sunshine & strawberries...

please tell me y'all took a moment to soak in that sweet sunshine today!!!! even if it was through the kitchen window, it was 20 degrees out, and it is the LAST day of february (hallelujah)....but, i'll take what i can get!!!

so, doug took the kids to swim lessons and gemmen's, while i stayed home and baked 42 cream cheese filled chocolate cupcakes. sounds fun, eh? it is when you are by yourself, completely jamming on your mp3 player, the sun is shining, and SPRING IS COMING...eventually ;)

i then realized that i need 30 cupcakes for dawson's class - did i mention it's his birthday treat? that only leaves 12 for our beld family gathering tomorrow night....minus the 2 doug & dawson ate when they walked in the door...now i have 10 left.

luckily, strawberries were on sale at meijer - they looked delish. and i have some angel food cake mix...which happens to be one of dawsons absolute fav's. hence, the title of today's blog. as i was washing & hulling, i couldn't help but think of june berries! who needs to go to florida, when you can spend a few bucks on berries, listen to some good music and add sunshine.


wow, after reading that last paragraph, i realize i'm starting to improvise like my mom. it always boggled my mind how she could open the cupboards, and make something out of nothing...

tonight we go to our friends, mike & renae, for our small group....their basement is like toys-r-us meets best buy...on steroids. they have a HUGE tv, wii and plenty of toys....so all 7 kids play, and are actually quiet - crazy. us 4 couples will chow on jetts pizza & watch "fireproof". doug & i have actually seen it...it is awesome. if you have not seen it - go rent it, and have a cheap date night with your spouse!

also, during lent...i've decide to CONTINUE to drink my beloved coffee with LOTS of cream & sugar....it just makes me too happy :) (i gave it up last year...only to binge on other sugary options) so, i am giving up facebook for lent, but i'm also adding something. doug mentioned he would like to get up early in the morning -both of us- and do devotions. i always love getting up before the kids, and having a cup of coffee & quiet time with God before the craziness of the day begins...how cool to do it with my hubby. and now, no excuse to sleep in - he'll hold me accountable!

we tried it this past week, and it was interesting. would you know that dawson got up 3 of the 5 mornings at 5:30-6:00!? c'mon people!!! and, we are going to try this monday-friday....so today, saturday, dodge yells (and i'm talkin' loud) from his room....."MMOOOOOOOOMM!" it is 5:45, i burst out of bed, thinking he's sick. and he says, "mom, don't forget, you and dad wanna get up this morning to pray and read the bible". thanks, buddy. i REALLY did NOT want to make this a family affair...is it possible to have 30 minutes alone with my hubby?

so, there you have it. i'm trying to resist facebook...trying to spend time with doug in the morning, hopefully - getting closer to God in the process. trying to be thankful for all those hidden blessings each day, each minute!

i am enjoying sunshine & strawberries.

better than laundry...

today was such a NORMAL day. i love those kind of days...not necessarily while i'm in the midst of them, but when i look back on them. today was monday. cold & snow-covered outside. my to-do list a mile long. lots of laundry, cleaning, and book work to do. dodge was home with me today & begged me to go 3-wheeling...i really wanted to get "stuff" done inside, and it was like, 20 degrees out. but, i also wanted to have fun with him, cuz before i know it, he'll be hanging out with his buddies in the barn - no moms allowed ;) so we went in the woods, both taking turns pulling each other behind the 3-wheeler.

later, i was folding laundry - stacks of clothes all around me. dodge came up to me, threw his arms around me, and said, "mom, lets snuggle!" i said, "OK!" and we jumped on the couch to watch little house on the prairie. as we sat there, he said, "theres nothing better than snuggling, except maybe summer...right, mom?"

oh, he knows me pretty good.

make a book.

hey...i know i only have like 3 people reading my blog, and i could easily just call you & tell you this...i found the site where you can turn your blog into a book!! its the whole reason i'm doing this...a very cool journal to look back on! it is pretty inexpensive...the link is on the right under "sites & blogs i like".

so there you go girls...blog away. make a book.

go to the...

for valentines day, we sent the kids on a wild goose chase, using notes that started with "go to the..."

since dawson can read, i thought this would be fun for them. they were freakin' out cute...

i also made hearts for my 3 boys, with 3 things that i love about each of them (making sure they were all unique from the other) sometimes i think they need to be reminded of what makes them "special"...so valentines day is the perfect time to do it!!

we had a really fun day, and as promised...we had tacos for supper ;) well, the kids did...doug & I had burritos - with candles, of course!!

oh, and i had to add....dawson was invited to his cousin Levi's house today...dodge cried sooooo hard, i thought he was going to puke! anyway, big brother felt so bad for him, that he gave ALL of his valentnes - i'm talkin candy,cards,tattoos...everything - to dodge. you have such a giving heart, dawson jay...we love you!!

poppyseed chicken.

it's a friday night and i cooked supper. that doesn't even sound right. lets just say suppers this week have consisted of frozen waffles, pancakes and eggs. so, i decided to make a nice supper, with a vegetable and everything. i knew that dawson would have something to say about the "poppyseeds"...for some reason he is content to live on tacos.

why is it two children raised the EXACT same way eat and act totally different?! dodge inhaled two huge helpings of the poppyseed chicken...dawson pushed it around his plate, and said, "i dont like the taste of the seeds". seriously, can you really taste those things? anyway, he knows the drill: we will save his supper for later...when he is hungry. no snacks until the supper is gone.

then, doug takes the kids for a 3-wheeler ride...comes back a couple hours later. dawson is all excited about their adventure - they saw a skunk! and lots of deer! and he informs me that he is hungry & wants to eat his supper :) ok...this is going to be easier than i thought! i heat it up. he looks at it. he gets tears in his eyes, lays on the floor and tells me "it just dont look right".

meanwhile i get dodge bathed & dawson is still laying on the floor. i tell him he has a choice, and the choice is his...but we have to keep moving if he wants to watch "leave it to beaver" before bed.

next thing i know, he is in bed - pj's and all. he is crying and proclaims,"nobody loves me, nobody even cares about me!" wow, my sympathy is sapped right out. i tell him i DO love him and always will...but then i go about my business.

dude, this kid is sensitive. dodge told me to "quit being mean to my brother"

all i did was make poppy seed chicken.

we are haveing tacos tomorrow night.

about me...

So, I thought I would include "25 random things about me" from my facebook profile...since it took me so long to do - I may as well get some use out of all that effort!! Did you notice my new background and cool music?! Score for my computer-illiterate self!! ;)


1. i have 2 boys: dawson is 6...he is sensitive, thoughtful, and fiercely competitive! dodge is 5...he talks non-stop (mostly non-truths;), he is very loving (he is my snuggler), and he ALWAYS has us laughing our heads off!! i thank God every day for them!

2. me & doug have been married 11 years.he is my best friend. we know God brought us together. it's a long story, but here's the short version: i was studying & couldn't concentrate cuz i just broke up with a guy...and decided to pray...i prayed for God to give me a sign that i made the right decision...i always had a feeling about doug, which was strange, cuz i never talked to him before. anyway - WHILE i was praying, doug called me & asked me out. later, he said he felt this "nudge" to call me (it must have been a pretty good nudge, cuz it was during monday night football!) anyway, the rest is history

3. i like to golf, play cards, and go to the beach...3 things my husband hates.

4. i like to snowmobile, go 2-trackin' in the woods (preferably up north), and sitting around a campfire...3 things my husband loves.

5. i have been obsessed with my hair my whole life. i have TONS of pictures ripped out of magazines of hair that i love. i am a hairdresser's worse nightmare. i am the girl that brings in the pic of jennifer anniston & says, "can you do that to me?" however, i have no idea how to "do" my hair, so if its long, its in a bun...if my hair is too short for a bun, i have a ball cap on...

6. i also struggle with make-up...all i know is bronzer & mascara...but i would love someone to show me how to put the rest of that goop on ;)

7. i never had a boyfriend in high school...but most of my friends in high school were guys.

8. i love to sing, when NOBODY is around! i am the worse singer (think bad american idol) i mean, i got a "C" in freshman choir...and i think thats cuz Mr. Nederveld felt sorry for me

9. i love my mp3 player....holy cow! who invents this stuff? i'm convinced that people could go off their anti-depressants if they got one of these...music puts ya in a HAPPY PLACE!

10. i delivered my boys drug-free...and felt great afterward. truly the most awesome experience i have ever had. it would have been a little better if i had an mp3 with me :)

11. i always wanted a sister. my brothers married the 2 most incredible girls...i love em!! cant imagine my life without em...another God thing!

12. i had a great childhood! i love my family...when i was in college, all my east-side-of-the-state friends thought us "hudsonville" people were strange...we all live within 5 miles of each other & still go to the high school football games...everybody knows everybody. i love it!!

13. i love chocolate, coffee, and italian. i hate candy, onions, and pork.

14. i like to work out...i am awful at making time to do it.

15 i hate clutter...i love organization. my biggest pet peev is "stuff" on my counter...it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it!

16. i love blue jeans. i obsess about them too.

17. i love babies

18. i like to play sports...but i'm not competitive

19. i'm shy, i'm awful at making eye-contact. sometimes i think it comes across as being "snotty"

20. i LOVE the hudsonville fair...does anyone else remember wearing their new "cool" school jeans to the fair when we were in high school? i could eat 3 meals a day there, just soaking up the fair-atmosphere ;)

21. i miss my grandma & grandpa wood. they were cool. their house was cozy. they always hugged ya & said, "i love ya, kid". they made every thing "special"...we would play guitar & read books with grandpa and grandma would paint my nails "cotton candy pink" and let us play with her make-up. me & my cousin,erin, would sleep in the spare room & tell stories & giggle half the night. in the morning we would pray grandma had something besides shredded wheat for breakfast :) grandpa made great pancakes and was often found standing at the grill...

22. i still dont know what i want to be when i grow up. i went to college twice...2 degrees...

23. the economy freaks me out. my husband & like 98% of my family are self-employed construction types. needless to say, i do a lot of praying & i try to stay positive. always looking for the blessings in every day

24. i have a serious addiction to all things "little house on the prairie"...i also love "the walton's" i love the time period, families being close-knit, morals, values...sometimes i think i was born 100 years too late

25. i love my life, with all the ups & downs, i have been blessed!!!

what am i doing?!

Kirk...this pic is for you - enough said.

So...I have long been envious of bloggers out there - they are some kind of super-humans! I can barely send an e-mail and here I am, trying to teach myself to blog. It isn't pretty. Speaking of which, neither is my blog, cuz I cant find the cute backgrounds...where are they? Ashley, if you're out there and bored...PLEASE help me!!

Looking back through all my pictures, I wish I would have started this a LONG time ago...so many cool memories sitting on my memory card :(

So, let it be known...I am an official blogger...wish me luck!