Another month goes by

Holy crap...has it really been a month since I did this? Sheesh, it almost has. Crazy how time flies! So, what's been going on in the Volkers household? It seems like there should be pages and pages worth of "witty commentary on mundane happenings" for as busy as we are, but I don't know...

First, Max has completed his first round of swimming lessons. He believes he is not only able to swim in the deep end all by himself without any assistive devices but is ready to water ski. I'm pretty sure he is mistaken on that issue. I told him I was pretty sure he was mistaken and he said "Oh, yeah, I can water ski when I'm 12". The disdain and exasperation in his voice was not subtle!

So, swimming is done and we are well in (and nearly finished with) soccer. Here's a few pictures of the soccer star!

He's actually pretty good and well coordinated. He did really well in practices/clinics. His first "game" was shaky with his lack of attention, wandering off to the bathroom or the slide in the middle of the game, but I think that had more to do with the fact that dad and Papa were there, along with me, Avery and Savannah. His 2nd "game" went much better. His attitude was greatly improved, he only wandered off to the bathroom once and overall competed impressively.

Next up for Max is T-ball, which will start in June. He is looking forward to that. He has also requested to get into basketball and has been practicing in the driveway. He's pretty darn good at that too, and again, more coordinated than one would expect.

In school news, Max continues to do well. His reading is awesome, he's well past everything he is "supposed" to know to move on to 1st grade. He's had his first sleepover and has another one tentatively planned for next weekend. He also has 2 girls who "like" him. He won't admit to liking either of them or calling anyone his girlfriend, but he sure does give them some extra attention when they are around. Kianna, from his class at school, has a grandma in the neighborhood and showed up our backyard one day...and didn't want to leave. Her grandma knew exactly who Max was and told Kianna that she was too young for boyfriend for what was clearly not the first time! Emily lives down the street and thinks Max looks like Zac Effron. Emily thinks Zac Effron is cute and therefore, Max. Fortunately, Max is very nice, sensitive and protective of these girls when he's around them. He won't let anyone else make fun of them or be mean to them.

On the Avery front...she continues to confound us all with her brute stregnth, her desire to want to dress up constantly, her bossiness, and her effort to keep up with the "big kids".

Avery had the chance to go to the Tulip Festival with her Papa and Grandma and cousin/friend Mallory. She came home happy, exhausted and with a new wardrobe (thank you Karen!) This has kept her busy for over a week now. She refused to allow anything to be put away and kept waking up at night and putting another layer on. At times, Avery is a total girly girl who loves clothes and shoes. But if you touch them or disagree with her, she's likely to take you down and kick your ass! Here's a couple of pictures of Avery and the tulips with Papa and Mallory too!

As far as Kurt and myself, we continue to muddle through each day. We've actually decided to use our big, beautiful deck this year. I know that for most people this seems like a no brainer of a concept, but with the great deck our neighbors have and all the trees (bugs and spiders) in our backyard, it's actually quite daring! Avery loves being out there while Kurt practices his secret grilling recipes for the 2nd annual cook-off. He's starting to narrow down his pork recipe but still playing with his "ringer". I am encouraging him every step of the way, for each time practices, I don't have to cook. I believe this is often referred to as a "win win situation".

I am officially licensed and listed on the state website for child care. I have a total of 5 kids at different times so far and it's going well. I am now listed with 4c's and will soon be participating in the food program and all that stuff. It's fun, challenging and exciting. It's an adjustment in our household, that's for sure. But, it's rewarding and worth it.

Kurt and I have our ups and downs, but still manage to get through all the many things that are thrown at us. I continue to be thankful for the full life we have, the good friends and neighbors, the wonderful family and of course, the smartest, coolest and funniest kids ever! A house full of laughter, such as ours is, is something to be forever grateful for.

Time

So, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's been a long while since anything has been posted. Unfortunately, today there are no pictures to delight all with, just a general update of the daily goings on in these parts! However, there is a bonus video of Max's big jump! Quality of the video is questionable though and Kurt took it, so we can blame him.

Max is enjoying swimming, yesterday he jumped off the diving board into the "big pool" during class! He was a little scared at first, but rallied and came through. He started soccer last week and is very much looking forward to going again on Monday. He is in a clinic/league so the first 3 weeks he is learning how to play and the last 3 weeks they will have games. He is the tallest kid there, but he's used to that!

Max had a visit with the doctor this past week and he is 4'8". He has grown over 2 inches since his annual checkup in the early fall and gained 5 pounds. So, at this rate, he will likely be 5' tall entering 1st grade and 6' tall before middle school. Freak.

Avery continues to talk incessantly, except on the phone to Honey. She has mastered the "withering stare" and rolling her eyes. She is days away from the "tuh huh" sigh with a foot stomp.

Avery is also freakishly tall. She thinks she is far older than she is. She's loud, stubborn, independent and apparently a princess. Talk about an amazon princess! She has nearly as many bruises up and down her legs as Max, which shows how much she loves playing! She's very angry that Max is taking swimming lessons and playing soccer and she's not. But the slide at the soccer field seems to pacify her anger.

The potty training process is nearly complete. Though Avery has totally learned to manipulate me into a potty "try" just because she wants an M&M, but the end is in sight!

Jen's daycare is starting strong. My licensing paperwork went through and I go for orientation on May 1st (any babysitters available that day) That is the final step in full licensing and I'll be able to advertise in the paper and through 4c's.

I am currently babysitting 2 kids and it's great! I enjoy it greatly and am looking to a fun summer with tons of laughter and fun! I really feel like I am using my education, professional and personal experience and knowledge every day.

Kurt is getting familiar and comfortable with his new job. He is doing really well and moving up quickly. There are many more opportunities at Vos for him than he had before, and it was long past time for him to move on and it appears to be well worth it.

We went to the annual Vos Dinner at Fredrick Meijer Garden's last week and aside from having a good time, great food and meeting some really fun people, I was extremely impressed by the general attitude of the company!

That's all we've got for now! Until next time.....(which I promise won't be so long in coming for the 3 of you who actually read this thing :~)

The Max Movie

The cold weather, cancelled plans and general gloominess of the days have left me no other option but to pull out old pictures and create movies.

Here is the movie called Max!

Summer Fun

Revisiting summer on a cold winter morning, with more snow and really cold air on it's way...

Plus, I want to establish my prowess at making movies!

Bet On It

This is a short (very, very short) video of Max doing his best Zak Effron impersonation. No comments from the peanut gallery about his future...

We sang and danced all morning. Avery got in on the action with Star Station with a moving rendition of "Who Let The Dogs Out". That's something one has to see for themselves to truly appreciate!

Resolution #1 Play more. Check.

Potty Watch 2008

3 Successfull poops and 5 pees is just plain big news to share! And Avery wants the world to know! Potty Watch 2008 continues and a diaper free world is within reach. While Avery still think that a fart equals a poop, and insists that everyone inspects the potty after said fart has occurred....she's catching on quickly! Yeah Avery!
Instead of forcing me to sit on the tiny little stool each and every time she tries, for the duration, I am now banished occassionally because "I need pivasy mommy, I need pivasy like max". At least she's listening to some things I say!
She has also mastered putting on her pull up all by herself, along with her pants. Sometimes they are backwards, but, whenever I try to help her, she gets a very condescending look in her eyes and tells me "me do it mommy, go way".
Each attempt is a lot of work for a little girl who's 2 going on 21, so afterwards she kicks anyone out of the recliner because it's "my seat, mooove" and takes some time to relax.

The conversations one has with Avery are hysterical. I'm convinced that she's even funnier than Max at the same age, which is quite an accomplishment. Yesterday as we sat in the bathroom, she told me a story about a baby lion. She said "I wuv baby ions mommy. Baby ion is sad, let's find mommy ion" I said OK and it turns out this all came out of a book that has a picture of 3 lions on the front. So, we went all through the book and then there was a page of ponies. Avery said "I wuv horses. I want one mommy" I said "Oh, you want a horse?" She nodded her head and looked at me so earnestly and said " I want that horse mommy. Horse has my blanky and I want it back. My blanky has a number on it. Horse took it from me". There are not any numbers on any blankets anywhere in our house, much less in her room, but it was her story and she's sticking with it.

Her interactions with me are serious and very conversational. Her interactions with daddy are another story altogether. Recently, she wanted something and Kurt told her no. She tried crying, we laughed. She tried hugging and we told her sucking up won't work. She looked right at Kurt and said "you suck".

Last night at dinner, Avery was not enamoured with the vegetable beef soup that was on the menu. I know, alert the presses, we've found a food the girl won't eat! She did however, really enjoy the rolls that went along with the soup. Kurt was busy bargaining with her to take a bite of her soup before she could have another roll. Avery took a bite and immediately spit it out saying "I no want any of that daddy" Max thought this was extremely funny and started with this new somewhat maniacal giggle he has been practicing. Avery continued trying to bargain for a roll. Between the two of them, I lost it and started laughing. That made Max laugh harder. Avery stopped, looked at Kurt and said "evewyone laughing at us daddy" She wasn't going down alone!

Max is very patient with her, most of the time. She has really started to get jealous whenever Max is playing with a friend, wanting him to be with her and play. It's quite cute. Max helps teach her coutning, letters and spanish. He's better than Dora! He does get frustrated with her though, as we all do. Her response is count "1,2,6 time out max go in woom now!" Luckily, Max just laughs at her when she does that and will say "Avery you are not the boss of me". Which is exactly where Avery learned to say that to me when I informed her that should could take her pants off and leave them off for the entire day. "You not boss of me mommy. Go way!" She shouted.

It's hard to be stern when you're hiding your face and Max is calling you out saying "Mom, that's not your mad face, that's your trying not to laugh face". Thanks for the support Maxwell.

In Max news....he is hard at work being dad's helper in the great remodel of the basement. What started out as an idea to paint, has turned into drywall, mud then paint. Max appears to enjoy working with the power tools, and regularly runs upstairs to give me updates on what exactly dad is doing. "You've got to come downstairs and see what dad has done mom. It's amazing." They had moved a couch.

Max is also doing very well in school and enjoying playing outside, playing inside, really playing anywhere and everywhere. We're looking at getting him into a starter karate class. They focus on "Stranger Danger" and some basic self control things. I think this will be a good way for Max to start with the concepts of "practice", having something to participate in, etc to get him ready for team sports.

That's about it from our front. Not an especially exciting week, but one filled with a lot of laughter and love. Potty Watch will continue, as will the humilating pictures to torture Avery with in the future. The Basement Caper will continue and next time we'll have some great before and after shots to wow all with!

Random Resolutions

It's that time...a new year, new resolutions, promises we make to each other and ourselves so we have something to fail at, ignore, use as a crutch and more throughout the year. Stuff like not carrying the weight of the world, being the worlds only living martyr, single handedly bringing about world peace, you know, the little things in day to day life! Actually, those things didn't make the list. Starting out a little smaller seemed more realistic so, without further ado, here is our list of new year resolutions...

1. Play. It's that simple. Take more time to play with the kids. Games, toys, outside. Taking the time to enjoy each other, without worrying about picking up the toys, cleaning the toilet, or what to make for dinner. On Christmas Eve, we had a ton of snow and we bundled the kids up and went outside.

We had a ton of fun. Max and Avery ran around the yard, throwing snowballs and making snow angels.

Avery also decided to be daddy's little helper while he was snowblowing the driveway. Her effectiveness in this role is debatable, but she was having so much fun with her little plastic shovel and pail, who could stop her?


And then there's inside play! Avery and mommy have created a game that Avery calls "DIVAS!" Avery pokes mommy in the eye while forcing her to put sunglasses on and then put hers on and shouts "DIVAS MAMA". (I didn't even teach her the word diva.....I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on what the content of Dora and Diego actually is) After this, Avery usually spends some time yelling at Kurt for something that he can't understand and I have to translate. Avery, in taking more after her dad than me, lives by the belief that if not understood the first time she states something, all she needs to do is say it again but louder.

Of course, we cannot neglect our educational play, so, we've spent hours covered in chalk dust writing letters, drawing pictures and fighting over the last piece of chalk. We have not made the jump to finger painting yet....though Avery and Max both have assured me they are ready.

2. Get healthy. In part, so we actually have the stamina to complete resolution number 1. Also because both Kurt and I acknowledge the need exists. So, we've begun addressing this in a number of ways. Kurt has completely quit smoking! Yeah Kurt, way to go! Kurt has also decided to enjoy a "SlimFast" diet during the day. MMMM.... I've been upping my yoga, dancing with kids (the "Cha Cha Slide" is quite a workout) and no, there are no pictures of either of those events because really, no one needs to see it. Avery has been attempting to do some yoga with me...I will try to get a picture of that because it's quite funny. Unfortunately, her favorite part is jumping on me at various times which doesn't really help the meditative aspect of yoga.

Anyways, we've been making a lot of better choices in our food. Which means we can't eat sausage gravy and biscuits quite as often, or pizza, or an entire bag of bold chex mix (ahem, Kurt) Max is not a fan of Hummus, while Avery and I love it. So, we'll keep working on it. I've already lost 6 pounds and feel a bit healthier. It's too bad that it's so expensive to eat healthy. Of course, I have sociological theories that are class based explaining why this is, and why the current political structure in our country does not acknowledge this. It has a lot to do with capitalism, survival of the fittest ideologies and upper class, older white males not being in touch with.....hmm....anything.

Actually, from the way my stomach feels, 3 more weeks of the f-ing "abs yoga" and I'll have a 6-pack. It may be one that's way at the back of the fridge, well hidden by the "good stuff" in front, but it will be there. Next summer, we will not look like this:

Yeah, I actually put a picture of me in a bathing suit on the internet. Public humiliation is my new diet plan. And like I'd put one of me ABOVE the water. Right.

3. Put as many political yard signs as possible in our neighbors yard. All democratic ones. Obviously, stop drinking is not a resolution and having a fun, drunken activity as a goal just gives us something we might really accomplish! You can't make all of the resolutions unreachable, because there has to be some sense of accomplishment throughout the year.

4. Spend more time with family and friends. Grandma DeYoung (Jen's grandma) is living in Michigan again, we had the chance to spend time with her at Christmas. It was great to see her and she really seemed to enjoy spending time with the kids. And there's always that whole multi generational stuff that is so beneficial for kids...

And, my cousin Amanda just had new little baby. Blake Harley made his debut in the world on December 12, 2007. It's really hard to believe Amanda is old enough to have a kid of her own. I still tend to think of her as "Alec's favorite babysitter" and want to "do" her hair and stuff when I see her. She also lives within walking distance, so there is absolutely no excuse not to spend time together. Here's a picture of her little cutie:

Then there's the new addition to Honey and Grandpa Kelly's family, Eddie. This is one cute puppy. Avery wasn't so sure about him when he got up close and personal, but clearly Eddie and Levi has a very special relationship!

5. Get Avery fully potty trained. I want to live in a diaper free world. She's so close. She believes she doesn't need diapers anymore. She believes she can do EVERYTHING herself, including going potty. She also believes that every time she farts, she has pooped. She's trying. I've never spent so much time in my bathroom. Frankly, we need to re-do the bathroom. At least from my perspective sitting on a tiny little stool directly in front of the toilet for hours on end, because, while Avery insists she can do it all herself, I am apparently not allowed to leave the room, at any time, for any reason whatsoever!

6. Get Jen's daycare up and running. Nearly everything is in place. I need to have my doctor sign a form, Kurt and I need to get a TB test and then send the application in. I'm really excited about this. I will still feel like I'm using my degree. There's a definite need for quality, education based daycare in this area. I will get to be home with the kids and not pay out the rear in daycare expenses (I'll be the one getting paid out of someone elses rear.....the irony) But, I need a good name for it. Any and all submissions are welcome. Maybe it can be a contest. The winner can have the kids for a weekend. I like it!

7. Paint the kitchen. This is more for Kurt.....I figure if he's given a year to do it, it might actually get done.

8. Be a better person. This is for both of us. Just be nicer, having more patience, reaching out and helping others, and so on. It's not that either of us think we're not currently good people (well, I do tend to believe I'm a little better than Kurt, but that has more to do with other issues...really, I kind of think there's others I'm better than. Hmmm....)

9. Figure out how to lick our elbows.

10. Not think I'm better than others. After some brief introspection while working on resolution #9, it would appear this might be a good thing to add.

11. Live, Love and be happy.