Holiday Travels

On Saturday after Tim delivered the mail we left for a holiday in MI. We've been here ever since enjoying the company of family and friends. Tim's Grandpa and Grandma Van Grouw were in for a few days as well. (pictures will be forthcoming) James has not been neglected to say the least.

When I travel I find myself wondering what it would be like to live in the locality I am visiting; more often than not I conclude I would like it immensely, not necessarily better than my current home, but everywhere seems to have its particular draw. My question to you is: Am I happy in whatever situation I am placed or am I discontented and view the grass on the other side of the fence in a brighter shade of green? I do have to say though, a place is only as good as its company, of this one thing I am sure. If nothing else can be said it's a blessing to enjoy wherever you are whenever you're there.

Hangin Out With Daddy

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Recipe of the Day

This is the best pork tenderloin ever. I usually serve it with baked herb red potatoes or baked sweet potatoes either way its awesome.

Roast Pork Tenderloin

1/2 t. thyme
1/2 t. marjoram
1/2 t. sage
4 minced garlic cloves
3 chopped green onions
1/4 t. ginger
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. olive oil
1 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin

Combine spices, sauces, onions, garlic, and oil. Mix well. Spread evenly over pork, cover and allow to marinate at least 1-2 hrs. in fridge. Place pork on rack in backing pan and cover loosely with foil. Roast at 350* until internal temp reaches 170*, about 45-60 min. Slice into 1/4 in. pieces and serve. Pour juices from pan over meat.

Baked Herb Red Potatoes

Cut desired amount of potatoes into about 1 in. pieces. (do not peel) Shake in covered tupperware with Olive Oil, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Green Onion, Garlic Powder, Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper. Marinate in fridge 1-2 hrs, spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350-400* till soft.

Also next time you make baked sweet potatoes try some honey on them, you'll be glad you did.

Thoughts on Christmas

Every year I write a Christmas letter, usually the day after Thanksgiving. Then on Dec. 1st I drop 74 cards stuffed with the letter and a picture into my mailbox. The destinations vary from NJ. to CA, the USA to Holland, but in each one the message is the same, you are one of our family or friends and we are glad to share our life with you. There are only 74 cards mailed on the 1st because I mail my Grandma's on the 30th of Nov. My Grandma prides herself on being the first to send out Holliday Greetings so I always get hers out a little early, its really fun to beat her with the Christmas cheer (I'm not talking about eggnog, focus please). We also have a little contest of who can say "Merry Chistmas" first, its quite fun, you ought to try it. Family traditions are just the best aren't they?
I'm really not sure what I'll write about this year, you all know every detail of my life since June. Oh well you may just have to throw out the letter, but not to worry there will still be an adorable card and an even more adorable picture to hang on your Frigidaire. Come on you know you want to.

Silly Momma

This week has been designated for settling James into a daily routine, more importantly a desirable routine. The first 10 weeks of his life have been anything but normal so now I am on a mission to help him develop good and necessary habits. He does not approve of naps, I do not approve of his disapproval. He also prefers to sleep with his head turned to the right. I have been keeping a close eye on this and recently noticed that it is getting ever so very slightly flat on that side. So I've now turned into the naptime Nazi. I am trying to establish a routine as follows: feeding, diaper change, reasonable amount of playtime (not play and play and play and play some more till I am so tired that I don't want to play anymore, but now I'm too tired to sleep too) , naptime which will be followed by many repetitions of the same routine. This morning James' had breakfast, diaper change, fun in the swing, story time (it was Frosty the Snowman), kicky time, bath time, nap time. He didn't think nap time was a good idea, but after a brief session of complaining decided it was better to succumb to the routine than fight it. After what I thought was a decent interval I crept into his room to turn his head to the left and snap a picture. This is where my silliness comes in, as soon as I touched his head his eyes popped open and he looked at me with a look as if to say "Ha, I beat the system". Well young man you have not beat the system only taught your mother 15 min. is too soon to come in and straighten your head. Some day he will thank me for being diligent in turning his head so that is doesn't resemble a wedge of cheese.

Politics

Americans have attention spans equivalent to that of a gnat. I was watching the news tonight when they started to talk about the health of Castro. During this news clip they mentioned that Castro has been Cuba's only leader in 49 yrs. America has been under the Bush administration for a mere 6 years and the nation is ready for a change. I say put on new socks, get a hair cut, try Colgate instead of Crest; do not vote in a whole new leadership because you are bored. It's one thing if you are a tried and true Democrat, of course you would still be one and you would not approve of our leadership, but shame on all Republicans who voted liberally this election merely because this administration was not fixing the world's problems fast enough.

Sunday Mornings

I love Sunday mornings. Its the only morning that Tim doesn't have to go to work and I know exactly what's on the adgenda for the day. We wake up, James comes and cuddles between us in bed, then one of us takes a shower while James lays stark naked on the floor cooing and kicking his little feet all the while. Next its time for James to take a bath...OOOHHH Fun Momma. Then we all get dressed up and scurry about the house trying to make sure we have everything for the day. If we are particularly lucky we have breakfast otrherwise we eat candy in church...James always has breakfast, and second breakfast, and elevensies. :) We run out the door to the little red wagon, hop in, hop back out and run back into the house to grab whatever nessecity we forgot and back to the car for our trip to church. We go to church spend the day at Grandpa and Grandma R's and head back to church. Its a good day.

Weariness of Heart

Do any of you have it when you want to blog, but not one bone in your body feels like it? If you were to write something it would sound like fingernails on a chalk board. We all have bad days. Sometimes we are perfectly happy to have a bad day and others we hate it. But, alas, nothing we do seems to pull us from the depths of despair, which in the end only frusturates us more. On the days when you aren't content being unhappy it seems like the pain comes in waves. One minute you are almost seeing the sunshine and wham, back to the depths. What a heathen, no one that has been so blessed with such a sweet little boy and amazing family should ever have a bad day, but here I am and there it is.

Smiles for Momma

I'm so excited! I have such big stories to tell.

They're funny too.

Its that darn dish towel again.

James loves to sit in the kitchen in his bouncy seat and watch his Momma cook. Of course it does not do for me to cook and not chatter to him and play peek-a-boo with the dish towel. It’s really very nice because we both have someone to talk to. Today I have decided that James has developed quite an attitude. He has needs and his needs are above all others...more importantly he will decide what they are and make it very clear when you are not fulfilling his every desire in the high standard that he has come to enjoy. If he wasn't so cute I'd think he might be spoiled.  What poor James didn't realize was that by being a little over opinionated he was only reinforcing the ideas already in his Momma's head about child rearing. I had had to alter my course a little because of the colic, but now I will be back at it. A disciplined child is a happy child. By discipline please do not think that I am using corporal punishment on my tiny most perfect 10 week old little boy, try to think in a more broad sense of the word, lest I have social services knocking on my door. It’s so much fun having a little man around the house, cooing and waving, trying to giggle and so on. What did I talk about 11 months ago?

The week in review

Wow, I am the luckiest little boy in the world. Everybody loves me.

Maybe if I try really hard I can reach my rattle...maybe if I play my cards right Momma will hand it to me so I don't have to.

Oh hey, there you are.

What? You think I'm cute?

Ok, enough already.

This week James got to meet Grandpa and Grandma den Hollander. He thought it was great...two more people just dieing to spoil him. Tim's parrents came into town on Mon. and spent the remainder of the week relaxing in Branson and hanging out with us. We had a lot of fun and it was great for James to get to interact with them. We spent a lot of time in Branson with them and got to do lots of fun stuff. We shopped downtown at the Landing one day and on to the Outlets the next. We also toured the new Titanic museum and went on a wine tour. James was not impressed with the wine tour (aren't you proud Uncle B?) so he and I went and played in the car while the other sampled what seemed to be a remarkable number of wines and other beverages. ( not in volume of oz so much as varieties.) Friday they ventured to our humble abode and we had a nice time just doing some good old fashioned visiting. I believe it is safe to say a good time was had by all.
Since the last post my Sweet Baby James has turned two months old. I took a few pictures of him to commemorate this milestone and a few of them made it to the blog. Enjoy, we definatly are.