Offroad Adventures

Uncle James (Bob's brother) suggested that we go to the West Michigan Offroad this weekend. It's like a demolition derby in the mud. Unfortunately the forecast for Saturday evening was pretty bleak, 60% chance of rain. We decided to chance it and headed out anyway. We saw a few races with just a light sprinkling and then it started raining for real. We brought our umbrellas and toughed it out for several races. Abigail really enjoyed the powderpuff races and the boys thought it was super cool when one car flipped over! By the time we were ready to leave most of us were soaked and Joshua had been standing so close that he even got splattered by some mud from the cars (I learned that this is very cool to a 7 year old boy, he didn't want to wash it off)! The kids seemed to enjoy it even in the rain and I suppose it was extra good because the rain was creating a super muddy track. I think I would go again...just not in the rain.

Fun with Grammie and Poppy

Grammie and Poppy were here for a visit and we filled every moment with activity! They got to go on two field trips, one to the zoo with Josiah's class and the other to Dutch Village with Joshua's class. They also got to see all four kids play in baseball games. We got lots of ice cream and I made some of my favorite desserts to share with them too. Our time together is always sweet and always too short! We can't wait to see them again in August when we meet up at my Aunt Sue's house!

Here's pictures from the zoo. The ride on the camel was definitely the highlight!






Dutch Village in Holland Michigan was lots of fun too!

Playing Blog Catch Up

Things are happening so fast I don't have time to blog about it all! So here it is in pictures...which is better than not at all right? :)

Going from most recent pictures to older pictures, we begin with Abigail's 9th birthday party. She had a bowling party and everyone had a GREAT time! This first photo is quite revealing. At first glance you'll notice the pesky little brother giving her bunny ears. But if you look closely you'll notice that the mama forgot candles for the cake. So poor Abigail had to pretend there were candles and blow out nothing. What can you do...just gotta roll with the punches.




Here are Josiah's Preschool graduation photos. He had to dress up as what he wanted to be when he grows up. He decided that he wanted to dress up as a "Space Man". The funny thing was that as part of the program his teacher asked all the kids what they wanted to be. When she got to Josiah he said, "fireman". Oops, I guess he forgot he was dressed as an astronaut. It was cute!





Here's a picture of my 3 favorite guys right after a night of door to door campaigning. These little guys are daddy's best campaign volunteers!

She is worth far more than rubies

Mother's day came and went in usual whirlwind fashion and I didn't get a chance to put up pictures from the Mother's Day tea that I got to attend with Joshua and Chloe at school. Finally I sit down to share the pictures with you and tell you about the cute things they said and I started thinking about my mother and about other women who have been like a mother to me and I am suddenly overcome with emotion. I am just so thankful to have a mom who is so supportive, encouraging, loving and generous. She's amazing, no seriously AMAZING! I love my mom...I wish I was more like her. She is kind and patient and a great listener and when you need her she is ALWAYS there for you. My one wish for my relationship with my own daughters is that some day they will feel about me what I feel about their Grammie. I love you mom!
Not only have I been blessed with the greatest mom in the world, the Lord has brought other women into my my life who have provided wise counsel, friendship and have treated me like their own daughter. It's amazing to reflect back and see how God used these relationships to shape who I am now. Joette, Bonnie, Mama Rood, Ellen, Kathy, Margaret, Susan and others....I am so thankful for the blessing of having them in my life. They are worth far more than rubies.


Now for my own Mother's Day...I got to attend a tea put on by the kindergarten thru second grade classes at school. Chloe made a hat and Joshua made a tie for the occasion. They sang songs and recited Bible verses. Joshua's class each took a letter to spell out "Happy Mother's Day" and each child said something about there mother that started with their letter. Joshua had the letter "T". He said, "T is for talented. My mom is talented..." (I was thinking, oh, how sweet. He thinks I'm talented.) he went on, "...when she does the wash." Well, at least he thinks I'm good at something! :) Abigail made a picture collage of my favorite hobbies. She included cooking, swimming, shopping and texting (a sign of the times OR the sign of a bad mommy?). What can I say...I text. :) Josiah gave me a special card he made himself and a little plant he grew himself and from Bob I got tulips. I had a lovely mother's day and even though it's supposed to be a day for mother's to be celebrated it reminded me how thankful I am to be a mother!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

This post is just going to be a jumble of things from the last several days. A few pictures from Josiah's t-ball game. I just can't help it...he's the cutest little t-ball player ever!

This past weekend we drove down to Dayton to see our special friends, the Geaslens. We only got 24 hours with them but it was worth the drive. It's amazing to see the strong bond that our children have formed with each other. Abigail and Eve have been playing together since they were 1 and the rest of the kids have known each other from birth. Our time with them is never long enough but was well enjoyed.

Today we were driving home from school and there was a man standing by the road wearing a chicken costume and holding a sign that said, "Haircut SALE $6.99". I had just been thinking that the boys needed haircuts so we went in. I asked out of curiosity what the connection between a chicken and haircuts is. They said that there was no connection, just trying to get attention. It worked! The girls decided they wanted cuts too and since it was just $6.99 I agreed. They ended up with short, angle cuts (as Abigail calls it). They are both happy and now I don't have to worry about doing Chloe's hair (which she hates) so it's all good.

Finally, I'm including pictures of our Michigan house so you can see where we live now.
It's small but we're making the best of it. It's in a nice neighborhood with lots of kids and fun hills for riding bikes. :)

Enjoy the pictures and Happy early Mother's Day!












I just had to throw this picture in at the last minute. This is what happens after spending the day with Grandma playing and taking long bike rides!

Opening Day at Pinery Park Little League

My dear friend Margaret emailed me and said it was time for an update on my blog. I know it's been too long...and so much has happened in the life of our family in the last month it's almost overwhelming just thinking about it. At some point I hope to go back and fill in some of the details from the last month. For now pictures of the opening day of little league will have to do.
So Miss Margaret, this one's for you!

This is Pinery Park Little League. The very same little league that Bob played at when he was a boy. This year all 4 kids get to play. Abigail is playing girls minors softball, Joshua is on a coach-pitch team, Chloe is playing tee ball softball with all girls and Josiah is on a boys tee ball team. They were all very excited to get the season started...especially Josiah who just had to try on his uniform the night before and then didn't want to take it off at bedtime. They all did a great job in their first game and it was fun to watch.


These first two pictures were taken at the end of the day after all the games were played. They were all filthy!

Here's Josiah. After getting his first hit he stops to pose on third base.

Abigail is ready to score her first run of the season! Her team didn't win but we expect they will steadily improve as the season goes on.

Here's a close-up of Josiah's dirty little face at the end of the day. He looks good in a dirt, snowcone, candy, gatorade go-t...don't you think?

We didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked but I threw in some BONUS video for your enjoyment. :) I love that after Josiah hits the ball for the first time he just stands there in amazement watching what happens...finally he runs to first base! Joshua had a couple great hits during his game. I think he hit 2 doubles!
Chloe did great too. She's an old tee ball pro. She picked up all her skills in Albuquerque from the best coach in town. We miss you Coach Ron!!!
Abigail's team struggled a bit. It is the first time these girls are pitching and it is an understatement to say that the pitches are hard to hit. Most of them fly 3 feet overhead or come in like a bowling ball. Needless to say, Abigail didn't get a hit but she did get walked, which shows she has a good eye! She did a wonderful job in the field too.
We are proud of all the kiddos. It will be fun to watch them improve as the season goes on. If you are in the area stop by the ball park on any given week night or Saturday morning....you will most likely find us there.

I'm so confused!!!

Anyone who reads my facebook updates knows that I've been struggling with my weight in the last year. I know I obsess about it way too much, sorry you have to put up with my rants. But I have just been so frustrated and now I can add confusion to that too. You see I started looking for more information online about new ways I should tackle this monster in my closet. I've been pretty dedicated to a low-fat diet for quite a while now. I eat light wheat bread, drink Krystal Light and LOTS of Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, and I absolutely LOVE spray butter. Oh and I always get the skinny latte at Starbucks and sweeten with splenda.
So last night I'm reading that sugar is my enemy, I should cut out wheat flour and that all my chemical low-fat/no-fat sprays (such as butter and salad dressing) and the artificial sweeteners may actually be holding me back from losing weight instead of helping. The other day I heard Dr. Oz say that a teaspoon of sugar only has 15 calories so he thinks it's better to go for a teaspoon of the real stuff in your tea than the artificial sweeteners. But then sugar is my enemy, right????? And then I read that using real butter (in limited amounts) is better for you because you actually NEED some good fats in order to burn bad fats. And this issue with flour...I'm not so sure about this. I went out today and bought a loaf of "Sprouted Flourless Whole Wheat Berry Bread". I had a slice of it for lunch with tuna on it. It was fine that way but I wouldn't say that I loved it or anything.
Anyway, I'm just not into the whole organic scene but that seems to be the way the pendulum is swinging these days. The problem is that there are so many different methods that one can drown in a sea of weight loss and healthful eating experts.
So today I did not use spray butter on my high fiber english muffin, I used a tiny bit of real butter. And I have not had any diet pop (not even one!!!) but I did put splenda in my tea (I couldn't help it). I ate one slice of my flourless bread with my tuna and (brace yourselves) some raw broccoli, like a whole bowl full (and my gag reflex only kicked in twice)! Anyone who knows me well will understand the significance of that! For dinner tonight we're having fish and I made myself a baked sweet potato. I guess I'll put just a smidge of butter on it along with salt & pepper and see how that goes. I will probably eat an apple later followed by my standard bag of fat free microwave popcorn but I plan on skipping the spray butter (that's gonna be tough).
Ok so if you have any advice or suggestions for me I welcome all the help I can get. I'd really love to go back to drinking my diet Pepsi and using my spray butter and artificial sweeteners but I have a feeling those days will have to come to an end.

Good-bye DWCP. I will miss you my friend!