Sept. 27

Today, September 27 a wonderful thing occured 36 yrs ago...my husband Dan came into this world and knew right then he was destined to marry me!!! happy birthday honey..
to celebrate Dan, Kaden, my dad, my brother and his son Zach went to the Grand Valley State football game...it was exactly what he wanted to do...they had a great time...


grandpa and Kaden at the game...




Zach and Kaden at the game...



all smiles!!!!



Dans co-worker, officer Chris Stoddard...he actually played football for Grand Valley when he was in college/police academy there...he was able to sneak Kaden down to the field..i guess it does pay to know people!!!!

Whitney and the girls...

Whitney and her friends have a good time..there is always someone at our house..we usually have the whole neighborhood at our house which is good because the i can keep an eye out on my kids...Whitney has really exploded with the friends...she is always on the phone (or her cell phone) always telling me stories about who she hung out with and what she did... at the football games...watch out..i watched her interact one game...she definately likes to mess with the boys...(Dan has a lot of guns and is a pretty good aim)..anyway..here are three of her closest friends..


Brittany and Whitney (and Oliver)


Jordan (how neat..our neighbor) and Whitney


her best friend...Cassidy

The Bus!!!

Well...this is it..the boy is riding the bus...he was so angry the first few days of school because he couldn't ride the bus home...he loves the bus..alot of his friends are on the bus and he really enjoys it. This is the first time he has rode the bus from school. It was cute because the second day of school I picked him up from school and he had a sad look on his face and said:
Kaden: Im a picker upper today?
Me: Yes honey, but only a few more days and then you can ride the bus home...
Kaden: OK, but only a few more days...

These are pictures from his first day on the bus...Dan and I waited with Oliver at the end of the road for Kaden..he was on cloud nine..and still is everytime he gets off the bus...he loves it!!!


big bus rider!!!!

the creature!!

As I was getting ready to empty the hot tub and clean it and get ready for our cement to be poured so we can build our deck around it before winter; i found a little creature hiding on the side of the hot tub...he was just hanging around and enjoying the sun rays hitting him. I called the kids over to see it and Dan held it in a container but then eventually let it go. I have no idea where it went, but better be far from me. Yes..i screamed a little and then yelled for my husband, yes, i was scared..it was staring right at me!!!!! freaked me out!!!! anyway, i guess it is one of those wood things that you find in the woods, not on my hot tub...anyway, i managed to not get too close and take a couple pictures...

Hanging around....

get off my hot tub!!!!

You ain't so scary..but you ain't so cute either!!!!

the tooth fairy!!!

Kaden has a loose tooth and is very confused about the tooth fairy..listen to the conversation:

Kaden: Leah..my tooth hurts
me: Kaden!!! you have a loose tooth. That is really cool because when it falls out you put it in a bag and put it under your pillow and when you are sleeping the tooth fairy comes and turns your tooth into money with her magic wand..
Kaden: (mouth open) wow...i can't believe that..is the tooth fairy a boy or a girl?
me: a beautiful girl who wears a beautiful dress and has beautiful wings
Kaden: shes gonna see me sleeping in my pajamas and shes a girl
me: its ok. she crawls under your pillow while your sleeping then flies off to someone elses house
Kaden: she needs to be a boy because boys are tougher and they can fly faster
me: oh really, but girls give you more money
Kaden: then santa clause needs to be a girl!!!

pretty much i couldn't stop laughing then Kaden started laughing then it was over and then his dad called and he was being goofy on the phone...what a morning...

to my friends!!!!

heres a shout out to my friends (as lacey calls them peeps)...without such good friends a girl just isn't worth a thing...i love all my friends to pieces and am so glad they are in my life...heres to all of you (and you know who you are) love ya tons....

2 yr. anniversary!!!!!

Well...it has been two years today since I married the love of my life. I can't believe that this is only our two year anniversary. We have been through a lifetime of crossroads in our marraige already. I must say that i do wish i had met him a long long time ago so i wouldn't have wasted so much time with other pitfalls in my life...although those pitfalls have made me who i am today and made our relationship what it is today. Like every marraige we have our ups and downs, but the one thing that always remains is my love for this man. He may piss me off and frustrate me and make me want to go outside and scream, but I still love him at the end of the day. I thank God every night for him. I love you honey.

Never forget...

its a few days past 9/11, but still thinking about it...pray to God for all those still suffering for this horrible action...

all about me...

This was very interesting...thanks Trisha...love ya!!!

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget. You are not a very grounded person. You prefer dreams to reality. For you, it's all about possibilities. You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you. Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

a href="a href="http://www.blogthings.com/insidetheroomofyoursoulquiz/"Inside a the Room of Your Soul

my dads surgery

well, another surgery down for my father. he actually did very well. after his heart surgery a few months ago, they told us he had two aneurysms. the one on his heart is unable to be surgically taken care of, so we need to hope and pray that God will allow it to stabilize; not burst and not grow. The one in his left leg was repaired yesterday. His right leg was 80% blocked and left leg 99% blocked. It was funny. When i talked to him last night the first thing he said to me was "I can feel my toes" crazy as it sounds...anyway. He had some excessive bleeding last night but that is because he is stubborn and doesn't want to lay still after surgery. Eventually he was allowed to get up and walk and did just fine. Hopefully he will be coming home today. My mom was going to go to a friends house to sleep, but couldn't leave him alone because he would have done everything wrong....love my dad to pieces but he is strong willed!!!! anyway, thanks for the prayers and well wishes. I know there are two very close friends whose fathers are going through rough times...us little daddys girls are all they have and they are our whole life! Prayers for everyone.

3 months!!!!

Brittany woke up this morning singing, smiling, all happy, she even made her own breakfast (which she usually doesn't eat) and was so cheerful. The first thing out of her mouth after good morning was guess what...it is Christian and mine 3 month anniversary.. then she said (it seems a lot longer than that). Anyway, it was nice to see her so happy because she has been major grumpy lately. Christian balances her out and tells her when to shut her mouth when she starts arguing with us. He is very respectable to us and treats us with nothing but respect. He is a good kid and good for Brittany.
Brittany and Christian camping this past summer...

Relaxing in the kitchen...probably waiting for pizza rolls because that and arbys is all they eat...(I think he likes this shirt)

Kadens special bag...

Kaden received a "special bag" for having no cavities...he was able to get a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, cologne, and anything else he could put in there. He was so excited and was so cute picking out his new toothbrush. He got a spaceman battery toothbrush. Good job Kaden on not having any cavities....


Kadens new toothbrush

Marker in the pants..

Thought i would share this with all of you since you all have little ones..

I was folding the laundry when i noticed a marker in Kadens short pockets.

Me: What is this marker doing in your pocket?

K: (jaw drop look on face like OH CRAP!)

Me: Kaden?

K: what if i get to school and i want to write something and i don't have anything to write with? then i can use my marker....

Me: what would you want to write?

K: something that says I love you Leah....

now how can you be upset about that...I love you too Kaden.

first day of school

The first day of school.....what a change a summer has made. Whitney is such a young lady..she is now a "middle schooler" and started 6th grade today. She was so excited. She loves all of her classes and says that the boys "are annoying" (thats good). She really likes the fact that she changes classes every hour. She said that its not as boring as 5th grade.


Kaden started kindergarten this year. He was sooooo excited today. He was able to ride the bus around and then play on the playground. He was such a big boy. He got into the car to go home and the first thing he says to me is "I have a crush on that girl, you know, your friends daughter", he is referring to my friend Tracy Zylstra whose daughter is not only in his class this year, but she is a cheerleader for his football team. SCARY!!!









and of course; there is Brittany, who would not let me take her picture because the first thing she would say was "your not putting that on your stupid blog are you" well of course i wouldn't, don't be silly... she is now in 11th grade; a junior in high school. kind of scary, but at the same time she is turning out to be a beautiful woman. She really is and im not just saying that because she is my daughter.

congrats to all my kids for another year...love mom