We have Fish!!!!

Today the fish arrived....yes, you can order anything on the internet now!!! We had one casualty; the puffer was DOA. All the others are doing great!

Here they all are in their bags, getting acclimated to our tank....

Blue-Green Chromis

Naso Blonde Tang

Flame Anglefish

Auriga and Saddleback Butterfly Fish

Dorrie!!! The Blue Tang.

Nemo!!!!! The Ocellaris Clownfish.

There is also a Coral Beauty Angelfish and Bicolor Pseudochromis, but we haven't gotten pictures of those yet! Yay!!!! The tank looks great and there is tons of room for more fish!! Justin (this was all a surprise for him; the arrival of the fish) and PSYCHED when he got home from school today!!!

We're almost there!

Jacob has really started "crusing" and he is doing great! He grabs onto furniture, side of the bed, chair etc. and has a great time walking. We've gotten to where he'll walk with us, holding only one of his hands, but he's a bit apprehensive at that. When we walk holding both of his hands he just squeals in delight. He's been walking with his train and having a blast!

Recent Happenings....

Not too much has been going on at Casa Hoekman.....I've been working full-time hours trying to help Longs have a smooth transition while it is taken over by CVS/Pharmacy. Going back has had it's ups and downs, but it's been great to be back with the girls! Next week I will be working full-time as well, as next week, Wednesday to be exact, we open as CVS/Pharmacy. Well...we will have a new pharmacy and registers (and all Longs product has been replaced with the CVS brand) but we won't have a new sign, outfits or shelving until later this summer...it should be quite the experience! I sure hope it goes smooth for all!!!

John got this great picture of a sunset a few days ago....gorgeous!!!!!


John got the lights in the tank now. So we are all set for fish....almost! The charcoal, water, sand/rock, lights and thermometer is all in it and whatever stuff you put in first! But....since it's enclosed (there may be more reasons as well) the water is running hot. If you open the cabinet doors it is really LOUD (it reminds me of the air conditioning unit I used to be able to hear outside my bedroom window at my Meemaw's house in Porterville) so opening the doors defeats the purpose of having them! John had to get a chiller which should be here next week. Once that is in, and we run it a bit we can get these special fish....now I can't remember their name, that you put in first to get the tank "ready". Then we can get fish! I'm getting a Dorrie!!! Woop!


John is working on painting Justin's racing helmet. He is going to do flames and then put a dragon on the back. He is nervous, being this is his first time doing anything like this, but I'm sure he can do it and it will look great!

For Jacob's birthday he got a Learning Pony...it's a great toy that goes through their growth of 12-36 months and has fun games (learning of course) and it's all about cause and reaction....this was his first time on it...I think we see more of John than anything, but he's getting the gist of it!!!

New Tank Pictures!

John got the lacquer on the doors today and they look great! It all blends in so well and we are on our way now! We just need some fish!

The Fish Tank!!!

John has been working hard, with occasional help from Justin, to get his old fish tank up and running. He built this great stand, covered it with veneer and had to use special polish to scrub the acrylic tank so it was clear again!

Here he is with a ton of pipe parts etc....

It's like a puzzle!!

Jacob wanted to help too....

Here are Jus and John mixing the salt with the water, after the rock, sand and coral are in, and filling the tank with the water!

Justin swore he could taste the salt!!! All we adults needed was the margarita to go with this!

Getting full!

All full!! Here are the cabinet doors before John got to lacquer them! They will be in the next post!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

While Justin was on vacation we decided to surprise him by taking him to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly Six Flags Marine World). We were lucky enough to have our friends Kristy, her husband Rod, and their two kids Maggie and Zack meet us there! We had such a blast! The boys got to ride rides, us girls (and wee ones) saw shows...then we all rode rides....we all saw shows...it was a beautiful day and we had tons of fun!

Maggie, Zack and Rod.

I'm not sure if I took this picture or if John took it of Justin and I going on this ride, Vertical Velocity. We were in the second row! Boy it was scary...and THRILLING!

This is Medusa. It was Justin's favorite. He and John rode it twice; once with Rod!

John and Justin were in the third row; this was their last ride of the day.

The gang after a full day of fun! Jacob never napped; but he was a trooper and he was relaxing in the stroller, snuggled in my sweatshirt, so I didn't pull him out for the picture!

Justin and John on the front row of Vertical Velocity. Jacob didn't like us being "sandwiched" between this ride and Roar; I think it was a little scary for him! He kept trying to climb up me and over me and off me! I swear he was literally thinking of wether or not he could run away!!!

Fun with Taco Tuesday!!!

We have stole my friend Katie's weekly dinner of "Taco/Tostada Tuesdays". It's a lot of fun and John makes he and Justin some fried tortillas. This one got all puffed up and Justin decided to treat it like a pita and just fill it up! He had a blast and said it was fun and delicious!

Let the stuffing begin!!!

We set up a taco station on our breakfast bar!

Yummy!!!!

Tasty!!