Up North

Memorial Day is always a great weekend, not only is it our anniversary weekend, but it means great family get togethers! We usually head up north to hang with the Brown side of the family. Its a fun day full of outdoor activities including my kids favorite part four wheeler rides!!                    

 We also have a new tradition we added last year a duck race down the small river that runs through our Aunt & Uncles property!

It always means a good time, great photos, and awesome memories!! I love it when my kids look forward to things and this is one thing they look forward too!

The Love of my Life

 On Friday Tob and I celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss....well at least most of them have been bliss! We have been together for a total 16 years (dated in high school, even went to our senior prom together!) He has always been there for me and is my rock, he can make me smile, laugh, and occasionally really make me mad!! But all in all he is the one I am lucky enough to spend the rest of my life with on this great journey of life. We have 2 wonderful, or at least they are wonderful 97% of the time, great families and are always there for one another. I don't know what I would do with out him!! As an added surprise we got to go on a date night Friday night!! This doesn't happen often, so it was especially great. We were joined by one of my best friends and her hubby, they were celebrating her birthday (which is the day before our anniversary!) With the babysitter all set up, we headed off for a delicious dinner of Mexican at a local joint, The Dungeon. BEST SALSA EVER!! After dinner we headed to the theatre to see The Hangover 2. The movie was great, dinner was fantastic, and overall it was a wonderful night celebrating with the one I love and some awesome friends!! Here's to many more!

Pin It Up

Being of a creative mind I have recently been introduced to Pinterest! Now if you don't know what it is.....IT IS THE BEST INVENTION EVER!! It's basically a collection of your own personal bulletin boards, online!I don't know about you, but I always seem to run across these fabulous ideas on blogs, websites, or stores and I of course add them to my favorites, in no logical order. So then, when I'm looking for it, I have NO idea where it is! This site allows me to categorize all those wonderful ideas, I also get to peek at others finds too!!  I have 9-10 boards right now, which is good and bad. But it helps to keep it all organized! Don't you just LOVE the whole idea! If you don't have an invite...I may have a few I would LOVE to share with you. Leave a comment here, with an email to contact and I will hook you up! 

Bandwagon

Over the last week or so, I have totally fallen off my bandwagon on weight loss. I am determined to refocus myself and get back on and make some real changes. I will say that I have lost a total of 15.2 lbs!!! I know that I can do it, and that I am making progress, no excuses. It is a matter of health. I know that for the last couple of weeks a lot of my bad eating habits have been due to emotional eating. We have been going through A LOT with Emmah and really trying to get to the bottom of her issues which stresses me out and then of course I turn to food. NOT anymore! I want to learn to turn to other things, excercising or crafting needs to be my release NOT food! So here we go, lesson of the month learning to not emotional eat! Wish me luck!  

Springtime means SOCCER! We have been in full swing for the last month and it has kept us very busy. I finally got around to taking some pictures. Here are some of Jake in action. (I'll give each kid their own post...so Em's will come this weekend!)  

Playing goalie!

Time for a team cheer!!

An Apple for the Teacher

Thanks to all the teachers and all they do to help children succeed!

 

Makeover Monday

I am going to start a new weekly post....called Makeover Monday!! Since I am working slowing to add some finishing details to the rooms in my house. I decided that maybe you all should come along with me! Show me what you are making over and all the changes you are making!
 
I am going to start with Jake's room. Although we painted just about every room in our house when we moved in....that is sorta where I stopped. I had my friend Candice come over and help with a few details in the living room/dining room area, but never really went too far beyond. Well, I have decided it is time.
 
When we moved Jake wanted a baseball room and I was happy to oblige, I mean it would be cute, fun and grow with him pretty easily. I knew what colors I wanted and went straight for a grey that would easily compliment his blues and red striped comforter.

 

I then added a vinyl navy stripe to the one wall, since I had seen a really cool baseball player vinyl at Target and they showed it on a similar wall. I loved the look so we went with it!

 

A few weeks back Jake and I found this really cool Comerica Park canvas...he instantly fell in LOVE and it was afforable so I picked that up. I then a week later saw the smaller ones and he picked out Cabrera.

A year ago I purchased these fun magnet wires for the kids room and so when I finally decided where it should go added that. We now added a red striped rug on his wood floor and his room is complete!  

              I am hoping to eventually make this a linky party...but until I can get that all figured out just post a link to your makeover post in a comment! I look forward to seeing what you have in the works!

Decor To Do

As you know I have been on a real kick to get my house fully decorated, and my list just keeps getting longer...after 2 years I finally finished up Jake's room and added all the final details and it looks pretty good (I'll post some pics soon!) Well I have finally decided to get into Emmah's room and since she has given me some details that she would like to see, it makes it a little easier! She has settled on Paris/French! We added a vinyl Eiffel Tower, and now I am on a mission to find the perfect chair. I want to change out her dresser and get her a smaller one, and then add some wall art and a mirror. One of the best finds is an awesome foam chandelier from Hobby Lobby. It is meant for decoration, but will look great in her corner right above a chair.I would LOVE something like this...only maybe in a black and turquoise?? I want to find something vintage, yet french and shabby chic all at the same time! Now to hit the second hand stores! 

This is the chandelier...how cute is this???

I just can't wait to get it all together, now I have to find the right and yet cheaply affordable dresser! I have fun wall art planned too! Can't wait!

      

Tulips are "Bloem"ing

Well it is Tulip Time here in Holland and that means tons of tourist, crazy weather, delicious food, beautiful flowers and festivly dressed Dutch people...or those who pretend to be since they live in Holland! We headed downtown to brave the crowds on Tuesday night and meet Auntie, Steve and Kayden there as well as Mimi & Papa to watch some dutch dancing and catch a delicous snack from the venders (One of the greatest parts of Tulip Time in my opinion!!) I even managed a few pics!  Then on Thursday was the Kinderparade...this parade is where local elementary students get to walk in their Dutch costumes. It is always cute and fun to watch. I walked this parade many times as a kid, and even when I was older to help out my mom's school. Emmah walked for the second year in a row, and Jake was a little jealous (guess I am walking next year!) I love how much she enjoys this, and of course looks ADORABLE in her costume! This year she even wore the costume that my mom made for me as a kid, it was pretty cool to see even if it was a little big! 

Also how do we like the new blog design??? I LOVE it!! If you are ever in need of one, Kim @ seven thirty one--creative blog design is the place to go. Not only is she great to work with she was decently priced and fast!! Thanks Kim!!

Happy Mother's Day

Today was a bittersweet day!

I woke up to a delicious breakfast muffin, served by 3 of my most favorite people! After breakfast we just hung out...it was nice, no fighting, just talking and playing! I had my in-laws over for lunch, and it turned out pretty good! (Although there was a close call on the side of a breakdown, I have never cooked a beef roast and it was one of those times you would call mom for directions)

After we finished lunch, we chatted and then headed out with the kids downtown to Kinderplaats. (For those who aren't local it is Tulip Time, a local festival, in Holland, it is pretty cool and I really enjoy most of it!) They have tons to do, like jumping inflatables, fire trucks, inflatable obstacle courses, it has it all! Kids had a blast and the weather was great!!

On the way home we drove to visit mom...not where I would like to though. We placed some flowers at her niche. It was nice to go as a family. I really miss her and today gets even harder when you try to celebrate being a mom, when you are missing yours...

I will share some photos tomorrow of my special cards and gifts!! Happy Mother's Day to all!

Special Mom's

I know that many of you out there know some great mom's well in honor of Mother's Day...I think we should hear about them. I wanted to let you know about some of the special mom's in my life!!

Anita-My mother-in-law is a great mom!! She is always there when we need her most, and is a GREAT grandma! My kids love her...and her cooking is delish. I will admit she is always there for a good laugh too (even if it is at my expense!)

Candice-She is the mother of 5, and does a great job juggling all her responsibilities! I don't know how she does it, but she does and does it well!! I know that I can always look to her for some parenting advice, because well she's been there done that...and who doesn't look for some experience when they ask for advice! She is one of my best friends too, which makes her all the more special!!

Katie-Although I don't know her super well, I know enough to know that she is one AWESOME mom!! She is always there to make the most of her memories and blog about it too! Even when life throws her a curve ball she is up for it and takes it all in stride. Her faith is amazing and I strive to be right there with her!

Mary-My sister (I know I have more than one, and I love you all!!) Even though she is states away she is always checking on me, including me, and sending me her love! I know she is there no matter what and I love that my family gets to make great memories with hers. She made the first Christmas without my mom, a great memory even though we were missing someone special!

Kim-My friend!! Always there, and totally understands when my child has an issue. I know she knows exactly what I'm dealing with and will love me anyway! Great to meet for coffee, and I'm sure eventually with our daughters a drink!!

Now let me say, I have only chosen a few of the special mom's in my life...want to know some more??? Well here you go...I am thankful for Wendy, Renee, Jen, Jamie, Amy, Stephanie, Jill, Melissa, Lynn (at least real soon!) Lindsay and Sue. There are also countless others who contribute to my life daily and I appreciate you all, you better know who you are!! Find the special mom's in your life and thank them...

Onward

Our saga has continued with Emmah. Although we felt we were making some progress and seeing some improvements in behavior, choices...we had since slid downhill. In the last week we have had some major issues come up.

Tob and I are feeling frustrated and looking for more answers. We have receieved results from the prior testing, but are just not sure how it all fits together.

Emmah was diagnosed with Visual Processing Deficit, which isn't an actual vision problem, but a problem in being able to find and see the finer details of something. This can make her visually frustrated which they say is causing the misbehavior. Her secondary diagonosis is ADHD, which we suspected. This explains her hyper behavior, and impulsivity. The good thing about the VPD is that it can be treated, actually with very minimum training and in Emmah's case most of which can be done at home.

We have this to go with, but something is still missing. I am meeting with an OT next week as well as making some calls for some in home behavior modification. Hopefully we will begin to find some answers and results not only for us, but more importantly for her.