Friday, February 28, 2014

Once again...catching up!

It feels as though the past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind!  Preparing for our camping trip took quite a bit of work and advanced planning!  In the week following our trip we had wonderful visits from Grandma Poelstra and Aunt Joan and Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma!  We loved seeing all four of them, but it once again made for an unusually busy week!  Finally this week was more "normal", but after feeling like this week too was jam packed, I've come to realize that this is just our phase of life!  Especially since there is a one year old in our house!  She sure is a doll, but she keeps us on our toes!
 
In preparation for Grandpa and Grandma's visit, Faith wanted to fill the house with snow flakes so they would feel at home!  I tried to explain their desire to escape the snow, but as one who is in it for a week a year and loves it, she had a hard time understanding that!
 
Last Friday we went to the zoo as it was a gorgeous day!  We had the chance to hear three different animal talks, which was really interesting!  And it was fun to see the gorillas up close!
 
The kids are still pretty Star Wars obsessed!  Since Disney is producing the next three Star Wars movies, Star Wars paraphernalia is now at the Disney Store!  Shane was thrilled that we found some Darth Vader pjs for him!  I think he wore them five nights in a row!!
 
Faith has been into wearing her hair in different styles lately.  This past week she wore a ponytail two days, pig tails two days, and today she asked for two braids in her hair!  It's been fun for both of us!
 
And sweet Olivia loves to get into anything and everything!  Of course some of her favorite things are her big brother and sister's toys they do not let her have!  When they are gone, she usually heads straight for those toys!
 
She also loves to pretend with dishes and my kitchen gadgets!  Playing outside is her most favorite thing to do, especially to go in the play house and bring us a plate and a utensil!  She really is becoming more and more fun!
 
Tonight these two were my kitchen helpers.  After Olivia went to bed, we baked chocolate chip cookies together!  It's fun to be able to bake with them as they actually can be helpful now!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Desert Camping 2014

This past weekend was our annual camping trip to the desert with our friends!  As always it was quite the adventure!  Not being a natural camper, it's always a challenge for me to be in that type of environment!  This year Olivia's stage of life increased the challenge quite a bit!  She is just everywhere and into everything, which I am used to at home, but in a trailer is another thing! 
 
She really embraced the dirt and loved it, which forced me to do the same!  One of her favorite things to do was just scoop up dirt and try to put it in the nearest trailer!  We tried to coach her into picking up dirt or rocks and putting it into a pail!  What a huge load of laundry I am working on as a result of her love of the dirt! 
 
Both Faith and Shane really had fun riding the quads once again!  Unfortunately I did not get a close up picture of Faith!  They did really well and both liked to go fast!
 
Olivia thought the quad was fun too!  She called them "beep beeps" as that is what she calls her riding toy at home!  Don't worry!!  Of course she did not actually ride on one!  Sitting on the quad was fun enough for her!
 
While it is always fun to see all the kids play together, it was especially fun to see some of the older girls take a liking to Olivia and watching out for her!
 
Karlene was great about having fun activities for the kids!  Here they are creating things out of gum drop candies and toothpicks!
 
Passing time in the truck, Olivia played peek-a-boo with me! 

Tea Parties!

 As Olivia continues to grow and show us more of her personality, we are seeing the she may become quite the girly-girl!  And I love it!  She loves dolls, accessorizing, and most recently tea parties!  She has always loved to play outside, but now in addition to going on the swing, slide, and trampoline, she spends quite a bit of time playing in the play house and making me tea!  And while I was having an incredibly busy day trying to get us ready to leave for camping the next morning, last Thursday we played outside together and had a little tea party and just enjoyed the moment!
 
I was told by a friend that an important element I need to incorporate with my girls and their tea parties is to make sure that they ask the question, "And how is your mother?"
 
In addition to having tea parties, Olivia is really into brushing her teeth!  What is funny is that I remember Faith having the same obsession!  I think it feels good with the molars breaking through the gums!  And for Olivia, any chance to do something the big kids are doing is very exciting!  In this picture she is using Shane's toothbrush, but give her any toothbrush these days and she is a happy girl!
 
My cutie Shane!  He's not into posing for pictures these days, so I have to post this one that he let me take!
 
And this is what happens when the kids decide to play all together in their room!  I love the few minutes it gives me to actually sit down, but the ensuing mess is always shocking!  They sure can have a great time together!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Walking, Talking, and Rainbow Loom!

As of this past Thursday, January 20, Olivia is officially walking!  It was that day that the amount of time walking (on two feet!  With her we need to clarify as she was an expert knee walker!) was greater than all other forms of getting around the house!  And of course each day she is better and better! Yesterday she even started showing off doing laps around the couch and the island in the kitchen!  The picture above is from today!  She grabbed Faith's ballet bag, said "bye, bye" and headed for the door!  I think I'm going to have my hands full with this little lady! And she is talking more each day too!  She is really growing up fast!!
 
The lack of blog posts lately is a direct correlation with the health of the kids in the family!  Last Tuesday Shane woke up not feeling well and seemed to have croup, or something like it!  When that went away, Olivia developed a fever and cold. So, we were house bound for a few days!  But today was the turn and I think we are all well again...at least for a while!
 
Little Livy still has a cold, but she is more herself today, which is wonderful!  A needy, crying baby is only pleasant for about five minutes!
 
Yesterday my college roommate Sarah stopped by as she was driving through Ventura!  What a joy it was to spend the afternoon and early evening catching up with my longest Calvin friend!  While we first lived across the hall from each other our first year at Calvin, we now live across the country from each other as she lives in Tennessee!  But thankfully her sister moved four hours north of where we live, so there is a chance we will see Sarah in CA again!!
 
From last Monday evening - Faith learned how to sew on a button at American Heritage Girls! Something she would not learn at home! :)  One thing that there is no pictures of is the Rainbow loom!  That is the latest craze with kids!  And our kids have joined in!  They love making bracelets, and it was actually a great thing for them to do while they were a bit under the weather!  Faith even took a class on Saturday at Michael's with a friend to learn about different, more complicated bracelets to make!