Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Another Drought

Ended!!! Soon to come a list of goals for 2010, inspired by fellow bloggers. Hopefully updating this blog on a more regular basis will be one of my goals! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Look who's...

WALKING!!! Felicity has just taken off and walking is now the preferred mode of transportation. Her favorite things are still the same, the xbox and the computer, but now she walks, no RUNS, to play with them. She is growing up fast!


Be sure to check out this updated post!

Monday, October 12, 2009

a BIG day for Felicity!

Check out this video!

Check this out!

My friend Mary and her daughter made this for us. It inlcudes her 2 children and my three...
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/UJ0NC3xEzku95uW9

This is a new one, Peyton is the mad scientist, Tim is Frankenstien, Genny is the werewolf, Ronni is the bride and Felicity is the Vampire... fitting.
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/rWB1HftTWObRhn3z

This one has a few devries kids in it...
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/l6R0SopKkTfetmLP

You're not the boss of me!

I am forever going to be haunted by these words. I became a legend of sorts in my family when I was about four, I told my (formidable) grandpa that he was not the boss of me. I hear this story nearly every Christmas, or at least everytime people start talking about "Old EJ". I used to think it was cute and was proud of my 4 year old self, but now that I am a parent, each time I hear it, I am secretly hoping that my parents, once over the shock, took me out back and taught me a lesson about respect. That being said today is not the first time that those words have been uttered in my house. The first day I heard these words I decided (however unwisely) to make them the boss of each other. Ronni had to listen and do whatever Peyton said and vice versa. I really haven't heard too much about bosses since that day. I thought perhaps whatever I was trying to teach sunk in. Well this way of thinking was pre-5 year old Ronni. This was the conversation at lunch.

R- Peyton we need to pray
P- You are not the boss of me
R- Acutally, I am the boss of you
P- No you are not, Mommy is the boss of me
R- I am almost six so I AM the boss of you.

The conversation continued with Ronni counting out how old she will be for the next 10 years, and then I will be seven and then I will be eight and then I will be... I ended the conversation by saying it was time to pray becuase I AM the boss of them!

(for any of you wondering, ronni has been 5 for a week and a half- naturally almost 6)

As an added side not, my kids are really into rhyming right now. The word they were just talking about was duck. So far I have heard, ruck, truck, luck... I am hoping they stop there.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

All I want for Christmas *Updated*

Is my two front teeth!

This blog post is dedicated to my littlest redhead, Felicity. Or as Tim likes to call her, Lissy, or as Peyton likes to call her Lissy-bug, or as Veronica likes to call her Gissy. (I don't mind the first two ;) Felicity is getting so big, nearing her first birthday, October 4. Right now she has four teeth that are almost all of the way in. Her two bottom middle teeth and the ones right next to her two front teeth, on the top. I could have titled this blog, I vant to suck your blood... she literally looks like she has vampire fangs, it is hilarious!! Her two front teeth are starting to break through, maybe by Christmas she won't look so goofy, maybe. I will post a picture of this when i get a chance... I used this picture as inspiration during Papa Pumpkin Camp! In the background is the pumpkin Tim carved. Introducing, Felicity Vampire!

Felicity is also almost walking, she will pull herself up to almost anything,a couch a chair, the wall a tonka truck, you name it. Speaking of tonka truck, this is, coincidentally, her new favorite toy. She likes to climb inside it and just lounge, every once in a while her sister or brother will drive her around the living room. This is how she rolls...

I am a little concerned for my future. She absolutley knows when she is being a bit mischevious, and absolutely doesn't care. If she gets caught she gives it up, but if you don't catch her she is home free! How I know this? Well, if she is holding anything that is not hers or isn't a toy if you walk anywhere near her she will automatically hold out her hand as if to give you the offending item. I have known for a while that this is a worrisomer trait in her but never have i been worried as much as today. I walked in from outside and she was playing with a lesson book I have for ronni that I left on the floor. I was just watching her for a little while, then she saw me. She opened the book and literally tried to climb in, basically hide herself in the pages. The closer i got the louder she laughed! I knew, for certain, at this moment that I am in big trouble where Lissy is concerned! I am sure she is not at all unlike another third child I have known in my life. (I may or may not be referring to myself)

She also did something really sweet tonight. With any of my other children we never really used a pacifier, we made sure they knew how to suck on one just in case, but never made sure we had one when leaving the house and going somewhere special. With Lissy we have definitely used it more, sparingly still, but more. The thing is is that she really likes the pacifier. If she could pick a favorite thing in the whole wide world, it would be the pacifier. Anytime a child would come over to my house, she would find their carseat in order to find a pacifier, and she has been rewarded many a time by a nice juicy pacifier just waiting for her to steal. Sometimes it didn't matter if a baby was in the carseat and the pacifier was in their mouth she would ultimately steal or try to steal the pacifier. Today we have are a watching a couple of kids for a friend. Sure enough there is a baby and sure enough there is a pacifier. Felicity is stoked I am sure. Anyway, the little boy was crying and felicity went over to him, took the pacifier off of the floor next to him and rather than put it in her mouth she picked it up and held it out to him. It was so sweet! Then after he stopped crying she took the pacifier out of his mouth and tried to hand it to me (still not putting it in her mouth).

Another sweet thing she does right now, kisses. She has for a few months, anytime you ask for kisses she will open her mouth and lean towards your mouth saying, "AAAHHH". She will also say a few words. She has been saying momma and dadda since about april, but lately she will say a few more. A lot of times she will say them a bunch of times on the first day she says them and then anytime you prompt her again it is hit or miss. For instance, when the Bills won their first game of the season she said touchdown. She also has said diaper. She is one of our best diaper changing babies yet. She will go to the closet where the diapers are, take one out of the drawer (with a little help) close the drawer and then close the door and then go to the diaper that you lay on the floor. I can't say enough about this sweet little girl, she just melts my heart.

My little girl is getting big, it really is crazy how fast time flies!

It's been a long time

You know it has been a long time since you have posted on your blog when:

Your url doesn't come up in your history

When you can't remember exactly what your url is

When you have to find your blog via a search engine

When you (finally) get to your blog and you forgot that you even posted the last post

When you are talking to no one when you blog because it has been so long people don't even come to your blog and check it unless directly told to...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The strangest thing

Ronni just came running into the living room and kind of stumbled because she has dress up shoes on. I literally just said these words to my daughter, " it's kind of hard to walk in high heels isn't it, Ron?" And as matter of factly she said back, "Yeah, it is"... For some reason I didn't think we would ever have a conversation like this, looks like my little girls is growing up...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Works for Me

If anyone has ever wanted a pretty good resource for parenting, here is the best one I have found. It is called, Rasing Godly Tomatoes, and it is basically a book online. It is pretty straight forward and easy to read. Here is the hyperlink, I would encourage you to check it out. It has everything from Potty training to sitting still in church to sibling rivalry. There are somethings I actually do disagree with, but it is the closest thing I have found to be, in my opinion, a good parenting style- online. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me!Here is the book, it is by L. Elizabeth Krueger. I have never bought a parenting book before, and to be honest have never really read one either, I am seriously considering purchasing this book, if that tells you how good I think it might be!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Giant Heads

So a few weeks ago Ronni asked me out of the blue, "Mom can we go and see the giant heads?" Giant heads, what the heck is she talking about? But the kids didn't drop it, finally this past weekend, they showed a placemat I had purchased that has all the presidents on there and a picture of said giant heads. Sure enough our kids just requested we go and visit Mount Rushmore! So now, Tim and I are planning our first whole family vacation! The kids are super excited to know that sometime after peyton turns four and Ronni is almost six we are going to get to go. So excited in fact, every morning since Peyton has asked us if he is four. We are gearing up to start homeschooling and I am pretty sure I have found a year long topic in which to study! Thanks, kids, get ready to learn about the giant heads.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

"Wow"

"That was just about all they could say, Wow". This tagline from one of my favorite children's books, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes and it pretty much sums up my July.
We spent most of July working on art projects. The kids went to their grand parents house for a week and my cousin Jeanna from Nevada came for a week as well as my cousin Ivy. We had Tricia camp, and it was a blast! I made a mosaic and a cool bracelet and we did a murder mystery dinner party. I was Wilma Winterflood and I was posh (that is a fancy word for fancy). I excelled in all the social graces as well as tapestry. (I will add some pictures in here at some point.) Getting ready for this special event was such a wonderful time, I did most of my cousins makeup and hair, it was a neat bonding experience.
We had a week at home, in which I started a new semi-full time job, doing daycare out of my home for a few weeks. Then more family came into town, my cousin Tiffani and my aunt Polly. We had pool party after pool party and did another fancy art project. I never knew myself to be
such an artist! It was certainly fun dabbing into the world of creativity for a few weeks.

Then this past weekend we headed south to visit my brother for his birthday. It was sort of like FuToN weekend only there were more girls and for a few hours there was no one was playing a video game. I don't know how the XBOX handled being neglected for 2 whole hours, but it (they-
afterall there were 3 XBOX's set up!) worked just fine after the majority of the guests went home. After a fun party we headed back home for another pool party! This one included two of my great aunts and a bunch of extended family. It was a wonderful time.
Then on monday we said goodbye to aunt Polly and now we look forward to a quiet August! Yeah right! It has been crazy busy, but a great time. I enjoy having such a large family, there is never a dull moment! Through it all the kids and Tim have been great, I am feeling very blessed to have such great kids and a wonderful husband.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

How Big is Felicity?

SO BIG! This little trick never gets old, however, Felicity has modified it a bit. Instead of lifting her arms on her own, she looks at one of my hands, grabs my index finger, very dramatically turns her head in search of my other hand and grabs the other index finger, then proceeds to lift up her arms and smile with the cheesiest smile ever! So Big and so cute!
This is her with Bethany on the slide.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Summer Thus Far

I was updating my profile and pictures on the side and I saw all the pictures I took with my blog in mind. It is kind of funny because early on in my blog writing I had stories but not pictures, now I take pictures for the blog but never write the story that goes along with them. Oh well.

As I mentioned in my post earlier today, we have been on the go this summer; from the zoo, to park day, to wading pools, back to the zoo, to picnics, to fashion shows and then to the zoo and wading pools again! Man, have we been staying busy! Just yesterday Ronni was telling her daddy at dinner, "I had A LOT of special blessings today, I got to go to the pool and have chocolate milk from McDonald's, that is a lot of blessings..." It was really funny. Anyway, here are few of the pictures from our crazy-busy-fun summer thus far!

Works For Me

When my kids have had an overdose of fun and can't seem to figure out the proper way to act even after we have exhausted our normal form of discipline we resort to a last ditch effort, which so far has worked pretty well. It is called blackout. I learned of this term through Dr. Ray and my sister. Basically the kids know that there is a possiblity they could go into blackout when they misbehave. Blackout is a time in which they have to sit quietly without any special blessings. If they get one stick, it is 1 hour, 2 sticks 2 hours, 4 sticks equals a whole day. I use the stick so there is something tangible to help them understand what happened and it marks when it begins and when it is over.

For anyone who wants to know what my blackout system looks like:



Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Who's Your Buddy Who's Your Pal?

PAPA!! Even Felicity thinks so! She loves the camera so it took her a while to say it, but as I was picking out the video to put on here, each time I asked in the video, she answered! SO stinkin' cute!!

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Pricelessness of Tea Parties

I was invited to tea today, and after putting it off while I looked at three different facebook pages and one status update, I knew I didn't want to put it off any longer (and I didn't want her to have to ask me again). So I joined my two princesses on the porch for a tea party. I tried to sit across from Ronni on the couch, but that just wouldn't do, the little Miss Kitty chair was evidently the spot reserved for me, it is amazing how well those chairs hold up! We had a delightful tea. I nearly choked on a grape, the tea was a little bland for my tastes, and my English accent wasn't impressing her, but all in all it was a wonderful time. Sitting on the chair in the porch with Felicity on my lap, happy, and Ronni next to me, smiling sweetly, I wondered why we didn't do this a little more often. Normally, when Peyton is taking a nap I am also laying down, or doing laundry or cleaning or balancing money or... you get the point. Anyway, today I participated in a tea party, and I truly enjoyed it.

The title for this blog could have been We Survived. Tim had another FuToN weekend this weekend. This time it was in the same town we live in so it wasn't as much of a burden as when he is out of town. Friday we went to the Zoo, had ice cream from McDonald's and a movie night, Beauty and the Beast. Saturday I went over to my mom and dad's and helped them clean out their garage. It is funny, we were supposed to have a deck painting party, I thought that would be a bit strange considering it was the last FuToN weekend that we surprised them with painting their upstairs! Alas, it rained so we didn't paint their deck, but we were able to clean out their garage and organize the cupboard under their sink (both are no small feat). Then my mom offered to keep Peyton over night, so that was a special treat for him, he had a golf lesson with papa on sunday, always fun!

This week has already been full of excitement. Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School. I was mortified when one of the teenagers helping asked me if Peyton knew how to listen! So it hasn't exactly started off on the right foot, but I think he may be sick, so that explains that a little bit. My brother in law Sven passed his boards so he may officially practice nursing in the state of Iowa! Congrats to him. Tonight, weather permitting, we are going to go and see Rich Hardin do a rehab start with the Iowa Cubs and then with 4 days of training coming up later this week, this week promises to be pretty crazy, but I am sure we will survive that as well!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Growing Up Fast *Updated*


The children in this household are growing up pretty quickly these days. Ronni has decided she wants to be a nun (with some positive peer pressure from her cousin Bethany). In fact, she announced it at the Aldi checkout and I am sure I got more than one shocked look, especially when the two girls were jumping up and down saying, "We can go to the same convent and we could be sisters!!" Peyton has also decided he wants to be a nun, we have explained that only girls are nuns, and boys can be Priests, but he is still pretty insistent, we'll see. Felicity is a mover and a shaker, that is for sure. She is grabbing life by the horns! She loves crawling and loves eating and loves being awake at 5:30 am and loves her siblings and her daddy- did I mention she is awake, for the day, at 5:30. That is the only bit that I am not loving. It is so sweet to see her so excited about life, she can brighten up the darkest day with her sweet smile, we are so thankful for her.

This past weekend was a whirlwind for us. My sister was an intern for the Principle Charity Classic and hooked us up with some pretty sweet tickets. We took the kids on Friday, all in all they did pretty well. There was one little hang up when Peyton fell and scraped his knee and wouldn't stop crying, one of the tournament helpers came running down the stairs to where we were by the portapotties, cookie in hand, asking me if it would help get him to be quiet, you would think, but it took a few second of convincing him he wanted the cookie/shoving it in his mouth before the crying actually stopped, I was mortified! But we moved on and the rest of the day was great. We came back, childless (except Felicity, thanks to my Aunt) on Sunday and got to watch the dramatic 4 hole play off! It was great fun! (thanks Kaela!)

I was helping with First Communion at our church, so Tim (the rockstar he was all weekend) took the kids to the Zoo to see Duck from Word World, a really neat television show on IPTV.They had a great time.

They also got their faces painted. The last time Ronni got her face painted, she had a spider web all over her face and she called herself spider-girl...



We are looking forward to an exciting summer. In addition to the zoo, and the pool and the lake, we have lots of summer activities planned. I just hope the weather will start cooperating. I actually like warm weather, and I am so looking forward to the temperature rise! To give some of you an idea... Tim had his space heater in his office on this week. It is JUNE!!! That is crazy. I hope all of you have a great summer!

Friday, May 22, 2009

I'll Love You Forever

One of my favorite childhood books is Love You Forever, by, Robert Munsch. When my kids were very young my favorite part of the book was the song, especially when the boy, all grown up, sings it back to his mommy: I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My Mommy you'll be. I would read that and, guaranteed, tear up each time. Three children and four and a half years later, my new favorite part is "That little boy grew, he grew and he grew and he grew... Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!" Well, we were at the zoo this week and I was very tempted to see what I could get for them... turns out the Redheaded Animals don't do well in enclosed spaces so the zoo thinks it is best to keep them in their natural habitat... shows what they know! In anycase, everyone went in and everyone came out, which, I suppose, is saying something. We got a zoo pass with my stipend from the church so we are thinking about going back this weekend, we will have two of the DeVries' redheads so we will see if that sweetens the deal any! Although, all it will probably do is increase the likelihood of losing one of the kids at the zoo, but with that many redheads in an enclosed space (our house for 3 days) we may just have to take that chance! Here are the pictures from the zoo. (Thanks Sadie!)

The 3 Redheaded AnimalsIf you look close you may be able to see a Zebra in the background, I don't know about you but I think they would make a good exhibit, look at how nicely the red hair goes with the green grass!

Veronica on the slide
The green plastic was burning her legs, but she gave a good smile anyway! She is a little sweetheart right now, always trying to help out with Felicity. In fact, yesterday she was playing with her and these exact words came out of her mouth. "Mom I was playing mommy with Felicity and she pooped all over me!" (Welcome to the club!)

My little monkey

Peyton is three right now, which means somedays are really good, somedays are pretty bad but mostly each day is a combination of really good and pretty bad. I wouldn't trade him in for anything (despite my earlier comments) he really is a good little boy!

In other news... Felicity is crawling!!!

Apparently the mouse and keyboard on the floor while I am typing this blog is just enough motivation to get her little (or should I say plump) legs moving!! I hope you all have a great memorial day weekend!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

April Blogging

These are all the posts I meant to do but was too busy to actually put it down in writing. I will post the pictures and titles, any creative writing that would have gone along with it will have to be left unsaid! Oh well, what is it they say, a picture is worth thousand words...
Basil Part Deux
Where's Basil?

There she is!


Opening Day 2009

Girl's Night Out


Dude's Night Out
We each took our kids out on a date. We both took them to the fish fry but ate separately, then Ronni and I went to ride the train at Merle Hay and play at the play place and Tim and Peyton went to look at animals at Pet Smart and then Daddy toys at Best Buy and then Peyton toys at Target, where he got to pick out a cool car! It was a good time hanging out with the kids!

"He Looks Like a DAD!"



Go Cubs Go Go Cubs Go

Hey Chicago, what do you say? Cubs are gonna win today!

Best Friends (no, not twins!)


Great Weather!

Ronni at 21?
Golfing with a Pro