Hello/Goodbye

My sister Shelly, and her new husband Kent spent the last few days with us after coming home from a six week mission trip to Guatemala. Click on their names to check out their adventures in Guatemala.

My girls have been having a blast hanging out with them over the last few days! Here are a few Kodak Moments from the last couple of days:

Tickles and Tackles



How Great is our God - Faith's favorite song.


We know that God has amazing things in store for Kent and Shelly as they move to Washington State . . . but we're really going to miss them.

Good excuse for a vacation, right? Hmmm, and on our way, we'll visit the Lia and Scott in Africa, and Greg and Katharine in Japan.

The Swim Nazi - The Final Day

My sweet Bella swimming with the help of Miss Jenny!


Bella in the deep end - BY HERSELF!


Faith jumping off the diving board - BY HERSELF!


Faith swimming across the pool - BY HERSELF!


Miraculous!

For those of you wanting to get in to the Swim Nazi - sorry! She's done for the season. But she starts taking names in April!

The Swim Nazi

OK, under the recommendation of two fellow bloggers (Confessions and Follow the Leader), I have brought my kids to the woman affectionately referred to as the Swim Nazi.

It sounds a bit harsh . . . and it is . . . to a point. She is very loving . . . but very strict! Her very goal is to get your child to a point that they could get to the edge of a pool or dock if they were to fall in. She teaches them how to save their life! It's sink or swim, baby - LITERALLY!

I was told my sweet babies would be swimming within a week . . . I didn't believe it.

Faith fell into a pool when she was barely 3 years old, and ever since has been PETRIFIED of going under the water. ESPECIALLY without a life-jacket on. So, knowing her fear, and knowing her tremendous will, I brought her to the Swim Nazi thinking "good luck lady, but it'll be a miracle if Faith is voluntarily going under water."

Well . . . she's a miracle worker! She's tough, and she doesn't take no for an answer when it comes to going under . . . but it worked! Faith is was truly swimming by the second day (although SHE didn't believe it herself). By the end of the week she was doing awesome, but still not believing in herself. We ended up going back for a second week just to build her confidence. Day 1 included lots of screaming, clawing, crying, grasping etc. But, yesterday, she was jumping off the diving board, and the side of the pool and swimming all the way across - all by herself - without crying! Amazing! Even Bella is swimming in the deep end (which does make a mother's heart stop for a moment) although she still cries every time saying, "Me all done, me want my towel."

Thank you Swim Nazi! Now I don't fear how they'll react if they accidently fall in! I know they are able to make it to the side of a pool, or to the dock at the lake! What peace of mind! And it's so cool to see Faith's confidence get higher and higher! I want her to have fun swimming without the fear of going under. Now she has it.

My Girls

The other day Faith announced, "It's flower pickin' day!" So Bella followed her outside to "go pickin'" I couldn't resist following them with my camera! Aren't they beautiful girls? (I know! I'm a little biased!)

B-D-J-T a four letter word!

Budget!

Doesn't the word just make you cringe a little bit?

I know it's a strange time of the year to get around to budgeting - but we did it. We are officially on the Dave Ramsey cash budget (again). Yes, we tried it before, and it worked swimmingly - everything but having to get the cash every week. We slowly eased out of it . . . and now decided to whip ourselves back into shape.

I know it's a necessary evil . . . but wouldn't it be nicer if we could just buy what we want when we want? I'm not talking extravagant purchaces . . . just everyday stuff.

This, however, is how my Meijer grocery bill ends up closer to $200 than our budgeted $100 each week. I see a cute shirt on clearance, or a little something that would look perfect in the bathroom, or a pair of cutey shoes for the girls, or hair thingies . . . which are pretty pricey! It's also how a visit to Target ends up in me shelling out $100.

The B-D-J-T!*%$#, however will stop me from doing that. There's an allotted amount for groceries, hair/make-up, clothing, entertainment etc., and when it's gone, it's gone. Although there is some freedom within boundries, it can also feel a bit constrictive (especially at Target or Old Navy or Maurices).

Anyone else do the cash thing? Or are you all on the buy what we want when we want plan? With good ole Christian Ed now in the picture, we have to be a bit more disciplined. But why does discipline take so much work?

I'm already schemeing ways to save a bit of money in a few areas, so I can pad my clothing account a bit more . . . hmmmmm, broccoli? or a new shirt? Look for me in the clearance aisle come school shopping time!

Freaky Friday

Have you ever seen that movie, "Freaky Friday" where two people end up switching bodies . . . that totally happened at our house last Friday.

Bella woke up nasty, argumentative, defiant - just miserable, really. She had three spankings and three time-outs - and all before noon!

Faith woke up sweet, kind, willing to help and share, happy, loving, huggy, patient.

It wasn't til noon that I figured out it was Friday the 13th . . . hmmmm.

Saturday, everthing was back to normal . . .

Vacation Mode

Wow! I know it's been forever since I've blogged . . . but my brain has been a bit in vacation mode!

After the craziness of Sports Camp and Faith's birthday, we took a week away at my in-laws cottage. The first two days were spent remembering what it's like to actually spend time together as a family. It was much needed alone time! It felt great to reconnect as a family! We needed it desperately! We then spent the holiday with Mike's parents, my mom and Matt, Olivia and Levi. Then for the weekend the whole fam was there!

The week started out a bit rainy . . . but by Wednesday afternoon, the sun decided to come out to stay! We had a fabulous time soaking in the rays, riding seadoos, puttsing around on the pontoon, playing Mexican train until 1 am (a very addicting dominos game), grilling great eats, laughing, and reading magazines - what a treat!

Mike's idea of R & R while at the cottage is starting projects . . . after sitting behind a desk for work all the time, he loves to do manual labor. The major undertaking of the week was giving the beach an extreme makeover. Mike started on Tuesday with ripping out a large section of the sea-wall - and later in the week he recruited his poor brothers to finish the job by hauling 15 yards of dirt up a flight of stairs one wheel barrow at a time. Don't tell anyone, but I think despite the hard work, they had fun doing it!

Anyway, here are some pics from our week away:

Mommy and Faith enjoying our homemade smoothies!

Daddy and Bella - CHEERS!

Cousins - Levi, Faith and Bella.

Mike and his brothers on vacation. So much for R & R! They spent Friday night and much of Saturday leveling off the beach to get it ready for sod!

The brothers also "relaxed" by opening up the sea-wall so the kids can now walk into the water (instead of fall in over the sea-wall like Bella did at the beginning of the week - head first no less!). This part will be covered in beautiful, white beach sand!

Bella and McKenzie supervising the work being done!

It wasn't all work and no play! Here's Mike trying to take Bella waterskiing . . . the one-handed take off is a bugger! They ended up falling at the take off and going under . . . after that, Bella decided she didn't want to try again . . . go figure!

She did, however still want to go for a boat ride . . . Notice that Faith doesn't go anyone without her trusty friend, Rar. And aren't Bella's little buns adorable!

Birthday Girl!

2007 - Year of the Barbie!

Faith received 2 Barbie dolls, 2 Ken dolls, a host of Barbie clothes and a case to carry it all . . . all from random people . . . all unplanned! She's in Barbie doll heaven . . . oh, and there's the Polly Pockets, a cute dress, a poncho (hand-knit) and "Charlotte's Web."

Faith's Birthday was June 28 . . . but because it was the last day of Sports Camp . . . we didn't do a lot of celebrating that day. But, on Friday, we had 8 of her closest friends from school over for a little princess party! I had two middle-school girls come and we did all the girls hair, nails and make-up. We decorated bags, frames and made necklaces AND we ate a beautiful princess Barbie cake! It was a blast! Here are some pictures from the day!

The Barbie cake - I whipped up the morning of the party!

All the girls decorating their take-home bags.

The brithday girl!

Faith and her best friend, Claire!

Wedding Day Bliss!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! The weather was amazing! The sun was shining! The wedding was flawless! The girls did an amazing job as flower girls . . . Faith stood up front the whole time (OK, she sat part of the time, but she stayed on the stage!)

Here's the happy couple: Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks

Faith and Bella were so exhausted after the wedding, they fell asleep on the way to the reception! It worked out great though, cuz they had lots of energy to dance the afternoon away!

Faith loved the disco ball lights! She stands in awe!

Faith and Bella dancing! Bella would turn around and around and around until she was so dizzy she couldn't stand up anymore!

Our international guests: Jane - Shelly's roommate from Calvin, and Helen - a friend from England!

Personal Shower

After florista-ing for most of Thursday, we went to get our nails and toes done. Then, after frantically shopping for all the groceries I would need - and frantically getting everything ready at my house . . . 14 of Shelly's closest friends and family members came to my house for a little personal shower.

We had a blast watching her open all of her "barely there" items. Only good old big sis (me) got her something practical. I guess I was the only one at the party married FOREVER . . . and the only one to know that you don't actually wear the "barely there's" for more than the first month or so of being married. I also got her the "essentials" kit . . . you know the stuff that no one really told you about . . . that you wish you would have known BEFORE the honeymoon. Hey, that's what big sister's are for, right.

Here's a picture of one of the barely theres that I did NOT get her! The look on her face says it all, doesn't it?



One of the funniest things about the shower is that our step-sister, Lia wrote down all of the responses that Shelly had to her presents . . . and at the end of the shower, she read them all as if they were said on their honeymoon night . . . some of my favorites:

"What is this thing?"
"Oh, I'm soooo excited!"
"Look! It's from Ting Tong Woo!"
"I don't know what I'm doing."
"It's so soft!"
"Yes! I love it!"
"Yummy"
"Sassy"
"How does this work?"

Floristas!

On Thursday morning, June 21, Shelly, my mom and I went to Andicott to do all of the flowers for the wedding. I was a little bit nervous about this endevour . . . but there was nothing to be nervous about! We made 5 bridesmaids bouquets, 1 bride's bouquet, a few dozen corsages and bouteniers, a large candelabra centerpiece, six small candelabra arrangements, cake flowers and a cake topper (see Shelly holding it below). It took the two of us almost eight hours from start to finish . . . but they looked beautiful!

I only have a couple of pictures to show . . . more to come later.

I'm Back!

Wow! It feels good to be back in the blogsphere again! How I've missed it!

The last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of activities! It all started two weeks ago with frantic sports camp planning, wedding planning, floral arranging, personal shower, picking up and dropping off babysitters, cleaning the house, out-of-state and international house-guests, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, THE WEDDING and reception, more sports camp, more sports camp, more sports camp, Faith's 5th birthday, Faith's birthday party, another 10K for Mike . . . which brings us to Saturday afternoon! Our family is SHOT! We've had WAY too many late nights . . . WAY too many early mornings . . . WAY too much fast food (or skipped meals) . . . WAY too many busy days . . . WAY too little quality time with my kids and husband . . . and now it's time for a little catch up.

Enjoy the consecutive posts on the craziness!

A Blogging Break

This next week is going to be one of the craziest on record for me! My sister is getting married, AND True Victory Sports Camp (our summer Children's Program) and Faith's fifth birthday are the week after that, so all my planning for everything needs to be done by mid-week this week in order for me to relax and enjoy the wedding festivities.

THUS . . . I'll be taking a little break from the wild world of blogging! But look on the bright side! I'll have plenty to blog about as soon as I return!

See ya in a week or two (I may be blogging from the comforts of Pine Rest . . . but I'll be back eventually)!

No Longer a Thankless Job!

Motherhood . . . so often is such a thankless job. Kid's don't appreciate all we moms do for them! From laundry, to dishes, from scrubbing floors to scrubbing toilets, from feeding them to wiping their hind-ends . . . Being a mom is a LOT of work!

But lately, Bella has taken to thanking me for stuff . . . it's not because I tell her to, but it's truly spontaneous and from her heart! Here are a few from the last week:

"Thank you, Mommy, for washing my undies! I put them away now!"
"Thank you, Mommy, for making me cookies!"
"Thank you, Mommy for cleaning my bowl." (as I was emptying the dishwasher)
"Thank you, Mommy, for washing my blanky! It's cozy!"

She's so precious! Honestly, does it get any better than that! I feel so loved - so appreciated . . . all from a 2 year-old!

Who says motherhood has to be a thankless job? Now, on to working on my almost 5 year-old . . . someday I'll hear "thank you" coming from her too, right?

Cutlerville Days!

This past weekend we celebrated Cutlerville Days with 5,000 of our closest friends. Cutlerville Days (which is actually a day - peculiar) is an annual celebration that takes place in Mike's hometown. It consists of the Brian Diemer 5K (a local Olympian), a small-town parade, and all sorts of carnivaly (is that a word?) goodness! It was an amazingly beautiful day! Here are some shots to enjoy! Mike ran the race with his two brothers Matt (husband of LMNO) and Marc. It was truly a family affair!

Mike at the tail end of the Brian Diemer race. He finished at 21 minutes, 36 seconds! Great running honey!


Mike and Bella enjoying the post-race parade.


Faith waving to the firemen!


Bella, Faith and their cousin Jared riding the carnival train. What fun!


Who doesn't love the moonwalk?

All in all it was a fabulous "family day"! And, honestly, how many of those do we really take time to do?

For more great pictures of the day, visit L-M-N-O in my sidebar!

Leftovers

Like most of you, I make a few nice meals each week. We eat like kings and have plenty leftover to take to work, and eat throughout the week . . . but do we?

Mike ends up going out for lunch several times a week for business, so he rarely takes a lunch along. I do eat leftovers, however, I won't touch them after they're a couple days old. I rely on Mike (with his 5-7 day-old rule) to do his fair share and eat the leftovers . . . but that doesn't always happen. So, what we're left with is several containers in our fridge, full of moldy food that neither Mike nor I take the time to dispose of (simply because we hope that the other person will see it and take care of it).

So, after about a month, Mike gets tired of seeing all the miscellaneous containers in the fridge, and he is kind enough to set the them all on the counter. He doesn't empty the containers (usually), mind you, he just sets them on the counter. So, whatever food wasn't rancid quickly becomes nasty! And the stuff that was nasty to begin with becomes even nastier! It's bad enough to empty out refrigerated rotten food . . . but much worse to empty out rotten food that's been sitting on your counter for a day.

You'd think we'd just eat the food in a timely manner! Wouldn't that be the stewardly thing to do? Do any of you struggle with this - or is it just me?

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday.

In celebration of today, I thought I'd post one of my favorite pictures of her with my girls!

She has been an amazing example of Christ's love! She's always quick with a hug, a smile and words of encouragement. She loves playing with her grandkids, and would do anything for her children. She is an inspiration to all who know her!

I love you Mom! I hope you have a terrific birthday - with many more to come!

My Husband's a Rock Star!

Sunday morning we skipped church and headed downtown for Festival! Mike is friends with members of a band called "Theophilus" and they needed a bass guitar player so they asked Mike! It was a rainy, nasty morning, but the band sounded great!



Mike says he's ready to quit his job and 'join a band'. He says, "Chicks dig guys in bands!"



The rainy weather didn't stop the "groupies" from coming to cheer them on!



Faith and Bella had fun groovin to the music!



Faith and her friend Gabe (whose dad is a member of Theophilus, pictured in front of Mike above).



Bella Grace - diggin' it!

Then and Now

Last night - despite the blustery winds, the pelting rain and the roaring thunder - I ventured out to my 15 year SCHS reunion at a local park.

4:00p - It was 90 and sunny when we arrived, but the dark, ominous clouds were on the horizon and certainly headed our way. We ignored them, hoping we could will them away. The kids enjoyed the less than stellar clown and had butterflies painted on their faces. Brats and dogs were on the grill.

6:00p - It was so dark that you couldn't see anyone, rain was coming sideways into the pavillion we were under, plates, cups and napkins were swirling around within the pavillion like a tornado, all 50 kids that were there were crying and clinging to their parents (I felt really bad for the parents of 3-year-old triplets), lightning struck the upper section of the park and the thunder was crazy loud - of course, this was about the time Bella had to go potty.

7:00 - It was 70 and sunny, the kids were having a ball playing in puddles and on the wet playground equipment and I had a fabulous time mingling with people I haven't seen in ages - some since graduation.

It was great to see where life had taken everyone. It was great to hear tremendous stories of God's faithfulness to each of us.
It was great to meet husbands, wives and kids of the people we used to roam the halls with.

Here's a blast from the past, taken my senior year at SCHS. Don't you just love the matching v-neck sweaters, the tight-rolled jeans, the Keds and the huge hair? My goodness did we use a lot of hairspray! These were my best buddies in highschool (from my grade, anyway) - clockwise, starting with me, Simie, Tina, Wendi, Sara, Lori.


Now here's the updated version - 15 years later! We're a little more sophisticated now, don't you think? And our hair is much calmer (or just plain flat, thanks to the weather)! We look pretty good, yet don't we? That considering we have 14 kids between all of us, with one on the way (congrats Wendi!) Clockwise, starting with me (middle) Simie, Tina, Wendi and Sara. We missed you Lori!


I thank God for amazing friendships that have stood the test of time! Love ya girls! Here's to hoping we look just as good at the next reunion!

A Great Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. We spent it up north at my in-law's cottage - complete with boatrides, seadoos, turtle catching, movie-watching, walking, swimming (the girls - not me!) and s'mores! I didn't pull the camera out until we were on our way home Monday night.

Guess which one had a nap that day?