mind this week. My charge to those of you with kids still at home is make it count! I hope and pray that these past years that I have had with her have built a bond between us that will be so strong that even though she spends more time with others, that I would be the one that she trusts the most for opinions and love. I know this is very dramatic because it's only first grade but the kids are growing up faster and faster these days and as I said before, as the time passes so quickly I feel the need to be focused and prepared NOW so I can handle things later. I know I can't just wake up one day when she's 13 and then expect her to trust and confide in me. She's too precious for that. Thank you God for giving her to me.

On a bit of a lighter note before I cry some more :) she is LOVING school. Her teachers are amazing and I love the little notes they send telling us they are praying for her and already the new things she is learning. I picked her up from her first day all excited for her and asked her how it was. I was expecting a "GREAT" for "so fun" but, in true Emma fashion, she looked at me all dreamy eyed and sighed ".....it's perfect...." Gotta love my little drama queen.

Summer 09 Vacation

We had been planning for a long time for our visit to Colorado to see our friends Dave, Jenni and Erin. The time FINALLY came on July 10.

We started out in the morning around 6:45 and went over to pick up Grandma Bierma (or Grandma B as the kids have renamed her). We decided to take Grandma B along because we were going right through where Aunt Judy lives in Missouri and were going to stop and see Jack's cousin Kenny's new baby so Grandma came along and stayed with Judy for the week while we traveled along.

The kids stretching their legs with Grandma BHaving some lunchMeeting baby Zoe and seeing her big brother IsaiahWe stayed overnight at Jack's Cousin Mike's in Kansas City to rest before the second leg of the trip. The kids love playing together, especially after being in the car for so long.
We got up early Saturday morning and began our long day of driving. I, again, very much enjoyed the drive through Kansas with the simplistic rolling hills and Jack sat and cracked himself up while watching the kids TV playing Ice Age. He's such a kid!!

After the LONG drive through Kansas we finally saw this sign! YAY!!When we got to Dave & Jenni's we were SO excited to see them! We went for a walk to stretch our legs and the kids found a puddle. Erin showed them how she has so much fun running and jumping in it. On Sunday we were able to go to church with them and then we were off to a house in the mountains that a couple from their church let us use for a few days.

Fun with Friends!The people who actually own this only use it two weeks a year!! They are crazy!!
Up in the mountains we were able to relax and have fun. We played lots of card games and got to be together without distraction. Jack and Dave stayed up playing golf on the wii and we all ate WAY more than we should've but it was lots of fun!

The scenery was unbelievable! Out the back deck was mountain upon mountain and out the front was the view of Pike's Peak.
Sunset when we were out having a campfire.
Beautiful cloudsYep, that's Pike's behind us :)
On Tuesday afternoon we drove back down and spent a few days hanging out at Dave & Jenni's. We, again, had lots of good food and fun! Of course our trip included a drive up skyline drive.
Dave, Jenni & ErinThe "crew" looking down at Dave & Jenni's houseWe were also able to play out in the yard some and I got this cute picture of my little ErinThursday is was goodbye to Colorado and on the road again. We went back to Mike & Leah's and were able to stay for a few days and have some fun. Friday we went to World of Fun and had Worlds of Fun.
Look closely....... Jack and Emma are on there!
Leah and I hanging out at the airplanes.

HA!The kids had a GREAT time and the night ended with some pretty cool fireworks!

On Saturday we got to go to this fun restaurant called T-Rex. For those of you who know the Rainforest Cafe, this is the same owners but just all dinosaurs. Very cool!Mike, Leah, Zak, Nathan & Madelyn
It was such a great vacation with tons of generosity from friends and family. With times being tough we were very blessed with a cheap but VERY fun vacation. The Lord continues to bless us with more than we could ask or imagine!