Vacations

I love vacations. I'm on vacation right now. Just staying at home doing mom and wife things and also me things like reading books and sleeping in a little. Yesterday I went shopping with my mom. It was a wonderful day. I got lots of deals. A new jean skirt. New shoes. Stuff for Kami. There were so many clearance sales. We ran out of money and steam before we felt like we were done shopping. I also got a new swimming suit and luggage. Why do I need a swimming suit and luggage in December you might ask....BECAUSE WE ARE GOING ON VACATION....MY DREAM VACATION...the one I've been saving for -for 8 years. I still didn't save enough, but Richard is helping out there. We are going to Hawaii, 4 days in Oahu and 6 days in Maui! Sun, sand, and ocean! Yahoo! We leave on January 29th and get home on February 10th. I'm so excited you would not believe it. I started packing last night. A little early but I can't help it.

A Blonde Joke

A blonde was mowing her lawn. Her cat got in the
way and she accidentally cut off his tail. Eek. What
should she do? She took him to Wal Mart. Why?
Because Wal Mart is the largest "retailer" in the country!

Ardi told me this one.

Piano recital and other random stuff

Kami had a piano recital the week before Thanksgiving. I was very impressed. Her piano pieces are getting much longer and more complicated. I just got the picture on the computer. Some day I hope I can learn how to get videos on my blog.

The play is going well. We had our first performance on Friday. Not a lot of people attending, but the kids did a great job!

We had a little scare last week. Mom had a lump on her tongue. She went in and had it removed. Thankfully it turned out to not be cancer. Those few days of waiting were scarey. They said it was probably caused from the Lupus that she has. She had to have 8 stitches in her tongue. I couldn't imagine stitches in my tongue. OUCH!

Wasn't that ice and snow awful? One day last week, after play practice we went out to the parking lot and we had a pile of snow on the van. Anyway, we were scraping away and Kami couldn't get the door opened. I went to try to help her and the handle snapped off and I ended up on my butt in the snow. Hahaha! Funny picture isn't it? Rich said he has a cartoon picture in his head of me with my feet on the side of the van trying to pull the door open. Ha! Just another reason why I don't like winter!

I'm still here

Nothing has been happening lately. I haven't gotten any new pictures. This one of Kami is from October when she got her camera for her birthday. We had Thanksgiving here at our house, just the three kids and my mom and dad. No pictures. It was a nice relaxed meal. Isn't it amazing how a person can spend hours cooking and looking forward to all that good food and then be full in just a few short minutes? Of course the leftovers are fun too. We had originally planned on going to the cabin, but Richard decided it was too cold and he didn't want to go down the night before and warm the place up before we got there. I am REALLY glad he changed his mind. I kept thinking about it while I was washing dishes. That would have been a big pain trying to wash all those Thanksgiving dishes at the cabin. Whew!

Kami and I have been busy working at the Masque with the Pickle Chiffon Pie play that is coming up. They are doing it again this year because of the snowstorms last year and it was such a fun show. There will be a few changes....they've added a few songs and a few other things so it will be different enough to see again if anyone is interested. Kami is still playing Prince Bernard. The director said she couldn't find anyone else that could convey that innocence that Kami does.

Richard is pretty much done with his lawn care for the year. If we don't get snow, he better start working on some projects around the house or find a hobby so he doesn't sit around all winter. Anyone have any projects for him to do? Ha!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Nate and Jana's Halloween Party

You can probably tell that the theme was Wild West. There were lots of cowboys wandering around. My favorite was the covered wagon. Some people are so creative. The food was delicious too! Thanks Nate and Jana! What's next year's theme?

Kami turns 13/20

Leo's pizza
3 friends from the Masque

Keep your eyes open Kami!

Kami's thirteenth birthday was October 18th. We decided to skip the troublesome teen years so we told her she is 20. Ha! Luckily she isn't a troublesome child so I will look forward to the next 7 years. She learned a lot of what not to do from her brothers. Here are some birthday photos.

Night with the Sims/ Alec's birthday

Bobbie and Rori
Birthday boy
showing Alec what he has to look forward to in old age
Jeri's family
us

Last night we went to Jack and Carol's. We had a wonderful time getting together with the family and celebrating Alec's 14th birthday.

A little get away

Rich and I took a little get away weekend. Friday night we went to Red Wing and shopped a bit. Then went to Hastings and stayed at the Americ Inn. It was nice and relaxing. I love AmericInn's breakfasts. We went to see the Vermillion waterfall and took a walk. Ate at Applebees for supper. Took a tour on Saturday of an old historical house. We were the only ones on the tour. Then went to Northfield and walked around a bit. We were hoping to see some lovely fall colors, but there wasn't a lot of color anywhere. My computer is not working right yet so I can't download my pictures of the waterfall. Maybe later.

Mayowood

One of my customers gave me a couple free tickets to go see Mayowood. So Richard, Kami and I did that on Saturday. It was a rainy day and we were all actually home at the same time! Wow! Anyway, I've been there before but it has been years. The place is really falling into disrepair. The ceilings look bad. The outside looks like it's crumbling. It's sad, but the history and the size of the house are wonderful. I love to hear the stories they tell about the family. This was Kami's first time there. We all enjoyed it. If you like history at all and big mansions, you should go see it.

Chelsea is 16

My niece Chelsea turned 16. Every year I give her money for her birthday, but I have to give it to her in a unique way. This year I gave it to her in a tie. She just started as a checker at HyVee so she has to wear a tie. Kami and I put stickers on spelling out her name. (I bet she doesn't wear it to work!)

school

Kami and Ariana both go to Connections and are in the same grade so they decided to have a long sleepover and "go to school" together. They have been having a great time. The picture looks like we only have one chair in the house. Ha! Looks like Annie wants to go to school too! Wouldn't it have been fun to go to school like that?

Labor Day Weekend '07

Marilyn Monroe?
Lovely sunset
Luckily Richard doesn't look at my blog!
My bun was in the way! The wig didn't fit right! I don't think pink is my color anyway!

Look at me....I'm tall!!!!

busy weekend

AmberLee was here this weekend and helped with a rummage sale. Thanks AmberLee. I really appreciate it!
Sunday we went for a bike ride. The first of the summer. The first in a few years for me. You should have seen the dust on my bike.

This is after the bike ride. Notice the red cheeks! I'm not telling how far we went. I would be embarrassed. It was just far enough!

Summer is Almost Over 2

More scrapbooking pictures.

We went swimming too! Ehryn did put her suit on before she jumped in.

Don't these two look happy?

Summer is Almost Over

Kami's friend Antonija is moving to Bosnia. We will really miss her!
The cabin got painted a really nice dark brown this summer.
This is Annie playing in the water in our back yard. She will chase her frisbee anywhere. This was after the 12 inches of rain. We don't usually have a river in our backyard.
Friday we had a little scrapbooking party with Kate and her Mom Ehyrn. It was a fun day.
Ehryn can't decide which to use.

Clean up

The good thing about the water in the basement is that I am forced to clean up and get rid of some of my junk. Kami has a new interest in painting so I'm putting that to good use. Sorry Trevor we are covering up your artwork on the walls! Kami and I sent Richard to the store to buy light blue paint....he came back with this "dazzling blue." It's dazzling alright!

Water?

Yes, we had water in our basement too. 16 years we've lived in our house and never had water in the basement! I bet the carpet guys are just rubbing their hands together and laughing an evil laugh and seeing dollar signs in their eyes and twisting their little black mustaches. We didn't get any pictures of the wet carpet, but I did take pictures of our new best friends.... the dehumidifier, the wet vac, and the garbage can!

Kami the Writer

Kami won a free one year subscription to Archie comics for this story she entered in a contest.

Winner Week 9 - Kami !!
Congratulations to Kami - Week 9 Winner!!!
GIRL-ZILLA by kami
Archie and Betty stood on the walk up to Betty's house. Betty's arms were draped over Archie's shoulders and they were kissing goodnight. Betty opened her door and went inside dreamily. Archie was love struck. He started to walk to his car, his eyes were glazed over and his mind was still with Betty.Suddenly a gleaming red sports car pulled up to the curb with a screeching halt. Veronica got out of it slamming the door."ARCHIE ANDREWS!" she screeched. This is the last time you stand me up. Someone tipped me off about you dating Betty tonight when you were supposed to pick me up at 8:00. Do you know what time it is? It is 9:30! You can NOT do this to a Lodge!With that she held up her heavy purse and smacked him on the head. Then she strode back to her car and drove away.I am sick of always being in hot water with the girls. I can't help it if I love them both, thought Archie.He got into old Betsy and began to drive home. But then instead of taking a left turn to his house he took a right turn and then another right turn. He pulled up to Dilton's house. He got out of his car and went up to the garage door. He looked inside and saw Dilton with his lab coat and goggles looking at some sort of dirt. Archie knocked on the door and came in.Dilton jumped and turned to Archie."Can I help you Arch?" Dilton asked."I hope so!" replied Archie. I always seem to get in so much trouble with the girls. Do you have anything to help me? "I believe I DO have the answer to your delima. I call it the girl-zilla. It's a device that looked deceptively like a cell phone, but will alert you any time it detects negative energy directed at you from people of the female persuasion," said Dilton."This is great! See you later Dilt. I'm going to go test this out!" Archie said.
***NEXT DAY"Now I'm all ready for my date with Veronica," Archie said with a final tug at his bow tie. All of a sudden there was a ringing sound like a cell phone. Archie searched in his pocket for the thing that could be ringing. Then he found the girl - zilla ringing in his pocket. Archie opened it and turned it on. There he saw 4 links that said VERONICA BETTY CHERYL NEW GIRL. When Archie clicked on the Betty link it showed this, location: popsmood: contentHe then clicked on the Veronica link which told him that she was at her home, angry. Archie sighed contently. He had it made, he decided. Archie decided to pick up some flowers for Veronica to make up for whatever Veronica was mad at him about. He would never get in hot water with the girls again. When he arrived at Veronica's Archie checked his girl-zilla again. It still said that she was content but at pop's. "How could this be! Why is she at pop's when she was supposed to stay at her house and wait to be picked up? Maybe she thought I was going to meet her at Pop's. Archie drove over to Pop's, sure that he was going to be in trouble for being late. He walked inside but all he saw was Betty. "Hi Betts. Has Ronnie been around lately?""If your looking for your date, She was angry when you showed up an hour late and she called me and told me that if I saw you to tell you that she is going to bed early and that she is never going to talk to you again. Archie groaned. "Well, I guess you'll be seeing her before I do, so, can you give these to her?" Archie asked handing Betty the flowers. Then he walked out of pop's with his shoulders sagging and his hopes drooping. So far this thing hasn't given me a bit of luck, Archie thought.He checked the girl-zilla. Sure enough Ronnie had never left home: Angry. This thing had not been accurate. He sighed and drove home.At home Archie's real phone began to ring and the caller I.D. said that it was Veronica. Archie checked the girl-zilla and it said that Veronica was angry. Archie figured she would be angry so he decided not to answer it. The answering machine said this, "ARCHIE ANDREW! I WAS CALLING TO FORGIVE YOU, BUT IF YOU FEEL LIKE IGNORING ME SO BE IT. I WONT TALK TO YOU. HMPH.Archie groaned. Veronica hadn't been angry when she called. This thing was out of whack. He threw the girl-zilla in the garbage. Life is meant to be lived the way it is meant to be lived. If I am going to get in hot water, I may as well do it my way, Archie decided and he fell asleep, dreaming of a world without girl-zillas.
***POP'S"Dilton, you mean to tell us that Archie Andrews was tracking us? He knew our moods and exactly where we were?" Veronica screeched."ARCHIE ANDREWS!" Betty screeched "You are in big trouble!" Betty and Veronica said together.

Laura Ingalls

We took a trip back in time to Walnut Grove,MN. They do a play there every year about Laura Ingalls. Remember the dugout that they lived in? I think it's "On the Banks of Plum Creek." Their set is really neat. Houses move in and out and when the praire starts on fire, they have real fire. It's all outdoors under the stars. If you loved the books, you will love the play.

Family

Had some of my family from Mom's side visit this weekend. It was great fun! It always is. The weather was perfect and we ate way too much food. We had lots of laughs too!