~ Count the Blessings ~

Hot Chocolate 15k

2012-02-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

Who would have known that there is a 15k race out there?! What a perfect distance! I hope that I can do it again this year! This race was one of my favorites of 2011, not because of the chocolate fondue or hot chocolate following the race, but because it was fun to go down to Chicago with some of my running group friends (Cindy, Tammy, Kristin H., Kristin L., Heather) and run the entire race together! Aside from the 1/2 in October (where I ran with Rob, Doug, David, Rudy), I don't recall a road race where I've run with a group of friends the entire time! Not to mention, some of my dear other friends (KMac, KT & Theresa) were down there running it for the first time too! Hopefully they'll run it again this year too :)

38 w 2 d

2012-02-03T15:28:00.000-05:00

For the few of you who aren't on FB, here is the most recent belly picture! I still have plenty of backlogging to do, but I figured if I posted this when the baby is four months old, it may not be relevant anymore.So far, so good! I'm feeling better at this point than I did with either of the other two, so I'm planning on at least a week late and if baby arrives anytime before then, it will be a wonderful surprise! In fact, Rob is more anxious than I am! I was still able to run this week (3 miles, with a few walking breaks), but I have yet to determine if there will be anymore running in my future :)

Backlog II: Madisyn's marathon

2012-01-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

Last fall, as a 6-year old, Madiysn completed her first marathon! Well, kids marathon actually... but what an amazing feat it was! I honestly could not have been more proud of her! To complete the marathon, the kids were to run a total of 25 miles prior to race day and complete 1.2 miles on race day for a total of 26.2 miles (official marathon distance)!

During her training she ran distances of one mile to two miles without stopping!!! Seriously, she may have distance running in her future! But that's really not what made me so proud and excited for her. The true test was getting those miles in when it started getting boring and at times was dark outside! Even though she wasn't always jumping for joy to go out and run, she still did it! It would have been easy to quit, but she toughed it out!

Nana and Madisyn, pre-race

Beginning of the race!

Nana, Papa, LD & Madisyn, post-race

Madisyn and her proud Mommy, post-race

I'm hoping that lesson taught her more than you can keep running further than you think... Hopefully she learned that sometimes you make commitments that are not always easy to keep, but it's important and worth it to keep your word and more importantly, that many goals in life are not easy to achieve, but the payoff is always worth the time and effort put into it! Aside from anything she learned, I think my favorite part was that we got to spend so much one-on-one time together!

And of course, Madisyn's stats :)

Backlog... Landon's Zoo Date

2012-01-16T21:34:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to keep things in chronological order, for my sanity. Landon got a special day at the zoo with Papa and Nana Dykema last fall. He certainly loves any one-on-one (or three-on-one) time that he gets with just about anyone!

Here are a few fun pictures from the day...

Our years together

2011-10-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

We celebrated our 7th anniversary running this year! I somehow talked Rob into running the Grand Rapids 1/2 marathon with me! I was excited about it, but didn't really realize the significance until afterwards. It was the first time that Rob has run that far (and we don't often get to run together since we usually take turns with watching the kiddos) and the last time that I'll run that far during this pregnancy. Both of us felt fantastic the whole race! We have always celebrated our anniversaries, but unlike most of them, we both agreed that this will be an exceptionally memorable one where we will always recall what we did on the day of our anniversary... versus several days and/or weeks earlier or later in order to celebrate it.

I honestly never thought we'd be where we are today, and yet I couldn't be happier! First of all, I never saw myself as a SAHM and yet, the past two years being home with the kids has changed and blessed my our life more than I could have ever imagined! Secondly, for years we were certain that we were complete with two children, but God knew all along that he'd change our hearts. It was almost like the kids always knew, but we just hadn't caught on! Needless-to-say, the past seven years of my life have been more filling, rewarding, exciting and unpredictable than I could have dreamed! I can't wait to experience what God has in store for our eighth and every year beyond!

Here are a few pictures of us from the years past.

Dating

Night we got engaged

Wedding (2004)

At Dan & Marriane's wedding a month after we had Madisyn (2005)

(2006)

(2007)

Boston (2008)

(2009)

Dave Matthews Band Concert

Rob's surprise birthday party (2010)

Whitecaps Game

Zeeland Zoom 5k

(2011)

GR 1/2 marathon, pre-race

GR 1/2 marathon, end of race

We don't get out very often...

2011-10-06T17:01:00.002-04:00

And when we do, we always forget to take pictures... but not this time!

The rare picture of the two of us.

Cliff, Bob, Mike & Rob (all co-workers of Robs)

A little golf...

2011-10-04T11:23:00.001-04:00

In the backyard (thanks to Aunt Shell) :)

LD & Aunt Shell

Mickey Mouse made by Madisyn

Madisyn & Aunt Shell

Daddy getting in on the game

Landon perfecting his stroke

I am amazed at how much the kiddos LOVE these clubs!

LD's first day of preschool

2011-09-13T00:22:00.000-04:00

He's been waiting in anticipation since he was done with "three-school" last year! We were fortunate that Landon got the same teacher at Hudsonville Christian as Madisyn had, so he already knows her and loves her! Today we got to go together and I wish I had taken more pictures because his face was glowing the entire time!

Here is Madisyn two years ago!

And both of them on Madisyn's first day of pre-school (*tear*)

I'm just not ready...

2011-09-07T17:26:00.000-04:00

For my baby girl to be gone at school five days every week! I loved our little break that we had last year between school days. Days to wear our pj's all day, go for walks, go on playdates, build indoor forts or outdoor snow forts, days just to be together. Although a bit late, I'm now cherishing summer break and weekends more than ever. I do know, however, that she's more than ready for everyday school. My main concern was her naps, but the past two days, we've gotten cuddle time when she got home and she's fit in an hour or so nap. Works for mama!

I'm also cherishing the amazing time that Landon and I have together. I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to be a SAHM and to be able to spend my days with my youngest (for now), one-on-one, just the two of us! As much as he loves his sister, he really loves when he gets mommy time! When it's just the two of us, he's truly is an angel, and I realize how much I would have missed out on if I hadn't quit working.

Our little runner girl!

2011-09-02T23:57:00.003-04:00

Madisyn is officially signed up for the Helen Devos Children's Hospital Grand Rapids Kids Marathon! She has been asking for some time if she could do a race (especially every time she sees other kids doing races) and she loves to run at the track with Rob and I when we do track workouts. So, when I saw this, I knew she'd be excited about it... and excited she was! The first two days she ran a total of three miles! And everyday since, she asks me in the morning when we can go running. The objective is to run a total of 25 miles before race day and complete the final 1.2 miles in the race on October 15th (for a total of 26.2 miles, official marathon distance).

The best part is, she and I have gotten to spend some quality one-on-one time together. While running her last quarter of a mile the other night she said, "This is fun... talking and chit-chatting!" It made me want to melt! Not to mention, that's exactly one of the reasons that I run... to talk and catch-up with friends!

We're so proud of you, baby girl!

School lunch? School smunch.

2011-08-31T13:00:00.000-04:00

Since last summer, Madisyn and I have been brainstorming school lunch ideas for her. She doesn't care for sandwiches (Subway and turkey and cheese roll-ups are suitable, but PB&J or ham and cheese, forget about it). Needless to say, it was getting difficult to come up with new ideas by year-end. Which brings me to this year... twice as many lunches to prepare (thank you Thermos) and two snacks every day! At least I have won one battle, by convincing her to take hot lunch one day/week :) Anyway, since being motivated by Jen @ IHeart Organizing, I decided to get the ball rolling. Here's a preview of Madisyn's school lunch drawer:

All of the snacks are two deep, except the granola bars, which are four deep.

Refrigerated snacks (carrots are in those foggy bags):

And while I was at it, I took a picture of some of our other food cabinets... just because. I know this drawer will make some cringe. Yes, there are times when we eat pre-packaged pasta meals (Cheddar Broccoli Knorr is M's favorite), but we don't usually have mac & cheese in the house... go figure.

Breakfast drawer, with individual portions of cereal on the left, ready to add milk if desired, although generally we do yogurt, fruit, protein shakes (milk, yogurt, banana, peanut butter), waffles, pancakes and/or eggs for breakfast.

One of my temporary pantry shelves (my new pantry is in the making :)).

Definition of Cookie

2011-08-28T07:00:00.003-04:00

Cook-ie [kook-ee]
Proper Noun
1. Temporary name of our beloved third child, affectionately named after Cookie Monster by the elder brother whom already adores his soon-to-be sibling.
2. Name that fits the question, "Where's Cookie?" "In Mommy's tummy!"

Picture courtesy of the talented big sister at 15w 3d (to be exact)

Fun on the lake!

2011-08-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Don't get too excited... this daily blog post thing is not an indication of what's to come. I just have some catching up to do :)

We don't spend as much time on the boat as we would like (well, Rob gets to spend more time while fishing), but as often as we can, we get the kiddos out for a day on Lake Michigan. Our friends and old neighbors (in Alger Heights) were visiting and staying with us from Canada with their four girls, so we all went out and the kiddos had a blast! Well, at least Madisyn and the girls did. There was about an hour where all LD wanted was for the boat to stop rocking and for him to go home :( But after some Mama love, and cuddling, he was good to go!

Rob doesn't love his picture taken, but I catch him every once in a while anyway :)

LD post-crying fit.

Ottawa County Fair

2011-08-26T01:45:00.001-04:00

I have been slacking on taking pictures, which then has a drastic effect on my posts (who wants to see a post without a picture?!). I may actually start a daily photo blog because I've been so inspired by Katie and Theresa (and Theresa's blog post)! None-the-less, I have taken a few pictures this summer including some of the kiddos and their cousins Joshua and Levi (their only cousins, but only for another 3-4 weeks!) at the Ottawa County Fair.

Blurry? Yes. Priceless? Of course!

The news is out!

2011-07-13T12:40:00.004-04:00

And we couldn't be more excited! It's been way too difficult keeping it a secret! :)

Baby D3 should arrive around Valentine's Day!

Thanks Mindy, for helping us share our news!

March Birthday Party

2011-06-21T23:39:00.000-04:00

Of course I'm running late on blogging... something that I continue to say that I'm going to work on, but haven't successfully improved. Albeit late, I don't want to miss out on posting great pics from the event filled day!

I really love having their birthdays close together, so that we can have all of the family over for one big celebration... so far they don't mind sharing the big day :) We've also started doing their own smaller, low-key parties with friends, which gives them their own special celebration!

I included a lot of their birthday cakes because I was so proud of the job that they did! They were thrilled when I offered for them to decorate their own cakes! After I iced them in the colors that they picked, they rolled the fondant and cut out the shapes, and put them on wherever they wanted :)

LD's hair... and personality :)

2011-05-25T22:27:00.001-04:00

It's always a difficult decision for me to make, whether to let his hair grow (and gain those curls that are one of my few traits that he possesses) or to cut it short like Daddy. I didn't quite get to the curl stage before I gave in this time! If you ask Landon, he likes it, "like a dinosaur." :)

Riviera Maya

2011-04-04T23:07:00.004-04:00

Better late than never, right?! Ever since I've begun posting pictures on Facebook, I find it difficult to keep up with our blog, but I know that there are a few out there who look at this instead of FB. Anyway... Rob and I had seriously the best vacation EVER in February! Neither of us have been to Riviera Maya (or Mexico, for that matter) and we loved it! We had absolutely perfect weather, we went snorkeling (first for both of us), we went with wonderful friends, we were gone long enough, but not too long, everything was just great! I think the best part for me was that we spent about half of the time with our friends, but also about half of the time just the two of us.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Our crazy little boy is 4!

2011-03-24T23:00:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe that the baby in our family turned four today! As (I assume) any four year old is, he was over-the-top thrilled with his new found age yesterday morning :) He continually amazes me with the things that he says and does. He may or may not be the smartest child ever, but he sure has a sense of humor and is quick witted. I truly don't know where he got it from, but none-the-less, he can get us all rolling after a one liner!

He is also a typical boy... being a little naughty and sneaky, but then turns into the kindest, affectionate, sweetheart in a moment. Yes, he has me wrapped around his finger. He seems to have that effect on people, as he dishes out compliments to just about anyone he comes in contact with. The latest is that he likes my mouth, face, feet, but doesn't like my lipstick :) He went through a stage of telling just about everyone, "I love you!" Which even melted his dental hygienist's heart!

I wish I did a better job of keeping track of milestones, but alas, that is one of my major flaws... and I'm willing to accept it. The most major thing that has happened for LD this year is that he started "three-school," which he absolutely LOVES! He's made a best friend, which was fun to see him do on his own. And, if you ask me, I think he picked a good one, because his mom and I get along great too (and she's even at my MOPS table :) ).

Little boy, you sure have grown up in the past four years! We love you!!!

Baby girl is 6!

2011-03-12T13:10:00.000-05:00

Our baby girl turned six this week (on her golden birthday). I think it may be time for us to stop calling her "Baby." :) Every year I am amazed at how quickly it has gone by... I can't really be a mother of a six year old, can I? I am so glad that I've had another year at home full-time to spend with her before she starts full-time school next year.

As I was thinking about her last year, I thought of a few milestones that she reached... which reminded me of how much she's grown in the past year and how much I need to absorb each and every day that we have together!

She...
* Took her first airplane trip (that she can recall)
* First experienced the ocean
* Took two sets of swimming lessons (can swim some on her own)
* Graduated pre-school
* Started kindergarten
* Proudly conquered her stage freight fear in her Christmas program
* Lost her 3rd and 4th teeth
* Hit the big 4' in height (not too far behind her momma)

I had such a hard time picking out a few pictures of her, that I limited myself to her first year, I'll have to follow-up with a the rest. I just LOVE those chunky legs! She liked to eat then and she LOVES to eat now :)

Confessions of the heart

2011-02-01T17:15:00.002-05:00

I have a confession to make. It’s not going to be fun, but it has to be done. The most difficult part is that I know once it’s in the blogosphere, there’s no turning back… a change must be made. So here it is…

A few years back, I began noticing that my kids had a lot of shoes. Made sense, I guess, since Landon gets at least half of his clothes (and shoes) hand-down from some friends of ours and Madisyn is a girl and every girl needs the right pair of shoes to match the outfit, right? For example, Madisyn’s “winter” selection of shoes (excludes her plethora of sandals and shoes that she doesn’t fit into yet) includes 11 pairs of shoes: four pair of boots (two pairs of snow boots, as well as one cute brown pair and one cute off-white pair), three pairs of flats, two pairs of tennis shoes, and two pairs of Crocs. Well, as time progressed, I began noticing that I had a lot of shoes (mostly 4" heals... so practical, I know). Then my mom bought me some Kleenex’s that said something along the lines of, “Behind every great woman is a fabulous pair of shoes.” That’s when it hit me… I have a shoe fetish.

Or at least I thought. Then came trip #3 to Birch Run last spring (yes, I know, who needs three trips in one season?). I bought a cute pink North Face coat from the clearance rack, and it was children’s, so it was even cheaper! I was super excited (as I get with anything pink and anything that is a fantastic deal). When I got home, I began putting all of my newly purchased bargains away and as I went to put that coat away, I noticed that I already owned two other pink North Face coats. Okay, I guess I have a coat fetish too.

Then, along came my dear friend Katie sharing her “simplifying” goals for this year along with some phenomenal blogs (IHeart Organizing & Simple Organized Living). It didn’t take much for me to become incredibly inspired, as I’ve been attempting to make progress in this area of our lives for some time now. So, off to the kids closets I went to start the clearing out process (it's so much easier to start with things that are not your own :) ). WOW… my kids have A LOT of clothes! I could blame their large closets (Madisyn's is as big, if not bigger, than ours), but really, I put all of those clothes in there. And to be honest, they pretty much only wear the same ten outfits that are either my favorite or their favorite.

I proceeded to my closet and noticed that I need to do some clearing out, and this is after I had gone through it a couple of months back and rid myself of five paper bags full of clothes!

Needless to say, I don’t have a shoe fetish. I don’t have a coat fetish. In fact, I don’t even have a clothes fetish. What I have is a shopping problem!!!
There, I said it. Now I have some work to do! There are only two things that I can think of that would be more difficult than shopping less: being told that I can no longer run or that I can no longer eat Thai food.

This is all said, tongue in cheek, of course… as my sister-in-law and I have our bi-annual Birch Run trip planned in 11 days (but who’s counting?). My goal this year is to bring back fewer items, but more of what we need and things I really love, and not, “This is such a great bargain, how can I pass it up?” sort of stuff.

Urbanathalon

2010-11-17T22:08:00.003-05:00

I'll allow the pictures to speak for themselves :) Thanks Erica for talking me into running it for year #2!

LD's First Day

2010-09-20T13:51:00.005-04:00

LD officially has a week of three-school under his belt. As expected, he absolutely loves it!!! He feels so big being able to go to school like his big sister! Plus he has two of his friends in his class, so he's enjoyed playing with them more than usual. So far, his favorite things are riding bikes during gym class and snacktime. It's been a bit of an adjustment for me to not have either of them for five hours every week, but I've been trying to be productive during those few hours and seem to find the time to fly by :)

Baby Girl's First Day

2010-09-09T12:25:00.000-04:00

Madisyn's first day of Kindergarten was last week. She was so excited! I'm certain that I had a harder time accepting her going on her own than she did. She had all kinds of fun things to tell me about when she got home and since Landon was napping, we were able to spend some quality time talking about school... it was wonderful!

On a sidenote, she's a napper... and I was very concerned about her starting full days since she's not used to going without a nap. Needless to say, we've been blessed by an easy transition of she and I napping together when she gets home from school. After a wonderful one-on-one day with LD, it's really great to spend some cuddle time with Madisyn!

And speaking of LD... what did he want to do when sister was away? Play a computer game in his underwear :) Made me smile. When M's in school, he's an absolute angel! We've been able to do many things together, but he's also okay with playing on his own... without the interuption of anyone else (*wink* *wink*).

They know me all too well

2010-08-26T23:54:00.002-04:00

LD: Mommy, why did you buy SpongeBob Go-Gurt?
(I very strongly dislike SpoungeBob and the kids know fully well that I buy nothing related to the character)

Me: Because I thought that you would like it.
(partial truth)

LD: Nuh-uh. Because it was on sale.

Me: (chuckling) Yes, you're right, Honey. It was on sale.

Madisyn: And you had a coupon.

So true, so true...

$2.00!

2010-08-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

This is for you, Katie!

My mom got all of these party supplies (plus some for herself and napkins that I took to a few playdates) for $2.00! I think it was a once in a lifetime deal, and she just hit it at the right time! Thanks, Mom!

So much to blog about, so little time...

2010-07-30T11:10:00.000-04:00

I have this laundry list of things that I plan to blog about and plenty of pictures to post, but I just haven't found the time to do it! So, I'm starting in chronological order, just because my brain operates that way :)

Update on Landon: We got the hard wax removed and he had an amazing difference in hearing! That was quite a blessing! Within a few days following, I noticed that his hearing was indeed considerably better, but was still not what I would consider "normal." After doing our follow-up with the Audiologist, we found out that he still has fluid in his ears, but yet tested within the normal range for hearing. That now leaves us with the option of doing tubes if we'd like. We haven't made any decisions on that... on one hand I'd love for this hearing thing to be done with, once and for all, especially with Landon heading into school (three-school, mind you). On the other hand, I don't want to do something that isn't completely necessary and then need to deal with the little things that go along with having tubes (i.e. always having ear plugs around if he's going to swim). Neither seem to strongly outweigh the others, so we'll just keep praying about it.

At his three-year well-child visit (this is more for me than you), he was of course tall and big! He was 40.25" tall and 36 lbs., which put him in the 96th percentile for height and 86th percentile for weight... a little different than the previous year when we mistakenly got the obesity speech :) On a side note, if they had a percentile for feet, I think both he and Madisyn would be off the charts! I just can't get over how huge our kids' feet are! This doesn't mean much to most of you, but you with little ones close in age will understand; Landon wears size 11 and Madisyn wears size 1! Madisyn's shoes look like they could fit me! These kids are growing up WAY too fast!

Just for fun, above are some pictures from out Whitecaps outing with Rob's work.

Madisyn's Graduation

2010-06-29T23:56:00.004-04:00

Yes, 'tis true... our baby has graduated from pre-school! I'm really not ready for the next step in her life, but alas, she just keeps getting older and growing up! We were blessed with a wonderful year and phenomenal teachers! I was thrilled to be able to spend a lot of time in the classroom (something that I would have otherwise not been able to do, had I still been working). Madisyn also made some amazing friends who we've been able to keep in touch with since she's been out of school. Here she is with one of her closest girlfriends, Chloe. I absolutely LOVE how cute they are playing together! The bottom picture is Madisyn on stage (this program went remarkably better than the Christmas program, where she wouldn't even stand in front) next to another one of her best-friends, Lauren.

Landon's hearing

2010-06-03T22:53:00.003-04:00

We have gone through quite an interesting experience with Landon regarding his hearing. I started noticing that he didn't always respond to me telling him things about three months ago, but what three year old does? I figured it was just a normal age, selective hearing thing. He also has a lot of ADD tendencies (but again, which child his age doesn't?) and it runs in my family, so I thought that may also be a contributing factor. Finally, it got to the point where he could be looking at me and I'd have to repeat something four to five times, louder each time, before he finally heard me. I would also say "key" words around him (i.e. ice cream, candy, etc...) and he wouldn't hear those either. That's when I really knew something was up :)

Long story short, we saw his Pediatrician, who somewhat reluctantly, referred us to an Audiologist, who immediately detected a large amount of hard wax in his ears. She showed me a couple of graphs that were showing how much sound/noise was making it through the outer and inner ear canal and his "bad" ear was registering below the graph! Yesterday we got his ears irrigated and the difference is absolutely amazing! Now he's continually telling me that he can hear! We're so grateful that it wasn't something permanent and that it was correctable!

Florida (pictures galore)

2010-05-01T11:00:00.001-04:00

We had a fantastic Spring Break with Rob's side of the family (Dad, Mom, Dave, Kate, Joshua and Levi)! We were fortunate that Rob had enough frequent flier miles for us to fly down there and meet up with the rest of the family. Of course, the kids thought the plane rides were great!

Arrived at the Pensacola airport

The view from outside the house we stayed at... You can see the land across the Sound (we were on a beautiful island just south of the panhandle). Because we were on the Sound side, it was much quieter, there wasn't an undertow, the sand was gorgeous, the water was shallow and the it felt more like fresh water than salt water... it was really perfect!

This stingray was right on our beach!

The Golf was a short walk across the island.

Although we missed out on the Blue Angels practice due to cloudy skies, we had a good time at the Air Force Base in Pensacola and even ran into Madisyn's teacher!

Spring is in the air

2010-04-08T17:23:00.004-04:00

As I'm currently enjoying the beautiful view of the Santa Rosa Sound from the deck (one of three in the house we're staying at for Spring Break - more on that later) in Navarre, Fl, I realized how terribly far behind I am at posting (again). We finally have pictures because we've been using our new camera and it excites me greatly to have a decent amount of pictures of the kids and their daily activities again!

Last month the kids both got kites from Grandpa and Grandma Grandia for their birthdays and we've had a lot of fun using them on the nearby Unity fields.

LD and Sierra (and baby doll) had a great time riding the car around the neighborhood while all of the other kids were at school!

Birthday Party

2010-03-18T15:10:00.005-04:00

It is extremely difficult for me to believe that another whole year has passed and that we could possibly be parents of a five year old and an (almost) three year old! I don't know if all parents go through this, but it just amazes me.

We had a very nice family birthday party for both kids. It was nice to have a large, but not overly large birthday party. The four kids (our two and our two nephews) kept things crazy enough :) It was also nice that most of the family went in on one gift for the kids (the Power Wheels), so the kids weren't going wild opening gift after gift. They did, however, get a few other things, including the superhero capes from their cousins, which they absolutely LOVE!

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate another wonderful year with us!

Madisyn's Birthday

2010-03-14T14:15:00.001-04:00

I think this is the year of celebrations :) Seems as though the kids' birthdays are getting a month long... and they're loving every minute of it! On Madisyn's actual birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Papa and Nana Dykema. I found a picture of her riding the same ride on her 2nd and 5th birthdays! The middle is her 2nd birthday and the outside are from her 5th birthday.

And LD:

Us with the birthday girl!

The Monday following the big 5th birthday, she celebrated at school by bringing cupcakes with her favorite colors (green, purple & pink) and princess crowns, complete with princess liners... we have quite the girly girl!

That night we had some of her girlfriends over for ice cream and a princess get-together (accompanied by plenty of girly screams). It was actually really fun to see her in her element with several of her girlfriends!
(L to R: Jordan (back), Jada, Madisyn, Lauren & Lydia)

(L to R: Madisyn, Lydia, Jordan, Lauren & LD)

THEN... this weekend we had the birthday party! So, more pictures to come :)

School project for Madisyn

2010-03-10T11:26:00.003-05:00

I admit, I've been terrible at posting... but we finally got a new camera!

I'll post Madisyn's birthday pictures soon, in the meantime, here are a few pictures of a school project that we worked on. She brought Pablo the pelican home and we did "K" activities (flew a kite, kicked a ball, made him a king...), she and Landon loved it!

The BIG 3-0!

2010-02-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

Rob turned 30 nearly a month ago (goodness, I'm behind!). Thankfully Allison had her camera with to capture some great pictures of our mini-surprise party. We did a combined party for our cousins Tim & Lisa (who also turn 30 within a month of Rob). It was tremendous fun getting out for a late night! Thanks again Dad & Mom Dykema as well as our phenominal sitter (former nanny) Abbie for making it all happen!

Honey, thank you for being the fantastic husband and father that you are! I love you SO much and can't wait to celebrate your 60th and 90th birthdays (and every one in between)!

OH... and you can read about the cake catastrophe here.

[Me, Rob, Katie, Jonny, Brad, Dan & Allison]

[Lisa (cousin who also turned 30), me, Allison & Katie]

[us :)]

[the topsy turvy surprise cake]

2010-02-14T11:37:00.004-05:00

Thanks Melanie "The Coupon Goddess" for posting this article! It's so great to see that someone understands!

Doing the Math on Coupons

How could I not love this article, the title alone has two of my favorite things... math and coupons?!

I seriously can't begin tell you all how blessed I am! I am thrilled that last summer we made the decision for me to stay home, full-time with the kids! My days have been thrilled with lots of craziness and SO much fun and love. :)

Madisyn's Topsy-Turvy Cakes

2010-02-07T15:49:00.003-05:00

Madisyn truly amazes me! She made these "topsy-turvy" cakes all on her own, roses and all! I haven't ever even made roses with fondant, much less taught her how! I think she may have a future in cake decorating :)

(please don't mind the quality of pictures, they were taking with Rob's phone)

Final January Grocery Trip

2010-01-28T18:50:00.000-05:00

Breakstone Cottage Cheese Doubles (20) ~ reg 1.00 = 5.00
(each five produced $5 catalina, when done in separate transactions)
Bananas ~ reg 0.49/lb. = 0.83
Grapes ~ reg 6.83, sale 1.24 / lb. = 3.40
Johnson's Buddy Bar ~ reg 1.06 - $1/1 MQ = 0.06
Quilted Northern Six Double Rolls (used raincheck from Sat) (2) ~ reg 3.99, sale 1.99 - 2*$1/1 MQ = 1.98
KoolAid Jammers (3) ~ reg 1.69, sale 1.67 - 1.00/1 (wyb multiples of three) = 2.00
Meijer Toaster Pastry (2) ~ reg 1.59, sale 1.00 = 2.00
Meijer Canned Veg (6) ~ reg 0.95, sale 3/$1 = 2.00
Ground Turkey (2) ~ reg 1.59, sale 1.00 = 2.00
Scott Moist Wipes (2) ~ reg 2.49 - 2*$0.50/1 MQ = 3.98
(produced $3 catalina)

Tax: 0.54
Total: 38.79 - 3.00 catalina - 4*5.00 catalina = 15.79 (saved 43.56)

TOTAL this week: 15.79 (saved 43.56)

January total: 32.27 + 45.76 + 65.57 + 2.89 + 32.41 + 15.79 = 194.69, saved 548.22

$5.31 left for the month, which I think I'll use to buy some soda tonight :) I think I'm also going to try to keep this up going forward, but probably won't post every week... I already have a $10 gift card to Family Fare, a $25 gift card for Meijer coming my way and cans to return to add to my $200 for February, so it should be a good month! I'm holding onto two rainchecks for a total of 15 bags of Meijer frozen chicken breasts at $3.99/1... I'm already planning on buying all 15 in the beginning of February!

Dishwasher!

2010-01-25T22:36:00.005-05:00

Last week our dishwasher finally died on us... it was only seven years old, but I think it had been on the "fritz" for at least three years, so I'm grateful that it lasted this long! Instead of my natural instinct to replace all of the kitchen appliances (with black or stainless steal), I agreed with Rob that we could just replace the dishwasher (a much more frugally responsible move). Here's the one we (as in Rob and my father-in-law) installed today:

Yes, I'm pretty excited to have a dishwasher back! Even though Madisyn really loved washing the dishes. AND... it runs at 54 dBA (not to mention, it's pretty cute for a white dishwasher).

2010-01-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I have to apologize to those who like pictures and want to see updates of the kids and our lives... our camera seems to have stopped re-charging :( Alas, I am still enjoying my January budget challenge :)

Target
2 Liter Soda (2) ~ reg ??? (I'm going to guess 1.25, although it may be more), sale 0.79 = 1.58 + 0.20 dep

01/17/2010 Sunday paper (2) ~ 4.00

01/24/2010 Sunday paper (2) ~ 4.00

Meijer (during Super Saturday Sale)
Liners (2) ~ reg 1.09 - $1.50/2 = 0.68
(produced $3 catalina)
All Detergent (3) ~ reg 5.49, sale 3.00 - 3*$2/1 MQ = 3.00

Liners (2) ~ reg 1.09 - $1.50/2 = 0.68
(produced $3 catalina)
Pull-ups ~ reg 9.36, sale 7.99 - $2/1 MQ = 5.99
Paper Towels ~ reg 3.99, sale 1.99 = 1.99

Liners (2) ~ reg 1.09 = 2.18
(produced $3 catalina)
Bananas ~ reg 0.49 / lb. = 1.25
Ketchup ~ reg 0.77 = 0.77
1/2 Gallon Chocolate Milk ~ reg 1.79 - $1.79/1 WYB two milk = free
Milk (2) ~ reg 2.29 = 4.58
Idaho Instant Potatoes (3) ~ reg 1.18, sale 0.99 - 3*$0.40/1 = 1.77
Hunts Tomato Sauce (4) ~ reg 0.79, sale 0.50 - $1/4 SQ - $1/3 MQ = free
Frozen Broccoli (3) ~ reg 1.29, sale 1.00 - $1/3 MQ = 2.00

Meijer cheese (2) ~ reg 2.24, sale 1.50 = 3.00
Soda ~ reg 4.28, sale 2.29 = 2.29 + 0.60 dep
Frozen Broccoli (3) ~ reg 1.29, sale 1.00 - $1/3 MQ = 2.00

Tax: 1.35
Total: 34.13 - 2.50 catalina - 3*3.00 catalina = 22.63 (saved 47.27)

TOTAL this week: 1.78 + 8.00 + 22.63 = 32.41 (saved 48.19)

January total: 32.27 + 45.76 + 65.57 + 2.89 + 32.41 = 178.90 ($21.10 left for the month), saved 504.66

Luckily I'm still holding onto a $10 Family Fare gift card and some cans that can be returned, if needed :) I'm going to try not to use either one, just for the fun of it... but we'll see :)

I love free food (even if I end up giving it to friends!)

2010-01-16T20:20:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist going back to the grocery store twice since my last trip... just because everything was free, except for some milk for next week. Total OOP = $2.89 and holding onto a $2.50 catalina for next week.

Transaction 1:
Breakstone Cottage Cheese Doubles (5) ~ reg 1.00 = 5.00
Chex Mix (8) ~ reg 2.29, sale 0.97 - 4*$1/2 MQ - 4*$1/2 SQ = -0.24
Chex Mix (4) ~ reg 2.29, sale 0.97 - 4*$0.50/1 MQ - 2*$1/2 SQ = -0.12
BC Gushers (2) ~ reg 2.79, sale 1.75 - $1/1 instantly WYB 4 BC - $0.50/2 MQ = 1.00
BC Fruit By the Foot (2) ~ reg 2.59, sale 1.75 - $1/1 instantly WYB 4 BC - $0.50/2 MQ = 1.00

Total : 6.64 - 2.00 catalina - 3.00 catalina = 1.64
*Got a $5.00 catalina from the Breakstone
*Got a $2.50 catalina from the Gushers/FBTF

Transaction 2:
Clearanced Bananas ~ reg 0.94, sale 0.65 = 0.65
Breakstone Cottage Cheese Doubles (5) ~ reg 1.00 = 5.00
Toaster Strudel (2) ~ reg 2.69, sale 1.99 - 2*$1/1 MQ - $1/2 SQ = 0.98
BC Frosting (1) ~ reg 2.19, sale 1.00 = 1.00 (even though I prefer my buttercream from scratch, I can't resist making money on buying frosting!)
BC Frosting (2) ~ reg 2.19, sale 1.00 - $1/2 MQ = 1.00

Total : 8.63 - 5.00 catalina - 2.50 catalina = 1.13
*Got a $2.00 catalina from the BC Frosting
*Got a $5.00 catalina from the Breakstone

Transaction 3:
Dole Bag Lettuce (2) ~ reg 1.99, sale 1.00 - 2*$1/1 SQ = free
BC Gushers (4) ~ reg 2.79, sale 1.75 - $1/1 instantly WYB 4 BC - 2*$1/2 MQ = 1.00
BC Frosting (3) ~ reg 2.19, sale 1.00 - $0.50/1 MQ = 2.50

Total : 3.50 - 2.00 catalina = 1.50
*Got a $2.50 catalina from the Gushers
*Got a $2.00 catalina from the BC Frosting

Transaction 4:
Breakstone Cottage Cheese Doubles (5) ~ reg 1.00 = 5.00
Johnson's Buddy Bar (4) ~ reg 1.06 - 4*$1/1 MQ = 0.24
BC Fruit By the Foot (4) ~ reg 2.59, sale 1.75 - $1/1 instantly WYB 4 BC - 2*$0.50/2 MQ = 2.00
Toaster Strudel (4) ~ reg 2.69, sale 1.99 - 4*$1/1 MQ - 2*$1/2 SQ = 1.96

Tax : 0.25
Total : 9.45 - 5.00 catalina - 2.00 catalina - 2.50 catalina = -0.05
*Got a $2.50 catalina from the FBTF
*Got a $5.00 catalina from the Breakstone

Transaction 5:
Chocolate Milk ~ reg 1.79 - 1.79/1 WYB two milk = free
Milk (2) ~ reg 2.29 = 4.58
BC Fruit By the Foot (4) ~ reg 2.59, sale 1.75 - $1/1 instantly WYB 4 BC - 2*$0.50/2 MQ = 2.00

Total : 6.58 - 2.50 catalina - 5.00 catalina = -1.33
*Got a $2.50 catalina from the FBTF

TOTAL spent this weekend : 1.64 + 1.13 + 1.50 - 0.05 - 1.33 = 2.89 (saved 127.04)

January total: 32.27 + 45.76 + 65.57 + 2.89 = 146.49 ($53.51 left for the month), saved 456.47
Currently holding onto a $2.50 catalina for next week and $10 gift card for Family Fare

Grocery Trip 01/11 (and this past weekend)

2010-01-11T16:46:00.004-05:00

For those of you interested in where I got the coupons, I generally buy two of every Sunday paper, I get leftover coupons from my mom and mom-in-law, I print many from online and I get Meijer store coupons (SQ) from meijermealbox.com. Here are two links to blogs in West Michigan, which give match-ups and links to the Internet printable coupons (IP).
Glimpse of Sonshine
Sarah's Deals

Target (last week)
Dr. Pepper (10) ~ reg ??? (I'm going to guess 1.25, although it may be more), sale $0.79 - $0.25/1 MQ = 5.40 + 1.00 dep
Target Flushable Wipes (3) ~ reg 0.97 - $0.75/1 MQ = 0.66
Tax = 0.17
Total = 7.23 (saved 9.35)

Walmart (last week)
(I'm actually not sure that these weren't sale prices, but I don't know the regular prices if they were on sale, so I'll just treat them as regular prices)
Printer paper ~ reg 3.00 = 3.00
Bar soap ~ reg 1.07 - 1/1 MQ = 0.07
Finish ~ reg 3.49 - 2.50 / 1 MQ = 0.99
Dental Floss (2) ~ reg 0.97 - 2*$1/1 MQ = free
Tax = 0.57
Total = 4.63 (saved 5.44)

01/10/2010 Sunday paper (2) ~ 4.00

Staples
Printer ink ~ $13.49 - $3.00 Staples rewards = 10.49
Tax = 0.63
Total = 11.12 (saved 3.00)

Meijer
*Note that I did separate transactions for the FiberOne products as well as the Wishbone, Skippy & Bertolli deal.
Milk ~ reg 2.29 = 2.29
Dole Salad (3) ~ reg 1.99, sale 1.00 - 3*$1/1 SQ = free
Wishbone dressing (8) ~ reg 2.99, sale 1.39 - 4*$1/2 SQ = 7.12
($10 in Wishbone, Skippy & Bertolli produced $3 OYNO catalina)
BC Helper (2) ~ reg 2.49, sale 1.00 -2*$1/2 MQ = 1.00
BC Helper (6) ~ reg 2.49, sale 1.00 - 2*$1/3 MQ = 4.00
Hunts Ketchup ~ reg 1.39, sale 1.00 = 1.00
Knorr pasta sides (4) ~ reg 1.69, sale 1.00 - 1.00 free item (10 for 10, 11th free sale) = 3.00
Skippy Natural Peanut Butter (4) ~ reg 2.99, sale 1.69 - 2*$1/2 SQ = 4.76
Bertolli Pasta Sauce (2) ~ reg 3.39, sale 2.00 - $1/2 SQ - 2*$0.60/1 MQ = 1.80
($10 in Wishbone, Skippy & Bertolli produced $3 OYNO catalina)
FiberOne Granola Bars (4) ~ reg 3.29, sale 2.50 - 2*$1/2 SQ - 2*$1/2 MQ = 6.00 - $2.00 WYB 4 Fiber One products = 4.00
FiberOne Toaster Pastries (2) ~ reg 2.29, sale 1.75 - $1/2 SQ = 2.50
FiberOne Toaster Pastries (2) ~ reg 2.29, sale 1.71 - $1/2 SQ = 2.42 - $2.00 WYB 4 FiberOne products (including above) = 0.42
Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt (12) ~ reg 0.67, sale 0.40 - 3*$1/4 SQ - 2*$0.60/6 = 0.60
Betty Crocker Frosting (3) ~ reg 2.19, sale 1.00 - 3*$0.50/1 MQ = 1.50
(Betty Crocker Frosting produced $2 OYNO catalina)
Lance Snack Crackers (4) ~ reg 2.89, sale 1.00 - 4*$1/1 MQ = free
Green Chilies (2) ~ reg 1.29, sale 0.89 = 1.78
Green Giant Frozen Veg (3) ~ reg 1.56, sale 1.00 - $1/3 - 1.00 free item (10 for 10, 11th free sale) = 1.00
Chex Mix (6) ~ reg 2.29, sale 0.97 - 3*$1/2 SQ = 2.82
Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta (4) ~ reg 1.69, sale 1.00 - 2*$1/2 MQ = 2.00
Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta (4) ~ 3 @ reg 1.79, 1 @ reg 1.69, sale 1.00 - 2*$1/2 MQ = 2.00

*something that I'm unsure of also produced a $2 OYNO catalina

Meijer TOTAL: 43.59 - 3.00 cat - 2.00 cat = 38.59 (saved 123.71)
(and still holding onto $5 in catalinas for next week)

TOTAL spent this week: 7.23 + 4.63 + 4.00 + 11.12 + 38.59 = 65.57 (saved 141.50)

January total: 32.27 + 45.76 + 65.57 = 143.60 (Only $56.40 left for the month if I want to make my crazy goal :) Well, see, but I still think I can still do it! I may have to use a $10 gift card to Family Fare that I've been holding onto... thanks Mitch!)

I took a picture of my Meijer trip, but will have to wait to post it once I get my camera to charge.

Letter (via internet) to Daddy

2010-01-07T01:39:00.004-05:00

"Hey Daddy,
It's Madisyn. I hope you're back soon. I very love you, I hope you're having fun."

Grocery Trip 01/05

2010-01-06T15:00:00.002-05:00

Meijer Trip
Finish Gel Tabs (2) ~ reg 4.99, sale 3.49 - 2*$2.50/1 MQ = 1.98
Cottonelle toilet paper (3) ~ reg 4.49, sale 2.79 - 3*$0.50/1 MQ = 6.87
*edit: I just realized that I forgot the toilet paper in the picture! Goes to show that I had actually already put away some of these items (and eaten a Lean Cuisine) when I got the novel idea to haul them all back out for a picture :)

Bananas ~ reg 0.49/lb. = 1.78
Milk (2) ~ reg 2.29, sale 2.00 = 4.00
Cinnamon Toast Crunch (2) ~ reg 2.75 - 2*$1/1 MQ - 2*$1/1 (Meijer deal WYB 4) = 1.50
Lucky Charms (2) ~ reg 2.75 - 2*$1/1 MQ - 2*$1/1 (Meijer deal WYB 4) = 1.50
Apple Jacks with added Fiber ~ reg 2.75, clearance 1.37 = 1.37
Campbell's tomato soup (2) ~ reg 0.68, sale 0.59 - $0.50/2 MQ = 0.68
Spaghetti O's (12) ~ reg 1.09, sale 0.50 - 3*$1/4 SQ = 3.00
Barilla Wheat Pasta (8) ~ reg 1.29, sale 0.89 - 2*$1/4 SQ = 5.12
Faygo Soda (2) ~ reg 1.09, sale 0.98 = 1.96 +0.20 dep
Coffee-Mate Creamer, pint size (2) ~ reg 1.69, sale 0.99 - 2*$1/1 MQ = Free
Coffee-Mate Creamer, pint size (2) ~ reg 1.69, sale 0.99 - $1.50/2 MQ = 0.48
Coffee-Mate Creamer, quart size non-dairy (2) ~ reg 2.39, sale 0.99 - 2*$0.50/1 MQ = 0.98
Lean Cuisine (2) ~ reg 2.54, sale 1.49 - $1/2 MQ = 1.98
V8 Fusion (4) ~ reg 3.49, sale 2.49 - 2*$1/2 SQ - 4*$1 MQ = 3.96
Tyson Frozen Chicken (2) (yes, I let the kids eat dinosaur chicken nuggets... occasionally :) ) ~ reg 5.99, sale 3.99 - $2/2 MQ = 5.98
Canned Green Beans (4) ~ reg 0.66, clearance 0.33 = 1.32
Bottle refund = -11.70

Target Trip
Special K Granola Bars (8) ~ reg 2.79, sale 2.39 - 8*$1/1 SQ - 4*$1/2 MQ = 7.12
Special K Crackers (4) ~ reg 2.79, sale 2.39 - 4*$1/1 SQ - 2*$1/2 MQ = 3.56
Candy Canes ~ reg 2.49, sale 0.24 = 0.24
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (4) ~ reg 3.99, sale 0.39 = 1.56
Credit for two reusable bags = -0.10

TOTAL = 8.85 + 35.81 + 0.92 (tax) - 11.70 + 12.38 = $45.76 (saved $110.79 plus bottle refund)

Grocery Trip 01/02

2010-01-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

This will have fewer details than going forward, seeing as it was last week sales, and who really cares about what I bought last week :)

Deoterant ~ regular 5.29 = 5.29
Deoterant ~ regular 2.59, sale 1.99 - $2/1 MQ = Free
Shampoo (3) ~ regular 3.19, sale 0.99 = 2.97
Conditioner (3) ~ regular 3.19, sale 0.99 = 2.97
Christmas plates ~ regular 2.09, sale 0.52 = 0.52
Christmas plates (3) ~ regular 2.09, sale 0.52 - 3*$0.50/1 MQ = 0.06

Pasta ~ reg 1.69 - $1/1 MQ = 0.69
Healthy Choice Meals (15) ~ reg 2.99, sale 1.99 - $1/5 SQ - $5/5 MQ = 11.85
Yogurt (24) ~ reg 6/$4.00, sale 10/4.00 - $1/4 SQ - $1/6 MQ = Free
Bagel Bites (3) ~ reg 2.19, sale 2.00 - $1/1 MQ = 3.00

01/03/2010 Sunday Paper (2) ~ $4.00

TOTAL = 11.81 + 15.54 + 4.00 + 0.92 (tax) = $32.27 (saved $77.14)

Quite possibly the best Santa picture ever...

2010-01-05T23:11:00.007-05:00

But I'm certainly not biased at all :)

I do have to say that regardless of the exorbitant amount of money that we spent for two small pictures, Santa really did look like the real deal and we got both kids smiling (although a bit cheesy)... can't get much better than that!

And along with the Christmas theme, these are the pictures from the cookies that we made for Santa and his reindeer.

And the obsession begins...

2010-01-05T00:05:00.005-05:00

As a few of you may know, I have become completely obsessed with deal shopping and coupons! Once I saw what other people were doing, in terms of getting things free or making money on them, I knew I had to give it a valiant effort. Needless to say, I am now officially obsessed! It's like my new job (you know, outside of playing with the kids, making food for the family, washing clothes, cleaning the house, running back and forth from school, etc...). To be quite honest, I don't think I'll ever go back, it's so much fun! Being math minded, and all, doesn't hurt :)

That being said, I have officially decided to attempt to keep our grocery budget to $200 in the month of January (and maybe going forward!). I don't know why... seeing that $320 / month was lofty the past few months, but I guess I just know that I can make it happen (one way or another). I may as well add that at one point while I was working, it was typical for me to spend $200 / week in groceries!!! And I was still shopping the sales! Although I do have to say that it helps that LD is out of diapers, except for napping and long outings (Whoo hoo! That really deserves it own post!).

So, for you few readers, I wanted to share what my guidelines are and hopefully I'll have successful stories to share as well!

To be included in "grocery"
* Food
* Toiletries (all H & B, paper products & diapers)
* Sunday news papers (which I buy for coupons)
* Ink & paper for our printer (which I buy to print coupons)

I'm going to try to post my Meijer (I almost ONLY shop at Meijer for groceries... I just don't seem to have the time to organize more than that) trips early in the week in the event that any of you want to get some of the great deals that I find! Tomorrow I'll post my last week trip (which was on January 2), which won't do you much good for this week, but hopefully on Wednesday I'll have time to post my this week trip (provided that I get to go tomorrow night). But to be completely honest, I won't at all be offended if you decide not to read these posts, they're just as much for accountability purposes as they are for your reading enjoyment.

One caveat: when I receive rebate checks in the mail, I will add it to my monthly grocery amount, seeing that it was originally from the grocery budget :)

By the way, if you want to know where I get many of my coupon match-ups, Sarah's Deals does a great job for Meijer in West Michigan (I also follow lots of forums and other blogs). She has a similar budget goal of $30 / week on food only that she reports on weekly.

To fund our Christmas...

2009-12-23T09:10:00.003-05:00

Landon has decided to be potty trained!!! I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about not buying or changing diapers during the day! Surpsingly, the majority of the time he's even been staying dry at naps and bedtime! I know boys can be especially difficult to potty train, therefore, I am SO grateful that we got lucky.

And here are some of the great pictures that our friend, baby-sitter and nanny (when I was working) Abbie took...

Stitches, round III

2009-12-10T11:55:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, Madisyn has had two sets of stitches in her forehead (two sutures each). To summarize:

1st incident: Madisyn fell into the corner (not edge, which would have likely not left much of a mark) of a drawer in our closet. I frantically called Rob and told him that he had to get home immediately because Madisyn was bleeding everywhere... no more explanation than that (I know better now :) )!

2nd incident: While shopping with my mom, sister and brother, Madisyn walked into a clothing rack and fell, somehow cutting her forehead again! I ran out of the store with her in my arms, and called Rob balling since she had just gotten the other stitches out! Off to Zeeland ER we were again!

By the way, I got her eyes checked following the sets of stitches, but alas, she has good eye sight...

Which brings us to Black Friday. No, I didn't make Madisyn wait in any lines or run through the shopping craziness. BUT... I did promise her that we could put up Christmas lights and decorations that day. After Ra and I did some early morning shopping, we took a nap in Madisyn's bunks, when all of a sudden I awake from a HUGE thunk (followed by screaming)! Come to find out, Rob was following through with our promise to put up the Christmas lights outside and Madisyn was rushing to help him out. She needed to use the restroom. With all of the excitement, she was running to the bathroom, pulled her pants down before she reached it, and you guessed it... tripped right into the door frame, this time cutting through her eye brow. Five sutures later, she is all in well :)

Maybe it's one of those growing things (she's got some HUGE feet ;) ), clumsiness, or maybe just one of those kid things... who knows! But I sure hope that we won't be making anymore trips to the ER anytime soon!

I think it healed rather well!

Breakfast with Belle

2009-12-01T11:00:00.001-05:00

Madisyn was in heaven when I told her that we could go to "Breakfast with Belle" at Unity High School! Cousins Joshua and Levi were staying with us for the weekend, so I brought Madisyn and Joshua while Rob took LD and Levi to the park. PLUS... they assigned us tables and one of Madisyn's best friends at school was at our table!

Since I'm so far behind posting, I'll post Madisyn's stitches story and pictures soon!

Quite the weekend...

2009-11-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Rob and I were fortunate enough to go away for a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Although I don't tend to care for the amount of traveling that Rob is required to do, it is nice when we can benefit from his frequent flier miles, hotel points and car rental rewards! We essentially went on our anniversary weekend for free... corner room, executive suite all included :)

As for what we spent while we were there, well, that was another story! I have no idea how we got so lucky, but we found so many clothes for Rob! Generally, we need to buy all of his clothes online... but while we were there, we found options for jeans in both 36" inseam and 38" inseam (I've never actually seen 38" before)! Needless to say, we bought one of each :)

While we were gone, the kids stayed at Uncle Dave and Aunt Kate's house (and cousins, Joshua and Levi). From the looks and sounds of it, they had a wonderful time!

Following the stay at their cousins' house, my parents watched them at our house. My dad was kind enough to be willing to stay with them on Monday until we returned late that night. At the last minute, my mom decided to stay the night as well... and good thing that she did! In the middle of the night my dad began having severe stomach pains. Long story short, they called an ambulance and he was brought to Spectrum for numerous tests. He said that he hasn't been in that much pain since he had Pancreatitis and was hospitalized for five days! The good news is that he hasn't been in severe pain like that since that day, the bad news is that they couldn't find the problem. We're praying that it was a one-off and won't happen again!

Needless to say, here are the pictures of the kiddos from the weekend (thanks Dave and Kate!):

Post Family Farm

2009-10-30T14:49:00.003-04:00

We barely got our Post Family Farm trip in this year... Tuesday night (when it was beautiful out) we finally made it! I wish we could have been there longer, but the kids had a great time, regardless.

Pictures for the family

2009-10-22T21:57:00.003-04:00

I've been so terrible at taking pictures of the kids lately, so here are a few pictures of the kids on M's second day of school.

We've been a little busier than normal as Rob has been out of town every other week for just over a month. Luckily he'll be home tomorrow and will be for at least eight weeks straight :D

Gift of Sight Contest

2009-10-09T10:03:00.003-04:00

As most of you know, my mom recently encouraged me to enter a contest through Grand Rapids Ophthalmology to win LASIK eye surgery. Although I know the chances are slim that I'll win (or even become a finalist, .235% and 2.35%, respectively), I figured it couldn't hurt to try.

The general public selects the ten finalists via online vote and Grand Rapids Ophthalmology chooses the winner from there. That's where all of my family, friends, distant relatives... you, come in :) I'd love to at least make it to the top ten (FYI - I guess the top ten will be in the GR Press on October 25) to have a little chance of winning.

If you're interested in voting, please go HERE, click "VOTE NOW" next to any name, fill out the information (they use this to prevent multiple votes/person) and pick my name in the drop down menu (in alphabetical order by last name).

Here's my story if you'd like to read it, but don't want to page through to find it:

Twenty years ago, I began wearing glasses. A few years later I was encouraged to try contacts due to my active involvement in sports. I primarily wore contacts for a decade before starting to have pain while wearing them. My eye doctor suggested switching solutions which helped with some of the pain but my eyes would still become irritated after a few hours of wear. I have since switched contact brands, length of wear and solutions numerous times, but have not found a combination that works on a regular basis.

Although I prefer the convenience and appearance of contacts I rarely use my daily disposable contacts. I reserve wearing my contacts for running and special occasions as I can only wear them for a few hours before they begin to feel uncomfortable. For the past year I had planned on looking into LASIK as the answer to my contact issue. Financially that idea was put on hold four months ago when I decided to leave my career and become a full-time stay-at-home mom with my two children, ages two and four. As a mother and distance runner, I would love the opportunity to be given the gift of LASIK and no longer deal with the inconvenience of glasses or irritation of contacts. Thank you for your consideration!

Sometimes, I just love taking pictures...

2009-10-05T23:10:00.003-04:00

Seeing that Madisyn is now in school and I am now home, sometimes they just all end up being of little LD... I seem to think that he doesn't mind.

At Bill's House

2009-10-01T15:12:00.005-04:00

Last week, the kids went with Papa and Grandma Grandia to Bill Steffen's house (Chief Meteorologist at WoodTV 8). He goes to Blythefield Hills Baptist Church, where I attended in high school and my mom still goes (my dad too, when he's not pastoring another church for Specialized Interim Ministry). Bill's involved in the nursery there and is great with kids! The kids had no idea who he is, but enjoyed getting their picture taken with him, none-the-less!

Dave concert

2009-09-28T09:22:00.004-04:00

For six months now, we've been planning this trip with Brad and Katie. It was perfect! We headed to Chicago on Saturday at 1:00, checked into the hotel, made a stop at IKEA (Rob and my first... we made it out with only purchasing a pack of disposable straws!), ate dinner at BW3's and headed to the concert. Sunday we went to Cabela's (my first experience there) and headed home. It was honestly very nice to get away for a night and relax, especially after being home a lot last week while Rob was in Utah and Wyoming. Brad and Katie, thanks for a fantastic weekend!

Holland - 19th Best Place to Retire by CNNMoney.com!

2009-09-23T23:54:00.003-04:00

I've always liked Holland, but this is crazy! Check it out here!

First day of school

2009-09-18T10:00:00.004-04:00

I feel like a whole new world has started for us. Madisyn has been waiting for school to start ever since she left her old "school," a.k.a. daycare. She absolutely loves it! Not only do I love that she's enjoying it so much, but I love that I get a few hours every week to have one-on-one time with LD. He is such an angel when he gets time alone with Rob or I (which is not necessarily his typical demeanor) :) Yet, it's so hard to believe that our little baby is old enough for real school!

Pssshhhhtt

2009-08-17T14:25:00.007-04:00

You may need to see it, to understand it, but this is very "Madisyn" right now!

On a side note, I'm finally learning how to use my camera a little more (we've only had it for 4.5 years ;) ) and was excited to see this picture (unedited) among my shots the other day. I guess everyone can get lucky once in a while!

Tiece of Cake

2009-08-15T22:40:00.001-04:00

For those of you who haven't noticed the sidebar, I thought I'd let you know that I made a blog specifically dedicated to my cakes. My sister-in-law came up with the name, which I love because it's creative and original! I've enjoyed sharing my creations with everyone, but I don't want it to continue to consume this blog with our family updates :) Thanks everyone for being so supportive and encouraging! There's contact info on the blog and prices will be available soon!

Loving life

2009-08-12T13:32:00.003-04:00

That is about all I can say about this past month of being home with the kids!

As for our summer, we're as busy as ever (as you can see!). Madisyn amazes me... I put her on her bike without training wheels this past May and after a couple of days she got it. Now she's finally able to turn, start and stop and is loving her new found glory :) LD is loving the fact that I'm not trying to keep him from being his crazy wild self anymore. His tongue is pretty much fully healed, which is just incredible. We've been spending lots of time outside (not getting the house cleaned and organized as I had originally thought would happen when I stopped working, but there's always winter for that ;) ).

Amazing

2009-07-26T14:20:00.003-04:00

I can't believe that it's only been eight days and his tongue already looks this much better! Last Sunday and Monday (when it looked its worse), I didn't think that there was any way that it was going to heal the way they thought it would.

Update on LD

2009-07-21T01:32:00.002-04:00

Sunday I called Urgent Care to see if he should be seen again (as the section that he bit was now a flap of tongue, which looked worse than Saturday night when it was swollen and bloody). The receptionist from Urgent Care who filters the calls, sent the call to the nurse, who filters again (at least that's my understanding), who then sent the call to the on-call doctor. The on-call doctor then discussed the situation and wasn't entirely sure that he shouldn't be seen, so called the Spectrum Pediatric ER doctor and the doctor that we had seen. Conclusion: he's okay without sutures, without being seen again unless an infection (redness, pain and/or pus) develops, which is VERY unlikely in the mouth.

Today: wakes up crying (in pain) and his tongue has a lot of pus. Before this, he hadn't seemed to be in any pain (remarkably). I decide to call the doctor's office to see if he should be seen. After the nurse decides that he should be seen, we bring him in and the doctor tells us that the white pus is normal and he'll actually have more of it during the healing process. He also said that an oral antibiotic isn't necessary and that we should have a follow-up visit in two weeks because it's likely that he'll need to go to an Ears, Nose and Throat Specialist to have excess tissue removed after the healing process is complete.

Long story short, I'm glad I brought him in (even though throughout the ER and pediatric visits, nothing was actually done), simply because I didn't realize that he may need to see an ENT Specialist in a couple of weeks. It was also nice to get a peace of mind that what we were seeing was normal and not something to be concerned about.

The pictures that I took today are even more graphic than the ones taken on Saturday, so I won't put any of you through that... I just pray that no one else has to go through it!

NOT for the faint at heart

2009-07-18T22:39:00.005-04:00

Early in the evening (Rated : G)

After ER visit (Rated : PG)

Close-up of tongue, be prepared that it's not pretty (Rated : PG - 13)

Long story short: Landon missed the first of two cement steps in front of our porch and hit face first. Blood was everywhere. He bit his tongue, got a gash on the inside of his lower lip and a little road rash on his chin (I have yet to figure out how the tongue and gash could happen in one incident). I ran him to Zeeland ER and was fortunate to have our brother-in-law's sister working in the ER and Rob's sister working in OB, but available to join us. No stitches were "needed" since they'd need to sedate him and they said the results would be virtually the same. Needless to say, he's alive and well (talking and eating too!). Hopefully it heals as well as they hope.

The first fish!

2009-07-18T00:38:00.004-04:00

... caught with raw hot dogs! She'll squish spiders with her bare hands, but I'm not sure what she thought of this fish :)

(here's that haircut picture promised long ago... check out the bangs!)

SO sorry...

2009-07-13T19:42:00.003-04:00

I have been so delinquent! Here's a brief synopsis of our life:

* My last day of work was July 2... yeah!
* We've been away at the cottage (July 2 - July 5 and July 10 - 12), so nice!
* I didn't have a computer, but am appreciative of the time without to adjust from my comfort zone of being in front of one all day (and therefore the temptation of being distracted)
* LD decided to all of a sudden be potty trained (with some encouragement, of course ;) )... double yeah!
* We got a fantastic deal on a computer and hope to possibly be connected by tomorrow (hopefully updated pictures will follow later this week!)
* I've gotten BIG into couponing, and LOVE IT! Saving money gives me such a high!

Our Saving Grace

2009-06-24T00:05:00.005-04:00

Seriously, what would we do without water?!

Little tummy...

BIG tummy (oh, how I love that belly!)...

2009-06-21T08:56:00.005-04:00

"Mommy, if I'm a mommy when I grow up and your a grandma, then you'll be a grandma." (yes, although redundant, true)

"What will daddy be?"

"Ummm..."
(long pause)

"Tall and goofy."

To which Rob replied, "No different than now."

I must be crazy

2009-06-14T23:46:00.003-04:00

To try this...

And of course, also do this cake in the same weekend :)

Baby brother graduated!

2009-06-09T10:06:00.008-04:00

CONGRATS EL!

On several levels, it's hard to believe that you graduated from high school this year. On one hand, you're my baby brother... and there's no way that you're turning 18 this month or heading to MSU next year. On the other hand, I feel so young to have a sibling 'just' graduating from high school! Thanks for keeping me young ;)

The evidence:

El and Ra

Mom and El

El, Ra & Josiah

Ra, El and us

El and I

Oh, and of course, he got a special cake made by his two big sisters :)

(I don't yet have a picture of the "final" product with a green State pennant coming out of the top or the cupcake trees with 105 cupcakes, but you get the idea...)

All my marbles in one bag

2009-06-04T00:14:00.004-04:00

Or two or three, depending on how you look at it :) Some of you know, many of you do not, that I have decided to officially be a SAHM, Household Manager (a coworker put it) or CEO of the Dykema Corporation (another coworker put it)... However you see it, I will no longer be spending my days working for Deloitte Consulting.

To not bog you down with the details, here's a brief synopsis of our decision making process:

* March - Went part-time hoping for the perfect work-life balance
* April/early May - feeling extraordinarily overwhelmed with my numerous responsibilities
* May 14 - stressed beyond belief, Rob and I talked to the wee hours in the morning and decided that it was the time to end my career (or better put, I finally broke down and he got a glimpse of all the stresses I had put upon myself)
* May 15 - I informed my boss, difficult... to say the least

Since then, I can't begin to tell you how this decision has already blessed me and our family! I feel like this enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am finally able to be the wife and mother that I've only imagined I could be (I've even started cooking... and love it!!!). As I've been so guilty of my whole life, I was doing more than I could handle, physically and emotionally! I've never been one to be satisfied with mediocrity, therefore, when I felt like I was doing a poor job at work, being a mom, being a wife and taking care of our house, something had to give.

I still can't mentally comprehend what my days are going to hold, what our life is going to be like, what benefits and challenges that it will pose. None-the-less, I am incredibly overjoyed and have an amazing sense of peace that this is where God wants us at this point in our lives.

My official last day of work will be July 2... Bring on the playdates (and advice on how to be a SAHM!) :)

Dutch much?

2009-05-31T22:39:00.004-04:00

Is the boy on the right not one of the cutest nephews one could ever have?!

(GR press link)

The homeless and the innocent

2009-05-26T23:25:00.005-04:00

I explained to Madisyn the other day that some people aren't as blessed as we are. They don't have food or beds and some even live on the street because they don't have houses.
The next day while driving to school, Madisyn told me, "Mommy, watch out for the people laying in the road."

I then clarified to her that they don't actually live on the street. I should have known...

(On a side note: Oh, how I miss that hair! I promise to post hair catastrophe pictures later this week.)

61 hours awake, 6 hours asleep

2009-05-21T21:54:00.005-04:00

And this is what consumed my awake time...

This was Jeff and Deena's wedding cake (in process) that accompanied their 250+ brownies. I wish I had a picture of their actual brownies, but the picture above is the picture of their samples, and we did the center one (j * d / V) in powdered sugar and cocoa on vanilla buttercream.

This was Brad and Katie's cake, chocolate fondant with turquoise decorations. This was the first wedding cake that I was ever asked to make!!! (and I even got to cut and serve it at the reception!)

Look familiar?

2009-05-19T07:49:00.004-04:00

He can't get enough!

Obese?

2009-05-13T10:31:00.009-04:00

So I realize that I have been extraordinarily delinquent in posting. I apologize to the couple of you that look for updates. There really is a 'good' reason for the absence, but I'll post more on that at another time.

LD had his two-year check up last month. Pretty much everything went well, except I got a speech (a kind one from the nicest pediatrician I've ever met) regarding Landon's obesity. Strange? Yes, I thought so. Here's the synopsis:

- No juice
- Only fruits and vegetables for snack (I even asked about wheat saltines, but only foods that are not processed are preferred)
- Skim milk (now that he's two)

Apparently he was in the 90% for weight and 50% for height (our pediatrician rounds, which drives me crazy being math oriented). I thought this was strange as well (the percentiles, not the rounding). I have no doubt that he's chubby (as noted by his extremely adorable XW feet), but he seems tall and not overly obese to me. I mentioned to the doctor that his height measurement may have been off since he ran away from the wall when the nurse was measuring him. We then decided it would be best to remeasure, so that we are sure about where we stand. Upon remeasurement, we found out that the previous measurement was 1 1/4" short! That's a lot on a two-year old.

Needless to say, an internet calculator put him at 83% for weight and 74% for height... after all that, I'm not too concerned.

Here's the breakdown at 25 months (more for my benefit than yours ;) )
31 1/2 lbs.
35 3/4 in.

Oh... and as noted by the pictures, now that he is a 'big boy,' he gets to enjoy the privaledge of sleeping in a toddler bed until we get his big bed repainted. He absolutely loves it!

How'd I get so lucky...

2009-04-18T08:55:00.006-04:00

To have so many fantastic photographer friends? Mindy has offered to come over and take pictures of my cakes. Let me tell you, she is WAY better than I am (not that it's a surprise). Not to mention, we have the added bonus of being able to hang out more than normal :)

Thanks SO much Mindy!!!

Spider-Man cupcakes

Basketball cupcakes in MSU colors

10" diameter baseball cake and baseball cupcakes in Tigers colors

2 Year and 4 Year Pictures

2009-04-11T15:56:00.007-04:00

My girlfriend Melissa took the kids pictures last weekend and they turned out great, even though the kids weren't super cooperative :) Madisyn was very excited to get her pictures taken by "Jackson's Mommy," which is funny since she's only met Jackson once, when we got her two year pictures! He must have really left an impression!

Here are a few of my favorites (doesn't include Rob's list, which I'll have to post another time). Let me know which ones you like (comments are above the post in this new layout).

Thanks again, Melissa!!!

(check out her website)

A Whole New Look!

2009-04-05T19:11:00.005-04:00

Madisyn got her wish, she wanted her hair chopped (for fewer tangles). We waited until after the kids' four and two year pictures. I can't believe how cute she looks with short hair! LD looks a lot different too!

Oh my...

2009-04-01T16:52:00.001-04:00

Madisyn, while rolling a placemat.

"UGH!"

"The fondant didn't turn out the way I wanted it to."

(wonder where she got that from?!)

Katie and Baby Kane's Shower Cake

2009-03-29T15:44:00.008-04:00

This was a lot of fun! I had the invitation to work with (thanks Lauren!). Once I got the idea to add the animals, I couldn't back down :) The letters around the top block spell the baby's name, "Kane."

Thanks Lauren, Tracy and Katie for letting me do this!

PRAYERS NEEDED!

2009-03-27T10:34:00.003-04:00

Our friends Mark and Kate had their baby boys, Maxwell James (1 lb. 10 oz., 12 inches long) Wesley Mychael (1 lb. 9 oz., 11.75 inches long) last night. Kate was 24 weeks and 6 days along. Both boys are on ventilator systems, at different levels. They truly need God's strength to survive today, tomorrow and however many days God blesses them with. Please also pray for Mark and Kate. They need God's strength more now than ever to get through each day and uncertainty and challenges that it brings. I pray that they feel blessed for every moment they get with their young boys. I pray that if it is God's will, He will bless the boys with the strength they need to survive here on earth for years to come!

Landon Adrian

2009-03-24T12:35:00.006-04:00

Our precious little boy, you turned two yesterday. WOW! I can't begin to tell you the emotions we've been through during your course of life so far. I can clearly recall our stress and anxiety that we had for the first six months of your life. We just didn't want you to be in pain. As parents, we wanted to fix it, but just couldn't find a way!

And now? You're a crazy little, loving, entertaining two-year old! You make us laugh more than I thought any toddler could! I think you have your Uncle Elliot's goofball jeans ;) Although you can be very naughty, as soon as you're around babies (you call them all "Baby Levi" after your cousin) you are incredibly precious, gentle and calm! I actually asked Aunt Kate the other day if I could borrow Levi sometimes, since you're so well-behaved around him :)

We affectionately call you our "Sour Patch Kid." As you can disobey, hit and yell one moment and be affectionate, cuddly and loving the next. We can already tell that you are a very emotional little boy. When you get disciplined, it's not uncommon for you to cry for five to ten minutes following... not the, "Whiny, I'm upset cry," the "I can't regain my composure and calm myself down because you hurt my feelings," cry. Which inherently makes it very difficult for us to discipline you! So without further ado, I'll admit that you have both of us wrapped around your little finger, especially with those big blue eyes of yours!

You arrived so quickly, your face and body were blue for quite some time!

Meeting big sister

You looked like Daddy from the day you were born!

7 months

One year

18 months

Two years!

Please pray

2009-03-23T15:23:00.003-04:00

Our dear friends Mark (Rob's best man) and Kate are in the hospital (bouncing between the OB Special Care and Labor and Delivery floors) desperately trying to postpone the birth of their twin boys (currently 24 weeks and 2 days old). The doctors are having an increasingly difficult time stopping Kate's contractions and keeping Kate from having BP problems. They have been through so much in the past week, and I just pray that God continues to give them faith and embrace both of them as well as their baby boys.

The birthday craziness!

2009-03-22T10:43:00.007-04:00

Well, the party came and went. It was a bit insane, but the kids had TONS of fun! The house is a disaster, but I'm happy about it, means everyone had a great time! All of the kids seemed to love the cowboy boot sandwiches, sheriff badge and cowboy hat Jell-O jigglers, and sheriff badge, cowboy boot and cowboy hat ice cream sandwiches!

I apologize to those who were here for a bit of the chaos when it came to opening presents. It was a good lesson learned that we need to sit down with the kids and focus on one present at a time. I am sorry that the kids didn't get a chance to thank everyone individually (one of those after the fact moments).

Anyway... I was thoroughly impressed that the majority of guests showed up in cowboy/cowgirl gear! Of course I didn't get around to taking pictures of everyone, but it was VERY cute! Thanks everyone for coming! And a special thanks to my wonderful sister for helping Friday and Saturday with the cake and decorating the house (she thought of the lasso around the numbers... so cute)!

Here are a few pics of the craziness! (poor Madisyn had a fat lip :( )

Can you see Landon's interest in getting into the cake?! Moments after this, he dug into his #2 :)

I completely forgot to buy candles! These were the only ones (besides beer can candles) that I could find in the house!

Aunt Shell with the birthday cowgirl

Cousin Levi - look at those eyes and eye lashes!

Cowgirl Madisyn and Cowboy Landon

2009-03-11T01:02:00.004-04:00

It took a really long time to burn the edges, but I like the way they turned out!

AND... I was going to buy Madisyn some new cowboy boots online, but I found some that look like they'd never been worn at my friend's 'Think Spring' party, which included a garage sale (with a lot of different people selling). They were only $3!!! I couldn't believe they were her size and that they're actually cuter than anything I'd found online! I love a good deal!

Our BIG little girl!

2009-03-08T10:09:00.005-04:00

One day old

One year old

Two years old

Three years old

Four years old

Madisyn Grace, you are such a blessing to us! I still can't believe that you've blessed us with your presence for four whole years! It seems like days ago I was holding you for the first time and in awe of what God had entrusted us with. You continue to amaze us daily! You are such a wonderful daughter and big sister!!! We love you with all of our hearts!

Love, Daddy, Mommy & LD

Breaks My Heart

2009-03-05T21:26:00.001-05:00

Madisyn had a tea party at school last week Friday, where they get to dress up in their church outfits and practice their manners. The girls just love it!

I let Madisyn wear her fancy Christmas dress and did her hair up to look like a "princess." After the kids were off to school, I noticed that my note on my calendar said something about a "Teddy Bear Tea Party." OOPS! I completely forgot to send a teddy bear with her. I called Rob to confirm. He said that, "Yes, all of the other kids had a teddy bear, but that they also had... their pajamas on." OH NO! I forgot that it was a PJ and teddy bear tea party.

I quickly got PJ's and teddy bears together and drove to school. As soon as I arrived, Madisyn ran over to me and hugs my legs SO tight... and started crying! At that moment I felt so terrible. I realized that I had completely embarrassed her. The teachers even told me that for a while she wanted to be in Landon's room and that the director was going to go to the store to buy Madisyn some PJ's. Talk about just feeling awful!

I finally got her changed and apologized numerous times for making her feel embarrassed, gave lots of hugs and kisses and she was on her way back to playing. She reached for the door, turned around, looked at me, and asked, "Mommy, can I have one more hug."

I'm pretty confident that I won't make that mistake again!

Spring Cake

2009-02-28T12:33:00.005-05:00

An answer to prayer...

2009-02-26T22:48:00.003-05:00

I started working as an intern at Deloitte in the fall of 2003. Later that year I was offered a full-time position as an actuary. I was ecstatic! I took the job and continued to work there full-time until after my 15 week maternity leave with Madisyn, upon which I started working part-time (60%, three days per week). I continued working part-time until I was given the opportunity to take a new position (I felt I was much better suited for), which was offered full-time starting November 2007.

With mixed emotions, I took the position. I was thrilled, but a little concerned about going back to full-time. Until last fall, I think I was handling it fairly well... trying my hardest to balance work and family. Then it seemed like something hit me and made me realize how quickly our kids are growing up. Madisyn is going to be entering kindergarten next year (fall 2010) and I have hardly had any time home with Landon since I started working full-time when he was seven months old.

To make a very long story short, I have been given approval of going back to part-time (60% again) starting March 9th. I really am so grateful that things have worked out as well as they have and I feel like I can finally have a better work/life balance that I've been longing for!

Who needs a bed when you have a linen closet?

2009-02-21T09:35:00.003-05:00

Rob found her sleeping here today. I heard little footsteps after she went "down" to bed, but little did I know that she was making herself a bed in the linen closet :)

First real haircuts!

2009-02-12T17:54:00.009-05:00

Yesterday I was blessed with an unplanned day with the kids (our nanny had the flu). Since their pictures are coming up, I decided it would be best to get their hair trimmed by someone other than myself (for the first time ever for both of them!). Others suggested that I bring them to Snip-it’s since it’s for kids and would be worth the extra money. On our way we went… 25 minute drive there and the kids were really excited. I’ll try to make a long story short…

My words, "I want to leave all of the curls, so please just give him a little trim around the ears and in the back so it doesn’t look so shaggy."

Apparent interpretation, "Please cut off all of his curls, cut his bangs ridiculously short, and cut nothing in the back so that it looks like he has a mullet."

Did I mention that Landon was upset the entire time, the girl cutting his hair didn’t seem to care or be patient with him, instead insisted that she gets kids worse than this and rushed through his cut? I didn’t really have a chance to look at it until after his nap, and I nearly cried. I’m not the emotional type when it comes to these things, never saved the first locks took pictures of their first cut (by me). Now I have to move their picture date back, just hoping that his hair will grow out enough to look as cute as it did… and I know Madisyn’s won’t look nearly as nice by then.

Against all of my non-confrontational nature, I called to tell them that I had a poor (very underestimated) experience, I was nearly in tears again! She said she was sorry and offered for me to bring him back, but I politely declined and said that I’d rather not go back. Seriously, you can’t make his hair longer. I don’t know what I expected her to do, maybe refund my money? But she couldn’t refund my nearly hour long drive round-trip, the fact that I’m not going to have the kids two and four year pictures (or proofs) at their birthday party, which was the plan, or the fact that I wasted the kids first real haircut on an overpriced bad experience. Oh, and did I mention that the girl was asking Madisyn to tilt her head in directions that she didn’t really understand and she just kept asking her to do it?! Are you serious? You’re supposed to specialize in kids haircuts, don’t you think that you can cut it as long as she holds her head still? I know I can.

Kelli, I should have had you do it… why didn’t I think of that before?!

Melissa, thanks for rescheduling!

Thanks for reading my rant.

Before...

During...

After...

Before...

During... (notice that neither one really enjoyed the process)

Recent cakes

2009-02-08T11:08:00.005-05:00

I loved doing this cake, with all the bright colors, especially the orange!

Although the cake turned out, I wasn't real fond of how the cupcakes turned out :( (the 88 and 79 were for grandparents of Nolan who also had a birthday close to his)

Valentine's cupcakes (these were last minute, so they didn't get the detail I would have liked, but I still liked them)

Practice cake... I love the colors!

Like father, like daughter

2009-02-02T23:19:00.004-05:00

Madisyn was with me when I brought Landon to his room at church the other day and the teacher asked Madisyn, "What grade are you in?"

I looked at her and said, "She wants to know how old you are."

After Madisyn told her she was three, the woman said, "Wow, you're tall for a three year old!"

The picture says it all! (taken at her Christmas program with girls her age from school)

Can't argue

2009-01-31T09:09:00.004-05:00

Madisyn: "My favorite colors are green, purple, blue and yellow."

Mommy: "You can really only have one favorite."

Madisyn: "Well, God gave me all of those favorites."

How do you argue with that?!

It fell off (revised)

2009-01-23T23:28:00.011-05:00

Revised per my mother's request :)

Future Deloitte Consultant?

2009-01-23T04:10:00.005-05:00

For some reason I think she looks like such a little business woman in this picture!

It's been a long time since I've posted! That may be a slight indication of how busy we are right now :) I thought things would slow down after the holidays, but for some reason they seem busier... maybe it's because we're back into the swing of full weeks (and I had A LOT of time off in December).

Random updates:
- Rob's birthday was this week, so we had a fun night out last weekend with friends (and/or family... they're one in the same, since they're Rob's cousin's and significant others). Madisyn (and Landon) got him Mario Cart for the Wii.

- Madisyn and I are going to Disney on Ice at The VanAndel in February (shhh... she doesn't know yet) and I think I'm just as excited as she will be, because I know she's going to LOVE it!

- I've started planning the kids cowboy themed birthday party in March.

- We've been missing my sister dearly as she's been on a J-term in Florida sailing (rough, I know). Apparently she got closer to this alligator after the picture was taken.

- I've been going crazy buying cake stuff lately (and realized that the Hobby Lobby in Holland is much better than the one in Jenison).

- Last, but not least... Rob and my dad-in-law pretty much finished the basement office/extra bedroom/playroom last weekend! It's been usable for months now, but there was some final trim work to be finished. Only a little painting of trim and doors and it will be complete!

Bob's surprise party

2009-01-11T11:39:00.004-05:00

Last night we went to our friend (who is also our neighbor and Rob's boss) Bob's surprise birthday party at Uccello's. I didn't realize that the Standale Uccello's has a very nice non-smoking "banquet" room (with lots of large flat screens). Despite the crummy weather, lots of people came out to celebrate and it was lots of fun! I was able to make a cake for the party, which was lots of fun because A) Bob bleeds green and white and B) it was a fun challenge to make a cake for an adult male and not make it look "cute" or "pretty" :)

Madisyn being goofy

2009-01-06T15:20:00.004-05:00

READY?

SET?

GO!

And no, she did not get those crazy long arms and legs from her Momma :)

There's always a little love for LD