Does this end?

The lack of communication between myself and my daughter?



Me: Hi Honey, how was school today?



J: Fine



Me: What did you do today?



J: I don't know (followed by shrug)



Me: Did you sing?



J: Yes.



Me: Can you teach me a song?



J: N0, not without my teacher.



I hear this doesn't change as she gets older. Great.



On a lighter note, I think I found my new exercise video.



And you thought Sweatin to the Oldies was bad....



Happy Labor Day!

First Day of School

Yesterday was Jaina's first day of school.

The only one who was not excited was Mom. See... Dad's excited (Yes, this IS his excited face)...

Jaina was excited (Not her most convincing excited fact :).....

Mom was anxious, and not at all excited....

It seems too soon. It seems I was just cradling her, watching diving on the Olympics, and wondering if I would ever sleep again. Oh wait, that was four years ago....

And it started to show. On Sunday, for some strange reason, I could NOT stop tearing up. I would look at her, and cry. Mike would try to console me, and I'd cry. I came up with every reason in the book (because I just KNOW that she is going to get lost wandering around the school, and then some creepy person will come snag her,) to determine why she shouldn't go.

Jaina would hug me, and say "It's okay, Mom, I won't let you down." I cried harder.

But, once I tucked Jaina into bed, that is when I had to pull myself together. If for no other reason, I had started to scare her. Suddenly, she felt she was too little to go to pre-school, what if kids were mean to her? What if she got left when the daycare bus took off? And what about that dreaded red light?

I had to stop myself right there. Erica, you have got to pull yourself together.

So preshool, here we come...

After walking to school with one of her best buddies, we realized that Mrs. P had already decorated her locker to celebrate Jaina's birthday! What fun!

And to add to it, we brought treats!

How could pre-school be so bad?

And once I saw the lines (Mike had consoled me by indicating that pre-schoolers NEVER go anywhere alone, and always in a line), I took a deep breath, kissed Jaina good bye, glanced one more time down the hall. And left. And then I went shopping.

So, all in all, it was a good day. :)

My baby is four......

I have exited Toddlerhood.....

Which means I will have to change the description on my blog. Bummer.

Jaina turned the big 0-4 this weekend. And she won't hesitate to tell you about a moment of it.

For months, all we have been talking about is when she turns four, she will get to play on the computer at Kid's Club, she will be able to go to school, and in general, will be a big girl.

So, of course, she partied like a rockstar.

On Saturday, she had her birthday party with the family. Grandma & Grandpa Willer, Grandma & Grandpa Groen, Auntie Sara, Uncle Justin, Baby Leo (who is turning into a little boy more all the time) Auntie Mindy, and Auntie Jodi were all there to celebrate the big event. (Unfortunately, in the world of medicine, someone always has to be on call. This weekend, it happened to be Auntie Alayna, or else she & Uncle Chris would have been there too.)

First..... Grandma Judy & I made the cake.....

Then.... Mommy got creative with some cupcakes......

And then, it was party time!

We did the cake first. (because, in NW Iowa, when it doubt about what to do, you eat. Although I don't think that is limited to NW Iowa. :))

We sang..........

And she blew out the candles...... and blew....... and blew........ :)

And then the presents. Jaina made a HAUL. Good thing I went through some old toys last week, because we needed to make some room.

She got a truck from Auntie Sara (for more on this story, click here)

Barbies and game from Aunties Mindy & Jodi......

And a dolly and cradle from Grandma & Grandpa Willer......

A CD player from Grandma & Grandpa Groen....

And games from Mom & Dad!

Whew! We should be set for a while.

Happy Birthday Baby, I can't wait to see what this year will bring....

What's in a name?

Evidently, a lot. A lot of freaky science fiction.

So, back when I was pregnant (which, was four years ago), Mike and I would frequently go back and forth about what to name our unborn child.

Early on, he mentioned the name Jaina to me, and explained how to spell it. (Previously, I had only heard the name once, and it had been spelled with a y instead of an i.) So I asked him where he got it. Turns out, he got it from a book.

And now you all get to learn the Groen's deep dark secret? What is the name of said book where Jaina's name came from?

It is Star Wars.

If you follow the Star Wars story (after episodes 4, 5, and 6, that is), Han Solo and Leia Organa (Skywalker) fall in love and get married (that is not a surprise.) They proceed to have twins.

Any guess as to the names? That's right, Jaina & Jacen. And odd, Mike's other suggestion for a boys' name was none other than Jacen. Hmmm. (In case you care, they named their third child Anakin, after Leia's twisted, self-absorbed, diabolical father, aka Darth Vader)

So tonight, I decided, how many Jaina's are there? So I googled her name. Turns out, there aren't that many. But there is a LOT Of information on her namesake, who albeit fake, has quite a life story.

Jaina's first light saber?

So, for those of you who are fans of Star Wars, I can no longer call you geeks. I am one of you....


But hey, at least it looks like I have the force with me......always.

Nah, it's just a bracelet

4th of July

I know this is almost two weeks late....

But man, summer is exhausting.....

Our 4th of July was BUSY. We went to Pella to see Grandma and Grandpa Willer, and of course, play with the kitties.

When I was growing up in Pella, 4th of July was nothing special. My, how times have changed. They have a parade, a fishing derby, pony rides, bullfrog races, carnival games, and of course Chinese food (what could be more American?)

And, for the first time EVER, Jaina sat through the fireworks. For two out of the last three years, I have been dragging her kicking and screaming from a fireworks display. Not this year. This year, they were beautiful, each and every one.

Ready for her close-up?

Another momentous occasion in our household.....

Jaina went to Bible school for the first time. And survivied.


I know this is a trial run for this fall, when I send her to pre-school (Yikes!)





During the second week of June, Jaina attended "Power Lab: Discovering Jesus' miraculous power" at Hope Reformed Church in George. (G'ma & G'pa Groen's church) She only needed to be three to attend.


Needless to say, she loved it. She got her own set of goggles, a lab coat, and learned numerous songs. On Sunday morning, after the long week, she performed in the program to show us what she had been working on all week.

She enjoyed herself immensely.....

In fact, you may say she stole the show

At first, she was pretty reserved (for Jaina, that is). She sang the songs, did the actions, and participated, well, normally. Then she started to warm up.


Throughout the program, they had a lot of spotlight dramas, which were powerpoint presentations that showed pictures of the kids during the week performing different bible stories. After about the third drama, when it was dead quiet, our little performer suddenly blurted out..... "That was a GREAT spotlight drama!"


Of course, everyone thought this was hysterical. Which only egged our little ham on more. (Hee hee, I just used eggs and ham in the same sentence, and wasn't speaking about food. )


Anyway, where was I? Oh right, a little later, a "professor" in the play said, "Jesus makes you strong, he makes you brave, and by beleiving in Jesus, you can live forever!"


Again, dead silence. Then, "That is a WONDERFUL power to have!"


Again, laughter.


And finally, at the end of the last spotlight drama "That was a PERFECT spotlight drama!"


Yes, she will be here all week.......

Mama's retirement plan

Who needs 401K? (Which, by the way, is tanking, thank you very much.)

I have a future LPGA tour star in my midst.

Last week, while daddy was on his boys' only fishing trip, Jaina & I took little excursion to the golf course. The goal was to get pictures, not really to golf. However, people look at you funny if you just drive around in a golf course. So we hit some balls too.

I wanted to try to make Mike something really cool for Father's Day, but I couldn't pick just one.

What do you think?