big box- big fort

diana was at work when she saw something that she knew ledger would really love: a giant box!  she brought it home and we put it in the living room for him to just go to town on.  when he saw it he was so excited that he could hardly handle it!  he's always loved to play with boxes, going all the way back to when he was a toddler.  well, this is by far the biggest box he's ever been able to play with.  we knew we were in for some real creativity on this one.  we put it together and he declared that he wanted to make a box fort.  we cut out a door and let him do his thing.  he pulled out his markers and spent the rest of the day decorating and filling his new box fort.  we even found a string of lights that we taped up on the inside so he could have light in there.  he was in heaven for the next week as he played and fixed up his fort!

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santa parade

as December rolls in, our little town has a bunch of special events to celebrate.  and what is the best way to celebrate Christmas? a parade with santa, of course!  ledger and I braved through the freezing weather and celebrated downtown with hundreds of other Allegan residents.  there were a bunch of floats, the fire engine, the high school band playing Christmas tunes, and a bunch of people throwing out candy- what's not to love!  after the parade santa headed down to the board walk where he took pictures with each of the kids.  ledger was all in for some of that action!
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his first concert

growing up, one of the bands that I really liked was the newsboys.  I've been listening to them since 1996, when I was in high school.  I've had the chance to see them a couple times in concert, but its been almost 20 years, and they have a new singer now.  well, they are on a new tour where they are back together with two of their old singers, along with the new one, and playing all the old hits.  that's all I needed to get me interested.  ledger had gotten to know and love some of their music as well because all I listen to is music from the 90's...  diana and I decided that we would go to see them as a family and take ledger to his first music concert!  in preparation I looked online and found the playlist for the tour and made a mixtape so ledger would be familiar with all the songs.  we played it all the time in the car and at home.  eventually he (and diana) learned all the songs and could sing along with them too.  mission accomplished!  now the three of us are ready for the show!

the day of the concert ledger decided he wanted to dress up for the show, so he put on his button down shirt and bowtie!  we got something to eat and then headed over to the venue and picked our seats before the show.  we got some good seats near the front (ledge wanted to go check out the balcony, but we didn't sit up there).  as showtime was coming closer we took a few minutes and stopped at the merch table and got their new cd as well as a light stick thingy for ledge to wave.  

the lights started to flicker- we know what that means: its time for the show!  ledge was pumped as the newsboys took the stage.  i've got to be honest, so was I!  over the course of the show they played all the hits that I remember from years ago, as well as the new hits (which ledger prefered, honestly).  the ploy to get ledge familiar with all their songs worked really well and he was able to sing along to all of them.  my favorite part was definitely when peter furler and phil joel came out to join michael tate and the rest of the boys for the older songs.  

they had a special offer to anyone who wanted to sponsor a child: a free tour book and the chance to meet the newsboys after the show!  ledge was excited about that opportunity- and so was I!  so we signed up and go the book.  so when the show was over we went over and lined up to introduce ledger to the boys.  as we were waiting in line, ledger asked what the name is of the singer.  I told him michael tate.  he wanted to say hi to him, but he couldn't remember his last name.  I told him 'its tate, like tater tot, but without the r'.  well that was a mistake, because now he wanted to call him mr. tater!  oops...  we got up there and they signed the book for ledger and even had a joyful laugh at how he was wearing a bowtie and looked so handsome!

on the way home ledger was talking about how much fun he had and how excited he was that he got to meet mr. tater.  I was excited too, buddy...

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oh, christmas tree

there's that Christmas cheer in the air- that must mean its time to get the Christmas decorations out!  ledge helped me go down to the garage and pull out the boxes filled the tree and everything.  we started the evening like we always do when its tree decorating time: we put some Christmas cookies in the oven and let that glorious smell fill the air!

with Christmas music playing, we get to work assembling the tree.  then its time for the best part, putting the ornaments on it!  ledge pulls out his handy step stool so he can reach all the way up to the top.  he is surprisingly good at figuring out where to put the ornaments to keep the tree balanced and well covered.  after the general ornaments go up, then its time for the special handmade craft ornaments that ledge has made over the years- he makes sure to make these very prominent for everyone to see!

then, the piece de resistance: the star.  this is always a favorite because it shines light all the way up to our extra high ceiling, which always looks awesome!

finally, its up and now we are ready for the season!  before you know it it'll be present time!

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family time in south bend

it's time to visit south bend again!  its always a highlight for diana and ledger to go and visit her family, so when we were invited down we jumped at the chance.  there really wasn't a reason, but since when do you need a reason to visit family, right?
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snowmans

every year we try to make a snowman.  ledge has always loved snowmans, so from the time that the first snow falls, he asks every day, all winter long, if we get to go out and make a 'snowmans' (he always uses 'snowmans' as a plural, never 'snowmen').  this season has been pretty disappointing for snowfall so far, but that wasn't about to stop our boy!  he was a little disappointed with how small it was, but he was still happy to have made a snowmans.

poco's final bow

our dear sweet puppy has gone to the palace in the sky.  when diana and i first started dating she was a little concerned if I would like her dog.  the very first moment I saw him I fell in love- that cute little chihuahua and became fast friends!  I was lucky, she told me at the time that he didn't usually like the guys she dated.  I think that was my first indication that she and I might be something special.
while we were dating I even talked her in to letting me take him for a few days and have him at my place.  poco and I were good buddies, which was great because he soon lived with me full time when diana and i got married!
we spent the next three years treating him like he was our child- we showered him with gifts and treats, fawning over him and spoiling him rotten.  we had some amazing times with that little guy!  he was always very protective, which sometimes came out in aggressive ways toward others.  when ledger was born, we were a little concerned about how the two of them would do together.  rather than wait and find out, we made the hard decision: we asked diana's dad if he would be willing to raise poco from then on.  at first her dad was hesitant, not really wanting a dog, but he soon came around to love that lil fancy fella as much as we did.  the two of them were inseparable!  diana's dad actually ended up spoiling him so much more than we ever thought to!  he was living a life of luxury over there!
unfortunately, with poco's swiftly degenerating health, diana's dad had to make a hard decision.  poco was put to sleep, ending a 17 year long life that had a huge impact on all of us who loved him.  he will be deeply missed by all of us.  goodbye, little stink bottom!
(more posts about poco)

new library

ever since we moved to allegan we have frequented the library.  they always have a bunch of great books for kids and some good programs for younger kids, including storytime and crafts.  recently the library had limited its events and activities due to construction, but its over now and allegan now had a library 4 times the size of what it used to be! 
we decided to make the trek over to check it out after its grand reopening and we were so impressed!  they've got an even better selection of books, a bunch of areas for kids to play, a children's robotics lab, and so much more!  ledge was positively pumped about the whole thing and wanted to stay forever!  i know for a fact we will be back regularly to take advantage of such a great library- way to go allegan!

halloween night!

ledger's favorite day of the year is finally here: halloween!  he got home from school and was immediately itchin' to go trick or treating!  they don't want kids to start until 5pm here in allegan, so we had a couple hours to kill...  the town's high school had a special treat activity at 4, so i brought him there for a bit as we waited for the main event.
we went home and picked up diana, she had put her tiara on (so she was dressed like a princess), and i put my captain america hoodie on (which is what i've done for my costume for the past three years...) and we were off! 
we started, as has been our tradition, at the 'scary house', the house that ledger says is the scariest one of all.  that way he can build up his bravery quickly and be set for the rest of the spooky night.  we spent the next two hours wandering the streets of allegan in search of candy.  that little boy was in heaven!  he was disappointed that we had to stop when the sun went down, but he was thrilled with what a fun time he had!
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making the costume

ledger has known since last halloween what he wanted to be this year.  at the end of the night last year he confided in us that he liked being a pac-man ghost, but next time he wanted to be a classic ghostie.  'you know, a white sheet with eyes cut out!'  all right, we can make that happen!
so this year we got ourselves a white bed sheet and dug right in!  he wanted it to be simple, but i knew it would look better, and he would be happier with it, if i made it a little more special than that.  i cut out the eyes extra wide and sewed on two big black eyes, and then let ledger take the sharpie and draw in a mouth for it!  we rigged up a special contraption that worked like a hat for him, otherwise the eye holes would move all around- leaving him unable to see!  now that's no way to get candy!
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carving the pumpkins

now that we've got the pumpkins picked out and home, it's time to get carving!  ledge always talks a big game, about how he's going to carve it himself this year, but when it actually comes time to scoop out all the seeds and guts, all i get a big 'no way!' from him!  i talked him into trying at least one scoopful with his hand, but that didn't get very far... 
we had gotten three pumpkins, but decided that we were only going to carve two of them, the other one we would display in the house and he could just draw a face on that one.  on the other two he drew the face and then i carved it for him.  once they were done we put a light in each of them and put them out on the deck for the whole town to enjoy!
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gene the pumpkin man

autumn is filled with traditions in our family.  with halloween being ledger's favorite holiday, he has some expectations for celebrating it.  chief among those is that we must get pumpkins to carve!  last year we checked out the local pumpkin legend: gene the pumpkin man!  i had been told about him from a friend at work who grew up just south of town.  he asked if we'd ever gone to see gene.  we hadn't.  well, we quickly corrected that mistake!  and this year we made our way back to see him.
gene has a huge pumpkin patch and quite a variety to choose from.  ledge took his time, doing down all the different rows of pumpkins, making sure he found just the right one!  we ended up getting a few of them, as well as a couple extra treats from the gift shop.  now it time to get carving!
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jump and roll

diana and i have been looking for quite awhile now for some organized activities for ledger to get involved in to help him direct his energy and get that body movin!  well, i recently discovered that there is a children's gymnastic place about 15 minutes away.  we would love to get him involved, but i kind of want to make sure he likes it before we pay for a 6 week class.  i gave them a call and it turns out that they have an open gym time every friday evening.  i took him the next friday we had the chance, and it turns out that he loved it!  they spend the two hours playing games and going through obstacle courses, or just running around and playing.  ledge was all about it!  he loved it so much he was talking about it all weekend long!  i'm pretty sure he will be joining the 'rough and tumble' boys class soon!
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the orchard with papa

an old tradition in my family was to go to robinette's orchard every fall.  wanting to pass that tradition on for ledger and i, papa and i made plans to bring the boy there!  it's changed a bit since we last went there, but we still made the most of it and had a nice time.  we wandered around the orchard building a bit, seeing what they had to offer, and then chowed down on some homemade donuts and apple cider!  ledge took a minute to play on the giant apple out front and before we knew it, it was time to get going.
thanks again papa for coming with on our annual visit!
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dads and donuts

one of the fun activities that ledger's school has every year is something called 'dads and donuts'.  it's a special morning were all the dads are invited to come with their kids an hour before school starts to check out their classrooms, meet their teachers, let them show off the work they've been up to, and also get some yummy donuts!  last year we went and i had a great time, so we were looking forward to doing it again this year.  it was really neat and gave ledger a chance to show off his school, and also show off his daddy to his friends.  another nice thing they do is give away free books.  last year ledger randomly picked a book that turned out to be one of my favorites 'the yes'.  this year we found a book to read enjoy as well.  we had a great time and got to spend a little extra time together, and that's what it's all about anyway, right?
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halloween decor

since halloween is ledger's favorite holiday, we try to make a big deal of it.  one way we do that is to make sure decorate the place up nice for it.  well, it just so happens that moonlight jack showed up, so you know what that means: time to get them halloween decorations up!  ledge, as always, was thrilled to get the halloween season going.
we were coming home from school when he asked about putting up our decorations.  i reminded him that moonlight jack hadn't yet showed up, we had to wait for him to give us the kick-off.  well, we arrive home and who was waiting for us? why, moonlight jack, of course!  so the two of us headed down to the garage to get our halloween decor and beautify our place for the season!  we pulled out all the decorations we had from last year and go the place looking nice and properly spooky.  we even went to the dollar store to see if they had any new decorations we could use to fill in the places that weren't halloweeny enough.  fortunately we got it all decked out and ready for the fun halloween spirit of the season!
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car fixing

the car has been doing a pretty wicked shimmy when i hit the breaks, so that means it's time to call in a favor.  i gave aaron a call and asked if he would be able to give the brakes a look and change them out.  he was totally up for it, so i made sure to bring him a six-pack of his favorite beer, which he surprisingly didn't refuse.
it went really quickly, he was able to change out the two front brakes in about and hour and a half!  with that behind us, we were able to enjoy the rest of the night without worry!  we went to the local brewery and chowed down on nachos and had a chance to catch up.  i'm always thankful for such good friends- and so is my car!

tavish's visit

alanna and tavish came to visit, so of course ledger wanted to go and see them!  unfortunately i had to work, so diana and ledger had to go down without me.  they got to spend a couple days down with ledger's favorite cousin!  those two boys are always able to find some trouble to get themselves into!

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losing a best friend

there's no way to be prepared for something like this.  i was at work covering for someone else when jon called me with the devastating news.  he was gone.  my best friend, the guy who was the best man at my wedding, the guy i had spent so many late nights watching crappy movies with, or having deep and life changing conversations with, was gone.
he had lost control of his car the night before and hit a tree.  and now he's gone.  i'll never be able to call him, we'll never be able to laugh at our inside jokes, i'll never be able to go over and play with his transformers while he tells me how he's figured out life's grand puzzles.  he'll never be able to tell me all about his next project that he's got planned that will sit in in basement untouched, i'll never get to bribe him with beer to fix my car, he'll never again get to hear my boy repeat our inside jokes as if he actually understands them.  he's never going to show up late for our cabin trip and be the one to get the fireplace roaring.  there's so much he will never get to do. 
i miss him so much. 
but at least i got him for a while, and even though it wasn't enough, it was something.  and boy, was it something!  i will miss you and think about you for the rest of my life, jeff.
static brothers forever!

allegan code orange game

we've been living in allegan for a while now, so we thought it was probably time to partake in one of the special events here in our town: the code orange football game!  for the first football game of the season the high school has a special tradition where they make special shirts and make a big deal of it.  hundreds of people in town come to celebrate and cheer on the home team!  they even had a few special things for the kids: a bouncey house or two and someone doing face painting.  ledge was all about that!
we had a nice time and even watched the game for a little while.  it was getting a bit late, so we didn't stay too long- i've got work in the morning, after all!
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allegan county fair

there were a bunch of fairs i went to this summer, helping out at the hearing store booth for my father-in-law, but there was still one more to help at: the allegan county fair!  of all of them i attended, this was by far the easiest for me- i only had to drive five minutes away!  on one of the days i helped diana brought ledger down to see me.  it was just as i was finishing my shift, so he and i got to go and check out the fair together, which ledge is always up for!
we wandered around the games and rides, checking it all out, even getting a fair treat or two.  i got him a pass so he could go on as many rides as he wanted, which ended up being all of them!  we spent about three hours going around and riding everything at least twice (or twenty times...)!
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member day at work

i had a couple guests come and join me at work!  every year my job has a special 'member appreciation day' event in the corporate parking lot.  they go all out, tons of food, games, music, and even bouncy houses for the kids.  ledger always looks forward to it, so he and diana come down and joined me for an hour.  i was actually working that day, so i was able to take my lunch break to spend time with them there.  ledge had a blast and the two of them stayed long after i had to go back to work.  poor me...

two front teeth

now there's a look!  it finally happened: he lost both front teeth!  he was super excited about it and loved the how it looked.  he was really looking forward to getting his 'big boy' teeth, so now he's one step closer.  oh, and he's excited that the tooth fairy is going to stop by...

first day of first grade

here it is.  the day ledger has been looking forward to all summer (yes, he's young enough that he gets excited about it...): the first day of first grade!  he was super excited about it last night, but he wasn't so excited about it in the morning when he realized he had to get up so early...  eventually we coaxed him out of bed with the promise of waffles, but it was still pretty hard going.  diana and i were really excited about it too: we were going to be getting our mornings and afternoons back to ourselves! 
we got him ready and talked with him, he was telling us all about what he was most excited about (seeing his friends) and what he was not looking forward to (typing in computer class).  he was really glad to hear that he wasn't going to be subjected to nap time like he was in kindergarten- easily his most hated part of school last year!
all dressed, backpack on, he was ready to get going!  diana and i took him to school and brought him to his new classroom.  it wasn't nearly as hard to see him go this year.  we've been used to it now for the past couple years, so it a bit easier.  sure, we still get a bit misty eyed, but our confidence that he will be able to take care of himself and have a good time quickly push that fear away.
as is our tradition, after we dropped him off, diana and i went out for breakfast together- just the two of us! 
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third handprint

it's time to get crafty again.  my nostalgic tendencies got the best of me a couple years ago when i saw an idea online about measuring our son as he grows.  its a six foot board that he makes a handprint on every year as he goes to school and it shows how he gets bigger and bigger.  i was pretty excited about it because i found the idea before he started preschool, so we were able to start right at the beginning!  well, it's time for another school year to start, so that means it's time for another handprint!  he loves doing this each year because he gets to play with paint and make a good old fashioned mess!  this year he picked green while we were at the craft store, so we poured some out on a plate and had him stick his hand in it and put it firmly on the board- handprint number three!  after we did the required print, he went nuts putting paint all over himself, making a fine mess to annoy his mother...  he soon was thrown straight into the bath, but not until he had done a good job of making himself as much of a little green boy as he could!
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greg's retirement

adam's dad is finally retiring.  he's been a professor at calvin college for over 40 years and he's finally throwing in the towel and going to try the retired life!  adam and his sister have been planning a special retirement party for him and adam invited aaron and i to stop in as well.  we've known adam's dad since we were young kids in grade school and would come over to the house and make silly home movies with their camcorder- so we go way back!  he has since insisted that we actually call him greg, so we oblige, though it still feels weird to not call him 'adams dad'...
well, one of the things that adam wanted to do was to make the event an extra special one.  the best way to do that, of course, is to order a singing telegram!  back when we were little there were always these terrible local commercials for singing telegrams.  adam was always obsessed with them, so when he found out that they were still in business all these years later, he knew he had to order one for his dad!
it turned out to be hilarious!  a guy showed up in a monkey outfit and sang a special song just for greg- he seemed to make it up as he went along, pulling from what he saw around the room and peppered in some info that adam had given him ahead of time.  overall, it was hilarious and well worth it- i would totally recommend it!
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a jerry afternoon

one of the guys at who i work with, jerry, has been telling us about how he's been making a treehouse for his son.  he's been busy at it all summer, so we had been joking with him about inviting everyone over to check it out when he's done.  well, he got done and did just that!  all the work friends were invited to his place for a cookout.  jerry has a little boy who's about the same age as ledger, so i took him with and mikey took his son too.
it was really fun to see jerry's handy work- which is really quite impressive!  and have some time for ledger to play with a few other kids outside for the afternoon.  the food was great and there was a pool and waterslide for the kids- a good time all around!
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first grade open house

as summer winds down, its time to start thinking about school again.  this is a big year for ledger, he will be going in to first grade!  we got an invitation in the mail to north ward's open house for the new year.  we found out what class ledger is going to be in and got the chance to go in and meet his new teacher.  he was really excited, but kind of scared.  fortunately his new teacher is not a scary monster like he feared, so all was well!  school will be starting soon, and now that he's seen his new room, its not going to be nearly as scary!
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the birth of klanky

our son is a lover of robots and a lover of crafts, it seems inevitable that the two interests would eventually collide.  well, that collision is what resulted in us having a new robot friend in the house.  ledger took a bunch of craft supplies and a box we had laying around the house, and build himself a new robot friend which he promptly named Klanky.  that little boy was so proud of his latest invention!  he went on to play with it for the next week straight!  for a while there it felt like klanky had become the fourth member of our house...
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siblings

i was talking to my mom recently and she said that there was going to be a surprise 50th birthday party for my cousin's husband and that i was invited.  we didn't have anything planned, so ledge and i made our way over to join in on the festivities. 
it was a really fun time seeing all of my dad's family and surprising steve!  there were even a bunch of other kids for ledge to run around and play in the backyard with.  the thing that stuck with me about the evening though, was seeing papa with his two sisters.  it's not very often that we have a chance to get together with both of them, so i wanted to make sure and get a picture of the family together!

another fair

helping out at the hearing aid place comes with the responsibility of manning the booth at fairs too.  there are a ton of fairs in the area, so with summer in full swing, i found myself covering another fair in the south bend area!  well, after a long shift at the booth, i was relieved by david who also brought ledger with him.
ledge and i spend the afternoon checking out the fair and enjoying the rides and snacks!  it had been a long long time since i last wandered around a fair, and ledger is always up for it, so we had a really nice time of it!
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diana's new tattoo

diana spent a long weekend with the girls.  she, miranda, and lissa had been planning this trip for a while.  though their original plans for the trip didn't quite work out, they still got the opportunity to spend the time together! 
after talking about it for a couple years now, they finally went through with it over this trip- they got tattoos together!
each of the three girls got an image of three waves.  what is kind of cool is that each of them got it in a different style or color!  diana just got a simple line of waves on her ankle, which looks really cool!

losing his first tooth

now this was a big deal.  while he was at grandma's he actually lost his first tooth!  it had been wiggly for a week or two, but we never suspected that it would fall out while he was at grandmas.  we were woefully unprepared!  diana didn't have any money to put under his pillow, so she wrote him a note saying that the tooth fairy got a bit confused and actually brought him a gift and put it under his pillow- at home!  so that gave me a little bit of time to figure out the gift situation.  by the time he and diana made it back home there was a nice toy under his pillow!  sure, it was a bit much considering it was supposed to be from the tooth fairy, but since it was his first one and he had to wait several days, i didn't feel so bad.
when he finally came home he was super excited and pleased with the gift that awaited him, but was more excited about his new smile!

cousin fun

whenever allana and tavish come to visit diana's mom and david we are always invited too.  not wanting ledger to miss out on a chance to play with his cousin, he and diana headed down to spend some time with them.  i had to work, so i stayed home.
the boys had a blast together, as always!  barbara even stopped by for some of the weekend to spoil her favorite nephews too. 
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family hibachi

just for fun, my parents invited all of us to go out for dinner at a hibachi grill.  the plan was to leave the kids at home, so we dropped of ledger at jill and tim's place and he got to play with jaidey and aves.  jack was old enough that he was able to come with us.
we actually brought ledge a little early so diana and i could have a little free time before meeting up for dinner- which we loved!  we didn't really do anything that special, we just wandered around rivertown mall, but the fact that we got to do it just the two of us made it that much more special.
we all met up at the restaurant and had a really fun time.  it was one of those places where there is a chef who makes the food right in front of you and chats and plays the whole time.  i had only been to one of those places once about 10 years ago, so i was excited to do it again! 
the chef was hilarious, partly because he clearly couldn't really understand english and was just reciting the sounds he had memorized, but that only made it funnier!  the food was amazing and everyone ended up eating way too much.  we took home a couple boxes of leftovers and got to enjoy it the next day too!
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happy birthday to me!

for my birthday i only asked for one thing.  now, this is going to take some explaining...  so, last fall we went down to nashville as a whole gang and had a great time.  on one of the nights we were down there we stopped in one of the bars called Tin Roof.  we didn't actually get any drinks, but aaron and i asked for waters.  they gave us the waters on huge disposable cups.  we ended up carrying those cups with us for the rest of the night, sipping the water.  we took them back to the place we were staying and used them for the rest of the week we were there.  as we were packing up to head home from the nash, i grabbed those two cups and brought them home.  ever since then i have used those two cups exclusively at home- putting them in the dishwasher and everything.  well, over the past 10 months they have started to show a lot of wear and tear.  the logos faded, the top ring has become cracked in a few places, etc.  the wife asked what i wanted for my birthday so, on a whim, i said 'i want new tin roof cups!'
low and behold, she had contacted tin roof and got me a whole sleeve of new cups!  i now have 25 new tin roof cups and i'm the happiest boy in all of whoville!
thank you, my dove- you are the best!

goodbye, saturn

it was hard, but it was time.  it was finally time to say goodbye to our dear saturn.  it's been with us for many many years, at times our most reliable car, at times our least...  diana brought this beauty with her into the marriage, it was always looked at as the lesser of our two cars.  the fancier cars came and went, but this thing just kept on truckin!  for the past few months its been getting harder and harder to drive it though, the engine has been getting shakier and the tie rods looser...  with it mostly falling apart on the inside and out, we decided it wasn't really worth putting in the few hundred dollars to fix it up because something else would just fall apart.  it was with sadness we paid our respects. 
we were going to have it picked up in the morning, so i figured i'd take it on one last drive to say goodbye.  i asked ledger if he wanted to go for one last ride and he did, so the two of us headed down and hopped in.  since we were only going to drive around the apartment complexes, i told him he could sit in the front.  oh, he liked that!  as we were toolin around i asked him if he wanted to take the wheel.  'what?!?' he asked, shocked!  'its our last time with the tent car (that's what he calls it since the interior ceiling fabric droops a bit), so we might as well, right?'  oh he was all about that!  he climbed over and sat on my lap, took the wheel, and gave it a try!  his eyes glowed with excitement as he turned the wheel back and forth! don't worry, i didn't let him anywhere near the gas pedal...  we went up and down the paved lots between buildings, i gave him lessons on how to turn and pay attention as he drove.  he didn't heed them all, but hey, he's only six, he's got 10 more years to figure it out!
finally, we said goodbye to it for the last time, and our boy had a great story of how he drove a car when he was six!

savannah's birthday

savannah, ledger's best friend from school, was having a birthday party out at the lake.  it was a small celebration, but she really wanted ledge there for the festivities.  her mom, jill, really hit it off with diana this past year, so diana was thrilled to get the invite!  it was a saturday afternoon, so i wasn't able to go, but the two of them had a great time celebrating with savannah at the beach!

playin' with mama's toys

i've played with my old toys with ledger before, and sometimes diana plays with her old toys with ledger too.  she used to play with her barbies all the time growing up and still has them (along with a few she's gotten since), and every once in a while still pulls them out and plays with them.  well, ledger was very interested in them the last time she pulled them out, so the three of us went all in and made an afternoon of it!  we rummaged through the different outfits and got each got our barbie looking her best.  ledger then set them all up and made a fun story for them (they were on their way to a vacation, in case you were wondering...).  it was really fun to get the chance to introduce ledger to a different kind of toy than what he usually plays with- and he had a blast with them too!

everything's beachy

somehow diana convinced me, against my better judgement, to go to the beach.  ugh.  i've never been a fan of the beach.  the heat, the sand, and the heat...  did i mention the heat?  even still, i overcame all of this to please my wife and son.  impressive, i know.  i truly am a martyr for my family...
kidding aside, we had a really great time playing on the beach, going in the water, and walking down the pier.  it has been years since i've been to the holland state park and we made sure to make the most of it! 
when all was said and done, i actually ended up enjoying myself- shockingly!  don't tell diana though, she'll make me do it again...
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a south bend fair

for the past few months i've been working with david at his hearing aid business, doing some training and learning all about them.  now that it's summer, i've been enlisted to help out with manning the booth at a local fair.  this was the first of the season and i was able to come down for a shift or two.  diana wanted to come and visit, so she gathered up ledger and barbara to go to the fair and drop by.  ledge was kind enough to take a minute out of his packed schedule of fair rides to stop and see me! 
the fair itself was outrageously hot, i think it was in the high 90's, but thankfully, the booth area was inside and air conditioned- our booth was actually right in front of the vents, so i was nice and cool the whole day!  chattin' it up with the locals about hearing aids is a lot easier if you can keep cool, that's for sure.
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back to the hoevs

it's been too long since aaron and i had a good hang.  well, it turns out that the theater in town, the regent, wanted to fix that for us!  on the last friday of every month they screen an older movie.  they call it 'flashback fridays' and its a ton of fun!  i've gotten to see jurassic park and batman returns on the big screen again because if it!
it didn't take much convincing once i told him what they were showing, but aaron was all on board with coming down to little ol' allegan to see his favorite 'back to the future' on the big screen!  he even invited his friend don, who lives in allegan, to join us.  we met up at the local pub before the show so we could hang out and talk before the show.  after a fun chat and a couple drinks, we walked over to regent and stocked up on popcorn and snacks for the big show!
i've got to tell you, the movie itself is even better than i remembered it! 

bed full of stuffed animals

he has been thinking about it and asking about it for the past couple weeks.  i told him he would have to wait until school was done, but now that it is, he can finally do it: he wanted to sleep with all his stuffed animals!  he loved going through his box of animals and putting each one on the bed and giggling with excitement as the pile got bigger and bigger.  he crawled in among all the stuffed friends and pulled up his sheet, ready for a wonderful night with a filled bed.
yup, that lasted about ten minutes...  he soon called out to me and i came into his room. 'daddy, i know i wanted them all in here, but i don't like it.'  no problem bud, lets clear em out!  ledger learned an important life lesson that night: it never works out well when there are too many in your bed...

opening night

with a week's worth of rehearsal, it was time for the big show!  his grandpa and grandma were so excited to see him up on stage that they drove all the way up from south bend just to see his performance!  diana and i were there early to drop him off for the performance so we headed in early and saved seats.  the two of them popped in just in time for their grandson's stage debut!  there were five or six different groups that had prepared something, so when it was ledger's groups turn we were thrilled to see him up there doing his best!
he did a great job and as soon as we got a chance to talk to him after the show, he was asking when was the next time he would be able to get back on stage!  that sounds like a true actor to me!
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children's museum

since we were downtown, i figured we should take advantage of it.  we walked over to the children's museum and ledger got the chance to spend the afternoon checking it all out and having a fun time!  there were a couple new exhibits for him to check out since we last visited, but the thing that he was most excited about was the bubble makers...

civic theater summer camp

for ledger's first week of summer break we filled it with more classes.  these classes were a bit different though- we enrolled him in theater classes at the civic in grand rapids! 
ledger has always had a bit of a flair for acting and putting on a show, so we thought we would roll with it and give him some training!  the class is each morning for two and a half hours with a 'performance' on friday.  he's super excited about the chance to get up on stage, so he's thrilled with the chance to be in theatre camp!

downtown fest

as is the case almost every weekend of the summer, there was a festival downtown allegan.  diana, feeling brave due to the beautiful weather, went with ledger to check it out.  turns out they had a petting zoo and a bunch of other fun things to do!  while he was there he spotted his friend gage and the two of them got to play around together for a while.  i guess the nice weather didn't really hold, because it started raining!  fortunately it didn't last long, and the two boys got to play for a bit longer.
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last day of kindergarten

the day ledger has been looking forward to since christmas: the last day of the school year!  though he really loved getting to know all the new kids this year and getting used to the school life- he is certainly ready for it to be over!
the school had some special events planned for the kids on their last day, they got to spend some extra time playing with their classmates, packing up their stuff, and saying their goodbyes.  one fun thing that they do every year is invite the parents to join the kids for lunch- a picnic in the back field with the whole school! 
he's getting to be pretty big, finishing kindergarten, this means that next year he will be in first grade!
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k-ville reunion again

adam and the girls were at it again- it's time for another kelloggsville reunion!  it still seems strange, but my 8th grade class has a reunion every year.  we may have been an unusual class back in the day, but most of us really loved junior high!  as most of us went to south christian for high school, some people went elsewhere.  thus the reason to get together with the 8th grade class!  usually it's just an excuse to see adam, but aaron and i have been to every get together so far.  it always seems to be the same people, with a new guest or two, but that doesn't matter because it's still so much fun!  usually someone brings something from the old days for us to page through to get those old memories flowing.  this year i brought my yearbooks for us to page through.  we spend the night reliving old stories and laughing like old friends! 
as long as they keep getting together, i am totally there!

the sandy routine

with papa and mema having a challenging summer, we haven't had many chances to take ledger to sandy pines.  with papa now on the mend, mema told us we are welcome to use the trailer any time we want.  well, we weren't going to pass up the chance to enjoy the park! 
we stopped by and did what we usually do: go for a cart ride, play on the beach, and get some ice cream.  no matter how many times we do it, it's still fun!
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a new liver

wow, it's actually here- the day we've been waiting for with baited breath for over a year.  papa finally got the call that they have a new liver for him!  what an amazing answer to prayer!  there were times where we feared this would never happen, there were times that everyone had almost given up hope- including papa- that a donation would actually come through!
mom got the call at 5am saying that they needed to be down in ann arbor by 10am or it might be too late.  well, they already had their emergency bags packed, so it didn't take long before they were on the road!  while she was driving, mom gave us and call and we made plans for me to go down there and be with them for the day.  i headed out immediately and got a chance to see both of them before he was called in to the operating room.  we were in waiting for an hour or so when the doctor came up, he was reassuring us that everything was going well and we had no reason to worry.  just as he was telling us that his pager went off.  he took a look at it and said 'ok, that's the go ahead!'  and within 5 minutes papa was off to surgery! 
that was all the easy part, the hardest part was what came next: the waiting...  the surgery itself was scheduled to to 5-7 hours so we knew we were in for the long haul.  mom and i wandered around, trying to kill time, as we waited.  finally, around 9pm, the doctor came out and told us that it was a perfect success!  the new liver was in and doing well!  papa wasn't awake yet, but all signs were exactly where they wanted them to be!  at a boy, papa!  we were so relieved and thankful!  the doctor said it would probably be another 2-3 hours before we could see him, so mom said that she would be find, now that the worst of it was over.  i gave here one last long reassuring hug, and headed home to the wife and son.
wow.  its a flurry of so many emotions as i write about that day.  i'm proud of the doctors who were able to do such amazing work, protective of mom as she struggled with so much, thankful for the positive results, and relieved for papa as he will now get his life back!

ledger's art show

we got a special invitation from school to stop by the high school and check out the elementary student's artwork on display during the special opening night gallery show.  we got there and partook in the juice and treats as we made our way through the different exhibits and class artwork on the walls.  ledger made sure to point out all his different masterpieces on display.  each one was more impressive than the last! 
we, as well as his grandpa allen, are quite certain that ledger has a promising future in the field of art!

that crafty elf

it's always craft time here in the brink house, so it came as no surprise that ledger desperately wanted to make a craft.  ok, what do you want to make this time, boy?  turns out, he was longing for christmas time (it's currently april), so he asked if we could make a christmas elf.  sure thing buddy, whatever you want.  oh boy...  i found a couple old socks and an old green shirt that was only for lawn work, and away we went!  as is usually the case when it's craft time, ledger takes on the roll of 'field coordinator' while he makes diana or i do all the work...
this particular elf turned out pretty good and ledger was very pleased with it (ignore that strange face he's making in the picture, he really did love it!)  he then proceeded to spend the next two days playing with and chatting with his new elf friend!
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