A Great Day To Be A Tiger's Fan!

Today, Anna and I took my Dad to a Detroit Tigers game for his Christmas present.  It just so happened that the theme at Comerica Park today was "Christmas in July".  How fitting!  It rained all the way to Detroit and all the way home . . . but only a few sprinkles during the game.  Thank you, Lord!  The Detroit Tigers played the Washington Nationals.  Tigers won 11-1.  The bottom of the 4th inning took forever and a day - we kept smacking line drives and ended up scoring 5 runs.  Pretty exciting!  Avila and Hunter both had home runs.  Cabrera is injured so we didn't see him play.  Verlander, Coke, Albuquerque, and Reed pitched.  Tigers just made a trade last night for Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox - he didn't play today but I'm excited about it!

Karys was AWESOME at the game.  Have I mentioned that she is pretty much the best baby ever?  A 3 hour game and I never once had to stand up with her, walk around with her, or even so much as put a pacifier in her mouth!

It was spitting so we used our umbrella. :)

First Tigers' Game!

The 9th inning.  It was a sell-out crowd but you wouldn't have guessed it from this picture.  Apparently a lot of people decided that our 11-1 lead was a pretty sure win and decided to beat the crowd/traffic.

Tigers Win!  Still continuing my streak - I have never been to a Tigers' game in which they have lost.  I think Ilitch and Dombrowski should give me season tickets.

Love my baby girl! Love my Tigers!

Merry Christmas, Dad!  I loved spending my day with you!

Special day with my Dad and his girls and one of his granddaughters!

Karys on the way home.  She did GREAT until we got stuck in traffic just west of Jackson.  Then she screamed her ever livin' head off.  She was just doing what ALL of us wanted to do. :)

Kid Favorites

Hope: Samuel, ask me if I was drinking chocolate milk.
Samuel: Were you drinking chocolate milk?
Hope: No, it's just because my skin is black.

Aliyah: I was just being-tend! (pretending)

**Hope was wanting to help me with laundry, but I had just finished.**
Hope: But Mommy, I was trying to be politeful!

**Samuel and Daryl were getting ready to head outside to play some soccer**
Daryl: Go and get some socks, Samuel, so that we can play soccer
Samuel: Ohhhhhh Daddy!! That must be why they call it SOCCer? Because you need socks to play!

1982 to 2013

We had unseasonably cold weather today for July (never even reached 70 today) so I pulled out the warmer clothes for Karys today and found my overalls that I wore 30 years ago!  They barely fit her but she sure looked cute in them - perfect for Church today!  They are still in really good shape - even the elastic still is perfectly good.  Back then (haha) they definitely made higher quality clothes than what is being made now!

July 28, 2013

Blueberry Picking 2013

Daryl, Mom, Dad, and Anna went blueberry picking today and picked 60+ pounds - 32 pounds for us!  It was a good day for blueberry picking with highs only near 70.  We ate some (a LOT!) and froze the rest.  Samuel and Hope went with them.  Hope picked 0.22lbs (and was so proud of them) and Samuel told everyone that his tummy was his bucket today.  And then he told everyone that his tummy bucket was full.  Haha!  I stayed at home with Karys and Aliyah - I missed being out there with everyone this year but it was a wise choice, I think.  My kids loved eating the fresh blueberries!  Aliyah was two-fisting it for awhile . . . standing next to the table, shoveling one fistful after another into her mouth.  We brushed her teeth tonight and a few minutes later found her standing next to the table eating more blueberries!

**Edited to add: The next morning when Aliyah woke up and came downstairs the first question out of her mouth was, "Where are all the blueberries?" (We had put them all in ziploc bags and moved them to the freezer.)  I told her the last of the fresh ones were in the fridge in a bowl - she went straight to that fridge to grab a handful! :)

Homeschooling?!

After a lot of discussions and even more prayer, we have decided to begin homeschooling Samuel in September. He will be a young kindergartener, but academically, he is ready! I decided to go with the My Father's World curriculum for this year. It just came in the mail, and so, while the boys were out fishing with Grandpa and the girls were having a tea party, I dug in! I'm pretty excited . . . and a little nervous too! I feel so blessed that God has chosen me to be the teacher for my kids. I don't and I won't take that responsibility lightly! 

Pancake Breakfast!

Karys: July 25, 2013

July 24, 2013

Airplanes and Fish

Since my Grandpa Stegink is a WW2 Vet, he was able to have a ride on this airplane. Because it was in Kalamazoo, the kids and I tagged along so that they could see the airplane and experience watching it take off and land on the grass runway. Aliyah didn't want to look for the picture because the pilot was taking it . . . so shy! My Grandpa had a great time! It was a little long for the kids, but they did well. After his flight, we all headed over to The Fish Hatchery for a picnic lunch and to feed the fish! It was a great day!!

The Crazy Train

Aliyah and Karys

Van Buren State Park 2013

This camping trip will go down in history as one of the hottest ever! Oh my goodness!! It was easily in the 90s for most of the weekend and so humid. We came out on Thursday and I actually went home Thursday night so that Karys and I could sleep in air conditioning. Karys hates hot weather and it is so miserable to nurse her in humid, sticky weather. We came back out on Friday morning and stayed for the rest of the weekend. It was still hot, but not unbearable like the first night. Thank goodness for Lake Michigan! It was a great weekend with the Pierces and the Brashears. The only bummer was that Aliyah and Samuel got stung a couple of times running through the woods between our campsite and my parent's campsite.