Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. Here is our tree all ready for Santa to put the presents under. I got all the presents wrapped yesterday. The kids will track Santa's progress throughtout the day. And when he gets here, he can enjoy cookies made in his honor and of course carrots for the reindeer. Have a wonderful Christmas and I hope you get everything you wish for.

Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village

On Friday evening we had planned to go to the Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village. I had purchased 23 tickets and had two others that purchased their own. This was going to be our first big outing with our Troop. I started collecting money and permission slips from the girls and Mom's since October and ordered the tickets the first week in November.

Of course, it was also the day Michigan got its first big snow storm. We had about 12 inches of snow and of course the Village is 45 minutes south of us. I had built in an hour of drive time thinking we would be traveling during rush hour to begin with. We knew the storm was going to happen and so the night before our event I started receiving e-mails asking what we would do if we were snowed in. I, of course replied we would wait to see what happened, the tickets were non-refundable and non-returnable and very expensive.

The snow arrived, I called the Village twice during the day, the event was still going to be held. That meant if we did not go we lost our money. Many e-mails later and half the group had decided to not attend. I was not losing my money, I just needed to get out of my neighborhood. The main roads were as good as they could get considering they didn't start to plow until the snow stopped at 3pm. I left with five girls plus Lizzy and myself in my car and we had one other driver with four girls and two adults, so 14 of us made the trip. We had a great time. The snow added to the effect of the Christmas spirit of the Village with all the strolling costume performers. Our first stop after we met at the event was to head to the ice skating rink were they had skates for anyone that wanted to skate could use. Now Evie has never been ice skating in her life, but after helping several girls get their skates on I went out expecting to see her holding onto the rails following around the rink. Do I see her there no, as I am looking for her she skates by and waves HI. She is out there skating as if she had been born with the skates on her feet. Hence the picture above. We then walked around the Village, took a ride on the carousal, joined in the sing along and got to see Santa who said hello to the Troop and Evie from the roof of the Robert Frost House. The other picture Evie took of the reindeer resting for their big night this week. After our visit with Santa we sat by the fire and sang some more Christmas songs and watched the fireworks. After the fireworks we were paraded back to the front gates by the fife and drum corp to be sent on our merry way home.

Bowling with Santa

Saturday was bowling with Santa and of course Evie and Allard got to go. The pictures are courteous of Lizzy. Evie got to bowl with 5 other boys and so she bowled 2 games and Allard was with one other boy and he bowled 7 games. They both bowl on Thursday afternoon and Saturday mornings and are getting quite good. Lizzy bowls with them on Saturdays.

We also took time this week to try and get a picture with the three kids for our christmas card. Allard tried not to smile, but I got one that will work as well as can be expected. I have spent my days off lately cleaning and baking and we did get the tree up this week. It is up a lot later this year and everything seems to be taking longer to put together and yet the days are not. Before you know it will be time to put it all away. I missed Allards concert at school this week as the car is in the shop. We expect to get it back by Monday or Tuesday.

Swim Season Is Really Over

Well today was Lizzy's swim banquet, so the swim season for 2008 is officially over. All the girls get to wear their homecoming dresses for a second time so they really get their monies worth. Except for Lizzy, as the previous entry shows Lizzy wore a long dress for homecoming and so she wanted a short dress for the banquet. Luckly, we had seen a dress that she liked at Deb's, a hip girls store, that was on clearence so she waited for three weeks and we went and got it. It was still in her size and still on clearence because it was a spagitti strap short dress. Of course then we had to go shoe shopping yesterday. Try taking a teenage girl shoe shopping, it was not a pretty site and I really don't want to do it again. I go in and look for a pair that fit and are usually black, takes two minutes and I am out the door, Lizzy has to try on twenty pairs and then go to another store because she is not sure the first store has anything better then the second.

We knew about this banquet two months ago and paid our fee to attend, and wouldn't you know it but Allard brought home the winter orchestra concert schedule last week and of course he was playing tonight also. So Jeff and Evie went to Allard's concert. Today however he informed me that I was going to miss him in his first solo on the violin. It just figures you can not win sometimes. Thankfully they are going to repeat the concert during the school day on Dec. 12th for the students and teachers to see, so I told him I would have to make his concert that day.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well dinner will be early as I have to work this evening, but I know it will fabulous. Jeff always makes a great dinner. We will be having dinner with just us and the kids.

Allard has lost two of his twelve year molars this week. Unfortunately, I was cleaning the house and putting out the Christmas decorations and unknowingly threw away one of his teeth, so he has to write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining why he should really get paid for two teeth when he only has one under his pillow.

I hope everyone of our friends will have as very special Thanksgiving.

Where in the World is the Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy has been late coming to our house. Evie and Allard thought she would never get here, and just after she left, she has to come back again.

Allard lost his tooth a couple of weeks ago at a boy scout camping trip and Evie lost hers the first week of November, but the Fairy didn't get here until Thursday of last week. On Saturday Lizzy had her friends over for her birthday sleepover and Allard decided to bite into a sucker and broke his molar out. Luckily, when I looked in his mouth the adult molar was there so it was already pushing it out to begin with, and he just happened to help it out. Lets see how long it takes the Fairy to show up this time. HAHAHA

Fall Product sales are over here, and both my girls were their Troops top sellers. Which is not hard for them. They smile alot and talk to every person that came out the doors they sat at. Evie gets all the gift incentives plus a $20.00 gift card. Lizzy's Troop declines the incentives so they get more money per product they sell and the money is given back to them to use on future girl scout outings. This system really helps to pay for the expensive trips they want to take, so she will pocket $100.00 for her Canada Trip this summer. (Now I just have to get her a bridge card or passport.)

We had conferences this past week, and all the kids did really well. Lizzy has low A's and high B's while doing swim team, and now that it is done she should be able to bring her grades back up to all A's. Allard had A's and B's in all classes except for Science. He had a D- and so when we went to conferences his teacher asked him why his grade was so low, and he said I don't know, and she asked do you study for the tests and he said NO. Always helps to take your children with you to conferences once they reach middle and high school. This way they get to hear what the teachers will say about them good or bad. And in this case, they fess up pretty quickly. I had been asking him what he thought the problem was and saying maybe he might need a tutor until he confessed in front of the teacher that he wasn't studying.

The kids are really excited they only have two days of school next week due to Thanksgiving. The holidays are approaching too quickly this year, and I am not ready for them.

Vacation is almost over

Boy, it is really bad when you have to go back to work to get a vacation. I have been so busy this week with the kids and girl scouts. I finally get to sleep in tomorrow and Allard is making me breakfast. He wanted to make it last weekend on my first day off, but I had to get up early every morning to sell at booths or go to field trips or swim meets.

Lizzy finished swim this weekend and know we just have Banquet to look forward too. BTW she is looking forward to coming home from school and having the afternoon to herself instead of swimming until 8-9 and then trying to get homework done. She was very excited this week because of course she had a birthday and it happen to fall on the League swim meet. Her swim sister gave her a little cake with fifteen candles for her to blow out. But she was preparing to get her monthly visit and so she was crampy and did not get her second varsity time, so no letter this year.

Allard was sick most of the week with his croupy cough and a fever. Just as he got better though, Evie came down with it. She is spending the weekend in bed on meds and the vaporizer. She and Allard always get the croupies when they get sick so I have to watch them to make sure that their cough doesn't stay in their lungs and develop into something else.

Homecoming

Lizzy went to her first Homecoming Dance this weekend. Doesn't she look so grown up. She got the dress second hand which really helped. But there was still costs for tickets, dinner before the dance and of course you can't go to a dance without having your hair done. She says she wants to use this same dress for Prom too.

Evie and I had our first girl scout meeting for this year last Monday. We went from 5 girls to 3 and are now up to 16 girls. Of course, I am now doing a troop of Brownies and Juniors. So the Brownies make out really good, because I am not going to reteach the same activities once they bridge to Juniors, so they will not only earn a Try-It but also the Junior patch that is the equivalent.

Fall is Here!

Well fall is here in Michigan. The trees are changing colors and we have started to put up are Halloween decorations. The neighbor boy came out and said "gee, my parents don't put out decorations." I told him wait until Christmas.

Lizzy 's having fun with swimming and the season is almost over. She says she is going to start babysitting more after so she has more spending money. She is getting ready for her first homecoming this weekend. She didn't want to go last year, but changed her mind at the last minute and it was too late, so this year I have been preparing her earlier. I knew she would want to go.

Allard was elected star of the month for sixth grade at school. Six teachers get together and vote and three students are honored each month. He gets is picture on the board by the front office for the month, and a front of the line pass for lunch and ice cream. He will receive an award at the honors assembly in May with any others he might earn thru the year. But what was most impressive was the letter sent home telling us that he was elected because his teachers thought he came to class prepared and on task, is friendly and kind to others. His English teacher said he is a joy to have in class and a leader to the others. I of course was pleased. And then wondered "Are we talking about the same kid?" The kid who thought he did enough work in school that he should not have to do homework in third grade.

Wonders are all around. HAHAHA

Where to find the Time

Things here have been busy as ever. I don't know if I mentioned it but we lost Wicket last month so now we are animal free for the moment. I have told the kids we will get another animal but just not yet. With our live still so topsy-turvy it is nice not having to worry about what to do with the animals if we want to take off for a few days.

Swim Team is in full force right now and so Lizzy is only home long enough to eat, do homework and sleep. The rest of the time she is at the pool and in class. She is really trying hard to get her varsity letter this year.

Allard has joined the cross country team and seems to like it. Of course he came home from the first practice and bragged how he had beaten everyone including the eighth graders. But the next day he mentioned he was sore and we had to explain that the reason he beat the bigger kids is that they knew to take it slow to get your muscles going.

Bowling has started for the kids, so for now Evie and Allard bowl on Mondays in one league and all three bowl on Saturdays in another. The Monday league only has four more weeks left, but I am thinking of letting them continue by joining a Tuesday league.

Well no said life was boring here in Michigan.

First Day of School 2008

Well it has finally arrived! The First Day of School.

Lizzy wouldn't let me take a picture of her at the bus stop. Heck she only let me walk her to her stop until she could be seen by the other kids and then she dropped back and acted like I was just another neighbor out for a walk. (HAHAHA)

Allard was not happy about mom taking pictures either but once he saw another mom taking pictures too, then he let me. Of course tonight he asked me if I had to walk with him to his bus stop again tomorrow.

Evie was the only one that was happy to have her picture taken and mom to walk her to her classroom. In fact, she said I could walk her to class whenever I wanted. I knew she was a keeper. (HAHAHA)

Evie is So Cute

Evie is so cute. She overheard Jeff talking to his mom about the funeral arrangements, and it was mentioned that it would be too hard for all of us to fly in for three days , plus the kids would miss their first days of school.

So Grandma said maybe after things calm down she would like to make a trip here to visit the kids. Well that was all Evie needed to hear, she ran up stairs to her room and made sure it was clean and then made her bed so her grandma could come and stay in her bed. She lined all her stuff animals against her closet door so her bed would have plenty of room.

I came home from work and of course had to take a picture and e-mail it to grandma and let her know that her bed would be ready. (HAHAHA)

Family Sadness

At 11:05 pm Michigan time (8:05 California) Jeff got the phone call that his father had past away. Apparently he had a heart attack yesterday and was moved to a hospice care facility where he suffered another attack this evening. Jeff and his sisters will be flying in to be with his mother. Unfortunately, the kids first day of school is Tuesday, so we will not be flying in with him.

Registration has Begun

Yesterday was registraion for Lizzy and Allard. They got their class schedules and locker assignments. They saw their friends and got to see who has who in what classes to look forward too. We are still waiting to see who Evie will be getting. We expect the letter in the mail by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. But they still have time because school starts here on Sept. 2nd.

Lizzy had an practice swim meet yesterday. The girls split into two teams and raced against each other. She swam in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and the 400 freestyle relay. She did pretty good and her team won the meet. She is 2 seconds from making the State Division meet requirement. Which means if she gets two seconds faster and stays there she could go to the state meet in December.

This morning the team is getting together for a breakfast and then they are going to pass out flyers for their can drive. I volunteered to help drive the girls around. And then the kids want to go sign up for a fall league at the bowling alley, so we will probably be doing that too.

Slowly we are filling up our time with activities for the kids again.

Evie's 8

Well here we are again. Evie had to have a birthday again, I told her to stop growing, but you know kids. They never listen. So we went to Chuck E Cheese and she got to see a few of her friends from her class. She has been playing outside every chance she gets, but she is playing with the neighbor kids and not her friends from school. They have been as busy as her I guess.

She was really excited because she got 4 new WebKinz plus a cute webkinz purse and trading cards. Of course Allard was felling bad because the girls already had more webkinz then him. So I told him that he could write on his invitation when his birthday comes around that he only wants webkinz. So after thinking about this for a few minutes he asked me if he invited 20 childs to his party did that mean he could get 20 webkinz.

Well Allard has been pardoned today. We have been having someone come to tutor him with his violin for the summer, and he really acted up on Monday. So he got grounded and lost all privileges for the week. Yesterday's lesson was better and so he got back one privilege for the weekend until his next lesson.

He will be getting ready to go to camp at the end of this week. Quite time for us. Lizzy starts swim team for two weeks and Evie will be starting the bowling team. The kids will be busy for the rest of the summer until school starts.

We have been in the new house for three months now and I am finally getting the kids rooms set up. You know how it is at first, you set up their beds and things enough to get by for a while and then you unpack the rest of their stuff after the other rooms are done. Well, we unpacked enough to get by on the day to day things but that is where I stopped. I also had to work on most of these days and with my schedule being so weird I didn't always have the time or energy after a long day on my feet to unpack anything. So I have Evie and Allard's rooms completely done this week and Lizzy's room is the project to work on Monday after I do the yard work.

Of course that leaves the rest of the unpacking for other days off. And then there is always the garage to set up. It is a never ending job just to get done. I know I will be glad when it is all done, plus as I am going through things I am making the garage sale pile bigger, but the way I am going it will be next spring before I will have everything done so to have a garage sale.

Lizzy and I have been taking mile walks three and four days a week, this is to help me lose a few pounds and also to help her. None of the teachers could set aside the time to use the whole summer this year for swim practice. I suggested that she join me to keep her legs in shape. We couldn't afford to let her join her friends at the local club swim practices, but I also want her to be able to make the team in August.

Schools Out

Well the first day off and of course the weather was yucky for the kids. But it gave them time to clean their rooms. And of course you know that the rooms really don't get cleaned right unless you are standing over them.

Lizzy and I have been doing a lot of walking in the neighborhood lately, her because I can't afford to send her to the swim club here. She was suppose to have swim practice during the summer but the teachers had other commitments so those that could afford it were going to join a club for the summer. I just need to start losing the weight and this seems to give us some time together just the two of us. But tonight Allard and Evie are going with us. They have been bugging me to let them go with us so tonight I told them they could come as long as they didn't whine when we walked to far.

The kids got to have the whole day to themselves today but of course I had to go to work. I will get to spend the whole day with them on Monday. Oh well, what can you do.

Of course it is also tea time around here, to bad I am the only one that likes ice tea. I can get Evie to drink it when she is thirsty, but that is it. The other kids won't try it.

Jeff still hasn't found a job yet, but we hope it won't be too much longer.

Have a Nice Memorial Day

Here's hoping you are having a nice Memorial Day.

Lizzy' Girl Scout troop had planned a camping trip for this weekend and Evie and I got to tag along. We went to Ohio were we got the ferry to Put-in-Bay. It is the site of a famous turning point in the battle of 1812. We did the tour of the island with a stop off at Perry's Caveto see the cave and were we visited the butterfly house and played a round of putt putt golf at the War of 18 Holes golf course. We then went across the street and visited one of the islands winery which has one of the biggest Geo caves in the world. Our last stop on the tour of course was Perry's Monument only beat out in size by the Washington Monument and the St Louis Arch. The girls liked the view and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Of course we couldn't end the day without some shopping and then back on the ferry to our troop house for the night. Evie had a great time and I think Lizzy was glad that we could have this girls only trip.

We got home after four yesterday and Jeff made the comment later that the whole weekend it was quiet and it only took half an hour back before the Allard got yelled at for fighting with his sisters. I had mentioned to the girls before we came back that I could have stayed one more day, but I guess it was good that we didn't because when I got home I checked my work schedule online and turns out I have to work today from 3-8pm. I think I will get to go home early, but just having to go in for so short a time is really a pain. I could think of lots of other things to do today instead, like cutting the lawn or getting ready for next weeks brownie meeting ( our last one for this year) plus we have a field trip on next Saturday. Lizzy is leading an event for the Daisy and Brownie groups in our area.

Allard is now an official Boy Scout, he came home with his patch this week. He was very excited as he is only two of his group to reach this rank out of eight. He is ready for school to end and go to camp this year to get started on his road to his Eagle.

Jeff has an interview this week so we can only hope that it will go better then the last three he has had. I know this is hard on him, he gets so down on himself when the interviews don't pan out to be a job offer for him. I will be glad when he can get out of the house again. He doesn't do as good a job at being the mommy as I do.

Lizzy Did It Again

I swear, everytime I turn around I am having to go to one ceremony or another for Lizzy lately. Today Jeff and I went to the school as they were having an honors ceremoney and Lizzy was getting an award. I don't remember getting an award like Lizzy's when I was in school. Anyway she got an award for her GPA for the first semester of 3.2-3.49 they call it the Cum Laude. And this was when she was doing swim team and cheerleading. Not bad, if they counted until the first of this month thought she would have been Magna Cum Laude with a 3.5-3.8.

I guess I could have it worse. She could be getting bad grades, be a problem child. But noooo, she keeps getting awards and needs new outfits for all the ceremonies and activities that she has to attend for the end of the year.

Allard has become disillusioned about playing the violin and wants to change to the trumpet. I told him not yet, he can play trumpet next year if he buckles down and starts working harder on school work and music. I know that when he gets to 7th and 8th grade he can start playing two instruments. I need to find him a tutor for the summer or he will not keep practicing his instrument.

Evie is just having fun at school. She loves learning and being with her friends. However she is really turning out to be hard on herself when it comes to her work. She has made a few new friends here in the neighborhood. Her little gang of girls, they play dress up here a lot.

He's Back

OK, so we missed him, but he wasn't home for six hours and the noise level has increased again. I do not know why they can't get along better. Oh well.

On Sunday, Lizzy and I went to her award ceremony. She is really turning out to be a great kid when she is not aggravating her siblings.

Here she is after receiving her award. So now she gets to start all over again for her Gold. She will have this year to do all her prep work and then next year to work on the actual project. Of course she needs to start thinking about what her project will be about.

I have two classes to take this week for Girl Scouts one is a Diversity Awareness and the other is for camping. I have to make a mess kit drying bag and a fire starter. I will get to make this on Wednesday after my Diversity course.

The House is Sooooo Quite

This title is sooooooo true. Allard went to fifth grade camp this week. He is due back tomorrow afternoon and the house is really quite without him. It's hard to say, but there is no arguing, yelling, or slamming of doors because the one doing all this is not in the house (hahaha). OK, but we still miss him and I am sure he will have tons of things to tell us when he gets home. I had to send him three letters the week before, so he could get them at camp for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I however did not make them funny letters, when he went to Star of India in third grade, we were told to send a letter to match the times they would have been living had they really been crew of the ship. Allard didn't get the memo on that so he thought our letter was weird, so this time I just wrote normal things. He had to write to us too, so I can't wait to see his letters when they come in the mail.

Jeff is feeling down, he had an interview this week for what he thought was an office manager job, but when he gets there it's another one of those weird interviews where the company has a know name in the ad, another name on the door, and a third name on the application they ask him to fill out while there. Then they explain that the job entails him walking the neighborhoods and asking people to change their phone service. He says as he is walking out of the interview he hears the secretary at the elevators talking to someone on her cell saying this is her last day at this job, as she doesn't like the weird feel of the company. So keep us in your prayers, there has to be a job out there somewhere in the country for him. Until them we just have to keep going on with the day to day living.

Scout/Sweetheart Dance

Today was the Scout/Sweetheart Dance for the Girl Scouts. Evie went with her date (daddy) and three of the girls from our troop (we have five total) so this was a good showing. Evie had a blast, however dad was very tired out. I had to man the ticket table for half the night and then I took care of the cookie table.

This was twice as grueling on dads body as he also had to do the walk thru with Allard last night at the Middle School he will attend next year for sixth grade. He said he took a wrong step and almost fell into Allard.

Starting a New Chapter

I decided to start this blog to keep our friends up to date with us. I want to write to everyone to keep in touch, but life gets in the way and it is hard. So last night I realized that this could work for me. I have a site that I keep for quilting but this site can be just to update our lives with our friends.

School for the kids has only 7 more weeks, so of course everything is happening at once. Allard leaves for Fifth Grade Camp on Monday. He will return on Friday, Lizzy will then receive her Silver award from Girl Scouts that Sunday.

I have transferred departments at the store, so I now work at the service desk. I was smart enough to see that once all the older cashiers that had been working at the desk would not want to take a pay cut and would come back on the line, so my hours would be on the late end of the second shift. At least now the latest I will work will be 11:30pm., which is a lot better than 2 or 3 am.

Jeff is still looking for a job. It is very hard to understand that he has not found a job yet. He has his availability and location set to open. You would think that somewhere in the United States there would be a job that he could go to, but no luck yet. He has said recently that he doesn't understand, he has been applying for jobs that are tailor made for him and yet he gets no calls.

Most people don't know that we have had to move, we lost our house. We were one of the many that got hurt because of Jeff's job lost. One thing that puzzled us was that all you hear from the experts says to keep in touch with your mortgage company, well we did and our mortgage company wanted us to pay twice as much each month instead of less. And the new company that bought the house wouldn't even talk to us. They sent a letter to evict us right away.

Well, we will just keep plugging away. That's all you can do, I have to keep life as normal as possible. I don't want my friends to feel bad for me. We are not the only family that this is happening too, but you can keep us in your prayers.