WiiFest 2009

The sixth grade patrol reward was a WiiFest held on Thursday, May 21, at St. Anne's School. Students brought in their games and had four Wii stations set up in the room. They had a bowling tournament and a car racing tournament while also playing tennis, golf, and pool (among others). There were lots of snacks to keep everyone's energy level up for the games. One of the highlights of the day was receiving T-shirts with the St. Anne's WiiFest logo on. It was a fantastic day!

Music From A to Z

St. Anne's had their spring concert called music from A to Z. Yes they had a song for every starting with every letter of the alphabet. It was fun. Even the teachers had a song to sing. The kids didn't know and were very excited.

Andrew also was the song leader at the children's mass in the morning. He did such a great job. Jeff and I are always amazed how the kids at St. Anne's are always getting up in front of people and don't hardly look nervous. It is things they are always doing. It sure helps when they get to high school and beyond.

Mothers Day

The boys woke me early all excited to show me something. "Mom" "Mom" "Mom" we have to show you something. We want you to listen to something. I was sleeping so good and sound that I popped up thinking it was something major. They wanted me to listen to a song they had sang and recorded on my phone. The song, 'I've been watching you". I don't know the name for sure but the one about "daddy I've been watching you, I'm your buck r u, I want to be like you" You got it now.... they all sang it and were so proud. After it was done I realized I was up for the day. No way to say "thanks, but I'm going back to bed" so I was up. No church to go to, nothing. Reservations at noon at the Brau Haus. So I visited with the boys. I received a great phone call from my sister Heather. It is always a delight to hear her voice.
We had a nice lunch, met Gr & Gr Turbes, came back to the house and watched "Without a Paddle". That is always a fun movie. The boys laughed so hard through the whole thing. Luckily, Michael didn't get half of it and Zach was in and out. Jeff and I love to watch Andrew's face now as he is growing up more and more.

Words from Andrew

Andrew came up to me tonight and said, "well, I found out who likes me." Another girl asked him to answer 1 question for her and she would for him. Her question was, "do you still think I'm weird?" "Yes" he says. His question was something about someone liking him. And she told him the name of the girl who likes him, but she doesn't know he knows. Oh it is starting......
Just now he came up to me and told me that they have someone acting like a bully today in their class. I wanted to know who but he said he can't tell. Of course moms will get the name out one way or another. So of course I did and here it turns out that this kid is turning some other kids to think this girl is weird. All because she wore a bandana on her head today. It was dress up day, spirit week at school. Dress in the decades and she dressed as a hippie. Man kids can be cruel sometimes. Of course I get a tear in my eye just hearing about it. I do that everytime I think of kids getting teased or made fun of. Of course I tell Andrew to tell this kid to knock it off. Of course the kid saying this shit didn't dress up! Man I hate that crap! I'm glad we didn't have to put up with much of that over the last 7 years. The kids are counting down the days till school is out! May 29th!! Yikes!

Our Fire!

Sunday we decided to clean out a bunch of the rotten logs in the grove so the boys have a path for the 4 wheeler. It was allot of work but well worth it. We even had supper on the fire!

Wall Climbers

What one does, they all do!

4-H Treasurer

Andrew is the 08-09 treasurer of our Vesta Vikings 4-H Club.
This is Andrew giving his treasurer's report.

6TH Grade Recognition

Wow!
I find it hard to believe my oldest child, Andrew David is finishing 6Th Grade at St. Anne's Catholic School! The same school that my dad went to and that I was lucky enough to have gone to. (thanks mom and dad!) Although many things have changed over those years, no more nuns walking the halls or even teaching, the priest isn't 70 or 80 years old (he is a classmate of Jeff and I, 20 something I'm sure!) and the rooms are somewhat different, many things have stayed the same. There is the feeling of love and belonging when you walk in the doors. Every person is there because they want to be. It is a "choice." And Jeff and I are glad we made that "choice."
Andrew has a special class. The are all fun, loving, and get along together so great. They all work so hard together and are very supportive of each other. They have not had the bickering, and chaos as some classes do. I am so proud of all of them.
So Sunday was "6Th grade appreciation" at the 10am mass in Wabasso. All of the students had a part in the mass. Andrew's part was to read the 2ND reading and the Alleluia. Because one student was not there, he also got to be an usher. He did a great job. During the mass, they gave out the "presidential academic award." That is an award for those with good grades all around. Andrew was one of those that received that award. He received a certificate and a pin. Michael and Zachary were excited because President Barack Obama signed it! I can see it right now, President Obama watching Sunday night TV and signing all these certificates! And we wonder what he does with all his time. Looking back on that award, when Jeff and I were in 6Th grade, that was an award for the "really smart" people. So we are excited for him to get that award. He works hard. Needless to say, Jeff and I can't help him with his spelling sentences anymore. Neither can Gr. Linda! He lost us on predicate pronouns!! :)
After church, the class received a juice and rolls reception. I think they all were pretty proud of their accomplishments!
Great Job Andrew and the staff at St Anne's School!
On a side note,
As Andrew when to sit down in his front row seat after ushering, the young children get to bring up their offering. Zach waited so he could "bump" into Andrew on his way to the front. I'm sure it was an accident! not! Andrew and Zach both gave each a huge smile to each other along with many of the parishioners. UGGG! Zachary will do anything for his brothers attention!

New Rocks..... Treasures from Arizona

Treasures !!!

Fun Weekend!

What a fun spring weekend we had. Saturday was spent starting the morning off with a pancake and scrambled egg breakfast. 4-H fruit arrived so after cleaning a bit, we delivered the wonderful fruit to some. Visited for a few hours with our friends Deb and Dan Salfer while the boys played with Aldon. Zach barefoot for the first day of the season. The played on the tramp, examined the semi, played hide and seek in the yard, examined around other buildings on the yard all while we visited outside. It was beautiful weather! Snow is almost all gone on the snow hill. The boys rode on the 4 wheeler allot. Saturday night after putting the kids to bed, (Andrew babysat) Jeff and I picked up our neighbors Jim and Jennifer Zollner and headed to Redwood to the VFW to listen to our favorite home town band "Bus Nine." They are wonderful! You can check them out, Bus Nine on myspace. listen to their music. We love it! Today was layed back. Up early for 8am church, Catholic Aid Meeting - I'm VP. Brunch at the Roadhouse for a 4-H livestock fundraiser. That was wonderful. Home and more laundry. Jeff cleaned the gutters on the house and fixed on on the 2ND story. That was scary to watch as it was very windy today. I had to hold the ladder. Nap for me and Zach, Wildlife practice for Jeff and Andrew. That's what they get when they win. Keep studying. To end the night we had steaks on the grill for the first time this season. Wonderful!
Of course I can't forget about the big car races the boys had in the kitchen with about 50 of their favorite matchbox cars. It is so fun watching them play and get along together. Andrew is working on being patient with Zach which is a good thing.
Ahhhhh.... the sound of the rain drops and my boys sleeping after a fun weekend.

4-H Wildlife Project Bowl 2009

What a big day. It started very early for us (for a Sat)! Alarms going off before 7am and me hitting snooze a few too many times. I get Andrew up and hop in the shower only to find Andrew back in bed when I get out. Now Jeff wanted to drop off Zach and Michael at G & G Turbes' at 7:30am. Jeff tries to get Andrew up and dressed, hops in the shower, while I get dressed. I find out Andrew can't find his camouflage shirt! Yes the Redwood County teams are all wearing Camo shirts and Bright Orange caps. (Nobody will miss us!) So, I am looking everywhere. In Michael's clothes, Andrew's clothes and even in Zachary's clothes, back to Michael's and to Andrew's. Nothing! I check under beds, in toy bins, up in the attic, (maybe it got sent up with the summer clothes) still nothing. I check Michael's room once more and find his. Luckily Michael is almost as big as Andrew as far as shirts go so this will work. OK, everyone is ready to go but me. Remember I just got dressed and had to look for my 6Th graders shirt! I throw some powder on my face, spritz some hair spray in my wet hair, eye liner, grab a yogurt and out the door we are. Oh, back in the house, I forgot my cell phone! (can't miss that important call even though it will be off during the competition). We race to G & G Turbes', open the doors, let the boys out and leave. Poor Michael is carrying the WII, steps out the van door and BOOM, slips on his butt on the icy cement. At least the WII was OK.... Just kidding! I jump out and console my big guy. He is so cool about it. He just gets up and says, "man it is slippery there!" I'm glad he didn't hurt himself. Back in the car, we didn't even go in and let them know they were there. Race to Redwood Falls. Jeff and I are each coaches of teams and we made it very clear to be there and not be late! Yup! That's us! Late! We did get there by 8:15 so I think we did pretty good for how our morning is starting. We find everyone there, another coach grabbed our packets and we are off to a good start. Now it is waiting for it to start at 9am. Our club took 2 Sr Teams and 3 Jr teams. Lots of kids to corral. We pass out books and study questions, pop is spilled, the usual. The competition is starting. They have orientation so everyone knows what to do and what is expected. We get to listen to the Sr teams pair off between themselves first. This is only the second year of Wildlife so there are not many other counties there. It is double elimination. These kids are learning stuff I learned or should have learned in High School if ever! Biomes, do you know what that is or how many are in MN???? They do! Finally after a long morning and into the afternoon of Knowledge Bowl, we have a winner. The Redwood Raccoon's (Jeff's team) won! Undefeated!!! Andrew was on that team so he is super pumped!! It was cool. The kids were so excited. They had tough competition! They received metals and now qualify for the State Competition in Foley MN on April 18Th. The day before Michaels 1st Communion. UGGGG
We picked up the kids, said Hello, and returned home only to get refreshed quick and go to church so we can sleep in in the morning. When we got home from church, Zach and Michael quickly put on their snow pants and rubber boots to go out and play. Yes have a snowball fight with each other. They play until they are soaken wet. Andrew received uninterrupted time on the WII. No little brothers to bug him!!!
Finally- to bed early!
We are all exhausted! Good night.

Andrew at his concert

Snow again!

Last night, Andrew participated in the Showcase of Bands. It was the elementary, Jr High and Concert Bands. They all did such a great job. Jeff and I were so proud watching Andrew play the trumpet. He was dressed so nice and looked very poised. He is playing the trumpet that Uncle Tim gave him. He has really taken to it. I love to hear him practice, but unfortunately he doesn't practice as much as he should.

While we were in the concert, we started getting freezing rain. It was so slippery. Today we were getting quite a bit of wind and some snow. We figured they would get out of school early so Jeff and I went into town to get his hair cut by Bean the Barber, then pick up Zachay from Preschool, stopped at the library and picked up some movies. We then took Zachary out to eat at the Roadhouse while waiting for the kids to get out early at 12:10pm. We got home and they were so excited, until I had them do there homework. After getting that all done, they got to play and watch the movies Jeff surprised them with. A night together. Our other plans canceled (firemens training and FRED - fathers reading every day event). It continues to blow and snow.....

School Days

Andrew learning to knit a scarf.

Catholic Schools week - Mini Courses.

Andrew learned wood burning. He made a beautiful eagle picture.

Our weekend

We had a busy weekend. Andrew participated in a basketball tourney in Balaton on Sat. We all took naps from the fun and exciting tourney and colds that Zachary and I have. We then ordered pizza, taco of course, and celebrated birthdays for Linda and Andrew. Andrew had learned how to decorate cakes a week earlier so that was their cake. It was so delicious! They all played wii while I sat back and caught up on magazines and of course the Wabasso Standard! Can't miss that! Even Grandpa Lloyd was caught "getting into" bowling. He was down on one knee and everything! I forgot to ask him no Sunday if he was a little sore.

Andrew did great at the tourney. The team placed 2ND. They lost one game against Milroy by 2 or 3 points. Bummer! During the 2ND game, the score was St Anne's up by 1 point with like 4 seconds to go and the other team had the ball. After a time out, Andrew was sent to the opponents basket to guard that player. They threw the ball to that player and Andrew blocked the shot and they both bobble the ball and St Anne's won the game by 1 point! Everyone was so excited!! Andrew was really pumped and proud. Tom Franta come up to Jeff and I and said how proud he was of Andrew and that he "hopes Andrew will remember that moment forever. He saved the game. They had set him up and knew he could do it." After the game, Andrew came up to Jeff and stated that he had fouled him because he had scratched him (the other player). Leave it to Andrew to think of that! Andrew is pretty cautious out there on the court so by the last game, Karl and Tom had him pretty pumped up! Tom told all the players that they all needed to have at least 1 foul! Andrew got to play the whole game and made 2 baskets and got 3 fouls. Everyone was wondering what he ate at lunch! I don't think he had a foul all year! That was the last games of the season. When we got home, Andrew ate 2 huge turkey and cheese sandwiches and napped also. He NEVER naps during the day!! Sunday we had Wabasso fun days and Basketball wrap up for St Anne's. This is were St Anne's plays Wabasso Public. It was fun to watch all the kids from both programs play together. Sunday evening was spent Jeff and I helping Andrew get his Science Fair Project and report together. I can't believe he is old enough for this. Getting ready for Jr High is what he keeps saying. He is very excited for Jr High.

Birthday Continued....

I posted to early. As I say, "never a dull moment." Jeff and I let the boys stay up later last night because they didn't have school today. So, after watching WALL-E and then Survivor we got the boys ready for bed and up the stairs. Jeff, Zach and I were up ahead with Andrew and Michael following. As I'm putting clean sheets on the bed (after finally getting them washed), Jeff is holding Zach as he fell asleep on me watching TV, we hear Andrew start wailing as he is walking up the stairs. Michael commes running in by me as I ask him the infamous question, "What did you do?" "Nothing, I only touched his shoulder like this (holds out 1 finger and pokes). I go in to check on Andrew with Jeff following me into the bathroom only to find Andrew leaning over the sink with blood gooshing from his nose and splattering all over the sink while crying uncontrollably! Wow! I'm thinking, "what the hell just happened - it's his birthday". Jeff gets the 2ND story from Michael and I get Andrew's story among the sobs. "He punched me in the nose!" I tell you....... It finally ended with both of them getting "punished (to be determined in the morning per Jeff) for not telling the truth about what happened, and exaggerating, pulling pranks on each other at 11pm at night and ordering them to stay away from each other!

So what did happen???? Andrew pulled Michael's leg back down the stairs, Michael turned to "bop" Andrew and accidentally popped him in the nose, they both stretch the truth??? Only God Knows For Sure!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Well, It has become a tradition, snow on Andrew's birthday. He has come to accept it, not stating he is excited about it. Once again, school gets called off early with buses leaving at 10am. No party planned today with friends. We have planned a trip to the Mall Of America and he gets to invite a friend. They will get to spend the whole day on the rides at the Nickelodeon Park in March. He is excited about that. The worst part of today is the snow came up so fast, I didn't get to go in to town and get the Wii from Grandparents L&L from their over night last night. Andrew is not happy about that. All 3 boys did get to play outside in the snow. I could hear them laughing together while they sled down the snow hill and shovel snow in piles. I love the sound of them playing together. Andrew opened a gift tonight and we are ending the night by watching WALL-E and eating pumpkin pie. Andrew's favorite!! Andrew has enjoyed the birthday calls tonight. He now has his own email address and gets to graduate to the front seat in the vehicles. Ya!!

Our first born - Andrew

Tomorrow our first born turns 12 years old. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. Jeff and I were so excited. You are loved by so many!!! I know you think we are over protective, but we just love you so much! You are so smart and caring of others. Happy 12th Birthday "Buddy"!!!

What are we up to now???

Today is Ash Wed. Michael's 2ND grade class is in charge of leading the children's mass today. Of course we Jeff and I didn't leave home as soon as we wanted as I forgot my coffee and cell phone so we had to turn around and get them. Luckily we were only 1/2 mile from home. We get to the church to drop Zachy off (he is spending the day with Grandparents L&L) and the church is packed. My hair is wet and there are classes and parents are lined up outside. I deliver Zachary, wish Linda a Happy Birthday and sneak out. Jeff and I don't stay because he has a meeting at 10am and I have class. Michael says "that's OK mom because I have done it before!" meaning, carrying up the gifts. I later find out that Andrew was an usher. He is sure enjoying the privileges of 6th grade!