Shakespeare and a Fall Walk

Last night we returned to our church Couples Club, a group that John and I were instrumental in starting way back in the early 80's. We were one of about six couples that met regularly to share fellowship and Christian friendship. Sometimes we included the kids, sometimes it was just for the adults. We had Halloween parties, hayrides, fun dinners, museum trips, Christmas caroling, picnics, movie dates, game nights, and many other fun activities. Somewhere between the girls' busy swim schedules, high school conflicts, and a general dislike of Sunday night outings, John and I stopped going to the group. I don't think we really missed it because we were so busy at the time, but since becoming empty nesters we have felt the desire to go back and pick up where we left off. This Saturday seemed to be the perfect time to do just that. One of the charter members lost her husband to brain cancer over a year ago. He was way too young, she is struggling. She has not been back to Couples Club since Bob died. Prior to his death they were very active in the group. The group changed its name to Christian Company so the widow wouldn't feel so funny about staying in the group. You can change the name but you cannot change how she would feel there without her husband. Anyway she decided this was the activity she was going to try and go back to and I decided along with her that this would also be the activity that John and I would go back to. We picked her up. I had my pumpkin bars and she had her garlic bread for the potluck. We walked in and I think the three of us felt right at home in the group that was such a part of our lives in the past! The conversation was good, the food was great, and it felt like we were missed and welcomed back with open arms. I would expect nothing less though, these are great people.
After the potluck we went to a play at Luther Prep School The acting was exceptional, but the play was a Shakespearian play and I found it very hard to follow. I thought it was just me, but afterward in talking with others, I realized others had a hard time keeping up with the storyline as well.
We took Pam home. She made it through the night and was still smiling as she went into her house. I hope she was okay once she got in and again realized how alone she is.
John and I went to Lyons Pub and had a few beers with Kev and his friend Vicky. Good conversation, lots of laughs, and beer that went down easily. All in all a very successful night!It was an absolutely beautiful fall day today. The air was crisp but had a warm feel to it. The sun was out just enough to make the leaves shine with color. The air had that wonderful fall smell to it, too. Add to this the fact that the Packers had just had an easy win over the Browns and the Vikings and Brett had just fallen to the Steelers, it just could not have gotten any better.Our burning bush is ablaze with color. Just look at how nice it looks. You might remember that I trimmed it up at the same time that we cut down most of the pussy willow.Our backyard is covered in a blanket of yellow maple leaves. There was no raking today though, we just wanted to walk and take it all in. John is against raking until every last leaf has fallen anyway, so we have some time yet before our tree is bare.At the end of our walk we spotted this fellow on his harley. I wish we could just bottle up this kind of a day and keep it for those very cold wintry days which lie ahead!

Grandmas and Grandkids

Yesterday after Preschool, two of my friends and fellow grandmas came over with their grandkids for a little playdate with Tizita. It was a short but sweet visit. I got to meet my friend Nancy's little Jordan for the first time. She turned two in July so is about five months younger than Tizita.My friend Lynne arrived with her twin grandsons and they soon joined in the fun. I broke out the playdough figuring it would keep them all busy for awhile and it did.After everyone left Tizita worked on my hair again!

It was another good afternoon.

Who let this crazy teacher out of the house?

These are the shoes that I wore out of the house to school today and it wasn't crazy shoe day or anything like that! It is dark in my closet and I just thought that I had grabbed two black shoes, but alas, during Jesus circle, I looked down and saw my mistake.
Luckily, no children noticed and if they did, they did not say anything, bless their little hearts!
The day got better from there on!
And when I showed Alissa this photo she wanted to know if I was wearing a spandex navy jumpsuit. No, I was wearing navy pants and just pulled them up to show off my shoe selection!

Silent Auction

Yesterday John and I were invited by friends to a dinner/silent auction to raise money for the Alpha Pregnancy Center in Watertown. We had not attended this event before but we had such a great time that we will be there again next year. The evening started with wine, beer, and appetizers while everyone bid on items. There were lots of fun things to bid on and John and I did our share of bidding. It was fun to watch all the people just milling around the tables as they were closing trying to make sure that their bid stayed as the highest. After the auction closed we all were treated to a delicious catered meal. Good fellowship for a great cause!
Here are the things we bought:This is an Avon basket. It has body lotion, shower gel, body spray, 2 necklaces, earrings, chapstick, and a mirror. Valued at $48.00, we got it for $12.00.This was an interesting Man's Shaving Basket which included soap, shaving lotions, shaving cream, hair gel, coffee (yeah, not sure what that was about) and a lavendar candle because you know every man needs his candle! John refuses to use most of this stuff anyway, but since no one had bid on this item we figured we might as well. $25.00 value for $10.00.And this is a foot care basket which includes a few different lotions for your feet as well as some loofahs and brushes for feet. There were also a few candles in here, too. Oh, and an inflatable little tub to soak your feet in with some powdery stuff to put in the water as you soak. I will not be using the items in here since I don't care to do that much with my feet, but I know someone who will enjoy it!This is our favorite and we had to overbid to get it. It was called a beer of the world basket and included some fine imported beers, herring, and crackers. I think it was valued at $25.00 and we paid $32.00. We got this fair trade coffee for an overbid. The coffee will go to Paul since he is the coffee lover in our family.This is a bracelet that I bid on just because no one else had bid on it. I didn't even look very closely at it, but got it for $5.00. As I inspected it later, I realized it says "I love mom" on it, so I will be giving it to my mom on her birthday in November.And, finally, here are two gift certificates, one for a haircut at local barber for John and one for an oil change and tire rotation. Good deals on both of those.
So as you can see, we did very well on the nice things we walked away with, but the best part is that the money we paid for these donated items will be used by the Pregnancy Center to counsel pregnant young girls who otherwise may have aborted their babies. There is no better cause than this one.

And the Band played on...

Today we had a band in preschool. The kids love to play the rhythm instruments and although the music may not sound that great to an outsider's ear, it is pretty sweet to us.This little boy asked me if we could play a song for the soldiers. His dad is in Iraq right now and he thought it would be a good idea to sing about him and the other soldiers, so we made up a little song that went like this:
Thank you soldiers, thank you soldiers,
For fighting for us, for fighting for us,
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
For fighting for us, for fighting for us.
Of course, the melody is "Are you Sleeping," most of my made up songs go to that tune.
I thought it was very sweet of Brayden to request a song for the soldiers and I hope they know how much we appreciate what they are doing for us. I know the sacrifice Brayden and his family are making.As you can see it takes a lot of concentration to play in our band. It is not easy to make beautiful music.I like how the little guy is trying to figure out how to use his instrument. I figure he is thinking, "What do I do with this thing she gave me?"And yet again, another child trying to figure this instrument out. Apparently they did not listen to me when I gave them their introductory lesson. Don't fear though, we trade instruments so if you can't figure one out, another will be in your hands soon. Trading instruments is a lesson in itself since you have to pass them in a clockwise direction, not any easy task for little ones.Give this guy a blue ribbon, he figured out how to use the instrument correctly!And, now the band member you have all been waiting for! Here is Tiz showing us how to play the wood blocks. The girl has natural rhythm, but I must say the whole class is pretty rhythmic for a bunch of white kids. That is when they know how to use the instruments.
Here she is playing the coveted drum. They all know that this is my favorite instrument and who doesn't want to play the teacher's favorite? She looks pretty pleased with herself here.
So, there you have it, the Preschool Band. Maybe we will cut a CD soon.

Grandma, you make me nervous

We had a fun filled weekend and of course, it included time with Tizita. We started the festivities on Saturday with a birthday lunch at John's mom and dad's in New Berlin. We were celebrating his mom's 79th birthday.Tizita helped Mamaw open her gifts and spent some time visiting with Pops.After we left John's folks we spent some time at Alissa and Nathan's. Courtney, Paul, Alissa, and Nathan were planning a night out on the town so we got to bring Tizita home with us for the night.

On Saturday night, we let her direct the activities. She told Gigi (Great Grandma) to lay on our bed, told me to sit in the rocking chair, and told Grandpa to lay in the bed with Gigi. He refused to lay down with his MIL so I was telling Tizita to have him lay on the floor and to go get him a pillow. At this point she sort of put her hands to her head, looked at me and said, "Grandma, you are making me nervous!" Now, what two and a half year old talks about being nervous? Is she amazing or what? Anyway then she told us to all wake up because we were going to the zoo. Gigi and I sat on the couch and she looked at Gigi and said, "Move over Gigi, you are sitting by the driving wheel." Who knew? Then Tiz proceeded to drive us to the zoo. The night continued with more silly play directed by Tiz until bedtime. She went to bed very well for me and slept until 7:30 on Sunday.
We went to churh and she enjoyed the children's choir singing "Jesus loves the little children" and "He's got the whole world His Hands." When they were done, she said, quite loudly, "Again?" But, alas, there was no encore!
We went to Perkins after church for lunch. Kev, Pam and Mal joined us. John and I very rarely go to Perkins due to a few bad experiences and expensive menu, but it really was a nice lunch. Tizita had chocolate chip pancakes which she devoured. John and I both ordered off the senior menu which saved us some money. I am a legit senior, John is not, but he looks like one!

Mallory wanted to go to Ebert's Pumpkin Patch for a caramel apple so Gigi, Pam, Mal, Tiz, and I headed out there.Tizita made a little pumpkin with buttons and sequins. She also did some pumpkin bowling and went fishing for a toy but, by far, her favorite activity was the bounce house.'At first, she had no clue what to do in the bounce house, but then a girl about 8 offered to help her and there was no looking back from there. She bounced and bounced and fell and bounced some more. It was so much fun to watch her. I think it may have been the most fun she has had in her life thus far!

So, here is our little pumpkin amongst some real pumpkins.
It was indeed a most wonderful weekend. Tizita has just come so far in one year and I am really sorry I made her so nervous!
Oh, and by the by, Mallory got a caramel apple and so did I and they were yummy!

Where, Oh, Where are my Preschoolers?

This is our banjo player who sings, "Where, Oh, Where is Tizita... Way down yonder in the Pumpkin patch."She sings it with all my kids as we take the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. The sing along is so much fun. I had to laugh to myself about all the unusual but beautiful names that my preschoolers have:

Sinai

Aquila
Cooper
Zander
Nain
Manuel
Dominic
Tizita
Gavin
Alana
Hunter
Gone are the days of Mike, Julie, Pat, and Chris, but that's the way it is with names.
Getting back to our field trip. It was a cool, well cold day, but there was no rain and we all had a wonderful time in the Pumpkin patch!
It was a special day for me since I could spend it with Tizita and Courtney on their first of many, many field trips. How many Grandmas can share in that experience. I am indeed blessed!

Here are Tizita, Courtney, and Stacy waiting for the adventure to begin. I put Courtney in charge of Stacy who had no parent with her. I wanted Courtney to feel like a real chaperone on the field trip. I am breaking her in for the real Preschool world. Notice Tizita's cute hat, handmade by her mama!

Here you see Tizita working on her craft project. At this pumpkin patch they have a wonderful storyteller. This year the story was about Earl the Squirrel. After the story, the kids make a project having to do with the story. They made acorn mobiles, very cute and simple project.

Here we are on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. Tizita said she is not going on another hayride because it was cold and it was indeed cold today, but it is October in Wisconsin and it is to be expected, right?

Here is Tizita out in the Pumpkin patch.
So that is where I was with my preschoolers today and what a thrill for me to have been able to share this field trip with my Tizita!

The Star of the Day

Presenting, the star of the day.......... Tizita!!!!! Being the star in our classroom is very special. Not only do you get to wear this big yellow star while the kids sing to you, but you get to share something with us! Tizita brought Dog along to share. She actually told us that she made Dog at Build a Bear with her Grandpa. She talked more during sharing time than some of my older children do. I was one proud grandma. Anyway when you are the star you also get to be the line leader for the day and bring the snack. She was as close to a perfect star as you can get!

Here is Tizita with her friend, Carlee. They both just love creating projects. Here they are showing us their cutting and gluing skills which are pretty close to perfection for not even three year olds yet.

And here she is showing off one of her projects.

After Preschool, Tizita took some time to style my hair. I don't know why I pay my stylist so much money when Tizita could obviously do the job for me! It was another wonderful day in Preschool and during the time we spent together afterwards. Wednesday is easily becoming my favorite day of the week.

Memory Walk 2009

On Saturday, October 3 John and I joined my college roommate and her family to walk in support of finding a cure for Alzheimer's. We walk in memory of Joan's dad Harold Baylerian who died of Alzheimer's five years ago. Harold was a kind, caring husband, dad, and grandpa and this is the least that those who loved him can do for him. We also walked for my grandma, Leona Kohlhoff who was a feisty lady who loved to laugh and spend time with family and friends. Alzheimer's made her into someone that we did not recognize. She spent her last two years living in a locked in unit of a nursing home.
And, we walked in honor of my Aunt Pearl who is now living with Alzheimer's and slowly forgetting all the people who have been a part of her life for 90 years. To watch someone forget everything they ever knew, even the simplest tasks is reason enough to walk for this cause.
And lastly, we walk for our daughters, sons-in-law, and Tizita as well as any other future grandchildren so that they will not have to ever be stricken with this disease.This is my college roommate, Joan and her mom, Margaret. Even though the weather was dreary and there were some rain drops, Margaret at age 85 completed the walk with the rest of us. We do push her in wheelchair but just to be out there in that cool, damp weather speaks volumes for the passion of this woman to find a cure for this disease and the love she had for her husband, Harold.These are Joan's two brothers, Tommy and Jimmy. They are definitely their father's sons. Many of their mannerisms remind me of Harold. Although as I recall, Harold had a full head of hair when he passed away. Tommy is on the board of directors for the Alzheimer's walk so he plays a big part in this walk.
And here is our team, Harold's Heroes. John, Joan's niece, Megan, me, Jimmy and his son Ara, Joan, Tommy, and of course, Margaret in front. It was an honor to walk with these wonderful people and we look forward to doing it again next year. We also look equally forward to the day when there will be no need for this walk because a cure will have been found!