Here is the radio ad that Arnie and Maggie made yesterday.....if this doesn't clinch the election for him, I'm not sure what will :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4YvpNtr5og
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
I Pledge Allegiance...
Yesterday Maggie and Arnie went to our local radio station to record a school board commercial (I'll post the commercial this afternoon when I get it). While they were there the morning show host asked Maggie if she would like to record the Pledge of Allegiance for today's show. You can imagine what Maggie thought about that.
SO, here is the recording of the radio this morning and a still picture of Maggie listening to herself...
http://youtu.be/GlSrbB9sHpc
SO, here is the recording of the radio this morning and a still picture of Maggie listening to herself...
Monday, October 29, 2012
Trunk or Treat...
Last night was Trunk or Treat at church. We had been warned this was serious and unless we wanted to be embarrassed, we better not show up and just hand candy out of an undecorated trunk (or tailgate). SO, we packed up our "farm" and headed out.....
There were lots of great "trunks", games, treats and even a hayrack ride. Maggie loved it all.
It was a little chilly, so after she checked everything out, she peeked out the "barn door" and watched the trick or treaters for awhile.
Unfortunitly, Gracie has been a bit sick this weekend, so she didn't get to go. She hung out with Grandma and Pops. I was feeling a little guilty about leaving her behind, until we got back and heard she'd been sick twice while we were gone. That would have put a quick end to a fun afternoon.
When we went back to get Gracie, the girls got to trick-or treat at Grandma and Pop's. Grandma found these very stylish jackets in the basement, Maggie thought it was pretty neat. Maybe next Halloween she can be Daddy, circa 1982.
A few other pictures from our weekend....
Maggie went to Kiki's BIG GIRL Birthday party on Saturday morning. She told me several times that it was just a kid party and mom's didn't need to stay. So, I droped her off :( Kate sent me a few pictures, looks like she had a great time. She talked non-stop about it after I picked her up.
AND Gracie has done great with her new bed. Last night she climbed in and went to sleep, no arguments and no climbing out. Just a few minutes ago she told me "nigh, night" and went and climbed in for her nap. She's still not feeling great, so she's a little worn out, but I'll call it a success!
When we went back to get Gracie, the girls got to trick-or treat at Grandma and Pop's. Grandma found these very stylish jackets in the basement, Maggie thought it was pretty neat. Maybe next Halloween she can be Daddy, circa 1982.
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| Grace didn't understand why this wasn't a 3 person game? |
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| GO BIG RED! |
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| Poor Grandpa! |
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Gracie's big girl bed....
....well sort of. It's really just her crib with a new front on it. She thinks she's pretty BIG stuff climbing in by herself.
Maggie was at a birthday party when I changed it. As soon as she got home Gracie took her to see it. Maggie was really excited for Grace, which made Gracie that much happier. Such a good big sister!
We're sleeping in Omaha tonight, so we won't try it out until tomorrow. Hopefully she'll still like it at bedtime.
Maggie was at a birthday party when I changed it. As soon as she got home Gracie took her to see it. Maggie was really excited for Grace, which made Gracie that much happier. Such a good big sister!
We're sleeping in Omaha tonight, so we won't try it out until tomorrow. Hopefully she'll still like it at bedtime.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Broken Heart....
It's with a very sad heart that I tell you, today, Maggie's beloved friends Sam & Topper died. She is truly broken hearted and we all ache for her. They have been a part of her life since she was very small. Going to see Sam and Topper, and driving by to holler good morning and good night have become daily routine at our house. They sparked a true love of horses and all things cowgirl in her. I can't imagine looking out the garage doors and not seeing them.
Sam had liver cancer and it was time for him to be put down. Both horses are pretty old, Topper had a really hard time last winter and they've been together for so long. They decided it would be best to do them both. We have amazing neighbors, they knew this would be as hard on our family as it was theirs. We appreciated them taking the time to keep us updated as they prepared for this heart breaking event in their family.
As with everything in her life, she has alot of questions. So far the best 3 are- "During circle time at horse school in Heaven, do you think the horses get to run or do they have to sit down?", "Does God have enough carrots for Sam and Topper?" and "Do you think there will be at least 156 other horses in heaven for Sam and Topper to pick for their friends?"
Say a prayer for our little girl.
What I've been up to....
For the last several months I've been working on a new project. We have a serious issue with hunger in our school (and homes) here in Norfolk, so I teamed up with an organization called Blessings in a Backpack to help tackle the problem. Maggie is my biggest fan and number one volunteer, I've been really proud of how "into" this effort she has been.
It's all fallen into place better then I could have expected. The timing was great. We have a new daycare center here in Norfolk, Gracie spends a day a week there, and she LOVES it. I was worried about how she'd handle it, but she runs in to her classroom and turns around and waves goodbye, and she's always happy when I pick her up. While she is there and Maggie is at school, I work in my official Blessings in a Backpack office at Norfolk Iron :) I've never been a huge Wal-mart fan, but the people there have been awesome, when I show up to order 800 pop-tarts, 50 cases of juice, hundreds of cans of soup, etc. etc. they are all smiles and lots of help. So far the whole process has been a huge blessing to me.
This weekend the Norfolk Daily News printed a nice article about our efforts....
http://www.norfolkdailynews.com/news/local/backpack-program-a-blessing-to-hungry-students/article_fd3cbc42-1abe-11e2-a625-0019bb30f31a.html
Here is the text of the article, incase they dissconect the link...
Posted: Saturday, October 20, 2012 9:03 am
Food for thought: What will you eat this weekend?
Will you go to a Nebraska Huskers tailgating party on Saturday? Maybe have a pizza delivered or go out to eat? What about a big Sunday dinner with all of the trimmings?
Unfortunately, not everyone is nearly so lucky to have those kind of choices.
Some children in Norfolk get most or virtually all of their meals through the free and reduced lunch program available through schools — which means they get little to no food on the weekends.
But now, some of these children don’t find themselves hungry as often, thanks to the efforts of Julie Robinson and some fellow Norfolkans.
Robinson, a part-time photographer and community volunteer, said she read about a program called “Blessings in a Backpack” that helps to supplement the diets of at-risk children in a school system. After researching the organization and deciding to start her own program through it, Robinson approached the Norfolk Public Schools’ Title I elementary schools to find out if there was a need here to feed hungry students.
Robinson said she knew an Omaha food bank provides some food for students who don’t get enough to eat on the weekends, so she wasn’t expecting the response she received.
“I assumed the food bank was meeting the need for the most part, so I was really surprised to find out that there were a lot of students on the schools’ list (of hungry children) who weren’t being helped,” Robinson said. “All seven of our elementary schools were supposed to get a few bags (of food) a week this year, but last time I checked — a couple weeks ago — the food bank didn't have enough food to start the program, so Grant was the only building getting food bank food.”
And even at Grant there are still hungry children since the food bank program only provides food every other week. Robinson said school counselors told her it wasn’t uncommon to have children coming in during the off weeks, asking if they’d get food and crying when they were told there wouldn’t be a delivery that week.
In some cases, teachers ended up buying food for hungry children at their own expense, Robinson said.
“So I talked to the four Title I schools — Washington, Westside, Grant and Jefferson — and I was amazed at what the need was. There were literally hundreds of students who they listed,” Robinson said.
She secured $15,000 in funding through Norfolk Iron & Metal, where her husband, Arnie, is the executive vice president, and she also is working with Blessings in a Backpack to handle the tax portion of her program.
Currently, Robinson said, 200 students — 50 at each of the four Title I schools — are taking home grocery bags of food each Friday.
“They get two juices, two breakfast items, two meal items, two snacks, and it’s all kid-friendly. And once a month we’ll send home a whole box of cereal. . . And when we deliver on Thursday, then it’s up to the teachers to slip the bags in the students’ backpacks while they’re out of the classroom sometime on Friday, so it’s anonymous, and the student just goes home and opens their bag, and they have their food,” Robinson said.
Additionally, if a student is part of the backpack program and they have a sibling in the school, the sibling gets a bag as well. This way, a child doesn’t take home food while their brother or sister gets nothing.
Robinson is using an office at Norfolk Iron & Metal to store bulk purchases of food as well as her receipts and bookkeeping. Additionally, employees there have been more than helpful, she said.
“It kind of became a company-wide project. We started hauling in food, and people wanted to know what I was doing, and then they wanted to help. I’d set up assembly lines in the break room to fill bags, and they would be coming up constantly to ask if they could help, what could they do,” Robinson said.
All of the hard work has paid off for some hungry students. Robinson said she has gotten positive feedback from teachers, counselors and PTAs at the four schools her program is serving. She’s looking into providing the backpack program to students at Woodland Park, as they’re set to become a Title I school next year, and, hopefully, the middle school due to the high need, Robinson said.
“The No. 1 reason I started this program is that kids need to eat. And I have two little girls at home, and they help me do all of this because they need to know how blessed they are,” Robinson said.
“I want people to know there is a need. I was totally awestruck by the need. I think people just need to be aware that there are hungry children in our community. If someone wants to volunteer to help pack bags, this is a great project for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups,” Robinson said.
It's all fallen into place better then I could have expected. The timing was great. We have a new daycare center here in Norfolk, Gracie spends a day a week there, and she LOVES it. I was worried about how she'd handle it, but she runs in to her classroom and turns around and waves goodbye, and she's always happy when I pick her up. While she is there and Maggie is at school, I work in my official Blessings in a Backpack office at Norfolk Iron :) I've never been a huge Wal-mart fan, but the people there have been awesome, when I show up to order 800 pop-tarts, 50 cases of juice, hundreds of cans of soup, etc. etc. they are all smiles and lots of help. So far the whole process has been a huge blessing to me.
This weekend the Norfolk Daily News printed a nice article about our efforts....
http://www.norfolkdailynews.com/news/local/backpack-program-a-blessing-to-hungry-students/article_fd3cbc42-1abe-11e2-a625-0019bb30f31a.html
Here is the text of the article, incase they dissconect the link...
Backpack program a blessing to hungry students
By ANDREA LARSON alarson@norfolkdailynews.com |Posted: Saturday, October 20, 2012 9:03 am
Food for thought: What will you eat this weekend?
Will you go to a Nebraska Huskers tailgating party on Saturday? Maybe have a pizza delivered or go out to eat? What about a big Sunday dinner with all of the trimmings?
Unfortunately, not everyone is nearly so lucky to have those kind of choices.
Some children in Norfolk get most or virtually all of their meals through the free and reduced lunch program available through schools — which means they get little to no food on the weekends.
But now, some of these children don’t find themselves hungry as often, thanks to the efforts of Julie Robinson and some fellow Norfolkans.
Robinson, a part-time photographer and community volunteer, said she read about a program called “Blessings in a Backpack” that helps to supplement the diets of at-risk children in a school system. After researching the organization and deciding to start her own program through it, Robinson approached the Norfolk Public Schools’ Title I elementary schools to find out if there was a need here to feed hungry students.
Robinson said she knew an Omaha food bank provides some food for students who don’t get enough to eat on the weekends, so she wasn’t expecting the response she received.
“I assumed the food bank was meeting the need for the most part, so I was really surprised to find out that there were a lot of students on the schools’ list (of hungry children) who weren’t being helped,” Robinson said. “All seven of our elementary schools were supposed to get a few bags (of food) a week this year, but last time I checked — a couple weeks ago — the food bank didn't have enough food to start the program, so Grant was the only building getting food bank food.”
And even at Grant there are still hungry children since the food bank program only provides food every other week. Robinson said school counselors told her it wasn’t uncommon to have children coming in during the off weeks, asking if they’d get food and crying when they were told there wouldn’t be a delivery that week.
In some cases, teachers ended up buying food for hungry children at their own expense, Robinson said.
“So I talked to the four Title I schools — Washington, Westside, Grant and Jefferson — and I was amazed at what the need was. There were literally hundreds of students who they listed,” Robinson said.
She secured $15,000 in funding through Norfolk Iron & Metal, where her husband, Arnie, is the executive vice president, and she also is working with Blessings in a Backpack to handle the tax portion of her program.
Currently, Robinson said, 200 students — 50 at each of the four Title I schools — are taking home grocery bags of food each Friday.
“They get two juices, two breakfast items, two meal items, two snacks, and it’s all kid-friendly. And once a month we’ll send home a whole box of cereal. . . And when we deliver on Thursday, then it’s up to the teachers to slip the bags in the students’ backpacks while they’re out of the classroom sometime on Friday, so it’s anonymous, and the student just goes home and opens their bag, and they have their food,” Robinson said.
Additionally, if a student is part of the backpack program and they have a sibling in the school, the sibling gets a bag as well. This way, a child doesn’t take home food while their brother or sister gets nothing.
Robinson is using an office at Norfolk Iron & Metal to store bulk purchases of food as well as her receipts and bookkeeping. Additionally, employees there have been more than helpful, she said.
“It kind of became a company-wide project. We started hauling in food, and people wanted to know what I was doing, and then they wanted to help. I’d set up assembly lines in the break room to fill bags, and they would be coming up constantly to ask if they could help, what could they do,” Robinson said.
All of the hard work has paid off for some hungry students. Robinson said she has gotten positive feedback from teachers, counselors and PTAs at the four schools her program is serving. She’s looking into providing the backpack program to students at Woodland Park, as they’re set to become a Title I school next year, and, hopefully, the middle school due to the high need, Robinson said.
“The No. 1 reason I started this program is that kids need to eat. And I have two little girls at home, and they help me do all of this because they need to know how blessed they are,” Robinson said.
“I want people to know there is a need. I was totally awestruck by the need. I think people just need to be aware that there are hungry children in our community. If someone wants to volunteer to help pack bags, this is a great project for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups,” Robinson said.
Home again, Home again...
After a great weekend, it's nice to all be back under one roof. Arnie and I went to Vegas with a few friends and the girls stayed with Miss Lauren and then Grandma and Pop's while we were away.
Of course the girls had a great time. Maggie talked non-stop last night about all the fun they had..... They made cookies, played, went to the Orwig's house, had softball practice, took Pop's blood pressure about a zillion times, and on and on and on.....
Gracie looks SO big to me. It's amazing how much she can grow in a few days. She seems so much more grown up. She's putting 2 and 3 words together when she talks and she's singing recognizable songs....maybe she was doing all those things before but after a few days without her she seems to be doing more.
Arnie and I had a great time with Ben & Amy and Tim & Jen. It's fun to get away for a few days. I definitly wouldn't want to go to Vegas all the time but for a weekend every few years, it's ok.
Of course the girls had a great time. Maggie talked non-stop last night about all the fun they had..... They made cookies, played, went to the Orwig's house, had softball practice, took Pop's blood pressure about a zillion times, and on and on and on.....
Gracie looks SO big to me. It's amazing how much she can grow in a few days. She seems so much more grown up. She's putting 2 and 3 words together when she talks and she's singing recognizable songs....maybe she was doing all those things before but after a few days without her she seems to be doing more.
Arnie and I had a great time with Ben & Amy and Tim & Jen. It's fun to get away for a few days. I definitly wouldn't want to go to Vegas all the time but for a weekend every few years, it's ok.
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| The football game was definitly the most "high stress" experience of the weekend. At least for the boys (the girls weren't paying much attention). |
Thursday, October 18, 2012
We may have created a monster....a Dr. Monster....
Maggie has been asking me to make a "real" doctor bag for several weeks. She wanted to have it to Trick-or-Treat, and to store her doctor tools. Today while she was at school and Gracie was napping, I decided to tackle the project.
She was SO excited when she came home from school and saw it on the counter. After that we ALL had to play doctor for a LONG time. Grace, Reagan, the baby dolls and I, each took turns having our heart listened too (Apparently baby chocolate milk has a little murmer or "funny flappy noise" as Dr. Maggie calls it), our temperature checked, our blood pressure taken and our arm/leg wrapped in a "cast". She didn't understand why I wouldn't let her practice with one of the real shots that I use to give Reagan her medicine and it made her really mad when I reminded her that we were just pretending. She was on a roll!
When the dolls weren't being checked out, Gracie was making sure they got something to eat...
She was SO excited when she came home from school and saw it on the counter. After that we ALL had to play doctor for a LONG time. Grace, Reagan, the baby dolls and I, each took turns having our heart listened too (Apparently baby chocolate milk has a little murmer or "funny flappy noise" as Dr. Maggie calls it), our temperature checked, our blood pressure taken and our arm/leg wrapped in a "cast". She didn't understand why I wouldn't let her practice with one of the real shots that I use to give Reagan her medicine and it made her really mad when I reminded her that we were just pretending. She was on a roll!
When the dolls weren't being checked out, Gracie was making sure they got something to eat...
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Monday, October 15, 2012
I owe them an apology....
On my Birthday I took the girls to the park to try and take a few pictures. I thought Maggie might be willing to participate since it was my day :) We were only there about 20 minutes and I came home totally irritated and sure that we got nothing worth looking at. They hate having their picture taken, it's almost imposible to get Grace to cooperate and on the off chance that Grace does look at me for a split second, you can be assured Maggie won't be intersted in paying attention at that moment. I was annoyed! BUT today before I cleaned off the camera cards, I decided to flip through them and to my surprise, I found these......
.....I guess I owe my kids an apology!
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| I LOVE this one!! |
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| And this one! It so perfectly captures Gracie :) |
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.....I guess I owe my kids an apology!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Halloween Camping!
This weekend we went to Ponca State Park for Hallowfest and had the BEST time. This is the 2nd year we've been there and it was even better then the first. Teri and Joe did a great job staking out sites for all of us and as the kids get older it's more and more fun to have them all together. This year we had 5 campers, 11 adults, 9 kids and a dog (Reagan). The weather was perfect and of course the food, friends and beverages were all in abundance. We've started a tradition and I really hope we keep it going!
Now it's time to clean the camper out and put it away until spring. It got lots of use this year and we truly enjoyed it. Before we know it the grass will be turning green and we'll be headed out again.
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| Gracie loves to be one of the big girls! |
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| A little dance party... |
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| Peek! |
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| Thanks for the ride, Jayde! |
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| Jump, Jump, Jump!! |
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| You'd never know we had a dozen chairs, silly boys! |
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| SMORES! |
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| Time to Trick or Treat, YAH!!!! |
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| Grace loves her puppy costume, but she wants nothing to do with the ears :( |
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| People around here go all out with their Halloween decorations! Some of them are too scary for Maggie, but she tried to be brave. |
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| Dr. Maggie, reporting for duty :) |
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| Everybody is worn out!! |
Friday, October 12, 2012
Look who...
.....is doing awesome with a big girl cup! By the looks of her hair, her combing skills could use some work :)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Whew! We made it....
Last Sunday was one of those times when I looked at the calendar and knew I better hold on with both hands because the next 7 days were going to feel a bit like being stuck in a spinny door! But here we are, a week later and no worse for the wear. Lots of meetings done, yard signs up, kid activities checked off and I'm a year older! Whoa, 31, how did that happen?
We spent this weekend camping at Mahoney, it was COLD, but a great time! Next weekend we'll make one more trip out with the camper for a special halloween camp-out, then it'll probably be time to put it away for winter :(
Here are a few pictures from our week-
Peanut seems good as new.
Maggie loves practicing softball, especially batting!
Happy Birthday Mommy!!
Poor Reagan!
"come on Grandpa! Let's go!!!"
.....and they're off!
Everyone had to take a turn warming up by the fire......
....even Reagan!
We've been to Mahoney lots of times, but never taken the time to go to the Activity Center.....we'll definitely go back, the girls LOVED it!
Grace was so tired she laid down in the middle to take a rest!
Look close, even Grandma got a turn climbing through the maze!
Thankfully this week is a little less busy (I hope!)
We spent this weekend camping at Mahoney, it was COLD, but a great time! Next weekend we'll make one more trip out with the camper for a special halloween camp-out, then it'll probably be time to put it away for winter :(
Here are a few pictures from our week-
Peanut seems good as new.
Maggie loves practicing softball, especially batting!
Happy Birthday Mommy!!
Poor Reagan!
"come on Grandpa! Let's go!!!"
.....and they're off!
Everyone had to take a turn warming up by the fire......
....even Reagan!
We've been to Mahoney lots of times, but never taken the time to go to the Activity Center.....we'll definitely go back, the girls LOVED it!
Grace was so tired she laid down in the middle to take a rest!
Look close, even Grandma got a turn climbing through the maze!
Thankfully this week is a little less busy (I hope!)
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