From Windmills to Cotton Fields

Monday, February 7, 2011

M is for Mischief

As you all know, our children are always perfectly behaved.

They would never color on anything other than paper.

Nor would they ever make a mess without cleaning it up.

I can trust them wholeheartedly to always make the best decisions.

And if they would ever perhaps do something that I normally would never allow,

I would never grab my camera and join in on the fun!

So last night when I told Max to get in the shower while I finished cleaning the kitchen,

I was quite confused when I started hearing shrieks of laughter from not one, but two suspects.

You see, I had left Lucas in the living room to play while I was cleaning,

with the intention of putting him in the shower when I could keep an eye on him.

Upon close inspection of the source of all this ruckus, we found this:

Apparently Mr. Lucas inherited my "I-want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it" gene!

This innocent yet mischievous face just couldn't wait to hop in the tub!

Double trouble!

Max was very proud to show me there was no dirt in his "pit." Please don't ask me where he learned the word "pit" to begin with...!

Max also insists that he absolutely-positively cannot hear me tell him to get out of the bath by dunking his head underwater.

Alas, he could hear Lucas screaming in his face!

I always say that I'm going to have my hands full with these two, but I think I already do!

Our beautiful babe

He's proudly sporting 6 teeth these days

He could have better asked Santa for his two front teeth! He's our little Count Dracula :)

Sigh... Having kids sure has made me look at the bright side of life more often. Instead of getting upset that I had a fully-clothed child in bath, I now have great pics to remember a fun evening, and now that I think of it... I have one less outfit to wash! ;)

Monday, January 31, 2011

Excuses & Celebrations!

Due to the high volumes of complaints I've received lately, I've decided to write another post before the witch hunters find me! Just kidding, I haven't received any hate mail for my slacking (yet!) but I'm sure there are some of you that would like an update! Just checking... is there anyone that still actually reads this blog?!

Anyway, I'm not really sure where to begin since it has been two whole weeks so I guess I will start with ~~excuses~~ reasons why it's been so long.

Rob and I both started work/ school at the beginning of January and our lives have been turned upside down ever since. The first couple of weeks Rob was flying nights were extremely chaotic. I would get up around 6.45am with the kids, take them to school, go to school myself, pick the kids up, and come home to an empty house that Rob had left 1/2 hour earlier. Since Rob didn't come home until 12-1am we literally spent 45 (conscious) minutes together for a whole week!

Thankfully all of his hard work paid off and on January 20th my baby became an instructor pilot! We are all very proud of him, his accomplishments, and the sacrifices that he has made to make this position in America possible!

Speaking of accomplishments, I'm not doing so bad myself in school. So far I haven't earned anything less than an "A" on my exams/ papers/ & speeches. My goal is to graduate next year with honors, so fingers crossed that the start of this semester is a good sign! Really I only want to wear a medal and a gold sash at my graduation, but I've heard graduating with honors is impressive too ;)

The boys are also doing well. Max is excelling in writing and language at the moment, his math is pretty good too! He really enjoys school and we are so thankful that we enrolled him at WCA!

Lucas isn't walking yet, but he can stand unassisted since this weekend so it's getting close! He can now say "baba" (bye-bye) while waving, and he says "bawl" (ball) when he is playing with one. I can't believe this time last year I was holding a tiny baby and my other baby was only speaking Dutch... amazing how our boys have grown in the past year!

I'm sure you all are just wishing I would stop running my mouth and show you pictures! And since I spent 8 hours of my Sunday writing, I will gladly show you pictures now!

Saturday the 22nd we celebrated Rob's 32nd Birthday!

Max wrote his and Lucas's name on Papa's card

Papa was so proud of Max's writing!

Hooray! A waffle maker! Exactly what ~~Mommy~~ Papa had been wanting!

There is nothing better than a hug from Papa Bear!

Naturally Rob was served a birthday waffle for his breakfast!

(He kept giving me cheesy faces, so publicly humiliating him for his silliness is his punishment! ha!)

Max helped blow out the candle!

Although Rob thoroughly enjoyed his waffle maker, the surprises didn't stop there. MiMi and Opa decided to surprise both of us with a night at the Hilton in Destin, FL!

Did I mention they included a weekend of babysitting with their gift? We enjoyed an amazing weekend with amazing weather together! It was a much needed break from the chaos!

Thank you guys for such a creative and wonderful gift! Now I'm really looking forward to my birthday! hahaha! (Yes, this is more embarrassment for my silly husband. Maybe next time he will smile normally for the camera! )

Monday, January 17, 2011

Rub-a-Dub Max

Rub-a-dub dub

Max is in the tub!

Splish Splash

He's taking a bath!

Long on a Sunday night

Rub-a-Dub-Dub he was relaxin' in the tub

He was a movin' and a groovin' Splishin' and a Splashin'

And pretending to be Abe Lincoln!

Ok, so that didn't rhyme, and he doesn't even know who Abe Lincoln is, but that's who he reminds me of in this picture! I hope you all have a great week!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday (again!), and Happy New Year!

Hallelujah! We survived the most hectic month of the year! 2010 was a great year, but I am very thankful that December is over! 2011 has gotten off to a busy start and the Geenens are back in full swing!

We had a wonderful holiday season filled with Dutch, American, and new traditions that we would love to share with you all!

Our Christmas breakfast consisted of worstenbroodjes (the left lower corner). These are sausages made out of ground beef & rolled in homemade dough. We also had bolussen (top left) which are comparable to cinnamon rolls, and puddingbroodjes (right) which are dessert-like breads filled with homemade pudding! YUM! And a special thanks goes out to my husband who has turned into quite the baker around here!

The kids at the table on Christmas morning

After breakfast it was finally time to open gifts!

Oma & Opa from Holland got him this awesome 5-way giant toy. The boys love playing together with it! Thanks Oma & Opa!

Max wasn't the only one that had fun opening presents! Lucas wanted in on the paper-shredding action too!

And big brother was always happy to lend Lucas a helping hand!

Max's favorite gift was a Lego train station for his train

And my sweet hubby was happy with his 5 in 1 warm beverage maker!

My favorite present was by far my Uggs! Excuse the fact that I am pale as a ghost here, I was a bit sick on Christmas!

Hooray! We got Benco from Holland! (Bedankt!!)

Unfortunately Mommy wasn't the only one sick on Christmas Day. During our trip to North Carolina we noticed that Lucas began getting chapped lips, we kept putting chap-stick on him and didn't think much of it. On Christmas day he had developed several blisters around and in his mouth; he was so miserable. After a call to the doctor we ended up in the Emergency Room (the only place open on Christmas) only to find out that his lips weren't chapped, but that he had a very contagious virus called stomatitis. With the help of some medicine he was back to his sweet self within a couple of days!

Most families enjoy a whole week of rest after Christmas, but not us! On Monday the 27th we took down the Christmas decorations & put up the birthday decorations again because our Max was turning 4! Not many of Max's friends could come to his party because several people were on vacation, but we made do and had a great time!