Buck Nut In Michigan

Re-Starting the Blog

2011-03-06T15:36:00.002-05:00

Well...we have been Facebooking so much for the past year, that the blog has fallen by the wayside. We will give it one more try. Now that we are adding Jelly Bean in a few weeks, we will have another little one to share crazy stories about (not to mention Mom and Dad's adventures).

Choir Debut

2010-03-23T12:43:00.004-04:00

Maren has joined the Cantus Choir (four and five-year olds) at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids. She has loved singing for as long as we can recall and we wanted to encourage her and also have her spend time with a music teacher.

Watch for her excitement at spotting Bunny, Grampa and Uncle Jay in the audience, and seeing Daddy at the end of the video.

The Cantus and Carol (third, fourth and fifth graders) Choirs sang "Forty Days and Nights" by Michael Bedford. Here are the lyrics:

Forty days and nights he stayed, forty days and nights he prayed,

All alone, yet unafraid, Jesus in the wilderness.

Jesus went to fast and pray, faced temptation ev'ry day.

From God's love he did not stray, may we follow in his way.

Forty days and nights he stayed, forty days and nights he prayed,

All alone, yet unafraid, Jesus in the wilderness.

Gearing Up for Soccer

2010-03-19T20:52:00.007-04:00

Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Spring Soccer practice starts March 23. Hopefully there will be no snow on the ground! I don't know who is more excited, John who played himself for many years, or Maren, since she got new pink and black gear.

Spring Break!

2010-03-01T16:21:00.002-05:00

Spring Break for the GRCC Laboratory Pre-School, that is. Maren has a week at home and lots of time to play with her best friend Maddie as we share child care with her family this week. John had the girls today for lots of fun in the SUN and snow (and we are hoping the sun melts the snow, we are officially sick of winter).

Snow Fort, Part 2

2010-02-18T09:30:00.002-05:00

Not sure what happened to the first video, will try to fix that, but the snow fort has had some structural changes which are visible here:

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:51:00.003-05:00

What to do in snowy Michigan but build a snow fort?

Today the master builder and her Daddy created a masterpiece (and ate lots of snow).

Happy Sunshine Day!

2010-02-08T15:16:00.003-05:00

Cold, cold, cold, but sunny today. We are bracing for a storm that should hit tonight and the next few days.

Here is Maren, teaching John a song she learned at school.

Maren has been busy this afternoon teaching John a song and drawing him on her easel. She just had her four-year old check-up and the pediatrician said if she didn't know any better, she'd swear Maren was a five-year old, due to her size, coordination and verbal abilities.

Ready for Summer

2010-02-03T11:12:00.002-05:00

Maren joins the rest of us in being sick of winter!

Little Mermaid Obsession

2010-01-25T17:05:00.004-05:00

Maren's obsession this winter is the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid." She has been telling her pre-school teachers that the class should perform it as a class play. She, of course, will play Ariel and Maddie will play Flounder, Ariel's best friend. She even said to one of her teachers "We really need to get working on those costumes!"

Her she is (wearing her Ariel costume), trying to memorize every detail of the movie and also performing her own acapella version of some Ariel singing...and then being upset that I wasn't watching the movie with the correct level of interest. There may NOT be an album contract in her future, but that's okay. She's our little Ariel.

First Solo Sled Ride

2010-01-18T23:01:00.003-05:00

From Saturday, January 16...Maren's first solo sled ride on a cheap little sled that we bought her. A typical Michigan January day...gray and cold but we filled it with fun!

Check out that form for luge! Winter Olympics 2022? We love how she acts as though she does it every day.

Maren is 4!

2010-01-05T08:34:00.003-05:00

On the morning of her birthday (December 30), John wished Maren a Happy Birthday. She said "Daddy, I'm not four until I have cake."

We were fortunate to have a friend who makes GREAT cakes, Erinn of Erinn's Edibles, and also that Nana recently sent a set of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang, the show that is Maren's most recent morning obsession.

Punkin insisted on being fancy and wearing a dress from cousin Tacy. We were happy to have friends the Lubbens and the Vos's in addition to Bunny, Grandpa and Uncle Jay Jensen at our house for a small party to blow out the candles.

Someday I will learn how to use our digital camera and maybe not have fuzzy pics on the blog...

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Bars recipe at Kraftfoods.com

2009-12-23T19:23:00.000-05:00

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Bars recipe at Kraftfoods.com

This is the recipe...verdict - tasty but not terrific looking.

Kitchen Adventures

2009-12-22T17:52:00.003-05:00

Well, another season, another kitchen adventure...

It's the Christmas season...time for baking, right? Grandma Bunny, my mom, routinely makes 34 recipes for her annual tea, I must have inherited SOME kind of baking ability, right?

Kraft Foods sends out a free quarterly magazine called Food & Family. Recipes are filled with Kraft products and read as though ANYONE can make them.

Maren LOVES to cook and help in the kitchen. I select a recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookie Bars. There are 7 ingredients, what could go wrong?

We gather our ingredients, including Maren grabbing a gallon of milk out of the fridge and hoisting it onto the counter (from birth, she is freakishly strong). Okay, everything is assembled.

At our work station, Maren notices a small rock she found this summer which has been residing on the counter. "Oh, my silver rock! I'm so glad to see it." My assistant grabs her rock and exits the kitchen. That's okay, gives me some time to find my Pampered Chef chopper to cut up the six squares of Baker's semis-sweet chocolate. Finally, a Pampered Chef purchase pays off!

Maren returns. "Where were you?," I ask. "Well...I took my rock, and I put some tape on it, and I put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy." "You did? What does the tooth fairy do?" "Well, the tooth fairy comes in the night and takes teeth from under children's pillows and leaves money for them to buy toys." "But you still have all of your teeth." "I KNOW Mama."

Moving on...

We attempt to chop up the chocolate. Who are these Baker's Chocolate people? These squares could be used to patch roads in Michigan. They are solid and dense. Maren and I take turns using the chopper (all blades safely contained) and all we are able to produce is chocolate dust. The pieces are as big as ever. ARGH. Finally, a few small chunks break off. This is taking forever...I did out the rarely used mini-Cusinart. We load the chocolate into the Cuisinart and take turns pressing the pulse button. ARGH. Again, we produce some chocolate dust and only a few small chunks. What is the deal? Nestle Chocolate Chips must not be owned by Kraft, we will use those if we ever attempt this again.

We are both sweaty and red-faced...but we press on to mixing and spreading the first layer of bars into the pan. I attempt to keep Typhoid Maren (cold, day 4) from coughing directly into the first layer.

Ring, ring - my cell phone. The IT guy from my new job, calling to help me walk through removing my firewall settings.

Now onto the next layer. Wow, it's hard to spread peanut butter on top of unbaked mix and peanuts and chips, don't the Kraft test kitchens well, TEST?...wait, what's that? ACK. We were supposed to bake the first layer for ten minutes and THEN spread the peanut butter...oh no...well, we will press on...We (me, at this point, Maren's attention has dissipated) do our best to spread the second layer of cake mix. Hmmm...very messy looking...sort of resembles the picture.

It all goes into the oven. Maren says "Okay, Mom. When the peanut butter bars are done, call me. You can say 'Maren' or 'Punkin'' or 'Angel' but call me, okay?" "Okay, Punkin."

Total baking time on recipe - 10 minutes for first layer, 15 minutes for completed layers. I put it in for 25 minutes and cross my fingers.

At 20 minutes I check it, VERY mushy. Geez. I put it in another 10. STILL mushy. Huh. The recipe says cool 1 hour and then refrigerate 4 hours before cutting into bars. Maybe they are supposed to be this mushy. Current status - cooling on stove, 15 minutes. Final status and taste - TBD.

SANTA

2009-12-15T09:08:00.001-05:00

Although she was shy, Maren did manage to tell Santa at the pre-school holiday breakfast, that she wants a pink DVD player for Christmas "because I have a black and white one for my car, but pink is my favorite color." She was uncharacteristically shy, but mission accomplished.

More Halloween

2009-11-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

All pictures courtesy of Maddie's Mom, Julie.

Snow White Lives!

2009-11-05T11:02:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween! We had a fun dinner and Trick or Treating with Maren's best friend Maddie, and her parents, Tom and Julie. It was a chilly Michigan Halloween, but the girls did just the right amount, about 30 minutes, before calling it quits. Maddie was a reindeer, and dressed more warmly than Snow White.

Maren said "The best part of Halloween is the candy!" and offered critiques of costumes to the kids who came to our house. "I like your costume," was usually to girls dressed as princesses or fairies. "I DON'T like your costume," to boys or any one who was dressed "scary."

We are not making this up...

2009-10-21T12:40:00.003-04:00

A few classics from Maren in the past few months...we found them howlingly funny, will try to do them justice...

"Daddy, you are trash!" - yelled at John after he said that TinkerBell was stupid. How dare he insult Tink?

"Mama, why are you so, so GARBAGE to me?" - yelled at me after I tried to get her to stop playing in the hotel curtains and put on her pajamas (for the 18th time).

"Uncle Jay, JUST DO IT!" - to Uncle Jay after he said (loudly) to Grandma Bunny "Mom, stop ordering me around."

And...a few that were not said in the heat of anger (thankfully) -

"Give me a high five for that, brother," said to John after she pooped (sorry it is a big topic for us).

"Hey, let's focus on the reading," said to John after he digressed from the text of a Richard Scarry book he was reading to her.

Ohhh...scary...

2009-10-20T13:28:00.002-04:00

Not really, but Maren and John had a blast decorating our house for Halloween. She helped every step of the way.

Fall Fest!

2009-10-20T13:23:00.002-04:00

We had some good fall fun this weekend, driving up to Klackle Orchards (http://www.klackleorchards.com/) about 45 minutes north of Grand Rapids.

At first, the crowds and enormous parking lot made John feel like we were pulling into an OSU game. But once we were done waiting in line to enter (20 minutes, to get into a farm?), we all had a great time. Maren loved the pony ride and picking her own apple the best of all.

Sweat Pants in Public

2009-10-06T12:53:00.002-04:00

For the past eleven days or so, I've been trying to think about how best to communicate really sad news, in an age of communication and TMI. Phone calls were too taxing, I start to cry when I talk about it. Emails are okay...but a "blast" email seemed inappropriate. I didn't want to include the news in a Christmas letter...posting in a little box on Facebook also seemed odd, but what to do? So, although the blog for two years has been our "happy place", today it is a sad place.

We found out about six weeks ago that the baby I was carrying had multiple birth defects and would likely not live to a full-term delivery. At an appointment on September 24, we discovered that the baby showed no signs of life and on Friday, September 25 I had a d&c procedure.

Telling Maren, who had been thrilled beyond words about being a big sister, has been one of the hardest things. But as Grandpa Jensen wisely said, the baby (a girl) is healed now that she is in heaven. We had a nice long cry together and she understood immediately when we said the baby was in heaven, saying "Now the baby won't come in the winter." And, after we assured her that she still had so many jobs, daughter, friend, cousin, niece, granddaughter...she asked for a snack and a drink (she is 3 1/2 after all. She has said something daily to show her soft heart, including telling me she is angry there is no one in my tummy).

We have been blessed with cards, emails, calls, meals and so many people praying for our healing, it's a bit overwhelming.

Which leads me to the sweat pants. As I was 18 weeks along, I had gained 20-25 pounds (who's counting at this point?)...and none of my clothes currently fit. I can't bear to wear my maternity clothes any more. And, next Monday (after having two weeks off to rest and try to recover) I need to return to work. What to do? What to wear?

For the past eleven days or so, I have been wearing sweat pants in public. That's all I've got that fits. Each day I think about the old "Seinfeld" episode where George, unemployed, wears sweat pants and Jerry says "If you're wearing sweat pants in public, you're telling the world you've given up."

At a follow-up appointment with my doctor yesterday, I wore my DeVos for Governor sweatshirt from 2006, no make-up, and my glasses and due to a surge in hormones, I couldn't stop crying. She offered to put me on an anti-depressant. I told John and he said "Well, Honey, you look a little bit homeless, no wonder she offered that."

Today, I hit rock bottom in the sweats department. Everything that looks remotely like "work out" clothes circa this decade is dirty, leaving me only one option, my sorority sweats that are from about 1988 or 1989. Why, you may be asking yourself, do I still own 20-year old plus sweats? My answer is that you were not blessed with the pack rat gene. Why WOULDN'T I own 21-year old sweats? Just because there are a couple of holes in the pants that could be delicately described as being on the "inner thigh"? It did make me think, as I cruised the aisles at Target this morning, looking for clothes that would fit my present size and not bankrupt me, that we were supposed to look our best when wearing our "letters", to put the best face forward for the sorority. Thankfully as I was not on a college campus, this thought was fleeting, but replaced by "I'm not sure I'm putting a good face forward as a human, much less a sorority girl (lady?)."

Our loss has been excruciating at every conceivable level, but we know how blessed we are to have one child when so many couples are unable to have or adopt a baby of their own. We remain focused on each other and on Maren and are moving forward, one day at a time.

As Winston Churchill wisely said "If you're going through hell, keep going."

Thanks from the Greggs for all of the love and support, from those near and far.

The Blockade

2009-08-26T09:22:00.002-04:00

Maren Gregg continues her life of leisure this week with a few days in Farmington Hills at Bunny and Grandpa's house (school is closed this week).

Yesterday, she and Bunny made cupcakes, one of her favorite things to make and eat. At the pool in the afternoon, they visited with friend of Bunny's named Sue. Sue said to Maren, "I'll come over and have one (cupcake) with my coffee and you, Maren." Maren said "We're locking the door! "

Last night she said "If Sue comes over Grandma you put your back against the front door, Grandpa, you take the garage door and Uncle Jay take the sun room."

Maren is planning a blockade to save the cupcakes! Maren Gregg for Homeland Security Chief!

Tiny Dancer

2009-08-21T10:27:00.004-04:00

Maren - making the most of Nana and Ampa's living room and the dining room at Panera Bread.

Cousins

2009-08-21T10:25:00.004-04:00

The gals, having a great time this week goofing around and playing.

Palmetto Bluff and the May River

2009-08-21T10:20:00.002-04:00

Yesterday they took a field trip off the island to a beautiful historic development called Palmetto Bluff. Only a portion of it is open to the public. Maren explored the ruins, but was disappointed that she couldn't climb on them. She also liked getting close to a (stuffed) fox as there are wild foxes all over the area.

Pool and Other Adventures

2009-08-21T10:17:00.004-04:00

It's been so hot that they have been going to the pool after dinner, when it's still in the high 80's.

They've also been to the playground by the famous Harbour Town Lighthouse.

Beauty Parlor

2009-08-21T10:16:00.005-04:00

Nana and Ampa gave Maren the wonderful present of a Disney Beauty Kit. She got right to work fixing John's hair.

Maren (and John's) Excellent Adventure

2009-08-21T10:09:00.002-04:00

Maren and John have been on a fabulous vacation to steamy Hilton Head this week - without Mommy! That's okay, they needed some lovin' from Nana, Ampa, Aunt Jodi and Allison (who started Third Grade this week!) and Mommy needs to save her vacation for Christmastime.

They arrived on Sunday and got busy, with Maren having Ampa play sponge paddle tennis and Nana reading her "Beauty and the Beast." I gave fair warning that she might be doing this a lot, as of Wednesday, it had been read a minimum of 16 times, with Maren pointing out any words that Nana forgot.

The Pool! The Pool!

2009-08-03T11:28:00.006-04:00

Last week Maren and John had fun at the pool a couple of times, due to John having some time off during the week (since he's had to work quite a bit on the weekends).

Two rounds of swimming lessons have really paid off. She is holding her breath, putting her head under and swimming farther and farther with not assistance. And loves "diving" for rings in the shallow section.

I think between the swimming and the strawberry smoothies at the snack bar, Maren would LIVE at the pool (we would, too).

The Sweeper

2009-08-03T11:26:00.002-04:00

Maren has a bit of a cold...a cough that had us all up from 4:00-5:30 this morning, poor baby. We've had such a good run of good health! So, she and Daddy are cleaning up around the house a bit today.

Here she is, wearing her "sweeping glasses."

Stay Home Day with Daddy

2009-07-21T15:28:00.001-04:00

John had the day off today, since he worked the weekend, and Maren got a bonus "stay home day" to play with Daddy.

She slept until 10 AM (!!!) and then enjoyed a gourmet breakfast of scrambled eggs, blueberries and toast.

Her leisure activities have included playing in the sprinkler and making "dirt juice."

Quotes of the Day

2009-07-13T14:24:00.002-04:00

Oh, Maren Gregg. Not a morning person, just like her parents. Although last night she very specifically chose a pink rubberband for a "part pony" to do her hair for school, she was grumpy this morning.

When I attempted to brush her hair she yelled "Mama, I have crazy hair and I want to keep it this way!"

She calmed down a bit later and after kissing John good-bye in the school parking lot, said, "I have kisses in my tummy," and skipped into the building.

Farewell to the Blow-up Pool

2009-07-07T13:40:00.004-04:00

Yesterday for the first time this summer, John put out the blow-up pool for Maren to play with in the yard. We have been spoiled going to the pool where she has her lessons. After four summers, she still loves it and has a great deal more confidence in the water.

Unfortunately...it has a permanent sag on one side and John decided it had seen its last day. Farewell to our little "ghetto country club" pool that we have enjoyed using. We may have to get another one just for fun.

Here is a little video of her playing.

Quote of the Day

2009-07-01T11:14:00.003-04:00

John and Maren were playing one of their favorite games last night, "What color is...?" (What color are your eyes? What color is your bed? What color is our car? etc.)

John asked her "What color is water?" Maren thought a minute and answered "It's clear." John said "How did you know that?" Maren "My brain, Daddy."

Swimming Lessons - Day 2

2009-06-17T15:42:00.003-04:00

I won't add pics every day from Maren's swimming lessons, but when the subject is so cute...it's hard not to.

Day 2 - and still loving lessons! "My goggles work! No water in my eyes!," she yelled across the pool.

Note the "boat" she is on with another little girl. I mistakenly called it a "float" and she corrected me. "No, Mama, it's called a boat."

Swimming Lessons!

2009-06-16T14:55:00.004-04:00

Maren started the "Mini Minnows" class yesterday at MVP Sportsplex. She loves it and her teacher, Miss Joan, who is a grandmotherly type. There are five little girls in the class.

Here are a couple of camera phone pics... one featuring her new obsession, her goggles, which she had to bring to school this morning to show her teachers and friends.

Adventure Girl

2009-06-01T12:52:00.002-04:00

"Don't help me, Daddy, I'll do it myself!," as she climbed into the Magnolia tree, yet again...sigh...why couldn't she just love tea parties and things that are on the ground? Oh, wait, she loves those, too...and all kinds of adventure.

Pool!

2009-06-01T12:50:00.001-04:00

From last weekend (a little chilly this weekend, although we did go to the indoor pool one day).

Note the "buckets" in the upper left...Maren was initially very scared of them (they periodically dump water on the swimmers below) but after she sat under a dumping with John and Uncle Jay she said "I'm not scared if I sit with a grown up!"

"Isn't the world beautiful?"

2009-05-27T15:23:00.003-04:00

So said Maren Gregg on Saturday as we were playing in the pool at our new/old gym (we were last members when she was an infant), MVP Sportsplex.

(http://www.mvpsportsplex.com/mvpsportsplex/)

We had a great Memorial Day weekend with Uncle Jay, who came up for the whole weekend. Jay and John kayaked the Rogue River, in Rockford, on Saturday and the Muskegon River in Newaygo on Sunday. Maren said "We are the mixed up Greggs. Two of us are at the pool and a Gregg and a Jensen are kayaking."

We had a great time in the indoor pool on Saturday (a little chilly for Mama) and the outdoor pool on Sunday and Monday. As John said "Who thought we'd ever be in a pool in May in Michigan?"

Vintage Clothing

2009-05-27T15:15:00.002-04:00

Really, I shouldn't even be posting these, they are so blurry...but trying to show Maren wearing a size 5 dress of mine (circa 1975) that Grandma Bunny saved. I was thinking first day of Kindergarten for this outfit...but she found it in a box under my bed and wanted to immediately wear it for school one day week before last. If she wears it again...I'll try to take a better picture of it.

Also...since she is always moving, hard to capture her in a non-blurry picture.

Olivia at the Library

2009-05-15T19:19:00.003-04:00

One of Maren's favorite books is called Olivia, about a precocious pig. http://www.amazon.com/Olivia-Ian-Falconer/dp/0689829531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242429606&sr=1-1

This past week was Children's Book Week at all of the GR libraries and the branch near our house had a special Olivia night. The librarian read the book and the children took turns trying on clothes from Olivia's trunk and also doing a craft that showed their uniqueness (a star with various decorations).

Here is Maren with her best friend Maddie, who joined us at the library.

Champion!

2009-05-15T19:16:00.003-04:00

For the second year in a row, John's team (today a threesome) won the MaryFreebed Employee Golf Outing. Yeah, Daddy! They beat two other teams by one stroke. 16 teams played and they had a good time at a course called The Pines, just south of Grand Rapids. Maren is holding the back massager door prize.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

2009-04-27T11:32:00.003-04:00

That is the word of the weekend, since the weather forecasters were wrong, wrong, wrong and it rained, rained, rained all weekend. Maren was enchanted by Mary Poppins and there was quite a bit of dancing to burn off energy during the weekend.

She also built the "Hilton Head Zoo" as she was calling it. We will dig through our Hilton Head pics and post them soon...why rush?

Goofy Glasses

2009-04-07T14:50:00.001-04:00

Maren and I went to KZOO to visit Grammie and Aunt Nan on Saturday while John worked. They are doing...as well as possible given their generally poor health. Maren found these glasses in the apartment and got a huge kick out of them.

Running Girl

2009-04-07T14:49:00.003-04:00

John snapped this picture last week, before our little freeze up (no snow this time, only cold temps). Maren loves a good race.

Worn Out!

2009-03-30T14:42:00.003-04:00

Big girl was up late last night (after 10 before she finally fell asleep - yuck) after attending a friend's birthday party. Lesson learned - no chocolate cake for Maren at 7:00 at night. She passed out on the couch after John picked her up from school.

Are we the whitest people in America?

2009-03-30T14:38:00.002-04:00

We spent quite a bit of time dancing to John Denver's Greatest Hits CD at the Gregg House this weekend. Maren's particular favorites are "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" (known in our house as "Cakes on the Griddle") and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" which causes us to yell 'West Virginia' with gusto, in honor of Grandma Bunny.

The Gregg's - on the cutting edge of music and entertainment.

Egg Dress

2009-03-30T14:35:00.002-04:00

A slow weekend in Grand Rapids...middling weather, but no disasters, unlike other parts of the country.

Maren, like all of us, is ready for warm weather and has been modeling the warm weather clothes I am starting to pull out for our trip to Hilton Head in less than two weeks (yeahhhhh). Here is her own creation that she calls "the egg dress." She found egg garlands that Grandma Bunny brought last year and has been "wearing" them for two days. She also informed us she wanted to be "an egg dress for Halloween."

A Song by Maren

2009-03-28T21:06:00.003-04:00

Created tonight, on the spot, after being denied a request...

"There was a girl named Maren, who wanted a donut hole
Jana, her mama, said no wait for breakfast
Sooooo, Maren had some bread and butterrrrrr!"

Mix & Match Day

2009-03-25T09:42:00.004-04:00

It's Spring Fling week in the Bunny Room. Monday was "yellow" day. Tuesday was "take your favorite snack" ("Grover" and "Big Bird" flavor snack bars for Maren) and today is "mix and match your clothes" day. She has been soooo excited for this one, as she loves choosing her clothes every day. Tomorrow is "Pajama and Movie" day and Friday is "Bring your favorite book" day. How will we choose??

Silly Faces

2009-03-23T13:26:00.003-04:00

John took this, after picking Maren up from school. We will post a close-up of her face. It is MUCH healed and amazing how fast kids do heal.

Incident at the Playground

2009-03-18T11:45:00.003-04:00

Oh no!!! Good thing we took a cute picture yesterday morning. Maren took a big spill at the school playground before lunch yesterday. Poor baby!! John was home with a cold and picked her up not long after it happened and comforted her. Unfortunately, we didn't feel that the teacher that contacted us about the situation handled it very well. It's the first time in more than two years when we were both upset about something at school. I've met with the lead teacher and expressed our concerns. Hopefully nothing like this will happen to Maren, or any of her little friends again. And if it does, it will be handled better by the staff.

As always, Maren is one tough cookie and after with lots of rest and loving from mom and dad, she is better this morning.

Happy Birthday, Nana (and Happy St. Pat's)!

2009-03-17T11:11:00.002-04:00

Here are my two lucky charms, saying Happy Birthday to Nana this morning before school. Maren is wearing shamrock and green ribbons in her hair.

It is going to be a gloriously warm day here in Grand Rapids. Hallelujah!

Healing

2009-03-16T16:20:00.002-04:00

Although she has taken to lifting up her dress and dropping her pants to show everyone (teachers, friends, neighbors) her injury, her knee is nearly healed.

Gymnast!

2009-03-16T16:19:00.001-04:00

Maren was very proud of her "award" (certificate of participation) from Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation this weekend. She is a pro at somersaults and walked forward and backward on the balance beam with no help. Yeah!

Healing Slowly

2009-03-12T11:26:00.004-04:00

The knee...day four...this picture was taken on Tuesday evening, a little more than 24 hours after the incident. While Maren was genuinely hurting (and may still be a little sore) "my owie knee" has become an excellent excuse for "I can't walk up the stairs," and "I need my paci, I have an owie." And, it's very hard to take a bath when you don't think you can get your knee wet...but we worked past that. The drama, the drama!

Injured Reserve

2009-03-10T13:19:00.002-04:00

A big owie for Maren yesterday on the school playground. Probably the worst scrape her little knees have ever had, John called it "road rash." She was running and fell on the cement going or coming from the school playground. Shockingly, there was only a snag, no tear, in her Lands' End tights, with a good washing they can be worn again. I'm not sure why they didn't suit up into snowpants and boots one more day, based on the temperature and wetness of the day, but...

Here is our pathetic girl, she now walks like she has a peg leg. John did a good job of giving her some Tylenol in the afternoon and some good loving, and fresh band aids last night. We told her "no running at school." It's no broken arm, but traumatic nonetheless.

BIG GIRL BED

2009-03-09T09:39:00.001-04:00

John converted Maren's crib to a toddler bed on Saturday. Here she is practicing on Saturday afternoon. We've had a little bit of parading up and down the stairs as she explores her freedom and what it means to STAY IN BED. But, Sunday night was much improved over Saturday night and we hope tonight will be even better. She has also shown up in our bedroom at 5:30 the last two morning saying "I need to snuggle." How can we turn that down?

Toes!

2009-03-09T09:38:00.001-04:00

Yuck, what a gray and rainy weekend. On the plus side, most of the snow has finally washed away.

Here are Maren's toes, which brightened up our weekend. As always, she was naked or in a bathing suit or dressed up in a tutu for much of the time.

Oh, Bummer!

2009-03-05T09:27:00.003-05:00

Our niece Allison broke her arm! A freak accident and four weeks in a cast. Poor Alli! Maren has been very sad about it, crying a few times, and now tells us she has a broken leg. She also keeps asking if we should take band aids to Alli when we go see her in April. We are praying she heals fast.

Spring Break - Of Sorts

2009-03-05T09:22:00.003-05:00

Maren's school is closed this week, as it's Grand Rapids Community College's Spring Break week.

Yes, as always, Maren prefers to be undressed versus dressed.

Fortunately, we have paired up with another family and Maren and her pal Maddie are having a fun-filled week.

John took care of both girls on Monday. They had a blast, and from the looks of the house when I got home, every single toy we own had been used. Tuesday and Wednesday, Maddie's parents watched the girls and Thursday and Friday, Bunny, Grandpa and Uncle Jay are in Grand Rapids using their best entertaining skills.

Disney On Ice

2009-03-05T09:17:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, we had the fun of taking Maren to her first live show of any kind. Disney on Ice - 100 Years of Disney Magic (http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/) was touring through Grand Rapids and we were able to get good seats through work. And, opening night was half-off, a bonus in this economy.

We joined some good friends for pizza before the show and walked a short block to the Van Andel Arena. Maren loved...parts of it. It was extremely loud and I didn't think any scary parts needed to be included in a show aimed at kids. She was not a huge fan of the sharks chasing Nemo!

But, in the end she asked "When can we go again?," always the sign of a good experience.

Here she is, enraptured by Mickey and the gang.

Ahhh...quiet

2009-02-23T10:47:00.002-05:00

We inherited working appliances when we bought our house...working, but not the most modern. Our dishwasher was made by a company called Magic Chef...does that company even exist anymore? Our estimate was that it was at least 20 years old. The cycle sounded like a jet engine and ran for over an hour. Surely, there had to be a more energy efficient and QUIET dishwasher out there?

Ta-da - this was the real highlight of our weekend, forget the snow. The crew from Home Depot installed it on Saturday, in the middle of the weather mayhem.

John and I could have an actual conversation in the kitchen last night when it was running. Domestic bliss!

Stormy Weather

2009-02-23T10:45:00.002-05:00

We think the storm dumped another 5-6 inches on the area...we are at 104.5 inches for the season. Last winter it was 107" total...so our guess is that we will pass that sometime in March...if this winter ever ends...

Here's a cool pic that John took of the storm and some recent artwork of Maren's. We are hopeful for spring!

Weather Girl

2009-02-16T09:16:00.004-05:00

Maren was inspired by the sun on Sunday and wore a bathing suit all day. I drove down to Kzoo to check on my Aunt Nan and Grammie (health status - not good) and she put her snow boots on to wave good-bye to me on the front porch (temp - 32 degrees). For good measure, she made a snow ball for John (who took this picture).

The Hill Climbers

2009-02-13T13:40:00.002-05:00

Maren and John burned off the winter blahs with a climb to the top of a big hill while we were at Meijer Gardens. The cell is not great at zooming, but... you get the idea. My little mountain climbers :).

Meijer Gardens Adventure

2009-02-13T13:34:00.004-05:00

We did our best to soak up the sun in Grand Rapids last weekend at Meijer Gardens, both in the Children's Garden and the Greenhouse.

Hilton Head!

2009-02-13T13:25:00.005-05:00

We had such a good time in Hilton Head on our delayed Christmas vacation. Jensens were down there as well for the week, so we (Maren) were able to take advantage of the indoor pool at Surf Watch and lots of attention from four grandparents, aunt and cousin Allison.

John is proud of Maren's first cannonball, right into Grandpa Jensen's arms.

Maren loved the pool, playing with Alli, using Alli's old scooter (we were impressed with her coordination) and she celebrated Christmas and birthday (again!) with Aunt Jodi and Alli and Mr. Potato Head, a classic we are all excited to play again.

Heat Wave!

2009-02-11T11:35:00.002-05:00

Record high of 61 yesterday, Maren wanted to get out her pool. She settled for a quick jaunt with Daddy up and down our street on her Big Wheel. It should be noted she thanks God for her Big Wheel in her prayers more regularly than she thanks God for her parents. Hmmm....

Going to Work

2009-02-09T11:46:00.003-05:00

We had our first temps in the 40s in AGES this weekend. Some pics from Meijer Gardens will be up soon.

Here is a picture of Maren, who dressed up and told us she was going to work...tutu, Mary Janes, backpack (a new key accessory).

Garbage!

2009-02-06T13:59:00.003-05:00

"Garbage!," Maren yelled from the back seat. "Mommy, who says garbage?"
"I do, so that I don't say bad words," said I.
"Oh, like stupid and dammit?," said Maren.
"Yes, Punkin, like those words."
So, we are only having moderate success with banning bad words from our house.

Quote of the Day

2009-01-22T15:15:00.002-05:00

Maren "How old are you, Mommy?"
Jana "38."
Maren "Whoa, that's a big number."
Jana "Thanks, Punkin."

Snowy Day

2009-01-19T15:05:00.003-05:00

Here is Maren saying "Snow is just like sand. Can we take some snow to Hilton Head?"

And here she is (41.5 inches tall) standing in front of the wall of snow on our easement to the street.

88.8 inches of snow for the season

2009-01-19T13:17:00.005-05:00

30 year average is 72 inches...

Countdown to Hilton Head

2009-01-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

Six days! Maren is ready.

Two Christmases! Two Birthdays!

2009-01-12T10:19:00.003-05:00

We tell Maren regularly that she is a lucky girl.

She is one spoiled Punkin, by both sets of grandparents and many others.

Since our Christmas trip to Hilton Head was postponed at the last minute, Nana and Ampa sent her presents up and she had a second Christmas and Birthday. She has loved all of her presents from everyone this year...and a good thing, too, since we are trapped in our house.

Snow Total for the Season 79.4 inches

2009-01-12T10:15:00.002-05:00

And more on the way this week, including an Arctic blast of cold, with highs...who knows? How can you call it a high of 10?

As it was a balmy 27, we did play outside yesterday for a bit. Here is Maren shoveling along the trail that John made for her in the back yard, along with a view from our front door of our street.

New Year's Eve

2009-01-12T10:13:00.002-05:00

Living it up for us is a being home by 10:00 PM...which is late for the Princess to go to bed. We had a good time having dinner with our friends the Lubbens, who have boys Braden (6 1/2) and Evan (4) who Maren always enjoys.

She also LOVED the noisemaker...which didn't surivive the ride home in the car.

Happy New Year!

CAKE

2009-01-12T10:09:00.002-05:00

What else is there in life? Maren is quite serious about cake...it's a driving force when you are three. And she is quite serious about her triangle (shown here) and just okay on her new big girl chair from Mom and Dad.

Maren is 3!!!!

2009-01-12T10:06:00.002-05:00

Wow - where does the time go? It does seem like just yesterday we brought her home and John said "I'm not sure what I'm more excited about, bringing Maren home or Ohio State playing Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl."

But seriously...Maren had a wonderful day with Bunny, Grandpa and Uncle Jay, as both Mom and Dad had to work on her birthday. She had a field trip to Meijer Gardens and lunch at McDonald's and lots of play time.

A Friend for Maren

2009-01-05T16:23:00.004-05:00

Whew! A busy ten days since Christmas. We will post some third birthday pictures...sometime before her next birthday.

Here are a few fun pics taken by John today. The pre-school is closed until this Thursday (and has been for two weeks). It's taken some juggling, but Maren was at her friend Maddie's house on Friday and Maddie is at our house today. They play very well together for two little ladies.

We asked Maren to keep her clothes on all day today. As you can see, she has made it into three outfits, including partially undressed with dress-up skirt.

I think they will be exhausted (and Daddy, too).

Go Bucks tonight!

Christmas Sledding

2008-12-25T19:58:00.003-05:00

As we did for so many snowy Christmases in Kalamazoo with the van Blaricom cousins (on Jana's side), we took Maren sledding briefly today. In fact, it's the same toboggan from about 30 years ago that we would take flying over logs in the side yard trying to go "for the record" in distance. Grandpa and Uncle Jay ventured out first. Mommy went second and ended up in some branches in the marsh (never have been good at steering) and Maren and Mommy and Daddy had one successful trip before Maren declared "all done."

S is for Snow

2008-12-21T14:26:00.002-05:00

I just checked our weatherman's blog...Grand Rapids has had 32 inches of snow in the month of December! It is bitter cold today and John has had to work this weekend -he got stuck in the driveway yesterday trying to leave and I wasn't sure he would make it out this morning, but he did. We had 10 inches of snow on Friday and not sure how much Saturday night to this afternoon.

Thankfully, our neighbor is now retired and he has been snow blowing our shared driveway. Of course...we still need to be able to get in and out of our doors (see screen door pic - there is a step threre somewhere) and have clear side walks. Still, it's been helpful in lousy conditions.

Here are a few pics of our shovelers. Maren prefers to shovel in reverse, taking snow off of the "grass" area and putting it back on the sidewalk.

T is for Tea

2008-12-16T14:37:00.003-05:00

Last Friday was Grandma Bunny's annual tea party. We were so busy refilling plates and washing cups and trying to keep Maren from eating her weight in cookies that we took no good pictures. The horror! 114 ladies in Talbots Christmas sweaters is a visual that needs to be captured. Here is one bad image from my cell phone - the only clear thing is Bunny's head just over Maren's, shown with one of her 8 or so cookies. At one point I said to her "No more cookies!" and she said "I'm not eating cookies, I'm eating mints!!," which she was.

We were tickled to have Cousin Luke visiting from Florida, who was traveling for his University of Central Florida admissions job. We put him to work frosting cookies, taking coats and washing dishes. At one point I said "Luke, you're sweating." He said "How could I not be? Nothing you have told me about this in 25 years has prepared me for it."

Maren's other quote of the weekend was "I want to have shiny hair like Cousin Luke." Made us laugh and she also asked all of us if we would like to have shiny hair, too.

Bouncing and Jumping

2008-12-16T14:30:00.002-05:00

This fits for this year...these pictures are from a month ago. They were taken by our friend Brenda Hondorp, a talented photographer who is able to capture a quickly moving toddler. We attended an open gym night at a gymnastics/trampoline facility a little south of Grand Rapids. Maren was able to burn off a bit of energy on a cold November night. We all enjoyed it and plan to spend more time there burning off steam this winter.

A Brain Freeze

2008-12-10T12:48:00.002-05:00

Our brains our starting to freeze. We already have ten inches of snow on the ground, then had freezing rain yesterday and more snow.

On Saturday we had a mini-blizzard. It made my brain freeze. So much so that, it made complete sense to drive to Walgreen's to grab a few essentials, instead of the grocery store across the street.

It seemed completely logical to buy Maren a toothbrush that plays Jingle Bells for two solid minutes...and has no off switch...and the singers only sing one verse of the song...for two minutes...to encourage children to brush for that long...and there is no off switch...and she wants to play with it ALL THE TIME.

On the plus side, her teeth glisten. Her mother's brain, however, is still frozen.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-02T14:52:00.001-05:00

Quote of the day, from this morning… “This song is not for mamas to sing, only little girls,” said Maren Gregg in response to my singing along with one of her kid CDs in the car.

Many opinions

2008-12-02T10:04:00.002-05:00

Maren has many opinions (shocking, I know). Last night I stopped at the library to pick up a few books for myself and grabbed a Santa Sing-a-Long DVD for her, thinking it would be a fun diversion from the sickness.

I showed it to her saying "Look, Punkin, Santa has a show!" She screamed and opened the case to see not one, but TWO DVDs. Oh joy! Then...she looked at the front again. "I don't want to watch it. I don't like Santa." "Why not?," I asked. "He wears gloves. I don't like gloves." And with that, the DVD was tossed aside.

Our Sweet Punkin' Pie

2008-12-02T09:59:00.002-05:00

her three week cold (not croup) has turned into a sinus infection and version of pink eye...will this kid get a break? Will her parents? Thankfully, John had Monday off and she stayed home with him and got dosed witn antibiotics and eye drops. John taught her to say "get 'r done" about the eye drop application.

On the plus side, I think she slept through the night for the first time in three weeks last night.

Here they are, reading one of our Christmas books...which we are already tired of reading after two days. We will have to add some more books for the rotation.

Lights!

2008-12-01T11:43:00.002-05:00

John worked FAST on Saturday, the lasty 40 degree day we will see for awhile, to transform our front yard. On Sunday it snowed three inches and more coming today.

We are thankful...

2008-12-01T10:54:00.002-05:00

For so many things! Here are a few quick pics from our Thanksgiving in Farmington Hills, celebrated with cousin Annie and her son Danny, Bunny, Grandpa, Uncle Jay, and the three of us. I will have to raid John's cell for more pictures.

Rolls!

2008-11-26T09:45:00.003-05:00

Grandma Bunny makes amazing homemade rolls for Thanksgiving and all major holidays. Maren has been "helping" Bunny and Grandpa get ready for the holiday since last Saturday, when John and I drove to Columbus for the Ohio State-Meeechigan game (Go Bucks!). We will drive to FH tonight after work, and looking forward to eating a lot of good food and seeing our special girl, who we have been missing.

Here she is, learning the tricks to making good rolls, something her mother has never done.

Halloween Leftovers

2008-11-13T13:00:00.002-05:00

Green frosting face from our attempt at cupcakes and Pumpkinhead using her trick or treat basket.

Making the Best of a Sick Day

2008-11-11T12:24:00.002-05:00

We gave Maren one of her Christmas presents early, on Friday night, for two reasons. 1) We are both suckers and 2) we knew we'd be trapped inside all weekend with bad weather and needed a new diversion.

Here is frog tent, an extremely big hit, and Maren and John busy in the tent today.

The Third Thing is Croup

2008-11-11T09:39:00.002-05:00

Dammit.

Our poor girl has the bark like a seal cough. John is taking a sick day to keep her out of school. No fever today. She made up a song while she was "helping" me in the bathroom this morning. "I don't want a stay home day, I want to go to schoooool. I don't want a stay home daaaaaaay." Poor baby. Hopefully it will only last 3-4 days...like it says in the books, right? Sigh.

Quote of the Day

2008-11-10T16:53:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Maren, of course...

Climbing into the car before school this morning:

"Mama, when are you going to clean your car? It is DIRTY."

What is our third thing?

2008-11-10T14:18:00.004-05:00

Bad things happen in threes, right?

On Thursday night, for the second time in six months, a clog in one of our outgoing water lines backed up and caused dirty water and disposal sludge to spew from the basement wet bar, all over the new carpet in the basement (replaced after two explosive incidents in April). Fortunately, John was in the basement watching the news and heard it happen. After 90 minutes of work with the wet-vac, he got up most of the gunk. The plumber came on Friday morning and did some heavy labor. The clog has nothing to do with our dishwasher or disposal, just small, 60 year old pipes that can't handle modern usage, we guess. So, we rented a fan, peeled back the new carpet and John cut out the pad, which we weren't able to dry.

This morning, on his way to return the rental fan. He was greeted with this:

I have a sense of doom...although MAYBE Maren having strep three weeks ago was our first bad thing and these are the last two, so we are okay for awhile? I know, my mind is a crazy and mysterious place.

Leaves

2008-11-07T14:48:00.001-05:00

Maren was a big help to Daddy during our bizarre warm weather, a record-setting week of highs in GR and probably many other places.

Halloween!

2008-11-07T14:46:00.002-05:00

Better late than never...our little froggy got scared by a neighbor handing out candy dressed as Dracula and big kids wearing masks...but still greatly enjoyed the candy.

Boo!

2008-10-23T10:19:00.001-04:00

My Work Here is Done

2008-10-22T10:13:00.002-04:00

John, enjoying the Buckeye victory outside of Spartan Stadium. Check the upper lefthand corner of the picture - a scarlet visitor's section. By this point in the game, the Sparties were leaving in droves.