Life Lessons of an Average Dutch Girl (in no particular order)...

If you know me, you know I have forever entitled the month of March, “Birthday Month”. I love birthdays…doesn’t matter whose it is. So this “Birthday Month”, I have spent a lot of time doing what I love…Writing! I don’t get the opportunity to do it often enough so I decided that this month was the time. Another thing I don’t do often is SHARE my writing. So, on the eve of my 35th birthday, allow me to share the titles of the chapters of this month’s collection…

Life Lessons of an Average Dutch Girl (in no particular order)…

1. The Taste of Victory…Nakia’s homerun that took us to the NAIA Semi-finals

2. The Place to Be…1st Dance Party at 49 Central

3. Wanna Play?...Playing football with Ms. Vecchi in 3rd Grade

4. Oh Christmas Tree…Hunting for the perfect tree with my Grandpa W. and dad on a visit from Tennessee

5. The Cover on an Old Torn Up Book…my student, Josh walks across the stage last year

6. Life of the Party…twirling the rifle five months pregnant to entertain the girls at Mish’ 30th bday party in Maggie Valley

7. My Biggest Fans…Coaching at the Walt Disney Tournament while my parents and grandparents cheered me on (and coached a little too!) from the stands

8. Time for me to Fly…REO Speedwagon concert the night before I moved to Tennessee for college

9. When Monks Cry…Time of reflection and prayer in Assissi, Italy

10. Putrid Punch…Lily’s 3rd birthday party on our back deck

11. Double Scoop...Two hour drive to Muscle Shoals, AL on a recruiting trip with Robbie to find the game was rescheduled and getting ice cream instead

12. Angel…Sarah McLaughlin Christmas Concert in Atlanta with Stacie

13. Bullfrog Chasing…Campout at grandparents after high school graduation

14. On Your Mark, Get Set…Canoe race with Tony and the kids on Keuka Lake

15. It’s in His Kiss…Discovered my love for karaoke at Carissa’s bachelorette party

16. Pardon Me?...Who knew a random elective (Current Events) taught by a random professor (Cliff Schimmels) would lead me to a career in education??

17. Hello Ref??? Did You See That???...Playing in the sectional game at McEvoy Park and watching my mom run down the bleachers in high heels

18. Boxes in the Garage…The night I moved into my 1st home

19. Beach Bums…Frisbee football on Waikiki Beach

20. Cut Throat…Finding out at the TranSouth Tournament that Tony's "lump"

was confirmed as cancer

21. Do You Take This Baby?...Heather’s words at Tate’s Baby Dedication

22. Last Ride…Riding the Rockin’ Rollercoaster with my 70 year old grandma

23. Order Anxiety…Ordering mash potatoes in Santa Fe, NM for fear of sounding stupid or ordering the wrong thing

24. Central Park…Spending the day with my family in the heart of New York

25. No Recess for Me…Breaking my arm in kindergarten and watching the kids play from the window

26. In This Ring…Robbie takes me to the circus in Charlotte, NC

27. 212 Degrees…the one time that going the extra mile changed a student’s life

28. There Goes Another Turtle…The Mooneys go to Houston Woods

29. Mickey D’s…Dressing Rusty up like McDonald’s French fries

30. When You Wish Upon a Star…Watching the fireworks at Disney last Christmas with the people that matter most to me (minus one!!!)

31. No Hablo Espanol…Horseback riding on the beach in Tongoy, Chile

32. Luau Love…Lea and Tim wed in our back yard

33. Midnight Swim…there’s nothing like the sound of four bodies hitting the water of the Ocoee River at the same time

34. 20 Scholarships Down…2006 UK vs. UT game…we almost had them!!!

35. Moral Support…Taking the trip to Madison, WI with Winthrop Basketball

The Loveshack

Headin down the Atlanta highway...looking for a love getaway...headin' for a love getaway...

But before we could, we had to setup a memorable getaway for the kids...

Lily stayed in town with Nonny...

They rode bikes, made birthday cake for mommy, and took long naps...

Tate went with Bobo to visit Iggler's parents in Nashville...

They went to the Science Museum, played with the puppies, and stayed up til 11:30!!!

Robbie and I had a great time with some of our dear couple friends. We stayed at a cabin overlooking a beautiful waterfall.

We hiked

Took a boatride

Checked out the local outhouses

Climbed in caves

And avoided a tornado

I actually woke up Saturday morning and remembered what it felt like to be rested. It was a great time, but I sure was anxious to get home to my kiddos. Apparently I wasn't the only one...


What a great way to celebrate my birthday!

My Fingerprint...

Okay guys...this one's a doozy...


Yep...you got it! My fellow aries...kindred spirit...lovely lady...Miss Meghan is at it again. This time is purse of your choice, fabric of your choice and monogram...all for free. Click here or go to her blog (kmaccreations.blogspot.com) and follow the instructions under the "Get Down On It" post.




Her post asks "Why are you unique?" Here's my answer:

• My 2nd toe is longer than my big toe
• I have one eye that's smaller than the other
• I sneeze when I walk out in the sun (my Chemistry teacher tells me its genetic???)
• I have 14 moles on my left arm and 3 on my face and my dad used to tell me they were angel kisses
• I had bunion surgery when I was 12

I sure am digging on my new purse and getting compliments everywhere I go. It's a looker, alright! Drawing will be on a very special day...last day of the month sound familiar to anyone???? So go ahead and enter...I DARE YA!!!

And Let Birthday Month Continue...

We ALL know that March is the greatest birthday month EVER, but apparently some other folks agree. We had two birthday celebrations this weekend. Our standing rule is that when shopping for gifts, the same gendered child gets to pick it out and mommy has final say. The first party was at the Richardsons for Katie's 8th birthday. I gave Lily the choice of a movie or ice cream gift card and she of course, chose an ice cream gift card for Katie. They also wanted to pick some dandelions in the front yard for her. We had pizza and yummy cookie cake and the kids had a great time meeting some new friends.

The 2nd was at Deer Park to celebrate Tyson's 2nd birthday. Tate was so excited to give Tyson his TakeAlong Thomas. He is always pretty thoughtful and takes a lot of time when picking out gifts for other kids. I told him to try to remember when he was two and what his favorite toy was and he said that trains were the best because he still plays with them now. The kids had a great time hitting the pinata, eating cake and playing in the park.

We also made it to a Lee softball game and had a dozen friends over Saturday night to watch basketball and open up the "outdoor den" for the spring season, but my camera battery died beforehand. The weather was so awesome and it looks like it will carry on through the week. I can't wait!!! I am currently laying in my bed listening to my daughter try to convince her daddy that she doesn't need to go to bed..."I'm not tired," she says. Must be all the cupcakes.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

This weekend, we had a yard sale. I knew I needed to come up with something to distract the kids while we were having our sale so we decided to have a lemonade stand. They were so cute. Tate kept calling out, "Get your lemonade...sweet and delicious." And Lily would approach customers and say, "Can I have your money?" We had a few conversations about customer service and leaving our stand unattended.






After the sale, we took their $12 and headed to Target for them to pick out their purchases. Tate bought a new car and Lily wanted sparkly Hannah Montana flipflops.

Selfish Greed

I shouldn't even tell ya, cuz the less folks there are, the more chances for me...but KMAC's givin' again and it's too good to be...

TRUE!!!!

Click here, post a comment and you might win yourself something...I won two weeks ago and Nonny won this past week.

What are ya waitin' for???

Scattered Like the Wind...

So in a perfect world, I wake up this morning, feed the kids, and log on to weather.com to see what the prediction is. Oh, I see...scattered t-storms...70% until 3:00 and then it goes down to 30%. Might be a good day for shopping. So I awake the other adults (apparently if you're NOT the mom, you get to sleep in while on vacation) and we plan to leave mid-morning for the outlets. The plan is to go hit the shops while its raining and make it back in time for some clearer weather this afternoon. So...we head to the outlets making a quick stop at McCalister's for some lunch.

Shopping went really well. We rented two $5 jogging strollers from Shoppers Services and within 30 minutes both kids were asleep. I actually got to try on clothes. What a concept!!! During our excursion, the sun finally peered out from the clouds. As we finished our last line of shops and let the kids play on the playground, out came the clouds and down came the rain...

The way home was rainy and stop and go traffic...took us much longer to make it back than it did to make it there so we decided to stop and eat an early dinner at Fudruckers hoping the rain would clear up. Fudruckers was a great restaurant and really kid-friendly.

They signed the wall...

Watched the gators

And checked out the patio pets

In the end, my plan fell through. It rained the rest of the night. As you can see, the kids were less than pleased....

Apparently, my life is less than perfect...one can not predict "scattered". I'll settle for that anyday!!! Tennessee here we come!

Mean Ole Jellyfish

I'm a lake girl. I guess its because I grew up within ten miles of three different lakes. And because some of my fondest memories are from John's cabin with the gang. And because I now take my kids to the lake with my family so they can enjoy it as much as I do. So the beach and I...we're friends. Not the best of friends, just good enough friends to spend an afternoon together in order to get to know each other better.

And I didn't have much hope this morning. The weatherman said 80% so I believed 80%. So when I woke up and there was no rain, I quickly got the kids in their suits and took them to the pool.

A brief morning shower took us back inside

and then FINALLY...we headed to the beach.

We flew kites

We built sand castles

We played in the waves

And then we headed to the condo for lunch and nap...

After lunch we headed back down to the beach. The adults decided to play bocchi (sp?) and football while the kids were digging in the sand. After our games, we buried the kids in sand. While we were standing along the shoreline rinsing the sand off, little Lily stepped right on a jellyfish and oh...she broke my heart.

Robbie immediately called his friend, our family allergist, to find out what to do. Of course he recommended Benadryl and then he shocked us...you know that home remedy that we've all heard about with jellyfish stings (think FRIENDS episode people!!!)...Well I'm hear to tell you that the allergist not only recommended it, but it worked. And of course, we had to take pictures to prove it...yep you can only imagine what's in the cup...

After all the drama, we headed down to the local Snowball stand...that'll cheer any girl up!!!

Weathering the Storm

This morning, we loaded up the car and headed to the panhandle for a little relaxation "Gulf Style".

Unfortunately, mother nature had something else in mind...

So we decided to make the most of it. After getting checked in and unpacked (and a quick swim in the waterpark right outside our patio!!!), we headed to the Shrimp Shack for dinner with local seafood in mind. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was much better than the seafood (although Tate really loved his grouper), but we were at least inside and dry from the terrential downpour that was happening outside.

We went to Publix to get some groceries and then headed back to the room. It finally stopped raining so we went for a nice long walk (and play!!!) on the beach.

After showers and pjs, we settled on the couch for some quiet family time watching a movie and eating some cookies.

More in store for tomorrow...weatherman says 80%. Isn't that swell?

GIVEAWAY!!!

Last week I was made the happiest girl in the world. I won this purse from my friend Megan @ KMAC, so I'm gonna share a little secret with all my readers (all 3 of you...hi mom!!). Click HERE and post a comment. You too...might be a lucky, happy, smiling lady by month's end...

PS...you don't have to know her to enter...just post a comment on her site.

Spring Has Sprung!

We kicked off spring in style this weekend

Grilling Out With Friends

Setting Up the Satellite Radio

Enjoying the Playground

Learning Hopscotch

Playing in the Dirt

And of course...Eating Dirt

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!!!