Our Boy Who Loves to Color

Luke has found a new love for coloring. He sits and colors for long periods of time. He has really gotten good at staying in the lines and my favorite part about his coloring is all the beautiful and bright colors he uses. After he finishes each picture he says, "Mom, let me whisper something in your ear...Can you write, to dad and draw five hearts." He either makes pictures for dad, mom, Andrew, or Allie. Sometimes he makes a picture and says to write our whole families names on it, except for his. He is so cute and so thoughtful. We have been sick at our house this whole weekend and thankfully today is one of our Monday holidays. Luke has either been resting on the couch or coloring. We love our little artist!!! Here are a few samples of his work.

Our Little Love

Allie loves to dress up for church. Last week she wore her Valentine dress and her sparkly shoes. As I was getting her hair bow out she started pointing to her hats. I said, "do you want your hat?" She shakes her head and put her hat on. She then runs right to daddy to show him how pretty she looks. I said, "oh Allie I should take your picture, so off she runs to pose on the fireplace. We need to work on her "CHEESE" smile. Love this girl so much!!!

Snow Day with the Neighbors!!!

For a couple years now we plan a day to go sledding with the neighbors. This year Luke woke up with a fever on the day of our sledding trip, so he stayed home with daddy to have a "snuggle" day. Daddy was great and kept Allie home as well. So, Andrew and I led the caravan up to the mountains. It was so quiet and relaxing to only have one child to look after and when Andrew gets in the snow he just loves to play, climb up the hill many times, and explore. Our favorite spot was actually closed so we went to our neighbor Stephanie's sisters cabin to sled behind it. It was a great area. There were lots of snow mobiles, so Andrew was in heaven. We love our neighbors and always enjoy our outings together.

our family picture

Meet Bizzle...our new family pup!!!

Luke got a big stuffed dog for his birthday, so TT and grandma got Andrew one as well. His name is Bizzle and the kids treat him like a real dog. He sleeps in Andrews bed, they feed him, and play with him. Allie even feels the need to crawl on the kitchen table to feed him. For now this is what a pet looks like in the VandenAkker house. Mommy loves a pet just like Bizzle!!!

The Bachelor 2010

The new season of the bachelor started and all the girls in the neighborhood get together to watch every Monday night. We love the drama and the cheesy scenes. Monday night is an exciting night for all us moms!!!

Basketball Begins....our first post of 2010

Andrew started basketball on Saturday. The local high school team puts on a month long clinic for young kids. Andrew is on a team with other kindergartners. They practice for 1/2 hour and then play a game each Saturday. He loved it and keeps asking when it's basketball day again. We found some "SHAQ" basketball shoes at ROSS and this boy thinks they make him jump super high. He looked so cute out on the court, kinda like a mini Andy. As usual he payed very close attention and followed all the directions his coach gave him.

Happy 2010

We celebrated New Year's Eve at the neighbors house with pizza and dessert. It was very low-key, but just the way we like our New Year's Eve to be. The kids all played and at 9 o'clock we celebrated with the east coasters. We are looking forward to 2010 and all the new adventures it will hold.

the girls trying to look like we were at a raging party