There is a giveaway going on and you people big into photography may be interested. Just go to the link below. I love following this gals blog. There have been some pretty amazing miracles happening with this family and their 1-year old in the past couple of months. She is a mommy of four children, ages 4 and under.
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/12/power-of-two.html
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Happy 8th Birthday!
Tuesday, December 15th, our baby girl turned 8 years old. Where has the time gone. And, now that she has her glasses, she looks so much older. Too much change for this mommy in two days!
Jason and I have a tradition with each of our kids on their birthdays. We wake them up with the video camera in hand singing Happy Birthday. This time, I forgot my camera out on the desk. :(
Alyssa had a special visitor the morning of her birthday. Uncle Tyler and Aunt Tanya weren't able to be at Alyssa's family party on Sunday because Uncle Tyler was at work and Aunt Tanya wasn't driving from Everson to Lynden in the snow, alone with the boys. (We fully supported her!) So, Aunt Tanya told Alyssa that she would come the morning of her birthday to give her her gifts and to take her to school. The only problem with that...the morning of Alyssa's birthday there was a 1-hour late start because of the snow. Aunt Tanya had a haircut to get to so she wasn't able to stick around for the chaufering to school.
Later in the afternoon, I showed up at school with treats for Alyssa's class and was able to be a part of the birthday celebration. Her teacher is so great about making each of the kids feel special on their birthday. She has each classmate color a picture for the birthday student and then write them a little note. She then puts all of the sheets together like a book. The birthday student has to go sit in front of the class while they sing Happy Birthday and then they get a little gift from Mrs. VanDiest.
For dinner, Alyssa requested pizza. So, we met Grammy and Papa Duane at Westside Pizza, and of course, I forgot my camera. :(
It was a great day and we now have a 10-year old, 8-year old and 4-year old in our house. The girls think it's pretty cool that they are all even numbers right now. That's only going to last for a few more months. They are all growing up way too fast!
Jason and I have a tradition with each of our kids on their birthdays. We wake them up with the video camera in hand singing Happy Birthday. This time, I forgot my camera out on the desk. :(
Alyssa had a special visitor the morning of her birthday. Uncle Tyler and Aunt Tanya weren't able to be at Alyssa's family party on Sunday because Uncle Tyler was at work and Aunt Tanya wasn't driving from Everson to Lynden in the snow, alone with the boys. (We fully supported her!) So, Aunt Tanya told Alyssa that she would come the morning of her birthday to give her her gifts and to take her to school. The only problem with that...the morning of Alyssa's birthday there was a 1-hour late start because of the snow. Aunt Tanya had a haircut to get to so she wasn't able to stick around for the chaufering to school.
Later in the afternoon, I showed up at school with treats for Alyssa's class and was able to be a part of the birthday celebration. Her teacher is so great about making each of the kids feel special on their birthday. She has each classmate color a picture for the birthday student and then write them a little note. She then puts all of the sheets together like a book. The birthday student has to go sit in front of the class while they sing Happy Birthday and then they get a little gift from Mrs. VanDiest.
For dinner, Alyssa requested pizza. So, we met Grammy and Papa Duane at Westside Pizza, and of course, I forgot my camera. :(It was a great day and we now have a 10-year old, 8-year old and 4-year old in our house. The girls think it's pretty cool that they are all even numbers right now. That's only going to last for a few more months. They are all growing up way too fast!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Look who got glasses!
So on Monday, we took Ethan and Alyssa to the eye doctor. We've been really concerned about Ethan's eyes because he seems to be blinking a lot when watching tv and trying to see things farther away from him and tells me that there are fuzzies on the tv and other things. Alyssa has mentioned a few times that her eyes water when looking at the tv or computer screen. So, we made them each an appointment.
Ethan's eyes, surprisingly, were fine. They focused perfectly when the eye doctor dilated them. He told us that it could just be a time where he is growing and his eyes are having to "catch up". They don't expect 20/20 vision from 4 year olds and it's very rare for kids to have 20/20 vision at this point.
We weren't even halfway through Alyssa's exam when the eye doctor informed me that she would for sure be getting glasses. WHAT?!
I feel like such a horrible mommy. How did I not figure out that she had poor eye sight? Here is a comparison...Brenna is nearsighted and was diagnosed in Kindergarten with a -0.25 in both eyes and has gradually gone to -0.75 in both eyes (she hit this in October at her annual eye exam). Alyssa is now nearsighted and just now diagnosed in 2nd grade with -0.75 in her left eye and -1.00 in her right eye...she has worse eyesight than Brenna and we didn't have a clue. Thankfully her school work and learning hasn't been hindered by this. It's amazing how the slightest correction can make the biggest improvement!
So, we left the eye doctor and headed to LensCrafters. We were not going to make this poor girl go any longer than she had to without glasses.
She looks so much like Brenna now! I kept calling her Brenna on Monday night.
So, now we officially have three people in our family who are nearsighted. The girls for sure got their "eye genes" from their daddy.
Alyssa informed us after school on Tuesday, which was also her birthday, that she could see things a lot better at school.
Ethan's eyes, surprisingly, were fine. They focused perfectly when the eye doctor dilated them. He told us that it could just be a time where he is growing and his eyes are having to "catch up". They don't expect 20/20 vision from 4 year olds and it's very rare for kids to have 20/20 vision at this point.
We weren't even halfway through Alyssa's exam when the eye doctor informed me that she would for sure be getting glasses. WHAT?!
I feel like such a horrible mommy. How did I not figure out that she had poor eye sight? Here is a comparison...Brenna is nearsighted and was diagnosed in Kindergarten with a -0.25 in both eyes and has gradually gone to -0.75 in both eyes (she hit this in October at her annual eye exam). Alyssa is now nearsighted and just now diagnosed in 2nd grade with -0.75 in her left eye and -1.00 in her right eye...she has worse eyesight than Brenna and we didn't have a clue. Thankfully her school work and learning hasn't been hindered by this. It's amazing how the slightest correction can make the biggest improvement!
So, we left the eye doctor and headed to LensCrafters. We were not going to make this poor girl go any longer than she had to without glasses.
She looks so much like Brenna now! I kept calling her Brenna on Monday night.So, now we officially have three people in our family who are nearsighted. The girls for sure got their "eye genes" from their daddy.
Alyssa informed us after school on Tuesday, which was also her birthday, that she could see things a lot better at school.
Celebrating a birthday with family
Sunday we moved back into birthday party mode. In spite of the snow we were getting, we celebrated Alyssa's 8th birthday with all of her grandparents and her great-aunt (my Aunt Lyd is great about driving grandma Silves to the birthday parties). And, T-T and Paige showed up for a few minutes before heading off to a McPhail family birthday party.
Alyssa requested that I make a cake for her. She had her own ideas of how she wanted it decorated. I did my best to please her.
Our traditional birthday picture.
Grandpa and Grandma Scheib got Alyssa a scarf, glove and headband set. Little did they know, this was the exact set that Alyssa had asked me for one day at Old Navy but I forgot about it until she opened the gift. They also got her a wristlet purse...right up her alley!...and a set of play rings.
Jason and I had to give Alyssa her gift at the family party because there was a gift that she was getting from my mom that would have spoiled the surprise. By the look on her face, I don't think she minded opening ours before her actual birthday. We had saved our garage sale money from this summer to get her a DS. She was been wanting one for so long and has been such a good sport about waiting. Brenna has had one for awhile now, which she purchased herself with all of the birthday money and pet sitting money she had been saving.
My mom and Duane got her an Old Navy hooded sweatshirt, a book, Hannah Montana lip gloss and nail polish...oh no!...and a game for her new DS.
We quickly opened the other gifts, sang happy birthday, some grabbed a piece of cake to enjoy and then everyone headed for home. Thankfully, everyone made it home safe.
This is what the girls were doing as people were leaving.
Just before Mom and Duane left, which is why their truck is in the picture, I went out to take a picture of our house. The party started at 3:00 and this picture was taken at about 4:45. Now you know why people were in a little bit of a rush to get home.
We so appreciate the willingness of the grandparents to come and celebrate with us. We are so happy that the aunties decided to keep the cousins home safe while their husbands were at work. There will always be another birthday to celebrate.
Alyssa requested that I make a cake for her. She had her own ideas of how she wanted it decorated. I did my best to please her.
Our traditional birthday picture.
Grandpa and Grandma Scheib got Alyssa a scarf, glove and headband set. Little did they know, this was the exact set that Alyssa had asked me for one day at Old Navy but I forgot about it until she opened the gift. They also got her a wristlet purse...right up her alley!...and a set of play rings.
Jason and I had to give Alyssa her gift at the family party because there was a gift that she was getting from my mom that would have spoiled the surprise. By the look on her face, I don't think she minded opening ours before her actual birthday. We had saved our garage sale money from this summer to get her a DS. She was been wanting one for so long and has been such a good sport about waiting. Brenna has had one for awhile now, which she purchased herself with all of the birthday money and pet sitting money she had been saving.
My mom and Duane got her an Old Navy hooded sweatshirt, a book, Hannah Montana lip gloss and nail polish...oh no!...and a game for her new DS.
We quickly opened the other gifts, sang happy birthday, some grabbed a piece of cake to enjoy and then everyone headed for home. Thankfully, everyone made it home safe.This is what the girls were doing as people were leaving.
Just before Mom and Duane left, which is why their truck is in the picture, I went out to take a picture of our house. The party started at 3:00 and this picture was taken at about 4:45. Now you know why people were in a little bit of a rush to get home.
We so appreciate the willingness of the grandparents to come and celebrate with us. We are so happy that the aunties decided to keep the cousins home safe while their husbands were at work. There will always be another birthday to celebrate.
1st Christmas Party with the Groens
Once all of the party girls left, we moved into Christmas party mode. My grandma always gets our extended Groen family together early in December so that she can have the majority of the very big family together at once.
Here I am with my nephew Wyatt. I love this little guy and thankfully, he loves his auntie too!
Ethan and Wayne sat great at the table waiting for dinner to get started. People would walk by handing them snacks...crackers, smoked salmon, olives.
Paige, Trisha and Brenna
There are so many of us at Grandma's that we are actually running out of chairs and are needing to look into fitting in another table and getting more chairs. This just means that our family has been truly blessed and Grandma wouldn't have it any other way! Alyssa, Brenna McPhail (my niece) and Brenna were such good sports about sitting on the couch to eat their dinner. We told them this was the one time we were telling them they could act like teenagers. They loved it!
In the midst of the birthday party that we had at our house, and throughout the rest of the afternoon, Jason and I made 6 dozen homemade rolls. I almost forgot to take a picture. Thankfully my sis-in-law reminded me when she was taking a picture of them. These were a huge hit...I think we have just been nominated roll bakers for family gatherings.
Once we had dinner cleaned up and tables moved out of the way. The great-grandkids all got a gift from Grandma. The girls each received a leather bracelet with slides that attach to it. They kept asking me how Grandma knew which "slides" they wanted because they had only showed me. What the kids don't know is that all of the mommies do the shopping for their kids for Grandma and then we deliver the gifts to Grandma so she can enjoy wrapping them and putting them under the tree.
Once the kids were finished with their gifts and were settled, for the most part, it was time for the adults to do their gift exchange game. We played a new game this year and it was a lot of fun! We did, however, decide that we were taking down more tables next year...behind each the circle of people are tables...we need the center of our circle to be bigger for more running room. It was still fun!
The family gathering was a great start to the Christmas season!
Here I am with my nephew Wyatt. I love this little guy and thankfully, he loves his auntie too!
Ethan and Wayne sat great at the table waiting for dinner to get started. People would walk by handing them snacks...crackers, smoked salmon, olives.
Paige, Trisha and Brenna
There are so many of us at Grandma's that we are actually running out of chairs and are needing to look into fitting in another table and getting more chairs. This just means that our family has been truly blessed and Grandma wouldn't have it any other way! Alyssa, Brenna McPhail (my niece) and Brenna were such good sports about sitting on the couch to eat their dinner. We told them this was the one time we were telling them they could act like teenagers. They loved it!
In the midst of the birthday party that we had at our house, and throughout the rest of the afternoon, Jason and I made 6 dozen homemade rolls. I almost forgot to take a picture. Thankfully my sis-in-law reminded me when she was taking a picture of them. These were a huge hit...I think we have just been nominated roll bakers for family gatherings.
Once we had dinner cleaned up and tables moved out of the way. The great-grandkids all got a gift from Grandma. The girls each received a leather bracelet with slides that attach to it. They kept asking me how Grandma knew which "slides" they wanted because they had only showed me. What the kids don't know is that all of the mommies do the shopping for their kids for Grandma and then we deliver the gifts to Grandma so she can enjoy wrapping them and putting them under the tree.
Once the kids were finished with their gifts and were settled, for the most part, it was time for the adults to do their gift exchange game. We played a new game this year and it was a lot of fun! We did, however, decide that we were taking down more tables next year...behind each the circle of people are tables...we need the center of our circle to be bigger for more running room. It was still fun!
The family gathering was a great start to the Christmas season!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A birthday celebration with friends!
So, on Saturday, Alyssa celebrated her upcoming 8th birthday with seven other girls. Six of them were from her class at school and the other one was her cousin Brenna. These girls were all so excited to be together and all got along great! I was so pleased with how the morning went. They all arrived at 11:00, they played for a little while and then had pizza for lunch.
After lunch, Alyssa got to sit with each of her friends as she opened their gift...it's something we've always done with their friends and it guarantees that I get a picture of each of the girls that attended the party. The struggle is figuring out the order of who goes first. I don't ever let Alyssa pick because I don't want anyone to feel like maybe they aren't liked as much as someone else. So, this year, I decided we would just go in alphabetical order. First up...Brenna! The girls were both so giggly.
This is Alyssa's best friend, and other cousin, Kylie. These girls are so cute together and play so well and they know just what the other one needs.
Some of the girls got a little antsy while waiting their turn and started attacking each other.
After gifts, the girls headed off to play for a few more minutes because I was also trying to get ready for a Christmas party that night and needed to be in the kitchen for a few minutes. Once we gathered them all together again at the table, we sang Happy Birthday to Alyssa and had cupcakes. I just realized...I never pulled out the ice cream. Oops!
The girls all left at 1:00 but Kylie's parents had made arrangements for Kylie to stay longer while they were taking care of some things in Bellingham. We always love having Kylie over. I just wish it could happen more often for the girls. It's just sad that the busyness of life gets in the way of these kinds of things.
Alyssa had received a pillow case with fabric crayons for coloring on it with. So, she asked Kylie and Brenna to help her complete it. They all worked really well together and the pillowcase turned out really cute.
It was a great way to start a birthday celebration!
After lunch, Alyssa got to sit with each of her friends as she opened their gift...it's something we've always done with their friends and it guarantees that I get a picture of each of the girls that attended the party. The struggle is figuring out the order of who goes first. I don't ever let Alyssa pick because I don't want anyone to feel like maybe they aren't liked as much as someone else. So, this year, I decided we would just go in alphabetical order. First up...Brenna! The girls were both so giggly.
This is Alyssa's best friend, and other cousin, Kylie. These girls are so cute together and play so well and they know just what the other one needs.
Some of the girls got a little antsy while waiting their turn and started attacking each other.
After gifts, the girls headed off to play for a few more minutes because I was also trying to get ready for a Christmas party that night and needed to be in the kitchen for a few minutes. Once we gathered them all together again at the table, we sang Happy Birthday to Alyssa and had cupcakes. I just realized...I never pulled out the ice cream. Oops!
The girls all left at 1:00 but Kylie's parents had made arrangements for Kylie to stay longer while they were taking care of some things in Bellingham. We always love having Kylie over. I just wish it could happen more often for the girls. It's just sad that the busyness of life gets in the way of these kinds of things.Alyssa had received a pillow case with fabric crayons for coloring on it with. So, she asked Kylie and Brenna to help her complete it. They all worked really well together and the pillowcase turned out really cute.
It was a great way to start a birthday celebration!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Lights of Christmas
Last night, we started our Christmas activities/festivities off with the annual Lights of Christmas Parade. The only difference this year was that we watched it from inside the van. It was so cold outside that we were debating whether or not to even go and then when talking to my mom, she mentioned that Duane was going to go park their truck in one of the parking lots so they could watch from there...good idea! Jason went down early and parked the van in our viewing spot.
As usual, it was a nice parade. The kids love seeing all the lights and the different floats lit up. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't do them justice but here are just a few of our favorites.
As usual, it was a nice parade. The kids love seeing all the lights and the different floats lit up. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't do them justice but here are just a few of our favorites.
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