Guess?

 
Are there any guesses as to what this is that adorns our Christmas tree each year? I have to say it started out as my least favorite ornament in the beginning of our marriage. I couldn't believe he wanted it on our tree and especially competing for the height and rank of the star. Each year we have "sparred" over it and each year it has made his way back on. Some years, it has appreciatively made it to the backside of our tree (or I would prefer maybe to say the dairy ere of our tree :) ) and some years he is just a bit too high up. Blake insists that it is always the FIRST ornament on our tree which only adds to the audacity of it. Well, we're going on 12 years of this and it actually holds quite a bit of fun memories. I would never mention this to Blake, but it actually is a fun one now because of all the memories tied to it. If he ever asked me point-blank whether I liked "him" (him being the ornament), I would never admit it.

Socks

 
Jacie brought these socks for a gift exchange at church a couple weeks ago and ended up coming home with them as well. At the last minute someone grabbed her gift so she grabbed these. I wouldn't mind owning a pair of these so I can wear my flip flops. I don't think they would be thigh-high length for me though. It kind of looks like Carter has chicken feet when he walks around in these.

Scarf

 
The scarf provided many minutes of fiddling and twitching time for Avery on stage. I don't know what she would have done with her hands had that not been there to act as an outlet for her. She loves looking at other people too. I would almost label her as a semi-professional voyeur. Even while singing she was ensconced with the other class. It was quite entertaining to watch. They did a good job. I always think it's quite a fete to get a couple hundred kids to sing and follow directions. What a lovely thing to watch and hear. Real recently I read "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck, there's a theme throughout the book about music. Kino, hears 2 songs playing throughout his life, the "Song of the Family" and the "Song of the Enemy." The "Song of the Family" makes up the sounds of everyday life for them, beit the clanking of a pot made by his wife or the crackle of the fire. These Christmas programs have contributed to my "song."

Avery's Program

 
No, it's not a repeat of the last entry. It is however the same background. Last night we were able to hear Avery and Grace and Ayla in their Christmas program. Avery even sang in an octet? There were 2 groups of 4. As you can see, we were flabbergasted that she was able to get the part as it required an audtition and she swims in a gene pool lacking in musical ability. She did a great job and I was glad I had her wear a scarf as it provided an outlet for her fidgeting as you will see in the next post.

Christmas Program

 
Last night was the 2nd/3rd Grade Christmas program. The kids did a great job. Kenna surprised us one afternoon by telling us she tried out for a part for the Christmas program. We were trying to prepare her for a possibility of not making it (based solely on our own singing abilities). We were excited for her that she made the cut. Although she forgot to go to a couple rehearsals, which painfully to a 2nd grader was during last recess, she was still able to sing. She said before the performance that she was nervous. I don't blame her one bit as I am not inclined to stand out in front of many people. I could tell her nerves were in high gear as she sang with 7 other children because I don't think I saw her smile once. This picture of she and Jacie is before the performance.

Thankful

 
Thanksgiving service is always such a treat at our church. We were able to write our thankfulness down on a rock and bring it to the front of church. The annual open mike is always a great way to reflect with others on what we are thankful for. After church we were able to spend a wonderful day at my parents. Oma always has crafts for the girls. Opa always goes fishing with them. We were blessed with so much food and beautiful weather. The kids also performed a play for us. They are getting better and better. There was a storyline (which helps a lot for viewing :) )

Contortionist

 
Can we say, "future circus performer?" This hurt me just to watch.

I am trying to play catch-up on the blog, so there will be a stream of entries. You may want to scroll back or forwards to see others.

20-minute jog

 
Another year (technically 1/2 a year since they changed the run to the fall. I liked it, it wasn't so hot) down, another 20-minute jog done. The girls reminded me that I did not participate last year because I had sprained my ankle a few days before. It was fun to run with them. I didn't see Jacie until half way through the race or I would have taken a picture of her too.

Big Sis

 
This is Jacie leading Carter around. Sooo cute, almost makes me forget the "other" times. :)

Cousins

 
We got to play with Tommie today. It's a lot of fun to have him over.

Cotton Eye Joe

 
Tuesday was field trip day for 3rd grade. We had a good time learning about how cotton is picked and separated from the seed. We wore ear plugs in the gin because of the loud machinery. This was a first for a lot of kids. Afterwards we got to eat lunch in a hangar. After we ate lunch the kids were able to see a crop-dusting plane take off and land.

Halloween

Though we're not a big proponent of this holiday it sure is fun to dress up. It's always more difficult this time of year to explain the creepy decorations around town and the downright scary ads. We didn't give this much effort either. About 10 minutes before we went out we figured out our costumes. Jacie was a lawyer, Kenna and Carter were soccer players and Avery was Tinkerbell (which might be a repeat performance). We ate a quick bite of food with our friends and then Jacie and I headed home while the others went to a couple of houses. Our goal was to get them in bed on time so we wouldn't have tired children the next day. I think it worked. We wanted to be rested up for Jacie's fieldtrip the next day. Pictures to follow.

Fishin'

 
Awhile ago we borrowed a couple fishing poles and went to a park to fish. We found the bread balls dissolved rather quickly in the water so the kids went digging for worms in the empty river bed. They found one. I think they were more happy just to be digging around in the dirt.

Corn

 
At the farm we were able to eat corn and drink apple cider. Most of us were pretty excited to have some. Avery had just taken the last bit of her strep medicine, as you can see it wasn't agreeing with her tummy.

Indian Corn

 
We enjoyed a nice weekend at the beach. Even though we had a couple cases of strep throat, we managed to enjoy ourselves in spite of the obstacles. Obviously Carter's fractured collarbone made the beach and attempted Christmas card pictures rather interesting. Let's just say he wasn't a willing participant in the picture-taking process. Granted, broken bones or not, he does tend to be vocal about his objections from time to time.

We visited one of our favorite "farms" where we saw several varieties of pumpkins and Indian corn. We feel very blessed to be able to escape for awhile and enjoy another part of our beautiful state.

Boogie Buddies

 
No, no miraculous recovery for the C-Dawg. Just haven't posted for a while and wanted to give this shot from a while ago. Cole and Carter are wishing for a bit more water.

Clavicle

 
If you look closely at the upper left side of the x-ray you will see where the little guy broke his clavicle. He was a tough little guy. After visiting 2 walk-in clinics last night and his pediatrician today he has endured a lot of Dr. visits. Here are some quotes from the past 24 hours.

When getting Carter situated on the examining table, I asked him, "What can I do for you?" He replied, "Just comfort me."

While walking out of the Urgent Care, Blake said, "You did a great job, Carter. You were really brave. "It was nothing." was his response.

Helping him to lay on his side in bed, Carter said, "I have a tiny little bit of pain, just a little bit. . . like a circle." This was several hours after his injury and me realizing I hadn't given him anything for the pain.

After leaving the pediatrician, walking to our car I explained to him that he would have to wear his figure-eight strap/wrap for 2 weeks, Carter said, "You gotta be kidding me."

Needless to say, we're very thankful it wasn't more. I'm amazed at how fast the Dr. says it will heal. And I'm astonished that while looking this up onine last night that this is the most common break for a child. Ouch!

A Slice of Life

Dinner at the Team Hiemstra abode often is a rush of trying to get things on the table and then hurry up and relax quickly before the oncoming bed time hit. The words "relax quickly" normally don't play nice on the page together, but with a new kindergartner and the tired, demon-possession phase ever so slowly ebbing, trying to get kids in bed on time becomes much more difficult than in the summer. Last night, though, was an exception. Carla needed a little medicine after dinner, as she's apt to call chocolate. Of course, all the members of the team voiced their approval at this announcement. Little did they know that Mom had a trick up her sleeve: they'd need to perform for their peanut butter M&Ms. Jacie recited a large chunk of the Beatitudes beautifully. Kenna took an oral AR test on The Mysterious Benedict Society (the book that Carla's been reading to the kiddos in the car). Avery showed off her newfound Kindergarten, finger-snapping groove move. Carter channeled Mickey Mouse and squeaked like only a 4-year-old little, skinny chicken leg of a boy can. Carla and I each took the stage needing to make each other guffaw in order to gain the goods.

Such a treat, the family dinner table, along with the time to enjoy the gift of family.

Flower River

 
We saw this a couple of weeks ago. I'm unsure whether it's a "river" of water lillies. Either way this picture doesn't capture the beauty of it. It went for as far as the river and eye can see.

Up in the Air

 
Well, we took the plunge and bought canvas prints. It was our first time and mostly I'm happy with them. Of course, I can always nit-pick my own shots but it's fun to see 4 healthy children smiling back at me when I sit on the couch. This is one of the pictures from that day. I was just fooling around with different ideas. There aren't any crazy shots on our wall; they are very traditional.

Pics

 
It's that time of the year again. It was time to replace our pictures hanging on our wall. I went to our favorite spot to snap some pics of the children. It had been awhile (too hot to go anywhere) so I felt a bit out of practice. The kids LOVE taking pictures though. . . a bit too much. They don't get that from me, well. . . I have trained them to love being the subject when I am behind the lens but they sure don't get the need to be photographed from me. I am just fine on the other side of the camera.

Bounce

 
The kids had fun on this. We need one in our backyard. They would expend a lot of energy.

Lodi Family

 
Last weekend we went camping for the weekend. We were able to stay at a very fun KOA campground along the Delta. As we passed through Lodi, Carter was fixated on the name, so the remainder of our travels consisted of him belting out, "You're momma Lodi, I'm Carter Lodi, we're the Lodi Family." After a dinner stop we arrived at the campground, in the dark. Our setting up camp consisted of the kids climbing a tree, the tent trailer stuck in a hole we could not see and me yelling at them periodically to stay out of the way so we wouldn't run them over as we unhitched, rehitched and re-unhitched the trailer. After a rocky beginning, we were able to wake up to a very fun, well-lit campground. We were able to swim, go down a water slide, jump on a big, bouncy inflated tarp and use never-ending squirt guns.

Seeds

 
We harvested our sunflower. The two oldest put some in an envelope for next year and the rest was soaked in salt water overnight for roasting the next day. They're actually pretty good. They're not as salty as the ones you would buy so your lips don't shrivel up like a prune.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

 
Jacie helped me make cupcakes for her birthday, or actually, I helped her. She's getting quite proficient in the kitchen. Afterwards we made some cupcakes for grown-ups. Let's just say that Jacie was more helpful than Blake was.

Chalk

 
 
 
 
 
I don't know if I've ever put more than one picture on here without it being a collage. We had lots of fun the other day. Turn the sprinklers on and get the chalk out and you'd be amazed at the fun.