Nine months already!

Thought I would post a few things about Kate now that she is 9 months old. She is still a very sweet little girl and is now so much happier since she's learned to crawl and get into everything. She went from sitting around one day to crawling and pulling herself up by everything the next. The older kids could not wait for Kate to start crawling...I don't think they are quite as thrilled as they thought they'd be. Let's just say we had to do some quick baby proofing around here. :) Here are some pictures that tell a little about Kate.

She has beautiful blue eyes that will melt your heart. :)

She loves to read books...especially the touch & feel kind

She loves to be outside and sit in the grass. She does a very good job of not eating the leaves and grass, but instead just exploring them.

She loves pizza, fruit of any kind, waffles, toast, puffs, and pretty much any other table food you will give her. Don't the let the sippy cup in her hand fool you though. She is not a fan and it usually just ends up on the floor.

This is how we have found her sleeping a quite a bit lately. Yes, we do go in and lay her down since this does not look like the safest sleeping position.

Kate loves to swim. She burns a ton of energy in the pool kicking and splashing.

She is such a trooper when going anywhere. All she needs is a clean diaper, some food and maybe a toy or two and she's good to go.

Now I just pray that these next 3 months slow down because I am not ready for Kate to be a year old.

Got milk?

A little update

We have been keeping very busy so far with summer vacation. The kids are wrapping up a fun week of VBS and had such a wonderful time. It was so nice for me to have some alone time with Kate as we ran errands and hung out at home. She loved the one-on-one attention.

Here are some end of the school year, Bethany in gymnastics, summer fun pictures.

Chapel groups competing in friendly games...this is Jaren's group doing tug-of-war.

Bethany balancing an egg on a spoon for her team

The human worm

Bethany's graduation cake...so hard to believe she is going to be in 1st grade already!

Mrs. DeBruin talking with Bethany about her flip-flop costume. Each child draws a letter and has to come up with a costume to go with that letter. Bethany obviously drew the letter 'F'.

Bethany absolutely loved gymnastics these past three months. We are taking the summer off, but she would love to start up again this fall.

"Cochroach" during warm-ups

Once again on the balance beam. She was quite nervous at the beginning of the season, but she impressed us with constantly trying everything her teacher asked of her.

Kate has been kind of a pickle when it comes to eating baby food...especially the veggies. She would much rather eat table food like the rest of us.

Jaren is liking the independence he is given to ride Kurtis' 4-wheeler around the yard and to the hog shed and back. It's plenty big for him so I'm not super comfortable with him going to far or very fast.

Such a great father-son bonding time. They were having fun washing the vehicles together.

Just to show that the girls helped for a few minutes also before the swing-set called their names.

Just a cute profile pic of Kate :)

Hope you enjoyed the new pictures Aunt Arlene! :)

Tulip Time & Track Meet

We had a great time again this year at Tulip Time. I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

Kate & Avery...it is definitely nap time. Sadly this is the only picture I have of Kate & myself dressed up. I might have to pull the costumes back out and take another one.

Jaren holding Kate, Luke, Erica, Bethany, Reagan, Lauren & Drew. We'll be sure to add Hailey, Brynn & Klayton to the picture next year.

Jaren & Bethany had a small track meet the other day. Both did such a great job and had so much fun in their races.

Enjoying the sunshine

Wow, what wonderful weather we've been having! The kids have been able to spend a lot of time enjoying the great outdoors and burning lots of energy. We are gearing up for a small track meet for Jaren & Bethany this week, baseball practice, gymnastics & best of all Tulip Time! Can't wait to eat all that delicious food and enjoy the fun parades. Kate & I are going to walk in one of the baby parades. She looks very adorable in her little costume. If only adult costumes would be that flattering. :) Hope you enjoy the pictures below. There are some of the park (minus Bethany because she was at a birthday party) and Jaren planting his tree that he got for National Arbor Day. Oh and I can't forget the kids' school concert. David & the Giants...not only Goliath but our everyday giants that the kids have to face.

The girls were thrilled to see William & Kate. They loved her dress. Erica was the most fascinated by the whole thing which is no suprise since she is going to move to Europe and become a princess when she grows up.

Bethany singing and I accidentally erased Jaren's picture so just use your imagination. :)

Having fun at the park

Hanging out in her stroller at the park. She loves watching people.

Digging the hole for his tree - Little Leaf Linden

Jaren & Linden, his official name :)

Fun Times!

We've been having a lot of fun over here and keeping plenty busy. Baseball for Jaren finally started this week after getting rained out last week. He has had 2 practices and is loving it once again this year. Not to mention he is playing for DeBruin Electric...how fun is that! :) This year he would like to try and do a little pitching for his team so he has been faithfully heading to the basement to practice and is doing a very good job. Bethany is still very much enjoying gymnastics once a week. I've been having a hard time getting pictures of her because of the large number of other gymnasts that are usually in the way. I'll keep trying though. Erica and Kate are busy hanging out with mom. :)
We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our Savior's resurrection and the promise of eternal life. We spent the day with my family and the chaos of 11 kids running around. Thankfully it was a beautiful day so they could run around outside and burn all their energy.

All ready to go...Kate, Brynn, Lauren, Reagan, Bethany, Luke, Erica, Jaren, Klayton, Hailey, Drew
Kate checking out what's in her basket.
The "hunt" is on. There are not enough hiding spots so we just put names on the eggs and they have to find their own eggs.
Kate hanging out with daddy. :)
Getting instructions for the 2nd half of the hunt

Heading out to find our first Easter geo-cache

Every Friday morning the local skating rink has cheap skating for little kids. It's a fun little outing for Erica to enjoy while the others are at school. This particular Friday Bethany got to join us. Both girls had a great time as you can see by the smile on their faces. Kate thoroughly enjoyed just people watching in the stroller.


One more of our smiley girl.

What a great day!

Today's weather could not have been better and we made sure to get out and enjoy it. Erica, Kate & I took a short walk to play at a park and then we picked Jaren & Bethany up from school and came home to enjoy the rest of the day outside. The kids had a great time on the swing set. Everything takes on a new found fun when ate is able to start being involved. They love having her around doing what they're able to do. I just can't get over the love that they have for her and Kate couldn't ask for any better brother & sisters.

We were also able to burn the big pile of sticks that the kids have found on our yard and over at the farm. To help ignite the fire our Christmas tree was also thrown in. Jaren had the privilege of starting the fire and I think it's safe to say that he really enjoyed it. What I don't have pictures of is Jaren taking pieces of paper and starting them on fire just for fun while waiting to start the big fire...Caramel Grandpa (aka Calvin) would be so proud! After the fire died down a little we roasted some hot dogs for supper and marshmallows for dessert with Farm Grandma. We are now ready for camping season to start and we even have a new fire starter.

~And just one more picture of Kate to show off her beautiful blue eyes~