Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Giveaway
Unfortunately it is not something I am giving away. I have thought about this but don't have anything cool enough that someone would want to enter a contest for! :) Thankfully I have friends that are just that cool! My good friends Ryan and Amber Prevo have been talking about adopting/fostering for years. They are finally taking the plunge and are trying to get a little one from Ethiopia!! They are using Ordinary Hero products as a fundraiser and they get 40% if you select their names under "affiliates" in the checkout. They are also giving away 2 FREE T-SHIRTS!! :) Go to their blog http://connectthedots-amber.blogspot.com/2011/04/ordinary-hero-giveaway_05.html and leave a comment and you could be the proud new recipient of one of these super cute Ts!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Walking Time Bomb
Today I feel like a walking time bomb. Every move I make has been analized several times. You see, both of my girls have the stomach flu. Elle started on Monday early morning and was sick most of the day. She then was getting somewhat better and then things did a reversal and started coming out the other end. :( I thought she was better yesterday but she has regained momentum and still had issues all night long and this morning! Ahh! A whole week off of school! Reese started both ends last night and has been violently sick ALL NIGHT LONG!! Neither of us had much sleep. She has kept some fluids down this morning but is still not at all feeling well!
I think we are going to have a long road ahead of us! I think it should not be allowed that Moms get sick. I am scared to DEATH!! I have been pleading with the Lord to let me stay well. Every ache and pain is cause for panic at the moment. We will see what today brings!!!!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Mexico Work Team
We were very privileged to go on a work team to Magdalena, Mexico for a week. We had been down to the orphanage before and Graham had met Fede, our sponsor kid, but we had never had to WORK!! I didn't quite know how it would go! There were 24 of us, mostly Gridleyites and a few others. We were quite the motley crew as well. 3 married couples, 8 singles, 2 junior highers, 1 grade schooler, 1 single mom and 6 people without their spouses along!
Maddison has never been out of Illinois, let alone the country and never on a plane! She had a lot of firsts all in one day!!
Sean and his little ukulele were our cheap entertainment. He brought a songbook entitled, "The daily ukulele" and we felt like we should be laying on the beach in Hawaii! Anyone have any spare change to throw in?!?!
The kids at the orphanage have chores and some of those include caring for the many animals on campus. Graham enjoyed the horse...
...and the goats! He and Michael chased the poor little things until they caught a baby for some snuggling.
On Sunday afternoon, we climbed a "hill". It didn't sound so bad. We took off strong and soon realized we were WAY out of shape for this MOUNTAIN!! It really wasn't that bad but of course some of the young ones set the pace and we couldn't let them know we were suffering so on we trudged. By the time I got to the top, I thought I was going to throw up! It was a beautiful view of the city!
The cross at the top of the mountain
On Sunday afternoons, the locals drive down to "river" and sit there like it is the beach. They then drive THROUGH the river- over and over and watch others drive through the water. I guess that when you live in a desert that this is good ol' entertainment! Of course, Bill had to take our big old school bus right through it too!
There is no such thing as a white line in Mexico! :)
Carol was our faithful cook all week and kept us all from losing weight! That would be a shame.
I wish they could have let Matt have the little broom...
Carissa's escuelita (school room)
As the guys were gathering supplies on the first day, us women thought it would be important to "dress the part". Dress your way to success right? That way we would look like we knew what we were doing!
Sean was our fearless leader with the plans for the septic system. We not only had to place the drain pipes in the right place but also at the right grade. If we messed up, the new house would have a mess of their own!!!!
Our Ditch Witch helped start the trenches for the pipe.
This ground was rock hard and there were rocks EVERYWHERE. Every time we dug down we would hit one have have to dig it out before we could continue! It was slow going. THEN Sean would come around with the survey stick and tell us we had to go down 3 more inches. We would officially "unfriend" him until he would finally tell us we had it right! We had a good time digging in the "rocks".
Tuesday night we got to spend some time in town.
Eating at Lupita's, on of the best places down there! Fede showed us around and would translate when necessary!
They brought out grilled onions with the stems still on them. Matt wasn't sure what to do and stuck the whole thing in his mouth! That was hard going down!
Katie Schick, Bill and Joan's daughter, started a coffee shop in town. We went there after supper for drinks. Isn't it CUTE?!?!?
It is called Cafe Sed which means thirsty. On the wall is the verse about coming all who are thirsty and you will thirst no more!
Attached to the coffee shop is Duane Wulf's meat packing plant. Of course Jon couldn't wait to see that. What is vacation if you can't tour food plants, right? Oh wait, you don't do that on vacation... hmmm. I guess you have to be married to a food scientist! :) Duane had just made big sausages that day.
Doug let Graham help drive the back hoe. Thanks DOUG!!!
Fede, his niece Darilese, his sisters Daniela and Jacqui
All the kids sing up front before church. It was so cute. Graham stood up their and looked around since the songs were in Spanish. Doesn't he look amused? He was also not feeling well.
By that night I knew he was really sick and Carissa said she would take us to the doctor in the morning. We had a regular check up, got and antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and Tylenol(in Spanish of course!) all for $10!!
Fede made a hat for each of my kids. He also drew us an amazing picture of a horse that we are going to frame and put in Graham's room. It was so great to get to know him better. We pray for him like he is one of the family. He can speak English amazingly well so that helped IMMENSELY! Next time we are down there we hope to be able to speak more Spanish too!
The tile floor that some people put in. It isn't grouted yet but doesn't it look amazing?!?!?
Here comes some grout!
Graham had a great time with the "Wulf pack". He is really going to miss them and will be excited next time we venture down there to see them again! (Hopefully soon if I have anything to say about it!)
Maddison has never been out of Illinois, let alone the country and never on a plane! She had a lot of firsts all in one day!!
Sean and his little ukulele were our cheap entertainment. He brought a songbook entitled, "The daily ukulele" and we felt like we should be laying on the beach in Hawaii! Anyone have any spare change to throw in?!?!
The kids at the orphanage have chores and some of those include caring for the many animals on campus. Graham enjoyed the horse...
...and the goats! He and Michael chased the poor little things until they caught a baby for some snuggling.
On Sunday afternoon, we climbed a "hill". It didn't sound so bad. We took off strong and soon realized we were WAY out of shape for this MOUNTAIN!! It really wasn't that bad but of course some of the young ones set the pace and we couldn't let them know we were suffering so on we trudged. By the time I got to the top, I thought I was going to throw up! It was a beautiful view of the city!
The cross at the top of the mountain
On Sunday afternoons, the locals drive down to "river" and sit there like it is the beach. They then drive THROUGH the river- over and over and watch others drive through the water. I guess that when you live in a desert that this is good ol' entertainment! Of course, Bill had to take our big old school bus right through it too!
There is no such thing as a white line in Mexico! :)
Carol was our faithful cook all week and kept us all from losing weight! That would be a shame.
I wish they could have let Matt have the little broom...
Carissa's escuelita (school room)
As the guys were gathering supplies on the first day, us women thought it would be important to "dress the part". Dress your way to success right? That way we would look like we knew what we were doing!
Sean was our fearless leader with the plans for the septic system. We not only had to place the drain pipes in the right place but also at the right grade. If we messed up, the new house would have a mess of their own!!!!
Our Ditch Witch helped start the trenches for the pipe.
This ground was rock hard and there were rocks EVERYWHERE. Every time we dug down we would hit one have have to dig it out before we could continue! It was slow going. THEN Sean would come around with the survey stick and tell us we had to go down 3 more inches. We would officially "unfriend" him until he would finally tell us we had it right! We had a good time digging in the "rocks".
Tuesday night we got to spend some time in town. 
Eating at Lupita's, on of the best places down there! Fede showed us around and would translate when necessary!
They brought out grilled onions with the stems still on them. Matt wasn't sure what to do and stuck the whole thing in his mouth! That was hard going down!
Katie Schick, Bill and Joan's daughter, started a coffee shop in town. We went there after supper for drinks. Isn't it CUTE?!?!?
It is called Cafe Sed which means thirsty. On the wall is the verse about coming all who are thirsty and you will thirst no more!
Attached to the coffee shop is Duane Wulf's meat packing plant. Of course Jon couldn't wait to see that. What is vacation if you can't tour food plants, right? Oh wait, you don't do that on vacation... hmmm. I guess you have to be married to a food scientist! :) Duane had just made big sausages that day.
Doug let Graham help drive the back hoe. Thanks DOUG!!!
Fede, his niece Darilese, his sisters Daniela and Jacqui
All the kids sing up front before church. It was so cute. Graham stood up their and looked around since the songs were in Spanish. Doesn't he look amused? He was also not feeling well.
By that night I knew he was really sick and Carissa said she would take us to the doctor in the morning. We had a regular check up, got and antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and Tylenol(in Spanish of course!) all for $10!!
Fede made a hat for each of my kids. He also drew us an amazing picture of a horse that we are going to frame and put in Graham's room. It was so great to get to know him better. We pray for him like he is one of the family. He can speak English amazingly well so that helped IMMENSELY! Next time we are down there we hope to be able to speak more Spanish too!
The tile floor that some people put in. It isn't grouted yet but doesn't it look amazing?!?!?
Here comes some grout!
Graham had a great time with the "Wulf pack". He is really going to miss them and will be excited next time we venture down there to see them again! (Hopefully soon if I have anything to say about it!)
Friday, January 14, 2011
jury duty 101
I was called for jury duty for the first time this week. It was really an overall good experience but I had no idea what all went into this! I had to find a sitter for Reese all week of course but didn't realized that I would need before school sitters for the other two! I had to be there at 8:30 which sounded nice but with the snow this week, that meant leaving at 7:30! Yikes! Jon very graciously stayed home a couple mornings to help me out! I also needed a place for the kids each day after school if I was selected for the jury. I thought this wouldn't be too bad! Boy was I wrong!
I should have checked the dates better b/c my mother in law and sister in law are both traveling this week. My mom could watch my kids when she wasn't teaching so at least a couple of days were covered. If it were another week, it would have gone a lot more smoothly! I ended up asking a lot of favors from people and got everything covered.
I didn't have to go in on Monday which was a complete Godsend. I still did my shift at Meadows but at least had some time to recover from the weekend. Then Tuesday I was summoned and ended up getting sent home. Wednesday I was not quite so lucky. I was hoping that since I was questioned all about Jon's grandpa who is a former judge, that they would let me go. No such luck. I was selected. I thought I would have to go back down on Thursday to finish the trial. NOPE!!! They kept us there until 6:30!!! Mind you, they took all electronics STAT when you are selected so I couldn't let anyone know I was stuck! The bailiff let me use his phone to call Jon at supper time to tell him to go p/u the kids at least. I didn't even know they could do that!! I thought we would be able to go when the court house closed at 5:00pm. NOPE!! One ladies trial lasted until 10:00 at night. I guess sometimes you are there until the bitter end! I thought maybe they were doing some sort of social experiment to see how soon we would go crazy or something. (ok that might be a bit dramatic but I felt like a caged rat!!) I finally got out and was really thankful for the experience despite the time issue. It really is quite an interesting process. I was SOOOOO thankful to see I didn't have to go in on Thursday but, alas, I was again there today! ARG!!! The cased ended up dropped or plea bargained or something b/c we didn't have to go through selection again. We were released!
I would definitely do it again. I know it is my responsibility. BUT, next time I will make sure that my family is around that week before I agree to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
****THANK you a million times to those of you who helped me out with babysitting this week! I owe you BIG TIME!!!
I should have checked the dates better b/c my mother in law and sister in law are both traveling this week. My mom could watch my kids when she wasn't teaching so at least a couple of days were covered. If it were another week, it would have gone a lot more smoothly! I ended up asking a lot of favors from people and got everything covered.
I didn't have to go in on Monday which was a complete Godsend. I still did my shift at Meadows but at least had some time to recover from the weekend. Then Tuesday I was summoned and ended up getting sent home. Wednesday I was not quite so lucky. I was hoping that since I was questioned all about Jon's grandpa who is a former judge, that they would let me go. No such luck. I was selected. I thought I would have to go back down on Thursday to finish the trial. NOPE!!! They kept us there until 6:30!!! Mind you, they took all electronics STAT when you are selected so I couldn't let anyone know I was stuck! The bailiff let me use his phone to call Jon at supper time to tell him to go p/u the kids at least. I didn't even know they could do that!! I thought we would be able to go when the court house closed at 5:00pm. NOPE!! One ladies trial lasted until 10:00 at night. I guess sometimes you are there until the bitter end! I thought maybe they were doing some sort of social experiment to see how soon we would go crazy or something. (ok that might be a bit dramatic but I felt like a caged rat!!) I finally got out and was really thankful for the experience despite the time issue. It really is quite an interesting process. I was SOOOOO thankful to see I didn't have to go in on Thursday but, alas, I was again there today! ARG!!! The cased ended up dropped or plea bargained or something b/c we didn't have to go through selection again. We were released!
I would definitely do it again. I know it is my responsibility. BUT, next time I will make sure that my family is around that week before I agree to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
****THANK you a million times to those of you who helped me out with babysitting this week! I owe you BIG TIME!!!
Monday, January 10, 2011
AMAZING DAY!!!!
Graham had the most amazing luck!! After church, he begged to go to Grandma and Grandpa Romersberger's house for a while. My mom told him it would be boring b/c she was doing a Bible Study on Esther and my dad was going to take a nap. All the way home, he was teasing that he wasn't sure what to do...watch a movie, play rock band or help Grandma with Esther. As they pulled in the driveway, a helicopter flew over really low and circled around. My dad's cell phone was ringing and it was a corn grower from Manito that gets his helicopter fixed over this way and had to go pick it up this weekend. He was wondering if Dad wanted a ride. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!! Dad and Grham hopped in...still in their church clothes and took off!!!! I was talking to mom on the phone when all this happened and we drove out to see the landing! Once in a lifetime experience!!
It landed right in my parents yard
This thing is brand new. He has his old one for sale if anyone is interested!
The blades were still going so it was windy with the whoo whoo whoo noise. It all felt very surreal!
They flew to Meadows and then around to Lake Bloomington around Gridley to find our house :) and then back to my parents.
I have never been in a helicopter so I was quite jealous! I was so thankful that Graham got this experience. He owns quite a few models and remote-controlled planes and helicopters and has learned how difficult it is to take off without crashing!! It was a great afternoon and he didn't even have to help Grandma with her Bible Study!!
It landed right in my parents yard
This thing is brand new. He has his old one for sale if anyone is interested!
The blades were still going so it was windy with the whoo whoo whoo noise. It all felt very surreal!
They flew to Meadows and then around to Lake Bloomington around Gridley to find our house :) and then back to my parents.
I have never been in a helicopter so I was quite jealous! I was so thankful that Graham got this experience. He owns quite a few models and remote-controlled planes and helicopters and has learned how difficult it is to take off without crashing!! It was a great afternoon and he didn't even have to help Grandma with her Bible Study!!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Bible Study
I have a GREAT group of Bible Study girls that help me stay accountable with my studies themselves AND thoughout my walk with Jesus! We have done some wonderful studies and have grown together and in our spiritual lives. If any of you have a study that you enjoyed, please let me know!! We are always up for suggestions! Even though our group has changed a little over the years, the core has been together for 6 or 7 years! What a blessing! (Can you tell we had a man taking the picture?!)
While I am at Bible Study, my Grandma has graciously volunteered to watch Reese! She has done this for serveral years when it was Elle and Reese together and now invites Pierce, Reese's 2nd cousin along each time! It is amazing to have family close and willing to help out!!
While I am at Bible Study, my Grandma has graciously volunteered to watch Reese! She has done this for serveral years when it was Elle and Reese together and now invites Pierce, Reese's 2nd cousin along each time! It is amazing to have family close and willing to help out!!
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