Girls' Night Out

Lisa, Cyndie, Tina, Missy E., Wendie, Liz, Missy D., Lynette, Tonya, Trisha, Sheri and I all headed out last night for a night on the town! First, most of the gals met at our house for appetizers and wine. We had to drink up some of the yummy wine we've all been buying on our many trips to Hudsonville Winery! :) Then we loaded up and went to 84 East for martini night and more good food. After many, many laughs, some of the group left and others of us went on to the Curraugh for a last round of drinks. It was such a fun night! I laughed several times until tears were pouring down my face! I feel so blessed that I have such great friends!!!!!!

A Huge Long Break????

Well,
I can't decide if I am going to be back to blogging or not. I have taken a huge long break, and with Facebook available for me to share my pictures, I don't know if it is worth keeping up with a blog. We'll see.....
The only reason I am excited to blog today is because I took pictures of the kids on Sunday for my Christmas cards and for individual shots, and they turned out quite good! Don't want to plaster them on FB, or there will be no need to spend money to send out Christmas cards! :) So here are a select few for the select few of you! You know you are pretty special if you got an email telling you to view these! haha

Sissy Buns

Sis taught herself how to swim yesterday. I don't mean dog paddling, I mean full, outright swimming!!!! The child cracks me up. We went to Remicks' pool on Tuesday, and she started jumping off the diving board and swimming to the ladder (with swimmies on her arms) over and over. Then on Wednesday, we went to our pool and she stayed in the pool forever with her swimmies on. About 20 minutes before we were going to leave, she took her swimmies off and started swimming from one end of the steps to the other. She would use breaststroke arms and flutter kick. She was so proud of herself. Yesterday, we went up to the pool late in the afternoon, and girlfriend started swimming for real. She can swim all over with her little underwater swim, and she started swimming freestyle. She has so much fun in the pool, and I guess it has paid off. She is a little fish! Her freestyle is a little sloppy mind you, but she is really swimming!!!! She can jump off the side of the pool and swim back to the edge and/or steps. She can't wait to show her daddy this afternoon. (And I'm sure anyone else who will watch her!!!!!) 3 years old and swimming- at least her stubbornness worked in her favor this time!

Done

Cobe's team is done for the season. They played the Padres tonight in the semi-finals and lost 9-3. They were much closer this game than they had ever been to this team (lost 12-1 and 11-1 in the previous games), so I think they gave it their all. For several innings they were only behind by 2 (0-2, 2-2, and 4-2), so a comeback seemed like a possibility. But in one inning, they made some major mistakes and the Padres scored 5 runs. Oh well- the boys bonded and had tons of fun. You wouldn't know they lost- at the end of the game, they ran around having a water fight and were all smiles. It was great to see such good attitudes. Their end of season party is Friday night at the De Witts' pool (and at Sportsquest if the weather predicted materializes- thunderstorms!), but there are 4 guys/families that can't come. They'll still have fun I'm sure.

And we'll be on to football season before you know it! Football starts the second week in August, so one sport ends, another begins. Cobe loved, loved, loved baseball, but he always loves the sport he happens to be playing at the time. He was approached and asked by the coaches to try out for the Elite travel baseball team in September, but both Ryan and I firmly believe that he is too young to concentrate on one sport year round. We aren't even going to tell him because it is the same travel team that Chase is on, so I can imagine that he would want to do it. He loves soccer and football way too much to only focus on baseball, and he wants to try basketball this winter too- little shrimp that he is! :)
He wants to try football one more season as a 4th grader to see how that goes, and then he may give that up for awhile and focus more on soccer in the fall seasons. I think he truly likes soccer better, but wanted to give football one more try since he would be the "oldest" in the league. Too bad the 3rd graders will outweigh him! He has fun no matter what and that is what matters!

We couldn't convince little Brooksie to give soccer another try. He wants nothing to do with soccer. He said he only wants to play baseball and football when he gets old enough. He doesn't enjoy running and doesn't have as much stamina as Cobe, so I can imagine soccer just whips him! At least he knows his own mind! So I'll need to find something to keep him active all winter until baseball rolls around again in the spring.

Sadie wants to try gymnastics, so I think I'm going to look for a tumbling or gymnastics class for her through the Rec program. I hope something will work out for her on Tuesdays, since she doesn't have school that day. We'll have to see- I don't want it to cost an arm and a leg either- her preschool is expensive enough! I figure this will be the last year I will have to pay for any kind of school, so that will be nice. She'll either go to young 5's or kindergarten the next year. I have no more babies in this house- sad at times, but comes in handy.

Life this summer has been super fun and easy the kids being the ages they are. They have played so well together, and we are able to do whatever we want without worrying about naps, diapers, feeding schedules, etc. They are pretty go-with-the-flow type kids for the most part, and I feel truly blessed to have each of them. Don't get me wrong- Sis can still throw an attitude like you wouldn't believe, but usually it doesn't take much for her to get back on track.

We went to see a horrid movie today. Didn't know it was so weird, or we wouldn't have gone. It actually reminded me of Nightmare before Christmas (my brother Jeff's ALL TIME favorite movie), but it was freakier. It is animated, and I hadn't heard a word about it, so I thought, "Hey- it's a buck, why not?" I think it was worth a buck, but not much more. It was just odd. The kids sat through it fine, but thought it was weird and spooky. Jeff- I recommend it to you, but no one else! :)

Alright, enough time babbling. The kids still need to get to bed. They have friends coming over tomorrow- one of which will be dropped off before my kids even get out of bed in the morning, so I should get them tucked in soon. Adios!

Plans Changed

Well today we were supposed to go to the park and play with the Gulkers- now we are going to the beach instead! Looks like one of the only nice days all weeks- thunderstorms/rain predicted for tomorrow and Thursday, so we are heading to Pier Cove. There is a group going- lots of little kids, so I'm sure it will be fun. Then we'll head home early afternoon to get some rest before Cobe's game tonight.

Yesterday, Sadie had so much fun with Presley. She went to the library, painted a t-shirt, checked out some books, and must have gone to the bakery as well because she came home with a cookie. The boys ended up going over to Zach, Jace, Logan and Luke's all day- they had a blast playing hot box, wiffle ball, swimming, hockey, ripsticking, etc. Zach had his cousin Sam over too- so I am sure it was little boy heaven with all the guys running around. Sadie and I just chilled when she got home from Kristen's- she is at such a great age to just play. She put her bathing suit on, got all her dolls out, put her bathing suits on them, and played for several hours "taking her babies to the pool and shopping." She got in the bathtub at one point and took her water baby swimming, but the rest of the time, she just loaded up her stroller and had fun. I would hear her talking to them constantly- so cute to watch. I always have to be the grandma when she plays with the babies and watch one or two of them while she takes the other ones shopping. She makes me feel rather old! ;-)

I finished another good book yesterday- Mom- hopefully you are saving up a ton for me to bring back. I have been reading up a storm this summer. I think I only have 1 left here that I haven't read yet, so I may have to be hitting the library to keep my trend going until I can get to NC and get some more of my mom's. I have so much time in the mornings between the time I get home from working out and when the kids get up. It is 8:30 and they are still sleeping, and I got home at 6:45 from working out! I already made sandwiches and packed the rest of the food for the beach, so now I am bored. Guess I'll go start on that last book!!!!!

Could I Love Summer Any More?????

NOPE!!!!!

We had such a nice day today! We went to the park, and Ryan and I played tennis. I won the first set 6-3, he won the second set 8-6, and he won the third set 6-1. I was pooped! 30 games of tennis!!!! He was determined to beat me. I have never given him a run for his money like I did today. hee hee I WILL beat him next time!!!! The kids all got racquets this week (Sadie's cost a whopping $1.69!), so they "played" beside us on another court and every once in awhile played on the playground. We came home, had a yummy lunch- the first fresh corn on the cob of the season- then all rested for awhile. We headed back out around 5:00 and biked to Grandma Hains' to say hi, then on to Captain Sundae's for ice cream. It was Brooks' first long bike ride, and he did great! Sadie rode on the tag-a-long bike on the way there, and in the burley on the way home. I think I'll have 3 kids who will sleep well tonight!

The boys got to play Rock Band last night at the Boeve's, so they are WAY into our Guitar Hero now. The whole time we were "resting," they were in the basement jamming to Slow Ride, Mississippi Queen, and the likes. :) They are down there again now rockin it out!

This week brings more fun activities. Tomorrow morning Sadie got invited to go paint t-shirts with Presley. Kristen got the girls plain t-shirts at Children's Place, and they are going to paint them at the library. Then they are going back to their house to play. Cobe has baseball practice tomorrow night to get ready for their first tournament game Tuesday night- against the Pirates. I am pretty ready for baseball to be over. I do hope they win against the Pirates, but I assume they'll play the Padres after that, and I am sure that will be it for the season! They ended up in 2nd place in their league for the regular season, so that is quite an accomplishment (Padres were first by a L-O-N-G shot!). Cobe impressed me more and more as the season progressed. He really became a great hitter which he lacked last year. Ryan and Steve had those boys swinging at everything all season, so those kids didn't do as well at first. They did NOT want those boys to win with walks. Unfortunately, that meant they lost a lot because the other teams walked a ton. But it paid off by the end of the season, every kid on the team has been hitting and hitting big! I guess they knew what they were doing! He has also started catching the last few games and LOVES it- he is going to be a catcher next year, so they wanted to get him started this year.

Brooks is done with his t-ball season- he was quite the little ball player as well! He loved every minute of it. I always ask him how my little t-ball player is doing, and he said last time, "Now you have to ask me how your little coach pitch player is doing!" He is so stinkin' cute to me! His last game was Thursday night in the rain, but now I'm glad they got it done and over with so we don't have a make-up game this week! :)

I digressed away from the week's plans for a minute, didn't I? :) Tuesday we have a playdate/tennis date with the Gulkers planned- our kids played last week- the boys at our house and the girls at their house after we met at the park and played for awhile. Their kids are our kids exact same ages, and all 6 kids get along really well. They are church friends and won't ever be in school together, but enjoy being with each other. The boys had a HUGE game of baseball going at Helder Park- the Kuiper boys and Vredeveld boys joined in so they had quite a game going while Kelli and I played tennis. Lindy and Sadie took turns being ball girls for us and playing on the playground. They then went back with Kelli to play with a neighbor's dog, jump on the tramp, and do what girls do, while the boys came here and fished, played b-ball and more baseball. They also got a game of indoor hockey going too. I am assuming more of the same will be happening this week. Tuesday night is Cobe's baseball game.

Wednesday we will probably hit the beach with some friends during the morning and early afternoon- we haven't had a beach day yet, so I look forward to that. Wed. late afternoon, we'll go to the boys' school for JR Library- their books from 2 weeks ago are due. I guess Cobe may have a game that night as well if they win Tuesday night????? But I'm not sure.

Thursday is another scheduled park day, Friday is open during the day right now, so will most likely be a pool day if the weather cooperates, and Friday night is Cobe's Mets pool party at the DeWitts. Saturday evening is Matt and Kathie's wedding and Sunday is the PWT that we are meeting Brent and Abby at in Wisconsin. Whew! All this makes me tired just writing it! Sunday is Father's Day too, so Ryan is excited to be making a road trip in celebration of his day! I got him a few goodies already too. The kids are super excited to get to see Brent, and Sadie is thrilled to see Abby!!!!!

So, like I started with, I love summer! I love all of the busyness it brings- because it isn't work...it's ALL fun!

Kickin' it up a notch

I have been exercising at least 5 times a week since Nov. 1st. I have either been swimming, running, walking, biking and lifting weights each day. Well....you'd think I"d look different, wouldn't you? :) I am now going to step up my game since it is summer. I have added the game of tennis to my schedule. I LOVE to play tennis! I played last week (just hit balls), and then yesterday, I played an actual match. I am playing again this afternoon, and I can't wait. I forgot how much I loved that sport. I have several friends who play as well, so we are going to try and get some games in each week. Even though the pounds aren't falling off, I do feel so much better about myself- I am probably in the best physical shape I have been in since I was dating Ryan. I was skinny and fit then! Now I'm just fit! haha

Last night was Cobe's last regular season baseball game. The team and Cobe himself had a good night. They won 13-1. A kid on Cobe's team who had never gotten a single hit all season got his first hit last night. It was so exciting for everyone. The kids and the parents all went crazy. He not only hit that time, but also the other 2 times he went up to bat! Such a neat thing to watch! Cobe had some good hits as well; he pitched; and he made a double play in the last inning which got two Braves' players out! He was on fire! The tournament starts this Saturday, but Cobe's team doesn't play again until Monday night b/c they are ranked 2nd, so they don't have to play in the elimination rounds.

I am taking the kids to the Farmer's Market this morning to their educational program. There is a beekeeper who will be there explaining his trade. I think they will enjoy that. Sadie's friend Presley is going with her, so Sadie will be pumped when she wakes up and hears that.

Cobe is off on his cottage/birthday trip for Riley this afternoon. We'll leave around 1:30 to get him to Riley's house after picking up Blake to go as well. They are all excited to get together and hang out at Riley's cottage. And Brooks gets to go to Jacob's party tonight as well.

Well....I showered at the gym this morning after working out, but I didn't dry my hair, so I need to go do that before it is a wavy mess! Until next time... :)

Don't Know Why I Blog Anymore...

I started this blog to keep my parents informed/up-to-date with pictures from our everyday lives since they are far away. But now, everyone is on FB and sees my pictures there, so I feel redundant when I blog. I think I will sporadically still keep this going only b/c it is also my journal and will be nice to have our everyday events and lives on record for later in life. So.... here are two pictures from this morning. We got to go to Lynette's church for Lila's baptism and back to her house for lunch. It was a really nice day!

Too bad I don't have any pictures of Miss Lila herself! You can go to www.thisandthat-lynette.blogspot.com to see some.

Cobe had a game Friday night- won BARELY against the Pirates 11-10. The Mets were ahead 8-0 until the 4th inning and the Pirates rallied back to a tie. They had to play 2 extra innings to break the tie. Saturday mornings game didn't go as well. They lost to the Padres 11-1. Cobe had come down with a fever Friday night; we pumped him full of Tylenol for the game; he did well; came home and his fever came back. He was fever-free all day today and seemed to feel great. Lynette and I went shopping after the game to GR- got some good deals on a few things and had more fun and laughs just being out without kids. I feel like the two of us laugh constantly when we are together and aren't stressed! It was a really fun day.

Cobe and Brooks' last regular season games are this week- Cobe plays Tuesday night and Brooks plays Thursday night. Cobe's tournament starts this weekend- unsure of when/what time his games will be yet. Both boys have birthday parties to go to Wednesday. Brooks gets to go to his buddy Jacob's party at Craig's Cruisers and Cobe gets to go on an over-nighter to his buddy Riley's cottage. They are going to wake-board, tube, water ski, fish, etc. Both boys have been counting down since last week waiting for Wednesday to get here! Other than that- just a regular week with pool time, playdates, Farmer's Market, park outings, etc. Aaaahhhhh- it has been a great summer so far!

Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

We did NOT go to a party tonight- well, some of us didn't. Cobe and I stayed home tonight due to his extended emergency room visit this morning. He woke up around 5:15 with severe stomach pain. He was writhing in pain, doubled over. Not like him at all. He continued to suffer and could not ever get in a comfortable position. The pain moved from all over to the right lower side of his stomach. I called his regular doctor, and he said to take him to emergency. Right away they did blood work, and the white blood cell count came back higher than normal. Normal is under 10,000 and his was 15,000- indicating infection. So they prepped him for a CT scan- he had to drink 2 tall cups of liquid stuff that would show up in the scan. He got half of the first cup down and started throwing up. Nice! Poor guy- he was so nauseous. So they put anti-nausea medicine in his IV and he slept for awhile while that kicked in. He woke up, drank the 2nd cup of the nasty stuff, then we had to wait an hour before he could have the scan so the liquid would show up. During the scan, they injected dye into his IV so that would show up as well. Are you getting all this? My petrified-of-doctors, petrified-of-shots, petrified-of-pain, petrified-really of anything out of the ordinary-son is having to endure all of this. I was super proud of him! He was nervous, but handled everything MUCH, MUCH better than I ever thought he was capable of.

So after the scan, we waited some more! The Dr. read the results which were basically inconclusive. They showed that there was inflammation and thickening around his appendix, but he couldn't tell what it was from. Sooooo....we waited some more for a surgeon to come from home to see what he thought. After hours, the surgeon came, and examined Cobe as well, and thought he was okay to go home to "wait and see" what developed in the next 48 hours. He thought he was either in the early stages of appendicitis, or just suffering from a viral infection.
Cobe was a real trooper- we got to the hospital around 9:00 this morning, and we got back home after 3:00. He has felt whipped since getting home, but hasn't seemed to be in nearly the pain he was this morning. The surgeon wants us to follow up with him on Monday.

So, Ryan took Brooks and Sadie to the fun party we were all supposed to go to, and Cobe and I stayed home and relaxed. His sweet personality has really shown through today- he has constantly thanked me for being with him, thanked me for taking him to the hospital, apologized for this happening to him (like he could help it!). He doesn't realize that I wish I could have taken all that pain for him. I love that little guy more than life itself! I am so thankful that he is better and that we serve a healing God.

Ryan leaves tomorrow for a 3 day golf outing with some cop friends of his. I pray that Cobe stays well, so that he can actually go. He needs a break and to get away.

Well...off to check on Cobe and to get him in bed. Even with a long afternoon nap, he can use the sleep!

Cobe's Debut at Catching

Cobe has been wanting to catch all season. We have 2 catchers- Zach and Drew- who do such a great job, and Cobe had never had full gear in which to practice. So about 2-3 weeks ago, Ryan took him to get catcher's gear, and he has been practicing ever since. His team was up 15-2 or somewhere around there in the 5th inning, so Steve put Cobe in as catcher. He was proud as punch! He almost caught a foul ball, but just missed it! He made a few good catches, but the pitcher was on fire tonight (Eli), so he struck out the other team pretty quickly and the inning was a short one. The Mets went on to win 17-2 after their best-played game of the season! Cobe made a double out play and also caught a fly ball for an out, plus he had a triple and a good line drive.

We left the game and went to Braelyn's party. Amanda had done an ice cream theme- super cute! They got to hit a pinata, ride quads, eat ice cream cupcakes in cones, play baseball, and play with their cousins. Fun party Amanda- thanks for having us!!!!!

Tomorrow we have nothing until 4:00- unheard of for quite some time! At 4:00, we'll be heading to a buddy of Ryan's to a family party. He has rented a bounce house and has set up other games for the kids/families. I'm sure we will have another fun evening. Summer has officially begun! YAY!

Sadie's Shiner

My precious baby girl got a black eye tonight! She was pitching to Brooks, and he hit the ball right back at her- she was much too close! I felt just as bad, if not worse, for Brooks. He has been a wreck all night. He feels so badly and has cried, cried and cried some more. As you can see from the picture, she wasn't too upset about it after awhile. We are blessed to have an eye doctor across the street from us- he came over and checked her out. He does want to see her in his office tomorrow because the ball scratched her eye as well, so he wants to check on that with his equipment. She's a real trooper!

Sadie and Lila

Sadie got to spend some time with Lila Bell this past week, and enjoyed every minute of it! I so wish we could have another baby- not only for Sadie's sake, but also for Brooks and Cobe's. They all three long for another sibling. Sort of pulls on your heartstrings..... I think God knew what He was doing :-) when he put Ryan in my path. If he had put a man who wanted lots of kids...who knows how many I'd have!!!!!

She thought she was some kind of special to get to hold Lila all by herself. Thanks Lynette for sharing!

I AM SO EXCITED....

so I can't imagine how Cobe feels! Cobe hit a clean home run today at his game against the Cubs!!!!!! Unfortunately, no one was on base, so it only scored his team 1 run, but it was AWESOME! I was so proud of him! He went from not hitting all season, to hitting a double and a single last game, to a HOME RUN and a double today. Sweet! He had a great game in the field as well.

Okay- guess I know how he feels now. He just came walking in the room with his hands in the air singing, "I made a home run! I made a home run!" :-)

Shoot!

****See previous posts****

Not the pictures at all that I most wanted to upload...but after 5, I had already taken up all my memory again. Definitely time for an external hard drive or a new computer!!!!

Here is the girl part of the band today. The boys (Josh and Brooks) had on cowboy hats and guitars. You'll have to take my word for it that they were adorable.

Grant, Cobe and Chase at the Walk-a-thon Celebration at the high school stadium. Cobe won the prize for 3rd grade boys- most miles. He won a $5 Target gift card and a water bottle. He also raised enough money to go on a limo ride next week- his principal is taking the kids in a Hummer limo to Captain Sundae- not the close one, but the one in Holland.

Josh, Connor, Cobe and Michael at the celebration (and yes, Michael is Cobe's age- look at the size difference!)

Cobe's buddy Connor and silly Cobe with a blue tongue!

Random picture of Sadie...from I don't know when. Notice though- the "bunny" pjs are still being worn and still the fav!

Ryan's new ride

2006 Mercury Milan Premier- navy blue...Ryan's has black leather interior

Broke the Streak!!!!!

Concentrating...
He throws and it's a strike! (maybe! :-) )

My baby- she looks so sweet and innocent. I'll have to keep this picture nearby to remind me that she can be sweet!

Yay! Posting that last post must have helped Cobe out! His luck took a turn for the better! He was able to get 2 hits Tuesday night- a double then a single. He also pitched the majority of the game and did a wonderful job...for the most part! :-) He can throw some "balls", but fortunately, he was able to throw those strikes when it mattered most. He was on cloud 9- he was awarded the MVP award for the game and was presented with the game ball. I am sure he will treasure it forever. He has another game Saturday against his buddy Chase...AGAIN! Chase struck him out several times last game they played, but he won't be pitching on Saturday, so I am hoping Cobe can get some more hits to keep his confidence up.

Brooks has a game tomorrow night- 2nd t-ball game of the season. He is pumped! But, he'll be missing his cousin Jakey's birthday party because of the game. Don't really know how well that is going to go over. We will have to go drop Cobe off at the party, then leave for Brooks' game. Hmm......Chuck E Cheese or t-ball? I can about imagine which one he'd rather go to. He has pictures before tomorrow's game or else he could have at least stayed for 45 minutes or so- now he can really only walk in long enough to say Happy Birthday. I hope he'll leave when time! Poor little Jakey got hit in the mouth today at school and it knocked 3 of his teeth loose. He was pretty brave though! He may be eating soup for his birthday instead of pizza!

We had a blast today with the younger cousins here. Josh, Braelyn and Selah spent the day with us and Brooks and Sadie had so much fun with them. I am trying my best to upload some pictures of the "band." They are quite the motley crew! They have so much fun together! The boys play football, basketball, air hockey, dress up in costumes, play intruments, etc. The girls...well, the girls...must find it enjoyable to bicker and fight a lot! I finally decided to stop interfering and let them fend for themselves, and it actually worked out a lot better. Sadly to say, my daughter is the instigator, the punisher, the "boss," the sassy one, etc. so she may soon find out the hard way that kids don't like to play with her when she acts this way. Once I put her in a long time out, she shaped up and was much better. Braelyn asked me, "Aunt Sarah, why is Sadie so crabby today?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that it wasn't just today- that is just Sadie. UGH! She can turn on the charm in an instant though and be sweet as pie for awhile too- so at least B got to see that side of her later on.

We went tonight to a car place and bought a car! Weren't really planning on getting anything tonight, but we decided to. We went to look at Ford Fusions. We went last week and Ryan saw a Ford Fusion he really wanted. We knew the price, options, etc. But when we got there tonight, there was a 2006 Mercury Milan that we hadn't seen last time, and it seemed like a much better deal. Also Ryan drove both of them several times and thought the Milan drove a lot better than the Fusion. So we are now the proud owners of a navy blue Mercury Milan! It is a nice car- the interior is really nice-looking black leather. They were taking it to GR tomorrow to have the windows tinted and are delivering it to us Friday night. Jim- you can finally have your truck to yourself!!!!!! Ryan's parents have been a Godsend to let us borrow a car for as long as they have. We are so appreciative!!!!!!!

Well, I am going to try one more time to upload the cute pictures from today. If there is a new post, it worked. If not, you get the picture.

The Mets

Whoo Hoo! Cobe's team pulled an upset tonight! They beat the 2nd ranked Pirates 11-3!!!! They were on fire! Here's hoping for another win tomorrow night against Landon, Justin and Dimitri's team! :-) Poor Cobe has to pitch tomorrow night though. Zach pitched most of tonight and was throwing strikes. Cobe is pretty down even after the win. He struck out all 3 times at bat. He can't get a hit to save his life. I feel so badly for him. :-( He is VERY discouraged! I so hope he can turn it around soon...he is ready to quit. So unlike him, but he was about the only kid who didn't get a hit tonight, so I feel his pain. Ugh! Being a mom is harder than I ever thought! I can't stand watching my little boy's heart break.

Wisdom

My faith is tested many times every day, and more times than I'd like to confess, I'm unable to keep the banner of faith aloft. If a promise is broken, or a secret betrayed, or if I experience long-lasting pain, I begin to doubt God and God's love. I fall so miserably into the chasm of disbelief that I cry out in pain. Then the Spirit lifts me up again, and once more I am secured in faith. I don't know how that happens, save when I cry out earnestly I am answered immediately and am returned to faithfulness. I am once again filled with Spirit and firmly planted on solid ground. -Maya Angelou

Tulip Time is Here

And yes Jeff and Michele- you are missing it! :-)

This has been the least stressful Tulip Time to date- because I finally gave up on the idea that I needed to haul my brood downtown to take pictures in Dutch costumes! It is a good feeling to NOT have to do that! I sold off the costumes last year, so there is no going back. Cobe would have been old enough to refuse anyway, and with everyone not feeling the greatest, it is nice to not have to drag them down there. We aren't big Tulip Time people over here- Ryan can't stand the week, I could take it or leave it, and the kids enjoy the parades, but that is about it. I do like getting out of work/school though, so I won't complain about that! I don't have to work at all tomorrow- yippee! We'll head down to tomorrow's parade if the rain holds off. We have had a beautiful start to the week, so I am hoping for the economy's sake, that the weather has helped the tourists stimulate our local economy. We don't get into eating all that food down there either- thank goodness, none of it appeals to us. I do like seeing my students march by in the parades. We'll hit tomorrow's, and that is probably it. Our weekend is already packed full, so we won't be going to Saturday's most likely. Friday night we are going to a Whitecaps game with Cobe's school. He earned 2 tickets in the reading program so we bought 3 more so we could all go. Saturday- he has an early morning game, then Sadie and I will head over to Aliyah and Maya's dance recital. Sat. evening, we are getting together with friends we haven't seen in awhile, so hopefully everyone will stay well so we can do all that!

I finally am getting my hair highlighted on Thursday- much needed! My roots are pitch black and my hair is quite frumpy these days.

Today we spent the beautiful day outside all day. After picking up Sadie from school, we headed to Helder Park with some friends. The kids all had fun running around. Sadie got worn out quickly since she still isn't 100%, so when we left, we headed to Sam's Club, then back home for me to let her nap. She had other ideas and some of the neighborhood girls were out, so she ended up playing outside a lot longer. I gave her a bath and pjs, because I knew she'd be out soon, and she was and has been since 4:30 or so. She may just stay that way until morning. :-)

We had a delicious dinner tonight- Rachel Mitchell made us a taco bake and corn bread. Yum, yum! It was sooooooooooo good!

Going to get some homework started. Can't wait to watch Biggest Loser and American Idol tonight! GO ADAM!!!!!!

Blog Reprieve

Wow! Over a month without a post! At first I stopped blogging to "hide" from the media, inquisitive minds, etc., but then I just never had the desire to do it. I am one who likes to stay upbeat most of the time, and I couldn't think of many upbeat things to post about, so I chose not to post at all. Now that there are other things in our lives, namely baseball, that I can blog about- I'll give it another whirl! :-)

Cobe has started his second season of Williamsport baseball. Last year on the Pirates, his team won the regular season and the Kaat tournament as well. It was a great start to his little league career. Well... this season is quite different. He is on the Mets this year, and Ryan is the assistant coach, so they are both having a blast with that. Cobe is a much more confident player this year and has pitched in 2 out of the 3 games he has had so far. Unfortunately, they are NOT having a winning season so far. They won their first game 16-5, and Cobe pitched a great game. They lost their second game 12-1, and their third game 13-5 in which Cobe also pitched. Ryan is still working with him on his hitting- he had a great hit in the first game, and then has either been walked or struck out since.

Brooks started t-ball this year. He has had several practices so far and has his first game Thursday night. He is a little ball player. LOVES the sport and does a great job at it! He is in the yard as much as possible with Ryan and Cobe batting, throwing and pitching. I hope he doesn't get too nervous at his first game.... I still have some fear that he will shut down if he gets nervous.

Sadie hasn't changed a bit since my last post- still all sass. She can entertain herself easily with her imaginary friends and situations, but really enjoys being around her friends. She only has 5 more days of class until 3-school is over. It's on to preschool for her next year.

We had a quiet weekend due to sickness at our house. I have had a cold since Thursday of last week and have felt rotten off and on since then. Brooks started throwing up on Saturday, and Sadie threw up during the night Sat. night. Yuck! So all weekend plans were put on hold. Cobe stayed home from school today because he has a headache/stuffy nose/cold symptoms, etc. but seems to feel okay. I think he played his dad a little this morning to get him to let him stay home. He will be back at school tomorrow for sure!!!!

At work, lots of teachers are changing teaching assignments for next year. 3 of our teachers are moving to the high school, 2 teachers from Lincoln are moving to our school, and several more of us are changing grade levels. I am changing to 6th grade. I have read all of the new novels, and LOVE the curriculum, so I am getting pretty excited about the change. I will be teaming with 2 teachers who I think a lot of, so that part will great too. I will be moving my classroom upstairs, which I don't like that much- right now I am downstairs in the "hub" of the school, so I feel like I will be more out of the way upstairs. My hours are changing to 10-noon as well, which will allow me to get the kids off to school, Sadie to preschool, etc. so it should be fine.

We have been very blessed these past few weeks with so many friends and family supporting us in so many ways. We now await the next step in this process which will be the preliminary hearing. Have no idea when that will be yet. We are living by Colossians 4:2-6 right now:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Paul asked them to pray for his work, not for him personally- which is interesting when you think that Paul was in prison, that he was about to go on trial, that his life was a tempest at that point in time...but Paul asked them to pray, in spite of the seeming dark clouds around him, for the opportunities that were coming in the near future and that he would be faithful to proclaim God's message. A commentary in the Bible on these verses says, "When we pray for ourselves and for others, we should not ask release from any task, but rather strength to complete the task which has been given us to do. Prayer should always be for power and seldom for release."

This struck me b/c we had been praying that we would be released from this "mess." In actuality, God wants to give us power and strength to face it. We know that He has not given us anything we can't handle, just as He has promised us. "Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go. " Joshua 1:9

And with that, we are comforted.

More Pics from Lynette's

New Pics

The younger two were at Lynette's this morning- here are some pics (Brooks didn't cooperate).

Rascals!!!!!

I had 5 rascals here today! 7 kids and only 2 would cooperate for pictures. The boys were too cool for a picture. The girls appeased me and let me take a few shots. But those stinkin' boys- no go!

Even little Josh got swindled into hiding from me!

Here is one I snuck before they were onto me.

Sweet Kendall was fine with me taking pictures of her! Little cutie!

And Sadie was all smiles- even with a mouth full of pizza!

I bribed Josh for this one. He inched his arm down little by little each time I asked him. He kept wanting to see my camera to see himself, so I told him he had to let me take a picture in order to see anything!!!! The boys were yelling at him, "Don't let her! Don't let her!" But as you can see, he finally put his arm down far enough for me to get one.

This is the one and only shot I got of Brooks- lovely!

Here is Cobe- can't you tell???? Even Sadie got in on the hiding by this point. She just wasn't as good at it as the boys. haha

We had a fun day though- finally nice enough that the kids got to get outside for a bit and shoot some hoops, ride ripsticks, scooters and powerwings. And the best part is...my kids are whipped and are heading to bed momentarily!

Where does the time go???

Here it is Sunday night again, and it seems like it should be Friday. I really feel like I have been neglecting my camera- had plenty of good opportunities for pictures this weekend, but I never got it out once.

Thursday night, we did end up getting to see the high school production of Beauty and the Beast. It was good, but I could not enjoy it as much as I wanted to b/c I had a squirmy, talkative three-year old in my lap. Sadie has gone to multiple plays at my school before and sat still the whole time intrigued with the play, but not this time. She probably didn't sit still for 10 minutes combined the whole time. It was a super long play- 3 hours, so that didn't help. Brooks and I really enjoyed it, and I loved seeing former students playing some really great parts and doing a fantastic job with it. We got up and left before the end b/c I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like Sadie was bothering everyone around us. I think we only missed the last 15 minutes or so. But at least I got home in time to catch Survivor! ;-) Ryan got off early on Thursday, so he was able to go to Cobe's game with him. They lost 3-2 after a hard played game. He had another one Saturday afternoon, and they won 4-2, so that was a better outcome!

Friday after picking up Sadie from school, I met a girlfriend and her 4 kids at McDonald's for lunch and then we went to Brooks' storybook parade at his school. He was so proud to strut around the room as Darth Vadar. The teachers put on skits as well of 4 children's stories, so that was really cute to watch and Sadie sat still for that!!!!!! Cobe and Ryan headed to Sportsquest again, and then picked up Landon on the way home for the weekend. Brooks thought Eliot was going to spend the night, so he was pretty upset when he found out he wasn't coming until Saturday morning, so he got to have Jake over to spend the night. Sadie had Maya over too, so all 3 kids had a fun night with their friends. Jake and Maya went home Saturday morning, and Bailey and Eliot came over to stay until Sunday. My kids are always SO well behaved when they have friends to keep them entertained, so it was really an easy, laid-back weekend. I got them Beverly Hills Chihuahua to watch last night; it was cute, but nothing spectacular. They were all in bed by 9:00 (new time) and slept until 8:45 this morning, so I was thrilled with that! We were planning to go to Sunday School, but we all got up too late to get ready, so we got ready and made it in time for church. I had to help in nursery this morning, so my three kids wanted to help, and I'm so glad they did! They kept the kids entertained and cleaned up the whole nursery. It would have been much harder without them there. I had made a pot roast in the crock pot thinking we'd have 3 extra mouths to feed, but Lynette had picked up her kids before church, so we came home and had a lot of food to eat after church! Lynn had given me a great recipe for pot roast- it was super yummy! Tonight we went to Ryan's parents' house for dinner and had a good time seeing everyone- it seemed like it had been awhile. The cousins love being together- so much so that my boys went to Jen's to spend the night!

I have to work tomorrow my regular hours, but the kids all have the day off. Brooks and Sadie still have motor movement as well, so the day will be pretty normal. Already looking forward to another fun weekend next weekend! Cousin sleepover Friday night and The Grill House Saturday night!

Words on Wednesday

How's that for a creative title Amanda???? :-0

I feel like I could copy and paste one of my last posts for this one- not a lot going on here at the Huizenga household. The kids are completely well, which is a blessing. They are all still on antibiotics and will be through the weekend. I had to work Monday afternoon to do parent conferences, soccer practice Monday night, nothing last night- was planning on watching After the Rose, Part 2, but sleep got the best of me ;-), Brann's for dinner and church tonight, soccer game tomorrow night.... get the pattern? We were supposed to go see the high school production of Beauty and the Beast tomorrow night, but only Sadie still gets to go. Cobe's soccer game threw a wrench into those plans. Some of my former students and some kids from church are in it, so I really wanted to see it. I am still trying to work it out, but I think my tickets already got re-sold. And then this weekend, the Bell kids get to spend the weekend with us so their mommy and daddy can have some quality time together before the birth of my baby. Oops- did I say MY baby???? I meant Lynette's baby. Funny how that just slipped right out. ;-)

March brings other fun activities as well: we have a night at the Grill House planned (YUMMY!), a wedding, a night at The Piper restaurant for Ryan's parents' retirement party, a girls' night out in GR at Mojo's and then it will be April and SPRING BREAK!!!!! I am looking forward to this weekend's warmer temps. 50's starting tomorrow- hope that prediction will hold true. I noticed the temps will fall again next week, but haven't seen any snow in the forecast, so I'll take what we can get. (as I sit here and freeze as I type this! My house is really cold!)

And of course, we have soccer games every Thursday night and Saturday afternoon in March- can't forget that excitement! I think baseball starts right after spring break in April for Cobe and t-ball will start for Brooks. I look forward to spring break not only for a break from school, but also for a break from sports and carting my kids everywhere. Ryan can never believe how much gas I can go through in a week- he always says, "You just filled up!" BUT- I run to and from different places several times a day- it adds up quickly.

Okay- I have rambled enough. Off to check on my little ones and see what mischief they are up to.

Surfari Joe's

A very few pictures of our weekend away:

The older 3 were watching a movie all cute in the bed in the Boeves' room until they saw me with my camera. Cobe ske-daddled out of there pretty quickly before I could get him in the picture. Shock! :-)
Maya and Sadie were in our room watching a movie.

This is part of the lobby at Surfari Joe's. There were stuffed animals everywhere- I was amazed at the variety of how many they had.

And I don't remember why I took this picture of Sadie. I think we were checking in.

We had a great weekend away at the water park. It is only 45 minutes away, and the cost was very reasonable. I wanted to get some pictures, but only got these few. It would have been too hard to keep up with my camera in the actual water part. I was too busy in the lazy river, going down the slides, in the pool, etc. We almost didn't get to go; all 3 kids got sick Thursday night/Friday morning. Brooks had an ear infection and was up all Thursday night in pretty severe pain, and Cobe and Sadie both got strep throat. Luckily, the timing of it all worked out that I had them at the Dr. Friday morning, on antibiotics by noon, and they were good to go by Friday night. They all felt a ton better, and when they woke up Saturday morning, you'd never know any of them had been sick. The Dr. gave us the go-ahead to go since they would have all been on antibiotics for 24 hours and would no longer be contagious. The water park pretty much had all of the same attractions as GWL, but on a smaller scale. I'm sure we'll go back in the future.

Thursday Excitement

Ha Ha Made you read! No excitement at all- just another boring Thursday! :-)

This week has been pretty typical in the life of the Huizengas. Monday night, Cobe had soccer practice and will continue to have practice every Monday until the end of the season. Tuesday, I went on a fieldtrip with Cobe's class SUPPOSEDLY to snow shoe, but there was a lot of lecturing about snow/animals hibernating/snow flakes, etc. and not a lot of snow shoeing going on. I was a little disappointed, but Cobe seemed to still enjoy the fieldtrip. Yesterday, I worked in Brooks' classroom for my usual Wednesday rotation, then last night the Boeves treated us to dinner at the Pizza Ranch- YUM YUM! It was the first time we had eaten there, and it was delicious! I know my boys will ask to go back; they couldn't get enough. They had fried chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes in addition to a salad bar and pizza buffet. We hit Sam's Club after dinner to get Sis a new bathing suit for our trip this weekend. Lisa is kind enough to give us all of Maya's hand-me-downs, so I never have to buy anything for Sadie, but the bathing suits usually don't make it through Aliyah, Maya and then Sadie. So since she'll be living in a suit this summer, I felt justified in buying her one. :-) It was cute and cheap- just our style. Today both boys had dentist appts., so we picked up Cobe from school, hit the dentist's, went to Wendy's and took Cobe back to school. We also picked up a friend of Brooks' to come over for the afternoon to play. So, they are outside right now in their "secret hideout." Tomorrow night is NG's carnival, so we'll be heading to that in the evening. We leave Sat. morning for our annual water park trip- this year instead of GWL, we are going to one we haven't been to before- hoping it is a good one! I think we are just as excited as the kids- I love the big slides!

No new pictures to post, so I'll be back after the water park with some I'm sure! Have a great weekend!!!!!!

Birthday Weekend Coming to an End

I feel like we have been celebrating Brooks' 6th birthday for a solid week! I don't remember having so much attention placed on birthdays when I was younger, but maybe I just have a bad memory- who knows? We had family over tonight for his birthday, so I think now, we are finally done celebrating! Brooks had wanted an Ironman cake for awhile, and Ryan volunteered to take care of that. Well those of you who know Ryan, know that there is going to be an unexpected twist with anything he is in charge of. He kept the cake a surprise all day and wouldn't even let me see what he had bought. He ended up getting a regular cake (then coming home- got bitched at that he was supposed to get an Ironman cake, went back to the store and came home with his big secret). He got a big 'ole Ironman and plunked it on the cake. Brooks was thrilled and has been playing with it all night. Leave it to Ryan to be funny and have a better idea than me.

Can you see where Ironman "stepped" on the cake?????? haha

We were supposed to go to Four Winds Casino this weekend after Cobe's game on Saturday, but that plan got thrown off for multiple reasons. So we hit Chuck E Cheese's AGAIN- 2nd day in a row! The kids loved it though. We also went to the mall after lunch and bummed around there awhile. Then today my dad, Ryan and Cobe went to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. So the kids all got to have a fun-filled weekend.

Cobe's game was not a good one. They lost and did not play their best. I said on the way home, "Cobe, that wasn't your team's best game, huh?" And he said, "Mom, I didn't play well at all!" He probably had his worst game ever- just didn't make any great plays, and he was well aware of that fact! He doesn't get too upset about those things though, which is good I guess. He was onto to winning tickets and playing games about 2 seconds after leaving the game! The last season of soccer starts next week- his team plays for 3 seasons in a row. Then we're on to baseball....

My mom and dad fly home tomorrow. We'll have a busy morning getting them to the airport, and Brooks and Sadie have motor movement at the same time, so Ryan and I will have to split up to get everyone where they need to be. It has been fun having them here. We'll get to see them again in 6 short weeks----- SPRING BREAK is right around the corner!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!

Once spring break hits, my job might as well be done for the year. That 7-8 weeks of school after spring break vanishes each year right before my eyes. I have SO enjoyed working in the mornings. It has been super nice to be done for the day at 9:50, so I hope it works out that I can keep that schedule next year. I really feel spoiled to have a job that I absolutely love, and still get to spend most of the day home with my own kids. Next year I might get bored with Brooks and Cobe being at school all day everyday, but I'm sure Sadie and I will find things to keep ourselves busy. ;-)

I have already started looking forward to summer and pool days, but I have not had fun having to plan the summer for my kids' activities in February! I get annoyed having to plan this far ahead for camps, lessons, sports, vacations, etc. It seems like I have to plan my entire summer week for week just to make sure we fit everything in. Cobe and some of his buddies are going to Camp Geneva, Brooks wants to go to Camp Geneva (which I am skeptical about at this point), Cobe and Brooks will have baseball through the middle of June and Cobe will have football starting up the beginning of August, we have 2 trips planned, plus Brooks and Sadie both want to do gymnastics. Sometimes I feel like just saying, NOPE, we are going to do nothing this summer. But then I fear boredom may set in. Hmmm.... what to do, what to do! I stress myself out way too much worrying about it all- in the long run, it probably won't matter if we don't do gymnastics and if Brooks waits one more year before going to camp.

Okay- I am in the middle of a really good novel, so I am going to stop rambling and go read! Have a great week!

Brooks' Bash

Brooks celebrated his 6th birthday tonight with 8 of his friends and some of his family at Chuck E Cheese. He had such a great time! Here are a few pics from his big night.

When Chuck came out, he led all the kids in a "parade" around the room.

Brooks and Cobe before the guests arrived.

Brooks and his buddies.

My little sweetheart!

He felt pretty special at his first "friend" birthday party! A friend of ours was having her little girl's party beside us, and her whole family was there, so that was fun too. And it wasn't very crowded other than the 2 parties, so the whole experience was a good one. We love you Brooksie boy!