DeJong Family

Changes...

2009-11-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

I got the 7 year itch to paint. In December it will be 7 years that we have been in our house.

Mom, Get Me Some Candy!

2009-11-02T15:03:00.004-05:00

We had a fun Halloween this year. The kids all dressed up in a costume, which hasn't happend before! We had a great party at our friends house on Friday. The quote of the night was from Ty. As I am walking up a driveway with Lindsey, Ty yells from the road "Hey Mom, get me some candy!"

Lindsey had a fun class party. Here she was playing Halloween Twister.

For some reason we ended up with a ton of pumpkins this year between class trips, grandmas and a family trip the green house. Jake and Lindsey carved the majority of them.

Art Prize

2009-10-02T15:51:00.004-04:00

We took the kids to ArtPrize last weekend. It was fun to see all the people downtown. We saw a few of the art pieces by the river and the BOB. Our favorites were the glass tidal wave and the table and chairs on the bridge. On Sunday Jake and I went back to see the airplane launch. 100,000 paper airplanes were launched off the top of some of the buildings. It was quite a site. We also saw the balloon display below. That was one of our favorite pieces.

Here Jake is standing in front of a bunch of plastic container all squished together. The display had to be 10' tall. It was huge. The point of the display was "what if this all came back to us?"
A great reminder to be concscience of what we consume and throw away.

ArtPrize was an incredible opportunity for all. How cool it was in Grand Rapids, MI!

Happy Birthday Lindsey

2009-10-02T14:58:00.008-04:00

Happy Belated birthday to my favorite girl! Lindsey turned 5 on Sept. 17. We started a new birthday tradition of eating cake for breakfast! It was great!

I am proud of Lindsey. She is a smart girl with a determined personality. Here is top 5 for turning 5:
1. Has a beautiful smile
2. Is a great little and big sister
3. Has a wonderful imagination
4. Keeps us on our toes
5. Is a tom boy, but is also a girlie girl. Love it!

Lindsey's favorite things at age 5:

o still into babies, but also getting into Barbies

o loves to ride her scooter and bike and does both like a pro

o is starting to do her own hair. She now combs her own hair and also likes to play with mine

o loves being in charge

o still likes to change her clothes and is picky about what she wears, but it is getting easier!

o Loves school

o enjoys finding and playing with frogs with the boys

Happy b-day Louie. We love you!

Finally

2009-08-02T22:16:00.005-04:00

18 weeks ago we got 14 chickens. This is something that Jake has been wanting and planning for a long time. We converted the dog kennel into a delux chicken coop. We are talking luxery as far as chicken standards go! Finally, after of months of waiting we got our first egg! It was even a double yoke. Jake cooked it up for breakfast that morning.

Jake woke up bright and early this morning (6am) and went back out to the coop hoping to find another egg. He was very disappointed that there wasn't another egg. I tried to explain that it will take a while before the chickens lay eggs regularly. I said they need to learn how and practice, just like when a baby learns how to walk. Babies take a couple steps and fall, etc. His comment, "The chickens already know how to walk!"

Really?

2009-08-02T22:10:00.002-04:00

Really, now how am I supposed to measure this? Is this the price I pay for buying the cheaper butter sticks?

Vacation

2009-07-21T08:39:00.005-04:00

We have had a great summer so far. We just got back from camping in Holland for 10 days. We couldn't have asked for better weather! What a difference a year makes with Ty! He was so easy this year. The big disappointment of the year was that you can no longer run down the big sand dune. In fact, you can't even touch the sand on the dune any more. In the picture above the kids are standing on the deck at the top of the dune. There are steps all the way up. It makes for easier climbing, but you miss the fun run down. I told Jake that he can tell his kids that he remembers the day when you could run down the dune!

Every year the kids do a talent show. This is Jake's hat for his act.

Crazy hair girl! She did let Barb braid her hair almost every day! That is big for Lindsey!

All the DeJong grand kids showing off their shirts that they painted. Even the high school boys participated.

Poor kids didn't get his nap a couple of days. He played hard at the beach and then fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the campsite.

Jake loved the kayak! He figured it out right away and was off.

we spent 4th of July at home and experienced the very impressive Alto area fireworks. It was a panoramic view of fireworks all around us!

He's 7!!

2009-06-19T16:13:00.009-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE! He had a great birthday with parties going on for a week. Above is a picture of the cake that he decorated. We did our first Chuck E Cheese run as a family. He got his $5 piece of candy with the tickets he accumulated.

We came across a great deal on a dirt bike and decided to go for it. Jake was completely surprised! He reaction was priceless! No worries he will not be on the road, only on the paths around our yard.

This cool bike is called a Green Machine. It's a big kids big wheel. It already has provided lots of entertainment for the whole neighborhood! Thank Mullers for this fun present!

7 years ago we welcomed our first baby into this world. I loved being pregnant. I had a great experience at the hospital giving birth. We had tons of support from our family and friends. It is a challenge being a parent, but what a gift it is. Jake is a very respectful kid that has a kind heart. He loves playing with his friends. He still asks as many questions today as he did 5 years ago when he started talking. I love that he still wants to sit on my lap once in a while. He is a good big brother. Jake is also a hard worker. There is nothing better for him then when we give him a job to do. He has 13 chickens that he and Ted take care of. We make him stay in bed until 7am, otherwise he would be up and at it around 6am. He loves to hunt and shoot his BB gun.

Happy Birthday Jake! We love you are are so proud of you! You are a gift to us and have a very special place in our family.

100!

2009-05-12T16:11:00.013-04:00

Ted's Grandma turned 100 this past weekend. She still lives on her own in the house that they moved into over 50 years ago when they came to the US. She has raised 7 children. She has 23 grandchildren and 55 great grandchildren. Grandma volunteered at the nursing home every week up until last year.

Grandma was a mid wife in the Netherlands. One of the things I will never forget about her is when I went to visit her just after I had Jake (pic above with Jake in striped outfit). I went there with Teds mom and sisters so she could meet Jake. He was just a week or two old. While we were there I needed to nurse him. I was trying to be discrete about it with Jake being my first. I was trying to keep the blanket over my shoulder while trying to unhook my bra and balancing Jake on my lap. You remember how that was with your first... Grandma thought I was having trouble so she grabbed my boob and the back of Jake's head and stuck him on there! "Like this" she said.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

There was a nice article on her in the Advance.

http://www.mlive.com/grandvalleyadvance/index.ssf/2009/05/hudsonville_womans_long_life_c.html

Center of Attention

2009-03-09T13:37:00.007-04:00

Many of our dinner times revolve around Ty with us trying to get him to do something or us responding to something that he is doing. I love his laugh. This also shows the "abuse" he gets from his siblings.

Happy Birthday Ty!

2009-03-03T20:45:00.007-05:00

My baby turned 2! The time has flown by. Ty is the happiest kid around. He is quickly developing those qualities that a lot of youngest kids have - funny, center of attention, tender hearted. He is talking a lot, putting words together. He loves to read books. His favorite spot is on your lap with a book. Ty loves hockey and any sport that has a ball associated with it! He does a good job keeping up with the big kids. He is always on the floor wrestling with Jake or Lindsey. I love this age! Ty is a gift to all of us. Mom and Dad love you Ty-guy!

Just Kiddin'

2009-01-01T14:24:00.004-05:00

This is for documentation sake....

A couple weeks before Christmas, Lindsey and I were driving down the road. I handed her a little package and told her to open it to see my new bracelet. She opens it up and puts the bracelet on and is holding it out to admire it and she says "It's beautiful! This will look really nice with your new watch!" Then she pauses and says "Oh, I sorry. I not say that." She gets all quite and puts her head down. Her thumb goes in her mouth and then I hear her mumbling "Jake told me not to say that, it's a secret". I could see her mentally beating herself up over spoiling my Christmas surprise. A couple seconds later she pipes up and says "I just kiddin' ".

Once again I was wanting that instant recorder!

Birthday Party for Jesus.

Success!

2008-11-20T13:15:00.002-05:00

"Ring, ring"...
Mom: Hello?
Jake: Mom, we got her!
Mom: you got what?
Jake: we shot a doe, I am standing right next to her!
Mom: Yeah! That is awesome!
Jake: we got her mom! She jumped over some fences and she ran...dad, how far did she run?....she ran 50 yards and we got her!

Imagine how excited a 6 year old can get that was how much enthusiasm he had when he called me! It was one of those moments when I wish I had and automatic recorder to capture that moment. Priceless!

I thought Ted would take Jake out hunting on Saturday morning and call it good. I was wrong. Ted and Jake went out together all weekend. It was very cool to see them. The love of hunting and the outdoors is getting passed down to another generation. Jake is counting the "sleeps" until he can go out again this weekend. I just hope Jake doesn't wake up at 4:55am ready to go like he did last Saturday!

Hunting With Dad

2008-11-13T08:53:00.006-05:00

Ted is taking Jake hunting on Saturday morning. Jake is so excited! They went to Gander Mountain and bought a hunting tent, trying to minimize the distraction of Jake's movements. He has been making a list of the supplies needed for this big outing. On Tuesday my Mom helped him type up his list. This is a big right of passage that Jake has been looking forward to for a long time! I pray that they at least see deer and that Jake can keep quiet! Good luck boys.

Fall

2008-11-08T13:03:00.006-05:00

Nana always gets into the Halloween spirit!

PJ and Ty practice naming their body parts. Ty shows PJ where his eye is! A little dangerous!

Nose!

We have had a great fall. We were spoiled this past week with the beautiful temps. My sister has been in town for a while and we have enjoyed watching the boys. They are finally playing together instead of playing by eachother. Playing ball is the favorite.

Jake and Lindsey were not in the mood for dressing up. Jake was supposed to be a cowboy, but chose his soccer uniform instead. Lindsey kept changing her mind. Some days she wanted to be a clown and other days she wanted to be a princess. When it came down to it she wore her sundress from Easter. Whatever!

It's That Time Again

2008-10-24T13:25:00.005-04:00

It dawned on me the other day that when my first 2 kids were around 18 months old I would be pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Well guess what! Ty is 19 months old and there is no baby. This is a wonderful feeling and a sad feeling all at once. I loved being pregnant. It makes me sad to think that I will never give birth to another baby. But I also know my limits and feel incredibly blessed with the 3 beauties that God has entrusted in my care. Now I get to love on my nephew, little Joey.

Super Good

2008-10-07T12:03:00.002-04:00

Last night I asked Lindsey how school was and her response was "super good!"

After tearing her off my shoulder to put her on the bus all of last year with that look of why are you making me do this, to hear "super good" is such a gift. This year she looks forward to getting on the bus and is excited to see her friends at school. Thank you Lord!

Ouch!

2008-09-26T07:52:00.002-04:00

This little chickie fell off her bike last night and kissed the pavement. She woke up with a big lip and scrapes on her cheek and forehead. The good news is that family pictures were last Saturday! How often do you get to say that!

Brothers

2008-09-16T10:13:00.002-04:00

The boys are good buddies already!

My Baby

2008-09-10T16:39:00.007-04:00

My baby got his big-boy haircut today. He was getting a pretty long mullet and without the help of humidity his curly hair was starting to look a little shaggy! As I expected he looks so different. It looks cute, but I am sad that the little baby look is gone forever!

First Day of....

2008-09-03T16:42:00.006-04:00

We got off to a great start for the school year this morning! Both kids were excited to go. This year is pretty non-eventful for us. Jake and Linds have the same teachers as last year, the only difference is that Lindsey goes in the afternoons. She was one tired girl when she got off the bus! The challenge is going to be keeping her awake between now and dinner. Here's to 08-09 school year!

2008-08-27T16:51:00.001-04:00

Another tooth out! This one took a LONG time. I swear it has been loose for 6 months! The tooth fairy can finally come to our house again.

She Rides

2008-08-27T15:38:00.004-04:00

I got a call from Lindsey at work last Thursday. She says, "Momma, I ride a 2-wheel bike with no training wheels!" I got home and sure enough, she was off and riding! She starts, she stops, she turns...all by her self. I am 0 for 2 in teaching my kids how to ride bike. I used to have visions of myself running up and down the driveway helping my kids learn and I am yet to do that with either one of them. They both learned without me. I got 1 kid to go. Maybe Ty will give me a chance to help him! Way to go Lindsey-girl!

Butterfly Kisses

2008-08-27T15:33:00.003-04:00

Ty took a fall down the steps the other day. Ted hears him screaming and finds him on the steps, head first hanging onto the carpet to keep him from sliding down any farther. Thank goodness for the shag carpet! It looks like a butterfly on his nose!

08-08-08

2008-08-13T08:56:00.004-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TED!

Last Friday we celebrated Ted's birthday. Since it was 08-08-08 we decided to do an 80's theme. We had so much fun dressing up, singing and dancing and having a good 'ol time! I pulled my sophomore year prom dress out of the closet for the big occasion, complete with jelly shoes (sold today at Target!). There were mullets, tight rolled jeans, stir-up pants, crimped hair, pastel colors and much more! My mom had saved all our 80's toys. I had all my Strawberry Shortcakes, Pretty Ponies and Cabbage Patch kids out on display. We even found Ted's Transformers. Thanks to all our friends and family that fully participated and made the night so much fun!!

Here is my top 8 list of my wonderful hubby (in no particular order):

1) He still looks good with a mullet - When I know Ted in high school he was supporting a very long mullet

2) He is a great friend and will do anything to help his friends

3) He is a incredible Dad that would give his life for them if he had to

4) He is a hard worker and take pride in what he does

5) He is the life of the party and loves to make people laugh

6) He is not afraid to show him emotions

7) He loves the Lord

8) He is a great husband. I couldn't imagine living life with anyone but him!

I love you Ted! Happy Birthday!

Friends

2008-08-04T09:06:00.006-04:00

Lindsey and our neighbor Ella are the best of friends. The girls love to put their "pretty dresses" on and play with their babies. They have a couple of matching outfits that they like to wear at the same time. Cute!

Determination

2008-07-31T20:45:00.003-04:00

Can't you just see it on his face!

Ty loves to swim. The kids thought he needed goggles yesterday at my sister-in-law's pool. The little stinker can swim out to the dock and back at the lake. He loves being in the water and floating around.

2008-07-23T21:13:00.004-04:00

My friend Jill posted a look-a-like meter on her blog showing her and her husband's pictures with each of their kids with a dial showing which parent the kids looks more like. I have done my own look-a-like meter. You may remember the one I did for Ty a while back. Here is Lindsey.

He Talks!

2008-07-16T20:46:00.003-04:00

You can tell that things are clicking with Ty this past week. He seems to be understanding so many more things and he started saying words. He has been saying 'dad' and 'that' (short for what's that?) for a while and every once and a while mom. Here is a list of the new words he picked up over the past few days:
duck
deer - pronounced dee
frog (emphasis on the 'g')
Kaila
woof - for dog
truck
For those that know our struggles with Lindsey over the past year you will appreciate how excited I am to hear that beautiful 'k' sound coming from Ty!

Holland 2008

2008-07-09T12:31:00.007-04:00

Jake and cousin Brea on the pier

Lindsey fell asleep in the stroller on the way back from the beach. I can't believe she still fits in there.

Ty and cousin Kaila at Tunnel Park. We rode our bikes to the park to go swimming and play on the play ground.

It was a great week. The kids played hard. The weather was beautiful! Jake got to sleep in a tent with Noah and Kyle. The same night Lindsey slept in a tent with the big girls. She thought that was pretty cool. The girls said she kept them up late. They were both taking naps by 11am the next morning!

The fireworks on the beach were awesome. We all brought our blankets and chairs to watch the sunset and play on the beach while we waited.

Ty had no fear. He walked right out into the water and once his swimmies took over he would just float. He would walk down the beach forever never once looking for mom. The cousins were a big help watching him and making sure he didn't wander away. He would stand out in the middle of the road and wave to everyone that passed by.

Now it's back to reality. We are already looking forward to next year!

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-06T19:56:00.004-04:00

We were camping at Holland State Park over the 4th this year. It was a beautiful weekend! The park had a bike parade for the kids. They decorated their bikes and rode up and down the rows. You can tell by Jake's face in the above picture how excited he was!

Lindsey's Style

2008-07-02T15:19:00.006-04:00

I have had a fun time watching Lindsey over the past month picking out her various outfits. She is one of those kids that changes her outfit many times a day for different reasons. Sometimes it is because she got wet, sometimes because she needs her pretty dress on and sometimes it is just because she wants to. The funny thing is that I tried to get her to wear tights all winter and she wouldn't do it. Now that it is 80 degrees she puts them on. Here are a few of my favorites....

Children's Museum

2008-07-02T14:19:00.009-04:00

At the end of the school year I went with Jake to the Children's Musuem. We had a great time. The picture above is Jake and his friend Brendan in looking in the funny mirror. Jake had such a great year at school. He grew so much, physically and mentally. At the beginning of the year his teacher measured and weighed him and then did it again at the end of the year. Jake grew 3" and gained 12 lbs! No wonder he doesn't have any pants that fit him. He also can write his name, recognize all letters and numbers and many other things that he couldn't do last September. We are very proud of him!

Binder Park

2008-06-10T23:35:00.011-04:00

A couple weeks ago I went with Lindsey on her class trip to Binder Park. Outside of Lindsey getting sick on the bus we had a great time. It was a big trip for those little kids. They were all tired out by the end of the day. The giraffe were the big hit.

This peacock opened up his feathers right in front of us and started showing off. It was beautiful!

The bus ride home was very quiet! I think all the kids fell asleep. It was a great way to end the school year.

Some Times It Doesn't Pay...

2008-06-02T21:13:00.005-04:00

...To be honest that is. The other day I made my way through Meijers and am going through the check out lane. Kids are relatively under control. My patience level is in check. I stick 1 of my 4 - 2 liters on the counter and tell the lady that I have 3 more in my cart. She scans a few more groceries. I set 1 of my 4 milk jugs on the counter and proceed to pay from my groceries. When I got home I realized that I forgot to tell the lady about the other 3 gallons on the bottom of my cart. I feel bad. Ted says don't worry about, they over charge for things all the time. It all evens out.

My guilty conscience gets the best of me, so this week at the store I tell the check out guy what I did and kindly ask him to add 3 additional milks to the 3 that I am purchasing this shopping trip. He says "wow, I wish there were more people like you!" I can now sleep with a clean conscience. Until I get home and realize that the punk kid charged me for 8 gallons of milk instead of 6 and he charged me for 6 - 2 liters instead of 5. Now Meijers isn't out $8.31. They are up $6+

Next time I am going to take my buy 1 get 3 free deal and assume it all comes out in the wash!

Mom, Would You Eat Me?

2008-05-21T21:02:00.002-04:00

Interesting topic of conversation at bed time tonight! We have one of those daily Bible story books that we read each night before bed. This nights passage was taken from 2 Kings 6 where there was a terrible famine in the land. Two women were so desperate for food that they agreed to eat one woman's child the first night and the other woman's the next.

Here's how the conversation went:
Jake: "Mom, would you eat me?"
Mom: "No, I couldn't do that."
Jake: "would you eat Ty?"
Mom: "No"
Jake: "would you eat Lindsey?"
Mom: "No, I would eat a deer or a squirrel or a robin."
Jake: "you can't eat a robin. It's the state bird."

The main point of the story for today was to remind us that only God can help us. I think they could have pulled some other nugget out of the passage to demonstrate this.

Meet Pat

2008-05-04T21:49:00.007-04:00

Introducing the most recent DeJong purchase...Pat. Our 19 year old, 30+ mile per gallon beauty! She even has pop-up lights. Now that's hot!

.

Look Mom!

2008-04-28T21:06:00.004-04:00

We were outside working around the yard tonight and I see Ty walking across the yard holding something. As I get closer I realize he has a dead mouse! I don't know where he got it. I'm assuming he didn't kill it. None the less, he was pretty excited about his treasure! I'm just hoping it didn't go in his mouth like everything else.

Road Trip!

2008-04-16T11:46:00.017-04:00

Well, we did it. My mom and I drove down to NC with the kiddos to visit my sister last weekend. It was a great trip. The kids did awesome.

Jake and I went to the US National White Water Center. It is the US Olympic training site. Later this month they are hosting the Olympic trials here. We watched the rafters and kyakers braving the rapids. They also had a climbing wall. Jake made it to the top several times.

We also went to Lowes Moter Speedway. The track was closed, but the security guard took us up so we could take a peak. Jake had earned $6 just before we left and wanted to spend his money at the race track. You know what you can buy for $6 in the gift shop? Nothing! We were able to find a Jimmy Johnson bobble-head and a post card. We mailed the post card to him from NC. He can't quite figure out how it is going to get back to MI, but I told him don't worry, it will come...I hope!

PJ and Ty enjoying their snack. This picture was taken right before Ty sneezed graham cracker all over PJ. Yum!

The weather was beautiful! Jake and Lindsey got to go swimming. We went to the park a couple times. It felt so good to be outside in shorts!

Taking a snooze on the way down to NC.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!

It was my Mom's birthday while we were there. She was sharing her favorite marble b-day cake with the boys.

You Gotta Love School Pictures!

2008-04-03T08:17:00.003-04:00

Doesn't she look excited!! Don't you think they could have at least fixed her pig-tails? Total hat-head. At least she has on her favorite shirt. She would wear this shirt every day if I would let her.

In Case You Were Wondering

2008-03-16T13:14:00.004-04:00

In case you ever wondered if those little colored tablets that you use to color Easter eggs are toxic, they are not! Should your child put them in their mouth because they think they are candy he or she will be fine. They may make a funny face, start crying and then spit the little pieces all over your carpet, but they won't die.

If you ever wondered if those pretty little colored tablets will stain your carpet, they will!

This is one of those special places in our house that we will walk by thousands of times and remember our sweet little girl. Right in the middle of our hall way we have this nice, rather large splash of color. Just adding that touch of spring that we could all use this time of year as we anxiously await the arrival of spring. The sun shines through the bathroom window right on the stain. It's kind of pretty!

Oh, and if you have ever wondered if those pretty little tablets will stain your hands and tongue, they will!

Any ideas you have to get the stain out are welcome! We have tried the Resolve carpet cleaner, nail polish remover, the wet vac.... I am not too hopeful that this dye will come out!

I Love the Time Change!

2008-03-13T21:22:00.002-04:00

We have had a great week. It is so exciting to walk out of work at the end of the day and have lots of daylight left. Each night we have been able to eat dinner and still have time to play outside. The sunset was beautiful tonight. The other bonus is that Jake has been "sleeping in", meaning that he has slept past 6:30am each morning this week. Typically he is up around 6:15am, but since the time change he's been getting up closer to 7am! Yeah!

Ty has been taking a couple of steps this week. He isn't so sure yet, but is getting brave!

Look Mom

2008-03-07T15:51:00.003-05:00

Jake discovered that he can make his eyes go cross-eyed! Neat trick. Ted keeps telling him that if he keeps doing this they will stay that way. Is that true? I can't say that I know any cross-eyed adults.

Happy Birthday Ty!

2008-02-27T21:46:00.007-05:00

Our baby turned 1 today. Ty enjoyed his own little cake. He is such a happy baby and brings us so much joy. Ty has a layed back personality and is always smiling. He will try to get people to look at him in the grocery store or at the restaurant so he can smile at them. He crawls all around and can walk behind his walker or along the furniture with ease. He say da-da. I am still working on ma-ma, but he just can't seem to get it. It was fun to reminisce over the past year. We thank God for our precious boy and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays! We love you Ty-guy!

Like Father Like Son...

2008-02-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

You be the judge!

baby Teddy, 1976

I wonder what Ty will look like in 30 years!

Words of a 5 Year Old

2008-02-03T20:14:00.000-05:00

#1 "Mom, I'm sick. I have the chicken pox." Spoken at 7am as I am getting ready for work. Thankfully he used a washable marker to create the pox and no, his red tongue is from the juice he drank!

#2 "It's not my fault I went to sleep. My eyes started to shut." Said after he woke up from a nap. I told him some day he will be excited when he gets to take a nap.

PS Grandma Sue got a hold of another one of Jake's loose teeth and popped it out before he even knew what was happening. 2 down, lots more to go.

Happy Birthday to Us!

2008-01-17T21:14:00.000-05:00

My Dad and I have celebrated our birthdays together for the past 32 years. This year we had the privilege of sharing our birthday with PJ too. He celebrated his first birthday on the 10th.

Growing up I have always enjoyed having my birthday right by my Dad's. I am proud of my Dad and am so thankful for the influence he has had in my life. He is an outstanding grandpa. My kids love wrestling with their Bup! I pray that the 3 of us have many more birthdays together. I love you Dad and PJ!

Here is the top 5 reasons I love my Dad:

5. He is a great cook and loves trying new things

4. He is an energetic grandpa

3. He is an honest man and has a strong knowledge of right and wrong

2. He loves my mom

1. He loves the Lord and has passed that legacy onto his children

The Boys

2008-01-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

2007 brought 3 new Muller cousins. PJ in the 1 year shirt (my sister Annie's). Ty in the 9 month shirt and Ethan in the 6 month shirt (my brother Nick's). We look forward to having them grow up together.

2008-01-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! A little late. We had a wonderful Christmas spending lots of time with family. We got to see all the cousins. I took 2 weeks off from work! It was a treat. All of us were ready to get back to 'normal' after that. Here are some of the pics from our holiday season

Ty enjoys going outside. He can't move when he's all bundled up, so it makes it a little difficult.

every day Lindsey asks me to put her hair in piggy-tails before we go out, but the minute we walk back in the door her hair comes down and she strips down to put her new Dora PJs on. I can't keep her dressed lately. At least she stays dressed in public....so far!

Lindsey and Ella having fun

Jake got a snow board for Christmas. The neighbor kids were pulling him around. This was after my brother was pulling the kids on the snowboard behind Jake's snowmobile. Fun times!

Jake's Christmas Party

2007-12-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

I had a great time at Jake's school Christmas party. We played a game, decorated Christmas cookies and made a ginger bread house. The kids were all very excited! Now we are looking forward to a nice long break.

The Never Ending Game

2007-12-15T14:46:00.000-05:00

We got our tree a week ago and it has provided lots of entertainment

Look Mom!

Ty will sit and shake this ornament and laugh at the noise it makes

This may not be such a good idea

Jake was proud because he helped cut the tree down this year.

On a different note...Jake lost his first tooth. You can't see it because the new tooth was growing right behind it. It was getting real wiggly and Grandma Sue said let me see it. She grabbed a hold and yanked it out before Jake knew what was going on!

9 Months Old

2007-12-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

My baby is 9 months old! He is such a happy little guy. He's crawling all over the place, pulling himself up and even letting go of the couch for a second. He is so much fun and brings smiles to everyone around him.

Did you ever forget to snap the bottom of the onsie? Ted forgot the other day so he thought he would just put it over top of Ty's jeans. A new fashion statement...Hot!

Thank you mall security

2007-11-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

I had a rough morning today. Ty and I met my sister at Kohls. I went to leave the store and my car wouldn't start. Annie came over to give me a jump. While I am waiting for her to come I have the hood of my van up. A couple got into their car next to me. I could see them looking in their mirrors debating whether or not to see if I needed help. They decided against asking if I was ok and drove off on their way. Nice!

Being the independent girls that we are Annie and I get the jumpers hooked up and I go to start my van. It won't start. I go back out to check the connection. Yes, I did have black on black and red on red! My van has a stupid feature where the doors lock when you turn the car on. Most other cars only lock when you put the car in gear, well Kia had the bright idea of locking the doors with a mear turn of the key. So, you guessed it. I go out to check the connection shutting the door, not realizing that the doors are locked. Where is Ty you ask? Sitting in his car seat. Yup, 9 mo old locked in the car, in the cold, not buckled. I run back into Kohls to call security. Mean while Ty is standing up holding onto his seat screaming his head off. Annie is outside trying to talk to him so he won't fall out of his seat.

Finally, the security guy finds us, but of course he doesn't have the right tools. He ends up calling in reinforcements. The new security guy comes and gets the door open! Ty is safe! Poor kid. He's crying, Annie and I are crying...what a mess! Nice move mom!

YUMMY!!!

2007-11-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

Ty had his first spaghetti dinner the other night. He loved it! I don't know that I fed Jake and Lindsey spaghetti at 9 mo. I think that is the "benefit" of being the 3rd child. Just ignore the pink bib. We grab what's in the drawer. Lindsey has been known to wear boys undies. It works!

We had a great Thanksgiving with the DeJong's filled with a wonderful turkey dinner followed up by a couple games of bowling. Jake and Lindsey both scored over 100! Thanks to bumpers and a handy ramp to get the ball down the lane! Mom and Dad didn't fare so good.

As I reflected back over this past year we have so much to be thankful for. One year ago we were anxious to meet our little baby and now he is crawling and pulling himself up getting into everything! Last year we were struggling with where to send Jake to school. We made a decision and have been blessed with wonderful Christian teachers. He has made so much progress in the past 3 months. A year ago Lindsey was hardly saying 'mom or dad'. Now she is talking in full sentences and we can even understand her! Her speech has improved tremendously since we enrolled her in school. She is also blessed with a wonderful Christian speech therapist that loves working with her. Ted has had a good year with his job. He has had steady work coming in while many others have been struggling. We are blessed and we thank God for his hand in our lives.

The Big Fire

2007-11-12T21:05:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we had the fire department out to the farm house. They did around 3 hours of training in the morning and then they set the house on fire. It was an amazing thing to watch. Withing 4 minutes you could see tons of smoke coming out the roof. By 21 minutes the house was fully enflamed. Within 28 minutes the all the walls had fallen down.

It was great to provide this opportunity to the fire dpt and it was great to not have all the work/clean up of tearing the house down!

The Farm House

2007-11-11T21:13:00.001-05:00

This summer we purchased this farm house. This house and the property are adjacent to our house. The house is in very poor condition. It is hard to believe that people lived in here. We have spent a lot of time cleaning up the property.

This is the view from our house looking at the farm house. Lots of junk to clean up!

Ted took over 100 tires and 20 gallons of old oil to the drop off. This is a picture of the barn where the farmer once kept his pigs and other animals. There were no less than a dozen cats in the barn when we bought it.

The plan is to burn down the house and barn and clean up the property.

Stay tuned...picture of the big fire coming soon!

Sunday Afternoon Nap

2007-11-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

There's nothing better than a good Sunday afternoon nap at the DeJong house!

Dad Said.......

2007-11-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

I came home from work last week to find that Jake had a new haircut. He took it upon himself to do the honors. I am not sure this is his calling! When I asked him why he did it he said, "Dad said I needed a haircut." I tried to tell him that he isn't allowed to do this, but I couldn't help but laugh. At least it wasn't Lindsey. Then I would have cried!

The New Cut....

You ask who was watching him? My mom was in charge. She felt bad, but still laughed. At least we won't have to worry about a haircut until my birthday!

Halloween Fun

2007-11-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

We had a fun Halloween this year. Jake dressed up like a tiger.

Lindsey's clown costume was the same costume that I wore when I was 3.

Ty was the happiest chicken you have ever seen!

Now it's time to get the candy out of the house.

I Did It!!

2007-10-31T21:49:00.000-04:00

It's official. I have a blog! I look forward to learning how to do this and look forward to documenting our lives. What really prompted this is having a blog worthy event happen last week. I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how!