Spotlight on Norah

We've all been really enjoying Norah lately. I was tucking her in a few nights ago and thinking how quickly she's growing up... she's NOT a baby anymore, but not quite a "pre-schooler" either (as much as she would like to be!). She is so full of LIFE, has so many words to say, and has so many opinions about everything. There are no dull moments with her around. Here are a few pictures and videos to showcase some of Norah's latest accomplishments. Bye bye crib...

Welcome new toddler bed (in the boys room -- yes all 3 amigos are now sleeping in the same room, which makes room for the spare room to be transformed into a play room. I love it!)

I thought I could get a quick picture of Norah after church wearing her new dress from Grandma Kostelyk (thanks -- she LOVES it!), but by the time I got to her, she had ripped out her headband, so her hair looks a little crazy ... but this is how she usually looks ... a little wild!

Norah loves rainbow jello

Lately Norah doesn't want to go anywhere without her doggie (Calvin named it Frederick, but Norah calls it "Friggit"). It's hilarious listening to her talk to her doggie... she uses this high-pitched, sing-song voice and offers to take the doggie on all kinds of adventures with her ("Doggie want to ride my bicycle with me? Doggie want a candy?...)

About a month ago, Norah figured out how to pedal her tricycle. Now she wants to ride it all the time. She's actually made the mile (round-trip) trek to CVC a couple of times. Go, Norah, go!

Easter

As the kids get older, holidays and celebrations really become more meaningful. This year for Easter, Daniel and Calvin had lots of questions and were very interested in knowing more details about things such as how did Jesus die, would it hurt a lot to have nails pounded into your hands, how did they get the cross to stand upright, etc... They were also very interested in doing some role-playing/acting out the whole crucifixion and resurrection... I guess the story is really sinking in!
On Easter Sunday, we had a wonderful group of friends at our house to celebrate Easter with. Altogether we had 14 adults and 10 kids (the youngest was only about 2 weeks old!) Here are a few pictures from our day:

I've included several pictures of the kids here. As you can see, it's still quite an effort to get all three to be looking at the camera and smiling at the same time!

Here are the adults. (The kids ate in the garage... we didn't mind the food fight in there quite as much) Despite having a small house, we can quite comfortably serve a big group by moving the couch, turning the dining table and extending into the living room.

The much anticipated Easter egg hunt...

Calvin is enjoying some of his treasures

Going for a fast slide

Daniel loves his daddy!

Almost all the kids

5th Annual Trip to the Fresno Zoo

It's hard to believe we've been doing this trip for 5 years now. We looked at our photo albums before we went, and the boys had fun looking at pictures of themselves at the zoo as babies and toddlers. It's become such a tradition now... to go every year to the Fresno Zoo with the Hiemstra family sometime during spring break. Once again, we had a great time! The 3 amigos

Checking out the elephants

Petting the goats

Calvin is looking for his next victim

The family

All 7 kids... as you can see the youngest Kostelyk and Hiemstra offspring weren't too excited about being coerced into taking pictures! (You'll see more of Norah's unwillingness to pose for the camera later!)

Our annual shot of our "wingspans"... Daniel's is definitely getting bigger!

Calvin is growing too

Norah just wanted to fly away!

Another attempt at getting all the kids. We got them all except Carter (can you tell how excited Norah was to be in this picture!)

Daniel and Calvin are trying to touch the stingrays with Blake

Lunch time

Mmmmmm... loving her root beer!

Mmmmmm.... loving her face!