Catching up….again!

Well, obviously I'm not so good at keeping up to date with my blog so bear with me as I try to catch up. I should warn you that I will not be chronologically speaking but will merely be typing as things pop into my head! Just a few short weeks until Jos' dance recital – she is looking forward to it and talked me into making invites to send to the family. Apparently, a good ol' email just doesn't work for such occasions J Considering neither of her parents have much rhythm for dancing, she has some pretty good moves.

Since I last wrote the AGWSR girls basketball team became State Champs! Jos and I went to round 1 – I'm already wondering how I'll ever survive when Jos starts playing sports… We didn't go to round 2 because it was a night game but we listened to it on the radio. Wait, who am I kidding – I turned the radio on and off so many times, it was close and I couldn't stand it. Jos just sat on the couch and watched me pace from one end of the house to the other and back again! I conned Mitch into going along to the Championship game Friday night. His sister Nikki and her daughter Madi came with us. It was a great time. We got down there early (I have an issue with having to leave way early because I'm afraid of not finding a parking spot) so we stood in the parking lot while I turned Jos' hair purple and silver and of course added face paint to both Jos and Madi.

The game was a total nail-biter. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire game (some serious muscle soreness the next day – I know, I know, I'm a weenie!). The girls one by 1 point and while it wasn't very pretty (it was a very defensive game), a win is a win. The most exciting part is that Megan was named MVP of the game – she had a great game and it was so fun to be there and be part of it.

Let's see, what else? Family Fun night at school was Friday night. Jos had a great time – her first experience of getting to run around with her friends and not with boring old dad or mom! She had a blast and was good about checking in with me every so often so I knew she was still in the building. PTA had a silent auction for 5 gift baskets with proceeds going toward the new playground equipment – my sister Teresa is awesome to watch in action. She had people bidding against each other and was even calling people to get their bids over the phone! By the end of the night, the 5 baskets brought in $900!! Not bad, huh?! The big win of the night was the camping basket that went for $300!!! Whooohooooooooo!!

I know there's been about a thousand other things happening since I've written last but my brain is fried from a busy week of running all over the place (all while not really getting anything accomplished!) This year for the county fair, Jos is old enough to show a bucket calf – somehow, daddy has talked her out of that and into doing the adopt-a-pig program instead. She can sign up for the program and then will have 6 weekly sessions on a farm learning how to take care of the pigs and how to show them. The people will transport the pigs to the fair and feed them, etc. and Jos will get to show one in the swine show. It will be a great learning experience for her I'm sure (and for me too, since I know absolutely nothing about pigs). I was looking forward to the whole bucket calf thing but Mitch is convinced that it's a bad idea. I guess since I would need him to help build the pen and such, I can't really argue. Maybe next year for the bucket calf. Jos seems to be excited about the pig so we'll see how it goes. By the time the fair comes around, she probably won't want to do any of it J

Well, there's probably more that I'm missing out on reporting but that will have to wait until next time – hopefully next time won't be two months from now….

Are you kidding me??

For the love - - February hasn't really started out much better than what January ended with. Last Wednesday Jos got the flu and after a relapse Friday night, seems to be doing much better.

Mitch is finally back on the road - last night was his first night out since Jan. 22. He's got his new semi now and this morning when I back out to take Jos to school, the freakin' hood is up on this truck that was suppsed to be less headaches...had to make a parts run - I'm very thankful though that I didn't have to go all the way to Peterbilt in Des Moines (near Adventureland) - they brought the parts up to Alden - whew!

So, before the parts run I was finishing up the town newsletter and then had to run Mitch out to my Uncle's to get his pickup. I dropped him off, no sooner got back into town that he called my cell - his truck wouldn't start so I had to go back out and pick him up. So back out I go to get him and we fly back into town. I get out of the Tahoe and he gets in to run to the bank in Iowa Falls. When he gets back in the driveway, I head out the door to get in and he tells me he has lost his cell phone. So, I dial his phone and Adam (who happens to work at the bank - - IN IOWA FALLS!) answers. It's now quarter to 3. I have to fly to Eldora and then get to Ackley by 3;20 to pick up Josie from school and then fly to Iowa Falls and pick up the stupid phone. When I get to the bank, they are all kind of laughing at me when I tell them I'm there to pick up my husbands phone. He has an alarm set to go off every day at 3pm and they couldn't figure out how to shut it off (I wanted to ask if none of them had a cell phone - how hard is it?!?) - anyway they shut the phone completely off. No big deal.

Jos and I get back in the Tahoe and fly back home - we get home at 4:10 and I have to be at church at 4:30 to take Angel Food orders. So, we get to church and sit there for an hour and then fly back home, grab a quick bite to eat and then fly to Wellsburg for Girl Scouts. Made it back home at 8:05 and Jos is now finishing up in the tub. Good Grief!! And my loving hubby wonders why I don't get anything done in a days' time?!?! I think I'm going to start making a detailed log of my days for him :P

Whew, here's hoping tomorrow is a little more low key!!

I give up!

My attempts at being more organized in 2009 have come to a screeching halt already! Things flow so much nicer when I just kind of fly by the seat of my pants :)

The second half of January has been rough - my father in law passed away a week ago and it's been a lot tougher on me than I thought it would be. It wasn't unexpected but it still hits you like a ton of bricks. The same night he passed away, my husband went to work and as I was leaving the nursing home in Hampton, I called to see how he was doing. I called just a couple minutes after he nailed a deer with his semi and totaled the front end. Needless to say, he hasn't worked for a full week and it might not be until sometime next week that he's back on the road. On the one hand, it's nice to have him home and awake but on the other, if he's not on the road, there's no paycheck in our mailbox :(

I'm hoping February turns around even if for just a few days. I'm more than ready to have 70 degree weather and green grass . I'm anxiously awaiting the lawn and garden centers to start popping up at WalMart, etc. Josie is going to help me pick out the flowers this year to put in the planting rings by the driveway and will also help me plant them. She's got a pretty good eye for that kind of thing plus she likes to play in the dirt!

Can't believe January is almost over - sure has gone by quickly. Maybe the next time I do an update, it will be spring weather :)

Catching up

Wow! I can't believe how fast time is flying by me. Lots has been going on since I last wrote but I won't go into too much detail - nothing too exciting. Jos is a big bad 6 year old now. She begged to have a birthday party and so I decided we'd go ahead and invite just the girls from her section of kindergarten. I also decided that I didn't really want my house trashed (any more than it already is, anyway!) so we had the party at the school. I snagged a table at the back of the cafeteria where the girls (7 all together) did some crafts - a few made bracelets and some did rubber stamping. I found a cute idea online and the girls all did that (I think I thought it was much cooler than they did - but at least they all did one). It was a build your own snowman. The body of the snowman was provided and then there were lots of different hats, clothes, mittens, scarves, etc. to dress the snowman. The worst part of that - it took me four hours total to cut out all the snowman pieces :(

After crafts, I turned the girls loose in the gym (for $1/kid, it's a definite win-win) where they basically ran around and screamed! (yet another reason I'm glad the party was not at our house)
The cake was Hannah Montana (of course!) and then Jos opened her gifts and that was pretty much it. She had a great day and is already looking forward to next year. A BIG thanks to Nikki and Madi for coming to the party and helping - 7 kindergarteners, quite a crew. Yet another reminder why I did not become a teacher!

Probably the funniest thing that has happened relates to Christmas and Jos' big Santa present. Back up to the beginning - at the beginning of December all three of us were in WalMart. Jos has been begging for a new bike for a couple months now (her knees hit the handlebars on her old one). So while at WalMart we have her try out a few so we could figure out what size she needed next. We got it narrowed down to the right size and moved along. A week or two later, the Ackley paper published the kindergarten classes and Jos' section was asked what they wanted for Christmas. Her request, "I would like a bike with pink and black on it." Hmm, shouldn't be too hard, right?!? HA HA HA!

Fast forward to Christmas Eve Day, I'm in WalMart looking at bikes and see a pink, black and silver bike. THat's as close as we're going to get so I buy it. Safely tucked away in the basement before we leave for church, I'm hoping it's going to work. I figure, like she'll remember it's the EXACT same bike she tried at the beginning of the month (can you see where this story is going?!)

Christmas morning, she awakes to find the bike tucked back behind the tree. Very excited about it and can't wait to get through her presents so she can give it a test drive. Later that afternoon, she's getting kind of naughty with the Cars three-wheel scooter and her bike. I told her the bike would go back to Santa's workshop. Her reply, you ask?? "Mother, don't you mean the bike will go back to WalMart?" I asked her what she was talking about and she says (drumroll please)..............."That's the bike I rode that day at walmart with you and dad" CRAP! I was stupified and thankfully daddy bailed me out and said that Santa makes bikes for Walmart too - if he has some leftover he gives them to Walmart. Yah, she didn't really buy that but didn't say anymore about it. Good grief!!

I wish I had a memory like hers!! I can't wait for the happenings in the life of a 6 year old! Stay tuned for more exciting times!