The Rundles

I'm back!

2010-04-26T14:23:00.004-04:00

First of all I would like to apologize for not posting anything in such a long time! I guess my only excuse is that I spend too much time posting on facebook now and it took away from my blog postings.
We had a very exciting weekend! Saturday night lightening struck one of our trees in the yard and then traveled to the gas, sewer, and water lines. There was a very large explosion (along with a large fire ball) that shook the entire house. I guess it was heard all over town. We, along with everyone else on and around our block had to evacuate for the night while they worked on the broken gas line. Fumes were very strong. We stayed with Bill and Bev. We were not able to get back into our home until Sunday morning. Gas and electric were turned back on, but we did not have any water pressure. Water dept. came out to evaluate it and decided that they were not going to pay for overtime to fix it on a Sunday since we were the only ones on the block with no water. So had to take our clothes to Bill and Bev's and shower and get ready for meeting there.

Today (Monday) they have been working on the water pipes all day. I guess it is a lot worse than they expected. Hope it will be fixed by evening, but not holding my breathe. This morning the kids went to the neighbors to take their showers before school.

our poor tree that got hit

Allen pointing into the hole in our driveway

This is where the sewer and gas lines exploded and blew up the road. They have fixed the lines and have put a temporary patch on the road.

our driveway with a big hole at the end of it!

The hole in our driveway

another picture of the water dept. digging the hole in our driveway

July 13, 2009

2009-07-14T10:33:00.003-04:00

We had a really nice time being with Geri last night. Of course the time went by way too fast!

Here is a picture of Janine and I. Always love seeing her!!!

♥ Geri and Jeanette ♥

Geri ☺

Football sign-ups

2009-07-11T15:22:00.003-04:00

Football sign-ups started today. Nathan has decided he wants to play this year. I'm a little nervous to say the least!
Nathan liked the skull and crossbones on the back of his helmet!

Birthday cake

2009-06-24T22:02:00.002-04:00

Finally got a birthday cake for Nathan tonight. We didn't have one for him on his birthday since we were in Tennessee. Bible study was at Bill and Bev's so took it with us and had it there. Nathan wanted an Oreo Blizzard cake from DQ, so that is what he got. So many pieces of cookie on top that we couldn't write anything on it! Don't think he minded~

The technique works!!! (see video below)

Gatlinburg 2009

2009-06-22T20:17:00.018-04:00

We had a really nice time in Tennessee this year. It was very hot so spent a lot of time at the pool. Spent one day at Cherokee where we went fishing. Brought back 6 rainbow trout to the chalet and Allen grilled them up for supper. Allen and the two boys spent one day at the Nascar Speed park racing go-carts.

Allen and I in downtown Gatlinburg.

Dad and Mom at IHOP

The only family picture I got of us and it was taken in the parking lot of IHOP's on our last day in Tennessee!!!
Game of mini golf that we played one day when it was rainy. This was an indoor black light course. You can see the glow from the black light off the kids. And yes, that is Allen behind them looking like he is about to club one of them!

There were a lot of these painted bears around Cherokee.

The kids in a giant rocking chair in Gatlinburg.

Game of mini golf on Nathan's birthday. This was a really fun course, but it was very hot that night. Started playing around 8:00 and the temp. was 94 degrees! We had a good view of the tram going up the mountain from the pool.

The pool. Spent a lot of our afternoons here. Sarah, Mom and Dad at the nature center.

Nathan fishing with some help from Allen.
Nathan with the fish he caught. Greg fishing. Greg's catch.

Rainbow trout. A very well stocked pond!
Sarah fishing.

Sarah's catch! She doesn't like to hold them~

Allen and I at Newfoundland Gap.

Sarah, Nate, and Greg at Newfoundland Gap.

We love to go see the bears when we are in Cherokee. This is Ben. He is 23 years old. They told us most bears in the wild only live to be 9.

Another picture of Ben.

Yet another picture of Ben.

Grizzly bear waiting patiently for some apple.

These bears were really good at catching the food that was thrown to them.

Baby bear

Soccer season over!

2009-06-08T08:03:00.004-04:00

Nathan's team played their last two soccer games on Saturday. It was the tournament games. They won the first game, but lost the second. Ended up winning the division championship and getting runner up for the tournament. They went the whole season undefeated and then lost their last game that they played in the tournament!

Here we all are at Hacienda after the last game. Coach is handing out their trophies. They ended up with a ranking of 14th in the state of Indiana!

Some shots of Nathan in the morning game on Saturday. The next four pictures are of Nate fighting for the ball. He actually ended up getting the shot, but it took a lot of work. I was lucky that it took place right in front of where I was sitting.

The whole team (coach in white, Allen and the other dad were assistant coaches).

This was their "#1 in the division pose"!! Ha!

Long time away

2009-05-30T11:29:00.002-04:00

It seems like I've been away from my blog for a long time, and I have.
My last post was on Nathan's field trip. Since then, as most of you know, I have had surgery and have been unable to really do much of anything. On May 15th I went in for a hemorrhoidectomy. Was not something I was looking forward to at all, but they had gotten much worse these last few months. I will spare you the details, but lets just say it was the worse pain I have ever been in. Period! So glad that I am feeling better. The surgeon told me that I would hate him for two weeks after the surgery, and he was right!
Yesterday was my two week mark, and I was feeling much better than I had even the day before. I went out to eat with Allen and then grocery shopping. First time out of the house in two weeks! It felt great!! Greg was playing in the band last night at the High School graduation and Nathan and Sarah were out at the circus with Grandma and Grandpa Rundle. So we had a nice quiet dinner out.
Sarah told me this morning that I looked like my old self again...not sure how I was looking before that! Maybe it's just that I am walking more normal now (no more old lady shuffle) and I'm actually up doing things. Allen said it was good to have me back too. He said these last two weeks brought back memories of his bachelor days, with having to do all the cooking, picking up around the house, grocery shopping, and laundry. Poor guy!! He really took good care of me though! My parents came over for 3 days last week to help with taking the kids to school and picking them up. They also did a good job of taking care of me during the day. We've had neighbors, family and friends all helping out with bringing over food too. Sure did appreciate all the help and support.
Things are definitely looking up now. Looking forward to taking a vacation in a couple of weeks. Greg decided to not take a summer class this year, his counselor kind of advised him not to. So we are free to go to Gatlinburg after all!!! Yeah!
I am taking a class next week on Differentiated Instruction in the classroom. It's too keep my license up to date. Also hoping it will help with getting a teaching job here for next year. Our school system is requiring all their teachers to take this class, so thought I might as well do it now.
Need to also start thinking about having a garage sale and need to get our pool passes bought! Guess summer is here!

Field Trip

2009-05-05T15:36:00.008-04:00

Today I went with Nathan on his school field trip. We went to Notre Dame. I went last year with Sarah and really enjoyed the tour so decided to go again this year with Nathan. The lunch was a big pull in whether I went also! They have the most awesome lunch hall. It is the biggest buffet I have ever seen. There are several different tables, all with different ethnic food. There is Italian, Mexican and Chinese. They will stir fry up just about anything you can imagine. Also pizza table, grill table (hot dogs, hamburgers), a couple of different salad bars, soup bar, ice cream bar, dessert bar, breakfast bar, and then a home style bar with food like steak, pork chops, veggies, mashed potatoes...stuff your mom would cook at home. Plus every drink under the sun. All of this we had access to for our lunch! They gave us a whole hour to eat, so we were able to make many trips!!

The boys in my group saw a student eating and they just knew that he had to be a football player because of the size of his arms. They finally got the nerve to go ask him, and he was. So then they talked to him for a little bit and got his autograph. I'm sure they made his day! Not sure what his name was but his number is 64.

I'm sure that will be the highlight of the trip! That, and Nathan drank Vault for the first time! Ha! He thought it was a big deal, but it's basically the same thing as Mountain Dew.

Brandon, our guide for the day.

South Dining Hall where we ate.

Football stadium

Distant view of the Dome
The Snite Museum of Art sculpture outside the museum
There were tulips everywhere on campus. Just beautiful!
132 Ft. mural on the side of the library. Reflection pool in the front.
Main Building and the Golden Dome Another view of the Golden Dome
Looking up inside the Golden Dome. There were five floors, and then the mural was above that! Pretty high up!

Standing on the steps of the Main Building look out over the campus.

The Basilica

These are the pictures I took inside the Basilica. Sorry, they are blurry. It was dark inside, so I used the night setting, and then the pictures blurred!

The painted ceiling.

The organ!

Another picture of the ceiling.

The Grotto

One of the two lakes on campus.

Little log cabin. Replica of the first building on campus. The original one burned.

I forget the name of this building but it was one of the dorms.

Update on Mom

2009-04-28T21:10:00.002-04:00

Well, Mom went home today! Allen and I arrived at the hospital this morning around 9:30. Mom seemed so much better. Was more alert, color was better, and her mouth was not as droopy. She is still having trouble with her words...called me-"Sharon" and Allen-"Dave", but that's ok! It was kind of funny, and she was laughing about it too!
We really didn't learn a whole lot more from the MRI results. Just that she had a stroke (knew that already) and that it was on the left side of her brain (kinda figured that out too since it is the right side of her face that is droopy). They also did an EEG on her this morning. That was quite interesting to watch. She had 26 probes stuck all over the top of her head and forehead with different colored wires coming out of them! I did take a picture of her but promised I wouldn't blog it! Won't know those results for a couple of days, and not really sure why the test was needed. More ways of telling us she had a stoke? Anyway, all the other tests came back fine, so the nurse took her for a walk after lunch and told her that if she did well on it then she would be able to go home.
By 5:00 tonight she was back home. While dad went out to fill her prescriptions, Allen and I fixed some supper for them and then came on home. The Dr. has her taking Plavix and aspirin. We still don't know what caused it, but just know that it was some sort of a clot. She seemed very tired tonight when we left them and her mouth was drooping again. I'm sure a good night's sleep in her own bed tonight without being woke up every two hours will do her some good!
Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers...they really do help!!

My Mom

2009-04-28T06:21:00.003-04:00

Dad took mom into the hospital Sunday night. She had been acting a little strange and then her face started drooping on the right side. They have determined that she had a light stroke. She is doing fairly well, no physical damage. She seems confused at times and is having a hard time finding the words that she wants to use when speaking. Can't think of the correct name for people and different items.
Dr. had more tests ordered yesterday, a MRI and an ultra sound of her arteries in her neck. Hope to find out the results of these tests today when the Dr. comes back in. We are just waiting to see if they can find out what caused the stroke and what can be done to prevent any more from happening. Dad has not left her side. Has a little chair in the room that folds out into a bed that he is sleeping on at night.
I went over yesterday after the kids went to school and plan to go over again today. Allen's plant is shut down today because of a broken water main, so he has the day off and is planning on going with me. I will take the laptop today so that I can post any new news that we may get.

Happy Birthday Rose!

2009-04-16T08:30:00.002-04:00

Melanie had us over for supper last night to celebrate Rose's Birthday. Bill and Bev were also there. Had a good evening. Always nice to have an excuse for cake! ☺

Rose blowing out her candles!
Jeanette

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-11T21:17:00.002-04:00

Found these bunny ears tonight in the closet and thought I would have some fun with the dogs. Copper was so well mannered and let us do anything we wanted. Coal, on the other hand, was not thrilled with the idea at all! Greg finally had to hold him (with his hand on the back of his collar) in order for us to get a picture of him.

Copper

Coal (if looks could kill!)

New post

2009-04-11T19:18:00.003-04:00

I started a new post on April 6th about Allen adding on to the deck. I didn't post it right away because I was waiting to get a picture of the deck once it was finished. So I just saved the draft. Well, I went to publish it today and it posted way down on the page. You will have to scroll down quite a ways to find it. It is titled "Another project".

If this was an April Fool's Joke...

2009-04-06T21:40:00.003-04:00

Mother Nature was a few days late!

We woke up to this ugly site this morning!! It's pretty when it's December, but not when it's April 6th!! I know it's not as bad as what they have been getting out west, or even up north, but it was still a shock to the system. I'm ready for sandals!!!

Special Week

2009-04-06T21:28:00.003-04:00

This past Monday, Rose and Jeanette came to stay with us for the week. They were starting meetings at the library here in town. Was nice to spend some time with them. Hope the dogs and kids didn't wear them out too much!

Jeanette (playing Skip-Bo with Sarah and Nathan) and Rose working on some recipes

Sarah

Nathan

Jeanette (looking pretty serious!)

Sarah and Jeanette

Nathan and Sarah

Reason Greg wasn't playin this night...homework!

Mi Camino's!!!

2009-04-06T21:16:00.002-04:00

Sunday night we took Barb along with us to Mi Camino Real. MY FAVE Mexican restaurant in town. They have this thing they do if it's your birthday. Well, they bring out the big sombrero hat and put it on your head while they sing happy birthday to you. Then when they are done, they smack a plate into your face that is full of whip cream!! They then take your picture and put it up on the wall. The guy who took the picture was too late and Barb had already cleaned her face off. So the picture in the restaurant only shows her with a little cool whip on her nose. Luck for her...I had my camera and got a good shot!!

Here she is with the hat on her head

Cool whip facial!

Sarah sooo happy it wasn't her birthday! I can't get my kids to go here when it's their birthday!
Nate liking the sombrero hat and his Jarrito!

My cutie!!

Twist and Shout

2009-04-06T20:45:00.005-04:00

Melanie bought Barb some bubble gum and a hula hoop as a joke for her birthday. Everyone took their turn at the hula hoop. Another advantage to being the photographer...no pictures of me doing the hula!!!

Nathan

Grandma (Bev)

Sarah

Barb

hula hoopin' videos

Birthdays

2009-04-06T20:32:00.002-04:00

A week ago Barb drove over for the weekend. Steve was out of town, so she decided to come over for a long weekend. She arrived on Friday and stayed until Monday. Melanie's birthday was on the Thursday before she got here and Barb's birthday was on Monday. So we celebrated their birthdays together. Kevin and Nikki also came down for the weekend. Listen to me...it sounds like I housed them all here! Actually, Barb stayed at her folks house while Kevin and Nikki stayed at Mel and Dave's.
We all went over to Mel and Dave's Friday night for supper. Saturday we had everyone over here for supper. And then we were back at Mel and Dave's for Sunday dinner. Fun weekend!

Sarah with Coal and Duncan (Kevin and Nikki's dog)

Kevin dipping the ice cream

Melanie and Barb blowing out their candles!

Melanie and Barb

Another project...

2009-04-06T20:21:00.008-04:00

Allen loves to have a project, so last Friday he tackled the deck. He has been wanting to make it bigger for a while now.
The deck before....Allen had added on this part of the deck back in May of 2006.
Stairway to...........where? Allen had to move the stairs out of the way while he was working on the deck.

Looking into the area that was going to be added on to.
Allen working.

Framing in the area that was being added.

Getting closer.

Finished!!

Front page news!! ☺

2009-03-26T17:45:00.003-04:00

Allen brought in the Plymouth Newspaper tonight and look who was on the front cover!!!!!
http://www.thepilotnews.com/
Greg is wondering why I am so excited about it. He said, "It's not like she did anything!"
Well, it's just neat to see such a big picture of your child on the front page of the newspaper. Even if it is just a little newspaper! Do ya think he might be just a wee bit jealous? Ha

Update!! Try this link...if the one above takes you to today's front page news.
http://www.thepilotnews.com/content/view/101280/

Chicago

2009-03-26T17:24:00.004-04:00

Monday we took the train to Chicago with the Sullivan's. Their kids are on Spring Break this week also, which worked out really nice.

Lucas and Sarah on the train

Nathan on the train
Greg on the train

We went to the Field Museum. They had a pirate exhibit going on which was pretty interesting to tour through.
Skyline of Chicago as we left the Field Museum. It was a very cloudy day, so we decided to not go up to the top of the Sears Tower. Guess we will have to come back another time for that. I would really like the kids to experience that.

Part of the gang at Millennium Park. We walked there from the museum to see "The Bean"!

Jacob, Greg, Allen, Dave, Donna, and Joshua.

Sarah, Lucas, and Nathan standing in front of the bean.

People standing under the bean.

I took this picture looking up into the bean. You can't see me, I am behind the bright flash of light!

Skyline reflection.

Allen and I.

Give-a-way!!!

2009-03-25T15:24:00.002-04:00

In case you haven't checked out any of my favorite blogs that I have listed...you've got to check this one out today! Stacy is having a give-a-way! Some really awesome scrubs!! http://allsugaredupsugarscrubs.blogspot.com/
Remember, Mother's Day is just around the corner!!!

Don't come to our house!!

2009-03-15T09:44:00.002-04:00

I have been sick again! Started feeling bad on Thursday, runny nose and sore throat. Felt worse as the day went along on Friday, was running a fever by the time I got home from school. I am still not feeling too good. My fever is gone, but still ache all over and have a very clogged up head.

Nathan had this last week. He started out with a headache and his ear hurting on Saturday, a week ago. Then started running a fever on Sunday. Took him to the Dr. on Monday, he had ear infections. Got him on antibiotics, but the fever did not go away until Friday! He also was complaining of his back hurting by mid week. I think he had the flu, as well as ear infections. He finally started eating on Friday. He lost 3 pounds over the week! That's a lot for his little body!

Well, Sarah started complaining yesterday (Saturday) with a headache, sore throat, and her ear hurting. She is all clogged up too. This morning (Sunday), she woke up with a temperature of 100.1! So I am home with her this morning while Allen and the boys are off to meeting. It is a never ending cycle, it seems like anyway! I'll be glad for Spring Break! Hopefully everyone will be feeling good by then and we can enjoy our days off!

They won't like this.....

2009-03-07T16:15:00.003-05:00

but I just had to post these two pictures!

And while I'm posting, this one is a classic pose of Dave!

Ok, I'm sorry for that! This one will make up for it.

Coal and I have a little morning ritual. I sit and drink my morning tea while catching up on the news and he lays in my lap getting spoiled!

This and that

2009-03-07T15:52:00.004-05:00

I always feel like I need to post pictures whenever I blog. I don't know why I feel like that, but I do, and it keeps me from blogging, sometimes for several days. Sorry about that! Anyway, here are a few new pictures!

Hammie coming up the steps for a nut or two.

She really is putting on the weight!Hammie taking a nut from me.A nap in the sun after eating several nuts.

Coal and Copper after their grooming. Notice that Coal's bandanna is already messed up, he soon had it pulled off completely.

Copper

Coal

Amber's last day

2009-02-26T07:38:00.002-05:00

Amber is a high school student who has been coming into the classroom everyday. The class that she has been taking in high school is called cadet teaching. It is for students that are interested in a teaching career. They are then placed with a teacher in the community and go to that teacher's classroom everyday to help out and observe. Amber was already coming to the classroom when I took over for Lisa. She has been such a big help and the kids just all love her. Well, it was her last day on Tuesday. The semester ended and her class is over. So we had a little party for her. I have been making a photo flip book for her for a keepsake. Also gave her some flowers, forgot to take a picture of them, but they were brightly colored daisy's. Bright blue, purple, yellow, green, and pink. The kids all made cards for her. It was a fun, but sad day.

Here is a picture of the kids playing "heads up 7-up"!
This is a picture of Amber with some of the kids

Another picture of the kids playing "heads up 7-up"

The whole class with Amber! (3 boys were missing from this photo, 2 sick and 1 hiding because he does not like his picture taken)

Friday the 13th

2009-02-13T20:56:00.006-05:00

Sarah was worried this morning that it was Friday the 13th. I told her not to worry, because today was going to be a good day. They had missed their school Christmas party on the last day of school because it was canceled due to snow. So they were having a valentine's party today to make up for the lost Christmas party. Plus today was an early release day, they were getting out at 12:20. They were also to dress up today for school and practice showing good manners. She had also purchased several Valentine grams for her friends and they were going to be delivered today at school. So all in all, it should have been a good day. And it was until she decided to make more cookies. Chocolate chip cookies again this time. Well, she ended up burning her wrist on the cookie sheet as she was taking a batch out of the oven. Then as she was trying to finish up the rest of the cookies her brothers kept coming in and eating the cookies just about as fast as she was baking them. This upset her more because she said, and I quote, "All they care about is my cookies and not about my arm!" Poor thing! She definitely needs a big box of chocolates.

Speaking of injuries, it's been a while since the youngest son has been injured. Friday the 13th must not be good for him either. While at school today he fell and skinned up his hand and knee. He was running across the playground as fast as he could go, and he says he goes pretty fast!, when he was knocked down by another kid and went sliding across the blacktop on his hand. Of course they were all for me blogging the pictures of their injuries, they must not be getting enough sympathy from home and are hoping to get more from someone outside their immediate family!

Nathan's injury

Sarah's burn

I had a good Friday the 13th!! My Valentine's from the kids at school!

The other night we had chicken tacos for supper. Afterwards I fried up some flour shells, sprinkled them with lots of cinnamon and sugar and then the kids filled them with ice cream drizzled with honey. Tasted pretty close to fried ice cream. This is a picture of Greg's dish he made.

Pajama Day

2009-02-10T19:42:00.005-05:00

Today was pajama day at the school I work at. Our schools in Plymouth received a grant from the government that allowed all the children to receive 3 free books. Today was the first day that they handed out the books. Our principal made it a fun day for all. Everyone was to come dressed in their pajamas, even the staff! Then at the end of the day everyone was to spend the last half hour of school reading their new book. A large box of books were delivered to the classroom and then the children were all aloud to pick a book of their choice. They were also served hot chocolate and cookies while they read their books. They also got bookmarks to make. We didn't have time to make them in class today. I don't know if I will send them home with the kids or if we will make them in class tomorrow. Here are some pictures of the day. The whole staff together after school for a group picture

Amber reading with one of the students. Amber is a high school senior who comes to the classroom every day at 2:15 and stays until the end of the class day. It is for a class that she is taking at the high school. Her last day will be Feb. 24th and I will really miss her when she stops coming. The kids will too!!!!

Aren't they just all adorable? Especially in their PJ's! I know you don't know who they are but these are just a bunch of sweet little kids that I am really getting attached to! I will really miss them when I have to leave! There are three students missing from the pictures. Two were sick and the third one was reading under a table and I missed getting a picture of him. Maybe I will have to stage them reading some other time!

Recipe for heart cookies

2009-02-10T17:49:00.003-05:00

Here ya go Anita....I do share!! Actually, the recipe came from my Betty Crocker Cookbook. They are called Scotch Shortbread.

Heat oven to 350^F.
Mix 3/4 cup butter, softened and 1/4 cup sugar. Mix in 2 cups all-purpose flour. (If dough is crumbly, mix in 1 to 2 Tbsp. butter.) Roll dough about 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut into small shapes. Place about 1/2 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until set, about 20 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet.

2009-02-09T06:46:00.002-05:00

Handmade for you! (the first 5 of you anyway)
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (good thing it's February~not so good for you who post though!)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. I like to bake, do crafts, and I love to draw and paint but haven't done that for years! I have a few ideas, but who knows what it will be? Not you, that's for sure!5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. (but don't worry, it won't be!)
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!So....who will be the first 5 people?????

more cookies

2009-02-08T21:14:00.003-05:00

Sarah made shortbread cookies this time, cut into hearts, and iced. She wanted to make the kind that you do Mom, at Christmas time. I helped her with rolling the dough out, but she wanted to do the icing. She had originally wanted to make these Friday. She called me while I was still at school and wanted to know where the recipe was. This was at 5pm. I told her that I was just about to leave school, but when I got home I would have to get supper. She said she knew all that and thought we could make them after supper! Ha I finally talked her into making them Saturday.

our morning routine

2009-02-08T19:38:00.002-05:00

Coal and I have this morning routine that we do every day now. I get up, fix myself a cup of hot tea, and then go sit at the computer for a while. Coal has taken to sitting in my lap while I do this. On school mornings it is around 6 am, on weekends, a little later. =] Allen took this picture of the two of us this weekend.
Sarah made cookies again this weekend. I took some pictures and will post them as soon as I download them to the computer. She made cookies on Saturday and then started feeling sick later in the day. I stayed home with her this morning. She has a stuffy nose, is sneezing and has a sore throat.

Greg's swimming

2009-01-27T19:29:00.003-05:00

Allen bought us a new camera the other day. He has been wanting one that will take rapid shots so that he can take pictures at Nathan's soccer games and such. Well, he had to try it out, so he took it to Greg's swim meet on Monday night. Here are just a couple of pictures from the meet.

Not sure how good this is for them, but Greg and his friends were chowing down on french fries right before the meet! That's Greg on the left, don't ya just love what the chlorine has done to his hair?! It's like straw!

Greg (on the board) getting ready for his turn in the 200 freestyle relay

Greg, on the board, getting ready to dive into the water

Allen took a lot more pictures, but I didn't want to bore you all with them. A lot of them look the same and then there were a lot of him in the water swimming and you really can't tell that it's him.

Ok, this blog is dedicated to my mother....

2009-01-27T16:19:00.004-05:00

I know she has been checking now for some time and I have been slow to post anything new. She's even talking of getting on fb so that she knows what is happening in my life!!! Sorry mom! But I think it would be neat if you did go ahead and get on fb too!

Anyway, here is what's been going on around here. I think the last time that I was on here was back close to New Year's so it has been a while. I have been busy with teaching (which is getting easier) and keeping up around the house. The real excitement happened last week.

Last Thursday I had just dropped Nathan and Sarah off at school and was on my way to work when I saw a car stopped in the oncoming lane ahead of me. I slowed down to see what was going on and noticed that a lady was getting out of the car. It was then that I noticed a body in the road. I immediately stopped the van and got out to help. It was hard to tell how bad the person was hurt, it was still fairly dark out. She was awake so we kept talking to her and telling her that help was on the way. We could tell that it was a student but I did not recognize her and it was hard to tell just how old she was. I stayed with her and the driver until a police officer got to the scene. He then asked that I take the driver back to her car. I then stayed with the driver ( who was very upset) until the ambulance arrived. I then went on to work. I found out later that the girl is in Greg's class and that she ended up with two broken legs. She was very lucky. You could see where she had hit the front of the car and also the windshield. I felt so sorry for the driver too. I really think she was on the verge of going into shock. I was fine until I got to school and then I had a little nervous breakdown. The nurse said that it was normal, but I still felt rather silly since I had been so calm at the scene. Especially when she came in to take my blood pressure and pulse! My heart rate was 120, don't remember my blood pressure. Anyway, that was a long day and by evening I was exhausted!

Friday was much better and Allen took me out for a nice, relaxing dinner down in Culver.

Allen has been looking for a new van. Keeps going back and forth on whether he wants to buy one or not. Ours is a 1999 with 110,000 miles on it, but it's paid for and still runs decent. Anyway, he found one yesterday that he really liked and ended up buying it. It is just like the one we have only newer (2004) with a lot less miles (29,000), and blue. I like it, he likes it, and the kids seem to like it! Here is a picture of it. It's not the best picture in the world, but at least you will know who it is pulling up into your drive mom!

Sarah made some chocolate chip cookies this past Sunday. It's so nice now that she can just go into the kitchen and do it all by herself with no help from me! Bet Dad wishes he had been here! Tell him Sarah will make him some the next time you two come over. By the time she was done baking them, we only had 8 left! I guess she will have to start baking two batches at a time if we want any left over for the next day!

Brrrr, was it cold!

2009-01-18T12:15:00.002-05:00

We ended up having no school on Thursday and Friday this past week because of the cold. Allen decided to cover the rabbit's cages outside with blankets to try and keep them warm. We didn't have any hay. In the past, when we have put hay in their cages, they would just push it all out anyway. When we woke up Friday morning, the temperature was a -19 degrees!

Looking out the kitchen window at the rabbit's cages all covered up.

We actually had ice on the INSIDE of the window!

A close up picture of the ice.

I decided to bake some bread to help warm up the kitchen. I kinda liked having these extra days off!

2009-01-11T14:55:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of videos of Hammie. She has gotten quite "chubby" this winter. Wonder why? =)

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

2009-01-03T08:49:00.005-05:00

We all got together at our house for New Year's Eve. Played games and ate a lot of food, what could be better? I tried finding the ball dropping on the Internet, but by the time I found it, it was done. I did manage to find a video clip from when it dropped in 2006! Ha! It looks about the same each year anyway...Here is Sarah watching all the action in Time's Square after the ball dropped.

My mother, looking a little tired.

My father, looking like he could stay up another hour or two!

Allen and I

I loved this picture of Katy, Barb and Sarah but it turned out blurry. I turned it into a cartoon image and it looks a little better.

Greg in a serious discussion with his dad about the football playoffs.

Sarah and Coal

The Hampton's

(Katy, Barb, and Steve)

Sarah fitting in quite well with the Hampton's!

Nate looking a little tired along with Coal!

Steve looking pretty relaxed

Mother and Daughter

You can tell by the expression on Steve's face what he thinks about dogs being in the house!!! We love him anyway!!!

Katy and Coal

This was a hoot! By 12:01am Bill had his hat and coat on and was ready to go home!!!

New Year's Day...everyone met back here at our house for dinner. The blue plastic plates were a little tacky maybe, but the food was wonderful. Bev brought over prime rib!!!

Nice day again with family!

Our time with Taylor

2009-01-03T08:40:00.002-05:00

Everyone enjoyed having Taylor around this week! Hope he enjoyed his time with us!!!

Greg and Taylor

Taylor feeding Hammie. He was a little confused with our way of "hunting" animals! Ha

Greg, Taylor and Nate playing guitar hero.

Sunday Pot Luck

2008-12-28T19:09:00.008-05:00

Gary and Karen had pot luck at their house today so everyone could see the Stocks. They are back home for a visit. Taylor came home with us after the pot luck so that he and Greg could spend a couple of days together. It was really nice seeing them again. We sure do miss them. Here are a few pictures from today.

Friday in Fort Wayne

2008-12-28T18:55:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics from our day together with my family in Fort Wayne. We left Friday morning and came home Saturday afternoon.

My brother, Kelvin, with their new dog. She is a white German Shepherd. He got her from our Uncle Terry who breeds them. I didn't get a picture of him with his wife, just his dog! oops! Sorry Holli!

Alec (Myron and Dawn's son) and Nathan wore the same jersey! Go Colts!!

Myron and Dawn

Bryan and Heather

I didn't get a picture of my parents either! They may be over for New Years so will try and get one of them then.

Our afternoon at Dave and Mel's

2008-12-25T22:25:00.005-05:00

Had a really nice day today. Went to Dave and Melanie's house for dinner. Bill and Bev were there also. Nine of us around the table. Had a good dinner. We played "Apples to Apples" for a long time. The kids just got that game today. We leave for Fort Wayne in the morning to do it again with my family!

Allen holding up his gift...a gift card to Lowe's!

Greg got a clock...when you move it, it rocks, which then turns on the light and will also turn off the alarm if it is on.

Nate with another shirt! Good thing it's a Colts shirt!!

Mel got slippers that you warm in the microwave before putting them on your feet!

I got a neck wrap that also can be warmed in the microwave before putting it around your neck!

These two chairs were never unoccupied today!! Imagine that! The sun was nice to see today!

Allen and Sarah

Bev opening her gift

Coal relaxin with his new wiener dog!

Hammie came looking for some nuts this morning!

Hammie taking a nut from me

Hammie eating the nut. She is so tame now that it does not even faze her that I am there in her face snapping pictures! She ended up getting 5 nuts this morning and a slice of wheat bread!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-25T11:03:00.004-05:00

The kids have to pose for me every year with their presents so I can get a picture. They have learned that if I'm not happy with the picture, I will just keep making them sit there until I get a good one...this year I only took 3 pictures!!! They are getting better! Ha

Greg with the gift that he wanted the most....Fable 2

Sarah

Nathan lovin the new jersey...his old one was way too small!

So Nathan!

Sarah so shocked that I found a bathroom set for her miniature doll house. We have been looking for them for a long time now!

Greg

Copper opening his gift

Copper got dogie cookies

Coal opening his present

He took off with it before Nathan could get all the paper off of it once he saw what was inside!

A new Wiener dog!! This one was dressed like a football player with a helmet (which is already half chewed off) and a football.

old news

2008-12-22T08:45:00.003-05:00

I was too sick to blog this when it happened, so will blog it now. Last Friday, when we had the ice day and didn't go to school, Sarah saw a strange sight out our living room window. I was in my bedroom and she came back and said, "Mom, there is a man outside with a rope and he is trying to catch a goat!" So I had to go see, I mean, we do live in town and it was hard for me to believe that there would be a goat outside our home. Well, Sarah was right, and it was a big white goat! I tried taking pictures of it, but they didn't turn out too well, but I will post of couple of them. Anyway, the man looked like he really didn't know what he was going to do. A lady soon showed up to help (I'm thinking the wife), but she really didn't know what to do either. I finally talked Allen into going out to help them. He really didn't want to though, because the goat didn't really look like he wanted to be caught! The kids all put on their coats and went to help, they thought it was great!

Well, they ended up chasing the goat to the front of the school and had it cornered by the front doors. When the goat saw that he was cornered, he put his head down and ran straight at the woman. She of course got right out of his way and he ran back to the spot he was before, beside our house in the school parking lot. When everyone caught up to him, he took off running again along the fence that separates the parking lot from the river. Well the fence ends at the end of the parking lot and of course the goat turned and ran behind the fence and then down the slope to the river! Allen said that the goat then ran right into the river and started swimming downstream. The man (owner) then took off running along the bank after it. That's when Allen came home with the kids, he wasn't about to follow the goat down river. We still do not know if they ever caught him or not. We think they (the owners) live one block over from us. They just moved in this past summer and we have noticed that they have ducks and chickens in their backyard, so it sounds reasonable to have a goat now too?! We wondered if it was going to be their Christmas dinner?! Ha

The goat standing over by the fence that separates the parking lot from the playground and also the river.

The poor man just standing and looking at his goat. You could tell that the goat did not want to be caught at all! He was 100% on the defense.

Here he is running back towards the parking lot after they had him cornered in the front of the school. All I was able to capture in this picture was his rear end as he ran past the tree that you see in the middle of the picture. Remember, I was running a fever and not feeling good at all, so I apologize for not going outside and getting better pictures! :-)

Here is when the goat ran into the woods and then the river. It is really hard to see the goat in this picture, but he is by the light pole that is just ahead of and to the right of Nathan. Nathan is the one still in the parking lot just getting ready to run into the snow.

Interesting Day

2008-12-20T09:44:00.007-05:00

Well, this all happened before the goat chase, but I uploaded my blogs in the wrong order! Oh well! I had actually started this blog and then was feeling so lousy that I just saved it and went to bed. It was later in the day when the goat came around.

We had no school today because of all the ice that we got last night and this morning. Nathan, Sarah, Allen and I went outside to check things out. Allen and Nathan ended up playing a little catch with the football. Here is Nathan catching one of Allen's throws. Sarah brought Coal outside with her and walked him around. He absolutely loves the snow! He didn't seem to mind the ice either!

Sarah and Coal

Coal

This is a closeup picture of the road!

Ice pictures

Allen said we need to photo shop a little bird spreading salt on his front porch into this picture!

The tree beside our house on the school property that started loosing branches. In the next blog you will be able to see where they later came out and put orange cones around the tree because it was getting so bad with fallen limbs.

Our poor arborvitae, not sure if it will make it or not. The Nipsco man will be happy though. We put this tree here to hide the meters, but the Nipsco man didn't like it too much because now he has to go behind it to read the meter!

ice on the pine tree

Hammie was spoiled today with a not just some nuts to eat, but she got a peanut butter and honey sandwich too!

Allen, not liking that I took his picture.....

so he grabbed the camera and snapped one of me! And to be fair, since I posted his pic, I guess I should post mine too!

belated birthday party

2008-12-20T09:31:00.002-05:00

Sarah had a belated birthday party last weekend. Her birthday always comes at Thanksgiving time, so it is hard to have a party for her then. We were going to have it the weekend after Thanksgiving, but one of her friends was having her party that weekend. So we ended up having it 2 weeks after her birthday this year. We didn't have a sleepover this year, just a few friends over in the afternoon for a few hours. They ate pizza, decorated cupcakes, and play guitar hero!

Sarah decorating a cupcake

We let Nathan have his friend Trevor over so that he wouldn't bother his sister and her friends. It really didn't work out too well. Had to keep them on different floor levels. The boys would shoot the girls with the nerf guns if they came downstairs, but the girls must have thought it was fun because they kept going downstairs and then would come up screaming when they got shot!

Sarah and her giant slice of cheese pizza!

Sarah's friends

Sarah and her gifts

Gingerbread houses

2008-12-16T21:28:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I attempted this with 25 third graders!! But I did, and we seemed to survive! It was a lot of fun, but a lot of noise and chaos too!! The kids had a great time decorating their gingerbread houses. We did this on Monday and then they took them home today after they hardened up. There were still a few that got broken before they made it out of the room. It was a huge deal trying to get them into bags and boxes to take home! I'm not holding my breath on whether any of them made it all the way home in one piece! Most of my students ride the bus so you can just about imagine how that trip went!
Tomorrow their teacher is planning on coming in to visit with the baby. She is wanting to surprise the class. It is snowing pretty good right now, so she may end up canceling. We may end up having a delay too, which would be just fine with me about right now. I am so ready for this break! I'm really getting attached to these kids, but they have really worn me out too! It has been so hard this week to get them to do any kind of school work. They just want to do fun things, which we have been doing plenty of, but I guess not enough to suit them!
Anyway, here are some pictures of them making their gingerbread houses.

This and That

2008-12-12T19:53:00.002-05:00

It's Friday night and I should be doing something, anything, besides sitting here at the computer, but I'm tired and there is a lot going on this weekend so I'm feeling quite justified right now. Besides, the puppy is sleeping on my lap and I hate to disturb him by getting up! So here are a few random thoughts and updates about what's been going on around here.

Copper went to the vet today to have his teeth cleaned. His gums are really bad and the last time we had him in they pulled 3 of his teeth. Well, today they pulled 8! He had to be on antibiotics for a week before the cleaning. They have to put him completely out to do the cleaning. The total bill was $179.00!! I guess if we had his teeth cleaned as often as they say we should (every 10 months), they probably wouldn't have to pull so many teeth. But he is 12 years old now, and his teeth have always been bad. So we will probably wait another 3 years to have it done again!
Sarah is having her girlfriends only Birthday party tomorrow (Saturday). I think she has invited around 6 girls over. I will feed them lunch and then she has it planned that they will decorate individual cupcakes instead of having a cake. I have no idea what else she has planned! I tend to leave that up to her anymore!
Nathan wanted a friend over tonight. I said no. It's been a long week and I want a quiet evening. He looked totally depressed so I compromised and told him he could have his friend over during Sarah's party. That way he stays out of Sarah's hair and they don't end up fighting. It will make for a noisy and hectic afternoon, but hopefully it will go quickly.
Tomorrow (Saturday) night one of my students is in a play at his church and has invited me to come see it. Today he asked if I was coming, so I guess I am now! Wasn't sure if he really cared, but since he asked me about it today, I figured I should make the effort and go.
Sunday is the High School's Christmas Concert. We will be going to that since Greg will be performing in the band. Sarah's band concert will be Monday night at the High School.
I am planning on having the kids make gingerbread houses on Monday at school. So sometime this weekend I need to go out and purchase graham crackers, candy and the ingredients for the icing that I will be making for it. There might be a window of time where I can get to the store between the birthday party and the Christmas play!
I stayed after school today until 5:45 working on next weeks lesson plans. We aren't starting a new story in reading next week, just going to do some fun reading and activities. This is much harder to plan though. Not sure how much time some of these activities will actually take! I was just getting into some kind of a routine too, as far as the reading blocks go. We do a 90 minute reading block everyday. Anyway, I need to go to the library some time this weekend too and check out some Christmas themed books for the kids to read during their reading time.
Today we had a carry in at school to celebrate all the November and December birthdays. Everyone brings in a food item except for those that have a birthday during that month. Of course my birthday has to be in July! Oh well, I just took in cookies. There ended up being a ton of desserts this time and very little food! Kind of shows you the week we have all been having! No one complained though! I'm sure next week won't be any better! The kids really do act like they are already on vacation.
Greg is wanting to take a class at the health club here in town. It is a life guard certification course. In order to get a job as a life guard at the health club, you have to take this course. I wouldn't mind him taking the class (the cost is $175) if he would then be guaranteed a job there. He is on the High School swim team and I'm sure he would pass the class, but don't really want to spend that kind of money and then have him not get a job.

This is all for tonight...I need to get into some cozy pj's and crawl into bed. Did I mention that I am fighting a cold? Allen, the sweetest husband in the world, made chicken noodle soup today while he was home. So that's what I had for supper tonight. He also made shredded BBQ chicken for sandwiches. So I didn't have to cook tonight!!

Sarah's 13th Birthday

2008-12-06T20:30:00.007-05:00

Sarah talked us into letting her open her present early...so she got it Friday morning before we left for Fort Wayne for our Thanksgiving meal with the Quinn's. She has been wanting a phone for a looooooong time now, but we just couldn't justify it. Well, when we went shopping for new phones for ourselves (Allen and I)...we ended up getting one for Sarah since they were having such a good deal on them. She had finally come to the place where she knew that she probably wasn't going to get a phone for at least another year or too. Boy was she surprised!

Sarah holding her one little present....not looking too excited. She thought it was going to be a wii game!

But then the bag started to play a song and vibrate! (Allen had called Sarah's phone with his from the kitchen!)

She knows what it is! And she sees her dad now on his cell phone!

Sarah talking to her dad on her cell phone!

Oh so happy!!

I think she likes it!

She got her gift from Grandma and Grandpa Quinn while in Fort Wayne. They weren't able to come over on Sunday when we had planned to have her party so it was just us and Bill and Bev (Grandma and Grandpa Rundle) Dave and Melanie were in Colorado visiting Annie. So it was a small party this year.

Sarah opening her gift from Grandma and Grandpa Rundle, pink perfume and lotion.

Sarah and her cake (a DQ extreme blizzard cake!)

The inside of the extreme chocolate DQ cake.

Sweethearts dance

2008-11-24T18:34:00.006-05:00

I really should be grading papers....but I haven't had much time to update my blog so I am going to take the time now. Besides, Greg isn't home right now to see that I am blogging him again! Ha!!

Greg was invited to the sweethearts dance and it was on Saturday the 15th. I can't believe that he wanted to actually go...knowing that he would be required to wear a suit. But he did, so we went shopping for a jacket. Many stores later we finally found one that fit him and that he liked! When I asked him if he was going to buy any flowers for his "date", he said that she had already ordered them and I needed to pick them up at 1:00 on Saturday!!

Here are a couple of pictures from that night. They all met at his friend's house for supper and then went from there to the dance. Of course Greg was totally mortified when I followed him into the house to take some pictures!! Oh well, it's good for him to be mortified by his mother once in awhile! He has since gotten his hair cut...so it does look a lot nicer now Mom!!

Greg and Amy

Greg and Amy

The whole gang

Snow Delay!

2008-11-21T07:00:00.003-05:00

We have a two hour snow delay today!! We have quite a bit of snow on the ground right now and it is still coming down pretty steady and heavy! Would almost be nice to have a cancellation. They are nice now, but we do have to make them up now, which is a bummer!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been very busy and tired! Have gone to bed at 9pm the last 3 nights! I barely get the kids tucked in before I crash. I am really enjoying my class, I have a couple of challenging boys, but nothing I can't handle! There are 25 students in my class! It's a big one! Their teacher had her baby yesterday...a boy. The kids don't know yet, I found out after they had left for the day. I think I will just put up on the board "It's a BOY!" and see if they notice! That is, if we have school today! I am planning on having them make her some cards today too, and then send them to her along with a baby gift. They are really missing her! I hope they can be content with me until she comes back. I can't believe how much time goes into planning lessons now! I stayed one night after school until 6pm and still didn't feel like I really got a lot accomplished! I am planning on going in on Sundays (late afternoon) and getting the whole weeks lessons done then so I don't have to stay after school very long through the week. I try to leave soon after school is out so that I can pick up Sarah and Nathan and take them home. Then I usually go back in to school after I drop them off at home.

Sarah and I are going to a baby shower tonight. It is a mother of one of Sarah's friends who is expecting! It was a surprise pregnancy! Tomorrow we have nothing planned, which is just great with me! Maybe some sledding in all this snow would be fun! Or a trip to the gym and sit in the hot tub! Bet you thought I was going to say work out! ha Should do that too though.

Update...our snow delay turned into a full cancellation!!!

Nothin' much...

2008-11-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to add a couple of lines to the blog. Not much is happening around here, sorry it has been so long since the last bit of news. Well, I guess I shouldn't really say not much is happening since I have been subbing for Lisa all week, but she still hasn't had her baby. She wasn't feeling good over the weekend, has a cold, so has been home trying to keep up her strength for when the baby does decide to make an appearance.

She e-mailed me today and said that she plans to come in tomorrow, but I think I will still go in some time during the day to help her out and do some grading for her. I am getting to know the kids really well now...and they are getting to know me! Not always a good thing there!! Ha

So I have been busy...just haven't taken over the classroom yet officially.

Allen's birthday is today...he took half the day off and came and had lunch with me at school! Jimmy Johns!!! Luv that place! Anyway, I was going to make him supper tonight but since I ended up working, he said we could just have pizza. Invited over his family to eat with us. Well....when I got home from work he had already made supper!! We are having pasta with white and red sauce (chicken in the white and sausage in the red), salad, and crusty bread with dipping oil!! So all I had to do was make his birthday cake, which ended up being apple crisp (his request) since he isn't a big cake lover! So my night has turned out pretty easy...just waiting to put the pasta on now. Poor guy, had to cook his own birthday supper! To tell the truth, I think he got a little bored around the house today with no one home!

New Job

2008-10-30T09:31:00.002-04:00

I had an interview on Tuesday of this week for a maternity leave. It is for a 3rd grade classroom at one of the other elementary schools here in town. Not the one I worked at as an Aide, but still in the Plymouth School Corp. Anyway, I got the call yesterday and the job is mine! I will be going in next week to meet the students and observe the classroom. Hopefully she (the teacher) won't deliver before I get a chance to observe, her due date is November 8th! So things will be changing around here real soon! If she comes back, it won't be until April sometime, but she hasn't decided that yet. So I could be teaching for the rest of the school year!

Not ready for this

2008-10-28T19:40:00.005-04:00

This morning we woke up to snow!! It snowed last night and the roofs on all the houses were covered with snow. Not a lot on the grass, just patches of it here and there and the streets were just wet. Some of the cars we noticed were covered with snow on our way to school this morning. Thankfully ours is in the garage so didn't have to clean the windows. One kid waiting outside at school was even playing with a snowball! I am so not ready for snow yet!! It was plenty cold in the house this morning too as you can see by the two dogs all snuggled together on the couch! Copper's hair was cut shorter than Coals so we had to put a sweatshirt on him to help keep him warm.

The interview went OK. I felt good about it...lets just hope they did too!! I don't know though, I was talking to a friend of mine who is a teacher here in town. She told me to not beat myself up or blame myself if I don't get the job. She said that many times they already have someone in mind before they do the interviews. Sounds like she may know something that I don't?? Oh well, Que Sera, Sera!!

Coal and copper keeping warm on the couch this morning.

Coal and Copper keeping warm with me. (I'm under the pink blanket)

Copper was still shivering, even with his sweatshirt on, so Sarah put one of her sweatshirts on him! He looks thrilled now!

Name Game

2008-10-27T13:22:00.002-04:00

This is kind of a neat thing to do. Saw it on another blog today and thought I would do it too.
Name Game

Rock star name-(first pet, street you live on) Caesar Klinger
Gangsta name-(Favorite ice cream flavor, favorite style of shoe) Turtle somethin' Crocs
Native American name-(Favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dog
Soap opera name-(Middle name, City where you were born) Louise Fort Wayne
Star wars name-(First three letters of your last name, last two letters of your first name) Runla
Super Hero name-(2nd favorite color, favorite drink) Pink Ice Tea
Nascar name-(names of your grandfathers) Elvis Cleo
TV weather anchor-(6th grade teachers last name, A major city that starts with the same letter) Clibbon Cincinnati (I think that's how he spelled his name?!)
Spy name-( Favorite season/ Holiday, favorite flower) Summer Lily
Cartoon Name-(Favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing right now) Watermelon Jeans
Hippie name-(what you ate for breakfast, favorite tree) Cereal Red Bud
Middle Eastern name-(your first and last name backwards) Alrahs Eldnur

Now you try it.

Not so big night in Plymouth....

2008-10-25T20:41:00.003-04:00

Don't think there will be any parade or escort into town tonight for our marching band. They did not make it into the state finals. They needed to be in the top 10 today and they came in 11th! They missed being in 10th place by 0.7 of a point! They were so disappointed, but they shouldn't be! They played their best and that's what matters! Greg was so wanting to play in the Lucas Oil Stadium next week though!! Oh well, there's always next year!
Nathan had his soccer tournament today and they lost, so they are done now too. Poor guy, he had to ride to the game and back with the coach since Allen and I were in Indy watching Greg perform. Nathan's coach dropped him off at Bill and Bev's after the game and they watched him until we got home tonight at around 8pm.

Friday happenings....

2008-10-24T18:15:00.003-04:00

It has been a rainy, dreary day. It has been raining most of the day. Greg had marching band practice from 10 - 2 today since we had no school. Took the car in for new front tires, Allen wants to drive it tomorrow to Indy instead of the van since it gets better gas mileage. But after putting over 200 dollars worth of tires on the car, I think driving the van would have been cheaper?!
Anyway, after that we went and had lunch at Jimmy Johns. It just opened up this week. It was really good. Thanks Donna for letting me in on how to order my sandwich LBI! That bread is awesome...would not have wanted them tossing half of it out!!
After lunch I took Sarah to her friends house for a sleep over/birthday party. Will have to pick her up tomorrow on our way to Indy. Went to Walmart and picked up a few things that we needed then came home and vacuumed. Greg walked home after band and was hungry (even though he had eaten some pizza at school that they brought in after practice) so ran him out to Jimmy Johns for a sandwich then swung by DQ and brought home milk shakes for everybody except Nate, he didn't want anything! Weird kid!
After that I went and picked up the dogs from the groomers. Greg needed reeds for tomorrow so another trip out. Now Allen's wondering what we are having for supper! I'm thinking a bowl of cereal? Works for me but I know the others wont go for it!
Hammie (the squirrel) came knocking at our back door wanting some nuts. Greg fed her this time and she came into the kitchen a little ways to get them!

Hammie taking a nut from Greg

Hammie, half way inside the kitchen, taking a nut.

My boys all cleaned and groomed!

Coal and his Halloween bandanna. I gotta get a picture quick with these on him because they don't last long! He hates them and rips them off as soon as we get home!

Sunday stroll

2008-10-19T19:17:00.002-04:00

Allen and I went for a walk Sunday afternoon. Took the camera along to get some fall shots. A lot of the trees are still pretty green though.

Burning bush outside the soccer plex

Red berries on a tree. Sorry, I'm not real good with names of plants and trees!

Purple berries on a bush. These bushes are along the school behind our house. They are just full of these purple berries! So pretty! But, again, have not a clue as to what kind of bush it is!

We have a nice walking trail by our house that runs through the park. This is a picture taken while on the trail walking along the Yellow River.

Another picture of the walking trail.

Yet another picture along the trail.

The covered bridge by our house. We live in town, yet with the park and trail so close to us, we can feel like we are in the country in just a couple of minutes walk away! Kinda nice!

50th Anniversary Party

2008-10-19T19:02:00.003-04:00

Saturday we went to Fort Wayne to help celebrate Gerald and Gay's 50th Wedding Anniversary! For those of you who may not know, Gerald is my Dad's brother. His kids and my brothers and I all grew up together in Fort Wayne. We had a lot of great times together, and still do! I'm glad I was able to be there yesterday for their special day. Here are a few pics.

The cake

Picture of Gerald and Gay taken a few years ago!!

Gerald and Gay

The whole family: Stacy, Jeanette, Robin, Jerry, Gerald, Gay, June, and Denise

Big night in Plymouth!

2008-10-18T23:25:00.002-04:00

The Pride of Plymouth Marching Band received a Gold at regional tonight!! So..... on they go to Semi-State this coming Saturday! Yeah!! Plymouth's Marching Band has NEVER made it past regional...never ever...this is a first! So, tonight (at about 10:30 pm) we (the parents) all met at LifePlex (health club) along with the police and the fire truck, and we all escorted the kids home! It was great!!! Once we got off the highway and into town, the fire truck stopped and all the seniors got to ride on the top of the truck thru town. Hundreds of parents honking their horns, fire truck screaming, lights flashing! I'm sure the people that were asleep in their homes were thrilled! It was awesome! I guess we will be taking a trip to Indy next weekend! Here's a picture of the fire truck....like you have never seen one before! Ha

Keep your fingers crossed

2008-10-15T21:06:00.002-04:00

I am probably going to jinx myself...but I'm going to tell ya all anyway! I received a call today from another elementary school here in Plymouth. They have a teacher who will be leaving on maternity leave next month and they would like to interview me for the position! It is a 3rd grade class and she will be out until April some time! I said "Yes! I would love an interview!" I will keep you all posted! Wish me luck!!!

Sarah's first concert

2008-10-15T20:53:00.003-04:00

Sarah had her first band concert tonight. She was very excited about it! They did a really good job.
The band and Mr. Evans (the band director). He likes their music stands to be up real high, but then you cant see the kids faces! You can't see Sarah at all...she is behind Mr. Evan's stand. Oh well!!
Sarah and Libby after the program

A little fuzzy, but wanted to get a full length shot. Look! They even stand alike!!

Why kids should have pets

2008-10-11T13:40:00.002-04:00

This is a really cute video....the music is different but I like it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycmneu6BDWA

School pictures

2008-10-07T09:45:00.003-04:00

Thanks Amy for the idea! Here are the kid's school pictures from this year.

Greg (age 15-9th grade), Sarah (age 12-6th grade) and Nathan (age 11-5th grade)

Greg's marching band picture.

Weekend

2008-10-07T09:08:00.002-04:00

We had a very nice weekend. My folks came over on Saturday. They went with me to watch Greg play at district. They came away with a gold so will advance to regional. That will be in two weeks. This weekend our school is hosting an invitational. Allen and I plan to help out at it. At last count there were 17 bands coming to perform. Plus Plymouth will perform at the end. Jon and Alyssa were also up this weekend. Got a few pictures of their kids.
We had union meeting here on Sunday. Only 4 families here! Us, Dave and Mel, Jon and Alyssa and my folks. We went over to Mel's for dinner then Nathan had his last soccer game at 2. They lost. :-( Ended up losing every game this year! Oh well, he still had fun playing.

Nate decked out in his colts items!
Penny
Nate and Cedric (love the look on Cedric's face...I don't think he's too sure about that cousin of his!)
Cedric

Marching Band

2008-09-26T11:58:00.007-04:00

This is the video Allen took of Plymouth's marching band at the invitationals last Saturday at Concord High School in Elkhart. This is a much better video than the one I took in the wind and rain. This is the whole performance. It is a little long, about eleven minutes. You don't see much of the color guard girls in the beginning because Allen is zoomed in on the Cello player, but they are carrying white flags with pictures of real soldiers that died in the Vietnam War. The flags also have the year the soldiers were born and year they died listed on them. The names that you hear being read are also names of real soldiers that died during the war. Watch for the fight scene that the band does during the 3rd song right at the beginning. It is really quick, but neat. The screen is so small, but you might be able to see that during the second song the band forms a couple of crosses too.
Allen didn't zoom in on Greg at any time during the performance, which made Greg very happy. Just know that he is somewhere on the far left side marching! :-)
Oh, you will also want to scroll down to the bottom of the blog and pause the music player that I have playing before you start the video.

Colts vs Bears

2008-09-19T18:53:00.002-04:00

Today was wear your favorite jersey to school day. We, of course, are Colts fans. Libby and her family are Bears fans. Yet through it all, they remain best friends! And to think we let her eat dinner at our table tonight with that jersey on!!!! It could be worse though, she could be a Patriots fan!

Do you think McDonalds would pay us for this advertisement?

2008-09-18T14:43:00.004-04:00

Coal just absolutely LOVES french fries. He will do anything to get one. Greg had left his french fry container on the table with a few french fries left in it. Coal was having a fit trying to get to them! You will notice that I do what all mothers do and called him by the other dog's (child's) name first!!!

Sooooo.......

2008-09-18T08:28:00.004-04:00

What can keep two best friends so still and so quiet that they can sit beside each other for 45 minutes and not say a word to each other? Not a whisper or so much as a single giggle? Why, I didn't even know they were in the kitchen!

It's called a playaway. It is a preloaded digital audio book. All you have to do is plug in a set of earphones and listen!

Sarah and Libby fully engrossed in the story

This is the back of the player. It is about the size of an ipod.

Front view of the player.

Sarah checked this one out at our public library Tuesday night. This thing is awesome!! Her teacher allows them in her classroom, but you have to have the book with you and be following along with the narrator.

Nate's update

2008-09-14T17:20:00.003-04:00

Nathan did not have a fever this morning so went to meeting. I have no idea what that was all about. One day of running a fever and nothing else. Oh well. He had a soccer game today at 2pm over in Goshen. Him and Allen went alone. It has been raining all day here and the other two did not want to go (imagine that!), so I stayed home with them. They lost again. :-(
The score was 1-0. It rained the whole game. Nate said it was raining so hard at times that he could hardly see! But they won't call a game unless there is lightening! He and Allen came home just soaked. Allen actually pored water out of his shoes!

PHS Band

2008-09-14T16:46:00.007-04:00

Here you go everyone...the first video of Greg performing at an invitational. It was an awful day for an outside performance. As you will be able to tell when viewing the video, it was very windy and it was raining! I need to apologize for the video taking...I was holding an umbrella in one hand and the camera in the other. (Didn't have any help because Nathan was running a fever so Allen stayed home with him and Sarah) I was standing on the top bleacher so I could see over all the other umbrellas. It was very windy and I had a hard time keeping the camera steady with just one hand. In the future, I will take a tripod and will also not pan back and forth trying to get everyone!

This first video is their intro.

This second video is of their 2nd song. I didn't download the whole performance. I zoomed in on Greg at one point and he didn't like that. He said you are suppose to be looking at the band as a whole and not at individuals. Whatever! I had to get a close up of him at least once! But I promised I wouldn't blog it!

You will notice at the end of this video that my umbrella actually flips up from the wind and falls in front of my camera. Again, I apologize for the messy video!

Band hallway

2008-09-13T10:56:00.002-04:00

I took a few pictures of the hallway that we decorated last night. The name of the program this year is "Impressions in granite...heroes fallen but not forgotten". We hung two banners in the hall, one at each end with this saying on them. What took the longest was tying the fishing line onto all the balloons and stars that we hung from the ceiling! The kids really liked it though when they saw it this morning. The pictures didn't turn out so great because they only had a few lights on in the hallway. Needed a janitor to turn on the rest with a key! Oh well, you get the idea anyway. Looks like it will be raining all day which means they will be performing inside today. They won't be able to use all their props and won't be able to march that much so it will be a bummer for the kids. Their props include a replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Also the shirts that they wear under their uniforms look just like the picture that they have on their lockers. (see pic below of Greg's locker)

Pretty Boys

2008-09-12T21:54:00.002-04:00

Coal and Copper both went in for a bath and trim today. They looked so nice when Allen brought them home. I tried taking some pictures of them...Copper does real well with posing. Coal on the other hand could think of only one thing and that was getting the bandanna off from around his neck! He so hates those things and will not rest until he gets them off! Copper posing so nice for his picture...looking sharp in that new fall theme bandanna!

Nathan had to hold onto Coal just so that I could try and get a picture of him in his bandanna. Notice Copper waiting patiently for the whole thing to be over.

The bandanna is flipped up in front, not a very good picture at all. Coal was getting very angry (as you can see in this picture), so decided to let him have his way and remove the bandanna.

Here he is chewing up the bandanna, he's happy now!

The two together. Copper still looking very sharp....Coal not so sharp but very happy to not be wearing the bandanna!

Happy Birthday Greg!

2008-09-07T21:28:00.002-04:00

Greg turned 15 today!

We had union meeting at Bill and Bev's and then went over to Melanie's for a combined effort on dinner. Melanie was kind enough to offer to have the dinner at her house since we had such a full weekend with Greg marching at the football game Friday night and then Nathan's soccer game on Saturday.
We had Kevin in our meeting this morning since he is with his mom visiting before he goes back to Texas. Was an extra special privilege!! They (Kevin, Grace and Bob) stayed for dinner. My parents also came over for Greg's birthday and were in our meeting this morning.

Greg's cake (what he asks for every year...DQ cake!)

Works for me!!

Is that maybe a start of a smile? Why is it so hard for a 15 year old boy to smile for his mom who is just wanting a nice picture to put on her blog?!?

Kevin doesn't eat sweets so this was his version of dessert today! Squash with cinnamon and a red raspberry on top! Yum!!

Bob, Grace and Kevin

Kevin with our family

I think I see the beginning of a smile.....

Yep...there it is...now I know how to get him to smile...give him money!!!!

Nate's Soccer game

2008-09-07T20:57:00.004-04:00

Nathan had his first travel soccer game on Saturday. We had to drive to Ft. Wayne for his game (3 hours round trip). Made for a long day. They lost 12-2. He still had fun so that's all that really matters. This is his first time to play on a travel soccer team, but 5th year playing soccer. The team from Ft. Wayne was so much better and their kids were all much taller than our kids. There is a cut off for each age group and our coach said all of the other team's kids were right at the cut off age for as old as you could be. Oh well, it was good experience. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Nate in the middle with the soccer ball. Getting ready to warm up.

Nate

Nate is #4 (and yes...that is Allen in the background...he is helping coach this year)

Nate kicking the ball

The ride home. He looks tired, yes?

Sarah having one of her giggling fits

Allen

I was enjoying the clouds in the sky on the way home. Wonder why you mostly see these kind of clouds in the summer? I just love looking at them. Brings back memories of long summer days spent laying on your back looking up at the clouds and imagining what you see in them.

Another one over...

2008-09-01T21:42:00.002-04:00

The festival is over and we are all sooooo tired! It is always sad to see the people pack up and leave the park. Allen and I usually sit on the back deck and watch them all leave. I made my one last mad dash to the park (at 5:45 pm...the festival ends at 6 pm) and ended up buying two more tacos from my favorite vendors (wished them a good year) and picked up one more bag of kettle corn for the kids. I really wish that I wasn't subbing tomorrow...could really use the day to rest up. Oh well...life goes on...

Balloon Glow

2008-09-01T21:34:00.002-04:00

Right before they have the fireworks, they do the balloon glow. All the balloonist display their balloons at the park. They do a little light show with them. I either counted 15 or 16 balloons this year at the festival. After their light show, they pack up the balloons and then start the fireworks. It was a really good show again this year, but I can never manage to get very good pictures of the fireworks. I did take some videos of it and as soon as I can I will get that posted. They set off diesel bombs at our fireworks that shake the ground so hard that the car alarms usually go off all over the park! It is great! The balloon glow

ballon launch

2008-09-01T21:24:00.003-04:00

Sunday morning there was another balloon launch. This time a man went up with helium balloons sitting in an office chair. He was going for a world record height of 18,000 feet! I'm not sure how high he actually got, but I did hear that he needed to use the oxygen that he took along with him. Allen went out early to see him take off. They lifted off at 7 am. I will try to find out just how far he drifted and post the info.

Parade

2008-09-01T21:19:00.003-04:00

Greg marched in the parade today...we stayed only long enough to see him march by and then Allen and I took off for the booths. It is usually dead on Monday mornings at the festival because everyone is either at the 15k run or watching the parade. So it is a great time to go through the booths!
That is Greg in the middle of the pic with the sax

Here he is again on the outside carrying his sax

Our yard...before and after

2008-08-31T23:11:00.009-04:00

Here are some pictures of our yard before the cars showed up and then after the cars showed up.

Back east corner of our lot empty

back east corner of our lot half full

back west corner of our lot empty

back west corner of our lot full

west side of our yard empty

west side of our yard full

front west side of our lot empty

west front side of our yard full (female cop was new this year...her first year working blueberry...I think she liked it)

front yard empty

front yard full

Our yard is on the left, the neighbors yard on the right (they also park cars)

Little Texas

2008-08-31T10:32:00.005-04:00

Allen and I walked over last night to the main stage and watched Little Texas play. They put on a really good show. They have a new album out, which I bought and then stood in line for about a half an hour for them to sign. The kids were not interested in going, so they stayed home. Greg was parking cars at the high school for the band and didn't get off until 8:30 pm so he wasn't able to go either. He didn't mind though, he really doesn't like country.

Tonight Denver and the Mile High Orchestra will be playing over at the main stage. They were on the TV show "America's Greatest Band" (I think that is what it was called). It was like an American Idol show only with bands. Anyway, they made it all the way to the finals, but didn't end up winning. The lead singer is from Plymouth, so of course the town was following the show pretty close.

All the shows at the festival are free. They have two stages in the park for shows and then there is an amphitheatre at the edge of the park where they have gospel music bands playing all weekend long.

Little Texas on stage

We had so much fun watching these two little kids play in the dirt. They got sooooo dirty, but were lovin it so much!!

Saturday at 6:30 pm was the balloon launch. They flew right over our house. The black, red and white one is the one that Allen & I went up in when we rode a few years ago.

Another balloon

Allen

Greg parking cars at the high school...was not thrilled to see me show up with my camera! He said, and I quote, "My life isn't an open book, Mom!"

This is how not to leave the parking area! This poor older lady thought she had her car in reverse, but it was in drive and she drove straight into the ditch. This was in the lot across the street from our backyard.

Here is the tow truck showing up to pull her out. Her front bumper was dented in but they managed to pull it out.

Me and officer Kip!

This is Carl. He is the one that oversees all the other cops here. It is his wife that always brings us a plate of homemade candies at Christmas time.

Feeding the cops

2008-08-30T09:46:00.005-04:00

We have been feeding the cops for several years now. This is what they got this morning for breakfast. I should explain. We will have a cop at the corner of our yard all weekend long. Our street is a dead end street. At the end of our street is the Yellow River. Between our house and the river is the school's parking lot. The Blueberry committee uses this parking lot for Gate 4 passes only. These passes are given out to "special people". I'm not sure who all gets these passes, but if you don't have a gate 4 pass, you will not get down our street (unless you live on it). Anyway, that is what the cops are for, they will not let anyone down our road that does not have a gate 4 pass. Well, to keep them happy and to get OUR passes through, we feed the cops! The cops know that we have people out there with passes to our yard and they will direct them through for us. Several times in the past Allen has been busy parking a car or is in the house and when he gets back to the front of the yard the cop that is on duty will hand Allen some money and tell him that he parked a car for him! The police chief's wife every year will bring us a plate of homemade Christmas candy as a thank you for treating the cops so well! These aren't our Plymouth cops either, they are usually from Syracuse or Winona Lake, which is about a half hour drive from here. Plymouth has help from several surrounding cities during this weekend because we wouldn't have enough police officers to work all the festival as well as the city.

Anyway, just a little inside scoop from the Rundle corner!

Donuts Anyone?

2008-08-30T08:56:00.003-04:00

Sorry Ash, but I just had to post a picture of these delicious donuts that I have been having this morning with my coffee. Can ya almost smell them? For those of you who have yet to have a true blueberry donut, I feel for you. These are the best blueberry donuts, ever! The batter has blueberries in it but then the glaze that they pore over the hot donuts also has crushed blueberries in it!! So good!! They are getting up there in price though. $8 a dozen! And they seem smaller this year too!! Everything has gone up in price though...

Friday Night Rides

2008-08-30T08:15:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pictures of last night at the rides. Greg was off with his friend, so never got a pic of him...I'm sure he is fine with that!

Libby and Sarah waiting to get on the scrambler

Sarah and Libby on the scrambler

Nathan on the scrambler

This was a new ride this year. It was called the power surge. Nathan and Sarah were on this ride together, her friend Libby could not be talked into getting on it.

The power surge at night. Nathan was on this time with one of his friends. By this time in the evening, both Sarah and Libby were feeling a little too woozy to ride anymore rides. Sorry I didn't get any more pictures than this, it was really hard to take them while holding on to every one's drinks and such. I'll maybe go back and take some more pictures later, although you all probably have seen these rides before!!

Wake us when your done

2008-08-29T15:34:00.005-04:00

I was cleaning the downstairs bathroom today and this is what I found waiting for me at the top of the stairs when I was done! These two follow me all over the house when I am home. I guess they didn't want to wait on the hard tile floor in the bathroom so decided to wait for me on the stairs.

I am taking the kids over tonight to do the rides. We usually just buy them the wrist bands where they can ride as many rides as they want in one evening. That's usually enough...at least it is for me since I am the one standing around watching them ride all night long!!

It's Blueberry Time!!

2008-08-28T15:41:00.007-04:00

It's that wonderful time of the year again! The Blueberry Festival starts tomorrow here in Plymouth. Since we practically live in the park, our street will be full of cars driving by and people walking by. I guess it was a draw back to some who looked at our house when it was for sale, but not us! We love living this close to the park, and we love it even more every Labor Day Weekend! Allen has been parking cars in our yard since we moved in almost 11 years ago. He has quite the little business going now. I make up passes for some of the regulars that park with us every year. This allows them to come and go all weekend long with the assurance of a place to park. There is a little league diamond directly behind our house and the playoff games will be going on all weekend long. Several of our passes go to the coaches and families of the players. We also have a couple of people who buy passes because they work over in the booths all weekend long.

This is the 2nd largest festival in Indiana. It runs 4 days. We have a 15k run on Monday morning called the Blueberry Stomp. We also have an awesome fireworks display on Sunday night. There are also several hot air balloons that come to the festival and they usually have 3 launches during the weekend. Allen and I actually got to take a ride in one several years ago. Awesome experience!! Of course there are lots and lots of craft booths and tons of food booths!! Greg usually goes over early every morning and gets us fresh blueberry donuts for breakfast! Oh! There is also a parade on Monday morning which Greg will be marching in!! His first parade! I'm sure he is going to be so excited when I post those pictures!

I have taken a couple of "before" and "after" pictures, and then I will post more as the weekend develops!

This is looking out our backyard towards the community pool (all you can really see is the pool building behind the one light pole, but there is a fairly good size pool there too). This picture was taken last Saturday when they brought in the porta johns.

This was taken Monday when they put up the big red and white tents. They are hard to see because the sun was so bright on them. You can also see one camper over by the pool area.

This picture was taken today (Thursday). You can no longer see the pool building because of all the trucks that will now be parked there through Monday. (I am still standing in our backyard)

This picture was taken on Monday after school. I am looking at the little league diamond from our backyard. You can see the teacher's cars parked in the parking lot behind the ball diamond.

This is what it looked like today (Thursday). Teachers are no longer able to park in the parking lot because it is now full of food vendors. Luckily there is another parking lot on the east side of our house that they are using. (a few are parking in our driveway too)

Ball diamond to the left, school to the right. You can see the banner that is hung over the school sidewalk. This is where the tram stops to let off people who park a few blocks away at the high school. This is one of the main entrances to the festival.

Close-up picture of the food vendors behind the little league diamond. The homemade blueberry donuts are in the second row of those booths (about half way down and on your right)!! Yum! Yum!

Sunday Potluck

2008-08-24T16:01:00.004-04:00

This is Heather's dog, Gigi.

This was our last Sunday morning meeting with Adam and Charlene. They are moving to Chicago in 2 weeks. From left to right: Melanie, Dave, JoAnne, Doug, Adam, Charlene, Bill, Bev, Me, Allen, and Greg. Sarah and Nathan in front. (Michelle was at work)

This is a picture of everyone that was at the potluck. Adam and Greg were missing from this picture because they were taking the pictures and Emil had already left for home. From left to right: Bonnie, Dave, Melanie, Dave, JoAnne, Doug, Carl, Charlene, Karen, Bill, Bev, Gary, Jenny, Mark, Me, and Allen. Sarah, Nathan, Chelsea and Troy in front.

Buggy going down the road.

There were a lot more pictures taken, but unfortunately they were taken by Sarah who loves to shoot you at your worse. I will not embarrass the folks by posting them on my blog. There were also some very close-ups taken of toes and skirt patterns!?!

birthday gift

2008-08-24T15:57:00.002-04:00

This is a picture of the planter that my sister-in-law Holli painted for me for my birthday. I finally got around to putting a plant in it!

Friday Night Football

2008-08-23T15:46:00.003-04:00

Last night was the first football game of the season. It was home, so Greg had to march at half time. It was their first time to march in front of an audience. They only performed half of their program that they have learned for competition. I guess they will play the other half at another home game. I tried to take some pictures, the ones that I zoomed in on are not too good.

Besides playing at half time, the band also plays during the game. Every time we make a touchdown, either the band plays "Rocky Top" or they play a canned version of it over the intercom. I know, we don't live in the south, it seems a little weird to me too. Our football team's name is the Plymouth Rockies, so I guess that is why they play that song?! We ended up winning 42-27. A little too much of Rocky Top if you ask me. Sarah's friend, Libby, went with us and by the end of the night they could pretty much do the little dance routine that the cheerleaders were doing every time they played that song. There was even a group of boys (middle school age) down by the fence imitating the cheerleaders while they did their dance to Rocky Top!

The band marching in to play the school songs before the game started. If you look between the boy with the cell phone in his hand wearing a white hat and the girl beside him with the red hair...you will see Greg. He is the on the outside row and his music looks like a white sheet of paper floating in the air in front of him. He also has a color guard girl carrying a red flag right in front of him and one right behind him.

Here they are lined up at the end of the football field getting ready to march out and do the school songs and the National Anthem. Don't ask me where Greg is, I only know that he is on the far right side somewhere!

Playing our school song. I didn't realize that I had gotten some of the cheerleaders in the picture too! Pretty funny! Greg is the last sax player in the 5th row from the right.

Here I tried zooming in on Greg, it really didn't turn out that great. He is in the middle row and the fourth face back that you can see. He is right in front of the color guard.

I also tried taking pictures at half time, but it was too dark and the pictures did not turn out very good at all. I really need a better camera!!! :-)

Sarah's best friend

2008-08-16T09:05:00.003-04:00

Libby (with bunny ears) and Sarah (with moose ears)

This is Sarah and her best friend, Libby. Libby rides home with Sarah after school and stays here until her mother picks her up after she gets off work. They are so much alike it's scary!

I've been tagged by Rhonda

2008-08-15T12:07:00.006-04:00

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. *Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. *Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

It has been 22 days since I have eaten at Mi Cameno's! (can you believe it Ash?!)To those who may not realize this, that is WAY too long!!!! Yes, I admit, I am addicted to this Mexican restaurant!
I am the youngest in my family. I have 3 older brothers with the youngest of those 3 being 8 years older than me!
I love the look of flowers in a yard but hate planting and watering them. Maybe this is why mine are always looking so sickly?!
I miss the days when the kids were babies. I think about how neat it would be to have another one, but then Allen shakes me out of my state of craziness again!
Being in your 40's isn't nearly as old as I use to think it was, in fact, it's quite young!!
I love shopping for shoes, and to my great admiration, so does my daughter!
I am a procrastinator...in fact I should be doing a dozen other things much more important than this list, but hey, what's more fun?!

I tag: Julie, Stacy, Ashley, Gina, and Amy.

http://bryceandjulie.blogspot.com/

http://damonandstacy.blogspot.com/

http://peteandashmalone.blogspot.com/

http://bloemkersauce.blogspot.com/

http://ourtinydot.wordpress.com/

First day of school!!!

2008-08-13T11:22:00.003-04:00

Today was the first day back to school. Greg is in the 9th grade, Sarah is in 6th, and Nathan is in 5th. I drove them all to school this morning. Greg's high school is close enough that he will be able to walk most of the time. Sarah and Nathan are both at the same school this year. They are actually too close to get a bus pick-up, so would have to walk also. I will be driving them though, I just don't feel comfortable letting them walk. Their school is a half mile from our home. The high school is only about 3 blocks from our home.

I quit my Aide's job in the Autism Department at the Elementary School behind our house. It was a hard decision to make, but one I felt I needed to make. I have been trying to get a teaching position for 5 years now, and I think as long as I am seen as an Aide, I won't be seen as a teacher. Hopefully this will help. I will try subbing and see if anything opens up during the year. Probably not the best time to be quitting a job, but I'm sure I will keep busy subbing. We never seem to have enough subs.

Well, I need to start doing something! I think I will start tackling the closets first!

Greg (holding Copper), Sarah (holding Coal), and Nathan

Seneca

2008-08-10T21:18:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe that we are home from convention already! We had a very good convention, now comes the hard part of applying what we heard to our daily living. One thought that was passed on that has stayed with me is that yearly feasting does not take the place of daily feeding.

I have posted a few pictures. I intended to get a picture of the meeting shed, but never got around to it. So many young kids standing around, it would have been hard to see it any way!! For those of you that did not hear the news yet, Sarah professed in the Saturday night meeting. It was made extra special because Janine had a part in that meeting.

Sarah and Nathan in front of the home on the grounds

Allen and I

Nathan, Sarah and Greg

Recognize this man? He also spoke in the Saturday night meeting.

Home on the grounds

Where the kids liked to gather after meeting

more kids by the cows

the cows!

This was quite funny to see. They (not sure who) had made a walking path through one of the fields. They were encouraging us to walk on it instead of the road because the road was too dangerous with all the cars that travel along it. When you were out on the path, you really couldn't see it when you looked out across the field because the weeds were so high. The path took a lot of turns and zig zags. It was 1.3 miles long. So it looked like a lot of people in nice clothes were just aimlessly walking around in a wild field. I had to take a picture. I was kind of glad that the field was surrounded by a corn field and none of the cars on the road could see us!!!

Saturday August 9

2008-08-09T23:24:00.002-04:00

Another wonderful day at Seneca. Thought we were going to get rained on today but it passed right by us. Can't believe that tomorrow is Sunday already. We've had a really good convention here. It was made extra special tonight with Sarah standing to her feet. All for now, I will post some pictures here when we get home.

Friday August 8

2008-08-08T22:35:00.003-04:00

Another beautiful day at convention! The weather has been wonderful! Couldn't ask for it any nicer. We have also heard some wonderful messages spoken. We (the whole family) took a walk with Janine this afternoon on the walking path. That was really nice. I had been trying to catch her to have a visit with her since we got here and this was the first time I was able to find her. Greg has been impressed so far with the food...it has been something that he likes each meal! It has been good, but it really is no different than what we have in Indiana. Allen said that's because half of our staff in now in Illinois!! We did have pudding on the table today, that was yummy! I don't remember ever having that at Shoals.
The kids are swimming right now with Allen, I was down there earlier but came back to update the blog. All for tonight.

Here at Convention

2008-08-07T22:33:00.003-04:00

Thought since we have Internet service here at the hotel that I would write a little each night we are here.
We had a good first day. The weather is very nice! Clint and Dawn Brown and their kids are here so we at least know one family!! Got to say Hi to Janine, Jean Berquist, Jeffrey V., Dale P., Loyce H., and Janet Klenk.
They are very full here. There were no seats left when we arrived this morning at 9am. We are actually sitting in the dining shed. They opened up the end that is next to the meeting shed and put chairs in there. Dennis Hause kept trying to find us seats inside the meeting shed, but was unable to. It's OK though, we can see and hear, and it's not crowded!!!

The big hunter

2008-08-05T19:15:00.003-04:00

Coal, our black poodle puppy, has become quite the hunter. A few months ago I was grocery shopping and saw a cart with clearance items in it. There were several dog bones in the cart so I bought some. When I got home, I placed the grocery bags on the floor and Coal started sniffing them. Before I knew it, he had found one of the bones that I had bought and had taken it out of the grocery bag and ran off with it to his bed! Since then, every time that I go grocery shopping, he goes through my bags when I get home looking for a bone. Sometimes I will sneak a bone into the bag after I get home so that he can find one. This week I took some pictures of him looking for a bone in the grocery bags. Copper (our other poodle) will just stand there looking, wondering what Coal is doing.

Coal looking for a bone.

He found the bag that had a bone but was not able to get to it because of the groceries on top of it.

Coal getting closer to getting the bone since I have taken some of the groceries out.

He's got the bone and he is off for the bed!

Coal sitting in the bed with his bone. It still has the plastic on it!

Probably shouldn't...

2008-08-05T08:35:00.002-04:00

be on the computer right now. We have another big storm coming our way this morning. We got hit by a big one last night. It was around 10:30pm that the tornado sirens went off, so we got Nathan out of bed and headed down to the basement. Greg and Sarah's bedrooms are in the basement, but they were still awake. No one would have been able to sleep through that storm anyway. No damage, just a lot of tree limbs down in the yard this morning. I guess two tornadoes were spotted last night, but neither one were here in Plymouth.

Allen left early this morning for Detroit. Had to go there on business. I have a dentist appointment this morning. I am having a crown put on. I had a root canal done last Tuesday, now they are finishing it up this morning with a crown. Woohoo!

All for now...

Kids and camera don't mix!

2008-08-03T21:19:00.004-04:00

Nathan and Sarah having some fun with the camera on our way home from the beach.

Day at the Beach

2008-08-03T20:46:00.006-04:00

We spent the afternoon and evening at Silver beach today. Went up after meeting. Bill, Bev, Dave, and Melanie went along too. It was a beautiful day to be there! This was our first time at the beach this summer! I can't believe how fast the summer went. Our kids start back to school in 10 days!

Very crowded beach!

Allen and I walked out to the end of the pier.

Picture of all the umbrellas. That is Allen and Bill in the front of the picture. Bill sat his chair down behind Allen's chair. They then carried on a conversation with Allen having to keep turning his head backwards! You would have thought one of them would have moved their chair!

Dave and Bill enjoying the day!

Sarah burying Nathan

Nathan almost buried!

Greg (irritated that I am taking pictures yet again!)

Sarah working on a castle

The castle after the earthquake (when Sarah made the tunnel)

Sarah and Nathan

Greg and Allen made "sand balls" and were threatening to throw them at me!

The sky in the evening

4-H Fair

2008-07-24T15:19:00.005-04:00

Wednesday morning was the rabbit show down at the fair grounds. We had to be there by 8 am. Greg and Sarah both showed their rabbits. Nathan didn't take his, it has a cold in it's eye and they probably wouldn't have let it in. They check the rabbits over really good before you can bring them in. Nathan's rabbit had also lost a lot of weight over the winter. I think it is probably done with being shown. It didn't place very high last year. Here are some pictures of the day.

This is Hershey...she is Sarah's rabbit. She is a mini lop. She placed 3rd. The judge didn't like her coloring!

This is cheerio, she is Greg's and she is a Dutch rabbit. She placed 6th. The judge said that her body was too long! All of her markers were good though, which is the hard thing with showing Dutch rabbits. The judges want to see a straight line dividing the two colors on the back and there is to be a white line dividing the color that is on their head (which she had). Anyway, she placed 2nd last year when she was a junior, so I don't know how you keep them from growing too long!

Sarah with Hershey

Nathan, standing beside his rabbit's empty cage...awwwwww! He doesn't seem too upset thought does he?!

Greg with Cheerio Nathan with his friend, Colin. They were taking Colin's goats for a walk while we waited for Greg and Sarah to show their rabbits.

Sarah in the arena getting ready to show Hershey. Hershey is in the box, you just can't see her.

Greg waiting to show Cheerio.

Sarah taking Hershey back to her cage...she was very pleased with 3rd place as you can see by her face!

Nathan and I went and checked out some of the animals while we waited on Greg and Sarah to go into the arena. Doesn't this little piggy look comfy?

This was the Grand Champion...I liked the blue bling that they wrapped around her neck!

These chickens were cool. They had blue on their face and blue on their legs. They also would answer us when we would bawk at them! Nathan was cracking up laughing at them.

This is a baby Mini Rex. They are really soft, their fur feels just like velvet. Nathan is trying to talk us into letting him buy one at the end of the fair. He knows that his rabbit must "go" before that happens, so we will see. (I'm sure you all can imagine what "go" means.)

This would be my choice of rabbit, a Holland Lop. I think they are just the cutest little bunnies ever!!