6

maxwell alan meiste is now a 6 year old big boy.


what a momentous occassion, for 6 years ago, he made me a mama.  i am so incredibley thankful for the precious gift of my eldest son.  it is my absolute privelege to be his mom, and i pray daily that i am doing a worthy job to equip him and glorify the giver of this perfect give.



last night we had the final birthday celebration for maxer.  i adore birthday parties for my adorables.  not because i give amazingly themed parties, or because i am a hostest with the mostest.  quite the contrary.  last night we had jets pizza.  though i did serve some really beautiful rainbow jello and these delish lofthouse sugar cookie bars. 

the reason i love birthday parties so much is the opportunity to be sorrounded by peeps that cherish him alongside of me.  the chance to gift max with good things we think he will enjoy.  to concentrate our love and thanksgiving for my son, to take an evening to honor him and appreciate him collectively. 

for maxwell alan, you are loved, son.  you thoughtfulness abounds.  yesterday, you used your blue tickets (earned each day for good behaviour at school) to purchase a crazy straw for weston.  you love your little sibs, and i love watching you interact with them.  you are a hard worker, at school and at home whether doing projects or outdoors work.  you are appreciative.  this thanksgiving you told us you were the most thankful for a daddy that works so hard with the chickens so we can live in our house and do fun things.  (bear was most thankful for monster trucks, and ayla jo was most thankful for ponies).  you still look forward to nest nights on saturday and are the only faithful participant for the entire night.  you are a very good friend, as is evidenced by the stories and vast number of kindergarteners that say goodbye and hello each day at school.  on your birthday, dakota's mom sent me a text of dakota holding a sign wishing you a happy birthday.  i cannot believe you are receiving texts already...

and max, the thing i am most proud of, you love jesus.  you always tell me our little saying in the mornings, mommy loves you and jesus is in your heart. as christmas approaches, you are committed to remembering that we are celebrating jesus' birthday, not just presents.  i pray that you and jesus continue to build a real and strong relationship together.  i pray thatdaddy and  i offer you an example of what it looks like to live for god's glory.  i pray that we make jesus' happy with the way we raise you.  i praise the lord for you my son.

thank you jesus for this sweet boy.  you have given us much in this adorable boy, may we love and raise him with your love.

brave

this morning as i rolled into sandy view with minutes to spare before the bell rang, i parked the new van glancing anxiously at the new alert on the dashboard when maxer rocked my world with these words

i think i am just going to walk in by myself.

what?!

yeah, you can tell me you love me and jesus is in my heart in the van.

what?!

yeah mom, i am brave

o, yes you are you 6 year old!!

also brave is bear bear.
he poops in the dark.  complete blackness in the bathroom, but there he is pooping.  and he poops naked.  so i just walked by the bathroom to put some shoes in ayla jo's room to find a naked son pooping in the dark. 
my world is exciting for sure.

baby blue is a little different than her brothers.  cupcake is super frightened of certain parts in movies the boys never were fazed.  she also is scared to step over the threshold of the elevator, pointing to the crack and screaming monsters.  darling gets frightful at night sometimes calling out and telling me scary monsters.  aw, i am happy to rescue the little prinpress.

election day

what a privelege it is to live in a country that gives its citizens the power to choose our leader.  this morning, as the adorables were up way before the sun and we had some extra time before school started, i attmepted to teach the babes about the land of the free and the home of the brave.

that was an enormous undertaking for the four of us, but i think we made some notable progress: everyone wore red, white and blue in some form.  max requested green and white for the spartans flag.  i took that opportunity to launch into a lecture about old glory at which point max told me he changed seats at school and now he sits by matthew.  and matthew puked at school yesterday.  dont worry, he plugged his nose...

so, i gracefully guided the children into a little lesson about voting.  maxwell, ever full of information told me that mrs. pitcher has a boat.  at this point i gave up and just had the darlings repeat after me the bible verse for the week. 

"every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that jesus christ is lord"

whenever i paused after jesus christ is... bear says IN.  and i say, in? like in what?  my heart shouts weston.  okay, that is also an acceptabe answer ;) love that bear bear

then we prayed all together, for our naiton- that we strive to be a nation demonstrative that our true leader is the lord.  my fearful heart takes comfort in knowing that even if people succeed in taking god's name out of every legality, he will not be moved. 
we prayed for the citizens, that they will exercise this right to vote and do so with the responsibility such a task warrants.
we prayed for the leaders of the country, that they will use their power for god's glory.

at this point, bear said he thought we should just sing god our father next time as this prayer was quite lengthy.

with this sort of inspirational beginning to the day, i knew big things were in store for the meiste's.

next on the list of amazing happenings, we took the new veen.  the ride was beautiful and smooth, the seats were toasty warm, and there was dvd magic.  then somehow the dvd got stuck inside the player...  not sure where to go from here.  we took the old veen to pick max up from school. still just more comfortable breaking that one.

onto the polls.  i was number 193, which is remarkable considering the polls had only been open for 2 hours.  bear bear and ayla jo were very well behaved playing the racecar game on my phone sitting on the floor near my chair.  and the best part, on the way out, we literally almost ran into val.  the kids were racing down the ramp and she was awaiting us at the bottom.  aw, loved that.

when maxer came home from school, we looked through some of his papers and came across an article about the election.  he proudly told me he chose mitt romney.  when i asked why, max told me it was because mitt looked like mr john (john zoet, brads boss).  wise boy.

in the world of baby blue, she voted to wear jammies all afternoon.

whatever makes you happy cupcake!  she also went from noon till almost 3 without a diaper, including a nap.  but she woke up saying she leaked, so i cheered and told her she was peeing and yeah, lets go on the potty!  she shrieked and kicked and requested a diaper.  diapers it is.

go america!

october 30

october 30th was a good day.  i took the adorables to aldi after dropping off maxer at school.  after the groceries were unpacked and lunch was served, bear bear and i did a spooky skeleton project involving construction paper and noodles.  then i made some chicken noodle casserole, fruit pizza and peanut butter brownies for the fam.  brad worked rather late in the pig coop fixing a heater, but was able to join us for the delicious dinner.  as the night was gray and chilly, we spent the latter portion of the evening telling scary stories in the fort the boys made behind the couch.  (brad started it off with a story about a camel named max, a donkey named weston and a beautiful princess named ayla.  then the boys told stories that strarted the same way.  not so scary as they were adorable)

once the babes were all tucked for the night, brad and i picked up a bit and then enjoyed the warmth of the down comforter we brought down from the storage room upstairs.

october 30th held beauty and peace and contentment.  

only because of another october 30th eight years ago.  that day i went to class, wrote some papers, spent some time on looking my best, and met the man who forever changed my life.

october 30th marked eight years since brad and i's blind date.  i was living with the schoonvelds at the time and they persuaded me to join them and their friends for dinner at tgi fridays to meet their friend's brother.  i felt a bit obligated as i was living with them free of charge, but i respected their opinion so i agreed. 

when 7 rolled in i opened their front door to reveal a dashingly handsome farmer with a big and loud red truck.  not knowing how to respond, i gave brad a tour of the schoonveld's home and started talking about anything and everything.  i remember complimenting brad on his truck, and telling him his beard worked for him.  o embarassing.  the night was super fun and culminated in me asking brad if he would call if i gave him my number.  poor man did not have a chance to say practically anything as is evidenced by the fact that i offered my number before he could ask. 

for all the awkwardness of that night, there was some profound goodness.  after knowing of each other for only 5 months, brad proposed.  3 months later we were wed. 

and throughout my day,
as i repeatedly set up the princess bowling set for my son and daughter to knock down,
as i attempted the first french braid in ayla jo's hair,
as i picked up my grinning kindergartener from school,
as i stopped in at my soon to be neighbor's house,
as i cleaned up our dinner dishes,
i sent silent prayers of thanksgiving for the blind date that brought me here.

and as i fell asleep, i had the same feelings of blissful anticipation as i did october 30th 8 years ago. 

thank you brad for making my life so exciting and loving and awesome.
thank you jesus, for uniting us for always.

conferences

this week was full of parent teacher conferences.  the opportunity to speak with both max's teacher and bear bear's teacher were much anticipated for me.  so much happens outside of my little world with the adorables.  for max, school is his main stay for his days, he spends most of his time there during the week.  i know and love our time spent together, but those hours at school remain a mystery despite my most insightful and persistent detective work.

brad and i began the conferences tour on monday evening with a 5:20 date with mrs. pitcher.  i was seriously excited.  probs no less than four moms have come up to me since school began telling me that their son/daughter talks exclusively about maxer.  with good stories.  max always has a smile when i pick him up from school and does give me a detail or two from his days.  so i had a great feeling that mrs. pitcher would only have goodness to share about my big boy.

bopa came to watch the adorables and brad and i arrived right on time to be whisked into the world of kindergarten.  amidst the tiny tables and mini chairs, mrs. pitcher unfolded the "i'm not lion, max's been tryin" book housing the efforts of our boy.  as we hungrily looked through paper after paper, we discovered max is doing great academically.  but even more awesome is that he is doing superb behaviourally.  mrs pitcher stated he is loving and respectful to everyone.  hooray max!  recently, mrs pitcher started rewarding the kids with a blue ticket for every day they did not need to move their clip (her classroom management technique).  max has earned a ticket every day and already got to choose a prize for saving up 5 ticks. 

my other fave part was looking at some of the artwork.  when asked to draw a person, maxer did.  he drew brad, as is evidenced by the fact that the man had side hair around his head but not on top.  precious.

our time with mrs. pitcher ended much to soon.  brad voiced his opinion that perhaps i mentioned the fact that i was a kindergarten teacher for my student teaching much to frequently.  that might be true.  things get a little wild when i am excited or anxious and talking.

we returned home beyond proud and poured on the praise to max.  he responded, "wow, i did not know how happy you guys were gonna be!"  love that little man

then, on thursday morning, bradley and i got to attend bear bear's conferences.  i was as apprehensive about this meeting as i was confident in maxwell's.  weston is every bit as amazing as his big bro.  his behaviour just varries drastically from max's, which is quite cool to witness when it does not manifest itself in hysterics because he does not want to wear pants to school, only shorts, in the 38 degree weather. 

i think brad had similar concerns about bear bear's school experiences so he was able to arrange his work schedule so he could accompany me in a chat with miss brittany.  turns out, our trepidation was unneccessary.  wes is doing awesome in school, both academically and with his action and attitudes.  miss brittany told us wes is eager to answer questions, plays with several different groups of children, and listens to directions the first time.  brad literally asked if she was sure this is weston meiste. 


congrats wes!  we were equally proud of this little pumpkin.  as a reward, max got a darling (in a manly, farmer way) john deere camo jacket and weston got a spiderman halloween costume.  even though those were both things i would have purchased anyway out of necessity, it was perfect to gift the boys' something special for their hard work at school.

we spend thursday afternoon celebrating at tunnel park basking in the suns warm glow, working on some excavating, sand sledding, and enjoying one another's company. 


so blessed are we!

parting is such sweet sorrow

our veen has been a very faithful friend.

some (including me) would say it has been a miraculous vehicle.  for 221,729 miles, that veen has delivered us safely to and fro. 

since the weather has turned cooler, i have noticed something happening in the veen.  cold.  cold was happening. and not warmth.  the heat, alas, works in spurts.  the veen has been struggling through some odd temperature issues, like the engine temp gauge goes from cool to hot coolant temp warnings in a flash.  especially in idle.  whenever we are stopped the engine temp ratchets up while the temp inside the veen stays cold.  however, when the veen is in motion, the heat seems to work.  mostly.

so maybe there have been several days in which the kids and i huddle in the back seats after we drop off maxer and are waiting to bring bear bear inside preschool.  maybe we have even waited in the bathroom for some minutes because it got real cold in the veen.  maybe the hot coolant temp alarm/warning light has been on every time i bring max into school and leave the veen run in the parking lot.

i just kinda feel like i betrayed my friend.  because the veen was a real giver in our relationship.  i sorta trashed the inside by not maintaining a clean and organized interior, but still the veen got us like all our groceries.  i may have let the veen run right out of gas on the side of blue star highway, but still the veen brought us to every playdate we required of it.  this relationship between me and the veen has been super one sided and now i am a bit guilty that at the first sign of real trouble, we bought a replacement.

despite the veens real efforts to keep us warm, you just really need heat for more than a comfy ride. you need heat to keep the ice off your windshield and stop the fog from invading your field of vision whilst wheeling.  and the heater core is a super duper expensive thing to fix.  like probs half the value or all the value of the veen right now.  so it seemed like we really did not have a choice.

and then, my superhero hubs went and found a screaming deal on craigslist which we just had to act on.  the new addition to our fleet is really nice and clean and well equipped and has a sun roof and i admit, i am a bit enamoured with the tannish dream machine.  but still, my heart is a trifle broken at saying farewell to the veen. 

i used to have this prob when buying clothes.  i would not wear the new shoes or shirt or whatev for like a month after i bought it because it was just to new.  solved that issue by buying things only that i need, so then i have to wear the new jeans or go in my sweatpants which really is not appropriate for all outings.  so i get it.  the replacement vehicle is a need.  and the veen really provided for us well. 

so we are embracing the new and being grateful for the old.  i am certain that though the beginning of our relationship was slightly awkward, we will eventually settle into a new pattern of comfort.  brad heard back from the previous owners of the new to us van while we were dining at home conversing about how the kids for sure had to be in bed early.  i angrily chomped on my venison as i heard brad make plans to check out the veen that night.  my attitude was atrocious as we bundled and loaded up the adorables.  i even forgot to put shoes on so wore slippers to these very wealthy and nice people's house way on the north side of holland.  in the pouring rain and darkness, brad walked around the van we would purchase trying to get me excited about it.

look, a sun roof!
really nice tires.
the doors open automatically, one is not permanently out of commission like in the silver bullet. 
heated seats...

i stepped in puddles and kept glancing at the door of the house where the nice lady was frantically searching for keys.  i think mrs van lady sensed my lack of enthusiasm because she offered for me to take my adorables inside her house while brad took the new van for a trial run and she picked up her kids from sporting events.  i do believe she even included supper in that kind offer. 

though i was tempted to have a fourth meal of the day, i assured her i would be real content to sit in the trusty venture until brad returned.  sitting there in the unheated front seat, soggy with raindrops, feeling the cold air blowing through the heating vents, i decided maybe this new chrysler could work for us. 

ayla jo wreaking havoc on the old van while daddy is buying the new one.

so when brad returned with a smile, we comforted the child who arrived home to find us in her driveway and her mom picking up another duaghter, and then called to committ to a purchase.  we picked up the town and country the following evening, cashiers check in hand.  brad had spoken frequently to craig, who turned out to be kreig, which resulted in a moment of panic as the cashiers check was already made out.  but all is well.  kreig has his money and we have a new to us van.

new veen has dvd.  kids are happy.

max is blissful in this pic, mostly because i brought him donuts after school.  a little because we were watching brad purchase the new van.

i have not yet driven the newbie.  i am committed to the venture until the temps deem it necessary to relocate to the chrysler.  not to mention it will probs take at least until december to switch out all the belongings stored in the venture. 

octoberfest

though actual oktoberfest may in fact be some sort of beer festival, that is not what i am referring to in the title of this post.  i merely chose a name that incorporated a lot of october, and things are always sorta like a circus/festival around here so it works.

now, i have been avoiding the blogging business lately.  this is due to the fact that i cannot find my camera.  it is not lost, i just do not know where it is.  i fear it may be in cadillac, where we spent a couple days with the kleins and an rzr and a commander (all terrain vehicles).  it was an amazing experience in which brad's rzr broke down minutes after arrival and lots of sunday morning was spent on a road trip within a road trip to get an essential part.  it is no wonder that i lost my camera in all the hullabaloo.  and left all my food in the fridge.  oops

the good news is when i am not blogging i dont really think about my awful lack of responsibility.  the bad news is then i do not blog.  so i am admitting once again, i suck at keeping track of stuff, but am back on the bloggy bandwagon. it all balances out right?!

so here is the latest on the home front:

1.  harvest is happening.  this means i have whiplash from glancing out the window whenever a car, combine, or truck goes by in hopes it is brad coming in from the semi or combine or whatev.  because i miss him, and so do the adorables.  it actually rained lots on sunday, so it has not been a constant hardship because brad has been home lots.  that man just is such a vital part of this fam one night without him can be a struggle.  especially when you are me.

2.   max is a bucket filler.  that is right, sandy view is promoting a system of recognizing those who encourage, or fill up one another's buckets with good stuff.  and max was applauded for his kindness.  he stayed in from recess to help zip up his friends jackets.  omg awesome.  we are so proud, and so was he.  he got a note home, a dog pencil (for dad, and the dogs were like dressed for a wedding, so it was weird but did not matter), and lots of praise from his blessed mommy and daddy.


this morning was an extra special drop off as daddy came with us to make the delivery to sandy view. 


3. bear bear is such a passionate and strong willed child.  if he is being caring he is the sweetest boy ever.  if he is being bratty, watch out.  last week there was a new level of whining reached.  and it broke my heart because i get that the whining means he is needing attention.  it was a wild week with work and salsa and stuff.  and i was feeling like nothing was getting done well.  hate that feeling.  anyway, things are looking up this week. 



brad rewarded weston's very good choices with the current desire of his heart, another kitten.  brad is the greatest dad ever.  and i am a pretty amazing mom because i am the one that loaded up the veen with the youngest adorables and drove to the mobile home park that posted a free kitten ad on craigslist.  maybe we are just drawn to the strangest of the strange cat people, but what i found when i parked veen was disturbing.

the matriarch of the family whom i will refer to as big mama for obvious reasons, was very kind in talk and deed.  she was also an incredibley talented smoker as she had a cig hanging from her lips while holding all five kittens, directing her husband to locate a box in which to keep the two we came home with, and providing me with a monologue detailing the correct care of the kittens.

the kittens themselves were tiny, and disgusting.  bear would not even touch one.  all their eyes were matted shut and they were covered head to toe with brown smears which big mama assured me was food but my nose told another story.  a story about poop.  at this point i had to come home with one because the adorables were determined.  so ayla jo and wes each picked one out and big mama plopped them in the box in which they were first located that was soggy with pee and smelly with poop.   i gagged out loud while thanking big mama for her gracious generosity.

the ride home with the kittens was hilarious and panicky at the same time.  baby blue clutched her kitten until the meowing reached epic proportions.  bear was very concerned.  he wanted to bring them back because they were to meowy.  somehow i managed to rescue cupcakes cat from her deathgrip and throw it into the box.  both kittens clawed their way out onto bear bear's booster.  he was beside himself with panic.  he was terrified and grossed out and i had to pull over on the road and close the box to prevent further escapes. 

by the time we reached the farm, bear was horrified and never wanted to see the kittens again.  i dumped some kitty food into the box and left the whole thing in the big barn.  when we went looking for the newcomers after picking up max from school we found only an empty box.

we are moving forward.

4.  aylaroo and i went out for coffee with a dear friend yesterday.  it was amazing.  we sat and visited for over an hour.  the whole time my daughter was an angel.  she sat sweetly still nestled next to me in my seat.  i adored catching up and snuggling in with my girl.  the prinpress was very social as well, waving to the public as they entered or exited bigby.

when we got to weston's preschool to pick him up, you would have thought it was ayla jo who indulged in the caffeine.  she was twirling and hopping and waving at anyone who would watch her.  i think it was the tutu...

so here we are.  a rainy thursday afternoon, just about ready to prepare to get our oldest from kindergarten.  brad will be home tonight due to the rain.  it is a good place to be.