book it!

miriam has been doing a great job with learning to read. i had received materials for the Book It! program last fall, but just recently have started making use of it (though just in time for the program's end until next fall). miriam decided that since she is 6, she should have to read 6 books in order to earn her reward. so we started keeping track, and last night we booked it over to Pizza Hut to celebrate meeting her first goal with her first free personal pizza!

snowstorms, sunburn, & snakes

this has been the craziest april. two weeks ago we were driving through this...

and this past weekend was so nice that i ended up with a sunburn! sunday's weather could not have been more gorgeous, and we decided to take advantage of it and get out for a nature hike. we saw many beautiful spring wildflowers, as well as three different garter snakes, one of which we were able to catch as you can see below. i am not a fan of most little critters such as these, but this guy didn't bother me... though i did not volunteer for a turn holding him!

can i take a hint??

last night i was feeling tired, overwhelmed, and like no matter what i do as a parent it is never enough... nothing new, really. as i sat down (i.e. collapsed) after the kids were in bed, the passage from Matthew 11:28-30 came to mind -- the one about going to God for rest, about His yoke being easy and His burden light. this morning i read it to the kids at breakfast. later in the morning i was listening to a radio broadcast in which the woman speaking was basically reading my mind, and she quoted the same passage, but from The Message. it is such a beautiful paraphrase of these particular words of Jesus that i wanted to post it here. looking it up in our copy of The Message, i discovered that i had a bookmark at that very page. perhaps i'm supposed to be catching on to something here....

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me -- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." -Jesus

sawyer's ABC's

no, we are not teaching our 16 month old to read. ABC is just a good acronym for me to use to tell you what's up with our little guy these days.

A is for Appetite... i swear this kid would eat all day if i kept putting food in front of him. he often eats more than i do. all three of our kids have been good eaters, and all three of them have been very chubby 1 year olds!

B is for Ball... & Book... & Blankey... as passionate as his big sister is about dogs and his big brother is about trucks, sawyer is equally passionate about anything round that can be tossed or rolled or just carried around!

he also absolutely loves his board book collection and can be found at least once a day following mommy around with one, whining until i sit down and read it to him. or, if i am across the room from him and say, "sawyer, do you want to read a book?" he instantly drops everything (except his book, of course), and rushes over to me with a huge smile on his face and snuggles up into my lap.

and again taking after his older siblings, he loves his blankey. i also must admit that he usually really likes going to bed!

C is for Curls! i'm holding out as long as possible on taking him for his first hair cut, because i'm afraid those adorable curls are going to be gone for good when i do. i suppose it's possible that they will grow back, but miriam's hair was similar at that age and now is mostly straight. it will be a sad day.

tulips, tourists, & turns

although spring seems to have taken its own spring break for the moment, the city of Holland inevitably anticipates its spring festival of flowers in just a few short weeks -- better known as Tulip Time. and tulips aren't the only thing that will soon be appearing all over town. tourists will join them -- lots of them. if only they would all just take a bus...

i was reminded of this as i was out driving through town this morning and had to wait in a traffic back-up behind an unfortunate, unknowing soul attempting to take a left turn in the middle of a US 31 intersection. if you have lived here in the Holland area for any length of time you know what i'm talking about. the funny thing is, while this can certainly annoy us locals, there is a surprising amount of patience for these poor drivers unfamiliar with the ways of our "Michigan turns". perhaps it is because we all internally sympathize with how idiotic the whole system really is.

new nephew

our very first nephew was born yesterday! Trey Matthew. what a little cutie.

there are now 3 granddaughters and 3 grandsons on my side of the family... tie-breaker is due to arrive in october. (and no, it is not a dietsche!)

also stay tuned for the arrival of the kids' first cousin on the dietsche side in august!

green ideas

i liked this article because of the way it gives ideas in varying grades of green... so even if you are not a full-blown tree hugger you can still be inspired to better steward your small corner of the earth.

one small thing i am starting to do is to take my own grocery bags to the store to reuse them. little did i know that (at least where i shop) you get a 5 cent credit for each of your own bags you bring!