June 3 at 9:56am
Merry Christmas everybody! We have failed to send Christmas greetings for the last five and a half years. But that does not mean we didn't intend to. In fact, we had Christmas letters written (and printed) to send in 2006, 2007, and 2008. We're sharing those electronically in an omnibus edition as a form of Christmas card amnesty. Stay tuned for more recent updates.
VanAntwerp Family Christmas Letters
June 3 at 9:32pm
Sometimes I wonder just what kind of profile Netflix has built for me...or how its recommendations algorithm woks. Tonight it suggested, "Because you enjoyed 'Babe,' 'Masterpiece Classic: Pride and Prejudice,' and 'Anne of Green Gables - The Sequel,' try 'America's Test Kitchen.'"
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Jennifer Perhaps the season they are recommending is one in which pork is lovingly and wittily prepared in period-style recipes from England and Canada.
June 3 at 9:34pm · · 
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Fred T Netflix says I should get Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead because I enjoyed Orgazmo, Re-Animator, and Dead Alive.
I think I need to take Katie's advice.
June 4 at 8:55pm ·
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Jennifer Perhaps the season they are recommending is one in which pork is lovingly and wittily prepared in period-style recipes from England and Canada.
June 3 at 9:34pm · · 3
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Fred T Netflix says I should get Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead because I enjoyed Orgazmo, Re-Animator, and Dead Alive.
I think I need to take Katie's advice.
I think I need to take Katie's advice.
June 4 at 8:55pm ·
June 9 at 7:17am
Today is my 10-year mom-a-versary. Happy birthday to my first born child!
June 9 at 7:23am
The changing faces of my first-born. (Of course, we didn't get the digital camera until he was 4, and I haven't yet scanned the baby pics, but you get the idea. :)
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Susannah C He really does look like a miniature masculine you. Especially the pic with the black hood and the one with the tiedye tshirt. He has the shockingly blue eyes too, doesn't he? Wyatt's are like that in certain light.
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Jim J With the thumbnail size, I thought you had made a mistake and included a picture of John in the bottom row second from right. I wonder if they'll be able to impersonate each other when they get older?
Susannah C He really does look like a miniature masculine you. Especially the pic with the black hood and the one with the tiedye tshirt. He has the shockingly blue eyes too, doesn't he? Wyatt's are like that in certain light.
Jim J With the thumbnail size, I thought you had made a mistake and included a picture of John in the bottom row second from right. I wonder if they'll be able to impersonate each other when they get older?
June 18 at 7:03pm
17 years? I wouldn't wish myself back there, and yet I would never wish those intervening years away, either. I think that means we are stil on the right track. Happy Anniversary, dearest!
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Tammy G Wow...happy anniversary!!!! I am sure he knows what you mean, since he can read your mind by now.
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Susannah C Happy anniversary, you two! It has nothing to do with you, but jeff still occasionally gets mileage out of a story from your reception - he just thought it was hillarious that there was a table of guests working out the physics equations to prove the point that the bus never could have made the jump in the movie Speed. Nerdy friends unite!
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Steven J Belated happy anniversary. What an honor to have been a part of it!
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Tammy G Wow...happy anniversary!!!! I am sure he knows what you mean, since he can read your mind by now.
Susannah C Happy anniversary, you two! It has nothing to do with you, but jeff still occasionally gets mileage out of a story from your reception - he just thought it was hillarious that there was a table of guests working out the physics equations to prove the point that the bus never could have made the jump in the movie Speed. Nerdy friends unite!
Steven J Belated happy anniversary. What an honor to have been a part of it!
June 20 at 12:12pm
"I am a paleontologist! That's what I am; that's what I am." So says my 10-year-old as he boogies down making ham sandwiches. TMBG, anyone?
[TMBG = They Might Be Giants, an odd band, originally from the 80s that transitioned from making odd pop/alternative music to making odd kids music]
June 20 at 4:01pm
3-yr-old: "Mom, when it's summer vacation, why does a human not turn into anything else?"
Me: "Um, what do you think we should turn into?"
3-yr-old: "Cheetahs. And elephants. Maybe lions.
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Ilene W Only John . . .
Ilene W Only John . . .
July 8 at 12:09am
Cool, gray morning drifted into a perfect, sunny, summer evening. Took our first spin in the canoe since we became 6 instead of 5. Ahh! Ahoy the war canoe; we're comin' through, baby!
July 13 at 11:11pm
I love a spontaneous weekend trip - especially when it is to meet friends.
July 14 at 5:02pm posted by Jeremy
Robert Bridges: A Home is a Lousy Investment
July 17 at 10:30pm
My 5-month-old in a rare quiet moment. She sings to me with the cutest little watery gurgle - like trilling underwater. I have never heard another baby do that before.
July 17 at 10:40pm
A 5 hr-drive takes a lot longer with an infant who definitely does NOT like the carseat. Still, had a great visit with friends far from us but not far from our hearts. Kids loved the hotel pool; we loved the company.
Illustration of the digital divide:
Young mother at Meijer:"Ooh, where did you get that baby carrier? Mine only faces in."
Me: "It's a Baby Bjorn. I got it on Amazon."
Woman: "Huh?"
Me: "Uh, on the internet. Amazon.com. "
Woman: "oh." Face totally not comprehending, she walked on as if I had just answered her in Greek.
August 9 at 11:01pm posted by Stacey G
Young mother at Meijer:"Ooh, where did you get that baby carrier? Mine only faces in."
Me: "It's a Baby Bjorn. I got it on Amazon."
Woman: "Huh?"
Me: "Uh, on the internet. Amazon.com. "
Woman: "oh." Face totally not comprehending, she walked on as if I had just answered her in Greek.
August 11 at 10:30pm
my awesome husband Jeremy VanAntwerp just brought the laundry in from the line while wearing a headlamp to see- very manly !
August 11 at 11:44pm
Had a fabulous visit with Stacey Kriefall Greer and our liitle ones while Bryan D Greer and Jeremy VanAntwerp took the older kids camping in Boundary Waters. Nice to be home but I already miss laughing so often that my face hurt. Lifetime friends are a blessing!
August 12 at 10:08pm
So it seems we can just keep up with our 4-yr-old if we tag-team him. For 2 days now, we took turns taking him on a 30-minute scooter trip (while we were running). Now he fell asleep for the night before dinner, 2 days in a row.
August 17 at 11:50pm
My 7-yr-old today: "Thanks, Mom. This has been my best birthday, ever!" Actually almost made it feel worth the effort of having 7 girls at a slumber party. :) But wow, little boys don't have a lock on being wild!
August 18 at 11:58pm
my baby brother is here - yay! Looking forward to time with Jeff and Shannon.
August 19 at 11:29pm
just back from PJ Hoffmaster State Park. Lovely evening, pretty sunset, just 45 minutes from our door to swimming in Lake Mich. Left me wondering, why don't we do this more often??
August 23 at 6:35pm
My oldest left today for his first time at summer camp. Gone for 5 days - seems very odd. No worries on his end; just Mom who needs help adjusting.
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Jennifer I remember being very excited to go to camp for the first time at that age, too. It was certainly more rustic!...I did make happy memories, but was in tears when my family was 15 minutes later than all the others to pick me up. I guess I better not dawdle on Saturday!
Lori S I remember sending Dave the first time. I think I went 30 mph over the limit on the way to pick him up at the end of the week!
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Jennifer I remember being very excited to go to camp for the first time at that age, too. It was certainly more rustic!...I did make happy memories, but was in tears when my family was 15 minutes later than all the others to pick me up. I guess I better not dawdle on Saturday!
Lori S I remember sending Dave the first time. I think I went 30 mph over the limit on the way to pick him up at the end of the week!
Lori S I remember sending Dave the first time. I think I went 30 mph over the limit on the way to pick him up at the end of the week!
August 25 at 11:58pm
I find it amusing that my 10-yr-old's camp forbids phones, etc. so the kids can "learn independence." But apparently they don't hold out such hope for us (helicopter?) parents. We are offered daily blog and photo updates in case we feel too out of touch with our kids for the 5 days.
August 26 at 9:36pm
My 6-month-old may be the next Monet. She coos delightedly while finger painting in the massive puddles of her own spit-up. I am starting to think she spits up so much just so she can play in it.
September 22 at 10:04pm
Two nights on my own with the kids at dinnertime. Why must they seize the time to simultaneously bombard me, triple-teamed, with deep theological questions? Yeah, I know the Bible says that "Impress [these commandments] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." But surely I can have a moment to eat my lasagna in peace? ;-)
- Mom, why are people considered animals?
September 22 at 10:05pm ·
What does it mean "made in God's image?"
September 22 at 10:06pm ·
What does it mean that all people sin because Helen is just a baby and she doesn't even know what is right or wrong?
September 22 at 10:07pm ·
Why did God want to make people who do evil things?
September 22 at 10:08pm ·
If God will never again send a flood to destroy all the earth, what are some ways that He could use to destroy the earth?
September 22 at 10:09pm · · 1
But why did even the babies have to die in the flood?
September 22 at 10:10pm ·
How did Jesus walk on the water?
September 22 at 10:10pm ·
Seriously. All of these and more in under three minutes. Just enroll in seminary already kids; *I* don't know!
Jennifer Ooh, Stacey G, that was the only easy one! Before I was interrupted by the next question, I got as far as, "Volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, hurricanes, ..." "But wait, Mom, wouldn't some of those just be floods again?" Oh, bugger. How about just Godzilla montsters?
September 22 at 11:25pm · · 2- Susannah Cl But those are all pretty localized...asteroid impact or (maybe) super plague (although unlikely) or massive rapid climate change or nuclear winter are better suspects. Amused that your kids are asking though!
September 22 at 11:35pm · · 1 - Susannah C Well, it was obvious that you were plotting just as much as the vanantwerp kids! I have no doubt that they are on a course for world domination when they set their minds to it:-)
September 22 at 11:39pm ·
Jennifer J Susannah C, you are pretty good at this destruction idea yourself. Remind me never to put you in charge at the war dept!
September 23 at 12:10pm
October 7 at 3:02am
Yeah, hate it when the work week catches up to me. Had some really great black tea to caffeine up, though. Finished writing the test just before 3 AM, so now can be off to bed if I can wind down enough.
October 16 at 10:50pm
Weekend was busier than I had expected. Lost all of Saturday to folding laundry, somehow. And grocery shopping.
