Our Poor Stapler

Who knew this could happen to office supplies..... (message left by the kids) Glad is isn't getting too smelly!

Baby #4 Ultrasound Pics

So I'm way behind posting these but since we haven't actually had the baby yet I think I have some wiggle room here. Earlier this month we had our first ultrasound done for baby #4. We DID NOT find out what the baby's gender is - this will be a surprise to all until the baby is born. We love these kinds of surprises!! The kids came with us to see the baby. The girls knew what to expect since they have "been there, done that" before. Poor Drew however was so confused - he thought the doctor was going to take the baby out for a bit and then put it back in. He was bored after five  minutes until he discovered the "jelly" spread over my stomach. Every once in awhile I felt a little finger playing with the jelly along the side of my stomach.

So anyway here are some pics of our little #4:

Late Summer Fun

There is a great park in Jenison, a small town close to Grand Rapids where we try to take the kids at least once a year. The entire playground is constructed from wood in the shape of a large ship (we think it is a pirate ship!). There are tons of places throughout the structure to explore, hide or climb. Even the grownups can't resist a little play time on the pirate ship! Here are some pics of the kids finding great adventures within the ship (hidden tire swing under the hull - yes sir!!) Enjoy!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (here is what the kids made for Gary for his office)

Baby Birds

A little while ago the kids found a birds nest in our swing set clubhouse. After the discovery they began checking the next regularly to see if any eggs had been laid. Sure enough a few weeks after our discovery the kids found two robin blue eggs in the little nest. They were excited! The girls researched robin eggs and how long it would take for the eggs to hatch. They learned that it took about 12-14 days for the eggs to hatch then after that the baby birds would live in the nest for over 4 weeks. They decided as a "team" to leave the clubhouse (which includes climbing wall and slide) alone until the baby birds flew the coop.

One afternoon while busying myself around the house I heard an ear piercing scream from the backyard from the kids. Scared someone was hurt (aka Drew), I raced to the backyard to find all three kids with huge smiles shrieking "the eggs hatched". Kami quickly grabbed the camera and cautiously ventured into the clubhouse to record what she found. Here is a video of the findings.(1st video shows newly hatched birds - 2nd & 3rd video shows little bit older baby birds)

Our Growing Boy is 3

Drew bear turned 3 on April 30. We actually celebrated his birthday the day before with family here at our house. Here are some photos of this joyous event! The cake was made by Heather and looked (and tasted) great! Thanks to everyone who helped make this a special day for our little boy.

Daddy Daughter Dance

The girls were treated to a Daddy/Daughter dance and a Grandpa (Papa)/Granddaughter Dance all in one weekend! Gary took the girls on Saturday night along with our good friends, the Knolls to a great event at Sunshine Community Church. The kids had fun dancing, crafting and hanging out with their cool dad! Here are a few pics from this first event: (scroll down for the second dance pics)

On Sunday we brought the kids to Fremont so they could attend the Grandpa/Granddaughter (daddy/daughter) dance at Camp Newaygo. We kept this a secret from the girls who were totally surprised to get their first wrist corsages and told they were going somewhere special with Papa O'Brien. Once they pulled into the Camp Newaygo drive way they knew exactly where their final destination was! They danced, had cookies and got manicures. It was a well attended and fun event! Thanks Camp Newaygo!

Old Socks

Here is what we do with our old white socks! Upcycling into snowmen (snowgirls). Kami and Rian's friend Emily came over for a visit during the Christmas holiday and we whipped together these crafty snowmen. Super easy - no sewing and not overly time consuming for those with shorter attention spans. Their insides are stuffed with a small ziploc bag of beans to give them a little weight and the rest is fiberfill.  We cut off the socks just around the heel, stuffed them and then used a rubber band to close the top. Hot glue was what we used to keep the little fabric hats on and a piece of white embroidery floss was tied around their neck to give them circular snowball shape. After the body was done the girls went to town decorating faces and putting little scrap fabric scarves around their necks. Here is a pic of the finished products.

Halloween 2011

So it looks like I'm running almost a month behind on a consistent basis here for posting happenings around our house. We had a blast on Halloween with our good friends the Allens. The kids were dressed up in such fun costumes - Kami was a cheetah, Rian was a black cat and Drew was a "wobot" (aka robot). The weather was pleasant so our trick or treating lasted longer than past (coooold) years. Here are some pics of the trick-or-treaters and our pumpkin carving!

Link to a Great Give-Away!

Looking for some great holiday ideas to give as gifts? Follow this link to a great blog offering a give away for some great Christmas gifts. One of the items will be from my shop! Good luck - please leave a comment letting Karen from mommysmoments.net know you found her blog through mine!

Erin