5/24/2014

Kiera

Kiera loves to be outside... I have even caught her "sneaking" outside a few times this week. We definitely have to keep the doors locked around here with her around :) 
The other day she was very cranky, so I decided to take her out for a while. I sat her down and started putting on her shoes. Her response was adorable: she threw her arms up in the air and yelled, "Horaay! Happy, happy, happy! Horaay!" 
So cute!!!! 

5/22/2014

Story Time!



The Dark Side

Kiera is dragging her friend over to the dark side .... the sitting-in-the-cupboard dark side. Not that Peyton seems to mind - she looks pretty happy about it!! 


5/15/2014

A Nighttime Prayer

Out of the mouths of babes and infants ... the other night it was storming outside - pouring rain, thunder, lightening. I was laying in bed hoping our roof would not leak, that our septic would not overflow, that our basement would not flood. Seth, who was in bed with us because of the thunder, sat up and said, "Mom, we should pray for the people who don't have houses. They will be getting wet!" Apparently his heart is in the right spot, and mine needs some work. 
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. 
Prov 3:5
If only I could learn this incredibly important, but oh-so-difficult truth. To have faith like that of a child would be a truly wonderful gift. To look past oneself to the needs of others is what Jesus requires. Now if only I could truly remember and act this out in my own life!  

5/11/2014

Right Now

My three kiddos... right now. 

Seth
My spunky, crazy one. He has so. much. energy. He wakes up with a smile (usually the first one up) and a bounce in his step. He giggles at absolutely everything - and it is a contagious, continuous, joyful sound. He runs. And runs. And runs. I am so thankful that spring has sprung and that he can run outside, instead of circles around the house. If I tell him not to run, he climbs. Or hops. Or crawls. Or rolls. He loves to move (unless the TV is on. Then he does not move at all!) His speed is very important to him (that is why he must run all the time - he needs to practice to get faster). All his practice seems to be working, because he is a very quick little guy. He can beat kids much bigger than him in races, and this means the world to him. Despite all this moving, he is actually a really great player. He and Maddy play all day long. He has never grown out of his love to "be something". In the span of a day, he "is" Joe Thorton, a tiger, a monkey, Bot (from a TV show), Sidney Crosby, and a host of other characters / animals. He is also able to sit and play - with playmobile, with cars / planes (although they always end up in some sort of race which has him running again :P), lego (a big favourite), and looking at books / hockey cards. He also loves to play hockey and soccer
Seth has the biggest heart of any five year old I know. Once, when at a friend's house he was given a kinder suprise. His friend opened the surprise first and was upset by the toy he received - he really wanted the one his sister had gotten. When Seth opened his surprise, it was the same toy as his friend's sister's. He kindly offered his to his friend ... although he admitted to his friend's mother later that he really liked that toy. He didn't want his friend to be sad. And this is not a strange occurrance ... he is just that type of kid. I pray that he will remain this way, and that the competivness of this world will not change him.
Seth loves his sisters dearly. He is also a big admirer of his daddy :) He has become much more social over the last year, and will play with other kids (especially is smaller group settings).
He has become very particular about his clothing. They must be blue. He will only wear muscles shirts, and pants are taboo (unless they are his red ones, which must then be worn with his penguin shirt. Just like Sidney Crosby). He also really likes shoes, and has an outside pair, an inside pair, a Sunday pair, and a town pair. 


Maddy
Our little princess. She loves all things girly - anything pink or purple is perfect for her. She loves her jewelry, flouffy skirts, and pretty shoes. She is particular about she wears - it must match, which, to her, means they are the same colour :D.
Maddy loves to play with her big brother. She too enjoys "being" something - and is usually quick to follow her brother's lead. However, she has been asserting some of her own mind lately - which has caused a bit of friction between them. She is quick to find a solution, however, and I often end up putting on the timer to fix whatever problem they are having. She also loves Kiera dearly - unfortunately, the love is not always reciprocated. She enjoys touching Kiera. And Kiera does not like being touched. Not such a good combination! 
One of Maddy's favourite pastimes is colouring. She loves to draw, to colour pictures, and to do crafts. My fridge is generally covered with Maddy's treasures.
Maddy will not be left behind. I have been working with Seth over the past year on his reading / math. She joins in enthusiastically. And is doing very well - she is not far behind her big brother! She knows her sounds, can read simple words and all the sight words we have learned, and is able to spell as well! I'm rather proud of her :D 
Maddy enjoys talking like a baby. Not my most favourite trait of hers. We are working on it :) 
Maddy has a hard time going to the bathroom on time. While this is rather annoying, it is also humourous as she often ends up walking with her butt sticking out. Hard to describe, but quite funny to see. She also loves to tell everyone about her body and it's inner workings :) 
Maddy has one hero in life ... me. She continues to be a huge fan of her mother - she still breaks into tears when I leave, she won't let daddy put her to bed, and she always wants to sit beside me (or on me). I seriously don't know what I did to her ... but whatever it was, it must have been something good! 

Kiera
Our spunky, strong willed one. Very strong willed. And very spunky. She is a true joy to be around. She keeps us going, keeps us laughing, and keeps us praying :) 
Kiera is the queen of faces. She can pull the most outrageous faces. She has incredible control of her eyes ... and can make them very intense. She loves to make people laugh, and therefore pulls these faces very regularly. She usually gets her desired result. Maddy has recently taught her how to stick out her tongue, as well :) Yay. 
Like her big brother, she has a lot of energy. She likes to run. Unfortunately, she is not shy in the least. Not at all. She has none of Maddy's "mommy lovin'", and will gladly take off. This is a slight problem when we are out and about. She will go and go and go. She loves to explore, and is not afraid (at all) to get dirty. As mentioned above, she is rather strong willed, which makes stopping her from going is difficult. It often results in a loud screech. 
Speaking of screeching ... she is loud. Very loud. She talks constantly. Unfortunately, we cannot make a lot of it out. It's too bad, because she is quite insistent and will keep repeating her "words". She is improving- she has a fairly large vocabulary, and is starting to string words together in simple sentences. She is not very clear, though. 
A few noteable words / phrases that she says:
"See? (she)" for everything, but especially after I take a picture. 
"See ya"
"Amen" in the middle of a prayer, when she figures it has been long enough. 
"Maddy (mayee)" and "Seth (set)" 
"Moo" Everytime she says a cow.
"Bottle (bololololololol)"
"Bye" She will put on some shoes, a hat and a purse and wave, as if she is leaving. 
"Cute (coot)" and "Pretty (priyee)" While lifting up her shirt and showing everyone her tummy.

She loves to be like her big brother and sister. She puts on their shoes, wears their hats, and plays with their toys. She is determined to be just like them. Kiera also loves her daddy. She is very much a daddy's girl - which warms Greg's heart thoroughly (especially after Maddy!!) 
 
   
  

Mother's Day 2014

Happy Mother's Day to me!! I am so incredibly blessed to carry this title. I love the three blessing God has entrusted into our care. I am thankful to stay home with them, to be able to watch them grow, learn and experience new things. They drive me crazy, and yet they are my world :) 
I had a wonderful day - sleeping in, breakfast in bed, a song just for me, and a new patio set. 
I decided to start a new tradition - Mother's day photo shoot. The kids are very impressed with this new decision (ha, ha). Especially Kiera, who refused to look at the camera. Goof ball.  








 We went for a hike after supper. Dressed rather inappropriately, of course! The kids have a fascination with our neighbourly cows :)



 Taking the road less traveled.












It's a Colourful World!

Back in February, when Seth turned five, he received a chalk paint kit from Aunt Kara. He has been requesting to do it ever since ... this week we finally had some nice weather, so we cracked it open! Lots of colourful fun!

Seth's creation: 


Kiera's creation happened to be on her face :( 

 Notice the muscle shirt? Seth has worn it (or his other green one) every day for the past few weeks (unless mom forces him to wear something else ... which results in tears!) Even when it was only 12 degrees out, he was playing outside with this shirt.


T'is the season ....

... for flowers! Seth and Maddy have so much fun flower hunting ... and I love having flowers in the house :) So far, at least! 



Randoms from April

Unfortunately, all these "randoms" are of Kiera. She's at a very fun stage right now - learning and exploring all day every day. I love seeing children grow and develop between the age of 1 and 2. Their little brains are bursting with new connections ... 

Getting into Maddy's jewelry box. So far it's okay ... give it a few years, and there may be fights! 


 Playing with Peyton. They have started playing so well together!


 Mmmm, Spaghetti!


 Sick :(


 Joining in on the gentleman's game of hockey.



All Grown Up

On April 25th a wonderfully sad thing happened .... my little sister said "I do". I was very proud to stand by her side and witness this exciting event in her life. I pray that Greg and I will be able watch Kara and Tsjibbe grow old together - that we will hold them to the vows they made that day! 
Now for the day itself ... as has happened on all "VanGrootheest" weddings, it rained :) Thankfully she had not planned an outdoor wedding like two of her older sisters! The only thing the rain really affected was pictures - which were moved from outside to the Old Quebec Street Mall. This is where Kara first saw Tsjibbe ... always a fun moment to watch :) 
The wedding was a late one - the ceremony began at 7. Kiera joined us for pictures, but that was it. Seth and Maddy got to participate in the whole event - fun! We didn't get home until 2AM ... they were exhausted. They did very well, though. 
And so, my parents are empty nesters. I will be honest - there are some days that I am jealous of them. Very jealous. However, most days I look at my three kiddos and wonder how on earth they got so old. And I can imagine that the next years will go just as fast as the last ones have. And so I will treasure these sometimes long, sometimes repititous days :) 

5/04/2014

Hockey

Hockey is a gentleman's sport, right?



Seth-isms

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to record all the cute things our kids said and did. Unfortunately, I have a horrible memory and am unable to remember such things in order to write them down. I think I have to be more automatic about it ... you know, as soon as they say or do something great I need to drop everything, run to the computer, and write it down...
That being said, I do have a cute little Sethism:
While at his aunt Kara's wedding Aunt Rita came to talk to him. He was colouring some letters in his colouring book and she asked if he knew what they were. She then pointed to an "r" and told him that it was the most important letter in the alphabet and asked him if he knew why. He gave her a puzzled look and told her that it wasn't the most important letter ... the vowels were :) I thought it was pretty cute. 

Midnight Snacks

Kiera, being the third, has a few advantages over her brother and sister. One of these perks is the fact that when you cry at 10 PM, your parents don't make you "cry it out" ... they get you out of bed and let you party :) That's right ... chips and salsa instead of bed. 
Unfortunately, these parents are slowly realizing that when you reward crying at 10PM with chips and salsa, this same child will cry every night hoping for a similar experience. Oops!  



Of course, who could say "no" to that adorable face??!?

Ew

The weather has been warming up slowly ... but enough that we could get out a little and enjoy the great outdoors. Seth and Maddy have really enjoyed taking advantage of this ... spent a few entire days out there biking, playing in the sand, climbing "dinosaur mountain", and exploring. Greg and I (as we do every spring) started planning. This past winter was hard on our septic system, so we are having a new one put in soon. Since we will have all the equipment here anyways, we are hoping to have a few gardens dug and some landscaping done in the backyard. While we were roaming around, discussing ideas, I noticed Seth giving something to Maddy ... something that looked suspicious. I called over to him, asking what it was. He told me it was a feather ... nothing to worry about, right?? I thought so too, until he and Maddy headed towards us. They were excitedly discussing how they could use their feather treasure in the sandbox ... when I noticed their "feather" was still attached to a bird. That's right, they were carrying a dead bird around. Ew. I admit, I freaked out a little. The funny thing is, they didn't even realize it was a bird. Silly kids!

A Sunday Walk

Kiera was feeling unwell one Sunday morning, so Greg took Seth and Maddy to church and I stayed home with her. She had a nice nap, then woke up a little cranky. It was a (finally) beautiful sunny warmish day, so I took her out for her first walk of the season. We meandered down the road together enjoying God's creation. It was fun to watch her discover the world around her in a new way. She started out by carefully walking through puddles, then running, then jumping in them. She was afraid of stones when I first gave her one, but soon realized the joy that finding and lining up pebbles gives. After that, the walk was history ... we had to find rocks and line them up. The walk helped her feel a little better; although, by the end she was ready for bed again :) 





Randoms from March

Here are a few randoms from around here the past month. 
Even though it's March it is still cold and snowy here. What a crazy winter we have had! We thought that perhaps the beginning of spring would mean warmer weather ... but not so far!! 
We had an exciting month, with the trip to Myrtle Beach at the end. We managed to skate most Wednesdays, Seth had a sleepover at Ethan's, we had a few birthday parties for friends and family ... and life just went on as it normally does. 

Goofy at the breakfast table. This is what Kiera does when we ask her to smile. 


 Smiley (a real smile this time!)


 Hanging out with best friend and cousin Peyton! Peyton does not really enjoy the fact that Kiera is here ... mostly because Kiera is a notorious food thief. She will gladly eat all of Peyton's lunch.



 My biggest princess with her well-loved blanket.


Seth is the resident lego expert in the house. He really enjoys playing with and creating cool cars and planes. He got a few sets for his birthday and was able to follow the directions and make the sets all by himself! (There were large sets, too!) 


Trying to fill our cold days inside! Fingerpainting (this is Kiera's first time - too much ended up on her face!)




A frequent (and very welcomed) guest in our house and at our meals:


This is Kiera's "see?" face ... every time I take a picture she needs to see. (She says, "see, see" - so cute!) This makes it difficult to take two pictures in a row, because the second one always looks like this:


Maddy.