Our visit to Oshkosh - April 25-26, 2009

We took some time for a fashion show on Saturday afternoon. This is dress number one. Courtney wore it for her 18 month picture. This style dress was very popular when my girls were little. They had cute smocking on the top and a huge hem. Alissa had a yellow one and both of them were gifts since they were quite pricey. I didn't save much, but I am glad I saved a few things because it was worth a laugh or two!

This is dress number two. Courtney wore this dress for her second Easter when she was about 16 months old. Tizu put this one on with a bribe of some chocolate chips which she is eating now.

Dress number three was a dress that Courtney wore to her Aunt Lynn's wedding when she was about 18 months old. Lynn made it to match our bridemaid dresses. It was the least favorite for Tizu but I am guessing she was sick of the fashion show at this point.

Here is Tizu giving her Grandpa a big hug. We played all afternoon in her playroom. She is a very good activity director, telling us how, what, and where to play. Her vocabulary has really grown just in the last two weeks and she is putting together sentences that are pretty easy to understand most of the time.

Tizu wanted us to take a picture of her bum and we couldn't resist because it is just so darned cute in these PJ's.

Tizu is modeling her cute pajamas before bed. Grandpa and I got her ready for bed and it went well. We had worked on a mother's day project before bed. She did a great job even though grandpa and I had a bit of an ordeal getting the project started. It clearly states any 8 year old can do it, but we beg to differ. Anyway Tizu salvaged it for us. Watch for details after she gives it to her mama.

Here is Tizita saying her prayers before bed.

This is Tizu modeling her new dress that Grandpa and I gave her for Easter. She loves to model and seems to know the moves of the big time models! I gave Tizu her bath this morning while mom and dad slept in a bit. I washed her hair and we let it go natural which is so pretty. Tizu wanted to put this pink headband in and it looked so nice. She kept asking us, "Pretty?"
No self esteem problems here!

Here we are ready to go to church. Paul played in the band today and everytime he went up to play, Tizu would call out, "Papa," and wave at him. Then she would proceed to tell me that he was playing the guitar. She did a good bit of talking out loud in church this morning, but everything she said had to do with the Pastor was saying. She really listens well and does not miss much.
After church we went to eat at Red Robin which started out just fine until the waiter brought us our refill drinks. He dropped one and it spilled all over Paul. His pants were soaked and his shoes were full of Dr. Pepper. Paul is so laid back though that he just went right on eating his slightly damp burger for which there was no charge.
Tizu fell asleep on the drive back home so John and I left. It rained all weekend, a rather cold rain, too, but little Tizu brightened up our two days.

Long time, no post

Wow, I have gone almost a week without a new post. Must be blogger's block or just a rather boring existence around here. Actually the weather has been very springlike this week so the outdoors was calling to me. I love to just sit out and soak up the sun on these beautiful days. So, I guess that took presidence over blogging.
We actually had a very productive and fun weekend. On Saturday I worked at the Early Childhood Fair at our High School. We had a booth where the kids dug through beans for gold coins to turn in for a prize. Many preschools, day cares, and other services for Preschool aged children set up booths at the fair. I run into many, many old students and friends from the other preschools so it is always a very social day. After I did my shift there, John and I ran (well, you know we took the car) into Brookfield on the advice of my refound old friend, Pam who has a real passion for scrapbooking. We picked up some scrapbooking supplies that I just cannot be without if I am to do the hobby justice. I have scrapbooked for quite some time, but I just never had the correct tools, who knew? Now I am ready to go... If you are at all related to me or ever get a gift from me, expect a scrapbook project of some sort!
Then we did some yard work. Actually, truth be told I laid on the blanket again and watched John rake up all or our pinecones. I did go to the neighbor's and picked up about a thousand pine cones. I figured it would keep friendly relations if I picked up after my tree! Kind of like picking up after you dog, I suppose.
Finally we headed over to Deb and Pete's for dinner which was yummy. The champagne was yummy, too. Deb is a champagne connoisseur and whenever we are together I get to enjoy that fabulous drink with her. After good food and fun conversation we called it a day and headed home. I almost forgot, we spent some time ogling over pictures of our beautiful grandchildren and our beautiful bride daughters.
My kids sing in church today, so hoping that goes well and there are no major meltdowns. Stay tuned...

Easter 2009

The little egg dyer in action.

Alissa, Tizu, and Mallory at the Park.

Here is our little lady in her Easter finery!

Tizu with Aunt Alissa and Uncle Cheddah!

Tizu and her Gigi!

The happy family on Tizu's first Easter in America!

All ready for Church on Easter Sunday.
We had an absolutely wonderful Easter weekend together. It started with Easter egg dyeing on Good Friday afternoon. Tizu thoroughly enjoyed the colorful dye and made some very pretty eggs.
On Friday night we all went out for pizza and John and I babysat while Courtney, Paul, Alissa, and Nathan went out. Tizita was very good for us, as usual and she got to sleep with us in our big bed all night. What fun to wake up to her cheerful chatter on Saturday morning.
Tizu has breakfast with my mom, Gigi in the mornings. They eat their cereal together and enjoy Orange juice. Tizu drinks hers from a shot glass which is such a treat for her. She and Gigi have to "toast" before each drink.
We took Tizu to the park on Saturday morning. The temps were a bit on the cool side, but we all ran around a lot to keep us warm. Tizu helped me make egg salad for lunch. She cracked two dozen eggs and did a great job using my egg slicer. The egg salad was the best any of us had eaten even though there may have been a few shells in it!
On Saturday afternoon Courtney, Paul, Alissa, Nathan, and Mallory took off on their Easter hunt which took them all over town looking for landmarks. It was a great success and they all agreed it was a lot of fun. We already have some new ideas for next year's hunt. They were not able to locate everything although they did find more things than I thought they would.
We hunted for 72 plastic eggs around our yard. The "big kids" still always like to do this and Tizu seemed to enjoy it too. We all played some kicker and golf with Tizu's new toys and just enjoyed the nice weather again.
We ordered from Schuett's Drive in, our favorite local fast food place for supper. The hamburgers, fries, and foot longs are just as good as ever! The night ended with some gaming.
Sunday we all went to church and had a great dinner. We all went to the park again and then enjoyed some quiet relaxing time in the afternoon. Courtney, Paul, and Tizita decided to stay for an extra night, so we are still Eastering around here! What a nice surprise!

Two down and one to go!

Today I had two of three Easter hunts for my Preschoolers. Both were very successful and the kids are still looking for that Easter bunny. I put clues all over the school and we go all over finding the clues and chasing that ellusive bunny. There is something to be said about the gullibility of three and four year olds.

These are the Easter hats that my class made. In the picture below you can see them striking their modeling poses to show off their beautiful hats.

One more hunt tomorrow, then a half day of school, then Tizu arrives on Friday for the Easter weekend! Oh, Alissa, Nathan, Courtney, Paul, and Mal will be here, too!
Happy Easter everyone!
Jesus is alive! He is alive indeed!

Weekend Recap

Another weekend is winding down. This one was Tizuless since she is visiting her other grandparents in Iowa, but it is good to know we can still have a great weekend without the little sunshine of our lives around. We started out with pizza and beers with Alissa and Nathan on Friday night. They have a way of sniffing out new and fun places to hang out at. We started out at Rounding Third where we enjoyed great pizza and beer that went down like water. I guess we all needed a few beers after a long week of work. The guys had their pizza loaded with every kind of meat on the menu while Alissa and I had our usual cheese and sausage. ( Alissa picks off all the sausage!) We headed over to Alissa and Nathan's personal bar where everybody knows their names and they're always glad they came. We had a few more Miller Lites for good measure and then were given complimentary deep fried Snickers bars. Okay, I was a bit skeptical at first, imagining them being fried in the same oil as the fish and fries, but after we learned they were fried in funnel cake batter we gave them a try and MMMMMM they were so yummy! Definitely a nice sweet surprise to end the night.
On Saturday John and I had some Easter hunt business to attend to. You see for the last 31 years I have designed an Easter hunt for the girls. The hunts started out simple when they were little, but have progressed into some pretty elaborate clues and searches. As soon as Mallory heard that everyone would be here for Easter this year she was excited about the hunt. Alissa, on the other hand, threatened not to come if there was a hunt. Luckily I know she really enjoys the hunts and only pretends to dislike them! Anyway this year's hunt promises to be the biggest and best ever! I will give you the details at a later date. Anyway John and I worked on that, did our weekly Walmart run, had lunch at Culver's. You know there is nothing like a greasy butter burger and salty fries to counteract the beer of the night before.
We then headed to a movie in a theater. We don't do this very often, but we had a gift card compliments of Mallory so it was finally time to use it. The card was worth $25.00. It cost us $13.00 to get into the movie and $12.50 for mega popcorn and sodas! We saw Knowing. Odd movie. I think it was trying to make a statement about the end of the world, heaven, angels, and other spiritual things with some angel looking aliens and spaceships involved. Seemed to be leaning toward the whole rapture and new earth belief. It was at least worth the price of admission for us.
Today it is snowing yet again. I am looking forward to a lazy day. Off to church now. Have a good week everyone.

A Major Breakthrough

This is Oswaldo. He started school about a month ago with a scholarship from the Public School's early childhood program. He speaks no English, only Espanol and he attends on Tuesdays and Fridays. Each time he has attended so far, not including today, he has cried the entire time, refused to take his coat or backpack off, and would push anyone away who tried to comfort him. It was stressful to have a crying child in the classroom while trying to teach a Bible story, read books, or have group time. The kids often referred to him as the kid who cries all the time.

But today was different. Oswaldo arrived by 7:25 which is 20 minutes too early. The principal let him in thinking he was there for day care. Luckily I was in my room because he was just dropped in there. I don't believe his caregiver speaks english either. I was already thinking it would be an especially long morning of tears, but the tide turned! Oswaldo took off his coat, a hoodie he had on, and his backpack and handed it all to me. He talked to me. Not sure what exactly he was saying, but that is true of many of my younger students and they speak english! Often times I have to just smile and nod and try to answer appropriately-it goes with the job description. Anyway we set up the train and proceeded to cause crashes. Oswaldo laughed so hard. It was a very good start to the day!
The rest of the morning went just as well. For the first time Oswaldo joined us in the Jesus circle, did all his art projects, and played our Easter games. These are the kind of moments that just warm a teacher's heart and help one realize just why it is that we teach! We have rounded the corner and I fully expect that Oswaldo will have very good days from now on.

On a different teaching note, I am telling my kids the Passion story. Everytime I have told it over the years I get the same reaction to the crown of thorns, the whippings, and the nails that Jesus endured for us. The kids get really quiet and their little eyes just get so big and full of concern. I take a long nail and show it to them and then press it on my hand. Again the same reaction year after year, "Don't put the nail in your hand!" Of course, we end our lesson with the good news that Jesus is alive and we will live eternally, too. And there is another reason that I love teaching. If God called one of these little ones home over the weekend, I know that they would be in heaven. And in the end, that is all that really matters! Even Oswaldo was repeating Jesus is alive at the end of our day today. So even if he doesn't learn another word of english he already knows the most important thing!

Aoril Foolishness

Let me begin by telling you that there is absolutely nothing about April Fool's jokes that a Preschooler understands. This is a holiday meant for older children.
I tried to explain to them that a fun April Fool's Day joke might be to tell their parents that Mrs. Damman left school today because the class was so naughty, then say "April Fools". After this brilliant suggestion I heard over and over again, "Mrs. Damman, you are gone! April fool." They just don't get it.
Then Emma seemed to have a revelation. She looked at me and said, "Mrs. Damman, your earring is gone." Now there is good fool, I even was about to feel for my earrings, but Emma waited only one second or less to say "April Fool." I tried to explain that they should wait a bit before declaring an April Fool, but yet again, they just don't get it yet.
After Emma's earring fool, the other kids proceeded to tell me that my eye was gone, my ear was gone, my head was gone, my foot was gone and on and on. It gets old pretty quickly, too.
Then Cody told me that my shoe was untied, not a bad fool, but because I was not wearing shoelaces it didn't fool me. It then went into a round of Mrs. Damman, your shoe is gone.
At snack time it was all about the cookies being gone, the milk being gone, the napkins, cups etc. being gone.
After snack I tried to explain that sometimes people will tell you there is a spider on your head or something like that. Of course that roller coastered into "Mrs. Damman, there is a bee in your mouth." This was followed by various insects in assorted parts of my body.
Part of the beauty of a Preschooler is their innocence. They will have lots of years to play April fool pranks and jokes on people, but for now there really is something very special about their own brand of April foolishness! In the same breath, I am glad it only lasts one day!