Today we celebrate...

Our Grandpa's 95th Birthday!! Over the weekend we had a party for him at our house...

Our Grandpa or Great Papa as our boys call him is very special to us. We are so thankful for him and the blessing he is to our family! Our boys think the world of him...just the other night Caleb asked me a question and I told him I really wasn't sure about the answer and Caleb says "I bet Great Papa would know".
When we think of our Grandpa we think of commitment...to God, his wife for 61 years, his 3 children, 8 grandchildren, & 12 great grandchildren, his country (WWII vet), his job, and the list goes on. We so appreciate all the words of wisdom from him and the wonderful example he is to our boys.
We praise God for our Grandpa and Blessing him with 95 years of life!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! WE LOVE YOU!!

End of August already!?!

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to an end...since this is Caleb's last full week of summer vacation we have been trying to do a "fun event" each day. Monday we went to Meijer Gardens with my mom. The boys just love the children's area...searching for fossils, playing with the boats in the Great Lakes, and so on. Here are a few pictures from our day!


Levi just loved the sculptures...he would just stand for the longest time pointing up at things!!

Poor E got stung twice on the neck!! He cried when it happened, but after that was totally fine!

Caleb always likes to make a friend or two for him and Ethan to play with...met a boy to play hide and seek with them today!

We had to do an outfit change after playing with the boats!

squished...

Monday night Caleb caught a fire fly and was quite proud of it. He put it in a container and Ethan helped him find some flowers and leaves for it to eat. The boys have enjoyed the little bug...watching his "bootie glow" and showing neighborhood friends. However Kevin told them they better let it go tonight. So they open the lid and it lethargically walked out of the container. It falls onto the deck and is lost. Ethan said he thought he saw it fall through the crack in the deck but... it didn't... Levi found it. The next thing we know Levi is squatting down squishing the glowing bug into the deck boards with his finger. Poor bug...stuck in a container for a few days, finally free and then squished...

Cottage 2009

Fishing Success...

Kevin took Caleb and Ethan fishing at his parent's house and it was a fun and successful night!! The boys were quite excited when they were getting ready to leave...checking out their tackle boxes and fishing poles, but they came home even more excited about the fish they caught!

Great Big Mable...

Sunday we went up to Rachelle's parents cottage for the day. The boys had so much fun riding on the "Great Big Mable", as well as Sea-doing, Hot-tubing, etc.. Yes even little Levi rode on Mable!! He loved it!! Kevin said he was copying his brothers and yelling "faster, faster"...even though he had no idea what he was saying! :) Special thanks to the Terpstra's for an afternoon of fun!

Today we are celebrating...

Happy Birthday Kevin!! We sure love you!! Enjoy your day!!

Way to go Ethan!!

Yes E's training wheels are off!! He is so excited and doing great! We are SO proud of him and so is his big brother...Caleb says to Kevin, "I just want to cry" so Kevin asks him why and he says "because Ethan is doing so good on his bike!"

cell phone pictures...

Caleb and Ethan both have play cell phones. One of the buttons on it does the sound of a camera. So while we are riding in the van they "take pictures" of things...cars, trains, stores, animals, etc. Well sometimes Ethan misses them and so he says to Caleb:

"Can you send me that?"

Kevin and I just laugh and laugh...our kids are definitely growing up in a different world than we did!!

So to end the post, here is a picture of Caleb and Ethan in the van with their cell phones...

...this picture was taken with Kevin's cell phone! :)

Summer Pictures: JUNE

sound effects...

Levi may only be 17 months, but he definitely keeps up with his big brothers...

A few days ago I was watching Caleb and Ethan play "Kung fu Panda"...for those of who haven't seen the movie or don't know what I am talking about, K and E are are kicking and doing martial art type stuff. Well little Levi joins in with "high kicks" of his own, as well as the lovely sound effects..."hi-yah". Then today K and E are playing Stars Wars...using Light Sabers and squirt guns. Well Mr. Levi goes and finds this rattle like toy and starts using it as a gun to shoot K and E. Not only does he shoot he makes the sound effects as well "pew-pew". It just cracks me up!! Levi's has the same vocab of what K and E had at this age, but to add to it he has a huge "sound effects vocab" that they didn't! :) It's so funny what Levi picks up on!

Happy Father's Day...

...to all the special dads out there! I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who is the best dad ever to our boys! Thank you Kevin for all you do for our family. We are so thankful for you and glad we can celebrate you not just today, but always!!

the big 4...

Four years ago today we welcomed Ethan William Hart into our family. Weighing 8lbs 13oz and 21 inches long. Our second precious son and a wonderful gift from God!

What fun we have had watching him grow! He didn't stay in the "baby stage" long...he had a big brother to keep up with!

Ethan has brought so much joy and laughter to our home. He loves to be silly and have fun! He gives the best bear hugs ever..."so you can't breath"!! :)

One of our favorite things about Ethan is his "easy going" personality...he will eat almost anything, loves every sport, is willing to be the good guy or the bad guy when playing Star Wars, and just goes with the flow, as long as he has his juice! :)
Of all our boys Ethan has the most nicknames...E-bugs, E.W., Baby E, Bigs, E-biggins, Buga, The Biggins Buggins, Bugs, and just plain E. We sure love him and the special boy that he is! He lets his light shine for Jesus by singing and doing the motions so well. He is quite verbal, so you always know what he is thinking. It brings us so much joy to see his love for his brothers and how he always wants to be with them. So Ethan as you turn 4...may the force be with you!! Happy Birthday Buddy!

Puppy Time...

For those of you who know Ethan well, you know he loves stuffed animals or as we call them "lovies". He has tons of them! So for Christmas, when he was 1 1/2 years old we got him a huge(bigger than him at the time) dog stuffed animal...known as "Giant Puppy". Of course he loved it and had to have it with him all the time! He had to sleep with it, but he was still in the crib. So I would let him fall asleep with it and then go take it out of his crib, because I was too nervous about him sleeping with it or using it to help climb out of the crib.

We still have Giant Puppy...he's been along for car rides, sleepovers at Grandpa and Grandma Choo Choo's, camping and to the cottage! He loves to take baths in the washing machine! :) He is definitely Ethan's (huge) comfort...whenever there is sadness, sleepiness, fear, etc. you will find Ethan snuggled with Giant Puppy. To which we have this time each day(sometimes more than once) that we call "Puppy Time". Ethan asks for juice and then goes and snuggles with Giant Puppy.

Well little Levi has caught on to this routine, so now he also wants juice and goes and snuggles with Ethan and Giant Puppy. It's super cute, however I am quite surprised because Ethan is very protective of his Giant Puppy and normally doesn't want others to lay on it...for fear Giant Puppy will get too hot! :) But he lets Levi join him...I think Ethan learned that Levi has no sit in him, so he won't be laying there long.

This past Christmas we got Levi his own Giant Puppy, which he loves. However when Ethan is having "Puppy Time" who's puppy do you think Levi likes to lay on?!?

Last day...

Well today is Caleb's last day of school and I thought it would be fun to show you his picture on the first day of school.

And here is a picture of Caleb this morning on his last day of school!

He has definitely grown inside and out!

Caleb's teacher asked him some questions about what he thought of Kindergarten and here are a few of them...
The thing I like most about Kindergarten is gym class.
At school I like learning about "stuff".
At recess I like to play soccer.
My favorite Bible story that we've had this year is about David and Goliath.
Some of my friends at school are Blake, Andy, Tyler, Zac, Austin, and Nathan.
If I were the teacher I would teach "stuff".
At school I feel closer to God by reading the Bible stories and praying.

It was a great year! However we are looking forward to a fun summer and then it's off to 1st grade!

Go Hot Tamales!

This past Saturday was Caleb's last soccer game for the season. It has been so fun watching him, as well as his teammates just get better and better! Caleb had a great group of boys on his team! Unfortunately the teams change as the boys move up to the U-8 level this fall. So most likely it will be all different kids on his team. We are hopping we get another great group of boys and parents this fall. Kevin and my brother Nate will again coach Caleb's team. To end the year Kevin and Nate gave each boy a soccer medal. Caleb is SO proud of his medal...and we are SO proud of Caleb! I have said this before, but our family really, really enjoyed this year of soccer! Not only was it a joy to watch Caleb play and Kevin and Uncle Nate coach him, but watching Ethan's excitement for Caleb and his team! Ethan would be right in with the team(as much as he could), he would wear a red shirt to the games(Caleb's team color), and as soon as Caleb would have a break Ethan would have to be the one to give Caleb his water bottle. Ethan was definitely Caleb's #1 fan!
And for Levi one of his first words was G-O-A-L!! It will be nice to have a little break from practices and games, but we are looking forward to soccer starting up in the fall! A special thanks too, to all the people who came and cheered Caleb on! It meant a lot to Caleb, but also to Kevin and I as well!

Memorial Day Weekend...

We went camping up at the Platte River Campground for the weekend. The weather was great and we really had a good time visiting all of our favorite spots! The boys even went in Lake Michigan on Saturday and Sunday!! We ate lots of smores and took some fun bike rides, the boys didn't want to leave! Here are some picture...

Lord's Prayer...

So the other day Caleb comes up to me and says:

"I think we need to say the Lord's Prayer everyday, because on the days we say that prayer I am not naughty."

So Mom's prayers aren't helping you to be good?

"No, I think the Lord's Prayer works better."

Great Papa...

So after a great day of being outside our boys definitely needed a tub! I put all three boys in the tub together to scrub their feet...who are we kidding their entire body was mud! :) So the mud wasn't coming off with their "kids body wash" so I hauled out the big guns...bar of Dove soap! I start lathering the boys feet and legs up with it and Ethan says, "it smells like Great Papa!"

Video of Levi's "tricks"

Always on the move...

Awhile back I did a post about how Levi was eating stuff he pulled out of the trash, yuck!! So we put a child lock on the trash cupboard, however sometimes that cupboard doesn't always get shut and Levi's has a new trick with the trash. I bet you can guess what it is: Throwing "things" away!! Yes "things", not trash.

For the last few weeks we have been wondering where all his pipes are...the landfill! :) Yesterday Levi wanted fruit snacks, so I put some in a bowl and a few minutes later he gets up and throws his empty bowl away! He does the same with his sippy cups, as soon as his milk or juice is gone he goes and throws it away. Lovely!

Seriously you can't take your eye of the little guy for even a minute!! :) Whether he is climbing on the kitchen table trying to reach the dining room light or pulling all the toliet paper off the roll he is ALWAYS on the move!!

Yet he knows how to "work the system" too, last night at the grocery store he is riding in the cart smiling at everyone. And everyone comments, so he smiles even more and adds a wave. Then I am loading the van with groceries and he is sitting in the cart smiling and waving at everyone who rides by. What a kid! We sure love him! I have a cute video of him, but I am not sure how to post it so hopefully Kevin can help me post it this weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend as well!

Tip Toe Through the Tulips...

We took the boys out to Holland Saturday night...and it was cold! We watched the Dutch Dancers, took some pictures with the Tulips, and got some treats for our "Carnie Boys"! Elephant Ears and Cotton Candy...even Levi loves the Carnival food!! Here are a few pictures of the boys...

Cookie Monster...

"Caleb stole the cookie from the cookie jar...Who me? Yeah you! Couldn't be. Then who? LEVI!!"

Yup he LOVES cookies! He is the new Cookie Monster in our family! Caleb did hold that title, however Levi discovered the cookie jar and he sure loves what's inside!! He knows right where it is on the counter and walks up to it and lets out a loud squeal with arms raised for a cookie! And of course not for just one...

Program...

Yesterday Caleb's Kindergarten class put on a program for Parents and Grandparents. His class sang a bunch of songs they have learned this year and said the memory verses they have learned as well. All year they have been learning a verse to go with each letter of the alphabet. So at the program they each took a turn saying the "letter verse", Caleb's letter was C..."Create in me a pure heart oh God." Psalm 51:10 Caleb did such a good job saying his verse! Singing isn't Caleb's most favorite thing, but he did a good job, along with the motions. We were in the van on the way home and he says to me..."We were suppose to smile, but it's hard to smile and sing at the same time. I had to keep licking my lips, because they were dry from smiling so much." Oh Caleb! We sure love you! It has been a great year, with lots of new things...riding the bus, learning to tie our shoes, eating lunch at school, counting, reading, and the list goes on. Some things came easy and others took getting use to. For some of you this may come as a shock, but Caleb is quite shy at school. That is definitely not the case with family and friends, however he has come out of his shell at school and we are so proud of him! Caleb has a wonderful teacher, who has really made this a special year. He has made some really good friends too! We can't believe the school year is almost done and he is soon to be a First Grader!! Yikes!!

Caleb's favorite thing to do lately...

...catch FROGS!!
Last Friday he came home from school and caught 2 and then 4 more with Kevin's help when he got home from work. He has continued to catch them everyday since! I am kind of surprised too, because we have had a lot of rain lately. As soon as the rain stops he is "in" the creek, in our backyard searching for frogs. Yesterday he caught 6...his bucket was full of jumping frogs! Personally I like the small ones that he catches, but he seems to enjoy the big ones! Each night he lets them go back into the creek, so I think it is mostly the same frogs getting caught each day. You know he is not alone in this...he has his helpful side-kick Ethan right there with him, but Caleb is also getting the neighborhood kids involved as well. So far no frogs have made it into our house yet and here's hoping it stays that way! :)

Levi: 15 months

Levi went to the doctor this past Friday for his 15 month check-up. To our surprise he only weighed 27lbs and is 34 inches tall. I guess now that he is busy walking everywhere he isn't gaining as much weight.

For fun I looked back to see what Caleb and Ethan were at 15 months...
Caleb 26 lbs and 34 1/2 inches
Ethan 22 lbs and 32 1/4 inches

Levi is at such a fun age...he is learning new words and doing so many new "tricks" as we call them. His latest is saying "uh-oh", as well as panting and barking like a dog! He just loves our neighbor's dog Myah, a Chocolate Lab. He follows her all around, loves to get licked by her, and enjoys laying on her!! :)
Levi's new favorite place to be is outside swinging, going for bike rides, and as you can see from the photos climbing up on the tramp!

We sure love this little guy and we are having fun watching him grow!

GOAL!!

Keep an eye on #9 and notice the left foot!



Congratulations Caleb on your first goal of the Spring season...we are so proud of you!!

Special thanks to Grandma Choo Choo for getting a video of it and to Caleb's teammate Ryan for the asssit! This was Caleb's second game this season and boy we are having FUN!

Tacos...

Monday was Taco Night at the Harts...our boys think this meal is SO fun, because we use the "Lazy Susan" and they love spinning it around to get their Taco toppings...and you know "their spins" are always gentle! ;)

Well Ethan made a really great Taco, however he was only eating Fruit, Jell-o, and Chips'n Cheese. So I asked him why he was eating everything, BUT the Taco...his response:

"I just made my Taco for show"

Oma...

Today we are remembering one special lady,
our Oma...we sure miss her!

Sunshine...

Last week my mom and I are driving in the van with the boys...Caleb and Ethan are sitting in the backseat of the van, which some days can be a good thing and other days all you have is fights going on back there. But today Caleb was trying to have a "teaching" moment.

For those of you who know Ethan(aka "Bigs") you know that for the last year or so his favorite color has been yellow. However he doesn't call it yellow, he calls it SUNSHINE.

So my mom and I are listening to them in the backseat and this is what we hear...

Caleb: "Now Bigs I am in school, so I know a lot more than you and you can't call yellow sunshine. So Bigs say yel"

Ethan: "Yel"

Caleb: "Now say low"

Ethan: "Sunshine"

Caleb: "NO Bigs say yellow"

Ethan: "Sunshine"

Caleb: "Yellow"

Ethan: "Sunshine"

...my mom and I just laughed and laughed!! Nice try Caleb!!