This is one of those posts that I'm not sure I should share. Yet, I want it saved as a memory. I don't want to sound like I need pity, because I don't. I'm just trying to put a realistic view on what goes on in my head and heart on a typical day these last months.
I've told Matt that I find it stressful living here. I often feel like I carry the weight of every lost friend, every lonely recess, every Friday after school watching 'all' the other kids have sleepovers leaving school, every soccer game loss, etc. I know I shouldn't, but being a parent is really like having your heart beat outside your body. Someone told me that once, and it is so true. There have been many tears in this house. Anika struggles anytime something is new. She cried for hours before softball camp the first day and by the last day had decided she wanted to try out for the team. Jessica had alligator tears over a lost bracelet from a friend in MN. (Olivia - she let a friend take her plastic braided one from you home, and never got it back)
But then we jump in the waves at Lake MI (serious fun) and I watch Maria get over the fear of putting her face in the water, or read to me - really read, and its like you get filled all up.
I describe what goes on in my heart as constantly having the feeling like I'm going to cry just below the surface. You know the knot high in your heart, or low in your throat, and you never know what is going to set it off. Sometimes there isn't necessarily a trigger, just a memory, and out it gushes.
I read a devotional the other day about God's timing and our patience. The best line was 'Heaven is not in a panic.' It made me smile and laugh out loud. I tried to imagine God and the angels getting into a tizzy the way I do, or the kids do, over the basics of life. If the Heavenly Father feeds the sparrows, how much more will he care for me. Brandon said on the beach the other day, 'I never understood that verse in the Bible about God and the grains of sand, until we moved here. Can you imagine how many grains of sand there are on this beach?" It was priceless.
Part of the stress had to do with parts of life here. We actually had talked to our realtor to say if she came across someone that wanted a house like ours, to go ahead and bring them to see it. We were willing to sell. It would remove some stress if we could buy a foreclosure with cash and not have a house payment to keep up with. Well, God in his good timing took care of that one, too. I have been offered a job with the local airline here. Nothing is set in stone yet, and I won't be making much, but hopefully we can keep the lights on at 5155 for awhile longer! =) When we found this house, I actually said it would be great to work at the airport. Its SUPER close and free flights to MN aren't a bad perk. Again, we have to see how it all plays out. I have to pass three tests before the job is officially mine, so nothing is for sure for awhile. The trick is the schedule. I may have to work on Sunday, I have to train for 1 week periods in Denver, CO, and I don't get time off for awhile - which makes the trip back to IA and MN in August less likely - not impossible - just less likely. You take the good, you take the bad,.....the facts of life. How many are singing that song right now!?
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
parenting is hard work - and it never ends
My parents were here for two days last week. The last time they were here was in February, so I hope the house looked a bit different. But oh wow, did we get some work done. Several times they were left here alone so I could chase kids to their sports camps, or the library or whatever, and they just kept working!
The list:
power washed the siding of the house
power washed the inside of the garage door
power washed the garbage can
hosed out the outdoor fire pit stand
cleaned the grill
washed the windows inside and out
Ok, so a few stories. Yes, the inside of both the garbage can and the garage door needed to be power washed. Why you may ask? Well, because the previous owners did who knows what in there. Almost every door and some walls in this house and brown liquid spilled on it. Maybe she liked diet coke, coffee, or beer and had problems keeping her balance. I don't know, but the garage door was extra especially gross. And they smoked. I have a nose for it, and I don't smell it in the house, so I'm fairly certain they contained it to the garage, but the garbage can and the outdoor fire pit stand were NASTY. Not anymore. And my windows - oh the windows. Even Matt noticed how much cleaner they were. A few Charlottes lost their homes and their egg sacs, but I can see out all the windows!
It was quite the event getting a power washer and a 16ft step ladder to our house. Several trips were made, with side trips to pick up or drop off kids, but it all got here, and the kids and I returned it all to its proper place on Sunday.
So, thanks dad and mom for all your hard work. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to doing it for my kids in 20 or so years, but maybe by then I will!
The list:
power washed the siding of the house
power washed the inside of the garage door
power washed the garbage can
hosed out the outdoor fire pit stand
cleaned the grill
washed the windows inside and out
Ok, so a few stories. Yes, the inside of both the garbage can and the garage door needed to be power washed. Why you may ask? Well, because the previous owners did who knows what in there. Almost every door and some walls in this house and brown liquid spilled on it. Maybe she liked diet coke, coffee, or beer and had problems keeping her balance. I don't know, but the garage door was extra especially gross. And they smoked. I have a nose for it, and I don't smell it in the house, so I'm fairly certain they contained it to the garage, but the garbage can and the outdoor fire pit stand were NASTY. Not anymore. And my windows - oh the windows. Even Matt noticed how much cleaner they were. A few Charlottes lost their homes and their egg sacs, but I can see out all the windows!
It was quite the event getting a power washer and a 16ft step ladder to our house. Several trips were made, with side trips to pick up or drop off kids, but it all got here, and the kids and I returned it all to its proper place on Sunday.
So, thanks dad and mom for all your hard work. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to doing it for my kids in 20 or so years, but maybe by then I will!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Verbrugge Reunion
Every two years, my mom's siblings and kids get together in Sturgis. Michigan. Sorry, no Harley riders - not yet anyway. One of the first perks the kids mentioned when we told them we were moving here was that the drive to the reunion would be much shorter. Gotta love it.
We haven't all made it in several years, but we sure have fun with whoever shows up. We are one competitive bunch. Ping pong tournaments, team building woods, volleyball games, dodgeball games (one that ended with Matt vs me - I ALWAYS lose - I hate dodgeball, but Brandon loves it, so off I go) and The Amazing Race. Good times. My Amazing race team has won two reunions in a row. Good stuff. We race our canoes across the lake and back, we count birds in nature centers and pews in chapels. Seriously, crazy stuff, but oh so much fun. Growing up we would see who could get to the Psalter number the fastest in church. What is wrong with us! I LOVE IT!
We need to have story night next time where the siblings tell stories about their childhoods. My kids love hearing old stories. There were a few told, and there were many laughs, but it is always so much fun. Who pulled that fire alarm again? =) JOEY! Its fun to look back and to dream about the future. One of them even told Matt about a job in Virginia. Its fun to dream of the future and where we'll all be, too. And its fun to see our kids have fun together. There are SO many girls! Maria and Jessica were quite pleased with the older nephews piggy back rides. Maria and my cousin's girl told 5 year old jokes and GIGGLED. It was too cute.
Here are some highlights from this year.
We haven't all made it in several years, but we sure have fun with whoever shows up. We are one competitive bunch. Ping pong tournaments, team building woods, volleyball games, dodgeball games (one that ended with Matt vs me - I ALWAYS lose - I hate dodgeball, but Brandon loves it, so off I go) and The Amazing Race. Good times. My Amazing race team has won two reunions in a row. Good stuff. We race our canoes across the lake and back, we count birds in nature centers and pews in chapels. Seriously, crazy stuff, but oh so much fun. Growing up we would see who could get to the Psalter number the fastest in church. What is wrong with us! I LOVE IT!
We need to have story night next time where the siblings tell stories about their childhoods. My kids love hearing old stories. There were a few told, and there were many laughs, but it is always so much fun. Who pulled that fire alarm again? =) JOEY! Its fun to look back and to dream about the future. One of them even told Matt about a job in Virginia. Its fun to dream of the future and where we'll all be, too. And its fun to see our kids have fun together. There are SO many girls! Maria and Jessica were quite pleased with the older nephews piggy back rides. Maria and my cousin's girl told 5 year old jokes and GIGGLED. It was too cute.
Here are some highlights from this year.
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| Winning Amazing Race Team - the Destroyers |
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| Brandon and Dodgeball |
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| popcorn over the fire |
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| Anika's first golf outing - what a course |
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| Catching frogs in the pond |
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| Balsam Wood airplane contest |
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| oh baby |
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| our favorite ice cream place - SOOOO good |
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| cherry seed spitting contest |
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| team building - up and over the wall |
Miscellaneous fun
Since that last Friday of school, we have been having a few adventures.
Anika spent that Friday night at a friends. The next Saturday was our turn to clean church as well as the church rummage sale. So, Brandon, Jessica, Maria, Matt and I headed off to church (after a Jessica and Maria's final soccer games) and rummaged through a few tables. We walked away with a bag of clothes for random times. I went in to clean, the kids played with other children and Matt helped with the rummage sale. There are four different families that each take a turn cleaning, so we take one weekend a month and the if there is a fifth weekend, a team of cleaners does the job.
The next Monday we headed off to Grand Haven's library parking lot and learned the game of pickleball. The kids are pretty hooked and I've been looking for paddles on ebay or craigslist. I may just go buy some paddles so we can set up a court in our driveway. Its pretty fun: a combination of tennis and ping pong I guess is the best description.
We have been to both the Grand Haven library and our Norton Shores library for a variety of shows and crafts. We have been to a science show where we watched the color of a penny change, dry ice do some crazy things, and played with gloop. We've seen a ventriloquist, a juggler, and made star fans and zipper pulls. At the Norton Shores library there is a jar of candy every week. You can make one entry guess for how many pieces of candy are in the jar. Jessica won the first week - 26 pieces!
Matt's oldest niece, Emily, graduated from high school this year and had her open house on a Saturday afternoon. We left on Friday evening and drove to Matt's parents, then spent most of Saturday afternoon hanging with cousins and eating lots of good food. It was fun to see some family and the kids had fun playing with cousins. Matt got to chat with a few of his high school classmates that lived in the area and attended the open house.
My family has also discovered that they like homemade strawberry jam way more than store bought. We ran out of homemade several months ago, so they have been waiting. We are members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with a local farm here. They had a special strawberry picking day at their farm, so off we went. We picked plenty of strawberries. enough for 3 batches of jam, one pie, and a bag full of frozen strawberries.
The special day was fun. It was hot and windy, so we picked strawberries first. Everyone helped, but Anika really dug in and kept working. She insisted we keep picking more. It was near the end of the season, so the berries were very small, although from what we understand, MI berries are generally small. After picking, the kids got strawberries painted on their faces and planted a bean seed in a dixie cup to take home. Then we went on a horse drawn carriage ride. Jessica couldn't wait to get done and go pet the horses. Next was some serious climbing on the hay bales and then hotdogs, chips and lemonade. All for the price of picking some strawberries!
l
Anika spent that Friday night at a friends. The next Saturday was our turn to clean church as well as the church rummage sale. So, Brandon, Jessica, Maria, Matt and I headed off to church (after a Jessica and Maria's final soccer games) and rummaged through a few tables. We walked away with a bag of clothes for random times. I went in to clean, the kids played with other children and Matt helped with the rummage sale. There are four different families that each take a turn cleaning, so we take one weekend a month and the if there is a fifth weekend, a team of cleaners does the job.
The next Monday we headed off to Grand Haven's library parking lot and learned the game of pickleball. The kids are pretty hooked and I've been looking for paddles on ebay or craigslist. I may just go buy some paddles so we can set up a court in our driveway. Its pretty fun: a combination of tennis and ping pong I guess is the best description.
We have been to both the Grand Haven library and our Norton Shores library for a variety of shows and crafts. We have been to a science show where we watched the color of a penny change, dry ice do some crazy things, and played with gloop. We've seen a ventriloquist, a juggler, and made star fans and zipper pulls. At the Norton Shores library there is a jar of candy every week. You can make one entry guess for how many pieces of candy are in the jar. Jessica won the first week - 26 pieces!
Matt's oldest niece, Emily, graduated from high school this year and had her open house on a Saturday afternoon. We left on Friday evening and drove to Matt's parents, then spent most of Saturday afternoon hanging with cousins and eating lots of good food. It was fun to see some family and the kids had fun playing with cousins. Matt got to chat with a few of his high school classmates that lived in the area and attended the open house.
My family has also discovered that they like homemade strawberry jam way more than store bought. We ran out of homemade several months ago, so they have been waiting. We are members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with a local farm here. They had a special strawberry picking day at their farm, so off we went. We picked plenty of strawberries. enough for 3 batches of jam, one pie, and a bag full of frozen strawberries.
The special day was fun. It was hot and windy, so we picked strawberries first. Everyone helped, but Anika really dug in and kept working. She insisted we keep picking more. It was near the end of the season, so the berries were very small, although from what we understand, MI berries are generally small. After picking, the kids got strawberries painted on their faces and planted a bean seed in a dixie cup to take home. Then we went on a horse drawn carriage ride. Jessica couldn't wait to get done and go pet the horses. Next was some serious climbing on the hay bales and then hotdogs, chips and lemonade. All for the price of picking some strawberries!
l
Monday, July 2, 2012
Last day of school
The last day of school was rather anti -climatic. They have the chapel first thing in the morning here, then the kids go back to their classrooms for the last few hours. I drove up to the carpool spot as usual, my kids were waiting for me, they hopped in, and away we went. I had taken teacher pictures the day before, so we just drove away. It was strange!
BUT, an hour before that, a friend called saying a few people were headed to the beach for lunch and fun and did we want to come? I almost cried, well, I actually did on the way to school. It was so nice to be thought of, to be included, and to have the bonus of the beach was extra special. While at the beach that afternoon, I explained Beach Days from MN and they decided it was a good plan! SO, the past Tuesdays, we have packed up and gone to Beach Day MI style. Oh so much fun. The kids love having 3- 4 hours with people from school to play with at the beach. I am meeting a few more moms.
Since then, we have finished up baseball and soccer. Brandon pitched a few times, played catcher once, and played in the field just about everywhere. He walked several times - something quite common when you first have kids pitching - but also had some really nice hits. I think he would say his favorite was being able to steal bases.
Soccer was a whole adventure in an of itself. We have met several of the people that run the program here. It is a private program - not through the city- but it has both a rec program and a traveling program. Anika and Maria thoroughly enjoyed their rec teams and coaches and played very well. Brandon and Jessica struggled. Both of them had several players on their teams that had never played soccer before so the level of play just wasn't there. We decided to let both Brandon and Jessica try out for the traveling team, just to see what would happen. Brandon made the U 11 B team (a year up) and Jessica made the U9 A team (also a year up). We had only two days to make the decision. We finally landed on everything is still so new here that we just want to keep it basic for one more year. So, rec it is again, and who knows, maybe we'll try out again next year. I'm fairly sure Jessica isn't ready to play soccer year round!
These past weeks Anika has attended both a basketball camp and a softball camp and Jessica and Brandon attended a basketball camp. Jessica was awarded the hustle award. I don't want to take anything away from her hustling ability, but I'm wondering if she batted those eyes at the high school boys and they just gave her the award. Maybe she needed that little boost. The three of them are all signed up for a few more sports camps yet this summer.
BUT, an hour before that, a friend called saying a few people were headed to the beach for lunch and fun and did we want to come? I almost cried, well, I actually did on the way to school. It was so nice to be thought of, to be included, and to have the bonus of the beach was extra special. While at the beach that afternoon, I explained Beach Days from MN and they decided it was a good plan! SO, the past Tuesdays, we have packed up and gone to Beach Day MI style. Oh so much fun. The kids love having 3- 4 hours with people from school to play with at the beach. I am meeting a few more moms.
Soccer was a whole adventure in an of itself. We have met several of the people that run the program here. It is a private program - not through the city- but it has both a rec program and a traveling program. Anika and Maria thoroughly enjoyed their rec teams and coaches and played very well. Brandon and Jessica struggled. Both of them had several players on their teams that had never played soccer before so the level of play just wasn't there. We decided to let both Brandon and Jessica try out for the traveling team, just to see what would happen. Brandon made the U 11 B team (a year up) and Jessica made the U9 A team (also a year up). We had only two days to make the decision. We finally landed on everything is still so new here that we just want to keep it basic for one more year. So, rec it is again, and who knows, maybe we'll try out again next year. I'm fairly sure Jessica isn't ready to play soccer year round!
These past weeks Anika has attended both a basketball camp and a softball camp and Jessica and Brandon attended a basketball camp. Jessica was awarded the hustle award. I don't want to take anything away from her hustling ability, but I'm wondering if she batted those eyes at the high school boys and they just gave her the award. Maybe she needed that little boost. The three of them are all signed up for a few more sports camps yet this summer.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Here we go
Its been over a month since I have posted. A crazy month. Sometimes I don't post because I am so busy. Sometimes I don't post because I'm not sure what to say. Sometimes I don't post because the things I want to say aren't very positive!
BUT, I hope to post each night this week to catch up on the life of June and start with the life of July. Maybe no one will read it, but at least I will have a little history of our lives saved in print and picture!
First, Anika had a band concert in May and she has a flute solo. It actually was a duet with a clarinet, but even with the volume turned up loud, I can only hear her! She did a great job. She hasn't played her flute since, but we are hoping to start lessons again in the near future! I'm trying figure out how to post the video, but as of yet, the computer has me beat.
The trip to MN was great. We had good travels and so much fun with friends. I actually dropped Anika and Brandon off at school on Friday morning and did not see them again until Sunday morning. Thanks to all of you who helped make this such a special weekend for all of us. For taking in our kiddos as one of your own.
On the way to school Friday morning, Brandon could hardly sit. We were a few blocks away and he said, "We're almost there". Then we turned the corner and Anika said, "I remember this playground." as though she had been gone for YEARS! A friend came running out the door to give her a big hug, followed by another friend and then her teacher. I was in tears in pretty short order.
BUT, I hope to post each night this week to catch up on the life of June and start with the life of July. Maybe no one will read it, but at least I will have a little history of our lives saved in print and picture!
First, Anika had a band concert in May and she has a flute solo. It actually was a duet with a clarinet, but even with the volume turned up loud, I can only hear her! She did a great job. She hasn't played her flute since, but we are hoping to start lessons again in the near future! I'm trying figure out how to post the video, but as of yet, the computer has me beat.
The trip to MN was great. We had good travels and so much fun with friends. I actually dropped Anika and Brandon off at school on Friday morning and did not see them again until Sunday morning. Thanks to all of you who helped make this such a special weekend for all of us. For taking in our kiddos as one of your own.
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| to the park |
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| yes, we traveled this way |
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| Matt and the boys |
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| the happy couple |
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| dress up time |
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| movie time |
Relationships are important to me. I grew up with family ALL OVER and I love my aunts, uncles, cousins and got to know them well in the short time we spent together. We are still ALL OVER and it is so much fun to have people to connect to in so many places. I hope my kids can keep up these relationships and have friends that they remember for life. I know I will.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
The Countdown
The final few loops of the paper chain count down are holding on for dear life. In the past, we have made a paper chain count down to Christmas, but again, we missed out on that this year. So, Anika proudly made a count down to MN paper chain and has bee ripping off sheets of paper for about 3 weeks. As you can see, there are only two left.
There are many excited little bodies in this house, but there is also some wonder. They've talked about how excited they are to see everyone, but wonder what it will be like. They've asked to go back home - which I explained to them we can't do. Its not our house anymore. They are eager to attend school and see classmates and teachers, but someone here asked me if I was certain I wanted to reopen those wounds. So, this weekend is an experiment of sorts, and I am sure the ride back to MI on Sunday will be yet another adventure. I liken it to being a freshman in college and going back to the high school football game. You need to experience to realize it isn't the same anymore. We'll see!
We had another rocket launch this weekend. This time launch and retrieval were both successful. Anika only shot hers off once, but the other three shot their's off twice. The kids had a great time retrieving all the rockets our friend set off as well.
We are also planning a trip in August. We plan on being in NW Iowa from August 5 -8, Hollandale from August 8 - 10, the cabin from August 10 - 12, and Minneapolis from August 12 - 15.
Happy Trails!
There are many excited little bodies in this house, but there is also some wonder. They've talked about how excited they are to see everyone, but wonder what it will be like. They've asked to go back home - which I explained to them we can't do. Its not our house anymore. They are eager to attend school and see classmates and teachers, but someone here asked me if I was certain I wanted to reopen those wounds. So, this weekend is an experiment of sorts, and I am sure the ride back to MI on Sunday will be yet another adventure. I liken it to being a freshman in college and going back to the high school football game. You need to experience to realize it isn't the same anymore. We'll see!
We had another rocket launch this weekend. This time launch and retrieval were both successful. Anika only shot hers off once, but the other three shot their's off twice. The kids had a great time retrieving all the rockets our friend set off as well.
We are also planning a trip in August. We plan on being in NW Iowa from August 5 -8, Hollandale from August 8 - 10, the cabin from August 10 - 12, and Minneapolis from August 12 - 15.
Happy Trails!
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