muffin man

often when diana and i go to see my parents, my mom has freshly made raisin bran muffins for us. they are really really delicious! diana and i always love to eat them for breakfast when we are there. well, mom decided to give us the recipe so we could make them ourselves. while the family was visiting us, the women went to the grocery store to stock our kitchen for us (thanks again, mom!), and mom got us all the ingredients that we would need to make those tasty muffins ourselves. so we decided to give it a try. they turned out perfectly and we have been enjoying them for breakfast almost every day since- yum!

in the house

after the shed roof was finished, we cleaned up a bit and headed inside. the girls had come home from the grocery store with tons of food for diana and i (thanks mom!), and also some lunch: taco bell! we all dug in and tried to find somewhere in the living room to eat- it was quite crowded! the kids were still a bit scared of poco, so he was put in the kitchen behind the baby gate. at one point, feeling brave, they wanted to try petting him again. aves, of course, had no fear, and went right in to pet him. bubba has been getting better and better with him, but tweets is still scared stiff of him.
once lunch had been eaten, the kids wanted to play a little bit. i pulled out a few transformers for bubba to play with. the girls turned to diana and asked 'do you have anything for us to play with?' and it just so happened that she did! diana went into the office and pulled out a box of her old barbie stuff- the girls were thrilled! they had a great time playing with their favorite aunt, and the rest of us got a chance to just chill out and chat for a bit while they were preoccupied.
eventually though, it was time to leave. we wished all of them good travels, and said our goodbyes. then came the hard part: clean up!
(more pics)

raise the roof

while the girls went and got groceries, the boys stayed back and finished up work on the shed. it has been almost a year since this project was started, so we figured it might be time to get the thing finished! last november papa came down for a couple days (which are recorded here: 1, 2, 3, 4) and we got the shed built. unfortunately, it got dark a bit too early on the second day, so we werent able to finish the roof all the way. papa got one side shingled, but we had to settle for a tarp over the other half of the roof! over the months it stood up pretty well, but now it was time to finish up the roof- it was a pretty cheap tarp and wasnt going to last too much longer...
this time timmy was around, the now there were two skilled workers on the scene, so the whole thing went really quick. tarp off, shingles on! papa cut a hole for a vent, and just like that, it was done! bubba and i helped a little bit, but we were pretty much just there to feed up materials and tools. after a couple hours the whole thing was done. thank you papa and tim, you guys are such a help! there is certainly no way i could have ever done any of this stuff myself! and without that shed, i would never have been able to put my stuff out there and fit my wife's stuff into this overcrowded house, so she thanks you too!
(more pics)

barbara's gifts

saturday afternoon everyone stopped by. it was the first time the kids had seen our house! bubba has been here before, but he was too young to remember it. when ever we go and visit them we would often get asked by one of the kids would ask diana or i where we lived. we would always tell them we live in indiana, two hours away. i dont think they ever really understood, just figuring it was far away and leaving it at that. finally they got to see our place, which they liked. when they arrived we were able to give the kids some little gifts. they werent from us, in fact they were from diana's sister barbara! they were little wind-up toys in the shape of different brightly colored bugs! they were very excited about them and loved to put them on the ground and watch them walk and twirl around! thanks barbara- you are going to make such a great aunt someday!
(more pics)

schoops

after cabela's i ran home to pick up diana who was on her way back from work. we met up with everyone else at schoops, a little dinner that papa always loves to go to when he is in town. we got some good food and just had a fun time with the family talking and playing with the kids.

outdoors indoors

we racked our brains trying to think of something fun for the kids while we waited for diana to get back from work. we settled on the idea of going to the bookstore and letting the kids check out the kids section. not too much fun... then, on the way, it struck me: we should go to cabela's! diana and i had been there before and loved it- and we arent even outdoors kind of people! i knew this would be just right for the kids, and boy, was i right! we headed over there and checked it out. before we went in though, i quietly gave bubba 51 cents. i didnt tell him why, i just told him he would need it inside. though slightly confused, he took it. we went in and the kids were overwhelmed by all they saw! there are mounted animals all over the place! there are also a bunch of other cool attractions inside. they had a great time and now they want to come back and see it all again!
(for more stories and pictures, go here, here, and here)

get a room

the kids went to their hotel room to clean up after swimming. mom, papa, and i went to the other room and just hung out and chatted. before long, the kids came creeping in, one at a time, when they were done getting ready. eventually everyone was ready to roll! when the girls came in they asked mema 'can we jump on your bed?' 'no no, you do that in your own room!' mema replied! instead they chilled out on the bed and joined us in our discussion. we just played around and took some silly pictures while we tried to figure out what we could do.
(more pics)

taking a dip

i got back from the teachers convention around 1:00, and soon after mom, papa, tim, jill, and the kids came in to town! papa, tim, and i had plans to work on the shed and get it finally finished, but the weather didn't exactly cooperate. since they came to visit for the weekend, they got hotel rooms. the main reason they stayed at that hotel: a pool! soon after they settled in, i headed over to meet them and the kids had already changed and hopped in the pool. the kids did some fun tricks, wanting to show off to me, their favorite uncle (i'm assuming...). they were having a blast! after they had been in there about an hour, we all headed back to the rooms so they could get ready for the rest of the day's fun activities!
(more pics)

teacher convention 09

each year we, as teachers, have a get together in south bend. this past week we had our convention, it is a time to get together with other christian school teachers and be encouraged, share ideas, and attend seminars that can equip us to be better teachers. this year was another great time, i attended a few seminars, and one was about love and logic, which is a loving form of discipline. it was very interesting and we hope to incorporate it into our interactions with students. it was a good time, and its always fun to see other teachers, some were old friends from college, and also to see the old teachers i had when i was in school- except now they are peers and i can call them by their first names (which is really strange...)
thursday, after the convention, i had a little extra time before heading back home, so i decided to surprise diana's dad, and stopped in to visit with him at his art studio workshop! it was great, we had some pizza and chatted for a while. he was quite surprised to see me! i'm really glad i got to see him. i actually thought it would be a little weird to see him without diana, but it was very comfortable and a great time. i must say, i really like having a new set of parents!
(more pics)

ladies day

diana's mom has been trying to find a time to come and visit with gramma to see diana and i. last weekend they finally were able to make it work- and barbara was able to come too! we really enjoyed having them come, but there was a small hitch: it was a girls only visit! so they came over in the afternoon, hung out for a few minutes, and then diana was whisked away! unfortunately i had to sit here at home all by myself. poor me... actually, it was great- diana was really excited to see everyone, and i didn't have a problem at all just hanging out here. it was great that diana had the opportunity to have an afternoon with all the girls of the family. when they came back we got to chat for a while and just have a great afternoon with them!
(more pics)

sunday dog day

sunday morning we got up and ready and headed off to church with the family. its always fun to sit with the kids- bubba plays with his toys when he gets bored, and tweets just really loves to sing along with all the songs!
after church we got home and soon after tim, jill, and the kids came by. we were there for the weekend with poco, so we figured we would try again with getting the kids used to having him around. they were, of course, terrified at first, but soon were comfortable enough to actually pet him. we still cant set him down and have him run around while they are there, but they are getting better! at one point we set poco down, he ran over to bubba, and bubba just froze in fear! poco then walked away to smell someone else, and bubba was so proud of himself, saying 'look! i stood still like i'm supposed to, i didnt even get scared!' sure, bubba...
we had dinner together, another top notch sunday meal from the great chef mom! we didnt think we would ever be hungry again after last night, but some how we managed... diana and i hung out for a few more hours, then it was time to go. i had been busy getting a few things taken care of, and diana had actually packed everything up and put it in the car! i love it when she surprises me with those little bits of help. by late afternoon we were all packed up and ready to go back to our own place. another great time visiting the family!
(more pics)

card night

we arrived back at tim and jill's place after dinner, stuffed from a good time. papa had to make a pit stop at work, but the rest of us were just getting started with the fun! we pulled out the cards and played a roaring game of pennies. jill was really excited about trying out her new tumbler, so we make some mixed drinks. we had a great time just hanging out and talking while playing cards. mom was in her glory- she loves playing cards but rarely has anyone to play it with!
it was getting late though, and we had more fun planned for the next day, so we eventually packed it up and called it a night.

make a steak

in order to celebrate mom's birthday, we went to a restaurant in allegan called the grill house. mom and papa had been there before, but it was the first time for jill, tim, diana, and i. it took us about 45 minutes to get there, but once we arrived we found a cool restaurant that is in a converted house. the main floor is the grill house, and the basement is a bar. we were told we had about 20 minutes to wait, so we headed down to the bar for a while. the place had a great atmosphere, and even had live music. when our table was ready we went up to eat. now, what makes this place so special and worth the long drive is how dinner is prepared: its a do-it-yourself grill! you order a meal, head to the grilling room, they give you the meat and a spot at the grill, then you have at it! it was really nice, there are a couple professionals in the grill room to give you an idea of how to grill it to get the best taste, then they let you put the meat on and do the grilling thing. they also provide seasoning, potato wedges, and thick bread with buttery syrup to make some grilled toast. the whole family got into the grilling thing, tim started off, he's definitely the better griller, but then i stepped in and took a turn too. the food turned out pretty good (mom and diana's steak was a little too rare, but we brought it back to the grill and got it just right). everything they had there was really delicious and it made for a fun and unforgettable meal!
(more pics)

orchard hay ride

even though it was really cold at the orchard, the kids still wanted to go on the hay ride. mom and jill stepped up and were willing to go along with them while the rest of us stayed back and kept warm in the orchard gift shop. the kids were excited about the ride, but werent so excited about petting the horses! we waved them off and they headed out into the orchard to see the sites. when they got back the kids loved it and mom even said it wasnt really that cold. most of the cold came from the wind, so it must have been blocked among those trees!
(more pics: 1, 2)

autumn orchard

after a fun morning watching football, the family headed out to the apple orchard! this has been a family tradition ever since i was a wee lad. i have many fond memories of the family going to the robinettes apple orchard. there they have a food hall where they make their own donuts, which we would always love to watch as the tasty treats emerged from the oil, rolled down the belt, and then covered in chocolate. i remember sitting and watching that process for a half hour or more just mesmerized by it! we would always stop over and watch as they squeezed the apple pulp and out came fresh cider. yum! now its fun to watch the kids enjoy these same activities as we did all those years ago. the place has certainly gotten busier over the years, you cant really sit and watch the donuts anymore because there are about 200 people waiting in line behind you! we got some treats and cider and sat down with the family and enjoyed the afternoon together. what made this trip especially memorable, is that it was the first trip to the orchard with diana! i hope that i can take a tradition that i had with my family and continue it with my wife.
(more pics: 1, 2)

ready for some football

on saturday the family headed to a football game. my nephew is in a flag football league called upward, its a church based league that bubba plays on, and it was really cool! they start off by announcing the players as they run through the tunnel to applause, then they play their game. at half time the cheerleaders (the little girls have a team of their own too!) come in and perform a song for everyone, and then there is a little game for the boys that is all about team building, and even a bible story for encouragement! afterward they finish the game, and the coach gets the team together and gives out achievement stickers for what the boys did during the game. it was really cute and all the kids really love it! bubba played really well, he even got the ball and outran the opponents to score a touchdown. tweets and aves were totally enamoured and in awe of the cheerleaders! i'm sure it wont be long before the two of them join the cheerleading squad!
(more pics: 1, 2, 3)

lay our weary heads

this past weekend diana and i headed up to grand rapids to see my family, especially mom who just had a birthday. when ever we visit we end up having to stay in the basement because we bring poco with us. he is trained to pee on pads we set up for him, but we need to have a hard floor to set them on, we dont really trust him to spend too much time on carpet... the only place to do that is in the laundry room in the basement. since poco sleeps in the bed with us, that means that our only option was to also sleep in the basement (i know, i know, its a lot of annoyance for a dog, but it keeps the wife happy, so that makes it worth it). we have always set up the double bed air mattress in the main room of the basement for us to sleep on. if you have ever slept for much time on an air mattress then you know the struggles we face every time we go home. well, mom and papa surprised us this weekend with a real queen size bed in the basement!!! wow!!! we certainly didnt expect them to get a new bed just for the times that we visit- they certainly spoil us! we are really grateful for what they do for us. and i'm sure they did it out of selfless love and not as a way to get us to come up and see them more often... either way, it worked- we'll be heading up there again soon!

a new banner

thought i'd spruce the place up a bit and create a new banner for the blog, i was getting sick of the old one...

matty to honduras

recently matty, the old p.e. teacher, came to town and stopped by school. it was really cool to see him- i hadn't realized how much i missed him until he came back! all the teachers were in the lounge during friday long recess, and in comes matty! i was like a little school girl- a fury of excitement! it had been a while since i last saw him, since when he and kim came to our wedding. we got to talk for a little bit, when classes started back up he stopped by and the kids were excited to see him too. on his way out he mentioned that he was going to be speaking at his old church on sunday. i talked with diana about it and she gladly agreed that we should go and support him there.
so sunday morning we went to living springs community church. the church itself was great! diana and i really loved it, the service was over an hour and a half, but we hardly even noticed. during the service matty went up and talked for a bit about what he is up to now. he is working for an organization called hearts to honduras where he takes church groups from around the country down to honduras to help out the local communities. he also has been spearheading an effort to create a camp down there for americans to visit, and for the local honduran children to enjoy. after church there was a spaghetti dinner for the family and matty got to show some videos and photos of what he has been up to down there. it was very interesting, and i would encourage you to check out what they are up to! the hearts to honduras website is here, or check it out on facebook here. i know that he, and the people of honduras, would appreciate any donations you can give!