My Three Sons

They grow up so fast...

2010-11-16T17:55:00.002-05:00

Noah's 4th Birthday

2009-07-07T20:16:00.003-04:00

A happy day in our household today as we celebrate Noah! It's hard to believe he's four already, or maybe I should say, it's hard to believe that my baby is no longer a baby. We had a fun day. Presents before breakfast, Build-a-Bear visit thanks to Opa and Oma, french fries and chicken nuggets for supper per Noah's request, and cake to end the day.

Last Day of School

2009-06-23T21:13:00.002-04:00

Ahhh... the last day of school. All three boys had a great year, wonderful teachers and are now totally ready for a break. We leave for Washington tomorrow, can't wait to see everyone!

Fourth Grade Buddy Readers

2009-06-22T13:33:00.002-04:00

Tristan's class and one of the first grade classrooms worked together this year in a Buddy Reading program. Tristan was paired with Phillip, already a friend of the boys, so it was a good match. Every time the kids read a book together they would draw a picture which was later transferred to the t-shirts you see the kids modeling.

The Buddy Reader Fashion show was very sweet. Kids took turns walking down the runway and met up with their buddy at the end of the runway, where they then read each other letters about the experiences they had reading together. The letters were all sweet and full of encouragement to continue reading.

Parkway's First Grade Poetry Night

2009-06-21T22:14:00.004-04:00

Calvin and his teacher, Mrs. Hart.

Calvin with his buddy Quintin

First grade was a great year for Calvin. He had a great teacher and made good friends in his class. One of the final events of the year for the first grader was Poetry Night. The kids all worked hard, learned and recited their poems and made us all proud.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T07:55:00.005-05:00

Star Wars is a big hit in our family, so it was no surprise the boys wanted to dress up as Jedi's for Halloween.
Our afternoon started out with the neighborhood Halloween Parade, followed by lots of trick-or-treating.
Noah thought it was all magical, going to people's houses and getting candy, what could be better? Star Wars was a popular theme among the kids so the boys had plenty of opportunity to play Star Wars, recreating scenes and battles.

Sister Weekend

2008-11-02T07:52:00.002-05:00

I was so happy to have Emily visit us for the weekend last week. It's such a treat to spend time with her and we enjoyed every minute together!

Calvin's Soccer Season

2008-11-02T07:41:00.005-05:00

Calvin had a good season this Fall. It's been fun to see him play some "real" games, last year was mostly drills and games on a half field.

Today is the last day of the season, hard to believe it's over already.

Lighthouse Puzzle

2008-09-09T21:33:00.003-04:00

Grandma Sanneke gave us a puzzle of the Lighthouses on the Great Lakes after we visited a lighthouse on our Michigan vacation. We had a rainy Sunday last weekend and decided it was time to put it together. We started after lunch with the five of us, Noah left after a few minutes after a few hours Tristan, Calvin, and I needed a bit of a break, while Robert kept plugging ahead. By supper time we all came back to help Robert finish up, just in time for the picture.

First Day of School

2008-09-09T21:21:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, September 3

All three boys are heading off to school today. Tristan starts 4th grade, Calvin 1st, and Noah starts preschool. We were outside taking pictures when Noah's school bus arrived 20 minutes early. Probably a good thing, because it all happened so quickly I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that my little Noah is getting on a school bus.

All three boys came home happy and tired after their first day of school.

Rancocas State Park

2008-09-09T21:04:00.004-04:00

Our last weekend before school starts. We decided to explore one of the many State Parks in New Jersey. We decided on Rancocas State Park. It's a small, wooded park on the Rancocas River. We are all sad to see our summer vacation end, it's been such a nice summer.

Acadia National Park

2008-08-13T13:38:00.018-04:00

We recently returned from a wonderful camping vacation at Acadia National Park in Maine. On our way up, we stopped to visit the Olivares' in Avon, CT. They are doing well and are settled into their beautiful new home.

This was our third visit to Acadia, and we explored some favorite sites as well as discovering new places and things to do. One highlight was when we came across Anemone Cave, a large cave that Robert and the bigger boys were able to explore because it was low tide. Inside they found a tide pool with anemone, starfish and lots of snails.

On our last day we were able to take advantage of the low tide again, and walk from the town of Bar Harbor to Bar Island. The first picture we took just before we walked across, the third was taken at high tide, on the same spot.
We spent lots of times during our hikes foraging for blueberries. There were so many and they were ripe for the picking!
We hope to go back to Acadia in a few years when the boys are all able to ride bikes. Acadia has beautiful bike trails we'd love to explore!

Fourth of July

2008-07-07T17:48:00.004-04:00

We spent the holiday weekend in Washington DC visiting Andre, where he has been stationed the last five months. We met him at the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum by Dulles airport. We all enjoyed the museum, it is pretty impressive to be so close to these aircraft, many which have fought in battles in different wars.

Andre's apartment is just outside of DC and overlooks the Pentagon as well as the Washington Monument and Capitol building. It was fun to be back in DC, our last visit was 3 years ago in March to celebrate Tristan's 6th and Calvin's 3rd birthday. Time flies!

We also visited some of the Smithsonian Museums on the Mall. There was a folk festival taking place which had Texas as a theme, so we enjoyed listened to several bands from that area while we walked around. The boys liked the National Art Gallery as well as the Natural History Museum which featured skeletons of the woolly mammoth and dinosaurs. Pretty cool!

Last Day of School

2008-06-20T21:52:00.006-04:00

What a wonderful year the boys have had in school. The year flew by like they always do, and here we are, done with another year of school. Calvin graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. We enjoyed a special program with lots of singing dancing and memories from Kindergarten. As the kids walked across the stage to receive their diplomas their teacher announced what they plan to be when they grow up; Calvin announced that he will be a wild-life veterinarian, I have no doubt!

Tristan completed third grade. One of his latest accomplishments was to memorize the 50 states, he received a 100% on his states test, we're really proud of him! Here is Tristan with his teacher, Ms Young. (Yes, his lips are blue, that had an end-of-the-year party with blue popsicles.)

This morning I had an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for Noah. A spot opened up for the summer special ed preschool program, so now, Noah will start preschool July 1st. I'm very thankful he has this opportunity, he will now be able to continue speech therapy which was scheduled to end his birthday.

Michigan

2008-06-18T22:46:00.008-04:00

Our family spent a wonderful week in Michigan at the beginning of June. We met Mum and Dad at the cottage, where they've spent some time every summer the last nine years. The best part of the cottage has to be the beach. The kids love to play there and Tristan and Calvin where brave enough to join Grandpa for an almost daily swim.

One afternoon, we rented bikes and had a nice ride from Mears to Shelby, about ten miles round trip. In the first picture you see Noah getting situated in his carrier behind Grandpa's bike, Floris sat next to him for the first mile or so, but was too excited to sit still, so he ended up running along-side Grandma. Tristan and I had our own bike, Robert and Calvin rode together, Calvin on a tag-along behind Robert's bike. I hadn't ridden a bike in about ten years, and was happy to discover I still remembered the basics.

We visited two lighthouses, Big Sauble in Ludington State Park and North Breakwater Light in Ludington. The first involved quite an adventuresome hike on the beach in stormy weather, but the view made it all worthwhile. The lighthouse in Ludington is next to a playground that we've stopped to play in every time we've visited the lighthouse.

Birds

2008-05-30T13:52:00.005-04:00

Well, here they are, the fabric birds that kept Jessica and I up until way after midnight. We love them, we paired two pieces of fabric to create the bird which is made up of three pieces and the loop. It's so fun to mix and match funky fabric, but it would be just as sweet with more traditional fabric. Hope you like them!

This morning Jessica said she has a "birdover," (hangover of the bird variety.) Today I'm busy packing, we're leaving early for Michigan tomorrow morning.

Cousins

2008-05-29T21:19:00.005-04:00

We've been enjoying having Jessica, Pieter and Anneke visit us these last few days. Jessica was visiting Andre' in Washington DC, and after her visit here she will go up to Boston to attend Andre's graduation from Harvard. Congratulations Andre'!

The kids have been having a nice time together. Pieter is full of stories and interesting observations, and Anneke is almost two, and talking a lot.
Just before supper today, Calvin's tooth fell out. It's been wiggly for a while and it finally came out.
Tonight Jessica and I plan to make birds out of fabric. If they turn out I will post a picture tomorrow.

Memorial Day 2008

2008-05-27T22:45:00.009-04:00

We camped in Swartswood State Park in Northern New Jersey over the long Memorial Day weekend. We went with a wonderful group of families from church and had a great time. All together we had 16 kids and 12 adults.

We enjoyed good food, a fun day at the beach, and lots of time just talking and catching up with friends. It was especially wonderful to see how nicely all the kids played together. Tristan and Calvin spent a lot of their time on their bikes, riding around from campsite to campsite. On our last night all the kids put on a talent show that was enjoyed by all.

Now that we're home, I'm surrounded by piles of laundry. A small price to pay for such a nice weekend. Next, we're looking forward to spending some time in Michigan with Grandma Sanneke and Grandpa John.

Happy Birthday Robert

2008-05-21T09:09:00.004-04:00

Today is Robert's 41st birthday. He is such a good daddy, husband and provider for our family!

Cub Scouts

2008-05-17T08:50:00.004-04:00

Tristan recently joined Cub Scouts and yesterday he took part of the Space Derby. The Scouts each made a rocket out of wood and painted and decorated it. They then attached their rocket to a hanger on a track made of fish line, wound up the propeller, and watched it go.

We had a great evening. Tristan is very happy that his two best buddies, Steven and Jacob, are in his Bear Den. And the icing on the cake: Tristan learned that he is not allergic to Moon Pies, a very sugary yummy treat, the likes of which usually contain dairy.

The Cub Scout Promise: I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people, and to obey the Law of the Pack.

Mothers Day

2008-05-11T14:36:00.003-04:00

Happy Mothers Day and Prettige Moederdag to all the mothers in my life!

It's good to be a mom to three little guys. This morning I was served breakfast in bread: coffee, orange juice, croissant with blueberry jam, toast with honey and a banana. Too much to finish in just one sitting, but delicious and quite a treat.

Tristan and Calvin sang in church today with the kids choir. There's nothing so sweet as the sound of kids singing. For the first time, the kids sat in the choir pews where the adult choir normally sits. They seemed so grown up.

This evening, if the weather holds, Robert will grill our supper. A salmon burger for me, and brats for Robert and the boys. We'll also enjoy the the first "Jersey Fresh" corn-on-the cob of the season. Yum...

Speech

2008-05-10T13:48:00.002-04:00

Noah had an intake interview with the special needs preschool in our township. We met with a speech therapist, a learning specialist and a social worker. While I spoke with the social worker, Noah was being tested in the areas of receptive and expressive speech and gross and fine motor skills. The township has four special education preschool classrooms: two for kids with autism, one self contained classroom for kids with various needs, and an integrated classroom where half the kids are typical in development, and the other half have mild delays. I wasn't sure where I wanted Noah to end up, it would be either the self-contained classroom where he would receive more individual speech therapy, or the integrated room which is a lot like a typical preschool classroom.

It was decided that the integrated classroom would be the best for Noah. His receptive language skills (words he understands,) are on target for his age, and he will benefit from having lots of positive speech role models. He will also have speech therapy two times a week, as well as a teacher who is certified in speech.

I am so thankful Noah has been accepted into this program. I know he will love preschool, and the extra speech he will receive will help him as he continues to improve his expressive speech.

Pampering

2008-05-06T20:15:00.003-04:00

Monday, my last day with Emily in Olympia, we were pampered the whole day. We started with coffee and a scone, stopped to have our nails done, and then enjoyed a wonderful full-hour massage. Oh, what a life. Later we met Mum, Abigail, Chris, and Reed (Chris's dad) for lunch in downtown Olympia followed by a visit to one of Emily's friends Scrapbooking store. Our last stop of the day was at the Bread Peddler, where we enjoyed lovely French pastries, bread and cookies.

My Seattle Trip

2008-05-06T17:02:00.007-04:00

I just returned home after a long weekend visiting Emily and Abigail in Washington. The occasion was Brooke's baptism, and as godmother I was thrilled to be able to be there.

I arrived Saturday morning and Mum, Abigail and Emily picked me up. We went straight from the airport to Seattle where we went to Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. We had lunch at a pub, and then set off wandering through the market, admiring the beautiful flowers, colorful vegetables, and handiwork from various artists.

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. Brooke looked so sweet in her baptismal gown and little cap. The service was very meaningful and we are all so thankful for little Brooke Emily and her family.

Here I am with my beautiful goddaughter and big-sister Madison, aren't they sweet?

More to come...

Riding Bikes

2008-04-30T20:01:00.005-04:00

Last Fall we took Calvin's training wheels off, but he wasn't quite ready to ride on his own. One Saturday morning a few weeks ago, Tristan helped Calvin ride on his own, and he's been riding ever since.

Watch him go!