Girls will be girls. . .unfortunatly

  Don't you wish they were always this sweet and innocent?  I know that Olivia isn't perfect.  I know that she's not ALWAYS nice to her friends, I've heard her be bossy and controlling.  I know that she has her favorite friends and who she'll choose to play with when a group of them are together.  I also know that she's been on the other side of it.  Being left out, when she REALLY wanted to be included.  Having to sacrifice what she wants for a friend, who may not have even asked or cared about her.  Having to learn the hard way, that other people have favorite friends too, and sometimes, she's not it.   I've been thinking about how hard it is to raise girls for the past two days.  We had a couple of events this past week that reminded me that girls are caddy and mean to each other, even at the young age of four, five, seven, ten.  Not just when you hit Jr. high and high school.

  When Olivia was left out this week and I was there to observe it, I have to be honest, I had to choke back my tears.  Not only does it crush your heart and spirit that your child is being treated unfairly, but for women I think it brings up so many reminders of their childhood. Luckily, Olivia didn't get it.  I was able to redirect her without her realizing that the girls were lying to her to keep her away and save her the heartache of finally getting the courage to go over only to be shoved out of the "circle" or ran away from.

  God has given me great teachable moments in these times we've had lately, but to be honest, I wish there were easier ways to learn, unconditional love, unconditional forgiveness and a taste of her own medicine.  These tough times for Olivia will come in handy when she's mistreating someone, and can be reminded about how she felt the day she was left out.  And I pray that if I'm diligent in reminding her about how she felt, that she will eventually self correct.  So that when she's 12 and has the urge to make a club on the playground with her friends, she'll be the one in the group that suggests that anyone who wants to be in the club can be.

garrett & the 2 wheeler

here is garrett riding his 2 wheeler. he is just getting too big and he is really good at this. olivia can ride a little but not this good. anyway, enjoy!!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Josh is now officially into his 30th year, meaning, he turned 29 today! Talking about the 30th year sounds so much more serious doesn't it? The kids were great, saying "Happy Birthday Dad!" every time he was around. We got him a bike a couple of weeks ago as an anniversary, fathers day, birthday gift, so there were no presents for him tonight after dinner. The kids were a little concerned and asked where his presents were. I'm sure they only cared because they wanted to "help" him open them up! Happy Birthday babe, I love you! Daddy after dinner with the brood - Garrett will have to be standing next year after we add the last one to the bunch! Esther isn't really using an obscene gesture, that's how she points and thinks!
YUMMY CAKE!
DITTO! You'll notice we don't have a picture of Olivia eating cake. That's because she ate it in record time, seriously, like 1 minute!

16 weeks

Here's the belly shot at 16 weeks. I was waiting to post anything until after this last visit because of when I lost the last pregnancy. Today the baby sounded great, 150 bpm. Everything seems to be fine and we've got our ultrasound scheduled for July 17th, when we'll find out the sex. Happy blogging!

Happy 50th Dad

It wasn't that long ago that this picture was taken on the fourth of July 1980. That's me in the picture, 15 months old, with my dad at the young age of 23. Dad shared with me the other day how turning 50 has really made him reflective. He expressed that even though he is 50, he's still the same "kid" he was when he was ten, he's still the youngest of his siblings, and to be 50 and have 4 1/2 grandchildren is pretty good. He didn't seem depressed like some men tend to get, I got the feeling that my dad is one of the most content men on earth. He is truly happy just being with his family, watching and observing, and always learning. We threw around the idea in January about having a big party for him, but he told us not too, so we didn't. The truth is all he wants is for all of us to be together, just sitting, talking, drinking coffee, playing cards, watching Survivor, telling love stories by the fire, and playing with the grand kids on the beach. I'm sorry we couldn't be there, I wish I was - so from Michigan, Happy Birthday Dad, I love you!
This picture is missing our precious little Avery, well, she was in Ange's belly, so technically, we were all there! This was the Shore 2006 - what a great family - I love and miss everyone.

My mom was. . .

I surrender! I give up, well, I gave in! I will openly admit, for all of blog land to see, that my mom was. . .RIGHT! I know, I know, this is a toughy! Come on, lets be honest. How many of us EVER want to admit that our mom is right about something. I have a tendency to disagree with my mom, just for the sake of arguing with her. This admission isn't that big in the context of a life changing decision, just one that I've been fighting for, oh, six years. Anyone that knows my mom, knows that she is a bargain shopper. She was once seriously addicted to Goodwill, where many of our wedding decorations and her Christmas ornaments came from. She has limited her time there in the last couple of years. She is the one who taught me to go straight to the back of a store to the clearance racks first. I can remember going to Sams Club with her as a kid and heading to the back corner of the store first thing to find the reduced items. She no longer shops at Sams Club, but always calls me with a "great deal" at the store, ANY store! One of her all time best finds was Aldi Stores. You all know and love them too right? Well, I'd been in them many times while visiting NJ, and was not all that impressed with the selection (it's not a one-stop-shop), and the cleanliness of the store. So, no matter where I've lived, I have never once stepped foot in an Aldi store. Not only for the reasons stated above, but mostly because my mom kept telling me I should shop there, and to spite her, I wouldn't. This has not deterred her from calling me with deals at Aldi, and now I am grateful. We have been pricing pools for the last couple of weeks, trying to decide if we are going to buy a bigger pool that Josh and I can swim with the kids in, or go for the typical pool, that's great for the kids, but not so great for mom and dad. Mom called me the other day and said that Aldi had a really great pool on sale for 20 dollars and I should check it out. "OK mom, thanks for thinking about us." Well, this week has been hot and beautiful, just right for a pool. So, today after VBS I drove to Jenison, and stepped foot in the Aldi there. I was impressed from the time I walked in. "Clean, check!" "Good selection, check!" "Pools for 20, no 18.99!, check!!!!" I was really happy with the size and especially the price of the pool. Most other pools that size run for 29.99-39.99, depending on where you look. So, mom, you were right. I might even start shopping at Aldi!
Garrett and Esther enjoying their new pool.
A good view of the pool and of Garrett chillin' on the side.
Olivia posing again, are you surprised? She's not wet in this shot, but swam for 2 hours before this! I know you like Esthers wedgie!
Josh getting a shot of me this way, "Hey Jess. . ." and I, like and idiot, look over! But I'm not ashamed to put those pictures on the blog, unlike some people I know!
Josh hiding from the camera, look familiar?? This time Olivia was trying to help get the shot, and Garrett took the picture. I'm happy to report that no one got hurt in the scuffle. (The camera was given to us from our pastor and his wife who got a new one recently, thanks David and Becky!)

Power in the Back!

Garrett hooked himself into the booster seat the other night and was saying, "Power in the Back!" It was hilarious! If you can zoom in on his face in this picture you'd see the snarled look of meanness on his face. Also take notice of the slippers he has on, one is spider - man, the other, pooh. . .this super hero's got a strange get-up! Garrett, saving the world one "back" at a time!
On a sadder note, this is the last photo that was taken by our camera. I was trying to get a picture of Josh, and Garrett was trying to help by fighting with him so he couldn't get his hand up in front of the camera. In the chaos Garrett hit the camera with his hand and broke the lens, and as you can see, really hurt his hand. And look how good Josh is at comforting his son, holding him in front of his face while he's crying and smiling so I can't get a good shot! Josh tried to fix it, but ended up breaking it some more. So, now I am camera less once again! Hopefully we can replace it inexpensively, and soon!!!