Photos of My Weekend in South Haven, Michigan

I have the coolest friends in the world. If your are one of them, yep, you are amazing and I love you. Here are the two that I was blessed to see over the weekend; Dawn and Tamara, friends from Taylor University ~friends for life.

Before going to see Tamara, Dawn and I stopped off at her beautiful home in Grand Rapids. It was great to see and talk with her hubby and get the grand tour of their abode. Dawn has an amazing sense of style. I love how she has incorporated their appreciation for world travel in the decor throughout each room. Their house is an amazing reflection of who they are and the many beautiful lands in which they have visited.Precious little Levi was dedicated to the Lord at their home church, along with two of his cousins. I felt privileged to attend and witness these parents pledge before God and man to raise their children up in the admonition of the Lord.

Attila, Tamara, and Levi return to Budapest next week where they live and serve the Lord. I do not know when I will see them again, so it was a real blessing to spend the weekend with them. This is beautiful South Haven. It is a quaint little town right on Lake Michigan. I loved waking up in the morning and going for a brisk run around the charming town.
Does anyone else find this a little humorous?

Visiting Friends

I'm in South Haven, MI visiting my precious friend, Tamara. Another dear college friend of ours, Dawn picked me up from the airport. We stopped by her very cool home in Grand Rapids and visited with her husband for a while before heading out to meet up with Tamara and her family for dinner, dessert, coffee, and lively conversation. I love it when you can go years between visits with friends and then pick up right where you left off as if no time has passed.

Tamara and her husband are missionaries in Budapest, Hungary. They came back to the States to have their first child, Levente (Levi). It was a privilege to attend his baby dedication at church today, along with the dedication of two of his cousins. We celebrated afterward with a delicious brunch at an Austrian restaurant in Holland, MI.

Tuesday night I return to Seattle. I will post photos of this lovely place and my beautiful friends upon my return.

Celebrating the Half

Harrison turned 3 1/2 on March 30th. That was the weekend when Ken and I were away. I had good intentions, but they didn't really get anywhere...until yesterday.



Harrison picked out these special cupcakes from the local Safeway bakery to share with the rest of us. He also chose corn dogs and strawberries for the lunch menu.

Perhaps the biggest deal, was that Harrison got to push the handicap button for all of the automatic doors at the YMCA and the library (a very big deal, indeed, for a 3 1/2 year old!).


Happy belated three and a half birthday, Baby Bear!

A Weekend With My Dear Friend

My dear friend, Angie, came out to Seattle for a visit last weekend. She has three boys that are the same age as my three kiddos. When she lived out here, we made a lot of great memories together. It was wonderful to catch up, hang out, and do some of the fun stuff together that we used to enjoy when her family was in this neck of the woods. My grandparents allowed us to stay one night in their home on Alki Beach. It was a peaceful, kid-free time. In the morning, we had a nice, brisk walk to breakfast. Ahhh, the wonderful smells of the Pike Place Market!
We enjoyed the Seattle Sculpture Park; a little piece of serenity in the city.
"Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours."

~ Ludwig Van Beethoven

What is an Alkane?

Kennedy recently gave a presentation on Alkanes for her chemistry class. This is a portion of her practice presentation.

Here the Mad Scientist (a.k.a. Mrs. Kelly) further explains Alkanes and Alkenes.

Then the students made butane molecules with playdough.

Dutch Door and Tea With Grammy & Papa

Grammy & Papa came over today with a wonderful gift. Papa had made a Dutch door for the fort and came to hang it up. The children were excited for the new addition.
We had tea with Grammy outside and shared a special devotional time together; remembering that the eyes of the Lord are in every place (Prov. 15:3).

"One of God's most precious works of art is the warmth and love of a grandmother's heart."

~ Unknown

My Favorite Flower is a Dandelion

That's right. Don't bother with roses or lilies. Just pick me a dandelion and I'll be happy.Jack picked this one for me today. He was especially excited about the length of it. Yesterday he told me that we wished we lived at our neighbor's house. When I inquired the reason, he replied, "Then I could pick you hundreds of those pretty yellow flowers!"

Indeed, our neighbor does have an exceptional number of them.So here sits the vase in my window ledge; the lovely dandelion picked by Jackson and the pretty tulip that Harrison picked (the first day that it bloomed, after being told not to touch it) for me. Sweet, precious, good-willed boys...

Jack's Rockin' and Mikey's Blockin'

Here's a cute clip of Jackson rockin' out with his electric guitar. Mikey doesn't mind/realize that he's blocking the star of the music video.

Waffle Wednesday

It's Wednesday. And around here that means only one thing (not what your are thinking, Melynie)...waffles for breakfast. That's right. It's Waffle Wednesday.




The kiddos look forward to it all week. Why Wednesday? Why not? They both start with "W" and with the age of my children, making those connections is fun and educational.



And of course, I love anticipation as well as traditions. As silly as Waffle Wednesday may be, I'm sure the kiddos will remember it as they grow up and perhaps even carry on the goofy tradition.

"Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it."

~Mark Twain

Rub-A-Dub-Dub Three Boys In A Tub

We are thrilled to have Mikey visit us this week. He has only been away for about a month, but it feels more like six. He is walking well now and has several words. Tonight he was happy to have a "bubu-ba" with his cousins.


They played for a while in Mikey's bed before crawling into their own. It is fun to listen outside the door to them talking. My boys get such a kick out of Michael's words and noises.

Beef Steak Tomatoes, Coming Right Up

Today's project was planting a garden and building a green house. Dad did most of the work, but Jackson helped when he could. We are looking forward to those yummy beef steak tomatoes in the coming months.

"Gardening requires lots of water-- most of it in the form of perspiration."

~ Lou Erickson

Mashed Potatoes and Dog Poop Are Yucky

Dinner was nearly over and my two sons were still sitting at the table. Harrison had a small mound of mashed potatoes left on his plate.

"Mashed potatoes is yucky!" he declared.

"I'll tell you what things are yucky, Harrison," Jack began. "Dog poop, spitting on people, slugs, snails and worms are yucky. And baby food is yucky if you are a big kid."

Spring Tea

Yesterday was the 4th annual Spring Tea with my former teaching friends. The four of us taught school together years ago before we started having children and staying home to raise them. Between us, we have 13 little ones.

We especially had reason to celebrate this year. Not only were two new beautiful children added to our bunch, but Heather (top left) suffered from a heart attack last fall in which God miraculously saved her life. She is a living reminder of how quickly life can pass by and how important our motherhood role is. She is quick to give God the glory for saving her life; both physically and spiritually. The children enjoyed a fun menu that Kennedy (celebrating her b-day...again) helped pick out. It included PB&J Crustables, fish sticks, mango applesauce, chocolate covered strawberries, and PB celery sticks.

Weekend Away

We had a chance to get away last weekend. Okay, so we didn't go very far. We spent the night in Seattle. But we were away from our home and away from our little ones. It was a wonderful time of being together. Here is a view from our hotel room.