Thursday, September 30, 2010

Vote "Yes!"

Yesterday I was invited to a "Vote Yes!" committee meeting.
(*Warning....I am going to use the "H" word.)
I hate politics. When the campaigning starts on T.V., I feel like I am being violated in my own home. The politicians spend $1,000,000,000 just to smear each other over and over and over. On my T.V. In my home. I hate it. I can't watch it. I don't have the patience for it. When the day comes that a politician can just say what he is going to do, (Or rather what he wants to do, but won't be able to do, because of the 7,900 hoops that are impossible to jump through, and lack of money, which happens every time....) and not even mention any other politicians, then I will start listening. Until then, I have a husband who really gets into it, and I let him listen to all the speeches/smearing. Then I ask him who to vote for. I know. I know. In this day and age, after all we went through to even get the right to vote, a woman should be making her own decisions. I do. All the time. Just not in politics. I also have a friend who is into politics and she keeps me informed. So, I do get to hear another side and have something to think about before making my final decision. Anyway, getting back to the "Vote Yes!" Meeting. I was leary about attending, feeling the way I did about politics. I saw the "Vote Yes!" ad in the paper and I knew it involved our schools, but I still had no idea what was going on. But, since it involved our schools, I thought it might be a good opportunity to educate myself a bit. I wasn't sure what I was getting into by attending this meeting, but I decided to go and I am glad I did. I learned that the State of Mn. wants/is withholding our funds as we have a surplus, and could/are going to cut teacher/school programs.
It has already happened at other schools.
Perham had all music and art cut. Wheaton could be next!
We can't let that happen.
I was informed. I was touched. I will be voting "Yes!" How ironic.
Never, ever did I think that I would be encouraging anyone to vote
a certain way.
But, here it is....
VOTE "YES" FOR WHEATON AREA SCHOOLS REFERENDUM LEVY ON NOV. 2ND!!!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

P.B. Cookie Update

A while back I posted an easy recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies that a complete stranger had given me. I hadn't tried the recipe when I posted it. Well, yesterday I tried it. They were good if you ate them right away. Otherwise, they turned hard as a rock. Now we know.

Happy! Happy! Not.


My happy leaf pile....
Last weekend Landon made a huge pile of leaves.
Yesterday I had this bright idea that I would get
a picture of all of my DC kids in the leaves.
The baby, Ainsley, did not like the leaves.
At All.
They made her cry.
 Her cries then made the dogs bark,
which scared Faith and Nora and made them cry too.
(As you can see from the picture,
the boys have zero tolerance for girl drama.)
It was very hot outside and the hot weather
made them all a little crabby and short on patience.
I was only able to take two pictures and neither one was very good.
But, I won't give up!
We will get a picture when the weather is cooler and
the dogs are sleeping, and the baby gets used to the leaves.
When the kids have more patience, and everyone is in a good mood.
When I can take several pictures to get the right shot,
and everyone is smiling at the same time.
It could happen.
Right?





Monday, September 27, 2010

Play Ball! (But, Be Nice!)


Are you ready for some football???
(Click on the pictures for a closer view)


Line up!


Catch!


Run!!
(O.k. I don't know the correct football terminology, but you get the idea.)


Now, before I can even begin to tell you about the football game,
I need to remind you that this is just my blog.
It is where I can get things off my chest.
It's just my thoughts on paper.
(Or rather online.)
I am not trying to preach. 
Not even close.
It's just when I feel strongly about something,
I find it helps to write about it.
 It brings me relief to get it all out
without interruption or arguing with anyone.
It's just me and my keyboard.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me
and it's perfectly fine if you don't.
Really.
I'll start with last Friday...
Last Friday, all of my day care kids had left early
 and I was the only one left at home!
This never happens.
 So, I took advantage of it and decided to surprise
Landon and pick him up at school.
I hadn't been to his class room since school started
and wanted to see him with his class.
There were about ten minutes left of class when I got there.
The students were playing a game something like 7up/heads up.
The ones at their desk had their heads down and the others
would tap them on their heads and then they had to guess who
tapped them. They played nicely and quietly. I was impressed.
 But, once the game was over...
It got LOUD.
So, loud that the teacher had to use a microphone to be heard.
No matter how many times she asked them to be quiet,
they still continued to talk and talk and talk...
LOUDLY.
What in the world?
For the record, Landon was pretty good, 
but I know darn well he would have joined in
 with the rest of them had I not been standing there.
Peer pressure is like dominoes. One falls and they all follow.
I felt really bad for the teacher and could feel her frustration.
Today a note was sent home for the families regarding
the students behavior. There will now be warnings and
consequences for disrespectful behavior.
I am all for it and support her 100%.
Now, on to the game.
Today when the bus dropped off the kids,
we walked to the elementary school to watch
 Landon play flag football.
Before I go any further I need to point out that I think
Shawn Bainbridge is an excellent coach!
 I watched Coach B. line up the boys in a single file.
He had each boy take a turn running a little ways out,
turn around while catching the ball as he threw it to them and run back. 
While he was doing this at the front of the line,
the boys in the back of the line were doing everything they shouldn't.
I bit my tongue while they gave each other wedgies.
I bit my tongue while they spun each other around on their shoulders.
I bit my tongue while they "tackled" each other over and over.
But, when one of the bigger boys "meanly" shoved a smaller boy so hard
to the ground it about knocked the breath out of him....
The Momma Bear in me came out and I roared!!!
O.k. I didn't roar, but I did go up to Coach B and
point out what happened. I know. I know.
"You did what????"
"Why did you do that????"
Not because I thought Coach B. wasn't doing his job.
He was doing exactly what he was suppose to be doing.
Coaching.
He shouldn't have to babysit while trying to do his job!
I wanted those boys to know that even when their
Coach/Teacher isn't watching them, someone is.
 Always.
 I know it's hard to speak up and look like a "jerk."
(That's the nicest word I have for it.)
I get in trouble a lot for speaking up and I try to hold it in.
But, sometimes I just can't do it and it causes ripples.
But, just imagine the waves we would get if we all started speaking up.
At least where kids are concerned.
It might not seem like such a big deal now, but if
they are allowed to behave this way now in grade school,
 what is going to happen when they get to high school?
Oprah had a show on the other day promoting the movie
"Waiting for Superman."
This movie is basically about how the teachers and school system
are failing our students. That the teachers are just there to collect
their paycheck and don't care about the students because
they are protected by the union.
Now, I realize there are teachers out there like that,
but I am curious to see if the movie shows how our
students are disrespecting our teachers.
 How the students can make the teacher's lives miserable too.
That there are two sides to every story.
 At what point do the teachers finally throw in the towel
 and say "O.K.You win."
 How much can you take before you really don't care anymore?
So, whose fault is it?
The students, the teachers or the parents?
I think we are all guilty and need to work on this together.
As a team.
We are all on the same side, and we all want the same thing.
Respect and Success.
 Nothing ages you more than starting a sentence with...
"When I was a kid....or when I was in school..."
But, here I go anyway...
When I was in school, there was no monkeying around in class.
(I know the proper way to say it is, "there wasn't any"
but, it's my blog and I can say it my way!)
There was no monkeying around in sports.
There was no monkeying around on the bus.
You went straight to the principal's office
 or stayed after school
or worse, you were expelled!
It was a scary thing!
(Even more so once you got home to your parents!)
Landon's teacher's note today stated that they would
be starting to use those exact things.
It's a start.
I hope it works.





Sunday, September 26, 2010

My Sweet, Sweet Rosie


My sweet Rosie is old.
Tim and I have been talking about putting her to sleep
for some time now, but I just can't do it.
Her hearing and eye sight are very poor and she has arthritis.
She spends all day sleeping on a chair under the table in our kitchen.
Then, sometime during the night she will get up
and go down to the basement to use the litter box.
Only thing is, she doesn't get in the box. She goes next to it.
 (Luckily the basement isn't finished
and I can pour bleach directly onto the floor.)
I know it's time.
I know it should be done before it gets worse and she starts to suffer.
So, I told Tim that I would let Rosie go this weekend.
Today was the day. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
My cats are like my children. I love them fiercely.
Unless you are an animal lover, there is no explaining it.
You have to feel it.
So today, I told Tim to take Rosie to the vet before I changed my mind.
 (Tim took her to our local vet Dr. Natz, here in town. He is retired,
but worked out of his home and still does shots and these sorts of things.)
He would then take Rosie out to a farm site where his dogs,
Buster and Lady are buried, so they could all be together.
As they walked out the door and got into the car,
I could hear Rosie howling. I will never forget that sound.
(She hates to be in the car. She is a home body.)
 I immediately fell on the floor and cried and cried and cried.
I cried so hard I thought I was going to be physically ill.
It was the worst ten minutes of my life.
That's right.
Ten minutes.
Ten minutes later,
Tim and a HOWLING Rosie were back!
Dr. Natz is in the hospital.
He has pneumonia.
He was really, really sick,
 but today he made a little come back.
He got a second chance.
So did Rosie.
On to plan B...









Family Time


Now that Landon is getting older,
family time is getting more fun
for Tim and I too!
(You can only play Go Fish
and Pop Up Pirate so many times,
 before you start to go bonkers!)
The three of us finished this puzzle
in just two nights!

A Big Ol' Pile Of Leaves!


Landon wanted to make a big leaf pile in our back yard.
The only problem was, none of our trees have lost their leaves yet.
However, the neighbors tree had.
So, Landon decided to help them out and rake up their leaves.


Their dog sure enjoyed Landon's company.


Lookin' good!


Where there's a will.
There's a way.



Thursday, September 23, 2010

I'm A Terrible Cook!

If Landon could have his way, he would eat supper at our local mini-mart every night. He would eat the processed mystery stuff they pass off as "meat", the greasy fries, the rock hard cookies and any junk food found on aisle two, for all three meals. With a large pop. If I let him. But, because I love him, I make him real meat and real potatos and real veggies and such, and as a result he tells me "You are a terrible cook! Why can't you cook like H _ _ _ _ 's?" I don't know what happened. When he was little he would eat anything I put in front of him. Then slowly his tastes changed. It worries me, because I am a terrible picky eater. I don't like very many "healthy" things either, and I certainly don't want him to grow up to be a picky eater like me. So I try to let him choose what he would like me to make for supper and sometimes it works and sometimes (if it's too healthy or not one of his favoites.) I am a terrible cook that night. I tell him when he is older he can make all his own food choices, but as long as he is "my child in my house" (I am so turning into my mother!) he will eat what we eat. So basicly, what I am telling him is "You can't do the stupid things I do, until you're older." But not in those words of course. So how do I get out of eating the veggies I don't like at the table? I lie. I tell him I already ate mine at dinner while he was in school or right before we sat down. I know, you are shaking your head and tsk, tsking. But, really it's for the best. If I gag while I am eating my veggies, how am I going to convince him that they are really yummy? It's hard for me too, because I totally get how he feels and where he is coming from. I remember as a child trying to eat squash and peas and it making me gag and gag and feel sick. My dad kept telling me to "knock it off and just eat it!" and I would gag and slowly force it down. As I got older though, I got wiser and when he wasn't looking, I would stick it in my pocket and after supper I'd go outside and feed it to the dogs or throw it in the woods. (We lived in the country. Sorry dad.) When I was pregnant with Landon I wanted to eat healthier. So, I would make veggies and force them down. I would gag and gag. Tim would laugh and laugh. (Sometimes he's not very nice!) But, I did it. Did I keep on doing it after Landon was born?
No way!!! I'm older now.
I can do all the stupid things I want, as much as I want.
And I do.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

And I Wonder....


As I walked outside onto my back porch this morning,
this is what I saw.
Two jet streams.
One was straight and sideways,
and the other was wiggly and almost straight up.
What the heck?
I know "normal" brained people wouldn't give it a second thought.
But, I never claimed to be normal.
This is how my brain works.
All the time.
(Guess we now know where Landon gets it from!)
So, I am standing there with my coffee,
 looking up at the sky and wondering....
What happened?
Did two jets go up at the same time?
Why were they so close together?
Why is one straight and one is not?
The wiggly one actually looks like it was going down and crashed.
Did it crash?
I will never know, because I do not watch the news.
(It's too depressing.)
How did the one to the side go sideways?
Did it crash too?
Then as I was wondering, the jet song popped into my head.
(This is a problem for me. I connect everyday situations
 with songs in my head. But, that's another post for another day.)
You know the one that goes...
"I'm leaving, on a jet plane...don't know when I'll be back again..."
(Well, if you are under 30 you won't know it, but anyway...)
Then, because I was wondering....
"And I wonder....Why? Why? Why? Why?...."
(This one pops up a lot!)
You get the idea.
It just goes on and on and on....




Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Whenever one of my DC kids has a birthday,
they get a special birthday treat
(Well, all the kids here that day get that!)
and they get a special present from me.
I try really hard to get something I think they will like.
Sometimes I do good, and sometimes it's a complete miss.
Last week Gracie said
 "When I get as big as Georgia, (her sister)
I am gonna get a backpack too!"
She has been feeling a little bummed because she is a
September baby and her dc friends are going off on the bus
(with their new backpacks)
 to preschool while she has to stay behind.
(She will get to go to Little Flock in Oct. so it will get better!)
So, I thought a backpack would be a perfect present
to get her for her birthday party yesterday.
Boy, did I get that one right!
As she was opening her gift, she lifted the wrapping paper
up a tiny bit and screamed,
"OOOOHHHHHH....It's a backpack! It's a backpack!!!!"
She scared Lucas who was sitting next to her
 so bad he about fell off his chair! lol
Now let me tell you something.
There is nothing in this world that feels better
than when you can make someone so happy,
they scream with joy.
Nothing.


Right before the scream.
Darn camera was too slow.
(Or maybe that was just me...)



She loved the cool stuff inside of it too!
Lucas wasn't too impressed.



Happy Birthday Gracie.
May you have many more
screaming, joyful moments
in your life like these.


Let Them Eat Cake!


I have been craving cake for months.
But, since I am on this fabulous diet, I have been putting it off.
I can make other desserts and only have one piece and be fine.
But, cake is my weakness.
I have this little red devil that sits on my left shoulder.
He is constantly whispering things in my ear that I shouldn't do.
Luckily, I also have a little white angel on my right shoulder.
She does her best to help keep me on the right track.
(Noticed the he/she thing, did ya?) 
Well, the other day the little devil was whispering over and over....
"Make a cake! Make a cake!"
I was so relieved when my little angel said,
"It's o.k. Go ahead.
 If you make Seven minute frosting
it will go bad after two days.
You'll be fine.
You deserve it!!!"
(I love it when she is so reasonable!)
Here's the thing about cake. I rarely make it when I have DC kids.
It is SOOOOOO messy!!!
But, since there were only three kids there with me,
(Once in a blue moon, I get an easy day.)
 I did it!!!
What kind of cake did I make?
Devil's Food of course.



The fun part!
The kids were in shock that not only was I making cake,
I was letting them lick the beaters!!




Me too!!!
You can't see the little red guy because I flicked him off
my shoulder when he tried to lick my beater!!
You can't see my little angel either,
 because she was too busy taking my picture!
(Come on, lighten up and just play along!)


Monday, September 20, 2010

Roxie's Flea Market

Last weekend Roxie had her
Annual Wheaton Flea Market at the fair grounds.
What a great market!
Almost every booth was full with wonderful items to shop for.
The weather was great and the people were happy.
I'll be there next year for sure!



Gin and Roxie.
Roxie had the cutest booth for sure!



Roxie's Mums, Pumpkins and Gourds.



Check out the size of these spuds!
Landon bought two!
They should last for several meals...



Landon also bought two of these!
He spent most of his earnings
 (He sold some of his movies)
at Roxie's and decorated the front of our house.
Stop by, it's very festive!!



My favorite customer of the day!
Jone!!!
This cowgirl bag couldn't be more perfect for her.
(Yes, she bought it!!)
Yee Haw!!!



Thursday, September 16, 2010

Cheap Therapy

I have a very close friend who is also my "Email buddy," or maybe I should call her my "Email Therapist." We can go on and on about absolutely nothing. We also vent and rage and laugh and cry about our husbands, kids, family and friends, with the security of knowing just like a therapist, it won't go any farther than our ears, or actually our eyes in this case. We call it Cheap Thereapy. Those emails are a little bright spot in my day. This morning I received a little brightness and because it made me laugh and think, I thought I would share it today. Just a little taste...I changed the names in her Email to protect her privacy, but it's a small town and you can probably figure it out.....Ahhh...the joys of small town living....

From My Therapist..

Peter and I got home at midnight. I took Paul grocery shopping, the boys ranch and to target. I had to buy him a colander, I was tempted to make him take my old one from home, but he got the new one. There are two at the lake, but he needs it now. My colanders x 3 at home, one is a huge one I use for spaghetti noodles, the other one, my Momma had one just like it and I have a little yellow one that was Mary's, that is for ramen noodles. Paul's new one is metal and it was 4-5 bucks. I had a plastic one in the cart and it was like almost 10 bucks. Why the heck am I talking about this?  lol like you should give a rip, but I felt irritated that the plastic one was double the price.....


My Response:

When I was reading about the strainers, I was thinking about my own strainers and how if Paul had been Landon, I would have given him the old blue plastic one I have, and kept the new one for myself. I hate the blue plastic one. It's hard to clean and it's starting to melt a little from the 2,345 times I've put it in the dishwasher. Then I started thinking about how the next time I go to walmart, I am going to buy a metal one and how the little one I have has a cracked handle and I really need to throw it out and get a new one. I was then wondering if my dad would want my blue one and should I toss the little one or send it to the boys ranch? Then you wrote, "Why am I writing this, you probably don't give a rip...." When actually I was very into it! Oh my, how our lives have changed....


So, obviously this Email was one of the "absolutely nothing" ones, but sometimes with all the seriousness and craziness that goes on in our lives, we need that. Nothing more than a little senseless rambling that takes the edge off and gives us a little lift. Cheap Therapy. Can't beat it. Anybody need a new colander? I've got two I'm getting rid of.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Bible Max!


To kick off Bible Max this year,
the parents were invited to 
enjoy a spaghetti supper with the kids.
The boys were so into their spaghetti they
wouldn't even stop for a second to smile!



Road Runner Gladiator Gauntlet!
We played a game where we split up into two teams.
Each team lined up on either side.
The object of the game was to get from one end
to the other by pushing yourself on a scooter
while holding an M&M on a spoon.
The other team would then throw little balls
at you and try to knock off your M&M.
If you dropped it, you had to start over.
The team with the most M&M's collected wins.



Landon takes a shot as this fella.


Yes, that's Tim in the back!




The picture's a little blurry,
but he made it!!!



The boys get ready to throw some balls!




Pastor Shekleton takes a spin.


Cheryl and Susan scoop up ice cream cones
to end the night with.


Logan and Landon show us how to do it right!!

On Landon's Pond

On the side of our house there is a little patch of dirt. For some reason, this patch never got landscaped. (Our idea of landscaping is throwing pretty rocks all over it.) This actually turned out to be a good thing though. Landon is a digger. So, this little patch of dirt became his digging site. We let him dig there, because one, it keeps him busy for hours and happy, and two, it saves our yard from having 3,233 holes dug up in it. So, yesterday I was outside with the dc kids and Landon was digging in his hole. This is a normal event, so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to his digging. When all the kids had gone home for the day, I told Landon I was going in the house to make supper. (Tim was in Fargo.) When I went outside to call him for supper, I was shocked (O.k. not really shocked. I am getting pretty used to the amazing feats he pulls off. But, I was impressed at the amount of hard work he accomplished in so little time!) at what I saw. Tim has been talking for years about building a pond in our yard like his dad, Laurel's pond. Well, Landon decided to put Tim's words into action! Of course he wanted to go over to his grandpa's and get some fish to put in it. When I told him that grandpa was getting ready to put the fish away for the winter, (He has big water tanks in the basement for them.) and that we couldn't do it, I was a little surprised when he accepted my answer so quickly without any argument or debate. But, that was short lived. He said, "O.k. but I am keeping the water in it so this winter all I'll have to do is brush off a little snow and then I'll have an ice skating pond, and then this spring we are putting in a whole truck load of fish!!" You bet. Whatever makes you happy dear.....


Landon moved each and everyone of these little rocks
from the front side of our house to his pond!!
(And my big ones too!)
I'll let him have them for a little while,
but you can bet they will be going back!!



This is probably only
$4,554,988
worth of water....



Landon wouldn't let me take his picture with his pond,
so I had to sneak a picture through the window.
He pulled up the hammock to sit on and
was admiring all his hard work.
Priceless.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Mixed Emotions

Last week Landon came home from school with sign up sheets for soccer and flag football. I knew he wouldn't want to play soccer, but I was surprised when he said he didn't want to play football. He goes to all the high school home football games (and some of the away ones too!) with his dad and grandpa, and during the entire game he plays football with his buddies! So, when I asked him (2 or 2,333 times) why he didn't want to play, his response was always the same. "Because. I. Don't. Want. To!" No explanation what so ever. On one hand, I am really, really o.k. with him not wanting to play. I am a tiny bit over protective (I do a really good job of keeping it to myself. I think....) because he is my one and only. He's all I've got. If he doesn't want to play a sport where kids are going to throw him to the ground and jump all over his bones, that's really o.k. with me. Really. But, then on the other hand, I want him to have fun. I want him to look back and have good memories of the things he did in school. He's a boy. He should have "rough" sports memeories. Right? (He does play softball and basketball.) So anyway, Saturday night I ran into Landon's buddy, Matthew's mom. I asked her if Matthew was playing flag foot ball. She said he was. So, I mentioned this to Landon thinking for sure he would want to play once he knew Matthew was playing, but he still didn't want to play. No problem. I threw in the towel. I felt I did my best to try and get him to play, and if he didn't want to play then that was that. My job was done. Friday was the last day to sign up. Monday (today) was the first day of football.(After school.) Well, the phone rang at noon today, (Monday) and it was Landon. He asked,  "Mom, can I play flag football today?"  I calmly replied, "Well, of course you can! Just go to connections after school and at 4:15 Janet will call out all the boys who are playing football, and then you just go with Janet and the boys." (I knew this from when I helped at connections a couple of years ago.) Then I hung up the phone and freaked out. Luckily Tim was home for lunch. I had to dig through a few bags of trash for the sign up sheet, fill it out, make out checks for connections and football and pack a snack. Then Tim had to go and hunt down Janet to see if Landon could still get in. I was praying I hadn't jumped the gun in telling Landon yes, but sweet for me we live in a small town and there is always room for everyone. No need to get my freak on. Since it's only "flag" football, I will stay calm for now. But when he wants to play tackle football and he breaks his first bone, all bets are off. It's gonna get freaky....

Eat Pray Love!!


First there were two.
Amber and me...
Amber and I ???
Anyway....
Amber, I think we should get some
hot pink lipstick and black eyeshadow.
We could totally rock the
Cher/Christina look!
Just kidding! ;)


Then there were four!!
Shannon, Amber, Me, and Kay!!
Check out the ladies behind us hiding from the camera.
The movie was great!
I only cried once and it had a happy ending.
I love happy endings!!!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Who Let The Dogs Out?


My dad gave us this really cool kennel today.
Sigh...too bad it's for the dogs.
This could really come in handy....
JUST KIDDING!!!

Through The Eyes Of A Child

Everyday, before I serve dinner to the dc kids, I make them pick up all the toys. Today one toy was missed. This was the toy that I stepped on as I was carrying two full plates of food to the waiting children surrounding my kitchen table. My body went sailing three feet up in the air, the plates and food went flying in every direction. I landed HARD on my hip and elbow. (Imagine hitting your funny bone times 1000!) As I lay in the mess, the kids were just sitting there looking at me, paitently waiting for their dinner. I didn't say a word. I got up, picked up the toy and hobbled over to the basement door. I opened the door, threw the toy down the steps and shut the door loudly. As I was hobbling back to the mess, one little girl piped up, "Hey. Why'd ya slam the door?"

Happy Anniversary Yesterday...


Yesterday Tim sent me flowers
 and took me out for supper for our Anniversary.
Eight years married.
Twelve years together.
We're off to a good start.

Merry Christmas!

It's starting already. Dora goes to a commerical and the volume magically increases, stardust sprinkles all over the screen and then there it is....The new super, duper, jacked up Easy Bake Oven! It's hot pink and purple and it magically bakes huge cupcakes in two seconds flat. It comes with 1,233 sprinkles and toppings and 5,344 super cute plates to serve them on. (In reality you get a plastic box with a light bulb, but hey, it can all be yours for just $49.99 plus tax!) The kids are up on their feet, jumping up and down and screaming "I want that! I want that!" Normally every year when the Christmas commercials start, I put on my best "Mom" voice and I say, "Now, Christmas is coming and if you want Santa to bring you that, than you will have to be very, very good." This brings a chorus of "Awwww.....man's" and sad little faces. But this time I decided to join in the fun. I started jumping up and down and screaming "I want that too! I want that too!" All the kids freeze, stunned for a second and then they continue to jump up and down and scream "She wants it too! She wants it too! We're getting it! We're getting it!" Oh the joy! Little did I realize that I would have to endure a chorus of "Do you want that too? Do you want that too? Can we get that too????" during every commerical to come....but hey, it was a magical 30 seconds and hopefully now that they have 6,099 other things in mind, they will forget all about the jacked up oven. Maybe.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Back To School!


Landon is in 3rd grade!


Georgia is in 2nd grade!


Olivia is in 1st grade!


All Aboard!!
(Olivia caught a ride with her mom.)



Our jolly good bus driver, Jeff!!

Welcome To Erhard!


Well now, doesn't this look like a fun little town?
Yep. I made Tim turn around so I could get a picture.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Landon's Day Care

Yesterday I decided to loosen the reins a little bit
and let Landon take over for awhile.
When Zach announced that this was
 "The Best Day Ever!"
I had to agree.


Landon and Olivia created a
magical wildlife forest to surprise the little ones
when they woke up from their naps.





Some of our gang...


Hanging out in the fort!



Gotta have a frog!
(Click on the picture for a closer view)



Photography by Olivia.




Looking for creepy crawlies...



Lucas and Mallory aren't sure what
creepy crawlies are...



Run!
They're bugs and worms!!



Olivia doesn't mind them at all!



Tarzan!
Landon has been swinging from this tree
since he was three, but my heart still
does flip flops everytime he does this.



Could I have this dance?
We listened to the same VBS CD
2,378 times!!


Hula Hooping boy style!



Yee Haw!



Nora isn't sure what she thinks of the new dc toys.



A little dirt does a body good!



You can't have a dc without balls!



A new way to get around...


The end.