Thursday, May 31, 2012

Field Trip 2012

The 4th grades at KC Elementary go on a field trip to Mac Woods Dune rides & Silver Lake every year.
Today was our day!!!
The weather was much much cooler than it had been...but better cool than 90*!!
Ready for our ride!!
Joanne, Dolan, Carson, Abel & Trent
part of his class 
listening to Bob our driver 
laughing! 





stopped by Lake Michigan for a bit to look around 
Joanne & Trent 
Our Buggy! 
Silver Lake Dunes 
rolling in the sand 
we had a great time and only brought home a bit of sand with us!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Catch Up

I'm trying to get my blog all caught up....
Every year the kids earn a trip to the Whitecaps game in the spring..this year was no exception.
Trent and some of his guy pals
Trent, Dolan, Abel & Carson
Trent and his mommy 
Trent and his Ice Cream...I mean really?? He can't eat all that! 


What I'm seeing....
Joy is making us happy this summer!  They have made Gluten Free Sugar Cones..YES!!!!
It's the little Joys in life! 
While Steve and the boys were gone I talked a huge project..I have wanted (needed!!!) to do this for years and have basically drug my feet on the whole thing....tttoooo much wwwooorrrkkk! I convinced myself Saturday that I HAD to do it!  So I emptied out ALL the cupboards...here is the mess!! Don't be hating on me cause I have tooo much stuff!!
Then I got busy painting the inside of the cupboards...I hope to never have to do this in my lifetime!! 
Kent City did a streetscape project last year and took down all the over head power lines and part of the project was to install light poles.  For Memorial Day they hung flags from the poles. Downtown looked great! 
My neighbor shared these Siberian Iris with me last year after I commented on how much I liked them.  This year I get to enjoy my own!
 The guys all packed up! 
Heading to the U.P. for the boys only camping trip the Thursday before Memorial Day! 
Look how clean they are! 
and they are off! 
I told Steve before he left....I will miss you....but it might take till Sunday before that happens! Hahaha!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

For the Record!!

Steve and the boys went to the U.P. quad riding/camping...so I stayed home as this was a boys only trip.  For the record there was NO laying around and watching movies!!!!  This is a list of what I accomplished purely for my record (and hoping when Steve gets back he reads it and realizes how amazing I am!!!!)

*cleared a clogged shower drain (with baking soda & vinegar ..like a small volcano)
*planted flowers out front
*swept the garage & driveway
*vacuumed the van
***cleaned everything out of my kitchen cupboards/scrubbed them down/removed very stuck on shelf liner/REPAINTED the insides***
*defrosted the big freezer & freezer above 2nd fridge
*touched up paint in upstairs bathroom
*scrubbed the tub
*stripped and waxed (3 coats) the kitchen linoleum
*checked my FB & emails
*Drove to Menards @7pm to get paint with ugly hair
*took the kitchen rugs to the laundry mat and washed them
* laid carpet squares on the back porch & entryway....including cutting with an exact-o knife (with no injuries!!!)
*washed all bedding for all beds ....blankets, sheets, mattress pad, comforters & remade
*vacuumed house
*sewed a button on Trent's shorts
*washed & folded 4 loads of laundry
*climbed Mount Everest
*painted the ceiling in our bathroom
*watered my plants
*visited with my neighbor man
*sewed a ripped bed skirt
*ran the dishwasher
*re-stuffed my couch cushion
 
I'm probably forgetting something...I just know I did more!!  90% of this was done on Saturday & Sunday..I don't think I sat down!

By no means is everything done..they could be gone 3 more weeks and I think I would be just as busy!!!  I work best under pressure... obviously the pressure was on!   Have a great week-end!!

Monday, May 21, 2012

24 Years of Bliss....

You probably have already guessed that we went away for our 24th Wedding Anniversary!
It was no Cruise or trip to Cancun but hey it was three days away!!
It's not where you go but who you spend it with!
So we spent our 3 days in the Auburn Hills Area.
Tim Horton's is one of my favorites...I started my fatal attraction for him some years back in Canada...when I enjoyed a bread bowl with Chicken Stew!!
So when we spotted one...we stopped for lunch... Steve doesn't love Tim like I do....so he wanted to eat at Wendy's ( hahaha...I just realized he likes Wendy and I like Tim!!)
Well anyway...This picture is for Daren...Steve got a Chocolate Brownie Iced Cappuccino with Whipped Cream and a cherry!!!
This is what we did a lot of...relaxing! We spent a lot of our time at Great Lakes Crossing Outlet Mall  ...A HUGE sacrifice by Steve..like most men shopping is not his favorite pass time!!  To my credit I actually didn't buy very much.  I spent a lot of time looking....about 7 hours of looking!
Note to self...bring your own hairdryer...those hotel dryer can not handle this mop of hair....it took me three drying sessions to get it dry!  BTW...that is the front of me with my hair flipped over my face...hahaha!  (oh and I'm not complaining, by any means, about my abundance of hair!!!) 
some bullet points...
*free WIFi in hotels doesn't always mean you can access it...Steve's iPad would drop out and not connect
*1st time eating at Max & Erma's
*felt like the minority...lots of Asians & Indian...& Non-English people 
*some hotels still have old tube TV's
*some hotels don't have SPEED channel
*some hotels don't want you to watch NASCAR races
 *1st time to IKEA 

On Sunday we checked out of our hotel and headed south to IKEA...neither of us had been....so we were curious what all the talk was about!  It's a 2 story building....as you enter, you take an escalator to the upper level..."the showroom" floor....basically they made mini sample rooms of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms...they display bookcases, wall shelves, storage items, lights, blinds...you name it....and on each item they have a number that corresponds with it's location on the 1st floor..get the idea??  What's great is, most of us are visuals..so, the concept is, if you can see how it would look 'done' you would be more inclined to buy more...great concept!  Everything is sold un-assembled.
Steve thinking about a new work area.  I bought a cooking pan!!! 

Then we were headed more Southward to Cabelas....alas, finally Steve's patience has paid off!! 
some of what you will see at Cabela's 
some other things you will see at Cabela's 
My faithful driver..and for the record I NEVER slept..there or back!!  This is quite an accomplishment for me....normally I always take a 45 minute snooze.  The joke is....if we headed any further away than Alpine I fall asleep!  I guess I wasn't cut out to be a truck driver! 
As I was looking at some of my purchases this morning I was noticing a theme...I guess I like pink & purple!?!!?  I didn't know I did....I always thought I liked greens????  Who knew...
In summary....we have enjoyed 24 fabulous years together.  We have obviously been married longer than we were single...amazing!  We were young when we got married and many said too young...well I guess not!  We have made a lot of rare milestones together....we have three children (all with the same last name), we have never had an affair, we have lived in the same house & town we got married in, we have always attended the same church & on and on ......
We took a vow before God 24 years ago and have never looked back!  We vowed to stick it out though the good and bad...like some, we haven't had a lot of bad but we chose to grow closer through OUR life trials...We HAVE gone to bed mad at each other (at least I did!) but we awoke realizing how much we would never want to say good bye to the person laying next to us!  We have a rare love these days!  Thank you honey for pursuing me...it's been a great ride!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Prom 2012

Tyler and Troy were off to prom on Saturday.
Tyler went with Alisha to her Banquet with Algoma Christian School.
Troy went to Kent City's Prom in Newaygo stag.

Tyler was trying to help Troy tie his tie..not happening!!!
(on a side note...it seems a though Steve is always doing a grease dirty car project the afternoon of prom...so about the time they had to have ties tied his hands were filthy!  So, he stepped me though (go around that, bring that through, pull that down) it while Tyler assisted..haha..it really does take a family!!!)
Tyler, Troy and Trevor ( the nicest kid you would want your kids to hang with!!!) 
The brothers!
Don't they look great?? 
Tyler and Alisha...
pinning on the boutonniere 
the cute couple!
Don't they look great together? 

Alisha's friend and exchange student, Hester, (from China) rode with them there 


Is she the cutest thing ever??? 

and off they go 
They all had a great night at their respective parties.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Way toooo Long

Either you all think I feel off the face of the blogging world OR no one realized I was gone..well either way..I'm back!  Does anyone one else ever get so far behind on something that it seems impossible to catch up, so you don't try?? Well me neither!
I think I have mentioned this before...but I think of this blog as an online record of our lives and offer you a chance to look in our life.  I thinking this will be my back up as my mind gets older and feeble-er....and I can't remember when we did things.  So even though some of these are older I'm still going to record them....maybe someday I will get them printed in book form??

Easter
Easter at G-pa & G-ma's.  Bonnie was nice enough o let Dad & Linda join us...so we could all be together!  We had all the yummy food..Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, jello & salads & rolls.  Linda made Lemon Meringue Pies and we had strawberry cake.
Drew & Trent
Tyler & Alisha 
Troy was nice enough to hid the eggs for Trent....here he is spinning him around
Trent found all the eggs 

Tigers Game
Dad & Linda took Troy & Trent to Homeplate 2012
They rode over on the churches charter bus.  It was a very very cold day at the ballpark
and the tigers lost....=(  
but a fun memory was made. Thanks G-pa & G-ma! 

AWANA 
Closing Ceremonies!
The T&T kids singing some of the songs they learned over the year 
Trent got his 1st book award 

Soccer
Trent is playing in the Sparta Soccer league..this is his 5th season.
He's so cute!
AAAWWWW 

Love that guy!