Soccer in September

When September rolls around . . . so does soccer season!!  We love going up to Cornerstone to all of Anna's home soccer games.  We even try to make the close (within an hour) away games.  I do draw the line when it is rainy and cold . . . I'd go if it was just me but taking 3 kids to a soccer game in the rain is not my idea of a good time.  But for those games (and the away games we are not able to be at), I demand that my Mom text me updates and I've even been known to text her and ask what the score is if I feel like I should be hearing from her more frequently!  The kids do really well at the games.  We take lots of snacks and that always helps!  Samuel usually can't watch for too long before getting up and playing some soccer himself.  All of these pictures are of my kids watching . . . I'm not sure why I don't have any of Anna playing!!  The highlight of the soccer games for Samuel is being able to go out and play on the

 big soccer field and score in the big net after Aunt Anna's soccer game is over.

Sanity during a rainy week

This has been a rainy week and I was desperate to go somewhere with the kids where they could burn off some energy. Our house is just too small for 3 little kids with lots of energy! Today we headed for a McDonald's about 30 minutes away that looked (from my drives to and from Anna's soccer games) like a fun one. A fun McDonald's = A playplace that my kids can play on by themselves (more specifically, a way for my kids to get up to the slide without me crawling behind them and boosting them up to every single platform). Score!! This is the first McDonald's that I have found within a 2o mile radius that has a slide my kids can play on all by themselves. And not just one slide . . . . two!! Oh happy day. :) They loved it and had a blast! We were there for (cough, cough) 2 1/2 hours!

My little Hope is turning into a McDonald's addict. The other day we were in the van stopped and a red light and Hope starts bawling. We had just past a McDonald's. I asked her what was wrong. Her answer? "I want to go to McDonald's!!!!" Oh dear . . . .

Aliyah was happy to just hang out and run around (and eat some french fries too!). I took her up into the tunnels once and she freaked out. That was okay with me! Much easier to stay on the ground with her.

McDonald's is the happiest place on earth!! At least it was today! It was just what we all needed - sanity (for me) and a place to have fun and burn off some energy (for my kids)!!

Water Play

This is Aliyah having way too much fun and making way too much of a mess! Samuel was demanding Daryl's attention and I was trying to get my Mom's birthday cake made (Hope was napping) so this is where I put Aliyah. She loved it! It was totally worth the soaking wet floor and the soaking wet baby because it kept her occupied for a good half hour! I had to wring out her shirt after she was done.

Oh, and are you asking, "Why is Aliyah up in the middle of the afternoon when she should be napping?" It is because her 3 year old brother (I don't think I have to mention any names) threw a huge temper tantrum in the hallway outside of her door and woke up . . . at 2pm . . . not even 1 hour after she fell asleep.

26.01

I did it! I ran my first 5K . . . ever. And it was fun!! Anna and I did Run for the Son together. Daryl also ran but he was running with a friend from work who had a goal of finishing in under 44 minutes. My goal was to run it in under 30 minutes. Anna's friend, Cody, runs for Cornerstone and he told us we had to run the 5K faster than his 8K PR - 26 minutes and 3 seconds. I was doubtful that I could run it that fast, but Anna dragged me along! I thought she started out rather fast but our fastest mile was actually mile 2. I crossed the finish line at 26 minutes and 1 second. Anna crossed at 26 minutes even. Anna was 2nd in her age group, I was 4th in mine. 46th and 47th overall. Not bad for my first 5K. Now Anna is trying to talk me into doing a half marathon next May . . . . we'll see about that one!!

Aliyah's First ER Visit

None of my kids have ever had to go to the ER . . . until today. We were downstairs playing this morning. Hope and Aliyah were jumping/running around on the trampoline and Samuel was kicking a soccer ball. The girls were having a blast until Aliyah backed up and fell off of the trampoline onto her upper back/head/neck. I tried to grab her but I didn't make it in time. She screamed for a good 10-15 minutes. When I finally got her calmed down, all she wanted to do was sleep. That made me nervous! The accident happened around 11am so I wasn't sure if she was falling asleep just because she was ready for a nap or because she had a head injury. It was a little early for a nap but she was awake early this morning. I kept waking her up but she was still pretty lethargic and just acting strange. She wouldn't let me set her down and would cry uncontrollably if I tried to get her to sit up, stand up, or walk. I was a little concerned and wanted to play it safe so I called Daryl and told him what had happened. He came home from work right away. As soon as he saw Aliyah he packed a diaper bag and told me to go to the ER. The whole "I'm a horrible Mom" train of thought was playing through my head and I prayed the whole way there that she would be okay. They got us back into a room quickly and after screaming through triage, Aliyah promptly fell asleep in my arms. Our nurse got a warm blanket to wrap her in and there we sat. The doctor came in and quickly looked her over (she screamed through the whole exam and then fell asleep again after he was done) and decided to give her some tylenol and watch her for a couple of hours. He wanted to avoid (if at all possible) doing a CT scan and instead wanted to wait for her to wake up and then see if she was less irritable and acting more like herself. So the good part of the whole ordeal was that I got to snuggle with Aliyah for 2 hours straight without any interruptions (except when the PCA tried to get her vitals and Aliyah made it very clear to him that she did not want him touching her). The bad part of the whole ordeal was that I paid the ER $50+ to do what I could have done at home - give her tylenol and watch her closely. Grrrrr!!! When she woke up from her nap she was ready to have a snack and play with the fun toys that the child life specialist had brought to her. I was so relieved that she was okay but so frustrated that I brought her in to the ER in the first place. This was a morning that I wished I could have started over from the beginning!

It was a good reminder about how easily accidents can happen and how quickly things can change. The whole incident definitely made me hold my kids tighter, squeeze them harder, give them more hugs, and tell them a million times that I love them throughout the rest of the day!!

Saying "cheese!!!" Ready to head home!

Running!

Samuel loves to run. Aliyah loves to run. Hope . . . it depends on the day!

Samuel is always trying to talk Hope into running around with him. Today, she decided it sounded like fun.

And then, when they decided to hold hands and run, this Mommy just had to get out the camera because they were too stinkin' cute.

Hope is a pretty fast runner and surprisingly, she can keep up with Samuel pretty well. She just tires faster than he does and wants to quit long before he is ready to quit. Heck, everybody tires faster than Samuel. He has never-ending energy!

**Aliyah is the cutest ever when she runs. I took a video of it but that would take forever to upload to this blog. She (and her brother, of course!) loves to run circles at my parent's house through the living room, dining room, and kitchen. She and Samuel will chase each other around and giggle and giggle. It is so fun to watch!

I can do it myself!

This evening, Aliyah was throwing an absolute fit at the dinner table. It had been a long day for everyone (partially due to the fact that Aliyah was up at 6am and only took a short, less than one hour, nap) and I could not figure out for the life of me what she wanted. She kept pointing and saying "isss, isss" (this, this). I offered her practically everything on the table and she'd scream louder with each thing I offered. Finally it clicked it my head that she wanted a spoon. I handed her a spoon, the screaming stopped, a big smile came over her face, and she was one happy girl!! She thought she was pretty big stuff eating with a spoon. I love her big smiles in these pictures. You can tell by looking at her eyes in these pictures that she just got over a big temper tantrum. She ended up doing a pretty good job with her spoon, too!

Samuel's 3rd Birthday Party

Samuel said he wanted a "workin' machine" birthday cake for his 3rd birthday. I ended up making "dirt cake" (with golden oreos instead of chocolate, to look more like sand) and giving it a sandbox look. Daryl was a good sport and made a little sandbox to put over the cake tin.

Samuel was so excited when he saw his cake that he wanted to start playing in it right away.

When we started singing "Happy Birthday" to him, he immediately got very timid and shy. His lips started quivering and I really thought he would burst into tears at any second. But he held it together! He's just like I was when I was little - he doesn't like to be in the spotlight at all. And it wasn't even a very big party - my parents, Daryl's mom and step-dad, Aunt Anna, Aunt Sandy, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Bishop - but it was enough for him!

After Daddy helped him blow out the candle, he was ready to get back to playing!! Thankfully, nobody at his party minded that his fingers were all over it and that it was a little messed up by the time they got a piece!

Pulling a worm out of the sandbox. Samuel thought it was pretty cool . . . after he made sure that it was just pretend!

Licking off some of the construction signs that were on the cake.

Showing him a "no u-turn" sign.

The very first present that Samuel opened was this hockey set from Uncle Kevin, Aunt Karin, Ephraim, Noel, Selah, and Wilona. He was so super excited that he wanted to go and play hockey right away. I asked him if he wanted to open his other presents and he said, "No, I want to go and play hockey!!" We tried and tried to convince him to open the rest of his presents and even told him that if he left, Hope was going to open his presents for him. He said he was good with Hope opening his presents and that he just wanted to go and play hockey. Silly boy! We finally talked him into opening more presents, but as soon as they were all opened, he went right back for his hockey set and took his Daddy downstairs to play hockey with him! Oh - and Samuel prefers the Canadian hockey stick over the USA stick . . . . hmmmmm . . . .

Opening his set of "real" balls (soccer, basketball, and football) from Uncle Ben and Aunt Anna. They look exactly like real balls but they are a little smaller - perfect for a 3 year old!

Samuel also got a new, real, size 4 soccer ball from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Rachel. Perfect for taking to Aunt Anna's soccer games and shooting into the net at halftime!

Samuel got a big set of duplos from his Grandpa and Grandma Stegink that I found on e-bay. It wasn't cheap - but duplos aren't cheap! It was a good deal though and it was all "vintage" duplos - the ones that I played with when I was little! I love duplos and I am so excited for Samuel (and Hope and Aliyah) to start a collection of them! Samuel was pretty excited when he opened them - hopefully they will provide hours of fun entertainment this fall and winter! I'm not sure what my favorite part of this picture is - Samuel playing so happily with the duplos or his Great Grandpa holding a purse!! ;)

A weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

This past weekend, Daryl's Mom and Step-dad came from Ontario for Samuel's birthday party. We love having them visit and this time was no different! Their birthday present to Samuel this year was a picnic table. Neil came with all of the pieces cut and ready to go (and no directions, he forgot those!) so that on Saturday he just had to assemble it. It was ready to be used by lunchtime so Samuel and Hope had some mac and cheese out on the deck with Grandpa and Grandma! Isn't that just the cutest picnic table that you've ever seen?

Neil taking an afternoon nap and Mom enjoying watching Samuel play.

Samuel didn't let Grandpa Neil sleep for too long! The two of the played in the sandbox for over an hour. They were so busy in there! It was so special to see this bonding time between Samuel and Grandpa Neil!

We went out for supper on Saturday night to Bimbo's pizza in downtown Kalamazoo. It was delicious. We never go out to eat with the kids (except for places like McDonald's!) so I was a little nervous about how well the kids would do. They really did great! After supper we walked around downtown. Rachel and Andrew (Daryl's sister and brother-in-law) just did Urban-quest in Ottawa so we decided to do our very own Kalamazoo version. Pretty good, don't you think? :)

(This picture was taken just a few minutes before Hope had a diving, sprawling, rolling fall and tore a hole in her pants. But no blood. This girl does not bleed! She has some tough skin or something! The poor thing, though, everything happens to her. She is always falling, tripping, crashing, tumbling, slipping . . . . and the list goes on. If it's going to happen, it'll happen to Hope!)

There was a little park right downtown that we stopped at for awhile to let the kids (and the adults) play at! Neil was being a bully and not letting me down! Hope was his little helper!

You are never too old to play at a park! It wasn't a super nice park, but it was still a great place to play and burn off some energy on a Saturday evening before heading home for baths and bed! It started raining right about the time we had to leave . . . which made it easy to get the kids to leave!

Aliyah wanted to read her book too! Just like Grandpa and Grandma!

The Birthday Bike

Samuel loved riding his cousin Jordyn's big bike so much when we were camping earlier this year that we bought him a "big boy" bike for his birthday. My parent's neighbors were getting rid of a perfect size bike for a good price so we snatched it up! We headed up to Young State Park on September 2nd (Friday) and decided to give it to him that night as an early birthday present so that he could ride his bike for the whole weekend. I thought that when we showed it to him he would go crazy with excitement, jump up and down, laugh, clap his hands, etc. I was wrong. Instead, he was pretty unsure. He was also tired so that may have been a factor. His excitement grew, however, and he did hop on his bike and take it for a spin to try it out. The first four pictures in the series below are from his first bike ride. The bike has been fondly named (by Samuel), "The Birthday Bike".

Daddy adjusting the seat so that Samuel could hop on and ride. You can tell by his face that he is still trying to figure the whole thing out and is pretty unsure about the whole "big boy bike" thing.

Big smile for the camera!

How can he grow up so quickly?

We had a little hill near our campsite. Samuel wasn't ready to go down the hill all by himself on his first try but by the end of the weekend he was! He figured out the brakes and was very cautious, but he loved going down the hill. He even mastered the bigger hill over by the boat ramp. One of his favorite things to do on his Birthday Bike is to coast. He'll do it and say, "Look, Mommy! I'm coasting! I can't do this on my tricycles!"

The next morning (Saturday) was rainy, but that didn't stop Samuel from riding his bike first thing in the morning.

Yup, I'd say we have a happy 3 year old!

The picture above and the 3 pictures below were taken on Sunday, his actual birthday. I love this series of pictures and his facial expressions. Such a happy boy on his bike.

Coming down the hill. He loved going for bike rides with Daddy and/or Mommy. Daryl rode around with him on Saturday afternoon for almost an hour. Then he went for another bike ride later on Saturday with both Daryl and myself. On Sunday he went for more bike rides. It's almost too hard to walk with him while he rides because he goes so fast! He has a shirt that says "Fastest Kid in Town". When we were riding bikes with him he would go super fast, pass us on our bikes, and say "I'm the fastest kid in town!!!!" He went all over the campground. He loved to go and do his "trick" by the camp store - going in a circle up onto the porch and then back down to the sidewalk and around again. He also like riding his bike in the parking lot between the RV lines . . . up and down, back and forth. And of course, as I already mentioned, the hill by our campsite was fun as soon as he got the hang of his brakes and was brave enough to try it out.

He was nervous on hills at first and would want Daryl to get off of his own bike and hold his handlebars to keep him from going too fast. When we were on our way back to our campsite from a bike ride and we were going down the path, we got to a little hill. Samuel told us, "Mommy and Daddy, I won't cry, I'll laugh, like this!" (Insert fake laughing as he goes down the hill.) And from then on, he was good with hills! He's definitely my favorite 3 year old on the planet!