8 things...

ok, tiff, you challenged me to the '8 things' game. i would never turn down a good challenge so here you are. :)


*8 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO....

1. getting a pedicure. (some point this summer, possibly??)
2. catch up on my Bible reading.
3. mopping my kitchen floor. (since we're in the middle of re-doing the patio, mopping the floor, at this point, would be like shoveling the sidewalk Before the snow starts.) seriously, what's the point?
4. getting my dvd's, c.d's, office, junk drawer, etc.etc. etc......ORGANIZED!
5. weekends away with friends and Sun Lakes in july with family.
6. not having SOMETHING to do. (probably not in this lifetime, huh?)
7.my husband retiring.
8. meeting Jesus.

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY......

1. slept in. the first real summer i can do that. thankfully,the children can fin for themselves. last week,I even got lucky & got breakfast in bed. :) those boys are good to their mother.
2. drank 3 sugar-free Rockstars.
3. really, really missed my sister.
4. sat in kathys backyard & watched our children play for over an hour.
5. helped kath set up for a garage sale.
6. went out for dinner with my girlfriends.
7. laughed until i cried.
8. watched ZERO t.v.

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO...

1. run a mile and actually enjoy it.
2. be more disciplined.
3. have just ONE more day with my grandparents to ask them all the questions i wish i would have asked while they were still here.
4. NOT check my email everyday.
5. get caught up on laundry. wash, dry AND PUT IT AWAY!!
6. spend a week in the Bahamas with my sister. totally uninterrupted sister time.
7. road trip it around the USA with my family for 2 months, unlimited budget.
8. have warm feet.

8 SHOWS I WATCH...

1. House Hunters on HGTV. actually, most anything on HGTV.
2. Amazing Race.
3. American Idol.
4. Survivor.
ok, this is sad but that's about it. if it's not HGTV or reality tv, i don't watch it. i would rather read or surf on my computer.

there you have it.
i don't know how to 'tag' but come on people, join the fun...
do the 8!

my girls....

yea.
an excuse to celebrate with friends.
happy birthday to kath!
an impromptu get together at the Mexican restaurant is a great way to celebrate.
tammy,myself,wendi,lisa,kathy and becky spent a few hours catching up, talking about things that men would never understand (it's true, honey.:))and simply enjoying being together. i've said it before and i'll say it again....i have great friends. after dinner, we headed back to kathys for her homemade margaritas and some more 'gab' time. lisa and i ended up staying til after midnight. what a blast! thanks girls for a great night out and thanks, kathy for being born. :)

fire & axes....

yes.
those are axes.
hey, they need to learn at some point.
they thought they were 'ALL THAT' splitting their own wood.
first fire of the season.
why not?
just please, dear ones, don't lose a limb.

cousins.

our Washington cousins.
always laughing.
always up to something.
we love it that we have the privilege of growing up right near them. there are 12 grand kids in all. here are their ages.....

kayt. 18
jake.15
olivia.12
ben. 11
mady.11
bo 11
sam.10
bailee.9
max.9
jack.7
eli.6
zach.6

two sets of twins in there! yup, those were some CRAZY BABY-POPPING years. we love it that they are all so close in age. growing up together.
it's nights like this that i really miss our new jersey cousins.
we know that they will never live here but in our hearts, we wish they would.
we miss you guys!

all 7 of the kids hoofed it down to the fairgrounds to peak through the fence to watch a derby. (a mere 4 blocks away)they think it's SOOO cool with they visit the 'city cousins' b/c they get to explore neighborhoods they wouldn't normally. lucky kids. uncle rye/dad came, found them and brought them back home in the back of his pickup. they were giddy. :)
they even managed to take a dip in their SUPER cool pool.
oh, how we love our cousins.

let the 'fun' begin...

now onto a 'funner' project.
the house is painted and sam's room is cleaned. two BIG projects off the summer-to-do list. (if any of you have ever SEEN sam's room, you'd know where i'm coming from!)
the hole has been dug, the jungle gym has been moved. next,in comes the rocks to fill it before pavers get laid.
no turning back now.
i admit it.
i've been coveting a new patio since the day we looked at buying this house.
we were going to do it last year, even had a few people bid on doing the job and then, those DANG taxes were due! (oh, the joys of being 'self-employed'. ugh.) so, we put it off til this spring. wouldn't you know it, still no patio. God bless my husband. (NO CASH IN YOUR HAND..NO BUYING)! it's taken a few (12) years and a couple (hundred) fights over this but, really, as crazy as it can make me sometimes, i love him for that 'responsible' quality. it's a good thing i have him to balance me out. we'd SO be living out on the street if i were in charge of our fiances. here it is mid-june and WE'RE GETTING STARTED!(thanks to our genius (um..or not) president, our taxes didn't break us this year. so,we figured it would be nice if we could enjoy the patio yet this summer. we decided that we would attempt to do this project. (no, we weren't smokin' anything 'funny' we decided this) could we have bitten off more than we could chew?
knowing us, probably.
whatever.
we're dutch.

rye dug out the sod, then had one of his employees come and do some of the leveling and breaking out the old cement slab. tonight, rye will move the underground sprinklers, then tomorrow, hopefully we'll get gravel (or whatever you call that stuff!)in. we're hoping that by next week we can have the pavers here (they're being ordered) & we can get this party started.
anyone, anytime is welcome to help. we won't PAY you but you will get a day full of fun and possibly a cold drink.
come on, that's payment enough.

our big push is to get it done before our annual 4th of July party (open to ALL). a lofty goal, since we are gone camping next weekend. i'll keep you posted.

we can do it.
i think we can.
i think we can.
i think we can......

she's NOT THAT old.

ok, my bad.
my sister is NOT 43 like my last post said. (she's 42, i guess that's a BIG differece when you get to be her age. :))
what i meant was that she's as MATURE as a 43 year old.
surley i didn't think she was that OLD.
she looks like a 23 year old.
so let it be said....
SHE'S ONLY 42!!!
sorry, sister. :)

P.S. and lor, that picture of you tubing, just shows your 'athletic' side.
thought you'd appreciate it.

happy, happy day sister....

here's a shout out to my dear, dear sis......
happy day-after-your-birthday. i have to say, although she's 40 something (43....sorry, i had to say it!) she's still one of the Coolest moms i know. her kids think she's fun & i know they really respect her. i too, think she is the COOLEST person i know. i'm proud to call her my sister. i love, love, LOVE you my dear lori. here's to another 43 years.

i had to dig up some old pics. these were the only ones i could find in a pinch. how sad is that? we need to have another visit so we can take more. :)

we're a very patriotic family. our blood runs red, white and blue. every time i hear the song 'proud to be an American', it brings me to tears. the nation anthem gets me every time. so when i saw our cat, lounging out in the garage, on our old flag, my heart swelled with pride.
lucky for her, i didn't give her the usual 'toss' (THROW HER) outside!
i just didn't have the heart.
good kitty, good patriotic kitty.

double digits....

our Samuel just celebrated, this past thursday, one decade on this earth.
we are in awe and how witty this kid is.

God has been good.

for his big day he wanted to have a few friends over for a Super Soaker party. since it was the last day of school, we decided to Go for it. with his cousins over and a few friends for his brothers, we hosted 11 little boys (and one girl, bai :)). it went amazingly well. they are at a great age where they entertain themselves. for 6 hours they never stopped. Lisa, kathy and i spent the afternoon lounging out in the sunshine, sipping on cool drinks while soaking in the fun.


Happy Birthday Dear Samuel, what a JOY you are.

take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd....

this is what accures on a sunday afternoon when you live in a household of boys. those who know me, know i'm NOT a sports person. don't have an athletic bone in this old body.
never have.
never will.
i hate all the running, all the stradagy is just too much for me. i'm more of a sidelines person. love to watch baseball. love the sound of baseball. hate the thought of actually PLAYING baseball. but, again, being in a house full of boys, it's my motherly duty (once a year) to PLAY a game with them.
after my first (tenth) ATTEMPT at hitting it, i asked them if they had any advice for their dear old mom.
sam says, "um, you could try hitting the ball".
"oh, is THAT what you're SUPPPOSED to do?? stupid me".
so i WACKED IT! (a bunt. i meant to do that)
i made it past first, then on my way to second, i was ATTACKED. out of NOWHERE rye and jack AMBUSED me.
i'm sorry, didn't realize that baseball was a CONTACT sport.
i think they were just afraid that i was actually going to score.
ya, that must have been it.

anyway, i have to admit, i enjoyed it. for the first time EVER, i enjoyed a baseball game while on the team. could we be on to something here??
i think not.
i do love these moments. while standing in the outfield, i looked around and took it all in. oh, these are the moments that i wished would never end. the sound of laugher. the sweet smell of compitition.
loved it.
loved it all.
until next year.....