And the medal goes to...

As we settle in to winter and get ready for the holidays, Max and Avery are finishing up gymnastic and basketball. Below are some pictures of Max playing and Avery getting her medal and doing her "tricks". Both of them have thoroughly enjoyed these activities. Max will be doing the Junior NBA legaue after Christmas and Avery will be doing something....we haven't decided if it will be more gymnastics or something else. All the pics are pretty self explanatory, so I'm not going to caption them all. My wittiness is tired today! Enjoy!

Adventures in Thanksgiving

Here's hoping that everyone had a happy, healthy (relatively speaking of course) and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. The Volkers Clan loaded up and went to Columbus Ohio for the holiday, and yes, we wore of U of M gear. So there crazy Buckeye fans!It seems like there are so many challenges that so many people face right now, to find things to be thankful for. Too many people are jobless, homeless, hurt and unhealthy. The world seems scary right now, but underneath it, there is hope. We realize how fortunate we are to have a home, to have jobs, to have family and friends to share the holiday season with. I believe that the prospect of healing, of better times, of a better world is a good reason to have an especially joyous holiday. It does not take a ton of money or a ton of energy to do something nice for someone. Not just because of the time of year, but because we need to be nicer as a people, as a world.

It's my blog and therefore my soapbox. I'm done now :~)

There are tons of pictures to share, and I selected a few...and accidentally erased some really good ones, but, if you're interested in seeing all the fun, feel free to check out my Facebook page, there are TONS there. (Aren't I sooo social network savvy?)

Awww...I hate this picture, but then I hate most of them that I am in. We had a great day on Thanksgiving. Honey and Grandpa Kelly dished up a load of delicious food, including the fabulous homemade cheesecake for dessert (and pumpkin pie and apple pie and mmmmm)

Joe and Em were there, along with Noah and Levi. The kids played, had a blast, though as you can tell by the picture below, Levi was not always thrilled with having his picture taken!

And it appears he wasn't always thrilled with Max either. For some reason, the kids thought it was hilarious to lock each other in the dog cage. Poor Eddie couldn't escape kids even in his own space! Now I'm considering it for disciplinary purposes. They can breathe while they're in there...bowl of water...I just got an hour to myself. Love it!

Avery gave us a series of hysterical moments. I'm sure all are shocked by this news. She was more than willing to tell anyone and everyone exactly what she wanted for herself, for them and apparently the universe. She's a strong-willed little girl and I am more than thankful for that!

We waited patiently, and not so patiently for the best turkey ever. Perfectly juicy, perfectly delicious. Too bad the stuffing had mushrooms in it....I heard that was awesome as always too!

We stayed in a hotel very near Honey and Grandpa's house, a hotel with a pool. Avery was thrilled with "our new home". She does not discriminate when it comes to pools, any one will do, and she still has not developed fear of any sort. Avery and Max had a blast each and every time we went swimming! (And so did me and Kurt...but don't tell anyone, then Kurt might lose his curmudgeon status).
And then because swimming alone is not enough, we went to COSI, a children's science and industry museum that is without doubt one of the coolest places ever! Noah and Honey tried their hand at the hoola hoop. We saw a live show where Max was called up to help light up some christmas lights by pedaling. Imagine that, Max did not hesitate for one second to be the center of attention. He had no fear of being in front of the audience at all and I am more than thankful for that. The best part was the red "rudolph" nose on the helmet and the sound it made when it started to light up. That distinctive sound from "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" cracked me up. There were lights, explosions, and more during this live show...and....it was all educational.

At the corner of Hope and Fear Streets, Avery pulls me toward Hope. All credit for that picture goes to Honey.

Boys will be boys and play with engines.

Something tells me that Max could totally have a future in a career like this. He very much enjoyed looking at himself in the "monitor"
And at the end of the night, all were happy and tired and ready for good sleeps.
The next day was as warm and beautiful as the previous 2. The guys took the kids to the park while Honey took the "girls" to the Eddie Bauer Outlet/Wharehouse. A beautiful experience for all parties.

After a couple more swims, a viewing of "Space Chimps", tons of coffee and more than a few drinks, it was time to say goodbye to Honey and Grandpa and our "new home" and head home. Home into the freezing rain we hit outside Ann Arbor, the stop and go traffic, the snow, the many vehicles off the road, the broken windsheild wipers and the 3 hours worth of delays. After 8 hours in the car, even Avery didn't care that our "old house" doesn't have an indoor pool. What a great time we had for what was probably the last Columbus field trip for the whole gang. Watch out Chicago.....we're coming!!!!

VOTE

Just vote. If you want the right to bitch and whine about government, poke fun at the "other side", complain about taxes, the economy and the direction of the world, then vote. If you can't be bothered to excercise your right to vote, then no one should be bothered with listening to your rants. It doesn't matter who you vote for, just vote. This message is brought to you by Batman and his Fairy Princess.

Football and Basketball

Twice in one month! Oh my, somehow I don't think we're that exciting! I just got over bronchitis, Max has a nasty cough and Kurt is home sick with something that apparently puts him unbearably close to death (based solely on his behavior). I baked banana bread and baked apples today. I love fall!

Max started basketball. We're going in to week 2 and he still loves it. Here are a few shots of his first practice. There will be more in the future. Games start in 2 weeks I believe

I think he looks like a natural!



Look at him go! All that practice in the driveway, the holes in the grill of my van and jogs down the street after loose balls paid off! We'll see what happens come game day.

We did have the 2nd annual Michigan vs. Michigan State/Chili Cook-Off. I have lots of pictures of the fun, and none of the chili. Food was on and I was eating, not taking pictures!

The cutest BFF's in the whole wide world showing their U of M pride!

The rivalry was, as always, intense. But the fun of rubbing it in more than makes up for hurt feelings! And having the many chili's to sample from and decide which one is the best is not a bad way to spend a fall afternoon.

Sore winners....aka State fans, went so far as to parade over to the neighbors and rub in their once in a lifetime win of U of M. Sad, sad people they are.

Next up....Halloween.

Things that 7 year old boys may NOT say on the playground

Despite yet another lengthy period of time without any updates, I offer you a glimpse of a bazillion pictures in the recent goings of the Volkers Clan!

Kurt and I had a night out! Big news in these parts! Kevin's brother Mike was married and clearly I chose to hang out with the life of the party, Ben, at the reception. He's a much better dancer, not to mention dresser, than my date! It was a great way to celebrate our Anniversary weekend together. It's very hard to believe that we've been married for 8 years already! Which means we've been "together" for 15 years...and that is nearly half of my life. Yikes (although, it should be noted that it is not close to half of Kurt's life as he is SOOO much older than me :~) We've more than packed in a lifetime of experiences into this time together, and now, at the end of the day when the kids are tucked in, safe and healthy, and we sit down together or hang out with our friends and neighbors, it's all so good. This is such a difficult time of year for us and being able to look around at all the blessings we have had makes it much more bearable.

Especially when Mr. Max and Ms. Avery is around! (enough sap already!)

Now that Max is in school and my new work schedule allows me to be home Mondays and Tuesdays, Aves and I have the opportunity to hang out, play, do laundry, clean bathrooms, and play some more. She's hilarious and fun to be around. This morning, while playing diligently with play-doh in the kitchen with the Backyardigans playing in the background, she ran into the other room, grabbed a blanket and started hiding under the dining room table. Wondering what was going on, I gathered to courage to ask. Turns out there was a ghost on TV, on the Backyardigans, and she was hiding from the ghost. Then she played with play-doh some more.

Avery has started "gymnastics", and I use that term very, very loosely, with Savannah. Avery is surprisingly good at gymnastics at this point. How long that will last, remains to be seen. However, she's a rock star on the balance beam and forward rolls down the wedge are nothing. She bear crawls around the gym, follows directions rather well (another surprise) and will be "competing" at "competition" in December. She'll even get a medal. Savannah is having a blast as well! She's a master sommersaulter herself, and loves the trampoline!

These two together have tons of fun and are absolutely too cute.

And then of course, there's our Max.

Who learned the hard way at school that even if his friend Josh heard it from a 5th grader on the playground at lunch time and it makes them giggle, little boys will get in trouble for saying "Crusty nipple boobies" Yup, that's right, you were reading correctly, I had to talk to the principal about Max, along with a rather large group of boys from 5th grade down, mimicking another child who was saying "crusty nipple boobies". Apparently it's a fun thing for a 7 year old boy to say on the playground. Of course, Max being Max, ratted everyone out, told them all that it's "not okay to say boobies, they're called breasteses" and that "telling the truth is important because you won't get in as much trouble" and gave his principal a good chuckle. He didn't get in trouble....at school...and since Kurt was incapable of looking at him without laughing after I made him fess up at the dinner table, we had a good little chat about not doing what everyone else does. Especially if it involves saying "crusty nipple boobies".

Other than the now infamous CNB incident, Max is doing awesome in school. His reading is amazing, he has aced every single spelling test, loves math and is quite good at it, and continues to tower over the rest of his class, as he is fated to do for all times.

Next week I will post more pictures and tell the story of how Max and Avery started a neighborhood "Obama" chant. I don't know how many other families can tell the tale of their little red-headed white girl chanting Obama with a helmet on. Oh, special times. That's why mommy has grown up juice.

Basketball starts next week and he is very excited to start. He is so loving and genuine, a great big brother and a great friend. He, along with his sister and every other child in the neighborhood had a great time at Savannah's 2nd birthday party this past weekend at the Children's Museum. Avery was quite upset she could not wear her green dress that her Honey gave her because apparently Savannah has the same one and wore it on a beautiful 80 degree October day. Fortunately once she realized she could wear her "nother flower dress from Honey" she was content and beautiful if I do say so myself. Avery and her friend "little Max" had a great time sitting next to one another, with and without their crowns! Max and Chris had too much fun in the "to the rescue" exhibit at the Children's Museum, playing Firefighters. All of the kids loved the Royal Parade of musical instruments whilst in Royal dress up clothing. From the bubbles, to the car, to the funny mirrors, a great time was had by all. And Savannah bannana made out like a bandit...as all 2 year olds do :~)

So there it is, a brief glimpse into the day to day world we live in. I gave fair warning regarding the bazillion pictures! After next week's basketball debut, there will be more pictures to share and more stories to tell. In the meantime, I have a "master Christmass 2008" list to update, because yes, I have started to shop already. We have big halloween decisions to make yet. Avery can't decide if she wants to be a princess or a giraffe and Max is mad because he's not allowed to be a bad guy and thinks my scarecrow idea is lame. We looking at Indiana Jones...hey Honey, still have that hat?