Happy Birthday to ....ME!

Saturday was my 36th Birthday!! WOW! My much older sister was surprised how old was I was getting, her baby sister is getting up there in age...but actually I am quite young compared to her. Here is how we celebrated. Gifts in the morning, breakfast made for me (which is what happens pretty much every morning), late lunch out with the kids to a Hibachi grill, and in the evening Cor organized a birthday party. I had a fun day.

delicious cake NOT made by me

my kids are getting older and now wrap my presents for their daddy

reading my birthday card
Happy Birthday!! We all love you, and wish you a happy birthday day.
How old are you?
33, 36, 40 or 45?
(when I am 45 I won't be reading a homemade card anymore...well probably not!)

me and my 3 1/2 year old baby

over exuberance over a Starbucks travel mug
actually I love it as much as I'm showing...its the best thermal travel mug I've owned

"Mommy, I'll help you"

the man who arranged my birthday party...and didn't shave!

Carrie giving the pipe a try

More work than we thought...

We took on a job that was a lot more work than we anticipated. The vapor barrier was thick and difficult to spread over the slab and took more time to spread than we originally thought. After that dried we were ready to start gluing the hardwood. We started gluing the floor down, but got a little concerned over the glue marks left behind. In the morning, I went to the store and they assured me that all the glue would come off with a chemical and a wipe. So we thought we jumped that hurdle. What they failed to tell us was that you have to wipe off the glue immediately. We have the family room and foyer all complete but are very disappointed with all the glue left behind. Cor and I spent last Friday, 12 hours each, scrubbing and working with chemicals to try to get the glue up. Some of it came off put a lot did not. On Tuesday, a company is coming to get the glue off for us. Hopefully it will come off. Yesterday, we finished the hallway to the kids bedrooms and wiped the glue off right away, and it looks great! We were so encouraged. We have the living/dining room to complete and the hall way to our bedroom. Perhaps it will get finished this year....but probably not. Cor and I work very well together, we are having fun working together improving our home. Even with the glue the floors look beautiful. Most people think we are being our own worst critic.

ready to rock and roll

after being intimidated by the saw for years...I finally asked Cor to teach me how to use it. I am a master at the saw now, if I must say so myself!:)

a great team. I don't think I've EVER worked this hard!

banging every piece in and down with the mallet

gone with the carpet...no regrets.
The sand that was trapped under the under pad was startling!

If you give a guy a week off, he will likely cause more work....

Cor took this week off of work to tear up the carpet and put in hardwood floor. He wasted no time....Friday night we moved all the furniture out of the family room and living room. We set up the TV and couch in the master bedroom, and the rest of the furniture went in the dining room until the floor in the other rooms are finished and then we will do that room.

3 couches, dining room table/buffet and hutch and all the hardwood stacked in this room

kids having a great time in the great room
the only time they could run around without be told to go outside!

every man needs a woman to supervise him!

the kids enjoyed being a part of the work

Asher removing the carpet strips, which is hard work because they are nailed to concrete
no basements or sub-floor in FL

Cor putting down the vapor barrier
added protection to prevent moisture from damaging the wood
it has taken him more than 12 hours to spread this sticky heavy paste all over

because the vapor barrier takes 12-16 hours to dry the kids had to camp out in our room for the night. (Why do we need a 4 bedroom home?) Most of the house is blocked off right now. We can get into the master bed/bath through the windows and we can get to the kitchen through the nook window. And I can get to the laundry room through the garage. The kids think this is pretty cool....climbing in and out and walking around the house to get to a different area.

a breath of peaceful, fresh air

After the vapor barrier is dry, we can start glueing down the hardwood. More pictures to come.

Listenin' to too much talk radio?

Dinner table talk

Marlene: "Hey Cor, do you want to go to the Messiah this year?"
Arianna: "What is the Messiah?"
Asher: (without hestitation) "OBAMA"!


Let not your heart be troubled...he was corrected!

Camping Trip

After bone chilling temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday, I started to doubt the wisdom of our camping trip scheduled for Thursday. I comforted myself in the fact that we were traveling south! On Thursday afternoon we headed south for our second camping trip with our great friends. The weather was great, company fun, kids awesome, nature beautiful! It was a weekend of 'firsts' for our family...first time fishing for some, first time catching something, and first time canoeing! We had a great time.

beautiful grounds surrounding by massive oak trees with Spanish moss

Julianna first time fishing...
just a precious picture

fishing dock

Cor's first catch

great shot of all our canoes
we saw 4 gators, 2 that were quite large,
I tried to act brave, but kept a watchful eye while sitting by the reeds

reflective moment

stealin' kisses

at camp

Arianna's first catch
she waited patiently for this one, she was so determined to catch something!

the dog Julianna fell in love with at the next campsite
guess what she wants now?

sisters

friends...typical 7 year old look

setting up camp

Going to the Country

Yesterday we made the trek out to the country, or if you were counting political signs you would say we were in McCain/Palin country! The kids counted some 80 Republican signs to ZERO other signs. We had fun family time at the corn maze and enjoyed all the other activities that they had. This was my first time at a corn maze. To see green corn at the end of October and only maybe 6 feet tall was just wrong!

Julianna picked the "cash cow"

which way?

reminding me of all my years corn detasseling
I think I'll have to send my kids to visit Oma for the summer so they can work in the corn

on the hay ride...that had no hay
Julianna was sportin' her attitude...and Asher his!

"Asher, you make good food!"

We finally pulled down the gourmet set this month, after having them for 3 years. We had a fun time watching Asher's enthusiasm for cooking. Usually after every meal, one of the kids says, "Mom you make good food!" During this meal, Asher proudly said, "Asher, YOU make good fun!" It was a very fun dinner!

we each had our own skillet pan, and made our own dinner

The ole boy goes to the Old Country

Last month Cor spent a week in Amsterdam for work. This was his first time visiting the Netherlands. He loved everything about it.

Cor visiting with his great grandmother Van Dyk
(she is 98 years old!)

Cor with his Great Aunt Ann and his 2nd cousin Arie Pieter and Connie and their girls
they were very excited to see their cousin from American

one of the evenings Cor went on 3 hour canal tour.
He enjoyed great food and great wine

bikes everywhere

pedestrians everywhere!
we were super excited to see Cor come home and Julianna was very excited to get all the dropjes! Every night Julianna she would ask Cor if he was going to bring home dropjes. Here is everything Cor brought home from Holland!