Those little mysteries

A friend once gave me a book about a family who had a boy or two, (I can't remember), who solved their family's daily mysteries. For example, where is Dad's missing watch or what animal made those mysterious prints in the front yard. Mysteries like that.

It's funny really how many mysteries happen in each family. Where did my good shoes go? Where did Mom go? What are we having for dinner? Who ate that last piece of pizza? We have these mysteries all the time.

BUT ONE DAY WE WENT A STEP FARTHER! WE HAD A REAL MYSTERY! Watch this video. What are those black specks? Those would be swallows.

One Saturday we were all doing our chores, Lucas was doing the lawn and I was cleaning the bathrooms, Dad was messing around outside, and I don't know what everyone else was doing. I went outside to get the mail when I was astounded by what I saw. Birds dive bombing Lucas on the mower! He didn't seem to realize so I tried to get his attention. He was zoned out and didn't seem to understand me. I looked for Dad and showed him. He said, "Yeah, they're dive bombing him." So then thoughts went through my mind like maybe their baby was in the grass and they were trying to frighten Lucas away. Maybe they had a nest. Did swallows have nests in the ground, anyways? (See, those questions begin the mystery.)

I taped a video of the birds and we talked throughout the morning about this odd happening. It had never happened before.

Google is great at solving mysteries. Mom got on the internet and looked up swallows to see where they have nests. But in the end she was more interested in the actions of swallows. Because you see, swallows follow big tractors, mowers, and others and swoop down in front and behind to catch the bugs that the machines scare out of hiding.

That's what those birds were doing. Having lunch. Mystery solved.

And, by the way, we've had no more strange swallow dive bombs since that day. ANOTHER MYSTERY!

PSSST

Psst, Dad just bought me a cell phone. Like he came home just now with it. Oh yeah!


Psst, I got my "REAL" license in the mail Tuesday. Oh yeah!


Psst, I was able to smile for the picture so my picture looks better than my passport's! Oh yeah!

Get ready for the shock!

Once upon a time

My hair a few weeks ago. Click on this picture to see a larger pic.

My hair shortly after it was cut. The stylist straightened it. My hair is definitly more "poofy" and wavy now.

Michigan Adventure

This was the first ride we went on. So much fun. Okay, okay, I'll admit. It was the smallest roller coaster at the park. But it was a good starter.
Mom was a little squished in her seat. This was Ana's first ride. She had fun. I think she would've rather had been IN the water though. That was one hot day.

E-E and his new jeep. And new fire engine.

Don't freak out! This is a ride. It's a fun plane ride that the kids loved. Yaay.

BUMPER CARS!!!!! Not sure what Luke is thinking.

Ethan is thinking, "Oh yeah, baby!!"

Ana loved bumber cars with Dad. She was cracking up.

Ana's new motorcyle.

The kids kinda liked the motorcycle ride, yet they were careful to hide their smiles in case it too babyish! :)

The water park was packed during the afternoon, but one of the rides was too hard to resist. Luke tried it since he was the only one wearing a swimsuit.

Michigan Adventure was sweet!!!

Haven't Written in a while...

I have been so busy lately, that I haven't been able to write at all. I'm literally busy every day. I'm off driving somewhere doing something.

Lately, I've been trying to work on the Battle of the Book shirts for this year. I hope the kids will like them.

Well, I know I don't have very many readers, so I'll end now. Have a good day.

I'm so excited

Mom put my blog on an adoption thingerabob. So people can get to my adoption blog. Well, today I received my first reader that I don't know!!! NOW I FEEL A LOT OF PRESSURE! I had better write well! She even left a comment. Check it out!!

Now I must write another post!
Emily

They are so funny

Little kids are so funny.

When we were driving to Kentucky, we went through Indiana. Ethan was so happy to be out of Michigan and couldn't wait to see Indiana. This was his observation as we shouted that we were in Indiana...

"It looks just like Michigan!"

then after we laughed at him,

"I wonder why they call in Indiana, then."

Often times Ana and Ethan like to play with two small stuffed dogs of Ana's. They have lots of adventures. But one of their favorite things to do is to make them have an adventure like on t.v.(kind of like Clifford), and then have commercials and have do the pbs kids go line. "PBS KIDS..GO!!" like they are on t.v. It is so cute!

They are always keeping us laughing!
Emily

Ethan jumped off the dock!

Ethan got the nerve to jump off the dock. Into my arms of course. And a lifejacket. And purple goggles. Oh, and I couldn't let him go under.

But, hey he jumped, and that's what counts.

Emily

I love to pose people

If you didn't know this already, I like The Andy Griffith Show. So Nana and Papa got me two books focused on it. Very cool. On the back of one there was a picture. It was such a cute pose. I decided to try it with Lucas and Ethan. Cool, huh? Lucas doesn't want the picture of he and Ethan on my blog so I can't share it, but it turned out okay. They had the pose, but I should have had them stand up. Lucas was in pain. But here is how the rest went...

This is the picture. Cute. Opie and his Dad Andy. Love it, love the pose. So let's try it with Ethan and Ana.
Now you see, Ana was mad that I took a picture of Lucas and Ethan first, so she wasn't cooperating. She didn't pose correctly. I was mad.

Poor Ethan. Ana is digging her elbows into him.

Anyways, I wish I could share Lucas and Ethan's picture with you, it was awesome and funny!!

KAT

KAT went really well today. Lucas and I both like our classes. Lucas has a really large class. Mine consists of myself and three boys. Oh boy.

Passed

Today I took my Driver's Test. The driving part in the parking lot, well, I was expecting her to say I had failed. I did a really terrible job parallel parking. I ran over a cone. But there wasn't much I could do.

Then I went on the road. That went better. There were a couple things that happened.

But I passed. Hooray!! I went to Sec. of State and got my level 2 license. Yaay!!

I now leave very soon to pick up Emily Bos by myself and take us to practice.

What's up

So I have a new car. Our old van. Which means we need a new van, right?? We got one!!! It's white with power doors. (They move by themselves.) The highlight for the kids is the DVD player perfect for the occasional long ride. The highlight for Mom is the backing up sensor thingy. (It has lights that come on to show whether to back up farther and to tell you if there is anything behind you. Very cool!) Dad likes the hitching thing. Now we can use a trailer, not the topper holder thing on top. Ughh. I hate that thing.

We just went to Kentucky, (12 hours altogether, and, yes, we had the van by then. Oh my goodness it was so nice!!), for the wedding of an old babysitter. SHE WAS GORGEOUS!!!! Her husband seems like a very nice man. We stayed at a hotel, but the pool had just been closed!!! So no swimming. That stunk.

KAT starts tomorrow. Lucas is taking Algebra 1 and I am taking Algebra 2. Yuck. Then I am taking my road test, and if all goes well, I'll get my license, (finally!) tomorrow. Then I am going to drive my friend, Emily, and I to open gym.

I am going to the Solomons tomorrow night. I might stop at Hobby Lobby right before.

Thursday we have piano, (which, by the way, Ethan watches my hands and then sounds it out, and is now playing MY piano songs). Then I am leaving piano early for Battle of the Books. I am going to be so busy. But I love being busy. And hopefully I'll be DRIVING!! Yaaay!!

We are continuing with school. Oh boy.

Have a great week.
Em

September 11

Check out my other blog, http://www.emwantsmore.blogspot.com/ for a special 9/11 post.

Emily

Like High School Musical??

Whoooeee!!!!

This one is cute!

I LOVE THIS ONE! This reminds me of High School Musical. Especially Alli's, (blond girl on the left), pose! They had so much fun. They kept jumping and then running to me to check out the picture!

I didn't mean to have this one last, but oh well. It wasn't the best, but hey, it's a picture!!

Hope you had a good labor day!

The Big Present

I only post this picture to show something in the background. MY NEW CAR!

MY KEYCHAIN

Yes you're seeing right!!! KEYS!

My mouse on my keychain talks. It is really funny. My 2 year old friend Josiah, loves the mouse. Now, if you are going to see me lately, like you Lindsey, or you think I would rather show you myself, like you Rachel, do not even think about playing the video! I beg of you! :)

Wait for me!!!

Pictures

I tried to put these pictures in order, but it was really hard. So here are some old pictures from when we were really little. Well, younger.

This was our Christmas photo one year. You might remember it.
3 guesses who this is.

Me and my hair. Holy cow. (Pssst, I got my hair cut last Friday!) This is when I was 12 or 13.

Ethan was smart when he was a baby too!

This is one of Ethan's first baths.

Ana loved the book basket. (We start our babies on reading early!)

Ana

We sent this picture to Ana's birthmom. Our goal was to do the Sound of Music good night song pose. Does this make any sense?!

Ana first born.

This was after we all had recovered from pneumonia. (Except for me; I still had it. And I felt nauseous as they took this picture. I lost a lot of weight from being sick.)

Ana and Ethan with their favorite dog.

This is at the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida. It was a lot of fun. (We aren't standing on a real croc.)

Our international students

We participate in a Western program with international students. We basically just hang out with them as much as we can. Our first international students were Bee and Giang,(pronounced bee, and g-ee-ong). They were so nice. We did a few things with them, but they were so busy, sometimes it was hard to do anything with them. One time we went sledding, pics. below. That was fun. We also spent Easter with them. They decorated eggs with us. Then we didn't see them for a year! They e-mailed many months ago, wanting to get together one last time because they were leaving the U.S. We were unable to meet with them.

We have a new international student. His name is Haggai, but his friends call him Nellie. I think his last name is Nelson, and that's why. He likes to bring a friend or two with him when he comes. One time he came to church. We had him over for basketball a few weeks back. That was a lot of fun. He is pretty good. I just watched the boys play, which was very hard for me to do! We love to have international students. I wish we had gotten to know Bee and Giang better, though.

Bee was taking the picture, but here's the rest of us, but Dad.
Giang, after snowboarding.
Bee had a lot of trouble getting up the hill. Underneath the fluffy snow lay a layer of slippery ice.
Giang liked to sled.
Bee is having to go up the hill again. He tried the snowboard once. That was funny! :)

What's that mean?

After I had a conversation with Ana, I had her repeat it on video. This is how it went. This is why she and Ethan are looking forward to my birthday!! :)

They can't wait to go the playland at McDonalds!

Sweet Sixteen

It hasn't felt any different, being sweet sixteen. But I'll tell you this, I've got a neat key chain in my room!! I'll share more on that later.

My birthday started with yummy cinnamon rolls and ended with chocolate icecream cake, (chocolate cake, chocolate icecream, and fudge frosting). In between I had a visit from my little 2 year old friend, Jo-Jo and his siblings, went to the Potters Park Zoo with Grandpa, Grandma, two aunts, one uncle, and six cousins, went to Taco Bell for supper, opened presents, and watched a movie.

Besides the car, I got from Ana, pajamas, Ethan, a movie and mac. and cheese, Lucas, a basketball, and from Dad and Mom, (I thought my car was enough), purple, carnation flowers, a I LIKE YOU mouse key chain, (more on that some other time), and chocolate.

The day was great. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

I'm back!

Sorry I haven't written in a while. My day consists of schoolwork in the morning, painting the rest of the fence in the afternoon, eat dinner, wash dishes, and try to get more night driving in.



My birthday is tomorrow! Hooray. We are going to go to the zoo with Grandpa, Grandma and my uncle, aunts, and cousins on the Vander Hart side! I am going to have an icecream cake. Mmmmmm..

Ethan and Ana couldn't wait to show me the presents all wrapped up. Right now they are on my dresser!

They wrapped the presents this morning. But first they told me not to sneak around. So I teased Ana by saying I'd look under the door to Mom and Dad's room and so on. Mom later informed me that they were very jumpy and would keep getting up and would open the door and peek out. I didn't help much when I ran up the stairs yelling, "I'm coming!"

I got three birthday cards today from Jessi, Alli and Uncle Tony and Aunt Jody! Thank you so much, if you're reading this. I loved the pictures, Alli and Jess! :) I'll see you this weekend.

I will TRY to write more later, but today looks like it's going to be filled with comings and goings.