Parker chasing the dust in the air

Parker chasing the dust in the sunlight, he now has more to chase. David pulled out half of the plaster on the stairs and we packed the truck full and drove to the dump. Even with blocking the door, the dust in the air was thick. Parker should enjoy himself everytime it's sunny. (It keeps him busy.)

My birthday present, sky diving has to wait for spring.

With all the illness around my birthday, and the crazy summer, I never got to sky diving, so hopefully in the spring. This is my new toy instead. I have used it, and I can feel it. Ouch, and wow I am in bad shape. Being the big 40 now, I really have to start taking care of myself or I'm afraid I may fall apart. Mary Osterlee, told me once that age would catch up and then I would have to stop eatting everything I wanted, when I wanted. She was right, I now exercise 5-7 days a week and that is just to stay where I am.(of course I still eat what I want, hum maybe I need to change that.) Yuck!!! Maybe building more muscles will help. I have to read the manuel while I'm trying anything, it is all still pretty new to me.

Our broken window whoes

Gunnar decided to play with an old Daisey air rifle, that I had told him to leave alone and put back in the basement. In the kitchen making dinner, I hear JT scream that Gunnar shot the window. No, no way, he wouldn't be that stupid. Would he? He was. A tiny hole, with a larger amount shot out the back between the insulated panes. The whole unit needs to be replaced. Over 6 1/2 by 4 1/2 feet of glass, the largest window in our house. The rifle was old and the b.b only went through one. The first estimate was around $650, not as bad as I thought, of course that was only looking at the outside, they came in and measured for about ten minutes. I hope it isn't much higher. Kids, can't live with them, hum...that's all I got. Spider cracks make it necessary to replace, sooner then later. If the whole things was laying on the ground I think I would feel better.

The yearly police auction

The police auction was today, Shawn let us know thanks!!! We had three bikes taken this summer(Ezekiel did not put them away and then Qatar, I guess they didn't live and learn) We bought 8, yes 8 at the high cost of $39.00. The two I bought before David found me, were $1 each and each could be ridden right there. He said they were "Crap" but the ones he bought were for the frames and you couldn't ride them away, so there!!!! I will never buy a new bike again. What a great deal, we'll set up a bike hospital in the spring and decide which to keep and which to use for parts, it should be fun. We got a Specialized, Haro, unknown spray painted one(most likely a NEXT or Mongoose), roadmaster(David hates this one.), NEXT, Raleigh, Columbia, Panasonic, the last three are vintage 10 speeds, I love them, one is exactly like the one I had in HS and college until a snow plow plowed it. The Specialized and vintages were David's and the unknown, Roadmaster and Haro were mine. The Haro was the most expensive at 15 dollars. David confiscated my bidding card after that.(It's a 400 dollar bike new and it only needs a new back tire.) He then proceeded to buy a 97 Neon Espresso for $550.00. I took the bidding card away then. It was a fun day, we came home and put all the bikes above the garage and then cleaned it out so we could park the "KIDS" car in there. Now to call Eric to get it insured.

PJ Day

With all the illness going around, I've been working quite a bit for this time of year. 7 days in the last 9 (including today) days of school. I didn't get a call today, yeah!!!! So laundry, cleaning and more editing on my book. A day alone in the quiet house. WOW!!!! and I'm feeling pretty healthy. Maybe I will finally get to all those thank you notes I owe and actually hang up my laundry. Here's to a good day at home. More pumpkin patch photos

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We spent the day at a fun pumpkin patch near Rochester.(Tweities Pumpkin Patch.) We played in the different areas, and then we rode on a wagon out to the patch to pick a few pumpkins. Gunnar had to work at Hyvee so he missed out on all the fun. We came home and went to the store for apples, carmel and a strange selections of olives, pickles, hot peppers, and jalapenos, the olives were green and stuffed with things(yummy). We were all hungry and shouldn't have gone shopping for any food.

I'm exhausted, I think this flu is really taking forever to get over. Still coughing and tired all the time, soon I hope to feel more like myself.

What a mess!

The culprit.

After working over 6 hours, now this. Great, just great.

David yelled for me to come outside after he went out to get Gunnar at work. This is some of what we found. (My batteries died so I will post Davids photos when I get them off his camera.) The bushes and trees on 2nd ave were covered in TP but 4th st was clear, YEAH!!! After Gunnar got home we discovered the startling fact that the inside the yard was covered in TP. Every tree and bush, much worse then if only the outside had been done. The top of the garage has at least five almost full, wet rolls, scattered over the roof(it may be there forever. Or at least until we get up to clean out the gutters in the spring.) Another joy of having teenagers. At least they are old enough to clean it up themselves. I really was laughing when we found the mess, it was pretty funny after all.

I taught 2nd grade today. Guess who was in the class?

Two days of preschool and then 2nd grade today. I was given the choice of a 1st grade class or

the 2nd grade class I knew was Gideons. I decided that Gideons class would be a fun experience and it was. He told me Abby would be very upset that she didn't get to spend the day with me. His class was well behaved and we had a birthday to celebrate so everyone was hyped up on sugar by the time math time came. Gideon wrote a story about his trip to Des Moines this week and it sounds like lots of fun. It was a great day and I even got to read a few chapters in Charlotte's Web(One of my favorite books, I told the kids I cry every time I read it and then they wanted to know why? Whoops!(I didn't tell them the end.))

Cade ignored me every time I saw him, but Gideon gave me a big kiss when we left for the bus.

Ha Your loss Cade, remember I could always drive you home and you wouldn't have to walk if you would at least smile at me when I wave my arm off at you. Think about it.....

Everyone is back at school.

Everyone went to school today, even with a few coughs and snotty noses. It snowed all day on top of it, now I need to get the kids boots before they can play in the playground(if they would just quit growing). I worked at the HS twice last week during homecoming week, that was an experience. Not only didn't the kids work much, but neither did I(supervising games, and pep fests). This morning I got a late call to go to preschool, the opposite of high school. They love you at preschool, it they could find a zipper in my tummy they would unzip it, climb in, and zip it up, that's how close they like to get. It was a good day, I've missed working quite a bit so far this year(too sick, sick kids, etc), but the three times I have worked have been wonderful. Maybe being a sub grows on you, I seem to like it more every year.

Finally I have something they can treat me for

I've had a horrible headache since Sunday. Pressure and pain, I even thought about taking David up on his offer to drill a hole in my skull to drain the fluid. I finally drug(more then one way, they gave be vicodin for the pain) myself to the doctor and I have a sinus infection. It didn't present as a typical sinus infection, so they took blood and did a CT scan, sounds like over kill to me, but the pain was in the back and sides of my head. The doctor told me that my sinuses farther towards my ears and the back of my head were filled with fluid, and my hemoglobin was a bit low, so they gave be antibiotics, yea!!!!! I should feel better in 24-48 hours. I expect to feel like a million bucks tomorrow, cross your fingers. Don't go to the clinic if you can help it, they are sick of sick people and kept telling me to stay home and drink plenty of fluids. They were short and rude until they actually found something besides the flu wrong with me. Many people are ending this flu/cold with a sinus infection or pneumonia. Stay away from sick people(if you can help it).

Thank you!!!!!

After 12 days and counting I'm feeling like a person again instead of a corpse. I'm exhausted, but only one nap today so far. I have to thank all the wonderful people who helped us while I've been out of it. Tasty meals, calls, rides for my kids, and thanks to my wonderful husband for all the time he has spent taking care of me and the sick kids. Hopefully everyone will be back to school Monday. Thank you all so much, its great to know all the love that's out there. Thank you so much.