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

Splish, Splash I Was Taking a Bath...

There is just something about bathing a baby! Their little expressions of awe as they squeeze the bubbles and giggle.... the way they splash and then look so surprised when the water sprinkles down on them....wrapping them up in a towel that is way too big for their sweet little bodies...holding them all warm and dry and smelling so lovely. Most days, this is exactly how I feel when I bathe my children. They are so fun in the tub, and they say such sweet things, and sometimes it's the first time in the day when we have slowed down enough to really talk, and I love it.

Most days...

Other days, things like this happen:
1. I turn around to grab the baby shampoo, and when I turn back around, both boys have simultaneously pooped. No lie. I don't know how they did it, but I'm sure it was planned.

2. I reach around the edge of the tub for a boat that Kaden has requested and all of the sudden I hear, "Oh, no...I peeing...on Grey's head!" Yes, that's right. Kaden was standing there with a look of shock on his face, and Greyson was squinting up into a stream of urine that was splashing directly onto his forehead and running down into his eyes. Thank heaven that urine is sterile, and that is not the first time I have said that.

3. I hear a gasp of pain from Kaden and turn to see Greyson grabbing him in a not-so-appropriate spot with a not-so-gentle grasp and a look of pure glee on his little cherub face. (Perhaps he was getting back at him for his urine shower???)

Either way, after these experiences I have begun to wonder...should I not bathe my boys together? My mom always bathed at least two of us together, and as a time saver, I think it just makes sense. Yet...somehow these things never happen when Lauryn takes her bath. Hmmm....let me know what you think.

Spring Break in Chicago

During spring break the week before last, we spent a few days in Chicago. It was so much fun! The kids were really at a great age to go, and they had just as much fun staying in the hotel as they did getting out and seeing the sights.

On Monday, our first day in the Windy City, it was very warm and sunny, so we headed straight to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was awesome! It is a free zoo, so you only have to pay to park. We saw some great animals...polar bears, silver back apes, rhinos, and a giraffe, to name a few. We also happened to hit the zoo around feeding time, so the animals were fairly active, which was nice because we got to see a lot of different movement and hear them make some great sounds.

Tuesday was Lauryn's birthday, and the peak of the day was spent at American Girl Place. To even things out for the boys, we also hit the Disney Store, where Kaden spent a LONG time in front of a full wall display of everything Cars. Then, because Troy was so patient with all of us, we went to Niketown, a must see for Troy every time we go to Chicago.

Wednesday was cold and rainy, which made it the perfect day to head to Shedd's Aquarium and spend the day indoors. We checked out early and went straight there as we had heard it could be a long wait to get in. When we got there, the line was already down the fifty steps to the entrance and back along the sidewalk to the Field Museum. We had been patiently standing in line for about five minutes when a nice lady behind us said, "Oh, you have a stroller; you can do to the accessible entrance on the other side." Well...the accessible entrance wait is about a third of the time. We only waited about 35 minutes, which was short. We then spent a long, relaxing day wandering around the exhibits, and we ended with their Fantasea show, which features dolphins, Beluga whales, penguins, and even a red tailed hawk. Kaden especially loved the aquarium as he loves "darks" (sharks), and even wants to be one for Halloween. (Anyone know where you find a shark costume???) He was also disappointed, though, because he had been hoping to see a "Macawoni Penguin", otherwise known as a Macaroni Penguin. Greyson, our Mr. Content, who had been not so content to be pushed around the city for two days, was very chill at Shedd's. It was a great way to wrap up our vacation!

To wrap up this post, I thought I'd leave you with a few Chi-town quotes:
Kaden (when arriving at the hotel room): "So dis is we new home? Where do we put our shoes?"

Kaden (while walking down Michigan Ave.): "I mahd."
Kate: "Why are you mad, honey?"
Kaden: "Tuz I want to doh to the dity."
Kate: "We did go to the city...this is the city."
Kaden: "Oh...dis is it, huh?"

Yes, you may have noticed that many of our funniest quotes are from Kaden. What can I say? He has a unique perspective on life.