And so it begins...

I'm ill. Or I'm getting ill. My throat hurts, my eyes are itchy and watery, and I, of course, have my horrible cough. There are some nose issues too.

I have to close Friday night. I'm not very excited about that.

I ordered prints online from Walgreens tonite. I'm trying to pre-plan scrapbook pages for the Crop for the Cure on Sept 17th. I went to the scrapbook store here in town. It's been a while since I've been there. My absence has resulted in the store going out of business! Oops! Everything is 25% currently. I didn't find much I wanted however.

Tomorrow night I have Nick's 6th grade orientation. He seemed relieved that at least one parent would be there. (Obviously, Kurt can't go as he's on the coast; the PP's lack of attendance is also obvious!)

Sleepless in Seattle

Kurt is in WA right now. Just north of Seattle. He'll be there til possibly sept 9. I'm really the one that can't sleep, but thinking of titles is difficult!

I have tons to do. I should probably study 2-4 hours a day, i have work, I'm still chasing down school stuff with the kids, plus we're trying to get pre approved for a mortgage so we can move. AAAACCCCKKKK!!!

Is it over yet?

Tomorrow is the end of the first week of school. I'm exhausted already. I can't imagine how tired I would be if we had the kids full time.

I'm amazed I'm still awake.

The Gods are Smiling

We appear to have two children on the bus on their way to school.

Kurt went to the farm this morning to make sure the kids were up, clean, and ready to go to school.

The PP ordered him off the farm so he watched from across the road.

Christy goes tomorrow. We have orientation with her teacher today (which the PP has REFUSED to allow Christy to go to) saying she has an earlier appointment. Interestingly, I didn't see her name on the list when we were there.

Alex has missed yet another day of Cross Country practice. Today will make a week and a half. There a more forms we need as well as proof of insurance. If he doesn't get there soon it's going to be pointless.

Yesterday the PP chose to have Nick SKIP the REQUIRED 6th grade orientation so that he could watch the drive for customers. NICE. Kurt took flew down, got him, and took him to it. Nick was pretty nervous/shocked etc the first half but perked up the second. They met all the teachers and ran through a mock school day.

I wish we could get all this stuff straightened out. It would be nice too if we could trust the PP. HA! I crack myself up!

Raising children from across the road is pretty difficult.

Little School on the Prairie 

Albert the Bull 

Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead 

At the Falls 

Hard boiled egg on a stick 

The big Turkey and his leg 

Food of the Gods - Cheesecake on a stick! 

The Little Mermaid and the Danes 

We're back!

We had quite the trip! We started the week out in a blue Town and Country from Texas and ended up with a White Ford Freestar from South Dakota! We came home with the same amount of children with which we started out. We came home poorer and more relaxed. It was a good trip. Everyone behaved and had a good time (myself included).

We went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead in De Smet, the Falls in Sioux Falls, and the USS South Dakota Memorial. We also had little side trips to Albert the Bull, the Danish villages of Western Iowa, the Loess Hills as well as a day at the Iowa State Fair.

My 15 year class reunion was last night. Kurt went with me. It was a surprisingly good time. About half of us were there. It was nice to visit with everyone and catch up. It wasn't nearly as wild as our 5 year (which was a relief)!

I start school and my new job tomorrow. The boys start school on Wednesday and Christy starts on Thursday. They are all excited. We hope the PP is going to be supportive. It's not looking good right now though as she is denying she ever told Alex she would pick him up from two activities a year. He is already a week late starting cross country practice. We are hoping for the best.

We are disappointed in Fred's decision to postpone going to college. He is pretty much planless. He's going to work at something somewhere. We have a terrible feeling it's going to be for free on the PP's farm.

We are now torturing the children by having them write thank you notes to Grandma and Grandpa. It's obvious that school is going to be a HUGE adjustment for them.

Vacation = Leisure right?

We are on vacation this week. Vacation is supposed to be relaxing right? Not around here. We've spent the past 3 days trying to get the kids ready for school. We decided the best plan of attack was to take 1 kid per day, get school clothes, and then school supplies. It hasn't been too bad, but Kurt was pale on several occasions. One was buying our daughter a bra and bikini underwear, the other was when I told Alex, "You're a man, you can decide what you want." Our Sears card is HOT HOT HOT. I'm surprised the company hasn't called to see if it was stolen!

Today Christy, Kurt, and I went and toured her school. She got to see everything, meet the secretary and her math teacher, as well as see where her classroom will be. There will only be 16 kids in her class which we feel will be a good transition for her. All the kids are excited about school. I don't think anyone could be more excited than Kurt and I are!

We also looked a 5 bedroom house that may be in our price range. It would be wonderful to have enough room for everyone and 2.5 baths!

I took the 3 youngest kids to get haircuts. Fred has decided not to attend college, to stay on the farm with the PP and to get a job. He said he'll start school in January. Hopefully that is true. His no school decision however has eliminated the need for us to get him school clothes and supplies.

I need to assemble everything we need for vacation tonite. I rented a minivan so that I will be able to stand the trip. It's been a never ending cycle of laundry, dishes, and meals here. Hopefully it will be cool the next few days.

IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

The PP has allowed us to register ALL 3 KIDS for school!!!

We are STUNNED!

What happened? Did she take our threats of suing for custody seriously?

Did she see us coming out of the lawyer's office on Wednesday?

Did she get struck by lightning?

Could she (gasp) be doing something that has the kids' best interests at heart?

Who cares...it is a miracle!

Now we just have to wait for Aug 24 and see if any of them actually go.

Not much new

So far the weekend has been relaxing. Christy is constructing a "Marble Course". She is quite the recycler. It is made of toilet tissue tubes, tape, yarn, and a raisin bran box. She's about to test it out on the front porch.

We were going to go to the river today for a picnic. However, I decided I can't face 4 hours in the car with the kids so I think we are going to head to Pine Lake State Park for our picnic. Tonight we may go the see a waterski show. (FREE!).

Fred continues to be Fred. Turns out Nick is a lot like him. If you want either of them to be quiet ask them a direct question. Alex has also had moments of "delightfulness" this weekend. Namely, when we told him he could ride a head on the bike trail yesterday if he kept an eye on his sister. We watched him catch up to her, lap her, and then end up on the opposite side of the lake from her. Good job, son. I scolded him, sent him back around, and then lo and behold he he came ALONE again. Nice.

We've told all the kids we're getting them haircuts during vacation. Hopefully if the PP comes near them with a bowl and scissors they will run screaming in the other direction.

Kurt was so sweet. He bought me a dozen roses without OBVIOUS PROMPTING (yeah right) at the Evil Empire yesterday. I paid for them and said (loudly), "oh honey! You are so thoughtful and spontaneous!" I'm surprised the look he gave me didn't wilt the flowers. The lady behind us laughed, her husband laughed nervously, and the 16 yr old male clerk looked frightened!

Swinging Single

That would be me! Kurt is on business in MN through Wednesday. It's just me and the dog. It's very quiet and very dull here.

We survived the weekend trip to Kurt's folks (despite no brakes in the truck). Kurt told me they went all they way to the floor. I replied, "it's an old truck". Little did I know (they still worked when I drove it!).

I thought i was going to die of heatstroke at kurt's parents. I couldn't sleep. I keep our house like a meat locker. Audra Kae had theirs at 78 degrees i think. She asked if we needed a blanket since the nights get chilly. At one point i tried to roll Kurt off the airbed so I could take it outside and sleep on the deck where it was cool.

We got 2 loads of stuff. It was nice being on the loading end for once so I could do a presort. The new fridge is NICE! Since we got home on Saturday, we called and got the kids on Sunday. We had a day of hauling stuff in and hauling the stuff we are replacing out.

I had free bowling passes so we went and bowled 2 games after supper. Nick is pretty good! Admittedly he had bumpers but he wasn't using them all that much. Alex, of course, was all about winning. At least he was a slightly better sportsman than usual. He really doesn't believe the "it's how you play the game" bit. Christy wore her purple butterfly shirt and a new denim mini skirt. The skirt is way too big, but i guess that is an improvement over way too small. It was nice to see Fred smiling again. Kurt was too tired to bowl, I believe. He probably slipped and fell at least 6 times. I bowled like usual. Some frames were HOT and some were very very bad. I did end up with 114 the second game however.

It's too bad it costs so much for 6 people to go out and do stuff. We all had some quality family time though.