Wednesday, October 27, 2010

leaders costume party

tonight was the first of many times the boys get to dress up this halloween season. we had a costume party with all the youth leaders....
the first costumes of choice were batman, buzz lightyear, and spiderman...

and then the pink crayola hitting on the famous tony romo...yes, that is a bone sticking out from his broken clavicle...

and of course the sweet dog that followed andy around all night wanting that bone!

Monday, October 4, 2010

"flavors"

a sunday evening at home....what to do, what to do? we mustered up the strength to stay home (even just going out for icecream can cost our family $12-15)...so we stayed in and decided to make our own treats and play a family game. it was so much fun! we used what ingredients we happen to have on hand, and the boys loved being involved in picking the treats...we dumped everything in a big bowl and mixed it up. i tried to get them to come up with some creative name that would be a vanderveer trademark...so--logan came up with 'flavors'. i worked hard to offer some crazy names, but he was set on flavors, and ian just didn't care....
so 'flavors' it is!
making the popcorn that we added after it cooled off!
this bunch of flavors consisted of marshmellows, animal crackers, chocolate chips, honey chex cereal, and popcorn...(andy wanted to use m&ms, which would have also been really good, but the choc chips we used were milk free...so ian could enjoy the chocolate too!)

"testing" the popcorn before adding it!

the game of choice...Disney Scene it!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Coloring Time...

these days, we don't get a lot of quiet evenings at home...but tonight was a rare occasion...and we soaked it up! we had a family coloring time! it was really fun, and the boys get into things more if andy and i are involved...i colored a pink pony, ian and logan both colored a page from a Bible story coloring book, tysen colored on his blanket (sigh), and andy drew a picture of Jesus. (i didn't want andy to color...such a waste of his talent to color between lines...so i just gave him a pencil and paper)


(this is what happens when logan is in charge of pictures)






Getting Outside...

gearing up for fall!!! we took the boys to eureka park to get out in the cooler weather. cooler meaning it wasn't over 100...we were still sweating by the end of it, but it was a lot of fun!


the boys climbing across to save the 'princess'...i got nervous when andy took tysen...


logan was always the first across...


and now i'm really nervous....





Thursday, September 2, 2010

i just thought i would write a minute as i sit here and watch ian and tysen dance their hearts out to the soundtrack to highschool musical 3...ian is totally in character, and i'm not gonna lie, the kid has some moves! of course, he's also in the middle of a basketball game (as in the movie)...but its all very entertaining!

logan is sitting beside me...he stayed home from school today with a fever and sore throat. i've been trying to get him to start reading chapter books for several months, and he kept saying they were too long. today i finally convinced him to give it another try, and just read a little, then break. he read all the way to the dr....while we waited...all the way home...and he's picked it back up, and is laying on the couch reading. oh, how this warms my heart! my little reader!!! actually this is more like his aunt carleigh who was the reader when we were kids, but i'm so excited that he's enjoying it! so many possibilities in books!!!

we attempted potty training with tysen for 2 days. he does ok....if i take him every 45 min...but that is not being potty trained to me! that's too much work for me! he was sooo excited and its just too cute when he puts both arms out (still on the toilet) and yells "hey everybody!! i goed pee-pee in the potty!" ...and its just me that is home....
o well, back to diapers, but we will try again fairly soon!

we have been surviving the new schedule decently. though it takes its toll in ways i hadn't even thought of....andy is gone tues/thurs from 5:30am-7:30pm... and on wed. he goes to work around lunch, and works until 10 because of youth group....i'm coping with it....but laying in bed last night, i started thinking how the boys get way less time with andy than i do! i get to see him at night, but the boys go to bed earlier...and since they are in school all day...there are some weeks they only see him for 30-40 min. over the course of 4 days! andy are looking at our routine to see if there's a way to re-arrange stuff and change that. they have been asking about him a lot...and thankfully, this schedule is only a semester...but my prayers have changed from praying for strength and patience for myself to being for their sweet hearts during this time...

ian is thriving in kindergarten! i'm so thankful he has already made friends! i was worried about him being the youngest by a long way...but he actually has a little friend who is 2 days younger than he is! i was so excited to hear that! logan says he enjoys his new class too! he has several friends from his kinder class that he was glad about. poor tysen is adjusting, but asks constantly "it time to go get my broders?"...he misses them. but we keep max on mondays for this month, and so he has enjoyed having a playmate then.

tysen's most common phrase is "i'na do it myself!"...my most independent little man. the one who is desperate for people to listen to him. when we ask the boys to tell us about their day, with in 10 seconds, tysen is yelling "hey everybody...i gotta a big problem!!"...and he yells that until we ask him about it. its not a problem...its usually just something he sees...i don't know where that line came from, but he uses it a lot for attention! :) its pretty funny.

and now, logan has finished his first chapter book, and has uno all ready to play....some quality time with my boys....

Monday, August 30, 2010

Family Pizza Night

this was a fun evening we had last Friday night. i bought individual pizza crusts and everyone got to make their own pizza! the boys were very excited and it turned out to be really fun! we had our pizzas on a picnic in the living room while watching the cosby show...
(logan's laughing at the pile of cheese on tysen's pizza...)

ian's "cheese-free" pizza!

logan was apparently really proud of his! :)

5th Birthday!

the newest kindergartener just turned 5!! he is still overly obsessed with swords and this year asked for a shield too...so he's really excited with his new combo!

we had a knights/prince and princess party...the boys made shields and the girls made necklaces...there was a dragon pinata...and a super creative friend made us a fantastic dragon out of cupcakes!

prince max and prince tysen

king ian working on his shield...

the proudest mom and dad of the sweetest boy...

prince logan with his candy from the dragon pinata...