Happy Valentine's Day - 2/14/11

Happy Valentine's Day 2011!! It has turned out to be a much happier day than I originally thought. Marc has had a fever all weekend. The school policy is that the child has to be fever free for at least 24 hours in order to go to school. Well, on Sunday he woke up still having a fever, so he wasn't allowed to go to school today (Monday). He woke up this morning fever free so he is back to his "normal" self today. :-)

He was SO bummed out about missing today. He was suppose to wear his "comfy" clothes to school. Since he couldn't wear them to school, we all wore our comfy clothes at home today. :-)

He was also sad about missing being able to deliver his Valentines to his friends. To try to make up for that, I dug out a bunch of craft materials and let the kids go to town and make Daddy some Valentines.They sat at the table for about an hour crafting-away. They made some very pretty, unique, and special Valentines for Daddy. They are excited for him to come home and look at them!
I told Marc that since he was feeling better he could choose what we had for lunch. He choose grilled ham & cheese sandwiches. I use a cookie cutter and cut a heart out of the middle. I also made them some pink milk to drink. We spread a blanket on the floor and ate lunch on the floor while we watched the "Cars" movie.
I thought that this year Valentine's Day was going to be a not-so-fun one, but it it turning out to be a pretty good one. I am SO thankful that my little Peanut is feeling better!! Oh, the power of prayer!

Blizzard 2011 - 2/2/2011

It's a blizzard out there!! At the beginning of the week they were predicting that we would have a blizzard Tuesday night through Wednesday night. It was originally supposed to hit our area around 7:00pm Tuesday night. It then got changed to 10:00pm. About 8:30pm most of the schools were beginning to cancel school for Wednesday. Since I didn't have to get up early, I wanted to stay up to see the start of the blizzard. Well, all I saw was a lot of wind. We went to bed about 10:30pm. I was woken up off an on all night by the wind. It was windy!!! When we got up at 8:00 Wednesday morning, this is what we found.

Out our front window.

Out our back slider.

My yard stick told me we got about 16 inches of snow! The tv station said the official snow fall for Cedar Springs was 17 inches.
After some breakfast and some play time, we all bundled up to go out an see what the blizzard had brought to us. When we opened the garage door (we had to go out the garage door because it was too hard to go out the front door) this is what we found.
After some shoveling, climbing, and playing (about 15-20 minutes), all of our cheeks were bright pink and we were all freezing so we went inside to warm up and have some hot chocolate.
After some play time and lunch time we bundled back up to go explore out back yard. The back yard was MUCH deeper then the front yard. Samantha looks like she is kneeling in the snow, but she is actually standing! The snow went up to my knees!
My little angels making snow angels.
Daddy thought it would be funny to bury Marc in the snow. Peanut Marc was worried that Daddy would cover his head. He said it was really cold being buried under all the snow so he didn't stay there long.
It was definitely something I don't think I will ever forget! I am very thankful that I have a job that allows me to be home the same time my kids are and that Marc has a job that allows him to work at home in situations like this. :-)

Weekend with Grandpa & Grandma 1/21/11

We headed over to the other side of the state to spend the weekend at my Dad & Peggy's. We got there Friday afternoon. While Samantha napped we decided to play Monopoly. Marc ha never played before, so it was fun to teach him. We kinda taught me too. ;-) I ha always, apparently I always played the "nice" version. The way I always played was if someone already owned a property in a color, I didn't buy any if I landed on them. Well, I can tell you, that is NOT the way we played! We played the "mean" way. Everyone bought whatever property we landed on and as the game progressed, we made deals with each other to trade properties. After a marathon game for 3 hours!!! my Dad wiped everyone out and caused all of the rest of us to go bankrupt! It was interesting and fun!After Monopoly and dinner, it was time for the kids to open their Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa. Marc got a really fun game called "Shut the Box". There are tiles number 1-9 an 2 dice. You roll the dice. Whatever the total of the dice, you have to turn over tiles that total that number. Once you roll a number that you can't turn over a tile for, you are done with your turn. The object is to turn over all the tiles an "shut the box". Very simple, yet very fun and addicting!!
After opening presents and playing with them for awhile, we all headed for bed, we had a busy day ahead of us.

We got up Saturday morning and headed to Lowe's for another one of the Build and Grow sessions. The sessions are designed for kids grades 1-5, but they had enough kits there that they let Samantha make one too.
The kids with their finished ball toss games. Very fun!
After Lowe's we headed over to a Coney Island restaurant for some yummy breakfast. After breakfast we went to Cranhill Science Center. We (the Stoufers) LOVE hands-on science museums! We like the idea that the kids are learning while they play. :-) This museum was a little less hands on than the ones we usually go to, but still fun. There was a big, traveling dinosaur exhibit there. Included the exhibit was a hands-on kids area. There were bones buried, Big, magnetic puzzles to be put together, book to read, regular puzzles to do, an dinosaur figurines to play with.
The sign for the exhibit was too good of a photo op to pass up. ;-)
After the museum, it was too early for dinner, so we headed back to my Dad's house to chill out for a while. After some chill time, we headed to Buddy's Pizza for dinner. It is ranked one of the top 5 pizzas in the nation by Food Network. After a 30 minute wait in a crammed lobby, we sat down to eat. Think Samantha liked it? ;-)
We got up Sunday morning an played and had lunch then hit the road home. It was a very fun weekend spent with family.

Daddy/Son Day 1/8/11

Marc and Daddy had a Daddy/son day. The first thing they did was go to Lowe's Build and Grow clinic. If you haven't ever been, it is a free session where the kids put together a pre-cut and pre-drilled pieces of a kit. The kids even get an apron and goggles to wear and keep for future sessions.He was concentrating SO hard at pounding the nails correctly.
Marc with his finished product!
After they got done at Lowe's, it was too early for lunch so they stopped and had some hot chai tea.
After lunch they went to DeVos Hall and saw "In the Heights".
Marc came home all excited and talking about his fun day with Daddy. :-)

January 2011 Cuteness

As always, I took LOTS of misc. cute pictures of the kids. Here are just a few of them.

Samantha got to paint with pudding during one of our Parents as Teachers home visits. I think she ate almost as much as she painted with. ;-)

Samantha has been showing a lot of interest in cutting lately. When Marc was her age we made a cutting box. It was just a box, scraps of paper, and a pair of safety scissors. She spent a couple of days begging me to make her box, so I finally did. She love it!!!

As most of you know I have been making bows for Samantha for a few months now. I decided to branch out and make some flower clips for her to wear on a headband and hat I got her. She decided to wanted to wear all of the flowers at the same time.

One weekend I came across a box in Marc's bedroom. It was filled with old toys of Marc's and mine. One of the things in there were the old Little People I had when i was a little girl. I was amaze at just how much they have changed. I had a blast watching my kids play with my old toys!!

Samantha has become quite the little puzzle doer. I keep all the puzzles stacked up under the toy shelf. She usually pulls one out at least twice a day. Her favorites are the ones when you put the animal pieces back in, it makes the animal sound.

One afternoon while Marc was at school, Samantha pulled out her dress up box and went to town! Love the outfit! :-)

In Marc's class they have started a program called "Super Reader". Each child, once a month, has to pick a book from home, practice reading it out loud at home, then they get to read their book in front of the class. Marc was so excite to hold the book so the kids could see the pictures and read it at the same time!

Marc had a loose tooth for a long time! I kept expecting it to come out, and it never did. One night I looked at him and the tooth was sticking out. It was really ready to come out! I told him I bet it was going to come out at dinner. He told me he didn't want it to come out at home. If it came out at school he would get another tooth necklace. So, the next day I happened to be in his class for lunch and the rest of the afternoon. It didn't come out at lunch. He told me that it hurt to even bite down on anything with the tooth. It was the end of snack time and I told Marc it was "now or never" to loose the tooth an get a tooth necklace. He ran to take a bite of something chewy and the he came running to me saying, in near tears,that it still didn't come out. So, being the ever so brave Mommy (yeah, right!), I reached up and pulled the tooth! I hardly had to pull it at all to get it to come out. He was a very happy boy that he got his tooth necklace.

Marc's school did a fund raising, mother/son bowling night. It was a nice night with my little man. It was fun to see how all of the other Moms interact with their own little men.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing misc. pictures of cute little kiddos! :-)

A Couple of Cute Samantha Videos

Last night Samantha was in a very cheerful mood. So I took the opportunity to catch a couple of her cute little "sayings" on video.

When we ask her if she is being goofy, she says "I'm not Goofy, I'm Donald Duck". IN the last couple of weeks she has expanded it and given all the rest of us names too. She is very excited in the video so here is what she says. She not Goofy, she Donald Duck, Daddy is Goofy, I am Minnie Mouse, and Marc is Pluto.

The other day I was giving her a bath an we were playing with her floating bath animals. I was asking her what the animals said. We got through all of the "sea" animals she ha in the tub so I moved on to some others. She used to tell me that a dog said "woof". Now she sticks her tongue out a pants. ;-) While we were at an aquarium over the summer she told us what a turtle says. We asked her where she learned that an she said "from me" (meaning she made it up). This toddler stage is SO fun!

I hope you have as much fun watching these videos as I have ha listening to her do them all the time! :-)

Oh Me, Oh My!

For the last couple of months, Samantha has been asking if it is time for her to go to "peschool". She asks me almost every day. I am not sure what prompted her starting to ask, but it sure is cute! I think she is definitely ready to go. She is going to her teacher a run for her money next year! ;-) Well, it is that time of year, it is time to register for preschool for next year. I brought a form home to fill out. How can my little baby girl to old enough for preschool already?! I had to take a picture of my little girl with the all filled out form.

Whenever any one asks Samantha how old she is she says "two half". Lately when family members ask her how old she is she tell us two half and that she is waiting to be three so she can go to preschool.

I will officially turn in her form on Monday! I tried to explain to her yesterday that all the snow an to be gone and lots of time home in the hot weather with Marc, then that is when she will get to go to preschool. I am hoping that she doesn't ask to go to preschool after we celebrate her 3rd birthday in April. ;-)

New Year's Eve 12/31/10

We decided many years that we would rather spend a quiet night in with the kids rather than a night out without the kids for New Year's Eve. We usually just spend the day playing, eating, playing some more, and eating some more as a family. Marc got a Snoopy sno-cone maker for Christmas that we decided to try out.Daddy Marc decided he wanted to pull out his ice cream maker and make home made ice cream. So we made a basic vanilla base and stirred in "treats" to make different flavors. One of the flavors we made had bits of candy cane mixed in. The kids had fun helping me smash the candy canes to bits.
We had an extra bottle of sparkling grape juice left over from Christmas so we thought, what better time to use it up than New Year's Eve?! We gave Samantha her own glass of it. After each drink she took, she said "whoot!"
Every Christmas we usually open what are called Christmas crackers. They are a British thing. They look like big pieces candy, kinda like a toilet paper tube wrapped in paper to look like a piece of candy. You hold each end and pull them apart. With a "pop!", they break open and there is a little trinket, a joke, and a paper crown. The toys are usually kinda "junky", but they are really fun to do!
At a dollar store several months ago, we found a confetti shooter. So, after we made a mess on the floor with the crackers, we decided, what the heck! We let the kids (all 4 of us) shoot confetti all over the living room floor.

Every time we shot the confetti, Samantha said "Happy New Year!"

This is just a snipit of what the floor looked like. {I told Marc it was a pretty sneaky way to get me to vacuum the floor. ;-) }
We had the kids take late naps, and since we did that, we ALL made it until midnight!!! At 12:05 we all got ready and went to bed! ;-) We have so much fun doing various things and snacking a lot of New Year's Eve as a family!

Meijer Gradens 12/28/10

Every year the Meijer Botanical Gardens has a display of Christmas trees from around the world. The tree are decorated they would be in that country. There is also a sign with a write-up that describes some of their holiday traditions. What a fun way to learn about all the different countries! We try to make it to see them every year, but don't always make it. We decided that since we were on our way home from the hotel after "Night at Your Museum" the night before, that we would stop and look at the trees. I love this sleigh they always have outside the entrance. Great photo op!! I told Marc I wanted him to, as we were looking at them all, to think about which ones he liked the best because when we were done looking at them all, I wanted to know which one was him favorite an why. This Brazil tree was my favorite. I loved all the bright fun colors on it. The kids liked that one of the Brazil traditions was for the kids to leave their shoes under the tree and when they woke up Christmas morning, they would be filled with nuts an candy.
We decided that there were lots of fun, good photo ops, so we walked around snapping pictures of the kids. (They can all be seen at pictures.stoufer.com) A nice lay offered to take a picture of the family. Usually when someone else takes our picture, they never turn out. This one actually turned out pretty well!
Samantha looks so stinking cute in the picture! I like the trees, greenery, an waterfall are in the background behind them.
It was a fun trip to the Meijer Gardens. We usually do most of our visits there during the summer and we can go to the Children's Garden. It was fun to go during the winter and see the Christmas trees.

Night at Your Museum 12/27/10

Last year we went to an event at the Grand Rapids Public Museum called "Night at Your Museum". It is a fund raising event that is a take off from the movie "Night at the Museum" where all the exhibits come alive. We had some much fun last year, we went again this year.When we first get there we have dinner. There was pizza, lasagna, bread, and salad. It was actually pretty good food for food that had to be cooked by the hundreds. As we eat dinner there are "exhibits" walking around. A Pharaoh actually are bread off the plate of a girl sitting at our table! A Queen actually came over an talked to Samantha. The Queen asked Samantha if she was a Princess. I said "Of course!". Samantha even had a pair of jeans on that night that said "Princess" on them. :-)
After dinner we just walked around the 3 floors of exhibits to see who we could run into. As we found people, it was Marc's job to ask them their name and what year it was. Everyone there did a great job of staying in character. At one point we walked up to a paleontologist, asked him what his name is, what he did, and what year it was. Just as he was answering a bunch of other characters walked by and they all started arguing about what year it was. It was pretty comical! When Marc got the camera out, the Queen in red said "I learned tonight that if you say 'cheese', that thing in his hand will flash an take a 'picture' of you." SO much fun to see them people really getting into their characters. Many of the actors were the same ones as last year.
The museum has a carousel in it. Usually you have to pay something like $2 each to ride, but it was open for free, so we decided to ride. We actually ha a group of about 5 Civil War soldiers riding the carousel with us!
We spent about 3 hours there and the tickets cost $20 each. I think we well got our money's worth! It is so much fun! We even used some of our Marriott points to book a room at the JW Marriott hotel right across the bridge! So when we left, all we had to do was walk across the bridge to our nice, warm, hotel room. Fun, family night!