I cannot believe how FAST this school year has flown by! This last week is bittersweet. The kids are very excited for all of the activities going on at school, but we sure are going to miss our favorite teacher, Mrs. Fleming. Emma has had a wonderful school year, and I owe it to her teacher, Mrs. Fleming. This is going to be her last year too, as she is retiring. I have never had a teacher quite like her. She really is unbelievable. She has called our home at least a dozen times just wanting to "check in" and see how things are going. She will be dearly missed!
Last week I subbed in the library all week as 2 of the library staff were gone.........one to Hawaii and one to Ireland! Maybe if I keep helping out like this, I will get to go on an amazing vacation like that! It certainly helps add to the stash we have been saving to go to Disneyworld! We've almost saved up half of our total goal!
Our summer days are looking busy already. The kids (and maybe even me) will be attending Camp Edventure from 8a-12n. I will possibly be working in the library for Camp Ed. Not sure of all the details on that yet. Gage has baseball and taekwondo and Emma will be busy with t-ball. They both are signed up for Girl Scout and Cub Scout camps as well. We will be traveling to Iowa over the 4th and then my sister, Kim, and her husband, J.L., will be coming to visit us here in North Dakota the week of July 12! I am very excited about that! This will be their first trip to North Dakota. We plan to take them to Medora where they will golf Bully Pulpit and then we will attend the Pitchfork Fondue and Medora Musical. We are VERY excited!
My goal is to get better at blogging. I want to set aside time each day to get back in the habit.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Hi Dave!! :-)
SPRING IS HERE!! Or at least for the past couple of days anyway. There's a possibility of snow tomorrow. Maybe Too Tall Tom is blowing cold air? There's always hope!
I have been VERY NEGLIGENT in the blogging department and I'm going to do better, I promise........starting tomorrow! :-)
I have been VERY NEGLIGENT in the blogging department and I'm going to do better, I promise........starting tomorrow! :-)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Bad
I am just getting REALLY BAD in the blogging department. I wish I could get myself back into posting routinely, but it just isn't working for some reason?
We've been pretty busy lately, which is no big surprise. We have activities every night of the school week, except for Fridays. That wasn't really planned. Gage's Taekwondo class added a 3rd night and after he becomes a Camo Belt (tonight) we have the option of going 4 nights a week! Mon, Tues, Thurs and Sat. I hate to commit to that, since it isn't required, but I would like to make sure we are getting our money's worth ($89/month, + testing fees every 8 weeks, + equipment fees)!!! Gage is enjoying it and until he starts complaining, we'll continue with the schedule.
Girl Scout Cookie sales start on Friday! Emma has set big goals this year. She wants to sell 500 boxes! YIKES! I told her she is going to have to work extra hard to meet that goal. We sold 221 last year, and didn't work too terribly hard at it, so I suppose it is possible to reach that goal. If only I liked selling things. If you want any cookies, be sure to let us know! :-)
Emma will be singing at church again this Sunday. I'm pretty darned nervous about it since she hasn't practiced yet. She did go through the song once a week ago with our babysitter, Erin, who plays the piano, but that is it. I haven't even heard how it goes yet, so I can't even really help her. She will practice on Wednesday evening with the other 2 girls. Thank goodness I have friends who can plan the piano and get her a couple of extra practice sessions in before the weekend! I'll be sure to get it on video and post it on YouTube for those of you who won't be able to see it.
I'm hoping you all have a great week!
We've been pretty busy lately, which is no big surprise. We have activities every night of the school week, except for Fridays. That wasn't really planned. Gage's Taekwondo class added a 3rd night and after he becomes a Camo Belt (tonight) we have the option of going 4 nights a week! Mon, Tues, Thurs and Sat. I hate to commit to that, since it isn't required, but I would like to make sure we are getting our money's worth ($89/month, + testing fees every 8 weeks, + equipment fees)!!! Gage is enjoying it and until he starts complaining, we'll continue with the schedule.
Girl Scout Cookie sales start on Friday! Emma has set big goals this year. She wants to sell 500 boxes! YIKES! I told her she is going to have to work extra hard to meet that goal. We sold 221 last year, and didn't work too terribly hard at it, so I suppose it is possible to reach that goal. If only I liked selling things. If you want any cookies, be sure to let us know! :-)
Emma will be singing at church again this Sunday. I'm pretty darned nervous about it since she hasn't practiced yet. She did go through the song once a week ago with our babysitter, Erin, who plays the piano, but that is it. I haven't even heard how it goes yet, so I can't even really help her. She will practice on Wednesday evening with the other 2 girls. Thank goodness I have friends who can plan the piano and get her a couple of extra practice sessions in before the weekend! I'll be sure to get it on video and post it on YouTube for those of you who won't be able to see it.
I'm hoping you all have a great week!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Out with the old and in with the new!
I just can't believe how quickly the year 2009 flew by! I'm hoping to slow the progression of 2010, the best that I can!
We had a great Christmas in Iowa with family. The kids just LOVE being there and playing non-stop with their cousins. It's unfortunate for Emma that she doesn't have any female cousins her age, but she makes do.
It wasn't until just yesterday, that I noticed how "calm" I was feeling. I was thinking about why I had that feeling, and decided that I must have had quite a bit of anxiety leading up to the holidays. I'm not quite sure why I get myself so anxious, but I'm going to try and put an end to most of that craziness, if I can. I cause alot of the stress myself, by taking on too many things. I think I would be less busy if I had a full-time job, if that makes any sense.
The kids' activities are picking back up now that the holidays are over. I don't think that all of those things going on are what cause alot of my anxiety though. However, we have, or are in the process of, having a few more things added to our list. Gage will have an extra night of Taekwondo starting next week for 3 evenings/week. The kids decided they really enjoyed going to LOGOS, the church's youth group, which is on Wednesday evenings, and Emma is going to play basketball with a team of girls from her class at the YMCA starting next week.
I think most of my anxiety is brought on by the need that I feel to do things for others. I enjoy doing those things, but when you are a person that can't say "no", it gets a little overwhelming at times. I'm not sure how I can stop doing all of those things, because I haven't suddenly gotten good at saying "no" overnight. It's going to take some time, I'm sure. I just want to be able to stop and recognize when the anxiety level starts to rise and then figure out how to slow things down a little so I'm not stressing out. (Good luck with that Stacy!)
I'm not one that is big into making New Year's Resolutions. I figured out several years ago that I typically fail at carrying out the resolution for more than a couple of weeks, to a month. Last year I decided to make the resolution to be more organized. I worked hard at it initially, but then slacked off and got overwhelmed. I wanted to make the same resolution this year, to get organized. I think I am just going to try and get organized without making it a resolution. I think if I can log onto A&E.com to watch past episodes of Hoarders on a regular basis, that will be enough to keep me going right there. I love that show! Instead, my resolution for 2010 is to take more time for myself to do one of the things I enjoy most........................scrapbook. I have been getting together with a friend, on the Fridays that I don't work in the lunchroom, and scrapbooked a few hours in the morning. Although I don't always get as much done as I would like, I am making some progress. Every page counts.
We had a great Christmas in Iowa with family. The kids just LOVE being there and playing non-stop with their cousins. It's unfortunate for Emma that she doesn't have any female cousins her age, but she makes do.
It wasn't until just yesterday, that I noticed how "calm" I was feeling. I was thinking about why I had that feeling, and decided that I must have had quite a bit of anxiety leading up to the holidays. I'm not quite sure why I get myself so anxious, but I'm going to try and put an end to most of that craziness, if I can. I cause alot of the stress myself, by taking on too many things. I think I would be less busy if I had a full-time job, if that makes any sense.
The kids' activities are picking back up now that the holidays are over. I don't think that all of those things going on are what cause alot of my anxiety though. However, we have, or are in the process of, having a few more things added to our list. Gage will have an extra night of Taekwondo starting next week for 3 evenings/week. The kids decided they really enjoyed going to LOGOS, the church's youth group, which is on Wednesday evenings, and Emma is going to play basketball with a team of girls from her class at the YMCA starting next week.
I think most of my anxiety is brought on by the need that I feel to do things for others. I enjoy doing those things, but when you are a person that can't say "no", it gets a little overwhelming at times. I'm not sure how I can stop doing all of those things, because I haven't suddenly gotten good at saying "no" overnight. It's going to take some time, I'm sure. I just want to be able to stop and recognize when the anxiety level starts to rise and then figure out how to slow things down a little so I'm not stressing out. (Good luck with that Stacy!)
I'm not one that is big into making New Year's Resolutions. I figured out several years ago that I typically fail at carrying out the resolution for more than a couple of weeks, to a month. Last year I decided to make the resolution to be more organized. I worked hard at it initially, but then slacked off and got overwhelmed. I wanted to make the same resolution this year, to get organized. I think I am just going to try and get organized without making it a resolution. I think if I can log onto A&E.com to watch past episodes of Hoarders on a regular basis, that will be enough to keep me going right there. I love that show! Instead, my resolution for 2010 is to take more time for myself to do one of the things I enjoy most........................scrapbook. I have been getting together with a friend, on the Fridays that I don't work in the lunchroom, and scrapbooked a few hours in the morning. Although I don't always get as much done as I would like, I am making some progress. Every page counts.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Just around the corner!
I can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner! This year just whizzed right by! I'm not done with my Christmas shopping yet and I think this has got to be a record year, as I have NEVER been this late at getting all of my shopping done. I also wish there were a couple more paychecks between now and Christmas! It was pretty poor timing on my part (not that it could be controlled) with all the medical tests and procedures I was having just a little over a month ago. Those bills all add up and it has delayed my holiday shopping a bit.
This past weekend we enjoyed watching Emma sing her first solo in our Church's Christmas Musical. She did such a wonderful job and I am so proud of her. I just can't imagine getting up in front of the congregation to talk, let alone sing!! I think she enjoyed it, despite being a little "shakey" and nervous for her first time. We are so lucky that she has such wonderful role models to look up to at church. You can check out her video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o6KPnfQTms#watch-main-area or click on the video below.
I am trying to get it arranged to get the kids' flu shots up to date. Gage had both of his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations, but is due for the H1N1 booster. I have been getting alot of phone calls that appear to be telemarketers and was hesitant to answer the phone, but I was glad I did when it was a voice recording telling me it was time to get Gage's H1N1 booster! Emma hasn't had either the seasonal flu shot or the H1N1. I am going to try and get those done before the holiday break from school and before we head to Iowa for Christmas.
The kids are very excited about our Christmas travel plans. They just can't wait to see their cousins and grandparents. I'm hoping we have good weather for travel!
This past weekend we enjoyed watching Emma sing her first solo in our Church's Christmas Musical. She did such a wonderful job and I am so proud of her. I just can't imagine getting up in front of the congregation to talk, let alone sing!! I think she enjoyed it, despite being a little "shakey" and nervous for her first time. We are so lucky that she has such wonderful role models to look up to at church. You can check out her video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o6KPnfQTms#watch-main-area or click on the video below.
I am trying to get it arranged to get the kids' flu shots up to date. Gage had both of his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations, but is due for the H1N1 booster. I have been getting alot of phone calls that appear to be telemarketers and was hesitant to answer the phone, but I was glad I did when it was a voice recording telling me it was time to get Gage's H1N1 booster! Emma hasn't had either the seasonal flu shot or the H1N1. I am going to try and get those done before the holiday break from school and before we head to Iowa for Christmas.
The kids are very excited about our Christmas travel plans. They just can't wait to see their cousins and grandparents. I'm hoping we have good weather for travel!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The month of November whizzed right by!
I can't even believe it's been almost 1 month since my last blog post! I am not doing so well lately. Maybe I need to make blogging one of my New Year's resolutions?
I've seen other friends on Facebook, who also have blogs, copy and paste them into their FB notes, so I decided maybe I should try that and see if that works any better for holding me accountable?
November has pretty much flown by. We have been quite busy with all sorts of activities. Emma had her first dance performance last weekend. It was so cute. I need to get my pictures and video posted. The kids will be participating in our Church's Christmas Musical again this year. They started practice a week or so ago. After the first meeting, Emma told me they asked for any volunteers to sing a solo. She said that she and one other girl raised their hand. YIKES!! I asked Emma if she realized what that meant. She said she did and when I told her there would be no acting shy, not wanting to get up on the stage if she decided to do this. She told me she would get up there and sing! Today at church I was told that she will have a small solo along with a few other girls in the opening song. My stomach is already hurting. I am certainly NOT one to get up in front of a crowd to speak, let alone sing. And since I can't sing, I'm sure everyone else is grateful for my fear! However, I must say that I am quite proud that she is brave enough to give it a try. I can't imagine how terrible my stomach is going to be the day of the performance. However, I will do my best not to let Emma see the butterflies.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that we spent with our friends, Laura and Gary Walters. Two of their 3 children are the same age as Gage and Emma. Gage said he thought that perhaps this was his best Thanksgiving EVER! :-)
We have been on the stick this weekend and have gotten all of our Christmas decorations out and up! Emma has been begging me for a week to get them out. I told her when she and Gage had all of their things picked up and the house was cleaned, then we could get them out. She did a pretty good job and was getting frustrated that her brother wasn't helping her out too much. Since we didn't have anything planned for the weekend, we had the time to get the cleaning done and the decorations up. Pictures to follow.
I've seen other friends on Facebook, who also have blogs, copy and paste them into their FB notes, so I decided maybe I should try that and see if that works any better for holding me accountable?
November has pretty much flown by. We have been quite busy with all sorts of activities. Emma had her first dance performance last weekend. It was so cute. I need to get my pictures and video posted. The kids will be participating in our Church's Christmas Musical again this year. They started practice a week or so ago. After the first meeting, Emma told me they asked for any volunteers to sing a solo. She said that she and one other girl raised their hand. YIKES!! I asked Emma if she realized what that meant. She said she did and when I told her there would be no acting shy, not wanting to get up on the stage if she decided to do this. She told me she would get up there and sing! Today at church I was told that she will have a small solo along with a few other girls in the opening song. My stomach is already hurting. I am certainly NOT one to get up in front of a crowd to speak, let alone sing. And since I can't sing, I'm sure everyone else is grateful for my fear! However, I must say that I am quite proud that she is brave enough to give it a try. I can't imagine how terrible my stomach is going to be the day of the performance. However, I will do my best not to let Emma see the butterflies.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that we spent with our friends, Laura and Gary Walters. Two of their 3 children are the same age as Gage and Emma. Gage said he thought that perhaps this was his best Thanksgiving EVER! :-)
We have been on the stick this weekend and have gotten all of our Christmas decorations out and up! Emma has been begging me for a week to get them out. I told her when she and Gage had all of their things picked up and the house was cleaned, then we could get them out. She did a pretty good job and was getting frustrated that her brother wasn't helping her out too much. Since we didn't have anything planned for the weekend, we had the time to get the cleaning done and the decorations up. Pictures to follow.
Monday, November 2, 2009
November
I can't believe it's already November! This year is whizzing right by! Christmas is going to be here before we know it!
As most all of you probably already know, my biopsy results came back GREAT! It was a cyst and I was never so relieved to hear that news in all my life! That was one of the worst things I think I have gone through and I pray I never have to do that again!!!
We continue to be busy here. We had a wonderful Halloween with beautiful weather. We couldn't have asked for much better. The kids had a good time. Many of our friends that we drive to their house to trick or treat had called or emailed to tell us they wouldn't be home on Halloween. There was a big event at the Civic Center with the Prairie Home Companion radio show. So, we didn't have as many houses to drive to this year, so the kids enjoyed walking around the neighborhood with their good friends/neighbors, Hallie and Erik. We did drive to a couple houses as Emma wanted to trick or treat at her teacher's house. While we were out and about Gage suggested we go trick or treat at the Governor's residence. He said, "I heard they give out whole candy bars!" It wasn't too late, so we decided to see what all the fuss was about. Gage was disappointed that the Governor didn't actually answer the door, it was his wife Mikey. He was also disappointed that he just got a single Reeses peanut butter cup. LOL! I don't know for sure what he was expecting overall, but I think it was a bit of a letdown. At least we went so he could see that for himself.
We went to Tuttle yesterday afternoon to wash sheets, make beds and clean out the refrigerator of any expired items. There are some people coming to North Dakota to film the DU Television Show. Scott will be guiding them on the hunt. I wasn't sure why he was doing all the cleaning that he was doing yesterday until he mentioned that the donor that they are taking out to hunt for the television show was a $20,000,000 donor. He is the CEO of a big company that you may know as Bayer. (As in the Bayer aspirin)!!! I told Scott I didn't want to burst his bubble, but that no amount of cleaning he could do would make his Hotel de Tuttle Duck Shack look good to someone who can just give DU $20,000,000!!!!! He did his best to get it cleaned up; however. Needless to say, this will take Scott away from home for most of the week. I will be SO GLAD when WINTER gets here and freezes everything up! Bring it on Mother Nature!!! :-)
I learned at school last week that Gage missed his LoS (Levels of Service) reading class. After asking him why, I learned that I must be enabling Gage a bit too much. He admitted that he had no idea what day or time he even had this special class, that he relies on a fellow classmate to tell him when to go. He said that his classmate was mad at him on this particular day and decided not to tell Gage that they had reading class. After talking to Gage's teacher and LoS teacher, they said they would put a reminder note on Gage's desk. I hope this works! I also decided to get him a watch with an alarm that will hopefully help as well! He wore the watch to school on Friday and when I asked him where it was, when I noticed it wasn't on his wrist, he said he left it at school because it wasn't set right so he just took it off. UGH! He can't seem to remember any of these little details and it is driving me NUTS! We went in early this morning so I could get the watch and get it set to the correct time, date and alarm time, so we'll see how this reminder works. I sure didn't know that he was missing class, but am thankful that I just happened to be in the hallway when another friend of Gage's said, "Hey Gage! You missed reading class!" Oh, what you can learn about your children just by walking in the halls of the school! I guess I am going to have to make the kids a little more responsible about the date and activities they have going on, so they will not just take for granted that someone else is just going to take care of it for them!!
As most all of you probably already know, my biopsy results came back GREAT! It was a cyst and I was never so relieved to hear that news in all my life! That was one of the worst things I think I have gone through and I pray I never have to do that again!!!
We continue to be busy here. We had a wonderful Halloween with beautiful weather. We couldn't have asked for much better. The kids had a good time. Many of our friends that we drive to their house to trick or treat had called or emailed to tell us they wouldn't be home on Halloween. There was a big event at the Civic Center with the Prairie Home Companion radio show. So, we didn't have as many houses to drive to this year, so the kids enjoyed walking around the neighborhood with their good friends/neighbors, Hallie and Erik. We did drive to a couple houses as Emma wanted to trick or treat at her teacher's house. While we were out and about Gage suggested we go trick or treat at the Governor's residence. He said, "I heard they give out whole candy bars!" It wasn't too late, so we decided to see what all the fuss was about. Gage was disappointed that the Governor didn't actually answer the door, it was his wife Mikey. He was also disappointed that he just got a single Reeses peanut butter cup. LOL! I don't know for sure what he was expecting overall, but I think it was a bit of a letdown. At least we went so he could see that for himself.
We went to Tuttle yesterday afternoon to wash sheets, make beds and clean out the refrigerator of any expired items. There are some people coming to North Dakota to film the DU Television Show. Scott will be guiding them on the hunt. I wasn't sure why he was doing all the cleaning that he was doing yesterday until he mentioned that the donor that they are taking out to hunt for the television show was a $20,000,000 donor. He is the CEO of a big company that you may know as Bayer. (As in the Bayer aspirin)!!! I told Scott I didn't want to burst his bubble, but that no amount of cleaning he could do would make his Hotel de Tuttle Duck Shack look good to someone who can just give DU $20,000,000!!!!! He did his best to get it cleaned up; however. Needless to say, this will take Scott away from home for most of the week. I will be SO GLAD when WINTER gets here and freezes everything up! Bring it on Mother Nature!!! :-)
I learned at school last week that Gage missed his LoS (Levels of Service) reading class. After asking him why, I learned that I must be enabling Gage a bit too much. He admitted that he had no idea what day or time he even had this special class, that he relies on a fellow classmate to tell him when to go. He said that his classmate was mad at him on this particular day and decided not to tell Gage that they had reading class. After talking to Gage's teacher and LoS teacher, they said they would put a reminder note on Gage's desk. I hope this works! I also decided to get him a watch with an alarm that will hopefully help as well! He wore the watch to school on Friday and when I asked him where it was, when I noticed it wasn't on his wrist, he said he left it at school because it wasn't set right so he just took it off. UGH! He can't seem to remember any of these little details and it is driving me NUTS! We went in early this morning so I could get the watch and get it set to the correct time, date and alarm time, so we'll see how this reminder works. I sure didn't know that he was missing class, but am thankful that I just happened to be in the hallway when another friend of Gage's said, "Hey Gage! You missed reading class!" Oh, what you can learn about your children just by walking in the halls of the school! I guess I am going to have to make the kids a little more responsible about the date and activities they have going on, so they will not just take for granted that someone else is just going to take care of it for them!!
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