just when you think it is over....

For those of you who know me, and know me well.... My gma Rene ( my moms mom) is my gma who I love with all my heart. A lady I spend a lot of time with as well as her with me... now and growing up.

We took Trips to the cottage, lunch every day while I was in school. She lived right next to my elementary school (K-5) and in that time of age I could leave and walk over there for lunch. In middle school (6-9) I took the bus so I couldn't have lunch there, and then in highschool (9-12) I could go back again. We love to shop together (yes she spoils me), then my girls came around and it was a whole new game for me. I see her with them and now I know why I love her so much. She has been in poor health for about 2 years and" just when you think it is over" she is healthier than healthy. She had a bad (almost deathly) kidney infection last year that put her in a dimensia state, and she was gone for quite a while. My mom & Uncle moved her into a home that specializes in dimensia, and she was there for 3 months. With the idea that she would never change and would never go back home. Let me tell you that is a feeling that is hard to handle. My gpa died when I was 11 and I remember every minute from the time my mom told me to the day he was laid to rest like a vivid memory. I was not ready for that. I was just starting to enjoy my (or should I say my girls) time with her. In these pictures she was reading books (about 20 books later) to my girls like it was 2 years ago and nothing had ever happened. She loves to come over to our house and just watch the girls and spend the night with us, and we will definitely do it more often now! We have a guest room that she calls her own. She is back to normal, living at home and enjoying what life she has left. God is Great! and this is a proven example. I love you Gma Rene!!!!

Cabin, Cottage or Lake!

Which will it be?

So we have the luxury with young children to pick what area of water we want to be around on the weekend (or during the week.) You would think that this would be an awesome thing, but it is actually hard for us. We have 3 places to go where all 3 places want us at the same time, so we have to take turns. Atleast all of them have a different feeling for us, and different things for us to enjoy. We are very thankful to have parents that have this for us and that we get to enjoy them as often as we do.

Corys parents is AKA the "Lake", a place that is close to home, has a beautiful (punta cana like) beach, a lot of sand toys, a paddleboat, peaceful & private setting, and a papa who is OC about fishing.

My dad & Lindas is AKA the "Cabin",which has a campfire 24/7 from Fri. am to Sun. pm, a huge area for the girls to ride their bikes, a jeep to go 2-tracking in and to go look for deer, porcupine and bears, a garden to play in (and yes get DIRTY too), birdfeeders, a garage with a loft that is like the little camping life, and the best rice krispies ever!

My mom & Randys is AKA the "Cottage", which is where we keep the Sea Doo, where the boats are for tubing and skiing, where we eat really good on the weekends ( i love my moms cooking), the four wheeler is up there, we have our own bedroom, a big deck for the girls to ride their motorcycles, and a place that feels like home!

So they all have their differences which makes it so special....

The pics above are from our weekend last weekend at Wolf Lake AKA "the Cabin." It is about 7 miles North of Baldwin. We had a great time spending the weekend with Papa Jack and Gma Linda. We went 2 tracking at night looking for animals, the girls helped Linda in the garden, played in the water and rode their bikes. We go there for a long weekend in July every year! We look forward to it. It is the one place I can sit around a campfire for hours straight read a Cosmo and have a drink, while the girls get dirty, make a mess, and I really don't care!

The Gracie hair-do!

Ok, so she is exactly like her mommy, a hair goo-rou, but Nana is the better sport. If mommys hair is done, stay away and don't think about touching it, but with Nana it is a whole different story. Nana came over last Monday to pick up the girls for the day and her hair was all done and cute, but Gracie had to add a little to it, and Nana was a good sport, and of course let her do whatever she wanted! Do you like the finished product. In hair lingo, this is what we call a "faux- hawk!

meet Libby....our 3rd dog!

Well not really, but the girls think so. Libby is our adopted dog from next door. If you ask the girls how many dog they have, they will say 3. Tyty, BooBoo and Libby. We actually call her princess. The girls seem to think that she is ours. She gets a scooby snack ever morning and sometimes at night. She is a brittany spanial and is 2 years old. She is great with the girls and she tolerates them very well. Our neighbor has the summers off, so we have been able to spend a lot of time with her (Libby) the last month or so. We will be sad when she goes back to doggy day care in August.

BOZ.... the green bear next door!

BOZ, spelled BOZ! OK so it may sound a little crazy, but he is cool. Check out the website @ http://www.bozthebear.com/world/overview.asp. He is a big green singing bear with a great outlook on life. It is a good program (DVD & books ) for preschoolers. I love playhouse Disney and cartoon network, Dora & Diego, but this is BOZ. He teaches children lessons from sharing and counting, to learning words and teaching others. They say prayers and sing songs together, and you don't always get that on regular TV. A client of mine ( yes, one of my favorites) has a 3 year old grandson who loves BOZ, so she thought my girls would love him too, and they did. Each DVD has three 15-20 minute shows on it. It is available at Family bookstores, and any other christian store, and is also available online. If you have kids that love to sing, dance & learn new things, you will love BOZ! Thank you Kathy for the intro to BOZ I will be making a roadtrip to FBS for more DVD's and a few of the Good moring and bedtime books....

P.S. Kris... Presley would love this!

How are your neighbors???

Have you ever sat in your house thinking about your neighbors and what there up to? Do you get along with them? Are they quiet? Do they seem a little weird or strange? Do you
"really" like them (or love) them? Are they the neighbors you want to have dinner with or see a For Sale sign in their yard?

Well we think about ours (or see ours) daily! We moved into our house in October and our neighbors moved in about 7 weeks later. When we first met them we were a little scared. Strike 1... they don't have kids, Strike 2... they are not going to have kids, Strike 3... not really a strike, but they are dog lovers too.... OK so we have that goin' for us. Then we really got to know them. We got to know them so much that they have developed a daily routine with our little girls (or should I say my girls have developed a routine with them). They start the day out with giving Libby (the neighbor dog, our adopted 3rd dog) a scooby snack, Grace then meets Lynne at the mailbox as she comes home from work. The poor lady can't even get in the driveway w/o a 3 year old at her feet. Grace helps Lynne water the plants, and both girls help Steve feed the Deer at night. Steve then takes Libby bird watching after dinner, well of course Lynne pulls the girls in the Wagon so they can go too. They are always over there for Snow cones which Lynne has got them hooked on. Cory and I were both home sick with the FLU last week, and they took the kids for the night so we could rest, now.... who does that free will?

For being 2 people with out kids, I am one "THANKFUL" mom to have neighbors who have swept my little girls off their feet with love. You would think they were my neighbors kids, and not ours. I tried to maybe give them a little space thinking maybe we overwhelm them, but that is not the case. They love it, and we love them too. Thank you Lynne & Steve for everything you do from dead heading my plants to watching my dogs.... We look forward to many years together... We Love You!

Super Cute invitation....

So I took the liberty of making my nieces 1 year invitations, and they turned out "Super Cute" so I had to brag, it makes it even easier when she is so &$%# cute! My sister is so busy with her restaurants right now, so I had to do them....DARN! It is hard to believe she is 1 already. I get to have her next month for a week, maybe that will help my baby fix. Nikki and I are doing a KID SWAP. I am taking Katie and she is taking Emma. Emma and PJ are buddies and Grace and Katie are buddies, so it works out perfect and in the fall we will swap again, and I will take PJ and she will take Grace. I guess that is what we will do every year since she lives about 4 hours away. We are excited. I am sure I will let you know how it goes... TTFN!

The Cottage......

I haven't done a BLOG entry on the cottage yet, so I thought it would be perfect time, since it is summer. My parents cottage is about 15 miles NW of Freemont or about 35 minutes from Muskegon on McClaren lake. My mom has been up there since she was 4 when my grandparents bought a cottage there in 1961. Then about 40 years later my mom bought her own cottage right next door to the one she grew up in. In the pictures her cottage is the A frame (green) cottage in the picture of Nana & Grace tubing, the 2 little white cottages to the right are my gmas cottages. It was a little windy this weekend so the lake was choppy, but that didn't stop Grace from tubing or driving the Sea -Doo. Yes...... my little princess also loves to tube, and has figured out how the Sea-Doo moves, by the throttle.... so when daddy takes her for a ride she says "daddy, me do it!". Emma not so much though, which suprises us. She is more of the tom boy, but doesn't want to tube and likes to go for the putt putt rides on the Sea -doo. On the other hand she likes to go fast in daddys car, we don't get it! It is a nice get away on the weekend, and the BOYZ love it to, they run wild in the lake, it was a little warm for them this weekend, but they did OK!

Fabulous fourth.....

Well we continued tradition again this year. We always go to the Dorr 4th of July parade with Corys family. We have done this for 5 years now. We went to the Dorr fairgrounds afterwards, had lunch and rode some rides. I can't believe the difference b/w the girls last year on this day. They are so much bigger, I can't hardly stand it. We registered for the Duck Derby, but we didn't win. We went to Sandy Pines for fireworks this year, 1st time in 7 years we have missed the Dorr fireworks. I have to say I LOVED the fireworks, but we didn't like the fact that we had to drive home afterwards. We are used to watching them and then walking inside and going to sleep, not so much this year. With our new house the woods are in the way. Our neighbor said if we go to the beginning part of the subdivision you can see them, but not like our old house that is for sure. I told Cory that I was a little sad on the 4th this year because that was my favorite part about our old house, and I missed it. He said it is only 1 day out of the year we had to make a change, and he would rather have 364 days of woods, bird sounds & peacefullness, and 1 day of change..... well I guess I agree.

Birthday night out!

We decided to go out as ADULTS for Corys birthday. We went out with our new neighbors (Lynne & Steve) AKA the girls adopted aunt and uncle, and Dave & Rachelle (our builder and his wife). We treated Cory to KOBE grill.... AWESOME PLACE. If you haven't been there, they cook at your table and it is amazing. Cory had a few (a few to many) drinks. It was a great time and great food. Thank you Nana for watching the girls for us so we could eat in peace! HAHA!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We decided to make daddy a special cake for his birthday this year. I let the girls do everything.... crack the eggs (drop them on the floor), beat the batter (splatter it everywhere), pour it into the pan (spill it on the stove), frost the cake ( lick all the frosting). So yes it was a long process, but can you tell they are proud! Happy Birthday Honey (Daddy) we love you!