Okay, so I realize it's been a while, but honestly, I haven't had much to say. The days are getting cold and have been rainy, so we're kinda stuck inside. The boys seem to be rather crabby, and I think the weather could be a factor. Yesterday we woke up to frost; however, it turned out to be a beautiful day overall. I spent the afternoon and evening sanding some bed frames we bought at an auction, and the boys were able to be outside with me. I'm actually very excited about the furniture. We hope to start Ben in a regular bed after we move. We also got a chest of drawers that I have to work on today. Jon's mom will be helping me with this as it will require some stripping. I'm thankful to have the help (and the tools) here. Hopefully we'll get to painting this afternoon. Since we can't really restain it, we got a dark brown paint that I think will look very nice.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be my last official day of work, though technically the work never ends with kids. I am very excited for this. I will miss my job, because I do really enjoy it, but it's time for me to focus on the boys. We're moving in a little over 2 weeks! So I think organizing the house and taking care of the boys will be its own full-time job.

Finn is full out walking and just loves it. He loves to carry things around and just pace around the house. He does this most often while eating an apple slice. The boys have also been enjoying the Twins games. They each have a hat and love to wear them. Finn has not been one for hats, but he loves having that on. And they both look so cute! I promise, I'll get pictures on soon.

Ben is beginning to quote books at random times. He loves to read books and always says "The end" when it's done. He's actually doing well with numbers. He knows where 5 comes, but 9 seems to be his favorite right now.

Please pray for us as we make final arrangements for moving and prepare for our new home.

Timeout

We've started giving Ben short timeouts because he has a problem pushing, kicking, or hitting Finn and/or wrestling him to the ground to keep Finn away from "Ben's toys." This morning he did it, so I went over to him to get Finn away from him and to talk to him about pushing.

As soon as I knelt down by him, Ben: "Timeout?"

Me: "Do you want a timeout?"

Ben: "No. Don't push baby."

That's All, Folks

Last night as we finished supper, Jon read a passage from the Bible. When he finished, he closed the book and set it down. Ben looked at him and said very matter of factly, "The end, Daddy."

Remember Your Friends

I went out Friday night with my 2 best girlfriends I've had since high school. They live in the area where we are this summer, and we finally all got together. We went out for supper and played cards, but the best part of this was talking. We caught up on each other's lives, which I find is just not done as well by email. There are things you share verbally that you wouldn't write in an email. We talked about our past, some of our high school days, and our futures, as we each have some life-changing things ahead of us. Somehow we always end up laughing to the point of tears.

This short evening together really drove home to me the importance of friends. It's not that I never realized it, but having been away from these gals makes it so much greater to be able to see them. Many people think that when they get married their spouse will fulfill their every relational need. I don't mean to be preachy, but I just want to stress the importance of friends and keeping them close, no matter what happens in your life.

Mr. Independent

Our sweet little 9-month-old is growing up. Though he is a bit clingy lately, he is trying to be very independent. He loves to mess with the keyboard and mouse, and he will take my hand and move it out of the way to get to them. He knows where he's not supposed to be and goes there anyway, like playing with the toilet paper. He has been taking a couple steps at a time in the last week and is well on his way to walking. Now he just needs to learn to go down stairs. Head first is not the answer I'm looking for. My favorite part of this new independence is that Finn does not like to be fed. He has to do it himself (except for cereal in the morning-he must know the routine by now). If I put food in his mouth, he will spit it out and put it back in himself. If it's on a spoon, like applesauce, he just refuses it. He gives a deep blink of refusal and will push the spoon aside with a casual wave of his hand. It's a good thing he's pretty cute and still likes to cuddle once in a while. He's still my baby, after all.

Ben is 2!

Ben turned 2 on Saturday, but since we were leaving Friday for a weekend trip, we celebrated Thursday evening with Jon's parents, grandmas, and grandpa. We had brats and hot dogs and a couple of salads. I attempted my first cake, which I'm not exceptionally proud of but which turned out decent. It is a castle, in case you couldn't tell. Ben especially liked the Dots. My birthday was on Thursday, and Jon gave me the plaque you see in the picture.

Our Mini Vacation

We took the boys on our own mini vacation this past weekend. We headed up to the Twin Cities for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and the state fair. We headed up Friday and met with my mom, brother, and sister that evening to celebrate Ben's birthday and eat some cake and ice cream.

Saturday morning we headed out to the Ren. Festival. They had a great promotion of bringing canned goods and getting $5 off a ticket, so being the good Dutch people we are, we eagerly complied. The day was somewhat cool in the 60s with some sunshine. We figured it was better than searing hot, especially trying to push a double stroller up and down hills. The boys did fairly well, though they got sick of sitting and we ended up only going to 1 show. Plus Ben was crabby because he needed a nap. We ate chili in a bread bowl and a turkey leg for lunch, and we ended our day with a sparkling apple cider float with cinnamon ice cream. Interesting is the word I would use to describe that. We got a couple of souvenirs, including some wooden swords that the boys will receive in the future. When we got back to the hotel, we all napped. We had pizza for supper, and then the boys got to swim with their cousins.

Sunday we headed to the state fair. As we made our way to the ticket window, a lady came up to us and asked if we had bought tickets. We said no, and she handed us a ticket and said, "Here's a free one." What a wonderful gift! We weren't sure if we looked pathetic pushing 2 kids in a stroller or what , but it was a prepaid nonrefundable ticket. So we spent our day pushing through record crowds to look at pigs, cows, sheep, and horses. We looked at tons of stuff for sale and ate great food including but not limited to fries, a Pronto Pup, a rhubarb-strawberry malt, and Sweet Martha's cookes. The boys enjoyed the fries and malt the most, I think, though Ben did quite enjoy the cookies. Finn didn't like the warm chocolate. We headed home Sunday evening. The boys were definitely sick of sitting. We stopped at a McDonald's for the playland, and Ben actually cried when we pulled him out of there. He was just figuring out he could climb up and go down the slide.

We had a good trip, but we definitely packed a lot in for 1 weekend.

We Have A Call

Jon and I are very excited to announce that we have accepted a call to the Christian Reformed Church of Austinville, IA. We are beginning preparations already, though we won't move until the end of October. If you are asking yourself where Austinville is, my advice to you is to Google it.

Please pray for us as we make plans and arrangements for moving. Yay for a house!

Laughing

The other night I was giving the boys a bath. Jon was talking to someone in a nearby room and he was laughing. Ben said, "Daddy laughing? Ha! Ben laughing." Then he kept saying "Ha! Ben laughing."

If someone does something, Ben has to do it, even fake coughing and sneezing. He's such a little mimic now.

Milestones

We hit a couple milestones in the past few days. Ben is quite adept now at opening doors, which I'm not crazy about and certainly haven't encouraged. Time to lock the bathroom door. I was in the shower Saturday morning and I heard some clicking, and suddenly the shower door was opening and I heard a sweet little voice say Mommy?. Thankfully Jon was close and ended that quickly.

Finn decided it was time to start going up steps. I went upstairs at my parents' house Saturday and left the door open. Finn likes to stand at the bottom and pound on the steps. Pretty soon my mom called to me, and I found Finn halfway up the stairs (with grandma close behind). My brave little baby. He has his first 2 teeth on the bottom, and the top 2 are working their way down. He's quite dangerous now between hair pulling and biting, and he comes at you with his mouth open and ready. But he still likes to cuddle and snuggle, so it's hard to turn him away.

A Few Pictures

Ben helping put my desk together

My Little Cleaner

Ben can sometimes be very particular about things, like putting something back in the exact same spot he took it from. He's a pretty clean kid. He usually hands us his dishes when he's done eating. This morning when he got done with breakfast, I put his glass on the counter to wash him up and get him out of his chair. He got down, grabbed the glass, and went to open the dishwasher, where he proceeded to put the glass correctly on the top rack, and then he closed the door. I just hope we continue this cleanliness for many years to come.

Ben is starting to talk in phrases, most of which involve baby: Baby nigh-night, baby bye-bye, baby eat. He is also getting a good handle on possession: Baby bottle, baby bib. Things like that. He's got a few others: Puppy out there, all done with bath, things having to do with outside and being all done. It's so fun to hear what he comes up with. He doesn't always end his phrases. Sometimes he says baby and doesn't have the word to end correctly, but you can tell he's trying to come up with something. It's amazing how fast the language thing picks up once kids start saying words.

Finn is busy pulling himself up on anything he can and keeping up with his brother. He may be walking before he turns 1. He certainly has a ways to go, though. We had a family reunion last weekend, and Finn took down his 9-month-old cousin while using him to stand up.

Jon and I enjoyed a date on Tuesday. We went to the newest Harry Potter movie and out to eat. We enjoyed the short break. And it was all adults in the theater, so no crying babies to distract us. We did enjoy the movie, if you're wondering.

We haven't had any great adventures, but the highlight (for me anyway) is to watch the boys play and develop their skills. They enjoy being outside in their swings or watching Daddy hit golf balls. We just got a double stroller last week, so we'll have to take a few more walks. Come to think of it, I guess raising kids is a great adventure.

After rescheduling due to a large rug burn scab on Ben's nose, we took the boys for pictures last Thursday. They did very well and I think they had fun. Ben didn't want to give up his stool, but that was about the only obstacle. Finn started wrinkling his nose a couple weeks ago, so that was on most of the pictures with his smile. We have a couple of good-looking kids, if I do say so myself.

Living On The Outside

We are settling in here in Minnesota. I think Ben has found his happy place. He loves being outside. He got to ride on the mower with Daddy and on the tractor with Grandpa. He gets to water flowers and pick stuff from the garden. He cries when someone goes out without him. He has seen a lot of all of his grandparents in the last couple weeks and now calls them Pa and Ma. At least he's got a name for them. He is picking up lots of words.

Finn's legs are getting stronger. He has the beginnings of crawling and is standing against things, trying to pull himself up, and I'm afraid he'll be walking quite soon. The boys are having more fun together, though Ben is somewhat less likely to share certain things than he used to be.

That's all I have for now. I'll try to post more regularly for some of you:)