Baseball

Well we started the season of baseball games. Kyle's had his first game and he did great. He was up to bat three times and had three hits. He is learning what to do in the field.

At the scrimmage a few weeks ago before the season started Kyle spent more time playing in the dirt then paying attention to what was going on. At one point Kyle had hit the ball and was on first and the coach then gave him his glove and sent him to play second. Another kid was up to bat and hit the ball and Kyle took off running first to second then to third...before a coach grab him and sent him back to play second base. The funny thing is the last thing the coach must have said to Kyle was when he was on first and the instructions I am sure were when the ball is hit run to second and then third base. He sure is coach able. Don asked him after the scrimmage if he had fun. He said he really liked batting and running the based but he really had no idea what was going on when he was in the field.


He did start to figure a few things out at the first game and did a good job paying attention not playing in the dirt. His first game was cold and kind of rainy and I could not help but think to myself we have three boys and I am sure we will be sitting through many cold and kind of rainy sporting events. And I am sure we will be pound of all of them as we were of Kyle.

Boys will be Boys

We had fun this weekend visiting with our friend Jim and Lacy and their kids.

Life with three boys sure does make you smile often. It is funny how they say the funniest things. Lately when Ryan and Kyle see Brady coming towards them and their cars they yell "fire in the hole" and they grab all their toys and try and get away from Brady. It will be so funny to see how fast they can react because Brady is going to be walking soon.

Brady is now trying to stand without holding on to anything and he has a bruise on each cheek to show for it...I think I told you about the fire place well Brady has found it a few times. I am afraid he is not far away from taking his first steps. It will make us laugh if he walks before he gets his first tooth. That is right he does not have any teeth yet. Kyle had his first tooth at 4 months. Ryan was 6 months and Brady turns 9 months today and has nothing.



Speaking of teeth Kyle lost his 7th tooth Sunday and of course put it under his pillow but we discovered that sometimes the tooth fairy takes Sundays off...kind of like the mail lady. What? the fairy is part of the union you did not know that :).

Okay maybe it is not just the boys that make us laugh Don and I do a pretty good job making each other smile. We started our summer tradition today of Tuesday golf date night. We are both looking forward to spending some time together every Tuesday enjoying a game we both love.
Stephanie is the person who makes date night possible. They boys love her and she loves them. She is graduating next month and will be moving across country to becoming a HS teacher. She has found us a great college student to help us with the boys after she is gone... but we will all miss her!

Easter Blessings

This weekend was Easter weekend and we had some fun and relaxation time. We started with some coloring of eggs. I have to tell you this is the first time I have colored eggs with the boys. I really don't like the mess so my friend Jill normally does the egg coloring with both our kids. Darn her for having a baby so I was forced into doing it. First I had to call two people to even figure out how to hard boil eggs but after that is went pretty smoothly. The boys had fun and we did not get to much dye on anything or anyone.



On the Saturday before Easter my friend Jill normally has an Easter Egg Hunt for about 70 or so kids. However this year Jill's baby was due on the Saturday before Easter so smartly she decided to not host the HUGE hunt. But we could not let our kids not got a chance to hunt eggs. So I volunteered to stuff eggs and Bryan (Jill's husband) hid them around the yard. Though it was not 70 kids running all around the Dole's yard our 4 had a blast.

Carter (33/4), Carly (6), Ryan (31/2), Kyle (6)

We finished the weekend by going to church to celebrate that Jesus is alive and how very blessed we are that God sent his only son to die for all our sins. Then we relaxed and had some fun outside.

We can all clean up well!

Brady (8months) resting with his dad.

Brady (8months) "Look I can stand up and have even started to try and stand up without holding on to anything....mom says I can't walk anytime soon...I will show her who is boss"

Spring "break"

Ryan (31/2) "Look I learned how to ride a two wheeler with training wheels...I look pretty cool don't I."

Well the week is coming to an end. Kyle's first spring break from school had gone by so fast. Both Kyle and Ryan spent the week with my parents. We were all in Boyne City until Monday afternoon then Don, Brady and I came home and Kyle and Ryan stayed upnorth. They have had so much fun this week hanging with their Papa and Dee Dee. Yesterday they left for Detroit to stay in a hotel (swim) and go to the Detroit zoo today. I am sure they have had a blast.

Kyle (6) "I have learned to ride the big kid bike my Papa and Dee Dee got me last year. I think it is pretty cool I have a hand break on my bike."

Brady was lucky this week to have his mom and dad to himself and we have commented many times how easy one is. I unfortunately was out of town for part of the week and then have been challenged with a cold that has moved to my chest and I have been coughing for days. But Brady must have know I was not feeling well because he has been sleeping great. I have taken NyQuil the last few night so lets be honest I would not have a clue if he had been up 10 times.

Brady also had another special thing happen this week. His best friend Bennett William was born on Tuesday. My friend Jill had her baby Tuesday and now Kyle has Carly Dole (both 6), Ryan has Carter Dole (both 3 1/2) and Brady and Bennett. The entire Sytsema family is so happy to welcome sweet Bennett into our hearts.

Bennett better get growing fast because Brady is on the move and now pulling himself up on everything. We have the gates out now and are getting ready for all the head lumps and bumps he will for sure be getting any second now. I write this as he stand up at the fireplace...bricks not so soft on the head.

Spring has Sprung ...we think?

We have reached some major milestones in our family over the past few weeks. Ryan has declared he is done with pull up at bedtime. So far the jury is still out if this is a good thing or bad...I say that as I hear the washer going with his sheet from last night. The judge might have to over rule him if we keep having 4am wake up calls from him.

Kyle has become obsessed with spring. We have had a spring count down calendar and he said to me the other day. "Mom arn't you so glad you don't have to work on Saturday so you can enjoy the first day of spring all day". So yes I am not working today but am also looking out my windows on the first day of spring and see it is snowing. Kyle is also very excited for his first spring break from school. We are planning to leave Thursday night to head up to my parents for a long weekend. We will come home Sunday and my parents will meet us at our house (they will have just returned from Grand Cayman) and take Kyle and Ryan on a week long adventure. Who know with them what that will entail but I know the boys will have so much fun.

Brady in the last few weeks has decided to crawl. He is no speed demon yet but he can make is way around the family room. He does seem to move faster if you put one of the big boys toy cars in front of him.

Look I learned to crawl but now I am stuck...I think I made a wrong turn. Brady 8months

Don and I with my parents spent last weekend painting and painting and more painting. We did manage to get all three rooms painted and the fireplace. Plus that include taking wallpaper down in the office. Lets just say that goodness for the extra hands we had to help with project and kids. And yes we love the new look. Thank you to my good friend Rachelle who is so very talented and if you just trust her it will come out perfect.

Though it does not look like spring out my windows this morning it feels like it in our house watching the kids have new experiences everyday.

St. Patrick's day was fun for the boys...especially for Kyle (6) and Ryan (3 1/2) because their favorite color is green. Brady (8 months) just liked being with his big brothers.

Change

One thing I can say with confidence, is that things are always changing in our house hold. I think that is good because those of you that know me well know that if there is no change, I get bored.

One thing that seems to always change in our boys and how they grow and what they can do. This recent picture of Brady you can see how big he is getting and he is so close to crawling. Oh boy that will be a big change for all of us...gates and picking up small toys will be again part of our everyday life.


It has becoming a new thing for Kyle to read books on his own. He is doing so well in school and has really caught on to reading. Now sometimes at night he reads his own books while Don or I read to Ryan and Brady. Well sometimes Brady does not enjoy sitting still for an entire book.


Not only are the boys changing but we have also made some changes to our house. We have added a wall between the office and dinning room. And made the office feel more like an office with new lighting and soon to be new curtains. We also made the grill next to our upstairs fireplace an attractive more useful storage area. It looks so nice and now the boys all have a shelf with a basket for papers etc. Now comes the painting. So when it started we were going to paint one room, but with the help of my dear friend Rachelle, who happens to be an interior decorator, we now are painting the fireplace, family room, hall, dinning room and office. Oh and did I mention the office still has wallpaper up. Yes you are right Don is SO excited. Actually he has been very supportive and I know will love the finished product.


Things may change around us, but we as a family stay the same. We still love spending time together and are having lots of fun.

The BUG!!

Good thing we have more than one bathroom. The stomach bug has found our house. It entered via Don who was down for two days. Then it grabbed Kyle on Friday. I kept him home from school because he said his belly was not feeling great and he had been coughing pretty good all week. But as the day progressed and he played Wii, watched TV and played with Ryan all day it seemed I had been duped. As we all climbed in the car to head north to my parents for the weekend it became obvious he was not feeling well. But I decided we should push on because after all the car was packed and we were ready to go. (no worries that car managed to go unscathed)

Kyle did okay but was not able to go skiing with us. So Saturday Don, Ryan and I went skiing. Ryan did great sking a lot of different runs. Funny how Ryan has become very motivated by the candy store at the base of the ski hill. We tell him if he does not whine or say I can't all day he gets to pick something from the candy store. So far it has worked everytime.

Well the weekend progressed and Kyle started feeling better and Sunday afternoon it caught me. And then in the middle of the night it caught Ryan. So the only one left untouched is Brady. Here is hopeing he avoids this bug.

So I would love to report we are all good at this point but Ryan went to bed with what he calls a "puke bowl" and I am still wondering if having something to eat tonight was a good idea or bad. Oh well this too will pass.

So instead of posting a picture of what we all look like this week I thought I would post a picture to remind us how great our vacation was. FYI we did leave Aunt Tomeaka with a cold but she should be very happy it was not the stomach bug :).

My cool dudes Kyle (6), Ryan (31/2), Don