"Jesus Loves Me" Jonathan style

Yah, Jesus yub me.
Yah, Jesus yub me.
Yah, Jesus yub me.
The Michael tell me so.

Counting to 12

For the last couple of months Jon has been into letters and numbers. He asks questions about them all the time and points them out everywhere. His favorite number spot is the clock in his room and his favorite number is 7 - the time he goes to bed and can get up in the morning. Mostly I am a proud mother that I have a two year old who already knows all of his single digit numbers and many of his letters and is even trying to learn some two digit numbers. However, this new knowledge is starting to give me a bit of a headache some nights. I will frequently wake up to Jon screaming "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy." After I lay there for a bit and hope the noise will go away I eventually have to get up and go into his room. I will find him sitting in his bed with his paci in his mouth and his snugglie on his head. He grins and says, "It's 3!" and points at his clock. Then he curls back up in bed to go back to sleep. A two year old knowing his numbers during the day is so cute. A two year old knowing his numbers in the middle of the night - not so cute.

But here is Jon showing off (during the day) with a toy clock he got for Christmas.

Becca is Reading

OK, so maybe she not actually reading as you or I might, but she loves books and is often found flipping through them and babbling away. Of course when I got the camera her babbling wasn't nearly as impressive but here it is anyway.

Strange things

Here are some random things I have found around my house these last couple weeks that have inspired me to pick up the camera.

You know you are a cup stacking family when you find a cups bag in your fruit basket?


When Santa brought a new play kitchen for our kids, he also got them lots of play dishes, but for some reason they are not nearly as fun as the real thing. Hint: look in the oven.


I have not gone by my maiden name in over 7 years. And in that time we have moved five times and almost all of the moves required us to forward our mail to my parents' house not our new address as we didn't always have immediate access to our new home. So how in the world they connected Christy DeJong to our Holland home is beyond me.

Michael practicing piano

I have begun to give Michael piano lessons. He LOVES it and argues that he should get at least 4 or 5 lessons a week. Here is a video Tim got of Michael getting ready to practice. You can't hear it well at the beginning, but the piano is playing a demo. Oh and I guess I should mention that this is our new music purchase for the year - Tim can't go too long without some type of music purchase. :)

My Becca is One!

Yesterday was the first anniversary of our trip to the hospital for the birth of our little girl. After church we all went to my Dad's house. I was so impressed that I could still take some pictures of her with her pigtales 3 hours after I put them in her hair. She usually grabs at them and pulls them out quick. Today however, she ignored them all through church and the drive so she was still as cute as a button! She had a fabulous day. She was playful and talkative all day and even attempted a step for us.
Here is our little one year old:




Grandpa made her a cake. As smart as mom can be, I dressed her in a nice white shirt so we had to undress her before the festivities could begin. Initially she was excited about the candle and watched curiously as Michael blew out her candle. Grandpa gave her the first bite with a spoon. She cautiously licked the tip and then opened her mouth for a bigger taste. By the time we got a piece on her tray she was ready to try a fistful!








After she got a nap (and she actually slept great even after all that sugar!) it was time for her present. While she thought the sparkly paper was fun, she had no idea what to do so her brothers were ready to jump in and help. In fact after Michael had carried the present into the room to get ready, Jon had already started a small bit of unwrapping before Becca even made it into the room. She got some new play food for our play kitchen which is one of her favorite toys to play with. While the box did say for ages 3+ I figure our amazing Becca is such an advanced one year old that they would be find for her. :)




By the way, these are just a sample of the pictures we took. I was transferring the pictures to the computer and I got a message about waiting while it transfered 158 pictures. To be fair, 5 of the pictures were of a beautiful sunset on our drive home, but 153 of them were of our sweet not so baby anymore girl.

Snow, Snow, Snow

So I started this post the week of the snow, but apparently I never got around to publishing it, so here we are.

For those who were under a rock most of the country was hit by a blizzard. Schools were closed all around. Tim and Michael were happy to have the day off from school and were eager to get out and start working on the driveway. We all bundled up and went out together.



Michael had a blast. He waded through the snow and tried to help shoveling. Jon absolutely hated it and cried a lot. Becca had fun watching everyone and batting at the snow like she was splashing in water.





When we first got out the kids were a bit stuck in the garage from the drift up against the garage door.


Tim ventured out and measured 19" in our driveway.


Then he got going with the snow blower. When Jon walked through the path it created it was almost as high as his waist.


By the time we were done with the driveway and the walk, the piles were as tall as 35 inches.


While the kids didn't stay out for the whole event I did get this shot before taking them in for some hot chocolate. It is dedicated to my dad (He took one like this of me after the blizzard of 78 when I was one.):