Christmas Joy

Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

I love this song. It is a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. The gift of the saviour's birth. But there is something else about this song that I love. Joy! Happiness is something the world strives for all the time. Fullfillment, satisfication, contentment.

Especially at Christmas, so many of us try to give our kids every thing their heart desires. We buy them stuff, or give them experiences or trips in the hopes of making them happy. Sometimes we give Santa the credit and sometimes we keep the credit for ourselves.

And maybe all the stuff or experiences makes us feel happy or fullfilled or content. At least for a while.

But the only way we can experience true Joy is through God's gift to us. We can get a taste of Joy by sharing the gift with others.

Our church gave us an opportunity to taste the Joy on Christmas eve. We ordered a pizza and before the delivery man arrived we took up a collection for the tip. The amounts we gave at each service were signficant and the pizza guys were surprised and a little stunned to receive such a large gift.

We also offered the pizza guy another give. John 3:16. We hope that they take that gift. Our tip can help them out. It can give them some happiness for a season. But true Joy only comes from God.

Sneak Peek of Christmas Cards

Here is another option for our Christmas Cards... Which one will you get? You'll have to wait and see!

Good Blessings Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Cards

I love getting Christmas Cards in the mail! We got our first card the Saturday after Thanksgiving. (Kudos to the Kalakie's for getting them done so quickly.) I also like sending cards but sometimes its hard to find just the right card and just the right picture. On Sunday afternoon, we headed over to Partridge Creek Mall to try to capture the perfect Christmas Card picture. We did get a couple of nice pictures and of course a lot of goofy ones! You'll have to wait until you get our card in the mail to find out whether I chose one that was:



But if you haven't done your Christmas Cards yet, you should head over to Shutterfly.com.

They have lots of cards (including the one above) and they have some great sales going on. If you have a blog you can click this link to learn how to get 50 Free Photo Cards.


They also have some great Christmas gifts including Wall Calendars. I'm planning to order something for my parents. I'd better get on it! Tomorrow is December!!

Father's Day 2010

Father's Day is almost over. whew! It's been a mostly fun day. We attended Church, took a trip to the ER, grilled out with friends, spent the evening lots more friends at the park and ended it with Erma's frozen custard.

Kaylee gave Derek a neat photo frame.



Nate gave Derek a creme brulee set.



Max gave Derek a trip to the ER.



Just as church was ending, Max fell off a chair, and hit the back of his head on the corner of a cabinet. I was the teacher, thank goodness, so I was right there to pick him up to comfort him. But the I took one look at the back of his head and realized we'd be making a trip to the ER. St. John Macomb got us in immediately. 5 staples later we were on our way. Max was a trooper through the whole thing. The Dr. & Nurse couldn't believe how calm he was getting the staples (he did cry but he didn't struggle). We promised him blue gum and a blue slurpee for being so brave.

Next year I'm picking out Max's gift for Derek.

A Wii Little Christmas Post

The kids were thrilled with our Wii Little Christmas this year. The first present the all opened was the Wii Wheel. Nate said "what's this?" And Kaylee said "What does it look like?" Nate said "It looks like a wheel for the Wii." And then got a strange look on his face. I handed them another round of presents and they all opened different colored skins for the wii remotes. Nate started jumping up and down and said "I think we're getting a Wii! I think we're getting a Wii!" That got Max all excited even though he really didn't understand. But he was happy when he opened a Wii Cars game. He's slowly catching on to the Wii games, but is just as happy playing with the cars that were in his stocking. Nate & Kaylee are both really enjoying the Wii fit games. Derek & I really enjoyed watching their reactions. It was a fun Christmas. (Oh and Nate hasn't made any mention of the Air Hogs SwitchBlade that he announced he wanted 2 days before Christmas but I am watching it at Target to see if its clearanced out really cheap so I can pick one up for his birthday next November.)


Nate opening Nerf Game for Wii from Kaylee & Max


Max opening Cars Game for Wii


Kaylee opening Disney Pop Star Sing it for Wii

Four Twenty Eight Day

Today Derek & I celebrated 4:28 Day. You might be wondering if you missed a holiday, but don't worry this is one we totally made up.

Derek & I met at summer camp. With no radios allowed at camp, we didn't have an "our song" so Derek came up with the idea of setting his watch alarm to go off at a certain time everyday. We picked 4:28 because I was born in April (4) and Derek's birthday is the 28th of December. When the summer was over and we were headed back to our respective colleges (500 miles apart), Derek bought me a matching watch and set it to go off every day at 4:28. Our wedding even started at exactly 4:28. We don't do the watch thing anymore but we do celebrate 4:28 Day.

Derek called me at work at 4:28. When I got home I found a vase full of Daisies on the table. We ate left-over lasagna. Then while Kaylee was at ballet, Derek & the boys & I went to the high school track. Derek ran 5 miles while I ran 1.5. (I won't tell you how many times he lapped me). The boys played soccer in the in-field while we were running. After we picked Kaylee up from ballet, she watched the boys for an hour while Derek & I went on a "hot date." Our "hot date" consisted of going to Sonic for a limeade (my first time- yummy!) and Meijer to buy milk. Exciting, huh?

Well, even if we aren't exciting or incredible romantic. It's still fun to hold on to a little of our youth and remember when we were first in love.

An Easter Miracle

Easter weekend tends to be a whirlwind of activity. On Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, the kids had Easter parties. On Friday, I worked half a day from home then rushed up to Church to for the Good Friday Service. On Saturday, we attended the Easter Carnival at Church. On Sunday morning, we bribed the boys into wearing their Easter clothes by threatening to take away their Easter baskets if they didn't wear the sweater vests. Then we tried to get a family picture before leaving for church (while everyone was still clean).

Something strange happened during the picture taking. Kaylee, who has been a wonderful teen so far, gave us drama about clothes! Kaylee suddenly realized she didn't match the rest of the family. Even though, when she picked her outfit out several weeks ago, I told her that it didn't match. I also told her I didn't mind that it didn't match. But, in Kaylee's words, "I didn't realize that it didn't match so much!" The conversation that Kaylee & I had was less than pleasant.

Derek got the boys out to the van while I gathered our last minute things. As we were ready to walk out the door, Kaylee appeared in a different outfit, looking for a matching sweater & shoes. This tried my "mom patience" to its limit. Derek gave Kaylee 30 seconds to get in the van or get left behind. We finally left for church a not-too-happy family.

On the way to church, we passed an SUV pulled over to the side of the road and observed a couple having a heated discussion on the side walk. Derek & I started laughing, and said "Look, someone having a rougher morning than us!"

The laughter was a good reminder to us that Easter isn't about the clothes we wear or the parties we attend, or the chocolate bunnies in the baskets.

It is about God loving us so much that his son paid the price for all the wrong things we do, so that we could be with him in heaven some day. That is worth celebrating!

And in the end we got our own little Easter Miracle. After Church everyone was still clean enough to try again for a family picture. We got this one on the first try. Everyone is looking at the camera with their eyes open so we stopped while we were ahead.



Happy Easter, love the Dexters

Happy New Year- I'm already behind

Wow- you've got to love the holidays. Since I get two weeks off- I always think I'll have a nice relaxing vacation: spend lots of quality time with the kids, catch up on my reading, spend time with friends and family, eat a few desserts. Well all of that happens- except its not a few desserts and it seems to happen in a whirlwind so by the time the vacation is over I don't feel relaxed. It's January 4 and I already feel behind. Oh well, that's just my life. At least I know I'm living it to the fullest and loving (almost) every minute.

But since I'm definitely behind in blogging- let me do a catch up post! Photos at the end.

Happy New Year! We had a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration with about 10 families and too many kids to count. Kaylee, Nate and even Max stayed up right through the horn blowing and fireworks and fell asleep around 1 am on the way home. Our friends also surprised Derek with a birthday cake complete with 40 candles and a very loud version of "Happy Birthday". It was a great night.

On January 1 we drove to Grand Rapids to spend a few days with family and friends there. I wish we could have had longer. Even though we only see them a few times a year we have such an awesome time with our "wild & crazy GR friends." They are the type of friends that when you see them again it doesn't feel like its been months- it feels just like old times. Except that we are getting old. These are are camp friends so "wild & crazy" used to mean toliet papering the boys cabin or convincing one of the guys to try to drink a whole gallon of milk so he'd puke. Then after college but before kids, "wild & crazy" meant getting together at someone's house and playing card games until the wee hours of the morning. This year "wild & crazy" meant getting a babysitter for 9 kids (Kaylee helped but we'd never leave her alone out numbered like that), going to dinner at 5:30pm and then playing cards at Biggby until they closed at 10pm. We seriously contemplated going to the hospital cafeteria since they never close but one of the tough guys insisted that just the smell of the hospital would make him puke. Yep. That's us. Wild & Crazy.

We also got to spend a couple hours with another couple- friends that we haven't spent much time with in the last few years. That is bittersweet. It's great to see them again but it reminds me a little bit of what we're missing by not living close by. The sweet part is that we are all Christians and I know we'll have an eternity of friendship in heaven someday! Something to really look forward to!

On January 3 we had Derek's family's Christmas celebration. Max & Nate had a great time wrestling and playing with their college age cousins. Kaylee was so excited to spend time with her older female cousin. And we have a new grand-niece due any day now. Again, we don't spend as much time as we'd like with family so when we do its special.

We came back home late last night so that we could be in church today for the Mission & Values launch. The foyer looks amazing and Andy's message was right on. Passion is part of who we are. Sometimes passion is tiring but its so worth it.

So I'll keep running. I'll blog when I can, spend quality time with my friends and family and look forward to the finish line when we can spend eternity in the presence of the almighty God. It's my most fervent New Year's wish to see you at the finish line with me!


New Year's Eve- Max & Kelli celebrate.


Derek Blows out all 40 of his candles.


Derek's Family Christmas

Drew & Angie (Drew's Girlfriend), Devon, Nick, Max, Kaylee, Nate


Drew, Nate & Max play with Nick's dog Jack.


Kaylee & Devon open presents

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

Luke 2:1-20

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Christmas Past Winner

The Winner of the Christmas past contest is non other than

Erica from Kirk Haven

It's rather fitting since she inspired the contest. Congrats to all you got the correct answers or made some attempt. The year was 2003, Kaylee was 7, Nate was 2.

The hint that it was not Max in the picture was a big hint since Max is now 2- the same age as Nate in the picture. Then once you guessed that Nate was 2 you could figure that the year was 2003. Kaylee's birthday is in the Meet the Characters- The Ballerina post. So using her birthday as a guide you could figure her age in the photo- she was 7, almost 8.

BTW, for those wondering how the winner was chosen it was a random drawing. Everyone who entered or commented on the post was put in the drawing.

Christmas past

I've been inspired by Erica over at Kirk Haven to hold a little contest. I'll follow a similar format with the same prize. (Starbucks!) My questions are what year is this and what are the kids ages?

There are some clues (like the kids birthdays) somewhere in this blog but to some extent its just guessing. (I'll give you another hint- that's Nate not Max!) All the correct guesses will go in a drawing and the winner will be posted on Sunday. Good Luck! You can email your answers to kcat1971@yahoo

25 Christmas Questions

Becky Jo posted these 25 Christmas Questions on her blog and tagged her readers to do the same. Here are my answers. If you have a blog, I invite you to play along.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate with a shot of peppermint!

2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? No Santa here- we celebrate CHRISTmas.

3. Colored lights on house/tree or white? Colored blinking lights on the tree. White iciles on the house if Derek hangs them up. (He really doesn't like to do it.)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope

5.When do you put your decorations up? We usually do the tree on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend but this year we were a little late. We put it up on Friday.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Cranberry Stuffing

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I remember staying up really late (like 4:30am) with my brother when we were about 14 & 12 to "prove" Santa didn't exist. We had paper routes and the papers came so we ended up not getting any sleep- instead we delivered our papers opened our presents then went to bed. Kind of a goofy memory but remembering the harmony my brother & I had gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. It was a good time in our relationship.


8.When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember exactly but I didn't believe at 14 (see above).

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We usually opened 1. Now my kids usually get PJs on Christmas eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? A mixture of heirlooms, fun cheap ornaments and expensive crystal ones. But after Nate broke 3 ornaments in a row this year (luckily the cheap ones) I decided not to get out the special ones.

11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Mostly love it- but I eventually get sick of it.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I kept the teddy bear that I got for my first Christmas for 30-some years. I think it might still be in storage in my crawl space.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Celebrating the birth of Christ. We read the Christmas story from Luke first thing on Christmas morning and we look at the holidays as an opportunity to make sure that the people around us know what our faith is.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Grandma VanZuese's Christmas Fudge but I haven't had any in at least 5 years. Second best is Buckeyes.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Stuffing Stockings

17. What tops your Christmas tree? A sad little angel made from a white sheet and a foam ball that Kaylee made when she was 4.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving but I don't like to be forgotten on the receiving end.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? YUM

21. What do you want for Christmas? I'd like a new lens for the Camera but I already got a Caribbean Cruise and that was delightful.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Not really, Derek's old job had one that was a big semi-formal deal. It was fun bk (before kids). My work has a luncheon during the work day- not really a big deal.

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? Dress up for church, then new PJ's for bed!

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes but we don't do much with it.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Christmas Eve with the Timms- then usually Christmas Day on our own.

Cake Wreck

It's a good thing Max is only turning two or I might have to explain why Elmo's head is cracked in half.



Thing is-- I have no idea why this happened to my cake. Oh well, add more sprinkles and the plastic Elmo face & call it good. After all he's only 2.



If I were a professional you could submit my cake to the Cake Wrecks blog. You should check it out. One of my favorite humor blogs!

What I love about fall

Halloween Highlights

We had a busy Halloween weekend. Here are some highlights.

Thursday Afternoon- Halloween Party at the Homeschool co-op. Mommy got to pick the costumes for this event so I picked the Chronicles of Narina. Unfortunately this is the best group picture of the three of them. Individually they are fairly photogenic but together- not so much so.


Max didn't really like the party. I helped out in his classrom and he threw an absolute fit any time I tried to help another child. He also decided he hated the knight costume and it had to come off. Needless to say I didn't get a good picture of him.


But then they served cupcakes and the world got a whole lot better.


On Friday, Kaylee had a sleep over and went Trick or Treating with a bunch of friends. She dressed as a "spy girl" complete with trench coat and brief case. The rest of us went to a Halloween Party at another friend's house. The boys were happy to Trick or Treat with several of their friends. Nate chose to be spiderman and Max chose Elmo.

How it all began

We got to do something fun this weekend. We were able to take our kids to the place where we fell in love. (o.k. all together now-- awwwwww)

Derek & I both attended summer camp at Camp Living Waters near Cadillac, Michigan. We both starting going there around 1979 and we know of at least 3 years where we were definitely there at the same time. We have common camp friends and even photographs of the same events but we never knew each other until 1991 when we were on staff together.

I was the Aquatics Director and Derek was a counselor. One of my jobs was to give all the staff a swimming test and then train some of them to be lifeguards. When I saw Derek swim, I decide he had potential. (To be a lifeguard! Geez, what were you thinking?) The first few weeks of Camp we got to know each other. Then on July 4th we went on a group date and saw fireworks- both literally and figuratively. By mid-August we were unofficially (so as not to completely freak our parents out) engaged. On December 27, 1991, we went back to Camp for a winter retreat and in the same spot where we first saw fireworks together, Derek officially asked me to marry him. (I said yes.) On July 25, 1992, we got married.

It's been a long time since we been back to visit. Some things have changed (like the location of the swimming area!) But a lot of its the same.



Jack Pine Lodge & Cabin Row- The steps used to be concrete and the Pepsi machine wasn't always there. When we started going to camp there was a Pepsi machine with glass bottles! The rule was you were not allowed to leave the lodge with a bottle of pop so counselors use to sit on the steps watching the sports court and hoping a camper would forget and come out with a full pop so they could confiscate it!


The Sports Court


The Dining Hall


Derek's Cabin. He was the Counselor for the Wolverine boys. There are 4 double cabin buildings similar to this one. Then there are 5 cabins connected to the main lodge (cabin row) and then 2 larger cabins connected to a smaller lodge. For a total of 15 cabins- each has its own bathroom and has 8-12 bunks.


Cant Hook- Kelli's cabin her very first year at camp!


The Horse Barn (where we snuck our first kiss!)


The old metal canoes we remember are still there but Nate had more fun on the kayaks, fun bugs & paddle boats.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our anniversary. 16 years and 3 children ago we both said "I do." We are still head over heels, crazy in love but also solid and steady, everyday in love too.

This morning I took the kids to play in the park. On the way I asked Kaylee if she knew what today was. She said she knew it was our anniversary. So I asked her if she'd babysit tonight so Derek & I could go out. Her response was: "Will I get paid?" I said: "You could give us some babysitting as an anniversary present." To which Kaylee responded: "I'll give you half off!" What a gal!

So this evening Derek & I went out to dinner and to the cheap theatre to see Prince Caspian . (Oh yeah, and we booked a cruise for November!) When we got home Kaylee had fed the boys mac-n-cheese, was watching T.V. with Nate and had Max in bed (in a clean diaper & jammies). We asked her how everything went and she told us all she had done then said: "No charge!" What a gal!!

Party Planning 101- get help

I know its been a bit quiet around here lately. We've kept ourselves pretty busy for the last couple weeks with a family project. I volunteered to help my best friend, Denise plan her daughter Gabby's 8th birthday party and if you know me, then you know without me saying that I went a bit over the top. This time I took everyone with me.

If you are familiar with Webkinz then the rest of this post makes perfect sense. If not just imagine that there is an online site for kids that has everything I'm talking about. (And it wouldn't hurt to just imagine that its something that I'm slightly obsessive about.)

Derek was commissioned to build a "wheel of wow."



Kaylee & Grandma made the pinata.


Kaylee painted the wishing well.


I made all the signs and organized the games and made the "gak." (Don't worry its just ice cream.




Denise ordered the cake, balloons & pizza.


Nate and Max suffered through everyone's distractions and constantly being told not to touch anything.

But I think the Party was a great success.


The birthday girl & all the guests had a great time and while finishing up the last bit of shopping for this party I discovered that Party City has a whole bunch of things on sale for 50 cents so I stocked up.... and I have some great ideas...... Now I just need a little help.......

anyone?

Boom!

Max has another new word. "Boom!" A double dose a fireworks shows helped increase his vocabulary. On Friday night, my Parents came down and we all went to the Mount Clemens Festival & Fireworks. Kaylee & Nate jumped on the bungee/harness trampolines. Nate did double back-flips- making his sister a little jealous. Max jumped in the free bouncer provided by Hanson's windows. We just had to sign a waiver and include our telephone number. (Yeah, we have caller ID we won't be taking that telemarketing call.) Then Kaylee found an Free Art Project at the Blue Cross booth and Nate, Max, Daddy & Grandpa & Grandma watched the Free BMX show. (Sensing a theme?) Then we all watched another free show- the Fearless Flores - a family of daredevils. Great, just what we need around here. Nate & Kaylee couldn't stop talking about the FIVE YEAR OLD riding a motorcycle in a cage. Repeat after me, we are not getting a motorcycle, we are not building a cage, we are not.........

After all that it was finally almost time for the fireworks, so we found a good spot. RIGHT across where they shoot them off. Good view, but VERY loud. At the first "BOOM!" Max screamed and jumped into my arms. I took a pro-active approach and said "Wow, Boom, Look Pretty, Yay!!!" And clapped my hands. Max loves clapping. So, as long as we cheered, clapped and hung onto him he was fine.

Given the success of Friday night, we figured, why not go for two? On Saturday night, a local park hosted their fireworks over the lake. We met up with several families from church, had a picnic and enjoyed another show. This time the fireworks were shot off from across the lake so they weren't loud at all. Max really enjoyed this show. He still snuggled with me but it wasn't due to fear. He kept saying "Boom" and "Wow, pretty."



It was a great family weekend. I hope you enjoyed your weekend too!

By the way- I changed the settings for commenting. You no longer have to be registered. So please, let me know you're out there! (Yes, I'm shameless begging for comments!)

Go Wings!!

Our good friends, Chris & Katie invited* us over for a Red Wings Party on Saturday. Katie & I met when we joined an online club on Baby Center when we were both thinking about having a second child. We were "online" friends for over a year before we met IRL ("in real life"). The first time, we met at a restaurant in a large mall for dinner. You know, in case one of us was an ax murderer, looking for victims in an online chat room talking about fertility issues. Anyway, during dinner we both noticed that the other person was watching the clock. It turns out we were both trying to figure out how to get out of dinner as quickly as possible so we could go watch the Red Wings in a playoff game. Chris & Katie invited us back to their place to watch the game. Since we felt fairly confident in our conclusion that they were not ax murderers, we accepted. We had a great time and a lasting friendship formed.

Here's a flash back- Nate & Madelyn watching their first Wings game together:


Nate & Madelyn now:


Here's a family picture of us all wearing our red wings gear:



Just kidding!



* As long as my Dad isn't reading this post, I can confess that, really, I invited us over for the party. I would have invited them here but with our kitchen torn up it just wouldn't work. Chris & Katie know us well enough not to be offended that we invited ourselves- in fact they seemed pretty happy that we thought of the idea. But my Dad would be shocked!