Gaffney Gab

Another Summer Weekend

2008-07-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

What a birthday week I had! I got good news from work, Sydney Lynn Davidson was born, flowers from my husband delivered to my work, a slushie machine, decorations galore at my desk, lunch out at Cherie Inn and a wonderful stomach ache later on. Oh well. That only lasted for a couple of hours and then it was over.
Friday night Kevin and I went over to Kyle & Heather's to meet baby Sydney. She is precious! And sleepy! Hopefully I will post some pics soon.
Saturday Krista and I met Kim and Laura for Kristi's bridal shower. I love taking Krista out in public! Ha ha! I started making food as soon as I got home for Lisa's 40th surprise birthday party. I made this really cool blow-pop sucker tree that said "40 blows" on it. Krista said she wanted me to take a picture of it so when I was done I moved it and what do you know, I forgot that the top wasn't glued on and it toppled over, broke the top in half and suckers went everywhere. Luckily, painted styrofoam doesn't take long to dry and we were only 1/2 hour late. Anyway, the party was a great time, I love parties, especially surprise parties!
Sunday we went up to Kevin's niece's house in Whitehall for a family pool party. The weather wasn't sunny but at least it was warm and before we knew it 5:00 had come and gone. We took a little detour into Kevin's past and went to White Lake where Kevin first learned to sail. We walked out onto the Lake Michigan side of the pier (that is right, we walked! Kevin walked! Woot woot!) and watched some boats come in and stuck our toes in Lake Michigan. It was a lot warmer than we expected so I am definitely going to the beach next weekend! I can't wait!

Weekend

2008-07-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Friday night Kevin and I headed out to Bostwick Lake Inn for dinner. We sat out on the deck and it was the most perfect night for it! We watched a plane land on the water and come over for dinner, I got some good shots on my phone but of course can't get the dang thing to Email them.
Saturday Kevin and I cleaned out the laundry room and did some major scrubbing. I swear I had things to take care of from last summer still! After dinner we just hung out and watched "Knocked Up" finally. It was good but there was a lot of f-bombs. Goodness!
Kevin picked the kids up this morning and after church they all just took off and left me at home! Turns out they were out shopping for me. The kids got me a slushie machine and syrups and cups to go along with it. The slushies are really good!! I can't wait to keep experiencing!
Soon we are headed to my mom's to celebrate with my family. I am sure I will have some good pictures of the boys from that! When you have presents to open, you are always their favorite!

Text Message from Heather

2008-07-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

C-section on tues. Baby 2 fat 2 pass! She's already 9 lbs & I'm only dilated 2 a one! Cant wait much longer. Holy crap! Im scared.

Kickball Pictures

2008-07-06T15:56:00.001-07:00

You can check out all the action over on Dave's website:
www.greedyfly.com

Ryan and Kate are Engaged!

2008-06-29T14:47:00.001-07:00

Congratulations Ryan and Kate! We can't wait to have Kate as an official part of the Kloppe family. We couldn't be happier!

Kickball Weekend

2008-06-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend except that the kids had to work all weekend. Friday night we went to Z's for dinner then went home to take a nap before heading to Kyle & Heather's for a campfire. It rained though so we ended up playing euchre with Eric & Kristi and Todd & Christy. Christy and I won one and lost one. Eric and Kyle were fierce competitors...not that Heather & Todd weren't but, they didn't win a single game.
Saturday was the 4th annual kickball party! We again won one lost one. It was a lot of fun. After the game we went to Dave & Andrea's for a cook-out. And some tippy-cup! I am so competitive I even love playing drinking games! Te he!
After church on Sunday we went to Chili's for lunch and stopped in at Old Navy for 4th of July t-shirts. I guess I am glad that I have invested so much into "traditions" with Makenzie however, I really didn't want a 4th of July shirt. However, I am glad she appreciates the importance of annual family events, even as simple and silly as 4th of July shirts.

What happened to May?!

2008-06-08T15:54:00.001-07:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks! I can't believe it is already June! The past couple of weeks we have: gone out to celebrate May birthdays; went to Tyler's graduation; have been trying to get ready for Tyler's graduation party; getting Kevin's knee better.

We met up with family and friends at O' Toole's to celebrate Ryan, Kate & Melissa's birthdays. May is a busy month for the Kloppe family!
Krista and I walked in the "Stomp Out Stigma" walk for mental health. It was perfect weather and Krista is always good company, as long as you have a dollar to bribe her!
Thursday, May 22 we watched Tyler graduate, it was more emotional than Kevin realized it would be! He will be off to MSU in just a few short months, hard to believe.
Meanwhile, we have been trying to get ready for our open house graduation for him. We haven't touched the landscaping because it was just so overgrown, we had no idea where to start. I literally just starting hacking away and it at least looks better. My mom came over to help while Kevin enjoyed some rays. I told him to at least watch us and seem interested because I was a little bitter about him just lounging!
He is off work again but we have seen major improvements the past week so hopefully it will continue.
This past weekend I went to Z's for a bit on Friday, Saturday we went to Tyler's graduation party at his mom's (Hello?! What is the point of separate parties if I still have to go to the other one?!) and Sunday I went to Kristi's baby shower and Katie's (Ty's girlfriend) graduation open house and then just ran some errands to pick up a couple more things for Tyler's party, we are in the home stretch and I am SO not ready!

Busy Weekend

2008-05-14T15:50:00.001-07:00

It was a busy weekend! Saturday morning I had Heather's shower. It was so nice! She got a lot of her big ticket items which I think are the best things to get! However, we did play 3 shower games, one of them being that candy bar melted in the diaper game. Why?! Some of them were still wet and it was disgusting!!
Later Saturday we stopped by and dropped of the flowers for Tyler's senior prom! Their last dance...boo. They went to XO downtown and headed over to the museum for the dance. They had a great time and I can't wait to see pictures.
Sunday afternoon Kevin, my mom and I met Ryan and Kate at Bonefish Grill. It was our first time there and it was fabulous! Thank you Ryan & Kate! Later Sunday afternoon we headed over to my mom's for more Mother's Day fun and to celebrate Melissa, Ryan and Kate's birthday. That's right! Kate's birthday was the 3rd and Melissa and Ryan's birthdays were the 13th. Crazy birthday month for us!
Anyway, it was a busy but fabulous weekend!

Happy Birthday Krista!

2008-05-06T06:25:00.001-07:00

Sweet 16!

2008-04-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend. Makenzie is 16! Hard to believe....I have know her since she was 6 and she is growing up so fast and turning into such a caring, beautiful girl.
She chose to go to Olga's for her birthday and then rent Juno. It was great. We all really liked it and I would definitely recommend it.
Saturday Makenzie and I ran some errands while Kevin was at work and later Kevin took her driving. She loved it. And, she was good. Hopefully she will be taking driver's ed this summer.
Sunday Tyler came over (he had to work Friday and Saturday) and we went to Steven & Melissa's church for Camille's confirmation. We are so proud of the young woman she is becoming and how open her heart is. I am very lucky to call her my niece.

2008 Stomp Out Stigma Walk for Mental Health

2008-04-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 17, 2008 at Grand Valley State University - Downtown GR Campus is the 6th Annual Walk for Mental Health! Please help us decrease the stigma and discrimination often associated with mental illness.
Let me know if you would like to walk with us, need more information or would just like to make a donation to the cause.

Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence.
1 in 4 adults - approxiamtely 57.7 million Americans - experience a mental health disorder in a given year. 1 in 17 lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder, and about 1 in 10 children have a serious mental or emotional disorder.
Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and wasted lives; The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States.
An estimated 5.2 million adults have co-occurring mental health and addiction disorders. Of adults using homeless services, 31% reported having a combination of these conditions.
Fewer than one-third of adults and half of children with a diagnosable mental disorder receive any mental health services in a given year.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

2008-04-04T05:36:00.000-07:00

Today we remember the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee and the importance of his brief life and his work for social justice which remains unfinished.
In the story below is the poem quoted from Aeschylus which captures the tragedy and hope for wisdom which we search for at this time 40 years later:

On that very day, Robert Kennedy was campaigning for the presidential nomination in Indianapolis and was prepared to make a routine campaign stop when he was informed of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The police warned him not to go into the inner city campaign location. He went without police escort and made a very brief announcement and a few remarks. His audience was primarily African Americans and he told them of the shared grief that he knew they were feeling because he too had seen his brother John assassinated.
As his car entered the neighborhood, his police escort left him. Once there, he stood in the back of a flatbed truck. He turned to an aide and asked, "Do they know about Martin Luther King?"
They didn't, and it was left to Kennedy to tell them that King had been shot and killed that night in Memphis, Tenn. The crowd gasped in horror.
Kennedy spoke of King's dedication to "love and to justice between fellow human beings," adding that "he died in the cause of that effort."
And Kennedy sought to heal the racial wounds that were certain to follow by referring to the death of his own brother, President John F. Kennedy.

"My favorite poem, my — my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will, comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.

"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black."

Two months later, Robert himself was felled by an assassin's bullet.

WW

2008-04-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed I have a ticker for my first weight loss goal to the right. You may have also remembered that I had lost 9 lbs. and it has now changed to 5 lbs. Amy, Krista's neighbor has joined the WW weigh-in with us virtually so last night was her first "weigh-in" with us. Krista had 0 change and I had +4 change. Oopsies. I am more mad about it than anything else. We were out living it up from Thursday through Sunday and because I wasn't feeling well earlier in the week, I only worked out twice. I did it to myself and am really not too upset about it. I know there will be back and forth weeks. Just as long as I keep moving forward. Or down I guess I should say! So, it has made me more determined to get back to where I was. We don't have any plans yet for the week and I hope to keep it that way so I can get to the gym at least 4 times. I went yesterday and am planning on today and since KEVIN IS AT WORK UNTIL 8, I have plenty of time. Yup, that is right! Kevin is at work! Woot woot!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-30T15:18:00.001-07:00

Clubman

2008-03-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

Andrea got a new Mini Clubman and I don't know if she is just always out and about driving around or what but I have seen her three times in the past couple days! She is always driving so fast though I don't ever have time to snap a picture! Te he!
Show off!

Shouts for Krista and Me!

2008-03-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

Krista and I have been doing our own Weight Watchers and did our first weigh-in after a full week of counting points and we both lost weight! Woot woot! Here's to new summer clothes!

Welcome!

2008-03-18T06:39:00.001-07:00

3 people have gotten on the blog train! Woot woot! Isn't it weird....look at the the names of blog links I have!

Irish Blessings

2008-03-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May St. Patrick guard you wherever you go, and guide you in whatever you do--and may his loving protection be a blessing to you always.

May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire.

May you have: A world of wishes at your command. God and his angels close to hand. Friends and family their love impart, and Irish blessings in your heart!

May you alway walk in sunshine. May you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door.

Easter Sunday

2008-03-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Our church is putting on another production! This one is for Easter and we can't wait! There is a cast of over 75 people!
We are going to the Sunday, March 23, 2008 service at 10:25 am. We have extra tickets if anyone would like to go, let me know! The other times are listed on Daybreak's website where you can order complimentary tickets:
www.daybreak.tv
If it is anything like the other performances they have done, you do not want to miss it!

Baby Tipper

2008-03-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

Pat, Amy and Polly came over the other night and apparently Tipper thought she could hide behind the lamp and Polly wouldn't tackle her!
Polly was too busy sleeping under the table to care much!

Weekend

2008-03-04T16:14:00.001-08:00

This weekend Makenzie, Tristen and I went rollerskating with Krista, Jacob and Sophia. It was so much fun!
Later that night we watched the first Indiana Jones which I never knew I have never seen. It was rated PG in 1981 but I after watching a man's face being melted, I strongly feel like it should be changed to PG-13. We are watching them leading up to the new release so hopefully they will get better and better.

Sunday we celebrated Tyler's 18th birthday! Can you believe it?! Crazy! Our family came over and we had cake and good times!

Happy Leap Day!

2008-02-29T06:24:00.000-08:00

We have an extra day to use right now!

What are you going to do with this gift?

I have a few suggestions:

Join us for a girls sleepover tonight! (Makenzie is having a friend over)

Spend a night in front of the fire with your love!

Come roller skating with us tomorrow! (Ok, not on the actual extra day but nonetheless, fun!)

Update your blog Krista and Christy!

Start a blog!

Start commenting on other blogs you are reading!

Make a treat!

Go see a movie!

Enjoy the snow!

Just don't waste this extra day that has been given to you! Enjoy life!

Bad, but funny!

2008-02-28T16:56:00.001-08:00

Have you seen the Sarah Silverman / Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel / Ben Affleck clips? They are hilarious! Inappropriate, but hilarious!! Both made us laugh but the Jimmy / Ben one is just crazy because of all the people: Cameron Diaz, Huey Lewis, Josh Groban, Brad Pitt, Joan Jett, Harrison Ford?! Give me a break! It is too much!
Check it out, make sure you watch the Sarah / Matt one first. Oh and be careful with your volume!
http://abc.go.com/latenight/jimmykimmel/index

Sneak Peak

2008-02-27T09:44:00.001-08:00

We won tickets on the radio again! This time for the sneak preview of the movie Penelope. My mom, Krista, Makenzie and I all went to Star on Alpine last night. It was a great movie and maybe even one of Makenzie's favs! Definitely a chick flick. It was only 90 minutes so I didn't get too vested in the characters but it was a nice, feel good movie.

I give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Weekend

2008-02-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

Our weekend was pretty low-key. I am still trying to get over this chest flu and Kevin is still on crutches. I did go to Hayleigh's birthday party, Jennifer's daughter, on Saturday afternoon. She is almost the big 5 and she cracks me up. She is such a little adult! I love it!
Other than that, we played some Wii, got some new pillows and looked for a coat for Tipper. It is so cold outside she doesn't want to go out and play!