Therapeutic Blogging

That's what this post is hoping to be. Today is a tad overwhelming. The worst part is that my sister's good friend and my walking partner's good friend each had a devastating loss in their lives today. My sister's friend's teenage son lost his battle with cancer and my walking partner's very good friend died of the same disease leaving her children without a mother.

These things make you think about life. As I drove to get Matthew at scouts I wondered how my family would cope without me. Ken couldn't really keep his job if he didn't have me at home. This week he is in Philadelphia M-F late. He couldn't do that without a mother to watch his children. But alas people are faced with this each day.

I also think about J., my sister's friend who has to bury her son. How does someone do that without complete despair?

Anyway....I am trying to get beyond the sadness of it all. It makes me want to think, that all this day to day stuff really doesn't matter, but we know it all does. I still need to feed/clothe/teach my children, pay my bills, keep the laundry from taking over etc. So as much as I would like to not stress about these things, I still do.

Ok, so far this post hasn't been extremely therapeutic. But here goes. I think it helps to remember the good when faced with times of sadness. To remember things for which I am thankful. The list, Thank the Lord, is endless, there are so many blessings. It is important to remember that these things are bigger than the list of worries.

Here are a few things for which I am thankful - in picture form:
FAMILY (my kiddos)

FAMILY (my parents and siblings - here at my parent's birthday celebrations this summer - now my folks really are 80 - this summer we just pretended ;)

FAMILY (this summer there were 33 of us together plus a handful of significant others - here is just a small grouping) It was wonderful to be together and celebrate the lives of my parents.

FAMILY (Ken) and FRIENDS (at U of Iowa Homecoming this October) What a blessing to get to spend some time with old friends. Ken's folks and sister watched the kids, which was fantastic. It was great to spend time with Ken and friends we only see once or twice a year...or less than that.


I am thankful that I have things that sometimes seem stressful:

-crazy amounts of laundry - that means we have plenty of warm clean clothes to wear

-dirty dishes in the sink - that means that we had food to eat and fun (basketball and Boy Scouts) activities to run off to tonight. Watching Joel play basketball makes me smile. He is so serious about playing well, all the while he has runs down the court with a happy look on his face. He just loves it, which is fun to watch...even when it means everyone will go to bed late when Ken is gone on Monday nights during basketball season.

-learning a new job - I am returning to a career I love. Of course there will be things to learn - how could there not be after 10 years, especially in a new setting with different job responsibilities.

Please pray with me for those people who lost loved ones today. Pray also that we can have the right perspective on life and keep God at the center even when we feel pulled in many direction. Pray that our children learn to live with that same God center - that is what this world is all about. And as a quick addition, pray for my friend N., who had an offer on her house. That they can sell their house and get through all the bumps that come on the relocation road with as little stress as possible!

God Bless You!

Special Day without Dad and Matthew

Ken took Matthew to see the Iowa game to celebrate his (Ken's) birthday. We sort of struggled with it, because he took Matthew last year, but Joel is a bit young to hang with the game for 3 hours and Carolyn doesn't love football the way Matthew does. Anyway, we decided to have a fun day at home and then everyone wins!

We went to Playground for Kids and even I had fun because my friend Jean happened to be there with her kids!

We followed up with a trip to Hu Hot - Mongolian grill. We had gone there once before with all the kids and they loved it. It is the kind of place where you pick your ingredients and then the cooks make it in front of you. Very fun. The other day I needed a good way to fix left over chicken and we had Homemade Hu Hot....Carolyn and Joel loved it...sometimes it is how you sell it :)

I will have to see if Ken got a picture of Matthew at the game on his phone to post. The Hawks lost, but I think the boys had fun anyway.

Carolyn's pretty new glasses

The good news is that the glasses have been found, as they were lost between when I took the picture and could post on the blog! They were just hiding in her desk at school - whew! They are a pretty pink!

Whew - glad that week is over.

It all started when I received my friend CP's Christmas card last year and she mentioned in her letter to her friends that her job would be changing in 2011 because the grant she worked on was coming to an end.

hmmmm....I worked on the same grant.

Yes I knew the grant was ending, but until that point, I didn't really have in my head that my job would be ending. I talked with my boss about options and she thought I might be able to find other research work.

Well....to me that seemed like a big MAYBE, especially since all the researchers were in Omaha ....and I was not.

For awhile I had contemplated getting my speech language pathology degree, since so much of the work I have done in the last 10 years has been rather speechy. Well...there are no SLP programs in my area and really commuting to Iowa City was not going to work, plus I think SLPs are a bit more creative than I am. I mean, I can make a quilt, but coming up with tons and tons of lesson plans would really challenge me.

In February (I think), it hit me - I could return to clinical audiology. Ever since I took my first job out of grad school as a cochlear implant/research audiologist I felt like I shot myself in the foot a bit as an audiologist. By not doing traditional audiology for years, I felt like I was less of an audiologist and didn't know how I would ever be able to do that work again. If that didn't kill my self assurance, taking 10 years off of clinical audiology really was making it difficult for me to comprehend returning to that line of work. BUT THAT IS WHAT I TRAINED TO DO....FOR SIX YEARS!!

So I was in a bit of turmoil, since my "baby" would be going to kindergarten in 2013. It seemed crazy that I worked part time since Matthew was born and then I would stop working right before my kids were all in school. It would be hard for me not to work in my field too....especially given that it was my training that helped dictate my salary and I didn't want to work for 1/2 of that in a different field. EICKS!

I started researching my return to clinical audiology and it was natural for me to think about re-vamping my education. First of all, 10 years is a long time to not be doing something, and 2nd the new entry level degree for audiology is the doctorate. I asked everyone I knew in the field if they thought I should get my AUD (clinical audiology doctorate). My grad. school advisor voted "no", but almost everyone else landed in the "yes" or "probably" category.

I decided to apply in March and then got cold feet. It was a lot of money and would require 2 summers in school, which would be hard. I took some time off from thinking about it and decided to apply to start in the fall.

I then started worrying - what if I spend all this money and then no one wants to hire me? I often just searched the internet for audiology jobs in Des Moines and found one that wanted a very part time audiologist. I applied, but then regretted it because it would be too much to do while I was finishing my obligation to Boys Town. Also, by the grace of God I was going to be return to Omaha for 10 days to revamp my clinical skills during the summer and couldn't also do this other job. Anyway, I did interview with the clinic, but put them off until after my Boys Town summer gig was complete. I interviewed with them again, but still wasn't sure because they didn't have an audiologist, hadn't had one for a long time and I wasn't sure that being without a colleague was my best plan for my first job back in the field. While researching this job I heard about an audiologist in D.M. who was very well respected. Then I heard this audiologist was looking for help. Then I spoke to this audiologist and her manager and realized they would let me work part time, averaging 2 1/2 days a week during school hours and I just had to interview for this position.

Obviously I realized that there would be a period of time when my old job would not be over and the new job would have already started AND I would be taking a class for my doctorate. Little frightening.

Well I was offered the job at both places on the same day and accepted the job where there would be another audiologist (everyone I spoke to really liked her and respected her work - including the people who were offering me the other job).

That job started 5 weeks ago and I have learned a mountain of information. Maybe the most important thing that I learned is that I really like clinical audiology! It hasn't been too hard to balance everything...mostly because I knew that this was for a very short period of time.

Well this week, everything came together in a big way because it was the final for my class, which involved finishing a resource project, presenting the resource project and taking a final exam. Plus for my new job there were a couple of hearing aid meetings I needed to attend and my normal work for both jobs. WOZERS.

The house is a mess and I have loads of laundry to put away, but we all survived and I am done with school until 2012, when my Boys Town work will be over. I will miss Boys Town, since they have been my employer for 18 1/2 years and really all I have known since grad school. It will be nice, however, to have only one job (that pays money I mean, because obviously being the mother of 4 kids is a HUGE job :)

I should start my normal schedule at the hospital soon, which will also make things lighten up a bit.

In January, I start my next class (audiology counseling) which I am really looking forward to. Things will continue to be pretty busy with an avg. of 15 hours a week of work, plus my class. Summer will be especially crazy, but in the fall it will be nice to do all my work while my kids are in school. I have worked weekends since Matthew was born so it will be nice to get my weekends partly back in January and almost all the way back in August when the kids go to school. I should be able to do all my school work and clinical work while the kids are at school. December 2012 I will do my Comps and then take my last class in 2013, finishing in March. That will be a great day too! (3 classes down (if you count the Public Health class I had to take before starting my "real classes") and 7 to go!

I do think that I have gotten past the biggest hurdles:
#1 deciding what to do re: my career
#2 starting my doctorate
#3 GETTING THE JOB
#4 learning all I have in the last 10 months to refresh my clinical skills

last but not least
#5 surviving a month with 2 (part time) jobs and 1 class

Much thanks goes to my sweet hubby, but that was the last blog post :)

Thanks for letting me decompress and dumping this story after finishing my final!! I can have a more relaxed December .... yeah!!! I feel like I am on a good path now and I pray every day that God help me balance this work with my family and to do both well. Lately I have been praying a bunch for my patients too!

Why my hubby wins Husband of the Year!

Today I had my final for my 2nd audiology class.

#1 I called my hubby at 4:15 to say the wireless internet wasn't working on our home computer and he came home right away to fix it.
#2 Then he set us his computer as a back-up, in case the wireless connection gave up during the test.
#3 After that he took all 4 kids out to dinner so it would be quiet during my test.
#4 Before leaving he made light of the situation by saying, "have a good time"....it is always good to make light of a situation with a smile on your face.
#5 He was thoughtful enough to take my work bag out of the car when he left...thank Goodness, because I needed a picture ID to take the proctored test, but forgot until after he left.
#6 Last but not least he brought me a calzone for dinner after my test and got the kids PJs on and teeth brushed while I enjoyed it.

I would include a great picture of my hubby here, but I charged my camera battery without plugging in the charger to the wall.....(and my hubby didn't even make fun of me because he is so great)

Brave Girl

Carolyn, Joel and Anna were rough housing and Anna hit the hearth! She needed 4 stitches, but did amazingly well. She indicated the numbing shot hurt and was hot, but then sat still while they put the stitches in....I am her mother and I was truly amazed that ANY child would do so well. They were great at the urgent care. They put us ahead of all the people waiting (sorry guys) and we were home w/in an hour of the accident. I think we got precidence because there is a window of time before you have to worry about infection etc. The doctor (who was great) said there should be no scar - and even a little one won't be seen in her eyebrow. The stitches come out on Friday.

Halloween 2011

Here is Anna, pretending it is Halloween (on the actual day, her clothes actually matched her costume - one that she received from her Godmother Aunt Sue!). The camera was forgotten that night, but you were able to see Carolyn's costume and a taste of Joel's on a different post. Joel had reddish-hair for trick-or-treating....which is only appropriate for a Weasley! (He was Ron Weasley from Harry Potter and all the Weasleys have red hair!) I never actually saw Joel in his full costume because I joined Matthew and the church youth ministry "trick-or-treating for canned goods". The group filled 6-7 grocery carts with cans and boxes!!!

Maybe next year I will take a picture of ME in my Halloween costume. (I was named Juliet by one of the girls in my group....how is that for a teaser!)

Pumpkin Fun

Carolyn has wanted to make a story book pumpkin for years and finally we got it done! Ok - it was Sunday night around bedtime, but at least we weren't trying to finish Monday morning. Here is pumpkin-Luna Lovegood (from Harry Potter, Carolyn also was Luna for Halloween)
While looking at other story-book pumpkins in the library, Anna and I saw a Rainbow fish one and decided that was our goal for the morning.
Joel had Daddy's help for his pumkin. The kids then planted some seeds and we roasted the rest. (Matthew's pumpkin supplied some seed that will be more likely to grow if we plant them next spring...his pumpkin is still in the works....update "better luck next year pumpkin #4" :)

Only a blogger would take a picture

I hope that everyone likes this costume:


I do. (Note the Ravenclaw patch and other special Luna Lovegood touches (she is a Harry Potter character for those who don't know))

THIS is this costume that required me to visit my local veterinarian:




Ok - so the story is that I made Carolyn's costume and was getting cocky (and obviously distracted). I was doing some seams for Joel's (Ron Weasley) costume and was looking over my shoulder at the kids and sewed right through my finger.

The veterinarian joke is because I was quickly trying to figure out who could pull the needle out before pain (and infection) set in. I remembered our neighbor was a labor and delivery nurse and so I went to her home. Her hubby (a veterinarian) was home and he did the honors! What nice neighbors - I need to make them cookies - but they both work out a bunch so I might need to think of something more healthy to make them.

Good as new:

Matthew is now a teenager

Yesterday was Matthew's golden birthday. He was 13 on the 13th! He celebrated by bringing candy to his Advisory (aka Home-room) and we ate Godfather's pizza. Because we love science around here, I made him Pi instead of cake. We all thought it was funny, except Anna who said, "this doesn't taste like pie".
To prove that Matthew is a science-nut, here he is demonstrating that he can cause fire to move toward him because of low pressure.

Update

I know I haven't posted in a long time. Here is Anna on her first day of pre-school this year. She loves it and asks if she can eat lunch almost as soon as she wakes up, because I have told her she doesn't go to preschool until after lunch. She is in a class with just 7 other kiddos and I love seeing what she learns and brings home.


This is one of those "keep your eyes open in the bright sun" pictures. It is just funny, but note the beautiful Eucharistic Chapel in the background. We renovated our church last year and after we raised enough money to do the "needs", someone donated the entire $300,000 in order to build this chapel. It is lovely and peaceful inside and out. It is a frequent destination when bringing kids to church for various activities for simple prayer time. I love it.



Anyway...back to the update....
Things are in full swing...church choir, scouts, soccer. Matthew went to his first Social yesterday and LOVED it. His dad needs to give him a few pointers in the dancing department, but I am so happy he had fun.

I JUST finished my last assignment for my Balance Disorder's and Treatment class. It was WAY more work than I anticipated, but I learned a fantastic amount. Despite the fact that I won't probably do balance testing in the near future, this class taught me a lot about the vestibular and auditory system that I can use professionally as well as a ton regarding disorders that I encounter in life with friends and family. My "local" group for class is fantastic and I am glad I chose the University of Florida (they have had so many experts in the field lecture - great decision to pick this university over the other choice). (I put "local" in quotes because my group is a hodge-podge from across North America - other groups tend to be geographically clustered, but not mine....we have people from Canada, Arkansas, New York...you get the picture. There are 11 in this class, but there will be 8 in the next.)

I also have had 2 interviews, to return to clinical audiology. Jury is still out on those. One was last week and the other was awhile ago, but their audiology dept. hasn't had anyone for 2 years, so they indicated that there was a lot to be done before they would get back to me. The joy is I am good if I get a job, or don't right now. My current job goes through 2011 and my schooling would keep be busy into 2012.

Better get back to work - I need to get in a few hours and then study for my final! My stress level is pretty low now that I have gotten through most of the work. 2 classes (almost) down and 8 to go. (1st class...was a required public health class, but finished it before officially starting my "real" classes.)

Next class: Auditory Rehabilitation and Central Auditory Processing Disorders...bring it on!!!

Happy Birthday Cowgirl

Carolyn turned 10 last Thursday and had her party on Friday. She and her friends and sister decorated cupcakes and picture frames, had a photo shoot at Target and knocked a pinata out of the sky. (see Jane the pinata below)

If the level of noise was any indication, they had a great time. Like one girl commented, "everything is funny to girls our age"....clearly :)

First Day of School

The last day of school seemed like just a few days ago, but we are back at it. The biggest difference is that Matthew gets to take the bus to his new school. (The district divided the 6/7 school into two different schools.) We will see how it goes. I have the three big kids at school an hour before I did last year and save 45 minutes in the afternoon. I do miss the trips to take Matthew to school, because they were pretty quiet and we could chat with just Anna in tow. I don't miss the pick-up because (as you would guess) his school was pretty crowded last year and so was the parking-lot. Hopefully he enjoys the bus and his new school. Carolyn and Joel already indicate that they are happy with their new teachers! Matthew was excited that his "exploratory" class gets to build robots with NXT Legos. He was able to experience NXT 2 summers ago at Iowa State Science camp, so he knows how much fun they can be.

T-shirt quilt extravaganza

My niece asked if I would make her a t-shirt quilt. I indicated that I would be happy to help her make one and she came for a visit. We had a great time with this lovely outcome! We also walked about 9 miles during her visit and made delicious guacamole and hummus!

Happy (early) Birthday!

Thirty four of us got together this weekend to celebrate my parent's soon to be 80th birthdays.

Here is Carolyn with her special cousin Kate!

Here are all the boys cousins - far outnumbered by the girls, but I didn't get a photo with just the girls. Perhaps after I get the professional photo back, I can show you the entire crew!

The oldest and youngest cousin!

What I did on my summer vacation - the 42 year old version

Excuse any typos - I don't think I am going to proof this post :)

I think I have shown plenty of pictures and many stories of how my kids and I spent our summer vacation. Ken's summer vacation was being Mr.Mom while I was in Omaha. He can post his own blog about those adventures. One thing I haven't mentioned was our adventure last week to the blueberry patch. I haven't been blueberry picking since I was Joel's age - if ever. I have memories of strawberry picking in Iowa, but there is only one place to pick blueberries in Iowa and we wouldn't have traveled that far....luckily it is close to Ankeny!

Now if I am to focus on MY summer vacation....as opposed to the family's summer vacation I have different things to report.
1st of all - I lost 200 lbs in a month! (ok the actual title to the book I am mis-quoting is "Lose 200 lbs in a weekend.") I am not actually recommending it. I already was starting to clean the storage room, when I came across it. It inspired me even more to get rid of STUFF! The book itself isn't that great and actually will be some of the pounds I eventually lose. It sort of makes your feel bad for having stuff and I really don't need guilt in my life. But it did inspire me and the house has lost a lot of weight with MANY trips to the St. Vincent de Paul truck (think Mother Theresa's Treasures/Good Will) MANY full garbage cans and SEVERAL full recycle bins. It helps if you are going to lose 200 lbs in a month, if you have one of these to get rid of:

Joel and I dismantled our old wheelbarrow and had a good time in the process. It was harder than you might guess, because many of the bolts were rusty and impossible to get off. This job actually involved sawing off the handles so the stupid thing would fit in our trash can. I am almost done with the storage room - which was my goal before I start back to school. It has felt great to give Ken some shelves on one wall of the storage room so that he can bring all his work literature that clutters our garage onto these shelves! That way he won't be in the steaming heat or freezing cold searching the right catalog or demonstration material!

My biggest change has been one of mind! I am trying to get over keeping things I don't want/like/use! I even got rid of some kid's toys that still might have had play time just because we have reached maximum capacity and sometimes you just have to stay STOP!!!

Probably the most major events of the summer were my trips to Omaha. I was able to get my mind back into the world of clinical audiology. I tested hearing (this actually is my audiogram, since I wouldn't publish someone else's audiogram on my blog).


As you can see, I have some presbicusis (age related hearing loss in the high pitches). This is confirmed in my Otoacoustic Emmisions below:

I also was able to help fit hearing aids and attend workshops on Balance Testing/Cochlear Implants/Hearing Aids. It was a fantastic experience. Don't get me wrong - I am not at the top of my game. I do feel like I made great gains and can start looking for work when my other job ends.

After finishing my time in Omaha I started working on my school. Officially, I start this Sunday, but I have the syllabus and have been watching lectures and reading material. My first class in Balance Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment. This course will be tough, because I haven't tested balance since graduate school! It was nice to get some hands on experience with the equipment while at Boys Town. Actually, if I want to be technical, I already finished my first course toward my degree. There is a required "Introduction to Public Health Class" that is done 100% through viewing lectures and taking quizzes. I wanted to have that done before my "real" classes start. These will involve, lectures, a ton of reading, work with my small group, group meetings with my professor and assignments. Like my grad school buddy who started her program this spring indicated, "they aren't going to give it away".

Part of me is hoping all this studying will help my brain fight age related mental decline that already has started :)

If I don't blog much after Sunday - you will know why!

The summer is flying by!

If I haven't mentioned, the first day of summer vacation was approximately 100 hours long. Well, I blinked and now we are 2 months into summer vacation. Interesting.
Here are a few more snapshots.

Anna can now ride her bike! Last summer she occasionally sat on the seat, but now she pedals it around the sidewalk. She is definitely of the age where she wants to be outside A LOT and loves to ride and play catch....sounds familiar! All my kids at age 4 would probably be outside all the time if I had let them (or wanted to be out all the time myself). This week has been really hot, so I try to convince Anna to wait until the evening when things cool down.

Carolyn chose tennis for her sport this year. I especially love it because it doesn't involve school year games and practices. She loved her tennis camp and coincidentally it was led by one of Matthew's 6th grade teachers! He did a great job making it fun.

Matthew has become a photographer this summer. Be warned, when boys are no longer Cub Scouts things ramp up in a big way (money, time, responsibility) for Boy Scouts. Anyway Matthew has been working on merit badges and the easiest way to prove you did part of a badge is to take pictures. So Matthew has been photographing animals, the planetarium and his money making job. He must be enjoying himself, because I found this pic. on my camera today :)

We went to the Science Museum last week because it has the only Iowa Planetarium and Matthew needed to go to a planetarium for his Astronomy merit badge that he started at camp. This is an example of the Boy Scout ramping up as I mentioned before. Don't get me wrong, I like the Science Museum. In the past we have been members to the museum. This summer, however, with the huge expense of siding I would not have chosen to spend $38 for the day at the Science Museum. Alas we went to fulfill the merit badge and had a great time. Joel probably spent an hour (and I don't even think I am exaggerating) working at making his rocket. They then have a launcher and runway for the rocket. All the kids love it.

True confessions. Carolyn, Joel and I went to opening day of Harry Potter, book 7 part 2. Matthew stayed with Anna and went to see the movie with Ken the next night. My kids have seen almost no movies on the big screen. I think this relates to their expense, but mostly because Matthew's 1st movie was Finding Nemo and it scared him and he never really wanted to go to the theater. He saw Moster's Inc. (which is really not as scary as it sounds - it is a kids animated movie!) and then never went to the theater again until Harry Potter 6. The other kids have seen Alvin and the Chipmunks and Ponyo. I think that's it! I haven't seen a movie in the theaters since Harry Potter 6! Which means I did skip the 7th movie! (I just don't want you to think I am an out of control movie viewer.)

I REALLY wanted to see the 8th movie. I had been reading the books (we are on 5) with Joel and the kids are always playing 20 questions with Harry Potter trivia. Actually, for going opening day, it wasn't that busy because we chose the 1:00 matinee. People who were truly dying to see the movie went at midnight. I wasn't quite that obsessed, although I was a bit jealous. It is funny that I took the kids to see this movie, because I wouldn't let Matthew watch any of the movies until he complete each book. Joel is WAY younger than I would have ever considered letting Matthew watch the movies. I guess I decided to let him because Carolyn has read all the books and REALLY wanted to see HP at the theaters and Joel isn't really scared of film the way Matthew was. You can all just say, "it's because he's the 3rd child" and it probably is true. I am now a (re)lax(ed) parent occasionally. I must say the movie was FANTASTIC. I am one of the crazy people the reviewers talk about when they say, "move on now people". I am sad that I have read all the books and seen all the movies because I really did love them. I am soooo NOT a wizard type person, but I felt like HP wasn't really about that as much as about relationships, friendships and courage. I most liked that Harry found a family with the Weaslies and that Neville became the leader of the revolution at Hogwarts. I liked that the Weaslies were poor and material things didn't matter. I like watching the friendship of Harry, Ron and Hermione. They didn't have to be wizards, it was fiction and that was just part of it. Harry always did the right thing to help others and I ate it up.

This and that, summer fun.

Joel finished his last game of baseball for the year. Funny thing, the other team didn't show up. There was a rain-delay so perhaps some miscommunication occurred. However this allowed the older siblings to play too. Matthew still has the scar from a sliding into base incident. Joel really loves baseball and continues to make practice swings with his pretend bat. (I think Carolyn has a book under her shirt...how very Carolyn of her. She is denying it though....but almost always takes a book with her where ever she goes.)


We went to Yankee Doodle Pops again this year to celebrate The 4th of July a bit early with classical music and the best fireworks I have ever seen. The people on the left are college friends who live in west Des Moines. Unfortunately the last time I saw them was one year ago at....you guessed it.... Yankee Doodle Pops. We are getting together for a back to school BBQ this year and hope to see them at a Hawkeye game. (Last year the girls stayed home...in my case because Ken's mom just had knee surgery and I didn't really want the kids with a sitter while we were that far away.)


Board games are NOT boring around here. This game was the best $.99 I have spent all year.

We enjoyed going to Family Night at Mitigwa.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

We made a trip to Burlington to visit my folks in June. We all love to visit with them! The kids finally joined in the quarter collection fun. When the state quarters started I had one child and began to collect a set of quarters for him. As each child joined the eldest, they too had a quarter collection started. Initially I was very diligent, but lost steam along the way. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa came to the rescue. Each year, my mom would remind me to bring the kid's quarters for a visit and we would add all the quarters we could. Until this visit, this activity was just for Grandma and me. This visit, the 3 big kids got in the mix because the LOVE their quarter collection.

We also made a trip to the park and to the Dairy Queen (DQ has become tradition).

Additionally, Matthew ran around taking pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's wildlife (bunnies, chipmunks, squirrels and birds) as part of his Second Class Scout Rank project. Here is Stumpy....we used to think he met a terrible tail-cutting fate, but now think his lack of a tail might be genetic as "Stumpy" has been around for about 30 years.


P.S. to my Dad...I am printing the photos for you, so you don't need to print them....well I might not print Stumpy.