lots of pictures and a little commenting

what a gonglomerate of pictures...huh! we have been busy and enjoying a lot of time with Jason home over the past couple of days. they have been packed full and thankfully we have been on the ball enough to take the camera with us. the highlight would have to be the older two learning to ride their bikes all on their own from stopping to starting theirselves and everything else in between. Priss took her training wheels off all by herself and then took Swee's off to. they are so proud of theirselves and can't wait to take a bike ride as a family of "two wheel bike riders".

First Steps

bathtime

he is completely CRAZY during bathtime. i am just waiting for him to hurt himself while he is splashing up a storm.

game night and oreos

the older two and i played games and had treats. it was a lot of fun and i enjoyed getting to do something simple with them and to listen as they talked to each other. yittle enjoyed a few of the mini oreos while watching the boardgame action. he is wondering if finners wants to join his dsl team, he thinks they can take the manning brothers!

I think he might grow up to be a fireman

Yittle (our new nickname for the youngest Slopsema in the house) and I went on Swee field trip to the fire station this morning. It was a perfect morning to walk to the local fire station. Swee was so excited that he got to do a field trip that Priss did when she was in preschool. He got to hold the hose and fight a pretend fire, sit in the fire engine, watch a movie about the fire station, and he got a fireman's hat. And he was full of questions and comments whenever the fireman giving the tour gave him a hint of attention. He even knew to call 911 for any type of emergency. I guess he has been listening when we have been talking about things around the house...what else has he heard:)!?

Pumpkin Patch and No Extra Batteries

The kids had a blast at the pumpkin patch. Lil Man seemed to enjoy the experience more than last year when he was only a few weeks old. Swee and Priss each rode the ponies again this year but I only was able to capture Swee because they were allowed one lap around the arena and Priss was off before I snapped a picture. As we went on the trolley to the pumpkin patch the camera battery began to die. I babied it so that I could capture a few pictures but I was unable to take as many as I would have liked. But it is what it is! Memories from the pumpkin patch 2010.

A Very Good Friend

As the kids and I were driving to see Jason this past weekend I was talking with my Mom and she said...you will never guess who just walked through my backdoor...he is tall, dark and handsome. I wasn't sure who to guess but when she told me our neighbor who had moved away I said don't let him leave I will be there in 10 minutes. It was so good to see Tristan. I really enjoyed getting to visit with him and only wish my sister could have been there too.

Harvesting Supervisor

Swee supervised the harvesting of the soy beans this year. He took a lawn chair out into the yard so he could have a front row seat to watch the combine harvest the beans. It was so cute to see him watching so intently as the combine drove past our house and then turned around to make another pass.

Zoo Trip

learning the difference between a cheetah and a lion

I got the wonderful opportunity, thanks to Jason's mom, to accompany Priss on her field trip to the zoo. It had been about 5 years since I had been so it was exciting to go back especially with the new cheetah exhibit. I had a group of 4 girls and they sure were spunky! They wanted to see everything and were starving the entire time we were there which was only about an hour and a half. We did have enough time to see the cheetahs, the dolphin show, the meekats, the polar bears, the seals, the lions, the baboons (the youngest baboon shares a birthday with our Lil Man), and we saw the giraffes (which Priss had done a research paper on). The teacher instructed us that each of us needed to learn 5 new things while at the zoo. We read a lot of signs and enjoyed the zoo not being very busy and the weather was perfect. I think the boys would enjoy going, especially since we have never taken them. That will have to be on our to do list for next summer - for sure.