Noah gets hockey gear so he can start skating lessons at 'The Edge'!
Abby makes an adorable "Fre-sa-sera-tops" aka triceratops shrinky dink necklace today! Thanks Auntie Laura and Uncle Gavin! (she traced and colored it)
My first knitted animals! Christmas gifts for the kids (why is it sideways?)
Sophie enjoyes the snow!
Abby makes a 'mini' snowman!
We had a wonderful Christmas week! The kids were feeling pretty much better, and we were able to celebrate with the Bonnema family on Monday night. We had a wonderful, relaxing evening laughing, eating, opening gifts, and celebrating. While this was going on in Michigan a wonderful Christmas miracle was arriving in Seattle. We are excited to welcome our new niece Amelia Josephine Lappenga on Monday night. She is so beautiful. We can't wait to hold her!
Tuesday we headed to Detroit, a 7 hour drive through the ice and snow. My mom, Martha and I were able to attend 'White Christmas' at the Fox Theater. It was our birthday gift to her. We missed Laura who was at home in Florida with her sweet little 4 week old Nathan! We stayed in Livonia for the rest of the week celebrating Christmas with my parents, Martha, Chuck, Adelee, and Gordie. It was a wonderful week with lots of joyful noise! Again, we missed Laura, Gavin, and Nathan so much.
We are so blessed this Christmas season with such wonderful family friends. I hope you all had a wonderful, blessed holiday. Merry Christmas!
The snow has been falling here for days, it is so beautiful! Sure makes us feel the Christmas spirit! Not that fun to drive in (My sister and I got stuck 3 times in our neighborhood on Friday....and pushed ourselves out before 4 men go the car in front of us out!!). The kids have had terrible colds and coughs all week, so we've been laying low. My mom and Martha came in to town for the kids Christmas performance on Friday, but they had a snow day! (Which the kids were not happy about, they wanted to do their performance!). Instead we stayed home and baked cookies! It was wonderful. Adelee was SO excited to see the kids after a few weeks (and the kids were excited to see her!). We're staying in again today in hopes of healing before the Christmas parties start. Prayers that we can be healthy and strong to celebrate with our family this week. Merry Christmas week!
That was the report from the kids this afternoon after our Christmas fun. We met our friends the Bolt's at the Critter Barn in Zeeland for the "Live Nativity". I have wanted to see this for years, but this was a first. It was so much fun! The kids saw a variety of animals (Abby couldn't keep the smile off of her face!) as well as a moving rendition of a live nativity. The kids stood in awe, and really seemed to understand what they were seeing. It helps that they are acting this out for their Christmas program at school (I have a donkey, sheep, and Wiseman!) It was such a quietly powerful moment in a season of noise and chaos! What a blessing. After that we even saw a sheep being sheered.
After the farm we headed downtown for a visit with Santa. The kids had a blast laughing, talking, singing, and making a list with Santa. It was magical.
Earlier this week the kids and I braved the shopping crowds at Grandville Mall, which as always, included a ride on the carousel. I took the kids to visit Great Grandma Bonnema after that, where Noah delivered a 3 foot tall Christmas tree he painted. They were wonderful with her. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.
We have been having a wonderful time preparing our hearts and our home for Christmas. We went to watch Sinterklaas proceed in to town last Friday night. It was chilly, but having grandma and grandpa B and hot cocoa helped keep the kids warm! Since the kids have been around we've always made ornaments for our tree each year. Every year has a slightly different theme. This year we are doing circle/round ornaments. We had a blast glueing and glittering a variety of round objects for the tree. The kids helped me string pom poms, and of course our wonderful chain of gratitude as well. It looks wonderful. We have also been busy painting wrapping paper for gifts. You may note that we have been doing a lot of this in our Pj's, oh well!
I apologize for the picture quality, something seems to be wrong with my camera... :(
Yesterday my wonderful husband turned 35. We were able to celebrate Wednesday night at the MSU basketball game in Detroit. The game wasn't worth celebrating, but we enjoyed being out together. Thursday morning we picked up the kids and my sister and kids from my parents house and headed to Ann Arbor for the day. We continued the family tradition (started in July) of birthday ice cream for lunch, then headed to a restaraunt for a "snack" My dad was able to walk over from work to meet us. After the snack we went to the wonderful natural history museum. We all enjoyed exploring for a couple of hours! On the way back home we stopped in Byron Center for a birthday dinner at Steve and Lynn's wonderful flooring store (they had to keep the store open, so we ate in the back). It was perfect! It was a wonderful day to celebrate Tom, the most amazing huband, father, and best friend I could ever imagine.
Today was "Muffins with Mom" at preschool. (They were learning "M" today) I had so much fun having a snack, craft, and even a story with my kids. Priceless.
I got to work at preschool again this past Monday, with all 3 kids this time. As always I enjoyed watching the kids interact and love learning!
After school we went birthday shopping for Tom. I just wanted to pick up a couple of small things. Lesson learned: do not shop for gifts with the kids. As soon as Tom returned home from work, they proceeded to tell him what we had purchased for him. Note: his birthday isn't until Thursday! The matching PJ's were one of the gifts, Noah insisted we give him early! Surprise or no surprise how cute are my guys!!??
Prayers please for Tom's grandma Bonnema who has been ill for a few weeks, and has just been hospitalized with a stroke. She is the sweetest woman, and your prayers are much appreciated.
