Caleb turns 9!!

It's hard to believe 9 years ago today we were holding Caleb for the first time! We are so thankful for him and the blessing he is to our family!

Caleb always has a smile on his face and loves to laugh! He loves to be silly and have fun, but he also loves to serious and have good "talks". Caleb has such a kind heart, he is always looking out for others and is such a good friend.

Caleb loves to be outside playing sports, catching creatures in the backyard, skateboarding or biking. If he is in the house you would find him playing Legos, the Wii or in the workshop. He loves to read at night before going to sleep. His two favorite series right now are Magic Tree House or A-Z Mystery. Caleb's favorite subject in school is Math.

Tonight we had his party with the Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, and Cousins. Caleb chose the theme of Phineas & Ferb. We sure had a fun night celebrating Caleb and his 9th Birthday! We are so proud of him and the young man he is becoming!

Leap into Reading

Today at school Caleb and Ethan have a special day to celebrate Leap Year...Leap into Reading! They had to dress up like a character from their favorite book. Their school has all kinds of fun things planned today including a parade around the school with all the kids and teachers in their costumes. They also are ending the day with a chapel and will be talking about the greatest book of all!

It can be stressful trying to figure out these costumes and "who to be" but I am so thankful for fun days like this. Both boys were beyond excited this morning! So I wanted to share some pictures. :)

Here is JACK from Magic Tree House: Ghost Town at Sundown

And ELEPHANT from Mo Willems: Elephant and Piggie

Dog

Kevin told the boys years ago that when Caleb turns 10 we will get a dog. Well this week Caleb turns 9, so there has been a lot of talk of next year's Birthday. We were all in the van on the way to church yesterday and the boys were talking about our "future dog". Kevin reminded them that they will all have jobs to do to help with the dog...feeding, walking, etc. Levi pipes in and says...

"My job will be to pet him"

Beans

So Levi had us laughing at the dinner table again last night. I had made green Beans for the vegetable with our meal. However Mr. Levi is not a fan of them, so he says to me...

"Mom, while you were Zip-lining Grandma didn't make me eat Beans"

Love how detailed he is, not just "while you were gone"....it's while you were Zip-lining! What a kid!

Hart Family Cruise

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Blue

Last night I made a new recipe, it was a Taco Casserole. The boys did not like it at all. We heard things like disgusting, gross, etc. but the best was Levi's....

"I think it has blue in it"

*For those of you who don't know Levi is allergic to Blue (and actually we are starting to think Red too)...Cotton Candy, certain Popsicles, most Fruit snacks, lots of Juices, and many more things. It's actually quite crazy all the things that have Blue in it. And sometimes his reaction just depends on how much Blue is in it. So really we just try and stay away from everything with Blue. Levi is good about it and knows he can't have it, because then he gets hives (aka Itchy Itch) all on his neck, stomach, etc. So last night he was hoping the casserole had blue in it too! :)

What our boys have been up to the last few weeks...

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The big 4...

Happy Birthday to our "dear, dear" Levi!!

Today Levi is turning the big 4!! Last night we celebrated our little Pirate Buck-a-Roo's Birthday with his Grandpas & Grandmas, Aunts & Uncles, and Cousins! Levi wanted a Jake and the Never land Pirates Party so we dressed up like Pirates, decorated our house, the kids found treasure, and ate a yummy Pirate ship cake. We sure had a fun night celebrating Levi. As most parents say, we can hardly believe he is turning 4!! He is growing up way too fast! We enrolled him in Preschool for next fall and it just seems crazy to us that he will be off to school with Caleb and Ethan next year. Levi brings so much joy to our family! He keeps us on our toes and laughing all the time! We are so thankful for Levi and looking forward to giving hims lots and lots of kisses now that he is 4!

Superman?

Well we think he is pretty super, but in our family he is known as K-man!

Special Thanks to Aunt Kate and Uncle Josh for making and sending this super cool shirt to Caleb!! You made his day!! Thanks for thinking of him, we really appreciate it!

For those of you who haven't heard, Caleb's JRA came back. It had been almost 5 years. He started taking meds again and we are seeing his JRA doctor at U of M next month. Please keep Caleb in your prayers!

Our boys...

The other day Levi and I are out and about running errands. We just pull out of the Target parking lot and he says the famous words "I gotta go potty!!"...so I ask him if he can hold it until we get to the next store? He says "No, I'm holding Fruit Snacks and Spider-Man!"

Ethan lost his 2nd tooth, at school! Supposedly a classmate punched him in the mouth and his tooth fell out...Ethan "may" have been trying to take his classmate's ball, hmm...

Last week we were all in the van heading to the mall..
Caleb: "So many places need to fix the lights in their signs"
Me: "Really, like where?"
Caleb: "Like that one...Texas Road Ho"

Halloween 2011

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Bring joy...

On Saturday we were feeding the boys lunch at home before the Celebration Service for my Grandpa. When out of the blue Ethan says "we can still smell Great Papa, because we have the same soap!" Don't know if you remember this blog post...

Then later on we were all in the van on the way to the Service. Kevin and I were talking to Caleb about him saying the Lord's Prayer during the Service. We were just checking in and making sure he was still feeling okay about it all. When Ethan from the backseat says, "If Caleb can't do it, I will." Then a minute or two later Levi says, "and if Ethan can't do it, I will with Dad."

(April 2010)

So thankful for our boys, who bring joy during hard times and for a special Grandpa who was such a blessing to our family!

Howard George Deur

Last night my Grandpa or as the boys call him "Great Papa" past away. He turned 97 this past August (these pictures are from his party). We are so thankful for him and the special Grandpa he was. What an awesome example his life has been to us, as well as our boys. We have so many great memories of him! We sure are going to miss him...

As you can see in the pictures, our boys thought the world of him!

Love you Grandpa!!

New Smile...

Ethan lost his first tooth today! So fun and exciting!! His other bottom tooth is loose as well, so it will be two soon! We sure love him and his new smile!

90 years...

This past weekend was my Grandma's 90th Birthday!

Here she is with all her Great Grandkids!

Thankful for her and the special Grandma she is!

Turtle catching up at the Cottage...in October!!

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ArtPrize 2011

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Tomatoes

The boys were able to pick lots and lots of Tomatoes from our garden this year. They helped Kevin make a huge batch of Salsa last weekend and this past weekend they helped make Diced Tomatoes.

We learned this trick of dropping the Tomato in boiling water for 45 seconds and then putting it in ice water. Then the peel just comes right off! Our boys love to be in the kitchen helping and they really enjoyed this!

We were able to get 5 cups of Diced Tomatoes...perfect for a few Lasagnas.

So once the boys went to bed, Kev and I made the Lasagnas. We kept one out to eat for supper this week, but froze the rest. We are excited to eat these Lasagnas with our garden Tomatoes!

Soccer time...

Caleb started his 4th year of AYSO Soccer! Kevin is coaching his team again this year. They had their first game this past Saturday and Caleb scored a great goal! Caleb's team the "Sharks" won 3-2. We are looking forward to a great fall season of Soccer and cheering Caleb and his team on!

Ludington