Sparky Returns! and Birthday Celebrations!

Well, the fate of puppy Sparky was not a bleak as once thought!  He had been gone for two days.  But, Friday when we got home from work/school, he was whining at the front door.  He was super happy to see us and he could not get in the house to his food dish fast enough!  Joe was super happy too.  This meant that he did not strangle the dog----as believed by some.  :o)  And it also meant that we did not have to get another puppy-----which I had already located.  :o)  Needless to say....Sparky received lots of love and attention this weekend.  He was one tired pup and spent most of his free time trying to sleep.

We celebrated the girls' birthdays on Saturday.  We opened presents and had birthday cake for lunch.  Later in the afternoon we took them to the theater in the mall to see the Disney movie, "Tangled".  It was a cute movie and we all enjoyed it.  We ate dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the mall, and we got to see Santa as well.

Only two weeks until Christmas vacation.  I am ready for  it!  I'm looking forward the the week off before Christmas.  It will give me some time to make preparations for the holiday.  :o)

Cassie

Thanksgiving and Upcoming Birthdays

Whew!  Busy, Busy, Busy!!!  We have had a busy couple of weeks.

Thanksgiving day we visited Joe's family.  We enjoyed luch at his aunt's house.  We had not seen everybody in quite a while, so we had a nice visit.  Joe's mom and dad kept the girls Thursday night.  Friday after noon the girls went to Mom's and she kept them.  Then on Saturday Natalie and Mike got the girls.  They kept them on Saturday night and met us in Joplin to bring them back to us.  Joe and I had planned to take a couple of days and go to Kansas City.

We had a good trip.We managed to finish up the Christmas/Birthday shopping.  Friday night we stayed at the Chateau Avalon.  It's a nice place with "themed" rooms.  We started out in a Roman Dynasty room, but the heat was not working properly.  So, we moved to the Jesse James Escape.  We had a good stay despite the changes.  Saturday night we stayed in downtown Kansas City near the Power and Light District.  It's an area of about six blocks or so of restaurants and entertainment.  Our hotel was close enought that we were just able to walk to dinner and "entertainment".  It was a nice evening.

Shopping was not too hectic.  We managed to just get "in and out" with what we needed.  We went to the American Girl Doll store in the Oak Park Mall.  That place was a zoo!  We took our things back out to the car and decided not to return to the mall.  We had had enought.  Nebraska Furniture Mart was not too bad, nor was the trip to Cabellas.

The girls sure were ready to get back home.  I think that they had a great time with the grandparents and Aunt Natalie.  It's taken them a few days to recouperate.  :o)

This week has been busy.  Tonight we are going to take the girls to Girard to the Christmas parade.  I'm not looking forward to it.  It's going to be cold. 

Sparky, the puppy, got out of the house this morning.  Apparently Joe had to come back inside after he left for work.  The door did not shut well when he left, and the little escape artist made it outside.  The girls and I couldn't find him when we got up, and did not have much time to look for him before we had to leave this morning.  I'm hoping that he's there when we get home.  Hopefully a coyote or an owl did not get him.  He's so little that he'd be an easy target.  The girls are VERY worried.  They will just be devistated if something has happened to him.  They still talk about our last puppy, Amos, constantly.

This weened we plan to celebrate both of the girls' birthdays. We are going to try to take them to see the new Disney Rapunzel.  They have been talking about it for quite some time now.  I've heard it's a good family movie.  Presents and cake this weekend too!  Madison's birthday is on Tuesday and Abby's in not until after Christmas.  We just decided that this would be the best way to celebrate-----and of course the girls don't mind!  :o)

ok---gotta go!

Love,
Cassie

Busy Weekend.....will it ever end?

Hello!

I don't know if I've been coming or going for the past two weeks!  I was out sick for two days last week, Monday and Tuesday.  Going back to work took some doing....I just was not into it! I was not feeling well, but I managed to get my laundry room in some sort of order while I was home.

This weekend we went to KC to do a little christmas shopping.  We had a nice day.  Joe got me a laptop for Christmas at Nebraska Furniture Mart.  They were having a big sale.  I'm excited to get to use it.  I've got to get set up with an internet service.  The girls are excited to get to use it too.

Sunday we went to church.  Our pastor resigned about a week and 1/2 ago.  It's created quite a stir.  He felt, believed, that God was telling him that our church should join with the other Baptist church in town.  Apparently the other church was without a pastor as well.  So, he felt that he should step down and try to encourage the people of both churches to unite.  Last night we had a meeting to "check the temperature" of our church members and see if they wanted to unite.  Apparently---unbeknownst to us---some time ago there had been a terrible upset in the other church and some of their member left and joined our church.  So, our members were not very receptive to the idea and it was voted not to persue the idea of combining churches. And now we are left without a pastor.  I don't know what God's plan is, but I sure hope he works it out soon!

This is going to be a busy week too.  I'm just ready for Thanksgiving break.  However----that week is going to be just as busy!  We are going to go to one of Joe's anunt's---which one --I don't know yet, for dinner.  We have not see his family in a couple of years.  We are going to leave the girls in AR with grandmas and aunt Natalie for the rest of the weekend.  Joe and I are going to come back home on Thursday night and go to KC on Friday.  We are planning to spend Friday and Saturday night in KC.  We are hoping to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done and have a little "alone time".  I'm looking forward to it, and I think that he is too.

The girls' birthdays are both in December.  This adds to the stress of everything.  I think that we just might celebrate them at the same time.  Nothing planned this year.  We might just take them to a movie or something. Gotta get the rest of the birthday shopping done too.  At this point----I'm thinking that we may as well just send everybody some of our bills for Christmas--with the option to pay one of them as a present to us!  :o)  Good idea---no?

Oh well---enough rambling!  Hope all is well with you!

Cassie

Halloween weekend.

Hello!

The girls and I had a fairly good weekend.  Can't say as much for Joe.  He had to work all weekend.  Soybean harvest is happening, so he's been keeping busy.  We've missed him for the past couple of weeks.  We see very little of him during harvest time.  He's been working long hours.  They hope to be done by November 9th.

I did not get the girls a costume for Halloween this year.  I was just not up for it.  They are so expensive!  Madison did not have school on Friday so she got to go to daycare.  Daycare was having a party, so I dressed the girls as cowgirls.  They had boots n jeans, hats, and bandannas.  They were cute enogh, and happy with it.  Guess I lucked out.

After daycare I took them down on Main Street in Chanute.  The merchants were passign out candy.  We made a trip around the block.  They collected more than enough candy!  And they were satisfied with that.

Saturday afternoon the girls and I went to a Premier Jewelry party.  I got suckered into booking a party.  I'm going to have one in March---either the 19th or 26th.  You can expect an invitation in the mail!  :o)

Saturday evening Randy and Leanne brought the boys over and we roasted hotdogs.  They stayed for a couple of hours.  It was a perfect evening----not too cold---and the wind was not blowing.  The kids all had a good time.

Sunday was just a lazy day.  I had wanted to go to church, but it just did not happen.  Joe was home for the morning but had to go to work after lunch.  He actually got home at 7pm that night, so we got to spend a little time with him before bed.

How was your weekend?
Cassie

Family pictures!

Not much time to write just now.  I wanted to give you the link to a site that has some of our family pictures.  We had these taken over the weeeknd.  They are awesome----if  I do say so myself!  :o)

Check it out.

Cassie
http://www.myerphotography.com/5.html

It's been a while!

Hello!
Wow!  I've been busy!  It's been a while since I've had time to post anything.  We had an exceptionally busy summer.  I can't even tell you where it went to or what we did.  We enjoyed a trip to KC with Stephen, Jennifer, and Addi.

The girls' puppy died early in June.  Not sure what happened to him.  He had his kennel cough shot, but developed a little cough and was dead in about four days.  :o(  That was pretty devastating.  Just a few weeks ago we got them another small dog.  It's a chichaua (sp).  Madison named him Sparky. They love him, but we still miss Amos.

Joe celebrated his 20 year class reunion over the summer.  We had a good time visiting with friends.

I had lost my goal for the summer----40 lbs.  I've got another 20 to go to meet my overall goal.  I've been off the diet for a while and gained a little back, but started back again today.  I've got to get motivated again.  Wish me luck!!!!

School started back.  Madison started kindergarten.  As you know, we moved her from the district's elementary school, in which I teach, to the Chanute Christian Academy. That has proven to be a good move for her.  We are happy with the situation.

Parent teacher conferences are coming up soon.  Hard to believe that October is 1/2 over now.  I've been busy at work.  I have my planning period back this year.  That has been nice.

Last weekend we took the girls to Tulsa to the state fair.  We went to see "Disney on Ice".  We had a great time.  They loved it.  We did a little shopping too.  At a western store that we visited, we were given vouchers for free rodeo tickets for this weekend.  So, Joe and I decided that we'd just go back to Tulsa this weekend.  However, we took the girls to grandma's for the weekend.  We enjoyed the weekend to ourselves.  This was a rare opportunity!  :o)

My hubby surprised me with a trip to a jewelry store while we were in Tulsa over the weekend.  He bought me a new "engagement" ring to replace the one in my wedding set.  He had promised to do this years upon years ago because he knew that I wanted a marquis diamond----which matched the wrap that i have. I've never said or mentioned anything about it though.  Over the summer we looked at rings, but did not find anything.  So, this weekend we found a nice---affordable---diamond.  They were able to do the switch overnight. And we even got his ring re-sized too.  He's not been able to wear his ring in years.  :o)  So, it was a VERY enjoyable weekend! 

Two weekends in a row-----busy busy busy!  I told Joe this morning that we were not going to budge this weekend.  Is it Friday yet??????

Love,
Cassie

Pre-K Graduation

Well, yesterday......Madison officially graduated pre-k.  She's been ready to get to kindergarten for months now.  But yesterday was super exciting.  They all had little graduation hats and got diplomas.  They put on a little program for the parents to watch and then celebrated with popsicles.  Madison is already wanting to get a new backpack for next year.  I'm afraid it might be a long summer!  :o)

Happy Anniversary!

We celebrated 11 years this weekend!  Happy Anniversary to all of you as well.  I know your dates are right around ours.  We wanted to go out to dinner on Saturday, but our sitter was not able to look after the girls.  So, we opted for a nice drive around the country.  We went to a small state lake just to the north of us.  At a low water crossing, we stopped and let the girls out to play in the water.  We had a good evening.

I did not do a darn thing this weekend.  Saturday we went to town to get minerals for the cows.  We stopped by this little place that sells closeout specials on furniture and house "fixings".  I have talked Joe into replacing the carpet in the living room with a hardwood floor.  It did not take lots of convencing.  :o)  So, we picked out some nice laminate.  We hope one of his friends can come up to visit and install it for us.  He's had lots of experience with this type of thing.  I guess that we are going to wait a couple of years on the new house.  I'm not in a hurry.  We've just decided that we will get some more things paid off, and another kid out of daycare!  So, I'll settle with a new floor in the living room.

I've lost 9 pounds this week on my diet.  I'm hoping to continue the success.  I'm fairly optimistic.  I've just been praying for will power.  Hopefully God will give me the strength to continue to loose weight and the strength to keep it off.  None the less----I'm just happy that I've lost nine pounds already.  It gives me incentive to continue.

My spelling is terrible today.  I think my brain has officially checked out for the summer.   We are up in arms around here today at work.  many of us have "mini" refrigerators in our rooms.  They are not going to let us have them next year.  They supposedly cost the district too much money in electric bills.  They won't even consider letting us keep them even if we pay a fee.  it's not like we get any other perks with this job.  i think it's a crappy thing to do!  oh well.

well, more later.

Cassie

Circus

Over the weekend we took the girls to the Shriner's Circus in Ft. Scott.  We went with our friends Randy and Leanne and their foster boys.  The kids had a great time.  I can't say that the circus was impressive, but they had fun and that's what matters.  They had some tigers, a camel, and some trained dogs.  That's about all.  The "acts" were simple.  I think that the kids had the most fun getting thier faces painted!  :o)

Cassie

It's been a while.

I've been so busy!  Doing what?  Couldn't really tell you.

Mother's Day weekend we decided to surprise our moms.  We went to Arkansas on Saturday.  Needing to stay the night somewhere, we checked in at the Clarion in Bentonville.  I called a friend that we had not seen in a long time and had lunch with her and her son.  It was so nice to be able to visit with them.  She had not seen the girls in quite some time.  After lunch, we did a little shopping.  I was wanting to find a swimming suit.  Joe patiently watied with the girls while I shopped.  It didn't take too long, thankgoodness.  After that we went back to the hotel and took a nap.  We woke up just in time to get ready to meet Natalie, Mike, Kevin, Jennifer, and Stephen in Fayettville for dinner.  We ate at the Power House, my favorite restaurant of all time.  The serve the best sea food!  It was so busy that evening becuase the U of A had held graduation earlier in the day.  We were give a couple of tables in an upstairs room.  There was only one other party upstairs with us.  It was pretty nice.  We had lots of room and could visit as long as we wanted to.

On Sunday, we went to Joe's mom and dad's church in Gravette.  Dad and Kevin told mom that they were going to take her to "brunch", and they met us there.  Mom was totally in the dark.  She was so surprised to see us.  Joe's mom didn't have a clue that we were coming either.  You should have seen the look on her face when we showed up in her church pew.  :o)  Natalie and Mike were a little late, but they were there too.  After church we had planned a picnic.  It was pretty cool weather, with a chance of rain.  So, Joe's mom insited that we go back to their house.  We had a "picnic" in the kitchen.  It was so nice to have the chance to visit with everybody without having to run "here and there".  Joe's daughter and her fiance (I'll use that term loosely) joined us as well.  We had a good time.

It was a long drive home that afternoon.  We were ready for bed about 7:30 that evening!  Needless to say, a full weekend makes for a long, exhausting week to follow.  And it's been just that!

Jennifer and I planned a little vacation for our families just after July 4th.  We are going to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City for a couple of days.  It's an indoor water park and hotel.  It should be lots of fun!  The girls will just love it.  I'm actually trying to talk Joe in to going up on the 4th and staying in KC to watch fire works.  I bet we probably will.  :o)  It would be so nice to see a big firework display.  We've never seen one.

I'm starting a new diet to help shed a few pounds for the occasion.  Wish me luck!  I know several others that have had lots of success with it!

My good friend Leanne (aka Aunt Lou) just e-mailed me today with good news.  They will probably get the opprotunity to adopt the foster boys that they have been keeping.  Please keep them in your prayers.  It's been such a long, tough experience for all of them.  We are praying that they will get to keep the two boys.  We are attached to them as well.

Ok, enough for now.
Cassie

The girls had fun playing as we waited for a table at the restaurant.

Madison and Abby had fun playing with Grandpa Edmondson at Grandma&Grandpa Duncan's house.

White Cheese Dip????!

Help!  Have you ever made white cheese dip.....the kind that you get in a Mexican restaurant?  I tried it last night and it flopped!  I've looked online for recipes.  Lots of them say to use Assada cheese.   I can't find that in the grocery store anywhere! 

I used a "mexican" blend that included Cheddar, Assada, and Monterey Jack.  I found some mexican cheese---and i don't even know the name of it----- it was white----so i used it------and some Pepper Jack, and some White American, which I could only find in wrapped singles.  I also used half and half, cilantro, and cumin.  It did not melt well.  I think it was largely due to the Mexican cheese taht I used.  It was kind of crumbly.  The consistency of the dip was lumpy and a little like gravey.  I even added more half and half to it to thin it out.  Next time I'm not using the mexican cheese.

Do you have a recipe for white cheese dip?

Natalie's family is coming up in a week or so.  We are going to have "Mexican"  I was hoping to make the dip then.  Her family in not big on Rotell dip and neither is mine. I like it, but Joe and the girls are not very fond of it.  Me....on the other hand....i'll eat about anything-----except for that stuff I made last night.  It was gross!  I just tossed it out!

The girls at work told me about some kind of dip that they can get in the deli section at Wal-mart.  I looked there, but I'll have to look harder I guess. 

I've got to take Madison after work today to get her kindergarten physical.  It's hard to belive that she's going to start school this coming year.  Abby is growing so much too.  She is talking a lot. She and Madison play pretty well toghther.  She thinks that she has to do everything that big sis does and keeps right up with her.

Wish me luck on the dip!  Help me out if you can!

Cassie

This has got to be a better week!

Oh my gosh!  I've got to have a better week this week than last week!  Let me just recap for you.

MONDAY:  Inlaws were coming for dinner.  Dinner in crockpot.  Crockpot to shift to warm-----it didn't.  I came home to bunred b-b-q beef and had to re-cook something.

TUESDAY:  Abby-----bean up the nose.  Had to go to doctor.

WEDNESDAY:  Woke up about 30 minutes late. Loaded girls into car.  Flat tire on car.  Unloaded girls.  Reloaded into truck.  Low fuel in truck. Prayed all the way to work.  Was almost late.

THURSDAY:  Not too bad.  Kicked a kid out of class.  Went to chiropractor after work.

FRIDAY:  Hit a deer on the way to work, driving Joe's truck.  Lots of damage.  Didn't make it in to work.

I guess that it could have been worse-----like it all could have happened in one day! 

Saturday and Sunday were good though.  The weather was great.  Easter was a good day.  Church service was the best Easter service that I've ever been to.  We grilled out ----hamburgers.  Hunted eggs. And we went for a buggy ride.  It was a good day.

Hope this week is bettter!  How was your Easter?

Cassie

Coffee Beans Up the Nose!

Yip!  Up the nose!  Abby thought it would be a good place to store her bean.  I guess that they were playing with them at daycare for some kind of project and she shoved one up her nose!  I had to leave work and take her to the doctor.  We waited for an hour. And by that time it had bothered her enough and she had rubbed her nose enough that it came out.  All the doctor had to do was inspect to see that the entire thing had come out.  Abby was pretty traumatized though.  We had to hold her down for the doctor to look up her nose.

Only my kid!!! Right???!!!!

Guess her caffine adiction is getting to her.  We are going to have to wean her off that coffee for breakfast!  :o)

Cassie

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Oh my goodness!  Have we been busy!  The week before spring break we all had "something". It was related to the sinuses.  But we were all on antibiotics.  I actually had about three rounds of antibiotics and had to get a steroid to kick it. 

I missed work the entire week before spring break.   I was feeling terrible.  Madison was not feeling well either.  One day, Joe had to take Abby to work with him.  Madison and I just laid around on the couch all day.

Over that weekend we went to a bull sale.  It was north of Salina, which was about a 4-5 hour drive.  We purchased two yearling bulls.  Our bull died in December, so we were really in need of one.  We were not able to bring them back with us, but arranged to pick them up this past weekend.

We all finally got to feeling better just in time to go to Grandmas' and Hot Springs.

The girls had a ball visiting both sets of grandparents.  The weather was nice and they got to play outside.  Of course all the spoiling they got was great too!  Joe and I had a good time in Hot Springs.  We did not do anything other than visit the horse races.  We enjoyed it so much!  It was such great weather, and just nice to be outside.  We didn't win or loose big. Just had lots of fun together.  We went to dinner a couple of nights to nice places.  So great to just be by ourselves.  It was just what we needed.

Last week was busy.  Getting back into the swing of things  at work after spring break took some doing!  The girls didn't want to get back into the routine very easily, since we had nealy two weeks off due to sickness.

It was my birthday over spring break, and I really enjoyed celebrating.  In fact, I celebreated right into this past weekend. We had to go this weekend to pick up those bulls that we bought.  I had it in mind that the girls and I were in desperate need of a Yorkie puppy.  So, I had been researching online, and trying to locate one in our area.  Well, just so happens that we were going to be going through Wichita to get those bulls; and I had located a puppy in Wichita!  Joe was ABSOLUTELY THRILLED!  :o)   He managed to cooperate.  We brought home an 11 week old male.  His name is Amos.  :o)

The girls are absolutely in love with him.  He's quite fond of them too, already.  He's been trained to use a potty pad.  He's pretty good with it.  He's had a few accidents, but that's to be expected.  He's done quite well.  I'm going to have to learn how to goom him.  I've not had any experience with this.  I ordered a pair of clippers.  The lady that I purchased him from took a lot of time with me and answered lots of questions.  She even showed me how to trim him up.  I'll probably need to take him to a professional groomer for an appropriate hair cut though.  :o)

Oh my goodness!  Easter is upon us!  This Easter Bunny needs to get in gear!  We've missed church so much lately due to illness and out of town.  We absolutely have to make it this Sunday.  I'm surprised that they have not called to chastise us yet!  :o)   I'm ashamed!  We are going this Sunday though!  We are just having Easter by ourselves this year.  We invited the family up, but nobody wanted to come.  I think we might just put something on the grill for lunch or dinner.  It's supposed to be great weather!  We've got to make some time to dye eggs too.  And I've got to get Easter baskets!  Oh my!  My list just keeps growing!  I'm so thankful that Madison and Abby's daycare is religion based.  They always do a great job of helping them understand the purpose for such celebrations.  I'm so thankful!  I could not think of a better place for them to be.

Joe's mom and dad are actually going to come up this evening to bring us some beef.  They gave us a full beef as part of our Christmas present this year.  It's finally been processed, and they are supposed to be here this evening.  I've put on some b-b-q beef for sandwiches and have all of the fixings ready.  I've just got to hurrry home after work.

What are your Easter plans?  :o)

Cassie

Jewelry returned.

Hi!

Well, we took the bracelet back and Madison appologized for taking it.  She cried and gave the clerk a hug.  I was hoping for a more stern lecture from the clerk, but I wound up having to direct the conversation.  We also visited a police officer.  He did a little better job, but I still directed much of the conversation.  Madison cried, appologized, and hugged the officer.  I think that she surprized him whith the hug.  He loosened up a little after that and talked to her more.  I hope that she learned her lesson. We've talked quite a bit about paying for things. 

The girls were sick on Friday.  So, we stayed home.  I think we've all got some weird kind of bug.  Sinuses have been bothering us all.  We've also had a touch of stomach "something".  It just keeps hanging on.  It's like we are all trying to develop bronchitis.  There are seveal others with the same types of symptoms.  Madison actually ran a fever on Friday.  We are all ready for spring break!  Guess maybe it could be "spring fever"!  :o)

This weekend we sold calves.  They did pretty well.  At least we can make our payments.  That's a relief!  We've got to shop for a bull -----and soon.  Ours died earlier in the winter.  He had not been doing well for quite a while.  Joe kept threatening to sell him, but he died first.  That's the way it goes!

I've got parent/teacher conferences next week.  I'm ready to get them over with.  Usually in the spring we don't have as many parents as we do in the fall.  I'm hoping that this is the case this year.  I just want to get them over with.  I desperatley need a break!

I'm looking forward to our trip to Hot Springs!  :o)

Cassie

A Thief Among Us!

We discovered last night that we have a little thief living with us!  She's a little over three feet tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, and likes bracelets.

I took Madison in to a store yesterday after school and she came home with a bracelet in her pocket.  I'd not be as upset as I am, if this had been her firs "incident".  But, it's not.  Once I caught her trying to take a piece of candy from the grocery store.  About a month ago, she picked up a bottle of fingernail polish that she found on the floor at Wal-mart.  It was obvious that somebody lost it because it had been used and there was no bar code on it, but that's beside the point.  And then yesterday.........not to mention the times that she's taken things from daycare.

It's not like she does it all the time, but this is the last straw.  I'm taking her back to the store today to apologize.  And then to the police station to visit an officer.  Sunday after church, we are going to ask our pastor to visit with her.  It may be overkill, but we hope it works.

We just don't know what else to do. We've talked to her, taken away toys and priveleges, spanked her.  Last time she said that she had learned her lesson, but obviously not!  Do you have any suggestions?  I'm not going to raise a cleptomaniac!

Cassie

Not much.

Hi! What's going on in your world? Same old thing in mine! Work, kids, housework, exhaustion.

I temporarily got over my sinus infection, but now I think it's trying to come back on me again. Abby is not feeling well. She has a double ear infection. It wasnt' long ago that she had an ear infection. I hope that this does not become a habit of hers. Joe had to come pick her up from daycare today. I just couldn't take off and leave my classroom. Anyway, he took her to the doctor and got her some antibiotics. Hope that does the trick for her.

I'm so ready for spring break! Joe and I decided, for my birthday, that we would go to Hot Springs. We are going to stay at the Emabssy Suites Hotel and take a trip to the horse races. I'm so excited! I'm ready for a break from everything! Mom and Mary Jo will keep the girls for us. I'm looking forward to spending some time with Joe. We don't get as much time toghether as we'd like, much less by ourselves! :o)

I'm so ready for the cold weather to be over. I want to get outside. The girls are just dying to play outsied too. We have thought about getting them a trampoline, just a small one. I don't know if we will follow up on that this summer or not. Gosh! With the Kansas wind-----we'd have to set that sucker in cement though! :o)

I think that we are going to sell calves this weekend. Joe's got them weaned off and pinned up. I'm ready for them to go! Bet I don't get any more housework done this weekend than I did last weekend.

How are you spending your time lately?

Cassie

Pass the tissue please!

Well, once again, I'm feeling lousey!  I've got some sort of sinus infection.  I went to the doctor yesteday and got some anitbiotics.  I'm hoping that I'll start feeling better soon.  I missed work on Monday, and probably could have stayed home all week long if I had had more sick days.  I try to save them as much as I can because I have to share them with the girls.  I only get 10 days a year.  I've not been able to save any for the past few years because I've had to use them for pregnancy.

Anyway, I wanted to stay home today  but both of the girls have Valentine Parties.  I'd never hear the end of it if they had to miss those!

Are you celebrating Valentine's Day with your Honey?  We were going to..... but could not find a sitter.  Oh well, maybe we will do it another weekend.

I've been having all kinds of conflicting feeling and issues on where to send Madison to kindergarten next year.  Should she go to Chanute, where I teach, or to Girard, the district that we live in.  We really want her in the Girard district when she's older.  She will be much closer to friends and activities.  But that means if we send her there next year, she will have to be left alone before and after school for a while.  If I bring her to Chanute.....there are lots of logistic issues. I have to be at work 45 minutes before her school starts.  There are bussing issues.  I've just been having a terrible time trying to make heads and tales of the situation.  It's a long drawn out story with no good answer.  I need your prayers!

Have a good weekend!
Cassie

More Snow!

Well, we are getting some more snow. I'm so sick of the stuff.  I'm ready for spring.  This has been a super busy couple of weeks.  The kids at school have been absolutely awful!  We can't figure out what it is exactly.  Usually we don't see these kinds of behaviors and low grades until about spring break, but it has started super early this year.  It's going to be a long semester!

My girls have been fairly good for the past few weeks.  However last weekend we went 'round and 'round with Madison.  She did not want to listen and learn from her "past experiences", which involved spankings. That girl was in trouble all weekend long!  I hope this weekend goes better.  She has been pretty good all week this week.

Abby is definitely in the terrible two's.  She's really not as bad as Madison was though.  She's talking a lot now.  I can usually understand everything that she says.

We finally got our new mattress.  I can't say that it's helped my back much, but I'm sleeping better.  With weather like this though, I just want to go into hybernation though.

I guess that I should not complain so much about the snow.  It could be worse.  I've not talked to any family in Arkansas yet today, but they were supposed to get lots of ice and snow.  I'm hoping that they did not have it as bad as was expected.  But I do hope I can make it home from work today.  We made it to town, but I was uneasy.  It will be much worse on our way home.  I'd not be as nervous if I did not have the girls with me.  I just fear getting stranded or in an accident with them.

Joe did not have to go to Tulsa today.  I'm thankful for that.  Yesterday he just took one load to Carthage, Mo.  Maybe we can get the girls out in the snow this weekend.  We need to have some family fun.  Hopefully we will make it to Church on Sunday.  I just hate to miss.

Well, I've got to go for now.  These kids are not finding the video on Congress as exciting as they should!  :o)

Cassie

Is it Friday yet?

Whew!  This week has been busy.  Why?  I don't know.  The snow is finally melting, thank goodness!  It seems like the girls have been restless.  It's probably due to the weather.  I have not wanted to get out of bed all week long, myself. 

Leanne and I are planning to go to the mall in Joplin on Saturday.  We have a sitter watching my girls and her foster boys at my house.  They all play pretty well together and are close in age.  The sitter said that she was up for it, so we aren't going to give her a chance to back out!  Leanne's birthday was Wednesday, so we are going to celebrate with a little shopping, and maybe a pedicure!  We need it! :o)

We've got to get to church on Sunday.  We have been missing too often lately.  Guess that means that I'm going to do very little house work this weekend.  I'd not complain about that, but the house is a real mess.  I have such a hard time keeping up. Wish that I could afford a house keeper to help me out once a week.  Maybe if I had a bigger house----the mess would just be spread out a little more and not quite as noticealbe, 'ya think?  :o)

Joe has been super busy with work.  He's just working long hours.  He has to go to Tulsa twice a day.  Hopefully this weekend he can get the cattle worked.  We still have not weaned the calves.  The are no longer calves, but good sized cows!

Cassie

I survived!

Well, my two week vacation is over---if you could call it a vacation.  I was super busy.  Several trips to the chriopractor and Wal-mart kept me busy.  We had a full week off before Christmas.  That was nice.  We've never had that much time off before the holiday.  I was able to clean the house, wrap presents, and do some cooking.  We did not go home for Christmas.  We simply just did not have the time and engergy for it this year.  I fixed us a nice Christmas dinner (most of which was prepared on Christmas Eve day).  The girls were up by about 6:15 and everything was opened by about 7:00!

Christmas Eve and Christmas day it sleeted and snowed.  The wind blew so most of the snow just ended up in snow drifts.  Santa was prepared though; he equipped us with new sleds.  He must have known it was coming!  It was way too cold to take the girls out for a few days though.  Saturday night our sitter came over and kept the girls for us while we went out to dinner and a movie.  That was a first in quite a while!  Sunday afternoon we took the girls out sledding for a short while.  They really enjoyed that, but it was still too cold.

Monday, Joe's parents and daughter came up for a very short visit.  The girls were glad to see them.  Joe was at work, however.  They managed to catch him at work while he was loading the truck to go to Tulsa for his second run.  Tuesday was a trip to town.  The girls went to daycare for a few hours.  I went to the chiropractor again, did some other errands, and met Leanne for lunch.  We were both in need of a sanity break!  Wednesday afternoon the sitter kept the girls while I went on the truck with Joe to Tulsa.  I enjoyed spending a little bit of time with him.  He's been working so much lately that we've seen very little of him.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day was spent in Kansas City.  We took the girls to the Great Wolf Lodge and water park.  We had such a good time.  It was nice to get to spend some family time together.  The girls had such fun at the water park.  The park was inside the lodge.  They had several pools, slides, and play areas.  We swam, had dinner, played at the arcade, listened to an entertainer sing, and watched some dancers that evening.  We did not make it to the stroke of midnight however!  On New Year's Day we went to Nebraska Furniture Mart and found a new mattress!  We did not get to bring it home with us, however.  They had it order it.  So, we are expecting it to be delivered on the 19th.  We just got a bed frame for it.  We are going to try to get new bedroom furninture-----if and when we get a new house.

It snowed again on Saturday evening.  Saturday the therma-coupler went out on our heating stove.  Wouldn't you know it!  Seems like we have to replace that thing two or three times a season.  And we did not have a spare one on hand, which we usually do.  So Joe had to go to Pittsburg on Sunday morning and see he could get another one.  The roads were pretty bad, so we did not even try to make it to church.  He got home and got it fixed with no problem, thankfully.  Sunday was a pretty lazy day.  And it was back to work on Monday. When is spring break?  :o)