Catching Up

It has been a little while since I've updated with "Dylan's Daily Doings", so I'll give you a run down of the fun we've been having. My excuse for not updating sooner could be all of the following, or the fact that I've been pretty busy creating advertising fliers and folders for church. Sometimes I wonder if Jon thinks I'm attached to this computer! Unfortunately we've got a laptop, so it makes it all that easier to work whenever I have a few minutes free. I've got to work on that... but before I take a break from this computer, here are a few recollections from our last few weeks.

Dylan & I got together with my cousins from Lansing and Colorado and aunt to enjoy our crazy boys together, who are all under 3 1/2. Their Great-Grandma Minnie was supposed to be there too, but she ended up sitting in the hospital waiting to be discharged ALL DAY! We were pretty sad about that, but are glad nothing was terribly wrong and that she was home by 6:00. The boys had a great time being boys! Everyone agrees this baby has to be a boy... I wonder why?!?

Dylan & Dad had a great time playing outside in the cooler, less humid weather we've been having lately. Washing the car is ALWAYS a great time! Dylan's favorite game has been Hide And Seek. Dad hides while Dylan counts. Dylan has to be the seeker, because he's a lousy hider! He always comes to find you once you say, "Ready or not, here I come!"

We were also able to go to the zoo during "Member Appreciation Week". In addition to seing all the fun animals, Dylan got to have a snake painted on his arm and enjoy a free snack. He was pretty excited about that. He even got to feed the budgies for the first time. He LOVED to hold his stick out and wait for the bird to land on it and eat. I'm sure we'll have to do this every time now!

Jon has been playing in the softball tournament at the Rec Center this week. Because of all the rain, 3 nights were rained out. 2 of those were nights we got rained on while there! Dylan did not like it when we made a mad dash to get out of the down pour. He sure did cry! But, Dylan's "homerun power" still works. On Monday, he told Dad to hit a homerun, and he did more that that. Jon had a grand slam! One more game tonight. Hopefully it doesn't rain!

This past Saturday, we went to a cottage with a group of friends from church. Dylan is not afraid of the water, so he ran right in to everyone's surprise. We firgured he would like tubing too, but we were terribly wrong! He went out with 3 other friends and their parents and cried most of the time. Jon turned around a let Dylan sit on his lap and then Dylan just covered his eyes for the rest of the ride. Of course, the adults had to join in the fun too! It was a little bit of a rougher ride than with the kids, but not quite as rough as last year. They must be getting older! =)

Here is a picture of most of the kids on Saturday, only 2 of the littlest ones were missing. Next year, we'll add 3 more! YIKES!

It's been a fun summer. It's hard to believe that Labor Day is in a week. We don't have to go back to school yet, so we're going to make summer last a little longer this year. September will be just as much fun as June, July, & August!

Oh, and to those of you waiting to see my belly... you'll have to wait until Jon takes a picture of Dylan and me doing something together. Good luck waiting on that one!

Baking with Dylan

Dylan loves to help me in the kitchen. He pulls his stool right up to the counter and wants to do everything I am doing. So... instead of getting frustrated or making a huge mess, we've been making some great treats! I thought I'd share two of Dylan's favorites- Granola Bars and Banana Blueberry Muffins.

Granola Bars

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal

3-4 cups mix-ins (mini M&Ms, peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, trail mix, almonds, spices, etc.)

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Place unopened can of milk in hot water to soften while mixing dry ingredients. When oats and mix-ins are combined, stir in milk until coated. Press into a greased 10x15" jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. (We usually bake for 20 minutes because I don't like them too crunchy.) Let cool for 5 minutes. Cut bars, cover with foil, and flip out of pan to finish cooling. Break apart & store in an airtight container. Makes about 24 bars. (Sometimes we make a 1/2 batch, like in the last picture, which works great too.)

Banana Blueberry Muffins
3 lg bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Mix ingredients in order. Fold in berries. Fill muffin tins. Sprinkle tops with white or brown sugar. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins. (Dylan likes mini muffins, so we usually make 8 large ones and use the rest of the batter for mini muffins.)




Hope you enjoy baking with your little ones as much as I enjoy doing it with Dylan! Try these recipes out next time!

The Dog Days of Summer

We've been enjoying some great summer weather and have had fun enjoying it too! Last week neither Jon nor I had ANY PLANS!!! What a miracle! So, we played at the park, went to the pool, golfed in the front yard, and just had fun hanging out. It's great not to have a yard to take care of... we have all the time in the world to play with our "Big D"!

Here are a few shots of the fun week-

It was pretty hot, so Dylan enjoyed drinking out of my Nalgene bottle. I need to put a straw in it all the time now. I guess Mom's cup is better that his!

This is Dylan's favorite spot in the "yard". He likes to scoop up the rocks and play with all his construction toys. He also likes to draw on the sidewalk, which I'm standing on, with his chalk. Can you guess what I have to draw all the time? Yup... bulldozers, excavators, steam rollers, and dump trucks! I've gotten to be a pretty good "construction artist".

One morning, we had to call Grandma Westra up at 8:15 to see if she wanted to go to the Splash Pad with us. They don't open until 10:00, so we wasted some time at a garage sale buying tools for Dylan. Great-Grandpa Meengs must be looking down from Heaven with a big smile because Dylan LOVES garage sales. I wonder if he'll like shuffle board too?!? Then we went to Marge's Donut Den for a morning treat. We were still early, so we watched the fork lift move picnic tables at the park and went to the playground. What a perfect morning for Dylan-- garage sales, tools, donuts, Grandma, a fork lift, the tunnel slide, and water! He was so exhausted by the time we got home!

My college friend Lisa invited us to Maranatha's beach in Muskegon on Friday. Dylan loved playing in the sand with us, but wasn't so sure about the crashing waves of Lake Michigan. Oh well, he was still cute! It was great to see Lisa & her sister. We had a lot of great times at Calvin and I miss seeing her. Too bad she lives in Flint. I'm so glad she called us and that we finally made it there... I got a little lost on the way! =)

On Saturday, Jon & his brothers, Chris & Mark, had their annual golf outing with Uncle Duane at Sunnybrook. Tracy and I try to plan something fun that day too so we don't go stir crazy, so this year we decided to head up to the cottage since all three kids haven't been there together yet. The kids had fun digging in the sand, jumping in the water, and playing with Grandma & Grandpa. It was a perfect day!

Chloe, Julia, & Dylan enjoying the water

Dylan, my child with NO fear, jumping off the dock

Here is a little video for Aunt Kerin of Chloe & Dylan jumping into the water. Julia was either too cold or too tired to join in this time. The video is a little dorky and short, but you'll get the idea!

Thanks for posting!

Here is a picture of one of Dylan's favorite past times. He LOVES to look at pictures on the computer, either of himself or on the blog sites of family and friends. So, thank you to those who diligently post stories and pictures for us. We really enjoy looking... even though we don't always comment! (Which I should do more often, because I find myself checking our blog several times daily to see if we have more comments!) Hope you have a good weekend... we'll check for your pictures soon!

I Made A Funny... or two

On Friday, Dylan and I went to Wendy's for dinner. When he was done, I asked him what he needed to do before he got down. He told me he needed to pray and then proceeded to say, in his loudest voice possible, "THANK YOU, JESUS. AMEN!" Boy, did we get the stares from the downtown Muskegon crowd!

Then, after lunch today we read the story about God sending manna to the Israelites in the desert. After supper, Jon asked Dylan what food God sent from the sky. With complete confidence and without hesitation, Dylan replied, "Bananas."

Oh, the laughter Dylan brings to our house!!! =)