Another Trent Vignette

SCENE: Dave climbs into bed with Trent to give goodnight hugs.

TRENT: Daddy, you messed up my [stuffed] dog's bed.
DADDY: Yeah, I guess I did.
TRENT: Well, at least we can agree on that one. (Wewl, at weast we tan adwee on dat one.)

Seriously, he's three.

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed Easter with 45 of our friends from town who don't have family in the area.  We gathered in our backyard on a beautiful day and celebrated our Hope!

Titus is 8!

Titus turned 8 in March and we celebrated with a party at Happy Joe's here in town.  Titus invited 7 of his buddies to his "comic" themed party.  He hit the jackpot with LEGO sets...his friends obviously know him well! 

Happy Birthday @ Happy Joe's

Blue frosting makes for great pics :)

LEGO's!!!

Fun times with good friends :)

4 times a year - I love making
cakes that represent what my kiddos
are "into". One of my creative outlets.
This one was my first go at major lettering.

A Trent Vignette

As I combed Trent's hair after his bath he looked in the mirror and said, "I look like Micheal Jackson!" What?

After what could have been any number of behaviors typical of our youngest that earned him a time out he headed to the stairs saying "Ugh! How long do I have to stay here? There were things I wanted to do today!"

Spring is Here! Update

Here's a quick recap of the last couple of months.

Weird Winter

 It's been a weird winter here in Iowa but we did occasionally get some snow...and when we did we took advantage of it!

The snow was great for rolling - less great for lifting.
Getting these guys' heads on was a challenge for Daddy!

In February, my grandma passed away after a long, full life.  My whole family was able to come back to celebrate and remember her.  We had a chance to travel out to the family century farm.  This is the barn that still stands on the property.

We all stayed together in Carroll and got to swim and catch up! We also got to see Emily's baby bump for the first time! New cousin is coming in July! Yipee!



Titus and Tess had a blast with Read a Million Minutes at school.  They had a dress up theme every Friday for the 4 weeks.  Here they are on beach day: (Their mother might be slightly obsessed with helping them have stellar costumes...):

Tess got to dance in the Central College Dance Classic.  She had a 3 hour clinic and then danced (with poms!) that night during their showcase. 

Spring Break

Then came Spring Break! Dave and I took the opportunity to go on a little trip for our 10th anniversary that we will celebrate in May.  We headed south to Savannah and Charleston with a quick beach stop at Hilton Head Island.

This is the steeple they dropped the feather from in
"Forrest Gump"

Here is a cathedral we visited in Savannah, something
we enjoy when sight-seeing. 

Here we are on the beach! 

Here are just some of the azaleas in bloom at
Middleton Plantation.  These are the first landscaped
 gardens in America.

Here we are with a ginormous tree at the
Middleton Plantation outside of Charleston. 

Here I an eating the best wings ever!
Home Team BBQ in Charleston

Here's Dave at a swank little Italian place.

We did a lot of eating at fun places. We also headed

to a local play after dinner this night.

What did you do with the kids?

While we were enjoying our time in the low country, the kids were having all sorts of fun in Arkansas with Grammie and Papa.  We entrusted them with a camera and here are a few shots  of their adventures:

1st Birthday of the Year

They day we got home was Titus' 8th Birthday.  He got to celebrate with cousins in Kansas City before picking us up at the airport.  On Monday the boys and I joined him at school for lunch and recess:

We'll be having his comic book party tonight - so more pics of that to come...

Happy Spring!

Li'l Ballerina

Tess had her winter ballet recital this weekend. We are so glad that she enjoys such a beautiful creative expression...because we love to watch it! She is in a more difficult class this year and we see her learning a bunch. She's the youngest in her class but seems to be keeping up!   Here are a few pictures from the evening. It was great that Grammie and Papa were able to be here from Arkansas, too!

Merry Post-Christmas!

December was great fun. Here are a few holiday highlights:

    

Our Christmas festivities started with
our Supper Club Christmas Party.
The invite said to wear something
red or green.We are very good
at following directions. :)

Next was the Koopman company party.
Grandma Ruby Koopman
crocheted slippers for everyone
in the company and their families.
These slippers are awesome!
Thanks Grandma Ruby!

Our next holiday adventure brought us to the local gingerbread making event. Mommy helped the little guys and Daddy acted as foreman for Titus and Tess' house. It was a great morning...and no clean up! 

Our family Christmas gatherings began with a fun night at Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins' house. The kids got enormous fleece blankets that could probably cook a small turkey and provide a daily work-out when folding is attempted, and the boys got remote controlled cars - both a hit! Grandpa also lined up the kids and gave them each a silver dollar. Here is Titus displaying his treasure:

The next day we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Terpstra's for lunch and a gift exchange. Titus got a remote controlled helicopter that he was able to enjoy outside due to the unseasonable warm weather.  He didn't stop once we got home, and with in 5 minutes of having it home - Dave was rescuing it from the tippy-top of our neighbors tree. YIKES!

In a last minute twist we got new carpet on Tuesday before Christmas which required us emptying out the two main living spaces of our home-including putting the Christmas Tree on the front porch.  Between that and wrapping gifts we pulled some late nights! We had our our little family Christmas on Friday morning. Keep reading to find out the treasures that made their way under the tree :)

Friday afternoon we headed to Chicago to spend the weekend with Brystal's family. It's always fun to get these cousins together from across the mid-west. We enjoyed games and food and the kids' first time ice skating!  

The girls on Christmas Eve

The boys on Christmas Eve

Tessie took to it very well!

When we got back it was time to play with all the gifts. (Brystal's gift was the new camera most of these pictures were taken with :) )

Titus conquered his almost 900 piece LEGO set in a matter of hours.

Tess picked the wall paper for her new custom Daddy-built,
Mommy-designed doll house.

Trace hung out and watched Despicable Me while
wearing his new camo backpack (he also added a
camo shirt to the ensemble, as you can see.) His new laser tag
set was great fun during our week of warm weather.

In the rare minutes between playing with his new LEGO
mini-figures, Trent  enjoyed coloring with his many
new markers and coloring books.

We closed up a great break with a night of pizza and bowling here in Pella.  What a full, fun, fantastic Christmas.