Tulip Time 2010

The first week in May is always such a fun time in Holland. Tulip Time is held annually the first week in May. It is a beautiful time of the year, with thousands of tulips in bloom Holland is alive with springtime!! Not only do we have thousands of tulips but also hundreds of Dutch Dancers dressed in Dutch costumes and wooden shoes, three parades, and many community activities.
This year we were blessed to have wonderful spring weather the beginning of the week. We ventured downtown twice with the boys for junk food from the food booths and Dutch Dance. Tuesday we went with Tom and Sharon, Thursday we went with our good friends Hossinks and Borgmans. One of the best things about going downtown during Tulip Time, not just the food, is the sense of community. It is always amazing to me to see people that we have not seen since last Tulip Time.
Here are some pictures of our cutie little Dutch boys in their Dutch Costumes.

Easter

We were blessed to have an awesome Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord! We began our Easter celebration with going to church on Saturday night.
We woke Sunday moring to a lovely, but cool morning. Perfect for Simon's first ever Easter egg hunt in our yard. Chris did a great job of hiding the eggs so that Simon had to hunt for them, but not too hard to find that he got frustrated. It was a blast!! I'm not sure who had more fun Simon or us.




Later that we were able to have a wonderful Easter dinner with Chris family. It was a great time of being together with loved ones.

Spring Break

Spring Break was at the beginning of April and unlike many years the weather for the beginning of the week was fantastic! Now that I am not teaching anymore school vacations are when I get a chance to catch up with my teacher friends. One of the really fun things we did was plan a trip to John Ball Park Zoo with a couple of my friends and their kids. We went with my friend Tammi, who is a second grade teacher, and her two girls (Summer and Aubrey). Simon has a major crush on the girls (he says they have beautiful hair). Too cute! The other friend we went with was Tonya and her kids Kassidy and Porter. Porter and Simon are good buds!
We had such a great time. The weather was sunny and warm. The animals were very active and all out. Simon had a blast seeing all the different animals! After a few hours in the zoo we wrapped up our visit with a picnic. It was such an awesome day! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends- both big and little!



Aubrey and Simom having a little pow wow.


Aubrey and Simon. We think this could be a little love match. We are considering an arranged marriage :)


Simon and a bear. Notice the bear checking Simon out.


Simon petting a goat. He kept saying "Hi, Goatie"

Luke - 9 and 10 months

Here is a long overdue update on our little Lukie! He is almost 11 months old (May 3 he turns 11 months). It is amazing to me to think how fast times flies!
Luke continues to be a very happy baby! He is also VERY busy! He crawls all over the place and pulls himself up on everything. He is also walking along furniture and he walks very well behind a little toy "walker". I think he may be walking before 1 year. EEEK! He also does "So big", pattycake, peek-a-boo, and most recently if you ask him he has a bad cough he does the cutest little fake cough. Such a ham!
Luke absolutely loves being outside and crawling around in the backyard. Thank God it is fenced in or I would be chasing him all over the place! He just discovered the sandbox last week, needless to say there has been much sand eaten!
Luke is the exact opposite of Simon when it comes to eating and sleeping. Luke is a great eater and a terrible sleeper. Simon on the other hand is a terrible eater and a great sleeper. Go figure!
We continue to be so thankful for Luke! He is such a blessing and a joy!

Wow! Time sure flies!

Please forgive me for being a total blog slacker! It is amazing how quickly time flies. Here we are in the middle of March and I have not updated my blog since January. Life was pretty uneventful for the months of January and February. We have all been blessed with good health. We had a couple of bouts of colds and Luke did have pneumonia and an ear infection a few weeks ago. Thankful he has recovered from that with no complications.
The boys continue to grow like weeds! Simon is a very busy 2 1/2 year old. I am continually astounded by how much his vocabulary has blossomed this past 2 months. He is quite the chatterbox! Simon is officially signed up for "3" school. He will be attending First Presbyterian in the fall. Needless to say we are beginning the process of potty training in our house!
Luke is 9 months and is crawling all over the place! He also pulls himself up on everything, thankfully he is not furniture cruising yet. I am not in a hurry to rush the walking thing! Luke is doing "so big", Patty cake, and he gives fives. He also is very generous at giving big open mouth kisses. They are the best!
Life in the Arendshorst home continues to be an adventure and we are so very blessed to have such wonderful children. We are looking forward to the promise of beautiful spring weather and many more adventures!

Playing in the Snow!

Last weekend we got several inches of snow after a rainy Christmas Day. We decided to bundle up the boys in their winter gear to head outside for a chance to try out some of their Christmas gifts. Luke got an entire snowsuit from my parents and Simon got a snow shovel to help Daddy shovel. Both boys got sleds from Chris and I. Needless to say bundling up to two little boys to head outside is easier said than done. It took me about 15 minutes to get both of them and myself ready to head outside. Poor Luke did not(or could not) move at all in his gear. He was like Randy in the movie "A Christmas Story". He could not put his arms down! He was super cute! Here are some pictures of our adventure.