Saturday, August 19, 2017

Growing Personalities

I have been meaning to write this post ALL SUMMER!  I decided that I have to do it today since school starts on Monday.  This is my annual personality blog post about the kids.  I finally found time to go take some pictures of them too.  I try not to go back and read the previous posts until after I write the current year's, that way I am not influenced by what I have written in the past and can see how they are growing and changing.
It was quite sunny, so a bit of a challenge to get some good pictures without everyone squinting.
Leila
Leila is protective and nurturing toward her siblings and others.  She is responsible and enjoys keeping her spaces neat.  She is very observant like her father (and unlike me).  She wants everything to be fair and continues to love rules (and enforcing them).  Leila is very creative and loves making crafts.  She saw a stand where someone was selling bracelets and wanted to make her own.  She made a bunch of bracelets and set up and advertised her shop in our garage.  She even made up a hybrid type of bracelet with rubber bands and beads all by herself.  She is curious about how things work and always wants to know more.

Stella
Stella is very caring.  Whenever someone is hurt or crying, she runs to find their blanket or lovey, or gets them some ice or a kleenex without anyone asking her to.  She remembers to pray for people that she hears are sick or suffering, even if it is a story she overheard on the news and not even someone we know.  Stella is also appreciative, she is usually the first one to remember to say thank you if we take the kids to do something special, or even just for a meal that she likes.  Stella is self-confident and brave.  She has a sense of adventure and is not afraid to get hurt or dirty.  She is competitive and determined.  If she sets out to accomplish something, she does not give up easily.  Stella is generous.  She will share her candy or give away her money to charity if she is asked.


Henry
Henry is a great helper.  He wants to assist with anything that I am doing.  He is considerate of others and does a good job of sharing his toys with friends and sisters.  Henry loves fiercely - there are many times that I pick him up after being apart and hear that he had been sad or crying because he missed me so much (or his sisters or dad).  Henry made great strides toward independence this year while we were camping.  He loved being able to go off on his bike all by himself to visit with other families from our church.  He is spontaneous and easygoing most of the time.  He still struggles with allergies but is getting braver at his shots and no longer crying.  He takes his limited food choices in stride and enjoys torturing me by changing his food preferences weekly if not daily.
We are so blessed to be the parents of these three beautiful children.  We love them so much and are so grateful to have the opportunity to guide them as they grow into who God created them to be.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

End of Summer Fun

 Our last camping trip of the year was with my family at the Conference Grounds.  Our sites were right on a hill that the kids enjoyed going down on their bikes.  Henry also enjoyed biking in place!




 Kari was in charge of french braiding the girls' hair - she even did Lindsey's to bribe Norah into doing it.

 We had lots of fun at the pool!
 Kari's girls brought mermaid tails.  By the end of the week with Kari's help, Leila had conquered her fear of going under and using a mask was able to do double front somersaults and back somersaults and hand stands!
 The kids also LOVED making crafts.
 You can take the cowgirl out of the barn...
 One night we did hot dogs and s'mores over the fire.
 Jer made do with Stella's chair :)
 Henry doing his food dance - we found graham crackers that he could eat with the marshmallows for his own kind of s'more.  He still prefers cold marshmallows :)



 The campground has activities for the kids - this was dribble, dribble, drench -  a very wet duck, duck, goose game.

 Norah
 Stella
 Greta
 Zoe & Henry running around
 Stella and Zoe taking a snack break
 Henry on the slip n slide


 Henry took a nap on Jeremy after a busy day.
 Papa gave each of the kids $10 to budget and spend at the camp store on candy and treats.
 It was music week and Stella, Henry, Norah, and Greta played an instrument called a boomwhacker.
 More candy store fun.



 It rained on Friday so Jer and Henry went to check out the ships at the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven.
 Papa took Kari, Lindey, and I and the rest of the kids back to school shopping.
 The last night was very windy, cold, and rainy.


 The kids sang songs at the program from their week of VBS.
Stella, Norah, and Greta also performed with the boomwhackers.


We took the kids to Teusinks Farm with their daycare.
 They had lots of fun with the face painting and horse riding.



We went to a Whitecaps game to celebrate Grandpa's 85th birthday.
 The lady behind Jenna and Luke complemented them on their stunning children :)
 This was after ONE bite of cotton candy.  It was BLUE!
 Henry was excited to see Crash.


 The girls were jealous that Henry got his picture taken with Crash, so they had to make sure they got their picture taken with the pig.
 Ken, Sue, Dad, Loie
 Kerri, Rod, Stella



 Henry BEGGED me to let him get his picture taken with these villains (the theme for the night).  Stella also wanted to come along.  When we got up close to them, Henry decided he had changed his mind :)
We stayed for the fireworks after the game and it ended up being a really LATE night!  We got home at 11:40pm.

Kid Quotes:

Henry: I hurt Stella and then she hurt me.
Stella: Yep. There is that song that says you can. (Singing) Do to others, do to others, as you would have them do to you.
(Someone missed the point)

Henry: Mom, I accidentally put the ear wax from my ear in my nose. I used the wrong finger. I forgot that I had it on there.

Leila: Stella had her tongue out the whole time on the dune ride.
Stella: I could because the sand on the dune was stapled down.  They said the dune grass and stuff made it staple.
Me: Stable?  The dune grass made it stable?

Me: We are going to go to a pool on Tuesday.
Stella: Bowser?  Are we going to Bowser pool?
Me: Bouws Pool?