We're On Our Way

We are on our way to see Bob's family for Christmas. We will be gone for about a week but when we get home my mom is going to be here for a visit so who knows when I will get back to my posts...I will be on a bloggy break for the next couple of weeks.

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! (Like how I made it more festive with the word coloring? :) LOL

I leave you with this...check it out and remember what Christmas is really all about.

Yep...

...All he wants for Christmas is his 2 front teeth!

Luke pulled out his second front tooth a couple of days ago...and from the look of it, not a moment too soon! The new one was already poking through under the baby one.

Moo Part III

Some of you may remember my Moo post from when we first moved here...how lovely it was to have cows mooing in my back yard instead of sirins blairing and horns honking. Well, I may have been mistaken. It seems now, about once a week or so, I get wakened in the middle of the night by the sound of moo. I've never actually gone out to hear it outdoors...who wants to go out in the middle of the night in their PJ's in the middle of the night to investigate a abnormally loud "moo"? Sometimes it's so hight pitched I think it's one of the kids crying that woke me up and then I sit there and listen just to realize that it's only our friendly neighborhood stock yard. So I sit there and listen, just trying to block it out and not to imagine what all the racket could possibly be all about....

And that smell that I talked about not being so bad? Well, it's worse now that it's winter...one would think that with the frozen p00 it wouldn't be so bad but one forgets that occasionally here in the frozen white northern prairie, the temp. gets above freezing and that frozen p00 turns a rather pungent stench that can be smelled for miles...or blocks in our case.

Oh yes, I think I have changed my mind about my "Moo".

It Makes my Stomach Churn!

Just thinking about all the time that Bob has spent in hotels over the last few years when he was driving a charter bus just makes me grateful that he never got more than the stomach flu or a cold when he was traveling...now it makes me wonder if it wasn't from the glasses at the hotels he was staying at! There were several times that he would bring sick passengers home that weren't sick when they started and even once that I got sick on a trip with him!

If you travel a lot or know someone who does, you might want to check out the title link and make sure you watch the follow up video too!

Jamie, you might want to bring your own glasses with you on your trip to the UP to use in your hotels along the way!

Jozie's Gift

Jozie has a friend who lives a few doors down from us. She's a tiny thing that's in Kindergarten and she loves to play outside with Jozie. In the nicer weather - even when it was cold with no snow - you could count on a little knock on the door and know it was her with her smiling little face asking if Jozie could come out and play. An adorable little girl to say the least! Jozie looked forward to it everyday and most days worked hard at her school work to get it done before her friend got here to play.

Things have changed though since we got snow. Her little friend has only been here one day and she came with only a little winter coat to ask if Jozie could come out and play. Jozie was having a bad day so I had to say no...I always feel so bad saying no because the little girl goes away without her pretty smile. Since then, Jozie has been out almost everyday in the afternoon with her other friends to play and goes to ask her little friend to come out only to be told no.

Last night Jozie came to me with an excitement she could hardly contain. She told me that she knew what she wanted to give her little friend for Christmas. I was a little afraid to ask her what that was, being that I don't even have the money to get her much for Christmas, not to mention every one of her friends. But, so as not to upset her or make her feel bad, I asked her what and she told me that her friend doesn't have any outside cloths to play in the snow and she wanted to give her friend her extra ones - snow pants, gloves, mittens, a scarf, and 2 hats, along with some homemade rock candy that we made for Christmas - she doesn't use them anyway. I was proud of her for making such a loving decision. Though her extra show clothes are used and the snow pants are hand-me-downs, what could I say? She feels bad that we don't have any boots that would fit her - and to be honest, the snow pants will probably be far too big but still wearable - but she is excited to give her "gift" none the less. I am so proud of her for thinking of her little friend, Jozie has such a big heart for giving. I just hope that her little friends' parents don't take it the wrong way and understand that it was all Jozie's doing just because she wants to play with her little friend again.

Menu Plan Monday

I just have to say that I haven't forgotten about my weekly menu plan, I just have taken a temporary leave from writing them because of all of the company I have had and the traveling we have been doing. It's not that I haven't really been planning meals, I just haven't planned them for a specific day - just depending on what pops up that day with family being here what I have time to make.

I will try and resume my weekly menu after the first of the year when things settle down and we aren't so busy.

Giants and Unicorns

We just finished The Li0n, The Witch, and The Wardr0be by C.S. Lewis yesterday and we plan on watching the moving again this afternoon to see what differences we can find. I'm sure there are a few! :) These are the pictures that the kids drew that were inspired by the story. Notice Jozie's rainbow - I don't remember that in the story but what 8-year-old girl can draw a unicorn without a rainbow? (she got her talent for drawing from me, can't you tell?!) LOL Luke went as far as to put a little man under the giants foot that he was stepping on in the Battle. He was enthralled by this character and found his coming back to life from stone quite comical! :)

Jozie's Unicorn

Luke's Giant Rumblebuffin

My Favorite Royal Ranger

This week our church had the Royal Ranger Counsel of Achievement on Wednesday night. Luke was the proud recipient of his Antelope Badge and his Royal Rangers Kids Badge plus he also got his Rangers vest. He was one proud boy! And we are 2 proud parents. He was so excited about it he wants to start working on badges at home.

The picture isn't that great - again...something about that flourescent lighting in there that just doesn't like to give good pictures! Oh well, Bob got the whole thing on video again so maybe that will help. The poor kid looks like he's being reprimanded instead of rewarded in that picture! :)

Found II

I got a call from my mom yesterday and she kindly informed me that she reads my blog, "Hi, Mom! Thanks! Tell others at church if they ask about me!" :)

She said she remembered reading my first lost and found post and was excited that I found my sugar bowl...we unpacked everything in the kitchen in anticipation of finding it and never did! She also said that she was down in the basement at her house the other day (where we used to live) and was looking through some boxes of jars and other things that we had stored down there and found a box that I had forgotten...it had some keepsakes from my grandma in it and....(drum roll, please)....there were my salt and pepper shakers! I was having a bad day and she knew it would make me smile.

Thanks Mom! It did. :)

Becca! I didn't know my last lost and found post title was a quote! I've never read Sense and Sensibility. I g00gled it and found various different versions of it used in different places but none of them poetry quotes. It is very close to Amazing Grace, "I once was lost but now I'm found...", maybe that's what you were thinking of? :) Anyway...I didn't want you to think I was trying to steal someone else's words! :) Thanks for pointing it out though! :) I also had to laugh at your reference to your proof reading...I am horrible for that too! And to think what we went to MTU for! LOL I usually have to go back and fix my posts after I have posted them only to have my wonderful husband point out to me that I made some other mistake! LOL I guess that's what happens after you've been away from the books for a while - although I don't usually have a very hard time seeing other peoples mistakes - it's just my own that I overlook...isn't that how we usually see things even in life?...huh...

Well, now I'm rambling...I'm off to administer math and spelling tests today! :)

Outside my SD Window

These are what I woke up to a couple of days ago when my dad was visiting...I wish I could have gone out and gotten them with a better background and not through my window but they are what they are and the moment was captured...they are beautiful, dispite the Ter*ex factory we see from our living room window....Someday we will have a better view *sigh*, someday.






This one is from this morning. It doesn't very accurately capture the frost that was still in the air sparkling like tiny flecks of diamonds that floated in the frosty air. You can see the frost on the trees across the street if you look close enough...

This One is For Bob...

I laughed so hard when I saw this one the other day...I had to share it!

Goodness! It's Been Long Enough!

We've been keeping busy lately with a lot of different thing...dentist appointments, flu shots, school, the church Christmas program practice and visits from my dad and Bob's Dad and Marge. We've had a wonderful time with all of them here! My dad came twice because the first time he left his tools in the trunk of his car when Bob took him to the airport and didn't realize until he was looking for them in Flint at the baggage claim! So he made another quick trip out here the next week to come and get them. Only to have the handle torn when he got back home with it...Luke thinks he should have just left them here for him!

The kids dentist appointments went well, Jozie has to go back tomorrow for her last crown and filling. (After seeing where their crowns and fillings are I'm pretty sure they weren't over doing it...I feel like such a bad mom for letting their teeth get so bad!) She was so brave and I was so proud of her! She didn't even have me come back and sit with her. She is growing up! When we had their second flu shots last week we needed no extra help! She sat on my lap and cried a little but when it was all over she smiled at the nurse through her tears and said that it didn't hurt at all! Hopefully her time of fear is beginning to subside!

The Christmas program went well yesterday afternoon. Jozie was a dog in the skit they did, "Twas the Fight Before Christmas" and they were both "Wise Guys" - as Luke called himself - in the manger scene. Luke got a little bored while he was up there and to my horror started making faces and crossing his eyes while we were sing "Joy to the World"! And of course we were sitting right in the front row - right next to Grandpa (Bob's dad) - well, second row to be exact because the little ones were sitting in the front - so I couldn't even hide! What a goof ball! At least he got up there, I will give him that, because he fought even being in it from the beginning! When I too them to practice on Sat. I parked in the back of the church. I didn't stay because I wanted to go and get a few groceries but as I exited the front door and walked around the back where the car was still running, Luke was running around the other side of the church and was ready to get back in the car when I got to it! I wasn't happy to have to march him back to the front (the back door was still locked) and take him back inside for the second time. He did stay put then though!

We got our first big snow last weekend (the first of the month) and it's here to stay. I thought I would be kinda shell shocked because we haven't seen much of it over the last couple of years when we were in IN but it has actually been nice. I look forward to having a white Christmas this year - or at least what bit of Christmas we will have...the kids are thrilled, of course, and I can hardly keep them in the house except for the cold is so bitter that steam forms outside the front door every time it's opened - kinda like your freezer on a hot summers day! They can only stand it for about an hour and then they are back in. The beautiful blue sky and bright sun are very deceptive! Thankfully they have discovered that they can play a couple of games together without fighting too badly so that occupies them for some time instead of the TV - which I hate!

Oh! And Jozie lost another tooth - I think that makes it number 8 for her! She was excited when she discovered $1.02 in change that I - er, the T00th Fairy - left in place of her tooth!

Here are some pictures that I have been meaning to post but never got around to and some of the Christmas program. Those didn't come out the greatest - I have fiddled with the settings a bit and figured out how to help that but when you are trying to pay attention to what they are saying it's hard to change settings on a camera - or even remember to do it. I will have to take a few test shots the next time and get it fixed before the program even starts.

When my dad came to visit we went to school with Bob one afternoon to see the 737 blow the safety slide...oh boy, what a thrill! It was COLD that day but was excited to FINALLY get up close and personal with the plane that he has been only able to see from the car since it arrived in like October. You can't see it through the hood over his face but he is excited!


Here's my dad, Bob, and the kids inside the plane. The slide was kinda small (not like the big ones you see in the movies) and I didn't want the kids to go down it because I was afraid they would fall off the side. All the "big kids" in Bob's class went down it though. After they inflated it they found out they have to send it to MS or something like that to have it deflated and inspected! It had to be about 3 feet wide and 12 feet long...I wouldn't like to the be the FedE*x guy who had to deliver that thing!


Here's a picture of the actual plane - Bob took this picture a few weeks ago when we still had green grass though...this wasn't the day we were there! :)



This is the kids and their rowdy bunch of cousins at Thanksgiving with Bob's family. They are all quite a handfull but mostly a big bunch of blessings!



Luke and Dakota making a fort at Grandpa and Grandma's on Thanksgiving...of course Luke was mostly going around fixing what Dakota - who will be 3 in Feb. - pulled down. I must admit he kept his frustration to a minimum with his younger cousin but fumed every time he turned around and had to "fix" something! LOL


After not-so-careful review, this was the only picture of the Christmas program worth posting, the rest were so dark you could hardly see them. At least Bob got the whole thing on video. Jozie is the middle "Wise Guy" - strategically placed between Luke and Andrew who like to be boys and wrestle or fight constantly - and Luke is on the right.