New Pics of Cole

Whoa! Two posts in one day....

We wanted to share some new pictures of Cole:

Yes he is flipping the bird. You will also notice he is in his car seat. It's amazing how much they pick up just by watching daddy drive!

March=Spring=Ball Field

Well it is that time of year again: The flowers are starting to bloom, the allergies are acting up, we got snow in Georgia.....all of this points to Spring time in the south. And with Spring comes softball & baseball.


Hailey is playing on a fast pitch travel softball team out of Sandy Plains. She'll play in tournaments all over the metro Atlanta area from now until July. She has played softball since she was 6, and still loves it. (mommy and daddy hope she can get a scholarship to college but that's beside the point)




Nathan started ball as well. He is on the Cubs, which I'm sure will make his uncle Patrick very happy. I'm just glad he's not on the Mets...




Between the two of them, we will be at the ball field 5-6 days a week. The weekends get particularly tricky because they often play/practice at the same time in different places. It is doable now by Jacey taking one and me taking the other, but I'm not sure what we will do when Connor starts playing and we have to be in three different places at the same time.


Even though the schedule can get crazy, we love it. We get out of the house and off our rears to spend time together as a family. Over the years we have invested in foldable chairs, foldable tents, coolers, water bottles, battery powered fans and a lot of sunscreen. It can be a lot of work, but we wouldn't change it for the world.

Spider-Man!

EDIT: A few new pictures:

Our little Connor loves to dress up in costumes and pretend he is a superhero. We never thought much of it until we had a hard time finding a recent picture of him without a costume on! It seems like every event in which we had a camera Connor was nowhere to be found, only Spider-Man.....

His birthday:

The older kid's first day of school:

Halloween:

Christmas:

As you can probably tell from the Christmas photo the costume has seen better days. The clasps are all broken and it is only held on by a single safety pin. Luckily Santa brought Batman, Blue Power Ranger and Hulk costumes. The only problem is he now tries to wear 2 or 3 at a time!!!

Santa brought us Cole for Christmas; what did you get?

Well, actually we got Cole for Thanksgiving but that doesn't have the same ring to it. We are a month late posting this, but things have been crazy. Cole Wilson Verhoef was born November 26th. He weighed 8lbs, 5oz and was 20 inches long. He has a head full of thick brown hair and we are not sure where it came from! He is doing great, although not sleeping very much. It is tough adjusting to no sleep again but this too shall pass. He is growing so fast and is already wearing 3-6 month clothes! Hailey and Nathan want to hold him all the time, Connor not so much. Every now and then Connor will touch Cole, but that is about the extent of his interaction with him. We know he will warm up to him eventually, but he hardly acknowledges him now. I'm not sure who he looks like yet, I'll let you decide....

It's been a while

Most of the people who will read this blog read our previous blog http://verhoef5.blogspot.com/ however, after 9:30am tomorrow there will be 6 of us making the previous blog name obsolete. I suppose we could have changed the name but where is the fun in that? I think the new title better summarizes the purpose of the blog, which is to share how Jacey and I "waste" our time doing the things that really and truly matter the most.


It is ironic then that the first post in this new blog has nothing to do with the kids or our family, just us bringing our kitchen into the 21st century. I'm normally not the type to boast, but as I think you will see the transformation warranted a little bragging.

As some background Jacey and I sold our home in Fayetteville in June and moved 55 miles north to Marietta, east Cobb to be specific. We bought an older home in a great neighborhood with tons of potential. It was very well kept, but was in desperate need of updating. Much of the house just needed a fresh coat of paint and new fixtures, but the kitchen was another story. Here are a few pictures of it shortly after we moved in:



Please take note of the 1982 "designer" wallpaper, original oak cabinets and fabulous gold chandelier. Every time I walked into the kitchen I got a strange urge to dig out my Members Only jacket and Hypercolor t-shirt and crank up Thriller, but I digress.

One weekend I took out all my aggression and ended the day with this:

One of two things I paid for and did not do myself occurred next. In a matter of two days, the kitchen went from that to this:

The next day they came out to template for the second thing I paid for and did not do myself, the granite countertops. By this time it had been just over two weeks of no kitchen sink, dishwasher or counter space. We prepared and ate our meals in the dining room on a makeshift countertop and ate off of paper plates and with plastic utensils. I can describe this in two words: it sucked. While waiting for the countertops to be ordered and cut I busied myself wiring the under cabinet lights, painting, etc.

Once the counter tops were in I started tiling.
Three days later I finished.

With the light at the end of the tunnel in sight, I called in sick the next day (which was not really a lie, I was in fact sick of the kitchen) and put the finishing touches on it. I added light fixtures, hooked up the sink and dishwasher, reinstalled the stove and mounted the hood vent.

And now, without further delay, I give you our kitchen:

We still need a matching stainless steel microwave, but other than that we are finished and absolutely love it.

Kitchen Cabinets: $$$$$$$
Appliances: $$$$
Granite Countertops: $$$$
Light fixtures, sink, faucet: $$$
Tile: $

Not hearing the theme song to "Perfect Strangers" every time we walk into the kitchen: Priceless...