Rollin' on the River

Ta Da! There it is... Can you feel your cholesterol rise just by looking at it? Jon and I have been popping rolaids like candy. That's the only drawback, but it is soooo worth all of it.

Happy Birthday, Opa! Thanks for a great meal and day!

Snow Day

We are in the middle of a blizzard today. The whole state has no travel advised. Since we are having my dad's birthday celebration today, the driveway needed to be cleared. Here is how Jon and my dad looked out in the snow. If I didn't know better, I'd say they enjoyed their time out there. (Except for the -40 degree windchill)

Another yummy recipe from today

This morning I made my first batch of creamy caramels. I had never made them before. My thermometer freaked out on me halfway through, but I was able to finish the project and they turned out great. Stop by and try one.

Hurry before they're all gone!

Mmm Mmm Good!

It's that time of year again. We're making our traditional Christmas dinner - Rolladin.
Last year I said I would post pictures but I forgot so this year I'm ready to post.
Start with a clean kitchen
Holiday music in the cd playerMake a drink.
It's the middle of the day - what did you expect??????
Chop onions
Cut bacon
Open second package and realize it's maple flavored and can't be used for this. Scramble around until another pack is found in the freezer to save the day!
Lay out thinly sliced beef on counter
Salt and pepperAdd onions and a strip of baconRoll (tight)Brown in frying panMake gravyToday we'll put it in the garage to stay cool, but it could go right into the oven. Quite a few years ago my mom figured out that doing the rolling and preparation part ahead of time is much easier. Then on the day we just have to put the roaster in the oven and sit back until it's time to peel potatoes.

This year we are having Rolladin for my dad's birthday instead of Christmas. Doesn't matter to me when we have it, just that we get to have it. It's not a meal we fix very often.

I'll try to remember to take a picture of the finished dish when we eat it tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned...PS - I wish you could smell this through the computer. It's one of those nostalgic smells and we're all looking forward to the big family dinner tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is the table we (Megan and I) set on Wednesday evening. We had 15 people for the Thanksgiving feast. My nieces and nephew stayed overnight with my parents Wednesday night. Just one last trip to the grocery store and we were set. Thursday morning I got up about 6:30 and made some muffins for breakfast (don't think that's too big a deal, because it's a package that you just add milk and bake them - easy but yummy!). Then I stuffed and seasoned the turkey and put it in the oven.

Oma, Opa, six kids, Jon and I went to church at 9:30. It's always a nice Mass. I think it's better than normal because it's not a holy day of obligation. People go just because they want to be there.

My aunt and uncle arrived about 11:00. They come out almost every year for Thanksgiving and stay for the whole weekend. They are a lot of fun. Karli helped me peel potatoes and Nate peeled the cucumbers. My brother and sister-in-law arrived after running in the Turkey Trot. Jon's cousin, Frankie, joined us, too.

Everything for the meal came together beautifully and we all ate WAY too much (as usual).

My cousin Selvan and his wife Sue joined us Friday for the weekend also. Friday and Saturday the guys took part in the annual St. Sausage Day weekend. They started preparing the venison, pork and seasonings about 10:00 Friday morning. By 7:30 all five of them were in the bag and most were already out for the count. Saturday they finished packaging the sausage.

Sunday morning we finished up the visiting with a breakfast of sausage (obviously) and eggs before the guests hit the road. It is always fun to have visitors.

After breakfast we all headed up to the barn to get the Christmas decorations out. Jon and I weren't really looking forward to the task, but decided we'd better get it started. It went very smoothly. It's great that the kids are getting big enough to help a lot. Jon took tree decorations out of the box, I untangled the little ornament hangers, and the kids hung up all of the ornaments. The tree turned out really nice.
(I took two pictures because I wasn't sure you could see both the lights and the ornaments.)

Having the kids do the tree made it easier for Jon and me to set out all of the little knick-knacks around the house. The kids each have a little tree in their rooms and a tiny nativity set. We have my mom's handpainted nativity set in the living room and another set that was given to me as a gift on display on the piano.

So many trinkets in our decorations box have memories and meanings. It really reminds me how thankful I am for good friends, great family and wonderful health in my life.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend as much as I did.

Another two months in the life of us...

In September we all started Sunday School.This year Jon and I decided to teach 3^rd grade (Karli’s class).We have about 15 kids in the class and usually 10 show up. So far it has been good for us and the kids seem to be enjoying it.

Our monster concert went very well. It went very quickly through all of the songs. There didn’t seem to be any mix ups or major problems. They had a good turn out and we knew several other musicians who played. I will definitely take part again next year. I’ll think about who I’m going to recruit for a partner…

One afternoon in October we headed out for our annual trip to Papa’s Pumpkin Patch. Dave and Colleen and their family do such an awesome job out there. It keeps getting bigger each year.

October 20, Jon and I were both instructed to call in for jury duty. What are the odds of us both getting called in the same pool? (Jon bought a lottery ticket, just in case) Anyway, he didn’t have to report at all – he just called in twice. I was selected to show up in the courtroom on Tuesday. I have made it that far two or three other times in my life, but have always been excused from the jury. Guess what? This WAS my lucky turn! I was chosen as Juror #5 in a case. We got through the judge’s questions and the lawyers’ questions, then took a break. After the break, they told us who was staying to serve on the jury and who could leave. The trial ended up going through Wednesday afternoon. Then the jury had to come up with our decision. It was already after 5:00 on Weds so we decided to go home and finish on Thursday morning. When we were all refreshed, we came to a fairly quick conclusion and were done by 10:00 am.

The case involved a crash between a pickup and a semi truck with a hay trailer. The pickup driver (we’ll call him Jim) claimed the semi driver (we’ll call him Bob) was totally at fault and that the crash resulted in bag injuries for Jim. The jury decided that we didn’t have enough evidence to prove that Jim’s injuries were directly from the crash so the case was completely thrown out. It was a very interesting process. I am glad it wasn’t a criminal case where we had to decide someone’s fate.

Then that Thursday my mom, the girls and I drove to St. Cloud, MN, to see my sister and her family. My niece, Sarah, is getting married next summer so we got to help do some wedding planning. We picked out centerpieces for the reception. We also got to see Sarah’s dress, the bridesmaids’ dresses, and the bouquets. It was a fun trip!

Halloween was a fun night for us. Megan was a devil, Karli was Dorothy, Nate was a ninja, Jon was Fred Flintsone and I wore a shirt that said, “Go Ceiling!” and “#1 Fan.” Get it? I was a ceiling fan! Awwwwww, groan. I know. I love it! We walked around our old neighborhood in town since our current neighborhood is not so fun. We the kids made a haul with lots of good candy. We stopped by Governor Hoeven’s house again this year. I think it is so cool that he and his wife hand out candy themselves each year. What other state is safe enough for that to happen?

Saturday, November 1, we attended our school’s Spooghetti Supper. They serve spaghetti, salad, breadsticks, and ice cream. It gives the kids a chance to wear their costumes so their friends can see since they can’t wear them to school. We also worked a shift and helped serve the food. We all had a great time.

Last week we all survived the blizzard here. We closed our office early on Thursday and opened late on Friday. They closed the public schools for the first time in at least 10 years!

My cousin Scott, his son Hayden, and Scott’s friend were stranded in Bismarck on their way to Medora for hunting. They were watching the road report constantly waiting for the interstate to open up. When it did at about 9:30 am, they were packed and leaving within about five minutes. I haven’t heard how their hunt turned out. Hopefully they all could fill their tags.

Jon, my dad, my brother, and my nephew went hunting last weekend, too. They got a buck on Friday afternoon, a doe Saturday morning, and the last doe Saturday afternoon. Nate was able to go along Saturday afternoon so he got to see how that whole process works. He was pretty impressed with it and had a lot of fun. Only six more years until he can take hunter safety and then another two years and he can get his own license.

Yesterday the girls and I had been shopping and stopped at McDonald’s for lunch. While eating my burger and fries, I realized my tooth broke. It was a crown that has caused me problems for about three years. The nerves were exposed, but the dentist was able to seal it up temporarily. I scheduled the crown replacement for November 25 since I am out of town next week. I called in this morning to ask if they could call if a cancellation occurs. They were able to fit me in tomorrow afternoon at 2:00. I’m sure glad I called! I’ll keep you posted.

Next week I am heading to Dallas for a training. This is for a program we use at work to contact our members and ask them to send emails to their legislators. We can use it for the federal or state levels. I will leave on Wednesday and return Friday afternoon. I’ve never been to Texas, so I’m looking forward to it.

That brings you up to date. Thanks for sticking with me.

Quick Note

Good morning all! After a week of being out of town, I'm enjoying being back in my own bed. We had some company this weekend. My brother, sister-in-law, and cousins ran the half marathon here in Bismarck. They all did very well and seemed to enjoy it.
(Michelle, Karl, Gwen and Robyn)
Gwen's brother, Scott (also Robyn's husband) ran the 5K, but he is the one who took the picture so I don't have one of him.

Karli went with some of the cousins' kids and Oma to watch the race, Jon and Nate walked in the parade for Governor Hoeven with Opa, Megan and I stayed home to make birthday cake for Jon. Oh, did I mention Saturday was his birthday? He turned the big 3-9. I've been telling him for years that he is pushing 40. It keeps getting closer...

Happy Birthday, Honey!

School Daze

School has officially begun. In fact, they have already finished five days of class. These pictures are from my phone so I apologize for the low quality. Can you tell how excited they all were for that first day? Meg is in 5th grade, Karli in 3rd and Nate in Kindergarten.
Northridge is sooooo overcrowded that one of the five sections of third grade (Karli's class) is in a portable and all five kindergarten classrooms are being held in rented space at Corpus Christi. It works out ok for us so far. We drop the girls off at the main school first and then I take Nate down to the "north branch" for his school. They added playground equipment (fenced in of course) and created a mini office for a secretary. They use the gym space for Phy Ed, lunch and breakfast. It is going quite well.

He was just a little nervous that first morning. He chose not to color a picture or look at books but just sit in his chair and wait. Evidently that worked out for him...
After school they all ride the bus home. I met them at our front door that first day. Nate was a little upset because I didn't tell him how fun the bus would be. I'm so glad he's enjoying his new adventure.

Stay-cation

Jon started back to work this week so I took three days off. Jon watched my brother's kids for the past two weeks since their summer program ended August 1. I have them for this week before school starts on Thursday. They are really pretty easy for the most part. People tell me how crazy I am to take six kids around town or go on outings and that kind of thing. I don't think it's any big deal. Last night Karli had a friend sleepover so this morning I had seven kids here. As long as I don't have any diapers or butts to wipe (except my own, of course - butt, that is, not diaper) it's nothing extra but to referee a couple little "she won't let me play with that Polly Pocket" issues and making a little bigger lunch.

Today Michelle (their mom) picked them up at noon and everyone got to go meet their teachers. Our kids were very excited and everyone did well. Only two more sleeps! Hard to believe our youngest is going to kindergarten for all day everyday school. How can it be more than two weeks ago that Megan was born???? C.r.a.z.y!!!

OK - so I was checking out blogs tonight and came across this fun little idea.
Just a little exercise to include one word answers. Only. Just try it. It is harder than I thought it would be, thinking of one word for a few things... You can copy my list and add your own in the comments section, or do it on your own blog....

You're Feeling: relaxed
To Your Left: darkness
On Your Mind: blogging
Last Meal Included: pork
You Sometimes Find it Hard To: Motivate
The Weather: perfect
Something You Have a Collection of: figurines
A Smell that Cheers You Up: bread
A Smell that Can Ruin Your Mood: puke
How Long Since You Last Shaved: days
The Current State of Your Hair: greasy
The Largest Item On Your Desk/Workspace Right Now (besides computer): speaker
Your Skill with Chopsticks: hilarious
Which Section You Head to First In the Bookstore: fiction
...and After That?: kids
Something You're Craving: Milky-Way
Your General Thoughts On the Presidential Race: whatever
How Many Times You've Been Hospitalized this Year: none
A Favorite Place to Go for Quiet Time: bedroom
You've Always Secretly Thought You'd Be a Good: psychic
Something that Freaks You Out a Little: illness
Something You've Eaten Too Much of Lately: junk
You Have Never: bungee-jumped
You Never Want To: abandon

Your turn....

Updates...

I got a check in the mail today from the wedding couple. They apologized for having missed me after the wedding and said the music was beautiful. Awesome!

The girls are still enjoying their play practices (taking after their mother without the Perkins part, yet). Their performances are next week already. The show is really taking shape nicely. I tie-dyed their shirts tonight with some other parents and cast members. It was fun and I hope they turn out really cool. I'm a believer in don't try too hard to create a pattern - just slop it on and hope for the best. We'll see in about a week how they turned out.

Today Megan started Band Camp -- no not THAT band camp and she doesn't even play flute!! She is taking up percussion. She loved the first day and is excited to go back tomorrow.

I heard about a cool Monster Concert that I decided to take part in. It is a piano recital kind of event except instead of each person playing a solo, there will be five pianos on stage at the Belle. Five pairs of players will play the same song at the same time. It is going to be so neat. I am playing Chopsticks Here and There. I have the lower part with kind of oompa-pas for most of my part. Karli will be playing a song called Ladybug, Ladybug and Megan is playing My Dog Has Flea. I will play the duet part with them both also. I had my first rehearsal tonight and it sounded great to have both parts together. The performance will be October 19th. I'm sure I'll have more posts about it as we get closer. Maybe I'll be able to post a little video of the performance (if I can figure out how to do that).

I need to get to bed. Hope you're having a great day!

Where Have I Been?

Man, life seems to run away with me sometimes. Here is what's been going on:

4th of July - Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, kids, parents, brothers, sisters, in-laws, out-laws. You name it, we were together. The lake was perfect, good food, lots of lazy hours spent watching kids on the beach or skiing or tubing, reading books in the sun. Overall, a great vacation!

Megan's birthday, July 9th - "the bestest birthday EVER!" according to the newest 10 year old in the house. Why, you ask? (quoting Megan directly) "First of all, I got a Nintendo DS. Second of all, we got to go to the Medora Musical. Third of all, I got to bring a friend. Fourth of all, we got to go swimming." We headed to Dickinson and went swimming at the West River Community Center. They have a great lazy river, two big water slides, and a water shooting play area. A great place for every age. Went out for supper and then headed to Medora for the musical. One of the best shows I've seen (and I think this was the 30th time I've been to the show!!!! Not bad for being only 36) We drove home after the show and arrived in Bismarck about 2:00 am.

I took two vacation days then and we just hung out at home, went bowling one afternoon, took the girls to birthday parties, went swimming at the Wave pool, read a book. Another nice vacation!

The wedding singer - I ended up meeting three times between the bride and groom and the piano player. I bit much in my opinion, but the ceremony went fine. Except they didn't pay me. Not that I only sing for pay. Just that we agreed on the price up front and then I ended up with all the extra meetings so I feel I deserve the check we discussed in our first contact. Just too bad that it has to become a business exchange. I'll get over it. Someday.

The girls have started rehearsals for their play, "School House Rock Live Jr." It is through Shade Tree Players. The music is all so familiar to us who watched them on tv way back when. They are doing fun choreography and singing all the favorites - Conjunction Junction, Only a Bill, etc. They are off book for the first half already tomorrow. The performances are the 14th through 17th if anyone is interested.

Nate is in his second week of Safety Village. They learn all kinds of safety issues. Policemen visit, Trauma Roo the safety kangaroo, bike safety, crossing streets, what to do if lost in a store, testing the smoke house with the firemen. All good stuff every kid should know when they are going into kindergarten. Graduation is Friday. They sing songs and have little poems they've worked on the whole time.

Last evening the whole family worked on building the set for the School House Rocks show.

Thursday evening Jon and I are going to a picnic for MSU alums. Should be fun!

In a couple weeks, we get to go to a Seahawks game in Minneapolis. Jon found cheap tickets at a rummage sale so we're taking Nate and my dad to the game and then on Saturday morning I guess we're going to tour the Leinenkugel's brewery.

OK - I better get to work so I'm not late. Hope your summer isn't going as fast as ours!

Hair Today...

If you know our Megan at all, you know she has fought with her curly hair since she was at least about 5. It is soooo curly it is hard to run your fingers through it. In third grade she made it a point to shower every single day just to wash and condition her hair so it could be manageable.

She has always had some curl, but it seems to be getting tighter all the time. Here is a picture from Fall of 2006:

Last night, I combed through her hair (dry) and cut off about 2 inches or so. The curl really shrinks up her hair. It was easily at the middle of her back and if she put her chin up, her hair could touch her waist if it was wet. Here's how she looked after the comb out:
My friend Traci led us to a wonderful product that chemically straightens the hair. It's like an anti-perm. Megan laid on the kitchen counter on her stomach with her head hanging over the sink. I put the goop on her hair and combed it as straight as possible for almost 20 minutes. It smelled exactly like a perm. She was not enjoying the process, but I reminded her that this is the price we pay for beauty. (I found it hysterical when my mom said the EXACT same thing today without knowing that's what I said.)

Here is how her hair looked when it was wet after the whole process:
It was so smooth and soft. The relaxer really helped with a lot of the frizzy-ness, too. She couldn't keep her hands out of her hair. We just let it air dry and this morning she woke up with this:

It's still a little curly but not nearly as bad as before. She can't wash it or swim in the pool until tomorrow night. Another price to pay. When I was combing through the straight hair, I was reminding her that she couldn't wash it or get it wet in the pool. She asked if the lake water would be ok. I said she shouldn't do that either. She said then let's not do this again for the lake next weekend. It was then that I fully explained that this will last hopefully until Christmas time. Here she thought this process would need to be repeated after it got wet again. Oops, I guess I didn't explain it very clearly the first time. She was relieved to hear that.

So, thanks Traci, for finding this gem for us. We hope it will last that 4-5 months and then we'll lather, rinse and repeat.

hApPy BiRtHdAy tO mE!

Yay! My birthday has finally arrived. 36 years ago today, my mom had to cut her camping trip short to head back to town. She was more than 2 weeks late with me. Evidently I was a little shy back then. I guess I've more than made up for it with the rest of my life. :)

I'm back. Did you miss me?

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted. Sorry about that...

So, what has been keeping me busy this past month?

I made a very quick trip to St. Paul for a one-day conference. I arrived in my hotel room about 6pm, my conference was the next day 8 - 3pm and then I left for home. Sorry I missed you, Shari!

The next day was the last day of school for our girls, and the last day of day care for our son. We just got a parenting raise!

We went to the lake for Memorial day weekend. My brother and my parents jointly own a place on Blue Lake about an hour north of us. It was too cold to be in the water, so we came home early on Sunday.

Monday was spent getting ready for a HUGE rummage sale at our house. We hosted it as a fundraiser for our Relay for Life team.

The sale went great. We raised over $600 for the American Cancer Society and the Tracy Voegele Medical Relief Fund.

Then I took a motorcycle safety class for 4 evenings. I had to be there each day by 5:30 and was home by about 8:30.

Friday, June 6, I got my motorcycle license. Now I have the itch to buy a bike of my own. I was planning to ride my dad's Honda scooter for most of the summer to save on gas mileage. That was why I was getting my license. I had so much fun at the class cruising around, that now I want one of my own. We'll see. I will definitely post about that if it happens.

Saturday, June 7 we set up camp at the CHS track for the annual Relay for Life event. It was an amazing night. Check out pictures and more info at http://www.relayblog.com/.

Sunday we got home (kids and all) about 6:30 am. We unloaded all of the Relay stuff and repacked the van to head to Wahpeton. My grandmother passed away and the wake was starting at 3:00pm for the family. My brother, Bear, arrived from Denver to go with us so he drove the first leg of the trip (I think - I was sleeping in the back).

Monday was the funeral and it went very well. Grandmom was 85 and had been having a hard time breathing lately. She told my parents a couple weeks ago that it was just getting hard to live. She looked so peaceful. It was a reminder that God knows what He's doing.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights were spent going to bed early to try and catch up on that missed night of sleep. I think I'm back on track now.

Tomorrow Jon and I are heading to Chicago. I have a meeting on Monday so we decided to go early and spend a couple days with our college friend, Bob. I should have more to post when we get back next week.

Thanks for returning to check on me. I'll work hard to not let so much time go between posts. :)

Have a great Father's Day weekend!

Chicago

I have the opportunity to go to Chicago in June. How cool! My boss and I were invited to attend a training and the company offering is paying airfare and hotel. Even better! We originally scheduled our flights to leave on Father's Day, June 15 and return on Tuesday, June 17. Jon heard of the trip and thought it would be fun to go along. One of his/our college friends lives near Chicago, so Jon called and asked if we could stay with him and his family for a couple days. My wonderful parents gave Jon a frequent flyer ticket for Father's Day/Birthday/Christmas/Halloween/Thanksgiving/etc. Soooooo, we are leaving on Friday, June 13 (we're not suprsticious) and still coming home on Tuesday.

Here's the best part of it all - the training is only Monday noon to 5:00pm. Any great ideas for stuff to do and see in or around Chicago? Neither of us have been there as tourists (I've been through the airport and the train station once each).

I can have my cake and eat it, too

I have earned a Certificate of Merit for completing the first of three cake decorating classes offered by MagiCandle Cakery.

Here is my first official cake. (It is technically the second one I made for the class, but the first with writing on it) I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I had a lot of fun in the class and learned a bunch of cool tricks and tips. Thanks to my mom for paying for the class for my early birthday present. Decorate a cake for a woman and she'll eat it. Teach her to decorate cakes and she'll make them for every occasion you can imagine.

S & B: The teacher was Stella Baetsch. She used to be the secretary at Northridge when we went there. She's too funny!

What a man, what a man, what a mighty Good Man!

It's been quite a while since I've last posted. Sorry about that.



Here are a couple things that have been going on while I've been away from the blog:



Karli and I went to a girl scout event and when I came home, this is what I found
Jon had built a table for my sewing machine and installed a shelf with buckets for my sewing supplies. All his own idea!! Well, I knew he was putting a shelf up so we can hang the clean laundry. He made the table from scraps of wood hanging around. What a guy!!



Then, he worked two days about 8 to 10 hours each to do this:
The tiles are gorgeous. I helped paint the walls, but he did everything else and put all the wall decorations back up. What a guy!

How did I get so lucky??????? Love you!

Holy Communion Batman!

Karli completed her first communion last weekend. I worked for a couple months on making her dress. It turned out very cute. She loved it!
There were about 15 other kids at the same Mass. They processed into church.

They got to carry up the gifts (bread & wine & offering basket).

Fr. Paul usually kneels down after the offertory basket has been passed so the kids can come up to him and put their envelope in the basket in a fun way. He recently had knee surgery so it's hard for him to kneel. This was the second time he had called Megan over to him in the middle of Mass. She gets to sit in the huge chair next to Father while the other stuff is going on and then she gets to kneel down with the basket for all of the little kids to come forward. It was so cute! She enjoyed it.

My cousin's daughter was with us in church - also a cutie and so well behaved. Our three and my brother's three just love Veronica to pieces and keep her very entertained.

After communion, the whole group of first-timers stood on the steps of the altar and sang a song with hand actions - You prepare a table before us. How good of you, Lord. The kids did a nice job but it was hard to hear them singing.

After church we took some family pictures and of course Opa had to be silly.

We ate spaghetti for supper and had cheesecake from Mr. Delicious - ooh it WAS delicious!