New Phone

Chris got a new phone so everyone with the 651# DON'T call it. Call our home number if you still need to get hold of us or call my cell # it is the same as always. I am not sure if his work number is suppose to be given out now or not so I will Chris field that concern. As long as he still has his job, I guess I shouldn't be concern right now. My only concern is if the carpet guy gets in here like he said he was going to.

We Have Lights!!!

Yeah I know we have had lights for so long but we now have the lights in the bathroom functional and as long as Justin was down here we got a few more things done. Half of the outlets in the kitchen work now and Tim has been working hard to get the handles on the windows and the front door. The finishing touches are coming together and hopefully that means the carpet guy is going for finish up also. The windows and banister are looking fabulous with the hard work Tim has put into it and the finishing stain. This place is shaping up!!!!

Did I mention too that we have another pet? Well wild life that is...Jasmine calls her Daffy and I call her gimpy, but our friendly deer has been taking refuge under the pine tree. Here is a picture of her for her morning feeding. We are just happy to see her again. The picture is right along side our driveway behind the silver truck.

Monster Truck Jam

Last night we took the kids to their first ever Monster Truck show. We got a bit of a late start, but I think it might have been for the best too. After a afternoon of Chris monkeying around on Bob's truck, we skedaddled off to the show in 39 degree weather. Can you believe that? Luckily enough for us Chris knew a few parking lots close to the dome, but paying $20 for parking is highway robbery. The kids were really excited even Tony seemed to understand where we were going. I was armed with two safety ear cover things and three sets of ear plugs, I knew this was going to be loud.

Once we got into the dome, we had to make our way through the crowds while the officials were making announcements. I think we were better off in the corridors, because they had turned the lights down and I think the Bug was getting a little freaked out. We, of course, were way up in the nose bleed seats, but the view was awesome. Tony was in awe of the place. He sat on Chris's lap in a state of shock. Once they rev'd their engines, the whole place shook.

I was impressed how well the kids did in the environment and the whole show was set up for kids too. Not too many breaks between the races and I think the longest might have been between the races and the freestyle part (15 minutes). Still that wasn't bad either and they broke up the races with a wacky demo derby race with trailers. They had old cars carrying trailer with stuff and the last car running with their trailers won. Boy did Tony LOVE this race. His excited screams got a few people around us laughing. It was really funny to see the drivers get into what they were hauling like campers with stuff in them so when they got hit their stuff went flying. There was another car that actually got on another car's trailer and was towed around the arena.

The freestyle show is what most people look forward too with the big jumps, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the performance Avenger put on for us. This massive truck's run was toward the end of the show. I can only guess how much the body of one of those cost (Chris says they are made of fiberglass), but after Avenger's run there wasn't much of his left. He went on to win the freestyle after flipping his truck twice before his crew shut him down and he was still able to drive it into the pits. The original race winner Massive Destruction wasn't going to go down without a fight but he was only able to flip his truck once in his final performance.

There was a hometown favorite, Martial Law, the Minnesota natives open up the show after missing the races due to truck problems and was pretty impressive too. This truck did the shows first wheelie but was out of commission after plowing into the end of the arena, and to my lack of Monster Truck knowledge didn't realize it until after the tear down of the props that the truck had ran into the dumpsters covered in sponsor banners. I guess that will break off the tyrod that immobilized Martial Law.

There were the usual favorites like Grave Digger and Jasmine like Spike, which looked like a dog, and Tony liked it when the heavy machines had to come out to help a truck off the track. This event will surely go down as a repeat event, but next time I will remember snacks or feed them more at home to avoid a Jayna meltdown again. The poor little girl sitting in front of me got the brunt of Jayna or Tony's moving around.

So the next time we will be prepared by taking advantage of the open spots and getting away from everyone else for their sakes.

The First Ride

Here is a clip of Nick's first ride on his Yamaha Bravo. I think it took him a bit by surprise. He had a blast though and keep on riding it. It is a bit of a squeeze around the house, but he made it past some harry corners. I think the next time he tries it will be up at Mark's house where he has a bit more room. I know before long he will be asking to take this out on the trail.

First Day Of School

First day of school jitters, always had them and I guess that doesn't go away as you get older. This is the first of many online classes that I have and I hope as they go on they get better. Imagine yourself in a regular classroom with everyone talking at once and not following each other's train of thought. I have never been good at chat rooms and stuff like that and now have to do that for your education. Plus on top of that I am not a really good typer so by the time I get something typed they have moved on to the next topic. It is frustrating but at the same time Chris has been taking to getting the kids out of the house for me.


Unfortunately when he gets them out of the house he comes back with thing we don't need. For example, tonight he came back with a snowmobile for Nick. Remember that last one we got for Jasmine, the snow pony? I think Chris had to finally give it away at a swap meet because no one wanted it. Well now Nick has a Yamaha Bravo, but maybe this one will get use once or twice. Tony already has his eyes on it. Lets just hope it gets ridden more than the Honda 70.



So lets just say that it will be interesting to see what happens this semester. Who gets more out of life, me or the kids?

School Days School Days

That little tune isn't for the kids, but for me. I am officially back in school. I am working toward my licenses in LD (learning disabilities) & EBD (Emotional Behavior Disorders) toward my MA in Differential Instruction aka Special Education. This is suppose to be a two year program and with the help of President Obama, I will get the chance to get a jump start on this MA.

Tonight was suppose to be my first online class and well you can see how that is going, I am blogging instead. I guess the first day isn't until next Tuesday for this class, but tomorrow I have another class. I hope classes go okay. I am not sure how the whole not having a teacher to ask question to thing is going to go. I am not chat room savvy either, so I will probably do a few chat room faux.

Just reading the syllabus has my head spinning and the language they use is really foreign to me right now. It is exciting to start this journey but doing all of this now is going to be tough and I am not sure how often Chris is going to want to take the kids out of the house like he did for this first night of classes. It was sweet of him to try though.

Curse You Scuba Steve!!!

Today Chris went on a snowmobile trip that I will say is a curse or a really bad omen to what the Splash Run will be like in two weeks. After weeks of Chris fixing sledding for his companions, Keith broke his jumping driveways in the ditches and realized money is thin. He pulled out of the trip a day earlier, which made the cost of hotels go up for the rest of the guys. This morning, bright and early, Chris treks out to get Erik and makes the trip to Mark's place (Start). All is well, but Chris said the dreaded words...someone is going to break down. Sure enough, I get that call at 10:30 this morning. The line is cutting out and I could barely make it out that Erik is at the bar. Okay what is new about that, but this time it is by no means his choice. His sled blew up and he was waiting for Keith to pick him up while the rest of the guys went on with their journey. So with a broken sled, Erik and Keith trailed his snowmobile back to our house where it sits yet again for Chris to fix it but at least Keith fix his own right?

I haven't heard anything else from the guys and I am not sure if they made their destination for the night, but I guess in this case no news is good news. Especially since they did go through an emergency pick up plan but I don't think they got to the point of who will actually pick up the rest of the gang if they break down. I can't wait, I know there will be a few tall tales to be told when he gets back.