Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Bi-Lingual Nate

Most of you are familiar with the HILARIOUS things that come out of Nate's mouth. Truly I have met no other child with such a creative and big imagination. Well, apparently Nate can add "Bi-Lingual" to the list of all the things he can do (along with motor cross, baseball, football, basketball, soccer, flying airplanes, etc.).

So we were walking to some friends' house on the other side of 56th. Ryleigh and her friend took scooters, Kobe on his bike, Nick and I each with a dog (oh and I am carrying Nate's scooter as he didn't feel like riding it anymore). So, Nate and I are quite aways back from the rest of the group and we were walking past a house where a guy was grilling outside. Nate says "hi" and waves. The nice guy responds back with a "hello" and wave as well. Nate says to me "Mom, know why I said hi to that man?" I respond with a "No, why". "Because that is being nice." I informed him that, yes, it was very nice of him to say hi. Then he looks at me totally serious and he says "Mom, do you know what hi means?" Now, of course I do....but I am wondering where he is headed with this. So, I amuse him and say no, what does it mean? "Hi is a spanish word and I can talk spanish".

Good to know. I will make sure to let his preschool know next year that he has a head start on his "spanish".

Thursday, April 24, 2008

I wish I had a picture to show you

The kids have been asking for a while to ride their bikes to school. So, I arranged it for Nick to be home in the a.m. to stay home with Nate. Nate and I rode bikes to school last week because Ryleigh forgot her lunch and on his little bike, with his little legs....he did not want to repeat the trip ever again. So, with Nick home this morning and able to be home this afternoon I took Ryleigh and Kobe to school via bike ride.

We also invited the Reeder boys (Adam and Dillon) as well as Ryleigh's best friend, Miranda. So, I felt like a little mama duck this morning with these five little kids off to school.

To ensure safety, I gave them an "order" from oldest to youngest to stay in and I was at the end to make sure we didn't lose anybody. I was sure we would have at least one accident on the way there as Kobe is a huge tailgater on his bike. But, without incident we safely made it to school. It was really so much fun and we beat majority or the buses this morning also, so the kids thought that was really cool to be among the first to get to school today.

Now I am starting to prepare to ride back to bring the 4 remaining (Kobe only goes 1/2 day and I picked him and his bike up at noon) home. Hopefully all will go as smooth as it did this morning.

Everyone get out and enjoy this weather while you can....I hear snow is in the forecast for next week!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Happy Birthday to Nick

It is Nick's birthday today. He is the big 3-1!

The kids are very excited about today being his birthday (not sure why).

I have a great gift in store for him, but since I am afraid he may peak at this blog I can't tell you what it is. Maybe I will update it later to share with you all (truth be told I am equally excited because it is kinda a gift for me as well).

Update! I did give Nick his gift this morning, he and I and a couple friends of our are going to see Kenny Chesney for his Pirates and Poets Tour at the Van Andel on May 21!!! I cannot wait!!!

Friday, April 18, 2008

What Dog Breed Are You?

I stole this from my friend Julie's Blog. But it is kinda fun!

I am actually a German Shepard and it says this;

German Shepherd
The Perfectionist

Doggedly dedicated to getting the job done, you don't let silly little distractions get in the way of putting in a full day's work. And after you come home, chowing down on a little grub and taking a little catnap is all it takes to get you up and at 'em for round two, whatever that may entail. Your dogma emphasizes the importance of hard work, and you swim laps around your dog-paddling, time-wasting co-workers. Your cleverness leads to you often being entrusted with some pretty important tasks, which you are always more than happy to sink your canines into. You really dig being outdoors and love a bit of exercise, but you draw the line at the ridiculous stuff, choosing a game of beach volleyball over Pilates in the park any day.

FAMOUS GERMAN SHEPHERDS:

Teddy Roosevelt, Queen Elizabeth, Humphrey Bogart, Oprah

LIKELY PROFESSIONS:
Professional Athlete, Policeman, Wilderness Guide, Meteorologist

You can take the test too. It only takes a few minutes and see what you kinda dog you are! I can't believe that me and Oprah are the same dog!! (just kidding, I could actually care less. But it's still fun!)
What dog breed are you? I'm a German Shepherd! Find out at Dogster.com

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Final day of Spring Break!

Well, we made it. We made it thru Spring Break! No major disasters (thank goodness). For the most part I think the kids had a good week. Unfortunately we did nothing real exciting. The boys got to spend a night at Grandma's with their cousin Jacob. That went OK....but it was cold and rainy so they couldn't do much. However, they boys got their first exposure to a Nintendo Wii. I am sure it will only be a matter of time before one enters our home too.

Ryleigh and I and some friends went to see Nim's Island. It was very cute. I would not recommend it for kids under 7 (I just don't think they would get the story).

That was pretty much the high lights. We had many play dates with friends and that always makes the kids happy. We also "dog" sat our pastor's dog, Noche. The kids were very excited to have Noche stay with us for a week! Don't get me wrong....Noche is a great dog. She is very sweet and well behaved. However, she is also very much larger than my dogs and convinced me that I will never ever ever have 3 dogs!(I know Nick will be happy to see this in writing!)

Kobe had his first win by "pin" at this weekend's tournament. He has won other matches before, but only by points. He took second (his highest ranking so far) and was up a weight class from the previous weeks. He had been wrestling in the 43lb. weight class, but weighed in at 43.7 lbs. so had to be bumped up to the 46lb. weight class. He was so excited!

Now the craziness of t-ball with wrestling starts this week. Both Ryleigh and Kobe. So, this should be a very CRAZY week of basically double booking practices with piano lessons most nights this week. Nick' sister gave me kinda a rude awakening by telling me that it will all slow down in about 15 years!!!

Well, best of luck to all of you waking your kids up tomorrow to get to school. I've got bags and lunches packed and clothes set out myself, so hopefully we can get back into the swing of things without too many complications tomorrow.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture

I caught majority of this last night on TV. If you didn't get to watch this, go to my friend Stephanie's blog and she has the links to see it online.

This man and his family's story is so amazing and inspiring. I don't think any normal human being can watch this and not be impacted.

Take a look at Stephanie's blog to access the links.

http://izzy-maeseube.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

PEACE & QUIET!

I am not quite sure what to do with myself at the moment. The boys just took off for a night at Grandma's with their cousin, Jacob. Ryleigh slept over at the neighbors house last night and hasn't returned yet. So, I have the house ALL to MYSELF! I am thinking about getting into the shower, but I just can't imagine what a shower without about 10 interruptions of tattling, kids having to go potty (of course in the bathroom that I am showering in...they can't pick one of the other two in the house), asking me some of the most ridiculous questions that really could have waited until I was done, or just wanting to know when exactly I am going to come out (to which I usually reply "when the hot water is gone".) This is such a wonderful peaceful time I just want to relish every second of it.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Nothing Too Exciting

Things have been pretty calm in the Beute household (which is actually a nice change of pace).

Kobe only has two more wrestling tournaments to go. This coming Saturday is in Belding. Then he has a week off and it is off to Regionals. He still loves it. He has gotten two 3rd place and one 4th place so far. He isn't real "aggressive" out there, but that is fine with me. So far, all the boys he has gone up against (with exception of two from his own club he wrestles against) have all cried. Kobe was asking me the other day why some boys cry when they wrestle. He is just so tender hearted that he feels bad wrestling against the boys that cry because he thinks he is hurting them. Bless his heart.

Ryleigh and Kobe both start t-ball. Kobe already had one practice and Ryleigh starts after spring break. Now with t-ball overlapping wrestling for two weeks, our evenings are going to be so crazy! The two are on different teams (which will be interesting when they go against each other).

Then there is poor Nathan. Too young to do any of it. When we go to wrestling practice you can bet that Nate is on the side of the mat participating in warm ups and watching everything very carefully. When we are at home the only shoes he wears outside are his "baseball shoes". These are actually a pair of baseball shoes that were passed down for Kobe to wear....Nate found them first and declared that they are "his". He asks to wear them everywhere....church, store, errands...He even tried to convince me that Julie (my friend who babysits him on Wednesdays) told him he HAD to wear them to her house.

Tomorrow Ryleigh and I are having a "ladies" day. She really wants to see Nims Island. So we have a plan to go do that with her bestfriend and her mom. They boys and their cousin Jacob are going to Grandmas for the day and night.

Youth Group is winding down, which is really nice. I survived the year. Now I have to start planning for next year already!

Nick has been working a ton. He just got done with 2 weeks of nights doing his resets and presently he is in Chicago. He comes home tomorrow. The kids and I are ready for him to be back to his "normal" schedule!

Hope you all have a great rest of your spring break!