Oops!

A week ago we were at Wal-Mart when Reagan started coughing. I asked her if she was okay and she told me she was fine~ she just swallowed her money. Awesome! I didn't even know she had any with her. She seemed fine, so we continued on our way. A couple of days later she drew this picture on our magna doodle. She told me it was a picture of her and the number 2 was the money in her tummy.:) ( I was actually more impressed that she could write a number 2!).

We love the sun!

There's nothing like spring! It is still my favorite season. I love being able to have the windows open in the house. The playroom has smelled like lilacs lately from our bushes out front and the kids can burn off their energy outdoors! We've been able to go to the park a couple of times. It's not real easy to take Drew & Lauren there yet. They like to swing for a while, but after they get tired of it, it's a constant battle to keep wood chips out of their mouths. Drew tried to explore the park the other day, but with his shorts on, he was finding it uncomfortable to crawl around. He started walking on his hands and feet instead, which I thought was quite clever and amusing!

Preschooler no longer!

Luke proudly showing off his preschool diploma.

Reagan is helping Luke celebrate.

Reagan, Rylee, Luke, & Anna

The morning and afternoon 4 year old preschool classes

Luke had his preschool program last night and his last day of preschool today. In a half-hour he will be a Kindergartner! I think he's excited about that. They put on a great program last night. They sang some cute songs that they learned throughout the year and each received a diploma. We have really enjoyed Westview Preschool. They have fabulous teachers and Luke has really grown a lot this year!

TTT pt. 2

Luke helped Grandpa mow the lawn.

Reagan & Lauren fell asleep during the parade.

Lucas, Reagan & I on the apple ride.

Owen, Jacen, Luke, & Reagan all had fun with the bubbles at Opa & Oma's house.

Logan, Drew, & Lucas rolling around on the floor.

Ryan kept trying to get Drew to look at him, but he refused.

Lauren & I watching the parade in our matching costumes.

Lucas and Reagan waiting patiently for the parade to start.

Scrubbing streets. Reagan rode on the front of the stroller for most of the parade so Grandma Renee got to use two brooms!

Drew had just fallen out of this wooden shoe onto his head before this picture was taken.

Our attempt at family pictures. With four kids, somebody is always being goofy.

We ran into our friends Maria Noteboom and Andra Lindskoog before the parade.

Grandma Renee and Reagan

Grandpa Mike & Lauren

We spent this past weekend in Orange City for their Tulip Festival. The kids had a great time scrubbing streets and watching the parade. They also love the rides. Grandpa & Grandma took the kids all downtown on Thursday night while Ryan and I went out for supper. On Friday we all got our Dutch costumes on so we could scrub streets and attempt some pictures. Saturday Ryan & I ran the 5K run and then we had brunch at Grandpa & Grandma Noteboom's house with all the family in town. It was a busy but fun weekend!

Tiptoeing Through the Tulips part 1

Mackenzie, Reagan, & Levi on the float. Aunt Arlene and Bethany were also on it.

They were so tired they slept during most of the parade.

This is how they rode when we were walking in the parade. It's always nice to have a brother to lay your head on!

Uncle Jason and Drew in their matching costumes. We walked with the Dutch Doubles group with Jason, Kristin, Brynn & Hailey.

Waiting for the parade to start. Drew loved the bands. He got so excited when one went by he almost fell over!

Drew has a cute hat and wooden shoes, but he wouldn't keep either of them on.

Aunt Arlene & Lauren.

Luke thought these were funny and had to have a picture by them.

There really is no such thing as tiptoeing through the tulips with my kids. It's more of a slow down and don't pick/eat the tulips, please. We spent Friday in Pella at Tulip Time. The kids had a great time, but they were all exhausted by the end of the day. Drew, Lauren, & I walked with the Dutch Doubles group during the afternoon parade and Reagan rode on a float. Luke decided he would just watch the parade instead. In the evening, Luke, Reagan and I scrubbed streets with my dad and Mackenzie and Levi. This week we are heading to Orange City for their Tulip Festival. You can never have too much of a good thing, I guess!:)

New tricks

Drew thought sitting on Ryan's shoulders was so funny.

Lauren hasn't quite figured out how to pull herself up yet, but she thinks it is really fun when we stand her by things.

Lauren & Drew after spaghetti. She is much cleaner than he is!

All the kids have been learning new things lately. For Ryan and I, a lot of the things make us have to change the way things are done around here.
I find myself often spelling things that I don't want the kids to know. Now that Luke is learning letter sounds and how to spell, those days are going to be behind us soon. Luke is also starting to become more independent. As a mom, I know that is a good thing, but it doesn't make it any easier. I'm already dreading the first day of Kindergarten and it's only April! I was thinking about him being in school all day, every day the other night and it made me sad.:(
Reagan is starting to pick up on things that I say also and she is stubborn enough to not let it go. I must say "we'll see" to her frequently when she wants to do things (and she asks questions a lot!) and the other day she called me out and told me that whenever I say "we'll see" she never gets to do anything. She then said to me, "No more we'll seeing!". We'll see about that.:)
Drew is making it difficult for me to get things done around here and Lauren is right behind him. He figured out how to climb up the first set of stairs but thankfully hasn't ventured any farther. He also gets into everything. Right now as I type he has almost pulled the dollhouse on him 3 times. Eessh! Drew has also taken to pulling himself up on my leg and then trying to bite it! I love teething.:)
Lauren's top tooth is almost through, which I hope helps her grumpiness. She's pretty good natured, but has been having a rough time in the afternoons lately and at bedtime. She's a pro now at going from laying down to sitting up on her own. She's quite proud of this fact. The other day when I went to get her from her nap, she was sitting up in her bed with a big grin on her face. I think it's almost time to move her mattress down, too!
Both of the babies do a great job of eating table food on their own, which is making my life a little easier at meals. They like to sit and eat with us and many times I can feed them the same foods that we eat. Drew shoves it in with two fists and Lauren picks up one piece at a time. He's also much messier than she is at the end of the meal! They are both starting to pick up on some sign language that I am doing with them. They'll copy the sign for "more" and "all done" now if I do them. It's pretty cute.
My "to do" list for the day is still quite significant and the afternoon is almost gone, so I better get the bathrooms clean while the twins take one more quick nap!