New Tradition!

My sister started something new this year. Besides giving each kid an ornament she is also going to give them each the same book. They were so excited. They kept asking "do we get to keep it? is it mine? My sister said they are surrounded by books, but she had never given them one and said this is yours. She read the book to them and then they got to keep it. What a great idea.

Feeding the Reindeer

12/24/07 Debbie helped the kids make food for Santa's reindeer. They even added a special ingredient (glitter) so that the reindeer could see the food from way up in the sky. They waited until dark and then went out back and sprinkled the food all over the yard for the reindeer. (Max and Carlie will be poohing sparkles for a while!) They were very excited for Santa to come. (Yes that's my arch laying over in the picture. We had really high winds and it blew over, luckily it didn't break too bad and can be repaired)

Can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!

12/23/07 Beckie, Anthony, and Grace made gingerbread men and did an awesome job. When Beckie was taking some out of the oven, 2 of the gingerbread men slid right off the pan. We told the kids they got away and were yelling to Beckie that she couldn't catch them because they were the gingerbread men! They thought that was pretty great. All the kids, young and old, decorated a cookie and then we put them all on the table for Grandpa to judge. Grace won and her aunt gave her $5 for winning. They had a lot of fun and did a really good job at decorating.

Minnesotans arrive for a NE Christmas

12/22/07 Kevin, Josh, Anthony, and Goldie arrive Saturday afternoon. My sister had come on Friday with Beckie, Cassandra, Yahaira, Rose, Moses, and Alonso. Kevin had to work and Anthony had school and because they can't all fit in one vehicle!!!!! they waited and came on Saturday. My Dad arrived a few hours after Kevin. We were getting a little worried because he hadn't called and we couldn't reach him on his cell phone.....he was in Iowa at a casino! Everyone got here safely and that's what mattered. To say our family was excited was an understatement. I believe we have places for everyone to sleep, if not we'll soon find out. My sister, Beckie, Cassandra, and I are off to see the movie "National Treasure".

Grace's Christmas Concert

Grace had her Christmas concert tonight and did an awesome job! It was held in the "Johnny Carson" theater at Norfolk High School. What a great theater. You can see from every seat, and the sound is amazing. Grace's elementary goes from Kindergarten through 5th grade, so I was thinking we were going to be there until 10pm. But they do 1st-3rd graders together, 5th and 6th together, and kindergarten by themselves. Each group sang 5 or 6 songs and kindergarten 3. We were done by 8:30, but the seats are so comfortable, it could've lasted longer!!! The little girl to Grace's right, in red, is Skylar. She was Grace's buddie the first few days of school, showed her around the classroom. Grace's new music teacher is Ms. Sovereign, Grace said she's very nice. I was really proud of Grace, she's only been here a few weeks, but she worked hard to learn the songs, and was excited to be in the concert. Brandon looked at me at the end of the concert and said, lucky I wasn't in the holiday concert in Battle Creek, his new school. Their concert was tonight too. He asked whose would you have went to???? I didn't even know how to answer......I'm sure I could've figured something out. I guess split personalities can come in handy:)
Grace also remembered that today she should have been dancing in St. James at the basketball game with her dance class......she was a little sad about not being there, but we are all excited because tomorrow part of the Haycraft clan arrive, with the remainder coming on Saturday, with Grandpa too. Max and Carlie are excited also, even Goldie gets to make the trip. We are going to have so much fun!!! That's about it for now...Linette

How a call can change your outlook!

Last week was a tough one. The Junior High School was not going well for Brandon. There are close to 400 kids in a grade which was a huge change for Brandon. The first day Brandon started, he was walked around once, and let go to find his classes, on his own. A lot of the kids at this school where mean and rude. He did meet some very nice kids, but that was at lunch and his last hour class. With the school so big, he never saw these kids the rest of the day. Brandon hated going to this school, and not just your normal "I don't want to go to school". Then we come to find out that there are a lot of problems with behavior and other issues at this school. It was awful to send Brandon to school knowing what was going on at the school. Then Brandon got sick and missed 2 days of school, but that gave me some time to look in to other options of schooling. There is a Lutheran school in Norfolk, very nice school but also very expensive. We were getting the paperwork ready to enroll Brandon when someone told us about a school about 10 miles away called Battle Creek. It's a public school but much smaller than Norfolk. So we went and checked out the school and Brandon felt much more comfortable at this school. They do not have open enrolment here so we had to fill out paperwork to see if Norfolk would release Brandon to another district. They did......so Brandon starts today in Battle Creek. I hope this school goes better. His principal is from MN, he moved here 2 years ago, maybe that will help!! On Thursday last week I got a call from Grace's school, she had been to the nurse twice that day. She didn't have a fever, just said her head and tummy hurt, but when they looked at her throat her tonsils were huge. We've only been here a few weeks, so of course I hadn't picked out a doctor, but they have something here called Urgent Care. No appointments, just walk in. That worked out great. They saw Grace, tested for strep, which was positive, and off we went to get a prescription. If I hadn't saw Grace's throat I would never have believed she was sick. She did not lose her appetite or her energy. Her tummy did hurt and she did spend some time in the bathroom but I couldn't get her to slow down. She had to stay home Friday because she was contagious.......God help me. But then out of all the chaos we get a call from Shirley Coleman, who lives in St. James, and she was coming to see her daughter perform in a Christmas concert at her college. She was wondering if Zach, one of Brandon's best friends, could ride along, and we'd pick him up in Iowa, where her daughter goes to school. I was like, oh my gosh yes, we can pick him up. So Brandon and I headed out Saturday morning to pick up Zach. I stopped at Sam's club in Sioux City and then tried to get back on the highway to where I was supposed to meet Shirley. I have no sense of direction, which drives everyone I know nuts, and obviously Iowa doesn't like to post signs, but finally after 30 minutes of looping around, I got back on the right highway. We stopped to get Zach and I had bought Shirley a candle for bringing Zach, and what do I do? I go to hand it to her and I drop it.........Shirley's daughter Macy is laughing but I'm sure she's thinking that they shouldn't let Zach go with the wacky lady.......but they did......and Brandon and Zach had fun. Moral of the story, when things seem so bad, and you're overwhelmed, God sends out his angels. You'll notice the picture of Shirley and Macy is softened around the edges, that's because last week they were our angels. To get a call out of the blue, when Brandon was having the worst week of his life, and finding out his best friend could come for the night......reminds me that God is near he just works through others to bring us what we need. So thank you Shirley and I hope you know how much bringing Zach meant to Brandon. It's boosted his spirits and I'm hoping he's having a great day at his new school today.

One Floor Decorated For Christmas!

Our new table,chairs, and couch came last week- yea! I have all my Christmas stuff out of the boxes and have the outside and main floor decorated. The tree is up in the basement family room, now I just have to get the rest of the things unpacked down there and find where to put Christmas things. I love the new furniture, wasn't sure if I'd like the counter height table, but it's great. The new couch is very comfortable and I must say I'm glad the store messed up and ordered a love seat. The couch would have been too large for the room. So it all worked out. I love the Christmas season, when everything is decorated. It's really pretty at night when all the lights are on. I found this house has one very cool feature in the living room, all the top plug-ins are turned on and off by a light switch. One switch and all the Christmas lights come on, and shut off.....very nice!

Brandon's New Room!

Here's Brandon's new room.....we bought a new t.v. so Brandon got the old one we had in the family room. He was excited about that. His old one was down to one speaker and was pretty tiny. Brandon's been working on organizing his room and he's getting there, but you'll notice there isn't a picture of the other half of the room. He's also happy to get his "Guitar Hero" out of storage so he can practice before his cousins come at Christmas. Rumor has it there's a big challenge brewing.....Maybe Mom should secretly practice all day and blow them all out of the water! Brandon's missing his friends a lot too. He's not used to sitting home so much and not being able to walk where he wants to go. Little adjustment to a bigger town. He's hanging in there and is very excited to see family in a week and a half.

Grace's New Room!

Grace was very excited when she got to Nebraska, her Dad had built her a brand new bed. Grace's new room is smaller than the one she had in Minnesota so a loft bed gives her more room for her "stuff". Her Dad did a great job and Grace loves it! Mom spruced it up a bit, gave it that "girlie" touch. I added some curtains to give Grace a hide-a-way to read and play in, added a chandelier (it's all in the lighting), added a few mirrors, a few posters, a few hooks to hand stuff on, and Viola, one very cool bed! We also bought Grace a few new shelves that go great with her vanity that she got from Grandma and Grandpa last year for Christmas. I also found all my porcelain dolls when I was unpacking. I've had them for years but never had a place to set them out in Minnesota, so I gave a few to Grace. I think she's old enough now to take care of them. Her favorite is a Christmas one by Marie Osmond. We watched Dancing with the Stars this year and I was definitely voting for Marie (My sister and I were in love with Donny and Marie when we were younger. I even had an Osmond lunch box!!), and after Sabrina from the Cheetah girls was eliminated, Grace was cheering for Marie too. So that's kinda cool that I have a doll from Marie Osmond. You can also see Grace's purple Christmas tree that she put up and decorated last week, it looks so festive! Wow have we only been here a week, I guess we are getting something done! I feel better that Grace's room is organized and except for a few minor finishing touches her room is done-yeah! Oh, and did I mention, that Grace has slept every night in her new bed!!! She slept, maybe, once in her bedroom in MN. Of course in the new house she's just across the hall, in MN she was on a different floor. Whatever works.....I'm just glad she loves her new room and loves being in it!

Baby it's cold outside!

Grace loves shoveling snow, and in the week we've been here she's getting to do a lot of it. She stays out for an hour until her nose and fingers are ready to fall off. She's missing her friends a lot, she loves to be busy and now she can't go and visit anyone. She's been helping me put things away, we've been working on her room, and she's been helping me wrap presents, but she still wants to go and play with her friends. Hopefully she'll be on play dates again soon......

Don't blink or you'll miss him!

Take an Oregonian and move him to Minnesota. Teach him to move snow, and after 7 years of practice, look what you get! He's so quick I couldn't catch him on film......

Trimming the Tree

Grace came home from school Friday, and was a little sad, she knew the date was December 7th. December 7th was the date she'd been waiting for, her Christmas concert back in St. James. She knew all the songs and really had wanted to be there for it. It just wasn't possible to go back. First they would have had to miss a half a day of school, which I didn't want because they are already behind, and second we got hit with another snow storm. So luckily we hadn't planned on going back, that way we didn't have to cancel our plans. Instead we decorated the tree, which Grace loves doing. After we got all the ornaments on the tree, Grace got to put the angel on the top with a boost from her big brother. They were laughing pretty hard and I was sure the whole tree was going to go over, but they got it done and it looks great. New house, new room, but still the same ornaments, and that's comforting.

Now I'm Mother Nature!

We woke up Thursday to snow. It was really coming down and actually was very pretty. I was thrilled. I've been told that Norfolk gets some snow but usually not a lot and that the last few winters they really haven't had any. I love snow and I was really excited to see it coming down, until I took Grace to school and went to the store. License plates really are rather small in the grand scale of things. But boy did people spot that MN plate. I heard it all, it's my fault, did I bring the weather with (there wasn't an inch left open in that moving truck), did I at least bring a few plows to go with it...... it was a mess driving in it, but the best was when I went to get Grace from school, seeing such huge smiles on kids when they came out and saw all the snow. They were so excited to get home and layer on clothes to go out and play. Grace just said,"looks like MN". We picked up Brandon and went and got our Christmas tree. When we got home Grace went out to shovel and play in the snow. I think we are the only ones in the neighborhood with a snow blower and snow pants! Gotta love those Minnesotans!

TGIF

TGIF.....weekend will soon be here, and even though there is still a bazillion things to do, at least I'll have some help!!! (I hope) Brandon has started school and doesn't hate it, which is a good thing. I give him a lot of credit I couldn't imagine being in 9th grade and having to start at a new school half way through the year. He's talking to kids and getting used to the school. He says it's huge compared to St. James. His first day of school at lunch time he got his food and sat down at a table by himself. Someone came up and asked if he wanted to sit with them at their table. (Thank goodness) What is it about eating by yourself in a crowd of people, I hate it. I am glad his first few days have went smoothly, I worry about Brandon the most and how this move will affect him. He still would rather be in St. James and hanging out with his buddies. He has received tons of e-mails from people which has been a huge help. He still feels connected. He can't wait for people to come and visit.

I've been busy putting things away, putting up Christmas stuff, going through things, taking van loads to the Goodwill......where the heck is my fairy godmother when I need her? Today, finally, our dining room table and chairs, and our new couch are being delivered. That should be exciting. More later, Linette

Grace is officially a Nebraska student!

Grace and I went to her new school on Monday and she got to take a tour of the school. She is in Bel Air Elementary. I believe there are 8 elementary schools in Norfolk and elementary is K-5th grade. There is one middle school which is 6th-7th grades, one junior high which is 8th-9th grades, and one high school, 10th-12th. There are approximately 400 students per grade. Grace's school has 2 classrooms of 1st graders and she has 25 students in her class. As we were touring the school Grace got to meet her new teacher, Mrs. Schindler. She was pretty excited and was ready to start, but we had to wait on some paperwork. Her official first day was Tuesday Dec. 4th. She was so excited to start and I got to take her to her classroom but then she didn't want me to leave. There was a classmate who was to be Grace's "buddie" for the day and her name was Skylar. She greeted Grace with a huge smile and helped her put her coat away and find her desk. Then she was ok with me leaving. Grace had a great first day and met 3 new friends. She did come home and look at her book that her teacher in St. James, Mrs. Romsdahl, had made for her. It has pictures of her classmates, helpers, and Mrs. Romsdahl. She misses her friends from St. James but was happy to meet some new ones too. Grace also noted things that were the same between her 2 schools and things that were different. Her favorite things that are different, she sits at desks, not tables, and she gets straws at lunch! Brandon also went Monday to register and tour his school. When we were finished registering the secretary showed us the lunchroom and the doors Brandon needed to use in the morning. She didn't just show us, she walked us through, and of course it is lunch time, so every student got to see Brandon walking through with his Mom and little sister. That didn't excite Brandon too much but he did find out that he wouldn't start school until Wednesday, the person in charge of setting his schedule up was gone on Monday. That excited him! While Grace was in school, Brandon and I worked on organizing and getting things put away. Brandon also discovered vanilla cokes at Sonic, which is a new favorite now, and the drive-in even has "happy hour" from to 2-4pm everyday on their drinks....1/2 price...gotta love that. That's it for now, time to get back to organizing and loading up the van with "stuff" for the goodwill. More later, Linette

We're Here!

We pulled in to Norfolk around 4pm Sunday, and what a trip we had getting here. Of course there hadn't been any winter weather this year but all that changed Saturday. I woke up in St. James and thought, Wow, even Mother Nature doesn't want us to move. The kids had finished their semester Thursday, but Brandon wanted to stay through Saturday so he could go to something at the school. So we stayed, and the winter storm came, and the Saturday night event was cancelled! It looked a lot better on Sunday, but still cold and blowing. We got everything packed in the van (no small feat) and we were off. We drove past the schools and through town, one last time, before we headed out. I was thinking to myself that 17 years ago I was in a sports car, huge smile on my face, and so excited to be heading out of town for adventures unknown, never looking back. Fast forward, I'm in a van, crying my eyes out, dreading the unknown, and afraid if I looked back I might not be able to leave. We headed south on 60 and didn't have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the road was pretty icy. We were just talking about stopping in Worthington for a bathroom break when I saw the car ahead of me tap her breaks. That's all it took and she was sliding all over both lanes. I thought we were going to hit her but she went in to the ditch. I pulled over and ran down to see if she was ok. The car had hit a cement culvert and was only on two tires but was still in gear and the wheels were spinning. Finally the driver got the car in park and someone else had stopped right behind me and called 911. We found out the driver was a 93 year old lady who was badly shaken up but not hurt. The snow was so deep in the ditch and the wind chill was awful that we had her stay in the car until the highway patrol got there. We had to reassure her again and again that we were not going to leave her and that her car was not going to tip any farther over. She said that in all the years she'd been driving she had never had a single accident. I told her she was due for a little excitement then. The highway patrol and tow truck came, we got her up the hill and in the squad car, and then the tow truck driver asked if I could get in the car and steer it while he pulled it out of the ditch. I'm thinking sure I'm in no hurry. The car is wrecked underneath and won't start, so I have to crawl in to a car with electric seats that don't work. First, the 93 year old lady is very short with short legs, I looked at the tow truck driver and said, "if you laugh, I am not helping!" So I am sitting in the car with my knees up to my eyeballs thinking, "Ok maybe leaving MN winters won't be so bad. We finally got everything taken care of and we were back on our way. Once we were in to Iowa the roads were much better. Grace was very excited to see the Nebraska sign but bummed we still had an hour of driving. Nebraska had gotten mostly freezing rain, not great to drive in but beautiful to look at. The trees and grass just sparkled. Grace thought that that is how Nebraska decorated for Christmas! We finally drove in to Norfolk, Grace was trying to see everything and Brandon was sleeping. When we were near our neighborhood I told Grace to see if she could find our house. Kevin's 2 trucks in the driveway was a dead giveaway! Grace was squealing with excitement and barely let the van stop before she was out the door. Brandon needed a little nudging just to get him awake, but he was finally up and out of the van. We're Here!