my little girl

Today I got the mail and I was so happy sad to see that Lana got information about registering for KINDERGARTEN! My little girl is going to school next year. I know it is still about 10 months away but if the last 4 years have gone by this fast I know the next 10 months are going to FLY by.  I know she is so ready for school she asks about it all the time but I am not sure if I am ready. But I guess I need to just get over it cause it is part of life. She is a great girl and so sweet but she knows what she wants. She will be just fine. 

Josiah is doing good. He has had molars coming in and they have been kicking his butt. Fevers of 104 and runny nose. Not fun. 

Busy, Busy

The last couple weeks have been so busy. I am going to break this down into 3 topics: Amish, 50th & Zoo.

Amish (Sept. 14&15): Last weekend my friend DeAnn and I went down to Harmony, MN to tour the Amish country down there. It was AWESOME. We had so much fun. We got there Sunday night, checked into our hotel and then drove around to find something to eat. Harmony has NO fast-food! So, we decided to try Lanesboro. I took a wrong turn and we ended up driving by amish farm after amish farm. We even saw a couple amish out in their horse and buggies. The first buggy we saw, DeAnn freaked out and I thought I was going to hit something. Then she pointed out the buggy and then I freaked out. "Do we wave to them?"Well, we waved to them and they waved back and then we were really freaking out. We FINALLY found Lanesboro and found a cute little place to eat. On Monday morning we were up and ready for our day of touring. We started our 1st tour at 9 am. You purchase this CD and it gives you directions and tells you different amish homes to stop at. So, we did this and I was so nervous to drive up to their house and interact with them. But it was all good. They are so nice and after the 1st couple stops I was having so much fun.  We were out early enough to see all the children walking to school. They walk to school year-round. Yes, I said WALKING. And it wasn't just down the street it was further then I would want to walk in the middle of winter. Anyways, the kids were so cute and they all waved to us. By the end of our 1st tour we had the back of my van filled with stuff that we had bought. Everything from pumpkins, to homemade bread, rug, veggies and much more. We had another tour we signed up to do at 1:30 pm so we headed back to harmony with our van full and set out for another tour. It was good but we stopped at some of the same places and I am so obsessed with the amish that I pretty much knew everything our tour guide told us about the amish. I had so much fun and I can't wait to go back. I am looking into more amish tours in WI and maybe someday I will make it out to Ohio or Lancaster County to tour the amish country.

50th (Sept. 20): This last weekend we celebrated my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. We started the day out by going on a 90 min. train ride in Osceola, WI. Pretty much the whole family was there and it was a lot of fun. My mom has 3 bro's and 3 sis's so it is always fun when we get together. I always have fun with my cousin's. After the train ride we went back to my aunt's house in Hudson and we had extended family come over. We had food, hung out and got to play sand volleyball. It was a great day celebrating my grandparents and their 50 years of marriage. 

Zoo (Sept. 21): Lana and I went to the zoo yesterday for a class called Dolphin Magic. We got to learn about dolphins and we even got a behind the scene look at the dolphin area. We got to see the kitchen where their food is prepared. We got to go pool side and get pretty much face to face with a dolphin. However, we couldn't pet them which was a bummer. But we both had so much fun. We have another class we signed up for on Saturday. This one is titled Horse Sense. 

I will post pictures later today. 

Amish

On Sunday I am going to Harmony, MN with my friend DeAnn. We are going to do a couple different tours of the Amish country in Harmony. I am SO excited. You see, I secretly want to be Amish. I guess it isn't a secret now. But I am so excited. It all started years ago when my in laws lived in Sparta, WI. We were driving around the beautiful country around Sparta and we passed by some amish farms. Then the love got rekindled when I started reading these books by Beverly Lewis. I started reading them on our trip to Alaska and I have been hooked ever since. I have read 7 of her books since the end of June and I am on my 8 book. Plus, I bought an Amish cookbook. 

I will write about my trip when I get back from Amish Country. 

Okay, okay

So, I have been told by 2 of my friends that are pro's at this blogging thing that it is time for me to do another post. 

Well, let's see school has started and Lana can't stop talking about when she goes to school next year.  The other day she woke up and said, "Mommy, I had a dream that I was going to school." She has a lot of friends at church that are in school and kids in the neighborhood. So, we talk about it a lot to prepare her for next year and to also get me prepared. It is not for another year but I have learned that time really does fly by when you have kids. We didn't sign her up for preschool cause well, I wasn't ready. Selfish, I know. She was in dance last year and that really seemed to help and she starts dance again this Thursday. She will have a new teacher this year named Jenny. 

Josiah is doing okay. He has his 1st molar coming in so he has been pretty crabby and he woke up today with a runny nose and he keeps sneezing. I really hope and pray it is just from teeth coming in. He is walking all over the place now and says "Hi" to everybody. He loves balls so whenever we are at the store or anywhere that has a ball he sits and says "ball." He also LOVES wearing shoes. He gets this from his father. If he doesn't have a pair of shoes on he will walk around the house and find a pair and then come and hand them to me so I can put them on. I can't wait for him to start talking, I am hoping his girlie screaming will go away once he has words to put with what it is he wants. 

Tonight we start up our Kids program at church. I am in charge of tonight. Scary. It is a good thing that we have A LOT of great helpers. Cause I couldn't do it with out there help. We are playing games with Jell-O. The kids will put their feet in Jell-o and have to pick out marbles with their feet and then suck Jell-O out of a cup using a straw. 

Ryan is still working. Pray for him over this next month. For his physical health and spiritual. And please pray for the kids and I as we miss our hubby and daddy. 

I put up 2 pictures of the kids. They are both at my grandparents house. The one of Lana is with her Great Grandma. 

Summer is coming to an end!

Well, summer is almost over and it has gone by so fast! Ryan and I started our summer out with an Alaskan cruise to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary! The cruise was June 26th to July 4th! We started things out in Seattle and then went to Sitka, Juneau & Ketchikan, AK and our last stop was in Victoria, BC! It was amazing, we loved it! The kids went to my parents house for their very first overnighter! Lana finally had her 1st time away from mom and dad at the age of 4. Lana got to go on her very 1st jet ski ride and they got to play outside a lot! Lana found one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Yes, Lana knows who they are, we have ourselves a movie lover, just like her daddy) and took good care of him! Once we got back from our cruise, we were back to the normal life craziness! We got back late on Friday night drove 3 hours to my parent's to see the kids, sleeping (hey I missed them)! Then we came home on Saturday and Sunday we went down to Austin for Ryan's grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration! It was a lot of fun! The part I enjoyed the most was seeing a couple that has been married 50 years and how much they still love each other! It seems that people aren't willing to stick it out these days, through the good times and bad! Well, Ryan was back to work that following Monday and has pretty much worked everyday since! He won't have a day off until Oct. 13th! Man, I didn't think I would like this blogging stuff but look at me just blabbing along!

So, July and the beginning of August was super busy with the renovation of the upstairs Kids Club area at church and planning Kids Club Day Camp! We averaged 85 kids a day (3 years old to 5th grade). It was so much fun! God was so good! He supplied the amazing adult and youth volunteers and it was amazing! Well, things have pretty much calmed down in August! We are back to the same old, same old!

On August 11th, we had my great grandpa's funeral. That was sad because it was really an unexpected death. It made me look at things a lot differently cause you never know how much time you have left with your loved ones. We fill our time with all of this stuff and we forget sometimes what really matters in life. I am blessed to have both sets of grandparents alive still and 2 great grandma's. And on Ryan's side we have one set of grandparents and his grandma. I want to learn as much as I can from them while they are still on this earth! They are amazing and wonderful people!

Well, I think I have given you an ear full so we will stop there!