Free Time

The End of My Ole Cigar

2011-05-17T21:49:00.002-04:00

In my mind, I've composed this post a half dozen different times, but never wrote it. I think because I felt whatever I wrote would be hugely inadequate. How do you sum up in a blog post some of the most amazing 96 years? How could I sum up the impact on my life that my grandma had? I realize tonight just how much I want her legacy to live on in my family and future generations because we all need a "hero" to look to - not the movie star or pro athlete kind, but the real kind who takes life by the horns and lives it...well.

Growing up, my grandma was my best friend. I think I was at her house more than my own. She was the perfect blend of fun, teaching, mischievousness, and godliness all wrapped in one. She made the most amazing pancakes, the best way to describe is "fried in bacon grease." But she didn't just make them for me, she'd always make a few extra for me to go share with one of the neighbors' dogs as she knew my love for animals. She was a bit of a schemer - we went behind my parent's backs to get my brother and I kittens. We baked hundreds of loaves of bread, pies, and other sweet treats together and she always knew to leave me a bit of raw dough. We fished and cleaned fish. We gardened. We played countless games of SkipBo and Uno. We had many slumber parties where she would read me from one of her classics - Old Bones, Little Women, or My Naughty Little Sister - in her English accent. And then, the Royals. Watching Kate and Wills really brought me back to her living room and watching Di and Charles. She had several large picture books of the wedding that I poured over. She loved Lady Di - I think that's probably the only thing she held on to from the "Mother Land" besides the accent.

I could seriously go on, and on, and on about the memories of my grandmother, and someday I hope to at least for my childrens' and future grandchildrens' sake. But I would be completely remiss if I didn't touch on the most important aspect of my grandma's life - her faith.

Most people of faith, present company included, keep it mostly personal and try to live as God instructs, but under the radar. Not grandma...she was the consumate live out loud preacher from dusk til dawn. It permeated every part of her life and everyone knew it. She was a professional hugger and lover, which is why so many were drawn to her. People want to be loved and she was so genuine. Not just easy-to-love people - she specialized in the unlovable! I remember a girl about my age at church who had some "issues" shall we say. She came from a broken home, was probably abused to some degree, had hearing aids, and was just socially very akward. I tried to avoid her like the plague, but not grandma. She showered her with hugs, little treats, and positive attention. She would invite her to tea and sandwhiches and try to instill some social graces on her - just because she was so loving doesn't mean she held back, oh no, she's the first to correct. Grandma would invite me to these teas as well, I think to try to teach me through osmosis. I wish I could say I absorbed it all, but only in the last several years have I really understood the beauty of this side of her. There are countless other examples similar to that girl - humbling really. She did it all to mirror God's amazing love to us - we are all socially unacceptable when compared to his standards.

I've missed my grandma so much these last few years as she's been with us, but not. Now that she's really not, it's that much more raw. But also that much more joyous! All she ever wanted was to be with Jesus! I know she's dancing a jig to the End of My Ole Cigar in her new, young, perfect body!

Mini Marathon...

2011-04-19T21:18:00.002-04:00

I hate you.
I thought it was a great motivator to lose some baby weight (by the way, why does it get harder and harder to lose after each kiddo?), get fit again, do something with Steve, and catch up with some college buddies. Thankfully, hopefully, the last goal will be met, but as for the other three...not so much.
I've been running, not super regularly since I have 2 jobs and 4 kids, since Christmas. Haven't lost a pound. I guess I am getting fitter - I can run 6-7 miles, which I've never done before. Jeans really aren't fitting that much better, though. Love handles still there.
Due to numerous children, very rarely do Steve and I enjoy our new activity together - twice to be exact. Also, it's really not an enjoyable date. Take last Sunday. We were supposed to run 8 miles - barf. So it's the first, and only, nice day we've had since last August - it's 85F and pretty muggy. We have major landscape projects going during the day which are exhausting in themselves, so we put off our run til it gets cooler in the evening. Good plan, except then the wind picks up to like a stiff 30mph. So we head off on the run - into the wind. That is such an non-motivating thing. I keep trying to get visuals of rising up on wings of eagles and running and not growing weary. I'm praying with every step for God to help me go a few more. I feel much more like a turkey than an eagle flying. And we're both very weary. We ran a whopping 2.5 miles into the wind. We looked at each other and said, "this is dumb!" The 2.5 with the wind back to the car was much easier, but I think we were both deflated at the fact we were 3 miles short of our goal and DEAD!
So I should be on the treadmill right now. Kids are actually in bed, Steve's out of town. I could come up with a lot of good excuses. Time to go put the tennies on and plod off some miles. Only 2 more weeks til the race. Then I may not ever run again...until some other "friend" guilts me into it.

She's 6 Months...

2011-03-24T12:47:00.004-04:00

Josie Louisa stormed onto the scene Labor Day weekend of 2010 - a week or so early. At times it seems like forever since then and I can hardly imagine not having her in our family. Other times, it feels like only moments since she was so tiny and helpless.

At 6 months, Josie weighs 18 1/2 lbs, is 26 1/2 inches, and doing well. She sits on her own, is moving towards crawling, and holding her own bottle (this is more of a survival tactic, you never know which sibling might be in charge of holding your bottle. If it's the oldest or the youngest, you might as well fend for yourself. If it's Rylee, you've got a good chance at getting some food). She has one tooth and another will be in shortly. I am advising her to learn how to use them early - self defense against troublesome brother. For the most part she is a laid-back little lady which they say is common for 4th children, but she will definately let you know if her bottle is late or something isn't up to desired specification. She is a professional cheerleader already. I always swore my kids will not be cheerleaders, so this will only continue until she's old enough to participate herself. She has been to so many soccer, gymnastics, and basketball games already and seems to pretty much enjoy them all. Basketball is her favorite. From the minute we went to Gabby's first game, she was hooked - the lights, the balls, the sounds of dribbling, screaming parents, whistles, etc., what more could a baby ask for (her brother to sit still so she can watch in peace might be one thing)!

Josie is adored by her siblings. Gabby adores from a distance...she's not fond of spit, pooh, or smells. She does like to hold her occasionally, especially when another sister is already holding Josie. Rylee adores from 2" away...maximum. She will be a great mother...she fears nothing, not intimidated by crying, and is already learning about multitasking with children. I can give her the baby in the morning and she will change, dress and feed her very efficiently. Sometimes this is a bit frustrating as I frequently have to remind her who Josie's mother is. C.J. adores from the side, on top, under, to the left and right. For the most part he is very sweet with Jo, but like many 3 yr olds, can be a bit overbearing. She tolerates it, though, and enjoys his antics. He likes to stay close to "his Jos" because she usually has a pacifier he can steal (had weaned him of this until she came around).

So here are a couple recent picture of our favorite babe!

Wow, a Whole Year, Really?

2011-03-16T08:56:00.002-04:00

So I knew it had been a long time when I couldn't even remember the web address to get to my page, but wow, it's actually been over a year since I last posted. Don't think that's because I didn't want to, I really enjoy the creative writing aspect of blogging and keeping up with everyone beyond the 1 sentence wall updates on fb. I honestly could not (and still probably can't) squeeze anything more into my life. It has been way more crazy than I care to elaborate on. So I'll give a past 12 month quickie update and then try to carry on as if I'd never quit.
(Aside: is this cheating? I gave up fb for Lent, and now I'm back to blogging:))
January 2010: Steve has shoulder surgery (old baseball injury), cousin Anja comes to live with us
February 2010: A big blur of morning/all day sickness, did enjoy coaching Gabby's youth b-ball team
March 2010: We were still trying to sell the house, so decided one last big push - start re-doing asthetics like paint, tile, carpet, fixtures, trim, etc.
April 2010: Continued fixer-upper
May 2010: African adventure - it was so amazing! We are planning our next trip ASAP, we're hooked. Anyone want to join?
June 2010: School went til June 18! It felt like half the summer was over:(
July 2010: Enjoyed the lake to the fullest. My kiddos are really turning into water rats which is great by me.
August 2010: Decided in July not to sell the house, instead put on an addition. Was to be a new room for the girls, until I thought, "Wait, who's paying for this? I want the new room!" Construction and dust.
September 7, 2010: Josie Louisa arrived a little early (I'm all in favor of that), but via C-section (not at all in favor). Spent September recovering from some complications.
October 2010: Savored the rest of the girls' soccer games and staying home with the 2 young-uns, and a week trip to Marco Island.
November 2010: Had to start back to work a little earlier than I wished due to boss' travel schedule. Enjoyed a great Thanksgiving with family.
December 2010: Still can't figure out a new normal...will one ever exist? Everything seems like full-time chaos. Decided to head off to Florida for some QT for Christmas...good decision.
January 2011: It's cold. I can't seem to balance these 4 different schedules. Co-worker decides to quit as of February.
February 2011: I'm back to running the vet practice pretty much solo. Not happy about it because before I only had 2 kids running around, now it's way too crazy for this nonsense! Trying to figure out what the best recourse is. Girls busy with b-ball and gymnastics. CJ and Josie are the greatest fans!
March 2011: Feel like maybe a new normal is within reach. Business stuff is slowly working into me becoming a partner and actually being compensated for all the extra crap I deal with. Now looking forward to trying to find a new associate vet. Once that's accomplished, I'm hoping to really slow down my actual field work - we'll see how that pans out.
Kids are great. They are pretty agreeable for the most part - they have to be! For instance the other day I took all 4 of them with me on an emergency call because I had no sitter and Steve wasn't home yet. I bribed them, yes. Gabby took care of Josie in the truck, while Rylee kept an eye on CJ and played with the calves, in the manure, and all around got messy - that's how those 2 roll. One of the workers thought the kids should have a kitten, so we took that home since everyone was so good. We stopped to get gas on the way home. Then the truck wouldn't start. I cried, Josie was crying, CJ was crying, Gabby was whining, Rylee was complaining, and the kitten was wiggling and being a kitten in a box. There were 2 angels that soon pulled up next to us in a truck that said Diversified Recovery - Steve's truck and guys!!! They rigged the starter so I could at least get home and off we went! God is good, all the time!
I'll try to be better about this, even post some pictures. For now, CJ is awake and wants attention:)

Am I Really That Old

2010-02-22T06:02:00.004-05:00

Conversation that occurred regarding Olympics:

Friend 1 (40+ yrs): When is Yoko Ohno gonna skate again?

Friend 2 (21yrs): HaHa, that's a funny name, he skates in 10 minutes.

Friend 1 continues to refer to Apolo Ohno as Yoko Ohno just for kicks.

Me, later to Friend 2: You know who Yoko Ohno is right?

Friend 2: (Dumb stare)

Me: She's a real person - it was John Lennon's wife. You do know who John Lennon is, right?

Friend 2: He was a singer right?

Whoa, I didn't think I was that much older, but apparently there's either a huge generation gap between the early 20's and 30's or I am just friends with less intellegent people!! I felt really old!

Here's a few OLD photos to wet your appetite. Couldn't find my other camera this morning so you get Christmas!

Nurse Rachelle

2010-01-31T21:09:00.002-05:00

Sorry there have been so few posts and even fewer pictures. I will try to fix that in February. Besides chasing the 3 around, coaching b-ball, and working, Steve had shoulder surgery mid-January. So I've been challenged to be a good nurse. I can recognize that I was definately not intended to go into human medicine because my level of sympathy is so low it's terrible. I try to act empathetic, but it's pretty much faking. With animals, they can't complain, so I don't have to worry about acting sympathetic - it works great. Steve is healing up, finally. Hopefully in a couple months he'll be back to throwing, shooting, and whatever else.

What's the Right Answer??

2010-01-04T21:33:00.002-05:00

So now I got another dreaded question...
"Mommy, some kids in my class say Santa isn't real. Is he?" from Gabby.
I gave a sly, uncommitted answer, "I don't know, what do you think?" until I could get home to ask the Santa-master of the house. He said stay uncommitted. I can't remember any childhood experience to draw on to answer this. It's not that I didn't believe in Santa, we just didn't play it up too much that I can remember. I don't really care if she knows, but then it potentially spoils it for Ry and CJ, too, because I know she won't be able to keep that juicy of a secret!
Any ideas?

Oh No!!

2010-01-02T15:41:00.002-05:00

Not yet, I'm not ready!
He's only just 2 years old - although he talks like a 4 year old.
I thought I had at least another couple months before I had to answer....
WHY?
Oh yes, yesterday I told him it was nap time and he blurts out without a thought "Why?"
Then today in the car, everything I told him was followed up with "Why?"
I guess I'll just have to answer with a parents favorite answer, "Because I said!"

Hope You Had a Great Thanksgiving...

2009-12-01T21:24:00.002-05:00

I sure did! Here are some of the high lights:

No work from Wednesday afternoon - Sunday afternoon (horse euthanasia, only took 20 minutes)
Cousin in since week before Thanksgiving - love having another woman around and so fun to catch up.
Other cousins/aunt and uncle in Monday - my kids love playing with the cousins and we had an overall blast!
Gabby's 8th birthday was Monday - we layed low and did dinner and presents. You'll never guess what Steve got her - a hampster! Not my first choice, be he gets dad-of-the-month because she absolutely loves it. It was evil at first, but now it's getting much more friendly.
Tuesday gym night at Gull Lake Ministries - fun playing bball, v-ball, and pickleball with highschoolers.
Wednesday prep for Thanksgiving food. I actually think all the cooks in the kitchen got along. Maybe it was the "drink and cook" philosophy?
Yum and Yum for Thanksgiving dinner! It was so good. I don't know why we don't have turkey more often, I love it. I have so much to be thankful for - that could be its own post so I won't go into details, but lets just say I feel very blessed for sure.
Thursday night bonding with some special ladies (aka crazy ladies). We ventured out into the world of late-night shopping with a midnight run to ToyzRUs. Needless to say, we waited in line an hour b/c they were only letting in 10 people at a time. Ugh - Dumb! But we had fun shivering in the rainy, windy, cold night air. And we got a few good deals, too.
Shopping, AirZoo, and more shopping on Friday. After getting home at 2am, I didn't venture out at some ungodly hour of the morning, but still did some power shopping.
Blind Side - great movie!! Recommend for anyone who hasn't seen. Plus we went to the "Dutch" movie theater - $5 large popcorn and 2 large drinks!
Saturday celebrated Gabby's birthday by going to Craig's Cruisers - go carts, games, laser tag, etc. We had lots of fun!
Saturday night let our hair hang out at the local "barn" - actually had pretty good live music. Had plenty o' fun with fam and friends. Even got to dance with my hubby which is pretty rare. Need to do this more often.
Sunday church and veg.

So you can see, there was no short supply of fun around here. I'm a little tired, but hey, "You only live once!" Right? Pics to come.

Happy Birthday C.J.!!

2009-11-12T12:37:00.007-05:00

I am no Ace of Cakes, but at least it resembled a tractor. I used 2 loaf pans for the body of it, then chocolate muffins for the wheels. He blew out the candles without even spitting on the cake - way to go!

Yum, it even tastes good, too! He barely ate any dinner because all he could think about was "tractor cake." It was worth it to save those calories.

A dump truck he can ride - fantastic!

It is always so much fun when a big box comes in the mail - and this one had a present too!

As a special surprise for his birthday, we went to Walnutdale Farms (one of my clients), for some real tractor time!! You should have seen the smile ear to ear when we got out of the car and he stood next to the huge combine!! He was not as thrilled when I lifted him up into the cab - it was high up and pretty noisy. But after a few minutes sitting with him in the buddy seat, he warmed up to it and started talking with Farmer Ken about the corn and the combine.

Rylee went first to prove that it was o.k. That's her role in life I think - to be the guinea pig, first-to-try. She loved it and said it was safe, so then C.J. decided it would be alright to go, too. No pics of that because I was up there with him. He loved watching the corn fill up the bin and the combine "fingers" picking the corn off the stalks.

Then we made a side trip to the dairy to go visit the baby cows. They're always a hit!

Here is a birthday conversation with the little champ:

Person: What day is it?

C.J.: C.J. birday

Person: Oh, how old are you?

C.J.: TWOOO!

Person: What do you want for your birthday?

C.J.: Dump truck, tractor, monster truck, combine

Person: What kind of cake do you want?

C.J.: Tractor

Person: What else do you want?

C.J.: Candy!!

So we tried to live up to all his little aspirations of a special day - a tractor cake made by mommy, all sorts of trucks/tractors/combine, a big dump truck, and a trip to the farm!

H1N1

2009-11-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

I get annoyed by the littlest things sometimes. I'll admit it. I've ranted about them before I'm sure, and I will again. Like right now I'm annoyed with H1N1 (more specifically with all the local people who are convinced they have it but most likely don't). So our kids were off of school from Tuesday thru Friday - 4 days - due to too much sickness in the schools. This was all the snow days we are allotted before we even had any of the white stuff accumulate! I blame the media for much of this because without their constant drumming of how awful this flu bug is and how it's a worldwide pandemic, life may be better. How many people kept their kids home just because they had a runny nose or a little cough, but because everyone is all up in arms about swine flu they felt they couldn't send them to school. My friend got a call at work on Monday from the school secretary to send home her daughter because she was sick. Said friend is a nurse, so she asked if there was a fever, vomiting, symptoms of any kind? Her eyes look tired. Nice.

So then all the news is covering this stuff and talking about how schools need only to have a certain percentage of students out sick before closing down. It doesn't take a moderately intellegent middle or high schooler long to figure out if enough of you are sick, school will be closed. I heard stories of perfectly healthy kids calling home claiming to be ill to help increase the "sick" percent.

Then all the sick people of course are flocking to the emergency rooms - after all, isn't swine flu an emergency? That's a great idea, lets spread this bug to all the people who are sick/dying of other stuff. I can see if H1N1 was a serious condition, but it's not. According to our local infectious disease doctor (who was pleading with people to stay out of the ER), it is milder than the average seasonal flu that we deal with every year. Really the only people who might need to be concerned are those with pulmonary issues (lungs).

So that brings me to the vaccine. Being a medical professional, I'm rather sceptical of a vaccine for a disease that was just identified 6 months ago. Animal vaccines take years to develop what with safety and efficacy studies. We just got a new cow vaccine on the market and it took like 2 years even though it was exactly the same as the old one, just one new ingredient, they had to re-prove the efficacy and safety of all the old ingredients plus the new one. So how did they do that in 6 months? Then the whole "forced vaccination" of medical workers - I won't even go there. You probably know how I feel already:)

So when our kids are in school on July 4th, you'll now know why.

Of soccer and sweatshirts

2009-10-14T14:45:00.003-04:00

Ok, officially someone forgot to remember we need fall before winter. Crap-o weather in Michigan most of the time. I know I seem to always be mentioning weather here, but remember, I work outside. I should have titled "soccer and winter coats, hats and mittens." Oh well.

Soccer - what a blast we are all having!! I should have played soccer more than just the one year in high school - it's a lot of fun! Gabs and Ry are both on the same team (Rylee's playing up - it's just easier to keep track of one team and she was ready) and I'm assistant coaching. Mind you, I play soccer with the philosophy of a basketball player, just using feet instead of hands. The team is doing really well - we're like 4-1-1 I think. Both girls are playing great on all ends of the field - I admit my pride in them swells every week.

What else is new? Not much exciting - Steve has gotten one doe thusfar. House still not sold - we're considering taking it off the market, selling property, and remodeling current home. I've taken on a "boarder" horse - I'll have to post a pic for you to get the true picture of how badly he was injurred.

I will post pics when I can find the correct camera. I swear that thing is always lost!

Proud Blogger

2009-09-18T23:18:00.004-04:00

So I must admit...looking at all your amazing blogs with great pics and interesting and/or witty stories made me feel bad about being an absent blogger lately. So instead of proudly letting you know what I'm up to, I'll post a picture that about sums it up. In case you need explaining, this is my freezer.

Q: "What is the blue/red/other colored stuff?"

A: Mostly blue moon ice cream, but it has some other fantastic freezer items melted into the goo.

Q: "Wow, what happened, did you lose power lately?"

A: Nope. We lost power about 3 months ago and about 6 months ago before that. Yep, it's been there that long.

Q: "I bet that took some effort to clean up."

A: I wouldn't know. It's still there:)

Full Circle

2009-08-24T21:56:00.003-04:00

So I've now come full circle I guess.

Some were surprised when I announced that I was going to become a vet - "We've never heard you say you want to be a vet before." - and this was true. It never dawned on me that this would be the career path I would choose. My mother should have known, though, for way back in my early childhood days one of my favorite things to do was dissect any dead animal I could get my hands on - in her garage!! Early anatomy lessons.

So yesterday when my mom found my on my hands and knees in her garage with bloody towels all over, it was only natural. I finally got to fix one of my own, in her garage of all places:) My dumb dog once again figured out a way to injure herself out in the pasture. I swear she was out less than 10 minutes and somehow got a 4-5 inch laceration on her front leg. Thankfully only skin deep and no tendons, muscles, etc. damaged. 18 stitches later and she's good to chase horses once again.

Thanks mom for a nice clean garage floor to perform my life's calling on! You really are a trooper about all the guts and gore and smells! Love you!

She looks a little guilty, no? Maybe this time she'll think twice, but I doubt it. Speaking of guilty faces - this one definately is!! This is what happens when you give a boy a chocolate pudding to eat on his own. Usually his sisters referee this type of outlandish behavior, but since they were busy elsewhere, he took full advantage of my back being turned while making salsa. I obviously wasn't too surprised - I did take his shirt off before letting him go at it.

Day Off

2009-07-16T11:48:00.003-04:00

So excited to go pick blueberries this afternoon!!! YUMMY!!! I have several recipes rolling around in my noggin and I'm psyched to try them out. We have new neighbors recently, and my good friend and prior babysitter, Hannah, just moved in down the road, so I have some home-welcoming to do! I'll try to post some pics of the event - no promises because my small camera took a crap and my good camera needs batteries (I think I can handle that one).

Happy Beautiful Day!

Liberty

2009-07-13T21:59:00.004-04:00

(Disclaimer: I have refrained for the most part from political discussions on this blog, but I've finally had it, and I don't know what better venue to vent my frustrations than this since I'm better at writing than speaking.)

Webster Dictionary Definition of LIBERTY: 1. the quality or state of being free 2. the power to do as one pleases 3. freedom from arbitrary or despotic control 4. the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges 5. the power of choice

Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I am truly alarmed and horrified at the erosion of liberty in our lives. I'll site some things that are really irking me later, but what's even worse is that it seems like we're just sitting on our haunches and watching our freedoms vanish one after another. Everyone is so content to just let our "nanny," the government, just make all our decisions. Is this a generational thing - that we're too lazy to make our own minds up? Too comfortable in our recliners? Unlike our founding fathers who weren't content with having arbitrary control forced upon them from the British church and government. Are we so caught up in the rat-race that we can't even see what is going on around us?

So what is it that's got me all fired up? Well, it will seem stupid at first, because it is rather trivial. It's more the additive effect of stealing freedom and choice over and over. I reached my tipping point on Sunday. We were out boating on a gorgeous afternoon, minding our own business and following all the rules of the lake...or so we thought. Until the rent-a-cop boat police decided to pull us over. "What's wrong sir?" "How old are the kids in the boat?" "Six, five-and-a half, eighteen months, and the one in the tube is eight." "Well, they don't have the right kind of life jackets on." "Excuse us, they're all wearing coast-guard approved vests, sir."

"Well, they need to have type 1 PFD's until they're six in a boat, and until 12 on a jet ski. The rule changed this spring."

If you're not a boating sort, this seems stupid and irrelevant, but have you worn one of these Type 1 PFD's for any length of time? Back when I was a kid, this was the only option and they were a monstrosity. (Luckily we had a really worn-out version that was tolerable, but probably wouldn't have held up my leg). Until the modern boating era designed the type 3 PFD that is more like a jacket. The most recent life-jackets are actually really nice and made out of materials that aren't too bad. Even C.J. doesn't fuss to put his on. Also back when I was a kid (hey, that's really not that long ago despite you wanting to tease me about being old), there were no age rules on when you had to wear a PFD, it was up to your parent's judgement. So now, we not only have an age restriction (that came a few years back), we have to revert to the proverbial stone-age of life-jackets. The claim is "they hold up your head better," but I seriously wonder what manufacturers lobbied for this change after the new, comfortable versions came on scene and the type 1 sales plummeted? Why must the government infringe on our liberty? Am I unable of making a decision (for some reason my parents were able to make that decision and many others over the years without massive death and destruction on the planet).

Here are some other instances that take away our liberty/choice:

I can't decide which tpye, or how long my child will be restrained in vehicles
You must ride a helmet on a motorcycle
You can't smoke almost everywhere (even in your own home in San Francisco)
You can't lead prayer in public school

I'll go on...but wait, we can let a 15 year old choose to terminate a pregnancy? That seems really ironic.

Everyone in a car must wear a seatbelt
We buy cars that have to meet a certain cafe standard
Trans fat is bad, restaurants had to take it out
Sugar is bad - lets tax it
Many states don't allow private citizens to have certain types of guns
We can't use normal light bulbs. We have to use ones with mercury in them - nice...isn't that one of the leading causes of autism.
They tell third graders, if your parents spank you, report it because that's child abuse
...and now, my kid must wear a type 1 or 2 PFD at all times in a boat until he's 6

Some of you are reading this post thinking I'm nuts, these are all good rules, made to protect us. Maybe so. I'm not at all saying that there shouldn't be a rule of law and we can just have anarchy, but why, in a country founded on the principle of liberty, can't I choose for myself as long as the effects don't imfringe on someone else?

I just hate where I see this country going. We are willingly being led in the name of "protection"; and as we walk the leash is getting tighter and tighter. I'm scared that by the time we realize it's choking us, we'll be asphyxiated and unable to reverse the damage. Generation X, we are adults now. It really is ok to make your own choice without mommy, daddy, and the nanny. We don't need to be forced to take on government health care. We shouldn't have to drive a match-box car. It should be my choice if I choose to be so dumb as to get on a motorcycle without a helmet. If I want to eat french fries cooked with trans fat and die of a heart attack, the responsibility is on me, no one else. If I want to be able to boat with my child, in peace, without clammoring and fussing because he can't turn his head or even sit down, it's a risk I'll take (for pete's sake, he's still wearing a life jacket). Some kids need a good hard spanking (maybe that's half the problem, not enough of generation x got spanked?:)). I hate smoking, it's gross. But if someone wants to smoke and they are in my space, have at it. It's your lungs and don't blame the tobacco company.

This country is too great!! Our founders were too wise!! The Constitution is amazing!! People have brains - make them use them!! Why can't we rest on these factors and quit with all the trivial rules and regulations.

Now that I've irked off everyone. I'll quit and go to bed. I feel much better. I'll sleep much sounder. Hopefully you can grant me the liberty of this vent without holding it agains me.

Yeah, July Is Here!

2009-07-07T23:46:00.002-04:00

I think I've said this before in this same forum, but I love July!!!
Independence Day has always been my favorite holiday. I think this may have begun when I was an adolescent and a particular co-ed that I forever had a crush on was always in the neighborhood on the 4th of July. Besides that, what's not to love! I love our little home-town parade, even if it is rinky-dink. I feel a little bit of nostalgia because I doubt it's much different than it was 50 years ago besides the tractors being bigger. It's nice to think that some things don't have to change (no need for change Mr. President, I love our country the way it has been). By the 4th of July, the water at the lake is just the right temperature - warm enough to swim, but not cold enough to take your breath away. Then there's friends and family. Sitting around eating apps and BBQ I can't think of anything better. It's so fun to watch my kids relish in the same frivolities I did 25 years ago (whoa, that's a quarter century!). This year we even added a friendly game of whiffle ball with the neighbors. I actually did hit the ball to the roof, and then promptly wiped out in a big way as I rounded second towards third. My feet came right out from under me and I landed flat on my a@@. Oh so graceful! My parents have been so lucky to always have great neighbors. It's pretty incredible that they've lived in the same house for 30 years and never really had someone next door that was a creep or majorly annoying. Although I did accidentally meet the lady that lives behind them - she was three sheets to the wind and in rare form - she may break the streak, but I don't consider her a neighbor exactly.
I love July - the weather has been PERFECT!! Today was in the 70's and breezy, a few puffy clouds floated by. We have only had to run our A/C like 4 days this whole summer!! That will be nice on the electric bill and wonderful that we can sleep with the windows open.
Hope you all are having as wonderful of a July!

I'm Back

2009-05-11T22:12:00.006-04:00

Wow, can't believe it's been over two months since my last flimsy post. I actually wrote this post a month ago, then our internet crashed for 4 weeks. Honestly, I have many reasons for not posting, not just excuses. So I'll try to catch up on everything without being too long winded. And yes, if you scroll to the end and skip my babbling, there are pics of our trip to Disney. I tried not to put too many of the same ones that are on Facebook, but the really cute ones were repeated:)

So, a 2 months ago, my Spartans were defeated in the NCAA finals. Flat out outplayed by the Tarheels, I can admit that. It was fun to have a good run, though.

At the same time, for work we were putting on a large scale conference for dairy producers, veterinarians, industry personel, etc. I honestly felt like I was planning a wedding again - guest list, catering, meeting spaces, hotel accomodations, sponsors, speakers, just to begin the enormity of it all. In the end we had over 200 attendees and an incredibly successful event. It was actually amazing how well everything came together - not even a computer crash! It was a great meeting! The remainder of that week I spent escorting one of the keynote speakers around to many of our client's farms for walk-throughs of the calf facilities.

Naturally, the next week was spent recovering from the previous. There was a bunch of horse work that I had to get caught up on after neglecting the poor creatures for a week. Plus we were leaving the following week for Disney, so I really had to cram 'em in. I've been impressed that the horse business hasn't fallen off all that much. Considering our great economy here in Michigan (and everywhere else for that matter), and the fact that you hear stories of people just abandoning their horses, I figured things would be pretty quiet. It honestly hasn't been much different than any other year up to this point. We'll see how the remainder of the "shot season" plays out.

So that brings us to our exciting family vaccation to Walt Disney World in Orlando. We had been so looking forward to this trip. It was our first vaccation as a whole family (since C.J.) and our first "big" Disney trip - we went for 1 day 4 years ago. I had planned and planned to get this one just right for all involved. We went with my parents, which was really nice - the adults outnumbered the kids which is very important. So I'll use the multitude of pictures to give you the scoop. They aren't in any particular order. Sorry for the long length. That's what happens when you only post once a month I guess.

Here is the Motley Crew in front of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom. As a 30-year old, I'm still enchanted by Disney. They do such a fantastic job of creating atmosphere that you truly feel like a kid again. It sure was fun living in fantasyland for a time. There are times you really feel like Tinker Bell and Mickey aren't just imaginary.

We were very fortunate in the timing of our trip. It was after the Spring Break rush and before the summer vaccations, so the parks weren't all that crowded. Most of the time we were able to get on rides at our leisure. TinkerBell, however, was our longest wait 45 minutes! I was feeling annoyed because the sign said 15 minutes, but then later when chatting with someone they said that they had waited 2 1/2 hours to see her and then got rushed through! All this for a fairy!

You may not realize the significance of Gabby's presence in many of the character pictures. What child doesn't love the characters? Gabby. Until day two of our trip that is. I don't know what came over her or if there was a child swap that I was unaware of, but my daughter is normally terrified of anything dressed up - characters, mascots, halloween, you name it - and on day one she hid behind any pole or person she could to avoid these fuzzy friends. Then it all changed. Not only was she unafraid, she became a woman on a mission to find every possible character she could. Forget rides and shows - lets go find Pluto!
I had to include this picture because I think it is the only one of just Steve and I. This is at Animal Kingdom. None of us had ever been to that park, but we really enjoyed it. They have a great roller coaster and several other good rides, as well as zoo-like attractions.

While at Animal Kingdom, we ate breakfast with Donald and Mickey. This was a big hit! And good food, too! C.J. adores Donald Duck. I had some really cute pictures of him with Donald on our first day. Unfortunately, Rylee got ahold of my camera the next morning and promptly erased ALL of the pictures on it. I was sad about the Disney day one being gone, but heartbroken that probably about a year's worth of pictures were also on that chip and not saved on my computer. I seriously almost cried. I still might.

So back to C.J. and Donald Duck. The boy loved the duck! He got this crazy grin on his face, laughed his belly laugh, and ran straight to him. He was kissing his beak (I know, germs, swine-flu, etc. Get over it.), cuddling him, and loving every minute of it too. The great thing was, it seemed like every Donald we ran into was great! They'd get right down on his level and give him all sorts of attention and affection. It was really cute! There were moments I second-guessed our decision to have an 18 month old with us, but not when characters where involved. C.J. was definately into them.

Gabby and Poppy at our pool. The girls were great for most of the trip. They did have their moments, though. Especially the first couple days when they were getting in the groove or whatever. The whining was intense at times. But we made it through. One of the more annoying things they did was constantly whine about when are we going back to the hotel so we can swim (Just imagine that said about 20 times in a high-pitched whiney tone). Not that I don't love a little pool time, but come on, we're at Disney. We can swim all summer long. But Steve and I had to come to the realization that their reality isn't the same as ours and we spent time at the pool almost every day.

Rylee lived up to expectations of being a dare-devil and enjoying every thrill ride available to someone under 48" tall. Her favorite was the Tower of Terror at MGM/Hollywood Studios. This ride involves several stories of freefall. She also ate up every roller coaster she could go on (there was 1 or 2 that she was still to small for). Gabby did pretty well with the coasters, too, but didn't care for rides that spent any length of time in the dark.

Steve and Rylee at Epcot. The girls saw all the different fireworks/nighttime shows (we missed the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom). They were pretty much troopers about being on the go constantly. I thought they'd hit a wall and just fall asleep, but they never did.

C.J. however, was the opposite. He was one tired kid. He only got one nap each day because it was too time consuming to take the transportation back to the hotel multiple times. So the adults rotated who would go back in the afternoon. Actually, my parents did it most often because they enjoyed the chance to rest up a little, too. He's been teething for a while - molars - which makes him tired as well. He did really, really well, though for the most part. Considering all the bus rides, stroller in-and-outs, strange sights, being woken up every morning, he wasn't too bad. This picture was at night when he could barely keep his eyes open. He was playing at a water fountain, but just layed down.

We did the Disney Dining Plan which was awesome. I swear we ate enough for an army! It was also great to be able to go to a wide variety of really cool restaurants. In Disney style, they are all themed one way or another. Below we are at the Princess dinner in Norway at Epcot. We also enjoyed a Japanese steakhouse, an African Boma, the Whispering Canyon, and a couple others I can't think of.

Wow, they actually look like they love each other:) They do. It's great to have kids who enjoy (most of the time) playing together. They both have wild imaginations and have a blast. They were the perfect age for Disney.

This is a picture of our hotel, Coranado Springs, at sunset. It was a great hotel - beautiful settings, excellent food court, fun pools with water slides, adequate rooms, and white sand beaches with hammocks. We did also spot a 3 foot alligator swimming in the "lake" but convinced Gabby that they are more scared of us than we are of them.

Go Spartans!!!

2009-04-04T21:49:00.001-04:00

Go Green!!
I know I haven't posted in forever, and this one really won't be very informational. Just wanted to give a shout out to the Spartans - see you Monday at the National Championship, baby!!
I will return to the blog world, I promise. I've been super busy putting together a big conference. It's on Tuesday, so after that I will be back to "normal."
Go White!!

No Way...Could It Be?...

2009-03-06T21:17:00.002-05:00

Spring? I hate to even say the word with my previous problem of jinxing all that goes well, but winter just might be over. It was 68 F today!!! And sunny!!! You know you're a northerner when this happens and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders and you just want to sigh. Ahhh. All is right with the world.
Actually, it currently is. Spring is here. Sickness in our house seems to be done (as I knock on wood and cross every appendage I have). Hometown boy made it to top 13 on American Idol. Went to Ikea today and found everything I was looking for. Fun weekend ahead. Horse business coming back to life. I think I'll just bask in the sunshine and great blessings of the moment:)

Finally...Pictures!

2009-02-25T23:44:00.005-05:00

I'll start with Gabby and basketball. Yeah, this is so much fun!!! For all of you with young children, hang on, it gets way better! I am so excited about Gabby playing ball. I didn't end up being the coach. I was bummed at first, but her coach is really great so I'm ok with it now. After the first game, Steve was moderately frustrated that she didn't seem to grasp the concepts of the game - like when you're on offense you don't need to guard the other person. So he immediately after the game "encouraged" her to watch some college hoops with him. Something must have clicked b/c next game that problem was solved. She is improving each game. She scored her first basket a couple weeks ago - mommy actually missed the live event due to the stomach flu, but we have it on video. I'll try to figure out how to post it, but as of yet have no clue. She's scored a basket in each of the last 3 games!! This is so much fun!! I'm not a psycho mom, promise.

Gabby at school at Valentine's party.

I also got to go to Rylee's Valentine's party. After these two parties, I've determined I need to visit their classrooms more frequently. I got out of the habit after co-op preschool and C.J. being around. I just had conferences for both of them tonight - both doing great!! I couldn't be prouder of my two girls!

Can't forget the big man! He and I actually had our first trip to the ER earlier this month. We had a nasty influenza respiratory thing going around our house and inevitably he caught it. Only when he got it, it turned to croup. Well, I woke up Sunday morning 6:00 to him barking to breath and really labored. I freaked b/c last year when he got really sick I probably waited too long to take him in and felt like a tool when the doctor was grilling me about how sick he was. So I packed him in the freezing car and headed for the ER. I should have known better - I had croup as a kid. Cold is what you need. So by the time we got to the ER, the effects of our cold vehicle had greatly reduced his barking. I still took him in just to avoid the before mentioned grilling in case I was wrong, but they said "croup - has to run it's course. bring him in the cold if it gets bad again." So he's been a trooper while being sick and getting his first molars in. Nice combo - has made for sleepless nights. He's talking more and more. His most recent words have been "more" and "Ry-Ry"

So the above photo is of my cousin and me with American Idol top 36 Matt Giraud. I think I mentioned him in an earlier post, but anyway, we're phyched for another home town hero to add to our short list - Derek Jeter, ...the end. This picture and the night it was taken were so random I almost felt like I was back in college when most nights were decided by random moods (and maybe some influence of beverages). Anyway, we were at Bible Study and Steve had stayed home with all the sick kiddos. We got the itch to go out and watch Matt play at a local restaurant. Take a close look at above picture and you will soon realize I have become no more fashion savy than back in the day when a baggy flannel was my look. The fashionable MSU hoodie was paired with a well worn pair of jeans sporting a large hole in the knee. Hair undone. Nice. Anyway, I have no problem having a great time in spite of my appearances - the beauty of no shame in my game:) We had a blast, snuck our way right up front and had fun enjoying the piano. Too bad Matt didn't do so great tonight. Maybe Jeter will remain our solo claim to fame.

jinx

2009-02-09T20:07:00.002-05:00

Well, I jinxed myself. Why in the world would I ever think about the fact that we've all been so healthy, let alone write it down (as I was knocking on wood and crossing all fingers and toes). Like 2 days after, 2 of us were struck down with the stomach flu. We've been losing one member each day. All that's left is Steve and C.J. Hopefully neither of them gets it because one is a big baby and the other can't aim for the toilet (Ha!Ha!).

Back In Action

2009-02-06T21:18:00.002-05:00

Well, I'd like to say my long gap in posting was due to some incredible accomplishments going on elsewhere in my life. Not so much. My computer had a virus. There also isn't very much different going on here. Just surviving cold and snow. Our American Idolist from K-zoo is still going - Steve looked at some website that supposedly says he made it to top 36.
Work is going fine. One electric sock isn't working well which has me a little miffed. We had a super busy week a couple weeks ago when there was a thaw. Now we're expecting another thaw next week, so might be fun. I've somehow gotten the fun task of putting together a website for our practice and a big conference we're putting on in April. This is way out of my league and a little tedious for someone accostomed to barns and cows. With the help of my cousin, I narrowed down the template from 30,000 to one. Hopefully the boss approves.
Kids are doing great. My cousin took them sledding today which they totally loved. It's been fantastic having her here with us. I feel much more sane and the kids are benefitting from a more regular schedule, too. We'll be sad to see her go next week:( We have all been unexpectedly healthy thus far. Not even runny noses to complain of really. That must be b/c we went through all the kindergarten bugs last year, now we're immune. Good thing I'm not a germaphobe, so my kids have seen all those bugs and their systems are taking them head on.
I'll post pics soon.

Idol Fans

2009-01-21T23:15:00.002-05:00

Ok, for all you Idol fans, this year we have someone to cheer for at our house since you Sarasotans had one last year (or whenever that was). Matt Giraud - the dueling piano guy from Kalamazoo. No, he's not one of the guys who has played at our parties, but we have heard him on numerous occasions - he goes to our church and frequently sings/plays!! Steve and I were both totally shocked and psyched about having a horse in the race so to speak. I don't know if I will go as far as voting if it gets that far, but we'll see.
For all of you who have more interesting lives and don't watch American Idol, don't mind this mindless chatter. We're just happy for our 30 seconds of fame here in the icy north.

Cold Update

2009-01-15T22:58:00.002-05:00

continuation of last post on why global warming is a sham:
on my way to work today, ambient temperature was -18 F. There was no wind to speak of - thankfully. I've lived in Michigan 27/30 years, and never do I remember the ambient temp to be this low.

Snow Update

2009-01-12T21:06:00.003-05:00

Just in case anyone's counting or cares, my neighbor informed me yesterday:

Normal Snowfall as of Jan 11: 72 inches
This YTD Snowfall as of Jan 11: 89.5 inches

This is with another 6-8 expected in the next day or so!! They were all crazy excited last year when we broke 100". At this rate, we'll be over that by February - that would still leave at least two to three more months of possible snow. I'm pushing the theory of an ice age at least in Michigan. Those idiots promoting global warming are just that - idiots! Maybe the ice age of the 1960's froze some of their brain cells.

As for me, I'm just relishing my new battery-powered socks that my boss gave me for Christmas. They are incredible. I do wonder what kind of strange cancer I may come down with at a later date considering I have that huge battery pack on my left hip, and a big ultrasound and battery on my right hip. At least my feet are hot! Now all I need is a battery-powered right hand glove (the other hand stays toasty:)).

Blustery Day

2008-12-15T15:18:00.009-05:00

Blustery...that reminds me of Winnie the Pooh:) It is definately all that and more. There were several times I thought my large pick-up might just blow off the highway. It didn't. After a short reprieve of 40 degrees, we're back below 20 and snowing wonderfully. Ahhh, that's more like the Michigan I know and love.

So I've had a little bit of writers block - as you can see by the scarcity of posts lately. This is also affecting my ability to write a decent Christmas letter for our family and my business. Do I dare skip a year with no letter accompanying the card? This slacking may just become a habbit if I do. What a dilemma. I guess at least I should get the cards ready, huh. I'm actually way ahead of my usual pace when it comes to presents and wrapping. Maybe I just work better under higher pressure situations.

So since I can't write, I'll post a few pics, if I can locate my camera once again. It has like 8 legs between myself and children and tends to walk to strange and undisclosed locations.

What's been going on lately.

C.J.'s birthday party. He had a baseball cake (I'm sure he'll never have another). I'm a wimp and stripped him down before allowing him to dig in. I'm not very good with stains, so I figured that way I could just toss him in the tub. He was actually quite neat compared with the girls. He would lick his fingers after every bite.

Gabby's birthday - she doesn't like cake, so we get to be creative with her birthday dessert. This year it was apple pie. Gigi was there for the afternoon. She will be 94 in May.

My mom is a stickler for the 4 generation poses.

Gabby's friend birthday party was at Bounceland - a place with a whole bunch of inflatable toys. It was a lot of fun - I even got into the slides and obstacle course.

On another snowy day earlier this month, I went with Gabby's class to the Delano homestead which is like a pilgrim farm from the 1800's. The kids made gingerbread cookies, carded wool, made candles and played old-fashioned games. It was a neat field trip.

Steve's 9 point buck that he shot out at our property on opening day!!! His first Michigan buck! And his mean wife won't even let him mount it for the wall.

So what has Rylee been up to? Well, I put her to work. Someone's gotta clear the snow.

Is it REALLY winter?

2008-12-03T22:03:00.002-05:00

Yes, the answer is yes, unfortunately. I think I had a post like this last year which would lead one to ask the reasonable question: why do you live where you live? Still no answer. You know it's bad when you're already looking forward to March. The new vet that works for us kills me - I ask him what he thinks of the 19 degree blustery day "Nice!" He's from Idaho and maybe froze some brain cells. We've already had over 12" of snow. Please, someone in charge of global warming, send it to Michigan along with a new governor, an auto bail-out, and some jobs.

Ahhh, despite my gripings, life is good. I am blessed beyond what I can imagine or deserve. This time of year makes that evermore apparent.

I actually have most of my Christmas shopping done, which is nothing short of miraculous. Usually Steve and/or I have to make a Christmas Eve run for all the people we overlooked, but I can honestly say I think I have it covered and December just began. I ventured out semi-early on BlackFriday (6:30). I had to work at 8:30, so I only went a couple places but still found a few things and got in and out of Best Buy in 15 minutes which surprised me. I'll post some Thanksgiving and Birthday party pictures later. I don't feel like uploading.

She's 7

2008-11-25T00:02:00.004-05:00

So we've celebrated our second November birthday now as well. I am really feeling OLD. I think I feel older about Gabby being 7 than I did about me being 30. It scares me to think that the adolescent and teeny-bopper years are really just around the corner. My inadequacies as a parent will be magnified that much more!! AGHHH!! Don't you just wish there was some way to suspend time.

Gabby is doing fantastic. She's a sweet child - a little on the quiet and shy side at first (while little sis does all the checking things out), but once she gets comfortable, watch out! We're still dealing with fear issues on and off, but it has quieted down since Halloween is over. In addition to soccer and horseback riding, she shocked me this weekend when she requested to play basketball. I never would have even mentioned it except for she's done with the other 2 activities for the winter and was asking what she could do. I was pushing indoor soccer since I figured she'd be comfortable with that. But she said no. In passing I said "You could play basketball." She jumped right on it! I may yet have a child who plays! I volunteered to coach her team, but I haven't heard yet if I will. Part of me hopes I will - then I can teach the fundamentals and have good mom/daughter time - part of me thinks maybe it'd be better if not - no temptation to push her for selfish reasons, she listens better to outsiders, etc. We'll see how that one pans out. She got a basketball from Gigi for her birthday. Along with clothes, an MP3 player, books, etc. She is reading really well. I can remember in first grade just starting like the Dick and Jane books. She's way past that and reads with a lot of expression which is really cute. What can I say, I'm a proud mom:)

He's 1

2008-11-12T16:24:00.003-05:00

In 365 days, Casey Jared has grown from a little 9lb 4oz pip squeek into a ~25lb lovable, soon-to-be monster. His first year has been unlike the girls' in that I've actually had and taken the time to enjoy it. It's been so fun watching him go through all the various stages. At this point he's just starting to walk, a few steps at a time. He prefers crawling because then he can cruise. He has 7 teeth which he will occasionally use as mini-weapons. He's already learned where all the good toys are - his sisters' room. He likes all foods, except Jello which is too complicated. We're having a little family party for him next weekend (couldn't be this weekend since he's a deer season baby - everyone's in the woods once again). Can't wait for year #2!

Obligated

2008-11-03T21:14:00.004-05:00

So I'm feeling obligated to post the always-popular Halloween photos. Despite the fact I'm feeling rather Scrooge-like towards said holiday. I feel like my mother, but honestly what's the point? Cute pics, yes; stealing kids' good candy, oh yeah; pumpkin carving, fun enough. But I guess I just don't get that into it. I bought C.J. a dragon costume which was pretty darn cute and the girls were both cowgirls since we had stuff around the house. Gabby survived the middle school costume parade again. She pulled her cowboy hat way down over her eyes and I basically guided her through the halls. No trick-or-treating for her. She has no interest. Rylee went for a little while with some friends.
Check out C.J.'s pumpkin on the right - 4 teeth on top and 3 on bottom. Like the eyes? Rylee actually carved her own pumpkin for the most part with one of those pumpkin knives. She did a great job!

Survivor Plainwell

2008-10-15T21:11:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I'm back in survival mode. I'm playing the single parent thing...again. Military wives, I give you major props because it's only day 5/10 and I'm getting irritable. I don't know how you manage for months-years. Or moreso, how single parents can do it.
Steve is gone hunting to Wyoming for antelope and mule deer. He actually got an antelope today. Yes, he had the courage to call and no, I did not bite his head off even though it was oh so tempting. It's just a busy week - lots of kid activities, boss is gone so I'm in charge at work too, and plenty of fall clean-up stuff left to be done around here. Lawn to mow (mower is broken, so I had to get one from friends), garden to clean out (I've started a little), I just found a very leaky roof down at the barn, house is close to being put on the national disaster area list (thankfully housecleaner comes tomorrow. I love her!), a nagging slow leak in my truck tire that requires air every day or so, etc. Needless to say, I really haven't done any of the clean-up stuff - I've been lacking the motivation completely. Maybe on the weekend, but I doubt it because I've really been having an outlet mall craving that I may have to fix. Wow, great priorities, huh!
So this post was just to make sure no one had the false impression that I have my life all in order. I guess if you know me well enough, you're just laughing. Me too!

She's Home

2008-10-05T22:05:00.002-04:00

Just for those of you who follow my blog but don't follow my cousin's CaringBridge site, I forgot to let you know that Chloe came home last weekend! She's over 5 1/2 lbs and off oxygen and all other support. She's doing excellent! This is not to say that her caregivers aren't already exhausted, but it is definately a miracle. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Keep them going.

Happy Hubby

2008-10-01T14:57:00.002-04:00

This one's for you Stevie. Congrats on your team making it! Don't forget how the Tigers helped make this happen for you. You can show a little love towards them for being an utter embarrassment and failure considering they have one of the highest paid rosters in the MLB. Now you can also resume happiness since you decided to get progressively grumpier last week as your team tried very hard not to make the play-offs. (I know you are insistent that you were in a perfectly great mood, I respectfully disagree:)) I do find it interesting how we allow circumstances that we have little or no control of to have such impact on our daily moods. Like how our sports teams do (Spartans and UofM both won Saturday - a great day!), politics, the current economic "crisis" or lack there-of, traffic, the line at the grocery store, weather, etc. Why do we let these things have any control of our attitudes? My day can be ruined by a traffic jam - how petty is that! Or I can be on cloud nine because I hit all the traffic lights just right and got somewhere early (oh wait, I'm never early. just less late). Our Bible study group has been studying "JOY" for the last 5 weeks and it has been a great lesson for me not to look to my surroundings for happiness, but to have an inner joy that is so intense (due to my relationship with Jesus) that even in less than ideal circumstances where I may not be happy, I can be joyful.

Go Sox!!!

Soccer Chicks

2008-09-29T20:48:00.004-04:00

Steve finds it funny that I very commonly call girls "chicks." I'm pretty sure I picked up the term and usage from my dad. Be sure, coming from me, it is in no way derogatory. It's just a fun word. And I've got two little chicks who are tearing it up on the soccer field. All of you with little kiddos, this is when it starts really getting fun (my opinion). Take that with a grain of salt from one who is a huge fan of organized sports. They can understand the game and play it pretty darn well. Rylee has scored 6 goals in 3 games, and Gabby just scored her first last weekend. That is quite a feat for her, since she plays in the older and more competitive division. She really likes playing goalee because "then I don't have to run so much and I can just wait around." Rylee is actually "playing up" too, since her birthday is past the deadline, but she would have either been super bored or killed the younger kids. I'm very proud of her for last week's game when she had a sweet pass for an assist. She tends to be a little of a ball hog if left to her own devices, so I keep having to instill passing into her brain. Here's a few action shots - I need to find my good camera, because this one is too slow and I'm way behind the action. This was before this camera got soaked and now doesn't take pictures....DUH!

Number 1 Fan

Shhh...Don't Tell My Grandmas

2008-09-24T20:59:00.004-04:00

The littlest Bennecke has recently joined the middle child in devious behavior. Like her, he always does it with a grin on his face and a little giggle. His grandmothers might be less than proud at the pictures below. But mommy can't help but love his "boy-ness" and curiosity.

Last post I described the "jail break" where C.J. bolts for the stairs and climbs like crazy. Here he is mid-break, again with the silly grin.

This is a classic picture of what happens when mommy has to go to the bathroom. I left him unattended for like 3 minutes. I come out of the bathroom and things are just too quiet. At first I figured he'd done another jail break, but then I heard the giggle. I rounded the corner in the kitchen to find him sitting next to the bread drawer with a bag of bread open and dumped on the floor. He was mid-slice and giggling again. He had taken a good sized bite out of each piece!

Yesterday, I finally got out in the garden to start fall clean up, which may end up being a major digging job. My garden is a disaster. I never realized how invasive morning glories can be. I left things alone for a couple weeks and they are overtaking everything. So C.J. wanted to come help. Lets just say he likes dirt. Pica would be the technical term. I told you you'd be proud, grammy!

Whining, Wonderful Kids

2008-09-16T20:56:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, it rained like over 10 inches thanks to Hurrican Ike. I was unaware that in Michigan we had hurricanes, but now I'm a believer. Thanks to this great weather, we spent way too much time indoors and in close proximity. My children nearly drove me out into the rain in search of solace.
Gabby has this newfound obsession with tornados. This began last week as a result of a tornado drill at school. Since that time, there has not been a night that she hasn't gone to bed either crying or very concerned about what we would do in the event of a tornado. She's even asked me several times to watch the news so she can check the weather. (This coming from a girl who barely knows there is anything on TV besides cartoons, Zack and Cody, and Hannah Montana). So I've tried to be the comforting, reassuring mom. I've shared with her about my fear of a house fire when I was her age. I've explained that tornados are extremely rare in our area, and there hasn't been a big one in Kalamazoo since before I was born. We've discussed our emergency plan in the very unlikely event of a tornado. I finally feel like we're making headway. Then Saturday evening Steve was watching football. All of a sudden, the meteorologist breaks into the game with those loud beeps and dramatic music of a weather update. You guessed it, we're under a tornado warning. Two twisters have touched down about 30 miles from us. Gabby is freaked! I hate it when the weather people are so darn dramatic. There was really nothing to worry about, the storm had already done the main damage by the time they even made the warning. So now it's back to like square one with Gabby and her fear. Tonight I probably did a bad thing, but I got really annoyed by all the whining and constant referrals to tonados. I told her I don't want to hear another word about it! I swear the next sentence out of her mouth went like this, "I'm not talking about you-know-what, but if one comes, will the roof come off of my room too?" Arrgh! Any other ideas from smart parents out there?

Then there's Rylee. Ah, my dear girl, you too may drive me to drink...a lot. I did not realize it was possible for a human child to talk back to every sentence or even sentence fragment that their parent or other adult speaks. She spends so much time retorting to things I say, that she never takes the time to actually listen and comprehend what it even is that I'm saying. It's fun that she's a hundred-mile-an-hour type of person, but ya gotta listen, too. I actually feel like I'm a very patient parent - Steve says too patient. I have a feeling her current stage may require some behavior modification. Time outs are not working real well at bringing about change. Privledge removal is more of a burden on me than her. Spanking I feel I want to "save" for larger misbehavior. So I'm thinking vinegar - a.k.a. sassy spray - that a friend told me about. I tried it tonight and it may just be brilliant. The only downfalls are consistency on my part and having said spray on hand all the time. I have a feeling this would be frowned upon in the grocery store and other public establishments. From most parenting things I've read, the consistency thing is the most important in breaking bad behavior, so the ball's in my court.

My final whining child is poor C.J. Actually, he's just bum out of luck as he has like 6 teeth coming in all at once. In the past 2 days, 3 have actually come through. That brings his total to 5. He's pretty much a trooper about it. I think he tries to communicate his discomfort by playing in my mouth and pulling on my teeth. Either that or he will be the family's next dentist. He's getting around like crazy now, too. His favorite (my least) is climbing the stairs. He does it every chance he gets. We call it jail break. He sees the opening, plans his course, and crawls at break-neck speed over to the stairs. Then he begins climbing one by one. He looks back at whoever it is he's escaped from at each step and laughs as if to say "Ha Ha, look at me. I'm climbing the stairs!" He also figured out how to climb out of his crib already. Yeah, 10 months and the other day I'm in the kitchen and hear the thud-"Whaahh!!" combination. What's that? The girls are in the basement, dogs outside, Steve napping, C.J. napping. Upon investigation, there was a very surprised baby on the floor next to his crib!! Great, this should be fun!

Who ever thought being a parent was so much fun and so challenging all wrapped up in a bunch of love!

Invisible Woman

2008-09-15T20:39:00.002-04:00

If you have a couple minutes, check out the video clip below. (Thanks Jess for passing it on). There is a purpose in all the mundane stuff we do as moms. Packing yummy lunches, making their bed even after you've tried to tell them 30 times to make it themself, soccer, gymnastics, horse-back riding, vacation Bible school, reading stories, making breakfast lunch and dinner, laundry, bath time, playing Old Maid too many times, more laundry, teaching to ride a bike, going on class trips, picking berries, bedtime cuddles and prayers, taking walks, watching movies, helping with homework, the list could go on. We do it for a great reason, girls!

Growing Too Fast

2008-09-03T21:44:00.004-04:00

Ahh, school has come again. I remember when I was a kid I was always so excited for the first day of school that I couldn't sleep the night before. I'd go over in my mind all the cool new stuff I had packed in my new Strawberry Shortcake backpack and and the great stuff mom would pack in my shiny new lunch box. I pretty much knew all the people in my class b/c our school was so small we only had one class, and maybe we'd get one or two new kids each year if we were lucky. I remember my first bus ride - or what was supposed to have been. My mom drove me to the bus stop (which was actually quite a ways away, but the school was pretty far away). There were quite a few of us waiting there for the bus. Some of them were "big kids" like in 7th and 8th grade, a few middle year kids and then I was the sole kindergardner. We're talking 1983, so you can imagine the hairsprayed bangs on the girls and longer greasy-haired guys. I vaguely remember some terrible bold plaid prints. This was even before pegged jeans, stirrup pants, and MC Hammer pants! We waited and waited, but no bus ever showed up! There were enough adults there that they had to carpool us to North Christian. I ended up being like 1/2 hour late for my first day of school!! It wouldn't be my last time being late for something. Maybe that's where I learned it.

So fast forward to 2008. I now have two children in elementary school! I really can't believe a) I'm this old b) my kids are this old. Gabby is in first grade which means she finally goes to school all day. Rylee's in kindergarden in the afternoon every day. I'm not like one of those traumatized mothers who weeps when her children get on the bus, but I did feel a few pangs of sadness in realizing that stages of their lives are gone forever and they are growing up so fast. Both of them were pretty excited about starting school again. It's a whole new world compared to my elementary years. There are 5 first grade classes and 4 kindergarden. They send out a teacher request form in the spring, and I filled out our top 3 choices, but apparently this is just a formality to make parents feel like they have a say. I am now aware that this is a ruse and I have very little say which is not a good feeling. We didn't get any of our 3 choices for Gabby, in fact, we once again got the new teacher. This may turn out to be just fine, but last year it took her teacher a couple months to get settled in, and this year, her teacher only found out last week that she was switching schools. I was annoyed, but another mother in the same boat called and got the scoop on the newby and found out she's supposed to be really good. Gabby was relieved to find out she's in the same class as her best friend, that's all she cared about. Rylee has the same teacher Gabby had last year and is very comfortable living in her sister's footsteps. For the first day Gabby wanted to be taken to school and Rylee wanted to ride the bus. So I accomodated for both. My girls are growing up. There are times I really wish I could stop this process. But it's also incredible to see them mature and gain independence. Rylee didn't even wave good-by to me as I left her classroom (yes, I did put her on the bus, and then drove separate so I could see her to her class too:)). I'm so proud of you, girls!!

Summer's End

2008-08-27T20:44:00.004-04:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It has been such a bittersweet summer. I have cherished these days of playing outside, warm weather, pig roasts, catching fireflies and watching the stars, swimming, camping, and ice cream cones. There's been sadness, too. Steve and I are traveling to Portland, OR this weekend for Bridget's memorial service. Emotions are so close to the surface these days for both happiness and sadness. Usually I'm pretty good at being a tough guy. This month has definately led to a lot of growth.

At the beginning of August, Steve, the kids, and I traveled to the upper penninsula with friends from our small group Bible study and about 25 high schoolers. The trip was a biking trip with service projects interspersed. Going into this "adventure" both Steve and I were skeptical at best that this would be a positive experience. But God blessed us beyond what we could have dreamed. We camped at an amazingly beautiful and secluded location called "A Solitary Place." With only one shower and two toilets (one being a 5 gallon bucket in an outhouse) for about 35 people, we all had to learn patience and graciousness quickly. I would have expected a lot of complaints about the ruggedness, but I can honestly say there were none. Maybe we were silenced by the beauty that surrounded us. At night, there were "fireworks" in the sky without any bangs. The sky is so black that the stars litterally dance. One of the youth shared a devotion stressing that God knows each star and placed them in their exact locations, and this same God knows each of us by name and loves us so intensely.

There was lots of biking going on. Steve rode about 101 miles over the course of 3 days, with 66 miles being in one day - out to Whitefish Point which is on Lake Superior. Not having trained at all for this massive trip, he didn't figure he'd make it, but he did!! It was definately a test of perseverence and he learned to lean on others to make it. I rode the final 17 miles alongside him to draft and give him encouragement (that was the extent of my biking, I'm not a big fan:)) It's a great life lesson to realize how difficult it is to travel along alone, but when someone is riding by your side, holding you accountable and encouraging, you can do more than you imagined was possible. In between biking trips, we cut a lot of wood - many people and churches up there use wood as their sole source of winter heat, dry-walled for a handicapped man, helped with some projects at a crisis pregnancy center, and weeded a random business.

Being with the youth group kids was a ton of fun, too! I forget how much energy and intensity I had back then. They were great to interact with and watch as God worked on their hearts as well. I was so impressed by their servant hearts and their lack of complaining even when they were physically pushed to every limit.

So then you come home from this high experience and it's so easy to get caught back up the the daily grind and forget the amazing lessons learned. Steve and I both heard the Spirit's leading with such clarity on this trip, but then back at home there is so much noise I think we often miss that "still, small voice." It's a challenge to keep that roaring fire from becoming a smoldering ember. When Bridget passed away a few days after we got home, it was a test of faith and continues to be. I'm so thankful for those special days up north where God felt so close, so that when these difficult times pressed down, I can reflect on that trip.

In the last couple weeks, Steve and I both read the book "The Shack." It is a fictional book, but a unique and breathtaking view of the character of God, why He allows suffering, and His amazing love for us. This book was actually recommended to me by my aunt and uncle, who read it after Bridget had read it this spring - before even being diagnosed with cancer. It seems ironic and amazing to me that so many things have come full circle. But then maybe it's not just irony, but the hand of God at work in the world around me. I just want to have eyes, ears, and heart open to hear that "still, small voice."

Victory

2008-08-13T22:31:00.004-04:00

Last night Bridget defeated cancer. She is now enjoying that eternal victory in heaven with Jesus.

Let me tell you, this is not without a lot of tears. Her fight touched my life in ways I wouldn't have expected. Although I was never super close to Bridget due to the fact they lived so far away, she had this amazing effect on those she came in contact with. The VanderMeulen clan has historically been pretty reserved and quiet - a perfect example of the Dutch Christian Reformed heritage we proudly carry on. But when Bridget joined the family several years ago, she brought dancing to the family - literally! I fondly remember her dancing round and round with Gabby singing and laughing with joy. She has now given our family an amazing legacy of her faith and courage through one of the toughest battles I could even imagine.

If you have the time, I really encourage you to check out Steve's journal page (the link is in my contacts list). Throughout this whole time, their desire is to see their trials be used to glorify God. Glorify God - what does that mean? I always kind of equated it with honoring Him or a form of praise/worship. But a couple weeks at church I was struck with the literal translation of the term glory/glorify and it means to reflect or shine a light on something so it can be seen more clearly. Bridget and Steve have definately been this kind of reflection. How can I live my life in more of a way that would make others see a reflexion of Christ through/in me? God has been doing some amazing things in Steve (as in hubbby not cousin) and my lives in the last few weeks. I'll get more into that at a later date.

I'll wrap up this tribute post with the song that is hopefully playing. I was driving to work this morning at 6am with tears streaming down my face. Why God? Couldn't you have used her more in life than in death? What will poor Steve do with no mommy for his little girls? How do you tell a 2 1/2 year old her mommy is never coming home? So many tough questions. But lately I have been reading through the book of Job. His sufferings were comparable to what Steve and Bridget have gone through. It wasn't because he was a bad person. In fact, it was due to his faith and love for God that Satan wanted to test Job's faith and God allowed it to occur. Job lost all his worldly possessions, his entire family, and was afflicted with terrible sickness. But through all these struggles he was able to say "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

So as I switched the radio station, this is the song that came on.

I really like the chorus that says "You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name." God doesn't make us think one way or another, we have a choice. That's the beauty of a relationship with Him, we have to choose to enter it and make daily choices to follow Him. So even though it is extremely difficult and against my human nature, I am choosing to say: Lord, you gave us a beautiful woman in Bridget and you allowed her to be taken away. Blessed be your glorious name!"

Disturbing

2008-07-23T21:35:00.002-04:00

If you have a weak stomach, procede with caution. I've been awaiting the opportunity to describe some of the nasty stuff I deal with and one just popped up.

I just did one of the grossest things I've ever done in my life. For something to gross me out, you know it has to be pretty bad considering I make a living playing in cow crap, stinky uteruses, and relish finding the biggest and ripest abcesses to pop.

So what could gross me out? Not the smell of a calf that's been dead in utero for 2 days and it starting to fall apart. Not a prolapsed uterus (that means the cow didn't quit pushing after giving birth and pushed her whole uterus out the back end) that is covered in manure and you have to literally put the whole thing in your lap and feed it back in that "small" hole little by little - think something about the size of 2 40lb bags of dog food into a hole about the size of a medium pizza. I am fascinated by trying to find large abcesses. I think my record is probably about 4 gallons of pus! I can even stomach doing a necropsy (autopsy) on an animal that's been dead and sitting out in 90 F heat for a day.

But tonight I was happily going through the garden minding my own business. I've been really irritated that something is destroying my 4 tomato plants. I was informed it was a horned catipillar. Well, I caught one of these SOB's in the act of eating my plant. I was so horrified and angry that I swatted it to the ground and quickly went STOMP!!! ARGHH!! It exploded with such force that all the green guts flew through the air and landed all over me! My arm, shirt, FACE, legs! I momentarily felt the need to hurl. This ranks right up there with maggots, which are another thing I really don't like.

So here's a pic of my victim. Imagine him like 3 times this large (due to the fact that everything was shot out of him). Too gross.

July!

2008-07-13T09:21:00.005-04:00

One of our favorite times of the year is July. First, there's the Fourth, which Gabby said this year is her favorite holiday. It was always mine, too. Funny that so many kids love this holiday and it's not even one where presents are involved. We spent the morning at the parade, then at my parents, and then went to the fireworks on the lake. They were great! Usually they light one and then you wait a minute til the next. They finally figured it out and it was a great show!

The next great thing about July is blueberries! My family loves blueberries and picking them. It's much easier than strawberries, too. This year we were joined by our friends Steph and Jacob. The kids ate a TON of blueberries, but didn't seem too ill afterward. We actually picked 10.6 lbs of yumminess between the three of us, and Steph and Jacob picked around 6lbs. Then we enjoyed "Blueberry Grunt" for dessert that night. It was a new recipe and was pretty good, but not to die for. So here's to July and all the fun times we've had so far.

Correction

2008-07-09T22:40:00.001-04:00

In case you tried to link to my cousin's web page, I pasted the wrong link in the last post. Instead, the correct link is now listed as one of my blog friends, then use my email address docbennecke@hotmail.com to sign in. Sorry for the goof!

Real Quick

2008-07-02T21:33:00.002-04:00

I'm running on 3 hours sleep last night and over 45 hours of work in the past three days, so this will be short. I can't find one camera and the other is malfunctioning, but I'll post pics soon. All is well
For those of you following my cousin and his wife Bridget's story, here is a link to a web page they are using now for updates. http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewHome.do You can sign in using my e-mail address docbennecke@hotmail.com
Have a great holiday weekend celebrating freedom!

Update

2008-06-27T22:28:00.002-04:00

So here is a picture of Chloe Faith. She was born 11:25 PT June 23 at 1lb 2oz and 12 inches long. So far she has been doing as well as can be expected. It is common for extreme preemies to have bleeding either in the brain or abdomen due to the ventilator and pressure changes, but thus far, she has neither which is great. She is starting to breath a little on her own, but is still on a ventilator. They have also started to give her oral food to supplement her IV nutrition. She has a long road ahead, but thank God thus far things are going ok. Bridget is recovering from the c-section and will resume chemo in 2 weeks. Please continue to hold this family up in your prayers.

Laminin

2008-06-24T21:42:00.001-04:00

If you have about 8 minutes of time, check out this really cool U-Tube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

30

2008-06-23T21:58:00.002-04:00

So I've been thinking about some great insprirational, platitudinal words for this milestone, but the wind just got taken out of my sail. Another smaller person needs attention on this birthday. In just 2 hours (approximately 9pm Pacific Time), a little baby will celebrate birth, but not in the normal, joyous fashion. My cousin Steve's wife Bridget is going to have an emergency c-section to deliver their 26-27 week gestation baby. There is approximately 50% viability at this age, but life-long complications are common for those who do survive.

Even if you're not the praying source, consider it for this family. They have been through so much pain and difficult decisions since her cancer diagnosis several weeks ago. They have done it with amazing grace and joy even amidst all this tragedy. It just seems unfair that one more thing has to be so difficult. Pray for miracles! God is the one who knit this little baby together, He surely can sustain it. Pray for peace in this storm.

It's amazing how this story has traveled across the country and touched so many. They are holding a benefit concert in Boston this weekend. Curt Schilling (Boston Red Sox pitcher) heard about Bridget and called her and left a message letting her know he was praying for her. Another friend has started collecting stories and pictures for Bridget's child(ren) as Bridget was stressing about not having made any keepsake item for them. So many are wrapping them in love.

So this birthday post wasn't what I'd have planned, but maybe it's more inspirational than any thoughts I may have had. Maybe it will inspire a few more people to pray - myself included. As my Uncle has said in numerous update e-mails about Bridget, their family's hope is that through all this prayer not only will miracles happen for their family, but also for each individual that prays as they seek God and communicate with him on an intimate basis. Changed hearts and lives. Please pass this message along to anyone and everyone.

I think you know what my wish was as I blew out those 30 candles.

Ode to My Hubby

2008-06-18T22:41:00.002-04:00

So this ode is fitting since it was just Father's Day this weekend - wait a minute, he's my husband, not my dad, oh well.

I love my husband. Most wives in good standing probably feel this way. By in large, I think I did pretty well in marrying Steve. He's a good guy, works hard, has fun, is a good dad, etc. But the weekend before this past, the man really outdid himself. I honestly didn't know he had it in him, but now that I do, he's in trouble because I'll hold him to a higher standard:)

So it all began with my mom telling me she was taking me on a surprise birthday weekend. Steve consented to handling the kids for a night by himself. Mom took me to Chicago where we did plenty of damage shopping, getting made-up at Macy's, great dinner, and then followed it up with a Broadway performance of "Wicked." For any of you who like musicals, this was a GREAT show! Very entertaining and fun! We ended with a nightcap at the hotel and settled in for a quiet night with no babies crying or kids squeezing in bed...ahhhh. Unfortunately, we had to kind of rush home because mom had a graduation open house to attend...or so she claimed.

As we pulled up our dirt road, I noticed a large red, yellow, and blue inflatable in our yard. Then as we got closer, I could make out the white peaks of a large tent. I was still a little dense, and not until we pulled in the driveway and all our friends yelled "SURPRISE!" did I realize just how badly I'd been duped.

So yes, my dear hubby threw me a 30th birthday fiesta, nice. But oh no, this was no simple affair. He threw a surprise annual pig roast party! Some of you may have attended one of our fabulous events, I think we've had 6 of them so far. The planning is a full time job, let me tell you, because I am usually the one on our side of things handling this stuff. But Steve did it all: invitations, tent, bouncy for the kids, tables, chairs, clean house, mow lawn, 2 kegs (one even was Oberon - we're stepping up in life), drinks, munchies, major decorations, the pig (which is a major undertaking in and of itself), fireworks, and entertainment (past parties have included square dancing, a whiffle ball tournament and bonfires). The dear boy took a whirlwind trip down to Indiana on Friday just to get the fireworks since I was so bummed last year that we didn't have them. But my ultimate surprise was the entertainment - Dueling Pianos!!!! Howl at the Moon style! I could never in my wildest imagination think he would do all this, let alone be able to keep everything from me. My good friend from vet school is engaged to a guy who is professional "piano dueler" (I made up that title), so Steve contacted him a while ago to see if it was possible to do a remote location show. Sure enough, they had keyboards set into fake baby grand pianos and they were jammin away! Most people at the party were unfamiliar with this format of entertainment, but they quickly caught on and soon it was a rockin party! It's hard to convey the scope of the whole thing, but it was amazing!

So, thank you, Steve. I know I've told you like 10,000 times how much I love you, but I never could imagine that love would continue getting bigger and bigger. The piano players wished they were married to Steve, and I know that I am very lucky to be. There are days I want to kick you in the shins, don't get me wrong, but for the most part you are more than I ever dreamed a husband could be. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for sticking by me when I'm less than nice. Thank you for our family and the great times we have together. Thank you for loving me so much that you would want to throw me the biggest and bestest 30th birthday party ever! I love you.

P.S. If any of you party-goers have any pics from this event, I'd love copies. As it was a surprise, I didn't have my camera poised and ready. Then I'll post them

P.P.S. Ok, so we had so much fun the first time around, we're doing it again! Mark your calendars for August 23, 2008. More info to come.

Goooaaaallllll!

2008-06-02T21:38:00.003-04:00

There are some moments in life when you just wish you could sit back and hit replay over and over because you know it's how life's supposed to be. It's when I need to take the time to say "Thanks God, for all the amazing blessings in my life. Thanks also for the trial which make the blessings that much sweeter." Below is a pictoral of some of those blessings.

This is a picture of Gabby and Rylee with Gabby's best friend Isabelle (middle) and her sister Allison(left). Isabelle has been such a blessing for Gabby- her happiness and increase in confidence this year are unbelievable. Good friends are to be treasured.

This picture was taken at the local hunt club - as in horses chasing foxes. I volunteered at an event there this weekend for the pony club, and it was just beautiful out. Also, my two oldest children have never behaved as well as they did during the event! I left them over on a hill about 200 yards away from my vet box and told them to stay there....AND THEY DID for like 45 minutes! Gabby is really getting into the horse stuff. She ended up staying with me for the entire 4 hours. We both got great tans and loved watching these amazing creatures perform at their best.

Ok, so I'm pretty sure the above two photos aren't going to scar my children later in life:) This was a post-soccer bath for everyone, and it felt amazing! You'd figure with a baseball dad and a basketball mom we'd be playing one of those sports, but we are now a soccer fam. When Steve comes home every night, the first question from the girls is, "Dad, can we play soccer?" This is truly a whole family deal - even C.J. gets in the action thanks to an awesome baby carrier! Rylee is learning to be a cherry picker, Gabby's known for kicking in the shins, I've landed on my butt several times already (on a day I didn't have C.J. strapped in, so I was going all out), and Steve's the master trickster. So at the time of this writing Steve's teams are beating mine 3-1 in the series, but mind you I have a 20 lb handicap. It's great to have fun as a family! Thanks God!

So do you think he might be his daddy's boy? The three toys above: football, baseball, and TV remote all make for a good time. I can already hear the wrestling matches between the two of them for the remote. It may get ugly!

And finally, we are so thankful for the arrival of spring and summer. This winter got a little long and depressing, but now the flowers are blooming and life is green. The lake is warming up, so soon you'll be seeing swimming pictures. Actually, the crazy girls both did go swimming Memorial weekend in 62F water - that's COLD! This is a little bouquet I made from some early summer blooms for Gabby's teacher. Once the garden's in full bloom, I'll have to post pictures. I don't think this will be a strong year of gardening as I don't want to make a lot of additions only to have to leave them behind when we move (if ever). But I have quite a few perrenials that give a nice show.

New Teeth

2008-05-30T21:54:00.003-04:00

In honor of Poppy (my dad the dentist) we are anouncing the arrival of 2 new teeth: Gabby is getting a 6-year molar and C.J. is getting his first tooth! Happy chewing! I think this is my first child to get a tooth before turning one year. It never slowed the girls down.

Do you ever have one of those days where you make a list of all the things you need to get done, only to do none of them. I had one of those today. I was supposed to go to the zoo with Rylee for a class trip. Unfortunately, it got canceled last night due to impending storms (which never came). So I thought ok, no problem, I'll actually have a day off to get things done...not. Gabby even wrote me a list and numbered my intended order of importance. I did get a load of laundry done, but that wasn't on the list. Do you ever retrospectively put an item on the list just so you can have the feeling of crossing it off?

So I went to take Ry and Gabby to school. Just getting ready to leave Rylee when a lady came in a said the library next door had a gas leak and we might need to evacuate the preschool. That sounds fun! I took Gabby to school and then returned to "evacuate" to the local park. Darn, there went that 2 hours I intended to go to the bank, library - closed due to leak anyways so good excuse, grocery store, and post office. On the good side, got to hang out with Rylee and friends at the park! So when Steve comes home, I will be proud to say I got very little accomplished today, but had fun!

Happy Birthday Grandma Eileen - 93 years young!

Catch Up

2008-05-23T22:32:00.006-04:00

It's been forever, I know. And I'm sure my 5 readers have been pining away wondering what's happening in my oh-so-exciting life. Pretty much same stuff, different days. A lot of stuff, jammed into every day. So in terribly bad form, I'll do a brief rundown.

Steve's birthday gift - ended up going with the iPod nano for no real reason other than it was at Sam's Club and so was I. He loved it and is now trying to figure out how to work it.

Bridget - is living each day as a gift from God and a testimony to His goodness in her life even in the midst of tragedy. She started chemo about a week ago and seems to be tolerating it ok. She has been able to go home and control pain ok. It sounds like they are planning to try and have the baby. 24 weeks is about as early as a premie can survive, but every week longer is even better. They said without the chemo, Bridget had ~30-60 days; with it maybe up to a year. So keep them all in your prayers. My cousin (Steve), sends me periodic emails and I think it has to be so surreal to have all that going on yet still have the many responsibilities of work and providing for your family.

Gabby - scored a goal in last soccer game! Yeah!! She would have scored 2 if the goal had been a little taller:) She also started horseback riding lessons last week. She absolutely LOVES it, which may not surprise you, but does me a little since she's always been on the shy side about the horses. Her instructor is very pleased and says she's come as far in two weeks as her agemates have come in a year. Do ya think this may be due to some inherant balance that she has since she's been riding since she was in utero?

Gabby's quote of the day while we're driving: "Mom, I'm so mad at Gigi (her great-grandma)!" "Gigi? Why?" "I'm mad because she had Grandpa Art fired up and now he's in little pieces at Uncle Phil's house!" She was so indignant that my grandpa had been cremated:)!

Rylee - she thinks she should be playing soccer and riding horses, but alas, not yet little one! So instead all she does outside is play soccer in Gabby's old uniform. She's going to be a ball hog I have a feeling. She got kindergarden tested and will be going to kindergarden next year which is good.

C.J. - now over 20lbs at 6 months. Causing me serious shoulder pains already. I think it's time for a diet, but as you'll see from the pictures, he hasn't seen a meal he doesn't like. He's doing a crawl-roll-scoot thing that allows him to travel most of the living room. I'm dreading full mobility - I can hear the female shreaks of distress as Barbies, Polly Pockets, and Pet Shops are held hostage by a slobbering brother.

His previous great sleeping habbits had really fallen short in the past month or so, so mean mommy has been implementing the cry all night routine rather than the multiple bottles he was previously demanding. So far, moderately painful (more because loving hubby does not tolerate crying babies in the middle of the night), but I think we're breaking through.

So I think that's it for that infinately long update. Now for the fun stuff!

I told you he didn't miss many meals. Occasionally he does share with his furry friends, though.

They're so cute you'd never believe how loud they can make me scream! (Note: you can't quite see it, but C.J. is wearing the maize and blue)

The die-hard soccer chicks. It was like 35 and quite windy.

I went with Gabby's class trip to the Kalamazoo museum. It was a lot of fun trying to keep up with her and her little friends.

Reality Check

2008-05-07T17:23:00.002-04:00

So my mom called me this afternoon and said she had really sad news. My first thought is that my dear grandma passed away - which would be very sad, but not outside the "natural order" as she is nearly 93 years old with health issues. But no, this news was in so many ways worse even though a little farther removed in the family. My cousin Steve's wife Bridget is pregnant about 20 weeks and has been having numerous issues with the pregnancy - blood clots, blood pressure, etc. A couple weeks ago she noticed lumps in her neck and was very concerned about more clots. Then in the past week she's had difficulty breathing, fainting spells, and more. The doctors finally decided on surgery to remove her gallbladder. They did this surgery today only to discover that her liver has stage 4 aggressive cancer. Not all the details are known at this early stage, but the baby and Bridget both have a very poor prognosis.
Steve and Bridget have a 2 year old daughter Gracie who was given this name by Steve because he had battled through severe depression by Gods Grace. Now again he faces those dark demons. Bridget is one of those people who is like a ray of sunshine all the time. She embodies the word joy. She is an amazingly devoted wife and mother.
My heart is just so heavy about this. So many things about this story are so wrong. I'm trying to see God's grace in the face of this terrible situation. Faith tells me everything works together for the good of those who love the Lord, but it's still hard not to say "Why God?" My short-sighted take-home lesson for myself is to love just a little more fully those people around me. Give the kids and Steve extra kisses, hugs, and quality time. Realize that I'm not owed any time with these beloved ones, but rather each day is a gift. Trust God deeper.
I'm sure Steve, Bridget, Gracie and the Slotemaker family would all covet your prayers in these difficult days.

Advice

2008-04-28T22:39:00.002-04:00

Steve's birthday is coming up in a couple weeks (#33) and I think he'd like an ipod or something similar. Any advice or opinions on what's good, least expensive route, etc.? I saw there are ipods and all other gadgets on ebay, but I'm not sure if I'm confindent enough to buy from an online auction (the last auction I set foot at I ended up coming home much poorer and 66 acres in hand). We are so behind the times when it comes to techno gadgets and such. Here's the rundown: newest TV 1999 - no HD, no digital, will probably need to purchase those special receivers for all our ancient TV's once the signal changes next year; music at our house = a 3CD boom box. No mp3's, ipods, etc. The girls both received portable CD players this year. All our cell phones are the very basic model - no texting going on, no cameras or videos - just phone calls. Video cam circa 2001, no digital capabilities b/c at the time I was too scared to deal with anything that combined a video recorder and a computer. Still my excuse. So, needless to say, I'm a little unsure of the techno waters and would love some input. Then once I purchase something, I'll have my 4 and 6 year old kids teach me how to use it!

Survivor Plainwell

2008-04-18T22:51:00.005-04:00

I made it!!! The week is over and I feel like I've been given the immunity necklace or whatever it is they have on that show (I did actually watch a season or so, but it's been a while). We actually did pretty well flying single parent. I hit panic yesterday when the real estate agent called to say someone wanted to see the house today, but my super-mom flew in to help out and the house actually looked the best it has in a long time (also thanks to KS bi-weekly cleaning yesterday which was lucky timing). Also good timing, yesterday I had ~1 hour of nothing and decided randomly to clean the barn. Only minor problem, when I got home tonight, it didn't appear as if anyone had been here. Usually they shut off all the lights and leave a business card - none found. I will be moderately irritated if they didn't show - unneeded stress and time spent cleaning. Oh well, at the least, Steve will come home to a clean house.
Also making life more bearable, todays ambient temp was a balmy 77F. Life is always better when it's warm.
So I've finally finished all my calls today, except for the one I had to reschedule for tomorrow since I had so many emergencies this afternoon. 10:30 is just about the right time for dinner and a few reebs. Yummy egg salad.
Ok, my eyes are crossing. This rambling needs to end before I get kicked off Survivor Plainwell.

2008-04-18T22:51:00.001-04:00

Biker Babes

2008-04-13T16:22:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I got out my cranky, uncooperative camera and got some shots of the girls because I'm just too proud of them. After only 2 days of practicing, they are both proficient at riding their bikes without training wheels! This amazes me because if I remember back to when I was learning to ride my banana bike, (yes, sadly this was a long, long time ago. Like 25 years!) I remember my mom jogging up and down the road for many days hanging onto the back of my bike and then letting go. Do you remember that mom? So anyways, these two chicas figured it out pretty fast and without much help. My poor pregnant babysitter (Hannah) was the first to inspire them with her sister's old bikes. Then when we got home, I helped them out a bit. Two days later they went back to Hannah's parent's house and rode again. When I got home that day, Gabby was a pro and Rylee was on her way. One of the cutest things for me, was watching Rylee out my kitchen window trying to get it down. She's definately persistent. If Gabby can do something, so can she! About a day later she was doing great too. So here's some pics from a proud mom. Oh yeah, they didn't have helmets when I went out, so we had a discussion:) Don't worry, I've heard the E.R. stats.

YEAH!

2008-04-12T11:39:00.003-04:00

I feel like a 50lb weight just got lifted off my shoulders. The guy from Washington accepted our offer to come on as our 3rd vet!!!!! After several let-downs, this is such exciting and relieving news. Unfortunately, he can't start yesterday, but he'll be here mid-July. This is definately an answer to prayer!

Steve's gone to Vancouver, Canada for this next week. Yikes, it could (and already has gotten) get crazy at the Bennecke ranch. Time to put on the super-mom cape:) Hopefully the hubby snags a nice bear to replace the stolen one. He needed some time in God's peaceful and quiet creation.

Ok, I'm outie 5000. Maybe soon I'll get my act together and post pictures. Oh yeah, Steve has the camera and SBM card.

Quickie

2008-04-07T21:24:00.002-04:00

I'm procrastinating doing invoices, inventory, and marketing. Good thing I took one business class at Barry. Gotta love having your own business, argh, I think I've created a monster. Part of my "marketing strategy" has involved the fact that I'm basically the only all-ambulatory vet in the area. Everyone else has fancy haul-in clinics that are really nice, but also cost a pretty penny which drives up their rates. Mine on the other hand can be quite a bit lower and I still make money. So with our thriving economy, it seems more people are looking for the "bargain vet":)
So still too busy for my liking. We should know by Friday if the new vet grad from Washington is going to take the job. I'm crossing every finger and toe and praying hard.
Had a great weekend. Finally 60F!!!! Great friend Saioa from Barry University days is doing a 6 week OB/GYN residency internship in Grand Rapids which is super cool! She's freezing as her home base is Hawaii. So it was great hanging out. The girls loved her as Sai is just the loveable sort:) We look forward to seeing her more in the next several weeks.
The kids are starting to learn how to ride their bikes without training wheels. I wonder if my mom was a nervous about this as I find myself? I never even owned a helmet. Now I'm chasing the girls all over the driveway and yard trying to be sure they don't bite the big one. They both can go a few feet without me now and it's only been 1 day. We're excited for AYSO soccer to start soon too. They were kicking the ball around with the dogs and doing well, so it should be fun.
Oh well, business calls. Gotta run.

Where did the "Freetime" go?

2008-03-14T20:34:00.002-04:00

Apparently it's melting with the snow. Which I'm not complaining about the onset of spring. This winter was way too long, cold, white, and depressing. You know you live in Michigan when it's March and ~50F and you come home to your kids wearing tank tops, shorts and flip flops! Heatwave! I hated to break it to them, but we could still see more snow.
Things here have been so crazy busy I don't even know what to think or do. Partially b/c two of the last three weeks I've had to work 5 days b/c the boss is gone. But spring is also the beginning of people realizing they have beasts in their backyards with four legs that they want to ride again. Spring shots and blood draw for horses is here! Yeah for money in my pocket, booo for sanity. It hasn't been an easy decision, but I think my four-legged beasts in the backyard are going to have to be sold. I need to de-clutter my life somehow and as I see it I can't get rid of the kids, job, husband, or house so the horses are about the only option. It's sad b/c we've had Daisy for 8 years now and her first baby Dakota is now 6 years old and the biggest sweetie. I'm really hoping to give my old mare Celeste to a friend nearby. She is my favorite horse to ride so if the friend will take her, then at least I can visit and ride. The horse market is terrible, so maybe no one will want them - hayburners. We'll see what happens.
That's about all the freetime I have right now. I'm going to bed I think. I hate going to bed before 11pm, but I've had three 15hour days this week and my shoulder is burning. Please pray things work out and we are able to hire a new vet this spring!

The Champ

2008-03-03T16:50:00.001-05:00

C.J. and Ry

NaNa and C.J.

Poppy with C.J. and Caleb - his two grandsons!

Seems like everyone is updating on their kiddos lately, so here's the latest on the youngest since Ry was last time.

So Casey is like a dream child. He is such a good little guy even when he's sick - which unfortunately has been more often than any mom would like. He's almost 4 months old now. He's quite large compared to his agemates - about 16 lbs. This has been a good thing for mom and dad's muscles, but not so good if it's a long distance to carry him in his carseat (20+ lbs). He loves to laugh and giggle and is freely gives out smiles to everyone. He really likes his big sisters, but has recently discovered hair is a fun thing to pull and gets a very loud response. He's getting to the stage where he likes to play with things like an exersaucer or activity mat, etc. He can roll from tummy to back but not vice-versa. I'm worried he'll be an early mover. Kel, I read your blog, and don't read the next part or you'll be really jealous:) C.J. will sleep between 8-10 hours most nights, occasionally less, but a quick feeding or pacifier placement puts him back to sleep til morning. All in all, #3 has been a great experience thus far. I can't imagine life without my little man. I tease Steve that I have a new boyfriend:) He doesn't seem to mind.

Ry's Stylin

2008-02-25T20:35:00.003-05:00

Most of you who read this blog have met the Ry-Bird in person, but for those who haven't had that pleasure, she could be summed up as energy. She's constantly on the go, talks a mile a minute, has more bruises than even I did as a child (from all the activity - cart wheels, jumping off the stairs from like 6 stairs up, etc.). Her two striking physical features are her stunning blue eyes (from dad) and pipe-curled hair (from dad's side). We literally cannot go anywhere without people commenting on her eyes and hair. This past summer I seriously considered getting her into modeling, but our lives are not conducive to that at all. So instead she models and acts for us. This past week she has been like a lost puppy because her best friend Gabby was in Florida with grandparents. Our neighbor explained to me that since we live so rurally, that our kids really have to bond with their siblings because that's all they have. Anyways, the other neighbor girl was bored and called to ask us to go out so she could watch Rylee - so we begrudgingly did. We came home to curly sue being less than curly! This is Rylee with straight hair! She was so excited about it. She was combing it and so impressed with how soft it was. The next day - Sunday - she had a identity crisis before we left for church. "I want my curly hair back! Nobody will know who I am! I need to take a shower!" I convinced her to chill and wear it straight for another day.

So today she goes to a birthday party at this place at the mall where they basically give the little kids a makeover - hair, nails, makeup, etc. I've never heard of it before, but definately her element. The next two pics are of the hair styles she came home with. Gotta love the diva!

So Gabby comes home tonight - yeah back to three kiddos. Rylee will most likely take that shower she's been so desperate for and all will be back to "normal".

Downer Cows

2008-02-18T22:56:00.003-05:00

Oh I forgot, I did want to comment on the huge beef recall.
FYI - we were all eating downer cows prior to 3 years ago when the whole mad cow thing came into being. Prior to finding 1-3 BSE (mad cows) in the USA, downer cows could be transported and slaughtered and entered the food chain if they passed post-slaughter inspection. I really think it's sad that they are just throwing out millions of pounds of most likely decent meat due to an animal cruelty issue, not really a safety one. Not cool how the slaughter plant was opperating and they should get shut down and fined into oblivion. But did they really need to recall all the meat? My humble opinion, probably not.

Lately

2008-02-18T22:35:00.002-05:00

Well, I can honestly say, for the past like 2 weeks our lives have been consumed with this blasted weather that we have been having. It's like it's taking over our souls! The snow and cold never end. We've had over 90 inches of snow this winter!! I can understand why the Upper Penninsula has so many alcoholics. This much snow and cold could definately drive a person to drinking - a lot. There was one morning it was -13 raw temp (not including wind chill). Gabby's going to Florida tomorrow with my parents. I think I'll stow away in her suitcase.

Valentine's was pretty uneventful. We have a tendency to make babies around this time, so we were avoiding each other a little:) Actually, work was so busy that I had to go out again after dinner to attend to a sick cow. I went to Gabby's school Valentines Party - it was very nice. I think I really like her teacher. At first she was kind of disorganized, but she had just moved to this school. Somehow she's managed to inspire those 25 kids to learn and not be a bunch of crazies like they were initially. For Gabby to like going to school is a big accomplishment.

Rylee's preschool apparently has all sorts of background drama amongst the mothers. A bunch of them are all up in arms because their kids aren't learning enough and there's too much free time, etc. They were trying to all get together and go complain to the teacher. This kind of behavior really annoys me. First of all relax, this is preschool, not Princeton. Second, the kids will be in school for at least the next 13 years, why not let them have fun? Third, the teacher has been doing this for quite some time, so I'd imagine she knows how to teach. People (mom's in particular) can be such busy bodies. Maybe they have too much time to think since they're cooped up in their houses from all the snow. I haven't determined how to approach and handle these types of parents (Becs, I feel your pain). There's the roll your eyes and walk away tactic, but that seems too passive at times. Then again, if I get vocal and spout off, my kid will probably be going to school with their kid for the next decade so it probably would be good to remain civil. This hits on the main reason I refuse to treat dogs and cats - people drama. Horse work has enough of that!

We went yesterday and saw my brother's new baby - Caleb. He was born Feb. 5. They live like 2 hours northwest of us, near Lake Michigan. Very cute baby, looks a lot like his mommy. He made C.J. look like an elephant!

Not much exciting for real. I won't continue this sad story that is our weather and lives:) Maybe I'll be back to blogging in the spring!

Promised Pics

2008-02-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

So the biggest splurge thing that we have done since kiddo #3 is to hire a friend from our Bible study to clean our house every-other week. Why haven't we done this sooner!!! It is so great to come home after a 12 hour day to a spotless house. Karen, you rock!!

We got another +/- 6 inches of snow yesterday. This is a big problem in a state that is broke. They don't plow or salt - too expensive. I spent yesterday in Steve's Accord and it made me very grateful for my 4x4 truck. I couldn't get into one client's driveway and then got stuck twice trying to get up the hill by my parents. The kids and I were saying "I think I can! I think I can! " and we finally willed the little Honda up the hill.

Here are the promised pics of CJ in Florida.

Mommy's new favorite pic of me. I love to smile!

The big man getting a tan.

Mommy made me wear this very goofy looking hat. Since when is she worried about a little tan? I do love stroller trips on the beach. We took two every day. Too bad there's so much snow at home and we can't go for rides.

Me and mom on the beach. Note: I'm wearing my new tow truck summer outfit. It's in honor of daddy's work:)

Me and daddy at sunset.

I'm already being forced into being a Sox fan. What's going to happen if I like the Tigers instead? Or worse yet, the Cubbies?

100 Degrees

2008-02-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

That is the spread of temperature that we spanned in 24 hours from Wednesday morning in Michigan where it was -22F wind chill and "near blizzard" conditions to Thursday when we arrived in Florida and it was +80F. What is a "near blizzard" anyways?
Steve and I have questioned ourselves again, "Why do we live in Michigan?" It is so amazing down here. We've just been relaxing and bumming it. We had a great visit with Becs and her cutie daughter Lexie on the day we arrived. Otherwise, sun, walks, and QT. On one downer note - I hate bathing suits officially. They are not made for post baby, tall people who don't want to look over the hill yet. You'd think it wouldn't be that difficult. Apparently nobody in design world wants to tackle this feat.
Happy Birthday Saioa and mom! Mom, sorry you caught our ugly flu bug, you are a trooper!
I'll hopefully post sunny pics of CJ later.

Sickos

2008-01-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

We had a fun weekend! Not really. Gabby started it Saturday with fever, stomach ache, head ache, etc. Then Sunday Ry and I got it. By Sunday night, Steve was in full swing. Thankfully it was only 24 hour and no puking or diarrhea. I enforced strict baby sanitation rules to try and avoid CJ getting sick. So far just a cough. Hopefully it stays clear of him. we're leaving for Florida Thursday!

Shistosomas Jinx

2008-01-23T14:39:00.000-05:00

So Monday I'm driving down the road thinking about if we hire a new vet how many strange things we'll have to bring them up to speed on. One of those is shistosomas reflexus (spelling I have no clue). This is a congenital abnormality of calves where the body esentially forms inside out - the organs are on the outside and sometimes the whole torso of the skeleton is inside out to some degree. I've seen it twice since I've been out of school, but it wasn't something they taught about in school, so when I first saw one I was shocked. So I'm thinking to myself, well, it's been a while since I've seen one of those.

About 36 hours later at 10:30 pm a friendly farmer calls me to tell me "Doc, the heifer has a big purple bulge coming out the back end with the feet. What do I do?" I was hoping it was simply a vaginal prolapse or something he could deal with, but I had already jinxed myself. Thankfully, I'm figuring out how to use a fetotomy much better than my early days, and with just one cut of what was supposed to be the hips/back, we got it out! Remind me not to think ever about strange and rare occurrances. Oh, by the way, it was also a full moon.

Steve and C.J.

2008-01-21T20:39:00.000-05:00

So one of my favorite things is seeing Steve adore his little boy. He loves the girls to death, but there's a special sparkle with his son. They are so cute together! Most of the time, Steve ends up putting C.J. to sleep, but they are discovering a new common love (besides me) -- football! Since da Bears aren't playing still, it's hard to tell if they'll be cheering for the same team. I'm encouraging him to have Tommy (Brady) as a role model.

Daddy and C.J. watching the Packers battle the Giants

C.J. has his own little "recliner" set up to watch the game This picture is worth a thousand words. All of those white marks are the result of a MAJOR spit-up. Daddy was thrilled!

Thunderstorm

2008-01-07T21:31:00.000-05:00

For the record, today is January 7 and we are having a thunderstorm tonight. Complete with thunder, lightening, wind, rain, and even tornado warnings in some counties. Crazy!! It was 60 degrees today! Just for perspective, 4 days ago it was 6 F! Gotta love Michigan! Actually I'm hoping it all freezes again b/c we're supposed to have an open house this weekend and everything is currently mud.

Here's a picture of Dixie snuggling with CJ tonight b/c she's not a big fan of thunder:)

Happy 2008!

2008-01-01T10:13:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. We spent it at the Hughes' and they put on a great international dinner party. Our country was Morocco (does it have 2 C's or 2 R's or both?). I made Casablanca carrots - they were ok, not a recipe I'd repeat, but edible. Today is going to just be a chill day thankfully. We got like 6 inches of snow last night, so things will be slow. Maybe we'll do some more sledding. The girls are into the playing in the snow thing. I have to admit, I mostly use the excuse of the baby to send them out without me. It must be an old person thing, not wanting to go out in the cold. When I was a kid, I'd play in the snow or ice skate for hours. Kind of like the whole swimming thing, that's also lost some of its appeal. Oh to be a kid again! Speaking of age, welcoming in 2008 was a little bittersweet as I realized that I, and some of you, will mark this year with the number 30:( We'll have to commiserate on that later, I don't want to dwell on it.

So here are some belated Christmas photos of the fam.

Christmas party #1 was at Steve's family in Chicago the weekend before Christmas. This is Steve's cousin's wife Margie with Gabby, Rylee, and cousin Amanda.

C.J. playing with Auntie Tina.

Christmas Eve - we went to candlelight Christmas service at church then over to mom and dad's for Chinese dinner. Then we had Christmas #2 with Jason and Danielle. I think this is our first non-hospital family photo.

I'm not going to enter the world of drama that was Christmas Day. Let's just remember it by these pics of G.G. with her grandchildren. It was amazing how content and peaceful she was when she held C.J. in her arms. It was beautiful! It brings to mind one of my favorite Sarah McCloughlan songs "In the Arms of an Angel."

Here is the very cool snowman Gabby and Rylee cooperated to create! He was awesome! After an early attack by Dixie, he was restored to his full grandor. Aunt Marilyn gave us a great Christmas gift that was a box of snowman decorations, all you add is snow. Gabby later made a baby snowmas as well. It's great to have "good snow." For all you southerners, this is when the snow is actually useful for building and fighting. When it gets too cold, the snow doesn't stick together well and is really good for nothing - this is when we up north wonder why we live here. But we just got another dousing of "Good Snow" so hopefully I'll have some more cute winter pics soon.

FYI

2007-12-29T21:08:00.000-05:00

In case you're interested, switching diaper brands has made all the difference! Huggies are my new fav, but Luvs aren't bad either:)

2x4 (warning, long post)

2007-12-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

As in the piece of wood that is 2" by 4" and that sometimes I feel I should be hit over the head with. It's been a long while since I've last posted. Not that I haven't wanted to, but the whole freetime thing just hasn't been there for me. Now that Christmas is fast approaching, I feel like everything is go, go, go. Parties, shopping, baking, Christmas cards just to name a few. Add to that starting back to work (not full time yet), managing a family of 5, 2 dogs that sometimes create more work than the 3 kids, keeping the house clean, trying to help my mom deal with a difficult situation with my grandmother in the nursing home...whew! I'm not writing all these things to complain or seek pity because I know there are people out there who do 10x more and are 10x more effective than I am. It's just that I have had the distinct feeling that God is probably wanting to hit me over the head with a 2x4 because I miss the whole point. He's been sending me subtle and not so subtle messages regarding the true point.

The first nudge came about 2 weeks ago at our small group Bible study. We watched a short video about a woman who was in a dark time of her life one Christmas. One of the turning points for her came when a total stranger bought her a cup of hot chocolate as she sat alone in a hotel restaurant. I was reminded of how I so often get stressed about finding the perfect gift, having beautifully wrapped gifts and attending all the Christmas parties. But that's not what Christmas is all about. It's about small blessings received from God and passed forward to those around us. It's about slowing down enough to appreciate those small things and seeing those who need to receive God's love. It's about family.

The second hit came this week when I received the following e-mail from a friend's blog. I know it's long, but it's really good.

The view from the soapbox http://www.xanga.com/grh158

This is something I've written about before, and probably will again, because it's a subject I feel passionately about. Right off the bat I need to state for the record that I am not pointing a finger at anyone specifically. Unless that person would be me, myself. (And I.)
Lily (her 3 year old granddaughter) called the other night to talk to Auntie Susannah about her elf, Pippi. After they had chatted for a while Lily asked to talk to me. Here's the part where I did a wrong bad thing--I told Susannah I couldn't talk to Lily right then because I was busy, and to go ask Pop. What was I thinking? What in the world could I have been doing that was more important than talking to my precious granddaughter? Making supper? Bustling about with some pseudo-vital task? How could I have had such skewed priorities? It would seem that in all my years of mothering I have failed to learn this one crucial lesson -- not to be bothered by the interruptions to my work because the interruptions ARE my work. How many sweet and tender moments did I miss with my kids because I was doing something I deemed too "important" to stop? "Not now..." "I'm busy..." "Go ask Daddy...." "Do it yourself...." This all falls into the general category of "BEING TOO BUSY". There's an epidemic of busy-ness, and it really bugs me. I've heard it said that you can define BUSY as Being Under Satan's Yoke. How many times do you hear (or say) "I can't because I'm too busy." ?? I firmly believe that God enables each person to accomplish the things He has given her to do each day. There is always enough time to obey according to His guidelines: God, spouse, children, others (in that order). People before things. Eternal before temporal. We all choose every single day to make the time to do the things that are the most important to us. I didn't make the time to vacuum before Bible study this morning. But I did somehow "find" time (oh look! time! how handy to have found it!) to sit at my computer and read my e-mail and two or seven blogs. So was I too busy to vacuum? Um..not hardly.And if I had chosen to set my alarm an hour earlier, instead of choosing to spend that time sleeping, I could have done both. I'm here to admit that sleeping in the mornings is rather high on my priority list. hmmm....what does that say about my character?I am not too busy to exercise. I am not too busy to take a class. I am not too busy to volunteer in my daughter's school. I have the same number of hours as anyone else. I don't run every day because it is not what I have determined to be the most important thing to me at that time. Is that screwed up priorities? Possibly. Am I a victim of some cosmic lack of available time? No way.We moms all have extra demands on us this time of year. Suddenly our work load has increased exponentially, with no reduction in the daily duties. But none of us is "too busy". It's all about choices. We each and every one of us will do what we determine to do with our time.I freely confess that I do not always make right choices. Could we just be honest with each other, though, and ban the phrase "I'm too busy" from our collective vocabularies?
Like Phoebe said in that one Friends episode, "Gee, I wish I could, but I don't wanna."
And Lily? Will you forgive me?

BANG! Across the head.

And then the third hit came just the last couple days. C.J. has been an outstanding little guy, a dream! This past Sunday we were relaxing and he spit up all over me. As he did it, I yelled "Heey!" and startled him so that he choked on the spit and most likely aspirated some of it. He immediately became congested with a wet cough. I thought little of it. The next day he continued to have a stuffy nose and cough, but still acted/ate normally. By Tuesday it looked as though everything was on the mend. Well yesterday he went backwards and was really breathing loudly. Dr. Mom heard wheezing in his lungs so we went to the doctor's at 6pm as this was the only available appointment. By then he was really raspy and laboring to breath. Long story short, they sent us to the hospital for overnight observation, chest x-rays, blood work, etc. to rule out pneumonia. No pneumonia thankfully, and all else, besides the upper respiratory tract, was normal. Brochiolitis either from the aspiration or a secondary virus is the most likely diagnosis.

Enough of the doctor talk (that's my comfort zone). As you sit in the children's ward of the hospital and hear crying kids all around and talk to the staff about how full they are, perspective changes drastically and rapidly. It brings me to my knees with thankfulness that Casey isn't deathly ill or dealing with a life-long illness. God has given us so many blessings! I guess I probably needed a dose of perspective on those blessings. Hence the 2x4.

I pray that you all have a blessed and healthy Christmas. Take time to relish the small blessings that God places in your life just because He loves you. Remember that Jesus came as a tiny baby, not a splendid king because He loves us. Pass on these small acts of love. Make the right choices rather than being caught in the "too busy" trap. Keep things in perspective of what is truly important - God, spouse, family, friends. These are the things I'm going to work on. Please keep me accountable.

24

2007-11-30T16:41:00.000-05:00

The title is not in reference to the TV show. No, it is a reference to the longest period of time Casey has gone without some sort of diaper leakage. This feels like a mini-accomplishment, but looking long-term we have some major issues to correct. Having two female babies before, I was accustomed to the occasional blow-out. The male anatomy lends a whole new challenge. Why does he keep leaking even though the diaper isn't full? Unit positioning is key I think, but even when I am conscientious about it, we still have an occasional accident. I guess it's just another way the male gender gets its kicks at the female race - as babies they create massive amounts of laundry, as men they laugh at us because we can't conveniently pee in the woods or along the highway!

Quote of the day from Rylee: "Mom, come and wipe me. I went poop and I've been waiting six years for you to come wipe me!"

Turkey

2007-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

Gabby's 6th B-day
Proud Grammy Bennecke
Aunt Cindy with C.J.

Cousin Jordan and C.J. at Thanksgiving

Gigi and Aunt Marilyn with C.J. Gigi and Gabby
Poppy's first time holding C.J. - only took 2 weeks
Future bowling star?

Wow, I feel like I'm going through withdrawl. I haven't posted in over a week! I've enjoyed catching up on all of you fellow bloggers, though. I don't even have the excuse of hosting or traveling, so I'll use Casey for this one. Actually, I can't legitimately use him because he's such a good boy.

So the hunt was not successful for Steve or my dad. Bambi and family made it! They had a good time waking up at 3am and getting back out of the woods at 5pm. Sounds like a blast!

Thanksgiving was nice but hectic. My grandma (aka Gigi for my kids) got back from California last Monday. She's definately 92 and showing it now. Anyways, on Wednesday she decided to get out of bed herself - she can't walk, get up, or basically do anything on her own - and subsequently fell. This resulted later that morning in a seizure which my aunt thought she was dying, so I got the call to rush to grandma's to say goodbye. Thankfully they stabilized her and after an afternoon in emergency she's as ok as she can be.

So Thanksgiving was celebrated at my parents'. My cousins came in from Virginia for the weekend and to see grandma which was really great since we don't see them often. Food was great - it always is when mom is cooking. Didn't eat too much since I was trying to balance 3 kids now. But that's not a bad thing since I didn't get the tryptophan overload and didn't need a nap. After spending a day with my grandmother, I am resolved to the fact that she does need to go into the nursing home. It's a hard decision for everyone because we all thought she would always be who she always was, but she really does need someone to watch her 24/7. It's like being around Rylee basically. They say you revert back to childhood and it's true. So I'm very thankful for time spent with family and for all the great memories throughout the years. God has blessed our family in so many ways that it's easy to take it for granted. Sometimes I need a little perspective.

Friday was Gabby's 6th birthday! I cannot believe it that six years ago she was just a little peanut like Casey. It goes by too fast as I'm sure you newer moms that read this are starting to realize. Sometimes it makes me happy to see her growing up, other times I'm sad because it's gone and we'll never get the time back again. We had a fun day together and then ended it with bowling with cousins and Nana.

Saturday Steve's mom and brother and sister-in-law came in from Chicago to meet Casey. It was great to see them and Casey was behaving pretty well for his first visit with Grammy.

Sunday was recovery day:)

Deer Widow

2007-11-18T11:14:00.000-05:00

This is a term you urbanites may not be familiar with, but a deer widow is someone who is basically abandoned as of opening day (Michigan this is November 15th) when the great hunters flock to the woods in search of Bambie's parents. Steve is one of these, therefore I have joined the ranks of deer widows. Unfortunately, two of my children have been born surrounding this all important season - Casey Nov. 12, and Gabby Nov. 23 - bad planning, but oh yeah, we don't plan in this family.

So we've been home since Tuesday night. Things are actually going well enough that Steve mentioned the number four, which was previously forbidden. Granted, he promptly left on Thursday morning (15th). He got his first opening day deer - a doe. For you urbanites, this is Bambie's mom. Before you shed a bunch of tears, here in Michigan this is majorly applauded since we have over 40,000 car-deer accidents each year. Steve and dad are now in Southern Illinois in search of "Big Bucks." They'll be home Monday at the latest, hopefully sooner.

My mom has been amazingly helpful. She's spent a couple nights here and has been giving me some time off from the girls, which I have needed to avoid blowing up at a certain middle child. Both girls are very loving towards C.J., but in true Rylee form, she doesn't know when enough is enough and she's also on attention underload. C.J. has been great so far. He's slept most of his life away, but I don't mind as this lets me get stuff done during the day and sleep at night (yesterday like 5 hours in one stretch). They say boys are easier, and so far I can't complain. Here's a couple pictures of him doing what he does best. He's so cute it's hard to not just cuddle him all day long - he loves to snuggle.

Welcome Casey

2007-11-15T14:44:00.001-05:00

So if you're reading this, you probably got my e-mail announcing the birth of Casey Jared Bennecke, born Monday, November 12, 2007 at 3:45 pm, 9lb 4oz, 21 inches long . Here's a few more details for those of you who are interested, and some pictures because I know that's the main reason to be checking this post anyways:) For some crazy reason the blogger is not letting me upload photos, so I had to put them in a smilebox format, sorry.

I was talking to a friend today and he said that we did this in true "Bennecke-style" - by the seat of our pants. We always like a little drama. So Monday continued to be a pretty quiet day, not much happening. Then about 2:20 my water broke, so I called Steve to tell him to start on his ~40 minute trip home. No contractions yet. About 2:30 I called Steve to check his progress - Wayland - which is about 20 minutes, and let him know I was having some pretty good contractions by then. We hung up again. 2:35 - the next conversation with dear hubby "Where are you now? Shelbyville? Well, don't slow down. Actually don't hang up with me because I need to concentrate." Contractions were about 3 minutes and pretty intense. I did eventually hang up again to call our favorite Kalamazoo Sheriff and check if there were any po-pos between our house and the hospital that he could clear out for us. We got the all clear. Steve finally arrived at 3:00. Between cursing the manual transmission in the Honda and the horribly slow woman on Sprinkle, contractions were strong enough I knew I better cross my legs. Steve is having visions of delivering this baby in the car - which might be the end of our marraige! I counted the lights as I counted the contractions coming about 2 minutes apart and very intense. 3:20 - We made it, Steve does not need to deliver! I got up to the labor and delivery floor and informed them this baby is coming very fast, so I bypassed the whole check-in process. Got to the room - finally - nurse takes one look, "10cm and ready to deliver, get me some gloves, the doctor is still downstairs finishing a C-section." Steve finally figured out how to make it to the proper room after wandering around the parking garage, I think he was in relieved shock. 3:40 the doctor did actually make it up to the room to deliver a healthy baby boy!! TaDa!!

So needless to say, if for some reason we do end up having another child, I think Steve will be renting me a room at the hospital to avoid this kind of stress.
We are all doing well. We actually came home last night, so only a short hospital stay which was nice. Now reality gets to set in. Thanks be to God for a healthy, beautiful son.

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Be Still

2007-11-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

No, the baby still is not here. After trying basically every natural means of labor induction possible and being seriously tempted to reach into the little black box in the back of my truck, God spoke. I'm not one to say "God told me this or that," but this was one of those still, small voices that whispered at 4 a.m.
"Be still and know that I am God."
Yes, it was 4 a.m. and I was awake because the night before I'd actually had pretty regular contractions that then just went away (second time this has happened). My back was killing me, and I was thinking to myself "what else can I do to make this happen." I was worrying because Steve is scheduled to go on a 4 day hunt to Illinois this week Thursday and I don't want to ruin this plan he's had for over a year, but I also don't want to do labor or new baby by myself. What could I do?
"Be still and know that I am God."
Unmistakable. This is not the kind of message that sits kindly on my ears for two reasons. First, being still. I had just walked a mile on the treadmill at 11:00pm trying to keep things moving. The day before I'd worked for an hour in the garden. I've been baking up a storm. Being still is not on the recipe for getting this baby out. Second problem is knowing that I'm not God. I can't think of too many days in my life where I haven't known who the God of the Universe is, but still try to be the god of my own life. Control, control, control, even in chaos I'm in control.
I think I have a couple hard lessons to learn, and I'm sure they won't be learned in a day. But the peace that I have now is amazing and all-encompassing. God is in control and I just need to sit back and watch the show.
"Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. Be stiil and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." Psalms 46:8-11

Trial Run

2007-11-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

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Failure to Launch

2007-11-04T11:39:00.001-05:00

So the herbal induction remedies were unsuccessful. Maybe partially a result of my only following through with them for 36 hours, but they were too nasty and I felt no different. Still feel no different on this my "due date".
You never know, though.

Halloween and Cohosh

2007-11-01T20:30:00.000-04:00

First Halloween, then I'll explain.

So Ry had her preschool party on Monday - as you can see, no pictures of that because negligent mommy had to work and got the time mixed up for when their parade took place:(

Gabby had her events on Halloween. She tried and tried to convince me that she didn't need to go to school, but meanie mommy made her go. I went with her for moral support since this is her least favorite day of life. She did pretty well actually. Their elementary school does a little parade through the middle school which is next door. So there are all these "big kids" in disturbing costumes reaching out to give high fives to the freaked out little kindergardeners. A few times I thought she'd actually climb up my leg, but she kept her eyes forward and kept walking. The rest of the party went well and she got gobs of goodies enough to make life ok again.

We went to Uncle Mav and Aunt Steph's house for trick-or-treating since we have no neighborhood and they have a very nice one. Rylee and their almost 2yr old son went to about 10 houses before Rylee decided it was time to be done. I'll have to admit I was a little disappointed because she only brought back a limited quantity of candy for me to pilage later. Actually, I'm not sure why we even bother to "do" this holiday as Gabby hates it and Ry is only moderately interested in anything that doesn't involve her sister. I guess it makes for a few cute pictures and a good excuse to eat more candy (as if I haven't been stuffing my face enough).

So as for the cohosh... I'll assume most of you have no clue what it is since I didn't either before 2 days ago. Let me explain... I went to the doctor Wednesday, no news except that he is working the labor and delivery floor Friday PM/Saturday AM. So I have a new goal to strive for - deliver during those 12-24 hours that he's working. He's delivered both of my girls and I guess it's stupid and sentimental, but I really want him to deliver the third. That's where the cohosh comes in. This is some homeopathic remedy - black and blue cohosh - in addition to evening primrose, that I am trying to use to pep start the ole engine. So far it tastes horrible and has done little. I was optomistic, but it's dwindling. I think I'll go for a long walk or a horseback ride!

We'll let you know if it works.

Gabby and her best friend Isabelle at the parade

Rylee prior to trick-or-treating

Rylee and Jacob the duck

We went for a great afternoon walk on the new property last weekend. I hadn't been out there since the leaves have changed and fallen since all the great white hunters have been out in their trees trying to kill Bambi's mom and dad. Our fall weather here has been fabulous and this afternoon/evening was perfect.As you can see, my children are not shy of the camera:)

This is the view from the area will may put the house. It currently overlooks a 15-20 acre corn field, but I'd imagine we'll have it planted to hay and in a couple years you'll see horses out there.More from inside the corn and beautiful Michigan fall colors.We went walking through the corn, which is no small task for a 3 1/2 foot tall person - the corn is about 10-12 feet high surrounding you and you just walk on the trampled stalks. Our goal was to get across the field to where one of the great white hunters had made the first kill. My brother Jason got a small doe with his bow. Rylee wanted to play in the carcass of course, Gabby stayed several feet back to be sure she didn't get any blood on her.

Not much need to explain. Just an awesome reminder of God's amazing beauty.

Pictures for Gigi

2007-10-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

These pictures are for Gigi - which is the name my girls call my grandma Eileen, short for great grandma. She has been in California since August recovering from a broken hip which is no easy task for a 92 year old. I had tried to send these pics via email, but it failed. I think, no, I know my 6year old daughter could probably have figured it out. It's amazing to see her maneuver around the computer and internet. So here are the pictures for you grams and everyone else to enjoy!

Gabby with my cousin Jordan at his birthday partyThe twins
Rylee and Gigi at the party
Gabby and Rylee with former babysitter Jennifer. Gabby was the flowergirl at her wedding
After about 100 pictures, Gabby was about done with the whole wedding thing.
Rylee's preschool trip to the local apple orchard. This is Gabby with our neighbor Clara.

Yes, she is a ham!

Beginner

2007-10-25T21:18:00.000-04:00

After seeing a couple friends with really cool blogs about their families and lives, I figured maybe this would be a better way to keep informed since I'm not too good about calling. I'm not tech savy, but I can learn I guess.
My current life:
1. Married happily (most days) for 7 + years to Steve
2. Live in Plainwell, MI which is actually only about 10 minutes from where I grew up. Yes, I know I swore I'd never return, but we've actually been here 6 years and I'm getting used to it. It is great to be close to family and there's no way I could handle being in Chicago. We live on a 10 acre horse ranch currently, but it's for sale because we just bought 67 acres a couple miles from here and plan to build.
3. Currently 2 kids: Gabby - almost 6 and in kindergarten. Rylee - 4 and in preschool. You'll hear more about them as this blog progresses I'm sure. It's amazing how two kids can come from the same two parents (yes, I'm sure they both were:) and be so different, but great! Third kid on the way - supposed to be a boy, but Steve's not convinced until he sees the package. Due Nov. 4th.
4. Still working as a large animal vet. About 80% dairy cattle and 20% horses. Usually I try to only work 4 days a week, but this backfires pretty frequently! I do love my job, though and can't imagine doing anything else.
5. Due to items 1-4, I have little time for anything else constructive:)