Last Day

I posted on Ashlyn's first day of kindergarten, so I thought it was only fitting that I post on her last day as well. She was so excited to go to school today - almost as much as her first day of school. They were having a picnic at the park and thankfully the weather turned nice today for it!

I can't believe how much she has grown and changed this year. She's still timid and likes me to walk her to her classroom every day, but she loves going to school. I wonder how long it will be until I hear, "I'm ready for school to start."

Every time I'm over at the school, the Lord uses it to remind me that we made the right decision moving here. I've never met nicer teachers or administration and they truly truly care about the students. They all even know Carter and talk to him every day. I am so thankful that school is not a stressful thing in our lives. Everyone who knows me well knows how worried I was about school in Georgia and couldn't find what felt like the right decision. Now I know why! School in Minnesota was the right decision :)

I go this afternoon to register Carter for preschool next year. The preschool is at the elementary school, so he and Ashlyn will go to the same place on Tuesday and Thursday. I can't even imagine what I will do with six hours a week all to myself!!! Carter is so excited, he's already talking about when he starts school in September.

So, to Mrs. Erdmann and Mrs. Knips, thank you for teaching my daughter this year and loving her so much. You were patient with her when she needed it and worked with her to bring her out of her shell. We couldn't have asked for better teachers!

The Weekend

Usually our weekends are full of errands, painting, cleaning, etc. They're not usually just fun because with Ashlyn in school all week, it's when we get stuff done that we need her for (like shopping for summer clothes!) Well, this weekend was just plain fun. Our friend Stuart came to visit for a few days. He and Britney started out the weekend fishing Thursday and Friday with Britney's cousins up in Alexandria, MN. They had some success and came home with a couple of bags of fish.

Saturday was a rainy, cold, yucky day. But, we took Stuart out to the farms anyway. Let me tell you, there's nothing like the wind changing on a hog farm and blowing a big gust of stinky air right in the car! I thought we were all going to throw up!

Jerry's farm was pretty quiet because with the rain, he couldn't be in the field. So they were up in Alexandria too, fishing...We showed Stuart all the fun tractors, combines, etc., and got some great pictures of the kids. Carter even decided he could sit in a tractor this time! He's always LOVED to look at them but has been afraid to sit in them. Since he knew we were not going to turn them on, he climbed in and had a good time "driving." Maybe he'll actually ride in one this year!

My Mother's Day dinner was Saturday night and we drove down to Okoboji, Iowa to eat supper at a hole in the wall Mexican place. But it's SOOOO good! It's my favorite place to go in the summer because it's right by the lake. Afterwards, we drove over to Arnold's Park, a small amusement park right on the lake with one of the best ice cream shops around. We didn't think anything would be open yet (it usually opens on Memorial Day), but we were ecstatic when we saw that the Nutty Bar Stand was open already. Everyone enjoyed ice creams, even though we were already cold from the rain.

Sunday after church and lunch, we drove up to Buffalo Ridge, which is just a little ways north of us. It's a heaven for windmills and we probably saw well over 300 of them. If you've never been to Minnesota and experienced this phenomenon, you probably won't grasp the hugeness of these things. We told Ashlyn to count how many windmills we saw, so she got out her notepad and made tallies for every one she could. She had over 144 tallies by the end of the day, so we figured it was probably safe to at least double that :)

I also found a great little town for shopping with lots of thrift stores and antiques shops. I can't wait to go back!

All in all, it was a great weekend for everyone and the best Mother's Day I could've asked for!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! After a day of cold and rain yesterday, I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning today. It's not going to be all that warm today, but at least the rain is gone and we have some beautiful flowers about to bloom this morning. In fact, the kids are headed outside right now to pick some for me :)

A friend of mine sent this "new" version of Proverbs 31 to me a couple of months ago. I thought it was so cute and true! I hope you enjoy it and maybe this will encourage you to not be intimidated by the woman in Proverbs 31 but to realize that with God's help, you can be her! Have a wonderful day!

Proverbs 31 – Tribute to the Virtuous Mother
A mom of sane mind, who can find? She is worth far more than a clean bathroom

Her husband enjoys her presence He even tells his buddies how great his wife is

She is always thankful for her husband’s help Regardless if he puts the baby to bed without a diaper on

She picks out the clothes for the toddler to wear And pins him to the ground, while she puts them on

She is like the pizza delivery boy Food on the table in 30 minutes, or the kids cry free

She gets up while it is still dark (multiple times) To nurse the baby, administer Tylenol for teething, or locate that pacifier

She writes out the grocery list And even manages to return home with at least half of what was on it

She works hard; very, very hard Her arms are strong from carrying a baby all day

She sees that being a mom is a worthwhile job And is more than glad to leave the nightlight on

In one hand she holds the car keys While in the other hand the baby, bottle, diaper bag, purse, and groceries

She opens her arm to the crying child And never turns away a sniffling, snotty nosed baby

When it snows, she has no fear Her kids have their coats, gloves, hats, scarves, and boots on

She changes the sheets on the bed without even flinching at the ‘accident’

Her husband is respected and Takes his seat with the other dads at the play area in the mall

She gathers the old baby clothes and sells them at a garage sale With the money, she purchases ‘new’ clothes at someone else’s garage sale

She is clothed in spit up, yet holds her head high with dignity She can laugh at the days to come

She speaks wisdom in baby-talk The phrase ‘No –no!’ is always on her lips

She watches over the affairs of her household There is no option of idleness

Her children wake up and cry ‘mommy!’ Her husband does not wake up at all when the baby cries

Many women are moms, But only you are ‘mom’ to your kids

Sleep is over-rated, and showers are optional But, a mom who trusts the LORD is ESSENTIAL

Give her the reward she has earned Let her hard work bring her praise

Canadian Snowbirds

I was reading the paper this morning and ran across a brief that announced the Canadian Snowbirds would be landing at Worthington Municipal Airport this afternoon for about an hour. The Canadian Snowbirds are the Canadian Air Force's equivalent of the Blue Angels.

So, being the good mom that I am, I called a friend to join us and buckled Carter in the car to head to Worthington. He was so excited to see the airplanes, but we had to wait a little while for them to come in. He got to play in the hangars and see some airplanes that our friend Cameron is working on. I think he almost enjoyed that part most!

But once the Snowbirds started arriving, he really got interested and stood outside for over an hour watching them refuel. He didn't even get upset when they were taxiing in and got really loud. For those of you who know Carter, this is a huge deal! He just calmly stood there on the edge of the runway covering his ears. I was so proud of him and we had such a great time!

You can enjoy pictures of our afternoon here.

Carter

Here's a conversation that happened between Carter, Britney and me just a few minutes ago.

Maggie (the dog) - chomp, chomp, chomp
Me - "Carter, did you give Maggie a little bone?"
Carter - "Yeah."
Me - "Did you ask?"
Carter - "I asked Maggie. I asked her red, green or brown."
Me - "Did Maggie say green?"
Carter - "Yeah. She likes green the best." "Daddy, can I finish watching Fairytopia?"

That's our boy!

Yard Sales

Today was my first experience with serious yard sale-ing in Adrian. It was the town-wide sale today and we hit probably 12-15 of them! Both kids started out with me this morning, but Carter got cold (yes, it was still snowing a little this morning) so he went home to stay with Britney and play with his new drum kit for $1. Yes, I bought him a drum kit. Crazy? Maybe. But yesterday I found him with screwdrivers banging on the bannister upstairs. Carter has now made his mark on our 100 year old railings.

Anyway, I thought I would share my successes with you! I spent $27 and got the following: a drum kit, sawhorse toy for Carter, 4 dresses for Ashlyn, jeans, a t-shirt, a purse, a pillow, a puzzle, a purse for Ashlyn, and a chair, which of course needs some TLC. All for $27!!! I couldn't believe it!

This is just the beginning and hopefully the next ones won't be so cold! Although on a brighter note - it is supposed to hit 70 here on Wednesday!!!!! Winter will end!

Five Minutes

I'm curious when kids learn the concept of sleeping in. Mine haven't gotten it yet.

School is delayed 2 hours today because of the freakin' SNOW STORM that started yesterday. Yes, it's making me grumpy. No, I'm not seeing the beauty in this one because it's APRIL ELEVENTH for heaven's sake. Anyway, that's another post for another time - when I'm not so crabby.

School is delayed 2 hours today, so last night I stayed up a little later than I normally do and watched some extra TV with Britney, thinking I wouldn't set my alarm and could just get up when the kids did. Sleep in. No need to rush today. Guess what time the munchkins came in my room this morning??? Yep - EXACTLY five minutes after my alarm normally goes off. So much for sleeping in.

I'm just curious why on a normal school day it's like waking the dead and today they were up before the dead???