My Baby

Strawberry Jam

I decided to make strawberry jam this summer. I had never done it before, but we all love homemade jam. I bought a bunch of pectin at Save-a-lot and made 9 large containers of jam.
Unfortunately, I was trying to make freezer jam but followed the directions for canned jam. So my jam didn't jell up as well as it should have, but it still tastes good. Here are a couple of pics. I was going to take more but got too involved in the process. Chris helped me pick and nip all the berries which was a big help.

Noah's VanDen Toorn Birthday Party

These are a little late, but here are some pics from Noah's 2nd first birthday party (if that makes sense!)

Noah opening gifts.

Andrew "helping!"

Noah with his new fire truck from Uncle Nate and Aunt Shell.

Noah's new ball from Uncle Bill and Aunt Laurie, which is bigger than his head!

The food spread.

The "kids" table.

Grandpa and Grandma

The brothers.

Eating cake, or more likely, dropping it on the ground.

Noah's 1st Birthday Party~Engelsma version

April 11, 2008 was Noah's first birthday. We had a party with the Engelsma family on the 10th, and hope to have the VanDen Toorn version Sat evening (Aunt Marlene, you should come up!). I forgot to take a picture of the food, but we had a delicious assortment of viands, including cheesy crescent bites (from Grandma E), finger jello (from Aunt Cindy), cheese and crackers (from Aunt Aimee), artichoke dip, meatballs, veggie pizza, fruit, bean dip, and cupcakes (from Mommy). Noah didn't really care for the food, but I think everyone else enjoyed it.

Hmm...what could this be?



Caleb and big brother Andrew helping out. Mommy and Daddy gave Noah a bike helmet to wear in the bike trailer this summer.

Andrew was very interested in the proceedings. I don't know if he quite realized it was Noah's birthday, and not his.

Aunt Aimee and Uncle Eric gave Noah a soccer ball. Noah loves balls! Currently his pack and play contains a soccer ball, a basket ball, a small nerf ball, and a couple of balloons. He is happy as a clam (for a limited time!) playing in his own personal ball pit.

Of course, we had to let him eat a cupcake. Chris took a video of it with the candle in while we sang happy birthday. He narrowly missed burning his hand when he tried grab the flame. I will try upload the video, but Chris hasn't been able to get it to work yet. There is also a hilarious clip of Cady and Andrew fighting over a toy. Priceless. Definite wedding video material (in the very far future!).

Noah and Grandma. Noah wasn't interested in eating any cake, just smearing it all over the place.

Alana enjoying her cupcake.


Karsten. And yes, he always looks like he's up to something!


Adrienne post-cupcake.


Cadence Beth


Andrew. He had a leftover one for lunch today, which Chris smashed in his face. He thought it was great fun to lick the crumbs off the table.


Our precious baby boy. Hard to believe he is already one year old. We remember so clearly being in the hospital with him just one year ago. It is amazing to see how he has grown and changed in the last year.

Noah and Andrew~recent pics

Chris had spring break this week so he has been spending some time with his boys. Not sure if any of them were really happy to have their picture taken...


We moved Andrew's bike outdoors finally. He is still getting the hang of it...ok, he really has no clue how to do it, but he sure loves his Thomas bike.

Here is Andrew, the patriot. Chris set up this photo op.



Since Noah started crawling, he has started getting into things. His favorite thing to do is get in the tupperware cupboard.

He had a little help with this one!


Another of Noah's favorite things to do is take a bath. He loves to splash and doesn't care if Andrew dumps water over his head. Here is a before picture...

...and here is an after picture! I couldn't resist. Too cute!


Here's Noah screaming for his food ( he likes to eat!)...


..and here he is after he has eaten!

All that activity wore him out.


And, finally a couple pictures of my boys together. It will be fun to see them when they are able to play together. They are very interested in each other. Andrew always asks for Noah when he gets up in the morning and Noah's face lights up when Andrew walks into the room.


They both like their pacifiers!

Best buds!

Noah

Noah is crawling!
Video/pictures coming soon.

Only took him 11 1/2 months. :-)

Andrew's New Thomas Bike

Andrew needed a bike for this summer so when Meijer had a sale a couple weeks ago, we went to pick one out. Of course, when he saw the Thomas the Tank Engine bike, he immediately wanted that one. Not only does he have a Thomas bike, he has a Thomas sweatshirt, underwear, books, railroad, game, and stickers. I think we'll try steer him towards more varied interests!


Daddy put the bike together without any directions!

Andrew on his new bike.

Sesame Chicken

I have been craving Chinese food constantly lately. Last night Chris stayed in Kzoo to attend a dinner for school, so my sister Michelle came over and we made Sesame Chicken for dinner. I found two recipes I liked so I used this recipe to bread the chicken and fry it and the sauce portion from the second recipe. I highly recommend using the crushed red pepper. It made the chicken a little spicier than I have ever had in a restaurant. In fact, Michelle declared it better than a restaurant! Here's a picture of the final product (yes, that's grape juice!). It didn't last long!

Photo Shoot

Yesterday my sister-in-law Alice babysat the boys and took some beautiful pictures!

What a Man

I have been sick for the last five days, and even though I have been cranky and irritable, Chris has done a wonderful job keeping the kids under control when he is home. Saturday and Sunday they were completely in his care. Now, he is staying overnight in Kzoo tonight because of parent/teacher conferences, so I have the kids all to myself until tomorrow evening. I now realize how wonderful it is to have two parents in the house and am grateful for all Chris does to lighten my load. Now, my challenge is to get the house put back together before he gets home tomorrow!