Getting down to the wire...

Updates on this week:

Ashley's been busy with dress rehearsals and first performances this week. They had their first performance last night of....ooooooOOOOOOklahoma......and it was soooo good! I'll have to post pictures this weekend, as I forgot my camera last night. We were running late due to Tanner having the stomach flu, but REALLY wanting to go. :( Poor boy, he couldn't even sit up, but he didn't want to miss Ashley's first performance. Ashley sang beautifully, and looked soooo much like myself up there. I had comments afterwards about how much she looks like Lorrie. She's just beautiful!

Like I said...Tanner has the stomach flu and is home again today with it. He's feeling pretty rotten. On Wednesday night I had a fear that it was his appendix...he was complaining about a pain in his right side and around his naval, but the worst pain was in his back. He even said no to his friends when they called to ask him to go skating 'cause it hurt so bad. Craziness...... That night I told my worries to Chuck and even said, "If he starts vomiting, then we should worry." Of course, I jinxed myself, as that night he came running in our room saying his throat felt funny. I asked if he was going to throw up, and he said "YES!" Needless to say, he made it in the bathroom, but NOT in the toilet. :( I actually couldn't stop laughing while I was cleaning it up....Chuck was standing behind me, trying to be helpful, and had a towel wrapped around his face while he was dry-heaving. What would he do without me? :)

I asked Tanner right away if his side and back still hurt and he said no. He was sick on the couch all day yesterday, and is there again today. He is finally eating and drinking today, but still isn't well enough for school. What do you think? Should I have brought him in? You would think if it was appendix, he's still be sick and in pain, right? Lookin' for wisdom here....

I have been busy getting the house in order. We have a couple showings this weekend and early next week. I'm so sick of scrubbing bathrooms. Sawyer's been 'helping' me by playing in the toilet every time I turn my back. Such fun! Pretty soon it was a game, since I had 5 toilets to clean. YUCK!

In my spare time...yeah right...I was able to knit a pair of slippers that Mitch has been waiting, not so patiently, for. They need to be felted one more time for good measure. Here is a quick picture:

I found a pattern for kids felted clog slippers. I have an adult pair, and I wouldn't have made it through the winter without them. They are fabulous! Let me know if you're interested in some. I can whip them out pretty fast.

Tomorrow we are trying to get our friends to come over for one last hurrah with Chuck before he leaves. We are down to two weeks, and next weekend we have Tanner's final hockey tournament. He says he is getting really excited. I don't know if he's excited about being single for 2 1/2 months, or getting there and starting his new job. I'm hoping for the latter. :) I'm just excited to go there and look around. Not excited about the single parenting, though......patience.....patience.

Please say a prayer that our house sells quickly. That is foremost on our minds right now.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! TGIF!!!

A vacation already planned...

I finally was able to tell all my friends this past week. Last night we had a girls night out and I was able to tell the remaining few about the move. A few tears were shed and vacations already planned. I think it's so funny that as soon as we tell people they say, "Hey, we were thinking of going to Colorado this summer...or next winter..or whenever." I'm very excited about hosting many vacationers there. You all know how I love house guests. :)
My sister-in-law was here yesterday booking her vacation rental in Vail for the first week in August. Isn't that funny?! It seems just eerie, and not reality at all. But, I have to say, I'm starting to get a little excited about just getting there and checking everything out. Our good friends decided to take the trip with us, so we will be road trippin' over spring break. Many a picture will follow.
As far as the kids go...the boys have been the same. Mitchell has been saying more lately that he'll be sad to move and leave his friends. Tanner's been a little more crabby this week. I don't know if it's the move or just that he's a 10 yr. old boy wanting more independence. Ashley is having a harder time this week than she did in the beginning. We've been dealing with depression and trying to work through her feelings. Allison is just plain pissed still. :) We just let her feel what she's feeling, and don't try to change her feelings about it. She has been on the web, talking with a few kids from the school that we are going to check out for them. That's a good sign, don't ya think? I would love for her to meet someone she can relate to there.
So, that's a little update. Ashley and I are doing a little shopping today. Chuck wants me to return Allison's hamster....but, honestly, I just can't do it. After reading her blog, I can't do it. Chuck's going to have to be the mean one. :) I honestly think we'll let her keep it---oops, I forgot she reads this. I didn't say that, Allison! ;)
Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to a hockey game...........again.

My oldest's first moment of rebellion

On Monday the kids had off school--yay!!! a free day!

Allison invited 3 of her best friends to stay overnight and to break the news to them that we are moving. It was a sad night, with many tears. One of them wouldn't even look at us, she was very mad at the two people that were taking away her friend. :(

The next day they decided to go shopping! We gave her some money because she "NEEDED" new jeans. Money is very hard to come by lately, but we thought this would cheer her up, shopping with friends, buying new clothes. All was good!

I was excited when she got home to see her new clothes and hear about her day, but my excitement quickly changed to fury when she walked in the door with a HAMPSTER CAGE....complete with a HAMPSTER inside!! I quickly learned that her and her friends had lied to the parent that brought them shopping by telling her that they had cleared it with me (they didn't) and that it was o.k. (it wasn't)! Yes, she had used our money to buy this. I was so mad--mostly frustrated that she used our money on something she WANTED and not what she NEEDED, and we don't have a lot of money coming in right now. UGH!! Needless to say, us mean parents are making her return the hamster, unless she can find someone to buy it from her. She thinks that she can pay us back, and pay for the bedding and food it'll need--but, she doesn't have a job! Last night Chuck and I found her applying for jobs on-line.

So...here are the culprits....

And here is the rat....um, I mean, hamster...........

I'm afraid of what's to come in the next few months. She's not happy with this move, and I have a feeling that she's going to make us pay. :)

I told her that she needs to make a decision--either she can make the last few months wonderful and fun, with many happy memories to last; or she can make bad decisions and be grounded for the remainder of her time. She didn't like to hear that.

The Nightmare before Christmas image...

O.k. I already have the giggles and I haven't even posted the picture yet. This is the scene prior to getting on the ski course. Unfortunetly, we didn't get any of us actually skiing--we were too busy laughing and holding in our urine. :)

Look at how unsuspecting they are......

Notice Lorrie's big furry hood?

Here are a couple pictures of the weekend...

Grandma and Nvea Lorrie, Allison and Danielle--triplets??

The Big News....

Yes, I think I'm ready to announce the news. Maybe I'm not 'ready', but I think it needs to be told. It has been a really hard week for me, many tears and sick stomaches, and I hate to say that those probably won't go away for a while.
Chuck and I have made the decision to accept a job offer that was offered to him. It will require us to move 2 states away......to..........Colorado. I think we both knew that this was the decision we needed to make, but the tears and sick stomaches come from announcing this to our family and friends. We haven't been able to tell ALL our friends yet, as we think this news needs to be told in person, and I pray that none of them read this blog without my knowing it! :)
I think everyone understands what home builders/contractors are going through at this time in the economic world, and Chuck is just one of many, many people that are affected by it. When I saw the downward spiral that seemed to be happening before our eyes, I urged Chuck to scope out different job options, honestly not thinking that it would move us away. He came to me, out of the blue, to tell me that he had been applying on-line to a bunch of different jobs. Out of those, one company called him. It is very eerie how everything just fell into place, and he just felt like he knew everyone at this company. We prayed that God would give us some sign as to what to do....and boy, did He deliver. It was like a slap in the face. Everywhere we went, something was mentioned about Colorado...and even one time (which was the final sign, we think) we were driving in the car talking together secretly about what we should do, the song "Rocky Mountain High" from John Denver came on the radio. We laughed until we cried 'cause we knew.
Yes, it has been hard to tell the kids. Allison refused to talk about it for a couple weeks, and now has seemed to accept it, and has even looked on-line at high schools in the area. Ashley, at first, was excited. But I think lately it has really hit home, and she's really having a tough time. She tries to be so strong for us, and has said that it will probably be the hardest thing she ever has to do in her life, but she knows that it's best for the family and will go without a fight. Is that the sweetest thing, or what? Tanner just wants to get there and start snow-boarding, but I don't think it has hit him that it's not just a vacation. Mitch is sad, he says, and he's a little nervous about the mountain lions in Colorado. :)
Slowly, but surely, I think we'll get excited....I hope. This is a great oportunity for Chuck, and more security for our family. I'm very excited to have a steady income that we didn't have while Chuck owned his own businesses over the years. Just to be able to budget!
So, the low-down is:
We are traveling to Colorado over spring break to get Chuck settled in an apartment. The kids and I will be returning on our own to finish out the school year and, hopefully, sell this house. I'll try not to post depressing or stressed out messages in the near future, but I will be both, probably. :)
I'll post more on the subject later, gotta go run kids around!

Valentine's Day...

Hope everyone had a great....and romantic....Valentine's Day yesterday! What did you do? Anyone have a really great story, or surprise? I love romantic, and sweet stories about how two people show their love for one another. I always try to make our Valentine's special--and for the last few years we have all celebrated together as a family. Yeah, I know, real romantic...but our kids are the loves of our lives, too, and I always want them to know how much I love them. Usually I make a big meal, taking me hours to make; like last year I made scallops in white wine sauce with pasta, and they each received their own gourmet chocolate box from me. This year my goal was to make a chinese feast. It's our family's favorite meal. I didn't think we could afford to go out to our favorite chinese resteraunt so I decided to make it at home. Taking a family of 6 (with 2 teenagers and one preteen boy) is VERY expensive. To eat at a sit-down resteraunt it usually costs us between $80-$100! Insane!
So, yesterday, I woke up early and made my valentine's heart-shaped french toast for breakfast. I did make carmel rolls, but I think the dough was freezer burnt and they didn't rise overnight--so they did NOT turn out. :( That afternoon I made out my list for our feast, which actually wore me out. Just the planning made me tired. I knew that I would have to start cooking the minute I got home from picking up the kids from school. Most days I don't mind, but I had quite an emotional day yesterday. Lorrie, then, came to pick up Sawyer, and she said that she was picking up a heart shaped pizza from a local pizza place...cause it was her valentines day, too, and didn't feel like cooking all afternoon. O.k....she was a little contagious. I started thinking that that was a wonderful idea!! Why didn't I think of that?? The kids all had hockey that night anyway...and supper would have to be really quick. Soooo, Lorrie and I decided to make pizzas and homemade brownies with ice cream for dessert for our families. She relieved my stress...what are sisters for??!! I could have kissed her.
So, I ran around town picking up pizza, picking out a card for Chuck (which I bawled over in the store--did I say I was having an emotional day?), and picking out everyone's favorite candy; I then picked up the kids from school. After picking up Allison and her boyfriend--and trying to get her dozen red roses from him into the warm car quickly before the frigid cold could get to the soft petals--and dropping those two off at a local coffee shop, I headed home to make the brownies. Apon returning home--and giggling on the phone with Lorrie 'cause her brownie frosting was NOT turning out--Chuck came home and asked me what I thought about ordering take-out chinese for everyone that night for supper? Ummmmm......yeah....duh! He also decided that the boys coughs were too bad for them to be on the ice last night (wink...wink), so he called their coaches and told them they weren't going to be there. YAY!!! A FREE NIGHT! Soooooo....to make a long story short, we ended up having our Chinese feast last night--but, the best part was...I didn't have to make it! Sigh...that story took a lot out of me. We had a great conversation at the dinner table, too, and everyone lingered there for a good 45 minutes. It was great.
We quickly cleaned up supper, and snuggled on the couch in front of the fire to watch 'LOST'. I love that show...but, man, my brain hurt after last night's episodes. Way too much info. to follow. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.
I did end our night with another cry fest, though. For Allison's health class she had to write a letter to us as if she had made a bad choice and drove drunk and was killed in a car accident. It was supposed to be a goodbye letter to us, to make them really think about what they would say to us if they made a bad decision like that in their life. It was excruciating to read....mostly through my tears. I told her 'thanks a lot...now I will have terrible dreams'. She is a talented writer, that is for sure. That did not end the night on the romantic side like I had planned. It took a little bit to shake those images out of my head.
So...that was our day yesterday. My next post, I'll write about the most romantic thing Chuck has ever done for me. I wasn't intending this post to be so long, and I must take a break. :) I'd love to hear your stories of love (but keep it clean, people).

Allison's hockey season finale!

Well, Allison is finished for the year. They lost the playoff game last night--which, honestly, wasn't a huge surprise. They played a really tough team, with one of their players playing for Duluth University next year on a full scholarship. Allison played a tough game...having over 40 some shots on goal. There were a few college coaches there, and many of them commented on Allison's great insticts. :)
What is a parent to do? We know that Allison isn't a die-hard hockey player; she would so much rather be drawing or even playing the piano over hockey. Yet, she knows that she has huge talent in this area, therefore she hasn't given it up. She talks about working hard so that she can get a scholarship to play in college, BUT does she really want to play? We have told her that we don't want her to play in college if her heart's not in it, and college is for exploring things that she enjoys. I think that she's worried that if she doesn't recieve a scholarship, then she won't be able to attend college. Yeah, it would be nice for US if she received a full ride, but we are definitely NOT pushing her on that route. We keep telling her that she can do student loans....like all the rest of us. :) She worries so much about her future and college. We tell her to mellow out, and enjoy these final years in high school. Her boyfriend will be a senior next year, so college is on his mind a lot, and I think it makes her anxious about her future as well. She's always been a worrier...poor girl.

In other news....yes, we have a sick one again this week. It's TANNER!! Ugh...when will spring be here? It's the same stuff--sinus headache, cough, sore throat, just feeling tired. We've been doing nasal washes with Mitch, and that seems to help for a short while. I just don't want to put them on antibiotics if I don't absolutely HAVE to. They've been on so many meds through the years, that I want to try anything naturally possible to get rid of this junk. Ashley had a choir concert last night, and they were missing over 20 kids due to illness. With the musical coming up, Ashley can't afford to get sick.

Please say a little (or a large) prayer for us. We have been going through some major turmoil that I will be posting about really soon. We just need as many prayers that can come our way. We've had to do some major decision making over the last few months, and we need prayer to encourage us to make the right ones for our family. Don't worry, I'll fill everyone in really soon. Some things are just really hard to say...

The Puck Stops Here!

Allison won her first playoff game last night. The score was 6-2. She played very well, even with 2 penalties on us which made it 3 on 5. She was very tough in the net. On to Gustavus College on Tues. of next week.

No shots here... Lookin' a little bored...

Good game everyone...

Mitchell is back at school today. He was very excited as they are celebrating the 100th day of school today. I think they get to have a party, also. I just hope I don't get a call from the nurse....he said his throat kinda hurt this morning. We'll see how it goes.

Ashley had a big field trip yesterday. They went to the Schience Museum, Omni Theater, and to the Ordway for an interpretive dance demonstration. She had a lot of fun...except when the dancers came onstage wearing VERY see through costumes. She said that she was embarrassed for the men. :) A little too much for a 14 yr. old girl to take in, I think.

I am off today to help clean out a town house that Chuck built. It's my favorite thing to do.......(yes, I'm being sarcastic). It's the least I can do, having nothing to do all day today. :)

Gotta go...he's home to get me, and I'm not even showered yet! YIKES!!

On to playoffs....

Allison is on to the playoffs tonight. On Tuesday they won their game, and if they win the first playoff game tonight they go on to play at Gustavus college next Tues. night. I think that she's in the net tonight, so everyone say a little prayer for her that she is quick on her feet tonight. :) We had a spaghetti dinner last night to get them full of energy producing carbs. Pasta is my thing, and I could have eaten the whole crock-pot!

Today, I'm home with Mitch who is sick with a really bad head cold. He woke up this morning with crusty eyes and such a full head. Poor boy. I dosed him up with meds. (cold med., eye drops, and motrin for some growing pains in one of his legs) and now he's curled up on the couch, but sniffing and clearing his throat every 2 seconds. :( We won't have Sawyer today, either, as Jonnie has strep, and Alaina threw up during the night. I'm sure Lorrie will post about that later. :)
So, I'm going to sew some hockey banners today to get ready to decorate the rink tonight for Tanner's home tournament. Most of us hockey Mom's are not crafty people, and don't have tons of extra time to make glorious decorations....BUT, at one of the practices this week I walked in on a small group of women felting, ironing, glueing their little hearts out. They were making a huge tunnel made out of pvc piping for their boys to run through on their way to the ice. Man, did I feel inferior. They asked me what our team was doing (meaning US Moms) and I whimpishly said..."cardboard pucks and banners". I felt like they were fluffing their feathers a bit...and they should, that's a lot of hard work...but, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them; in a year or two those boys are not going to want to run through a felt tunnel that their Mom's made for them. If they only knew.......I didn't have the heart to tell them....

The week...

Man, I'm going to try and get on here more often. I know how much I love reading new posts from my sisters, parents and cousin, so I'll try and post more often.

Here are some highlights of the week:

Last Saturday we took our family portrait for our church directory. That was a thrown together mess! I think the pictures looked like it, too. They do it all digitally now, and, as soon as they took the picture it was sent to this huge computer screen. I got the giggles the minute the first one was up. I hate saying this 'cause I DO think my husband is quite handsome....but the poor man is NOT photogenic! He tries way too hard, I think. He's so worried that he's going to blink that on the first picture his eyes look like they are bulging out of his head. I mistakingly burst out laughing. Poor guy. The next 2 were even worse, but opposite...his eyes were half shut in both. I'm sorry, but half blinking eyes are much funnier than completely blinking eyes. Sigh...the poor guy...I'm sure I dwindled his ego slightly that day. We did end up with one that was o.k. Needless to say, I didn't purchase any packages.

On Sunday Tanner celebrated his first communion. I feel a little slighted having grown up in a Catholic church where your 1st Communion is a BIG deal--complete with a smaller version of a wedding dress to wear; whereas in a Lutheran Church it is a much more quieter affair. Lutherans celebrate Confirmation like Catholics would their 1st Communion. So, there wasn't a big party that day. My parents and Chuck's sister and her husband were there to watch.

After church, Chuck and I went our seperate ways...I, to an away game with Tanner, and he to the cities to hop on a plane to Denver, CO. Het met with a very large contracting company in Golden, CO. Yes, things have been quiet in the building business. It has been for everyone in every aspect of construction--from building, remodeling, selling, buying, even mortgage companies have been slow and hurting. The only thing that is on the rise, it seems, is commercial. So, Chuck's trying to generate some work. It went very well for him. He was there til Tuesday night.

He came home to FREEZING weather. Or should I say 'TUNDRA' weather. Things were canceled that night and following morning due to the frigid cold and wind. It was dangerous out there. I think we ran our fire place constantly for 3 days. We just couldn't warm up. These knitted slippers I made have been doing the trick lately. I'm trying so hard to get more pairs made for our family, and extended family.

The rest of the week was filled with Sawyer, hockey, confirmation and cold. On Friday--my day without Sawyer--was spent ironing costumes for the musical Ashley is in....OOOOOOOOklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the planes......, then out for lunch with Chuck at our favorite chinese resteraunt. No, we didn't get through the week without a sick child at home. Allison was home with a sore throat on Friday. Poor girl, she had to miss her semi-formal dance at school. She didn't seem too upset, and we told her if she felt better she could still go, but she must not have felt o.k. 'cause she opted to stay home. It's been a movie marathon for her these last 2 days. It's her favorite thing to do....

Yesterday, Saturday, we spent in cold hockey rinks. Mitch's team kicked butt in the morning, and he SCORED A GOAL!!! He was soooo pumped. No, they don't technically keep score, but the kids know who won. After his game we hopped on a bus to Tanner's game. His team played the best game of their season to one of the toughest city teams around. They did lose, but it was only by 1 point--and they played their little hearts out. The other team was a full head taller than them, too. Boy, are we proud of them! After we got home, we headed to a hockey family's house for BBQ's, knee hockey in the basement, and the Minnesota Gopher's hockey on the t.v. Yes, I've had my fill. Looking forward to watching FOOTBALL on t.v. tonight! :)

So, today, we have a FREE day! Nowhere to be....nothing to do! It's awesome....

We woke up to the most beautiful frost blanketing the world outside.

We are venturing out later for the game. We are walking 100 ft. to the neighbors for a superbowl party. Otherwise, it's a cozy day at home. Enjoy, everyone!