Things I Like

Bonnie's post was so interesting, I thought I'd do one of my own like-lists. Actually, I started this as a "dislike" post but I couldn't think of much. I'm sure I just have to be in the right mood. So, in no particular order, here are things I like:

Holding hands with Kris
The first sip of piping hot coffee early in the morning
An hour to myself before everyone else wakes up
chocolate chip cookie dough
My kids' smiles
My kids' giggles!
when Hope asks for a "panapkin"
When Ross said, "Hope is smaller, I'm mediumer, and Grant's the biggest."
crossing tasks off my to-do list
a clean bathroom
freshly-vacuumed carpet
watching Kris play with any of the kids
playing with play-doh
working with colleagues
hearning from former students who have acquired teaching positions
Paul Blart, Mall Cop
every single episode of Friends
The Facts of Life
Little House on the Prairie
dark chocolate
Nestle's milk chocolate chips
coconut
curling up between our down comforter and the featherbed
Starbucks
bulldogs and pugs
Eddie Murphy
Jersey Boys
the Bee Gees!
Andy Gibb
Jamie Lee Curtis
Sharon Osbourne
Bret Michaels
the Purple Rain soundtrack
my dad's grilled steak
a crisp glass of Riesling
my nieces and nephews
the first whif of fall leaves
Christmas music
the chemistry of the Golden Girls and Designing Women
laughing so hard I cry
Betty White
The Little Mermaid
pedicures
McDonald's french fries
pink
turquoise
all manner of rings
my pillow

First Day pictures

Ross's first day of preschool--and his last year at the MSUM Early Ed Center.


Grant's first day of 3rd grade


All shiny-clean and ready to play!


Grant wants to keep growing out his hair. Here he is in his daily uniform: athletic shorts and a t-shirt.


Posing for the camera


Oh yes, Grandma Jeanne gave Ross and Hope a bath in the sink yesterday afternoon. My cuties.

Back to school

After a summer that was far too short, Ross and I went back to MSUM yesterday. Well, actually, I've been going in all summer for meetings and whatnot, and last week we had faculty workshop all week, but yesterday was the official first day of classes. I love this time of year at school--whether they're 4 or 24 or older, students are excited to see friends and get back to class. There's an energy in the air that's unmistakeable...enthusiastic, eager, and overwhelmingly positive.

How can I be posting at 7:30 in the morning on a work day? Well, Ross got the stomach flu at the end of the school day yesterday, so I'll be staying home today. I hate to miss work on the second day of the semester (I have another class and several meetings today), but my little boy needs me. Kris has teacher workshops today before he and Grant start school tomorrow, so it's certainly busy around here. I just hope no one else gets sick! Oh, and did I mention that Grant had back to school night last night as well as flag football practice? And there's FB practice again tonight along with his first game on Thursday? And so it begins...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I have too many friends who are dealing with cancer or serious injury to think I'm "struggling" with this busy life. I am blessed and humbled by the good fortune in our lives.

Good Times (warning--very long post)

Last week we had the pleasure of being the first family to camp in Grandpa Ward's brand new, custom built 5th wheel camper. What an adventure! First off, the camper is beautiful and so huge! It has two bathrooms, a full stand up shower, and two bedrooms--one master bedroom and one with extra large bunkbeds. It also sleeps up to 5 more people in the kitchen/living room area. The kitchen includes a stovetop, oven, microwave and double sink. There's a built in sound system as well as a flat screen TV. It's like an apartment on wheels.

Our destination was Storybook Land at Wylie Park in Aberdeen, SD. If you've never been, we highly recommend it. The actual Storybook Land/Land of Oz park is beautfully manicured with many bright, inviting sculptures of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Wylie Park includes bike and hiking paths, a small zoo, at least 3 beautiful playgrounds, and an amusement park area with mini golf, bumber boats, and go-karts. So it should have been an idyllic 3 days, right? Uh huh. Read on...

After we got there and Kris set up the camper, I went to the bathroom. I pushed the flush button on the back of the toilet and it broke off. Oops. "Kris, can you come in here and put this button back on? I can't get it." "What button??" "The flush button..." "That's NOT a flush button!!! You flush with the foot pedal, Erin...you BROKE IT! THE PIPE'S BROKEN!" This was followed by several choice words I can't repeat here. I felt awful. I hustled the kids together and we went for a walk to one of the playgrounds. I was dragging with guilt and hoped it could be fixed. We'd only been there 20 minutes at this point. Thankfully, it wasn't truly broken; it was just unattached and Kris was able to fix it. WHEW. Huge relief.

At 3:30 in the morning that first night Grant came across the living room area to wake me up. "Mom, Hope's crying." "Okay. Thanks, Grant." I groggily got of out bed and walked down the two steps from the master bedroom to the main level. But I misstepped and caught myself with my right hand. Thud. "OWWWW!" Kris leaped out of bed, scurried by me to calm Hope and Ross, who by now were both crying. I moved gingerly to the sofa and sat, gripping my shoulder. Grant sat by me and asked, "Are you okay, Mom?" Kris came over. "Erin, is it all right?" Nope, sorry folks. I dislocated my shoulder again: FOR THE THIRD TIME IN TWO YEARS. So Kris got all the kids to pee, gathered up the nintendo DSes, put shoes on, helped me into a pair of sweats, and loaded us all into the truck at 4 o'clock in the morning to drive into Aberdeen to find the emergency room. Good times, right?

Thankfully, it only took 10 minutes to get there and I was their only patient at that time. You should have seen the kids' faces when they put an IV in my arm. Eys as big as saucers! Ross walked over to me and gently touched my arm. The nurses were wonderful, the doctor was very caring, and when it was all said and done it only took 2 hours for them to xray, administer pain drugs, pop my shoulder back in, and take another xray (thank God for versed--this drug takes away all memory of a procedure, so they tell me I was conscious but I have no memory of the popping back in). We made it back to the camper about 6:30 in the morning. Kris was so awesome through it all--taking charge, calming the kids, maintaining patience through major fatigue, and then buying the kids doughnuts before tucking us all back in to sleep for a while.

Don't get me wrong; we still had a great time: did all the things there were to do, and we even went to the local waterpark that afternoon. But Kris really wanted to drive back that night so he could concentrate while the kids slept. So we did cut our trip short by a day. :( But I've got to hand it to the kids--none of them complained at all about coming back a day early. We all had a great time and made many memories. Yes, good times.

The shoulder? I'll likely be having surgery on it in the near future to tighten the muscle/tissues around the socket so this doesn't happen again.

Ricky Nelson Remembered

I took Mom to this concert event on July 8. This was a tribute put together by Matthew and Gunnar Nelson for the dad, Ricky Nelson. It was a blend of VH1 Behind the Music and a concert. The guys stood in front of a floor to ceiling screen to sing their dad's most famous hits, with Matthew playing bass or acoustic guitar and Gunnar on electric guitar. They spoke directly to us, telling stories from their dad's career or their own childhood growing up with him, and then they would step aside so we could watch a series of video clips that elaborated on their story. It was fascinating (at least for me) to learn that between 1958-1961 Ricky Nelson was right up there with Elvis in terms of Billboard hits and fame. While Elvis was the King, Ricky was referred to in the teen magazines as the Crown Prince of Rock and Roll. Gunnar and Matthew clearly enjoyed sharing their dad's life and music with the audience, and were very proud to elaborate on Ricky's musicianship and his ability to come back in the 70s as the founder of the country-rock genre with his Stone Canyon Band after so many people thought he was washed up. The guys still looked handsome, although their long blond locks (think Nelson from 1990--Love and Affection, anyone?) are long gone. The guys stayed afterwards to sign merchandise and pose for pictures with anyone who wanted to meet them. They do this after every show. I think their father would have been so proud of them. Here's a link to a youtube clip of them singing their dad's 1972 hit Garden Party with their little brother Sam. Beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShwSZtDdl3M

Gunnar on the left and Matthew on the right.

Been gone for so long

For the longest time I have felt like I haven't had anything to blog about. Now I've been away so long that it's intimidating to come back to it at all. A quick summary:

June--Kris was out east in Philadelphia at another military school for a week and a half. We missed him a lot, but that short time span was a piece of cake compared to last summer's 8 weeks. He has to go to another school in FL for two weeks in August, the dates of which coincide exactly with my first to weeks back at MSUM. When he came home we all headed to Sioux Falls to spend 4 days with Mike (Kris's brother) and Kelly and their three kids. We had a wonderful time! Kris and Mike golfed in a tournament, Kel and I enjoyed some girl time together, and all the kids swam, played wii, rode bikes, and had a blast.

July--brought with it a new responsibility for me: co-chair of our department at MSUM. For the past three years we have been organized as a sort of 'mega department' called the School of Teaching and Learning, which includes 4 'programs' that used to function as separate departments: Elementary Ed, Early Childhood Ed, Special Ed, and Foundations of Ed. I'm not thrilled about this new responsibility because it takes me out of teaching almost half time, but I have a wonderful colleague with whom to share the load. I'm very nervous about the new responsibilities: hiring adjunct instructors, being responsible for scheduling classes for all 4 programs, coordinating faculty reviews, leading dept meetings, and much more. But it is what it is. I will do my best.

Last week I took mom to Ricky Nelson Remembered at the Fargo Theatre ( a separate post will follow). Super show! This week, Kris and I have the good fortune of borrowing my in-laws' brand new 5th wheel camper to take the kids to Storybook Land in Aberdeen. It's a great campsite and park, and we're looking forward to three days of lots of outdoor time with 5-star camper amenities. I'm not kidding. This thing even has 2 bathrooms!

Grant has been playing Babe Ruth baseball since May. We love watching him play! He really enjoys it and the boys on the team are a neat bunch. Hope and Ross are getting bigger all the time. Unfortunately, I haven't downloaded pics in forever, so that's another daunting task I have to bite the bullet and get back to.

Be back soon!

First Communion

The group of communicants around the altar for the consecration--oh yeah, and Ross walking down the aisle (and right into my shot) coming back from the bathroom. Grandpa Wayne took him to the bathroom--and had to wipe his butt. Grandpa NEVER does that, but he had no choice this time.

Look at those two cuties. I love them both so much!

Olivia and Hope--"Erin, take our picture!"

Grant with Deacon Tom and Fr. Raul.

Doesn't he look smooth?

Grant and Kate--two cousins sharing a special day.

Family picture--Kris must have missed the cue to smile. ;)

Grant and Kate celebrated their first communion last night with all parents and most grandparents in attendance. It was a joyful Mass with lots of children participating--all the readings were done by communicants, as well as all the petitions and the carrying of the gifts. Kate read a petition (super job, Kate!) and Grant carried up one of the carafes of wine. All the kids looked so proud in their fancy clothes. Afterward we gathered at Bonnie's house for dinner and cake...ah, the cake. Bonnie was so excited about this specially-made, amaretto-flavored cake, but it didn't go over too well with the kids. I'm sure she'll have more to say about the cake on her blog.

You should have seen my adorable nephew Brady eat! I didn't get a pic with my camera, but I bet Bonnie will post a few. He had oreo salad and cake from his eyelashes to his elbows! He also treated us to his latest dance moves. So hilarious! It was a busy day and a beautiful evening. Kudos to the Religious Ed staff at St. Joseph's for planning everything so perfectly.