The day has finally arrived... I was up late last night helping Aaron with his science project for school and true to form, Daniel didn't seem to think much of turning another year older, at first saying he didn't want to open any presents in the morning. Upon awakening this morning, though, he had to open up the "big" box from Aunt Jen and a huge smile appeared when he realized what was inside, a Hotwheels Razor-style foldable scooter. He proceeded to open the present from Nanna and Grandpa and after seeing his present, he grabs the birthday card envelope and tears into it saying, "I hope it's birthday money!" At 7, he's already expecting money...go figure. I dropped the boys off at school this morning as Aaron's science fair display board about Duchess was too big to take on the bus. The fair is from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight at Challenger, so we'll be heading back to school then. Reservations have been made (finally) at the waterpark for the big party tomorrow night and now I just need to find a birthday cake and some ice cream.
Before signing off on this quick blog update, I had a funny interaction with Aaron last night to relate. I was downstairs putting the finishing touches on Aaron's science project when I heard bloodcurdling screams from Daniel followed by the characteristic crying when Aaron's gone a bit too far in their play. I charge up the stairs to see what's amiss and find Daniel crying and accusing Aaron of pushing him into the toy room where he fell on something. I sent Daniel in to the bathroom to brush his teeth as he had earlier been told to do and then sat Aaron down in my room to have a chat. In the sternest voice I can muster, I explain to him that a little brother is someone to be protected by a big brother, not hurt by careless actions and when I asked him to confirm what I said, he gave me a smart aleck response. I put my forehead to his and staring in his eyes I ask him, "What will it take to get you to take me seriously?!" He looks back at me with a sober face and says, "Pushups??" I made it about halfway back down the stairs before breaking into laughter at his latest witticism. It was just about as funny as his offer of donuts to a policeman we drove by in Washington a couple years ago. I just gotta remember to get all these things down so I can write a book of them after he's all grown up.
As for the weather here, the grass is at least half exposed in almost all areas and we saw a rollerblader on the street coming back from Lent dinner at Trinity last night. It reached about 42 degrees yesterday, so it's confirmed the cold temperatures are history for at least another 6 months. Wal-Mart is on track to open come the last week or so in May too, so there's lots going on in this little town...
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Winter Melts Away...
It's hard to believe, but only three weeks ago, I was wondering if Winter would ever end, but here we are and the streets are almost entirely free of snow and ice, the sidewalks as well in front of the house, and people have come out of their hibernation to begin walking the streets again. I even see grass in both the front and back of the house and the back alley is all mud and water. The boys decided to take the opportunity to pull their bikes off the porch yesterday and start biking with the Widerski boys yesterday afternoon, which they also did today after church. I was finally able to prove my statement to the boys last summer that "once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget." It's nice to finally have another fitness option for the kids other than just "go play in the snow."
A lot of time has passed since my last blog update and I'm sure I'll miss most of it trying to update everyone. The boys have just over a month to a month and a half left of school and they'll be in 4th/2nd grades respectively. I have made it a regular Friday lunch date with Aaron at Challenger where I get an update on all the goings on at school. More often than not we're sitting at a table with Braeden Drevlow from Aaron's grade and a couple other of his friends. I like Fridays there because it's chef salad day... Last week it was tomato soup, breaded fish in the shape of fish, and the chef salad. I always end up leaving their stuffed even with the dinky portions and the little carton of chocolate milk. I manage to bump into at least one former teacher of mine about every time to go, so that's a bright spot in the week too.
Trinity will be getting a new "intentional" interim minister by June it looks like and the choir will be extending into that time period so the new pastor has a nice welcome from Trinity. In other church news, the youth have been serving Lent dinner every Wednesday night and raised over $1,200 last week alone to apply towards the national youth gathering in San Antonio in June. The church put in nice new gas fireplaces in the library upstairs and the "fireside" room downstairs for the youth area. They look pretty nice, though now with it warming up, we won't get to enjoy them much until next fall and winter. They're also replacing upwards of 70-plus windows in the Sunday school area with new vinyl and welded steel windows so the the building will be much more heat efficient in both summer and winter. I think that's the last major improvement project since they've already fixed the bell tower, the organ, and relaid carpeting in the fellowship hall and painted.
Now that the Prowler hockey season is over, the Prowlers went to Challenger and Aaron got an autographed felt cloth with all their signatures on it. I'm going to find one of those two-inch thick frames to display it in in his room as it's not very often the Prowlers make it to State. Aaron's still kicking around different sports ideas. Last month it was soccer, soccer, soccer, and this month it's, "How about baseball?" He really wants to take in a Twins game this year.
Tonight we had dinner at the old Calvary Lutheran Church in St. Hilaire, a church so small the sanctuary is little bigger than the main floor of my house. They put on a benefit dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, and all the fixin's as they're raising funds for a new furnace. I saw a few people from Trinity there. It's yet another thing underlying the difference between the big cities and here. There's at least three different benefit dinners in any given week here, so rather than giving money to a fastfood restaurant, we're getting home-cooked meals and doing good for the community. Last week they had a dinner to benefit a young mother of about 22 who had an aneurysm after giving birth to her daughter at Northwest Hospital and had to be flown to the Cities for emergency surgery. Her dinner was at the VFW and there were pictures all over the paper for it and posted on flyers in almost every store in town. In a big city, she would have been but a footnote in the paper if she even made it in there, so it's comforting to know how tightknit our community is, how they will rally around anyone and everyone in need and nobody is "just a number." Reminds me of college days in Pullman... It's nice to be a small part of that.
Daniel will be celebrating his birthday this Thursday (7) and I'm still figuring out whether to celebrate it on Friday at the waterpark or if we should wait a week or so as a lot of his friends including the Drevlow boys may not be able to make it. Funny thing is he's not all that concerned about it other than having fun at the waterpark. He hasn't asked about any presents more than once and it's almost shaping up to be a day like any other day in his mind. What's nice with his birthday approaching is he still looks like the same LITTLE Daniel I've always cherished and hasn't outgrown his little boy nature yet. Most importantly, I can still throw him over my shoulder for a ride up to bed without throwing my back out... :) I'm sure with another year under his belt next year, though, he'll have done a lot of catch up growing behind Aaron and be quite the handful to keep up with.
That's about all I have to write for now as I gotta get the boys in bed for school bright and early in the a.m. I'm crossing my fingers for continued warmer temperatures this week so I can finally see my yard and get moving on spring "dog doo duty" in the back yard. Sorry for the delay in blog updates...
A lot of time has passed since my last blog update and I'm sure I'll miss most of it trying to update everyone. The boys have just over a month to a month and a half left of school and they'll be in 4th/2nd grades respectively. I have made it a regular Friday lunch date with Aaron at Challenger where I get an update on all the goings on at school. More often than not we're sitting at a table with Braeden Drevlow from Aaron's grade and a couple other of his friends. I like Fridays there because it's chef salad day... Last week it was tomato soup, breaded fish in the shape of fish, and the chef salad. I always end up leaving their stuffed even with the dinky portions and the little carton of chocolate milk. I manage to bump into at least one former teacher of mine about every time to go, so that's a bright spot in the week too.
Trinity will be getting a new "intentional" interim minister by June it looks like and the choir will be extending into that time period so the new pastor has a nice welcome from Trinity. In other church news, the youth have been serving Lent dinner every Wednesday night and raised over $1,200 last week alone to apply towards the national youth gathering in San Antonio in June. The church put in nice new gas fireplaces in the library upstairs and the "fireside" room downstairs for the youth area. They look pretty nice, though now with it warming up, we won't get to enjoy them much until next fall and winter. They're also replacing upwards of 70-plus windows in the Sunday school area with new vinyl and welded steel windows so the the building will be much more heat efficient in both summer and winter. I think that's the last major improvement project since they've already fixed the bell tower, the organ, and relaid carpeting in the fellowship hall and painted.
Now that the Prowler hockey season is over, the Prowlers went to Challenger and Aaron got an autographed felt cloth with all their signatures on it. I'm going to find one of those two-inch thick frames to display it in in his room as it's not very often the Prowlers make it to State. Aaron's still kicking around different sports ideas. Last month it was soccer, soccer, soccer, and this month it's, "How about baseball?" He really wants to take in a Twins game this year.
Tonight we had dinner at the old Calvary Lutheran Church in St. Hilaire, a church so small the sanctuary is little bigger than the main floor of my house. They put on a benefit dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, and all the fixin's as they're raising funds for a new furnace. I saw a few people from Trinity there. It's yet another thing underlying the difference between the big cities and here. There's at least three different benefit dinners in any given week here, so rather than giving money to a fastfood restaurant, we're getting home-cooked meals and doing good for the community. Last week they had a dinner to benefit a young mother of about 22 who had an aneurysm after giving birth to her daughter at Northwest Hospital and had to be flown to the Cities for emergency surgery. Her dinner was at the VFW and there were pictures all over the paper for it and posted on flyers in almost every store in town. In a big city, she would have been but a footnote in the paper if she even made it in there, so it's comforting to know how tightknit our community is, how they will rally around anyone and everyone in need and nobody is "just a number." Reminds me of college days in Pullman... It's nice to be a small part of that.
Daniel will be celebrating his birthday this Thursday (7) and I'm still figuring out whether to celebrate it on Friday at the waterpark or if we should wait a week or so as a lot of his friends including the Drevlow boys may not be able to make it. Funny thing is he's not all that concerned about it other than having fun at the waterpark. He hasn't asked about any presents more than once and it's almost shaping up to be a day like any other day in his mind. What's nice with his birthday approaching is he still looks like the same LITTLE Daniel I've always cherished and hasn't outgrown his little boy nature yet. Most importantly, I can still throw him over my shoulder for a ride up to bed without throwing my back out... :) I'm sure with another year under his belt next year, though, he'll have done a lot of catch up growing behind Aaron and be quite the handful to keep up with.
That's about all I have to write for now as I gotta get the boys in bed for school bright and early in the a.m. I'm crossing my fingers for continued warmer temperatures this week so I can finally see my yard and get moving on spring "dog doo duty" in the back yard. Sorry for the delay in blog updates...
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Happy St. Patty's Day?
Wow... It's been so long I almost forgot I had this blog to begin with. Nobody's sent me any nagograms to update it, so I guess it slipped by the wayside. Of course it didn't help being sick in February and recovering from that, then preparing for Mom and Dad's visit, which concluded last Wednesday. I missed the last home hockey game of the Prowlers thanks to being sick, so that was a bummer, but the Prowlers did pretty well, going to state for the first time in 41 years and section 8A champs for the first time in 46. It was almost like a Cougar Rose Bowl story.
We've had great weather for the most part with some warmer 40+ days that melted off some of the snow on the streets, but just when we started to think of spring days ahead, it snowed yesterday and all the slush turned to ice overnight. That's normally not too bad, but the neighbors across the street had an ill or injured child this morning and the Great Plains ambulance medics almost fell down a half dozen times in walking between their front porch and the ambulance, so after watching the 2nd or third near fall, I ran over there with a full bag of kitty litter and spread it all on their front walk less than a minute before they all came out together carrying the child in their arms instead of a stretcher. I don't think they saw me, but thankfully they got to the ambulance safely and hopefully all's well that ends well.
We got the house in pretty good order for Mom and Dad's visit and they stayed here at the house with us from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon, flying out of TRF. The boys really enjoyed the visit and playing games with Nanna and especially making the Crazy Chocolate Cake. It was nice to visit the boys at lunch together at Challenger on their last day of school last week. They closed the entire school district because of the boy's hockey win against Warroad and placement in the state tourney. They don't go back until Tuesday this week. We had Mike Lehrer over for a giant ham that Andrew had bought shortly before Mom and Dad's arrival and we feasted like kings. It was like Christmas dinner in March... The only downer to the visit, besides its brevity, was the roof started leaking on the house. Thankfully I had one of the boys' sleds available, though, to put up in the attic and we're relatively dry now. I think most of the snow and ice has melted off so it shouldn't be much of a problem for a while.
The Prowler Hockey Team lost their first round game with Hermantown Hawks and won the consolation game against Orono, then lost a second time to Blake yesterday, so that about does it for the season. Michael Forney, their star forward, suffered a grade II separation of his shoulder, so he wasn't able to play much of the time. Aaron has asked if we can go to every single home game next year, so I guess we'll be busy again next winter. They ended up with a 22 or 23-9 record, the most ever by any Prowler team.
The boys continue to do well in school and are having fun with the snow they have left. On their days off, I've put a cook's timer on the front porch and told them when it goes off, they can come back inside (60 minutes) and more often than not, they forget all about the time and stay out there. I had enough of the inside time and noise, so that turned out to be a good solution for all of us (and Andrew could hear himself think).
Not much else is going on these days over here. We're not due to have a combined choir performance until late April/early May, so it's pretty much just the routine stuff for the time being. I gotta find another big St. Patrick's hat for the boys to wear to school...
We've had great weather for the most part with some warmer 40+ days that melted off some of the snow on the streets, but just when we started to think of spring days ahead, it snowed yesterday and all the slush turned to ice overnight. That's normally not too bad, but the neighbors across the street had an ill or injured child this morning and the Great Plains ambulance medics almost fell down a half dozen times in walking between their front porch and the ambulance, so after watching the 2nd or third near fall, I ran over there with a full bag of kitty litter and spread it all on their front walk less than a minute before they all came out together carrying the child in their arms instead of a stretcher. I don't think they saw me, but thankfully they got to the ambulance safely and hopefully all's well that ends well.
We got the house in pretty good order for Mom and Dad's visit and they stayed here at the house with us from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon, flying out of TRF. The boys really enjoyed the visit and playing games with Nanna and especially making the Crazy Chocolate Cake. It was nice to visit the boys at lunch together at Challenger on their last day of school last week. They closed the entire school district because of the boy's hockey win against Warroad and placement in the state tourney. They don't go back until Tuesday this week. We had Mike Lehrer over for a giant ham that Andrew had bought shortly before Mom and Dad's arrival and we feasted like kings. It was like Christmas dinner in March... The only downer to the visit, besides its brevity, was the roof started leaking on the house. Thankfully I had one of the boys' sleds available, though, to put up in the attic and we're relatively dry now. I think most of the snow and ice has melted off so it shouldn't be much of a problem for a while.
The Prowler Hockey Team lost their first round game with Hermantown Hawks and won the consolation game against Orono, then lost a second time to Blake yesterday, so that about does it for the season. Michael Forney, their star forward, suffered a grade II separation of his shoulder, so he wasn't able to play much of the time. Aaron has asked if we can go to every single home game next year, so I guess we'll be busy again next winter. They ended up with a 22 or 23-9 record, the most ever by any Prowler team.
The boys continue to do well in school and are having fun with the snow they have left. On their days off, I've put a cook's timer on the front porch and told them when it goes off, they can come back inside (60 minutes) and more often than not, they forget all about the time and stay out there. I had enough of the inside time and noise, so that turned out to be a good solution for all of us (and Andrew could hear himself think).
Not much else is going on these days over here. We're not due to have a combined choir performance until late April/early May, so it's pretty much just the routine stuff for the time being. I gotta find another big St. Patrick's hat for the boys to wear to school...
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