Spring Break...the end

We had a fabulous second half of our spring break as well. After 3 days of rain we were thankful for some sunshine and warmer temps so lots of time outdoors could be spent. We went to Orange City for a long weekend with Ryan's parents, which the kids are always super excited about. We had a fun time relaxing. We went to a movie (the kids and grandma-"The Lorax" & the rest of us to "The Hunger Games".:)) We also took the kids to an indoor pool in a neighboring town and of course to the park and the bakery. We also got visits in with both of the great-grandmas. The kids broke in the new little puppy Morgan. I'm pretty sure the poor little dog will sleep all week after the chasing that went on.:) Angry Birds!

The kids love to sit by the bar to eat their meals. There's a chair for each of them!

Walking the dog

Reagan and Morgan:)

Aunt Elise and Grandma did an Easter egg hunt for the kids. They had a great time hunting for them.

Drew showing Oma how the ipad works.

Reagan reading Green Eggs and Ham to Oma.

The puppy loves to play tug of war with her toy. Drew would have her hang on and then drag her around on the hard wood floors.:)

Grandpa gave airplane rides on Saturday. It was calm and a perfect day for flying. This was Lauren's first time in the airplane. She finally decided she would like to try. As we were taxing for take-off she said to me, "You're right, Mom. This isn't so bad!".

The girls turn

Drew checking out the scenery below.

The boys during their flight.

Grandpa and Grandma just returned from a trip to Cancun and brought all the kids new shirts and hats.

Drew and Luke love the motorcycle!

Drew also loves to hunt for rainbows made by a prism in grandpa and grandma's room.

Grandpa Mike, Luke and the Harley

Helping Grandpa out in his work truck.

Grandpa and Grandma also have a wii now, so we had lots of games of Mario Bros.

Spring Break...the beginning

We've had a fabulous start to our spring break! The weather has been gorgeous, which makes it all the better. My sister and her 4 kiddos came to our house on Friday evening and had a sleep-over. We went out for ice cream and to the park and the kids were even able to go in the water and dig in the sand by the beach for a while. I'm sure it was cold, but they didn't mind at all.
It's so nice to not have to be anywhere at any specific time. Yesterday we hung out at home and the kids played outside a bunch before the rain started. Unfortunately, it looks like rain for a lot of today and tomorrow, but I think we'll head to the library later, make some cookies and maybe even homemade doughnuts.:) Towards the end of the week we're going to head up to Orange City and visit Ryan's family. We're looking forward to getting away and seeing them all.

(Thanks to Lisa for all the pictures. I didn't have my camera, so I swiped these from her.:))

Luke, Jaren, Bethany, Reagan, Erica, Drew & Lauren

Digging paths in the sand
The big boys

Jaren and Luke hung out at the top of this climbing feature a lot. This is one of those mom moments where I have to try to let it go, but I did remind him to please hold on.:)

It was windy by the water, but when the sun was out it felt great!

Lauren checking out the sand.

They spun and spun on this toy. It always cracks me up when they get off because they don't realize how dizzy they'll be.:)

Running through the water. My kids have already asked several times when we can go back to the beach. I think we'll wait until May or June!

Our attempt at a jumping shot.

My sweet peas.:)

Gliding along

Ready....go!

I got to hang out with Kate a bunch. She does a great job with all the big kids and just kind of goes with the flow.

Kate had no desire to be a part of our picture.:)

Testing the water

Crazy fun

Celebrating Grandpa

We were able to help my grandpa Van Mersbergen celebrate his 87th birthday on Saturday. We had an open house for family in Pella and much of the immediate family were able to make it. What a blessing Grandpa is to our family and what an awesome example he has been to me. We are so thankful for the many years God has blessed him with and pray for many more!

Great Grandpa with 11 of his Great-Grandchildren

Our family with Grandpa

The De Bruin's with Grandpa-notice the blur that is Hailey in the background. Kind of makes it all the more amazing that we were able to get the above picture of them all sitting still!

All the siblings and spouses with Grandpa

Feeling crafty

My hot glue gun has been getting a workout around here! I like to do crafty type things, but never seem to find/make the time. I've been able to do a couple of easy and inexpensive! things lately to spruce up our house. It gives me a creative outlet and doesn't break the bank, and that makes me smile.:)

I made this wreath using old t-shirts for the flowers.

This was the wreath that I made for the month of February. I'll hang it with ribbon next year, but I never made it to the right store to pick up what I needed before the month was over!



I did not make this, althought wouldn't that be awesome considering how much it cost! Our dog has been in our garbage can for the past 2 years. We always had to put it up on the table if we were going to leave and at night. I couldn't even go upstairs and leave it down or there would be trash all over the floor. We (I) had finally had enough and gave in and bought this one. He hasn't been able to get it in it yet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I made this word art to put on the shelf beside our fireplace. The pictures a little dark but when I used the flash you couldn't read the words! I also wrapped twine around the bottles beside it for fun. Our next big project is hopefully new countertops in the kitchen, so then I'll be able to make some new things for that room!:)

Luke's Lego Birthday

We had a fun birthday weekend a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Luke's 8th birthday. He picked a Lego theme this year, which was a lot of fun to decorate with! He had a party with some friends from school on Friday evening. We let him invite 5 boys, but only 3 could make it, which was quite doable. We had a lego building contest and then they raced the cars that they had made. We also played a lego beanbag game, ate pizza and cake and the boys had fun just running around and playing. We were supposed to have his party with my family on Saturday afternoon, but we finally got some snow around here so we postponed the party until Sunday. We had lunch together since most of us had Superbowl plans that evening! On a fun sidenote, Luke's birthday was on Superbowl Sunday and the Superbowl was played at Lucas Oil stadium this year! We are so proud of the young man that Lucas is becoming and are thankful each and every day that God blessed our family with him.

His cakes for our family party.

Since we couldn't party on Saturday, they spent a good chunk of time outdoors. They worked together to build this snowman. I was too lazy to put on my boots and coat to get a better picture, so this is as good as it gets.:)

A new Lego ds game! He also received one from Ryan's parents, so guess what he's been busy doing lately?

A Star Wars lego watch

A Hawkeye pillow pet

There were the decorations I made for his friend party. Yea for Pinterest and great ideas!

Building Lego's with friends.

His gift from us was a new bike. He had outgrown the one he had been riding, so we took him to pick out a new one.

The cake for his friend party.

What we've been up to

Our days have been sailing along around here. We haven't had any major activites until last weekend, but it seems like January flew by. We were able to get outside a ton because of the awesome weather we've had. The twins are constantly talking about building a snowman though, so they would be more than thrilled with a good snow storm! Last week Reagan participated in a cheerleading clinic at school and then they got to perform during half-time of the girl's basketball game. She had a fun time and has decided she would like to be a basketball player and a cheerleader. Not sure how that's going to work! That same weekend, Luke had his pinewood derby race for Cub Scouts. He did great and ended up with 2nd place for his den! I've been busy at home with Drew & Lauren and my childcare kids. Drew, Lauren and I have been working on a letter a week. We read stories and do activities that go along with that letter. Last week was the letter "M" so after reading a book called "Muddy Mess" we fingerpainted with mud (chocolate pudding). In about an hour 5 2nd graders will be invading our house for Luke's 8th birthday party, so I should have some new stuff to blog about soon!

Sorry for the sideways picture. It's fine on our computer, but blogger keeps flipping it. Grr.:(