Vandervaart Family: February 2016

I remember when my 3 kids where 3 and under and parents would say - "Just wait until they are in activities" and I would think to myself "Nothing will be as busy as bottles, 3 kids in diapers, and an unknown nights sleep. I was definitely wrong. Parenting just continues to bring new and different challenges and schedules and you just go through doing the best you can and hope that your kids turn out polite and humble. February was a wonderful month, but the activities for the kids and Pete and I seemed at an all-time high so it definitely flew by!

Pete is busy with soccer and trying to get spring registration and teams situated and organized. On top of that, he is a full-time engineer with new projects arising and more successful ideas from recent travels and his inquisitive mind.

I do my best to juggle work, school, household duties, mom and wife but I'm sure there are days when I fail way more often than I succeed. I am in the middle of taking Advanced Pharmacology and it brings me back to my days at Purdue, but still extremely fuzzy!

Claire ended her co-ed basketball league and is starting her girl's basketball league in early March. She really enjoys basketball and continues her love for soccer. Claire's big thing this month was preparing to get her expander placed in her mouth. Her expander was actually placed today and she did wonderfully. She was so brave and although she is continually slurping and slurring - she is starting to get the hang of it! Girl Scouts was in full swing this month as well and she attended a "Manners and Etiquette" class and preceded to correct me when my elbows were on the table at dinner and correctly showed me how to lift your pinkie when you have tea. I told her I don't drink tea.... :) Claire is also beginning prep for her First Communion in late April. We have had a couple of activities this month and she is really excited to get started on her banner that will hang on the end of our pew on her big day.

Grace continues to do well in school and loves to read and practice spelling. When we tuck her into bed, she is constantly asking for us to quiz her with words to spell. She has piano lessons on Wednesdays and is enjoying showing us what she has learned. I've always wanted to re-learn the piano so I am also enjoying learning with her. She started back into swim lessons at the end of February and enjoys that they are so late in the evening that she is up past her bedtime!

Jake is going to kindergarten in the fall! After evaluating him ourselves with questions and workbooks, we really think that he is ready. I'm not even sure why we questioned it before. He is growing so much and his listening has gotten better - still room for improvement - but better! He is so excited about being in kindergarten and Grace is doing a great job of getting him ready. We plan to request Claire and Grace's previous kindergarten teacher (the one I met with to discuss Jake). Jake also started swim lessons at the end of the month at the same time as Grace - so its a late Monday night!

Here are pictures from our month of February...

Jake is almost passing up Grace!

Pete took the kids up north to see their cousins Lilly and Bently to play at the park while I worked on school work - they had a blast!

Claire with orthodontist prep work

Keith, Beth, and I went to Florida for a few days to escape the cold of the midwest. We had a wonderful time and the weather was fantastic!

Jake had a "Mom's Day" Valentine's Day party at his school - it was fun to spend a couple of hours just Jake and me.

One random Friday night, we played poker with chocolate chips - we are teaching the kids young since we love poker and that's how I was raised! :)

On Valentine's Day weekend - we surprised the kids with a trip to an indoor water park. It wasn't until Friday that we realized we hadn't even told the kids our plan so we decided to surprise them. We went into Claire's basketball game and when they came out they found these gift bags. Each had a new swimsuit and that's how we told them we were going. Everything was packed in the back and we headed straight there. It was really fun and the kids loved it!

Here are pictures from our overnight...

Playing in the snow in Ohio - Jake insisted on wearing a Santa hat :)

Claire got really into the local high school girls and their basketball tournament! Here we are at the first tournament game.

We took the kids for hibachi and Jake and Grace were loving eating the salad with chopsticks...

Claire, not so much....

In the middle of February, on a unseasonably warm day, Grace's Girl Scout troop went to feed birds. One girl had a bird eat from her hand but Grace was dedicated and stood super still in hopes a bird would eat from her hand.

Her face in this picture lets you know it did not happen...

Claire at First Communion prep when she learned about the meaning of the mass

School Spirit Day!

The Hoover tournament game - they lost but played hard!

We have recently started 1000 piece puzzles and the kids (and parents) really enjoy them. This one took us forever!

Claire and Grace decided that Grandma was made of money and ordered apps on their kindles that Grandma got them for Christmas. At first, it was innocent. Mid-January we told them to not get anything that required a password. They continued to and then finally fessed up. We made them do chores to earn some money back and write a letter of apology to Grandma. The day we talked about the punishment, Claire mopped the kitchen floor twice, tried to fold and sort laundry, and dusted the 1st floor!

We had an impromptu lunch with Frank, Jan and Chris as they were traveling through town the last Saturday in February. We had a great time at Panera and it was so great to see them!