Dance Party...

In our front entry we have a large circle rug, which is now affectionately called the "dance party rug." For the past few months we've had a lot of fun dance parties at our house. Most of them involving the Black Eyed Peas and PJ's... it's silly, funny, the kids love it...  these are some of my favorite moments in life... 

3 kids and "Busy"...

Some days, I am still amazed that I have been blessed with 3 kids! When it's 7am and all three are in my bed, wide awake and hungry, I struggle with it a little (I am not a morning person :)), but for the rest of the day it makes me feel very content. Tired, exhausted, needed...but content!

I feel so blessed to have these three sweet kids and all the joy they fill my life with! I know that this is the busy season of life. When we run an errand it is rare to not have someone comment on how "busy" I am. It always seems a bit strange to me, because really I don't feel like three is that many :). But, I guess 5, 3 and 1 are busy! There are moments I realize this more than others...

The other day when we ran into Meijer to grab just a few things. We had finished our shopping and were back to our van, and I was just starting to begin the "load up process." As I did a guy pulled in and parked next to me. He gave me the "looks like fun" smile and headed in to the store. I then helped the girls work out a disagreement, buckled in McLleyton, helped Monreau find the toy that had dissapeared, help Monreau with her buckle, got Shae a drink of water, found McLleyton a paci, loaded the few bags of groceries we had into the van and as I was about to get in and go I noticed that the guy who had pulled in and parked next to me was already back and getting in his car! You know you have three kids when in the time it takes someone to get his beer for the weekend, you can just about get ready to leave a parking lot :). 

I also had a few people comment the other day on how busy I was when I took all three in to get shots. I take them about ever 6 weeks for a shot at the Health Department. I spread out the kids immunizations and only give them 1 shot per time. So, Monreau and McLleyton are behind schedule and Shaelyn is getting her kindergarten shots. Going to the Health Departments saves about $180/per shot because our Health Care doesn't cover them. Going there makes me crazy and makes me grateful! Crazy because it is scary how inefficient our government runs things. (that may be another post). But, I also feel grateful for how blessed we are! Anyways... the other day we went in and like each visit we had waited/filled out paper work for an hour and by the time we got back for shots the kids were ready to go. We always do it oldest to youngest. Shaelyn sits on my lap and as I'm holding her for the shot McLleyton discovers he can open the door and leave. Shaelyn cries, McLleyton runs!! I put her down and run down the hallway to catch him. By this point I'm already sweating :). Monreau's next. She doesn't cry, but again McLleyton has left the room. I catch him, sit down for his shot and he doesn't cry, but both of the girls start crying out of sympathy for him. It was just one of those moments where I just couldn't help but laugh :). This is the busy season ... I know it's going to be over long before I want it too! 

13 months...

The change in McLleyton between 12 and 13 months has been a big one! Three days before his birthday he started walking...now he is just about running! He is very sturdy and very fast! He has also mastered the ability to climb. I've found him standing on the kitchen table more than once, up on his sisters bed, the couch, some pretty impressive feats, which he is definitely proud of! His vocabulary also continues to grow.. my favorite new word is "ro ro" (for Monreau), it's so cute! He also learned how to say "more" which is helpful! He makes a huge effort to communicate verbally and really he is NEVER quite. He babbles all day long. I really noticed how loud he is when I had my nephew Jacob (same age) for the weekend last week and he seemed so quite to me! It was fun to have the boys together and see how they are similar and yet so unique! 

McLleyton's personality is also starting to really come out. He is very out going! He loves to be silly and make us laugh! At the store he'll say "hi" to each person that looks his way and will give huge smiles! He can be a bit mischievous and at times will laugh when I discipline him :). In many ways, I feel like he is such a blend of Shae and Monreau's personalities. 

For me one of the most difficult ages is 12-18months. I can definitely tell we've entered it! In some ways it's fun because they are learning new things each day and starting to talk and respond to instructions. But, in other ways it's exhausting because of the pure repetitiveness of it! I can't seem to tell my sweet boy enough that the toilet is GROSS and not a place to play! He is convinced despite my best effort to teach him other wise that opening the DVD player and removing his sisters movie while they watch it is a fun idea! He has also learned how to open all the doors in our house, so no room is safe now :). Let the teaching and discipline begin! Each morning as I get him out of bed I say a simple prayer ... Lord, fill me with patience and let me be consistent :). It's all about that for the next few months! I am blessed! 

Family Cottage Week...

After the wedding festivities ended we had a week of fun and relaxing at the cottage with my family! The Jonker's and Loftins stayed in town through the 4th and it was great to be together! The kids play amazingly well and LOVE to have everyone there! I love having the chance to really get to know my nieces/nephews and it's fun to see how much each one of them grows up between each visit! The week was very low key! Lots of swimming, bike rides and blueberry picking! Matt was pretty busy at work this week, but he drove out each night and we enjoyed some fun adult game nights and a dinner out!

Again, to many pictures to choose from, but a few favorites...

Jurrien and Shaelyn sporting their cute life guard outfits from uncle Trey... they have fun playing their role...

Girl craft time, making flip flops (I love having so many nieces!)...
But, soon it will be all about the boys!! Look at our adorable four 1 year olds!...
...who have a bit of a hard time sitting still and all looking at the camera :)
Balloon toss (how old does McLleyton look here!!)


Loved having my brother home!
The best play uncle award always goes to Uncle Darren!
Laughing with Poppy
So amazing how our family is growing... we just seem to fill everything up now days :)...
The pool...the boat... the kitchen table... it's fun!!!

Dad's 60th Birthday dinner...

I feel like I am way behind on updating... so I'm slowly trying to put together a few posts from the past few weeks...

For my dad's 60th birthday we've been celebrating for 60 days (each child/spouse takes 10 days:)). For one of the days we did a family "adult" dinner out. Since, most of the things we've done to celebrate have been kind and sentimental we thought it was time to have some fun. So, we did a skit "The life of Jerry Jonker." It was just about as much fun writing it as it was performing it for my parents! It think they thought it was pretty funny too! It was a fun night out!

Rare picture of the adults together (missing Trey, Jenn's husband!)...

Jared was so funny playing my dad (I was my mom)...

4th of July Celebrations...

Fourth of July was a lot of fun this year! The kids are clearly growing up! The fireworks on the Lake were on the 3rd. I told the girls if they took naps they could come out on the boat to watch them. To my surprise they both went right to sleep and we enjoyed a fun, late night out! We had a great spot on the lake and the fireworks were great!

The fourth was a very laid back day that included decorating bikes and riding them to get Pronto Pups for lunch and lots of swimming!

Monreau enjoying her first fireworks with Aunt Kelly...


Aunt Kelly the girls personal nail polish professional, they love it!
Grand Kid shot ... 11 ... with number 12 due to arrive in a few weeks!

Love this picture! Shaelyn is such a great big sister!
Monreau was just ready to get in the pool, it was a hot day!

John and Kelly's Wedding...

We had an amazing day celebrating with John and Kelly as they got married! It was a great weekend, filled with dear friends from all over the country, my whole family in town, and lots of love :). For me, it was crazy busy! I felt SO honored that Kelly asked me to be her matron of honor and it was such a gift to stand next to her as she married my brother! Matt was also a groomsman and both the girls were flower girls! The logistics of pulling it all off and having everyone ready/where they needed to be, seemed super crazy, but it all worked out perfectly (thanks to so much help from my amazing sister-in-law and in-laws!) The girls had been looking forward to this day for months and I think it lived up to all their dreams! They looked beautiful and they were great! All six of the nieces (ages 8, 5,5,4,3,3) were flower girls and they all did perfectly walking down the isle and I have to say they are a beautiful group of sweet girls!

The reception was so much fun! Our girls stayed until after 10pm and it is definitely one of my favorite memories with them to date. We had SO much fun dancing! For the past few months we've been doing "dance parties" after dinner to practice different dance moves for the wedding. Of course the girls have thought that the dance parties were great, silly and fun! They've been talking about showing off their moves at the wedding for weeks, but I wasn't so sure that they could stay up that late happily or that they would actually get in to it away from our circle rug! But, they LOVED it! Shaelyn didn't leave the dance floor :)! As I put them in their PJ's and sent them home with their Aunt they were both crying because they just wanted to dance "one more song". It was fun!!!

We are so excited for John and Kelly as they begin their life together! It will be fun to see all that the Lord has planned for them! We're excited to be a part of it! I am so blessed to have a new sister!!!

Too many fun pictures to choose from...but here's some of my favorites!!

All danced out and ready for bed...