School's out for summer!!!! Today's blog is being brought to you by the letter O - otherwise known as Olivia :)

Today is the last day of school!!!!! (Now my mom is going to type for me) Today we watched a movie. We had a lot of activities. Today at school we had a sack lunch. It had a deli sandwich, baby carrots, trail mix and an apple. It was good. I brought home some things from lunch. I also brought home my gym shoes and things from my desk.

I liked first grade, I also really liked my teacher Mrs. Schaaf. I will miss my teacher and my room, but I am excited to start second grade in the fall, but during the summer I like to go swimming and see my old friends at daycare. I also want to go to summer camp. I also go to swimming lessons. I'm looking forward to going to Papa Perry and Grandma Deb's cabin too.

(Back to mom now...) These are some of the comments from Olivia's report card...

Olivia is very considerate of others. She has never made anyone feel bad. She does like to talk to her neighbors, but all I have to do is to remind her to be quiet.

I have seen a lot of growth in Olivia's writing skills this year. I am very pleased with her progress. Encourage her to keep a diary or journal this summer so she can keep improving her skills.

Olivia has developed some very important work habits. She is well on her way to having success in all her school years.

Olivia has done an outstanding job studying her math cards! That has really paid off.

Olivia possesses a lot of insight on the material we have covered. She is really a deep thinker!

Olivia is a natural born reader! There's no doubt about it! She reads very well above her grade level. I know Olivia will continue to read during the summer! Also encourage her to practice writing. This can be in the form of letters, journal, diary, etc.

Promoted to second grade.

Congratulations Olivia - we are very proud of you :)

I was telling my family about this awesome song over the weekend - thought I'd post the link for people to check out. I apologize to all of the Bush supporters, but it really is an awesome song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FF0cS9s6Aw

Wow!! What a weekend!!! It was a wonderful time, but I think it's safe to say that we are all exhausted!! We had 8 adults and five kids 6 and under in a 3 bedroom house. It was loud, it was wild, it was crazy - it was a lot of fun!! I'm amazed at how the kids grow and change and how much fun it is to watch them interact with each other and vie for Grandma and Grandpa's attention. Speaking of Grandma and Grandpa - thank you to both of them - I know that they are probably the most exhausted - we're a lot of work :)

The kids had so much fun at the farm. We celebrated Morgan and Will's birthdays a little bit early. Uncle Ben and Aunt Breezie got them an inflatable waterslide thingy. The kids really loved it!! It was a great way for them to keep cool and burn off some energy.


It's so much to pack into three days. There were many smiles and laughs and even a few "gumpy" faces. We are really blessed to have this wonderful family - now if we could just get the Texans to move closer...

It's been a rough couple of days in the Waller house. After reaching what I would call 90% of potty trained, Elliott has decided that she no longer wants to pee on the potty. It's tremendously frustrating. We were there. It was good. Now we're not. She still (knock on wood) poops on the potty, but we can't get her to sit and try to pee. I'm going to call her doctor this morning and tell the nurse about what's going on. I worry a bit that she may have a bladder infection, or something else that's going on that's preventing her from going. Argh...

Jackie had some sad news, her grandmother passed away on Monday. She and Jamie will be going to North Dakota with her mom and dad and younger brother for the funeral. Normally, we would take care of the dogs, but since we'll be leaving for Dubuque, her younger brother Bob will assume the duties. We're on call for informational/advice backup.

My co-worker Joy had her baby yesterday. Sarah and I skedattled down to the nursery to get a glimpse of him while they were still poking, proding, and measuring him. Quite a handsome little guy. Their family is going to be busy with three little boys :) What a blessing!

Well - time to turn off Arthur and get this circus on the road. It is Olivia's last 1st grade Wednesday!!!

Hot dang and hallelujah!!! Olivia is riding her bike :) It just goes to prove that a little bribery does go a long way. No, it wasn't just the bribery, but it did keep her going when she otherwise would have given up. She's worked with Chris before, and yesterday was my turn to help her - which was interesting as Elliott seemed intent on holding one of my hands while I was helping Olivia with the other. I am just so proud of her. We went all the way around the block. Not without stopping lots of times, but still, we made it all the way around the block!!!!!

All in all, it was a pretty quiet weekend around the Waller house. We went to lunch and shopping on Saturday. Olivia got to take her friend Savannah with us. They had a grand time. Then we had the Nissen's over for dinner. Brian brought some really fine smoked pork and Lisa provided us with ice cream cone cupcakes. Yum!!!

Yesterday was devoted to bike learning, truck washing and friend playing. I even got to do some reading while Elliott was napping and Olivia and Savannah were playing in the basement. They went downstairs because there was a spider on the porch, and then they came up because the basement was haunted. I heard Olivia exclaiming, "don't tell my mom, she'll scream!!" I didn't know I was quite so dramatic....

Today had a rough start. It was a pee on the knee kind of morning. Elliott woke up with a dry pull-up, but then didn't want to sit on the potty. So, she got to spend some time in her room. I went to get her out of her room, opened the door, kneeled down - so I could be on her level - in pee. Yeah, that was nice. God I love potty training. Just for the record - she's all Chris. Except for the cute dimples!!! That's all me :) Okay - y'all can stop laughing out loud now!!!

Another week almost done - where does the time go? Jackie and I started the pre-birthday talk last night. We decided that we're both pretty fond of 33, it's been good to us. We debated on whether 35 or 36 would be the psychologically harder year. Jackie thinks 35, I think 36. We should ask my brother Bill - he's been through both :) :) :) Sorry older brother!!!

I had a daycare Board meeting tonight. It's a neat group of people, and always some interesting discussion. I haven't decided yet if I like being a part of a Board yet. It's fun when things are going well, but you also get to hear everybodies thoughts and opinions about everything - because you are on the Board. I should know - I've been doing it for 2 years, but I guess it's like most things, it has its more enjoyable times and its less enjoyable times.

Elliott has alternately been a puppy or a kitty for quite a while now. You'll be happy to know Bill, that although she is happy to drink pretend milk from my hand or eat pretend puppy biscuits that I feed her, she has not gotten into puppy kisses. I still remember Olivia's puppy kiss phase. I was telling someone that story recently and I think they just plain thought that it was gross. Well, there's a lot about having kids that's pretty just plain gross.

Speaking of having kids - today was my friend Joy's last day of work before her maternity leave. She will have her baby on Tuesday. This will be baby number three for their family. They will certainly be in our thoughts and hearts, and we will be waiting to hear the lullaby play over the intercom. Then we will flock to the nursery window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the new baby.

Olivia is on the wind-down at school. Next week is their last full week. I wish that next week was it altogether, but they go back for one day after the Memorial Day holiday. I know that they need to have their set number of days, but you can't tell me that Tuesday is going to in any way be a productive day for them!! Once again, I'm glad I'm not Mrs. Schaaf - and God Bless teachers!!!!! Especially you Deb :)

Well, I'm ready to call it a night so we can move on to Friday. I have a lunch date with some of my friends from work, and my friend Jennifer and her daughter Maya. Jennifer used to work with us and Maya is the recipient of all of Olivia and Elliott's hand-me-downs. We are so glad to have them - Chris especially - he likes the extra space in the basement :)

Happy early Friday!!!!

I love having cupboards and a refridgerator stocked full of new groceries, but man do I hate the stuff that leads up to it. I hate trying to figure out what to put on the menu - it seems like we always have the same things, or variations on the same things. I hate going to grocery store - it always seems to be terribly busy and the aisles are terribly narrow. I hate paying for the groceries - I can never figure out how it could add up to that much (never mind that I'm shopping for four people for two weeks...) Ah, but it's done and now I can relax and bask in the glow of having plenty. As long as I remember to take things out of the freezer to thaw for dinner... Guess there's always something to think about!!

Olivia had one of the pure joys of childhood tonight. When I got home from the grocery store, she was on the deck - blissfully playing in the rain. She had enormous good fun and then came in for a nice warm shower before dinner. I would say that I miss that, but truth be told I still enjoy playing in the rain, although I prefer it to be a BIT warmer than it was tonight.

Life is full of changes. My dear friend Sarah - my "best friend at work" (they say that it's very important to have a best friend at work - it keeps people happy at work - I know that's certainly true for me) has accepted a new job in my home metropolous of Dubuque. She will be the new Human Resources Manager at Area Residential Care. I'm very happy for her! Although a bit sad for me... She is getting married to Stinky (otherwise known as Steve) on August 13th and he's been happily living in Dubuque for a while now. I lobbied to find him a job in the Cedar Valley, but he kept making noise about liking his job there, or something along those lines. Anyway, congratulations Sarah - this is a wonderful opportunity for a wonderful person!!!

Chris is gone working on the bus tonight. I think that they're working on stereo stuff and something else. I pay attention - really I do :)

I am on to bubble bath and book...

Happy Monday!! It was a very nice weekend - despite the gloomy rainy weather. Wine and Tulips was a great time. They had the event at PIPAC on the lake this year instead of in the Union at UNI. It was different, but I think all in all, a good venue. Afterwards we went out for dinner at Soho. It's a sushi place that Chris has been dying to try. I tried some sushi and some saki. I guess I'm not a big fan.

The girls had fun spending the night at Grandma Diane and Papa Roger's. Olivia reported that Elliott didn't sleep because she was up all night talking to her Elephant and playing in her bed. I asked her if that kept her awake. She said no - that she's a very deep sleeper. How, I wonder, then did she know that she was up all night?

We had a very nice Mother's Day. Chris and the girls got me a new robe. It's light blue and very nice. Elliott and I took a nice nap. The girls and I went for a walk down to the river while Chris was jogging. It only rained on us a little bit. Olivia and I played games. She kicked my butt at chutes and ladders. A very good day with my family :)

Have a super start to the week!!!

I am constantly amazed by the concept of relativity. Today, for instance, we got to sleep in!! Great day in the Waller house. Now, when we were a young couple - sleeping in meant sleeping until noon. Funny how having kids changes that. Now we're dancing the jig because Chris and Olivia slept in until a bit after seven, and Elliott and I slept in until almost eight!! How decadent (albeit sad) is that??

It's another rainy and gray day here. I was hoping for better weather for Wine and Tulips tonight - but believe me - we'll still go and have a mighty fine time of it!!! We have gone with the same couple for a number of years now - maybe five. Steve Minkel is an independent painter (very good at what he does) who does a lot of work with Chris. We always have a good time with Steve and Betsy - they give us insight on the freedom that awaits when your kids are grown-up and out of the house. Life after poopy diapers and homework and scraped knees. It's still quite a ways in the future for us.

The girls are looking forward to spending the night at Grandma Diane and Papa Roger's. My only fear is that there will be argument over who gets to sleep in the Pooh Blow-Up bed. I will have to see if I can find another Blow-Up bed since they both seem to think it's the bomb.

Elliott continues to be completely fascinated by puppy dogs, and spends a lot of time pretending to be a doggy. This morning she had the tie from my robe and it was her leash. She was trying to get Olivia to walk her, but Olivia was completely engrossed in her Saturday morning cartoons. Saturday morning cartoons are big for her - it makes me glad that we don't have cable - I'd be battling the cartoon network every day.

Well - I'd better get moving. Mad vacuuming awaits.... : )

Today is the second anniversary of my friend Carol Zartman's death. I want to take a moment to pause and honor her memory. Carol was a wonderful person, I am a better person for having been her friend. I met Carol when I was in highschool, she worked at Long John Silvers with me for a short time - she was a good friend of Jackie's - so we became instant friends too. The three of us went to UNI together. We spent countless hours together. Playing cards - we loved hearts, spoons, and gin. Watching Saturday Night Live and Star Trek - yes, I think we all had a thing for Data. Ordering pizza on Sunday because there wasn't any dorm food. Carol was just easy to be with - she was enthusiastic about the little things in life. You may hear me comment "I love it" about something or other that seems pretty insignificant. That's Carol - she taught me to fully appreciate the little things - afterall, life is made up of all the little things. Carol paved the way - she was the first to marry, the first to miscarry a baby, the first to have a baby, the first to leave this earth. She loved her children more than anything. We were pregnant together twice - we have pictures of Jackson and Olivia together as tiny babies, they were born about a week apart. I can still remember that visit. I wish that there had been more visits. It seems that life always gets so busy, and we forget to make the time, to take the time. So, in honor of Carol on this terribly sad anniversary, my advice to all of you is to make the time - you don't know if you'll get another opportunity. Accept the spur of the moment invitations. Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Love the little things. I miss you Carol.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

My little girls are growing up - although Elliott does not quite fill my shoes yet!

I find myself struggling a bit as Olivia moves a bit further from the nest. I'm glad that she has friends from school, and that she wants to go to their house and play, but I worry about her. I want to be sure that she's in a safe environment. How can you know that for sure as a parent? You use your best judgement, but it would be very easy not to let her out of my sight at all. It really makes me appreciate my parents even more. I think of all the times that they weren't sure that they wanted to let me do something with a friend - and I think of all the good times that I had with my friends and their families - although they were different from my own, and I take a deep breath. Parenting isn't easy and just when you think you've got a handle on it, it moves on to another phase.

The fries are simple, but they are not a last minuet item. I just cut a potato in half then into 1/4" strips, Then cut the strips so that I have tators that are 1/4" by 1/4" by random lengths. I then soak them in a bowl of salt water for 15-25 minutes to remove some of the starch. Drain and pat dry. I then coat with olive oil and spread on a cookie sheet. From there go nuts. I like Parmesan cheese, pepper, and seasoning salt on mine. We usually do a section for the kids and the rest for the adults that has some kick to it. I bake them in the oven at 400 for 20-25 minutes, smaller batches take less time in the toaster oven. I say the crispier the better, but suit yourself.

I have also followed this with wedges and had good luck. remove them five minutes early and top with cheese and bacon bits, then dip in sour cream!!

Its up to you, the soaking helps, and the oil gets them crispy. I'll be ready for you to tell me how the tex mex fries go together pretty soon.

Enjoy your week!

The power of words... I'm blogging a bit early this morning because I woke up a bit early to someone knocking on their bedroom door with pleas of "I have to go potty." Funny how those words really put a little boogy into your woogy!!! Anyway...

We had a good day, mostly around home yesterday. Olivia had spent Saturday night at Savannah's house. It was a spur of the moment invitation, and reminded me a lot of the spontaneous sleepovers I had as a child with my cousins. She had a very good time. I had to make her spend some time at home with us on Sunday before she went out to play with Savannah again!! I'm just a mean old mom, aren't I? But we did get to play a game of Scrabble Junior that I had gotten at a garage sale last weekend. It was quite old - we opened the box to find another board included - I think it was the original version of Monoply and some wooden hotels to go with it. I can't remember the name of it, but we did have fun playing "scramble", and Olivia whooped up on me pretty good. Then she went out to play Savannah, and they invited her to join them for dinner at Brown Bottle. Chris and I both agreed that WE want to be Savannah's friend!!

In other less exciting news, I got the lawn mowed. I can't believe that we're into the continuous mowing cycle already. Elliott and I made a pineapple/angel food cake. She loved snacking on the pineapple, but wasn't fond of the cake when it was done. Then homework and tucking and Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy for me :) My guilty pleasures. I enjoy desperate housewives, but I LOVE Grey's Anatomy. I like the themes and the music and how they put the whole show together. Good stuff man...

Have a great Monday :)

Our Cinco de Mayo was quite a good day. Olivia had a really nice program at school. Grandma Diane and I had lunch with her in the cafeteria and then visited her classroom for a while. Mrs. Schaaf asked who knew about adjectives - it was funny, but none of the parents and grandparents were raising their hands!!! Then we went to the high school gym where we were joined by Papa Roger. It was a very good program - most of the elementary vocal pieces were done in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. The first grade and kindergarten classes got to do a dance - like a kid's version of the Mexican hat dance - on stage. It was really neat!!

Then we went to dinner at Jackie and Jamie's house. Even Sugar got to go. Lucky dog - although she rides horribly in the car!! We feasted on tacos, refried beans, chips and cheese and strawberry shortcakes and strawberry margaritas for the tall people. Elliott had a great time with Jamie - there was a stray eyeball that Sugar removed from one of the toys. Elliott had a tremendous time teasing Jamie with the eyeball. Eyeball seems to be such a fun word, Chris and I remember Olivia also having an "eyeball" thing - can't remember what age she was, but it must somehow sound like a forbidden word. You silly eyeball!!

Today started out kind of poopy. Literally. Elliott woke up at 5:00, and was just a bear cat. I took off her wet pull-up and put her back to bed. I should have taken the extra minute to put a new pull-up on. Chris got up with her at 7:00 when she said she had to go poopy. Ooops... too late. There was some stepping in poopy, a whole bunch of poopy all over Elly and the rug. It was quite the experience. We're still working to get over the intestinal bug. It's not bad, but it seems to be hanging on enough to make life a little exciting - not in a good way though!!

Well, like they say, poop happens and everything and everyone got cleaned up and is no worse for the wear. I was actually inspired to get a new rug too! It was time for a new one anyway, and it sounded a heck of a lot more appealing than the alternative.

We ran errands and had lunch out. Chris got a lot of yard work done while Elliott and I were napping and Olivia was playing. Then he made us a most fabulous dinner. We had steaks and hot dogs and homemade fries and carrots. We keep telling Chris that he makes the BEST homemade fries in the world - and we're not exagerating!!

Hope yall are having a wonderful and restful weekend!!!!!

It'd be a good day to be psychic!!! I dreamed last night that instead of my brother Bill and sister in-law Dani and their family coming for a visit later in May, they were coming to move back to Iowa. I was so happy that I cried. I think it was hearing about Morgan starting kindergarten this fall and so looking forward to our visit later this month that had them so firmly in my thoughts.

The daycare carnival was a fabulous success last night. I haven't heard the final outcome, but by judging by the number of people in attendance and the interest in the silent auction items, I would say that they did quite well in raising funds for the playground.

Thank you to everyone that took time to drop an email to Olivia - she was so very happy!! She's going to blog tonight in response and let everyone know how her program goes today.

Happy Friday!!!!

My brain is stuck on today being Friday. That's going to be a real bummer when tomorrow is Friday too. We get to go to a carnival at the daycare tonight to raise money for the playground. We'll all be happy when the playground is done, it's such a beautiful building, but the kids really need outdoor space too in which they can run and play. It won't be much longer.

Chris had an expensive day yesterday. He woke up to a truck that wouldn't start. I was awfully surprised that he was still home when I got up. He thought that it might just be the battery, but no such luck. He had to have it towed to the shop here in town when a new battery made no difference. They replaced the starter. Not exactly what you want to miss a day of work for, but he made a wonderful domestic god while he was home. Laundry, vacuuming, dandelion killing, shower cleaning, etc. Bless his heart!

Olivia is anxious about their program tomorrow at school. Fretting that she doesn't know the words to the song they will be singing. Bemoaning that it's hard to learn words in Spanish. I tried to console her, saying that with the music and everyone else singing with her, she would remember the words. She was less than convinced. They are supposed to dance too - I can't wait to see it :)

Well - I better check on the girls who are eating chocolate donuts at the coffee table while watching a bit of Arthur. Gotta love the PBS cartoons - good stuff man :) Have a super 1st Friday of the week!!

Hi , this is Olivia. My mom is going to help me tell you about my feeld trip.

We went on a field trip on Tuesday. We went to a museum at UNI. There we learned about animals. We also got to do a scavenger hunt. After we finished our scavenger hunt, we went to McDonald's. We got to pick our favorite lunch and buy it. I picked a fish sandwich with tartar sauce and HI-C. Then we went to the Hearst Center. We went through the sculpture garden. We got to make a picture with shapes and we did it with oil pastels. After that we went to the park. Then we got to go back to school. It was over, but we had to get ready. We had to get our papers and put them in our bags and then we had to put our chairs up and then we went home. It was a good day.