Short Week

Sharing a couple of photos from the last couple of weeks.

Just a shot to show one of the many barrettes I've started to make for Becca. I have a huge selection already for her. Name a color..she's got it. One of the girls at work liked them so much, she bought a bunch from me for her own daughter...hmmmmm...one more hobby to add to my list.


Becca's very first Dairy Queen treat that was her very own! This was a beautiful day and she was so good all day long, like most days of course, but Tim was just in the mood to spoil her like crazy. She's got him so wrapped around her little finger! Its adorable.


Gaga Steve got out the John Deere tractor for Becca! She's not quite tall enough to use the peddles yet, but she still loved it!

Becca has been doing extremely well with the potty training still. In fact, last night, we went to watch the fireworks for the start of My Waterloo Days, and she held it for about an hour and a half, the whole time telling us that she had to potty. We told her quietly, that this time, it was ok for her to go in her cindarella pull ups, because there wasn't a potty for us to use. (we were at a park without a restroom). But she was concerned about that. So, after a bit of her dancing around and my fear of her regressing if she did it just once...we sat her in the grass behind daddy's chair, and let her pee in the grass. That was an experience for her...I'm sure! Ha!

Tim was able to see Cody yesterday. Every couple of months, Clarinda sends the students from Black Hawk County, up here to meet with their case managers and family...to save the 4 hour trip for us. This was the first time they have brought him up. Tim was able to share the 2 hours with him, along with Carrie, his Grandma Connie and his girlfriend Steph. Cody was in good spirits and happy to see everyone. Tim and I will be going down to see him on Father's Day, June 15th, and to celebrate Cody's 17th bday. We're looking forward to that time together again.

Tim and I are in the beginning stages of planning a homecoming/graduation party for Cody when he returns home late summer early fall. He will be coming home with his GED in hand, so he will not be returning to CF for his senior year! Quite a big deal to graduate early, even with all the school he missed this last year. We are proud of him for that, and don't want him to miss out on the clebrating of such an accomplishment! More dates, details and invites to come!

The Aftermath

Wow. The destruction these tornado's left is incredibly scarey. Check out these ">photos.
My Supervisor's parents house was leveled and have lost most of everything. Also, our Center Manager, here at work, also lost his home. My best friend Lori's dad and his wife live in Parkersburg also, and have heard that they are all safe and sound...no word yet on his house. My friend Gretchen has said that her brother's house got hit in Dunkerton as well. I'm sure everyone has some connection to this disaster. I know its easy to say, but most importantly is that their families are safe and unhurt. Please continue to keep all those affected in your thoughts and prayers!

Well, my Birthday weekend (besides the storms) was pretty uneventful at our house. Spent Saturday with my parents cooking out and eathing bday cake. Then we went to a graduation open house for Tim's cousin Zeb and his wife.
Sunday we spent the afternoon at Tim's dads. We spent a lot of time letting Becca run around their beautiful yard and playing on the swing set. She loved it! Until the storms hit of course. But we waited it out in the basement!
Yesterday was spent doing yard work, laundry and just plain relaxing!

Tornado Warnings

Hey. Just a quick note to everyone out there that may be checking in. Tornado's hit Parkersburg, Waterloo and Dunkerton this afternoon. We were in Denver this afternoon for supper with Tim's dad and Paula. We rode out the tornado warning in the basement, keeping an eye on the weather outside and the reports on tv. Denver had HUGE amounts of rain and HUGE hail..golfball size to gumball size. But thats all, wasn't even windy, but 3 miles down the road on HWY 63, the Tornado took the same path it did several years ago on Dunkerton rd. On the way home, we saw barns leveled, siding and shingles everywhere, HWY marker signs bent in half, street poles and street sings broken, trees split in half or twisted up. Pretty scarey that it was so close! Thank God for keeping us safe.
We got home to our house, and still have yet to see a drop of rain. Weird. It still thundering and lightening, but still no rain. I'm sure its on the rain though.
So...we're ok. Keep everyone in the storms paths in your thoughts and prayers. They are saying 2 confirmed deaths in Parkersburg and possibly one in New Hartford. I have friends in both small towns. Aerial shots from KWWL showing Parkersburg, shows 30-100 homes leveled.

Long Weekend At Last!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy memorial day! Have a great long weekend. Hoping the weather holds out for us!

We don't have big plans, other than a birthday cookout for me at mom and dads. And Tim is going to help dad set up and figure out his new laptop! This should be interesting. I have no doubt that dad will be ok, Mom on the other hand...ha! I love ya mom!

I think Becca and I might hit the library for story time tomorrow morning! Maybe even the farmers market if its dry out! I love little events like that. Big enough to seem like a fun day, but small enough that there isn't a huge crowd, no traveling, and free...incase you buy alot of course! I'm in the mood for Rhubarb. Don't know if this is the right time for it or not, but I have a reciepe from Aunt Linda that she gave me about 10 years ago that I still haven't used! I promise myself that I will do it this year!

A super Saturday

Wow! We had a great, fun filled, busy non-stop Saturday! The three of us woke up early and hit the road to pick up Wendy to go neighborhood garage sales! We didn't find anything tremendous...but some Dr Suess books, some fall cloths for Becca and a great red bookcase for Wendy. It was a fun morning and Wendy was Becca's best friend! Becca was an excellent shopper. We didn't have room for the stroller, in case we found something big (gee..like a bookcase...ha!)so she walked along with us through two neighborhoods! Actually no...she ran the entire time. We stopped for lunch on the way home and while Tim and Becca took naps, I just couldn't stand to be inside!

Because I had already planted the 4 plants we had to put in the ground still...I needed an excuse to be outside...So I went and bought more plants! Becca woke up as I came home so she helped and played while I dug the holes! She's pretty good about helping when asked!

Daddy came out to play when he woke up, and we played outside most of the rest of the afternoon. It was perfect weather. 72 and a beautiful breeze. After dinner, and 5 successful trips to the bathroom for Becca, we opted for Dairy Queen as a reward! We enjoyed eating it at the picnic table at home, rather than at the store.

We ended our day by getting the last bit of energy Becca had with a wrestling match between Daddy and Becca on the living room floor! That is always amusing! Somehow, Becca always wins! Before bedtime, she sat with me and we painted our toenails bright pink. Like blinding pink! She's so happy about that!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

I don't know if I've mentioned before or not...the really funny ShoeBox Blog that I found. You know, the Shoebox that is a division of Hallmark! Well, they post funny renditions of top news stories, cartoons, as well as rejected cards. The rejected cards are my favorite. The girls in the office will attest to this, as I often giggle and share with them what I've just read. Well, today of course, they have rejected Mother's Day Cards. I've copied and pasted them below...enjoy!

Mom, if they celebrate Mother's Day a day later in Canada,
I want to take you across the border and do it again!

Also, we can get Grandma some cheap meds.
Start packin'!
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I always knew you had it in you to be a mom.

By "it", I mean a uterus. Kind of critical for baby having.
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Grandma, you can't be beat!

Everyone knows not to beat grandmas.
That should be obvious.
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Always knew you'd make a great mom, sis...

Or, evil stepmother. You could probably swing that one too.
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Complimentary waxing:
not a good Mother's Day gift.

Learned that one the hard way.
Happy Mother's Day
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Whenever I see a dedicated mother bird feeding a hungry baby bird,
I think of you, Mom

You made great fried chicken.
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Grandmas make lousy ninjas.

But other than that, they can do pretty much anything!

Make it 4 Days!!!!!

Ok, I know, I don't want this whole blog to be about Becca's potty training. But I'm a proud Mommy! Becca wore the same pull-up today, keeping it dry from 915 until 630 tonight! She has 5 successful trips to the toilet today! I'm so amazed by her!

Ok, onto other happenings of our day. We visited the Waterloo Public Library this morning for Family Story time! There was only one other Mommy and her 3 yr old daughter. We made quick friends with them! It was also their first story time trip! After the story, the librarian got out some crafts for us to do with them. We had a lot of fun. But I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't even exchange names! But we did say that we hoped to see each other there in the coming Saturday morning story times! Good fun and free entertainment!

We came home for lunch and nap...which for the 2nd weekend, turned out to be a 3 hour long snooze. We obviously needed it. I was surprised to find Becca dry, even after that long nap! We got ready and off to Kmart to stroll and then to Church. Becca spent time in the Kids Zone tonight. It helped that Aunt Wendy was working in her room.

There was a moment in church tonight, that Pastor Dan asked all the mom's in the group to stand, so that he could pray for them. I was honored to have been prayed for by so many. But at the same time, my heart broke. The memories of being childless, and wanting so bad to be in a different spot...to have a baby of our own, for God to bless me by making me a mom..and we couldn't. I started to cry during that prayer, and started saying my own, asking God to please comfort all the childless couples who long to be parents. That tomorrow will be a hard hurdle for them to get past. But to reassure them, that in His time, those couples will be blessed on many levels.

Please remember those woman tomorrow, that may be trying, or have lost little ones. Love on them and comfort them. I know, I've been there...and they will be thankful for it.

3 days in a row!

Becca seems to be getting this potty training thing down. 3 days in a row she has been successful with at least 1 trip to the toilet! We're extremely proud! She has told us several times as well, when she needs to go, but we have been quite fast enough. Tomorrow, I think we will try to stick around home, and set the timer and go to the bathroom every hour. We'll see how that goes.

Work this week was interesting. Alot of moving around in the office. So they moved me to a new location. Its always hard to hit my stride again when they move me around. You get comfortable in one spot, and everything is just kinda off for the first few days after a move. Grainger also announced last Friday that they have a finalized purchase agreement for a new building! They are breaking ground this month and hope to have the building completed by next spring. March or April is what we are hearing! Very cool. And luckily its not far from the current building. Just up the road at the new Ansborough interchange off San Marnan and across the street from VGM.

Tim is on his fishing tournament trip this weekend. So its just Becca and I. Tonight, Wendy & Xavier joined my Mom, Dad, Becca and I for supper at A&W, then Becca and I had to hit Walmart for a couple staples to get us through the weekend (chocolate and pull-ups!)Becca loves that the pull-ups have Cinderella on them. She says,
Momma...My Lala! (Lala is what she calles Cinderella)

Poop Party!

Ok, I know this may be a bit too much information for some..but hey, sharing updates, trials and tribulations as family is the exact reason I started this blog!

Becca went in the toilet for the first time! And to top it off...it was a goop!(pooped)

Yahoo!!!!! We've been attempting the big toilet for months. Admitedly, not whole heartedly or consistantly though. However, tonight, I saw that she was going to go hide to poop...and quick swept her up and put her on the toilet! She did it! She pooped in the toilet!

Daddy and I did quite the song and dance in celebration! He came running upstairs with treats in hand as a reward! We definitely need to keep m&m's on hand now! (oh dear....this will be an issue for me).

Join us in the celebration dance!

This weekend was full for us! Seems we hit both ends of the spectrum...from the 3 of us all taking a 3 hour nap on Saturday afternoon, to spending hours doing yard work today!

Becca and I started our morning on Saturday by eating our breakfast from McDonald's in the car, as we sat in the John Deere parking lot, and watched them blow up one of the smoke stacks from the old John Deere power plant downtown. We watched it tip over and go " timmmmmmberrrrrrr " as Becca said. As soon as Tim was done working security for the blast, the 3 of us hit the big Garage Sale event they had in Cedar Falls. People could rent out booths in the old Hy-vee, and for just a $1 for adults, you could hit all the booths! It was alright. Very busy. We did manage to pick up a couple play outfits for Becca to wear in the yard or at Daycare through out the summer. Stuff I'm not worried about her ruining! We also found a Doll house with little people and furniture. She's loving that! Its so fun to watch her have imaginative play time with that! Very cute.

Today, we hit Walmart early for some necessities and ended up with a couple "extras"...in the form of garden plants! Every year we are adding plants to and around the pond. We still haven't found the perfect combination. So while Becca slept today, we cleaned out the boat, and started moving some plants around in the yard. I enjoy that, and really do wish we had a bigger space for me to garden. Right now, all we have are tiny litte beds, either surrounded by concrete ( i hate it) or against the house. I would love to have island beds that I could play with. I need an acreage! In my dreams.

But it was a beautiful day to spend outside. Becca joined us once she woke up from her nap, and enjoyed riding her scooter and playing on the slide. But we noticed as soon as we headed back inside, that the poor thing had broken out on her legs just from that short time being outside. Darn eczema. Just a little bit of whatever it is (either sunshine or grass...we haven't figured it out yet) and she's red, splotchy and itchy all over her legs.

Phew...thankful thats over!

Today we had a scheduled home visit from Cody's p.o! He was to check the place out and feel out the situation, in hopes that when Cody comes home from Clarinda in August, that he lives with us. We are anxious about this. Good anxious...because we are excited for the opportunity to get to know each other better and hopefully provide a nourishing environment for him to "grow up" in. But there is also a bit of nervous anxious involved to...mainly for the exact same reasons just mentioned! Really though, I look forward to this next step. It will be a challenge, or perhaps..." a change " is better terminology to use. A Change, going from raising a two year old, that we know how to handle most times and are familiar with....to living with and being parents to a 17 year old that we are not so familiar with! But if it is God's will and we can be blessed with this opportunity...we will take it!

The visit went well. Todd (the p.o.) told us to expect some family dynamics interview questions, some discussion on what is to be expected, as well as seeing the living conditions Cody would be in along with making sure we have running water and electricity! HA....Well, he came in, sat down in the recliner, had a nice visit with us, did the interview questions, said, " well, I can tell you have electricity, because the lights and tv are on....So I'll just assume you have running water as well! " He didn't tour the house, didn't look around. Didn't even as much as peek around the corner to see what was here besides the living room! Ha...He left!

After all the prepping, decluttering, cleaning and cookie baking I've done to make it as home-y as possible...He didn't even leave the recliner! I made my bed for the first time in probably 4 years, and he didn't even leave the recliner!
We laughed about that, and I still laugh about it! We definitely take it as a compliment that he was very comfortable in our house, and could trust us by seeing only one room in our house, and by the answers we gave in our discussion, that Cody will do ok here. At least we hope! Shoot...maybe he didn't like the way I decorated and made his decision not to see the rest of the house based off that! Haha! Lets hope not!