real women use hamburger helper

Moose and blankets

2012-02-17T16:33:00.001-08:00

Meet the newest member of the Hiemstra clan. His name is Ken. Yes, he is a giant moose. I purchased him at Costco. I'm not exactly sure why.

My mom and I didn't do any major projects while she was here but she did manage to sew the twenty-some patches my kids got on our Washington DC vacation this summer onto their travel blankets.

My forever friend Susie made these blankets for my kiddos and they LOVE them. It's a great way to remember family vacations.

Susie, not sure if you knew or not since we rarely take her on vacation with us, but we did have a third child. Her name is Katie and she eventually will travel :)

Wow

2012-02-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

Wow. I am WAY behind. Sorry about that folks. Prepare yourselves for picture overload.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

This little sweetheart looks so cute in her Valentine dress today!

Katie and I surprised this handsome guy with a McDonald's lunch at school. He was pretty excited!

I gave my girls Valentine socks the night before and he said, "This is so much cooler than socks!"

Since we were in the building, we had to check up on our Kim. Here she is with her 4th grade class. Her shirt says, "I {heart} my 4th graders". They must love her too cause she got lots of nice treats from her kids. She is going to make an AwEsOmE teacher...even if she does make Kool-aid without sugar!

My folks came to see Holly in her musical. As usual, we had a wonderful time of not doing much of anything. My mom and I played a lot of Bananagrams (I love that game) and my dad did a lot of yardwork (I love that guy). We also went out for breakfast nearly every morning (I love that tradition).

I cannot believe this is the only picture I took of my folks in ten days! It's a good one though!

I found this on the bulletin board outside of Sam's classroom today. The last line says, "Happy to see grandparents". Grampa, he really misses beating you in Wii bowling!

The last week of January was BEAR (Be Excited About Reading) week. On the last day, the kids get to dress up as a character from a book they read. No, Sam is not a Muslim woman. He is a ninja and give me a break, cause there just isn't a lot of selections for boys in the dress-up box!

Here he is at school in the book character parade. And yes (thankfully) there were other ninjas.

Since we currently have no home improvement project going on, I was getting a little restless so I impulsively painted an entire wall in my kitchen with chalkboard paint. I don't like it. It's messy. Unfortunately, the kids love it and begged me to keep it so it will stay up for awhile.

Holly and four other members of student council came over on Saturday to write the names of every person in the freshman class (there's about 90 of them) on a foam heart. The kids wore them on Monday and if they spoke to a member of the opposite sex, they had to give them away to that person. Two of the kids who came over were boys and I was given strict instructions not to say or do anything embarrassing. I know, it's hard to believe that I would do anything that would embarrass my daughter. I passed. And by the way, Holly kept her heart. That's my girl.

We went out for dinner the last night of Holly's musical. Here's two of my favorite girls.

BTW, Holly's musical was a smashing success! All the kids did great and I must say I think it was the best show I've ever seen...I might be just a little biased though! My mom ordered a DVD so all of Holly's fans in the midwest are invited over to Pete and Alice's house for a showing...she'll even ~~make supper~~ order pizza for everyone!
Here's a little smattering of pictures. I ordered a bunch of ones of her on stage but they haven't arrived yet. These backstage and after-the-show ones we'll have to hold you over until then.

Getting her hair done.

Getting help with her makeup.

Holly's good friend Lauren was in the show too. They had so much fun together. Just so you know, the skinny thing trailing down Holly's forehead is her microphone.

Silly girls!

Holly and Lauren's friends brought them flowers one night.

She had three costume changes so I made her take a picture of each dress.

Love the feather!

Sam's Sunday School teacher was in the show too and when we went to pick out flowers for Holly, he asked if we could get Miss Kristen flowers too.

Holly and Dolly.

Holly and "her friend and employer" Mrs. Irene Malloy.

Holly and her beau in the show, Barnaby Tucker.

Cassie, Lauren and Holly on closing night.

One very sleepy little sister on closing night.

My mom took a couple of videos on her camera one night. Let's see if this works...

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-01T12:46:00.001-08:00

Special Edition

2012-01-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

Guess who's girl was on the front AND back page of the Lynden Tribune???

Tickets are on sale now and you are not going to want to miss it...that Minnie Fay is just the cutest little thang!
The shows opens on February 3 with additional performances on the 4, 7, 9, 10, and 11. All shows start at 7:30. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $6 for students and seniors. They can be purchased at the Lynden Christian Central Office or by calling 318-9525.

Bowling up north

2012-01-26T08:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we tried five pin bowling up in Canada. I discovered two things: a. it is very different than American bowling and b. one of the ways it is the same as American bowling is that I stink at it. We did have lots of fun though and I think we were highly entertaining to the nice people in the lane next to ours who answered all of our dumb questions.
Getting ready to bowl! Look at those cute little balls...and no finger holes to get my chubby little sausages stuck in.

This handsome guy was the best bowler. He even beat his Dad's score!

Since we played with cute little balls (and bumpers) even Katie could play.

She usually sat down once she "threw" her ball (really she just kind of set it down and thankfully the lanes must be slightly sloped downward) because it took a while to make it all the way down to the pins.

Sitting with her best buddy.

As a little incentive to Kim, I told her if she got a strike I would pole dance for her.

It must have been just the encouragement she needed!

Actually, I was just looking for any excuse to pole dance. They were playing lots of 80's tunes that I love and the pole was just calling for me. Don't worry folks. I'm not giving up my day job. I'm pretty sure John was the only one who appreciated it.

Just after Kim's strike, Holly got one too!

She requested that I not pole dance.

Oh John. Our poor children. I really hope they turn out normal.

Rookie mistake

2012-01-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

I should know better. I've been a mom for almost fifteen years now. When it's quiet, the children are probably doing something they are not suppose to be doing.

I caught Katie painting her fingernails a few moments ago. She actually did a pretty good job and, as far as I can tell, nothing was painted but the nails.

I got lucky this time.

Snow Fun

2012-01-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

Now that the snow is nearly gone and I don't have to be crabby anymore, I can post these pictures of my kiddos frolicking that nasty white stuff. Yes, I took these pictures through the window.

Sam let Katie borrow his angry birds hat but of course he wouldn't wear her pink princess one.

Immediately after making these snow angels, they came back inside because they were cold. They were out there less than ten minutes. I guess they really are my children.

I was a good mom last week and broke out the Play Dough. I rarely break out the Play Dough - I like to save it for special occasions...and it's really messy. Kim made this cute little snowman.

Sam and Katie made these. Any guesses who they are? The one with the glasses is Grampa and the short, angry-looking red one is Gramma. They are pretty excited that they are coming in just a few days...I am too!

:)

2012-01-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

My angels are back in school.

The snow is melting.

I just ate a brownie for breakfast.

VIB

2012-01-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

Before the snow hit and the kids and I ~~were prisoners in our own home~~ enjoyed lots of quality time together, Sam was the VIB (Very Important Bear) in his second-grade class. This highly anticipated honor means that he was allowed to bring Caramel the class bear home for the night and he enjoyed special privileges in the classroom all week. He also got to bring a very special guest to school to talk to his classmates.
This was the conversation we had once he found out he was the VIB, "Mom, I was going to invite you to be my very special guest but then I remembered that you don't really do anything so I'm bringing Dad because he's a doctor."
Thanks son.
Here's Sam and Caramel...
And here's John as the very special guest...

I have to admit that John did a great job and kept the kids pretty well engrossed...although I have no doubt I could have made my job duties such as a domestic goddess seem pretty exciting too.

John's first question for the kids was, "What tools do you think I need to do my job?" I loved it when one little guy yelled out, "A sledgehammer!"

John assured all of us at suppertime that he was not going to quit his job and become a second-grade teacher. I think forty five minutes in the classroom is probably his max.

School. I miss that place.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T14:03:00.001-08:00

The following pictures are brought to you by Holly....cause you know her mama wouldn't go outside to take them.

Snow Day...a poem by Dee

2012-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

"School's cancelled!" the kiddos squealed with delight.
"God answered our prayers we requested last night!"
They put on their snow gear and head out with glee,
then come inside 10 minutes later to pee.
They track snow in my house and leave it all wet,
if I wanted puddles I would get myself a pet.
They want some more socks cuz their toes are all chilly,
they want me to come out, "Yeah right! Don't be silly!"
They come back inside, my darlings, dressed up like mummies,
they demand some hot chocolate to warm up their tummies.
They think they need breakfast, lunch, and some snacks,
they don't like my idea that we all take some naps.
First they want puzzles, then Legos, then PlayDough,
pretty soon my house looks like it was hit with a tornado.
I love my kids dearly, I think they're real cool.
I just hope tomorrow they go back to school.

Sick

2012-01-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

My baby is sick. She did this most all of yesterday which led to her getting up very early this morning. I hate it when she's sick. It makes me sad...and very, very tired.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2012-01-11T12:18:00.000-08:00

So Monday was my birthday and I had a simply wonderful day. My dear hubby surprised me and took the day off. We went to La Conner which is an artsy little town with lots of shops and galleries. If you know my husband then you know that this is not his idea of a fun day. He must really love me! We were one wild and crazy couple in La Conner...we critiqued art like we actually knew what we were talking about, rode an elephant, ate Thai pizza, and I even had a mocha made with whole milk. I know. Crazy.
Here is me on the aforementioned elephant. John wanted to buy him for me but unfortunately he was not for sale.

I also rode a reindeer.

Later we ate at Outback Steakhouse. And since it was my birthday, I did not hold back. My Dad told me I had to order a Wallaby Darn and since I always listen to him, I did. It was a peachy alcoholic concoction that I'm pretty sure we'll all be drinking in Heaven. I also ate a blooming onion, bread with lots of butter, garlic mashed potatoes, prime rib, and a big hot fudge sundae. I can't believe I felt the need to share that all with you.

When we got home, Holly had baked me a cake and there were presents! YEAH!

I love this picture of two armies fighting each other from Sam.

I also love this chicken I got from my three chicks.

Kim got me a gift card to Woods and a Reeses. This girl has lived with us for less than two weeks and she KNOWS me!

BTW...Kim is John's niece who is student teaching at LC and living with us until the end of February. I love having her here and she seems to be fitting in well with our family.

Told you she fits in!

Guest blogger

2012-01-07T10:09:00.001-08:00

this is sam and i'm taking pichers of katie and me with my mom's camra

Catching up...finally!

2012-01-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

I don't think this is a good sign. I'm feeling behind in 2012 and it's only day four!
Before I wrap up Christmas (hey, that's funny...wrap up...like in presents, get it?), I just had to steal these pics off my friend Sara's blog. They were taken at my SIL's surprise birthday party last week. Do you think we surprised her?

She recovered nicely. It was a fun party and I think Sally was pleased...until that night when she discovered that someone (but NOT me) had put confetti in her bed.

Okay, back to Christmas. Our church went all out for the Christmas program this year. I should have known something was up when I got an e-mail way back in October asking if I would handle props and costumes for this year's program. Since when do we worry about props and costumes? Don't most of them just wear their dad's bathrobes and the rest put tinsel in their hair? Not this year. It was a big deal and it was AWESOME.

Sam played the part of "announcer kid". He had one line and I must say that he rocked it. Now, if you know my Sam then you know that he is usually quiet and reserved. He doesn't like to be the center of attention and he doesn't get real into singing and such. One thing we are really working on this year in school is reading with expression. This is not easy for my Sam. Anyhoo, he learned his one line and he was saying it fine. Fine but not like an announcer. So, I had to pull out the big guns. Bribery. I told Sam that if he said his line with expression, like an announcer would, he could open up one of his Christmas presents the night of the program. It worked. Sam just may have a future in the theater...provided the director has enough treats.

I stole these pictures too (do you notice a pattern here?). Thanks Julie and Scott!

Here's Sam waiting to say his line. Can you just sense his excitement?

Here's one of the choir. They all did a wonderful job. Their singing was truly a joyful noise and I left that night feeling so thankful and blessed for the awesome reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. Thanks Amy and Jill for all your hard work!

On Christmas Eve, we opened presents at the Hiemstra house. The kids (and me too) were all spoiled as usual. There was much happiness and a fun surprise...thanks Mike and Annie, your kindness will be reciprocated :)

Christmas day was spent with the extended Hiemstra clan. As usual, there was good food, food fellowship and lots of laughter.

Here are the three wise (wo)men...

The "kid" table...

A cute little girl who ate none of that good food on her plate but lots of goodies...

One of the big kid tables...

Uncle Rick and Sam trying to figure out his new Lego game...

And a rousing game of Catch Phrase...

And with that, I am finally caught up on 2011.

A day in Seattle

2011-12-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

Last week we were invited by some very special friends to attend their adoption proceedings in Seattle. They have been foster parents to an adorable little girl and boy for over eighteen months and this was the day they would become (along with big sister Brooklyn) a forever family! I was actually suppose to take pictures in the courtroom but traffic was HoRrIbLe and I didn't make it in time (insert very sad face here). We made it to the courthouse just as nine (grandpas and grandmas were there too) of the happiest people I have ever seen in my life were coming out of the courtroom. It was a very special day and I was so glad to be a part of it! God truly does make everything beautiful in HIS time!
I'm thinking they don't want me posting pictures of their new family all over the world wide web but I love this shot of mom and dad busy texting the good news.
And these two...too cute...they are very good friends but apparently they are both getting older because this is what happened when I said I wanted to take their picture together!

Holly and Katie outside the courthouse by the knitted trees.

Holly said that every year a group of ladies get together and knit sweaters for the trees so they don't get cold. I don't know if that really the truth or if she likes to make stuff up like her mother. I believe it though...after all, this is Washington!

A trip to Seattle would not be complete without a visit to Pike's Market. Here is Katie watching the flying fish. She was only mildly impressed.

Here's my boy.

I just like this one!

Here's me and my honey. Is it just my imagination or do I really have the most handsomest husband in the world?

I think this was the first day we've spent in Seattle where it was actually clear...cold but clear. We even got a nice view of Mount Rainer. Washington trivia fact number one: Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington and is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.

Here's me being...well, being me.

We stopped for Starbucks on the way home! Washington fact number two: Starbucks was started in Seattle the same year I was born. At first it only sold coffee beans and equipment as the founders thought coffee should be made at home.

The kids were very impressed with the whipped cream on top of the cups!

Washington fact number three: there are lots of really wierd people in Seattle.

Christmasy stuff

2011-12-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

*Aren't they precious? In the morning I asked Katie why she had crawled in bed with Sam. She said, "Cause people come in our house." What? Turns out, Sam had lost a tooth that day and had told her was putting it under his pillow so the tooth fairy would come. I'm not quite sure if she crawled up there for protection or because she wanted to see the tooth fairy. *Our Holly played a lot of violin this Christmas. She had her violin recital the beginning of the month and then had her orchestra concert a week or so later. She played a song at the elementary school program and also played at our church's Christmas Eve service. Unfortunately, I don't think she's picked up the violin since then. The following are from her orchestra concert. For some reason, she was in the second row of violiners. I don't know why because she is the best. And I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom. Anyhoo, it was very non-conducive to taking photos however Sam took these and I thought he did pretty good considering.

*And then we have Sam at his school Christmas program. I LOVE going; it's one of the things I look forward to most at Christmas. It's a simple performance but very rich with tradition. One tradition is how you need to get there at the crack of dawn in order to get a seat. Another tradition is how all the kids wear white capes with red crepe paper bows. Apparently they've done this since the beginning of time. Sam doesn't like to sing and he really doesn't like to sing wearing a white cape with a red crepe paper bow but he faked it well. Sort of.

I love this one where he is raising his arms only as far up as is absolutely necessary.

Here's Holly waiting for her part to play at his program.

And Katie really wanted me to take a picture of her. What a goob.

*Sam had his Cadet Christmas party and got two packages of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups at the gift exchange. It was one of those games where you can steal other people's presents but he told me he knew how much I loved Reeses so he didn't steal and he made sure no one stole his. I love that boy. This was waiting for me when I went to bed that night. I love how it says "to mom and dad maby (maybe).

In case you're wondering, John never got one.

All about the Katie Kat

2011-12-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

Bad blogger. I know guys. I just don't know what happened. It's now a couple days past Christmas and I have 368 pictures on my camera and no blog about any of them. It's almost just too overwhelming. I'm thinking I should just forget it and go eat some chocolate.
Oh yeah. I can't eat chocolate. I promised myself that after Christmas I would not consume extremely large quantities of chocolate every day. But Linda's amazing almond roca is just calling to me...I hid it but since I'm the one who hid it I know where it is. Not a very effective dieting technique is it?
I'm thinking if I blog every day until next year, I might just be all caught up. Okay, here we go...all about my Katie Kat.
This is Katie's first year going to Little Lambs while I am going to Coffee Break. She loves it!
Pastor John plays guitar and sings with them. Here they are singing to the moms at our Christmas Special. She was a little squished.

She gets distracted easily...unfortunately, I can't blame that less-than-desirable-genetic-trait on John.

Here she is at her preschool Christmas "program". You can't tell it from this picture but she really did sing good and do (mostly) all the actions. So precious. Yes, I cried like a baby through the whole thing.

"The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay".

Here she is with Teacher Leslie, aka the best preschool teacher in the world.

We have a little condensation issue going on here but I like this picture a lot! Just consider it artsy and creative photography.

The following sequence of pictures was taken in an attempt to get a nice shot of Katie in her Christmas dress. It was actually Holly's Christmas dress many years ago so it is practically vintage. I actually took 26 pictures of her but I will spare you most of them. Let's just say she does not take direction well...another less-than-desirable-genetic-trait from me.

I call this one "pucker up buttercup".

I call this one "I'm not sure why she's smiling like that".

I call this one "that little boy from home alone".

I call this one "seventies stoner".

I call this one "getting bribed with a sucker".

Yeah! A good one!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T08:04:00.001-08:00

What's been happening at the Hiemstras

2011-12-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

*Holly had her Christmas violin recital. She played some classical song that I don't remember the name of and "Greensleeves" with her instructor. She rocked both songs...and she looked really pretty too. *The youth group had a scavenger hunt at the mall. They had to find members of the congregation (including John) who had disguised themselves in various ways. John spiked his hair and wore glasses and some of his nephew's clothes.

Here's a close-up shot. I kind of like his hair like that. He tried telling me it wasn't professional enough to wear to work. Would you have an issue if your doctor having a mohawk?
*Our neighbor bought the kids a gingerbread house to decorate. We've never done one before (I know, my kids are so deprived) but I think we may make it an annual tradition. They had so much fun...and there was only very minimal fighting! I made them wait until Friday night to decorate it which was pure torture for Sam. It did help him on his spelling test though. I was so impressed when he spelled "gingerbread" correctly. When I told him how impressed I was he just said, "It's only because I've been looking at that house all week!"

Do you see the gingerbread bodies under the snow? It all started when Holly painted the door red and I innocently told her it looked like a murder took place at that house. From there it morphed to limbs being broken off gingerbread men, red footprints leaving the house, and bodies under the snow. Only at the Hiemstra House.

*We went to Stoney Ridge Farm to see Moses the camel and eat some yummy pumpkin donuts.

Here's Moses and Sam...
and a close-up of Moses...

and Holly with a giant snow man. Let me just use this opportunity to say how much I love the fact that there is no snow on the ground. I'm dreaming of a green Christmas...

*This past weekend was TOLO. It's a dance where the girls ask the guys. I told Holly they called it "Sadie Hawkins" where I came from. She just did that scrunchy thing with her nose that non-verbally says, "You are so old". Since Holly is not allowed to speak to boys, much less ask them out, she and some friends dressed up in fancy clothes and went bowling instead. Yes, there were boys at the bowling alley but Holly assured me that she did not speak to them. And I believe her...not really.

Holly and two of her bestest friends. I love these girls too - they are beautiful inside and out...and I'm pretty sure both of their parents feel the same way about boys as John and I do!

Boy vs. Beet

2011-12-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

Sam does not like beets. Can you tell?

Future surgeon??

2011-12-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Holly had the opportunity to try out this surgical robot last week. Holly described it as a video game on steriods. John was jealous.

Overheard

2011-12-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

Overheard at a friend's house before the lighted Christmas parade this past weekend...
Sam: "Oh boy. I'm in trouble. Both my girlfriend and the girl I'm going to marry are here."

A visit to Santa

2011-12-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

I don't normally take my kids to see Santa. They have never believed in him, they don't get presents from him, and most kids I see sitting on his lap are crying. I have nothing against the guy, it's just not my thing.
However when I saw in the paper that Santa was going to be on a tractor at our local John Deere dealership, I went. It probably helped that there was free cookies and hot chocolate there too.
Katie climbed right up on his lap but then proceeded to look at me like, "This is awkward, exactly why am I sitting on this stranger's lap?" However, when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she told him Cinderella. Sam actually smiled but was completely stumped when Santa asked him what he wanted.

My eldest refused to sit on Santa's lap. I guess she's too cool. Either that or she was afraid of him. However she did agree to get her picture taken in the tractor cut-out. I love the ears!

While we were there, I had to check out these bad boys. It is on the top of my Christmas list...

and yes Santa, I've been very good this year!

OLGA

2011-12-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

FINALLY! Two of Holly's biggest fans (her Tante Susie and her Gramma) have been asking me when I plan to post pictures of "Holly's play". Holly's play took place way back in October and I FINALLY got around to ordering some pictures. She played the part of the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina in "You Can't Take It With You".
The story is about a straight-laced young businessman from a "normal" family who falls in love with the daughter from a wacky, crazy, completely "unnormal" family. His parents show up at her parent's house for dinner on the wrong night and everything that can go wrong does go wrong. As a result of the disastrous evening, the young businessman's father forbids the marriage of the two lovebirds. Although in the end, he is converted to the happy madness of the crazy family after he happens in during a visit by the Grand Duchess of Russia, Olga Katrina, who is currently earning her living as a waitress.
Holly did very well with her Russian accent and played the part of a sophisticated, upper-crust lady with such flair that I actually thought she was a Grand Duchess of Russia. I am so proud of her!

I can't wait to see her as Minnie Fay in "Hello Dolly"coming this February. Tickets go on sale after Christmas...you won't want to miss it! Her Gramma is going to be here...how about you Tante Susie??

Monday Catch-up

2011-11-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here at the Hiemstra House, we had a wonderful day. I hosted this year which meant that I didn't have time to take a picture until after we had all feasted and the table didn't look so pretty anymore. Oh well. I believe this picture actually captures a Hiemstra family Thanksgiving better anyway.

No, I did not go Black Friday shopping. I may be cheap but I am not crazy. Holly and I did venture out to Bellingham on Saturday though. Wise choice...no lines and nice people. I think all the crazy people were home sleeping. Holly needed a dress for her semi-formal bowling party. Yes, she is planning to bowl in a fancy dress. Whatever...at least she won't need fancy shoes. Unfortunately, we were not successful in the dress department. Let's just say that most of the dresses she tried on looked absolutely stunning on her but her father would have never let her out of the house with them on. I am thinking of opening a store in the mall called "Nice Clothes for Nice Girls". Can I hear an amen?
This is what happens to your nice clean living room when you leave your husband and two little children home all day...

Saturday was my baby sister's birthday. She is funny and smart and kind and amazing and I love her very much.

My Sam. Sometimes I don't know what I am going to do with this boy. I don't know how a little boy can be so sweet yet so naughty. Grampa and Gramma Hiemstra had given us Christmas gifts for the kids when we were there this summer and they have been stored under the couch all these months. Since I put up the tree this weekend, I went to retrieve the presents and this is what I found...

Here's a closer look...

I know what you are thinking mother and no, this is no the result of normal wear and tear from being stored under the couch.

I carefully unwrapped the Legos that Grampa and Gramma had given him and replaced it with this...

He will now be receiving Star War's briefs from his Grampa and Gramma Hiemstra and will get the Legos at a later date...maybe. I would love to blame his naughtiness and apparant lack of successful sneakiness on his father but I must admit that I had a similar incident involving a Cabbage Patch kid and a pair of green corduroy pants when I was not much older than him. Live and learn son.

We attempted to take some family photos after church on Sunday. This is our funny face one. I was actually very tempted to use it on our Christmas cards but it kind of looks like Sam is flipping everyone off (he wasn't). Not the sort of of holiday greeting I wanted to send this year.

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-11-23T21:36:00.001-08:00

I know many of you reading this think you have a great mom but mine is the bestestest.

She's showed me and continues to show me what a Christian woman should be and I hope I am just like her when I grow up. I love you mom. Happy Birthday.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T10:19:00.001-08:00

Go Steve-O Go

2011-11-21T10:01:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go watch John's nephew Stephen (and the rest of the Dordt cross country team) run at Nationals. We left very early Saturday morning for Vancouver, Washington. We drove through some snow and rain on the way down so I wasn't feeling really optimistic for a nice race day but Vancouver was dry and even a little sunny. It turned out to be a really fun day!
Here are some of Stephen's fans waiting for the race to start. Here's Stephen racing. Go Steve-O Go! Those boys had to race five miles. I got exhausted just watching them.

Here he is on the home stretch. It had rained pretty hard the day before so the course was pretty wet and sloppy. One of the Dordt boys lost his shoe and ran for three miles without it. They grow them tough at Dordt.

Here's the racer with his mom and dad who flew all the way from Wisconsin to watch him. Stephen did his PR (I found out this weekend that means personal record) so we were all pretty proud of him.

Here's some cute kids that were incredibly well-behaved at the race for getting up so early.

We spent the night in Vancouver and headed for home on Sunday morning. Even though it was cloudy and we figured we wouldn't be able to see the mountain, we decided to stop at the Mount St. Helen's visitor center on the way home. John, Holly, and I had been there 13 years ago but it was overcast (imagine that!) so we couldn't actually see the mountain. Both Sam and Holly had learned about the Mount St. Helens and it's eruption (can you believe it's been 31 years?) in school and we thought they would enjoy it.

Although it was very overcast at the visitor's center, we found out it was clear and sunny 20 miles up so we drove up to another lookout point. I'm so glad we did because we finally got to see the mountain!

That valley used to be Spirit Lake until it was buried under 200 feet of ash.

There was patches of snow up there and a certain little boy couldn't resist throwing some snowballs. Do you like his new Angry Bird's stocking hat? He's pretty proud of it.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2011

2011-11-14T07:25:00.000-08:00

Lucky for me, my dear hubby remembered to take some pictures of the kiddos I left behind on Halloween. I was very impressed that he carved pumpkins with them too.

Holly already shared this picture of her at her friend's costume party but she's just so cute that I had to post it again!

Sam was a scary guy again this year. Don't judge me. He's a boy and he loves stuff like this. I made him wear a cow costume for four years in a row so this is my penance.

Trick or treating at Auntie Grace's house.

Meanwhile...back in South Dakota; Katie was a pirate.

Katie and I got to trick or treat with Aunt Amy and Chase. I don't know when the last time I spent Halloween with my sister. It was probably the year that she won first prize at a party dressed up in my bride costume that I wore for Halloween like ten years in a row and I never won anything. I'm still a little bitter.

Katie wouldn't share her eye patch so Grampa had to make his own.

A Katie-ism

2011-11-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

I think I've shared before how stubborn our Katie Kat is when it comes to praying (actually she's stubborn in a lot of ways). Anyhoo, she absolutely refused to say the "God is Great, God is Good" prayer that both the other kids learned. Instead she does her own unique prayer of thanking God for every member of her family. It goes something like this...
"Thank you for Holly. Thank you for Daddy. Thank you for Sammy. Thank you for Katie. Thank you for Mommy. Amen."
After our trip to the midwest, Grampa and Gramma are now added to her prayer and occasionally Uncle Kurt, Aunt Amy and Chase.
Yesterday afternoon I took the opportunity to explain to her that as nice as it is to thank God for her family, she may want to thank God for all the other wonderful things He has given her.
This was her prayer last night...
"Thank you for Teacher Leslie. Thank you for Teacher Leslie. Thank you for Teacher Leslie. Thank you for Teacher Leslie. Thank you for Teacher Leslie. Amen."

Finishing up South Dakota

2011-11-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

I gotta get this trip finished up. I've been back for over a week now and life is moving on.
Here's me outside my Gramma's church with a cat. I just about brought him home for John. John wants a cat. He has never completely forgiven me for putting Gus (our 14-year-old severely obese cat) to sleep before we moved here. Only in the Midwest do they use John Deere tractors for display purposes in the grocery stores.

Katie LoVeD getting rides on Great Gramma's walker.

One afternoon my mom and I went to my sister's new home to have lunch with her and her new MIL. If you are ever in Pipestone, Minnesota and need some lunch, I highly recommend the Calumet Inn.

I just love old building and there were lots of them in "downtown" Pipestone.

After lunch, the front desk lady gave us keys (yep, you still get a key at the Calumet) so we could look inside some of the rooms. They are very vintagey...except for the t.v., microwave, and mini-fridge.

We got to see Aunt Amy's new office too. I told my sister that her desk is kind of boring. She needs some pictures or a Chia-Pet or something.

She gets to work in one of the cool old buildings! If you ever are in Pipestone, Minnesota and need some financial advice, I would highly recommend the downtown Edward Jones office.

My sister and her new hubby are re-doing the upstairs of their house. This will be the master bedroom.

John's niece and his cousin's daughter (who happen to be roommates at Dordt) came to visit me one afternoon. I love these girls so much! They are both amazing and yes, they both are single. However I will only allow them to date guys who want to live in the Pacific Northwest.

I love this picture of my Aunt Jen and Katie. As much as I missed my family and was ready to come home, it was sure hard to say goodbye to everyone!

the end.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T22:09:00.001-08:00

Fun on the Farm

2011-11-09T07:02:00.001-08:00

When I was a wee lass, I LOVED going to my Grandparent's farm. I remember asking my dad why he couldn't be a farmer like Grampa. Well, as time has passed it became evident that God knew what He was doing (I find He usually does) by making me a city girl. I really like sleeping in late in the morning, I'm not very good at driving a tractor, and I don't really like the smell of poop.
Nonetheless, I still love going to my Grandparent's farm, which is now my Uncle's farm. Here's some pics from when Katie and I went over to help him fix fence. We actually didn't help him fix fence at all. We just watched him for awhile and it really didn't look like all that much fun so we went and did our own thing. Yep, probably a good idea that I didn't go into farming.
Here's Katie feeding a calf named Squishy. Don't ask me why. I was not responsible for naming him. Actually, I am against naming things that will one day be eaten.
One thing nice about the farm is that cats always love you - no matter who you are. Our neighborhood cats back home avoid Katie like the plague. It may have to do with the fact that she tries to pick them up by their front legs or thinks it's fun to pull their tail. But here, on the farm, they don't care. They just want some love and attention....actually they just want some food.

Look! This one is even giving her a kiss! Yes, I do know where that cat's mouth has been. I personally think kids nowadays would be a lot healthier if there parents weren't so afraid of their children consuming small amounts of dirt, cow spit, manure, etc. Just my opinion there.

Katie found my cousin Amy's old trike and had to try it out for a spin.

She also had to try climbing up a grain bin. No, I did not let her climb all the way up.

Here's me and Squishy. He was a very friendly calf.

Katie and some more cats. I was glad to see more variety this visit. I kid you not....last time I was here he must have had fifty orange cats, every single cat was orange. I'm pretty sure in-breeding like that is only allowed in Arkansas.

I gotta wrap this up...Holly needs to be picked up from violin. I will leave you with some pretty field pictures. It really was a beautiful time of year to be in South Dakota.

Grandma's birthday party

2011-11-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

The main reason I went to South Dakota was to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday. She actually doesn't turn 90 until December but some smart people in her family decided to have the party early since the weather in December can be very unpredictable in the Midwest.
It was a wonderful day! Over 200 people came to wish my Grandma a happy birthday at her open house and later that evening we had a really nice family supper. My Grandma smiled throughout the whole day and claimed she wasn't even tired at the end of the night!
Here's some pictures from the day... My aunts hard at work making ham buns because everyone knows a Midwest open house is not complete without ham buns.

We even put Grandma to work at her own party!

My Aunt Evelyn did a great job with the decorations.

Me and the birthday girl...I hope if I live to be 90 that I am as healthy and good looking as she is!

Four generations

The line to see Grandma. At one point in the day, the line was out the door and nearly every table was full. The kitchen "staff" got a little panicky and an emergency trip to the local grocery store was made. Don't worry, I think everyone got a ham bun.

Lots of people. Lots of white-haired people...did I just type that out loud?

I love this picture of my Uncle Dick and Aunt Ev. At least he isn't putting his tongue in her ear. Yes, this is my family. Now you guys know why I am the way I am.

I love this picture too. There's something about a guy who thinks he's big and tough cuddling with a little baby. This is my cousin Paul with our newest cousin Nathan. Hey all you single ladies....just so you know, Paul is available. He likes babies and he's willing to move to the Northwest.

My Grandma and all her kids.

My Grandma and all her grandkids and great grandkids.

This is my mom doing a stellar job at devotions. She honestly should have been a preacher!

And no party would be complete without a game involving toilet paper...

and DeAnn having to get balls out of a Kleenex box attached to her backside. By the way, I totally rocked this.

So, that's the party. Next up...fun on the farm. I know you can't wait.

Weekend happenings

2011-11-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

Before I show you all the fun stuff from my visit to the Midwest, I thought I'd give you a recap of my first weekend back home.
A lot of leaves fell while I was gone. A lot. Supposedly John and the kids had spent both Saturdays while I was gone raking leaves but all I know is that there was a lot of leaves on the ground when I got home. This was my backyard Saturday morning...
And here it is Saturday evening...

I just love a good before and after picture!
We all worked hard and celebrated with a fire and hot dogs after we were done. I'm guessing this is probably the last fire of the year.

Due to Sam's non-voluntary-all-things-video break, he's begun to get very creative with his Legos. He called this his "clone carrier"...

Both Sam and Holly's report cards came home this weekend. Let's just say there were no beatings in the house this year. They both did very well. Mom and Dad were proud.
This little gal is happy to be home although she does miss her Grampa and Gramma...

You guys still get prayed for every night. Sometimes Uncle Kurt, Aunt Amy, Chase and Great Great Great Gramma are added in too.

In closing, there was much rejoicing in the Hiemstra house this weekend. Holly was much surprised and much delighted to find out she received a part in the high school musical. I knew something good had happened when I heard lots of screaming coming from my bathroom. Holly and her friend Jenah (who had spent the night) had barricaded them in my bathroom with John's cell phone to "get the results".

I took a picture of them when they finally unlocked the door...
The musical is Hello Dolly. She's going to play the part of Minnie Fay. Here's Minnie from the movie with Barbara Streisand as Dolly...

The musical is the first two weekends in February but I am pretty sure that I will know by heart all the songs long before then. I caught Sam singing "Hello Dolly, oh Hello Dolly...." in the shower the other night. Maybe he could be an understudy.

Some big thank you's

2011-11-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back!
I had a WONDERFUL time in South Dakota but it is good to be home too!
A big thank you to my favorite oldest daughter for being a guest blogger while I was away...the only complaint I heard was that you didn't post often enough!
A big thank you to my dear, dear hubby who must have really missed me because these were waiting for me when I got home... A big thank you to that dear, dear hubby of mine and both of my kiddos that got "left behind" for keeping everything running smoothly at home and having the house all cleaned for me last night.
A big thank you to my good friends Lea and Amy who watched Sam after school when Holly had musical try-outs and to Auntie Grace, Mark and Edie, and Jerry and Sue who fed my family scrumptious meals in my absence.
A big thank you to my South Dakota family who spoiled me (and Katie) rotten. I miss you already. Your turn to visit!

**Details about my trip will be posted next week...I got a lot of leaves to rake this weekend.

Pics from my Halloween Party

2011-10-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

Last night I went to a party at my friend Lauren's house. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! Here are just a few pics from the night.

Here's me as a cat. Aren't I cute?!

My and by best friend in the world, Lauren! She's a Punjabi...it's kinda an inside joke.

Then here is a random picture of me at my play a couple of weekends ago. Lauren e-mailed this to me. Her and my other friend Kendra came to see my play and made me supportive t-shirts. Aren't they the best?!

Dear Mom - take 2

2011-10-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

This past week seemed to go by really fast. But we really didn't do anything. We just kinda bummed out, living life. The only really noteworthy thing that happened was my choir and orchestra concert on Tuesday. I'm first chair in orchestra and got a solo so it was a pretty exciting night. I got to stand up and tune everyone before we started our pieces and can I say, I ROCKED IT! I played that note with all my being. But Dad being dad forgot the camera to capture that once-in-a-lifetime moment. Way to go. But he made up for it by taking my picture when we got home. So here they are.

This isn't the most attractive picture of me but at least it shows my cool dress! Thanks for fixing it for me Auntie Denise!

Here's me with my violion. BTW Mom, do you like my hair? Isn't it nice? I did it all by myself!

The only other thing that's worth noting is that we got to go out for Chinese last night. It was yummy. The end.

Dear Mom

2011-10-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone who reads my mom's blog!!! As most of you know, my mom is in South Dakota for two weeks with Katie. Some of you have asked if we are surviving. Yes, we have been eating. Yes, the house is a little messy but nothing un-liveable.

To keep my mom updated on life at the Hiemstra House, I've decided to write blogs telling her what we've been up too (and I guess the rest of you can read them too...) So here goes.

Life has been a little crazy this weekend. It's pretty much been a Holly weekend. I've been told multiple times that life does not revolve around me but this weekend it did. And I loved it. Anyhoo, I finished up my play on Friday. It was really fun. I'm sad/glad it's over. Lucky for me musical try-outs are next week. So Friday night I went to a cast party after the performance and stayed til one.

On Saturday we spent some time cleaning up the yard. Then we ventured to Bellingham (it. was. crazy. never going to Bellingham again on a Saturday) We went to Value Village to get me a costume for a party I'm going to this week and then headed to Target for a few things. After that dad dropped me off at my friends for a girl night. Sam and Dad had a Star Wars party which consisted of Little Caesar's pizza and Return of the Jedi. Sounds fun, right?! (NOT!)

Today we all made it to church semi on time. Sam sang with the Sunday School kids and he did good. Then we went to Auntie Grace's for lunch (YUM!) and stayed to play some games and have a great debate.

So that's our lives thus far since you've departed dear mother. 11 more days until your home.

Love, your most favoritist daughter in the world (in case you have any doubts, it's me, Holly)

Birthday Boy

2011-10-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!I love this guy.

The Pumpkin Patch with my pumpkin

2011-10-15T09:30:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday Katie and I went to the pumpkin patch with her preschool class. Her very first field trip - how exciting!
Here she is paying careful attention on the proper way to pick apples...
Riding behind the tractor on the way to the pumpkin patch was a definite highlight!

Picking out her pumpkin...

Teacher Leslie and her kids...

How tall this fall?

On the way back from the pumpkin patch...

What a fun day!

Homecoming week continued...

2011-10-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Hawaiian day. She humored me by doing a Hawaiian dance at 7:30 in the morning. Friday was blue and white day. I didn't take a picture. Blue jeans, LC sweatshirt...I'll leave it to your imagination.

BTW, the above beauty had her first high school play perfomance last night. She rocked the part of the Grand Dutchess Olga Katrina! When she appeared on stage last night it was all I could do not to jump out of my seat and yell out that that was my baby up there!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T15:54:00.001-07:00

Western Day!

Show offs

2011-10-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

It's homecoming at Holly's school this week! Yesterday was 70's day. Today was Disney day (she's a princess).

And not to be outdone...Sam insisted I take a picture of him in his new Cadet shirt.

Skyline Divide Hike

2011-10-11T11:24:00.001-07:00

When John said he wanted to go hiking on Saturday I have to admit I was a little skeptical. It was cool and cloudy out and looked like it could start raining at any moment. And if it's raining in Lynden that means it's most likely snowing in the mountains. And as beautiful as snow on the mountains look...I really don't like to be up there when it's snowing.
But I went. Because I'm a good wife...and because we always go out for dinner after hiking.
It turned out to be a beautiful day! I started out with a coat and gloves and they both came off when I had hiked about 200 feet. John carried them in the backpack the rest of the day. It was John's "new favorite hike" (he says that about every hike). It would have been my new favorite hike if they had an elevator that took you up the first two miles...or a gondola....or one of those beds on sticks where four muscular men carry you. Those first two miles were tough. But I must agree that the view from the top was well worth it.
This is the first two miles.And this was the part where it was worth it...

Just me and my boy

2011-10-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

One of our new "Washington traditions" is to go apple picking with friends the first Friday of October. The kids are off of school due to a teacher's convention although when I first went SIX YEARS AGO (can you believe I've lived here that long?) most of the kids weren't even in school yet. I still vividly recall the day my friend Lea (she wasn't my friend then, just a nice gal I had met at church) called to ask if I wanted to go. I was lonely and homesick and watching way too much t.v. I think I got off the phone and cried because I was so happy.
Anyhoo, this year it was just me and my boy picking apples. Holly had play practice and Katie had preschool. We had a great time. Picked just a little over 100 pounds in about an hour. Anyone want to come and help me make applesauce?
Me and my boy...thanks Julie for taking our picture!
My boy and the other lady in his life.

Taste testing.My friend Julie and three (of her four) beautiful girls. I told Julie I needed a picture of her since she's always taking my picture.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T08:04:00.001-07:00

My kids

2011-10-04T16:59:00.001-07:00

Nothing particularly blog-worthy going on at the Hiemstra house but as a good friend recently told me, "You can always blog about your kids".
Since this is kind of my scrapbook and because I know my mother is really missing the little monsters, here goes...
Katie
My Katie Kat is three-years-old and have I told you how much I love, love, love this age? If they came out of the womb as three-year-olds, I would have had six (I chose that number because then I would have beaten my dear sister-in-law and would have bragging rights forever). She can dress herself and poop on the potty yet she still needs mom to read stories to her and sing to her every night. She loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses yet she is tough. Today in story time at the library some boy tried to put his legs on hers and she was not afraid to remove them and tell him in no uncertain terms to "Stop that!" She loves preschool, Children's church, and Little Lambs. When we tell her she's a big girl, she says, "No, I'm a lady." John and I finally just gave up trying to get her to say the "God is great prayer" and she has made up her own prayer that mostly consists of thanking God for mommy, dad, Holly and Sammy multiple times. She still wants to wear dresses every day and loves anything pink and sparkly. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with her and I am trying to enjoy every day...even the ones where she drives me nutso.
Sam
Not having any brothers, I am new to a lot of "boy stuff". Sam is now heavily into Star Wars. He spends a lot of time reading Star Wars books, watching Star Wars movies, drawing Star Wars characters, and fighting his sisters and dad with anything that resembles a light saber (I recently found out they were light sabers, not life savers). Due to a recent infraction, he has been banned from video games for a month but otherwise he loves those too. He has a binder full of baseball, football, Pokemon, etc. cards and he can spend hours rearranging them. He likes school but wishes he "didn't have to do any work there". He is quick to tell you that recess is his favorite subject and he doesn't understand why he needs to do spelling words at home. He has recently discovered that he can "jump" with his bike. I don't like it but John tells me I have to let him be a boy. He just started Cadets at church and is so proud of his Cadet shirt. He's reminded me close to a hundred times that this Saturday they are biking and moms "are not invited".
Holly
Although it's still hard to believe that my Holly is in high school, I have to say that I am quite enjoying watching her blossom into the young women she's suppose to be. Although she loved junior high, high school has lots more opportunities for my non-sporty artistic girl and she is taking full advantage of all of them. She is in both choir and orchestra and also got a small part in the play (BTW tickets are on sale now). She is self confident, courageous and kind and I am so proud that I'm her mom.
Katie and her buddy Elise.

Sam sorting his new pack of "vintage" cards. Thanks Jesse!

Katie LOVES puzzles.

Oh, the sweetness!

Holly was forced to play "fun, family games" with her family Friday night...

Sam drawing Star War's people.

Practicing.
Oh yeah, one more thing...

I know I have become really, really bad at celebrating birthdays on the blog but I just couldn't let this one pass. One of my favoritist uncles turned the big 50 on Monday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE GLEN!

2011 Jog-a-thon

2011-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Every other year, Lynden Christian has a fund-raising jog-a-thon. Sam ran last Friday and it was hot and muggy! He did a GREAT job! His mom ran one lap with him and then sat and exercised her jaw with the other moms.
I got there after they had been running for about ten minutes. I made him slow down a little so I could get a picture. I also made him give me a hug. I don't think he liked that.
Every punch represents 1/8 of a mile. He ran a little over three miles.

My hot and sweaty boy!

Here's his whole hot and sweaty class.

Thank you to everyone who pledged him this year!

School pictures

2011-09-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

My amazing friend Julie took the kiddos school pictures last week. As usual, Katie was less than cooperative. As usual, Julie did a great job. And yes mom, I took them out for ice cream afterwards...even uncooperative Katie

I will (hopefully) be sending these out to all their "fans" later this week. Let me know if you want a specific one otherwise you'll all be getting the first one because that's the one I liked the best!

Happy Monday!

Yeah! We're done!

Slowing Down

2011-09-19T15:41:00.001-07:00

Sometimes life around the Hiemstra house is just too busy. A lot of nights we have to rush through supper because someone needs to be somewhere. A lot of weekends are so jam packed that it's almost a relief to get to Monday. But sometimes, we get a weekend like this past one where we can sleep in, spend time with good friends, get things done around the house, eat pizza, watch Star Wars (Sam's latest obsession) and take a long nap on Sunday afternoon. I like those kind of weekends.
Here's a few pictures because my mom doesn't like me to blog without pictures...

My honey fixed my sink for me. I told him his pants were pulled up too high. At this point I don't think he thought I was funny.

Some one's big sister curled her hair for her.

Another epic battle was fought in my living room. The North and the cowboys won. The North and the cowboys always win.

The animal phase

2011-09-15T16:47:00.001-07:00

One of the things about having such big spaces between kids is that you sometimes forget "the phases". Some of the phases aren't so much fun like the throwing-a-tantrum-in-the-grocery-store-when-you-don't-buy-them-chocolate phase (actually, I still do this) or the insistence-that-you-ooh-and-aah-over-every-bowel-movement phase. And some of the phases are lots of fun like the just-learning-to-pray-so-they-squint-open-their-eyes-and-thank-God-for-everything-they-see phase or the obsession-with-everything-purple-and-with-sparkles phase.
I had forgotten all about the animal phase. The one where they pretend they are animals and want to be petted and drink out of bowls. Katie just started this one. It's a fun one.
Here she is being a kitty... and here she is just a few hours later being a monkey (she makes really good monkey noises by the way)...

I am really trying to enjoy each phase (even the not so fun ones) with Katie because I know how quickly they all pass. That breaks my heart just a little bit. sigh.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T07:42:00.001-07:00

My new favorite hike

2011-09-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

We went hiking with our favorite hiking buddies, Mark and Edie on Saturday. After John's company picnic we headed to Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island. I think it's my new favorite hike. I don't know if it's because the entire hike was by the water or if it was because we had perfect weather or if it was because it was only about 3 1/2 miles, but I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to go back!

That's the Olympic Mountain Range.

Katie is really too big for this backpack being the princess she is, she needed to be carried. Good thing I got myself a strong man.

The first half of the hike we walked on a bluff overlooking the water. For some of it, there was actually a wheat field on the other side of us. Lucky farmer to have such a view!

Sam kept up with Mark the whole way...and trust me, that's not easy to do!

On the way back, we made our way down to the water and walked back along the beach.

Of course, we had to let the kiddos play for awhile first!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Holly wasn't with us because she was at a youth group camping trip.
Perfect weather for camping too - she had an awesome time!

A fun Sam story

2011-09-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

I just wish I had a picture.
On Saturday we attended John's company picnic. They had a face painter there and Sam very patiently stood in line with his little sister so she could get a butterfly. Actually Katie was very specific with the artist and told her she wanted a "poople butterfry with sparkles" and she didn't want it on her face, she wanted it on her leg. After the "butterfry" was completed, the artist asked Sam if he wanted something. At first he said no but then he changed his mind and asked me if he could get his girlfriend's name painted on him. I suggested perhaps a heart with her initials. So that's what he did. Sure wish I would have taken a picture.

Wordless Thursday

2011-09-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

this and that

2011-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

One of my friends told me recently that she has been "very disappointed" in my blog as of late. Sorry. It's not like nothing exciting has been happening around the Hiemstra house, it's just that I am lazy.

So, here's some this and that (in no particular order of importance) for you...

1. Katie had a bowel movement (that terminology is for my sister-in-law Elaine) yesterday. As is the norm, I had to go in the bathroom to look at it and ooh and aah over it. It just so happened that it was a particularly good "movement" and there were three "prizes" to ooh and aah over. One was very little, one was a little bigger, and one was quite large (considering the little butt it comes out of). Katie pointed at each one individually and said, "Look Mom, there's Katie and Sammy and (insert a three-year-old most deepest voice here) and Daddy."

I told you these were not in order of importance right? You should just be happy I have no picture.

2. I neglected to mention earlier that my Holly got a job at the fair this year. She was a garbage-picker-upper. I don't think it would be very presumptuous of me to say that she was really good at her job. She took it very seriously...even when her Grampa purposely threw trash in front of her to pick up. This girl just rocks everything she does.Which leads me to announce that she got a part in the school play, "You Can't Take It With You". She is going to be playing the part of Olga, a Russian heiress. I have no idea how my tiny little Dutch girl is going to play the part of a large Russian woman, but I know she'll rock that too. The play is October 14, 15, 20, and 21. You don't want to miss it.

3. We spent Labor Day at the bay with John's family. A good time was had by all. I stole these pictures off my sister-in-law's Facebook because (as I shared earlier) I am lazy.

4. It's sometimes frustrating having little girl toys and little boy toys cluttering up my house. When you mix in big girl toys (jewelry, nail polish, books, etc) in with it all, it can be especially frustrating. I constantly feel like I am cleaning up. Anyhoo, I must admit it's kind of fun when you come across combinations of toys. Like this creation of Sam's. He's using Katie's Pretty Pony house for his cowboy and indian wars.

5. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am mother to a high schooler. It seems very bizarre to me. But apparently, it's not that bizarre for others. I was telling someone the other day the ages of my children (that person shall remain nameless) and she said, "Oh, that's nice" or something benign like that. What I was looking for was, "WHAT??? Hold on lady! You're telling me that you have a high schooler? No WAY! You look WAY too young. You must have adopted her or had her when you were like eleven or something!" Nope, nothing like that. I am old and lazy.

6. Moving on, I have a good recipe for you. I don't remember exactly where I got it but these are so nice to have on hand for breakfast and they are delish. A little putzy to make but well worth it.

Savory Breakfast Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

greased muffin tin (enough for 16 muffins)

1 - 8 count can of biscuit dough (Grand or one of the bigger sizes)

8 strips of bacon (I buy the already cooked, crumbled bacon from Costco and use about 1 cup)

8 sausage links, cooked and cut into little pieces

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup of diced mixed vedgies (things you would put in an omelet like pepper, onions, etc)

4 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a saute pan, melt the butter and saute the vedgies until soft and brown. While those are cooking, combine eggs, sour cream, and milk in a medium bowl and whisk until well blended. Take the biscuit dough and cut them each in half. Roll each half out until 1/8 inch thin (use flour on the counter and rolling pin otherwise they will stick). Place each piece of rolled dough in a muffin tin, pressing down so edges of dough come out over the outside of tin. Place an equal amount of meat and sauteed vedgies in each muffin tin. Top with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Add the egg mixture until it has been evenly distributed among all 16 cups (about 3/4 of the muffin cup should be filled). Take the edges of the dough and twist together, making a pouch. If the egg mixture oozes out, that's okay. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until dough is browned. You can freeze these after they cool and then just microwave them for a minute or so in the morning.

7. I had my first "coffee group" and my first "accountability group" meetings last week. I wasn't ready to send the kids back to school but I was SO ready to get together with my girlfriends again. I love those gals.

8. Now that the nights are getting cooler, I am ready to start watching a little t.v. again. Does anyone know when Survivor starts?

9. John picked these BIG and yummy blackberries this weekend (thank you Rutger's family). I am going to be making some good smoothies this winter. I also made a blackberry cobbler last night and ate a piece for breakfast this morning. I totally justified it because it's berries, right?

10. I just realized this is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday. This post has way too many words for Wordless Wednesday.

My Baby

2011-09-02T18:15:00.001-07:00

Guess who had their first day of preschool today?

I only cried a little.

Thank you!

2011-09-01T07:35:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the back-to-school surprises Grampa and Gramma! We love (and miss) you lots!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-31T07:16:00.001-07:00

Back to School 2011

2011-08-30T16:58:00.001-07:00

Today was the kiddos first day of school. They were both excited and got up as soon as their alarm clocks went off...wonder how long that will last. I pressed "snooze" five times....wonder how many I'll be up to by Christmas.
Here's my handsome SECOND GRADER. He's trying out a new do this year - a little longer and spiked on top. He has his own gel. It's pretty cute to see him preening himself in front of the mirror. His girlfriend is not in his class this year. She's actually in the same class as Sam's best buddy. I asked him what he's going to do if Cole and Becca fall in love. He said, "Becca smiled and waved at me at chapel so I'm not too worried about that."
Here's my beautiful FRESHMAN. She survived her first day of high school - got her locker open every time and only walked into one wrong class. I think the consensus is she's going to like it once she gets used to it.

This cute little thing doesn't have her first day until Friday but she didn't want to be left out. She entertained herself pretty well today without her big brother and sister.

One of my children let me come into his classroom and take his picture with his teacher. The other one thinks she's too old for that. Silly girl. Sam tells everyone that he is very lucky since he gets to see his teacher every day but Saturday since she goes to our church. He's pretty blessed to have Mrs. M.

I think it's going to be a good year!

Ketchup

2011-08-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

I absolutely have to get caught up on this blog today since tomorrow it's BACK TO SCHOOL! I can hardly believe it. I know every summer goes by so fast but usually I am the mom that is so ready for her kids to go back to school. Not this year folks. I don't know if it's the beautiful weather or our long vacation or the long visit from my folks and Chase or the fact that I am going to lose the world's greatest (and cheapest) babysitter but I am not ready. Too bad. It's here.
So, here's some ketching up.
I really, really miss these guys. We had such a wonderful visit. I guess it was time for them to go home since my dad had gained six pounds. He blames me but I'm thinking it had more to do with the fair food and waffle cone from Edaleen. Rumor is that cute boy in the middle is going to be playing the trombone in the school band. How cool is that? I had to include this picture of the my folks with the grandkids. I love Chase's cheesy smile and Sam's "Ferris Bueller pose".

Completely un-related here. Someone in our family has the bad habit of picking all of mom's pretty flowers. Lucky for me, I caught that someone before she had a chance to fill up the entire laundry basket.

I made up fifty back-to-school buns the other day.

This past weekend we decided to tackle a little project. When Grampa was here, he built the kids a sandbox so we borrowed Uncle Gary (and his trailer) to get some sand. While they were at it, they also got a couple yards of rocks to spruce up under La Casa Hiemstra. John and Sam loaded the rocks...

and Holly raked them all level...

It looks really nice! Afterwards all three kiddos had to play in the new sandbox.

And what better way to get the sand off but to hook up the sprinkler under the swings?

Saturday night, Holly went to the rodeo! She borrowed her friend's cowboy hat for the occasion. Isn't she just the cutest?

Photo Vomit...it's better than nothing

2011-08-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

I know, I've been a very bad blogger. The weather has been beautiful, school is only a week away, some of my most favorite people in the world are visiting...no time for sitting at the computer.
Here's just some of what we've been up to...

This ones for you Uncle Glen...

p.s. Don't worry Aunt Jan, we made it to Boomers. I neglected to take any photos but we did get you a very special car box.

I LoVe my family

2011-08-09T22:41:00.001-07:00

We are having such a good time with Grampa, Gramma and Chase. I may not let them ever go home. Sorry Amy but I am keeping Chase forever. Just in case you're wondering what we've been up too...
I picked them up from the airport on Friday morning. Their flights were right on time and very smooth so everyone was smiling...even Grampa who doesn't like to fly. Even though they had been up since 3:00 am, Chase had no interest in taking a nap. Him and Sam dove right into playing with Legos,

riding bikes,

and eating dinner in the playhouse.

On Saturday we took a picnic lunch to the bay and walked along the water.

Of course, it wasn't long before these guys were IN the water (Chase found out the hard way that ocean water doesn't taste good).

Of course it wasn't long after that that Grampa had to throw rocks in the water to get the boys wet.

And of course, Uncle John didn't want to be left out so he picked on the little one.

We got a picture with the grandkids minus one (Holly was in Oregon).

And this one was suppose to be a funny one but apparently only Sam and I got the message.

Katie really, really likes her Gramma.

Sunday was a take-it-easy day. We went to church, had a potluck afterward and spent a lazy day at home. The boys went swimming at Uncle Gary and Aunt Sally's pool and had a fun time until Sam learned a tough lesson about gravity and how hard cement is. Don't worry....he has a very hard head.

Monday Grampa and I took the boys to the city park. They had a fun time playing on the equipment...

but could not stay away from the water. I took this picture right before Chase fell in. That was funny.

Of course, no visit would be complete without a Daddy Do List for my Daddy. He started today and got three things scratched off my list already!

I love this guy.

p.s. I just want all my relatives in the midwest to know that my folks have been here for five days now and have not (to my knowledge) gone out for ice cream yet.

Catching up before I get to the good stuff

2011-08-06T09:16:00.001-07:00

Seriously. Is it really August already? What happened? I could of sworn the kids just got out of school and now it's time to shop for new markers again. Maybe it's gone so fast because we took a month-long vacation or maybe it's because our summer since getting back from vacation has been somewhat lacking in warmth and sun or maybe time goes faster after you hit 40 (I know the pounds go on faster) or maybe it's a combination of it all. I don't know how it happened but here we are in August and it makes me a little sad.
Maybe the reason I am sad is because the warmth and sun has finally arrived! The weather has been truly beautiful and we've been spending lots of time outside.
I planted this little alpine strawberry bush this spring and my Katie Kat always has to stop and see if there are any ready to eat. I took this from my kitchen window.
Yeah! Warm enough for the sprinkler! Sam and a buddy played in the water for over two hours one day.

They attempted to spend the night in the playhouse too. They made it until 10:38 - about eight minutes longer than I predicted they would!

And now the good stuff! Here's a hint!

We picked Grampa, Gramma, and Chase up from the airport yesterday! Sam held this sign up so they would know it was us (since we haven't seen them for a month). My sister was suppose to come too but she's a newlywed and all...that's all I have to say about this.

A Little Road Trip

2011-08-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went here... It's the capital building in Salem, Oregon. Because Salem is the capital of Oregon. Salem is also where Andrew and Cheryl (John's nephew and wife) just moved into a new house which just so happens to have a swimming pool so we decided it was time for a little road trip.
Andrew had to work on Saturday so Cheryl took us downtown to show us where works and goes to school.

Someday I will get Sam to take a nice picture.

We also went to Salem's wonderful Farmer's Market. We got fresh berries, sweet corn and I found something fun to hang by my front door (picture is coming up).

Sam and Katie also got their legs painted...

I LoVeD all the beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers...

and the snow cones were pretty yummy too!

We had a nice lunch in a park and when we got home Andrew was getting the pool all ready for us. We spent the rest of the day here...

Sorry. That's all I got. I was too lazy to get out of my floatie and take any pictures.
John's brother and wife (who also live in Salem) came over for supper Saturday night. It was delish. Andrew is quite the barbecuer (they say barbecuing here in Washington, not grilling).

He's also very good at catching chicken for my children's amusement...

Yes, I do realize this is actually a rooster.

On Sunday we went to Gene and Cindy's house for lunch. Once again, I was too lazy to leave my lawn chair to take any pictures. Once again, it was delicious. We had a wonderful weekend and are very thankful to have family that live close enough to visit in a little road trip.

Oh yeah....here's my find from the Farmer's market...

Holly thinks he's creepy but I think he's just the coolest.

Our weekend in pictures

2011-07-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

Beautiful weather this weekend so we spent a lot of time outside. I'm sure this makes my midwest relatives very jealous since it's been very, very, very hot there. Too bad, so sad for you guys...I keep telling you to visit me.
Holly has been MIA around the Hiemstra House quite a bit since we've got back from vacation. She's been doing a lot of babysitting, been back-to-school shopping a couple of times (she's got all that babysitting money you know) and hanging out with her friends. I've gotten just a little taste of what life will be like with a high schooler. Twice last week I went to bed when she wasn't home yet and the other day the words, "Hey Mom, are you going to pay for my cover charge?" came out of her mouth. In case your wondering; it was for a coffee shop and no, I did not pay.
Sam's good buddy next door moved this past spring so he's had to resort to playing with his little sister again. He's discovered that she will do anything he tells her to so it's not been all bad. On Saturday we spent the afternoon at a friend's cabin on the lake. It was Katie's first time on a boat and both Holly and Sam got to tubing.

Katie loved playing by the shore with her buddy. I finally made Sam get out of the water when his lips were purple (the water was very, very cold). After supper he asked if he could back in since he was throwing the ball into the lake for the dog. I told him he could wade in the water but he could not get his shirt wet. The next thing I knew he was completely soaked. When I yelled at him he said, "My shirt is not wet!" Sure enough...he had taken it off.

I wished my butt cheeks looked this cute when they sneak out of my swimsuit.

Sunday was another beautiful day. We spent most of the day doing nothing. It was loverly.

We did take some time to fight a war.

The north won again. They always do.

Someday I will get Sam to take a nice picture.

Beauty Queens

2011-07-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last night my girls decided to give themselves cucumber/melon facials. It was Katie's first venture into the world of beauty rituals and she was less than impressed. She was actually very embarrassed and didn't want her picture taken. This is her newest thing - if she is doing something she doesn't want us to see, she just closes her eyes. I guess she figures if she can't see us, we can't see her.

Much better! Check out that beautiful skin!
I love these girls!

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog...they were maybe just slightly traumatized

2011-07-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

Since getting back from our big vacation, summer in the Hiemstra house has taken on a more lazy approach. We've all been sleeping in, spending time outside, and not venturing too far away from home. There have been occasional chore lists, play dates, and fun surprises but nothing too exciting.
One day a bird got trapped in our garage. I'm not sure what Sam and Katie thought they were going to do with their empty squirt guns.
After a few harrowing misses, Holly finally caught the bird to the cheers of her little siblings. The bird was released after the kiddos got a chance to examine it up close and I emphatically told Sam that no, he could not keep it for a pet. I bet that little bird will think twice before flying into a garage again.

I love it when they do this...

It makes me happy that both Sam and Katie love books and neither one ever passes up the chance to cuddle with mom and let me read to them.

One of our fun surprises was a trip to Boomers Drive-In. They have the best waffle fries ever!

Food always tastes better when served in a cardboard car.

Sam has been very into Legos lately. This is his latest creation. He wanted me to take this picture for Gramma since this is what he bought with his birthday "credit card".

Speaking of my mom, according to Sam's countdown calendar, she (along with my dad, sister, and nephew) will be here in 20 days! YEAH! I am so excited. And guess what Dad? I bought you a four-pound can of honey roasted peanuts so when mom and I kick your and John's butt in Skipbo, it won't hurt so bad.

Summer Vacation 2011 Wrap-up

2011-07-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

We wrapped up our (nearly) month-long summer vacation in South Dakota. Our time there was way too brief but we managed to sneak in some wonderful family time.
My Uncle Glen roasted a hog for my sister's wedding so one night John had to go help him cut it all up. Not sure if you all know this about John but he really enjoys cutting things...trees, hogs, human being...whatever. Anyhoo, while John was busy cutting things, the rest of the family got to take tractor rides (I got to drive it too but no one bothered to take a picture of me)
and four-wheeler rides

Katie became quite attached to my cousin when she figured out that Maggie would take her for a ride whenever she asked. Besides the fact that the wind never stops blowing, I don't think I could ever live in South Dakota because my children would be spoiled rotten.

Here's Uncle Glen and John cutting up the hog. Doesn't John look cute in his little apron?

July 1 was a very special (and very hot) day. My little sister got married! Meet Mr. and Mrs. Koele...

Here's one with Chase. He was the cutest best man I've ever seen in my life!

And speaking of cute....check out this maid of honor! She was so proud to stand up for her Aunt Amy and she looked so beautiful (and way too grown up).

Here's a picture of my whole family...

They got married in a really cool barn. It was at a beautiful location and it was lots of fun to walk around the grounds. They had a neat pump house built around a windmill...

and a hobbit house...

and that's the barn across the pond...

It was a beautiful, casual and fun day and just goes to prove you don't need to have all the fuss to have a wonderful wedding and live happily ever after...

The end.

Summer Vacation Days 16-21

2011-07-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry about that brief blogging break. For some reason I am having a tough time getting back into the swing of things after our big trip. I think I need a vacation.
June 23, 2011
We started today at the Jefferson Memorial. Right in front of the memorial there is a big body of water called the Tidal Basin. We rented a couple of paddle boats - what a fun and unique way to see the sights. If you ask Sam, he will tell you this was his favorite part of vacation.
After a quick lunch, we headed to the Holocaust Museum. I thought it was really well done - very informative and very much a fitting tribute to those who died and those who survived it. I was a little worried about how Sam would handle it but he did fine. They had a really neat exhibit called "Daniel's Story" for kids. We shut down the museum at 5:30 and headed "home".
Apparently this was way too early to end our day for certain members in our party so after supper, John, Holly, Doyle, and Jonathan went out to see the monuments at night. After seeing the pictures, I kind of wished I would have put some BandAids on my blisters, drank a Mountain Dew and kept on going! June 24, 2011
We started our day at Arlington Cemetery. It was hot so we decided to take the Tourmobile around the place. It made three stops. The first stop was the Kennedy graves. Actually these were not nearly as impressive as I thought they would be. Very simple and plain and not to be disrespectful or anything but I had to fight an urge to extinguish the eternal flame just to see what would happen. Stop number 2 was the tomb of the unknown soldier. We got there just in time to see the changing of the guard. That is so cool! I loved the precision, the uniforms, the clicky things on their shoes... My poor Holly got a little overheated and I was so caught up in the ceremony that I didn't even notice. Thank you Tante Susie for taking such good care of her!

Stop Number 3 was Arlington House (otherwise knows as General Lee's house). After the war, the north pretty much took it away from General Lee and started burying soldiers in his flower garden. The view from his front porch was probably the prettiest I've ever seen.

After Arlington Cemetery, it was monument time. We first headed to the Iwo Jimo Memorial. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Our next stop was the Lincoln Memorial. We had a long walk to get there and it was super busy so I probably didn't appreciate it as much as I should have. We were quickly running out of time so I had to choose between seeing the Vietnam Wall or the Korean Memorial. I chose the Korean one since the Vietnam Wall is really the only thing I remember seeing when I was in DC as a high schooler. Good choice. The Korean Memorial was my favorite. I loved the expression and details on the soldiers and their reflection in the black granite wall.

June 25, 2011

Our last full day in DC was spent at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. I loved it! We had a beautiful day and the house and grounds are just beautiful. I love old houses anyway but this one has so much history in it - the bedroom had the very same bed Washington died in. There were lots of neat outbuildings to see and (as usual) we ran out of time and had to rush through the museum. When I get back to DC, I will definitely go here again.

June 26, 2011

After packing up, we left DC and drove through the Virginia countryside to get to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. We saw lots of beautiful houses and horse farms on the rolling hills. It seems everyone in Virginia names their homes. There were all signs outside their places with cool names on them. I decided if I ever buy a place in the country, I am going to name it.

Monticello was just as neat as Mount Vernon. Jefferson didn't have quite the view that Washington did but I thought the house was so cool. It had tunnels, revolving doors, a wine dumbwaiter... I kept thinking how much fun it would be to be a Jefferson grandkid and play in that house!

June 27, 2011

Today was a sad day. We had to say goodbye to the Beltmans. We had a wonderful time vacationing with them and are already planning our next adventure together (I am voting for a relaxing beach vacation!) We appropriately had our last meal at Fazoli's, a fast food Italian place that serves amazing breadsticks. We had one just a block away from our house in Iowa and used to go there quite frequently.

We made it back to John's sister about 7:30 and were reunited with our Katie. She came right to us and gave us all big hugs but she really didn't seem to care that we had left her for two weeks. Aunt Sue and family took good care of her.

June 28, 2011

Spent a (much needed) relaxing day in Wisconsin. John took two of his favorite sisters out for lunch and let me come along too.

Summer Vacation Days 8-15

2011-07-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

June 15, 2011
We finished up at the Gettysburg battleground today. Actually we had to drag John away from the Gettysburg battleground. We made a quick stop at the cemetery where President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address and then we were off to Hershey, Pennsylvania. What a cute town! All the street lights are in the shape of Hershey Kisses and everything was named something chocolatey. I totally embarrassed Holly at Chocolate World when I ran up to this guy and said, "I'm your biggest fan!" After Hershey, we headed to Lancaster County. We ate a buffet supper of Amish food. Those Amish really know how to eat. I wonder why they aren't fat?

June 16, 2011
Found out why the Amish aren't fat and lots of other interesting things on our Lancaster County bus tour today. Our bus driver was a very nice Mennonite young man whose parents were actually ex-communicated from the Amish church for questioning some of their beliefs. The tour was very informative and very delicious. He made three stops - one at his mother's quilt shop, one at a petting zoo that sold homemade ice cream, and one at an Amish roadside stand that sold the absolute best tasting soft pretzels I have ever encountered. Seriously folks, I almost want to become Amish just so I can eat those every day and not become fat.
After our bus tour we did some shopping in Intercourse because we needed to buy lots of cheesy stuff that said said "Intercourse" on it because we are very sophisticated and mature that way.
Then it was on to Philadelphia. On our way we made a stop at Valley Forge and learned that we all had been taught a lot of inaccuracies in our history classes. Although the soldiers did spend a chilly winter there, they did not starve or go without shoes.

June 17, 2011
Spent the day in Philadelphia. Lots of history there but found out it was all condensed into a small area downtown so we were able to do everything in one day. We saw Benjamin Franklin's grave, Betsy Ross's house, Christ's church, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell. I discovered that I knew even less about the Revolutionary War than the Civil War. I also discovered that Philadelphia vendors really do sell the best tasting Philly cheese steak sandwiches ever. And our picture for today....after all that history...

ROCKY! Remember how Rocky ran up the steps of that art museum in Philadelphia? Can you just hear the theme music now? Yes, we were total dorks and couldn't leave Philadelphia without running up those same steps. It was all very inspiring...and tiring.
After Philly, we drove to the outskirts of DC.

June 18, 2011
Sam's 8th birthday! After all the museums and historical stuff we thought we should spend the day doing something a little less intense. We spent a very hot and humid day at the National Zoo It wasn't the best zoo I've ever been to but we still had a great time. The National Zoo is known for it's Pandas (according to Jonathan only two zoos in the U.S. have Pandas) but we nearly missed them. As usual, we had a tough time leaving exhibits and before we knew it, the zoo was about to close. We nearly sprinted to the Panda house and got to see one big, sleeping Panda before they kicked us out of the zoo.
Here we are pretending to be animals...I'm not sure what Susie is suppose to be. I know no animals that carry water bottles.

June 19, 2011
Father's Day! Good thing Holly brought along something special because I had bought John a Snicker's bar but Sam had found my hiding spot and ate John's present. We got our week passes for the metro today and tried it out. What a great system! It's the only way to travel in DC - very clean and safe and convenient. It took us right into the National Mall. Our first day was spent at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Sam and I checked out the more "kid friendly" parts of the museum while the rest of the group went on a guided tour that was suppose to take 1 1/2 hours. It actually ended up being three hours! Everyone (kids included) said they had a great tour guide and it was well worth it. After lunch we all split up so we could see whatever we wanted. Very cool museum. Even for a gal like me who doesn't really care a lot about planes or space. My highlights were: seeing the Wright brother's first plane (yes Susie, it's the REAL one!), seeing the inside of the Sky Lab (how did they not go absolutely crazy in there?), reading about how you get rid of "bodily waste" in space, and seeing the old flight attendant uniforms. For a guy like John who loves planes and space, it was very, very hard to leave.

After the museum, we picked up our cars and drove to our home-away-from-home for the next week. We rented a really cute three story row house that had beds for everyone and a big dining room table that fit us all. Great job picking it out Susie!

June 20, 2011

Doyle and Jonathan (bless their hearts) got up super early and waited in line in the rain for tickets to go up in the Washington Monument. The rest of us got to sleep in a little and then caught up with them at the National Archives. We waited outside for about 45 minutes for it to open and then headed straight for the rotunda where the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are on display. Lots of guards who won't answer your questions like if the Declaration of Independence gets stored in an underground vault at night just like in the movie "National Treasure". I was very surprised at how faded it was (nothing like the movie), makes me wonder how long they will keep it on display. Good thing we got their early because when we left the rotunda, the lines was very, very long. I really enjoyed the museum part of the archives too. My favorite part was all the letters written to the presidents - very cute.

Next up was the Smithsonian National Museum of Art. Somehow John ended up with Sam and I got to spend three hours just wandering around (that place is HUGE) all by myself. My favorite pieces were a huge painting of Daniel in the Lion's Den and a statue (I think it was by Degas) of a dancer that had real clothes and real hair - it was actually kind of creepy but really cool all at the same time.

After the art museum, we headed to the Washington Monument for our elevator ride to the top. What a great way to see the city! It was a clear day and we got a great view of all the landmarks.

June 21, 2011

We started out the day at Ford's Theater. I think this was my favorite place in DC. A park ranger gave a really good talk in the actual theater and they had a great museum about Lincoln and his assassination in the basement. I think it was my favorite because there was lots to read and see but it wasn't quite as much information overload as some of the other museums and sights. We had great timing too - the coat Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot is only on display a couple days out of the year and we got to see it! Kinda morbid but interesting nonetheless. Speaking of morbid, Sam really liked the gun John Wilkes Boothe used....he really, really wanted me to take his picture by it.

After the Ford's Theater, we went to the Spy Museum. Another well done museum and the only one we had to pay for (I love all the free stuff in DC). It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It was divided into three parts: the first was about how to be a spy, the second had lots of real spy gadgets and the third was all about spies and espionage throughout the years.

After dinner, Susie, Sam and I went "home" while the rest of the gang went to a Nationals game. It was Holly's first major league baseball game and according to Jonathan (who has been to lots of major league games) it was the "best game he's ever been too". Unfortunately for Holly (the only Seattle Mariner's fan in the place) the Mariners lost to the Nationals in the bottom of the ninth inning.

June 22, 2011
Today we had to wake up early for our 8:30 tour of the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We got a very interesting guided tour of how the government makes out money. Unfortunately, there were no free samples.

After our money tour, we walked to the capital for our tour with the Iowa senator Chuck Grassley. I guess Chuck was busy with balancing our national debt so a nice young gentleman who was interning for him gave us our tour. If you are heading to our nation's capital anytime soon, I would highly recommend contacting your senator rather than just walking into the capital and getting a general tour. Did you know that the capital has it's own little subway inside and that each state is represented by two statues that are placed all over the building? I think they have done a great job of preserving history and it's every bit as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

After taking lots of pictures of the capital from the outside, we made a quick trip inside the Supreme Court building (mostly to get into the air conditioning). There were people waiting in line to hear oral arguments but we had to keep moving. Holly was very disappointed. We are quickly discovering that you really need more than a week in DC!

We concluded our day at the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum (both Smithsonian museums). We all split up and once again I ended up all by meself. I never made it to the Natural History Museum but LOVED the American History Museum. I got to see Fonzie's coat, Archie Bunker's recliner, the original Kermit the Frog, Dorothy's red slippers, Julia Child's kitchen, Minnie Pearl's hat, all the first ladies inageration dresses....all in REAL LIFE! I could have spent all day there.

Summer Vacation Days 1-7

2011-07-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wow. Where do I even begin? We were gone 26 days, drove over 6,500 miles, were in 15 states, I have 19 pages of journal entries, 763 pictures, we saw so many cool things, and made so many memories that I am just overwhelmed.
I guess I can start by giving thanks to God. We had no car troubles, no injuries (unless you count a couple of blisters from walking so much), no major delays, beautiful weather, wonderful traveling companions (we miss you Beltmans!), great family time, only one minor traffic violation (who knew Wyoming actually has a speed limit?), and I got a new brother-in-law. God is so good and I am so thankful He's with us no matter where we go!
After much deliberation, I have decided to show you a picture from each day we were gone. If you want to see all 763 pictures you will have to come over and sit on my couch with me. I will make ice tea and open up a bag of Oreos.
June 8, 2011
We are those crazy people who get in a car and don't get out until we are there. We left Lynden at 7:45 p.m. and plugged Brandon, South Dakota in for our destination (1,639 miles, 23:56 hours). The kids did AWESOME! We did learn one little lesson though...when Katie says she has to go potty even though you just stopped for a potty break twenty minutes ago, Katie has to go potty.
I took this picture because she was entertaining herself by putting her toes in her mouth. Afterwards I noticed the bulge in her pants. That's not suppose to be there if you know what I mean.
June 9, 2011
Spent all day in the car. Stopped promptly when Katie said she had to go. I took this pictures about 9:30 p.m. Made it to my folks about 11:00 p.m. and went to bed pretty quick afterwards. It felt so good to sleep in a bed!

June 10, 2011
After spending less than 12 hours at the "Haan Hotel" we were back on the road and on our way to John's family in Wisconsin. Grandma Hiemstra spoiled our kids. First she made her famous shepherd's pie for supper and then she let them bring kittens into the house!

June 11, 2011
We all slept in and spent a lazy morning at the Hiemstra house and Grandpa made his famous crepes for breakfast. John spent the afternoon trimming trees (what else?) while Holly and I went to the Olson house to help get ready for her Michael's graduation party. Sam and Katie spent the day outside - they love Grandma's swingset! The Beltman family showed up around 11:00 p.m. and we stayed up way too late catching up.

June 12, 2011

It was so nice to be there for Michael's graduation party (and Rebekah's sweet sixteen). It was a beautiful, sunny day so the kids got to go in the pool. Lots of people and lots of food! Not surprisingly, we were the last ones to leave. This picture is blurry but I love it. Jonathan was such a good sport with all the girls.

June 13, 2011

Monday morning we dropped Katie off at Aunt Sue's. She happily waved goodbye to us and I only cried a little. Our destination was the west side of Pennsylvania so we had a big day of driving. Just twenty minutes from John's folks, the teenagers in the Beltman van spotted a sign for $1 icees at Burger King. We all (actually just John) thought it was much too early to stop so thus began "The Great Icee Quest". In every town the kids looked for icees and after lots of disappointments (no icees, too expensive icees, broken icee machines, etc.) they were rewarded!

June 14, 2011
We spent the day at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Now I am not a huge Civil War buff, but I think I could be after visiting Gettysburg. So cool. They had an excellent visitor's center and museum and after much debate over how to tour the actual battlefield, we decided to purchase a guidebook and CD and do the audio tour. We picked up some pizzas to eat in the car and we were on our way. The audio tour was 2 1/2 hours long and made 15 stops. In 2 1/2 hours, we were on stop number 3. Yeah. Certain people in our group need to read everything. We headed back to the hotel with the plan to be back on the battlefields at 8:00 a.m.
Here we all are at stop number 3. If you have never been to Pennsylvania, let me tell you, it is beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice but the clouds and the rolling hills here were just breathtaking. It was so quiet and peaceful and when you looked out over the fields it was sureal to imagine that there was so much tragedy and bloodshed there. It was actully a very moving experience being there.

YEAH! We're home!

2011-07-04T17:50:00.001-07:00

Lot's more pictures later!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Holly graduates

2011-06-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today was Holly's last day of 8th grade. I can hardly fathom that I am now a mother of a high schooler. It seems like just yesterday I was dropping her off at kindergarten. I just cried a little bit.
She's such a sweet girl...she still tolerates getting her picture taken on the last day of school. Tonight was her graduation "ceremony". Last year Lynden Christian decided to get rid of the formal graduation and just do a family celebration instead. I thought it was wonderful. The graduates went on a scavenger hunt after school and then had a barbecue together. Later, the parents came and joined the kids in the gym. We just all brought our lawn chairs and a dessert to share and had a time of socializing before they handed out the diplomas. They also had a slide show and a time to pray over your 8th grader. I just cried a little bit.

Here's Holly and two of her best buddies...

Here's Holly and her other best buddy...

And here's Holly with her bestest buddy (notice the barbie doll hanging out of his pocket)...

Holly was asked to pray before graduation started. Sorry for the bad picture...dumb boy in the way...

All of the kids wrote down a memory from either elementary or middle school and their homeroom teacher read it when they came up to get their diploma. Holly's was the rats they got to experiment on in fifth grade. I remember those rats. She did love them.

All of the graduates...

It's official!

One last thing...just a little bragging here. I totally have the right to do that because not only do I have an incredible daughter but this is also my blog and I can do whatever I want. Holly was voted (along with her good friend Jenah) as "most likely to grow up to be a missionary" by her class. Pretty cool huh?

Memorial Day Weekend Update

2011-06-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am foregoing this week's Wordless Wednesday to catch you up on our holiday weekend. It was one of those times when it looks like you have nothing going on and then BOOM, you are busy every day.
Friday:
On Friday, Sam had a dream-come-true. He was able to wear his phantom costume to school. His class had earned a party and it was a "wear anything you want to school as long as you can still participate in PE day". To say that he was excited would be putting it mildly. In this particular picture he is not very happy because I had just told him that he could not wear his spooky pink light-up glasses on the bus.
Saturday:

On Saturday, this little darling turned three! Wow. Is some ways it seems like just yesterday we heard the doctor say, "It's a girl!" and in other others ways it seems like this charming, stubborn, funny, never-sits-still, independent, beautiful little gal has always been part of our family. She's still not a big talker but at least ten times a day she throws her arms around my legs and says, "I love you" to me. Katie Kat, you are a gift from above and your daddy and I can't wait to see what God has in store for you! Also on Saturday, John and I went to a murder mystery party to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was a 1930's theme. John was Rogan, a successful businessman with a shady past but between his slicked-back hair and black cape, he made a good Dracula. I was Dame, an unlucky-in-love spoiled rich girl with a shady past. You may be interested to know that neither of us were the murderer.

Sunday:

On Sunday we went out to the Bay to have lunch with the Korthuis family. They had taken Holly camping with them and invited the rest of us out for a picnic lunch. Can I say once again what wonderful friends my daughter has? Not only do we love Jenah but her parents are a lot of fun to be around too!

Monday:
I had fully intended of getting up in time to catch the service at the local cemetery but after playing outside all day on Sunday, the kiddos slept in until ten and I did too! We took a drive later in the afternoon to look at all the flags and I took the opportunity to ask Sam if he knew what Memorial Day was. He said, "It's the day to remember all the soldiers that got killed." After we talked about how they are heroes because they gave their life up for us and our freedoms, he said, "Yeah mom, that's why I'm not going to be a soldier anymore. That's why I'm going to be a policeman now." Ah...the innocence of youth.
Monday night we ended up with a little impromptu barbecue at our house with most of John's family. As soon as Auntie Grace walked in the door, Katie had her helping with her fish floor puzzle.

One more thing....yesterday was two of my most favorite Aunt's birthdays. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT JEN AND AUNT BONNIE! My Aunt Jen got a new knee for her birthday - isn't that cool?!

Yesterday

2011-05-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

Look! I'm blogging again! Guess what? It's raining again. UG. No complaining though....yesterday I went on a field trip with Sam and although it wasn't sunny, it didn't rain a drop. YEAH! I elected to ride the bus with the kiddos to the park. I'm not sure what kind of drug was in my coffee that helped me make that decision. Forty very excited first-graders in a metal Twinkie is very, very loud. Lucky for me though, I totally lucked out and got these two as my bus buddies. And although they too were very excited and very loud, they are also very cute. Cole is Sam's bestest buddy at school (just so you know, I am his bestest buddy the rest of the time). Here we are attempting a class picture. Of course, all the kids wanted to sit on the fence and since I don't have a fancy camera, it's not a very good picture. But, you get the idea.

Here is Sam making butter. Did you know that in the olden days you had to make butter from scratch? This is one of the things we learned on the field trip. We also learned that if you lived in the olden days and had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you had to use a bowl. Suffice it to say that first graders love to talk about going potty and quite a conversation was had over this fact.

Here's Sam's group enjoying their homemade butter on crackers.

And here's Sam and Cole pond skimming. They each had little nets and had to find creatures and such that live in the water.

As much as one loves to pond skim with their buddy, one has to take the time to pond skim with their girlfriend too.

Another class picture. This time they are all making silly faces.

It was a fun field trip and totally worth the major headache I got riding the bus. Yes, amazingly, those forty first graders were just as loud coming home.

Yesterday was also Sam's last soccer game of the season. Since he no longer plays co-ed, Sam no longer plays with Becca which means that Becca's mom no longer takes picture of Sam which means that this is all I got...

I like this one though. Sam is suppose to be playing goalie however a bunch of his buddies that were waiting for their game to start were distracting him.

Great job Grey Ghosts (yes, they do name themselves)!

Let me entertain you

2011-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Holly had a voice recital on Monday night. She woke up that morning with a sore throat and cold so she was pretty nervous about performing. She sang two songs, "It Might As Well Be Spring" (from State Fair) and "The Wizard and I" (from Wicked). She did AWESOME! She would say that I have to say that since I'm her mom. And she would be right. However, she really did do a fantastic job. Her Dad and I were pretty proud of her. I actually did manage to tape one song so if you'd like to hear her, let me know your e-mail address and I'll send you the link. Yes, I'm sure there is a way to link it to my blog but apparently I am not smart enough to figure it out.

Bad Blogger

2011-05-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been awhile. It's not because nothing is happening at the Hiemstra House. Blame it on the sunshine. The sun has actually been shining here in Northwest Washington lately and I have learned that you need to take advantage of that when it happens. So, I've been sitting out on my deck and working in the yard instead of sitting by the computer and cleaning my house. Today we are back to grey skies so I thought I'd blog awhile...and then I need to tackle this house.
I took this picture this morning since it was a momentous occasion at the Hiemstra house. Holly informed me this morning that she is partaking of her last hot lunch EVER today. The kiddos' school doesn't have a hot lunch program so about once a month, moms bring in something. Apparently, moms don't bring in hot lunch any more in high school (still hard to believe I am old enough to have a child in high school) so today is IT! Doesn't her hair look cute?
Speaking of lunches, Sam forgot his today. The one morning that I don't have to go anywhere and could have stayed in my jammies until noon, I get a call from my boy telling me he forgot his lunch. I think I will make him be my personal slave for an hour after school. I love that punishment. Sam must of got ahold of my camera again because when I downloaded pictures, I got about 30 different Star Wars Lego shots and these beauties...

And here's a picture of my Katie Kat. She's "helping" me with dishes. Why is it that kids always want to be your helpers when they really are no help and by the time they actually are a help, they don't want to be your helper anymore?

I gotta go clean my house now. I promise I will be a better blogger.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-11T07:27:00.001-07:00

My moms

2011-05-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Warning. This post may get a little mushy.
Yesterday we spent a lovely Mother's Day over at Mark and Edie's house with John's family. Mark grilled salmon and, as usual, it was delish. During lunch, Edie had us go around the table and we each had to say one thing we learned from our mom. I shared how my mom always told me, "Life isn't fair." I HATED it when she said it. I remember thinking that I would NEVER say that to my kids. He he he. I ALWAYS say it to my kids. Because it's totally true. What I didn't share with the group is that even though my mom knew she had to teach me about real life, she also tried to protect me from life's hurts and encourage me after life's disappointments. My mom is a fantastic note writer and I remember lots of little messages she would leave on my pillow. She was (and still is) my biggest cheerleader. When life got tough, I never had a doubt that my mom still thought I was beautiful, smart, strong, and just plain good enough...even when it seemed like everyone else thought differently. She knew I'd be okay even when I didn't.
I love you mom. I hope I'm just like you when I grow up!
And then there's my mother-in-law. I won't tell you everything that my hubby and brother-in-law shared about her but the consensus was: mom acts tough but is really very soft and gentle. And they are right. Mom has a heart of gold and would give you the shirt off her back if you asked her for it. She didn't laugh at me or make fun of me when I called her to ask if I took the skin off potatoes before I boiled them. She always puts a lot of thought into the gifts she gives me. She knows I don't like vinegar on my green beans so she takes some out for me before she dumps it on the rest. She knows I love her cucumbers with cream so she always has them when I visit. She always says, "I love you Dee" before she hangs up the phone. I love you too mom. You have taught me how to be a good mother-in-law someday.

Rain

2011-05-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Rain rain go away...For goodness sake, it's the seventh of May...

As much as I'd like to see some sun...

This guy thinks playing in the rain is lots of fun!