We Planted a Tree Today

Can you guess who helped dig the hole?

Preschool Picnic

Today was the preschool year-end picnic event at Sandy Pines. It was rescheduled from Wednesday because of the weather, and we had a beautiful day for it! It was a family event, so Peter went along and Casey came for lunch. We left Miriam with Grandpa and Grandma because "Mommy would just be chasing her around all day," according to Esther.

We had a great time blowing bubbles, making paper-plate frisbees, playing parachute games, going on a wagon ride, playing on the playground, doing a treasure hunt, and eating a hot dog lunch and ice cream.

Esther and her classroom aides, Mrs. D and Mrs. Heys

Esther and Mrs. Miedema, her amazing teacher!

Last Day of Preschool

I feel like I just wrote this post about the first day of preschool, and here we are at the end of the year! What an amazing year it has been for Esther. She has grown so much--spiritually, socially and academically. We are so very thankful for her wonderful teacher Mrs. M and her teacher aides Mrs. D and Mrs. Heys.

Happy Birthday Casey!

We had a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend with lots of time spent outside and some really good family time. Of course today was Memorial Day, but it was also Casey's birthday! We went to Marge's for donuts this morning and then went to the mall to pick up a couple things and let the kids ride the carousel.


Since Casey is a twin and his older brother's birthday is tomorrow, we went to Casey's parents' house tonight for our annual Memorial Day/triple birthday celebration BBQ. My parents and Renee's in-laws also joined us, and we had a nice time celebrating the birthdays and hanging out together. We also enjoyed the delicious patriotic birthday cake that Casey's mom made!

Cave House

The kids like to have us build them a fort (or "cave house" as Peter calls it) using the chair, coffee table, couch cushions and a blanket. They also like to slide in and out of the cave through the coffee table. Last night Miriam was in there with them and you can see in the background that she is trying to figure out how to do what the other two are doing. She didn't quite have the coordination to get herself up and in the hole in the table, but I'm sure she'll figure it out soon. When she does, I'll have to snap of picture of the 3 silly kids sticking out of the coffee table!

First Swim of the Season

Yesterday we filled up the kiddie pool for the first time this year and the kids were very excited! Despite the cold water temperature, Peter and Esther played in the pool and sprinkler for a long time. Miriam joined them after her nap and she thought it was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. She just kept laughing and doing her shriek of delight!


I bought the girls matching swimsuits this year. Esther put her other one on at first, but once Miriam woke up and got her suit on, Esther had to change so that they would match. Don't they look cute?


Spending all afternoon outside and listening to the laughter of the kids makes me long for summer. June 12 can't come soon enough!

Peter Quotes

Here are a few good Peter quotes from today:

We were looking through the Brain Quest card set we have (a trivia-type thing for kids) and I was asking him questions about different pictures on the cards. There was a picture of a Halloween scene and he didn't seem to know what it was, so I said, "When do we go trick-or-treating?" His reply: "On Sundays?"

On another card there was a picture of 2 kids doing a puzzle by a fire and it showed winter coats hanging up in the background and snow falling outside the window. The question was, "Is it cold or hot outside?" Peter said "Cold!" right away, so I asked him how he knew that, figuring that he would point out the snow or the coats. Instead he said, "Because I'm so smart!"

Tonight as he was getting ready for bed he was belting out a song from the PBS show Superwhy. We cracked up when he boldly sang, "I really love to spell...

S-P-P-L-L"

After the kids were in bed, my neighbor stopped over. While she was here Peter came downstairs because he had to go potty. Of course he had to chat with the neighbor for a few minutes too, and as she and I were talking, Peter interrupted and said to her, "You have snot on your nose!" There's nothing like a 3-year-old's honesty and tactfulness. He also kindly went and got a kleenex for her.

I'm Thankful For...

Today in children's worship Esther's class talked about the story of the 10 sick men that Jesus healed. Only 1 came back to thank Jesus, so the class talked about being thankful and made a list of things that they are thankful for.

This afternoon Esther decided to create a project for her and I to do. She got out 2 pieces of white paper and 2 pieces of smaller lined paper. She glued the lined paper on the white paper and then we each had to write our full names on the top. Then we had to list things that we are thankful for. We also drew pictures to go along with our lists.

She copied a couple ideas from my list (chocolate and neighbors), but the rest were her own ideas. She was asking me to spell a lot of the words for her, and then when I had to go get Miriam up from her nap, she got creative. We have pictures on our walls in the kitchen that say "apples, peaches and blueberries" so she figured if she put apples and peaches on her list, she could copy those words from the pictures. Apparently she doesn't like blueberries and isn't thankful for those.

Here is what her list says since it's somewhat difficult to read:

Esther Jean Kuperus
I'm thankful for...
Rainbows
My family
God
Friends
Cousins (she debated whether to make it plural since she only has 1 cousin, but since another is on the way, we decided it would be good to add the "s")
Neighbors
Chocolate
My Mom and My Dad
Peter and Miriam
Ice cream
Apples and Peaches
Grandma and Grandpa
My toys and books and games and crayons
and Thank you God for Everything! (I explained the use of exclamation marks to her recently and now she loves to use them and point out why she uses them for strong emotions.)

This is definitely one to put in the "papers to keep" box in her room!

Fishing - by Esther

Today me and my Dad went fishing at my teacher's neighbor's pond. We caught two sunnies and a blue gill. They were really cool. I got a Barbie fishing pole. (Peter also got a Lightning McQueen fishing pole). It was lots of fun!

I stayed home with my Mom (from Peter).

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a wonderful mother's day this year. Saturday morning I ran an errand with Miriam while Esther and Peter went with Daddy. When I returned home and opened the door, they were both standing there, each holding a rose that they had picked out for me. Very sweet. Here are my little baking helpers making dessert for Sunday.

Sunday morning Casey let me "sleep in" (it's pathetic when 7:30 feels like sleeping in really late!) He came in and told me I had to stay in bed for 8 more minutes. Shortly after that I was served breakfast in bed: green eggs and ham with toast, a cinnamon roll, orange juice and coffee. The kids thought the green eggs and ham were hilarious and I thought they were delicious! The best thing on the tray was the cards that all 3 kids made for me (yes, Miriam made one too).

After church we had my parents, sister and aunt over for dinner. Casey's parents also came over for coffee before dinner and Casey's mom made me this beautiful hat cake! It was so cute and also extremely delicious.

I am so thankful to be a mom to 3 amazing children and also to have such a wonderful mom and mother-in-law to guide me on the journey of motherhood. I am so blessed!

Preschool Mothers' Tea

Last Friday my mom got to come to my school and we got to eat a special dessert that I made. We also did "The Little Red Hen" for our moms. I gave her some special presents that I made too. It was a fun day! (By Esther)

Oh, Miriam!

We still say that phrase quite often in our house. Miriam continues to make us laugh with her antics and funny personality. She still doesn't want to keep anything in her hair for long, but one day she had a little ponytail in for most of the day and took it out at dinner time. This was the result... this hairdo really fits her personality!


She also loves to "talk" on the phone and try everybody's shoes on and walk around in them.

First Zoo Trip of the Spring

We went to the zoo last Friday for the first time since fall. We were happy to see some new improvements there. Miriam was hilarious and loved all the animals. She just kept cracking up and pointing at them! I didn't get any pictures with the animals, but of course we had to stop and play on the train, so I got a couple shots there.

Garden Update

Well, the garden is officially planted outside. We've had a few cold nights, so hopefully everything survives. It will be fun to see how successful this little project is and how big our crop is this year. We'll keep you posted!

Doc's Day at the Museum

Typically on Friday afternoons we take Esther to school and then come home so that Miriam can nap while Peter and I have some bonding time. This morning Miriam decided to sleep for 2-1/2 hours, so since I knew she wasn't going to nap this afternoon anyway, I decided to take Peter and Miriam to the Children's Museum for Doc's Day. I've seen this advertised in years past and always figured it would be a crazy day and a good one to avoid. Now I'm sorry that we didn't go before, because it was so great! All the medical professionals were amazing and so good with the kids. They had stations all over the museum where the kids could try different things and get little prizes. Peter just loved all the activities including going in the back of a real ambulance, getting a pretend cast on his arm, getting his oxygen levels and blood pressure taken, having a pretend CT scan, giving a shot to an orange, trying out some shaking respirator vest thing which made him laugh, seeing how they do sutures, feeling a heart... he even got to watch an egg get cracked up after crashing in a toy truck to demonstrate the importance of seat belts! It was all really great, and we'll definitely try to go again next year.


Miriam didn't get into all the medical stations, but as usual, she enjoyed running around, splashing bubble solution all over and playing in the mirror tunnel!