MO to CO

Last night was our first annual MO to CO 2 mile walk, (or 5K run, but honestly who does that?). We had lots of fun walking 2.07 miles in about 40 minutes. Bree and I both commented on how good we felt and how we would have been huffing and puffing without Curves. It's good for something! I was hot and sweating, but didn't even feel out of breath. We went up and down hills and my kids did a great job of mostly running the whole time. No whining and good attitudes. We all paid $15.00 to help the church raise money to go to Colorado. They go every year at the end of July for their annual NYR trip (National Youth Roundup). I went when I was younger and it is a powerful trip. On the side of a mountain, surrounded by Christians, good attitudes, awesome music, and lots of baptizing....what could be better? I am thankful I went when I was younger, and will make sure my children have the opprotunity when they get bigger.
As you can see in the picture, we had a pretty good turnout, but not huge. We should have had a TON of people there, there was plenty of notice and it was a good time in the evening, not too early/not too late. I wish the walk would have been more publizied (sp?) at church...it would have been good to hear some of the youth talk and have them ask for support. A good experience and I will definitely be there next year.
Emma in her huge shirt and matching sunglasses...would you expect anything less from Emma?!
The cheaters who cut across instead of walking the WHOLE course!!!
Aren't we cute...all matching??!
Lorn lorn and Colby, what a pair!

Front Door

Here is a picture of what our front door will look like. It is very western/old fashion. It was hard to find and we could not get the stainable fiberglass like we wanted. We went with wood, but will put a storm door over it and have a porch, so hopefully it will be protected. Off to bed, b/c our cement is being poured at 7:00 tomorrow. We are very excited, more later....

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Next stop...the big leagues!

Colby's 2nd homerun. The first one was better, but I didn't get it on tape. He really enjoyed ball this year and learned a lot. I am proud of his talent and hope he enjoys moving up to an older level next year. He definitely does not get his athletic ability from me, big shock there! It will also be interesting to see Emma play next summer, if she so chooses to do so!

Best buds: Colby and Bronson

Last circle: They did a great job!

Trophies from Coach Bree. Good job Bree! They learned a lot and had fun while doing it!

CLASS of 1998

Calling all classmates....
IF ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS OF 1998 OR KNOW A MEMBER, PLEASE LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS/PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN REACH YOU!!!

Even if you think I have it, please leave it again. It is exhausting tracking everyone down.

We are currently planning a reunion on August 30th. More details later!

my email: a.frederick80@yahoo.com

Update

O.k. so yesterday we did ABSOLUTELY nothing and it felt great. I take that back, I did sell some clothes from a box in my living room in the afternoon, but other than that we layed around reading, watching movies, playing, napping, it was the perfect day.
Today, I totally made up for that. Was up and at the farm by 8:30 and unloaded our new bathtub! It has jets, how yummy! Then we went to Q.C. to get Colby's summer school money. He made $50.00 for going two weeks and then we headed for MFA. He had his heart set on a bale hook. What 6 year old buys a hay hook, MINE! He bought their very last one and was very proud b/c his change looked like more money than he had given them. Then, off to Bloomfield to get parts for dad's tractor/mower. We were successful and Colby found a mower of his own to buy. Just pretend of course. He paid for it with his money and then very kindly offered to buy Emma something too! I paid him back, but told him it was very sweet to think about her.
We headed back to MO and stopped at mom's for tables for Bree's party. Stopped and visited Julie and Rhett for a few minutes and then went to see papa, my dad. I think we were avoided the house...what do you think? Papa ewwwed and awwwed over our purchases and offered to buy us lunch, so we went to Buddy's on papa's dollar:) After that interesting experience, the kid's were driving me crazy to go get Sylvia, so we did. Then we headed home, where the kids played and played and I cleaned out my van (including vacuuming), made a pan of lasagna, vacuumed the living room, dusted, loaded the dishwasher, etc. Boy was I motivated or what?!
We went to Colby's last game of the season, where he hit TWO homeruns, and got a trophy. A lot of people came to watch him play and he was very proud of himself. We came home to eat supper with Mike and Gigi and Colby went with Grandma so he didn't have to "deal" with the girls!
After supper, the girls got to pet the new pony and then had a bath. Right now I can hear them giggling about what they are doing tomorrow. I'm sure they will have loads of fun, I just hope they sleep late:)
O.K. I don't think I have ever been this detailed about a day and not posted pictures. That won't last long!

More pony pictures

We had lots of visitors today including the Rachel, Haley, and Cindy, Grandma, Papa, and Bree, Braylon, and Bronson. We caught the pony, o.k. Vance did, and worked her feet and rubbed her all over. Yes, it's a she. It was lots of fun to pet and baby her and then we let her go back with her mom.

House Update

It's a GO!! Hopefully. Wednesday after we got back from ND, Jerry and his help were working on our drains. Colby and Emma love Jerry and would stay there all day if allowed. They got all of the drains in for the basement and now have to trench them in for over the hill. I don't know how they look at our floorplans and then know what to do. It's amazing.

Finished product, this is the main plumbing hub of our house. Very cool to see it going in, another reason I'm glad we did stick built...you're involved in everything!

The bathtubs for the kid's rooms came in on Monday. We are storing them in our shed, good thing we built it first:)

Insulation, rebar, etc. is all layed. Now we're waiting on the cement which will be poured on Monday, weather permitting.

We've, o.k. I've, been looking and discussing and discussing and looking at doors. How exhausting! We've decided on a door, but I can't get the picture to load, so I'll try again later. If anyone wants to come out and watch cement dry, please feel free to join us on Monday:)

It's a....Pony!

Finally the long awaited day is here! Of course, the pony made it's entrance into the world during a storm but all is well. Vance ended up working all night and came in around 9:00. Here was carrying the camera, which I though was strange, but whatever. He asked if I wanted to see the cute pictures he had taken. I thought, of what? He had worked with Jim last night and I couldn't picture him being all that cute during an all-nighter:) So, he showed me and then we woke Emma up. She was kind of dumbfounded, but then went out and ewwed and ahhed. She then began calling everyone she had told about her pony. We eventually cut her off. She called: Cindy, Bree, Grandma, Grandpa, Jenn...and is still naming people. She has invited her bestest friend, Sylvia, to spend the night Friday, so she can see it! She has named it Sonny, but the name might change when we discover the gender.

Big Helper

So, today when I got to the farm, I expected to see my boys working, but not this!

Colby was up on the hay wagon, just pulling bales like he was 15 years old. He was very proud of himself and thought that him and his dad had had loads of fun today. I think it is great for him to have such a strong desire to help at this young of an age. How many children would be strong enough to pull a bale at the age of 6, let alone have the desire. I know when I teach, so many kids talk about this game or that...and never even step outside. Colby likes to play games too, but we encourage him to be outside and limit his time.

LONESTAR

Need I say more? Saturday, my mom, Vance, Lauren, Rachel, Edith, Penny, and myself all went to the Wapello County Fair to see Lonestar. It was totally awesome. We sat on the third row. Mom took her binoculars, but not sure what she wanted to see. We were so close, I'm sure she could tell what color their eyes were with those things. Before the show, there was a Colgate Country Showdown. Brooke Mullanix preformed and WON! Yay, now she gets to go to regionals, wherever that is. Good luck Brooke!

I also need to mention, that we did not have children along. Not that I don't love them, but it is fun to have a night to yourselves. Bree watched our kids, they spent the night and she had them ready for church this morning! Thanks Bree!!!

Brooke singing the Colgate Country Showdown.

Lonestar...lots of fun!

Our 'Cation!!

O.K. time to really blog about our vacation.

Tuesday night we left right after Colby's ballgame. I had the van completely loaded. We drove ....o.k. Vance drove to Brookings, SD and we decided to pull in and sleep. We slept from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. then drove the rest of the way in. We got there around 3 in the afternoon on Wednesday. The kids were so excited to check the chickens and thankfully the Ternes kids had waited.

Thursday morning, Emma and I went shopping and Vance stayed and hung out with the boys. It was kind of chilly, jeans and sweatshirt weather for us Missiourians. Emma finally found the perfect, purple sundress and she's wearing it in her dancing video. We also bought a new barbie, another dress, and I got new boots! I also got the cutest booties for my sister (if she has a girl)!...she already knows about them I showed her! That night we had tenderloins from Missouri for supper.

Friday dawned cold as well. Vance and the guys got ready for their hunt and we just hung out. They left at 11:30 and we waited for my parents and Lauren to arrive. That evening we went to eat at Johnny Carinos (YUMMY) and to a movie, Speed Racer. I do not recommend the movie! Totally obnoxious, but if you like special effects it might be your thing.

Saturday morning, Renae left with the boys to go to the cabin and fish. I waited until noon and went with Emma, Lauren, mom, Laurie, and Kylie. They had a really good time fishing and it was smokin warm! Yes, Lauren even got a sunburn b/c the sun is right on top of you up there! We then went the only establishment in Shields, the bar, to wait for the hunters to come in. Vance and Dwight got their check and then we went back to the cabin with the boys. That night we didn't get home till close to 1:00 a.m.

Sunday, we all slept in and waited for the guys to get home. Then we had a big supper for father's day and Renae made the yummiest chocolate sauce for ice cream. Emma ate it straight, but I had ice cream too!

Monday, mom and dad took the little kids: Emma, Colby, and Colton to the zoo and McDonald's playplace. Lauren and I went shopping and I got Emma the cutest coat at Old Navy. I'll have to take a picture of her in it when she's clean! Then we went with the guys to watch then at a clay pigeon shoot. It was pretty neat!

Tuesday morning we left to come home:( A good time was had by all!

Hmmmm...

Honest to goodness, I did not teach her to dance like this! I don't even like to dance, expecially like this. As of now, we're going to chalk this one up to her dad's fault!

P.S. If you're some creepy stalker dude...quit looking at my little girl!!!

He's a Weiner...I mean WINNER

Yep, Vance won the prarie dog hut. Dwight (his partner) and Vance shot 390 dogs. The 2nd place team shot 280, so they won by a long shot. They also keep track of the dogs they shoot themselves. Vance shot 194 and Dwight shot 196. That kind of deflated Vance's ego by a little, but never fear he bounced right back! This is the second time in three years that this team has won. Must be a dynamic duo! They were very proud of themselves and had a small case of BIG HEAD SYNDROME!

At the start of the hunt.

The chart. Note, my dad is team # 30...they got 44 dogs.

The big winners and their check!

I'm Back

Well, I'm back and not happy. What is it about being gone for 1 WEEK that makes people think that they can make decisions without you? Yep, it happens to me every time we leave for ND. I have taught kindergarten for 5 years and only once have I got to help split the class up. UGHHHHH!!! How rude! So...there are only enough kids for two sections of kindergarten and me being the meek and mild one:) is the one chosen to teach 1st grade instead. I should be excited about this change b/c I get to have the kids I taught this year, but the lack of communication and finding things out through the grapevine just burns me. I am very excited to teach with two, new fresh minds. Also, one of the ladies is a mommy of small children and remembers what it is like to go home to toddlers and not always be on the top of your game. I am not excited about all of the work it will take me to get organized for ONE year of a grade, but maybe it will make me a better teacher. Poor Colby, he probably thinks that his mom is going to follow him through every grade level. I have said all along that this decision is in God's hands and whatever is decided will be fine, but it sure is hard to step back and be thankful when your eyes are full of tears and your heart is breaking b/c no one thinks about the teacher giving up her dream...even if it's for one year. I know some of you think I'm being dramatic, and my husband would agree, but a kindergarten teacher is what I want to be, and I think I'm good at it. I'm sure God is sending me to first grade to nurture that one or two students a little more before sending them on and I'll try to keep that in mind. Wish me luck!

The Saturday Special...A Cowboy In Training!

Somehow, someway Vance talked Jared into riding Bronson's pony. To get the full effect you need to watch the video at the bottom. My favorite line is, "Now, what do I do?" They were hilarious, especially when they came back from the bottom and Jared was covered in mud. Needless to say, I think Jared had the ride of his life!!

What a hunk!Look out world, here they come!
Bronson on Doc.



Emma...a natural!
A little ant on top of an elephant!

Rated R for foul language.

Coming and Going....

The weekend sure flew by...Friday, I went swimming with the 1st and 2nd grade. I made lots of trips down the slide and have pics on facebook thanks to Candy Engle. Got back to the school and discovered my cell phone is missing. I've been making phone calls all weekend, but no such luck. Cindy even walked the picnic area for me today...thanks Cindy! Friday night, Colby had a game at 6 and then the stomach cramps hit me again. Is this flu thing just lingering?

Saturday, got up and felt fine. It was Little League Days and city wide yardsales. Hit one yardsale and got Emma about 6 pairs of jeans and authentic Cinderella shoes from Disney Land...go me! She was in love! Had ball pictures and played two games. Colby had lots of fun, he got to play shortstop (which he's been dying to do) and pitcher. He hit all but one time, which of course he thought about crying. Saturday afternoon, my friend Corin made a surprise visit, which was lots of fun! We talked for about 2 1/2 hours and then went to Buddy's for a late lunch/snack. Saturday night, Vance and I were toying around with the idea of heading to KV to get a new phone. Emma started complaining about her tummy and sure enough puke city...just once though. This morning she was fine. Don't know what the deal is!

Today, we headed off to church and then out to mom's for lunch. I cleaned out the van and then went over to the farm. Vance and my dad were siting (citing...not sure how it's spelled) in their guns for the big prarie dog hunt this Saturday. After they were finished, I decided to give it a shot. I hit the target all 5 times and even hit the bulls-eye once!

O.K. I left out a big part of Saturday, but that is a post all of it's own...coming soon.....

My target
Sexy, huh?
Emma's scared of the noise, so she's hiding!
Colby shot twice and hit the target both times!

Priceless

A girl's best friend...Simpson. He got a new hair cut, but still has a "fwuffy" tail! She drags that dog around everywhere she goes, even if he's not to excited about the idea of mud puddles!

Busy, Busy Weekend

Well, I think our weekend started today! I taught summer school this morning and then brought a sick boy home with me this afternoon. Before we came home, we went to a "sneak peek" yardsale. I shop there every year and get lots of clothes for Colby. He is slowly creeping up to the same size of the other little boy, but can use a few of the things! We got home and napped and then I took both kids to my mom's to get ready for our anniversary supper. Mom got to the first corner and Colby started throwing up, so she brought him back home...so much of anniversary supper!

Tomorrow, the school is taking many field trips and Colby is suppose to go swimming. After that, we have a ball game and then possibly roping. We are also going to squeeze in helping the church move back all the furniture before Sunday. It sure was nice to have prior notice on when they were going to move everything back. When they packed everything up, we were told at 11:00 to meet back at 2:00...I don't know about most people, but we had plans on a 70 degree Sunday afternoon.

Saturday, is little league days. We have to meet at the ballfield at 10:30 for pictures and then our game starts at 11:30. I hope it doesn't rain things out. Maybe I can squeeze in a little yardsaling afterward:)

Fishin'

Colby helping me with my fish, b/c I simply can't take them off the line...I tried!
What a brave and proud girl she is!
Her first fish she caught on her first cast all by herself! Go Emma...
One of many he caught!

So, if you haven't figured it out, we went fishing last night. We had lots of fun and lots of bites which makes fishing a lot more tolerable. I hate sitting there watching my bobber do nothing. We caught probably 30 some fish and used a lot to stock our pond at our farm. The kids loved it and I had fun spending time with them!