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I was never able to take a real "spring break" vacation while in high school and college. Sports always kept me tied down during that coveted week of no school and all sun.

Growing up in CA, the "cool" thing to do was go snowboarding over spring break. Everyone would come back to school with lift tickets still attached to their coats, bragging about where they went skiing that week and how many snowball fights they had. Meanwhile, here in MI everyone and their dog goes to Florida (where I STILL have never been..hint hint Greg...). After seven days in the hot sun, they return with the most glorious tans I have ever seen.

But, now that I'm out of school, who says I still can't enjoy a spring break trip?

Here are some pics of our missions trip to TN. Our church has been going to this summer Christian Camp for years, and we finally had our chance to go. We helped them do various jobs around the camp like clearing shrubs, trimming trees, cooking, stuffing envelopes, painting, shoeing horses, house-cleaning and the like. We were privileged to bring Katelyn along for the ride too (and the help :). She was a trooper, even if she did get bit by a horse! (ask her about it...)

And Kensie did amazing as well! Mommy didn't get much sleep as we had to sleep in the same room, but she faithfully took her two naps a day and slept 12 hrs at night. She even celebrated 7 months while we were there. And since I was kinda freaking out that we weren't going to have her infamous "chair picture" until 6 days AFTER we got home, we found a chair in our cabin to substitute...

the morning view from the front porch of our cabin...breathtaking!

Old news

A few weeks ago we attended a fun "winter Olympics party" at church. We were assigned teams, created our own country name and flag to match, and competed in various "athletic" events. These included flicking ice cubes with plastic knives on a table (to imitate curling of course), and putting shoebox lids on our feet and sliding around on carpet shooting Nerf guns at cardboard targets (the biathlon of course).

The last event was hockey. Played on a carpeted gym floor. It was broom to broom combat with a bouncy rubber ball. The goal, obvious. Get the ball through the goal as many times as you can.

So what's with the picture??

My competitive husband gave the tip of his index finger for his team during that hockey game. No, I'm not kidding. The brooms we played with were under-average household brooms (say from the 1930's?). Brooms were braking left and right, but people carried on as if it were the real Olympics. We had quite a competitive group. Anyway, Greg happened to have a broom with a metal handle. Basically (without being too graphic), the handle broke and pinched the tip of his finger off ... O-F-F ... off. Gross. You are now allowed to make that disgusting face that I know you can't help from making. To make you feel a little better, it was not the nail part of the finger, just the pad (like where you would get a finger print). But still...there was QUITE a bit of blood.

.

After a trip to the ER, Greg had his finger wrapped up with no hope of seeing his gold medal, or the tip of his finger ever again. A few members of the group came to visit him at the hospital bearing gifts and news. Greg's team had WON and so they draped his (plastic) gold medal around his sweaty neck. And as for the news, well.....let's just say someone "found" what looked like a peanut on the floor close to where the incident happened....gross.

Ready already??

Question.

When considering how far apart child #1 and child #2 should be,

which parent is usually ready first?

Before I go any further....

No. I'm not pregnant.

I would guess that most women are ready for baby #2 before their mates are,

and that usually the wife has to "talk" her husband into round 2...

can I get a second on that?

But, in our case. Nope.

The other night Greg says to me,
"Just look at her, don't you just want another little Kensie??"

And dare I say,
"Just let me enjoy 3 months this summer of feeling 'normal' and then we'll talk".

I mean, who enjoys swelling 'til you feel like your skin is so tight it will literally pop?

And who enjoys the perpetual sweat even in the midst of drying off AFTER your shower?

And let's be honest...who loves going to the beach looking like a beached whale??

Of course he's ready for #2.

HE doesn't have to endure any of that!

Then he pulls the "talk-through-the-baby-to-your-spouse" trick,

"But, Kensie don't YOU want a little sister?"

But don't you think I gave in that easily...I stood my ground.

Maybe next fall I'll be ready.

Until then...let's play!

4 Generations

While celebrating Grandma Mulder's 80th birthday over the weekend, we thought it was a good chance to snap a shot of all 4 generations on the Mulder side. This will be such a keepsake someday.

Mom's Famous Cornbread

Yes, here is the BEST recipe if you love soft and sweet, superbly moist, and simply scrumptious cornbread! Caution: extremely tasty and may cause overeating...bake at own risk :)



Sweet and Moist Cornbread

4 cups Bisquick
2 cups Cornmeal
1 1/2 - 2 cups Cottage Cheese
2 Eggs
1 cup Sugar



**Mix above ingredients. Add milk to make consistency of a batter similar to thick cake mix**



Put batter in a greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Or you can half the recipe and bake in an 8 x 8 glass dish.


Bake @ 350* 30-40 min.

6 month updates

Wowzers. Our little peanut is not so little anymore!

Over the weekend, Kensie flipped to the 6 month chapter in her little life. In celebration of this momentous occasion, I found this adorable swimsuit from Target which I of course couldn't resist from buying (only $7 ok?). Annnnnd it was time for my own swimsuit upgrade--> Mom Hides Stretch Marks 6.0. Ok, not your grandmothers suit that I know you are ALL picturing. Just a tankini that's more my age. I had way too many bikinis that I wouldn't wear now even if they DID fit. I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20. Let's dress like it please.

Ok, moving on -->

My sweet sister and her husband came to stay for the weekend! It's been getting harder lately to get together, and we SO appreciated having them for a few days. Dave and Greg worked on finishing our mudroom and other various house projects while Lauren and I took walks with Kensie, sat by the fireplace, laughed at funny stories, and had time just to catch-up on life.

Saturday afternoon we made the boys take a work break, and ventured to the nearest Aquatic Center. For only living 6 blocks from an indoor pool, it's taken us over a year to finally try it out. In short, it was a huge hit. I'm not sure if Kensie or the boys liked it more. But, I have never seen such grown men act like little 12 year olds splashing around, racing each other on obstacle courses, and eagerly waiting in line to go down the slide...or wait, have I?

It was a nice taste of summer for sure. And I have a feeling you will find us at the pool on a regular basis between now and REAL summer.


**Oh, and Kensie has also graduated to baby food! I have the cutest video, but couldn't upload it. Stupid slow internet....we brought it upon ourselves I know. Anyway, she loves her green bean and carrots for now and babbles the whole time (especially when she REALLY likes what she's eating).

Well, Ta-Ta for now!

Volleyball Part II

To read Part I go here

Commitments can be intimidating. It requires showing up consistently, giving 100% effort, and investing emotionally. Or in better terms, I found the following definition from Urban Dictionary. I think you will agree it sums up commitment well:

Commitment is what
Transforms the promise into reality.
It is the words that speak
Boldly of your intentions.
And the actions which speak
Louder than the words.
It is making the time
When there is none.
Coming through time
After time after time,
Year after year after year.
Commitment is the stuff
Character is made of;
The power to change
The face of things.
It is the daily triumph
Of integrity over skepticism.

If I commit to something, I give everything I have. As a result, I am hesitant to commit to a lot of things at once. I have a tendency to see things as black and white, all or nothing, hot or cold.

I'm fairly certain you see where this is headed. This relationship with volleyball I had was a commitment. The kind perfectly described above. One that I devoted my life to. One that I never stopped pursuing. And, one that treated me very well up until 3 years ago.

It all started with the idea of playing overseas upon graduation ('05). To get things going, I contacted an organization that focuses on placing VB players into a professional career after completing their collegiate careers. I then went on a 10 day trip (through the same organization) to Spain in the Spring ('06). It was a "taste" of what playing professional VB would be like. We traveled, tried different foods, engaged in the culture, practiced in a variety of gyms, and played matches against teams all over the country. Some players were even recruited right then and there to play on a team the next season. By the end of the trip I was set on the idea of making this adventure happen....and hopefully in Spain, I thought....I can picture myself here. After all, I DID take two years of Spanish in high school.

So, I worked extremely hard all summer to get into top physical shape. I ran hills (lots of them). I did some serious sweating in the weight room (and if you know me, you know I sweat a lot). I found empty gyms wherever I could to do some ball handling. I even practiced a few times with my Alma mater. And then I waited. Waited for a phone call.

During all of this I was also coaching the most amazing club team I have ever been a part of. There were 9 girls on this 17's team, and wow, were they somethin'. I think we won almost every match we played that season, made it to Nationals in Atlanta and placed 5th overall. It definitely was a boost of confidence as a coach. I'll be honest though I didn't have to do much. These girls were good enough on their own. I think a 5th grader could have coached them and they STILL would have killed everyone who crossed their path. Anyway, it was literally the day after I returned from Nationals (July 5th, '06), with plaque in hand, I temporarily forgot about my dream to play in Spain. Then, my phone rang...

"Hello?"

"Really?!"

"Wait...where?"

"Maribor, SLOVENIA?? Where is that?!?"

"No, sounds great...uh huh...ok...sure...we'll see you then!"

A few weeks later I was set to fly out in August to meet up with several other players from the states hoping to fulfill the same dream I had....to hang on to every last bit of their VB career that they could.

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I should also mention how extremely supportive Greg was in ALL of this. He was hesitant in the beginning, but wanted me to fully embrace this opportunity. As young newlyweds (only married for 1 year at this point in the story), I was (and still am) so grateful for a husband who insists that I pursue my dreams. And on top of it, he was able to be with me for {most of} the 9 months that we lived overseas. We also owe a lot to Greg's family business for "letting" him go, and offering him a job upon returning. What a supportive family we have; we are eternally grateful.