Paperless

SO here's the skinny on the house.

We were supposed to get the plans back last week, but turns out they weren't done...so Bill and I are going to the 1st revision this Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully we won't even need the second revision. Then, plans are done! These 'plans' are very basic from what I understand, and are mainly for the framer telling him where to put walls and such. As far as the 'designing' plans go...that won't come until August/Sept sometime. Then, Ryan and I leave for Hawaii on the 12th and hopefully they break ground while we're gone! WOAH.

Also. Turns out, we have a German neighbor who lives in a house to the west, and one empty lot to the east of ours. The German, whom Ry met...thinks his name is Horst, but he didn't want to make him say it again. haha. Anyhoo, he apparently didn't' pay to get his lot surveyed when he built it, so this whole time, he's been mowing, landscaping, and watering with underground sprinklers about 15 feet of OUR LAND!! Ya, he wasn't too happy when he found out. ooops. Tickin off our only neighbor and we don't even live there yet. crap. But, he'll move all that stuff before it gets plowed apart when they dig our basement. So that was interesting news. I'll have to be really nice to him...maybe make him some cookies or something.

That same day, Leo (guy #2 who is helping Bill build our house, lives across the street from our lot) told us that HIS next door neighbor (so diagonal from us) is Dr. Andrew Bargarin, the new dentist who took over some other guy's place right by Lakeshore High... Neal has been advertising Ry as "Lakeshore's Dentist", and then this guy comes in and tries to take that name too. hahaha. SO, little neighborhood competition goin on. oh man. Just our luck. maybe we should have done a background check on the neighbors before we purchased anything. HA!

There's just a lot of little things that we kinda need to get done before we go on vacation...hope we remember everything! At night after the boys go to bed I get a chance to catch up on some stuff and feel like I'm back in the know. =) And so that is what I will go do right now....and then go to bed cause I'm wiped.

And who said building a house was stressful. I LAUGH in the face of Stress!

AH AHHH AHHHHH!!!

Staff outing!!

Forgot my camera. I know! Horrible. But it was AWESOME! I almost wrote on here the night before we went, but who knew what readers were out there that might have found out what we were doing before Friday morning. WELL...we all met at the practice and ordered our Starbucks for the road...headed up to Grand Rapids to River Crossing Mall, Neal gave everyone some money to spend on themselves and 2 hours to shop til they dropped. Then we headed back to Holland to a play some LASER TAG!!! Oh man, it was SOOO FUN!! I have personally never been before, but don't know why the heck not. It was awesome! Picture a group of 15 middle-aged women, and Ryan and Neal (haha) 'running' around in the dark trying to shoot each other. It was hillarious. We all laughed a lot...2 ten minute games and we were all drenched and exhausted. There were many jokes about needing oxygen masks and wheelchairs and Trish yelling 'DIE DIE DIE' while she was shooting people...hahahahaahahaaa...pretty funny. Then we went to a very nice restraunt in Holland, can't remember the name...Johnny something...it was good. Then about 6:00, they headed for home and Ryan and I went back to Hudsonville to visit our friends, the Vugteveens....Randy and Judy, Dustin and Breanne, and Wade and Esther and their two daughters Ava and Tessa. It's always great to see them and catch up. We dont' see them enough for how close we live!

One full day without the boys!!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....Joe and Susie watched the kids ALL DAY for us so we could have some fun with the staff...we are very thankful because we couldn't have done the things we did with them along. Sorry boys, you're cute, but a LOT of work. =) We got back to get the report from the day... Susie watched them by herself while Joe was at work....and the only time she was a bit overwhelmed was when they both decided to bomb thru their outfits at the same time!! hahahaaa. Good timing boys. And of course I only packed along one extra outfit (who does that?? I have twins, common get with it!!) SO, she had to do some laundry so they could be clothed again. Dang. How often do they bomb at the same time. I mean really. But they all had fun. They're pretty good babies, but not as good as Tessa!! She's 4 days older than the boys, and SO MUCH quieter! And, E and G are both crawling and climbing but Tessa stays where you put her still. Dangit. =) She is so cute. Anyhoo, here are some pics from the grandparents!





Don't think they could be much cuter!

Some exciting upcoming events for the Thomas family...
1. Tonight, party with the area dentists! Should be awesome!
2. Monday, Evan is 22!
3. Wednesday, Amber, Erin and Josh are coming to see us for a few days!!
4. Friday, fireworks on the pier!
5. July 7-11, House sit for Bancrofts
6. July 8, Erin's open heart surgery.
7. July 12 (two weeks from today) leave for Hawaii with Richard and Heather for a week without the boys!!!!!
8. July 13, Cale is 23!

House update: Hopefully they can start diggin a hole for our basement right when we get back- We'll see! First of two house plan revisions is this week!

Over my head

Ok, I'm sure the suspense is killing everyone. The twin in the picture is....

ETHAN!!!

I know. I got it wrong too, and I'm the mom. Seriously. Had you all known that the picture was taken on Schoonveld's porch swing the same day as the photos below...you would have put the clues together with the gray tshirt sleeve and see that Ryan is wearing the gray tshirt and holding Ethan in the other picture. But I didn't give you that clue because you would have totally figured it out. ?? hahahaahaaaaa. ok maybe not.

Well, the start of another busy week, and the conclusion of another busy weekend. Saturday was our crazy day. Bridgman Family Dental always partakes in the Relay For Life in Berrian Springs every summer, and Ryan was able to help out again this year as Dr. Neal is out of the country on a mission trip- he comes back tonight. ANYHOO, they are in the same tent/building thing, which are set up all around a giant loop that people walk on. They raise money with their teams during the year and then have someone from their team walking on the track for 24 hours! It's pretty cool. But we were doing free oral cancer screenings for people- you'd be surprised how many people DON'T want to do it...COMMON PEOPLE- it's FREE!!! The mouth is a personal thing, I know. Get over it and find out if you have cancer!!!! =) Most people don't even have a dental home- craziness. >Ryan did find a few things with the Velscope (WATCH THE VIDEO!!) that looked suspicious so it was worth it to be there. But even if he didn't find anything, it would have been worth it to get that many all clear reports. That stuff is BAD. Part of what makes those things so bad is that it is VERY MUCH connected to the rest of your body, so when things go south, it spreads QUICKLY. So in the case of cancer, people that are regularly checked and have their oral cancer checks by their dentists (ask your dentist if he checks that for you) are more likely to catch those things early on.

OK, enough of my dentist wife talk...we had a great time, I love seeing people and hanging out...turns out, the tent next to us, I remember from last year, does free haircuts - right up my alley - and the lady that does them is in the twins club with me!!! (you're laughing that I'm in a twins club...ha.) SO cool, she couldn't cut hair this year cause the other girl from her salon had something come up, and I said- HEY, call me next time!! And so she will!! WOO HOOOOO!! AND, right next to Ry. Weird, I know. One of our other friends, Amanda, is just a few tents down from us too, so it's always fun to see her. But we had a blast.

ON THE SAME DAY...was the WWII reenactment on Tescornia Beach. Seriously, Michigan is awesome. It was VERY cool, Schoonvelds went to it so as soon as I get some pics of that then I'll put em up. AND we missed the wine festival at Weko Beach in Bridgman featuring 9ish wineries from the area, including Tabor Hill, our fav...DANG. Why does it have to be all on the same weekend!?!

Then that night we went to the 2nd annual White party at our friend's house, Eric and Heather Hudak. They are both chiropractors and just built a beautiful home near the beach in a new development in Benton Harbor. Their house gave me a lot of ideas for our place. =) But if any of you are looking to host the party of the year, I suggest a theme party where everyone wears ALL WHITE. It was a blast! We went with Schoonvelds and knew a few other people there, but it was still really fun. They have a 'bags' tournament out in their backyard...I'm sure the neighbors are all staring out wondering if these crazy people in all white throwing beanbags and drinking beer in fancy bottles are gay. hahahahaaaaaa. Girls wearing white isn't that weird or hard to come up with an outfit...skirts, dresses, capries, not unusual. But guys....haha! Eric said is just fun to get together and wear something you wouldn't normally wear. He was right. Imagine about 30 people, 28-40 (and then there's me, always the youngest) eating fancy hor'dourves and havin a good time. WOW it was fun. Seriously, someone plan it and tell me how it goes. It was awesome. Ryan doesn't own white shoes, nor did he want to spend money to come up with a white pair...so we did a little doctoring to his Nebraska Sandals with some athletic tape and they totally worked, don't you think?!?! yessss. Too bad I forgot my camera so there's no proof of the funness. Still mad about it. You'll just have to trust me. =)

Ok this is a book. told ya we have a lot going on. More later! Dang I still have to write about the house...wait, look how cute Garrett is. awww.

It's time for....

NAME THAT CHILD!!

Readers, cast your votes...

Hint: It's one of mine. =)

Dreamy dreams

Well, as there has been no update, many of you may be thinking that I am still without my keys. you would be WRONG! I actually didn't find them, it was none other than Mr. Schoonveld himself. Sunday after church- quickly approaching one week of missing keys- Heather and Ryan came over to help in the search. Few minutes into their visit Ryan says, "what would you say if we haven't even been here for 5 minutes and I found your keys." I think we said he could have whatever the keys could get him. Hahaha. Sure enough, wedged far in the depths of the couch cracks- there they were. ARE YOU SERIOUS. Can't tell you how many times we checked the couch. We even picked it up and shook it. WOW.

Anyhoo, we've had a great outdoor week...lots of walks, friends to visit, porches to swing on, 9 year old birthday afternoons.... anyone else think this is funny?? How many small children can fit on the swing? How many large Ryans can fit on the same swing? Hahahaaa




Monday was Alyssa's birthday, so yesterday I picked her up and we went out to lunch with the boys and went to a park to hang out for a while. She took the boys down slides and played with em in the grass and pushed em on the swing. I think the boys are in love.


















Here's our beach day last weekend. Totally blurry. Dang. First time in Lake Mich boys!



I used to think the boys stared at Ryan cause of his crazy long hair and beard...but that hasn't seemed to change since I cut his hair short. Maybe he just has a weird face? =)

I do have some updates on the house, so stay tuned! Things are comin along!

love that shines

These are really the pics I wanted to put up of Josh and Emily...action shots of him workin on his man cave. =) Totally can't see the room from this view, but when it's all said and done I'll have to add an update. Now that's nice. Awww.





Also, while this was going on, I was out getting my mowing fix in their backyard and was caught on camera without knowing. WOW. That's funny. And check out the graduation party in the neighbor's yard. Hahhahaaa.


Thanks to one of Ryan's patients, the boys have these nice St. Joe tshirts (boooooo), so they wore them yesterday with their bib-shorts to cover up the front. And then to demonstrate how unhappy he was in that shirt, Ethan bombed up the back. Hahaha.
They were both awake but E kept closing his eyes cause of the flash.

Garrett the QB

Ethan, go long!

I Got it!

Oh Wait, NO!!

FUMBLE!!!! DANG IT!!

The Whitey Whites!!

Well folks, today marked the first day of water weather...actually it's been water weather for a while, we just first experienced it for ourselves today. Thanks to our friends, Josh and Emily White, and thanks to Josh's parents for the purchase of a nice heated pool for wimps like me. Today during my target run I picked up some swimmy diaps, that gives us 9 times to the beach this season....or maybe I'll have to buy another pack and double it.
Most likely the latter. Anyways, the boys love bath time, even though I haven't switched over from the short and to the point bath to the take your time and I end up drenched bath. SO, naturally, they were little fish lovin the water. Garrett took his nap when we got there in the carseat, and Ethan decided to sleep on the bricks ?? Oh well, he took a nap! Josh was in a grilling fury and made us a fine post-swim meal of steak and chicken. Top 3 reasons why we like Whity-white. 1. His wife, Emily 2. His dog, Tackle and 3. His parents' pool. Excellent. Just kidding. No but seriously. just jokin. Seriously though. Ryan and I started meeting with them last fall and we hardly knew each other, but slowly our weekly hangout night turned sort of bible studyish...venturing thru the book of Galatians and then recently discussing some downloaded John Piper videos. We also made an addition to our two family group, Mark and Heather Ring, a few months ago. Currently, we talk about what we want the purpose of our group to be and do and go and say and such. You know. Josh is a man of vision and purpose and a heck of a facilitator. AND! He and Emily are in the middle of a house remodel, actually it's an ongoing process, he's a do-it-yourself-er guy, I KNOW. The list of our projects will soon be underway once we move in. =) He's almost done with his man-cave basement right now. that will be awesome...just in time for Football season. I'll never see Ryan again. But they're both great with the boys and we love them! Thanks Whites for being such great friends! (and for being my age!!)

The Race....

Ok...we'll see if the video actually loads. Aparently yesterday, some Mich folks read my blog. Last night when we were hanging out at Smiths for a church grill fest, someone thought it would be fun to see if the cell phone trick worked. After watching the video, you'll see that it does...Also notice Ethan's intensity as he approaches the goal. Type A?? Garrett's more ho-hum about getting there, and esily distracted- could he have inheirited that trait from me?? It really was a toss up as far as victors go...win a few, lose a few...have a few laughs at the boys' expense (I'm a terrible mom)...and it's all fun and games until someone starts crying. Dr. Neal busted out the video camera for one last horrah...can't even remember who won. That's ok though, it's on film. =) it was awesome!!

Still no sign of teeth- but they're workin on the droolin/chewing everything part.
Our apartment is getting progressively smaller.
They fit into the stroller without the carseats!
Carseats might begin to stay in the car- too heavy!
I lost my keys yesterday and seriously CANNOT find them ANYWHERE!! NOT good.

Actually the last one is the one consuming all my thoughts....I have NO idea where they are. Dang it.

Well boys....

Another weekend under our belts...our sons zeroing in on Friday, their 6 month bday celebration. We will celebrate as a family with our normal daily routine and whatever else may come up that day. It's gonna be memorable.

Saturday in the mail I received an EXCELLENT gift from a close friend living in Florida with her hubby, anxiously awaiting their own little guy set to arrive in August. Kara Plimpton sent the boys two sweet books, one is nursery rhymes and poems and such, and also a Baby Einstein- Mozart DVD. That's AWESOME!!! The three of us watched it this morning, I think I was more entertained then the boys, haha. Man that sound track is good...wonder where I could get some of that music.... Anyways, we all loved it and I'm sure it's going to get used quite frequently.

Another exciting event, Ethan is quickly picking up on Garrett's scoots across the floor...they're pretty much movin about the same now. LOOK OUT. They especially start haulin after the cell phone if it's on the floor. I know...it's really lame, I don't have any pictures of it yet. Seriously. We had some of our friends over yesterday afternoon to watch em for like half an hour. When we got back Tim said, "I hope you don't mind but we raced em." Hahhahahahaaaaahahahaaaaaa. And of course they took a video of it on their camera so I dont' have a copy. It's sooooo funny, I might have to have a rematch. Both boys won once. the one they got on film though Garrett slammed Ethan. Maybe he was tired...stage fright?? Hahha. But the phone was the target...next time Tim said they were going to make the course harder. So funny.

Well, just gettin things back in order from the weekend, so better get back to it!

Just Breathe

Little bit of an update...we, the Thomas family, are now the proud owners of Lot #47 in the Alabaster Estates...now the fun begins!

We have plans tonight and I have an hour to get myself together.
Better get a move on....

Time to play in the dirt!

As many may know, Ryan and I have been house hunting for a few months....and decided that building was our best option, because of our AWESOME friend, Mr. Bill Magrane. He's a middle school math teacher who likes to build houses on the side. What?! Crazy combo, but he's VERY good to say the least, and we're excited to have him walk us thru the process. We've picked out a plan and are waiting to get in with the architect to finalize...and in the meantime we were on the hunt with our other friend, Lars Petzke, realtor and friend of ours. He's been so patient with us, we have no idea what we're doing. hahaha. So this morning we put in an offer on a lot and gave em three days, they got back within 2 hours and shot us down. HAHA! But that's what we expected...they counter offered, and we will too, and hopefully by the end of the week we'll have a lot! yesss!!! YIKES, what am I saying! It's a dang good thing we have people we trust to help us out and be honest in helping us make decisions and such....it's gonna be pretty fun.

Hopefully, if my readers are faithful to my blog, there will be actual footage of the building process...maybe by Feb we will have a new house to run around in! We will sure miss this place though, it's location in the town, not to mention our own beach a few yards away.....but we won't miss the space. =) Our neighbors are pretty great too....but good thing- there will be neighbors where we're going too!! There's a little map of it if you're familiar with the area...that fatty line uptop is the interstate. Great news for all of our traveling friends, it's one exit closer to Nebraska!!!! Locate the red X if you will, and picture us on the front porch drinkin some coffee and watchin the twins mow the yard. yesssss....

Dad, Ev, Cale, and Josh...next summer come prepared to put your handyman skilz to the test. Bet we'll have a project or two for ya! Isn't family great. =)

Some New Moves!

Ladies and Gents, we've got a couple of movers and shakers on our hands. Garrett discovered he can get around about a week ago...I wouldn't quite call it crawling, its' still like a good scoot. Ethan won't be far behind I'm sure. As soon as they figure out how to get their arms going then I'm toast. Better get on that baby-proofing asap!

Also, they've been doing a move quite a bit- we like to call it the dead bug. =)


Hahahahaaaa. Pretty cute. Well this was a totally awesome post. But I'm tired so I'm goin to bed. See yaaaa