Birthday Date

I so needed a break from the kids it wasn't funny.  I was afraid that since Tristan still had his cough that we weren't going to be able to go on our date, because I wasn't sure if my parents thought he was still contagious... but they said they would watch them!  Hot diggity!

We put the kids down for their naps and were going to take off after that.  They haven't been napping that long lately, so we figured that we'd have plenty of time!  Of course, the day that we would dare have plans they sleep SUPER late.  Like, we woke them up because it was starting to get too late.  We hopped in the car and we were off to Grandma and Don's.  The kids were really excited to be there.  We pretty much dumped them off and left.  We went to Target and did some Christmas shopping sans kids.  It's SO MUCH easier trying to look for things when they're not demanding to keep going.  Also, it takes the surprise out of things when they see you buying things for them.  We found this Dinosaur Train set for Dude that we thought he'd love... and it wasn't super expensive either!  Double score!  We picked up a few more Christmas decorations, and Christmas ornaments.  I enjoy the fact that my Mom got us ornaments every year, so I would like to continue on that tradition.  Then, we had to hot foot it over to our movie.

Ready for date night!

We ended up watching Skyfall and I gorged myself on theater popcorn.  It. was. awesome!  The Bond movie was a lot more serious and dark than I'm used to Bond movies being.  It was good, but definitely dark.  Much better than Quantum of Solace, but I'm thinking that Aladdin 2 was better than Quantum of Solace and that's saying something...

Anyhoo, half way through the movie I really started missing the kids.  I know I know I was just ranting and raving about how much I needed some time away, but I guess that was all the time I needed away. It's strange that even though they were driving me bat shit crazy not even 24 hours ago, that I could miss them that intensely.  After that movie got out I called my mom to make sure everything was going all right.  It was a much longer movie than I had anticipated, so I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to still grab some dinner.

It was nice just going out Gaetan and I.  These little dates are great reminders of why we work together so well, and why there isn't anybody else that I would ever choose.  I don't know if marriage is supposed to be this easy, but I'm glad it is for us.  Most of the time we are so busy with the kids its hard to just sit and have us time, but when we do its nice to know that we still like each other and want to hang out together.  :)  It's also really nice just having to feed yourself... and while your food is hot!  haha.

This date night was just what I needed to recoup and restart.  I felt such a different drive this morning towards everything.  It's amazing what a little time for yourself will do... and not feeling guilty about taking it either.  You NEED that time... it makes me a better person, wife and Momma.  I know it does. So a huge thank you to my parents for watching our little boogers... :)  And a thank you to my darling husband who was so excited to go on a date with his ever so pregnant crazy wife.

JVG

Golden birthday

On Tuesday it was my golden birthday... 27 on the 27th.  Now, growing up, birthdays weren't a super huge deal.  We have friends that birthdays were their special day and everything they wanted happened on that day.  I remember having birthday parties and things but nothing super extravagant.  So, I'm not under the illusion that my birthday should be this day that is all about me.  But, there is a part of me that thinks that there should be something special about it right?  Last years birthday was pretty terrible.  I remember getting pooped on... numerous times.  And, I don't know about you, but that's not cool, especially on your birthday.  I was hoping that this year was going to be different.

Crazy girl woke up and had a sticker in her hair...

I will say that I didn't get pooped on, but Tristan was really sick and Lucy did end up throwing up.  :(  Dude was so sick that he just laid on the couch or slept all day, which is SO NOT him.  I ended up having to sleep on the couch because Dude was coughing all night and we didn't want him waking up Lu so we brought him in our bed.  Honestly, the couch is my friend when I'm pregnant.  I find it to be WAY more comfortable than it is.  But, that means when Lucy decides to get up or poke me in the face that means I'm out there by myself... no pawning that off on Gaetan.  Also, it makes me feel fabulous when Tristan tells me that he doesn't want me, but would rather have Papa... thanks kids.  Then the kids did something really strange when Gaetan went to work and that was they FREAKED out.  Tristan started crying he had never seen Gaetan leave before and tried to follow him out to his car!  I felt like such a jerk for having to hold in inside while it looked like Gaetan was leaving us forever... which, in reality, he was only gone for 4 hours.

After that the minutes and seconds just ticked by.  I felt every. single. one. of them.  It was awful!  Then, the kids melted down so I thought that we should have nap time.  Sleep is usually a great reset button for me, but the kids had other plans.  Tristan sang and played loudly in our room while Lucy tried to break down the gate upstairs and cried.  :(  So, no naps for anybody.  I did get some flowers delivered during that ordeal, so that made me feel a little better.

Birthday flowers!

Lu Girl giving them a smell

Duder taking a break from coloring to smell the flowers too :)

The kids continued to freak out on and off throughout the day which is always pleasant... but half way through the day I realized that it was up to me to not have a crappy attitude.  So, that got me through the second half of my day.  I was pretty much having a pity party because I didn't get to do anything 'special' on my birthday.  I did try out a few new recipes that turned out to be delicious, which is always a plus.  With the way my day was going I thought for sure I'd either burn the place down or it was going to be disgusting... but it was a pleasant surprise.  :)  I'm not sure why I have this feeling that something exciting should happen on the day that wasn't my choosing... ya know?  I'm excited to have been born, but I just don't know if there is something about this exact day that should dictate my mood this much!

I ended up going to be SUPER early because I just needed tomorrow to come.  Good thing I did too because the kids woke up really early the next morning!  haha.  I know that I was self wallowing but as a parent you don't usually get to drop everything and do something fun for yourself on any given day, especially your birthday.  But, you still feel entitled to something, so I'm glad that we could do it, even if it wasn't ON my birthday.  More on my birthday date to follow.  :)

JVG

Christmas decorations up!

Today I got the rest of the Christmas decorations up!  It did help that I got the rest of them from my parents yesterday, but I had a lot of fun putting things up in our little home!  :)  Nothing real extravagant, as Lucy would see to that, but just enough to spruce things up.  Our tree only has ornaments on the top half of the tree so that she can't pull them all down... haha.

Dude is SO excited about the decorations.  He kept telling me that he liked all the things that I was putting up and he wanted and did help too.  It's nice to see him excited about something like that and to want to help and do stuff together.  We put some more Trans Siberian Orchestra on and decked our halls!  haha.  Lu liked to dance along as we did things.  It was fun.  :)

Our garland up on the window

Stockings!  It's hard to believe that we will have a family of 5!!

More garland on the stairs

JVG

Sunday's Message

I. Love. Mars Hill Bible Church.  Even though it's little over an hour away it's so worth the drive!  This past week's message I found to be just for me.  If any of you have spent any amount of time with us you know the importance of eating... or having food time together.  Yes, I know a lot of it stems from my love of eating, but there is something about sitting around a table (or whatever) with friends and eating.  And if any of you have family you know that that time is a sacred and a special time together.  I really don't think I could do the message justice so I'm just going to post the link to the podcast so you can all listen and enjoy it as well.  :)  I highly recommend that you do... I feel like it gives such a great explanation of who we are as people.

http://marshill.org/teaching/2012/11/25/one-more-seat-at-the-table/

Also, the beginning of it talked about adoption and that has been on my heart lately.  I know that I'm pregnant with Norah, but I seriously feel like we could have 15 children! We've both come to grips with the idea that this WILL be my last pregnancy, but that doesn't mean we can't expand our family other ways.  We've discussed where we would want to adopt from and, really, I feel like our options are quite open.  We know that we want to adopt at least one more, two is quite in the possible reasonable and most likely so we will see how many more we will have!  I felt such a tugging on my heart listening to this woman's story, knowing that these are just affirmations along the way.  We have a friend who is literally right in the middle of her adoption in Kenya with her family and they are hitting as many obstacles and red tape as possible.  Their story and their love and determination is such an inspiration.

Here's to the future and all the adventures it holds!

JVG

Christmas Tree

This year we decided to put up a Christmas tree.  This is the first time since we've had kids that we've put one up!  We put one up the first Christmas we were married, (and incidentally I was pregnant then) but we haven't since.  First, the kids were always real small and I was worried that they would pull it down on themselves, and second, I was always to lazy to do it.  Let's call it what it is... laziness.  I mean, there is the question of why we put up a Christmas tree and what it means in the actual holiday spirit, but Dude was so excited about putting one up this year I figured that it was OK.  I think we've come to the conclusion that as long as the kids don't think that's what Christmas is all about then we're fine with putting it up.

I know that I always liked putting up the Christmas tree with my family.  It was just another nice family time to spend together with Christmas music going and putting up our ornaments.  My Mom is so crafty that she made us Christmas ornaments every year, and when we moved out we got all the ornaments to take with.  So, we have a nice starter set, but I think that I'm going to start getting the kids their own too.  It's special to put your own stuff on the tree where you want it.  :)

So, this year we put on some Christmas music and Papa and the kids put up the tree.  I was feeling really tired and lame (there it is, the laziness thing again) and cheered them on from the couch.  They got the tree, the lights and a few ornaments on before the kids started to crash.

Putting the tree up

That meant that I got to spend some time with the kids and put the rest of them up.  :)  I still have to get our stockings from Mom and Dad's, and have a few more Christmas decoration ideas, but I think that it's getting to be pretty cozy.  :)  We don't have a tree topper yet, but Dude has requested that we put a star on top, so I think that we can handle that.

After we got the tree up the kids wanted to have a dance party using golf clubs...

Then, Lucy thought it would be hilarious to try and get into the tree...

I would still like to pick a different culture/tradition each year to learn about with the kids so that they can get a more rounded idea of what Christmas is to others around us.  This will definitely put an end to my laziness... hopefully :)  Now, we are just waiting for the snow to make it complete.  Dude says that he wants to make snowmen that are Momma, Papa, Lucy and Dude and Norah... and then snow dino's too!  I'm hoping to find him a dinosaur, or better yet dinosaur train ornament, this year for him.  I think he'd really like that.

Here's to the upcoming Christmas season.  Advent is just around the corner, and I can't wait to explore that together with the kids too!

JVG

Grilled Chicken Piccata

Last night I tried another new recipe!  I've had a different version of chicken piccata before... the chicken was in smaller pieces and breaded, but this was a grilled version.  Since we don't have a grill I just pan fried the chicken and it was really yummy too!  The pasta that goes with it has quite a zing (from the lemon juice) to it, but it is mellowed out by the chicken.  :)  I think over all it was a success.  If you're not so into things that are THAT lemony I would just cut back on the lemon juice.  I ended up doubling the pasta, because I figured that the kids would want that more than the chicken.  I was right.  :)

http://www.plainchicken.com/2010/08/creamy-grilled-chicken-piccata.html

JVG

Random

This is pretty much a bunch of random things rolling around my head... so good luck!

I have discovered that Miss Norah likes the sound of typing.  Anytime I'm blogging or on the computer she is SO LIVELY.  I'm not sure if its because I'm finally sitting down and maybe I'm cramping her style, or she really does like the rhythm of the keyboard... in any case, she is quite the wiggly girly when I'm doing it!

She has also been demanding strange things to eat... the most recent is oreos with peanut butter... and before any of you can hate you must try it first.  I thought the idea was a bit strange when I heard about it at first, but upon trying it it is fabulous and must try.  Of course, if you don't like peanut butter than this probably won't be your cup of tea, but I'm not a real big oreo fan and I'm all about this combo!

Also, I finally finished printing off all the pictures from Snapfish.  I'm not even kidding you when I say I think we had 3,000+ pictures... and about 98.8% of them are the kids.  I mean, really, they're adorable, so it makes sense that I would want to take pictures of their ridiculous crazy lives!  With that said, that also means I have had to put them all in photo albums... I got half of them done already, and am waiting for the last batch of pictures to arrive!

I was also pretty proud of myself for getting our Christmas cards ordered already.  I feel like there are a lot of things we don't do as a family... like get annual family pictures or things like that, but I do pride myself on always getting a Christmas Card out.  This year's is extra cute.  :)  So, you will all be enjoying yours once I get them and addressed!

I found out that my sister and her family will be up from W. Virginia for Christmas and my brother is going to be stateside at the beginning of December!  This is his 4th tour overseas, so we are excited to have him home.  He will be in MI after Christmas, so my parents are going to have a full house!  It's a good thing they kept all those empty rooms!!

Also, even if my house looks like hurricane Sandy went through it I have to say if my kitchen and dining room is clean I don't feel so crazy.  There is something to be said about having cleared and cleaned counters, no dishes in the sink and a vaccuumed dining room floor.  I try to get that all done before Gaetan leaves in the morning so that the rest of my day doesn't feel so crazy, but anybody with kids knows that's not always a guarantee.

Today I tried this oatmeal strawberry banana smoothie that I've done before in my food processor, but this was the first time I tried it in the blender.  I think that the frozen strawberries are actually what did in my food processor and I wasn't sure that the blender was even going to smoothie-ize them, but it turned out to be the best smoothie I've made so far!  I was really excited about it... the small things I suppose.  :)

Well, enough randomness for today.  Thanks folks, it's been great.

JVG

Cilantro lime Crab Salad in Avocado

Yesterday after I came home from capo I was STARVING.  I wanted something quick, light and refreshing... and this is what I came up with!  To me it sounded a bit strange, but I figured I'm pregnant, so of course it sounds good!  The acid from the lime, the red onion just enhanced the creamy richness of the avocado.  IT WAS AMAZING.  It was fairly filling also.  I had one avocado half filled with the crab salad with this Asian Cabbage Salad and I was set for the night.  Yum Yum Yum!  I am looking forward to making it again.  :)

I even remembered to take a picture of it before I nommed it down!

http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2010/11/cilantro-and-lime-crab-salad-in-avocado.html

Here's the recipe for the Asian Cabbage Salad.  The dressing is my favorite part :)
http://jamiecooksitup.net/2011/08/chinese-cabbage-salad/

JVG

Thanksgiving

I love how my family does Thanksgiving... and honestly, all holidays.  They're really low key, chill and just centered around being around people you care about and some people you don't get to see a whole lot, so it gives you a chance to catch up.  There aren't any planned events that you feel obligated to participate in and you're just there to hang out.  We went to my parents house and this year they actually watched the Lions game.  I'm thinking it's because my brother wanted to, but it was all good.

Lucy hanging out with Grandpa watching the game.  The only time she was sitting still the entire time!

We had a delicious meal.  I think it's funny that my least favorite part about Thanksgiving is the turkey. I like turkey, but I just like all the other things more!  My favorite is the stuffing, probably followed by sweet potatoes.  I was really surprised that the kids favorite part was the turkey.  They usually don't like pieces of meat (like chicken breast, chicken nuggets, hamburger meat by itself) but they didn't want anything but turkey.  It was kinda crazy!  They did really well with the food and LOVED the pumpkin pie.

We hung out with my Grandma and Grandpa Miller, my brother and his girlfriend, and then later for dessert my cousin Casey and his family came over with my Aunt and Uncle Kinney and my Uncle Jeff.  My cousin Casey has two kids and so it was nice for our kids to be able to play with them too.  It was just a nice time, and I was so full I couldn't breath... now, I don't know how much of it was the quantity of food I consumed and how much space Norah was keeping for herself, but I was FULL.  Then my Aunt brought these cookies that were DELICIOUS, so of course I had to sample them as well.

Got a lot of good leftovers from my Mom and even made a turkey pot pie out of the leftovers so far.  :)

JVG

Picture Patch!

We have found a solution to my picture problem, so you will be getting an obnoxious amount of cute pictures :)  Glad my husband is so wonderful and cares about the little things in my life to make them work.  Google+ was the solution, and I'm not quite sure how to use it fully yet, but if its only for making sure I can put pictures on my posts, worth it!

JVG

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

I tried a new recipe and it is a trap.  You know those delicious smelling almond you can buy at the mall kiosks around the holidays that are ridiculously good but ridiculously expensive?  Well, I have found a solution to that... and it makes your place smell amazing while they cook!  It gets better too folks, because you can do them in your crock pot.  Oh yes, I said the magic crock pot words :)  The only change I made was that the recipe called for 3 Tbs of cinnamon but I only had 2 Tbs so that's what I used and I think that I'm going to stick with that adjustment.  I was afraid that it was going to be to overpowering, but this was just right.  :)  I think that these would make a great Christmas gift, because they are a tasty treat and they are cheap to make!  So those of you on a budget, here's a great idea for you!

http://detrimentalbeauty.com/2012/09/18/crock-pot-cinnamon-almonds-an-easy-recipe-and-gift/

JVG

PS If you get these from me as a gift don't think I'm trying to snake out of getting you something, but I AM on a budget :)  Doesn't mean I love you any less.

PPS  Also know that if you make them and start eating them, you may not stop.  You've been warned.

New clothes

Everybody likes getting new things... but I especially like getting warm, fuzzy, snuggy things.  :)  Now that winter seems like it's finally here, I did get some warm PJ's.  Honestly, I think they look like old lady/man PJ's but they're really warm, the pants fit my belly and I think that the shirt is going to be really helpful when it comes to nursing... so warm and functional.  This Momma is not here to win any fashion awards :)  I also got a really nice sweater.  I don't think that it's a maternity sweater, but it still fits over the baby bump, so I'm pretty happy for it!  All compliments of Target.. :)

During black Friday we got the kids and Gaetan some much needed socks, and under shirts.  I know that those things aren't nearly as exciting, but there is something to be said for a brand new pair of socks.  I don't know what it is about children's socks but they seem to disappear.  I can safely assume most of them are in the car, but when you're trying to get them ready to go having them in the car isn't very helpful.  Also got Gaetan some more warm shirts, so I think that he is going to be ready to go for the winter!  :)

My Mom also went a little 'over-board' as she put it for Norah.  Seeing how we thought that we weren't going to be having any more children we started giving away all of the clothes that didn't fit the kids... so, I think that we don't actually have any baby clothes!  My Mom said that she saw a bunch of cute things and she wanted to know if we wanted her to get them... ah... YES PLEASE!  All of Lucy's old clothes went to the pregnancy resource center, in which my mom dropped them off, so she knows that we don't have any girl clothes left.  It was endearing to see my Mom all giddy about buying baby clothes and such.  She did buy quite a few very very cute outfits, and I actually think that Miss Norah is going to be outfitted quite nicely for the first few months (depending on how big she is when she is born) of her I'm sure very adorable life.

JVG

Nice weather and a bike

The past week the weather has been unseasonably warm.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm loving the extra time outside, but it's just not natural!  It's mid/end of November and it's been in the 60's?!  Well, of course we are trying to take advantage of it since I know that the snow is coming (in the forecast today actually!)  Right by our  place there is a caul de sac, which we have discovered is the perfect place for a Duder to ride his bike while Lucy gets to roam.  He has a boundary that he knows he can't cross and this allows me to watch Lucy a bit more closely while Dude is occupied.  I feel bad when I take the kids outside by myself at times because I feel like Dude is doing a lot of waiting around for Lu... but this way he can ride to his hearts content and I'm not worried that anything can happen to him.  :)

We like to play games while in the caul de sac, like chase you (Lu loves chasing him on his bike), and then he tries to run over our shadows :)  He's really into shadows now, so he finds it really fun.  I'm glad that the kids can enjoy the simplicity of playing outside, not in front of a TV or gaming system, or something that has to entertain them.  I think technology is a wonderful supplemental tool, but so often its taking the place of imagination... so I'm glad that the kids can utilize both :)

Kiddos enjoying a brief break for golfish snack time!

Our 'artsy' picture

Amazing resolution for a camera phone... and this was also the ant that Lucy was following around

Here she has spotted the ant

LOOK!  It's RIGHT here!

Our big boy rider

She is hilarious.  I wish you could see her face

Dude showing us he can do it too

Enjoying the nice weather at the dino slide with Hippo

It looks like he's steering the sun...

JVG

Blog pics hiatus

Sad news.  For right now I think that I might have to take a break from posting pics on the blog!  Which makes me really sad because I think that's what makes it so much fun.  Something about me running out of available free space... so I guess if I want to put more pics up I might have to pay for it... which, lets face it, is not something this Momma is really going to do.  So, until I figure a way around this, no more pics :(

JVG

Impromptu Sunday

Sunday was a good day.  After such a busy weekend, I was ready for a bit of a relaxing day.  We got to church SUPER early... way earlier than I thought it was going to take us.  We usually leave before my parents just so we can make sure that the kids' Sunday School rooms don't fill up, but this time we were really really early.  While we waited to get into Lucy's room I was showing Dude the room she is normally in, and the door was unlocked so the kids just went in and played!  Lucy technically should be in the next age group up, but she was just finally getting used to the room helpers in the 'walkers up to 18 months' that I wasn't sure I wanted to change it up.  But today, I thought I'd give it a try. She did great again!  No crying, no fussing, no trying to hold on.  It was amazing.  She went right in and played and smiled.

Strange thing happened when we were walking Tristan to his wing... I ran into a guy I went to college with.  I met him through a friend in class and then after that we would just bump into each other in random places.  He's a super nice guy and we even went sky diving together.  I haven't spoken or seen him in probably 5 years, so it was really strange to see him at Mars!  He was helping his brother drop off his son, who happened to be in Lucy's age group.  It was such a random thing I almost walked right past him not even realizing that it was him.  It was strange.  But, I was glad that he got to meet my wonderful family.  :)

After church we were supposed to go over to an old colleague of Gaetan's to see their baby!  He's 2 months old now, but we've both been so busy we haven't had time.  But, it turns out they had a room emergency, so we will have to try again another time.  However, this meant that our afternoon was free so we had lunch over at the Schamper's instead.  :)  The kids had a blast and Tristan was so excited when we told him that we were going over to Kai and Sakura's for the afternoon.  This also meant that the kids weren't getting a nap in, so I was just kinda waiting for one of the kids to explode... and that kid was Lucy.  They did really well, until she had had enough.  The great thing about the Schamper's is that they get it.  They understand what it's like to have their kids miss nap time and then just suddenly freak out... so that's nice.

After that we went back to my parents to get all our stuff from the weekend, and we ended up FORGETTING THE DIAPERS!  AH!  We didn't realize it until the next morning when we were going through all the stuff from their house and realized that they were still in the dryer.  Oops... that's a different story, but I ya know.  We quickly did our grocery shopping to keep the kids up a little later, but by the time we were seriously on the road both of the kids were definitely passed out.  It was a nice afternoon, with the kids and their pals.  :)

JVG

Saturday... oh Saturday

Because we went to Grand Rapids on Friday night to see our friends play we stayed the entire weekend at my parents.  The kids were super stoked about it, and it's nice because we know we have a place to sleep but it never has to be a big show or charade.  In fact, if it was I don't think that my Mom would let us stay there as often.  :)  We're comfortable enough around each other there doesn't have to be a hostess or we don't have to be constantly entertained... in fact, I think that it would make it more awkward that way.

Saturday my Mom had her quilting class that she was going to teach so we had the entire house/day to do whatever we wanted!  Since the weather said it was going to be warmer in the day we thought we would hit up the CM early in the morning.  I mean, we're already in GR and we have a pass so we might as well go!  The kids had a lot of fun as always... and we ended up having to go because Goose got hungry.  I know, it's a surprise... but she wanted to eat some lunch, and in her defense it was lunch time, but he just wanted to keep playing!  I was craving Pho for some reason... I've never even had it, but apparently Norah wanted it, so we found this Vietnamese place not to far away.  Lucy looked like she was going to fall asleep on the way there, but somehow we kept her up!

Tristan loading up his grocery cart

All his $$ he got from the ATM to pay for the groceries... haha

The prices were great at this place and the food was really good!  For those in the GR area I would highly recommend Lai Thai Kitchen.  Tristan wanted to order his own soup, which he devoured, we got an appetizer, some Pho and Vietnamese sandwiches.  The sandwiches were FABULOUS.  I would go back there just for those!  They had some pickled carrots on there that I could've probably eaten a gallon off... it had just enough acidity and crunch that made it oh so pregnant-craving satisfying!  After we had stuffed ourselves silly we went back to my parents hoping that the kids would sleep... and I needed to sleep off lunch.  :)  Well, half of that statement actually came true.  I passed out downstairs and the kids did not.  In fact, Lucy had figured out how to open the door in her room and she would go and knock on Tristan's door and they would laugh and play... so they didn't nap.  Which proved to be a regret for them a few hours later, but that's another story.

The soup that Tristan ordered specifically

Dude liked the Pho broth so much he just put his straw in it! haha

After I woke up from my hibernation I took the kids outside.  Gaetan looked like he needed some down time and the kids were driving him crazy... and we did bring Tristan's bike so that he could ride it at Grandma and Don's.  So, we hopped in the car and went to some trails close by.  He was so excited about riding his bike and Lu was all about walking the trails too.  They did a really good job until they decided that they didn't want to go in the same direction.  I told Dude that he could ride his bike in the empty parking lot, and showed him the boundaries.  Then, Lucy was off trying to open some door, so while I was collecting Lucy in the distance I saw him getting farther and farther away.  I called out to him for him to stop and I knew that he could hear me but he kept going.  Then, he turned the corner and I couldn't see him anymore.  Based on where we were riding bikes and the time of day I wasn't necessarily worried that somebody was going to take him, but there was the factor that he might tip over and hurt himself and it was going to be a little bit til I got to him.  Then, I heard his little voice in the distance asking for help because he couldn't turn his bike around.  Honestly, I was pretty furious.  He knew where he could ride his bike and he usually honors it without a doubt.  But this time he was just doing what he wanted and it wasn't OK.  After we got reunited, we had a talk about what he and how it was wrong to disobey and then we turned around and went home.  He was pretty unhappy about that, but he understood why.

She was being silly and wanted to lay down in the stroller.  She normally rides  in the front but wanted to do this this time 

Dude rode all the way up this hill on the ride back

Her favorite part was riding and looking over at Dude while he rode.

Basically the kids were falling apart around 5:30.  I think the reason why he was pretty good with going home was because it was also getting dark out and he wasn't about that!  It was going to be interesting to see how we were going to keep the kids up until their bed time, because the way they were acting I was all ready to put them to sleep at 6:30, which is WAY early!  They somehow did manage to make it to 7:30, which was nice so that meant they weren't going to be up at the butt-crack of dawn.  All in all I had a really good time with the kids.  It was a day that was a lot busier than I had anticipated but I know they had fun too.  I liked getting the fresh air and spending time with them.  It is also reassuring to know that I can still take them both out, solo, and handle it fairly well :)

JVG

Orange Cranberry Muffins

Today was the last day before Gaetan goes on Thanksgiving break!  Whoo hoo!  I know that he is looking forward to it.  It's such a long stretch of time during this semester without some sort of reprieve... and with the type of work/school he's doing I would need a break every few hours!  So, I thought it would be nice to make his class some muffins before break.  I tried out these orange cranberry muffins.  They aren't the usual sweet treat that I make, but I thought that it would be a nice seasonal change of pace.  They turned out great!  The cranberry is a bit tart so Dude wasn't wild about them, but Miss Lucy didn't seem to mind.  :)  They smelled great baking because of the orange zest... will be making these again soon!  They made 12 reg sized muffins and about 12 mini muffins.

http://www.thecookingmom.com/cranberry-orange-muffins/

JVG

Schuler's Coffee for a show!

Friday night a couple of friends from capo were playing a show at Schuler's books in Grand Rapids. It was quite a drive for them because they live on the east side of the state... so I thought that it would be fun to go and support them.  They are two acoustic guitarists who play theme songs from video games. It's a little silly, and nerdy for sure, but it was really good.  And I really enjoyed it!  It probably felt the most nerdy because I recognized most of the songs and knew exactly what part of the game each song they were playing was from.  hahaha.  Their group is called Super Guitar Bros... check em out!  I know they have a few videos on Youtube... very fun.  :)

I was fortunate enough to be able to sit and watch the show and Gaetan took the kids to their kid room and let them play.  Bless my dear husband's heart for knowing and understanding the importance of a few moments of peace.  :)  It seems like the kids had a lot of fun in there too!  Some good friends of ours Quebra and Dizzy where there to watch the show along with Gracie and Levi.  It was funny because Q and D (as we call them for short around these parts) tried to sneak up on Tristan and scare him but he wasn't fooled!  Ninja.  :)  But he was so excited to see them that he didn't stop talking about it later that night.

That boy LOVES trains

Dude set Hippo up with a Dinosaur Train to keep him busy.  There are his dinosaurs that he wanted behind Hippo.

Pretty Miss playing in their lumber house (as dude called it).

It was a cute show and I'm glad that we got a chance to go.  We ended up getting Dude a Dinosaur Train book (for Christmas, even though he knows that we have it) and a dinosaur toy.  I was a bit against it because it was the dinosaur from Jurassic Park that seems all playful and friendly until it fans it neck out and shoots acid in your eyes and eats you!  But, I figured since we have a velociraptor and T Rex, this would be ok too... :)

I have to mention this little boy that was there who totally impressed me, which is saying a lot because the youth these days (yes, I know that makes me sound old).  A lot of them are extremely disrespectful and makes me want to home school more and more, but this boy was extraordinary.  Gaetan said that he and Dude read together for quite sometime, even though he was older than Dude, he was very kind and understanding.  They played together well, and then when we were getting ready to pay for Dude's stuff the boy walked up and said that he found $20.  And that his Mom says that when you find money you should buy things for other people because it's the nice thing to do.  And the fact that he actually did it was another thing! He wanted to buy Dude's dinosaur, which was only a few bucks, but still.  Can you imagine a 6 or 7 year old understanding that giving is more rewarding than just taking?  Impressive.  It gives this Momma hope.  :)

JVG

Breakfast with my Dad

My Dad has started a new schedule in which he gets to sleep in.  All my life he worked really early in the morning so that he could be home for things in the evening, dinner and be there when we were awake!  I mean, he would go into work at like 2 or 3 in the morning type of thing... gross.  So, now that he doesn't have too, he doesn't!  Which he is LOVING, and I can't blame him.

The way his schedule is now sometimes on Friday's he drives right through Kalamazoo... as previous posts have shown we have gotten to see him from our window as he drove by on the high way!  But this time, he figured he had enough time that he could stop for breakfast.  :)  There is a breakfast place less than a mile or so from our place and the prices are good, and the quantity is what every preggo dreams of :)

Lucy was being impatient for our food, so she thought she'd start on a jelly pack...

The kids were so excited about seeing Don and going to this breakfast place they could hardly stand it. I think the bigger treat was afterwards when they got to see his semi-truck.  How fitting this today his trailer had a picture of breakfast food and bacon on it.  :)  They got to climb into his cab and get a view from what it looks like way up in the semi.

Lucy Goose big girl driver!  I think it's adorable how her little legs don't even clear the seat

Dude patiently waiting his turn

Captain T!

They were both trying to be the driver

My super fabulous Dad 

I couldn't believe the mass quantity of food that everybody consumed!  It was fantastic!  Great food, even better company, and what a great way to start a Friday.  :)  I'm glad that I look forward to seeing my family so much, and I'm even more thankful that they want to be such an active part in my kid's lives.  Thanks Dad for breakfast, it was a real treat.

JVG

Momma and Duder Date

Now, it is a rare privilege when I get to spend one on one time with either one of the kids, so tonight I thought that I would take Duder out 'adventuring.'  This meant it was going to be Momma and Dude solo, just hanging out.  We ended up going to a symphonette concert, the group that I used to play in in GR and on the way up there he FELL ASLEEP!  He even took a nap that day too, and then he was out way early... so I stopped and got some gas and he still was asleep.  We got to the venue and I took him out of the car and carried him inside and he was asleep all the way until we almost got to our seats.  I was amazed at how tired he was!  But once the concert started he was pretty excited about it.  He started conducting for one of the songs, but then he eventually just stuck his fingers in his ears... which, was pretty accurate in my opinion.  The symphonette was a fun group of people to play with, but they are kinda terrible!  I eventually got him to take his fingers out of his ears and just listen, so that was nice.  He did such a great job throughout the concert!  He sat there very quietly, and even Hippo had a good time.  :)  I was even complimented by some of the other audience members at how good he was!

My sweet Date fell asleep

This was Dude mid-conducting stroke

Kids, telling you how it is

This is our tired Lu Girl at home... Gaetan said that she was drunk on cheese!  haha

After that we went out to eat.  Nothing fancy or huge but something I thought would be fun.  We just went to Applebee's for appetizers and dessert.  :)  Once we got there the kids menu was none other than... THE DINOSAUR TRAIN!!!  I thought that he was going to jump out of the booth he was so excited about coloring in Don, Shiny, Buddy and Tiny.  We got some appetizers, and then we ordered a dessert once he was done with that.  I thought for sure that he was going to pass out on the car ride home, since he fell asleep earlier, but the little dude made it all the way home!  It was 10:30 by the time we walked through the door.  Gaetan was impressed that he made it all the way home, as was I.  We had a lot of fun together and I was glad to be able to spend that quality time together.

SO HAPPY about the dinosaur train menu!

Thumbs up for our dessert :)

This Momma loves her Dude so much and is impressed with him every day.  Keep growing strong little dude, and keep being curious and learning.  :)

JVG