Perspective

Tomorrow Emily gets to eat lunch with her teacher. In her class they earn reward coins, and for ten coins a student can have lunch with the teacher. She is pretty excited about it.

On the other hand, Caleb heard her talking about having lunch with her teacher and said to Brett and me (after Emily had left the room), "I thought eating lunch with a teacher is a punishment."

I guess it depends on the perspective.

Cave People

The weather today has been a little chilly. We woke up to outside temperatures in the forties. I decided to open all of the windows in the house and get some fresh air all through our house. The wind outside was powerful, so it didn't take long for the temperature inside to drop.

Here is evidence of the lowest it got inside the house.

55 degrees - inside.

Brett came home for lunch and shut several windows and doors. He was very cold, so he bundled up. He also told me that I needed to shut all the windows and start warming the house so that when the children came home they would not be freezing. I started to close things up slowly.

Brett keeping warm. Notice his hands tucked inside his sweatshirt.

While I was getting dinner ready the temperature inside was up to 61 degrees. Caleb decided to inform me that caves were this temperature all year round. He continued to tell me that we must be cave people.

The children were a little cold when they came to dinner, so they dressed appropriately.

Caleb and Eli ready to eat.

Emily & Claire keeping warm.

We made sure the children got tucked in and that they all had an extra blanket tonight in case they get cold.

I love a good chill, so I am really enjoying this weather. I went out and hung two loads of laundry, had the windows and doors open all morning, and just relaxed as I listened to the wind blow (and blow it did).

Running from the Law

has a different meaning when you are on the cross country team.

On Caleb first day of practice, these four were running together. Two seventh grade boys, a sixth grade boy and and sixth grade girl. Only one of them had run with the team before, and he was the leader. This group stayed together on their run, and followed the directions they were given to a fault.

They were told to take the first right, and they did. That led them up the ramp to the interstate. They ran on the interstate for a little while and a state trooper pulled over, waved them to him, put them in his car, and delivered them to the cross country coach. It is the first time in CC history that a state trooper delivered runners to the coach (Caleb is afraid that he will never hear the end of it - and I am pretty sure he won't).

Fortunately no one was hurt.

I wonder if they thought running cross country literally meant they were going to run across the country?

Sidewalks and Slickers

I am very fortunate that the school bus stops at the end of my driveway to pick the children up every morning. A couple of years ago, I designated the spot in my driveway where they could start the line (I didn't want them too close to the road).

This is the spot where they line up.

It was a little wet this morning, so the children got dressed for the weather.

Claire sporting her slicker and boots (and yes, she does have clothes on under there).

Emily posing for a picture.

Eli cheesing it up.

I hope their day is as bright as their smiles.

Stay-at-home-Mom

This is why I am a "stay-at-home-mom."

Last Thursday we were getting ready for the children to run out the door for school, and Emily reminded me that she had a field trip to the nature center. I had been meaning to contact her teacher to let her know that I would like to attend with them, but I hadn't done so yet. I called the school and left a message, and I tried to send an email that morning, but no word.

I told Emily to talk to her teacher when she got to school and then call me if they needed me. Shortly after school started, I received a call from Emily saying that she wanted me to come with them. I grabbed my keys, ran out the door to get her some apples, and headed to the school. The teacher took attendance, paired the students up, sent them to the bathroom, and then it was out the door to load the bus. When we got outside... no bus. I got to run to the office and have them call the bus office to find out where the bus was (it was at the wrong school). I ran back, and waited for a few minutes (the benefits of living in a small town) for the bus to get there. We loaded the bus from the back, and of course Emily chose the very back seat. I used to love the back seat, but not this time. My insides were bouncing up and down and down and up and inside and outside and over and under. I am sure there were knots inside of me.

After a short bus ride (another benefit of living in a small town) to the Hormel Nature Center we got off the bus and learned about trees. Then the fun began. We got to use one of these...
The children got to take turns putting apples in the cider press and turning the crank that would chop up the apples.

It is Emily's turn to crush the apples.

Everyone got a turn, and we were left with this.

After this, there was a lid put on the apples, and then they were squished and squished. The juice came out of the apples and it was collected in a pot so it could be boiled to remove the germs. The people at the nature center gave us a gallon of apple cider that had already been boiled to take back to the school.

We then were able to learn about seeds and how they travel. We were taught that they travel by wind, water, animals, hitch-hiking, and explosions. The children were able to help some grass seeds travel.

After our adventures at the nature center, we rode the bus back to the school (and Emily chose the front seat). I walked her in, said good-bye, and went home.

At home, I met Brett and we were able to have lunch together. We have gone out to eat a couple of times since the children have started school, and it is nice to be able to just spend time with him.

At this point in the day I started to figure out some airplane reservations for a trip to Washington to help my sister and take care of my nephew when she has her baby. Brett got some miles awarded to him, so I had to open an account to redeem the miles. It would take more than a day to redeem them, so I didn't get very far (in fact, as I type this, I still do not have my ticket).

Then Claire came home. I loaded her in the car, went to the elementary school again, and picked up Eli and Emily, and headed to Rochester for a cross country meet. Caleb was running a 5K. We got there about ten minutes before the race started. Then they were off.

With his cross country meet, we watched him start, then we walk across the golf course to a place where we can watch him run past us and cheer for him.

This is his first time past us.

Then we walk/run back to the finish line, to cheer him at the half way point.

Caleb at 1/2 way.

Then we run/walk back across to cheer him on again. We also cheer the other Austin runners. Caleb was keeping a good pace, and his friend was not quite as fast. So the last time we crossed the golf course we ran to make sure we would be there for him to finish.

Here he is approaching the finish line. GO CALEB!

He finished with a time of 23 minutes and 13 seconds.

We were able to spend about ten minutes there after his race before we loaded up the car to head back to town. We arrived in time to drop Eli off at the dance studio, and then we went to pick up one of his friends to take to dance, too.

I was able to go home for a few minutes before I needed to be out the door picking up Eli from dance and Caleb from cross country and then taking Eli's friend home and Caleb's friend home. When we arrived home we were able to do our night routine and put the children to bed.

THIS IS WHY I AM A STAY-AT-HOME-MOM!

and I love it

Yes, Happy Birthday

Just to keep the record straight, we did celebrate Brett's birthday a little bit better than the previous post.

The day after his birthday we had steak (that I grilled), baked potatoes, and broccoli. I made him birthday cinnamon rolls, and the boys made him birthday cookies.

So don't anyone feel too bad for Brett - we really did take care of him.

Happy Birthday?

This is what we did for Brett's birthday. We got in the van about 9:00 a.m and went to the temple.
Brett got to drive.
We took the children up with us. Caleb did some homework while Emily and Claire played in the back.
Eli plugged in his gameboy and played video games.
After the temple we went to a park and ate lunch, let the children run around, and just relaxed. Then we went to Best Buy to bet information on washers and dryers, cameras, and ipod docking stations. Our intention was to go to a BMW store, but we ended up on the wrong side of the interstate. After Best Buy we did find our way to the BMW store and we dreamed about getting a birthday present. Then we went to Sam's Club to see if there were any samples - NONE, so we got in the car to drive home.

It was a long drive.

This is what I was able to do on the way home because Brett was doing this...

He was talking to family who was wishing him a very happy birthday. When we pulled into town we went and got gas and a couple of things to eat. We had ramen noodles with peas for dinner, and Brett bought his own birthday donuts.

He stuck in his own candle, tried to light it himself (we wouldn't allow that), and then we sang to him while he blew out his candle.

We didn't make it a very special birthday, but I think we had fun being together.

The Favorite!

On Sunday mornings I ask myself, "Why do we have 3 1/2 bathrooms in this house?" This is my bathroom, and what I get to work with almost every Sunday morning.

The children all make their way into my bathroom at some point on Sunday morning to get ready for church. I guess they really like to be with me. I think I may have to choose another bathroom to get ready in.

Back to School

The children all woke up early and were ready to go to school. Brett started their morning off with pancakes, which they were all grateful for (my choice was oatmeal).

Here they are eating breakfast.

Here they are showing what grade they are going into.

Caleb was the first one to leave, so he posed for me to take a picture.

The other three were out the door at the same time to catch the same bus. They were a little happier to pose for a picture of two.

Emily going into 2nd grade.

Claire going into kindergarten (a K not to be confused with a 2)

Eli going into 4th grade.

At the bus stop waiting for the bus.

After the bus picked the children up, I called Brett, got in my car, and went to the Elementary school. Brett & I caught the children getting off the bus.

Claire had to transfer busses to get to the kindergarten center. She didn't really want to stop and pose for a picture.

Then Brett & I took off and went over the the kindergarten center to make sure Claire made it there without any problems.

She seemed a little nervous getting off the bus at her school, but there were several helpers there to take them where they needed to be.

Here she is waiting in line to go in.

She is still waiting in line.

Finally, her class is going in, and she waves to us, but doesn't acknowledge us any other way.

She enjoyed her first day, learned some new songs, and was extremely tired. All of the children had a good day yesterday, and they all slept well last night.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Today with all of the craziness of getting the children off to school, I was at the kindergarten center waiting for Claire to get off her bus. There were a couple of children who went to my preschool on her bus. One of the little girls waved at me and said, "You growed up, and you are skinny!" Brett & I just laughed (and so did a few of our friends who were standing there with us).

Locking Up

I am going to go private with my blog. If you would like to continue to follow asay-adventures please leave a comment, and I will add you to my list of loyal followers. I will not be publishing any of the comments from this post, either. Only I will know who will be following.

Today ROCKS

is the title for what we did yesterday.

Yesterday we took a road trip. Brett took the day off and asked the children what they wanted to do. Caleb suggested that we go to Rockford, Iowa to the Fossil and Prairie Center and Park Preserve. There is a quarry there where we were able to look for fossils. Caleb headed down into the rocks right away with Eli right on his tail. The rest of us took a little time, but we made it.

We found corals, brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, gastropods, pelecypods, and cephalopods. We used this guide to help us. It was a beautiful day to be outside digging in the dirt and playing in the water at the bottom of the HOLE.

When we were finished playing in the dirt, we decided to go to the building to "learn" something. After that, we decided to head to Mason City and find some place to eat. We pulled into town, drove around down town, and parked the car by the chamber of commerce and a park. We walked into the visitor information center and started looking through some of the brochures that were there. We decided that we wanted to try Buffalo Wild Wings. The only problem was that there were no addresses in the brochures. We looked in several, and then we saw a phone book. We grabbed the book, found the address, looked at the map in the front of the book, and were on our way.

We got to the restaurant and ordered wings, ribs, chicken tenders, and a BBQ chicken sandwich. We decided that if we were to go again, and it is likely, we would probably stick to the wings. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the rock quarry, and then after dinner, it took 50 minutes to get home.

At home, Eli made brownies and Brett & Eli went out to buy ice cream so we could have brownies a la mode after FHE.

All in all, it was a fun day.