Kylie turns 8

 Our Kylie Jean, rarely called Kylie by those who know her well.  She gets called Beans just as much as Kylie if not more.  No one ever decides to call their darling daughter Beans, it just happens, but it fits somehow.  Kylie is such a sweet loving girl, becoming even more tenderhearted and always thinking of others.  When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted she said "well, I like cherry, but Karinda doesn't" so she proceeded to ask her sister what kind of cake she wanted.  We settled with a chocolate cake and white frosting with strawberries on top.  Kylie loves tons of fruits and veggies, but is not the biggest fan of meat, which I think makes her a very healthy eater.  She still is like any normal kid, or person that is, and loves treats and junk too.  Fruit snacks are a big weakness for her.  She takes hot lunch almost everyday and that helps to make the mornings more smooth.

Kylie is a second grader at Innocademy.  She starts her days before school at devotions and on Friday's at piano lessons.  She tolerates ELA (english language arts) and loves math.  Innocademy is traditional school flipped up side down and we love it.  The school goes on a year round schedule, and they put a big focus on global, hands on learning, and stewardship.  She loves her teacher Ms. Cyndi, and she is in class with her cousin Gage, and her best friend Ella, but she seems to be a friend to everyone.

 I am hoping she is so good at school and only talks when she should, and that is why she talks almost non-stop from when I pick her up from school until she goes to bed.  She loves to play with babies and comes up with incredible stories.  She usually has around 6 kids hanging off her stroller or being cared for here or there.  We are pretty sure she will have a big family.  I think that with Kylie's imagination she could come up with a really good plot, and with Karinda's writing abilities they could write some pretty awesome books.  That would mean getting along, which they can sometimes do, but they surely have their moments as well.  When Kylie was having some playground trouble this fall and was crying at school, I heard that Karinda marched on over to the situation and told those kids they needed to all play together and be nice.  Even if they can't admit it, I know they care and love each other.  They have a system figured out for bath nights where Karinda will get in the shower and plug the drain and when she is ready they will both get in and play Barbies for a bit until Karinda gets mad or sick of it and gets out.

 Kylie got some Lego's and she loved putting them together.  She is a little like her dad because they will now stay together, but she does play with them a little.

The one thing Kylie requested was "fart putty", Saddie and Maggie are quite in awe of the new gift.

Kylie has developed a new love for gymnastics even though we didn't watch much of the olympics this year.  She has spent many hours in the front yard perfecting her skills and took gymnastics at Zeeland Rec.

Kylie we love you so very much and are so very proud of you!  Even with another big year of changes, with moving back to Michigan and Daddy being gone a lot, you are even keeled and steady.  We can't wait to see what God has in store for you, we are sure it will be a very special job.

Fall went Fast

 It has been a very busy, but very good fall.  After Labor Day the girls started back to school full time.  With that came Parent Led Devotions every morning.  It has been a blessing to be with the kids everyday but it makes for a busy morning as well.  The girls love their teachers I am pretty sure Kylie thinks her teacher Ms. Cyndi hung the moon and the stars!  Kylie has improved so much in just a few months, reassuring me that moving back was the best thing for the girls.  We have had a few playground issues this year, but those have also seemed to work themselves out for the most part.  I am afraid it may just be the fun of having girls.

 We were invited to the Hulst's Pumpkin Patch, by Pam Meeuwsen.  The girls thought it was just awesome!  It was very fun.  The girls got to choose a pumpkin and a squash, and pick some beautiful flowers.

 The girls also got to meet some new kids on the ride.
 This year we got to go to the pedal pull again this year with our cousins.  It started to sprinkle right when we got our food so we huddled up next to the building to stay dry.

 Karinda did not get to do the peddle pull because she needed to be at dance class at the same time. 

 Kylie did good, but unfortunately when she is competing against her cousin Gage, placing probably isn't going to happen.

 We also started GEMS on Wednesday nights, and on Thursday's Kylie had tennis, and Karinda started dance class.  They also had basketball camp and gymnastics on Saturday mornings.  Between these things homework, practicing piano, and trying to fit some chores in, the week flies by, which is good since Eric leaves Sunday afternoon and doesn't come back until late Thursday night.

 We made a trip to Nebraska during the girls break the end of September, and we went for another trip the end of October.  That trip fell over Halloween.  In Michigan the weather was remnents of hurricane Sandy, and in Nebraska it was absolutely beautiful.  The girls were so excited to trick or treat downtown with their friends after school, and then with their friend Gaby at night. The girls had wanted to be Cece and Rocky from the Disney show Shake It Up, with a little talking they settled with being Thing 1 and Thing 2 (whew).

The night before Halloween we went over to our friends the Springers to carve pumpkins.  It was so nice we did it outside on the driveway and left all the mess outside, if only we could do that every year!

We were back home for election day, otherwise known as Red, White, and Blue day.  Innocademy did a great job of getting the kids involved and really encouraged taking the kids with us when we voted.  Jade came to stay with us for a few days on that day so we hustled before school in the morning and we made it in plenty of time to spare.  The girls were so proud of their, "I voted" stickers.

 On Tuesday's and Friday's the girls have specials at school, they have the typical art, music, and PE (Learning to be fit).  But they also have Brain Blast, Technology, and Mosaic.

 In Mosaic, they learn about other cultures around the world.  This year they have discovered things about Madagascar, England, and China.  When they finished the England unit they had a tea party, and when they ended China they learned the proper way to eat with chopsticks.

 The week of Thanksgiving the girls each got to have a friend over for a sleepover.  I love that they can so easily be entertained with a box of dress up clothes and have such good friends.  They have this game that they like to play where they come up with a theme and all dress up, then they have a fashion show where we need to judge them to see who came closest to the theme.

Labor Day Weekend Part 3

From Pennsylvania we headed to Kalkaska for the actual holiday weekend.  We were thrilled to see that our grass that we had planted on vacation had come up beautifully.  So we finished hauling black dirt and planting our grass, even headed to Gaylord and picked up landscaping bricks and plants, so excited to see our beautiful landscaping in the spring!

The girls helped out with the work a little, but pretty much they played babies all weekend.  They stuffed their shirts and it is disturbing and funny all at the same time.

Break week part 2

We left Nebraska on Saturday night and drove straight to Pennsylvania. We did stop for a few hours at a rest area in Iowa, we are not as hard core as we once were.  The first day we spent with our friends, The Michaels, we had an awesome lunch and then played, probably much to long but we all had a good time.

Tuesday we drove to Penn's Cave, near State College.  We only had to wait a few minutes when we got there to go on the Cave Tour.  It really was incredible.

We rode on a flat bottom boat through the caves.

There was something new to see at every turn,

they turned on different lights to make it look so cool.

This was outside the cave at the top of the stairs.

How the caves were made.

We also went on the Wildlife Tour, it was the best animal tour I have ever seen, very fun and informative.  We learned a lot about the Buffulo and Bison.

   We even had a buffalo burger when we got back to the gift shop.

The last day we needed to get out of

the hotel room and Eric was still working so we ran some errands and got pedicures.  The girls had never got a one before and it was a very fun treat.

In the afternoon we went and found Bilger's rocks.

 Pam Meeuwsen had heard about Bilger's Rocks when they were in Pennsylvania, but never ended up finding it.  It just might be a "best kept secret."  It was a huge area of rock formations just kind of plopped in the middle of know where.

 There where miles of trails, but because of a time crunch, being in such a remote place with just the girls, and a fear of getting completely lost we didn't explore much.  I hope to someday go back with Eric and a GPS to explore again.

 There was also a small park for the girls to play they thought this rabbit carved out of a tree was pretty cool too.

 

Labor Day Weekend- Part 1, Nebraska

The girls had a great start to the school year. We enjoyed four day weeks for three weeks and then it was already time for a week off.  We headed out a day early and the first stop was Nebraska.  The special event was ground breaking for the NCP fuel station.  The wheather did not really cooperate so well, it was a little chilly and of coarse the one day it rained for the whole month was that day.

Eric, Dan, Rob, Arlen, Cliff, and Mayor Harpst, scoop the first shovel full.

Tammy Sexton, Mayor Mark Harpst, and Cliff spoke.

Everything was very well done and thought out.

 Friday night we had the NCP employee and customer appreciation picnic.  It went very smooth this year, just not as many people as we had hoped because of an away high school football game.

 Saturday night we went to "the farm" with the Springers for some hotdogs and archery.  Kenley enjoys her hotdog. 

 Kylie and Brylyn

Mallory and Karinda