Football 2014

There have been so many big changes in our lives over the past several months and a change in schools for the kids was one of those changes.  It was a very hard decision for all of us and Lyle especially resisted at first but it has been one thing that we have absolutely no regrets on.

For the first time ever, Lyle is truly enjoying and thriving in school and the boys on the football team are huge part of that.  It was an amazing season and these boys took Lyle in and made him one of their own.  They call themselves Band of Brothers and it has been an absolute joy watching them.    

Lyle is #51, he is directly behind #5

They played an undefeated season and took 2nd place in our Regional Playoffs. They came out and gave us all a season to remember by playing each game with all of their hearts and by showing incredible sportsmanship.  

I put this picture in to show the socks:)  Loved seeing them support one of their classmates and a player's mother.

Minnesota...

June was kind of a busy month and it is really hard to believe that we are closing in on our first year in Minnesota.  Mom, Jill and JT came for a visit and we went to the North Shore, it was really cold and foggy so they didn't get a good look at the lake but it was fun to hike around and look at the falls.

 My pretty girl:)

We also made it over to the Soudan Underground Mine and then we went to the International Wolf Center.  Only one wolf was out and he was hard to see.  They had just fed them and they were all bunked down in the shade taking a nap.   

Saturday we stayed in Babbitt for Peter Mitchell Days and it was kind of a bust for all of us.  The girls rode a few rides  and we all watched the fireworks.  Lyle puked after his first ride:)  I don't think he will be eating a big bowl of cereal then hopping on rides again.

On Sunday we all went to services and it was really good to see Chuck Northrop and his grandson JT. Hearing Chuck preach made me a bit homesick, I always enjoyed it when he would come to Oologah.  We just spent the rest of the afternoon watching the parade and hanging out at home.

We were finally able to put in a garden and it is doing pretty well. Robert also built me a planter by the front porch and the kids got me some window planters for Mother's Day.  Surprisingly they are doing really well considering I usually manage to kill all plant life I am responsible for.

This is a random picture of Duluth Harbor in May!!

Robert is still looking for work, we are still hoping something comes up really soon.  I just started working at an Assisted Living Center and I like it pretty well except that I am not used to being cussed out by little old ladies.  

I haven't done a very good job of taking pictures lately but I will try to do better there:) 

Lyle's Winter Camping Trip

I had really hoped to have pictures to put with this post but as I have learned lately, things just do not go as I would hope.  Oh well.

Lyle has been looking forward to his Outdoor and Forrestry Camping trip all year, the week of the trip the weather forecast looked gorgeous,  we had spent a small fortune on all his gear but he can use it over and over again so I didn't get too sick over it.  They were scheduled to leave on Thursday night after school, drive to the north shore then hike to the Boundary Waters to the lake they were camping on early Friday morning and then hike out Sunday morning.  There is still a good 4 foot of snow but it was packed so it should have made for good snow shoeing.

On the morning they were scheduled to leave we recieved notice that they would probably get some snow and the temps had dropped but not to bad and with all his gear I wasn't too worried.   At 5 o'clock there were about 47 people from 3 schools being loaded onto the coach bus and they were all so excited it was kind of funny to watch them.

They drove to Grand Marais on the north shore and stayed the night in the basement of a church building, got up Friday morning and they had SNOW!  They hiked about 3 miles in blinding snow and apparently the small fortune of gear wasn't enough because all his clothes got wet,  not exactly sure how but it did.  Oh and did I mention he forgot his coat, luckily his teacher was able to loan him one.

The temps that night got down to a -5 and Lyle was miserable, along with the biggest majority of kids.  Saturday they spent the day huddled in tents trying to stay warm.  The temps on Saturday night got down to a -24, so much for the forecast.  The walk out on Sunday was made even more miserable because the snow was so heavy it brougt slush up from the cracks in the lake and they hiked through 3 inches of cold slop.  By the time they got to the bus Lyle was absolutely miserable and exhausted.   They stopped in Grand Marais for pizza and then headed to the YMCA for swimming and the hot tub.  Lyle said nothing has ever felt so good.

His teacher said in all his years of camping and especially with this class, it was the worst possible conditions imaginable for the trip.  In Lyle's words, he went through the cold version of hell for 2 days.  Most of the kids had feet swelling and cramping so needless to say it wasn't a fun trip.  Lyle does plan to join  the class next year and try again, hopefully Robert can go next year.

Winter this year has been brutal, I am not sure if it's breaking me in or trying to drive me out, I just know I want Spring and I want it now.

Been A Long While.....

It has been a long while since I have posted anything on here, mostly because I have been in kind of a funk since Christmas.   I honestly feel like I've been on a ten month long emotional roller coaster and I'm ready to puke and get off.  To say things have not gone like we thought they would, would be a major understatement.

First off I will say that after 7 solid months, Robert is finally home!!!!  It still feels very strange to have him here.  When he accepted the job up here we honestly thought he would be home more.  It turned out that he was gone way more than ever and he also learned that the company he worked for was not a company he wants to be associated with.  So hopefully he will find another job soon.

We would also move up here the year Minnesota set records for the number of consecutive days below 0.  We had 62 consecutive days but most of those days were in the -15 or colder range.  It has been a brural winter and it is still hanging on.

The snow is absolutely beautiful though, on sunny days everything sparkles.   The girls love to dig tunnels and build forts in the yard.

Raelyn has also discovered ice skating,  next year she will join the figure skating team.  I personally think Scruffy should play hockey, at least I would not have to worry if the uniform is modest enough.

Ryann is still playing trombone in the school band and is just looking way too grown up. She is loving school and continues to be a very social butterfly.

Lyle loves it up here!!  He went on his Outdoor and Forrestry Camping Trip this past weekend.  The conditions were brutal and no one really enjoyed it.  I will write more on this subject when his teacher sends me pictures, Lyle did not take one single pic :(

As for Robert and I,  we are just enjoying being a complete family again.  Things may not be going how we thought they would but we know God has a plan and things will work out.

                                    I think she pushed her :)

 These pictures were all taken after a BUNCH of our snow had melted.  We had a few days in the upper 40's and it didn't take long for it shrink.  It seems to be replenishing though, we just got another 4 inches and more on the way so I guess I won't put the snow gear away just yet.

Birthday Sleep Over

 Ryann's birthday is Tuesday so we had a sleep over.  What was originally supposed to be a couple of friends each turned into 10 kids.  They did surprisingly well, a couple of short bursts of girl drama and one kiddo decided she wanted to call mom at 12: 00 a.m. and poor Logan took it all like a champ.  Lyle however escaped to the basement and made very few trips upstairs.

I think this might have been the only time all of the little crew was together.

 They were a really good group of girls:)

 Not exactly sure what is up with their expressions:)

My girl is getting way to big.

 Ryann's new bedding set:)

This morning they decided to go outside and play in what was left of the snow.  

It is pretty much gone but we have more coming in for the next few days

 Pj's and snow boots.

It warmed up to about 47 today so they enjoyed a lot of outside time.






This is what it has looked like for the past couple of  weeks.

Halloween

This is the first time I have ever lived in town during Halloween and I enjoyed seeing all of the little and not so little ghouls and goblins.  The girls had a blast being able to go all over town with a group of friends trick-or-treating.  Usually we have to drive them from place to place.  Once they were done they came home and had almost as much fun helping me pass out candy.   

Ryann went as a witch.

Raelyn started off this morning as Draculaura from Monster High but then decided she liked the idea of being a Pop Star better:)  Not exactly sure what the expression is but it seems like we have been seeing a bit more of Scruffy here lately.

It ended up being a fairly nice night, it warmed up to about 40 and has stayed above freezing for a couple of days.  I am just glad the kids had a good night and didn't freeze.   Now we are crashing from a sugar rush and we are all very ready for bed.  

Happy Halloween:) 

Crazy Kid

Our weather up here has definitely taken a plunge.  We are down into the lower 20's in the morning and then our highs have been about mid 30's, with a dusting of snow everyday for the past week.  This morning it was actually pretty icy.  Lyle does not see why I think he should have to wear a coat.  He is perfectly comfortable in a plain T-shirt and maybe a hoodie.  I honestly think he was born for Minnesota. Here was the view out of our front and back door this morning.

We did have a great time when we came down for a few days to see Robert and family last week.   It was hard to leave, especially since it felt like we did not get to see Robert hardly at all, he was rained out earlier in the week and had to work the whole time we were down there, we only got to see him a few hours each evening if we were lucky. :(

 I was really bad about not taking many pictures while we were down, I had a really yucky cold and it really didn't hit me until I got back that  I didn't get a single picture of Mom, Dad or Uncle Dean :(  I am sure my Dad is heartbroken by the fact that is his face won't be gracing this post.

 Rae and Miss Sophie

 Not sure what is up with Ryann's hair...

 My little JT has grown a foot!!!  Ryann is acting like a dork, so is Rae:)

Good pic of Ryann and Aunt Jill.  Love JT's laughing face and of course Rae is being a dork:)

The kids had a blast and we really did enjoy every minute we got to spend with some of the best people on this earth, in my opinion anyway:)  Next time I will try to do a better job of actually taking pictures.

Not Sure I Am Ready For This

Wednesday evening on our way to services I stopped at Target to get a few things.  As soon as we stepped into the store we noticed all the COLD weather gear has been put out.  Rae was really pushing for a pair of lime green and purple snow pants, which really would look adorable on her scrawny butt.  I must have forgotten where I am because my response was, "No, you won't need those for  a while."  An hour later while I was visiting with the ladies after services I was informed that we do in fact have a chance for snow this weekend.  Fall just got here and I am really enjoying it so I am just not having any part of this SNOW in October, yuck.  In fact if it were up to me the snow would just hold off until Robert gets home, considering that will probably be January I am pushing my luck a bit.  I guess since I really do not have any say in it, I will get what I get and I will do my best not to throw a fit.

Earlier in the week I did a post and then somehow managed to delete it while answering a comment.  Oops.
So here is a really quick recap.  Fall is absolutely gorgeous here.  Pictures just do not do it any justice at all.  These pictures aren't very good partially because it was a very blah day.  Even the wild fern have turned fall colors and Rae informed me that we even have pretty ditches here.   Hopefully Sunday will be pretty and I will take some pictures as we go to Virginia for services, the hillsides are really beautiful.

Lyle isn't playing football.  He was really uncomfortable with some things going on with both players and coaches so he opted to focus on his grades and open up more time for hunting.  He is also looking into finding a job here in town.

All three of the kids are constantly on the go.  I even kind of miss them they are gone so much.  Of course I then have days where I have so many kids here I get a little twitchy.  All three of them have some really great friends and I enjoy getting to know them, even if Lyle's friends say we talk funny:)

We are down to 12 days until we head south for a few days!!!  I am just a little excited.  Wednesday was 8 weeks that Robert has been gone and I honestly think he is even more homesick than I am.  He may not recognize his own kids when we get down there, they have grown so much.

Ryann has been traumatized by the death of Bella, her hamster. I think she cried for three days straight.  A couple of her friends helped her bury Bella and even made a tombstone out of a brick and put flowers on her grave.  Poor Logan, our next door neighbor and Ryann's BFF, sat and just patted her back while she cried.

Raelyn has also had a traumatic day, she had to go to the Principal's office today.  One of her friends moved another kids bike and then blamed her for it.  Luckily several other kids said she was innocent but I think she has been scared straight and she swears she will never ever ever be friends with that little girl again.

I finally got to work my normal schedule for the first time this week.  My normal schedule is Mon-Wed from 7:30 to 1:30 with the kids and then Thurs from 7:30-12:30 for Prep and Planning.  The past three weeks I have had to go for training seminars so I had Thursday off and work on Friday.  I really like my normal schedule:)  The kids are a lot of fun, I still come home some days feeling like I have been steam rolled but all in all I love it.

Hopefully I will luck out and we will just get rain this weekend but if not I think it will be really pretty here covered in snow to:)

Beginning to get Colder.

This week started off our year for Head Start and our group of 12, 3-4 yr-olds whooped me. We have 8 boys and 4 girls. I'm really glad at this point it is only three days per week with the kiddos.  They are a super sweet group of kids and it was fun to play with them.  You forget very quickly how much fun it is to play blocks and color with them at this age.  You also never know what will pop out of their mouths;)

The weather is really up and down here so the girls and I are congested and working on full blown colds.  It was 27 degrees Monday morning and we topped out at about 60.  Today was pretty mild, started off at about 58 and topped out 60.  We are enjoying while it lasts because we are going to start our downward spiral here pretty quick.  Future views predict snow in October, guess I had better start looking for some snow gear.

At the schools here all the kids have two lockers, one for school stuff and one for their winter gear.  The school policy says kids will be expected to go outside unless it gets colder than -18.  BRRRRR

33 degrees in September.

On Friday I woke up freezing.  It has been really nice so we usually open windows at night.  Today though it was 33 degrees.  Our high for the day was only 60.  I even had to wear a coat to the ballgame. 

So far the kids are still loving school.  Lyle is going to play for the JV team since enough boys joined.  He will also continue to be a starting player for the varsity team.  With three games this week I think he will be worn out.  

Monday will be the first day for the kids to come for Head Start.  I have met all but one of the kiddos and I think it will be a really good year.  I will be learning sign language to communicate with two of our students.  It will be an official part of our curriculum this year. 

Lyle went hunting today with several friends. He got the one and only Grouse for the day.  He saw a Timber Wolf and a Mountain Lion.  Timber Wolves are very common, he and another friend saw one coming home from the teen center and another today. 

Several people have told me it isn't uncommon to have sightings of them in town. 

Another thing we have an abundance of here right now are geese.  There is a good size flock I pass every morning on my walk. 

Today Raelyn found a nice pair of roller skates for $5.  She has ditched her bike in favor of them.  I guess we need to go buy a helmet since she isn't exactly known for her grace.;)

Beginning of Another School Year

I have never been so ready for school to start.  Everything has just felt out of whack for me since we moved.  I am so ready for the kids and I to have a normal daily routine. 

Luckily all three kids had a blast today.  Both girls came home all excited to tell me about their new friends and teachers.  Lyle even said his day was awesome  (still cannot believe he is in High School). 

Today was also my first day, I had to attend a meeting in Virginia for orientation.  Everyone was really nice and I'm looking forward to working in the classroom the rest of the week. 

Random

Things have been pretty quiet, or as quiet as it ever is with my kiddos:). We are experiencing a bit of a heat wave.  We have been into the upper 80's and even the low 90's a couple of days.  Most people think they are gonna die from heat stroke, the girls however were really glad because it means they get to go swimming.  The lake is still really cold but it doesn't keep them from loving it.

Lyle is still enjoying football, even on the days he comes home dragging his rear.   He is the the team's main center and he hopes to get some defense time in as well.  The team has  nicknamed him, The Beast.  

Today is the last day for the girls' book club.  They have finished reading Schooled and they will put on a short play today.  Hopefully they will continue the Book Club into the school year but we aren't sure yet.

Tomorrow we have Open House at school, the girls are super excited to go meet their teachers.  From there we will be headed to Lyle's first ballgame:)

Last Friday I interviewed for a position with the Head Start program here in Babbitt.  They called Monday to offer the job, as soon as my background check comes back I will have a definite start date.  I will be working about 23 hours a week, which is perfect  because I will have afternoons free and one full day off.  The program has 13 kids ages 3-4 and they attend class Monday thru Wednesday for 4 hours, then I have one day in the classroom for prep.  When we moved, I told Robert that for the first year or so I would prefer to work part-time and preferrably for the school system.  The Head Start program is perfect because of the hours and they pay better than the public school system.  I really like the teacher that I will be working with as well.  I also get to wear my jeans, which makes me very happy;)

Robert is still down south, he really enjoyed spending the weekend with my parents and attending services on Sunday, then lunch with a group of good friends. He sure has missed his little buddy Bren, as well as everyone else;)

Hopefully my Kindle will let me post more pics

on my next post. 

Picnic in Duluth

Last Saturday we met with the Duluth congregation for a picnic at Enger Park.  There was a lot of great food and fellowship.  I'm sad to say I cannot remember a single name.  Usually I'm good with names and faces but we met so many all at once I couldn't keep up but they were a wonderful group of people and we really enjoyed ourselves.

The park was beautiful with lots of gardens, trails and views.  The kids favorite was the tower that overlooked Duluth. 

Lyle officially started football practice this week.  He really likes the coaches and team.  Coach says he can be the 8th and 9th man if need be.  He will play center for the most part and they are working with him to be their kicker.  The coaches and team have even talked him into playing basketball;).

We are all anxious to watch some hockey. Lyle informed me that you can tell who on the football team plays hockey by the amount of teeth missing.

So far the girls are enjoying the book club and they are anxious for school to start.

Robert has been gone a full week now and things are going well on the pipeline.  They are mainly in the setup phase but he has been busy.

This has been a rough week for me.  Homesickness has definitely caught me. I've had my moments since we left but Robert being down south with my family when I can't be with any of them has just not settled well.  I'm really anxious for school to start.  I'm hoping to work at least part time but just having a schedule, practices, games and homework will help the time move a bit faster until Reunion;)

A Beautiful Sunday Drive

Our Sunday's always begin with getting up and going to Services.  Our lesson this morning was great as usual and it is really nice to enjoy the short fellowship that follows each lesson.  My family and I are very blessed to have been welcomed into two very loving church families.  It has been great getting to know everyone here but I still really miss everyone back in Oologah.

After services we were invited to join Ed, Diane and Cynthia for lunch.  Ed is the preacher for our congregation here, his wife is Diane and Cynthia is their daughter, they are truly wonderful people.  After an awesome lunch and a game of Bananagrams we headed home.

Once we got home we decided to take a short nap and then go for a drive.  Robert and I are enjoying trying to find some of the smaller lakes near by.  They say this is the land of 10,000 lakes but I am thinking they should have said ponds.

We tried to find Pear Lake Saturday night but it got too dark and we would have had to hike about a mile to get to it.  Considering we were out in the middle of nowhere we decided to try again the next day.

We did find Pear Lake but we didn't get a very good look.  After hiking about a mile we discovered it was really more of a pond and it was surrounded by some very soggy wetlands and the pteradactlys, otherwise known as mosquitoes, were making an appearance so we headed back to the truck and decided to follow the road to see where it would go.

We followed the, very narrow, road about 7 miles and saw some very pretty creeks, Minnesota calls them rivers.

 Robert wants to take us camping back in here this winter.  There are tons of places to ski or go sledding. I personally think he's a little crazy but I hear winter is one if the best times to camp so I guess we will see. ;

Parks and Trails

Things are finally beginning to settle down and I am really thankful that the craziness
seems to be over.   So far the weather has been gorgeous, except for a couple of cold and rainy days last weekend, a high of 46 in July is just weird.

I'm a little surprised to admit that I really like the little town we live in.  There are two nice parks very close to our house, the kids can take off on their bikes and ride all over town or we have several miles of bike and hike trails about a quarter of a mile away.

This week I took the girls to the library for story time and they were invited to join a children's book club.  It was nice to meet some kids and the girls really enjoyed themselves.  The book they are reading is Schooled and they are anxious to get started.  Once they have read a book they do crafts that relate to the stories and have some sort of snack. For being such a small town the Library is awesome and our librarian has been a huge help in giving local information.

Robert found out this week that he will be headed south on Wednesday the 7th and the job will go until about January :(  I am not looking forward to him being gone.

Today the weather was perfect so we took off for the Bike and Hike trails.  Robert and I are exploring some of the ski trails and trying to get familiar with them before it snows.  The kids are ready for it to snow so they can start learning to ski.

While we were out Robert found some wild raspberries.

Rae is usually fearless and loves to climb trees but she didn't get very far today.

The kids were rather excited to learn that they get an extended summer vacation here. School will start the day after Labor Day.  (We are really hoping Robert will get to come home for the weekend on Rae' s birthday.) I however am really ready for them to go to school, we have absolutely no routine established whatsoever and it is beginning to drive me a little crazy.  Hopefully I will be able to work full time for the school this year, if not I will sub.  I just want to keep busy so the homesickness won't be too bad.