My new obsession…

For Christmas I asked Micah for a cheap kit that would get me everything I needed to start learning to crochet. He listened & got me exactly what I wanted! Since then I’ve been spending every “free” moment working on projects. I’m certainly not professional by any means but here’s what I’ve managed to make so far:

A Swiffer Sweeper reusable cleaning cover - I found this on pinterest & had to try it - this is a picture of my very first attempt, I ended up making one for my mom too & then a modified one for my sister’s Swiffer wet-jet too!

A baby blanket for the new baby - I even added flowers for her to play with when having her tummy time :)

An ear warmer headband for myself - it had 2 layers I had to sew together which was a learning experience

I started with a hat for this baby girl & made one for a friend for a shower gift too:

A gal at church had a baby boy so I made him one for the shower present too:

Then I attempted booties, I wasn’t too fond of this pattern but they will work for when baby is first born

Alexa thought I should make her a hat like baby girl’s too, only on hers I switched the colors around & added another stripe. :)


Then I found a cute headband pattern so I made Alexa one & she had me make baby girl a matching one
(sorry for the poor lighting on these pics)

Then I finally splurged and bought a pattern online & made this “rain boot style” bootie for baby girl - Alexa is begging for me to make her the same ones but I’m not sure if I can modify the pattern to fit her so we’ll see!

Next up I have to make Logan a “monkey” hat as he calls it & then I might attempt the boots for Alexa & Logan (they both keep begging) & then I hope to make another receiving blanket for baby girl before she arrives as well. We’ll see though! :) Most projects are easy & take only a few hours but the blanket I did in all half double crochets so it took longer than if I’d done a bigger (longer) stitch :)

So, if I seem a little recluse lately, I’m probably just sitting at home crocheting - Micah refers to me as his little old lady wife because even if we have people over I sit there crocheting while they talk or watch TV or what not :)

I guess its official…We’ve become minivan people…

So we’ve been on the hunt for well over a year now to find the perfect van. Perfect not literally but one that meets all our needs and has the features we wanted with the right price tag for Micah and the low mileage I wanted…

We’ve looked at countless sites online (Ebay, Craigslist, Swap, Dealerships, etc) and even gone to view and test drive several different kinds and options. Last summer we thought we’d agreed on a good option but Micah didn’t want to pay what they were asking and it sold to someone else. Micah promised he’d find one with all the options, plus dependability and low mileage for the price he wanted to pay. I found one I liked but Micah didn’t want to trade in our Equinox to get it so we passed on that option too.

Then he found one on Craigslist. I was not a fan. It had NOT been cared for on the inside and was cloth instead of leather (which when not being well-maintained makes a BIG difference.) After going and looking at it we both said that no, considering its condition, it wasn’t worth the price. About a week later Micah noticed the price had been lowered again. He insisted we go check it out again, just to see it once more & test drive it. So we did. We ended up taking it home that night and showed it to a friend who regularly repairs and restores vehicles so we could get his opinion on the cost to bring it to a condition that would make me happy. Apparently Micah liked what he heard because the next morning he offered the guy what he thought was a fair price & we’d bought the van!

Originally the plan was to pay people to clean the interior and pay someone to repair the 2 dents in the exterior as well as replace the windshield. However, that wouldn’t be the Micah way to do things. So we spent the rest of the day disassembling it so that we could give it a hard-core cleaning - we went as far as taking all the seats out and then the carpet itself out so we could clean it with an industrial carpet and upholstery cleaner. Micah repaired the DVD player, the rear blower system, the back windshield wiper motor, the rear back-up sensor, and numerous other small things. Then we reassembled the whole thing. He spent some more time repairing the dents in the exterior and getting it back in normal working condition. All that’s left is replacing the windshield.

Its certainly not the van of my dreams or anything close but it suits our needs and was definitely a dependable vehicle for the right price! Here’s a few “before” pictures just to show what we are up against:

Life as we know it…

Here’s a few pictures of what the kids have been up to…pretty much their typical silly stuff!

Logan always thinks he has to wear Alexa’s necklaces & other jewelry


Can you tell who dressed herself? She’s been on a warm clothes kick…to her the sun shining means its warm!


”Take smiles of me Mom”
I hear this any time the camera is out…despite his ability to sit still until the camera actually takes the picture!

Then of course baby #3 is also continuing to grow -- here’s a picture from about 28 weeks:

Playing catch up again ~ Christmas 2012

Here’s a slight recap of our December & Christmas activities:

First up, Christmas Eve with the Schouten Family:


Papa reading to Alexa and Sophia               Emma and Logan playing together

Micah & Bobbie in their matching attire

Logan’s turn to open his first gift - a devotional book set

Alexa’s turn to open her 1st gift - a new devotional for girls

Time for Alexa’s 2nd gift - new pajamas! :)

Logan’s 2nd gift - new pajama’s too!

(notice Alexa sticking nearby and always ready to help?)

Time to try and get a cousins picture in their PJs from Oma & Papa… (missing Koen of course)

And now one with their Aunties who also got PJs this year:

Sophie and Logan hanging out in their new PJs


We of course missed Coby, Kris, & Koen and Sean & Kiley!
Sean & Kiley made & sent this puzzle for the family to put together:

In case you didn’t notice, they even made sure to include my baby bump!

Our family celebration time, the morning of Christmas Day (before church)

Alexa in front of the tree (Excuse her bed-head)

Logan opening his present:


Alexa, of course, thought she had to help him play with it


Alexa’s turn!


Daddy’s turn! Alexa picked out a gift from herself & Logan which they gave to Daddy first:

Then they helped him open his gift from Mommy:


Then we had Christmas with the Fennema family at my sister, Sarah’s house
(yes, technically our 2nd time but this is our Christmas tradition & this time Jon & Joel were able to be out so we were only missing Scott & Anne and their family)

Logan had both Kinzie and Faith helping him open his flashlight, tractor, and cars book


Then Alexa got to open her present - a learning pad and penguin colors

All in all we had a wonderful holidays spending time with family and friends!