A Pile of Dirt

Some people have pools in their backyards.  Or trampolines, or even a fire pit.

What do we have?

We have a pile of dirt.

Just add some kids and a handful of plastic dinosaurs and let your imagination soar.

The plan was to shovel away the dirt pile, but I've grown rather fond of it.

Now I bet YOU want a pile of dirt in your backyard too!

(please say yes.)

Hertsje's Dimples

Hertsje would like you to know how dimples are made.

Take a pair of sunglasses and poke them into your face!

Do this repeatedly.

Push HARD.

So, did you try it?

See?!  It works!  And it also will give you bright red cheeks!

Out My Front Window

January 22, 2013

 February 22, 2013

March 22, 2013

April 22, 2013                                                                                                   May 22,2013

Sick Kids

Jonge came to spend the day with us today, as he had a temp of 102 last night.
When I put Kado down for his nap I noticed that he felt very hot.
After lunch I got a call telling me that Famke was on her way, as she had a fever at school.
Hertsje was sick with a fever on Sunday and missed the trip to the zoo.
Feintsje is teething.
The upside to this is that I got to spend time with all of the grand kids today!
Jonge was diagnosed this afternoon with a lung infection and is now on an antibiotic.

But other than THAT, it was a great Monday!

How are you?

Sunday Afternoon at the Zoo

Just a few of the pictures that I took from our afternoon at the zoo.

10 in 10 for a Saturday Night

1.  My Saturday morning began with a trip to the vet with  Zeke.  It's been a year since he had his painful back trouble.  This trip was just for his yearly check-up.  He didn't much like it.  First he pooped in the lobby, and then he bit the vet.  On the upside we got to hear what a lovely dog Bethy, our grand-dogger is!  They ALL love Bethy there.  I can only imagine what they will say about Zeke.

2.  THGGM ordered a vanity plate.  He really LOVES being a Pake.  And we are all excited to meet number six!

3.  Today I hit one thrift store.  I found a bag of what looked like blocks but also contained brightly colored wooden people.  So, of course, I bought it.  When I got it home and was adding the blocks to the block box I discovered that what I had purchased was a LOVELY hard wood block nativity set.  Oh the FUN we shall have with that!  Sigh...

4.  I also bought a small bag of assorted toys which contained a Buzz Lightyear and two Ninja Turtles.  Someone is going to be happy about that.  Love those 50 cents bags.

5.  The rest of the day was spent finishing up projects that I had started earlier in the week.  I've been stocking up on "pants" hangers. Presently I'm moving all of my tablecloths and assorted linens from the linen closet to a closet where they shall all hang nicely on pants hangers.  MUCH neater and not nearly so many fold lines.  I still have more to do with this project, as I've only emptied two of the four drawers and there is a three shelf cupboard above the drawers.  There are A LOT of pictures in that cupboard, so I do not dare dig into THAT as I know I shall be sure to trip and fall down memory lane.  And once I've fallen THERE, I cannot get up.

6.  While I've been doing that, THGGM has been washing screens and cleaning up the breeze-way.  Last year I believe we had that done in March.  This year it's looking hopeful for June-ish.

7.  On Memorial Day THGGM and I shall have been married for 35 years.  I still remember loading up my '66 Buick L'Sabre with all my worldly goods with which I endowed THGGM and it only took one trip. I did not have many worldly goods back then.

8.  Does anyone else watch "Keeping Up Appearances" on PBS on Saturday nights?  I LOVE that show!  And I also hate that show.  But I watch it religiously.

9.  The grand kids are still struggling to get over whatever it is that has been ailing them.  One would hope that fresh air and sunshine would perk everyone up, but it just seems to complicate things with allergies.

10.  Speaking of allergies, I keep waking up with my eyes stuck shut.  I don't like that.  But I do suppose it's a small price to pay for such a beautiful blooming spring time.  Yes.  Yes, I suppose it is.

10 in 10

Let's see.., I made it to Friday.  Not that that was hard to do.  The days just seem to fly by, except of course when they don't.  But this was one of the weeks that flew.  Speaking of flu, I never did get it.

1.  The closet cleaning that I started last week is still going full speed ahead.  At least the THINKING about it part is.  My clothes and almost all of the kids toys have been sorted and relocated.  But every time I get the new home for things looking spectacular I turn around to find that there are a multitude of things looking  rather forlorn and homeless.

2.  So I moved on to the linen closet.  My linen closet is AMAZING.  It is built in at the end of the hallway right outside of both bedroom doors.  I've seen pictures of smaller apartments in Paris.  But it needs a good cleaning.  So far, I've emptied two drawers entirely.  Onto the bed.  I do have a lot of curtains.  Even some from three houses ago.  In the back of my mind, I've always thought that Scarlet O'Hara was on to something.  One of the drawers is full of bed sheets. Scarlet didn't know everything after all.

3.  Last week I could easily get rid of bags of stuff.  This week it all looks so interesting and promising that I get a headache and have to lay down just looking at all of the possibilities.  But seriously though, the curtains are a maroon and ivory buffalo plaid.  I don't think they'd work up into something even remotely fashionable.  Although I am no authority on fashion.  Maybe I'll have to ask around.

4.  The sheets are a different story.  Have you noticed all of the cute things people are making with vintage sheets and pillow cases?  Adorable summer shifts and sweet floral tops?  So I've saved some.  But now that I'm thinking about it, the women who look adorbs in them are 20-somethings who only eat greens.  The thought of what I would look like roaming about in a vintage sheet makes me laugh uncontrollably.  Which is something that I should NEVER do anymore.

5.  Did I mention tablecloths?  Again Scarlet, you could have done better.  Why, you could have made a billowy wedding dress out of the good linens. Sadly, I have never met a tablecloth I didn't like.  So I have them for the dining room table, the kitchen table, the patio table, the picnic table and even for buffet size tables of which I have none.  Yet, I am PREPARED.

6.  In keeping with the random theme, I played the piano this morning.  Now it is true that I play the piano nearly every morning, but this time I played the piano without three cute little bottoms sharing the bench with me.  And I could play using my left hand as it wasn't anchoring a sweet little musician to the bench.  Sometimes it's just fun to play something other than Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and the ABC Song.  So today I played with wild abandon, You'll Never Walk Alone.  Doing this reminded me that since the two cabinets that I stored all of my music in were moved to the basement, I now need to find room for a whole lot of music.

7.  Did the weatherman LIE to me?  I thought it was to be sunny and warm today.   I've had to turn lights on and am presently leery of hanging laundry on the line.  That is, if I ever get around to doing any laundry today...

8.  Have I mentioned the wonderful gifts I received for Mother's Day?  THGGM gave me flowers, and from the children (who know me VERY well!) I received a Kindle, a bright red vice, and Legos.  I've been reading Pride and Prejudice on my Kindle every night, the vice I'm hoping to install tomorrow so I can drill holes in all the half done jewelry projects (oh!  the possibilities!) and we have been having a fabulous time with the new Legos all week.  Mother's Day truly was lovely.  This year I REALLY missed my mom.   More than ever.  But sometimes when I sit at the piano and play, it's almost like she is right behind me, and I'm reminded of the things she used to say.  Today was one of those times.

9.  I gave Zeke his second hair cut of the season yesterday.  Oh, boy.  Tomorrow he goes to the vet.  I hope none of the other dogs point and laugh.  But he is lighter, cleaner and happier.  Maybe I should take a class in dog grooming.  This was the first time that he willingly let me groom his legs.  All the other times he would snort and snap at me.  We are making progress.

10.  I confess.  This took longer than ten minutes.  And it certainly could use editing.  But I have closets to clean, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep...

Hertsje Plays Dress-up