Teenagers

Well, it has happened! We are now living with 2 hormonal teenagers. They are wanting to be kids, but feeling the pressures of growing up with dating, friendships/relationships, wanting independence, protective parents(haha), peer pressure, along with the typical pressures of school with homework, lessons, classes, etc........ We are trying our best to help them along the way, but it is hard to see them going through the emotions and struggles of these years. Gary has had many sleepless nights and it is just starting!!! One of the girls has had to deal with verbal harassment at school and we are trying to teach her the steps to go through and not just come home and complain about it. We(I) feel she should take responsibility in talking with school staff, teachers, counselors, and principal before we step in. My husband is more like wanting to call up the boys' parents and let them have it! Such a caring, protective farther!!!

Anyway, school has started and we are off and running. I love the Early Childhood group I have. They are a quiet group of 6, but am thinking that will change as soon as they get to know the others. Our school is trying to start doing RTI (Response to Intervention). Some of the teachers are frustrated with the grouping of students this early in the year. So they are tweaking the system to make it work for them. I just take the EC kids out of Kindergarten and do extra practice with them during that time. So far, it has been great. We hope time will help the kids and teachers adjust to this new system.

summer

Well, the summer is about over for us, but we had to do a few last things with the girls. Last week was Mary's birthday and we celebrated by having her favorite meal ( beef and cheese nachos) , cake and ice cream. I had a workshop that day, so we had her special dinner that night.
We also made it to the big county fair that weekend and Gary enjoyed his special buritos and got the girls hooked on them too!
This last weekend the girls enjoyed going to the track, but ended the season with things breaking and now they have to sit and wait to get fixed. Sunday we decided to head to Mystery Cave for the day. We took a picnic lunch along and really enjoyed the cool weather. Mary had never been to a cave before so it was her first experience. Both girls liked the tour and would do it again!
Tomorrow starts the school workshops and routines of school are not far behind that. I spent a few days last week working on my room, but still have some to go. It seems like I am never quite ready and could find many more things to do each day, but have to learn to just do what needs to get done and let the rest go...... It is hard though.....

valleyfair

We got up to valleyfair about 11:00. It was a beautiful day! The girls had brought a friend along to go on the rides with them. This worked great until about mid afternoon when 2 of the girls tired out, so Mary went on a couple rides by herself. Mary would have gone again and again and continued through the night, but everyone else was getting tired, so we headed out about 6:00. We did have a shower about 1:00, but it was so light it did not bother too much. The girls tried many of the rides, but there were lines and this made them even more tired. The favorite was the WAVE! It was the first ride they went on 2 times and got totally soaked, but the sun and warm temp got them dry quickly. We ended the day grabbing a bite on the way home and getting the girls to bed. Now I have to call and find out how my sister-in-laws garage/estate sale is going. We are trying to get rid of some of my mom and dad's things. Next week a couple workshops and the week after, SCHOOL WORKSHOPS!!! Wow! Where did the summer go?

week in review.....

Just heard about a high school friend's father that passed away last Thursday. It reminds me of about a year ago when my mom passed away. At least they were able to spend some time the last few months with him.
Sammy got new bands on her braces and on Sept. 22 will get her bottom braces put on. She is excited!!! Not sure why.....
The girls have been to the track down the road to ride their wheeler and bike several times this week. Today we ventured up to the Como Zoo and Conservatory. It is WAY different than we remember it and more crowded. The girls kind of enjoyed it, but are getting too old for that kind of stuff. They would rather sit at home and read, listen to music and paint their nails. Teenagers!!!!! I guess we should enjoy the time at home with them, because I know soon they may not want to be at home with us at all!
Valleyfair this week -(we hope they enjoy that!) and the big Steele County fair. Maybe a trip to Alexandria to visit foster family?...

where have I been???

Wow! Where has the summer gone? Last post was about our vacation about a month ago! What have we been doing, you ask? Well, after taking a weekend trip to visit Mary's brother up in Henning and some friend's of ours there also, we have kept busy with the garden, mowing, carwashes, organizing buildings and rooms in the house, and painting, along with appointments here and there for the girls and myself. Weekends Gary likes to do as much as possible with the girls, so we have gone to the track where the girls can ride their bike and 4 wheeler, gone swimming, car shows, fairs, visited with family, and this last weekend we attended the community celebration in our home town where we watched a tractor pull, atv mud bogs, rummaged, and went to a street dance where the girls danced almost every song for 2 hours. I also got together with my brothers and family to go through things at my dad's place. I think we made great progress, although Dad my not think so..... right now anyway until the garage sale stuff is removed. At least it has been gone through and divided. (Thanks everyone for getting together and getting this done!) The next big accomplishment will be the actual garage sale! check out the pics of recent activities.

vacation

Well, we are back from our vacation. It was a wonderful trip and the weather was great, but as always, nice to be home. We started out last Sunday to the Dells. It only took 2.5 hours to get there, so we had the afternoon to tour the resort. It was very spread out, so it took awhile to get our bearings. The resort consisted of 3 outdoor parks and 4 indoor parks. Each day we ventured to a new park so the girls were expected to stay in the one area each day. (easier to monitor them) While there, we toured Lake Delton that had emptied into the Wisconsin River. It is hard to believe that there was a lake there just a few weeks ago. Also, we got a picture of a house that collapsed into the empty lake, along with boats and docks just sitting in the dirt. Because we had seen some of the other attractions on a previous trip, we decided to make this just a waterpark trip.

After returning and spending a quiet 4th, we took a day trip to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha to learn about the Eagle. It was so cool to see the Eagles close up. Mary was born in Wabasha, so it was fun for her to see her home town. After that we travelled up the road to Kellogg and visited the Lark Toy Company. It is the Largest Independent Specialty Toy Store in North America. They have antique toys along with very unique new toys and specialty toys that you would not find at Target. While there we sampled fudge, taffy, the girls rode the carousel and we played miniture golf. It was a beautiful day and we had fun. From there we took the girls to Zumbrota swimming for a couple hours. That was our vacation. Please take time to view the pics.

The beach

We have had a good time at the beach. The girls are acting like typical teenagers and using the beach to further their social skills! See pics of the beach. Today the weather has been very unstable, but we really need the rain. We are preparing to go to the Wisconsin Dells tomorrow. We were unsure of vacation plans this year because of the gas prices and other misfortunes we have had to pay for. But we decided to head over to the Dells for a few days. We will be staying at the Wilderness resort. They have a waterpark indoor and outdoor both right at the hotel. We are hoping it is a good time. We couldn't pass up the deal they gave us on a room. So we will have some pics to share when we return.

Back to the 50's

We attended the Back to the 50's car show at the MN state fair grounds on Sat. It was a good show and tons of cars and vendors to look at, but not the era we enjoy the most. We happened to run into a couple friends from our area, which was amazing! The weather was perfect and we got our walking in for the day. We had wanted to stop by Como Zoo also, but the day got away from us and we needed to get home. On this trip we discovered my car's air conditioning was not working, so will HAVE to get that fixed!
Sunday we traveled down to Stewartville to pick up Sammy from camp. She enjoyed herself and made lots of new friends. She said she would go back again next year if she could.

visiting

We had a very nice visit with my dad today. We took him out for lunch at the Baker's Square. It was very good! In the afternoon, we decided to go to the cemetary and water the flowers on mom's grave, so we went home from there. It was a beautiful day and traffic wasn't too bad. When we got home, we went to the town picnic for supper.

Sammy is off to camp at Ironwood Springs on Thursday. She is a little excited and a little nervous. I guess they are accommodating some flooded campers for the week, so Sammy's group gets to stay in the "hotel" lodge, as opposed to the cabins. They were told to dress for riding the first day. I think she may like this camp!

flood 2008

Have we had the rain! I will try to post some pictures of the results of last nights rain storm. The girls had trouble sleeping and were up a lot of the night. Today it has cleared off and the sun is out now. Lots of people at school had water in their basements and parts of the town had to be evacuated. At least we haven't had to water the garden!

schools out!

We had our last day with kids on Thursday and today was supposed to be our last teacher day, but of course there is always those wonderful curriculm days in June and then finishing up the wonderful MARRS data I have for the Special Education Early Childhood kids. I thought I had it done, but low and behold, my partner pointed out somethings that I missed and now I have some more work to do. At least there is no place that I HAVE to be!
The girls are looking forward to not doing a thing this summer. We'll see how long that lasts! Any bets on how long it takes them to say " I'm bored!" Tha's ok. I have a great list of activities we can do- some fun and others not so fun, but things that need to get done.

mother's day

Just a week late, but here are some pics of Mother's Day with family. It was a cool, but a sunny day and was wonderful to see everyone.

Thought I would give this a try! The bold ones are things I have done. How would you do? It's an interesting list.
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you’ and meant it!
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a professional sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diape
r21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Visited all 50 states
40. Taken care of someone who was drunk
41. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
42. Watched wild whales
43. Stolen a sign
44. Backpacked in Europe
45. Taken a road-trip
46. Gone rock climbing
48. Midnight walk on the beach
49. Gone sky diving
50. Taken a train through Europe
51. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
52. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table, and had a meal with them
53. Milked a cow
54. Alphabetized your CDs
55. Sung karaoke
56. Lounged around in bed all day
57. Gone scuba diving
58. Kissed in the rain
59. Gone to a drive-in theater
60. Started a business
61. Taken a martial arts class
62. Been in a movie (does a TV show count?)
63. Crashed a party
64. Gone without food for 5 days( are you kidding!)
65. Gotten a tattoo
66. Got flowers for no reason
67. Performed on stage
68. Been to Las Vegas
69. Recorded music
70. Eaten shark
71. Buried one/both of your parents
72. Been on a cruise ship
73. Spoken more than one language fluently
74. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
75 Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
76. Had plastic surgery
77. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
78. Wrote articles for a large publication77. Lost over 100 pounds
79. Piloted an airplane
80. Petted a stingray
81. Broken someone’s heart
82. Broken a bone
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Parasailed
86. Skipped all your school reunions
87. Shaved your head
88. Caused a car accident
89. Pretended to be “sick”
90. Surfed in the ocean
91. Saved someone’s life
92. Fainted
93. Been in the room while someone is giving birth
94. Hitchhiked
95. Adopted a child
96. Been caught daydreaming
97. Been to the Grand Canyon
98. Called off a wedding engagement
99. Donated your blood
100. Watched the Danube at night

happenings

It has been awhile and I should do this as things happen, but we all know how that goes. Anyway, My husband, Gary and I enjoy to take walks down our trail to the back woods. Our 4 dogs also like to go. Well, on this journey back to the woods, the dogs got up a goose that was nesting in the bank by the creek. Do you think the goose would fly? No, it just kept swimming up and down the river and who do you suppose chased it by swimming behind it all the way up and down the river? Yes, our dogs. First it was Buck, our yellow lab male, then it was Ginger, our chocolate lab female. They swam for over an hour, which put a damper on our walk through the woods. Gary went back with the 4 wheeler and got the dogs back after dark.

On Monday night, we came home from our jobs and found the house to be a bit chilly. Now, we know it has been cold, and we tried to turn the heat down, but had turned it back up last weekend. Anyway, Gary went to work trouble shooting the furnace, while I made supper. We have had previous trouble with the furnace this past winter, so we thought it was something again. I brought up the protable electric heater to help us stay warm. We ate, did dishes, and Gary made a fire and then we were ready to take showers when I stepped in the shower and let out a scream! We had no hot water. So now we found out that both the furnace and water heater were out. It took us awhile, but we couldn't believe they had let us run out of gas! So Gary checked and sure enough the tank was empty. So I called the after hours number and we had gas delivered. By then the girls had washed up with cold water and the house had warmed a little with the fire. We are certainly hoping the weather gets better sooooon!

The girls are getting excited for summer vacation (I'm not sure what they plan to do), but I am pumping out several reports and end of the year meetings almost everyother day. Sometimes I feel like I am running a marathon! The car washes have been busy, but slightly slower with the lousy weather.

what next?

We had a nice anniversary dinner last night and relaxed at home. When we woke up in the morning to let the dogs out, we found that one of them would not get up. Champ, our oldest dog, has been battling some stomach difficulties - we are thinking cancer. So we had put him on some pill to reduce inflamation and it was working until last night. Instead of going to Gary's brother's place for dinner, we stayed home with our dog for the day. We thought this was it, but his strong will kept him around another day for us. We will see what tomorrow brings.

The girls have MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments) this week again. They are not very excited about them. They also have dental appointments and next Monday, Sammy gets her braces! She is looking forward to this! For what reason, I am not sure, but we'll see how it goes next week.

Gary and I have off tomorrow to help put a new wash into the Blooming Prairie car wash. It will include a pass with Rainex. This will be the only wash in the area to have it. We hope it is a big hit!!!

special times

This weekend brings special thoughts for me. Today was my mom's birthday, and Sunday is our wedding anniversary. 23 years! Wow, how time flies. Today when I got home from school, I was surprised with a flowering plant and a 2 CD set of light rock music from the 70's. How very thoughtful of my loving husband. I just thought a nice dinner out would be sufficient! I will try to post a picture of the plant. This will be my first attempt.
Sunday we plan to have dinner with my sister in-law and brother in-law. Maybe we can have our night out on Saturday.

Weekend rest

Well, the weekend started off by being very rainy, cold and windy. Other than our shingles coming off, things remained somewhat stable. So, we decided to take a break and head to a motel for a little respite. As we were getting ready, Mary had complained of a headache, so I gave her Ibuprofin. Usually tylenol makes her sick. Well, I guess Ibuprofin does the same thing, because as we were ready to leave, Mary got sick. We went anyway and after she vomited a couple times, she was hungry and wanted to go swimming. She was fine the rest of the night. The girls enjoyed the pool while Gary and I relaxed with our reading materials. It was not as "fun" as we expected. There were not many kids the same age for the girls to play with and our bed was not at all comfortable. I, who usually can sleep anywhere, was up from 1-4am and then awake again at 7:00 am. We had asked for a poolside room, but found that the room was not as poolside as we had anticipated. There was parties going on all night, loud voices and running down the halls till the wee hours. We came back Sunday and "rested" back at home. Anyone have experience with the tylenol/ibuprofin thing? Maybe Mary's stomach is just very sensitive.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!!

We got home around 5:00 pm and found multiple shingles from our roof laying in the yard. We just had a new roof put on about 5 years ago! Now what??!?? And of course it was friends of our that do roofing on the side who roofed for us, so there is no company to call back. We are in the middle of 40+mph winds and more rain to come. What is a person to do? We have tarps up and insurance called and someone to come give us an estimate, but what about NOW!!!!