Coast Guard Festival

We were able to go out on the jet boat yesterday. It was quite fun and Caden even started to warm up to it. You can turn on a time and go from 0 to 55 in a blink of you eyes. So much fun on Spring Lake. Too bumby if we went out on Lake Michigan (for Caden). The only problem we had was the stearing went out and we only could turn left, right was quite difficult, but you could manage because the boat has two thrusters. It was just a little excitement.

After that we went to go see Madagascar the movie. Caden loved it, it was just long enough, because by the last few minutes Caden started squiggling and complaining he had to use the bathroom. We ate all of the popcorn. I don't ever remember hogging out that much, we must have been hungry from the boat ride.

Today it is off to church (Paul is already there, helping with parking) and then to a car show downtown.

The business seems to be growing (I am not mentally ready for that) Paul has one employee and is in the middle of negotiations for another large contract which would mean two more employees. Luckily Paul has a lot of contacts and knows who he needs for the job. Plus most of the CyberNet employees still do not have jobs. It is so disheartening to see educated people jobless for almost a year and counting because of the shakey job market here in Michigan. It seems that the only way to make it, is to make it on your own. There are so many cut-backs and a lot of people don't know how long-term their jobs will be. At least that is the way I feel, seeing so much of it around here.

The weather has been too nice for much more crafting here. The hot air balloon is all dry, but we haven't attached the basket. I want to make a few more stuffed animals for the newborns in our small group (3!). We will see if I complete that before they are in gradeschool ;) I was able to go to a wool store in holland. I was able to find soy silk, that will be so nice to combine with the wool roving and make some flower pendants, barrettes, and scarves.

We are still waiting on the puppy....we are waiting for the papers to be compete on the duplex. Well that's life as we know it today! See ya later.

goopy hot air balloons in the making

This is the goopy result of our creativity. I was inspired by the Martha Stewart Kids magazine so Caden and I just had to try to make a paper mache hot air balloon last night. It is still drying....


this is how the balloon looked at the beginning, Caden and I cut up a mound of construction paper with pinking shears...

and then put them in our gooey concoction of flour and water...

(Caden liked that)
When it dries we will make a box or something and hang it from the balloon (and pop the balloon inside). This is a fun project!


In other news...Caden and I went to the aquatic center today. It was like a big playgound in the water. Pretty fun, but not cheap. This is a good thing to do about once a month. It would cost less if we actually lived in holland, but it was still fun. We had received a gift certificate from school to go to the center, it was a very nice gift. Not much else...

introducing lulu

This is the first of many (I hope :) entries in Month of Softies. This month was sock monkeys. I made her from children's socks. I took this picture and haven't seen her since, Caden loves her! I guess I will be making more just because Caden got so much enjoyment watching me make her and helping also!

Things have gotten back to normal here, it is nice to settle back into some sort of routine. A routine is so much better for Caden, which, in turn is so so much better for us!

happy anniversary to us!

We have been married for eight years as of today! We went on the boat, cruised the big lake all by ourselves (Caden had VBS and his favorite sitter). We had a nice dinner, we shored the boat up and had dinner at the Snug restaurant on the pier walk-way. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful night, we watched the sun set and the moon rise while floating on Lake Michigan. It was the best anniversary we have ever had. We have had more extravagant ones, but this was nice, low-key and less stressful. We both were surprised by the gifts we exchanged. I got Paul a pocket watch engraved with "always & forever" (something that we have always ended our notes back and forth from day one). He got me a beautiful diamond and ruby bracelet. We are so blessed.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Paul's birthday. We had a good time boating on Lake Michigan. It was hot inland, but much nicer out in the big lake. Tuesday is our anniversary. I am so excited, this is the first year that I actually thought of a great gift. You see, Paul is the more romantic one in this relationship..I am so lucky!

On the crafting front..I haven't been so successful. I am working on the sock dog (instead of a monkey) for month of softies (http://www.loobylu.com ) Well, I have bought the socks anyways :) Time has been flying by...I must be getting older. It seems that I have been busy entertaining Caden over the summer. This week is Vacation Bible School and I am helping with that also. I am also going to start volunteering in the food pantry.

I received the cutest little scissor charm from http://craftlog.org just as a thank you for reading her blog. Reading her blog is enough of a reward, but it was so nice to get something in the mail. It seems that mostly we receive bills and junk mail, it is so fun to get good mail!

bunny update....They have all grown up and moved on...I see them hopping through the yard here and there. They haven't even bothered my new perennials.

hasta!!!

Boating

We spent last weekend boating with the big powerboats. This is Caden and Paul, driving along. We got to see huge boats that could go extremely fast. Unfortunately one of the boats flipped and two people were killed. We didn't see the accident, but it sure did put a damper on some of the experience. Even though the boats are made to go fast, not just anyone can drive them, you really need a calm head on you shoulders. Small mistakes at 90mph on the water can equal death.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the various boats at the marina and along the channel. They quite often had very elaborate paint jobs, pretty showy.

Even when you are away, you can make my day!

Paul was away for business today...look what he sent! He made us feel so loved, he was gone for only one day, but it made us sad, so the teddy bear was for Caden and the flowers for me. I love sunflowers, so happy and summer-like.



Thank you, honey! You made our day!

statiscally speaking...

do you want to be one?... so to http://blogsurvey.media.mit.edu/

not much new here, just busy busy. Mainly we have been busy with medical appointments. It seems that they know the problem and it can be treated for a few months and then go back to normal...er whatever that is...

Caden has had some boughts of "super meltdowns". I am not sure how to handle them...he just freaks out and gets unconsolable and almost incoherant. He is focused on what he wants and cannot calm himself to be able to realize that he cannot have his way. Oh-the drama of a four year old.

Happy Birthday Grandma-lini!

Happy birthday gramma-lini, wish we were there!

felting away

Today Caden and I made felted beads. pictures to follow tomorrow maybe.... It was fun, but Caden had about no attention span, so he would help make a bead and then run around like mad. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

Last night we had fun scavening the beach with Grandma. Caden found lots of leftover treasures like a shovel, a moon man, and two fish forms. So we did our "beach cleanup" last night. We thought it would wear him out, but I think it recharged his batteries! It was also fun, no matter what the result :)

Bunny update...all is well, momma bunny still taking care of the babies and they are getting too big for the burrow! They are getting close to moving on, it looks like. Of how fast they grow up, thank goodness we don't grow up that fast! Caden is already so big! I couldn't imagine sending my baby out into this cruel, cruel world. (ie, London) Who are these people who would do something like this, is this the world they want to send their babies out into?

bouncing baby bunnies

While weeding over the weekend I discovered a bunny burrow. It was placed right in front of the back deck. Inside, six baby bunnies were all nested intertwined together. Their eyes had not opened yet. I carefully replaced the weeds. Luckily the momma bunny has come back and is taking care of the babies still, and their eyes are opening!

(bunny butt)




We had a wonderful fourth of july weekend. We went to the beach, and art festival and enjoyed our own fireworks from the back of our car in our driveway. We were supposed to be on a boat, but the weather did not cooperate, so Paul braved the drizzle and entertained us with our own small firework display. Caden was in awe of them. He asked and asked for them and then he would hide behind me when they went off. He would cautiously peak over my shoulder and stare in wonder. The look on his face was like he knew it scared him but he couldn't take his eyes off from them.

I also got to pick up some art supplies.

Some beads, and wool felt. I am so excited to get back to crafting, I just haven't had the time lately. hmmm...actually I think I keep putting it off subcontiously because I just don't want to fail. But some of the greatest things in life has come out of "failure". I just need to get back into the swing of things.

Beautiful Breeze

this is an abstract pic of out resident dragon fly, taken through the window screen, isn't he cool. He sat there patiently while I clicked away, taking multiple shots, I thought the contrast between the screen and the bug was cool.


this is one of our finches that thinks he owns the feeder...that is until his girlfriend stops by...as you can see in the picture, she dive-bombed him and got him out of her way!


(she's the tan smudged, she was moving quick!)

In other news, we have been accepted to adopt a pug. We are waiting the right match. They have a litter of puppies, we may get one of those. We will see. The girls that I have previously listed have already been scheduled for home visits and may have already found homes. We will be patient, the right pup will come.

Today we perused the Art in the Park at Muskegon's Summer Celebration. It was nice, but very busy. Caden got a home-made set of finger puppets that an elderly gentleman had made. So far, a good start to a holiday weekend.

breezy summer days

this picture by Joleen Thiessen at http://joleensartisticendeavors.blogspot.com/ captured the essence of yesterday. It was a beautiful breezy day.

Busy Bee!

Caden, this afternoon

Well today has been another busy summer day. I think we are just running away from the humidity. We had our normal rounds of shopping to do, bu tonight we went out to pizza with Grandma. After that we toke a stroll on the beach. It was so beautiful by the beach, much cooler and nice waves in the water. Unfortunately Daddy had to work so it was Caden and the "girls" tonight. Paul just got home and it rushing the last bit of daylight trying to mow the lawns. He is working so hard. He has to go to California next week. He seemed excited, I, well, was not so excited. He is already gone so much, we will miss him so.


a quick painting in Caden's room, I though I would share a few...


horrible picture of this painting, but I painted this for our little surfer dude.


another aquatic theme.


Caden's favorite of this bunch, I made it because he loves his firetrucks!

and finally...

This is a picture I found on the camera from our boat trip on Memorial Day. We, and half the population of this state, will be going boating on the Fourth. I am excited.

Things I am looking forward to:
-transplanting flowers this fall, our yard needs more perennials
-getting a cute pugly wuggly soon
-going to the beach more

hot, humid and hurried

north pier recent boating excursion

the water out-put by port sheldon, it is like a big bubbly mass in the middle of the lake, kinda like a monster lurking under the water if you didn't really know why it was there!

paul and caden

a big boat in the channel as we were heading out, it was coming in, we felt puny!


That has been what we feel like lately. Hopefully there will be a break in the weather soon. There is actually a restriction on the water usage here. It is so dry, most lawns are fried. Luckily we have a well for water with and our garden is flurishing, especially the weeds. It seems like we are still catching up with things to get done ever since we got back from California.

I have been organizing the craft/office/spare bedroom. I have been inspired by the purchase of the sewing machine. I even have an "inspiration wall" where I post pictures of all things cute.

Paul has been very busy with work, even working until 11 last night. He sold he car, again (long sordid story). We are purchasing a Saab 9-5 station wagon to replace it. The wagon has a manual transmission, we were having fun getting used to it again! It is a fun car to ride in and will be a good commuter car. Paul has been putting on over 500 miles a week back and forth to work. The stick will make it have better gas mileage than my 9-5, plus mine has a little lower miles and has a little more bells and whistles. So, I will be keeping mine, Paul will use the wagon.

So much for rambling...

They just got another pug at the rescue...Mia. She is so cute, one year old. Also five pups were born...

isn't she beautiful. I hope we are able to adopt her. We will see. We answered the final questions. I think they want us to have a fenced yard. I hope that does't stop it. We are outside people and have a leash hook that is safe for quick trips to the potty. Besides, she will be an indoor dog.

Well...I got my x-rays done for my fusion. I will get the results next week.

We are going to the water park tomorrow. I am very excited. This will be Caden's first time. It will be a nice hot day for it! Woohoo!

It is a hot one here, so so very nice to have AC. Not much else new...totalu!!

Another Bob in the family

blog world...meet bob...
This is Bob, our new boogie-eyed black goldfish. He has a lot of personality for a fish. Caden adores him. He comes to your finger on the tank and swims around like crazy. He has made it right at home here. Caden apparently loves the name Bob, since that is what he named his bear and this fish. Somehow, though, the fish just seems like a Bob. If I cannot have my boogie-eyed doggie now (a pug) then I'll get us a boogie-eyed goldfish. ha!

we're back!

Well, we have finally made it home. Both Caden and I were surprised! Caden got a bunkbed!!

the bunkbed
And Paul picked out a new bed for us too. It is really nice, and beats the heck out of sleeping on the floor like we have been doing for the last few months.

our new bed

We are happy to be home. We got my Dad a George Foreman grill, which he has been wanting for a while. Paul worked on something gorgeous for his father, but we haven't shipped it yet, so it is top secret. Caden picked out a bear to make at that store where you build a bear. He named it bob. Bob says "I love you Daddy" in Caden's voice. This way, if we have to be apart again, Paul will have his very own bear to remind him of us. We went boating on the jet boat for a little while, but Caden had jet lag and was very grumpy. He lost his hat (we got it back) in the first few minutes and decided that he only wanted to go slow. That is not much fun in a jet boat. Maybe next time we will have more fun. We needed the rest anyway. After our nap, we did some yard work. We had a good Father's Day, I hope you did also.

the notorious B O B!!!

As I try to load the pictures I am finding that even our printer has changed. Our old printer would mysteriously shut off in the middle of a print, so apparently Paul got fed up with it. hmmm, now how to load the pictures....

While I try to figure out this newest dilema, I can tell you how much fun Caden had in California. Caden got even more close to Grandpa. They are two peas in a pod when it comes to eating. Grandma R. was able to come for a short visit and spoil Caden rotten. Auntie Cheryl got to come along too, she even brought a gift for Caden. He is so blessed with generous loved ones. We didn't get to see Grandpa R. or Uncle Allen even though we were only 13 miles away, they had to work work work. That was a big bummer for Caden. They will just have to travel out here and hang with us! We did get to visit with Christie and eat at Chevy's twice. (ours closed a year ago). Now I have had my fill of California and all the traffic and people in a big hurry. (Sorry for the stereotype, but it was generally how I felt when I visited, and I grew up there)

Caden is happily playing with his friend upstairs on his new bunkbed. He is so happy. He loves playing with all his toys at home, he has been stuck with a lowly suitcase of toys for two weeks. i think that it is good, though, he really appreciates his toys now. (for now I guess, I am sure that will not last that long) Grandma R. spoiled him with new toys and books for his leapfrog. Daddy also had a jeep toy waiting for him at home. Our child is so fortunate. (and so are we!)


oh, how I wish to adopt a pug soon!

How to have fun in the ER?

this image and many others are available for sale in very limited qualities at http://www.loobylu.com/midnightpicnic/index.html , Claire's blog is at http://www.loobylu.com I am a huge admirer of her talent and only wish I could obtain one of her prints, they will go quickly.

Well, we didn't go shopping. I had to go to the ER because of the unavailability of my medication. I had it special ordered and it didn't come in, so the only option was to go to the ER because I would get sicker without it. Needless to say, it wasn't a fun day. Caden was as good as could be expected. He made friends with a six year old. Caden was bigger than the six year old! The little boy was more interested in interviewing me, asking how old I was, etc. Caden got really jealous. It was not the most entertaining four hours of my life. But here I am, duragesic patch in place, doing better. (At least I am able to walk and care for Caden, so that is better in my book!)

Today we will see Grandma and Grandpa and also Aunt Cheryl. They will be coming later than expected, I hope Caden will be able to contain his ants in the pants that seem to occur when he doesn't have a nap. We can only hope ;) Oh well, a little hyperness never hurt anyone, I guess I am just jealous that I don't have one hundredth of his energy and enthusiasm for life. Having a child opens a whole new perspective and appreciation for life.

I have been sorting through my Grandmother's spuratic collection of pictures. I have already copied a few picture at kinko's on a CD, and now I have discovered a few more. We are going to go get them copied in jpg format at Kinko's in a few minutes. I put together pictures packets for the relatives. Grandma saved, cherished, and bosted every family picture she ever received. I think that our family would be surprised to see and remember all the shared memories that these pictures contain.

It is much cooler here in California and looks that it may rain again. I guess that it is 150% above normal in rain content. It is so unusual to have rain in California in June. What is with this strange weather?

summertime

I just love love love this picture by Penelope Dullaghan at http://www.penelopeillustration.com/journal.html I think that "summer" is the topic for Illustration Friday (http://illustrationfriday.com/). I just had to share it, I used to collect fireflies on hot summer days up north. They don't have fireflies here in California that I have ever seen....boohoo. I miss you guys!