Birthday Boy!!!

Tomorrow will be Zebbie's 4th birthday!
So in remembrance of that day I took him to Toy'r'us and let him pick out his toy of choice.

Disney Cars Piston Cup Raceway.

I am not sure who likes it more?
Brock and Reece played with it more than Zeb.
It is really actually neat. You have your "Cars" from the movie. We were lucky enough that Dad Bought "The King" yesterday and Mcqueen came with the set today! We had to offical cars. The kids found some others from our stash that fit as well.
How it works is a motor at the start has to wheels that the cars fit through and propels them throught the race track and back. The kicker is it's only one lane at the start, so someone is always first, but they have a car come out of the side and crash with the other cars, and a yellow flag pops out too. So after a lap or two it goes away.

I had forgotten about the pictures we had from our weekend bowling and at the Zoo... So here they are.... Some are taken by Zeb himself... I will let you guess which ones...

Ironman I am not..

I realize I have been a serious slacker as far as my blog goes.

I am trying to fix this problem now. Where does the time go?

Oh I know, it could be the fact that I am sitting here wishing I could go to bed since Monday thru Friday I have to wake up at 6am or earlier (if I have to work) to get the kids ready and on the bus. It picks them up at or just before 7am.

It could be the chaos of 3 different schools for 3 kids. Zeb in Pre K, Reece in 3rd grade and Brock in Jr High! All of which have different systems for doing things. All of which send home papers anytime they feel like it, unlike there previous school that sent things home in a friday folder, which I do miss.

It could also be buying a car one weekend in Alsip Illinois, off Ebay, and visiting my sister with the boys the next. Lots of Driving!

My sister had a nice blog about our visit. We went to the space place and watched the space shuttle atlantis take off. It was pretty cool. We also took the kids bowling. Not really much new there. I still suck, Zeb gave up on the 2nd time down the lane, Reece is SO DRAMATIC, and Brock is just lucky enough to have some of Duners Bowling genes. My sister wasn't bad either.

We made big signs for the Wisconsin Ironman Triathletes that we cheered on Sunday. It was a bearly balmy 59 degrees for a high and rainy and windy. How would you like to swim for 2 hrs, bike for 112 miles and run for 26 with conditions like that?
OUCH! Pain, serious PAIN! I talked to Dr Al today (Day 3 post Ironman), he has retired now from doing the Ironman. He will still continue with the Local Triathlons, but no more Ironmans. His wife is still doing them though. She finished in over 14 hrs, it took him over 16 hours. It was almost midnight when he finished. Start was 7am.

You know it is bad when you have to shift with your arms because your hands no longer work. You take an additional 10 minutes in the Port-o-potty because you can't lift your pants, you dread going down the hills because you can't stop your bike. That is some big mental strength to finish and sign up the next day.

Well I am being paged.... Next time...

Ok Time out

Wow, is all I can say for the busy weekend we had.
Friday was the first day of school for the kids. We got them all handsome and walked them down to the bus. I wrote their bus numbers on their hands so they would not forget when it came time to go home.

We didn't get to meet them off the bus since we drove 4 hrs south to get a car we bought on Ebay. We really like the car, hate driving that much though. Yuck.

Anyway, when we got home we quickly got clothes, food and dogs ready to go up north to the cabin for the weekend. We also set out our other truck to sell on a local main highway. We made it up north and settled in and watched a movie. It was Flight Plan, good movie.

The next day Cory and Shannon popped up to join in the labor day weekend festivities. We had a horseshoe tournament on Saturday. We each brought food to share and signed up for the tournament. Shannon and I were on a team (I had never played before, BAD) and Duner and Cory were on a team. Last year they made it to round two and got knocked out. They were hoping to make it further. Shannon and I were losing at first but then we pulled out the lead. The game ended with a debatable score of 21-20 we lost. For those that don't know you play to 21. There was confusion at the end but we did really well considering It was my first time and she hadn't played for a while too.

We waited a while for the next round of games. Duner and Cory had to play the guys they lost to last year. They didn't like that but at one point they were ahead of them 20-6. But they pulled ahead to sqeak out a win. Cory and Duner were both understandably bummed out. They were SO CLOSE!

New Age Education

When I went to school we didn't use email, or debit cards.

We knew our parents really probably had no clue what assignments were due when.
Or if we forgot to turn them in, at least until confrences.

They didn't know about how we decided to take a late lunch in Jr High and came in late, blaming it on our watch. Techincally not skipping but Tardy.

In some ways we had it easier than kids do now. We now have, in our new school district, a email system that lets us know before the kids get to lunch if they skipped first hour. They send out an email, which can be sent to me at work!

They have a website that allows us to view what assignments are due and when they are due.
In order to access the website you need a user name and password, so the kids can't get in it and mess it around.

You can use your debit card to pay for school lunches and see how much money the kids have left on their account for hot lunch.

You can view your kids schedule, online which is nice for making appointments. Not to mention the lack of paper you will lose or accidentally toss.

I am looking forward to school this year. It feels so different here. Maybe it is that I never went to school here, or maybe all the techincal improvements that I have seen there.

I am not sure, but I am definitely looking forward to them meeting new friends.
Reece's school even lets your kids write letters to fellow classmates and send them 'via a school post office'. How very cool is that!! His room number is 84, so his address is 84 Galloping Ghost Rd, for his class room. I would have loved to have something like that! Not to mention all the practice writing letters and envelopes!

Ducks Unlimited 2006

How Cute is he! I love this picture.
We spent the day at Ducks Unlimited. We brought Thunder (our Chocolate Lab in the picture). He had fun, but REALLY wanted the chance to fetch the dummie that they would throw off into the water. Duner got to play with his toy, and ATV. He has really wanted one for the cabin. Maybe sometime.

Reece got the chance to redeem himself. He was so mad the last few times he tried to climb the rock wall, he had gotten so scared and would drop. Well he made it further, but not quite to the top. Maybe next year...

Next Reece and Zeb Tackled the bike course. They make a little trail with little hills and turns to test out bikes. The kids love it. Here Zeb even got to try one out. Duner got to run next to him.


Brock and Reece were pretty excited to try archery. They both did pretty good. I missed geting a pic of Brock because they were not right next to each other and they both shot at the same time. They went to get their Bows fitted for them and Duner found out they are to weak for theirs. Brock had been lifting weights to beef up, but Reece doesn't like to.


Next we hopped on the Tram with Thunder and rode over to the dog area. There they had Kayak's and Canoe's. Duner, Brock and Zeb hopped in a Canoe and Reece went by himself in a Kayak. Reece is in the yellow kayak, Duner has the orange vest. Zeb had the yellow and Brock is in the Blue. It was hard to get a picture of Reece. He was either to far out or moving to fast. I had Thunder with me and he wanted to go out in the worst way. I am amazed these pictures actually turned out. Most of them were taken with my left hand, while the dog was yanking me with my right.
Next the kids got to go fishing for HUGE catfish in a pool. Each kid was allowed 7 minutes to fish. Reece caught one but tha was it.

We only had 30 minutes left before Duner had to get back in time to work so we just watched the dogs go after a object that was tossed in the water off a dock. We wanted to get Thunder in but we didn't think we had enough time. It was fun to watch, but Thunder wanted to do it in the worst way.

The Day at Slippery Rock

On Monday, we went to the coolest natural water park on Monday. We spent about 2 hrs there. Duner brought his new Cabela's catelog and I had my camera. The boys, with Reece's friend - J, had a blast. Here is Brock Flexing his muscles. What a man... at the bottom of the rock.








When Reece was not staring intently at the shells waiting for the snail to come out he would actually go down the rock. You can see J trying to walk up the rock. Quite the feat.







Here Reece is with J.




After all the work in the water, we decided to take the boys out on the boat and fish ON the water. Zeb got to cast out a few times, with Dad's help... He has got quite the whip. He forgets to push the button, but it was so fun to watch.

Boys, Boys, Boys

So Much to write, but I am very tired.
Tonight we went to a local golf course for supper. (???) I had no idea they had such food. Brock decided to have the frog legs (yuck). Brock kept talking about how they didn't taste like chicken. They were like a dull fish taste, he said. I was grossed out looking at it so I was glad that he was next to me so I didn't have to look at him next to me. Zeb was fearless about them. As soon as Brock left to use the boys room, Zeb hopped on his chair and played with the frog legs saying 'ribbit, ribbit' and 'oh no!' when they would break. I won't go into more detail, it just grosses me to think of it. blech...
We rented some movies one of which is call Benchwarmers. It is about a bunch of misfiit kids grown up that want to prove their worth in baseball. Truly a boys movie! Very funny. They loved it!
We are getting ready to go up to the cabin for a few days. Duner took off work on Monday so we will be staying til Tuesday. I have a meeting at work so I will need to come back by 11 am on Tuesday. Yuck! That means getting up early that day to make sure the cabin is cleaned and ready to go when we leave.
Well I am beat. I will try to sneak something in on Tuesday.

Getting Bigger

I took Brock in for registration at school the other day. It will be a new school for him so we both didn't know what to expect. Co-workers warned me they would be taking his picture so we 'studed' him up for the night. He looked so grown up in the picture. It really turned out well. I am so excited about it.
Reece and Zeb have registration later on in the month on the same night. I am hoping my husband will be off work so he can go with one of them. We were hoping Zeb would be in some form of pre K in our public schools but he misses the turning 4 rule by 17 days. We had him tested anyway and they had some concerns with his abilities to answer questions, colors and numbers. He is very stubborn and doesn't usually like to answer questions about colors and numbers when we try. If he does it is no more that 5 questions, before he is done. He actually was co operating with the teachers when they tested him but probably since other kids were answering the questions too.
We went to fireworks last night at my work. They blocked it off for employees only. What a bummer. There was some good fireworks but I probably would have enjoyed better from my backyard. I thought maybe the ground show would be better. It was cold too. The boys didn't want to were pants which they ended up regreting.
Today they woke up and tried to play there computer and it told Brock MASTER HARD DISK FAIL. Later Reece woke up and didn't believe Brock so he tried it himself. IT WORKED! Reece came up dancing and singing "The computer likes me, The computer likes me!". Brock was on the verge of tears so I said "So does the Vacuum, now clean up the toy room before anyone uses the computer."
Under the right circumstances you can get your kids to do quite a lot.
: ]

Not an expolsion... well the bad kind anyway...

This is not a photo from Lebannon or Iraq. This is a photo from our back yard toward the Pyrotechnic competition that is now going on all week long near our home. Various different groups of fireworks enthusiast's (a.k.a nuts) are competiting for braggin' rights that is all. I guess they have it set to music and at various points there is a ground show, but I saw quite a lot right from my house. It was hard to take a picture of them, but they were many higher than this on, but getting my trigger finger and the camera to work at the same time is a trick. Not to mention Zeb was on my lap continuously asking "Can I see it? Can I see?" and yanking my arm down. The two white lights off to the side are streetlights.

Another busy weekend...

Today we took the boys golfing for the first time. It was kept from them until we pulled in to the parking lot of the golf course. We woke them up bright and early since Duner had to work til 6 am.
We brought Zeb along with and he took turns hopping from one cart to the next. Brock drove me nuts asking if he can drive the cart. Reece did pretty good considering he is using right handed clubs and he is left handed. Brock managed to shoot his tee 5ft while the ball stayed on the green! That was pretty funny. Zeb got to be a monster on hole 6 he didn't want to stay in the carts anymore. At one hole we found over 10 golf balls in the tall grass and weeds that some of us managed to shoot into. It was fun. It is pretty rare that you find more balls than you lose.

Reece as made fun of this week by the neighbor kids since he can not do a 'wheelie'. He came home on Wednesday, upset and so Duner made a point to try and teach him how to do it. Grandpa even made a jump ramp for him. He found a friend that will be going into the same grade as him and will be riding the bus with him so he is getting better about school and the change. His friend asked if Brock and Reece could sleep over Thursday night but I think Brock likes his sister, I don't know how old she is but Reece's Friend 'D' has a older and youunger sister. He is in the middle too.

Brock will be getting his school picture next week. In this school they do pictures before school starts, at registration. We have to pay for school, a planner, a atlas??, swim pants, tech ed, art class, and pictures this week. Over $70.00 worth. Yeah. I have to go shopping for Brock for a nice shirt for pictures.

Well Reece has something to show me on the ramp...
later!

What a day...

We started this am doing some last minute cleaning before the new baby sitter came. Her name is Jenny. She is 13. (Brock is 11 but I don't trust him yet) We gave her the low down and proceed to the golf course. It is set in the middle of Farmland, with a few homes on the outskirts, which is why they named it Countryside. Last week my husband and I golfed the front 9 with some friends of ours and today for the tournament we golfed the back 9. We played a scramble, which is the most fun way to play. We were a team of 4 women and we all shoot off from the first Tee and you play from where ever the best shot was. It was GREAT! The weather was supposed to be hot and humid but for the start it was overcast and breezy. We could not go wrong with that weather!

We learned a lot about our neighbors, it seems quite a few of them are all realated or know someone that is married to someone else. Which would explain why so many are SO nice!

We didn't win any prizes but had some great time getting to know the neighbors, which didn't stop with the golf. We then were invited to a neighbors house with the rest of the area for a 'pre block party'. The kids Loved it since they were able to swim steady since 4pm. I just left them at 9pm and Brock and Reece were still swimming! They were having a ball. It was getting dark so Zeb and I walked home for the night. I can't believe in all this heat today and we spent the majority of it outside. We will sleep well today.

I just hope we can make up in time for our new nephew's baptism at 11 am in Oshkosh. It is kind of important, seeing as I will be the boys God Mother. Yea!!! I can't wait!

Things you don't see everyday!

This is proof that even a 3 yr old will sit down and read if he had the right reading material.
I just had to take this picture, he was so cute sitting all by himself looking through this book.


I have been slacking in the exercise dept, so I took the kids out to high cliff since Saturday was a beautiful day to bike, at least up in central to northern WI in some spots. We have been very much missing any and all rain around here. It stinks. All of our lawns are so sad looking. I broke down and watered it last week Sunday and Tuesday we got a thunderstorm, FINALLY! It always seems to miss us.
Anyway, we had started out parking down below and riding to the top... er... walking to the top. I didn't make it very far at all, before walking. Again I have been a slacker. We always go through the trails and over to a tower that you can climb up and get an excellent view. The kids were pretty tuckerd out and were whining about having to climb the tower, but being the mean mom that I am I dragged them up it anyway. I told the kids to be quite because there was a wedding at a nearby shelter going on as we got there.

After we left the park I had the kids was the car since I was going to take them to a Drive-In Movie Theater to see Monster House and Click. We had to get their early enough since they only allow the first 300 cars. They open at 6:30pm and we were there at 7:15 and we were car number 30, but I think they filled up. We brought blankets and the Electronic Sorry game. We didn't have supper so we got a pizza from there. I had limited funds and they only accept cash. We had to split sodas all night. Later we got a tub of popcorn and some fifty cent bags of peanuts. I didn't have soda at home or I would have brought some.

That was a super fun family night. They had volleyball and basketball set up just under the screen so while you waited you could spend some family time together. We set out one of the many blankets on the lawn behind our SUV. We parked it backwards so we could lay down in the back. I really was expecting more mosquito's but I didn't have a single one!

Both would good movies, Duner was really bummed since he had to work and wanted to see both of these movies. He called me twice that night from work. I think he wanted me hold the phone to the speaker so he could listen too. ?? Who calls someone they know is going to be at a movie???

We finally made it out at Midnight last night and Zeb was already asleep. He didn't make it past the 2nd movie.

Bright and early I was awaken by Duner. The dogs started to bark and he went to check it out and this is what we saw.

Apparently the dogs don't like Hot Air Ballons.
It was a few house's away. It was close enough for the people to yell "Good Morning" to us. Again, at 6:30 am!
I don't think they were trying to land. Either they were practicing or waiting for a second balloon that showed up a few minutes later. They didn't land, but they bounced along the ground in the second picture.















Today I also went for my consultation for my Monday Morning Makeover. I will save that for another post.

Fun in the Fast Lane

What a great Idea! My work got together and had a pot luck and went to a local mini golf/ go Kart place that will be shut down in 10 days. They will be demolished and doesn't sound like they will be rebuilding, since they are selling off their go karts. Bummer.
Reece finally was able to ride by himself this year. Last fall, we attended a function with our realtor and Reece was just UNDER the height requirement. Happily, he was able to race with the big boys, if you want to call them that. Who knew the adults would get in just as much trouble if not more!!!! They have a switch that will shut down the motor temporarily if you are too reckless. That happened to more adults than kids! Everyone was out to get the 'Dr' of the group. Dr Al.
Duner took Zeb who LOVED it! My manager even gave us some tickets that her kids didn't want. My kids loved it. I have to work on my kids being more greatful and indroduction to others. They lack some major manners and eye contact. Well it was a busy night already and now I have to try to get some sleep.

A short one...

You Are 28% Control Freak
You have achieved the perfect balance of control and letting go.
You tend to roll with whatever life brings, but you never get complacent.

My sister recently had this quiz on her blog about being in control. She was 36% Control Freak.

I am trying really hard to not make much noise since my husband is sleeping from working all night. Our computer is in our room and it is really hard to not use it while he is sleeping.

One good idea turned bad...

Last night my husband actually had time off so we took the boys to see a movie, Dead Man's Chest the Pirates of the Caribbean. We had fun. Laughed til we cried, at least I did. Zeb did great til almost 9pm (1 hr and 50 min into the movie) when he wanted to go and get his blanket out of the car. Needless to say Duner and I played hot potatoe with the boy until eventually he fell asleep.

So, Today we went up to our cabin to get the pontoon and take it out for a spin with the boys. We loaded up with sub's snacks and something to keep the food cold. We took the tarp off the boat and attached everything to the car and hopped in to get going.

Suddenly Duner notice's the 'Check Gages" light on the dash board. We look and the car was overheated. We quickly shut it down and waited. While we discussed our options we ate our sandwhiches and snacks. Bummer. We had left the dogs at home, luckily we did make sure they had water when we left, but they would not be good all night outside. Not to mention our poor neighbors, what they would have to listen to. We hoped we would figure out a way to make it home.
Apparently there is a safety fan on the engine when it gets too hot kicks out radiator fluid on to the ground. We probably lost 1/2 to 1 gallon. We figured we would be out of luck trying to find a mechanic on a Sunday afternoon, so we filled it with water and turned it on. Yeah it went to half and stayed there. As we kept it running it rose slightly but that was since we sat still. Ok, so the plan we figured was to keep moving and we could make it home. We turned off the car, unloaded the pontoon boat, covered it back up, loaded our cooler back in the car and took off. We figured at the very least we did have our cell phones and Duner's Nephew Mike, said if we needed to we could call. He just happened to be up there at the time, which worked out well.

So we headed home. I watched the gages for about 5 miles and then just periodically the rest of the drive. We didn't take the normal way we take home since we wanted to avoid the traffic lights.

We made it home safe and sound, all fingers and toes.

They Survived

The boys seem to have survived camp with only minor injuries... mainly Brock. He managed to slam his pinky finger between to rocks. It is still pretty purple considering it happened on Tuesday.
One of the first things he says to me is 'Mom, I have worn this shirt now for 5 days!'
Impressive isn't he? And the shorts? He was wearing the same shorts I droped him off with. He said he did wear one other pair while he was up there. Hmmmm.
Reece appeared wearing the same shirt I left him with on Sunday complet with the nametag. He had changed to jeans. He hadn't been wearing the same clothes, since Brock saw him in a purple shirt yesterday. As soon as Zeb saw him it kicked in high gear and ran to him. Reece was pretending to be hiding behind a tree. As soon as we got in the car the kids were hitting me up for Mc Donalds or Burger King. Later Reece said "Come on mom Just think of all those pennies in your purse just waiting to be spent." It was a new phrase, I am sure he was dying to use. He sent me a letter but I just got it today in the mail. They both loved it and want to do it again next year. Yeah! One more week with out them!!!
Zeb survived the 6 hr + ordeal. It was a 3 hr trip one way.
I think he is glad his brothers are home.


Now comes the unpacking... better get going.

A rare one

This is a picture of my husband, his brother and nephew all doing their part to clean up after supper. It was the only time they did this. We had to get a picture of it. Cory is such a worker, he didn't even waste time looking at the camera.
My husband works with his nephew and people are always coming up to him and asking if his son or brother works there. Apparently they look alike.
Hmmmmm.
Maybe...

Up North Part 3.... The end...

After the boys where done golfing I learned they spent some extra time playing a dice game called Ship Captain Crew. Apparently it is very fun. I am glad some people were having fun....

Uncle Ron tried to talk me into asking Bonnie to go to the local Casino. I said sure, but when I found out the boat was working I really wanted to go out on the boat. He was sulking about it when we left. Duner, Zeb, Mike and I headed to Anderson Lake to try out the boat for the first time this year. I love how easy our boat is to get on the trailer and off. Mike was somewhat distracted with some sunbathers that were on a nearby dock. (FOCUS MIKE, I thought) but we did well.

Just as we were heading out on the water a storm warning was issued. It seemed a storm was heading just north of us. The sky seemed ok yet so we picked a spot and started to fish. After an hour and a half we managed to get a tiny little blue gill and then we started to see lighting... Needless to say we decided we were done. The wind just began picking up as we got off the lake and headed home.

Back at the cabin my in laws had just shown up with their friend Cheryl. Cheryl and her husband Ron used to run a Karaoke business, but Ron passed away in Spring. She brought all her equipment with her and my father in law Karaoke king and Uncle Ron, the prince had fun all night. We were the responsible bunch that night. We just sat around the fire, Zeb was asleep by 10 pm.

Tuesday, The 4th of July, a parade always goes by the front of the cabin. We have front row seats. It maybe has 20 floats tops, but they throw some candy (Zeb made a steal) and spray some water. This year I guess they didn't want the water so much, but they still had it. I think that is the best part. They also walk around with tickets for free. Every child gets a ticket. At the end of the parade you walk down to the baseball diamond and wait for you number to win a free bike. It is sponsered by the local businesses. Eack one buys a bike. They had 80 to give away. Brand new. We of course had no luck. But we only had one ticket, since the boys were at camp.

We always have a big feast after the parade and this year we got to leave without cleaning up.
:]
The in laws were staying one more day, so we didn't have to make sure it was spotless before we left. Yea!

Now back to realty...

Up North part 2

So Reece spent some time with his friend playing with remote control boats and a paddle boat that his uncle owned. After he got back we did some fireworks. One of the best was one called Parachute. It shot up parachutes up in the air and the older boys tried to see who could grab them. Zeb knew to stay away or be trampled. One of the fireworks was one that shot off exactly 100 rounds in a row. I hated it. I counted each noisy round that went off. Yep, exactly 100. Apparently we got our monies worth. Bummer.

When the excitment was calmed, we headed inside (away from the nasty mosquitos) and Brock, Duner, Shannon, Mike and Cory all played Rummy 500. Or as Reece likes to call it Romy 500.
Reece came in an fell asleep right away. I sat by Zeb for a little while til he was also asleep and went to bed.

The next moring we had left over venison steak, onions, mushrooms, peppers and potatoes from the previous night with eggs. It was great!

We tried to get a bit more done on the new garage door and then it was time to head out to drop off the boys at camp. They are spending the week at a Bible camp called Lake Ellen. Brock was so excited but Reece didn't know what to expect. On the way up there we took the same road that I used to take to get to LLBC, that was the Bible camp I went to growing up. I noticed that it seems the same stretch of road was being worked on the last time I was on that road. Only now it is almost 20 years later.

When we got to camp, where it was 86 degrees, we had to register, got the cabin assignments and signed up Reece to go horseback riding. Brock didn't know if he wanted to go yet. Reece has a cabin with about 12 other bunks. His cabin in one of the closest to the boys bathroom. Yeah! He had to check it out and said, 'Mom, those are actually really nice bathrooms!'.
After dropping off Reece's stuff we went over to where we had to catch a bus that would take us to Brocks 'Tee Pee'. Yes, he is staying in a huge tee pee this week. It has bunk beds all around the walls and room on the top bunk for storage. He is rather far away from the nice bathrooms and much to his disappointment has.... gulp....
A PIT TOILET!!!! ARRRRRRGH!
When we left he was assuming the scared position. He was terrified of the toilet. I think Reece was almost jealous up until that point. We had to get back on the bus so we gave Brock a hug and quickly jumped on the bus. After the longest ride there in the bus, due to the insane 4 x 4 abilities of the bus, hairpin curves and the MOST uneven terrain I have ever had in a bus, it was the shortest ride back. (???) I don't know how that worked... Even one the other parents commented how quick the ride back was.
We headed over the registration area and said goodbye to Reece. He seemed ok. Zeb was a different story. He did NOT want to leave them there.
We gave Reece a hug and said goodbye. He actually hugged back. Normally he pretends to not like it but I think he was a bit scared. I hated to leave them so quickly, but actually we spent 75 minutes there. It seemed so quick.

When we returned to the cabin Zeb had just fallen asleep. The trip was 2 hrs,but he was awake for 98% of it. But he woke up when we got to the Cabin and had to get him out of the car.

We finished the garage door and tried to get the motor started. We put the battery back in and got the keys from the cabin. I was thinking.... 'Ok here we go, this will only take 2 hrs....'

It started in 4 tries!

Yeah! It was late when we got it started so we just headed inside made supper and had a fun game of Rummy (or Romy) 500. We consumed some beverages and headed to bed. It was pretty nice not have kids say "Can we light the fire?' or 'Can we roast Marshmallows?'.

The next day was Monday. Duner had plans to go golfing at a nearby golf course called Black Bear Trail. It was hit by hail on Saturday that had rolled through so they were giving discounts.
Duners Uncle Ron and Aunt Bonnie stopped up and Duner, Ron, Cory and Mike all went golfing.

I watched Zeb and baby Gage, and tried to entertain Bonnie. She can be a difficult person at times and she wasn't happy that Ron lied to her and told her that her brother Randy (my father in law) would be there in the A.M. So....from 9-3 we looked at each other and made small talk. She never had children of their own, but I guess wanted some just never worked out that way.
Like I said... some times God has a plan...
Gage was a great Baby. He can't sit still for anything. Feeding time is like target practice. His mom is nursing him, so I think he is used to it a certain way at times, but when she works he does get to do some feeding but most of the time it's Mom. It was neat because you could just tell he is starting to see better. He smiles back at you and likes to talk. Duner asked me if having Gage around made me want to have more kids. I said 'NO! I like to play and give away for a change, not be on the recieving end of the deal'

More later....

Up North part 1

We just returned from a busy weekend at the cabin. We left Saturday early and brought the dogs, a new canopy for the pontoon boat, and a new garage door. We had a trailer LOADED. We also brought a umbrella for shade, my bike and Zeb's tag a long, just in case. We thought we would have lots of room when we left. Ok, so we were wrong...

We arrived and our nephew was cutting the lawn, Duner started up the othere mower up there and in no time it was done. Mike's dog, Alice was following him around the yard like a sick puppy. I got started pulling off the old canopy and started geting the new on set up, the directions weren't the bes so we ended up putting the front part of the canopy correct but the frame was backwards. After a quick fix we got the canopy where it needs to be but we haven't put the light back on it. It was so humid and sticky. We didn't even have the boat started to know it it was going to run. My newphew put the battery on the charger and we decided to get the garage door done while we were waiting for it. Soon, my brother-in-law, Cory, his wife Shannon, the dog, Chance and their new little boy showed up that AM.
Yes we had 4 dogs, mostly labs.
About 2 pm clouds startting rolling in. It was a welcomed breeze. I suppervised the installation of the door while Duner and Mike worked on it. The kids where playing in the yard and really didn't get board too much. Once I had the canopy up on the boat they had lots of fun pretending to be driving it. Reece even threw the anchor over board at one point. I could hear some horse's whinny, there are some about 3/8 of a mile down the road from us. I began to wonder if we were in for a yucky storm. Pretty soon it began to rain. It was nice! Zeb loved it. We really didn't have any lighting with it, but it came down really well. It didn't phase him in the least. After about 10 minutes, I noticed that some hail was falling, as soon as I said that it stopped. We maybe saw 5 pieces of dime sixe hail. After that the sun, came out again and the place was steaming. By 7 pm we figured we better stop and got supper ready. I was supposed to call Reece's friends mom, Jenny. We got so busy with the door, that I forgot. I also wondered why I hadn't heard it ring yet. I looked for it and found out the battery was Dead and it was sitting in my car. Our phone batteries always go dead up north quickly. We are in a very wooded area.
I managed to get the screan on to tell me I had a voice mail. I was sure it was Jenny so I brought Reece over to her Uncle's place so he could play. They have a place on a lake up there that is maybe 4 miles from our cabin. They have remote control boats that they just Love.
When we got there Jenny showed me her Mom's car. Apparently the hail storm that we got was worse than I thought. Her mom got caught in the hail storm less than 5 miles from our cabin. They were on their way up and had to pull over. They had over 6 major cracks in their winshield and big dents all over. The said they saw cars with no back window. They were very lucky. Most of the cracks were on the passenger side, where Jenny's mom was sitting. She said she grabbed a pillow from the back quick and put it over her head. They had little pieces of glass on the dashboard. I was suprised it wasn't worse.
to be continued...

Fun at Bay Beach

This is a picture of Brock, Reece and Jacob on the Tilt-a-whirl at Bay Beach. They had fun I think. I was amazed at just how much energy they still had when we left. They were more tame than before but still ready to go.
Zebbie was 1 inch to short to go on the bumper cars with me. He was bummed, but he didn't cry. He did manage to make it on the kiddie cars at least.
They also have a train that we managed to go on at least one time. Of course, the Tilt-a-whirl was a hands down favorite for the boys.
Bumper Cars was 2nd and the Scrambler was third. I went on the scrambler with Zeb, but I can only hand rides that go in circles so long before I want to get off. It was just a bit too long.

Busy Day

Yesterday I let Reece have a friend sleep over. Today I think I might take them somewhere fun, but cheap. I might go to Bay Beach. It is a nearby park that has mechanical rides that don't go away. They are always there. I know the prices have gone up since I was there, but I can't remember how much. I might also take them strawberry picking with me. I want to get them out of the basement and away from the TV. They have been playing video games or watching the movie Nanny Mc Phee. They really liked that movie. I think they have seen it 3 times since Monday, at least 2 for sure.
Time to make the doughnuts...

EVENTful weekend

It all started with a Dark and Stormy Night.... well, sort of...
Let me back up a little bit. Saturday we went out to High Cliff to pick up our numbers and get familiar with the swim course and bike set up. It was beautiful. A little wind but the triathlon wasn't until today. We came back home and out comes a storm warning. While I got my bike ready and packed my things I quickly ran some errands before the rain came. And did it come.

I just love watche the clouds and they were definitely no disappointment. I watched until the rain started and then I went inside. As I started supper, a Tornado warning popped up on the TV. Apparently the area that the triathlon was to be at had a actual tornado seen by multiple people. It seems to happen alot out that way. I was begining to wonder if they will call it off if they had enough damage, but none was reported.
So 5am came and we got up to eat breakfast and get to the park for our body marking. Each person in the triathlon must get marked with their number on their lft arm and lft leg. My number was 721. My sister's was 583.
After visiting the bathroom, which had NO WAITING Line, opposite of the Men's bathroom situation. We visited with people and stretched and waited for our turn. My wave wasn't until 15. My sisters was 12. I had to wait until 7:30am to swim.
After the swim I ran up the hill to the bike part and threw on my shirt, socks, shoes and helmet. Off I was to the 'HILL". It was great to hear comments like 'Good Job 721' or 'looking good 721' apparently I looked worse than I felt. I was passed by a biker that took a wrong turn, so I got passed by her twice. I am quite sure she was in the 'Athena' group too. That is the nice way to say Big girls division.
One of the guys had a big shark fin that he wore with the addorable old lady swim cap with fake flowers on it. He passed me on the bike he had a neon wig. I think it was attached to his helmet. On one of the longest roads I saw my kids with my parents, they didn't realize it was me until I was just about past them. Brock was trying to get my picture and yelled 'Mom!' Like I was supposed to come back and pose.
After the sweet ride on road #4 (the wind was at my back) I didn't want to turn off, but it was almost time to run. While I was on Schaefer Rd, a guy on a 1980 Schwinn 18 speed flew past me. I heard him before I saw him. As he passed I told him I liked his music (meaning his chain was squeaky) He said "I thnk I need to oil it." Hmmmm. I didn't mind the noise. I am used to wearing an Ipod, and I missed it, his chain had a nice beat to it.
After dismounting the bike I changed to my ouch shoes. I bought new running shoes in May, they make my left foot go numb. I took off my helmet and threw my hair up quickly and walked to the 'run'. As I crossed the official mat they yelled 'run it out, come on!' I was a little bummed but that is what I needed. I kicked in my run/jog. I didn't feel my foot act up til I got the HILL. Yes, we had to go up the hill 2x to get to go down finally at the end. Just as I got to the hill Dr. Al saw me and came over and grabbed my hand for 75 ft or so he was willing to run up as much as I had to. I finally said I am going to walk now, he said 'Triathlon's arent won on the hill! If you have to walk that is ok'. Once at the top I started on the trail. It is not the flatest surface to run on but I did like the mulch path, it was nice on my painful foot. I just kept remembering what someone once told me 'Just keep one foot in front of the other'. I can't agree more... I just enjoyed it. Just as we were finishing the run the sun started to pop up and it was Perfect. I was truly amazed just how not tired I was! I am so excited. I will be doing this again in August and I really am looking forward to it.
Now, I know why my sister was so excited to do this.
Thanks, Sis!

Seat Belts, Kids

On Wednesday, our nephew was involved in a rollover accident with his baby sitter. He was flown to a ICU at a local hospital and we visited him on Wednesday night. He looked good, he had an eye that wasn't behaving, knocked out teeth, nasty abd bruising, and a brain stem inj. He was concious and breathing on his own. At the scene he was able to unlock his seatbelt and help the other child (10) get out of the car. They just thought he was acting strange so they thought he had a injury to his brain so they got him flown out of there. He is a strange little boy, so that very well could have just been him being normal. They said he knew his name, date of birth and even where his mom worked. They called her at work and she met them at the hospital. I really don't think our kids know the year they were born. They know the month and day, but the year just goes over their heads.
Brock really wanted to go see him on Wednesday but I thought he wouldn't be allowed in the ICU. We will probably go tonight to see him, I am certain he will be fine, thanks to the seatbelt he was wearing. He was also in a booster seat, he is a very short 8 yr old. Zeb (3) almost catches up to him. My kids HATED wearing their seatbelts now yesterday Brock had his on before I even asked.

Busy Boys

Yesterday I helped my sister-in-law at the her work at the Boys and Girls club. They had a Young ladies expo and she is in charge of finding volunteers to help with events and she recruited me. I helped by cutting chicken for salads, taking pictures and I was rewarded by getting my very own manicure. The girl that gave me my manicure was a bigger girl but had one heck of a personality. Her name is Sara and she is goiing to give me a makeover in July for a local TV station in our area that gives Monday moring makeovers. I told her she can do what ever color she wants. It should be interesting. I will try to get a before and after photos.
Last night we did the bike ride at high cliff. I made it up 80% of the hill before I stopped. I was afraid I was getting so tired I would fall off and with Zebbie on the back I didn't want to chance it. If I was by myself I would have done it , no problem. We did the exact same route as last time and Ice cream of course. While we were at the Ice cream place Zeb dropped his Ice Cream and had to get more. As we were loading the kids in the car, my Peanut Butter Shake was knocked out of my hand and I lost half my shake on the ground. I didn't need a refill. I took it as a sign and left. When we got home I quickly fertilized the new lawn, since it was suppose to rain overnight and when I got in Reece was sleeping in my bed, Zeb was sleeping on the couch and Brock was getting tired. He ended up on the couch also with the TV still on.
Gee a little fresh air and they crash
It was a great day to be Dad today. Yesterday I had taken the boys to make their very own cake for Dad. They were a hit. Duner liked them a lot. Zeb made a Cholcolate one (that had dip marks from him trying to eat on the way home from the store) Reece made a Yellow cake and Brock made a chocolate cake.
This picture is one of my favorite ones this year. I love the look on Brock and Reece's face. They are just happy, not goofy at all.

And the winner is...

Reece recieved 168 points this week. He did great! Brock did a big 18. He managed to keep the birds (outside) fed and open his shades in his room. *yes, I am practically GIVING these points away*
For a reward tonight Reece decided to get fireworks. We went to Wal mart and I bought him one of those $10 packs. I lit off 7 of them. I could not stand to be out side much more than that.I was eaten alive. I am still trying to itch and type at the same time. Needless to say this will be a short post. Maybe later...

Book Worm

Reece is a reading machine. I got him a Captain Underpants book today from the Library and he already finished it! He didn't put it down! Today while Brock had Lego and Woodworking class Reece and Zeb never turned on the TV. This summer I told them they have 'Equal time Electronics' Which means however long they watch TV or play video games they need to do that same amount of time cleaning, reading or active play. I don't want them to sit around and become Lazy.
Reece is doing GREAT! Brock is the slacker. I am glad I have him in his classes to allow Reece time to get in to a routine so Brock won't poison him right away with laziness. As you can tell I am a little frustrated with Brocks Laziness. He likes to 'hide' stuff in his room when he cleans and he has gotten in to a habit of saying one thing when it is a total lie. I hope he meets a few good kids at school for him to latch on to. He used to have a good friend named Ben 3 yrs ago on Lawrence St, but they moved out to Sherwood. At least he will be in the school district. They did go to private school but maybe they will somehow end up in public school. Brock said that he likes the 'pick your path' type books. The ones that you chose the story line. I am going to see what I can find out about who writes these books and see if the library has them.
I better get looking. The library has a neat program in which they keep track of the books that are read and give you credit for reading them at your school.

Workout Weekend

I just came back tonight from a weekend in Verona. I was visiting my sister and doing a trial run of the triathlon in 2 wks. Already!
First things first I should go back to the flag day parade the boys were in.
Saturday was the Huge Appleton Flag Day Parade. Brock and Reece were able to walk in it for Boy Scouts. Reece was all embarassed because I had just sewn on his patches from the year that he had gotten to his shirt. I was guess on some of the since they give you so Many! He told a friend, "my mom just sewed these on but she doesn't know where they go." as he held his arms over them to hide them. His friends really didnt seem to mind at all.
While waiting for the parade to start an official came up to their group and asked if any of the boys would like to be the banner holders for the UW Marching band. They are a fun group from the University of Madison that know how to have fun. I thought it would be great! Others didn't. Brock liked it, But since no one else would Brock couldn't either.
After that I dropped the boys with Grandma and Grandpa and headed down to visit my sister in Mad City. We ate a very cool pizza place called Ian's Pizza.
We decided to see a movie but that wouldn't be on til 9:15 so we had some time to kill. Right now all around the capital and State St they have 'Cows on Parade'.
I really liked the Choc 'cow' late Milk cow. Now I can say chocolate milk really does come from Chocolate cows!
We also stopped at a cafe and I had a wonderful chocolate cheesecake and Sara had an Irish Cream cappacino with Biscotte. We went to the movie which suprised me by just how busy it was in the theater. We saw The Break Up. I was told it was very funny. I was a little disapointed by it. I thought it would have been funnier. I don't want to give anything away.

The next morning I woke up kind of early but went back to bed since it was 6:30 am and I really didn't have to stay awake. Sara woke up to feed Monty and went back to bed.
About 8:30 or so we started to get ready to go on our bike/run. Some friends of hers stopped by and joined us, we ate breakfast and finshed our ride and run. I set out about 2pm so I could make it home in time for Duner to leave for work.

Well I better get some house cleaning done.
Back to the grind...

Well, we are now being seen. We are on multiple gas stations in the area on top of various machines. Duner has had more than one person come up and say something to him. I just had a mom of Reece's friend tell me last night that she saw us at the local gas station in the area.
When Reece heard that he asked 'Where was I when they took that picture?" I told him he was at school and he said "everything happens when I am at school!" Bummer.
So Reece had a Birthday party to go to last night. I dropped him off after work. This friend will be moving in July to Charlotte, NC. His dad is a pilot and had a job transfer. The invitations were really cute! It was a passport and said something about a trip around the world without even leaving the backyard. The first destination was Italy for Pizza. It was cute! Last years invite was a boarding pass. I didn't get that until it was all done. Reece was bummed. He had put it in is backpack expecting me got get it but I didn't bother to look right away since school was done.
Anyway, While Reece was at Dylan's I took Brock and Zeb to a Movie...
Cars, The Movie.
It was cute. Zebbie Loved it. Brock Liked it. It was you typical Disney/Pixar movie. Cute. I am sure I will be seeing it over and over again soon. Duner wanted to see it too but he had made plans to go to the races with my dad. I know Reece will be bummed when he founds out we saw it already. The theater was not as busy as I though it would have been for the opening weekend. It had some humor that was hard to understand unless you know more about cars. I don't think all of the jokes were understood but the animation was adoralble. Someone really did a great job puttting emotions on the exterior of the cars.
Today the boys march in the Local Flag Day parade here with the Boy scouts. I think the route is about 3 miles. They are going to Grandma Z's after that but I hope they get most of their energy spent on the parade. I doubt it. Well I have to get going. I have to find nice shorts for Reece to wear in the parade and put on some patches (maybe).

I am beat

I know it has been a while since I wrote but I am beat. It has been another quick week, I just got back from taking Brock and Zeb to 'Cars, the movie". I will have to write more tomorrow.

The Big Fishing Tournament

Today was a fishing tournament for the boys. Poor Duner was running on less than 2 hrs sleep. You wouldn't know it the way he fished with the boys (mainly Zebs pole) and helped Zeb with the prize line. Last year Brock was the first kid to be called and he could have won a brand new bike and he said no!!!!
This year, the poor boys didn't get a chance for a bike. Reece's name was called just before they drew for a bike. He was a little bummed, but still pretty happy he got a prize. As you can tell Zebbie wasn't waiting for Dad to bring us the toys to tell us about what he got. Even though he already had a fishing pole he picked out a new Tigger pole.


Here is Reece with his hands full of 'Water Blasters". He a set of 4 and got to pick one more extra toy which he also picked another water gun. He was ok, with no bike.
Brock was pretty happy with the rocket he picked out. Zeb tried it out and promptly shot himself in the head with it. (not hard, it is foam) Brock also picked out an extra toy which he also chose a water gun.
This was prior to the lunch and prizes. Brock is a extreme fisherman. Can you Tell? Hmmm.

This was the fish Zeb "caught" (aka... dad snagged and let Zebbie real it in). Prior to this picture Zeb was sitting on my lap just hangin' out. After he wanted to actually fish.
Duner received a nice sunburn on his neck and arms, and I on the right side of my body but the boys are FINE. I completely forgot the sunscreen. It just seems so early in the season, but I guess not.

Can't Go Wrong!

What could be more perfect than a beautiful sunset, nice bike ride through the woods and Ice cream in the end...??? Not a thing!
Tonight we put the bikes in the car and drove to High Cliff State Park. I was hoping to make it up with out walking but I got 10% of the way and Reece says "Mom, Stop and walk I can't make it."
Grrrr.
I had my clunky old bike with our tagalong for Zebbie on the back of my bike and I was further up the hill then he was! Needless to say I stopped and promptly told him I don't need to stop just because he was. I was hoping to make it as far up as I could but I had to stop because he wanted me to. Shortly after he hops on his bike and rides 20 ft and waits for me, and rides 20 ft and waits... you see a pattern? I had to get off for him? There was no way I was going to hop back on the bike right on the hill. Zeb had it the easiest. He just rode right up.
We meander through the state park, riding fast to throw off the mosquitos. I have no idea how the campers are doing it. Those bugs were AWFUL! We stopped to check out some indian burial mounds on the property and they sucked at least one ounce while I was there!
It didn't take long for me to get back on the bike and take off. After 3.6 miles of trails we stopped at the 'tower". It is a looking tower that is 2 levels high. We got there ran up to the top to check out the view and ran down just as quick cause Zebbie had to use the little boys room.
I was so suprised, Reece was more tired than Brock. I wanted, more than once, to tell him to stop talking but I could hardly breathe myself! (thanks to allergies and some crappie cough I have)
Grrrr..
I so want to get Brock to do a mini triathalon sometime.
I must say the park has an excellent room for a gathering... It has a GIANT fire place in the center and thick wood beams for the ceiling and roof, accented with rounded stones. It just stinks that if you would use it for a gathering everyone would have to pay to enter the park.
After the break we got to do the fun part of the ride and went back down hill. I got to 27 miles per hour but had to slow down per request of my passenger.
After putting the bikes back in the car we had ice cream from a local Ice cream shop that reminds me of our old DQ that we had when I was growing up. It was a tiny shop with small parking area, but they are quick and get you out fast! (Actually faster than DQ)
After pulling out all of the bikes together from the car since the peddle of some were stuck together we came inside and Zeb curled up on the couch and he was out fast! The older ones were still wide awake and ran in the basement, after all, it is almost summer break and they need to practice staying up late....

Lego mania!!

Reece is in Lego Heaven... I got a box of Legos' from a co-worker of mine to day and Reece has been hard at work ever since. He can't even take a break for PIZZA!
Zebbie can't wait to join him. Brock just beat me a rousing game of Memory. How is it he can kick my butt at that but can't remember to pick up his room? or hang up his coat?

Memorial Weekend fun 2006

We spent the weekend up at our cabin, which always seems to get smaller every time I go up to it. The boys spent most of their days shooting the BB gun and beggin' to go to slippery rock.

We met their Aunt Shannon and Uncle Cory (and baby Gage, the newest arrival) up there on Friday night.

This big pictue is from the dam that you cross to get to 'The Rock'. I just love how it turned out.


The smaller picture is Brock sliding down the rock. There was some other's that showed up but it wasn't over crowded at all.

The next small picture is Reece crashing in to the rock at the bottom. I was told there is a trick to it. You must turn your butt at just the right time to hit it or you will hurt your hip.


This is one of my favorite pictures of Zeb. True to form, he is just yapping his flap and his brothers are playing in the background. Zeb likes the water but in small doses and only his feet getting wet. He doesn't complain about it all though.

And after all the excitment Zebbie crashed on the couch with Uncle Cory's dog, Chance.

Counting Down

The Boys will be out of School soon, We have signed them up for some summer classes in June but otherwise nothing. That was mainly to meet kids their own age to prepare them for school in the fall. As each year closes I think of all these wonderful chores for summer. I have written down a list of chores that will be put in a jar and each day they must do 2 of them. They are mainly house cleaning right now, but I want to do something for them to read this summer. They have suddenly found much enjoyment reading Franny K Stein books. They are both at the same reading level, which is kind of nice, The books can get read twice. I think Reece is ahead of Brock but he doesn't rub his nose in it. Which is SO nice! Reece is a Great kid, he really is. He likes to be happy go lucky and has a terrific sense of humor. I have high hopes for him to do well in school and maybe college. Brock I don't see going to college at all. I hate to say it but at 18 I don't see him moving out. He just lacks motivation and drive. Zeb well he is just to young to tell. Although, he definitely has drive. He likes to keep pushing till he gets what he wants. Yesterday the landscapers were here working on the lawn and I didn't want him to go outside so I wasn't going to put on his shoes, That didn't stop him at all... He went to Brock and Reece, Brock put on one for him and Reece the other, so he made it outside.
The first weekend in June is a Fishing Tournament Again for the boys out at the same place I will be doing the Triathlon (gulp). They had fun last year but Duner had to work so he couldn't make it. I told Duner to try to avoid working on that day. It is a Sunday morning so I hope he can be there. I don't remove fish from hooks. I step on them, hold them with my foot get the hook out and kick them back into the water. Not very humane I know but that is the only way I will do it. Luckily last year, Angie(a friend from work) was there with her Daughter and Husband and so he removed the hooks for us. I have coached Brock all year now, if he has a choice between a BIKE or A WALK DOWN THE LINE what should he choose????
BIKE! BIKE! BIKE!!!!!

Zeb has plans

Zebbie tells me that he is going swimming tomorrow.
He said he needs to bring his swimsuit cause Grandma is going to watch him swim.
She can drive me too, he says.

How much do you want to bet she doesn't know this?

Were Famous!

We recently had our picture taken with our realtor in front of our fireplace and just found out it is going to be posted a couple hundred gas stations in the area. Holy Cow! Were Famous! At least My husband, Zebbie and I.

This was the note I got...

Hi Rachel and Randy!

Did you see your pretty faces in the May issue of Fox Cities Homes and More magazine? You're also going up at a couple hundred gas stations! Be sure to show the boys, and thank you again! You look great!!!!!!!!!


Lisa Kortens, Realtor

Rainy days a Wasted

On Saturday I painted my oldest son's room.
2 colors.
One is 'Evening Sky' it is a dark Navy blue to be the back drop for the Universe that I (or my sister can help too!) will be painting on it.

The second wall is called bleached demin. It looks more like a steely blue to me, but on that wall Brock wants 'Science wall with test tubes bubbling over and a microscope and stuff like that'.
Per his request, I am thinking of getting a poster of the periodic timetable of elements and other simple (and cheap) ideas to help decorate it.

That was 3 hrs of this rainy weekend that I used up. Then I spent probably the good part of an hour vacuuming up by dryer. It had been taking longer to dry our clothes and on our last electric bill the amount due was quite a bit more than we were expecting. We (thankfully) had turned off the furnace weeks ago and had left it off to save money, but the dryer seems to have made up for that.

I went out side to our new handy dandy dryer vent and opened it up to find it was PLUGGED completely with dryer lint! I am very curious what our vent looked like at the old house cause we Never cleaned it, (that I am aware of) and it had a funky exhust vent.

Well, needless to say, after cleaning the exhaust vent and the part under the lint trap it works in a fraction of the time.

Amazing what a little cleaning can do.

In the above picture, you notice a white thing sticking out of our house (or at least that is what it looks like). That is our new fence that we just put up. I was straight. Just before the ''Wind Advisory" we had last week. Actually it was even worse. Duner fixed it on Saturday from what it was.
Thanks to the salesman at the store we bought it from who said.... " You shouldn't need any cement."
Hmmmmm. Thanks

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday morning my kids tried to make me breakfast for Mothers Day. Brock started with the pancakes and Reece helped with the Bacon. Brock has ADHD and I could see it yesterday as he took 10 times longer than the average person to get the pancakes ready. All you need to do is add water. But he somehow could not find the 3 other measuring cups I have, and felt he had to use the one he used on Saturday to make Mac-n-cheese. He started off by looking for oil,which I thought was odd considering you should only have to use water. Turned out he was looking at the Waffle directions. I was picking up the house while he got going on the cooking. A short time into it I could smell something burning. A smell I am quite used to since I get off track while waiting for things to cook. I am not so patient for cooking. I checked and both Brock and Reece were manning their posts but Brock had his up a little high and was burning the pancakes. By then he was on number 3 burnt pancake. Always the optimist, he told me 'At least the other 2 are ok.'

One Mother of a week...

What a crazy Week! We had been trying to work on putting up a vinyl privacy fence for the dog run after Duner gets home from work at 6pm every night. We managed to get 3 panels up before the impending winds. Unfortunetly we listened to the guy we bought it from and didn't buy cement. I think we are going to purchase some soon. Yesterday after a solid day of winds it was just flappin' in the wind. Bummer.
I had recieved a bunch of scrubs from a former co-worker that had worked with Dr. Al and his dad. She had made quite a few of them and the are adorable. I even got a Green Bay Packer one for our 'Green Bay Packer' Fridays! It was kind of sad, since she is missed ALOT! We still don't have a replacement for her... That was over 2 years ago now!
When I got home from work yesterday I came home to find we had NO electricity. I had installed fort knox security on our front door and garage door. I was real worried that I wouldn't be able to make it in the house, but thankfully when I left the house that morning I didn't have the front door security latch. If it would have been I would not have been able to get in even with the key! I ended up driving to work and calling Duner from there, since my cell phone was also dead and we ended up eating out at our local Perkins Resturant for supper.
Tonight we were suppose to be the scouts at a local park for a potluck type get together but with the weather so friendly it was moved to the cafeteria of the boys school. Since I wasn't able to cook, I ran to the grocery store for my dish that I had to bring to the 'Crossing Over' Ceremony for Cub Scouts. Reece 'graduated' from Wolves to Bears and Brock can no be an official Boy Scout. They actually had the boys walk over a bridge, to symbolize the official Crossing over. Brock hated his picture being taken, as you can tell here....


Reece was in heaven with his Best Friend in the whole world Jacob. He got a belt loop for Archery and a patch for Sacking it to Goodwill. That is Jacob in the middle and Jacob's Dad Luke on the left of Reece.

Tonight Reece gave me my Mothers Day Present. I just love it. It is a flower in a pot that he made for me. I am going to cherish these moments. He was SO EXCITED to give it to me. I love that. Real Genuine Excitment. You can't buy that anywhere. That was the best part. I really do like the pot and flower too!


Awwwwwww.......

Gee, Do you think they had FUN?

Can you just see the "Hurry Up Mom, so we can jump in the fun!" look on their faces? Zeb was all excited to climb up to the top until the HUGE Bucket at the top dumped a load of water and he got SOAKED~(you can see the bucket in the picture at the top...)
Zebbie Just LOVED controling the water for anyone else. The let you use those life jackets for free. Zeb didn't seem to mind wearing it at all which was nice for both of us!
It's so nice of Brock to act as a Bridge for that Girl!
Wooooaaahhh, there Reece. Dont fall in!!
At 5:30 I dragged the kids out of the water park and we ordered pizza to the room, which was actually quite reasonable. After the pizza was done, we went to the Arcade where the kids got to get enough tickets to 'buy' some things to play with that night.

The kids just hated to wait for the park to open the next day! They were up and READY by 8am but the park didn't open til 9am!

It was fun for the kids. The hotel was average, but the fun was huge. I missed getting a picture of the lazy river and the 2 water slides. The also had 2 whirlpools, one was outside and that was the one you could bring your kids with you to. Zeb's favorite parts were definitely Lazy River and whirlpool, when he was not controling the water of course.
It would be a fun thing to do for a Birthday party that is for sure.

Treat night!

Tomorrow I will be taking the boys for a special treat, but I can't type it because they will know so I linked a website to the words.

We have never been there before but some friends of ours invited us to go with them. I just hope after my ride tomorrow I have the energy to have some fun with the boys. I was going to bring a life jacket for Zebbie but his is at the cabin in our boat. Oh well. I will just be stuck on him like glue. Luckily, the people we are going with have a little boy Zeb's age too so they will be insperable. If you are lucky I will remember my camera and post some pic's later. The boys are going to be so excited.

I have yet to tell them. Right now Zeb and Brock are at Stock car races with my dad and Duner.
Brock had his Civil War Retreat today and that kid was psyched! He was Mr. Motormouth from the minute they let him go home on Thursday. I think he tired himself out by all the excitment because when I picked him up today he hardly said anything about it.

Reece had a swimming field trip today and said more than Brock did about the civil war thing.
Both slept on the drive home though. I think the last 3 days of getting up at 5 am is wearing them out a little. Go Figure. Wimps.

Another ONE?

Another One?

That is Exactly what I asked Brock this am when he came in from waiting in the car to go to school.
I was finishing up with Reece and Zeb, getting them ready to go to school and Brock cam running in and said "Hey Mom! I lost another tooth!"

Ok, that makes 3 teeth in 3 weeks. He only has one more loose tooth in his mouth and I will not be surprised if he comes home tonight with it in his back pack.

I have been trying to upload a picture that I scanned of some membership cards that Reece made for a Boys Only club that he has started. It was so cute he was working on them on the Kitchen table and when I walked past he would cover it up so I wouldn't see it.

I will try again later and see if I can't scan it in.

Here is the picture, Iwas finally able to get it in... Brocks' on top.