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Sunday, November 20, 2005

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 16:27:10 GMT

Still no home computer. I continue to plug along though! The kids and Matt and I are all doing well. I am always super busy...and we are entering the point of craziness every weekend! Matt shot his first buck this hunting season, 8 points and he is so proud!

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 15:21:47 GMT

A quickie blog before taking the kiddos home from church. I'm sitting here in Matt's office with the kids drawing pictures and messing up his bookshelves! I had to hop in and teach third grade Sunday School because the teacher "lost track of time". Ugh. They were good kids, but it is hard to administrate and teach concurrently.

We have a big week this week. The Kids Club at church is going on a two mile hike this afternoon. It should be super nice. We are having some AMAZING weather for Autumn in Minnesota. It was nearly 80 degrees yesterday! Of course, Matt took the air conditioning units out of the windows on his day off on Friday. Last night Matt and I had a date with some good friends. I had the yummiest chicken breast smothered in wild mushrooms, artichokes and parmesan cheese. I have enough left for lunch today, and my mouth is watering thinking of it! It was a lot of fun being out on a date with another couple...it is more of a guarantee that we don't discuss the kids while on a date!

Matt's parents and brother will arrive early in the week. The guest room is ready, but I still need to clean the office for Ben. I also have a bag of bananas to transform into banana bread. I'm also going to bake some cookies and bake a vinegar pie for Matt's dad...it is his favorite. It tastes a bit like vanilla custard pie...with a hint of lemon.

MOPS on Tuesday and Ladies Aid on Thursday along with my MOPS steering meeting on Thursday night. I hope I have time to enjoy our house guests.

My scrapbooking is plugging along. I've been in more of a stamping and paper crafting mood, so I made ten cards on Thursday. I've been making covered journals for people lately, so maybe I'll make a nice one for the guest room. I'm thinking of getting a big table for the office and moving scrapping things in there, since we won't be home schooling for another two years...but I don't mind working in the dining room...but leaving it all out on the table overnight would be a perk! I see gorgeous scrapping rooms in magazines, only to realize that that will not be my reality any time soon!

Friday, September 30, 2005

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:32:01 GMT

Hello all!

Just a quickie check in. My computer died almost immediately after my last entry. I check in a few times a week from Matt's computer at church, but not very often. The good points of a dead computer are a very clean (nearly immaculate) house, a very small laundry pile, gourmet meals, and time to sew or stamp or scrap every day. I'm starting to think that if the computer is not repaired, we will put off getting a new one even longer.

Ethan had his 18 month check up yesterday. Perfectly healthy. He is up one pound from his 12 month weight and is now 25 pounds. He grew nearly 3 inches though and is now 31 3/4 inches tall! He is a very happy child and sleeps perfectly.

The big boys are all doing well with school. We have conferences in the next few weeks...those are always interesting!

Not much else here. My retreat went very well, and now I'm glad to be done. The inlaws will be out for a week next week. MAtt's Dad is doing a Lumberjack show for Andrew's class at school. I need to get the basement room shaped up this weekend. I also need to set up the office for Benjamin who is coming out to help with the show. Without the computer being in there he will have a completely private room! They will be here for the Pumkin party at the farm again, so the boys are looking forward to that. It is always good for some fun pictures.

Not much elsoe here. I've got to run to the store quickly before heading home...so I'll close!

Monday, September 19, 2005

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:50:49 GMT

My pirate name is:

Captain Mary Rackham

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

That was kind of fun, especially since I don't have a lot to say today. My house is clean and my kids are happy, and I have to run and get some stuff for MOPS tomorrow. All in all, life is good. And I feel like a Pirate! Arrrrrrr!

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:59:49 GMT

I'm going to be soooooo sore tomorrow! We had a family yard day today and I worked my fat butt off! Our yard has really gotten overgrown over the summer. When it is hot, I just don't want to be out piddling with stuff. Today Matt chopped down the two huge shrubs in front of our picture window...I hated them, and now I have space for a new flower bed in the spring. Then we pruned all of the other shrubs, cut the low hanging branches off of the trees, edged the lawn (not an easy task...we used a manual edger and I'm not sure that our yard and sidewalks have EVER been edged. Then I got all of the weeds and stray leaves and trash (yuck) out of my front perennial beds. I just have narrow beds that flank our front walk...all of the debris filled a large leaf and lawn bag...we now have a HUGE pile of brush to be hauled to the dump next week. The back yard still needs to have all of the beds cleaned up and the house needs to be hosed down, as well as the air conditioners need to come out. But my front yard looks GREAT! I'm so excited that I have all winter to plan a new bed that gets almost Full sun. Some of my perennials will be due to be divided and I can buy some more. It will be very cottage garden. Of course...that also means I have one more bed to weed. I think I want a bird bath too!

Tomorrow is our annual church service at the state park. So I get to sleep in, because it does not start until 11...we usually go at 8!

The boys are all doing well. Andrew and William pitched right in today, and Owen and Ethan took long naps, which was a blessing. Ethan did end up with a black eye, as Andrew cannot throw or kick balls properly, and landed one right in Ethan's face. Now he looks even more like a bruiser.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Thu, 15 Sep 2005 16:27:18 GMT

Wish I had something exciting to share, but I don't.

William has his tiger scout meeting HERE tonight. So Matt is out mowing the lawn so that they can do some outdoor stuff and I baked banana chocolate chip muffins and banana bread and oatmeal cookies this morning to take care of the brown bananas on my kitchen counter. I'll have to dust, vacuum and mop the kitchen floor this afternoon, and make a few more MOPs phone calls.

All in all, things are good. Too busy, but since I perform better under pressure, perhaps busy is a good thing. An empty schedule lands my fat butt in front of this computer. Lately I've been lucky to even check my email.

Signing off then!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:57:06 GMT

I'm surviving September! Thriving actually. I seem to have really gotten into a groove with all of my activities and the kids schedules. My house has never looked better and we are eating well. I'm not as stressed out as I predicted. Thanks be to God!

My Sunday School Carnival (actually not mine...I delegated it out!) went fabulously. It was better than I could have imagined. the kids had fun and the adults had a rare chance to fellowship. Our first day of Sunday School went smoothly enough. I have one squeaky wheel, but she will make me a stronger leader when it is all said and done!

I have almost my whole slate of Moppetts volunteers lined up. I used to hate the job of organizing all of this, but now after three years of coordinating the volunteers, they know my voice on the phone and tend to say yes to my (often last minute) pleas for help. I feel like I have a whole new set of relationships with the grandmas of our community. I really adore my MOPS group and I so love seeing the changes and growth our group has gone through since I joined four years ago. God has placed many dear friends in my path and this group has helped me to connect to the community in new ways every day!

Matt got home from his pastor's conference last night. Andrew immediately attacked him with requests to play Star Wars Risk (I guess it was not enough that I spent 2 hours playing with him Sunday night) or to watch a movie. He still needs to readjust to the concept of "school nights". I took a much needed Mom's night out last night and attended a PTA meeting, which was a bit sad as we honored last years president who died tragically this summer. It was very hard to read through the minutes and see how much Tina did last year and to think about how deeply her loss will be felt for years to come.

I saved gas money yesterday and ordered the craft supplies we need for the Pastor's wives retreat from Joann.com. They have free shipping for one more day, which is a great deal, since their shipping is pretty spendy.

Ethan grows so much every day. He is starting to talk, which just tickles Owen. He has such and even, easygoing personality. And yet...such a temper (he gets that from MOM!)

All in all, life is going pretty smoothly for our little family.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:03:10 GMT

Ahhhhhhhh! We're back! Actually, we've been back since Labor day, but I am just now feeling like I have a chance to sit and breathe!

Our vacation went well, it was a lot of driving, we drove across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan twice, once along the south, and once across the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is definitely the most underrated and beautiful part of Michigan! We spent a lot of time with family and were able to attend a wedding of Matt's cousin. I'm so glad to be back in my own home again though!

Andrew and William started school on Tuesday, Andrew began the fourth grade and William started first grade. They both love their classes and their teachers. I'm looking forward to a great year from them. Owen also goes to preschool two mornings a week now. It definitely adds a new dynamic into my life, with having the kids gone so much! I can actually get things done and meals planned and projects finished. I'm glad I never planned on getting an out of the home job once the kids started school...I think I would feel cheated...In some odd way, I feel like I have earned this time of relative peace in the day. I also enjoy spending some one on one time with the baby (who is less and less of a baby every day!).

Andrew planned and cooked the bulk of our dinner on Tuesday night. He made meatloaf in muffin tins (I chopped the onions and took the hot pan out of the oven), smashed potatoes with cream cheese and minced green onion (I cut up the potatoes and drained the hot heavy pan...he mashed, and seasoned.) We also had green beans with bacon and olive oil (he did it all since we had pre made bacon morsels.) I was really proud of him and he had so much fun. He says that some day when he has a girlfriend he wants to cook her dinner...I say that he will be able to impress by the time that day comes!

I have my Sunday School staff lined up for our first class on Sunday and we have an awesome carnival planned for after church. Now I need to line up my childcare workers for our MOPS group before our first meeting on the 20th. I also have some finishing touches to put onto the pastors wives retreat we have scheduled for Sept. 22-24. Registration closed the 1st of the month...but I got a registration as late as Thursday!

All in all, things are going well. I'm going through and doing a thorough Fall cleaning and organizing of my house...which is not fun, but the results are so worth it! I have a review of the new Orange Swiffer Carpet Flick...it is incredible! And my kids can and will use it...which is a plus! It is perfect for our carpeted (ick!) dining room!

I'll get first day of school pictures up sometime before it is time to post Halloween pictures!

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:15:32 GMT

Ok! We are packed and ready! We're off at 4 am tomorrow. I'll let you all know how insane the trip was when we get back!

The kids are so excited, so it should be fun! We borrowed a video camera so we can get pictures of the kiddos with the relatives, that will be fun.

Now I just have to clear off my camera so that I have room for tons of pictures...when the card is clear I have room for 125! I will die before my books are ever caught up! LOL!

The kids are all set for school, they start the day after we get back. Owen had his open house with Miss Jackie. She is going to get quite an education this year, she has 7 little boys and 2 girls in her three year old morning class! Three of those little boys are little pastors sons and they are tight! She just had a baby boy on Easter weekend...she'll be a pro if she makes it through the year alive.

We took William to meet his teacher, Mrs. K. She was very kind and let us visit her in the classroom before it was ready, since we would be on vacation for open house. I think he'll do great. Quite a few of his good buddies from preschool are in his class. He is also so excited about being a Tiger Cub scout. Matt will be his den leader this year.

Andrew did not get to go in to meet his teacher, but he is familiar with her since she goes to our church. He'll have a lower key year this year, as Mrs. B has a much different personality than Miss W. He'll continue with his after school New Testament Greek class with Matt this year, along with piano lessons and Webelos scouts. He has set a goal for getting the school record for accelerated reader!

Have a great end of the summer! Next time I greet you all...I'll be home with just the baby in tow!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 13:28:37 GMT

I have tons to get ready for this trip. We are getting very excited though. It will be fun to visit with family and friends. The tasks for today are to balance the checkbook...and a house scrub from top to bottom...the kids are so happy to help...not.

Oh...and anyone who wants to rob our house while we are gone...have at it. Please take my computer first...it is a 2000 iMac and is not even capable of high speed inter net access. We also have two small but adequate TVs, two dvd players that cost us less than $100 total. I do have a roomful of scrapbooking stuff...but I'm not so sure how that moves on the black market. Oh...and our sheriff deputy friend is keeping an eye on the house for us...wave to him if you see him.

Off to balance and clean! Have a great day all!