Catch Up Time

Sorry, my blogging has been severely lacking this past year.  I do hope to become a little better, but I'm not going to promise anything.  I have 2 kids, a part time job outside of the house and other commitments that at this point seem to out rank blogging on my to-do list.

So here is some long overdue catch-up, before I do the blog I really want to get to...my pinterest project success story.  (Stay tuned)

New Job:
In early February I quit my with Rebuilding Together Detroit.  I didn't end it on bad terms with anyone, but I was hardly working.  Even before that I was told of a potential job opportunity with the neighboring affiliate Rebuilding Together Oakland County.  It was basically the same roles and responsibilities I had with Detroit, but with some other roles that I was excited about.  Yes, it was a pay cut, but I knew the experience and who I was working with and learning from would probably be worth it.  But, I was exhausted from trying so hard with my last job, so when I quit in February and hadn't heard anything from the Oakland County affliate, I was okay with that and not sure I wanted to work in the field anymore.  Well, finally in April I received a phone call from the executive director in Oakland County.  The person I was replacing finally had received needed paperwork and had a date to leave for overseas missionary work.  Before she left though, they were hoping I would consider working for them and training with her.  Although, I was so burnt out I did take the job, because I was excited about the possibility a few months back.  I am so glad I did.  I really do like the job.  I go to an office 2 days a week (I got to choose the days) and because it is a commute, they are okay with me only being there 6 hours--I work around rush hour.  It is about a 45 minute commute.  I will also be able to do some work from home, which is nice considering I'm not putting in 8 hour days.  I have a friend watching the kids, which is nice.  However, Kyper is still adjusting to me being gone two full days.   But soon he'll be gone every day full days at kindergarten, so I think that will help with the adjustment.

Kyper's Preschool Graduation
Yup, you read that right, Kyper will be headed to kindergarten the coming September!  When did that happen?  On June 6, his preschool held a graduation.  I can't say enough positive things about Dearborn Christian Preschool--we loved it and so did Kyper.  He really flourished there.  At graduation the teacher gives the kids a little sign with the meaning of their name and a charater trait.  Kyper's meaning was "near to the heart of God."  I think she actually looked up Kiper, because I have never been able to actually look up Kyper as a name.   I think Kuyper, the last name, actually meant copper, like a family of copper smiths would be named Kuyper.  Oh well, I digress.  I love the meaning though no matter what.  His character trait in school was patient.  I wish he would show some of that trait at home. :)  After the graduation, we had pizza and then they had the Raingutter Regatta.  Kyper and Joel made a pretty sweet sailboat and I think it would have been pretty good had it not gotten stuck on the side of the gutter.  Oh well, Kyper has fun and really didn't care that he didn't make it far in the tournament.  Anja had fun playing in the waiting pool.

This is the teacher gift I went with...thanks Pinterest for the idea.

Kyper graduating

Painting his boat--he specifically wanted a black one with yellow lightening bolts.

Anja playing in the waiting pool

Kyper with one of his buds Jonathan.

Anja had to try

Kyper and his teacher, Ms. Dee.

Our first organized sport: Soccer
This past May, we signed Kyper up for soccer.  He was a little shy at first, but he was with his friend Marcus, so that helped a bunch.  When he was out on the field playing he didn't look nervous.  They didn't keep track of the score with his age group and there were no goalies, but Joel and I kept track of his goals.  He scored in 3 games.  Two games, he scored once and the game I wasn't there for he scored 5!  He was so excited.  Here is a video of his goal and some pictures.  Their team name was the Green Giants.   At the end of June one of the kid's parents hosted a party for the team.

Everyone got a trophy

Anja and her friend Bria holding Kyper's and Marcus's trophies.

Our garden
After the long winter, we were very excited to finally have warm weather to get our garden ready.
We are growing carrots, spinach, strawberries, cucumbers, green beans, red, yellow, green and jalepeno peppers and tomatoes.  We also have a row of sunflowers growing the back in hopes to give us a little privacy from the neighbors.  Dearborn houses are close!  We had fun going to Blocks a local produce farm market to pick out all the goodies.

Carrots-in the side of the house

Kyper and Anja enjoyed the sprinkler while we were finishing up in the garden.

 Weekend trip to Holland
We headed out to Holland the weekend of May 16th--a week after Tulip Time was done.  The tulips were still in amazing condition since we had such a cold winter and late spring.  We were able to celebrate Uncle Aren's birthday.  We also went hiking with my family at a park called Hemlock Crossing and Anja got her hair trimmed for the first time ever.

Do you like the candle?

Kyper got to have his first ever Coke...mom wasn't around when this happened.

The Veldheer Tulip Gardens

Uncle Aren requested Buffalo Wild Wings for his birthday dinner...we were only too happy to oblige.

Hiking

Found a good climbing tree

Family photo

Anja's 1st hair cut.  She wasn't a fan.

A Muslim Wedding
One of Joel's attendings got married this June.  We were one of 1,300 invited guests...whoa!  The event took place at the Cobo Center's grand ballroom downtown Detroit.  I hear these weddings are typically pretty big, but this attending's father is also a very well-renowned Neuro surgeon, so no expense was spared.  It was extravagant.  It was also a cultural experience for Joel and I.  We had nevre been to a Muslim wedding ceremony.

We parked on top of the Cobo Center and we got there early, so we took some pictures

Chocolate Fountain

Super tall wedding cake

Detroit at night

Day Trip to Port Huron
Joel took Kyper to Port Huron on Saturday June 28.  I got to stay behind with Anja to work on potty training.  They had a fun morning there.