A Snowy Saturday Night

Greetings to all!! Tonight we took some pictures of the boys in front of the tree. WOW! I can't believe how much they have grown!!  The picture that they are each hanging onto, is a photo of their 1st Christmas. Nate also wore a Santa hat (see photo) for his 1st Christmas while Zach wore a star hat. :)

Here are some status updates:

Nathaniel: Nate had a great conference!! He completed a "rock" house for his pioneer project, is excited about his Christmas concert on Dec. 15th and is very busy running the "Nate" store around the house.

Zachary: Zach's room got rearranged last weekend. Now he says he has a big boy room. :) He is excited about his Christmas concert on Dec. 18th,  can't wait for Santa to come and has discovered a love for milk at every meal!! :)

Monica: I acheived my goal on the Wii Fit by Thanksgiving!! I am excited to graduate in 2 weeks from GRCC and I am really looking forward to having Christmas festivities with the Vedders' at our house.

Greg: Greg is actually taking a couple days off from work. He is going to finish the bathroom (a project started Jan. of 2007).

Thankful

On the way home from work tonight, I asked the boys what they are thankful for. Here's what they said.

Nate (7): My family, my teachers, my school, when mommy doesn't have class (just broke my heart) and my friends.

Zach (4): My sucker, my toys, race cars and oh my family. (oh to be 4 again)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Intersection Concert

Last night, Friday night, Greg and I had date night. Thanks to B-93, I won concert tickets to see Emerson Drive at the Intersection in Downtown Grand Rapids. It was an amazing concert. Our night started out by dropping the boys off to Nani and Papa's house after work. (thanks Nani and Papa) Then I drove home, picked up Greg and we headed to Big Boy for supper. We then headed to the Intersection where after checking in, we ran into my Uncle Rick and Aunt Deb. We talked with them for awhile and then decided to sit with them. They introduced us to people around them, apparently they attend frequently. Sitting behind them were the parents of one of the opening bands, Branded. Later in the evening, Greg and I even took a picture with the drummer, Jeff Hopkins (coming soon). After there amazing performance, Emerson Drive performed. I realized that I knew and enjoyed more of there songs then I thought. They even put an interesting spin on a few classics. :) We had a great, late night.

Tinker Bell, the Movie

Today we went and saw the new Tinker Bell Movie. This was the only movie theater showing of the movie. At first, the boys weren't so sure about going to a "girl" movie, but when I asked them to do it for mommy (and I promised to buy popcorn) they were excited. Nate however, said that he would go for popcorn but then he wanted to sleep through the movie. I said Ok.

Upon arriving at the theater, we bought out popcorn and headed to theater 1. Nate realized all of the other kids (boys and girls) that were at the movie and thought that he might be ok checking it out.

The movie was cute. Nate and Zach even laughed a few times!! It starts out with the creation of Tinker Bell and then joins her on her travels of growing up. The movie had a tear moment at the end, however I don't want to spoil the ending. The movie comes out to Disney DVD and Disney Blu-Ray (for those of you that have daughters (or sons) that would LOVE this movie) on October 28th. :)

A Rainy Day in Chicago

Jeff, Cindy, Greg and I went to Chicago on September 13th to Chicago. Even though we started our day knowing that we were going to get SOAKED we were excited to go anyways. After a quick stop to McDonalds for breakfast, we were off. When we arrived in Chicago, we parked near Millenium Park. We walked from there to Hard Rock Cafe were Greg's umbrella broke only a couple blocks in. :( We had an AWESOME meal. Greg ate twisted macaronni and I had a french dip. We attempted to order desert however only Jeff truly enjoyed his ice cream!! After lunch, we did some shopping/browseing on Michigan Ave. Greg's favorite stop was the Lego store!! After the Lego store, we continue our walk in the rain. Jeff and Greg then ran our packages to the car while Cindy and I watched everyone get soaked walking up and down the raods. It was not time to find some supper before we headed towards the concert. We came across another McDonalds and decided to eat. Not the best meal in the world however it satisfied the hunger. We continued our journey to Millenium Park where "The Elders" were already playing on stage. We stood and listened to them, in the rain. They were so glad that people had put up with the rain and had come out to see them that they gave everyone a free CD. Finally it was time for the main event. The reason we had drove to Chicago, the reason we had stayed in the rain ALL day, it was time for "The Great Big Sea." The concert was amazing and since the weather was so nasty, not may people were there (so we had a great seats!!). While keeping an eye on the sky, we sang and danced and had a wonderful time. After all of our fun and festivities, we got back in the car and headed towards home. We stoped at another McDonalds (providing Greg with his 3rd cinimelt for the day) for a lite snack and drink for the trip home. The commute to Holland wasn't bad however between Holland and Grand Rapids was terrible. It took us over 45minutes (which we usually do in 25-30) to get home. Greg was white nuckled and his hands hurt the next day. All in all, we had a great time, enjoyed being out with Jeff and Cindy and we can't wait for our next, sunny adventure!!

A Day at the Circus

Ladies and Gentlmen, Boys and Girls, Children of All Ages ......

Grandma Vedders, Uncle Brad, Aunt Meghan, Hayley, Jamie, Sydney, Greg, Nate, Zach and myself all spent the afternoon at the circus!! Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey performed at the VanAndel Area, in Grand Rapids. The kids enjoyed the preshow where they each received a clown nose.

Zach was excited when mommy received marshmellows from one of the clowns. They threw them up in the audience!! Jamie's favorite part of the circus seemed to be when she fell asleep in daddy's arms. Grandma and I watched in amazement as she slept through all the noise!! Syney watched the preshow from her "kangaroo pouch". All in all we had a great time at the circus!

Nate goes to the Dr.

Last week Nathaniel went to the Dr. for his 7 year check up. He weighed in at 56lbs (75%) and 49 inches tall (50%).

Cub Scouts

Tonight was the first night of cub scouts. We had 15 boys show up to the meeting!! It was very exciting. Nathaniel received his Tiger badge and is now working towards his Wolf badge. He's very excited!! The first den meeting is Oct. 2nd, so we will have to see how many kids sign up!! Please visit our website www.pack3240.com for more information. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month in the Band Room at Knapp Charter Academy.

Happy Birthday & Happy Grandparents Day

I would like to wish my mom a Happy Birthday!! Not only was it her birthday, but it was Grandparents Day as well. So happy Grandparents Day Nani & Papa, Grandma Vedders and (Great) Grandma and Grandpa Sheller!!

A Running List of Nateisms

Growing up to fast:
From the mouth of Nate:

1. Asked us not to call him Nater Tater anymore.

A Running List of Zachisms

Growing up to fast:

From the mouth of Zach:

1. While getting a hair cut and admiring his "sparky" new hair, "Can I have my hair colored?"

2. Today, 9/10/08, Zach rode with Bethany out to Creative and boy was he full of it. Here's what tops today's list.

• After following behind a "stinky" car on the highway, Zach said "what is that smell?" Bethany told him that it was the car ahead them. He said that it was yucky "smelled like burnt watermelon."

• When they arrived at Knapp to drop off Austin (Bethany's son), Zach said "excuse me Bethany, this isn't my school. I go to CLC." Once reassured that she wasn't leaving him there, he told her "good cause this is Nate's school."

• While walking across the parking lot to get into CLC, Zach had his hand up. Bethany didn't think much of it until they had reached the sidewalk and Zach says "next time please hold my hand when we cross the parking lot."

And that's just a few. :)

Back to School

As we all look forward to our 2nd (or 3rd) week of being back to school, I would like to reflect on the previous week.

Nathaniel: Started second grade, enjoys his new teacher, Mrs. Deveny and had homework every night.
Zachary: Started 4-year-old preschool, enjoys Kathleen and Liz and thinks he has homework every night.

Monica: Began my last semester at GRCC, enjoys my professor and is looking forwad to being done Dec. 15th.
Greg: Students are back, trying to wrap up summer projects and is still very busy.

The End of Summer Camp

Summer Camp has come to an end. :( I can say that I COMPLETELY enjoyed my summer. Going to the Whitecaps, taking a trip down on The Grand Lady (riverboat), sleeping over at the center and swimming at Whistle Stop are only a few trips that we went on this summer. Now it's time to begin my next journey, working in the office and with the School Agers after school. :) I am very excited!! :)

Wii Fit 8-31-08

Greg and I have been trying to do the Wii Fit. Even though this is only our second night, we hope to get into a routine (atleast I do). For those of you whom have never played Wii Fit, it's a video game that goes with the Wii Game system. While standing on a raised electronic step, you have to perform activities in different categories. From balancing on a tight rope, to catching hula hoops, it's very easy to raise your heart rate while working on your balance. Greg enjoys playing table tilt, ski jump and running. I enjoy advanced step, hula hoop and table tilt.

Stay tune for more updates on Wii Fit Physical Improvements!!

BTW: Nate and Zach enjoy the soccer game. The player has to bounce soccer balls off from his/her head whithout getting hit by a panda bear or shoe.

Fun Final Weekend of Summer

We thought we would enjoy our final weekend of summer by celebrating NATHANIEL'S 7th Birthday!! On Friday, Nate and I "woke" up at CLC from our Summer Camp sleepover. Then Nani, Papa Dutch, Grandma and Grandpa Sheller took Nate out for his birthday. For dinner, Nathaniel wanted to go to Logans, where they gave him a big "Yea, Ha". On Saturday, we went to Holland, MI and celebrated with Grandma, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Brad, Aunt Meghan, Hayley, Jamie and Sydney. Finally on Sunday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Nani, Papa Dutch, Aunt Heather, Grandma and Grandpa Sheller. What a weekend. And to think it's not over yet. More fun to come Monday!! :)

Space Chimps

Due to a Meijer Garden rain out, today Ryan and I took the summer campers to see "Space Chimps." The movie has many comical moments with many play-on-words. According to the write-up on IMDb, "Ham III, the grandson of the first chimp astronaut, is blasted off into space by an opportunity-seeking senator. Soon, the fun-loving chimp has to get serious about the mission at hand: Rid a far-away planet of their nefarious leader. Fortunately for Ham III, two of his simian peers are along for the ride." The movie is 121 minutes long and has a fabulous soundtrack.

Zachary as of 8/22/08

Zachary turned 4 in June. He is very excited because he is just about to move up to the "Big Preschool" room. During the summer, Zach has enjoyed water days, creating crafts (especially kites) and Ice Cream Truck Day. Zach has been learning his ABC's and counting. In June, he weighed in at 42 lbs and was 40 inches tall.

Nathaniel as of 8/22/08

Nathaniel is 1 week away from being 7 years old. He is looking forward to starting second grade and Knapp Charter Academy. During the summer, Nathaniel has been going to the Creative Learning Center for "Summer Camp". He has enjoyed field trips, swimming and learning how to play new games. Last week, he went to Michigan's Adventure for the first time. He loved the wave pool and the pirate ship pool. Next week is the last week of summer camp. He is very excited because the over-night will take place "into" his birthday. Height and weight stats will be coming after his Sept. doctors appointment.

The First of Many

Welcome to Monica's World!! The whole point of my blog will be to keep friends and family up to date on everything and nothing all at the same time!!