School Starts!

Well, we got the kids off to school today. Everything went pretty smoothly. Up at 6:45, showers, breakfast, no TV (without too much complaining), teeth brushed, lunches made, and out the door. Timmy was pretty hesitant last night, but a little less so this morning. We got there early (7:45, school starts at 8:30) to help with a coffee time for parents, and a couple of his friends were there already, so when he saw them, he was fine. Emma was more excited. She had a little time of nervousness when she got to her room and there wasn't a good place to sit near some of her friends, but she sat next to a new girl (who was sitting alone) and I think that made her feel good. She likes to be the leader/introducer, so being able to do so with the new girl was good. I saw her a couple of times (previous to the sitting incident) leading new kids around and helping them find their classes ... right down her "mommy complex" alley!

Cyndie and I enjoyed the coffee time in the gym with lots of friends (who are parents). Good times. We were all ready to be back in the regularity of school. It was just another great example of why we love the small school. We were just all hanging out there, drinking coffee and having a good time. Not that that doesn't happen in bigger schools, but it's just a great community at Woods.

Now, back to work. Soccer starts tonight at 4:30!

Fun morning

Bragging for Emma today. We went out on the boat ... the four of us and Auntie Jane. We were very disappointed when we got up at 6 am ... first because it was still dark (I guess we haven't been getting up very early lately), and second because it was 15 - 20 mph winds. We decided to head over anyway, just to see what we would see. It was by no means perfect. On "our" side of the lake, the north shore, there were pretty big waves from the wind. We went across to the south shore and it was quite a bit better, though definitely not of the quality we're used to in the mornings. So we went. I wakeboarded and Cyndie skied, then Emma gave it a go. She had previously maxed out at about 20 or 30 seconds at a time. She wasn't having any problems getting up, but was, I think, getting scared when she thought she was going toward the wake, and so she'd just drop the rope. So I convinced her last night that she a) wasn't going to go out of the wake unless she tried to, and b) could turn herself just like she does when she snow skis. So, the first time, she dropped again after 20 seconds. I think she just forgot what we'd talked about. But after that, she was a champ. She stayed up for minutes, and only dropped under duress (wake from other boats knocking her down). She skied all over the lake, including making some big looping turns when we got to the end of the sheltered part of the lake and needed to go back. She even skied half the way back to the north shore where the water was starting to get really rough again! So while she was a "kind of" skier before, she is now official!!!

Almost School ...

School is almost here ... we start a week from today. It can't come soon enough. We had a back to school hot dog bash last night up at the school. The kids had a great time seeing friends and running around and playing. Now this morning I've been listening to them fight all morning about stupid things. I think they need some space from each other and routine that school brings!

We have a few fun things this week ... we're going to the fair tomorrow for most of the day, and then we're going to a Brewers game on Thursday. Then my cousin, Dawn, and her family will be in town over the weekend, so that will be nice ... and then school!

A Blast

We went out on the boat early this morning and had a blast as a family. Timmy decided he didn't want to "do" anything, so he was just a long for the ride. I wakeboarded, Cyndie skied, and Emma skied. Cyndie had talked to a friend of our and learned that you can drop a ski, so she had a good time slaloming with out the effort to get up on one ski! Emma's getting there with skiing. She still doesn't stay up for long (I think she's still getting the feel for how much to lean back against the pull of the rope) but she definitely thinks it's cool that she can ski. I'm getting the hang of wakeboarding ... even getting a small amount of air when I go over the wake. Fun times.

Here are some pictures from lately ...

Emma and Timmy entered to be in an ice cream eating contest and made it ... so they did that on Friday night at the Pig. Emma got first in her contest, and Timmy got second! They both got brand new, very nice backpacks and some school supplies. Emma won a years supply of ice cream, and Timmy a $30 gift certificate to Target (which he somehow managed to lose ... bummer). Anyway, it was fun!

Emma by the brand of ice cream she won!

Cyndie found a great deal on this really loud, obnoxious toy that we gave to cousin Daisy for her 2nd birthday ...

Emma skiing!

Summer ... the twilight

Yes, we're in our last few weeks of summer. It has just flown by. My (teacher) sister went back for an in service day on Monday and her kids start tomorrow. Frankly, I can't comprehend that! We still have lots of fun things that we're planning on doing before school starts:

• Go to a Brewer's game
• Go canoeing with some friends on the Wisconsin river
• Go to Magic Waters (Cyndie and the kids are currently there) - a water park down in Rockford
  
• Go to Six Flags (Emma went earlier in with Uncle Gow and a friend from church ... this time Tim and Cyndie are going too)

Hey, I just realized that I don't get to go to the last two events! Poor me. I guess someone has to bring home the bacon!

Last night was my last softball game of the summer. We went out in style with a come from behind victory! It was fun because it was only our second win of the year. We won the first game, lost like 10 or 12 in a row, and then won the last game! I particularly enjoyed it because I had a really good hitting night ... 2 home runs, a double and a single in 4 at bats (if you guys don't mind me tooting my own horn a bit). It was definitely the stuff to make me excited to play again next year (while being happy to have a break for a while).

Cyndie continues to be pretty busy with her photography stuff. It seems like she's had 2 or 3 shoots a week for the last several. While that is only 3 or 4 hours of actual shooting time, it also means 8 or 9 hours of managing the photos and touching them up. That's pretty exciting. Hopefully things will continue to roll along (and pick up steam) during the school year when she'll have more time during the day (with the kids off at school) to do the work!

Summer moves on.

Yes, summer is passing us by, and at a fast pace. We here at the Wildwood DeVries household were looking forward to a slower paced August. Well, I'm not sure it's been much slower paced, and it's going by quickly! We have about three weeks left until school starts, which is nice, but will go quickly. My sister Amy, who is a teacher, starts back at work next week. Good grief!

I was sitting on the deck working yesterday late morning, and it was still a bit cool. In fact it felt a bit fall-like. After the heat we had in the middle of the summer, it was a bit odd to actually feel cool outside. Craziness.

Humm, what else is going on? I just looked back at the last blog entry I made and realized that I didn't write that Cyndie (and my dad) rode their bikes from my folks' house to Crystal Lake. It was nearly 40 miles. They made it! Cyndie said she was pretty wiped out the last 5 or 6 miles, and she was pretty sore the next day or two, but very happy she did it!

Yesterday morning Cyndie and Emma got up early to go out skiing with our friends Jeannine and Anna (I think she's going into 7th grade). Emma got up and skied for a couple couple of minutes three different times! Awesome Ems. I think we're going to need to get her a wet suit because she gets cold so easily. It will also extend our ski calendar a bit.

Last Saturday evening we went to the Music by the Lake for the second time. We saw a quartet that did a lot of 50s and 60s style music. My folks went with. It was a great time!

I think that recaps pretty well the last week or so. Here's to hoping for a bit warmer weather and an end of August that feels like it lasts forever!

A trickle

It appears that my blogging has slowed to a trickle. If that. Sorry about that. I'll make no promises, but I hope to be at least a little more regular about blogging.

So, what's been happening? How about a few bullets:

• Softball ended for Emma. Her team wasn't horribly good, but she improved a lot over the season to where she was probably one of the two best players on her team. Her hitting was good, and her defense was very good. In fact, she turned an unassisted double play in the last game ... awesome considering getting single outs at a time is an iffy proposition at best in her league.
• Baseball ended for Timmy. He was 6 years old in a league for 7 and 8 year olds, so it was a learning time for him. He loved to play, and was constantly wanting to play catch or hit in the yard. He did well for his team, getting lots of hits ... as many as any of the other boys. It was very fun for him to be on a really good team. They only lost twice out of 10 or 12 games. Their second to last game was against an undefeated team (that had beat them by one run the other time they played) and Tim and the boys won 31 - 10! That was a fun game!
  
• Last week we were up in the UP for family camp. As usual, it was a blast. It was fun to not have to do anything, to have meals be prepared for us, to have lots of other kids around for Tim and Emma to play with, etc.
  
• We tried an evening boating trip on Monday, just Cyndie, I, and the kids. It was a blast. I wakeboarded, Cyndie wakeboarded and skied, Timmy went on the knee board for the first time ever, and Emma got up (briefly) on two skis! It was really fun.
  

So, that's kind of catching you up on us. We're looking forward to a fairly quiet month of August after having had a busy first 2/3rds of the summer.

Pictures!

Emma learning to knee board

Timmy winning his Day Camp rock/scissors/paper tournament!

Some of Timmy's buds from Day Camp

At the Freedom Fest ... Timmy showing off his muscles

Waiting for the concert to start at the Freedom Fest

Emma and I at "our" Indian restaurant

Tim and Emma loved having cousin Brandon here to visit!

Uncle Gene rented a jet ski

Tim and Emma cooled off by decorating themselves with shaving cream

I need a weekend from my weekend!

Well now, that was a busy weekend! Friday night my sister Amy and her two kids (non-attending camp division) came up for the night. My folks and Laura and Gow and the kids and Jane came over for dinner and a rousing family baseball game. Then Timmy and his cousin (same age) Ben went over to Auntie Jane's and got to spend the night there. The next morning Tim and I headed to baseball practice, while Cyndie and Amy went to pick up the oldest cousins, Emma and Sarah at camp. Emma (and Sarah too I think) had a great week. The weather was cool, but that didn't seem to bother them too much. I think they were ready to go back again this week, but were pretty darn pooped on Saturday! Emma said her favorite things were the zipline, the climbing wall, and banana boating.

After a couple of hours of down time, we headed to the Freedom Fest, a free concert/festival in Janesville, joining our friends the Goreckis there. That was fun. The rides/carnival stuff was all free. They had stuff for the kids. The concert, Matthew West, was good, and there was a phenomenal fireworks show at the end. Fun times, but late. We didn't get home until around 11:30. Needless to say, everyone slept in in the morning! Then we had church at Covenant Harbor (our pastor was speaking and we had three people from church get baptized in the lake after the service). There was a picnic, then we spent the rest of the afternoon out on the boat with various friends from church (sandwiched around a trip to Wal-Mart to get a new battery for the boat!). And then we had church (a very short prayer/singing service). And then we went to Culvers for a heavy snack with a bunch of folks from church. Fortunately, the kids got to bed at a decent time.

Whew, typing that makes me tired all over again. Today Tim is off to Day Camp at Covenant Harbor (his first camp experience by himself). He was a bit apprehensive when I dropped him off, but his buddy Owen was dropped off moments later, and I'm assuming that things were peachy from there. Emma had a PetVet class this morning (she said there were five dogs and a cat there today). Tonight we pick Timmy up at camp, then go straight to his 5p baseball game (and Emma's softball game after that).

I need a nap!

Busy Pix

Tim reading his Bible first thing in the morning ...

The Covs first baseman ...
(bragging time ... I hit a grandslam on Tuesday night)

Tim on his first bike ride ...

The fam after our first "4 bike" bike ride ...

Emma and Tim at Emma's class fishing trip ...

Busyness

Yes, we've been busy. I remember a conversation between Cyndie and I where we discussed that every organization we, or the kids, belonged to was having an event within the last two to three weeks of the school year. Well, we weathered that and have made it into summer (which is perhaps summer in name only at this point ... I swear, it's either in the mid to upper 90s, or in the low 70s/high 60s. I don't think we've had any days with highs in the 80s).

So now we're transitioned to summer living. Which really means the normal for me, but is far different for Cyndie and the kids. They've been staying up a bit later, largely because of activities that they've had (more on that in a minute). But they've also been sleeping later, which is good for all of us. They've had some play dates, and are enjoying being outside.

Of course the biggest thing happening for them is that they have baseball/softball three days a week. Games are on Monday and Wednesday nights, and practices on Saturday mornings. They've both been doing very well, and are getting quite a bit better, especially compared to 2 months ago when neither had really played any ball at all. Timmy is one of the youngest kids on his team. But he's doing very well. He's a bit of a hitting savant. He connects with a lot, but doesn't hit it very hard yet. Emma is doing very well fielding, and understanding what to do with the ball when she fields it. She's improving on her hitting too, and hits it pretty hard.

Next week is overnight camp for Emma. She's already started packing. She'll be at Covenant Harbor from Sunday afternoon until Saturday morning. Cousin Sarah and a girl from Sarah's church will be in her cabin. As we speak, she's making them matching bracelets ... since I'm writing this, hopefully she'll actually finish them! Emma is very excited!

Timmy has been reading a TON! It's almost every morning that he stumbles down the stairs with a book in his hand, reading as he goes. For some reason (maybe it's because it's long and he doesn't run out of stuff to read, or maybe he likes the stories) he's been reading the Bible (a kids version) a lot, which is very cool. Spurred on by his cousins learning to ride their bikes, Timmy finally decided that he was going to learn, and did so with not too much difficulty yesterday. We took our first family bike ride (just around the neighborhood) yesterday which was very fun!

Lets see, Cyndie and I have been busy running around with the kids. I'm helping to coach both baseball/softball teams, and Cyndie is (of course) there too for those things. Cyndie's had work, keeping the kids busy during the day, sailing, church leadership team, and multiple activities with her lady friends. I'm doing my own softball team, church worship team, school board (I was on all day panels to interview perspective teachers three days in the last month), etc. We're trying to put in some time on the many unfinished projects that we have around the house too, but that's a bit slow in coming. On top of that, we're trying to get out on the boat too. We had some slight problems with that, but it turned out it was just a clogged fuel filter ... $65 instead of potentially much more.

So there you have it. We'll have a busy summer until the end of July, then August should slow down quite a bit!

Yes, I think so, it's finally Spring!

I think I can now officially report that spring time has come to Lake Geneva. We've had some good weather, both warmer and sunnier. Mother's Day we had brunch out on the deck. That was our first real meal there since the crazy 80 degree day that happened about a month ago. The piers and lifts are in at Covenant Harbor, so that means the boat (which we've cleaned out and re-packed since getting out of winter storage) is basically ready to go in. The kids have both had their first ball practice (softball for Emma and baseball for Tim ... both "coach pitch" which is the step up from teeball). I had my first softball game (with a bunch of friends from church, bowling, the neighborhood, camp) which we won in dramatic fashion (we were down 9-0 after the first inning and something like 14 - 3 after two innings ... we came back and won 19-18!). Weather.com says that it is a high of 78 and sunny in LG today! Unfortunately, I'm sitting in a meeting in Baltimore for work on a last minute trip. Boooo!

On the kid front, Emma has been really interested in Cyndie's new cell phone (Mother's Day present) ... so if you get a strange text or phone call from Cyndie, beware, it could have come from Emma. Timmy is VERY into sports right now. He loves to watch baseball games and play sports in the yard ... basketball, soccer, and especially baseball. He's very into hitting, and is getting really pretty good. At his first baseball practice, he hit every single of the 15 - 20 pitches that the coach sent his way. It's fun for me that he's turning into a sports maniac like I am. To close this out, I'll relate a quote from Tim the other day. This from when the Royals and Twins were playing (this for you Jane and Dad) ...

"The Twins should start playing soccer because they are so bad at baseball"

Ha, a man after my own heart.

Ahhh ....

I'm sitting on the deck watching a baseball game and listening to the rain with a stomach full of awesome Indian food, hanging with Cyndie. Can't beat that for the end of a fun late-birthday day.

That is all!

Snow

Yes, it snowed last night, and was still snowing when we got up. It looks beautiful! There was probably about an inch or two. The trees are all covered, the grass is covered. The driveway and roads were clear. That black box above (if it doesn't show up for you) is a youtube link to Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen singing "Snow" (four part harmony ... snow, snow, snow, snow). I always think about that song when it snows. I have a feeling it will melt rather quickly, but it was a bit of a surprise! Cyndie had to dig out snowpants (needed to go "off the blacktop" at school during recess if snow is on the ground), boots, etc. It looks like the rest of the week won't be horribly pleasant weather wise, but the nice weather WILL come.

The weekend went quickly. Friday night we went down to Casparis for a cousin's weekend. We did some birthday celebrations and hit Costco for some essentials. We also picked up a new tow-behind for the boat at a great price, as well as new life jackets for the kids. Thanks to Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Fred, and Grandma Weaver for that money/gift. It'll be well used this summer.

So there you have it from a White Winter Wonderland in Wisconsin.

Music

So, I've been working on a little pet project lately to find some decent music for Emma to listen to. We're starting to realize the inevitable ... she's moving slowly into tween-hood. She'll be 9 next month! So, we'd like to kind of steer her toward some things (music in this case) that are positive, rather than more passively allowing her to float where ever her peers are going. She seems to be into that teeny-bopper kind of stuff ... Miranda Cosgrove (Carly of iCarly fame who has an album out), Miley Cyrus, etc. Since that path only seems to lead to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, I'd rather be a little pro-active. So that lead me to search a bit on the web for some good tween-ish music. I found the iShine website which looks pretty interesting. I'll embed some you-tube videos of a couple of the bands there for your perusal ...

The Rubyz ...

Mission Six ...

So, we'll see where this leads. She has a CD player in her room, so we'll probably buy her a couple of CDs and see if she likes them.

So all this music thinking made me think about what I like to listen to. Here's my top 5 albums (not bands) of all time, just because ...

Back in Black - AC/DC - The best rock album ever. Even if you're not into them, I bet if you listen to music at all, you'd probably recognize almost every song on the album.
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd - Just good and interesting music here. Nice guitar riffs.
Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi - I'm guessing lot's of people make fun of me on this one, but it's packed full of fun, good rock. This one was the album of my childhood. I remember hanging out (or, I guess, it was "playing" back then) with Laura in the basement of our house in Iowa listening to Casey Kasem's top 40 countdown. I think Livin' on a Prayer was on that thing for at least a year!
Silence is Madness - Bride - Maybe the album of my high school experience. I had a tape of this and I remember listening to it over and over. I also distinctly having a conversation with my Mom regarding whether it was music or not. She just thought it was loud noise. I remember singing (or humming) a few melodies of songs to her as proof that yes, it was music.

I'm having a hard time identifying another album. Some candidates ... Red Light, Blue Light by Harry Connick, Jr., Amy Grant's Christmas Album, Beat the System by Petra, To Hell With the Devil by Stryper, Fallen by Evanescence, A Person and a Heart by Jon Troast. There are many candidates. Now that I'm not buying whole albums much at all, there are fewer candidates to consider. I think in the end, I have to go with Stryper ... I spent a lot of time listening to them.

To Hell With the Devil - Stryper - These rockers are a blast in concert (I've seen them more than anyone else). It's a tough pick, actually, in selecting this album over their "new" album, Reborn. It's pretty darn good too, but I have to pick the classic.

So there you have it, my unsolicited top 5 albums of all time (for me), and some notes on where we're heading with Emma.

"Catch"ing up

Well, we'll start with a little foreshadowing in the title of this blog post. It's been a while (again). There's nothing too unusual to share today. The weather has been great. The kids have been playing a lot of basketball. Cyndie's Clothing Exchange for Charity went very well (45+ women, (I think) $700+ dollars raised for the Agape House Shelter for Girls). She's been busy packing up the left over clothes to donate to the Agape House. I had a school board meeting last night and she cooked dinner for the local homeless shelter. This weekend we're looking forward to a cousins overnight down at the Casparis. Hopefully the weather will be nice, but it looks like it's supposed to be colder and rainy.

So, the leading title to this blog. This morning we're out in the driveway playing basketball as the kids wait for the bus (Emma) and a ride to before school Spanish class (Tim). Pepper runs off behind the house. I'm yelling to him to come back so he doesn't wonder off too far. He comes back 2 or 3 minutes later with something in his mouth (which is not too unusual since he's always picking up sticks and stuff to chew on). Only this time the thing is floppy and there are two legs sticking out of this mouth. So I make him put it down. He's caught a little group squirrel/chipmunk. Of course that makes Emma cry! The think was still twitching a bit. So I congratulated him and brought him in the house, and we dug a hole and had a little funeral for the chipmunk. Exciting times for Pepper!

Yesterday afternoon Emma lost her first canine tooth (her lower, right). It was a little funky because it fell out, but there was still quite a bit of flesh/gum over the incoming tooth that was kind of flopping around and bleeding a bit. She was a little freaked out by that, but it wasn't too bad. She left the tooth fairy a note and asked what her name was. The tooth fairy said it is a secret! She also left a cute t-shirt/skirt outfit.

Awesome, just awesome

Yes, it's currently in the 70s. I'm sitting here on the couch with the windows open, a tank top on, no shoes ... it's beautiful! Auntie Jane and the kids and I were out in the driveway playing basketball at 9am and it was hot enough to get a little sweaty, even though I wasn't working at all hard. We had breakfast outside on the deck too, which was great. As I sit here and write this, Tim and Auntie Jane are playing cards and Cyndie and Emma are off on their first horseback riding lesson. A perfect day for that.

Yesterday was a totally relaxed day. We went to a park over in Fontana with the Gowans, then went their way for lunch (a fun steak meal ... a thank you from them for helping them out with their house when they first got it last fall). It was cool during the morning, with lots of fog. But by the time we got home around 3p, it was in the 60s and lovely. We ended up hanging out on the deck (for the first time of the year) ... me watching a baseball game and Cyndie reading. Then we got a last minute invite for dinner with our friends the Goreckis, so we headed over there to grill burgers. It was fun to be able to stay out "late" ... we left around 9p. The kids are definitely getting older, and can handle the occasional late night with out totally melting down.

So, it's been a great weekend. Hopefully this marks the official start of nice weather. Monday evening, Cyndie has her big clothing exchange, so we've been getting ready for that a bit this weekend too. There should be 40 or so ladies here for that. The kids have been very into basketball lately. Timmy has a basketball camp three days a week (6 - 7p, T/W/Th, last week and this). We also go the new hoop up in the driveway. They're both doing pretty darn well with it, so that's fun.

So, that's it from the beauty of spring in Wisconsin!

Exciting Times

Yes, these are exciting times. Witness:

The snow is gone from the yard ...

The ice is off the lake ...

Forecasts for the foreseeable future (10 days according to weather.com) show highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s ...

The first piers on the lake started appearing yesterday ...

Yes, it's nearing boating season. Now, it is not likely that we'll be in the water (tubing, skiing, whatever) for quite some time. But, we'll probably bring the boat back from storage in the next couple of weekends and get it cleaned up and ready to go for the summer. After that, it's just a matter of getting the docks/lift in at Covenant Harbor (sometime around Easter according to the latest word), and we're back out on the lake!

Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes

Yes, it's been a while, but today marks the return of Neal's recipes. I'd thought of this idea before, but, today being spring break and all, I figured "why do a 'normal' breakfast, let's go all out". So, I took on Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes. Now, basically anything deep fried is going to be good ... we'll start with that premise. And it is true. The goods were delivered! Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes are the bomb!

Deep Fried French Toast Pancakes
Ingredients:
Bread - can be "normal" bread or could be something fun like cinnamon swirl bread
Powdered Pancake mix - I like Krusteez
Sugar
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Vegetable Oil - or whatever you like to deep fry with!
Syrup

Get the oil hot. I found it worked best at around 350 or 375. Any hotter and the stuff cooked too fast. Mix up the pancake mix. I like to spice mine up with sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, but do whatever you like with that. Slice the bread slices into one inch wide strips (for easy handling by young fingers). Dip them in the pancake batter, and drop into the oil. Cook until just golden brown (flipping midway through to cook both sides). Drop onto a paper towel and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Another route to take is to roll them in powdered sugar. Both are good!

Serve warm on a plate with a small bowl of syrup for dipping, and sit back and bask in the warm glow of exclamations like "yummy", "can I have more?".

Seriously, this was some finger licking good stuff!

The happenings

So we're a couple of days into spring break. It's a bit rough for me ... not being able to participate in everything. But at the same time, I want to save my vacation time for some trips we have planned. I can also participate in much of what goes on, so I'm not totally missing out.

Over the weekend, we did our first activity ... Timmy picked it ... eating at the Safe House, a spy themed restaurant in Milwaukee. We had a really good time with that. On the way there and back, we listened to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It's a bit of a mouthful for the title, but the kids are really digging it. We're trying to stretch them a little to more complex stories, etc.

On Sunday, we hit the Maplefest at Covenant Harbor. It was fun ... good pancakes, mini-golf, crafts, the climbing wall. Then there was church.

Yesterday we had 16 lower elementary kids over to watch Megamind. A good time was had by all. Several of the moms stayed and hung out with Cyndie during the show, so she had some help, and some mom time too, so that was nice.

Today, Cyndie and the kids are headed down to the Caspari cousins' place to meet their new dog Sam, a Westie. They're also headed to the library down there for some kind of Dr. Suess thing. More on that as details emerge.

And finally, I thought I'd recount the tale of the two young Padawans who live in this house. I don't remember if I mentioned that I made them both double bladed lightsabers (out of PVC pipe, duct tape, electrical tape, and blue (or green for Emma) painting tape). Anyway, they dig those. But now they want to become Jedi. So I've been giving them training to become Jedi. I'll have them jog around the house, or do sit ups, or practice their lunges with their light sabers or their blocks, etc. It's hilarious. And a bit of exercise. And a good way to pass some time!

Funny one ...

So, Timmy has a friend over today. It's a kid that he talks about a fair amount because Zach rides the same bus with Tim. They used to sit together until they got in trouble for messing around too much ... but I digress. I'd never met the kid until today, and they walk by me and I'm thinking, man, that kid is small! So, when I was walking up the stairs to do some work, I walk by the front door and see this:

The picture really doesn't show what I saw ... maybe it's the perspective or something. But when I walked by, Timmy's shoes looked like they were literally twice as long as Zach's. Whatever. It struck my funny bone, so I thought I'd share.

I see no snow!

Well, that title is not 100% true. There is actually a little snow. You know, where the big piles were. But it's not real snow since it's typically covered in sand and other ick. So, this is a celebratory day. The snow is gone and spring is here! Now if the yard can just dry up a bit so that we can actually go out there without getting totally muddy, we'll be in business.

Tonight is the Woods School Silent Auction. It should be a lot of fun. Emma told us at breakfast that her teacher had told the class that 500 tickets had been sold. Wow. If that's the case, we're going to be packed in there! But it's great that families are so involved with the school.

That's about it around there these days. I guess the next countdown/watch will be for ice on the lake. When it's gone, that means were closer to boating weather! The boat is still in storage at a friend's barn, but I imagine we'll bring it back over here before too long to outfit it and clean it. I think the docks/lifts will go in at Covenant Harbor in about a month.

Making it there

Well, I'd say we're surviving through the week of busyness. It's Thursday, a good day to get to. I think Cyndie is keeping her head above water with work and extra-curricular activities. She's tired, and has a sore neck (from sleeping with Emma one night when Emma had some difficulties sleeping), but at least there is an end in sight. Unfortunately, that end is Sunday night, and not Friday. Cyndie's having a booth for her photography business at a women's trade show kind of thing at the high school over the weekend. She'll have to be on there from 10 - 4 both Saturday and Sunday. Pray for her energy level!

At least tonight is family night. We'll have dinner together, then we're going to watch the Empire Strikes back ... you know, to feed the flame of Timmy's Star Wars obsession. Yesterday, he and I took a walk with the dog, and he brought along his newest light saber (a 1" PVC pipe wrapped in blue painters tape for the blade part, and black electrical tape for the handle ... it actually looks really cool for as simple as it was to make). I swear I had to stop every minute to encourage him to catch up ... I guess talking non-stop about Star Wars and swinging the light saber around makes it difficult to walk!

Emma is really enjoying working on the play at school. She has a small role (it's a 3 - 5 grade play, so the kids in her class are more helping out with stuff and doing really small supporting things), but is enjoying being a part of the production and working on sets, etc.

It's a Monday

Yes, Monday. We're back in a somewhat normal swing of things here at the DeVries house. After several weeks with:

• Cyndie and I heading to Milwaukee for three nights of getaway (thanks Laura and Gow).
• Cyndie flying to SoCal for 4 or 5 days for her grandma's funeral (102!).
• Me going to Men's retreat for 3 days/2 nights in the UP.
• Me going to SoCal for a church leadership/outreach conference for 4 days.
• Cyndie going to a Mom's conference for 3 days/2 nights.

Whew ... all that in 3 weekends/2 weeks. It was a whirlwind. Many thanks to our family for helping out with the kids on several occasions.

So, we sat down last night, re-introduced ourselves, and talked about taking this week off of everything so that we can just relax as a family and as a couple. Then we looked at the calendar. There is something every night this week, and Cyndie has a busy week full of work too.

So much for relaxing.

Next week appears empty.

Cyndie promptly wrote "Nothing" into every day of that week in her calendar. Hopefully it will stay free!

Okay, seriously?!

So, I've been really bad (again) at posting, but I had to sit down and put this up quickly because it cracked me up so much.

Lately Timmy has been very into playing the Star Wars Lego video games, watching the Star Wars movies (we just started with Episode 1, and are going to work our way through), playing Star Wars with his legos, etc. He basically talks non-stop about star wars ("did you know that -insert name of a Star Wars character here- can do -insert some action-?). This morning he said something like "did you know that Han Solo has a gun that shoots a laser on the the cover the of the movie, but in the game his gun shoots long, skinny arrows?" It was just out of the blue, totally random.

So the reason I had to sit down and write this was as follows.

Scene: Timmy is finishing up his bath. I go in to tell him it's time to get out.

Neal: Timmy, it's time to get out.

-Timmy lays in the tube, showing no inclination to leave the warmth.-

Neal: Timmy, time to get out ... now!

-Timmy gets out and I start to dry his hair with a towel-

Timmy: I bet that General Grievous could dry off really fast.

-I roll my eyes-

It just cracked me up. And for those of you who don't know who General Grievous is ... you have obviously not been spending enough time with Timmy ... he has four arms ... all the better for drying off with my dear!

Warm!

Since that last time I blogged it was REALLY cold, I guess I should lead off with the fact that it's supposed to be 55 today. Unfortunately:

a) I'm stuck inside in a training class*
b) It's overcast
c) It's windy

Nevertheless, the snow is melting and it's warm!

*Monday morning around 11am. I'm sitting in my office at home. I haven't showered yet. My phone rings. It's my boss.

Boss: Where are you at?
Neal: Physically? In my office at home.
Boss: How fast can you get to Waukesha (where my office is)?
Neal: Uh, about and hour.
Boss: Are you presentable?
Neal: Yeah, I guess?
Boss: I have a training class I want you to take. It's a half day today, all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and a half day Friday. The class starts at 1p.
Neal: Is there anyway that I can get out of this? Okay, I'll get up there.

So yes, I'm sitting at my lunch break in Waukesha. This week has been a bit crazy. We've had some major changes to what we expected this week to be like:

• Laura was sick last weekend so she and Gow couldn't take their weekend away over the weekend. They're down in Chicago as we speak. Daisy and Sally have been with us since Tuesday around 8am. Laura and Gow should be back around dinner time tonight.
• I have the training class, so I'm having to get out of the house by 7am, and not arriving back home until about 6pm. Quite a different day than when I work at home ... 2 extra hours in the car, and no flexibility in my schedule.
• (probably the biggest one) My folk's house was flooded on Saturday morning. The condo upstairs (empty, being foreclosed upon) had no heat on and had multiple breaks to water pipes. It's a long, drawn out story, but my parents were the victims (even though they had reached out to the condo management company multiple times trying to ensure this did not happen). It looks like things are going to be handled, but it's been a major inconvenience for them, that's for sure. All the drywall in the kitchen, dining room, and living room was messed up!

Why is that last one a disruption to the Wildwood DeVries? Well, because throughout all of this, we've been trying to get the empty side of our duplex ready for my sister Jane to move into next Tuesday, and my folks are my head painters. I'm very thankful that despite the major disruption in their lives, they've put in a lot of time over at the duplex. I definitely have not been able to be over there as much as I had planned (prior to the training class). Friday morning, the carpet goes in, so we've been trying to get all the painting done that is over carpet. We ended up removing all the carpet, and having to paint (scent covering) Kilz on all the floors. I think it's going to be pretty nice when we're done, though. And we're very excited to have Auntie Jane move to town!

So, whew, it's been a crazy week. But (I hope) spring is on the horizon!!!

Cold

Yes, cold. When Cyndie and I drove out of the house today at 8am, it was -9 degrees. Yes, that's a minus sign in front of the nine. Youzas!

Great news on the rental house front. For those of you not in the know, we have had a renter, and I use that term lightly, on one side of the duplex who was decidedly less than ideal. He last paid in November, we gave him an eviction notice in mid January, and now we finally, after some delays, have him out. We'll be renting that side of the duplex to my sister Jane who is moving to Lake Geneva from Iowa (Yea! More on that some other time). So yesterday evening I went over to get the keys and garage door opener from the renter, and today we went over to assess the "damage" (none really, phew!), and to decide what to paint and how. Jane will arrive in about a week and a half, so there will be lot's of painting and cleaning going on until then.

Yesterday I played Timmy 3 or 4 times in foosball. He's pretty good. When he wins, I typically let him, though it's not too big of a stretch that he can start to honestly compete with me. He knows how to hit/kick the ball well, he just needs to understand the tactics a bit better to get a little more competitive. It's fun! We also did the traverse (from his tree fort bed to his reading spot) on the rock climbing wall a couple of times together too. Fun times!

Hitting Mid-week

Well, we're hitting midweek here at Wildwood DeVries Headquarters. This week looks to be filled with school (Em and Tim), work (Cyndie and I), and meetings (Cyndie and I). Hopefully we'll get a breather here and there.

I've enjoyed hanging out with Timmy a couple of times in his new room. It was really fun for me to come into his room yesterday afternoon and finding him up in his reading nook with a book reading to himself. I also managed to get in a foosball game or two with him, as well as a bit of rock climbing. And yesterday morning, with the house silent (kids at school, Cyndie there too helping with some vision testing), I hung out in his room for 5 or 10 minutes just watching his fish swim around. I think I'm a bit fatigued this week after the big rush of trying to get the room done and the whole house ready for the Super Bowl party.

Yesterday Emma got home from Brownies and didn't feel well. She fell asleep on the couch for a bit, and went to bed early. She appears to be better this morning though. Cyndie speculates that she's not eating enough in the afternoons of Brownies, and that's making her stomach hurt and her get real low on energy. There will be an extra banana in her lunch box next Tuesday!

It's right at the zero mark outside today, and should be pretty cold for the next several days. No wonder my legs about froze off when I walked the dog in shorts for 4 or 5 minutes last night (I checked the temp then and it was 1 with a wind chill factor of -16)!

Fun Super Bowl Weekend

We had a fun, but very busy weekend! On Friday it was the last Ski day of the season for the kids' school, so Cyndie hit the slopes with them. As always, they had a great time. They've progressed again, and are definitely ready for bigger hills. We've talked about heading to one of the bigger resorts up by Madison, we'll see if that happens.

While Cyndie and the kids hit the slopes, I "finished" up Tim's room. There are still 5 or 10 smaller things to do, but he slept in there Friday night, and most of the "new" things are usable, so that's a relief. I think I'll take this week off from working on it! Cyndie and the kids grabbed some Chinese to surprise me with and we had a picnic in Timmy's room. Then we spent 30 or 45 minutes rock climbing on the new wall. The kids are going to be pretty good with that there to play with. I had to make it harder for them by limiting the holds they were allowed to use! Fun stuff.

Saturday we spent a lot of time getting ready for the big Super Bowl party. Many thanks to my folks for coming over to help clean up (and for all the help in getting some painting done). The kids had birthday party in the afternoon, then we had our Coffee Shop Bible study at Laura and Gow's. After that, the kids stayed at Laura and Gow's and we headed out to a Euchre party at some friends' (like I said, it was a busy weekend). It was a profitable night. For an entry fee of $10 per person, we came away with $105 ($80 for me for getting first place and $25 for Cyndie for getting last)! We're adding that to the kitty for our weekend away at the end of the month.

Sunday was more getting ready for the big party, then church, and the party itself. I think we had around 40 people at the house. We added lights for the skating rink and sled run so that those activities could continue well after dark. We had a chili cookoff. And, of course, the game. It was fun, and thanks to some help from friends, the house really wasn't messy at all after the party!

Now here's to hoping for a quiet week.

Winter pix

Pre-blizzard ... we went skiing with the kids' school!

Ems up to her waist in the snow.

The car was buried!

It's cold

Yes, very cold. Zero when we went downstairs at 6:15 this morning. After the foot and a half of snow and blizzard conditions canceled school yesterday, the cold temps and wind chills in the -15 to -25 degree range canceled school today. Last night Timmy prayed that he could have school today, but he doesn't appear to be suffering much!

The big thrust this week is trying to finish off (or at least get it to a usable state) Timmy's room before the big Super Bowl party. I think it'll be really close. It'll probably mean some crazy nights, but we'll make it. The remaining tasks are painting the climbing wall, attaching all the holds, filling the fish tank, and (the big one), cleaning everything up.

I'm guessing we'll have around 30 - 40 people for the Super Bowl, so that should be fun. I'm going to rig up some lights for the sledding hill and ice skating rink so that (assuming it's not too cold), the kids can go out there some. We're having a Chili Cookoff too. Oh, and there's a football game.

On the kid front, both kids are really into playing Lego (Batman, Star Wars) on the play station. We're trying to limit that, but with snow days and bad weather it becomes difficult at times. They are also really reading a lot. It's helped by the Six Flags promotion at school. Timmy is really getting better very quickly and totally thinks it's a kick to read books all by himself.

So, there you have it ... lots going on!

Those feet

Yes, it's been over a month since I've posted. I'd like to get back in the habit, but I can't honestly say when that will happen as most all of my spare moments are being spent working on Timmy's room. However, I had to take a second to post this.


Kohl's to buy new boots for Timmy (for next winter)


Cyndie and Timmy

Cyndie: Tim, sit here. I want to feel where your feet are in your shoes to see how your tennis shoes are fitting you.

Tim: Okay mom.



Cyndie: Timmy, your toes are starting to stick out through the end of your shoes.

Tim: Yeah, they've kind of been hurting lately.






So there's your little dramatic re-enactment of what happened. Apparently Tim's been doing a bit of growing lately. We had noticed that he's been sleeping a lot and eating quite a bit. Cyndie brought home size 3 shoes for Timmy (which he's very excited about ... he loves new shoes that boy).

Emma wears size 2.

Tim is either going to be tall, or have skis for feet!