Kids are so creative!

What a crazy busy weekend!!!!

From Sams Club to Church clean up from card games to a birthday celebration! We stayed QUITE BUSY!

I am just amazed at how creative kids are. I think this coloring of the patio with sidewalk chalk is wonderful!

Beautiful Artwork!

Tay Tay & Emma working on their beautiful masterpiece!

And on to some big news! My wonderful hubby is turning the BIG 3-0 TOMORROW!!!
We had a small birthday party with the Hoekstra clan + grandpa at our house... here are a few photos......

$$$$$$$$

a very nice watch from his parents

even after it was slobbered on my aaron....
matt was still happy to get his TRIPLE FUDGE CAKE!

Changing my Mind.....

Imagine that... I'm changing my mind.

I will not be doing "my creative thing" on this blog, but thought of later, that naturally all that should be put on my derksphotography & design BLOG! =) check it out! I'll slowly get back into the swing of things!

I need my creative side back!

So today at work I was really bored *(surprise, surprise)*. So I was looking at some blogs and decided to switch up our site with a little more fun and more creative page. I DID NOT make it my self.... I actually found it from Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates!

But looking at a bunch of different blogs, I realized that I STINK at what they call "blogging" (or just talking about stuff in hopes that other people will see it and like what you have written!)

But here are some things I learned:

1. I really wish I had the knack for just writing my thoughts about life, about womenly stuff like: saving money, crafts, home decorating, organizing, etc. But for some reason... all i seem to come up with is only stuff that is going on in our lives (yes, i know our site is THE HOEKSTRAS.... but i would love to expand things I write about)...... i just can't come up with stuff to write about is just not easy for me.

2. To find the time... (ok, I know I have plenty of time when i'm at work to do it!) but to do it when I'm at home isn't something that I think of.

3. I absolutely love to see what other people write about... maybe I should just leave it up to them and check out what they are doing, instead of trying to do it myself!

4. I don't know the etiquette of blogging...

5. So many people have so many wonderful ideas.... i'm jealous... i wish they were mine! haha.

6. I need to get in touch with my girlie creative side again! I love that side of me.... but I feel I haven't shown it's true self for a long time! And I need to get that passion for DESIGNing back. I do it every day at work, designs that we can't really have too much fun with, that I think I just shut down with the creative part of designing.... I want that back!

7. I'm not very efficient at using BLOGSPOT..... the whole photo thing really annoys me...

8. I need to get my professional "candid" photography back into the swing of things. I LOVE photography and I just don't seem to take as any photographs as I used to other than when i'm shooting clients for weddings/family photos!

9. Maybe if I start paying attention to the little things in my life, by photographing and/or blogging about them, maybe i will appreciate the little things more than I do now!? Mmm... something to think about....

So, I'm going to try to get my creative juices flowing and start blogging more and coming up with some fun ideas or just share more of any ideas I have with anyone that might read my blog.... (sorry nicholas.... if you're the only one that really reads this.... i think i'm going to loose my audience... so maybe all this rambling will be just for myself! haha).

I guess I will start with these two items that I got an email about from UPPERCASE LIVING! How cool are these? I will say though, that I did see something like this at Target the other day too..... but this is kinda the same thing.... easy to peel on and off.... but the one difference there is with target's and this one is that Uppercase Living's comes with 3 different saying each, so if you don't want it to say "MENU" you can change it to say "TO DO" or "NOTES". I think this is just so cleaver! They can go in the: office, kitchen, walls, cupboards, doors, refrigerators, pantries, windows
I can think of a perfect place for the MENU one.... but turned into a TO DO LIST! (you know how I love TO DO LISTS! ooooo... maybe I can blog about how much I love to do lists and how obsessive I am about them!! haha.....) But i would love to put this in the office above my computer. But is that the best spot for it? Mmmmm......

Welp, this past weekend was a busy one! But wonderful.... to be with my husband again after a long week of not seeing him at all, was great!

First we started off with a BLACKHAWKS game with Rachele and Nicholas! Aside from the annoying New Jersey fans behind us, it was good game! Although I wasn't able to tuned out the girl behind me that knew everyone by their first name on the Devil's team & talked about every single play... I still was able to enjoy the game! It was a close game until the very end.... Thankfully ended up winning right at the end of the game, but if they play a little better offense, they could have won by more than just 1 point. But it was nice to hang out with Rachele and Nicholas again!..... next time guys........ MI RANCHITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait!

Then Saturday afternoon, it was time to head down to Layafette, IN to stay at a hotel with some couples and their kids from church. Matt and I left in the early afternoon and took our time getting down there. Matt gave me a little mini-"tour" of Layafette... showing me where Purdue is (since i have never been down there!).... showing me where he stays when he goes down there for classes/ conferences and where his bachelor party was. We then met everyone at the hotel for some swimming and some dinner! It was fun hanging out with those kids. To see their energy and fun they have in the pool is just so cute! Some kids were even in there for 3 hours straight! (as you can see from Taylor's hands below... she got VERY wrinkley from being in there so long!) It's interesting to see how different kids are. Some are scared, some are daring and some are just happy to splash their feet in the water! =) We ordered pizza, queso dip and had some other great food! Defiitely not a good weekend for dieting!

(Taylor's really wrinkley hands.... with Matt being funny in the background!)

(Just a really cute photo of Taylor with her wrinkley hands again!)

(Me "Jen Jen" & Taylor "Tay Tay")

(Some of the little kids that we were with.... and NO, it wasn't birth control really.... it actually makes me excited to have kids some day!)

(Oh... sweet baby Tessa and me!)

(2 of the DeYoung girls and me!)

(Awww......)

(Crazy girls!)

(Aaron, not looking & Tiffany being cute as usual!)

(I "learned" how to play poker... and yes, we played with Equal, Sugars, Splenda & Sweet-n-Low)

Then it was off to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis (an hour drive) for the day! I invited Taylor to ride along with us for that hour and of course when Tiffany saw that Taylor was going with us... she wanted to also! So we adopted 2 little girls for the car ride to Indy. It was nice! Two very talkative girls at the beginning turned into 1 sleeping girl and 1 zoned into her DS girl about 15 minutes into the car ride! But it was a nice change of pace for Matt and I, having some youngens in the car with us!

The Children's Museum was fun. It was pretty big and had a good variety of stuff for the kids to see! Matt and I decided to go off on our own for a little bit and just see it all in a little more faster pace than it would be with some kids with us (in hopes that we would meet up with some other people later!) But we actually only saw maybe 2 of the other families throughout our time there. So, once we were done, we left and "toured" Indianapolis a little bit. Again, I don't remember the last time I was there (I think it was when i was quite young!)... so we drove around a little bit and then we ended up driving to the Indianapolis Speedway... something that Matt wanted to see (and I guess me too a little bit!)

(Chihuli -sp?- sculpture at the Indianapolis Children's Museum)

(Matt is just a BIG KID!)

(Matt and I in the mirror section!)

(The Batmobile! Supposedly the one they used in some movies!)

And that was our weekend in a nutshell!

But the fun didn't stop when the weekend was over! Tuesday I had my day off and went shopping to Michigan City with my wonderful friend Stephanie and we had a great time... whether was good... little bit of rain, but enough to keep people away from the outlet mall! And when I was shopping I got a call from Matt with some wonderful news! His cousin Eric and his wife Laura had their baby, a boy! I just love the name! Evan Levi.... how adorable! I can't wait to go see the little guy! Congratulations you guys! And to little Lily too! =) I'm sure she's be a wonderful big sister!

Hope you all are having a good week....

A little bit of everything!

Well, as you can tell by how many posts I have done in the last couple of weeks... there is A LOT GOING ON in our lives... haha... (can you sense the sarcasm?)

Even though nothing new, fun, or exciting has been happening....
We both have been keeping busy though!!

Time Spent Apart (tear)
Matt has been working quite a bit.... he has been able to pick up some overtime here and there and actually this week he is down south the whole week doing his spring surveying! And it looks like part/most of next week he will be gone too! =( I will say that I am getting a little more used to him being gone for longer periods of time. Not that I like it, but I think I'm accepting and handling it a little bit better.

Work for me on the other hand.... has been slow, but busy, but boring. It's a job. I really want to love my job, but I just don't. But this week has been pretty good. My boss is gone on vacation, so in addition to my normal weekly tasks, I was in charge of sending the papers to press and also working on a 12 page paper that gets printed monthly. That has kept me busy most of the week!
And since Matt was working out of town all this week, I extended some hospitality to my friend Renee to come and sleep over this week! She lived in Lowell and works in Manteno, so staying in Grant Park helps he cut her commute time. It has been nice to have around. Last night we actually watched Nicholas and Rachele's wedding video she brought along... I got to see Matt make his wonderful speech. He's so cute! Also, I am taking advantage of going out for dinner and meeting up with some friends while Matt's gone! Last night I got to hang out with the wonderful Amanda Plowman and tonight I get to see two college friends, Jessica & Kristen! Jessica just got engaged and getting married in July! So I can't wait to hear all about her wedding plans!

A Not So Ordianary Weekend
Tomorrow Matt will be home! I'm so excited to see him!
I'm also excited because this weekend is a very UN- ORDINARY weekend! (is that even a word?)For what seems to be the LOOOONGest time, we have had tickets for tomorrow night's 's game with Nicholas and Rachele! So that will be fun!

Then another fun and exciting thing is that on Saturday to Sunday we are going down to Layfette and Indianapolis with a group from church and we are staying overnight in a hotel, and then going to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis! Which I have heard great things about it! So I'm looking forward to that! =) I'll have to tell you about how it was when we get back! Like I said, we are going with a group of people from churches, all of them are couples with kids, except for us! But they are all super cool and I know that we will have a great time!

"I feel the need... the need for speed!"
And we finally booked Matt's wedding present from me! Richard Petty Driving Experience! He will be doing(Richard Petty Driving Experience). He will be doing it at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet on May 24 in the afternoon! I hope he's as excited as I am for him! I hope I'll be able to get some good photos and hopefully borrow someone's video camera to record it too! =)

my hubby is amazing!!!!!!!

I am so blessed to have a handy husband!!!!
Look what he made me (us!)....


Last night when I got home from taking pictures for the musical "The Music Man" at Illiana Christian... I came home to find this awesome piece of furniture all set up in our living room! Yes, I knew Matt was making it... he worked on it all last weekend/this week... i even helped paint the pieces all black, but for some reason, i didn't realize how WONDERFUL it would look. I just couldn't picture it in real life from what sketches he made of it!!! I really like it and man, did we save some money!!!! (i'm cheap... that's wonderful!) As for decorating it... it needs some help, but for right now there are just DVD's all set up on the shelves, but sooner or later, I will actually decorate inside them.... putting the femine touch on then a little bit more! =)

more to come later!

things are underway...

What a good weekend! Friday night was the Fireman's Fish Fry here in Grant Park. Matt had to work there so I got some stuff done at home and then met up with Renee for some drinks and then Matt and some other firemen met us up there after they were done cleaning up!!!!

Saturday night we were finally able to get together with Erika & Darrin! We went over to there house for dinner! We had a great time... just sitting and chatting!

Welp... things are underway for getting the house ready for my OPEN HOUSE Vendor Party!!! I spent the day organizing and throwing away crap that I'm just holding onto for really no reason! There is just something (in my mom's word) CLEANSING about it! It really makes me feel happy and good when I am able to get rid of stuff. Now Matt on the other hand... not so good at getting rid of things.... but that's ok.... as long as it's not in my way!! Haha.... but I have organized my business hanging files... getting rid of old contracts and order forms that just aren't necessary to keep anymore. I went through my old credit card bills and organized them and put them in envelopes to hide away where i don't have to see them for years!Ahh... what a GREAT FEELING!!!!!

Matt spent part of the day making an entertainment center that I am just so thrilled about! He is a little more than 1/2 way done with it and I can't wait til it's done! He has been great and is hoping to have it done by Saturday's OPEN HOUSE! Right now as you'll see in the photo below it just is MDF right now, but he is going to jazz it up with some fancier trim... after I paint most of it black for the insides!!!

(My man hard at work!)

(Part of the entertainment center - the shelves before I painted 'em black!)

But back to my OPEN HOUSE! I will be having 8 different vendors here in a "not so large" home... with the party lasting from 9am-2pm hoping that that will give people a good enough time frame to work with on a Saturday! =) I'm not sure how it will work with a bunch of women in this small house... but it will be fun! (I hope! haha) I am excited for a lot of the girls/ladies to see our house for the first time! Especially some friends that haven't seen it yet!!! I will be putting different people in different rooms of the house.... really leaving only the bathroom & basement open! There will be Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Premier Design Jewelry, children's books, BeautiControl, Avon, Mary Kay, & Signature Homestyles!!!! I can't wait!! YEAH!

Hope you all had a great weekend!