Gracie's 5th birthday party

Our Gracie is turning five.  Can you believe it?  She's grown up quite a bit (not just in height) in the past few months, as well.  On Saturday, we had the family over to celebrate another year with her.

Grace had her heart set on a fun activity for her party. At first, she wanted to have an out of season egg hunt...until she saw pinatas in the party store. I, being the cheap mother that I am, could not stand the thought of spending $15 on an empty pinata. So, I decided to make my own.

The cousins enjoyed the pinata, so a week's worth of labor on an item destroyed after five minutes was worth it.

Andrew and Joost looked fashionable as they modeled the pinata after the smashing.

The rest of the day was enjoyed with the family as we ate dinner, cake and opened gifts. The boys had a fun time watching Penn Stave v. Temple--alums from both schools filled the room.

We were also pleased to have my Grandma Bosworth join the party for a bit. Her health is quickly deteriorating and so her activities outside her home are limited. It was special that she could celebrate with Grace.

Happy 5 years, dear Grace! We love you and thank God for you. There's no one else like you and we praise God for giving us a daughter with so much love and beauty in her. May God continue to bless your life and may you follow Him with all your heart for all your days.

Paper Grace, by Grace Elizabeth van Bastelaar

Just as was once created by her brother, so also, Grace has created her own Paper Grace.  We arrived last night at Parent's Night at her preschool and seated in all the classroom seats were paper students.  The resemblance between the paper students and the real students was so striking that it was difficult to tell if it was a room of real children or not.  Since we had left Grace at home, we assumed it was just an amazing replica of her.

Crib, toy box...one in the same

A few days ago I was looking for Kate.  Things were too quiet.  When I checked in the playroom, I found her nearly asleep in the toy box.  How she got in and why she thought it was a good place to take a snooze, I'll never know.  But she enjoyed her rest time there.

First day of school 2010

Today is the first day of school for both Joost and Grace.

Joost is starting 1st grade at Covenant Christian Academy.

Grace is beginning her school adventure.  Today was her first day in preschool.  She'll be going three mornings a week.

Kate was up with everyone to see Joost off.

The send off of Joost went well.  There was a lot of excitement while we waited for the bus.  With all the running up and down the sidewalk, I thought for sure there would be a brush burned knee or a nice grass stain on Joost's pants before the day even began, but he got on the bus looking the same as he did when he left the house.

And then, about an hour later, we loaded Kate in the stroller and Grace and I walked to her preschool (which is only 3 blocks away.)

Grace did great.  She was very excited to be going to school and, although I could tell she felt a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived (the room was packed with students, parents and siblings), there was not a single tear.  When I picked her up, she was all smiles and enjoyed her first morning.

Those English

Okay, so I might officially be a geek if I post this, but I'm pretty sure there's a few of you out there who will be just as excited over this time line as I am.

As I was preparing to teach for this Sunday's church history class, I found this well done timeline of the English Monarchy on Wikipedia....

(you'll appreciate it more if you click on the picture and look at it on your full screen.)