Me, crafty? Why yes!

One of my best friends came and visited last week.  It was so much fun!  The night before I had done a little shopping since we were going to get the kids' pictures taken.  I only went to Target and they really didn't have a lot of options, but I did find a nice shirt for both Kyper and Anja.   Kyper's outfit was complete, but Anja's was missing something.  An accessory!  My friend who came to visit is one of my go to people in regards to fashion, so I thought that she may be able to help.

I showed her the outfits I had and told her I wanted a little hair accessory, but I didn't have one.  I had thought that we may go shopping for something or with her creative side that she may have another idea.  After a couple hours, an idea struck her!  Why don't you sew buttons on to some of your headbands you have.  I had a few headbands for myself, which I hardly ever use.  So, we dug out my sewing kit and found some buttons.  As she prepped a salad for her next activity, I went to work and started sewing.  Here are some pictures of my craft and my super cute model!

Thanks for the great ideas Steph!  Anja looked super cute in her picture outfit and headband.  And, I felt like a pretty cool momma that made a fun girly accessory for her little girl!

3 Years/ 3 Months

I took both kiddos to the doctor yesterday for their well child check ups.

Kyper is now the big 0-3.

He is 38.5 inches tall and weighs 34.5 lbs.  He was so brave at the doctor's this time.  He normally cries when we get to the exam room, but there were no tears!  He was a little anxious at times, but he listened well to me and the doctor.  The doctor even made him laugh.  He had to get poked 2 times.  Once to check iron levels and the other to do a tb test.  Again, no tears.  He told me it didn't even hurt!

Anja is now 3 months old.  (I saw a 2 day old baby while at the doctors and she looks so big already compared to a 2 day old.)

She was 23.5 inches tall and weighs 11 lbs 9 oz.  She is an excellent nurser and her growth is encouraging to me--I know she is getting enough. She only had to be poked once to check for the iron levels.  I think it was more that they had hold of her hand, but she did cry while they drew her blood.  Who can blame her though.  But, her big brother was there to help comfort her.

Seattle Trip

I stood up in my friend Becky's wedding on July 14 in Seattle.  When she asked me to do this, I was pregnant and I knew it would be hard to travel with a newborn by myself.  Joel couldn't come due to three reasons a)we couldn't really afford two tickets, b) he didn't know his schedule and c) he was in another wedding on the 14th.
So, I said yes to being in her wedding not really sure what I was going to do.  At first I asked someone from my church if she would at least want to travel with me, because she had a new grandson there.  But, she had already booked a trip for August and couldn't do two.  I was chatting with my mom about the trip and she said "I've always wanted to go there".  I then said "you and dad could come with me."
Well, my dad couldn't really go due to vacation time at work, but my mom ended up going.  It was great.  She was incredibly helpful to have around especially while traveling and during the wedding events.  Since she is a teacher and not working during the summer, we decided to add a few days to our trip for some sight seeing.  So, what did we do?

We got in on Tuesday the 10th.  Wednesday we headed downtown Seattle to Pikes Place Market.  We waited for them to throw a fish, but unfortunately while we were there no big fish was thrown.

Anja and I by the fish market

The famous gum wall--it is actually pretty disgusting.  It is people's chewed gum.

The famous shot of Pike's Place

The first ever Starbucks

Thursday, we went to Ballard locks and saw the boats coming to and from Lake Washington and/or Lake Union to the Puget Sound Bay.  That evening the bridal party and their plus one's went to a wine release party at the winery that Becky and Kevin are members of. 

They crammed boats into the locks

Proof Anja was there

The boats going down.

Friday, my mom stayed at the house we were staying at while I went to a bridal shower for Becky and then we had rehearsal.

Becky painted Anja's toenails.

 Saturday was the wedding.

Anja and Momma with the bride

 Sunday we met up with one of my mom's friends that lives in Seattle.

I thought we were in Seattle?  A little touch of NY on Alki beach in Seattle.

  Monday we traveled home.

It was a very fun trip.  Anja was a great traveler and did very well on the plane rides.  Kyper had fun at Grandma and Grandpa Phillips' house while I was gone.

Smoke bombs, birthdays, and bean poles

We have been quite busy over the last week and a half.  I have started my neurology program, now that internship is done.  But we have still managed to get outside and have some fun with the kids.  I had July 4 off and we recently celebrated Kyper's birthday early.

July 3 we lit some smoke bombs.  Kyper loved those.  Then, we tried a nice, mild fountain-type firework called The Dinosaur.  The label said "emits fountains of sparks".  What it faild to tell us, is that the dinosaur had a roar.  Kyper was excited as I lit the wick, and Anja was as content as could be.  A half second later, there was a loud whistle, Kyper screamed and ran around the house, bursting into tears.  Meanwhile, Anja also began to scream in her bouncy seat.  I must have looked like the worst parent in the world.  Needless to say, we went back to lighting "smoke bottoms; no more dinosaurs, Daddy."

"Smoke Bottoms" as Kyper says

The 4th turned out to be a hot day.  It was 90 degrees when we woke up, thankfully we had air conditioning, unlike the power outage of last year.  It peaked at 101.  So we got the pool out early, and got creative.  What started as a nice waterfall into his pool turned into an elaborate waterworks.  I love having a kid; it gives me a good excuse to play with toys again. If people look, they will say, "look what that dad is building with his kid." A few years ago, they may have said, "why is that grown man playing with toys?".  Anyway, you can watch the progression from a simple watering can on a ladder, to an entire waterslide of sorts.  Maybe next time, we can float a few bugs down it.

1 Hose + 1 Watering Can + 1 Ladder = A whole day of fun

Marble Works turn into Water Works when it gets hot outside

During naptime, I had a chance to run to Lowe's an spend my birthday money.  I ended up getting tools!  Thanks, Julie, for putting a bug in your parents ears.  I ended up with a nice ax, a wedge to split wood, and a bow saw.

My new tools I bought with birthday money--Thanks Mom and Dad K.

Even though it was 100 degrees, I had to use my new tools!

 

On Sunday, we had Kyper's birthday celebration a little early--due to our schedules.  He turns 3 this year, so we hung 3 balloons from is doorway to surprise him when he woke up.  We had a white birthday cake (his favorite) after eating a pancake dinner.  Then we opened presents.  He got a mini hockey goal.  It will be a lot of fun, because now there is an actual net, rather than shooting the puck between eachother's 5 hole.  We went to the park by the Detroit River in Wyandotte, where Kyper got to blow bubbles and we got to see life size replicas of Christopher Columbus' boats docked by the boardwalk.

 

Anja dressed for the occasion with her sailboat dress.

 

  

Finally, here is the garden update.  My beans grew right up their 7ft bamboo poles (I am glad I cut them down from 12ft!).  Now, tomatoes are growing into beans, and beans are growing into tomatoes.  We are starting to get tiny beans, and some tomatoes are ripening.  The corn  may do something, I am starting to see tassels.  All but 2 plants are only 1 1/2 ft tall...we will have mini corn this year.

The corn is growing, 2 stalks are waist high, the others are much shorter.

It looks more like a jungle than a garden

Cucumbers found their way out

My beans are taller than me!

Our one strawberry flower...we got 2 more today!

That is all for now.  I hope that suffices for the next week or so, then of course, there will be more to come.

A Big Birthday

Joel and I are only the same age for 11 days...then he turns a year older than me. So, if you remember I turned 29, which means Joel turned 30!  (Goodbye 20's!)  He is handling it very well.  Some of the reason he is handling it is because we celebrated big time!

His birthday was on the 22nd, a Friday this year, so we made it into a whole birthday weekend.  He did have to work on his birthday, but I think he got done pretty early.  (He actually made it home before me; I had to work as well.)  When he got home, he found this from the kids:

Thanks to Pinterest for the idea.  It was so simple, I just got some white card stock from my friend who scrapbooks and cut out the shirts and ties.  I then wrote the words on them and let Kyper color them.  Finally, I taped rubberbands onto the shirts and ties and hung them on the coke bottles.

I wasn't sure I was actually going to get him anything, but I felt bad.  So, that morning after I dropped the kids off at daycare and before my meeting,  I hit up Dunhams and got a swim suit and hockey stick.  He had asked for a hockey stick, so he could play with Kyper.  (Kyper has some kiddie ones, but it is hard work to bend over and play with those, especially for a 30 year old.  Just kidding!  Love you, Joel!)  He also got a new hammer from me.  He was once mocked because of his little hammer, so I got him a nice one from Lowe's.   He also got a gift card to Lowe's from my parents, so he'll be able to add to his tools.

That night, our friends Tim, Melanie and Judah came.  We took it pretty easy that night--fajitas for dinner and then some Pirateer was played.

Saturday morning, we had a babysitter come over for the kids.  We loaded up Tim's jetta with their kayaks and our kayak.  Then we went kayaking near Bellville lake.  (We did the little river that connected Bellville Lake to Ford Lake.)  It was a beautiful morning and a great kayak trip.  I haven't kayaked in a long time, so it was good to do again.  Joel loves getting out, so it was a perfect event for his birthday weekend.  After kayaking and before returning to the kiddos, we ate at Culvers.

After kayaking, we got home and did some preparations for a birthday party.  Joel's younger brother and sister-in-law came from Holland that day.  So, did our friends Tim, Tricia and their new baby, Jaxon.  Joel felt really special that they made the trek to this side of the state for his birthday.    We also had invited our small group and some close church friends to our house.  Joel requested chicken wings and 7lb chocalate cake for his birthday party.  His wish was granted.  I went to Costco on Thursday to pick up the cake--sure enough 7 pounds of pure chocolate.  We ordered the wings from Buffalo Wild Wings.  Friends who came filled in the table with a dish to pass.  We had watermelon, chocolate chex mix, grapes, cookies, salads, potato salad and coleslaw (which Kyper loved.)  The party went great.  The weather was wonderful, so we did it all outside.  We had a little pool and sprinkler for the kids.  They also loved the hammock (although, we might take that down next time, there were some scary moments).

Uncle Aren and Tia Leah took their tent and camped out in it.

After our church friends left, the Holland friends stayed the night.  The girls had to make a trip to Meijer and Target to pick up some breakfast and baby stuff.  The guys built a fire, so we made our trip short.

Due to the long evening we had, we decided to sleep in as much as kids let us sleep in on Sunday and do a big breakfast in fellowship with one another instead of going to church.  Thanks for bringing the breakfast meat, Tim and Tricia! Joel got his bacon that morning.

Kyper and baby Jaxon

Mommas and their kids (minus Kyper--he decided it was naptime)

Tricia and I were due a week apart.  I had Anja on April 22; she had Jaxon on May 8

Our friends left right around noon and Joel, Kyper, Anja and I all took naps.  It was a long weekend, but very fun!  I think Joel would agree that this was one of the best birthday weekends he has had!