House Projects

Today's a big day in the Jonker household!! 

After 7 1/2 months of working on our house we are finally at a good stopping point!

That means I can put the paint cans and tools away and clean the paint out of my sinks!

It's a great feeling!

It started off with switching our laundry room/entryway/closet into one big mudroom and we ended up with a completely refreshed mudroom, living room, dining room, hallway, and one of the boys bedrooms.

(I'm planning on finishing off the rest of the upstairs after a get a little break from the craziness of working on the house.)

We decided to hold off on redoing our countertops and backsplash.  That's been Ben's most hated part of the house since we first moved in, but we just couldn't get it budgeted.  One of these days we'll get to up grade!  

With the exception of the that and furniture, I don't think there was any surface that went untouched.  I painted EVERY. SINGLE, INCH. of those rooms.  It was overwhelming at times, but it was so worth it!  Everything feels so fresh!

Hand-Me Downs

We've done some passing down of electronics at our house.

It's a sign that they are all growing up.

Luke decided that he wanted to buy an ipod touch--pricey.

He wanted one so that he could listen to music and play games on it.  I also think the cool factor played a part in it.

At the same time, Josh Oliver decided that he wanted to buy a 3D DS--also pricey.

He's not the best saver, but he had birthday money burning a hole in his pocket.  

Luke offered to sell his DS to Ollie in order to fund his ipod purchase.

Strangely, I was really sad that realize that Luke didn't care about his DS anymore.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was desperately saving up to buy it.  

It took a bit of convincing--I don't know why because he was getting a really good deal--but finally Josh bought the DS and all the games for $100.  

It was a steal!  

And, he was super happy about how much he got!

Next it was time to tackle Luke's ipod.

The thought of him spending so much money on something like that made me cringe.

I suggested that he ask Ben if he could buy his old phone from him.  It could do everything he wanted but was even cooler because it was a phone!

Ben sold it to him for a mere $50!  (a little expensive, but it was a fair price in the bigger picture of things.)

It was really a win-win all the way around.  

Both boys got what they wanted, I didn't have any more electronics come into the house, and we ended up with some bonus money in our activities fund! 

Another First Communion

Henry made his First Communion two weeks ago.

It was a big day!

He got to read one of the petitions during Mass.  

He was excited, and he did great!

(Luke got to read one at his First Communion, too.  Lucky boys!)

I didn't realize how big his suit was on him until I started looking through my pictures.  

It really bothers me.

He deserved a well fitting suit.

He ripped it off just as soon as he could, so I guess it doesn't really matter anyway.

He still looked handsome!


I am so unbelievably proud of him!

He is becoming such a great Catholic!

Add Another Candle!

Ben's birthday is tomorrow!

Cinco De Mayo!!

We surprised him with a cake tonight--courtesy of Gigi and the boys--as soon as he walked in the door from work.

Who doesn't want to start their birthday celebration early?

The real reason was because he'll be gone all day tomorrow--his work hours stink--and I didn't think we could have looked at that delicious cake a day longer without digging in!!

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!!

We love ya like crazy!!

May Day

Yesterday was May Day.

It was the first year that we didn't deliver any treats.

I just didn't have it in me to get things ready, plus the boys had tumbling class, so it would have been hard to squeeze any deliveries in.

I'm kind of sad about it.

We'll do better next year!

Much to our delight, when we got home from the Y, we found a May Day on our doorstep!!

It was from our favorite girl Jennifer--along with Todd and Tucker!!  We love them, tooIt'!!

Usually we get flower cookies!  Yum!  

This year she got even fancier with 3D flower cupcakes!  They tasted even better than the looked--the moistest, airiest cupcakes I think I've ever eaten!!!

She even made us a super fancy card!  Henry was especially impressed by her artistic talent and the amount of time she must have spent on it!

I love May Day!!!!

Fun with Paint

We went paintballing a couple of weekends ago.

It was Christmas present from Jennifer to Luke.

He was super excited about it--we all were!

Josh didn't get to go--too young--but we brought Brad, Papa, Kole, and Luke's friend Grady with us.  

When we got there we were grouped with a bunch of 16 year old boys.  They were great!  It was a good mix!

I went in to it knowing I would be horrible.  I'm no good with any sort of reflex/target sport.  We play dodgeball at the YMCA a lot and I am the worst at it!  The boys--especially Ben--make fun of me all the time.  My terribleness doesn't stop me, though!

I actually held my own on the paintball field!  I even made it until the end in one round!  I got out right in the beginning in several others, but still!

I was really impressed with all the kids!

They were all fearless--and pretty good shots!

They mostly stayed in until close to the end of the rounds, and were actually getting people out--I never actually hit a single person!

I think we only had tears once, and that was only after Ben shot Henry 5 or 6 times at fairly close range.  He says he didn't think he was actually hitting him, but we all know how competitive Ben gets!  

I don't blame Henry for tearing up.  Those paintballs stung bad, especially when they come from up close.  (Ben also shot me when I was only 5 or 6 feet away.  He was ruthless!)

Jennifer always gives the most fun presents!  

All the boys agreed that we must do it again!

Sergeant Jonker

Ben is now a Sergeant on the police department!

Exciting!!

It means that he'll be back on the streets--this time as a BOSS!!!  (The supervisors part is both exciting and nerve wracking for him.  It's a big jump!)

I'm excited to get to go on "ride alongs" with him again.  They are so fun!  

When he was an officer, I had the worst luck, though.  Nothing very exciting ever happened.  

One time we had a call where a naked crazy guy was running down the street.  I most felt sad for him because he really was crazy.  

Another time we were on a call and Ben was getting the scoop from this girl/prostitute.  It wasn't until until about 5 minutes in and after hearing him call her Dwayne 3 or 4 times before I finally realized she was actually a boy.  He/she wasn't even remotely convincing as a girl.  I'm an idiot!     

My ride alongs have always been fun, but I want to go on one where something really exciting happens.

Like news worthy exciting!

I've got high hopes now that he's back on the streets!!

*     *     *     *     * 

Henry got to present Ben with his Sergeants badge.  (Luke got to give him is Detective one.)

He did great!

I was mostly just glad I got to actually be there this time!

With his new position he also has a completely different work schedule.

I'm excited that his days off will now be during the week--it will be just the two of us while the kids are at school!!--but it means that he's now going to be MIA during our weekend activities.  

I'm sad about that.

For now he has really inconvenient hours as far as  family time goes. but we're hoping in the next month or two, when everyone gets settled into their permanent positions, he will move to a different shift and be able to join us a bit more in our fun times!

It's just going to take us awhile to get use to that type of schedule again.  (We've been spoiled with him working as a detective with normal hours.)

Either way were really excited and proud of him.

He's going to do excellent!!