Friday, December 28, 2007

Matilda


This is her photo from the humane society's website. Matilda is now at our home and she's super quiet and sweet. She's a lab mix but pretty small. Her photo doesn't do her face justice. Her eyes are cute and she makes me sort of laugh when I look at her. We'll get more pics up later. We like her.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Family Addition

I think we may be adding to our family. If all goes well we'll be going to the Animal Shelter in Amery tomorrow to get a doggy named Matilda. I'm pretty excited. I've never really had a dog before. When Matthew and I were first married we had a puppy named Jacob but he was Matthew's dog for hunting and wasn't really a family dog. Jacob had to live at Matthew's parent's farm when we moved to an apartment and had to stay at the farm when we moved to the Hwy.12 house as he'd have surely gotten squished on the busy highway. We plan on bringing Jacob back up to our new house soon but he'll probably stay an outdoor dog. Anyhow....I'm excited to finally get a family dog.

Matilda is 6yrs.old although she was a stray so, unless she talks, I'm not sure how they know her age. Another bonus is they haven't heard her bark and she's housebroken. I don't think I'd have the patience or time for puppyhood. I picked her out from the shelter's website and we haven't met her yet but I'm hoping we all click tomorrow. Matthew called the shelter today and asked a bunch of questions and liked the answers he received. He liked the answers so much he's agreeing to a house dog. Yes!!

I'm sure my mom and sister would prefer the family addition to be another human, however, Matilda is as good as it's gonna get. I think I'm going to order those return address labels with the cartoon family members. Have you seen them? I'll get a bald papa, a mama, a boy, a girl and a Matilda. No room for any more small people. I may have to buy really large envelopes because the barn cats, Jacob the dog, the sheep, the ponies and the pigs might get jealous if they aren't represented on the address labels. Hmmmm? On second thought I'll save the hassle and just keep writing out our address.

If I ever find our camera recharger thing I'll post some pictures. Oooooooh IhopewegetMatilda. IhopewegetMatilda.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas with Jesus

We received a call this morning from Matthew's folks. Matthew's Granny had hip surgery last week and was thought to be recovering fine. We learned this morning that Granny passed away last night.

This will be so very hard for Matthew's mom and her three sisters. They were very close to their mom and Granny will be missed. Matthew too is having a hard time as we lived far away from Granny and weren't able to visit as often as we wanted. I never knew Matthew's Grandpa but I do know Granny was deeply saddened to loose him and never really got over that loss. I will try to imagine the Christmas celebration Granny will be having this year as she may be reuniting with her dear husband and will see our Savior face to face. She otherwise would have been in a brand new nursing home working on physical therapy for her hip. I know too Granny didn't want to have the surgery but due to the immense pain she was in agreed rather reluctantly and this too will weigh heavy on Matthew's family.

Thank you blog friends for reading through a rather sad post during what is supposed to be such a happy birthday celebration.

I am thankful Jesus was sent as we now have hope far as the curse is found. Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Where Am I Going?

In my last post I wondered where I was during Anna's and Elmo's cookie bake-off. Today I am wondering where I'm going.

You see while making supper for my dear little family I received a call. The call came from a company that is hired by our bank to watch out for unusual transactions on our check card. The check card is still in my possession so I have not lost the card. Apparently, however, a dear hacker is purchasing music from itunes for their trip on AirFrance. How do I know? The hired company asked if I'd recently attempted to purchase airline tickets. Nope. Also, have I been downloading music from itunes? Nope.

After speaking to many representatives at our bank and the watchdog company our check card is now cancelled to avoid anymore fraudulent charges. I live a very busy life and I don't even know about all the activities I'm involved in.

I have close and personal friends from the Children's Television Workshop and I travel AirFrance to India listening to itunes on my ipod. This explains, I think, why I'm so tired by 7:30pm every evening and can't even stay up for The Office.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Where Was I?

Yesterday Isaiah had his Christmas musical at school. He did a great job. I was impressed with the song choices too. During at least three songs the birth of Jesus was actually acknowledged. Nobody sang about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or Ramadan for that matter. The Christmas concert actually mentioned our Christ! Very cool. I was impressed.

After the afternoon concert that was attended by Gramps, Grammy and Auntie Sally the whole crew came over to spend the afternoon and eat tacos for supper. The tacos were Isaiah's idea. I was planning on something a bit fancier but whatever.

Mom and Sally were eating some Christmas cookies that I made earlier this week and mom said she liked them. Anna piped in and said, "Sank you, I make dem my felf." As I stood there with my mouth hanging open in disbelief Grammy continued the conversation and said again that they were tasty cookies. Anna again had a little comment and said, "Elmo helped but he just ate da dough." Elmo, as in Sesame Street, apparently was over this week and made cookies with Anna. Again I ask, where was I?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Ummm....Thanks!

Earlier this month I made cut-out cookies for the Rolli Family Christmas. Yesterday I started to make other Christmas type cookies and candy and wanted to make some new recipes as my mom makes all my favorites. Matthew's favorite are the Norwegian cookies his mom makes but he only likes them warm. I do not have a griddle in which to make that type of cookie. The kids pretty much like any cookie with sugar so I just picked out some recipes that looked fun.

I made some candy yesterday with nuts and also cookies called walnut-butterhorns. I thought they tasted pretty good, not my favorite probably but good. Isaiah had one after supper and raved about them. His facial expressions were proving the fact that these cookies were a hit with Isaiah. I asked if he liked the walnuts and he said that he did.

Then he paid me the ultimate compliment, "Mama, these taste just like mac-n-cheese 'cept with sugar on them." What? Seriously?

I tasted another cookie and laughed. The dough part of the cookie does in fact remind one of the way the pasta tastes in the blue Kraft box. I decided I didn't care and that they can still be good cookies.

I planned on filling a little tin with candy, biscotti and cookies for Isaiah's teacher. I can picture it now, "Hey Mrs. Jensen..... those ones with the walnuts are really good. They taste like mac-n-cheese." sigh........Great!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Date Night

Today I have a "date night" with my Isaiah. I'm so excited. I miss my little buddy. Once school started and we added our super special little Anna to the family Isaiah and I didn't have the constant one-on-one time anymore. I miss that. I could go on and on about all the adventures we had when Isaiah was a baby, just him and I, as Matthew was starting a sign business and at one time was working 4jobs at once. I won't. But we did spend every waking and sometimes sleeping (he'd crawl into bed with Matthew and I) moment together for his first 4years of his life. I miss that sometimes.

Anyhow today's the day for our date night. Yes. First off we'll be going to Hudson to drop Anna off at Gramps and Mimi's house. Isaiah and I will be doing some Christmas shopping together and he'll need to pick out some stocking stuffers for Matthew's stocking. (there's no Santa appearance at our house because Isaiah was scared to death of the big red guy when he was little and we saw no need to freak him out with a nightly raid in his own home by the jolly elf) We then will double date for lunch at McDonald's with a friend of mine from high school and her daughter who is the same age as Isaiah. After the fine dining, Isaiah will then escort myself and our friends to the Phipps for an afternoon performance of the Little House Christmas production. I can't wait.

This all sounds fun and I know we will enjoy ourselves but you know what will probably be the best part for me? The quiet car rides (Anna will be at Mimi's) to and from our destinations. I bet we'll have some neat conversations about "stuff". Isaiah's really fun to talk with and when we have uninterrupted little discussions about life it's pretty neat to find out how he thinks about things.

Thank you God for allowing Isaiah and I to take the time to be together today.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

...Before the Fall.

Anna and I were playing with her babies. Rocking, feeding, kissing, hugging, singing, napping, burping, strollering, etc. I watched her interact with her little dollies and thought to myself she'll probably be a kind, empathetic, understanding mama someday. aaahh...... sigh....... smile...

You know what she did then?! She jumped up and down with her stuffed baby bunny, rather aggressively, grabbed the fluffy bunny ears and flung that critter across the dining room floor. sheesh... I guess we need to have the please-don't-hurl-your-babies-by-their-ears talk.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Fractions

Anna likes to practice counting. She looks at her little baby fingers and knows they represent something. She likes to count. One...two...fee...eight....nine....yeven... on and on we go and she still hasn't left the first hand. One night as we lay in bed snuggling before bed she was practicing her counting and asked, "Mama wat dat one?". I couldn't tell which finger she was pointing to and asked her which finger? She said she wasn't pointing to her "fingo" she was pointing "dare". Anna was asking what number was between her two fingers. I told her that it wasn't a number it was just a space. That answer was not good enough for my Anna so she asked again. I could see where this was going so I came up with an answer. I told Anna that the space was 1.5. How many two year olds do you know that know fractions?

Sunday, December 9, 2007

I Elfed My Family.....gasp!

Silly? Yes. Did the family enjoy thems"elf"s? Why, yes they did.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1264111186

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Northwoods Living

During the recent snow accumulations we at the Rolli household have learned a few things about rural, northwoods living.

First off let me say our home is miles from anywhere. Miles. It takes us a good 15minutes, at least, to get to any town. New Richmond. Osceola. Amery. No more three-minute-hop-in-the-car-drive-to-Target-trips for this mama. We now have major put-on-your-Sunday-best-hitch-up-the-wagon day trips to town. Big difference.

Our first realization with rural living is that mailboxes are NOT at the end of your driveway, much less attached to one's own home. I couldn't even find the mailbox for the first few days we lived here. Never thought to ask. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we needed a map to find the mailbox. We do. I did eventually find it. Now, how do I get the mail in the winter without warming up the car for 10minutes to make the drive down and back from the mailbox? Well, Anna and I bundle up real well and she sits in the sled while I pull her to our destination. I also put Anna's backpack on Anna and she carries the mail for me. I figure that's the least she can do as I haul her up and down our un-plowed road. Which leads me to the next tidbit of information we've learned. The road.

We live on a very rural dead-end road. It's so rural it has two dead-ends. When you turn onto our road you drive about half a city block and come to a "T" in the road. You may turn left or right. (both directions leave you still on the same road by the way) Both the right and left turn will take you to a dead-end. When turning left at said "T" you will eventually get to our home after passing a couple year-round homes and a bunch of summer cabins. The county plows our road up to a certain point at which point the paved road turns to gravel and then it's private and I think we jointly own the dirt road along with three other neighbors, don't know for sure and don't care. We personally have a turn-around in the dirt road at the beginning of our driveway that the school bus turns around in. Being that it's a dead end the bus would have no other option to turn around without that turn-around. We did not realize when purchasing the home that the county (when they do plow our road which is apparently two business days after a major snowstorm) only plows up to the end of the paved road. They DO NOT plow the dirt road or the turn-around. OOPS! That means if we want Isaiah to get picked up by the bus at the end of our driveway a major amount of snow needs to get plowed. Have I mentioned the word, OOPS?!? If the paved road and turn-around do not get plowed Isaiah and the two neighbor boys will get picked up and dropped off at the beginning of the road..... TWO MILES away!!!

Thankfully, the neighbor with the other two school-aged boys has a four-wheeler with a plow attachment and has plowed our turn-around for the bus. Because we were unaware of our important duty the bus company called the neighbors complaining about the lack of snow removal. Apparently the bus company did not have our number yet. Hi, we're the Rollis, you know the new neighbors the bus company called your house complaining about? Nice to meet you. Sheesh!

Matthew is at this very moment researching a major snow pushing, blowing, removing type of machine to purchase that will plow out our half of Polk County. The Polk County plow drivers are probably busy plowing the other half of the county that we are NOT responsible for.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Thinking Ahead

Isaiah was granted a cookie after school. I said he could have a second cookie if he wanted but he opted for some cheez-its instead. He had good reason, he felt his 2nd cookie of the day would safely be achieved after supper.

After I asked if he would like a 2nd cookie he asked what we were having for supper. You see, if he felt secure with the fact that supper would meet his boy standards he knew he'd be allowed dessert. If, on the other hand, supper would be sub-standard fare dessert would be unlikely. Unlikely because he would throw a supper-time fit. With the assurance of a high quality Chef Boyardee Pizza kit he knew the 2nd cookie would be granted at dessert time, thus his second choice for snack, the cheez-its.

I was quite impressed with his ability to think a situation through fully before making a decision. Because of Isaiah's forethought he was able to enjoy not only cheez-its but, two cookies as well. Brilliant.

Miss Independant

Three months ago I thought I'd introduce the idea of potty-training to Anna. We purchased the pink pull-ups and bought a 2nd potty chair for the second bathroom. She went in the potty chair once and could not have been any less interested then she was at that time. When Isaiah taught me how to potty-train a child five years ago he thoroughly showed me how sticker charts, treat bribes and new big boy underpants DO NOT mean a hill o' beans. I learned my lesson and decided to just wait for Anna to be interested.

I waited. Waited some more. Waited again. Last week Anna saw the package of pull-ups that made the move to Osceola with us and thought they looked neat. Well she told me she wanted to wear her pull-ups last Wednesday and has been nearly spot on for almost a whole week. I'm impressed. Relieved. Seeing the light at the end of the babyhood tunnel. Sigh... we've almost made it. The money wasted on an occasional wet pull-up will be evened out by the savings on stickers, paper and ink. It's allllll good.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Inevitable

Because of the "snow storm" Matthew wanted me to have LOTS of food in the house, just in case. I obliged and picked Isaiah up from school as we had to run up to St. Croix Falls to pick up their Christmas card pictures. The pictures were at the Wal-Mart Supercenter so one-stop-shopping it is! Yes!

We have sled casualties at our home. We use 'em and loose 'em? No idea where these things go. Now that I think about it the casualties may have happened because of our lack of a garage. Not a problem anymore hopefully the problem will be no more. We shall see. As a result of our sled shortage I splurged and bought two different sleds of two different styles. I thought it might be neat to try out some of our hills in the yard and see if they are sled-able. I also bought enough food for a week, even though I don't usually go shopping until Mondays or Tuesdays. All the preparations are ready and set for at lest a foot of snow.

Know what? Because of all planning we did I bet we'll receive a whoppin' 2 inches of powdery fluff. Ya think?

Friday, November 30, 2007

Way to Go Papa Rolli




Matthew acquired this guy Friday after Thanksgiving near his parents home farm in Gratiot, WI. He'll be getting this guy mounted, nice accomplishment. This buck was a fighter as well. On the deer's left antler there was a hole due to an early buck fight, a tine may have been broken off. Also, there was a big infected area near his nose due to fighting. What's more Matthew noticed a long scar on the buck's neck from another buck's antler. This guy was a mean 'ol bully methinks. Although no deer is safe on Rolli hunting ground, fighter or no. If it's brown it's down. (not really, I'm just saying) Nice shootin' Matthew I'm sure he'll be tasty.


Thursday, November 29, 2007

It's Who You Know

Today at breakfast we were discussing our day and what we all will be doing. Matthew has a very big meeting today at the shop with Hudson's mayor, the Chamber's president and some other folks. He's planning a bid to-do in Hudson next summer where very, very talented signmakers from all over the world will be coming to Hudson to make it even "prettier" than it already is. These big to-dos are called Letterhead Meets. You've heard car mechanics called gear-heads? Well, sign makers who are interested in keeping up the old school way of sign crafting belong to a group called the Letterheads. We have attended many Letterhead Meets over the years and have made life long friends with some very talented painters. Amazing work I tell ya. Amazing. If all goes according to plan these Letterheads will be doing various projects around town like murals and other "stuff" for all to see.

Matthew would like the support of some town official-type people to get this Meet up and running. He was talking about this meeting when Isaiah asked who would be attending the meeting. Matthew mentioned that some folks from the Phipps would be at the meeting as well. Did Isaiah's eyes light up at that piece of information. You see last summer Isaiah took a neat art class at the Phipps' and at the end of the summer the participants were allowed to have their work displayed at a little reception for the summer art camp attenders and their families. Not many children participated so Isaiah's project was the only one from his class that was up on the wall. In his little boy mind he had won. He was THE kid to be, ya know? Not only was his masterpiece displayed at the Phipps' reception but we volunteered his project to be displayed at the Hudson Hospital as well. Well, Isaiah had a bright idea about how to make Matthew's meeting go smashingly today.

Isaiah asked if the Phipps' personnel attending Papa's meeting were the same "judges" who looked at his masterpiece. Matthew said that in fact, they were. Isaiah looked pleased as punch when he said, "Papa, just tell those guys you are Isaiah Rolli's dad and your meeting will go just fine."

Osceola Sunrise

This is the view off our deck in the morning. The sun comes up over the wetlands that are down the hill. I'm so excited when it's a clear day because we can eat our breakfast and look out the window at this magnificent display of God's work. The first morning we were here at our new home we all stood at the deck window and offered a prayer of thanksgiving for the beautiful sunrise.








Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Sharin' the Love

All this talk of quilts, finished quilts, quilt retreats, etc. I just thought I'd share the love and show you all Anna's new quilt for her "big girl bed". My mom whipped this out in less than a month. Really! She stippled it. (quilting technique)


I picked out the colors I wanted from paint samples at Home Depot and mom took Anna's colors to the quilt shop downtown Hudson and found the perfect fabrics to match the colors.


Anna's blue bed is more a cornflower blue and the pink in her quilt isn't that intense. The camera's battery is dying and I don't know where the charger is yet, I think that's why the colors aren't true. Hazard of moving.


Thanks mom. We love your hard work.








Monday, November 19, 2007

Recipe for a Good Laugh

Follow this link. Thank you Kelli!

Nice Try - Updated

I don't know if all the other computers in the world do this or just mine so I'll preface. When I type in a designated "box" my computer remembers the other things I've typed in similar boxes and offers popular choices. For instance, when filling out a box for my name it'll pop up the choices I usually type like Kathryn or Katie. If I have to fill in my email for a certain reason it'll pop up my old email from Hudson and my new email address. I can use the down arrows, hit enter and there's less typing. I type pretty quickly so the suggestions don't save all that much time. It's a nice offer however.

Anyhow, my point is in regards to the word verification deals that one must go through to get a comment published on blogs. As I was commenting on a blog today and attempted to fill out the word verification all of the other words starting with "s" popped up. I didn't count them but the scroll bar popped up as well. Now why, I ask, would one want to search through the list to see if there's a possible match? As if. Wouldn't it be quicker to just put on the 3D-glasses you need to figure out the letters and type it? I get the name boxes, address boxes and email boxes but, word verification boxes? Really? Is that necessary?


ps Word Verification? In what language?

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Rubber Teeth

As Isaiah and I were discussing the impending loss of his first top tooth he wondered about the size of the adult tooth that will replace the baby tooth. I told him it would be larger than the baby tooth.

He thinks that's great as he then could pretend to be a rabbit (picture a boy forcing a buck-tooth look) or even that ice age thing. A saber-toothed tiger? Nope. An Arctic Hare? Nope, you know that big thing with loooonngg teeth in the front. Oh, you mean a walrus? Yeah, a walrus. I could pretend to be a walrus. I suppose you could pretend that. (They won't be THAT much bigger, but the boy was left to imagine)

Isaiah then told me that walrus' were made of rubber to keep warm. Wow! The things I learn from my first grader, it's amazing.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Thursday Night

Me: It's Thursday. The Office. Please be asleep by 8, please be asleep by 8, please be asleep by 8! (this is said with much pleading to my dearest girly Anna)

Will the pleading work? Who knows? I may just ask for The Office season's DVDs for Christmas. Mom, Sally there's your one and only hint for Christmas. Do with it what you will. Until then, Anna, please be asleep by 8, please be asleep by 8, please.........

Games

Anna has a new skill she's been working on for the past couple months. It's using her imagination. She likes to pretend things and role play out different scenarios. These are her two favorites, notice the openness she leaves herself for character choice.

Anna: (pretending to be a bear, kitten, puppy, robot, pirate or bunny) I'm the baby whatever and you be the mama whatever.

Me: (pretending to be mama of whatever) Oh, I love you sooo much my baby whatever. You are my best whatever.

Her second pretend scene is that she has acquired a little pet puppy, kitten, bear or bunny. She holds up her little 28-month-old hand and shows me her "little" friend. She is actually thinking her animal fits nicely in her hand. Well, we love the animal up and then she hands responsibility over to me and says how the baby whatever wants me to hold them. At any given time during the day I may have up to 5 little friends tucked safely in my pocket.

Greek to Me

Isaiah was getting ready for school and I noticed he didn't have his hat. I asked him where it was located and he said, "Oh, I think I left it in the dirt room." I do believe he meant the mud room.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

New Clinic

Well, I gave up. I'm still coughing using an inhaler and two days ago I felt a sinus infection starting up. I toughed it out for two weeks, since last round of antibiotics, and can't take it anymore. I've had it.

We filled out appropriate paperwork at the Osceola Medical Center and saw a very nice nurse and Dr. I felt as though I could speak at my normal speed and that I wasn't required to condense everything because they needed the space for the next patient. Wow! What's that like? Nice. I now get to try Zithromax and Flonase for bronchitis and a sinus infection. I'll let you all know how it's going. I'm sure you're on the edge of your computer chair.

I will be eating yogurt and blowing my nose until further notice.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Born Cheesehead

Dear Viking fans,

Yikes!

Love, me

FCC New Richmond and Friends

Well today we tried out Faith Community in New Richmond. We wanted to give it a try as New Richmond is 11 minutes from our home versus Hudson's time of 30 minutes. Matthew drives to Hudson everyday since that's where our shop is located so.... driving back every Sunday may be a bit much. Don't worry Hudson FCC-ers we will come back occasionally. So no scolding, okay?

We figured we would like it since it is our daughter church. Matthew did all the sign work for the new building so he knows Pastor Mike personally which is nice. It was cool! We bought our new home from Keith and Patty Thomas and they attend the N.R. church so we were able to see them and meet some of their family members. Very welcoming but, being the introvert I am, a tad overwhelming. As soon as we chit-chatted a sufficient amount I scooted out to get my kiddos. Matthew wanted to then stay, grab a coffee, mingle, introduce me to Pastor Mike, ya know... extrovert stuff. I declined and said meeting Keith's brother and sister-in-law was good enough for one weekend. Thanks for the offer.

It was kind of like going home to your aunt's house. It's not home but it's still nice. Who knows maybe someday it will feel like home? Again... no scolding we WILL come back occasionally. Anna seemed to be fine going to her nursery area and Isaiah will enjoy his group, too. I think the move is hard for Isaiah because he's known the kids his age in Hudson all his life, or at least the majority of his life. Coming to school in Osceola and meeting new kids at Faith in N.R. is such a different experience for him. No matter what he's done he has always known at least one other child from somewhere along his little journey. Now, he knows not one person. I can tell it's wearing on him. He doesn't understand new friendships will take time.

The neighbor boy next door is playing football with Isaiah right now in our front yard. Isaiah's been looking forward to that all weekend! Our neighbor is a second grader and rides Isaiah's bus so Isaiah feels a connection. I actually let Isaiah run next door and ask if Hunter could come over and play in the front yard. On Isaiah's way home to tell me the update I never saw him run so fast in my life! Hunter could in fact come over and Isaiah was so excited he nearly flew home to tell me. This too is a new experience. We have never had neighbors in which to invite over to just play outside. I grew up with that and those memories are some of my favorites. I am excited for Isaiah in that respect and I'm sure having Hunter next door will be very helpful for Isaiah.

Enjoy your Sunday afternoon and are the quilters home yet???????

Friday, November 9, 2007

Whose Idea Was This?????

Can I just say I think it's a bad idea that all the bloggers became quilters this weekend. I finally get my internet back and everyone is gone. Also.... I know Kristi would have at least been awake with me at 4:02 in the morning, now I'm sitting in blog land by myself with nothing new to read.

Hey Kelli, how'd I do?

Thursday, November 8, 2007

BB Gun Rules and Hunting

This is just an FYI regarding the deal with the BB gun Isaiah received, and LOVED, last night.

The gun only comes out of the locked gun cabinet when Papa is taking it out. Isaiah is never allowed to even look at the gun unless Papa is right there with him. He must always wear the protective goggles I personally picked out.

We will be shooting at paper targets only, for awhile. My rule: No shooting people or pets. Clever, huh? That rule applies to all guns, pretend or real. No fun...I know.

He will take hunter's safety, though not yet. I know Matthew will instill all the right rules and precautions on his own. Also, I'm afraid if Isaiah takes hunter's safety now Mr.TooBigForHisBritches, Isaiah, will think he's all set for the real deal. I don't think so.

I did not grow up in a hunting family. My dad went deer hunting, read drank beer and played cards, with his buddies when he was younger. I was two the last time my dad went hunting. As a result when I witnessed the phenomenon that is hunting in Matthew's family I was a bit taken aback. This family eats, sleeps, dreams all things hunting. Deer hunting is a national holiday in the Rolli family.

Being the anti-girly-girl I was faced with the decision of staying in the house with the girls or joining the boys in the woods. Hmmmm? I figured if you can't beat 'em join 'em. I went out with Matthew one year just to see what it was like. They drive deer in that part of the state as opposed to sitting in deer stands. Hard work. I liked it though so I thought I better get myself into a hunter's safety class. The adult class I took was just for a weekend so it didn't get drawn out like Kristi's experience. I also told myself that I had to ace the class or I wouldn't be qualified to hunt. Harsh, huh? I did ace my class so I allowed myself to the next season.

Driving deer is a group effort. The drivers walk a determined area and they all have to stay in a line or the deer will scoot through the drivers. The drivers are not right next to each other and sometimes you can't even see the drivers that are next to you so it is a tricky skill to master.

The sitters sit at designated areas in hopes that the drivers will push a deer or two their direction. I mostly was a sitter as my legs weren't long enough to keep up. This is good and bad. Good because driving is hard work. Bad because you could be sitting for a good two hours and when it's cold and you have to "go" it can be a loooonng wait.

Anyhow, I did get a really nice doe my first year. I got initiated too. When you get your first deer and you gut it Opa Rolli smears your face with the blood. A little blood if it's a doe, a lot of blood if it's a buck. Sounds gross but it's pretty cool.

I was only able to hunt for two seasons as my baby boy was born and as a result, I've been a mom for the last seven years so hunting hasn't really worked out. I know I'll go out again and will love every minute of it. Eventually. Anna will most likely enjoy hunting, too. How do I know? When we watch the Outdoor Channel she gets mad at the hunters on TV and says, "I no want dem to shoot dat bear, I want to shoot heem." So, I'm just guessing here but she might be wearing Isaiah's hand-me-down blaze.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

My Boy is Seven Today

Today is my boy's golden birthday! Can you believe it?

We aren't really having a big hoopla party with his friends, as we have the past few years. A result of the move. His Hudson friends are a bit far away and he doesn't have a list of friends in Osceola yet as this is his third day of school.

So.... here's what we are doing. He opened a couple packages this morning that arrived in the mail over the weekend. He picked his favorite meal, porcupine meatballs. (Not made with real porcupine mind you) Over all the desserts I can make he picked a boring cake mix, however, he fancied up the frosting choice. Red frosting in the middle, blue on top and chocolate on the sides. His multi-colored layer cake is relaxing in the fridge at this moment. No real idea on the reason for the frosting choices but a boy turns 7 only once so ... whatever.

After supper and the rainbow cake he'll open the gifts from Matthew, Anna and myself. Anna is giving him the Jungle Book movie. The gift Matthew and I are giving required me to revisit the promises I made to God on Isaiah's dedication day. It's a BB gun along with all the safety gear and ammo. Matthew's been waiting for this day since the ultrasound technician first announced we were expecting a boy. I have been holding my breath for this moment and now that it's here I am hoping the snow flies early and BB gun activities will be quickly exchanged for sledding activities. This mom gig is hard work.

That would be the whole shebang. My parents and sister are coming over Saturday for buffalo burgers and to continue the celebration of Isaiah's 7-ness.

I was initially going to recount Isaiah's birthday but, in light of Erin's pregnancy I shall refrain. Not that Isaiah's birth was horrible, I'm just going to refrain at the present time.



ps Are you noticing a food theme here? Porcupine meatballs and buffalo burgers. The buffalo is actual bison however.

I'm Home

Hello....

We made it, mostly. We are home and living in our new house. We all love it and feel at home here. There are a few loose ends to wrap up at the house in Hudson but, for the most part, we are here. The majority of the boxes are unpacked and I will need to decide where all of the decorations go. Major commitment decision. Do I really want to pound a nail in the wall here? Or here? Pressure I tell ya.

You all may have these things at your homes, they are called closets and garages. Wow, are they ever nice to have. If you don't have closets or garages at your homes I highly recommend them as you can put all the extra stuff you do not need on a daily basis into them. Really. The extra stuff does not, I repeat DOES NOT, have to sit on the limited kitchen counter space. I love this idea. Love it I say!! Very cool.

Isaiah happily went to his new school on Monday. He does not have my gift of shyness and so does wonderfully meeting new people. He loves the gym teacher. Isaiah likes his classroom teacher as well. I was mostly worried about his classroom teacher adjustment as he really was sad to leave Mrs. O at his Hudson school. I think he'll do just fine. We really like the district and I am happy about their curriculum.

Across the road from us is a wonderful family that brought over frozen chili and banana bread the first night we moved in. Along with the food they gave us a card that stated their email, phone number and the names of their family members. How welcoming. They have twin girls that are exactly 6mos. older than Anna. The three girls will be in the same grade. How fun. Next door to us is a family that has two boys one in 7th grade and one a year older than Isaiah. They ride the bus together every morning. I'm thinking summers will be very fun for Hunter and Isaiah.


We are here, home, and it feels nice. We've never felt as though we were done moving before. We do now. It's a nice feeling.

I've caught up on everyone's blog, didn't comment, but I did catch up. Missed you guys. Glad to be back.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Update and Sign Off........for now

Here's the deal. Isaiah, Anna and myself have all been diagnosed with an atypical bacterial bronchial infection. Huh? Isaiah was told he has bronchitis, Anna pneumonia and myself pleurisy. Whatever. We all have the same deal and are on our second round of stronger antibiotics. Isaiah and I are both on albuterol as needed as well, for asthma, a result of this lung thing.

These stupid hives are just stress related and I know I'll be feeling good once we're in our new home.

Today is Isaiah's last day at school. I'll be picking him up and we'll go to my mom and dad's house for supper. I volunteered my mom for that job, thank you mom. As soon as the kids have swallowed their last bite we'll put on their costumes and go through the motions of trick-or-treating at my parent's house. After they have received their treats we will happily hop in the car and go HOME. Yippee! Tonight's our first night at our new house.

Yesterday we closed on the house and it was accidentally an allllll day deal that should have been done by lunch time. The mortgage guy was on vacation last week and something did not get done while he was gone so, yesterday they were scrambling and we had to wait a long time for paperwork to get to all the right people.

I will be without internet for about a week, til next Tuesday, so I won't get to read your blogs until Wednesday. sigh.....

I'll be baack.

So long, farewell, auf weidersehn, adieu

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Greatful

Thank you all for caring. Thank you for talking. Thank you for praying. This blog thing is pretty cool for a cooped up mama. I cried a bunch feeling thankful that you guys were there and cared.

Anna and I just got back from the chiropractor's office and if nothing else I feel calmer. The hives will go away eventually as will this stinkin' cough. I just have to get through this next week and life can be normal again.

This is a bit rambly but, I thank you guys a bunch.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Enough Already!

Isaiah started coughing about two weeks ago. Nothing came of his cough so I thought it was maybe allergies. 1.5 weeks ago I got very achy and started to cough as well, hmmm? Isaiah was not achy and nothing hurt nonetheless last Wednesday I picked him up from school so we could have our coughs listened to.

Isaiah had bronchitis and I was on the verge. GRRREEAAT! Yet another amoxicillan party for the Rolli family. (Last year Isaiah was so sick with strep, bronchitis and pneumonia that Matthew wanted me to take out stock in whomever makes the stuff. We have all been going to a chiropractor for quite sometime and so far, no strep. We never get regular colds just lung stuff.) Anyhow, after nearly a week on medicine with no improvement we went back to the clinic yesterday. We needed to get our coughs rechecked and I have broken out in a wonderful case of hives. Isaiah's wheezing actually increased and after an x-ray pneumonia was ruled out, I mentioned asthma and we now are doing nebulizer treatments as needed for Isaiah. His cough has improved since yesterday. I have medicine for hives that I started today and I still feel so crummy I can't pack up the house, we close a week from today.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE taking medicine and giving medicine to the kids? I don't know what else to do at this point and I'm so frustrated and sick of being sick. And the hives? What the heck? My mom thinks it's stress from everyone being sick and the moving, etc. I haven't done anything new in regards to the hives being an allergic reaction. Nothing I can think of anyhow.

Sorry this is complete complaining but I'm very, very frustrated. My cough, virus, bronchitis crapola is getting much better and I think I'll be good by the weekend. Isaiah will be feeling better soon with the addition of the asthma meds. I just really DO NOT want to take this stuff for hives and I have no idea why I have them. I'm trying to stay calm and relax but am frustrated. I'm extremely thankful Anna is not coughing and is not sick, nor is Matthew. If you get a chance would you please say a prayer for Isaiah and myself? These last two weeks have been rather draining and we really have to be getting ready to move. Thank you blog friends.

ps Erin I feel your pain on the itchiness although I promise your itchiness is for a completely different reason. :)

Friday, October 19, 2007

ISTP

All this talk about Myers Briggs made me curious. Matthew and I went to the conference FCC had about 7.5 years ago. I was pregnant with Isaiah and we were newly married. I remember it being really interesting but couldn't remember what we were/are.

I'm an ISTP and Matthew is an ENTJ.

My "S" score was 25 with only a 1 on the "N" side. Just give me the facts people. A phrase that described an ISTP was, "If they want help, they'll ask for it." I have said that since I was little. I get completely stressed out if people offer to help with stuff. Matthew wanted to have my mom come over and help out with laundry after my second C-section and I started to cry. Most people probably would have been thankful. I got stressed. You should have seen the emotion when Matthew's mom offered to cook food, gasp, are you nuts? I cried for days over that incident. It all makes much more sense why I responded that way now.

An occupation they describe for an ENTJ was a business owner. Guess what Matthew is? He runs his own sign business. Also, in reference to answering the question, "Is the glass half full or half empty?" ENTJs say, "Hey, this isn't a water glass it's a beer glass!" Thought that was funny.

An ISTP's answer to the glass question is, "Who cares it's just water." Yep, that's me. I would definitely say, "Who gives a rip?"

If you know what you are let me know. I forgot how fun this was.

Home

Well, we bought ourselves a house. We will close October 30th and move that weekend. The house is in Alden Township/Osceola school district and is north of Star Prairie, which is north of New Richmond. It'll take Matthew about 30 minutes to get back to Hudson to work. For now I think we'll still attend FCC on Sundays but....sniff....sniff....it'll be too far at night, on country roads, in the winter to come back for AWANA. Huge bummer but, I'm sure we'll find something local that we like. I'll miss my Sparks soooo stinkin' much. I had to call Kim G. on Wednesday and tell her that next Wednesday will be my last night.

We weren't planning on moving until next summer, after the school year, but it just sort of happened. I'll explain the house saga but first a little look into the housing history of Matthew and Katie Rolli. If I hadn't been there I wouldn't have believed it.

About nine years ago we rented an OLD farmhouse in Baldwin. To save money on the $600/mo. rent (I know) my dear cousin Courtney rented with us. We barely squeaked out the $400/mo. This house was originally a one room log cabin built in the 1860s. Now before you get the wrong idea it was NOT how one pictures a quaint one room log cabin. It had obviously been added on to many a time, typical of farmhouses. The only remnants of the quaintness was if you peeked into the attic, yikes, you saw the original exterior of the home. That was where the quaintness ended. This house had quirks, not quaintness.

For instance, if Matthew stood in the kitchen, originally part of the porch, near the fridge and I stood in the doorway of the kitchen I was taller. Matthew is 6'2" and I'm 5'3". Do the math and you'll see the floor sloped a good 11".

The pump for the house was located above ground and many times during the winter we would have to boil the water from the toilet tank to pour onto the pump, in an attempt to unfreeze the pump. If it didn't work the first time we then would have to boil snow. Later we realized that it we left the kitchen sink drip on super cold nights it kept the pump running and freezing happened less.

Heating the house itself was always challenging. There was a huge oil heater in the center room, the dining room. It measured approximately 4'x2.5'. The way to ignite the heater was a process. We kept matches and newspaper by the heater. We had to first open the oil valve to start the oil flow and then wait 15minutes. When we felt there was enough oil to ignite we opened a little door on the bottom of the heater where the oil ring was located. We rolled a piece of newspaper into a tight stick and lit the end with a match. With the lighted newspaper we stuck the flame onto the oil ring and hoped it would ignite. Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't. If it didn't start up right away we had to wait longer for more oil to seep in. It took a long time to get the heating process going. Initially the heater had a fan to blow the hot air around the house but the cord was old and frayed. It was fabric. So we constantly had an oscillating floor fan going to blow the heat around.

We also converted an old milk house into a chicken coop and had a little flock of chickens. Even the chickens would run away to the neighbor's house. No kidding. They would run across Hwy. N, risking their lives and go live with the folks across the street. The neighbors would come over and let us know. They could tell which were our chickens because ours layed larger brown eggs then their own chickens. We told them it was fine if they stayed. The Rolli chickens apparently enjoyed it over their better.

There's more but I'll save it for another blog. We moved to an apartment in Hudson when Isaiah was 6 months old. We loved living on Third Street. Lots of fun neighborhoods to walk through and we would walk downtown and window shop frequently.

About 3.5 years ago we moved to our current house on Hwy. 12. We like it here and we've made it work. We were not looking to buy a house when we moved here but we needed a place for the business and the house came with the garage. We've always wanted some land so the kids could have a similar animal experience as Matthew did growing up on a farm. We couldn't make that happen in Hudson so....we're off to Osceola.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Something New

Anna just walked up to me gave me a hug and said, "You a nice human." I had to repeat her and ask if that is what she said. She confirmed. I thanked her. I don't believe anyone has ever said that to me before?

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Pros and Propers

During a conversation with Anna I thought I'd ask some questions, just to see how she would answer. I asked Anna what her brother's name is and she didn't have an answer. Then I asked her what her boy's name is and she said, "Ee-ah" (Isaiah). She doesn't think of him as her brother but as "her boy".

I was surprised when I asked what her Papa's name is and she said, "Matthew". I thought that was pretty good for a two-year-old. I figured if she knew Matthew's name she must know my name, right? I asked what is your Mama's name and she looked at me like I was goofy and said, "Mama". Silly me. I can't figure out why she has caught on to Matthew's name and not mine? I just thought it was interesting.



ps I have a cold and I feel like junk, so this is all I've got.
pps We have found another house, our offer's been accepted, more on that later...

Thursday, October 11, 2007

FYI

Note to self: When you notice Anna putting raisins in the front pocket of her overalls don't forget to empty said pocket before doing laundry.

When we found out Isaiah was to be a boy everyone said things regarding his pockets. They mentioned how you have to watch what boys keep in their pockets and how you need to be sure to empty their pockets before you accidentally send a frog, or other such thing, through your wash machine. Isaiah never, ever hid stuff in his pockets. Anna, on the other hand, has THE cleanest collection of rocks, sand, sticks and now raisins.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Our 8th Wedding Anniversary

Eight years ago today Matthew and I were married at Faith Community Church by Pastor Larry. It was a gorgeous, sunny fall day and I think around 72 degrees. We've been through quite some adventures good, bad and in-between. There's not one other person in this world in which I want to continue our adventures together. I love you Matthew and thank you for all my surprises today.

I am not the type of wife that really gets hung up on cards and flowers. It is not my thing. I don't know why? Just how I am I suppose. Matthew and I usually go out to eat for dinner the Saturday before or after our anniversary depending on which day the 9th of October falls. Right now we are in midst of a very disappointing house/land hunting expedition. (Blog fodder for another day) Matthew is also in the midst of revamping and growing the company. Not an easy task by any means. He's good at what he does and I have complete confidence he'll be successful in all the changes he wants to implement. Anyhow, we're busy add that to the fact that "romantic" stuff just isn't something I long for. Boring, I know. Matthew and I agreed to fore go the gift/card yada yada and get something for the house, if we ever find one. Sounds good to me I said. Well, little did know.....

Matthew called this morning from work and asked if I wanted to go out to lunch today at around 11. I said sure but reminded him that I'd have Anna in tow and lets do something more like McDonald's versus linen tablecloths and napkins. We compromised and agreed to meet at pier 500 downtown. Ya just can't beat that coconut shrimp salad, plus the friendly accommodations to children. Anna and I pulled in and saw Matthew waiting in the truck. It was about quarter to 11 and they don't open til 11 so, we walked around the block. While we walked he said, "Just take my lead today." Huh? What does that mean? He wouldn't elaborate so I knew something was cookin' and it wasn't the shrimp.

We then went in the restaurant and they put us at a booth with a bunch of little red tealights all around the booth. Ours was the ONLY booth in the place to have little red tealights. Hhmm... Also there was a little gift bag and card already on the table. That sneaky Matthew got there early and set up the gift. He also called the owner of pier 500, Andy, and asked about any special stuff they could do for the occasion. Cool, huh? I think that's how the candles got there. Matthew was pretty adamant about getting Anna her lunch ordered ASAP. I didn't think too much of that because we usually order for the kids right away because eating children tend to make much less noise in restaurants compared to the hungry and waiting for lunch type of children. Matthew and I ordered our food and right after we got our bread the hostess walked over and said that these flowers were just delivered to the restaurant for me! Can you believe it? They are very beautiful. (I also am not big on the whole roses thing and would prefer fall-colored unusual flowers instead, weird, I know)

Anna was behaving very nicely and Matthew and I were enjoying our lunch when who should appear? It was none other than Neil, one of the guys that works at the shop. Neil just happens to be one of Anna's VERY FAVORITE PEOPLE. She adores this guy, seriously. Matthew had arranged for Neil to come down at just the right time to take Anna for a little walk by the water to see the ducks. I can't even begin to explain Anna's excitement. Not to mention Matthew and I had a good 15 minutes to talk all by ourselves. Thank you Neil soooo much!!!!

As Neil was bringing Anna back from their walk a ginormous piece of chocolate cake with ice cream showed up at the table. The waitress said it was "On the House". At this point I nearly started crying with gratitude. I held it together so as not to embarrass Matthew and Neil, or myself for that matter. Keep in mind I'm and introvert and all of this attention was a bit crazy for me.
I so enjoyed our hour together, Matthew. Thank you for taking the time I would not have taken. You are my best friend and I love you the most. Happy Anniversary and just remember I called it.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Update

Isaiah is doing fine. He was extremely sad on Wednesday morning, not wanting to go to school, etc. Matthew and I sent him along regardless. I knew the busyness would make him forget as he's a little boy and that's how his brain works. When he got home off the bus I asked him how he did and if he made it okay. Isaiah said he was sad coming home on the bus. I thought that was pretty good. It was crazy hair night at AWANA and that raised his spirits. How could you not enjoy having red and blue spiked hair?

Thursday he did fine getting ready for school and was excited to be taking Auntie Sally out for dinner that evening. Matthew was out of town (until this afternoon, Sunday) and gave Isaiah some money to take us all out to eat. Thank you Matthew! Isaiah got home from school in a fine mood, freshened himself up, grabbed his wallet and off we went. I wanted to pick Sally up at her home because that would be the first time Isaiah had visited without Freddy being there. He, Isaiah, seemed a little quiet but the excitement helped. We took Auntie Sally to Applebee's and guess what???? The table we sat under had a Tiffany-style lamp with cats going all around the shade! Isn't that cool? We were there because of Fred and God gave us a special little way to remember. We looked all around the restaurant and that was the only cat light in the whole place, that we saw.

Yesterday we were at my parent's house and Isaiah happily placed some more rocks around Fred's spot. He has adjusted quite well and I think we have successfully accomplished this challenge of life. I'm thankful for Isaiah's ability to ask when he wonders and accept the hard parts of life when they happen. I'm proud of my little guy, he did great. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and words. I know we were merely dealing with an animal but Fred was pretty important to Isaiah.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Fred

I picked Isaiah up from school a half hour early yesterday. He needed the extra time to say good-bye to Fred before the vet. clinic appointment. Isaiah didn't know why I was picking him up early as the decision to put Fred down was made after Isaiah was in school for the day. I told him we had to go to Auntie Sally's to say good-bye to Fred. He took in the information and became a little teary in the car. I asked him a couple times if he had any questions and he said he did not. We got to my sister's and noticed Fred did not look or act like himself. He also noticeably had a fever. Isaiah and Fred cuddled for awhile. Isaiah cried, a lot, and said what he needed to to Fred. Isaiah also had the emotional strength to munch an after school snack/meal of cereal, PB sandwich and pudding. (sorry for the grocery depletion Sally) I thought this a good sign as life does need to continue and at least Isaiah's tummy was heading in the right direction.

We packed up Fred and left for the vet. They have a very nice room in which the procedure takes place. The Dr. explained the process and would start the procedure when my sister gave the okay. I repeated the information to Isaiah and made sure his questions were answered. Isaiah wanted to hold Fred during the procedure and I said Sally would need to do that in case his muscles twitched. I didn't want that to upset Isaiah if that were to happen. After Fred was gone Isaiah was able to hold him and when Isaiah and Sally were ready the Dr. took Fred out of the room. I had a cat, Fred's litter mate, who was put down 6years ago. We buried that kitty in my parent's backyard. Fred was placed in a box, along with a picture and a little craft project Isaiah made for Fred, and brought back to my parent's home. We thanked God for the time and memories we had with Fred and that was that.

Isaiah, and Sally, were very brave and courageous to do such a selfless act. Isaiah was still pretty sad about Fred this morning and he cried some more. I told him it's okay to cry and that even though we won't get to cuddle Freddy any longer we will always have our happy thoughts. He went to school with a note for his teacher explaining the situation in case it comes up at school. Matthew and I thought routine would be the best for Isaiah. Isaiah would have been happy to stay home today.

Tomorrow we're taking my sister out to eat for supper. We'll pick her up first. That will be the first time going over to her home without Fred. I thought the sooner the better for that experience. I think it'll be pretty tough for my tenderhearted boy. We are proud of the way Isaiah handled himself. He cried when he needed to and he laughed when he needed to. All very good things.

Pumpkins

We're officially open. Matthew was unable to get a banner made before he went out of town so...I'll just let the bloggers know. The kids have decided the large pumpkins will be $6 and the little guys will be $3. There's an old juice container on the table with the pumpkins for making deposits. You're invited to come whenever you'd like. If you would just like some pumpkins without going to a pumpkin patch this is the place for you!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

If Only...

A while back I posted on my sister's kitty, Fred, and how his time may be coming to an end. (I'd do a cool little link thing if I was as blog saavy as the rest of you) Fred, the cat has been on certain medicine and food and it's been helping. Today my sister called and mentioned how she'll need to call the vet. today as it doesn't look good. I've been bringing up the subject often with Isaiah so as to prepare him for the inevitable. He's been handling the situation very well. Isaiah even made a little craft for Fred to look at and love while he's still here and then the craft will be placed in Fred's box when he makes the trek back to Grammy and Gramps' house for his final resting place. :) I prepared Isaiah yet again and said we may have to go over to Auntie Sally's house after school and give Fred some hugs. (That's code for putting Fred down) He took in the information and then had a brilliant idea. Hey, maybe Fred just needs some adjustments! Wouldn't Dr.Z be proud? If only it were that simple.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Marketing, Power Suits and Pumpkins

The kiddos are being trained in the fine art of being self-employed. This is the second year in which Opa kindly grows some pumpkins on his farm for Isaiah and Anna and we set up a little self-serve pumpkin stand in our driveway to sell the pumpkins. We did this about three years ago and are selling them again this year. Isaiah enjoys it and Anna has been happily hugging and kissing all the "baby" pumpkins.

Matthew makes a little banner for the yard indicating pumpkins for sale, Isaiah and Anna set up a little display of pumpkins, they cut a percentage to Opa (Opa doesn't approve of this part but we make him take it anyway), and then Isaiah and Anna split the profits.

This year Isaiah is all about the marketing. He was up at 5:30 this morning ready to set up the display we were able to hold him off til 6:30. Isaiah also had sharing today at school and when asked what he was going to bring he calmly told me he had it all planned out in his head. What's planned out? Oh, I planned out what I'm going to say. Yes, but what are you bringing? He said he wasn't bringing anything, just words. He was pitching his pumpkin campaign to the first graders this morning. He wanted everyone in his class to know he was open for business. I for one am glad jersey day was on Friday as today I sent him to school in his power suit.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

M.I.A.

I'm putting out an APB on one of Anna's possessions she didn't even know she had but is distraught on not being able to find it. We were happily reading a little story about different parts of the body and what they are for. Arms are for hugging and reaching way up high. Tongues are for tasting and singing la-la-la, etc. etc. Lips are for giving kisses and whistling. It was at this point Anna became distressed. You see Anna has lost her whistle. At first I thought she forgot where her lips were. Nope. She knew about lips, it was in fact her whistle. She can't find it and wants it back. She is very upset, understandably. Please, if you find a little two-year old whistle, it belongs to Anna.

Finally!

Not-so-Fantastic Sams has been vindicated. Finally! I thought after three attempts it had to go right eventually, right? Right! After church I dropped my kiddos off to visit with Auntie Sally, Matthew is out of town. I then proceeded to do battle with another stylist. I was thinking I probably wasn't giving them a big enough challenge and thought maybe I should add highlights to my list of wants. I haven't had those in close to 6 years, why not? I showed the stylist the style I wanted and we picked a color for my 15foils.

She finished. I looked. I liked. I tipped. I'm going to pretend I went to A'la Mode. I will now enjoy the 6-8weeks before my next battle. I may never win the war but if I can win a battle once in awhile I'll be happy.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Not What You Think

Isaiah was explaining to me about one of his favorite friends at school. Her name is, "C" and she's a girl who happened to be in his kindergarten class last year as well. Isaiah and C usually play together at recess time, along with other friends, and play some sort of chasing game. Yesterday, however, Isaiah and C joined some boys playing football. Isaiah expressed how much fun it was to play football with C. He said he really liked playing with nice girls. He also mentioned how he likes fast girls. I'm positive he was merely commenting on the speed in which they run. It just sounded funny after I processed how he said that statement. I was very tired and definitely ready for bed.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

AWANA First Graders

AWANA again! So much fun, and hectic, the first night. I received my list of yellow dogs and was so excited to find out I have the same crew. One little girl hadn't registered so I'm missing only one cherub from last year. Also, one little boy brought a friend from school who is new to our church and club. How exciting! I've always had FCC kiddos and am so excited to have a little guy who hasn't been to our church home before.

If you're so inclined say a prayer for Jacob and his mom that they feel welcomed and encouraged to visit more then Wed. evenings for AWANA.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Just for Fun!

Anna really enjoyed her supper on this night. Believe it or not she got lots in her tummy, too.

















One of the guys that works at our shop is a volunteer firefighter. Neil, let Isaiah try on the gigantic set up. Isaiah felt pretty cool wearing the official gear.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Bet You Never Knew...

We were running some errands and both kiddos were in the car with me. Isaiah ponders things while we drive and informed me he would really like to have a "jumpoline". Oh really? Yep, he thinks they would be fun.

While doing the bedtime routine Isaiah filled me in on a conversation he overheard between some first grade girls in his class. Apparently the garment that mom's wear on the upper part of their body is called a "brawths". I pretended to be confused at which point Isaiah explained further. Isaiah didn't feel the need to join in the conversation but told me he thought so-and-so was wrong and that it's just called underwear. I told him he was in fact correct and that if so-and-so feels the need to educate her classmates on this topic further he could just state that isn't really appropriate to talk about at school. Good grief!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Power of Forgiveness

Anna has recently been learning what a time-out is. This is the only punishment I can come up with that is remotely successful for my strong-willed dolly. There is no time-out chair, corner, mat, etc. It's my lap, why? There's no way that 2-yr.old would sit anywhere during a time-out unrestrained. She must sit on my lap until she apologizes to whomever she has been naughty to. It is working and most of the time she apologizes and appears remorseful before we even get to the time-out on my lap.

Today at nap time, Anna's least favorite activity, she did her usual cry and rant and rave on the horror that is nap time. She then stopped right in the middle of a scream looked at me and said, "Sorry, Mama." I asked why she was apologizing and Anna said, "Ummm, hmmm yet's see...what I do wrong Mama?" When I informed her she had, in fact done nothing wrong and had no need to apologize she was simply lying down for nap time she realized her plan malfunctioned and continued the ranting and raving for another 5minutes.

At least she tried...I guess? She obviously dislikes the time-out strategy of being confined to my lap and although she was merely in her bed for a much needed nap she knew how to "get-out" of it. I suppose I'll have to take what I can get. One can only do so much.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Foreigner

No not the band. It's me...according to Isaiah.

Isaiah: Where is the first house you ever lived in?
Mama: Well, I was born in Iowa.
Isaiah: (said in complete awe) You were?
Mama: Yep, Grammy and Gramps lived there for a short time.
Isaiah: Wow, what was it like? Did you like the Iowas? (said like Dakotas)
Mama: Well I was just a baby and only live there for about 9 months.
Isaiah: That is so cool now we can learn about Iowa and Mexico.

In my head I'm thinking.....what?!?! What does Mexico have to do with Iowa? Later on in this conversation I learned there is a little girl in his class that lived in Mexico and that Mrs.O said they'll have to learn a little more about Mexico. Apparently Isaiah is going to school to tell Mrs.O that his mama was amazingly born in Iowa! Can you even imagine his teacher's excitement to have two opportunities such as this. There will be brightly colored blankets, pinatas and maracas, not to mention the corn and pork chops that I'll be bringing in to share with the class.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Creative Parenting

Those that lived in the Twin Cities area during the 80's may remember a local show called Good Company. It was sort of like Regis and Kathie Lee but in St. Paul. The hosts were a married couple Steve Edleman and Sharon Anderson. They had a lot of segments with local experts and one of them was Donna Erickson. Donna was the creative parenting expert and would come on the show and do fun little projects that parents could recreate with their children at home. How nice, right?

Well I think creative parenting is a bit more than art projects and picture magnets on the fridge. I think a creative parent has to actually be creative in their thinking and answer giving. You could nearly start a nuclear meltdown with the wrong answer.

Anna noticed a leaf on the grass. She was NOT happy about that! She did NOT authorize this leaf to be ON the grass. How dare this leaf fall from the tree! The horror! So can you sense her disgust yet? She asked me why the leaf was on the grass and I said calmly that the leaf was blown off the tree from the wind. No Mama it go up dere. (pointing to the top of the tree) I'm sorry dolly that leaf won't go back on the tree. Yes Mama put it back. Okay, I'll try. I picked up the leaf and tucked it into the bark of the tree. Dat be good Mama.

In an effort to ease her into the inevitable sorrow that is autumn, I started to brace Anna for the entire season. I mentioned that soon all the leaves will turn to pretty colors like red, orange and yellow , the trees will get ready to take a nap at which point, gasp, the trees will let their leaves fall to the ground. NNNNOOOOOO! It did not go over well. I re-explained the whole pretty leaf colors situation and she appeared to slowly be okay with this fact of nature as long as there are some "boo yeaves". I did not want to cause more heartache and did not argue. Maybe there will be some blue ones? I then explained how fun it will be rake up all the leaves into a great big pile that she can jump into. The lights went on in her little head. She said, "I be fine, dat be fun, dat be good fo me." Thank you Anna.

Anna is prepared and ready. Let the fall color-rama begin! Take that Donna Erickson, mending broken hearts and having fun all in less then 5minutes!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

My Anna

These are a couple things Anna has said or did today that had me wondering.....

At snack time we were eating yogurt and fish crackers. Anna's yogurt was banana and our fish crackers happened to be the Pizza Blast flavor. Anna insisted on mixing the two together. I told her repeatedly that pizza fish and banana yogurt probably wouldn't taste the greatest....but then again what do I know? Being the Anna that she is, she mixed. I waited with a "Yikes" facial expression and anticipated a major spit-out. Nope. She loved it. She happily finished her delicious creation.

After snack, she was taking care of her babies and took them shopping at the grocery store. Anna brought me a basket of "food" from the store and told me to eat the french fries and chicken noodle soup. I then thought it would be fun to point out that her beautiful green purse was still on the floor and oops! do you need to go back to the store to pay for your groceries? She replied, "No Mama, I fine. I not cold." No idea what she thinks purses are for but, apparently, they have nothing to do with paying for groceries at the store.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

It's ALIVE!!!!!!

Went to the grocery store yesterday. With the onset of this chilly weather I thought I'd pick up some yeast to make bread. The house always smells so good when it's cold out and there is warm bread in the oven.

Isaiah returned home from school yesterday and I hadn't put all the baking supplies I purchased away at that time. I had other goodies, for baking, on the counter and didn't want Isaiah to snoop. I told him please do not touch what's on the counter as he was investigating the yeast packets. Isaiah replied, thinking I was specifically talking about the yeast, and said, "Oh yeah, that stuff's alive."

I turned back to chopping my tomatoes for tacos and imagined what his little boy mind must be imagining is in those yeast packets.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Question

This is just something I've been wondering about today. If you eat corn, whether it be on the cob, frozen or canned it's considered a vegetable, right? So take those same kernels dry them out and pop them and they're now considered a grain. Why is that? Why can't popcorn be a vegetable? I just don't understand. Raisins are still considered a fruit are they not?

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

It Dropped!

I'm just saying...

Actually it wasn't too bad. Besides nearly falling asleep in his spaghetti at 5:20pm, he didn't do too badly. I'm just hoping this "jet lag" doesn't last as long as it did in kindergarten. I will pray for a speedy adjustment.

The Other Shoe (will eventually drop)

Due to a change in my husband's work he has requested supper be at 5:30. We usually eat at 5pm which, I know, is early. It all started when we had children and they were born to be early birds. Early birds are crabby birds if they don't go to bed early so, as a result we always eat supper early and start the bedtime deal early.

I'm excited about the prospect of eating supper at 5:30. It is 30min. closer to an actual normal supper time. I think it's possible and since Anna is a little less of an early bird than Isaiah it may work. Isaiah being nearly seven can certainly handle this change.

This change will not be happening the first week of school however. I know from my vast experience with a kindergartener that children come home absolutely, totally, 100% completely exhausted. This lasted a good two months last year. My little boy would emotionally hold himself together all day long and then once at home......look out. I had to very creatively phrase things so as not to create any nuclear meltdowns. Very rough evenings.

I reminded my husband that 5:30 won't really work for a couple of weeks yet because Isaiah gets off the bus at 4:30 and by the time we eat and give two kiddos a bath that boy is done. Done I say. He was in bed and asleep by 6:45 last school year. Matthew is willing to hold off this first week to give Isaiah his extra sleep. (thank you Matthew)

That being said yesterday Isaiah came home in a remarkably super-duper mood. I kept watching the clock. We ate supper at 5pm. (thank you Matthew) Still no meltdowns? Gave the kids their baths. Checked the time 5:45 and still no meltdown. Brushed teeth, took one last bathroom break, read books and still no meltdown? Huh. Isaiah was asleep by 7pm last night and was still in a perfectly good mood. I was a bit shocked and then remembered the Isaiah Rule: When having fun and not getting enough rest you never, ever lose contol until day #2.

I forgot! If Isaiah spends a Friday night at Grammy's he's always fine until Sunday afternoon. Oops. Today will be the day for WWIII. Silly me. If you hear lots of crying and screaming while you're eating supper (at 6pm like everyone else in America) it'll most likely be coming from our house as my son will think it completely irrational of me to request him to fetch a towel for bathtime.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Random Thoughts

Last weekend of summer vacation. That was THE fastest summer ever. I have decided that summer has past so quickly not just because we were a little too busy but because of percentage. What do I mean? Every year you get older so that would lead me to believe that the three months of summer vacation is a smaller and smaller percentage of your life. Summer vacation for a 12mo. old is 25% of their little life. Three months of summer for a 32-year-old is quite a lower percentage of time therefore, the reason things seem to speed by as you get older.

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On Saturday Matthew and I took the kids to the Minnesota State Fair. The kids had never been there. We knew it would be expensive but before we even got into the fair we had spent 50$ on parking and admission tickets. Sheesh! My favorite part was the Miracle of Birth Center. We watched the early stages of a Holstein laboring. It was too warm in the barn for Matthew and Isaiah so they left before the big event. Anna and I watched the two front legs emerge and then the beginning of the nose peek out. All the moms in the audience were pushing for the cow during the contractions. Sort of funny. I did feel sorry for the cow though. Can you imagine having such a large audience. Maybe she didn't care? Either way it was fun to watch what we did.

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Isaiah starts first grade tomorrow. We are all so happy about which teacher he'll have. She seems kind and organized. Very good. Isaiah mentioned how he'd like to stay in first grade forever because he just knows he'll love his teacher. I'm hoping that sentiment changes by the start of 2nd grade next year. Sending him to first grade is so much easier then sending my little person to kindergarten. What a difference a year makes.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Crackers Anonymous

As the kids were eating their snack of dried cranberries and cheese crackers Isaiah asked for seconds on the crackers. He told me he loved the crackers so much and that he was "totally adapted'' to these cheese crackers.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Very Cool

I wish I would have taken a picture.

My boy is completely clear this morning. Very weird! He took a shower last night and was covered with a yucky looking red rash. It started out as little red dots, never blistered but spread all over and even made little red rings in some areas. I was actually starting to wonder if it maybe wasn't chicken pox?

Isaiah woke up this morning and I scanned him all over. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Very weird. I looked at Isaiah and said, "Where'd it go?". He gave a very nonchalant look and said, "God."

I guess so! Thank you, God, for healing up my boy!!!!!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Why??

Although I do my darndest to give my children natural, organic and homeopathic "stuff", I do subject them to vaccinations. Isaiah and Anna had their yearly "well-baby"/"well-kid" check-up on Friday. We found out that the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine Isaiah received was not enough. Children will now be expected to receive two varicella vaccinations. One at 12mos. and another at 4-6yrs. Oh Great!

I signed our lives away and allowed the nurse to quickly inoculate my boy. He's never had a bad reaction from any other shots so I figured we'd be good. Yesterday afternoon, however, I discovered red itchy spots on my boy.

We have chicken pox people. Yippee skippee. I figured this would be mild as my cousin's little girls each had a mild case less then one week after their first varicella shot. I called her up and got the lowdown on how the mild cases run their course. Supposedly this is a 2-3 day thing with maybe a mild fever, runny nose and cough. I can handle this. I can handle this. I can handle this. I even had my mom run over to see if it looks like chicken pox. She thought yes. I had them when I was 8 and don't really remember too much.

So far, his first areas of rashiness seem to fading with out really blistering. He has no fever, no cough, no runny nose. Isaiah is definitely his regular self. My anxiety is calming slowly even without meds. (I'm not kidding about that part) I think we should be good by this weekend and the first day of school on Tuesday for sure.

We are supposed to attend the Open House at school tomorrow evening where we meet Isaiah's teacher, check out the room, see the sights, etc. Is it possible to miss school before school even starts? Do I send a signed parental note to beg an excused absence? If so, you send those notes back on his first day back from an absence which would be the first day of school. Do children need excused absence notes on the first day of school? This all leads to so many questions. I think I'll wait to call the teacher until tomorrow afternoon. Maybe, just maybe he'll look cleared up. I couldn't get a clear answer on the whole, "Is he contagious?" question. Yes, I know he is until everything scabs over, but what if the marks/rash/blisters don't scab over and just disappear? Oh well. I'll make a decision tomorrow and just pray this clears up quickly.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Dear Kristi,

I apologize for my delay in posting. I received a sewing machine for my birthday last Monday and as a result have neglected my blog posting duties. Anna, last night, rescued me from a lack of ideas and I now present post #101.

Anna and I were again discussing the day's events at bedtime yesterday. Anna noticed that it was getting dark and stated as much:

Anna: It getting dark.
Mama: Yep. The sun's going down. It's nighttime so now we'll see the moon and stars. What do we see during the daytime?
Anna: Um.....let's see...
(she really says this, I'm not sure where she heard this phrase but it stuck)
Anna: We see Papa!
(not the answer I was looking for but a good one nonetheless)
Mama: Ahh..we do see Papa during the day. I love you Anna!
Anna: Mama, know what? I yuv you.

And this concludes installment 101. Although it's foggy today if you look hard you may just see our Papa today.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Crazy Animals

When I was little I loved those huge shredded wheat biscuits for breakfast. I loved them I tell you. I think I only enjoyed them because afterwards I'd gallop through the house all day and pretend to be a horse. Shredded Wheat, hay..... what's the difference?

Today for our morning snack Isaiah and Anna munched on Kix cereal. Anna wanted milk Isaiah wanted dry. Fine. I then look over to see Isaiah eating his dry Kix out of his bowl like a dog! What?! I just didn't even care because I overheard Isaiah tell Anna to pretend the cereal is the dog food at Opa's farm. Good grief. Whatever. Have fun.

A New Beginning

I love fall! Can't tell you how excited I am that we're nearing September, October and November. I love this time of year. It's cool, no 90+ degrees, no 60+ dew points, just sweaters, jeans, apple picking, colorful leaves and walks in the woods. (sigh) It always reminds me of John Denver songs and the Grizzly Adams tv show. Must be a grew-up-during-the-1970s-type-thing?

Then there's the start of school. The wonderful smelling new pencils, markers, paper, notebooks, crayons and folders. So exciting. Meeting new teachers and learning new schedules.

I even enjoy fall cleaning. It seems so much more fun than spring cleaning. You're preparing your home to be snug as a bug for the looonnngg winter months.

The cooking is excellent. My favorite things to make are soups, stews, bread, apple pie and crock-pot stuff. The house is warm and smells so yummy and homey.

I know it's still the middle of August and we do still have warm/hot days in September but....I'm just sort of dreaming today.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Weekend Fun

We just got back from a fun weekend at Opa and Oma's farm. We wanted to sneak in a visit to Matthew's parent's home before the school year begins. The kids have a super fun time being outside, in the country all day long.

We get to feed the sheep and the horses and the donkey and dogs and the cats. EIEIO! Oma makes huge meals three times a day. It's like a little mini-vacation. Isaiah and I even get to fight over who's going to drive the 4wheeler. He turns into quite the confident little man on the farm.

One trip we made was to "the pines". It's a valley of pine trees Opa planted when Matthew was younger and now it's a mini-forest that Opa mows 4wheeler paths through just for fun. Isaiah puts on his ginormous dirt bike helmet, sits in front of me on the 4wheeler and off we go. I even let him control the throttle sometimes.....I keep my hand near the brake so I'm ready to slow the little lead-foot down. Oma asked if we'd get the mail on our trip. Cool! We drove down the road a mile to collect their mail and stopped at the pines on the way back. Ya know yer a redneck if ya git yer mail on a 4wheeler. Suh-weet! Lots of fun I tell ya! Besides getting the mail Isaiah and I rode by Arrowhead Alley. Arrowhead Alley is a cornfield we named earlier this summer because of all the arrowheads we found in the field. Opa and Oma live right on a major Indian war site. The Blackhawk Wars were fought right on their land and if the ground is just right you can really hit the jackpot for arrowheads. The adventures a boy and his mama can have are numerous.

Matthew and Anna had some 4wheeler trips as well. They rode over a creek to visit Opa's horses. Anna loves Eeyore, the donkey. Clever name, huh? Apparently Anna's so relaxed on the 4wheeler that she sits criss-cross-applesauce in front of Matthew and reclines with her arm up behind her head and just enjoys the ride.

It was a nice weekend and we really enjoyed the visit. Fun summer memories before the start of a new school year.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Rest Assured

We have a very important gate at our home. It is always in the hallway in one of two spots. It is either locking our littlest girl in or out of a specific room. It has proved to be very handy. Sometimes I leave the gate down on purpose due to laundry trekking or other various household chores that would be hindered with a gated hallway.

On the occasion that I do leave the gate down Anna will usually run full tilt to the opposite room and commence toddler activities. I'm able to discern her activities by the sounds she's making and know she's still safe even though Anna is unwatched. Sometimes, however, she is silent. I simply ask what she's doing and she can assure me she's fine. Here are some examples:

*silence*
Mama: Anna whachya doin'?
Anna: I fine. (said while digging through the fridge)

*silence*
Mama: Anna where are you?
Anna: I right here. (said while flipping through the printer for the computer)

*silence*
Mama: Anna??!!
Anna: I fine I just pwayin'. (said while starting to climb stairs)

*silence*
Mama: Anna where did you go?
Anna: silence
Mama: Anna?
Anna: silence
This is where I REALLY run fast to see what she's (not) doing.



ps I just noticed that I live in a gated community. Huh....imagine that!