A Very Merry Christmas!

Four really cute kids on Christmas morning!

Ian reports that he had a good Christmas. He loved the Lego's that he received as well as some books, even a Spanish one, and the games and other toys he received.

Kendra is happy to be a girl and showed it with her new Barbie, a purple feather boa and some new clothes. However she also received some Lego and has been building with her brothers.

Lucas reports that his favorite new toy is his snake...you can see him holding it. He also loved being in the center of attention when it was his turn to open a gift. Seeing that he is our only non winter birthday I think he feels a little left out when everyone else gets presents for their birthday and he just sits and watches knowing his is a long way off.

"It's ANOTHER box." Gavin was pretty disappointed that everything he opened was a box...until he realized that the boxes held some good stuff! He was very excited to open every gift and loves all of the new clothes and toys he received.


All in all we had a great Christmas. This year we only had one party a day which helped....what a wonderful time of year to spend with friends and family!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

6 already!!!

We celebrated Kendra's sixth birthday a few days after the actual date so that friends and family could be there. Here are some of the great pictures of the "princess" enjoying her day.

A sandcastle cake!

Earings from mom and dad...she opened those on her birthday:)

A cool journal from Aunt Megan and Uncle Josh from India.

Kendra's nickname is bugs...so a ladybug bank was perfect! Thanks Aunt Jennie!

I spy Kendra and her new "I spy" book!

Christmas trees in the rain!

Here we are feeling happy that we found a tree, but sad that we are very wet! We went with mom and dad Feenstra and had a good time even though it was raining:)

Here is Gavin with his "Christmas tree." He found this little branch and carried it around the whole time. He said that it was the perfect tree and we needed to take it home...so we did!

Here are 4 wet but happy kids. They always ride on the back of the truck on the way out of the field. The rain did not deter them and they smiled the whole way.

Ian's trip to the Museum

Last week Wednesday Ian and his classmates journeyed to the Grand Rapids Public Museum for the day. I decided to drive for the field trip and had a wonderful time exploring with the kids and going to the Planetarium. Here are some pictures that we took.

Ian and 3 of his classmates overlooking the Grand River. From left to right - Kinzie, Gabrielle, Ian and Noah.

Ian asked to use the camera for a little while....he takes great pictures. This one is of the huge clock that ticks away your time at the museum...we learned it was originally in the city hall in Grand Rapids.

There is a huge fin whale skeleton that Ian really liked...here is is picture of it!

They even got to sit by santa....too bad it was a fake one:)

Crazy Hat!

This "hat" is actually a cover that goes on any type of helmet. Be it a bike helmet, ski helmet, roller blading helmet, you name it helmet. Ian got it for his birthday from his aunt Stacy and all of his siblings had to try it on. It does look better on a helmet, but it was funny seeing it on them anyway....oh by the way it is supposed to be a puffer fish.:)

Ian Turns 8!!!!!!!!

Ian's Birthday was Saturday, but we had his big birthday party on Sunday!!! He decided on a blue two layer cake with a big number 8 on it.

Ian got a shirt and journal from his Aunt Megan and Uncle Josh. This shirt is from India and is hand printed with a Tuk-Tuk (a little 3 wheeled "taxi" they use alot in India like places:)

Ian also got a picture of a bald eagle for his room. He loves any raptor like birds and loved the picture. He also received a few games, books, a cool bike helmet cover and some new PJ's.

Blowing out the candles (Lucas was helping from afar.)

Trick or Treat!

This is sad mouse Gavin because he doesn't have any candy in his bucket yet. Gavin loved trick or treating. He would boldly walk up to every house, say "trick or treat" come back with his candy in hand, show me what he had gotten then state "I need more candy." He, even when we were all done told me that he didn't have enough candy...and I thought mice liked cheese:)

Ian came up with his own haloween costume this year...he decided to be a basket of dirty laundry! The kid got a ton of compliments and used his basket to collect his candy...clever isn't he!

This is ghost Kendra...not to be mixed up with ghost Lucas. They both wanted to be ghosts...this one is pink underneath! It was cheap, easy and they were really quite cute!

And ghost Lucas! He didn't think he needed near as much candy and Gavin and wanted to poop out about half way through. I think now he is glad he kept walking:)

It started to rain while we were trick or treating but we were blessed with a beautiful double rainbow....God is so good! It was even more amazing when you turned around and saw the most beautiful sunset I think I have ever seen...the sky was orange just like a pumpkin and the sun was shining....pictures just didn't do it justice! All I kept thinking was GOD IS SO GOOD!! And to think I had been in a bad mood and was calling myself the mom monster...I think the sky was just for me!

Great New Recipe

Well, I have a recipe that I tried earlier this week that I highly recommend to all! Here it is:

Taco Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup total - diced onion, diced green/red pepper and celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 (24 oz.) jar mild salsa
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans (drained) - I think I would use black beans next time:)
1 (10 0z.) can enchilada sauce
10 oz. corn (I used canned but you can used frozen too, just thaw first)
16 (6 inch) corn tortillas
4 cups shredded Mexican four cheese blend
Toppings: sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Cook first 4 ingredients until meat is no longer pink and veggies are tender. Stir in salsa and next 3 ingredients. Cook for 5-10 min. until heated through. Put in lightly greased pan. Layer 1 cup of meat mixture, then layer 6 tortillas - overlapping then 2 cups of cheese. Then 1/3 beef mixture, tortillas, the rest of the beef mixture, more tortillas and the cheese. Bake at 350, covered, for 40 min. Remove foil and bake 10 min. more. Let stand for 10 min. before serving.


Enjoy!

I am just now eating the leftovers and it is just as good the second time as the first!!

Pumpking Carving

It was a cold and blowy day on Saturday so we decided to go to Grandma & Grandpa Feenstra's house and carve pumpkin's! Grandma has a great big garden and this year it grew many tall pumpkins. Why? We don't know....they were just tall not round like you think pumpkins usually are. Anyway, we spent the whole afternoon there....digging out the pumpkin "guts" then drawing the faces out on news paper so mom and dad could carve them into the pumpkins! After everything was done we made doughnuts! Nothing is better than homemade doughnuts!!!

The kids with their pumpkins!!!

Ian making a face like his pumpkins face.

Kendra with her pumpkin...it even has curls on the sides....even though you can't see them....they are really there!!!!

Lucas with his scary pumpkin!

Gavin found the only round pumpkin in the bunch!

Painted Pumpkin!

This one is for you Megan! Here is the finished pumpkin that Megan (my sister) and I painted. The kids think that there should be cookies in it, but I disagree because I know they wouldn't last long and the possibility of it being broken is high! Enjoy and enjoy fall!

Pumpkin Time Again!

Today was the Pumpkin Parade and it was a beautiful day! It was sunny and actually quite warm and muggy...sitting in the sun was not a good idea. This year Lucas was the only one scheduled to be in the parade, but Ian and Kendra found a way to be as well. Lucas rode with all of his friends from school, while Ian and Kendra walked with our next door neighbors through the parade.

Lucas' class...can you find him waving in the middle of the bunch?

Lucas loving his ride and waving to all of the people.

Ian walking with the Huizinga's. Bill Huizinga is our local state representative and just happens to live next door. They have 5 kids, the oldest two (Garriet & Adrian) play with Ian. Ally, the only girl of the bunch, (sound familiar), plays with Kendra. They asked if Ian and Kendra would like to walk with them and hand out candy...they of course jumped at the idea. The only bad part was that they were out of candy by the time they got to us at the end of the parade!

Kendra showing us her empty pumpkin!

After the parade we ate supper and fellowshipped with a group of friends from church. They happen to live on the parade route so we sat in their front yard during the parade and retired to the back yard after wards. The kids had tons of fun playing and got really dirty...can you see Gavin's legs? The bath water was pretty brown after bath's tonight:)

When cousins come to play!

Lucas, Sadie, Gavin, Cassidy, Kendra & Evan


Yesterday we had a fun and busy time as Cassidy, Evan and Sadie came to play. Aunt Stacy had a dentist appointment. Kendra, Lucas and Gavin had fun playing with Cassidy and every once and a while they could stop and come and talk with Evan and Sadie who would quickly reward them with smiles and cooing...that is until that fell asleep. Oh, we missed Ian, he was off at school, hopefully next time he will be around!

Here are a few picture we snapped while everyone was sitting still....a rare moment!

Cassidy, Kendra & Evan

Sadie, Lucas and Gavin

Do you think Lucas would like a little sister? He's NOT getting one! He will just have to borrow Cassidy's.

Kendra and Evan...I think Evan is even smiling:)

Lucas' First Day of Preschool

Lucas had his first day of Preschool on Monday. He was so excited to go he asked every 5 min. for the whole morning if it was time to go. I think that he had fun...it was hard to tell. He is in the Spanish Immersion preschool class so it was all Spanish. When we were singing he leaned over to me and said "does she always talk this was, was she bornd this was?" It was pretty cute. I think he will do just fine....as long as he learns to listen even though he may not always understand:)


Ready to go!

Who said he could grow so big?

Working hard at glueing. He was making his placemat for during snack time.

Getting his foot painted for a foot print....Lucas said it tickled!