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.