Dear Matilda,

I know you enjoy our new home. You have found a perfect spot to relax while the two-legged dogs eat their meals. It is ingenious really.

You have never in the 18 months you have lived with us ever, ever begged for a handout. You are a super dog. You simply sit in advantageous locations where there is a slight possibility of a crumb or two falling. If, then, a small morsel happens to fall you simply snatch it up for the sole purpose of making my job of cleaning the floor easier. I understand and appreciate your efforts.

I must warn you, however, when the shortest two-legged dog named Anna is enjoying an ice cream cone you may want to relax a little further away from your normal spot. No real reason, just a precautionary measure.

Thank you.

love,

Katie

Rainbows and Football

I was driving Isaiah to art camp today and he asked if we could ever drive to a rainbow. I said we could not and then explained, scientifically, all the reasons we could not actually get to a rainbow.

I continued driving and wasn't paying much attention to Isaiah and Anna's conversation (argument?). I believe it had something to do with talking rainbows and flowers.

Isaiah then felt the need to explain the unrealistic characteristic of speech among inanimate objects. Other than this I really wasn't paying much attention.

My ears perked up when I heard Isaiah say, "Anna, in real life flowers don't talk, rainbows don't sing, mountains don't have mouths, those star things aren't real and girls don't have football-shaped heads."

I said, "Are you talking about Dora?"

Bargain

Isaiah just informed me he had a great idea for the day.

I: Mom, I think we should go to the zoo today.
M: Why?
I: I want to go to the zoo and bargain for the zebra or giraffe.
M: Bargain?
I: Yeah, I want to bargain for the the zebra or giraffe.
M: You mean, like buy?
I: Yeah, I think I could bargain for the zebra for about 50.
M: 50 ... dollars?
I: Yeah. (then he looked at me like you silly mama and said...) No, Mom 50 cents, ha.
M: hmm, yeah that'd be fun.

I'm going to vote to just stick with the original plan and go to Grammy and Gramps' house.

Dear Grammy,

(and Gramps and Auntie Sally too)

Thank you for always attending the kids' functions at school and for their sporting events. We appreciate your driving and very often taking time off of work to support Isaiah and Anna. We feel very blessed and fortunate that you participate the way you do. Thank you!

Grammy, thank you for hanging out with Anna on Wednesday so I could have one last afternoon with Isaiah and his classmates during their Track and Field day. Also, thank you for pushing Anna for over 2 hours on the swing while I was gone. Not to mention the whole plumber thing that you had to be here for while I was gone. Thank you.

Love,
us

Ball

Isaiah has started his second year of machine-pitch. We are off to a super start. Here are some highlights of the first game of the season.

It was team photo day. Here is the customary shot. Isaiah is in the standing row and is second from right.

Isaiah's first swing of the season. If you look very closely you'll see his eyes are shut. I'm going to just guess I got him while blinking. I don't "think" he shuts his eyes when he swings.

Do you see that blur of blue? Yep, that's Isaiah running from 2nd to 3rd base. That's speed, pure speed.

And here we have Isaiah about to hit home. It appears as though he didn't run a straight line and veered wide a bit. Actually, he's multi-tasking and will be picking up that bat between him and home. He had to veer out to grab it mid-stride. Amazing, I tell you.

Graduation!

Anna has graduated from the preschool program at her school. She did such a great job.

During her Christmas program in December she did not even want to go on stage with her class and sing. Anna doesn't like any attention to be put on her so, even though other children were singing, she wanted no part of the performance. I was anticipating the same type of stage fright to occur during graduation. Yippee! It did not.

A tradition at her school, usually reserved for that year's graduating seniors, is the presentation of Character Awards. Character Awards are given by the child's teacher. The teacher painstakingly chooses a character that best describes that child and assigns a Bible verse to coincide with the character trait. The award presentation brought this mama to tears, for sure.

Here are some photos from the special evening.

The proud graduate complete with a wrist corsage from Gramps and Grammy.

Anna's teacher presenting Anna with the character trait of "content". Anna's verse is Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

.Checking out her award.

A family shot in which Anna is leaning in to give Isaiah a kiss right as Grammy was taking the photo.

Gramps and Grammy came to witness the special celebration. Auntie Sally was there as well although she posed for no photos. Also, I believe Isaiah is revisiting the thrill of his own preschool graduation.

FB App.

Dear Facebook,

I have a new idea for an application users can utilize while enjoying your wonderful product.

Let's just say a mom puts some chicken breasts in the oven, for chicken salad and goes to her Facebook page to upload photos of her little girl's preschool graduation. Let's continue that train of thought and say she forgot to start the kitchen timer. Well, if that mom is having tremendous trouble with seasonal allergies and her sense of smell is shot she will not be able to smell the chicken breasts being fully cooked and ready to take out of the oven. I propose an application in which one can time certain things whether it be their use of Facebook or let's say the amount of time one has had chicken breasts baking in the oven. Maybe a random beep of the users choosing could sound every so often and remind the user that there IS life outside of Facebook. Much like a reminder string tied around one's wrist.

Now I have no real experience with this type of forgetfulness so I'm not sure on the effectiveness of this application, it's just a thought.

Sincerely,
Someone that will not be eating chicken salad tomorrow


PS Facebook is not in blogger's spellcheck dictionary, just something else you'd like to be made aware.

Anna's Last Day of Preschool

Last Tuesday was Anna's last day of preschool. She made it. It was touch and go there for awhile. She started out very strong and after about two months the novelty wore off. What ended up happening is a very large lack of preschool enjoyment. She never wanted me to leave her at school and was never thrilled to be leaving home on preschool mornings. Drop-offs weren't fun.

Anna always enjoyed her time while at school even though she said she didn't. I frequently came to school early to observe her and make sure all was well. It was. Anna participated and interacted just fine. I believe she just wanted to let me know she was not happy with the situation and was not condoning this type of activity. Regardless, she finished her preschool year just fine. She even learned some things although, if you ask her, she did not. That's my Anna.

On her last day Mrs.K brought an ice cream maker and the class enjoyed homemade ice cream for snack. Also the Kindergarten/First Grade teacher at her school let the preschool class take a peak at her turtle. Very exciting.


Anna is the one with short blond hair wearing the light pink outfit. Can you see her smile?

This is Mrs.K, the best preschool teacher ever.

Tonight there will be a graduation ceremony for the preschool students. Anna will go to the Pre-K program through our school district next fall so she will say good-bye to a lot of her friends tonight. The school Anna was attending is a Christian school and she was one of only a few Osceola children attending that will be in the Pre-K program.

Congratulations Anna, I'm proud of you. This year wasn't easy for you but you did it. Way to go!!

Crumbs

When Isaiah was a baby we camped frequently. Matthew and I had a nice system and it all worked very smoothly. For some reason once we started AdCraft the camping trips stopped. I'm not sure why other than Matthew was very, very busy and vacations were tricky to plan.

As a result of the camping stand-still, Anna's never camped. She has never slept in our tent, until last night. We weren't really roughing it or camping for real just spending the night in the tent. No pressure, no real planning. We just grabbed some blankets and pillows and all five of us (yes, Matilda slept in the tent too) tried it out. It went very well. I think we will become a camping family again very soon. The kids had tons of fun and we all fit, rather comfortably too.

Anna was tired so she fell asleep quickly. Isaiah and I were chatting as Matthew was arranging some items. Isaiah had smuggled a bag of Pringles into the tent and asked if I wanted some chips. I looked at him very seriously and said that we can't eat in the tent. He asked why and I just said it was against the rules. Isaiah looked very concerned and asked if I was serious.

"Yep.", I said.

"You mean like, with the government? It's against the law with the government?"

I giggled and just explained how we can't really get crumbs in the tent and that it was sort of a family rule but if we're careful we'd be okay. Thankfully the government isn't regulating any eating of Pringles in tents.

Although, I do think they have a problem with the eating of S'mores in tents.

Cultural Diversity

I appreciate Dora, Diego and Kai Lan. Really, I do. I just feel my Anna may be getting confused over the different types of languages in our world and the different ways folks do certain things.

Last week Anna was getting dressed for the day and rather proudly said she knew how to put her pants on in Chinese.

(Go ahead and read that last sentence a couple times. I had to ask Anna to repeat herself a few times before I was confident I understood what she was saying.)

I said, "Really? How?"

Surprisingly, she put her pants on one leg at a time.... same as always. The twist came when, after getting her pants on, she karate chopped the box that was still in her room.

Mama Robin

We weren't the only ones moving in last week to the new place. A mama Robin was making fast work of a little home for her babies. She is living on our patio under the overhang. We can see her sitting in her nest from our living room patio door. I'd post pictures but I'd have to find the camera and charger first. Stay tuned...



Unlike the Killdeer incident of last spring I have no worries of feral cats ruining our fun and Mrs.Robin's hard work. I think she's high enough and protected well. I thought for sure that little nest was going to blow away yesterday, it did not. Oh, me of little faith.



For now, we look out the patio window and see the very exciting act of Mrs.Robin sitting as still as a statue on her little clutch. Personally, I'm more excited to see hatchlings, this part isn't all that fun. Anna, however, is excited to see the Robin so close and unmoving. Maybe she's just more patient.

Current Events, Miss Rosa Parks and Miss Betsy Ross

Matthew had many neat things in his AdCraft office. The items he wanted to keep have been brought home and we will find homes for everything at our house. Many of these items have to do with taxidermy. Some of the furry creatures are mine so it's all good.

One of the items he brought home is a very neat shadow box display. A couple years ago Matthew did a sign for MSG Trevor Lavergne. The sign was put on a hospital for injured soldiers in Tikrit. MSG Lavergne sent back a letter of thanks and some official paperwork stating the American flag he was bringing to Matthew was flown over the hospital in Iraq. I was explaining to Isaiah that the folded flag, pictures, letters and documents in the frame state that this flag was flown over the 325th Combat Support Hospital for Iraqi Freedom V.

Isaiah's eyes got really wide and he said, "You mean that's a REAL American Flag?"

I said that it was but wasn't sure why he was excited about the flag and not the location in which is was flown.

Isaiah asked again, "That's really a REAL American flag?"

"Yes, honey but, there are OTHER flags flying around the world. It's not the ONLY American flag."

Isaiah said, "Yeah but, that's a real one?"

"Yes," I said, "it's just folded up, behind the glass."

"Yeah but, it's a real one, like from Rosa Parks?"

Oh boy, we had a little discussion about Miss Parks and Miss Ross. I assured him Betsy Ross did not sew this particular flag. I'm quite certain.

If anyone knows about the "How it's Made" television show and when they may be airing an episode on how American flags are sewn I'd appreciate a head's up.

Getting Settled

Thank you for all the kind words of encouragement and prayers. We are here, we're unpacking and Matilda even started eating again. Poor puppy dog was a bit upset over her new digs.

We still have a few minor trips to make back and forth getting storage boxes over here from the old place. We mostly have some Christmas boxes, books and baby storage items we need to find a home for. Anna's room is all put together and the decorations are on her wall. Isaiah's room is about 1/2 done at the moment and our room is about 3/4 done. We like this new place and think it'll work just fine. I am so very thankful we found a place in the country and in the same district.

Things about the new place I like better than the old:
1. Laundry room as soon as you walk in. Very easy to remember to just throw in a load here and there. Surprisingly, when the laundry room is in the basement it's easier to forget about the piles. You get behind really quickly.

2. We now have a dishwasher. At the other place, although it was built in '93, we never had a dishwasher. Well, let me tell you, it sure is easy to keep the kitchen clean with a dishwasher. I recommend them.

3. We only have two TVs so at the old place we had one in our living room and one downstairs in the family room. Here, we have one in the living room and one in our room. How nice to lay down after the kiddoes are asleep and watch American Idol in bed. Also something I recommend. Very nice.

4. Master Bathrooms are a good thing. I always sort of thought them a waste of space. Not anymore. Two thumbs up on this as well.

So, all in all, we're doing okay. Getting unpacked and becoming adjusted to the new place. I'm pretty bummed about having to let go of the sheep and chickens but am thankful they are going to friends parents' home not that far away. We can visit if we need too. I am VERY thankful this new place allows dogs. We would not have made it if Matilda could not have made the move with us.

I'll keep everyone posted on our progress and once we're all settled (and I find the camera) will put up photos.

Thank you again for all the support.

Moving

I haven't been blogging in quite awhile. Life has been turned upside down and I haven't really felt like blogging. Also, what I'll fill you all in on has been best kept quiet, til now. I think it's pretty safe to explain. Since I blog, typically, about our everyday lives and events I thought it'd be easier to just come on out and fill you all in all at once.

About 8 1/2 years ago my husband (Matthew) and my parents started a sign company. Matthew has been making signs of some kind since he was 18 and he has a BFA degree from Stout. He had always wanted to own his own shop. My dad also had some skills in design work and my folks thought the sign gig would be a neat thing to try. So, long story short... they did. We all worked getting the business up and running. Initially we ran the shop from my folks' house. A few years later Matthew and I acquired the entire business and moved the shop to a few different spots over the years. Matthew made excellent signs and word spread quickly. At one point we even had two shops running full time in two different towns (Hudson/River Falls). The economy allowed for us to grow. There were times in that span where we'd grow and reduce, grow and reduce. Basically we'd adjust and it wasn't a big change.

We were allowed some neat opportunities from AdCraft too. Matthew was able to literally travel the world. He made signs for places in Puerto Rico, Scotland and Greece to name a few. Our shop was featured on the Discovery Channel and our family, all four of us, were able to travel to Scotland. It was because of a sign convention in Callander that I actually got on a plane FOR THE FIRST TIME and travelled rather recklessly with my two babies across an ocean. (No, I wasn't really reckless but it felt that way at the time) Anyways, those neat opportunities were once in a lifetime deals that were made possible because of Matthew's hard work with the shop.

(If you've never seen some of Matthew's work I think the www.adcraftsign.com is still up and running so you should see his talent)

We met lots of neat friends too from all around the world. Isaiah and Anna know folks very well that make their home in Germany and Scotland. It was a neat deal for the kids too.

What does that have to do with moving and packing? Well, you see my mom had always done the books for AdCraft. A couple years ago Matthew saw the potential for a very poor economy and sadly, we took all necessary steps to sell the company and get out while we could. We had one taker (apparently all other business owners/potential buyers saw the possibility of poor economics as well). The guy that came in said he'd take over books and do some light production work. This was great news as it freed up my mom, who already had a full-time job besides AdCraft, and Matthew as this new guy was going to take over some of Matt's responsibilities too. Without spilling the beans too much this guy didn't work out. Last fall the economy hit us pretty hard. We let the potential buyer go and I took over the books, in hopes of saving some money. We also cut our guys' hours down to three days a week.

While I was doing the books and calling my mom non-stop regarding questions on how to do certain things I started noticing problems. Another long story shortened, this guy did not pay our taxes, balance the register and a myriad of other LARGE problems that needed to be worked through in a short amount of time. Mom helped get that mess straightened out but it had a huge financial impact. Matthew pushed through some jobs that would have been saved for our slower time in winter.

I'm sure lots of you have noticed money seems tight all around. Well, in an effort to just get to the end of the story, it's hitting us pretty hard. We have closed AdCrafts's doors. If jobs don't come in we can't keep the ship afloat. We've put all our savings and personal funds into the company in hopes of being able to hang on a bit longer. No deal. We have had no income since February. I would do payroll and pay our guys but not Matthew. We couldn't. We are surrendering our homes, our cars, tractors, etc. We realize we can't continue and are just sucking it up and moving on.

We feel very blessed to have found a home in Osceola to rent. We can stay in the country, keep our dog and Isaiah does not have to switch schools. Three bedroom rental homes are a rarity in this little town. God just dropped it into our laps. We have to send the sheep and chickens to a buddy of Matt's. At this point Matt's looking for work. As you can imagine that's not an easy task at the moment. So, there's some mighty big changes coming down the pike. At the end of the day, however, we still have what's really important. All the other stuff is just fluff. Makes for nice opportunities and experiences but it's not what's important.

So that's about it. It's been a fun ride but, rides over.... everyone out.

Honestly, Matthew and I are excited to see what the next chapter holds for us. God is still God and he knows the deal.

J.E.

And why, dear reader, have I waited 33 1/2 years to read Jane Eyre? This shall be my new favorite book.