September...

Terpstra Family on Vacation in Pismo...I don't know about you and your family, but it seems I am always trying to get our family to sit for two seconds to take a family picture. We took a moment to take family pictures right before we left to come home...I think the kids knew and were a bit antsy to leave. I also struggle with children wanting to make silly faces and not look directly into the camera. There are great pictures of Lance and I, or great pictures of Josiah, or Hudson, or Katrina, but somehow trying to get us to all look or best in one photo seems impossible...If you have any secrets to obtaining the "perfect family picture" please let me know :) Otherwise I think I'll take a class in PhotoShop to learn how to switch people in and out of photos and then I can put all of our best pictures into one :)

This is Josiah's preschool class...only 9 students and Ms. Corie his teacher :) I was the co-op parent in his class on Monday and snapped a few photos...it will be neat in June to look back and see how much the children have grown and changed over the year. Josiah and Katrina enjoy school, and we couldn't ask for a better preschool than Shining Light!!!



Little man Hudson is growing like a weed (he weighs around 32 lbs. and is only 18 months...he also wears 2T-3T clothes!) He keeps us on our toes... He loves everything his big brother and sister love... Star Wars, Bob the Builder, books, animals, and to Dad's chagrin princesses, and dress-up (especially the shoes!). He also loves water...any kind of water...bath, sprinklers, pool, and yes, even the toilet. He has his Dad's loud voice, and isn't afraid to use it.













I recently got back from the MOPS (Mother's of Pre-Schoolers) Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. I had the privledge of going with three wonderful sisters in Christ. Erin, Cathy (our Mentor Mom) and Sheree... The silly picture on the right also includes Elisa Morgan (President and CEO of MOPS International, and Carol Kuykendall (director of strategic projects at MOPS International, both are authors of several books including the main book for this MOPS year called "What Every Mom Needs".) We had a nice time on our trip...A few of my highlights were seeing Nicole Nordeman and Mark Shultz in concert (get their CD's if you don't already have them!) as well as speakers Ken Davis (he looks like an older Tom Arnold, but sounds and delivers his jokes like Bill Cosby...very funny to see), Donald Miller (author of Blue like Jazz), Prisilla Shirer (author and speaker...is part of LifeWay Ministries like Beth Moore), and Tina Zahn (author of Why I Jumped).

Josiah and Katrina's First Day of Preschool

On Monday September 11th 2006 Josiah and Katrina went to their first day of Preschool! For Josiah, it is his second year at Shining Light Preschool, but this was Katrina's fist day of her first year :) Here they are at school waiting to go into their classrooms...
Katrina was very excited to go to school! She had a wonderful time, and was very tired when I picked her up...she fell asleep in the car and slept on the sofa at home for nearly 2 hours! Katrina is in The Bear Room with Ms. Barb!





Josiah was also excited to go to school...Last year he was there only Tuesday/Thursday, and this year he is there Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:15-3:45... He is in the same classroom as last year (The Lion Room), but he has a new teacher Ms. Corie whom we love!

Our Family Vacation to Pismo Beach

Josiah and Katrina had a great time going on a "Treasure Hunt" with Grandma. They had to follow the "map" to find the hidden treasure on the beach outside the house where we were staying (more about that later)...
The Treasure Chest was full of coloring books, bouncy balloons, little horses (Hudson's favorite animal), a little pirate playset, gold coins, play cars/trucks, and lots of fun candy/snacks!




Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Ron on the Beach...


Hudson full of life and smiles...he's not always like this...as a matter of fact, he recently had a nice cold and ear infection (which we picked up medicine for the day we left for vacation)...He's going through a "stage" where he loves to scream if we are not understanding what he wants/needs...not so much fun. For those of you who liked The Lord of the Rings series, we call Hudson our Nasgule (sorry I'm sure this is misspelled) Child because he can scream sooooo loud! He is getting better everyday at communicating though... His most recent words are "Baby" (which sounds more like Bay-Bee with a southern charm to it), "Bible" (which sounds kina like Bib Bell), and "Movie" (Praise Baby is his favorite - Thank you Auntie Cami and Uncle Ryan for this wonderful gift last Christmas!, and any Bob The Builder movie, TV show). He is also picking up on some sign language which helps with letting us know what he wants. But he has the cutest head nod for yes and no, and will nod his head for what he wants if you probe him with questions.

Now about the vacation house/beach... First of all we were all very sad that Aunt Cami and Uncle Ryan and the cousins Cassidy and Cody did not make it down to Pismo for the vacation...illness was upon the family and they decided to not travel... Secondly, We were all surprised to see the "true" location of the beach house... Eileen was told it was right on the beach and is perfect for little children to run out and play in the sand and the ocean. Well, it was right on the beach, but it was located next to the US Parks and Rec check-in for the Dunes. The Dunes is the only beach in CA where you can drive on the beach and camp on the beach and bring your ATV or Dune-buggy and drive on the dunes... so needless to say it was like staying next to the freeway...and unless you kids are really good at real-life frogger, you would not leave them to play in the sand/ocean. But up Hwy. 101/1 a little ways is Avila Beach which was beautiful, and no trucks! Dispite some of the crazyness and watching trucks go up and down the beach all hours of the day and night, we all had a nice time with Papa and Grandma, Auntie Brooke, and Mr. Chris.

 

I'm not sure what I'm getting into, but here goes...

Good morning, afternoon, or evening, depending on what time you're checking your emails and surfing the web... As the title of this entry states, "I'm not sure what I'm getting into, but here goes..." I'm not too savy with the computer, and I often have to call Lance, or my sister-in-laws Cami, or Brooke to help me figure stuff out; I've decided to start a Terpstra-West Family Blog Site for friends and family to keep up with the 5 of us. I've enjoyed reading Cami's blog entries and seeing pictures of Cassidy and Cody (and all the animals "down on the farm") (You can visit their blog at www.terpstraeast.blogspot.com ), and Cousin Heather just started a blog too, which has been fun to read (I loved reading about her adventures on her anniversary) (You can visit thier blog at www.hamilyfug.blogspot.com )... So here goes...