Mantei's

Trip to Texas

2012-01-16T13:45:00.010-05:00

I had a great little trip to visit Brian and Celia in Ft. Worth Texas. I wasn't there very long, but we did some fun stuff -- things they hadn't gotten to yet, so it was new for everyone.

Maden's favorite thing to do before bed is read stories. He would sit there as long as I'd keep reading. He never got restless or bored.

Before I got there, they practiced with Maden so he would run to me and give me a hug. He wasn't so sure about the hug right away, but he did give me five and knucklebumps.

In the car at the airport. He wasn't too sure about me being in the backseat with him.

From the airport we went to get some lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Syd had sent a little present for Maden that she bought all by herself at her school's Santa workshop. I had no idea what was in it, but Maden was very excited to see the "gween swime." Green is his favorite color :)

After lunch, we went to a place in a huge mall that has tons of blow up bouncy houses inside. Maden loved climbing, sliding and playing in the bouncers. He went and went for over 2 hours and would have kept going if the adults weren't too tired from all the climbing, sliding, and playing.

This ladder was so hard for us to climb up, but he had no problems

Sliding down after the big climb. He loved it.

This isn't the best picture, but the story is too cute not to share. I climbed up after Maden and waited for him to slide down before I went. Whenever he's catching a ball he holds his hands together like this. At the bottom of the slide, he turned around, put his hands together, said "I'll catch you," and waited for me to slide down to him. He's such a sweet boy.

Taking a rest in one of the bouncers. He has the best smile.

Tackled by Mommy at the bottom of the slide

The bouncy place had a bunch of basketball hoops. I don't know who liked dunking more Maden or Brian ;)

All the bouncing wore him out. I cannot get over how huge his eyelashes are.

The next day we went to a cool place called Fossil Rim. It's a wildlife center pretty much in the middle of nowhere that is home to hundreds of different animals. We saw all types of deer, goats, zebras, giraffes, ostriches, and even cheetahs. You drive around the huge park and stop to look at and feed the animals.

They know cars mean treats. I like this one's stripey face

Big weird goats.

He was one of the biggest Red Deer we saw. He wanted the treats so much he tried to put his whole head in the car. We were more freaked out than he was -- didn't want the tip of his antler getting stuck inside and making him panic to get it out.

Maden liked seeing the deers

He tried really hard to feed them, but the window didn't go down far enough for him to reach. The best he could do was poke it out the very side.

The zebras were the best part of the whole place. They were surprisingly gentle and calm. This one wanted my sunglasses instead of the treats I think.

Celia was in the back and got this picture at the exact time Brian got the one above with my phone. Funny to have a different view for the same thing.

I really loved the zebras. They were so happy.

The next day we did two new-to-everybody things. First we went to the brand new Cowboys Stadium and did a self-guided tour. I'm not a football fan of any sort, but it was fun to see somewhere you usually only see on tv.

Your first view of the field is pretty impressive.

Posing in the end zone

Of course Brian had to see if he could touch the bottom of the upright.

Maden's legs aren't even a yard long :)

Helping Maden kick a field goal

Everybody tackled Daddy

We spent the most time out on the field. Brian loved throwing, kicking, and just running around with the football. When we were thinking about taking the tour, he thought he remembered having a football somewhere, and found it buried in the closet that night. Good thing, since it was his favorite part of the stadium.

We got to see the cheerleaders locker rooms.

In the player's locker room there was a set of pads and jersey for people to try on. Celia and I had fun being goofy for pictures.

Go long!

Too bad I can barely hold a football in one hand, let alone throw it.

Another funny story -- Brian and Celia had been trying to work on family relationships with Maden. They started at Maden and worked out, saying "Maden is Brian's child." In Maden's head that came out children, and everyone was Brian's children, no matter who they were. We'd say "Cindy is Daddy's..." and wait for him to fill in the blank. Every time he'd say children even if we said sister before he could say children.

After the stadium, it was so warm outside. We were glad we'd saved the Dallas zoo for the nicest day.

Maden and I got to see our favorite things at the zoo. I'd heard that you could feed the giraffes at this zoo, so we had to do that. And Maden looooves penguins. He has a little stuffed penguin named Keegan that goes everywhere with him. The giraffes were so friendly and happy to eat our lettuce. This little penguin kept swimming right by us and floating in the water touching the glass when we put our hands out.

Maden thinks he's so big. He knows you have to set the stroller brake with your foot.

Sitting in a little saddle in the children's part of the zoo.

This penguin really was cute. I love the look on Maden's face.

Daddy had to try out the saddle too.

The last thing we did was go get some ice cream. Brian thought he was being smart by having Celia get a cup of mint ice cream -- thinking Maden would like to dig in the "gween ice cweam" with his spoon. It didn't go exactly as he planned.....

It started out ok -- Brian held the cone and Maden licked the top of the ice cream.

Pretty soon Maden was holding the cone and Brian was licking the drips.

Finally Maden took it over completely and had a nice cold and sticky face to show for it.

I'm glad I got to go down and see them for a few days. I hadn't seen Maden since our family reunion in Island Park with he was 6 months old. I Skype with him sometimes, but it's not the same as being there to see all his different facial expressions, hear his cute little voice telling stories and asking questions, and getting to snuggle with him. Brian and Celia definitely did something right to get him as their kid :)

Christmas and Projects

2011-12-29T13:51:00.010-05:00

We had a great Christmas this year. I didn't take many pictures of actual Christmas morning, but I did get some of the presents in action, which is even better.

Syd and I both got some styling new headware :)

This was our first official Christmas without a visit from Santa, so I did something different with Syd's stocking stuffers. Leading up to Christmas I kept putting more and more in her stocking, but on Christmas morning they were all "kidnapped." I had hidden them all over the house and taken a picture of Storm in the area where they were hidden. Each time she found one, it had another picture with the next location on it. She was running all over the house! She said she liked it, so we'll see if we keep it as a tradition.

The animals can't be left out of the presents. Storm always gets a big new bone and the cats get more rats to lose all over the house.

One of the coolest things Ken gave me is a macro lens that attaches to my iPhone. I can't believe the clarity and detail you can get out of a camera phone. The first thing I tried it on was a sparkly ornament on the tree. Then I saw one of Toad's new blue rats and had to see what it looked like too :)

By far the handiest gift was the under the cupboard iPad holder. I love it! I'm obsesses with pinterest and always need to look at recipes. This keeps it accesible and much safer! No worries about spills or things getting dropped on it.

Syd got a kit to make different body parts out of household items. The first experiment was a lifesize brain. It was squishy and surprisingly heavy.

Syd is out of school this week and next week, so I turned to my trusty pinterest for ideas to keep her occupied. We haven't done all of them yet, but the ones we have done have been pretty fun, and relatively easy, which is just was I need!

I got a huge dictionary at the used bookstore for $3. We tore out the pages and used them to make snowflakes. The dictionary pages were my idea, but all the shapes came from pinterest.

Another fun project we did was making our own thank you cards. The pattern in the pan got transfered to a paper and left to dry.

The last project we did was an optical illusion art project. She literally worked on it all day, and was determined to finish before she went to bed.

We have a few more projects to do next week. Everything from making beach glass candy, to a no-sew pillow, to another use for the dictionary pages.

Fall Walk at Grand Mere

2011-11-13T10:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a perfect day for a walk in the woods. It was cool without being cold, no wind and sunshine all over. It's one of Storm's favorite things to do.

At the very end of the walk. She's so tired, but so happy.

Storm walks so good in the woods. Always has to be first in line with Ken.

Family picture at the end of the trail.

Ken's inner monkey came out.

Something interesting in the tree...

Storm looking at Lake Michigan

My favorite thing about fall is scuffing through the leaves.

Field Museum

2011-11-03T12:42:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday we felt like getting out of the house, so after some online searching, we decided to go to the Field Museum in Chicago. None of us had ever been there, and it ended up being a very nice little day trip.

I don't know if this bridge has a name, or even really where it is, but I love it every time we go to Chicago.

We had a beautiful fall day. The outside of the museum looks very cool to me.

There were all kinds of skeletons of different animals. I thought it was very interesting to put the whale and the elephant together. It really showed the size difference between the two.

There really were ants running around in this green gel.

This is Sue -- the most complete TRex skeleton ever to be uncovered. We watched a movie about it and we learned that baby TRex's have feathers on them for a few years to help regulate their body temperature. Also, they could tell this dinosaur had had a hard life because some of its spine bones have arthritis, a wound on one leg scraped the bone, and some kind of infection made holes in its skull. Crazy they can tell all that from some old bones

Corn Maze in the Heat

2011-10-09T10:29:00.003-04:00

About the time I got to high school corn mazes became THE thing to do in the fall. There were several within a 20 mile radius and we'd go to a different one every weekend. They are just as popular now, and I have to say I enjoy them so much better when it's 80* as opposed to 50-60* like it was in Idaho.

We went yesterday to one just a mile down the road from our house. It was sunny and bright and hot. I loved every minute of it. Ken and Syd would have liked it a little cooler, but we're about to have months of cold, so they can handle a little bit of heat :)

I got a new app on my phone called Picframe. I really like how it lets you make collages out of many pictures. And it's so easy.

This corn maze has a Clue-like game set up where you have to find out which animal committed the crime with which weapon in which location. There are checkpoints all throughout the maze that elimnates a suspect until you're left with one that hasn't been punched out.

Corn maze in t-shirt and shorts. Love it.

There was one lookout spot. You couldn't really see anything, except how big the maze really was.

Children of the corn.

Ken on the hay ride to the start of the maze.

Sarett Nature Center

2011-09-25T11:06:00.006-04:00

Yesterday Ken and I did a nature walk thru some nature trails. Even though it was a rainy and gloomy day, it was nice to be outside for a while.

I always love how paths looks when they disappear into the trees.

One part of the trails went right thru a huge tree. I guess it was too awkward/heavy/inconvient to move so they cut a piece out of the tree just big enough for the trail.

We were a little early for the bright fall colors, but there were a few leaves that had already changed.

We didn't get rained on as much as I expected because we were so deep in the trees. I loved how the rain made ripples in the reflection of this little pond.

We were out there to look at the nature, but the things that caught my attention the most were the non-natural things. We rounded a corner and came across this red boxcar in the middle of the woods. The nature center is 800 acres, miles away from a major road, surrounded by farms, woods, and marshland. I have so many questions about this boxcar! Why is it there? Who brought it all the way from wherever it was and just left it there? How did they transport it? What was it orignially used for? The words on the sides and front say "Michigan Fruit Canners" but that doesn't really tell me much. Was it part of the cannery, or a traveling dispensary? I emailed the main email address for the nature center to see if they have any info on it.

This bent and rusty iron wheel was right by the boxcar. Still doesn't solve the mystery.

The final non-natural thing that caught my eye were these little pink crocs left by the side of a trail. One was broken, but still wearable. What parent decides it's better to leave a kid's shoes behind in the middle of a nature preserve than to limp back to the car in them, or carry them in your own hands?

Life Without Work

2011-08-14T10:46:00.005-04:00

This week was my 2nd week of being off work. It ended up that Syd and I were by ourselves for most of it -- our neighborhood friends all were on vacation, and Hollee, who comes over here every day with Syd wanted to spend time with her sister before she went back to college in South Carolina. We still managed to find some fun things to do.

My cousin Beckie sent me a link to a blog that has all kinds of fun craft ideas. I was drawn to the sidewalk paint because it was super easy and I had all the stuff.

There's a blueberry farm about a mile from our house. We picked about 2 pounds of blueberries in an hour. I forget how much I like them until I have a bunch of them in the house just waiting to be eaten.

Syd found a recipe for s'mores cupcakes that we just had to try. They were very wonderul and oh so gooey just like a real s'more.

My friend Stacy introduced us to the dog park in St. Joe. At first I was leery of going because Storm is so crazy when she meets other dogs around the neighborhood. But after being there with Stacy and her labrodoodle, Rosie, I realized that Storm is much better around other dogs and people than she used to be. We went to the dog park a few times. One time a beautiful black Great Dane named Beau came too and Storm love love loved him. It was so fun to see her interact with another Dane.

Yesterday Ken got to do some fun stuff too. We found some trails close by and spent some time walking the trails and exploring the stream. Storm LOVES stuff like that. She just seems so happy and content being out there roaming around.

The one day we had a friend with us we went to the zoo in Michigan City, Indiana. It's a small zoo, but Katelyn and Syd loved taking pictures of all the animals with their phones. The otters were a big highlight because they could go in a plexiglass tube and see the otters swimming all around the tube. We also climbed up the big lookout tower.

Big Fat Birthday Surprise

2011-07-31T11:03:00.006-04:00

Syd's birthday isn't unilt next week, but we celebrated a week early. We had to keep it a surprise and secret for MONTHS. We managed to keep it a surprise until the day of and she loved it.

About 3 hours before showtime. Can't tell she's excited can you? :)

We got a room at a cool hotel in downtown Grand Rapids and gave her the tickets there.

She just about knocked Ken over with her hug.

Initial reaction of seeing what those papers said.

The concert was very very cool. Taylor Swift is a great performer, as well as being super sweet and cute. One of the first things she said was simply "I'm Taylor." Like it was the most natural thing in the world to introduce herself to 11,000 people. She had 8 costume changes, 3 or 4 set changes, and played 4 different instruments. She seemed like a real person, not some unapproachable and distant diva. It was so hot in the arena, and she was working so hard, but never seemed to be bothered by her sweaty face, or her hair looking disheveled and less than perfect. And she had chipped nail polish :)

One of the last songs she did she sang the whole thing in a floating balcony that traveled all over the arena.

She played to the camera that put the video up on the big screen so well.

I like this one of Ken watching her.

Spotlights shining on her floating around on the balcony.

I didn't realize she played the piano too.

11,000 people with all their glowsticks and "sparkles."

Sitting on a couch playing a song with her band like it was in somebody's basement.

North Carolina Trip

2011-07-23T11:26:00.007-04:00

Ken, Syd and I met Ken's cousin Christi and her family who live in Tampa in Maggie Valley, North Carolina to spend a week in the Smoky Mountains. The Reinharts have come to this area and stayed in the same cabin several times. It was a great place to spend some time relaxing and exploring.

None of us are true campers, but we all agreed that a cabin like that is the ideal camping situation for us -- the best of both worlds. We had a fire in the firepit every night so we could make smores, the kids got to be outside most of the time, and we could see the stars. Then at the end of the night we all went inside to sleep in real beds, got our food out of the fridge, and showered off all the smoke and dirt.

The one thing we did that I didn't get pictures of was white water rafting. It was a first for Ken Syd and I. It was fun, but I wish the water was a little warmer :)

Our home away from home. It was situated on a ravine overlooking a creek. The house had settled so much after it was built that the floors all had a downward slope to them. Cupboard doors didn't want to stay shut, and anything round that got dropped on the floor rolled until it was stopped by a wall.

Part of our creek. The kids (and guys) spent hours wading, catching creatures, and practicing slinging rocks with their souvenier slingshots.

Ken felt like a real explorer with a machete in his hand.

Ken and Joel aka the Machete Twins. They were hacking thru the brush in the creek when I made them stop and pose with their machetes on this midget bench by the creek.

The driveway crossed over the creek. Here is Ken emerging from the tunnel.

The guys spent a large amount of time looking for and then whittling walking sticks for everyone. They even took the time to brand everyone's names into them with hot knives.

One of the creatures the kids found in the creek. They also found salamanders and crayfish.

The first night the crazy guys jumped in the FREEZING cold creek up to their chins for 10 seconds. They were happy to have a hot tub and a cold drink waiting for them after they had proved their manliness.

These Neighborhood Watch trees were all over the woods. I want him in charge of my neighborhood :)

The porch swing was a hit with everyone. It was so relaxing to sit there and rock while listening to the creek rushing by.

When we weren't at the cabin, we were driving all over the Smokies to different places Christi and Joel had found on their previous visits.

Whoever named this waterfall had an ironic sense of humor. The sign said it was called Dry Falls. It was the biggest and wettest waterfall we saw that day in the Nantahala National Forest.

Didn't quite get the waterfall in the background. But I like the picture anyway.

You have to look really close about halfway up on the left hand side to see Ken jumping off the cliff into the pool below.

Splashdown! The water definitely wasn' t warm.

Christi, Jack and I weren't crazy enough to jump off the cliffs. We stayed nice and dry and took lots of pictures.

The adventerous ones walking in the river before we got to the falls.

360 degrees of a waterfall. I love stuff like this.

We passed this overlook every time on our way to or from the cabin. Once we stopped and took some pictures.

Family picture overlooking the Smokies.

After I saw on a map how close it was, the one thing I really wanted to do was see the Biltmore Estate, in Asheville. Ken, Syd and I took a day and drove out there to tour the house and gardens. It was amazing, not only the sheer size of it, but the detail and the amenities included. Only about a quarter of the house is open to the public, and I really wanted to see the entire thing. One tour guide teased us with a little blurb about secret passageways behind fireplaces that the servants used as short cuts. I could have spent all day there looking around and seeing all the rooms in the house, not just the ones we were allowed.

Beautiful Biltmore, all 250 rooms of it.

Another fun thing we did was a horseback trail ride thru the mountains. It was an hour long, and the horses were so used to following each other and being on the trail we hardly had to drive them at all.

We saw signs all over for a petting zoo weirdly called Santa's Land, so of course we had to go. It was the same concept as Deer Forest, only 100 times better. It was clean, there was a bigger variety of animals, the rides were in better condition, and just all around more enjoyable. The weirdest part was all the Christmas decorations and forced Christmas themes all over it. (All the workers wore elf suits, and Santa was there to talk to).

We rode pedal boats in a small pond with literally thousands of koi fish in there. Everyone had a bag of food and the fish swarmed the boats right at the surface. It was like they had never been fed before, even though there were several people besides us feeding them, and I know there is a constant stream of people out on the boats.

Ken tried really hard to catch the fish with his hands. He almost had a few of them, but they were too slippery to hold on to.

This is the feeding method at Santa's Land. It's much safer and easier than at Deer Forest. No one got trampled or mauled by hungry deer.

Birthday and Visit

2011-07-09T11:07:00.014-04:00

This year for my birthday not only did Ken spoil me but my mom and dad came to visit. It was a great birthday and it was so fun to have them here when the weather was nice and we could be outside doing fun summer stuff.

Ken knows all my favorite stuff and totally spoiled me for my birthday -- lots of lotions, superman stuff, cute summer dresses and a Boston cream pie for a birthday cake.

Another fun present they found was an air popper because Ken knows how much I love popcorn. We had to give it a test run straight out of the box.

After my parents got there and it was dark enough, we set off fireworks in the driveway. A birthday tradition from back in the day.

The one thing my dad wanted to do while he was here was go to Silver Beach Pizza. We did that Sunday for lunch and stuffed ourselves on the best pizza in the world.

Dad forgot his hat so he took over my Superman hat. He thought he was very cool in it.

After pizza we found a good spot on the bluff to take some pictures.

We went to a fireworks show in Baroda on the 3rd. Everyone parks in a big field and hangs out until the show starts. It's a pretty good fireworks show for a small town, but next year we will figure out a better place to park so we aren't sitting dead still for a half hour.

Mom and Dad playing with bubbles before the fireworks.

The last birthday present Ken found was this cute beach chair my dad immediately dubbed the "knee-high chair," after the Zac Brown band about standing knee-high in the water with the ocean as his medication. It is very cozy and was perfect for watching fireworks from.

We spent the day of the 4th at our friends the Adams house. They have a huge yard and a nice sized pond stocked with fish.

Syd and Dad fishing

My favorite part of fishing was the pet duck they have named Oliver. He was a nice duck and hung out with us the whole time. He let us pet us and quietly quacked the whole time. He swam around in the water and came out on the grass. He was very friendly and happy. Sadly, we found out yesterday that he was eaten by something during the night. I'm glad we got to meet him and hang out with him for a while.

At one point Syd and her friend Anabelle, whose house we were at, brought out a picnic of leftover pizza. Oliver thought that looked like a good lunch for him and tried to steal entire pieces of pizza from them. They had to run back to the house and eat inside so he wouldn't snatch it away. He followed them the whole way from the pond to the house.

Fishing is definitely a spectator sport. And we are good at it -- spectating that is.

Ken and I took the day off work Tuesday to go to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. It's a great zoo with lots of different exhibits. The best thing was that a lot of it was inside and what was outside was very shady. It was super hot that day. My dad and I loved it and everyone else was melting to death.

You have to ride the carousel at the zoo because it has so many cool animals to choose from.

This reminded me of a "flutterby bush" in the Harry Potter books.

Dad talking to the stingrays.

Syd getting instructions on how to feed the stingrays

Sting rays are my favorite part of the zoo. I could stay there all day talking to and petting them. There was one baby about a quarter of the size of the one in the picture. He was bright white and so friendly. He'd swim really slow so I could pet him longer and seemed to come over to be petted on more than the other ones.

Duda the equal opportunity lap snuggler. Even with the non cat lover in the family. If your legs are straight, he's going to sit on you.

Duda has always fought with my dad. But since his legs were straight while he napped he snuggled him too. Can you tell how much Storm adores him? :)

Dad and I played tennis for an hour. It was my first time playing in 2 summers so I felt very rusty. The next day my entire right arm from hand to shoulder was super sore. But it was tons of fun and I need to play more often.

This was a very common sight around our neighborhood for 4 days. Dad loves to walk with Storm, but she will only go if I'm with them. Otherwise she stops in the middle of the sidewalk and looks back at the house and won't move anymore

Hawk's Head

2011-06-30T18:47:00.007-04:00

In February Ken and I went to a charity auction. There were lots of nice things to bid on and we ended up winning all 3 of our bids. The one we'd been most looking forward to was a night's stay and round of golf at Hawk's Head in South Haven, about 40 minutes from home. Ken had golfed here a few times, but I'd never been there.

Afte we checked in, we left the hotel and went to dinner in downtown South Haven. It is a very nice area and the weather was perfect. We finished up just in time to catch the sunset from the end of the pier.

There were quite a few people sitting on the pier watching the sunset with us.

Somehow I captured a cool sunflare ring.

In the morning we got up earlier than we expected, so we ended up being the first and pretty much only people on the course. It was a very pretty course, with lots of small rolling hills and a few trails thru the woods. It was so empty that Ken was able to get 27 holes in -- 18 when he did the entire course the first time, then the back 9 over again.

It was so early the sprinklers were still on.

I was way too busy taking pictures to even think of trying to golf :)

Besides being busy taking pictures, my attire wasn't exactly appropriate for golfing.

The sun coming thru the trees was so pretty.

Stripey shadows from the trees.

How did we survive before iPhones? Ken found an app that told him everything about the course. Better than having a caddy.

Unexpected and Unlikely Visitor

2011-06-04T19:05:00.006-04:00

Friday after work Storm and I went for walk to the pond. It only takes about 20 minutes to go there, let her run around and come home. We were coming down the road and our house was in sight when I noticed a large(ish) lump on the driveway. It definitely wasn't there when we left a little while ago. I was so confused because it was the exact shape of a turtle. I figured it was a towel or something Ken had dropped on the driveway. I kept looking at it trying to figure out what in the world it could be as we got closer and closer to it.

We made it across the road and to our sidewalk when I decided it wasn't a random lump or towel or any of the other things I'd thought of. It really was a turtle sitting on the driveway!

Ken had looked out the garage door about the same time I was walking up inspecting the turtle in the driveway. His first words were to keep Storm away and not get too close in case it was a snapping turtle. No sooner had he said that than the creepy thing literally jumped in the air with its mouth open trying to snap us! We were not close at all -- Storm was still on her leash so I could hold on to her and it was well out of range of the length of the leash.

We were definitely more scared of it than it was of us. Every time it jumped up Syd and I would scream and back away even more.

It moved much faster than we thought it would or could. It tried to keep all of us in sight all the time and would walk in a circle jumping and snapping. Ken held it still by weighing down its back.

Front view of the ugly creature. Its beady little eyes were sunken in its head and its little clawed feet looked very sharp.

Ken picked it up by it's freakishly long tail and dragged it to the grass. We went inside and ate dinner, then 30 minutes or so later the neighbors across the road saw it by their house.

I really have no idea where it could have come from. There isn't any water source around our house. There are several empty lots but no good place a turtle would want to live. I also have no idea where he wandered off to. Making the rounds of Wyndstone I suppose.

Lorys' Place 5k Walk

2011-05-22T09:03:00.006-04:00

Every year a grief counselling place in St. Joe holds a 5k run/walk/rock as a fund raiser. The route is thru a pretty part of town and down by the beach. We've done it a couple of times, but missed the last 2 years. This time Ken, Syd, Storm and I all walked it.

Hanging out before it started. Storm was the most wound up right after getting out of the car, and the half hour we had to wait

I don't know the exact number of people who turned up, but it seemed like a lot when we were all waiting at the start line.

We hung out in the middle of the pack until all the runners had gone ahead.

Storm was still pretty excited as we were getting started. You can see the death grip Ken had on her :)

We got to walk right past the lighthouse.

And see some beautiful huge beach houses.

Storm was so worn out by the end she was the one slowing us down! We stopped for a cold drink on the way home. She was so tired all she could do was rest her head on the seat.

It was a great day for a walk, and a good way to support a local business.

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-30T16:24:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday we went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Berrien Springs. They do a good job every year with lots of eggs, and prizes for everyone. Every year it seems that more people hear about it and there are more and more kids. It's organized very well, with the kids going in age groups and a designated place to sign in and turn in the eggs. This was the first year the weater was decent. Not pouring down rain or freezing cold.

Syd and Hayden were in the same age group this year. This is only the 8-9 year olds!

Syd has a white t shirt with purple sleeves, standing next to Hayden in a black tshirt closer to the right side of the picture.

The eggs are just thrown on the ground, so it's more of a scramble than an actual hunt.

They're off! (Getting pics of one specific kid in the sea of kids was not easy.)

Syd is actually right behind the girl in the jeans in this picture. My phone wasn't fast enough to keep with her running and scooping eggs.

There she is right by the tree. We told them the game plan was to run all the way to the back of the egg area and get those eggs while everyone else was still getting the ones in the front.

In less than 2 minutes all the eggs were picked up and it was time to get them counted and see what prize they got.

Syd got a bag of candy and some Uno cards. She was very pleased with both :)

And this is how you take a picture of two people in the same picture :)

Spring Break

2011-04-09T13:44:00.005-04:00

We had a recommendation from a friend for a great place to go for spring break. It was the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, Michigan -- about 3 hours north of us. We went for the indoor water park, which was awesome, but there were other great things about it too. Syd's friend Hollee went with us and it was so nice to have a backup kid so we didn't have to be the constant entertainment. This was the first time they were really old enough to be left unsupervised for periods of time as well.

Ken and I had a lot of relaxing time by the pool while the girls played.

Playing in the fountains

I think their favorite thing was this floating snake. They spent more time here than anywhere else.

The Lodge theme is carried thruout the entire resort. This big wolf is right by the check in desk.

At the hotel restaurant the "toy" that came with kids meals were wolf ears. We ate there twice, and ended up with 4 pairs of ears. Another cool thing the girls loved was the MagiQuest adventure. We bought them magic wands, and they had to go all around the hotel looking for different objects that "worked" with the wands to get points and unlock different parts of the quest. It kept them occupied for a good chunk of the time.

Traverse City was kind of like St. Joe in that you could see Traverse Bay from the road. It was a pretty drive to get to The Red Mesa Grill for dinner. Our friend also recommended Red Mesa, and we're so glad we went. It was awesome food and great service. If we're ever up that way again we'll definitely go there.

Hundreds of bottles of hot sauce at Red Mesa.

A Walk in the Woods

2011-04-09T12:41:00.004-04:00

I'm slow post these, but I really have been thinking about doing it ever since we took them. One of the last snowy days we had, we went for a walk in the woods at Grand Mere. It wasn't freezing and the wind was calm, so it was very enjoyable. Storm especially is so happy to be out and about and loves being somewhere different. Syd was even tough enough to climb one of the big hills to see Ken's favorite spot.

Serious faces at the top of the climb

Now we can smile and be happy

Storm even gets to explore off the leash

View of the lake from the top of the hill we climbed

Walking along

Ken even let Storm come in his truck, which doesn't happen very often.

Busy Weekend

2011-02-20T11:39:00.006-05:00

We had a lot going on this weekend, which is unusual for us. Normally we hang out at home and not do much with our weekend.

Saturday morning Syd had her last swim meet of the season. It was the conference meet, the reason she swam 4 days a week and worked so hard for almost 5 months. She did really good and improved all of her times from previous meets in the season. She came away with a 4th, 5th, adn 6th place.

I wasn't in the best place to take pictures, but Syd is 2nd from the bottom, right under the blue diving board.

Last night we had tickets to a the Popovich Comedy and Pet Theater. It was a mix of silly skits and some animal tricks. The kids liked it more than Ken and I did, but it was still a pretty ok show.

I stole these pictures from other websites because they were much better than any I took with my camera. The show had many different cats, dogs, and birds that were all rescued from animal shelters around the country.

I was so happy to find this particular picture online. It was my favorite part of the show. Just made me laugh to see an orange cat pushing a dog in a baby carriage :)

Today is the annual Daddy Daughter Dance. Ken and Syd went for the first time last year and loved it. They have music, dancing, lots of food, and almost everyone in the area goes to it.

Syd loves to get dressed up and thinks her shoes are real high heels.

Making sure everything is straight and perfect.

Ready to get their groove on.

Photoshopping Without the Photoshop

2011-02-20T10:54:00.014-05:00

I love looking at photography blogs and seeing what people do with their pictures. I'm always amazed at how they can turn an ok photo into something so great and interesting.But I can't say I've ever had the inclination or desire to buy any type of photo editing program and teach myself all the tricks I've seen other people use.

Now that I have my iPhone I don't have to spend hours editing pictures. I've found several apps that do all the work for me and I love it. All were either free, or less than $2, and all are easy to learn to use. The three I use the most are ColorSplash, PhotoStudio, and PhotoFunia. All of them do very different things, and wouldn't necessarily work for every photo you have. If you have an iPhone or iPad I highly recommend any or all of these apps.

I don't feel the need to edit every photo I take, and most end up on my blog exactly as they looked when I took them. But sometimes it's fun to play around and see what I can come up with. Some pictures get a subtle edit, and others a more noticable and dramatic effect.

I couldn't decide which ones not to put up, so I uploaded them all :)

Maden being his happy self. *PhotoStuido*

Christmas Day at Matt's house -- Cindy, Emerson, and Syd. *PhotoFunia*

Ken and I at my birthday dinner a couple of years ago *PhotoFunia*

First visit to Busch Gardens *PhotoFunia*

Ken and I at the Brad Paisley concert *PhotoFunia*

Maden making the face just before he does something funny. *PhotoFunia*

Maden loves my dad, and my dad loves Maden. Something about this effect makes my dad look so young. It could be Brian he's holding. *PhotoStudio*

Duda sitting on my lap *PhotoStudio*

Maden and the cat having a staredown in the bathtub. *PhotoStuido*

Maden wearing his cape. *PhotoStudio*

A different effect on the funny face. *PhotoStudio*

Maden trying on hats at the store. *PhotoStudio*

Maden in his elf suit at the Christmas party. *ColorSplash*

Another effect of the Brad Paisley concert. *PhotoStuido*

Brad Paisley doing what he does best. *PhotoStuido*

This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Brian was out of town taking his final test to become an RN. Maden was so happy to see him at the airport. And I think Brian was happy to see him too. Brian's favorite color has always been blue, so this was espeically fitting. I even entered it into an online contest for pictures depicting "LOVE."

Feeding the crazy birds at Busch Gardens for the first time. *ColorSplash*

Ken and Syd canoed the river and Storm and I were there to pick them up at the end of their ride. *ColorSplash*

Ken at the start of one of his Ironman races. *PhotoStudio*

Another one of my favorite pictures from picking up Randy at the airport when he came home from his mission. I even love Brian's face peeking over Randy's shoulder. *PhotoStudio*

How can you not love the circus? *ColorSplash*

Ken and I on the plan to Vegas when we got married. *PhotoStudio*

Everybody loves hugging on Maden. Randy got a turn when Grampa was gone. *ColorStuido*

By the Eifel Tower at the Paris in Vegas. *PhotoStuido*

Feeding the birds at the Grand Rapids Zoo *PhotoStuido*

Maden is a good smiler. *PhotoStuido*

Wingardum Leviosa -- Harry Potter at Universal. *PhotoStuido*

You can't even tell they like each other :) *PhotoStuido*

Even Gramma gets a turn sometimes. *PhotoStuido*

I love these 3. All done with ColorSplash. A little bit of color adds something so different and cute to each picture.

Brad Paisley in Concert

2011-01-22T17:39:00.007-05:00

I love Brad Paisley. He's been on my must-see list of musicians for a long time. For Christmas Ken got tickets to the show last night in Ft. Wayne, IN. It was AWESOME! There is definitely a reason he was named Entertainer of the Year. For someone only 5'8" he commanded the entire arena for the 2 hours he was on stage.

Waiting for the show to start

Darius Rucker was the opener. You might know him from the '90's band Hootie and the Blowfish. He was very good and actually used some of the Hootie songs in his set.

Brad used some of the best graphics/images/video on the big screen behind the stage.

At one point this mascot looking dude came out that looked just like Brad.

We really had good seats with a great view of the stage. Brad spent a lot of time on either side so no one felt neglected.

One of the coolest things he did was to make a circuit on the floor of the arena, while still playing and singing.

During his circuit he stopped at a platform in the middle of the arena and sang an acoustic song to the "cheap seats" because that's where he always ended up sitting when he was a teenager.

Ken said he could tell I was having fun because I was dancing and singing more than at any other concert :)

Ken and I agreed that it was an awesome show with a good mix of smartass funny songs, and more serious slow songs. I would definitely see Brad again, and I'm glad I got to cross him off my list.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T16:06:00.006-05:00

We had a good Christmas with lots of presents and fun for everybody. We were all very spoiled.

Sometime earlier this year, Syd had a wonderful idea of making a toilet paper list. She kept a roll of toilet paper in her room, and every time she thought of something she would like for Christmas, she wrote it down. By the time it was time to start thinking about what to tell people she wanted for Christmas, she had a ready-made list. It worked out great. There were some silly things but also some really good ideas. We divided up the list between Santa, parents, grandparents, and other family members. Everyone got some ideas, and Syd ended up with a pretty good haul.

Just a small section of the famous toilet paper list.

Syd checking out her loot from Santa. Somehow she is always drawn to the dog presents first.

Toad got some new rats to chase around.

Duda got a Santa costume that he HATES

Storm got some bacon treats that she LOVES

Cute little purse from Gramma Purcell

Cats checking out all the new stuff

One of the coolest things from Santa is a magic wand that is a remote control for Syd's tv in her room. Who else but Santa could come up with something like that!?!

I love that Storm gets bones as long as her legs.

Taylor Swift poster for her wall.

Sledding at Grand Mere

2010-12-21T10:05:00.004-05:00

I had to let these pictures speak for themselves because it's hard to narrate a story you don't remember. Even though some of the pictures are of me, and I took all the others, I have no memory of being there with Ken, Syd, and her friend Hollee.

Everything I know is from what Ken has told me (repeatedly :). I was sledding down the hill, and somehow got turned around backwards. He tells me it seemed like I was trying to get off the sled and turn the right way again, but I couldn't get stopped in time. I crashed into a tree, mostly with my back and shoulder. I'm not sure if I was knocked out right then, but he knew something wasn't right. I know we went home at some point because there were piles of my snow clothes all over the house. I remember nothing from turning off a movie Saturday night, to being in the hospital Sunday evening. Not a thing. Ken took me to the hospital because he was worried I'd hit my head. I couldn't remember anything, even when he answered my questions over and over. I spent the afternoon at the ER, getting xrays, CT scans, and whatever else they did. Then I had to stay the night with a grade 2 concussion.

My shoulder and head are a bit tender, but the thing that was making me the most crazy in the hospital was my right eye. It was a totally unrelated situation, but happened to overlap with the sledding accident. Last weekend I woke up and my eyes were hurting so bad I could barely stand to open them. I tried flushing with saline, with Visine, everything I had in the house. I finally called the eye doctor to see what they thought. I never spoke to a doctor, but the receptionist recommended some specific over the counter drops for dry eye. We got those and used them all weekend, with no help. Finally, as a last resort, we found some generic pink eye drops at Walgreens that seemed to help the best. The soonest I could see a doctor was that Monday. At the appointment, he didn't see any signs of infection, or damage. He called it "surface breakdown," and said to keep using the generic drops if they seemed to be working. What do you do but trust the doctor? I went on with my week, put in my contacts again, and seemed fine. Ken tells me I was complaining about the same type of eye pain Saturday some. I had a regular exam appointment scheduled for yesterday, so I didn't try to talk to anyone over the weekend. In the hospital Sunday morning, my right eye was watering so much and was so so painful. It was so frustrating to be in a hospital, in such obvious pain and not have anyone even look at my eye or attempt to do anything about it.

We finally get out of the hospital and made my eye appointment. I saw a different doctor within the same office. He did a much more thorough exam than the original doctor and found an infection in my cornea. He prescribed some antibiotic/steriod drops that have already cleared up all the redness and swelling. Today my eye doesn't feel gritty or have stabbing pain shooting thru it when I look around. I'm very irritated that the first doctor didn't find it last week. It was the exact same pain in the exact same area of my eye both times I went in. But I'm glad to have a diagnosis and a remedy that is working. The worst part now that the pain is gone is not being able to see. I can't wear my contacts until the infection is cleared up. My backup glasses are almost 8 years old, and about 4 prescriptions off from my current contact prescription. I can use them at home, for close up work, but leaving the house and even thinking about driving in them makes me very nervous.

It's very surreal to see pictures of yourself and have no recollection of being there. It's weird to pick up a book you've been reading for a week and not remember what lead up to that specific page. It's crazy to remember everything up until a general amount of time and then just have nothing. Although, I'm not sure if I really need to remember the actual crash itself.

Ken was so good thru the whole thing. He stayed with me the whole time at the hospital, even sleeping on a "fold out couch" the size of our love seat. He was patient about answering the same question every 5 minutes when I asked him. He's been great at keeping my family and friends updated thru texts, calls and facebook messages. Our neighbors and friends the Wessendorf's graciously volunteered to take care of Storm, even letting her come to their house to play with their kids and cats.

It would seem I'm very lucky to be home today, with no injury more serious than a sore shoulder.

Straight O / S+ Student

2010-11-22T17:39:00.002-05:00

Syd brought home her report card for school the other day. It was almost all O's with a few S+'s thrown in. (When do they start doing real grades??)

Ken and I are so proud of her for wanting to be a good student. After seeing the report card and going to parent/teacher conference, Ken let Syd pick her reward for getting good grades. (It's never discussed before school starts, so it's not an expectation at all, but a true reward).

Syd picked an ice cream maker. It's actually pretty cool -- a couple of bowls that go in the freezer, and a little motor with a beater to mix it all up. The longest part was waiting for the bowls to get cold enough.

The bowls chilling in the freezer. haha :)

Getting mixed up. It didn't take very long at all.

Syd smashed up some M&M's to go in hers.

First bite.

I think it's a success :)

I'm not sure how she came up with this idea, but as long as we have the stuff to make ice cream and the bowls are cold, we should never be out of ice cream again!

Big Green Tractor

2010-10-23T12:41:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we went to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to see one of Ken's favorite country singers, Jason Aldean in concert.

Before the concert we got some dinner at a sushi place we happened to find very close to our hotel. Ken had had sushi with Matt once before, but I'd never had it. My first sushi experience was so-so. Some of the things we ordered I really liked, but some of it was either boring or not so great.

The plate was very pretty. We went the safe route and didn't have anything raw.

Ken's technique was to chomp the whole thing in one bite. They were a little too big for me to do that, so I had to tear it apart and eat it in pieces.

At the hotel ready for the show -- I finally got a cowgirl outfit complete with boots!

Rocking our country plaid shirts. There were a lot of them at the show.

I love going to concerts. I love the energy from both the crowd, and the performers. I love the music so loud you can feel it in your heart. I love singing along at the top of my lungs along with 5000 other people in the arena. I love the talent of the band, and I'm always amazed (and appreciative) when the songs sound as good live as they do on the radio.

The opening act was Luke Bryan, a new-ish guy on the country scene. He didn't talk a whole lot, but his little dance moves and facial expressions were very funny. He was super smiley and personable. He seemed happy to be there and sounded great.

A lot of his songs are about drinking, and how good or bad you feel depending on how much you had and what you remember doing.

He sang 90% of the time with his eyes closed, which was kind of endearing. I would like to know if he does it in the studio, or if it's only during a live show.

Jason Aldean has been around for a few years and has a lot of good songs. He also didn't talk much, but did play a few songs from his new CD. It's always fun to hear something before you can buy it.

Jason's and Luke's personalities are totally different. Jason was good, but not as smiley.

My favorite song of his is called "Big Green Tractor." I even got a green tractor tshirt :)

Corn Maze

2010-10-10T10:55:00.004-04:00

Yesterday Ken, Syd and I went to a corn maze just about a mile from our house. We've been having a last blast of heat around here, so it was about 85 degrees the whole time we were walking around. It's not a small corn maze, either. I think I saw somewhere that it's 24 acres of corn, with over 4 miles of trailes thru it.

I've been to corn mazes before where they have check stations throughout where you punch a card and collect all the different punches. This had the same thing, but with a little extra game involved too. We were playing a little Clue type game, to figure out which barnyard animal kidnapped Farmer Joe in which location with what weapon. At each check station we elimnated one animal, location and weapon. It was fun to see if our initial predictions were even close.

An ariel view of the corn maze we did. There were 12 different check stations we had to find.

Getting our detective on in the FSI game.

Ken and Syd being sneaky

Found a check station!

Looking down from the one and only lookout tower in the maze

Going up on the tower didn't really help us find anything, but it was fun to see how big it really was.

We were roasting so bad we had to take a breather by the consession stand in the only shade we could find.

When we finished the maze, Syd rode these funny pedal go-carts.

This was a great maze, and every year they do a different pattern in the corn. We'll definitley be back next year.

My Harry Potter Experience

2010-10-04T18:09:00.011-04:00

My love of Harry Potter started my first semester of college when I was staying at my aunt and uncle's house in New Hampshire. I was lonely and bored when I happened to pick up a copy they had. I fell in love and devoured the 3 books that were out at the time in less than 2 days. I've read every book multiple times and will continue to read them for the rest of my life. I like the movies, but not nearly as much as I love the books.

This last weekend I got to do what every Potter fan has been dying and waiting to do -- become a part of the Potter universe.

For my birthday, Ken surprised me with a weekend trip complete with 2 day passes to Universal. We were just there in April, but Potter World (as I like to call it :) wasn't open yet and I was so bummed. Ken's cousin Christi was nice enough to be my taxi driver/ride buddy for the weekend. We got a hotel in Orlando and had a great time jus the two of us.

The first day we got there right when the park opened and headed straight to Potter World. The wait for the main ride -- The Forbidden Journey was only 20 minutes, and believe it or not, I would have been happy with an hour wait for my first time through. The detail is unbelievable, and I wanted to just stand there and soak it all in. The second day we got there a little later and the wait was right at an hour. Christi and I totally beat the system by going in the single rider line. Our total time, including waiting, was 23 minutes. We missed all the cool rooms doing that, but it got us on the ride tons faster.

The first thing you see is the Hogwarts Express. It doesn't move, but the train conductor is around all day and takes pictures with people.

Then you walk around a corner and are transported right into Hogsmeade. It takes your breath away and almost a tear to your eyes. It feels like you are there. The snow on the roofs just adds to it. It sparkles in the sun and the icicles look like they could drip on your head.

I could not get over the amount of detail. Everywhere you looked there was a piece of the Harry Potter world that readers knew was there, but never got to appreciate as fully as we would have liked.

Hogwarts!! It was immense, and the detail went from the roof all the way to the ground. Nothing was left out.

How cool is that street sign?!?

It looked just like movie Hogwarts -- towers, windows, rocks, cliffs everywhere.

No matter where I stood I found more and more to love about it.

The Forbidden Journey ride is a trip through the grounds of Hogwarts on an enchanted (of course Hermione knew the spell to make that happen :) bench. Before you get to the actual ride, you get to walk all thru Hogwarts.

I feel like such a bad Harry Potter fan. I'm not sure who this statue is supposed to be, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now, so we'll say he's one of the founders of Hogwarts. He was the first thing you saw when you walked in, so it makes sense.

**I interrupt this blog post to apologize for the quality of the pictures to follow. I didn't take my regular camera, and it was so dark and dim inside the castle that my iPhone had a hard time taking pictures. I'm posting them anyway because they're too cool not to talk about.**

The hourglasses where class points are recorded. They really did have colored gems in each one. I didn't see any being dropped in or taken away, but I wasn't stopped in front of it for very long.

The Mirror of Erised. It was too dark to actually see anything reflected inside it.

The Phoenix statue that guards the entrance to Dumbledore's office

Paintings covered every inch of the walls. Many of them did move and talk, and I have no idea how they did that. They didn't look like tv screens at all -- they really looked like paintings!

The Fat Lady! We didn't climb thru her portrait hole to get to the Gryffindor common room, but it was still cool to see her.

The Sorting Hat is the last thing you see before you actually get on the ride. I guess the ride could be classified as a simulation ride. The majority of what you see is animated, but then all of a sudden you would be in a real part of the castle or Forbidden Forest. A dragon breathes fire at you, Aragog actually spits water at you, the Whomping Willow almost smashes you, and you are almost upside down in some parts of it

A perfectly blue, cloudless sky behind the wonderful Hogwarts

After the Forbidden Journey, we got in line for the Ollivander wand experience. We were both disappointed with it, and it definitely wasn't worth the wait. You wait in line to be crammed in a tiny shop and watch the wand maker go thru a 10 minute spiel of "choosing" a wand for one 10-12 year old kid. It was silly and hokey and could have been done much better. But you have to do everything once right?

Standing in line did give us a chance to look at more of the details. This Quidditch supply shop had the case of balls in the window. The Bludgers really tried to escape!

Quidditch pads

The best part of waiting in line for Ollivander's was the butterbeer. We killed two birds with one stone -- I stayed in line for Ollivander's and Christi got the butterbeers. The line for butterbeer was almost as long as the line for the rides. They serve butterbeer either cold in liquid form, or frozen in slushy form. We got the frozen one, and I think it was definitely the right way to go. When it started getting melty I didn't like it near as much. As it melted you could feel it coating your entire mouth. We googled the recipe, and found a few different ones. One of them has 6 tablespoons of melted butter in 4 servings! It was very sweet, without being overly so, or enough to make your teeth ache. It was also very rich and filling. I wouldn't want to drink it with food -- it's almost a meal in itself.

The inside of Ollivander's was crazy. Floor to ceiling wand boxes and maybe 50 square feet of floor space.

A few of the wands on display in Ollivander's

There was no doubt that we would have lunch at the Three Broomsticks. The spiral staircase at the end of the room was so tightly wound I don't know how anyone can navigate it.

I've never seen a restaurant actually show you what the food looks like before it comes to you. Very smart. Made us very hungry.

Eating in the Three Broomsticks. I didn't even mind they antlers on the wall. It felt like they were supposed to be there. Here's one example of the amount of detail everywhere -- the fireplace looked like it had had hundreds of fires lit in it. The wall above it was sooty and smoky just like an old fireplace would be.

The wanted poster for Sirius Black. This was the least authentic of all the things we saw in Potter World. It just looked like any tv, and was so reflective it was hard to see what it was really supposed to be.

Wingardium Leviosa! Expelliarmus! Alohamora! I loved playing with the wands. They had replicas of all the wands from the movies. You could pick them up and try them out before you bought one.

One place that was so awesome, but hard to take pictures of was Honeydukes candy store. --They had so much cool stuff -- sugar quills, pepper imps, lemon drops, ton tongue toffee, Berti Bott's Every Flavor Beans and of course chocolate frogs. They even come with trading cards with famous witches and wizards!

I had a great time and I'm so thankful to have a husband who loves to surprise me with my favorite things. I can't wait to go back with him and Syd and see the Harry Potter World thru their eyes.

And just for a hit of randomness -- a square tree!

Mom and Dad's Visit

2010-09-26T15:37:00.003-04:00

My parents came to visit for a few days. We got to show them some things in Michigan they hadn't seen before, and Dad and Storm became the best of friends agian.

This became a very common sight.

Storm loved having someone who would love on her and not tell her to go away.

She even did her best trick for Dad -- over and over and over.

She's never been on as many walks in her life.

The first night we went to Silver Beach Pizza and went to see the new fountain. Ken and Syd had to try it out.

The next day we went to the Meijer Botanical Gardens in Grand Rapids. It was cold, windy and rainy, but they were troopers and walked all around the gardens. We had dinner at a fondue restaurant afterward, which was tons of fun. Definitley not something they have in Idaho.

Ken and Syd checking out the spider sculpture

I love this huge orange steel sculpture.

The cactus room really appeals to me

Their last day in Michigan was still cold and windy. But we didn't have any rain. So we went to a local u-pick farm to get some apples and razberries.

On the hay ride

The first stop on the hay ride was a fishing pond. My dad loves to fish so we had to get off and try it out. Too bad it was silly and not worth the effort. The poles were made of bamboo, with barely enough fishing line to get in the water. He wished we had a boat to row out to the middle of the pond where there might be a chance of catching a fish.

Dad, Ken and Syd went in the haunted house. I didn't.

Picking razberries. They were the main thing I wanted to get

It took all 5 of us picking to get a quart of razzies.

After razzies we stopped to get some apples.

They went into a pie. I never realized it was so easy to make apple pie. Cutting them up is the hardest/most time consuming part.

Some of the razzies went into a pie too. So so yummy. I found the recipe here

The last stop of the day was to talk to the goats and other animals.

It's always fun to get to show your world to someone new. We're glad they got to come for a while.

Circus Newbie

2010-09-19T18:13:00.004-04:00

Saturday we went to the circus in Grand Rapids. Syd's friend Hollee got to come with us, and it was her first time at the circus. Watching her face during the different acts was almost as much fun as watching the circus itself.

During the pre-show the girls liked watching the acrobats swing from high ropes.

New Cousin

2010-08-29T10:28:00.004-04:00

Syd's newest cousin, Emerson Victoria has arrived! We got to go meet her at the hospital for a minute. Syd was very excited to meet her and that she has a new little girl in the famly. Emerson was so quiet and calm while we were there. She woke up, but didn't fuss at all, just looked around and waved her little arms. Welcome to the family Emerson.

While Emerson was making her entrance into the world, we were babysitting Storm's cousin, Oreo. He's a 6 month old Shih Tzu and he is fearless. I was amazed at how well the intial introduction between he and Storm went. Storm has been so good about letting a little pipsqueak into her house, play with her toys, and even drink her water. Storm has loved having another dog in the house, but I can't say the same for the cats!

The first meeting was thru the sliding glass door. Oreo yipped and wanted to play right away.

We brought Storm in, and Oreo just jumped right on her. No hesitation at all. Storm wasn't sure what to think, but didn't take long to decide Oreo wasn't a snack, but somebody fun to play with.

The cats have been less than thrilled with our houseguest. They all try to find hiding places that Oreo can't get to.

Later, especially, has had a hard time with Oreo. I think Oreo can sense it because he chases Later all over the house, until Later jumps on the couch or somewhere else out of his reach.

They play constantly. They'll fight each other for a few minutes, then take a break and curl up next to each other.

Birthdays

2010-08-23T18:50:00.004-04:00

I was bad and didn't blog Syd's birthday at the beginning of the month, but I waited just long enough I can do a two-fer this time.

We've watched too much Cake Boss with Syd. She had to have something with teirs and fondant.

We played water balloons in the backyard. We were smart and told the kids they couldn't have one until all of them were filled up. Made it much easier on us.

Syd and her two favorite friends Kaitlin and Hollee

Ken made a fort in the basment and all the girls slept on the blowup mattress together.

Today is Storm's 3rd birthday. We went shopping for her this weekend and found some good treats and a cute octopus toy.

I lined up all the treats and let her pick the one that seemed tastiest.

She picked the one that looked like a root beer float

She LOVES her octopus.

Now the trick will be to get it to last more than a week. She's really hard on toys!

The Purcell Clan

2010-07-29T18:24:00.005-04:00

When we were in Idaho a couple weeks ago, my friend Brandi took our family pictures. They turned out so so cute. There were too many good ones to choose just a few, so I picked most of them to put on the blog :)

We took them at Freeman Park in Idaho Falls. It was a great place, with lots of different backdrops and posing opportunities. The weather that night was also perfect. No wind (amazing in itself!) and just cool enough so we weren't sweating to death.

Another big thank you to Brandi for working with our time frame and taking such great pictures.

Randy and Courtney -- still newlyweds!

I wanted to try a jumping picture, and after a few attempts, we got everyone and all their heads and feet in the picture together.

I thought this was a fun placement

Pretty little sun peeking thru the trees.

The 4 of us have a hard time taking a serious picture together. This was the best we could do.

It was hard to all get standing up at the same time and not roll down the hill. I love how Randy's legs are making a diamond shape and it looks like Brian only has one leg.

Maden and Syd with the grandparents.

4 original kids once again trying very hard to take a nice picture.

Brandi told us to do whatever we wanted and let our personalities come thru. I'm not sure Maden loved being dangled by his feet.

I don't know who Maden was looking at, but they got a huge smile out of him.

I think Brian and Celia like him. Just a little bit.

And the reason we were all there -- my wonderful parents.

Down by the River on a Wednesday Night

2010-07-28T18:46:00.003-04:00

Today was crazy hot and humid. After work Ken suggested taking Storm to the river to run around and cool off a little. It was a perfect evening for it -- nice and toasty, no wind, and just enough clouds so we weren't blinded by the sun.

Storm loves playing in the river. (This is the dog who freaks out if she has to be out in the rain for 5 seconds). She went clear out to the middle of the river and actually swam around. She chased sticks and just had a grand old time. The river wasn't very deep, and she's so tall she almost didn't ever have to swim -- only in a couple of deep spots did she actually have to swim.

It was a fun little outing. We need to remember to do it again this summer.

Ken chasing Storm back to the bank

Looking very attentive at something down the river.

Storm trying to decide if she can jump the log to get to Ken.

Awesome balancing skills

Is that a happy face or what?

The log really was in the middle of the river. My shorts never got wet, so that tells you how shallow the water was.

I love her ears flopping when she goes for the stick.

She can actually run/hop pretty fast thru the water.

Her standard position in the car -- ears and lips flapping in the wind.

Chambers Family Reunion

2010-07-13T18:39:00.013-04:00

My aunt Shauna worked her head off and found an awesome location for our family reunion. She did a great job finding a couple of cabins that would fit 43 people. They were right next to each other and both were right on Island Park Resevoir.

One of the cabins had an extra little patio right on the water.

Pretty mountain water. It wasn't nearly as busy as I expected it to be -- not filled with crazy boaters and jet skis.

Syd and my cousin Jackie are best friends when they are together. They spent a lot of time in and around the water together.

Ken tried his luck as a fisherman, but wasn't successful :(

On your mark...Get set....

GO!!!!!!

Ken and Syd had a rough start to their jet ski ride.

In they go. She was a good sport and got back on for a quick trip around the lake.

We even had a great grassy bank to hand out on when we were done being in the water.

We went to feed the fish at Big Springs. There were way too many mosquitoes making me crazy, so we pretty much just threw in our leftover pancakes and hardly got to watch the fish at all.

This is the same bridge we stopped at in December on the snowmobiles. In a perfect world I would never have to trade freezing cold for mosquitoes. It was too hard to enjoy it at either end of the year.

The whole gang of fish feeders, me, Syd, Jackie, Brian, Ken, Dad, Randy and Courtney. (Thanks Celia for taking the picture!)

The water is 52* all year long. That sounds a lot warmer when it's -5 out than it does when it's 75. Syd and Jackie couldn't stand to leave their feet in for very long at all.

Almost directly across the river from where Syd and Jackie put their feet in, Courtney spotted a moose! It was really close and just stood there eating and looking at us.

The moose became a prop and everyone had to have a turn taking a picture with it.

After that moose moved on, we drove down the road a little bit and found a mom and baby. The baby was so active -- running and jumping all around the mom. I'd never seen a baby moose, let alone such a playful one.

A storm moved in after we got back from feeding the fish. But my mom was very prepared with Minute to Win it games. Here I am ready to dominate at Noodling Around.

There was lots of time to love on Maden. The best part about being the aunt is getting to do all the fun stuff, and give him back to mom and dad when not so fun stuff like crying and diapers happen.

Jared likes Maden and I think Maden likes Jared pretty good too.

Courtney loving on him right by the water.

I took over feeding duties while I was there. Maden would get so excited and try so hard to "help" get to food to his face faster. Mostly he just made a mess and made me laugh at him.

I found some presents at the airport that I couldn't resist getting for the kid. A squishy, soft basketball and a vampire binky.

He was too busy to sit still at Wingers. He was so wiggly!

Brian likes posing with the kid for pictures.

No one was around to take a picture of Maden reading his story so nicely. So I did it myself.

The one thing Ken wanted to do while we were out there was see Yellowstone National Park. He'd never been and wanted to see and show everything to Syd. My dad was our driver, and we rented a talking GPS that guided us all through the park and showed us lots of cool stuff off the beaten path that we would never have known about otherwise.

Standing at the edge of a super hot lake. The water was hotter than a hot tub -- you couldn't leave your hand in for more than a few seconds.

Ken couldn't believe they let you touch everything and actually get in the water at Yellowstone.

Waiting for Old Faithful to do its thing.

Ken had no idea what to expect from Old Faithful, but I think he was pretty impressed by the duration and height of the geyser.

It seems that when Ken, Syd and I travel to Idaho together, we cannot come away unscathed. This time it wasn't anything as traumatic as the 4wheeler crash last time. Somehow, almost everyone who stayed in our cabin ended up with some kind of flu bug or poisoning. I was the first one it affected -- right in the middle of the dining room at Old Faithful. I'd been feeling gross and puky since we got in the car, but attributed it to trying to look at my phone while we were driving on windy mountain roads. I can now say that I have upchucked (twice!) at Old Faithful. Such a prestigious honor, I know. I was sick for the entire ride through Yellowstone and was absolutely miserable. I was so glad someone had the good idea to get a take out box from the restaurant to use as a puke bucket in the car. Otherwise, I would have been toast and the car trashed. Thank you so much to my dad and Ken for taking care of me as much as they could and being so nice while I was having the worst car ride ever.

The feeling at the beginning of the trip -- eating a snow cone in the airport! Could not have been more different from the trip home.

My dad fashioned a handle for the puke bucket so I could hook it to my backpack. I didn't need it all day while we were flying, but I was too scared to go without it.

I'm bummed the trip had to end on a sick note, but we really did have a good time. It was good to see everyone, and for Ken to see more of the world I grew up in.

Family Pics

2010-07-13T17:25:00.005-04:00

Our first evening in Idaho we were able to have my friend Brandi take our pictures. She's taken some for her own family so we recruited her to do ours too. I'll post the final product when she's had a chance to look thru them and pick the very best ones. These are just from my camera from all different angles.

I was tired of having the normal posed pictures of the 4 of us kids. So we tried a few different things. Handstands.....

...jumping off the fence

When I got to thinking about it, I decided Brandi is my oldest friend. I think we've known each other since 1st or 2nd grade.

Thanks so much for taking our pictures!

Trail Ride

2010-07-05T18:10:00.004-04:00

There are a couple of places we drive by all the time and have seen diggers and trucks making what looked to us like a trail. Today we finally had a chance to ride our new bikes and see what was going on. It went for kind of a long way, and then just dead ended into grass and trees.

It wasn't as smooth and nice as we thought it would be. Syd wiped out when one of her tires got caught in a rut.

We found this weird little board walk that didn't go anywhere. But of course we had to follow it to the end just to see.

Ken and Syd had to wade a little in the stream

I stayed dry up on the bank.

There were tons of cool skinny dragonflies all over the place. They were very vibrant blue and green.

When we got back up on the road a guy was walking toward us and asked if we were checking out the new sanitary system. We were confused until he explained that what we thought was a trail is actually private property that the city has an easement on so they can work on the sewer lines that are all out there. It's not even a trail at all! As soon as they're done doing whatever they're doing they're supposed to reseed it with whatever was growing there before and it will look like nothing was ever done. I think this was the one and only time we'll be riding that trail :(

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T11:07:00.002-04:00

This year for Father's Day Syd and I made Ken a candy-gram. I bought a bunch of candy that we used for different words on a poster. Syd wrote all the words herself. The whole time we were working on it, she kept telling me what a good idea it was.

We thought we could tape it to the door for him to find when he came home, but it was too heavy.

Ken reading the sign

Syd being Vanna White and holding the sign for him to read.

I think he likes it!

Early Birthday Present

2010-06-20T10:53:00.002-04:00

When Ken asked me a few days ago what I wanted for my birthday in a couple of weeks, I told him raspberry plants. My Gramma Purcell had hundreds of raspberry bushes and I remember spending a few nights with her every summer to help pick. There is nothing better than eating them right off the plant when they're warm from being in the sun all day. I'm sure I ate just as many as I put in the buckets while I was helping :) I don't care about making jam, or cooking with them. I just want to eat them!

Yesterday the weather was perfect and we had time, so we went to Lowe's and got what we needed. We have an area on the west side of the house where we used to lean the canoe. All the grass was already mostly dead and looking scraggly. Ken raked it all up and made a nice little garden area.

We didn't go too crazy, just a little strip of dirt by the house.

Ken thinks he's a farmer.

Surrounded by all the plants waiting to be planted.

Ta-da! The finished product.

We put some of my favorite dune grass in the back, right next to the house. I have some just like it in the front yard, and I love it. I never pay any attention to it, and it thrives! 5 little raspberry plants in the front, and 3 jalapeno plants all the way to the right side. Hopefully by this time next year I'll be picking and eating my own razzies.

A Little Staycation

2010-06-06T11:14:00.003-04:00

Ken and I had a little vacation at home yesterday afternoon. We drove to Grand Rapids and went to a botanical/sculpture garden. We've driven past it a few times and I always thought it looked interesting, but we never actually went in. I'm so glad we did! It was much bigger than either of us thought it would be, based on what you can see from the road (which is pretty much nothing). There were exhibits inside and outside, with all kinds of different plants and flowers you'd never see anywhere else. Some of the sculptures were cool, while others were very disturbing. We didn't give ourselves enough time to see the whole thing, since we had no idea what to expect. We will definitely be going there again to see it all.

These flowers were coming straight out of the wall in one of the rooms.

One entire room was all carnivorous plants. Ken's worried about getting snapped by the Venus Fly Traps, but they were so little! (Not at all like they are in the cartoons :)

My favorite room was the Arid room. I never realized cacti could be so beautiful and interesting.

There were so many sculpture exhibits with blown glass. These Red Reeds were planted on a grassy hillside.
We also saw yellow and purple ones in different areas of the garden.

This pond had floating glass balls on it.

Ken and I were both intrigued by this row boat filled with curly pieces of glass. You can see the glass balls floating on the pond, and the big blue ball in the back had 2 foot long spikes all around it. Who thinks of doing any of that stuff and calling it art?

I liked this giant orange steel sculpture , while Ken thought it was a waste of good metal.

This was one of both of our favorites. A form of a man sitting on a rock made of out metal letters all welded together.

There were 3 shapes total, all a little different, but remarkably similar too.

After we got kicked out of the gardens at closing time, we headed for some food. For the first time since we started going to Grand Rapids, we didn't eat at our favorite Spanish restaurant. We tried a fondue place very close to the gardens. It was definitely different, and something we couldn't get anywhere closer to home. We liked pretty much everything we had, but it couldn't take over as the new favorite restaurant.

The first course was cheese, with bread, veggies and apples to dip in it. The apples were the best for me. After the cheese came some lettuce wraps or salad. Then the meat course with lobster, steak, shrimp, chicken, and pork to dump in a boiling broth until it was cooked. It came with several different sauces to dip everything in. The steak and lobster were the best part. For dessert we had s'mores type chocolate to dip strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, brownies, cheesecake, and rice krispy treats in. Unspurprisingly, I didn't love the chocolate part (it would have been better with white chocolate, but Ken wouldn't budge on that). I did dip some of everything and loved the chocolate covered rice krispy treat.

If you have a chance to go to a fondue restaurant, you should do it. It's definitely not food you would make at home.

Inagural Ride

2010-05-17T17:44:00.003-04:00

Showing off the new wheels. It's a pretty teal and white Trek mountain bike.

Syd grew out of her bike over the winter. It was definitely time for a new one, as her knees were almost up to her chin every time she rode around the neighborhood. The local bike shop is really good about taking trade ins, so that's what we did.

She is now out of kid size bikes and onto the adult sizes. She can barely touch the ground on this one, so hopefully it will last for a couple of years.

We told her it was an early birthday present. If we waited until August when her birthday comes, summer would be over and she would hardly get a chance to ride it. She was fine with that, and was happy to have a bike that fits her.

Cruising down the road. How do we ingrain in her head the need to look both ways, no matter where she is?

Plenty of room to grow into.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T13:48:00.003-04:00

Every year Ken and Syd find some cute flowers for me for Mother's Day. This year they were some very nice sunshiny yellow ones.

A few months ago, out of the blue, Syd said she wanted to see where Ken's mom's grave is. So we planned to go on Mother's Day. We left some pretty tulips there and just had some quiet time at the graveside. I think this could become a new little family tradition. It's good to keep the one's who have gone before us in our thoughts from time to time.

Best Dessert Ever

2010-05-09T13:34:00.005-04:00

My sister-in-law made the most wonderful cake last weekend. She said it was super easy to make, so I found the recipe and tried it myself. Surprisingly, it was easy! My favorite dessert is Boston Cream Pie, and this tastes just like it, but without all the effort of baking and icing layers of cake.

It only has 5 ingredients, and you don't even need to turn the oven on. Definitely my kind of cake :)

Mix 2 packages instant vanilla pudding, 3 cups milk, and one 8 oz tub of thawed cool whip in a bowl.

In a 9 x 13 pan, arrange a single layer of whole graham crakers on the bottom. Pour half the pudding/cool whip mixture on the crackers.

Add another layer of crakers on top of the pudding, and pour on the remaining pudding. Arrange one final layer of crakers on top of the last pudding layer.

Spread a can of chocolate cake frosting on the top layer of graham crakers. (I heated mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make it easier to spread).

Chill for about 4 hours before serving.

I took this over to our neighbor's for a cook out we had. I forgot to take my camera to capture their reactions to it. But I do know everyone there loved it.

Here's a printable version of the recipe.

2 (3.5 oz) packages instant vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 cups milk
1 (16 oz) package graham cracker squares
1 (16 oz) can prepared chocolate frosting

In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the pudding mix, whipped topping, and milk.

Arrange a single layer of graham crakers squares in the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan. Evenly spread half of the pudding mixture over hte crackers. Top with another layer of crakers and the remaning pudding mixutre. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.

Spread the frosting over the whole cake up to the edges of the pan. Cover, and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

Our Extended Stay in Florida

2010-04-20T19:56:00.007-04:00

We got back a week ago from a 10 day trip to Florida. I feel like it's taken me this whole time to get back in real life mode.

We had a wonderful time there. A big thank you goes out to Christi and Joel and their family for letting us stay at their house every night but one. It was so nice to have an actual home to go back to every night. Also, thank you to Pam and Ted for letting us stay a night with them and help with the wedding preparations.

The reason for the trip was Ken's brother, Craig, was getting married. He was invited to the bachelor party a week before the wedding, and wanted to go to that, and have time to do all the fun stuff Florida has to offer.

Ken and Syd at Magic Kindgom

Cute little digital enhancement from the photographer at Disney

Our first night, we went to a Mexican restaurant. There was a guy making balloon animals for the kids. He came over and introduced himself as the "Amazing Kenny." Ken heard that and told him he was the only Amazing Kenny in the world. The balloon guy told him just wait and see what I can make and see if you still think you're The Amazing Kenny. After watching him do some very crazy stuff with balloons, and be funny and entertaining at the same time, we decided that he definitely was amazing. Ken agreed that he couldn't do any of those things, and was fine with being Mediocre Kenny :)

We went to Busch Gardens twice. The first time the tigers were really active, and visible. I was trying to get a picture of the cool tiger behind me, but ended up with reflections instead.

All over the subdivision, there are ponds of various sizes. We asked if there were alligators in them, and Joel told us he'd seen one a few times. As we were driving out one day, we saw this one on the bank. I got out of the car to take the picture, and was somewhat nervous about it. Until a lady walked behind me with a Dauchsund. I felt much better about my chance of not being his next snack with a walking hot dog right behind me.

Ken and Syd coming off the Hulk rollercoaster at Universal for their 2nd back to back ride. I didn't know this until later in the day, but something about doing that ride the 2nd time made Ken really sick -- almost to the point of blacking out twice during the ride! He was nervous about doing any more big rides and felt queasy all day. Poor guy, since this was the first ride of the day. He was a trooper and didn't complain at all as we walked all around all day long.

It wasn't quite warm enough yet for us to want to get soaked on the Jurrasic Park ride. But we did almost get eaten by the TRex :)

The thing at Universal I was most excited about -- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- wasn't open yet!!! We were 2 months too early. I was so bummed. They had big white walls surrounding most of the attraction. You could only catch glimpses of it as you walked by. This was as close as I could get to Hogsmeade - separated by a moat :(

Some of the rides are getting to be a little old school. Syd has never seen (or really heard of Jaws) but we did the ride and had to take a picture getting eaten by him. She was also a little freaked out by E.T. since she's never seen that movie either.

There is no Back to the Future ride anymore - just a Delorean on display. I had to look in the windows and see the flux capacitor. This is my dad's favorite movie, and I will never forget his birthday because it's the same year they go back to -- 1955. The actual day is his cousin's birthday, and his is 2 weeks before that. Every time we watched the movie he wou ld tell us over and over that was the year he was born.

I finally remembered to get a family picture taken. Pam kept asking me for one last year and I never did it, so she had to frame our Christmas card.

Ken was one of the groomsmen at the wedding.

Cute cousins at the wedding - Jack (4), Lauren (8), Allison (3), and Sydney (8)

Ken had to sit up at the head table with the rest of the wedding party at the reception. But he found some time to come hang out with us too.

Ted, Pam, Izzy, Ken and I at the reception.

Christi, Jack, Pam, Izzy, Ted and Joel at the reception.

Ken getting into the Electric Slide.

Mandy and Skippy were my buddies the whole time we were there. Mandy is a Wheaten Terrier and a very cool dog. Skippy is a collie - the exact kind of dog I've always wanted.

Our last day we took Christi and Joel's boat at the the islands and hung out on the beach. It was a little bit cloudy and cool, but nice to hang out by the ocean for a while.

Jack found this dead crab and was very proud of it. Every once in a while, it's legs or eyes would move, which was extremely freaky. The rest of the time it just sat there like a dead crab should.

Lauren and Syd digging in the sand.

Ken and Joel spent a lot of time digging for sand crabs

He got one! Sometimes when he uncovered them, they would be so agressive -- running right at him and snapping at his legs.

For our last supper, we went to a tapas restaurant in Tampa. Everything we ordered was wonderful. Tapas is definitely my favorite type of food.

The whole crew - Jack, Joel, Christi, Lauren, Cindy, Sydney, Ken

We had a wonderful time. We did a lot of fun things, but I didn't feel like we were going, going, going the whole time. We had some good relaxing time too. We're not sure when we're going to Florida again, but we are already looking forward to it.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T11:00:00.004-04:00

The Easter Bunny only brings a basket for Syd. Ken and I take her shopping to pick out out stuff for each other's baskets. It makes it more personal and fun for her, and prolongs the mystery of the Easter Bunny too.

She found this cute bunny basket on her bed. Filled up with all kinds of treats and fun stuff.

Syd and Ken know how much I love Peeps. They always get me a rainbow of all the colors.

Syd and I did something a little different for Ken's basket -- a blast from my past. When I was a kid, the Easter Bunny didn't come to our house. Instead, my parents would put on a treasure hunt for my brothers and I. We would go in a room with the door shut while they hid candy and prizes all over the house. So Syd and I sent Ken on a treasure hunt to fill up his basket. We had tons of fun hiding all the stuff, and I think he was surprised by it too.

Ken showing us his basket is empty when he was summoned from the bedroom.

Ken was very impressed with his haul. Notice the huge chocolate bunny. It was the biggest one at the store.

Ken and Syd trying out some of the outside games Ken found on his treasure hunt.

Syd picked out a cool kite to put in Ken's basket. We thought it would be the perfect toy for a windy day....

Until it ended up on the roof! I didn't know it could be too windy to fly a kite.

My Current Workout Regimen

2010-04-02T13:35:00.003-04:00

I like to work out. But I hate going to the gym. It kind of freaks me out, with the intense lifters, the sweat covered equipment, and public changing areas. I'm not comfortable trying to figure out how the machines work, and the group classes are never at a time I can or want to work out. I'd much rather work out at home. But the problems there are finding a routine I like without getting bored. You can only do the same 5 videos over and over. Also, I am not good at thinking up workouts on my own. I need someone to tell me what to do.

Ken happened to find the perfect solution for me. It's a martial arts based workout done through an online portal called Warrior X Fit. There are several things I love about it. 1) It only takes about 20 minutes, but feels like I worked out for an hour. 2) The only equipment needed is a resistance tube. 3) It doesn't require a lot of space to run/jump around. I can do it in the living room in front of the laptop. 4) It keeps track of my progress and gives me virtual goals to work toward. (I've almost gotten my Camo belt). 5) Every day of the month has a different workout so you aren't doing the same exercises over and over, day after day.

Warrior X Fit workouts are 6 different exercises, done 6 times each for 20 seconds each with 10 seconds rest between sets. The workouts are all planned out, with short videos and pictures to demonstrate what each one is.

Side V Ups

One arm press, other arm hold

I've been doing Warrior X Fit for about 3 months now. I think I've done every workout at least once. After each workout I can definitely tell I worked hard. My arms are shaky and my legs are tired. The next day I'm just sore enough to know I had a good workout. It's definitely the right workout plan for me.

Accomplishment

2010-03-14T13:56:00.002-04:00

All last summer I was wanting to pull out some ugly bushes in the front of our house. They were right in front of the dining room window, and getting bigger and uglier every day. I don't know what kind of bushes they were, but they came with the house. We didn't pick them. They did have cute little yellow flowers, but they were getting out of control as far as how huge they were getting, and they attracted these gross beetles too. I told Ken so many times I hated them and wanted them gone. But for one reason or another we just put off getting rid of them.

I am proud to say that those hideous bushes are gone. And I am the one who dug them up and got them out of the ground. Me, all by myself! Ken didn't think I'd be able to do it (especially without cutting the sprinkler line with the shovel). I just dug all around the base of each of them and used the shovel to pry it up until I could get my hands around it and toss it away. It didn't even take very long.

Now we have a big open space to plant something cute.

The Superman shirt definitely helped me dig those suckers out.

Bright Sunshiny Day

2010-03-08T17:59:00.003-05:00

This weekend was so nice. Sunshine and high temps both days. Saturday afternoon we spent a good amount of time just being outside not freezing.

The kids made mud pies from a hole in the yard Storm dug. We found out after it was all mixed that they had added some special "chocolate" in the form of dog poop. Nice.

I swept out the garage and then chilled in the sun with Storm.

Ken put together the last of Syd's Christmas presents.

Of course he had to test drive it too.

I feel very spoiled by this wonderful first week of March. Makes my heart very happy and hopeful that spring might actually come soon.

Once There Was a Snowman (or two)

2010-02-27T13:09:00.004-05:00

Today was the first time the weather and the snow cooperated for snowman making. Ken and Syd worked on it together and made it taller than Ken. When they were finished with our snowman, they played a little joke on the next door neighbor.

Good snow for rolling big snow balls.

The middle section Syd made required some teamwork to get it in place.

The finished snowman. The arm sticks were from a toy rack that used to be in Syd's room. The eyes, mouth and buttons are colored golf tees. Pretty creative I think.

Anyone who knows our neighbor, Scott, knows how proud he is that he was on the baseball team at Lakeshore High School in 1990 when they were State Champions. He lets everyone know about it. He's also a devout Chicago Cubs fan who despises the St. Louis Cardinals. Ken couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him a little about his living in the past and adoration of his Cubbies. Just as they were finishing up the big snowman, they saw the whole family driving away. Ken and Syd built another snowman in the neighbor's front yard.

Front view, as seen from the road. Ken made the snowman short and squatty because Scott is not a very tall guy.

This is the view from the back -- what they will see every time they look out their front window. Pujols is the most well-known player on the Cardinals, and Scott can't stand him. Hehe :)

Daddy Daughter Dance

2010-02-25T16:10:00.003-05:00

This past weekend Ken and Syd went to a Daddy/Daughter dance put on by a local radio station at a restaurant in town. They went with a group of dads and girls from the neighborhood. It lasted about 2 hours, and they both came home smiling, but worn out from all the dancing. I think this could be a new tradition for them. Ken said there were almost 200 people there, with girls every age from toddler, up to girls in their 20's.

The professional picture from the dance

The whole group all dressed up and ready to go. (I don't know who everyone is, so I won't try to give names to all the faces).

Just the girls in their dancing dresses

At home, just before heading out.

Last Swim Meet

2010-02-13T13:28:00.002-05:00

Today was Syd's last swim meet of the winter season. This swim season has seemed to last FOREVER. It started almost the same time school did in September, and just concluded today. Everyone is ready for a break. Syd did so good today -- breaking all of her personal bests and even getting a couple medals. The motivation thing Ken started at the start of the season sure has paid off (pun intended :) Syd earned a total of $60 for beating her previous times. That's a lot of money for me, let alone an 8 year old!

Someone thought it would be a good idea to make parent shirts for Syd's team. Too bad they didn't think of it before the last meet!

Syd had a busy meet this time. Of the first 10 events, she was in 4 of them, and two were back-to-back.

Here she is (in the pink swim hat and blue polka dot swim suit) getting out of the pool from her relay swim to get in line for the 100 IM with no break at all in between.

The 100 IM is a crazy race -- 4 lengths of the pool, with each length a different stroke -- back, butterfly, breast, and freestyle. She looked very tired when she was done with this one.

We got done with swimming in time that we went to Applebee's for Syd's traditional half birthday dinner with dessert.

Hi-Yah!

2010-01-30T14:39:00.003-05:00

Last time wearing the white belt to class. They have to get 3 stripes before they can test for the next belt.

About a month ago Syd started taking Tae Kwon Do classes. She fell in love with it immediatley. It's been kind of hard to fit it in around her swimming schedule, but we've made it work. This last week she took the test and was awarded her orange belt. If she keeps working at this pace, she will have her black belt in less than two years.

Showing off a kick

Ken and I were taking pictures at the same time. She didn't know where to look

Giving a serious Tae Kwon Do face

The Harlem Globe Trotters

2010-01-25T19:36:00.002-05:00

This weekend we had the chance to see the Harlem Globe Trotters in Grand Rapids. Ken got us great seats right on the floor. We were up close and personal with everyone in the game. For the most part we liked the show. Parts of it were silly and repetitive, but the tricks and ball handling skills they did were very cool.

Ken and I love the Amazing Race, and Syd even got into it toward the end of this season. One team on the Race was a couple of guys on the Globe Trotters. We went into the game already knowing two of their faces and names. They must have had a day off for this game because they weren't there, or even mentioned at all. Their pictures were in the program, tho, so we know they are still around. Everyone needs some time off I guess.

Syd and I hanging out before the game started.

This guy was dribbling the ball around, then caught it on his head like a hacky sack. I'd never seen anyone do that with a basketball.

This guy was so tall I don't know how he found socks that long.

There was a lot of dunking, which is the best part of basketball :)

After the game all the players came to the edge of the floor to sign autographs. Syd got 4 or 5 different players to sign her souvenier ball.

Tubing at Five Pines

2010-01-17T11:16:00.002-05:00

There's a great place close to us that has groomed tube runs. They even provide the tubes. Yesterday was the first time this winter we've gone. Since the snow has melted some, the runs were super icy and fast. It was a good time, and Syd did good hiking back up the hill over and over.

The tubes have awesome pull straps that make it so easy to pull behind you back up to the top.

The workers at the top give you a push to get started and sometimes add a spin in there. You never know which direction you'll end up as you come down.

Ken starting down the run.

Ken and Syd at the top getting set to go.

Idaho Trip #3

2010-01-01T12:15:00.009-05:00

This time I had double the reason to go to Idaho for a visit. Jared will be leaving for his mission in Peoria, Illinois in a while, so I needed to go out to spend some time with him. And we have a new addition to the family I needed to meet. My brother Brian and his wife, Celia, had their son Maden on December 5. Even with travel delays and headaches, I'm glad I was able to make it out to support everyone and get to have some Christmas time with the family.

My dad and I in the best spot in the house -- right in front of the fire.

The babies all dressed up in their church clothes. Maden is on the left in his man pants and tie. Celia made the iron on tie on her computer and put it on a onsie. My cousin Beckie's baby, Porter, is on the left in his man suit. He is 3 months older than Maden and looks so huge next to him!

Brian and Celia having a baby-free moment. There were lots of people wanting a turn with him after church.

Jared the soon-to-be-missionary

Gramma Purcell and I.

Brian broke out his trumpet, much to everyone's dismay. It's not that he plays bad, just really LOUD.

Of course we had to play Nertz.

One of Jared's favorite things to do is go snowmobiling. Being the cold hater that I am, I had never gone. I'd never even been in the mountains in the winter. All 4 of us kids, and Courtney and Danae were able to go to Island Park for the day. My cousins Beckie and Jodi saved my life with their willingness to let me borrow everything from the coat, to the boots, to all the layers underneath. I decided that snowmobiling is just the same as 4 wheelering, except you freeze instead of get dirty. It's not my favorite thing to do, but now I can say I've been.

Beckie told me I'd look like a "homeless lesbian" but at least I'd be warm. I didn't care what I looked like, and for the most part I was warm(ish).

All of us before we hit the trails. Me, Randy, Jared, Brian, Courtney and Danae

In the summer there are always huge fish around this bridge. They were hiding this time, but there were lots of ducks swimming around. I wanted to jump in there with them. The sign said the water is always 52 degrees, which sounded a lot warmer than 10.

Before we left, my mom requested a picture of the 4 kids. We stopped at a warming hut (that was freezing inside!) and snapped this picture. Doesn't everyone look so thrilled to be there?

Everyone had a chance to hang out with the baby for a while. He's pretty mellow right now. Not fussy or mean. Just hangs out and looks around when he's awake.

Sometimes he has really big eyes, like he just needs to see everything he possibly can.

Jared loves snuggling him. He'll be a lot bigger, and a lot wigglier in 2 years when he sees him again.

All my brothers and my dad are really into bowling. So much so that they all have their own ball and shoes. They know of a bowling place that has half price games on Wednesday. So the 4 of us bowled for an hour straight. I got to borrow Celia's shoes while she ran some errands and be one of the cool kids.

Maden even came bowling. He didn't care about the noise at all -- just slept right through everything. My mom made the cover for his carseat. I think I need one of those, so I never have to be out in the cold.

I have cat withdrawals when I'm away from home, so I got my fix by loving on Brian's monster of a cat. He even slept under the covers with me :)

Jared and Brian playing Wii. The cat was very intrigued by what they were doing and sat and watched them for a long time.

I made this trip by myself because the timing was so close to Christmas. It was the longest Ken and I have been apart. He had these flowers delivered to my parents house as a surprise and just to say he was missing me. They were so pretty and unexpected.

Even when I'm home, Ken has a hard time not having something to do. He's good at finding little projects to occupy his time. I knew he planned to take our Christmas decorations down while I was gone. I don't love that part of Christmas, so I was glad he was willing to take that on by himself. I came home to so much more than that, though. Not only was the Christmas down and the house put back together, but he had gotten out the paint and touched up all the scuffs and dings in our walls. He also totally cleaned out the utility room where the litter boxes are. (That was a huge job and a big sacrifice on his part because it was NASTY in there). But he had one more surprise for me.

Last year for Christmas, I ordered a bunch of photo prints from a very cool website I found. I had this great plan to buy frames, and arrange them in a diamond pattern on a huge blank wall we have above our stairs. Ordering the prints was the easy part, and the rest of it just kept getting put off and put off. I needed Ken's help to get them hung, and I didn't want to buy the frames just to have them sit in a box somewhere. I never forgot about my wonderful collage idea, but didn't push for it to get done, either. This year for Christmas I told Ken I wanted the frames for a present, and I would help him hang them. He didn't really have much to say about that, so I just let it go once again.

I came home last night to the completed project! And it's exactly how I envisioned it. Everything is perfect, from the frames he picked, to the placement on the wall, to the spacing between the pictures. Ken did such a good job. I know it wasn't an easy or fun project for him, but he knew how much I wanted it, so he worked hard and got it done just right.

The picture can't do it justice. It really is a scary location to stand on a ladder and hang pictures. It looks awesome!

Merry Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T17:05:00.004-05:00

We always have Santa come a day early to our house. It just works better with the days we have Syd and everyone gets to have a Christmas morning. She doesn't care, since it means twice as many presents :) She's a very good sleeper on Christmas. Never gets up in the night, and usually stays in bed almost until 8 in the morning.

This year she emailed her list to Santa and he delivered almost everything on the list.

Santa even remembered the animals. The cats had a very hard time waiting for Syd to wake up. They were playing with their presents through the packages.

Storm got a giant bone as long as her front legs. Should last a while, I think.

The biggest hit from the Santa pile was Syd's very own laptop. It does everything a normal laptop can do, but because it's made by Disney, it's very kid safe and friendly. Only certain websites can be accessed, and it comes with tons of Disney games, videos and music on it. She also got a little digital camera and a video camera. Both are comptible with her laptop, so she can store all her new pictures right on her own computer.

After inspecting all the stuff from Santa, we took a break for breakfast of monkey bread. I thought I was being so smart. I figured out how to do delay time/bake on my oven. I followed the recipe and was excited for yummy gooey monkey bread to magically appear. I noticed that the oven turned on when I told it to and mentally patted myself on the back for getting the delay time right. We were opening more presents when I started smelling something burning. I opened the oven door to see some of the gooiness had dripped down to the bottom of the oven. Not a huge deal, just a little mess. Then I looked at the monkey bread itself. It had raised so much that it overflowed the bundt pan and was touching the top heating element! Ken helped me pull off some of the most burned pieces and stuffed some other parts back down in the pan. I put it back in the oven and crossed my fingers. When the timer went off, I pulled it out again, and everything looked perfect. We all dug in, and it was still doughy in the middle :( Needless to say, we didn't have the wonderful Christmas morning breakfast I had envisioned.

Monkey bread explosion. Such a disappointment.

Syd really got spoiled from all our extended family. The grammas in Idaho did good in the crafty department. The Florida family did really well in every department -- clothes, toys from her wishlist, and super cute jewelry. Thank you all so much for your thoughtfulness.

Ken's brother Craig found this cute charm bracelet that has Syd's initials. She had put it on as soon as it was out of the box.

Ken got me some new boots from my new favorite clothes company Athleta. They are super warm and waterproof. He set me all up for the winter with the warmest coat they make, awesome gloves and several scarves. He knows how much I hate being cold.

Ken's biggest surprise present was a remote control race car. Any time we go to the toy store he has to stop in the boy section and drool over all the cool toys he never got to play with when he was a kid.

Festival of Lights

2009-12-19T14:34:00.002-05:00

Our neighbors started a new tradition in our subdivision. They put invitation in everyone's mailbox inviting them to participate in the Wyndstone Festival of Lights.

Last night we took a walking tour of the neighborhood before voting on our 4 favorites. Then we hung out at the neighborhood "Griswold" house talking and eating lot of good food.

Santa even showed up for a little while! Syd has never sat on Santa's lap, and this year was no exception. She did stand by him to tell him what she wanted -- a Cabbage Patch girl. When Ken and I heard that, our mouths dropped open. At no other time during the course of the wish list making process have we heard her say one word about a Cabbage Patch girl! Where did this come from? It was the only thing she told Santa too. We told Syd that she had already emailed her list to Santa, and he can't remember everything every kid tells him, so he goes by what he has written down. Hopefully that was a good enough explanation.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-12-03T18:18:00.004-05:00

I've been slacking at blogging lately, so here are some pictures from our long and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

I made a peanut butter pie to take to Matt and Erica's for Thanksgiving. When I was done, I told Ken he could lick the bowl. I didn't know he would literally do it.

I came downstairs from putting in some laundry to find a Christmas explosion in the living room

The babies even got in on the Christmas action. Toad immediately had to check out the tree from the inside.

Later liked the tinsel

All the cats love hanging out under the tree. I think they think they're hiding and we can't see them.

We got a bunch of super cute ornaments at Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago. The tree turned out so so good.

It was warm enough Ken and Syd got all the lights up outside too.

Saturday we went to the Double JJ Ranch with Matt's family. Syd and Hayden loved playing in the water, Erica and I loved relaxing with our books and magainzes, and Matt and Ken loved sliding and hanging out with the girls.

Ken and I at our anniversary dinner.

Swimming Success

2009-11-22T15:37:00.003-05:00

Syd has been doing such a good job with her swimming. She goes to practice 3-4 times a week, and the coaches make the kids work hard. But it seems to be paying off. She already has 4 more 1st place ribbons to add to the collection on her wall just after one meet.

The meet yesterday went well too. She is the oldest in her age group now, and Ken decided she needed some more incentive to keep swimming hard and not coasting when she knows everyone is so far behind her. So he told her any time she gets a new personal best he will give her $10. That's a lot of money for an 8 year old! Yesterday she only had the chance to improve on one time because she was swimming two races for the first time. But she did beat her backstroke time and came home rich and very happy about it.

Her award wall. I think by the end of this swim season she might need to find a bigger space.

The backstroke that won her $10

The butterfly was one of her new races. They have to be able to swim it leagally, and she's been working really hard at it.

Showing off her winnings. The coaches give them a little bead to put on a chain for every personal best they got. She got one for every race she swam.