Marten and Karen's Happy Little World

Halloween 2010

2010-11-08T20:44:00.000-04:00

2010-10-26T20:46:00.001-03:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Fall 'blessings' ???

2010-10-08T11:08:00.015-03:00

Summer is over and we're into the beautiful season of autumn here on PEI. It's the prettiest one but it also means that the kids are back to school (I love the relaxed, easy going, schedule of summer. No getting up to catch the bus. No school lunches to be made. No homework. No "yes, you have to wear pants, sweaters, coats, etc." )

It means fewer campfires, which was a highlight of our summer this year. Hardly a mosquito in sight... family and friends... sausages, hotdogs, apples and marshmallows. Mmmm... doesn't get much better.

It means the pool is closed for the season. :(

It also means that Marten is busy at digging. An exciting time for sure... but it also means long hours, lonely evenings for me, and no goodnight hugs for the kids unless we take that special trip to the farm to see Daddy. This year, is an extra trying time for Marten as he fell and broke his kneecap on September 24th. It kept him home for almost a week but you can't keep a good man down. He was back at the farm in a cushy job in no time. We'll take a return visit to the hospital on Oct. 19th to see if it's healing nicely.

Don't get me wrong... even with all this business, it sure is nice to reflect on God's beauty and be thankful for what we have. I'm grateful for God's healing hand, for great kids, for church programs in the fall, for the great feast we'll have on Thanksgiving day, for friends who share their garden goods with us (I made lots of pickles and beets), and for my family near and far.

We had a wonderful time on Oct. 1-4th with the special visit of Omke Marten, Rinze and Klarina. Lots of family together time... lots of food... and great memories were made.

God's blessings to you as you celebrate this beautiful season!

Nicolle's Grade 8 Semi-Formal Dance

2010-06-17T21:11:00.001-03:00

Personalize your own scrapbooking design

2009-12-07T20:49:00.001-04:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Nieuwhof Family Reunion 2009

2009-08-30T18:54:00.024-03:00

The week of August 18-25, 2009 marked our 4th Nieuwhof Family Reunion. It all started in 1998, when Marten's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and we booked cottages in Fundy together. Five years later, we went to Irwin Lake, NS. In 2006, we went to Upper Clements, NS and this year we went to NB to the Village Gedaique Chalets (near Shediac).
We visited the Flower Pot Rocks, 4 trails in the Kouchibouguac National Park, Moncton's Water Park, and Tree Go.

We celebrated with potlucks, a birthday party, shopping, campfires, fireworks, icecream social, boating, church, video/slide shows, family sweatshirts/t-shirts and scrapbooks.

The cousins had fun biking, canoing, kayaking, and peddle boating, playing at the playground and just being together. SO did the adults. The late night campfires were a special social time for us.

We had 25 family members attend. We really missed having the whole family there. Dianna, Jordan and Macaiah were absent. She delivered a beautiful baby girl, Elliyah Jade, on Aug. 27th. Congratulations guys! Mary's husband, Isaac, was in a doctorate internship in Texas and couldn't make it. And Pete was on his way to Dort College in the states. They were missed very much.

Nicolle's Grade 7 Semi Formal

2009-06-23T20:53:00.013-03:00

Hi everyone! I just had to share some of these gorgeous pictures of my girl. Tonight was the Graduation Prom for the grade 9s at Nicolle's school. She was so excited to dress up pretty and go the the dance with her friends. And, of course, as the proud Mom, I thought she looked absolutely beautiful!!!

I want to say a BIG thank you to Julie, who came over and did Nicolle's hair and makeup. That was really fun for us. You did a wonderful job. I love that picture of the two of you!

Here's my handsome man. I suppose it won't be too long before he's all dressed up and heading out the door to a fancy dance. Crazy!

And here's my other handsome man. These two pictures were taken on Father's Day. The 'children' got him a Super Cub (a remote controlled airplane). I got him a book from the series he's reading. He was thrilled with everything and couldn't wait for after church to play with his new toy. He's thinking that Randall needs to buy one so they can play together.

6 Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy!

2009-06-17T19:13:00.003-03:00

My niece, Amanda, had this on her blog and challenged some of her family members to make a list too. Great idea, Amanda! Love you!
I have a great deal of BIG things to be happy about but here's my list of the little things that count:

A clean kitchen.
Sharing a late-night snack with Marten.
Making a card and loving how it turned out (then I can't wait to give it to the person I made it for).
Hearing the kids laughing when they're playing together.
Coke Zero (yep... a little addicted).
Getting on the computer to see that I have a comment on blog, or someone facebooked me, or I have an email. Ahhhhh... someone loves me! :D

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of you are enjoying. Anyone can join in. It's fun to think of what brings a smile to your face.

Summer is ALMOST here!

2009-06-11T11:58:00.005-03:00

Nicolle needed a new bike. Her's was broken. Jason's?... well, it was just too small. His knees were in his face. :D So last Saturday, we splurged and bought them new bikes. We're calling them 'graduating presents' for passing Grade 2 and Grade 7.
Can't have summer without bicycles!

Also, can't have summer without PEI beaches! We were lucky and had SOME warm weather already (although it's disappeared this week). We took a walk on the Rustico beach and got some nice pictures of the kids last Sunday.
Our pool is ready for the summer. We're turning on the heater tonight so we expect to surprise the kids with a swim this weekend. :D

Nicolle and Jason are registered for Canoe Cove Christian Camp again. What would summer be without our Camp!
I'm busy directing the church's VBS again this year. Crocodile Dock is the theme.
We're taking my Mom to Halifax to visit with her sister in July.
We're really looking forward to our "Nieuwhof Reunion" week at the cottages: http://www.villagegedaique.com .
Marten (and the boys) finished planting on Tuesday. Now ... hilling, spraying, roguing...
The kids only have 10 more school days! Yippee -- no more homework, no more making lunches!
I'm looking forward to the summer! How about you?

Plans change!

2009-04-23T10:51:00.007-03:00

On Easter Good Friday, we went to church. On the way there, our Blazer was making all sorts of clunky, weird noises. Oh oh! On the way home... yikes. We were wondering if we'd make it. Apparently, we had some antifreeze leak into our engine. Not a good thing. Marten decided that we weren't going to put any more money into it. We had owned it for 8 years and it was time for a new vehicle, not a new engine. I must admit... I was a little sad. I loved the Blazer. Nicolle was going to learn to drive on that car and we'd buy a new one then for us. That was the plan.

Plans change. We started looking right away. The blazer had a lot of bells and whistles and it was going to be hard to replace it. I knew I wanted a 4WD and leather heated seats for the winter. Marten wanted a Bose 6 CD music center. We wanted something 2005 or older and under 100,000 km. Then we decided that it would be awesome to have a 7 seater vehicle. The week before, Nicolle wanted to take 2 friends to youth group and we couldn't fit everyone it. We had to tell Heather she couldn't come. :( Marten did NOT want a van, so the search was on. We narrowed it down pretty quickly because Marten also wanted a GMC or Chev. We decided on an Envoy XL SLT. Of course, there were none in the Maritimes to buy. Sigh. Hillsides found one a week later for us in Ontario. Pretty scary buying a vehicle sight unseen. The pictures looked nice, though. And it didn't hurt that it was a 2006 Denali with 76,000 km with all options.

It arrived on PEI on Monday and we scooted to town to test drive it. Wow! Nice car. We were thrilled and bought it. They kept it til Wednesday to check it all out and make it an 'Optimum Vehicle' (something about a 150 point check list and GMC warranty... blah, blah). Then I had to drive it home in the rain. Sigh -- dirty already. Doesn't take long on PEI. Here are some pictures:

and the inside:

Nice, eh? Yup... we're spoiled. God is good to us! And the best news... Heather got to come to youth group yesterday!

We're back from Disney!

2009-03-12T19:34:00.011-03:00

OK, we're out of money so we had to come home. :D I can't possibly tell you how much this family vacation meant to us. What a lot of fun! (and sore feet! hee,hee) Can you stand to watch a 'few' pictures of our fun times? It'll take a bit of time but pictures speak louder than words and you'll get a clearer idea of how much we did. I had to narrow it down from 1604 pictures. Unbelievable! Lots of memories!
You'll also notice that we weren't wearing shorts and ts all the time. Yes, for you jealous folks out there... we did have some chilly weather. So sad. The day we set out to go to the beach, it was 77 degrees. By the time we drove for 1 1/4 hours, it was only 67. Not exactly beach weather.... no one went swimming. :( But it was still fun playing in the white sand, collecting shells, and getting chased by seagulls! The last two days, God was preparing us for the weather adjustment back home. It was only 52 so we wore pants, sweaters and coats. That's OK... we still had lots of fun! Marten and Nicolle are happy to report that they accomplished their goal of riding all the rollercoasters (some even twice!). Actually, there were two they didn't get to ride in the Magic Kingdom, Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain, because they were broken. That wasn't their fault so goal accomplished! Jason and I weren't so brave! We all really liked the 3D simulator rides and the stunt shows... and the night shows...and we really liked SeaWorld... and Gatorland... and the Dinner Theatre... and the river rafts were our favorite (we did the Popeye Barge 5 times)... and the parades were fun to see... and we really liked Islands of Adventure... and we loved being warm!

So...Enjoy the show! "That's all folks!"

My girl is 12 now!

2009-02-04T22:33:00.005-04:00

It's been forever since I've posted. Well... a month, anyway.

In that time, we've celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary, Marten's birthday, Caleb's birthday, Mary's birthday, Rebecca's birthday, (we didn't forget Joey) and Nicolle's birthday. January is anything but boring!

Nicolle had her first boy/girl party at our house. Yikes. I'm ok. Ahhhhh! No, really! :D

Her two best buddies stayed for a sleepover, but the 'boyfriends' came from 7-10 last Friday night. Marten and I were banished to the computer room (we're so embarrassing) and they opened presents, goofed around, watched a movie, ate snacks and took pictures. We gave Nicolle a Sony camera. She's very happy about that.

Logan Gibbs and Nicolle, Lucas Pineau and Amanda Rogers, Heather VanVeen and Nathan Axworthy

It's now 12 days away from our Disney trip and I can't tell you how exciting that is for us. We are SOOOOO looking forward to it. I'm going to be warm. Most days you'll find me in turtle necks, fleece and cuddled in a blanket. Give me summer!

That reminds me of Andy Rayner. As we speak, he and his son are on a mission's trip in Africa. You can read all about their amazing work in his blog, which is listed in my list, off to the side, over there, --> --> Check it out. They are doing some amazing things for the Lord.

I'll finish this post with a Valentine's card for you (Marten's getting the actual one!). I hope you enjoy the day with your loved ones and feel down right special. You are! Love you, Karen

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

2009-01-02T10:15:00.007-04:00

New year blew in with a LOT of wind and snow this year but we managed to party with our friends, David and Paula and kids, before the severe weather started. It was a slow drive home though, and I had to pry my fingers off the stearing wheel once I pulled into the garage. Yikes. I was glad that was over. I don't enjoy driving in the best of times.
We had a wonderful time at David's. We arrived at 7pm and thought we'd leave around 10ish because we had the kids with us. We were still eating fondue at 10 and it was so much fun we just stayed. The snow started around 11:30 but we thought we'd survive 30 more minutes. Paula had New Year poppers, presents for everyone and fancy glasses of pop to toast the New Year in. It was a lot of fun.

To go backwards in time... we had a great Christmas too. Lots of goodies, food, and company. I've posted the Pakje Day pictures on my facebook page if you'd like to see them. It was a GREAT day!
Here's some pics of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:

At Kathy's Apartment, 1 present on Christmas Eve, twins

Mom and kids, Santa boxes, our beautiful tree.

We hope you had a great Christmas too. From our house to yours, we wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2008-12-18T13:53:00.000-04:00

It's Christmas Time!

2008-12-16T22:09:00.005-04:00

And you know what that means? Concerts, concerts, concerts. Shopping, shopping, shopping. Birthday parties, parties, and baking, and cleaning, and decorating. And the list goes on. It's been a very busy month and I haven't had time to blog. But it's been a happy time.
Nicolle and Jason did excellently on their reports cards this term. Nicolle has an 89% average. We're very proud of her. Jason is "meeting expectations" and has lots of "Exceeding expectations". Amazingly smart kids!!! says the proud mommy! Here are their grade 7 and grade 2 pictures:

Jason had his birthday party last Friday. We invited 7 boys, 5 came. It was a wild, loud time. Boys are a handful! This year, Jason didn't want a theme! What???? I was lost. I hardly knew what to do for a 'normal' party. We just played games, ate and opened presents. Jason had a great time.

And here's the millenium boys at the family birthday party:

We had our church sunday school concert this past weekend, too. Nicolle was Mary and Jason was a shepherd. Aaron and Cassie were in it too, of course!

Nicolle played in her school band concert. She's really improving in her flute. I love to hear her practice. The band is 'one of the best the school's had' according to Mrs. Andrews and they're going to go to Halifax in April.
Jason's school concert was tonight. He was an elf. So cute! Here's a picture of him and his class:

We're eagerly awaiting Saturday. That's Pakie Day! Nieuwhof Christmas will be held at our house this year. We're looking forward to seeing Amanda and Matt. We'll really miss Dianna and Mary and their families this year. And of course, we always miss Tetcy and hers. We send our love and please know that we are thinking of you!

As usual, my mother and sister will join us on Christmas Eve and be with us for Christmas. My uncle Floyd will join us for the big meal and then later in the afternoon, my aunt and cousins will come! Can't have Christmas without them! It's tradition!

So that's a quick update on our lives. I wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Nicolle is Back!

2008-11-14T14:13:00.001-04:00

Just to let you know -- Nicolle has posted a new blog. Check it out! :)

I haven't disappeared! Really!

2008-11-03T09:54:00.007-04:00

I just haven't had any news to report.
Randall has reported on the digging situation. It has been a long fall. I miss Marten. They will hopefully finish up this week. With the snow on the ground, they are not starting to dig until this afternoon. But there is no more reports of snow or rain until Friday. Figures crossed.
I'll take you back in time right now. Before digging, Marten had a chance to finish the promised zipline. It's huge. Does Marten ever do anything small? Here's some picture of the fun.

Call me crazy, but I've already done some work on next year's VBS. We're 'going' to Crocodile Dock and the theme suggests swampy areas in the bayou. So.... because I love my children so much and I want to have them involved in church related activities... I had them climbing through swamps cutting down bull rushes for me. lol Actually, they had a lot of fun and they wanted to do it again the next weekend. This time we brought Marten along and it was a fun afternoon. This picture was taken at the end of the gathering. See... they're still smiling. :D

The kids enjoyed Halloween again this year. Candy! What kid wouldn't! Jason was a pirate (again!) and Nicolle started off as a pirate but didn't want to wear the hat and eyepatch... so in the end, she kinda looked like a maiden from the medevial days. (A wench, a barmaid... but we didn't use those terms in front of her. hee, hee) She was very excited to wear makeup. The picture shows them with Nicolle's friend Amanda. She's new to the island from Halifax and is at our house very often. She came trick-or-treating with us. Shyla came with us too. Poor Jason -- the only boy. :( He came out of his depression as soon as he dumped his bag full of candy on the living room floor.

I should have a picture of the snow that was STILL on the ground this morning but I can't bear it. Snow... this early. Argghhh! Give me back my summer!
Bundle up people and stay warm! Love to all! Karen

Vacation 2008

2008-09-04T23:58:00.001-03:00

I know I said I'd choose a few pictures... but it was real hard. Can you stand to sit through 100? Just pretend you're on a mini-trip. Enjoy!

Trying To Get Back Into A Routine!

2008-09-04T21:02:00.006-03:00

Hi everyone! We've been back from our vacation for a while now but I haven't found time to download pictures and write about our awesome time. I'll have to get back into a fall routine so I can spend time with you folk -- instead of this quick note.

We went right from vacation to Band Camp for Nicolle and setup for VBS. The last week in August was our VBS and it was AWESOME. We had 68 children. That's a record for Central. (42 in 2006 and 51 in 2007). What a fun week. The Lab theme was a real hit. We got tons of comments from parents about how much their child was enjoying it. Makes all the work worthwhile.

Then it was time for school preparation. Here's some pictures of them on the first day. Can you believe Nicolle is in Jr. High - Grade 7 and Jason is in Grade 2?

I have a million things to tell you about our vacation but it would take too long. (And I wouldn't want to bore you. hee, hee). I think I'll attempt a slide show so you can see in pictures what we've done. It'll be hard to choose a few pics from over 500 but I'll try.

Arghhhh... where's the summer going?

2008-07-26T20:29:00.003-03:00

The end of July -- already? It's going so fast.
Jason has had his first encounter with Canoe Cove Christian Camp. He loved it. He camped from July 13-16th. It really helped that Nicolle and I were helpers in the kitchen all week. He didn't have a chance to miss us. Daddy did though. It sure was tiring being there all week. Last year, I only worked Tuesdays and Fridays. I had days inbetween to recuperate. :) I'm getting old.
Nicolle goes to camp tomorrow. Her 6th year being there. I'll be in the kitchen on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I want to thank Mom, Alice and Elisabeth for taking a turn looking after Jason for a day so I can do this work for my God. I so enjoy Canoe Cove and all it does for the children and I am blessed to be able to help out in this way (thanks to my family who are so willing to help me).
Nicolle gets home on Friday night. Saturday will be spent doing laundry, etc. and repacking. We're leaving on Sunday for our family vacation in Ontario. Marten and I have been googling some fun sites to visit and we're excited to go. We'll be visiting with Tetcy's on Monday and Tuesday. We'll visit the African Lion Zoo on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we'll travel to Niagara Falls. We'll be staying with my cousin Patsy for 3 nights. We're looking forward to a family BBQ; Marten's going to work one day with Adrian; and we'll do the 'touristy' stuff around Niagara Falls. We decided to travel through the states on the way home. We're looking forward to doing the 4 Natural Wonders of NY: Howe Caverns, High Falls Gorge, Ausable Chasm and the Natural Stone Bridge and Caves. Marten has even talked me into rafting. Yikes! We'll have to take pictures for sure.
Once we get home, I'll feel old and tired so I might as well have a birthday to celebrate that fact. :) ha, ha.
Then, it's into VBS preparation week for our POWER LAB VBS on Aug 25-29. How fun!
I'll post more after our vacation and I'll include some pics.
Love to all!

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-03T22:57:00.004-03:00

Hope you all had a great 'mini vacation' on Canada Day! We had a real great family day. It started off with a sleep-in. Sigh, gotta love that! Mmmmm, I love my bed. :) Then we got in the Camaro and headed to Cap Egmont where the bottle houses are. So neat! It's even in the books "Ripley's Believe It Or Not " and "100 Things To Do Before You Die".
(Here are some pictures: Marten in the Tavern. Nicolle 'getting drunk' in the Tavern. Jason and Nicolle in the chapel. Karen and Marten at the back of the 6 gabled house.)

Then we went to Sandspit for 2 hours. Oh my, I was hot. It said it was 29 outside but I think the pit was hotter. I was getting ready to have Marten shave my hair off just to get it off my neck. Oh well, the kids had a blast (all 3 of them) :). The only thing I did was the mini golf. I'm not one for rides but it's fun watching them have so much fun.
We had supper at Subway in Cavendish and then splurged on Cow's icecream. Almost $20 for the 4 of us. Yikes! We'll go home next time for icecream.
By the time we got home, it was 9ish. The kids vegged on the couch for a while until it was time for the fireworks. As usual, we went down to the farm but we were joined this year by Tineke and kids, Klaas and Alice and kids, and Alice's brother and family. It was great fun! The fireworks lasted longer this year (almost half an hour). So the kids didn't get in bed til 11 pm but did they sleep in the next morning? .... nope!
Marten continued his little vacation by taking Wednesday off to work on the zip line he's making for the kids. Wow. I think it's 130 feet long. Quite impressive. It's going to be so much fun when it's done. He seeded in grass seed today and he probably has another day needed to finish. Tomorrow, he and David are going over to Carl's for a 4 wheeling trip. He's very excited.
Nicolle and I spent the day at Canoe Cove Christian Camp learning the rules for the new kitchen. We're both working for the Gr2-3 camp (July 13-16) and then I'll be there again at the Gr6-7 camp. So much work but VERY rewarding.
Jason spent the day at Elisabeth's playing with Caleb (Thanks Elisabeth!). Damaris and Caleb are going to come over on Saturday to show us their new and improved swimming skills.

So, that's our exciting week. Hope you are all having as much fun. Love to all, Karen and gang

Congratulations to Julie and Kenneth!

2008-06-20T21:12:00.013-03:00

I had the pleasure this afternoon of seeing my niece Julie and her boyfriend Kenneth all dressed up for Prom '08. Aren't they a handsome couple? :) Congratulations to both on graduating from Blue Field High School. We're so proud of you.

Father's Day Splash!

2008-06-15T16:21:00.006-03:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! We celebrated with french toast for breakfast. (Marten usually makes Pancakes on Sundays so that was a treat to have me make this.) Later, we opened presents (inside the card was a subscription to Camaro Performers; a car cover for the winter, solar lights for the gardens; a shower stand for shampoo etc. -- he's getting a little annoyed at all MY bottles falling on his toes. Oops!; and summer pajamas).

Marten and the kids watched CARS, the movie.
Then we all went in the pool for the first time this year. Can you all say BRRRRRR!?!
In a few minutes we're going to go for a camaro drive to Kensington. Marten likes the Frosty Treat restaurant there. Supper! Yum!

So we all hope you had a great day too!

PS. The french toast reminded me of a cute story about Nicolle. The french immersion class and the english class girls are very clickish. They don't play together. But Emily, a new girl, who started off in the english then moved to french is doing her best to get them together. Bless her! It's so cute -- they call the french girls "french toast" and the english class "english muffins". :) Thought that might put a smile on your face. Cute!

Happy Birthday Randall!

2008-06-10T08:41:00.003-03:00

Love from Marten, Karen, Nicolle and Jason

Have a GREAT day!

Mom's Doing Great!

2008-05-28T20:37:00.002-03:00

Great news! Mom's surgery went great. We were at the hospital at 10am. The nurses did all their jobs (temp., blood pressure, putting the IV in, etc.) and then froze her eye. I was with her the whole time until they took her to the operating room. The doctor came at 11:30 and did some more prep work. He also informed her that she wouldn't be put to sleep. I'm glad she didn't know that beforehand. She was worried enough. The operation started at 11:45, was done at 12:30, and we were in the car at 12:50. Amazing. They put a plastic lens behind her eye. Unfortunately, Mom spent the rest of the day feeling sick to her stomach. She doesn't take drugs well. So, she slept and I didn't have much to do except wake her up to put eye drops in her eyes. She'll have to do that for 4 more weeks. Plus wear a sheild at night. Very cute!
Tuesday she was feeling much better and she could see remarkably well already. We were at the doctor's at 7:45am for a checkup and everything was looking great. I came home in the afternoon to see the kids and Marten and cook them supper but Mom wanted me to be with her for one more night so I headed back to town. She had a great day today so I came home feeling confident that she would be OK. I'll go in on Friday morning and take her to another doctor's appointment. Thanks for your prayers. They were answered!

On a different topic, tonight was Nicolle's end-of-the-year band concert. It was excellent! Mrs. Andrew does a terrific job with them. Very impressive.
And now I wait... for Marten to come home from planting. I haven't spent any time with him since Saturday. Hopefully, he won't be too late. :)

Love to all, Karen

Prayers for Mom

2008-05-22T11:50:00.002-03:00

Hi everyone! I have no exciting news like some of you. I just wanted to update my blog.
I also would covet your prayers for my mother. She has to have eye surgery on Monday and she is very nervous and upset. She is so confused about the whole thing (things easily confuse her nowadays). They've changed the date of the operation 3 times. First, she was staying overnight, now she's not. She doesn't know if she'll be put to sleep or be awake for the operation. She has to take 3 different eye drops 4 times a day and she can't remember that. I've made her a calendar with the medicine names and the times she has to take them.
Usually Mom doesn't show emotion about anything but she was crying on Sunday. It was really hard for me to see. She wants to cancel the operation but we won't let her. It'll be over soon, I tell her, and everything will be back to normal.
I'm going to stay overnight at her apartment on Sunday and Monday so I won't be able to check all your blogs out. I'll update when I get home.
Thanks for your prayers.
Love, Karen

To all the Moms out there:

2008-05-09T22:08:00.008-03:00

This is the card that I made for my Mom for Mother's Day. I wanted to share the sentiment with you. I hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating this wonderful thing we call motherhood. :D

God Gave To Me A Child

Author: James B. Singleton

God gave to me a child - and then I knew

The precious gift of life, the beating heart,

The little hand that clings in childish trust,

The shining eyes that are so much a part

Of every moment in a parent's day;

A language that no words could ever say.

God gave to me a child - and then I knew

The joy of love fulfilled, the quiet peace

Of home and fireside where, with strife denied,

The heart can calmly rest in love's release,

Can gain strength in knowing angels stand

Around little ones with guarding hand.

God gave to me a child - and then I knew

The parenthood of God, the eternal care

Of He who keeps the night watch and never sleeps

Who, when His children need Him, is always there.

I sought His kingdom for so long a while,

And then I found it in my little baby's smile.

Before I Was a Mom

Author: Unknown

Before I was a Mom - I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night. Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom. Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom- I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment of the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Spoiled Rotten and Loving It!

2008-04-28T09:11:00.005-03:00

It's Monday morning, after our big trip to Moncton. I've just spent the last hour reading everyone's blog (and may I remind some of you that you are seriously behind keeping us updated on your lives. :D I'd love to hear your news!). Now, I'm awake and I have a huge smile on my face. I was so excited to hear Amanda's news about her new job. I had an awesome time reading Tetcy's last blog. I felt like I had spent the evening with her. I reread some blogs and enjoyed seeing pictures of ... flowers, a cute little boy, and some beautiful scenery. You know what? I'm spoiled. I really like my family.
Marten and I had a wonderful time 'away'. I really thank Klaas and Alice for keeping the kids. What did we do, you ask? :) Well... we had a nice drive over without the chatter from the back seat. I almost forgot what it was like to have quiet in the car. After we settled into our hotel, we made a list of what we'd like to do. I wanted to shop although I had nothing in mind to buy, go to a restaurant I've never been to before, see the Fundy tide come in, and just have fun being with my hubbie. We accomplished almost
everything. Shopping was GREAT. Marten even convinced me to go to Canadian Tire and Princess Auto. That made him happy so I was happy, too. We've been wanting to buy steel cord for a zipline for the kids. It cost $.79 a foot here but we found 150 feet for $29.99 at Princess Auto. Wahoo. AND a car cover for his camaro was on sale for $22.99 (44% off) Another wahoo! We also got a great deal at CT. I thought it would be fun to put up a badminton net for Nicolle this summer since she likes the game so much. $29.99 for a cheap set here... we found one on sale for $12. 98 over there. Another wahoo! :) Of course, Marten bought some model cars, a camaro magazine and a car charger for his cel phone. He was happy! BUT... I was super excited. Marten decided that he wanted my digital camera and he wanted to buy me a new one for Mother's Day. Randall recommended a Sony, so we headed to a sony store. Great sales. We bought a pink cyber shot (DSC-W130 for all of you in the know). It came with a docking station and a cute little pink carrying case (as seen in the picture). I love it! And the really exciting part about shopping. .. I got summer sandles. That's really exciting to me because, as most of you are aware, I have to wear orthopedic insoles for my bad feet. Well, they don't fit into sandles -- that I would want to buy. Except in the very last store we went into. The inserts come out and my inserts fit in perfectly. A major WAHOO! I am so happy to have sandles. They were a little pricey but Marten insisted. You know what? I'm spoiled. I really like my husband.
So that was one very successful item off the list. Next, a restaurant that we've never been to? We decided on the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant. Wow -- I've never eaten Indian food before. It was a relaxing, almost 2 hour, meal. I loved it because it took us more than 15 minutes to eat :) and because it was YUMMY (except for the green mushy stuff). Samosas, curry chicken, rice, pakaloo, Naan, indian mango icecream. mmmmm
Next... the tide. This is the part we didn't accomplish. :( We read the sign wrong. It said 2h40. We thought it meant in 2 hours and 40 minutes. So we set our watches so we would be back for 4:20pm. duh. It meant 2:40pm. Oh well, maybe next time.
We had a leisurely trip back. We took some exits to drive through Cappele, Point Prim, Cape Jarmaine, -- some places we never had time to visit on other trips. Here's a picture of us in at Cape Jarmaine. Awwww... don't we look happy?
We got home early and picked up the kids. We got Julie and Kenneth to babysit and we headed to David's birthday party. That was fun. Then they invited us back for a BBQ after church on Sunday. The kids played on the trampoline and Marten and David went four wheeling. That left Paula and I to have a nice visit. You know what? I'm spoiled. I really like my friends.
So, it was a very successful weekend. I needed to get away with Marten but it was good to get back to home and life.
Do you know what? I'm spoiled. God has giving me SO many blessings.
Blessings to you all --I love you! Karen

We told the kids about Disney!

2008-04-21T08:29:00.004-03:00

Hi everyone! Most of you know by now that we have been planning a trip to Disney World for the last couple of months. We're going with Klaas, Alice and kids. We're not going til February 2009 so we've been keeping it a secret from the children since it's such a long time away. However, Julie had to be informed to make allowances with her UPEI classes. Since she knew, we thought we'd better tell the rest. I was so excited. We all gathered together yesterday and told the kids that we had a secret and they had to ask questions to find out what it was. We could only answer with 'yes' or 'no'. It took them awhile, but Andrew figured it out. They were pretty excited. Jason didn't have the reaction I would have thought. Later that night, while tucking him in bed, I found out that he was nervous to go because of all the talk about the rollarcoasters. I assured him that the two of us would do something else while everyone else was on the rollarcoasters. He's much happier now. Me too. A good excuse so I don't have to go on them. Phew!
It was Klaas and Alice's 18th wedding anniversary yesterday so they went to Moncton for the weekend. We had Julie and Andrew here. It was great fun. We watched I AM LEGEND on friday night -- creepy. Marten and David went to the car show in Moncton on Saturday and they took David's boy, Oliver, and Jason and Andrew. Julie was at work so it was just me and Nicolle for the day. Sunday was my mother's 83rd birthday. We shared some chinese food and cake and gave her presents after church. Then we headed back here to share the news about Disney.
I was giving Marten a hard time -- Klaas and Alice went away together, Randall and Elisabeth went away together and... Marten and David went away together. Sigh. Is there no romance in that boy?!?!? :) Well, I think he feels guilty because he informed me that Alice will look after the kids next Friday night and we're going to Moncton. How fun. But what will we do? I don't want to go all the way to Moncton to go and see a movie. I have nothing I want to shop for. What else is there to do in Moncton? Any suggestions? I'm sure we'll still have fun. It'll be nice to get away and just be with Marten.
Oh, and just to keep you updated... Nicolle did not make the badminton team. Awwwww. She was a little sad but happy that she had tried out. I was proud of her for trying.
I did get one call last week from the school regarding Jason. Don't worry, it wasn't an accident! He was supposed to get off the bus at Taylor's house and I forgot to send a note and the boys were panicing because they wouldn't allow Jason to go. Rose phoned to confirm their story. Ooops! He got to go and Nicolle and I went to town and bought her some much needed summer clothes. We had a great time. A girl's night out!
I have found my flower beds. The snow is now official melted off of them. We still have some in the yard but not on the beds and now the flowers have a chance to peek up. Nothing yet but we're always 1-2 weeks behind Alice and Elisabeth. I'll have to get out there this week and take away all the dead leaves and branches, etc. I hope we're going to have some nice weather.
Thanks for checking in on me. I know I don't write as faithfully as some of you but I love to read your blogs and you get to hear from me through those comments. :) I just love hearing from you all. I'll look forward to that. I think of you all lots with much love ... Karen.

I Really Have Nothing To Blog About...

2008-04-01T13:15:00.003-03:00

... but I'll bore you anyway. I've been wanting to blog but didn't have anything blogworthy. Let's see: Since the last time I blogged we've had March Break and Easter. March break brought sleepovers, bowling, playdates, ... we didn't travel this year because of Easter celebrations. But Easter was great fun. We enjoyed our Good Friday breakfast at church with a lovely service. We had a family meal on Saturday with Mom, Kathy and Uncle Floyd. Turkey and Duck. Mmmmmm! Yum! I'm still full from it. We hid Easter eggs for the kids to find. They have so much fun with that. They laugh at the silly places we hide them. Then, they love to hide eggs for Nana and Aunt Kathy to find. Mom doesn't enjoy that so much but she participates to humor the kids. I think Kathy has a great time. Then , the kids hide eggs for Marten and me. What fun! There was an Easter Sunday service at church and then home. We were happy to have a surprise visit from Amanda and Matt. It was great to see them and catch up.
Back to school and another call from Jason's teacher. This time, he had been playing tag at recess and fell into a metal post. He broke his front tooth. I picked him up and took him to the dentist. It's amazing how they can fix it. It looks like new and you can't tell that he even has a fake tooth. That was the third call in 3 weeks. The first one was to inform us that Jason and his friend Taylor had been playing with ice (which was a no-no) and Jason fell on Taylor (a likely story) and had a huge scrape down his face. The second call was to inform us that Jason had been saying mean things to his classmates ("I hate you." "I'm going to kill you." ...). Yikes! I was horrified. However, Jason informs us that he had been playing a game where he was the bad guy and that he was just playing his part. He didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. He cried and cried. He felt awful. After a long talking to, I'm sure he won't do that again. Sigh, boys!
Nicolle's lastest adventure is to try out for the badminton team. She only won 1 out of 4 games on friday, but she has this Wednesday and Friday to impress Mr. Matthews (the gym teacher). I hope she does better on those two days. Either way, I'm proud and impressed that she wanted to try.
I'm still helping out at our church's youth group for age 4- grade 6. Nicolle and Jason enjoy it. They were excited to see Aaron and Cassie join us this past Thursday. And I was excited to meet Tineke's "new friend" Jason afterwards. He came to pick up the kids with her. Good first impression. Very cute Tineke! (Gee, I hope it's OK that I blogged this Tineke! I assume that because you changed your relationship status on facebook that it is public news! :P) Are you blushing?
I was envious of Tetcy's blog and her 'front yard friends'. I'm looking forward to spring and getting in my gardens. It was sad to wake up to 3 inches of snow today. Although... it WAS very pretty and hid all that dirty old snow. So I'm glad that God sent us a present today. Hope He was good to you too. Love to all, Karen

A New Addiction

2008-03-06T19:45:00.009-04:00

Hi everyone. It's been awhile. I know you're all wondering what treat I came up with for the 100th day of school. Tada! Necklaces with 100 pieces of fruit loops. Notice that they are in blocks of 10 for each color (the kids are learning to count by 10s). Sounds easy to do -- Looks coloringful and appealing. BUT, remind me not to do this again. EVER. It took me 4 1/2 hours to make 28 of these. YIKES! I was sick of counting by the end of it. Jason informs me it was worth it, though. Everyone was very excited to receive 100 treats in this way. The next picture is of Jason being a 100 year old man (complete with glasses and cane and slippers).
This next part is for Tetcy (and for anyone who's interested): You have me hooked on a new hobby. Thank you for bringing your card supplies to PEI. I had a lot of fun on Monday morning with you, Elisabeth and Damaris. It was great to learn some new tricks. (I have a Stampin'Up Chocolate Chip InkPad on order :D) I am having incredible fun designing new cards and playing with paper and stamping and making shapes out of cardboard and... I haven't found my dining room table since I started. We eat our meals in the livingroom. For shame. I'm scared if I put it all away, I won't get it out again. So the family suffers. I'll have to give them a thank you card. lol So, here's a sample of what I've done:

The Green Collection:

(All the "Thank You" wording came on a sheet for $2. Great deal!
The paper was bought at BuyRite on our shopping spree!
I think of you everytime I make a card in green! )

What's been accomplished so far:

Kids got their report cards yesterday and they did GREAT. I have parent-teacher interviews tomorrow but there is nothing to worry about. Mom is coming for the day to visit with us and she'll stay around to babysit tomorrow night so Marten and I can go to the farewell party for Andre. What fun!
Marten is in town with the children right now. They are at Youth Group. I can only assume that Marten visited with David at the shop (he's always cleaning there on Thursday nights). Soon, they will be home and we'll settle the kids for the night. Then we'll watch Survivor and Do You Know the Lyrics. A nice relaxing evening. Hope you are having one too. Love to all, Karen

Winter Sleigh Rides

2008-02-18T21:33:00.010-04:00

We had a fun Friday night. The sunday school teachers arranged for a sleigh ride at Terpstra's. There were 34 of us in total. We had to use 2 sleighs. It was a lot of fun. Thankfully, the weather was actually nice. Only 0 degrees and a light snow. It was so pretty. And we weren't even cold. Half way through the ride, they stop at a huge hill and everyone has 15-20 minutes to go sledding. Wow. What a hit with the kids (and some Dads).

After the ride, there was hot chocolate and cookies and a look at the other animals in the barn. They really have a nice setup there.

Later that night, Marten and I watched a special Celine Dion concert on TV. It was really good.
Saturday, Nicolle went to a movie with some friends and I took Jason to get his hair cut ("Just like Pete's"). Marten wasn't feeling well and by Sunday, he really didn't feel well and he stayed home from Church. The kids and I went to Dairy Queen after church with Mom, Kathy, Lorna, Wayne and Janelle. Then we all went to Mom's and shared Valentine treats. Kathy had made everyone a plate of heart-shaped scotch cookies. Yum! Mom had chocolates. It was fun! I purposely stayed in town til 5 so Marten could get a good rest without noise and interuptions.
Now, it's Monday and he still doesn't feel well. He stayed home from work and rested on the couch inbetween naps. :) Say a prayer that he feels better soon.
I actually got on the computer tonight to research snack ideas for the 100th day of school. I'm supposed to bring something for the class. Most sites just say to have 10 bowls of 10 different things (choc. chips, pretzels, marshmallows, etc). The kids take 10 of each and therefore have 100 snack items. I need to feed 26 kids and 2 teachers. That sounds expensive. They don't want a cake. It takes too long to cut it and pass it out and it's messy. Any ideas?
I really enjoy all your blogs and appreciate all your comments. Thanks so much. Love, Karen

I Survived!!!

2008-02-03T20:24:00.000-04:00

By now, all of you from "away" have heard that the island had a huge ice storm. Our power went out before we got up on Tuesday morning and didn't return til Friday afternoon at 2:45. All I can say is 'thank goodness for generators!' I think I could deal without the electricity. It was actually kinda nice not to have TV or playstation or computer. We had some yummy BBQ meals because of the lack of stove and oven. I also liked having the candles at night time. I even enjoyed having the kids home from school and just having a relaxing week. It was the lack of water that did me in. I was so grateful when the generator arrived on Wednesday so I could have a shower. (hee, hee... so was everyone else, I imagine). It's so easy to take washing your hands and flushing the toilet for granted. It's times like these....

Here's two of the pictures I took around our house. Our birch trees were bent over touching the ground. I was worried about them but they snapped right back up a couple of days later. Phew! I really like the white birch trees. The firs and pines were all crooked with the weight of the ice but they, too, are recovering nicely. We just lost a few trees around the property. And, luckily, no damage to house or pool. It was quite something to drive around and see all the damage done. There will have to be alot of cleanup in the spring (picking up broken branches and such).

Elisabeth was here on Thursday and we were discussing the storm, of course. She compared it to our lives. We can be bent over in troubled times with the weight of our worries, etc. But through faith and time, we can stand tall again. Plus, wasn't it beautiful with the sun on the fields and trees? Our lives can reflect the beauty of God even in those trials. Nice analogy! Thanks Elisabeth. So wise! :)

This week, also brought about Nicolle's 11 birthday. We had the family party on Thursday afternoon. And Tetcy... I also bought the cakes. I just can't seem to make good cakes. It's a good thing that Sobey's does such a fine job!

Nicolle had her 3 bestfriends come for a sleepover on Friday night. They are quite the foursome. I am so glad that Nicolle has this group of girls to hang with. They do alot together. I had a lot of fun being with them (when I was allowed :P). As you can imagine, the house was full of shrieks and giggles and whispering. The girls painted t-shirts (the blue ones in the first "charlie's angel" picture), watched a movie, and talked and stayed up til 3am. I went to bed at midnight (giving up all hope that they would settle down). Oh well, it doesn't happen often. I was surprised to see them awake at 8am. After breakfast, we had a photo shoot. Should be easy, I said. It would be nice to have a picture of these 4 muskateers together. Well.... try to get a group of 4 giggling girls to sit still and all smile at the same time. It was so funny. We must have taken 30 pictures before they agreed on one they liked. I printed one out for each girl and they decorated a wooden frame to put it in to take home.

Best Friends: Heather Van Veen; Emily Ross, Nicolle and Katie Wedge

After games, another movie, lunch, more talking and giggling, we had planned an outdoor activity. I had filled all my plastic containers with colored water and put them outside 2 days before to freeze. The girls were to make an ice-castle out of it. Come Saturday, the ice was quickly melting and it was near impossible to build. It was sliding all over the place so instead of a castle, they made a 'pretty' sculpture. Oh well, they had fun! They also had fun destroying it (as seen in picture).

The girls left at 4 pm and Nicolle had a GREAT birthday. Phew! Another one accomplished.

To finish off my exciting week we went to church this morning (I helped with the grade 5-6 class). We spent lunch with Nana and Kathy and celebrated Nicolle's birthday again. We arrived home for supper and now I'm enjoying spending the last hours of my week with you. :)

So ... I survived a very busy, different week . And I believe I'm all the better for it.

I hope that you all can say the same! :) Love you all! Karen

12 years and counting!

2008-01-16T11:40:00.001-04:00

Hard to believe that I've been in the Nieuwhof clan for 12 years now. We celebrated our 12th anniversary on January 13th. We had a wonderful family day together. I had been teasing Marten that I would love another trip (we had taken a cruise for our 10th anniverary). We had never been to the east end of the island so Marten suggested a road trip. It was really nice. We took the long way there. We checked out Wood Islands, then Montague, through Souris and finally arrived at the East Point Lighthouse. The kids were grateful to get out of the car but it didn't last long. It was so cold. We rushed back to the car to warm up. I did manage to get these pictures but I'm shooting myself that I didn't give the camera to Nicolle to get a shot of Marten and myself. Oh well. The sight of the windmills was impressive. The picture does NOT show how BIG they are. As we were driving home, we were driving into the sunset. Awwww... how romantic. There was a cloud that looked like a sideways heart. It had a line through it like an arrow (I think it was from a plane.) I regret not getting a picture of that as well. I teased Marten that he was so romantic to put that in the sky for our anniversary. He laughingly said that he had prayed for two hours for that one. :) We arrived back in Charlottetown at supper time so Marten took us all to East Side Mario's (notice the 'east' theme for the day, hee hee). The kids were exhausted from the 'big' trip and went to bed as soon as we got home. And even though they weren't too thrilled with being in the car all day, we really enjoyed the trip and spending time together.

Love to all, Karen

A note to my nieces: we have had our fireplace for 2 years now. It was tucked in the corner between the two couches. We bought it for extra heating because I was always cold in our livingroom. Even though the heat was nice, you could never see the fire when you were seated. I'm glad that it's in a place where we can see it now.

Furniture Arranging

2008-01-09T11:36:00.000-04:00

So there I was... taking all the Christmas decorations down. (Which is a sad thing. But then again, if they were up all the time, it wouldn't be so exciting next Christmas would it?) I had to move a few pieces of furniture to fit in the tree and now it was time to move them back. Thought: wouldn't it be nice to have a change of scenery? Maybe we should move the whole livingroom around. So I waited til after supper and "Marten, whatcha wanna do tonight?" Being the ever pleasing husband that he is, he willingly agreed to lug heavy furniture around the room til we were both pleased with the outcome. I really like it. You'll have to come for a visit to see. OK, I realize that those of you who are off the Island will not make a special trip just to see my livingroom so I took a few pictures. What do you think?

So, from our cozy livingroom to yours, we luv ya! Karen

Happy New Year!

2008-01-06T20:17:00.000-04:00

2008 already? Seems incredible! We hope you all had a great Christmas and shared a wonderful time with family and friends. We had a terrific holiday. All went according to plan (as mentioned in the last blog) and the hard work was worthwhile when the house was full of loved ones and we were having such a good time. That's the best part of Christmas -- being with family and friends. We were so excited to have all the nieces and nephews home from away.

1. Jason, Nana and Nicolle 2. Caleb, Jason and Aaron 3. The 7 youngest Nieuwhofs

New Year's Eve was quiet for us. It was storming so we couldn't make it to town for our plans with David, Paula and the kids. Oh well. I was tired and didn't mind an evening in.

We continued the spirit of celebrations with Marten's 41st birthday on January 3rd. :) Randall, Elisabeth, Jordan, Dianna, Klaas, Alice, Tineke, my sister Kathy, and our friends David and Paula came over on Friday night for Apple Pie and Fondue (Marten's favs). Yum! It was great fun. It was especially nice to see Jordan and Dianna before they headed back to New Jersey.

We wish you all many blessings for the new year. May it bring love, health and a renewed relationship with God.

Love to all, Karen and family

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-23T23:49:00.000-04:00

2 more sleeps (as the kids would say)! I believe that we're all ready for the big event. 2 school concerts, 1 Sunday School concert, 1 Cantata, shopping till we dropped, wrapping, baking, cleaning, decorating,... can I sleep through Christmas? I'm exhausted. :)
My mom and sister arrive tomorrow. We'll all head in for the Christmas Eve service. Then we'll settle in for a long winter's night and be up nice and early to get that Turkey in the oven. Mmmm...
I've told the kids I don't want to see them before 7am. Perhaps they'll sleep in? Yah, right. They're pretty excited.
My uncle comes for dinner. Then Aunt Shirley, Lorna and family come late afternoon for supper. It's a lot of fun. Christmas wouldn't be the same without them. I've spent Christmas day with them my whole life.
Then, of course, we're off to Randall's house for Boxing Day. Can't wait to have all 24 of us celebrating in one spot. The neices and husbands are starting to arrive and it'll be great to have everyone (except Tetcy's) together. We'll miss you Tetcy and Ray and Craig and Joe.
It's late and tomorrow promises to be a busy day... so I'll say goodbye.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2007-12-14T20:44:00.000-04:00

My sister Kathy made the kids an advent calendar. They are having so much fun opening each little present every day. (Things like chocolates, Christmas foam shapes that open in water, candy canes, ornaments, christmas stamps, ...) The other two pictures are of the top of the fireplace and the top of the piano.

We enjoyed Nicolle's first band concert. I was amazed at how much they can learn in 3 months. After the concert we drove around North Rustico and enjoyed all the christmas lights. It's quite a show down there. LOTS of lights.

And here's a picture of Jason's friends that were at his school Birthday Party. We're looking forward to the family party on Sunday afternoon.

We're also looking forward to Tineke's party tomorrow evening. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINEKE!!!

I made fudge today for pakje night. Mmmm... three flavors. I can't wait to share it with you all. Hope you like fudge. :)

This can't be long... Marten's waiting to start a movie. :) Who would have guessed?!?

So, enjoy this final week countdown til Christmas. I have 2 more concerts, cooking and present wrapping to go. It's such a fun time of year. I love all the hustle and bustle.

Love to all, Karen

Busy Times

2007-12-09T19:46:00.000-04:00

December 9th already? Sure goes fast when you're having fun. We've celebrated 2 snow storms since the last posting. What a winter wonderland on PEI. Tons of snow, COLD weather, school cancellation, and lots of playing in the snow (for the kids anyway -- I do hate being cold).
I've been successful at my Christmas shopping and believe that one more trip to town should finish it. Marten's my holdup this year. I'm not sure what to get him. ??? MMMM.... I hate to disappoint.
Yesterday was Jason's birthday party for his school friends. Nine boys are very loud, I might add, when they are together and excited. This year's theme was car racing. We had checkered flags decorating the driveway and garage; a "Welcome Race Fans" sign in the entryway and tons more flags and red, black and white balloons in the house. Looked great with all the christmas decorations. haha! All games were centered around racing and the boys had a hoot. I did too but I was so tired afterwards. Jason was so happy and that's what it's all about. We're doing the family party on the 16th for him since he'll be in school on his actual birthday. We have treat bags put aside for Caleb and Aaron and he's excited to play the race games with them.
We had a nice time at Alice's birthday party on Thursday night and are looking forward to Tineke's this Saturday. We'll be partied out. Is that possible? Naw... it's too much fun. Birthdays, Christmas (with my family), Boxing day with the Nieuwhofs, Marten's birthday is not long after that.... What fun!
The school concerts are coming up too. Nicolle has her band concert this Wednesday night and the Christmas concert for both of them is next Tuesday. Our Sunday School concert is on the 16th (Nicolle is playing a flute solo in it). I'm excited to see my children smiling and doing their best up on stage.
Our church service was awesome today. I love to hear Christmas music. We had special visitors that sang "O Holy Night" which is my FAVORITE Christmas song (it gives me goosebumps) and Stewart Lewis had a great sermon. He compared Moses' visit with God in the burning bush to Mary's visit with God to inform her of the virgin birth. Both were favored by God and honored with a request to do his bidding. Both turned from their own plans and wishes and did God's will, therefore pleasing Him. Will we turn from our own life's plans and do God's will? He's asking us to! [I'm not a preacher and I hope I got the gist of this down correctly. I never heard Moses compared to Mary before and thought it was so cool. I pray that I don't turn God down when He asks me to do things!]
On that note, God Bless. I love you all! Karen

I Can Feel My Toes Now!

2007-11-26T11:14:00.000-04:00

The weekend went as planned. Marten had a great time fourwheeling. I got some dutch treats and I took the kids to the parade. Let me just say that I'm still thawing out. I was SO cold. It started at 5 and was over at 6:25. By then I was good and frozen. Even with snow pants and coats, hats, scarfs, gloves, and blankets. Brrrrrrr... Still, we all enjoyed it. The highlight for Nicolle were the dogs and the horses. Go figure! Jason just liked all the lights and being out at night. For me, the parade might have been boring during the day but it sure is pretty at night with all the lights. There was one point in the parade when a float went by from a church and it touched my heart. I had tears in my eyes at the thought of how many people they could witness to. It was the nativity scene and they were praising God with Christmas music. We've all seen it a hundred times before, but in that setting, it reached me and God filled me. It was so nice to sit there in the dark and be warmed with God's love for a moment.
Other churches passed out phamplets of their church's holiday concerts, etc. and candy canes with the story of how candy canes were created. Nice outreach. They could reach 100,000 people along the roads. Pray to God that some received The Message.

What's New? ...

2007-11-22T10:51:00.000-04:00

Well, to let you all know (because I know you're dying to find out)... our date was quite nice. The company was OK (just joking you guys -- it was great to be with you all). The restaurant was yummy! I think Marten's favorite was the seafood chowder. I enjoyed everything (salads, biscuits, ham, sausage, chicken, chocolate fondue, desserts...). Did I mention it was buffet? Gotta try a bit of everything, right? The 'farm' is considering taking the crew there for the Christmas banquet. What? No Dutch Inn? Apparently the service and food were not good there last year. So we'll try something new.

Marten went to Halifax yesterday with David Andrews. David had to go to recycle some copper and he asked Marten if he wanted to travel with him. Of course, it was a resounding YES! They have so much fun together. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Princess Auto. Marten's never been there and it was quite fun for him. I mentioned before that I wouldn't mind getting a case to organize my makeup. He saw a red tool box for sale and almost bought it for me for that reason. I laughed. Sigh. Men!

Marten and David (and some other guys) are also traveling this weekend to Carl Gallant's for some four wheeling. He lives just this side of Truro. They leave Friday and will be back Saturday night. There a Dutch food show at the Dutch Inn on Saturday that I'm going to and I plan to take the kids to the Christmas Parade on Saturday night.

I'll be travelling to Crapaud tomorrow (whoopee! I get a trip too :P). Mom has to get some blood work done and Dr. Visser is her doctor. Way out in Crapaud. I usually go with her because she can never remember what the doctor tells her.

I've been busy with scrapbooking this week. I haven't touched it in so long. Nicolle got out her albums on Saturday and it inspired me to get started again. It's so much fun. And so rewarding to get a few pages finished. I don't have a little area like Tetcy, so my livingroom is a disaster area right now. I'll clean it up... some time.

We took the kids to a movie last Saturday... Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium. (I'm not too sure of the spelling. Can you blame me?) It's about a magical toy store. Very cute and touching. It inspires you to believe in yourself. We hardly ever GO to the movies because we have so many here, so it was a real adventure for the kids. We were going to see The Bee Movie but Jason wasn't excited about that ("It's for babies") so luckily this movie was playing.

In my Wednesday morning bible study, we just finished "How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life" and we will be starting "A Woman After God's Own Heart" next week. Have any of you read them? I'm sadly negligent in my prayer life and am trying to develop that part of my relationship with God. I'm kinda a one sentence quick prayer throughout the day. I must find the time to stop and dedicate some time to "proper" prayer. We're also challenging each other to fast once a week. That doesn't nessarily mean a day without eating. We're focusing on turning aside from other things that take away our focus on God and interferes with our prayer life to Him. For me, I have chosen a day without snacking between meals and without computer. I spend entirely too much time on this thing - blogging, facebook, games. So every Tuesday, I will not be on the computer to read your blogs. I'll catch up later, OK? I'm also going to memorize a piece of scripture during that time. Last week was Deut. 6:4-9 and this week was II Corin. 12:9-10. Come on... look them up. :)

That's what's new. What's new with you? I love to hear about my favorite people.
I love you all, Karen

I Have A Date Tonight!

2007-11-16T14:43:00.000-04:00

This doesn't happen very often so I thought I'd better record it. :)
Last Christmas, Marten and I were given a gift certificate to the Top of the Park restaurant by the farm crew. It expires on Nov. 28th. Where did this year go? On talking with Randall, they have one too. Add Klaas and Alice and the 6 of us are going tonight. OK, not so romantic with your brother and sister-in-laws :) but we'll have fun. I'm really looking forward to it.
Hope you all have a great weekend too. Love ya.

Christmas Shopping

2007-11-08T18:46:00.001-04:00

I'm already excited about Christmas shopping. In fact, I almost have it all done. I know, I know...shocking to most of you. :) It makes me so happy to buy for other people. I just hope they like what they are getting. It's so much better that way. Sigh... the money goes fast though, doesn't it? $40 is gone before you know it. I wish I could spend a million on all of you.

We have another 4 day weekend ahead of us. PD day tomorrow and Monday is off for Remembrance Day. The only plans we have is Church, lunch with my family and then Kathy, Nicolle and I are going to the Three Oaks craft sale in Summerside. The three of us go every year. Kinda fun!

I have absolutely no exciting news. I just wanted to touch base and remind you to check out Nicolle's Blog. She's awaiting comments. :)

Halloween 2007

2007-11-01T21:14:00.000-03:00

I've been blessed with the flu since Friday. I woke up a little later since my Mother was here. I had parent-teacher interviews at 10am and Mom was here to look after the children. I didn't feel 100% but I went to the school and the interviews were OK. Brilliant Kids. :)

By afternoon, I really didn't feel good. That was the start of a very long week. I went between melting hot and freezing cold. I had a major headache and I was so tired and sore. Thankfully, that's over except for a very nasty cough.

Since I wasn't feeling well enough to Trick-or-Treat, my wonderful nieces (Rebecca and Julie) agreed to take Nicolle, Jason and Andrew out trick-or-treating. Thank you sooooo much girls. I love you. (Sorry you're sideways. Oops!)

Nicolle and Jason were pirates and Andrew was a handyman. They had so much fun and got SOOOO much candy. I can imagine that it should last a good long time. I hope.

Besides this motley crew, the only other trick-or-treaters we had were Aaron and Cassie. Not so busy on our street. More candy for us! hee, hee, hee.

Hope you all had a good, safe holiday!

Now I'm looking forward to some weekend birthday celebrations with the family.

Love to All, Karen

More Birthdays!

2007-10-24T08:17:00.000-03:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to Elisabeth and Isaac

Happy birthday to you.

Elisabeth, we look forward to being with you at your party. Always so nice to get together.
Isaac, we wish you were here so we can share in your day. Hope Mary spoils you. :)

Have a great day! We love you and we're thinking about you!
Love from Omke Marten, Tante Karen, Nicolle and Jason

Happy Birthday Matt!

2007-10-22T16:37:00.000-03:00

To all my faithful listeners. This message goes out to a special guy on his birthday:

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Matt!

Happy Birthday to you!

And many more.....

Aren't ya glad this was blogged and not actually sung out loud to you?

We love you! Have a wonderful day!

Omke Marten, Tante Karen, Nicolle and Jason

You're More Beautiful Than A Tuna!

2007-10-19T20:52:00.000-03:00

I'm still laughing. I thought this was so funny.
Jason and I are always saying "I Love You." "I Love You More." As I was tucking him into bed last night, we were going through this routine. To outdo me, he gave me a BIG hug and said "Mommy, you're more beautiful than a tuna." Well, I laughed and laughed and he looked hurt and asked me why I was laughing. I asked him if he knew what a tuna was. He thought it was a flower; maybe a tulip. Awwww... so sweet. I explained the mistake to him. We haven't stopped laughing and teasing each other since. Isn't it priceless? Too funny. I'm laughing as I type this. I won't forget this for a long time. Mmmmm... I better inform him that line won't work with all the girls. He must have taken lessons on romance from Marten. :) I love you, Marten!
I, of course, told Marten and he has since told everyone at the farm. Great! I expect a little bit of teasing the next time I see everyone. I hope I don't turn into a cold fish. Hee, hee. lol
There. Have I made your day? I love to laugh out loud.
Keep laughing. With much love, Karen

Call Us Crazy!

2007-10-15T21:07:00.000-03:00

Nicolle was sitting at the dining room table and all of a sudden "Mom, can we dye my hair brown tonight?" We had discussed it before because her blonde was fading to yellow and it wasn't very attractive anymore. We weren't sure what to do. Well, I happened to have a extra box of my color in the cupboard. She was determined so off we go to the washroom. I was really nervous. What if she didn't like it? What if I didn't like it? What will everyone say? We went through the procedure and washed it out, then blow dried it. And... she LOVES it. She was so giddy she couldn't sit still. She couldn't stop talking. She was just hopping up and down the hall. She phoned Nana right away (who is shocked, by the way :P). She's just tickled pink (or brown as the case may be). She keeps saying "I look like Rebecca." That's a good thing -- Rebecca has beautiful hair. Marten is quite pleased. "Have fun with your hair" is his motto. By the way, he wants me to dye mine red. Yah, right! Anyway, we're all pleased with the final look. What do YOU think? Let us know, truthfully.

Oh, the pie was delicious. We had a piece for supper! Here's a picture of some of the children that went apple picking. Nicolle (with blonde hair) and Jason are on the far right.

I forgot to mention in my last post that I was able to go to the ladies' retreat on Saturday because my wonderful husband was able to stay home and look after the kids. It's amazing how God makes everything work out. They have 35 acres left to dig but they're not ready yet so Marten could have the time off. Terrific! He spent the day closing up the pool for the winter. Sad but true. We'll look forward to next spring.

Really looking forward to your comments about this one. We're anxious to see what everyone thinks of the brunette. I don't have my little blonde dutch girl anymore :( but I think she's so pretty.

Much love, Karen

Church Filled Weekend

2007-10-15T14:55:00.000-03:00

Can it be? Have I not written for 10 days? Time gets away. Plus, the question is... what do I write about?
This weekend was worthy of remembering. Saturday was the fall Ladies' Retreat for our island churches. We have 13 Christian Churches/Churches of Christ on the Island and we take turns hosting a spring and a fall Ladies Retreat. It was our church's turn this year and I was on the committee. I was the registrar lady (for 108 women) and then I counted the money. After that, I worked in the kitchen to get ready for the lunch. The theme of the day was "Spiritual Spa Day" emphasising that God wants us to work on our inner beauty. On top of two wonderful speakers, we had demonstrations from a chef, a nutritionist, a massager, and a Mary Kay lady. Very interesting -- they actually tied their thoughts into the theme of the day. (I REALLY want a professional massage on my poor feet now.) Since I had a heavy workload for the day, I didn't make it to all the events, but what I did see I really enjoyed.
Sunday was another fun-filled church day. After Sunday School and Church, the families of the children from grades 1-6 were invited to stay for sandwiches, veggies and sweets. Then we all went apple picking together. Such a fall thing to do. York has a wonderful place to pick called Windymoor Orchards. Bags of apples later, it just started to rain. We were going to all go on a nature trail walk but decided that we didn't want to get wet. So, what to do? The thought of going for coffee was discussed. Can you imagine a restaurant full of excited kids? We thought not! So.... being the hostess that I am :), I invited everyone here for coffee, pop, cookies and chips. Arghhhh... the house was a mess. So I rushed home and cleaned up as fast as I could -- it's amazing what you can get done in 2-5 minutes. Everyone arrived and the children had a blast and so did the adults. I love getting together with friends.
So today, I'm really cleaning up (laundry, sorting through old shoes, dishes...). I also caught up on all your blogs. I haven't 'visited' you for 3 days. And now I'm thinking about all those apples downstairs. Mmmm... I think I see an apple pie in our near future. :) Marten will be happy. A good thing to cheer up my family on this dreary, rainy fall day. The kids will be getting home soon, so I must go to the kitchen to get that started before I need to supervise homework.
Have a happy day. Love from Karen

Happy October!

2007-10-05T12:34:00.000-03:00

I love the beauty of this month. The orange, red, yellow and even the browns of the trees. The orange pumpkins. The hay bales in the field. Good old Island dirt. Piles and piles of potatoes. Sorry Mary -- 'your' warehouse is filled :( We've had such wonderful weather that the grass is still brilliant green, the bay is sparkly blue. Just beautiful. "In everything, give thanks. For every day, give thanks. For every little thing, give thanks. For the breath of life, give thanks."

I found this Thanksgiving poem and wanted to share it with you:

Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude to God, our Creator and Provider, whose guidance and care go before us... and whose love is with us forever. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the changes, to remember that we, too, grow and change from one season of life to another. Thanksgiving is a time of changing seasons, when leaves turn golden in Autumn's wake and apples are crisp in the first chill breezes of fall. Let us remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving as we see the beauty of Autumn. Let us acknowledge the many blessings which are ours... let us think of our families and friends... and let us give thanks in our hearts.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Give thanks to God and remember that I have given thanks to God for you.
Love from Karen

Trip to Montague

2007-09-29T19:57:00.000-03:00

What a lovely day the kids and I had today. It started early. We had to be in town for 9:30 for the only haircut appointment I could get today. I just got a trim but I like it. Yeah! I hardly ever like my hair after a cut. Phew. What a relief.

We spent the rest of the morning at Nana's making birthday cards for "Aunt Do" and wrapping her presents and visiting with Nana. "Aunt Do" is actually my mother's best friend, Doris. As children, we couldn't pronounce her name and it became Do (pronounced doe). Anyway, Nana treated us to lunch at Subway and then we were on the way to Montague to celebrate a birthday. Aunt Do is elderly (78) and lives with her brother in an old farm house. She has never married and seldom leaves Montague. She was thrilled with the visit and we all had a great time. The kids love to go there -- a dog, lots of kittens, cows and horses --Nicolle's paradise. They spent the whole time outside except for when it was time for cake and icecream and present giving.

On the way home, we stopped at a roadside vegetable stand that had amazing fall decorations and vegetables and tons of pumpkins. All of us had fun picking out the perfect pumpkins to take home (I love to decorate the deck and in front of the garage with them.) We picked out 8 pumpkins for $7.96. Pretty good, eh?

Then it was home for supper, wash up, and time for bed for the kids. They were tired. A quick catch up on all your blogs (which I so enjoy reading) and I'll finish this up so I can go and enjoy an evening with Marten.

I hope you all enjoy your Sunday. Love ya lots, Karen

Marten's Father's Day Gift -- his pictures

2007-09-28T21:20:00.001-03:00

Digging Time

2007-09-27T20:12:00.000-03:00

We're well into the long, tiring hours of digging. They were up and running on Monday and they are having a really good week. No major breakdowns (and I do mean the machinery, not the boys :P). Marten says they must have 100 acres out already. It's going fast. Thought I'd include some pictures for those who are missing the action. (Tineke; Marten on the pile of potatoes; Tineke, Reg, and Aleer) So far Mary they haven't put any potatoes in "your" warehouse but soon. Oh no -- I think it's so sad to cover up your scenes.

Of course, that means Alice, Elisabeth, and I are back to cooking. I've had two goes at it. Tonight was shepherd's pie. MMMM... one of my favorites. Hope they all like it. It's kinda nerve racking to cook for so many. Next time, I think I'll do the sausage casserole that Amanda likes. I could try balony and cheese or warm peanut butter -- what do you think Matt? Hee, hee - I'm still chuckling over that one. Sorry. Is that mean? :)

The kids are in bed and I am, once again, all alone. I know that this time of the year is necessary and for only a short time. But I do miss Marten. I think that is why I'm on the computer so much. There's no one to talk to and by reading all your blogs I feel like I'm communicating with someone. It's like talking to you. It's great to 'hear' all your thoughts and read your comments so keep them coming. I'm not so lonely when I'm 'with' you.

Goodnight. Hope you all had a terrific day. Thanks for keeping me company. Karen

The Treehouse/Playfort

2007-09-22T20:32:00.000-03:00

Marten has been thinking for couple of years now to build a fort for the children. Around two weeks ago he said if he didn't start building it soon that Jason would be grown up and wouldn't want it anymore. Secretly, I think Marten wanted to play on it. Hee, hee.
The tractor came, some trees disappeared and the start of a wonderful play area was created. It's located in the woods along the pathway between our house and Tineke's. All the kids will have a great time.
The picture shows what we built so far. We have used our old set of stairs that used to be attached to our front door. We built another landing 15 1/2 feet away. I spent a few hours drilling the deck boards on last Monday so Marten wouldn't have to. It hurts his leg to bend on it for so long. I was glad to help but, OH, I was sore the next two days. I could barely move. Plus I had a blister on my finger. Oh, the things I do... :). Marten had this afternoon off, and now there's a swinging bridge between the two. Is there nothing that man cannot create? Although we were wishing for Matt's engineering expertise on making it stable and safe. We wouldn't want the two platforms to cave in. We finally decided on a 6x6 in between the two landings. (see picture). Does that look OK, Matt?
We have to add railings to the bridge and deck but that's another day.
We also have plans for a little fort house on the deck, climbing ropes, zip line, slide, swings, mountain climbing, ladders, etc. We'll add them as time and money permit. I'll keep you updated with pictures.
Doesn't that sound awesome? Wanna come play? Anytime!

Love to all, Karen

Grade 6 Adventures

2007-09-21T21:58:00.000-03:00

How exciting -- Nicolle is in grade 6 now. She feels pretty important to be in her last year of elementary. She's doing great. She's getting involved in a lot of activities that are very new for her.

For instance, Nicolle has NEVER shown any interest in any sports. We couldn't even convince her to try Soccer this summer (come on... all the kids are doing it!). However, she came home Tuesday night with a notice about flag football. "Can I, Mom? Can I?" What!?!? Well, imagine my surprise and delight. "Well, of course, where and when?" So now, every Monday and Wednesday, 3 - 4:15, Nicolle is in a sport. I think her entire class has joined up. It'll be fun for her and she needs the exercise (don't we all?).

She has also taken up BAND. Yes, another flute player in the family. I wonder if she has Julie's old flute. She's very excited to be like her big cousin. She had a training session Friday (3:45 -7pm) and Saturday (9-12) at Birchwood School in Charlottetown to learn how to take care of it, and she learned 5 notes already. She's all excited and readily practices. Hope that keeps up.

Of course, being in grade 6 is "very grownup". She even has a "boyfriend". Nathan and Nicolle have been "dating" since December '06. Wow! It's OK -- so far, they hardly talk to each other. It's more like "Nathan told Lucas to tell Heather to tell me..." Just the way Mommy likes it. He's given her a few little gifts (necklace, book, ring, journal, bracelet). She gets all giggly when she talks about him -- very cute. It's nice for her self esteem that a boy likes her. VERY important in Grade 6, you know!

As far as being a big sister... She enjoys that Jason is now on the bus with her. She does love him but I think she loves to report on him. "Jason got in trouble on the bus today." "Jason and Taylor got talked to. They were being too rowdy." "Pete stopped the bus today to talk to Jason and Taylor." Yikes, poor Pete, our bus driver. I'll have to talk to Jason, again! Anyway, at home, they play nice together and it's quite pleasant that our children are friends, too.

She also loves to be involved in Church activities. The elementary youth group is starting up soon and we're waiting to hear when it will be. Hopefully not on Monday or Wednesday afternoons. What would I do? I want her to go to both.

Check out her blog site for more insights. Damaris inspired her to create one of her own. She's working on her first blog and hasn't posted it yet. But once published, she'd loved to hear your comments.

The life of a 6th grader... don't you wish you were there again? Ya, I know.... me neither.

However, I love to see Nicolle enjoying it and I pray that she knows that God walks beside her every step of the way. One of my favorite Christian songs is called "Hold On To Jesus" (for He's holding on to you, is the next line). May we never forget that Jesus walks beside us in all circumstances.

I'm Thankful For...

2007-09-21T14:00:00.001-03:00

Flying High!

2007-09-18T08:37:00.000-03:00

Hey everybody!

On Friday, Marten and the kids finally went on the plane ride. Marten had always wanted to fly over the farm (preferably from a helicopter but you can't rent those on PEI). So for Father's Day, I rented a 4 seater plane for an hour (the pilot, Marten and the 2 kids-- see picture). Due to summer business, bad weather, etc. the flight was cancelled a few times and finally they got to go this past Friday. Jason was very nervous of the unknown. I think he thought it would be like a rollarcoaster and he's scared of those. He went on looking very terrified but came off with all grins. He had a blast. Nicolle was very excited and couldn't wait. Of course, she had a great time. Marten... HE LOVED IT!!! Here's 2 pictures of Randall's and the farm. Cool, eh?

They couldn't see too much of our house and Tineke's because of the trees. Apparently, Tineke, Aaron, Cassie and Pete were in the front yard waving but they weren't seen. Sorry, guys! It's the thought that counts. Right?

They flew over Charlottetown; headed along the south shore to end up at The Bridge (they weren't allowed to fly close to it so Marten didn't get any good pictures of it); then travelled the north shore. They flew over the farm a few times. The kids loved it when the plane dipped and circled. Wheeeeeee. I'm kinda glad I wasn't with them. Yikes! Marten took 77 pictures. I'm glad they have this memory. Marten still remembers when his parents took the family on a plane when they were young. Now, our kids will have this memory too.

So, my first attempt at pictures and everything? How'd I do? This could get addictive.

Love to all, Karen

"... and they shall mount up on wings like eagles." God will give you the strength to get through your day. So smile and have a great one.

Here We Go....

2007-09-17T22:45:00.000-03:00

Ok, so here we go. My first attempt at blogging. I have just spent a pleasant evening reading some of my nieces blogs. Very nice.
It has been noticed among my family that I did not have a site myself so I thought I would give it a try. I must admit that it is a wonderful way to keep in touch with one's loved ones. However, I am not in the habit of writing down my thoughts... and so I cannot promise to be faithful to this everyday. Please be patient and don't give up on me. I'll learn. But I'm slow.
I love you all so that is why I am trying this.
Now the next challenge... letting you all know that I'm here.
Eventually, I'll be up and running and figure this all out.
Until then, I'll be happy just to read your blogs and respond to them.

Love you all, Karen