Eskimos and Penguins

That's right...Igloos! The church in the backyard pushes their snow into a pile that makes for great snow caves. Dad worked to carve it out so we all fit inside, even Lucy gets in. We've found our favorite time to be at night with our head lamps on.

We've had so much fun this year int he snow. Bennett is not sure he likes sledding yet, but Macabe will take any adventure he can get. The neighbors thought we were crazy when we snow-blowed the front yard to make a giant pile of snow, but they have been over to play on our homegrown sledding hill. Now, tonight, we await 15 in. of snow forecasted. Ooo-wee!

Macabe continues to love music and school, and really just wants to be able to read. He has become very imaginative in his play and a current favorite is setting up to play grocery store with old boxes from our kitchen. Recently he came to us upset that he was trying to play but "Bennett is antagonizing me."

Then again, turnabout is fairplay as a sibling, right?...While both strapped into their carseats (out of each others' reach), I have found Bennett crying, very upset. When asked what is wrong, he'll say, "Mac just bop-bop at me!" I look at Mac and his is just singing in his seat, "Bop-bop-bop-bop," quietly...yet grinning in shear enjoyment! Seriously?

Really, despite this "brotherly love," the boys have been the best of friends lately. The house is filled with giggles, laughter, chasing, tackling, fun, games, and jokes...the stuff that dreams are made of!

Bennett is into all things boy. Cars, balls, basketball, football, tackling. While his brother is his buddy, he also really enjoys those days Macabe is in school and he gets that one-on-one time with Mom. His date with Mom often times involves a doughnut for him and a coffee for Mom. Mmm! Though most of his responses to questions are either "I-O-know" (I don't know) or "Because Yeah", if you ask him what his Dad does for work, he'll tell you "he sells camels" (aka chemicals). The market for camels isn't so great in West Michigan, but chemicals, yes.

And let's not forget the Ring Boys in Anna's and Chris's wedding! We had some of the best looking penguins around. Trying our best to prep the boys prior the wedding, we reminded them that they would need to put on their tux and walk Mommy down the aisle. So that is just what Macabe did. He put on his tux, walked Mommy down the aisle...and took it off. Yup, he immediately began undressing and when we'd try to get him to leave clothes on, he'd just shout, "This itches! When can I take it off?!"

Both boys were enhausted at the end of the day, but boy did they find the reception to be the best dance party ever!

Fall Festivities and Christmas Wishes

October was warm, so the trips to the orchards after running through the sprinklers seemed less than "Fall-ish." Nonetheless, we had a great time on the pumpkin ride and drinking "apple spider."

Halloween was as fun as ever with Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was the perfect type cast for these two crazy kids who love to run and be silly. These Things enjoyed handing out candy to see all the other costumes even more than collecting their own. And even better, they took their costumes to visit Grampa Lepard (aka Bumpa or Bump) at the office, where we promptly dressed him as the Cat in the Hat to parade around the office. This fall we also made our first trip to Great Wolf Lodge to test out the indoor water park fun. All four of us had such a great time, we can hardly wait to do it again.

Just this weekend we had a fun house, full of Scholtens family for our Thanksmas celebration. Of course by the time our "Curious Georgia" (Georgia) guests arrived, the weather dropped over 30 degrees in 24 hours. Thursday celebrated turkey day with lots of things for which to be thankful. Our prayers are filled with thanks for all of you...and for cookies, plates, tables, silverware and trees. The boys enjoyed making table decorations, place cards, and even our own butter. It was also great fun to jump on Grammy, GrampS and Uncle Drew and Aunt Allison every morning.

Because we won't all be able to be together on Christmas again, we celebrated our Scholtens family Christmas on Friday. We hung decorations and exchanged gifts, tackled each other and played hide and seek in the dark with our new head lamps. What fun!

The boys are full of fun right now and are always keeping us on our toes and laughing. Mac is doing so well in school and brings home all sorts of fun art projects to display around the house. He's become very proficient at the computer and likes using big words like excellent and spectacular. You think he might be our family thespian? Music is a favorite too. Ask him his favorite music and he'll tell you Vivaldi. (Not sure where he gets it!) He loves to perform, SWIM, SWIM, SWIM, and to be given a job. He's been known to ask to organize something, insist he needs no help doing laundry, cook in the kitchen or build in the backyard with Dad. There is no doubt he is a hard worker, we just need to find him enough things to keep him busy!

Bennett loves anything sports and balls and play. He'd like to watch his older cousins play football, basketball and throw a ball at anyone who will catch. His talking has become very good, but we like to giggle a little at the way he talks, because. each. word. seems. to. have. a. period. or. pause. at. the. eennnnddd. And the last word of his sentence is always drawn out longer than the others. Too cute. And the craziest thing is that he was moved into a big bed last week. He is loving it and hasn't had a single issue. He is just so proud.

Stay tuned, because in a few weeks these handsome fellas will be sporting a tuxedo in Miss Anna's and Mr. Chris' wedding!

Merry Christmas to you all! We love you!

This summer was a true adventure. We have stayed very busy, exploring the zoo, parks, Lake Michigan, the cottage, riding bikes and flying frisbees and chasing our cousins.

Macabe found his inner sense of adventure this summer. He loves to go tubing behind the boat or jetski (yes, our latest addition to the family). He will jump off of anything or anyone to make a splash in the water. From clinging to our legs just 1 1/2 years ago, he has come a long way. We weren't sure he was the adventuresome type...now we know better.

Bennett just turned two and is talking in full paragraphs, it seems. It is fun to hear the chatter between them. Bennett's found his love for fishing and hammock swinging. He's a little more laid back than his big brother. He prefers to stay dry more often. He will take you up anytime on an offer to ride in the boat or on the jetski, but best be warned, he prefers the fast rides. He's been known to fall asleep on a ride or two.

And now that Fall is upon us, Macabe has started "Three School" just two mornings a week. Below is a story of his first day dropping him off. Let the adventures begin!

Oh, what a sweetie. He was very nervous and wanted me know that he was very tired and was just going to stay home with me. I ended up giving him a sticker with an M on it to put on his hand and then kissed it. I told him it stood for Macabe and Mommy. And whenever he got sad, he could just kiss his M and know that I would be there to pick him up soon. He said ok and then nothing at all the rest of the way there. We got out of the car and walked up the steps. He looked down at his hand, gave the M two kisses and then openned the door. I love that little guy. Then I had to leave with Bennett in tears because he wanted to go to school with Mac. He had a good time and sang me a new song. The teacher said he asked four times when they were going to do Kindermusik. When I picked him up, he ran up to me and gave me a big hug, then turned and gave Bennett a giant hug and kiss. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall myself!

Becoming Buddies!

These two have been fun to watch over the past few weeks. While they are perfectly good antagonists at times, they've also been growing into close friends. They may be seen sharing the same chair (or airplane seat), boxing out other kids at the top of the slide to save a place for brother, or splashing puddles and causing great mischief together. At the dinner table, Mac likes to sit next to Bennett, so he drags his chair to the corner of the table where he can be RIGHT next to him. (In theory it's adorable, though it doesn't always end so well. :) )







Yesterday they had this conversation at the table while waiting for lunch:
Mac: Bennett?
Bennett: Yes Mac?
M: Can you ask me what I'm doing?
B: Hey Mac?
M: Yes Bennett?
B: What are you dooooing?
M: Nothin'.

Mac is very conversational and so far have seemed to have not hit the, "WHY?" questioning. He much prefers the "What if" questioning. "Mommy, what if we didn't have faces? What if there were no trees? What if we didn't have underwear?"

Bennett is developing quite the sense of humor. He loves to try things on his head and give Moose Kisses. Not sure what a moose kiss is? Just ask him sometime.

Together they are also enjoying learning about caterpillars and butterflies. They took a lesson from their cousin, Greta, and went on a hunt for milkweed and monarch caterpillars. So far two have already spun their cocoons and are hanging from the top of the aquarium. Two are still muching their way through the leaves. Mac named two of them, "Butterfly" and "Lucy." Bennett named two of them, "Everything" and "Big One." We can't wait to see what happens next!

Long Time, No See

Wow! I let this posting get away from me. My how life can change when we have one that doesn't nap any longer. We get even less done...but we get to play more! While Bennett has been napping, Mac has been doing his dot to dots, mazes, learning to write his letters, becoming an I SPY pro and learning to work the computer. It's so much fun to watch his brain working. He turned three in March and is LOVING being able to play outdoors more.

Bennett has turned into a little boy in the past few months. We definitely don't have a baby in the house anymore. Bennett is always drawn toward old Grampa looking men and to babies. however, he's also grown especially fond of his "pet bird" we've affectionately named Kevin. It is a Robin who flies into our window about 75+ times a day. Kevin just laid eggs. Bennett says good morning to him everyday and calls out "Bye Kevin. Be back." when we're pulling out of the driveway. He is putting sentences together and his favorite is, "Where'd (anything) go? Oh, dare it is! Found it!" And the swing is a favorite pasttime...he could spend hours in there for sure.

And just in case you were wondering, this photo is a representation of how Bennett lets us know when he is done eating.

And then there's this dangerous trio! Cousin Parker is a ood bud of ours, along with all the other cousins.

We've so enjoyed our time with cousins, aunts and uncles, grammas, grampas, and visits from those aunts, uncles and Grammy/GrampS who live too far away. We love you all! Thank you for our many blessings!

Merry Christmas!

There's nothing like a ride in Santa's Sleigh to bring out the wonder and excitement of the season! As we grow together as a family, this year has helped us continue to learn that the things that are important are often times not things. We praise God for many blessings in 2009, many of which can be tracked right here in this blog, so sit back with a warm cup of hot chocolate and spend as much time as you'd like with the Scholtens.

As for our Christmas plans...We had a star in the church Christmas Pageant. You couldn't see him or hear him, but rest assure he was a star both figuratively and literally. Pictures were hard to come by but you can see that Mac was on stage and Bennett was on fire and trying to take off his sweater all night. It was the best and worst rendition of "Away in a Manger" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain" we have ever experienced! I guess one has to be a parent to fully appreciate this feeling.

We're heading to Grammy and Gramps Scholtens in Georgia for Christmas Day. We'll tune back in after the big day to let you know if Santa found us and if Uncle Drew received coal in his stocking once again in 2009!

And a favorite part of our holiday this year is looking at the Christmas lights and talking about our manger scene. Thanks to the boys, our manger scene has "3 Wise Guys" visiting Jesus. They came to Bethlehem "riding the reendeer". Mary and "Doufus" (how we pronounce Joseph here) are in the stable and, thanks to our cousin Greta, we refer to the Shepherds as "Hookers" because of their shepherding hooks. Gotta love it!

We continue to be humbly blessed and thoughtfully challenged to depend wholly on this small child born on Christmas! Here's to 2010! Pray hard, Play Hard, and stop by if you're in the area!

Fall Family

Oh what fun we've had this fall. Thanks to the beautiful weather, we have been spending lots of time outdoors. The past two weeks we've been having some busy work with a "little" project in the backyard. Kurt calls it a shed. Whit calls it a garage. We've compromised and have added a "sharage" in our backyard. In combination with project and play, we've spent some extra time in the bathtub, scrubbing off our frequent outdoor mud baths.















Then of course, we did have some Halloween fun at our house too. Macabe was certain he wanted to be a snowman this year, as "The Snowman" is one of his favorite movies. Mom worked hard sewing to have it done in time to wear. Unfortunately, come time to put it on...it was definitely not going to happen. SO, as you can see, Bennett is still too little to protest enough...Meet Bennett the snowman! He was a cute one! And Mac was happy to be the "P.U.S. Man" again this year. Who doesn't like a visit from the UPS guy anyway?!

And this picture? Well, what can we say about this picture? Too goofy for his own good!

In so many other ways we have been blessed this fall. We have become more settled in our new place. The boys know this as home. We have joined a nice church and had Bennett baptized finally. Much of the family was able to be there to celebrate with us. Our days are filled with dance parties around the house, morning, noon and night. These boys love to boogie! A favorite part of the week is going to our Kindermusik class on Wednesdays with some of our friends. And of course, leaf jumping in the biggest pile we could make highlights everyone's fall. Bennett was not a big fan at first, but grew to enjoy tossing a few in the air as long as they weren't poking his face. Mac, on the other hand, took them by the shovel full onto the tarp, rode the tarp and was dumped upside down in them until he could wiggle his way to the surface. Covering others is a highlight for him too. (So you can imaging how well the combo of Macabe throwing leaves and Bennett afraid of them went over! Brotherly love!)

Other than that, we are thankful for our good health, doing what we can to keep it that way, and praying for our friends who have been hit hard this season.