Do you have a picture like this?

Both girls love the water and when it is time for a bath they willingly jump right in. While they usually take separate baths, we were running short on time and combined the two. Bath time is such a great thing and the pictures are even better!

Were you a little girl in the 70's?

I got an email from my high school friend, Laura, and it brought back great memories. Can you relate to this?

If you were a little girl in the 70’s...

You had that Fisher Price doctor's kit with a stethoscope that actually worked. I vaguely remember playing with something like that.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it. Oh yeah! Riding no feet, no handed down the middle of the street wearing only a bathing suit was the best!

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels. Yep, they rolled like butter...not really.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!) Nope, I couldn’t watch Love Boat.

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island. That was another show I couldn’t watch.

You had either a 'bowl cut' or 'pixie', not to mention the 'Dorothy Hamill'. People sometimes thought you were a boy. Not me, but my sister had that experience courtesy of our mom!

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days. Gotta love those moon boots. I was just saying how warm they were and how I wished I had a pair now.

You owned a 'Slip-n-Slide', on which you injured yourself on sprinkler head more than once. Our friends did and there were quite a few injuries.

You owned 'Klick-Klacks' and smacked yourself in the face more than once! I don’t remember these!

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession. I didn’t have a Holly Hobbie sleeping bag unfortunately.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers. I know I wore my socks really high. Does that count?

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon. I played Simon and rocked it out.

You had the Donny and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sunshine family. I think I was too young for these.

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once. Guilty as charged!!

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. (Oh yeah!) I LOVED THESE!

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals. I wore Jellies too.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Olsen! Little House on the Prairie was a family favorite.

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink! I remember holding hands with a boy named Nathan at the skating rink, but my lips were sealed.

PONG! ('video tennis') was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of! Space Invaders was my favorite.

Your hairstyle was described as having 'wings' or 'feathers' and you kept it 'pretty' with the comb you kept in your back pocket. When you walked, the 'wings' flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna 'take off'. I tried this and it looked horrible on me because my hair was so fine.

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie. I still enjoy them today.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic with the thermos inside. Some were glass inside and broke the first time you dropped them. I actually think I had a Strawberry Shortcake lunch box with a plastic thermos.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend. I always liked Bo the best.

It was a big event in your household each year when the 'Wizard of Oz' would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags! I loved the Wizard of Oz. In fact, I was Nikko, the head flying monkey in the play during high school.

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: 'Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?' I had no idea who those guys were at the time, but I definitely used a Magic-8 ball.

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album. My brother, sister, and I danced to Grease Lightning on our coffee table. We thought we were so cool!

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom. Brownies and Girl Scouts were great opportunities for those crafts.

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts! The Shrinky-Dinks were fun and I had a ton of iron-on shirts.

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker. Oh yeah!

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat. Nope, I wasn’t allowed.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books. (Are you there God, It's Me, Margaret.) It was educational.

You thought Olivia Newton John's song 'Physical' was about aerobics. It isn’t?

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs. These were so fun to make!

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer. I’m not sure that’s true, but I did like to dance.

You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first 'real' perfume you ever owned. I can’t say that I used that.

You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off. Yep, those were the gold ole days!

Have you ever fed an African giraffe?

My mom sent us this picture from Africa. Leah and Elizabeth thought that it was great and now they want to feed a giraffe too!

Will you watch me hop?

Elizabeth just mastered the art of hopping on one foot. She loves to hop around our house asking us to watch her. The other day she was hopping so much she complained that her legs hurt. Go figure!

Who will be the Biggest Loser?

Tim and I have been faithful viewers of NBC's Biggest Loser since the start of season 2. This season involves couples from across the country and the White Team, Gerald and Estella, are actually from my hometown of Wheaton, Illinois. In honor of the show we have decided to have our own friendly competition using the P90X program. Whoever has the highest percentage of weight loss by Spring Break is the winner!

Can we listen to Veggie Tales?

It seems that every time we get in the car lately Leah and Elizabeth ask to listen to "A Queen, a King, and a Very BlueBerry". Although we enjoy most of the songs on the CD our favorite is track number 4, Salesmunz Rap, and song 3 on Veggie Radio. Listen and see if you agree!

How do you relax on Sunday?

After Sunday morning church and a midday meal, our family tries to relax before the upcoming work and school week. We are fortunate that both girls still take naps and Tim and I enjoy that quiet time either doing things together or separate. I like to sit in my rocking chair and read a book or a magazine and work on the computer while Tim usually takes Jazmin for a walk and then lounges on the couch watching sports. Sometimes we even get a little nap in ourselves!

Do you like Dr. Seuss?

I grew up reading books by Dr. Seuss and enjoying reading them to Leah and Elizabeth and my 2nd grade students. I also love Pottery Barn. So, when I saw that Dr. Seuss and Pottery Barn Kids teamed up to create a new line of products I was excited. You can imagine how delighted I was when I visited the Pottery Barn Kids site and saw that there was a chance to win. Click the picture to the right of this posting to try your luck, but you better hurry because the sweepstakes ends on January 28!

What did you do tonight?

This evening our family made the long trek to Carson City, Michigan for my niece Ellie's 2 year old birthday celebration. After presents, dinner, and dessert at my sister Julie's house we went over to the local high school to watch the varsity boys basketball game. The cousins had a great time playing with basketballs in the hall while the rest of us watched my brother-in-law Larry's team win by 20 points. It was a fun night!

Do you do digital?

Last year I created a digital scrapbook for our family entitled "Celebrate 2008". To complete the album I used an awesome program created by Creative Memories called StoryBook Creator Plus. I enjoyed the process so much that I decided to start this year's book called "Memories in Time: 2009". I'm hoping to add a personal touch to my journaling with my own font. If you know of additional sites that offer this service I'm definitely interested!

Are you LOST?

Tim and I have been waiting for tonight for a long time. Since the beginning of the series, we have been dedicated viewers of abc's hit show Lost. The season premeire takes place in less than 3 hours and we are anxious to see what happens when the Oceanic 6 of Oceanic Air flight 815 go back to the island.

Where will Elizabeth go to preschool?

Tonight we all attended an open house for Jenison Christian. On our way there Elizabeth informed us that she was going to school "to teach" (I wonder why she said that?). Leah was very interested in seeing the different classrooms and even brought her homework along to do while we were at the parent meeting. We enjoyed touring the building and meeting the staff members. The goodie bag which was prepared with pencils, a tablet of paper, a magnet, and a chocolate bar was a nice gift and the yummy snacks, including a chocolate fondue fountain, were delicious. Both girls left with balloons and Elizabeth said that she had "so much fun!" To top it all off Tim and I were the sole winners of a $25 gift card to Target.

Shall we paint?

I bought stamping sets for the girls this past Christmas and they had a fun time creating their own masterpieces. This was a great craft during the recent winter days when it was too cold to play outside. Thankfully that wasn't the case today!

Does supplying teachers with instructional technology increase student achievement?

I officially made it through the first weekend of my grade class and have to admit I actually enjoyed myself! In order to pass the class I'm required to write a 7-9 page research paper. This morning I decided to look into the technology aspect of teaching. If you have, or know of, any articles related to my topic I'd love to read them!

Can you imagine yourself here?

Passing my warm thoughts along to you on another very cold day!

Could it BE any colder?

Seriously, I'm tired of these below zero temperatures. After 4 straight school days of indoor recess I've had enough of this "arctic chill". It is so cold that even our dog doesn't want to go outside!

Are we eating at Culver's?

Every Thursday for the past 4 months this question has been asked. Once a week I take the girls to Champion Gymnastics in Holland where Leah and Elizabeth are both enrolled in hour long classes. Leah's lesson is first and it starts at 4:30. Shortly after Elizabeth's class starts Tim joins us at the gym. By 6:30, when the lessons are over, all of us are ready to eat so we drive to Culver's for dinner. Even though we tend to order the same meals week after week it is the frozen custard that we devour for dessert that continues to bring us back!

Do you know what a meme is?

One of my good friends electronically "tagged" me to do a meme. Here are my answers:

How long did you date? We dated for 5 months and then we were engaged for 8 months.

How old is he? He’ll be 37 in April.

Who eats more? For sure Tim…the man can eat!

Who said “I love you” first? I think he did.

Who is taller? Tim is taller by about a foot!

Who sings better? Neither of us should be on stage, but we both enjoy singing at church.

Who is smarter? Depends on what “smart” you are referring to. According to Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences I’m definitely more “spatially” smart and Tim is more “naturally” smart.

Whose temper is worse? Tim has more of a temper while I let my emotions fester and it takes longer to get over what got me upset.

Who does the laundry? We share the loads!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, but only because then I'm closer to the bathroom.

Who pays the bills? Tim does now, but for the first 7 years of our married life I did.

Who cooks dinner? We both cook, however Tim enjoys preparing meals more than I do. I prefer baking.

Who drives when you are together? Tim usually drives for the shorter trips and I’ll occasionally drive on the longer trips.

Who is more stubborn? Hmmm…I think I am.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first for sure!

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? It’s a tie.

Whose parents do you see the most? Tim’s parents because they live closer, but when we are with my parents it’s for a longer amount of time.

Who proposed? Tim did, but I asked him out first.

Who is more sensitive? We both are quite sensitive.

Who has more friends? It’s pretty even.

Who has more siblings? We each have one brother named Jeff and a sister.

Who wears the pants in the family? Tim…can you imagine him wearing dresses? There are way too many females in our house already!

Are you ready for your grad class this weekend?

As I sit here in my comfy GVSU sweatshirt I can't help but wonder whether or not I'm ready for my grad class this weekend. It's been over 2 years since I've taken a college course and sitting for a whole day on Saturday will be quite a challenge. Earlier this week I receieved an email from my professor letting me know that I had 4 required reading assignments prior to the start of class. At this rate, I'm just hoping I can make it through the first day!

Can you snap?

Leah recently learned how to snap. She literally sits, walks, skips, and jogs around the house snapping. Her excitement with this new skill is over the top. If you don't know how to snap, Leah will be more than happy to teach you!

Where in the world is Africa?

Early this morning my mom left for a 25 day mission trip to Nairobi. Because Leah was wondering how long her Grandma Holwerda would be on the plane I showed her where Africa is located on our globe. When she saw the distance from Michigan to Kenya she said, "Wow! That's on the other side of the world! She's going to be on the plane for a long time."

During my mom's stay in Africa she will be helping local women with the Global Bag Ladies project. This is the perfect opportunity for her since she loves to help others and sew and will be able to do both at the same time. I look forward to hearing all about her once in a lifetime experience in a "world" so far away!

How do you have fun with your family?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Are you going to blog everyday?

My goal before I created this blog was to post once a week. However, since I started 10 days ago I've posted every single day. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to keep this pace up, but I'll try my best to stay current. Besides, the rest of my family would like to use the computer once in awhile too!

How long will Spotty live?

For those of you who don't know I have a soft spot in my heart for animals. I've been drawn to them for as far back as I can remember. In 2002, before starting my second year of teaching 2nd grade, I decided to create a class hopping theme for my students. I set up table groups according to animals that hop and thought it would be fun to have a class pet. So, I went to Pet Supplies Plus in Holland and bought a fire belly toad. During my visit the owner of the store informed me that this particular type of toad usually lives 2-5 years. I bought the toad not knowing when it was actually born and planned on owning it for a few years at the most. At school my students named the toad Spotty and had a great time helping clean the terrarium. The following school year Spotty remained our class pet. Each week the students helped clean the terrarium and I made the weekly stop at the pet store to buy a dozen crickets for a $1. As the start of the third school year approached I chose to keep Spotty at home in order to avoid his possible death during the school year. Well, it's been almost 6 1/2 years and I've spent over $350 to keep this animal alive. I am amazed at what a tiny bit of love and care can do for even the smallest of God's creatures!

Could you be the winner of the 2009 HGTV Dream Home?

For the past few years I've been hooked on watching HGTV's Dream Home episode that airs at night on New Year's Day. During the hour long show a host "walks" the viewers through the magnificent house that was built during the previous year. The home for 2009 is located in Sonoma, California and is claimed to be the biggest giveaway in history worth more than $2 million. While it's not my dream home, the GMC Acadia that comes with the house is! So for the past 7 days I've been entering the sweepstakes to try to win. Click here to try your luck at winning! In case you happen to win and I don't, will you please take me for a spin in your new ride?

What's in the package?

A package I've been waiting patiently for arrived on our doorstop today. Although I've been satisfied with my old point and shoot camera, it is almost 7 years old and I had the desire to upgrade. So for Christmas Tim bought me a new digital camera which needed to be sent to our home. I am super excited to take better pictures, especially with all of the traditional and digital scrapbooking I've been doing lately. Now I just need to learn how to use it!

Why so many questions?

You may have noticed that all of the titles for my posts are in the form of questions. That's because most days I feel surrounded by questions. My children and husband ask me questions constantly. As a teacher I'm asking and answering questions all day long. Of course, I also think about things and wonder why or how something is possible. So, if you have any good questions send them my way!

What is the weather like today?

Weather in Michigan can sure change quickly and helping little ones understand that is tricky. So for Christmas my mom bought us a window cling, developed near her home in Wheaton, to show Leah and Elizabeth what they should wear each day. This little tool will be helpful when getting dressed for school which starts again tomorrow. If you get a chance check out the website for My Little Weather Buddy to see how it works!

Are we in Illinois yet?

Today we took a day trip to Batavia, Illinois for my niece Kristen's 1st birthday party. Since we have family and friends in the Chicago suburbs the trip is made frequently. Leah has become familiar with the route and will usually ask somewhere near the Indiana/Illinois border if we are in Illinois yet. Other than the wind, the roads were great and the traffic was the best it has been in a long time. It was a fun celebration!

Is there enough snow to go sledding?

It's become a family tradition to go to Hudsonville for lunch on New Year's Day. Tim's Great Aunt Truda and Great Aunt Hazel live on a huge hill near Chicago Drive and it's the perfect place to go sledding. Last year we had a great experience, but this year it was questionable as to whether or not there was even enough snow. Thinking positively we loaded the car with all of the snow gear. Although the grass could be seen through the snow it was still possible to sled!

What are your goals for 2009?

While I was ringing in the new year last night I realized I hadn't spent much time setting personal goals for 2009. So this morning I set 3 high, but attainable ones:

1. Create and maintain a family blog, as previously mentioned
2. Eat more fruits and vegetables (YUCK!)
3. Earn 6 more graduate credits

I'd love to hear what other people are planning to accomplish. Here's to reaching all our goals and Happy New Year!