dik kids

It's been SOOOOO long!!! Update, Part I

2009-04-09T14:55:00.020-06:00

It's been forever since I've posted on here. Guess we've had a busy couple of months! But I am ready to get back into blog-land, so here are some photos to do a quick "catch up" of our trip to Michigan in December and January birthdays! We braved the snow and icy roads to spend a couple of weeks visiting family to celebrate Christmas and New Year's Day. Although we had a couple of scares on the road, a couple of sick kids on the drive, and more than a couple big dinners and parties :), it was great to spend time with family. Abram got to meet his Grandpa Dennis, all his aunts, uncles, cousins, and great-grandparents!

Our family at Christmas 2008

Grandpa and Grandma Dik with their 5 grandsons, Braden, Silas, Abram, Sawyer, and Eli!

Four generations on the Dik side--Ralph with his son Jack, his grandson Bryan, and his great-grandson Abram.

Abram meeting more of his great-grandparents--Minnie and Howard Longstreet.

Silas loved all the bugs he got for Christmas.

Eli made a really cool robot by stacking and arranging a lot of small, flat rectangular boards.

Bryan and smiley Abram.

Grandpa and Grandma Van Guilder with their 4 grandsons, Eli, Silas, Jack, and Abram.

Santa baby.

Great-Grandma Ruthie with Abram.

Eli loved his world atlas sticker book.

Ho ho ho!!! Love the matching jammies!

Abram got lots of love and enjoyed being held!

Amy's grandparents--Miriam, Ruth, and Ross--enjoying the opening of presents!

Silas turned 3 on December 29. Grandma Dianne threw him a "Bob the Builder" birthday party!

Eating cake!

Jack, Abram, Eli, and Silas with their party hats!

All tuckered out...

When we got back to Colorado, we celebrated again with a trip to Jumpin' (an indoor inflatable bouncing facility) and cupcakes!

Silas only ate the frosting! (I really don't blame him--it's the best part!)

Eli, Mom, and Abram at Jumpin'.

Abram turned 4 months old on January 12!

Close-up of Silas and his eyes

On January 15, Eli turned 5! We spent the day at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and had a fabulous time!

Eli got strawberry cake...his favorite!

funny love

2009-02-16T18:38:00.002-07:00

My 5-year-old wants to get married...to me.

With Valentine's Day this past weekend, there must've been a lot of love in the air...

This morning, Eli said to me randomly,
"Hey Mom, I love you! When I get older, can I marry you?"
I replied, "Well, Eli, that's really sweet that you want to marry me, but I can't marry you. I will still be married to your Daddy."
Eli: "Well, do you think we could have two guys and one girl married together? Then me and Dad could both be married to you."
Me: "Um...no. You can only marry one person, and you stay married to that person for your whole life. Plus you're my son. I'll always be your Mom though!"
Eli: "Well, what if you forgot that you married Dad, then could you marry me?"
Me: [laughing] "No, I don't think I would forget that..."
Eli: "What if Dad missed some other girls and wanted to get married to somebody else?"
Me: [WHAT??] "Your Dad won't do that. We love each other and will stay married for our whole lives."
Eli: "Forever?"
Me: "Yep. Forever. That's the way it works. I will always love you as your Mom, and someday you'll get married to a nice pretty girl who you'll fall in love with, when you are a lot bigger."
Eli: [big sigh] "Okay, I guess I'll just have to marry Brenna then." :)
[Brenna is a friend at church who at least twice his age!]
Eli: "But I'll wait until I'm THIS tall [holding his hand just above my head]--taller than you!"

Well since I am 5 foot 2, he will probably pass me by before he's a teenager. Brenna's only a few inches shorter than me as it is....

Brenna and Eli

Winter 2008

2009-01-19T19:14:00.022-07:00

Well, it's a new year, and a new look for the Dik kids! It's been a while since I've posted on here....but I'M BAAA-ACKKK! These photos are all from this past November and December, before we left for our Michigan trip!

Abram's shirt reads, "if you think i'm cute you should see my daddy!"

Eli and Abram

Abram and Silas

Abe

Silas with his scrunchy face

Abram and Mommy

He must be dreaming of flying, or thinking about Jesus dying on the cross for his sins, or giving his mama a hug...

Silas and the Wedgits tower he built

Eli with his Wedgits on Wheels--he loves to build cars!

Abram on Thanksgiving Day

Silly turkeys

Eli with his beaded candy cane he made at the Corey's house. Nancy always has a craft to do!

Silas and his candy cane

Santa Claus even came to visit on Thanksgiving Day!!! With presents!

Even Bryan got to sit on Santa's lap! (Rachel has so kindly pointed out that if the chair wasn't there it would look like he's waltzing with a really short Santa...I would love to see that!)

Our family ornament for 2008...thanks, Nancy and Craig! Oops! I mean, Santa!

Abram's shirt says, "Let it Snow."

He's all bundled up and ready to go out!

Silas

Eli, coloring away...

Abram's getting to be so big!

Eli's drawing of a snowflake.

Yowza! We have a thumb-sucker on our hands, folks! He's been caught red-handed!

We made ornaments with tiny Lego pieces this year...here is Silas trying to look through the little hole, like it's a magnifying glass...

We had fun hanging ornaments on the tree!

We celebrated Christmas as a family a week early....

Eli read the Christmas story from Luke 2...

Silas sporting his new sweatshirt jacket!

Awwwww....

OK, this one isn't so cute....but it's the only picture of me from that day, and actually it is feigned surprise because I bought and wrapped the gift (a Wheel of Fortune plug & play video game) myself....I do love that game, and apparently so does Eli...he's literally completed hundreds of puzzles since then, and is quite good at it!

Abram's first Christmas present!

Oh, what's the pouty lip for? I guess he's averse to blue elephant toys...should have known...

Silas LOVES his giant giraffe!

Eli got a "smart globe"--when you point to a country it tells you its name. He loves this toy and is learning so much about geography! He'll ask me questions like, "Mom, have you ever been to Burkina Faso? How about Tajikistan? Do you know where Togo is? Well, it's right by Benin and Cote D'ivoire!" What a cute little smarty pants...

Abram is looking a little worn out from opening presents....

Eli and Silas with Botley the robot!

Abram couldn't stand it any more and decided to take a nap.

The boys' big present was a toy kitchen! And lots of food to go with it!

Abram is 3 months old!

I'm pretty sure he learned to smile like this from Silas...

Eli and his classmates told the Christmas story in his preschool Christmas program. His line was "Baby Jesus was born and laid in a manger."

That day, the snow clung to every single branch and blade of grass...it was breathtaking!

Abram's baptism

2008-12-21T10:31:00.009-07:00

On November 16, 2008, Abram Joshua was baptized by his Grandpa Jack at our church, Immanuel Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. Bryan's parents and sister, Rachel, flew out here for a fun weekend! Enjoy the photos!

Daddy and Abram, tired after a long day.

We all went to the Budweiser plant to see the Clydesdales and enjoy the sampling room. Here are Silas and Eli with Wheeler, their new Clydesdale from Grandpa, Grandma, & Auntie Rachel!

Eli and Grandma

Rachel and silly Silas

Bryan and his dad

Me and Rachel

Bryan and his dad went to a CSU football game and had a great time.

Silas looking through the Toys'R'Us wish book...

Eli helping Grandma make blueberry pancakes!

Abram smiling and laughing at Auntie Rachel....(she is pretty funny-looking....ha ha ha)

Grandpa Jack instructing us before the baptism. Silas slept through the whole thing! (He sure was heavy!)

Grandpa prayed a beautiful prayer for Abram. It was such a nice service--the music was wonderful (Amy sang with a group of people called the Immanuel Octet) and the sermon was very meaningful.

We celebrated after church with our church family with a special cake for Abram.

The boys in their matching sport coats.

Big boy Abram, 2 months old!

Eli and Silas hugging...

Our family posing after the service.

Auntie Rachel and the boys

Rachel and Abram

After church, we had a great lunch at the Charcobroiler, and then drove up and around Horsetooth Reservoir. We live in such a beautiful area!

Sandra and Jack

Rachel, the model :)

The boys loved climbing the rocks

Eli

Silas

Bryan and I also had a chance to go out on a date without the kids (a very rare occurrence these days)! We went out for sushi, saw a 60's rendition of Shakespeare's As You Like It, and had some great coffee. Thanks, Grandpa, Grandma, and Rachel!

Update!

2008-12-10T16:34:00.008-07:00

Wow, it has been forEVER since I posted on here...at least it feels like it! So, I'm sure all of you have been checking the blog every day for new posts...well, at least my mom has been. :) I've got a lot to catch up on, so enjoy! These photos are from the first half of November, around election-time. Silas was voting for "John the Cain" as he called him. Eli was voting for Barack Obama. Any time we see Barack Obama on TV, the boys say with enthusiasm, "Hey, look, it's Barack Obama! Our next president!"

Abram turned 2 months old on November 12 and had a great check-up (and shots) at the doctor's office. He weighed in at a solid 14 lbs., 1 oz.! That's 97th percentile...I'm sure his cheeks must weigh a pound each! He also grew a couple inches. What a big boy!

A picture of him crying...which he RARELY does! I just had to document it! :)

Come on, Abram, you can smile!

See, this is how you do it!

There you go, Abram!

Silas and Eli

Kissing baby Abram

Abram loves his big brother, Eli!

Silas and Abram adore each other!

Eli, just after he woke up one morning.

There wasn't any room left for me once Abram, Silas, and the penguin took over my place in the bed...

ART

2008-11-11T12:44:00.010-07:00

The boys, as always, have been busy creating works of art. Here Eli is explaining to Silas what to do in the workbook.

Now Eli is supervising Silas as he follows the instructions. It was pretty cute to watch them interact.

Eli brought me this paper this morning. It's his breakfast order: pickle, apple, and bread with butter....yum!?

Eli's depiction of trick-or-treating.

A Wedgits tower he made all by himself.

Eli loves to draw robots.

His words here are: crazy, zoommmm, splash.

Here Eli's drawing of our home and Dad's work.

This is Silas's silly face...he told me it was a picture of Grandpa Get-Em Boys...pretty accurate, I think, except for the hair!

Silas drew a picture of a dancing dog.

Here is a picture of a mouse. Silas tried to write "A mouse" all on his own.

Here Silas drew a picture of himself driving a car...he must be going fast as his hair is standing on end!

Guess who???

2008-11-11T12:27:00.016-07:00

****So, I've updated the photos with each boy's name now...thanks to all who played!

Let's play a game! It's called, "Name that baby." Okay, so below are several photos of my three boys when they were all less than 2 months old. Different people keep saying that Abram looks like Eli or Silas...I have my own ideas, but see if you can distinguish who is who in each photo! :) You can be the judge to determine who looks like who. Beware, there is one photo of an impostor thrown in there. If you'd like, post a comment with your answers, and after a while I will put up their names under each photo! (So folks, I just had Bryan take "the test," and he got 16 out of 22 correct...that's 6 wrong!!!! Their own father!!! I was pretty much laughing hysterically.)

Baby #1 - Abram

Baby #2 - Eli

Baby #3 - Silas

Baby #4 - Eli

Baby #5 - Abram

Baby #6 - Silas

Baby #7 - Silas

Baby #8 - Abram

Baby #9 - Eli

Baby #10 - Abram

Baby #11 - Silas

Baby #12 - Eli

Baby #13 - Eli

Baby #14 - Silas

Baby #15 - Abram

Baby #16 - Abram

Baby #17 - Silas

Baby #18 - Eli

Baby #19 - Silas

Baby #20 - Abram

Baby #21 - Eli

Baby #22 - my nephew, Jack

I've Been Tagged!

2008-11-07T14:00:00.003-07:00

So, my husband's dear cousin, Amy, "tagged" me on her blog, and now it's my turn to answer this list of questions... So this post is about me :) and not the kids.

1. What are your nicknames?
My nicknames, huh? Some are embarrassing....but I guess I'll share. In college my friends called me "Amer", and "Guilder" or "Guildy". I also had a friend call me "Bimi", short for Abimilech...long story. In grad school one friend called me "Amelia," because I told him once about how when I was like seven I wished my name was short for something. When I played basketball, my coach called me "Tiger" because he thought I was aggressive on defense. My dad calls me Ud-la.....I especially loved that one as a teenager, especially when my siblings turned it into a chant, "ud, ud, full of crud" :) (can't you just picture Jessa shouting that combined with her evil laugh??) and I have no idea where that came from. Bryan calls me "babe," "honey," or "szhuv," or "soulmatey". I won't embarrass him anymore, though. :)

2. What game show and/or reality show would you like to be on?
Oh, I would LOVE to be on The Amazing Race! I would need a partner who was strong, not afraid of heights, and could complete all the disgusting food detours. Also someone who spoke several different languages would be a plus. :) I also think I could do well on Wheel of Fortune and hopefully win big bucks.....I have always loved that game!

3. What was the first movie you bought on DVD or VHS?
Hmmmmm......not sure about that one. I think one of the first ones I actually bought myself was When Harry Met Sally.

4. What is your favorite scent?
I love the smell of lilacs in the spring. I also love the smell of orange blossoms---it reminds me of Spain. Love Spell by Victoria's Secret was the scent I wore in our wedding and honeymoon, so I like that one a lot still. Blueberry muffins baking... pot roast in the oven.... apple pie.... okay, I'm getting too hungry, next question!

5. If you had one million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?
Well, probably pay off debt, the house, etc. Buy my dream house. Travel the world. Save some money for retirement and for the kids to go to college. Oh, I know! Hire a housekeeper!

6. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back?
I would love to go back to Europe, with Bryan this time, and no kids. My dream trip would be to tour England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and make a few stops in Norway.

7. Do you trust easily?
It depends.

8. Do you think before you act, or act before you think?
Well, most of the time I think before I act, or I spend so much time thinking that I don't have time to act! But when I'm angry I probably more often act before I think.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy lately?
Seeing someone I love feeling stressed out.

10. Do you have a good body image?
I just had my third baby!!!! So, no, I am not crazy about my body at the moment.....but I'm working on it. :)

11. What is your favorite fruit?
I love raspberries, but they're always so expensive. Big juicy blueberries are good. I like peaches, too, the fresh, sweet kind from Colorado! I like variety though, so a nice fresh fruit salad sounds delicious!

12. What websites do you visit daily?
Well, I do visit other blogs....but I also am on Facebook, and the library web site.

13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Dark chocolate. JoAnn Fabrics. The Twilight books.....

14. What is the last song you got stuck in your head?
Pretty much every song on the Snack Time CD by the Barenaked Ladies....only because it's the only music my boys will listen to in the car!

15. What is your favorite item of clothing?
shoes. :)

16. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
Yes, especially if they're the sugary, colorful kind--I can't remember the name, and in Rice Krispie Treats!

17. What would you do if you found $100 laying on the ground?
Pick it up and put it in my pocket!

18. What items could you not go without during the day?
My cell phone, a book to read, chapstick.

19. What should you be doing right now?
Changing a dirty diaper...

20. Name 3 people who should be tagged
I'll pass this on to...Jessa M., Meghan B., and Kate VW. :) Tag! You're it!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:13:00.008-06:00

Abram's first Halloween...what a cute little pumpkin!

Smiles!

Our Halloween pizza party with neighbor friends, Matt & Sheri and their 9-month-old, Ryan.

Ryan enjoyed the napkin more than the pizza!

Last night, Bryan carved pumpkins with the boys. This is Eli's drawing of how he wanted Bryan to make his pumpkin.

Here are the Eli, Silas, & Abram-O-Lanterns.

Sir Eli, the knight.

Curious Silas, the monkey.

Don't these brothers look so cute?

We went trick-or-treating with a couple more neighbors and friends...Orion the dragon, Silas the monkey, Ryan the pumpkin, Julia the cat, and Eli the knight.

Here are the boys with their friend, Tristan the hunter.

Off to gather candy, which was Eli's favorite part of the whole day! Silas said his favorite part was...one word, "Chocolate."

Julia was a little freaked out by this guy...come on, scary clown man, at least take your mask off for the younger ones. If my children wake up with nightmares, now I know why! (Interesting note...I don't really know what this particular neighbor looks like in real life because the only time I see him is on Halloween, and he is always wearing a super-scary mask...for all I know he could be Joe the plumber!)

Abram was a trooper and slept in Daddy's arms the whole time!

Ha ha ha...this made me laugh. The Rayburns made an Obama-O-Lantern...it says, "OOOBAMA!" and has the Halloweenized version of his logo. :) Clever, those democrats.

Silas "eating" his banana that was part of his costume.

Abram and Mommy

BOO!

Abram is 6 weeks old!

2008-10-24T17:33:00.007-06:00

Abram and Eli

Abram's gonna knock you out!

Cute Abram

Pensive Abram

Sleepy Abram

Nursey Abram

Chubby-Cheeks Abram

Strike-A-Pose Abram

Ahhh-choo! Sneezy Abram

Ugh-gug-gug

Pop-eye Abram

Bright-eyed Abram

Abram's right hook

Sweet Abram

Smiling conductor Abram

Silly smiling Abram

A month's worth of cute photos...prepare yourself!

2008-10-20T14:00:00.026-06:00

Abram is 5 weeks old now, and life is getting pretty much back to "normal" (whatever that looks like with 3 little kids) for us. Bryan is back to work full time (and glad to finally be out of the house!) and the boys are all pretty much healthy and happy. I am feeling more and more like myself as each week goes by...I still have a ways to go though, I think! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the past month's worth of photos...

Eli and Grandpa Jack saying good-bye

Silas and Grandma Dianne. The day that Jack and Sandy left, my mom arrived to stay with us for a week. She was a huge help and had a lot of fun with the boys!

Grandma meeting Abram...her fourth grandson! (Abram was one week old.)

Silas holding Abram...he loves to show Abram his affection!

Awwww....except Abram's fussing, maybe it's time to pick him up...

Giving him a hug first...

...and a kiss, too!

After all that love, Abram wasn't the happiest baby brother.

He survived, though.

Eli took a bit longer to warm up to Abram than Silas did, but here is when he asked to hold Abram all by himself.

Eli loves his baby brother, too.

Eli was a big help to me by making a grocery list, all on his own. Translation: juice, steak, brooms, cheese, banana, pickle, cucumber, orange, apple, egg.

Abe and Grandma

Daddy and Abram taking a nap together.

Grandma reading to the boys...they also had so much fun playing games, doing puzzles, and even working in the kitchen!

Here are the boys helping Grandma make muffins!

While my mom was here, we went up into Rocky Mountain National Park for an evening to hear the elk bugle (their mating call). We saw a lot of elk up close, and also saw a bear run across the road in front of our car!

Abram and I in front of the herd of female elk.

Abram in the mountains at 2 weeks old!

Eli enjoying the great outdoors!

Silas and Daddy watching the elk.

Hi, Silas.

Here comes the big daddy elk....he was pretty close to us. I think while I was taking this picture my mom was telling me to get out of the way!

Grandma enjoyed hearing the elk bugle with her grandsons...too bad Grandpa Dennis wasn't able to be there!

My three sons.

Kisses!

All four of my guys.

Abram in his cute little polo shirt onesie.

Abram having his first bath! He looks a little freaked out in this picture, but he actually seemed to enjoy the warm water, especially when it was poured over his head.

Clean, dry, and cozy.

Cherub

A.J., 3 weeks old.

The two big brothers with their baby brother.

Happy baby

Not happy baby

Bryan took Eli and Silas over to see the Budweiser Clydesdales (just a few miles from our house) so Abram and I could rest at home. The boys loved it so much that they went back two more times that week! The horses became their friends, and the boys learned all their names and would talk about them a lot at home.

Another bonus of the trip to Budweiser...free pop and pretzels (and beer, too, but only for the adults.) :)

Bryan also got a bike (finally!) and took the boys on some rides to the park in the bike trailer.

Abram's eating like a champ...and has the cheeks to prove it!

Eli being silly (wearing my shoes on his hands and feet and a bucket on his head). Why? Who knows?

Abram at 4 weeks old. His shirt says, "So cute, it's scary."

Eli wanting to get in on the photo shoot.

Here I am with my new baby in my new sling (and with a new hair-do!)

Silas being silly.

Abram Joshua, one month old! His shirt says, "my daddy loves me," but it really should say, "I have the chubbiest cheeks in the universe."

Abram and Eli being adorable.

Abram is giving Silas a kiss for a change (instead of the other way around!)

Our cuddly, kissable, content baby.

Hanging with Daddy as he gets some work done.

We interrupt these cute baby photos to bring you Eli, the underpants-on-his-head wonder child.

Mommy and Abram (5 weeks old!)

Yes, his eyes are still a beautiful deep blue.

Having some tummy time.

He also still has his "stork bites" -- the reddish birthmarks on the inside corners of his eyelids.

Corn maze!

The boys loved leading the way through the maze...we only hit one dead end!

American Gothic...you know, that classic, famous painting??

Yeah, a family photo at the pumpkin patch!

Eli Jacob

Silas Benjamin

And a little koala we found up in the tree...

The guys relaxing on a Sunday afternoon.

Abram's first week

2008-10-10T16:36:00.007-06:00

Look at his big hand!

He has his days and nights all mixed up...so he sleeps a lot during the day, and not so much at night!

Silas LOVES to give kisses to his baby brother.

His shirt says, "mommy loves me" :) -- I also love his wrinkly arm!

Trying on the sport coat Auntie Rachel got for him.

Checking out Grandma.

One week old!

Tummy time! (it looks like he's trying to nurse his crib sheet...poor dear.)

Abram Joshua, one week old, a big-eyed, wrinkly-skinned little bundle of love.

Fun with Grandpa and Grandma!

2008-10-10T16:16:00.006-06:00

While we were in the hospital, Grandpa Jack and Grandma Sandy took care of Eli and Silas, taking them on fun adventures and having a blast!

Grandpa Jack and Abram taking a nap together.

Thanks, Jack and Sandy, for all your love, care, hard work, and fun you provided while you were out here...we miss you!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

2008-10-10T16:00:00.006-06:00

The night Abram came home from the hospital, Bryan and his dad took Eli and Silas to a Colorado Rockies baseball game! This was the first one for Silas! They had a great night, even though the Rockies lost.

Eli holding the tickets

The boys with Grandpa Jack

Singing "Take me out to the ballgame..." They love this song and know all the words!

full moon

The boys were so excited to get pop and hot dogs and a huge bag of kettle corn!

Abram comes home from the hospital

2008-09-30T16:46:00.004-06:00

Abram Joshua, 2 days old. Look at those bright eyes!

The night before we went home from the hospital, Bryan and I enjoyed a gourmet dinner (compliments of Poudre Valley Hospital) of steak and lobster tail...it was surprisingly good!

Silas giving his baby brother a kiss as we await going home.

Abram in his precious going-home outfit (thanks, Meghan & Carl!)

...but the hat didn't fit because Abram has such a big head!

That made Silas sad...he really wanted Abram to wear that hat!

Daddy and Mommy, ready to take Abram (3 days old) home

All bundled in his car seat

All the boys walking out to the car

All snuggled up at home, and figuring out how to keep that soothie in his mouth!

Watching mom check her e-mail

Announcing the birth of...

2008-09-13T21:23:00.009-06:00

Abram Joshua Dik!
He was born at 8:13am on Friday, September 12; 7 lbs. 13 oz., 20.75 inches. Both mom and baby had a good delivery experience and are doing well. Mom is pretty exhausted, but here are a few pictures of our new bundle of joy!

The night before Abram arrived...I know, I am huge.

Minutes after being born...look at those big feet! I was actually able to see the instant of Abram being born (by c-section)...they pulled his head out and instantly he started crying! As they pulled the rest of him out, he was kicking his legs and flailing his arms. The doctor said he entered this world "kicking and screaming!" What a kid. :)

Weighing in...

Not loving the stethoscope...

Mommy...still all hooked up, but happy to finally be holding her little Abram.

Clean and dry after his bath, with his cute little knit hat from the hospital.

The big brothers...ready to meet baby Abram!

Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Jack meeting their 5th grandson!

Our Abram Joshua...the name "Abram" means "the Father is exalted." We give God all the glory for this precious little gift!

Lookin' around...

Daddy's kisses....

Smiling in his sleep...

Big feet and long toes...just like his Daddy.

Snuggling with Mommy.

Our new family of five!

Incredible Hulk Man and Cleaning Guy

2008-09-11T08:58:00.005-06:00

One last post before baby brother is born...
We're so excited for tomorrow to meet and hold our new little guy. We'll post the news and photos of him as soon as we get a chance.

This is "Incredible Hulk Man," one of Silas's favorite toys we got from a happy meal or something. The other day he came up to me with his Incredible Hulk Man, held him in front of my face, and said in his best imitation of the Incredible Hulk, "Arrrggghhhh!!!! I'm so mad! I'm just so mad!"
So I asked Silas, "Why is he so mad?"
Silas said (still in his growling voice), "because he ripped his pants!"

(And just so you know, we don't allow our kids to watch "The Incredible Hulk" just yet. For some reason, he's drawn to this particular super-hero.)

Meet another super-hero--this is "Cleaning Guy" who "cleans lots and lots of things." One morning Bryan found Eli wearing his socks on his arms and "cleaning" the house with the broom and an empty paper towel roll. He takes after his father...

Labor Day and the end of summer...

2008-09-05T16:34:00.010-06:00

For Labor Day, we went to Joe and Linde Dauner's house for supper and homemade ice cream. We also got to spend some time with Zach, Jane, and Julia Vandenberg who were here for a visit, LeighAnn and Jason, and Joe's parents. It was a nice, relaxing evening, and the ice cream was delicious! Here is Silas turning the crank!

What are we making, Eli? "ICE CREAM!!"

The boys, full of ice cream!

Eli has been using his creativity lately to make and invent things out of household items. Here he had Bryan cut holes in the box for his legs and put the colander on his head so that he could be a robot and tramp around the house yelling typical robot phrases like, "danger!" and "cheese!" He and Silas also built their own store--selling boxes and bags, complete with signs - Eli's said, "STOP! Dont yel" (don't yell) and Silas's was a map of the store showing where the bathtub was (a sure necessity for any successful boxes and bags store). Eli has been drawing up word puzzles and games for Bryan and I to play and constantly asking for tape to make a new creation of some kind. The boys are also having fun playing pirates with empty paper towel rolls and laundry baskets and making a garden of carrots (mulch, dirt, and water mixed together in a cardboard box) outside to feed the bunnies (we don't have any bunnies).

I caught Silas watching a show the other day with his cowboy hat on.

This is about the only thing that has survived in my vegetable garden this summer.....um, we've had a lot of hailstorms (oh yeah, I'll blame it on that!). And it's actually something I didn't even plant.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and the boys wanted to play in the backyard with water and their "carrot garden." They had a lot of fun and were their goofy selves...

Some other funny stories from the week:
Eli was jumping on my bed, so I asked him to stop. His response was, "Yes, your majesty!" I have no idea where he got it from, but I guess I'll respond to that. :) (Wait a minute! On second thought, I think I've heard Bryan sarcastically mutter that under his breath when I've made a particularly indulgent request of him. Hmmmm....maybe I'll rethink that one.)
Eli and Silas were also eating "Go, Diego, Go" fruit snacks together and showing me each individual character they picked out of their bags. Silas bit one in half and said, "Mommy! Look what's inside.....Jesus!"
I love my boys!

The Banner

2008-08-27T20:17:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I have a little bit more to brag about--this time it's about my husband. He wrote an article that was published in the September 2008 edition of the Christian Reformed Church in North America's magazine, The Banner. It is the cover story! Here is a link to his article, "Where in the World (of Work) Have All the Reformers Gone?"

Firsts and Other News (or Tales from a Bragging Mama)

2008-08-27T08:09:00.012-06:00

Well, we have just a couple more weeks before baby #3 makes his first appearance for all to see in the world! I've been nesting a little...trying to get things organized and cleaned. I have done quite a bit and still have a lot to do! But I thought I'd take a break and share below a few tales about my two little shining stars...moms are allowed to brag once in a while, right?

Eli is doing great and getting so big! He's looking more handsome every day (I am just a bit biased).

Here is Eli on his first day of school this year (Pre-K)! He wanted to wear his baseball outfit and picked out a new "Cars" backpack. He seems to like his class and teacher so far!

Eli has been excited about reading, spelling, and writing lately. Here is an excerpt from the kids church bulletin (for ages 7-12) he did all on his own that I thought was cute. For those who can't see it well enough, he labeled the pictures: "star, crown, net, wosh (for watch, but it's actually a worm), fiur (fire), goste (ghost), iurn (iron), door." I was surprised he knew what an iron was...as mine rarely sees the light of day!

Silas has been as silly as ever, doing things like standing on his head and saying, "Take a picture of me, mommy! Go get the camera!" What a ham!

We'll see how this mama's boy adjusts when little brother rocks his world!

Another "first" is Silas learning to write his name. This is the first time he wrote his name (rather legibly) and then drew a self-portrait.

Don't you see the resemblance? Actually, all of his drawings of people look the same--like little Picasso ghosts.

A funny story about Silas...the other day we were shopping in the grocery store, and he was asking me (over and over), "What does that spell?" and would point to a sign or word he saw. I would reply, somewhat absentmindedly, "That spells Meat Department," or "That spells Produce." I was getting rather absorbed in the cream cheese section when I realized he'd been pointing to a word and repeatedly asking me what it spelled.....coming out of my cream cheese daze, I just shook my head and said, "Oh, I don't know." Silas matter-of-factly instructed me, "Well, sound it out!" (The word was "Philadelphia.")

Part of my reorganizing efforts have involved moving Silas into Eli's bedroom. Eli was so excited to get new bedding to match his brother's! He has all these ideas about what other cowboy decor we can put up in their room now...last time we were in Super Target he wanted to go to the cowboy aisle.

Here is Silas sleeping in his "big boy bed" for the first time!

Daddy reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to the boys in Silas's bed.

The boys reading in their room...hopefully they'll always get along this well together!

The ZOO with Aunt Rachel

2008-08-25T09:53:00.010-06:00

Bryan's sister, Rachel, came for a fun visit to help me out while Bryan was at a conference in Boston. We had a good time hanging out, playing with the boys, shopping, re-organizing the house, and watching the Olympics! Thanks, Aunt Rachel!

Bryan had a great time in Boston...other than having the APA conference go well for him (he was called "the new face of calling [research]"!), he also enjoyed spending time with his friend, Andy Tix, going to a baseball game at Fenway Park, visiting some historical sites, and sharing an interesting dinner with a homeless couple. We were glad to have him home, though, and spent a day at the zoo as a family with Aunt Rachel (her Christmas present to us)!

Eli enjoyed the elephants!

Watching the gorilla eat made us all hungry!

The boys loved playing the drums (of course!)

Silas and Aunt Rachel watching the sea lion show.

This polar bear was quite active for being out of his climate zone!

I asked Eli to smile for a picture...he pulled this face instead. It's still cute, though.

This is after I caught Silas playing with some bird droppings....ughh.

And I decided to continue posting photos of myself...even though I am not crazy about my "great with child" appearance as I just get bigger and bigger! (Oh, and by the way, there is a giraffe in this picture. I completely dwarf the thing!)

He actually was quite a tall and beautiful creature.

Silas liked the flowers.

Rarely have I seen a hippo out of the water!

Bryan went on a train ride with the boys.

Later in the afternoon, the majority of animals were snoozing, like these lions.

...and Silas, too!

This leopard was aggravated about something. He gave us quite the roar!

End of the day family photo. We're all pretty exhausted, but we had a great day!

Vacation Bible School

2008-08-17T18:12:00.006-06:00

The first week of August, our church held Vacation Bible School--the Son Harvest County Fair! We learned about the fruit of the Spirit and had fun with the farm and growing fruit theme. Eli and Silas both had a blast, and I had fun leading the music (but was quite exhausted and sore by the end of the week!). We also brought two of our neighbors, Will and Connor, along.

Will, Eli, and Connor were in the preschool class, the "great grapes."

Here is Eli singing "Old MacDonald had a farm...and on that farm there was a chicken..."

Yes, I enjoyed the strawberries and cream they had for snack one day...it was all in preparation for being one of the judges for the pie-baking contest at the end of the week. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it!!

Here are Silas and Steve petting the goat, Rocket. Church members also brought in cows, a sheep, chickens, rabbits, and an old tractor for the kids to enjoy.

While Silas wasn't old enough to be in the preschool class, he had a lot of fun during the music time and playing with the animals and other kids in the nursery. Joel is always a good sport and lets Silas tackle him.

The kids did a performance at the end of the week which included some songs. Silas got to sing on stage with Eli's class--they sang "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, Down in My Heart." Both of them did a great job doing the motions and were fun to watch.

baby shower

2008-08-12T08:10:00.004-06:00

My neighbor, Sheri, threw a beautiful shower for me and baby #3 a couple of weekends ago. I was 33 weeks along.

Valerie giving me tips on raising boys (she has 4, and a girl, too!). Doesn't the food look delicious?

Craft time! They painted on mini murals to make a collage to hang in the nursery. Another meaningful thing everyone did was to write a birthday card for each year (1-18) of our third son's childhood. I will be looking forward to opening one every year!

I had such a fun time with friends!

I got some adorable outfits for our little guy to wear once he's born!

Brenna (10 years old) and her mom, Carla, made this incredible quilt for me and the baby. It is Brenna's first quilt! I am so blessed (and impressed)!!!

Here's Jennifer...the "diaper Santa"...that big black bag is filled with packs of diapers given to me during the shower....and are we sure going to need them!

The gracious hostess, Sheri, and me. Thanks to all for a memorable day!

Silly Silas

2008-08-09T13:42:00.004-06:00

Summer in Colorado

2008-08-05T18:57:00.007-06:00

Since we've been home from our trip, we've been enjoying summer in Colorado! However, to a very pregnant woman, consistent temperatures in the 90s and 100s is NOT FUN!!! We have had some cooling thunderstorms though, and below are a few photos I took after a big hailstorm came through one evening. We got pelted by pea- and marble-size hail (my poor vegetable garden!!!), but the clouds sure were beautiful!

This is after it had melted quite a bit!

What a picture of utter exhaustion! I think Silas was tired and wanted me to put him to bed, and I was too tired to stay awake....so he decided to fall asleep standing up with his head on my lap!

Jessa and Jack (and Nate, too) were in Denver for a wedding one weekend and were able to meet up with me and the boys in Loveland for a couple hours. The three cousins all were wearing Hawaiian shirts...not planned, but pretty cute!

Michelle Van Haitsma was also out here for the wedding that weekend and drove up with my sister...it was great seeing my freshman roommate from Calvin again (and hearing about life with triplets...yikes!).

One day I noticed that there were three butterflies and several bees among the flowers in front of Eli's bedroom window. I thought this picture was cool because I captured (quite accidentally!) a bee flying in mid-air (just to the right of the butterfly...if you click on the picture I think it gets bigger).

The boys' biggest passion lately has been spelling words. They are constantly sounding out letters to words and playing their word games, often on the drives back and forth from Fort Collins. Eli loves to read, and Silas sure does a good job of trying! You also might notice their haircuts...(sorry, Mom! she hates it when I butcher their hair) I cut their hair quite short (not really meaning to), but it probably feels way cooler in this hot weather, and hair grows, right?

In the month of July, Eli had Preschool I swimming lessons at a community pool. He loved them, and passed on to the next level! While Eli was in his class, Bryan and Silas would swim together. Silas is showing more of his daredevil personality--he jumps right into the water away from Bryan so that he goes under and then comes up laughing! We've got to keep our eyes on that one....

Eli with his class and teacher.

Showing off new skills.

Celebrating the 4th in the Twin Cities!

2008-08-04T15:32:00.006-06:00

While we were in Michigan, we decided to drive home through Minnesota and stop for a couple of days to visit our "old" friends. The last time we were in the Twin Cities was 3 years ago before we moved out to Colorado!

Our friends, Matt and Katie Schaap, were so gracious to let us stay with them, even though Katie had to work the whole weekend!

We celebrated the 4th of July with our former neighbors, the Banats, from Como Student Community Cooperative, part of the University of Minnesota's family student housing. We went with them to a parade in Saint Anthony Park (where the Banats now live), which is very near our old apartment. It was so good visiting with them and also seeing places where we used to spend a lot of time--our local library, Luther Seminary, Speedy Mart, and various shops and restaurants.

Bryan and Silas in front of the Finnish Bistro (formerly Taste of Scandinavia--yummy food and Dunn Bros. freshly roasted coffee), a favorite hangout of ours.

The boys watching the parade.

The Banats had us over for a BBQ lunch after the parade. Here are Eli and Silas snacking with Sami and Pia after running through the sprinkler.

Me and Andrea, both due the end of the summer with baby #3!

Bryan and Nael

We took the opportunity to drive through both the Minneapolis and St. Paul U of MN campuses and stop by our old apartment, which was home for our first 5 years of marriage. Since this was also Eli's first home, we took pictures of him outside the entryway and also outside our old apartment door. We have a lot of fond memories from 1007 C!!

A special part of our visit included some time spent with our dear friend, Bonnie Oberloh. When we lived in Minnesota, Bonnie and her husband Larry led our church small group and also became very close friends, mentors, and honorary parents/grandparents to us and Eli. Sadly, Larry passed away a year ago from a long struggle with colon cancer, and we were able to reminisce with Bonnie about our times with Larry and how the past 3 years had gone for them. It was a blessing for us to hear of Larry's legacy and to see how God is working now in Bonnie's life!

Bonnie (ever the teacher!) reading to our boys.

Bonnie's daughter Heather and her family were able to stop by for a short time to see us. Here is Silas playing with Ferdinand and Dominic.

We were also blessed by spending some time with our good friends, Elizabeth and Daniel Thompson, and their adorable baby Grace. It was a testimony to God's grace and power to hear of how He's been working in their lives as well.

We also saw many other good friends from church at a 4th of July party we were invited to. I sadly have no pictures as Eli got sick all over the Lings' couch (it was pretty awful), so we decided to forget the fireworks and leave to put him to bed.
The next morning I was able to have a nice breakfast (minus Bryan and our boys since Eli was sick) with our friends, Steven and Robin Lee, their son Sammy and new baby Melina.
Before we left for home, we also had the opportunity to attend worship at Faith CRC, our former church, and saw many more friends and friendly faces. :) It was a whirlwind of a trip--only 2 days--and with Eli getting sick it put a bit of a damper on our ability to see everyone we wanted to see, but despite that (and the astronomical cost of gasoline!), we were glad to be back in a place very special to us!

Fun times in Holland

2008-07-31T12:20:00.016-06:00

After our visit in Charlevoix, we drove down to Holland to spend some time with Bryan's family. We got to see a lot of family and friends and do some fun things!

Because we drove out to Michigan, we spent A LOT of time in the car. The boys loved watching movies on their DVD players. They also took naps, ate snacks, listened to music, and played with little toys. Silas liked playing his alphabet game. Eli mastered his travel Sudoku.

Here are Silas, Sawyer, Eli, Braden, and Grandpa playing a game together. The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins, and they all laughed hysterically playing this game! It was very cute.

Eli and Silas with Auntie Rachel, all wearing yellow! We didn't get to see much of her because she was working on a movie, but we are so excited to see her in a couple weeks when she comes out to Colorado for a visit!

Mommy reading a bedtime story to her three boys.

Eli, enjoying Holland (actually right after I took this picture he tripped and fell, scraped up his knees and got mud all over him!)

Silas also got a little muddy playing at the park (it had rained a lot earlier and there were big puddles everywhere!)

Grandpa and Grandma with their 4 grandsons...Sawyer, Silas, Braden, and Eli.

Bryan's Grandpa Dik and his lovely wife, Donna, came for a nice visit. It was fun looking at pictures from these world travelers!

We also had a good time visiting with Bryan's other Grandparents, the Longstreets, who in this photo are enjoying the amazing chocolate kitty-cat cake Kerrie made for Sawyer's 2nd birthday.

Family photo of Summer 2008 at Windmill Island in Holland. We spent a fun day there with Grandpa and Grandma and the Vanden Boschs learning about the history of Dutch immigrants to Holland.

Cousin photo!

Silly cousin photo!

Bryan's sister Kerrie, with her husband Eric, and Sawyer and Braden (and also little Vanden Bosch on the way--February '09!!!! Will it be another boy or the first granddaughter??)

This was so cute, they were holding hands of their own accord, and I couldn't resist taking about a bazillion pictures!

Eli and his Daddy

Sweet Silas

At the Windmill they had Dutch clothes (complete with wooden shoes!) for kids to try on. Here is little Dutch boy, Eli Dik.

And another little Dutch boy, Silas Dik.

One day we spent the afternoon at the beach with Grandpa and Grandma. The boys loved the big Lake Michigan waves! And Mom loved cooling off in the water!

Splash! Some of the waves were so big, they would knock Silas over! So we had to always hold onto him.

Silas, all tuckered out from braving the waves...

We had the pleasure of going to a reunion of sorts of Bryan's RA staff ('96-'97) from Calvin. It was so great seeing those who could make it (some we hadn't seen in quite a while!) and their kids. I'll try to tell you the families, from left to right: Jay and Kristin (Stimac) Wise, with their daughter Zoe and baby boy due in August; Kim (Quist) and Dave Gilmore; Jen (Vanden Bosch) and Mike Hoekstra, with their kids, Allison, Caleb, and Benjamin; Tera (Klaasen, my RA freshman year!) and Brad Wiechertjes, with their kids, Noah and Emma; Chris and Cindy (Bryce) Kuipers, with their daughter Claire, and us.

Our last day in Michigan we spent in Grand Rapids visiting with friends and family in the area. Here are my Uncle Steve and Aunt Denise who had us over (in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm!) for supper.

And here are our boys with their kids (my dear cousins), Aaron, Anders, Andrew, Alyssa, and Aidan!

Our time in Charlevoix

2008-07-28T12:07:00.009-06:00

I'm posting this a month late, but I am trying to keep up on my goal to document our summer trip! Here are some photos of the rest of the time we spent with my parents in Charlevoix. We had a great time seeing our family and friends, and the boys loved swimming, playing with Grandpa and Grandma, and going to the beach!

We went to a park near my sister Jessa's house one day, and the boys had fun climbing, swinging, and sliding.

We also had a great time watching and playing with my 6-month old nephew, Jack. He is such a cutie, and is learning to love pureed food...

One afternoon we all went to a local hotel's pool since the weather was a little cool to swim in the lake. The boys loved jumping to Grandpa and Daddy. Mom and Grandma had fun taking photos.

Eli, swimming all by himself (the life jacket helps, of course!), but he sure was proud!

And here is Silas swimming by himself!

Auntie Jessa and cousin Jack

The three cousins, soaking their feet in the hot tub!

Silas really liked Kiki, my parents' cat, and thought Kiki might enjoy reading an animal book. It was quite cute...Silas kept following the cat around and putting the book in front of him and telling him what animals he was looking at. The cat pretended to be interested but got bored after a while.

My parents, down in front of the bridge in Charlevoix.

Silas and Eli at Lake Michigan beach near sunset.

Eli, finding a pebble.

Silas, writing in the sand (with his left hand--we still haven't been able to determine which one is dominant yet).

Enjoying the waves and the lighthouse.

Jack, Silas, and Eli...this was the best "cousin photo" attempt I could get...both Jack and Eli had meltdowns.

Ross and Miriam, my grandparents...married almost 60 years!

Our day at the cottage

2008-07-22T14:14:00.005-06:00

My parents have a cottage on Manistee Lake in Michigan, and I always love going there whenever we can. The day after the family reunion we spent the day at the cottage (about an hour from my parents' house). We had the most relaxing day of our entire "vacation"! It was a little on the cooler side, but the boys went fishing and had fun. Bryan and Eli took a long nap together. My mom took Silas for a walk. I also was able to relax for a couple hours and read out on the dock.

Grandma took the boys out in the paddle boat...the boys both wanted to paddle with their oars.

The men getting ready to go fishing...in a paddle boat?!?

Number of people in the paddle boat: 5
Amount of weight in boat: approximately 700 lbs.
Weight limit of the boat: 750 lbs.
Number of sides dipping below surface of water: one particular back corner...
Number of people who cried themselves to sleep: one
Amount of time spent bailing water: how long were they gone?
Number of fish caught: zero
Watching it all from the dock: priceless!

It was too cold to play on the beach, so Grandma brought out some water toys...of course they got soaked, but they had a blast!

The boys, nice and dry now and getting ready for the campfire and s'mores!

Family vacation

2008-07-21T17:04:00.005-06:00

Hello again! We've been back from our family vacation for a while now...it's been a little hectic because I got sick upon our return and have been trying to recover from that and unpacking, laundry, cleaning, etc. We drove out to Michigan and spent about 2 weeks there visiting family and friends, and then we drove back to Colorado, making a 2-day stop in the Twin Cities to visit old friends. I have a TON of photos and fun times to document...this first post is the from the first day we were in Michigan. We had a Van Guilder "Cousin Clan" reunion up in Charlevoix that Saturday and had so much fun! My brother, Ben, was baptized at the church he and Laura are getting married in. Then all the guys went golfing while the ladies had a bridal shower for Laura. Then we ended the day with a grill-out and bonfire, complete with banjo and guitar music from my uncle Barry, or the "banjo picker." We even had two cakes to celebrate my uncle Danny's (my dad's twin brother) retirement and my uncle Barry's 60th birthday! Enjoy this slideshow of photos from that day!

Dad and the boys

2008-06-18T07:43:00.005-06:00

On Father's Day, we pretty much had a typical Sunday. Bryan is an amazing Daddy and a wonderful husband, and we are so thankful for him! (He also makes a great pillow for two little sleepyheads!)

Eli reading a book to Silas.

Silas and those eyes...

Aren't they adorable?

Pretending to sleep in Eli's bed....almost time for a big boy bed for Silas!

Early this morning we had two little guys sneak into our bed...with 4 (actually 5!) people in our queen-size bed, it gets quite crowded!

Random happenings

2008-06-11T14:17:00.012-06:00

So, here's an update of sorts on other things we've been up to over the past several weeks. There really is no "theme" to this post; it is just a compilation of random photos and news!

Our beloved 1999 Subaru Forrester...that we sadly have to sell! There just is not enough room in that backseat for 3 car seats to fit well, so with baby #3 on the way, we had to move on to the next stage in family car ownership....the minivan. But we will definitely miss our "silver bullet"! It's been a great car! If you or anyone else might be interested in buying it, contact Bryan at bryan.dik@colostate.edu.

And here is our newest addition to the car family, a 2002 Kia Sedona EX, sleek, black, and stylin'. We are really enjoying this minivan so far and are excited to take the "Black Panther" on a road trip to Michigan this summer!

Yes, it has a sunroof! I am loving this feature!

Here are the boys water-coloring and finger painting. They both love to be creative and artistic!

Eli has been building several towers a day lately with his Wedgits blocks. They are the greatest! He is getting more and more adventurous and making some incredible towers. Most of them are even bigger and more creative than this...I just happened to take a picture of this one.

At a yard sale, I found a play fire-engine tent, some firefighter helmets, and a video of Elmo going to a fire house. That was Eli's inspiration to draw a picture of a fire engine spraying water.

Silas, being his goofy self.

The clouds above our house one evening. (For those of you that may not know, I love taking cloud pictures) The past month has been crazy weather-wise. We've had a huge tornado (our home was not damaged thankfully!), several thunderstorms, hail, extreme winds, hot weather, cold overcast days...we never knew Colorado could be like this!

Eli and his friend Will went to Vacation Bible School for a week at the Wellington Community Church. The theme was God's Custom Car Garage. They seemed to have a fun week!

Here's Eli watching a slideshow of the past week of VBS at the end-of-the-week program.

Eli singing with other Pre-K'ers on stage.

"Come on, get up! Rev it up!"

Now this video is of Eli singing and doing motions to the VBS theme song. I apologize for how dark it is...they had the lights off in the church and their spotlights were pretty weak. We were in the second row and had some trouble seeing him!

This past Sunday some members of our church small group went to Library Park for Victorian Sunday. They had free popcorn and lemonade and live music. Some people were walking around in period-style clothing. They also had the Fort Collins Museum open, which the kids love! Here are Brenna, Eli, Jenna, and Silas inside the teepee!

And Eli inside the old school house, pretending to be the teacher.

Summertime!

2008-06-05T13:52:00.007-06:00

Twice in the past week we've gotten together with some of the neighborhood kids to play outside in the water to beat the heat, and to have some awesome times with friends!

Eli

Silas, with his mouth full of teddy grahams

Will

Savannah

Ryan

The kids alternated between eating snacks and playing in the water.

Will and Eli enjoying the crazy sprinklers!

Eli doing a water dance

Eli and Will splashing
(Eli is exactly 6 months younger)

Savannah and Silas discussing some finer points of life
(Silas is 2 weeks older)

Eli, Silas, and Savannah

Some of the moms and babies...Bethany (Will's mom), Angi (Savannah's mom, and pregnant), Stephanie with Orion, and Sheri with Ryan

Eli, Tristan, and Silas throwing balls which happened to be way more fun than actually getting into the kiddie pool.

Tucker (the older, cool kid) was a trooper and filled up tons of water balloons for the boys (Will, Tristan, Silas, and Eli) to play with! (As a side note, Tucker is the boy who Eli said he wanted to be for Halloween!)

And here is a video I took of the boys running through the slip'n'slide sprinkler!

Bryan's new hobby

2008-06-05T11:28:00.004-06:00

For a while now, Bryan has been wanting to try roasting his own coffee. He's had a book on how to do home coffee roasting, and he finally ordered some green coffee beans online to give it a try! Here is the best batch so far...Costa Rican Peaberry, light roast. The method he uses involves a pizza pan, really hot oven (and quite a bit of smoke), spraying water and shaking off the chaff, but he really enjoys having fresh coffee! Come for a visit, and we'll brew you a cup (arguably the freshest coffee in Wellington)!

Bath time bubbles!

2008-06-05T11:19:00.003-06:00

The boys had a GREAT time playing with bubbles in the bath one night!

Silly Sleepers

2008-06-05T10:40:00.006-06:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been taking pictures of when the boys fall asleep in funny positions or places...so I thought I'd post a few. Enjoy!

This particular day Eli wasn't feeling very well. Both boys slept on the couch for most of the afternoon. They kept twisting and turning!

Here Eli fell asleep at the kitchen table! He must have just decided to curl up on his chair. Looks uncomfortable to me!

Silas has developed a rather strange attachment recently. He went shopping with me when we were in need of some kid's shampoo. One look at the bottle with the elephant, and he was sold! He wanted to hang on to it during the rest of our shopping trip, and then hold it in the car, and then have it with him at the table, and then sleep with it that night. Since then, not only does he want to have his hair washed with it at bath time (he loves the smell), but he wants to take it with him to bed, like a security...um, shampoo bottle. He also likes to carry it around with him during the day and smell the shampoo and say, "Mmmmm....whoberry!" He really is a crazy kid.

Silas also took a turn falling asleep at the lunch table. Not even one of his favorite foods (mac & cheese) could keep him awake!

Play hard, sleep hard.

Portrait photos

2008-05-26T14:34:00.008-06:00

We had the boys' photos taken at Portrait Innovations in Loveland, and they turned out so adorable! They also let us take a CD home with all the pictures on it and said we could put them up on our blog, so here are a few (okay, more than a few) we didn't order! We'll be passing out the ones we got prints made of. Enjoy!

Eli's Spring music recital

2008-05-17T17:01:00.017-06:00

On May 12, Eli's preschool class held their Spring music recital. First they performed a couple of songs as a hand bell choir, then they performed their musical. Eli was a rain cloud. It was super cute, and Eli did a great job!

Eli and his hand bell ringing. They did "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and "Ring around the rosy."

Here is Eli singing at the beginning of the show. The song they're singing is "The farmer plants the seeds." I missed getting it on video. The rest of the songs you can view using the video clips below. Some of them are quite comical!

"You are my sunshine"

"We're big rain clouds. We bring water for seeds to drink."

"If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops..." (At the end of this video, the kids threw bubble gum at the audience! After the show, we realized that Eli hadn't thrown his gum but had kept it to chew for himself! I'm pretty sure he swallowed it.)

"The plants begin to grow"

"It's Spring!"

This clip was actually before the show, I was trying out the video function on my camera on Silas, who didn't want to be recorded...

Eli and his music teacher, Cheryl Brown.

Silas wanted to join Eli on stage afterwards.

Eli and his spider hat he made in class before the show.

Silas and his cheesy grin.

Mother's Day

2008-05-17T16:48:00.007-06:00

Mommy's little angels, sitting amongst the tulips.

On Mother's Day, we had a nice family day together. We went to church (where the boys were actually little devils) and then went out for a nice brunch at a restaurant in Wellington (probably the only one open on Sunday other than Subway and the gas station). The boys each made me amazing cards and gave me a box of dark chocolates. Bryan also gave me a meaningful card, yellow tulips, and promises to take me on a fun date for dinner and a play sometime this summer!

Now, I am not crazy about myself in ANY of these photos...but my boys (all 3 of them!) are so cute...I thought I would post them anyway. I so enjoy being their mommy!

It's a BOY!!!!

2008-05-09T11:20:00.007-06:00

We had our ultrasound on Wednesday, and we saw a healthy, active, baby BOY!!!! During the ultrasound, he was at first sitting breech, with his bottom in my pelvis and his feet up straight above his head! (He is WAY more flexible than I ever was!) He moved around a lot and made the technician giggle with amusement several times. She almost thought he wasn't going to let us see his gender! He also thought it was fun to tap dance on my full bladder...I was feeling some sharp pains and getting quite uncomfortable, so the technician showed me why! What a stinker! Here are some pics of him...sorry the quality isn't that great. We are madly in love with him already, and can't wait to actually kiss that little face! The first two are profile shots.

He has his hand resting against his mouth with his thumb on his chin...like he's deciding what acrobatic trick to do next. (You can see the four tips of his finger bones and his thumb).

Here is the gender shot, it's looking up at the bottom with his legs spread, and you can see what's between them! :) Hopefully someday he'll forgive me for posting this so the world can see!

And here is mama, at 21 weeks, with a bit of blue in her hair to celebrate her third son!