George Bush was right!

Do you recall our former President Bush making a comment on how he didn't like broccoli? It had made a big'ol splash all over the news, as if the man wasn't allowed to dislike some veggetables. Anyway, I might have found out why he dislikes the green-flowery vegetable so much. This is what I found on mine! I was steaming the END of a big bag, so that I can freeze the broccolis. When I pulled them out of the water to put them in a ziploc bag, I saw I had won an extra little friend. I re-read the serving suggestions, but nowhere did I find to add protein in a form of a caterpillar!

Notice how I said it was the "end" of the big bag...meaning that yes, we've eaten a lot of it before I got to that end!!!! Would you blame Bush for not wanting broccoli? I think I might join him on this opinion (and that's the only one I'll agree to)!

My mother's day gift from Reed

This year, all I wanted for Mom's day was a letter from Reed. I don't need jewelery, pots or pans and negligees for sure. So he out-did himself, some of the subtleties are only known to us, but if you know my parents were teachers and my brother was an F-16 pilot, it might help a little. Here he is ...

Once upon a time…

…in a land far, far away, there lived a beautiful young maiden named Murielle. She lived in a small cottage with her parents and older brother in a wee little village in the depths of the forest. Her parents tried for years to educate the villagers in the ways of language, mathematics and physical fitness. Her brother dreamed of soaring through the skies like a falcon defending its territory. But Murielle had a dream of her own. Even though she loved growing up in this quaint little village, she longed to see the world beyond the mighty Meuse. She desired to travel to a far away land in search of something better. Little did she know, how much better things could really be.

One day, Murielle received an invitation to visit a foe near a land known as bountiful. After a long journey over the great pond, she arrived at her destination and was greeted by her friends. Her time in the land was absolutely wonderful. She fell in love with her new found language, culture and religion. But much to her dismay, she would not stay long, and returned to her cottage and her family. Life continued for the young maiden. She continued to seek out higher education and indulge herself in her new religion.

As Murielle matured to young womanhood, she courted many of the local peasant boys but none were worthy of her constant companionship. This was an honor to be reserved for someone special…for her prince charming. She found amusement in dancing all night at the ball with the other damsels, but there was something missing in her young life. As the seasons passed, she often thought of her journey to the far away land and dreamed of returning again someday.

Winter was approaching and Murielle received word of a young man named Reed who was on a religious quest and recently arrived in a nearby township. The man was from the same far away land that she had once visited and adored. Intrigued, she decided that she would find the man and would engage in conversation. The day came…Reed was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He was equally drawn to her beauty. The two conversed and shared much laughter for days thereafter. But as all good things must come to an end…the young man had to part, for his religious quest was not over. The damsel was in distress.

Time passed and Murielle soon realized that a flame had been kindled within her heart. The more she thought of the time spent with Reed, the more she realized that he indeed was her prince charming. She was determined to be with him again. She sent him letters to inspire him on his journey and longed to receive word from him. And her parents saw their daughter radiate every time she received a letter…clearly she was in love.

The day came when her prince charming, upon completing his religious quest, departed for his home land. The two made arrangements for her to visit not long after, and after a wonderful courtship, they decided to be married. It was a beautiful ceremony with family and foe. Murielle looked as though she was a princess, and Reed was her knight in shining armor. The happy young couple started their new found life in an arid land. Soon they would experience the joy and happiness of raising a fine lad. Others would follow.

Throughout their life together, Reed and Murielle endured many hardships, but those were overshadowed by the many blessings that came their way. The young couple grew older, but the flame that once kindled within their hearts, now roared with eternal love.

The End


Happy Mothers Day Muche
I love you!!!
Reed

My Reed

I have known this guy longer than I have not. The first time I ever saw him, he was walking with his companion in my hometown Liege, in Belgium. He had just arrived and I had never seen him with that companion before. He didn't see me...I saw him first :)
I thought for the longest time that his birthday was on May 22nd, I don't know why, even after being married, I'd have to force myself to realize it's the 12th.
He steals Mother's Day once every few years and we have to share "who gets to sleep in" on that day!

I think that he is so sexy, especially when I see him taking care of all those kids we keep making.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REEDEEEEEE!!!!

while the boys went to their annual Father and Son Camp out this Fridaywe girls (and Tomtom) had our own fun... chocolate strawberries...

hair bows...

and Crocs to kill!

Maddy's Locks ofr Love

I was threatened not to take this picture of Melanie, and my head will roll for posting it!

The locks of love need 10 inches to be able to use the hair. It takes 8 pony tails to make one wigg, and they cost between $3.000 and $4.000. They donate them to needy children who suffer from tempory or permanent hairloss. http://www.locksoflove.org/

Chop chop

The end result. A D O R A B L E !!!!!!

Good looking crew!

I just felt like posting some pictures of us outside. The evenings are so nice, we just hang out in the back yard. Of course, Tommy discovered the Slip'n Slide!He started dressed... Slip'n Fall

So hard to stand up and try to hold on to the water!

Happy wet baby!

ME! Not that often that I put a picture of the most important person of this whole blog thing!

Good luck getting a picture of both of them serious!

This is after I told Reed I wanted another baby.

"Hmmm, when I turn 16, I'm gonna rule the world...now if only I could pass my permit!"

What!?! They love each other?

My freckle toothless bug.

Just Peachy

The peach tree is starting to feed the birds, so we all went out to beat them to it! The few that are ready are just so juicy and delicious, especially when warmed up by our AZ sun! I didn't put any Easter pictures, but here is Tommy "peach hunting", same game for him :)

The tree of life. It's only 4 years old and not very big, but I can't imagine what it will give us in 10 years!!!! The round one by the trunk is a plastic ball people, don't get excited, they're not THAT big!

...and yes, he's walking, it's always easier to do if you balance yourself with a peach in each hand!

Finally done

We added two extra rooms upstairs in February...of 2008! It took soooo long to paint, but I finally finised Maddy's room today. Since it's all clean and won't stay that way, I hurried and took some pictures. It's nothing spectacular, but it's cute and FINISHED! I'm betting that in a few years, she'll want to redo it, so I didn't want to spend too much time with extravagant painting.

It's strawberry time!

I love it when strawberries are cheap! I don't quite understand why one store has them for 97 cents while another has them for $2.50, but anyhow...

This is a recipe from Paula Dean, you know it can only be good for you! BUT, it was fat free:

Angelfood Cake, Whipped topping mixed with a can of Condensed milk and cream cheese, strawberries and the red gel thingy....Yum! That was last Sunday. Stop drooling!

Got it going on!

I just feel like I've got good things going on with me:

First of all, I've decided to kill myself. I signed up for a Volleyball league here in Queen Creek. We seem to have a pretty good team, but I'm afraid I'm one of the oldest in the whole league. I think we can beat some other teams, but next week, we play the "Sledgehammers" and the "Bruisers", I think one of them is made of ASU Volleyball Alumni! One girl on our team is 17...I could be her mom. I'm usually a setter, and I can feel my poor little fingers aching after setting for a while, wondering why I am putting them through such torture, after all they've gone through in life: cliff hanging as in grabbing a child by the shirt as he/she falls off the shopping cart; opening birthday gifts as in going through 100 twist-ties behind Barbie's butt and shoes and hair; nipple pinching - not my own, that's not my job; twizering endless splinters and recent chin hair -yes, my own-; typing hundreds of words of blogging, facebooking, emailing (it's tough to stay in touch, it's a full-time job) and so forth. If the ball falls at a reachable distance, I'm there. If it's at a reachable distance requiring a dive (a face plant by now), it's not gonna happen! So that's my first activity, and that's our team shirt, since they lamely call us "team 7", we upgraded ourselves to 007, as in so sneaky, you'd never know we are KILLERS!!!!

Second of all, I decided that I want to jeopardize my eyesight! I'm considering Lasik. I'm not there 100% yet. I went for the free eye exam, where they probe your eye, put it asleep, dilate it so big that I had to avoid the freeway on my way home because if I had been pulled over for any reason, I would have ended up in jail for being a druggie: "pupils are large and driver seems under the influence of some sort of recreational drug...but officer, look at the pamphlet on Lasik they gave me, seriously, I'm not lying."

I read so much about it, I feel very informed. It's just that, it's my eyes! I see blurry, I have 20/30 in my left eye and 20/60 in my right, so it's not that bad. Tommy broke my glasses. They tell me I'll have 20/15 afterwards...but, it's my eyes, I need them to be good for me....

And last, but not least, I decided to go through the humiliation of becoming an American Citizen. The citizenship itself is, of course, the greatest gift that can ever be bestowed upon someone (as it is stated in the documents)...but the process is a bit treacherous. After $675 sent to the Immigration services, I went to be fingerprinted. The security guard, who has probably barely finished elementary school, thinks that he has all powers in the world...and he kinda does: if he thinks you can't come in, then you can't come in! I hadn't seen that you weren't allowed to have any electronic devices with you, including cell phones (Heaven forbid you'd find something else to do during your wasted time in their hands). Since I was too honest (it will kill me to be so freaking honest, I tell ya) and told him I had a phone, he suggested not so nicely that I put it back in my car. I didn't have a car, Reed dropped me off. Anyway, he let me take it, but "don't turn it on"...or what????? But, once you step foot in their presence, you become a sheep and suppress all idea of rebellion, only thus increasing their sense of power! I am now studying for my test of citizenship, on May 26th, at 10:15 ("being late will only compromise your application further...but don't be too early either as seating is limited"). Do you know who was President during WWI? Do you know who the Head of the Supreme Court is? When was the Constitution written? Who is the Speaker of the House? Do you, do you , do you? Well, I do :)