Summer around the house

A Blast from the Past!

THIS is the way to make ham salad. Mom got me this little
beauty years ago. It's just like the one she used when I was
growing up.


























Of course, this job was fun for everyone! The best
is the sound the onion makes when you squish it
through...then of course clean it all out with a
piece of bread...just like Mom use to do!


























Even Meredith got into the cranking!


























Enjoying the yummy results!


























I think they enjoyed making it more than eating it!

Another Lost Art...

I thought about Jaye talking about the lost art of ironing a few posts back and I was reminded about another chore that most families have forgotten about, polishing shoes. You can see from the photo that I intend to pass this skill along to my children. There's nothin' like a freshly shined pair of shoes. We were getting ready for the big trip so we shined up the kickers. Does anyone else still do this, I wonder?

Our Weekend

In the van....drive, drive, drive (9 hours total)

Stop for gas....everyone has a job to do.

Quick trip to The Falls Saturday morning

After the ten minute (really 10 minutes) service. It's official, Granny is married.

9 more hours on the trip home.

It is time

Well, Granny packed up and moved away on Monday....we head up this weekend to watch her get married. Its going to be a lot of driving, little visit, lot of driving. Sounds like we'll have great weather on Friday for the trip :) Check back in later this weekend for some photos of the big day.

A day in the life....of the Hollands

Jaye got her sewing machine out today to work on a birthday gift for one of the little guys from church. Liam is having a party tomorrow and is a big fan of Lightning McQueen. He will soon be the proud owner of a new homemade pillow. While she was working on the pillow, Wesley and I were surfing the youtube site looking at paintball stuff. I have been wanting a sling for my gun...there are several youtube videos on how to make your own. I was inspired so I made one of my own. We all had a nice time working with Jaye's new sewing machine.

As you can see my many days in home ec class have paid off so many years later. Now Jaye on the other hand has honed her skills over the years. So what are the skills and hobbies you share with your special someone?

Mom-isms

Yes...slowly but surely I am becoming my Mom!! I look like her, I act like her and more and more I'm talking like her. Monday on the way home from picking Anna up from school...I said it! She had the window down with her arm hanging out and I said, "You be careful or you're gonna draw back a bloody stub!" It always worked on me when I was a kid...Mom put the fear into me that if I put my hand out the window I would be one handed for the rest of my days!! :) It didn't work so much for Anna, she just asked, "What's a bloody stub?" Another "Mom-ism" is, "You better knock it off or I'll take you down a few notches!" Not sure what that really meant other than we knew she was serious and we better straighten up. I didn't hear that as much as my brother!! :) One of my favorite, "If in doubt, don't." I may still hang my hand out the window but I will always follow this last one...and it has proved true over and over again!

Cheri Colter, our pastors wife, shared in bible study this past week that she has found her daughter using the same lines on her kids that were used on her...so it's not just me!! Just curious...how are you becoming like your mom and what do you think of that??

btw...this little beauty of a picture was obviously taken in the early 70's...one of my favs! :)

Big News Week!!

Wow, I'm not sure what was bigger news this past week, the Bears signing a new QB or Eastview Wesleyan lands Mark Atkinson as Sr Pastor. I know I am way more excited to see Mark and Ronda come home to Grant County. Should be good times ahead for Eastview.

Mark and Ronda came over for a visit last night to share the news with us. I am very thankful that they will be near by. For those of you that don't know, Mark was Jayes youth pastor, and Mark was my camp counselor when I was a teen. Mark is probably the guy that has the biggest influence in my life. It will be great having him around. The news has stirred up a lot of Facebook chatter too.

The Bears are working over time

Welcome the big man Orlando Pace to the team. Hmmm looks like its turning out to be a busy off season for the boys in Blue. Wesley is a little sad to see Kyle Orton leave the windy city. I'm glad we didn't get a Orton jersey this year. Exciting Bears News. We need a few more pieces, how about Marvin to teach our receivers how to catch and run?

QB

Wow can you believe it? A quarterback coming to Chicago? I am speechless. Welcome to the Bears Jay Cutler.

Spring Break 2009

This year for spring break I took some of the teens from church on a "mini mission trip" to Merrillville, Indiana. We went up to work with the Wesleyan Church and took a side trip into Chicago to the Chicago Area Food Depository. We had a great time. We went up on Wednesday afternoon, settled in and went to prayer meeting that night. At prayer meeting Pastor Chris Kaste shared his salvation story and asked me to do the same. After that we prayed. It was really cool. The church is really on the verge of seeing God do some amazing things. I appreciated the fact that most of the prayer requests were outwardly focused. Cool stuff.

The next day we really got the "work" part rolling. They had a storage area above some classrooms in the back of the sanctuary. We removed the old press board floor and put down new tongue and groove plywood. We washed windows, picked up trash and really stayed busy all day. I think we went back to the house around 11:30 that night. I'm very proud of the teens, they did a great job!
On Friday we loaded up in the van and headed to the Windy City and I might add the Cold City. It was GREAT being among Bears Fans...no sissy light blue and white up there. We boxed up "Senior Boxes" at the food depository. These boxes of food would be given out to senior citizens with enough food for three days. They told us they wanted us to do 250 boxes, we ended up doing 1019 total! It was a three hour shift. Good times were had by all on the assembly line. We then spent the day in Chicago. We went to Ginos East pizza for lunch, amazing pizza! Then we headed to Navy Pier for some shopping, we walked down Michigan Ave. It was a good day.

Saturday we did some yard work for a couple of Merrillville Church member shut ins. We took the leftover plywood into the attic and made a walk way for them down the middle of the attic.
And of course if you are familiar with Merrillville we did take a trip to the mall. It happened to be a sports memorabilia weekend at the mall, tons of really cool stuff. I wish I had some $ I could have left with some sweet Bears items.

On Sunday Jaye, Anna, Joseph and Jessica (fresh off her trip to New York City) drove up for Sunday Morning Service. I was given the chance to preach that Sunday. Then we had a carry in lunch after service. It was a great time.

More pictures Here

Our Group at Navy Pier

Chicago Area Food Depository

Ginos East

Jill my "oldest" friend, she was my next door neighbor growing up.

Pastor Chris and Linda Kaste