Busy, busy, busy

I definitely was intending to write much earlier in the week but, alas, it escaped and here it is Friday already! This past Sunday I did a "Laurie special" and drove up to Rhinelander for a day and a night and returned to Cross Plains on Monday. Although I prefer staying at least 2 nights for a visit, I couldn't because I had a First Aid class on Tuesday. School resumes for me the day after Labor Day, so who knows when I will have time to sneak away from work again.

Anyway, I had a really great visit with mom and dad. Sunday afternoon they convinced me to go out and help pick apples with them and it was really fun! Talk about a ton of apples too (actually we only picked about 67 lbs.)! Prior to this harvest, mom and dad had picked a huge bunch of apples and mom made several pies. She gave one to me to take back to Cross Plains and I have to say, I haven't had an apple pie like that good in a long time! It was better than what we sell at the restaurant in the autumn. Yum yum yum.

I brought Mingo and Roxy along and they were the happiest dogs ever. They love running around freely, going for long walks, and receiving all the attention from mom and dad. Here, Roxy is nibbling on an apple.

Sunday afternoon was truly one of those very rare perfect-weather days in Rhinelander. It was very beautiful and we enjoyed being outside.

Here are a couple pictures of a wasp nest close to mom and dad's house. Look carefully, you can see a wasp in the entrance!

A Little Consolation

Although Mark and I really wanted to attend the Brewers' game this past weekend with everybody, it just wasn't going to happen with our staffing issue at the restaurant. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself after we had lunch with the family at the Great Dane. Everybody was so excited and happy and I wanted to stay and be part of that, but duty called and off to work I went. I did feel better later because we actually were pretty busy at the restaurant so the evening proved profitable. We're glad everybody had fun and that the Brewers won the game.

Rooster Flush

Good morning everyone! I would like to say a special good morning to my new little nephew, Stephen, who was born this past Sunday in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Stephen is the third child to my oldest brother, Don, and his wife, Hope. Don and Hope's oldest child is Kenny and the {now} middle child is little Beth (who looks an awful lot like me when I was that little). I need to get a lesson on how to download images from my e-mails (perhaps Bill or John can show/tell me sometime?) onto this Blog. So...look for pictures of Stephen and the other rugrats in the near future!

This week has been a very busy one. Guiding Reading is the name of the class I've been taking this week and we have learned about strategies for improving student reading. Learning to identify exactly why students are having difficulty reading (fluency, comprehension, decoding, syntax) and learning how to help that student develop self-monitoring skills for their reading have been key components to this class. It has been great having time in class for reflection and for working collaboratively with colleagues. Blah blah blah....

On Sunday Mark donated his time and energy to help Pheasants Forever with a local youth shoot. Although there is no actual shooting of the birds, the kids (and adults) had the opportunity to shoot sporting clays or clay pigeons. It's kind of like golf in that you go to different stations and that every shot is different. The event was designed to raise money for all kids interested in hunting and, specifically, pheasant hunting. There will be an actual pheasant hunt for the kids at the end of September.

Mark spent all night on Saturday preparing the 150 lb. pig for the pig roast that accompanied the day's event...and I'm not joking...he didn't go to bed at all on Saturday! He loves this stuff though, and does it with a lot of energy (he joined the board of our local Pheasants Forever chapter this spring).

I joined Mark in the early afternoon to help with the buffet line but we were able to sneak away with some friends and do a round of shooting ourselves. Yes, that's right, I tried the shooting AND I did quite well. I shot 10 out of 40 pigeons! Not bad for someone who hasn't done that before. Mark was very proud.

Trouble

I think the title and the picture shall be enough said...(this is Roxy)

Fanny Feels Slighted

Poor Miss Fanny has not yet been pictured on the blog! I must remedy this immediately or face additional crabby scowling from her! Actually, the news about Fanny is that she did have to have an operation last week to remove a rather large kidney stone (you may remember we had to do a similar operation with Britches in January). Both cats were urinating blood and experiencing quite a bit of pain. Is there a connection between the two? Nope, just Mark and I having our typical bad luck! Fanny is doing great now though. I wish you all could have seen just how sweet and loving she was when we brought her home from the vet. Two days away from home and some good drugs made her quite a friendly kitty...for awhile.

In other news, I went to a class this week called 6+1 Traits of Writing and found it very enjoyable. We discussed ways of assessing student writing and analyzed a lot of picture books. Picture books are really something now--the art, the topics, the different ways to tell stories--I think a lot of them can be as fun and interesting (or serious) for adults as for kids. I'll be taking another class this week called Guiding Reading and one last class before school starts on First Aid.

Well, I need to start this day. Below are a couple pictures taken behind the restaurant in the prairie.

It's Too Hot for a Penguin!

For those of you who have seen the movie "Billy Madison" with Adam Sandler you might recognize the title of this posting as one of the lines from the movie (although I did modify it slightly). Mark and I have been saying this line a lot this summer, and today is no exception. Yuck! I don't know how anyone can acclimate to this hot, humid stuff. Good, reliable, (and unfortunately!) expensive air conditioning is the key I suppose.

Well, thanks to Bill who gave me a very helpful tutorial on editing a Blog the other night. I still don't have everything figured out (like inserting pictures the way I want them), but I'll figure it out.

The above is a picture of Mark with his pride and joy, Mingo. Mingo's little sister, Roxy, is growing quickly and fits in well with the female member of our family. Like Fanny and I, she is sometimes very loving, sometimes a little feisty, quite a bit outspoken, always hungry, and, of couse, sensitive and moody. Mingo and Roxy have quickly become inseparable buddies. They both enjoy chewing on the same toy, wrestling, sporadically chasing our cats for no apparent reason, going for walks and eating and sleeping.

Here I go...

Please be prepared for not a lot of writing but a lot of pictures. A lot of pictures of Fanny, Britches, Mingo and Roxy, the zoo I share with Mark. I hope you guys enjoy this blog as much as I've enjoyed yours!