Happy Birthday Patrice...

Today is my neice Patrice's 3rd Birthday! She was so sweet and called me a few weeks ago to ask if Monreau could come to her party! This summer Patrice and Monreau started a friendship that I know will last a life time! They are two great little buddies! They are so much a like and they have so much fun together! We definitely wish TX could be closer! When I told Monreau this morning that today was Patrice's birthday, she cried because she was missing it!

So, Patrice... from your best MI buddy & cousin HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY !! Hope this year is filled with fun, laughter and trips to MI :) We love you!!!

Welcome Elena Jayne Jonker!

It's a girl! We are so excited to have a new niece! Elena Jayne Jonker was born last night at 11:48 and weighed 8lbs 14 oz! She is beautiful and healthy! We are celebrating with Jared and Belen and a piece of our heart is definitely somewhere else today as we wish we could be in DC to meet her! 

Welcome to the world Elena Jayne... we love you so much! 

Congratulations Jared, Belen and James! We are so proud of you and so excited as you begin this adventure of being a family of four :)!!! 

Elena is so blessed!!!

Fun on Lake MI...

Another hot day ... more fun on Lake Michigan! Not bad for the middle of the week! This time McLleyton took his first swim and we played on the beach! As we sat in the sand and all 3 kids played and ran in and out of the water I was amazed at how much changes with each passing year! Last summer McLleyton was a newborn, Monreau was 2 and struggled to keep up and Shae was 4 and seemed so much older than the other two! Now the girls play the same games and have an awesome time together! McLleyton almost keeps up with them :). He is such a happy little guy and loves a day like this filled with new experiences!

His smile says it all...

First swim, he loved it!
Doesn't get any better than this... I am SO blessed :)
We all swam to shore and played in the sand! (Kelly & John too!)

Fun with Monreau...

Last weekend Monreau took her first long bike ride on the trail-behind bike! We rode to Pronto Pup, our favorite summer lunch spot! Our family definitely helps to keep this summer business steady :). We ended up just having fun, being silly and getting a treat to celebrate her big accomplishment!

A side note about these pictures.... Matt has been very busy at work this summer. A huge blessing as Same Day is growing in the midst of this struggling economy - definitely a gift from the Lord... but with Matt's long days, he didn't quite have time to get a hair cut the past few weeks, so to keep us all entertained he decided to sport a new look for our bike ride :). (don't worry... it has since been cut). Enjoy!

County Fair...

Earlier this month we had a fun day at the County 4-H Fair! I grew up taking my horse to the fair and showing for the week, so I have fond childhood memories of being at the fair! It's fun to take my kids there and re-live part of it :). I loved walking through the animals with them and talking about how each one has an owner who is raising and showing him! McLleyton loved seeing all of the animals as he is very much in to animal books/toys right now! Of course the kids also loved the rides! Our friend Greg and his little girl Catina met us there too, so it was a fun day!

So much to see, so much fun!

Shaelyn, always the good big sister

Keeping up with the big kids...

Monreau is our brave one! She was willing to try any ride, when she approved, Shaelyn would usually try it next :)

Not sure who is having more fun :)
Greg & the girls on the Ferris wheel ...

Boat Jumping...

A fun new adventure we've had at the cottage this summer is jumping off the top of the pontoon boat. It's a good 8+feet down to the water and a lot of fun! Lake MI has been extremely warm this summer, the warmest it's been in 20 years, so swimming/jumping in it has been great! Both girls have been brave enough to try it and all of us adults have had a lot of fun jumping! There have been some pretty impressive flips and entertaining shows from my brothers! Lake Michigan has definitely been the place to be during this hot summer!

Shae enjoying the ride through the channel...

Monreau getting ready to jump with daddy, I love that smile...

Shaelyn's first jump!!! (it's fun...but even I think it's high up :))...

Monreau on her way up the ladder for her first jump...

Even my dad gets in on the fun...

Uncle John flying with the birds...

14 Months!

McLleyton is now 14 months and there is no longer an ounce of baby in him! He works hard to keep up with the girls and he is always on the move! I am in love with this boy! He has such a bright personality! He loves to smile and laugh and he is so affectionate. He constantly offers hugs and kisses and wants to snuggle! Thanks to McLleyton I no longer feel like I need to get to the gym because with him I am constantly running, to catch him :). He is always moving or climbing! He has moved away from his fascination with the toilets (thankfully), but now he's into climbing and he is amazingly good at it! He has figured out several different ways to crawl onto the kitchen table and at the cottage he will climb the ladders up to the bunk beds! It's hard for me to imagine that when Monreau was his age she couldn't even walk yet! 

Other new things this month... a few new words, three of my favorite "bubbles, frog, all done." He continues to be outgoing and will say "hi" and "bye" to most strangers that pass by us when we're out and about. It has been a few weeks since I stopped nursing him. It felt good to make it through the year (especially because at 6 months I never thought we'd be able to, he was so distracted), but I was ready to be done and like the girls he didn't seem to even notice that we stopped. Hopefully, he'll be a little bit immune to some things when Shaelyn starts kindergarten this fall!

This month McLleyton discovered a great love for books! He will sit and read books now on his own or with you! He is still bouncing back and forth from 1 nap to 2 depending on when he woke up/our events for the day. On the days that he only takes 1 nap, I will usually put him back in bed at some point with a stack of books and he'll be happy for 20/30 minutes just reading! He really likes animal books. 

I'm getting more and more convinced that McLleyton understands everything I say to him. Yesterday, I was putting a pack of diapers in the drawer and I turned to him and gave him the diaper bag and asked him to throw it away. He took it from me and walked right of to the cupboard that holds the trash can, opened it, and threw away the bag. I love these little moments when you get a clear picture of how smart they are :). It always shows me that he does understand he's not supposed to be on the kitchen table and I better step up my discipline :). 

This month has also seen a lot of improvement in McLleyton's "swimming." Of all my kids he was the most hesitant in the water as a baby, but he is getting a lot more comfortable and at moments almost brave :). He is really starting to enjoy it, which I love! 

Alright, he is now sitting on the kids table, I better run... here's a few pictures of him in action...

Don't worry mom, I can climb down too...

And this is the smile that will greet me after he's accomplished a climbing feat :)

Dance Camp...

I'm behind on updating a little bit... too much summer fun! 

A few weeks ago the girls went to "Dance Camp." It was a week long day camp that Shaelyn's preschool teacher and her daughter put on. It was from 9am-12pm and it was for preschoolers-3rd graders. They went with their friends Elle, Amelia and Sophia. This was Monreau's first real organized "learning" experience and she did great and loved it! She had no hesitation in going with the girls and saying goodbye to me! She is not going to do preschool this fall. Mainly, because the timing of her class just didn't match up with Shaelyn's schedule and I'd really love to have her home another year. But, this was a great break in the summer and a very fun time! It was a mix of dance, craft, outdoor/gym play time etc. They loved it! On Friday they had a little dance program and a family picnic. The girls were so excited about performing in the "show" and it was very cute! They both did great and I was very impressed with how focused Monreau was :). Here's a few pictures from their program..

Friends Amelia and Elle... 

The lighting wasn't the best for taking pictures, but this gives you the idea. It was very cute!

At the picnic afterwards...
McLleyton came too... he is one busy boy! (and you may notice he always has his hat on, because he'll ask to wear it, he loves to wear a hat and will always keep it on! :)

Day at the beach...

One of the best part of living next door to my sister, is deciding at the last moment to take the kids to the beach for the afternoon. There is a great little beach at a lake about 6 minutes from our house, so it's perfect for just a few hours! There is rarely a day that our girls will not play together. Some day's it's just for a few minutes ... other days it's for the entire day! It is an amazing gift to be next door, it's not always easy, but the lessons that the kids are learning by having each other are incredible! I really feel like it's one of the greatest gifts we can give them for this season of their lives! 

Jacob loves the water!!

Such great friends ... I can't believe the are going to start Kindergarten in a month! 

Sharing and working things out can be so hard... especially at 1 :)...

Maybe hitting him will get him off :)...