The weekend ... yeah!

Well, the weekend approacheth, and I'm looking forward to it. The big excitement for the kids yesterday afternoon was going in the jacuzzi. Cyndie got Emma some better swim goggles, and she wanted to try them out, so they did! We had dinner at my folks, and did some painting for them after that. After we were pooped, and went to bed by 9pm.

It's pretty cold and windy today, with a bit of flurries, but I think that winter is on its way out over all. Most of the snow is gone from the lawn, and after super-freezing temps the last couple of days, the frozen ground is beginning to get a bit mushy. We're looking forward to things drying up a bit so that the kids can spend more time outside.

It should be a quiet weekend. I don't think we have much planned!

Thursday

A quick update on the happens of late, with a little bragging first.

Last night, after dinner, Emma was on a mission. She wanted to play the Emma and Timmy game, so we told her the more you help clean up dinner, the faster we'll be ready. So she was off. Clearing the table, rinsing off the dishes, loading the dishwasher ... awesome. She was all business. She was such a big help. When Cyndie and I both praised her and her great attitude, she gave a little smile, but I think that inside she was really bursting with pride/excitement that she was such a big help!

Had bowling last night ... that was fun. I've figured out the flaw in my game (I'm sure there is far more than one), and am back on the upswing in regards to consistently scoring well. It was a fun night, but the Ham Fighters (my league team for those of you not paying attention) ran into an incredibly hot Shomer Showers team (I have no idea what that means) meaning we only took 2 out of 7 possible points.

Today, the kids both have school, and Tim has a play date with his friend Ben until 3 or so ... meaning Cyndie has most of the day to herself! Amazing, I wonder what she'll do with her freedom! Tonight we're going to meet (me from work, Cyndie and the kids from home) over at my folks to work more on painting ... the kids really like to play over there.

Plowing along ...

Not a whole lot new in the life of the Wildwood DeVries these days.

• The virus/sickness/whatever that hit over the weekend appears to have been kicked. We've had no sickness since Sunday morning!
• The kids finished up their "Winter I" session of swim lessons. Both are on to the next level for next session. After that, we'll probably switch to sports for each of them ... likely soccer
  
• Cyndie has been actively recruiting volunteers in the spa/salon industry for the MOPS Spa Night. She's seen some results lately and is optimistic that there will be a good crew for the even at the beginning of March.
• We're looking at a spell of warmer weather for the next several day. Today is already in the upper 30s, with rain starting to fall when I walked into work this morning. It looks like we will have a combination of snow/slush/rain around for the next several weeks.
  

The weekend has closed ...

Well, our weekend did not go exactly as we had planned. We planned for a busy Saturday, and then a some sledding with friends on Sunday. Unfortunately, Emma was sick in the night on Friday, so we canceled all our Saturday plans, including a birthday party at a bounce place, and having some friends over for music/dinner. Oh well. Both the kids actually acted fine all day. We did end up going out to Home Depot for the craft (Emma made a jewelry box, and Timmy some book ends). The afternoon was kick back, relaxing, movies, painting our crafts.

During the night Emma threw up again (crazy!?). So I went to church to do the worship team thing, but Cyndie and the kids stayed home. Our sledding "date" with friends was also canceled. We ended up getting out a bit to go over to my folks place (while they're out of town) to work a bit on tearing out their old carpet in their bed room, and getting it ready to paint. We ended the weekend with a "family movie night" ... Return to Neverland. I also did some work on the current project for our art class ... we had to do something with a Raggedy Ann and Andy in it. I'll try to post a picture of that (and Cyndie's) after class Tuesday night.

So there you have it. We're back into the groove of things for another week, hopefully with health!

Introducing the newest member of our family ...

No, we have not replaced Albert. Rather, Cyndie has worked her magic again and has found us a steal on Freecycle.

I got home today while Cyndie and the kids were still out at Grand Geneva ice skating. I found the dishwasher half pulled out of the counter, and tools everywhere. It turns out Cyndie had found a free dishwasher, and wanted to surprise me by putting it in while I was gone. She had gotten it most of the way out, but needed a bit of help in the end (plus she didn't expect me quite so early). Anyway, I called her and she told me the about what she'd found. I took the old dishwasher out, and when she got home (she had the new one in the back of the suburban), we carried it in, and I installed it.

Now, for the first time in six or so months, we have a working dishwasher.

And the best part, is that the dishwasher is brand new! That girl is amazing. I think the deal must have been (I'm guessing this since the lady from whom Cyndie got the dishwasher said they just bought the house) that the last owners of the house had replaced some or all of the appliances in order to help sell the house, but then the new owners wanted a different color (the dishwasher is black, so it matches what we've got in our kitchen).

So there you have it, we have a brand spankin' new dishwasher, and our cash outlay for said dishwasher is $0.00!

Friday update

It's been a whirlwind last several days.

Wednesday was the strangeness of putting Al down, then a rain/snow storm that made the roads REALLY icy from about 5 - 7 pm, then bowling (Bible study was canceled for Cyndie).

Then Thursday was a short day of school for the kids (parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon and evening), Uncle Gow came into town for a very brief stay*, our parent-teacher conference (all good things, Mrs. Hintz loves Emma and says she's an excellent student), and worship team practice.

*Long story short, Gow and I are submitting an application to be on the Amazing Race. It's a long shot, but we're excited about it. It turns out making a three minute video of ourselves which shows why we would be good contestants in one afternoon/evening was a lot harder than we expected! Unfortunately, we were up against a deadline to get it submitted, so we'll go with what we've got!

Now today, the kids have the day off school, so they're going ice skating at Grand Geneva, I'm at work. Cyndie and I are looking forward to an evening of nothing, and sleeping in tomorrow. We're having some friends over on Saturday afternoon, so that should be fun.

RIP Albert Einstein

We had to put Al to sleep this morning. It was a tough call, and a tough day, but it was the right time. We had thought seriously about it a month or so ago, but he kind of perked up and so we didn't. But he hasn't really eaten the last several days, and has been having real problems with his back legs, so the time was right.

It's really been hard for Cyndie, and has been harder than I expected for me, but I guess when you compare that to all the good times over the last eleven years, it's a price worth paying.

So now, for the first time in eleven years, we are dog-less.

Tuesday means ... basketball!

So it's a Tuesday, and that means that tonight I'm going to see a Marquette basketball game with some guys from church. They'll pick me up at work, and then we'll hit the game. It should be a blast, and it will be a great opportunity to get to know some guys better too. Unfortunately, it means I'll have to miss art class (now on Tuesday evenings), but Cyndie is going to tape Auntie Karen's demonstrations, so hopefully I'll get the best of both worlds!

Yesterday Cyndie spent much of the day visiting Lake Geneva businesses soliciting donations for the silent auction that the MOPS team holds in conjunction with the spa night ... tiring, but hopefully it will prove successful. Tonight the kids have swim class, then they'll watch a movie at Auntie Karen's while Cyndie is painting. It's a busy day for us all!

Bits and Pieces

It's been a few days, so here are some bits and pieces to try to catch everyone up:

• "Normal" weekly activities are still happening: swim lessons, Bible study, bowling, going to the library, school, work, etc. It seems the weeks are just busier and busier!
• Cyndie has been pretty busy trying to help get the MOPS spa night going ... there's been a bit of a leadership gap, so she's trying to push that thing along and make it a fun night for all the ladies.
• We did end up skiing last Friday. It was a bit wet, but all in all the snow was surprisingly good. Emma did great again. The only really weird (not really bad, just weird) was how they had blown the snow ... it was in strips across several different runs, which made skiing difficult in that you'd be zipping along on the icy/melty snow, but then hit a dry spot where they'd blown snow, and really slow down. It was almost like hitting a patch of bare ground.
• We spent the night at Casparis Friday and then helped celebrate Kristi's birthday on Saturday.
• Emma and Sarah did their first successful slumberparty. We'd tried it before, but they couldn't make it work. Now, around a year later, they're a little wiser, and we, the parents, have wised up as to how to make it work, and they had a good time.
• Don't see The Happening! A horrible movie. M. Night Shyamalan is definitely on a poor career path. After really enjoying his first three or four movies, his last several have been preachy, predictable, and downright dull.
• We had a nice Sunday ... just relaxed and didn't do a whole lot.

So there you have it, bits and pieces to catch us up!

Rolling on

We're rolling along around here.

Yesterday Emma had her second Jewels of Wood (girl scouts knock off) meeting and had a really good time. I think Cyndie enjoyed it too. They made a heart pillow as a craft. Cyndie said it would be really easy if it weren't for one of the girls who is very rambunctious! One of the ladies that helps brought her son along, so Timmy had a playdate too, which is nice.

The snow continues to recede. Most of the yard is exposed by now, and what wasn't gone this morning will very likely be gone when I get home as we're supposed to have record highs today ... possibly exceeding 60! When I walked into the office this morning with jeans and shortsleeves, it felt warm, even though it was very windy!

The big question now is, will we be skiing this Friday with Emma's school? The ski day coordinator seemed optimistic when Cyndie talked to him yesterday, but I'd have to say that I don' t necessarily share his optimism. I guess we'll see!

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend!

It started with the ski trip with the school on Friday afternoon. The weather was great ... in the upper 30s ... but the snow held up really well. It was not at all slushy, nor was it icy as it got cooler later in the day. We all skiid starting around noon. Emma took a lesson (required since this is actually a gym class), and Cyndie and I took turns hanging out with Timmy on the bunny hill. Tim got tired pretty quickly, and was ready to go with Grandma and Grandpa when they came to get him around 1:45 for his quiet time. He ended up staying with them all afternoon.

Emma, on the other hand, was awesome. She mastered the ski lift, and for the second half of the afternoon, she wouldn't let us ride with her. Which was fine with Cyndie and I since we got to ride together! Emma was game for anything, and stretched herself to try lots of new runs. She even when up the "big" lift and went down from there. Cyndie and I were a little concerned with that since she didn't really slow herself down as much as she should have, but she was fine. So we had a blast.

After that we went over to my folks for dinner, which was good since we were all pooped!.

Saturday we went down to the lakefront in Lake Geneva for the winterfest and the National Snow Carving competition. The poor souls doing that ... all their efforts wasted. It had been in the low 40s since 3p on Friday (and all through the night too), and their sculptures were trashed. Oh well. We watched a performer in the big ball room and hung out a bit. In the afternoon, Timmy took a nap, which he NEVER does. He slept from 1:30 - 5 ... crazy! We had some friends over for dinner, and he managed to get up and play with his friend Lukas a bit at the end, but he was really wiped!

Sunday was church, then in the afternoon we went over to Covenant Harbor for a church/camp open gym. That was a lot of fun. The kids played with their friends, Cyndie played some board games and joined the volleyball at the end, and I played a bunch of basketball and volleyball with a bunch of the men from church. It was a really fun time, but I was pooped after playing/running/standing for 3 hours. Emma was really cute ... she spent much of the afternoon playing with one of the little boys (3 years old) from church and helping him in the bounce house and entertaining him. He was really sad when he had to leave his friend Emma!

So now we're back in the swing of things for the week. Emma has her second Jewels of Woods meeting today, so I'll be excited to hear about that when I get home!

Friday, Half day

Friday is here, yea!

That means a half day of work for me, a half day of school for Emma, and then a half day of skiing for the Wildwood DeVries! Emma's school is having their third ski day of the year, and this time Cyndie, Timmy, and I are going too. We're really looking forward to it. This will be Tim's first ski day of the year, so hopefully he remembers some of what he learned last year (which is that he likes to go fast, but doesn't have as much interest in turning). Emma's been going up on the bigger lifts (that being a relative term at Grand Geneva ... which is basically just a small bump compared to "real" ski resorts), and is learning a lot. She really enjoys it. It's supposed to be in the high 30s or low 40s by mid afternoon ... hopefully great for being warm, but not making the snow too slushy.

The other excitement to report is that progress is being made in getting up the drywall in the dining/living room. It's looking great. Our condensation/water concern has been taken care of (it was "just" condensation that we dried out). There's some drywall up, and some plastic backing up. Many, many thanks to my dad for taking care of that!

It's Midweek

Midweek has come, and we're rolling along with a full schedule.

I've been driving in to work the last several weeks, and that will likely continue for a while. I've been listening to a book on tape (great suggestion Cyndie), which makes the drive go much more quickly. The drive, however, still makes my day much shorter as I'm leaving a few minutes before Emma gets on the bus and return home around 5:30.

The kids have had play dates (Timmy to go sledding), school, shopping trips with Cyndie, swim lessons, and lots to keep them busy too. Last night I met up with them for McDonalds (my folks joined us too) after their swim lessons, and then Dad and I headed over to Home Depot to get some drywall to finally finish off the North walls in the dining and living rooms. Cyndie and I have worked the last couple of evenings getting those rooms ready including moving a bunch of furniture, and taking down the paneling in the living room and doing some electrical. I think we're ready now, though we ran into a bit of a snag when we found a bunch of frost behind the insulation in the dining room. We think this was condensation since that insulation has been exposed for several months. I think what happened is that there being extra moisture in the interior air (due to the whole house humidifier we have), it condensed against the cold exterior wall and then turned to frost. The hypothesis is further supported by the living room walls having a bit of frost on them this morning (after having been "exposed" overnight). So hopefully the solution is to turn off the whole house humidifier for a few days, take down the insulation to let everything dry, and then put it all back together and drywall.

The rest of the week holds a trip to Emma's school for Cyndie as she is a guest lecturer in their ongoing "Arts" series. Then Friday afternoon, the whole family will participate in the Woods School ski day in the afternoon ... hopefully with temps in the mid 30s!