Moments in Life

There's moments in life as a Mom you want to hold close. To remember always. The way the kids look when they get up. The way Jacob sets his jaw when he wants to fight with you. His phrase "my old truck....my old book and lately my old Mom". The way Kaylin furrows her brow when she concentrates, she's a thinker. The way she sits any child that comes into our house and "reads" them a story, which she has memorized. When we get a new cd she'll sit in front of the music player and play the same one again and again until she can sing along and only then does she move on. Even the little hand prints all over my glass windows. The toilet paper ripped and strewed on the floor, the bath toys that get thrown in the bath tub every morning by Jacob, he seems to think this is his duty. The socks that I find in odd places, hairclips everywhere. The more I'm home the more I clean. The little things that annoy me but I know one day I'll miss. I no longer rush to clean the windows everytime the kids press their faces against them watching the world go by. This is our life.

We're down to the last 11 weeks before we meet this new one. This babe within who is showing me already that he/she is different from the others. That this one will add its own dynamic to our family. Kaylin rolled around in my womb, Jacob kicked and punched, this one bounces, from one wall to another. In awe I watch my stomach shake when baby wakes up. This little one who steals my sleep from me before birth, perhaps preparing me for the long nights to come? Kaylin in church on Sunday pressed her little hand on my stomach to feel the baby move. She stares at my growing stomach and is busy practising with her dolls. She changes them and feeds them and puts them to bed. Even Jacob has become aware of babies, which to him is any child under the age of 2. What a wonderful way for children to learn the miracle of life.

Kaylin at 15 months,singing a song while camping. I've been sorting through so many memories as I slowly tackle the large task of organizing our pictures.


Jacob at 7/8 months. His first album will be done by his 2nd birthday. Time is flying past us at such a fast speed.


Thanksgiving is this weekend. My favorite holiday, tomorrow we eat turkey with Drew's family and in a couple of weeks with my family. We're always late with my family for holidays, due to shift work and Laura and her family in Michigan. Its nice in a way that it makes our holiday weekend not to busy, yet we still receive the blessing of all getting together. I find myself these days overwhelmed with all the blessings around us. Monday, Drew and I are taking the kids and the dog on a hike. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Isaiah Pieter

My little sister had a baby boy on Tuesday. A beautiful, wonderfully smelling new baby with perfectly formed hands and feet. It never ceases to amaze me the miracle of life when you hold a newborn. To their tiny facial expressions and little cries, the wonder that a week ago that babe was snug inside his mothers womb and this is what he look like. Its a beautiful thing to watch your siblings fall in love, marry and then have a new baby and not something to take for granted. Erika and Guido we wish you the Lord's blessings as you deal with all the "firsts" of having a baby!

On the home front, life has gotten rather hectic again. Last week found me with a pile of peaches to peel and can.


These turned into this.


and while at the moment the smell of peaches turn my stomach, come winter having these golden jars are wonderful. They work great as a "thank-you for having us over" gift, they are fantastic as a Sunday dessert over ice cream or yorgurt. Or just on their own.

Saturday night found us moving Jacob's crib into Kaylin's room, giving us three months to finish the baby room. I love the idea of having a space for this baby. A space for me to spend my nights nursing and rocking. Kaylin and Jacob are rather excited to share a room, thankfully. Once Kaylin's a bit older and no longer at risk of falling out of a bed we will get "bonk beds" as she insists they are called. I'm trying to set up the room so they still have their own space, their own storage for the "special" toys. A place that will still allow her to have the quiet time she needs. And slowly the house is becoming ours. One space at a time.

My first September in years that I am not teaching piano. I miss it yes, but I see the benefits in the kids already with my focus being on parenting and being a wife. I thought life would slow down, it hasn't. The Lords way of showing me that it was the right decision. No longer could I put 100% into my lesson prep, recitals and exams. I think of it as taking a break, not something I'll never do again. I was reminded by a women I respect that I have this one time of my children being at home, and our family is happier, more relaxed and more flexible. I'm hoping to use some of this time off to play music I love, not music that needs to be learned but for the enjoyment of it. Kaylin has taken to sitting on the couch when I play and listening and making requests. It seems that music is here to stay with or without lessons!

Letters and Animals

In the last several weeks Drew and I have celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage, have attended three one year old birthday parties, one family reunion, on Grandma's 90th birthday and I've lost count of all the hamburgers eaten at bbq's. Kaylin has learned to write her name, we've petted animals at the zoo and came to understand that the lions are rather boring and the monkeys are much more fun. Kaylin has changed her mind about having another "Jacob" she has put in a request for a girl, because girls "are better" and "don't break so much stuff". She's discovered that my stomach is growing rapidly and wonders if it will be as big as Aunt Erika's, who is ready to have her baby any day now. And school has started. The first year this doesn't affect us as I am not teaching piano this year. I wonder how I possibly would have been able to and am more thankful for the decision that was made in which I agonized over for weeks.

I sat beside Kaylin, showed her these letters twice, and she copied her name. 20 minutes of time set aside and she's writing it everywhere, with no help. Shame on me for not doing this sooner.



My mother-in-law took me and the kids to a zoo. What fun! To watch the animals through children's eyes. Kaylin's favorite part, a ride on the pony.



The day ended with time well spent at the splash pad, Jacob's favorite. And he fell asleep on me after, my highlight as this never happens with this little boy who never stops:)