Following the crowd...

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Not sure I totally agree though, but kinda funny!

What a relief... kinda!

I made some BIG purchases today... and I'm kinda sick about it, do you ever get that? I purchased a dining set, a bedroom set and a sectional couch (tried typing "sofa" there, but it's just not a word I use). I think we are set on the big stuff for a little while at least!

My problem is with the dining set, I know what it looks like and I know that I liked it when I bought it, but I keep trying to picture it and coming up with something absolutely hideous! A BIG black oval (we did buy black, but it's NOT an oval) with chairs that have BIG round backs and BIG round seats, neither of which is the actual case, they are very far from that in fact! But, it's making me SICK just thinking about the ugly picture I have in my head! Lucky for us the place where we got the bedroom set and dining set will store it for free until we need it and the couch won't be in for 8-12 weeks so HOPEFULLY we will be in our house before then!

Look at those eyes...

They look so green with this sweatshirt on... and if you look close you can see my shadow in his eyes... how sweet is that? (From the baseball game tonight)

Obstacle Course Fun

I have a feeling our summers will be filled with lot's of these... the kids LOVE when I make one for them. Neighbors, friends, they all love it! We change it up every time, running, math problems, unscrambing words (which is what they were stuggling with here), blowing bubbles, pushing lawnmowers, wheelbarrel races, filling one bucket with water from another, guzzling a can of pop, jumping rope, shooting baskets, throwing frisbees, footballs, skateboarding, quite a wide variety. Most races consist of about 5 activities, so they aren't terribly long, but long enough! It's quite fun to watch them!

It must be summer...

I'm currently resposible for 10 kids... is that even legal? Seriously though, it's easier than just having 2 or three!

My indulgence...

My latest and greatest indulgence is this... can you tell what it is? Matt wonders why I keep asking him to pick up more CoolWhip on his way home at lunch (b/c then he leaves after lunch and I devour, he is none the wiser that way)! I just mix raspberries (and sometimes blackberries if I have them) with the Cool Whip and voila... heaven! And best of all, there's only a FEW calories in there (or at least that's what I like to tell myself)! :)
We put water in the water table this morning, it was a little chilly, but they needed to go outside... Elliot couldn't help but SPLASH in there, causing quite a mess, but the smiles were worth every drop of water that escaped!

The kids only have 2 half days left of school after today and then you would ALMOST think life would slow down, but no way! Not here anyway! Landon starts basketball camp right away again on Monday from 9-11 and Bailey has tennis camp from 11-11:30 (is it even worth it?), then Landon has a baseball game on Monday night, Friday night adn Saturday morning. Bailey has a softball game on Tuesday and we have an open house to go to on Saturday, and maybe 80's night Saturday night! That would be a good way to end the week! To top it all off I have to babysit still Monday thru Wednesday next week, but then I'm done for the summer... mixed feelings about that!

The house is progressing along quite well. I think at least! Matt's has been working LONG days between work and the house, from 7:30-8am until at least 11:30-12pm, needless to say we don't see each other much right now. But... it will all be worth it, right????!!!!!! I dread the day that I have to start packing to move... while I'll be excited to move, I don't want to pack anything... I just want to start over! That's not in the budget though... but then again neither is much else anymore, crazy how quick you get over budget. Something is going to have to be cut out and I'm sure my pool will be the first thing to go... figures!

Happy Memorial Day

And happy Summer! This is the celebration of freedom and summer right?

Well, if you missed the parade this morning, don't worry you didn't miss much! Basically it was this

and this and of course we saw some familiar faces within all the groups of kids!

We celebrated by... working on the house all day (I really can't take the credit for that though, it was all Matt and Landon) and mowing the lawn (I did that). Matt did come home for dinner though, which he cooked (basically b/c I don't know how to fry fish) and then we all went out for ice cream!

One more day...

good thing too! I'm exausted! It's been a long, good weekend!

Let's see...
Friday: Bailey left to go camping with Matt's mom! Landon, elliot and I went up to Grandville and then to watch Cobe play baseball. Then home to rollerblade/ride bike! I haven't been on rollerblades in a long time, but I loved it! Gotta remember to do that again soon!

Saturday: Woke up somewhat early and took some pictures of a friends kids, then Landon and I hit an antique store. All the stoplights in the area were out which caused some major traffic backups and confusion, not sure what that was all about! While E was sleeping I laid out on the trampoline and ended up falling asleep, oops! Elliot ended up sleeping for 4 (yup, F-O-U-R) hours! That's just unheard of for the boy! Matt and I went out with a large group of people in the evening! We had a good time!



Sunday: we were planning on going to church, but Elliot and I ended up heading up to the campground with intentions of picking up Bailey earlier than originally planned! We all went swimming at the campground, so fun to see E in the water, it's been a long time since he's been swimming and he LOVED it! He was C-R-A-Z-Y! I of course forgot to put on sunscreen so I"m a little sore right now. Seriously, when will I EVER learn? We stuck around for dinner and a "hay"ride, then headed home, without Bailey. She was having to much fun and wanted to stay... whatever! Elliot went right to bed when we got home and I "demanded" a movie... JUNO. Kinda cute, little quirky!
I think maybe she got her mom's irrational fear syndrome... she looks like she may be scared of drowning or something!


Tomorow we'll probably head down to the parade, Matt will work on the new house and I'll work on this one... it desperately needs to be cleaned! Fun times!

Tired Eyes...

This morning I had an optomology (sure, I know I spelled that wrong, but don't really care right now) appt in Grand Rapids, followed by an appt with my endocronologist (prob spelled that wrong too... deal with it). My eyes are tired right now after being dialated and poked and shined in etc. I feel like I've been crying for DAYS! DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS! And I probably could cry for days, just one of those moods. Those moods seem to be quite frequent lately. Not sure what's up with all that, but it can go away anytime now!

Another busy night we had... we had to be at Bailey's game at 5:30, then Landon had to be at school at 6:30 for a talent show that started at 7, Bailey and I arrived right after her game (around 7:30ish) and we got home after 9. The talent show was GREAT, so much wonderful talent there, and what a good variety too! Elliot never got a good nap today so he was exausted! Poor guy, he was so ready to go to bed tonight, his eyes were closed by the time I closed his bedroom door! Love that little guy!

I'm in the process of uploading videos of talent show and softball, but it's taking FOREVER! Going on 45 minutes right now, so it may be tomorow before they get on here! Stay tuned!

Edited to add:
If they aren't playing yet, check back later, they have to finish processing, but I"m going to bed and wanted to get them added!

Love that boy (he's the one on the right)
and

Love that girl!

Baseball video

Well, we took a small portion of our money and stimulated the economy! We bought ourselves a video recorder which we've needed for a loooonnnggg time! Landon had a spring concert last week that I wanted so badly to record (and was able to b/c I borrowed a recorder, but still don't have a copy of it b/c I couldn't figure out how to download it... my fault, not thiers). On Thursday he has a talent show that he is doing a skit with some friends in that I want to record. He's playing baseball, Bailey is playing softball, Elliot is growing so fast, so much that deserves to be documented! I was so proud of myself, I went into the store (w/o Matt) with a limit that I wanted to spend, I found that my limit was on the low end of what they cost, but I didn't budge! This is HUGE for me, I can be easily talked into a lot, and spending a lot, but not this time! Yeah me!

OK, so previous post video and this video are from the new recorder... enjoy! This one is of Landon hitting a double at his game tonight. His double sent two players in which made his team reach thier 5 run limit per inning so he didn't get to finish his run, but it still counted for a lot! Yeah Landon!

Maybe not a super exciting video, but there will be way more to come as I figure this new toy out! so be on the lookout!

Sweetest words you'll ever hear...

"I Love You Mama" Not the clearest, but I know what he's saying and I LOVE it!

BABYsitting

I've had the pleasure of babysitting today, a little itty bitty baby... this baby actually! What a little peanut and it is definatly fun to have a baby around for a little while, but I'm sure that I'm done having kids too! It's a lot of work and absolutely nothing has been done today, the only reason I can do this right now is b/c she is sleeping on my lap! For about 2 minutes at a time at least! Elliot absolutely LOVES her, he is so gentle and sweet with her, but that's not changing my mind!

Baseball tonight, I get to work the concession stand, Matt is taking a break from work to come see the game. Another LONG night w/o Matt, I knew I was in for this, but didn't think it would be so hard or be quite so sudden! Oh well, we'll have a new house in the end!

To much wind?

We (I) wanted to head up to the Grand Haven Kite festival this weekend, but with all the work going on at the house Saturday was a bad day, so we tried to go this afternoon, but it must have been to windy or to cold, or both! The sand was blowing like CRAZY, there were only a few kites on the beach. I was really bummed, it was so cool last year, but I guess I will have to wait until next year! So instead we headed to Hemlock Crossings to walk around... the sun was directly overhead and very strong so there are some BAD shadows, but here are a few pics of the day!

Baseball and more...

After signing for our house on Thursday we had the dumpster delivered (probably while we were signing) and then the roof came off the back of the house on Friday morning, along with all the carpet and cabinets out of the house! (Whoa... progress already)! Matt continued to work on the roof Friday night with a little help from his mom and rose and Kyle! Kate and I went out for dinner with the kids for her birthday and then headed to the Whitecaps game! There were tons of people that we knew there so it was pretty much a social game, more than it was a watch the game game! Elliot got to play with Sadie a little which he was thrilled with! I"m so glad Kate went along and I didn't try to do it myself, that would have been rough!

This morning we woke up early and Matt wwas off to work on the roof some more and the kids and I were going to clean... or rather I was cleaning while it took Bailey over an hour to fold one basket of laundry, talk about FRUSTRATION!

We had Landon's baseball game at 1, his team won, but it was a close one! Landon was a part of the winning/last play of the game, which was SOOO exciting! The catcher threw the ball to second where Landon was (he was playing short stop), he caught the ball and tagged the runner that was stealing second for the final out of the game. So exciting! We had to go tell Matt all about it, Landon was so excited! He didn't want to smile, but couldn't stop himself either, he was so cute with his little half grin! Love that boy!

For dinner we had some of the guys that helped Matt on the roof (and family) over for Salmon for dinner! We had a fire and made s'mores! It's been so long since we've had a fire so I forgot how terrible we smell after being outside! Everyone took a shower, the kids are snug in bed and I'm headed there right now! Hope your Saturday was good!

Oh, and I took some pics for a friend this weekend, here is one of my fav's... although there are a LOT more!

Signed, Sealed and STUCK

This morning we signed our lives away, pretty sure by signing the 50+ papers we probably sold at least one of our children, maybe all three, but we got a house out of the deal! (Just kidding, I wouldn't trade our kids even for a million dollar house)! The dumpster is delivered and taking up MOST of the driveway, I went by there just now and opened up almost all of the windows to let a little fresh air in, it definately needed it! Let the work begin!

I'm soooo excited...

Check this link out... I am ALL about it! Anyone else????? And... it's right before Matt & Gabrielle's wedding, how sweet is that?

The Picture I've dreamed of...

OK, so it's nothing really special, I've just had this in my head that I needed a picture of my little guy saying "So Big" in just a diaper with a simple background... today we went for it and I'm happy with what I have...

10:00 Thursday

On Thursday we close on our house, on Friday Matt is tearing the roof off, with a little help from some friends! We (the kids and I and Kate) get to go to a Whitecaps game on Friday night, so I get out of doing anything, but then Saturday I get to start tearing off wall paper, my favorite thing ever to do... isn't wallpaper a WONDERFUL thing? So, if anyone wants to help, feel free! Were grilling Saturday night/afternoon too! Salmon and something else, not sure what yet. So yeah... feel free to stop on by!

Today was a busy day. I went on a field trip to Greenfield Village and Henry Ford museum with Landon's class. We had to be at school at 6:30am and got home around 8. It was a beautiful day to be at Greenfield village. The highlight of Landon's trip was riding on the train adn riding in the model t! We are both exausted, although Landon wouldn't admit it b/c the Pistons game is on and it's a close game!

Busy busy busy...

Saturday morning bright and early Landon had a baseball game, he played against Cobe (who is on 2nd in the below picture) and had his first loss! Bummer!
Next was the parade in the afternoon, we headed down there aroun 1 and got home around 4:30 (I think...), the kids seemed to have a lot of fun!



Then we went to my parents house for pizza from Mario's! SOOOOO yummy, my absolute Favorite pizza! The kids played for a while then we headed home. Last minute I decided to go out with EJ and her boyfriend to the Intersection to watch a concert by Mega 80's! Super! I LOVE LOVE LOVE 80's music so while I was totally outside my comfort zone I still had a good time. I definately want to go back with a group of friends soon (stay tuned)!

Today was Mothers day, I was able to sleep in for a while this morning! Then church, then lunch/breakfast at DeeLite in Grand Haven! Definately one of my favorite breakfast places.


AFter lunch we came home and had a quick nap, then we went to celebrate mothers day with Matt's mom! Now we are home and vegging for a bit before our busy week starts! HOpefully you had a wonderful mothers day!

Bailey & the Angry Eyebrows!

Oh yeah, and isn't my husband great! I got ferns for mothers day for my front porch (a tradition), which are beautiful! And, now he is cleaning the whole kitchen for me! Something he does quite regularly, despite the very sore wrists, but I still appreciate it so much every time he does it! One less thing I have to do in the morning! I love him so much!

House stuff

One house done, one to go! We closed on my grandpas house today... and hopefully we sit on the other side of the table (figuratively) on Thursday! (And remove the roof and re-roof the house on Friday and Saturday)!

Yeah!!!!!!!! When we got home though (1hr drive) we had a message on our phone that the title company was hoping they had caught us before we made it home so that we could come back and sign a paper that they had forgotten. They called an hour after we left, how were they thinking we would turn around????? CRAZIES!!! We will have to do it over email or fax I guess!



OK, so moving on to new house stuff...
your opinion please!
a) light floors (laminate) and dark cabinets
or
b) dark floors (laminate) and light cabinets

Trim color: right now it's dark old wood, not nice dark but old dark. We will probably end up painting it and while I like the look of white sometimes, I'm not a fan of it in my house as it get's really dirty, so I want something different...
a) tan trim/doors etc
or
b) black high gloss

Colors we are leaning toward are a bit modern, green/blue/oranges (sounds crazy now I know, but nothing is set in stone and I have pictures I'm basing this off of).

So, weigh in...

If it's not one thing... it's another...

Seriously, someone in our house has to be injured every day, or at least once a week... this week was E's turn again, I think I've seen this before on him!

On a better note, Bailey had her first game tonight.... She hit the ball all three times she was up to bat! Yeah!!!! She had a great time too!

And on a even better not... we are closing TOMOROW! On my grandpa's house that is! Totally an inconvenient time, but I'll make anything work at this point (with the help of some good friends)! Tomorow night we will be one step closer to closing on the estate!!!! YEAH!!!!

More Pictures...

Pictures...

Look who went potty again...
Elliot hanging out on the steps... watching the cars go by!
Landon at his game last night... another win! Saturdays game will be good, two undefeated teams and it's Cobe's team, and one of Landon's friends from his class is also on that team... could be an interesting afternoon!
Oh I can't wait until Summer (please add lots and lots of sarcasm here). She is supposed to be cleaning her room adn I know I've complained about how long that takes before, but today we got a great tantrum out of her too, screaming and hitting and the whole time I sat thier trying not to yell so instead I took pictures, I will spare you from the bad ones though, the ones of her teary and read face, the ones where she is screaming at me. (as I type though she is really cleaning finally, what a relief)

Crocs

I swore I would never wear those ugly shoes. I've always hated the originals, I just don't think they are attractive at all... but today I broke and bought not one, but two pairs of crocs (on clearance) and i have to say they are pretty cute...
I got these... and these . They aren't quite as big as these..., which is why I like them... and they are COMFORTABLE! Elliot even likes to walk around in them!

The Tree

I have a love hate relationship with storms. While I love the noise and the "coziness" of them they put a fear in me. I'm petrified that the big tree next to our house (when I say big, I mean B-I-G) is going to get struck by lightning and fall on our house, smashing us all. Irrational you say... well, I know that. I'm the queen of irrational fears. It's so bad that when I know a storm is coming I normally make the whole family sleep on the main level of the house (the basement is NOT an option, otherwise we would be down there), this always happens much to Matt's dismay, but he loves me and humors me. The kids are gone tonight (thanks Mary & Susie) so I'm a little less fearful, but not really. Because you see, if the tree falls tonight (and I'm always conviced that it will) my children will be orphans, and just the thought makes my heart hurt! So, I'm praying that we will be safe and the tree will continue to stand!

I also got some beautiful magazines in the mail today! Lot's of good ideas in there! Lots and Lots and LOTS! WOW! I can't stop paging through them, I've folded a TON of pages and thing I finally found my "style". Finding my decorating style has been very difficult for me, I like modern, contemporary and traditional, and a few other things from a few other styles. I've decided to name my new style "Pottery Barn". YUP, right from the catalog (which happens to be the three catalogs I got in the mail today, PB Baby/Kids, PB Teen and PB, thanks for the tip Kate and Carol)! We went to the PB store today (I like the catalog better though) and we checked out UBU, where we found a lot of stuff we loved, I was suprised by the prices, they weren't as bad as I anticipated! We also checked out Art Van (which we thought would be more in our price range), but found NOTHING that we liked there. We have a while til we have to find furniture though, so that's ok. Were still on the search for a different house too, one that won't take so much work. We've run into a few speed bumps with this one. Speed Bumps that will take a little more money than we anticipated. There are still things about the house that we don't think we could find with other houses either, so it's still a definate possibility and the purchasing process continues, just checking the options!

Ok, off to watch the radar!

For all the digiscrappers...

have you seen this kit? (I've tried inserting the picture numerous time with no luck, sorry). It's really a gorgeous kit, and to make it even sweeter, the proceeds (minus paypal fees) are being donated to the Susan G Komen foundation! It's created by these wonderful designers: Shabby Princess, Dianne Rigdon, Gina Miller, Robin Carlton, Carrie Stephens, Nancie Rowe-Janitz, Amy Wolff, Jenna Desai, Kate Hadfield, Jacque Larson, Michelle Coleman, Shabby Miss Jenn, Susan Bartolini, Kate Teague, Leora Sanford, Meredith Fenwick, Jan Crowley and Janet Phillips! OK, just had to do a little advertising.... b/c I love the kit and b/c I love the charity!

Have a good weekend!

Some cute baby pics...

Some pics I took today of a super cute baby... mom hasn't even seen these yet, but she will tomorow!

Happy Anniversary

to my fabulous, sweet, hardworking, loving husband today! Nine years he has put up with me and he's still going strong, can't even believe it! I wonder how many people thought we would never make it this far, and because of our circumstances, statistically we probably shouldn't have, but here we are, an dso happy that we are! It hasn't all been easy, but we've persevered. There have been days where giving up seemed like the only solution, but we didn't. I'm so happy that we've stuck it out through the bad times and have had plenty of good times to help us forget those not so good!

No big plans, no gifts to be given, baseball games to attend, food pantry to volunteer at, work to be done, no time to celebrate, but that's ok, still a good day! Matt's big gift will actually be coming from his doctor when he FINALLY get's his cast off! YEAH!!!!!