one of those days....

We all have them, I know. Today, without a doubt, has just been one of those days. We are in the process of closing the pool and in order to save several hundreds of dollars, we are attempting to put on the winter cover ourselves. The pool guys come tomorrow and we really should have our part done before they get here, the only problem is, we can't catch a break from the rain long enough to be able to drill the 40 plus holes we need. So early this a.m. we were out in the rain trying to get a few more done (we currently had 2). My job, to stand by the electrical outlet ready to pull the plug on the drill if I happened to notice my husband being electricuted while using a power tool in the rain...

The rain intensified and thankfully my husband realized that calling it quits at this point would be the best (we now have a total of 8 holes drilled). So the kids and I headed out to run our errands.

Our first stop was Target, which just happens to be one of my favorite stores, and i was looking forward to browsing along with getting what we needed. About 1/2 hour into the trip (most of which was spent watching koby and ky drool over the toy section of the store), koby spots the Halloween costumes. He notices a Jengo Fett (Star Wars) costume and decides that is what he is going to be. The costume is $39.99 and I had no intentions of buying a costume today (also mind you, we have been looking at costumes now in magazines for well over a month and Jengo Fett has never received too much attention). Next to the costume in a Jengo Fett gun for 8.99 to go with the costume and it is the only one left. He pleads his case for the gun (I already told him I was not buying a costume today) and I put the gun in my cart, telling him I will think about it while we continue shopping and that if I decide yes, we will not be opening the gun until Halloween (my thinking here is that since it is about 30 days away, he may change his mind, in which case I will be returning this gun) As I am putting it in my cart, Koby has a meltdown, 2 year old style.

"But I don't really want the gun for Halloween, I just want it to play!!!!!"
"That is what I thought," I respond pulling the gun back out of my cart "go put it back on the shelf please."

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" followed by crying, screaming, flaling arms etc. "but you said you would think about it."

I stood there calmly, trying to reason with him (perhaps that was my first mistake), but to no avail. He continued to cry, scream and throw threats my way like "then I am never going to the store with you again!" (Really? I thought to myself, could you really never come to the store with me agian....oh, the peace, the joy I would have.....). Reality check.....you are still in Target with a screaming 5 year old and are drawing much more attention to yourself than you desire at this point.

I wish I could tell you this ended at that point, but nope, it continued. I finally asked him to stand by the grocery section and told him I would come back and get him when I finished shopping (now stop there, of course I didn't leave him there! I am not saying I didn't want to, but I didn't)

To make matters worse, we had to grocery shop at Meijer after this ordeal. I am not above threats and told both boys that I better not hear a peep out of them at the store. For the most part they listened (I think they figured that my head would start spinning around soon if they didn't)

I put them to work when we got home unloading groceries. A few moments after they finished I hear koby yell, "Mom! Emergency! Emergency!" from the living room. "What is it?" "Someone colored all over the couch with green marker!" he replied.



As I stood looking at my newly decorated couch, I new exactly who that someone was. As that someone stood looking up at me I asked, "Kyan, did you do that?" "Yes" he replied with an ever so slight smile.

I could feel the tears filling my eyes as I pulled the cushion off the couch. My level of frustration at this point is beyond words. As I replay the first 4 hours of my day, I can only hope the remaining 10 bring about some change. Rather than just dwelling on the fact that is had been one of those days, I try to remind myself of things I am thankful for. So here it goes:

1. Spray and wash (let's hope it works on green marker)
2. Washing machines, which hopefully combined with the spray & wash will get results
3. Children who are creative enough to look at a couch and see a blank canvas
4. Children who are strong willed (and while although I am really not so sure I see the blessing in this right now, I really hope to one day)

give me

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Wasnt it far beyond my reach?
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
~lyrics by Brandon Heath

walk-a-thon update

Koby jumped off the bus this afternoon so excited. "Mom, guess what I got at school? Close your eyes, don't look." He dug through his backpack and pulled out a yellow bucket filled with candy and a pizza coupon.




He had done it! Not only had he far exceeded his goal of earning $100 for the walk-a-thon, but he had earned enough money to make him one of the top 10 bucketfillers for the 2008 walk-a-thon!!! Thank you again to all of you who gave so generously. The school sent home a note today saying that the kids were able to raise 19,200! (earned by students in grades K-5 @ Emmons Lake alone) Can you believe it?! We are blessed to be a part of such a wonderful school district.

"my pee on the potty"

While we are far from the daunting task of potty training, Ky is beginning to show a little interest. The other day while in the bathtub (oh, yes, that infamous tub), he said, "my pee on the potty." So I took him out and sat him there and sure enough, he did pee. We have been doing a lot of talk about using the potty like a big boy and told him that when he was ready to pee on the potty we would buy him some big boy undies. His request, Thomas. In hopes of encouraging more of this, I purchased some Thomas big boy undies. He was so excited! He wanted to wear them immediately. I thought it was worth a shot. So on went the undies. A few moments later, off went the undies. The pee did not quite make it to its intended destination. Oh, well perhaps next time.

out of the mouth of babe

There are funny stories and then there are funny stories. This is indeed a funny story. One that will perhaps come to haunt our youngest in the years to come. I am therefore writing this for posterity. So that I may remember this day for the rest of my life and be able to use it against him for the rest of his.

As Ky soaked in the tub this evening, Kevin noticed a toy that seemed unfamiliar in the "bath tub" toy category. He approached tub and realized just how right he was. "Mom, I need your help" he hollered. I entered the bathroom to find Ky standing outside the tub.

"Mom, cow pooped in bathtub!"

Let me assure you that we do not bathe our children with livestock. There was no cow in the tub. There was however, poop. Hmmmm. Nice try Ky. We all know the real story and now, so does everyone else!

(I decided that a photo was not necessary with this one...let's just say warm water does wonders for a system that was apparently pretty backed up!)

So you see, this is our life and this, yet just another wonderful story!

the sharks

Today was Koby's first soccer game of the 08-09 season. This years team is called "The Sharks" and from the looks of things today, appear to be a team worthy of the name. They are quick, fierce competitors who are out to destroy their competition. As Koby locked eyes with an opponent who was jumping up and down in excitement and anticipation for the game(an opponent who is also a classmate and friend mind you),our son said, "You won't be so excited when I score on you!"

Oh, no he didn't just say that. Please God, no, not our child. Maybe it was another blond, dutch boy on the field, but not our son!

Oh yes! Yep, that was our son. The blond dutch boy on the field that just dissed one of his new Kindergarten friends and has definitely taken his name out of the running for the "Best Sportsmanship" Award.

KOBY AUSTIN VANDERWOUDE! My mom was quick to note that, "the apple does not far from the tree." It appears that while Koby has inherited his father's good looks, he has also been blessed with the fierce competitiveness of both his parents. Looks like we have a little work to do.

In the end, the sharks gobbled up the opposing team today. Koby scored 5 plus goals (I admit I am not the best at keeping track) and made some great passes to his teammates. He is quick, serious and determined on the field. This should be a very interesting season!

back to school

On a day without a cloud in the bright blue sky and temperatures soaring near 90 degrees on September 1st, it is hard to imagine the end of summer. However, summer's end will soon be here.

Despite the fact that Koby has now been in school for 3 weeks, tomorrow marks the beginning of the 08-09 school year for many kiddos, including his cousins. We celebrated Labor Day together yesterday with a backyard BBQ and pool party. It could not have been a more perfect day. We swam, played, ate and ate some more. We had a special dessert to mark the beginning of the school year and took a photo of all the kids. I have decided that this will have to be a new tradition: brownie pencil dessert and a photo of the kids to mark the start of the year. While the pencil will probably always look the same, it will be fun to watch all the kids grow and change.

Brad is going to be a Junior. Taylor and Kali will be in the 7th grade. Chase (Taylor's "mini me" and neighbor) is a 1st grader. Koby is in Kindergarten and Kyan is patiently waiting to join the ranks of school agers. May this year be a great year for all of them!