Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there. It is tough work, but man is it worth it. I stopped today to think about what a blessing Kaya is to my life, and how I can't even imagine my life without her. She is my bundle of joy, my strength, my everything. I pray everyday that I am doing things alright, and that Kaya will grow up being a happy, healthy little girl. Being a mom is hard work. I am busy, and tired, and run down a lot. I look at Kaya, and I am happy. I am a very proud mother today on Mother's Day. I am also very proud of my mother friends. I love you all very much, and your children are all blessings.

Thank you to my mom for all the hard work she put in for me too. I wouldn't be who I am today without all she has done. Love you Mom!

Summer is coming...

We had our 1st corn on the cob of the season today. It was good, but not great. I am ready for summer veggies for sure. Kaya had 2 corns and I couldn't pass up taking pics of her. I thought it was too cute seeing her with that big ole corn in her mouth. She loved it!

A visit with the whole Sterk Family

We went to Sunset to visit the grandparents. We had a good time. Kaya got to play with all of her cousins, which is her favorite thing to do.

Laughing and singing songs with Auntie Karen.

Katelyn above and Katelyn below standing at the furniture. She'll be walking before we know it.

Great Gma and Gpa Sterk with all the great-grandkids.

Family Outing to Holland

We went to Holland for tulip time this weekend and we went to Windmill Island. We had never been. It is a fully working flour windmill right here in Holland, MI. It was very interesting to see and learn about the history. It was actually moved here from the Netherlands, and is pretty much original other than the brick foundation and a few replaced parts. We got to go inside on all 5 floors and see what everything does and how it all works.

Below is one of the old grinding stones that they had to replace. It weighs about 2 tons they said.
A new friend. They had so much fun together while we waited in line to get into the windmill.

This carousel was old-school. It's all carved wood and hand-painted.
The poor caged up peacock was all feathered out for us and wanting some action from the female bird. It was sort of amusing.

Hangin' at the park.

This freaks me out letting her climb on the scary stuff!!

Too big for the slide??

As you can see Kaya is way too big for this slide, but she still loves it. She does all kinds of naughty things on it though as you can see b/c she is too big.

Amy is in town and she celebrated a bday while here. We got to have cupcakes. Kaya had dibs on the pink one for hours before she finally got to have it. The frosting is all she ate. Cleaning her and her clothes was tons of fun too. If your into that kind of stuff. :)

"I am a penguin!"

Kaya is officially in the "penguin" room at school now, and boy is she ever proud! This classroom has 2 1/2- 4 year olds in it, and is considered to be early preschool. Her school is through a Catholic church so now that she is in this new big kid room, they do a lot more praying. I know this mainly because she comes home everyday praying, singing, and talking about how God is Great! It sure is cute to hear. Last week she had her transition week into this new room and today was her official start date. It went great! No problems. Her teachers all talk about how she is SO ready for this new room and how great she has done with all the changes. I am so proud! My baby is growing up too fast though.
More breaking news... The potty training is officially over! We have had no accidents in weeks. #2 is now mastered. Nap time is also mastered. Diapers are gone. My daughter is a champ!! I don't know who is more proud, her or us. Just happy all the way around!

Outdoor Fun...

For over a year now we have been having Friday night at The Sterk house. When it is nice enough we get to have a bonfire, otherwise we are trapped in the house and garage. Fortunately the last 2 weeks we have been able to have a fire and we have been loving it!
I love this pic of my baby girl. Notice how tired she is here, yet notice below that she found some more energy from somewhere to keep on hangin'!
My daughter is very attached to this helmet, and wants to wear it everywhere! Help!!
Sharing the ride with Anna! Cousin Eli stops by for a visit too!

A goodnight song with Anna before bed.

Seriously Mom!!

Standing so nice for mommy!
A total "cheese" face for ya!


I thought my tulips were so pretty that I was cheesy enough to prop my daughter in front of them to try to get a good pic. We have been so glad to have some sunshine and nice weather!

4/20 A beautiful day for the park...

We took a long hike with the Sutter's today at Amen Park. We had such a good time, and we saw tons of wildlife. This included a big long snake and a small snake. Not my favorites mind you, but it was pretty cool that we happened to cross them. There was even a horseback rider out on the trails. The woman stopped and let the kids (Kaleb :) ) touch the horse even. The kids had a ton of fun running, climbing, throwing, petting dogs, and learning about the outdoors. We even found some Morel mushrooms, which we left for someone else to discover. We saw some people out hunting that had a big ole bag full!

Playing outside...

Some more "cheese" face for you...It's either that, or you get this...
There is no in between these days.

I guess I just have to accept that for now.
Kaya's good friend Joanne. AKA: Jo JO

Spring is really here!?

Hopefully these are the last pics. with a jacket on in a while. :) It is supposed to continue warming up, and we love it! Kaya has been loving to be able to be outside so much more.
My baby turns 2 and a half years old in 2 days.
That is crazy to me! She is just so incredibly fun these days, I am amazed by her everyday. For those of you who haven't seen her lately, her vocabulary is absolutely amazing. She carries on full conversations with you about practically anything. She is also getting very tall, but still oh so skinny. Her favorite thing to do is sing, and she'll sing you almost any song you want. SHe has even been making up songs, and making up hand gestures to go along with them. It is so funny to listen to her and watch. My favorite thing ever is to lay in my bad and listen to her putting herself to sleep throught the monitor.
It is the cutest thing ever to listen to her when she thinks noone can hear...