Frederick Meijer Gardens

In April, at the beginning of Spring Break, we went to Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park here in Grand Rapids. We went with Nana Nita and our cousin Chloe and had so much fun! The main thing we saw was the butterfly exhibit. If you wear bright colors sometimes the butterflies will land on you! We didn't have very much luck with that this time, but it was neat to see them all flying around inside the conservatory. Jack started getting a little restless when all the girls had decided they wanted to walk through the butterflies one more time, so he and I went outside to the children's park to play. It was a little chilly and windy, but being a boy, he didn't care and just wanted to run and get some of his never-ending energy out! Thanks for a super fun time Nana!



Nana and her "grands" (minus Peyton)

A Weird tree that looked like a long hairy beard (like those of ZZ top!)

This statue is called "Mean Mommy"! hahaha...loved it!

The Davincci horse (a replica)

Lots of Coccoons in various stages...

Hello friends and family!!!

It has taken, hmmm...let's see...over two years, but I think I am ready to blog again! If anything, for the sake of journaling, sharing tidbits of everyday life with our family and friends and posting pics for those far away!! Like the header? I made it myself...not anything close to spectacular, but it was a fun learning experience and maybe sometime down the line I can update with new pics. The funny thing is, I don't really have time to sit and write anything today! I've spent it all trying to create this header for the blog! Quinn should be walking in the door anytime, nothing looks like it was accomplished today and dinner is nowhere near started...typical day!! lol. When I have time I will try and sit down and chat a bit about where our life is right now. For now, have a wonderful rest of your day!

Love, Sam

More common sense for our country

Dave Ramsey is (again) making a lot of sense on the market/economic woes.
Read about it here and tell your friends:

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/3_steps_to_change_the_nations_futu
re_10928.htmlc?ictid=sml

Good perspective on bad times

A friend passed along this Washington Post article. Give it a read - it
makes a lot of sense.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092503
602.html

-QD

It finally happened...

Well I heard the stories... I did it to my parents. It's more common with boys, etc. etc.

Jack peed on me! I was sitting on the floor changing him and he just unleashed the golden fountain (OK, more like the golden sprinkle -- but don't tell him I said that). Well it took him over 6 months (which is more a testament to the number of diapers I change or don't change).

-QD
Sent from my BlackBerry

Great nap!

So this is what we get for letting Faith take a nap in our room so Jack could sleep in theirs. She got into some powder and made this mess. She also saw fit to move Sam's jewelry box onto our bed and into the mess zone. Check out the clock radio table surrounded by powder. Also note the footprints in the powder on the floor.

Not a happy camper as she learned of our disapproval.

Grace's 1st novel.

Here is a story Grace just finished. She's so proud of it, and as you can see, she worked very hard on this - her first story. Enjoy!!

Jack just chillin

Jack loves to sit on the floor and play with toys. He almost can sit up unassisted. Most of the time he does, but he still falls every once in a while. This morning he looked so cute as I sat on the floor next to him that I decided to grab the camera. The first one, he is watching the tv...then he notices me and smiles...then back to his toy (which was a snow white mirror, by the way) - Quinn will never forgive me for letting his son play with girl toys! But doesn't he look as if to say "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the most handsome boy of all?" And last but not least, the lean...which if taken farther, usually leads to the falls and roll :)

Chalk Drawings by Grace....

I walked outside the other day and saw this and had to take a picture. I always love Grace's creativity and passion for art and drawing things. If you can't tell what this is, Grace drew a teacher standing in front of a chalkboard with chalk in her hand after writing ABC and 123 on one side of the board and School is fun on the other...notice the high heels and the detail on her skirt - even the hair clips....CUTE! The second one is just Grace...she loves to have things look the same on both sides (the heart) and then has to sign her name every time and denotes it with a star - kind of like her signature style :)

My favorite picture from vacation!

I LOVE these kids!!!!

The kids

Beautiful Sisters

Here are a few pictures I took of Grace and Maddie on the beach at North Carolina...I may be biased because I'm Mom, but aren't they beautiful?

Friends...

My best friend Carissa and her family just moved back to Nebraska this past June, after 10 years of living here in West Michigan. The summer has been so busy, it has kept us from thinking about the fact that they are really gone, but now that fall is here it's a dreaded reality :( Ainsley and the girls were best friends too and they miss being able to hang out together. I just finished up gathering a bunch of goodies for the kids (Ainsley and her brother Deacon) and we are going to send them out on monday. One of the surprises is a beautiful picture frame for Ainsley with a couple of pics of her and the girls. We had had her over before they left for a last sleepover together. It made me want to post them up on the blog...enjoy!

First Day of School

Well, the day has finally come to say goodbye to summer and hello to school. I was so glad I got to spend an extra week of fun with the girls in North Carolina before school started. We just got back at 11:30 pm last night and they were up bright and early and ready to go this morning. Maddie woke up with sleep in her eyes saying how glad she was that she was going to school and Grace woke up talking about clothes and picking out her outfit (thanks so much Nana Heidi for the new school clothes!) We were all up and getting ready, eating breakfast and packing lunches and then it was time for a few pictures before catching the bus. The first one I just love because it's my gang of kiddos! Aren't they so cute? Quinn and I saw them off and then my friend and neighbor Nicole came over to watch J & F so we could go see them get off the bus and help them get to their classes. Now it is unusually quiet here - jack is napping and Faith is doing puzzles on the floor. It's nice, I must say and I think we'll have fun together at home this year. Have a great week!

The Bus...

The first pic can be summed up in a quote by Faith, "Hey, wait for me!" The girls were so excited for the bus, especially Maddie. I had to turn away as she got on because i just couldn't hold back the tears. She's been a crazy kid and I am really going to miss her being at home this year - she's my buddy. At least I have to wait two more years before Faith leaves me, and that will just be a few monrings a week at preschool. Whew! I am not ready for that yet!