My Three Monkeys

Okay...so I'm behind and you're in for a lot of reading again, but I had to put this picture up. The kids all have monkey themed pajamas for the summer, and they were all wearing them at the same time the other night. The pjs are a little hard to see in the picture, but aren't my monkeys just the cutest? Each pair of pjs also has a title given to them by our little wordsmith, Kadertots. Lauryn has "monkey at the beach" pjs, Kaden has "monkey under the sea" pjs, and Greyson has "monkeys with banana boats" pjs. They are SO fitting...and I'm not referring to their size!

Our Not So Little Graduate

Well, it is official! Lauryn is no longer a preschooler! On Tuesday, she celebrated with her preschool buds in their special preschool graduation ceremony. The school gym was HOT, and the cups of apple juice after the ceremony were SMALL, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Lauryn and her class sang for us and her teacher, Mrs. Genzink, announced all the boys and girls by name as they walked up for a little completion certificate and a big hug. Lauryn was quite emotional. She loves her school friends, and she loves Mrs. Genzink even more, so the thought of being done is hard for her, but she has had kindergarten screening and met her kindergarten teacher, so she is excited to move on as well. Here are some fun pics of our amazing girl!

Lauryn and her gal pals...does anyone remember when she was barely on the chart for height? Look how tall she is now!


Lauryn and her very special teacher, Mrs. Genzink.

We're Havin'a Heat Wave!

As Sunday brought some uncharacteristic heat to our area, the kids and I headed outside to live it up with some old school sprinkler fun. Although I am ashamed to publicly admit this, it is actually the first time that my kids have ever played in the sprinkler. They were amazed that it was so fun! They played for a long time and were just giddy with the idea that they could just be wet. It was so cute, and I almost threw my suit on and joined them. If the heat continues, I will likely follow through on that....

Lauryn takes a break to pose for the camera.


Sprinkler Siblings


Kaden Worn Out...Could it be???

Beauty and the Beast

Last Friday, Lauryn cashed in on her final fifth birthday present. In honor of her big day, she had received tickets to see the on stage musical of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. She had literally been counting down the days from her birthday on April 6 until the evening when we were able to go. Although it was a Friday, and I was late getting home from school as always, we made it special and took her out for a fancy dinner at her favorite eatery...Panera Bread! Troy and I had actually been hoping to take her somewhere a little more special, but we were concerned we wouldn't be done in time to see the musical at 7:30. Then, when we decided on Panera, Lauryn piped up with, "Oh, I was hoping you would say we could go here! This is my favorite place to eat!" She was in seventh heaven with a french toast bagel and a fruit cup with chocolate milk to drink. After dinner, she accepted another big girl treat and had a piece of gum!

Following our fancy dinner, we headed to downtown GR where we had GREAT seats and were totally entertained for almost three hours. Lauryn never stopped smiling, even when she said the Beast was a little scary. She even managed to convince us that she needed yet another purse from the kiosk in the lobby because it was no ordinary purse...it was a Belle Purse! What a girly girl! We loved our special date with just the three of us! Thanks Gummy and Grandpere!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

It's that time again! Tulip Time has arrived in Holland, and as the old saying goes, "If you're not Dutch, you aren't much." In case the double capital letter at the top of the blog wasn't obvious enough, we're Dutch. Troy more so than me, but I threw a little into the gene pool as well, and we're raising a bunch of little klompen kiddos. So...when the weather was beautiful last Wednesday, we headed for Centennial Park and snapped some shots of the kids in their Dutch costumes. This was a perfect year for them! Usually, someone ends up crying, someone's shoes hurt their feet, someone doesn't want to kiss someone else, but this year...no problems! The kids were great, and Kaden, the spokesman for the group said,"This is cool!" We even ran into our baby sitters, the Housenga girls, who are Dutch Dancers at Zeeland, and the kids took pics with them. So...no high kicks required, here is your own little taste of Tulip Time...and yes, if you're wondering, we did bribe them with an elephant ear, which helped their good mood.

The DeWys Dutch

The Traditional Dutch Kiss

Lovely Lauryn

Kaden the Ham

Grey, the Family Sweetheart

Posing with the Housengas

Our Cute Klompers