Toys....

Last time I went to the dentist office, I spotted the new toy in the corner.

It took EVERYTHING I had to stay in my seat and just take a picture.

Don't worry, I was still able to sort the colors mentally.

The yellows all ended up on in the farthest corner........

Camping 7 - Kayaking #2

Dan was quite upset when he found out his video clip didn't make the previous blog.

Camping 7 - Kayaking

What a wonderful day for kayaking!! One of Dan's cool customers invited us up for a day of kayaking and food on the White River today! Although Eyli and I were very nervous at first, we had a great time together as a family! We were also happy to have Bobby and Sarah, and Tyler's friend Joey join us for the day!

And yes, I actually did it, too!! Can you believe it??

For grandmas and grandpa - check this out (Eyli going through the rough spot of the river!!)

Summer=New HAIRDOS 2

Dudley needed a haircut, too!!

Camping 6 - Fun with friends

u





Eyli was thrilled last night when her Sunday School friends came up to the campground to visit! The rest of us had a wonderful time, too, as the whole Smutz family came to hang out with us! The kids had a fabulous time in the pool, doing sparklers, and coloring! The age gap between our kids and theirs overlaps with Eyliana - yet, here are some pictures of Katie and Chandler hitting it off!
{And as this is Katie's favorite thing to do - Hopefully her parents don't mind that their 2 year old now knows how to text boys....}

Camping 5 - Happy 4th of July!

Sorry it is now the 8th of July and these photos are just getting up. Who knew it would literally take 4 days to upload this many photos over this SLOW internet connection? Had a great time at the fireworks. Bobby & Sarah and Jeff & Kim took us to White Lake Fireworks in Whitehall. Even Dudley got to go. He didn't mind the noise and excitement! Hope you all had a happy weekend!!

Vacation breeds HOPE.....the question always remains: is it false?

Camping 4 - Art Fair

Boys always enjoy the day when they accompany their wives to the Art Fair.....
(Brownie points for posing for the camera - Blog Moments come few and far between)

Camping 3 - Once a rule-breaker.......

For the record, this is the 2nd time he did this.

Two perfectly good outfits full of river-water.......

Camping 2 - Chubby Bunny

If you've missed past episodes here are pictures of our annual Chubby Bunny contest.

Don't worry, Jamo, no one beat your record......


You would think with this big of a mouth, he could get more than 3.......



Bobby wins the round with 18......



Sarah is proud of 10......



Yes, that's Bobby peaking in through the camper..... Tyler and Sarah have about the same size mouth, 10 for him, too!!

Camping 1

"I love campin' ", said in a PERFECT Dudley voice. (Yes, he is sitting on the dining room table. Yes, we eat on there.)


Although Dan does a perfect Dudley voice, we all agree that mine is better. We video taped 'Dudley talking', but can't upload it because the wireless at the campground is nothing like my cable at home........

Summer=New HAIRDOS

\












Thank you, Sarah~!!

Summer FUN - Kaitlyn

Katie hasn't really found her summer time FUN yet - but, she does spend alot of time using side-walk chalk. And, in fact, asked me if I could buy her a new box. It seems she would really like to take driver's training this summer, so we will have to see how her dad handles that one. AS: (driving=100% dad's responsibility) but (buying sidewalk chalk=100% mom's responsibility). Totally fair trade.

Summer FUN - Daniel

All he wanted for his birthday and father's day is some more INK, so here is Dan's latest addition to his rapidly growing SLEEVE. (Which, I will remind you, I told him he couldn't get.) He'll need to wait for 3 weeks to get the color on this one, which he was bummed about - but, the detail work on this took about 5 hours! So, I'm sure the color will take a long time, too. Hopefully, this 'sleeve' thingy gets done quickly (as I am kinda the "finish one thing before you start another" type of gal).

Summer FUN - Eyliana

Eyliana spent the last few weeks at A+ Summer Camp at our school! She took some REALLY cool classes this year - Cooking for Kids, Painting Large, and a Craft class. She spent a whole week painting this sunset - which we are going to hang in the garage. And in cooking class, she made a delicious meal every day (that she got to eat). One day she made this ice cream Bumble Bee. Eyli is definitely a 'cook' at heart, so she LOVED that class!

Summer FUN - Tyler

Tyler spent the last few weeks taking classes at the Career Tech Center. Because Grandma Robin works there, he was able to take the really cool classes - and stay for yummy lunch! This year he took welding and some type of building class, where they built a playhouse. He brought home some of his projects - a flower box, and a dragonfly, airplane, and giant dog that he welded together. Tyler loves doing all of this hands-on work! And dad says it's a great way to experience the trade! Hopefully, he will get a chance to attend the Career Tech Center when he is in High School!

Unsolicited

If you would have asked me 2 years ago if I had trouble forgiving people, I would have said – Absolutely not, I can forgive anybody for anything.

At the time, I believed that truth.

The real truth now becomes that I had not experienced TRUE EVIL up to that point in my life. For 33 years of life, people pretty much liked me and treated me with respect. Over the last 2 years, I have been tested. The testing came through many different people, and in many different forms. But, the constant factor became – people demonstrating UNSOLICITED pain with evil intentions. Up to this point in my life I had never experienced this concept of “They just don’t like you, Kristie – No, you didn’t do anything to them, they just don’t like you”

Seriously, WHAT?

Many questions came to my mind.
Mainly - Why?

After 2 years, I still have no answers.
One thing I do know:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
~Romans 12

How can I repeatedly read this, yet spend my days day-dreaming about how to out-smart them and bring revenge? I justify it by saying: Maybe God will use me to bring His wrath.

I feel like I know what I am supposed to do.
I feel like my mind won’t let me do it.
I’m struggling to forgive,
when the forgiveness is also: UNSOLICITED.

The camper has flies......

In preparation for our yearly camping trip, Tyler prepares to enter the camper and suck up the flies with the shop-vac.....

Writers Block

Haven't blogged in so long -

Can't write anything, because I have this one BLOG stuck in my head - and I'm trying to figure out how to write it - without being inappropriate......

I'm not sure I will ever figure it out..........

My Little Entrepreneur

Tyler is SO excited to be OUT OF SCHOOL and WORKING hard!
He comes home dirty, sweaty, and tired - after 12 hours of working in the dirt.

Dad says he couldn't run the business without him!
(So, Mom convinced him to ask for a raise this week!)

JUNE 10, 2009 - Tyler Cook conducts his very first "Cook Underground" QUOTE for a real customer!!

Interview with dad, before the quote......



Interview with dad, after the quote......

~Random~

You know when you empty the MEMORY CARD in your HUSBANDs camera?

And you end up finding
the LIFE in a DAY of the COOKS..........

My hero

This kid never ceases to amaze me. This year, the 5th and 6th graders had a Football draft, season, playoff, superbowl - all in the last 2 months. Tyler got chosen as one of the Captains of the teams. He worked hard with Mr. Stout, the Director of the school - to form fair teams, and schedule games. His team was named "Red-Bull" - which is probably because he loves to drink Red-Bull and I never let him (although, I've heard his dad buys it for him).

His team competed in the SuperBowl game yesterday afternoon - and won 20-0 !! Here is their Championship Photo! The trophy will preside in the Trophy Case for years to come. I am so proud of him!
If I was a better mom, I would have photos of him actually "playing" the football game, but because I was inside working, I actually forgot it was happening, and missed the game :( - typical for me.

He was also voted by his peers as MVP of the season - out of all the teams! Congrats, Tyler!

My proudest moment as a mom: One of the players, throughout the season, got frustrated about something and said he was going to quit. Mr. Stout explained to Tyler that because he was the "Captain" he would have to handle it. Now, an average 6th grade boy would say - "go ahead, we got plenty of other kids to choose from."
Tyler said this, "Dude, if you want to quit that is your choice, but our team could really use you as a player. We need all of our players to make a team. Why don't you think about it for a while and let me know if you want to keep playing for the Red-Bulls. I hope you decide to keep playing with us."
He gets his leadership skills from his dad.
Tyler - my hero.

Tradition

Tradition means what?
Well to different people, it means different things.

To me it kinda means - you do the same thing you did last year, even if you didn't like it, because - it's tradition. To me, maintaining the "tradition" itself is more important than what I do during the "tradition".

Every year for 10 years, Dan and I help out at the WMAAA field day. It started back when Katie was in Kindergarten. We run the "Over-Under" game. The team stands in a line and one person passes the ball over their head, and the next one passes it under their legs, etc, etc. Let's just say - I LOVE this day every year!! Let's just say, after 10 years, Dan is tired of tradition. This year, we brought a helper - which allowed Dan to sit on the ground most of the time! We broke Katie out of high-school for one day to come back to her OLD stomping grounds and help the students.
Let's just say - Katie and I had a great time!!

My highschool sweetheart

I married my best friend.
I married my soulmate.
I married my love for life.

but,
I also married my highschool sweetheart.
With that comes extra-special STUFF.

Tonight I had to retrieve an object out of the crawlspace. As I climbed out from under the house, some small baskets caught my eye.
Tyler - "Mom, what is that stuff, why are you taking all that out of the crawlspace."
Me - "These are all the love letters your dad wrote to me."
Tyler - "How long ago?"
Me - "A very long time ago."

Because I am feeling sentimental, I thought I would share part of one.

12-12-94

Kristie,
It's been a while since I wrote you, and I'm gonna write you now and tell you how much ... I love you.....Infinity....Infinity.....Infinity....Kristie, there is so many dreams I have for you and I, Katie, and whoever else might be part of our family by then. (It would be nice to have a little boy, but either will do)!
I think about what kind of house we will have. Will it have a nice yard with a playground, for our beautiful kids? Will we have a couple dogs that will run in a creek and play in the back yard? Will we have a fireplace to sit in front of and warm our feet or drink from our wine glasses? Well, Kristie, I know for a fact that any dream you or I have will come true, because between the two of us, we can, will and do - do anything. Because with the love we both have for each other, we have what it takes to do anything we want.............

Thank you Lord, for giving me a husband that has always believed in 'US'. And who is dedicated to making sure 'US' is always following our dreams.

Tyler loves my FLIP VIDEO CAMERA.....

The Penny Bomb.....


The Scary Movie 1......