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!

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

Fun with Forts and Felicity

Yesterday my children built a fort, one of their favorite things to do with Daddy, all by themselves. It was a pretty decent fort, for being made by a 3 and 4 year old but we had to take most of it down because we had borders last night (Pat and Sarah were passing through on their way to Sarah's grandma's funeral). So we put up a make shift one instead with some remnant blankets and sheets and Peyton actually got to sleep inside of the fort. I tell you, it was the smoothest bedtime ever. Peyton did not come out of his room once. This morning when he woke up he sad to me, "Mom, I went to bed really, really well last night!" Yes you did buddy, good job. Then this morning, they were still pretty excited about it, showing both of our guests their awesome fort. Pat and Sarah, the troopers they are, climbed right on in... (pat with broken neck and all!) This is a picture of Sarah with the kids... But that is not the end of their fort making career, after all what little kid couldn't use a fort of their own.Felicity was a little unsure at first but we removed the blankets to find she loved her new fort! The kids absolutley love their little sister, they are a little too hands on for my taste though. I walked in from the kitchen to find this picture... The story pretty much went like this: "Veronica! It is not a choice to pick up your sister and put her on the princess chair, you could hurt her- but quick go sit next to her and get your brother so I can get a cute snapshot!"

Where's Basil?

We watched Pat and Sarah's dog's this weekend and we probably had more fun than what would be considered normal with their dog Basil. This dog was either burrowed in a blanket or under your feet. There really was no inbetween. But with three other dogs and three kids, I would be in hiding too! So we had some fun with pictures from our dog weekend. This may not be everyone's idea of an interesting post, but that's okay, this one is For Sarah.



Please Pray for the Burke family, Pat's back is in a bad way and Sarah has had a rough month with both of her grandma's passing, so I am sure extra prayers would be appreciated.

Only 362 More Days

We had a happy St. Patrick's Day. I hope all of you did as well. St. Pat's day in our family ranks right up there with Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving! I am not sure if it is because we love being Irish or because we love beer. Probably a combination of both. Whatever the reason, the 17th of March is a pretty fun day for the ol' Burke Clan. Lately we have something of a tradition to go downtown to the Embassy. They open their banquet hall and have an Irish band and Irish dancers. It is really kid friendly, which is great, I don't know many other places on St. Patrick's day where one can go with their 4 year old, 3 year old and 5 month old and still get a beer and have a nice time. Each of the other kids have been to a bar on St. Patrick's day, but it doesn't provide quite the same atmosphere. Mostly it is just, "You have a baby... in a bar!?!?" Anyway, we had an awesome time. A lot of our family and friends came out with us to celebrate.
Kelly came over in the morning and we got ready together, which is also becoming something of a tradition. Always a good time.

Can't you tell how excited Ronni is. Normally she is really happy to get her picture taken, not today, but that is okay, Peyton's smile more than makes up for hers.
The kids had a great time on the dance floor. Bethany and Emma were able to join us. Madeleine and Leah were a bit under the weather, so unfortunately Mandie had to stay home, but at least the older girls were able to come. It just wouldn't have been St. Patrick's Day without a DeVries showing!
My friend Sadie and her kids, Creighton, Addyson and Tyson were able to join us as well. They are becoming regular members of the family, joining us for a lot of our family functions. It is nice to have such awesome friends. My parents also have great friends that have become members of our family, Curly and Julie. I can easily see Sadie and Nate in the role of Curly and Julie. We have it even better because they don't drink so when all of our kids are older and we go out we will have a built in designated driver. Me with Sadie and my mom with Julie. Curly, Tim and Nate weren't able to come to the Embassy, they had to do something called work, not sure what that is on St. Patrick's day, but oh well. Curly and Tim joined us later at my mom and dad's. We had corned beef and cabbage and beef stew. It was a great spread that my mom put together. She is a pretty awesome lady! Oh yeah, did I mention how much Creighton loves Kaela, but then again, what's not to love (watch out Mitch). She was a blast on St. Patrick's day. As well as one of her best friends, Jaci. (Julie's daughter, can you see the trend?) She held Felicity for a long time and I really appreciated that. Always nice to get a break!Two of my awesome aunts were there too,Tricia and Ann, they are so much fun, I just love getting to spend St. Patrick's day with so much of my family. My uncle Bernie was there in person for only a little while, but in spirit the whole day. We made it to a bar later in the day and I actually had a complete stranger ask me if I we knew Bernie Burke. Strange.

We were able to get out on the dance floor for our annual tribute to my Grandma Burke. Here we are dancing to Danny Boy. Later at Mom and Dad's we all joined in singing some Irish songs, our cousin Matt was there and he was pretty awesome. I actually sang Danny Boy- Mandie you are not allowed to miss St. Patrick's Day again! Let's just put it this way, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, but for a whole different reason!! All in all it was a great time, and I can't wait to do it again. Only 362 more days!

Pictures

After looking at the pictures from Grandma's house I could tell that I didn't have my blog in mind when I was there. There is not really many blog worthy pictures, but I will post what I have for memory's sake. I suppose the longer I blog the better I will be about taking more pictures. My mother had some good ones, but who knows when she will ever upload them and send them my way. (Maybe a little faster now that I have called her out! : )
This first picture is of Felicity and Grandma, this isn't the first time they have met, but it is the first time Grandma got to hold her I think, so that was pretty sweet.

This picture is of Grandma's orange tree. She is trying to see how big her fruit can get, I think it is just cool she could get the plant to fruit at all. I can guarantee you that if it was at my house the plant would die before it would even leaf. Although looking at all of grandma's plants it makes me want to have a greener thumb. They were pretty cool!

On the Road Again

So we are headed back to our home, and I am blogging from the road. My parents can get wireless anywhere, it is pretty cool. All in all, we had a great weekend! I worked on some mini-offices that a friend introduced me to. I got both Ronni and Peyton's done, so I will post a picture of those at another time. My grandma was awesome. She looks so good, it was fun listening to all the stories she has. Always entertaining.
I went to church with my Aunt Paula and Uncle Brian on saturday with no kids. It was amazing. Now I love having my kids at church too, don't get me wrong. I think they do a great job at Mass, for the most part, and I really have no true complaints, but it was really nice to get a break and I was really in tune with everything the Priest was talking about. I got over the cowboy boots and the fact he looks like Matthew Brodderick, after about six times of going to church there, so I was locked in. The only thing that distracted me were the older people in front of me. Anyway, we got through Mass without anyone getting hurt. The old lady with the cane made it to communion and back okay. I don't know why they worry me, but I just watch. Anyway, I happened to be keyed in on the old lady with the cane when we were leaving she mentioned something about St. Patrick's day and green beer. I had to chuckle a little bit. I told my aunt Paula and she said, you think that is bad, she is the person that drives grandma around! She drives grandma? She could hardly walk, I will just reiterate my earlier comment, Grandma looks awesome! (I guess the old lady pulls right up on the side walk next to the doors and grandma gets out to help her into the church when they go to sew, pretty funny!)

The rest of the night we spent eating pizza and watching basketball (ames won and I am happy to say that that was the first and last time I will be rooting for anyone with a "cyclone" in its name) It was a really fun weekend and just what the doctor ordered. The kids had a blast! We went on a walk, seeing my cousin Kimmy's old house and we played at the park. It was really neat watching the kids play with the toys I played with in my youth. Also, to pass on the love of grandma's house is just too priceless. At the end of the day, I told Ronni she needed to come downstairs and get ready to leave otherwise papa would leave without her. She just shouted down, "That's okay, I want to stay here!" Like I didn't see that one coming, but I have to say I don't blame her. I remember when I was younger counting out exactly how many nights we were going to get to stay there and being so sad when it was the last day and we didn't have any nights left. To this day, everytime I go I wish I had just one more day. I don't know why we don't go more often.

So now we are on our way home. We are looking forward to going home. Tim spent the weekend working on projects around the house. I told him not to tell me what he was doing because I didn't want to obsess over it, so now I get to go home and play the "can you guess all the things I did while you were out" game.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend and got to enjoy this weather! I can't wait for spring, I saw my first robin walking to church saturday night so I know it is getting close! It can't come fast enough!