Grandma Hoekman

My Grandma Hoekman (my mom's mom) passed away this morning at 89 years old. She has not been doing well now for the past year, and in all honesty, I am amazed that she survived the past year. A year ago in May she took a turn for the worse and we all said our goodbyes to her while she lay in a hospital bed at Spectrum. That was tough. God, however, was not quite yet ready to welcome her home. She bounced back enough to be released from the hospital and was placed in a home here in town. She has suffered with dimentia this past year and has been legally blind most of her life. She also was not able to hear well, so needless to say, her quality of life in the end was not the best.

I brought Koby and Ky to visit with her this past Friday, as hospice had warned us that it would probably not be long due to several blod clots in her body. My mom helped me tag team the dynamic duo, who are not so use to the close confines of a shared room in home (all i can say is, thank goodness her roomate was out and about that morning....her bed made an excellent racetrack for cars!) Grandma was in and out of sleep for the most part, but did have moments of clear consciousness. When I told her that Koby and Ky had come for a visit, her eyes lit up and she smiled a great big smile. She commented on how big they had gotten and told me to keep my eye on the little guy (she has always worried that little kids with blond curls make excellent targets for people with not so good intentions.) Ky shared one of his graham crackers with her and rather than eating it, she held it for a bit and then politely put it on her water cup. While the boys continued to make a ruckus on the bed next to hers, she opened her eyes again and told me she was "going home". At that moment, I knew that she did not mean going back to her condo, but rather going home to her Lord. I was afraid to share those simply words with my mom, knowing that she already had alot on her mind. So as we left, I gave Grandma a kiss on the forhead and told her I loved her, hoping I would see her again.

Sunday night I received the call from my mom that Grandma was not well and that it would not be long. I headed over to see her and was amazed at what a difference two days made. She was breathing very deeply and it was very evident that she had fluid in her longs. She could no longer open her eyes, or move any part of her body. At that moment, I was so thankful for Friday. Thankful to have seen her smile one last time, thankful to have had a chance to look in her eyes and tell her that I love her, thankful that my boys had one last chance to see their great-grandma and most of all thankful for God's love and promise that this is not the end. This is just merely a "goodbye for now" and "I'll see you soon". I am thankful that my grandma, the southern bell from Mississippi, is new again.

One of my clearest memories of my grandma is when we would visit them in Florida and she would tuck Al and I in at night and sing us the song "Froggy went a Courtin". It is a song about a frog who wants to marry a mouse but first needs to seek permission from her uncle rat. I am not sure of the history behind the song, but will forever hear her singing:

Froggy went a courtin and he did ride um hum

Froggy went a courtin and he did ride um hum

Froggy went a courtin and he did ride

a sword and a pistol by his side um hum..........

Here are a couple of photos of Grandma. The first one is from January '07 and the second from Al's wedding in April.

Goodbye for now Grandma.....I'll see you soon!

Binder Park

Today we hopped in the car and headed to Battle Creek to visit the Binder Park Zoo. We were so excited to try something a little different than our regular yearly trip to John Ball. We had Kals staying with us this weekend, so she joined us as well, which was a delight to the boys.

After a minor interruption by construction (which with three kids in the car, i really am not so sure any interruption is a minor interruption), but with snacks at hand we were able to pass the time. We arrived at the zoo and began our adventure by heading to the Wild Africa exhibit. This was especially cool because we were able to ride a tram out to Africa, which the kids loved. Once in Africa, we saw giraffes, zebras, ostrich, vultures, monkeys, and birds. The kids even had a chance to feed the giraffes biscuts. Kals decided it was not quite her cup of tea and opted to watch. Koby couldn't get enough and Ky insisted that the "giraffe bite me" (in reality he just got Ky with his ginormous tongue!
)


After our African Safari, the kids rode on the carousel.

One of our favorite animals of the day was this little red panda. He was so cute hanging in his branch, sound asleep at first, then awoken by all of the onlookers. As you can see, he was less than pleased. If looks could kill!

We stopped by the Children's Zoo and the kids were able to pet some goats.

Here are a couple more pics from the day....

Comments Anyone?

So apparently it has been difficult to post comments on our blog. Please see if you can post a comment below so I can see if this is working. Thanks!

Goodbye KCDC!

It's official. Koby is now a Preschool graduate. Today was his last day at KCDC. It is a time of great reflection for me, wondering where on earth these 2 years have gone and just how I will be in September as I wave goodbye to my Kindergartner. Let's face it....I am going to be a wreck. I found myself a bit overcome just driving out of the parking lot today. I can remember dropping Koby off for his very first day of 3 year old Preschool, wondering how he would be when it was time to say goodbye. He was fine. I was not. I am sure that is pretty much going to be the story throughout his life. He will be fine. I will not. So here he is, my little graduate.

Septmeber 07

May 08

Here are some photos from his graduation celebration.

Koby and his buddy Robert

Amber, Koby and Lexi

Take Me Out to the Ballgame....

take me out to the crowd, buy me some peanuts......okay forget the peanuts....buy me some hotdogs, french fries, pop, a blue slushie, a footlong bag of popcorn and a twist ice cream topped with sprinkles! Believe it or not, most of that was consumed in the first few innings of the Whitecaps baseball on Saturday night. Not by Kev or myself, but by Koby and Ky. Unbelievable!!!! We have found that the way to our kids hearts is definitely through the mouth!

We went to Superhero night at the ballpark in hopes of spotting some of our favorites i.e. Spiderman, Batman, Superman.....but left a bit unsatisfied having only spotted Underdog (anyone remember him?), Captain America, Wolverine, and Robin (who was really a female disguised quite poorly). Koby was very upset that Spidey was no where to be found. In my attempt to make him feel better, I explained that perhaps there were people in need elsewhere that Spidey needed to attend to. He bought it. The boys had to settle for a photo op with Crash, the mascot for the Whitecaps. Ky was too busy inhaling his food to even contemplate the whereabouts of anyone. So Crash was their superhero for the night!





The game ended with a fabulous fireworks display that, in the end, really was the highlight of the night for the boys.


Today we had a BBQ with the Hillbilles and christened the pool. We have been anxiously awaiting our first swim and were excited to see a weather forecast of 80 and sunny for today. In the end, today was not 80 degrees or sunny. I would say more like low to mid 70's and overcast. Thank goodness for heaters! We cranked up the heat and got the pool to 75. As you can see from the pics, only a few were brave enough to take the plunge!

Crazy

Crazy seems a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing our life as of late. March, April and now May seem pretty much a blur and now here we are closing in on June! Yikes! This new blog is going to be my attempt at keeping everyone in the loop on what is going on. Hopefully I will be able to update it regularly (no promises).

April was an exciting month. My brother, Alan, was married on April 5th to his girlfriend of 4 plus years, Laurie. Koby and I had the honor of being part of the ceremony as ringbearer and bridesmaid. I have to admit, I was much more nervous for this wedding than my own. Actually, I was not at all nervous at my own....just this one! I am not sure why, perhaps because it was my little brother. It is hard for me to always think of him as the 29 year old man he is. I often think of the younger brother I would pin to the floor, dress up as a girl, threaten on several occasions that if he told on me the consequences would be deadly, or the messy teenager/young adult who drove me up the wall and down again. I am happy for him to begin this new chapter in his life. Laurie is a great girl and a welcome addition to our family.

On Monday, April 7th, Kyan celebrated his 2nd birthday! I really cannot put into words how crazy it is that he is already 2. I feel like I blinked and now here we are. It is so different with your second child. Rather than our world revolving around him (like it pretty much did with Koby) he just kind of finds his way into the everday madness we call life. No need to feel sorry for him, the kid can hold his own for sure. He has grown several inches in the past months and tops the charts at "greater, greater than the 95 percentile" according to his pediatrician. He is currently 3 inches taller than Koby was at age 2 and Koby was above the 95 percentile. He is talking in 3-5 word sentences and trying to do everything his big brother does (which believe me, is the source of many arguements in this house).

We also had a visit from Nama Jakubowski, Aunt Kelly and Raelin in April. Koby and Ky were able to spend some time with their cousin Raelin who they don't see very often. Unfortunately, the stomach flu was shared between all 6 cousins during their visit, so they were not able to play as much as we would have liked.

Koby also started t-ball, along with soccer in April. He is now playing soccer on Mondays and t-ball on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He is of course loving it. He has been given many wonderful gifts and talents. It is a joy watching.

We're Back!

It has been a while since we have updated our site and as you can see, we have experienced some changes. Hopefully we will have time now and then to update you on all the happenings at our house. Busy is definitely an understatement. A lot has happened in a short period of time and we look forward to sharing it all with you.

much love!