Blogging? What's that? I seem to have forgotten!

After reading some blogs lately, I realized that I really do miss my tiny little blog :) So, once again, I think I'll try my hand at blogging. We'll see how long it lasts this time!

These are some pictures from our April trip to the Poconos. We went with one other family and did a ton of kayaking. We did most of our trips down the Delaware Water Gap. We dropped all the kayaks & people off at the starting point, and then David & Mark drove the cars down to another launching area (our ending point) 8 miles away. Then they drove one of the cars back up to join us. Then we'd spend the day kayaking on the river (the river was really moving and we hit 10 miles an hour on our second trip!) We had a great lunch on a little desserted island. Paddled some more and eventually got to the drop off car. It worked out great. No paddling back up the river! David and Mark drove back up to where the other car was, and drove it back down to the ending spot. Piece of cake!

We're planning on doing another trip like that again this summer :)

60 Things About Me...

1. My native language is Dutch
2. My parents used to speak Indonesian when they didn't want us to know what they were
talking about. It irritated the heck out of me.
3. I have 3 older sisters & had one older brother
4. My brother died 10 years ago
5. I had a rabbit named 'Cotton Tail" when I was 8
6. I bought a rabbit for my oldest daughter when she was 8.
7. The dog next door ate her rabbit :(
8. I love seafood
9. I have given birth to 6 kids
10. I love to knit
11. I love to scrap
12. I love to read
13. I never have enough time to do what I 'love' to do.
14. I want to move to N.H.
15. My best friend is David
16. I used to work at the Netherlands Embassy
17. I was a 'daddy's girl' through & through.
18. I play the piano
19. I finally found a church that feels like home
20. I am a Christian
21. I love the music at our church
22. I am very proud of my kids
23. When I was 8, I told my mom that I wanted 6 kids
24. I always wanted to have twins
25. I love to camp... in a motorhome
26. Skiing is my favorite outdoor activity
27. I prefer a small group of friends to a large group
28. I'm not a phone person
29. I like email
30. I became a US citizen just a few years ago, but have lived here for 45 years
31. I am part of a knitting group that meets once a week. The ladies in the group are the best!!!
32. I don't like the summer
33. I love the winter
34. I had my first child when I was 19
35. My car is a 2006 Honda Pilot
36. I like my coffee with cream and just a small, tiny, tiny bit of sugar
37. My husband brings me coffee in bed every morning and gets that 'tiny bit of sugar' right
every time.
38. My inlaws are the best!
39. My niece is only 2 years younger than me.
40. I hate to fly
41. I love the movie "Diary of a Mad Housewife"
42. I love the mountains
43. I've never lived on my own
44. I pay my credit cards in full every month
45. I just had a credit card fraud transaction happen on one of my cards :(
46. The movie 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles' still makes me laugh after 20 viewings
47. I can't stand loud gum-chewing - or gum chewing in general :)
48. I'm not a chocolate lover
49. I don't like dessert
50. My husband buys me a bushel of crabs - overnighted from Maryland, every year for my
b-day
51. My son plays the guitar with a group of friends. They sent a demo tape to Reliant K
52. I got an email from Jodi Picoult and saved it
53. My dad was the most amazing man.
54. My mom is the strongest woman I've ever met
55. I am a purse freak
56. We used to have 2 piranhas
57. I am not a t.v. watcher
58. I am very opinionated
59. My faith has grown so much over the years
60. I wish that my mom lived close by so that we could just chat, hang out and have a cup of coffee together.

What exactly is a used cow???

We came across this while driving to Foss Mountain. So how much do you think a 'used' cow goes for? I wonder if it's a substantial discount from a 'new' cow?

Telling it like it is!

Ashley is a natural in so many sports and she's very competitive to boot. She is a fantastic downhill skier, water skier, softball player, she's a strong swimmer, mountain biker, just to name a few. While we were in Maine I found this shirt for her.






It just seemed to fit :)

Goodbye sweet Hailey

Today is Hailey's birthday. She is 14. She's been very sick for the past week and everyday we thought it would be her last. But true to her personality, she hung in there. She was *always* a trooper.

Actually, about a month ago, was when she first got sick, but somehow she pulled through and went from really sick, to almost her old self. The camping dog that she was, we think that she really just wanted to go to Acadia with us. Her last big trip - which she did. She spent a full week in Maine and I think she loved every minute of it.

When we got home from Acadia, she took a huge turn for the worse.
A few days ago, Shauna begged Hailey to hang in there. Just till her birthday. I told Shauna that there was no way that she could do that. It just wasn't possible. Shauna said that she knew in her heart that Hailey could do it. I kept telling her not to get her hopes up. And yet every morning we'd wake to find Hailey hanging on.
Last night at midnight, when everyone had gone to bed, I went over to Hailey's bed and told her that she was amazing. She did it. She made it to her birthday. I then told her it was time to rest.
I must have checked on Hail 20 times between midnight and 6:00 a.m. She wasn't ready to let go.
When Shauna got up this morning the first thing she did was go over to Hailey and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. She said "Happy Birthday Hail, you did it. I knew you would" Shauna's faith was stronger than mine.

Hailey died in my arms at 11:00 this morning. She will always be remembered as the feisty, territorial, sweet, stubborn little Hail-bop-camping dog that she was.

We love you Hailey. Rest in peace and thank you for 14 wonderful years. You will be missed more than you know.

This was Hailey on the day that we brought her home


This was Hailey when we brought Sophie home. She took over as 'mom' to Sophie.











Hailey enjoying a visit with Kristin and Em

Gotta love those stops on the way home!

Last night on his way home from work, David stopped and picked me up 3 pounds of jumbo Alaskan crab legs - just because :)

While we were at Scusset, I got 2, not just one, 3lb lobsters to enjoy all by myself (not on the same night of course!) Again a 'stop & picked it up on his way home from work to the campground'

and while we were in Maine I got another 2 pounder. The icing on the cake is going to be the Maryland crabs that are coming next week. One bushel of the BEST crabs overnighted from Maryland. It's a annual b-day tradition.

He loves me :)

Back from Acadia

Acadia, in a nutshell is just beautiful. Plain & simple, no frills - beautiful. We had (purely by accident) the best campsite in the entire campground. It was spacious, and had a view to die for. There is nothing like waking up in the morning, grabbing a great cup of coffee and watching the sun rise over the water. Or getting back from a long day of hiking, kayaking or biking and grabbing an iced cold beverage and watching the sun set.
Prior to this vacation, David had worked some super long hours 12+ hours a day for 51 days straight) and he was so ready for a break.
The drive was much easier than we expected. We made it to Acadia in just over 6 hours - not bad considering I was thinking it would be at least a 8 hour drive.

this was the view from our front door



It was challenging leaving the shop in other people's hands for an entire week, but our worries were unfounded - we are very lucky that we had some wonderful people stepping in for us.
So, here's what I don't completely get... We had wireless Internet service, but no cell phone service?!? Ok, so I'm technically challenged, but it just didn't make sense to me (yes, I know about cell towers, etc., but it still doesn't make sense)








We'll go back again soon. There was so much we didn't have time to do, that how could we not???

Dropping in from California

It was so good to see Jon! He was in town for his sister's b-day and came by to see everyone. California is obviously agreeing with him - he looks great! The kids had fun catching up and they had no trouble talking him into playing a few games.

*Jon if you're reading this, I bought the book. I'll let you know how it goes :)

Scusset Beach

Here are some pictures of the jetty at Scusset. It was so nice being able to camp there for more than a week. It's quiet, relaxing, fun, and absolutely beautiful. After the medical 'stress' week, we were all so ready for a break. Lucky for us that the commute to the shop from Scusset is so do-able.





During our camping 'adventure' we had a big birthday celebration following in the footsteps of our Christmas exchange. With 5 families joining in, there were plenty of gifts exchanged. For those that don't know about our Christmas exchange (which is where the b-day one came from) here's the scoop...
Between us, all of the families have quite a number of kids. It got very difficult keeping track of who gave who a gift (including which adults got gifts). So the solution was we would stop exchanging gifts during the year and just have one big exchange in July. We put all of the kids names in a hat and each picked a name. If you picked a sibling, the name went back in the hat. After the kids picked their names, the adults did the same (if you picked your spouse, you had to put the name back) We set $$$ amounts for the kids and for the adults and had a few months to do our shopping.
It's nice just focusing on one person. And it seems to make the gift giving more personal.
On the day of the exchange, we all sit in a big circle and each person is given one chance to guess who their secret partner was. If you guess incorrectly, you don't get your gift and the next person gets to guess. We continue guessing until everyone has gotten their gift. It's too funny watching the kids try to keep a poker face while all the guessing is going on. After the exchange we had a bbq with lots of yummy food. And thanks to Michele, we all enjoyed a big ice cream cake that she made for the entire b-day gang. We ended the evening with a walk to the beach to try and catch the sunset.

She's not only cute, she plays poker for money!

Elizabeth is our closet gambler... and her pup apparently has learned a few new tricks from her "mom"
Vegas here she comes!

Thanks....

for all of the good thoughts & prayers! What a long week. All 3 tests are done and while I don't have all the results back, we were thrilled to hear that the nuclear showed no blockages :)
Dawn, a special thank you to you - there is nothing like carrot cake, a brownie and a piece of marble cake to get you through the day before a fast. You rock!

This just made me laugh....

too funny :)

Miss Sophie, aka Princess Sophie SophiA Mae

Fell for that line again...
"I PROMISE I will take care of her - FOREVER! Even when I go off to college, I'll take her with me" Kristin/Elizabeth - Same quote, different dog :) :) :)

Our new pupster is so sweet! She's a great addition to the family.




isn't she just the cutest? :)

Who knew....

It's been how long? Between work, work, work, schooling, work and a once a week "loopy-ewes" meeting, there has been no time to blog. How long has it been? A year or more?

So, this morning I came upon this little quiz and who knew I'd end up being pegged as kermit? :) Hey, it could be worse!

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Been Gone Way Too Long!

I haven't blogged in ages. Boy, time sure does slip away. First of all, I can't believe that we're looking at May right around the corner - wasn't it just Christmas?

We had the most wonderful time sneaking out of here during the kids Spring break. We headed to D.C. with friends of ours. We left here at 1:00 a.m. on Sat. (the 14th?) and drove through the night till we got to Cherry Hill Park in Maryland. What a wonderful campground. Not the usual trees and big sites, but they were great as far as transportation to D.C., tickets & info to monuments & museums, etc. (Of course we had a ton of help from Brenda, a good friend of mine from jr. high!, honestly that woman could be a travel agent!!! We'd have been lost without her)
It was so strange going back to our old stomping grounds. David and I both grew up in Maryland and it has changed so much! At one point we pulled into a townhouse complex to make a U-turn and I thought, "hmmmmm... this looks a bit familiar" well, it ends up that it was where my cousin used to live, I spent many a summer there - but wow, it had changed A LOT!

After driving 11 hours, we pulled into the campground, got settled and headed to D.C. to the National Zoo. (now remember, we'd been up since Friday morning and this was Sat. early afternoon so we were some kind of tired!) The zoo was packed, but everyone had fun.
We even got to see the new baby panda.

We fit so much into this trip. Our days started at 7:00 a.m. and we literally walked all over D.C. till 6:00 p.m.

One evening Brenda took us for a night tour of the monuments. As beautiful as they are during they day, they are even more spectacular at night. This was probably the most structured, well thought out, busiest week "off" that we've ever had. Between the museums, monuments, tours, escalators(don't ask) and shops - we got to see it all. Our first night home we asked everyone what their favorite thing was. The answers ranged from the Arlington Cemetery to Ford Theater, to seeing the original "Star Spangled Banner" in it's newly renovated phase. The thing that I was most grateful that I went to was the Holocaust Museum. I was emotionally drained after going through - but I believe that it is a must-see if you are ever in D.C. It amazes and saddens me that it really wasn't that long ago that all of that happened.

I could write on & on about our trip, but for now I'll just say that I am very grateful that we were able to take the time off of work & spend it with the little guys and that it was a wonderful vacation.

I also want to add that on the Friday night before we left, Brenda took me out to dinner - but not just any dinner. Being on the Cape, the one thing I really, really miss is hard shell crabs. For 14 years, once a year, David has had a bushel flown up for me for my b-day, but other than that they are nowhere to be found. Brenda took me to a place called Gunners (sp?) and I got the BEST crabs I've ever had. She bought me so many that I even had some to bring home (to the Cape!) Thank you again Brenda! :) It was great seeing you and we appreciate all you did for us :)

Oh, and just one more thing... Everyone in D.C, was just so darned nice & helpful. From the guys that were at the Metro to the business people heading home in the evening - everyone we encountered were helpful, smiling, and just plain nice. Man, I miss that "southern hospitality"!

It's Nice to be Missed

It's so nice to be missed :) Besides the bazillion hugs & kisses, I came home to this wonderful wallhanging in the kitchen. It's a good 4 feet long and has lots of 'missed you' messages. I know that they spent a lot of time & effort making it and I am just so thankful that I have such great kids.

After I take it down, I plan on saving it and using it if & when I'm not feeling appreciated LOL! I'll just unroll it and say "hey, remember when I was gone...."



















Yep, it's good to be home

Going Home

I'm going home. Not my 'real' home, at least not anymore. But it's my original home. It's the land where I was born - where my sisters & brother grew up, where I lived till I was 3. After all these years, it's where my family still is.

Funny, but it's hard going back. (besides the fact that I am TERRIFIED to fly - and I make NO secret of it!), not because I don't enjoy the visit and the memories and seeing my sisters & other family members, but it's hard leaving. Not the country, it's hard leaving mom.

So for those that know me, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers while I'm gone. And say a prayer for David too. He is such an amazing guy. Our business is run by both of us - he's going to have a double load on the business front while I'm gone PLUS, he'll have the weight of doing all the school driving (20 minutes each way 4 times a day - normally we each drive one shift) Not to mention the after school activities, the meals, shopping, laundry - everything. He is going to have his hands very full. I never hope for 'less business' at the shop, but I hope that this upcoming week is a relatively quite & non-crazy one.

Another Birthday

27 - how can that be???




My firstborn, the one I had when I was barely 19, is now 27. She was so beautiful when she was born. Not just the obligatory "what a cute baby" comments from family, but from people that didn't have to make any comments. People remarked about her non-newborn looks. There was no dried or wrinkled skin, no puffyness, none of that... after 24 long hours of labor, she came into the world looking like she was a good 4 weeks old. Bright eyed and ready for the world.

I had no clue what to do with this beautiful little girl - afterall, I was still just a young girl myself wasn't I? In hindsight, she probably taught me more in that first year than I taught her.



I think the hardest part of having a new baby was having to go back to work when she was 2 months old. I remember the day before I had to go back to work,I cried like I've never cried before. I was very, very lucky that 'Oma' offered to watch her while I worked. That was such a blessing. She took care of her like she was her own. I remember sometimes feeling a bit jealous that my mom was spending the time with her that *I* wanted to be spending. My mom always appreciated that I let her watch "the baby" and when Jes was much older, my mom said that it was such a gift that she'd be given. It wasn't till years later that I fully realized that my mom had given me a wonderful gift too.


Both of my parents had a very special bond with J & K. I wish that my last 4 had had the same opportunity. This is my dad "opa" with Jes. He just adored her!


So, flash forward 27 years...
Jes has grown into the most amazing woman. She is still as beautiful, well, no... she's even more beautiful now. She is amazingly smart (and yes, I know, all parents say that about their kids, but she really is!!!) & talented. She has done so much with her schooling & her career. It's just beyond what you would imagine your own child could do. Her siblings adore her & she has a close & very special relationship with each & every one of them. She is married to a wonderful guy, has a beautiful house (the girl decorates like a Pottery Barn designer!) she can run a Cavalier to over 200,000 miles!!! (and I'm happy to say, she now has a brand new car!) and that's only the 1/2 of it.

I am so proud of the woman that she has become. Happy b-day Jes. I love you.

Our Grand-dog

Isn't she pretty?

She's staying with us for the weekend. She loves playing with Shelby. They start wrestling around 6 a.m. and continue on and off all day long. By the end of the evening, they are both spralled out on the floor - exhausted. Our grand-dog tries to play with Hailey, but Hailey's an old lady now (she's 11 or 12) and has no interest in romping around on the kitchen floor. She sits on her bed and watches all the fun, oh, and growls when they get in her space.

Our grand-dog loves to have her belly scratched. I've noticed that when I pet her, she's quick to flop over and is ready for a rub.
This morning when David took her out for a walk, he said that she tunneled through the deeper piles of snow in our front yard with her nose. He said it was funny to watch her each time burrow and come up with a pile of snow right on the tip of her nose. She's a cutie.