Spirit Week

And Anika goes for it.
Monday - Mismatch day - she wore two different socks and two different shoes
Tuesday - Twin day - she and two other girls wore tie dye shirts and red capes and black pants
Wednesday - Celebrity Day - Olaf
Thursday - Neon Day
Friday - Warrior Day - Green and White - school colors

It's time to dance in the rain

or at least play on the pudding can stilts.

And so it begins

I have no good reasons, but I love soccer season. I love watching my kids play soccer. I love how much fun they have. I love all the neat families we have met. I love how much they have learned. I don't so much love how busy it is, but such is life.

Brandon prefers mid field and forward. Maria defense. Anika doesn't care and will play goalie to forward depending on the game. Jessica LOVES to play goalie but will also play anywhere depending on the game.

Meet Charlie

Charlie is the newest recruit to the Eenigenburg dog sitting world. Charlie's parents were gone for three weeks. Jessica has decided she is going to own a Sheltie some day. She also says she is never going to get married and just have dogs... a great dane and a sheltie. Time will tell.

Charlie is very easy to have around. He hates fireworks and thunderstorms. He likes to sleep on a bed with the kids. Charlie sheds... therefore the kid's beds are no longer hair free. Lovely. Charlie also gets very upset when I leave the house - as in barks, tries to bite me and runs in circles.  Not sure what that means.

Labor Day Weekend

No major plans for Labor Day Weekend, but we did manage to have all kinds of fun.

On Saturday, we traveled a bit to my cousin and her husband's cabin - almost 3 hours from our home - but so much fun. Aunt Kathy came along and the kiddos all had fun playing together and tubing. We took a tour of the lake on the pontoon towards the end of the evening. It was a great couple of hours!

The Nina and the Pinta sailed into town - literally. These are exact replicas of the actual ships, made by descendants of the actual ship builders.  They were cool to look at but as a Y member we got to tour them for free, which was a good thing. There wasn't much to see once you got on board and I would have been very disappointed if we had actually spent money on the tickets. The dock was not far from the YMCA, so the crew showered at the Y which gave all of us free passage onto the boat.

Then on Monday we were off to the Dutch Village. I hadn't been there since I was a very small child and it is such a fun place. The weather did not cooperate which made me very sad, but I noticed on our tickets that the free passes the kids got from the library are good all through 2015 so we can hit it again in the spring. That made the day much better. If you look at the picture, you can see how hard it was raining and how drenched the kids were. They had fun ... ferris wheel, flying swings, videos of Holland, wooden shoes, Delft, carousel, farm, zipline..... and the candle shop.

Brandon's Birthday(s)

Guess who turned 12?

Best quote from Brandon: 'I'm finally a teenager.'  You should have seen his face when I explained to him that you actually have to have the word 'teen' in your number to be a teenager.

Brandon is growing up. He still would choose to spend time in front of the TV or computer over just about anything. His mind is quick and he remembers everything. He loves to play sports and this fall moved up a level in soccer - which we all are enjoying. He loves to tease, taunt, scare and generally bother his sisters, but he also is the first one to protect them and worry about them. He loves to make people laugh. He gets great pleasure out of making up a joke that is actually funny. He has silly faces and antics. 

We were in MN on Brandon's birthday so we had Snickers Ice cream bars for his birthday treat at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Once we got home we had birthday 24 hours. When its December, I declare it my birthday month. Brandon really has almost a whole birthday month and we haven't even done his special event yet.  One night we had the scavenger hunt for presents and baked potatoes for supper followed by a special chocolate cake warmed up with ice cream. The next morning we had donuts for breakfast and streamers were hung on his door. In a few weeks, we hope to take him and a few friends to an indoor club called 3 Mile Project. Its a hangout with all kinds of games and things. Parents are not allowed in. It is supervised by a group of volunteers and Brandon LOVES it. 

Welcome to almost team little man. We love you and can't wait to see what the next years bring.

First Day of School

End of summer is always bittersweet to me. I love fall - the weather, the colors, the return to a routine....  But fall also means no more lazy Sunday evenings, no more sleeping in, no more free Saturdays.  I often feel like I haven't done enough with my kids over the summer. We made a list of things to do over the summer, and we didn't do so well.  Granted, some of their wishes were rather unrealistic, but none the less, we didn't accomplish as many memories as I had hoped.
I also lose my slave labor that hangs out the laundry and empties the dishwasher.
But, back to the things I love about fall - the house looks the same when I come home as when I left, I no longer have four children turning into zombies in front of the TV and computer, soccer season, and of course, the sunsets.
So here's to 8th grade, 6th grade, 4th grade, and 2nd grade.