helping at school...

Being able to help out at school is pretty important to me...

This year I am Carsten's room mom.  I get to help out in his class one Friday a month with lunch and recess.  This month it rained so we had indoor recess and the kids played games in the room.  Mrs. Lynne watched Henry these Fridays which we are both thankful for (Henry LOVES his Mrs. Lynne days!). 

Two other times a month I read to Grace and Willem's classes during lunch, and Henry comes with me those days - he thinks he is big stuff.  I love getting to connect with each of the kids in their classrooms once a month like this - it is good to see them in that environment and playing with their classmates!

Parents are also encouraged to attend their chapel once a month.  This particular chapel was on being Community Builders, and after they had sung some songs and listened to a little talk, the whole school divided into mixed age groups and brought a mum to a neighbor of the school.  They included a note signed by all of them talking about their school, thanking them for being in the same neighborhood community, and inviting them to some fun school events.

I also try to get on a few field trips with the kids too.  This was a walking field trip that I got to go on with Willem's class to nearby Laddie Lake.  They are studying layers of the forest so they observed and drew in their journals, as well as collecting some lake water for their next science study.  3rd graders are fun...

And it was a fun bonus that Grace's class walked with us at the same time!  Their class has been studying parts of plants and also did observing and journaling.  They also practiced being creation keepers by picking up a lot of trash on the path to and around the lake.

So thankful and blessed that I can help out in these ways!  Love these kids and love their school...

So......

...there once was a blog that belonged to a girl.  She originally started it partly because her sister-in-law had one and she thought it was neat, but mainly to post pictures and stories of the kids and life for her Grandma (and parents and other relatives) to see.  The girl and hubby had only two kids at this point.  

...the number of kids grew to three and the girl fought hard to keep the blog going because she found out that she really liked posting pictures and writing - it was almost therapeutic (hello, using brain and forming coherent sentences higher than at 3 yr olds level was good for her!) and the only hobby that she could find time here and there to still enjoy.  

...aaaaaand then child number 4 came along.  Many people told the girl and hubby that if they survived life with three kids, adding a 4th was nothing.  Those people were nice, but THEY WERE WRONG!  It was so much busier, and unfortunately the blog ended up suffering.  The girl gave up most times, and fought hard to get it back sometimes, but it was sporadic if anything.  

....and thennnnnnnn, the girl took a part time dream job teaching a class at their kids' Christian school.  The girl was nervous because she hadn't taught since college because of many various life things (she kept asking principal - "are you sure you want me?!"), but once in front of the class with a subject she enjoyed, she knew that teaching was still for her.  Unfortunately all the stress and major amounts of work that go along with your first year of teaching made life crazy and all effort was put into trying to maintain balance at home while still doing her best at teaching, and the blog was thrown far out the window.  (sometimes, sleep, showering and eating were thrown out the window too!)  

...but the girl couldn't erase that blog.  That blog with so many photos and memories written down.  It was really a part of her.  And so when the girl found herself stressing about life even after the first year of teaching was done, she remembered how much she liked that blog.  Unfortunately hardware issues prevented her from starting it back up right away, but now with a new camera and computer, there is nothing stopping her.  

...apart from a growing concern for her sweet kiddos as they get older and start using the computer more, and that nothing is secret on the internet - how would her and hubby protect them?  Should they throw the new computer out the window, cancel the internet, and wrap the house in plastic and never let them go?  Nope.  That is not how we were called to live in this world.  BUT.  Girl and hubby still want to protect them a little.  And actually protect them a lot on the internet.  

so....since this blog is for girl and hubby and kiddos, and for family and friends, and not for a million followers out there or for money, we are turning the blog's setting to private.  That means that you can't read about the crazy things Henry says, or see how long Grace's hair is getting, or find out about Willem and Carsten's latest sports craze unless we send you an invite.  

I know.  That is a hassle.  It is not easy, and if you don't care, please ignore that invite and don't bother.  But for some that do want to geek out with Cary about how great her pictures of the lunar eclipse turned out (she was more surprised than anyone!) and find out how Steve is saving lives next weekend, here we are.  A girl and her blog.

***UPDATE, yeah that private setting thing was a great idea, but did not work well in actuality.  Blogger's set up for it is not without issues, and it worked for some and not for others with no rhyme or reason.  So I took some different measures behind the scenes to still offer security and turned the blog back on private.  I set it so it can't be searched for in Blogger or on search engines like Google.  That makes us feel quite a bit better.***

CCS Challenge 2015!

October is time for the annual CCS Challenge again! We love our school and we worked on raising money to help them out with all the extra expenses and classroom needs of trying to give the students a great education.  We knew we would not be able to be there on the morning of the Challenge, so the week before our family biked 5 miles together for our participation!  It was fun as the big kids are all closer in biking ability now so the ride was smooth and fun for all.  And a bonus was meeting Uncle Jeff, Auntie Christy, Kaatje & Greta at a park halfway through our ride (we needed someone to take our annual bike picture!).  Thanks so much to all of our friends and family who donated!  It makes a difference.  Go Calvin!

(this annual picture is fun to look back on.  Check out 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)

Snapshots :: September

some snapshots of day to day life and events this month

backyard hair salon :: momma gave the haircuts, dadda cleaned them up

park fun :: a nearby lake we had never visited before

photos for grandparents :: ended up in very loud giggly pile up

Henry's job for an afternoon :: watching after Kacie, and he took it very seriously!

5th grade volleyball :: sweet coach invited them to watch a college level game 

5th grade volleyball :: and then they got to play their first game a few days later!

Papa and Aahma B, world travelers :: Henry helped me pick them up from the airport, where they returned from a big trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands

Papa and Aahma B, world travelers :: thank you for gifts for all from Ecuador

Wilson aka New Car aka Silver Car aka Dadda's Car :: turned over 100,000 miles 

(this is the only car we have ever bought new, but I suppose we shouldn't call it "New Car" anymore)

open house at fire station next door to school :: future firefighter?

dinner by Jeff & Christy's and musical entertainment by cousins :: quite a fun friday

supermoon lunar eclipse :: fun to share the science and phenomenon of it with the kids due to it being at a decent time, not at 4 in the morning or something like that (fuzzy cell phone pic, but captures how bright the moon was!)

supermoon lunar eclipse :: momma geeking out not only about the eclipse, but about capturing decent photos of it on her new camera!!!

S'more taste testing

S'mores were an item on the summer list that amazingly did NOT happen before school started.  How could that be?  We decided to get that crossed off as soon as we could.  The DY's were willing to help us and joined us for supper and a bonfire Friday night. 

 Grace and I had some fun looking online for different s'more recipes - brownie brittle/york peppermint patty s'more, graham/resees peanutbutter cup s'more, fudge strip cookie s'more, and of course the classic.

 It was a hard job, but the kids were up to the task of testing all of them. ;)  

And the favorite?  (drumroll, please....)

Who would have guessed?

Nothing better than the classic - adults and kids both agreed!

1st Day of School 2015...

Ahhhh, the first day of school!  I am always a bit excited for a new start, but a bit sad to see our summer days go.  It came up on us fast this year too.  Since Labor Day was so late this year we started the Wednesday before, and it turned out to be such a nice transition into the school year - a few days, a long weekend, a 4 day week, and then into the full schedule.

And I am also glad that everyone was eager and up early and ready on the first day because then I could get our annual first day of school pictures in without making us too late!

Grace is in 5th grade this year.  She is excited to add volleyball and band to her list of activities (along with continuing piano and GEMS).  

Willem is in 3rd grade this year.  He is so excited to get back to school to play with his friends.  Playing catch all summer with Carsten was great, but it is so fun to have a troop of boys to split into teams and play soccer and football at every recess.

Carsten is in 1st grade.  He is excited to go to school all day every day this year.  I sure do miss him on Tuesday and Thursdays though!

Off to school!  

(oh man, why do I take these same photos every year?  It just kills me when I look back and see fast they are growing!!! 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014) 

Willem and Mrs. Stille

Carsten and Mrs. Radtke

Grace and Mrs. TeWinkel

(extra fun for Grace - not only does Mrs. TeWinkel go to our church, but she is pregnant and due to have a boy at the beginning of October!  Mrs. T will be gone Oct-Dec, but the long term sub is very familiar to the kids so that should be an easy transition.)

After getting the big kids settled in their classrooms, we went to the gym for opening chapel.  It was extra fun to sit by Auntie Christy and cousin Greta, because...

 ...cousin Kaatje is attending Calvin this year and is in 8th grade!  

We are excited to have her here, and I promised I wouldn't give her too many auntie hugs and kisses in front of her friends. =)

Last but definitely not least tradition on the first day of school - snacks with Mrs. Lynne to tell her all about their day.  Everyone was excited and had great days to tell about.  

I think it will be a good year for all.

15 years, 23 days...

Maybe it wasn't the Caribbean vacation we were dreaming of, but our weekend away downtown couldn't have been a more perfect get-away.

 A super nice 20th floor hotel room (thank you last minute cheap rate from Hotwire!)...

A phenomenoal meal Friday evening (at 8:45!  you mean people go out at that time and aren't all home putting tinies to bed?!), and a warm nightime downtown stroll...

(that's his cute "why do you have to take so many pictures" look that I ignore and start taking pictures of him then)

A 2 1/2 hour segway tour of downtown Saturday morning...  

This was so much fun.  The segways are awesome, the tour guides were great, and we saw a lot of great stuff in the 5+ miles of bike paths and streets that we covered.  Neat way to experience downtown! 
 (Steve has always threatened to get a segway since it is only a mile to work for him, so I thought this was the perfect gift!  And after the tour I totally would get one too. ;)

We took a video to show the kids how it worked!

A kid-less visit with my brother Lucas and his beautiful pregnant wife Jessica...

Huh?  How does this happen you ask?  They were up to see a Twins game with Lucas's work, and their hotel happened to be 3 blocks from ours!  So after our segway tour we spent an hour or so hanging out with them before we headed out for our evening.  It was great because the four of us haven't sat and visited without any kids around for who knows how long!  Definitely a fun bonus for our weekend!

And last but not least, an early supper, some great views, and a performance of Music Man at the Guthrie...
 It was a great show that both Steve and I were in in high school, but watching the real professionals do it there were so many times that we were both "Oh that's how that is supposed to go!"

I couldn't be more blessed by being married to this man.  As I told him over the weekend, my heart is full of all the mushy gushy things to say, but I won't try because the words won't do you justice.  So just a big I love you and I do, always.