happy birthday dodge!!!

yes, i realize that dodge's birthday was 6 weeks ago...sorry, buddy...

my baby turned SIX YEARS OLD on december 16, 2009!

dodge cooper...born at 10:24 am weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz...you were 12 days late, but i'm not complaining...it was God's little way of letting me know we would be waiting for you a whole lot more than this!

you are about 20 minutes old in this picture...one of THE best feelings EVER...holding a new baby!!!!!!


big brother dawson (21 mo.) getting acquainted with you ;)


you and taylor nederveld...our first camping trip together...you are both 19 months...and very happy to have your pipe's, thank you very much.

someone that likes his ice cream as much as daddy....hard to believe.

no fear...good thing...i see dirt bikes in your future...

silly boy

st. patricks day with the only irish woman we could find...grandma beld 2003

christmas jammies and santa hats...

fishing at uncle moe's pond...

dodge in his pirate get-up...a little glimpse of what a vruggink girl might have looked like?

riding a two-wheeler

first day of 4-yr. pre-school...

you will pass out ANYWHERE...even on a 3-wheeler

happy halloween little hunter

daddy teaching you how to shoot a bow

oooo...serious stuff...look out world!

my sweet pea...we love you dodge cooper...you are our joy...as dawson says, "the funniest person in our family"....you make us laugh non-stop, and are always the pick-me-up we need...

things we love about ya:

1. it takes you 20 minutes to brush your teeth...you are too busy flexing your muscles and making monkey faces in the mirror

2. you ALWAYS give kisses - no matter what

3. you wake up happy & talking a blue streak

4. you tell us you love us about a hundred times a day - really.

5. you fly by the seat of your pants...always up for an adventure! (just the kick in the pants that mommy needs sometimes!)

6. you love to sing to the radio and know all the words to a lot of dierks bentley & kenny chesney ;)

no time to post...

wow...i have not time to post, but i figure the 5 people following my blog might be sick of looking & listening to christmas stuff! there are PILES of laundry with my name on it!

i will chat more later...sorry for the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy boring post.

wanted to get some christmas pics up for all my devoted readers! seriously, even though most of you are family...or like family, we get so busy this time of year, we don't even get to each others houses to see all the decorations....so, i've got a very small sample of my holiday cheer for you!

my favorite little chair...it was my neighbor's high-chair when she was a little girl...love it!

even cuter with present, dont ya think?!

totally not the best lighting, but i totally have the wrong camera to take good pics...anyway, i DO love how cozy lamplight is. the "W-I-S-H" word was a little thanksgiving day project we did years ago at the poelman's...


my antique store trees with my best friends, george & mary bailey....please tell me you know who they are...you dont? oh. my. stars. go rent the movie, "its a wonderful life". after you put your kids (or dogs) to bed, get in your pj's, grab a blanket, some hot cocoa, and a box of kleenex. the best movie of all times!!!!!!!! have you not noticed the name of my blog?
the bailey's are family...at least it looks like it, cuz i have their picture plastered everywhere. love them, i seriosly considered how i could somehow name my kids after a part of the movie....just think, little george vruggink.

1946....i love everything about this movie...the story...the values...good overcomes evil...the clothes...the homes...especially how they decorated! no pottery barns or crate & barrel! homes reflected the personalities of the people who lived there!

this pencil sketch was a present from my mom last christmas....isn't she good?! i always loved this picture...agian from the movie....she drew it by pushing "pause" on the dvd player and drew it...LOVE IT. it makes me happy every time a look at it. it hangs proud on my wall year round.

i love books. i love christmas books even more! court gave me the idea to read a christmas book every day of december with my kids. so i've collected a pretty nice stack...good ol' scholastic book orders, used book sales and amazon.com have made this a pretty inexpensive tradition...my favorite book? the gift of the maji, by o'henry....my mom read it to us as kids, and now my kids love it as much as me! i also have it on tape (dubbed off an album of my grandparents)...it is lorne green narrating the story...awesome.

if you haven't read it, put it on your list of things to do before christmas :)

the reason for the season...i love my nativity...if i could witness anything in the bible, it would be the birth of Jesus...oh, to hear the angels singing...i get goose bumps thinking about it. another tradition...reading luke 2

love christmas ornaments...

this is an old ornament from my mom...
"every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings"

(this will make no sense to you if you haven't watched the movie...)

my tree, which we got from behind my grandma & grandpa beld's...complete with icicles....

well...i mentioned a few of our traditions...what are yours?

post some pics of your trees, too! it will be like our own little bloggy-holiday tour!

the bakery...

oh, how i LOvE steenstra's bakery!!! i was in grandville wednesday morning...when i thought how yummy bread ends would be for thanksgiving :) me and dodge stopped, and if ONLY i had my camera....it is a teeny tiny lil bakery, and i bet they had 10 people working the counter, cuz there had to be 25 of us crammed in that little place! yummy smelling baked goods were flying out of there...well, like hot cakes!!! i could NOT pass the banket up...love almond stuff....and had to get those cute little chocolate turkeys for the boys....and i got me and doug chocolate-chip-chocolate muffins with chocolate frosting. OH. MY. STARS.

anyway, short post...packed with calories.

water

i love water. i drink it every day. i waste it more than i care to admit. i like long hot showers. i use too much when i brush my teeth. i do ump-teen loads of laundry a week. i have a handy dandy dish washer that makes my life easier.

i love kids. i have two. they love water, too. since they could drink out of a cup, they have had a water bottle with them WHEREVER they go - really. my boys like dirt. they shower every day. they play with the hose during the summer...and winter.

i love my country. i love michigan. i love the beach.

i've never been to africa. but i've seen what those kids drink. it looks like mucky-swamp water and is contaminated with bugs, parasites and poop. i dont know about you, but that is just sad to me.

so, as you put together your christmas list....put africa on there. they need water. the fresh, clean yummy stuff we take for granted. look at your kids and grandkids...or your pretty lil self. aren't we blessed?! the blessing isn't ours to keep...pass it on. it's only $10...or as much as you want. so simple....please help.

keep things in perspective this christmas season....does uncle fred really care if he gets a jar of cashews? buy some water...its good stuff.

do you compare?

do you ever have days when you think...why cant i find time to do that? i've always wanted to try to do that...i've been meaning to paint that room for YEARS...i really should somehow document my children's lives w/ some sort of baby book - scrap book thingy...my kids are finally in school, how can it be a have LESS accomplished around the house when they return home?...will i ever get the laundry caught up...

will my husband ever come home from work, and find me waiting for him at the door with a kiss & "how was your day, honey?...by the way, we're having roast, garlic-smashed potatoes, hot rolls, and i whipped up a little dessert, too....oh, and by the way, the boys have finished their homework & chores, and i was just thinking of making crafty little invitations for a last-minute slumber party...it will be sooo fun, i'm so excited!!

ugh.

sometimes i get in a little rut of "why cant i get it together?!"

you know what? the more i look at what others "do", the more i can get dissatisfied with what i "do"...i'm only one girl...and like a very wise person once told me, we all have our special gifts...God has a purpose for me and only me...it's not anyone else's plan...just mine. i am who i am...and i should do the best that i can with what i've got...and if i want something to change...guess what? its up to me to do the changing!!!

sometimes i look at other crafty girls, and think, why cant i do that...i wish i had that knack! but when i do that, i take away from the genuine-ness of those crafty girls....so....i'm gonna do my best not to be so envious and just be inspired :)

here is a link to brown-eyed fox's post about comparing....she is so totally cute & crafty...ya know...she's inspiring ;)


do you compare?

happy halloween

RATS!!!! I DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE PICTURES BIG...AND ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

trick or treat! the peanuts gang is a big part of our holidays, and halloween is NO exception!! my mom was always a peanuts fan...it was part of our growing up, and my boys LOVE LOVE charlie brown and the gang...


i think this is where dawson came up with the idea to be a ghost for halloween...much to my surprise :) i'm kind of a halloween scrooge - which i feel really bad about. how i got that way, i'll never know, cuz my mom is crazy-nuts about gettin all dressed up...must be i got my dad's love for halloween :)

so here is my dodger...in his ghost costume. he informed me he wanted to go as "normal" for halloween this year...he's not big for wearing a costume. but when grandma had an extra white sheet...and big brother was going to be a ghost, well.....

here is his kindergarten class...he's the guy in the front

this is dawson....in case you couldn't tell...hee hee

dawson's buddy cole

victoria & kaylee...it's so fun to see all the costumes!

the craft we did with the 2nd graders....part of my craziness this week was being room mom & getting stuff ready...painting 27 pumpkins was A LOT EASIER with spray paint...thanks dad.

mrs. van denend with dawson...she is the sweetest teacher...she has the patience of job, and is soooo good with the kiddos :)

this is a small sample of what my back yard looked like last week....everything was bright yellow...its as close to sunshine as we're going to get too...it has been such a wet & gloomy fall...but when i saw those colors out back, it made me thankful God would paint such a pretty picture...reminding me he wants to give us beauty to see, too.

an old pic of the boys that i love...dodge is 22 months and dawson is 4 yrs. old

good governor...what i wouldn't do for a scanner...this taking pictures of pictures is for the birds!

this is one of my very favorites...this is me, kirk, and my grandpa & grandma wood....they were also a little crazy about halloween...i loved going to their house to trick or treat. i cant explain it, but their house ooozed autumn coziness...their house was surrounded by big beautiful trees, the interior was every shade of brown with lots of wood and character, it always smelled yummy - cuz something was ALWAYS cooking, and there was always tons of giggles, hugs & kisses.

i always miss them tons this time of year, and i think thats probably why. even when i was in college, me and a girlfriend got dressed up and went to grandma & grandpa's to trick or treat!

i can still smell them, and feel their hugs...getting poked by grandpa's pocket protector full of pens & pencils (he was a tool & die guy)and his beard against my face...they've been gone over 15 years, now. they were only 40 years older than me - 61 yrs old when they passed away - the other day, i heard a song by brad paisely talking about going to heaven, and hugging his grandpa's neck...i started bawling. it's easy to miss them and hard to remember i need to be thankful...i have a lot of good memories of them, and parts of them will always trickle down through each generation. oh how i miss them, but i have JOY, because i know i will see them again someday :)

grandpa wood with by brother-sister kirk...sorry, kirk, i had to put this in! gracie mae looks JUST like you :)....and me, and my mom...i must be about 6 yrs old?

this is me at 2 years old...with a 75 lb. pumpkin from jay & von poortenga...had to include this shot, cuz of the charlie brown carved pumpkin...i think my mom has carved one every year!

happy halloween everyone....more trick or treat pics later?