Life with the Roen's

How do we spend our Weekends?

2011-12-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

At Swim Meets of course.
This weekend was the 2011 Snow Bowl,
and Evie had five events to swim in over the two day weekend.
On Saturday she swam the 50 Fly and 100 Backstroke.
Today she swam the 50 Free, 100 Free and the 50 backstroke.

Next months swim meet will be an over nighter two hours away.
I have talked the hubby into going up with us to see her swim, and make it a mini vacation.

Rookie of the Year 2011

2011-11-22T20:02:00.001-08:00

I had to bribe him to play waterpolo by promising drivers training.

And look what it got him?

Rookie of the Year for 2011.

The coaches were very impressed that he took to the game so fast, having never played before. I just chalk it up to the fact that since infancy, he loved any object that was round.

Congrats for a great first year.

Mother/Daughter Weekend

2011-11-05T19:11:00.001-07:00

Every Year our local Service Unit sponsors a Mother/Daughter Weekend.

Because everyone knows if your mom is your Girl Scout Troop leader, you are always the one that gets to do the activities last just in case there is not enough time or supplies to cover everyone that shows up because they couldn't replying ahead of time that they are coming and throw your numbers out the window.

This year we went to Frankenmuth, stayed at the local troop house and did some major retail shopping at the Christmas store. This was a great opportunity to have some time with only my two daughters.

First and Last

2011-10-26T10:09:00.001-07:00

First we had Districts for Boys Water Polo

Although they played a great game,

they were not able to hold the Last game to their advantage.

So it was the end of our First Year in Water Polo.

Until next year!!!!!

Since this game took place in Ann Arbor and

we had another First a few miles down the road the next day

we got a motel room for the night.

At which we had our First Swim Meet in Saline for the season for Evie.

She only swam 2 events for her first try,

the 50 free, at which she made

a qualifying time for her next meet in Waterford

next month, and

the 100 back, at which she got disqualified,

due to the fact that she turned halfway on her tummy

during her turns.

Oh well, for her first time is was a great learning lesson and time for her.

Summer 2011

2011-07-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

It's so nice when your brother decides to bury you

and being the good sister that you are, you go along with it.

We spent a day at my brothers a couple weeks ago,

so of course we had to go to the shore.

It's Cookie Time in our house Again

2011-02-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

Boy, it seems that the money raising programs for scouts never ends around here. All thru the school year there is one program after another, first nuts for Girl Scouts, then wreaths for Boy Scouts, now we are onto cookies for Girl Scouts.

The weather here is never predictable, so one day you can be sitting inside a store as above, or you can be outside in the cold.

This weekend we will be outside again and they are calling for another 4-5inches of snow for Friday. But sunshine is on the forecast for Saturday and Sunday, so again it will be time for the hand and foot warmers again.

Home from the Holidays

2011-01-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

We finally got home at 2:30am this morning. It was decided that I was taking the kids and driving cross country to visit my mother-in-law. Since she was not going to be there until after Christmas, we spent Christmas Day at Disneyland. I had always heard that it was not very busy on Christmas day and so it was the best time to go and get on all the rides. Well Murphy's Law had other ideas. According to news reports, this Christmas was the busiest that Disney has had. We went into the park at 8:15am and left at 10:30pm (due to rain). I heard on the news that people that were coming in after 10am were being sent next store to California Adventure or given vouchers for another day. They also had this problem on the following two days afterwards too.

We did get to spend time with my MIL and that was good for the kids. It has been 4 years since they had seen her and she is getting older and we are not sure if she will have much longer to be with us. But, I do not think I will be making that drive again. It is very long (4days) when the weather is good. Unfortunately we ran into snowstorms on the way back, so at times we were detoured 4oo miles out of our way and in some states the roads were so bad that we were driving 20 miles an hour in a 75 mile zone.

It is always good to come home to your own bed.

The End of One Long Weekend

2010-11-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

We have had a very long weekend.

First on Friday, Lizzy turned 17,

Then she had OAA League Finals for Swim,

After Meet Dinner at a local restaurant,

Bowling on Saturday and Nut Booths for Evie and Lizzy,

Bowling Tournament for Lizzy, Evie and Allard on Sunday,

In which Lizzy came in 5th place in the 12 to 19 age group of Girls.

Evie came in 11th in the 11 and under,

Allard came in 40th in the 12 to 19 Boys.

One Busy Weekend

2010-10-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

Friday, Oct. 8th Fun Run

Here is Evie on her sixth lap. After, they all enjoyed Popsicles and pictures.

Homecoming Parade

Senior Year and the last parade she will attend. Seniors always ride in the boat.

Saturday, Oct. 10th Homecoming Dance

Dress, Hair and Nails=One Expensive Child

Of course when we went to have Lizzy's nails done, Evie had the same service as her big sister.
Oh and she used Dad's car to drive herself to the dance and home again.

First Last Days

2010-09-12T08:03:00.001-07:00

First Last Day of High School

( Of course any self respecting senior can not be seen on the bus on the first day of school)

First Last Day of Middle School

(Mom you can not come with me to the bus stop for pictures)

First Last day of Elementary

(When did she have permission to grow up)

This has been a very busy week getting everyone off to their new year. Swim (Lizzy) has been going on since August, but football (Allard) also started this week. So Mom and Dad are back to being a taxi cab for the next two months. And this coming week Evie starts swim club.

It seems like only yesterday.....

2010-08-04T16:04:00.001-07:00

This little one was opening her eyes for the first time.

And look at her now....

little miss 10 year old.

What do you do for this, but have a big party.

So you gather 12 of her friends and classmates...

(and she lets her older siblings attend)

And party until you are all tired out...

Signs of a good party?

The bigger the mess the more fun was had by all.

Happy July 4th

2010-07-04T20:35:00.001-07:00

We spent our weekend at my brother's farm in Port Hope Michigan, which is just shy of the very tip of the thumb area. Every year they have a tractor pull, flea market, fireworks and craft show. I haven't been up in awhile, but decided to take the kids and make a weekend of it.

So, we packed up the car with all the camping gear and the big tent, 10 five week old baby chickens, 2 ducks, Evie, Allard, Lizzy and myself, and of we went. The weather was great during the day, and chilly over night. Friday night we set up camp, and visited with the neighboring farm that was having a memorial/family reunion. Saturday we shot the Beebe gun and went to the tractor pull. Evie and Allard both bought new hats, we had ice cream and got a little sun.

Today after we packed up the car, we went to the public beach in Harbor Beach, and sat by the Lake. We got home in time for dinner, baths, and a general vegetating state began.

Let the new week begin.

Cookie Celebration 2010

2010-05-20T21:42:00.001-07:00

Here they are, my hard working Girl Scouts. Last night was the 2010 Cookie Celebration Dinner. Allard and I accompanied the girls for their very important moment as they received their plaque for selling over 1000 boxes of cookies each. This is the first time our Council has met their cookie selling goal and they sold over 385,843 boxes. Of course on a table right next to us Little Brownie Bakers had set up a display of next years incentives and patches. Evie looked at all of the things and when she spotted the 2011 patch, she pointed and stated "want it". If you don't hear from me during February and March, take heart for me. And if I don't surface by the end of March next year, you know that I have gone on to cookie heaven. HAHAHA

Off We Go..................

2010-05-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Off we go into the wild blue yonder. Ok, so not so blue, the forecast is calling for 90% chance of rain during our outing. So in go the warm clothes and out go the spring things. (HAHAHAHA) Since we will be gone for the weekend, I will not be able to blog. I will post photos after I come back. Lizzy has asked if she gets to drive to the campsite in Canada, and since we will only be traveling with our family in our car I told her why not. She is very excited, this will be a good three hour drive and mostly on highway, so she will get her learning in good.

Packing, Packing, .....Did I Forget Anything?

2010-05-05T22:40:00.001-07:00

Friday, afternoon we are embarking on a very important endeaver. International Scout Camping. Lizzy, Allard and I are going to Dorchester Canada Camp. Lizzy has went in the past with her Girl Scout Troop, and Allard and I have gotten his Boy Scout Troop to go as well, so both kids will be with their Troops and I get to go as an adult scout. I will tent with the boys group and Lizzy will be about 20 yards with the girls. This is a very large event that is hosted every year in a large field. It's like a jamboree, but with 100's of activities for the scouts to do and there ther scout groups are co-ed. Since this is mothers day weekend, I will be spending most of the day the Lizzy and Allard, and get home in the late afternoon to be with Evie. I was going to take her, but because we need to cross with border cards or passports, it was easier just to pay for mine and Allards. Lizzy got her passport last year.

Best Intentions

2010-05-04T21:59:00.001-07:00

Here is Evie making a tornado.

Well, I missed a day of posting. And I was dong so well. On to the next posting I guess, and see what comes out. I have had a very busy time. The car wouldn't work and so we were down to one car again. We needed to be at two places at the same time, and then found out, oops, one of these place we needed to be had been cancelled for the day. So children were dropped off and left waiting (one hour) for someone to pick them back up.

Laid Back Sunday

2010-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today is our first day in a very long time to be laid back and do nothing day. We need it after all tomorrow will be a hard day. Jeff's car is not working again. I am really mad, we just had it worked on in November and now it doesn't work. We had finally had some time with two cars and it was nice to not have to think about every trip we need to make during the week to make sure everyone got where they needed to be and home again. Example somehow Lizzy and Allard need to be at swim and Evie needs to be at Skating all at 6pm tomorrow.

Detroit Science Center

2010-05-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Detroit Science Center. We went to see the Accidental Mummies Exhibit, which was really good and a little weird too. The center came up with a really great exhibit to showcase this event, so much so that it is being used intact on its roadshow and will end its journey all around the world back in Mexico where they came from. If you get a chance to see this exhibit in your area you should go. They do warn that it is graphic for children under thirteen, however Evie and the other girls in her girl scout troop seemed to be OK with it once they understood the history of this exhibit. Part of the overall package at the center was that you also got to go into the planetarium and the IMAX. So we saw "What's up there" at the planetarium and the Alps at the IMAX.

Throughout my blogging days ahead I will of course post more pictures from the DIA and Detroit Science Center.

Finally Friday

2010-04-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

More pictures from the DIA.

Well, Friday finally got here. And what a nice one it was. Of course the Sun was out and the temperature was in the high 70's. So what do you do on a day like this? YARD WORK, of course, HAHAHA. Allard was at festival this afternoon, so I had to work on the yard alone until Lizzy came home. She then helped out until it was time for swim practice. Then it's back home and off to bed to start again tomorrow. By the Way the weekend is calling for rain again, sometimes the Michigan weather can leave a lot to be desired.

DIA

2010-04-29T21:00:00.001-07:00

This oil painting is by Georgia O'Keeffe, and it hangs at the DIA ( Detroit Institute of Arts), Which is where I spent the day today with Lizzy and her Spanish Class. she asked me two weeks ago if I would be interested in going on this field trip, because her teacher was worried that she would not have enough chaperone's. She also told me that she was unsure of asking me because she was worried that I would embarrass her. I, of course told her that was my job, after all it is in the mother's handbook that we get to embarrass our children as often as the opportunity may arise. (I was on my best behavior of course)

Wednesdays are Make Up Day

2010-04-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesdays are normally my laid back day, because the kids have all their activities during the weeknights and most Saturdays, so I get to try and catch up on all of the things I miss doing on Monday and Tuesday, and get to plan for Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. So today I worked on getting the kids scout work done, scheduling meetings and then made dinner. Yes, unbelievable but I do get to cook once in a while. Jeff is on his cabbage soup diet again, so I took over for tonight.

Thats Entertainment

2010-04-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

Today was the field trip to the movie theater with the fourth grade classes. As you can see we saw Oceans. This is the second in a Disney series. The kids went last year and saw Earth, so this is turning into a tradition. The kids had a nice time and the theater was huge and roomy. Of course the previews were also good to see. Next up in 2011 will be African Cats.

Sweetheart/Scout Dance

2010-04-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

After I dropped off Allard at camp, I had to rush back in order to help Evie get ready for the Sweetheart/Scout dance that is held every year for our neighborhood scouts. The girls and dad's had a grand time with lots of snacks and an ice cream sundae bar. While Evie and her dad danced Lizzy and I worked in the background serving drinks and making sure the snack tables were full of fruits and veggies to balance out all the sweet toppings for the ice cream. As you can see daddy did get one or two dances for himself before getting ditched by Evie for her friends.

So We Begin

2010-04-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

This view is from inside my car as I was leaving Allard at NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) camp. There are two types of courses for this experience, two weekends in a month or a week long in summer. We chose the two weekends so he went the first weekend in April and then again this weekend, because we didn't want to worry that the week long course would take place during the same time as summer camp. And we can't miss summer camp.

Day One

2010-04-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was thinking about it and I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs, but I really only write on mine a little. Usually I will write when I have a good picture to post or if the kids have a special event. Well I am going to try something new and write a post everyday. It may not be anything life threating, but if you think about it, we really have something happen everyday.

April Showers

2010-04-06T20:38:00.001-07:00

April Shower Bring May Flowers.
That's what the old saying is right, well only if the flowers can survive the hale.

This is the size rocks we got for about 2 minutes this afternoon. Even the poor mailman had to park next to the house to try and get out of the way of this stuff.

Crazy Hair and Charity Ball

2010-03-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

Today started Spirit Week at Evie's School and of course Monday is Crazy Hair/Hat Day. This always boggles my mind because I cannot do hair. Last year we just spray painted her hair different colors, but once again Mom put the extra bottles that I bought and didn't use away and they are not being found when you need them this year. So I went out looking for the hardest hair gel to try and spike her whole head. So the glue didn't work and the spray would only work after I had blowdried this piece. This took a half hour to get it to stay up, and was just starting to curl over at the end of the day. She said it was ok, so that was all that mattered. Now the other funny thing is that every year when I plan our Girl Scout meetings I just pick the dates and submit them to the school to reserve the room, but every year we end up having a meeting on Crazy Hair Day. When I went into school this afternoon there were very few people with crazy hair, the kids were either wearing hats or not doing their hair at all this year. I wish someone had told me this. (HAHAHAHA)

The weekend before last was the Charity Ball at Lizzy's School. So of course we had to go dress shopping. And again, I don't know why, but she wanted me to help her with her hair. Do they not get it, I am not good with hair. Nevertheless, here she is looking great in her dress and she had a great time at the pre-ball dinner. Now I can cross off one more dance on her dance card. I figure we only have two more for next year (homecoming and prom). This girl sure gets more expensive as the years go by. (HAHAHA)

Wax Museum

2010-02-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Fourth grade had their Wax Museum this week and as you can see it was Evie's turn to participate. Students were only allowed to pick their projects from a list of Michigan celebrities. Evie was Margaret Whiting, a 1940's-50's singer, who was the first singer to sign with Johnny Mercer's Capital Records.

Funny enough, she wrote and performed the song Baby it's Cold Outside. Hence the snow couple that Evie used as a prop. They are signing the song that took Margaret to the number 3 spot on the pop charts in 1949.

Unfortunately, because they restrict the subjects to only Michigan born performers there were two other Margaret Whitings that night. One in the cafeteria with Evie and one in the LGI Room. I, of course had to listen to all three to see how they all performed. Fabulously, none of them repeated the same info except that she was a singer in the 40's-50's. Each Margaret had a different approach to give you an idea of who Margaret was.

This performance was reschedule to this week after we had the big snowstorm last week that cancelled school on the day of the original performance. This meant that less people saw their kids perform, but even with the ones that did show up the rooms were full of people.

Here's What you get for a Pint of Blood

2010-02-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

In January, Allard's school had a blood drive and I signed up to donate. Well it turns out they put all the names of the children that had someone donate blood in a raffle, and Allard won two tickets for a Pistons Basketball game.

I looked up online the seats that he was given and it was decided that Jeff would not be able to take him to the game (he couldn't climb the stairs that high), so off I went with my son for some bonding time.

The seats were almost at the top of the stadium, and after we sat down Allard said he didn't like being there. Oops, we forgot his fear of heights. I did mention that if he was afraid to sit up so high, then his career as a diver was going to end before it got started, because they are high up on some of those boards. But by half time he started to enjoy himself and when the game ended he had no trouble getting down the stairs. (He was worried he couldn't leave once he got up)

By the end he was happy to be there with mom, and he picked out a player that he decided was going to be his favorite and he wants to get a jersey with his name and number on it. Yeah for #33 Jereoko

Don't' mind the pictures too much it turns out I am not the greatest at turning the camera around for self portraits.

Swim Banquet 2009

2009-12-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Lizzy's big night, in more ways then one. Tonight she was awarded her Varsity Letter in Swimming. She knew this was happening and so I bought tickets for the whole family to be there for her big night. Dinner is always pretty good and plentiful. You do not go hungry at these affairs. Coaches give their speeches, and then award their special awards. Then they start awarding the girls according to grade, freshmen, sophmore, juniors and seniors, their JV and Varsity Letters.

Then the seniors hand out their own special brand of paper plate awards to their friends on the team. Every girl gets one, sometimes they are very silly. Lizzy's paper plate award this year was for the girl that always starts her conversations with a "Like ya...". Then the captains give their speeches. You try very hard not to get as weepy as the girls do, thanking mom, dad and siblings for all their support. They really need to start handing out a box of Kleenex to each speaker and one for each table.

Then the moment every Junior on the team has been waiting for. The naming of next years captains. At the end of the season as the girls turn in their gear they vote for captain and they are announced at the banquet. So one of Lizzy's friends name is announced. It was a no brainer, her sister was a captain before her. Then another name is announced, OK not the name you expected, but no biggie. Then the third name is announced - Lizzy!!!!! This was the big surprise for us. She wanted to be captain, but had thought that she would never get it because there were two others that she believed would get it instead. She had resigned herself to be a gracious team mate when the names were announced, and instead she got to go up to the podium to receive her captain star. She is really excited, but also feeling sorry for her other two friends that didn't make captain (thats her heart showing). Expecially since the outgoing team had four captains so there is no limit really as to how many captains they can have.

Now I really have to come up with the money for that Varsity Jacket to have the special patches put on and worn with pride. Children, they just keep costing you money. Someone better show me where that money tree is in my backyard. HAHAHA

Time to think about all you blessings

2009-11-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

This week people will be putting up with the hustle of last minute shopping for their turkey dinner, and scoping out all the early bird sales that they won't want to miss. But, it is also important to stop and remember all the blessings that have come your way this year. Now it may have been that you also had some bumpy blessings along the way as well.

My family has surely had another rough year, but I can say that we still have many blessings to be thankful for on this wonderful holiday week. We are all still alive and in as reasonable health as can be, considering our medical problems of the past year. We still have a roof over our head and clothes on our backs. The kids are healthy and smart and funny as ever. We still have one car left (I can only hope that the person that stole my van needed it more then I did).

So I am sitting here hoping that if your year has been as trying as mine, that you too can stop and take the time to remember the blessings that you have in your life this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone and Enjoy your Turkey Dinner!

Where does the Time Go?

2009-11-03T09:29:00.001-08:00

It is truly hard for me to believe this child is having her 16th birthday on Thursday. I, like all mom's, remember when she entered this world. She was in such a hurry, the nurse in the OB room almost had to catch her as they were setting me up to the monitors.

Now we are thinking about the colleges she will apply to, taking the ACT and SAT tests, drivers training, ordering her varsity coat and last night we wrote the deposit check for her class ring. Junior year is as costly as Senior year.

Could someone please make time stop. I have already told her I am not one of those mom's that can't wait until she is going to college. I will be the mom that is a basket case when she is gone.

Long Lost Relations

2009-09-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Every Family has its black sheeps, well mine reappeared this week. My youngest sister Chrissy(I am the oldest of 3 girls and 1 boy), found me on facebook the other night (Why didn't I think of that). The last time I saw her I was pregant-(my memory),not pregant-(her memory) with my third child. I remember sitting on the front porch as her and my other sister drove up (she had been gone a while) and I asked her why she had stayed away so long. No answer. I don't remember the rest of the conversation, but it was uneventful and as they got in the car to leave I told her to stay in contact better, so we would know were she was even if she didn't want to talk to anyone. Two weeks later my sister Robin called me and said she couldn't get ahold of Chrissy for a few days and had finally called some guy that Chrissy had been with and told him that if she didn't call in a few hours she was going to the police and have him arrested for kidnapping. Chrissy called her right back and told her she was in the Middle East for vacation and would be back in two weeks. That was thirteen years ago.

Both our parents passed away thinking they were going to meet her in heaven, because they just couldn't believe that she would not have at least let them know she was alive.

The other night, I was on the computer typing up my notes from the girls scout leader meeting and posting updates on the website I had made, and after logging out of there and getting ready to shut down the computer for the night, I checked my email for the last time and there were four messages asking for Christina to be added to my freinds on facebook. Seems she has been in Israel all this time, married with three boys.

Footnote: My mother and I had tried many ways of looking for Chrissy, including signing up on the search websites and all were a deadend to the last address in Michigan before she left.

Good News, Bad News

2009-09-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so on August 22nd, I woke up at 4am and could barley move. I had pain in my neck , shoulder and hand on my left side. Needless to say, I called off work and called the doctor to see if I could get into see her. No go there, as it was not her Saturday to have office hours. I took a vicodin from Jeff's medicine and felt good to go the next day.

Now flash forward to Thursday, September 10th, 4am (don't know why these things happen at this time) awaken with major pain again, this time was not a work day, so call the doctor again and went in to she her, got some muscle relaxers and pain meds and told to take it easy for the weekend. On Monday, still no better, missed two days of work knowing that I was scheduled for the following day and not felling better. Tuesday evening had an MRI with contrast. Results came back today, I have torn my rotator cup, have two tears in the muscle and my neck vertebra are messed up. Need to see an ortho doctor and have physical therapy and will probably be off work for a couple more weeks and hopefully not need surgery. And me with no short term disability insurance.

Life really knows how to knock you down a peg or two when you least expect it.

First Day of School 2009

2009-09-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school around here. Everyone was very excited to see which of their friends they would have in class together.

So yesterday, I took the kids up to my brother's farm to gather tomatoes and peppers. While there we also went to the local cemeteries so I could take pictures of the family gravestones. We then went for ice cream and to Lake Huron so the kids could walk in the water.

Unfortunately, the area was not dredged yet and they found out that they needed to wade knee deep in mud to get to the waters edge. Allard came out covered in mud after reaching the water only to find that the mud was deeper in the water. Evie got stuck by this picture and Allard had to help her so she could turn around and come out.

Swim Meet #2

2009-08-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I got to see Lizzy swim the backstroke at her meet. This is the first year that the coach has asked her to swim this event. I had told her that I thought this was one of the easiest strokes to do. As of this year, she has been swimming in the 100 Fly, 100 Backstroke and the 400 relay. She is really hoping to get her letter this year and order her jacket. So far her team is 1-1.

On a really annoying note, I have been running the swim team website since last year, and it seems that last week my site was hacked and they put a virus on it. I have been emailing the web company every couple days, but am not getting any response back. The live chat people said they take care of things like these on a first come basis, but I should think that they would have contacted me by now. I really don't see why someone would think that a girls swim team would need to be hacked. I never put pictures on my sites, only written words, so they must have looked at the name of the site and thought they would see swimsuits galore.

Happy Birthday Evie

2009-08-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

My baby is not such a baby anymore. Yesterday Evie turned 9. It doesn't seem that long ago that we brought her home from the hospital. She was our little suprise and so sweet we knew she was a keeper. She had some of the neighbor childs over for swimming and hot dogs, and on sunday we will take 10 of her girlfriends to CJ Barrymoores, which for you California people would be like Boomers. All she asked for this year was her party and a skateboard, so I took her to Kmart and got the board last evening and she got to ride it until dark.

Scout Camp

2009-07-15T18:26:00.001-07:00

This week both Evie and Allard went to scout camp. Evie will be back on Friday and Allard will be home on Saturday. Allard has been doing alot of camping with his troop alone, but this is the first time Evie has been gone more then one night. I of course, forgot to take the camera with me when we dropped Allard off.

Here we are loaded up and ready to go

Waiting to Check In

Unpacked and bed is made.

Locks of Love

2009-06-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

Evie Before:

And now some lucky person can have their own

naturally highlighted wig.

Evie has been wanting to donate her hair to Locks of Love for a very long time. Today she finally got the chance.

This Week in Life

2009-06-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Time has been flying by here with so many outings and appointments. Lizzy just returned from one camp out this month to go to another. She and five other Girl Scouts and two Leaders will be heading to South Manitou Island for four days of backpacking and nature. They will arrive by boat to the Island and hike in a mile and a half to their campground. This is a no impact Island so no luxuries will be had. Just planing her meals for the four days has been torture. You have no electricity, no local store, just mother nature and the animals. Needless to say, she has planned a lot of PB&J and Ramien Noodles.

Evie had the school picnic recently, with lots of bounces, carnival games, and of course a petting zoo. Of course the highlight of this event is lunch with your child.

The Friday before this was Field Day, and the week after the picnic was her classroom picnic. It has been one party after another for this month.

We also had to squeeze in two field trips to the Ford Rouge Plant for Girl Scouts.

And of course the Big event to end out the year was our Bridging Ceremony. All my brownies became Juniors at our school wide awards ceremony that we leaders had planned.

We planned a school wide Girl Scout dessert potluck where each Troop displayed examples of things they had done this year, and gave out all the Badges that each girl had earned.

Of course it ended with my Brownie girls bridging to Juniors and the older girls going to Cadettes.

Lizzy was of course a big help this year with my Troop. She helped out at our meetings and so it was only right that she got to be involved with the Bridging Ceremony. She was our caller for the Flag Ceremony and of course she read the bridging poem that I had found years ago.

If I had read the poem I would have bawled through the whole event .

Today is the last day of school so now the fun can really begin for these kids. First on the list for today - Clean the house before you can do anything fun. HAHAHA

Pudgee Pie

2009-05-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Lizzy went camping with her troop this weekend and the theme was pudgee pie. Which for non-girl scouts means anything that you can fit between two pieces of bread in an iron sandwich maker for an open flamed fire pit. If you have never had them you are really missing out on your food cuisine. They also worked on their Pets IPP and went to the outlet mall for shopping. Hence you see her in a clothing store. Where else would you expect to find a teenager.

Busy Weekend

2009-04-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of bowling for the fall season, and the kids picked up their trophy's. Evie got high game of 113 and series of 206 in her age division.
Allard got second place for his age division as well as a pin for his 4oo series.

Lizzy got second place for her divison and most improved player with a 13.76 point average increase.

Evie and Daddy attended the Scout/Sweetheart Dance yesterday evening. The theme was Fun in the Sun. They of course had a wonderful time and forgot to pick up their picture at the end of the night. Hopefully they will bring the leftover pictures to the leader meeting on Wednesday.

Sunday, will round out the weekend with Lizzy going to a Girl Scout Meeting and a Venture Crew meeting and Allard doing a First Aid activity at the Community Center.

Now we just have to get throught till the end of school. (HAHAHA)

The Conquering Hero Returns

2009-04-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

Allard arrived home in one piece today from his latest camp out. His troop seems to have a camp out every month. This month he got an event without rain or snow. In fact he made me aware ( two days before he left) that we might need to dry out the tent since it was wet when he last opened it and it got wetter during last months camp out. So it sat in the living room for two days to dry out, lucky for us it didn't have any mold.

Playing with Photos

2009-04-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

I have been playing with our old family photos, trying to make copies of photos that I think need to be saved. Some are in bad shape and might not make it many more years. And of course we only have a few pictures of our relatives. My mom had very few that she kept from my side and Jeff has a few from his side. I took a few to the store and had them remade so that we can put them in frames so that they may be enjoyed more. I also have been looking for photos to put with our ancestry tree that I have been working on. I work on this a little bit every day and have gone quite far in some ways. Of course I also need to organize my own photos that I have stashed everywhere. I had started to organize them a few years ago but then stopped and let them get away from me again. Of course work just does not give me enough time to do everything I would like to get done. If only we could get paid for not going to work (HAHAHA).
There is just not enough hours in the day.

Spring Break

2009-04-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

The kids have this week off for Spring Break. Not that we are doing anything really. Today they decorated the Easter Eggs that were cooked on Tuesday. And we did a little spring cleaning on the main floor living areas (still more to do). And we have been watching a few movies. Meijer's (where I work) put in a new Redbox and you can rent movies for $1 a night. Last night we watched Twilight, the night before was Hellboy II and Australia, and the night before that was Bedtime Stories and Slumdog Millionaire. This is very handy when you want to see all the top movies that won awards so you can decided if they gave the right movies the right awards.

Jeff has been looking into hiring a professional head hunter, I brought up this last week, because it has been so long since his last job and he has only gotten three calls to see his resume. We send his resume out at every opportunity and this time it went to a company that does business all over the world. This lead came out of an address I found online in Florida. So hopefully we are on the right track again.

2009-04-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

It has been 1week and I am still having trouble writing this post. If you know anything about me then you know that I have very little patience with my family and their addictions. I do not want or need to be part of their downward spirals, nor do my children need to be around it. I hate all the conflict their addictions cause and so shortly after moving back to Michigan, with my mom back to drinking again, we had a fight and I cut off contact with her.

Last Sunday, March 29th, I found out that my mom had passed away on Dec 4th and because I had not stayed in contact, no one was able to find me. I am not sure how hard they really tried, they say they did. My old phone was turned off and I had moved a mile away from my house, but I was still in the same town and my new number is listed, my e-mail had not changed. And I can be googled too.

So now all I can say is even if you are so angry (as I was), you should never give up staying in touch with the people you love. I will never be able to know what she might have been thinking in her last days or having her call because she needed my help.

Let's Hear it for America

2009-03-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

That was the name of this years Third Grade Musical Performance. All four third grade classes participated in an array of music to celebrate America. This always lets you know that you are on the down swing of the year now. Vacation is next week, the new marking period will begin when they get back to school.

Allard has another camp out this weekend. He will be earning his metalwork and leather works merit badges. He finished up his God and Country merit badge today, so I will now have to start sewing these badges on his new sash.

Lizzy has her badge sewing up to date for now, but even she has a few events coming up soon.

2009-03-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Evie had to leave the Potluck dinner right away to go to her skating lesson. From a previous post you may remember that she turned out to be a pretty good skater, so when I saw that they were going to start a new session of lessons this month I signed her up. Last week she was sick so she did not go, and since the course is only 8-10 weeks I wanted to make sure she went today, so Jeff took her and Lizzy and dropped them off while I cleaned up from the Potluck and then he came and picked me up and we went to watch Evie do her lesson. I took this during free time as when I tried other photos I got too much of a glare from the glass partition.

Heritage Potluck

2009-03-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today we finished up our Heritage Badge for Girl Scouts by having a Potluck Dinner. Of course you plan these events according to your calendar of meeting times. But it was also spirit week at school so today was crazy hair and hat day. Hence the look of the girls. Evie had her hair done in purple with yellow bangs and orange, blue and red pigtails. Some of the girls had glitter too. After this picture we worked with clay for part of our Art 3d Badge and then had the parents bring in the dish that each girl prepared with them for the Potluck. Boy did we have a good selection to choose from. I had wanted to make a cookbook out of the recipes and had asked the parents to please send them too me, but some of them didn't. So at the dinner I again asked that they give them to me and explained why I wanted them, so hopefully they will get them to me.

Oliver 2009

2009-02-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

Last night our Troop visited the local High School to view the production of Oliver. What a great performance by the cast and crew, and the sets were just so good. Most of the girls attended and this will finish out our theatre badge. Although, like every trip I have planned this year, it snowed again. I promised my mom's that we would take a trip without snow soon (hahaha).

We have also been working on cookie sales, we have 14 days left to sell, but we are done to about 28 boxes left and we still have two booths to go, however I am having trouble getting more cookies on the weekend so I may have to just call it done and see if anyone else wants these boxes. Plus, I am really getting tired of sitting at booths for two girls, I have only been working three or four days a week since Feb. 6th.

Next week we are going to have a Girl Scout movie night for the girls at our school, Allard has his drama performance, and Evie is Star of the Week.

Life with kids, I don't know what I will do with myself when I don't have kids to do for and with.

Pirates at the Pool

2009-01-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

Last night our Troop attended the Pirates at the Pool Event sponsored by our Girl Scout Neighborhood. Lizzy's Troop plans,arranges, and runs the event and in return get a cut of the profits. Which they use to pay for supplies for their gold or silver awards. This picture was taken during snack time when the three of us were together. Lizzy was in charge of the craft area during the night, and Evie and I took our Troop to enjoy the Y with swimming, belly dancing, crafts, tattoos, songs, snacks, a maze, and of course you had to solve clues that told you where you were suppose to be at any given time. The evening ended with a closing ceremony and swaps.

Of course, if you have been watching the weather, you would have known that again this event took place during a snow storm. One of my mom's asked me if I could ever have an event that did not involve snow and I of course replied "What fun would that have been."

Comfort Foods

2009-01-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well, not much has been happening here. The kids are back to school. Chris has a birthday coming up this Sunday (he'll be 24), Allard's birthday will be soon after that. Allard wants to have the same type of party as Lizzy did (sleepover with midnight bowling). And then before you know it will be Spring again.

Last week while Jeff and I were at the grocery store I picked up a large whole chicken that was on sale and told him I was going to make some soup, so today before work I spent my time making a large pot of homemade soup. I had so much chicken and veggies that I didn't think I had enough noodles, so when Jeff took me to work this evening I picked up another bag. Evie was with me and I told her that she had to make sure when she got home that daddy only added the noodles and nothing else, because this was Mom's turn to cook and I don't need him to fix any meal I make. (When Jeff picked me up he told me that Evie made sure he didn't fix anything, and she reminded him that he had to behave.)

They are calling for 6-8 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow, so a nice bowl of chicken soup seemed to be just the thing we needed here.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T08:14:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T07:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-06-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

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.