I love when they have fun together!!!

Drew and Troy were playing so nice together. It was so funny. Troy had such a belly laugh going. This is what brothers are for!! By the way it seems like Troy got hurt at the end but they just kept laughing.

It's OK

Sometimes you wonder how your kids are doing? Are they going to make the right choices? Are they getting what we are talking about?
Ashley does not love reading and I am not the best mother to help her. I went and talked to her teacher and left feeling incredibly guilty(unnecessarily). I worry way to much that she is going to be a student like I percieved myself to be. When I was at my lowest with her, thinking she will always have issues and you know being dramatic, God stepped in. He knew I needed a pick me up.

Ashley came home with a book that her and her classmates wrote."The Most Important Thing"

She began to read it to me and there were things like Neopets, Rainbow, numbergrid, Church, family, jewelry, nametag, and alot more. After reading lots of these I was curious what Ashley would write. We finally got to hers after like 18. I cried!! The title of hers was "Our God" !! I can't remember word for word what she wrote but it went something like this.

The most important thing about our God is that he loves us.

He died on the cross to save us from our sins.

He made the world for us to enjoy ( she wrote more I can't remember it all, but that was enough for me)

Ok, so she is not a great reader, does it really matter. God looks at the heart and I pray that she will keep her childlike faith.

I will keep working on her reading skills, but God just showed me not to worry. He has got it all in his hands. I thank God for a Christian school were she is learning to lean on her Savior. I also thank God for giving Steve and I a rich heritage of faith that we can pass on generation to generation.

Trip to Pennsylvania

We went to Pennsylvania over the long teacher's convention weekend. We went to visit Steve's Uncle Don and Auntie Eleanor. We had such a great time.

We left on Wednesday when the kids were done with school. We then traveled through the night. We arrived at 4 am. The kids fell asleep around 9:30 pm. The trip went really well.

On Thursday we went to the Hersey Chocolate World. We went on a free train ride that showed all the workings of making chocolate. Auntie Eleanor let the kids create their own sundae. It was quite a sight, we had people taking their picture. I think they all loved the fact that the kids were taking time to enjoy lifes simple pleasures.

On Friday, Uncle Don took off work in the afternoon and met us at Chuck E. Cheese. He spoiled them and let them play lots of games and at the end gave them a great prize. After they left CC they went to two different Play Parks. When Steve and I got home, we could tell the kids had a great day of bonding and just plain fun. They were all excited and had a hard time settling down.

Steve and I were blessed to go on a date, while they spoiled our children. We went to Sights and Sounds Theater and prayed that God would provide tickets. He did!!! We also only had to pay 30 each instead of 52. He is able to more than we can imagine. We saw "In the Beginning". It was a production on creation. It was very good! It really made you think about what God really intended when he created the world.
On Saturday morning we got up early and went to Washington D.C. This day was beautiful, although the kids were very tired after their fun-filled day on Friday. We walked to alot of the main places (Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the White House. We then drove to the Old Post office and went in the tower and got a view of the city. We ended our day at Arlington Cemetary where we saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier. It was very neat to see everyone so quiet, including my children.
Sunday we went to church and then took naps after Sunday dinner. We then went to Pinchot Lake and went for a walk. It was so beautiful. The colors and the rocks and the kids just enjoying God's beautiful creation.
Monday we started out at 6:15 am and traveled all day. The kids did great and we made it home by 7 pm.

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Iowa - Grandma's 80th

Troy and Abby are always so cute together!

It was great seeing these young cousins that I never get to see any more. They are so much fun. How cute are they all?!

Troy took a picture by Grandpa and Grandma's tree. Isn't he so handsome?!

I had so much fun in Iowa. I love to go back, it will always seem like home. Just Troy and I went and he had so much fun with his cousins. I really missed Steve and Ashley and Drew. They would have loved it.

Now I am home and trying to catch up on life. We had a Progressive dinner on Saturday night(church), we hosted the Salad course. It was a great night. On Sunday night we had Youth Group. Saturday was also our last soccer game for the season. I love it, but so glad it's done.

This Wednesday we are headed to Uncle Don and Auntie Eleanor in Pennsylvania. We are all very excited.

Troy singing

Here is Troy singing to our kitty, Midnight. He loves to sing. Just thought maybe you would enjoy and I'm trying to figure all this stuff out.

Well it has been awhile since I've posted any thing. I just need to take the time to it. Nothing great is happening around here, just busy with soccer and school things.
Drew's bump is still there and I now make him wear a hat when we go out. So many people ask and he is getting annoyed with it all.
I started working at a dentist office one day everyother week. I love it. I only worked one day so far by myself. It was so nice to have a day with adults and feel needed. The best part is that he pursued me. He is a dentist that works right here in Byron Center and he goes to our church. He is a very good dentist. I was thinking about going back to work for Dr. Grias and that ended up not working out and God placed this in my lap. I wasn't sure I wanted to go back 2 days a week with Dr. G, but I didn't want to loose the oppurtunity so I let him know I was interested but not exactly sure I was ready. He interviewed a girl that had 14 years uninterupted experience and was familier with his computer program. It worked out good for both of us. I am only committed to that one day and I will sub when needed and hopefully I can move into more down the road someday. I also am in a office 5 min. away instead of 25 min. away. God so knows what he is doing!!
We started Young Peoples and I love it. I was worried about leaving my kids, but our Pastors wife and my friend Paula have offered their kids and themselves. We are going to be done around 8 pm on Sunday nights so we can even get our kids in bed on time. There again, God always works out the details.
Some friends and I are doing the Beth Moore Study Breaking Free. I recommend it!! We are not very far, but already God has spoke thru this study.
I am babysitting for my neighbors kids and Carson is thru sitting in the high chair so I better go.

I decided because of Drew's wonderful bump that I would just take the kids school pictures and develop them thru Shutterfly. We went out to Pickeral Lake, and took what we could. Our battery went dead on the camera. Of Course!!

They didn't turn out too bad!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend my parents came to visit. Steve ended up working all day on Saturday which was a bummer, BUT we had a great time. Mom and I ended up shopping alot of the day which we never get to do with eachother. Poor dad came with us for a little while but then came home and napped and took care of my kids. We went to Chili's for supper with all of us except Steve.

On Monday we made a big breakfast(with our homegrown eggs) and then we went to Muskegon State park. We hiked on trails up in the dunes. Even though the misquitos were really bad we had a great time. Ashley and Drew kept saying can we go on another trail. It was a great adventure. Troy even made it most of the way, I think Steve only carried him for about 5 minutes. When he was getting tired we made him the map keeper and he kept looking at the map and telling us that we were going in the right direction.

We then went to Duck Lake State Park. It is a great area where Duck Lake meets Lake Michigan and it's a little winding stream that's about 2 feet deep. The kids thought this was fun. There was also a sand dune that the climbed. Ashley made it up and back twice by the time Mom and I made it once. O to have the youthful energy again. I thought I was going to die!!!! We then went to Logans for supper. It was a beautiful day!!!

Huge Egg

I know I've posted 3 times today, but I couldn't pass up showing you this huge egg. We now have 7 chickens laying eggs. It is so good to have fresh eggs again!! They really do taste better!!

First Days of School

Ashley's desk.
So Cute!!!


This is Drew's teacher Mrs. Kloostra, Ashley also had her as kindergartener. She is so fun!!

This is Drew's table. He is sitting next to Riley, she is my friend Tracy's 2nd daughter. So Cute. Across from him is Kayla, she is my friend Jenn's daughter. Should be a fun year. Hudson is the other little boy. I don't know him all that well. Seems sweet. He comes from a large family.

Ashley's first day of school!

This is her morning teacher, Mrs. Van Wieren. Her afternoon teacher is Mrs Kooyer and they just found out she is having a baby!!

Boys will be Boys

Here is the picture of the boys and their nice bumps. Drew's has gone down a little. On Monday, he was hit in the head with a golf club, by his little brother. Today, Troy fell out of lawn chair in the garage and hit the cement. The doctor was called for both and they both seem fine. Look at those smiles!! I'm so glad that God has made the head so hard. People that went camping with me thought it was funny that Troy always had a helment on, but now they know why.

Tiesenga's

I'm just trying to figure this blog thing. My sister-in-law, Steph thought it would be fun and so far I'm not sure how fun it is. Hopefully, I can find it back after I exit it.

Here is my family, Troy(3 1/2), me, Drew(6), Steve and Ashley(7 1/2).

School has started and the kids are loving it. Troy loves having his mommy all to himself and Ashley and Drew love the structure of school. They both seem to love their teachers.

Drew has only 13 kids in his class. I'm so excited for him to get so much one on one. He will go every afternoon for the first semester and the second semester he will go Tuesday and Thursday all day and Friday 1/2 day.

Ashley's class has 15 girls and 7 boys. It is a really nice class. The girls all seem to get along and they have alot of fun together.

This weekend my parents are coming for the weekend so I better get to cleaning.

I will have to post a picture of Drew and Troy. They both have goose eggs on their heads from two different accidents. Boys will be Boys!!!!