Matchstick Marvels

On Saturday we took the kids to the Matchstick Marvel Museum in Gladbrook. We figured they would really like it (especially Nicky since he builds things out of craftsticks). The first thing you see when you walk in is a HUGE model of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is unbelieavable. It looks just like in the movies! The detailing is incredible. The docent was a very nice old lady. She gave us incredible bits of information about the models and the artist. Hogwarts and another model have been sold to a museum in Spain. Many of the artist's previous models are in Ripley's Believe it or Not museums worldwide. We were especially lucky to get to meet the artist as he brought in another piece of Hogwarts. Making the marvels is a hobby for him that he only works on in the winter. He's employed full time besides!

Notre Dame de Chartres is the other model that has been purchased by the Spanish museum. I was especially impressed with this model because I've been to this very cathedral! The artist has even added the rose windows and 110 saints statues on it. All of the models are to scale.

The United States Capital -

A Very Crooked House

On our way to Gladbrook we swung past the bitty town of Lincoln and went past the EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION house. It wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be judging from all the press I'd heard and read. However the fact that it and 2 outbuildings were made in a week is astounding.

Overall it was a great day for a drive and a great bargain for the museum!

Here's Hoping

For a good weekend. The kids were little pukes last weekend. Tonight it appeared so far so good. Kurt and the 3 of them went to see the Sound of Music at the high school. Alex's girlfriend is in it. I couldn't face another production of it. I've seen it at West Central, once possibly twice at Indee as well as a community theater production. I'm not even sure I'd go and see a revival with Julie Andrews in it!

Weekend plans....we have none for once. I'm sure it will involve laundry, dishes, and cooking. Maybe we can find something fun to do too!

Happy Halloween

Our little goblins are here. They were going to go trick or treating but they have no costumes. They were going to hand out candy, but they are watching NOVA. I guess we get to feed them, expend extra gas and miles, and not get credit for an overnight stay. It's more work for me. Kurt will be doing dishes.

We all got flu shots today. Luck had it that the flu shot clinic was the same day as Halloween so we were able to get them vaccinated. I hope it works!

I withdrew from my accounting class. It was kicking my a**. Missing a week of school didn't help either. I still have plenty to do with my remaining 14 hours of class.

Icky

We survived the trial. Three very full days. Kurt in the courtroom and me in the f*&^)(*ing hot hallway. Now we wait.

We each have upper respitory infections. Different strains. Different meds. Thanks, kids!

We went to Ryan's first birthday party yesterday. It was fun to watch him explore frosting and get his first taste of sugar. He's such a sweetie. It was WAY crowded in Ms. Marn's house. It made me very thankful we've moved out of our itty bitty Waterloo house.

I missed an entire week of school. I need to study and get back into the groove today.

A Little Behind

We've had too much going on for me to take time to blog. I've got tests in all my classes this Friday, OCTOBER 13TH! All the profs said they were sorry, but I don't think they meant it. So here's what's been happening around here:

• Fred came for last weekend. We haven't seen him since June.
• All the kids went to a hayride and weinie roast last Saturday. The 70 degree weather was perfect for it!
• We all went to see Antigone at Theater UNI. It was a modern adaptation and very well done. Christy especially liked it.
• We had $1 sundaes at McDonald's afterward
• Conference cross country is tomorrow afternoon. I baked 2 doz brownies and am prepared to work in the concessions stand
• Kurt and I had our first big fight. It was a DOOZIE!
• My printer died...at least the portion that prints black ink. Thought it was a bad cartridge. So now I have $70 worth of ink and no printer it will work in. Joy.
• My severance ran out and I'm officially on the dole
• My car needs $2200 in repairs
• I have a math test due Friday, too
• It's snowing outside!

Guilty!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061005/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_life_regifting

An Ebay Find

I occasionally do Ebay searches of my and Kurt's hometowns just to see what it will turn up. A few weeks ago Kurt's came up with a 1955 Legion Cookbook. We bid on it and won (imagine that!?!). It arrived today. Kurt is going to be VERY excited. It's got recipes from his maternal grandma and his aunt in it. I think there may be a couple of other relatives, too. The names sounded familiar, but I'm not well acquainted with the "outlaws" on his side.

Dubuque Dubuque

Saturday we took a family day and went to Dubuque. The weather was lovely, Alex didn't have a cross country meet, and Kurt had found $60 worth of travelers checks when he was cleaning out a box.

We went to the Fenelon Place Elevators which is billed as the world's "shortest, steepest incline" via a train. It goes up the side of a bluff where there is then a beautiful 3 state view. There was a busload of screaming kids when we got there, but we stayed anyway.

Following our ride we boarded the Spirit of Dubuque for a 1 1/2 hour river cruise. We steamed up river to just below the lock and damn, turned around, and headed south to the Julian Dubuque Monument. Along the way we saw piles of coal and road salt, a bald eagle, some spectacular homes, a nunnery, and several barges. The sun came out and made the water glisten. Nick, of course, was a bump on a log, but Alex and Christy really enjoyed themselves.

After the boat ride we decided to drive to the Julian Dubuque Monument and check it out. It was quite the adventure! The way wasn't clearly marked so we got to see quite a bit of the country side. Hwy 52 heading south is pretty "Deliverance"-esque! We had less than an 1/8 of a tank of gas so we headed back to town. We eventually managed to find the place. It has spectacular views, a free viewing telescope, and lots of fresh air.

It was getting late and the herd was hungry. We called some friends in town and has dinner with them at a local Mexican restaurant. There was a strolling guitar player along with lots of warm chips and hot salsa. It was a great end to a great day.

When we got home Christy said she had " a great time" and she hoped Sunday was just as great. I'm afraid she was sadly disappointed.

Fenelon Place Elevators 

Rolling on the River 

Julian Dubuque Monument 

Growth chart

Kurt measured the kids again and the results are in!

Alex - holding at 6'.
Nick - 5'7 and 1/2"
Christy - 5'2 and 1/2".

So am not yet the shortest (but I will be soon!)

This and That

Been busy with school so this hasn't gotten much attention. We attended Alex's Cross Country meet last Saturday. He did pretty well with the hilly course and strong winds. He had another meet yesterday. He said he got 39th (out of how many I don't know). Tomorrow we have school conferences for him and Kurt has to go to Davenport. Friday night we have the Parent's Meeting/Dinner for Cross country. Saturday is the 1st Annual Brew B Q. www.celebrateindee.com We're hoping the weather will be nice for it. I had a test on Tuesday and got one back on Monday. Ugh. Last night was book club. We read THE GOOD WIFE by O'Nan. Shockingly, everyone had read the book. Next month is IN COLD BLOOD. That's the second day of our trial though so we may be too wiped out to go.

The pool picture is from our vacation at Kurt's brother Greg's house. The other one is from the murder mystery dinner we got for a wedding gift from my parents and sister and brother-in-law. (I did it by the way!). It was and the Lion and the Lamb B & B.

Who Dunnit Dinner 

Vacation Revisited 

Heading for the Finish 

Our Mustang 

Crop for the Cure

Saturday was the long awaited event. It was the "Crop for the Cure" Day. Marnie, Jen, and I (plus Jen's sisters, Steph and Roni, whom I hadn't met before) were a few of the 100+ women scrapping booking and raising money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. All together the day raised $16,000+ for breast cancer research. All of us won door prizes except Ms. Marn. I got my Washington, D.C. scrapbook started (and finished)! I also did some pages of Ryan. I work in an smaller format, 8 x 8, while they were all doing 12 x 12. I got 29 pages done in 12 hours! Marnie did 9 and the others did considerably fewer. They however spend a lot of time planning and replanning. I just tend to slap things down on there. It was a lot of fun.

Mom and I rode to DSM together since she was going to babysit the munchkin while we cropped. He is getting soo big and verbal. He stands and walks along things. He likes to be naughty and check to see if you are paying attention. That kid can army crawl VERY fast if there is an open door. He's a sweetie.

Unfortunately, once we got home it's back to the books. I don't know what in the hell I am doing in my accounting class and my first test is on Friday.

Scenes from Washington, D.C.

Sushi - YUCK!!!




Wet at World War II Memorial



Kurt with Washington in the Palm of his Hand

Korean War Memorial

The closest Kurt will get to the Moon - Touching a Moon Rock

At the Capital

Washington DC

Kurt and I went to the Capital for the long weekend. Despite Hurricane Ernesto we had a wonderful time! It was relaxing and enjoyable. Since there was a deluge 3 of 4 days there weren't many crowds. It's been at least a decade since I've been to DC. It seems cleaner and brighter now. I think some of that has to do with 9/11. There are GIANT planters of flowers everywhere. The planters have been chosen as the barricades around all the museums and government buildings. It's next to impossible to drive up to any of the buildings. The cops were also very busy stopping trucks, u-hauls, and having cars towed. I've never seen such a show of force!
I wanted to see the World War II Memorial since that's new since I've last been there. We walked in the blowing sheets of rain and falling branches from there to the Lincoln Memorial and
back. The Vietnam Wall in on the right hand side of the reflecting pool and the Korean War Memorial is on the left. The Korean Memorial is pretty neat. It looks like a platoon out on patrol. Due to the weather there weren't all kinds of tributes and veterns at the Wall like the other times I've been there.
Kurt was really impressed with the Lincoln Memorial. It is quite grand. Abe is HUGE. The Gettysburg Address is on one wall and his 2nd Inauguarl Address was on the other. The steps were WAY slippery. I'm surprised I didn't biff it.

A Workout

Rikki and I worked out this morning!! Supposedly, we are going to do it 2x a week. (My commitment is more doubtful than hers). We met at UNI at 8:30 a.m. I did the elliptical machine for 5 minutes and then I rode the bike for 8 minutes. It was a recumbent bike and I chose "random". That setting made it change the resistance like I was biking up and down hills. It would tell me to pedal faster or slower. I went a total of 3 miles. I noticed it takes a HELL of a lot of exercise to burn any significant amount of calories! We ended with some hand weights and stretching. We didn't exercise for long, but at least we did it!

The Pink Shirt

I finally convince Kurt to get a pink dress shirt. I think he's way sexy in it. He's got the right coloring for it (being of Danish and Swedish stock and all). We got one at Kohl's on sale. It's a $50 shirt for around $12. Wrap it up we'll take it home!

Now he resisted the pink shirt for a long time. He didn't think it was manly enough. He didn't want to be a metrosexual. Who knows what the reason was.

He wore the shirt yesterday with his new khaki dress pants (he calls 'em slacks). He got a flat tire on the way to work. He was in the process of changing it; standing there deciding how to best get the power bolted on lug nuts off...When a WOMAN offered to do it for him. Since he was in his dress clothes and she had on her work clothes. I asked if she worked at the truck stop. He said no but she did have on more "work" type clothes. He declined her offer feeling a bit humiliated. A bit later a trucker came over and asked if everything was alright wondering if Kurt needed help changing the tire.

He told me about it when he got home. He was M - A - D!!! "Just because I'm wearing a pink shirt people think I'm helpless!" It was the best laugh I've had all week. I wonder if he'll wear it again?

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, the children and I survived our week together. It wasn't without tears and frustration on any of our parts though. Another vacation done. This year our highlight was trip to Rochester to stay with Kurt's brother, Greg and Sister-in-law, Kim. Their two boys, Sterling and Chandler are 19 and 14 (I think). It was nice. Great "hotel". They provided all the food and entertainment. The kids were glued to the TV playing video games, only breaking to eat sweets or get in the pool. The lack of organized meals, limits, and bedtimes was making me crazy. We were there from Friday afternoon until Sunday noon.

On the way up we stopped at Niagara Cave in Harmony, MN. It's one of the top ten caves in the US. Pretty good as caves go. Not that I've been in many. You go on a walking tour down and into the thing. It's like 80 feet underground and then you wind your way back in there a half mile. Christy REALLY loved it. "Take a picture! Take a picture!" I got a little claustrophobic at one point. Kurt was walking in front of me, so he was blocking the little light there was. The walls were only about 6 inches on each side of me. Check it out at www.niagaracave.com

I'll post some pictures as soon as I unearth the camera and get caught up on the laundry!

Feeding the Fish 

Wild Child at Backbone 

The trout are swarming 

Sitting still for once! 

Death By Chocolate 

Adventures

This entertainment director stuff is tiring. Today we just chilled at home. These children have turned me into my mother (again). I just told them to go run around the house. They are banging around and annoying the snot out of me. I just sent the red headed demons to the park. Christy is busy crafting away. She's made a flower, feather, flag and sticker arrangement on floral foam. She's repaired her dagger. Now she is making a shield. I've got blueberry muffins in the oven and am hoping for a nap.

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Kurt's parents are here for the weekend. They came Saturday afternoon while I was at the Cootchie Campout. I premade a lasgne so they'd have something to eat when they arrived. I didn't get home until 9:30pm. Today we had a big turkey dinner, read the paper, and did an Independence mini tour. We spent the afternoon playing Trivial Pursuit and Outburst. Grandpa and Grandma treated us to Pizza Hut tonite. We'd won a free movie from the video store so we rented "Duma". It's about a kid and his cheetah. It was very good.

Tomorrow starts our week's vacation with the kids. Since Kurt switched jobs he doesn't have any vacation so it's me entertaining the munchkins all week. It should be interesting!

Stripping

It's not what you think. I'm stripping wallpaper in our bedroom. The bottom half came off easily in full sheets. Above the chair rail however is awful. I'm using the blue gel stuff and the add in the really hot water stuff. The lady at the paint store told me vinegar water was the way to go. I don't want to stink up the room though. Kurt's parents are suppossed to be coming this weekend so they will sleep in our room. I'd at least like to have it all stripped before they get here. I know getting it painted isn't going to be possible. We have the hearing and school registration tomorrow and Friday I go to the cootchie campout.

I LOVE giving stuff away!

My new favorite website is www.freecycle.org! In the last week we have gotten rid of storm windows, a bookshelf, and dum dum da dum.....the piano!! It's fantastic. I recommend it to each and everyone!

I went to DSM on Sunday afternoon. Marn and I went and "scrapped" today. (We also got some scrappin' in last night while baby boo was napping). I got 13 pages done and I only spent 8.75 at the store. We had breakfast this morning at HY-VEE. It was like a retirement community in there. Wall to wall old people. I have seen my future and it looks like Hy-Vee at 9 am!

My plans for tomorrow are: go to the library and wait for my mom to come pick up the pickle crocks. That's it. :)

Sweet Freedom

My center did in fact close at 9:15pm on Monday the 24th. I am joyously unemployed! I've got so much going on. I'm like those retired people that say "I'm so busy I don't know how I had time to work!"

I PASSED I PASSED I PASSED!!!!

Despite getting WAY below a "F" on my math final (45%). I passed the class. My homework and other test score were much better. Since so many people did so badly on the test (read only 7 out of 25 passed the final) she eliminated the requirement that we pass the final to pass the test. The gods and my genius and loving husband were smiling on me!

Help me I'm melting!

It is so stinkin' humid outside. Yuck. I weeded my gardens that are in the shade. The ones in the sun will have to wait. The quack grass didn't put up much of a fight after all the rain we got last night. The storm managed to knock 3 little tomatos off the two plants I have. I wrestled what is left of the plant into cages. That's it for me outside today. There is plenty that I can work on inside.

Only 3 more days of work. YAY! I called the unemployment office today and spoke with 2 different people. The information they gave me was 100% contradictory. Trying to collect is going to be a real good time, I can already tell.

Before

My beautiful Lewis - all fluffy and furry.

After

I got Mr. Magoo groomed. I was trying to be nice. I swear! I'll never do it again. My poor puppy :(

He can't escape my kisses! 

Seconds later they turned on the fountain! (He's sitting on it) 

Fred turns 19 

I really am short! Kurt, President Truman and me 

Mr. Wedemeier, I'm ready for my close up! 

Our room - the Stripe room 

Our Wedding B & B  

Aaaargh!

I hate math. I'm not too excited about my job either.

I'm prejudiced

Turns out I'm prejudiced. I didn't think I was racist, but it always turns out there are certain people I don't like dealing with. I was discussing it with Rikki. She said "You're not racist, but you might be prejudiced." I replied, "Against whom? The stupid people?" Then the little light came on. That's exactly who it is! I can't stand the stupid people!