This is an older video of our family singing happy birthday to Ben's Grandpa, or the kids' great-grandpa. He turned 90 in September and we love him very much. Some people were having issues viewing the video on facebook, so we're going to try here.

It is not the most professional music video ever made, but it does give you a little glimpse into what our life is truly like! 

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

A Family of Five!

Ivy Leigh joined our family outside of the womb @ 2:16pm on Friday, April 20. We are all adjusting to this new wonder and the challenges of kids outnumbering the adults. More will come, but here's a picture of our beautiful daughter:

First Awards Assembly

One of the cornerstones of Crossroads Charter Academy is to highlight student academic and character achievements with a monthly awards ceremony.  During this ceremony, students receive awards recognizing students' abilities to reach academic benchmarks.  The reading benchmark/goal for kindergarten is to read 20 books a month (or 20 chapters in a month, for those of us that are into the chapter book realm--thank you Magic Tree House series).  We have no trouble reading 20 books a month in our house--it's going to be more of a challenge to see if Mom and Dad are diligent enough to fill out the sheet.  Here is a picture of Violet receiving her first kindergarten award:

There were a few tears as she left when she realized that she didn't receive the character award for respect and responsibility, but overall she's learning slowly that life isn't fair, and you don't get a prize for everything.  Her teacher is fantastic in explaining that just because you don't receive the award, doesn't mean that you don't exhibit that trait, but it is hard for a 5 year old to understand!  Next month's award is for diligence, so we'll have to make sure we're working on that at home as well.

It's hard to believe that the first month of kindergarten is gone!  It has been full of fun and exciting things--new schedule, new friends, new activities, field trips, and so much more!  If this is how fast a month goes, it's going to be kindergarten graduation time way too soon! 

Violet goes to Kindergarten!

I will need to rewind and post about our summer, but today marks the beginning of a new era at Possibility Manor--Violet is in Kindergarten.  Here are a few pictures from this morning:

Some pictures

Miles decided to imitate being a baby while in Iowa--he loved Lily's rocker and her abandoned pacifier.

Violet all dressed up for spring picture day...Isn't she beautiful (and so grown up???)

Miles is having difficulty sleeping through the night in his own bed again--this is where he finally fell asleep at 4:30AM--with company. :)

The Talsma Clan, April 2011

Update on Violet

Last Friday, Violet had her yearly appointment with the cardiologist. For those of you that may have not been following the blog over the last year or so, you can read about the journey to this point here

Since, we were tagging a trip to Iowa after the appointment Friday afternoon, we left our house in a little bit of a rush--and of course, Arby's cannot be fast when you need them to be. But, we made it down to Grand Rapids and the new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. (Can I say wow--such a great place.) The cardiology department is on the 10th floor, and all the exam rooms are on the outside of the building, giving you a great view of the city while you wait. Both kids enjoyed standing in the wells of the windows to look around.

The appointment went very smoothly; by now, Violet is a pro at having the electrocardiogram and the ultrasound of her heart, and I am just amazed at how kid friendly they have been able to make everything.

The good news is that Violet's condition hasn't worsened. Her heart is growing with her, and the enlargement from blood flow is growing in proportion to the natural growth of her heart. Since we have not noticed any adverse health conditions, the cardiologist strongly encouraged us to wait on the surgery; however, he also encouraged us to get a second opinion if we wanted more information. The main reason for delaying the surgery in his eyes was--if, by chance, they get in there and are unable to fix it properly or at all, replacement of the valve would need to happen, and that brings a whole other realm of side-effects and long-term lifestyle changes. It also would mean that if it was done too early, the procedure would have to be done again because an adult valve does not fit in a child's body.

So, again we sit and wait. In some ways the good news was discouraging for me because it still does not give us an answer. Part of me just wishes we could go in and get the surgery over and done with. But, another part of me hopes that maybe we can avoid the surgery all together. The possibility of that is slim to none, but the cardiologist also told us that he has patients that have gone 15 years without getting to the point of necessary surgery.

The one downer of the visit was that the cardiologist did forewarn us that until the surgery is completed, that he would probably restrict her from many sports (basketball, track and field, soccer, etc.). At this point, Violet has shown more interest in dance than any other sport, so this forewarning may be a mute point, but Ben and I are fairly athletic and sport driven, and the idea of our children not being able to physically participate is a little hard to swallow. Youth sports are not of concern because of the casual/everyone participates philosophy, but upper elementary/middle school/varsity would be of concern.

All in all, we are getting a very large lesson in patience and relinquishing control. We love our daughter and she brings so much joy to our lives and the lives of many other people. And although it may not be the journey we had envisioned, it is a wonderful journey in and of itself.

Thanks again to all of you who keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We ccovet them immensely and will continue to keep you informed/updated.