I have a blog?.... oooooo yah!!!

So there I am, reading my aunty's blog about Christmas dinner. It was really good read so I decided to post a comment, at which time I saw that I had a blogger's nickname... I have a blog? .... OOOOOO YAH!!! The funniest part is that its around this time last year when I stopped posting.

So heres a follow up on whats happened in the past year, like my last blog said Me and the family went to Holland and had an awesome time!

Bought our first home about a month after we got back from Holland. (really, honestly and truely a spur of the moment buy..) Oh, and another bun is in the oven. For those who are not familiar with that term: My wife is prego.

The past week has been incredibly busy with all the Christmas festivities.

Playing hockey at 9:30 in the morning to kick off the holidays, then alot of the guys and some wives went out for breakfast. Then, off to my mom's (Aunty Lisa, as some know her) house for dinner. Spending time with family and watching the kids open their gifts... and a piano solo done for us by a young Johan Sebastian Bach II....

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas & a blessed New Year!

20 days later..

Hello out there!



Glad to be back in the blogging world! It has almost been a full month since my last "session"



Christmas is already on Thursday!! WOW! Where has time gone. Trying to keep up with last minute christmas greetings (yes, you will get one sooner or later fellow family members) Costco can work miracles when it comes to those kind of things.



We are also trying to keep up with our renovations! With our big waste of space.



Taking out drywall has never been such a hassle! Behind these cabinets lies a wall. Not just any wall, this wall is a pretty sturdy wall! Consisting of not just one layer of dry wall, but two layers. Not only does it have 2 layers of dry wall, it has a layer of panel board!!! Crazy people! anyone ever seen a stove beside a washer and dryer? who cooks dinner while doing their laundry? Must have been wonder womans basment... not to sure.





Not only was this room cold, with only half of it drywalled, and the rest of it bare concrete, but it was our storage unit, and my hockey space :) Unforatnately it has been taken away. We have the most amazing framer who has come in and framed the entire room. (AKA Jason V)



Can you believe that this is the exact same wall as the one above with cabinets? It has since been partially torn down for a giant doorway to the room beside. (those pictures will come shortly)


The other big news for the past 20 days is that myself, Lieneke and Jonah will be traveling to the "Motherland" to visit opa and Oma!! Lieneke and Jonah will be leaving 2 weeks ahead of me, and staying for a full month, while I will visit in the last 2 weeks of that time. We will fly back together.


Hope to write again soon!!!

Success!!

I feel like a fat jolly fellow, but without the costume and beard! A monday morning has never started any better!

Your all thinking "What's this guy on, and where do I get some?" Well, I have been hard at work trying to obtain something call a National Safety Mark. I started this agonizing task about 18 months ago. Filling out forms here and there, trying to design a proper drawing of a "Regulation" Vanbody, which all seemed to be returned with no luck.

About 2 months ago, The Head Honch told me that he would really like to see me try again, and hopefully have it by the new year. Once again I sent in an application, along with drawings, labels, pictures.... all of that good stuff. A month went by, and nothing came of it. I had lost all hope, and decided I would never get this blasted thing.

This morning I went to get the mail, and the dreaded envelope from Transport Canada was sitting there. I figured that once again it had been sent back requiring more information. To my surprise our National Safety Mark certificate was in the envelope!

WHAT A RELIEF!!! Should make for a nice surprise when the Boss comes into work tommorow from his holiday!

His house is in one peice, his car is still drivable, and he now has his NSM! What more could a guy ask for?

Welcome to December!!

Welcome to December!!

'Tis the season!! Can't believe it's already here. I still have last year's christmas fresh in my mind! It was around that time that we had found out my wife was expecting. Obviously something I'll never really forget. My sister-in-law Nelly was here last year and will be here again this year. Jonah is excited to meet his Aunt Nelly for the first time!

Christmas, what are my favourite memories... hmm... Well, Aunty Tammy giving my brother Matt a pair of yellow smiley face underwear. To say the least, Matt was not impressed at first. But they must of been really comfy because he wore that pair plenty in the following years!

Again, last year will always stand out, and my first christmas with Lieneke and her family. I spent the most part of 2 weeks at their home. My father-in-law got me pretty good while opening gifts. When one person opens a gift, they grab one for another person, and they open it, and so on. My father-in-law opened his, and then grabbed a gift and walked around and said "this one is for...." (while saying this, starting to hand it to me, so obivously I reach out to recieve it.) he turns around "this is for Jaap." I think my face turned beat red, but it sure was funny!

Opening presents after 5am hockey while watching saturday cartoons is also a fond memory. And of course the Lego! Lots and lots of Lego!! The Castles, Forts, Pirate ships, police cars, space ships.. the list goes on!! My wife shares the same memories on lego, so its fun to remminice about it.

One last story before I leave. The year of the N64! Myself and two brothers were so excited to open presents, because we were certain that it was an N64, we just couldn't wait! Mom, Dad, you really let us down! A remote control race track... who the, what the... how the??? WHAT!!!! We can hardly contain our excitement!! (note the sarcasm)

Well, 3 days later the race track was busted.. (accident?? guess we'll never know) So mom and dad feel bad, and eventually head out to buy our much anticipated gaming system!

Oh, and then there was the time Me and James tried to open our gifts before we supposed to, and tried to tape it back up. Mom found out, told us we weren't getting our gift, and it was just to bad. If only mom stuck to her word. It was NHL 2003 for our new PS2.... Thanks Mom!!

The Lone Ranger

Where to start?

Things have just been too boring around here lately. I am home alone, as the houweling boys are out at hockey, and Lieneke is at a Womens dinner / speech at the Abbotsford Church.

Here I sit, blogging while listening to Rasputin by Boney M. For those that are reading this and going "Boney Who? Raspu- What?" This is actually a really good song! Now, for those that listen to Boney M, and say "Isn't that for old people?" Well, I am young in body, and I'm old fart at heart! For those impressed with that little rhyme(I even impressed myself a little..), autographs are available... but thats for another time :)

I had yet to update the pictures from Jonah in his "Bathtub Massacre" So here is my little munchkin with a big smile on his face, just before he decided to release his bodily fluids.

(oh new song... "We built this city, We built this city on rock and roll"... classic!)

Well, I think thats about it for me tonight. I will hopefully update again tommorow night. Will be after Hockey and team BBQ.

Everyone enjoy their weekends!!

House Sitting

Live from the Boss' House!!

That's right folks, I am reporting live from the Houwelings! They needed a vacation, and asked Myself, Lieneke, and Jonah to stay here. So far it has been going really well. Yesterday was a pretty nice day, and today has just been one of those regular BC days.

Probably the most fun is eating at the dinner table, reminds me of being at home with all 5 siblings and Mom and Dad.. those were the days! Usually when we all get together it is still the same! Some people just never change. (*Cough* James * Cough)

Although, at the rate time is going, before you know it, I will be the one getting angry at the dinner tables for the children acting like hooligans!

Well, my wife is out with Jonah to the shower for my future sister in law! Myself and Steve Houweling have been entrusted to go out and get a few odd and ends for the week. (yikes, my wife trusts me with that.. hope she likes Candy and Pop!)

Until next time!

Father and Child funny moments

Note: I seemed to have saved this as a draft instead of posting it.. (a few days old.. oops)

So last night I was in charge of watching Jonah, as my wife recovers from her wisdom teeth being pulled. With the whole night to spend with my little one, it really makes me realize how lucky I really am.





The night started off quite well, Grandma was holding Jonah while we all watched the Canucks game. When the game was over we decided it was time to hit the hay. I went over to grab Jonah from Grandma when we realized he had exploded into his diaper! All over his shirts and pants! What a mess!

So, like any parent would do, I went to change him. Jonah for some reason couldn't help but smile at me, knowing all to well what he did. Anyways, after the whole mess is cleaned up, I decided he should have a bath and hopefully that will help him relax, possibly fall asleep for the night. After being in the tub for 5 minutes, he starts to have a big grin on his face.
Just then I realized the water was no longer clear! So, again, I take him out of the bath tub, put him on the change table, clean him up, clean out the bathtub, and then put him back in. So he can get clean... again! Thankfully he had emptied himself and he was able to take a bath without any more interruptions!!

But that seems to be the end of my story, so I will be back sometime in the near future with a new post.