We went to our friends Trent and Sandy's house for the 4th of July - they have two kids the same ages as our boys. While we were there we celebrated Andy's birthday.

Here's Andy reacting to the awesome cake Aunt Sandy made for his birthday. If you can't tell (or aren't familiar with toys for newly-minted 7-year-old boys) the cake is a landing pad for the Starwars fighter ship that's resting on top.


Of course, Sandy then got out the candles, put 7 of them in the top of the cake, and lit them so Andy could make a wish and blow them out. That was the plan, anyway. Andy might want to learn to wish faster - at least when Isabella's around.


Then there were our "little" guys, our Sam and Sandy and Trent's Alex. They were so cute together! Believe it or not, Al is only 3 and a half months older than Sam - he kept calling Sam "Little Sam" all night long. It was priceless!

And here's our gang all together:

Ahh, there's nothing like a new home...

Even if it is virtual.

In one week we will be off on our vacation - I can't wait! Our first real vacation since May 2001. Rob argues with me that we've been on vacations since then, but I posit that going away for a weekend to a relative's house is not a vacation - its a trip (be it fun, fantastic or freaky). So we will bravely embark upon a drive from here to Myrtle Beach, with at least one 10-hour day of driving with two boys tied down in the back seat. Should be interesting (and loud) to say the least. It is quite possible we are crazy. I know my in-laws are because we're going to their time-share condo with them - bless these people - we live with them yet they're still giving us a vacation. I'm assuming they'll hope Dave and Stacy and the girls will be very distracting :).

Can you make a mid-year resolution?

Friday June 26, 2009

Well, I’m going to—and it would be to actually update my blog more than once every 6 months. Of course, now that I’ve made this resolution I realize I really have nothing to say today. For posterity I’ll mention that yesterday Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died, and today Rob, Sam and I are in Muskegon as I have the day off today, and Andy’s at VBS. It is almost nap time - Hallelujah!

Wednesday December 10, 2008

She’s so cute I don’t even mind the Lakers jersy.

Wednesday December 10, 2008

Sara, fascinated with the door stopper.

Two little eyes and a button nose...

Wednesday December 10, 2008

It is absolutely scandalous how bad I’ve been at keeping up with this blog. Perhaps I’m not the blogger I hoped I would be (or, more likely, I haven’t had the time I’d hoped to have). Anyway, I am writing this to make an announcement: I AM NOW AN AUNT! And an aunt to the cutest little girl in this hemisphere, I might add. Sara Lyn Lunn arrived in Detroit Metro Airport on Friday, November 21, 2008 and she was the cutest kid that came through the place that day, hands down.

They say lightening never strikes twice

Wednesday September 17, 2008

but man can the wind blow! Rob has been in Columbus since Monday and hasn’t had power all week. Apparently strong storms blew through this past weekend and when Rob drove up on Monday his 94 year old land lady was outside picking up branches (which Rob then helped her with). He got the last flashlight at Target and couldn’t get a car charger so we haven’t been able to talk much unless he’s had the change to charge his phone in class. Andy is totally bummed because we haven’t been able to do Skype at all (I don’t know what he’s more excited about - seeing his dad through the computer or seeing himself on the computer).

Well, bed calls—I have to get up early and make lunches since I’m being lazy and skipping that tonight.

The Long Goodbye

Monday September 8, 2008

has begun. Rob leaves a week from today, and while it’s great and all that we’re starting to get another year under our belt, it still totally blows that he’ll be there and we’ll be here.

I understand that this is not the end of the world, and that there could be much more terrible situations we could be living through, but this is something it is okay to be bummed out about for a little bit. (Sometimes people seem to think they should be relentlessly cheery about it or, yay! even better, point out that I have nothing to complain about when I haven’t even been complaining. It’s not like I’m sitting there saying “woe is me” - I’ll just have answered their question “So, when does Rob leave?” with “In a couple of weeks” or “in a week” or [soon] “tomorrow” depending upon when and how often they ask, and they’ll immediately launch into some version of “It could be worse…” my favorite being “well, he could have been in the military” [a choice, I’d like to point out, that the chooser knew before had would separate themselves from their family].)

Okay, so I’m off my soap box now.

That’s pretty much it for tonight. Andy’s in bed with a fever and it’s already 11 p.m. in what could be a night long on business and short on sleep.

A Penny Here, A Penny There...

Tuesday June 3, 2008

and hopefully none in Sam’s belly. He was playing with some change tonight at my desk while I printed something and was placing the coins neatly several places. Then, I saw him put one in his mouth—he actually looked at me like “ha ha, watch me mom.” So, I don’t think he swallowed anything, but all the same, I’ll be calling the doctor tomorrow.

On a sorrowful (for Andy) note, there are only two more days of Kindergarten left. Tonight, after he said he wanted to get his teacher, Mrs. DeSmit, an apple, I explained to him that the real way to a woman’s heart is chocolate. He now has a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate squares with caramel ready to give her with a card he will make tomorrow night.

On a Thank-You-Jesus-Praise-The-Lord note, Rob will be home in roughly 42 hours and 40 minutes. Not that I’m counting.

Oh Yeah...

Sunday May 18, 2008

I am currently in Chicago with Jennifer Hinkle, and we are staying at the Hotel Amalfi, which has a complimentary happy hour—a fabulous idea. Rob and I have to come here some time. That’s all.

In the end it's worth it...

Monday May 12, 2008

I used to think people in hell were damned to an eternity painting windows. I now know that I was wrong…they are painting baseboards and trying not to get paint on the carpet.

But, in the end it’s worth it. The boy’s are going to have a great new room (dark blue with white trim), and Andy’s going to have a great new bed (a loft, let’s hope he’ll climb up there to sleep), and I’ll (someday soon) have no more painting to do!

Rob comes back a day early this week (yay!) to be Andy’s VIP at school on Friday. Soon June will be here and Rob will be back for the whole summer!

Home is Where the Heart Is...

Thursday May 8, 2008

or at least I hope it is for Rob. He comes home for the first time in two weeks tomorrow, and I can’t wait! Of course, Sam is sleeping in our room because we’re re-doing the boys’ room, and we’ll be busy all day Saturday with that and reorganizing storage, but at least he’ll be here. And in less than a month he’ll be Home Home Home for the whole summer! I can’t wait. It makes it seem like I’m getting a summer vacation, too (which is probably exactly what I won’t have, the way things are happening at work, but oh well—Rob will be home!)

Oh, and P.S. Rob is a genius, but I can’t write any more about that until the end of the quarter. Just remember a big announcement is coming!

It's Friday at 4:55 PM

Friday May 2, 2008

Thank You Jesus!

Okay, so I no longer hate Ohio State

Tuesday April 29, 2008

BECUASE ROB GOT AN ASSISTANTSHIP!!!!!!!! This means he can come home for the summer! Oh yeah, and school is paid for and he gets benefits, etc., but most of all, it means HE CAN COME HOME FOR THE SUMMER!

Whoop, deyit is! Fa shizzle!

18.6 Million Vacant Homes

Monday April 28, 2008

I read an article tonight about how vacant, formerly owner-occupied homes have hit the highest number ever—18,600,000. Then I did not go to the gym. I went for an incredibly cold (and beautiful) bike ride instead. I had forgotten just how much money is in the surrounding neighborhood (read: along Lake Macatawa). I’m fairly certain those people aren’t feeling the economic crunch. However, once I was back in the regular people area I know I rode past at least one vacant home. And that brings me back to the article I read before my bike ride (to make this a long, windy, and somewhat syntactically confusing paragraph).

I think there is something seriously wrong here when eighteen MILLION homes, which when occupied by a family of four could house SEVENTY TWO MILLION PEOPLE, are sitting empty, yet we still have a homeless problem—which will probably, ironically, grow because of those vacant homes. Wikipedia states that as many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness in the U.S. in a given year, with the weekly number being around 850,000. Yet as of today we could house all of Iran (71 million), or Turkey (60 million), or France, the Unite Kingdom, or Italy (64, 60, and 59 million respectively), or, for that matter, Canada plus all of Scandinavia and the Netherlands together (totaling 72 million). Yes, house them, under existing roofs. Absolutely flabbergasting.

I don’t think the $1,800 George Bush is sending me will help this situation at all.

Aww, I don't wanna

Monday April 28, 2008

I’m going to go to the gym tonight for the first time in three weeks (no, I am NOT a slacker - the first week off was Andy’s spring break and we were staying with my mother, the second week off I literally worked the entire week, first at work and then at the house, and the third week off was my spring break - I felt I deserved it by then). But I DON’T WANT TO GO!

Here’s hoping my MP3 player is still charged up.

How to Help when You Can't Help...

Sunday April 27, 2008

I just spent the last 45 minutes brainstorming with my mother-in-law about how to help David and Stacy raise money for this ridiculously expensive (and slow, I might add) adoption. There’s a concert idea, there’s a quilt-on-eBay idea, and there’s a garage-sale idea, but mostly there’s just a lot of wishing. I volunteered that we should start playing the lottery. That was a no-go.

Man, if I won the lottery—how many people have started fantasies with that phrase. I actually have quite the detailed fantasy about winning the lottery, complete with who I would have handling/managing my money and what major purchases I would make. Oh, if wishes were horses…

If wishes were horses then I wouldn’t have said goodbye to Rob for the next two weeks this afternoon. He has a composition competition this coming weekend, so he can’t come home. I hope he wins! My fingers are crossed, honey!

Speaking of competition: I’m pretty sure Andy’s coughing and my need for sleep will compete tonight. I’ve just given him a nebulizer treatment, but I’m afraid there’s more to go on the today show.

Peace out. May any who happen to read this sleep better than I will tonight.

Too much and not enough--

Thursday April 24, 2008

that’s exactly what I have. I have too much to do, or rather, it feels like I have too much to do, because I do not have enough drive to do it all. At least the house is done. I handed over the keys last night and now all we have to do is pick up a couple of things for storage and we’re outta there. I hope the new people love it as much as we did.

Oh, speaking of houses, my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Ken sold their house in Warsaw, Indiana, and are moving here to Holland. I’m gonna miss their pool, but it will be nice to see them more often.

Well, that’s pretty much it. The river don’t run too deep tonight.

If there were

Sunday April 20, 2008

like 26 hours in a day then I would have the perfect amount of time to get everything done I wanted to. If I were 5’ 9” and weighed 115 then I could deal with the 24 hour day. But alas, I’m short and chunky and like my food, so I need that gym time. Problem is, it cuts into all my other time. I was meant for long legs.

Bless This House

Thursday April 17, 2008

Tonight (actually, this afternoon through tonight) I cleaned our house out with my (wonderful) mother-in-law. Our new renters move in on Wednesday the 23rd. Rob and I have a ton of stuff to take care of in the garage, and a couple of dump runs to make, and then that’s it. I really loved living in that house. I hope we can live there again some day.

It's the little things

Wednesday April 16, 2008

Okay, I usually try to avoid sappy, but as this is my blog, I have the right. Tonight I was able to do two fabulous things. First, I helped beat all the bad guys (I believe they were Ninja Turtle bad guys - I forget what they’re called) in a sword fight in the back yard (during which I helped Sam go down the slide, which met with a pleased grunt each time his little bottom hit the ground). Second, I got to sing songs with my boys when I put them to bed. I know I do this every night, but I guess I want to make a point of saying I don’t take it for granted. How hard are David and Stacy wishing they could sing their little boy to sleep tonight? Exactly. So it was wonderful to sing Rock A Bye Baby and Puff the Magic Dragon (we all clapped with the beat - even Sam, though not necessarily in time).

I Hate Ohio State

Monday April 14, 2008

with a passion right now.

There's no place like home...

Sunday April 13, 2008

even if it’s really your in-law’s house. Let me tell you, if you’re looking for a relaxing way to spend a Sunday, don’t drive from Columbus, Ohio, to Holland, Michigan, with a 5 (and-a-half) year old and a 19 month old. While, surprisingly, the old stand by “Are we there yet” did not rear its ugly head often, the I-scream-then-you-scream-then-I-scream-et-cetera-ad-nosia entertainment that went on several times (more frequently toward the end of the drive) certainly shortened my life by a few months.

Then, when we got back here Sam decided today was the day to climb up on the kitchen table. Unfortunately, after dinner the kitchen table still had some placemats on it and was more slippery than his initial scouting climbs—so Sam met the floor rather quickly. Scared him straight for a few moments, but there seems to be no lasting damage.

Now if we could only get my in-law’s over-exuberant-yard-cleaning backyard neighbors to not take down any more of Andy’s forts things would be fine (these people are ridiculous:

• they’re cleaning leaves off my in-law’s land
• they took down a wall of Andy’s fort—really sticks stuck in the ground, but still, sticks stuck purposefully in the ground—that looked purposeful
• and they store their wheelbarrow on the side of my in-law’s shed—they have some big hairy ones—how many people would store their yard equipment in somebody else’s yard?)

Whew, I guess I’m more annoyed at them than I thought. What really cheeses me is that they say they’re doing it to control mosquitoes. Last time I checked mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, not dry dead leaves. And interestingly enough, they’re storing their wheelbarrow (remember, the one they’re storing on my in-law’s land) on top of two containers of standing water that are set into the ground. These people are so full of crap I can smell them from a block away.

Doggie! Doggie!

Saturday April 12, 2008

Well, last night was the benefit for Dave and Stacy, and they raised like 5,700 bucks, which is great!

Now we’re at their house, waiting for breakfast (which smells great). The boys have eaten, and now Sam is totally enamored of the dog, Axl, and all Andy wants to do is go to the Super Sleuths’ web site and play games.

We’re pretty sure a storm is coming in because not only is Axl shaking in is fur-lined boots, but we’re planning to go to the zoo. Can’t wait!

Water water everywhere...

Thursday April 10, 2008

So, it turns out that every time I drive to visit my husband in Columbus, the heavens open up and throw some type of crappy weather at me. Last time it was a blizzard straight out of a nuclear winter. This time it’s rain like I should have built an ark to take to Columbus instead of a car. And on top of that, I have the world’s worst windshield wipers. And they only get worse the faster I go, which is so sucky.

Well, tonight we’re in Ann Arbor at my Aunt Karla and Uncle Pete’s. Tomorrow the boys and I take off for Columbus and Rob. Then we head for Cincinnati. I hope this benefit raises a TON of money.

Time Flies when You're Having Fun

Wednesday April 9, 2008

Tonight I have to work on my on-the-side work (sigh, I hate being poor), and pack for our trip to Ohio, remembering toothbrushes, toys, clothes, etc. and also clean up so we don’t come home to a mess, and also call my mother and tell her what to bring with the boys, since they’re at her house tonight, and also do some laundry, if I find the time, and also calm down enough to sleep (and also remember to take my medicine tonight). That’s it, I think.

Talk about a long distance relationship

Tuesday April 8, 2008

I just spoke with my husband, Rob, who is studying for his Doctorate in Composition and Music Theory at Ohio State. The boys and I are going to go down to Ohio this weekend, instead of Rob coming home to Michigan. Rob’s brother and sister-in-law, Dave and Stacy, are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Korea and some there’s going to be a benefit this Friday in Cincinnati (where they live) to raise money for the adoption, which costs roughly $25,000.00. The benefit should be fun, and we plan to go to the Columbus Zoo on Saturday, but I am not looking forward to a 6.5 hour car ride home on Sunday with a 5-year-old and a 19-month-old and no other adults along. They are wonderful kids—but they are kids. Potty breaks ought to be fun. Sam loves to test the temperature of the water in the toilet for me—he’s such a helpful little guy. And then there’s Andy, who will glory in telling me “Mom, Sam just stuck his hand in the toilet!” Fun, fun, fun.

We’ve made it through two quarters (and two weeks) of Rob going to school now, with him renting a room from a 94-year-old lady about a mile from campus, and the boys and I back in Holland, Michigan. We’ve rented out our house now, to save money, and have moved in with Rob’s parents (if anyone ever reads this, don’t gasp and feel bad—Rob’s parent’s are great, and if you had to live with someone, you’d want it to be them). We’ve got 7 quarters (minus two weeks) left, which translates into two more years after this one. That totally blows, but the end result is NO MORE SCHOOL!!! And a much BIGGER paycheck with BENEFITS for Rob. So, he comes home almost every weekend, and we deal with it.

This is Andy, my oldest son. He’s five (and a half, as he says) and is not camera shy.

Tuesday April 8, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm8Yc2QveOw

Joining the Throng

Tuesday April 8, 2008

Today is my first post ever. I wonder how many blogs have started that way?

It is raining and crummy out, but at least it is NOT snowing.

I am sick, and this will be a short post.