Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Mr. Baseball
Can we please go again??
Friday, August 29, 2008
101 things I love.....
2. My husband
3. My Mom and Dad
4. my family
5. great friends
6. Jessica, Jackie, and Jeremy (sisters and brother)
7. long road trips
8. WINE (oooooo, sounds so good)
9. living the legacy my grandma left behind
10. my dogs Jill and Milo
11. date nights
12. pink
13. having a clean house
14. pedicures
15 watching October road
16. seeing old friends
17. making trips "home" to Riverside (I really miss it sometimes)
18. hour conversations with my mom on the phone
19. having my kids run to me after a long day of not seeing each other
20. going a day or so without seeing my husband and getting the same response as above!
21. shopping
22. taking pictures
23. my job
24. learning more everyday about my job
25. hugs
26. baseball (I have to stand my ground though, take the heat, hear the roar and say........I'm a cubs fan!!!)
27. GOOOOO CUBBBBIES!
28. knowing that I have "city blood"
29. also knowing I have a "country heart"
30. scrap booking
31. school spirit
32. cuddle nights that require no sex
33. sitting outside
34. giving
35. family guy
36. reminiscing
37. SHOES
38. long showers
39. sleeping in
40. the smell of clothes when they come off the line
41. the smell of rain
42. seeing the smallest accomplishment of a child who was unable before
43 once again here I go with you Missouri folk.....IOWA HAWKEYES!!
44. running
45. old country music
46. saving money
47. the smell of Clorox
48. garage sales
49. motorcycle rides
50. flowers pick from my kids (dandelions usually :)
51. a clean bed
52. when everything is shaved and fresh (sorry, but I do love that feeling :)
53. caring people
54. my children's questions
55. parties
56. swimming
57. lazy days
58. shopping (I'm sure I said that, but boy do I love it :)
59. changing styles
60. fishing
61. my cousin Kalena
62. fresh cut hair
63. giving someone fresh cut hair
64. coupons
65. birthday cards
66. a clean car
67. my husband doing housework
68. being pregnant (not going to go there again, but I did like it, both times)
69. well, just that ( <- ) in general :o)~
70. low bills
71. COFFEE (I can't believe that's not way up there)
72. being young
73. feeling accomplished
74. painting my fingernails
75. the excitement in children
76. looking at old pictures
77. facebook
78. myspace
79. blogging
80. going to weddings
81. feeling energized
82. potatoes
83. hot tea
84. decorating
85. kisses and I love yous before bedtime
86. reading books to my kids before bed
87. long conversations
88. money
89. medicine
90. technology
91. babies
92. being a step mom
93. the sounds of the night when your windows are open
94. pictures drawn by my kids
95. new purses
96. the "I love yous" from my husband in the middle of conversation
97. horseback rides
98. peach pie
99. playing cards
100. nothing
101. being myself......without that I would have none of the things listed above!
HELLO OUT THERE!!!
I've been having some pretty busy days at school, in which leads to busy days at home!? go figure!
Hopefully I will get time Sunday or Monday with something fun to blog about....we are taking the kids camping this weekend with Jeff, Janean and Tana. I'm sure it will be a fun, adventurous and very inquisitive weekend as our kids have never been "camping". They will have lots to talk about! As for me I've never had to plan a camping trip (I always left it up to my parents) so this has been quite the experience getting things ready and set for the weekend.
Hope everyone has a fabulous Labor day weekend!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
An inspiring thought to get all you teachers in the mood for school!
Author Unknown
The Good Lord was creating teachers. It was His sixth day of 'overtime' and He knew that this was a tremendous responsibility for teachers would touch the lives of so many impressionable young children. An angel appeared to Him and said, "You are taking a long time to figure this one out."
"Yes," said the Lord, " but have you read the specs on this order?
TEACHER:
…must stand above all students, yet be on their level... must be able to do 180 things not connected with the subject being taught... must run on coffee and leftovers,... must communicate vital knowledge to all students daily and be right most of the time... must have more time for others than for herself/himself... must have a smile that can endure through pay cuts, problematic children, and worried parents... must go on teaching when parents question every move and others are not supportive... must have 6 pair of hands.
"Six pair of hands, " said the angel, "that's impossible""Well, " said the Lord, " it is not the hands that are the problem. It is the three pairs of eyes that are presenting the most difficulty!"
The angel looked incredulous, " Three pairs of eyes...on a standard model?"
The Lord nodded His head, " One pair can see a student for what he is and not what others have labeled him as. Another pair of eyes is in the back of the teacher's head to see what should not be seen, but what must be known. The eyes in the front are only to look at the child as he/she 'acts out' in order to reflect, " I understand and I still believe in you", without so much as saying a word to the child."
"Lord, " said the angel, " this is a very large project and I think you should work on it tomorrow".
"I can't," said the Lord, " for I have come very close to creating something much like Myself. I have one that comes to work when he/she is sick.....teaches a class of children that do not want to learn....has a special place in his/her heart for children who are not his/her own.....understands the struggles of those who have difficulty....never takes the students for granted..."
The angel looked closely at the model the Lord was creating. "It is too soft-hearted, " said the angel.
"Yes," said the Lord, " but also tough, You can not imagine what this teacher can endure or do, if necessary".
"Can this teacher think?" asked the angel.
"Not only think," said the Lord,. "but reason and compromise."
The angel came closer to have a better look at the model and ran his finger over the teacher's cheek.
"Well, Lord, " said the angel, your job looks fine but there is a leak. I told you that you were putting too much into this model. You can not imagine the stress that will be placed upon the teacher."
The Lord moved in closer and lifted the drop of moisture from the teacher's cheek. It shone and glistened in the light.
"It is not a leak," He said, "It is a tear."
"A tear? What is that?" asked the angel, "What is a tear for?"
The Lord replied with great thought, " It is for the joy and pride of seeing a child accomplish even the smallest task. It is for the loneliness of children who have a hard time to fit in and it is for compassion for the feelings of their parents. It comes from the pain of not being able to reach some children and the disappointment those children feel in themselves. It comes often when a teacher has been with a class for a year and must say good-bye to those students and get ready to welcome a new class."
"My, " said the angel, " The tear thing is a great idea...You are a genius!!"The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
At last
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
That's what I've
been trying to do all
day!! Stay
calm, relax, everything
will
be ok, yeah well no it's
not ok!
I'm
upset
and need tovent.My husband is
not home and my
kids just don't
understand :)
I went to the school
today to try
and get the
sensory
room put together, looking nice (in the
cramped
little area
we have) I
really wanted it to
be all done this week
and not have
to worry about
it come time school starts. Took
Lyndsi
with me
to help,
walked in
the door to have someone tell
me not to waste my
time cause I was
probably going to have to move
again! YEAH so I'm not
very
happy about
that. I guess it
doesn't bother me to move, I'm
just
thinking in
the
perspective
of a child walking in that room in
a week with
it being
nothing but
chaos and nothing arranged or put
away, how are they
going
to
feel? They
will feel chaos and
that's how our week will go.
It's just not fair to them! So
then I ask
the question of
where
do I
have
to go???ahahahaha yeah, to the Jr.
High special
ed room!! Not only
do I just
get a cramped little
corner, but I
also have to deal with the
fact that
there will be 5
kids on the
other side of
the partition
playing, screaming,
fighting, etc! Our
kids have a hard enough
time
focusing the way it
is so
now we
have that to overcome! NOT FAIR!!
Sorry to complain
like this
but staff really only has 4 days to work
until
school
starts and
absolutely
nobody knows what's going on!?! I
guess I just
don't
understand?
So now I
guess the school is have a
preschool
classroom
(which is another subject
that doesn't make me very
happy,
great for the school
but o heck some of you
know the
story!))
anyway
there is a possibility I "may"
have other EIBI
cases to take on
which is great, I love doing it, but I just
don't
feel
confident
enough
to I guess. Maybe it's the fact that I know
the
child I
work
with and
just the fact of seeing "new" faces
and I not knowing
them
and not
knowing how they are is
what scares me? I had
fabulous
training,
but I still ask
questions?! (keep your phone on
you all
times person
who
trained
me I
may need advice) :o)
I don't know I
hope my confidence
builds back up come time school is in
session.
ANNYYWAYY.......I know
enough,
enough, enough!! ok I'm
done now!
But, this is my only
way to
get things out,
I'm just a
little peon at school
with no
box to stand on
so I have to vent this
way! Hope everyone has a
great week We'll see
what tomorrow
brings!(I don't know what I did to this post but I for some reason can't fix it! sorry, makes it a little hard to read!)
Monday, August 4, 2008
water+boat+tube=pain the next day!!
It was a beautiful day to go, the lake was calm, not a whole lot of boats out so we had pretty much the whole thing to ourselves. We went with Eric Dabney and his GF Dayna and Jon and Lyndsi. I hadn't been on a tube since I was probably 15 or 16 so I was excited to go again! Matthew overcame his fear of water! Yes he is scared of water too! Never been on a boat, never been tubing, never jumped off a dock, all of these first time things for him!! He was so much fun to watch! I really didn't think he would get on the tube just because he can't swim, so I thought for sure the boat ride was all he would do! Boy I was wrong! He got right on that tube and had a blast! He even tried the knee board but couldn't get it out of the water, in which I think it's harder to get those up than it is to get skis up, everyone else seemed to agree with me! But he tried!
We got home around 8 or so, went to get the boys from Downing and came home. Tired and wore out! I felt pretty good until I woke up Sunday morning!! AHH I was sore! every muscle in my body ached! Matthew felt pretty good but I think he uses his upper body muscles more than I do! I can't complain to much it was worth it and I probably would go back today if I had the chance to!!
Wed. Thurs. Fri.
Continuing our week with Dylan, Wednesday we did a whole lot of nothing! Waited until Matthew got home and the boys talked him into taking them coon hunting. He got everything rounded up and they waited very patiently until it got dark. I would have pictures but Matthew left the camera in the truck! (yeah he heard about it when he got home:) Anyway they had a pretty good time. The dogs only treed 3 coons, Matthew said that's pretty good considering how hot it was outside! He didn't stay out long for fear a dog would have a stroke cause they are so fat! Then we had to explain to Jayden and Dylan why they couldn't shoot the coons out of the tree! That was interesting! Jayden- "Well, why did we waste our time if we couldn't even shoot them out and skin them"? Matthew told them, that first of all they were not in season to shoot, second of all they wouldn't be any good and that they had to wait until it got cold outside before they could shoot them out, skin them and sell them. After about 45 min of questions I think Jayden and Dylan finally understood why they didn't get to bring the coons home! Now they can't wait until it gets cold outside!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Day 2
Monday, July 28, 2008
Boys will be boys!
Yesterday, before we left the reunion, my cousin Kalena (whom I am like "sister" close to) informed me that her son Dylan, who is 6, wanted to come stay with us before school started. We talked for a while and decided I was going to take him home with me. Not for a few days but until Sunday. WOW!!
I'm sure it will be fun, but the first day of this adventure has already been something else! I always wondered what it would be like once Jace got a little older, well now all of my questions and wonders have been answered and it's only day one!
This is how our adventure started....two very innocent sweet boys.......
Then came the MUD hole!
Cute huh? at 10 AM in the morning?
I told them the had to be hosed of before ever coming in the house or getting into the pool! They made many trips in and out of the pool before ever coming inside!
BATH TIME!!
and they still were playing at 8:30 in the evening!!! I wish I had that energy!!
This is what my clothes line looked like at the end of the day! It was just wet, muddy, yucky clothes that needed to dry!! 4 pair of underwear, 4 shorts, 5 shirts and 1 pair of broken flip-flops about 3 toads lives, lots of bike rides, and only 1 skinned knee make us through one fun day!
I'm actually kind of excited for the rest of the week with Dylan, tomorrow we plan to go the the park, and then Wednesday we are going to thousand hills to swim, and as far as the rest of the week I'm not sure but I know it will be fun!! I almost don't want to take him home!!
Family Reunion
Back to the beginning.....My great grandma who is 92 years old was the 3rd born of 15 children(could you imagine 15 children??!!) in the Reichert family, all originated from Muscatine Iowa. All but 6 of her siblings are still living! The oldest of the bunch (Aunt Vera) is 95 years old. (I think I have that right?) :) Anyway it was a lot of family and a lot of fun! On a sad note one of the major reasons we attended is they paid special tribute to my gramma who passed away April 20th 2008 and obviously could not attend. She had organized and planned many of the Reichert reunions it was something she held very dear to her, It was a very special time for my family to be there! My granny who is not in good health but in very good spirits, hugged, cried and laughed all at the same time. She was so proud to have all of us there to live on the legacy my Grandma(her daughter) left for us to endure.
-the one who is "hooking" Jace with the cane is granny-
Ally didn't get to attend which was disappointing but she needed to see her mom, she hasn't seen her in over a month! Jayden had a blast, he was so amused by the boats and the barges that passed along the river! The train tracks were right next to the shelter so he got to witness 2 trains pass by as well! We took him down by the river where he found 3 empty clam shells too! Way cool for a 4 year old!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The big T-W-O
it was all
about him and he took advantage of that :) We had a pretty good turn out as far as guest go,
Grandma and Grandpa Buckallew, Grandpa Billie, Grandma Vada, Randy,
it's official!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
back from yesterday.....
Yesterday morning I woke up to a phone call that my mom was in the hospital. I took the kids to Dannie and went on my way to Iowa city. Found out mom had been in the ER since 1AM. They did an ultrasound and found it was her gallbladder, thought maybe she had a stone lodged in one of the passageways? Dr. took her in for surgery at 1:30 PM, took it out and she was done at 4:00. Everything went really really well. Seems as if it was a good thing they went to the hospital when they did or it could have been worse! I stuck around at the hospital until about 6 or so to make sure she didn't have a reaction meds. (my mom is like allergic to EVERYTHING!) she didn't though thank goodness! I stopped by her house in Riverside on my way home and cleaned up a little bit so she wouldn't have to worry about it. Then on my way back home! Talked to her today and she was at home feeling pretty good!
Monday the kids and I made our way to Kirksville to get things for Jace's b-day party. Do you think we could find anything in Kirksville that was "farm animal" themed?? NO definatly not. So we decided we would just order the cake first and work with colors and things like that. Picked up Jace so he could look through the book with me. I wanted to see what caught his eye! Looked at horses, trucks, tractors, cars, then came the motorcycle cake. He screamed "MIMICOCKLE" so yep that's what we got! Instead of "cows" I guess we are going motorcycle! It was a lot easier finding things to match the cake anyway! I think he will be excited about it!
Sunday my grandpa came down from Columbus Junction to visit. He took us out to eat for all of our birthdays. His is the 23rd, Jace is the 24th, and mine is the 25th. We had a great time, he spent most of the day, sat outside and watched the kids swim. The neighbor girls came over to play they just had a blast! At times it's weird to see grandpa without grandma but I'm glad he still comes and visits us when he can!
Whew......Saturday, well we went to Kris and Megan Campbells wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony. Came home for a little while, played with the kids until Grandpa Billie got here to watch them for the evening and then went off the the reception in Downing. Had so much fun Matthew got to see a lot of people he graduated with. Had lots of laughs, beer, and fun!!
Friday we went to the big NEMO fair with Jon and Lyndsi. Our whole intentions were to see the tractor pull but that failed! it rained and rained all night! The only place to go other that home to get out of the rain was the beer tent. Do you think we made the right choice? NO we didn't go home, ended up in the beer tent all night!! We had so much fun though, got to see quite a few people I haven't seen in a while, danced and danced, they had an awesome band performing. Lyndsi and I also found out that night, if you want to feel good about yourself just go to the fair!! WOW!
So just to clear up a little bit, no we were not completely wasted all weekend!! We actually didn't hardly drink at all just had a lot of fun and some parts did involve some alcoholic drinks!! Didn't want you all thinking we were complete alcholics! :)
Well that sums up our week so far! still lots to come, tomorrow is Jace's b-day (wow I can't believe my baby will be 2) :( I also can't believe school is going to start pretty soon! Just weird I guess, as we get older how everything goes by so fast! I almost hate it! Well here is lots of reading and no pics, I decided I don't like to post without pics but I really didn't have any to put up this time. Off to clean the house!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
whew!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
thanks
zoo talk
On the flip side, I really got to see Jace in a whole new light. With both Ally and Jayden gone I really tuned in on the little things that make him "Jace", just those little things you don't recognize very often because you have other children as well. Him and I had a lot of fun for 2 days! I really appreciated it! We didn't do much, but really we didn't have to, he is really into reading and just playing on the floor, so that's what we did. When daddy would come home, he would just forget me and play with dad, and which I'm sure dad really loved it! Jace is also into everything dad does!
Well I don't have much else to post for today other than I have been walking lately to gain some muscle! Matthew has decided that we "together" are going to do the 5k walk/run "even though he has in mind run" during Antique days in Memphis, so I've kind of been in major training the last few days. It's not until August but I'm pretty out of shape. I have been working really hard to try and quit smoking, I've got the prescription to help but I'm going to try and do it on my own. I've done pretty good so far, as long as I keep busy it helps a lot!! Kind of a boring post sorry! :)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Didn't work
ok so I can't wait
Not leaving Jace out, he is my almost 2 year old, he will be 2 the 24th of July. He has decided that he wants to pee on the potty! YAY Jace go you!! I'm super excited about that. I'm not going to push him considering he is only 2 but I'm not going to look down upon it either. I am really glad he has and older brother to look up to and see what he does, Jace thinks if Jayden can do it so can he! It will be a long road of potty training but if he already has a start on it, it may not be that bad. I'll just be happy when the days of buying diapers and pullups are over with!
And then there is Ally.......O Ally, she is something else! she is 7 going on about 18! She has been on one of those kicks lately where I'm always wrong and can do nothing right to please her! I dread the day she does turn 18 or even 16 for that matter! I still love her to death and don't know what I would do without her! She is into Hannah Montana and all that other Disney crap.....anyway she thinks one day she will become a singer/dancer. I don't want to be the one to tell her but she definitely does not have it going for her! :) I had a video of her as well but obviously can't get it to go! It is for sure a sight to see! she is so funny! I'm glad she has the imagination to dream big, and I guess you never know maybe someday she will make it big?! Either way it doesn't matter, she has all the confidence in the world and we are proud of her for that!
*don't mind the woo-hoo I think I was more excited than he was!