Update for November!

I haven't written in awhile. Here is the latest!...

Pneumonia - or something like it - has infected me. I'm on prednisone, some sort of 'cillan, an inhaler and some kind of cough syrup that has oxycodone in it. The end result is that my symptoms seem NO better - but I could care less! LOL! I'll ride out the Thanksgiving weekend and then it's back to the doc if I'm not doing any better. I feel ok - but as soon as I work on something - I'm wiped out!

Lake Geneva - was awesome. I posted the pictures where we saw the most awesome sunset AND a rainbow that was so brilliant. The pictures don't do it justice. I got 42 pages of scrapbooking done! That is a record for me. I'll be posting some pictures soon of my pages.

Family - they are awesome. Scotty was also struck by this bug - but it came to him as an ear infection (and then another one immediately after the first). So he's finishing up his antibiotic and he's 100% again. Brett has congestion - but nothing major.

Brett has been Mr. Awesome lately. I'm so impressed with that kid. He worked at a soup kitchen last week, then ran a youth activity at church and then ran another activity on Sunday night. He's involved in an engineering competition at MSOE and also is doing well with his violin. He's doing pretty well at school and he's been a huge help at home. I think I have the best teenager in the whole world. And yet, he still remains to be so "cool" to his friends. How did I get so lucky?

Scotty has REALLY started to "click" with school. He loves it! He's doing an excellent job! His reading skills have gone through the roof! He is my poster child for the optimistic. His favorite phrase is "Look at the bright side..." no matter WHAT we are doing.

Of course Eric is always fantastic. He's the best dad and hubby a girl could ever ask for. He's been so sweet with me being sick and all. He's in Indiana this week for work - but he calls in at night so we can do speaker-phone family prayer. :D Too cool. It'll be good for him to have a few days off this weekend. He deserves it.

News from home is that a dear friend of ours, Sister Genge passed away. She was an amazing woman who enjoyed genealogy more than any one human being on this earth. And I know some VERY avid genealogists!! She's going to have quite a reunion on the other side of the veil! Including my Mom greeting her with open arms and having stories to tell. I have so many Sister Genge stories - she was honest, knowledgeable, and a gem of a woman.

So I am thankful. We're off to Hayward this weekend for some turkey, family time, shopping and likely a funeral. But it's all good. I'll enjoy all of it! (The funeral because it will be a celebration of a wonderful life and I'm glad I'll likely be there for it.)

*Hugs everyone*

Weird stuff...

Weird. That's the past few days for me!

I got all ready for my Stampin' Up! class and I get to my conference room only to find out we can't go in. There was some burglary of equipment and it was pending an investigation and "sealed" off to police access only. Ugh! Weird!

I have a class Tuesday night there - and apparently it's supposed to be clear for that.

Then we have this strange illness in my house. Obviously, we aren't contagious because Eric isn't sick. Scotty went in for an earache 3 weeks ag0 (I think 3 weeks) and was put on amoxicillan. He took it all and was still sick - although his ear was better. Now he has another earache - and he goes back into today.

I've been sick for 3 weeks also... and it seems to have settled into my chest. I went to the doctor and was put on amoxicillan - which I've been on since last Wednesday and it's not working for me either.

Weird. We usually don't get sick like that. Actually Scotty was never on medication in his life until now! He's home today... 102 degree fever. But he's still so stinkin' happy. He's such an awesome kid.

Scotty is watching "A Year Without a Santa Clause"... we watch it all year round. It's been on our DVR for 3 years! He never gets tired of it.


I, for one, never EVER get tired of Heat Miser and Snow Miser!!

So there is my weird post. :)

Lake Geneva Scrapbook Weekend

It was really wonderful! I was able to go on Thursday and we traveled to Delevan to Memories from the Heart scrapbook store. On the way back we saw the most VIVID rainbow! It was pretty amazing. And then the SUNSET - which was equally awesome.

I've posted a few pictures. See the slide show on the right - but wait for a bit and you'll see more pictures (it takes awhile for the slideshow to load). Once you start seeing the sunset pictures - you probably have all of them.

Despite being sick - I had a great time. I got the most pages done in a weekend than I have EVER done before! I got 42 pages done! I still need to add journaling to some of them. I'll post some of them once I take pictures of them.

Yesterday I went to the doctor and I have bronchitis and sinus infection. Oy! So I'm on drugs and my hubby is taking care of me. (He's awesome.) Today I feel better! I'm so glad... but I can't wait until I'm done with the coughing!

This weekend is my Stampin' Up class! I love class weekend... It sounds crazy - but I have so much fun and enjoy sharing stuff with everyone. This weekend is Christmas cards and ornaments. :D I will probably over do it. I should make those calls tonight to remind people!...

On a SUPER positive note: My dad's surgery went really well and he's already home. Wahoo!

A new day... (a.k.a. post election stress disorder)

It's a new day. I'm not bitter about the election anymore. I'm actually excited to see a black man in the White House (that was never my issue).

I'm excited to see people not hating the country anymore - that was getting a little old. I'm excited to quit hearing people blame everyone else and ready to get to work to DO something instead of complaining all the time.

It's a new day... And don't worry - I explained to Scotty that Obama isn't going to give our money to a hobo. :) I told him he deserves our respect and that the country has spoken. He really is an awesome man and father and I have to believe he wants the best for his kids too.

:D
Besides - I get to go scrapbooking this weekend in Lake Geneva! So it can't all be bad!

"He's going to raise taxes and give it all to a HOBO!"

Those are the words of my 8-year-old Scotty about our new president. I laughed myself silly. I think he should be a politician with a slogan like that!

Well Obama is our president after January and we have a Democratic House and Senate to match. We'll have change, alright... but not in our pockets. More on that over the next 4 years. *shudder*

Just remember - I didn't drink that Obama koolaid! :O

;)

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2008 has officially come to a close!

Actually we really enjoy this time of year because we make it fun. This year we went to the "Harvest Festival" at the school where they had a ton of activities for the kids, including a jail they set up. You could pay to take out a warrant and have someone arrested. So, of course, we took a warrant out on Scotty! Brett was asked right away to help at the warrant table. He did an excellent job.

Then last night was our Trunk-or-Treat at the church. They had a Primary activity for the kids at 5pm. Then at 6pm we had a ward dinner of chili and desserts. I brought chili and it worked out really well! We had several crock pots of chili, corn muffins and then 2 tables of desserts. At each table they had apple juice, water, saltines and butter. It was REALLY nice! And a TON of people came!

After dinner - we went out to our cars and handed out candy from our trunks. We didn't dress up our trunk this year :( -- I should have taken the time to plan that out a little more.

Brett taped a large quarter to his back (a novelty we picked up at Mount Rushmore this past summer) and wore a football jersey. He was a "Quarterback" *groan*.... And Scotty went as Eric - a Crane Mechanic. It was a costume he looked forward to ALL year! He couldn't wait to be Daddy. He thinks Daddy has the best job in the whole world. So of course I had to paint a beard on him! :)

[CHECK SIDEBAR FOR SLIDESHOW!]

We had a blast! And it was so well organized because we were done by 7:30! Perfect! Of course we talked in the parking lot sitting in our trunk to missionaries and Paul & Esther. Elder Salls is a new missionary and showed me a misspelling (an ACTUAL misprint) in the Bible. I can't wait to use it on the Seminary kids.

I have to say - I really missed Donna and Karissa this year. They counted the days and really looked forward to spending that time together with us! I really missed them this year. (I know they were thinking of us too!)

Boo-tiful BRACES for Brett!

Yup - it actually is a reality. Brett has BRACES! They are worth more than my "new" van! LOL It's a sacrifice - but of course worth every bit of it!

Dr. Wolfert did an excellent job. I was really impressed with everything. It's my type of place. Dr. Wolfert has offices in Greendale and Oconomowoc. In Greendale, it's in the same office building as the Mission offices for the Church! Too cool. He does clear braces for the same price as metal! But Brett wanted to change colors every month so he picked metal. I guess metal is way more popular. Strange!

So - Brett's in for about 2 years. He's doing really well already. I gave him a dose of Ibuprofen just in case :D.

Enjoy the pictures! This month's colors: Alternating BLACK and ORANGE!

TODAY

TODAY I start to be better at our family blog. I wanted to put so much on here and keep thinking I have to play catch-up first. Well - I can't do that at one sitting. So here is TODAY! :D I'll be posting stuff from last summer, this school year and stuff as I get the chance.

TODAY is also day to start an on-line journal. Maybe this will help me journal more than just a Word document and really much more than keeping a handwritten journal. (http://www.ldsjournal.com - FREE of course) And actually this is copied from my first entry so I thought I would share it here! :D

TODAY I have a cold... and possibly a fever. :P

TODAY the kids are off of school! Yay! I love having them home.

TODAY I was supposed to do laundry, but I decided to do it tomorrow instead.

TODAY the house is a mess (not unusual... that's most days).

TODAY I didn't have to teach Seminary because of school being off. I got to sleep IN!!! WOW! It felt great.

TODAY Brett gets his braces on! Whoa... We've been looking up videos (YouTube is an amazing place) of people getting braces on... we've been Googling images of braces... we've been creating a menu around braces (we know he'll be sore the first couple of days). It's only 4 hours away now and he's pretty nervouse. I think we've thought about it too much. "Slap those puppies on" I say!

TODAY Scotty is finishing cleaning their room. I hope. I hear more playing than cleaning. I'll know it's done when I hear the vacuum trying to suck up Legos.

TODAY Eric goes to Illinois for work. He won't be home tonight. :( Scotty will probably sleep with me. Eric won't get see Brett's braces until tomorrow, so we're taking a picture and e-mailing it to him.

TODAY Lisa L. works so I should go let Misty out. She called last night to try to entice me to come over with her leftovers (pie, soup etc.). We'll do it anyway.

TODAY I have to be sure I have all the pieces to Scotty's costume and try to figure out something for Brett (if he wants to dress up). I keep trying to convince him to go as a baked potato (brown garbage bag stuffed and then cover him in tinfoil. Make a pat of butter for his head). I saw the idea on the internet (sans butter - that's my idea). I think it's genius. He's hesitant though :(... Oy... He is SO 13. ;)

TODAY I have to "work" and do an e-mail for The Scrapbook Store and update their website.

TODAY we need to bury that dang hermit crab! It's been dead for MONTHS because at first we thought it was going through a molting process (which I honestly think it was - and died in the process). All the websites said don't move him for at least 3 months -- or until he smells "fishy"... well he never smelled at ALL... but he hasn't moved since February or March. Yup - it's time to come to grips that he's finally dead. None of us want to touch him. So we are digging a hole outside and going to pour the contents of his aquarium into the hole and bury it. It's going to be oogy. But it can't be much more oogy than having a dead crab in your house for months! He looks a little gray - but overall - not as bad as you'd think. We may save that for tomorrow, too. I'll keep you informed. ;)

So that's about it. I've been in a mood to THROW STUFF OUT, GET RID OF IT, SELL IT! That's why I went into the kid's room yesterday. We got rid of a TON of stuff. I was SO happy to see the floor again. We need to get the closet doors back on. For some reason they decided to put them in front of their bed. ugh. They've been there for months now and I hate it. It's time for them to be put back on. I have to call management to do it. I HATE these closet doors. Shoot me if I ever decide to put them in a house that we get (someday).

I'm off to start Today! :)

Media Bias... nah..... (?!)

Okay - I have to say a little something. I won't get political after this - because everyone that knows me knows which way I'm going to vote. But the media bias which "doesn't exist" is really sticking in my craw today. My bachelor's degree in political science is burning a hole in my file cabinet...

I am soooo tired of Obama being The Chosen One by every form of media. I'm SICK of the panic-attack by the democrats to nail Sarah Palin to the wall. And the media is loving it...

I "Googled" the following to get pictures. This is what I found:

Search:

MAGAZINE COVERS OBAMA

And then I saw someone did the same thing I was thinking of and put a "compiled" picture online...

Now the obvious. The US magazine hatchet job....

versus

Time Magazine did a pretty good job - but keep in mind, I didn't read the articles. Time magazine typically leans to the left - but I'll keep an open mind.

OH WAIT! Where is that halo around McCain? Yah.... see my point?

Oh - and Newsweek. Oy... can you believe their bias is just in sheer volume:

versus

Now go ahead and Search the following:

MAGAZINE COVER SARAH PALIN
MAGAZINE COVER MCCAIN

Use Google - and click on the "Images" above the search bar. You'll page through millions of pictures (and a LOT of "made up"/Photoshop type of cover - not real ones) and be hard-pressed to find much on McCain at all.

I imagine we'll see a lot more in the months to come... and I don't think it's going to be pretty on the McCain/Palin side. I think the halos around Obama are getting a little old.

After this post - I'll get back to family issues.

JUNE Happenings

Here is June in a snapshot.

I figure that's about as good as place as any to get started:

"Scouting the Zoo"
Such a cool event. The entire Zoo is overrun by scouts from all over the area. There are events everywhere - and the older boys get to camp at the zoo overnight. Scotty participated in the Cart Races for Cub Scouts and Brett camped with his Troop 601 overnight. Our friend Paul represented Troop 585 for the Church and did a cool job with the tent! This picture is Scotty going down the back of a flatbed tow truck that one of the dads brought to play with after the race. :D

STRAWBERRIES!
This was FUN and rewarding. I learned how to make freezer jam. We picked over 30 pounds and here it is in September and I'm concerned I'm going to run out of jam already! Oooo - yummy! We made strawberry bread, pies, cheesecake and strawberry shortcake. I'm definitely doing this again next year! Here is the picture I used on the labels for the jam...

Hair Cut!

Brett was looking a little more girly (rather than the skater look he was going for) so Mom brought out the trimmers! Eric & I love it - but Brett is mourning the loss of his locks. It's 3 months later and he's STILL upset about it! LOL! Here is the "before" picture. You'll see the pictures for the rest of the summer with less hair. :]


Orchestra
Of course, part of the summer, we follow the Magnificent Performing Strings. It is a city-wide orchestra that Brett has belonged to since he was 7. Of course I think he is magnificent anyway. :) Here is one of the very few pictures we have of him performing at the Milwaukee Art Museum. There weren't many pictures because Scotty had the camera and we got a LOT of pictures of him!
You'll see more pictures of Brett when I post about GermanFest because the it was the 10th Year the Magnificent Performing Strings played there and they gave presents to Mr. K, their conductor, who has been a fantastic teacher! I heard he will only be doing it for 2 more years??!




The end of 1st and 7th Grades
Brett gave a speech and played a solo in front of the whole 7th grade at the end-of-year honors program. It was a bit of a panic because the speech he wrote got STOLEN! It was in his yearbook on his desk and when he got back, the yearbook (and speech) was gone! So (because I typed it up for him) we re-created it during the program and he still did it. I was SO proud of him! The solo was excellent! It was interesting because we had a tornado watch in the middle of it. My friend Esther went with me and we had to stand in the back hallway of the stage facing the wall. We kept giggling and the teachers would yell at the kids "This is not a joke." But I could not stop the giggles!


Scotty's last days at 1st grade were SO FUN! But he was so excited for summer to begin. I think he had ants in his pants. In TWO DAYS he went from wobbling on his two-wheeler to standing on pegs on the back wheel and zooming down the driveway. He scares me a little. He and his bike(s) have been inseparable ever since. It was the Summer of the Bike!




FLOODS!
June was FULL of water... basements being flooded... streets became rivers and puddles became lakes. Brett went to the Young Men Encampment in Madison (for church/scouts) and wound up working for FEMA in Baraboo (one of the hardest-hit areas). For weeks around the city here, rolls of wet carpeting and water-logged furniture lined the curbs for trash pick-up. After seeing all the funky designs on all those rolls of carpet - maybe the floods weren't a bad thing after all? ;)


I think that was about it? I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'll have to post July and August events in separate posts. But this is a beginning!

New Blog / Summer is over...

*Whew* I can't believe it's over! Sort of sad... sort of relieved.... sort of lonely (with kids back at school)... and sort of more relaxed. Typical.

I'll post different events from the summer over the next month or so - with pictures to share! We've picked strawberries, traveled to Idaho (and visited Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, etc.), went to Hayward, nursed Brett's near-blind experience, Camped, participated in State Fair, and who knows what else. I don't think we were home much this summer!

Eric's been traveling a lot for work too. That poor guy hasn't been home much at all. This week he was in Kankakee, Illinois. He comes home tonight and leaves Sunday for training in Manitowoc for a week. Then he'll be home for one night and leaves the next morning (13th) for AUSTRIA for more training for a week. I call myself a Crane Widow. I can only imagine what it's like for military wives because this is hard enough.

Overall - enjoy the postings. I hope to work on my Blog at least once a week to share!