Hughes News

Back to School

2011-09-08T13:46:00.004-04:00

This week marked the start of the new school year. The kids were a little more anxious since they would be riding a different bus and Riley actually takes 2 different buses to get to school. They both had great first days!

Busy Weekend

2011-08-29T09:20:00.002-04:00

What a busy few days! This week was our annual Charity Garage Sale that we have every year at my aunts. We raised around $1500 this year! It was so much fun and I was disappointed that I had other obligations. Riley and I had an overnight planned with my Girl Scouts at a horse camp and Carter and Matt were having a sleepover at a ballpark. I don't have any pictures of the ballpark overnight but I know they had fun. They went to the game, watched fireworks, got to see a movie on the field and slept in the outfield (well, they didnt get much sleep as everyone stayed up late, the ground was hard as a rock and the lights were not turned off until 3:30 or so.)

Riley and I had a great time as well. We learned how to ride horses, saddle them ourselves, groom them and we even got to ride the horses to round up cattle!

Well...

2011-08-22T09:15:00.002-04:00

We are in the new house. What a week...

Last Tuesday, Matt was in a car accident and totalled his car. We are down to one vehicle as we wait for the insurance company. Matt is thankfully ok. I am a little nervous to see what the 3rd bad thing is since they typically happen in 3's! (1. Separating shoulder in shallow water, 2. car accident, 3 ?????).

Friday we moved. A little late, but we moved. We waited almost 3 hours for the owners to leave after they said they would be gone. I will never forget the woman walking around "MY" house eating a blueberry pie that she didnt want to throw away instead of packing her stuff and getting the heck out!

Everything is here at the new house and we are starting to get settled. We have a busy week ahead!

Moving

2011-08-12T08:51:00.002-04:00

Today we leave our home in Borculo. We have a week before we can move into our beautiful new home so we head to Dad and Phyllis' for the week. It will be like a mini-vacation. No boxes to pack or unpack so I will enjoy it! While packing up our home we have been in for the last 6 years, I have been purging. I know we still have a lot of stuff and I am sure i will hear about it when we move it all :)

We will certainly miss this house. We will miss the Soft Spot, the fenced in yard, some of the neighbors ;), and the kids will miss their friends. We have outgrown the house and are truly ready to move. We could not have been luckier in the sense that someone knocked on our door and "asked" to buy our home. The new owners have become great friends and we will be forever grateful to them.

Next week we get to start the final step of this process. I cannot express the excitement we have for getting into the new house. We put the offer in at the beginning of June and have had a long summer of waiting. Lots of sleepless nights for sure. So glad it all worked out. I know all 4 of us are excited for more space! I will be able to walk around my bed and have closet space...silly little things I look forward to. Really, I am hoping Matt is healed enough to help carry the heavy stuff! He separated his shoulder a couple weeks ago so he is a "maybe" for the whole lifting part. Luckily, we have wonderful family and friends who are offering to help us.

Well, a week from now I will hopefully be able to post that we are moved!

Fair

2011-08-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

We spent the day at the fair with some cousins and had a great time!

Off to camp she goes....

2011-08-04T10:42:00.004-04:00

Riley went to resident camp for Girl Scouts this summer. We were both a little apprehensive about her being gone for a week the first time she went but deep down I knew she could handle it.

It happened to be the hottest week of the summer but she survived the heat wave with lots of swimming. She had an awesome time and met some wonderful friends. However, she came home with no ones email, address or number so I guess they were not that great! HAHA She said she didn't think about it. Most importantly she made some lifelong memories that she can cherish.

Carter Turns 6

2011-07-12T08:27:00.005-04:00

Yet another year has gone by. I know I seem like a broken record but really...where has the time gone. It seems like yesterday that we moved here and he was born. Now he is 6.

We celebrated on his actual birthday with dinner at Red Robin with Grandma Phyllis.

Just a few days later we were able to celebrate with a pirate party!

UNcle Jim and the infamous birthday spankings!

Another Traditional Trip....Ohio

2011-07-11T08:05:00.003-04:00

The tradition continued this year with our annual trip to visit my aunt and uncle in Ohio. My mom, aunt, the kids and I spent another wonderful long weekend visiting. This year we spent a day in Amish country which was a lot of fun. There is never a dull moment when we all get together. Thanks Uncle Dicky Yoder and Aunt Martha!!!!!!!

Visiting the Amish Cheese Factory

Check out the deer at the bird feeder.

Serious ping pong game

Door County 2011

2011-07-04T07:43:00.002-04:00

As it has become a tradition, we spent the 4th of July with family in Door County Wisconsin. Riley and Carter, per the request of Papa and Grandma Hughes, made T-shirts for everyone. As in the years past, there was some fishing, tubing, card playing, fireworks and just a great time had by all.

Riley's Family Birthday

2011-06-22T15:28:00.003-04:00

Fun in the sun...

2011-06-22T15:13:00.001-04:00

These were taken a couple weeks ago on one of the last days the girls were here. I am off for the summer and miss my girls!

Tball

2011-06-14T23:49:00.002-04:00

Double Digits!!!

2011-06-14T22:22:00.005-04:00

Riley turned 10! I cannot believe she is already to double digits. Why does time have to go so fast?

She started her birthday weekend with a sleepover with some friends. I had to limit her based on the space we have at this house. I think that was the hardest part!

Riley awaiting her guests...not very patiently!

Scavenger hunt

Opening gifts

Painting their pillow cases

Karaoke

Family fun

2011-06-14T21:57:00.003-04:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we celebrated a special birthday with family. The kids had a great time even though the weather was not very good. We were forced inside so the kids made the best of it.

Carter spraying his cousins

The kids quickly playing in the water slide before the storm arrives

The older cousins made up some "Minute to Win It" games for everyone to play

Riley concentrating on her stacking skills

The boys and their cup castle

Memorial Day

2011-06-14T21:32:00.004-04:00

Carter and Riley were both in the Memorial Day parade. Carter rode on a float with his kindergarten class and Riley carried a banner for the Korean War Veterans. At the conclusion of the parade, my girl scouts helped place the flags in the cemetery.

Carter ready for the parade to start

Riley ready to go

And she is off!

Marching in for the ceremony at the cemetery

Placing a flag on a grave

Girls on the Run 5K

2011-05-23T15:01:00.004-04:00

My busy daughter has not only been practicing Dutch dance but also training twice a week to run her first 5K in a program at her school called Girls on the Run. She absolutely loved this program! She ran the 5K this past weekend and was lucky to have her Aunt Abby run it with her.
This is the girls before the run

Her awesome coaches and the 4th grade girls from her team

Stretching before the race

She is somewhere in that group of awesome girls!

Here they come...

Still going strong and almost done

After the race

TBall

2011-05-23T14:57:00.002-04:00

Matt is coaching Carter's Tball team this spring. They are having so much fun together. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died after two pictures so that is all I have right now.

Tulip Time

2011-05-23T14:38:00.004-04:00

We spent Riley's one day off of dancing at the parade and carnival during Tulip TIme. A great time was had by all!

Matt asked Riley to come and greet tour buses when they checked into the hotel. Carter was very disappointed that he didn't have a costume to do it with her. I searched and found one for sale in his size so he could help Riley hand out cookies and greet the guests. The way it worked out, Riley had to dance when the first bus arrived so Carter did it by himself. The tour guide had him posing for pictures and he loved it! The second time they both were able to be there so this is a picture of them waiting for the guests to come off the bus. There were 80 people and again they posed for pictures and made a lot of people smile.

More Dutch Dancing

2011-05-23T14:22:00.003-04:00

Riley had a great time dancing at Tulip Time this year. The schedule was busy and we spent a lot of time at the festival for her to perform but it was worth it and she definitely learned some life lessons in the process. I loved to see the pride she had when dancing!

Here is Riley's whole dance group.

Riley's Dutch Dance

2011-05-11T11:21:00.002-04:00

Carter 's Song

2011-05-10T22:22:00.002-04:00

Riley's Crazy Hat Day

2011-05-10T22:05:00.004-04:00

I was very proud of Riley because she and a couple of her friends worked to come up with the plan for crazy hat day to raise money for Japan. She made the flyers, approched the principal for permission and is now working on counting the money from the fundraiser. I love seeing the leadership she displays! Here is the hat we made together.

Here comes Peter Cottontail

2011-04-27T22:42:00.003-04:00

Decorating Easter eggs

We decided to check out a local "marshmallow drop" at a nearby airport. The idea was that the helicopter would fly over the airport and drop 10,000 large marshmallows. Then the kids would go out and collect them to exchange for an Easter goodie bag. When we got to the airport we stood along the side and waited. The helicopter flew over and as soon as they opened the door to drop the marshmallows, people started running out to collect the marshmallows. It was then that we realized how many people were really there. Very quickly we were all split up in the crowd. The kids were able to find a few marshmallows but when we saw how many people were in line for the goody bags we decided to leave. The kids enjoyed the experience!

Crazy Hair Day

2011-04-27T16:00:00.003-04:00

Carter was allowed to do anything he wanted to his hair one day last week for school.

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-12T10:08:00.004-04:00

Last week we went over to Detroit to spend a couple days "away" for Spring Break. The first day we were there Matt was in bed very sick. So the kids and I spent some time at the pool and went shopping. We also got to have dinner with Papa Ron who is working in the area right now.

The next day we visited Papa Ron's work site, went to The Henry Ford Museum and ended the night at a Pistons game.

Carter in front of the train he loved.

Riley posing with the statues

The Rosa Parks bus

Carter dancing it up on the TV

Riley as a hot dog

Carter at his first Pistons game

Headed down to the floor to make a shot after the game

Carter shooting. He was very disappointed that his basketball was flat. It would not bounce at all.

Riley watching to see if she made it.

Carter's Realization

2011-04-05T07:52:00.002-04:00

So Mom and Dad Hughes were here visiting for the weekend and Riley wanted to show Grandma where her school was. So we drove past it and Riley said "That's it. Roosevelt Elementary." Carter immediately replied, "Riley, my school has the same last name!!" It was so cute because he was so serious and proud of himself that he made the realization.

Through the eyes of a box of Thin Mints

2011-03-25T08:32:00.005-04:00

This week was a busy week with the delivery of our Girl Scout cookies. I am sure everyone wonders and really cares about how your cookies get into your hands, right? Maybe not...I care but I know I am a dork about the cookies. I "love" this time of year!!!! So if you care you can read on and see how I help to get the cookies where they need to go. :)

I started the day helping sort the whole neighborhoods cookies....1,154 cases!

I then loaded all 148 cases for my troop into the van and brought them home to sort.

Before cookies arrived

After sorting the troop into piles

Riley working hard to sort her orders. She sold 274 boxes so far!

Storybook Character Parade

2011-03-21T15:35:00.002-04:00

Carter had to choose a character from a book and dress up like them for school today. He took this decision very seriously and thought about it for a long time. THis is what he decided on...

Happy 99th Birthday Girl Scouts!

2011-03-13T18:24:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the 99th birthday of Girl Scouts and my troop celebrated by visiting a local museum who has an exhibit on Scouting. It was a lot of fun and the girls really enjoyed seeing the way scouting has changed over the years. I was not so excited when I saw my Brownie uniform on display in a museum in the display of "old" uniforms!!!!

Southwestern Pork Soup

2011-02-25T14:36:00.002-05:00

I have to admit I was not excited about dinner last night. Even when I was cooking it I was trying to figure out what the backup plan was going to be when no one liked this soup. It didn't look good in the recipe book but the ingredients sounded good so I chose it. Anyway, it was pretty good. I think Carter was the only one who didn't care for it. :)

Southwestern Pork Soup

INGREDIENTS
2teaspoons vegetable oil
1lb boneless pork loin, trimmed of fat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)
1small jalapeño chile, seeded, finely chopped
1clove garlic, finely chopped
1carton (32 oz) Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (4 cups)
2cans (15 to 16 oz each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
1/2cup loosely packed chopped fresh cilantro
1/4cup loosely packed chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS
1In 3-quart nonstick saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Add onions, chile and garlic; cook and stir 1 minute.
2Add broth and beans. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center. Stir in cilantro and parsley; cook until heated through.
One pound of pork boneless loin chops, cut into cubes, would also work well for this recipe.
A squeeze of fresh lime juice over servings of this Mexican-inspired soup adds a wonderful fresh flavor. It also blends well with the chili and cilantro.

Vegetarian Black and White Bean Chili

2011-02-24T08:33:00.002-05:00

Last night was really good. However, I totally messed up the recipe! I was accidentally looking the the wrong ingredient list when prepping my ingredients. The soup I was making did not call for cilantro or parsley but it was in there! Oops. It was really good though so I am adding it to the ingredient list for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1tablespoon vegetable oil
1large onion, chopped (1 cup)
4cloves garlic, finely chopped (2 teaspoons)
1can (15.5 oz) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
1can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed
2cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used a large jar of my canned tomatoes)
1can (11 oz) Green Giant® Mexicorn® whole kernel corn with red and green peppers
1can (4 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, undrained
1can (14 oz) vegetable broth
1tablespoon chili powder
1teaspoon ground cumin
1/2teaspoon salt
If you want to...add 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley and 1/2 cup cilantro :)

Sour cream, if desired

DIRECTIONS
1In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.
2Stir in remaining ingredients except sour cream. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3Top each serving with sour cream.
Stir in cornmeal to thicken chili slightly, or simply cook longer on low heat; this will not only thicken the chili but blend the flavors.
Fire-roasted tomatoes add a slightly smoky flavor to this easy chili.

Soup Week Returns!

2011-02-23T16:42:00.002-05:00

My family has been asking me to plan another Soup Week like we did last year so I finally managed to plan it. I will be posting our nightly soup/recipe for our memories so bear with me!

Last night I made Tortilla Soup which I have made several times in the past. I never use the same recipe so this was a new soup for us. It was SO easy too!

4 cups chicken broth
1 cup thick-n-chunky salsa
2 cups chicken pieces (shredded or chicken breast cut up)
3/4 Tbsp ground cumin

Heat all ingredients together until boiling. Serve over tortilla chip with cheese on top. Add avocado and cilantro on top if you like too.

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-06T15:45:00.004-05:00

We had two snow days in a row! The kids enjoyed that and we had a lot of time to play in the snow.

RIley getting ready to go out and play!

Riley decorated the house for us.

We payed some hockey and soccer in the driveway.

"You don’t pay back a favor, you pay it forward. "

2011-02-03T15:25:00.002-05:00

So we continue to work hard every day to "Pay it Forward." The large amount of snowfall we had this week allowed us some perfect opportunities to help out some neighbors. There is one story I have to share because we need this added to our blog for memories. As I mentioned in the past post about this topic, Matt and I really want to include the kids in our "paying it forward." We ask them for ideas and when we do something our intention is to have them be a part of it. Well, last weekend we stopped at McDonalds for some drinks. The kids were in the back watching a movie with their headsets on. While in the drive thru line I noticed the truck behind us had a guy in the drivers seat and a dog in the passenger seat. I said to Matt, "Buy his lunch and we can use our pay it forward card." He agreed so when we got up to the window, we told them we wanted to pay for the guy behind us and asked that they give him the card. When they got to the window I turned around to see if the man did indeed give them the card and I noticed at that time that it was NOT a dog but a woman! OOPS! I felt horrible! BUt they were very appreciative, they honked at us and waved. As we pulled out of the parking lot and down the street, I said to Matt, "Do you think we should have told the kids?" HAHA They were completely sucked into their movie and they had no idea we had even gone to McDonalds, so thy certainly had not been a part of our "Pay it Forward" moment!!!! Oh well, there will be more instances but we laughed at ourselves and will try to remember next time!

Snow Fort

2011-02-02T20:11:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Matt and Riley went through the neighborhood selling Girl Scout cookies so Carter and I decided to build a fort. I think Carter had intended on helping me but he got distracted. I built the fort and he watched :) Either way we had a great time.

The next day the kids sprayed it as part of a badge Riley is working on for Girl Scouts. As you can see the morning sun warmed it up enough to lean....A LOT! It still looks like this after 4 days. Carter checks everyday to see if it has fallen.

Daddy Daughter Prom

2011-01-31T20:50:00.003-05:00

Last week was the big night and they had a great time again this year. Riley was very excited about her dress (I paid right around $2 for it brand new! I love Kohls clearance + a 30% off) and the shrug that I let her borrow (Yes it was a little big but it is depressing that she can almost borrow some things of mine). The best part of the night was that Riley danced with Matt! She typically runs around with her friends but she danced with her dad and they had a blast. Carter and I stayed home, watched a movie and cuddled :)

Paying it Forward

2011-01-26T09:52:00.002-05:00

So it was announced by a town near us last week that they were launching a Pay It Forward campaign. Ever since I saw that movie years ago, I have wanted to be better about that. We really try hard to raise our kids with the understanding of the importance of giving/volunteering. It is not always about the "getting." I will fully admit that I have always been timid when it came to doing anything big as far as paying it forward. I have bought someones food before and other small things here and there. However, when I read about the Pay It Forward thing Holland is doing, Matt and I decided to make it a priority. We printed some of the cards and had a family discussion. We asked the kids to help us make a list of things we could do for people. We wanted to do it more than once and just make it a habit. It makes us feel so good to do something for someone else that it is almost addicting. I am proud to say that we have already done several things in a week, although we never have the Pay It Forward card to leave for them! We will get better at that!!
* (The idea behind the card is for people to log in when they receive the card, tell what someone did for them and then pass the card on...thus paying it forward)

I hope many others are just as inspired as we are!

Good Intentions

2011-01-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

I really had good intentions of blogging everyday this week. Well, as you can see, that did not happen. As it does every day, the time went too quickly.

Last weekend, I took my Girl Scout troop to an event called Junior Uniquely Me. The girls learned about self esteem, being unique and how they are all different. It was a great couple of hours and the girls had a nice time. There were several troops there so the girls were mixed up to meet new friends and they were pushed out of their comfort zone. It was neat to watch them but cannot believe how fast they are growing up. Some of the girls have been with me for 4 years so it is fun watching them grow up.

Rileys Excitement

2011-01-18T20:33:00.002-05:00

So, tonight when sitting down for dinner I heard Riley say to Carter, "I cannot wait for next Thursday!" So I asked her why, while in my head asking myself what I forgot to put on the calendar. She replies, "It is tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch at school that day!" WELL OF COURSE! How could I not know that? And of course she is talking about next Thursday not the one in two days.

I love that girl! She loves her grilled cheese and tomato soup :) It really bothered her that Carter could care less with his reply, "I will have cold lunch that day then."

Five Little Snowmen Fat...

2011-01-18T18:21:00.002-05:00

This is Carter's rendition of his book, Five Little Snowmen Fat...

Winter

2011-01-17T09:20:00.008-05:00

Carter and Riley love winter as much as I do. They are outside as much as possible and I am so glad they enjoy it since we have a long winter in Michigan. They love sledding, building snow forts and shoveling! Carter shovels the entire driveway in 20 minutes. I love it and know I must enjoy it while I can because someday I will have to beg him to do it. Here are some pictures of Carter out in the yard working on his snow fort one afternoon.

This is a video of Carter at Van Raalte last weekend on his new snow board thing. Of course in true Carter fashion, he was able to do this on his second try. I envy his ability to be good at what ever he tries to do :) He did not get that from me!

Bake Off 2010

2011-01-03T22:11:00.003-05:00

Here are the photos of our entries into this year's Bake Off.

Riley's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake (It tastes awesome!) She tied for 5th place.

Nora's Almond Cookies These took 2nd place

New desks!

2011-01-03T21:59:00.003-05:00

The kids both received a desk for their room as a gift. They were both so very excited about this gift and they have had a great time getting them into their rooms and getting all of their stuff into them.

THis is a picture of a table that my mom and Dan found for Matt for Christmas. It is made from a real porthole that was salvaged off an old ship. It is such an awesome piece to add to our home.

More Christmas parties

2011-01-03T21:35:00.003-05:00

Christmas continues around here for at least a week every year with all of the family parties. We are so lucky to have such wonderful parents/grandparents and extended family who we spend the holidays with. We ate lots of food, played lots of games, baked some delicious goodies and made some awesome memories. Here are a few pictures from the fun times.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-29T09:48:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve

2010-12-29T09:33:00.002-05:00

The note from Carter says: "Dear Santa, Sorry Santa for being bad. Love, Carter"

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-29T09:14:00.002-05:00

Once again Matt wanted to make a Gingerbread Hotel (replica of the Doubletree) to display during the holiday season at the hotel. So I made several batches of gingerbread dough. When we started drawing out the pieces we needed to build this hotel, I decided it was going to be way too difficult. So, with that much dough, we had to do something! The kids wanted to make houses. So here are their pieces of art.

Ice Skating and the first Christmas party of the year

2010-12-29T08:57:00.002-05:00

The ice on my mom's pond was good enough to start skating so we took advantage of it! The kids have been skating several times since as both of them love it. Carter loves to play hockey and Riley mostly likes to skate around on some trails in the snow that she and Grandma made.
The same day was the Schuitema Christmas party at my mom's house. I included a couple pictures of the kids opening presents.

Riley's Dance

2010-12-29T08:46:00.002-05:00

Riley spends her Friday nights at dance and the week before Christmas we were able to go in and watch her. These are some pictures from that night.

Clark Griswold presents....The Hughes house!

2010-12-17T07:44:00.002-05:00

Locked out of my blog!

2010-11-06T22:42:00.006-04:00

I apologize because I know there are a couple followers to my blog. I was not able to get into my blog because I had no idea what my password was for my account. I am back though!!!

What have we been up to???

Well soccer has ended. The kids both had a great season and loved every minute of it. Both of their last games were at the same time so I only have pictures of Carter's.

We carved pumpkins.

Here are the Halloween costumes for 2010.

Reagan got into something last week so her face swelled up. She looked so funny for a day. The picture does not show it very well but you can see her poor face looked bumpy with the swelling. :(

Ice Skating with Girl Scouts

We have also been very busy getting the boat out for winter. We are thinking about moving the boat closer to home next year so Matt has also been spending some time looking for a new marina. The one we keep it at now is 40 minutes from home so he would get to use it more if it was closer.

My mom and I have also been very busy with craft shows this fall. We are having a great season so far.

Hopefully, now that I can log in (actually I just got lucky and it finally autofilled the password so I still dont know what it is!) I will be able to post more often!

Soccer and Sailing

2010-10-15T08:53:00.003-04:00

I only remembered the camera at Riley's game last week. Since I spend most of my fall Saturdays doing craft shows, I miss a lot of games. I was able to go last week but forgot the camera for Carter's. I am hoping to get a few pictures at the last game.

Luckily for Matt, the weather was really nice last weekend and we were able to get out for one last sail. We will work on getting the boat out for the winter this weekend. I didnt take too many pictures but I love watching Carter take in everything and this is a picture of him checking out the people as we went through the channel.

Apple Picking 2010

2010-10-04T14:58:00.005-04:00

A week ago we went apple picking and I forgot to post the pictures. Oops!

Reagan...One year later

2010-09-24T23:15:00.003-04:00

A year ago tonight we brought Reagan home. In the last year she has become such a part of our family. She is definitely a loving dog and she always wants to be with you. She loves to be brushed, walked and just played with. She is on the couch whenever we turn our heads, thanks to my sister who lets her sleep on her couch when she stays at her house :) In the last year she has chewed up many stuffed animals but really she has been awesome. She is definitely not mastered the whole guard dog thing. Matt will come in late at night and she sleeps through it. I never would have thought that I would love her as much as I do and cannot believe I did not give in to the family sooner to get a dog.

Here she is a year ago.

One year later.

Carter's First Soccer Game

2010-09-15T15:42:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pictures from Carter's first soccer game. Only the first 20 minutes were dry and then he played in rain. :(

Back to School

2010-09-09T22:05:00.002-04:00

Riley started 4th grade this week and Carter started Kindergarten.

Detroit Zoo Trip

2010-08-23T09:36:00.004-04:00

Last week we went to Detroit to go to the zoo with Grandma Jennifer, Aunt Abby, Mason and Emily. We spent the day at the zoo, went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner, stayed in a hotel (Mason and Emily had never done that before) and did some shopping before coming home the next day. We had a great time and made some more memories!

Spending the night in a zoo!

2010-08-23T08:16:00.003-04:00

For Girl Scouts we went to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek and spent the night. We had such a great time! We stayed right in the zoo in a discovery center and had activities planned by the zoo. The next day we were able to spend the day in the zoo and see all the animals. Besides TONS of mosquitoes and really hot and humid weather, we had a pleasant experience.

Anniversary Trip

2010-08-17T07:44:00.006-04:00

Almost two weeks ago, we went on a short vacation to celebrate our 10th anniversary. To say this trip was a challenge to plan and actually take is an understatement. We scheduled it and changed it at least 4 times because of Matt's work schedule. I was not very optimistic that we would be able to go and only believed it when we were all in the car driving south. We brought the kids to Missouri to stay with Grandma and Papa. We dropped them off, had a tasty dinner and hit the road for Arkansas. We had reservations at 3 different hotels so we could cover as much ground as possible in the few days we had. We started in Bentonville, Ar the first night and toured a cave while we were there. It was a lot of fun. Before leaving that area we went to look for the Duggars. I cannot believe I am actually admitting this but we knew they lived really close! We were able to go to the car lot that the oldest Duggar operates and got a picture but unfortunately they were closed and it was empty because they were repaving the lot. Riley would really have been jealous if I saw a Duggar! We were making fun of ourselves the whole time!

Inside the cave. I am not very comfortable in small spaces so there were many times I wanted to get out of there.

Matt standing in the bottom of a sink hole

Outside the entrance to the cave

Josh Duggars car lot

Our 2nd night was in Hot Springs. Matt and I would never go back there...not impressed. It was such a dirty place and there was not much to do. Most of the springs have green boxes on them to preserve them so there was very little to look at.

Bath House Row (The old bath houses that people used to go and take baths in the hot springs)

Hot Cascading falls

The green boxes that cover the springs

Hot water fountain that people can fill jugs with the hot springs water to take home. We went by here early in the morning on Sunday and there was a rather elderly woman who was filling her glass jugs. She probably had more than 30 jugs to fill and she was working so hard to fill and load them in her car. She must believe it is the only water she can use. Very interesting.

The last night we had a reservation at a hotel about halfway between the springs and Matt's parents. I wanted to stop at Petit Jean State Park on the way. However, once we got there we didn't want to leave! So we cancelled the reservation and rented a cabin on a cliff. It was awesome! Here are some beautiful pictures from the area we stayed in.

Matt pointing to our cabin across the canyon

The hiking trail we took to the falls. It was a 200 foot drop in the first quarter mile of the trail. We got up at 7 to hike this 2 mile trail because of the heat warnings. It was beautiful. The falls were almost non-existent because it was so dry.

We had a fantastic time! Hope we can go on another memorable vacation in 10 more years.

Fun day with family

2010-08-12T09:20:00.005-04:00

A couple weeks ago we had an awesome day with some family in Grand Rapids. It is now an annual thing where the boys golf and the girls and kids hang out at the pool. So, Matt spent the day golfing and had a nice time. We had lunch and swam and wore the kids out. We ended the busy day at my step-sisters house for dinner. What a great day!

All the kids with Aunt Allison waiting for lunch to come

Cousin Lucy

Cousin Tyler

Some of the girls after a long day

Week without Riley

2010-08-02T20:54:00.004-04:00

Last week Riley was at Papa and Grandma VW's to spend some time with her cousin. While she is gone we always spend time with Carter doing things he enjoys. This year we let him pick out his new pet. We told both kids that they could buy hermit crabs with some of their birthday money so he was able to go and get them last week. He brought home Hendrickson and Pele.

We also took Carter to the beach to fly his new kite. We all had a blast!!!

Ohio

2010-07-28T18:02:00.007-04:00

This past weekend the kids, my mom, my aunt and I drove to Ohio to visit my aunt and uncle. This is the second year we have taken this road trip and we are already looking forward to next year. This year we spent a day at a museum in Columbus, played baseball, ate too much EXCELLENT food, swam(did a little scuba diving in the pool), played pool, had some CRAZY ping pong games and even broke out the Snorta game. It was a lot of fun.

Finally...Camping...

2010-07-20T17:17:00.006-04:00

Here are some photos from our first and only camping trip so far this year.

Birthday Boy

2010-07-13T10:15:00.004-04:00

We asked Carter what he wanted to do on his birthday and he wanted to go out for breakfast, go to Chuck E Cheese for lunch, go bowling, and go to the movies after Dad got home from work. Phew! I am not made of money so therefore we went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch and we went to see Despicable Me with Matt. :)

I did not tell him that I invited Aunt Abby, Mason, Emily and Grandma Jennifer to Chuck E Cheese so he was really surprised they were all there. He was insistent that we go there on his birthday so he would be able to get a birthday hat. So he got his hat and had a blast playing all the games.

Happy Birthday Carter!

2010-07-12T15:19:00.003-04:00

Today Carter turns 5. I never thought it would happen so fast. We had a birthday party for him Saturday night with some family and friends. He was spoiled and got a bunch of fun new toys.

Wisconsin

2010-07-11T09:52:00.005-04:00

I guess I forgot to post this. I meant to post our trip to Wisconsin! We spent the 4th in WI at Matt's Aunt and Uncle's cottage. This was our third year spending the holiday there. We look forward to it and truly have a great time. Matt's parents also come up so we get to see them as well. This year both of the kids went out fishing, I was able to do some shopping and Matt got to set off fireworks. here are some pictures from our trip.

Getting ready to go out fishing

Riley and her 24.5 inch walleye

The morning catch

Riley, Papa and Uncle David in the boat with Carter on the tube

Song writing in the hammock

Playing with the birthday present

Lambeau Field Tour

Playing baseball in the pouring rain

Dance Camp

2010-07-02T06:35:00.002-04:00

Riley just finished her two weeks of dance camp. She was in dance at 3 and 4 but lost interest or maybe I should say, wanted to try so many other things that we had to give it up. But she chose to try it again at summer dance camp. I think she really enjoyed it but not sure what she can give up during the year to fit it in! I love that she wants to do it all but will not overextend her so she can. She needs to be a kid too!So we will see in the future what she decides but here is her dance she performed on the last day.

And here is Carter watching and getting into the music. He had no idea I was watching him.

Lost video

2010-07-02T06:32:00.001-04:00

I don't think I ever posted this video of Carter at B-ball camp. Since it takes hours for me to upload a video I am not letting the efforts go to waste. Enjoy!

Tball is now over

2010-07-01T22:46:00.002-04:00

Storm

2010-06-22T21:25:00.003-04:00

Last night, I woke up to a rather intense storm. As I turned on the tv to find out how bad it was, I was startled to find out that a tornado warning was issued. The thunder/lightning was really intense. I was waiting for the kids to come out of their bedrooms and join me while I watched tv, hoping to see where the tornado was, but they didn't. They slept through the whole thing. Reagan was in the back of my closet whining because she was scared. I have to admit I was nervous. I was home alone since Matt is out of town for business, and I could not decide if I should wake the kids and get them in the basement or let them sleep and listen to the tv to know what to do. Since we all had been sick, I was exhausted and thought about the fact that once I woke them, I would be up for a while! So I let them sleep! Luckily, we only had a little damage and no tornado.

This umbrella was ripped and we needed to replace it anyway so it was no big loss.

Riley's busy week

2010-06-22T10:41:00.005-04:00

Last week Riley also had volleyball camp. However, it is really hard for me to ever get good pictures in this gym.

At the end of the week, she had her birthday sleepover with some friends from school. The girls swam at grandma's pool all afternoon, cooked their dinner on the fire and had a lot of fun. I really could not ask for Riley to have better friends. It was really easy and Carter really behaved well, leaving them alone to do what they wanted. I think everyone had a good time.

Basketball Camp

2010-06-18T14:13:00.002-04:00

Carter spent his mornings this week at basketball camp.

A day late...Happy Birthday Riley!

2010-06-13T10:35:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Riley's 9th birthday. I know everyone says this but I have to reiterate it...I cannot believe she is 9 already. This year was harder than most because there are no more "buffer" years before she turns 10!!! I am not ready for her to be in her double digits. :( SHe had a special breakfast, went shopping with Grandma Phyllis for some birthday clothes, and then came home for her birthday party. It was a great day and I hope she knows how special she is to her dad and I!!! Love you Riley and Happy 9th Birthday!!!!

Her special breakfast

Her cake is supposed to say Happy 9th Birthday, but her Aunt Abby thought it was funny to turn the 9 around to make a 6. I didn't realize this until after the cake was eaten. So, all the pictures say Happy 6th Birthday :) We all were in agreement that we would be happy if she was 6 again!

Congratulations!

2010-06-06T11:15:00.003-04:00

Friday afternoon I got a new sister in law!!! Congrats to Nathan and Cynthia who were married on Friday. I certainly wish I could have been there but Matt was able to fly down to New Orleans to be a part of their special day.

Toddler T-Ball

2010-06-03T21:47:00.004-04:00

Carter had his first t-ball game tonight. He is playing Toddler Tball which is new here. He is signed up to play with a parent. There are no coaches and they are really just learning in a team setting. It is sooo awesome! I absolutely love the idea and he had so much fun. Matt plans on playing with him but he is out of town and Papa Ron filled in for him tonight. I think Carter and Papa both really had a good time.

How does Reagan cool off on a hot day????

2010-05-26T15:56:00.001-04:00

Whoa! Busy couple of days!

2010-05-25T21:39:00.005-04:00

The kids have celebrated two wonderful milestones this week. Riley bridged to Junior Girl Scouts last night and Carter graduated from preschool tonight!

Since I am the leader of our troop, I spent a lot of time preparing for the ceremony we held last night. I enjoyed it all but it was like throwing a birthday party and the closer it got the more ideas I came up with. So the list just kept growing! But anyway, I truly enjoyed all the work and the girls made me very proud. I have been their leader for three years now and we have made some great memories.

I do believe we got some video and I will add that later.

When we got home last night I told Carter he was getting a haircut. He asked me for a Mohawk, whether it was his idea or his sisters, he still wanted it. So I agreed to cut it like that for school this morning because it was his last day. BUT, and I was sticking to this...I was cutting it off before his graduation program tonight. He let me but I did get some pictures today to share.
This is my preschooler on his last day of school.

Tonight was Carter's graduation ceremony. I don't have very many photos to share because I was mostly videotaping for Gma and Papa Hughes in Missouri. I will post the videos very soon! But here are some photos of Carter with some very special people; Mrs. Pung, Mrs. Geri and of course, his cousin Mason. I know the boys have a stronger relationship and great memories of being in school together!

Lastly, I have been waiting for the girls to discover this for a while now. About two months ago I ordered matching dresses for Riley and Emily. Riley is always talking about getting things to match and when I saw them and could get them in both sizes I ordered them. FINALLY, tonight I was able to make it happen. Neither of them knew the other had the dress so when we got to the graduation and they saw each other it was a cute discovery! It was really cute. So here is a picture of two of the cutest girls I know!

The picture says it all!

2010-05-21T14:55:00.003-04:00

More Tae Kwon Do pics

2010-05-19T10:05:00.002-04:00

Update on landscaping project

2010-05-19T09:36:00.004-04:00

Well, the landscaping project is almost finished. I just need to decide on some more bushes, tress, flowers, etc. to plant. But wanted to share a picture of the progress.

Last weekend we also tackled our other big project for the house this spring. We fenced in the backyard for the dog. She is so much happier being able to run free and I don't have to worry about her. I love it. It was a long two days of really hard work but it was worth every minute.

Tae Kwon Do

2010-05-13T13:14:00.001-04:00

Day to Forget

2010-05-06T21:26:00.002-04:00

Today is a day I would like to forget.

Riley had a half day today and was supposed to be home around 12:15. Well, that time came and went and still no bus. In the past when they have bus evacuation drills they are about 10 minutes late but I thought today would be a weird day to do that. However, I still was not worried too much until my friend got here to pick up her girls at which Riley was still not here and was over 15 minutes late. I asked my friend if she saw an accident to which she replied...Yes! I then said...was there a bus to which she replied...Yes! Ok so then I got worried until she said "But it was going the other way!" It could not be Riley's if it was heading the other way or at least Riley would not have been on it. SO, in the end 30 minutes later Riley was still not home and I had convinced myself that she was at school waiting for a replacement bus because her bus had been in an accident on its way to pick her up. At the point of 35 minutes late, a bus pulled up and Riley got off. I asked her if her bus driver was ok and she didnt know how I knew her bus was in an accident. She started telling me the story and again I asked if her bus driver was ok and Riley said, "Yea, Mom, we are all fine!" WHAT??? She was on the bus????

My heart dropped but then I snapped back to reality to see she was fine because she was in front of me. :) Her driver had missed a stop for a child who only occasionally rides and turned around to go back to drop him off (hence why they were going the wrong way and heading away from our house). She was stopping to drop him off when they were rear ended. Riley was in the second to last seat and was only jolted a little in her seat. Her driver is like Riley's favorite person in the world and she was most worried about her bus driver and what the people were saying. I tried to explain to her that when people do something wrong and do not want a ticket they will point blame. So, she said it was scary but her driver made sure they were ok and luckily there were only 7 students on the bus today! What a blessing!

After a couple hours at home, she finally relaxed and calmed down. Since most of the kids in the neighborhood didn't ride the bus home today she had to head out and spread her story. It was actually really cute. She just keeps saying to me that she is glad everyone is ok so she is constantly thinking about it. I am also glad that everyone is ok but I would like to go to bed and wake up tomorrow and forget today ever happened.

Tulip Time 2010

2010-05-05T22:54:00.004-04:00

Well, it has been a long day. We went to the parade (we always do the Wed. parade) with my mom, my sister, my niece and nephew. We went early to eat some junk food for lunch too. Grandma Phyllis and Uncle Tim work down there and stopped by to say hi. After the parade we took the kids to the carnival with intentions of riding a few rides. Well, we ended up with 5 wrist bands for the price of 4 (Thanks to Grandma Jennifer working her magic) and didn't leave until about 5. We went home long enough for Matt to get there and then went back to have some more junk food for dinner! I even managed to get the wrist band off my mom's wrist and onto mine for the evening (Yes, I am dutch). So we ended back downtown until after 10pm. I know it is a school night but Riley only has a half day tomorrow. We can all take a rest in the afternoon.

Anyway, I really am not afraid of rides and will try anything. Tonight I met the ride I will NEVER do again! The FireBall. Ummm...yea, my daughter just told me when I tucked her in that it was nothing and she needs to find something more challenging. Well I met my match and didn't like it!! I still feel like I am going to be sick and it was at least 4 hours ago that I rode it! I still went on every other ride there and that probably didn't help but I blame the FireBall!!! YIKES!!!

Matt offended a worker by calling him a "carni" so that was really funny. He didn't even realize the guy heard him or even that he was there. But Tim and I agreed that he was offended by the look he gave Matt when he made his comment. :)
We unfortunately ended the night with a little girl in tears because she fell pretty hard getting of a ride. She was bleeding in three places, hit her face and hurt her wrist. She was still crying when we got home which reassured me that she was exhausted but had a great time anyway. I love when we can spend a day making such wonderful memories!

Oh, and it was a special day for my van too...

(I know my dad is proud that I posted this!!)

You know your family is very busy when....

2010-05-05T09:34:00.001-04:00

Your son falls asleep face down in a chair.

Week in Review

2010-05-03T08:30:00.006-04:00

I was really busy again last week so here goes another "week in review".

Last Monday I took my Girl Scout troop on a field trip to Paint A Pot which is a place you can go paint your own stuff and they fire and glaze it. We will be bridging to Juniors this year so I wanted them to make a plate to have as a Brownie keepsake.

Here is Riley working on her plate.

Tuesday: Tae Kwon Do...I recorded several videos during their classes and during the upload they disappeared! I guess I will try again this week :)

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday...garage sale! We sold a lot of stuff but I was really tired by Friday night! I packed everything up and finally came in the house around 8:30. It was nice to get rid of the stuff and really nice to have the garage back :)

Saturday was the Dandelion Festival in Borculo. I took the kids because Matt had to be at work. They had a great time as usual. I bought them an elephant ear to eat while we watched the parade. Carter did not want to try it but I convinced him. After he took a bite he said he was surprised it was good because he thought it would be yucky. It was at that moment that it made sense why he didnt want to try it...he thought is was a REAL elephant ear!

Sunday we had to work on our "to do" list. We are in the process of so many projects right now that something has to be worked on whenever we get the chance. We need to get more dirt to finish the front yard landscaping and then order the bark and some plants. I am putting some landscaping bricks around the rest of the house and we have 29 sections of fence sitting in the neighbors driveway waiting to be put in. So, Matt spent two hours returning and exchanging broken fence pieces to Home Depot and bricks at Menards. Lets just say after wasting two hours of the day on a silly return we no longer are fans of either store (sorry for those who may work there or have ties but we are no longer customers). Finding someone at HD that can answer a question is like winning the lotto and Menards treats their lumber area like the White House with their security. Matt was accused of stealing the crappy fence sections that he bought at HD when he tried to leave with the bricks he was getting from Menards. He had the HD receipt but that didnt matter. They don't even sell the same fence! UGH!!! Anyway, we will continue to be loyal Lowes customers from now on :)

The rest of the day we spent working up at the boat. We got it uncovered and worked on the engine a little bit. Only a few boats were in the water so that helped Matt relax. He feels really behind on getting the boat ready because last year we had already been painting and prepping it for the water. Hopefully it will be in the water within the next couple weeks.

Our most recent project...still in progress

2010-04-24T19:49:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we started our landscaping project in the front of our house. Here is the first stages of the brick work. We spent Sat and Sun building the new wall.

Of course we had to have break time!

Since my tulips were going to soon be buried when we filled the wall area with dirt, I cut them and brought them in the house. This is what they looked like an hour after putting them in the house. They were opened almost flat and just beautiful!!! I could not believe they were tulips.

The dirt arrived last night and the kids thought it was going to be all fun!

We spent the morning today moving that 7 yards of dirt. The kids realized the dirt was not all that fun when we were shoveling! I will get more pictures soon when we have the plants and bark in place.

TaeKwonDo

2010-04-14T09:16:00.002-04:00

Both kids started Tae Kwon Do classes last night and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they both did. I knew how excited they were to start but knew the nerves would set in when we got there. Both of them were awesome! Carter's class is all beginners so he fit right in but Riley's class was mostly kids in uniform and she was feeling really left out. I really thought she was going to have a melt down and want to leave but a friend from school walked in and then she was right out there. The class introduced themselves to her and made sure she knew what they were doing. It was really cool to see. I am so excited to see the growth in my children based on what I saw in the kids who have been in it for a while. I forgot the camera in the car so I will get some photos next week!

Playing in the Woods

2010-04-11T08:55:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we spent the day up at the cabin playing in the woods. Abby and Tim invited to go up with them for the day so we went. Matt had to work so it was just the kids and I. The kids played on their toys, we shot some guns and Riley and Mason shot their bows. Reagan RAN around for hours having a blast. It was such a nice day.

We had Mason and Emily over night Friday night so I want to include a picture from that. The kids all insisted on putting their pajamas on and getting their beds made at 6pm. We had not even had dinner yet and they were all ready for bed. Needless to say, it was after 9 before they did go to bed but they posed for a cute picture anyway.

Easter Trip to Missouri

2010-04-07T16:51:00.003-04:00

We went to Missouri to visit family for Easter. We left last Thursday and drove to Normal, IL where we stopped at a hotel for the night. The kids were able to go swimming both that night and then again in the morning before breakfast. We had a nice breakfast and then hit the road for Grandma and Papa's house. We got there mid-afternoon and other family arrived soon after. We spent Saturday in the Branson area. Sunday was a wonderful day. We spent the morning doing the Easter Bunny thing, had a nice dinner, got in some naps and then played some "washers." We held the 1st Annual Easter Washers Cup and I believe the winners were Uncle David and Uncle Jim. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Easter with such great family! Monday we were able to visit some friends and had lunch with Grandma at work. Matt insisted that he have Cashew Chicken while we were there so we had Chinese for dinner. He was in heaven! We came home yesterday and stopped in St. Louis on the way. We wanted to take the kids to the Arch and go to the top. Despite the several places on the website that told me to reserve our tickets early, I didnt listen and when we arrived the tickets we wanted were gone. SO, we just walked around and maybe someday we will go to the top. It was not meant to be this time! We had a safe trip and returned home to a dog that missed us. She spent the weekend with Aunt Abby and Uncle Tim. She was spoiled rotten and is now having to get back to reality. We did come home to a wet basement and a broken water heater! Hopefully we can both of those situations fixed very soon!

Girl Scout Cookies

2010-03-23T09:02:00.002-04:00

Well, Girl Scout cookies have come in. Since I am the leader, I deal with all of the cookies. I love that part of Girl Scouts though. Last week I was able to help unload the neighborhoods delivery and sort into troop orders. I really had a great time. When I got home I had to sort the troops orders and everyone picked up their orders that day. By Wednesday night Riley had also sorted her orders for delivery. We are almost done delivering cookies and our troop has raised over $900 dollars so far! They are pushing to hit the $1000 mark. I am very proud of them to achieve such great sales! So, thanks to all of our family and friends who bought from us and supported my girls.

Now that the craziness from that is over, maybe I will get the camera out and take some new pictures. We are hoping to start working on the landscaping in the front of our house soon. I tore everything out last fall so I would have no excuse to re-do it this spring. Now it is here so the work begins!!

Last Friday, we had a babysitter for the first time since we lived here. Carter has never had a babysitter and Riley does not remember when she did because she was only 2. So, it went really well and they had a great time. We were able to go for dinner, went bowling and even dropped off the stuff for our craft show on Saturday. The show was a great success. We did not have high expectations as most spring shows are slow compared to fall ones. We had a great show but we have to thank the unexpected snow that probably helped get shoppers out looking for something to do.

The other exciting thing that has been happening is that we posted our stuff on Facebook and have generated several sales from that. We are excited to get our stuff out there for everyone to see! We have another show this weekend. It is also a big weekend for birthdays. We will celebrate Papa Ron, Mason and Emily's birthdays this weekend. Looking forward to celebrating!!!

Maple syrup

2010-03-07T09:51:00.004-05:00

We took the kids to Blanchard Nature Center to do the Sugarbush Tour. They learned how to make Maple Syrup and they were really interested in it. They wanted to buy the tools to tap their own trees but we didn't do that. It was very inexpensive and we all learned a lot. The kids were able to participate in the tour so they stayed interested because it was an hour long.

Here they are learning how to drill the hole through the bark.

We learned the history behind making sugar/maple syrup.

We got to taste the final product. Yum!!!!

Snowbuddies

2010-02-25T08:08:00.005-05:00

First of all, Monday night Riley and I had Girl Scouts and when we returned we found this:

Carter has been falling asleep like this regularly and it looks so uncomfortable! Both of them were sleeping this time :)

Tuesday Carter went outside to play and after a while came to the door for a carrot. This is what I found when he was done. He made this snowman all by himself and boy was he proud. He hauled all three snowballs from the neighbors in his sled and then built Mr. Snowman. Unfortunatley, Reagan ate the carrot and broccoli the next day and knocked him over, but he was cute for a day.

Yesterday, the kids and I went out to make more snowbuddies. This is what we came up with...Mr. Snowman, Snow dog and Mrs. Snowgirl.

Hard at work

2010-02-16T15:24:00.004-05:00

Carter wanted to go out and shovel. If you know this boy, you know he would shovel all day long. I left him out there for about 30 minutes and found this:

He had shoveled the driveway clean. When he went out there it had at least two inches of snow on it and looked the the brown house across the street in the picture. He put a smile on my face :) He has no hat on because on his field trip this morning he went to Great Clips and he had his hair spiked. The field trip was to the grocery store, the pizza place and then the haircut place. All of the kids in his class loved the grocery store because they got a lot of treats. The pizza place was locked when we got there and they had forgotten about us. The kids were SUPPOSED to make a pizza and take it home to bake it. So they went and got their hair styled and then the pizza place had opened. They denied even having plans for the preschoolers to be coming but they gave them a piece of pizza anyway. So much for making it and seeing the pizza place. Carter ate his pizza in the car and made a mess but he loved every minute of it. I am soooo glad I went on the field trip while I am able and not working.

This is just a picture of Carter last week one night after a long and busy day.

Snow day, Children's Museum, A birthday and some gymnastics

2010-02-12T12:36:00.005-05:00

Wednesday we had a snow day. RIley was pretty certain she would when she went to bed Tuesday night. We spent the morning making their Valentines' for friends and family. We planned on making some cookies too but we went ice skating instead.

Yesterday, Carter and I went to the museum with his cousins. It was a lot of fun and it was nice spending the day with just Carter. Here are some pictures of our visit.

It was also Matt's birthday yesterday. We went out for dinner and saw Avatar3D while the kids stayed home with Grandma Jennifer. Tonight we will celebrate the birthday with the kids.Carter went on a field trip to a gymnastics place in Holland today for school and he has not stopped talking about how much fun it was. He loved it! I did not get any pictures though :(

Riley's 3rd Grade School Program

2010-02-10T11:56:00.002-05:00

Last night, in the middle of a pretty good snowstorm, Riley had her only school program she will have in elementary school. She has been so excited about it and has been showing us the dance and singing us the songs/poems for weeks. We finally started telling her she was going to ruin it for us if she kept doing it at home and we wanted to wait to see it at the show. So in order for her grandparents, aunts/uncles and family that were not able to be there, I recorded quite a bit. I am posting all 4 of the videos that I got and you can watch what you want! :)

This is the beginning of the program. Riley is in the back row on the left side of the stage. She is third in from the left I believe.

Part 2 (Another Poem)

This is just Riley's class doing their song/poem.

This last one is Riley's class dance called Monkey business. She is dancing with one of her best friends.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come and see the program. Riley was glad you came out in the snow to watch it.

Leftovers and Smoky Chili

2010-02-07T08:43:00.002-05:00

Friday was a night eat all of the leftovers from the week. So no new soup that night. The kids and I went ice skating until dark. We came home, ate and watched some tv. We were planning on game night but Carter fell asleep after dinner.
Saturday we went to church to donate blood. I have never been able to actually follow through and do it. I signed up one time in college and could not go and never tried again. I decided for a family reason that I wanted to donate blood and made an appt to do it. I really was not sure how I would do. Yes, I am afraid of needles but that is not the part I cant handle. I do not like the mental part that I know what is happening. However, there was good music and cookies so I was totally fine! Riley had a soccer game and Grandma Jennifer came with us. She was playing the team that she played the first week and she was scared. There are some really big 3rd graders on that team and they are good. BUT it was a much closer loss this time :)
We decided to go ice skating again since the sun was out and the ice is good. We had a blast and even my Aunt Sandy skated with us. We were having such a good time we did not realize that over two hours went by and we were still skating. The kids and I were exhausted.
Anyway, onto the soup of the day. I made Smoky Chili to bring to my moms for dinner. It was really good and super easy. Here is the recipe and I forgot to take a picture.

Smoky Chili

1 med onion
1 or more cloves of garlic
1 pound ground beef
1 package smoked sausage
salt and pepper to taste
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
15 ounce can beans (kidney, black, pinto, etc., undrained)
15 can tomato sauce
1-3 tbsp chili powder (depending on how spicy you want your chili)
grated cheese
sour cream
green onions

Chop onion and garlic. Saute onion until translucent and add the garlic and beef. Saute until beef is cooked. Chop the smoked sausage and add to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, beans, and tomato sauce. Season with chili powder. Simmer uncovered about 1/2 hour until sauce is thickened. If desired top with cheese, sour cream and green onions. Serves 4-5

(I put the meat mixture into a crock pot and then added the rest of the ingredients and cooked on med for 3 hours. We just had crackers and did not add the cheese and sour cream.)

Today is the last day of our soup week and it will be Tortilla Soup, yum!

Alphabet Soup

2010-02-04T17:35:00.003-05:00

Tonight's soup is the one the kids picked. Carter is so excited to find his letters for his name in his soup. The recipe is a combo of several I read and then I still added some of my own touches.

ALPHABET SOUP
2 carrots, peeled and cut up
2 stalks celery, cut up
1 med onion, minced
2 Tbs oil ( I used I cant believe its not butter calorie free spray and I pour in about 2 Tbs)
2 cups chicken breasts cut up (I cooked them ahead with some chicken bouillon)
8 cups chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt
pepper
I also added 3/4 cup sweet potato puree and 1/2 cup peas puree for some hidden nutrition
1 cup alphabet pasta

In large pot pour in oil and when hot add the celery, carrots and onion. Cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add chicken, broth, thyme, purees and salt/pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and turn temp to low. Cook for 15 minutes. Add pasta and cook for 8 more minutes. Serve.

Creamy Bean Soup

2010-02-03T17:35:00.004-05:00

OK, last night's tomato soup was good. However, I was wearing it by the time I put it on the table. The blender and I did not get along with the hot soup! However, it tasted just like Campbells. So, it was also suggested to me that I post the recipes for these soups. I had pondered doing that last night but then I could not find the recipes online and was, to be honest, too lazy to type them! I am sure that I spent more time looking for them then it would have taken me to just type them but whatever. SO, I will start posting the recipes and if I have some extra time I will add the recipes to last night's post as well.

Onto tonights soup: Creamy Bean Soup

I found this recipe in a Pillsbury cookbook that Matt's grandma sent me last year. It is super easy. In fact I did not read the "How to" part when I selected it and did not realize that is was just a matter of throwing the ingredients into a pan! I did have a hard time finding the coconut milk. I ended up buying a fresh coconut and draining out the milk. I checked Walmart, Meijer and Family Fare for the canned stuff (supposed to be with the asian cuisine) and no luck.

Here is the recipe:

Serves 4 (And they mean that. It really only makes four bowls.)

1 can Refried Beans
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (not cream of coconut)
1 can chopped green chiles (4.5 oz)
1 package taco seasoning

MIx in a pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilanto and green onions

The recipe also suggest making taquito dippers to eat with it. Take flour shells and put strips of sharp cheddar cheese in them. Roll and seal with water. Place on cookie sheet, brush with veg. oil and bake for 5-7 minutes at 450 degrees.

On a side note, I am listening to Riley play with her new friend. She found out last week at school that she was getting a new girl in school and the best part was that she moved in right down the road. Riley was so excited over the weekend to meet her and help her at school and on the bus. So today, after two days of asking before this, her mom and I got them together. They are playing so nicely and I cannot believe how nice it is to have a friend so close that it does not involve making a playdate and setting up pick up and drop off. I love it!

Week of Soup

2010-02-02T17:23:00.002-05:00

I am blogging about soup because this blog is ultimately a way for our family to keep a "journal" for memories. Really I dont know how because I have not located a place to print it or publish it but then again I have not looked very hard! I would love for this to be a memory for the kids to have someday.
Anyway, about the soup. Last week we were eating and decided as a family that we would have a different soup every night for a week. The kids and Matt LOVE soup so they are really excited. Last night was Taco Soup. It is a little sweet for the name because I thought it would be spicier. I did not get a picture but it was yummy. Tonight is homemade Tomato Soup. I am currently cooking the tomatoes. We will let you know how it tastes!!! I am most excited about the Garlic Cheddar Paesano bread! If you know me at all you are not surprised! And no I am not making that from scratch. Meijers made it.

Ice skating and Go kart sledding

2010-01-31T18:13:00.004-05:00

Today we went to Papa and Grandma Jennifer's pond and went ice skating. Carter had never been and like most things with Carter, he was a natural. I am always amazed at him. He has no fear and is usually good at whatever he tries. I was never one to try anything new and I am always glad he does not take after me! Riley had more fun riding in the sled behind the go kart. Matt got the go kart out and did some spins on the ice before taking the kids around and around and around the pond on the sled.