We were looking forward to heading to Iowa for a visit but WOW it was much more than we could have expected and we fit so much into 2 days!!!!

We left our home in Michigan bright and early, 5am EST. Unfortunately, the kids did not sleep like they did last time so that made for a longer ride for them and a few more whines than we were expecting to deal with.  We arrived in DSM at 11am CST and immediately went straight to Wanda’s house

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This has been truly Cooper and Bella’s home away from home for many years. They walked up and began playing as if nothing has changed. Lily and Sadie (the dogs) remembered them immediately (Cooper loves Lily). Bella played with Malaya and Josie. We loved being flies on the wall as we listened in to Bella sharing her stories of her new home. We are so blessed to have had Wanda and Tiffy in our children’s lives for so long and I am grateful they can come back and visit. Cooper played legos with Owen Louis, who is a 2nd grader Cooper has been looking up to since he was a baby. They hung out for the afternoon while I went to my Aunt Jeanne’s to get my hair cut and John went to lunch with his mom, dad, and brothers.

Henry is so sweet, he grabbed Bella’s hand. What a sweetheart for including her 🙂

We spent Friday evening at the Dowling football game. Henry, Cooper’s friend, joined us so that they could see one another. We saw my cousin, Sam, play center and he had quite the fan club!

Sugar coma with cousin Davis

Friends forever

My little football fan

On Saturday, my mom and dad hosted their first big get together at their new home. Anyone who knows my mom knows how much preparation and thought goes into these events and she did not disappoint! She had the best brunch prepared with casseroles, honey bun cake, fruit and mimosas!! Yummy!! My whole family and most of John’s enjoyed a meal together and tried to fish in the pond between the sporadic rain. Cooper’s friend,Broc and his mom, Marci came to play for the morning.

Cooper, Bella, and Broc watching Chris fish in pond behind Gramy and Gramp’s house

Rainy day fun

John and I left for Iowa City and Bella and Cooper stayed with Gramy and Gramps for the night. John and I got to join friends at Kinnick stadium to celebrate the marriage of Tony and Amanda. The great thing about John’s friends is that we always seem to pick up where we left off. I was never interested in Greek life but this group of guys really give it a good name!!!! We had an adult night out (it had been way overdue).

Empty Kinnick Stadium

ATO

A weekend in Iowa refreshes me and brings me hope that we can stay close with friends and family. We don’t have our next visit planned and I worry that it might be Thanksgiving (because that seems too far away).

Please remember we will welcome visitors!  This room is waiting for you…

Bella will show you her dance moves too…

Many have asked for more pictures, so here is our week in pictures…

Bella confidently leaving her 1st ballet class

She loves her Gossie boots! It is hard to get her to wear anything else

Donuts with Dad at school

We were going to dinner at a friends house. Bella in her pretty pretty dress and Cooper being the helpful loving brother.

I love these silly kids

popsicle mustaches

What are the advantages of working from home? Hugs from Bella in the middle of the day!

trampoline time

Sitting in a real race car- Cooper was so happy!

John had to change my flat tire. There is a long story that goes with this but all that needs to be known is that my tire is now fixed and there is only a little dent in the garage floor.

Diva pose

This power wheel is now on Cooper’s Christmas list. This is one thing we have noticed about Michigan- there are a lot of toys (4 wheelers, snow mobiles, etc.)

Bella’s favorite place in our backyard

Cooper’s 1st tree climb

A walk in the park

Feeding the ducks

We are coming home to Iowa in 1 day!!!!!!!

School has begun and so have the days of trying to create a schedule. As the days go by I am more and more grateful of the opportunity to be home with Bella  and to be able to walk Cooper to and from the bus stop. My whole focus is on my family, such a weird but amazing feeling!

We celebrated the 2nd Iowa Hawkeye football game of the season by inviting our neighbors over. This was the 1st time we had entertained our new friends. John, Cooper, Bella and myself were all wearing our Iowa Hawkeye gear. Mason, our 2nd grade neighbor, pointed at the Tiger Hawk on our shirts and said “why does everyone have that on their shirt?” This shows you exactly how far we are from home! We explained to him all about the Hawkeyes and he was a fan immediately, he even asked John if this will happen again. John of course replied, “Yes, every Saturday.” Mason asked to come back again. We are spreading the Iowa love in Michigan territory. Two more of our neighbors, Ryan and Kelly, brought us a Michigan flag. I thought they were very nice to think of us and took it as a welcome gift. On the other hand, John responded, “Thanks we were low on toilet paper.”

This week has been full of signing up for activities for me and the kids. We have found a church, St. Sebastian, to join. Cooper started his first gymnastics class and the teacher came up to us afterwards saying that it was obvious he had taken gymnastics before (we were so proud). Bella is signed up for Ballet and Kindermusik. I am beyond excited to take her and have been checking our doorstep each day for the ballet shoes and leotard I ordered for her to wear. It finally arrived and Bella was very excited to start dancing right away.  Now, I want my children to make their own choices on the activities that interest them, but I can do everything I can to persuade right?

Bella modeling her new ballet leotard- this was actually a video but it wouldn’t let me upload it 😦

We also bought a family membership to the YMCA, which has been on my to do list for years!!!! I felt that I was in good shape before Cooper was born and then have just continued to drift farther and farther from feeling energetic, flexible, strong, etc. I have already gone to a cardio kickboxing class, Zumba, and Step. Our goal is to go every morning after Cooper goes to school. Bella can go to the Kid Zone, which we are calling her school because she of course wants to be just like Cooper.  Change can be hard and Bella has had trouble at the Kid Zone.  She doesn’t want to go and screams and cries, it breaks my heart but I keep telling myself it will get easier (and it is only 45 minutes).

Friday night was our 1st Byron Center Football game. It was Marshall Elementary night (Cooper’s school), so the kids gathered on one side of the football field and ran to the other side. They then got to cheer on the players as they ran onto the field. Cooper was pumped for the game and asked “can I do this again Mom?” This is a once a year thing so he was a little disappointed, but not as much as his mom because of the Byron Center colors. For those reading who are familiar with Dowling Catholic you probably know that their main rival is Valley. So can you guess the colors of our school district??? Yes- orange and black (same as our high school rivals). I am an open minded person, but it just doesn’t feel right cheering on an orange team…change can be hard!

Cooper showing off his school colors and bulldog tattoo

 Breakfast for the 1st day of school- WAFFLES AND EGGS!

Okay, maybe it is the mother in me or the fact that I have had 7 years teaching Kindergarten and picturing my son as the crier on the 1st day, but I was so worried for the drop off on the 1st day.  Cooper has always been our cautious child always needing reassurance that everything would be okay.  Unlike at Saint Francis, parents were not allowed to come in to the school to drop off on the 1st day.  I contemplated breaking the rules and doing it anyway OR pretend like we were running late but I didn’t want to make a bad first impression.  I talked to him and read him a lot of books about the first day of school so I was praying it he would go smoothly.  Well, the moment came AND… he did better than I could have ever imagined!  The bus pulled up and he got on with a pep in his step.  He blew us a kiss and smiled and his school journey began SMOOTHLY!!!!

I believe that the reason for the success was because he had many friends at the bus stop.  Our neighbor Owen was going to 1st grade, another neighbor Mason was going to 2nd.  The neighbor across from us Eli, was going to be in kindergarten, another neighbor girl Rory was also going to be in kindergarten.  Cooper also had a play date with a boy down the street that was going to be in his same class, Jacob.

Well…As you can tell by the lack of posting we have been busy!

We figured with moving we would have lots of downtime (because I knew NO ONE here) but it has been quite the opposite.

Our very friendly neighbors have taken good care of us.  We share backyards with the most wonderful people (Ryan and Kelly & Jodi and Scott).  They have invited us over for dinner, movie night, and lots of play dates.  Ryan continues to mow our lawn because his riding mower can do the job in 15 minutes while our push mower will take 2 hours + (we will be investing in one next spring…probably).  

We came  back to DSM only 5 days after moving to MI to celebrate my cousin Travis and his new wife, Ginny.  It was Hawaiian theme at the Kouri’s.  Steve had decorated his backyard so wonderfully that it felt more like a wedding reception than a shower.  We enjoyed great food and games with my family.  The kids went to Wanda’s for the afternoon to play with friends.  Cooper went to Broc’s 6th Birthday party and had a blast (we are still using the awesome water gun and eating the candy).  It was a visit filled with some family and friends in a very short period of time.  Our next trip back to DSM is Sept. 27th.  We will be going to the Dowling Catholic football game to see Sam Kouri play and going to Iowa City to see Tony Fossum and Amanda get married at Kinnick Stadium.

I am finding it is best to have some visit to look forward to.  It isn’t that I am sad (there really hasn’t been time for that) but Iowa, and most importantly the people there, are incredibly special to us.  This experience is making us all grow and step out of our comfort zones.  I am having to be more outgoing.  Cooper is doing the same and his confidence has flourished (my boy who used to be afraid to go downstairs on his own is now wanting to take short cuts and “meet us there” when walking to the campsite behind our house).  Bella is learning to get along with neighbor girls that treat her like a sister (bossy-she does it right back).  John is working his butt off to prove this move was worth it.

Gramps, Gramy, Cooper and Bella

The visit home the 1st weekend was refreshing but having my family (Mom, Dad, Jenna, Barry, Davis and Krista) come to visit us was beyond exciting.  I felt this was home for the 1st time.  They met some of our new friends and helped with our large yard (Mom is a weed picking fool).  I found it special to spend the whole day  and night together. When we lived in Iowa we were so close we would spend a few hours together, go home and think nothing of it.  Now it is like I am a kid again!  I was also able to fully use my new beautiful and large kitchen to it’s fullest. 

Finding the good during life’s challenges is important.  I am still missing life like it used to be but I feel that this has been a positive move for us.  I have a healthy family, dream home and the ability to spend all my energies on both- I am blessed!