Summer Scene

First of all, a few pictures:

My sister Sarah got married this past winter and had a reception/party a few weeks ago.  This is just a pic of the girls, enjoying their slushies!

My kiddo's at the reception/party

Me and this guy.  Love him.

Balloon drop in downtown Zeeland.  Each balloon had something in it.  The ones we captured had dollar bills and coupons/gift certificates for various stores.  There were lots and lots of people.  Free stuff.  In Zeeland.  Of course there was!  (You should have seen the ice cream line... YIKES)

Look at all of those hands reaching up to grab balloons!

  

Bad picture, but just shows how crazy it was!  Lila got stuck in the crowd... oh, and I forgot to mention, when the balloons dropped, they were either popping by themselves, or people were popping them and it was LOUD.  She didn't like that!

So... doesn't this look FUN?  Terrible picture, but just notice how packed that ladder is to go up.  And look at those little faces turning around, looking for mom or dad, thinking "Why did I do this?".

With Sadie's help, Lila made it up.  And down.  And up again.  And down again.  And then she was done.

Just 'cause.

Daddy's already helping fix her car... Love that hand on arm!

How our garden grows!

What's not to love here?

Landon left Sunday night with the Middle School youth group on a mission trip of sorts, it's called a Possum trip.  Basically, they travel all night and wake up in a new place each morning where they do service projects and entertainment stuff as well.  The kids don't know where they are going.  The parents don't know where they are going (until the child is almost on the bus ready to leave).  Monday they woke up in Hershey PA and today they were in Maryland.  These kids are going to make some great memories.  You can follow their journey here if you want.  They could use some prayers too.  Started off with a bus that didn't have air conditioning (imagine that stink), switching buses set them a little behind schedule, there was an accident which could cause major headaches for the bus company (everyone was fine), it seems as if Satan is trying to attack every time they turn around!

checking in

Thought I probably should check in quick, it's been a while!  I've been so busy with other things that I haven't had time to do even a quick update. 
Since my last update:
5 - number of photoshoots I've had (also the number still waiting to be edited)
3 - number of doctor appointments I've attended
3 - number of football games my family has competed in (finally done!)
4 - dozen cookies we've baked (and subsequently eaten)
4 - pumpkins we've carved
1 - number of photo sessions cancelled due to weather (rescheduled actually)
1 - number of "tornado watch" days with my kids home all day

OK, so individually those numbers don't look very big, but put it all together and then add in all the baths I've given, meals I've cooked, number of times I've mopped the floor, loads of laundry done, dishwasher ran (and emptied), stories I've read, paint I've cleaned up and it all adds up to quite a bit! 

I will be starting radiation on Monday.  The first one is just a simulation to make sure that everything is in the right place, so actualy radiation starts on Tuesday.  I will have 28 treatments, I think that brings me to approximately December 10.  My schedule the first week is all crazy, all over the board, but after 7 days of craziness I will then settle into a routine schedule of 8am every day.  It's early, but it will be the best for having someone here watching the kids, Matt can more than likely just work from home until I get back from my appointment, Lila will more than likely still be sleeping when I get home!

I go in for another Herceptin appointment this Tuesday.  I'm not sure if it's the Herceptin or not being on chemo anymore, but I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME.  I want to munch on something.  With as much time as I've been on the computer, this is NOT a good thing.  I want chips, I want chocolate, I want chocolate covered chips (ha, just kidding, I do want chocolate covered peanuts though).  I will not be loosing any weight if things continue like this, I won't even be maintaining, I'll be gaining.  Like an elephant. 

Landon starts basketball tryouts on Monday, please keep him in your prayers, there are 70+ kids trying out, so lot's of competition.

Halloween tomorrow (Sunday really, but we live in Zeeland, were celebrating tomorrow).  Elliot is going to be a Ninja turtle.  I always made costumes for Landon and Bailey, but buying a $12 ninja turtle costume at Target seemed so easy this year, I cringe when I see it, but it's just one thing I'm letting go!  He's excited!  Lila is supergirl or wonderwoman.  My pudgy little baby in a little leotard... I really do just want to squeeze her!  Bailey is a Mime (is that even how you spell that?).  All her idea.  We had to search and search for a black and white striped shirt (ended up with black and gray), black berret and suspenders.  We found the latter two at Claires in Holland.  Did you even know there was still a Claire's in Holland, because I sure didnt!  Landon... well, he's Landon.  He had a halloween party at church and just wore a mask that I picked up last year after halloween at Walgreens, not sure how long he even had it on though. 

OK, so I'm off to have lunch with some great ladies... but I leave you with a picture of my wondergirl!

Tough Love

Some of you may have seen me at church this morning before MOPS. Most of you did not. Some of you may have noticed that one of my dear children was still in pajamas. Many of you may not have noticed. No, it wasn't the baby, although her runny nose and cough are what prevented us from staying for MOPS (your welcome, I didn't put her in nursery)! It was Elliot. He's 4. He hid in dark corners so that people hopefully wouldn't see him in his footie jammies.

Let me start from the beginning. Getting him dressed in anything but basketball shorts and t-shirts is a big issue for us. Before school started I made him a deal that he had to put on whatever clothes I picked out for school, church and if we went away somewhere "important". The rest of the time, as long as he was inside, I don't care what he wears. This went well for about a week. The last few weeks have been difficult though. He doesn't want to wear "those" jeans. He doesn't like "that" shirt. I'm sick of fighting about it. Every morning is a battle that I just don't have the energy to fight.

So, this morning I got out jeans and a shirt (one that buttoned, so we know it wasn't basketball worthy). I laid them on the floor and told him to get dressed. I told him if he didn't get dressed he was going to wear his pajamas to church. I've threatened this multiple times, most of the time it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Today, it didn't. So, 10 minutes later, as were getting closer and closer to the time we need to leave he is still in his pajamas, playing in his room. I walked in. Picked him up. Carried him out of the room. Closed the door. And wouldnt' let him go back in. I think he finally realized that I meant it. He brushed his teeth (I think he was scared not to), and then I announced it was time to leave. He "WAS NOT" going to go with me. "OK, stay here BY YOURSELF then". And off I walked, closed the door and started the van. That scared him even more. (I don't condone parenting with scare tactics all the time, but sometimes that is what works.). He ran outside. I opened his door and told him to get in. He said no. I backed up the van like I was going to leave. He stood screaming in the driveway (sorry neighbors). I gave him "one more chance" (I had to give him lot's more chances on this one, because I'm sure that I could get in a bit of trouble for leaving my four year old home alone). He decided to climb in at this point.

We got to church. He said he wasn't getting out. I told him he was. He was SO embarresed. I got Lila out and then carried him out. He was not going to come into church though, so I had to carry him in (again, probably could get into trouble leaving the screaming four year old in the parking lot alone). He walked around church finding every dark corner that he could.

I'm sure many who saw him wondered what in the heck my child was doing. What kind of mother would let her kid go to church in his pajamas. Well, trust me. It was HARD for me to do. I like my kids to look presentable (most of the time) adn this wasn't the look I was going for. But let me make you a promise. HE WILL NEVER NOT GET DRESSED AGAIN. It was well worth it not to have to do that battle again!

So, that was my tough love parenting adventure for the day!

Picture Recap

Don't these look delicious?  I sure think so.  They were delicious too!  Marshmallows, sucker sticks, chocolate, graham crackers and oreos (oh, and a little peanut butter on a few as well, my favorite).  These were used instead of a cake for Elliot's birthday party!

Little goodie bags for the kiddo's!  A little flaarp and some candy!

 The crew, just before going on the train ride!  The kiddo's LOVED the ride, Elliot LOVED the train ride.  Elliot loved having a party!  Elliot loves being 4!  What fun it was to have Tom's Train entertain us/the kids!

And... Team BELLieve!  Two seperate pictures because there was just way to many people to fit into one!  Seriously, this was amazing, you were amazing, the event itself was amazing, to see so many survivors was amazing.  It was a great event!

 Crossing the finish line!

More pictures can be seen on my facebook page, feel free to check them out there, and tag yourself while your there as well, I coudlnt' possibly tag everyone myself!

I met with the radiation oncologist on Friday.  It was a LONG appointment with lot's of technical details that, to be quite honest, I don't remember much about (or even really care).  I get to go back on Tuesday morning (followed by my first herceptin only treatment), and then will start radiation in about 2 weeks.  I just want to get going.  Because, ultimately I just want to be done!

Spring Break 2010

We headed down to Destin Florida on April 2, 2010. We left at 5pm and drove right through the night. It took us about 16 hours to get there, not bad considering we were traveling with an almost one year old! Lila did better than I expected. We had a pool right outside our condo and were only a short walk across the parking lot to the beach (which happened to have an abbundance of jellyfish). We all had a fabulous time, including the kids! The weather was beautiful every single day. Thursday was supposed to be rainy so we decided that would be the day to the outlet mall... and apparently so did the rest of the visitors to the destin area. It took us over an hour to get to the mall, which was only 8 miles away from the condo! Every store was packed and I bought one lousy shirt and a pair of sandels! Oh well, it was fun!
Matt, Kyle and Landon went fishing one day, Landon unexpectadly threw up a few (8) times which was a huge bummer for him! They did catch some delicious fish though!

This little girl turns one in less than two weeks, I can't even believe it!

An adventure in paint!

Today something happened, to my head I think. I decided it would be fun to let the kids paint. The kids in this situation are shown below. One is naked except for the diaper, the other is naked except for shorts that are to small! I'm not sure why I thought this would be fun or why I thought Lila would have fun doing it, like I said, something happened to my head! (Maybe it was to much coffee, or maybe it was not enough coffee) Apparently she thought the best idea would be to EAT it. She didn't like it, but that didn't stop her from doing it... again and again and again. She was covered in blue paint!
And green paint (see it in her hair and on her neck)
I think she picked the blue for the lips b/c it looked so good with her eyes! Don't you agree?
She wasn't the only thing covered in blue paint... this is why I love the laminate floor!
And then it was bathtime, which she loved as usual!
And, just b/c he is so darn cute I had to add a picture of E!

Healthier?

We've been trying to be a little healthier over here. By "We", I mean "I", the rest of the family is just along for the ride! By healthier I mean exercising, eating better and trying my hardest to loose some of this weight that just doesn't fall off like it used to.

Eating healthier has meant that I joined Weight Watchers online. It's only been a few weeks, but most of all I've learned to eat lower calorie, lower fat, high fiber foods. Filling foods. Food that make me feel satisfied for longer. One of my newest favorite recipes is this:
Mexican Quinoa (If you've never tried Quinoa you definately should, yummy)
2t Olive Oil
1/2c. quinoa rinsed thoroughly (you can get this at health food stores and I also found it at Meijers on the top shelf by the rice)
1/2c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced (I used the jar kind)
1/2c diced red pepper
1 14 1/2oz can rotel undrained
1 can whole kernel corn undrained
1/4t ground cumin
1/4t ground red pepper
1/4t salt
1 can black beans, rinsed
avacado
cheese

In a 2 quart nonstick saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Add qunioa, onion, garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring, until quinoa begins to crackle and onion is soft.

Add tomatoes, corn and seasonings, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is translucent and tender. Add black beans.

Uncover and continue cooking 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Makes 4 servings, add 1/8 of an avacado chopped up and 1/8c cheese for a 5 point meal!

Excercising has meant that I get up much earlier than I ever though possible and head to the gym almost every morning. But now that I'm sleeping through the night it isn't so bad.

Speaking of Lila... she is on the move. FAST. She is trying so hard to pull herself up on everything and reach everything (and then proceed to eat it). Definately takes more supervision, but I would say that it makes her a bit happier than she used to be. She still likes us to be close, but were used to that! At her nine month appt last week she weighed in at 23 pounds 9 ounces, she is finally slowing down a bit! She has an eye doctor appt next week for her clogged tear duct, I'm not sure how bad it really is, but we'll see what they say!

Elliot had a big day a few weeks back (which I mentioned in a previous post). He started three-school. Just one day a week, the only opening that Zeeland Christian had mid-semester. He did so good when I dropped him off, he said goodbye and went and played, he loves it. He knows no one in his class so I wasn't sure how he would do, but it seems to be going well. I also signed him up for preschool next year, three days a week with his "best friend" as he says! The poor boy gets so bored at home with me so it will be nice for him to get to go to school!

Landon is busy with basketball on Saturday mornings and Bailey also has soccer on Saturdays, luckily only one game has overlapped! They seem to be having fun, both seemed to have improved over the last year quite a bit, Bailey scored her first goal ever this past week, we were all very excited for her adn luckily Matt was able to be there to see it!

I've taken very very few pictures so far this year and even fewer of them have made it off my camera onto my computer (0 to be exact). Hopefully I will find some time to do that soon and will be able to share some cuteness!

Christmas Pictures Take 2 and Snow Day

It wasn't quite as ideal to photograph the older kids Christmas pictures, the light wasn't nearly as bright, but I like what we got. We may still try to do a retake though, next week (I'm sure they will LOVE me)









2 snow days last week. We needed to do something to keep busy, so on Wednesday we tried decorating a gingerbread house. DISASTER! The roof was cracked, multiple times, the gingerbread was cracked, it was awful. We tried fixing it, but thatw asa disaster too. So, the when I gave up and said "Whatever", the kids being the great kids that they are made lemonade out of the lemons and took the roof off and decorated anyway!
Our repair attempts...

Elliot and his gingerbread...
The not so finished, not so fixed gingerbread house...
How would you like to live in that house?
They took out the Halloween candy to decorate the roofless house more. (Did I just admit to still having Halloween candy sitting around?)

Isn't it beautiful?
They made cookies out of the roof... doesn't this one look just delicious?
A chocolaty one...
Watching the whole thing.


On Thursday we just hung out and cleaned and played games, and then on Friday, the kids got to go back to school, we were all a little happy about that, except Elliot. But only a little, I really do enjoy having them home! I'm considering it practice for Christmas break.

Saturday prior to these snow days, we also decorated our Christmas tree. It started off that I wanted a "pretty" tree, but the kids got so excited about the older ornaments that we had lying around that we went with a kid friendly tree. I don't mind the hodge podge of ornaments either, they are mostly ones from Matt and my childhood so it's kind of fun to rmeember as we decorate! And, I still think the tree is pretty!

Getting the ornaments out.

So excited to decorate.


Lovin' the lights!
The kids and the tree!
She loved the beads.



We had our first Christmas party yesterday followed by a concert at church. Tonight we get to go watch Landon's choir concert, busy week ahead and then more parties next weekend, and the kids are home again next week, for two weeks!