I think I suck at blogging! I like to read other people's blogs...in fact I am a regular follower of a few. I check them regularly, make comments, I even get irritated if they don't post for a while...but none of this is evidently enough to make ME post on a more regular basis!
So, this is my essay on what we did on our summer vacation:
As I mentioned in my last post, our city pool was required to make some major renovation due to legislated safety requirements. At first, they said they were going to be closed until mid to late July, but they ran into other issues and ended up not opening at all. This has been a bit of a challenge, as our kids (especially Ike) use the pool quite regularly, but they have survived.
Ike play All-Star baseball into July. As usual, it was wicked hot during that time. They practiced about four days a week and the tournament was held north of Coeur d'Alene the first two weekends in July. They ran into some really good competition and played really well. Won some games, lost some games. True to tradition we held a BBQ for the players after one of the games to celebrate Ike's 12th birthday, it is always fun to do that & the players (and coaches!) look forward to it now. Since baseball has been over Ike has had a pretty busy summer. He volunteered for Vacation Bible School at our church, went on vacation to Yellowstone National Park with one of his friends & his grandparents, has spent considerable time with Mike's dad, and went to church camp. He mows our lawn weekly and also one of the neighbors' lawns. He is looking forward to school starting & also wrestling I think, as just the other day he was walking around the house in a singlet!!!
Cassidy has worked all summer at the local farmer's market selling baked goods. She has done quite well, some weeks better than others & surprised all of us by sticking to it for the whole summer. She is done for the year now, but we are really proud of her for figuring out a job when she couldn't find one. She also volunteered at VBS this year, has spent some time at Papa's house, and went to church camp. She is at Silverwood today on a youth group trip and leaves tomorrow to spend several days at my mom & dad's house. She is very excited to start high school in a couple weeks.
Kaittlin attended Ironwood Thrower's Camp this summer and also went to church camp. Besides those two events and a few days with her friends most of her summer has been spent working at the hospital. She has gotten to try out every shift & she really likes her job. She is going to continue working once school starts, but will only be able to work weekends to start with. Beginning this week the hospital is doing a trial run of switching the CNAs to 10 hour shifts which means that swing shift runs until 1am instead of 11pm. If that becomes permanent she will not likely work during the week. If they go back to 8 hour shifts & her class schedule accommodates it she may try to pick up one or two swing shifts during the week. She gets her second senior picture sitting done on September 1 & just got register for the dual enrollment college course she will be taking this fall. She is ready to start her senior year...can you believe it???!!!
As far as our family goes, we enjoyed a visit from the Schulz family in June. It was an amazing time of just hanging out & visiting & it ended way too soon. Sonny did stay an extra couple days before they had to move on to a family reunion in Boise...that was an extra good time, as she had not been here in such a long time...we really enjoyed that. We got to watch her play in Hoop Fest & she was able to watch Ike play in one of his All-Star games. It was a special time & we are planning a family vacation in February to attend her final college basketball game.
We have spent considerable time picking huckleberries this year. The crop is abundant & the berries are big. The kids pick & sell berries each year for school clothes money. Prices are down this year...I'm not sure if it is because there are just so many berries out there or because no one has any money (I certainly understand that!), but we have sold some & the kids have bought some clothes. None of my kids are clothes horses & are pretty thrifty, so they will be fine. Hopefully we can sell them all & put the extra cash toward the trip to Bismarck.
Summer is slipping away & the list of projects around the house, although smaller, is not nearly as completed as I would have wished by now...go figure! School supplies have been purchased & registration for classes is next week. Time flies...
Now you know what I did on my summer vacation! :)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Summer Plans
Well, summer is officially underway whether the weather agrees or not. The season is shaping up to be quite different than we are generally used to.
The biggest difference is the city pool. Our kids, at least until they have turned 15 or 16, have always been big users of the pool. We always purchase a family pass & you can usually find them there almost every sunny day of the summer. This has always been of great benefit to us as I work all year & even though Mike works at the school his job is also year round (although 4 10-hour days in the summer). This year, however, due to new safety legislation the pool will not be open until late July because of upgrades that need to be done.
Kaittlin completed her CNA course through Lewis Clark State College this spring. The course consisted of one semester of a college level health course, followed by a one semester nurses assistant course. The CNA course was fairly extensive, requiring a two hour block of classroom work each morning at school with the obligatory assignments, quizzes, & tests. In addition she had to complete a specified number of "skills" hours. These were classes held at the local nursing home, taught by a registered nurse. She was also required to completed "clinical" hours where she worked a specified number of hours before & after school and on weekend, also at the local nursing home, basically practicing the practical skills she was learning, under supervision, at the nursing home. She also had the opportunity to shadow CNAs at the local hospital during this time. After completing all of her coursework & hours and passing her test to complete her course through LCSC, she then had to test through the State of Idaho to received her certification. She did that during the last two weeks of school & did very well, passing with an 85%.
In early May Kaittlin had applied at Valley Vista (nursing home) and the local hospital hoping to get a summer job as a CNA. In previous years, students completing this program had no problem getting on a Valley Vista, so a couple weeks before school was out Kaittlin was a little dismayed to hear that Valley Vista was not going to be hiring any CNAs this summer. We had heard a rumor that the hospital would not hire anyone under age 18 & she feared she had failed to make a Plan B & she would be without a job for the summer. She was just getting ready to enter panic mode on the day that she went to Post Falls to take her state certification test. About 1/2 hour before she was to take her test she noticed that she had a voicemail on her phone, so she called it back. It was the hospital, calling to schedule an interview with her!
So, the week after Kaittlin got out of school she interviewed at the hospital, found out she got the job!!! & took her ACTs. She is currently finishing up her first week at the hospital. She has worked swing swift all this week & spent a considerable amount of time in the emergency room. I think she has already learned a lot. This next week she will also work swing, then she will leave for Ironwood Thrower's Camp at Whitworth College in Spokane. She went to this camp last year on a scholarship & it was amazing. She is going as a commuter this year to save money. When she returns her shift at the hospital will change to graveyard about 4 days a week.
Her plans for the summer are work as much as possible, Ironwood, & she will also be attending church camp for one week at the end of July.
This spring Cassidy tried out for high school cheerleader & made the squad. She attended about 6 practices & came home one day & said, "Mom, I think I made a big mistake." Cassidy has always been a reluctant cheerleader, anyway. She was starting to feel like maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew. She had recently been to high school orientation & heard about the clubs she could join (two in particular really picqued her interest) & really took to heart the talks by the principal & counselor about your grades really mattering now. We made her wait a couple days before she told her cheer coach just to make sure SHE was sure, but she didn't change her mind.
Cassidy wanted a job this summer in the worst way, but no one hires kids under 16 in St. Maries. Idaho law limits the number of hours & which hours 14 & 15 year-olds can work, so most employers just don't like to mess with them for fear they will make a mistake in scheduling & inadvertantly break the law. Babysitting is so hit & miss and we did a lot of brainstorming, but finally came up with an idea that so far is paying off. St. Maries has a farmers' market every Friday night from 3pm to 6pm downtown. Cassidy has secured a booth & sells homemade baked items...pies, breads, cinnamon rolls, etc. Her first week she made about $40, this week she cleared about $95 (in the rain!). The booth costs her $10 a week, but after 4 weeks she is a member of the market & no longer has to pay. She also pays me for the ingredients. She is keeping track of her costs & sales so that she knows what she does & pays herself $10 per week to use as spending money, the rest goes in her savings account. Her early projections have her putting about $800 in savings this summer, not too bad! She will also be attending church camp at the end of July.
Ike just completed baseball season & was chosen to be on the All-Star team. That means practices for another several weeks & games the first two weekends in July. He has also become a regular "groupie" in the dugout of the local American Legion baseball team. They put him to work fetching balls & picking up bats & he likes to hang out with the big boys. Everyone is a winner! :) He will be attending church camp the third week in July. He also mows our lawn once a week & has a once weekly lawn mowing job for one of our neighbors.
Neither Mike or I have any work travel plans for the summer & vacation will likely not be financially possible this year, although I do think that we plan on a Spokane Indians game or two. We also would like to work a little on our yard, possibly moving in some river rock which we may have to make some trips to get.
We are looking forward to a visit from Sonny Schulz & her family next week and to watching her plan in Hoop Fest...can't wait for that! And, before we know it the end of the summer will be upon us. The kids plan on picking huckleberries again this year for school clothes money, it's crazy how fast it goes!
For our friends & family who read this, near & far, if you find yourself in the area please give us a call. We would love to have you stop by & see us...the house might not always be clean, but we can throw some hamburgers on the BBQ & build a fire in the pit on the patio & roast some marshmallows!
The biggest difference is the city pool. Our kids, at least until they have turned 15 or 16, have always been big users of the pool. We always purchase a family pass & you can usually find them there almost every sunny day of the summer. This has always been of great benefit to us as I work all year & even though Mike works at the school his job is also year round (although 4 10-hour days in the summer). This year, however, due to new safety legislation the pool will not be open until late July because of upgrades that need to be done.
Kaittlin completed her CNA course through Lewis Clark State College this spring. The course consisted of one semester of a college level health course, followed by a one semester nurses assistant course. The CNA course was fairly extensive, requiring a two hour block of classroom work each morning at school with the obligatory assignments, quizzes, & tests. In addition she had to complete a specified number of "skills" hours. These were classes held at the local nursing home, taught by a registered nurse. She was also required to completed "clinical" hours where she worked a specified number of hours before & after school and on weekend, also at the local nursing home, basically practicing the practical skills she was learning, under supervision, at the nursing home. She also had the opportunity to shadow CNAs at the local hospital during this time. After completing all of her coursework & hours and passing her test to complete her course through LCSC, she then had to test through the State of Idaho to received her certification. She did that during the last two weeks of school & did very well, passing with an 85%.
In early May Kaittlin had applied at Valley Vista (nursing home) and the local hospital hoping to get a summer job as a CNA. In previous years, students completing this program had no problem getting on a Valley Vista, so a couple weeks before school was out Kaittlin was a little dismayed to hear that Valley Vista was not going to be hiring any CNAs this summer. We had heard a rumor that the hospital would not hire anyone under age 18 & she feared she had failed to make a Plan B & she would be without a job for the summer. She was just getting ready to enter panic mode on the day that she went to Post Falls to take her state certification test. About 1/2 hour before she was to take her test she noticed that she had a voicemail on her phone, so she called it back. It was the hospital, calling to schedule an interview with her!
So, the week after Kaittlin got out of school she interviewed at the hospital, found out she got the job!!! & took her ACTs. She is currently finishing up her first week at the hospital. She has worked swing swift all this week & spent a considerable amount of time in the emergency room. I think she has already learned a lot. This next week she will also work swing, then she will leave for Ironwood Thrower's Camp at Whitworth College in Spokane. She went to this camp last year on a scholarship & it was amazing. She is going as a commuter this year to save money. When she returns her shift at the hospital will change to graveyard about 4 days a week.
Her plans for the summer are work as much as possible, Ironwood, & she will also be attending church camp for one week at the end of July.
This spring Cassidy tried out for high school cheerleader & made the squad. She attended about 6 practices & came home one day & said, "Mom, I think I made a big mistake." Cassidy has always been a reluctant cheerleader, anyway. She was starting to feel like maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew. She had recently been to high school orientation & heard about the clubs she could join (two in particular really picqued her interest) & really took to heart the talks by the principal & counselor about your grades really mattering now. We made her wait a couple days before she told her cheer coach just to make sure SHE was sure, but she didn't change her mind.
Cassidy wanted a job this summer in the worst way, but no one hires kids under 16 in St. Maries. Idaho law limits the number of hours & which hours 14 & 15 year-olds can work, so most employers just don't like to mess with them for fear they will make a mistake in scheduling & inadvertantly break the law. Babysitting is so hit & miss and we did a lot of brainstorming, but finally came up with an idea that so far is paying off. St. Maries has a farmers' market every Friday night from 3pm to 6pm downtown. Cassidy has secured a booth & sells homemade baked items...pies, breads, cinnamon rolls, etc. Her first week she made about $40, this week she cleared about $95 (in the rain!). The booth costs her $10 a week, but after 4 weeks she is a member of the market & no longer has to pay. She also pays me for the ingredients. She is keeping track of her costs & sales so that she knows what she does & pays herself $10 per week to use as spending money, the rest goes in her savings account. Her early projections have her putting about $800 in savings this summer, not too bad! She will also be attending church camp at the end of July.
Ike just completed baseball season & was chosen to be on the All-Star team. That means practices for another several weeks & games the first two weekends in July. He has also become a regular "groupie" in the dugout of the local American Legion baseball team. They put him to work fetching balls & picking up bats & he likes to hang out with the big boys. Everyone is a winner! :) He will be attending church camp the third week in July. He also mows our lawn once a week & has a once weekly lawn mowing job for one of our neighbors.
Neither Mike or I have any work travel plans for the summer & vacation will likely not be financially possible this year, although I do think that we plan on a Spokane Indians game or two. We also would like to work a little on our yard, possibly moving in some river rock which we may have to make some trips to get.
We are looking forward to a visit from Sonny Schulz & her family next week and to watching her plan in Hoop Fest...can't wait for that! And, before we know it the end of the summer will be upon us. The kids plan on picking huckleberries again this year for school clothes money, it's crazy how fast it goes!
For our friends & family who read this, near & far, if you find yourself in the area please give us a call. We would love to have you stop by & see us...the house might not always be clean, but we can throw some hamburgers on the BBQ & build a fire in the pit on the patio & roast some marshmallows!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Graduation Weekend
My posts seem to be few & far between anymore. Life is so busy & I can hardly keep up most of the time. But this past weekend came with a story that one can't help but repeat...so repeat it I will:
Saturday was graduation in St. Maries. As usual we had a plethora of parties to go to (with my involvement in Junior Miss & Mike coaching wrestling we always get hit hard). We got home on Saturday night at about 10:30 pm. Kaittlin had a babysitting job until about 12:45 am. Cassidy had a friend spending the night & they decided to sleep in the TV room downstairs. Ike figured since they were down there he would sleep in Cassidy's bed in the girls' room upstairs (Kaittlin & Cassidy share the bedroom across the hall from ours).
At 5:00 am on Sunday morning Ike came into our room & woke me up. He said, "Mom, there is a girl in my bed that I don't know". Needless to say that got my attention & I asked him to repeat himself. The second time around wasn't much different, "A girl that I don't know just got into bed with me, I think she's drunk."
By this time Mike was awake & paying attention (imagine!). I quickly decided this problem should be his to solve & turned it over to him, but he wanted to make sure Ike was not sleep walking first & sent me to confirm the facts! So, I put on my glasses, walked to the doorway of the girls' room and sure enough Kaittlin was sound asleep in her bed and Mystery Girl, clad in blue jeans & a yellow hoodie with the hood pulled up, was snoozing away in Cassidy's bed where Ike had been sleeping.
At this point I walked back to our room & told Mike that, indeed, there was a girl in the bed. While he dressed & put his contacts in I asked Ike if he had woke up & she was there or how had the realization of her presence come about. He recounted the following scenario:
Ike wakes up to see the back of a girl, who he thinks is Cassidy's friend, bent over Kaittlin's bed. It appears that she is attempting to reach something near the bed, but is being very careful, possibly trying not to wake Kaittlin. Ike sits up in bed & watches for a few seconds. Then:
Ike: "Just grab whatever you need, you won't wake her up."
The girl turns around & Ike is surprised to find that she is not Cassidy's friend.
Ike (in a surprised voice): "Oh! Hi!?! Can I help you?"
Mystery Girl: "No???"
Ike: "Did you come home with Kaittlin?"
Mystery Girl: "I don't think so?"
Ike: "I'm confused..."
Mystery Girl: "So am I!"
At this point Mystery Girl walked over to Ike's bed, climbed in with him, rolled onto her side, pulled the covers up, & fell promptly to sleep. That is when, he said, he jumped out of bed & came into our room to wake me up.
This is when I walked back into the bedroom, with the entire family behind me, & knelt down next to the bed, & tried to lift up Mystery Girl's hood enough that we could see her face & maybe determine who she was. In retrospect this was probably a very funny sight, a real Goldilocks & the Three Bears moment, I'm sure. Had she woke at this point, she probably would have had a heart attack. But, she didn't wake up & we did figure out who she was. We also figured out that she was probably trying to get to her grandparents house, which is very close by.
We shooed the kids out of the room & tried to decide if we should call someone for her or wake her up & get her to her grandparents house. Due to the hour we decided on the latter & Mike went in to wake her up. He managed to get her up & walked her to her grandparents house & everyone went back to bed. It was quite the morning & Ike will have a story to tell for quite some time.
You know, I've had several people berate me for not locking my doors & telling me what a bad thing it was that she got in, but in hindsight I'm really kind of glad it happened. It was a good lesson to my kids of what can happen when you make not so good of decisions with alcohol, and even more so, I am SO GLAD it was my house this young lady wandered into. She could have passed out in the street & gotten hit by a car, she could have walked into someone's house who would have shot first & asked questions later, she could have walked into someone's house who would have taken advantage of her. Thank GOD my doors were unlocked & she made it somewhere safe!
Ike got an extra Twinkie at Sunday School for having the best story of the week...I think I deserve one too! :)
Saturday was graduation in St. Maries. As usual we had a plethora of parties to go to (with my involvement in Junior Miss & Mike coaching wrestling we always get hit hard). We got home on Saturday night at about 10:30 pm. Kaittlin had a babysitting job until about 12:45 am. Cassidy had a friend spending the night & they decided to sleep in the TV room downstairs. Ike figured since they were down there he would sleep in Cassidy's bed in the girls' room upstairs (Kaittlin & Cassidy share the bedroom across the hall from ours).
At 5:00 am on Sunday morning Ike came into our room & woke me up. He said, "Mom, there is a girl in my bed that I don't know". Needless to say that got my attention & I asked him to repeat himself. The second time around wasn't much different, "A girl that I don't know just got into bed with me, I think she's drunk."
By this time Mike was awake & paying attention (imagine!). I quickly decided this problem should be his to solve & turned it over to him, but he wanted to make sure Ike was not sleep walking first & sent me to confirm the facts! So, I put on my glasses, walked to the doorway of the girls' room and sure enough Kaittlin was sound asleep in her bed and Mystery Girl, clad in blue jeans & a yellow hoodie with the hood pulled up, was snoozing away in Cassidy's bed where Ike had been sleeping.
At this point I walked back to our room & told Mike that, indeed, there was a girl in the bed. While he dressed & put his contacts in I asked Ike if he had woke up & she was there or how had the realization of her presence come about. He recounted the following scenario:
Ike wakes up to see the back of a girl, who he thinks is Cassidy's friend, bent over Kaittlin's bed. It appears that she is attempting to reach something near the bed, but is being very careful, possibly trying not to wake Kaittlin. Ike sits up in bed & watches for a few seconds. Then:
Ike: "Just grab whatever you need, you won't wake her up."
The girl turns around & Ike is surprised to find that she is not Cassidy's friend.
Ike (in a surprised voice): "Oh! Hi!?! Can I help you?"
Mystery Girl: "No???"
Ike: "Did you come home with Kaittlin?"
Mystery Girl: "I don't think so?"
Ike: "I'm confused..."
Mystery Girl: "So am I!"
At this point Mystery Girl walked over to Ike's bed, climbed in with him, rolled onto her side, pulled the covers up, & fell promptly to sleep. That is when, he said, he jumped out of bed & came into our room to wake me up.
This is when I walked back into the bedroom, with the entire family behind me, & knelt down next to the bed, & tried to lift up Mystery Girl's hood enough that we could see her face & maybe determine who she was. In retrospect this was probably a very funny sight, a real Goldilocks & the Three Bears moment, I'm sure. Had she woke at this point, she probably would have had a heart attack. But, she didn't wake up & we did figure out who she was. We also figured out that she was probably trying to get to her grandparents house, which is very close by.
We shooed the kids out of the room & tried to decide if we should call someone for her or wake her up & get her to her grandparents house. Due to the hour we decided on the latter & Mike went in to wake her up. He managed to get her up & walked her to her grandparents house & everyone went back to bed. It was quite the morning & Ike will have a story to tell for quite some time.
You know, I've had several people berate me for not locking my doors & telling me what a bad thing it was that she got in, but in hindsight I'm really kind of glad it happened. It was a good lesson to my kids of what can happen when you make not so good of decisions with alcohol, and even more so, I am SO GLAD it was my house this young lady wandered into. She could have passed out in the street & gotten hit by a car, she could have walked into someone's house who would have shot first & asked questions later, she could have walked into someone's house who would have taken advantage of her. Thank GOD my doors were unlocked & she made it somewhere safe!
Ike got an extra Twinkie at Sunday School for having the best story of the week...I think I deserve one too! :)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Pay it Forward?
The most interesting thing happened to us last night.
Next week is Spring Break for our school. I am also taking the week off of work, the first week long vacation I have taken in a really long time...no real plans, just staying home, spring cleaning, cooking, etc. This week is one of those screwed up weeks at the school due to conferences. Ike went to school Monday through Wednesday, but was off Thursday and Friday because of conferences. Cassidy had Friday off for conferences and Kaittlin was scheduled all week with early release on Friday. Originally Kaittlin was going to be gone all day on Friday because of a track meet in Bonners Ferry, but at the eleventh hour they rescheduled the meet for Saturday. I had also scheduled myself off of work on Friday to attend the meet in BF.
So yesterday, Thursday, I ended up working late trying to get my desk cleared off to be gone for 6 work days. It was 6:00 by the time I got home and Mike was at the neighbors house helping him work on his motorcycle. Kaittlin had also just walked in the door from track practice and Ike was outside playing (Cassidy was at a friend's house spending the night). I was tired and hungry and didn't really want to deal with dinner. The rising costs of EVERYTHING have really affected our family in the last 6 - 9 months and we have really cut back our spending, but payday was Friday and I threw caution to the wind and suggested we go to Cabin City Pizza for dinner. Since we eat out so seldom anymore I had no trouble convincing anyone to get in the car and go! :)
When we walked into the restaurant it was not busy. There were only two table occupied, one with two men and one with a single women, no one we knew. We took our table, ordered, and started talking amongst ourselves. Kaittlin had taken her ASVABs that morning and spent the afternoon at Career/College day at the high school. She had brought along some of the college and military brochures she had picked up and we were passing them around and discussing options and generally having a really nice "before the meal came" time. During that time the woman who was in the restaurant got up and left and a gentlemen we know walked through and briefly stopped and talked to us.
When our food came it took the waitress a couple trips to get everything to the table. On her final trip she announced, "and I have really good news for you, your meal has been paid for". She went on to tell us that the lady who had been in the restaurant earlier told her that she had enjoyed watching our family and we made her smile. The week before someone had paid for her dinner, and she wanted to pay it forward. The waitress knew little about her other than she comes into there about once a week and her husband is a long haul truck driver. We were stunned and thrilled! What a blessing!
Next week is Spring Break for our school. I am also taking the week off of work, the first week long vacation I have taken in a really long time...no real plans, just staying home, spring cleaning, cooking, etc. This week is one of those screwed up weeks at the school due to conferences. Ike went to school Monday through Wednesday, but was off Thursday and Friday because of conferences. Cassidy had Friday off for conferences and Kaittlin was scheduled all week with early release on Friday. Originally Kaittlin was going to be gone all day on Friday because of a track meet in Bonners Ferry, but at the eleventh hour they rescheduled the meet for Saturday. I had also scheduled myself off of work on Friday to attend the meet in BF.
So yesterday, Thursday, I ended up working late trying to get my desk cleared off to be gone for 6 work days. It was 6:00 by the time I got home and Mike was at the neighbors house helping him work on his motorcycle. Kaittlin had also just walked in the door from track practice and Ike was outside playing (Cassidy was at a friend's house spending the night). I was tired and hungry and didn't really want to deal with dinner. The rising costs of EVERYTHING have really affected our family in the last 6 - 9 months and we have really cut back our spending, but payday was Friday and I threw caution to the wind and suggested we go to Cabin City Pizza for dinner. Since we eat out so seldom anymore I had no trouble convincing anyone to get in the car and go! :)
When we walked into the restaurant it was not busy. There were only two table occupied, one with two men and one with a single women, no one we knew. We took our table, ordered, and started talking amongst ourselves. Kaittlin had taken her ASVABs that morning and spent the afternoon at Career/College day at the high school. She had brought along some of the college and military brochures she had picked up and we were passing them around and discussing options and generally having a really nice "before the meal came" time. During that time the woman who was in the restaurant got up and left and a gentlemen we know walked through and briefly stopped and talked to us.
When our food came it took the waitress a couple trips to get everything to the table. On her final trip she announced, "and I have really good news for you, your meal has been paid for". She went on to tell us that the lady who had been in the restaurant earlier told her that she had enjoyed watching our family and we made her smile. The week before someone had paid for her dinner, and she wanted to pay it forward. The waitress knew little about her other than she comes into there about once a week and her husband is a long haul truck driver. We were stunned and thrilled! What a blessing!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Busy Times
This must be a busy time for bloggers. Since the first of the year I have not had a spare minute to post to this blog & 5 of the 6 blogs that I regularly follow seem to have the same problem.
Winter has waned here in Northern Idaho. After one of snowiest Decembers on record, snow storms have been few & far between since the first of the year. It has continued to be cold & frosty, but for the most part the roads have been clear & there have been a few days that have even made you think spring might be on the way. Today WAS on exception, as it snowed & the wind blew all day...I think we got nearly 3 inches.
Let me fill you in on what has kept us so busy for the past several months.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Mike is not a paid coach for the high school wrestling team this year. However, he did agree to continue to keep computerized records of all the boys' stats & compile the paperwork necessary for their state seeding records. This, along with our family's geveral love of the sport kept us on the road several times a week this wrestling season...following the team to almost all of their matches. Thirteen of our boys advanced to the state tournament in Pocatello a couple weeks ago, which was very good for our team. However, once they got there the competition was tough & we only came away with two medals, a 4th & a 6th. The season is over except for the awards banquet & he is already looking forward to next year.
In addition the weather challenges have kept the bus garage busy, he continues to serve as the Vice President of the Lumberjack Booster Club, & in his "spare time" :) he has been rebuilding the engine in his pickup which has been on all winter project.
For myself, I continually struggle to keep up with the demands of job, home, & family. I am enjoying a several month hiatus as the co-chairman of the St. Maries Junior Miss program as Kaittlin is participating...it is strange not to be very busy with that this time of year, but a welcome time off, & fun to see Kaittlin getting to experience the program. The economy has affected the grocery business as much as it has other businesses as well. We have seen ever increasing product, delivery, & overhead costs which in turn require an increase in what we sell, which of course, affects our business. But, most of all, the biggest impact has been in the unemployment in our community. So many people are not working, therefore not spending money. We have also had to cut hours. It is just heartbreaking to see so many people struggling. I am thankful that I have a job to go to each day & that it has not yet been impacted by the economy. Even though Mike & I have continued to work our family has felt the affects of the economy as well with rising fuel, food, utility costs. We have really cut back & pray that things turn around quickly.
Kaittlin has probably been the busiest of all of us this past several months. In January she finished up her first semester of her junior year, passing her college class Fundamentals of Health (the first half of her CNA course) with a B+. She began the actual practical part of the CNA course in January. This class is quite time consuming. In addition to the two hour online class each morning at school, with whatever homework that entails she also has skills classes, clinicals, & job shadowing. The skills classes are taught by an RN at Valley Vista, the local nursing home. These classes are various afternoons from 3pm to 8pm & some Saturdays. She must have 20 hours of skills to pass her class. Clinicals are also held at Valley Vista, usually early mornings before school & some Saturdays. The students work with RNs to practice the skills they have learned with actual patients. She must have 40 hours of clinicals to pass her class. She also job shadows at the hospitals a couple mornings per month before school, shadowing another CNA. She just finished up wrestling season, as the teams stats keeper & was able to travel to the state tournament with them. She had a great time, but came home with an upper respiratory infection that took her out of school for a couple days. She just started track practice every night after school & is really looking forward to getting going with that.
If all of that is not enough, Kaittlin began preparation for the Junior Miss program in January. They meeting once a week on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm. One week they met every night to learn their Fitness routine & in a couple weeks they will meet every night of the week to learn their Poise routine. We ordered her Poise dress in January & it arrived. It is at my mom's house being altered. Although Kaittlin is not really a dress girl, I think she is really looking forward to having a princess gown & dressing up for the program. She has also gotten her Talent outfit put together & her music cut, although she has yet to work on her Talent presentation. She will be performing American Sign Language to a song. The Junior Miss girls were able to go to a local photographer to get their group & individual pictures taken last Monday. The pictures were just posted to the photographer's website yesterday. You can view them at www.kukur.com.
Cassidy has had quite a busy couple months as well. Middle school basketball was in full swing in January & February. Since the cheerleading squad cheers for both girls & boys basketball there were some weeks that she cheered at 3-5 games per week. Thank God they don't travel with the teams...only home games. She also is in the Publications class, which she really enjoys. They publish the school newspaper & the yearbook. Yearbook deadlines are fast approaching, so she has been busy getting her pages completed.
Two weeks ago, during PE class, Cassidy was playing dodge ball with her class. She was running for the balls placed on the half court line of the gym & dropped to her knees to grab one. As she did so, her face collided with the knee of another student approaching from the other direction. A doctor's appointment & facial CT later we found that she had shattered all of the bones in her nose. She did this on a Thursday & we had to wait until the next Monday for some of the swelling to subside to see a Ear Nose & Throat Specialist. He scheduled surgery for the next day, Tuesday, as he needed to reset her septum & the nasal bones on both sides of her nose. The surgery went well & then she went to stay with my mom & dad for a few days while she was on the prescription pain medication so that she could be monitored...she was hysterically funny on the paid meds...more entertaining than TV! :) A week later the packing was taken out of her nose & the cast off the outside & her nose is straight again & she is having no problems breathing, so that is a good thing.
Ike started out the new year between sports. Idaho club wrestling & middle school wrestling ended in the beginning of December. He decided that he would like to try to wrestling the Washington club wrestling season, which started at the end of February. He affiliated with a club in Potlatch which does the wrestling season & goes over there 1 or 2 times a week to practice. He is having a good time with their team & learning a lot. Last weekend was the first Washington tournament, we went to Mead High School in north Spokane. There were 900 wrestlers there, but it was very organized & moved right along. We had to be there for weigh-ins at 7:00 am & wrestling started at 10am. They were done & starting to hand out medals at 4:45 pm! Ike took 2nd place in his age division & weight class & brought home a sweet medal! He has 4 or 5 more tournaments & 1 or 2 freestyle tournaments in the area that he can attend. He just got signed up for baseball for the spring & if it stops snowing I suspect we will have draft in a couple weeks.
As you can see it has been a busy couple months. We invite any of our friends & relatives to join us for Junior Miss which will be held at 7pm the evenings of Friday, April 17 & Saturday, April 18. Tickets are $5 at the door or you can contact Kaittlin to arrange to pre-buy your tickets so you don't have to buy them that night. We would love to have you.
Winter has waned here in Northern Idaho. After one of snowiest Decembers on record, snow storms have been few & far between since the first of the year. It has continued to be cold & frosty, but for the most part the roads have been clear & there have been a few days that have even made you think spring might be on the way. Today WAS on exception, as it snowed & the wind blew all day...I think we got nearly 3 inches.
Let me fill you in on what has kept us so busy for the past several months.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Mike is not a paid coach for the high school wrestling team this year. However, he did agree to continue to keep computerized records of all the boys' stats & compile the paperwork necessary for their state seeding records. This, along with our family's geveral love of the sport kept us on the road several times a week this wrestling season...following the team to almost all of their matches. Thirteen of our boys advanced to the state tournament in Pocatello a couple weeks ago, which was very good for our team. However, once they got there the competition was tough & we only came away with two medals, a 4th & a 6th. The season is over except for the awards banquet & he is already looking forward to next year.
In addition the weather challenges have kept the bus garage busy, he continues to serve as the Vice President of the Lumberjack Booster Club, & in his "spare time" :) he has been rebuilding the engine in his pickup which has been on all winter project.
For myself, I continually struggle to keep up with the demands of job, home, & family. I am enjoying a several month hiatus as the co-chairman of the St. Maries Junior Miss program as Kaittlin is participating...it is strange not to be very busy with that this time of year, but a welcome time off, & fun to see Kaittlin getting to experience the program. The economy has affected the grocery business as much as it has other businesses as well. We have seen ever increasing product, delivery, & overhead costs which in turn require an increase in what we sell, which of course, affects our business. But, most of all, the biggest impact has been in the unemployment in our community. So many people are not working, therefore not spending money. We have also had to cut hours. It is just heartbreaking to see so many people struggling. I am thankful that I have a job to go to each day & that it has not yet been impacted by the economy. Even though Mike & I have continued to work our family has felt the affects of the economy as well with rising fuel, food, utility costs. We have really cut back & pray that things turn around quickly.
Kaittlin has probably been the busiest of all of us this past several months. In January she finished up her first semester of her junior year, passing her college class Fundamentals of Health (the first half of her CNA course) with a B+. She began the actual practical part of the CNA course in January. This class is quite time consuming. In addition to the two hour online class each morning at school, with whatever homework that entails she also has skills classes, clinicals, & job shadowing. The skills classes are taught by an RN at Valley Vista, the local nursing home. These classes are various afternoons from 3pm to 8pm & some Saturdays. She must have 20 hours of skills to pass her class. Clinicals are also held at Valley Vista, usually early mornings before school & some Saturdays. The students work with RNs to practice the skills they have learned with actual patients. She must have 40 hours of clinicals to pass her class. She also job shadows at the hospitals a couple mornings per month before school, shadowing another CNA. She just finished up wrestling season, as the teams stats keeper & was able to travel to the state tournament with them. She had a great time, but came home with an upper respiratory infection that took her out of school for a couple days. She just started track practice every night after school & is really looking forward to getting going with that.
If all of that is not enough, Kaittlin began preparation for the Junior Miss program in January. They meeting once a week on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm. One week they met every night to learn their Fitness routine & in a couple weeks they will meet every night of the week to learn their Poise routine. We ordered her Poise dress in January & it arrived. It is at my mom's house being altered. Although Kaittlin is not really a dress girl, I think she is really looking forward to having a princess gown & dressing up for the program. She has also gotten her Talent outfit put together & her music cut, although she has yet to work on her Talent presentation. She will be performing American Sign Language to a song. The Junior Miss girls were able to go to a local photographer to get their group & individual pictures taken last Monday. The pictures were just posted to the photographer's website yesterday. You can view them at www.kukur.com.
Cassidy has had quite a busy couple months as well. Middle school basketball was in full swing in January & February. Since the cheerleading squad cheers for both girls & boys basketball there were some weeks that she cheered at 3-5 games per week. Thank God they don't travel with the teams...only home games. She also is in the Publications class, which she really enjoys. They publish the school newspaper & the yearbook. Yearbook deadlines are fast approaching, so she has been busy getting her pages completed.
Two weeks ago, during PE class, Cassidy was playing dodge ball with her class. She was running for the balls placed on the half court line of the gym & dropped to her knees to grab one. As she did so, her face collided with the knee of another student approaching from the other direction. A doctor's appointment & facial CT later we found that she had shattered all of the bones in her nose. She did this on a Thursday & we had to wait until the next Monday for some of the swelling to subside to see a Ear Nose & Throat Specialist. He scheduled surgery for the next day, Tuesday, as he needed to reset her septum & the nasal bones on both sides of her nose. The surgery went well & then she went to stay with my mom & dad for a few days while she was on the prescription pain medication so that she could be monitored...she was hysterically funny on the paid meds...more entertaining than TV! :) A week later the packing was taken out of her nose & the cast off the outside & her nose is straight again & she is having no problems breathing, so that is a good thing.
Ike started out the new year between sports. Idaho club wrestling & middle school wrestling ended in the beginning of December. He decided that he would like to try to wrestling the Washington club wrestling season, which started at the end of February. He affiliated with a club in Potlatch which does the wrestling season & goes over there 1 or 2 times a week to practice. He is having a good time with their team & learning a lot. Last weekend was the first Washington tournament, we went to Mead High School in north Spokane. There were 900 wrestlers there, but it was very organized & moved right along. We had to be there for weigh-ins at 7:00 am & wrestling started at 10am. They were done & starting to hand out medals at 4:45 pm! Ike took 2nd place in his age division & weight class & brought home a sweet medal! He has 4 or 5 more tournaments & 1 or 2 freestyle tournaments in the area that he can attend. He just got signed up for baseball for the spring & if it stops snowing I suspect we will have draft in a couple weeks.
As you can see it has been a busy couple months. We invite any of our friends & relatives to join us for Junior Miss which will be held at 7pm the evenings of Friday, April 17 & Saturday, April 18. Tickets are $5 at the door or you can contact Kaittlin to arrange to pre-buy your tickets so you don't have to buy them that night. We would love to have you.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thanksgiving, Christmas, & More
I have not posted to this blog for a while, mostly because when I started the draft for my last post shortly after Thanksgiving I tried to add a very optimistic (unrealistic??) number of photos. For some reason I really struggle posting photos on this site. If there are any readers who use blog spot that have perfected an easy way to post photos PLEASE leave your comments (it doesn't matter where I place my cursor when I upload my photo it lands at the top of the blog...I find it hard to move with a traditional mouse, which is what I have at work...it is easier on my lap tap at home).
I got frustrated & the perfectionist in me couldn't bear to go back & try to fix it...so I am now attempting.
Our family had a good holiday season, which seemed less hectic than usual...no complaints!
Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house with them, us, and my grandma. It was a good day, with good food & very relaxing. The photos interspersed in this post are from that day.
It was discovered by a quick glance of the calendar that the lateness of Thanksgiving this year left us with one less weekend before Christmas, so we decided to get our Christmas tree over that weekend rather than wait. We made our annual trip to the local tree farm. Rather than the usual snow we were met with rain & mud, but a lovely tree we got! (It DID take a week to get it decorated, but we got it done).
We finished up club wrestling the first week of December with the state tournament in Post Falls on my birthday (I can't remember a birthday in recent history that we did not wrestle on). Ike made the decision to wrestle one weight class up from where he had wrestled all year for the state tournament...this was a risky decision, but he knew the risks. He ended up taking 2nd place which was a particular good placing for that decision. He wrestled well & was very proud of himself. Afterwards we all went to dinner with the head coach & his wife, so that was fun.
The next weekend was VERY busy. It was the St. Maries High School Wrestling Invitational tournament (Friday & Saturday). We host 20 teams for the 2 day tournament & it takes great effort to put it together. We worked hard all week helping & late into the night on Friday. On Saturday we did not plan on attending as it was Ike's Middle School wrestling district tournament. We left quite early, following the bus. We had received a bit of snow over night & it was freezing rain when we left. By the time we reached Coeur d'Alene the roads were a sheet of ice, the rain was freezing to the windshields, & the wind was blowing very hard. We trudged on for a while longer, but then between Mike, the bus driving, & the coach the decision was made to turn around & go home. The kids were very disappointed, but all of the parents were quite glad we did not try to complete the trip, then come home in the weather & the dark. So, we got back about 10:30 am & worked all day at the high school tournament...it all worked out.
Kaittlin's drama club performed the play they had been working on three times in the month of December, it was quite funny. Cassidy had quite a few deadlines for the yearbook, and Ike had his band concert. The last two days of school before the Christmas break were cancelled due to the first real snow of the season...and SNOW it did.
It was Cassidy's birthday on Christmas Eve...she is 14! Can you believe it??? She requested homemade clam chowder for her birthday dinner & Grandma & Grandpa came & enjoyed it with us. Afterwards we went to our church for the candlelight Christmas Eve service...she is only one who gets a candlelight church service for her birthday every year! hahahaha!
We were all ready for school to start up again when the new year started, but it was short lived. Monday was business as usual, but the snow started in the afternoon. All after school activities were cancelled, as was the very first Junior Miss practice. Monday night there was a huge snowstorm, but St. Maries had school on Tuesday....I think we were the only ones who had school...in their defense the roads were pretty good in the morning, as they had plowed all night, but everything degraded pretty quickly throughout the day. Our high wrestling team was supposed to go to Timberlake on Tuesday night, but that was cancelled because Timberlake did not have school. By Tuesday night it was 40 degrees & raining like it was April. Wednesday school was cancelled because of severe ice on the outlying roads (roads in town were slushy, but not too bad). Thursday school was cancelled because of water over the outlying roads (by this time roads in town were great). Home wrestling match was cancelled. On Thursday they evacuated Calder because of the river flooding & an ice jam.
On Thursday afternoon Mike called me & told me that one of his bus drivers had been given four tickets to the Washington State Cougars basketball game in Pullman for that evening & wanted to know if we wanted to go...YES! How exciting! So we went with Jim & Linda to Pullman, had dinner, & went to the game. They lost by 7 points, but it was so much fun. I am not a HUGE basketball fan UNTIL you get to the college level, then I love it. That was the highlight of my week! :)
I got frustrated & the perfectionist in me couldn't bear to go back & try to fix it...so I am now attempting.
Our family had a good holiday season, which seemed less hectic than usual...no complaints!
Thanksgiving was spent at my parents house with them, us, and my grandma. It was a good day, with good food & very relaxing. The photos interspersed in this post are from that day.
It was discovered by a quick glance of the calendar that the lateness of Thanksgiving this year left us with one less weekend before Christmas, so we decided to get our Christmas tree over that weekend rather than wait. We made our annual trip to the local tree farm. Rather than the usual snow we were met with rain & mud, but a lovely tree we got! (It DID take a week to get it decorated, but we got it done).
We finished up club wrestling the first week of December with the state tournament in Post Falls on my birthday (I can't remember a birthday in recent history that we did not wrestle on). Ike made the decision to wrestle one weight class up from where he had wrestled all year for the state tournament...this was a risky decision, but he knew the risks. He ended up taking 2nd place which was a particular good placing for that decision. He wrestled well & was very proud of himself. Afterwards we all went to dinner with the head coach & his wife, so that was fun.
The next weekend was VERY busy. It was the St. Maries High School Wrestling Invitational tournament (Friday & Saturday). We host 20 teams for the 2 day tournament & it takes great effort to put it together. We worked hard all week helping & late into the night on Friday. On Saturday we did not plan on attending as it was Ike's Middle School wrestling district tournament. We left quite early, following the bus. We had received a bit of snow over night & it was freezing rain when we left. By the time we reached Coeur d'Alene the roads were a sheet of ice, the rain was freezing to the windshields, & the wind was blowing very hard. We trudged on for a while longer, but then between Mike, the bus driving, & the coach the decision was made to turn around & go home. The kids were very disappointed, but all of the parents were quite glad we did not try to complete the trip, then come home in the weather & the dark. So, we got back about 10:30 am & worked all day at the high school tournament...it all worked out.
Kaittlin's drama club performed the play they had been working on three times in the month of December, it was quite funny. Cassidy had quite a few deadlines for the yearbook, and Ike had his band concert. The last two days of school before the Christmas break were cancelled due to the first real snow of the season...and SNOW it did.
Between December 17 and December 31 we received just over 5 feet of snow at our house. We got a lot of snow last year during the month of January, but it was over a longer period of time...this came fast & hard. We have already shoveled our roof this year!
It was Cassidy's birthday on Christmas Eve...she is 14! Can you believe it??? She requested homemade clam chowder for her birthday dinner & Grandma & Grandpa came & enjoyed it with us. Afterwards we went to our church for the candlelight Christmas Eve service...she is only one who gets a candlelight church service for her birthday every year! hahahaha!
Christmas was a good time for us as well. The kids had already had nearly a week of snowboarding, sledding, & movies due to the extra days off of school. We never spend an exorbitant amount of money on Christmas & this year seemed extra tight, we were in the middle of remodel work on the house when the gas prices went haywire & just the general upswing in all prices affected us, as it did everyone. We are fortunate that our kids are not spoiled (I think sometimes they would like to be), but really they ask for very little...Kaittlin asked for a purse this year...so Christmas was a little leaner than usual. But it was just as fun. Kaittlin received her purse & was thrilled. My mom & dad got snowed in for their final shopping trip of the season so gifted some cash, the kids actually were happy with that as they are all saving for some things. Kaittlin is looking forward to Junior Miss this year & memorable moments of her senior year & would greatly like a digital camera. She saved up some gift cards from her birthday & Christmas. I believe those, along with the newly acquired cash will now buy one. Cassidy wants her hair & nails done (she's SUCH a girl!) and Ike wants to purchase new wrestling headgear, so all were happy.
We were all ready for school to start up again when the new year started, but it was short lived. Monday was business as usual, but the snow started in the afternoon. All after school activities were cancelled, as was the very first Junior Miss practice. Monday night there was a huge snowstorm, but St. Maries had school on Tuesday....I think we were the only ones who had school...in their defense the roads were pretty good in the morning, as they had plowed all night, but everything degraded pretty quickly throughout the day. Our high wrestling team was supposed to go to Timberlake on Tuesday night, but that was cancelled because Timberlake did not have school. By Tuesday night it was 40 degrees & raining like it was April. Wednesday school was cancelled because of severe ice on the outlying roads (roads in town were slushy, but not too bad). Thursday school was cancelled because of water over the outlying roads (by this time roads in town were great). Home wrestling match was cancelled. On Thursday they evacuated Calder because of the river flooding & an ice jam.
On Thursday afternoon Mike called me & told me that one of his bus drivers had been given four tickets to the Washington State Cougars basketball game in Pullman for that evening & wanted to know if we wanted to go...YES! How exciting! So we went with Jim & Linda to Pullman, had dinner, & went to the game. They lost by 7 points, but it was so much fun. I am not a HUGE basketball fan UNTIL you get to the college level, then I love it. That was the highlight of my week! :)
There WAS school today...the kids were all very happy. Ike & Cassidy went to a middle school dance tonight put on by the Humane Society. Cassidy is going to spend the night with a friend & Ike is going to an overnight birthday party. Kaittlin left with the wrestling team for a 2 day tournament in Kamiah this morning, they should be home tomorrow evening late. Mike is out at a friend's shop working on his pickup, which is why I had time tonight to try & fix this post! :) Mike's sister will be in Plummer tomorrow & we will go there & spend the day with her & her husband.
In other miscellaneous news I & all three of the kids have recently gotten FaceBook pages & started communicating with friends that way, Ike is thinking about wrestling the Washington wrestling season, we have found THE Junior Miss dress & will be ordering it very soon, Cassidy is going to cut her hair.
That's it for now...I apologize for not posting for awhile...I will try to do better! :)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Picture Post
As promised, here it is. I brought my camera to work today & loaded all of my pictures onto my computer. Then I took it downstairs to our photo machine, made a CD of all the photos & printed some I needed. I am charging the battery as we speak & when I put it back in I will be able to delete all the photos from the card & start over this afternoon at Ike's last home middle school wrestling match.
Regular season baseball...followed by all star baseball (picture was at his birthday bbq following the game)...followed by football.
Miscellaneous....
Here is a sampling of some of the pictures on the card:
This was Cassidy getting ready for a dance where they had to dress "cowboy".
The next several pictures are from Kaittlin's track season. She throws the shot put & the discus. She pulled a pec muscle early in the season while lifting weights & missed much of the season, although was able to come back right before districts. Although she didn't place at districts she came really close. She attended a very prestigious camp this summer to work on her throwing & is 
really looking forward to track this coming spring. She also purchased
her own discus & shot put designed for her height. I think that will help her throwing.
Regular season baseball...followed by all star baseball (picture was at his birthday bbq following the game)...followed by football.
Miscellaneous....
I think that gets you all caught up on pictures. I will post wrestling photos closer to the end of the season.
One last thing...as most of you know, quite a few years ago some dear friends of ours, Ted & Becky Schulz, asked us to allow their daughter to live with us during the week so that she could attend school here in St. Maries (they lived in Plummer). As a favor to them we agreed, and for two years Sonny attended school in St. Maries and stayed with us during the week...going home to Plummer on the weekends. She shared a room with Ike & quickly became a member of the family.
When Ted got a job in North Dakota & the entire family moved there the summer between Sonny's freshman and sophomore year we were thrilled for them that they were able to all be back together in one home again, but the void that was left in our house was enourmous...you see Sonny had become a sister & daughter.
We have continued to count her as a huge part of our family, enjoying her INFREQUENT (maybe she's reading this) visits to Idaho, traveling to ND for her graduation, & following her success in college both in the classroom & on the basketball court. (We even have a clock on the wall in the living room set to ND time!) We have traveled to Montana a couple times to watch her play over the years & Shawn was able to fly to Bismarck a couple years ago to spend a long weekend with her. This past week Sonny received a very exciting basketball honor & we are so proud of her. Follow the link below to read all about it:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Two More Wrestling Opportunities & a Smelly House
Last Saturday we headed to Potlatch for a club wrestling tournament. This was a new experience for us. St. Maries is part of the North Idaho wrestling league. Our scheduled tournament for that weekend was in Sandpoint. As it turns out this year we have several tournaments quite a ways away (Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, Priest River). Our head coach thought it might be fun to try a Central Idaho league tournament. We have a pretty small team this year, with quite a few young wrestlers. He thought it would be easier on the parents to have a shorter drive & good for the kids to have different kids to wrestle. After getting permission from leagues to switch for this weekend the decision was made to go to Potlatch.
The Central league does things a little differently. They wrestle round robin, which means that every wrestler gets to wrestle every kid in their bracket. This is good because it means more wrestling, more opportunity. There were only 4 kids in Ike's bracket so he got to wrestle 3 times. He was the lightest wrestler in the bracket weighing in at 98.4 pounds...he wrestled in the 113.2 pound bracket (they name the bracket after the heaviest wrestler in the bracket). He had three good matches & a very good day...he pinned all three of his opponents & secured a first place medal.
On Monday I had big plans of cooking a turkey for dinner & then having turkey leftovers all week. I put my turkey in the electric turkey roaster before I went to work, turned it onto 275 degrees & off I went. At about 3:00 that afternoon Kaittlin called me after arriving home from school to a house FULL OF SMOKE. Evidently the thermostat went out on the turkey roaster & instead of cooking at 275 degrees all day it cooked at 2000 degrees all day. The turkey & the roaster were crispy critters & the entire house was full of smoke. Thank God nothing caught on fire! However my house still smells sooooo bad....kind of smells like we burned the turkey with the feathers on!!! :( I have left the doors & windows open, run fans, sprayed Febreeze, burned candles....I think it's a little better, but, eeewwww.....it STINKS!!!!
Ike had his first home middle school wrestling dual last night. They dualed Canfield Middle School (Coeur d'Alene) and Kellogg. Canfield has a HUGE team...I heard they have about 75 wrestlers, although they only brought about 50. This gave our wrestlers a lot of matches. Ike had 3 matches. He won all three, two by pins & one by points in the very last seconds of the match...almost gave me a heart attack!!!
We head to Lakeland this Saturday for a club tournament and have another middle school dual at home next week.
Working on getting pictures off my camera for a "picture post" within in the week...stay tuned! :)
The Central league does things a little differently. They wrestle round robin, which means that every wrestler gets to wrestle every kid in their bracket. This is good because it means more wrestling, more opportunity. There were only 4 kids in Ike's bracket so he got to wrestle 3 times. He was the lightest wrestler in the bracket weighing in at 98.4 pounds...he wrestled in the 113.2 pound bracket (they name the bracket after the heaviest wrestler in the bracket). He had three good matches & a very good day...he pinned all three of his opponents & secured a first place medal.
On Monday I had big plans of cooking a turkey for dinner & then having turkey leftovers all week. I put my turkey in the electric turkey roaster before I went to work, turned it onto 275 degrees & off I went. At about 3:00 that afternoon Kaittlin called me after arriving home from school to a house FULL OF SMOKE. Evidently the thermostat went out on the turkey roaster & instead of cooking at 275 degrees all day it cooked at 2000 degrees all day. The turkey & the roaster were crispy critters & the entire house was full of smoke. Thank God nothing caught on fire! However my house still smells sooooo bad....kind of smells like we burned the turkey with the feathers on!!! :( I have left the doors & windows open, run fans, sprayed Febreeze, burned candles....I think it's a little better, but, eeewwww.....it STINKS!!!!
Ike had his first home middle school wrestling dual last night. They dualed Canfield Middle School (Coeur d'Alene) and Kellogg. Canfield has a HUGE team...I heard they have about 75 wrestlers, although they only brought about 50. This gave our wrestlers a lot of matches. Ike had 3 matches. He won all three, two by pins & one by points in the very last seconds of the match...almost gave me a heart attack!!!
We head to Lakeland this Saturday for a club tournament and have another middle school dual at home next week.
Working on getting pictures off my camera for a "picture post" within in the week...stay tuned! :)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Golden Pin
A couple years ago Mike & I heard about a little incentive that one of the wrestling clubs did for fun. Every time one of the wrestlers won a match by a pin they would go to the lady who started this (one of the moms) and she would give them a "golden pin". It was a gold safety pin. The kids loved it & I thought it was just the best idea.
I have kept this idea in the back of my head for a couple years & this year I decided that I would give it a try. I found gold safety pins online for way less money than I expected. I ordered 3 inch ones for the wrestlers' first pin & 1 1/16" ones for each subsequent pin that they can hang off the big pin. My thinking was that each year I will start off with a big pin for their first pin of the season & small pins for the other pins...they can wear them on their sweatshirts or caps & it would be a fun way for them to advertise their success on the mat.
I asked Mike to contact the woman whose idea I was stealing & ask permission before I did it. He saw her at a meeting about a month ago & she told him to absolutely steal her idea, however, she offered him a warning...this will take on a life of it's own. She said that she started out her incentive in club wrestling, but it quickly spread to middle school wrestling, & now she has high school wrestlers who come & find her after securing a pin because they want their golden pin for their Letterman's jacket.
We found out last night how true her words were. Last Saturday we had our first club wrestling tournament & told the boys about the golden pins. As I expected they were very excited & I was able to give out quite a few of the big pins & two of the little ones. One of the moms even said that the boys were so excited to get their safety pins that they were by-passing their parents' congratulations after leaving the mat to come find me to get their pin! :)
Last night we traveled to Kellogg to watch Ike in his first middle school match. We wrestled against Kellogg & Wallace & our team did very well. Only three of the middle school wrestlers also wrestle for the club team, but when I walked in they were quick to find me & verify that pins at these matches would count for "gold pins". When I told them they would & yes, I had brought them, the word spread & soon the whole team knew that if they won by a pin they too could have a pin on their sweatshirt. So, needless to say, several more pins were handed out.
It was fun to watch...even the boys who didn't get pins were so excited for the ones who did...they made sure they hurried over to the bleachers & got their prize. I think this will be a really fun thing to do.
Ike wrestled well again. He won his first match 6-2 and his second match by a pin (yes, this was his first pin of the year & he got his golden pin).
I have kept this idea in the back of my head for a couple years & this year I decided that I would give it a try. I found gold safety pins online for way less money than I expected. I ordered 3 inch ones for the wrestlers' first pin & 1 1/16" ones for each subsequent pin that they can hang off the big pin. My thinking was that each year I will start off with a big pin for their first pin of the season & small pins for the other pins...they can wear them on their sweatshirts or caps & it would be a fun way for them to advertise their success on the mat.
I asked Mike to contact the woman whose idea I was stealing & ask permission before I did it. He saw her at a meeting about a month ago & she told him to absolutely steal her idea, however, she offered him a warning...this will take on a life of it's own. She said that she started out her incentive in club wrestling, but it quickly spread to middle school wrestling, & now she has high school wrestlers who come & find her after securing a pin because they want their golden pin for their Letterman's jacket.
We found out last night how true her words were. Last Saturday we had our first club wrestling tournament & told the boys about the golden pins. As I expected they were very excited & I was able to give out quite a few of the big pins & two of the little ones. One of the moms even said that the boys were so excited to get their safety pins that they were by-passing their parents' congratulations after leaving the mat to come find me to get their pin! :)
Last night we traveled to Kellogg to watch Ike in his first middle school match. We wrestled against Kellogg & Wallace & our team did very well. Only three of the middle school wrestlers also wrestle for the club team, but when I walked in they were quick to find me & verify that pins at these matches would count for "gold pins". When I told them they would & yes, I had brought them, the word spread & soon the whole team knew that if they won by a pin they too could have a pin on their sweatshirt. So, needless to say, several more pins were handed out.
It was fun to watch...even the boys who didn't get pins were so excited for the ones who did...they made sure they hurried over to the bleachers & got their prize. I think this will be a really fun thing to do.
Ike wrestled well again. He won his first match 6-2 and his second match by a pin (yes, this was his first pin of the year & he got his golden pin).
Monday, November 3, 2008
Silver Medal
Well, wrestling season has officially began!
I took the day off work on Friday (mostly because I just was not up to figuring out a Halloween costume to wear to work...I know, Iknow...). I spent the day cleaning house, cooking, & baking so that we would have food to pack & take with us to the Bonners Ferry wrestling tournament. This is the first club wrestling tournament of the year.
After the kids got home from school & Ike got done with middle school wrestling practice we packed up & headed out. Cassidy stayed behind, spending the night with a friend & joining us in Bonners Ferry on Saturday. We stopped in Plummer & picked up Al & off we went. When we drove through Worley we noticed that the town was completely dark, kind of weird for Halloween night. Evidently, the power was out all over the area (including St. Maries) for about an hour & a half that evening. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene & got a bite to eat then made our way north to Bonners Ferry.
We arrived at our motel at about 9:00 pm. Kaittlin's friend Alicia came & picked her up to spend the night at her house. Mike & I, Ike & Al got settled in for the night. We stayed at the Log Cabin Inn, which is just north of Bonners Ferry & is just the nicest motel, very clean & hospitable. We stay there every year that we go up for wrestling & highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area.
Mike & Ike were up early to go to the school for weigh ins. Ike was happy with his weight of just over 98 pounds, which put him in the 100 pound weight class. They came back to the motel for sausage/egg/cheese biscuits, juice, pumpkin muffins that I had made the night before. Then we packed up & headed to the school for the long day of wrestling.
The tournament actually went quite smoothly. Kaittlin worked all day at the table. Each club is required to provide table help. Kaittlin generously volunteers to do much of that each year for us. She enjoys helping, gets community service hours towards high school credit for it, & gets to free up the parents from having to spend as much time doing it. She recruited Alicia to help her this year.
Ike had a first round bye so had to wait quite a while to wrestle. All of the boys in his bracket were new to us. Ike did not gain any weight this year compared to last, so the kids he has wrestled in the past were heavier. His first match he wrestled VERY well & won 9-2. He was very excited with his win. There were only 6 kids in his bracket & because he drew a bye his first round & won his second round that put him in the medal round. The second match (for 1st/2nd) was a exciting match. Again, he wrestled SO good...it was anyone's match...a couple times he almost had his opponent pinned, but he wiggled out of it...a couple time HE almost GOT pinned but managed to get out of it. He ended up losing the match 6-9. He was disappointed because he felt like he had made some mistakes that cost him the match & he was really hoping for that gold medal, but silver is good & he wrestled well.
This was Al's first time watching Ike wrestle folkstyle & I think he had a good time. He is likely heading to Arizona this week.
Our whole team did really well...most of our boys medaled. All in all it was a very good day & we were done in record time...out of the gym before 3pm!!! We had dinner at Alicia's parent's house before heading back to St. Maries.
It was a long, tiring, but good weekend...nice to have that extra hour of sleep on Saturday night!!! :)
Booster club meeting this week, drama practice, Ike's first middle school wrestling match in Kellogg, cheerleading practice, club & school wrestling practice, & teacher conferences at the end of the week.
I took the day off work on Friday (mostly because I just was not up to figuring out a Halloween costume to wear to work...I know, Iknow...). I spent the day cleaning house, cooking, & baking so that we would have food to pack & take with us to the Bonners Ferry wrestling tournament. This is the first club wrestling tournament of the year.
After the kids got home from school & Ike got done with middle school wrestling practice we packed up & headed out. Cassidy stayed behind, spending the night with a friend & joining us in Bonners Ferry on Saturday. We stopped in Plummer & picked up Al & off we went. When we drove through Worley we noticed that the town was completely dark, kind of weird for Halloween night. Evidently, the power was out all over the area (including St. Maries) for about an hour & a half that evening. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene & got a bite to eat then made our way north to Bonners Ferry.
We arrived at our motel at about 9:00 pm. Kaittlin's friend Alicia came & picked her up to spend the night at her house. Mike & I, Ike & Al got settled in for the night. We stayed at the Log Cabin Inn, which is just north of Bonners Ferry & is just the nicest motel, very clean & hospitable. We stay there every year that we go up for wrestling & highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area.
Mike & Ike were up early to go to the school for weigh ins. Ike was happy with his weight of just over 98 pounds, which put him in the 100 pound weight class. They came back to the motel for sausage/egg/cheese biscuits, juice, pumpkin muffins that I had made the night before. Then we packed up & headed to the school for the long day of wrestling.
The tournament actually went quite smoothly. Kaittlin worked all day at the table. Each club is required to provide table help. Kaittlin generously volunteers to do much of that each year for us. She enjoys helping, gets community service hours towards high school credit for it, & gets to free up the parents from having to spend as much time doing it. She recruited Alicia to help her this year.
Ike had a first round bye so had to wait quite a while to wrestle. All of the boys in his bracket were new to us. Ike did not gain any weight this year compared to last, so the kids he has wrestled in the past were heavier. His first match he wrestled VERY well & won 9-2. He was very excited with his win. There were only 6 kids in his bracket & because he drew a bye his first round & won his second round that put him in the medal round. The second match (for 1st/2nd) was a exciting match. Again, he wrestled SO good...it was anyone's match...a couple times he almost had his opponent pinned, but he wiggled out of it...a couple time HE almost GOT pinned but managed to get out of it. He ended up losing the match 6-9. He was disappointed because he felt like he had made some mistakes that cost him the match & he was really hoping for that gold medal, but silver is good & he wrestled well.
This was Al's first time watching Ike wrestle folkstyle & I think he had a good time. He is likely heading to Arizona this week.
Our whole team did really well...most of our boys medaled. All in all it was a very good day & we were done in record time...out of the gym before 3pm!!! We had dinner at Alicia's parent's house before heading back to St. Maries.
It was a long, tiring, but good weekend...nice to have that extra hour of sleep on Saturday night!!! :)
Booster club meeting this week, drama practice, Ike's first middle school wrestling match in Kellogg, cheerleading practice, club & school wrestling practice, & teacher conferences at the end of the week.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Football is OVER!!!!!!!
Whoo hoo!! Football is over! Although it is not my favorite sport (sorry Dole Clan), the problem has not been so much the sport itself, it was just time.
Ike's team advanced to the Division 2 (that's the 4th & 5th grade age division) All American Bowl (that would be the game for 3rd/4th place in the league). Last week was a crazy week at our house. Middle school wrestling started on Tuesday. In St. Maries only 7th & 8th grade students are allowed to play middle school sports. However, several years ago our middle school wrestling coach petitioned the school board to allow 6th graders to wrestle on the middle school team on the grounds that he had a small team & most of the schools we wrestle against include all three grades on their rosters. His request was granted with the stipulation that if his team ever got so large that they needed to pay another coach to help out, 6th graders would be out. That has not happened so Ike has been eagerly awaiting his first school sport.
The week went something like this:
Monday Ike had football practice, Cassidy had to cheer at a middle school football game (since it was the last game of the season the 8th grade players & cheerleaders were recognized so we had to attend in the freezing cold as well), and Kaittlin had drama practice.
Tuesday Ike had his very first middle school wrestling practice right after school, Cassidy had cheerleading practice, & Kaittlin had drama practice.
Wednesday Ike had wrestling practice. I picked him up at 4:30 & he changed his clothes in the car on the 6 block drive to football practice which had started 15 minutes before. He had football practice until 6:00 pm. At 5:30 Mike & I had to be at the middle school gym for club wrestling sign ups until 6:30. At 6:00 Kaittlin drove throughout the town & gathered all of her siblings & took them to the church for youth group...thank God for the 99 cent dinner at church on Wednesday!
On Thursday Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had cheerleading practice. The athletic director from the high school called me at noon in a panic because the person who was supposed to take tickets at the JV football game had cancelled at the last minute & he wanted to know if I could fill in. When I pulled out my calendar to check to make sure I could I realized that Mike was planning on coaching at the first club wrestling practice that night & had likely forgotten that he had agreed to fill in at a state mandatory coaches meeting for the high school coach in Cd'A (the high school wrestling coach was coaching the JV football team). Ike also had club wrestling practice that night & Kaittlin had drama practice. We barely had enough cars & drivers to make that night work, but we got it done!
On Friday night Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had to decorate for the middle school dance that the cheerleaders were sponsoring. Isaac had to go directly from school wrestling to football practice. Then everyone home to shower & get ready for the dance.
Ike's team advanced to the Division 2 (that's the 4th & 5th grade age division) All American Bowl (that would be the game for 3rd/4th place in the league). Last week was a crazy week at our house. Middle school wrestling started on Tuesday. In St. Maries only 7th & 8th grade students are allowed to play middle school sports. However, several years ago our middle school wrestling coach petitioned the school board to allow 6th graders to wrestle on the middle school team on the grounds that he had a small team & most of the schools we wrestle against include all three grades on their rosters. His request was granted with the stipulation that if his team ever got so large that they needed to pay another coach to help out, 6th graders would be out. That has not happened so Ike has been eagerly awaiting his first school sport.
The week went something like this:
Monday Ike had football practice, Cassidy had to cheer at a middle school football game (since it was the last game of the season the 8th grade players & cheerleaders were recognized so we had to attend in the freezing cold as well), and Kaittlin had drama practice.
Tuesday Ike had his very first middle school wrestling practice right after school, Cassidy had cheerleading practice, & Kaittlin had drama practice.
Wednesday Ike had wrestling practice. I picked him up at 4:30 & he changed his clothes in the car on the 6 block drive to football practice which had started 15 minutes before. He had football practice until 6:00 pm. At 5:30 Mike & I had to be at the middle school gym for club wrestling sign ups until 6:30. At 6:00 Kaittlin drove throughout the town & gathered all of her siblings & took them to the church for youth group...thank God for the 99 cent dinner at church on Wednesday!
On Thursday Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had cheerleading practice. The athletic director from the high school called me at noon in a panic because the person who was supposed to take tickets at the JV football game had cancelled at the last minute & he wanted to know if I could fill in. When I pulled out my calendar to check to make sure I could I realized that Mike was planning on coaching at the first club wrestling practice that night & had likely forgotten that he had agreed to fill in at a state mandatory coaches meeting for the high school coach in Cd'A (the high school wrestling coach was coaching the JV football team). Ike also had club wrestling practice that night & Kaittlin had drama practice. We barely had enough cars & drivers to make that night work, but we got it done!
On Friday night Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had to decorate for the middle school dance that the cheerleaders were sponsoring. Isaac had to go directly from school wrestling to football practice. Then everyone home to shower & get ready for the dance.
Saturday morning the middle school held a fundraiser for the wrestling program. It was a biscuit & gravy breakfast followed by a wrestling exhibition. We went to the breakfast at 7:00 am and Ike was able to participate in the exhibition for about 20 minutes before we had to leave for Plummer for his football game.
His football game went well. I thought they played pretty good. They won the game 38-20 claiming 3rd place in the league in the age division. Everyone on the team got really nice hoodie sweatshirts. We had to stay for the championship game so we could attend the awards ceremony. It was cold & VERY windy. My face still feels like it is sunburned!
It was an extremely busy week & I am happy we are down to only one sport! Middle school wrestling practices every night after school. It works out really well for me. He gets done about 4:30 each afternoon. I get off work at 4:00pm. So I usually just work an extra 10 or 15 minutes then drive straight to the school & pick him up. Their first match will be next Tuesday, November 4th in Kellogg. I think he is really excited to wrestle his first "school" match.
They also have club practice most nights this week getting ready for their first tournament on Saturday. He goes if he wants to go. I am actually there right now. I came tonight with Mike & Ike because I had to help sign up the coaches on line to get their background checks done, so this was a good time to blog. We will go to Bonners Ferry on Friday night. Mike's dad is still in Idaho which is later than any other year ever...usually he is WAY gone to Arizona by now. He will go to Bonners with us & watch Ike wrestle folk style for the first time ever.
The girls are doing well also. Cassidy stayed home from school today with a severly sore throat but seemed better tonight. I think a days worth of sleep did her a world of good. She is having a good time cheerleading & is looking forward to indoor sports cheering.
Kaittlin is doing well in school. Her hardest class at this point is Chemistry. She got a 90% on a test in that class last week, that thrilled her. She is taking the college CNA course. In conjunction with that class she was able to take a field trip last Friday to Lewis Clark State College's Health Professional's Day. She was able to choose her own 3 breakout sessions to attend on campus. She picked Sports Medicine, Nursing, & Physical Therapy. She really enjoyed the one on Sports Medicine & had a great time.
This post seems really long, but it has been a while since I posted. I have pictures to share (Kaittlin's letterman's jacket, Ike football, Cassidy cheerleading, etc), but no camera with me today....maybe in the near future.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Homecoming
Wow! What a week it has been!
I missed the last half of the week. On Thursday afternoon I left for Coeur d'Alene to attend the Idaho's Junior Miss program. As one of the co-chairmen of the St. Maries program I was there to represent our board & committee, along with several other members, & to support our contestant there. She did a fantastic job! I had a fun time, but was really tired when I got home late Saturday night.
Last week it was homecoming week at St. Maries High School, along with several other high schools in the region. On top of that it was also Idaho State Junior Miss.
Homecoming festivities included a myriad of home games....girls & boys soccer, volleyball, & football. As the coordinator of the Lumberjack Booster Club BBQ Crew this kept Mike very busy with cooking at all of the games...I don't think we were home for dinner a SINGLE NIGHT! The high school had class competitions all week. They decorated halls & had contests during lunch. On Wednesday night there was Jock Strap Volleyball, Powderpuff Football, & Deal or No Deal. There was a pep rally one day & the parade was on Friday. All of these activities were one big class competition (I don't even know which class ended up winning). One of the big competitions was the dress up days. Here are photos of Kaittlin from the dress up days (most were taken with her phone & emailed so I apologize now for the quality):
Monday was Hobo Day. This may have been her best effort of the week.
Tuesday was Cross Dress Day where the boys were to dress like girls & the girls were to dress like boys. She wore her dad's biking leathers & received several comments on her remarkable likeness to him:
Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday. Evidently that was an "anything goes" day:
Thursday was Generations day. The freshmen were to dress like infants, the sophomores as toddlers, the juniors as adults, & the seniors as senior citizens. Kaittlin did not get a picture this day, but as a junior wore a suit.
Friday was class color day. Her class color is orange:
Our homecoming football game was on Friday night againt Kellogg. We lost 0-27. Our school holds their bonfire after the football game. I think this is really weird, as the school where I went treated the bonfire as a pep rally the night before the game. There were several away games on Saturday, then the homecoming dance on Saturday night.
Kaittlin did not attend the dance in St. Maries. Her boyfriend goes to school at East Valley High School in Spokane Valley. It was also his Homecoming week. He invited her to go to his dance on Saturday. So Mike drove her to Spokane on Saturday afternoon. She & Joe went to dinner with Joe's stepmom (it was her birthday) & his grandma, then went to the dance. Here are pictures from before the dance:
It was a very long, fun-filled week & I am very glad homecoming comes only once a year!!! It has been rainy & cold all this week with frost, wind, & power outages. I have been listening to talk of the upcoming wrestling season & Ike keeps showing me catalogs with wrestling shoes in them. I think winter is HERE!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Happy Birthday Kaittlin!
Yes, it's true, Kaittlin is 17 years old! How the time flys! And with me being so young....:):)hahaha!
Kaittlin turned 17 years old on Saturday. That day Ike had a football game in Plummer in the afternoon so we went to it. They played Potlatch & won their game. Ike didn't play a lot, but seems to be getting it a little more & a little more. Afterwards we headed to Coeur d'Alene & had dinner had Kaittlin's favorite resteraunt, Panda Express then went to see a movie. It was a fun day.
It is a typical busy week in our household. On Monday Kaittlin went to a football game in Spokane, the guy she has been dating was playing at home game at his school (she rode with his sister, who lives in St. Maries). Cassidy has 3 different games to cheer at this week plus has to take photos at an away football game because she is in the publications class. Ike had to give a speech at school yesterday because he was running for class office. In the middle school, in each grade, you choose to run for four "class representative" seats. You make speeches & your class votes. The person with the most votes is the class president & the other 3 are the representatives. Ike is now the class president. Progress reports came out this week. Except for one C- they were all VERY good.
Mike had a booster club planning meeting for homecoming next week & I had a party for our Junior Miss. She leaves on Saturday for Coeur d'Alene where she will spend one week preparing for & competing in the statewide program. I will be going to the program starting next Thursday. I am really excited for her to experience the state program...she is going to do great.
So, same thing different day. Hope all my readers are well!
Kaittlin turned 17 years old on Saturday. That day Ike had a football game in Plummer in the afternoon so we went to it. They played Potlatch & won their game. Ike didn't play a lot, but seems to be getting it a little more & a little more. Afterwards we headed to Coeur d'Alene & had dinner had Kaittlin's favorite resteraunt, Panda Express then went to see a movie. It was a fun day.
It is a typical busy week in our household. On Monday Kaittlin went to a football game in Spokane, the guy she has been dating was playing at home game at his school (she rode with his sister, who lives in St. Maries). Cassidy has 3 different games to cheer at this week plus has to take photos at an away football game because she is in the publications class. Ike had to give a speech at school yesterday because he was running for class office. In the middle school, in each grade, you choose to run for four "class representative" seats. You make speeches & your class votes. The person with the most votes is the class president & the other 3 are the representatives. Ike is now the class president. Progress reports came out this week. Except for one C- they were all VERY good.
Mike had a booster club planning meeting for homecoming next week & I had a party for our Junior Miss. She leaves on Saturday for Coeur d'Alene where she will spend one week preparing for & competing in the statewide program. I will be going to the program starting next Thursday. I am really excited for her to experience the state program...she is going to do great.
So, same thing different day. Hope all my readers are well!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Doctor Blessing
I just wanted to post here & say what a blessing it is to have a GREAT doctor.
As a child, our family doctor was always in Spokane...there was no clinic or doctors in Plummer (although I think we went to Fairfield for a while when I was very small). When he stopped practicing family medicine & went strictly immediate/emergency care he recommended us to another general practitioner in his building. We interviewed her & loved her. Although she is a general practitioner/family doctor her passion is preventing & treating diabetes, heart disease, stroke...all those diseases that we become more susceptible to as we get older. Because of this many of her patients are middle-aged or older. When our children were very young we would get the royal treatment when we came to her office because the staff did not see that many younger patients & we were an anomaly.
After moving to St. Maries it became harder & harder to get to Spokane & we began to use the doctors/clinic here for minor issues...stitches, sore throats, allergies, etc. I think we have some really good doctors here & I particularly like a couple of our physician assistants, but like any small town there are issues...it is hard to get an appointment with who you want to see, you get to hear about every miss/mistake made because everyone knows everyone, they have a hard time retaining doctors who want to stay here therefore the turnover is high. So, even though we do frequent the clinic here our family doctor is still our family doctor.
Last fall, right about the time I needed to go in for my annual physical I received a letter from our insurance company saying that we could no longer see Dr. Harrison in Spokane unless we wanted to pay the entire bill ourselves. It took MONTHS of back & forth calling, explaining, etc to finally, this spring, be told that we could see her, but our co-pay would be $40 instead of $20...twice as expensive, but way better than changing doctors.
The summer was crazy, so I finally got an appointment to see her for my annual physical (one year late!) yesterday. I also took along Cassidy, who received a diagnosis last spring of asthma, but had not been seen since by Dr. Harrison and Ike, who has been struggling with frequent, painful, huge, ugly, nasty cold sores.
My appointment was at 2pm & the kids' were at 3pm...we did not leave the office until 5pm...no, she is not inefficient, she spent ALL of that time with us! She gave me my physical & got my prescriptions re-done for the sleep disorder I have (and have really been struggling with since I have been out of medication)...she also ordered some lab work & routine tests. She hooked Cassidy up to a computer & measured her breathing. She was able to confirm the asthma diagnosis, identify some of her triggers (cold weather, exercise, & interestingly enough, acid reflux!) & get her some prescriptions ordered. She also said that Cassidy has a sinus infection which is likely why she has felt terrible for the past 10 days or so...antibiotics on board today! She spent a long time looking up & researching possibilities to treat Ike's cold sores, we finally came up with a solution to try for a while to see if it works.
Dr. Harrison is also very good about making sure you don't pay more than you should for your prescriptions. She always has a wealth of samples, coupons, etc on hand & has no problem telling you to go to the over-the-counter section at Costco for some of your needs. She loaded us up with samples so that most of our prescriptions could be filled a few at a time so it wouldn't be one big expense. I was kind of afraid we would be pulled over on the way home & accused of robbing a pharmacy! :)
I'm really looking forward to getting my sleep back on track, getting a handle on Cassidy's asthma, & (hopefully) Ike not having to suffer through any more cold sores.
So, for that, I am thankful for our family doctor!
As a child, our family doctor was always in Spokane...there was no clinic or doctors in Plummer (although I think we went to Fairfield for a while when I was very small). When he stopped practicing family medicine & went strictly immediate/emergency care he recommended us to another general practitioner in his building. We interviewed her & loved her. Although she is a general practitioner/family doctor her passion is preventing & treating diabetes, heart disease, stroke...all those diseases that we become more susceptible to as we get older. Because of this many of her patients are middle-aged or older. When our children were very young we would get the royal treatment when we came to her office because the staff did not see that many younger patients & we were an anomaly.
After moving to St. Maries it became harder & harder to get to Spokane & we began to use the doctors/clinic here for minor issues...stitches, sore throats, allergies, etc. I think we have some really good doctors here & I particularly like a couple of our physician assistants, but like any small town there are issues...it is hard to get an appointment with who you want to see, you get to hear about every miss/mistake made because everyone knows everyone, they have a hard time retaining doctors who want to stay here therefore the turnover is high. So, even though we do frequent the clinic here our family doctor is still our family doctor.
Last fall, right about the time I needed to go in for my annual physical I received a letter from our insurance company saying that we could no longer see Dr. Harrison in Spokane unless we wanted to pay the entire bill ourselves. It took MONTHS of back & forth calling, explaining, etc to finally, this spring, be told that we could see her, but our co-pay would be $40 instead of $20...twice as expensive, but way better than changing doctors.
The summer was crazy, so I finally got an appointment to see her for my annual physical (one year late!) yesterday. I also took along Cassidy, who received a diagnosis last spring of asthma, but had not been seen since by Dr. Harrison and Ike, who has been struggling with frequent, painful, huge, ugly, nasty cold sores.
My appointment was at 2pm & the kids' were at 3pm...we did not leave the office until 5pm...no, she is not inefficient, she spent ALL of that time with us! She gave me my physical & got my prescriptions re-done for the sleep disorder I have (and have really been struggling with since I have been out of medication)...she also ordered some lab work & routine tests. She hooked Cassidy up to a computer & measured her breathing. She was able to confirm the asthma diagnosis, identify some of her triggers (cold weather, exercise, & interestingly enough, acid reflux!) & get her some prescriptions ordered. She also said that Cassidy has a sinus infection which is likely why she has felt terrible for the past 10 days or so...antibiotics on board today! She spent a long time looking up & researching possibilities to treat Ike's cold sores, we finally came up with a solution to try for a while to see if it works.
Dr. Harrison is also very good about making sure you don't pay more than you should for your prescriptions. She always has a wealth of samples, coupons, etc on hand & has no problem telling you to go to the over-the-counter section at Costco for some of your needs. She loaded us up with samples so that most of our prescriptions could be filled a few at a time so it wouldn't be one big expense. I was kind of afraid we would be pulled over on the way home & accused of robbing a pharmacy! :)
I'm really looking forward to getting my sleep back on track, getting a handle on Cassidy's asthma, & (hopefully) Ike not having to suffer through any more cold sores.
So, for that, I am thankful for our family doctor!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Home Alone
Ssshhhh...can you hear that? That's right, quiet!!! I am home alone! That doesn't happen very often, wow!
This week went well. I had two meetings scheduled for this week, plus all of the kids' activities so it was set to be a very busy week. However, my Junior Miss meeting ended up being rescheduled for next week so that took a little pressure off.
On Monday evening Mike & I went to a Lumberjack Booster Club meeting. It was held at the new restaurant at the Golf Course, Casa de Oro. The food was really good! The booster club has recently acquired an influx of new members & is undergoing some leadership changes. The club, which has been very successful & influential in the past had dwindled down, not in paying members, but in members that are willling to volunteer to do the physical work required to keep it going. In recent weeks, there has been a push to revive & revitalize the club & there has been a lot of interest. We started the meeting with elections of new officers. Mike was elected Vice President & the coordinator of the BBQ Crew, the group of volunteers who BBQ hamburgers & hot dogs at each home, outdoor sporting event. The group seems to be very interested in carrying on with the events that the club has sponsored in the past, as well as coming up with some new & exciting ideas.
Ike has been feeling much better after his bout with strep & his cold sores are healing up. I have a doctor's appointment with our family doctor in Spokane next week to see what we can do about the cold sores. He had football practice three times this week & also got his alto saxophone for band...he is very excited about that. On Friday night all of the little guys who play football were announced in front of the crowd at the home high school football game with their big brothers on the hs team. This morning he had a football game in Plummer. They played Spangle & were defeated 18 - 0, they didn't play particularly well. He is at the hs soccer game right now with Kaittlin & is bringing home one of this friends to spend the night.
Cassidy had an asthma attack at school this week. She is terrible about taking her inhaler with her. Her asthma is not horrible, mostly only acts up during allergy season & exercise. She will also be going with me to the doctor on Wednesday of next week to have her asthma assessed. She has been going to cheerleading practice this week. She went to Plummer with us this morning & watched Ike's football game, then went to Papa's house. She will be home tomorrow.
Kaittlin had a good week. She is taking the CNA class at the high school this year. It is a college program through Lewis Clark State College that is held the first two periods of each day. The first semester is the Fundamentals of Health course & the second semester is the actual CNA course. The Fundamentals of Health class is held mostly online & is somewhat self paced, although there are deadlines that must be met regarding assignments, quizzes, & exams. Her first week consisted of a small amount of reading followed by a quiz. She received 100% on that quiz. Since then she has been working on reading a large amount of material, followed by an exam that needed to be completed by last Friday. On Tuesday she took the exam & passed with a 72%. The students can re-take the exams to better their scores as long as they have them completed by the deadline date. Kaittlin decided to study some more & try to get a higher score. She took it two more times & again, received scores in the 70's. So she studied more, took more notes, & re-read the material from start to finish before taking the exam one last time on Friday. She got a 96%!! Whoo hoo!!
Kaittlin is a member of Key Club, which is a student service organization affiliated with the Kiwanis. She really likes it & will likely be a volunteer all of her life. Key Club is getting geared up for the year & she is right in the thick of it. She also went to the football game with us this morning, mowed the lawn when she got home, & then took her brother with her to the hs soccer games this afternoon. I suspect they will be home shortly.
Work was crazy for me this week. We are short handed & training new employees & it seemed to be one of those weeks where everything goes wrong! Mike BBQ'd at soccer & football this week, but took today off to go on a motorcycle ride with some friends.
We are looking at the list of items that need to be done for the winter & trying to figure out where we are going to fit all of that in...hopefully the weather holds for a while.
I will sign off now & enjoy my last few minutes of quiet before everyone starts trickling home...
This week went well. I had two meetings scheduled for this week, plus all of the kids' activities so it was set to be a very busy week. However, my Junior Miss meeting ended up being rescheduled for next week so that took a little pressure off.
On Monday evening Mike & I went to a Lumberjack Booster Club meeting. It was held at the new restaurant at the Golf Course, Casa de Oro. The food was really good! The booster club has recently acquired an influx of new members & is undergoing some leadership changes. The club, which has been very successful & influential in the past had dwindled down, not in paying members, but in members that are willling to volunteer to do the physical work required to keep it going. In recent weeks, there has been a push to revive & revitalize the club & there has been a lot of interest. We started the meeting with elections of new officers. Mike was elected Vice President & the coordinator of the BBQ Crew, the group of volunteers who BBQ hamburgers & hot dogs at each home, outdoor sporting event. The group seems to be very interested in carrying on with the events that the club has sponsored in the past, as well as coming up with some new & exciting ideas.
Ike has been feeling much better after his bout with strep & his cold sores are healing up. I have a doctor's appointment with our family doctor in Spokane next week to see what we can do about the cold sores. He had football practice three times this week & also got his alto saxophone for band...he is very excited about that. On Friday night all of the little guys who play football were announced in front of the crowd at the home high school football game with their big brothers on the hs team. This morning he had a football game in Plummer. They played Spangle & were defeated 18 - 0, they didn't play particularly well. He is at the hs soccer game right now with Kaittlin & is bringing home one of this friends to spend the night.
Cassidy had an asthma attack at school this week. She is terrible about taking her inhaler with her. Her asthma is not horrible, mostly only acts up during allergy season & exercise. She will also be going with me to the doctor on Wednesday of next week to have her asthma assessed. She has been going to cheerleading practice this week. She went to Plummer with us this morning & watched Ike's football game, then went to Papa's house. She will be home tomorrow.
Kaittlin had a good week. She is taking the CNA class at the high school this year. It is a college program through Lewis Clark State College that is held the first two periods of each day. The first semester is the Fundamentals of Health course & the second semester is the actual CNA course. The Fundamentals of Health class is held mostly online & is somewhat self paced, although there are deadlines that must be met regarding assignments, quizzes, & exams. Her first week consisted of a small amount of reading followed by a quiz. She received 100% on that quiz. Since then she has been working on reading a large amount of material, followed by an exam that needed to be completed by last Friday. On Tuesday she took the exam & passed with a 72%. The students can re-take the exams to better their scores as long as they have them completed by the deadline date. Kaittlin decided to study some more & try to get a higher score. She took it two more times & again, received scores in the 70's. So she studied more, took more notes, & re-read the material from start to finish before taking the exam one last time on Friday. She got a 96%!! Whoo hoo!!
Kaittlin is a member of Key Club, which is a student service organization affiliated with the Kiwanis. She really likes it & will likely be a volunteer all of her life. Key Club is getting geared up for the year & she is right in the thick of it. She also went to the football game with us this morning, mowed the lawn when she got home, & then took her brother with her to the hs soccer games this afternoon. I suspect they will be home shortly.
Work was crazy for me this week. We are short handed & training new employees & it seemed to be one of those weeks where everything goes wrong! Mike BBQ'd at soccer & football this week, but took today off to go on a motorcycle ride with some friends.
We are looking at the list of items that need to be done for the winter & trying to figure out where we are going to fit all of that in...hopefully the weather holds for a while.
I will sign off now & enjoy my last few minutes of quiet before everyone starts trickling home...
Monday, September 8, 2008
One week down!
Well, the first week of school has been completed, with little or no problems!!!
Kaittlin has a very full schedule this year with so many of the required classes landing on your junior year. In addition she is taking a two hour college course that will culminate in receiving her CNA at the end of the school year. So far, so good. She got 100% 0n her very first quiz & has been working online all week for toward the test that falls at the end of this week. She got her letterman's jacket this week...she is SO EXCITED!!! She wore it doing her homework the night I brought it home & even though the weather has been in the 80's she has wore it everyday since!!! I need to get the battery charged on my camera, then will post some photos...the jacket turned out very nice!!! She has school pictures today & managed to get in a couple soccer games & a half of a football game last week, she went home early because she was not feeling well. We called in for antibiotics for both her & Cassidy after Ike's bout with strep & I think we caught them both in time.
Cassidy has had very little homework so far & seems to be enjoying school. She has cheerleading practice three nights a week & they spend the first 45 minutes of every practice working on homework, I really like that. She & a friend went to Plummer last Friday night to go to the football game (her friend's cousin was playing), then they spent the night with Papa, went to the movies in Coeur d'Alene on Saturday, & back to her friend's house on Saturday night. She came home on Sunday morning.
Ike is enjoying middle school & likes his homeroom teacher. They tested last week to see which math & reading classes they will end up in. They should know that today. He is feeling much better & is almost done with his medicine, but is suffering through a horrible bout of cold sores...yuk! And, of course, school pictures were last week!!! He had his very first football game on Saturday. This is his first year of playing & he was pretty excited. I know NEARLY NOTHING about football, but do know that he is on the first string defense team & the coach said he did a good job. He surprised me on Saturday morning by coming upstairs & announcing that he would like to be in band! Really???!!!??? Although he has always been fairly musically inclined he has never really shown an interest. He said he originally thought he might like to play the drums, but EVERYONE wants to play the drums, so he chose the alto saxophone. He is very excited to get his instrument today (he can rent one from the school for $25 a year...can't beat that!).
On Friday night I took tickets at the high school football team & Mike helped cook with the BBQ Crew. On Saturday we went to Ike's football game & Sunday after church was spent at home. I didn't get a lot done, I didn't feel that good. But it is sure nice to be on a schedule again.
This week is looking busy as I have two meetings to attend, Booster Club & Junior Miss. Then of course there is kids' practices, Kaittlin is involved in Key Club activities, & Ike has another football game this coming Saturday.
Well, that's about it for another week. Have a good one!
Kaittlin has a very full schedule this year with so many of the required classes landing on your junior year. In addition she is taking a two hour college course that will culminate in receiving her CNA at the end of the school year. So far, so good. She got 100% 0n her very first quiz & has been working online all week for toward the test that falls at the end of this week. She got her letterman's jacket this week...she is SO EXCITED!!! She wore it doing her homework the night I brought it home & even though the weather has been in the 80's she has wore it everyday since!!! I need to get the battery charged on my camera, then will post some photos...the jacket turned out very nice!!! She has school pictures today & managed to get in a couple soccer games & a half of a football game last week, she went home early because she was not feeling well. We called in for antibiotics for both her & Cassidy after Ike's bout with strep & I think we caught them both in time.
Cassidy has had very little homework so far & seems to be enjoying school. She has cheerleading practice three nights a week & they spend the first 45 minutes of every practice working on homework, I really like that. She & a friend went to Plummer last Friday night to go to the football game (her friend's cousin was playing), then they spent the night with Papa, went to the movies in Coeur d'Alene on Saturday, & back to her friend's house on Saturday night. She came home on Sunday morning.
Ike is enjoying middle school & likes his homeroom teacher. They tested last week to see which math & reading classes they will end up in. They should know that today. He is feeling much better & is almost done with his medicine, but is suffering through a horrible bout of cold sores...yuk! And, of course, school pictures were last week!!! He had his very first football game on Saturday. This is his first year of playing & he was pretty excited. I know NEARLY NOTHING about football, but do know that he is on the first string defense team & the coach said he did a good job. He surprised me on Saturday morning by coming upstairs & announcing that he would like to be in band! Really???!!!??? Although he has always been fairly musically inclined he has never really shown an interest. He said he originally thought he might like to play the drums, but EVERYONE wants to play the drums, so he chose the alto saxophone. He is very excited to get his instrument today (he can rent one from the school for $25 a year...can't beat that!).
On Friday night I took tickets at the high school football team & Mike helped cook with the BBQ Crew. On Saturday we went to Ike's football game & Sunday after church was spent at home. I didn't get a lot done, I didn't feel that good. But it is sure nice to be on a schedule again.
This week is looking busy as I have two meetings to attend, Booster Club & Junior Miss. Then of course there is kids' practices, Kaittlin is involved in Key Club activities, & Ike has another football game this coming Saturday.
Well, that's about it for another week. Have a good one!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Holiday Weekend
Whew! It is nearly over! Holidays are exhausting!
Labor Day is a huge weekend here in St. Maries. Our local Paul Bunyan Days celebration is always that weekend & draw thousands of people to our little town. I used to really enjoy partaking in all of the festivities, but have gotten to where I really pick & choose now. There are so many people in town, so many tourists, that the celebration, although very fun, has lost some of its small town charm...there are usually more people downtown than there are at the Coeur d'Alene fair on any given day.
Our family's weekend really kind of started on Thursday, as Kaittlin had a friend from Bonners Ferry arrive that day to spend the weekend with us. Kaittlin acutally went home with Papa on Wednesday night. He needed to make a run to Genesee, Moscow, & Lewiston on Thursday. He let Kaittlin drive the whole way...the first time she has driven that far & in a "city". He said that she did well. That evening Alicia arrived.
On Friday, after several days of Ike complaining about a sore throat, he woke up so sick that he couldn't swallow water & barely spoke (now, THAT is sick). I took him to the clinic on Friday morning. He tested positive for strep & was sent home on antibiotics. After work everyone headed to the football game (except for Ike who was asleep on the couch & didn't even care that we were leaving). Kaittlin, Cassidy, & Alicia along with Alicia's boyfriend, Nick all attended the football game then headed downtown to the PBD teen dance. Cassidy said it was great...the older kids thought it was "lame". Mike was cooking for the Lumberjack Booster Club BBQ Crew at the game...they sold a bunch of hot dogs & hamburgers...good night for their first outing. My job at the game was to stand at the back "entrance", the one that everyone sneaks into & check hand stamps. I went home to be with Ike when they stopped charging admittance at half time. We played Grangeville...our JV blew them away & we lost 21-0 (I think) for varsity.
Saturday was kind of a relaxing day for me. The girls headed to the carnival. We stayed home all day. I had to cook the last of a half box of peaches I had before they got too ripe...made peach crisp & bourbon peach cobbler...yummy! Al brought over BBQ'd ribs & I made cheesy potato casserole. ALL of the kids showed up at 5:00 to each, including Nick & Joe, Kaittlin's boyfriend. They vacuumed up the food & off they went again...Cassidy back to the carnival for a couple hours & the teenagers to a movie party at Nick's house.
On Sunday Ike was finally feeling good enough to be upright...he actually felt alot better. So we all went to church, then the kids all headed to the carnival to watch the competitions & games. Later in the afternoon we stopped & picked up Ike & went to the EnduroCross races...I have never been to motorcross...it was really fun!
Then about 8pm everyone met at the city fields for the best fireworks show in the Pacific Northwest! No really, it truly is the best fireworks show in the Pacific Northwest...$40,000 worth of fireworks...the show lasted 57 minutes. Several years ago there was a show on cable that ranked the top ten fireworks shows in the United States. The St. Maries Paul Bunyan Days show was ranked #10 in the nation! It is amazing!
The show ended just after 10pm & the girls had to part from the boys....aaawwww, sad... We were all home by 11pm, except for Cassidy who had a babysitting job immediately following the fireworks. She spent the night there & will be home today.
This morning is the parade...Ike's football team is walking in the parade. I am at work so will miss it, but they line up in the parking lot of the store, so I will step out right before 10am to see the sights. Hopefully as soon as the parade is over all of the children will be heading home. I will get off about noon & Al is bringing over steaks to BBQ. I hope to have a relaxing afternoon & evening at home before the BIG DAY tomorrow. Back to school, whoo hoo!!!
Labor Day is a huge weekend here in St. Maries. Our local Paul Bunyan Days celebration is always that weekend & draw thousands of people to our little town. I used to really enjoy partaking in all of the festivities, but have gotten to where I really pick & choose now. There are so many people in town, so many tourists, that the celebration, although very fun, has lost some of its small town charm...there are usually more people downtown than there are at the Coeur d'Alene fair on any given day.
Our family's weekend really kind of started on Thursday, as Kaittlin had a friend from Bonners Ferry arrive that day to spend the weekend with us. Kaittlin acutally went home with Papa on Wednesday night. He needed to make a run to Genesee, Moscow, & Lewiston on Thursday. He let Kaittlin drive the whole way...the first time she has driven that far & in a "city". He said that she did well. That evening Alicia arrived.
On Friday, after several days of Ike complaining about a sore throat, he woke up so sick that he couldn't swallow water & barely spoke (now, THAT is sick). I took him to the clinic on Friday morning. He tested positive for strep & was sent home on antibiotics. After work everyone headed to the football game (except for Ike who was asleep on the couch & didn't even care that we were leaving). Kaittlin, Cassidy, & Alicia along with Alicia's boyfriend, Nick all attended the football game then headed downtown to the PBD teen dance. Cassidy said it was great...the older kids thought it was "lame". Mike was cooking for the Lumberjack Booster Club BBQ Crew at the game...they sold a bunch of hot dogs & hamburgers...good night for their first outing. My job at the game was to stand at the back "entrance", the one that everyone sneaks into & check hand stamps. I went home to be with Ike when they stopped charging admittance at half time. We played Grangeville...our JV blew them away & we lost 21-0 (I think) for varsity.
Saturday was kind of a relaxing day for me. The girls headed to the carnival. We stayed home all day. I had to cook the last of a half box of peaches I had before they got too ripe...made peach crisp & bourbon peach cobbler...yummy! Al brought over BBQ'd ribs & I made cheesy potato casserole. ALL of the kids showed up at 5:00 to each, including Nick & Joe, Kaittlin's boyfriend. They vacuumed up the food & off they went again...Cassidy back to the carnival for a couple hours & the teenagers to a movie party at Nick's house.
On Sunday Ike was finally feeling good enough to be upright...he actually felt alot better. So we all went to church, then the kids all headed to the carnival to watch the competitions & games. Later in the afternoon we stopped & picked up Ike & went to the EnduroCross races...I have never been to motorcross...it was really fun!
Then about 8pm everyone met at the city fields for the best fireworks show in the Pacific Northwest! No really, it truly is the best fireworks show in the Pacific Northwest...$40,000 worth of fireworks...the show lasted 57 minutes. Several years ago there was a show on cable that ranked the top ten fireworks shows in the United States. The St. Maries Paul Bunyan Days show was ranked #10 in the nation! It is amazing!
The show ended just after 10pm & the girls had to part from the boys....aaawwww, sad... We were all home by 11pm, except for Cassidy who had a babysitting job immediately following the fireworks. She spent the night there & will be home today.
This morning is the parade...Ike's football team is walking in the parade. I am at work so will miss it, but they line up in the parking lot of the store, so I will step out right before 10am to see the sights. Hopefully as soon as the parade is over all of the children will be heading home. I will get off about noon & Al is bringing over steaks to BBQ. I hope to have a relaxing afternoon & evening at home before the BIG DAY tomorrow. Back to school, whoo hoo!!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Getting Ready for School
It is almost time for school to start! The summer went sooo fast...of course when you get snow on June 10 it tends to shorten up the season.
Last week we got the kids registered for school. I thought public education was supposed to be free!!! Last Wednesday was sign up day for the 8th graders. Cassidy wasn't home because she went to Oregon for the week with her Papa, so I brought Ike with me just so he could see the school (they don't pre-register 6th graders, but rather take care of all that the first day of school).
I got Cassidy all signed up, paid for her ASB card & her first month lunch. Since I was there right before they left for lunch & there were very few other people there signing up they went ahead and let me fill out the paperwork for Ike...still doesn't know who his homeroom teacher is. Got him all registered, paid for his ASB card, $40 book deposit, & his first month lunch. That day put me back about $170!
Thursday was registration day for HS juniors. We took Kaittlin up & got her schedule, everything was right & her locker worked! Paid for her yearbook (significant discount if you pay at the beginning of the year) & her first month lunch...$66! HOLY COW!
Then on Friday we headed to town to finish up school shopping. Cassidy was pretty good. She had received some hand-me-downs & gotten a box of clothing at our church's school clothing giveaway. She had also opted to reuse her book bag from last year, so really all she needed were shoes. She will wear flip flops the first month or so, then get shoes. Kaittlin was paying for her own school clothes as she worked all summer. She did the majority of her shopping at Value Village, you really can get great clothes used (& much more expensive labels that we can afford new) and also picked up some shirts at Ross. I bought Kaittlin a few dressy things & we also had a major find....she will need business appropriate clothes for her Junior Miss interview this spring. We found a two piece, pinstriped suit (pants & jacket) that fit her great at Ross...$19.99!Ike found all of the clothing he was looking for at Value Village & also managed to find TWO pair of BRAND NEW shoes.
We also picked up the remainder of our school supplies...we had already purchased pencils, paper, notebooks, folders, & Ike's backpack. So we needed a backpack for Kaittlin, pens, binders, book covers. We found most everything we were looking for & didn't spend TOO much, compared to what we could have. The kids all got their supplies gone through & packed their backpacks. Funny how three kids who say they are not ready to go back to school can get so excited about some pens & paper! :)
We hit Dairy Queen, then headed home. Whew! What a day!
Cassidy got home Friday evening & has spent much of her weekend cleaning her room...I think she might be sick!! :) Ike is out right now trying to sell raffle tickets for a load of logs for football. He has a week of practice in & is looking forward to next week. On Friday night our high school team had a scrimmage & before they started they announced the names of all the little guys playing football. They got to run out onto the field through the tunnel of hs players...they thought that was great! Kaittlin has been working quite a bit & today started her final week. Her last day for the summer is on Wednesday.
We have to fill out some paperwork for her CNA class. First semester she takes a college course Fundamentals of Health, then second semester she will take the actual CNA course. Both courses are through Lewis Clark State College & is free if taken through the Tech Prep program at our school. She will leave her Junior year as a state certified nurses assistant. She will be able to work for the nursing home or hospital next summer. I haven't been through all of her paperwork yet, but it looks like she will need a tetnus shot & a TB screening before she can start. She is needle phobic, so that should be interesting.
The next week brings a Booster Club meeting, our first soccer, volleyball, & football games, trying to get the house in order for the beginning of school, & the onset of Labor Day weekend...a big one here in St. Maries.
Here we go....
Last week we got the kids registered for school. I thought public education was supposed to be free!!! Last Wednesday was sign up day for the 8th graders. Cassidy wasn't home because she went to Oregon for the week with her Papa, so I brought Ike with me just so he could see the school (they don't pre-register 6th graders, but rather take care of all that the first day of school).
I got Cassidy all signed up, paid for her ASB card & her first month lunch. Since I was there right before they left for lunch & there were very few other people there signing up they went ahead and let me fill out the paperwork for Ike...still doesn't know who his homeroom teacher is. Got him all registered, paid for his ASB card, $40 book deposit, & his first month lunch. That day put me back about $170!
Thursday was registration day for HS juniors. We took Kaittlin up & got her schedule, everything was right & her locker worked! Paid for her yearbook (significant discount if you pay at the beginning of the year) & her first month lunch...$66! HOLY COW!
Then on Friday we headed to town to finish up school shopping. Cassidy was pretty good. She had received some hand-me-downs & gotten a box of clothing at our church's school clothing giveaway. She had also opted to reuse her book bag from last year, so really all she needed were shoes. She will wear flip flops the first month or so, then get shoes. Kaittlin was paying for her own school clothes as she worked all summer. She did the majority of her shopping at Value Village, you really can get great clothes used (& much more expensive labels that we can afford new) and also picked up some shirts at Ross. I bought Kaittlin a few dressy things & we also had a major find....she will need business appropriate clothes for her Junior Miss interview this spring. We found a two piece, pinstriped suit (pants & jacket) that fit her great at Ross...$19.99!Ike found all of the clothing he was looking for at Value Village & also managed to find TWO pair of BRAND NEW shoes.
We also picked up the remainder of our school supplies...we had already purchased pencils, paper, notebooks, folders, & Ike's backpack. So we needed a backpack for Kaittlin, pens, binders, book covers. We found most everything we were looking for & didn't spend TOO much, compared to what we could have. The kids all got their supplies gone through & packed their backpacks. Funny how three kids who say they are not ready to go back to school can get so excited about some pens & paper! :)
We hit Dairy Queen, then headed home. Whew! What a day!
Cassidy got home Friday evening & has spent much of her weekend cleaning her room...I think she might be sick!! :) Ike is out right now trying to sell raffle tickets for a load of logs for football. He has a week of practice in & is looking forward to next week. On Friday night our high school team had a scrimmage & before they started they announced the names of all the little guys playing football. They got to run out onto the field through the tunnel of hs players...they thought that was great! Kaittlin has been working quite a bit & today started her final week. Her last day for the summer is on Wednesday.
We have to fill out some paperwork for her CNA class. First semester she takes a college course Fundamentals of Health, then second semester she will take the actual CNA course. Both courses are through Lewis Clark State College & is free if taken through the Tech Prep program at our school. She will leave her Junior year as a state certified nurses assistant. She will be able to work for the nursing home or hospital next summer. I haven't been through all of her paperwork yet, but it looks like she will need a tetnus shot & a TB screening before she can start. She is needle phobic, so that should be interesting.
The next week brings a Booster Club meeting, our first soccer, volleyball, & football games, trying to get the house in order for the beginning of school, & the onset of Labor Day weekend...a big one here in St. Maries.
Here we go....
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