Last Friday!

Today was my last Friday at work until early September! Every year, I save up my vacation time and take Fridays off during the months of June, July and August. I am very much looking forward to having four-day work weeks instead of five. It occurred to me recently that I haven't had a full vacation day since last August . . . . in other words - nine months! Boy, I sure won't do that again. It will be nice to have shorter work weeks for a while. Hopefully, my days off will be a good balance of fun and productivity. :)

Come On Over!

Come on over, everyone . . . . our deck is finally done! Well, with the exception of some post caps, but that is no big deal. This weekend we will work on getting our patio furniture and grill on the deck. Oh, and by the way, our cat Max seems to like the deck, too. :)

Coming Along

The deck is coming along. They worked on it all day today and got most of the railing done, except for the staircase. We are looking forward to having it done very soon.

On a different note, I stayed home with Clara today. She has viral pink eye and is contagious. Craig will be staying home with her tomorrow, and hopefully she can go back to daycare on Friday. One of the ladies at daycare told me that there was another case of pink eye, along with four cases of hand, foot and mouth disease! So, I was glad to have Clara home today, away from all the germs. Hopefully, she won't get that, too.

Kyle's New Bike

Check out Kyle's new bike! He is pretty excited about it . . . . AND it is his new favorite color - red. Kyle totally outgrew his last bike. It was the bike we got him for Christmas when he was two years old! It was a 12 inch bike and this one is a 16 inch. Clara will inherit his old bike (lucky girl, huh?). His old bike was red, and Craig claims he can make it more "girly" for her. I think we both like the idea of being able to recycle it and not having to buy another one.

Anyway, we went for a bike ride tonight and Kyle is super fast on it . . . . . much faster than on his old bike. I seriously could not keep up with him, or Craig, for that matter. I feel like the "old mom" who can't keep up with her kids anymore. Oh well. We are looking forward to lots of bike rides this summer. :)

Ready for Summer!

Yesterday, Kyle and Clara put their bathing suits on for the first time this year. The weather was so nice, we turned their sprinkler on and they had a great time running through the water. Coincindentally, so did three boys from the neighborhood who did not have their bathing suits on! They originally came over to show Kyle a praying mantis they had found (yuck!). In any case, a great time was had by all.

While the kids were playing, Craig and I set up the kiddie pool in the back yard. We set it up early this year, but wanted to get it done while we had time this weekend. The water temperature was only 60 degrees last night, so it will be a few weeks before they can enjoy it.

Speaking of water, I signed Kyle up for swimming lessons today. He starts June 17 at the YMCA in downtown Grand Rapids. We have a family membership there, so he is already familiar with the facility and pool. Kyle is not afraid of water at all, but he definitely needs to learn how to swim. Hopefully, he will pick it up quickly.

That's all for now.

TJ :)

Deck Update

Well, it took a while for our deck materials to arrive, but it was worth the wait. Thank you to Scott and Jenni for all of your help with this! We really appreciate it. Our builder laid all of the deck boards yesterday. Now he just has to come back and do the railing. The deck will be completely done by May 30. Here are some updated photos for you.

Busy, Busy Week

It's been a busy week in the James-Heer household! Here is a quick recap/overview.

On Monday, Clara had her last Kindermusik class for the year and Kyle had his usual soccer practice.

On Tuesday, I had to work late. I led a virtual (online) chat for prospective graduate students. When I got home, Craig stayed up until 1:00 a.m., preparing for a big presentation for work.

On Wednesday, I had to work late again . . . two nights in a row! I went to the annual awards program at Coopersville High School and awarded over $54,000 in scholarship money to graduating seniors. Well, not personally, but on behalf of GVSU. :) This is one of the things I love most about my job. When I got home, Craig stayed up again until 11:00 p.m. preparing for his presentation.

Today was Craig's big presentation at work. He facilitated a project portfolio meeting, which lasted for six hours!!! Needless to say, we are both feeling a little tired and drained tonight, although Craig still managed to bike for 45 minutes and run for 30 minutes when he got home.

Tomorrow we are going to pick out some trees for our yard. We will be ordering 14 trees - 11 blue spruce and 3 crab apples. They should help "spruce" up our yard a bit. :) Our lot originally had zero trees on it. We put in four trees when we built the house, and added eight silver maples last year. Craig wants to plant six apple trees as well, but that will probably be next year.

Finally, Kyle and Clara are both doing great! Clara is starting to use the potty! Not all of the time, but most of the time. I am still not convinced she is ready for this, but the ladies at daycare tell me that potty training a girl can sometimes be (and I emphasize sometimes) very easy . . . . at least easier than potty training a boy. I guess time will tell.