the pearson ANTiCS

getting ready to RACK the world...

2011-11-16T01:27:00.003-05:00

This December my family will be performing 1 RACK of each day up until Christmas. Along with each act, we will leave this card.

Here are some ideas to get your started, if you decide to join in:
1. leave a quarter at a bouncy ball vendin...g machine
2. leave a roll of coins on Sandy at Meijer
3. leave a coupon code on a Blockbuster Express or Redbox machine
4. pay for someone’s meal at a drive-through and hand the RACK’d card to the ...attendant to pass on to them
5. put a quarter in a meter that’s about to expire
6. buy or pack a meal for a homeless person
7. put together a care package for a homeless person [toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, doed, snacks, gloves, socks, etc]
8. shovel someone’s driveway and leave the RACK’d card on their door
9. send a box of donuts or bagels or muffins to a construction site
10. leave coupons at the grocery store by the item
11. donate items to charity [and maybe leave $ in the pocket]
12. leave baked goodies at the police or firestation
13. leave muffins in the teacher’s lounge
14. leave a small toy [such as a rubix cube] in a Kid’s Food Basket lunch [if allowed]
15. donate [to the Children’s Hospital, the animal shelter, etc]
16. hand out balloons to kids
17. leave an appreciation note in the mailbox
18. give a lottery ticket to a stranger
19. send handmade cards to a nursing home
20. send a card or care package to someone overseas
21. put change in a row of vending machines
22. put something you no longer need on Craigslist’s FREE section
23. open the phone book, pick someone anonymously and send them something [movie tickets, book, lotto ticket, card, etc]
24. take flowers to the hospital and leave them for someone who hasn’t had recent visitors
25. leave treats on the garbage can
26. buy hot cocoa or a latte for a Salvation Army bell ringer
27. leave a small wrapped gift or treat in a shopping cart [maybe a snack in the giant ones with the kids seats behind so the kids get through shopping easier]
28. take a drug store employee who's working on Christmas Eve something special...or a farm employee milking cows ;)

Click here to download a sheet of 4, ready to print.

2010.07.09

2010-07-09T17:29:00.004-05:00

friday 2010.07.09
nola's first pony...tail that is.

tuesday 2010.07.06
COPPER HEIGHTS PLAYDATE

monday 2010.07.05
GRANDVILLE'S FOURTH OF JULY PARADE
the kiddo's with the lehmann's and bobeldyke's before the big event

try 2...

colin helping jayda to the parade - so cute!

miss nola in star gear

colin's rockin' shades

mr. chadd takes a try

daddy gives us some love

and it begins! whew!

hoping in mr. walter's truck for the ride back...

BOBELDYKE'S 4TH OF JULY PARTY
jayda, nola and hamilton enjoying the safe pool

drawing lines for the chalk game...tony didn't want to foget these moments, apparently ;)

the water cup game :)

pinata time

me and nola chillin' - where'd the party go?

sunday 2010.07.04
GRAND RAPID'S FIREWORKS

THE PEARSON CAR WASH

saturday 2010.07.03
COPPER HEIGHTS 4TH OF JULY PARTIES . HIGGISON'S

thursday 2010.07.01
F.M. GARDENS with MISS SEL AND MISS MELISSA
the kids in front of "red reeds", one of our favorite chihuly exhibits

"the sun"

nola and olivia

miss sel and nadia

a family of SKUNKS under the boardwalk!! they were surprisingly cute!!

the girls, minus miss sel, sailing away...

2010.06.30

2010-06-30T17:00:00.004-05:00

wednesday 2010.06.30
F.M. GARDENS with [daddy's brother] UNCLE TOM

tuesday 2010.06.29
LAMAR PARK SPLASH PAD
alexa was at camp grandma, but colin and nola had some fun. the girl's there loved nola, aka "charlie"...i guess she's famous?

colin whining

monday 2010.06.28
GRATTAN RACEWAY
watching uncle scott race motorcycles with aunt jen and miss michelle

blake, nola and colin :)

saturday 2010.06.26
DUTTON DAYS WITH DADDY
while i was away at a MOPS overnight retreat, tony took the kids to dutton days for some free bouncy fun!

they also had crafts...

pony rides...

painting...

balloon hats...

and a car show! all for free...love it!

colin was in charge of the camera for the car show... :)

and alexa here...

monday 2010.06.21
CHALK FUN
playing "london" without colin [he was off screaming because he lost...ah...takes me back].

it's potty time! nola's been doing awesome!! only a 2 poopy diapers since may!

she was wiped out...fell asleep at lunch :)

sunday 2010.06.20
HAPPY FATHERS DAY . DOUGLAS, MI
after lunch at papa tom's and a gathering at g&g hamlin's...we headed down to the beach for a little exploring

earlier, at grandma and grandpa hamlin's...training the frogs

saturday 2010.06.19
WEST MICHIGAN CHALK FESTIVAL . BYRON CENTER, MI

colin drew a volcano in the negative...based on the photo shown here [by the chalk bucket] :)

BLANFORD NATURE CENTER . BEE LECTURE
colin has been obsessed with bee's and decided he wanted to build a bee house. we saw this lecture and it couldn't be missed. tony took the kids. despite the fact that the audience was a majority of adults, colin asked the first question, and took full interest.

alexa[with dad's phone], was not so interested.

friday 2010.06.18
attempting a family photo before kendra's graduation

KENDRA'S GRADUATION

thursday 2010.06.17
CALEDONIA MOM'S CLUB AIRPORT TOUR
the whole gang in front of the plane we toured

taking a peek at the inside of a helicopter

learning about...oh bummer...i forgot.

colin, brandt, zander, alexa, jayda and nola on the steps of the jet

alexa got to sit in the VIP seat!!

waiting to go into the control tower.

in the control tower - it was so cool!

on the lookout for a plane to come in for a landing...

2010.06.15

2010-06-15T16:25:00.007-05:00

monday 2010.06.14
COLIN'S LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
the gift we put together for mrs. vangessel

alexa's cute people drawings

this one is cinderella

they are getting married

our own princess

WATER EXPLORATION DAY

making crafty visors

water color paintings

chalk

bubbles

water ball

sponge race

colin getting off the bus for the LAST time as a kindergartner!

colin's creation

sunday 2010.06.13
ADA BIBLE TENT CELEBRATION
getting "face" paintings

the mean ol' slide!! the kids had fun, but about 10 minutes later, they felt the burn...and poor miss alexa was miserable as she got it right on her bottom cheek :( it was horrible!

in the firetruck

saturday 2010.06.12
CUTLERVILLE FIREWORKS with the Bobeldyke's

the babies were loving them!

friday 2010.06.11
KINDERGARTEN FIELD DAY
colin pulling ahead in the tricycle race

the soccer dribble

mr. pockets

they won!! :)

nolan, austin and colin

mrs. vangessel joined in on the game

the big race

finishing hard!

colin and nolan in a throw-off...but who will go first :)

thursday 2010.06.10
AIRPORT VIEWING AREA
stopped by the airport viewing area to watch planes with the bobeldyke's...the kids rolling down the hill

jayda entertained herself quite well

wednesday 2010.06.09
KINDERGARTEN PICNIC . LAKESIDE PARK, CALEDONIA
alexa with her friend katie

zachary and colin

alexa and katie again :)

maddie and colin

the class getting ready to head back

tuesday 2010.06.08
GYMNASTICS . AWARDS NIGHT
alexa caught in action

abby with alexa

getting her award

alexa with miss amber

monday 2010.06.07
F.M. GARDENS KINDERGARTEN FIELDTRIP
i don't have much storage space left on this account...so i will link you to my facebook account for the whole set :)

saturday 2010.06.05
GR FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
face painting...one of the only events we made it in time for :(

colin's creation...a skate building

yes...it rained...it poured, in fact

but we made it to see mr. rick perform! the kids did great and the band rocked :D

we were just a little wet, ha!

friday 2010.06.04
COLIN'S BIRTHDAY TREAT . GREEN EGGS IN HAM
in honor of the theme for his upcoming celebration

2010.05.31

2010-05-31T14:37:00.005-05:00

sunday 2010.05.30
MOPS BBQ . MORRIS HOUSE
the chalk game was a hit

as were the balloon rockets!

they of course had fun with the balloon toss - here's colin with joey

alexa and jack - they really did a good job!

dad got nailed in the head!

yum...

the men hit the hoops

loving the "warm" tub

for some reason, the guys attacked poor miss patti! revenge is on it's way!

saturday 2010.05.29
apparently nola was super tired! :)

colin's frog, hoppy

friday 2010.05.28
PAUL HENRY . LAKESIDE PARK
the kids and i hit the trail for the first time without training wheels for colin, and without DAD! we made a stop at the park on the way back, as the ice cream place wasn't open [and we needed an additional bribe to get colin to the end] :)

PAPA TOM'S BDAY

loving the ice cream cones :)

colin and tj sitting far, far, far away from the fire :)

...because THIS was the fire!

thursday 2010.05.27
PRESCHOOL PICNIC . LAKESIDE PARK, CALEDONIA
the cards alex drew and colored for her teachers - she did a GREAT job!!

hanging out on the playground

alexa with her friend brenden

mrs. peck, alexa and mrs. rhinehout

wednesday 2010.05.26
summer fun on the slip n' slide!

tuesday 2010.05.25
summer fun in the backyard

sunday 2010.05.23
GRAND HAVEN KITE FESTIVAL
nola dug right in...

the kids were out of their minds...the water wasn't much more than 55 degrees, yet they insisted on being in it!

the kites!

giving daddy some love :)

the candy drop

they got a whole 1 piece each...ha!

we had to figure out things to keep them warm!

our little mermaid

we brought along our kite too :)

saturday 2010.05.22
COLIN'S LAST SOCCER GAME

tony presenting some awards [good job babe]

saturday 2010.05.22
TJ'S THIRD BIRTHDAY
nola with grandma pat

tj opening his buggy gifts

pinata time!

trey takes a shot

and alexa...

alayna...

and colin...

mitch got a swing too...

and nola wanted to try...

the end result...a pile of kid...i mean, candy

tj may have been tired by this point...

papa tom taking a shot at the hula hoop...this may be where i got my skills

colin decided to host his own candy hunt

uncle tom shows off papa tom's old moves...flagpole style
dad gave it a try too :)

tuesday 2010.05.18
GYMNASTICS . PARENT'S NIGHT
alexa showing off her skills :)

getting stickers at the end of the night :)

2010.05.16

2010-05-16T13:59:00.006-05:00

2010.04.25

2010-04-25T23:14:00.022-05:00

saturday 2010.04.24
SOCCER GAME #2
another cold [and this time rainy] soccer game...

friday 2010.04.23
PIZZA NIGHT AT PAPA TOM'S AND GRANDMA DEB'S
cousin tj and colin waiting to get baking

let the pizza making begin!

papa tom keeping nola fed and happy

alexa's pizza

chef landon's

colin's...

and mitchell

aunt kendra leading the kiddo's in the ice cream dance

nola enjoyed dessert...oh my goodness, she was a mess!

colin running the train set from uncle dell...

wednesday 2010.04.21
AWANA AWARDS NIGHT
alexa receiving her cubbie award!

colin receiving his first book award!

nola and jayda snacking on ice cream toppings...

the boys [jacob, brandt, colin and zander]

showing off their awards

cheeseball :)

tuesday 2010.04.20

monday 2010.04.20
the kids with our neighbor friend savannah, in their favorite group toy!

our baby bluebirds!

lunch OUTSIDE!

saturday 2010.04.17
MOPS NIGHT IN
had so much fun playing LRC! karen took this pot, and i the next!

thursday 2010.04.15
GRANDMA RUTH'S 1ST GRADE CLASS
colin doing some money homework

they blended right in...

craft time...

recess [well,sort of...they were having a tornado drill, so we went outside]!

nola made friends fast :)

story time

wednesday 2010.04.14
AWANA BEACH NIGHT

tuesday 2010.04.13

nola's 18 months old today!!

saturday 2010.04.10
MULCH TRIP
it was on sale, BOGO...the kids had much protection on the way home :D

friday 2010.04.09
GR GYMNASTICS with MICHELLE AND BLAKE
the kids loved this!

wednesday 2010.04.07
BIG BIG BUGS . GR PUBLIC MUSEUM

the bobeldyke crew

zander, colin, alexa, brandt and jacob

the boys...

there were REAL meal worms in there...gross

fossils!!

they were so cute!

group hug :)

the planetarium show...we got rained on!!

tuesday 2010.04.06
colin and grandma ruth enjoying spring break inside today...

sunday 2010.04.04
HAPPY EASTER!
nola wasn't too ready to wake up...

EASTER EGG HUNT . HOME

ready for church!

AT GRANDMA RUTH'S

colin, alexa, nola, ricky and myron

nola with cousin tj

saturday 2010.04.03
DAY 3 . OHIO TRIP . VISITING U OF MIAMI
nola running the field

love this picture :)

EASTER EGG HUNT . PAPA MIKE'S AND GMA LAURA'S

DRIVING HOME...

mr serious...

i had to stuff my ears...tony had the state game on and it was SOOO loud!

EASTER EGGS . HOME
we made it in time to dye some eggs! unfortunately, the kiddos were in their undies, so they were too explicit for facebook [and photobucket]! ooops...

friday 2010.04.02
DAY 2 OHIO . CINCINNATI ZOO
colin found a REAL four leaf clover!

THE ZOO!

the parking lot...let's just say we didn't have to pay! :)

thursday 2010.04.01
OHIO TRIP . DAY 1

AT THE PARK AFTER DINNER

2010.03.29

2010-03-29T11:50:00.015-05:00

2010.03.29
PAINTING
nola decided her body was a better canvas than the paper... :D

2010.03.28
nola's self portrait

friday 2010.03.26
MEGA 80'S
me and jen!

the boyz

scott, jen, me and tony...finally arranged a night out on the town!

sunday 2010.03.21
UNCLE TOM'S 30TH BDAY
colin counting uncle tom's $30 in change from uncle dell

alexa's card for uncle tom [her and him...she's got the freckles...ha!]

2010.03.19
colin's chalk city...2 years later...

wednesday 2010.03.17
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

nola's first toe nail pedi...and it wasn't a masacre!

2010.03.13
alexa snuck off and put her makeup on today... :D

2010.03.12
i finally got to put together colin's valentine's day puzzle and take a picture. it was quite tricky!

BASEMENT CAMP OUT!

2010.03.09
F.M. GARDENS . BUTTERFLIES!
a group shot before the excursion [i should find the one from last year...]

trying to get the butterflies to land on their fingers...

the azul butterfly to the right, just landed on nola, and then circled her...she couldn't figure out what was going on! :)

heading outside in the children's garden

love this shot!

2010.03.05
SWISSLANE FARMS . MAPLE SYRUP
annie showing colin how to empty the buckets...

back in the shanty

2010.03.04

2010.03.02
a nola photo shoot

2010.02.28

2010-02-28T19:53:00.002-05:00

2010.02.28
a grocery trip to brag about...$46.18 worth for $16.64!

SNOW DAY
the kiddos newest snowgirl :)

colin, evan and alexa at our neighbors house, helping them with their igloo!

saturday 2010.02.27
BEACH DAY AT ADA BIBLE

FLOWER GIRL DRESS SHOPPING

alexa with alayna and their final choice!

girls being goofy

2010.02.23
ANOTHER DAY IN THE SNOW
the kids with their castles

ALEXA'S BIG HAIRCUT [ok...bigger than last time]!

our funny bunny

2010.02.22

2010.02.20
STAYCATION DAY 3 . HOLLAND AQUATIC CENTER

friday 2010.02.19
STAYCATION DAY 2 . ROSA PARKS CIRCLE

nola and jayda, ready for bed [alexa made them pose]

thursday 2010.02.18
STAYCATION DAY 1 . SLEDDING

STAYCATION DAY 1 . GR CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

disclaimer...

2010-02-20T23:50:00.001-05:00

oh my. i have been working all night on catching up on the last 3 months of blogs and just realized all of the new posts have the photos in the wrong order. ha! ooops...

2010.02.15

2010-02-20T21:55:00.013-05:00

tuesday 2010.02.02

bedtime in tutus...

friday 2010.02.05
alexa's family portrait [sorry for the rotation...]

EMMONS LAKE R.I.P. CELEBRATION!!
colin and kensey :)

daddy was there chaperone

the kids on the dance floor

ready for the magic show

the relay race...

saturday 2010.02.06
ST CECLIA'S MUSIC SOCIETY . GISELLE BALLET
before the show :)
i won tickets to the ballet giselle from http://www.grkids.com/. we were pretty excited to go - it was set up for families, only 1 hour long, and we had never been to one before. we weren't quite prepared. colin and i followed the show pretty well, but alexa, without words, had a hard time. when we asked her at the end what her favorite part was, she declared, "when she died". pretty much sums it up!

daddy and alexa waiting for the show to begin

me and ct

i got in trouble for this one. despite the fact that they said, "no flash photography", i obeyed and still got the "no cameras please". hrmmm...??? i tried ;)

monday 2010.02.08
NOLA'S FIRST REAL HAIRCUT
miss sarah did a great job fixing mom's mess of a mullet i gave my baby! and nola, too did a GREAT job!! probably helped that she had unknown ear infection at the time, and wasn't really up for too much action.

it was a BEAUTIFUL day! we actually walked to the bus stop to get colin, and then i forced him outside for "15 minutes". the kids didn't come inside for an hour and 15 minutes, so mom scored this time ;) they had a blast on the big hill across the street.

that night we began busting away at our valentines...we may go overboard...

tuesday 2010.02.09
VALENTINES DAY CARDS
here are alexa's valentines day cards. they are hidden messages ["UR Cool" and "Be Mine"] with a secret decoder heart glass.

colin's cards...
there were a few special ones in this group. mrs vangessel got a blue and gold M, joshua a sponge bob painting, nolan a basketball going into a soccer net, kimmy got polka dots, the list goes on :) it was fun watching their creative minds in action!

wednesday 2010.02.10
SNOW DAY!!!

paleontologist colin discovered and recovered this while playing...we must have left it there on monday...oops!

friday 2010.02.12
COLIN'S VALENTINES DAY PARTY

opening his valentines...

saturday 2010.02.13
our family valentine for 2nd sunday at grandma ruth's [again...sideways...hrmph...]

PATTI'S SURPRISE 30TH BDAY PARTY!!
happy birthday to patti!! here's a shot of the ladies [michelle, karen, sarah, patti, me and liane]

sunday 2010.02.14
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY
arriving home after a night at grandma ruth's

monday 2010.02.15
ALEXA'S VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY

so cute :)

THE KIDS BEING SILLY...

colin with his heart pin on [the craft i brought along to his vday party]

wednesday 2010.02.17
cards for colin's friend and classmate, joshua. we got to attend his bday part at gymco today. colin's 6 has "sponge bob skin", as sponge bob was the party theme...love it! :)

alexa drew herself :)

cracked me up how all the kids lined up to give josh his presents :)

AWANA MISMATCH NIGHT
sometimes i can't resist pictures of grumpy kiddos [long day with no nap...]

2010.01.31

2010-02-20T21:45:00.007-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
saturday 2010.01.02

saturday 2010.01.03
saying goodbye to this year's tree

the kids making their build a bear's! they did a great job!

NOLA IS WALKING!!! [14mos, 3wks]
big brother was a great helper!! :)

silly girls...

tuesday 2010.01.05

wednesday 2010.01.06
unfortunately for colin's wife, he takes after me in more ways than 1...on the long list, is the fact that he is quite difficult to wake up.

thursday 2010.01.07

friday 2010.01.08
the kids giant marble run!

monday 2010.01.11
go fish...

alexa's make up job - she is really good!! a look into the future??

wednesday 2010.01.13
girl's day out in the snow...

friday 2010.01.15

SCIENCE NIGHT AT EMMON'S LAKE ELEMENTARY
the kids with laura valasquez - woodtv8 meteorologist

saturday 2010.01.16
SLEDDING WITH THE BOBELDYKE'S
tony and walter taking on the giant tube, that later sent sarah to the er :(

getting a quick lesson in snowboarding

tony caught a good shot...i felt i shouldn't leave it off...

the girls :) nola, jayda and alexa

monday 2010.01.18
FUN ON THE STAIRS

friday 2010.01.22
colin bringing in some bear's for blare gooch - a boy collecting them for the kids in haiti. he also insisted on buying a card with his own money - so sweet!!

saturday 2010.01.23

sunday 2010.01.24

happy birthday little mickey!

monday 2010.01.25

thursday 2010.01.28
a morning with the jayda and zander...the kids had a blast!

playing hullaballoo

watching a movie "for the babies"

dress up :)

friday 2010.01.29
BYRON FUN SPOT . FIRST ROLLER SKATING ADVENTURE

tony and i couldn't stop laughing...it was like a cartoon watching the kids first hit the hard-floor! :)

nola LOVED riding the rink on her wheels

doing the YMCA :)

ending the night with carnation shakes [it's all we had...] :)

2009.12.23

2010-02-20T21:32:00.006-05:00

tuesday 2009.12.15
ALEXA'S PRESCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM...
so we thought. it was only for the 4 year class. we rushed to eat dinner and get all dressed up...only to find out mom had it wrong. :( poor thing!

wednesday 2009.12.16
ALEXA'S PRESCHOOL CHRISTMAS PARTY

thursday 2009.12.17

friday 2009.12.18
DIAMOND RIO CONCERT
i won tickets to see diamond rio at mount hope church in lansing. we thought it would work perfect, as tony's mom lives around the corner and was available to watch the kiddos while we watched the show. we arrived, and discovered that the first half of the night was actually a big church performance. oh my. they were quite talented...but...yikes! we were pretty sure that diamond rio was going to come out and only sing holiday songs, or not come out at all. but they did, and performed all of our favs :) fun times!

saturday 2009.12.19
the first snowman of the year :D

sunday 2009.12.20
CINDERELLA AT THE CIVIC THEATRE
alexa and i were joining grandma pat, aunt gladys, dawn, makayla, aunt lisa, valerie and peyton at the civic theater to see cinderella!! she was so excited. :) we had to look like a "fancy nancy" princess to go, of course!

makayla and alexa waiting for the show...

grandma pat and alexa

the magic pumpkin :)

monday 2009.12.21
THE PROPOSAL
tommy finally proposed to kendra!! he stomped out "will you marry me in the snow" at the airport viewing area, and stopped there after picking her up from seeing her sis in seattle. CONGRATS you two!!!

2009.12.12_turkey birthdays

2010-02-20T20:24:00.014-05:00

thursday 2009.11.26
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
family photo

the kids rocking out at uncle tom's with cousin tj

saturday 2009.11.28
CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING

chopping down the perfect tree [so we thought...]

alexa and colin got to "drive" the wagon back to the barn :)

santa was there!

nola remembered him...still not so fond. :(

WAYLAND HOTEL
we headed to the hotel after getting a tree for dinner with grandpa tom and grandma deb. nola lovin' on papa.

sunday 2009.11.29
EASTBROOK LANES
"we love bowling"

the girls hit the lane

colin got a STRIKE!

mom had a great game! even got a turkey on thanksgiving weekend! :)

friday 2009.12.04
sledding!!

saturday 2009.12.05
family picture [trying to capture one for the card...part 2]

DISCOVERY VILLAGE CHIRSTMAS PROGRAM
alexa singing "away in the manger"

MOPS HOLIDAY PARTY
mike's white elephant gift

sarah and walter in the hot seat...

monday 2009.12.07
the nola show...cracking us up with her "cheese" :)

tuesday 2009.12.08
the show continues ;)

happy birthday uncle tom!

EMMONS LAKE CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
what a great program!! colin did an awesome job :) [he's in the upper row, just left of center...green sweater]

alexa, kendra and tj enjoying the show :)

thursday 2009.12.10
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASE . CHUCK E CHEESE
colin's card :)

a quick family pic attempt [number 3...we give] before we left

brea, colin, alexa, avery, will and case

friday 2009.12.11

saturday 2009.12.12
a day in the snow!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!

colin conducting the birthday song

nola with blake

mmmm....enjoying the cake :)

2009.11.24_november fun!

2009-11-24T21:50:00.000-05:00

saturday 2009.11.21
GRAND RAPIDS SANTA CLAUS PARADE

yahoo!! the parade is on it's way!!

ronald mcdonald..

alex was marching with the band...

here comes santa claus!

GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM
admission to the museum was $1 for tony and i and the kids were free, after the parade!!!
the kids were sketching...so fun!!

colin's sketch...right on!

in front of warhol animals

art prize 1st place 'open water'

nola's first? painting project...she loved it!!

...maybe a bit too much...

we also got to see santa!!! :)

nola's first case of stranger anxiety...oh my!!

a family shot :)

wednesday 2009.11.18
our little climber...

tuesday 2009.11.7
colin's turkey project! the whole family had a chance to work on it and add things that they likes [cheerio glasses for nola, a tutu for alexa, mom's graphic i 'feathers', dad's for sale sign and a soccer ball, mickey ears, and 'a light in the attic poems' for colin, and flip flops [beach], seeds [gardening] and an MSU 'S' for the fam!

sunday 2009.11.15
daddy and nola doing the p90x rocking chair

working on 'turk'

friday 2009.11.13
NATURE HIKE
we took a hike in the back 13...just loving the awesome november weather!

colin took this pic :)

so cute!!

alexa took this one ;)

COLIN'S 4 YEAR PRESCHOOL WALL
this is art from colin's last preschool year. out with the old...in with the new...time to take it down. of course, only 2 months into kindergarten, the new wall is almost full already!

ADA BIBLE . DISCOVERY VILLAGE PRESCHOOL PARTY
alexa in her pj's, singing some pj party songs!

kim and jack...sarah and zander...and myself and alexa

thursday 2009.11.12
nola eating on of her favorite chew toys [a clown nose]

wednesday 2009.11.11
enjoying a beautiful day outside!!
alexa catching nola on the slide :)

taking a hike...first time attempting the carrier in at least 6 months! whew!

monday 2009.11.09

friday 2009.11.06
taking her baby for a walk...

mrs. t

fancy nancy nola

thursday 2009.11.05

gulp...gambling...with grandma pyke :)

wednesday 2009.11.04
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

daddy's magic clown nose...she loved it!

monday 2009.11.02

sunday 2009.11.01
COLIN AND MOM'S DATE TO 'CAPTAIN LOUIE'

dinner at steak n' shake

waiting for the play to begin

2009.10.31_happy halloween!!

2009-10-31T21:52:00.003-05:00

saturday 2009.10.31
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
carving pumpkins...

happy baby...

happy baby...

uh oh... :(

yuck!

now it's time to get serious...

alexa's pumpkin!

colin's, mom's and alexa's pumpkins

whooo-hooo!! yippy hi ho cowboys!

nola was out little saloon girl :)

trick or treat!!

although it doesn't look too impressive, this picture cracks me up. you can see how fast alex was running...she was off and ready!

stopping by to see cousin tj!

stopping by grandma pat's...

friday 2009.10.30
COLIN'S KINDERGATEN HALLOWEEN PARTY

lining up for the parade [alexa joined in on the fun]

in the senses booth, preparing for a story...

working on some yummy treats!

creating a noodle skeleton!

colin even had the lungs covered :)

playing a bean bag game...

MOPS GIRLS NIGHT IN
we got together and played a fun little game called quelf. here are a few highlights :)

one of my cards turned me into a photographer, who had to encourage the girls to pose in catty ways. i got bonus points for using my own camera :)

amy and rebekah had to thumb wrestle!

sarah with a note posted to her head...

karen made her own fort and was forced to sit in it for some of the night.

thursday 2009.10.29
COUNTRY BASKET ORCHARD . SPARTA

posing atop the hay bale castle

loving the slide!!! i can't tell you how many times they went down. my how a year changes their fears!

nola enjoyed watching the fun...maybe next year, chicky!

in the corn box...

racing on the trikes...

and milking the cow....mooooooo...

time for some treats...but wait!! a total role reversal! alex opted for an apple, while colin chowed on a doughnut!

feeding the goats who anxiously awaited on their perch

wednesday 2009.10.28
ALEXA'S PRESCHOOL HALLOWEEN PARTY

waving to the parade audience

nola got to hang out too!

yum....

playing the parachute game!

she got to go for a ride!

pin the nose on jack

posing with her pal presley

AWANA HALLOWEEN PARTY
they had to dress as their favorite bible characters...
can you guess who they were??

monday 2009.10.26
nola discovered the stairs

sunday 2009.10.25
alexa was so cute...hard to see here, but she was out digging a hole for the tree we were moving :)

thursday 2009.10.22
BARNES AND NOBLE - WOODLAND MALL . MEETING THE BERENSTEIN BEARS
the kids were SO excited to meet brother and sister bear!!

alexa's pigtails can give you a hint as to how fast she ran over to see sister!

wednesday 2009.10.21
AWANA CRAZY HAIR DAY

did i say, crazy hair...or crazy kid...?

2009.10.20_fall fun!

2009-10-20T21:54:00.002-05:00

tuesday 2009.10.20
ALEXA'S FIRST FIELD TRIP . CREEKSIDE
riding on the bus! :) alex was sick on the day she was supposed to go, so we joined up with another class the next day. although we didn't know the kids, we still had fun!!

telling a story about having a dog...that was indeed not the question :)

she got to be the first one to add her handprint "leaf"...

alexa's scarecrow! note it's pet giraffe :)

yippe hi yi yeah!

we got to go on a hayride and try to spot some hidden items...i think this one was a snake!

picking a pumpkin

posing with the giant scarecrow!

the ride home

colin trying out options for crazy hair day at awana...

monday 2009.10.19
nola just being cute :)

sunday 2009.10.18
MEIJER GARDENS . PRODIGIOUS PUMPKINS!

trey, colin, mitchell, tj, alexa and nola hanging with the scarecrows...

"what's that new word we learned?" :) PRODIGIOUS pumpkins!!

tj, alexa and mitchell

miss nola

trey

tj

we tried so hard...never will we get a picture of them all smiling! ha!!

but alexa got ours on try 1!! i love it!!
kendra, tommy, me, amanda and tony

uh oh, uncle tom!

by the big horse..."what's that word again??"

running up the big hill

and rolling back down...

time to play!!

checking out the turtles...

2009.10.17_Happy 1st Birthday Nola!!

2009-10-17T21:58:00.001-05:00

saturday 2009.10.17
NOLA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY PUMPKIN PARTY!!

enjoying a good dinner - white chicken chili, parmesan potatoes, pumpkin bread, a cheeseball with crackers, orange cream fruit salad and pumpkin seeds.

time for presents

lovin' the hat from aunt jen and uncle scott

nola's 'pumpkin' homemade carrot cake

happy birthday to you...

mmmmm..... :)

silly girl...she loved it!

the kids had a ton of fun making 'nola pumkin heads'

tj and his nola p

nola admiring alexa's work...

colin went crazy!

mitchell and his pumpkin head

alexa's final nola p

the final nola pumpkin heads...

COLIN'S LAST SOCCER GAME [morning of the party]

nola with uncle tom...

alex wanted to join in the huddle

the team
austin, colin, coach dad tony, and kenseth

tuesday 2009.10.13
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOLA!
a shot of the kids giving nola some morning birthday wishes...

happy girl!!

ORCHARD HILL
walking through the petting zoo area

the geese were SO LOUD!

hanging with the tinmen

CHERRY VALLEY GREENHOUSES
this cat followed us everywhere!

i can't remember this guys name, but we LOVED him!! such a sweetie!!

giving colin some lovin'

taking a trip inside...here comes the bride...

flying through the obstacle course

playing in the hay

hanging on the zip line

wha-hooo

playing in the hay castle

sunday 2009.10.11
our belated birthday present for grandma ruth. name initial clips for our glasses...saving energy and confusion!

the sky on our way home...