WOW! What a week...

I think the title sums up our week nicely. We've had a jammed pack week of fun and not so fun at the time. We started the week off slow and ended very fast. Jaren had his first week of t-ball practice and is loving his 2nd year. He's got another wonderful coach(s) and I give these guys a lot of credit going out and teaching 5 & 6 year olds the fundamentals of baseball. I'm excited for games to start. Jaren has improved so much from last year.

Wednesday night I participated in the Klompen Classic which is a fundraiser 5K raise for Crossroads in Pella. This is the first time I have participated in something like this and was nervous going in to it because I was not able to train near like I wanted to. I finished the race in 36 minutes being able to run at least 3/4 of it. I ended the race saying that I was never doing that again, but after some cold water and time to cool off I started thinking about training more and attempting it again next year with a 30 minute goal...kind of lofty, but it gives me something to shoot for. (this being the not so fun part of the week) :)

Thursday Jaren participated in his first K-4 track meet. He raced in the 50m dash and the 4x50m dash. He had so much fun and loved racing.

Part of the student cheering section

Jaren running the last leg of the 4x50m dash

Waiting with his running partners.

The end of the week was spent with 2 days of Pella's Tulip Time. I love Tulip Time and the kids do also. They were very well behaved for the most part. Bethany had the opportunity to ride a float on Friday afternoon. She saved her waves for only a very few number of people so if she waved at you feel privileged. They also loved the candy, cheese, etc. that was being handed out during the parade. By parade #3 Erica had it down that the farther she stood into the street the greater her chances of getting candy. ;)

My dad works in the Blacksmith shop at the Historical Village during Tulip Time so the kids love to go there and watch him and walk around. Their free rope samples were a hit...literally. At least they only hit each other and not the thousands of other people around.

Bethany & Erica posing in front of the tulips. They were much too busy playing with their ropes for me to get a good picture of both of them. Jaren opted to stay out of the pictures...I guess it's not a cool thing to do. :)

Bethany, Aunt Arlene & cousin Levi riding the float. She's can't wait to ride it again next year. See what you can do Aunt Arlene!!!

Jason, Kristin, Brynn & Hailey...Jennifer, Drew & Lauren all walked in the Dutch Doubles. Maybe next year I can convince Kurtis and his twin brother Jason to walk in it also. I don't think they've been in a Dutch costume since they were 4.

Today ended with a great Mother's Day. We had lunch with Kurtis' extended family in Pella and then all came home and crashed. It's a good day when all three kids take a nice nap, except now they are all still awake in bed talking. Kurtis was so thoughtful and took time out of his extremely busy schedule to get me some roses and a DQ ice cream cake...the only cake I really love! God has blessed me so much with 3 wonderful children and a terrifically loving husband.

Sorry for the slightly blurry picture. Jaren took this one of the girls and me tonight before we cut into the delicious cake.