Outdoor Christmas Decorations

I was hoping to be able to post a picture of our outdoor Christmas lights but they still are not finished.  We have had a rain/snow mess all day today and yesterday.  Hopefully we will be able to finish the lights soon.

This is the last post for today.  I promise not to wait so long between posts:)

Disney

Friday afternoon we were able to see Disney on Ice in Des Moines.  

Through Musco we were able to buy discount tickets.  When the email came that tickets were available to purchase I was terrified that the girls would say that they were too old and didn't want to go.  Luckily they still wanted to go although I'm not sure we are supposed to tell that they went.  We had great seats in row A.  There were two rows in front of us on the ground level so we saw everything up close.  Of course there were plenty of younger children but it was fun to see the few other families that had just teenagers.  Those families are called true Disney fanatics!

This just made us even more excited to go to the 1/2 Marathon in January.  It has been very cold and windy for all of our long runs.  Gabi has been leading the way with Emily right behind her.  I have had my best times ever.  I think it has something to do with wanting to keep up with the girls and not wanting to look as old and slow as I am.

Christmas Picture

For 14 years now I have been taking a Christmas picture for our Christmas cards.  In one of my earlier posts today I stated that I would keep my teenagers the majority of the time.  Today, however would be one of those times that one of the teenagers was acting like a teenager.  In fourteen years it has never taken me this long to take the Christmas picture.  So which one of these angelic teenagers was acting her age today - I will never tell because I still love her.  Now to decide which picture to use - Larry and I prefer one of the pictures and the girls prefer the opposite.

AARP

This past week Larry received his first AARP card.  I couldn't stop laughing.  He may be younger than me but he got his AARP card first!

Susan

So what have I been doing since I haven't been posting?  

1.  Work

2.  Church Bible Study

3.  Neighborhood Bible Study

4.  PAC

5.  Kids Party Committee

6.  Float Committee

7.  Taxi Service for Children

8.  Etc.

I'm starting to fall into a routine at work and am even enjoying my job some days now.  There are many kind people at Musco and that definitely helps.  I am starting to earn the respect of my peers in that I actually do have a clue as to what I am doing even though I haven't lived here for my entire life.

Since I haven't been in any Bible studies I'm trying to make up for lost time and have joined two this year.  One is at church and takes place on Wednesday when Emily is at her girls group and the other is the moms in our neighborhood.

The PAC is the Principals Advisory Committee at the middle school.  Our logic is I can't complain unless I try and fix the errors at the school so somehow I have ended up on this committee to state my opinion and try and improve the middle school.  I know that you are in shock that I would end up on a committee stating my opinion about the school but it is true.  You are probably also shocked to know that I have no problem, whatsoever, stating my opinion.  We'll see how long they keep me.  I did just get one of my biggest pet peeves of the school changed.  If a student forgets their lunch card then they have to sit at a discipline table to eat lunch.  Of course, my children are human and have both forgotten their lunch card except they don't eat lunch because they don't want to sit at the bad kid table.  I have been told that this is to teach responsibility.  Yet, the 40% of our students that are on free and reduced lunch are not required to follow this rule because they get their lunch free anyway so it doesn't matter.  I have struggled to understand how punishing honor roll students that are responsible and have proven they are responsible by maintaining excellent grades at all times, how requiring them to sit at a discipline table for forgetting their lunch card once or twice a year is teaching responsibility.  I have not met any administrator or teacher in this school system that has never made a mistake.   I have stated my opinion of this ridiculous rule and how responsible children are being punished for being human.  The rule has finally been removed and the once or twice a year my child forgets their lunch card they are now allowed to just punch in their number and eat their lunch like responsible, civilized human beings.  OK, I'm getting off my soap box now!

The Kids Party committee was at work.  Each year Musco has a party for all of the Musco children.  This year we had a science experiment party.  There were 200 children in attendance with 2o different science experiment stations.  Larry had his very own station and the girls had their own station.  I was very proud of how well they follow directions.  You would think they were used to me volunteering them for different activities.  I was very pleased with the way the party turned out.  

I was also talked into being on the Christmas Float committee at work.  The Lighted Christmas Parade is a HUGE deal here.  It is two different nights, this Thursday and Friday, and we prefer to win for our float!  I have been spending many hours float building and Larry and the girls have even been helping, also.  We are looking forward to this being complete.

There are days that I am really looking forward to two teenagers having their drivers license. They have become so busy that it is interesting to see how we get everywhere we are supposed to be.  

The etc. would be the cooking, cleaning and shopping to maintain daily life.  The cooking is a pain because we only have a few restaurants.  It's not like we can say, "gosh, I'm tired tonight how about if we go out to eat" - where would we go - McDonalds?  What we wouldn't do for a few restaurants.  Cleaning - it still doesn't get done - never has, never will.  I just wish we could find a cleaning lady. Shopping, oh wait - that is the only thing I can no longer do because we have no stores here!!!!  I need a mall so badly!!!!!

Girls

The girls are doing very well.  Our schools here are on trimesters rather than quarters so they receive grades only 3 times per year.  They ended the 1st trimester 2 weeks ago and both were on honor roll.  Although I don't agree with everything in this school system it could be much worse.

Gabi has joined the swim team again this year.  They do not have a high school swim team so she must still swim for the YMCA.  Since she is only doing swimming this year she is hoping to make it past sectionals.  Her first swim meet is this Saturday.  She swims 4 nights a week and keeps her grades at all As.  Although she has her teenage moments I think we will continue to keep her.

Emily in on the 7th grade girls basketball team.  After some of the parents saw her play in her first game here she was invited to play on the AAU basketball team.  She has her first AAU tournament this Saturday.  Did you catch that they both have their first competition this Saturday.  This is one of the reasons I haven't been posting.  I'm getting used to having busy children again!  Luckily both competitions are here this Saturday and since it is such a small town we will be able to make it to the majority of both competitions.  Emily continues to maintain honor roll, also.  Although she has her teenage moments I think we will keep her, also.

Both girls are involved in youth group at church.  They are really enjoying this group.  Emily is also in a Wednesday evening group that is just for girls at church.  We are grateful that they have been able to continue to get involved in many different activities.

They have also become the babysitters on our street.  It has been nice for the families to have the girls so close and willing to babysit.  The girls are wanting to make sure that our home is decorated for Christmas so that all of the children on the street will enjoy our Christmas decorations.

Larry Cooking

Yes, I know that I am WAY behind on posting!!!!  

Larry had been encouraging me to start getting involved in activities and now I am busy again even though I stated I was never going to get involved in another town.  Famous last words - now I am too busy again.

So I am going to do a marathon session of blog postings today and get caught up except for the one everyone has been waiting on.  No, we still can't tell the TOP SECRET news and this is just annoying.  We have the pictures ready but we still can't tell the news.

So post #1 involves Larry cooking.  Larry decided to help out with dinner and said he would make the french bread.  Our local grocery store makes homemade bread and they put it in paper bags.  You purchase it on your way home from work and heat it up for a few minutes.  

I really didn't think this was a difficult item for Larry to cook.  Granted there are no directions on the paper bag but most human beings with a smidge of common sense could figure out that you take the bread out of the PAPER bag and put it in the oven for a few minutes.   I guess the key words here are "smidge of common sense".  Mr. Engineer put the french bread and the paper bag in the oven to cook.  Can you say FIRE?!?!  Luckily everything was fine but we have had to give him a hard time about this one!

Happy 13th Birthday Emily

Happy 13th Birthday Emily.  I can't believe that my baby is now a teenager.

This would be her official, normal, teenage look with the phone attached to her body.

This would be the most normal picture of Emily!

I love you Emily and I am very proud of you!  You are a wonderful daughter and a blessing in our lives!!

Another Auction Find

Yesterday there was another auction.  Since we have this beautiful porch on this house I really wanted a Christmas tree for the front porch.  At the auction there was a 6 1/2 foot Christmas tree from Hobby Lobby.  This one was pre-lit and I know it costs over $100.00 at the store.  It ended up being one of the very last items up for auction but I won and it cost me an entire dollar.  Yes, you read that correctly $1.00.  There are advantages to a small town.  

Another auction next Saturday - I wonder if I will find anything?

Auction Find

Larry and I enjoy going to auctions and looking.  This has become especially true since the nearest mall is 1 1/2 hours away!!

From the paper this auction looked nice and was in a good part of town.  The picture above is what we found.  This is a 12 piece place setting of Lenox Christmas China.  As soon as we got home I looked up the cost.  If you purchase this at a regular department store the retail price is $400.00.  If you are fortunate and can find it at the outlet store the cost is $199.00.  I paid the INCREDIBLE price of a whopping $6.00!!!!

There's another auction tomorrow afternoon.  Since the Colts aren't playing we may have to go.

Happy Birthday Larry

Today is Larry's 39th Birthday (yes, really - next year is the big one).  Even though we still can't share his cool top secret news we still wish him a Happy Birthday!

I am so grateful to have found a husband as wonderful as Larry.  Our family is very blessed!! 

I LOVE YOU

               

Top Secret and Homecoming

Unfortunately we still aren't allowed to share the Top Secret information.  We thought surely by now we could share but we can't.  The good news is Larry is home safely and we do have pictures to share with everyone as soon as we can.

On to Homecoming - Last night was the Homecoming Parade.  I am pretty sure that 99% of the town comes out for this parade and they either watch it or they participate in the parade.  You know you are in a small town when the Homecoming Parade is such an important event!

Nothing New - YET

A friend of mine has let me know that I haven't posted for awhile.  Guilty as charged but nothing exciting has been happening.  Kids are going to school and Larry & I are at work.  

Hopefully at this time next week I will have something cool to post.  Larry leaves tomorrow morning, on our 18th anniversary I might add, to go on a business trip.  This is the project he has been working on for almost a year now and is top secret.  By the end of the week I think we will be allowed to tell what he has been working on.  

New Bloggers

Gabi & Emily have decided to start their own blogs.  If you would like to see their blogs just click on their names.

THANKS Suzanne

Thank you Suzanne for "pimping" my blog!!  Now my blog looks cool, too!

Larry's gallbladder (or lack thereof)

Mr. Engineer finally decided on Tuesday evening, when he was in excruciating pain, that it might be time to go to the ER.  We arrive at the ER, in small town Iowa, and find out that yes, he does have a problem with his gall bladder.  He was given medication and sent home and told to return Wednesday morning for an ultrasound and a surgery consultation.  EARLY Wednesday morning the ER doctor called to say that after talking with the surgeon she never should have sent him home and we need to bring him back in and have him admitted.  Wednesday afternoon we finally saw the surgeon and received the explanation of what was happening.  

We were told that his gallbladder was full of gall stones and his pancreas and liver were all inflamed.  He needed surgery to remove the gallbladder but that could not be done until his blood levels all came down to normal.  If they did not come down he would have to go to Iowa City for another procedure before having the gallbladder removed.  To make a long story shorter Larry spent Wednesday and Thursday in the hospital with lots of IVs and antibiotics and no food.  The blood levels came down and surgery was finally able to be done on Friday here in town.  When the surgeon came out after surgery, much longer than anticipated, he explained that his gallbladder was full of gallstones and was very inflamed.  We also found out that this has been the cause of his eating pain for MANY years now!

If Larry would have chosen to go in much earlier when his loving wife asked him to go to the Dr. this could have been an outpatient procedure and he would be returning to work after a day or two.  The surgeon has said that he will be off work for 2 weeks, Larry has said a few days and I think he will have no choice but to be off for at least this week.

He is doing very well physically and I do believe is enjoying the pampering.  He decided to "help" his females with the yard work yesterday.  Emily is mowing, Gabi is working on the weeds and I am trying to do the weedeater for the first time.  Of course who is he following around the yard - ME - that is the last time that our yard will have the weed eater used until he is better!

We are very grateful that he is going to be fine and now that we are sure he is going to be fine I must say what I have been waiting to say for many days now - I TOLD YOU SO!!!!

First Day Of School

Today was the first day of school.  Gabi began her freshman year and Emily is now a seventh grader.  They both seemed to have a good day so we are very grateful for a positive first day.

My little girls are not supposed to be growing up!!

Yes - this is the fourth post for the day.  I was just trying to get caught up.

Hibiscus

This is the first time I have ever tried to keep a hibiscus alive.  I have enjoyed this plant all summer.  Now if only I could keep it alive this winter so I could enjoy it again next summer.

Big Foot's Family?

There are days I can't believe the size of our feet!!!

So can anyone figure out which feet belong to which person?

1st Run of the Season

Saturday morning we took our first "run" in preparation for the 1/2 marathon in January.  We were supposed to go for a leisurely stroll of only 2.4 miles.  The male member of the family decided we should take a different route than the females had decided upon and we ended up going 4.4 miles the first week out.  

Just a few more training sessions until January!

Brian Rocks

Brian is so intelligent!!  Thank you for fixing this so all can enjoy!!

Click here for the video!

I LOVE the song Brian chose to go with this video!  

Brian, the filmmaker

file:///Volumes/The%20Boxler's%20Visit%20To%20Columbus/

Brian made this video for us.  We miss him, his family and everyone in Columbus soooooo much!!!!  We love you!!

Sorry, we have tried to get the video to work but it doesn't work on the blog.  I wish you could see it - a rising star in the film industry!!

Rose-Hulman

While we were at the Colts training camp we were able to go into the Rose-Hulman classrooms and look around.  It worked out that the department head saw us and was able to show Larry around the new labs.  

It was cool to be able to show the girls Rose-Hulman but especially the plaque Larry is standing beside.  Larry won the Optics award his senior year and his name is on this plaque.  The award was a huge honor at the time and still is to this day.  Yes, I am very proud of what he has accomplished!

Indiana Trip

This past week we were able to go to Indiana. The week began with the wedding of my youngest cousin, Eric, to Lesley. It was so nice to see that side of the family.

We were able to spend some time with my nieces, Samantha and Grace and nephew, Garrett.

We were also able to see our niece, Madelyn, from Larry's side of the family. Madelyn is getting ready to become a big sister in the next few weeks.

One of the highlights of the week was spending time in Columbus. What we wouldn't give to be able to move home to Columbus to be with our Columbus friends!!

The week finished with attending training camp for the Colts!

Ice Cream

Tonight we had to pick up the projects from the fair. The girls thought that we should stop and get ice cream on the way home. In most towns you would find the usual ice cream restaurants but no, not here. In small town Iowa we have The Frosty Udder.

Now it did take me awhile before I was willing to go to a small barn and purchase ice cream but now it has become our favorite ice cream place. One would never think that a small barn in a small town would have such cheap, delicious ice cream but it is true.

Unfortunately, a small barn can also blow away in a storm so if we have any kind of rain The Frosty Udder has to close. Ahhh, the joys of small town living?!?

Southern Iowa Fair

The Southern Iowa Fair began on Monday and ends this coming Sunday. The girls decided to give 4-H a try for the first time this year. Shall we begin by saying that 4-H has changed quite a bit since we were members of 4-H. Gabi decided that one of her projects would be dog, so Benny, our 8-year old Bichon Frise, was the lucky one chosen to go to obedience and agility class. Gabi and Benny did a great job in agility but Benny just didn't see the purpose in sitting and staying when asked. The good news is that he was not the worst dog out there and Gabi kept right on smiling!! Gabi also built a rocket for the first time and painted it hot pink!

Her final project was foods. This was the biggest change - Did you know that it is possible to judge a cookie without tasting the cookie? I have never seen this happen. She was given a blue ribbon but we still can't figure out how the cookies were judged.


Emily decided to participate in Child Development and earned a purple ribbon. She also entered two pictures for photography and cookies as well with blue ribbons for all those projects. Her final project was in clothing called the $15.00 Challenge. She was required to purchase an entire outfit at garage sales or resale stores for $15.00 or under. This picture was of Emily after modeling her outfit. Her father thought he would show his fashion sense modeling his black socks with his tennis shoes. Where have I gone wrong?

Sad News & Phenomenal Children

This week has been a challenge. Last week we were starting to fall into a summer routine since the girls were home and then we received a phone call that a dear friend had passed away. Sue was a peer, mentor and friend that I loved dearly. I taught with her for several years and she was even able to come visit us in Tucson. Sue was a remarkable teacher and a wonderful person. The picture is of all of us at Sabino Canyon. We are very grateful for all of the good times we have shared. After a quick trip to Indiana to attend her funeral we are home. Since that is by far the horrendous news for the week I would like to share some good news.

I have phenomenal children!! Having mom working in the summer rather than being home has been a challenge for all of us but the girls have definitely stepped up to the plate. Our laundry has been done every day, the house has been picked up and the floor vacuumed. Even though we have had to move waaaay toooo many times I am grateful every day that we have each other and we are all healthy!!!!

House #13

Yes this is post #3 today. I am behind and trying to catch up.


Well, the door color is not what I had hoped for but it is better so here is a picture of home #13. Yes, it is our usual ranch style home but the best part of this house is the porch. We are enjoying summer evenings on this porch.


We have found our home number interesting for this house. We have been married for 17 years and this is house #13. Maybe this is our lucky home and we will be able to stay here for a long time.

Guitar Hero

We made a family purchase and decided that Guitar Hero would be a fun game for our family. This game has been a blast and we all want to play, even Grandma!

The Girls are Home!

The girls have arrived home and had a great time in Indiana. I try and be mature and say that I am not jealous but let's be realistic - I am very jealous that they were able to go to Indiana for these past weeks. OK, I am happy for them but I am ready for my turn!!

My parents came and picked them up and Larry's parents brought them home. They stayed with my sister and her family the majority of the week but were able to visit with lots of family and friends. This is a picture of the girls with their cousins Samantha, Garrett and the bottom picture is of Grace.

Floods of 2008

Even though the news sounds like everyone in Iowa is flooded we are not. We are one of only 13 counties in Iowa that has not been declared a disaster area. We are fine and have no water. There is a possibility that we may still loose water but that is so minor in comparison to others including our friends in Columbus.

Coming soon - a picture of home #13 - that is if I can get the color of the door to become the shade I was hoping for rather than pea green.

Peyton is our new neighbor

We met our new neighbors yesterday and can you believe we are so fortunate to be living beside Peyton!! I had no idea that he would move here - maybe just on the off season.

OK - so it is the oldest son but we were impressed with his name.

Emily mowed the yard for the first time yesterday and did a great job. I think that means it is a new job for her. We have worked the majority of the weekend in the yard and getting ready for the garage sale that we are having next weekend.

The girls leave for IN on Wednesday. They are very excited to be going. I just wish that we could be going, also!!!!!!!!!!

Moving the Red Ball

As CEO of Boxler Moving, Inc. we have successfully completed another move. We are officially in house #13. At this house we do not have a fence for the dogs so they are on tie outs in the backyard. We have been teasing Larry because while I have been handling all of the moving details Larry has been trying to engineer a way to connect a rope to Rufus' red ball so that it won't get too far away from him while he is on his tie out. And yet, I still love him!!

8th Grade Dance

Gabi had a great time at the 8th grade dance and she looked gorgeous!! This is a big deal here. I had no idea the importance of an 8th grade dance. I was just excited that she let me brush her hair and use the flat iron on it. Then I was fortunate enough to be allowed to apply mascara and a small amount of eye shadow.

Moving #13

This will be the 13th home Larry and I have made together since we were married. Just for the rundown we started with 2 apartments when we were married - one in Terre Haute and one in Indianapolis. Then we had 2 different apartments in Michigan and our first house. After that we moved to Ohio and we only had one house while living there. On to IN where we had an apartment then a house. Next stop was Tucson where we had 2 houses. This time in Iowa we had the temporary home, then the home we are at now and the one we are going in makes #13.

We have the keys to the new house and have been cleaning all day yesterday. We will go back again today as soon as church is over. Doesn't that sound like a fun filled Mother's Day!?!?

I have decided that the reason I don't like cleaning my own house is because I have spent so much time cleaning up other people's dirt so that I can survive in the new location. I'm thinking our own dirt isn't nearly as bad as former owners!!!!

I will post pictures eventually. The front of the house has a nice porch but the yard is in awful shape and the porch needs to be cleaned. If the rain holds out I would like to get started on weed removal today. This home ended up having not a single window covering and since our only option is WM I have been online trying to find window coverings and/or driving to the big city this week. It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch with an unfinished basement. The house is the smallest we have ever lived in but I think we have measured and figured out how to get things to fit.

The good news is we are on a paved road and the walking path is right across the street. The best news is I have yet to see a mouse or an indication there is a mouse. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

New Vehicle

We are back in the year 2008 and are one again a 2 vehicle family. Thank goodness!! We drove to the nearest Honda dealer - that would be 1 and 1/2 hours one way - because Larry will only buy Hondas - with all intentions of purchasing a used vehicle BUT when we got there found out that they are needing to get rid of the 2008 pilots because the 2009 pilots arrive this week. Works for me - I didn't know Honda ever had this good of a deal!!

Tulip Festival

Last weekend was Tulip Festival in the town next to ours. It was beautiful and we will enjoy this festival next year. Free room and board and it is worth the drive!!

BIG BUMMER

Yes, it is a BIG BUMMER. I haven't posted for quite awhile. I was very hopeful that we would be posting how we were moving home to Columbus but unfortunately that it not going to be the case.

There have been some HUGE concerns about Larry's employment here. Without going into great detail we will just say that his supervisor has been escorted from the building!!!! With all the concerns here Larry began looking for another job hoping to be able to work for a company and telecommute living in Columbus. The good news was that he received two job offers to telecommute and until 2 weeks ago we thought we would be writing that we were coming home. BUT, the company he is at now made it very clear that they would like for him to stay and positive steps have been taken so we have agreed to try living here for one more year. If we are still not settled after trying for another year his company will help us get home!!

So, we have all agreed to try harder to live here for another year. We will be moving into town in less than 2 weeks so we will be grateful to not be living on a gravel road complete with mud and mice!! I have been hired and will begin my job on the 22nd, after we get moved again, as a training coordinator. The girls have joined 4-H and we are looking into some other activities for the summer.

Emily is VERY disappointed and I agree with her but in this financially unstable times we think we have made a logical and safe choice. We think the girls will be leaving for Indiana the day after school is out and stay for a couple of weeks. They are eager to see everyone. Larry and I won't be able to come in June but we are all coming home in August!!

Softball

After church yesterday, (Yes the internet was down again out here in the country!!) Larry was talking about playing softball this year. Gabi lovingly replied to her father, "Can you even still play softball?"

Are we really getting that old?

Braces are Gone

The girls have both had their braces taken off. Gabi is completely finished with braces after almost 4 years. Emily is done with her first phase. Emily will have to have more braces put back on after some of her teeth come in. Now they both need to go to the dentist to have their teeth cleaned!!!!

Country Living

The weather in the country is still cool but the SMELL says it is spring in the country!!!!! It stinks so bad out here!!!!!

Gabi's 14th Birthday

Gabi celebrated her 14th birthday today. It just doesn't seem possible that my little girl is 14. She has had a cold all week and still felt rotten today but being the wonderful daughter that she is she let me take the traditional birthday picture. We are truly blessed with incredible children!!

Beautiful Day

FINALLY!!!! It is a beautiful day today. Larry and I were able to get out and go for a walk today. I would love to say that we ran but after being cooped up for the past 3 months we were grateful to be able to walk. This has the potential to hurt tomorrow!!

Snow

On April 1st I am not supposed to be posting about anymore snow falling from the sky. Yes, it was snowing first thing this morning. It was only flurries but we are all WAY over snow. And no, this is not an April Fools Day joke - how I wish it was!!!!

Happy Easter

I would love to have been able to post a beautiful picture of my children in their Easter outfits but since it was still snowing when we got up on Easter we all wore winter clothes. Honestly, we didn't even bother to buy Easter dresses. By the time it gets warm enough for spring dresses to be worn they will probably have grown, again.

At church the minister wished us Merry Christmas. I thought it felt appropriate considering the weather.

Gabi did have her chocolate as soon as she got up. She was trying to talk me into getting up at midnight so we could enjoy at 12:01. Luckily, she fell asleep!! Yes, they did take a picture of me eating my chips but since I write the posts there is no way I am posting a first of the morning picture of me eating. I prefer not to put anyone through that torture. Earlier in the week the girls were talking about giving up pop next year for lent. They thought it would be a good idea for our whole family to give up pop. I reminded them that I did give up diet coke one year. They decided that they didn't want to endure mom without her diet coke another year!!!!

SNOW

Larry is singing White Easter - it's a new song allowed only wherever we are living!!! Yes, it is snowing here!! We have hit a new low!!!!!!

Magazine & Snow

Today I was at the large big box store, better known as, W-M. I was looking for the well-known magazine, Prevent***. I wasn't finding it so I asked where it was located. The response, "What is that? I've never heard of that magazine. We don't carry it." I think we live in a small town!!!! And yes, we are supposed to have snow tonight and tomorrow but it is not supposed to be much.
The girls asked what they were wearing for Easter tomorrow and I told them something warm.

Countdown to Chocolate and Chips

Gabi and I made a commitment to give up something for lent this year. Gabi gave up chocolate and I gave up chips. 40 days becomes a long time during spring break. I have a feeling Gabi will be eating chocolate for breakfast. Watching the first NCAA games without chips is going to be a challenge so I have a feeling the Sunday games will be even better than the first 3 days of games.

Cool Kids

Two cool things that two cool kids accomplished all in one week. Gabi was asked to participate in honor band and we attended her concert last night. This week we received a letter that Emily has been nominated for Who's Who. I love being able to post cool things my kids have done. I think I'll keep them!!

Disneyworld 1/2 Marathon

Last week, after one of my I'm loosing it because of all this snow and living on this gravel road, I registered all of us for the 2009 Disneyworld 1/2 marathon. The girls are already getting excited, ok, Larry and I can hardly wait, also!! This will be Gabi's first half marathon and Emily's second half marathon. I just checked the Disneyworld 1/2 marathon web site and the half marathon is already 97% full. I'm glad we were able to get registered!!

These pictures are from the 2007 5K that we all did at Disneyworld. We will probably do the 5K the day before the 1/2 marathon, also.

Snow Days

You are probably wondering what has happened with all of our snow days. Well we have now had 9 snow days (I forgot to blog about the last one - could be because we are sick of them). Since we have had so many snow days and in order to not be going to school through the middle of June the school corporation is starting school ten minutes earlier and staying 15 minutes later each day. If we have another snow day they will be going to school on Saturday. The extra minutes seem like a reasonable solution to this situation. The girls aren't thrilled but they definitely don't want to go through the summer. The thought of Saturday school - now that is another story.

We have had 2 mornings this week with a 2 hour delay. The bus is unable to get down our road so we are taking the kids to school and picking them up. Chances are good we will have no bus service out here for several weeks.

I repeat - I am NOT a country girl!

Where's The Car?

After church we had to stop at our local Wal-Mart. Emily and I ran in to get the things we needed and Larry and Gabi waited in the car. While we were shopping Larry and Gabi decided to go ahead into the store. Emily and I finished and left without them seeing us. We get to the car and noone is in the car.

Hmmm, I see an incredible practical joke happening. Emily and I get in the car and drive it into a different parking spot so we can watch them leave the store. I have never laughed as hard as I did watching Mr. Engineer and Miss Mathematician walk up and down the aisles looking for the car. Emily and I laughed so hard our sides were hurting!!!! Gabi didn't find it humorous but Larry did congratulate us on a practical joke well done.