Girls Night Out (In)!

Last night we had a girls night out with some women from church. We went to Kristin's house and all brought so much food. There was a lot of yummy things to eat! It was so nice to spend time with all the girls without interruption from any kids. Nikki and I scrapbooked all day so we enjoyed a girls day out all day! It was fun to spend a day with adults because the kids have been home 24/7 since school let out! Here's one of the pictures that turned out from last night. I kept doing different thing to mess is up so we had to take 3 or 4 different pictures!
On a side note, please pray for my friend Ryan's family. His step-Grandpa is really struggling with pneumonia. This hasn't been easy for Kristin listening to the same words being talked about that she had to say when Ryan was alive and awaiting lungs. Kristin has more updates on her blog, The Sweeney Four.



The back row is Kristin, Lori, Tami, Jessica, and Nikki. The front row is me, Jenny, and Jennifer(yes that did get confusing a couple times!)

Blog Addict

51%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

I found this on Kristin and Nikki's blog and thought it would be fun to do!
The top one is my answer the bottom one is Scott's answer. I didn't think he even looked at our blog but he said he had it up for music. Any Alabama song on the blog music is for him in case any of you were wondering about the country music!


18%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Created by OnePlusYou - Online Dating Service

Cody Starts to Read (slowly!)

For those who know, I am putting Cody in Kindergarten instead of Pre-K like they suggested. I felt that I knew my child better than the testers did. I have been working with him since March on everything from letters to numbers so he'd be ready. It seems to be paying off! Last night I decided to try some more lessons out of the book Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons to see if he'd actually try it this time. Last night everything seemed to click and he was sounding out words all on his own! I would say good job and he'd get this great big grin on his face and hug me tight! It was so much fun to do with him and know that I helped teach him that!

New Title

I found this graphic on a website that gives free blog graphics. It hit me when I as I was looking at it could name my blog this. It is so true for me that everything that has happened, most importantly Cody and Megan, because Scott and I met and fell in love. Who knew when I made the spur of the moment decision to attend South Christian instead of East Kentwood like my brother and sister that I would meet my husband. I thank God for that because I was able to meet Scott who is the best husband, father, and friend. Even through all we've endured together I would not trade our love for anything and I am able to experience this all because 2 people fell in love!

Camping Photos!

Happy Birthday Allison!!

Happy Birthday Allison! It's been great having a friend as a sister-in-law! It's nice to know you're always there to talk to when I'm having a bad day and need to vent. Hope you have a great day! I used this picture because it's one of the few Allison actually has her eyes open, and I love Disney!

Happy Birthday Sara!

Just a quick note to say Happy Birthday to Scott's sister Sara. It's been fun having a little sister Sara, even when you dressed exactly like me! Hope you have a great day and thanks for being a great sister and aunt!

A Picnic, Chicken Man and the Zoo

Yesterday was our annual church picnic. We have the Chicken Man grill every year for this picnic. We also have fun activities for the kids after we finish eating. This year they had pony rides and a moon bounce. Cody basically stayed on the moon bounce the whole time. He'd get in line, bounce, then get back in line. Megan did that on the pony rides. When they weren't doing that, they were stuffing their faces with junk food. The church had someone who donates Cotton candy and someone else had ice cream. My parents came to church with us then stayed for the picnic. It was a lot of fun. We sat with our pointe Group to eat and talk. It was fun watching Lily and Wyatt eat ice cream and make a mess!

Today Scott was done working by 11:30 so we decided to have some fun and went to the zoo to see the Lions. They have a cool new exhibit for the lions that wasn't open when we were there for Megan's field trip. It was fun going to the zoo with Daddy. Normally I just take them during the day by myself so it was fun watching them show everything to Scott. Scott had the camera for most of the time and took a ton of pictures of the bears fighting. One bear was in the water and did not want the other to come in and Scott was taking a ton of pictures. After we went to the Zoo, we stopped and got ice cream. Against my wishes, we let the kids get something out of a dish. Normally we let them only get things in a dish. Megan got a cone and Cody got Spiderman. They made a huge mess! I guess it's payback for laughing at Lily and Wyatt!

Camping and Boating

If you haven't seen much of us lately, it's because we've been in Holland where Scott's parents were camping. I hate camping but we go up for the day but come home to no bugs and a clean bathroom! In the past 14 days I was boating 5 of them and the kids 7 of the them. I love boating and tubing which we did yesterday. Megan and Cody both tried tubing and neither loved it. Megan went with my brother twice and hated the second try. Cody went with me once and was OK for a while but he didn't really care for it. I then went with my niece Nikki and she laughed the whole time. Mike's other girls Jenny and Tara also went. Tara wasn't a fan but you couldn't get Nikki and Jenny off it! I was glad to have them up there, it was a lot of fun. The pictures I'll upload soon but I either forgot the camera or left it in the car most times! Thanks Mom and Dad VE for having us!

Summer and Smores

I love summer. I wish it could stay like this all year. One of my favorite things is campfires and we do it at home now! We had a fire tonight even thought it was very hot to get rid of the rest of the sparklers. We also had smores. How is it my 8 year old gets it everywhere and the 5 year old stays clean? It's a mystery to me!

4th of July

I hope you all had a good holiday. We had a busy and fun 4th. Scott and I went to Holland to see the kids in a bike parade at the campground. After that we went on the boat with his family and spent the day on the water and at the beach. After we got back to the campgound, we cleaned up and went to my aunt's house for dinner followed by the Kentwood Fireworks. We watched them with friends and my family. The kids had a blast and slept in until 9 this morning! Today we went to the movie theater to see Kit and Wall-e. Megan and I saw Kit and Cody and Scott saw Wall-e. The girls loved their movie but the boys weren't thrilled! The pictures are of the 2 kids in the shirts we gave them before going to the movies. They loved them though Cody still can't tell you who's on his shirt! When we were done with the movie, we saw the one room school house on Canal in Grandville. The kids thought it was pretty interesting! ****I updated the pictures to include fireworks. You can click on the slide show and see all the pictures that way also!****

Bikes

We dropped off the kids last night and surprised Megan with a new bike. She rode all the way to Holland with the bike behind her under a sheet and had no clue! We unpacked everything but the bike from the car and then left it in the car. I told her we forgot the bike that Katie gave her but asked her to come look at the one we did have to see if was OK. Scott took off the sheet and she kept say oh! and not talking. Soon after that she jumped up and down for about 5 minutes! She loved it. I wish I had thought to get the camera out for the unveiling because it was priceless watching her!! We got her a 20" bike that is to be an early birthday present. Cody got a bike for his birthday also. I'll post pictures of them with their bikes later!

Summer

Where did June go? It seems like school just ended for Megan. Normally by this point the kids are bored and so am I. We have not had to even think about being bored yet! We've had playdates almost every day, VBS at Grandma and Grandpa Tietz's church and lots of other things to do so far! It's been a great summer and not to hot. Tonight the kids go camping with Grandma and Grandpa Van Eerden for 3 days and Scott and I are looking forward to some peace and quiet by ourselves. We will go to Holland on the 4th to get them and boat there before going to Kentwood for fireworks! Hope you all have a great 4th of July!