Birthdays

Summer is full of our children's birthdays.  First up in July Jon turned 5.  When asked what he wanted for his birthday his response as always was "more cars."  So the highlight of his birthday was a treasure hunt we set up where he had to follow clues around the house to find each car.





Then Michael turned 8 at the end of August.  For his party he asked for a baseball cake.  Please notice that the candles are the players - blue team vs. red.  This was very well thought out.





And don't tell Becca, but we totally forgot that she turned 3 and a half this month (I know, I know, third child and all....)  So on the evening of Michael's birthday after doing all of his stuff we announced to Becca that she was 3 and half and after some practice she was able to hold up the right fingers and was thrilled to have some candles of her own.

Girls Night

Wednesday night is frisbee night.  Tim takes Michael and recently Jon too out to play with some friends.  So Becca and I found ourselves home together so we decided to have a girls night.  We started by painting our toenails.  I did Becca's and she did mine!


And then we went out and got hair cuts.  I had enough to donate so I ended up with pretty short hair.  Becca wanted hers just like mine but I decided we were going to keep in a bit longer.  She got about 3 inches off.  All the way to the salon she was saying how she didn't want her hair cut.  I couldn't figure out the reason because when I had cut her hair before she loved it.  Finally when we talked it through her eyes lit up - "Just scissors?" she asked opening and closing her fingers like scissors.  Turns out she thought I was taking her to get her hair buzzed off like the boys.  :)


And we ended the night at Captain Sundae for a treat.  It was a fun girls night!

My Princess

The other morning I asked Becca if she was a princess.  "No" she said "I Becca!"

A few minutes I asked her to take off her pjs so we could get dressed.  She got this far and burst out laughing.



She ran to the mirror and asked to be lifted up to see.  As soon as she spotted herself she said, "Now I princess!"

My Little Hobbits

My kids have always been pretty good eaters, especially in the morning.  And then there are times when one of them will increase their eating by 200% for a week or two preceding a growth spurt.  This past month all three of them were gearing up for growth spurts.  They all started eating and eating and eating and I started getting flashes or what life might be like when they are teenagers.  Michael was eating more than I did during meals.

It got to the point where they all got up in the morning and stated "For my first cereal, I want...."  First cereals, second cereals, cereal bar, snack, second snack, lunch, ....  You get the point.

Unlike Hobbits though I guess they are now growing.  Jon proudly walked out of the bathroom the other day proudly announcing that he could turn on and off the water without using a stool.  Becca has been sitting on a stool at the table but recently sat on a chair and jabbered on and on about how tall she was and how she could see over the table better.  She also keeps announcing, "I grow bigger!" and running her pointer fingers up from her toes to the top of her head.  And Michael, who has been wearing the same size clothes for two years now, put on a pair of his jeans which barely reached his ankles.

We have loved

having Aunt Katherine for a visit!

Baseball

Michael is so excited to play coach pitch little league this spring!  He is on the Orioles.  For the first time in Holland sports, Michael is actually on a team with 4 others from his school.  They are so excited to play together although sometimes I think Michael is even more excited when there is someone from his class on the other team.  I wonder who he gets such a competitive nature from?


A few weeks ago was opening day.  The kids were pumped up and they had a large flag raising ceremony.






And then the big moment came and Michael got to actually play.  He still swings left handed and is laughing that his coach needs to get better at pitching to lefties.  He is doing great on the team and is loving every minute of it.

A Day At the Park

During tennis season we often go to the park by Tim's matches after school.  My kids love playing there.


Recently the boys have been playing Star Wars and this day Becca wanted to join.  Jon couldn't figure out how she could though because Princess Leia is the only girl.  She is a good guy but they were playing the bad guys.


I told Jon that maybe there were some girl bad guys and pointed out that many of them where helmets and maybe there are some girls under the helmets.  He was completely baffled by this idea and took a while to ponder this possibility.


Eventually they agreed to let her play but...


She of couse had already moved on to other things.


I simply can't believe how big these kids are getting.


I love them to pieces.


So while Tim coached his team


We were there to "watch" the match that day.