A Michigan Spring Day

We were just finishing up supper a few days ago when it started to hail outside. Samuel and Hope were fascinated by the "balls" that were falling out of the sky. When it had stopped we took the kids outside to "play" with the hail. Samuel had a blast shoveling it off of the deck. Hope just liked picking it up and commenting on how cold it was. Samuel had so much fun with it that the next day he asked to play with "more balls!" It had rained hard enough through the day that there were also some good puddles in our driveway. Samuel and Hope were having a lot of fun splashing in the puddles. Hope actually fell in the big puddle at the end of our driveway and was soaked by the time that we went inside for baths. The next day Hope wanted to wear her rain boots again to play outside. She put them on and said "it's wet!!" And she was right, they were still wet from splashing/falling in the puddles the night before. This was also the night that the tornado sirens went off about 10 minutes late when the storm was already past us and sun was shining. Nice! We were splashing in the puddles when the sirens were going off. Daryl and Samuel were looking in the sky for tornadoes. The next day I was playing outside when we heard a fire engine siren. Samuel immediately looked up at the sky and said he was looking "for tomatoes". I love this age!!!

Aliyah and the magna-doodle

Aliyah loves playing with magna-doodles. The funniest thing is, she even knows how to use it the correct way! She picks up the pen and totally knows just how to "color" with it!

Actually, maybe even funnier, is the fact that she likes to drag it behind her while she scoots around the house.

She'll hold on to the pen and off she goes, dragging the rest of the magna-doodle behind her. It seriously makes me laugh every time she does it!

Yup. See that picture? She drew it all by herself!

This is one smart, and very funny, little girl!! :)

{Easter 2011}

Happy Easter from the Huinink Family!
Daryl, Sara, Samuel, Hope and Aliyah

The Scooter

Samuel learned how to ride a scooter this weekend.

Isn't he doing a good job?

He was trying to fall off and crash his scooter. Definitely all boy!!

What a silly boy!

Doesn't he look like a pro already?

Easter Egg Hunt

Today we had an Easter Egg hunt with our small group. The kids are all little (a 5 year old and four two year olds) so we just decided to do a quiet, little egg hunt instead of joining in on the chaos and madness of the egg hunt at our Church. Yesterday was cold and rainy but this morning the sun came out just in time! The kids first listened to the Easter Story (enthusiastically and expressively read by Jeshua!) and then we all headed outside for the egg hunt!!

Samuel was pretty excited about the whole concept of finding eggs and putting them into his bucket . . . until he picked this egg up and found out that it was wet. He made the horrible face that he makes when he picks up wet things and started to put it back down right where he found it, saying, "it's wet!!" I convinced him to put it in his bucket instead of putting it back down on the ground!

Hope loves buckets/purses/bags and putting things into them so this was perfect for her! She couldn't believe her good fortune!! She did a great job finding eggs and putting them into her bucket. She probably stayed more on track than Samuel did!

At one point shortly after Samuel began hunting for eggs, he saw the slide. He put down his bucket and said "a slide!" and ran over to play on it. Slides trump Easter
eggs any day, apparently!

This was about the point where Hope realized that there was candy and little toys inside of the eggs. Every time she picked one up she had to open it up and see what was inside of it. We put a stop to that pretty quickly!!

After going down the slide a couple of times Samuel decided that maybe he should continue searching for more eggs!

See Hope trying to open her egg?

My parent's were there so my Mom could be the photographer and my Dad could help with the kids. It was nice to not worry about taking pictures!! And it was super helpful that my Dad carried Aliyah around so that Daryl and I could help Samuel and Hope.

Opening up all of the Easter eggs and finding the goodies inside. After the kids looked through all of their treasures we had a delicious brunch with the whole small group. Thank you, Laukas, for hosting the party!! We all had a great time. :)

Hope: 2 years old

Hope Atlanta is 2 years old! This is what she's been up to recently:

• Size 4 diapers, size 2-3T clothes, size 5 shoes

• Can count to 10, but often will skip either 8 or 9
• Always needs to be fiddling with something
• Entertains herself really well
• When she needs a kleenex she says "I need booger"
  
• Loves to carry things around - anything! Especially loves carrying babies and purses but can be found with any random assortment of toys or objects in her hands!
  
• Now starting to say "no" to everything instead of "yes"
• One of favorite phrases is "I do it!"
• Can sing almost all of "Jesus Loves Me" - cutest thing ever
• "I am" instead of "I do"
• Becoming very independent
• Loves to dance and sing
• Swing outside is a favorite
• Can pout with the best of them when she doesn't get her way
• Favorite foods: french fries, chips, hot dogs, yogurt, applesauce, cheese, grapes, strawberries, raisins, milkshakes, blueberries, pizza
• Least favorite foods: sandwiches, vegetables, jellybeans (she'll chew them up and hand them back), candy/sweets (cupcakes, cake, etc)
  
• Favorite shows/movies: Boz, Cat in the Hat, Sesame Street (Elmo), Hide 'Em In Your Heart (Steve Green)
• Favorite books: Cookie See Cookie Do, Curious George at the Zoo, Little Quack's ABCs
• Favorite toys/activities: Dora doll and Bitty Baby, anything she can carry around (purses, buckets, bags, etc), Play food and kitchen
• Is afraid of: vacuums, Samuel's noisy play saw (he'll chase you with it), dogs and cats, loud noises, strangers, heights
• Hates having her hair done. We are all hoping that as she gets used to it, that will change.
• When she is laughing she likes to say, "I yassing (laughing)!"
• Still napping in the afternoons but it is turning into more of a "quiet time". Often doesn't sleep. Isn't sleeping consistently at night either - often will be awake until late (10 or 11) and then sometimes up during the night (but usually quiet) and then will want to sleep in in the morning.

Mommy loves you so much, Hope Atlanta! You are such a gift to our family. God brought you to us and we are SO THANKFUL! You bring so much joy and laughter into our lives. You are Mommy's dream come true. You are created perfectly by your Heavenly Father - He loves you SO much!

Samuel: 2 1/2 years old

Samuel is 2 1/2 years old! This is what he is up to:

• Size 3T pants and size 3T and 4T shirts. A lot of 3T shirts are too small or on the small side. Shoe size 8/9.
  
• Scrunching up nose when he talks
• Recognized #2 and said it was 'like Samuel is 2 years old!"
• Starting to sing along with songs
• Daddy is now sitting in the chair by the door at bed time! You are getting so big and brave about going to sleep at night and we are so proud of you. Grandma put you to bed one night and she asked if you wanted Grandma to lay down with you. You said to her "No. Grandma sit in chair . . . . it's reeeeeeeally far away!"
• Hates wet things - sometimes even gags. Still doesn't do well with wet wipes or dirty diapers
  
• Likes to make "pumpkins"(smiley faces) on Mommy's phone
• Likes to look through Daddy's Bible verse cards and ask Mommy "what this say?" Mommy loves to read Bible verses to you!!
• Go Eagles (for soccer) and Go Broncos (for basketball)
• Has a fascination with bridges. Loves to go on bridges and under bridges. Favorite part of the ride to Grandpa and Grandma's house is going over the highway on a bridge! Grandma took him on a foot bridge over Westnedge the other day and it was probably the highlight of his day!
• Rarely gets up before 8am . . . usually closer to 9. Doesn't like to go anywhere fast, especially in the mornings. Very difficult when we have to be somewhere in the morning at a certain time! Much happier when you can take your time, drink your milk, play with your toys, have some breakfast, watch some Boz, and just chill out for awhile before trying to go anywhere or do anything. Would love to stay in pajamas all day long!
• Favorite movies and TV shows: Cat in the Hat, Curious George, Boz, Maisy Mouse, Steve Green Hide 'Em In Your Heart
  
• Favorite food: Pancakes, Rice (with brown sugar!), Yogurt, Applesauce, Chocolate Chips, Fruit Snacks, Raisins, Cantaloupe, Mixed Vegetables
  
• Least favorite foods: Meat (any kind), Green Grapes, Lasagna, Green Beans
  
• Favorite books: Murmel Murmel, Mortimer Be Quiet, I Spy books, Richard Scarry books
  
• Favorite toys: Matchbox cars (especially his "workin' machines": dump truck, loader, crane, etc), balls, car track, trampoline, slide, foam letters, sandbox
• Is afraid of: Dogs, cats, bugs, butterflies (don't ask!), strangers
  
• Loves to swing outside. Calls himself "Pluto" when he is on the swings because once Daryl told him he was being goofy and he replied "No Daddy, I be Pluto!"
  
• Knows his ABCs and can count to 10 without any help. Has memorized Luke 18:16 and can recite it almost word for word.
• Your imagination and creativity are starting to run wild. It is fun to watch you pretend, imagine, and create things.
  
• You are starting to ask questions! Questions like (when I'm flushing the toilet after cleaning out a poopy diaper) "Where's it go, Mommy?"
• Doesn't like hot (temperature) food at all - food has to be almost cold before he'll eat it. Very sensitive to the temperature of things.
• Fascinated with the lines/imprints that things setting on the carpet make
• Doesn't like it when Mommy and Daddy try and talk to each other. Would much rather that we are talking to him, or better yet, playing with him and giving him our full and undivided attention!
• When he gets hurt and we ask him where his owie is he'll often point to it and say "see that line?"
• If he doesn't understand what we are talking to him about he'll say "What you talkin' 'bout?"
• Can sing all of "Jesus Loves Me" without any help!
• You are in a stage right now where you want to make sure Mommy knows everything that you are doing. All day long I constantly hear "Mom, Mom, Mom" - and usually you say it at least 3 times (and I answer 3 times) before you finally tell me what you want to say. How thankful I am that I have a little boy that calls me "Mom" - I would be so sad if I never heard that word so I will be thankful every single time that I hear it come out of your mouth!
  

Mommy loves you SO much, Samuel Jack!! I can't believe that you are already 2 1/2 years old. I love to watch you grow up into such an adorable little boy!! You are the perfect mix of everything I could ever want in a 2 year old boy. You are so special to me and even more special to God. He created you and loves you so much!