Sunday, July 31, 2005

What a bummer...

Today me and the boys went to an open house. We have had our eye on this house out in a town called Sherwood. We had never been in it before, but we didn't think it would be on the market this long. We (the boys and I) really liked it. It was half a mile from High Cliff State park. It was on 1.5 acres with a pond (with fish in it!) It had more sqare footage then we currently have and a bigger basement. The entire time we were there Brock was sounding like a broken record saying "Mom, We HAVE to get this place! , Mom, If we lived here...., Mom, you Have to buy this place! This basement Rocks!!"
Over and Over and Over again. The price was much better than anything I have seen before. It was actually pretty old considering the other homes we had looked at in the area. It was built in 1972. Plus this house was the only one that owned the ENTIRE pond, So some of the other owners were looking at buying some of the pond, which would take down the price even further. The seller was also the owner and said they have ice skated on the pond in the winter. Brock saw that as an opportunity to make some money.
The current owners have already moved out, and have another home over an hour away to pay for so they are hoping for a quick sale. I know if it is meant to be ours it will be available in Spring when we are more ready to move.
I already know what my mom would say about the pond. No need to go there.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Home on the Range, Golf Range that is...

Today Duner took the boys golfing. Bright and early. Duner worked all night then took the kids at 7am to Tee off. It was nice because the closest next golfer didn't start til 8:30am. That way if the kids were really bad they didn't have to hold anyone up. Brock hit one into a pond that bounced over the water and up on the green. (???) I think some devine intervention was helping that one. Either that or it is a big story. But even Duner said it was true. Now the boys want me to take them to a driving range. Me???? I think not.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

The big Day


Yesterday was 'The Big Day' as far as soccer goes. Reece had his last game. Of course if you would ask him, he would probably say they won. They don't really keep score, but the kids do. I don't pay that much attention to say yes or no. After the game the coach held a nice party at a nearby park with pizza and trophy's for each child. Reece just loved it. He really, really wanted me to get a picture of him with his coach. Coach Larry was his name. Very nice man. I think he ranks up there with saints as far as patience goes. He never really raises his voice to yell at the kids. He very well could have with some of the kids last year, but never did. He has been Reece's soccer coach for 3-4 years now. Reece says he wants to play soccer again next year but I am not going to sign him up, we would like to move in the spring, so it doesn't pay until we know where we are going to be.
Tonight the boys were playing with the puppies, they have been very responsible, I must say. They are doing a good job. I almost think Brock is a little better then Reece. Reece likes to grumble more then Brock. But Brock is 10 and Reece is 7, I can see the difference.
Reece came in by me a few minutes ago afraid he might have rabies, 'cause he was bitten by his puppy and they didn't get there shots yet. I explained that he would be foaming at the mouth if he indeed had rabies along with other symptoms. It didn't even break the skin, but it was scary enough to him to go sit in the basement and vegg.
Brock just told me Zeb is locked in the kennel with the puppies.... so I am off...

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Zeb's run in with the LAW...

Well today we had many visitors. I Duners nephew Cody was here since yesterday, 4 neighborhood boys, one girl, and my regular 3. Boys are wild. When you add the puppies in the mix that makes you pretty happy only 3 are yours. Today was INSANE! It was incredibly hot to begin with, so I let the kids all play with water. Some would play in the basement with the PS2 and some would be with the puppies. I had wet kids all over, even puppies too at times. I just figured I would throw in a pizza for supper, make it easy. Well by the time everyone was fed, including Zeb, I thought for the first time today I can sit for a little bit. I made my rounds, check for Zeb, check for kids 1-7, check for puppies. All good. I watched a show for a bit, got up to look for Zeb he was gone.
Well, At least he should be easy to notice. All he had on was a little swimmer, since they were all playing with water. We went around the block, no Zeb.
I summond all the kids and we went searching, I noticed a group of people standing around on a corner like they were looking at a auto accident but I didn't think too much of it. I was walking the opposite side of the block when one of the neighbor kids came up to me and said he is with a cop. I said' Is he ok?' I was thinking so that is what the group was starring at. I went up to him and he said "MOM!" and started off toward me. I walked up to the officer and asked "Is it considered child abuse if I put him on a leash?" He laughed and said, "Not after I leave."
He took my name, Date of birth and Zebs name he said just incase he does this again. For some reason I am afraid he is living up to his name sake. Not very fearful. He came home and had a nice early bedtime tonight. He is now sleeping. I am so open to any ideas. Shock collars? Alarm collars? I have 3 doors to the out side. 1 to the front, 1 to the side and 1 to the back yard with a 6 ft fence. Hmmmmm. I must go do some research...

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Our new Additions...

Well, today we went for a ride to Green Lake. Duner wanted to check out some puppies. He has be wanting a yellow lab for over a year now. The place that we went to was an old school house. (not really that old) it was probably built in the 1950's or 60's. The kids thought it was really neat. Brock especially loved the boiler room. ??
The owner was Joe Scallon. Very nice man asked the us if we wanted soda as soon as we walked in. He was using the school gym/cafeteria as his garage. He told us when he first bought he went through 700 dollars of fuel for heat at 50 degrees in 2 weeks. Needless to say he sectioned off a part only to heat and now has a forced air furnance. His bathroom is where the Principal's office. His kitchen was the school office. It was a work in progress but it was definitely getting there. Anyway, we looked at the 3 pups he had. One was black, one was yellow and one was brown. We even went to go see the dad of the pups at Joe's dads place. I was really hoping that the daddy dog would be small and then it would be easy to say no, but the daddy dog was HUGE! It was a slightly shorter version of our Mastiff that we had. As we drove back to the Joe's house we discussed the pups and Brock wanted the brown and Reece wanted the yellow and neither one would budge. Duner went there originally thinking he wanted a yellow, but when he saw the size of the brown one he was torn. He couldn't decide and I couldn't help him. Then Duner said, 'If the guy would give us a deal maybe we would get 2." ??? What? I thought about it. The owner already kept them in a kennel outside. So they really were already outside dogs. I thought if it is meant to be, it will happen. Who am I to fight it. Duner has wanted this for so long.
When we got there I let Duner do most of the talking. He asked him and the guy said "Sure." He gave us food for the pups, de wormer, info on raising a puppy, coupon for puppy food, treats and boxes for the road. He was going to give them first shots but he said when we take them to the vet at the 4 month ck up they will give them again. Basically in Six weeks they need to see the vet anyway. Both come with guaranteed hips and money back or new pups if we would like. He will be mailing us the paperwork for the AKC registration when it comes in. He has a notebook of names of people who have bought pups from him and 2 families from last year came back this year to buy another one. Both were yellow and brown. He didn't mention it until Duner asked about both. He thought that was funny. One of the families called while we were there to ask the exact date they were born. May 22 is their date of birth.
The boys have decided to name the yellow Lab- Lighting and the brown one Thunder, since on our way home today we drove right in to the storm that his Oshkosh today. Duner wanted Storm instead of Thunder, but Brock really likes the name Thunder. Other options that were tossed out were Chocolate Chip, Chocolate & Vanilla, Rain, Brown dog, Yellow dog, Cloud, Luther, Elvis, Ben and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hmmmm.....

One week down the crapper...

I will try to put a positive spin on this one but it has been pretty crappie. After the wonderful boating experience, I learned that a co-worker of mine passed away. She was 52, 5 kids and 7 grandkids. Great lady. She had rare cancer. She fought it for 4 years. Which was amazing considering she was supposed to be in stage 4 by year one. (which is very BAD). If it wasn't for her we wouldn't have been able to go to Mexico 3 years ago. She volunteered to watch the kids for Duner and I so we could go. In the end my mom did most of it, but I believe if we couldn't have found anyone my mom wouldn't have done it. Even though she had just finished a round of chemotherapy and was getting better she was willing to watch my 6 month old baby and two older boys. She always had fun things to do with kids. She was a Jehovah Witness, since they don't celebrete Christmas, she would do special things for the Grand kids. She made a very neat treasure hunt a couple of years ago and the kids Loved it! There was a few weekends that she would tell her kids bring over all the Grand kids for the whole WEEKEND! She was our joker at work and will be GReatly missed. Even my kids loved her. I went to work with the kids and their happy meals once and she told them if they didn't eat it she was going to. Everytime we would go after that the kids would ask if she was going to be there. It was cute.

Before Sheila died we had a office meeting scheduled to discuss a whole lot of crap going around at work. A lot of complaining is going on but very little is getting acomplished. Since she died they decided to cancel the meeting and replace it with a Employee Assistance Meeting. I think it was the wrong answer. It was a nice thought but we need this meeting. I am getting sick of being a sounding board for all of the nurses to bash one another or anyone to bash anyone. My jaw hurts from keeping my mouth shut! I really just nod and say ohh that's too bad, when I am sure there is a good reason for what happened people are just jumping all over everyone. I have 3 kids at home that are behaving better. They are taking lessons from Dr Al. Don't get me wrong. He is a very nice guy, but he has the tendency to get mad say what is on his mind then say he is sorry and all is forgiven, but the girls aren't forgiving each other. They seem to be holding a grudge. I miss Loretta. She was a registered nurse that retired last year after over 40 years with Dr Al and his dad. She was very jolly and mellow. She would tell you if she had a problem with you not tell everyone else BUT you! Rarely did anything in spite.

But at least I lost some weight this week. Yeah! The nice 18 mile bike ride probably helped. I think I am going to weigh in today. It will be worth it. Well Sorry to ramble, but I must go.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Our Deep Sea Adventure... er Almost?

Ok not really. We just bought a pontoon boat. We wanted to try it out. Duner (my husband) worked over 80 hours last week at his full time job, *yes he has 2 jobs* he also put in 11 hrs at his partime job. Needless to say he couldn't wait to get out an try out this boat.
So we got up early and drove out to pick up the boat. After making it to the landing we loaded it up with towels, life jackets, food, soda fishing gear, and tackle and put the boat in the water. Yeah! It floats! That's great!
Ok, so everyone is on and my husband says, "Ok, now how do we start this thing?".
WHAT? NOW? Why wait till your in the water to try and figure it out. He never plans ahead for anything! Luckily there was a guy just putting in his boat, who was willing to help out. He tried and tried. No luck. Turns out something is wrong with the boat/motor. We ended up calling on our cell phone to the place we bought it from to see if they had any ideas. There brilliant suggestion was to drive it 40 miles to have them take a look at it.
None the less, we drove it to them so they can store it for 5 days until they can get to fixing it. Apparently a lot of other people are in a rush to fix there boats with summer here and all. ????
Oh well, that now gives us time to go to Wal-mart and purchase an anchor since Duner decided at the gas station we stopped at just before putting the boat in that we needed one. He would rather spend the extra 5 dollars at the 'convience store' if they have any anchors, then to buy one from a discount store a couple days prior.
Billiant man. Just brilliant.

Monday, July 18, 2005


This is our new Pontoon Boat. Reece is on the deck with my sister Sara looking onward.

This is the garage at the cabin. If you look close enough you can see where Zeb has changed the paint color. Posted by Picasa

Our new fire pit. You can't tell but it is actually 4ft by 4ft big. (the pit itself) Posted by Picasa

Here is part of the new walking trail at the cabin. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, July 16, 2005

busy Week

It has been such a busy week. We bought a pontoon boat on Sunday. Played phone tag with the bank on Monday. Went for my long bike ride on Tuesday and primered my kitchen, it was dark blue I am painting it 'Weathered Tin'. (Hopefully today) Wednesday we picked up the boat, Thursday Duner and myDad took Zeb to the Races. He loves those. Friday I got my bike helmet and the paint to do the kitchen.
I have my dreaded 18 mile bike ride today. I am not sure what I was thinking anymore when I signed up. But at least I have my sister in it too to help me finish it. She came up from Madison yesterday and took the boys to Mead pool. I called before I left work and she confessed right away, "I broke your son Reece." Apparently she taught him how to swim underwater for longer distance's and he hit the wall. I think we have all done that in someway or another. He has a cut above his left eye and a black eye. He must have really been moving. He says he didn't think the wall was there 'cause he felt for it but he must have just missed it.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Computer Time

I did it! The kids are actually cleaning when they aren't told to do so! Yesterday they put away the clean dishes in the dishwasher and filled it with dirty ones, made their beds and cleaned the bedroom just be cause they wanted to play for 30 minutes on the computer! I even got them to put away their clothes, clean the toy room and bring up dishes with a little encouragement.
The kids do have a computer of there own but no internet (Thank you Sara)so, that is there motivation. I am glad they are only into games so far and not Instant messaging or chat rooms. That is one part I am dreading. I don't even do that. You hear of all kinds of horror stories about those. I LOVE my e-mail and checking out the internet but that's about it.
Speaking of Computers, I picked one up for my bike so I don't have to hop in the car to find out how far I went on my bike. I do have to get my derailer fixed on my bike hopefully before the ride on Saturday. It is 18 miles and I only have 6 speeds. It sucks when you get going down a nice hill and you can't pedal fast enough to keep your speed up.
Well gotta run!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Well, It's crunch time

I have less than 10 day until my 18 mile bike ride. I went for a 10 mile ride today. I have to go for a longer one yet sometime this weekend. I will probably ride from my house to my work and back. According to mapquest that is a 15+ mile ride. Not to mention the not so friendly hills.
Sigh.
Anyway, as I write this Brock is out on the front porch trying to talk Zeb into coming in the house. Zeb's not biting. Brock is now offering a piggy back ride. It worked! We'll see how long he stays.
Zeb's newest thing is knock-knock jokes. He never has a punch line, but if you don't answer right away with 'Who's there' he will say 'Knock-knock' louder and louder until you respond. Then he says ' Jake' , 'house', bike', car, or whatever else he sees around. He doesn't quite get the concept that you are supposed to say a little more.
If you saw Reece this week you would think he was the saddest kid on earth. He has such a miserable life. He was so upset many times. He didn't understand why we said "No" to lighting off fireworks after a late movie night at the drive in theater. HMMMM. Go figure.
He also thought just because we went to the cabin we were supposed to leave to go swimming. I don't mind them swimming, but Zeb feels I must walk with him as he wades in the water. Never going up to his waist.
Brock has been the same sneaky kid. Picking on his brother until he comes crying to me and then denying he did ANYTHING wrong. I think Reece really puts up with quite a bit from him. Brock's way of cleaning his room is craming anything possible under the bed, and then hiding everything else.
I saw on TV that those bikers in the Tour De France, have to eat 7000 calories a day!!!! I LOVE that!
Well I must go fold the laundry.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

We spent the last couple days up at the cabin, so I have be unable to blog. It was nice. It is always sad to leave the cabin after you spend 3 hours cleaning it up just to leave it. We finished the fire pit, painted the garage to match the house *YEAH!* , cleaned a bunch of garbage out of the garage and cut a path through the woods for a walking trail.
They have a parade every year that ends at a baseball field just down the road from our cabin. It was so fun this year, again, of course. We had the boys ready with the garden hose and water guns. We would have had water balloons but we couldn't find any! Next year we will be more prepared, for sure. Some people that we let park in our front yard were very prepared with Water ballons and super soakers. One float from a local hardware store had a HUGE water tank with garden hoses hooked up and they soaked the people on our yard! The driver even stopped to make sure they got em good! Zeb just hung out under some chairs that I had covered with at tarp to protect our boys. He was munching on Reece's candy while he helped Brock soak the floats. I should clairify, the parade starts and ends in the baseball field. The first time they go down our street they throw candy and little water. Then they go down to the end of the road and turn around and come back down to soak us up. They also give away free tickets to give away 72 brand new bikes purchased by the local business' in the area. Our kids didn't win this year. Thats ok. They weren't too heart broken. After that they also give away over a hundred dollars in change by tossing it onto the baseball field and letting the kids go after it. The kids love it.
We ended the day with a movie at a drive in theater. We saw Madagascar and The longest Yard. I must say I was disappointed with both. We started the movie at about 9:45 pm and ended at about 1:15. We got back to the cabin at a little after 1:30pm. The kids didn't understand why we said no to lighting off the fireworks at that hour. Hmmmmm.????
We are hoping to find a pontoon boat perferably used, to keep at the cabin. That way the kids can fish or swim.
Well I have to work in the morning.
time for bedtime....

Friday, July 01, 2005

I am so glad this week is over.

It was too crazy, I hate the week before the major holidays. Everyone is asking 'So what are you doing for the Holiday?' and in the end, I wonder, do they really care? I get so sick of talking about it. I feel like I have so much to do. I am going to do a pretty good bike ride tomorrow. I hope. I don't know what my other half might have planned. I think he has to work, which would be the norm. I only have 2 wks before the 'Tour du fest' and I have only rode my bike 8 miles max. I am hoping to go 10-12 miles tomorrow. I was checking out the times for the people who did the High Cliff Tri run on Sunday and A LOT of them did the bike in one hour or so. That means they averaged 20 miles per hour! I don't know how fast I go, but when I did have a computer on my bike (10 years ago), I would average 15 miles per hour. I have some work to do. I must go prepare....