Grandpa VanAntwerpen

This past Tuesday my Grandpa went to be with his Lord and Savior.  It is always a hard to come to terms with a loss of a family member but I know that he is in ultimate Glory and rid of his ever aging body!  It is amazing how our seemingly human plans are always guided by the Lords hands.  Amazingly we were able to enjoy a wonderful time together as an extended family just recently at a surprise party for my parents.  Who knew this would be the last time I would hear my Grandpa pray or receive my last hug from him...and kiss-such a lovey grandpa! It is a wonderful memory to have for everyone.  For most of my life I remember him

as a strict grandpa, never letting us get away with anything...and for the most part we obeyed, because who would mess with a preacher??  Later as I spent time enjoying some meals and time at their house in reprieve from college I saw the softer side of my grandpa, never short of hugs and full of genuine love and caring, but never one to spare us on stern guidance.  As always when a loved one has passed away there is much sadness but once again I am reminded of my grandparents bible verse that they held so dear during hard times- Isaiah 40:31.  I am so thankful for such a wonderful Grandpa, who lead a Christ filled life.

LEGO'S

The Lunar Limo Complete!!!  Brayden is all smiles, I on the other hand have a headache.  He loves lego's and for the most part does a great job working on them all by himself.  We run into problems at the end, missing pieces and some parts not quite fitting.  Turns out he kind of makes things up if he doesn't understand the directions, leaving it to me to try and find these mistakes.  Anyway we were able to complete this one although it is a little stressful on our relationship.

Too Many Things

I have tried my best to not use this blog as a place to vent my frustrations but I am afraid this is one of those postings.  The questions people love to ask is "is it harder with four?"  I used to always say, not really, but these days I am beginning to think differently.  I am realizing that things are getting busier since the kids have started school.  Not that school in itself makes my life busy but it also means the kids are getting older and there are endless activities you could or should have your kids participating in.  I am feeling pulled in multiple directions but not really making headway.  The  kids are loving life and love being busy-as do I, I love ballet, gymnastics and soccer and think they are all wonderful  but it puts our life on a schedule.  Yes, I know they need to work on interacting with kids, and self-esteem but what happened to all our family time?  Even Church seems to cut into our time, yet it is something I need along with my kids.  Something as simple as reading seems to be scheduled in our day as Bible Blast required reading and study along with school reading and what happened to just reading for fun???  I listen to speakers talking about how we need to teach our children the truths of the bible, counter culture foundations, stuff that is so true and relevant but so overwhelming when I can't even make it to a restaurant without forgetting my wallet!  I am realizing I enjoy doing things on my own time and for that I am probably a little selfish, even bible study has taken over time I usually spent running....both of which I need and enjoy.  I know life has phases and it's ups and downs.  This might be one of those crazy phases but it is one I really do want to enjoy because I just love my kids  at this age.  But it is hard to enjoy while everything else  is pulling us around. And having people give me looks of pity whenever I am out with the kids doesn't help-please SMILE at us,  it is really not that bad!   I haven't even started on the lack of time for friendships or even spouses...for now I will try to remember that my kids are only this age once and to enjoy every minute with them.  But we do need clean clothes  at some point and there is just so much dog poop that can be in one's yard-responsibilities never end, I just need to figure out how necessary they really are to ME and not everyone else!

The bonus of this week-lots of sun and cooler weather, perfect for a picnic.

Church Retreat

Time again for our church Retreat.  It is amazing to me how much they can fit into a weekend. The kids just have a blast and that  is also why I enjoy it as well.  It is crazy all the things we did while at New Life Ranch.  They kids just run from one activity to the next and I am left exhausted just running behind trying to keep up.  Friday I got the joys of going on the hayride with the kids-imagine a stripped school bus, including the top cruising through the woods loaded with kids and hay...I tried to enjoy the stars.  Food, Food and more Food, and after a cookout and tons of goodies we ended the evening with a fire and smores.  Saturday after time spent in bible study we were back enjoying everything imaginable.  Brayden was all about fishing and canoeing.  Myself and the girls hit the craft table-it was awesome, I think we could have stayed there all afternoon, necklaces, clay, paint, puzzles, bags.... but on to the next activity.  Horse riding was big again for the girls, Brayden decided to skip and decided to swim.  My Brave Becca also decided to swim.  I was just tired walking all over camp with James, no swimming for me-but Ron did join the fun.  I thought the afternoon was about done but not quite.  On to the climbing wall, which the kids really enjoyed. After more study we ended the day with a movie and a late game of dodge ball.  Okay, just Ron and Brayden made the dodge ball game I hit the bed with the rest of the kids.  What a weekend.  I just love watching the kids have a blast-they were sooooo excited about everything-even sleeping in the cabins.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

ahhhh, I am having a horrible night trying to post pictures!  It keeps rejecting my upload.

 

Brayden loved keeping up with these boys.

My rock climber...she showed Brayden....and I think Ron up!

It was so fun to see these boys canoe together.  A couple got stuck and it was just hilarious listening to them work together on getting back to the dock-it ended up with one of the boys jumping out and pulling the canoe to shore so they could tow it. Brayden actually made it all around the little island all by himself-definitely his dad's son.

Go Becca-off the diving board, blob and tube slide.  No fear for this girl.



My Pixie Girls

I love this picture-Becca loves talking to the guide as much as riding the horse.

Andrea was so tired after Sat.  All the activity and junk food caught up with her and Saturday night was a long night for her and her upset stomach.



FOUR MONTH CUTIE

Just some pics

Another evening out watching cyclocross.

DID YOU KNOW

Did you know, mommy that you have buds on your tongue? and what is bitter? ( Becca)

Did you know there are five senses? Taste, Smell, Touch, Hear, See (Becca-yes she listed all five)

Did you know that Isaac means laughter? (Brayden)

Did you know that when you get older we get homework and learn how to read, then we need to sleep a lot. (Brayden)

I can ask plenty questions about their day and I don't really get any answers. It is just the best

when the kids decide to share their knowledge randomly throughout the afternoon-you just never know what they remember and when it will pop into their head. Now if only Brayden could learn and recognize his vowels.

Baseball Picnic

Funny how we meet people living here in Tulsa. Today we had a wonderful picnic with some of Brayden's spring baseball team. He had such a wonderful coach and the families we met are great. Everyone seems to have kids similar in age, including girls Becca's age who all enjoy playing together. Even with the heat the kids enjoyed a pick-up baseball game. Brayden thought it was pretty fun the dad's played, even if Ron did catch his pop fly. It was a nice afternoon cook-out, and having the kids play together again was a lot of fun as well.


Okay, James is just too cute not to take pictures of. Tonight he discovered the grass...which didn't seem to bother him at all untill it tickled his face.

Another Week

The days just keep flying on by. This week we have been enduring the return of Cold season. James made it through the week, just a mild ear infection and seems to be over the hump of his first cold virus. Becca had to miss her first day of school this week due to a fever. I thought she would be upset as it was "bring your bear to school" day. I guess I didn't have to worry because after spending the morning home she told me she would rather stay home and play with Andrea then go to school. Funny how things change, last year she was just dying to go to school and NOT have to play with Andrea. Ron has been busy mapping again, I will try to post his lastest work although he tends to work with much bigger data sets than I am used to dealing with. His lasted map was for an adventure race here at Turkey Mt. Turkey Mt is a place full of trails-kind of a mess in my opinion but it is the main place for Mt biking/hiking here in Tulsa. Today Ron took Brayden and helped clean up some of the trails and spent most of their time marking them. With sick kids and not a lot of sleep in the house although the days move fast family life seem to have become all consuming. Thankfully we have a wonderful neighbor who watched all four kids for a while so Ron and I could actually have a dinner in peace. What a wonderful night-although I think I appreciated it a whole lot more than Ron.

We were off and running to Soccer this morning. 8am games are a little early for us on Sat. We made it, thanks to QT for breakfast. Brayden's team lost, so hard for me to watch....especially when one kid races down the field and scores in their own goal...WHAT?? Okay, they are only six and they all have a great time playing.

Oh, yes, thankfully only one heart pounding moment this week. Seeing Ephie charge the mail man about did me and Brayden in-Don't plan in breaking into our house anytime soon, especially not through the front door-she has it covered!

WAY TO GO BOYS!!

Tonight Ron road his first practice cyclocross ride. One of the nice things about Tulsa is that for any hobby or Sport there is some group you can join or practice with. Cyclocross season is just starting and there is a group that sets up a practice course and race every Tuesday night. Ron decided to test out his bike and we went along to watch. It was a lot of fun as the loop is pretty short so we were able to see Ron a bunch. It is like trail riding with some steep turns, hills and usually a barrier that you need to lift your bike over-lots of action to watch.
We took Brayden's bike as Ron thought they might let the kids ride in between the two races. Brayden wasn't too sure about the whole thing-"I have to ride what daddy rode????" was his response to me when I asked him is he wanted to race. We basically threw him on his bike and pushed him up to the start line. Ron road much of it with him and once he figured out he could actually ride he did GREAT! He actually beat all the kids and came in first-way to go Brayden!

All Smiles after a fun night of trying out this whole cyclocross sport.

The kids had to ride three loops and could go around the barriers

Ron road a total of 14 loops-they rode for about 30mins, quite a work-out.

We really liked Ron's hot green bike-easy for us to spot!

MY LITTLE GYMNAST

Finally, Becca's day finally arrived. She has been waiting to start gymnastics and her class has been the last to start as it didn't meet last week due to labor day. I am always so proud of how well Becca does with new things. Sometime she talks about being shy and not wanting to do new things because she doesn't know anyone, but she always manages to tackle what ever it is without tears and in most cases with a smile. Today, it was all smiles. I actually don't have any pictures because the teacher comes in the hallway, collects her class and off they go to the gym-no parents allowed, not even a little peep window. Becca jumped right up to meet her teacher and off she went with a jump and skip and a HUGE grin. She had a good class and was still full of energy when I picked her up-one other little girl was in tears? It is so fun seeing these big grins on the kids faces when they accomplish something on their own-way to go Becca!! and I was nervous just about finding the place!

ON TO SOCCER

After a long week, or so it seemed I think we were all pretty excited to start something new. Brayden was super excited to finally play his first soccer game. He has been playing I think soccer ever day during recess and then again after school at home with Ron or myself. When we bought his shoes and gear (including some socks-orange...his choice) he had to come right home, put it all on and head to the backyard for some practice. It was great fun, 45 minutes, five boys on the field. Brayden played hard, he ran all over...as did everyone but really did great in the defense position. I think Ron and I enjoyed it just as much as Brayden. It was so fun to watch...okay there was no way I could sit and keep my mouth shut. We were the parents yelling, cheering and trying to give Brayden as many pointers as we could. As Ron said tonight....it was like all the skills/pointers that were drilled into our heads during our years of playing just come rushing back and you just so badly want to pass them on when you see a play or position that is missed. Anyway, Brayden's team lost by one goal, they are the Warriors and I know that Brayden is going to love playing....as long as the heat stays away. Even Becca got into the spirit of things when she saw some girls teams, even playing some in the backyard with Brayden. Her proud moment was being able to stop some of Brayden's shots.

One Break away....no score, high and wide, but fun to watch.

THANK GOODNESS FOR A SHORT WEEK

Funny how even though we are always trying to see the big picture in our lives the little things can add up clouding our view. The past couple of days the little things/kinks have started to take over. If you can believe it I recieved another phone call this afternoon. I think I about crushed the phone when I answered and they asked if Mrs Haveman was available. Okay, thankfully it was just the nurse calling to tell me that Brayden had an accident at school...one that required a change of clothes-nice. I decided to just leave him at school seeing as he was back at class with some spare clothes.
I had just been thinking that James was past three months and amazingly has not been sick. Not a good thing to notice, because when I went to pick him up from his nap to go get the kids I picked up a little baby burning up with fever-ahhh. Off to school only to pick up Becca who also had an accident right before I got there to pick her up. Yes, I was the mom hurrying out of school with a little boy holding a stinky bag of cloths, a little girl walking funny with wet pants and a not so happy, sick baby.
So, for the time being I am thankful for a wonderful husband, who is home on time from work and a wonderful home to hide out in. Bring on the weekend!

The girls love to swing-the higher the better.

Andrea loves to dress up-today it was her cooking apron and a fun headband.

A while ago Ron bought this bike frame and had been working at putting this cyclocross bike together. Almost all finished and ready for the season to begin.

How Fast Our Perspectives Can Change

Today was one of those days that actually started out pretty well and now by the end of the day things have pretty much just disintegrated. Okay, I know things are not really that bad, but just when I seem to have a handle on life things just go haywire. It is scary for me to think, but for the past couple of days I was actually thinking that things were somewhat under control in our house. Maybe not from someone watching from the outside but I was feeling pretty good, no huge fights between the kids (we did have a biting insident today but...) Brayden was actually listening and helping out...sometimes without even having to prompted. Yes, house stuff was never as clean or neat as I would like it and there are more projects than things completed around this place but having the kids somewhat under control really helps my perspective on life. Well, guess what.....it is just all a facade.....kids will be kids and I am beginning to think no matter what I do they are going to act up! Late this afternoon I received my first and hopefully last phone call from Brayden's teacher. This time my stomach didn't drop I just braced myself for what bad news she was going to tell me. Funny, my first thought is never, is Brayden okay, it is always, What has he done now. Once again it was for pushing and this time he was sent to the principals office. Brayden's teacher was super nice and her big concern was how upset Brayden was, she kept saying how remorseful he was. I on the other hand was not impressed. HE IS ALWAYS REMORSEFUL.....along with FORGETFUL. You would think that after about 4 years of fighting this one he would think before pushing or wrestling-NOPE....no such luck. Here is where my perspective changed, all of a sudden all the mess around me was HORRIBLE and everyone's fault. Once again we are on consequence mode, which I hate as much as Brayden. Just short of tying the bible to Brayden's head to make him remember God's word I am about out of ideas for his impulse control. As the day is ending my perspective on these kids is not a positive one, so much for all those parenting books, classes, opinions, advise. BOYS WILL BE BOYS....whatever, I wish I had a bookworm.

Labor Day

I am finally getting a moment to sit and collect my thoughts about the past couple of days. We had a whirlwind trip back to MI over labor day weekend. My parents were camping at the state park and all us kids decided to through a surprise 60th birthday party for them. Little did we know the weather was going to be terrible but that didn't stop the fun and adventure from happening. My sister arrived first with her two girls. Our crew drove in on Thursday and surprised them out at the beach. My dad was working late and didn't find out we were in MI until he drove out to the beach on Fri evening. What a funny look on his face when he drove by and thought he saw me by our van. Doug and his wife got to sit back and enjoy watching us all come along with my parents reactions. Last to arrive was David and wife Linnea, a shock to everyone but Ron and I. Due to gail force winds (seriously....I dreamed I was being chased by a tornado that first night!) we had to move the party. I will let you imagine trying to contact our guest list the day of all the while trying not to let on to anything around my parents....it was a little crazy. Amazingly we all pulled off the surprise even if it did take some strong arm twisting on my dad behalf on getting him out the door. It was a great celebration-lots of family, friends even with cold temperatures. We did managed to camp in our tent one night. Thanks to a resourceful Ron who was able to fix out tent as the wind managed to break a tent pole earlier in our visit (resulting in us leaving for the night). Overall it was a wonderful weekend, I overindulged myself in the picture taking department and came home with way too many pictures. The fun thing to see was that although the weather changed a lot of out plans there are still natural smiles throughout all my pictures. We all really had a great time.



The first morning after surviving the winds. Poor Ron was soaked after taking in a flapping awning, some how we managed a little bit of sleep.

Having fun with Emily and Grandpa, with a little bit of sand blasting of course.

My big man.

A trip to the critter barn, always fun with the kids. Becca loved the bunny's, even Andrea warmed up to the animals and wasn't afraid to pet and feed them.

This swing was a ton of fun for the kids.

Surprise.!!!

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad.

Doug and Robyn, so fun to see. Ron was able to golf with Doug, David and Dad....even if it almost interfered with the surprise party.

Lots of fun with grandpa.

Emily loved the beach, this little CA girl didn't seem to be phased by the colder weather or the wind.

The family, all together for a change, we missed you Kevin!

The CA travelers-way to go Sharon for traveling with two little ones.

Time for a campfire. I think we made at least 30 campfire pies that night-two tables of food between all the relatives. Sadly we had to pack it in a little early due to rain.

yeah, for one night in the tent. I don't know if everyone was just exhausted but they all slept pretty well.

Cutie, Megan who started crawling/scooting while we were visiting.

Jim and little Jimmy (as Great Grandma calls him)

Fun at the park after a round of Mini-golf

Lots of smiles and giggles for Uncle Doug.