day 365

grandma zeb has taken a real liking to noah. he has become incredibly patriotic because of her. noah has been given several of grandpa kenny's papers from world war 2, the bible from after he passed away, the shells from his funeral, p.o.w. flags and shirt, and the list goes on. this picture zeb is giving to noah is very special. it is of the b-17 grandpa kenny was shot down in. i remember when zeb had this drawing given to her. there is a history and memories here for me being passed down to my son which i hold dear to my heart. a big one is the pride in zeb's face as she gives these special things to noah. i pray he will cherish memories of these times with grandma zeb forever.

day 360

we had christmas with our meyer family today. the kids were pretty excited because santa showed up unexpectedly. the story behind this is dad only told me that he had this costume. so, he disappeared for a bit and everyone was asking where grandpa was because the kids were ready to open presents. santa made his grand appearance and gave everyone a fun suprise other than levi and jackson(who cried). dad was really excited to give this suprise the kids and mom as he is a big kid himself!

day 353

my michigan state only fan, occasional great smiles, too old to hug mom, kisses at night between the bedrail, incridibly sensitive, quarter collector, rock collector, book lover, creative lego builder, star wars fan, always the first who captured my heart and one i love to look at and imagine who you will be as you grow into who God has created you to be.

day 346

some days i have to put aside me doing it all and teaching the kids to do the little things. today it was teaching noah how to use the sharp knife to cut up the kiwi. the pride it gave him and me is priceless.

day 341

our fully decorated tree and the little helpers who made it perfect.

day 340

noah being a great big brother. levi loves the attention the big kids give to him.

day 339

cutting down the christmas tree. this year we went back to our old place but were very sad that there were not many good trees to choose from. we searched through it all and came upon our short plumpy tree which brought smiles to everyone but naomi and marlee.

day 335

first big snow. this photo is the story of our backyard. max and noah building the pile of snow up to sled off the deck. marlee helping or copying anyone she can. naomi chillin' making angels in the snow. lovin' every minute of it.

day 333

pebble jars. we use pebbles to "pay" the kids for jobs done around the house and when their resposibilities are fulfilled. the kids can earn money or an experience as a reward when they get a certain number of pebbles. it took us a while to come up with a concept that would work with our family and so far this has paid off for several months so i think it will stick. it is fun to watch the kids count their pebbles and ask to do extra things when they get close to their reward.

day 332

thanksgiving dinner at grandma and grandpa collin's house. it was a beautiful sunny cold day. the kids love helping grandpa outside and he enjoys driving them around in the trailer.

day 330

it was finally cold enough that there was ice in the wheelbarrow. the boys found their "nerd" glasses and had a ball outside chipping away at the ice. somedays they really are awesome together.

day 324

noah playing daddy's old handheld soccer game. gotta love the simplicity of old games.

day 318

daddy is awesome teaching noah all about yard work and how to take care of things outside. is is great watching noah soak up the time with his dad.

day 311

daddy lead the organization of 3 boxes of winter items for our family. noah had a lot of fun decking out himself in all the goods.

day 305

the kids pulled out candy land. max is usually upset by someone doing something wrong, naomi tries to ignore all the drama, marlee tries to get her hands in the game which makes noah upset that it isn't being played right and getting messed up. always glad to see them having fun together.

day 303

tonite we had all the cousins over. we had dinner then walked to the high school where they had indoor trick or treating. fun times.

day 296

pumpkin picking with the kids. noah was awesome at helping marlee get the right one.

day 291

we got the holiday lego magazine today in the mail. this is the best thing that happens to the boys every couple months. they are absolutely obsessed with this thing.

day 290

the kids spent a while racking up leaves into a big pile this afternoon so they could jump in them. levi freaked out and nobody wanted to sit still for a picture. can't blame them. it is too much fun to jump!

day 283