Happy Daddy Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy in the world!
We are blessed to have you in our lives!
Thank you for everything you do for our family, day in and day out.

Thanks for teaching our boy how to fish and bike and shoot hoops and hand wash Mommy's van and appreciate the value of a really sweet car. 

You are teaching him what it means to be a boy (and someday, a man), and he has one of the kindest, funniest and hardest working daddies to learn from. 

And thank you for playing Matchbox cars on the floor with him for hours.

Thank you for showing our girls what it means to be 

loved and respected and cared for and celebrated. 

Thanks for oohing and aahing over their new dresses, for playing Barbies with them on the living room floor, for buying them flowers from the flower shop. 

Someday they will choose husbands based on the standard their daddy set.

We hope we tell you enough how much we love you!

We're glad we were able to take today to slow down, celebrate you,
and shower you with gifts and kind words.

{A bucket o' Daddy fun, hand-picked by the big kids} 

Including: lighters for the fire pit, a microfiber car wash sponge, new shiny fishing lures, beef jerky, chocolate covered açaí berries & Gatorade chews.

Mommy's picks (that didn't fit in the pail): 

new Tifosi sunglasses for road biking and new shorts for mountain biking.

{All About My Daddy printable questionnaires}
Dylan's was spot on: Matt does love to go to the Electric Cheetah and his current fav food is gluten-free "stuff."

I loved Ella's answers too. She listed Matt's favorite activity as selling cars and added that she loves it when her Daddy works "because he makes more money."

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there! 
Hope you enjoyed your special day!

the story of us {eleven}

Once upon a time, a girl met a boy in the halls of a rented Seventh Day Adventist church.

At the time, the girl thought the boy was nice, but shy, and that his little brothers were pesky, but cute. A certain little sister had just been brought home from Korea.

The boy claims he knew she was the one the minute he laid eyes on her.

He was in the eight grade. She was in the ninth.

Fast forward a few years, and the boy and girl are now friends. They laugh together, scoot their chairs closer together in Sunday School, and eat cheap church cookies after the morning service.

The boy is still too shy to speak up and the girl is dating a different boy. They might have continued on like this for years if not for their mothers. Yes, their mothers. (It seems as if they knew a little something about life and love too.)

Suddenly the two are dating. It's summer and their first date was the movie Face Off.

The girl heads off to her first year of college and then there is a little hiccup in their dating story.

Fall is in its full glory, and then, once again, the girl and the boy are back where they left off.

And they never look back.

Because now the girl knows too.

A couple years later, he gives her a pearl. A promise.

A year after that he upgrades that pearl to a diamond while the sun sets over Lake Michigan.

And a year after that, they are married on a perfect May day surrounded by their family and friends in a church with a steeple. The girls wear periwinkle.

Next comes a honeymoon, a first apartment.

And then a first house. A first baby. A second baby.

A second house. A third baby.

Eleven years later, they have created a life together. A life they can be proud of. It's not all roses and butterflies (there are hard things too), but mostly it's good. Really, really good.

Today, this girl is wishing that boy a very happy 11th wedding anniversary. The boy is now a man, and he is the best sort of husband, daddy, and partner-for-life the girl could have ever wished for.

And she loves him with all of her heart.

It's a beautiful story, isn't it?

the first decade {together}

when we were young{er}

{birthday} breakfast-ing

If you know our family at all, you know that November = birthdays around here. Four birthday's in eight days (November 9 | 12 | 13 | 17) and as the wife/mom I try to make each person's day special someway, somehow.

Matt's turn is first and although he enjoys dessert, the real way to his heart is through breakfast food. His current favorite? Baked oatmeal.

A MOPS mom made this baked oatmeal recipe last year for a MOPS meeting and I just had to get my hands on it. It's quickly become a family favorite. As an added bonus, it can be mixed up the night before and in the morning you just have to pop it in the oven.

Baked Oatmeal

6 eggs (We think it's too egg-y with 6 eggs, I used 5 this time and it was perfect)

1 C oil

1 C sugar

3 2/3 C oatmeal

1 T baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 C milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix ingredients together. Refrigerate overnight (in mixing bowl). Bake in a greased, uncovered 9x13 pan for 1/2 hr. at 350. Warm milk and pour over individual servings of oatmeal. Cinnamon, sugar, raisins and brown sugar can be sprinkled over top.

(I started baking the oatmeal in a muffin tin and we like the individual servings, plus it doesn't take as long to bake - usually about 20 minutes. Makes about 18 regular sized "muffins".)

Happy birthday, Matt! We love you!

Dad's Day

I always knew Matt would be the best sort of dad but it's still been a blessing to watch him love our kids through the years. When he walks through the door at 6:30pm, all three kiddos make a break for him. The nightly fight is who gets to sit by Daddy at dinner. And even on nights when he's working late they always make sure to tell me as I'm tucking them in, "Send Daddy in to say good night."

In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to pull some pictures of Matt and the kids from the past 6 1/2 years. I started looking through my files and realized I have a approximately a bajillion so it took some work to narrow them down. I grabbed my favorites - the ones that I felt captured some important moments, both big and small.

The moment he first became a dad...

the joy of his first son...

  holding a newborn daughter and realizing he was going to have to give her away...someday...

...and realizing her baby blues weren't in fact going to turn brown.

Always playing...

(even after a hard day's work...)

snuggling...

and goofing.

Flying high with his princess...

passing on Macker wisdom to his little man...

...and cherishing the baby stage one more time around.

  AND happily sharing his birthday cakes with one...

two...

...three little ones.

Happy Father's Day, Matt.

We love you.

change...again

Matt's faithful plant en route to a new desk.

In case you haven't heard the news, Matt has switched jobs again. Hold onto your hats: it's a little confusing as his "new" job is with his old dealer group. He's back at Grand although he's working out of the Lowell store now.

We are excited that he once again has some extra flexibility and freedom both in his hours and the way he works deals. He's also happy to be working with some really great people from his days at the Grandville store.

For the first time in his career, he's working primarily with used cars (giving him a great opportunity to learn more about that side of the business) but he can also sell anything new within the Grand family which includes Buick, Chevy, GMC, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep.

(And as always, he would love to help you out - 616.901.8663 or mterpstra@grandautofamily.com)

change

I'm realizing there has been a drought here as far as new blog posts go. Life has been busy! It has been a season of change for us. Matt changed jobs at the end of April after 9 years at Grand Buick Pontiac. It's hard to believe but he started there the month before we were married and has been there ever since. We are so grateful for those 9 years. Grand was a wonderful place to work - we are thankful for the way they did business and for their family-friendly attitude. We are also so thankful for all the customers Matt met along the way (1,200+!)

We are also blessed by this new opportunity - Matt is now selling cars with Fox Motors at their Hyundai/Kia location on 28th & East Paris. He has already met some wonderful people and we are so impressed with this organization and they way they do business. It was a stressful few weeks making the decision and transitioning to a new dealership, but we are a month into it and things are going well.

The loyalty of Matt's past customers has also been cool to see - it's sometimes easy to think selling cars is just selling cars but it's clear by Matt's customers' responses that it is so much more than that - he has formed real relationships with these people by getting to know them and treating them right. I am incredibly proud of my husband and the job that he does if you can't already tell :)

Chicago

This past weekend, Matt and I were able to get away for a night and spend some time in Chicago. This is probably our last little trip before Baby #3 shows up. We had a good time shopping and eating. We also saw Jersey Boys (loved it) and took a double decker bus tour around the city. The funny thing is that as nice as it was to get away, we were really happy to see our crazy little kids when we got home. I'm 29 weeks tomorrow - only 11 more weeks as a family of four!

Macker

Another summer, another basketball-filled weekend in Ludington, another trophy (or two) for the mantle.

Nothing says summer like the Ludington Macker. For us, it's evolved from "I'm going to watch my boyfriend play" to young married couples hanging out for the weekend to fun for the whole family, including lots of little kiddos running around. The weather was perfect and the guys had a nice little run although those games still make me nervous - it's better if I don't watch the end of them when they're close. Matt's team ended up with second place and also the sportsmanship trophy (their Gusbuster was very attached to them). I'm physically exhausted today and I can't figure out how Matt must be feeling since he's the one who was actually playing basketball for two days.

our favorite

"Daddy is my favorite because he can climb trees and jump off of swings." ~Dylan, 4 1/2 years old

Daddy

My brother Kyle took this picture Memorial Day weekend during a family walk on the beach and I absolutely love it. I not only married a man who is an amazing husband, but he's an amazing daddy too. I gave Matt a frame last year for Father's Day that says "Daddy - A son's first hero. A daughter's first love." That couldn't be more true in our family. Tonight I was driving in the van with kids and Ella said "Daddy crazy 'bout me." That couldn't be more true either. We love you Matt-Daddy!

Class of '98

We went to Matt's 10 year class reunion last night. It was a fun night and Matt enjoyed seeing everyone again. It was at McFadden's downtown which was nice atmosphere - more casual and not so banquet hall-ish. Matt and I dated Matt's senior year of high school so I knew quite a few people. We drove down there with Ross and Kara, so I had plenty to occupy me. At the end of the night, Kara and I had to practically drag those boys out of there.

This picture is of Matt and Ross with two of their good friends (both back in HS and now), Corey and Josh. These four reminisced about the Spice Girls lip sync they performed back in high school (complete with skirts, wigs, make up and fake boobs). They took 1st place for that effort, and it lives on as a favorite memory. If I ever come across the original picture, I'll be sure to post it :).

the 4th

We spent our 4th of July in Grandville watching Matt play basketball...again (just try to keep us away from a 3-on-3 tourney). We also managed to catch the parade and spend some time with friends (lunch with Katie and Ernie at Katie's grandparents' house) and family (Matt played with his brothers Chad and Brett). The eight hours we devoted to basketball that day paid off because the boys went undefeated and took first place.


We spent the rest of the weekend with my family at my parents' condo on Lake Michigan. The kids swam and swam and played on the beach. Now back to real life - loads of laundry and tired kids :).

Run Matt Run

I thought I'd give a shout out to my hubby for running the 5K River Bank Run on Saturday in 22 minutes, 8 seconds. He would have loved to finish under 22 minutes, but I think he did just fine :). My brother-in-law Chad also ran his first "long" race, finishing the 25K in 1 hour, 47 minutes.

We knew those boys could play basketball...who knew they could run too?

brother update

brother #3...

Chad has just been hired on at Grand Buick Pontiac (where Matt works) in new car sales (yay!), so Matt will be taking him under his wing and teaching him everything he knows :) Grand is a great place to work and we are excited for Chad to start this new phase in his life.


brother #4...

Brett will be home on Monday for three weeks (until New Year's). It's fun that we have gotten to see him so much the past couple of months after missing him for seven months while he was deployed in Iraq. He's currently stationed in San Diego, CA and will probably be deployed again late next year.

Bowls.

We put bowls on our heads. Small, medium and large. It's funnier than you think. Try it.

birthday bonanza

For those of you who don't know, we have three birthdays in five days here in the Terpstra household in the beginning of November. Yes, I know, it was poor planning (not that it was really planned), but there's nothing to do about it now except to celebrate continuously and stuff our faces with cake. Last night, we had the first birthday party of the bunch, celebrating Matt and Dylan's birthdays with Matt's family. Dylan made out with all kinds of Lightning McQueen stuff (...years ago I swore that I would never be the mom with the kid who was obsessed with any one over-commercialized theme/character/movie, but here I am :)).

Matt & Mat

Matt went to the Mat Kearney concert Monday night with his brothers Brandon and Chad, and they ended up running into and hanging out with Mat Kearney and his band at the Curragh afterwards. They drank beer, talked about life, and exchanged emails and cell phone numbers. Let's just say that Matt was pretty excited. Here's a picture to prove it...


And Matt would want you to know that he was a Mat Kearney fan even before he made it big--back in the days when Mat was opening for bigger bands like the Frey (and before his breakout song on Grey's Anatomy :))

House Update

Matt has been working furiously at his two jobs: 1) selling cars at Grand Buick Pontiac, and 2) painting every square inch of our new house (OK, not quite every square inch, but close). All of the ceilings and closets are done as well as three of the four bedrooms (Ella's room = Stem Green, Dylan's room = Gingham Blue, Guest room = Straw Yellow). The master bedroom has been cut it and it will be rolled today by Matt's dad (we're going neutral here...there's a limit to how much color I can handle in one house). Then we "just" have the three bathrooms to go. Most of the carpet in the house has been torn up too.

Matt's dad and brothers Brandon and Chad have been a big help these past few days, coming over after work to help out. Matt has a great job in that they're really flexible about stuff like this. He's been able to leave early a few days this week and take some extra time off (of course it helps that he's straight commission...what do they care if he's not there :))

Hopefully we'll be done with the major projects by this weekend so we can concentrate on moving next week. The "professional" painters start Monday on the main floor and the carpet goes in beginning next Wednesday.

Spyglass Beach

My favorite boys.

Ella Bella. Just can't stop taking pictures of her.