Holy Hiatus

My dear sisters-in-law continue to gently remind me that I haven't posted anything on our blog since September. I have no great excuse for this lengthy hiatus I've taken from the blogging world. We've been busy, yes, but no more so than normal. So, I can't claim that I've been super productive in other areas of life, thus blogging has fallen to the wayside. That simply isn't the case. If I'm completely honest, I had put updating the blog so far down on my to-do list that I'd kinda forgotten I even kept a blog. Sheesh. So, Andrea and Candice, thank you for keeping me on top of these things. I do love blogging and especially love looking back at the blog, reminiscing of days past, so thanks for all the reminders. :) I'll try to do better for you aunties, I promise.

 Some of the highlights since September....

In October, my parents were able to come out for a visit. (My dad had just finished several weeks worth of testing to see if he'd qualify for a lung transplant about a day or so before they came out. He had a successful lung transplant in December, officially on the list for a mere 10 days! Crazy.)
We had fabulous weather while they were here. We were able to take the kids to the pumpkin patch where they rode ponies, played in the bounce houses, got pulled around in a cart, and had a total blast.

 I was able to borrow tools from a wonderful friend from church that week so my dad, Matt and I were able to make some new drawer fronts for the kid's closets. I'll (hopefully) post before/after pictures of that project (and a few other projects we've since completed)

 We found a great deal on a whale watching tour out of Newport. Although we didn't see any whales, we did see hundreds of dolphins and dozens of seals. It was a gorgeous day and well worth it!

Halloween took place shortly after my parents left for Chicago. I kept asking Luke what he wanted to be for halloween and like most 3 year olds, he told me a different thing each time. He went from being spiderman to a T-rex to a triceratops to a fireman. I wasn't about to spend lots of money on a costume just for him to change his mind and want to be something else. So a few days before halloween, we finally settled on Fireman Luke and created a costume for him out of an old diaper box. Cost = $0.00. Elin couldn't care less about dressing up this year. I decided she could be a ballerina, the perfect costume since it was pretty hot still when we went trick-or-treating. I found the tutu at the dollar store and paired it with a onsie and tights she already had. Cost = $1.00. I love being thrifty. :) 

                                          

November brought the Klingenmaiers out to California for Thanksgiving week. This has become a great tradition that we can, hopefully, continue for years to come. Although the entire DeBoer family got the stomach flu throughout the course of the week (not pretty) we were still able to get out and about, enjoying the terrific CA weather.

 Hiking in Forest Falls

playing with trains

San Diego Zoo

Minus the stomach flu, it was an awesome week!


December brought the DeBoer side out here for Christmas. It was sickness-free, full of fun day trips, great food, great conversation, games, good times overall!

Hiking around Joshua Tree

 (notice Matt sporting some lovely facial hair) 

Christmas Eve opening presents. The kids were beyond excited! The adults of the family all agreed to forego getting one another Christmas gifts this year and instead, have an 'adults night out'. We got a sitter for Luke and Elin and went out for a fun night of bowling followed by a delicious meal and great uninterrupted conversation. It was a gift in itself! Therefore, 99% of all of the presents under the Christmas tree were for our two children. Can we say spoiled? 

modeling his new basketball gear  

playing with/opening presents with the fan club watching

 enjoying some hot chocolate

Since December, we haven't had visitors but we have had some lovely weather. We've already been able to get use out of the blow up pool and sprinkler. 

In other news, after 8 years and lots and lots of prayer, Matt has decided not to teach at RCS next year. He  We didn't come to the decision lightly. It has been something that we feel God has been nudging Matt toward for awhile now and it was time to heed that 'nudge'. He doesn't have anything lined up for next year, at least not at the moment. We are praying for God to guide us in this new adventure and are excited to see where He is going to lead us. It is definitely a lesson in faith and trusting in God's plan and God's timing, but we have peace that it was the right decision and know that God is faithful. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with the blog better than in these past few months and share this adventure with you loyal readers! :) 

Mini Me

Resemblance? What do you think?

Matt - Dec. 1982

 Luke- Nov 2010

Friends have often commented on how much they think Luke looks like Matt. Even total strangers have made mention of it. Now we have the pictures to prove it. There's no denying that Luke is a chip off the old block. It's a good thing Matt is such a good looking guy!

Kids' Quotes

Kids say the darndest things and mine are no exception. Luke is in a particularly fun stage for saying things that make us chuckle. Elin is in the stage where she is learning new words all the time. Needless to say, this is a fun (and noisy) time of life we're currently in. I wanted to make sure and write down some of these kidisms to cherish for years to come.

Luke: "Can I have some money to put in my bank?"
Me: "You can do an extra chore and earn some money to put in your bank"
Luke: "But Mom! I don't want to earn the money. I just want you to give it to me."
 He proceeds to get my wallet from my purse and show me that, indeed, I do have money in there I can just give him. He ended up sweeping up under the table to earn a quarter. I win.

Luke: "If I eat all my _(insert any food here)__, then I will be big like Daddy. Daddy is big but not mommy."
Me: "You don't think mommy is big?"
Luke: "no"
Me: "Why not?"
Luke: "You can't reach stuff. Daddy can."

We had our small group at our house, which included a couple with the last name Vandertuig. After Matt told Luke who was coming over, he comes running to me - "Mommy! Vander Tiger Woods is coming to our house!"

Elin: "Dadda DaDa Dadda"
Me: "Do you love Daddy?"
Elin (big smile): "Dadda Dadda!"
Me: "Do you love Mommy?"
Elin (shakes her head, no) "Dadda!"

Elin also says "Momma, Hi, More, Puppy, Uh Oh, Whoa, Night Night, Bye Bye, Baby, Ball, No and Owl".  She'll mimic the sounds of other words but these words she's mastered.

There are plenty of other things our kids say/do on a daily basis that make us laugh but I can't remember them at the moment. I'll have to do a better job of jotting them down!

Oh, how we love these two! 

Dancing in the Rain

I haven't been able to get a video to upload on our blog for a long time (honestly, I just gave up trying after awhile.) I've been encouraged to try again but upload to youtube first... here goes!

Rain

Every time we go back to Illinois during the summer I have the same wish... for at least one good thunderstorm. Unfortunately, my wishes rarely come true. However, last week we had not one, but two thunderstorms in Redlands! Two days in a row we experienced freak thunderstorms in the afternoon. The mornings would be pretty normal - really hot, blue skies, few clouds- normal CA weather for early September. Then at some point mid-afternoon the wind would pick up, skies turned grey, rain poured down and thunder boomed.  It was nuts! It was awesome, especially for this midwestern, thunderstorm-loving girl, but it was nuts! 

Proof of the down pour

The kids weren't entirely sure what to make of the thunderstorm at first. Soon enough they caught on to the fact that mommy was super excited and therefore, accepted the fact that thunderstorms aren't so scary after all but can actually be extremely fun! 

They ran and danced in the rain for the whole 10-15 minutes it rained down. 

 I'm not sure who was more disappointed when the storm dissipated and blue skies reappeared, them or me.

Summer Fun

Sigh. Summer is officially over. Don't get me wrong, I love fall! Or I did when I lived in the midwest. Fall in Southern California looks and feels much different. There is no crispness in the air. It can be (and has been lately) over 100 degrees in September and even into October. Most of the leaves don't change color. Pumpkin spice lattes don't quite taste the same over ice. Thus, I don't enjoy the fall as much as I used to.  So, since I can't bring myself to celebrate fall, (at least not yet) I am going to cling to summer. (it is still 100 degrees out after all!)  I did a lousy job keeping up with blogging about all the day-to-day fun we had this past summer so now I'm making up for it.  So what all did we do?... 

We had fun outside: 

We painted... mostly they painted themselves but there are a few new masterpieces gracing our fridge. :) 

 (no, this isn't an extra from Last of the Mohicans. Its a creative Dutch boy. Don't let the warpaint 

confuse you.) 

Once the paint dried on their bodies and became stiff it wasn't as much fun anymore. huh. 

Sprinkler to the rescue! 

These kids LOVE playing in the water! We'd go from running through the sprinkler to playing in the kiddie pool to splashing in a storage bin (we're white trash like that). Hey, it's fun! 

They even love to help wash dishes because water is involved. The dishes get washed, kids get a bath - two birds, one stone. :) 

Our kids needed lots of baths this summer thanks to the landscape projects we  had  have going on. They certainly had fun playing in the dirt though! 

We had fun inside: 

We baked and decorated cupcakes (when we could tolerate turning on the oven, that is) 

True to form, Elin didn't just eat her's. She wore it. 

Matt bought Luke his first set of baseball cards.

 The two of them spent hours upon hours pouring over those cards. 

We played dress up. 

We had fun away from home: 

We went to the "lake" at the regional park in Yucaipa. 

We went to the beach (not often, but we did go! It is amazing how much gear you need to haul with you when taking kids to the beach!)

Of course, we ate more than our fair share of ice cream. Mmmm. 

And we wore ourselves out! 

Definitely a memorable summer. Our kids are at super fun ages which made summer that much more fun! It makes me so excited for all the fun we'll have in summers to come.