Easter

Grandpa Mike with 3 of his grandkids.
Drew & Lauren in their Easter outfits.
Why is it that the oldest one insists on driving his mom crazy and not taking a normal picture.:) You'll notice in the next photo that he's also messing around!
Ready, Set, Go!
Lauren hunting for her eggs...it will be so much easier when she can read her name.

On the hunt.

Reading the first clue for the geo-cache hunt.

Bethany & Reagan listening to clues.

Trying out their new bubbles.

The bunny cake Reagan and I made. It tasted really good.:)

Drew & Lauren got their birthday present from Grandpa & Grandma a little early, so they can have more time to enjoy it this summer. Unfortunately, we couldn't fit it in our van on the way home. Drew was bummed and said "I can drive it home." Ha!:)

We had a lovely Easter Sunday. What better way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord than being able to go to church together and worship Him. After a great service, we headed to Pella for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. We were also able to spend the first part of the weekend with Ryan's parents, so it was a fun-filled time.

Feeling crafty

Last week Saturday morning my sister came over for a while, so while the kids yukked it up and had some quality cousin time, we got busy and made some flower barrettes for the girls. We thought they turned out pretty cute and they're so much cheaper than buying them elsewhere, plus it's fun to create unique ones that match their outfits.:)

A visit with Oma

We were able to go to Orange City for a quick visit over Spring Break. We didn't have near enough time to visit with everyone we would have like to, but we did get a little bit of time with Oma Elle. The kids always enjoy seeing her and I think she gets a kick out of them.:)

Up, Up and Away!

It was warm and windy on Sunday so we decided to try out our kites. I think they spent more time on the ground than in the air, but the kiddos didn't seem to mind.:) It was a gorgeous day and it makes us ready for lots more outdoor time.

Finally!

I think I finally have one of the twins successfully potty-trained! The funny thing about it is it's Drew and I thought for sure Lauren would be the easy one. I highly underestimated my boy.:) Yesterday he finally decided he would poop in the potty and he's done it again today. He's been wearing big boy underwear every day this week and has stayed dry. I'm still putting Pull-ups on at night even though he's stayed dry the past 3 nights also. I just don't want to chance it and have to get up in the middle of the night. Selfish, I know! Lauren's a completely different story. She did awesome the first 2 days of training and now she just doesn't care. I decided to back off a bit and concentrate on Drew and we'll get back to her later. She'll go if I ask her to and every once in a while on her own (usually when we're at school picking up Reagan...who can resist those potties that are just their size), but her pull-up is always soaked by the end of the day. We'll keep plugging along. I'm hoping that she'll finally decide she can (and wants) to do it and we'll be completely diaper free in the Noteboom house!

An attempt at funny:)

The kids love to watch "America's Funniest Home Videos" and are always telling us, "you should have gotten that on tape." Of course, their idea of funny isn't always the same as ours.:) Reagan and Drew came up with this video and got Ryan to tape it for them. I don't know if it will win us $10,000, but it got some chuckles out of them!

milestones

We've had a lot of firsts lately. Luke had his first Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts. He officially became a Tiger Cub and received the mark of the tiger on his cheek (you can see the orange marks if you look closely!) and a tiger symbol (the headband). It was fun to watch and be a part of it.
Drew & Lauren have been working on potty-training. It's proved to be much more difficult than it was with the older two kids. We're just going to keep plugging away and hope we're fully trained sooner rather than later.:)
Reagan had her first dance show. She participated in Pella Christian High School's dance team clinic last Saturday. They practiced during the morning and then got to perform at the show that evening. She said she was a little nervous to dance in front of all of those people, but I think she did a great job and she had a fun time.
We're getting ready for spring around here, although snow is falling right now! Next week is Spring Break and the kids are ready for some time off school. I think it will make the rest of the school year fly by!