All in a Day's Work

For inquiring minds like Jamie & Amy :) - we got rid of the slider because it was from the 1970's, made our room either the hottest or coldest room in the house, we were sick of always having the curtains closed because you never know when you need to do a quick change of clothes, we wanted a better wall to position our bed on and now can have wall sconces wired in, and finally, because we have another slider that is off the deck from our eating area.

Oh, and I think in the five years we lived here we used it five times.

Enough reasons ladies? ;)

9:00 a.m. the old slider is removed from our bedroom.

Window is installed with a new wall.

Siding going on pretty easily.



4:30 p.m. the outside is complete.

Next steps on the home-improvement to do list: insulate the inside, dry wall, wire in two sconces for either side of the bed, trim out the window, & paint the walls. Whew! Is that all?

Answer This

Jeff was posed this question by a fellow colleague;

Why do you pray when God already knows what's going to happen?

Please join the conversation by sharing your answer.

A Dozen (a belated anniversary post)

(I found a more recent pic.)

How I know I've been married for a dozen years.

1. I laugh now when my hubby says, "you didn't get me a present did you?"

2. I point out good looking women to my husband. Oh, and women with fake boobs.

3. I no longer make him feel guilty for going on a boys weekend. Instead, I make homemade cookies for him to share with his golf/poker buddies.

4. I make him feel my legs when they are freshly shaven. It used to be more of a common occurrence during the dating/newlywed stage.

5. I can tell by his breath when he's getting a cold.

6. I can point out my physical flaws without embarrassment

7. Ummm ... the three kids is evidence enough that we didn't just get hitched. :)

8. We can joke about each of our families without getting defensive.

9. I yell, "that's my hubby" when he makes a diving catch or hits a home run when we play co-ed softball together. And by the way, I know that's cheesy & I don't care.

10. My husband knows that sometimes "granny-panties" are called for.

11. He is my favorite person to be with and I have the most fun with him.

12. I love him more today than I did on June 7, 1996 - our wedding day! Love ya Jeff.

Have Kids? Must Camp!

Happy Father's Day Dads!

Picture above - cute. Picture below - not quite as cute! :)

The girls

The boys (minus Daniel who was snoozing in the stroller.)

The annual camping trip with the Guikema family is in the record books! We were supposed to go to Ludington State Park this weekend but it was closed due to flooding. So Dad G. got on the phone and found some great sites left at Van Buren State Park (South Haven). The weather was a bit cooler than normal but we had plenty of sun and the big lake was actually warm. (There is a nuclear power plant just down the lake that kicks out some heat that warms the lake up --- now if we just don't suffer any side effects --- just kidding!) The cousins got along so well and the adults had fun drinking countless cups of coffee, eating monster cookies, Vander Heide cheese, gorp, dough boys, etc. The kids loved the "elephant ears" which is crescent rolls cooked over the fire on a wooden dowel and then sprayed & shaken in a bag of cinnamon and sugar. YUM! I just love camping --- the slower pace of life, the countless special treats you only eat when camping, the kids entertaining each other without a computer or t.v. --- really you should try it.

Ummm Jeff, there is a shower here.

Mom and Dad (don't they look too cute and clean for camping?)

Funnies this Week

• When yelling through the house, "where's my keys", Zach yells back, "I don't know. I didn't use 'em". Uh yeah --- gotcha you big four year old.
• When I stopped by Paige's class this week about ten of her classmates asked if I would sign their yearbook. I was joking how popular I was and Paige said, "Mom, don't get too carried away." I think I just got put in my place huh?
  

Looking at our beautiful rhododendron I comment on it's beauty and Jeff says, "Yeah, it's hideous all but two weeks out of the year." Hmmm ... he's right. But oh, for two weeks those flowers are quite grand.

Me begging Zoey to let me just buy something at Costco for her birthday treat. Her responding with no, I want dirt cake with gummy worms and a paper parasol. That all girlie?

Schools out for summer. Three words for you; bring --- it --- on!

Happy Birthday Zoey!

Zo turns the big seven today! I still remember going into labor with her hours before Jeff was supposed to go to a Rampage Game with a buddy. I'll do anything to kill a boys night out huh? While laboring, our good friend Steph came to see the birth and generated a list of possible middle names since we were set on Zoey but couldn't figure out what the heck could go with it. Maybe Elmo? :) We even asked our very sweet nurse what her middle name was and she replied, "Oh, you don't want to use mine. My parents were hippies." After teasing her to just tell us her middle name already, she said, "it's Love". Hmmmm ... Zoey Love. Now that's a hippy name.

Happy Birthday Zoey. We love you!

I Miss Wet Wipes

O.K. I have to admit that one thing I miss about having a diaper-wearing kid around the house is the easy access to wet wipes. They're in the house, in the diaper bag and maybe even in the purse. So I bought the 99 cent package at Target and I've almost used them all this weekend.

On to what is in my purse. I used to carry the smallest purse that held only my essentials - wallet, chapstick (I'm an addict), once a month something else, etc. When did I become the mom who's packing? I've got hand sanitizer, ibuprofen, chapstick (still addicted), lip gloss (let's face it, the old girl could use some shine once in awhile), Sponge Bob Square Pants band-aids, tissues, a water bottle and now wet wipes. I actually got mocked last week by a fellow mom because I was so prepared. And yet, her mockery fell flat when her daughter fell flat and she needed a Sponge Bob for each of her knees. :) So here's my two questions,

1. When did I get so darn responsible? (Remember - I'm the baby of my family and let's just say ... the word responsible & me were rarely used in the same sentence.)


2. Why am I embarrassed that I have a purse that's "packing"?