By The Way...

In case you want to check it out, I wrote a post on encouragement today over at Women of Intention, our church's women's ministry blog.

Feats of Strength

Now for the last of my posts to "catch-up."

Feats of Strength: Phin attempts to get his own cereal.

 Step1:

Get out the step stool and start to climb.

Step 2:

Stand on the handle of the step stool while gripping with toes.

Reach to the back of the cabinet for cereal of choice. 

Step 3:

Return to top step with said cereal. 

Step 4:

Show off muscles to impress the ladies...or at least dad with the camera. 

 

What a big boy! Hopefully we don't get many injuries from this getting-your-own-cereal technique. Hope you enjoyed this installment of "Feats of Strength."

Noon Year's Eve Party

I heard about the Science Center of Iowa hosting a Noon Year's Eve Party and I thought that sounded wonderful. Only I didn't want to take the boys down to Des Moines and we didn't want to pay to get into the Science Center for the day. So, I decided to host a Noon Year's Party at our house.

We invited the Swartz family, had some great grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, veggies, Jell-o salads topped with whipped cream, and some chips. We found a countdown online and it had some great music to it with cheering and fireworks when the clock struck 12! We tooted our horns and toasted each other with sparkling grape juice. It was a lot of fun and may become one of our holiday traditions...until the boys insist upon staying up til midnight. Honestly, Jonathan and I didn't even make it to midnight, we were in bed by 10:30p so it's a good thing we celebrated at noon!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Christmas 2010

This post includes pictures that are only a week old instead of a month. ;)

We had a very nice Christmas here in Ames. We decided not to go home for health reasons (and not just mental) and we knew the weather wasn't going to be ideal (we did not want a repeat of last year - driving for 7 1/2 hours during a severe blizzard that included rain, ice and snow). So we decided to just spend Christmas at home and it was wonderful. We had a relaxing time and really enjoyed being together without running all over to visit family. We love our family but when we go to NW Iowa it can be exhausting. :)

This is how I displayed all our Christmas cards this year.

 The boys liked to lay under the tree and look at the Christmas lights.

On Christmas Eve, before church, we went out for Chinese. We thought this would be a great tradition and was started with Chinese delivery the Christmas after Phin was born. This year we decided to get them dressed up in their church clothes and head out to The Mandarin for more of a "fancy" dinner. The boys really love Chinese food and they didn't even spill on their church clothes. I knew I was taking a risk.  It was snowing while we were inside eating. When we got outside after dinner Phin exclaimed, "It's all sparkly out here!" What a sweet memory. And this year Asher was allowed to hold the candle during the candlelit singing (while being watched very closely by me and every other adult in the vicinity). He did a great job of holding it straight and by being responsible. He couldn't sing though 'cause it made the light flicker too much. He couldn't keep his eyes off the flame and I'm glad he was paying close attention. It kind of felt surreal, like a he was a big boy for real for the first time. It was a bitter-sweet for mom.

Here they are posing at the restaurant.

 

The boys waiting "patiently" on Christmas morning.

Capes I made for the boys:

We call Asher "Squirrel" so I put that on his cape.

And Phin is our "Pickle Pie" so he has a giant pickle on his cape. 

Our stockings filled with all kinds of goodies.

Asher got a Zurg Lego kit that he's been eyeing for a while.

He was pretty excited about it. 

One of Phin's gifts was "Toy Story 3," the first movie they saw in the theater.

We received lots of gifts in the mail thanks to Gramma Van Maanen and Grandma Joyce. And then our Ames family also got the boys gifts. They are very loved, and very spoiled. We usually get them each three gifts: item of clothing (capes), a book, and a toy. This year they each got a game too, Sequence for Kids and Connect 4 (which we already had but the stand-thingy is broken). And then we fill their stockings with little things: treats, and apple, toothbrushes, a Matchbox car. This year Jonathan and I decided to just get each other stocking gifts and we had a nice time opening them too.

Here's Phin and I playing a new game he got from Mr. Jim and Miss Juli.

Asher playing with Buzz Lightyear and Zurg.

Christmas afternoon we enjoyed a delicious meal and great company at Denny and Diane's house. It was nice to be with the Wilsons and the Footes for Christmas. We shared a great meal, the boys played outside in the snow (Phin didn't last too long but Asher loved it), then watched a movie downstairs, and we had great conversation. We are so thankful for our Ames family and we feel really blessed. It was a wonderful Christmas together as a family.

Thanksgiving 2010

We went to Rock Valley for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time with all our family. Here are some highlights in pictures:

We had a great time with the big Van Maanen clan. It was fun that the boys were old enough to play with all the cousins.

Here they are wrestling:

 

 And opening up birthday gifts...

Here are all the "younger" cousins, 15 in the picture...

plus some helpers for the babies.

We also had "Christmas" with my family since my parents would be out of town over December 25th. We had a great time eating and opening gifts. The kids are all getting old enough to "go play" so the adults even got to talk for a while. ;)

I made Jaelyn a tutu and she hasn't taken it off since.

 And I made Will a superhero cape. 

I was kinda proud that he took it to school for show-and-tell.

And our boys made a haul as usual.

Asher was pretty excited about his Star Wars Legos. 

 

On the way home we stopped in Carroll for ice cream.

This is the first time we let them have their own cup 

and I thought we were pretty brave to do that in the van

but they did a good job of "keeping it clean."

Phin's 3rd Birthday

Phineas had a wonderful 3rd birthday. He picked Curious George for a birthday cake and I tried to oblige...although it just looks like a generic monkey, not really George. He received way too many gifts and had fun with his friends and family.


Phin is a fun-loving little boy. He loves to giggle and he loves to cuddle. He's very sweet and very passionate. When he's mad, he's very mad; when he's sad, he's very sad; when he's happy, the whole room is happy. Overall he's a very happy little guy who is full of energy and mischief. We are learning, like we did when Asher turned three, that we didn't really have terrible-twos...we have terrible threes at our house. Phin is striving for independence yet has a hard time communicating with us before he gets frustrated. Jonathan usually has to remind him to take a breath before he tries to explain to us why he's upset, it's pretty cute. We are working on using our emotion words and using our manners, which is sometimes easier said than done. Phin is a very kind boy who loves babies, loves to share with others, and loves to get (and give) hugs and kisses. He is pretty clumsy (just like his mama) and comes to us with tears frequently saying, "I hurt myself." And with that he's pretty athletic. He loves to kick, hit, throw, box, and anything else you can do with a ball. He's pretty coordinated which is funny considering his clumsiness. He's a pretty picky eater but loves to help me cook or bake and licking the beaters is usually his job. He enjoys watching cooking shows while he dozes off for a nap. Sometimes he even gives us tickets (anything paper he finds around the house) to his cooking show and often takes our orders for "coffee." We love him so much. We love his crooked teethy smile. His sweet blue eyes and expressive eyebrows, even if they are so blonde that we can't really see them. We love his heavy run and his contagious giggle. We love his sweet personality and his never-ending kindness. We love all his bumps and bruises. And we love the way he burrows into our arms when...well, anytime. We love his hugs and all the love he has.
 

Asher even got a little gift from Grandma Sue 

so he wouldn't be too jealous of all Phin's loot.

Rebound 2010

 

 The view from our room.

This year we had the privilege of going to Momentum and Rebound with other youth Evangelical Free youth pastors from around the country. Jonathan learned a lot during Momentum (a conference for youth pastors with larger numbers) which is a smaller group of youth pastors and wives. While he was in his sessions I was at the poolside visiting with some wonderful youth ministry wives. After visiting for a while we realized that God had put us women together for a purpose - to minister to each other. And what a blessing that was. I am so thankful for Heather, Kelly, Heidi, Mandy, and Angie. God was so good to put us together for a few short days, truly a blessing. I really appreciated the size of the group as it was easier to get to know everyone and their spouse. It was a really great time.

And then Rebound was next, the national youth pastors and wives retreat. It was another few short days of refreshment and renewal. It was wonderful to spend time with Jonathan and reconnect with friends from previous years. But I have to admit that I did stay pretty connected to the Momentum group as we had bonded already and Rebound has gotten pretty large. I think it's great but it's a little overwhelming for my introvert self. It's not like years past where you could meet everyone and their spouse. This year we kind of stuck to the people we already knew and I think that's ok. We weren't clicky (I don't think) but it was very overwhelming thinking that it was my job to make everyone feel welcome. I had to put that "expectation" aside and relax and have fun. We did meet some fun new couples from Rebound and spent some quality time with people from our district. I also had a great time with Kari, our youth pastor's wife. It's so nice knowing that Jonathan has a great relationship with his co-workers and fellow laborers for the Gospel. We are truly blessed.

One huge blessing is that we didn't think we would be able to afford to go this year when this is the year we feel like we needed it the most. But there were a few anonymous donors and some friends who made it possible for us to get away to refocus on God, on each other and on our ministry. How great is our God!!

Now, for the pictures of our wonderfully refreshing and relaxing time in Florida:

 Our 2nd annual Tim-Tam Party.

Mark and Kari

 

Not quite ready to return to reality.

Sleeping while waiting to board our plane.

Random Pics of the Boyees!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything of "real" interest...like pictures of our boys. :) So this post will just be a bunch of randomness with future posts of Rebound, Phin's 3rd birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Yay for all of you!!

Here's Phin as a "turtle."

 Part of the potty-training process - handwashing like a little monkey.

Playing "dominoes." 

A little lesson in static electricity.

Asher likes to play Blokus by himself so he can make up his own rules.

Jonathan made the boys a robot costume out of the box we got from Gramma Van Maanen.

We call it "Ash-bot" or "Phin-a-droid."