Beary good friends

Drew & his bear are absolutely inseparable these days. He carries it around the house either in his mouth or with it slung over his shoulder. His face lights up at the sight of him and if he is grumpy, Mr. Bear is all it takes to cheer him up. He won't go to sleep without him. He looks funny hauling him around, because the bear isn't that much smaller than Drew is. They're a good match!:) Luke also had a bear friend come visit last week. Mr. Gus came to stay at our house for a night. Luke got to journal about what they did together and then tell the class about it the next day. We enjoyed having Mr. Gus as a guest.

C-R-A-Z-Y

There's a song that we used to sing in Elementary school that said, "I am slowly going crazy, going crazy 1, 2, 3. Crazy going slowly am I, going crazy, 1, 2, 3." That pretty much sums up this post.:) The twins think it is necessary to climb on every thing they possibly can. Couches, toys, tables, cabinets, nothing is off limits. I take them off and move them to a different area and they head right back to it. Usually after I take the first one off, the other one begins to climb on. We could do it for hours! And messes, oh messes! That is what they do best. Now that they are walking I find toys scattered all over the house. I did finally find a pillow/gate arrangement that keeps them off the stairs.:) Oh, but they are so cute and cuddly and silly and fun. I know we will make it through this phase also, but maybe not without a few gray hairs or stitches!

Wedding time

Yesterday evening we went to Ryan's cousin's wedding. Megan & Ross got married at the Tournament Club of Iowa. It was a perfect evening for a wedding and they were able to hold the wedding outside on the patio. Ryan was wishing he could go out and hit a few rounds of golf!:) We took the big kids with us and my cousin Shelley was nice enough to stay home with the twins. One wedding a summer with them is plenty! We had an enjoyable time with family and were glad we could celebrate with Ross and Megan. Today we headed to Pella to spend time with my side of the family and celebrate Spencer's baptism. I'm not sure what we're going to do next weekend when we have to stay home and not get together with anyone!

Luke likes hanging out with his Orange City Grandma & Grandpa.

This was even taken before Luke ate 2 pieces of chocolate cake. The cake is the reason Luke & Reagan like attending weddings.

These three all wore matching shirts.

The wedding with a nice view of the golf course in the background.

Boys & Girls

I've been noticing a lot of difference between the boys and girls in our house lately. Luke is very into Star Wars and Super Heroes. I think that's what he plays with the other boys in his class every recess. Reagan on the other hand told me this morning that her outfit is beautiful and perfect. I also wasn't really thinking the other evening when we had blueberry pancakes for supper. Lauren did a fairly good job of keeping herself clean. Drew...well let's just say, thank goodness it was bath night!

Van Mersbergen annual campout

We had an awesome weekend for camping over Labor Day with the whole Van Mersbergen family. This has become an annual family tradition. This year we mixed it up a bit and camped by Saylorville Lake on a loop. It worked out wonderfully because the kids were somewhat contained and we didn't have to worry about the little ones wandering onto the roads!:) We had a great time shooting rockets, doing crafts, geo-caching, having our own church service and fun run/2 mile run, and just spending time with family and relaxing. The twins didn't sleep out there as well as I had hoped, but we made it through the weekend. The kids were filthy and tired, but they would have stayed longer and are already looking forward to next year!

new stuff

We are settling into a routine around here. The kids are still enjoying school and I haven't gotten burnt out on hauling them back and forth yet.:) We're looking forward to the long weekend and camping with the Van Mersbergen clan. Otherwise, not much else new is happening around here. I was in Pella with the two oldest last weekend for a garage sale and Ryan took some pictures of the twins. Drewie is wearing one of Lauren's onesies and he looks surprisingly okay as a girl. Maybe it's the long hair. I can say that now because he's only one! I brought the little couch up from the basement for them also and they got a kick out of sitting on it. I was trying to get them to watch Baby Einstein while I made supper because they were so grumpy, but that didn't last long. All the kids are in bed and Ryan's out, so I think I'm going to go relax and enjoy the quiet. Thanks for checking in.