high hopes for wood, plastic, and just the right amount of lead.

The pinnacle event of the year; the Pinewood Derby Race.

His first handcrafted derby car of which he was very proud.

We gathered up the family, found our seats, and waited for the race to begin. Triple elimination was the rule so we were hopeful that we would see our precious young son win a few, lose a few.

Although I have a younger brother and a father that were involved in many a Pinewood Derby Race back in the day, I never paid any attention. I did not know the speed at which those little wooden cars zoomed by. I did not know that the older kids tend to win. I did not know that it would take 2 hours and church coffee would be served.

Having no experience with this type of event, I never though that our boy's car would be first up, first to lose a raise, and in time. . . first to be thrice eliminated.
Alphabetically and mathematically I can account for the finish of his little orange car, but emotionally I just wanted the young fella to win a race, ya know?

My loving mother hen moment was duplicated by our son Drew who was so saddened that his Big brother didn't win. He was concerned the entire evening about what would happen if Chase did not win the entire event. On a side note, I LOVE that Drew thinks Chase hung the moon, I also wonder how long that feeling will last.

We were proud that Chase had fun, that he did not seem to be devastated at the loss(es). In fact he stayed at the finish line and watched every last car race down the ramp.

A fun night indeed; however, I am taking tips and tricks for increased velocity.

March Madness. and April too.

I share a birthday with my daughter. My son shares a birthday with his sister. 5 out of the 6 of us have birthdays in March and April so it was a busy couple of months celebrating and remembering the year that had gone by extremely too quickly.

The countdown to summer begins!

My Tax Day Babies.

Today marks birthdays for 2 of our kids. 7 years for Drew and 1 year for Juliet !

They have a special bond because of their shared
birthdays and I hope this continues as the years go by.
Happy Birthday to 2 precious gifts from God!

New York, NY

I can barely describe what it is about NYC. All of the romantic, energizing, fantastical things you think are true about New York --are indeed true! On top of that , we have friends that live there. Experiencing NYC with someone who lives and works there is such a gift. My trip was a surprise from Dan, a break from all things mommy.

Looking back it was a musically themed weekend.

We dropped in at Rockwood Music Hall
a new music artist or band takes the stage each hour, every hour.
Standing room only, but no cover charge!

We ripped up the Karaoke mike at Japas
Garth Brooks never sounded so good.

We raised our hands in praise at City Grace

We rocked out on South End Ave.

If that wasn't enough, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Trammed it over to Roosevelt Island (thought by some as Mayberry-- thought be me as a NYC I could conquer)

On my last morning I strolled by myself along the Hudson river looking out at the Statue of Liberty. I caught my breath, I prayed, I simply sat on a bench. Not in so many years have I had that much time to be completely alone.
For me, it took going to a city where there are 70,595 ppl per sq. mile to find a little solace.

Thank You Wolmas, Thank You Dan! Thank You Mom H.(for taking care of my family while I was away and getting barfed on yet again)

This last pic is of D and I. Do we look like a couple of schoolmarms, or what?
We haven't aged a bit. ?

All that and so much more~because NYC is the city that never sleeps, and neither did I! ~smile~

Forgotton February

It never fails. February is a sick month at our house. Germs make their happy way from person to person in our family leaving us drained, irritated and plain ol' sick.

Now that it is April I am looking back on winter 2009. I realized that in my rush to get to spring I neglected some notable moments I would have probably blogged about had we all not been so ornery and ill.

This year Chase was to create a simple machine for a school project. During February, my Brother-in-law Johnny stayed with us for about 10 days. It was a really great experience, he is adored by the kids and was extremely helpful to me. John helped Chase fashion a simple machine similar to one he made himself as a 3rd grader.

Down on the Farm Part 2

A few days back, I spoke of things like chickens, childhood, and chore boots. 

Recently Dan informed me of his latest and not so greatest idea.   

Chickens. 

He wanted to buy young chicks,  build them a coop, and enjoy the bountiful fresh eggs.

I tend to be the boss around here (there, I said it) and having a family of poultry did not seem like something I needed to spend any energy on.    Dan was unusually excited about this idea,  he spent hours on the internet researching,  reading, envisioning how this situation would go down.   He did present me with many fine arguments and so,   I said OK.    

Honestly,  I think he would have had done it anyway without my go ahead,  but my husband loves me and knows me enough to let me think that I was the say-so in this situation,  thus allowing me to keep my title of "the boss"

With chickens purchased (from just down the street)  we are now the owners of  Big Wally, Cutie, Elizabeth, Lightening, and Double D.   Yes,  they have even named them.

My gradual attitude change came about as  I the saw the delight on the face of my family.  The kids spent an entire dinner discussion talking about the coop and how they probably would not eat the brown eggs.   Like Dan likes to say,  that dinner conversation alone was worth the 10 bucks it cost to buy our feathered little friends.

So here we are, at the beginning of another kind of adventure.   I hope it turns out to be an educational experience for the kids,  and that we don't stink up the hill too much.   

Coming soon to a refrigerator near you. . .   eggs.

sweet Snuggie

Since before Christmas we saw the commercials-- the kids knew immediately that it was made for me.

Sold out in stores and online, I couldn't get my hands on one. My cousin Jen had to fight tooth and nail to win one at a holiday party, I am telling you the Snuggie is a hot commodity.

You've seen the commericals. What's not to like? Warmth from head to toe, mobility, and all for the cool price of $19.95.

Finally, in February the Snuggie found a home in my home. It was well received and has delivered on all of it's AS SEEN ON TV promises.

Joy was so enamored with it that she wished for one for her birthday. Many thanks to my friend, my boss, Jamie for handmaking Joy's pink, personalized, pint sized Snuggie.

Chore Boots.

In keeping with the theme of the previous post, Down on the Farm Part 1, I need to post this little photo of Drew in the his new boots.

You would have thought I came home with a new video game. The boys slid on these rubbery wonders and ran around outside like it was Christmas day.

Maybe these boots will encourage C & D to take up more household chores. Maybe not.

Down on the Farm. Part 1

An uncle of mine used to refer to my sister and I as "the farm girls." I always found that kind of amusing because we never lived on a farm, nor did we possess farm type animals. I grew up in the country, but this did not, in any way mean I was a hardy animal loving girl. To this day I am still a bit unnerved by cats, horses, and owls (listed in order of creepiness).

Later on in my childhood experience, as a 5th grader, my class grew chickens under the incubator. We were all allowed to take one home following their hatching. Not having much experience with animals outside of an outdoor dog, I bravely took my chick home from school. We kept Fred in a box, and I encouraged my brother and sister to pick him up as I didn't really care to hold him at all for fear of being pecked at. That evening Mom and Dad said that chickens surely do not belong in the house so my Father made a "coop" for Fred. I put the word coop in quotation marks because I want you to hear the sarcasm in my voice. For by definition, coop is a cage or pen confining poultry. The coop my Dad fashioned was not as confining as it should have been that night. The next morning all that was left of Fred was a tipped over coop and a few residual feathers. I am actually laughing out loud at the thought of it all. I didn't even want to touch that chick, but I was seemingly devasted with the loss of Fred.

No more farm animals for young Chelle. I did forgive Dad for his inadequate coop.

That Hair.

Juliet has got a head full of hair. You never know quite what it will look like day to day, nap to nap, meal to meal. This is what Dan discovered while peeking in at her one day recently. Her face looks so peaceful, her hair does not.

Dreaming of summer. . .

I realize this barely qualifies as a post,
but soon and very soon I will be making a blogging comeback.
Until then, please join me in dreaming of summer days.

always late, but worth the wait?

Believe it or not I am disappointed in myself about my lack of blogging. It is after all, my main memory keeping method. I did not highlight the holidays, nary a New Year's nicety. Much has occurred in the last couple months. Let's bring the blog up to speed through a photo journey.


Christmas 2008 --A wonderfully special moment as my Dad read the story of Christ's birth from the same book he to read my siblings and I many Christmases ago.


The Hopkins Family is GIRL POWER!


Dan's gift from his loving wife. Only 10 years late.



Juliet (now almost 10 months old)

The Dieleman/Wierenga Family, all 26 of us.

A special gift from Mom D. this year-- A cookbook she compiled from our family favorites, and beautiful aprons that she handmade.

From Christmas & 2009

The kids received Blades for Christmas ... Rollerskating, and more rollerskating



As far as new things go, I recently became employed, and I use this term loosely because I am enjoying myself too much while working. I do a bit of daycare for my friend on Mondays. Below is a pic of the little girls in action. Basically they like to steal the pacifier out of each other's mouths all the day long.


I also have been slaving away at MiniMe BabyGear I have been helping process the exclusive, must have Wet Happened? Wet Bag
Check it Out!



My baby and I. She is entirely too old now.


This guy.
He surprised me with a trip to NYC!!!!! I am going this month and could not be more thankful and excited! He heard the unspoken (and sometimes spoken) pleas of a housewife/momma looking for some respite.


Until next post, enjoy this photo of my gals and a giant Care Bear.

i miss daddy.

mommy's too busy, i have to self-feed.

tonight we anxiously welcome daddy home from working out of state all week!!

good eats.

"why do you people have to eat?!?!?!?!"

a grumbled rhetorical question directed towards my family who
were not even in the room to hear me.

I make food, they eat it, I clean it up. This happens numerous times a day, each day, no matter what.

A good 75 percent of the messes I clean are from food prep, food consumption, and food spills. One day in the middle of it all I realized if they didn't have to eat, my existence would be so simple. My home would be near spotless and never smell like bacon or onions again. I would have to say that in 12 years I have never grown accustomed to having to feed their faces.
I don't love (read--hate) meal planning, grocery getting, cooking or baking, and in my opinion -- I am rather poor at the whole process. The simple admission of this makes me sound quite unsuited for my life, but this is the truth. If given the choice of a personal chef or a maid, without hesitation I would choose a CHEF.





I would love some tips from other mammas out there that either feel the same as me, or feel exactly the opposite. What I am looking for here is to find more than a sense of duty , but more fufillment and dare I say enjoyment in meal creation for my family.

please advise. there must be more to life than cream of chicken soup...?

360 shopping days 'til Christmas!

Drew, a Christmas fanantic, asked me in complete seriousness,

" Mom, how many days until the next Christmas?"

2009 may be a looooong year for this kid.

for some reason, I never published this one.

I came across this unpublished post from back in November, and it gave me a chuckle.

"ya think I got time to blog?" (original title)

that is what I said out loud to myself (poor grammar and midwest accent included) the other day when the thoughts in my head told me that I don't blog very often anymore. Apparently I don't even have time to stock the refrigerator.



True as this might be, I do want to continue with the memory recording this blog allows me. As of late, 5 out of the 6 of us had the stomach flu. Only Juliet survived. Halloween came and went without incident. Drew's candy was gone by Sunday, Chase spread his out a little longer. Joy lost all privileges to her Halloween candy by refusing to eat a bite of my dinner creation.
and quite a creation it was with the slim pickins in the frig.

Not much has changed since that day. Our refrigerator is ridiculously bare again due to my refusal to set foot in Meijer between the dates of Thanksgiving and New Year. Drew inhaled his Christmas candy, we weathered another round of the flu, and I still "got no time ta blog"

'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa La La La La, La la la la.

fair warning.

Yesterday, in the minivan, on the way to Christmas festivities, I warned my husband and children that we would be taking a family photo in front of Grandma's tree. I told them that I realize no one wants to do this, but it is important to mommy to have a photo of all of us together. I explained to them that it would be quick and painless, if they cooperated.

Much to my delight and frankly, my surprise, it happened. The obligatory family Christmas photo. No fighting, no bawling, no fake smiles (Dan) and even Juliet without her pacifer!
A modern day Christmas miracle!

May all Jesus is,

And all He gives,
Bless you this Christmas and always!

the Power of a Moment.

It was a couple weeks ago that Dan, the kids and I went out to visit them. Grandpa & Betty Hopkins. As they now stay in MI for the winter, we can swing by and see them anytime.

But, do we? Sadly, no.

We, or I should say I, get caught up in my own busy day-to-day that I probably only see Grandpa 4 or 5 times a year.

This year as we decorated the family Christmas tree, I pulled out the two ornaments hand crafted by Grandpa Hopkins and given to me, my siblings and cousins long, long ago. When I saw these little sled ornaments I felt a sudden burst of emotion. You know the kind that starts in your chest and moves on up and results in tear filled eyes. My Grandpa loved (loves) me so much! I remember fondly, growing up and partaking of the goodness Grandpa and Grandma provided. Be it in the form of the Cottage, Easter Egg hunts, Christmas parties (adults up stairs, kids in the basement), or that piece of candy, a hug, and for as long as I can remember... birthday and Christmas cards with a little $$ tucked inside. (sorry, Tami) ;)

Pure love, pure generosity, pure influence.

As we visited and I saw Grandpa & Betty hold my youngest child endearingly. I realized anew that I am who I am to some extent by the wisdom and provision of this man.

Thanks be to God for his life!

Merry Christmas, Grandpa!

Chelle Ponders...

am I really that out of shape that my legs and arms need to hurt 3 days after the school roller skating par-tay?

predictable "start exercising" New Year's resolution coming soon.

Chelle Ponders...

Why, in the stillness of a Tuesday morning, did I hear the sound of water gushing out of the garden hose? Why were we watering the snow, and for how long?

I'm afraid the answers to these and many other questions will never be known.

my 4th baby.

It's true what they say you know. That your last child has only a small fraction of the photos taken of her than that your first child. That she will only have a few sketchy details filled in her baby book--usually written far after the event takes place. (hmmm...when did Juliet first roll over?? let's say around 4 months. that sounds about right)

When I heard seasoned mothers warn me of this injustice, I thought that they were just unmotivated. Surely I would devote as much attention to documenting the major events of my precious baby's first year and beyond.

Fail.

I now stare at a sealed pink baby book, flawless with no inscription. I remember driving the minivan around town h-bent on finding a baby book for Juliet. Nine months pregnant I had an insane need to buy a pink baby book and I pack it in my hospital bag. The book had a front row seat to the labor, delivery and even got to ride in the front seat home from the hospital, only to be placed in the closet never to be opened again in the next 7 months.

Isn't that a sad story? How did I let 7 months, almost 8 pass without chronicling the beautiful blessing that is Juliet? She is the star of the house, and could not be more precious if she tried!
Today I will close the MacBook (shocking, I know) and open the Baby Book. I will search the files in my mind and recall what life has been like since her arrival. Before I do that I'll share a little slideshow of her and the rest of the gang.

Chelle Ponders......

why am I the only good driver on the roads anymore??

Today we experienced the first snow day, slippery roads , and the official beginning of the unwelcome midwest winter.
Bleeecccch!