A few of my friend Michelle's kids.






Yes, her eyes ARE really that blue--gorgeous!

Park Fun!!

Yeah for Summer

One Week...

Dean and I just got back from a weeks vacation WITHOUT kids. We spent the week in Miami, FL. relaxing in the sun, and that is about it. We did nothing else but bask in the sun and I am not embarrased to say that that is all we did. During the trip, I was reminded of why going on vacation WITHOUT kids is so much different than going on vacation WITH kids. So, I will leave you with a few:
1. You can pack all your stuff in ONE suitcase.
2. You can actually SIT on the entire plane ride, and not have to walk up and down the aisles until everyone on the plane becomes your friend, b/c you have passed them so many times.
3. You can read on the plane. (an adult book)
4. Your only carry on is your purse. I kept thinking that I forgot something in the bathroom or something. No diaper bag, snack bag, 3 backpacks, and a stroller to lug from terminal to terminal.
5. I only had to fit myself into the airplane bathroom. Usually I have to stuff 3 kids into that tiny bathroom and one of them is bound to absolutly friek out when that toilet flushes--why do they have to have the scariest flushers? I even get a bit scared to push that lever.
6. You order a beer on the airplane b/c you WANT one, not because you NEED one.
7. You actually look GOOD when you arrive at your destination, not like you just road the worlds worst rollercoaster.\
8. You don't have other passengers giving you the finger as you depart the plane. Some of you know that story.
9. You can rent the cheapest (smallest) rental car they have, not the big SUV with four car seats that costs more than your entire vacation.
10. You actually get an even tan. Not the tan where your appendages are tan, but your lap always seems to be white, b/c a kid is always sitting or crawling on it.
11. You can wear a swimsuit that flatters your body. You don't have to wear one that will stay put when you have to bend over and pick up kids.
12. You can read chapters in a book, and not just Dick and Jane sentences.
13. You can sleep in till 10am. (haven't done that one for 5 years!!)
14. You can go an entire week and not watch cartoons.
15. You don't have to drop all your doing at 1:00pm, b/c someone needs a nap. I did find myself watching the clock the first few days--out of habit.
16. Going along with that, 1:00 doesn't have to be your favorite time of day. Any hour can be.
17. You can read 2 novels in 3 days.
18. You don't have to scope out the "Kids Menu" first before deciding on what restaurant to go to.
19. You don't have to set foot in a McDonalds for an entire week--Yahooooo!!!
20. You get to realize why you married eachother in the first place again.
21. You get to feel giddy about seeing your kids.

All in all, we had a great time. And thanks to Dean's mom, for spending the entire week with the kids. I think they gave her a run, but she never let on once that she was ready to throw in the towel. Made for a relaxing week for us.

Class of ' 07

Elli's whole preschool class.

Elli getting her diploma.

Elli and her cousin Brennan.


Well, we have our first graduate in the family. Last night, Elli graduated from pre-school. Dean found it a bit unnecessary (lol), I found it a bit too precious. I recieved a letter home from Elli's teachers on her last day, that brought tears to my eyes. I will leave a bit of it for you:
"Even though our days with your children have come to the year's end we are left with many, many memories that will enrich our days! One of my best memories of this year is holding your children's hands each day as I put hand sanitizer on their palms. Actually the hand sanitizer has many names: hanitizer, handsizer, appetizer among others! As I was putting the sanitizer on their hands last week I realized how much their hands had grown. It surprised me when I suddenly noticed how much their hands had changed in the nine months. I reflected a bit on what those precious little hands had accomplished this year. They have held crayons, markers, pencils, and paint brushes. They've built grand block buildings, squished playdough, held on to books, and touched soft animal fur. They have held other hands and they have folded together during prayer. We will miss these little hands that have grown in so many ways this year, but we will also continue to fold our hands together in prayer for your children. It is our prayer that your children may continue to grow and develop in all sorts of wonderful ways and most of all that they may grow strong in the Lord and always walk with Him and hold his hand."

Summer Fun

Happy Mother's Day!!

Oh How I long to...

Tessa will sit at the edge of our driveway for hours just longing to go out into the road. She rides herself to the very edge and teeters with crossing that line. You can just see the wheels turning in her head. "Should I do it or not?" She'll look back at me, then to the road, then to me... Her big toe will move out over the line, and she'll, ever so sneaky, move closer and closer until her dreaded mother calls out "TESSA JAYNE..NO, NO".

My Buddy--My Ant Killer

We have the nasty problem of big black ants everywhere. But....., we also have the privilage of having the best ant killer in the country. Thys is very eager to kill these nasty things for his mommy. "Thys, there's an ant here." "Ok Mom, I'll be right there." He takes his job very seriously, and is very determined to cause these little buggers to become extinct in the Vink household. And of course, he always needs to show off his good deed. Nothing like seeing a big, black, crumpled up ant 10 times a day!

Ahhhh

Oh how I love the first meal after you go grocery shopping. Sooo much to choose from, no trying to be creative in order to put a meal together. Ahhh....

A New Look

So today, I wore my hair down for the first time in probably 3 years. No lie. It felt a bit odd. I felt like I woke up and never actually got ready. I had to take and pick Elli up from school today, and all the other moms gave me this look of "you look different." I honestly think I need to get out of the hair up thing and "grow up". Any ideas on hip mom hairdo's?

Vink Family 2006 Montage

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I know--just 4 months late!!! Every year, I put our years worth of pictures on a DVD and put it to music. It's a great, and fun, way to look at your pictures over the year. The kids love watching them--a little vain?? Must take after their daddy!!

A Hard Days Work

I love this top one. He was ready to be done for the day!! He had put in a hard days work.

How long do you think it will take for the "aweness" of their new baby brother to wear off??

Just For Fun

Just trying new things out for fun!!

You know when....

You know the nice weather better some quickly when:

• all 4 of your kids have holes in every pair of jeans they wear. I refuse to buy any new ones until next fall.
• all 4 of your kids' jeans/pants are at least 2 inches too short for them. They definatly would be labeled nerds.
• your one year old finds entertainment in stealing your tampons out of the drawer and sucking on them like cigarettes. She definatly needs some outdoor playtime.
• I have 2 chocolate chip cookies for breakfast every morning. I have the serious case of the munchies when I am cooped inside.
• I spend way too much time looking at this computer. My kids are starting to ask me if I work on computers for my job. Woops!!
• I can tell you where every stain is on our carpet blindfolded. I have spent way too much time staring at this carpet this winter.
• My "rules" of the house are starting to go out the window. I need to bring out my "outdoor" rules soon, b/c we are so over the indoor ones.
• Your one year old is a permanent growth on the side of your hip.
• and if she is not a growth on your hip, she is a bowling ball chained to your leg.
• The words, "I am bored", are like a 4 letter word to a sailor--they flow freely.
• you resort to cutting your kids hair (even though you have no training), just for something "fun" to do.
• my kids have red chapped rashes on their cheeks b/c I am so sick and tired of wiping runny noses--I have given up, hence the snot smeared from the nose to the ear.
• My favorite/ most used sentence is "please don't whine!!!" Usually spoken with a firm pronunciation on the PLEASE.
• And, our new rule for the day, if you whine or say "I'm bored", you get ignored!! Hmm--why hasn't anyone talked to me yet today????

A few from this weekend.....

This one reminds me so much of my Tessa--she is also a thumbsucker!
Any suggestions on how to break the habit early?? It is just too darn cute though.

Why are all these pregnant bellies popping out all around me lately? Everywhere I turn there are bellies. And why are they all so cute and perfect??

Spring Break '07

Well, Spring Breaks just aren't the same as they used to be. In high school, it was Gulf Shores, AL, in collage it was Panama City, FL., when we had one baby, it was Destin, FL. Now that we have 4----are you ready for this----Grand Rapids, MI. Yes, we took the ultimate trip to Grand Rapids, MI this year for spring break. Sunday morning, Dean and I decided that we needed to do something with the kids for spring break---even though none of them even know what a spring break is--I think it was more for mommy and daddy than anything. We got online and decided to go to the Ramada Inn on 28th st. They boasted on their website about their "indoor waterpark" . And, since our kids love playing in the tubby, why wouldn't they love an indoor waterpark? So after church, we quickly packed things up and took the 20 mile treck to GR. The kids seemed more excited to see the actual hotel room than anything else. We got to the room, changed into our swimsuits and headed to the ultimate waterpark. Realizing that the Ramada's website may need some updating, this waterpark consisted of ONE rather large twirly slide. And that was it!! That would be fine if all 4 of our kids were not scared of twirly slides (who knows??). We decided to just wade around in the water with them. I stuck one toe in the water and about turned into an ice cube. Tessa had purple lips within 5 minutes and the other 3 were all sitting on the lounge chairs wrapped up in towels within 10 minutes. There we were, all sitting on lounge chairs just staring at the pool. The kids kept asking to go back to the room, so why not!! We got to the room, and I realized that if I sat in this room all night, I was going to go crazy. We decided to head over to Woodland Mall to play on the play area. After we got there, within 5 minutes we had all 4 kids sitting around us just staring at the other kids playing. So, we packed things up AGAIN and headed back to the hotel. We sat around in the room for a bit and then ordered pizza for dinner. Around 7 we decided to all get in our jammies and order a movie to watch--hoping to get the kids sleepy and doze off. Well, Tessa had other ideas. She decided to annoy everyone of us and get in our faces as we watched the movie. Have you ever tried to put a one year old down for bed while there are 5 other people sitting around for her to look at? Not going to happen. She was becoming beyond sleepy and stumbling and falling all over the place. So, what else do you do? Dean decided to take her home. So, around 10pm Dean drives home so that Tessa will sleep and hoping that the rest of us will get a good nights sleep as well. I ended up having a horrible bed partner!! I never knew Josie talked, moved, and coughed all night in her sleep. I think I got maybe 1 hour of sleep. We woke up in the morning and decided to go to the pool before Dean met us back at the hotel with Tessa. The kids set one foot in the pool again, and the same ritual--uggg!! So, Dean came back, we partook in the free continential breakfast, which accompanied a fall off the chair by Tessa, a bowl of cereal with milk spilled all over and way too much food wasted. Packed things up and we were home by 9am. Welcome to Spring Break '07. We try to give our kids fun memories--we really do!!

Elli's Photoshoot

A few pictures from the last few days. Elli informed me on Sunday afternoon, that we needed to do a photoshoot in the garage. A photographer in the making. She actually did pretty good, after I got over the fact that she wasn't going to drop my camera.

She came up with all her own poses.

She insisted on daddy coming out and having a picture with "just him and her". Very cute!!

And of course, a shot that Elli took. Not too bad.

I know--2 posts in one day!!

This is very funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMQt7ARAqXs

I Need Help

I need my blogger friends help. Every year, I take all of our family/kids pictures from that year and make a photo CD montage. It's a great way to look at your kids pictures in a fun way. Our kids love looking at them too. Anyway, I am stumped on what songs to put on the montage. I have enough pictures for 3-4 songs. I am running out of new songs that I haven't used on the previous ones. Anyone have any ideas? If your interested in doing one for your own pics, this website is very easy to use. www.onetruemedia.com.

Nothing much around here....

Not much to write about around here. We are all getting a bit sick of sitting inside, and were teased by the warm weekend last week. It was glorious to not hear, "Mom, I'm bored" a thousand times a day. Thought I would post a few pictures of the kids. We have had to get creative with living room pillows, since we are eagerly awaiting the nice weather to try out the camera in a different setting than these 4 walls!! Enjoy!!

One of Elli that we did manage to snap during our warm weekend!!

Spring Fever

Anyone else feeling the spring fever that this weekend brought? Oh, and by the way, watch out for the "Vink Bicycle Gang" this summer--they mean business. (even though some can't even see past their bike helmets.)

I think Tessa is going to LOVE running around this summer. Last summer she was just this little thing that would just "sit". This summer-watch out world!!

Target--It'll get you everytime!!

Does anyone else have the same problem? You go to Target to get a few things, and you NEVER leave without spending at least $75.00. Why does it get me everytime? Do you think they have subliminal messages playing throughout the store? "Keep shopping, you have not yet reach your $75.00 mark." It is just too darn cool of a store.

These are the "Days of Our Lives"

As I start to write this, I am laughing so hysterically that it is hard for me to type. The laughing so hard may come from the fact that I am finding myself at that "brown house" stage right about now. You know, the stage of tiredness that if someone said, "brown house", you would break into hysterical laughter even though it means absolutly nothing. The 3 cups of coffee this morning were not near enough to make my mind functional at 2:30pm. So the story I am laughing at goes like this--I hope you find it as funny as I do right now. If you don't, just tell me to go make another pot of coffee.
At 1:00ish eveyday, I put Tessa down for her nap and I put the others in the basement with a movie--this is MY TIME, and I love it. I usually grab the laptop and plunk on the couch and surf all my favorite blogger sites and catch up on my emails. I ALWAYS have "Days of Our Lives" on tv and this is my ONE flaw (hehe--kidding), I watch this one smutty show. So around 2:00, Elli comes walking up the stairs and comes into the living room and starts to watch tv. I am really oblivious that she even is here--if I think about it, I don't even remember her coming up--i was too engrossed in this computer stuff. Well, I guess after Days Of Our Lives comes another soap, and that one had just started. As I am reading things on the computer, I hear Elli say, "WOW--that really must have hurt". She said it so sympathetically. So caringly (is that a word?). So, I looked up and looked at the tv, only to see 2 people kissing sooo extremely passionate on the couch, that they happened to FALL OFF the couch and onto the floor. To look back at Elli to see her staring like a deer caught in the headlights. She was honestly concerned about the fall that these two love birds just took. Immediatly, I turned the tv to cartoons and burst into laughter. The tone of her voice saying, "wow, that really must have hurt", made me giggle so hard. She was just so generally concerned for these two people. She of course thought I was laughing at her and got all offended--we are really into the, "laughing at others is bad manners" thing right now. So, off I am to make another pot of coffee and then I will re-read this and see if I find it as funny when I am caffine intoxicated!!

White Trash Mom

I had this wonderful idea. Now, I realize it was a fantasy. Just like how you get all excited for that Christmas party with your family and your kids. You envision it being an angelic party and the kids gleefully opening their gifts, running to grandpa and grandma (Opa and Oma), and smacking a loving kiss and a polite "thank you". Only to actually have tantrums, presents "ripped" open, manners not used, and chaos everywhere.
I was making the kids breakfast this morning, and I found myself getting irritated with the fact that we only have 4 small dinner plates left out of 12. Through the years, plates have gotten chipped or broken and I, being from the dutch decent, have not thought it feasible to get new ones. So, the last few years, we have eaten breakfast and lunch on paper plates, saving the "real thing" for dinner. Those 4 plates usually get dirty quickly, and then get stuck in the dishwasher and the irritation begins as I open the cupboard to realize that there are NO MORE LEFT. So, my wonderful idea around 9:00am was to load the kids up and head to the store to buy some new dishes. I didn't care what they looked like or how well they were made. I new a plate or cup would be broken in the next week or so anyway. Of all days, the kids DIDN'T want to go out. UGGG. So, being the patient, calm mom that I am, I literally shoved 4 crying kids through the door and off we went. I decided to head to Value City. For those of you who live in the GR area, you are shivering right about now. I know, but I knew their dishes were cheap and that is what I wanted. As we got to the store, I realized that I had not "really" gotten the kids dressed. I was so fixated on my wonderful idea, that I had forgotten to do anything to them. As we walked in, I noticed that Elli had on bright blue socks with hot pink tennis shoes. Which would be fine, if her pants she picked out by herself this morning weren't from last year and thus were about--umm--4 inches too short!! Her glasses were so filthy, that I saw her looking OVER her glasses to see, b/c obviously she could see better without her glasses than actually looking through them. I then scanned the others and saw Tessa's coat!! There was left over sucker slobber on her coat from about 5 days ago when we went through the bank drive-thru. She had been crying in the car, and so I asked the teller for suckers--it worked wonders. The slobber had hardened, and on her dark coat looked like a big grease pit. I took off her hat and felt the left over peanut butter in her hair from her breakfast. She even had a little on her cheeks as well. Thys and Josie must have found their clothes from yesterday in the laundry basket, b/c that is what they were wearing today as well--even after a spaghetti dinner last night. I started looking around hoping that people were not looking at me like I was this lazy mom who just stayed home and loafed and didn't pay attention to my kids personal hygiene. I already get the stares with 4 kids so close in age. As we headed straight for the dishes, Josie and Thys decided to do the running around the clothes rack thing--which deserved a gentle reprimand--hehe--from me. As we got to the dishes I told all the kids to leave their hands in their pockets so that we aren't tempted to touch anything.--and of course, I get " what?, why?" Hello!! Just as I started to look at the dishes, I hear a "crash". Oh yes, the lovely porcelain Easter bunny no longer has a tail. Josie didn't quite catch the whole "hands in the pocket" lecture. So, like any good mom, I ignored the crash and shoved a box of dished in the cart and walked away like nothing happened. (I am feeling a tad guilty about that one). As we are checking out, which always seems to take too long with 4 kids, my Josie decides that Value City would be the perfect place to lay down on the floor and "rest". And this wasn't a lay on your back rest, this was a face first on the floor, rub it all around, kind of rest. So, again, the white trash came out in me, and there I go 1/2 yelling (not at full sound, but I am sure loud enough, to draw a few stares). As I was getting in the car, my fuse almost about to fire, tantrum after tantrum began. I found my knees going into 4 guts to get the seat belts fastened, and the radio blaring (to 91.3 WCSG of course), to drown out the piercing cries.
Only to get home and open the box and find out that 2 mugs were cracked in half---HELP!!!, I can't go back to that place.

Beautiful Boys!!

I got to take pictures of two beautiful baby boys this weekend. Both are little guys born to two of my dear friends from high school. The first picture is of Ty Theodore. His mommy is the one a few posts back that I took photos of while he was still snuggly warm inside her tummy. In these photos he is just 4 days old. So very tiny and beautiful. You can see more of him here: http://tinavinkportraits.smugmug.com/gallery/2538790#133416752.

And this little guy is Finn Alan. He is just 4 weeks old, and very handsome! You can see more of him http://tinavinkportraits.smugmug.com/gallery/2546344/1/133880156#133880156.

Oh Baby!

My baby is now officially a "self-feeder". I no longer am allowed to put a spoon up to her mouth without her pulling it away and doing it herself. Oh the independance of a one year old!! I remember waiting for the day with Elli, the oldest, to be able to master this feat. I couldn't wait till I could sit her in her high chair and put a jar of yogart in front of her and let her go to it. That meant that I could leave the room, change a load of laundry, eat MY OWN food, or just plain multi task. I am a bit saddened that my baby no long needs me for ONE more thing. She wants to eat like the big kids, sit at the table like the big kids, play like the big kids, and talk like the big kids (which is quite hilarious). I celebrate her independance, but do find it hard to watch her growing so fast. I know, it's inevitable, but at times I wish I could slow it down.