Cute picture of the kids

My friend from work came over to take some Christmas pictures of the kids. I don't want to share all of them yet - the surprise will be in your Christmas card. But here's one that's adorable.

Sam lost his second tooth!

Halloween pictures

Sam is the ninja between the two girls. Holly is Violet Incredible, Paige is the purple and black cat, and Sarah is the princess. I took this picture on Halloween when Sam's kindergarten class went to Bethany Homes to sing songs and trick-or treat!

Sam lost his first tooth!

Sam lost his first tooth yesterday! He was so excited about the tooth fairy coming to visit! He went to bed early without any fussing! The tooth fairy brought him a Susan B. Anthony silver dollar and a flat rock with an angel on it. I told him that the tooth fairy usually brings something special for the first lost tooth. The other bottom middle one will be going today - it's hanging on by a thread!

My, how time flies!

Rob went hunting last week and was gone for quite awhile. I guess I didn't realize just how much he helps out around the house! ;-) He left on the 3rd (Emily's 13th birthday) to go pheasant hunting in SD with family and took Riley. It was her first time out and she did pretty darn good! After being there for 5 days, he came home just in time to pick up my dad from the airport. Dad wanted to visit the kids during their veteran's day break from school. I had a tamale cooking class that didn't get over before the plane landed.

Then, Thursday morning Rob left for mule deer hunting in Western ND with a couple of friends. The three of them go every year, but this is the first year they got mule licenses. After 2 days of hunting the barren plains, they came home. Rob didn't get one, but wasn't upset about it - I think he got bored! ;-)

Emily's basketball games started last week. Her team won their first game against D-G-F (Dilworth, Glyndon, Felton). She has another game tonight and another one on Thursday. She likes it and I'm glad she is keeping busy. Sam is excited to start basketball "camp", as he calls it, on Saturday. He really is his father's son!

School happenings

We have a Level III sex offender who not only lives in our school district, but who has a step-daughter that attends Hawthorne. So, legally he can be on school grounds and at school events and functions. The parents are in an uproar over this, and rightly so. Last night there was a meeting at the school to discuss sex offenders and laws in general. There were representatives from the police department, the states attorney, and the school district at the meeting ND is behind-the-times in laws regarding sex offenders. There are some that are being worked on and the district is creating a policy, but everyone wants it NOW. You can read about some of it here: http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=144907&section=news. I'm the PTA President, so I was hounded all day yesterday by the media for a comment. I just avoided them and let the other parents have their say last night. Now if we can just make it to the next school board meeting, when the policy should be drafted and presented to the public.

Halloween 2006

It was a scary day, alright. I spent the first 2-1/2 hours of my day driving 5 kindergarteners to a nursing home to sing songs and trick or treat with the residents. It was fun, but I don't know how teachers can spend all day with that many kids and still be sane. Of course, Sam's teacher was dressed up as Amelia Bedilia and said she was often compared to her...

On the way back to work, I ended up with a very flat tire. I did hear something about a mile and a half earlier, but didn't see anything. While Rob was changing it, he broke a lug nut. Once he got going, it only took 15 minutes. But we ended up having to run around and do all of our stuff last night with one vehicle. Sam was done with swimming lessons at 5:55. Emily needed to be picked up at 6:00 from swimming and dropped off at 6:20 for dance. Sounds easy enough, but the buildings are nowhere near each other!

Sam did get some trick or treating done. I did take pictures, but haven't gotten them off the camera yet. Hopefully tonight! Emily did a little bit after dance, but she was pretty tired. She originally wanted to be Marilyn Monroe, but it was only about 20 degrees here and the halter-style dress just didn't work with the weather! Maybe next year.

Attitude is everything

I read this today and it really made an impact on me.

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

"Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything. Have a Good Day!

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly.......
Leave the rest to God.