The Falls: Then and Now

Sticky

Latest Stunt

So…. Marc thought the boys needed a bike ramp.  This is a the first prototype and after several test runs, we realized it needs revamped a bit, however, the boys LOVED testing it out.

And yes, we did already have a nice wipeout.  Poor AJ.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Every May, Andrew’s school has Grandparents day where Grandmas and Grandpas are invited to come to school for part of the day.  The week before, the art teacher asked each student to draw one of their grandparents.  Andrew choose his Grandpa Dykstra.  This is for you Grandpa!  Have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Anyone still There….?

I am going to try to do better posting here.  I have a lot, so I will try to get caught up.  No promises, but I’ll try.  Here’s a little something from our recent vacation in the U.P.

Book Report: The Help

So, life has been crazy.  Crazy in the sense, that I haven’t even read a book since last December.  Crazy, in that I haven’t posted to this blog in WAY too long.  Crazy, in that my house is never clean.

But summer is here and school is out, and I had the “opportunity” to travel to Ohio for nine days of necessary down time.  I had wanted to read The Help for a while, but it was never available at the library and because of where we live… requesting a hold isn’t as easy as it should be any more.

But on a last minute library trip before we traveled, it was sitting right there on the shelf waiting for me.  I picked it up and barely put it back down. 

Oh so good!  So believable.  The characters are lovable and relatable and hate-able.  The points of  view are enlightening, humorous, and cringe-worthy. I stayed up way to too late trying to finish it and then was sad the next night when I didn’t have it to read.

For a debut novel, Ms. Stockett wrote a book I highly recommend!

Mother’s day 2011

I know it’s a week late, but here a little of how we celebrated Mother’s Day. 

I have a couple beautiful Gerber Daisy on my table.  Many wonderful homemade gifts made at school.  And flowers for my lovely flowerpots.  (and I bought myself a new dress from Marshall's the weekend before….we are counting that, too!)

We also went to Olive Garden for a nice Mother’s Day lunch with some great friends.

My boys!

   

The promise was from Andrew to “Mow the Lawn”.  He might be a bit young for that promise…. but I’m sure I’ll hold it to him someday.

 

Andrew made me this ‘growing’ flower.  I realized the picture didn’t catch all the text.
It states, “Thanks for helping me grow!”

AJ’s decorated cup from church, and both boy’s preschool planter with flowers.

Can a Garfield Band-Aid and Yo-Yo Fix it?

AJ had his 5 year old check up last Friday which included his Kindergarten shots.  He had to get two pokes in his thigh.  While he was super brave for the first one, the second one did him in.  His reaction came late… it was a full 8-10 seconds after the nurse was finished when he start crying.

He pulled it together quickly when the nurse gave him a Garfield band-aid and a yo-yo.

5 Year Old Stats for AJ:
Height = 44.5 inches
Weight = 46.6 lbs
BMI = 16
Hearing = Good, although he did fail the first test
Vision = 20/20

Since the appt, he’s been running around and playing outside without another thought to his pokes…. that is… until it was time to clean his room.

Then all of a sudden, he produced a limp, held his shorts up (apparently the fabric was just too painful to the touch) and told me he leg was just too sore to clean.

Nice try, kid.

Mother’s Day Mistakes

Mistake Number 1:

AJ made a lovely Mother’s Day planter for me at preschool.  I knew it was coming because I still have the one Andrew made when he was in preschool. It sits on my window sill above my kitchen sink.  I see it everyday.   

So I was excited to get one from AJ.    I picked him up from my friend’s house after preschool on Friday, where he presented me with my planter.  And it was just as lovely as I had hoped….

….that was for the few seconds I held it before I dropped it on the cement driveway.

Both AJ and I were speechless for a few seconds…. I felt AWFUL and I didn’t know what reaction I was going to get from AJ who worked so hard on this just for me. (I had been hearing about his “special surprise” all week).

He then reacted calmly… more concerned about the flower than the smashed planter itself.  We found a cup, picked up all the pieces and the flower and transported it home.  I got out my hot glue gun and did my best to glue it back together.

At this point, I  was really repairing the pot for my sake as we put the flower in a yogurt cup in the sunshine and that’s all AJ really seemed to care about. 

Side note: hot glue doesn’t work well on terra cotta.  In hindsight, I think good ol’ Elmer's would have been a better option.

But it’s together  and if you come over, please don’t breathe on it heavy or even stare too hard, or it might fall apart again.

 

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Mistake Number 2:

Saturday morning, I got up with great intentions.  I was going to make coffee cake for our neighbors and a couple of friends for Mother’s Day.  My plan was to use my extra large muffin tin for large muffin/small cake sized coffee cakes.  I was going to wrap them in a bag with a note and bless a few people with a sweet treat.

I whipped out my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and went to work…. and this was my result: Sunken Muffins.  Tasty? Yes.  Presentable? No.

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To all those “almost perfect” Mother’s who may be reading this….

Happy Mother’s Day!

Cheap Fix

With a few bucks worth of fabric and a staple gun, I was able to take our tired, ripped bar stools that we got used 10 years ago and make them look fresh and updated again.

The second picture really doesn’t do much for the color of the fabric, but it’s a deep chocolate brown similar to the color of the first picture’s leather.