Landscaping

Rob and I (mostly Rob) have gotten an early jump on spring in the form of landscaping our yard. Our goal for this spring was to finally spend the time and money to make our yard a place that we can enjoy all summer long. We went from having a dirt yard in the summer of 08, to having grass and a fenced yard for summer 2009, and finally grass, fence, and landscaping for 2010. It's been a major work in progress, but here are a few pictures of our progress so far. ***Note...Rob dug out every single bed by hand, and these pictures only depict the work that's been put into the back yard, not what he's done all the way around the house. I did help him when I could by digging and planting our new plants/trees. It's been so much fun working outside together. We have a play set on the way for the kids, so more pictures to come!

And of course, a picture of the kids having a grand ol' time together.

 

Kids

Our kids always compete for Rob's attention...I'm chopped liver when it comes to some real "daddy time". Today my neighbor, Julie Price called me to share an observation of hers. We share an alley between our houses, so our yards back up to one another's. She says that every time she looks out of her window over to our patio, she can see Rob carrying his baby girl around. Yes it's true, he rarely puts her down. I told Julie that it's no wonder she's not walking yet. Anyway, here are Rob and the kids in true form...they're both trying to get in on what he's doing.

A few weekends ago I had friends over for coffee. We managed to capture a handful of the kiddos chompin' on doughnuts all lined up underneath my bar. We have Jack, Eli, Emmy, Abbey, and Ella. We're missing Jovie, Ariana, Crew(He was behind me), Brody, Kyler, and Gracie....crazy to think that when we all get together for Saturday morning coffee that there are 11 kids running around!!! It gets pretty crazy, but is so much fun! Thanks girls!

The shortest long weekend ever!

If there's one thing that's certain about a long weekend, it's that it will fly by way too fast! Rob and I just stared at each other in disbelief when our friends left on Monday, and we started getting ready for the "week". We had the best time this weekend with our dearest friends from college Jason and Sydney. It all started with a four-day weekend for me because of a scheduled snow make-up day on Friday, and President's Day on Monday. Initially when we saw this weekend on the calendar a few months ago, Rob decided he'd take the days off too so that we could all be together as a family. Then when we told this to Jason and Sydney, they decided to take the days off too and come up and visit. Our weekends with The Jordan's are always treasured and packed with fun-filled memories, but I seriously think this weekend was one for the books. We hardly left the house for three nights/four days, which in my opinion is why the weekend was so great. We watched the Olympics whenever they were on, played games, played with the kids and dogs, and just enjoyed each other's company. Tons of laughs were had by all, and the best part of the weekend for me was when Jason offered to put Jack to bed, and Jack gave him a questioning look and said, "Are you sure you know how to do this?" Very funny.

Jason and Jack

My roses from Rob

Sydney's flowers from Jason

Our hand-painted Valentine's picture frames, from left: Joelle's, Jack's, Sydney's

So looking forward to our next weekend together! See you guys in April:)

Same old, same old

There haven't been many new happenings in the Day household as of late, but I figured I should update for the sake of updating. We are in the midst of work, school, and trying to stay healthy. It seems as though the drain of the "daily grind" starts to take its toll around mid-February, so I guess it's a good thing spring is right around the corner. Plus, with the weather we've been having it seems like we've been able to do some spring-time activities lately. Yesterday the kids and I went to the park, went for a walk, and cleaned the patio. The warmth of the sun was refreshing and energizing. I need those types of days to keep going. It seems to be getting harder and harder for me to leave the kids and go to work every day, and I know Rob shares the same lament.

Bowling, Piano, Friends

What a week it's been. On Monday I didn't have to work because of the MLK holiday, so we took Jack and Jovie bowling, per Jack's request. We had such a great time, but unfortunately didn't remember to bring the camera. Here is a reenactment of the event. Jack bowled a 60, which I thought was pretty solid for his first time. Jovie just sat in her stroller and watched us, while eating snacks of course:)

One of Jovie's new interests this week is going anywhere she's not supposed to go. The stairs, the dog's water dish, etc. She is enjoying exploring via crawling, and is scaling walls and furniture on foot. A new favorite toy is the piano. We got this piano from my parents house a while back. It's the piano that my sisters and I grew up playing. Hopefully she'll learn how to play too some day.

Finally, here's a picture of my best childhood/high school friends and myself. Yesterday we attended a funeral/memorial service for Natasha's son Case. What an incredible service it was. After the service we were able to have some really nice fellowship with friends, and end the night visiting with Natasha and Reese's families. What a fun night of laughing and talking! Natasha, your family is hilarious, and hopefully we really do make a trip over to Moses Lake to visit Michele:)

Love and Prayers

Just got back from church where our congregation prayed for many families dealing with the loss of a loved one. I emphasize many because it seems as though many people in our community are facing this sort of grief lately. One such family is dear friends of ours, the Heeringa's...Natasha, Reese, and Lane. They lost 5 month old Case this past week, who died from SIDs. They are experiencing a pain that is so deep, there are no words to describe it. Because of this I wanted to post something I took from our sermon today, something I don't normally do because I have grown up to be what I call a "quiet believer" in Jesus Christ. Today we were reminded that in the Christian race to victory, death is not the finish line, but the beginning of everlasting life. To those who are grieving for the Heeringa's because of the loss of Case, I pray that through this hard time you will share with others what God's intentions are, and that our life here on Earth isn't the home that God prepared for us, it is in Heaven.

I also wanted to share some pictures of sweet baby Case, and the friends that loved him during his short 5 months here. These pictures were taken over Christmas by my friend Tory. We had all gotten together to spend time with Tory, who was visiting from Montana, and Natasha, who was visiting from California. When Case was here on Earth, he was sure loved by LOTS of people!

Cardinals and Name Pancakes

What a day! The Arizona Cardinals have officially advanced through the first week of the playoffs with an overtime victory against the Packers. We are relieved and celebrating at the Day household tonight. What a game it was...anyone who was watching knows. Here are the Cardinal's fans above.

Jack and Jovie received a "Kids in the Kitchen" cookbook from their Grandma Day, and we just tried out one of the recipes. Jack and I make pancakes on a regular basis, but this recipe was for name pancakes. To top it off, the name that is featured in the picture beside the recipe is "Jack" so Jack wanted to make it EXACTLY like the one in the book. He even went as far as saying that the syrup had to be placed exactly where it was in the picture! I wonder where he gets these obsessive compulsions from? :)
Anyway, we had a wonderful day!

Birthday Girl

Jovie is 1! The VanDiest Clan gathered this evening to celebrate Jovie's first birthday. We had a low-key party with dinner, presents, and cupcakes. We had "snow on the mountain" for dinner (hard to explain, so if you're curious then you can email me) and cherry cupcakes topped with white chocolate snowflakes. 

Below-the present opening crew.

Jovie inspects, and then dives in :)

Cookin up some trouble with cousin Finnley!

Earlier that day...Chef and Sous Chef

It is so hard for me to believe that the baby is 1! I know people say this all the time, but where does the time go?

New Do

Finally! Jack let me cut that mop of a head of hair that he's been sporting since early fall. I just love that I can see his face again. No more mop or mullet!

Christmas 2009

Round 1, Christmas Eve at the VanDiest's: Jack couldn't be more excited about his Indiana Jones lego sets with matching movies from his VanDiest grandparents. He's also pretty psyched about the new Transformer movie from Finnley. All of these things have already gotten plenty of use.

Jovie trying to get into Peter's present.

Relentless.

Later that night...For two years now Jack has made up a treat and carrot plate for Santa and his reindeer. Many of his Santa questions were answered this year in the form of a couple different movies...the old classic "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" which I had never seen before, and a new Disney special called "Prep and Landing". Both great resources ; )

Round 2, Christmas Day at home: Ahh...the wait is over! Remember when Jack lost his video games until Christmas a few week back? Well, we stuck true to the punishment, and on Christmas morning after all the presents were opened and everyone was fed, he got his video games back, plus a new one from Santa. Here are Rob and Jack trying out Lego Batman.

Jovie's 1st Christmas.

She was up for a total of 45 minutes before she went back down for a nap...crabby and exhausted from the night before I guess.

So, in the midst of all the Santa hoopla and everything else that has nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas, we did take many breaks and have many discussion of why we (Rob, myself, and Jack) celebrate Christmas. Here is Jack putting together a nativity scene from stickers he got from his great aunt and uncle in South Carolina. Thanks Clyde and Wan for the thoughtful card and stickers:)

Finished product.

Round 3, Christmas at Camano: with Grampa and Grammy Day, Aunt Sara, and a brief visit with Granny, and Cousins Chris, Amy, and Aaron. The theme was food...in every sense of the word. We ate so well...in fact it seems that all Rob and I did was eat. The kids received lots of fun play and real food related things to go either with their new play kitchen or to help mom in the real kitchen. Rob and I received a gift certificate to a quaint little dining establishment in Bellingham called Ciao Thyme. Thanks for all of the neat and thoughtful presents! Also, thanks for putting up with us and the noisy children:) You'll be happy to know that the Jovie's sleeping patterns are back to normal.

6 Grandchildren & Santa

Today Santa was kind enough to stop by my mom's house to take a picture with all the kids so that we didn't have to cart everyone to the mall. Julie coordinated the event since she loathes malls more than anything. Good job Julie, and good job Santa. Santa was as jolly as ever! Jack and Ryan took the whole thing very seriously, and seemed to be totally wowed that Santa was sitting in Grammy's living room. Finnley screamed the second Santa walked in the front door, and Jovie screamed the second I put her down. It was eventful, and the video that Rob took is priceless. My pictures on the other hand didn't turn out very well. I wasn't paying much attention to my settings, so my red eye is off, as well as my indoor flash. Oh well, it's a pretty cute sight anyway.

Grammy, Finnley (20 months), Almira (4 days), Ryan (4), Jovie (11 months), Peter (5 months), Jack (4)

A little more torture:)

Me and Almira. Beth and Adam welcomed baby girl Almira Kathryn on Monday night. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, was 20 inches long, and is a sweet little girl. Beth and Adam are proud first parents, and are doing great! We are all proud aunties, but I think Adam's family wins the prize for most excited/enthusiastic. This is the first grandbaby for the Hodgins family, and the girls are just loving and spoiling Almira already.

Tis the season

Here was Jovie being rewarded with a Christmas cookie and juice for being a perfect angel after a short (20 minute) trip to Target on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Jack was serving part of his punishment in his bedroom for being an absolute monster in Target, which is of course why our trip lasted 20 minutes.  I have never had a problem with my eldest child in a store before. Nothing that could not be solved with a free children's size popcorn or a piece of gum. I think however that there was a sense of holiday madness in the air, and Jack just decided to run with it. Needless to say I will NOT be going back to any store in the near future with either of the children, and I am so thankful that Rob ordered all of our Christmas presents online 2 weeks ago, making it possible for me to avoid department stores altogether until after Christmas! Oh...the rest of Jack's punishment is that he lost all his video games until after Christmas. This is a big deal for this child. In his free time he lives for playing Lego StarWars or Lego Indiana Jones video games. The kid hums and sings the theme songs for these games every chance he gets. I think it will be good for him to have a break.

Here is Jack tromping through the tree farm last weekend. He was pretending he was Darth Vader, and with his pretend light saber he was slashing through the tall brush saying "Wait for me Darth Vader's mom!" Did I mention we were taking a break from his StarWars video game?

Yes, that is Rob, my dad, and my brother in law Adam tying our tree to the racks of our brand new (old) mini-van. We got this mini-van from Rob's parents a while back, and are loving it! We only had to make one stop on the way home to secure the tree back to the racks, but that was because of a harsh Northeasterly wind.

Annual Almond Stick Making

Four generations of Van Diest Family members got together on Saturday for our annual almond stick making. It's a tradition from my Grandma Van Diest's family, and I don't know how long they've been doing it, but I've contributed for probably 5 or 6 years now. It has been a long time since there have been children at this event, but now that all of us grandchildren have children, my grandma's church gym was overrun with baby equipment, kids games, and toys. I just had to take a few pictures to document what an amazing task almond stick making is, and how much work and love goes into them. We all give them away as gifts during the holidays, and I've learned in the last few years that they sell at a few stores in Lynden for like 7 or 8 dollars a piece. They are a long standing Dutch tradition in our family. Beth and I were discussing how special it will be to carry on the tradition for years to come.