penpal Parker

Parker's first "best buddy" has always been Quaid Horsman! These two boys always called each other their best buddies even though they rarely played together. Quaid is such a super kid and we were happy they had eachother to be best buds with. But, his family moved away last year and that really bummed Parker to think that his best bud lived as far away as Tennessee. So, you can imagine when Parker got a letter from him last week, he was thrilled to learn the meaning of "penpal" and he wrote him back immediately. I love that he has a new excitement for writing and love that he can keep track of his "best buddy" the old~fashioned way. So, I will be keeping copies of all their letters in a little notebook for Parker to look back on his first penpal. Or, maybe they will be mainly for my enjoyment!?!

bull's eye

The boys love to go out and shoot with their dad. This was Parker's first bulls~eye poster! It cracks me up that this is the artwork decorating the front of my fridge. Most moms have pretty colorings and/or cute drawings on their refrigerators but I have a target poster... all because my son is very proud of his new skill! Totally worth it!

happiest day in a L~O~N~G time...

So, in efforts to be REAL and to share my JOY, here's to today's post! In my heart, I am honored to be a mom of three beautiful and healthy children BUT my thoughts and actions have become quite overwhelmed and frustrated with my children. I know I am blessed but it's difficult to feel blessed when the fussiness and whining of my younger 2, continues day after day. Unfortunately, I have gotten myself caught in the trap of complaining about my children and their actions. It's easy to get defeated which will lead me down the path of bitterness BUT I know it's more rewarding and difficult to forgive and continually show my children God's grace and love. In one of my most recent "insomniatic" nights, I felt a gentle nudge from God to put His attributes to action in my parenting. I love that I am a daughter of the One who; forgives, loves, is full of grace, teaches, is constant, protects, is kind... and the list goes on. I would love for Savannah to feel these same attributes as my daughter. I want all my children to see God's attributes in the way I mother them so they in turn will show them to others. Well, all that to say... that yesterday was a super happy day in our family! For some strange reason, Savannah and Noah spent most of their day laughing and there wasn't a whine or fuss ALL day. We went sledding and Savannah kept falling down and laughing, Kep and I would then exchange looks of shock... "did she really just laugh?" Now, those of you reading may think this to be normal but unfortunately, it is rare with these 2! Then, we came home and dinner was completely peaceful and we spent the rest of the night reading books or playing games with no other noises than pure JOY! Thank you Lord for the break~ it was refreshing!!!
Earlier, I found myself critiquing the day in order to make that happen every day but I was humbled to remember that my parenting frustrations are very similar to my relationship with the Lord. He too loves to see me putting His attributes in action but there are many days when I fail. He forgives me and loves me, time and time again! I am praying that God will keep showing me ways to show His grace to my children. I am ExTrEmElY blessed and I would love for my words and actions to show that to my children and others!

new snow!!!

YiPpEe~ we woke up to new snow! This has been a strange winter... very li'l snow, tOnZ of wind, and quite the variety in temps! We have spent alot of time indoors anxiously awaiting some fresh snow! And, it came!!! So, as soon as there was light... the kids and I ventured out on a neighborhood walk, it felt so good to be outdoors enjoying the fluffy snow! Here are my 3 happy campers, they were too heavy to pull but they got a short ride down one hill.Parker is getting so BIG and helpful, it was fun to have him takeover and give his siblings a pull! He was happy to hear that he earned an extra BIG cup of hot cocoa for his pulling efforts!

perfect sledding day

The Kroon families met up at Hatcher's shortly after Christmas for our traditional sledding day! This time we were blessed with warmer temps, bright sun and fresher snow!This next pic cracks me up because Savannah became known as the Snow Princess this day. You see Savannah enjoys sledding but only when it's her idea and her timing... true to a princess! So, here she sits eating her snack with her "bodyguards" keeping a close watch! ha!
Some of us Kroons sled differently than others.Noah could be out on his sled all day~ what a cutie!
Parker has really taken to snowboarding! We love that he thinks his Target clearance $3 find is a cool snowboard!

The Snow Princess at her best, hiking her own sled up the slope and taking a break with her shades and Cheez~Its!!!

I love this one of the brothers and we love how much fun they have together! We know there will be many more sets of helmets and goggles for these 2 winter boys!
All the toddlers had their own version of fun! We loved watching Ella's go~getter personality and Allison's laid~back~do~whatev personality out on the snow! They are too cute and we wish we could go sledding more often with both of them!
Most of the 2 Kroon gangs loving this gorgeous day up in Hatcher's! We'll look forward to more of the same in 2 years!
Thanks Joani and Britt for letting me borrow your great pix!

slowly but surely

Savannah was blessed with LONG eyelashes and will someday be blessed with LONG hair! For some reason, her hair just doesn't want to grow so every once in awhile I carefully comb it up into piggies! I can't do it very often because she also has very thin hair and it breaks off everytime I put a rubberband in it. It's good for me to look back at past pictures and be reminded that it is indeed growing... slowly but surely!

Kep's new ride

I love that my husband has so many hobbies and is very disciplined with his workouts~ I guess I can be quite opposite in these two areas as my workout/hobby is spending a whole day shopping, so I live vicariously through his!!!
Well, this Christmas his parents surprised him with the best possible gift... a whole new set~up for Backcountry skiing.He is in love with these fat skis and I'm happy it gives him many skiing outings to spend with the guys!

putting the presents to use!

Bean bags were our children's main gift and they are used non~stop! They even have their names embroidered on them! The boys love to stack all 4 of our bean bags and take a running leap onto our li'l trampoline and land on the tower of beans. Parker has also gotten a little adventurous and learned to do a front flip into the pile of bags! This is not my fav site but Kep assures me it's "safe" and to let my boys be "Wild Warriors" not "Nice Guys", there's a little Eldridge that I've been trained to believe! hehe!A dollhouse is much more fun when you have someone to pretend with you, so here is Savannah proudly sharing with Cousin Ella!Kit and Savannah~ I love her expression, could she be any prouder or more in love with her dolly!?! Savannah frequently changes Kit's outfits to match her own~ it's jammy time!
And, here are the two~some cuddling in for a movie!

dollhouse and more Christmas memories

Great Grandpa Hal surprised us with an extremely special dollhouse for Savannah! He built this gorgeous thing from a kit and then he added all the custom painting, wallpaper, wood flooring and baseboard trim. This is no small doing for an 88 year~old with giant hands! My goodness, I got all teary because I can only imagine how much time he spent on this for our daughter. And, Savannah loves it, to say the least!Talented Great Grandpa Hal with the new proud~owner of a dollhouse!Our boys loved having Uncle Tills home for Christmas!
Perfect ending to a sweet, sweet Christmas... cuddling with Mo~mo!

epic Christmas for Uncle Teag

Our children are so fortunate to have family that spoils them with tonz of love and plenty of gifts. Well, this year Uncle Teag wanted to go BIG for his nephews and niece, and they were completely surprised and grateful for their amazing gifts! Thanks Teag for making this a memorable and exciting Christmas!Parker and Noah had never seen such humongous LEGO boxes and they could hardly wait to put them together! I love that Teagen researched and made several visits to his nearby LEGO store in New York, to ensure he had the perfect set for each of them.This Kingdom is amazing and Parker loves every piece of it!Noah was thrilled to have all these new cars and trucks with his own garage to make repairs!Then, there's Savannah's sweet gift... she probably is one of the youngest girls to own an American Girl Doll! Teagen also spent a TON of time researching the best doll for Savannah, he read reviews and visited the AG store multiple times. Teag, she loves her Kit and we have already had so much fun changing her outfits and fixing her hair into different "dos"! We will always remember Savannah's first pronunciation of her new doll, "T-i-t"! hehe! Fortunately (but a little sad) she has learned to say K-i-t!

Christmas morning

We love Christmas time, just like any other family! Our children are always so excited to do the last activity for each of our advent traditions. It's so cute to watch them run up the stairs in anticipation of what "Santa" left behind in their stockings!
And, this year we loved having our favorite "Jesus Storybook Bible" to read the passage about the wisemen, before they could open their 3 "wisemen" gifts.Another new tradition we started this year was to have Donut King donuts for breakfast, it made for li'l prep, li'l clean~up and excited toddlers and uncles!

cousin time at Alyeska

Yay for cousin time! We got to head up to Alyeska this Christmas and start a new tradition with the Kroon cousins. It was so fun to be altogether for more than a few hours and leave all the mess at the hotel! Fun times at the pool and playing in the snow!Here's a pic of all the men taking the toddlers for a ride on the "magic carpet". It was Ella's first time on skis and she was quite the trooper, especially since it was 0 degrees~ slightly colder than her California home!Noah skiing with his Uncle Teag. He was one happy li'l guy to be showing off his new skills to his uncles and cousins!And, the princesses playing with Ella's well~loved Tinkerbell fairies, where it's warm! On super cold days like this one, I was happy to have Savannah as my excuse to hang out, with a mocha, in the lodge!!!But, Parker will not let cold temps keep him from the slopes. The "plan" was for Parker to head home with the ladies and toddlers BUT when his dad offered to let him stay, he was pumped to be with the men! I was amazed that my li'l 6 year old could go to the top of the resort and outlast all the Kroon men,he skiied until the lifts were closed! It won't be long til my boys outdo me on the slopes! Wow~ they grow up fast!

li'l momma

Savannah is a true li'l momma... she adores babies and loves to help out! She was so excited and proud to be able to feed Baby Gabi her bottle when they came over for a playdate! Now, anytime I mention a baby she questions, "Gabi, I go see Gabi?" And, just recently when we were trying to squeeze on a pair of black shoes to match her Sunday dress, I finally gave up and said we will just have to think of another li'l girl to give your shoes to... "Baby Gabi???!!!" Sure, Baby Gabi it is!!! ;o)

Savannah's personal reader!

Parker is becoming quite the little man around our house and I have to be careful not to take advantage of it too much! Savannah loves story time and at moments when I am busy making breakfast, it is very handy (and super sweet) to have Parker read her a story!

Noah's a skiing machine

Kep has been pumping Noah up for his first ski at Alyeska ski resort all Fall and Noah was more than ready to DO IT! Kep, "Popeye" and Mr. Tom gladly took a day off of work so they could make a whole day of skiing for Thomas and Noah! And, Parker benefitted as well! I could not believe that our men were taking these little guys out on a sub-zero and super windy day but Kep said all 3 of them were troopers!



They had a great time and I know there are many more sub-zero days of skiing to come!!!