Back to School 2010-2011

It's the first day of school and boy were our kids excited and ready to start their day. Well.........they were after I got them going. This is what I saw after I had given them each a couple of wake up calls.

Jaylen hadn't even moved after I had called him.

Gracie couldn't figure out what was going on. "Mom, can't I sleep just a couple more minutes, it is too bright in here."

Then there was Jerrin, who seldom slept past 8:00 in the summer, but now that it was TIME to be up early, he had other things on his mind.

After I finally got everyone up and moving, the rest of the morning went smoothly and we were out the door by 7:30. The next stop was Dawn's house. However as I was crawling into the suburban I noticed a surprise something sitting on the front seat. There sat a cute, red basket FULL of goodies. I couldn't believe it. The basket was stocked with my favorite things.....Mt. Dew and Peanut Butter Cups (which we can no longer get at the school), along with some mints, flavored water and a notepad. This had to be the sweetest back to school basket ever and even better it was from my bestie Kelly. I was smiling from ear to ear and ready to start my day. How could my day get any better than this?

The morning continued to run smoothly and we arrived at school, but only to find more wonderful things waiting for me by my classroom door. Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Holland both had left me surprises to start my first day back in school. Just by the way the day started, I knew this was going to be a GREAT year!

But believe it or not that was not all, after the bell had rang Kelly stopped in with yet one more surprise. This time it was from yet another wonderful friend, Nichole. She had made back to school cookies and filled me up with Smarties. What would I do with out these girls in my life?Thank you all for making my first day back to school so special.

Can you believe how time flies? Look at the kids now and see what they will be up to this year.

John turns 17 in November and will be a junior at Central Cass. Here he is with his girlfriend, Kendra who will be starting her senior year.

John had another amazing baseball season this summer, but has now switched gears to football. Throughout this year he will keep very busy, involved in football, wrestling, and baseball. He will also have a heavy load of classes too. Good luck John and make this year one to remember.

Jerrin is 9 years old, a fourth grader and he is our talker.

He will also have a very busy year as he is involved in just about everything. Football, wrestling, bowling, and Cub Scouts to name a few. He just recently started to play in the FM Athletics Football League and is enjoying learning to understand the game better and playing 'real" games. He is our social butterfly who will talk to and befriend everyone.

Jerrin and his teacher, Mrs. Stowers

Gracie is 7 years old and is starting Second Grade. Gracie is our little spit fire. She may be described by some as; sassy, stubborn, helpful, loving, soft hearted, and an animal lover. She loves to ride horse and is hoping to set up some times with a friend of mom's to get more riding time in this year. She will be involved in Girl Scouts and bowling this year.

I wish all of you a very happy, productive, school year. Be strong, Be supportive, Be a friend, and Be happy, but most of all just Be Yourself. Don't change for anybody and always stand up for what you believe in.

One last summer fire.......

What are you doing?

Can I help you daddy?

I got it daddy, really I do!

(See my tongue is out and that means I am concentrating.)

Whoa, be careful daddy. Is it working?

Ahhhh.... That is just right!!!

What do you mean I can't dry my hair by the fire?

It was working.

Beating the Heat of the Summer

Pixo Bliss!

Thanks to this little machine, Friday morning in our house was so very quiet. There was no fighting, arguing, or even yelling done by anyone.

If you have no idea what this is, no worries, until recently I didn't either. This is a fun thing called PIXO'S and it will entertain for hours.

These are the beads that are used to make many beautiful creations.

Gracie and her supplies.

You can make creations of your own or you can use the templates that are supplied in the box. By using the machine you carefully place tiny colored beads in the correct position. After placing the beads on the template you spray them lightly with water to make them stick together. When they have been sprayed you use the PIXO dryer to complete the process.

Then Voila.......

you have your masterpiece. These are a couple of Gracie's creations.

Jerrin even got the PIXO fever and created these things. A boy, strawberry and a drink.

These two surely had a fun morning together and didn't even realize how well they were getting along. I watched them as they worked together for hours, giggling and enjoying their time together.

Wheat Harvest

Harvest... what our family can't wait for at the end of the summer.

Usually daddy spends many hours at the farm planting, spraying, mowing, digging, plowing, and harvesting, but this year was a little bit different since he was so busy following his favorite teams and children around to their many events. Daddy did not get to harvest any wheat this year, but he still made sure we were able to get a ride in the combine.

Thanks to Grandpa Dan here we are.

We love every part of harvest, the ride,

the sights,

the sounds,

and the smells. All of these things bring the very best part of harvest for our mom......

SMILES! She loves the smiles it brings to the ones she loves!!!

Thank you Papa for the ride, but we can not wait to ride with our daddy during bean harvest.

Welcome Home State Champs!!

We arrived home from Dallas on Sunday, just in time to pick up Jaylen, unload the suburban, and head up to the school to make some welcome home posters for the soon to be arriving State Legion Champs!

Despite the lack of time for creativity and drying time, we made some pretty cool posters. Keeping in close contact with John, we and the Everson's made out to Hwy 18 to cheer on the Legion bus that was brought in by a fire truck and some ambulances and not to forget the line of proud families that followed.

Welcome Home Legion Champs!!

Jerrin's - Way to go boys, we're proud of you BIG time!!

Gracie (she made this by herself) and our friend Alex - We are proud of you Johnny B.

Jaylen - He contributed by doing the background of this poster. He had a blast making dots all over the paper. He sure loves his Johnny B and Lubbers. They are by far his two favorite Johns.

Here we all are as we yell for our boys.

The horn you can hear in this video is thanks to the best "honker" ever, Jackers.

He was the smart one and sat in the van honking, instead of yelling and getting eaten by the monster mosquitos of the evening.

What a week

This photo was taken after John's Legion Team won the State Championship earlier today. Truly a great photo! (But I have to admit, I wish the rest of the family was on it too, so we could have an updated photo like last year's in Nebraska.) Thank you Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie Jen, for taking such good care of our boys while we were in Dallas. Not only did you take on Jaylen for the week, but you dropped everything to make sure John had family at the State Tournament in Grafton. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you do, without hesitation.

You made this week one to remember for both of our boys. The love you show them each and every day, truly shines through in the love that they shave for each other.

Thank you Papa, Granny, and Auntie Jen for taking such good care of us and for loving us so completely. You are simply the best and we are the luckiest boys in the world!!

So far behind!!

I apologize to all of our family and friends that are waiting to see an entry from all of the things our family has been up to this past month. It sure has been a busy one.

Since my last post here are just a few of the things that have kept us so busy.

1. Gabi and Gaven came to visit

2. Summerfest

3. John's Legion team are Section Tournament Champions and onto State

4. International Family Bowling Tourney in Dallas

5. State Legion Champions

6. Mom started in her classroom

7. Jaylen's first days at his "new" daycare

and now starting today the Legion Team will be starting their next level of baseball at the Regional Tournament in Le Seur, MN

I promise to catch up on my blog as soon as I can. Remember I do try to date them in order so you may have to look back past a few old entries to find the new ones.