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