All done with kiddos...

Today I had my laaast kiddos of the summer. One cancelled on me, so I only had two today. I started the day with a little fishing at Turtle River. Nothing. Not even a bite. But the kiddo enjoyed it immensely! So that was good I guess. He had more helping me unsnag my line than anything I think. Also, he found some tadpoles and frogs. Then, I had kiddo #2. I had not eaten since breakfast when I picked up #2, and she said she had not eaten yet at all, so I "convinced her" to let me treat her to lunch since it was our last day together. She, of course, chose McDonald's, but oh well. Such is life. Then, we went for our one free bowling game of the day and then to the mall. Now I just get to sit and wait for volleyball to start. I am superdeeduper tired and may take a short snooze while I wait. Our friend JPJ is taking over for JJ tonight, so it should be interesting ; ). It's our last night... we'll see if we take home another shirt (I believe we already have three).

Reconnecting a la facebook

I am very grateful to facebook for allowing me to catch up with old friends. For example, my friend from Jr. High, AB (now AO). First we found out we live in a similar area! Then she mentioned that she and her husband are looking to meet new people and enjoy playing volleball. Viola! They have been playing sand volleyball with JJ and I and two of our other friends. It has been great! And you know what? She has not changed too much. She is still caring and sweet and a little softspoken. It has been great getting to know her hubby, as well. I just love it when friends are in relationships that you are like, "Yes! Good for you! You'll be happy forever!"

Then there is the who's getting married to whom? Who is already married and has changed her name so you have to be really careful when you add said person as a friend? Who is having a baby or their second or third? Who's following their dreams? Who lives in our hometown? So, so, so exciting and addictive!

Of course, facebook is also on my bad list right now for the simple fact that scrabulous is down! As I was telling my SIL, it does free up some extra time, though! : )

Rain, rain, go away!

Holy cow! It rained so much last night! I don't know exactly how much we got or what it is even like out right now, but I know that I heard rain almost all night. JJ always has the fan on in our bedroom at night, which is kind of my arch nemesis, so I was a bit smug at not having to turn it on while he's away. But, the lack of white noise is also partly why I could hear the rain so much I'm guessing. Boo. I may have to give in and turn it on tonight. Today I have a movie scheduled with four kiddos (hello easy activity!) and then my last scheduled activity with one of my kiddos. *Single tear* We're reaching the end.

Home again... home again...

CAJ, JPJ and I made it home from out west last night. Did you notice something? Did you notice that JJ did not make it home? Yes, he stayed out west. He's working for his Dad, who is a painting contractor, for the next two weeks. He'll be taking down the siding on his parents' house and putting up this material I can't think of right now and some other siding. That was quite informative, right? Anyways, I'll be joining him on Friday when I am alllll done with kiddos for the summer. I am excited, but have also had a great summer with my kiddos. I was proud of myself - I did sleep last night, but I made myself really tired by driving, staying up a bit later after getting home and then I did have to put the TV on timer so I had a bit of noise before actually sawing logs. JJ woke me up with a phone call at 7:30 this morning saying that they were in the middle of a hurricane! Yikes! But, when he called about 10:00 asking if I knew where his Mom's purse was, the storm had already dissipated.

Medora! The badlands!

This is part of a song that is always at the Medora Musical, but was absent this year. JJ and I had those words in our heads the entire way to Medora, forcing JPJ and CAJ to yearn to hear the rest of it, but only to be disappointed. Oh well. All in all the Musical is always entertaining, but this definitely wasn't my favorite one.

We started at the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We saw ONE buffalo (Have I ever mentioned that buffalo used to be my all time favorite animal when I was little? I always thought that was a bit odd because they're so big. And stinky.), a ranger, a newlywed couple and some other fellow tourists, oh and of course the b-e-a-u-tiful scenery. We took the obligatory scenic pictures for proof. Then, we headed to Medora, where we had an appointment at the Old Tyme photo place. JJ and JPJ chose to be "rugged cowboys" and CAJ and I were "ladies with the v-neck dresses". One of my favorite shots was when I harrassed the staff and friends to let us take one where the ladies stole the gents' guns. It was grrrreat! We snooped around town and were a bit disappointed that everything costs money! Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a purely tourist town, what did I expect? We met up with two of JJ's bros -- BJ and CPJ -- and his classmate ZM and girlfriend M. After going through a few more shops and getting some frozen lemonade (that was just too sweet to completely hit the spot), we played some putt-putt golf. JPJ took home the gold, and we decided that we had better get moving to the Pitchfork Fondue since it had technically started about a half-hour previously. We got our steaks -- mine was seriously bloody (I like my steaks actually burnt to a crisp, so JJ gave me some of his and JPJ and CPJ finished off mine for me.), don't worry, though, I was far from starving with the baked potato, beans, veggies, coleslaw, and lemonade. I didn't even have room for the brownie!

And this brings us back the Musical. There was the singing (including a rendition of You Raise Me Up, done by the "city slicker", which cracked me up because he was from my hometown), the clogging, the band with the fabulous violinist, the impressionist, and the overacting with some lame jokes by "Prairie Dog Patty" (she just kept popping up - hardy har har). Sorry if this is a bit negative... I really did have an awesome time and will no doubt be back for more of the same next year!

Headed West

Tonight we are going to JJ's parents' house to hang out. We are bringing along friends JPJ and CAJ and then taking them to Medora tomorrow. We're quite excited and already have the musical and pitchfork fondue tickets all ready to go. As I kid, we went to Medora at least once a year, and it seems that I've only missed it once or twice. JPJ is from India and I think the musical is just about the closest thing we have to Baliwood, besides some Broadway musicals. Just cross your fingers for no rain tomorrow, please!

Project Runway

PR is back on! Yippee! I didn't catch the first episode, but last night I saw episode two. I already have a few favorites - of course it's too early to determine who I will back for the long haul : ). There are a few who get on my nerves x10. For example, leather girl. Give it up. Also, Suede or whatever who talks in the third person. Yeah..... Yesterday Natalie Portman was a guest judge and I didn't realize how petite she is -- she's a little thing -- quite a few inches shorter than Heidi Klum. Anyways, if you're looking for me Wednesday nights, just know I'll be tuned into Bravo for at least an hour!

Those darn kiddos

I have been so busy trying to get all of my kiddos' hours in. I feel a bit overwhelmed until I actually think about what I'll be doing rather than the time commitment. Hmmm, let's see... bowling, going to a movie, rock-wall climbing, swimming, bike riding, etc. There is, of course, the occasional reading lesson (it just took me about an hour to complete the miscue analysis/running records on one of my kiddos) and social skills lesson. Well, I should say, the social skills lessons are pretty much ongoing throughout my day. For example, I had to institute the "three compliment rule" yesterday at bowling. Whenever someone said something not so nice to another kiddo, that kiddo had to give three compliments to the other kiddo. This was harder for some kiddos than others! It was interested to watch. Even if it was a forced thing just so they could take their next turn at bowling, I was glad they were coming up with nice things to say. And, by the end, there were many encouraging words shared without being forced! The kiddo that I have probably been most frustrated with -- he is just so darn hyperactive -- held my hand practically the whole time. I think he was so overwhelmed with these two other boys that were bowling with him, that he needed an anchor. Anyways, it was touching to say the least and it made (some of) my frustration dissipate.

I could never make it as a cheerleader...

Last night at snack time, our niecey L and nephew B were eating grapes. I went to the refrigerator and decided I'd try some cherries. BIL AJ said, "Don't tell the kids or they'll want some!" I went back to the table empty handed and decided I'd wait until after they were in bed. I told niecey L that I knew what I was going to have for snack later and I spelled out c-h-i-p-s and s-a-l-s-a. She didn't know what it spelled and I said it started with ch-. She still couldn't guess it so I broke it down ch- i- p- s-. She got tired of my game and Uncle JJ came to the table eating cherries! I said, "No! You're not supposed to eat c-h-e-e-r-i-e-s in front of the kids or they'll want some." He was thoroughly confused and said, "I'm not eating c-h-e-e-r-i-o-s." I was like, "I know! C-h-e-e-r-i-e-s! You know, what you're eating right now!" This went back and forth for a while until he finally said, "You're spelling cheeries! Cherries is spelled with one e and two r's!" Oh man! I don't know if I'll ever be a good parent who teases their kids with spelling if I can't spell in the first place! : )

Hangin with the Fam

My parents came up this weekend and we had a great time just spending time together. We are sort of cheap and really busy (or maybe the other way around... really cheap and sort of busy). In any case, we haven't seen them for a month or two, and it was time! They brought delicious veggies picked that day from the garden, oh, and they also brought my brother who hasn't even seen the apartment we've lived in for two years. We spent some time playing wii, some time watching The Dark Night and even some time shopping. I had two kiddo times already set up from before so my family also joined me at Cosmic Bowling, and then I got to see Wall-e with another kid. I took a nap after they left... phew... nothing like some late nights and early mornings to wipe me out!

Now we are about an hour away from home visiting Aaron and the kids. Liz is in Chicago doing some visiting. They have just moved into a new place and JJ is helping doing a few things.

We tried...

The last two nights we have played volleyball and the last two nights we lost. It is a quite sad experience. Wednesday night we played for our friend JAP who is in Alaska. She put our friend S in charge and told him he could do whatever he wanted -- even just forfeit if he wanted to since she is out of town. Well, S got a little cocky and said he'd put together an all star team to whoop up for JAP. To just set the scene, S is the only remnant of the original team playing, and the other team is full of women who play volleyball for the local University. JJ likes to point out that their guys weren't very good, and it's true, they weren't, but I'm guessing they play basketball for the local University -- their height alone was a supreme advantage. So, then back to our team, it was S, JJ and I, a gal who was pretty good and two people who were a bit tipsy. S was getting really frustrated as we kept losing superclose games. We did not even eke out one game in the match, but we did have a good time.

Last night was our regular team. Since JAP and GJJ are both in Alaska, we recruited our friends JN and RE, who drove a whopping 45 minutes each way just to play volleyball! RE had to tape his knee because we overextended it playing for his regular team Wednesday. We get ready to play and notice that the other team is made up of people from our Church. Two of the guys are even Pastors in the Church. We start playing a friendly game, you know, the ones where you compliment both sides and joke around with the other team. Yeah, that didn't last too long. They were a) really good and b) kind of poor sports. I shouldn't lump them all together, one of the Pastors, Pastor W was really gracious and two of the girls were kind as well. It was just a few of them who made comments like, "Wow! We've never had a team get to twenty on us!" (As they won 20-30.) and "This is actually fun! We don't usually have any competition!" and then "You guys must beat the other teams because you came close to beating us and we usually kill all the other teams." I was a bit disappointed in their comments and it made me want to beat them really bad. We did win the second game, and then they lined themselves up for the quick 15 point third game so that their ace servers were first. It's a great strategy, and definitely makes sense, but c'mon, this is B league sand volleyball. I was more than a bit frustrated that we lost, but nothing that a Culver's banana split couldn't cure.

Kiddos Update

I know you want to hear about my little darlings for the summer, so here is a quick update from yesterday:

I took three boys to story time at the library. Those lucky little librarians never knew what hit them. It was all about bugs and butterflies, and one of my kids said, "This is the one I wanted to go to so I can get rid of my phobias." Yes, good for you. Afterwards, I had one boy throwing stuffed animals and foam letters around, while I tried to patiently explain why that was not a good idea. A two-minute time out finally did the trick I guess. They each checked something out and on our way to dropping them off, they had an in-depth discussion about who was the luckiest kid. One said he was the luckiest because he gets to go rock climbing with me (this lucky individual also happens to have a whole summer pass). One said he was the luckiest because of a secret he can't tell the other boys (earlier he had disclosed to me that he is in fact Superman and he owns Pokemon and robots and a watch to alert him when Lex Luther is up to no good). Yes, this is my life. I get kind of torn between helping him get grounded in real life and letting him play out boyish fantasies.

Then, with an empty car once again, I head to my next kiddo's daycare to pick her up and take her to an indoor waterpark. We have some indepth discussions about doing the right thing and not getting everything we want. She is also the kid who always finagles me into buying her something. Man I am such a sucker! On our way home she states, "I am coming back here tonight." Playing devil's advocate, I say, "Oh, and what if Mom decides it's too late and you need to be home?" She readily states a gameplan in which she comes out victorious. This girl is practiced at getting what she wants. Friday's plan is for a full-on social skills lesson.

Neighbors!

Since we have been married, we have lived in a residence hall (JJ was the only guy in a building with about 300 women), and in an apartment for about 2 1/2 months. From there we moved to JJ's hometown, where we lived in a triplex with -- one of the other apartments was occupied by two of JJ's brothers and the other had neighbors with yappy dogs. Next, we moved to the on campus apartment we live in now. We've always had people around us, but I have to say it is great to have wonderful neighbors. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was always interesting living among JJ's bros, but we just love living by the B's. They are fabulous. First of all, they have two of the cutest kids in the world. And it certainly doesn't hurt that they always seem to have the ingredients we need (just today we "borrowed" a whole small brick of cheese). We have a BBQ scheduled for Friday. Just neighbors being neighborly!

My diet is going down the drain

I'm not offically on a diet, but I have been trying to at least pay attention more to what goes into my body. I've also been kicking up my water intake -- which is wonderful for so many reasons except trips to the bathroom. And if you know me, you know my body's rule of thumb is one glass of water = 3 trips to the bathroom, so you can just imagine MORE water. Today, I woke up and had a bowl of honey bunches of oats with almonds, a fruit cup, cup of water and my daily vitamin. Not bad right? (Just from that one glass of water, I couldn't make it through our Church service without hitting the bathroom during Pastor Keith's sermon--sorry buddy). Then after Church, we went to Whitey's with our friends the J's where I had about half of a cheeseburger, some fries and lots of those bagel chip thingies they bring before the meal. Mmmmmm. Thennnnnn, while my friend CAJ and I watched the REST of Pride and Prejudice, I ate a whole bowl full of popcorn (like a baking bowl, not a cereal bowl) and 2 brownies (and four glasses of water). For supper I decided one pudding cup would do it, while JJ and our friends RE and JN ordered pizza. I don't necessarily like to dwell on food, but I have started writing down everything I eat just to hold myself accountable. I read that it is one of the best ways to lose weight. I'll let you know how it goes. Since I've started keeping track, I've lost 5 pounds. Sounds good for a start, but let's keep it going!

Indulging in the Classics

I have not watched many classic movies. The favorites around my house growing up were The Sound of Music, Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. C'mon.... classics! We went to our good friends CJ and JPJ's house tonight for a fish fry (and soup for me, thank you!) and played another grueling battle of Scene It. Girls won a week or two ago and it was time for a rematch. This time the boys were victorious (darn you JJ and your ability to fill in the blanks!). But, throughout it became evident that I am lacking in knowledge of some classic movies. For example, I had no idea who Humphrey Bogart was -- in Sabrina. Also, I've never watched Casablanca or I don't know, basically any other old movie. CJ and I decided to start watching Jane Austin movies together. Tonight we started with one episode from the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and I stayed awake. the. whole. time. Yay for me! But now it's time for bed!

Fuzzy Memories

I was browsing through my Jack Handey books the other day and came across one of my all time favorites:

When you're ten years old and car drives by and splashes a puddle of water all over you, it's hard to decide if you should go to school like that or try to go home and change and probably be late. So while he was trying to decide, I drove by and splashed him again.

I also found a new favorite:

When we would go for a drive in the family car, I used to love to stick my head out the window, until one time we passed an oncoming car and my head knocked off a dog's head.

Ha!

It's all over but the waiting... and waiting...

and waiting... and waiting...

Thirty days --- well twenty-nine now, right? That's how many days we have to wait to find out how JJ did on the MCAT. At this point in time, he feels pretty fair about it, but after that big long test, I can't imagine feeling like, phew, I just aced that one! : ) We picked him up and went to eat at the Ground Round with SIL LJ, BIL AJ and their kiddos LJ and BJ. Yum-o! Two year-old BJ was very entertaining as he couldn't help but dance his way through lunch. BJ is doing an awesome job with his words. SIL LJ notes that he's talking on her blog, but this is the first time i have actually witnessed it! It is so fun! And of course, niecey LJ is so stinkin' cute. During her "rest time", she did a "cutting project" (Can I put any more phrases in "quotation marks" you ask? Yes, yes I can.) which involved cutting out strips of paper and taping them to things cut out from her "workbook". They were shooting stars, obviously. : ) After a quick trip to their NEW home (!!), which is fabulous by the way, I can just envision all that LJ and AJ will do to make it their own, we headed back home for some sand volleyball. We won 2-0. Boo-ya Grandma (said in the style of 2-y.o. neighbor JB.

Note the time. . .

It is currently 6:02 in the am, and my husband and his parents are already on the road. They are on their way to a city about an hour away for a golf tournament. Brother AJ was supposed to be in the tourney with JJ, but a blown ACL, surgery, etc. -- he's unable to golf just yet. This whole golf outing wouldn't surprise me much -- the J's are a huge golfing family -- it's just that JJ's MCATs are TOMORROW. Eeks! I'm glad he's much calmer than I am. He's taken some practice tests, and even made the comment, "I sure hope the MCAT is as easy as this." After golf I hope he gets a nap and some study time in before I meet him at about 6:30. We've decided to get a hotel just to be sure he can have the best possible outcome tomorrow. He'll do great, it's just that waiting, waiting, waiting that kills me!

RMAC

This morning I worked at RMAC -- a center for adolescents. I'm not 100% sure of the circumstances that lands one in RMAC, but I was told several times how to call for backup if I needed it, yada yada yada. That was enough to make my nightmares last night about one kid grabbing my hair while the others scrambled out of the treatment facility, etc. Maybe the prayers sent out while lying awake at 4am were answered because there I was with five kiddos staring back at me this morning. And guess what. The kids were great. Like really great. The day went superfast and tomorrow we're basically just watching The Diary of Anne Frank almost the whole time. At then end of today I pulled out some fav. books of mine to read to them while they were finishing work/having free time. One girl said I was acting like they were three, but by page 2, everyone was engrossed. There's just something about Mem Fox and Todd Parr. They're grrrreat.

TAF Time

That old saying "sometimes you don't know what you've got till it's gone", well I think the corollary could be true as well -- "sometimes you don't know what you've got till it's back"! My bff TAF and I were inseperable while we were hall directors at the local university. Our first year we really bonded together as newbies and our second year we bonded as Wilkerson returners to an amazing staff. Seriously, no one could've planned a staff that was as great as ours. We should've participated in a qualitative study. We did things together socially. We were professional when we needed to be (*most* of the time!). We had eachother's backs and had a great time throughout the year.

So after all of this closeness, TAF decides to go and get hitched and move to Thailand of all places! Well, guess what, she's baaaack! And it's been so wonderful. Though she lives a few hours away, it is much easier connecting than... well... a few timezones away. We've seen eachother a few times since she's been back, but this last weekend was like the best ever. Our boys were entertained (the F's own rockband for wii, need I say more?) so we could sneak off and talk girl talk. It is sooooo great to have a closeness with someone besides JJ that I can spill the beans with. We try really hard to maintain a Christian prospective, but there are times when it is theraputic to just DISH! : ) TAF even said one morning that she slept better than she has in a long time because she got to chat with someone about some things she's been worrying about. Her husband, MEF is great, but I know from personal experience that guys just aren't Chatty Cathys, and they never will be, and that just has to be another reason why God created man and woman. I can't wait for my next TAF time and am so glad I have a bff who encourages me and loves me for who I am!

Lots of quality time

Watch out! Mushy-gushy feelings ahead!

The other day, JJ commented that he wishes he could spend as much time together as we have lately. I just love being able to wake up and plan the day with my honey. We have been going to bed late and waking up early-ish. We make meals together and eat together. We have been playing lots of tennis and riding lots of bike. JJ has been studying like a crazy-man for the MCATs (on Thursday!!), but in the meantime, it's been mostly us time. Some ladies at work say they can't wait for their husbands to go on trips or for a girls night out, but I just always appreciate and cherish the time I get to spend with my JJ.

4th of July Memories

Yay for the 4th of July! It was never quite a big deal for me growing up. We went to a parade every year. Sometimes a rodeo. And then we'd watch fireworks. Sometimes I would set some off because I was freakin' scared of blowing myself up. Sometimes we'd go to my grandparents' farm.

When I married JJ, I became part of this big deal 4th of July celebrating family. One of our nephews' birthdays is on the 4th, which some people might think stinks, but he absolutely loves fireworks. This works well because that is often what he gets for gifts. We always go to the small town where two of JJ's sisters live. It seems that small towns always make big deal celebrations. The J boys generally come up with some elaborate fireworks show -- complete with timing of who starts what when and where. Let me tell you, it is quite the event! Recently, there have also been some football games, some sailing on the lake, some croquet and of course lots and lots of food!

This year, one of our nieces is complicating this whole shebang because she went and got herself married and is having the reception on the 5th in Minneapolis. We are looking forward to the festivities and quite a few people are making the trek to Minneapolis to join in on the celebrations!

Oh really? I'm not? Boo hoo hoo

I was reading with a kiddo yesterday and he was NOT thrilled about what he was supposed to read for me. Usually he gets to choose or we continue where we left off in familiar books, but yesterday he had to read a specific thing I prepared because 1) it contained all of the DOLCH words and 2) I was doing a running record to assess his reading fluency and comprehension. When he came to the word "pretty", he tried a couple of times before he gritted his teeth and said, "Pretty - that's not what you are!" Then he glanced at me to see my reaction. Too bad we are once again playing the game "I win", so I smoothly and calmly said, "Good work! You identified the word! Now keep going." hehe

SOLD!

When I get in a For Sale mood, anything and everything goes. Josh has to be careful I don't take a picture of him because he might get sold as well. Actually, a coworker once was selling something, but accidently posted a picture of her three kids along with the description. I guess she got a ton of responses from people who said they'd take them!

But, why this post about selling stuff you ask? The PS2 is goooooooone! Someone wanted to buy it along with all of our games and equipment! We gave a pretty good price, but still got way more than if we would've sold it to Game Stop or something. I also sold a down comforter and two down pillows. I'm trying to sell my rollerblades -- size 8 -- anyone?? Anyone??