Posts will come!

Hey, sorry I haven't posted again yet! I've tried several times but my blog won't let me upload my pictures. Soo, I will try to look into that with my computer genius father either today or tomorrow! So keep checking for new posts!

Back to Blogging!

Gosh, does my last post seriously talk about our first snow this last winter?! Uhhh...it's been a while since I've been on...sorry, guys! I just had my birthday though and my present from my amazing Andy, was a new camera!! Sooo I have pictures now! Sooo I'm hoping I'll be posting more now!! Yaaay! Thank you to Andy for a great gift that will get me back on my blog!

Oh wow, since it's been a year, it's been a little while since I updated you on everyone. I don't really know who reads this blog though, so it's just basically gonna be boring if you know us well and you go to my blog too. Sorry. :-(

Uhh...let's see. Let's begin with the littlest and work our way up. Minte Gabriel. He's a sweetheart! A naughty sweetheart, but a sweetheart! His hair's growing, his legs and arms are longer, and his vocabulary is getting massive. Vocabulary only meaning he knows more words. NOT meaning he knows how to use them! His newest adorable story is when he got mad at mom for telling him to go potty. He replied with  "I suggest you be nice to me." She returned with "I suggest you obey me." Minte:  "I suggest you get a haircut."  Oookay then Min. Good comeback.

 Minte is still quite the swimmer; he wiggles his way thru the water. He also enjoys Superman. Like a lot. He owns I think 3 Superman shirts and you can get him to do pretty much anything by telling him to do it like Superman or that Superman does it. He hasn't quite figured out villians yet..he tends to beat up his own family and call them villians, but we're working on it. ;-)

Ana Mae is obsessed with our chickens. They started laying the day after we returned from vacation and she thinks it's about the best thing ever. She knows each chicken by name, says she knows which is oldest and youngest, and will tell you each chicken's personality if you let her. The chickens adore her- she mashes together their food and water and feeds them with a spoon. They think that's the greatest and follow her everywhere hoping for more.

Ana's a singer. Just this morning I came downstairs to her singing Taylor Swift songs. She kinda slaughters them either by changing the tune or words, but she does her best. Actually it was kinda amusing this morning when she made a song by singing one line of like 10 of Taylor's songs! I was pretty impressed that she remembered that many and could switch so effortlessly!

Ethan is starting soccer up again this year. He played this last spring too! He is a little shy about getting right into the action and since he missed a year, he's still learning a little about timing and where he's supposed to stay, but he's doing a pretty good job! He enjoys his teammates and he loves the games and telling us all about them afterwards. Right now Lucas is training him to run a 5K. He hopes to do that this October with Uncle Tony, Aunt Jody, and Allison!

For Christmas I believe, Ethan received a camera from Dad and Mom. Since then it has broken and been replaced a couple times, but that camera has been well used! He loves to take pictures of everything!! On vacation he took a ton of pictures of random things like semis, or bridges, or cities, or flags..things I would consider to be kinda boring but to him, everything is worthy of a picture!

Ethan has also begun to slowly take my place as the baker of the family. He enjoys making muffins or biscuits for breakfast. He is always willing to help mom out and make pizza dough, macaroni and cheese, etc. for her!

Luke just started school today. He didn't say much about it, but looks like it went well! He is a junior this year..one year after this and he graduates! Yikes! He really enjoys Heritage and all of the friend's he has made there. He took one of those friends up north with him when we went to the cottage over Labor Day..they made movies, stayed up late,ate, slept and acted like boys. ;-)

As he has for a while, he still enjoys technology. Right now he has some kind of watch ipod thingy and an ipad but it won't be long at all until that shows up to be sold on Craigslist and he buys a new cool thing. He definitely has my Grandma's and Uncle's love for buying and reselling for a profit. He has gone thru so many different Apple things this summer. I can never keep track of what he owns, because no sooner does he have it, then he sells it!

I am doing well! Still dating Andy- it'll be 1 1/2 years on the 9th! He's super great! We've really enjoyed going to South Haven this summer. It has pretty much been our (mine. I think his too. ;-)) favorite place to go on a date. It's perfect for walks and talking- things we like to do on our dates. A few weeks ago his appendix decided to explode and he decided to live thru the pain for a few days until finally giving in and going to ER. They did surgery the next day and he spent a few more days in the hospital. The bad thing was that he also had to take off work for a month, but the good part with that was that he was able to go up north with us over Labor Day weekend which he would not have been able to do if his appendix hadn't ruptured!  It was a lot of fun to have him there all weekend! He couldn't do hard tubing, but there were other things we could do! We went for a safe (no getting thrown off) tube ride, played a bit with the kids, swang a lot, swam a bit, and just enjoyed being able to be together so much!

I have a job at Appletree Christian Learning Center. It's a daycare and I love being with the kids all day! I've gotten to know the kids very well and it has been fun to get to know the other teachers as well! Today I begin classes at WMU. I am going to major in Child and Family Development. One of the teachers at Appletree also did this and she really liked the program, so we will see how much I end up liking it! I'm going to be taking 15 credits (so 5 classes) while I still work 2 days a week, so my schedule is going to be pretty busy. Hopefully it won't be too much.

Sorry it has taken me so long to post! I hope I'll do better now that I have my own laptop and camera but with how crazy busy I will be this semester, it might not happen. :-/

2011 Winter ALREADY?

Well, we've had our first snow. And it even stuck to the ground! Chaos broke out in the house when the kids discovered the first few big flakes. Eruptions of "IT'S SNOOOWINNG!!!" and screams of delight from Minte. This is Minte's second snow and I don't know how well he remembers his first one. He was pretty impressed last year and it hasn't seemed to change any this year. Within minutes the kids had grabbed coats and crocs and were out in the snow. Min ran in circles around the playground with a huge grin on his face while Ethan and Ana stuck their tongues out for cold, snowy flakes.

I can't believe winter is beginning already. The excitement lasts about a couple weeks or so for me and then I'm over it. Hope the kids enjoy the snow as much in January as they are in November! They're already talking about snow ball fights, but sadly decided that the light fluff on the grass today was not packing snow.

In other news... and I'll go through the kids.

My last few months have been great! My boyfriend, Andy, and I have been dating 8 months yesterday and I am so blessed with such an amazing and thoughtful boyfriend! We both are going to KVCC at the same time during the week so we're able to spend some time together at lunch and after classes. It's been pretty awesome! Andy also has shown me around campus a little more so I'm able to find my way around a BIT better. Notice bit. ;-) School is going good as well, but having a boyfriend is the most exciting news for me right now!

Lucas is enjoying going to Heritage! He has made a lot of friends and is planning on joining the basketball team this season. It will be strange though because he may play his old team! Right now the Heritage team has only started conditioning and Luke's been coming home sore from all the physical activity each day. Lucas is also excited because soon he will be getting an iphone from a man he meets with almost every week. He's looking forward to having his technology back after not having it since he sold his ipod several weeks ago! The biggest news though with Lucas is that he became a Christian about a month ago! We are all so excited and happy!! I think Lucas received more hugs that day than he normally gets in a long time!

Ethan loves to read! Reading for school is not a problem for him! He'll read ahead in his science book if he gets the chance. Recently Mom has been letting him start making food with some supervision. He has made cookies and biscuits and loves sharing the product with Ana and Minte! And of course since he is the cook he gets a little extra himself! Ethan has also been taking piano again this year and every afternoon is heard practicing "The Pink Panther" or "America the Beautiful". He definitely is gifted in reading and playing music.

Ana's no longer shares a room with Ethan. She has moved in with me and I think we're both still getting used to it. I forget and turn on the light at 10:30 after class or a date and wake her up and she still goes to the wrong room for pajamas sometimes.  She loves her brothers so much and before she moved Ethan and her would stay up for hours just talking and laughing. Every night if they can, they both get in Ethan's bed and talk and catch up as if they don't see eachother all day! She and Ethan would play all day long if they could. You can easily say they're best friends!

Minte is as adorable as ever! His newest thing is to apologize for EVERYTHING. Thing is, since he does it to EVERY THING, it's doesn't seem very sincere. Splashes water everywhere..  "I so sorry." Has an accident.. "I so sorry." Gets into something.. "I so sorry." But it IS cute! He loves to play pretend with his little people or with Ana and Ethan. They dress him up as a baby or whatever and he goes right along!

So this is an update. Sorry its taken me so long to write again. I want to do pictures, but due to slow computers I haven't been able to. Hang in there and eventually you'll get some though! ;-)

Vacation, Part 2

PART TWO!!

Day 4:This day was set aside for the beach and renting a jetski! Since the lake we were on does not allow motorboats on it, we had to go to Otsego Lake, (a sad reminder of back home) :-( and use their state park. The park was very nice! They actually had picnic tables ON the beach so we were able to eat our lunch without having to move up to the grass! The beach was large, but wasn't very wide, which made plodding through the sand so much easier! The restrooms and concession stand had a long path and split like a clover with a picnic table in one "leaf",  a tall wash off area in another, and the other leading to a waterproof mat to the water. It was probably the nicest beach I'd ever been to!

The swimming area was right next to the boat area so we were able to set up our spot between the two! We parked the jetski, (not that it ever stayed there long) right by us and took turns on it. I think Lucas had the most fun on it! He was constantly zipping across the water at full speed (about 60) and trying to get some air over the small waves. After a couple rides, Lucas, Dad and Ethan went out. Mom and I were left behind with Min and Ana. We kept talking about how long it was taking them to get back when we suddenly noticed a boat towing a large object. At first it looked like just a tube, but as it closer we recognized Dad's yellow lifejacket and two familiar heads in the boat. They finally made it to shore and we immediately wanted to know what happened. The guys explained that they had stopped so that Dad could warn Ethan of the wind as they headed back. Suddenly a big wave came up and knocked over the jetski, tossing all three of them into the water! According to Dad, Ethan did extremely well and didn't seem to be frightened at all! They took too long to get the jetski back up so it became filled with water and wouldn't ride right. Some people (who also happened to be some people we had seen at Applebees a couple nights before!!) had stopped to helped them and offered to tow them to shore. At first it looked like the jetski wasn't gonna work, but after managing to tip some water out of the boat, the jetski was back to normal! Shortly after the accident I decided to try out driving, but took Luke along for support. And it's a good thing I did, because I freaked out! I would hit 35 and then get scared and drop to 5 and back and forth. Then I was too scared to turn because I didn't want to tip like the boys had done! Lucas had to end up driving us back! Mom took a ride with Dad once and once with Luke. When she came back with Luke her hands had marks from how tightly she had held on to his lifejacket! He likes speed! Minte and Ana both had their turns. Dad says Minte did NOT like going fast! Ana on the other hand was pretty confident after her first ride and didn't mind going fast with Luke! The jetski was a lot of fun and zippy!!! I think we all want one now!

Day 5: Wednesday we checked out the Lakes of the North community pool. It was inside the community building, therefore the water was very warm! We put Minte in his lifejacket and set him loose. He loves to splish splash around and is getting very confident the water. He really does not like his face in the water though. Or water in his nose. Not that I blame him! Ethan showed off his skills swimming and would jump in the deep end without a lifejacket or anything and swim back to the shallow end. Since taking swim lessons this summer he swims a ton and is very good at it! He used to be scared to death of water, but not now!! After the pool we rented Heidi from their video selection and brought it home to watch in the afternoon while Dad and Mom went on a long walk. That evening we went to Gaylord for supper and shopping. We went to The Sugarbowl, a restaurant that has been around for a long time. Dad and Mom ordered an appetizer of a cheese soaked with brandy and then set on fire. They say it was very good! It was a very interesting place. They put us in booths and then lowered the middle wall so that we had one big table! After supper, the girls went to the chocolate shop next door. They had cool candy pictures on the floor and tooons of candy! They had a lot of chocolate covered food. When Mom asked they said they actually have sold chocolate covered bacon before! Yuck!

Day 6: We were supposed to go to Mackinac Island Wednesday, but the weather didn't cooperate so we ended up going Thursday. On the way to Mackinaw City we were concerned with the weather as it was very dark outside and gloomy, but by the time we made it to the island, the weather was looking brighter! They were getting ready to load the ferry when we finally made it with all our bikes to the line, but we missed it. We were the first in line for the next trip a half an hour later!When the ferry returned, it had a few people on board and some kids on top were soaked to the skin! The captain warned us that the open top of the ferry would get sprayed and we were likely to get soaked. Ana, Luke and I didn't want to sit in the stuffy bottom though so we braved the top. The closer you were to the captains room and on the right, the less wet you'd get, but Luke wanted to sit in the middle on the left. Ana and I saw the soaked seats and decided we'd rather sit closer to the captain on the left side. And it was perfect! Perfectly wet! Haha!! Ana and I got very wet, but not nearly as wet as Lucas did, stubbornly seating in the middle. It was so worth it though, the wind in your face and hair and water surprisingly attacking you!

After eating lunch and choosing a double seated bike for Mom and Dad to share, we took off on a 8 1/2 mile bikeride around the perimeter of the island! It was a gorgeous ride! It's not a part of the island that a whole lot of people see! We were by the lake the entire ride and took a couple breaks to wade and throw rocks into the water. We also stopped at the halfpoint mark for icecream at a concession stand!

After the bikeride we locked up our bikes and took a walk past the Governor's mansion and Grand Hotel. Both very pretty places. It was past 6 though at this point so we couldn't get close because we weren't dressed up! Haha! Oh my gosh! After 6 you must wear a suit and dress. Too fancy for me!!!

After our tour we discovered that the keys to the bike locks and van were missing. Frantic looking followed. Fortunately we had spare keys in our camera case and Mom had "accidentally" brought her keys with us and even though we weren't able to find the keys, it didn't end up being a catastrophe!!

We looked through the shops next and headed back for the ferry. This time only Dad, Minte, Ana and I were brave enough to go on top. We didn't get as wet as we had before though! But whenever we DID get hit by water, Minte would jump!

Day 7: If we weren't too tired Friday we were going to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes, but we ended up not going. Instead we went to minature golf in the afternoon. Luke won! The course was really neat and fun to do! Minte even participated. After 1 stroke, we sort of just gave up on him finishing with a par. ;-) After golf we were told of a place where you can see elk! We decided to check it out and were greeted by some very friendly people who offered to share some apples they were feeding to the elk. It was fun to feed them! Minte even fed some by tossing them over the fence. Course he bonked some in the process, but elk are tough! Haha! Dad kept trying to touch their antlers, but they would move away when he tried. We were so glad we decided to come!

Day 8: We packed up and left Saturday. It was sad, but good too. I think we were all ready to sleep at our house! And of course, we had to have some kind of problem that day too. We couldn't find the boat keys!! We never did find them. We looked while we unpacked too, but no luck! :-(

Overall, vacation was a lot of fun!! It was great to have a lot of family time and to explore new places! The kids watched a lot of Lassie. And I think I'll have the whistle theme song stuck in my head forever.  :-/ Dad, Mom, Luke, and I watched a lot of Harry Potter and Cranford while eating tons of icecream!! Much fun!!! :-) Pictures will hopefully come soon!

Vacation Part 1

We are back from vacation!! We had a wonderful time! We rented a cottage in northern MI on Pencil Lake, a small lake within Lakes of the North. The lake was one of those where you're not allowed to build your house right by the lake so it was neat to go by the water and just see woods and feel like you were in the middle of nowhere! Which we really were... Haha!

Day 1: Travel. We packed up all morning and left at around 2 in the afternoon. We arrrived at the cottage to find that we had been given the wrong key! We  couldn't get inside! Dad called the person we were renting from who said that she had several other people nearby who had a key, so she'd call them. The problem was she couldn't get ahold of any of them! We finally decided to go out to eat since we still hadn't eaten supper. We used my GPS and it directed us to a place called Michael's. When it started taking us into a subdivision, we were worried we were gonna eat at Michael's house! And THEN when we were taken to a seasonal road, we decided the GPS was confused and turned around for the 20 minute drive back to Gaylord! We ended up eating around 10 and finished around 11. Probably one of the latest dinners we've ever had! Minte slept through it all! While we ate Dad got a phone call from the renting people who said they finally got ahold of someone and the cottage would be open when we got back! And it was! We looked around, unpacked, and crashed in our beds!

Day 2: Rest. We recovered from Day 1. It was Sunday, so it was perfect! After a church service at home, we checked out the old paddleboat and rowboat left for us to use by the lake and explored the cottage.

Day 3: Horses! We went horseback riding this afternoon!! Lakes of the North has its own riding stable so we were able to go there and Dad, Luke, Ethan, and I went on an hour long ride! Mom was unable to join us because she had a lot of pain in her hips and back. :-( It's especially sad since she's the one who loves horses the most. Minte and Ana took pony rides first and then visited the goats and donkey nearby while we went on our ride! The ride through the woods was a lot of fun!  Ethan got to ride and direct his own horse so that was neat to watch! The only incident happened when my horse decided he didn't like me keeping him from eating the grass nearby and chose to run me into a small tree. Haha! It didn't hurt, but it was rather interesting! When we got back Ana and Minte showed us the goats and donkey and then we headed back to the cottage.


Part 2 to come soon. Jetskiing accident, Mackinac Island, and much more!

Video

I just love watching Min and Ana jump away from the frog. They wouldn't even touch it with bare hands. Which makes me wonder how exactly they were able to catch him... haha!

Minte's First Babysitting Job

So here's the story. So, see we have this big puddle at the end of our driveway and one day a frog was jumping along and said, "Ooh, that seems like a nice puddle for me to live in." So he jumps in and lives his little life in there. Then a day or two later, a bored, study-tired girl happens to scare him when she passes by and she hears him splash into the puddle. She looks for him, but he has hidden well. A few hours later, two pairs of small feet run to the puddle talking excitedly about a frog. The poor frog's next hour is spent avoiding being whipped by a jump rope and landed on by either feet or buckets. That evening the feet return and the frog is spotted and after many splashes and squeals, caught. Not sure how, but it was caught. He was scooped into a pail of water and the pail is then dumped into a wheebarrow. Mr. Frog is a prisoner. Only now he's not Mr. Frog. No, his name is now George. A pal of George's is spotted now and the two pairs of small feet are in a dilemma. This new frog must be captured, but George is trying to jump to freedom. The answer comes to them: the smallest member of the family should babysit. They arm him with a pail and bubble wand and set off on their hunt. And so begins Minte's first babysitting job.

Min takes his job seriously.

His favorite part? Poking George.

And as long as George keeps his distance and does not try any hops his way, Minte is a happy, torture-loving babysitter.

Moral of Story: Stay away from Vander Hart pond.

 And don't call Minte with a babysitting job.

This Stinkin Heat!

Uggh. This week we've been hit by muggy, overpowering heat. Temps have been in the 90's, but you wouldn't know it because of the humidity. It feels more like in the 100's!!

Adriana created a cooling device earlier this summer that I'm sure if I reminded her, she'd use again! Introducing Ana's Amazing Ice Cooler!

This device consists of an icecube wrapped in Kleenex. It is then taped to the forehead. In order to get complete use of this, you must tip your head backward to keep it on your forehead, otherwise you will cool only your nose!

Cost: FREE!

Some Time at the Park

A couple months ago, Mom and I and the kids went to spend some time at Kindleberger Park, a park we used to live by and spend a lot of time at! The kids had a lot of fun playing on the playground and watching out for daycare groups who were also enjoying the park!

One part of the playset had a tube and Minte was a little nervous about actually crawling through the entire thing. He didn't quite get that the tube would take him to the other part of the playset where Ana and Ethan were playing!

Ana the firewoman.

And Ethan the Fireman.

Could not be cuter.

 I love this picture cause it's soooo Ana!! Hahaha! I can totally hear her deep laugh!

I might've been in trouble...Hahah! Actually he's just on the balance beam!Whew!

Car Accident

As most of you know, I ran a red light and hit someone, totalling my car. Thanks to insurance though, I was able to buy a car better than my old! The first pic is of my crashed car and the second picture is my new, amazing Saturn that I absolutely love!

Minte Baby is Growing Up!

This first picture is one of Minte that we received when we got our referral! The second was taken today! Look at the difference! He looks so old!!

And smiles!

1-2-3 JUMP!

Birthday Excitement

I am sorry about how long it has taken me to write a new post! I have not given up on blogging and plan to return to writing on it regularly! Well, a birthday has happened since I last wrote! Lucas has turned fifteen! I didnt do a special post for him, but he doesn't care. :-) Minte has had a lot of fun celebrating his siblings' recent birthdays and is confident that everytime Dad and Mom go out by themselves, that they are getting him a present for his birthday. He has figured out how to hold three fingers up instead of two and has begun choosing flavors for his icecream and cake! Chocolate all the way! Unfortunately his birthday isn't until May 15 and he has a while to wait yet. So Dad and Mom have explained to him that it's not his birthday yet and although he doesn't like to wait he will happily tell you that his birthday is in May and it's coming soon! So right now we're planning and looking forward to May 15 so we can celebrate our little buddy! That's the birthday excitement over here right now!

Ana is 7!!!

Today Anie Baby has turned 7!!! She informs Mom that she doesn't want to be 7 because it is a boy's number. She wants to be 8, a girl's number!

She and Minte keep us laughing! Especially during supper! She is very serious and takes things very literally unless it's her own joke, in which case she cracks herself up!! :-) She is a blessing to our family and we are so happy that she is a part of our family! Love ya, Ana!!!

Here is Minte singing his happy birthday to his sister...

Spring Day!!

February 18th was a special day! Why was it special? 'Cause we had barely any snow! PLUS it was warm! Later the kids were outside without coats!! It was so wonderful! The kids and I spent some time outside and I took pictures.

 Scooters were brought out! In February!!

 We took a short walk through the field. Weeds got caught inside our shoes! Not snow!!

 And whether inside or outside, some kind of ball is always at Ethan's side! And he could actually dribble on a non-icy driveway!

 Minte brought out his ball as well. It's too bad he isn't 4 feet taller! He did his best to get the ball in the basket!

I think after that day we all got even more eager for spring! New grass and flowers. Warm weather. Fresh air. It will be SOOO amazing!!! Spring, COME!!!

Living in a Glass World

Our house has been hit by the ice storm! The storm has cancelled many things and kept most of us at home, but in the meantime we are enjoying the field in the backyard! Each weed and tree is covered with ice and when hit by sunlight it sparkles. And when you have every weed and blade of grass sparkling, it is a gorgeous thing to see! I took some pictures so  I could share the sight with you, but they didn't turn out very well and you can't get the whole picture. But here are the pictures I took. You may need to click on the picture to see the "glass".

 Yesterday. The rest of the pictures are from today.

Isn't it pretty! Wish you could see it in person! It's pretty cool!

If the ice has hit your place too, be careful out on those roads!

Hidden Idenities

 Princess Ana

 Cowboy Minte

 Snazzy Ethan.

 Basketball palmer Lucas

 Reader Emily.

What's Been Going on Around Here...

Right now all our nights have been filled with this...

 And therefore our days are filled with a lot of this....

 Huddles.

Scrimmages.

 Boxing out.

 Loud Laughter.

Occasionally owies.

Lifting injured players on a "stretcher"

And taping up ankles with socks.

There's nothing better than basketball in your foyer!

We love Rachel!

The kids love her so much they taped her to a wall so she couldn't go home.

Blizzard!

Mom will get after me for using the word blizzard after I've been refusing to call this winter storm we had a blizzard! Yesterday I thought all the frenzy about a blizzard coming was dumb since they've been predicting a lot of things lately that haven't come! I woke up this morning though kind of hoping to see a lot of snow. Weathermen are saying we got a foot of snow. With all the blowing that happened too though, what you mostly see are 2-3 feet deep snow piles against fences and houses. The rest of the snow that wasn't blown is barely a foot deep. Here are some pictures...

Yesterday the backyard looked like this. You can FAINTLY see snow swirling around on the right. It was pretty windy!

The next morning, (today), the backyard looked like this.

 This is about the biggest drift we have. It's probably about 3-4 feet deep and is only in this corner.

 The garage door's imprint on the snow. I guess this drift was pretty high too.

Some more drifts by the fence...

 Meanwhile I get a text from a friend just down the road saying that they have snow up to 5 feet deep in some places and they are making tunnels!! Here are some pictures he sent...

This metal stick is 4 feet tall.

That's some DEEP snow!!! I wish that we had gotten such big drifts here! Wow!

And check out this picture! Some of this is a hill, but most of it is piled snow! I guess they got the REALLY high winds! :-)

So that's what the blizzard looks like over here at the Vander Hart's! How much snow did you get?