The Extra Mile

010/365

I am so excited about our kitchen re-do... yes re-do, not remodel.... remodeling costs lots of $$$ and we are doing this el cheapo. :)
The nasty light and fan in the eating area are GONE.
The wall has been replastered.
Painting has begun.
Baby steps.... just baby steps.

009/365

I used to love to garden.
I used to have lots of flowers.
I used to have time to garden and have lots of flowers.
Not so much anymore.
The front of our house is overrun with weeds.
I don't often exaggerate, so rest assured that is a very  true statement.
About a week ago, I spent an hour or so weeding and that hour barely put a dent in the problem.
I offered C money today to weed.
I am pretty sure this one project could easily take him most of the week.
And yes, pretty much everything you see to his left are weeds... and the small tree you see is really a small tree.
Those of you who know our house, he is weeding directly in front of the FIRST door... so he has a loooooong way to go.
(but everything to his right is looking sweet... what little there is to his right)

008/365

Day #2 of Soccer in the Sand.
Only one game today - didn't end the way the boys (or parents) would have liked... but really, who likes PKs?
After watching a couple of more games, pretty much everyone descended on the Diekema house on the beach.
13 kids, 9 adults, and a dog.
Pounds and pounds of food consumed in a very short period of time.
A little USA v. Brazil soccer on TV (the first half was worth watching at least).
The rest of the afternoon spent on the beach and in the water.
The waves made kayaking an interesting venture.
My shins will never be the same after pushing kayak after kayak out past the breaking point.
If you need advice on starting a jet ski, make sure to ask Joey ;)
We can't wait to do it again - unless the number of stairs scared them all away.

007/365

The girls and I spent the day at Grand Haven State Park watching Creaghan play in the Soccer in the Sand tournament.
(Paul was in Indy hanging out with some friends from high school.)
Team Milan (Creaghan's team) won both their games.
Sand soccer is so different from regular soccer - the ball does some crazy things... or nothing at all.
It was super sunny and super hot, but the boys had a great time.
After the games, we had a cook out with the some of the other families.
More of the same tomorrow - but this time Paul gets to join in on the fun. ;)

006/365

My kids LOVE to read.
They take a book when we have a 5 minute car ride.
They keep a book at the end of the bed so they can start reading as soon as they wake up in the morning.
They cannot leave the house without a book.
When I took this picture, I didn't even realize that Myah was reading on the chair at the back of the room
Too funny... both my girls in one room reading some Harry Potter... I am sure Creaghan was in another room deep in a book, too.

005/365

I played in my very first soccer game EVER tonight.
Even though I felt much like a fish must feel out of the water, it was fun.
It didn't hurt that our friend Steve played with us tonight and he told me exactly what to do at all times.... even if I couldn't do exactly what he told me to do.
I tried.
My goal was to not embarrass myself.
Paul says I didn't, but he also admitted he wasn't watching me much either.
 

004/365

It is a scorcher today.
Definitely one of the hottest days I can remember.
Micah K had a little photo shoot this morning.
It was so hot, we had to take inside/AC breaks every 5-10 minutes.
On the way back home, my car thermometer hit 93 degrees.
The kids and Paul saw it hit 99 degrees - SERIOUSLY!
By the time I got home and could take a picture, it was sitting at 91.... so, instead of the super impressive 99 degree shot for today, I had to settle for the pretty impressive 91 degree shot... it was either that or attempt taking a picture while driving down Burton.
Also - Happy Birthday to my most wonderful mother-in-law!!

003/365

We lost our electricity today.
There was a little squirrel suicide in the box behind our house.
POW - 22 houses without electricity.
The plan was for me to work like a mad woman today.
We had been in Grand Haven on Sunday, at Big Star Lake on Monday, and planned to spend Mom Diekema's birthday with her on Wednesday once again in Grand Haven after a morning photo shoot with Micah K.
Today was the day to WORK, WORK, WORK!
I was up at 6 am and worked until about 815 am. Paul and I took a {hot} run and right around 9 am I was in the basement ready to take a nice cool shower.
POW!
Work was now out of the question. No power. No Internet.
The temp was hovering right around 90 by 10 am.
Who needs a birth DAY when they can have a birth WEEK?
Beach, Book, Fricano's, Temptations.
Happy Birthday, Mom {just one day early}

002/365

Summertime is my absolute most favorite time of the year.
For me, the hotter it is, the better it is.
We spent pretty much a perfect day at Big Star Lake with Brandon & Amy and their kids.
After a few hours of swimming, the fun began - with Brandon at the wheel (or is that the helm?) and the kids behind the boat.
Creaghan and Myah BOTH did 360s on the kneeboards - and I just happened to get lucky enough to catch them showing off at the same time.
If not for Paul's horrendous sunburn, the day would have been perfect. ;)

001/365

A few years back I took a photo a day and posted them.... every day.
It got kind of stressful when I forgot to take a photo until 11:55 pm.
It didn't help that I was unaware that blog posts could be posted and dated with whatever date I wanted.
Anyway.
I decided to start up again.
365 photos for 365 days.
I decided to pick June 21. Why? I could claim Father's Day or the first official day of summer, but that would just be a wee bit of a fib. There is no reason except it is a good day to start.

Paul, Creaghan, and Dad Diekema doing what we like to do best in the summer - hanging out on the beach in Grand Haven.