Joe got confirmed

Today Joe was confirmed at Living Faith United Methodist Church. Joe had to read his own belief statement. He also received a bible from our church. We celebrated afterwards with a lunch at Olive Garden. It was so nice to have Grandpa Primmer here to celebrate with us.

Enjoy the pictures:

Jackson turned 9!!

Well, our Jackers has hit the big milestone of being a 9 year old! It's the last year before he hits "double digits". We celebrated on Monday with burgers and brats on the grill. Jackson picked a DQ cake for his special cake. He brought confetti cupcakes with yellow frosting and yellow and "blaze" orange sprinkles for his school treat.

Jackson seemed to like his "Indiana Jones" Legos...but really loved his "UnderArmor" shirt. For some (unknown) reason he thinks these shirts are the BEST. I have a few 5th graders who love to wear it. So he wore it today and said he felt "a little sweaty".

Today we cleaned up the house a little - getting ready for Grandpa Primmer's visit. My dad will be here to do a science presentation for each grade level at my school. He will be without the dogs - since my mom is taking care of them this week. We are bummed that we won't be seeing Rusty and Shadow. We are hoping for a puppy from them soon. Today I asked Jenna where Grandpa should sleep when he gets here (he usually stays in her room and Jenna has to bunk with Jack)....Jenna decided that Grandpa should "Sleep on the floor"....after we all laughted out loud at this...she clarified her answer...."he can have an air mattress!!!". She didn't seem too bothered when we said he'll be in her room. Jackson had a different answer to the same question. He tried to explain that "he's tired of having Jenna in his room and Grandpa should be in Jenna's room." To which we explained...if Grandpa was in Jenna's room that would mean Jenna would be in his room (he has the bunk)...he slowly smiled at his mistake.

Yesterday we learned that a college friend's son, (3 year old) Jack, passed away while waiting for a second heart transplant. It's hard to imagine how difficult this time is for the Corbo family (Todd, Robin, and son (twin brother to Jack), Cooper. I emailed another college friend - Keith (who is in Iraq) about the situation. He and Todd were close friends. Jeff and I, my brother(Don), Todd, and Keith were all on the UWRF Student Senate. It seems as if it was such a long time ago.....but some fun memories!

The good news is that Keith should be home in 6 weeks. He'll be located in Colorado when he returns....hopefully we'll get out that way and be able to meet his family.

There is a lot going on at school this week too. I'm feeling a bit CRAZY. Middle School visits, district testing, Science Day. We are in the home stretch - less than 7 weeks....but I feel as if I have so much to do still.

Slow and Steady wins the race!!!!

Last weekend of sprng break

Well, our spring break is over. Our weather was so cold and rainy that we didn't want to go out of the house. Joe was at a confirmation retreat and Jeff, the kids, and I watched movies. We all enjoyed watching "The Game Plan" - a very funny Disney movie.

Saturday was the same terrible weather...only a few snow flakes decided to fall. Joe had to attend his confirmation retreat again....He seemed to enjoy it. His confirmation date is next Sunday - April 20. We watched more movies...."Hairspray" and "We are Marshall". "We are Marshall" was a tear jerker....

Today, Sunday, April 13 we attended church. Jackson and Jenna's children's choir sang a song from their Easter program. I also sang with the adult choir. We also had communion...which means church went long.

After a lunch of "left overs" and folding of 4 loads of laundry we all went swimming at the Y. It was nice and refreshing. After the Y we went to celebrate Jackson's birthday at Dave and Busters. The food was great and the games were fun! We decided to save most of our points...but the kids did leave with a whooopie cushion. Jenna's lasted until we got home, then it broke.

Kids were all in bed early....and it was time for one last movie for Jeff and I. This time we watched "The Kingdom". Everyone is sad the we all need to go back to school tomorrow. We are living for the summer!

Here's some pics from the weekend.

Sickness

So on Monday, April 7 we did some traveling to Menards in LaCrosse. We stopped at a diner in Westby for a yummy lunch....then decided to go to an early showing of "Nim's Island" - later that night I got terribly sick. Let's just say...It will be a LONG time before I care to eat any popcorn again. It's not as fun coming out as it is going in!!! I slept most of Tuesday at my cousin Mary and Jeff's house....Joe watched Jenna and Jackson was with Grandpa - so I could get some good sleep. It also snowed that day....YES SNOW!!!! Grandpa had fun playing "ITCH ME" with Jackson and Jenna. We decided to head back home on Wednesday and arrived in Omaha about 9:30 PM. Again - the kids were rather good....(thanks to DVD's). Today's plan - hang out and watch it rain!

Viroqua part of Spring Break

After MOA we headed to Viroqua. We wanted to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Primmer's new house. It was AWESOME! We can't wait for summer for nicer weather and being able to walk around the woods a bit more. The kids LOVED being with the dogs.....

My parents and uncle have worked very hard to make some special features for the house. Check these pictures out...

Build a Bear

Here's pictures of Jenna getting her snow leopard built.

Spring Break part 2

Day 2 - we attended church with Frank and Margaret. After church we took Grandma Gruber to Mall of America! We all went on the Pepsi "Rip Saw" roller coaster. After that, Margaret and I enjoyed watching the kids go on a ride. We also enjoyed a great meal at "The Rain Forest Cafe". We had a great view of a large fish aquarium. Our meals were great - and so were the kids. They seemed to have a great time. Jenna got to participate in "Build a Bear" at "The Rain Forest Cafe" and made her very own Snow Leopard. This was how she spent her vacation money.

Spring Break

Our spring break was cut short due to me getting a nasty case of the FLU!!! I'm glad to be back in my home - in my pj's - resting! Prior to my sickness we were having a GREAT vacation. The kids and I left on Saturday, April 5 and drove to Ellsworth. It was a great drive up to Wisconsin - the kids were so well behaved! When we arrived in Ellsworth the Dzubay family was at Grandma and Grandpa Gruber's house for a special birthday party for Jackson and Jenna. We had a lovely meal of ham and Margaret's awesome potato salad!!! Frank made a YUMMY cake - we let Jack blow out the candles. The kids LOVED the gifts that they received. Jenna got some BARBIE cereal that was DELICIOUS! She finished it before we returned from Wisconsin.

My class

Here's my class at the Strategic Air Command museum.




.........they can be a little goofy, but I LOVE them!

Pictures from Jenna's birthday

My baby girl is now 7. She requested a pink polka dot cake...so she got a confetti cake with pink frosting. It was so sweet! Jenna received a BUNCH of clothes from us. She is really into spaghetti strap t-shirts (only for summer - not for school). I also found her some Hannah Montana and HSM t-shirts. Finally, Jenna has always wanted a Cabbage Patch Doll. We have looked and looked for YEARS to find one with a 'good name'.....the other day, when I was out at Target (getting the bday gifts) I had a Hannah Montana singing doll in my hands - when I thought I had better look at the Cabbage Patch kids....the first one I picked up was named "Jenna Amanda" - It was PERFECT. My grandma Bekkum's name was Amanda! Then I looked at the birthdate...June 17. That is my parent's anniversary - Jeff's sister and hubby's anniversary - as well as a few good college friends of mine AND a close co-worker. Finally, the doll had a saphire blue dress on...the same color of the bridesmaids from Jeff's and my wedding! It was ment to be! When Jenna opened her gift - she was bummed that the doll wasn't blonde (she has brown hair)...but changed her mind when she saw the name.

This evening even Jack and Joe were assisting in the care of their new cabbage patch "niece". Jenna asked them to hold her when she went to get her PJ's on...and they did. (But not for long...good thing "Grandma" (me) was there to help out! Even tonight when I was tucking her in, Jenna thanks me again for her wonderful gift! What a sweetheart!

Joe's Band Concert

Tonight we attended Joe's 6th grade band concert. I got the whole thing on video....for future viewing. Jackson and Jenna seemed to really like the Jazz Band.

I also made Jenna's birthday cake. She wanted a "Pink Polka dot" cake....so I got a white confetti cake and put vanilla frosting (with red food coloring) on it. It looks so cute. I'll take a picture of it and post it later!

Tomorrow I'm going on a field trip to the Stretegic Air Museum with my 5th graders.

We can't wait for Spring Break. 3 days left!!!!