Baby Boss!!!

It's pretty well known in my family that I am the "Baby Boss!" I'm not really quite sure who started calling me that, (although I'm pretty sure it was my mom):) or when they started calling me that, but it's a fact....I am the Baby Boss.

Because I'm the youngest of five, sometimes it's hard to be heard, so I guess I just had to speak up, and then I became the boss!

Well, I think that I can officially hand down the title to my youngest, Owen.



One reason, in particular, stands out in my head. On Friday, I took the kids to the library. Before we went in, I made sure to make the speech that I make EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. "Be quiet, no running, stay by me, blah, blah, blah...." Anyway, I was trying to find a book for Chloe, and we couldn't find it, so I went to ask the librarian. As I'm talking, Owen says, "Mommy, shhhh, shhhh, shhhh, you not talk in the library. You haffa be quiet!" Yes son, thanks for the reminder! :)

There are many other examples that I can't come up with right now, but I think I am ready to hand over my reign to Owen! :)

Easter Story Cookies

I had a couple people ask me for this recipe, and I think it's a really cool thing to do with your kids, so I decided to post it up here.

To be made the evening before Easter

Ingredients:
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important, don't wait till you're half done with the recipe!)

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.

Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Psalm 24:8 and John 3:16.
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represent the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bit. The cookies are hollow!! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
Read Matthew 28:1-9.


Have fun with this! While it's fun for the kids to get an Easter basket and pretty dress, we have to remember the real reason we celebrate Easter!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Well, officially, I'm not Irish - at all - I'm as Dutch as Dutch can get! :) My husband and kids, however, do have a bit of Irish in them, so each year we get together at my in laws for a good ole' St. Patrick's Day Feast - complete with Irish Soda Bread! (I think that's my favorite part!!!) We went there yesterday, and had a really fun time!


Here's all the nieces and nephews on Ryan's side. I'm really bummed that I didn't even think to put green on the kids. O well.

This is our nephew David. He's just such a sweetie!

I couldn't believe that I actually got this picture - my boys are actually acting like they like each other! :)

And here's Robert. Just hanging out talking with the adults!


Ellie and Chloe sat like this for so long. They really have fun together, despite the age difference. The only two princesses of the family! :)

And at the end of the day, I took this picture of Chloe right after she tied her shoe by herself for the FIRS TIME!!! We have been working on this for a very long time, and she finally did it!!!!

Owen...

Having a fun time with my Owen right now. The rest of the house is in their beds, and the two night owls are just playing around whispering. Too sweet! :)

Why is Owen awake, you ask? Well, I mistakenly put him down for his nap too late, and then let him sleep even later! No big deal though, he'll sleep in tomorrow - that is if Brett doesn't get to him first! ;)

Ahhhh, the day I've been waiting for!!

I have been waiting for this day for a long time now. We went to the PARK!!! It was nearly 60 degrees here yesterday, and we played outside All.DAY.LONG! It was great. I had to stop at the post office in the morning, and on our way back we noticed that by the grocery store they had a jump house type thing. Well, of course we had to stop by and jump a bit, so we did, and the boys LOVED it! They were so good too, when I told them we had to get going! We're turning another corner my friends! :) We came home, and went in the backyard to play. I think the boys have been waiting forever to go on the riding bronco. They had a blast! After we picked up Chloe from school, we had an hour to waste, before going to dance class, so we headed to the park! It was packed, but we had alot of fun! It was pretty windy out there!:) This was such a fun slide, the little round tubes would go round and round, and that's how you went down the slide. (If that made any sense, but I'm sure you get the idea.) Well, I had this great idea, because it was wide enough, to have all three kids go down the slide together. Louis (a crazy three year old at the park) said I want to go - I want to go!! Well, my kids had already sat down, and there wasn't any room left for him. My kids started to go down, and he came down right after them - only to push Owen right off the slide, and then he landed on top of Owen and hit his head. If you could've seen his mom! She says " well, obviously that wasn't a good idea!" I just bit my tongue, because believe me, I could've done some damage with what I could've said. Needless to say, both kids were fine, but I just could've believe it! I can't tell you how many times Brett went down this slide. Every time he went down, he would make noise so that it would vibrate while he went down. I tried to capture it in the video, but you can't hear it too good...



Ryan even had time to wash my van! It needed it pretty bad! Oh, and he even fixed my kitchen sink! Not too bad - just a little over 4 months! :) (Just had to throw that in there honey ~ love you! :))

Phew! Long post. Sorry about that!

Spring has sprung?!?!?

I know, because I'm going to write about our nice weather, it's going to start snowing outside, but hey, I'm going to relish the fact that we had an awesome day yesterday, and it's supposed to be 56 degrees today too! Woo Hoo!!

Anyway, the kids and I had so much fun playing outside. We actually put on Spring coats to go out ~ no more big heavy coats ~ until next week.;) I pulled the kids around in the wagon, the kids rode on their bikes, and we even enjoyed some popcorn on the front steps! It was fantastic! The one thing that I didn't think to do yet, was charge the batteries for the Barbie Jeep. I made sure I plugged them in, so I'm sure today will be a day for some off-roading ~ Barbie style ~ with two boys in it! :D

The one thing I am bummed about, is that I didn't get a picture of Brett while he was playing. Apparently he has his seasons mixed up too, because he had on a baseball cap, swim goggles, a whistle around his neck, and his snow boots on! It was hilarious, but I couldn't find my camera to take a picture ~ maybe today!?!?

Snakes and Crocodiles!

Ryan is a Cadet Counselor at our church. Every other Monday, he doesn't get home until about 9:00 p.m. It makes for a long day, but he really enjoys doing it, so I won't complain! ;)

Bedtime around here, is usually pretty uneventful. Except for last night. Of course when daddy's not around!:) I won't go into details, but I did finally manage to get them all down. I was hoping to enjoy some Jon and Kate plus 8. Not the case - the boys were jumping around like crazy, so I run upstairs, only to find Brett in his brothers crib. I don't know what it is about that crib lately, but Brett wants in - BAD! Got that all settled, only for Chloe to call me and I could tell that she was crying. She yelled - "could you please come and rub my head - I can't fall asleep!" So off I go, up the stairs again. I start talking to her, and ask her why she can't fall asleep. To which she replies, "I keep dreaming of snakes and crocodiles. I tried to ask Jesus to take them away, but they won't go away." I've told her in the past that if she has trouble sleeping, she could either pray or call me - she did both!;) I started to rub her head, and then I also prayed with her. Not long after that, she was sound asleep.

I'm just so thankful that were are raising our kids at such a young age to ask Jesus for help when we need it!

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On another note, Ryan and I were just starting to doze off last night, when we heard one of the boys talking. We laid there for a bit, only to here Brett say, "EXCUSE ME! WATER PLEASE!" I couldn't stop laughing! Brett has a tendancy to sleep walk, and I really think that he was asleep while he asked for the water. Too cute! :)