Stick a Fork in Me....

...I'm done.  Granted, this is a little saying borrowed from PW, but I cannot think of any other sentiment that would adequately describe my current state of being.  And if you actually did stick said fork in me, I probably wouldn't bother to protest much.  Maybe a small squeal, a slight quiver of the affected extremity and then I would again lie dormant in my doneness.

Oh, enough with the drama.  Somewhere back in the early part of May, that feeling of having it all together that I somewhat tentatively grasp, began to unravel, and it has been rolling downhill ever since.  I have had plenty to blog about, but just not the time or inclination to get it out there.  I wanted to blog about my Mom's birthday (May 2), Mother's Day, Maren's soccer games, Marissa's viola recital,  Marissa's fantabulous room redo, my 5K training (or lack thereof) and the Tulip Festival.  And maybe on the down side, the fact that my dad was once again in the hospital.  That journey has been harder than expected.  Someday I will write about that again, but not today.

On a lighter note, I think I will just cover all the above in one fell swoop.  So bear with me. 

Mom's Birthday.  Mom turned another year older on May 2.  She spent a large portion of the day assaulted by the clamor and noise of her 8 grandchildren.  She wouldn't have it any other way.  All her grandchildren complain about her wet, sloppy kisses, but they always seem to come back for more.  Even Jackson.  Lizzie is too young to know better and therefore carries the brunt of mom's affections, as you can see here.

 Lizzie doesn't really mind at all.  Mom loves all her grandchildren full well.  I think the feeling is mutual.  Happy Birthday Mom!

Which brings me to Mother's Day.  My heroes have always been Mothers.  The Captain and I have been blessed to come from good mothering stock. I had a wonderful day myself.  The Captain was gone, but he had coached the M's quite well.  I asked Maren if she was going to feed me breakfast in bed, and she went and got me a Dt. Dr. Pepper.  Good girl.  I love being a mom. So does my sister-in-law Michelle.  This pictures speaks Mother's Day to me.

Being a Mom means attending soccer games. Even in bitterly cold "Spring" weather.  I almost wished for a Snuggie.  Then I stopped.   I will not give in to the Snuggie.  I will prevail.  Anyhoo, this was Princess Maren's first year of soccer.  She seemed a little more interested in doing cartwheels on the sidelines or playing with her new soccer friend than actually chasing that silly soccer ball around.  She actually scored a goal.  Much to her surprise.  What can I say, she loves being a princess.

Moms also go to recitals.  Sweet Marissa had her first viola recital.  And in the words she loves so well -  she rocked!  So proud of her!

Moms also have to step back and let their babies grow up a bit.  Sweet Marissa recently decided that she needed her own room.  Some privacy. A place to call her own.  So we did some renovating in the basement guest room.  Here's the before and what Marissa thought of it.

Here's our after:

And Marissa helped.  Helped paint.  Picked colors. Made a cute little bulletin board insert for the back of her bookcase.  She did good.

Yes, she still tolerates a visit from the Princess Maren every now and then.

Moms occasionally try to end their lives prematurely by running participating in a 5K Run that they may or may not have adequately trained for.  I got a little off track with my C25K training program with Dad in the hospital and a little brush with the start of pneumonia this late winter/early Spring.  I had to do a little walking to get 'er done.  But regardless, I did it! I am proud of me. Next goal: complete a 5Kwithout walking. Notice no pictures here.  The IA Pilot Wife wogging just ain't pretty.

And at long last we come to the Tulip Festival.  We were happy to have the Captain's fam come to visit all the way from Wichita, KS, again this year.  Had a good time. Lots of laughs, lots of food, and maybe one too many parades. : )

The local yokels like to compare Tulip Festival battle scars. Goes something like this.

  We did Ride Night, 4 parades (afternoon and evening), street scrubbing in authentic Dutch costumes, saw the Dutch Dozen, the Night Show, ran the 5K and hit the Pancake Fly-In Breakfast.

 

Well, we'll raise you 6 parades, Jr. Dutch Dance times 4, float riding, one trolley ride, the Quilt Show, worked the poffertje stand,watched fireworks and the Night show, did Vande Fear AND we even made it to the Community church service on Sunday morning.

Phew!  Nothing speaks to our fine Dutch heritage like martyrdom.

So I will leave you with some shots of the Tulip Festival.  I feel much better.  I feel caught up.  I feel like I can go on.  To Kindergarten graduation, summer rec registration, last day of school.... ahhh guess I'm not quite done yet.

Ok.  Now, I'm done.

Tiptoeing Through Tulips

Just lookie what we have here!  Our tulips came up!  Princess Maren has been keeping a close eye on things since oh, early March. (or whenever it was that our two feet of snow melted) She was worried.  It had been a mighty long time since we planted those tulips. It was an awfully long winter.

Then one day we saw this:

Great day in the morning!  They were all peeking their little heads out of  the dirt, just looking for their place in the sun.  Maren and I did the dance right then and there.  She did the "tulips are coming up dance" and I did the "I'm not a complete gardenening failure dance". 

We checked on them daily (sometimes more than daily) and a few weeks later we had this.

They look pretty happy in that good old Iowa black dirt, don't they?  We did another small dance. And now we have this:

Pretty maids all in a row.

Speaking of pretty maids, here's  my little color coordinator now.

So, all should be well in good in our little tulip growing world.  But it isn't.  See here in NW Iowa, we have this small event known as the Tulip Festival  the third week of May. Not only are our tulips beautifully blooming, so are every one else's in town. Locally, tulip growing and the timing of their full bloom is a serious business.  Much thought, preparation, and planning go into the activity.  Last year we were dead-on.  This year not so much.  I think we are well on our way to having a "Stem Festival".  

Oh well! There's always next year! We're just going to enjoy them while we can! 

Tulip Time 2009

I am exhausted. In a good way - like getting in a good workout and feeling happy with the results, like cleaning your windows and sitting in the recliner after you're done to watch them sparkle, like going water skiing and remembering why those muscles only let you do that one season out of the year - but man, is it ever worth it!

Tulip Festival is always an enjoyable, but hectic, time of year in these parts. All of us wholly (not to be confused with holy - although some may argue) Dutch, partially Dutch, or not even remotely Dutch people here in the NW corner of Iowa, dust off our wooden shoes and throw a little party known as the Tulip Festival. We are in our 69th year actully of carrying out this feat. Most every one gets involved, and we usually put on a pretty good show.

This year was no different except that it was way MORE enjoyable and just a bit more hectic. We were honored to have the Nieburhs (The Captain's sister and family) and Gordons (the Captain's mom and step-dad) visit. That meant 7 more warm bodies in the house. Better find yourself a piece of floor and stake your claim type of deal. I think the whole Tulip Time thing gets a little redundant and hum-drum to those of us who have experienced it since childbirth. It is a really neat thing to see it through the eyes of someone who hasn't been there, done that. Makes you appreciate it all the more. We made our list, and checked it twice, and think we got everything accomplished in due order.

Sam, Will, Max, Marissa and Maren had more fun than there is almond paste in an almond pattie. The girls are still in a state of shock and despair as they wander about forlornly looking for their cousins. Not that they didn't love have their Grandma and Papa Joe here too - because they sure loved that too.

So , I don't really know how to tell you all we did. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. Also go check out my SIL's blog, KimNow, for more great photos.

The tulips were just the biggest show-offs this year, don't you think?

Speaking of show-offs, ever since the Captain saw this bike, he has been hankering to ride it in the Tulip Festival so he could show off his biking skills. I think he would agree, it was a bit harder than it looked. He did a great job though and did us all proud...

...except when he nearly took out his mom (the lady in the striped shirt crossing the street) on his Dutch Big Wheel. She did take the time to offer him a cheese curd though, so no hard feelings. Oh my, I am still laughing.
So, we are taking reservations for next year. Kent? Ready to slip on those wooden shoes? I know you miss them. Kim? Wanna scrub some streets? I think it is our turn next year. Mom? Joe? Can you HANDLE another year? Breng ons een bezoek! Pay us a visit!!

P.S. Thanks to my MIL Pat for some of letting me take and publish some of these pics. I have camera envy.

P.S.S. Baloney, if your out there, Flat Baloney got lost in the shuffle (or the shuffle, clomp, clomp of the wooden shoes more precisely) somewhere, but there is always next year!!

Breng ons een bezoek! (Pay us a visit!)

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring! Princess Maren triumphantly told me so as I was picking her up from pretty school.

So that means we are a little closer to this.

Where you can hear a little bit of this.

And there will be tulips (hopefully) and green grass, and leaves on trees and lovely warm breezes. Oh My!

Or if you think all that Dutch stuff is way overrated, just stop by anyway and we can sit on the deck and have a beer or a glass of wine and we'll write sonnets to Spring. Either way, fine with me.