The boys' newest hobby...

...fishing!

 Isaac casting!

 Hannah cheering them on, I think she approves of Isaac's casting.

 Daddy fishing, with an audience.

We live right by a great neighborhood lake, and the boys have learned that fishing is a lot of fun!  They got new poles recently and practiced casting into the pool over and over again.  Thankfully, they catch at least one fish every time they go out to the lake.  This last time Isaac caught a fish on his first cast!  He was so excited!  They don't have quite the patience they need or daddy would like them to have, but they love it none the less.  I enjoy it as well, it's a fun family activity.

Soccer Camp

The boys both attended soccer camp during July.  It was Luke's first time to attend any kind of class or camp, so we were a little nervous about how it would go.  Both boys were so excited to be in soccer camp, they were thrilled to play soccer.  Carl was gone the first week, so Oma and Opa joined us.  We were all shocked by how well it went.  Luke went right out with Isaac and started warming up, or wearing himself out.  Ha!  He ran up and down that field over and over again, kicking his ball the whole way.  A friend of ours was there as well, and we were all shocked by how well he did!  I am so proud of him for jumping right in and participating.  During the warm ups Luke was trying his best, following along as well as he could, and Isaac was enjoying every minute.  There were a few moments when Luke didn't understand what to do, at one point he was standing there confused, Isaac noticed him and went to him.  He grabbed Luke by the hand and started showing him what to do.  It was the sweetest moment!  I am so proud of Isaac and the way he cares for and loves on his brother.  Luke did great during the camp, trying his best, until the scrimmage portion at the end, he did not like that.  He did not want to use another person's ball and he did not want to share his ball.  It was a rough ending to a great start!  Overall though, I think he did awesome!  Isaac did fantastic throughout the entire first day.  He loved every minute of it and really focused, did what was asked, and tried his best.  The second week of camp went abotu like the first.  Isaac did awesome through it all.  Luke did great for the first 45 minutes, then about the last 15-20 while they were scrimmaging he got nervous again.  Luke does really well when he can be independent and do what he is told on his own, but once he is forced to be with the group and told what to do he struggles a little more.  Week 3 was a little hard, the boys had spent the night before with Emmy and Gumby, so they were pretty tired.  Both boys shut down a little early and really struggled to focus and work hard.  They still had fun though and that's what matters.  Unfortunately, the last week, week 4 was not as good.  Isaac was sick, so he didn't get to participate.  I knew this could mean the practice cuold go great or it could go terrible for Luke.  Oma and Opa came to see his last practice, fully prepared that it could go either way.  Sadly, after a lot of coaxing from me and Opa, we could not get Luke on that field.  He would not kick his ball, he would not walk away from me.  So week 4 ended early, we left after about 30 minutes of Luke sitting on the sidelines.  So even though it didn't end on a high note, I am still so very proud of both of my boys!  Soccer is something that pushes them out of their comfort zone, as neither of them is aggressive, but they both did their best and had fun (most of the time).

2 Little Starfish!

 

I am so proud of these two little ones!  They worked so hard the last couple of months and are now great little swimmers!  Luke started out with a  big fear of putting his face in the water, but now he will swim face in, legs kicking, and going so fast.  He swims a little ways, then flips over to do a starfish (float on his back), and then flips back to his stomach to swim some more.  I was confident he would learn to kind of swim, but I must admit I didn't expect him to be swimming so well already!  Hannah had no idea what she was in for when we started this journey.  She never enjoyed her lessons, but by the end she would cry while the teacher held her, but then stop crying as soon as she was put in the water.  It was like she focused on what she was doing while she swam, but then as soon as she was safe in the teacher's arms she began crying again.  I am beyond amazed by how well she is doing, I know we still have to watch her closely by the pool, but I feel so much safer knowing that if she falls in, she can swim to the surface, flip herself to her back and float. 

 

I am excited for many more fun days of swimming in the pool with these two this summer...love them!

4th of July 2013

What a fun 4th of July!  We love keeping it low key on the 4th, just swimming, good food, best friends, and family. This year it was great, and we had the added fun of fireworks!  In the past the boys were too scared of fireworks to even watch them, much less set off our own.  A few days before Isaac told me he really wanted to get some and do our own.  I was skeptical, but he was persistent.  So Carl took the boys and they bought a few fun ones, all afternoon and evening Isaac asked when we could do them.  Although they were a little nervous with the big ones, they did great overall!  Isaac even helped light quite a few of them.  It was fun watching my boys, Isaac seemed so big!  (tear)  We are SO thankful for our family and friends, and the sweet memories that were made that day.

Father's Day 2013

My kids and I are so blessed to have 4 amazing men in our lives to call, Dad, Daddy, Opa, Gumby, and Grandpa.  This year we celebrated Carl on Father's Day along with his dad, Gumby.  We started the day with donuts for breakfast and then the morning at church.  After church we headed out to Pasadena to celebrate Gumby and Grandpa.  It was a special time with family, it was so good to see the extended family out there.  We are so thankful for the loving and supportive family God has given us.  My favorite moment from that day was as Grandpa was getting ready to leave, Hannah and I were talking to him, and she just randomly leaned over to kiss him.  He was so happy, then she did it again!  It was completely on her own, no prompting from me...she's never done that before and hasn't done it since.  He just smiled so big and said, "She is such a delight!"  It's a moment I'll always remember.

Unfortunately, my dad/Opa was in Holland on Father's Day, so we didn't get to celebrate with him that day, but he was not far from our hearts and minds.  We sent him the picture from above, and Isaac filled out a sweet questionaire for him.  We missed him so much, but were sure to share our love with him once he returned.

I am so thankful that Carl has so many men in his life to look up to and learn from; I know that he is the father he is today because of these amazing men surrounding him.  I love all of these men so much, and I hope they always know how much they mean to me and the kids!  

VBS 2013

 Day One - all smiles!

 Luke playing his instrument during music.

 Isaac earned a mustache one day, he thought it was great!  By the way, he did not wear the boots to VBS.

 The playground was Luke's favorite part of each day, he's been waiting for months to play on that playground!

We just finished our first ever week of VBS, and what a great week it was!  We decided that if Isaac was going to go, then Luke needed to go, too.  But we knew that Luke might struggle in that situation without us, so I signed up to volunteer.  This meant that Hannah would have to go to child care at the church.  When we decided all of this I thought she might cry some, but she'll be fine.  Well, apparently I forgot to tell her that part because she was not fine.  The girl didn't even make it 15 minutes in there before they came to get me.  I was bummed, I mean we hadn't even  moved to our first rotation yet.  So I picked up my girl and she joined me and the 3 year olds.  It was actually pretty funny, our first rotation was games, and Luke got pretty nervous, so he wanted to be held and would not play the game.  Hannah on the other hand was all about it, she wanted to play with those big kids.  Luke eventually warmed up and joined in with his friends, thankfully one of his best friends and her mom were in our group.  I finally broke down and called Carl to come get Hannah after 2 hours because even though she was having fun, I just felt like I couldn't do my job like I needed to.  At the end of the day I brought home two happy boys, they both loved VBS.  Tuesday Hannah stayed home with Hannah because she was a bit cranky and needed to nap.  Wednesday she went back with us, and even though she stayed in child care longer, she was not happy about it.  The boys continued to love it and were ready to go back every day.  I am so thankful I volunteered to be with Luke's group, even though it was difficult with Hannah, it was so fun to be with him and be able to watch him in that environment.  He did really well and bonded with one of our teenage helpers.  He enjoyed some parts more than others, but overall I am very proud of him and his openness in that situation.  It is so exciting to watch him grow into a little guy.  On Thursday, Hannah was blessed and so were the rest of us, she stayed home with Kristin and Taylor.  Oh what a relief that was, I was able to put all of me into working with the kids without having to worry about Hannah.  And let me tell you, Hannah had a fantastic time with them!  Today Hannah went back with us, and only made it about 25 minutes, but she had a great time with her 3 year old buddies.  :-)  This week was a wonderful time of learning about Jesus and His love for us.  It was great to be able to review with Luke afterwards, since I was there to hear all that he learned.  Isaac really soaked it all in, and was able to answer all of my questions after each day.  I am so thankful for the amazing volunteers who helped make this week possible, it really is a special week.

Oh and on a side note...I think it was great for Luke to see all of his friends using the potty, he stayed dry all day yesterday and today!!!  I'm not getting too excited yet, but it is a pretty big deal.  :-)

Potty Training is NO FUN!

Oh sweet Luke...doesn't he make a precious Cowboy Woody (from Toy Story)?  I love this picture of him, he was SO excited the day I pulled these out of the box of Isaac's old clothes.  He thought it was the best thing ever!  We had some friends over that night, but he had to go down to show daddy that he was Woody!  It was adorable, so the next morning I snapped this picture of him right as he came down stairs. 

This sweet boy has quite the stubborn streak, and potty training has been a true test for us both.  The boy has not decided that he wants to be fully potty trained.  He will go on the potty when I make him every hour or so, but if I forget so does he.  Ugh!  I cannot figure out how to make him want to do it.  I've tried rewards, punishments, encouraging, and even getting upset with him.  Nothing is working!  On Monday, Luke pooped on the potty for the first time since starting the potty training, we made a big deal, had an ice cream party and all.  I thought it was a turning point, I felt such relief, thinking we had turned a corner.  But yesterday and today were back to the same, he forgets when I does, and all the poop in the pull up.  What a bummer! 

Adding two other kids to the mix when potty training sure makes it harder.  It was so easy to potty train Isaac, he was more into it, but also I was not near as distracted.  Now trying to take care of all three, while remembering to take Luke to the bathroom every hour or less, well needless to say I am often too distracted to remember.  Fail.  I apologize now, my boy may be 5 before he's potty trained.  Any and all advice is appreciated.  :-)