busy busy busy weekend

This weekend was kind of crazy. Friday was C's school picnic which we didn't end up going to. heheh J just didn't feel like going which was fine. I had told the girls we were going to a park so we still had to but just not the one where we had to make small talk with peeps we barely knew. Saturday we got up and took the kids to Disney on Ice. It was just ok. The girls did seem to like most of it. They liked the huge snow cones that were $12 each the best. Then we came home and rushed to get everything together for a football party at our house. It was the U of L vs UK game. MSU was also on so we watched some of that but I knew that game was not going to have the best outcome. We had 9 families come over. Which meant 18 adults and 21 kids. Crazy when the kids out number the adults. The kids bounced and played and dressed up and ran crazy. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Sunday we had a family day after boot camp since it had been such a crazy weekend. At school every year they trace the kids and then have us decorate them to look like themselves. Here is a pic of C with hers and one of the one we did for Av last year. So we did that and we also baked halloween cookies. It was a nice day. Look at E's cool new shoes in the pic of him.

labor day

Over Labor day we went to WV to see my sis and my parents. We had a blast as always. Love being at my parents house. They have a very nice community pool that we took the girls too. Aunt Anne and I had taken Av there once years ago and this time we all went. They have a great pool with a shallow side that is 2 feet deep which is so nice bc C can finally stand in a pool. They also have a baby pool, a splash park and a little tunnel slide that empties into the 4 feet deep part of the pool. Neither girl could stand when they landed but that didn't stop either of them. I had seen them both swimming under water but never doggie paddling. They both would fly into the water (wo any type of flotation device on them) and doggie paddle to the side. It was AMAZING. So proud of them. Av made so much progress in the pool this summer and is so strong and C is only 2 and can swim. How many 2 year olds can swim? I was so glad that John and G, AA and my mom's sisters got to see them swim. E loved the splash park. He walked all over that thing and played with the water. J followed him around it for close to an hour. He was cute trying to figure the water out. It was a very fun weekend.

line leader

At Av's old school they had a rotating schedule of jobs the kids got to do. Line leader, door holder, light person and mat person are a few. We used to talk about the jobs a lot last year. Out of the blue C mentioned that her teacher was always the line leader. Av piped up and said they have line leaders in kindergarden. I asked if she had gotten to be the line leader (surprised she hadn't mentioned it). She said, "yes, lots of times." I then wondered how the line leader was picked so I asked. She said, "eni mini miny mo." hehehe Now that is a blast from the past. I have not thought about or heard about eni mini miny mo in YEARS. So fun my little girl is now learning little games that I used to do as a young child. It was so cute. She said it so matter-of-factly. She is getting so big. I hate it and love it all at the same time.

tour of the parks

I LOVE this weather. Cool crisp mornings and sunny afternoons that are perfectly comfortable. We could not get enough of it this week. We went on a tour of the parks wo even meaning too. I just realized last night that E esp was a park hopper this week. We went to Seneca on Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday afternoon after picking Av up from school, Brown on Thursday and then the park at Av's school that afternoon, on Friday I took him to the JCC park and then we all went to Big Rock for a picnic dinner and playtime. It was the most simple week but the best week. I wish we could go to parks year round. We do as much as we can but this summer we prob went all July and Aug wo seeing a park. Too hot. We will bundle and go as much as we can in the winter. E loves his new found freedom. He loves the park. Loves climbing and sliding on his belly. His smile is so cute. He can kind of keep up with his sisters now and he thinks thats pretty cool. A little boy at the park had a blue soccer ball. E was drawn to that ball. He wanted it so badly. The little boy really didn't want him to have it so E didn't get his hands on it much but he was in heaven when he did. I can guarantee E has a ball that is not pink by the end of the weekend.

Silly Camille

Wearing my rain boots and downstairs watching a movie. This is how I found her.

11 months

Oh my goodness E has been 11 months for 11 days now. I can't believe we are this close to his first bday. He is walking. Has been for about a month now. The weather has turned and he needed shoes to keep his feet warm more than anything. He pretty much has always been barefoot up to now. Since he is now enjoying the park on foot now though he needed shoes for that too. I took him yesterday to get his foot measured and to get his first shoes. His foot is a 4 and he skipped the whole soft bottom pre-walker shoe. The Stride Rite girl said he could go right on to a real shoe since he could walk around the store in them once we put them on him. He is still small though and young so they didn't have that many options in his size. He got the cutest pair of navy Sauconys. He is such a little boy in them. Can't believe how big he is. He says more words now and a lot of time will mimic a word you say to him with great accuracy. He waves and says bye-bye. He's a great baby will just play by himself or his sisters forever. He is impossible to dress. That started months ago (always forget to write it down). He just wants to be on the go, not sitting still getting dressed. Sometimes it takes 2 of us at night to get the job done. He is gaining a personality though. He knows what he wants and to get what he wants he just looks at you and yells till you do something about it. Yesterday C had a toy he wanted and he would look at me and yell and then look at the toy and yell more. He scrunches up his face and yells like, "look at me, I am mad, fix it now." I think he feels slightly entitled. He eats well. His favs are cheese and yogurt. I have a hard time keeping him full though. He is a piggy. I am still pumping. Ugh down to twice a day. He does get one cup of whole milk a day. Its not his fav but he drinks it. He climbs the stairs any chance he gets. Really he just likes to climb. At the park he does not care about the slide. Just wants to climb the stairs, have me get him down only to do it again. He loves his baths with his sisters and loves being able to do what his sisters are doing. He naps well and sleeps great. He wakes up and plays until I come get him. Never cries. He gets into everything. Things the girls never dreamed of getting into. He is fun. Loves to rough house. Is good to ride in the stroller as long as it is moving. Has 8 teeth. C brought plastic easter eggs back from my parents house and he has spent hours playing with them. He likes "cleaning them up" which to him I guess is putting them in a bin. I am so so so glad he is in my life. Not sure what I would do wo him. Glad he surprised me by coming into my life. Everett John you are the best boy ever!!!

life

Wow have I been bad. I have not posted in so long. I feel so guilty. Then I feel overwhelmed with all the stuff I have missed posting about. The overwhelmed feeling has made me shy away even more. Needless to say I just need to jump back in and start posting. Just move forward and forget what I have not written about in the past month. We are all doing great. Av LOVES school. She is doing so well and we could not be more proud. She is making friends and fitting right in with her classmates. She is still riding the bus and I love that we were brave enough to tackle that challenge. Her being the one that actually did it and me being the one that let go enough to let her. I volunteer at her school every Wednesday in the library. I kind of forced my way in. I emailed her teacher to volunteer, signed up for everything imaginable at the open house, emailed the PTA but still nothing. So one Wednesday I just showed up. They sent me to the library and I have been there since. They keep me busy and I usually run into her teacher and I get to give her a kiss in the lunch room. I love it. I just want people to know the Hoekstras there. Know that we are a great family and we are there to help make Wilder an even better school than it already is. I also want to know what is going on. I want to see her in her new element so I can picture her there and know what she is doing. I want to be involved and be a part of her new life.

Camille is great too. She likes her new school. Although she never wants to go but she is happy when I pick her up. She will be my child that makes up an illness so she can stay home. She is going to be the one that I will have to constantly be on to get up and get ready for school and "yes you have to go to school today." She loves the days she gets to stay home and the first words out of her mouth when her eyes open are, "do I have to go to school today?" I usually try to avoid the question bc if the answer is yes then all I hear until I drop her is, "I don't want to go to school." She is fine once there and fine at drop off. She is usually teary eyed when I get her just bc she knows the goodbye song and knows that is all that is standing between her and me on the other side of the door. On Wednesday she goes to after care and that is a whole another fight. Again though when I pick her up she is as happy as can be. Even more so than when she does not go to after care. It's those days that she says, "I love my new school." She is cuter than cute though. Singing her days of the week and her, "I am special song." Too cute