Dear Penny

Dear Penny

You are sleeping and I am thankful. 24 hours ago was a different situation entirely. You've been perplexing me lately. The past three days have been one big guessing game. It is one of the biggest surprises to me about motherhood--guessing. I'm constantly guessing and you are no different. You've been off. Then, you've been fine. We struggled on Saturday night so much that I decided to stay home from church with you on Sunday morning. After a morning nap, you were on top of the world, though very drooley. I had figured out that you were teething. Yeah! I'm right. . . right?!? After a rough afternoon at Grammy's house, we made it home. I found myself putting as much medicine into you as I dared. You even went and played at a park for an hour. Teeth, yes teeth.

Then our night began. You were struggling during supper and as I changed your diaper, I noticed lots and lots of white spots on your tongue. What is this? Something new. We took a picture and sent it off to Aunt Gigi who called and told us not to worry--this too shall pass. You finally fell asleep about two hours after your regular bedtime on your daddy's shoulder.

Then, it happened. You were up and screaming. You didn't want anything and nothing was right. I'm so sorry. I felt so bad that I cried with you. We just sat on the couch and cried together. Daddy and I were debating about what to do for you--do we go to the hospital at 10:30 on a Sunday night? Then. . . and thanks for cluing us in my dear. . . then you started rubbing your ear. Light bulbs and flashlights and fireworks went off! I put my finger on your left ear and you about hit the ceiling. Daddy took you to Zeeland Hospital and returned with a much calmer and exhausted Penny. Antibiotics as well as a concoction for your very sore mouth had taken the edge off. . . yes you were still up screaming at 4:30, but it was short lived.

Penny, I'm so in love with you. Can you please learn how to describe what you are feeling inside? It would help me a ton. I'm so sorry that it took me three days to figure out what was going on with you. You could also run a fever. That might help me as well next time. As for tonight, daddy got two hours of sleep last night because he was with you and he was on call. I'm a little ragged myself. How about no interruptions tonight? I promise I'll read extra books to you tomorrow. I'll even forgive you for finally learning how to say my name and calling it out extra early.

Love

Mommy

Branson Travelogue

Can we pack us for the trip?

We detoured just north of Chicago to meet up with Uncle Tony and Auntie Annie. They bought the Vehi-Cross from us. Bittersweet.

Overnight in St. Louis. We were able to swim with our super friends the Pollacks! Luckily, this hotel had a pool that was partly inside and partly outside. AWESOME!

Doing some coloring in the hotel room.

They didn't start out sleeping this way. Hilarious!

She knows--don't climb on toilets--even if you do see a pacifier. :)

Get out the bail money!

Oh yeah--kids coaster here we come! Noel began screaming here and didn't stop (one of the few places we allow her to scream).

We enjoyed a Birds of Prey presentation.

More coaster fun.

Everyone want to ride with daddy in the teacups, he spins super fast.

Silver Dollar City can just take it out of you.

Still in love.

Swimming every day in the hotel pool.

Of course we can have ice cream for lunch: we are on vacation!

Notice that mom is not on this get very wet ride.

I discovered this mutant hair on Gary's arm. Seriously!

Hanging out at Grandpa Larry and Grandma Karen's house.

Of course we took a boat ride. Grandpa Larry goes so fast.

Girls' turn.

The kids loved collecting shells and rocks on Tablerock Lake.

Most everything in the house was a "no-no" for Penny.

We found a spot where the kids could drive their own go-carts!

Yeah, he is focused. No worries for this mama.

Notice the dutch hotel in the background. Branson has everything!

God is moving!

It's been quite the week for this chica. Good stuff. Birthday stuff. Family stuff. Funnel cake stuff. Balloon twisting stuff. Small group stuff. Classroom bonding stuff.

What has been the best though is the God stuff. Isn't that the very tops? I know God is ALWAYS working. I know that God is ALWAYS communicating with me via the Holy Spirit. I know that God ALWAYS has what is best for me. I'm so thankful that I know that--I've got it. What has been cool is that I've been hearing from other women about what God is doing in their lives.

Twice this week I've been stopped by a radiance oozing out from two of my friends. They had seen and felt the Holy Spirit working in each of their lives. They were so excited that they just had to talk about it and I was able to worship by listening. As each of them were talking, I couldn't help but praise God for working so specifically in the lives of my friends. When God is moving. . .it just has to come out! Even the rocks will cry out! I had another friend who stopped to pray by the door of my sons' classroom. The father of a classmate died in an accident last week. As she was praying she said that she could feel the Holy Spirit in their room--it was so very powerful. It excited me to hear that! (I even cried a little bit.) I shared this with Maestra Zondervan (my boys' teacher) and she was overwhelmed as well. The Holy Spirit is present and working in my boys' classroom!?! LOVE IT!!!!

That is awesome isn't it? I bless God that He is doing great things in the lives of friends and that my friends are seeing God doing great things. I'm so thankful that His Spirit is active at our school. BUT. . . I think we need to do more. I think we need to share more. We need to talk about God in our lives, not with a "look-how-close-I-am-to-God" kind of attitude, but a "isn't-God-just-the best-ever" "look-at-how-amazing-God-is" and "let's-celebrate-God-together" kind of way. If you have a story to share, I'd love to praise God with you.

shanda sprick is falling down. . . falling down. . .

Can you hear the song? Look at the title and sing to London Bridges. . . it works.

I was sitting on the couch with Gary last night and we were chatting about my strange fall. Upon further inspection, it was made clear to me that this has happened before. Gary reminded me that there was a time when I disappeared.

We were getting into the car. . . we were going to church and were going to meet with the pastor in an effort to join our church. . . baby Garrison was safely buckled in and as I walked around the car I disappeared. I sprained my ankle for no apparent reason (I see a theme!). I lay on the floor of the garage. Gary couldn't figure out what happened. One second I was there, and suddenly I was not. He came looking for me. Nice man.

My mom reminded me recently. . . and I recall the day vividly. . .that I was standing in the office of Chicago Christian High School. It was my first year there. I was standing just to the side of the secretaries desk and I fell down. Just fell. Not fainted, not in pain. . . just a random falling.

So, this seems to be happening every 6-8 years or so. Let's just say it is one of the fabulous things about me. :)

I am a grown-up

I fell today.

Grown-ups are not supposed to fall down.

First, it hurts. I have quite the bruise on my arm. My hand is scraped up. I have a very strange cut on my neck where a trachea would be (how exactly did I fall?). I can feel something brewing on my shin. Plus, my heart hurt a bit.

I don't think my heart got hurt, but it was racing. I think my heart had some pride knocked out of it and was feeling a bit empty. I'm an adult. I'm a mom. My daughter Penny fell down no less than four times while we dropped off her siblings at school yesterday. My kids fall down all the time. Grown-ups--not supposed to happen. We are taller. The ground is farther away. Plus, I don't have a great reason. Good reasons include icy conditions, slimy rocks in rivers, and falling after scaling an 8 foot fence while chasing robbers. I was coming in from the garage and going up a step. A step!

I did make an "ooh" sound. We've been teaching our kids that when someone is hurt or crying they need to ask "Are you O.K.?" Yes, the door to the house was open and yes my kids heard me and yes Gary was outside and heard me go down and yes everyone came to check on me. I couldn't even hide and pretend it didn't happen.

I just hope my feet aren't growing again. I can't take more than the huge 11's that I have. Maybe I'm getting old--after all--today is my last day of being 38. Hopefully, a random fall doesn't need to happen again until . . . um. . . never.

Bass Pro Shop and Coca-Cola

My kids don't know anything about these two companies. . . except that their Grandpa Larry likes them. They proudly wore their new Bass Pro Shop shirts to school--purchased by their grandpa "everyone gets two!". They are making pictures of Coke logos and exclaim (quite loudly I might add) that "we need to buy that for Grandpa Larry" every time we see a Coke product--they are everywhere!

The passion for their grandparents doesn't end there. Grandma Karen loves sparkly things. Today Noel is wearing her new sparkle t-shirt (over a turtleneck!) to school. It reminds her of her grandma and makes her feel special because her Grandma Karen gave it to her. When we walked into our hotel room in Branson, it was Christmas! Gary's mom had been there before us and had surprises hidden all over. Special food treats, puzzles, stuffed animals, clothes, glow sticks, cookie cutters and even Noah and his family on the ark greeted us and elicited squeals of delight from our ducks.

We don't get to see Gary's folks very often, perhaps once or twice a year. Last week was filled with wonderful memories of grandparents who love them, follow them around Silver Dollar City, buy them funnel cakes, take them to great restaurants, let them play with their jukebox, take them on fast rides around the lake, clean up diaper blow-outs, and get up at 4:30 a.m. to say good-bye. They are spoiled and doted on. So are Gary and I.

I'm so thankful for my in-laws. I'm thankful for the values they gave to my number one guy. I'm thankful for their generosity. I'm thankful that I really like them. Every night we were able to play cards together. That is a great family to be with.

It's good to be home

We rolled into our neighborhood at 6:59 p.m.---two minutes ahead of when the GPS predicted. We'd been staring at that thing since 5:20 a.m. and were thankful that we were finally home. Gary backed into the garage, turned the car off, and we prayed. We had begun our vacation with prayer on Tuesday morning and now we were able to finish. Thank you God! Safety, fun, family, laughter. . .all from Him.
Then we entered the house. The past hour (it is currently 8:07) has been filled with joy--[insert sarcasm]. Here is the sampling.

1. Noel fights with Garrison as to who gets to retrieve the newspaper.
2. I have to pee.
3. So does Gary.
4. There is a quick realization that one toilet didn't get flushed and now. . .ahem. . . there is an oder problem.
5. Penny runs to our open bedroom to get the "off-limits" lotion.
6. Two ducks stop carrying stuff inside while one declares that he alone will do all the work--in an effort to get back a toy snake that was won at an arcade.
7. Simon declares that the car is all clean and is rewarded with the snake--only to have it taken away because the car is still a traveling pit.
8. Garrison drops his new matchbox car (from the same arcade) into the toilet while he is POOPING. His kind mother fishes it out for him.
9. Penny crawls on the kitchen table and begins shaking the open seasonings. Thanks for that.
10. Simon askes for tomato juice for supper. Then he spills it on the floor.
11. I open up the sealed plastic bags that contain the most vial of the dirty laundry--two poop blow-outs and two sets of vomiting clothes. I gag a little. Sadly, they got mixed up with the wet bathing suits which aren't supposed to go into very hot water. Tough bananas.
12. Penny finds her cup of milk on the table and runs through the house sprinkling it. Fun!
13. Penny makes a dirty diaper.
14. Noel throws a tantrum because I won't let her work on her box. Yes, that is correct.
15. Garrison cries because he needs to shoot baskets with his new basketball from Silver Dollar City.
16. Simon cries at the table and he just doesn't know why.
17. I step on the scale. Apparently, it made perfect sense to me that I could eat anything I wanted while in Branson and nothing would happen when I got home. This is wrong thinking.

We had a great vacation. We had a rough re-entry. I would expect nothing less in either category. Now, everyone is tucked into their beds with their pillows and their sheets. I'll be doing the same in about an hour. Gary is off getting pizza. I think I can eat some and nothing will happen. Then again, that could be wrong thinking.

Chit Chat

I'm not one for chatting with strangers. This may sound shocking, but I'm kinda an introvert. I dislike chatting at weddings, showers, school functions, after church. . . .I don't know how to make small talk. It makes me uncomfortable.

I've had two folks strike up conversations with me in the past couple of weeks while we were playing on the playground at school after Mandarin classes. Both ended up blessing me, so I'm glad I actually chatted rather than run away. I've been thinking a lot about the second encounter.

This was with a stay-at-home dad. I was sitting in the shade, he came and sat about 10 feet from me. . . and then you guessed it--he began to talk to me. I kept thinking "Just go away. Just go away. Just go away." I didn't look at him much hoping that he would get the hint. He didn't and you guessed it, we began to chat. At one point, Ben shared that his wife taught at Hamilton schools. I mentioned that my dad had taught for years at Blue Star Elementary. He looked at me with big eyes and asked what my dad's name was. "Dan Koeman" I replied. He started to laughed and rolled back in the grass. "Your dad was my favorite teacher! That is cool. You have such an amazing father." Garrison came over and I told him that this man once had his Gramps as a teacher. Garrison could hardly believe that. Our new friend then told Garrison that he was so lucky to have Mr. Koeman as a grandpa. Garrison agreed. He also told our friend that Gramps only had one leg. (They are fascinated with how dad lost his leg and how that all works. We probably have one conversation about it every week.) I thought later about Ben's comments. He was exactly right. I do have an amazing father.

Dad touched so many lives during his teaching career. He made a great difference serving on the Laketown Township Board. He was a wonderful elder in our church. None of these are his greatest accomplishment. He recently told his counselor that he had made some big investments during his lifetime. He does not money to show for it, but he put everything into four particular kids. He gave his time. He gave his resources. He watched and prayed. Today, his investments have paid off and he is seeing and reaping the rewards. His investments are changing the world for the Lord.

While growing up, I did have the best dad. He loved us, played with us, made us work, sat down to dinner with us, prayed with us and for us, read to us, taught us how to ski, hike, build fires, love books, try even if we failed, value education. . . the list goes on and on. See, kids like Ben got to have dad for one year. I got to have him every day, every month, for years and years. I get to say that Mr. Koeman is my favorite dad.

Lots of checks out the door. . .

I wrote five checks this morning. It is fundraiser time and all my kids are fund raising for school. I know that schools need to do this. I know that bands need to do this. I know that youth groups need to do this. I get it, and I participate. My kids are still young enough that they don't get the whole prizes thing--Yeah! Two weeks ago our neighbor showed up to sell us delicious treats so that her fifth grade band could go somewhere special. I bought a tub of cookie dough for twelve dollars. Twelve Dollars! Plus, I'm looking forward to pepperoni pizza and a twelve dollar roll of wrapping paper.

So, we need a policy. I think we have one, but Gary and I need to discuss it so that we've got it down. I think we'll buy one item for every fundraiser for our kids and buy one thing from neighbors we know. It may need to be tweaked. We came up with our book policy last night.

I loved ordering Scholastic books when I was a kid. I think that my parents let me get a book every time. What is up with that? I might be wrong. I do remember spending lots of time looking at all the books and descriptions and trying to decide which one I would get. Choosing was half the fun. Thanks mom and dad! I devoured books and loved getting new ones. I would return to those books again and again. I want my kids to have the same love affair that I did. So, we decided that they didn't need to get a book every time the order sheets come home--once a month. We will let them get a book about three or four times a year. When they can read, then they can get books more often if they'd like to work for the money to get them. We'll see how it goes.

Do you have policies? Care to share?

In love

Evein' folks
I'm bringing on the cuteness! Yup, featured below is one adorable honey. I was looking through the last batch of photos and realized that:
1. I have NOT neglected the youngest child in this family. Yes siree, this girl will have plenty of pictures documenting her history.
2. Penny is doing, getting into, climbing upon, and turning up-side-down everything in this house. This is why I have so many pictures of her!
3. She brings me joy and I like her.

Captions will be below the pictures.

Maybe this super scarf that Noel put on me will help me get at the dog food--I just want a snack!


Hmmm. . .stuff in drawers. Awesome!

Garrison made a slide out of a cushion, so I went down it--head first--again and again and again and. . . .

Climbing on furniture is better if you look sassy.

Mom needs help picking flowers. Yes. She. Does.

Every girl plays with stones.

Just looking for frogs like my brothers do. (After this picture, it took us a bit to get her out and her shoe stayed put. I loved it!)

Daddy's girl. Yes. She. Is.

Bike riding wears me out.

Concert anyone?

Ravioli

Learning to use a spoon. Um. . . notice the hand with the spoon and her opposite hand. Yup, that went well. :)

This girl needs some apples.

No fear of these birds--they are running away from her!