Mark-y takes the girls sledding

A week of surprises

“My County Tis of Thee…”

Yes, I watched TV all day on Tuesday, and no, not because I’m an Obama supporter, but rather a news freak and a bit of a ‘history-in-the-making’ buff. We have the cable news package, so I could go from channel to channel and get every angle and view. It was very exciting. My daughter was less than thrilled that PBS was not airing Sesame Street, but I gave her a lesson on America and the role of ‘Tradition’ instead. Black or white makes no difference to me, but every new presidency is a chance to be a part of history.

For the record, I think our new president’s Christian morals and ethics are very lacking and his disregard for the sanctity of marriage and human life is evident. His cabinet picks are less than promising, in my opinion. However, I am hopeful that God can and will make something good come out of the next 4 years and I’m willing to bet that He has a plan. From all the interviews that were aired and the showing of the throng of people in Washington DC, it’s obvious that Obama has given hope to a whole lot of people, and I wonder if that’s what will sustain at least the economy for a while. We can only wait and see, I guess.

The weather was gorgeous all week, nearly 70 for three days running. The kids and I spent as much time as we could outside, either up at the park or in the back yard. We’re blessed to have the big city park only 4 blocks away, and have a swing-set in the back yard. The snow began falling early Friday morning and our newest dusting had almost half covered the grass. Another ¾” and we could’ve call it an inch!

Our big news of the week is split in two.

On Wednesday, the 21^st, Lars decided he didn’t need his walker to get around anymore. He started walking in the kitchen, then wandered to the living room, walking from Daddy to Eden to Mommy and back again, laughing all the way, and occasionally crying just to be sure we were still going to cheer for him in the end.

Just about the time he went to bed, we got a phone call from Chad, delivering the news that we’d gotten a new niece, and Eden & Lars a new cousin. Ziana (ZEE-ana) Marie tipped the scales at 7# 15oz and is cute as a Kenny could be. We even got photos in the first couple hours, so I felt very special to be included. I wonder when we’ll get to meet this new addition??

Congratulations, Chad & Marie!!

In other news, my last weekend of EMS-I classes were postponed two weeks, due to the potential for a big snowstorm and not wanting people out on the roads. Out here, it really doesn’t take any snow to close the roads, not because of the snow so much, but b/c of the deadly wind. There are no trees to stop the blowing snow, and it freezes over the road. Sometimes, the wind just blows big trucks over on the interstate, or blows them over just sitting still at a truck stop. It’s too dangerous to be out. So, they have big bars that go across the road and you can’t get by on the interstate. You have to turn around and go back to the nearest town.

Of course, I had babysitters all lined up for this weekend and was already to go, so now I need to work on that again. On the bright side, my presentation is finished and so I don’t really have any homework, either.

Anyway, the snow came down. And came down. And came down some more. By Sunday morning, I had to dig a path to get out of the driveway to church. Eden was already in sweat pants and a sweatshirt by the time it was time to get dressed for church. She informed me that she was going to Mark and Laura’s to go sledding. When I told her we had to go to church and Sunday school first, she asked if we could go sledding instead.

Needless to say, immediately after church, we took a pot of soup to Mark and Laura’s house, donned on snow pants and gloves, and headed out to the back yard. The slideshow shows Mark dragging the kids (yes, even the big kid, Sarah) around behind the 4-wheeler. This is called sledding “Nebraska Style”. And, really, it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time! The kids had a blast, and Eden was yelling, “Faster Mark-y!” She only face planted once, and after a few brief tears, was anxious to get back on. In the end, Eden was the last one to stop sledding, the last one to stop making snow angels and the last one to be drug inside. The hot chocolate and cider were waiting for us by the hot, crackling fire.

While Lars was still napping at Laura’s, I took off to go shovel the walk and driveway back at our house. It took about an hour, but was worth the time. By the time I was done, Al got home from the nursing home service and helped scrape what I missed. By the time we were finished, there was another half inch on the cement.

Bridgeport declared it’s first snow emergency in history, school has been cancelled for tomorrow, and Al has to report to the courthouse tomorrow morning at 0830 for Jury Duty! Never a dull moment here!

The week in Pictures

Our Little Detroit Fan...Does anybody think he looks like his father???

SNOW!!! Finally, Western Nebraska got a dribble of snow on Thursday and we took as much opportunity as we could to play in it Friday morning. It was really too warm for all the winter garb, but we had to try out the new Dora boots and snow pants. By Friday afternoon, it was 53 degrees and sunny. Our snowmen had turned to snow blobs and were melted down to nothing, but they were fun to make and clothe. Daddy & Eden had a snowball fight and somehow, Mom ended up with snow all down her shirt, but it was warm enough that it felt Ok. Instead of hot chocolate, we went in for lemonade and watched the snow melt outside.

Lars has spent a great deal of time in this 1970's walker and it goes along the snowy sidewalk very well. Most of the time. On occasion, he finds himself flat on the ground with a bump on his noggin. After a few minutes, he was good to go again. One day, he'll decide he really doesn't need the walker, but right now, it's his security.

In the naughtiness of the week, Eden turned the master bath into a true powder room. With Gold Bond Medicated powder, none-the-less.

View One

View Two

And the close up of the powdered girl, view three.

On a brighter note, the bathroom SMELLS clean!

One more week to send me your bruise and large animal photos.
Thanks to all so far, and keep 'em coming!

Week Two

Two weeks down, one to go! I am 2/3 of the way through completing my EMT instructor certification. We have next weekend off and two full weeks to complete our final assignments. It's crazy intense, but really fun and I have met about 12 other people in the panhandle who will be great resources in the future, or so I hope.

So, here's where you come in.

Does anybody have any great or weird photos showing large animals? I'm thinking like a circus elephant or something like that. My final presentation is entitled, "I don't need a doctor - I ain't bleeding" and the subject is, "blunt force trauma to the abdomen after being crushed by a large animal." I'm thinking of doing some sort of rodeo-gone-bad scenario, but need some photos to back it up. And random photos of large animals.

I will credit anybody or their business for sending me photos that I can use in my power point for the presentation or anything in my future classes. Please email me the stipulations, if there are any, with the photos.

If it's weird, cool, natural, beautiful, ugly, funny, childish, crazy or anything in-between, I can probably use it with your permission. And if you can't think of anything that would help in this presentation, check back later, I'm sure I'll have more topics once I get my own class that I will need photos for!

lars-y

Along with working like crazy to get my first presentation done this week, I also had a family to take care of and it was a pretty typical week, with something happening every night of the week, except Thursday, when we watched the Red Wings game.

eden and daddy lounging on the couch

Late Christmas presents arrived in the mail on Friday, and we opened them up on Saturday, with much tearing of paper and playing in the box. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate on Friday and because of the high winds, we were not able to get the Christmas stuff to the storage unit. So, it sits in boxes around my house.

eden, "daddy, i'm wearing your pants!"

I'm late on all my January birthday cards, as well, so, Marie, if you're reading this, know I didn't forget you!

Speaking of Marie (and Chad), I am anxiously awaiting a phone call for the news of our newest family arrival. And photos, but I know that'll be a miracle and will have to come from Meegan. Hope all goes well... and soon!