Last night Michael put on pajama bottoms and came into our room just laughing. They were about 3 inches too short - but had fit him last year. Emily decides to say pull them down - so he does which left about 3 - 4 inches of his underwear sticking out (he was sagging - what a comfortable way to go to bed). All the while Michael is just laughing and laughing.

We just passed Andrew a bunch of clothes - and I guess he grew more than I thought. We will likely be ready to pass some more things on to Andrew. The fun part comes now - checking his clothes each day or trying on every pair of pants he owns at one time.

100th post

This past weekend mom and dad came down. They arrived around 10:15 on Friday evening, due to dad having to work until 8:00 with one of his clients. Saturday we had planned to go to HolidayWorld, but due to the kids and myself not feeling on top of things all week, as well as being tired, we opted to stay in town. We went to the Gaslight festival - a small town festival with crafts, booths, freebies, bounce arounds... for the morning. Then we ate a CiCi's (after watching them race remote control cars in the parking lot of CiCi's) adn went home to rest & play games. After dinner we went mini golfing.

Sunday we went to Church had lunch and then loaded up mom and dad's van. They were delivering lots of hand-me-down items for Andrew. Michael handed down books, stuffed animals, his electric car, his pooh playhouse & pooh animals, his pooh stuffed animals (which were Emily's when she was little) and lots of clothes. This was hard for me - as it showed me even more that my little boy is growing up. In addition to the hand-me-downs to Andrew, he donated most of his stuffed animals to my prize box at school. He did keep his build-a-bear animals, his talking polar bear, his Webkinz, and some baseball/Cardinal stuffed animals.

After mom and dad left Doug ran to borrow a saw from a friend, and then he and Michael hit the backyard and started trimming trees. You should have seen Michael carrying limbs across the back yard. boy was he a big help! We have a stack of limbs as big as the swing set to get rid of now. This is in preparation of us taking out our "bamboo forest". We need more sunlight - in order to have grass grow in that area - so we had to trim the tree back. Once it gets cooler we will start taking out the ivy & bamboo in the back of the yard. We will transplant the hostas, but get rid of the rest. Will take pictures as we begin so you can watch our progress.

99th post

I guess I have been teaching first grade too long. The number 99 and 100 feel like such big accomplishments. At school we celebrate both the 99th and 100th day in various ways (mainly the 100th, but we do note the 99th day also). Wow! If you have been a reader for the last year and a half, you have read 99 posts. Wow.

Anyway, just got home from the grocery store. Kind of weird - here it is September (apple season) and oranges and grapes are on sale cheaper than apples. Very odd. I guess it may be due to the drought we had this summer.

weepuls and all that stuff

Well, magazine sales have kicked off again at our school. The kids would like to go on a limo ride which requires them each to sell 12 magazines. So far each has done 4 so we have 16 total to go for our family. For each magazine they sell they get a little fuzzy weepul. There is also lots of other prizes that come along with it - the highlight being a limo ride.

On Tuesday Michael happened to be the daily prize winner. He got to bring home an "annoying singing thing" It is a blue creature which makes a whining anoying sound when its belly is squeezed. Oh boy, I am sure glad I had him turn in magazine sales on that day.

On the bright side, because they each turned in 4 by today they will get to see a BMX bike show. It should be a fun time. Michael is especially excited to be able to see this.

I sure feel old ...

Today Michael sure made me feel old and out of it. He has this thing about leaving his dark church socks on after church and putting on shorts. Boy does he need a fashion consultant. Anyway... today he had on velcro shoes, dark socks (pulled up to almost his knees), jean shorts and a t-shirt. He was getting ready to go to the store with Doug and I asked him if he really wanted to wear those socks & shoes. He said, "why mom?" to which I replied, "So you don't look like a Geek!". He then said, "what is a geek mom - that sure is a funny word."

I guess that is how mom and dad felt at times when I did not get their lingo from their childhood. I guess there must be a new word for geek in today's lingo. If you know it - please fill me in so I can communicate effictively with my son next Sunday when he tries to wear dark socks with velcro shoes. :)

trip to St. Louis

All 4 of us in the Cardinal dugout

Emily and Michael with the World Series Trophy

Michael eating Ted Drews - YUM, YUM!

Emily eating Ted Drews - Good to the last drop!

The kids at the Magic House playing Ring Around the Rosey

Well, for this past weekend we were off to St. Louis. We camped at our favorite KOA just on the Illinois side of St. Louis. We have been there 3 times now. After getting in late Friday night we set up and ended up with two tent sites as our reservation was lost in computer land (was on one screen, but not the other) and we really did not have a camper/RV spot assigned to us. Oh well, it was nice as we were right next to the covered patio so we used that as our private patio. We were also the first site next to the horseshoe pits, basetball court, pool, and bathrooms. :)

Saturday morning we went to wait in line for the Cardinal's Kids Crew party at the stadium. Michael played ball with some kids while we waited for a few hours and then we went to wait in more lines. Lines for autographs, lines for dugout tours, lines for games, lines for bathrooms, and even lines to leave. Then it was back to the van to wait for a while before we could go back into the stadium for the game. We ate in the stadium and found our seats - section 265 - not too bad. The cardinals won 11 to 3. The kids got to see 2 of the 3 players they got autographs for play.

Sunday we took it easy, ate breakfast and then headed to the Magic House for an afternoon of hands-on fun. After the kids had their full of fun (and going down the slide about a dozen times) we headed to Ted Drews & then back to the campground for swimming & dinner.

This morning we packed up, let the kids swim for a while & then took off. On our way out we ate lunch at Chevy's as the kids had cupons for free lunches from the Kids Crew Party. We arrived home about 5:30, got unpacked, did laundry, set out stuff for our "dump week" (as this is our free week to have bulk stuff hauled away), got he kids to bed, made lunches and now am sitting down.

Day # 4

Today was the 4th day of school. Wow! Today a miracle happened. All the kids were more settled, less talkative, and really were productive. Wow! I plan on praying for more days like today. Please do the same ... of course I know they are just 6 & 7 year olds so the likelyhood of a repeat this early in the school year is very slim.

michael's birthday party

Since Michael's birthday fell both over vacation & summer vacation, we finally made it around to having a birthday party with his friends. He wanted to go to Putt-Putt for his party - which we were first apprehensive about due to all the heat we have been having. But, after checking prices around town, decided to go for it. Putt-Putt was only $8 per child, where other places were $15 - $20 per child. Parties are getting so expensive. Anyway - we had 8 first grade boys and 3 4th grade girls (two boys have sisters in Emily's class so we invited them along so she would have someone to hang out with). It was great! They played 1 round of putt-putt and it was actually comfortable outside - it was only about 90 :) instead of the 100 which it has been lately. Then we went inside for cake, ice cream, & drinks. After ooling off and eating up Michael opened his presents. They we let them loose in the arcade they had connected to the putt-putt place. They had a blast - and 120 tokens actually lasted quite a while.

A new boy walked into the party and took one look at me and said, "Mrs. N_ what are you doing here?" I then said, "You did not know I was Michael's mom did you." He just looked at me and said, "Wow".


Michael got 3 new webkinz which made him very happy as well as some legos, a t.v. plug-in video game, $15, a remote control car, and a gift card to blockbuster. He enjoyed all the stuff and has played with everything this evening.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. What a great day! It was only a 1/2 day so I finished up quite a few odds and ends this afternoon. I feel good about what I accomplished today - especially since my aide was not here today. She started back to college and will be there 3 mornings per week instead of 5. Emily is in 4th grade and Michael is in 1st grade. Wow! They sure are growing up!

first day of school

Anticipation,
Fear,
Excitement,
Tired,
Oh - No!
Yeah!
Jittery,
Groggy,
Joyful,
How do (did) you feel on the first day of school?

Tomorrow is the first day of school for us. Pray that we have a great day! Although, if it is a terrible day, at least it is only a 1/2 day. :) And, after that, only 174 more days to go :)Praise the Lord for the gift of learning.

sick or not to be sick - that is the question

Well, it is time for back to school, so it is also time for little bugs to be going around. Emily complained of a headache on Saturday & Sunday off and on. She also looked tired. Sunday evening she started running a low grade feaver. She had one also this morning and off and on today. Of course, no other realy symptoms. She said her throat hurt some (possible strep?) but not too bad. Her nose is a little stuffy -so that could also be the source of the sore throat. Will see what the morning brings. With school starting on WEdnesday, I need to go to school tomorrow. I plan on taking her no matter what and just lysoling my room when I go to leave. Hopefully it is just a 48 hour mystery thing.

school around the corner

Yesterday we had a work day at school. Flower beds were weeded and remulched, the playground got a load of woodchips, the whole grounds were spruced up. What a big day. There were about 35 people there to help. Since we were in the mood, we had a work day at home after dinner - trimmed hedges, pulled weeds, weed eated, and mowed the lawn.

School will start on Wednesday. I am ready for it according to my plans, but not really ready to go back mentally. I have gotten used to sleeping in and taking it easy in the morning. Getting up by 6:30 each day and leaving by 7:30 is not going to be fun after not getting up until 9:00 or so each day. Oh well. I guess I should be thankful for the break.

Emily and Michael are both ready to go back to school and see their friends. Emily got together with all the girls in her class on Friday for a High School Musical 2 party. It was a fun time for her. Michael and myself watched it at home and enjoyed the time together (Doug watched a baseball game in the other room). Tonight while Doug and I are at our Christ Care meeting, the kids plan on watching High School Musical 2 with the babysitter.

Tomorrow we plan on going to the state fair and then to the Mercy Me concert. Doug has a soft ball game, so it will just be the kids and myself. Should be a good time.

uniforms & school prep

Today I got into the atic and went through school uniforms. Getting Emily out new pants and skorts in size 10 really made her feel grown up. Michael stayed with his same ones for now (of course he will probably have a growth spurt right after I put all the hand-me-downs in the attic). While I don't really like uniforms and would rather allow some freedom of expression in clothing, I do like the fact that Emily can pass her clothes down to Michael. There is little difference in girl and boy uniform pants & shorts. In fact, I can't tell which kind are which. It does cut down on the cost of clothes for school.

It also helped that today I found $10 shoes for both kids - Michael got some nice basketball type tennis shoes and Emily found Sketchers with charms on them that she really liked at this shoe store that was going out of business.

With finishing up school supply shopping last week, I feel I have all the stuff the kids need for school.

orthodontist update

Well, Monday I took both Emily and Michael to the orthodontist. Both will need mouth expanders - Michael on the top and Emily on top and bottom. Right now they have spacers in to spread their teeth apart. Monday they go back to get bands fitted for their appliances, and then the mouth expanders are put in place the following week. I feel like we signed our life away, but yet this is minor compared to what braces will cost (Emily will likely have them, but the verdict is out for Michael). Oh well, they will have a great smile right? Right now we are buying stock in orajel, as Emily is pretty uncomfortable with just the spacers in. I told her she will get used to them - but they will likely be the most comfortable thing the orthodontist puts in her mouth.

High School Musical

On Sunday evening I took the kids to see High School Musical at the outdoor ampitheatre here in town. It was incredible. Every summer the theatre does a local talent nigh school production, and this year it was High School Musical. We were there on a sold out night, the last night of the production, and it was exciting. Afterwards all the teenagers stood around and signed autographs for the young kids who were there. Of course Emily and Michael had to get as many as they could. Wow! What an evening. We did not get home until 11:30, but it was worth it.

That leads up to this Friday night when High School Musical 2 is on Disney Channel. Both Emily and Michael are really junkies for this - Emily got backpack for back to school with a picture of Troy on it (Troy is the main male character). A girl in her class is having a High School Musical 2 Viewing party on Friday evening so it will be a great time for her. Michael and I will view it together and have a good time - of course Doug is not into this and thinks it is all crazy. I just tell him the kids are growing up and will be into many more things after this :)

Boo Slide Show

orthodontists

Well - today I took the kids to the dentist. A second year in a row the kids were told that they needed a visit to the orthodontist. I went on-line and found orthodontists who were in-network for our insurance. Then, I scheduled appointments with one who had two offices - one near home and one near school. Wow! Works out well - now we will see what the verdict is - how much it will put us in the hole. Pray that it will not be too bad.

is it hot enough for you?

Well, here it is 102 today. It was 102 yesterday also. YUCK! Makes it difficult to even go outside. Driving from home visit to home visit has been misreable at times as the car is heats up pretty good while I am in one visit. Oh well. I guess I can thank the Lord for air conditioning, for ceiling fans, and for refrigerators & freezers. Praise the Lord for modern conveniences. :)

How hot has it been where you are?

BOO

You will now hear the word BOO in our house more than just at halloween. We have a new dog - a 2 year old begle. We had been thinking about getting another dog for a while, but knew our summer schedule would not make one possible. This past week the humane society had waved adoption fees and we found a clearance sale on dog houses ($10 instead of $50) so we decided to go for it. Boo is a sweet dog and is well trained. He is not too overpowering for Michael - and has enjoyed playing fetch. The only issue is he loves running out the front door. Twice today he got out the front door and took a run for it. For those of you who have been to our house - the street out front is really busy - so this is an issue we will have to remedy, especially since STanley (our previous dog) died when he got out and was hit by a car.

Summer has gone by quickly!!!!

Wow! It is hard to believe that it is already the beginning of August and I am in the midst of home visits. We have been all over the country - from North to South over the summer and now it is almost over. We have been as far North as Wisconsin for Greg's ordination and as far South as Galveston Island, Texas. In between we visited ST. Louis, Frohna MO, Joplin Mo, Fort Smith AR, Monine IL, and Indianapolis IN. Wow! We were home only one weekend during the months of June and July - July 15th. It was great to see friends and family and see parts of the country we had not seen in a while. Now it is back to work!

I will have 18 first graders this coming year - one of which is Michael. Emily will be in 4th grade. We had her home visit today. My little girl is growing up - wow! She will be in for a lot of hard work, but I am sure she is up to it. She is a little nervous, despite knowing her teacher very well. We have been over to their house and they over to ours much over the past year.

Hopefully now that all our summer traveling is over I will be able to spend more time on my BLOG.