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!

And So the Rivalry Began....

Well....I thought we were going out with friends for a friendly game of bowling. It turned into a heated battle- bragging rights at stake. Unfortunately, I didn't end up with the bragging rights!!!!!! I won't say who did, but a certain unnamed pregnant woman did! UGH! :-) A rematch will happen on May 5th. A no show will constitute in a forfeit! And anyone who wants to watch... please bring some Houdinis for the participants to enjoy! Haha
Cobe earning one or two of his 49 points. :-)

So sweet- they rolled the ball down together and watched intently hoping for a pin to fall. Suprisingly- these two hit more than the bigger kids!

Sissy about to make her debut roll! (oops! her gum fell out of her pocket!)

My reaction after my first strike. (implying that I got more than one- nope, didn't happen!)

And my husband accidently picked up Baby E to bowl with. Hmmm.....

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have come to realize that there is no hiding it... I LOVE holidays! Even one as Hallmarky as Valentine's Day is, I love it! I overdo most holidays for my kids. What kids do you know that get mulitple gifts for Valentine's Day? Well, mine do. It comes from my obsessive side of shopping ahead for things. I always think I'll save money by shopping early. Well what inevitably happens is that I shop early, and I keep getting little things until the holiday arrives. Then I end up with too much. Oh well- my kids don't get anything in between holidays, so I guess that is how I rationalize it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The good thing is that I don't want nor do I expect anything from holidays. I just like to give. Aaahhhh, I'm feeling better about myself already! :-)

So anyway, I'm not even going to list the things I got for my kids. Well really, some of it is spring clothes (wishful thinking!) which they needed anyway. So I just saved them to give them as a gift. Aren't I crafty? ;-) And I wasn't even going to get Ryan anything. I have bought him a few things over the last few weeks (like a case of Red Bull, a pair of boxers, etc), and instead of saving it all for VDay, just told him, "Happy Valentine's Day" when I handed it to him. Yeah right- that worked. NOT! So I went and got him a few surseys today. (Sursey is surprise in my family- mom, did that come from Jane Shields?????) I like surprising people.

A little girl in my class gave me the absolute cutest flower arrangement I have ever seen. It was the tiniest little vase, with a red rose bud and 6 tiny, tiny red carnations surrounding the rose. So cute! It made my day!

Now we have some fun weekend plans... tonight, Ryan and Cobe are going about their usual Friday night plans- a night at SportsQuest. They have been going every Friday night, and Cobe can't get enough of it. They'd go all day Saturday too I think if they could. Cobe's soccer game usually interferes with that plan. We are going to make homemade pizzas before they head off for that. Tomorrow morning, I am volunteering at Breakfast with Baby at my church then going to Cobe's soccer game. I'll try to fit in an exercise session after the game before going bowling/dinner with the Bells. Ring my B-E-L-L, ring my bell! (couldn't resist!) (Can you tell I'm punchy today or what?????) And at some point, we'll have a family cleaning session. I washed sheets yesterday and today, but vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms and mopping is still on the list. Ryan vacuums and mops, the kids can dust, so that just leaves the bathrooms for me! Not too shabby!

And Sunday... my mother will arrive to finish whatever cleaning I haven't gotten to. ;-)

Sooooo, Brooks is having his first birthday party this week. Little sweetie has gotten left out in that department. He is SO excited! He and 9 of his buddies will hit Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate his turning 6! He is still my baby though. He is my cuddler! Such an easy child to love!

Okay, I think I've rambled enough due to sheer boredom. Sadie is napping and the boys are at school. Just think Lynette, I could have said all this on the phone to you! Saved by the blog!

Change of Plans

I had taken tomorrow off from work to go on a fieldtrip with Cobe's class. We were supposed to go snow-shoeing which I was looking forward to b/c I've never been before. Obviously since the snow is all gone, that got changed to a hike in the woods. Today his teacher emailed me and said the trip was canceled all together b/c of the mud. So, she rescheduled it for the 24th. Hopefully I'll still be able to make it that day. I was looking forward to going- now that my baby is 9, there aren't nearly as many opportunities to see him at school. Soooo...now I'll be at work tomorrow like usual instead of playing hooky. ;-) Sadie really wants me to come to her classroom for a morning one day, so I think I'll try and do that soon and then I can miss work for that!

And our weekend plans got changed as well. We were supposed to hang with some friends Saturday night, but they have a new baby instead! Congratulations Jason and Julie!!!!! Little Noah decided to enter this world a few weeks earlier than planned. I'm sure we'll still drop over sometime this weekend to meet him. I told Ryan now he has to take me out for Valentine's Day instead since we have no plans Saturday night. :-) Hmmm.... I wonder if he'll follow through with that! We all got great Valentine's from my parents today-the BEST kind....ones with gift cards to Target in them!!!!!! YIPPEE!!!! Ryan will burn his on movies I'm sure. The kids are going to save theirs for something big. With Cobe's birthday ones, they are up to about $200 that they can put towards something big.... like a new Playstation 3 or an X-box or a Wii. I think I"ll wait until after Brooks' birthday and see if he gets any (hint, hint- haha!) and then they can go pick out a family gift together. How fun to get something everybody can enjoy for a long time instead of a few toys they'll forget about in a day or two.

Kendall has been with us this week while her mommy and daddy are out-of-town. I have to work in Brooks' classroom this afternoon, so Spottie will have Sadie, but Kendall wants to go with me. Brooks will think it is pretty cool that "Lovie" is coming to his classroom! The girls have had so much fun- so much in fact that they both crashed last night before 5:00, and didn't get up until after 8:00. They are full of energy today though!

I guess our awesome weather had to come to an end. I mean, it IS February in Michigan! We have had several days of warm, dry weather. Today is still warm, but rainy. I'm fine with any k kind of weather as long as we don't get heaps of snow again. Very nice to see green again!

Well, the girls want to color, so I am going to go clean up their lunch dishes and get out the craft supplies. Adios!

For Missy

The girls have been having fun already Miss! Thought I'd let you see Kendall tucked in- notice how much gear they had to take to bed with them. Sadie had a nap today... so you can see she is still up while Kendall is trying her best to get some shut-eye. :-)

Goofy, goofy girls! They thought I was taking pictures of them (I know- HORRIBLE staircase lighting!!!!!) so they could show me their silly faces, but I was really taking pictures to show how much stuff they put on. They both had to have nightgowns, pj pants, slippers, and sweaters!

Good night!

Funniest Night of My Life!

I laughed so hard last night that I cried! I couldn't catch my breath half the time. I laughed so loud and hard at one joke, that I'd miss the next few and have to constantly ask, "What did he say? What did he say?" Then I'd miss the next joke listening to what he had just said before. I think I laughed solid for an entire hour without taking a breath! Side-splitting funny is what that comedian was! I love comedy- I like to watch stand-up comedians on Comedy Central, and have only seen a few live comics in my life. But this guys was HILARIOUS! Nobody has ever made me laugh that hard and long EVER! His name was Ian Bagg, and I will certainly be going to any show that he has in this area if he comes back in the future. I have a feeling the 10 people who were with us last night will be going again too. Everyone had a blast!

We had a great dinner at Bobarino's- I had chicken quesadillas and Ryan had a chicken kabob. Then we headed into the show. The opening guy wasn't that funny, so everyone was a little worried. Plus, I had watched a few of Ian Bagg's performances on-line before we went, and I wasn't super impressed. Not very funny. But boy, did he change my mind once he came out! After the show, all 12 of us went to the Monkey Bar for awhile. Then after chatting awhile, 3 couples left and the other 6 of us went to the Crush. We got our groove on for awhile before heading home. Ryan's throat hurt so bad that by the time we got home, he was in pretty bad pain. From being sick???? NOPE- from laughing all night! Yep, he has a raw, sore throat from laughing! I felt his pain last night- mine hurt too. I was fine this morning, but his still hurt. haha

I got up and went to Sunday School and church (he stayed home), and met the kids there. After church, we grabbed lunch from Wendy's and headed home. Ryan had cleaned out our nasty, dirty garage since it was another gorgeous day here. Nice to get out all that "muck" from the garage. I was tired of tracking in grit and slush. The neighbor boys all came over, so Brooks and Cobe went out and played basketball, baseball, rode ripsticks, new scooters, etc. and enjoyed the nice weather. I ran out to Meijer's to get a few things, then came home and made beef enchiladas. We had those for dinner and are just chilling now.

I am SO looking forward to this week- the weather looks great! The only downside of this huge snow melting going on is that 104th floods, so we always have to take an alternate route. But I"ll take it! I can't believe how much snow has already disappeared. I am assuming it will all be gone...just in time for it to snow again this coming Saturday! I'm sure it will since my mom flies in on Sunday. :-)

The kids just finished up their homework and everyone is sort of vegging out tonight. The kids are all whipped- 2 nights of fun slumber parties for them this weekend. I am pretty tired myself. 5:00 am will be here before I know it! Enjoy your week!

A Glorious Weekend

Wow! Wednesday when I went to get my taxes done, it was negative 4. Today when I went to pick them up, it was pushing 50 degrees! What a difference a few days can make! I'm liking it A LOT! The snow is melting at a rapid rate. Last night our neighbors took their snow blower and cleared a huge chunk of the pond. Then they took their snowboards and went down the hill onto the pond. I told my kids and the Boeve girls (who spent the night last night) that we would go out on the ice this morning since it was cleared off. But when we woke up, the ice had melted! The sun is shining, and we were able to be out today without coats! I hope, hope, hope it stays this way- would be nice for next week when my parents come since my dad detests cold weather. But it doesn't look like it is here to stay- not quite yet.

Cobe won his soccer game 5-4 this morning. Very close game and a tough team to beat, so his team was super excited they pulled it off. Cobe scored 2 goals and played very well. It was a rough game- he got knocked down, has a big scratch under his eye, got pulled down by the goalie once when he scored, but he gave out his fair share of pushes too I noticed. :-) He has his buddy Chase over for the afternoon now.

Ryan and I are off to the B.O.B. tonight- dinner and comedy club with a group of friends. Can't wait to listen to Ryan laugh all night! Hoping to enjoy another sunny day tomorrow as well- ta ta!

EVERYday is PJ day at our house!

When the weather outside is frightful, we stay inside in our PJ's!!! And guess what? EVERY SINGLE DAY THIS WINTER HAS BEEN FRIGHTFUL!!!!! I am constantly freezing and cannot get warm unless I pile on the layers of clothes. When I left the house this morning, my car thermometer showed -4 degrees- yes, that is NEGATIVE 4!!!! There has been a huge reprieve in the snowfall- seems like we haven't had any in awhile, but the cold is just bitter. Am I making anyone want to come visit us in the near future????haha

So, if you are a faithful blog reader (mom, Lisa and Lynette ;-) ), you will notice starting with the end of November posts, that most of my pictures of Sadie show her in her pj's. Rarely does she wear clothes if we are home. The second we get home from anywhere, off come the clothes and on go the pj's. And the funniest part of it all to me is that she wears the same shirt and pants- and they don't match! She has to wear her "bunny " shirt and her "duckie" pants- from different sets of pjs. Oh well- if something simple like that keeps her happy, I'm not going to argue. In photos, we'll just remember this as the bunny/duckie/pj phase.

Brooks is still in his pjs as well- if you can call them that. He wears an adult XL size shirt that his uncle Kyle gave him (his company GDK shirt) so it appears he is wearing a dress with pajama pants. But once again- it makes him happy, so therefore, so am I! (He won't let me take a picture though to document his phase.)

Lovie has been here Monday and today (hey Missy!), and she had to join in on the pj festivities- Sadie wouldn't have it any other way! Monday she sported some of Sadie's pink pjs and today, looks like Dora won out (at least hers match!). They are comfy and having fun. And the word of the week has been "obsessed." They keep talking about what they are "obsessed" with. Some of my favorites: I am obsessed with snacks. I am obsessed with teensy (Lovie's blanket). I am obsessed with gloves (Brooks' obsession lately). Then today I got: I am obsessed with everything! Too funny!

Are these 2 adorable or what? ;-)