Random TC...

I forgot about the pics I took with my purse camera in Traverse. The boys were super De duper excited about the Museum...

I really don't even know...

Caleb and Andrew set up quite the waterway with dams and tunnels...quite interesting how they could change the water flow as well as the direction of the flow...

More Random TC Pics...

Turtle fishin' at the Museum...does anyone actually turtle fish?

This was specifically taken for the Buchberger family...a cheese head just for you! Nose picking is simply a bonus! {spellchecking picked up Buchberger... it thought I might rather use Beefburger...}

Kyle got a new Lions hat. Obviously not a fair weather fan...

Andrew's pants are not this short...God forbid I allow my children out of the house with short pants on...

Just A Few...

...quick words about Saturday's games. Andrew was on it...his best game yet. He was super excited.

Pretty intense ball playing...

Mr. Buchberger has a nice head, however I really wish it didn't make it into the pic...

Caleb did well also. Making baskets got a little tricky for the team...not for lack of trying...

I'm only posting one shot of Caleb. I apparently changed settings before the game and didn't check my camera and well...I got a lot of blurry shots...This one will just have to do.

Victory Victory Is Our Cry...

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y...for the jayvee, that is. Too bad for the varsity. Montague has an awesome boy's team and Whitehall, well...ooh-don't get me wrong. We have great ball teams. Friday it just didn't show too well for our boys.

My girls had a good game. One fell out of an elevator but luckily everyone on the squad knew so nobody left her behind in the cheer. :) This is not the girl. {thankfully}

We finally have 3 shoulder stands and wanted so badly to do them during the game. We always hold off in the beginning because of the lack of a crowd. Friday we had the crowd in the second half but no time-outs. We had a few, but I had no idea how few we would have. Bummer. Yes, I am painfully aware of the visible fingers on this fist...

I left all 5 boys in Keith's hands while I headed over to the girl's sleepover. I almost fell asleep sitting on the couch watching three groups of girls making up a dance to a REALLY. LONG. SONG. I called it a night just after midnight.

Hehe. I looked at this pic for the first time since loading it. Oops. I loaded the wrong one!

Stupid Picasa.

Game Day...

It has been years since I have felt so giddy and excited, yet nervous about a rival game. Today changes that. Whitehall plays Montague tonight at home and I am beside myself with anxiety. I want my girls to shine. I want them to beam with spirit and cheer from their toes and hit every motion and nail every jump. Okay, so it is a lot to wish for, but a girl can dream.

We are in a rough spot with timing. I haven't had a full squad in weeks. Tonight I am missing a base/back spot and it shows. A lot of the stunts we've worked on cannot happen tonight. We are using most of the same bases with different flyers meaning not a lot of duplicate stunting in a single timeout. Darn. We've got signs and more signs and poms and more poms. We haven't used either since the season started. Bombarded.

Hehe. I looked down and it made me laugh. I am so Whitehall coordinated today...I bought a new red top with tiny white polka dots {which is funny because I NEVER wear anything new...it always looks better in my closet} and I am wearing it, plus black pants, black boots, a red scarf, a black coat, {it is cold in here} and even red and black undergarments. ;) Goodness me! Put a bow in my pony and call me a cheerleader. {or Joni Will} That girl had spirit!

I am a bit high on life. Part of it is certainly the anticipation of the game tonight. Part of it is the diet Mt. Dew I am chugging down {go fountain!} and part of it is definitely because of the lack of sleep I've had. I will hit a big, fat wall right before the pep assembly this afternoon. Yeah, we had practice this morning at 7am. I walked in 10 minutes late and thought that was good since I left the house at the time I am normally getting out of the shower. The assembly {my first} is at 2pm and, funny enough, I am nervous about that too. Who cares about me? I guess you can take the girl out of cheerleading but...

I am also excited for my birthday lunch today! Girlfriends are meeting me for lunch at Lipka's. That always promises to be a good time.

I am also hosting a sleepover for the boys. Well, I should say Keith is because after the game my girls are having another sleepover so that is where I will be for a few hours.

Can anyone say "cheeeeeese" for me? I ask because these poor boys will already be getting home late tonight and they will pretty much have to get right to bed because both Andrew and Casey have pictures before their 9am games...8 and 8:15. Yikes. I think there is definitely something wrong with moms having to get up at weekday time on the weekends. Unless you are into that. Whatever.

Have a super fabulous weekend, everyone. Don't forget to root for your hometown basketball teams tonight. {whomever they may be}
GO VIKES!

Traverse...

We had plans to head to Traverse City over break with both the Bolles and Rake families. Due to circumstances beyond their control, both had to back out. We still wanted and needed to go. So we did.

Kyle stayed home last year but we decided to bring him along this time. you know, for our family weekend. Knowing it would be so great to get away, we planned to fill our time with fun and food. Lots of fun {according to all the boys} and lots of food according to me.

We got the normal "are we there yet" most of the way. Once there, Kyle got so upset because he wanted to go in Traverse City. I told him we were, but he kept at it. He thought TC was a place, a fun zone. He wasn't nearly impressed.

Our first stop in town was Old Navy. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what I last packed Keith's trunks for and we couldn't find them. {Detroit} Swim trunks. Check. Next we headed to Payless to nab a super cute pair of tennies for Kyle. The stock was not super cute. We purchased a redo from Kyle's past. Oh well. 'Liked 'em once, like 'em again. Our next stop was the Children's Museum. Everyone is $6 for the day. We made it...what, an hour and 43 minutes?? The boys had fun but K and I were bored out of our minds. Hey, I missed those pictures...where'd they go?

After all the fun, we went to bd's for dinner. {I was so smart about the weekend. Since it revolved around my birthday , I received a free meal at bd's. I also had coupons for Cold Stone, Aunt Annie's Pretzels, Red Lobster, shopping and more}

We chose to eat early to avoid the dinner rush. It worked perfect Friday. Not so perfect Saturday. After dinner, we headed to the hotel to unpack and unwind before swimming. I'm realizing right now that my pictures aren't in any particular order, so pay no attention. There was a bit of snoozing going on by the adults and TV watching by the youngsters. Kyle also threw in a little bed jumping for posterity. The boys all swam for awhile before cleaning up for ice cream. YUM. I don't really like ice cream but I love the stuff that goes on it! We were all {blah} afterward. Keith picked up beer and we called it a night. This is too much of a story for you to care about but there is a reason for telling it. Oh, I'd say at about 1am I was awaken by Kyle crying. First, our sleeping arrangements were as follows...Keith and Caleb in one bed and Andrew, Kyle and I in the other. Kyle wanted to sleep with Keith, but I kept telling him to lie down. Dumb. Okay, so Kyle is crying, almost like a bad dream, and he was calling Caleb's name. Then it happened. {hurl} {hurl, hurl} That blasted thing puked. All. Over. Me. It was hot and wet and hot. And it was the worst smelling vomit I've ever encountered! I think the best part was, right as it was happening, Keith says, "I knew it." I asked, "What?" He replied, "I knew he was going to throw up." OH. Great. I peeled off my top shirt, told Andrew to get in bed with Caleb, peeled off the rest of my clothes, jumped in the shower, clumped all the bedding together and had Keith call the front desk. I had no other jammies so I made Keith give me his pants and I wore Caleb's dirty sweatshirt. Luckily, Kyle had two sets of jammies packed. I stayed in the bathroom while the desk boy brought up sheets. No bedspread or blanket. He didn't know what to do with the soiled linens. He had no intention of taking them. Keith told him he'd leave them outside our door. The boy was okay with that. Gross.

Kyle wasn't sick. He was just full of junk. Really full of junk. And it didn't help that he did so much swimming and jumping. Poor little belly. Not poor Kyle, though. He never remembered any of it. In fact, he got really mad at us for telling him that he threw up. He got all growl-ey and yelled at us in his gruff voice that, "I did NOT Frow up!"

We made Saturday a day of shopping. Caleb was a riot to shop with. He got great deals on two hoodies, a hooded tee, another tee, a video game and...cologne. He even brought money home with him. he is growing up way too fast. Yes, he wears cologne now. Why? Because he is eleven. {duh}

The boys went to see the Pink Panther 2 while I shopped solo. Kyle fell asleep as the movie started and woke up during the credits. Bingo for Keith. We left the mall only to head across the street to the next shopping destination. We were crazy fools. We shopped til we almost dropped. Andrew bought a video game and Kyle bought a remote controlled truck. He also talked me into the Cat in the Hat stuffed doll at Kohls. Why? Because "Joje needs a fwend." Curious George also resides in our home and apparently he is lonely and Kyle was playing match maker. Too cute.

Is it any wonder how I get any work done when my posts are this long??? We chose Red Lobster for dinner because Andrew enjoys their food and because we had free money. {thanks, Peewees} We again chose to eat early because it was Valentine's Day and we wanted to beat the mad rush. Ha! I walked into mass chaos at 4:15. I guess everyone else in town had the same smart idea! It was a 45 minute wait but we got a table within 20. Superb. Dinner was fab. Andrew is still content with the kid's menu but Caleb...he ordered crab legs! Alas, with my scamming ways, I was able to save a few bucks by having him order off the kid's menu while I added crab legs to my dinner. Solved. We decided against ice cream. No more vomit. We went back to the hotel, lounged once again and headed to the pool. Then it was jammie time. Nothing much else happened after that.

We totally missed Mike, Kirsten, Don, Kris and the kids. We can't wait until next year! Our hands were forced so we made the best out of a bad situation. {did that sound pathetic enough, Kirsten?} We definitely muttled through. :)

{I really wish Keith hadn't taken this picture of me and, without me knowing, cut a hole where my face was and popped Kyle in there. I'm a bit embarrassed that my body is being taken that much advantage of.}

Giving...

This post is long overdue. I have a better reason {excuse} than that I am too terribly busy. I wanted to capture memories of this day but didn't want to bring along my big honkin' camera and thought a nice little pocket sized one would be perfect. The problem is it was borrowed from Jimmy. Kristin has had the worst luck trying to get these pics for me...camera in GR, camera home with no cord, cord is home and pics are loaded at Kristin's, Kris emails them to me but I don't receive them, Kris' computer crashes, the camera goes back to GR...she has a life {and luck} like mine.

I almost finished this post. Then I decided to delete it and start fresh. too much blah blah. I wanted to volunteer in a mission with my boys. The lesson learned would be something I can never teach them. I've only wanted but never acted. A couple of months ago it was mentioned in our church bulletin. The church has a relationship with a church in Muskegon that hosts dinners for the needy. Is that politically correct? It was perfect. I mentioned it to Chris because I thought it would be something she would also enjoy. She was on board too.

The experience was a lot different than I envisioned. The boys were a bit bored because the participation wasn't what I had thought it would be. They did a lot of standing around. The good news is that it wasn't as busy as I assumed it would be, but I was hoping for something else. This seems a little selfish and I don't mean for it to be. I don't have a want for people to need assistance. I just had this picture in my mind of a more diverse group of people. You know, old, young, really young, black, white...all walks of life. I wanted the boys to get that they really do have a good life and that there are many people less fortunate than them not only in the world but really close to home. And I wanted them to get that the people who need help are not all older folks. Many, many of them are children their ages and younger. Keith has told me so many horror stories of small children in his district. I didn't want to scare the boys but I just want them to be aware. And gracious. it is so hard to teach gratitude. I cry every time I get into it with them. Maybe I wanted the lesson for myself. I certainly don't need all the crap I buy, even if I have to at the time.

Everyone can use a swift kick in the reality pants every now and then.

Great guy, but his name escapes me...

Okay, so maybe there wasn't much work to do...

Zachary was wound that evening...

We had a great day, got a few warm fuzzies, tapped our hips to the beat of the music {there was a band} and left with happy hearts. {and hungry tummies...poor kids. I don't know if the message was all too clear in the end. The boys couldn't understand why there was all that food and they couldn't have a small plate of it!}

Wordless Wednesday...

Actually, I do have a few words! Yea! Yeah! Yee Ha! Woot! Way To Go! Love You, Man!

I am sooo proud of Andrew and also sooo excited for him!! Way to go!! I LOVE YOU, BABY!!

We {I} have been waiting anxiously for the phone call FOREVER and I've been teased by one of my girls about her knowing that Andrew made it. Actually, she loves Andrew and calls him Simon {from the Chipmunks} and she asked a member of NHS if he remembered Andrew's tryout. According to her, the boy remembered him and said he was in for sure. Now, that is a horrible thing to tell a mother, especially when the call hasn't been received. Then my girl asked me again if we had received the call. She told me she made it and that the NHS member said Andrew was in. She even told him that her coach is stoked!! I felt like they were playing games because they {judges} knew I knew about the conversation. Yesterday, a little birdie mentioned it to me. She said she may have seen "someone's" name on the list. I told Andrew there is a list somewhere, but he hadn't found it. The birdie asked me if she ruined anything by telling me. I told her NO WAY because I needed desperately to know. I just told her that she had to be SURE she saw the name...no might haves...

I took Andrew to the school to confirm it and...well, you saw the note. Not the entire note, but enough to make you all cheer right along with me!!! The district wide talent show is scheduled for Friday March 6. He hasn't told anyone yet. I wanted to get on here first, but today will be the day everyone on earth knows!! I am off to search for instrumental music...

It Has Officially Started...

...basketball! Saturday was the first day of games for the boys. Andrew's games are all scheduled at 9:00 this season and Caleb's range between 11:00 and 1:00.

Andrew is just excited to play. He was jumping around but not doing much else. I think he does a pretty good job of blocking his guy. He touched the ball twice I think. The second time he wasn't sure what to do with it so he carried it to...I really don't know where he was going with it because the whistle was blown. I just sat with my head in my hands. One of my cheer parents came over to me {who also has a son/friend on the team} and said that all he saw when he looked at me was my head in my hands. He also asked if Andrew has played before. Is it wrong that I wanted to lie and tell him no?? The first games of the season are always fun to watch, but that was a little much! I'm sure Kris and Don were both really impressed!

Great job, yellow team! Zachary, Connor and Brandon did awesome!

Alyssa Huizenga told Jen after the game that they won! Jen told her that Casey's team lost. Alyssa's reply was, "Yeah, but Andrew's team won!" She hit it right on. With so many of our friend's boys playing, it is only natural to cheer for all of them, never mind the color of their jersey.

Caleb's game was action packed. This year he plays full court. It is much more exciting than half court. I was constantly changing my zoom to accommodate my pictures. I'm still learning.

Another win for us. It was a great start to the season. Giving the boys a little confidence is not a bad thing.

On another note, we spent the evening at the Buchberger's Saturday night. Another great time. it always is with them. We moved away from the usual Catch Phrase in favor of a brand new game. I went on an 80's game kick a few years ago and had yet to play this one in particular. We played for hours. We started off in teams and,uh hum, the girls won first thing. I am not surprised by this. We always win. After that, we played for ourselves. What a riot! Now I'm on the lookout for a 90's version. I am convinced that I didn't listen to the radio for 10 years because I know nothing about 90's music. Maybe the boys will have a chance to win. Like a pity win. I think I'd give them that. It really is pathetic to see their faces time and time again as Chris and I hoot and holler over EVERY. SINGLE. WIN. But whatever.

Go Lakers...

Picasa makes me crazy. I had 3 posts saved as drafts so I could finish them and post them, in order, this morning. HA!

Last Wednesday I took my squad to a cheer competition in Fruitport. There were 8 squads competing. 5 were varsity. My niece competed with Spring Lake. The girls all did an amazing job. Both my sister in law and mother in law said the squads all improved tremendously from the competition two weeks prior. My girls were oohing and aahing over stunts and jumps, wanting to try them for our squad.

Sam qualified for round 2 the day before the competition. Very exciting! She had a lot to do before competition but she did awesome!! Way to go, Sammi! I cannot remember how this went exactly, but after round 2, Spring Lake was behind Fruitport by less than 1 point for 3rd. Round 3 was a bit disappointing for Fruitport so I was sure Spring Lake would rock! They did, but still placed 3rd. Wait, maybe SL was up by less than 1 point after 2...shoot! If you are reading this, Sam, you can correct me! Either way, the girls did great! Two more competitions. Plenty of time to raise the score!!!

I used my zoom and some of the pics turned out blurry. I want to do a variation of this wall for my squad...

Rules state we cannot do this during basketball season...RULES!! It looked awesome so I wanted to add it...

My girls...

Super Bowl XLIII

Sunday the boys stayed at Pat's to watch the game. The rest of us headed to Pat and Dana's for some football fun. It really doesn't matter if football is involved...we always have a blast at Bergeman parties!!

I think we went into the evening rooting for the Steelers. Before long, {before the game started} we changed our tune. The Cardinals wanted a win so bad and Keith was especially fond of the aging QB.. He said that old guys like him need a win too. :) Near the end of the game, we were sure my Steelers fan would be bummed. I actually wondered if his voice would crack talking about them losing. I remember that happening when Bo Bice didn't win American Idol. {I love remembering little stories that are totally irrelevant} I felt totally sad for the Cardinals. I don't think I would've wanted to have a super bowl win with 35 seconds to go and then lose in those last 35 seconds. In the end, Caleb was super stoked! {a word used to describe me by one of my cheerleaders...stay tuned for that one} That made me happy.

Kyle spent a lot of time taking pictures of everyone. And everything. Others consisted of butts, chests, other body spots. There were also plenty of up close shots of the floor, the pool table, the fireplace, fingernails, nostrils... This was the best of his portraits...

This seems to be my fave right now. It is here...on FB...on my screen...

We had tons and tons of food {and plenty of beer} and tons of fun.