Fairytale Landing

News and such

Just thought I would give a quick update as to what we have been up to around here.  It has been quite hectic with softball games and dairy judging going on.  This week we have a little break from some of the action with Katie, Mandy, and Courtney all at Camp Chetek for the week.  They were so excited to go.  It's Courtney's first year as a camper, and this mommy is having a little problem with accepting that she's that old already.  It hasn't been dull at home though.  Remember~we still have the pistol home with her close behind her older sister.  They have been a riot to watch the past two nights.  Tonight they were rescuer's.  They took turns saving each other from drowning in the viscous living room ocean!  What fun they had!!  I'll leave you with some pictures of the fun we are having!

A short break in the action!!

Look at all those holes!  The one on the top was missing today when I got home from work!

Who's goon's are these anyhoo?  Oh yeah, they're ours!  Who do they look like here?????????

That's all for now!

Family Fun

Well, we made it through volleyball season all right!  The girls finished up their last tournament with a perfect record for the day!  They won all their matches and were pretty excited about that!  They played hard, and I'm continually amazed at the maturity level of Katie in times like this.  She is such a young lady, and is so good at the team thing!  I'm downright proud of her!!  Now, if we could improve the "at home" attitude, we'd be set!!

Things are going good with my recovery.  I have had little pain, and an unbelievable amount of energy.  I cleaned my house yesterday to the dismay of my husband!  Don't get me wrong, normally he would have been elated to come home and find the house as he did.  He just wasn't too thrilled to see it at a week after major surgery!  I went into work this morning to do my weigh in for our biggest looser contest.  That went well again!  Wohoo~I'm down 15 pounds from the start.  Only 3 more weigh ins to go, but I'm happy with the slow progress!  Hopefully since it's taking its time coming off, it will stay off longer!!

Well, little fireball is done eating lunch, so I need to go be the entertainer now!  That girl has more energy than I know what to do with.  Right now she's trying to convince me that she won't be crabby if she gets to watch Magic of the Rainbow.  Where does she come up with this stuff?  Happy Tuesday all!

who are we and what do we do?

I imagine some of you have been wondering what on earth we have been up to or where we disappeared to.  We are fine.  Busy, but fine!  I apologize for not being up on the updating scene here.  Hopefully, for the next few weeks, I'll be better at it.  For those of you who didn't know, I had surgery Tuesday, so I am off work for 4 weeks.  I'm also off any other duties that define a wife, mom, etc, but that's besides the point!  Pray that my recovery is speedy and relatively painless.  That's what I'm shooting for!!

The kids have been doing great.  Katie and Mandy are finishing up volleyball this weekend.  They have their last tournament in Thorp on Saturday.  They really had a good time with it and improved their playing quite a bit!  It's exciting to see them flourish as young women in their talents.  A couple weeks ago, we started softball, so now that's what we are running with to keep busy.  Katie, Mandy, and Courtney are all playing on two different teams.  So far, so good with that adventure.  There are a couple of weeks in June that we will have softball 5 days a week, but they have so much fun with it, that it's worth the insanity for us!  I also am volunteer coaching Katie's team, so that's interesting too.  Jody and Eryn are busy being them, which is a chore in and of itself!

Well, I'm off now to cheer on Chester, our fearless Chocolate Lab who is in the process of catching an unwanted rodent in my house.  I am being held captive in my own bedroom by a squirrel!  Mind you it's just a little one, but a squirrel none the less!  Go ahead and laugh, but I am terrified of the little creatures!  I'd rather battle a bull any day, and I'm not too fond of them either!!

my exuses for not being a faithful blogger

1. Working full time (4 days/week)

2. Softball for 2 girls

3. Volleyball for same 2 girls

4. Meetings

5. School board thoughts

6. Gotta wash dishes sometimes

7. Same for the laundry

8. Oh, the kids and hubby think they need to eat too!

So, enough of the excuses huh?  Nothing is really new or exciting around here, just busy with this and that.  Oh, there is maybe some news.  One of my coworkers approached me about running for the school board, and we agreed.  So, I'm officially a write in candidate for the Prairie Farm School Board!  Scarry huh?  Well, enough about me.  I gotta go earn my keep now.

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

Okay, I really don't mean that but to put in delightful didn't really look right.  WE GOT SNOW!!!!!  I know my friends at work are probably saying bad things about my love of it, but how exciting!  The girls finally got a real SNOW day instead of a froze day.  The bummer is, I suppose they will have to make it up at the end of the year.  But, I really wish we would get another foot or two.  Why my excitement you may ask?  Well, thanks to Al Gore and our public school system, my 5th grader is convinced that our world is too warm to have snow and that we will run out of water to drink in like 5000 years!  Isn't that pathetic!  God just proved to them that it can still snow in Wisconsin.  All that, and I just want to be snowed into my house!

On a different note, I started in the clinic this week and LOVE it.  The job and everything that goes with it is exactly what I want to do, and it's exciting to be able to do that now.  All is well in this ole shoe this week! 

Have a splendid weekend and if you live around here, ENJOY the SNOW!!!!  The rest of you can be envious of us~hee hee.

For Laughs

You may ask why we love children. The answer is very simple, they are sweet and innocent. Here are a few examples of them being just children.

1) NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom! That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!"

2) OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, "The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents."

3) KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle."

4) MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"

5) POLICE # 1
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, "Are you a cop?" Yes," I answered and continued writing the report. "My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?" "Yes, that's right," I told her. "Well, then," she said as she extended her foot toward me, "would you please tie my shoe?"

6) POLICE # 2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me "Is that a dog you got back there?" he asked. "It sure is," I replied. Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said,” What’d he do?"

7) ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"

8) DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit." "And why not, darling?" "You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning."

9) DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous (FYI-full & loud & deep) dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: "Glory be unto the Faaaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he gooooes."

10) SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk!"

11) BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages "Mama, look what I found," the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear!"

I thought these were cute and thought I'd send them on.

Candidate for pastor

Hey y'all~guess what?  We had someone candidate at church for the pastorate after being without a pastor for over a year now!  Be in prayer for us as we have our vote Sunday night this coming week.  We had a really good question and answer time that I thought was really productive and informative.  This would be the first pastorate for this family, but I think they are up to the challenges that our little church will no doubt provide.  We'll not go too far with that!

Sorry I haven't been real good about updating.  I look almost everyday at Fannie and Jodi's blogs which are kept up so nicely and grimace about the lack of time to do much with mine.  In time maybe that will change~ha ha.

Well, I'm off to start supper now.  Ta ta for now!

Rat race of life

Do you ever have those weeks where you wonder how you can possibly get it all done?  I'm having one of those weeks.  We had our Sunday School program at church Sunday night, I worked Monday and Tuesday, the girls had their school program yesterday, today was shot, and I work Friday and Saturday.  I went to our local Walmart yesterday to attempt to finish/pert near start my Christmas shopping.  I only had a couple people done before yesterday.  The crowds were huge and annoying, and I found myself getting impatient with the general public's lack of common sense.

For example, the round abouts in our local Walmart area have been a hot topic of frustration for a year now, and I can honestly say that no one yet knows how to use them properly!  The signs leading into the circle clearly mark the fact that you are to yield to those already in the circle.  That would mean that my white van would have the right-a-way over a BIG black SUV that was in too much of a hurry to slow down, let alone stop instead of causing me to slam on my brakes!  Oh yeah, I forgot, I'm supposed to be nice!!!  Usually I am reminding my husband that there are little ears and mouths that repeat everything, but I was alone!  Theorectically speaking anyways~I found myself in a long moment of prayer the rest of the trip home.

We also adopted 4 little yellow/orange fur balls last night.  So far we have one named Garfield because he is totally abnoxious!  Eryn swears that the other three are Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White!  It doesn't matter that one of those princesses is a boy!  Minor details in the life of that 3 year old.  They are really very cute, and fun to watch.  Even if their favorite mode of entertainment is my Christmas trees!

I was supposed to go to Marshfield today to visit my sister in law and nephew.  Instead, I had to endure another Walmart crowd and watch the snow/rain/ice in dismay.  My hubby forbade me to drive 3 hours in that mess, and I'm thankful because I can't imagine the headache I would have if I had done the trip.  I did however completely FINISH my Christmas shopping, and I got almost everythng wrapped.  It is a good feeling to be done, but I think next year we will plan to have this done earlier so I don't have to endure the public!  I mean really~should it take 30 minutes to wait in line to pick up photos ordered online!!!  They had 1 (not a typo) person working in the photo lab at Walmart today, and I believe half of Barron County decided to have photos printed today.  The good thing about it was that I ran into the mom of one of my best friends from high school!  It was great to see her and catch up on what is happening with my friend and her husband.  Then it was off to the checkouts(of which only half were open) to wait yet again.  Here again, I made the mistake of going to the wrong lane.  I know the guy working that register was just trying to make small talk, but at that point I really didn't want to hear his position on the baby that had been screaming for 20 minutes.  Oh, I'm afraid I have lost the ability to block things out that annoy me!  I'll have to work on that.

Well, it's time to put the munchkins to bed so I can watch the Packers whallop the Vikings in peace!  That my friend is probably wishful thinking, but that's what I have!  Goodnight.

Oh, where oh where do I begin!

I realized the other day that I have not been faithful to this updating thing!  Go figure!!  Well, there's been much happening in our lives since the end of November.

First of all, God has been so faithful and true to us with the incident with our furnace.  Not only did He spare our lives, but he has provided the means for us to pay for the emergency installation of a brand new LP furnace, and He provided for us to put in an outdoor wood furnace.  We are excited about this because it will save money with fuel and our electric hot water heater will not be put to use as much!  My dad and Jerry worked all day Saturday and got it in and running!  That is a huge blessing.

Secondly, God has been so good with Jerry's eye.  They are going to start trying to fit a new contact for the eye that was affected by the infection.  He was on a steroid drop for a few days, and now they are going to try contacts again to put off surgery for as long as possible.

Thirdly, we are so excited at how God has blessed us with a "mini" nephew that is still doing remarkably well.  He was a bit jaundiced, but seems to be pulling out of that wonderfully.  With as young as he is, it was a concern to have to teach him how to suck, but Autumn just told me last night, that they gave him a nuk the other day, and he flat lined because he sucked too hard!  I have a couple more pictures to add to the album, but it probably won't be tonight.  It takes so long, and I have mucho to do.

Lastly, I applied for a new job today!  It's within the same system, just a different department.  I really like what I am doing, but it's really hard on my back and the people are whiners!  No, it's really mostly just the back issues and the fact that it's a major step in the direction of my goals.  It's working in the clinic with the patients and docs.  I'll keep you posted on whatever becomes of it!

Well, I gotta get my stuff done around here like feed munchkins and such.  They really require so much!  (Like I should complain about 1 meal a day!!!!)

Trials and Testings

Do you ever have those days where you honestly wonder, "Why God?  What on earth are you trying to teach me today?"  Today is one of those days.  It actually started last night.

I got home from work at 4:45pm, the carbon monoxide detector started talking to me at 4:50pm.  I called my husband who told me to turn the furnace off and call my dad.  Mom answered the phone, told me to open a window.  Dad told me to get the kids out of the house and call a neighbor to come check it.  The neighbor wasn't home yet and his wife told me they would call back.  We later went and picked up a tester that reads out a number.  The numbers were dangerous upstairs in the girls rooms, so we opened all the windows.  An hour later the house was at a safe level.  We decided to stay home with no working furnace (brrr...it got down to 17 outside and 55 inside).  At 10 oclock we got a phone call from another repair man that was very concerned.  He came to the house at 7:00 this morning and told us the worst senario.  The furnace cracked, is shot, needs to be replaced.  He called a company that was at our house within an hour and a half with a new furnace, and now I think we have heat!

If that wasn't trial enough, my husband came home from work last night with a very red eye.  First thought was "what got into that eye now".  Took him to the doc this morning who refered us to a specialist this afternoon that has him on an antibiotic reagement every 15 minutes.  If not better in the morning by 9:30 we get to be shipped to Marshfield to another specialist.  It turns out that he has a quite dangerous infection in his eye.  He already has had a condition with the cornea of his eyes that was diagnosed in 1999.  This infection has deterioated the cornea more and has made the possibility of needing a cornea transplant even more likely.  The thing that has me worried is that if the infection does not get under control quickly, he could lose the eye.  In my mind I wonder why they entrusted his care to me for the next 18 hours!!!!  They did seriously consider ICU which I wasn't crazy about either, but I know he would've been taken care of completely.  I don't trust myself to stay up all night to do this every 15-20 minutes! 

What's my point?  Please pray for all of us.  Today has been one of those extremely stressful days!