Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Mommy's Little Helper

So I was doing laundry today when my little monkey climbed inside the dryer once all the clothes were unloaded and it was open and empty. I couldn't help but snap a pic. On a side note he can't get the dryer door open without help so there's no chance he'll be hiding in there unsupervised. Typically he'll mess with the lent trap, when I'm doing laundry, but has never climbed inside of it until today. Stinker. I did have a hard time getting him out as he thought he was quite something sitting inside. Lots of tears were involved in prying him out of there. Gotta love my curious little monkey. And as a side note this is his typical look when we're home lately. He loves to be in just a diaper and his snow boots. Such a combo, don't you think? Not sure why, but dressing him has been quite the challenge on most days as of the last week or so. Praying his strong willed phase passes quickly.

The Madelyn and Kennedy Show

Madelyn and Kennedy put on quite the show for Alison and I the other night. The guys made a quick run to Gander Mountain after supper and these silly chicas kept us entertained the whole time they were gone. I think Alison snapped a ton of pics while I was able to get these three. (she got a new camera and was having fun with it while these girls ate the camera time up) They put on dress up clothes, which I have none of, and also made up their faces. A little bright, hey? They had a blast and, like I said, were super entertaining.


Happy New Year!!

We rang in the new year with friends at the Double Tree Hotel in Holland. A blast was surely had by all. Good times, oh, good times. We spent a lot of time in the pool.

Kennedy and Jenna...
Quite the posers....
Flying high in the air.

Kooper liked the hot tub.
Avery and Kolter.
Emma, Jenna, and Kennedy
Mommy's boy..

Jenna and Kenz getting ready to dive to Dave.



The VanDerMeulen fam.
Kooper and Logan wanting to play ping pong.
Daddy's boy's.



Kolter all ready to swim.
Showing off his muscles..

Jump to me..



Thanks, friends, for a great time. Looking forward to celebrating again next year!

Emma, Logan, & Hayden


Over Christmas break we watched Emma, Logan and Hayden and had an enjoyable time. I was quite sure what to expect with six kids, four and under, all under my care, but it went really well. The girls play so well together as do the boys. I think it actually went smoother that afternoon with six than what it sometimes does with three. Kooper, Kolter and Hayden all napped well for a couple of hours so the rest of us decided to make and decorate some cut out cookies. We didn't care that Christmas had passed. Cookies are good anytime, right?
Cookie fun!

Emma would decorate a few and then sample a few. It was too cute.


Kolter and sweet Hayden at one point in the day.
Hayden got lots of attention to put it mildly. Thankfully he's such an easy going baby boy.
A precious pic I snapped of him.
He is a sweetie and filled my baby void that afternoon. It won't be long and he'll be ramming with the big boys.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

We kicked off the morning with our annual cinnamon rolls, a candle in the middle of course, and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.
Kolter even added a little drums to the mix.

Koop and Kenz blowing out the candle.


Drummer boy enjoying the drums he got from cousin Ella the night before.


Kenz opened up Lulu, her Fur Real cat, that actually purs, meows, and rolls over. I must say she is pretty life like and a nice addition to our fam. (better than a real one if you ask me)

Almost stocking time..
Getting ready to dig in. We have bags over actual stockings, but still refer to them as stockings.
Liking what's inside.

Showing off her princess snow globe.
Not sure what our pant less little man is showing off here.
He refused to wear his PJ pants... you pick your battles and clearly we weren't up for the fight.
Opening gifts...

She lit right up when she opened her makeup case and vanity.
Family pics on Christmas day...