some cool dudes i know...

My nephews down in Charleston are avid skateboarders and they looked mighty slick in their gear. I was able to snap some photos of them with the big camera. They look so good, I had to put a watermark on these guys. I'm not down on the skater lingo, otherwise I would've thrown some in here.


Stay tuned for more flashy pics of the whole family!

more than 2,000 miles of Christmas...

The days of Christmas are done and the aftermath surrounds us now. Empty boxes, new toys, luggage, laundry and sleep deprived kids fill our home back here in Michigan. I'm wondering again why I bother to frantically clean before we leave home. And, after 2,000 plus miles in the car, I am considering selling the car or making theft of it extremely easy so that I do not need to clean the crumbs, marker, empty wrappers and whatever that sticky gunk is. Regardless...every mile was worth it as we had a wonderful Christmas with family from Michigan to Charleston, SC. Here's the story...

Well, we just barely made it out of here because of a crazy amount of snow that was sent our way. This picture is of Jeff being pushed up the un-plowed street to our house on his way home from work. After loading the van, we gingerly trekked across the state to Ann Arbor to spend an early Christmas with Jeff's parents.

Snuggling grandma and her new doll.

Julia wasn't too into the unwrapping thing, but once she got someone to do it for her, she thought the stuff inside was pretty cool.

After a couple days, we then made our journey south to Charleston. When we left Ann Arbor, it was 4 degrees. It didn't get to 10 until we were past Cincinnati and by the time we made it to our stop for the night in Knoxville, a temp of 26 felt balmy. The kids are hotel junkies, with a pool, in bedroom TV, and free breakfast being their only judging criteria.

After a shorter second day's drive...We made it!!! And guess what...we broke from freezing temps and were finally able to run around outside in the beautiful sunshine. It was great to all gather in the same backyard!

While visiting, we checked out my brother, Jim's, place of work...the Air Force Base. We even got to take a look inside his office...the cockpit of this here aircraft (a C-17) he flies.

You can fit several large families inside one of these quite easily!

This is where you can catch some shut eye on a long trip in the plane. My girls found it pretty cozy. (and, yes, it was cold that morning...but after this, we shoved our coats in a closet for good)

Christmas Day arrived and it was a sight to behold when all the presents for 8 kids were under the tree. They must've been mighty good this year!!!

It was slightly chaotic getting the job of unwrapping done. But once it was, the kids all enjoyed tinkering with toys the rest of the day, while the grown ups enjoyed some yummy food. Laser tag was a fave toy for kids and grown ups...

We also participated in our fair share of Nerf wars. It might be time for the girls to get some ammo in the house!

My brothers (Jim and Michael).

Sarah got a scooter for Christmas and was actually able to use it right away! We weren't sad in the slightest bit to miss out on the second and third foot of snow that hit Grand Rapids while we were gone. (and were shocked to see it all melted by the time we got home!).

We really enjoyed seeing the sights around Charleston. We went to Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island and loved the great burgers there.

Later on that day, we went to downtown Charleston to walk around and find some dinner. The city is just breathtaking. The beauty of it blended with the history is just amazing. We loved it (this picture does not do it justice, but you can enjoy just looking at us!).

The three amigos...these girls were a rare sighting during our week as they are just a flutter of activity glued together.

We celebrated my parent's 40th anniversary during our stay. The kids all helped with the banner.

Time to go. We were again packed to the ceiling for our 15 hour trip home. We took two days and stopped in my old Kentucky home for a night. Lauren wailed at every border crossing that we were getting further away from her cousins.

The return trip was a little tougher on Julia, who was only happy when there was candy in her cup and her video playing. This picture serves as proof that M&Ms do not just melt in your mouth (but they do make grouchy babies very happy).

We joked along our sunshiny drive from Lexington to home that we would be kissing sunshine goodbye as soon as we got closer to home (west Michigan is notoriously cloudy in the winter). It wasn't even funny as we crossed the Michigan border, looked up and saw a wall of dark clouds.

It's good to be home...but we'll sure miss y'all down south.

i got sunshine on a cloudy day...

Lauren was supposed to deliver her Bible memory verse to her teacher today. But, with the aforementioned snow, she was not able to. She's worked pretty hard on it and we're mighty proud. So, without further ado, here it is....



Merry Christmas to you all.

this is not what I ordered...

Snow days are usually welcome change from the norm. But as we were gearing up for our escape from Michigan...a foot and more snow was not anything we invited! Set to depart for Charleston, SC...we're sitting in limbo just waiting for this dump to end.

At first, Lauren wailed, "Why has God done this to us!!??"...but within a few hours, she took on a "when-in-Rome (or Antarctica or Michigan as the case is)" attitude and piled on the snow gear for a little snow angel designing with Sarah.

more sugar, please...

As the risk of slipping into a sugar coma and missing Christmas increases...we threw caution into the wind and decorated Christmas cookies with the kids and their cousins over the weekend...

Although Julia did not participate in the hard work of making the cookies...she insisted on assuming the role of quality controller...

I think they pass the test...

something you may not know...

we have an indoor swimming pool...

Why, yes, Julia did get a bath today...(argh!!!!!)

'twas two weeks before Christmas...

...when right on the couch

the girls ate their candy canes, quiet as a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

in hopes that more candy canes soon would be there.

When on the couch there arose such a clatter,

And what would you guess was the matter.

I saw she was chewing on plastic and swooped in with a flash,

tore open the wrapper to reveal more candy cane to mash.

She spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

and filled her little tummy, ne’er turning with a jerk.

When her sister laid a kiss on her cheek,

she looked up with a smirk and could’ve sat there all week.

When the candy was gone, they sprang like a missile,

Away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard them exclaim, 'ere they ran out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all…Can I have another one?!"

yuletide baking bonanza...

Nothing gets the wheels turning on this baking machine like snow on the ground, the twinkle of lights and a little Christmas music in the background. And so far...nobody around here is complaining...

Since I can't share all the goodies with all of you, I have added a little feature to the blog. On the navigation area over there on the right of this post, you'll see a "From the Kitchen" area. Below that, you may click on the "Christmas 2008 Recipes". This will bring you to a printable page of recipes that I've been using these past couple of days.

Healthy Substitution Note: I used King Arthur Whole Wheat White Flour in the White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies and it turned out great (the kids will never know it's good for 'em).

a long white beard and a bad british accent....

That describes the Mr. Claus we got to see on Monday night. Not sure when it was decided that Santa was a bloke from England...nevertheless, the kids sat and had a word with him.

Lauren asked for a wallet (to hold "all my money...", huh?).

Sarah requested some legos.

Julia asked for a candy cane and was immediately granted her wish.

So...no carbon-action Red Rider BB Guns here. The girls are making it easy on Ol' St. Nick this year. That's good...'cause I'm thinking he's got to spend time working on his dodgy Bri-ish before everybody goes barmy...

a little transportation theology...

Often the most random car rides around here can be memorable. Out of nowhere, the conversation turns interesting.

Last night, Sarah shouted, "Jesus is God's Son!". I replied, "Yes, and God sent His Son to be a baby in a manger and save the world...that's why Christmas is so cool." She responds softly, "How did Jesus save the world?" To which I respond, "Well, He died on the cross...." And before I could respond fully, she says..."How did dying save us?" It took her four years to ask the question that took me thirty years. I did my best to answer, "It wasn't the dying so much as the raising from the dead....."

.....but I was soon interrupted by Lauren's statement...."Mom, sometimes when I'm on the playground, I think about Jesus coming back and there being a new earth." I asked, "Does it make you a little nervous?" To which she replied, "Yes it does." I told her about how I used to get nervous about the same thing because I was afraid Jesus would come before I got to do cool stuff on earth, but now I know it's just not for me to worry about. Afraid my blithering was falling on deaf ears, I then asked her what she was worried about with a new earth. She said, "Well, I'm just afraid that on the new earth...God is going to turn me into an animal." This is just theology above my pay grade...I again, did my best to respond (something about humans being better than animals and how God would not downgrade you in a new earth)...

...and then I said a prayer of thanks for pretty sweet kids.

it's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas!!! The tree is up, the stockings are hung and candy canes abound! It must be Christmas time! My mom made a tree full of the snowflakes in the picture at left. Ain't they perty? Thanks mom!

I must say...watching this season unfold through the kids' eyes just gets better every year. Below is Lauren's Christmas wish list (I've interpreted it below the picture).

Ice Skates

Magic Wand

Wallet

Candy

Tinkerbell Stickers

Barbie as the Diamond Castle Barbie Doll

Disney Fairies Poster

We're headed south for winter to see my brother and family in Charleston, SC. Last night, I asked the kids if they were excited to go. "Yes!!!" was the answer. I then reminded them that we should send Santa a letter to let him know where to find us and our stockings to fill. Lauren started to shake her head. I asked her, "Does Santa have email? Should we send email instead?" She kept shaking her head and said, "No...no, mom, no. Listen...he knows when we are sleeping and he knows when we're awake. So..." and she shrugs her shoulders to finish her thought. I said, "So...he knows we're in Charleston?" She replies, "Yeah."

Smarty pants.

quote of the day...

Sarah: "Why do the M&Ms all have 'E's on them?"

turkey lurkey yummy nummy...

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday! Oh...wouldn't it be nice to just retire now and just have family cozy time everyday! We kept busy this week and actually don't have many pictures other than Jeff carving the turkey...which he was lucky enough to do twice.

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family at his sister's here in Grand Rapids. We brought the bird, prepped using the recipe for Alton Brown's (Food Network) turkey brine. We've done this before and it's finger-lickin' good.

After some shopping on Friday morning, I had a photoshoot (check it out) with a great family. We spent the rest of the weekend either laying around or playing Wii Fit (I got it Friday and nobody wanted to wait until Christmas to take it out of the box). We did have turkey din din again on Saturday with my folks who drove up from North Carolina (they volunteer at JAARS).

It's looking pretty chilly outside today (yikes), so I guess we'll just lay around some more and eat some leftover turkey. Life is good.

she's got beautiful eyes, but the ears aren't good...

If you've known our family for awhile, you likely know that we've struggled with properly functioning ears in both Lauren and Sarah. Prone to one ear infection after the other...they both had "tubes" placed a little more than 4 years ago (Sarah was 4 months old and had her first infection at 2 weeks old).

Well, we thought we escaped ear issues with Julia...thinking lungs would be her biggest problem (she spent a week in the hospital at the first of the year with RSV and pneumonia to catch some of you up). She's had two ear infections to date (which is fantastic in our book).

Lately, she's been talking a lot, but no real words were coming out...in fact, her speech was going backwards. I also suspected another ear infection. So...we decided to skip past the pediatrician and go straight to our trusty ear doctor.

In this part of the story, take a moment to shove your fingers as far into your ears as you can, or if you're like my mom, grab your earplugs and plug 'em in. You can still read, but I take it you're not hearing very well. Yup, you guessed it...that's how Julia is hearing the world around her...and has been for awhile. Somehow, it's escaped her regular doctor that fluid has been piling up and now is mimicking the look of her ear drum...thus making hearing a challenge.

It seems fixable...which is good, of course. But it's a little sad to know she can't hear us all that well...not to mention that apparently she just likes the look of the Wiggles and not how they sing (which is my favorite part).

So, we'll start with an antibiotic (heavy duty) to try to clear it out of there and also heal the infection she does have now too. After that, we'll test the hearing again...but we're likely looking at tubes again, which I'm all for. Whatever it takes to get the gunk out so she can hear my off-key rendition of You are My Sunshine again!

Thanks to you all for reading through a cathartic blog post! (you can take your fingers out of your ears now).

happy happy joy joy (let it snow)....

Nothing makes Lauren happier than a yard full of snow. Frost bite could be setting in and she'd still be rolling around in the stuff. It takes her less than a minute to build a snowman.

But, there's not much that makes her angrier than a little sister who finds delight in knocking over snowmen.

So...she gets to build one again.
And that makes her happy.
It's a never-ending circle of fun when you're ankle deep in snow. The older girls were out until after dark sliding around. It always makes me smile when all the other lawns on the street are pristine with untouched snow and ours looks like mangled chaos. I love it.

sweetness captured...

I took some photos of my little nephew, Brandt, and his proud parents, Lisa and Tim, over the weekend. They're a great little family. Check 'em out over on the photoblog.

fin de la cumpleanos...

Yesterday marked 35 years in the life of a pretty great guy...none other than mein mann, Jeff. The third birthday in the family in under two weeks was marked with a potpourri of appetizers, and a plate of pastry (who wants cake after overdosing earlier in the month?).


His parents and his sister, Lisa, and family (baby Brandt below) came over for the festivities. Nothing makes a grandpa happier than reading a book to a lap full of babies.

Jeff and I capped off the day in a healthy, but heated competition shooting stuff and playing tennis on the Wii. Let's just say that I'm a good shot, but my backhand still stinks. Or I could say that I let him win on his birthday. But lying is not cool.