Latest nerd update

Yes, we are nerds, but we are nerds who save a lot of money. If you are at all interested in joining the world of couponing and drugstore shopping, feel free to ask us any questions and/or check out our two favorite sites: Saving Addiction and Hip2Save. Today's trip was particularly successful, considering we only paid tax on the items below.

The Lord's Prayer

Our pastor is in the midst of a sermon series on the family and recently challenged parents to help their children memorize the Lord's Prayer. At first we thought it might be too big of a challenge for Lillian, but we decided to give it a try. We've been teaching her one line at a time every 1-3 days and little by little she has learned it all! We have been talking about what each line means and are so proud of her for memorizing it.

Game Night

We had some friends over tonight for our monthly "game night." The advantage of having people to our house is that we can hang out with the kids but can also tuck them in bed and enjoy some time with adults afterward. It's typically the only way we actually get to play games! The pictures didn't turn out the greatest, but I'll share anyway.I think Lillian felt pretty special getting her picture taken with the big girls.

Change in plans

Today was supposed to be a very long day: a full day of teaching followed by an evening of parent-teacher conferences. Instead, the weather caused school to be canceled and I was able to spend the entire day with my kids. Since the weather wasn't so bad here in Holland, we made a trek out to the mall to play.Later on, Lillian and I took on a little art project. We are very excited that we will be taking a family trip to San Antonio in about six weeks for Spring Break. To count down the days until the trip we created a paper chain.We started with colored paper and worked together to decorate it.
We included notes on significant days, like my dad's (aka "Papa") birthday and St. Patrick's Day. By the time we were finished, the chain stretched across the window in Lillian's room. In a little while that will no longer be true!

Big, fat snowflakes

Today we had some of the biggest snowflakes we've ever seen. It's a little hard to tell in the picture, but they were GINORMOUS.

Children's Museum

Today we took a little trip to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. Although we just visited less than two months ago, they had a new exhibit, which made it extra fun for the kids. Caleb loved riding in the elevator.Caleb loves his daddy very much but is a bit of a Mommy's boy when we're both around. So, I stuck close to his side with his little hand in mine. I love his expression in these two shots:
Lillian had a ton of fun exploring.I was feeling nostalgic when I saw the giant Lite Brite. Unfortunately, Lillian lost interest rather quickly.
After all of the fun activities to explore, Caleb kept returning to his favorite exhibit of all: the elevator.

Unusual sleep habits

Glamour girls

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Eve

Since tomorrow is a school day we did a lot of our Valentine's Day celebrating today. We started the morning by letting Lillian open her presents from my parents, aka Grandma and Papa.

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Afterward we had a nice morning at church and came home to a "traditional" Valentine's feast of heart-shaped waffles.
After nap time we let the kids open the presents from us. Lillian was very excited to put together her jewelry box craft.
And Caleb was very excited to eat.

Visit from friends

Today our friends Gil and Kelli came over. They moved to Israel about a year ago and today was our first opportunity to see them again. We had a great time visiting together.

Valentine's Day shopping

Dan's parents, AKA Bada and Poppy, sent some money along with their Valentine's Day card for Lillian and Caleb so that they could pick out their presents. This morning I brought the kids shopping and they each picked out a present. Lillian was so excited that I wrapped the presents and let her and Caleb open them when we got home.This one's for you, Bada and Poppy! Thank you!!

Flooring project, part three

A lot more progress was made today!

Flooring project, part two

The project is officially underway and, as a result, our house has become a bit chaotic and dirty.

Flooring project, part one

We've been thinking about replacing the flooring in our kitchen and dining area for a while now and we were recently able to get a good deal on supplies from the Home Depot store that is closing in our town. So, tomorrow Dan is going to begin the flooring project with help from a friend. The kids enjoyed having extra room to play.

Impromptu date night

Dan has had a hankerin' for a while for a burger from New Holland, so tonight we took an impromptu trip downtown. While we were there Caleb found some new ways to entertain himself.

Crazy boy

The blizzard of 2011, day two

Yesterday's snow and winds have died down but the plows have not had enough time to get to the roads. So, today is snow day #2! We started the morning with some delicious, homemade cinnamon rolls.After that we had a lot of quality time snuggling and playing at home.
Lillian decided she wanted to try out some different hair styles.
While the kids napped, Dan and I played Settlers of Catan by the fire. Aah... bliss :)

The blizzard of 2011

The past 24 hours have been dubbed the blizzard of 2011. Our official blizzard warning began last night at 5:00 P.M. Just before 7:30, I received the call that Coopersville was closing. It is such a fantastic thing to receive that call, especially the night before! By the time we went to bed, the wind and snow had really picked up and there were already hundreds of cancellations. When we woke up this morning we were amazed and excited to see all of the new snow on the ground. Actually, some of the snow even managed to make its way inside our garage.The backyard was rather impressive.
Abbey had a difficult time going out this morning! It's hard to tell from this picture, but the snow is about twice her height!
We started the day with pancakes, coffee, and playtime. Then Lillian and I decided we needed to make snowflake cookies to commemorate the occasion.We were busy enjoying the morning and trying not to dwell on the fact that we had a huge project ahead of us in the driveway when we saw a glorious sight: one of our neighbors was using his mega snow blower to clear several driveways in the cul-de-sac, including ours! We then saw a second glorious sight: the snow plow! We were quite impressed that it made it here so early. Equally impressive was the fact that the snow plow got stuck! Multiple times, in fact! Our friendly neighbors went to the rescue.
We decided to pack up our cookies and share them with our neighbors.
After spending some time outside we toasted marshmallows in the fireplace. We are thankful for warmth, safety, the kindness of others, and a fabulous snow day!