A few pics

Connor kicking a corner kick at one of his school soccer games.

Connor really wanted the transition lenses for his glasses this year.  I'm not crazy about them, but he likes them, so I guess that's what really matters!

I think the other team needs to spread out a bit :-)

Truman found a stick to play with at one of Elianna's games! (Part of the soccer field overlaps with a baseball diamond....thus the dirt!)

I didn't get as many good pics of Elianna this game.  Here she is on defense.

Defense isn't always so much fun.

Lining up to shake hands...you can see Jon way at the back of the line.  Elianna is in the middle with her hands up by her shoulders.

My nephew, Henry, came over on Saturday night while Mark and Sara went to the Gophers football game.  He really wanted to play twister!  So, we improvised and played on Elianna's baby quilt that Grandma Farm had made for her!

In Memory of Kay Van Hulzen

This weekend we were able to celebrate the life of Kay Van Hulzen.  She struggled with colon cancer for over 10 years.  While it was a sad occasion, it was good to know she is now pain free and in the arms of Jesus.

Her obituary can be found here.

She truly lived her life for the Lord and wanted everyone to know that he is the only way to be certain of your future.

Chad, Amy and Megan will remain in our thoughts and prayers.  As well as the rest of the Peterson and Van Hulzen families.

I love this song!  It helps get me through times like this.


And so does this one...sung at her funeral.


This one was also sung at her funeral.  What a testimony.

Stop, Look, Listen

I get daily devotionals sent to me from the Purpose Driven Connection...associated with Rick Warren (who wrote The Purpose Driven Life) and Saddleback Church.

Today's hit home with me, because I am often one of those people that react quickly to something I hear or read.  We've had a little issue with this at work this week too :-(  Hopefully we can all learn something from this!

Stop, Look, Listen Wednesday September 22 2010 Posted by Rick Warren "A fool gives vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control." Proverbs 29:11 (NIV) "Anger, like every other emotion, is caused by the way you see a situation. If you want to control your anger, one way to do it is to change your point-of-view." Why is it so important to keep our anger under control?  Because uncontrolled anger can become a habitual way of responding to life. Pretty soon, your anger controls you instead of you controlling your anger. The Book of Proverbs is filled with practical steps on how to control your anger. Let me share three.  The easiest way to remember them is to remember a little phase that you may have learned as a child when you were taught to cross the street:  Stop, Look, Listen.            1.  Stop.  Stop and think before you speak. I don't know why it is but angry words always seem to come easily.  I know some people who, when they get angry, are witty, sarcastic, quick!  But a sharp tongue is the quickest way to cut your throat. Proverbs 14:17 (NIV) says, "A quick tempered man does foolish things." And Proverbs 15:1 (NIV) says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath but harsh words stir up anger." The starting point in dealing with anger is to stop and watch what you say.            2.  Look.  Look at the situation from God's point of view, not your point-of-view. That means be mature enough to overlook minor hurts, frustrations and insecurities.  If somebody insults you, criticizes you, or puts you down, be mature enough to say, "It's not going to bother me." Proverbs 12:16 (NIV) says,"A man's wisdom gives him patience.  It is his glory to overlook an offense." Anger, like every other emotion, is caused by the way you see a situation. If you want to control your anger, one way to do it is to change your point-of-view.            3.  Listen.  Listen to the needs and hurts of those people that you're tempted to be angry against. Any angry person is just a hurting person.  They're hurting inside, they're frustrated. When you listen to their needs, it's easier to respond and not get angry. "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."  (James 1:19 NIV) If you do the first two, the third will come automatically.  If you are quick to listen and slow to speak, it is going to be automatic that you are slow to become angry.

Not a good neighbor

We were hanging out in the front yard late this afternoon when our neighbor pulled into her garage and she and her daughter got out of the car. At first I didn't know if it really was our neighbor or a friend of hers.  She started down the driveway to the mailbox and I realized, yes, it is Ann.  Then I felt horrible.  She has lost all of her hair and had a cute scarf on her head. I had NO idea she had been sick!  I asked her about it and she said she started her first round of chemo.  Since her 9 year old daughter was right there, I didn't want to ask too many questions, and we continued to talk about other things.  So I don't even know what exactly she is getting chemo for.  Now hopefully I will be able to chat with her again and see if there is anything we can help her with as she goes through chemo.

I also can't help but keep Kay Van Hulzen in my thoughts also.  How I wish I had unlimited time so that I could stay with Kay and Ann and their families and help out however needed.  Meals, being there for a hug or a chat, or little things like bring them a coffee.

A couple from church had to return from mission work in Honduras because the husband needed treatment for cancer.

Cancer is hitting too close to home.  Prayers are being lifted for all.

Gems from my GEM.

Elianna does NOT like thunderstorms.  There was one during the day today while she was at school...since it was the first one of the school year, I sent a message to her teacher just to give her a heads up if Elianna all of a sudden came down with a sore tummy.  It often starts to hurt when she is getting nervous!

Tonight was the kickoff at church for all the Wednesday night activities. Connor is in Cadets (Jon is his counselor), Elianna is in GEMS, Truman goes to the nursery and I do the singing for Pioneer Club, then go to choir.  Just after 8:00 when it was time to go home, the thunderstorms started again.  I knew it could be a long ride home!  Jon had come directly from the airport, so he and Connor rode together, and it was Elianna, me and Truman in the van.

Here are some of the quotes from Elianna's continuous dialogue on the way home....

I wish that the windows could be soundproof with the touch of a button!

Wouldn't it be cool if there was an umbrella for the top of the van so we wouldn't have to hear the rain?

You know, I think that the lightning is God's way of saying I'm always here!...or it could be him burning the devil with each lightning!

Mom, what makes lightning?  It's like electricity that all gets together and goes swoosh!

My tummy doesn't even hurt!

I bet you and Daddy are loving this, aren't you?  I hate it!

I tried to remember them all, but I know I didn't!  It was a long 20 minute drive home, but she did keep me chuckling :-)

Praying

I have been feeling a little sorry for myself this week because Jon is going out of town again tomorrow.  It is only a 2 day/1 night trip, but I depend on him so much to do things around the house!  He hardly ever travels, and this time it will be 3 times in a month and a half.  So while I was thinking about that, I was checking email and got one from my mother-in-law.  She forwarded an email from Jon's uncle, Glenn Van Hulzen.


Kay Van Hulzen (married to Jon's cousin, Chad) has had colon cancer for the past 10+ years.  She has gone through many ups and downs.  Right now things are not looking well.  Chad and Kay have 2 girls.  Amy is 19 and a sophomore at UW Stout and Megan is 16 and a junior at Park Center High School.


I cannot imagine being that age and going through all the emotions of watching their mother struggle.


The family and some friends were involved in the "Get Your Rear In Gear" walk to raise money for Colon Cancer last spring.  I also know that Amy and some college friends walked in honor of Kay for Relay for Life.

So while I was feeling sorry for myself, I was reminded to knock it off and say a prayer for Kay.  So I did.  Will you please pray too?

Back in the routine of things.

Things are getting back to our normal routine!  Hopefully that means I'll also get back into the routine of posting on the blog :-)

It is the first Friday of the first week of school.  We now have a 5th grader (middle school at TLO!!) and a 3rd grader.  Plus a 15 month old on the 12th!!

I still have to upload the pics Jon took from the first day of school.  I am working the early shift this year, so I was not able to drop the kids off.

Soccer has started for both Connor and Elianna.  Jon is helping coach both of the teams.  The only problem I see with that...I'm not as free to take pictures!  Truman now runs all over, so I have to keep my eye on him and keep him out of trouble while I try to take pics :-)

Connor at bat :-)  He played traveling baseball for the first time this year.  He had a great time and got to know some great kids.  We also got to know the families really well.  We couldn't have asked for better coaches and families for his first traveling experience.

Connor's team took 1st place in the Lakeville AND Apple Valley tournaments!!

And he was safe!!

I still can get her to smile even while she's playing out in the field :-)

Up to bat!

I couldn't be more proud :-)  She's taking after her mother pitching slow-pitch softball!  Elianna made the all-star team!  It was still coach's pitch for her regular league, but then they played the older teams in a tournament.  Then they needed the girls to pitch.  She did a great job!!

Truman went to A LOT of ball games this summer!  Connor played 41 games (and Truman was at most of those!) and Elianna played a bunch too.  We were even able to make a couple of Jon's church softball games.  He was a good boy most of the time!  He did not lack for attention no matter where we went!

He had his first haircut this summer!

After the haircut...he started crying at the end of the haircut, thus the need for the pipe!

I hope I'll have some time to post some pics of our vacation this summer too!  These are just a little glimpse of our summer!

Alive and Well

Yes, we are alive and well :-)  I have not posted in a REALLY long time!  I will try to correct that very soon.  Since the last post was about Truman and the StarTribune contest--I'll update.  He didn't make it past the 1st round.  Bummer.  But, that's okay.  The picture I had posted of him was taken at the last minute, and probably didn't do him justice!

Truman turned 1 on June 12th!  Where did the time go?

Connor is playing baseball, baseball and more baseball.  He is playing on a traveling team this year, and it has been really fun watching him grow and develop as a player and get to know some other kids from the community.

Elianna is playing softball.  Sometimes it is just brutal watching her games.  It is kindergartners, 1st and 2nd graders.  Many of the girls have never played before and must not have been playing ball with their older brother and dad in the back yard like Elianna has been for several years!  They only play 4 innings--and it goes until the team gets 3 outs, or the batting team scores 7 runs.  I would say that Elianna's team allows the 7 runs almost every time!

I will try and update some more and include some pics in the next week--but I have to be cleaning house too!  My cousin from Denver and her family are coming next week :-)  Many things have been pushed to the back burner during the last month of school--time to move them to the front!

Vote on Monday!!

Please vote for Truman today!!  See the below post for the link :-)

Thank you!

Cutest Baby Contest

With the urging of Connor and Elianna I entered Truman in startribune.com's cutest baby contest.  He is in the 1st group--voting is on Monday from 10 am to 9 am Tuesday morning.

Would you help by voting for him?  His picture is titled "Little Man" and my screen name is TeacherMom.

I attached the pic that I took that night we entered him.  If he is in the top 5 for the day, he makes it into the next round in 2 weeks.  He could win up to $1000! (Which would definitely help the 3rd child's college fund!)

Here is the link:

http://startribune.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=15579

Thanks for your help!!

Heidi

Not Quite As Picky!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Connor will willingly eat hamburger! I know, you wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal. Especially with a Mom who LOVES hamburgers, steaks, beef roasts...you name it!

In the past week Connor has eaten Hamburger Helper (and declared it his new favorite meal!!!), steak and a cheeseburger.

Elianna has always been a good eater. And Truman is so far a good eater. We still have a ways to go--need to include more fruits (Connor) and veggies (both kids). But hey, we're making progress!

Connor is 10!! and Elianna is 8!!!

Connor's 10th birthday was on March 22nd. I can hardly believe that it was 10 years ago that he entered this world, gray and not breathing. How scared we were! In many ways it was a good thing that he was our first child. How was I to know that all the people coming into my room were not the norm? The births I had seen on "The Baby Story" on TLC all had a bazillion people in the delivery room!?! His first Apgar score was a 1. He quickly rebounded and is such a fabulous, bright, caring boy at 10 years old!

We were in Texas visiting Jon's sister Kate, her husband, Khachik, their kids Alex and Sevana and Grandma Farm too. (Jon's dad was working with CRWRC in New Orleans the week we were there...bummer!)

I asked Connor what he wanted for his birthday dinner...he replied, "Brinner!" (That means breakfast for dinner, those of you who don't watch Scrubs!)


I bought him a cake at a local grocery store. White cake with white frosting, of course. Connor and Elianna were ecstatic at the amount of frosting for the balloons!

Trying to get a picture of all the cousins. Too hard to get them all looking at the camera at the same time!

Siblings :-)


Connor "trying" to blow out his candles! I'm a mean Mom...I got the trick candles!


More trying!


Kate had candles that spelled out "Happy Birthday" and Alex really wanted to use those, so we let him have an "A" on his piece of cake!


Connor got quite a few shirts for his birthday :-) The Texas sweatshirt was from Gpa and Gma Farm, the "Vans" shirt from K & K and kids, and the "Blood Donor" shirt from us. He was also excited to get a bat and bat bag. He is trying out for traveling baseball! Yikes! Hopefully it won't be too bad. They will have 4 weekend tournaments, plus they might make State tournaments. The hardest part about it is that he is also playing baseball for school. I'm praying that there won't be too many nights that there are conflicts. (And that there are not a whole lot of Sunday games that he'll miss!)



We celebrated Elianna's birthday a few days later. Plus Alex and Sevana's. I'm so bad at getting gifts sent out on time. Their birthdays were in November and December!! Bad Tante.

Elianna got the cool bag and glasses from Gpa and Gma. She got a cool shirt with the peace sign on it from K & K and kids. She LOVES that shirt! It is purple when it is cold and turns white when she's warm. She's already worn it a couple of times to school!


Elianna was our Easter baby in 2002. She has a lot of spunk! But she is also so very sweet. She loves to play with her younger cousins! Elianna loves school and loves her friends even more!

Elianna's gifts from us included an American Girl craft kit. She loves crafts!! She had gotten one from Mark, Sara and Henry too and thought it was the best!! She also got a new dress for her AG doll, Kit, and a t shirt that says, "Yes, I am a Princess. My Father is the King of Kings."

When I asked Elianna what she wanted for her birthday dinner, she didn't care if it was pizza or cheeseburgers. I thought maybe we would just go to my parents house, but she wanted to go out to eat with the Mellema's. So after several phone calls back and forth...we met them for dinner! We ended up at Champp's in Burnsville.

The older boys were happy being able to watch sports!


Elianna with her buddy Cade.

Blowing out the candles on her DQ Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard Cake. YUMMY!!!

Scott, Elianna and Heather

Elianna and her other buddy Camden :-)

9 month well check

Truman is doing well! His 9 month check was actually around a 9.5 month check, but it doesn't really matter!

The funny thing about today's checkup is that we were just talking about this same situation with Jon's sister while we were in Houston last week.

The nurse called Truman's name and walked us back to the room. She asked me to get Truman down to a dry diaper. She then measured his length and his head circumference. We then brought him out to the baby scale out in the hall. He was so cute while on the scale! A good thing he sat still for a short time at first so she could get a pretty accurate weight. He started bouncing around on the scale after about 30 seconds!

Anyway, we went back into the room and she said Dr. Mitha would be with us shortly. Meanwhile Jon called to see what our plan was for dinner for Elianna's birthday tonight (I'll do another post soon about her and Connor's birthdays!) Then there was a knock on the door. Told Jon, I gotta go! It was the nurse coming back in to recheck the measurement of Truman's head. I said, "Don't worry about it! He's just got a big head--so did his brother and sister!" The nurse then remeasured and said, "Mom knows what she's talking about."

That's pretty much what I told the radiologist when they were concerned about his head size to femur ratio during an ultrasound :-)

Anyway, the same thing had happened to Kate and Khachik when they brought Alex to the doctor! The Van Hulzen kids just have big heads!

Trumans stats:
Weight 19 lbs. 3 1/2 oz 25 - 50%
Height 28 1/2 inches 50 - 75%
Head 18 1/2 inches 90% (The older two were always at 98%+!! So his is small compared to theirs!