Pumpkins - part 1

This weekend was full of pumpkins. I took Ally and Drew to Grandma Janelle's and Grandpa Jim's on Saturday morning. They picked a dozen or so small pumpkins that were growing in the garden. On Sunday, Brenda and I took the kids to a local patch to pick out a couple of bigger pumpkins for carving.

This morning, Ally's preschool class took a bus ride to another local patch. I met up with them there. I was a little late, but caught with her group after their hayride. In my mind, I was thinking that Ally would be pleasantly surprised that I came. She appeared to be having a good time as I approached, but her good time quickly dissolved into the following:


The crying and clinging lasted for about an hour, through the animal petting, and play time. When it came time to pick out a pumpkin, she started warming up just a little bit.

By the time she finished picking out her pumpkin, she was pretty much back to her normal self, laughing, running, talking to her friends, smiling. We waited for everyone to get their pumpkins and then it was back on the bus and back to school. Five bucks says she takes a nap today.



I'm sure Brenda will have a post later today or this week about the family trip to the patch and also some pictures of our spooky jack-o-lanterns. Happy Halloween!!

Crazy Things We Do

Yes mom - you told us so.

Back when we picked out our lights, we wanted a chandelier type light in the entry way. My mom said don't get one that points up because the lights will be impossible to change. We didn't listen because we knew that we could figure out a way to do it. But we don't that our luck with light bulbs means that we will be changing the lights a lot.

When the college boys were over - several discussed with Jason the best way to change them. These were engineers in training - but from Iowa not ISU. The best solution was from a kid that drove a school bus on the side. His suggestion: Put a board from the upper railing to the window sill. Then he volunteered to slither his way out on it to change the bulbs. FREAK!!!

My suggestion was the one that Jason used. Saw horses with extension ladder on it. He perfected my idea and bam lights are changed. I did buy the swirly bulbs that are long lasting. The box says they could last for up to 9 years, but I will be happy with 12 months.

Tuesdays Won't Be the Same

Last Tuesday was our last 24-7 leadership team meeting for this year. They go to 4 different houses for 7 wks each. We were blessed with these servant leaders in our home. It is amazing the outlook on life from a 21 year old's perspective. I have learned so much from them even though I don't hear everything they are saying. They have made me laugh. I have enjoyed their friendship and their welcoming greetings at church as we see them.

For our last snack we decided to pull out the fire pit and make s'mores. As you can see, Ally was right in the mix enjoying all the big kids!

The boys are discussing a speaker that came on central campus today trying to evangelize. From what they said he was "messed" up in his theology. Pray for campuses everywhere as students are very open to finding their purpose in life.

Ally's Prayers

Dear God,
I love you, and I love Jesus too.
And I love my family.

And dear God,
When am I going to get a baby sister? Is it going to be after my birthday or what?

And dear God,
Why does Halloween have to take so long to get here?

Amen

Remember the post about her babies? On Thursday night she couldn't fall asleep and we had small group going so she couldn't come out of her room. Several times she yelled down to us and when we went up there were dolls EVERYWHERE in her room. Each had a "boo" bag present to open at their bed in the morning. On Friday she organized them all on her bed. She wanted to sleep with them all but we thought it might be a slight distraction.

PS - no babies coming in this house any time soon.

Trinity

Anyone want to give a suggestion on how to explain the trinity to a 4 year old brilliant child? Yesterday we were singing in the car - God is number 1, God is number 1.... from our church kids' CD.

Ally: I thought that Jesus was number 1.
Mom: ummmmm (thinking about my next step carefully) I don't think I ended up responding.

Next morning - same song.
Ally: God is number 1 and Jesus is number 2.
Mom: God and Jesus are equally important and are both 1.
Ally: ohhh (sounding perplexed)

I think her and I thought deeply about how to respond. Wait til she gets out the Holy Spirit - what will I do next.

Fly Swattin'

Ally has discovered the fly swatter. We don't have great video because she swatted the easy ones before we got the camera out. At one point she was on the counter getting them. She wouldn't play with Drew because she was doing her "job!" The best part was that she didn't just kill and leave them - she threw them in the trash!

I wish she would do some work on the flies in my classroom before school. They swarm our heads all day and drive me insane! A couple boys are obsessed with getting them - the day and life of an 8th grader.

The Poor Guy

Tonight on my way home I was talking to Jason and a squirrel ran out on the road. I didn't really know what to do because this little guy was not acting normal. Usually these little critters run back to the ditch or run across the road. This squirrel proceeded to run down the middle of my lane. He would have been fine but he decided to take a last minute ditch to the other side of the road which meant that his short life was going to quickly come to an end.

I haven't ever hit a squirrel or other furry creature. I never thought that I would feel sorry but does he have a family? Some squirrel mommy is going to be sad tonight and it is my fault.

It Could Have Been Bad

Jason headed to work early this morning and left me to get the kids ready. Not a difficult task when Ally wakes up on her own like this morning. We were all getting in our seats when I looked over at Ally and realized she didn't put her shoes on. Ally where's your shoes? Oh I forgot them in my room.

Goodness - I was within 2 minutes from pulling out of the garage and heading a long ways from home without her shoes. I am pretty sure that she would have been really upset all day!

I always laughed when kids showed up for Sunday School and their parents didn't have shoes on them. I thought that is ridiculous - ummmmm pretty sure that my kids will be the ones someday without their shoes on at school or church!

Chicken Pot Pie

One of Jason's favorite meals is chicken pot pie and I HATE to make it. Now you might be thinking of the great frozen fat loaded Swanson meals, but oh no!!!! Thank you Sheryl for introducing Jason to your delishes pot pie while we were overseas. It was good, but I am not a big fan. It is an all in one meals and like Ally says - Mom, we have to have 3 things for supper.

So if you want to get to your husband's stomach with some good comfort food here it is!

Chicken Pot Pie
Cooked Chicken (I use about 2 breasts)
1 packet mushroom, chicken or onion soup
2-3 carrots cut up
2 big potatoes
2 cups water
1 can cream of mushroom - this is not in the original recipe - I don't think they have it where Sheryl lives

Put all together and simmer until tender. Put in a pie crust (Sheryl gave me a recipe but here in America - I buy it) and bake 15-20 minutes in 350 degree oven.

She made us a couple other really good meals that are also on Jason's favorite list! Hats off to Sheryl!!

Wrastlin'

Wrastlin' at the Willis house is usually filled with laughter - except for the occasional bumps on the head and knees in the crotch. Jason and I usually take the beating but we have fun. I like to flip the kids around with my legs which give me some great exercise for my legs and abs. Their laughter is so contaigous! I love family time!

Halloween Countdown...

My fellow teacher has been counting down to Halloween since the first day of school. She is ready and so excited about getting dressed up. Me - ahhh we got some pumpkin decorations out and the costumes bought (Tinkerbell and Pablo - sorry Amy K - Drew loved it when he saw it.).

Tonight when we went out to play someone mysterious left some goodie baggies on our porch for Halloween. You would have thought that Santa had come with the all the excitement. Candy and toys filled the surprise. I am pretty sure our mysterious ghost doesn't read the blog, but Thank You anyway!!!!

Engaged!!!

I know that some of you don't know my cousin - Andy, but he is ENGAGED!!!!! We have waited for this day for many years. I am not so sure what Ginny will think of our crazy family - she has only met Grandpa Melvin! I guess Uncle Ken will offer to sing at the wedding.

This is a short email from my Aunt Linda....
He called last night about 7pm. She said YES........ Here's what he did. He told Ginny that he had told the Horrocks (couple who started Habitat for Hope) they would babysit for them last night. But when they got there the grandparents had showed up and they didn't need to. Near by lives a retired guy who Andy has met and worked with down there, who builds tree houses. Anyway he said since they were in the area he would show one to her. So they drove to the tree house, and the owner was just leaving it. (at this point Ginny is a little suspicious) Anyway, not sure of the details here, but some how Andy had arranged for a candle light dinner and h'orderves to be set up in the tree house just for them. While there he read her a song he had composed for her, got down on his knee and proposed. And as I said she said YES.

The wedding is scheduled for April 26th - I think in the Memphis area. Ginny is a RN for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Andy is currently in Florida still.

How Many Babies?

As Jason and I rested on Sunday afternoon trying to heal our sore bodies - Ally was of course full of energy. When we went into her room, she had put her babies to bed.
At first glance we just sighed thinking - oh that's nice you were so quiet! But then she said I have 46 babies. What????

Jason counted while she added 2 more. Yes under those blankets are 48 babies - nine are Dora figurines!) I think she has enough babies, but I am sure that more will come. This doesn't even include any of the stuffed animals!

If you click on the picture you can get a close up of all of them!

I'm Getting Old...

This weekend my mom had the kids so we could go on a date and we had our annual Family Transitions interview on Saturday morning. We enjoyed a nice supper and the infamous trip to Wal-Mart without any kids. We started birthday shopping for Drew-Drew!

Saturday morning we started staining the rail of the deck before the interviewer got there and got a little done and learned some tricks to looking better and doing it quicker. After the interview my mom graciously agreed to keep the kids for some of the afternoon so we could get it done. In a balmy 90+ degrees (who would think of such hot temps in October in IOWA!?!?), we got it done in just under 4 hours.

Little did we know that neither of us would be able to move the next day. I need a good massage on parts that I never knew existed! Also it took a 45 minute shower to scrub off all the stain all over my body!

But doesn't it look nice - the color - chocolate!

Wish I had This Problem

Last night Drew and Ally were watching Seasame Street while we were getting supper ready. All of a sudden our cranky little guy started wailing. At first thought it was assumed that his sister was sitting too close to him. Then he said his eye hurt so did he poke it? Jason tried holding him with no help to his sobbing in pain.

I grabbed him and noticed that his eye lashes were stuck in the bottom eye lid. Not just one eyelash, but at least a third of the middle ones. Goodness he has such long beautiful eyelashes!!!

This isn't the first time it happened. The first time it happened at school and originally they thought he had a piece of tire in his eye but realized it was just his eyelashes.

Joys of Being a Teacher

Many of you have only small children and live in a big city so you don't get to experience the joys of Homecoming!!! There is so much school spirit from pre-school to senior citizens in this community - or any IA community!!!

We had a week filled with chaotic children, candy, parades, pep rallies and to end it a big football game - which I am almost sure we lost. We made it to half-time before the squirming of the kids were too much for me to handle. Jason hadn't been to a high school football game since my days at Johnston!

I didn't get crazy this year for dress-up days, but a few of my fellow co-workers were in rare form. Blast from the past was the fun day where we had the late 80s to early 90s covered!!! Kate is sporting her tight rolled jeans with her cut-up sweatshirt and side pony tail.

This picture is not a head-on one, but these two get the award for the day. I can't believe that Amanda or Steve had any of these clothes left in their closets! Steve's jeans were authentic stonewashed jeans with tapered legs. He calls them his "two-story pants" since he had to jump to get into them. He wore a plaid flannel and white t-shirt to hide the tightness in the butt area! The picture doesn't do the color scheme of Amanda's pants justice. They were florescent yellow and she had a fluorescent orange sports bra on also!

Come join the fun at your local school!

The Nose Pick'in Fort

After almost an hour of sitting in her 'fort' doing nothing, I asked Ally if she was having fun. She said 'yes.' I asked her what she was doing. She said, 'picking my nose.' Then I went on to ask her if she had really built a fort just to pick her nose in. Her response...'No, I'm using my finger.' I decided not to ask anymore questions. --Jason--


(Please click on the picture to see it more clearly - it makes the post so much more funny!)

Sweet Prayer

Tonight Jason and I got the privelege to share our story with the college kids. Before they start, they fellowship all around the house and our kids LOVE it!!! Last week Ally sat down with her Bible and read stories to Betsy. Tonight she found Betsy tonight praying with some girls. She joined hands and prayed with them.

We love this group and pray that they will be bold on the U of I's campus.

Side note: For those of you is STL, if you know the Kruse's - this is Luke's girlfriend.

Small Group

I'd like to say I have a good excuse on not blogging in the last week, but I have nothing. I'd like to say that I am busy, but so is everyone else.

Last night was a monumental point in our journey to our new home. We started our small group. We have started with four couples - one being very old. (that's Uncle Dale, Britt!!!) An elder at our church has helped us start this group out with the plan that he steps aside next summer and we continue going.

Pray this group will gel and will become a family. We are the only ones with small kids and we have a baby due in the group in 9 wks!

I was flipping through files to find a info card last night and came across this picture of a close family two days after our newest member had been born. When asked what we wanted this group to become I thought of this picture and the one hanging on the wall of a super bowl party at the Hilson's. We want a family that is there to support, love, care and keep us accountable.


God will do great things with our new group!

Side note: I wanted to ask for a picture for the blog, but I don't want them to know quite yet that I am crazy!

We are also going to have to work on what everyone brings to the table for small group. We have a foam seller, video game designer, map maker, construction dude, teachers, and a soon to be mom. Who am I going to go to if I need a knee or hip now????

Bapoleon

I've mentioned that my husband is a bad influence on my kids. FYI - If you are a parent of a pre-schooler or small child - watch what you say. Why you ask? Because they take your words other places. For example - Pre-school.

I walked into the office last week to find Ally's teachers. When I walked in - they started laughing and said, "You'd never believe what Ally did today." Today being the key word, they love to talk to her because she has a weird philosophy about everything that makes you giggle - but me embarassed!

We have started eating tator tots that influenced a post a few weeks ago. They were having tator tots at school and all said in distress, "My daddy makes me laugh when he says something." She puts her hand to her cheek in deep thought and remembers - "oh yeah, Bapoleon!"

Amanda, her teacher, says, "you mean Napoleon?"

Ally, "Yes, Napoleon give me you tots!" She yells at lunch.

Now every time anyone mentions tator tots we have two kids that yell, "Napoleon give me your tots."

I am waiting for Jason's next mistake in words to come back to get me at school. Drew has the "Surf's up" penguin toys and Jason keeps calling them ducks. On the way home from school, Jason was making fun of Drew because he was hiding his ducks in his pants. Can you imagine how this sentence might come out to Ally's teachers???

Another Girl!

Welcome Lauryn Christine Klaassen!

at 3:24 p.m. September 18th
weighed in at 9 lbs. 13 oz! (don't think I am willing to try and out do that one!)
21 inches
brown hair - but not very much - baldy til 2 like all the others!
very awake and alert

Mommy is doing great and looks like she didn't work at all today! (according to Grandma Rhonda)

I am so excited and wish I could hold my sweet niece. I will add pictures when my mom sends me some!

75th Anniversary

Today was our church's - Parkview - 75th anniversary. It was a big weekend with a barbaque on Saturday night with activities for the family.

The LaPointe's went with us expecting not to know a soul since they moved back into the state less than 3 wks ago. But like any Iowan, they found lots of people they knew. Nick's old choir director, friend from HS and another music friend. We always say that if you have a connection to Iowa, we can find a common friend/accaintance. Allie did dress the boys in conflicting clothing. Poor Mboy had to wear the losing Hawkeye colors while Gman had the Cyclones on. They are a household divided!

It was fun to walk by the college students that are now dreading walking into our Cyclone house on Tuesday. Last week they had no doubt they would win the game! One guy asked if they really had group at our house - he isn't sure about coming back!

On Sunday church was great and about how the church is missional. The church has always been and will always be about spreading God's word - to the Iowa City area, the University campus and to the world. This weekend was about celebrating HIM.

Now for the humorus side note: Church was packed and we ended up scooting next to an older woman (probably in her 50s - don't yell at me - she wasn't a college age girl!). Jason (and me too) usually enjoy a seat in between us for comfort, but that wasn't an option today. Well I guess during the service the lady laid her head on Jason's shoulder twice. Now once I can understand - falling asleep, but twice hummmmm. Jason was very uncomfortable - I never noticed, but he was quite swirmy towards the end! (Good blog material - I thought when he told me!)

Luke and Betsy some college students came over for lunch and for some baseball. Luke went away happy since his stinkin' Cubs won again. At least we didn't have to watch the Cub announcers!

Cy-Hawk Trophy

Today was the big day in state football. Iowa State might look like they are not very good, but somehow every year they pull off a good game for Iowa. To be honest - which I hate to be but I predicted a 45-13 ISU loss. I figured that if I posted a victory for ISU I would get crap for the rest of the year. I also didn't believe that it could happen. Five field goals is one way to win a football game. It was ISU/Iowa day at school and I think there were a mere 10 ISU people dressed up (and we make up 3 of them!) I did get one girl to dress up for ISU (even though she claims the other side) so that she could be my favorite for the rest of the year. Way to go Sydney!!! She out did herself and definitely got noticed! Ally and Reily (our principal's daughter) were in their cheerleading outfits. I didn't get down to the preschool early enough to get their picture. Here is my little football player and cheerleader playing on the computers before school. We also treked down to the office before going to class so that Mommy could show them off. They were impressed by the copier and how fast it could spit the papers out! I guess Jared there is a possibility for ISU to go 10-2, but I wouldn't bet too much on it!

Lake Iowa Again

We headed out to Lake Iowa for our annual class trip. Lake Iowa is in the middle of no where but is a beautiful park and lake. You can't ski but fishing is allowed. We had a blast! I did have a lot of fun last year too! Each grades activities are different so by the time they go through 3 years at our middle school they've all types of experiences!
This year we got to kayack, insect identification (not my fav), lake and river fish, water clarity adn testing and our service project was clearing an area of brush so that the sun light could get to the forest floor. That was a little scary. I wouldn't particularly give a saw to any of my kids for fear of hacking off someone's body parts. They did good!

We did get to watch the naturalist and "fishing dude" let out 4000 catfish that they had been growing. They were born in Jan/Feb. They were brought out to the lake in May and put in 7 big cages. They fed them every day and now were big enough to let out.
We ended the day with swimming which was a great team building activity. Teachers didn't swim we were too tired and sat on the beach!

Bad Influence

I have found lots of stuff to blog about, but I am going to focus on one update a day! Jason is starting to become a bad influence to our children - he is bringing in STUPID movies to our household. What does a mom do when the tator tots come out on the table and the first thing your daughter says is this....



Also - Jason did her hair.

Side note for those who can't understand 4 year old jibberish - Napoleon - give me some of your tots.

A Little (or a lot) Prayer Needed

All my dear readers that faithfully check this site daily - I have been absent from the blog but it is out of pure business. I know that you all are busy and feel no sympathy, but that is my excuse. This past week has been filled with Jason being gone in in PA and a lovely outbreak of e.coli in our school - more specifically our preschool/elementary. There are 4 confirmed cases and 2 suspected. It sounds like there are others in the community.

You know e. coli from the taco bell lettuce but that is not where we got this from - they don't know yet what it is from. What I need is prayer for Ally and Drew (and me). They don't have it but the incubation time is up to 9 days. I would feel confident that they are safe if we could get through this weekend and no more kids go home from the preschool. The last kid to go home with confirmation of having it was last Friday. It is spread by poop and not having good hand washing - which you can guarantee that we have been doing regularly.

I was reminded by our asst principal Friday night at the game that I needed to pray. He is a Christian man - wonderful!!! He told me that my kiddos are surrounded by a hedge of protection and that I needed to trust God. Smack in the face - Brenda you aren't trusting God! I need to remember that he is in control and has all our days mapped out - e. coli or not.

Also pray for a little girl that is in the hospital and not doing well - one of the side effects is kidney shut-down.

So wash and scrub your hands!!!

A Day at CCAMS

I wish I would have had my camera because we must take pictures to document our life on the blog, but I was too freaked out today to go get my camera phone!

Every year we have student council speeches for president and vice president. Every year they drone on about getting the gym floor changed - we merged schools a few years ago, alternative lunches, snacks, recess, comment boxes, ketchup dispensers...This year we had a little excitement!

Mrs. Brack was trying to keep herself awake during the speeches. She was fixing the tornado/fire evacuation sign on the gym door. She couldn't get it to stick since something was on the back of it. She pulled it up to find a SNAKE (alive don't you know) stuck to the back in the duct tape. AHHHHHHHH Of coarse trying not to make a scene we (teachers) wanted to know what the heck was going on. At first we weren't sure of the dangerous level - it had red on it (bad sign), but after much debate and consulting of our "experts" (aka science teachers), we are pretty sure that won't kill us.

I still -12 hours later- get chills up my back thinking something is slithering in my hair!

Jason mentioned that it was probably placed there as a practical joke by the kids - but our kids are not quiet and can't keep a secret from anyone. If they did tell, it would spread and everyone would be trying to check out the gym door to see if it was still there.

Don't you wish you could be a teacher and have this much excitement in one day.

24-7

I'm not sure how many shoes are there, but tonight starts our 7 weeks of hosting the college leadership team from our church. We are thrilled to have a small part of helping them share the gospel to the university campus. I know their task is difficult while they try to balance being a good student, working and building relationships, BUT their reward will be great in heaven.

In this group of "kids" is Luke Kruse from Calvary. He has really blessed us by mowing our lawn while Jason was on the DL. I remember 3 years ago emailing Andy Campman (24-7's leader and one of Jason's old friends) about this freshman that needed to get plugged in. It is amazing to see how God has changed Luke who is looking at going to be a missionary after he finishes school. God is great!

Pray for these guys and gals as they spread God's word to the campus. They meet on Thursday nights at 9 bells for worship and teaching. They have all signed a "contract" to wear their red 24-7 shirt for two weeks STRAIGHT!!! They have definitely got noticed on campus.

Summer is Over

Even though the hot, humid and sticky are not gone, we consider the summer gone since the pool is down. I hadn't put chlorine in it for awhile and it was turning pretty shades of green. The last few weeks have gotten quite chilly at night and never got back up to "swimable" temperature for Jason and I. I think that Ally would have swam in ice - but she would be swimming alone!!!

We managed to distract the kids for the first couple hours while we scrubbed the bottom, but once they figured out that water was involved the job became much more difficult with their "helping" hands.

Labor Day was full of labor. We both wish that we had more 3 day weekends. It was hard to go back to work today!

2007 Iowa State Fair

This should have been posted a LONG time ago, but there were so many good pictures to choose from that highlighted our day. We had a good time with my parents, Rachel, and Jared and Allison. It was HOT - Jared said it was a beautiful day, but it was hot and sticky!!! I had never been to the state fair (and I know why - you shouldn't take your kids to enjoy all the good stuff!) before I met Jason. I think we went together the first year we were dating and I don't know if we have missed one yet - except a couple years while we were in STL.

Highlights of the fair:
1. Riding or pretending to drive all the new tractors
2. Varied industries building - lots of "innovative" stuff that you don't need
3. Craft buildings that show all the cool stuff that you could make if you had time or talent
4. 4-H building - I have to put that since Jason was in 4-H. I looked for some of my kids' projects but the building is sooooo big and I didn't know what they had brought.
5. Beef tent, pork tent, beer tent - opps sorry I didn't mean that one - I don't drink but there were enough people that were to make up for me not!
6. funnel cake, egg rolls, turkey legs, HUGE corn dogs, euros...
7. Doll houses - so cool and intricate
8. butter cow - it's an Iowa thing
9. ICE CREAM - real or nitro or dippin' dots all are good
10. Slide
11. finding cheap parking in someone's lawn and hoping that your car is there when you get back and not dinged because they parked someone 3 inches from you!
12. Big pig, cow, boar etc - too bad they would make a terrible steak or pork chop!
13. Pioneers little farm where kids get to be a farmer!
14. And new this year - a building dedicated to baby animals where they are born during the fair and you can pet and hold them. It was stinky but the kids didn't mind!

Come join us and the rest of Iowa next year!

Where Willy Went

I went to the library tonight to return the kids' books and to pick out new ones. Jason is/was getting tired of them and he is sick of all the holiday books we have. The kids ask (after their nightly ice cream - just like daddy) how many books? Jason replies a number and quickly - and NO HOLIDAY BOOKS. They giggle and run to get their favorite Halloween, Christmas or Easter book.

There are so many books out there and some are better than others. I picked up this book because of the cover and the title. How can you put down a Willy book? I don't usually read the books completely through before taking them home, but the first sentence caught me off guard and I decided to read on. "Willy was a sperm." I took a double take and looked at the tadpole picture on the first page.

I turned the page and read on to see a very detailed story about this little guy - "he wasn't good at math but he was a good swimmer..." It had detailed pictures of his swim route and of the "big race."

I was a little appalled that it would be in the children's book area. Do we really need to read this to our pre-schoolers?

How Fast Can Your Big Wheel GO?

The kids love to ride their bikes. Ally is getting good on her Dora bike and Drew is finally able to get that big wheel to move. The only problem is that Ally ALWAYS has to be in the front or WWIII starts.

Jason dug out our bikes on Sunday from the basement. We weren't sure if the tires would still hold air since we haven't rode them since probably before Ally - being pregnant or small baby doesn't work well with riding a bike. I wasn't sure if I would remember how to ride it. Jason was already making fun of me since I am a SLOW and wobbly rider back in the olden days.

We took off for a ride through the subdivision. Drew kept up on his silly big wheel. Those poor little legs were constantly pedaling as fast has he could. He was so cute driving down the rode. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I would have fallen off my bike. On Monday my behind was feeling the ride.

Point of this entry: I forgot to thank the lovely youth auction people for my great bike from almost 7 years ago that I love - it will never be for training for a triatholon and it isn't worth much, but the moments I get to spend with my family makes it priceless!

It's a Good Sign!

Jason's nose is slowly getting a little better each day. I wish that we would have thought about allergy season when we did scheduled this, but really when is a good time?

The last two mornings Jason has gotten up and told me about dreams. He never dreams. That is one sign of sleep apnea because you never get into a deep enough sleep to dream. So two nights ago we were at a camp being CSI's investigating girl's smuggling in something. Watch out Sarah and Ben!!!!

Last night we (why do I get pulled into the dreams???) were on a freight train trying to get off all the animals to keep them safe before it exploded. Then we had to round them up once they were off.

Anyone want to interpret the dreams' meanings?

Take a Picture of Me!

Look Mommy I am a statue! We came home a little early today to relieve Daddy so he could go to a meeting. Drew stayed home sick today. Ally is becoming very technological. She has figured out how to take pictures with our camera even though she is scolded each time. Her pictures are getting better though. Now whatever she intends to take a picture of is really what comes out. This is her newest photo.

She has lost computer time for Tuesday for playing with the camera. She like to read books and play games. She does really good for not being able to read. She can even print pictures which is another way to lose computer priveleges around here. So if you need a place for your young child to learn how to use the computer try out Nick Jr. or Playhouse Disney. Believe it or not, Pre-K curriculum national standards are calling for some general computer usage like being able to manipulate a mouse!

Helping Change the Tire

Remember way back to care group when Jason asked everyone to write the steps of how to change our tires??? Many of us wrote down cell phone numbers of our spouses. Last spring I don't think I blogged about it but a tragedy came when a high school friend changed my tire when Jason was in Wisconsin. The tire fell on his hand and blew out his ring finger. Five months later and it looks pretty good except that he has completely lost his finger nail.

As I was driving home from the hospital on Friday night on the curvy river road, I was afraid of a herd of deer running in front of me. Who would I call? Jason barely remembers that I was at the hospital. Rachel can't come help me, she has the kids. Thus I drove slowly (speed limit) so that I would hopefully have plenty of time to stop.

I really depend on Jason so much for all my heavy labor - I like to think that I am strong but we all know better. I know that I can mow the lawn, but he does it faster. I tried to weed eat earlier this summer and went through the whole lawn, but it looked the same as I started. I wanted to cuss at the stupid thing. (Actually I think it was broken, but I will claim helplessness.) Every time I go to the shop to get my oil changed, they tell me I need other things. Never happens to Jason.

But my tires. Mr. Oswood purposely made us learn to change a tire in Drivers Ed. UMMM I have a dad and hopefully some day a man for that! But Mr. Oswood knew that someday we would be stuck on the side of the road not being able to call anyone (that was when cell phones were still in bags!). I learned and could probably get through it if it happened but I would drive straight to a mechanics shop to get it fixed.

This morning on the way to church we had some strange bumping. Being late as usual, Jason didn't want to stop, but I thought I wanted to check it out and of coarse - completely flat. Should Jason have changed that tire - probably not since the dr. said to avoid strenuous labor, but I helped as much as I could. This afternoon I told Jason that I was going to put the good tire back on with him watching so that I for sure knew how to do it. I did it, but promised him that if I was an hour from home he was still coming to my rescue!

Side note: Drew is hitting the tire with the mallet to put the hub cap back on.

No Picture

Wow I am exhausted! I would post a picture and Jason asked several times yesterday if I was going to get one for the blog. What has my life come to? I can describe what he looked like. Picture Jason in a hospital gown with ties in the back not afraid to show his panties - I mean underware. Face - tired wishing he could breathe and tapped to the bottom of his nose a big piece of gauze that was changed about every hour. Nothing changed on the outside - still the big nose that Ally inherited during delivery. (inside joke if that didn't make sense.)

I have been running around with my head cut off making sure everything stays inline and everyone is taken care of. I hate being gone, but I was confident in my sub on Friday - the kids hate her because she doesn't let them mess around!!! Good for me!

Jason had surgery on Friday morning for 2 reasons. First - because his sleep study said he had sleep apnea and the dr. thought that straightening some stuff out up there would fix it hopefully. Second - because he loves his wife and prefers that she sleeps beside him instead of a jail cell. Mostly during allergy season it sounds like a freight train is going through our room and once I am awake there is no going back to sleep. (I slept very little from March to May.)

It is not a painful surgery since there are very little nerves there, but for the first 24 hours they stuff about 90 tampons up your nose - making the only way to breathe out your mouth. If you have ever tried to eat or sleep like that it makes it tough.

Due to my wonderful sister infecting my mom with a horrible cold, she was out for kid patrol. My dear friend Kate came to my rescue. She took the kids to school with her and picked them up. She got the taste of being a mini van momma for a day. Then her husband and her came back to watch them during the evening til Rachel could get here so I could be some company to Jason. I am not sure what Jim (Kate's husband) thought - it might have been some birth control for them.

We picked up Jason the this morning after a trip to the Golden Arches. I took Drew to the dr. since he sounds like Ariel on the Little Mermaid - no strep and his lungs are good - man he sounds like crap though! We are home and I have more to do than I can imagine.

Jason isn't under any restrictions except to not blow his nose for 2 weeks and if you know him well this will be one of the hardest tasks to do. This causes slight problems since it has rained like 40 inches this week and our grass is almost hiding our cars - he is allergic to the outdoors and the dust. I am going to attempt to mow and now hurt my arm but if you are in the area and know how to weed eat - I would love a visit!!!

Off to finish the laundry and cleaning the house. Hopefully the kids will nap good since they woke up at 6:23 this morning.

Breakfast in the Van

I wish this picture showed the true mess Drew made in the car this morning. The story begins a couple days ago when my never-forget-anything daughter remembers that when we go to school we can stop at the store on the way and get donuts. Really, I didn't stop much last year, but I guess enough to ingrain it into her brain. I refused to stop, but promised that we would go to the grocery store and get some donuts for the next day.

We got what I thought everyone had wanted. Ally said she wanted white ones with no sprinkles and Drew is into anything with chocolate on top or powdered sugar. This morning we only had powdered sugar donuts and one chocolate but with pudding it in - my favorite. I am not a good sharer of my pudding donuts and had hoped to hide it while I got in the car. My excuse - it would make too much of a mess.

I didn't do such a great job as Drew spotted it immediately. Can I have a little bite? (repeat) Can I have a little bite? No I want a BIG bite. Okay I gave in and licked the pudding out so the mess wouldn't be made and he ate the remaining top of my chocolate donut. Does that count as being a servant???

Drew bragged to Ally - I got TWOOOOO donuts. On the way he managed to have powdered sugar everywhere and chocolate on his shirt. His face had the chocolate frosting to help the sugar stick even better.

I didn't plug in the video so they both talked the whole way constantly about the corn, beans, barns, tractors, and train (which we have managed to be stopped by everyday).

Kate (my wonderful science teacher friend) is taking them to school on Friday so I can go with Jason to the hospital for his nose job. I think that I won't give them donuts for her sake!!!

Supper prayers

Dear God - thank you for the food. and dear God, I don't know why I have to go to school everyday, but I have to go to school every day and dear God Amen.

Ohhhhh no we are in trouble - 3rd day of Pre-K and already is questioning why we have to go everyday! Let's just say that we were laughing so hard that we ended the prayer there.

When asked to use her spoon to eat her corn at supper - Ally said, "But I love my hands - They're great!"

These are for Jason's quote book. I wish I could make the quote book.

$11.92

As I write this I remember our good friend Jenn Milliken. I remember Jenn's air being out on their good car all summer, but she was afraid that it would cost too much to fix so she drove around without air.

We have not been driving the pick-up because the blower on the fan went out in March. It is butt hot here in the promise land. The air is so thick with humidity that it is hazy - look what you are moving into Allie L!!! Knowing that I needed to save miles on my van, I drive the truck to work, but I have refused since it doesn't have air. I am not quite like Jenn in her suffering with small children!

I finally talked Jason into getting it fixed when he started doing research on the internet about the problem. He found out that there is this small transitor or something that sometimes burns up and you can spot it and fix it. uHHHHH good luck finding it honey! After much searching he and Ally found it. It was "broken" so they went to the store to replace it for $11.92. Now the air works great. Why didn't we look into this back in March????

Hats off to you Jason!

Another Start

Another start to another school year. I wish I didn't have to post this picture, but we must document the day. Someday I will embarass my kids by taking the picture with their bus driver while everyone waits and snickers on the bus. Much to our surprise, Drew was the one excited to go and Ally wanted to stay in bed! By the time we got to school, they both were running down the hall to their class. Their preschool teachers reported a good day by both (and they supposedly took naps!)

My 8th graders were happy to see me back and I am happy to be back in 8th grade. Quite surprising since many were happy to say good bye last spring! What I miss most is the air conditioning from STL!!!! It is hot in my room and full of humidity. I told the boys I was leaving a bottle of deodorant by the door. I also seem to get heat headaches that don't go away very easily. My voice is soar and I think I am getting a cold from temperature changes. Enough complaining - pray for a great year and that God will use me in mighty ways with these kiddos!

Top 5%

Once again Jason shows his intelligence. Our kids are drinkers - they get it from their parents. Jason guzzles a glass a water before bed (and then wonders why he has to get up 3 times in the middle of the night???) Both kids like to have drinks before bed and would guzzle it if you gave them the chance.

So what did Jason come up with? Our teeny tiny glasses we got as toys from A&W kid's meals. They don't hold more than 2 tablespoons! Best thing - the kids think they are so cool and don't realize they aren't getting a lot of water!

And for the title - Jason was tested at Paric for problem solving skills and the test given placed him in the top 5% problem solvers in the nation. What does that mean - absolutely nothing.

Too Slow

Jason (and I) were too slow in getting to the couch to read tonight. We were reading the all exciting Erector Set (the ISU ConE's annual). It has updates of all the graduates that send stuff back. I think it is everyone's way to brag how successful they have been over the last year. But it is fun to see where some of our friends ended up.

Then I started listening to what the kids were doing - Ally was reading Drew's cow book to him. Well she was making up words but they did make sense! Share Bear also got in on the action!

Today's Chuckle

Jason gets to stay home and spend quality time with the kids today! He sent me an email of today's adventures as of 10:00 this morning.

We cleaned out the truck and now we are at the museum. On tne way here Drew looked out the window and yelled 'I see a hooker'. (Crane)

As we were pulling in, Ally said - Dad, youre freaking me out!

I wish I could have been there to see the tone in their voice because that would have made it even better.

What's That?

I am not sure how Chris talked Amy into this but I think it is cool. Can you guess what plant is by their front door? And yes it is a legal plant!

Also isn't Kaylee's swimsuit so adorable? I was calling her kay kay at the funeral and she would just giggle at me. She was trying so hard to call me Aunt Brrrenda instead of Aunt Bindie. Who cares what she calls me - I love her!

Hats off Allie

I don't have Allie's blog on my sidebar because she would prefer remain anonymous, but she is a very talented song writer. I have to to link her blog for Monday called Unafraid because I think that it paints a picture of what so many people go through in life. I just finished a book on fruit of the Spirit by Beth Moore (recommend!!!) and it talked about FRUIT that only God can give you when you are a Christian. But you have to take them and use them. I found myself not willing to grab some of them but wanting them so badly.

My prayer this summer has been to trust God's faithfulness. You might say - duh but it is harder than it looks. We like to say God is in control, but really are you letting him be in control. Are you having peace with him steering the wheel?

Allie - I hope that Unafraid goes a long ways because the words are a testimony of the person that I want to be because God is in control.

Silly Girl

School has started for me which means I don't have as many stories or pictures for you. It is hot and I am ready for about 8 inches of snow!!! This year was the hardest to go back. I had such a fun and relaxing summer with the kids and I didn't want it to end. I am also not looking forward to SOME of my kids this year. I need to keep a good attitude and pray that they have grown up slightly over the summer. A majority were great but a few apples spoiled the bunch.

I am looking forward to 8th grade again. Algebra concepts are hit hard this year and that is my specialty. Does anyone want to retake 8th grade math this year???? Highlight of this week were ordering a much needed new book - yes late, but it has taken me 2 months to talk everyone into it!

So I leave you with some of Ally's funnies from the past week.
In parking lot at Culvers on way to Minnesota
A: Why are we stopping here?
B: To eat supper.
A: I thought we were going to heaven.
B: mmmmm not quite Grandma Lil went to heaven, we are going to her going away party
A: Can we go to heaven?
B: Yes but I would rather not today.

Conversation while at breakfast in Minnesota
A: I am going to marry Daddy?
B: Really? Why Daddy?
A: Because I love him (break for thinking) and I love weddings!

Stacey (babysitter this week) gave me this one from when they were playing on the swingset.
A: (in the middle of playing stops) Dear Jesus Thank you for letting Stacey come babysit. I love her. Dear Jesus Amen.

At least we have done a good job of portraying the thought that you can talk to God anywhere!!!

(The above picture is of the kids playing kitty. I don't know why they feed kitties with bottles, but they weren't fighting!)

Blue Earth and the Green Giant

The highlight of the trip was seeing the Jolly Green Giant on the way home. As children this meant less than an hour to Grandma's house! We would have a game to see who could see it first from the interstate! This is the headquarters for those great veges! I know that you are all jealous and would want to go. It is about 1 hour from the intersection of I-35 and I-90! You too can get a picture with the Jolly Green Giant! They even had a tourist shop where we signed the guest book. I think that counts for our vacation this year!

Drew, Ally and I are the speck at his feet.

A mini giant with my giant kids!

Jason shaking the elfs hand.

Playground

Chris and Jason took the kids to the park a couple times. All three of them did great. We were blessed by a lady that volunteered at the last minute to watch them during the funeral. I don't know if she knew what she was getting into, but we had videos and colors for them.

Drew's scary look!

Ally coming out the sticky slide.

Twins! I know Amy this isn't the outfit you had picked out, but I couldn't resist since we had the same shirt!

We were in Minnesota a couple years ago at this same park. First picture was taken in June 2005!

This one was harder to get since neither wanted to sit and smile at the top of the slide, but instead race down!

And yes - the hard hat barely came off.