The Four Christmas Run-Down

Well, I think Christmas is over for us. *whew* It has been an interesting whirlwind this year!

On Tuesday, we had Christmas over at Joe's brother and his wife's house. Nora told me that her stomach hurt just before we went over, but I couldn't figure out what the problem was. She appeared normal. Shortly after we arrived (a 2-minute drive at the most), Nora threw up everywhere...including down my shirt. She continued to get sick several times over the night and was very clingy to me. I had high hopes that she would be feeling better in the morning.

Luckily, she seemed just fine on Christmas Eve morning. I had 6 pies to bake and make sure all the gifts were lined up for Christmas with my step-dad's family. I also needed to run through my solo of, "O Holy Night," a few more times to make sure I was sharp for that evening's service at our church. Around 3 pm, we went over to my step-grandparent's house and waited for the festivities to begin. My mom called Joe at the last minute to see if he could run to Salina to pick up a gift that was too large to fit in her car. They acted sneaky about it, so I suspected it was for me. After everyone arrived over at the Hoover's, Joe and I came back home to make sure Santa came to visit Nora. Joe worked today (Christmas Day), so we asked Santa to come a day early. When we walked in the house, I saw what Joe had to go into town for--dining room chairs! I'm so excited about them! I've had my dining room table for a couple of years now, but I didn't have matching chairs. After that excitement, we went back over to have dinner and open presents. I then left to go sing at church. Unfortunately, the computer in the sound booth was not working correctly and my DVD would not play in it over the speakers in the sanctuary. I ended up arranging for the pianist to play it for the congregation to sing instead. I didn't stay for the service. I was pretty disappointed since I'd worked hard to be ready for it. Oh well, maybe next year. After staying for a little while longer at my step-grandparent's house, we came home to give Nora the rest of her gifts. (And for me to give Joe his--he gave me mine earlier). We settled in for the night with Nora's favorite gift...a kitten...hiding out in the bathroom. I ended up bringing the kitten in bed with us. She stayed for the most part, but was traumatized this morning when she saw Buddy. He didn't do anything but stand there, but she is scared back into hiding again.

Today, Nora and I went out to my mom's house for one last Christmas. My brother, his fiancée, and their newborn daughter joined us. We had a good, relaxed time and just enjoyed hanging out with each other. I wish Joe could have been there, but he was on duty. Somebody has to save the world. :) Nora is down for a nap right now, but when she gets up, we'll head in to town to visit him at the fire station.

A new adventure begins for me tomorrow, but more on that later. For now, enjoy some of our pictures from Christmas 2008!

The Christmas Letter

To All of Our Friends and Family...and Random People on the Internet,

We hope this letter finds you happy and healthy! We didn't get a holiday letter out last year, so I hope you'll be able to put the pieces together if you have missed something.

In February, we moved to Minneapolis, KS. My mom and step-dad built a new house, so we moved into their old one. It originally was owned by my step-dad's grandparents, so it is neat to have it still "in the family." Upon moving here, we quickly became involved in the community. We started attending the United Methodist Church and have been warmly welcomed. I am a member of the hand bell choir and sing a lot of solos during services. Joe has given a fire-safety presentation, and Nora tends to entertain everyone during the services. Besides being active in church, Joe is particularly busy with things in town. He volunteers for the fire department here, works some part-time hours for our EMS, and is a member of the special rescue team for the county. We really love our new little town! Joe's brother and his wife moved to Minneapolis only a month after we did and my step-grandparents are here in town, as well. It is nice to have people just down the street that you know and love--especially when you are new in town.

In case you didn't already know, Joe was hired onto Salina Fire Department in May 2007. After 5+ years of going through the rigors of testing and interviewing for departments around the state, he persevered and made it! It has been wonderful for us. He loves his job and the schedule is fantastic. He works 24 hours on duty and then has 48 hours off. He's taken a few classes to further his career already and will be certified as an arson investigator next September. He is also in the beginning stages of the driver mentoring program at the department. Once he completes that, he'll be eligible to test for a driver's position. The test is only available after so many years of service. I think it will be another 3 years before he would be able to test, but he's very happy with his position of firefighter. When he finds time away from the emergency services, he enjoys spending time working on our house. Things have been at a stand-still for a little while, but he has almost completely redone the bathroom. He also repainted the outside of the house. The house is a fixer-upper, so we'll almost always be busy with projects. His biggest pride and joy is our little girl, Nora. It is so sweet to see the two of them together. She is a big daddy's girl and he is madly in love with her.

If you can believe it, Nora is 2 years old! She is our little joy, that's for sure. She is always making us laugh and surprising us with what she knows. She has a lot of friends through church and is also friends with our neighbor kids. Her best friend, though, is our Yellow Lab, Buddy. She gives him lots of hugs and kisses and likes to play around with him. He's a pretty good sport, although I think he'd rather nap most of the time. Nora loves to sing, dance, read, and play. She was a little slow on talking, but is really starting to catch up. We will have to watch what we say around her very soon. She'll be a little parrot in no time. My brother's fiancée just had a baby girl on December 4th, and Nora is thrilled to have a little baby around. She doesn't know just yet that she will have a friend and playmate soon. For now, she's content to hold and talk to the baby. So cute!

I stayed at home with Nora until she was 18 months old. Then, I decided to go back to work part-time as a substitute teacher. I only work at the schools here in town and on the days that Joe is off (no daycare worries for us!). I still stay pretty busy with those limitations. I really enjoy the variety of doing something different each day that I work. I sub for every class at every level, so it makes life interesting! Through subbing, I discovered that I have a strong desire to be a grade school teacher. (I majored in agricultural education in college). Because of that, I made the decision to return to school to earn my degree in elementary education. I'm only taking classes part-time over the internet, so it will be several years before I am ready to have my own classroom. The plan is to go back to work full-time after our child(ren) are in school. Until then, I will continue to sub.

We wish you nothing but the best in this holiday season! We hope that 2009 will be a prosperous year for you. Please feel free to check back to this website for frequent updates on our lives. We hope to hear from you soon!

Much Love,

Joe, Sylvia and Nora

A Very Proud Wife

I'm so very proud of Joe! He makes me proud all the time, but I am brimming with pride now. His last shift on duty, they were called out to two big house fires. He didn't get home until about 10:30 am because they were still cleaning up from the last fire they were on. He came home exhausted, but was a good daddy and took care of Nora while I went to sub for the afternoon. At 1:30 am, he was called out to a building on fire in our tiny town. (He volunteers for our town as well as working full-time as a firefighter for the next town over). The chief asked him what he thought they should do, so he told them--and they followed his instructions! The building was in a strip of buildings connected to each other. The businesses on either side of the building were unharmed, but the building that burned REALLY burned. All that is left is the brick facade. It is amazing to see. I'm planning on going down later to take some pictures of it.

Joe is my hero!

I'm an aunt!

Yesterday, my future sister-in-law gave birth to my very first niece. Her name is Kirri Jalaysia. She was born at 3:25 pm and was 19 1/2 inches long and 7lbs, 1 oz. I was able to hold her for a few minutes when she was less than an hour old! I think she looks just like my brother, but I haven't ever seen Prisca's baby pictures. Here are the pictures that were on the hospital's website.

What a Mixed Bag

I am a big ball of emotions right now. I'm feeling just about every emotion that you can think of--and mostly for other people. People that I care about are going through some really horrible things, some really happy things, some confusing things, etc. I'm also personally feeling some angst about things in my life. I hope the cosmos settle down soon and let everyone be.

I really wish I could write about all these things, but some things are better left unsaid.

Oh Happy Day!

I am so very proud of Nora today. She has accomplished so much. I'm amazed!

First of all, she's been taking her time talking. She has had quite a few words, but she didn't always use them. She knew what you were saying, but didn't speak English much--just Nora-ese. In the last couple of weeks, she's had a word "explosion" (as Joe called it). We've really been impressed by the strides she's made, but tonight really showed us how much she knows. She loves to read, so we were looking through one of her books just before bed. I asked her what the things were in the pictures and she knew and said all of them! I decided to take it a step further and ask her to name her body parts. She's been able to point at the right part for a while now, but she SAYS them now. That might not be much for parents of older kids or people without kids, but it is a huge achievement for us.

Just as impressive, she went potty on the potty chair for the very first time tonight. She's been showing a lot of interest in it, but this was the first time it was put into action. Needless to say, there was a lot of hugs, kisses, high fives, and dancing around at our house tonight.

Go Nora, go Nora, go, go, go Nora!

How Could You Not Love This Child?

I took a bunch of pictures of Nora for the fire kid's calendar just the other day. She's been such a sourpuss lately about taking pictures at the fire station that I was THRILLED with the ones that I got. Here is one of my favorites:

Ch-ch-check it out

Fireproof: The Movie

Halloween 2008

Last year, we took Nora to the mall to trick-or-treat there. It was a good plan, since she was only a year old and not quite walking on her own yet. (I think it was cold, too). This year, we took her to our downtown Halloween "parade." The kids all walked around downtown and collected candy from the stores, then got to eat free hot dogs, chips and cookies. After that, we took her over to her great-grandma and great-grandpa Hoover's house. We visited with them for some time and then went on down the road. We also stopped at one of my co-worker's homes. She had a special bag made up for Nora. I was really impressed with the way Nora acted after she got used to all the people dressed strangely. She even went up to a few houses on her own. She had a great time--and so did I!

Here are some pictures of her in her costume. She was a flapper from the 1920's. My mom sewed the costume. I think she did a great job! I told her that she was commissioned for costumes from here on out!

Nora's 2nd Birthday

On the day of Nora's birthday, I took her and my grandparents out to the Rolling Hills Zoo. She always loves to go to the zoo! We also went into town to see Joe at the fire station.



On Sunday, we had Nora's big birthday party. We had it at the park in our town and it was a big hit. We rented the Scout Building and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. I made cupcakes (instead of a cake) and we had ice cream. Nora had a lot of little friends come and they all played together well. She got soooo many nice things. I think I'm going to have to thin some of her older toys out! Some of her gifts included: a tricycle, a table and chairs, a baby stroller and babies, and a Power Wheels Barbie Jeep.

Other than the typical "issues," (unfortunately) the day was a big success!!



Nora also had her 2-year checkup. We started with a new doctor, and so far, we love him. (Joe knows him from seeing him/working with him at the hospital). He wasn't concerned with her speech, especially since she is pretty advanced physically and socially.

Her 2 year stats are:

Height: 36 inches
Weight: 24 lbs, 9 oz (only up 4 lbs from a year ago)
Shirt size: 3T
Pants size: 3T
Shoe Size: 8

Florida Vacation Recap

To be continued...

Pictures from Our Trip

Here are links to pictures that we took during our vacation. I'm too lazy to load them all on here, so you'll have to follow the links :D

Sea World and Disney
The Ocean
Our Flights
Misc. Vacation Shots

We are baaaack!

Stay posted for the rundown of our FAB trip to Florida!!

I Love This Man

You MUST watch this video.

Long Time, No See!

It's been some time since I've updated my blog--mostly because I didn't have anything particularly exciting to write about. I'm perfectly okay with life being mostly boring if it doesn't include any drama!

I have to admit, though, I'm SUPER excited. We are leaving for a week-long vacation to Florida on FRIDAY. I cannot believe that it is already here. We've been planning this vacation for over a year now. I've never flown or seen the ocean, but I'm going to take care of both of those things in one shot. I don't know that I'm nervous about flying--at least not about myself. I'm nervous about occupying a (nearly) 2-year old for 3 hours in a small space. We didn't buy her a ticket, so she'll be going back and forth between our laps, I'm sure. I'm fine with that, though. I just don't want her acting like a caged wild-thing and wanting to run up and down the isle or something. Aaah! We'll be packing plenty of goodies in our carry-on, for sure.

Tonight, I took Nora to the fire station to take her picture for the annual firefighter's kid's calendar. There was a downpour, so everyone else decided to stay home. Unfortunately, the other dates that were chosen for "photoshoots" won't work for us. I figured I'd try and get a few of Nora, anyway. Ha ha ha. What a joke. The child was in a horrid mood today for some reason. She kept telling us that it was raining. Yes, darling, it is. *sigh* I guess we'll try again when we get back from vacation.

Another random thought--I am attempting to make a digital scrapbook kit. I've gotten sooooo many free things that I thought I'd pay-it-forward. Here's a preview of what I've come up with so far. I think a couple of the "papers" need some more work, but I'm pretty pleased with the elements. While Nora was whining tonight, I took pictures of various things around the fire station. I extracted them from the photos and made them into embellishments. Anyway, here it is:

Thank you, Lowes!

Joe picked our new dryer up this morning on his way home from work. When he pulled in the driveway, I asked him why they'd bothered putting it back in a box. (It was part of clearance and was slightly dented, so it didn't have a box). He said he didn't know what the deal was. After we drug the old washer out and the new one in, he started cutting the box open. They gave us a brand-new, blemish free washer! I was perfectly pleased with the one we had picked out, but this was an added bonus. I'm so excited about my new washer that I'm posting its picture here!!

It's only money, a free stereo, and sleepless nights...

First of all, our washing machine died. (What else??) It was on its way out anyway, but it truly kicked the bucket a couple of nights ago. I wisely put a load in, knowing full-well that it might not turn out good. It would fill with water and agitate, but not spin the water out. Therefore, I was left with a washer full of water...and clothes. Luckily, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law live right here in our town and they allowed me to drag my sopping wet clothes over to their house and use their washer. We went to town last night to look at washers and decided on one for $299 on clearance. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would do the job. We left, planning on purchasing it today. I'm sure everybody knows what happens when you don't buy something that you want right away--it's gone when you go back for it. As fate might have it, however, there was a washer out on clearance today (it wasn't there last night) that matches our dryer. It was more than the original one we had picked out, but I think it will be a nicer fit for us. We had the car today, so Joe will pick it up on his way home from work on Wednesday morning.

Also, we spent most of the day at the Philips Lighting Family Picnic. I was really impressed by it. I remember going to it as a kid and only feeling lukewarm about it. They hired some company to come in and entertain the masses. They had lots of free activities, games, food, etc. We sat and played BINGO for quite some time and it proved to be fruitful! I won (*gasp* I rarely win anything) a neat little stereo. I had to fight for it, though. Another lady got a BINGO at the same time, so they drew until one of us had the number on our card. The lady was NOT pleased. I can see why. The stereo is very nice and small--but has better sound than our bigger stereo.

As an update to Nora's sleeplessness, I think we've come over that hill. At least, we had until I jinxed us by typing that last sentence! It is now me that is suffering from insomnia, though. I've always had a heck of a time sleeping, but it seems especially bad right now. I even broke down and bought a sleep aid. I took one last night. I don't think it made me sleep more (I still woke up twice), but I felt a lot more rested in the morning. My shoulder is sore, though, so I think that I slept hard enough to not move for a long time in the night. I'll have to refrain from taking them when Joe is on duty, though. I don't want to not hear Nora in the night.

As a side note, I'm really proud of Joe! He started a very difficult workout and diet plan today. Nora and I watched him do part of the work out, and it is so, so grueling. The poor guy was dripping with sweat and could barely hold his arms up when he was finished--but I know that he'll be so pleased that he took this step! He's monitoring his food intake with an online diary and I think he'll do well. He already talked one guy at the fire station to do it with him, as well as another friend. I can't wait to see his results!!

Sleep Fairy, Where Are You?!?!?

I don't know what happened to my good sleeper, but she is gone. It used to be that I'd put Nora in bed (for a nap or for the night), and she wouldn't make a peep. I wouldn't have to rock her or anything--just plop her down and "clock out" for the night. On Friday, that all changed. I went to put her down for a nap and she started screaming and clawing at me. I tried for a good hour to get her to go down, but it wasn't happening. She'd throw everything "required" for her to sleep out of her crib to ensure that she was NOT going to fall asleep. She was screaming so much and for so long, one of the neighbors came over to make sure everything was okay. I was completely flabbergasted. Bed time was much of the same. This afternoon (Sunday), I let her cry herself to sleep for her nap. I could tell by her cry that she was very tired, but she was determined to fight it. Last night, Joe noticed that she was drooling excessively, so we've decided that the main cause of all of this is probably some teeth. I thought she was done cutting teeth, but there must be some molars sneaking in. I gave her some Motrin before her bath tonight so that it would have kicked in (hopefully) by the time we put her to bed. We kept her up an hour past her bed time and then I went in and rocked her. When I put her down, she did the clawing and screaming, "NO!" again, but she didn't make a peep once I finally made her lay down and snuck out of her room. I'm hoping and praying that she makes it through the night and well into the morning. (The other problem with her sleeping the last 3 days is that she gets up very early and won't go back to sleep--so nobody is well rested and we are all very cranky).

Fingers crossed that this Motrin is the magic cure!!

A Busy Two Weeks...

Did I already title another post with this byline? Ugh. I can't remember. Anyway, it's been two weeks since I've updated this blog, and a lot has gone on. I'll try to give you an update while still making it short and sweet. (You see my other posts, right?? LOL!)

First of all, Joe's great-grandmother passed away on July 14th. I visited with her often and really enjoyed being around her, so it is sad that she is gone. However, she was not happy in the nursing home and desperately missed her husband (he'd passed 3 years prior). In her last couple of days, she was unresponsive--so it was a relief that she finally left us. I sang, "Amazing Grace," at her service and put a slide show of pictures. Cousin Pam wrote a heart-felt and touching letter to Grandma and read it, also. It was a nice service. I wonder if that part of Joe's family will get together anymore since Grandma is gone. She was the reason that most of them continued to come to Salina every now and then.

On July 15-18th, we had the Ottawa County Fair. It was a tiny fair, but Nora really enjoyed it. There wasn't much that went on during the day, but it came alive at night. Nora LOVED looking at (and petting) all of the animals. We went to the parade and collected some candy. Joe rode in the ambulance in the parade, so it was exciting for Nora to see her daddy like that. We entered Nora in the Baby Contest, also. She was much more interested in all of the toys and balloons on stage than strutting her stuff. Needless to say, she didn't win. There was a stock tank just outside of the arena that caught Nora's eye after she walked across the stage. She went over and started splashing in it--tons of kids were soon to follow suit! Some of the parents weren't too happy about it, but it didn't bother me.

Nora and I went down to see my grandparents in South Haven, KS last Friday and returned home yesterday afternoon. We had a good visit and it was nice to see them. The last time we saw them was for Nora's birthday party back in October.

I think you are now officially caught up with us. Aren't you thrilled?!?!

*PS. I'm adding several new scrapbook pages and pictures to the slide shows to the right, if you are interested.

I Am So Blessed

I've been thinking a lot lately about the economic crisis that this country is hurdling toward, not to mention the ever-rising gas prices. I try to push it out of my mind, but it's hard to forget. I can easily get bent-out-of shape if I think about it too much. Last night, I realized--I am so blessed. Instead of freaking out about things I cannot control, I should count my blessings. So that's what I'm going to do here. In no particular order:

I have a wonderful husband. He's not perfect, but he's great. He's funny and knows his stuff. He's ambitious and committed. He works hard to take care of us. He's a Proud Poppa and Nora absolutely adores him. Let's not forget that he has an awesome, but dangerous job. He's literally saved people's lives. He's also seen some pretty horrible stuff, but he doesn't let it get to him. (That takes a special kind of person).

I have an awesome daughter. As anyone that is a parent can tell you, children change your life in ways that you cannot imagine. Nora has enriched our lives so much that sometimes it feels like we can burst with all the love we have. She has not only brightened our lives by just being her, but she has also made our relationship as husband and wife stronger. I can't even remember what life was like before we had her. It's tough being a parent, but the rewards far outweigh the stress.

I've finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up! Anyone that knows me very well knows that I had a tough time in college. I originally went to become a high school agricultural education teacher. I love, love, love agriculture, but I don't think that I'm destined to teach it. I took some time off of school, went to work, got married, had a baby, etc. When Nora was 18 months old, I went back to work as a substitute teacher. The experience has really opened my eyes. I had no idea how much I'd love teaching grade school kids vs. junior/senior high kids. Any time that I sub as a grade school teacher, the day flies by and I really enjoy myself. I've made the big decision to go back to college to obtain my degree in elementary education. I'm going to do it part-time, so it will take me a few years, but it should work out well. I'll go back to work full-time when Nora is in school full-time. I might have taken the hard road to come to this decision, but I wouldn't have known what I really wanted to do unless I took the long way around. It's funny how life works out.

I LOVE our house! It's not new, it's not fancy, and it's not huge--but I adore it. My step-dad's grandparents were the original owners, then he owned it, now we are working towards owning it. I love the history, the character of an old house, and how solid it is. It needs a lot of work, but it just makes me love it even more when we complete a project and make it a little bit more our own. We couldn't have gotten a better deal on it anywhere. It's just another piece to the puzzle of our lives that is now starting to come together.

I love our town. I've lived in big towns, small towns, medium-sized towns, and in the country. By far, our town is my favorite place we've ever lived. It's a tiny town with the population of about 2,500, but there is a lot that goes on here. We have plenty of stores to keep us from going into "town" all the time. There are a lot of activities that are always going on. We love our church and the friends we've made so far. We go for a walk, people wave--some even stop and chat! We are also blessed to have a great school system here--both for my work and for Nora's eventual education.

...to be continued

Be forewarned

I'm going to take two videos of Nora soon. You won't be able to hold yourself on your seat, they will be so darn cute. I'm talking ridiculous amounts of cuteness rolled up into two videos. I wanted to give you time to prepare yourself. That's all for now...carry on.

We're baaaaack!

Well, we made it to South Dakota and back. I was really worried about how Nora would be in the car for 8+ hours, but she did very well. I am grateful for that--as I'm sure we all are.

On Saturday morning, my mom and step-dad met us at our house and we left around 9 am. We rented a car for the trip and ended up with a new Dodge Charger. Joe was ELATED. We stopped around noon for lunch somewhere in Nebraska and landed at our destination around 5 pm. We went on the trip for a family reunion for my step-dad's family. His grandmother recently had a 95th birthday, so they decided it was a good time to get everyone together. When we got to town, they were having a pool party at the city pool. Nora wasn't too sure about the water to begin with, but after she found some toys to play with, she was set. She even went under water a few times (on accident) and came up smiling. After swimming, the Kansas part of the family went out to eat. It was getting pretty late after that, so we went to our hotel room for the night. We planned on Nora sleeping in a play pen, but she wanted NO part of that. Luckily, we had two beds in our room, so she and I took over one bed and left the other for Joe. She does not usually sleep with us, so it was an adventure in itself. She tossed and turned most of the night, and I worried constantly about her rolling off the bed. We made it through okay, though.

On Sunday, the reunion was in full-swing. Most everyone went to Mass (we aren't Catholic, so we opted out) and then went to the park after for snacks. We then went back to the church for pictures and the reception for Grandma. They have a BIG family. "Grandma" had 10 children and has over 30 grandchildren. They counted 70+ great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild (Nora). Joe was able to chat with a paramedic for the FDNY, so he was pretty excited about that. He also found a lot of guys to talk hunting with (SD is a HUGE hunting state), and one guy to talk about race cars with. He he. He tends to find friends wherever he goes. Dinner was served at the same location later. Then, we all went out to one of farms that the family has and had another round of visiting. There were soooooooo many kids there!! I can't imagine having that big of a family, but I bet it can be fun. Nora had a great time chasing cats around, playing on the swingset they had, and playing with the other kids there. We didn't leave until about 10:30 pm, so it was way past Nora's bedtime before we got to the hotel. We decided to try to let her sleep in one bed by herself, while Joe and I took the other bed. It went very well for most of the night, but around 3 am, I was awoken by "someone" tapping on my arm. She wanted in bed with us, so the 3 of us squeezed into a double bed. Yikes! Joe must have felt like he was falling off, because soon after that he made his way over to the other bed.

On Monday morning, we left the hotel and stopped in to see "Grandma" one more time before leaving South Dakota. We then made our way to Grand Island, Nebraska for more fun. After we checked into our hotel, we went to a water park that they have there. It was a lot of fun! They had some really big slides, a neat kids area, a "lazy river", and an area that was made into a wave pool every so often. It also happened to be next to a fire station, so Joe went over to visit with the guys before joining us at the pool. He found out that Grand Island uses Salina Fire as a model for their pay scales and such. They showed him around the station and visited for some time. Joe carries challenge coins to trade (instead of patches or t-shirts), so he gave them one. (Which reminds me, Joe is going to send the paramedic from FDNY a coin, and the paramedic is going to go around to some stations to get Joe some patches!) After the excitement of the fire station and the pool, we went out to eat and then back to our hotel. Unfortunately, we had a REALLY rough night with Nora. She wouldn't lay down and get settled to begin with. Then, she didn't want to sleep in bed alone. We tried to have her sleep with Joe in one bed, but she came over to my bed. Once she was in my bed, she was trying to climb in with Joe again. Then, we all got into one (queen-sized) bed and she finally settled down. I think it was midnight before that happened. I was crowded, so I went over to the other bed and let Nora and Joe have their own. Sometime in the night, Joe came over with me. Then, Nora came over. Wow--what a mess! I bet we'll all be glad to be in our own beds tonight!!!

This morning, we got up and loaded the car. Before leaving Nebraska, we stopped at the Stuhr Museum. It is a pioneer museum complete with exhibits and an old railroad town. (Among many other things--follow the link to find out more). I LOVED going through the town. There were 4 houses that we went through with actors completing daily chores as if they lived there. There were also shops, a jail, a fire station, a mill, etc. that we got to see. I had a blast. After the museum, we headed back to Kansas. We were glad to see home again. Even though it was only 4 days, we are pooped. I'll add a couple of pictures here once I get them off of my camera. As usual, I wish I'd taken more.

Busy Two Weeks!

For the next couple of weeks, I may not be posting much--if at all. Here's a run-down of all the things we are doing:

-Tonight: Get together for young couples in our community
-Tomorrow: Possible tooth extraction (eek!) and Joe is playing in a golf tourney for his shift at work.
-Tuesday: My sister-in-law's birthday party (Joe works)
-Wednesday: Our 3rd anniversary
-Thursday: My mom's 4th of July party
-Friday: 4th of July (Joe works)
-Saturday-Tuesday: Going to South Dakota

Woo! I should have a lot of new pictures to add to my slideshow, though!

Have a great (and safe) holiday, everyone!

So Proud!

You might know that I've been concerned with Nora's talking--or lack thereof. She's ahead physically, but she just wasn't talking. She'd babble at you all day and *think* that she was talking...but she didn't actually say more than maybe 10 words. (Daddy being her favorite!) Last night, my fears were eased.

I was talking on the phone with my mom, and Nora was doing her usual babbling on and on, so I wasn't paying too much attention to what she was "saying". She kept saying the same thing over and over, so I stopped to see what it was. We had ordered Pizza Hut for dinner, and she was looking at the box and pointing. She would point to a letter and say the name of the letter!! She was only doing vowels, but I'll take it! We spell things to her and she likes to watch Sesame Street (they are forever saying letters and numbers), but I didn't expect her to come out and know it like that.

Then, I got her ready for her bath and asked her if she wanted a bubble bath. She got excited, so I knew that she did. As we were watching the tub fill up, she exclaimed, "Bubbles!" I couldn't believe it. I sang her the ABC's and she watched me like it was the best thing ever. I asked her if she wanted me to sing it again, and she said, "Yeah!"

I'm so proud!

A Good Day

We had a nice day together as a family. It seems like that hasn't happened in quite some time with storms, overtime, meetings, etc.

We went for a walk and came across a garage sale. We bought Nora some books to take on vacation with us (and to enjoy otherwise!), a purse, a couple of Matchbox cars, and an automatic ice cream maker. Joe thinks that will be a big hit with the guys on his crew. We saw a sign for another garage sale, so we drove over to see what they had. Nora spotted an Elmo doll, and it was marked for $1, so we bought it for her. It's one of those Elmos that roll around on the floor when you "tickle" him. Nora isn't too fond of it when it does that. She kept pointing with big eyes and saying, "UH OH!" We'll keep him turned off for now. She loves him otherwise.

We went to the little grocery store here in town this afternoon, too. They have miniature shopping carts for kids to push around. We let Nora do it for the first time, and she was thrilled. She thinks she's a big girl, though, so she didn't want Momma helping her steer. She did pretty good, so I didn't have to be pushed away too many times. :) She had a huge fit when we had to leave it behind, though. It sure makes shopping easier when she is distracted! She likes the cars on the fronts of the shopping carts at Dillion's, too. I wish Wal-Mart had something like that! Anyway, I thought it was so cute that I had to take pictures with Joe's camera phone. Here are a couple for you:

A Slight Detour

After getting all fired up about starting school at Ft. Hays, I remembered that I have a few prerequisites that I need to meet before being accepted into the teaching program. I thought that I had better look into some community colleges for those, rather than rack up a huge tuition bill for them. I was going to go through Hutchinson Community College, since that is where I got my associates degree from. I need 3 classes and thought about taking them all in one semester to get them out of the way--but two are math classes, and that is not my forte. Joe suggested that I look at Cloud County Community College to see if they had any summer sessions that hadn't started yet. (Hutch's were already underway). I was pleasantly surprised. CCCC offers "open enrollment" classes, which means that I can enroll at any time and complete the course on my watch. I can complete it quicker than normal or take more time, as needed. I'll be able to begin just as soon as my financial aid comes through. (It would have already, had I not had to amend it and add CCCC to my list of schools to receive my information.)

I'm Going Back to School!

I was talking to my best friend tonight about going back to school. She is going to start again this fall. We decided that we probably both need someone to be accountable to (other than just our teachers), so I signed up, too! I've been planning on going back, I just needed the motivation to do it. I'll be going to Ft. Hays, but through their Virtual College. I'll be majoring in Elementary Education. I haven't been in college for 3 1/2 years, so this is kind of scary, but exciting at the same time. I'll be enrolled part-time.

One good thing about going back later is that I'm now a "non-traditional" student. Come on grants!

Just One More

A friend emailed me this picture of the tornado that hit Chapman, KS. I thought it was amazing and terrifying.

Hopefully I'll have something more positive to talk about than tornadoes soon!

Update:

I have been informed that this was not actually the Chapman tornado. It was actually in Iowa, and the tornado hadn't touched down yet--so this is just a lowering wall-cloud.

Boy, is my face red.

Storm Shots

I didn't take any of these pictures. They were found on KSAL, The Manhattan Mercury or The Salina Journal. I made the names of the locations that I found the pictures links back, so that you can see more. The devastation is unimaginable and humbling. We used to live in Riley and work/go to school in Manhattan. We looked at houses in Chapman. We used to live in Salina and Joe still works there. Any of these could have been us. My heart goes out to the people that are dealing with losses of their homes, businesses, and loved ones.

Salina:




Chapman:


Manhattan:

Two Lost, Many Homes Destroyed

The small town of Chapman, KS took a direct hit with a half-mile wide tornado last night. The paper is reporting that 60 homes have been completely destroyed, two people were killed, and "dozens and dozens" sustained some sort of injury.

Also, Manhattan, KS suffered from the storm. KSAL is reporting that 30 homes were leveled and dozens of buildings in town and at Kansas State University are damaged or destroyed. The Wind Erosion Lab is gone, and one of the frat houses was heavily damaged.

One of the SFD retired firefighter's homes was hit pretty hard. I'm sure we'll be working as a department and auxiliary to help them as much as possible.

I don't have any new pictures to post (strangely), but I will as soon as I can get them.

Tornadoes

We've had some wild weather in our area tonight. We spent about an hour in the basement with a couple of tornadoes touching down outside of our town. We were lucky, though, and received no damage. I think that a few trees were blown over, but none of ours were.

Joe was called into Salina for over-time, because they were directly hit with a tornado on the south side. Crestwood Cabinets was hit and lost part of their roof and most of their windows and doors. A trailer house was tossed around in the storm, as well. (Pictured) The fire department is being FLOODED with calls currently.

They just said on the scanner that the tiny town of Chapman was hit badly, and that several people may have lost their lives. SFD is sending crews in that direction to help pick through the rubble and hopefully save some people. We looked at houses in Chapman a few years ago. I'm so thankful that things worked out the way they did and ended up in Minneapolis, rather than there.

I'll post updates and more pictures as they become available.

Blog Changes

You may have noticed that I changed the format of my blog. This probably won't be the last time. LOL.

Also, I've added a slideshow for my scrapbook pages and also a slideshow for other pictures. Maybe then I won't have a blog entry about nothing but my pictures. :D

Singing Again and Neighbors

Last night was Relay for Life in the town that we live in. I was asked to sing for the luminary ceremony. They also needed me to sing another song. I was a little bit reluctant, but went ahead and did it. The first song that I sang (during general "entertainment") was, "I Run for Life," by Melissa Etheridge. I didn't get a chance to rehearse with the sound system, so I was a little bit shaky. People didn't seem to notice, though, so that was good! The second song that I sang was during the actual luminary ceremony. I chose, "Angel," by Sarah Mclauchlan for that portion. I was a lot more confident during that song, so I felt a lot better about it. I got a lot of positive feedback, so I felt pretty proud of myself for going ahead and doing it. I haven't sung in front of an audience in 2 years, so it was kind of hard to get back up there and do it. I'm glad that I did, though. One of the gals that goes to our church insisted that I start to sing in church, so we'll see. Hopefully the more times I get up in front of people, the easier it will be! I really enjoy it, I just need to get over my stage fright!

Also, I met a few of my neighbors last night. The ones that live directly across the street from us told me that she likes to watch our TV. Ah, lovely. She also said that she just LOVES Nora and often times sees her peeking through the window or looking out the front door. Another lady that lives down the street told me that she walks by our house every day and looks at our limestone rock with our name on it. She practices spelling it every day. HA! Oh, the joys of a little town. At least we know that if someone was doing something sketchy around our house, we would know about it right away.

New Scrapbook Pages and Reading

First, here are two new scrapbook pages that I've done. I've decided that I'm going to show off my work on this blog, because--well, I need validation. (Don't we all). The first is a page that I did as a challenge on www.scrapadilly.com. The second I did for Joe's Father's Day gift from Nora. I've redone it about 10 times, but I think I'm finally satisfied!

Secondly, I am excited about reading 2 new books. I haven't really read anything since Nora was born, so I'm fighting myself between doing scrapbooking stuff and reading. I can't decide which is more enjoyable. Anyway, I'm reading, "Between the Bridge and the River," by Craig Ferguson and, "The Fireman's Wife," by Susan Farren. They are two extremely different books, but I am enjoying them immensely. (Joe wants to know how I can read to books at the same time...lol). I chose the book by Craig Ferguson, because I adore him. I'm a big fan of his show and him in general. (See my list of men below). The second book is for obvious reasons. I could have written it thus far!! I can't believe how similar the experiences were for the lady and her husband as they have been for Joe and I.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

In order:







Your welcome, ladies!

We got a new car!

I wrecked my car that I've had for 6 years back in January. It was drivable, but it prodded us along to be more serious about car-shopping. (It has over 150,000 miles on it and is a 1998). About a month ago, it died on us as we were driving into Salina. We made it off of the interstate and into a parking lot--thank goodness. We had Nora with us! So, I've been stranded for a month on the days that Joe works. When we've gone somewhere, we've all squeezed into his Ranger. Needless to say, that was a very "comfortable" way to ride. We went to Wichita today to try to find a car. We came across this car and fell in love. It's a 2004 Hyundai Sonata. It has a V-6 and is automatic, but you can shift it if you like. (No thanks, I'm tired of driving a standard!) It has a salvage title, so we were able to pick it up for a mere $6000 after taxes and temp. tag fees. Joe talked to our banker this morning to see if that would be okay, and he said that his whole family drives cars with salvage titles. The damage to this car was in the passenger door, and they completely replaced that. We noticed that the "new" door was the only window that was tinted, so we were able to have them knock a couple hundred off. Then, I asked them to give me a full tank of gas, since we'd driven so far to buy it. They weren't terribly pleased with that idea, but they went ahead and did it. Joe insisted that he drive it home, so I drove my mom's (that we borrowed from her) car back home. It's great so far, and we hope that it lasts us at least as long as my last car did! Here are a couple of pictures of it.

Just Some Pictures!

I don't really have anything to say, but I wanted to post some pictures that I took. A lot of times, I feel just like the yellow iris! The new scrapbook page that I did here is from a challenge on www.scrapadilly.com. I'm pretty proud of it, so I thought I'd show it off. The layout itself wasn't my idea, it was from a sketch by Erica Hildebrand.

A New Ceiling Fan!

This might be really lame, but I'm excited about getting our new ceiling fan installed. My step-dad came over to help Joe install it, while my mom, Nora, and I played in the backyard. Slowly, but surely, we are making our fixer-upper our own!

School's Out for Summer!

I've been really bad about keeping this blog up, so this is going to be a long (and random) entry!

Yesterday was the last day of school. I can't believe that I've been subbing for 3 months already. It has gotten a LOT easier for me now that the kids know me and vice versa. I feel more confident in being able to tell them to sit their little butts down--and they actually listen. He he! I think that I want to go back to school and finish my degree in elementary education, rather than secondary. The high school kids can be fun, but they are also full of stinky attitude. Grade school kids are full of love. They give you hugs, tell you that you look nice, draw you pictures, etc. I'll have to deal with parents a lot more as a grade school teacher, but I think the kids will make it more than worth it. I won't go back to work full-time until Nora is in school, so it will be at least 3 years. I can do school on a part-time basis online and still be able to sub.

I have to brag on my husband. First of all, I just love him to pieces. He's so much fun--he's just a giant kid. He's an awesome father, and Nora adores him. Anyway, my main reason for being so proud of him lately is that he has completed his probational year as a firefighter for Salina Fire Department. I can not believe that it has been a year. After 2 years of college to get his fire science degree and his EMT, it took 5 years to get hired. We tallied it up to be about 16 rounds of testing/interviewing before he finally got the job. Now that is perseverance! I don't know that I would have stuck to something that long--especially when the process kept dragging him through roller coaster of emotions that is trying to get hired. He had his first year review, and it was stellar. The captain that did his review is pretty tough on first year guys, and he had nothing bad to say about Joe. He gave him a 3% raise on top of his bump up the pay scale, so that equates out to about 8 1/2%! Can't beat that with a stick! He's also enrolled in an arson investigation class that will result in him being certified as an arson investigator after two years. On top of that, he's enrolled in a structural collapse class. After he completes the structural collapse class, he will be on the Salina Fire Department special rescue team. If there is any kind of disaster in Kansas that has people that need to be rescued, he will be deployed. They will leave the Salina Airport in a Blackhawk helicopter and be flown to the disaster site. He is so, so excited!

Nora is getting to be such a big girl. I can't believe that she will soon be 20 months old. Wow, does time fly. She runs everywhere, loves to be outside, gives the world's best hugs and kisses, and knows how to throw a mean temper tantrum. We're still waiting on a word explosion, as she only has a few words that she says at this point. She understands everything we say to her and follows instructions, so we know that she's just biding her time before she blows us away with talking! I measured her the other day, and she's 34 inches tall. They say that if you double their height at 2 years old, that is a good indication of how tall they will be as an adult. She still has 5 months left before she turns 2--she could be 6 feet tall or more! I shouldn't be surprised, though. Her daddy is 6'5". I'm 5'7", so I'm positive she'll pass me up--probably by the 5th grade. LOL!

High School Seniors

Yesterday, I subbed for high school art. I thought it would be great--I was mistaken. I think the teacher allows the students to do mostly whatever they want, so they were especially bad for me. I had one class that had mostly seniors, and it was hectic. The boys were hell-bent on not doing anything productive. They beat on each other, sat on the desks, kissed on their girlfriends, etc. One of the bratty senior girls even called their teacher. I was so pissed and embarrassed.

The teacher ended up coming back early from her event, and told me that their behavior was pretty typical. Loverly. I'm teaching HS science in two weeks, and I'm sure I'll have them in class again. This week, I'm subbing as a para for Jr/Sr High, so I bet that I'll be in some classes with them. Yippee!

Living to be 150

Tonight, I watched a Barbara Walters special on living to be 150 years old. While I found all the information interesting, find myself shaking my head. For one thing, if we all live to be 150 (or 1,000, as one researcher so boldly said) this world is going to get awfully crowded and polluted. Sir Richard Branson was on The Late Late Show last night talking about sending people to Mars...maybe that would be the solution. (I know a few people I wouldn't mind sending to Mars!)

Also, there was a bit on the show about being frozen moments after death in hopes to be "woken up" in however many years it takes to find a cure for what killed them. People are paying $75,000 for this gamble. I know you can't take it with you, but you may as well spend it on something that is actually going to do some good in THIS life. Do these people not believe in souls? I'm pretty sure that something is going to happen to my soul after I die...it's not going to hang around in my used up body. There is just too much evidence (in my eyes) in some sort of an afterlife--a topic that Barbara didn't mention once in her special.

I think the saddest part was when a 100+ year old woman was caring for her 80 year old daughter, who was suffering from cancer. The daughter ended up passing away shortly after that bit was filmed. I don't know about you, but I don't want to hang around to watch all of my loved ones die (think The Green Mile--one of my all-time favorite movies). Even if science makes it so that it is normal to live past 100, not everyone is going to.

In the beginning

Everybody has a blog these days, so I should have one, too--right? I'll see if I can be half as witty as most people. If not, I apologize in advance for boring you to tears.