Living Room 
Kitchen
Master Bedroom
Joshua's Room
Baby Hager's Room - Effective April 19, 2009 (Hopefully painted pink!)
Yesterday due to the nice weather predicted and people's schedules we (Cory and I along with Shawn and Erin) decided to head out to Erin's dad's farm (her dad is known as Farmer Joel in our house) to cut down some corn stalks for decoration and then visit Paulson's Pumpkin Patch nearby. When we arrived at the farm Farmer Joel was no where to be seen and his huge tractor was not in the barn, so we hopped in his truck and headed out to the fields to find him. Sure enough, he was using the tractor to spread fertilizer out in the field and he had just gotten done. Joshua immediately wanted to climb in the tractor and did so, with Owen close behind him. Then Joel offered to take the boys for a tractor ride, which Joshua was more than excited about (Owen needed a bit of coaxing at first)! Off they went driving the tractor all over the field, and yes Joel was so kind he let them steer! During a short break from tractor riding/driving we cut down some corn stalks to use for decoration and also fed some sweet corn stalks to the horses. Then the boys climbed back into the tractor with Joel and drove it all the way from the field down the lane to the barn! Once back at the barn we checked out all the other farm equipment as we always do when visiting the farm. Then it was time for a few pictures of the boys in their costumes and off to the pumpkin patch we went! The pumpkin patch was so much fun this year because Joshua was really excited to pick out the pumpkins and gourds to put on our front porch. He did a great job of picking out a variety of different shapes, sizes and colors of pumpkins and gourds. Thanks to this we have a beautiful fall display on our porch now! It was a fabulous day to enjoy God's creation and the beauty that abounds! The video below captures the fun we had!
Thanks to a phone call this morning from Grandpa we learned that it was Safety Day at the Home Depot nearby - meaning there would be firetrucks to see! We made our way over to the Depot after our many errands to check out the firetrucks and the ambulance that were there. Joshua enjoyed exploring the firetrucks and seeing the huge ladder and all the equipment. Joshua was a bit young for the trailer that simulates a fire and is used to teach children how to get out safely, so he just peeked in. The bonus of the day was that they were offering a kid's workshop too! If you've never done a kid's workshop they are little wood projects that kids create (younger kids usually need the help of an adult). Today's project was a whistle firetruck (the lights on top are a detachable whistle). So with help from Cory Joshua was able to build his own firetruck! He is extremely proud of his creation and has carried it with him all day and showed it off to everyone. We even got a picture with Homer the Home Depot mascot! Thanks for letting us know about such a fun event Grandpa!
Mixing and mashing! 
The finished product drying.
Today was Joshua's first preschool field trip! I volunteered to go along since I used to love this field trip as a teacher I thought I would like to go as a parent for once! We went to a place called The Post Family Farm. The family of a former teacher who used to work at the same school I did owns the farm so we took our preschool classes there for years before it became so popular. It has so many great kid-friendly activities like hay rides, a straw maze, farm animals to pet, a pumpkin train, and a playground. But the highlight of every fall trip is the delightfully delicious pumpkin donuts they serve for a snack! Today after munching down our donuts we even ordered some to take home as a special treat! The weather turned out better than predicted today so even though it wasn't sunny we avoided the rain. I must say that going on a field trip as a parent was much nicer and a lot less stressful than when I was the teacher! Below are a few pictures of the trip.
Since seeing the circus train Tuesday night Joshua has constantly asked if he could go see the circus. I don't think he even knew what he was asking to see, but whatever it was he figured he should get to see it. Even though we didn't want to spend big bucks on tickets we figured this was probably a good age to bring him and since he was asking we obliged. We got tickets for Friday evening for our little family plus one for grandma, who hadn't seen the circus in years. They offered an "All-Access Pre-Show" an hour before the circus in which kids could go down on the arena floor to see and meet the clowns and performers and some of the animals. We got to see some acrobats on scarves hanging from the ceiling, a lady who could keep 60 hula hoops going all at one time, lots of clowns, the horses, the dogs that did tricks, and an elephant who painted! I think Joshua was in awe of everything he saw as he just stood there most of the time with his mouth hanging open. We were even able to take his picture with one of the clowns! Then it was time to find our seats and watch the show! Being the Dutch family we are, we got upper bowl tickets so we were a ways up, but still had good seats. Joshua did really well sitting through the show, just getting antsy in the second half towards the end. The only disappointment of the night was that Cory had told Joshua there would be motorcycles and unfortunately there weren't. Oh and did I mention that all the JUNK they have to sell there is SO OVER PRICED it's ridiculous. I mean who really pays $15 for a snow cone in a cup that has little elephants on it?!?!? Thankfully there was no security so we happily ate our treats we had stashed from home. Joshua did ask if he could get some junky plastic motorcycle, priced at a mere $12, but luckily we talked him into going to a toy store and looking for a better motorcycle the next day. All in all the circus was a great experience and one that Joshua can remember for years to come! Check out the pictures we captured in the video below.
Tonight we made a visit out to our new development as well as another one to check out siding and trim colors before we make our final selections. Then we of course had to make a stop at our lot to check things out. For now we have a foundation and they have back-filled things a bit. Framing will not begin for a couple more weeks because there are a couple houses in front of ours schedule wise. Unfortunately a few weeks ago we had them halt construction because we are still dealing with our old house and the buyers needing extra paperwork to get their financing through. Long story short, we signed a land contract with them so they could move into our old house and pay us until their financing comes through, which should be by the end of the year. Not exactly an ideal situation, but at least we won't be paying our old mortgage, rent and interest payments on a construction loan all at the same time! We are still praying their financing goes through quicker, but for now at least the situation is a bit better. So, with construction on hold until last week other houses were scheduled to be framed instead of ours. We at least could now see the foundation without the forms on it and get an idea of the new space. While we were there we heard the train horn blow so we were excited to hear just how loud the train actually was. To our surprise our neighbors lawn tractor was louder than the train! We noticed it was a VERY long train and as it went by we found out why - it was the Ringling Brothers Circus train! From what we could tell it was all the passenger cars and the circus equipment, no animals. Joshua was very excited about the circus train going through his new backyard!
The picture above is of Joshua waving from his bedroom!
The basement
Joshua running out of the garage.
A view of the front.
Lately Joshua has been very interested in building with blocks. He has them out almost everyday and loves to create structures, knock them down and create new ones. We happened to be at our favorite store, Target, last night and in the dollar section we found a package of foam blocks. I immediately thought they would be a great way to extend Joshua's interest in building knowing that foam blocks in the bathtub have much different qualities than wood blocks on the floor. Joshua thought they were cool and tried to do some building with them on the floor, but found they weren't great for building that way. So, tonight I had him gather up his new foam blocks and toss them in the bathtub. He was surprised to discover that they floated in the water and that they stuck to the side of the bathtub as well as to his body! He spent a good half hour building in the bathtub! What a great extension of his play for only a $1.00 investment!
After his nap Joshua usually likes to veg out a bit and wake his body up. As the living room is set up here at the rental house Joshua has found a new favorite place to veg and it doesn't matter if someone is sitting there or not, he'll just sit or lay on top of them. I thought it was just too cute today so I snagged a couple pictures.
The boys have taken a liking to the channel SPEED!Last year my sweet Aunt Cher sent Joshua a subscription to a new Highlights High Five magazine for preschool age children. Joshua has loved this magazine and literally devours it the minute he sees it come out of the mailbox. Today was no exception. We had to immediately sit down and read through the whole magazine and find the hidden pictures (which Joshua has a knack for). At the back of the magazine is always a little game our book that can be cut out and played with. Today it was a pumpkin matching game which we had to do right away as well. So, when my aunt called a few weeks ago and asked if the subscription would be worthwhile enough to renew I told her it absolutely was. The proof is in the many magazines that have been tattered and torn due to all the use. We would HIGHLY recommend this magazine! Thanks Aunt Cher!
Yesterday morning we took care of Jon and Missy's little girl, Matea. She is such a sweet little girl! Joshua has been talking about her ever since he saw her camping this summer. He loved seeing her again when we went to the gardens a few weeks ago. Today he was very excited to have Matea come to his house. He absolutely has no clue about babies which is just a hoot- he wondered if Matea would like to see his new cars and when I told him she was hungry he asked if she was going to have Lucky Charms like him! Joshua loved talking to Matea and kept telling her that he loved her. It was adorable to see him interact with an infant and to see his soft, sensitive side come out. I have a feeling that if it really was his sibling things wouldn't be so sugar-coated! We'll have to wait to find out. . . some day.
Friday night we went downtown for the annual Celebration on the Grand fireworks display. We've made it a tradition to go eat downtown with my dad and then find our spot for watching fireworks. This year we switched where we usually sit and thank goodness because they lit the fireworks off from a different bridge so we had a much better view. With treats in hand, cotton candy and caramel corn of course, we sat and enjoyed the fireworks display. Joshua liked to comment on the pretty colors and the shapes he saw in the sky during the fireworks, a big switch from a couple years ago when he was scared! We had a great time and look forward to next year!
This morning was the first official day of preschool for Joshua! He was so excited to go that he actually got his other-wise slow rear in gear this morning and we were amazingly on time! Before we left the house Joshua had tucked bunny bear in his backpack (a little piece of safety and comfort). Once at school he looked for his hook in the hallway and hung his backpack up. He had gotten bunny bear out and showed Miss Jessie and they both had to give bunny bear a hug before he hopped back into the backpack. Joshua proceeded to run in the room and join right in the dancing the kids were doing without any hesitation. He proudly shouted across the room, "Mom, look at me! I'm dancing!" Knowing he had settled right in so quickly, I made my exit. I spent the morning solo at the grocery store (the first time I've done so in 3 + years)! I have forgotten how easy and quick the grocery store can be. When I went back to pick Joshua up Jessie told me that he had done very well. The only glitch in the morning is that he had not learned about snack table so he didn't really know what to do (they do an open snack, meaning the children must visit it sometime during center time). He spent forever washing his hands and almost missed his opportunity to eat his snack. When I asked him on the way home what he did he was able to recall a few things, but he mostly just kept telling me that he liked preschool and had fun. Let's hope we are on the road to life long learning and a love of school!
For some odd reason the camera never came out the whole weekend. Too bad, because we could have gotten some good pictures. So the word-filled run down of the weekend goes something like this. Saturday we helped move Shawn, Erin and Owen into their beautiful new house! It was lots of work, but definitely well worth it to see them settled in by Saturday night. Sunday it was off to Muskegon to visit Grandpa and Grandma Hager who were camping. With such nice weather we were able to enjoy a few hours at the beach while we were there (like I said, wish I had thought to take the camera along or at least remember to pull the one out of my purse). Monday was mostly a day of relaxing and playing a lot of Wii. Joshua has now taken a liking to playing Wii golf and boxing. He thinks he is really good at it too (ah, yeah 12 strokes isn't exactly Tiger Woods, but he's having fun)! We ended Monday night by going out to eat with Papa which is always a good time. Sad that summer is officially done, but excited at all the new things fall will bring!
I had been thinking this was going to be a perfect week weather-wise to make a visit to the Gardens when ironically Missy called yesterday and suggested we go together sometime this week! Enjoy the outdoors and beautiful sun and let two little boys run and play - it doesn't get any more perfect than that! Eli and Joshua had a great time as did Missy and I as we took the time to gab while the boys played together! I totally forgot to take pictures of sweet little Matea, but she too joined us today as we strolled around the Gardens. Joshua is totally enamored with Matea and had to peek at her every once in a while, it was so cute! What a great day!
With a car-loving son we just couldn't miss the 28th street Metro Cruise. We had a busy day in store on Saturday, but managed to fit some Metro Cruise viewing in. Actually we already sat and watched a number of old cars cruise 28th street on Friday night because we were fearful that the forecast for rain would be correct. Thankfully Saturday morning was sunny and warm so we headed over to Centerpointe Mall to look at a few cars. To our surprise a race car, a Steelcase truck, some huge tow trucks and the GM Futurliner were parked there as well! Joshua actually got to sit in the Steelcase truck and the GM Futurliner! Quite the thrill for our little guy! At 5pm we had staked out our spot on 28th street along with my dad and Shawn, Erin and Owen (conveniently located right in front of Buffalo Wild Wings). For about an hour we watched the old cars cruise the street, but then saw lightning that was a touch to close for our taste so we headed into the restaurant to eat and hopefully wait out the storm. Unfortunately for us the rain continued while we ate and the number of cars dwindled with every drop of rain, so we never got to see more of the cruise. Despite the rain out we had a great time and I'm glad our little car-lover had the experience!
Today was dig day on our lot! Knowing we have a little boy who loves big machines our builder was sure to let us know that the excavator would be out on our lot digging the hole for our new house around 9 am. I was taking care of Owen, so the boys and I headed out to the lot to watch the digging. They sat/stood mesmerized most of the time as they watched the excavator digging and dumping dirt. While we were there a truck pulled up with a bulldozer on it so we of course had to watch that come off the truck and do some work as well. The boys were so entertained they didn't want to leave! While we were there we met the two kids from next door and the lady from the house on the other side of us. They were very friendly and were excited to have new neighbors. Since Cory missed out on all the excitement we had to head back in the evening to check out how the finished hole looked. We were able to meet the mom of the kids we had met earlier and she too was very nice! A bonus to our time out there at night was we finally got to see/hear the train go right through on the back of our lot. Surprisingly (and much to our relief) it was not very loud at all! Now to see what's next in the building process.
Joshua: My eyes hurt.
Catherine: How can I help?
Joshua: I think God can help. Is God in the rental house?
Catherine: Yes, God is here. God is everywhere!
Joshua: Did he bring his car?
Catherine: I don't think God has a car, because where does he live?
Joshua: In Jesus' place.
Love how little kids come up with such interesting questions and answers!
We moved completely this weekend so we are tired and exhausted, but thankful to not be moving things anymore. Thanks to being able to move a little at a time we are actually pretty settled in as of today. Yes, there are a few boxes laying around that need unpacking, but things like winter sweaters don't need unpacking right away. Joshua has transitioned fairly well, although we have had behavior issues mostly seen at nap time and bed time - but what else would you expect from a child dealing with so many transitions?! For some odd reason Joshua loves being at the "rental house" although he is quick to let people know that "we are just living here while our new house is built"! He has been very excited about playing here and having his room here. Ahhh, to be a kid and not worry about all the adult stuff!
