Alexander Clan Adventures

moving the blog

2009-09-11T10:22:00.002-05:00

Ok Dennis got it set up and I am figuring it out. The new blog will be at:

http://blog.etdot.com/rose/

I am hoping to get time tonight to start uploading pictures there. And I will slowly add the old blog to it.

update

2009-09-09T13:01:00.001-05:00

Dennis is working on what to do about the blog. Ao still no new pictures.

We went to MI we walked the bridge and it was beautiful. I loved it! The kids loved it and then we drove back home. The kids started school yesterday. Matthew today. Mini is napping as what else do you do whenyou have no one to fight with. It is quiet in my house. I am doing laundry and cleaning and sewing. Other then that I am soaking in the quiet here.

Getting ready

2009-09-02T19:49:00.002-05:00

I am busy packing. I am busy cleaning. I am busy going slowly insane.

I did get my run in for the night though and so I packed my shoes so I can run in MI. I am signing up for a 5 mile race in October. And I plan to run at least a half marathon come June. Yea I know. But after 7 weeks of running I am really starting to love it again. I have this love hate thing going on with it but it is getting to be more love now.

Anyway I got all my sewing done and I have all my stuff together for the kids to start school. I am just lining all the things up to pack in the car. As Dennis and Stephen are off riding bikes and they borrowed my car to go.

So I will be quiet till at least Tuesday. Miss me!

Matthew Matthew Matthew

2009-09-01T14:16:00.002-05:00

My Matthew fell on a bowling ball yesterday. He cut open under his chin. he went to visit the ER and they superglued him back together. It came apart last night. They redid the superglue.

Today it was still seeping blood and puss so they looked at it. He is alright. Just getting rid of the swelling it has. Let it be and take care of my man.

Tonight he goes to open house. He will meet his teacher and drop off all his junk. He is soo excited! He wanted to leave an hour ago. He has 3 more hours to go.

We leave for MI on Thur morning. I hope to know what I am doing with the blog by time we come home. As I know just me typing is not that exciting!

But no pictures as blogger hates me.

got to figure out what to do

2009-08-27T11:07:00.002-05:00

Google sas I hae to many pctures up here. I may have to hae Denis transfer this blog to somewhere else. Or I cna not add any mre pictures withot buyig mre space. So for now there are no more pctures coming.

Hiking with the boys

2009-08-27T10:18:00.003-05:00

Everyone but the boys tried to stay dry.

It does not seem to hae een too hard.

But by the looks of it the views made up for any wet feet.

because the falls are beautiful

The first day up there the boys went for a hike. It was not only boys who got hot and tired.

But they went on like little troopers.

And they hiked just shy of 4 miles.

I would have pictures

2009-08-25T08:19:00.002-05:00

There would be pictures in this post. But you see my computer husband touched my system and now it says I do not have rights to look at my pictures. So understand it is not me who you should ask why there are no new pictures. It is the husband.

And until he fixes it you willnot get any new ones either.

Getting ready to leave

2009-08-22T11:57:00.002-05:00

getting ready to leave with 12 boys and 5 adults is not an easy task. Hooking up the trailer.

Loading the trailer it all takes time. And at 7:30am it seems to be that much harder.

They just got this on the trailer. It is a list of our Eagles from the troop.

Anyway after an hour they were loaded and headed out to the great North!

Gooseberry Falls

2009-08-20T23:19:00.002-05:00

The boys went up to Gooseberry falls last friday morning. We had a nice group heading up and they had a really good time. I will post the pictures from there tomorrow. It is late and my timer is going off soon to be done cannign for the night.

Troop 111 court of honor

2009-08-20T23:07:00.003-05:00

The boys put a skit on for us parents. The boys laughed and laughed. I did not understand it. Either did the other parents around me. But we clapped anyway. And those boys loved putting it on for us.

we had a really good turn out for the court of honor last Tuesday.

Stephen got 4 merit badges and the Tenderfoot rank

The Elk River Dog

2009-08-20T23:03:00.002-05:00

Yea he was a catcher. Notice it was not raining that day. it has been raining here since Tuesday night. I am done I tell you! Done!

making salsa

2009-08-20T22:16:00.002-05:00

I started with all my bell peppers I grew in the garden. And I added hot peppers also from the garden.

Tomatoes from the garden, and look what you get! Oh I love salsa! And I even added salt. Larry will be happy. But I am bummed out as I thought the yellow and purple peppers would keep their color and it would give my salsa a neat coloring. Nope they all cook to green.

My helper all afternoon. As it has been an all day affair here. I forgot to take Stephen to his volenteer work tonight. I swear my mind is gone. But with a helper like Mini you know the salsa is good!

for Nancy

2009-08-20T22:01:00.000-05:00

I know you wonder

2009-08-14T14:10:00.002-05:00

I have not been posting. Not that life is not busy because it is here as always.

We are getting ready to send *gasp* 3 children off to school this fall. Mini and I will be home together each day. Well 2 and 3 days a week. I am sqeezing in all the time with the kids we can. Stephen and Dennis are off at boy scout camp this weekend. Samantha is headed to a friends cabin.

The 2 little ones and I will be alone. The A/C is broke so I can see a lot of sprinklers in our future. I do not have much fro plans this weekend. I finished my sewing project this morning.

I sent my camera with Dennis to camp. With a low battery oops! I have the spare sitting here. So I will have to take shots with the big camera. I looked at it today and it has 16 photos on there, from December. Yea we do not take many with that one as it is not on me.

I am getting Samantha ready for camp as she goes next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
And then Stephen and Dennis work for a boy scout brat stand next weekend.

We are planning a trip Labor day to see Lisa my sister. And on Labor day I plan to walk the bridge with her. Yea it is like 5 miles accross the Mackinac bridge. And I will be pushing a stroller as I know the little ones will not make it. But Lisa has always wanted to do it so on our way home we are going to walk the bridge.

So really that is the most of it. When Dennis gets home I can download my pictures from this week. And I will update on all the happenings we did. Until then you will get my ramblings.

Girl Scouts go to work out

2009-08-11T11:17:00.002-05:00

We had the girl scouts to the YMCA for a Zumba work out. Funny is what I am sure we looked like. There were 6 girls and 2 leaders. Yes me being one of them. We worked out for an hour then went swimming. The girls had a good time and we got to get them together here during the summer. It was the first time Samantha and I had been to the YMCA here in town since it opened. It is a nice place. I can just imagine what the poor instructor thought when we all walked in. But she has way more energy then me that is for sure!

My other firemen

2009-08-11T11:14:00.002-05:00

Of course after Stephen Samantha needed to try it.

And then Matthew.

Which was just funny!

As he had a hard time walking in just the pants and boots

But God he is cute!

National Night Out

2009-08-11T11:01:00.002-05:00

Mini loved driving the truck

All the kids and the 2 firemen.

Matthew got to climb in and play too. He wanted to check out the oxygen tanks.

I told you she liked driving. She hung out in there a long time.

See what I mean?! Like 4 other kids came and went and there she sat. Good thing those guys were not in too big a hurry!

Stephen as a fireman

2009-08-11T10:56:00.002-05:00

You know for a kid I never seem to get pictures of he is in a lot of them right now. And I love that! Anyway Tues last week was National Night Out. The fireman came and figured Stephen would like to try on their uniform since he was only a few inches shorter then one of them.

They squeezed his feet into the boots. As the guy only wore an 11. He was just laughing that a 12 year old had bigger feet them him. Got him all suited up and had him run a lap around the truck.

He is growing up way to fat for his mother. I wish I could just hold time still for awhile. In a few weeks he starts middle school! Where has the time gone?!

bowling

2009-08-11T10:53:00.002-05:00

Look at that form there on my son! Oh Matthew loves to bowl!

We went with some friends and the kids love to bowl with them.

And compete. Yes they see who gets the highest score. It is fierce I tell you! Of course I make my kids bowl with no bumpers. LOL handicap them is what I say. Matthew has bumpers yet. But he is getting better all the time.

more tomorrow

2009-08-10T22:14:00.003-05:00

I am done for tonight. I am tired and it will not load pictures for some reason. So I am headed to bed. I have to be up early.

Headed home to Minnesota

2009-08-10T21:59:00.004-05:00

Stephen and I left right after his Space Exploration class. It was 11:30am and I loaded the car while he was in class. And we were out of there!

He went right to sleep. And I knew I would not be stopping for lunch till he woke up. He slept 2 hours so we made it into Iowa before stopping for lunch.

Traffic was moving and we made good time.

Loved this building. Aren't you glad I can drive and take pictures?

The windmills in Iowa were just a moving.

But this was a sight for sore eyes. To make it back to our state.

Dennis visited with us and talked to Stephen on the way home. Stephen was so excited to tell him about our weekend.

Stephen also got good at self pictures. He was having a grand time taking pictures.

Yes I was that trilled to be driving 600 miles after only being there 36 hours.

It got to a long day in the car. I think Stephen was bored of me. And the fact that I had only brought 3 cd's to listen to. We got home a little later then planned as 494 and 35 we closed for construction so I had to go around to get home. But we got home in time for a run with Dennis.

Sat pm in Nebraska

2009-08-10T21:50:00.002-05:00

In the afternoon we loaded a bus and went to city hall. Steve the instructor talked about how it is run there. The kids got to do a mock meeting.

AND play the players. And vote. Our boys did it opposite of the real meeting in case you care.

Stephen was the treasurer. He loved having the money!

I loved the brick work they had in there. I have a video of Stephen's speech but it must be too big as I can not get it to load on here. So no power point talk from him. Unless someone can help me.

Sat am in Nebraska

2009-08-10T21:34:00.002-05:00

In the morning we ate breakfast and got ready to load the buses to our classes.

Stephen's first class of the day was his drafting merit badge. We got to see how they us the design software. And make changes to home plans. Stephen was so tired he fell asleep once. I had to nudge him back to the living.

But he did good and I think he liked it.

But he was a tired boy all of Saturday.

So was I! Well tired girl I should say. And we still had one more class to go! YIKES!! Help me!

Arriving and a storm

2009-08-07T20:45:00.006-05:00

Well I somehow got these up here backwards. So if you go to the bottom and read up you will get the story in order. I can not fix the pictures to flow the right way. The tent only got a little wet and so at midnight our boys got to climb into bed. And we made it lights out then.
But let me say not a lot of sleeping going on there. I went to Walmart the next night to go get ear plugs and I finally got some sleep. WOW is all I can say. It is a train hub for 2 big areas. 17 trains in a few hours. Then add in snoring and boys talking to girlfriends on cell phones near us and no sleep.

Troop 111, troop 46 and troop 373 boys

They asked me to take some pictures of the groups.

But as time went on the boys who had all traveled to get here were all done bing in a building they could not move in. And we were in there about 2 hours.

The boys loved it.

They had us all go into the museum for shelter to be safe. 553 boys, do I really need to tell you about the stink in there? They sang, and did skits and tried hard to keep the boys from going nuts. We were under a watch for hail and we had rain and some bad lightening. The sky got just black. But we never heard a thing in this building. It is the one form the other post. It seems to be sitting all alone. We were in the Stuhr Museum's Fonner Rotunda.

We knew by time supper was over we were in for a storm.

We met troop 46 at Godfathers to feed the boys. We met them at the rest area and we got to camp next to them. They had a really good group of boys.

This is the train that you drive by on the way into the camp. Notice nice blue skies.

A boy scout trip to Nebraska

2009-08-06T21:41:00.007-05:00

Stephen and I left early Friday morning. We were on a mission to get to Grand Island Nebraska. In 35 years of my life I have never been there. Stephen slept a good chunk of the morning. I do not think he slept much the night before. Either did I to be honest. I was packing. oops! Did I just admit that?

We had beautiful weather to travel in. And though it was rush hour in the cities other then that we had no traffic. But I should have double checked my directions on the GPS with those I had read online.

Because I kept wondering where the freeway was. Because wow I wanted to drive faster then 55 the whole way there.

I mean wow nice views do not get me wrong. Unless the only other person in your car is sleeping and no one to visit with.

Stupid GPS took me on no freeways the whole way there. And all but maybe 100 miles of the trip was under construction. And detours. And some of those said detours were 20 minutes out of my way!

But wide open space and roads with no passing lanes.

Green fields and blue skies.

Oh and did I tell you my GPS hates detours it says recalculating all the time you are on it. Of course I could not shut it off at that point I was lost!

And no passing zones means you follow stupid cars sometimes. But we met some really neat people too when we would stop.

Stephen woke up and started playing with my camera. Which is where a lot of the fields came from he loved those fields. He kept asking me when we would get to Nevada. And I would keep repeating Nebraska.

He got one of us together which started a trend.

Oh well we made it out of Minnesota. No more detours right?

So very wrong. I should have known better!

Tucks hauling and detours here too. And they must have moved HWY 60 as the GPS thought we were driving in a field a lot of the time. So it was you guessed it recalculating. ALOT! Stephen thought it was funny.

If you could read this we got to Nebraska. I was never so glad to see a state!

We met Linda at a glass church.

It was so beautiful, in the middle of no where and just awsome to look at.

Neat to check out and walk in

With a sulpture that dripped water into a pond that ran under the church so when you were in there you could hear the running water.

The cousins together

Waiting to get back on the road since we still had a few hours to drive.

The flower gardens at the church

Almost there. 9 hours on the road and 1 more to go.

A jet just sitting there trying to get me to turn off and go see the air muesum. Oh but so no time for that anymore.

Stephen was just done with the car. It took 10 hours to get there. Because we took regular roads. And detours galore.

But we made it Grand Island Nebraska. This building will hold more importance later. I will tell you all about it.

But now I am off to bed. Good night

Elk River Dog

2009-08-06T21:37:00.002-05:00

He went to the beach this week. I forgot to get todays picture. He was dressed up as a viking.

Weekend fire

2009-08-06T21:34:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun visiting up there. And of course Jim lit us a fire. And we sat around it Sat night. The older 3 slept in the camper. How exciting is that! Camping without parents! The adults slept in beds. Real beds. You know the kind with thck mattresses and pillows. Thanks for the great weekend Jim and Kay. We felt bad Jim had to get up early Sunday and head into work. So we headed off to church with Kay and then headed home. Sleeping kids the whole way home.

4 wheel riding

2009-08-06T21:21:00.002-05:00

Dominic has a small 4 wheeler and it is set to only go so fast so on Sat the kids got to try it out. Stephen first. And since he is my caustious one. He went driving around and never hit a tree.

Jim gave the little ones a ride.

Including Twitch who loves to go for rides.

Then it was Samantha's turn.

Needless to say I made her get off after a bit. She would not go a speed she could control. It was stop or full on. She hit a tree not once but twice and then Mom ended her ride. Magically I think she has learned that maybe a bit slower would be better. But we will see next time we go up. She is my child who loves to show off. What am I to do with her?

2009-08-06T21:12:00.002-05:00

Check out bears under bite. It is so cute! He really is a good puppy! And Bear and twitch even played well together this time. Not so much hiding going on from twitch.

Look who was in the dog house!

And who had joined him!

Yea you guessed who sent them there, yea the bossy lady who only happenes to be 10.

The kids played great all weekend and we had a really good visit. It had been too long since we had time to run visit Jim and Kay and we took the chance when it came that we could go.

Going to see Jim and Kay

2009-08-06T21:10:00.001-05:00

We left to go visit Jim and Kay and Dominic for the weekend. ummm yes that was 2 weekends ago! YIKES where does the time go?

Anyway Mini thought her shirt was making her crabby so it came off. And magicly she slept the whole way up there. That dang shirt. Good thing it came off!

The Elk River Dog

2009-08-06T21:02:00.002-05:00

I know this will sound odd. I had meant to take pictures for almost a year now. This dog sits outside one of the school each day. the ladies there dress him in something new almost everyday. On this day he was a construction worker.

The next they added some new props for him. If I remember I will get new ones of him more often as I love to go drive by to see what he is wear that day. It makes me smile no matter what.

I am going to catch up again

2009-08-04T13:02:00.002-05:00

I seem to say it alot. I seem to be behind a lot. I have a ton of pictures from Stephen and my trip. We had a lot of fun and I have to say I am so very proud of my son. He showed me why that is this weekend.

So I will get to putting up pictures. I will get to writing it all up. But not right now. Now I am busy making wings for tonight. Yea I never tried it and really how hard can it be?

Got to love that! It smells good cooking away in the slow cooker. I have non spicy wings in there. I will be making the spicy ones in the oven later. Oh I can just taste them now!

Ok who did this? What is this?

2009-07-27T13:30:00.002-05:00

Ok I go to clean out my cooler that was open for all this rain we have been getting. I had 5 bottles of beer in there and a can of soda. And when I went to move a bottle of beer I saw this! OMG what is this?!That is what I yelled!

Look at it! It is the size of a mick golden label! Oh the yickyness of it. The kids loved it and checked it out for awhile. Meanwhile I weft the area. As I was grossed out. Ok that was putting it nicely! And then when they were done checking it out. I took care of the yucky thing in my cooler. Now it needs to be washed out with hot soapy water. Perferablly with bleach added. I am washing off my bottles good and proper too. As I am not drinking beer that has been touched by this thing! Yes I am that grossed out by some things.

What to do on a rainy day

2009-07-27T11:29:00.003-05:00

When it looks like this outside what do you do with 3 kids who are home with you?

Well in our case you go bowling!

Why do people turn away? Really it is not worth your energy! I just take more!

The kids had a good time and we stayed dry and best of all Mini went to sleep on the way home and took a good nap once we got there! All that weight lifting she does while out bowling.

Todays plan

2009-07-20T09:49:00.002-05:00

Today now I am working once more with Stephen on some things for his merit badge weekend coming up. I am almost done with my first mock up that will be delivered this morning. And some more pictures need to be taken for another merit badge thing for Stephen.

And I hope to take time to just sit with my kids. Mini is having a hard time with me being gone for 4 days. So I plan on sitting and watching kid shows for a bit today. Last night we watch TV in my bed and hung out. She loved it and you know so did I. Just laying there not having a plan. I should have been down here doing these mock ups. But today is another day and they will be done. And Mini loved getting some time with Mom. That made my night.

So today will be more of the same. I may take Dennis out to run with me. I may just take him to lunch. I love that for one day the day is not planned. My calander is free. It has been a long time since a day was all mine and the kids. And as a bonus we have Dennis home with us.

The boy Scout leaders take a time out

2009-07-20T09:43:00.003-05:00

These boys put in a lot of work with me this weekend. Jerry (remember the cow suit) is in the middle. Tom on right and Marty on the left. On Saturday night we walked to the beer garden and listened to the Killer Hayseeds after my shift. Between the fair booth, Dennis, kids and working on merit badges in between I wanted to sit. No one to need me for a bit.

I called Dennis he was good. Kids were sleeping and I hung out with all the boy scout leaders. And soon the women came out too. As the night settled we laughed a lot! And in the end my neighbors were there too and so I did not have to walk home late at night alone they walked with me. But we had so much fun. But a word of advice. If you plan to drink some beer with a bunch of people. Eat first. Like more then a McDonalds hamburger on the fly at 11am. Because at midnight it makes no difference what you ate at noon.

Our fearless leader

2009-07-20T09:28:00.002-05:00

In this wonderful cow is one of our adult leaders. He came by later to see us. But we had a snap shot of him that will live on forever. On our boys website. I am sure he loves us right now. And when it goes up on the google site I know he will love us more! Jerry you were a great cow! Don't let anyone tell you different!

Working the county fair

2009-07-20T09:24:00.002-05:00

Stephen and I worked 4 days at the county fair. He got up at 4:30am to come work it. He worked 16 hours in 4 days. And then he went and did 4 hours of volenteer time too at the church. Not once did he complain. And not once did he not do a task asked of him at the booth. he washed tables. He did dishes. He counted back money to people. He had fun with friends.

The booth did really good with a few bumps while we figured things out. But the people love the food and it sells itself. You have to love that! I am so glad the fair is done!

Dennis and his surgery

2009-07-20T09:12:00.002-05:00

Dennis had his hernia surgery on Thursday at noon. Stephen and I had worked the county fair booth from 5am to 9am. I came home and got Dennis and left shortly after. We had to be there by 11am. It just so happened we got a friend for his preop. Always good.

We got home out of there around 2pm. And I went and got him some drugs to take. They put a patch on his ear to make sure he did not get sick. they gave him the same patch as you Dad so you did not get sick on the salmon boat.

Anyway, the first day he slept almost the whole evening and night. He felt better. Stopped taking his meds. So Friday was a bit hard on him trying to get back in the game. And ahead of the pain. Stephen and I had to work the fair booth. Dennis learned a very big lesson here. When the doctor says tak eit this long and then see. Take it a few days then see how you feel. He slept a lot Friday too. And the weekend each day was better for him.

He was supposed to go back to work today but well he decided to take one more day to lay low. And I am glad he did. He looks better but he seems to still be moving really slow and an hour in the car driving to and from work is not the best plan for today I am sure. Anyway I expect him to be back at work in the morning. And he is feeling better and his belly button is now all flat. No more bump sticking out of it. The doctor said it went great and if he flollows rules he should not need to come see him again except for his 2 week post op.

Now the kids with all this have spent a great deal of time laying next to Dennis. For them this is been a good thing. More time with Dad and he is in bed most of the time watching a show or sleeping so might as well crawl up there and hang with him!

Setting up for the county fair

2009-07-20T09:04:00.002-05:00

The boys worked together and set up the tent.

They moved picnic tables under and then got up the tarp. All this the people eating our food would dry if it rained. Shaded if it was hot and in nothing else a place to sit after walking. We were a bit nervous setting it up as we were in tornado watches while we set it up. But it was 2 days before the fair opened. And the next morning we knew we would have people in to eat our food. The workers setting up would come and we had to be ready.

catch up

2009-07-20T09:03:00.002-05:00

Ok so the county fair is done. I can stay home most of the day today. Dennis is doing much better. And so I can play catch up. I have 2 mock ups I am working on today for a racing team. And then I will deliver those. So I can get this blog all caught up in the time my machine goes.

So watch for the posts they are coming!

Dennis

2009-07-17T09:17:00.002-05:00

He is sleeping again now. he is in more pain today. he skipped a pain pill. Never a good plan. I think we got him back to feeling ok. I have to run Samantha to the eye doctor here. Stephen will keep an eye on Dennis. I told him to keep his butt down. We will see if he listens or not.

He slept almost all of yesterday afternoon. Then was up for a bit last night and then slept again. So he thought he felt good till he missed that pill. But I admit whenhe is in pain he is much easier to keep down on his butt. Anyway he is good. I am off to run to the eye doctor.

we are back home

2009-07-16T17:26:00.002-05:00

Dennis is home and sleeping. he is doing good. Will update later

Busy Busy here

2009-07-15T21:30:00.002-05:00

We are busy here. This week is all about boy scouts. Stephen had his meeting last night. We also set up for the fair that started today. Tonight he started his cycling merit badge with a 6 mile bike ride.

Tomorrow Stephen and I have to be up by 4:30am to go to the fair to work. Then I am taking Dennis to surgery. They will fix his belly button right up they say.

Then I will be taking Samantha to the eye doctor Friday morning and then off to the fair again for another 4 hour shift with Stephen.

Sat is more of the same. Stephen works a 4 hour shift in the afternoon. I work one in the evening.

Sunday we work again and then Stephen is working for 4 hours at VBS. He will be setting everything up. So monday will be a day of sleep here. Dennis will be alloowed back to work. Stephen and I I think will just pass out and get some sleep!

Then it will be time to hit the books again to get ready for our little trip down to camp. He still has 5 things to do for camp. ANd he has to get his bag already again. So it will take us the 2 1/2 weeks to be ready I am sure. The drafting merit bagde may kill me yet. I will let you know how it goes.

He is all ready for the space exploration badge. We have done most of the work for citizenship in the community. He just needs to sit and do the writing. Tomorrow I am hoping he gets at least one of the things out of the way. So we can be down to 4 things. We will see.

ANyway say a prayer for Dennis and I will update when we get back. I do not expect to get home with Dennis before 3pm. Good night!

boys will be boys?

2009-07-13T07:07:00.003-05:00

Mini put her hat on Stephen. He let her then he let me take a picture. I love that he is ok with laughing at himself. I love that he lets his little sister make him look funny. I love that he lays so nice with her. I really love this goof ball!

twitch was not in the mood for a picture.

I got him anyway. He hung out on my lap while we watched a fire with friends.

And a fire we had. And it got to sit up by it till late and just sit and relax. it was nice having a night to not run. Dennis had to work late so he did not get to join in. But other then that I could not have asked for a nicer night.

The boys crashed out on the floor. There was nothing left in them. I had to work hard to get Stephen to wake enough to head upstairs. I can not just pick him up and tuck him in anymore.

The girls had made their own way up earlier. And I followed these boys up and tucked myself into bed. Dennis was still not home. But he got in and we got to hang out Sat and Sunday together.

Getting ready for camp

2009-07-13T07:02:00.002-05:00

Stephen is headed to camp in a few weeks. He has some homework to get done ahead of time for some merit badges. He had to draw a space station he designed on the moon or mars. He of course drew it for mars.

He did label it and he has a page of writing to go with it. I am telling you boy scouts is keeping us busy. Stephen and I will be working the county fair here later this week. Then next week he has a few days he is vollenteering for VBS to help with his Citizenship in the community badge. So we will not be slowing down with boy scouts anytime soon.

Someone asked when my next weekend off was. It is Aug 22nd! Yes this is the next weekend that I have nothing on the calander! And 4 of those weekends are something for boy scouts and the weekend after that is boy scouts too! And in there we have a week for girl scout camp.

No owrries we will not be bored this summer!

playing at the park

2009-07-13T06:55:00.002-05:00

We met up with the Crosby's for some fun at the park last Thur. We had a picnic lunch and some fun running and playing. A quick game of kick ball and then it was time to come home and put some children to bed for a nap! I wish I had been one of the children but I was not.

But they were tired. Mini of course tried to get out of the car side ways before we left the park. Fell out of said car in her carseat. Face planted onto the tar. She wanted to come see me. And since I had not buckled her in yet she thought why not. Now why she chose to get out by leaning I will never know. But she got some scrapped up knees, a bloody lip and all was well in a minute. Her mothers heart took a few to settle down but she was happy as soon as I held her.

Anyway we got home and we took naps and we hung out at home the rest of the day.

swimming

2009-07-10T13:47:00.002-05:00

We went to Tia and Kents for supper on Wednesday night. The kids got to swim.

And swim they did for over an hour.

Stephen is under there. Do not ask why. I never figured it out.

But he built this structure to play under and swim with and he had a good time playing under it too. Tia was like here is a boy scout doing his thing. Because he focused on it for a long time getting it just right and then playing.

A hoody

2009-07-10T13:45:00.001-05:00

Mini found a dress in her closet. It has a hood. Of course she is all into wearing it! God she is beautiful when she is not whining!

Off to bowl

2009-07-10T13:43:00.001-05:00

We went with Rachel and her girls to bowl on Tuesday. The kids had a good time and we just had the big kids in one lane and the small kids in the other.

home coming

2009-07-09T10:15:00.004-05:00

When we got home on Sunday afternoon, we saw this.

A letter taped to our door outside in the back.

And 2 beautiful lilac bushes

Not simple purple ones but a red one

and a purple lined in white. Dennis and i are so blessed to have neighbors that really like us. Why sometimes I have to wonder. Could be I feed them. But they knew my bushes I planted are taking forever to give me flowers. They knew 2 died the other winter. I have 5 left but they are still years away from flowering. These 2 plants will go in the ground this weekend. And next spring I will have flowers. Oh how I love lilacs. The scent, it wraps around you. I can not wait till Spring!

And then it was time to leave

2009-07-09T09:47:00.002-05:00

It was time to leave. The driveway is a mile long. And though no one is tired and no one wants to leave this is what a mile does to a body.

Well not this body you know someone had to drive!

And this is what 10 miles does to a body. Yea it was quiet till we hit stop and go and a cabin fire down in garrison.

gardening cabin style

2009-07-09T09:43:00.002-05:00

Dad has a garden at the cabin. It has corn that is knee high, that is if you stand on the right side of it. He carries the water to water it. the deer love his garden. He has tomatoes, well there is one that he says is a tomatoe. I am not so sure, it is strange shaped and I think it is a cross for a tomatoe and a potatoe. He has some of those to. Bumper crops I tell you! Of course he has to go up to harvet come fall and he has to go up to water in between. I should have thought of that!

We had beautiful weather at the cabin. We got no rain and it was sunny and nice with a breeze everyday. You could not have asked for a better weekend to spend at the cabin, swimming, fishing, and sitting by a fire.

Hanging out by the fire

2009-07-09T09:30:00.002-05:00

I am a serious girl don't you know. I have to keep my fire hot dog ready.

Of course I am supposed to have the camera and nopt a happy clicking husband too. Notice I was trying to feed my children by roasting a hot dog. I got distracted by that man of mine clicking away with that camera of mine!

Laura hung out at the fire with me a lot too. We took our fire build seriously. That brush held no hope with us around.

Mom sat there too. She made it fishing once. Joe took her out to little Bow and they fished one afternoon. They did not get anything. But the fire it drew us all. It had 3 or 4 people all the time sitting there. A couple pair of gloves to throw on the wood. Or you could do it without but then you had black hands from the pitch. I am telling you I can not wait till the next time I get to go up there.

Mini and the puppies

2009-07-08T08:07:00.002-05:00

Gizmo and Twitch are Mother son. Gizmo is much better with kids. She is 2 1/2 years old. Twitch is not that into Mini. Except is she is giving love to another puppy not being him.

But when she would reach for him he would back off.

But get right back in there to make sure she did not give her love away. Reminds me so very much of a cat!

Hanging out by the fire

2009-07-08T08:01:00.002-05:00

We burned a lot and I mean a lot of brush this weekend. You know what though? We have a lot more to burn. We have quite a few trees down that need cleaned up. Pine trees. That have a lot of pitch.

It was a tough job but we all did it. Burned wood and sat by the fire. We talked and drank some beer.

Had some hotdogs and brats. And cuddled up with our uncles too. You would think keeping that fire going 24/7 for that many days the brush pile would go down. It does not. It just gets added back. The woods look a lot better down there though. It is getting cleaned up. I guess this mean another trip up to work on burning more wood. I Love that job!

two boys fishing

2009-07-07T10:12:00.003-05:00

Is there anything more beautiful then 2 little boys learning to fish?

Matthew was helping put on worms. He learned to take off his fish. But the funniest part of this is right after this picture. Ian stepped back and went in the water. I lifted him out and then fished his shoe out of the water.

And then took him up and got him dry. And you know it did not phase him. He and Matthew went back to fishing.

Good times at the cabin

2009-07-07T09:51:00.002-05:00

I am not saying she has a lot of people wrapped around her little finger but man she does seem to have it in with a lot of people!

Peter made her a hot dog at 10pm and she had to put on her shades because the fire was so bright.

A lunar moth was at the cabin this weekend. I had not seen one in years. And when you do see them they tend to be on the cabin this was on the fish cleaning house.

Fishing was good. Some days really bad but mostly good. Roger caught this 9 lb Northern. Though I claim 1/2 it was my rod he used.

Cabin bound

2009-07-07T09:12:00.002-05:00

The great man who rode up there with me. We took a detour and went to see Jim and Kay on the way up to the cabin so it got late.

But Mini walked out of the cabin at 4:30am looking for me. I jumped out of bed tucked her in with Dennis and I so I could not lose her. And then I got up. I could no longer sleep for my mind was all over the place wondering what would happpen if I had not heard her. Little girl in undies walking the woods. Not just the bites she would get but those woods are big and it is hard to find little people in there.

So I went out and lit a fire. I made coffee and drank it out by the fire. And that fire stayed lit until at least Sunday night. And it calmed me down and Mini and Dennis slept in and then her and I took a nap later.

Twitch made himself right at home and did not care where he laid just laid and took a lot of naps. Imagine that!

Guess what is in this picture?

2009-07-07T09:09:00.002-05:00

While we drove into Grand Rapids, MN on Wednesday evening I saw something. Could it be? Yes that is the oscar meyer weiner mobile. Dennis got out the camera but way too late. you can see the hotdog top by the sign that is it. He wanted me to turn around. that is not happening here my friends!

But we saw it again. I do not know how many times htis makes for us. But 4 for sure.

going bowling

2009-07-07T08:54:00.002-05:00

Man does she not look thrilled?

He is happy to be throwing a ball down the lane.

I took the kids and Julie brought her kids plus some to play a few games of bowling with us. We bought the kids a pass so they can bowl 2 games a day for the next few months. And I plan to us it a lot. The kids love to go and I get top sit and visit with other people. Well and help Mini get the ball downt he lane sometimes.

We even fed the kids pizza while there. They had a blast and they got to play with friends. I think I may take them again today after I get my shirts done that I will be getting picked up tonight.

Sleeping on the top bunk

2009-07-06T12:11:00.002-05:00

Matthew talked Stephen into letting him sleep on the top bunk here at home last week. He slept on the pillow all curled up happy as could be.

He also slept on top bunk at the cabin he fell out and got a black eye. But still slept in there the next night. He loves top bunk. And anytime Stephen is gone he slips up there.

Our Anniversary

2009-07-06T12:00:00.002-05:00

For our anniversary, Mini and I went and got my tire fixed.

We went out for breakfast while we hung out and waited.

And then Dennis took me to dinner that night

I am sure he loved every minute of it. It is the first year in a while that we celebrated with no one being sick. So maybe he was just excited no kids or none of us were puking not sure. Or maybe after 13 years of being married to me he has finally lost his mind and just does not seem to know life is hard! LOL Love you honey and happy anniversary like a whole week late! I know I will never keep this thingup todate. This blog is always a week behind it seems.

I should work on that.

Becky's Grad party

2009-07-06T11:49:00.003-05:00

Mini and I hung out at Becky's grad party and played cards with Nancy and Kay, Dennis and Larry. I got to talk to a lot of people I had not seen in a long time.

Mini of course hung out with kristie some. She loves her!

Jim was trying to take a nice shot of us girls

And we were all laughing at him

I got to sit and visit with Judy aka Clara she is doing good and still doing chemo. Mini chased a girl around with a toad. She was afraid of it. Mini was trying to show her they are not scarey. The girl was 35 years old. She was not buying into it. The other 3 not in pictures. Yea they stayed outside and got rained on. Every kid had to pee when it started down pouring. Every kid had to pee again as soon as it started raining again later. And mud puddles were jumped in. We had a really good time.

Going shopping for groceries

2009-06-30T19:48:00.002-05:00

Mini had to come with me grocery shopping. Mom can not go alone you know.

She had to wear her flip flops like mine.

She would only put in her cart the food she liked. And she was showing off how she can drive while eatign her cookie. Little smarty pants that she is.

Mini's first boyfriend

2009-06-30T19:46:00.002-05:00

I do not know if Mitchell knows what to think of all this.

But Mini sure did. just climb on up and settle in

And then lay back and hang out. I think I am in trouble with mittle miss flirt.

My boys

2009-06-30T19:43:00.002-05:00

While Stephen was at camp for a week all I had were these boys. I gave Twitch a bath and Matthew climbed up on Dennis to be with the puppy. I was busy watching little girls. And sewing. I need to get started on getting ready for my craft shows this fall. If you know of any around me let me know. I want to sign up for a few more.

I was missing my Stephen though. Not being able to call or him call us was hard. A whole weekw ith no contact is hard to do. It got us ready for this fall though when they do this for school. they leave for a week. We will miss him then too.

Girls just wanna have fun

2009-06-30T19:18:00.004-05:00

The girls watched a movie at bedtime. they were tired

So was Mini

They sang, they ran in the sprinklers twice. They ate a lot of fruit and chips and veggies. carrots with peanut butter was a hit. Yuck is all I can say on that one. But they played hard and slept in the next morning. Before resuming their singing career's. And if it works there is a sample below for you to listen to.

Surprise Samantha!

2009-06-30T19:09:00.002-05:00

Opening gifts from friends

She got another webkinz she loves those things.

Checking out the candles

Julie made cookie cakes for me

Thank you Julie! It helped me a lot!

Tia kept Samantha away for a few hours and brought her home at 3:15pm. I hade 4 little girls here. And they played really well together. Loud but I laughed a lot.

A shopping we will go

2009-06-30T19:03:00.002-05:00

Matthew pushed the cart for us.

Mini rode in my cart and drove the car.

We went shopping for a surprise party I was having for Samantha. Yes I know her birthday was months ago. But her birthday had a lot to be desired for a little girl who turned 10. Matthew had just got out form Children's. Matthew also had his tonsils out on her birthday. When she got up for the day Dennis and I were not there to say happy birthday. She could not have even one friend over because Matthew was having a hard time.

No this is nto the end of the world. And really one bad birthday in the mix of things is not the end of my world either. But for 10 year old little girls it is almost the end of said world. Did it teach her anything that sometimes life sucks. No but I wanted her to know her birthday is special to me no matter what. And really the boys partys are being delayed htis year too. Stephen was at camp. And Samantha's was the day before Matthew's birthday. I will get them all caught up. Just give me time.

Happy Belated birthday Stephen

2009-06-30T07:26:00.002-05:00

Stephen you turned 12 years old Sat. How did it happen? You have grown from this tiny little baby into this young man. Each year I expect you not to like me anymore. But you do. You hang out with me and you laugh with me. You make me laugh and you make me cry. I will never forget how small you were. And now...

Now you have grown oh so much! You are in boy scouts and loving it, You seem so grown up when you go off and camp. Yet you are my little boy no matter what. You stand at 5 feet 3 inches and are 115 pounds. You wear a size 12 mens shoe. You will pass me up anytime in height. You passed Dad up years ago with your shoe size.

What am I to do with you? I will just keep loving you. And hope you never hit the teen years where you do not like me so very much. Because I know it will break my heart. Love you baby!

time for catch up

2009-06-30T06:45:00.003-05:00

We have been running as always here. I am going to play catch up today and tomorrow. And then we are off to the cabin for 4 day with Mom and Dad and family. Dennis has time off and we plan on spending it all together. I need to get groceries yet. I need to get things done. Like laundry and all that fun stuff. Packing is on my list of honey dos. My list is getting longer by the minute, but I know with 2 days I can do it.

Yesterday was shot with a trip to get my tire fixed as I hit a nail. it took 2 hours. The a trip to St Cloud to get my machine looked at. It is working great and is running already this morning. Then back home for dinner with Dennis last night for our Anniversery. So today is catch up on the blog and catch up here at home.

Getting ready to leave

2009-06-26T21:56:00.002-05:00

This group of young boys went off to Many point for 1 week, Sunday to Saturday

Trying to get them to stand still for a picture?

Almost impossible

But after people just kept taking them to get a good one. they stopped moving a bit.

Stephen headed off. I hope he is this happy when he returns. We miss him around here. Samantha even asked for him tonight. Mini asks al the time. Matthew wants his home yesterday. And Mom and Dad we hope he is having fun but we too want him home. I am interested to hear how his night in the woods went. He had to build a shelter and sleep in it one night. I know 2 of the boys got caught in a thunder storm. I am hoping that was not his night. Tomorrow at 2pm I will know. I am sure he will be doing some sleeping to catch up.

Off to Many Point

2009-06-26T21:53:00.002-05:00

Does he look as nervous to you as he does to me? I think it had a lot to do with he was tired. I had let him stay up till 10:30pm the night before to play with cousins. But then 6am comes early!

Yea he was that tired. he slept the whole way back to Elk River. Hand in by Twitch and sound asleep. Yes I am that talented to take pictures while driving. he looked so grown up in his uniform but so much a boy sleeping.

But I have to pee!

2009-06-26T21:50:00.001-05:00

I have another picture after she tried to pee by a woodpile but it has a bear butt. So it will not be posted here. Needless to say she can not pee outside. LOL Poor thing had to get all new pants on. But we were sleeping in a tent and the house was not an option by this point!

what is going on?

2009-06-26T21:24:00.002-05:00

I asked got no answer. Dennis is not sure how it started but boys rough housing is all fun and

games until one of you falls into a fire. Notice on the top shot ow close they are to the dirt that is around the fire ring.

They laughed the whole time and they laughed afterward so it was fine but strange people!

Kristie and Mini

2009-06-26T21:18:00.002-05:00

Sitting so nice with Kristie. (yes she makes the rounds)

Hey she is my Godmother stay away Mom!

oh love on her!

So sweet

oh the love is given back! Lucky girl!

Peter and Mini

2009-06-26T21:15:00.003-05:00

Mini is a giver of love. Anyone who will hold her and cuddle with her is soon a receipient of her love. Peter got in on the action at the fire to. Well that and he made her a hot dog. Really who can blame a girl when he made her food!

So she filled him in on life. I am sure he learned a great many things from my Mini

Dennis and I

2009-06-26T21:14:00.001-05:00

Notice the bug trying to eat me?

We had a lot of fun at the farm last weekend. And we are headed back again this weekend for Becky's grad party so I figure I best get caught up here on pictures.

water spots?

2009-06-26T21:09:00.002-05:00

Notice how clear the picture is?

Later I took a shot and I thought how did I get water spots on my camera? Those are not water spots.

They are bugs falling from the sky.

Because the boys had the fire hot enough it was burning off their wings. Best bug repellant I have seen. Though sitting down you had bug raining onto you and into your drink. You had to guard the top.

Family shots

2009-06-26T21:05:00.002-05:00

I took some shots of Mom and Dad and Nancy and Larry. And then Shelly took some of all us kids who were home to.

Happy day late Birthday Matthew!

2009-06-26T08:18:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Matthew turned *gasp* 6 years old. Can you imagine my son is 6 years old. The tiny little thing we brought home is 6 years old. He is getting big on us that is for sure. He rides bike with no training wheels. He is writing his own name. He is getting ready for kindergarten in the fall.

He is in love with lizards and asks to go to the lizard farm almost daily. Which by the way is Grandpa Alexander's place. Yea he wants to go out catching more of the lizards we chased there. Though they only caught one. He loves bugs and crickets and you know anything that would make a Mom squirm. Like he loves when papa catches a mouse so he can have a pet. Thanks papa love you to!

He likes building things. He chalks my driveway uo and down. He also has figured out if you get it wet you can make a bigger mess. Or if you color over and over in the same spot you can get a lot of dust and the pick thatup and rub it all over yourself. He can beat me at games. Without even trying any more.

He has had a year of hospital stays. Has had his tonsils out and really just had a rough winter. but you know what? You would never know it. He is a kid that does not let anything hold him back. Happy birthday my son. Mommy loves you!

I am nuts

2009-06-24T18:17:00.002-05:00

I have 3 little girls here right now with Samantha to celebrate her birthday from back in April. And they are singing into microphones loud! And I have no clue what they are supposed to be singing. But I laugh as they are so funny but OMG they sing bad!

Funny People

2009-06-24T11:26:00.002-05:00

So Larry posed with his second favorite girl. Look at that wink! Nancy you best watch out!

Nancy thought she best seal it with a kiss quick. Before Mini moved in.

Hand Check! Nancy!

And the real cake topper!

Eating cake

2009-06-24T11:21:00.002-05:00

So how do you get a little girl out of a shot? You get close

Closer then this!

Oh there you go she is out of it!

But stood there by Larry the whole time.

you think she likes them?

2009-06-24T11:10:00.002-05:00

See nice shot of Nancy and Larry right?

Oh look who is coming there in the back

Oh what is happening here?

Oh my Larry is talking

They are my people Mom get back! And Larry told me to leave her be! Silly Girl!

Nancy and Larry by the cake

2009-06-24T11:06:00.001-05:00

I got Nancy and Larry to get together long enough for a few pictures. Good thing I got this one off as wait till you see the next series. There are not amny with them alone.

The wedding cake

2009-06-23T11:20:00.001-05:00

Kristie ordered the cake

And got the topper

you have to love that!

No worries

2009-06-23T11:11:00.002-05:00

no worrries that we would run out of food. Not if you know my family. Shorty is as bad as Mom and loves to make lots of food! As we set it out we of course sampled it to be sure we were not poisoning anyone.

No owrries that you pj top is lost. And that you swam in freezing water in a pool. Larry will hold you and warm you up.

No worries about getting food out Mom you sit. We love making you watch and not do!

No worries we will find something for you to do Larry we always do!

No worries Grandma is always there for a hug. And a piece of candy Mini! She never lets you down!

poor dog

2009-06-23T11:04:00.002-05:00

I felt so bad for Twitch. Way to many people way too many kids. He put himself in this kennel a hundred times and 99 times got drug out by kids. He got snippy and really I do not blame him. But the kids did finally figure it out to leave him alone. And he went to bed then until all the kids left and then at night he came out to hang by us adults.

hanging out

2009-06-23T10:50:00.002-05:00

The best part of Saturday was hanging out visiting with family. Huge numbers of us do not get together that often and it is so nice when we can, and it is a happy occasion.

Notice at first the girls and boys were seperated. Just like in hug school dances.

Heaven forbid we get together to talk. The women talked and the men talked. But no worries as the day went on the groups got together. And I got to beat the boys at eucre and take some of their money.

The love they have

2009-06-23T10:43:00.002-05:00

A great many things can be said of Mini. But she loves freely. And she loves Larry always.

And he loves her.

Even when she messes his hair up and laughes when she does it too yet!

Bear

2009-06-22T16:53:00.003-05:00

No he is not mine but oh is he cute!

He is Kay and Jim's dog. He is 6 months younger then Twitch and oh so cute.

My garden plants

2009-06-22T16:36:00.002-05:00

My tomatoes are getting bigger. And if you look at the ones the kids planted right next to mine, they are growing too. How no one knows. We cut it off a plant. They stuck it in the ground and watered it like no tomorrow. And now it is growing as big as mine. And they have flowers on them!

The pepper plants too are getting bigger. But the cold weather here has not been the best on my pepper plants. I have one in the house with my herbs and it is huge now! So I know it is the cold days we had at the beginning of June.

Nancy and Larry's quilt

2009-06-22T07:31:00.002-05:00

These are some shots I got of the quilt. I meant to get more. But you know things happen and pictures do not get taken. It is amazing how many form emboirdery I forget to get before they go out the door. 66 blocks are embroidered. 66 blocks are just a print material. I love it and they loved it. And I am glad I am done with it.

Birthday party fun

2009-06-22T07:06:00.002-05:00

Julie has such nice form

Mini not so much so

The boys I think were trying to change scores!

It was a birthday party for Miss Abby and the others got to come along. And we had so much fun! It was good to get out of the house and have a good time. The kids were ready for Mom not to be at a sewing machine. And I was readyt o join them. I bowled horrible but I had a good time visiting with the other Mom's. Thanks Abby! Happy Birthday!

Making a quilt

2009-06-22T06:33:00.002-05:00

Linda took pity on me and came to help sew the blocks together once I had them embroidered. Well I was still sewing in my office for awhile after she started. But 66 blocks got done. And Linda sewed them together. Tia came over and ironed out each black. And then Wednesday we went to the farm and quilted it. And I hemmed it Thur, Fri and Sat. Yes even the day of the party I was hemming that quilt. I hemmed while I worked on the jackets I am embroidering. It is a double project so that is good.

Mini was not impressed that we were sewing. She just made a nest and crawled in my office and went to sleep. I do not know how her neck can do that but it does.

Twitch was not impressed either. So he brushed his teeth. Linda talked him into it not being a toy finally and he ate it.

Larry and Nancy loved the quilt and that is all I wanted. Now onto finishing the other projects on my table.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-22T06:20:00.002-05:00

Father's day here this year was busy. And not so much about Dennis. We had been at the farm the night before. We got up at 6am with Stephen as he had to be back here in Elk River by 7:45 to be at Boy Scouts. So Dennis and the other kids stayed at the farm helped clean up and I left with Stephen. And Dennis and the others got home at 11am. And then Matthew had soccer at 1 and 2 yesterday for tournaments. So until 3:30 when he got home it was running yesterday. And then we hung out and I took Dennis for dinner.

Well we were going to take the kids with they wanted to stay home. There is no love there I tell you! So we got to have a quiet dinner just the 2 of us and then we went to walmart and got the material for me to make Stephen's Boy Scout patrol flag so the boys can decorate it when they get home. So yea not a day about Dennis but it was a good day none the less. I caught up on sleep that I had not been getting.

Now I am sewing to finish up these jackets. And I will download pictures today to.

going home

2009-06-19T11:59:00.002-05:00

Sat came and 4:30pm rolled around and it was time to head home. We were ready. Samantha was short on sleep and could cry at the drop of a hat.

We were all so dirty I am surprised the drain did not clog with the dirt. We were a tired stinky bunch of people headed home to see Daddy. It always makes it easier to leave the cabin when Daddy is waiting at home for us to walk in the door.

And just in case we got lost teh GPS would guide us home.

Forts galore

2009-06-19T11:31:00.002-05:00

The kids worked on their forts while up at the cabin. Winter was not too hard on them but they needed to replace a few logs. Then the play started and they got to play in there and hide in there and in general get dirty in there. It takes me back to the days I had a fort and hung out in there for days at a time. Life was so much easier then.