Cousin Visit

Sam and Michele had a retreat in Holland to attend and so the Williamson kids came and spent the night Friday.  The evening went well and everyone went to sleep without any trouble.  Saturday morning everyone got up and Tim and his sister Sarah who was also with us headed off to play a frisbee tournament so I was home with 6 kids: 8 year old Michael, 5 year old Jon, 3 year olds Becca and Luke, 1 year old Judah, and a baby who is their foster daughter at the moment.

So what does one do with 6 kids 8 and under?  We actually had a great time.  We slowly got everyone fed and dressed and then while the baby napped we went upstairs and played trains and cars.  After snack we got out crayons, markers, stickers, coloring books and workbooks.  I think they played at the table for over 30 minutes.  Even Judah was happy to scribble, pull off stickers, and mostly watch all the big kids at work.  And I must say that our nephew Luke was thrilled to find a bunch of pink markers!

Next up was lunch, and luckily everyone likes the same food so while there were plenty of requests for different things, everyone was satisfied when I announced the same menu for all.  The day ended with some outside playtime in the driveway thanks to the beautiful sunshine God provided.

Here is a picture of the crew.  I can't share a picture of the baby online, but I can tell you that I dressed her in a MSU sleeper for the day at her mom's request.  I knew that Sam wouldn't allow it in his house, so we got it well worn at our house.

Resting on the Word of God

One day Becca came running to me, "Come look, come look!"  She took me to the living room and quickly assumed this pose.  Not sure why but she thought it was hilarious - she could barely keep a straight face.

Table Tennis

The kids have been playing outside a lot after dinner, but since the time change and the coming winter it is now dark after dinner.  So.... table tennis time tonight!

Trick or Treating

This year Jon announced that he wanted to be Batman for Halloween.  Michael didn't take the news well since he wanted to wear the Batman costume we had.  When we took it up from the basement it was actually too small for Michael so Jon got his wish.  However, when I visited Craigslist I lucked out finding one Michael's size just down the road from us.

So let me introduce you to my 2 Batmen!


Halloween night was rainy so I left Becca home for a while and took the boys to a couple of neighborhood streets.  Then we came back and picked up mama kangaroo Becca and finished off the night by trick or treating our street.  They had a blast and I think it will be Halloween treats after lunch and dinner for at least a month!  That is if I can stop sneaking them throughout the afternoon.

Grandma and Grandpa Haig's visit

Every fall Grandma and Grandpa Haig try and make it to West Michigan for a visit.  The kids are always so excited and can barely wait the whole week leading up to their arrival.  This year they came in on a super late flight - I think it arrived at our house around midnight.  So the kids and I got the house ready during the day by moving beds and such.  And then the kids had to go to bed and wait until the morning to greet them only for me to make them stay quiet while the grandparents slept in after being up so late.

This picture is so funny for me.  It shows the boys have fun with grandpa but it is so much calmer than what really happened.  Playing with grandpa for them is usually wrestling and tiger back rides.  :)


This year Aunt Katherine was able to drive up for the weekend too.


It was the last weekend of soccer games and it was cold.  So at 8 am on Saturday we got Michael, Tim, Grandma, and Grandpa all bundled up to head out to Michael's game.  I stayed home with Jon and Becca but they were not to be left out of all the hats and mittens we scrounged for.


One of Becca's favorite things is helping them make coffee.  It fascinates her since Tim and I never make it.  A couple days after they left she came to me with this - a napkin in a plastic cup, announcing that she was "making coffee!"

We've had snow

Last week it snowed - that super wet snow that I thought would change to rain and disappear in a couple of hours.  And it stayed for about 2 days.

The kids were so excited to head out and play.  They could barely wait until it was light enough to see.  When they came in they were soaked from it all, but they had had so much fun!

I'm back... I hope

This fall took me by storm.  With starting back to work and a crazy school schedule where all three kids are on different days at different times, many things that were normal for me stopped happening.  Blogging is one thing that I'd really like to get back to so here goes.

We've been trying to get the cousins together about once a month and this past weekend was our October gathering.  October gatherings are always going to special to me.  This year it marked 4 years since my mom's passing.  Getting together with my family offers a time to remember my Mom and it also serves for me as a reminder for how special family is.  Four years ago we spent a lot of time together at the end of October and the beginning of November, and while it was hands down the worst time in my life so far, my family was a blessing - HUGE.  And I love to remember that every October too.

In planning for these monthly get-togethers, we usually e-mail around about food and who will bring what for a big family meal time.  This time one of my sisters also asked about carving pumpkins.  Perfect!  We had not found the time yet to carve and apparently neither had any of the other families.  I knew I had been waiting on something.  :)

Let the planning begin!  Notice how there are more kids at the table than parents right now.  Ahh, the beginning when the drawing is fun and the ideas are flowing.  Then take out the knives and tell the kids they have to just stand back and watch because they are too young to actually use the knife and the kids quickly get bored and wander off.  By the end of carving we had all parents at the table with no kids.  Who ever decided that carving pumpkins with sharp knives should be a kids activity wasn't planning things out well.  But alas, we do it every year....



Becca hard at work.  This is the first year that we actually carved 3 pumpkins.  Usually the kids share 1 or 2, but the boys were insistent that they each have there own, so Becca got her own too.  And we roped Grandpa into carving it with her since we were one adult short in the family.


I love the look on Jon's face here:


And Michael's too.  I put my foot down that if they were going to desert us for the carving, that they had to do most of the de-gooping.


Becca was so proud of her happy face, "because I'm so happy!" she said.


Jon and Tim went to work for a batman pumpkin!


Michael, of course, always wants a traditional jack-o-lantern.  At least he wasn't picky with me this year about how many teeth it had to have.


And here they are: Cody, Becca, Allie, Jon, Judah, Michael, and Luke.


Or should I say Emily, Grandpa, Brian, Tim, Sam, Christy, and Michele.