Christmas 2008

The Reason for the Season!

Kaid at the Steelers game in Nashville.

A view from the upstairs hallway. You can see Baleigh's reflection in the mirror above the fireplace ;)

I can't move my pictures again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at that "Roll Mountain"!

We are practicing defensive schemes. Bay has her new softball helmet on. She was very disapointed that it wasn't a football helmet. She wants to play in the junior football league next year.

Kaid and Bay are rockin' out with the Wii Guitar Hero World Tour. It is sooo much fun!

This text was SUPPOSED to be at the top. I know I sound like a techno-idiot, but seriously, I am not! I told LouAnne I was going to stop blogging on Sundays because of all the crazy techno mayhem that I have experienced! And now, I have just hung up with Lindsey after venting my blogging frustrations! Thanks for listening Lindsey!

Most of this post is about fun, silliness and gifts - but we did pause to appreciate the reason for the season. Baleigh really impressed us with a very nice prayer at dinner time and she also took a picture of part of our nativity scene just for the blog.

Last weekend, Dan and Kaid scored tickets to the Steelers/Titans game in Nashville. The game had home-field advantage in the playoffs on the line and the STEELERS LOST! Never-the-less, Dan is convinced that they will win the almighty Super Bowl - the hard way, on the road.

Today, I will be... working the concession stand at the Carbondale Holiday tournament, helping Krista move down here and become my first southern Illinois kinfolk, and trying to watch as as much football as possible. So, I am going to stop typing and get busy! I will just let the rest of the pictures and videos speak for themselves. Baleigh is ready for show business.




Christmas Eve at the Koesters - pretty funny stuff.


I don't know. I found this video on the camera and laughed so hard I cried. There is no doubt, Bay has quite a sense of humor for which I can take no credit for.

AND LASTLY, please take note of the new poll question! Not much participation in the last one - come on peeps! 2 of the votes came from MY house! :)

Fun Stuff!

Things we've been enjoying...

1-The Lights Fantastic Parade!

We were pretty impressed!

Here's a little diddy sung to the tune of "Let it Snow".

The weather wasn't very frightful,

And the lights they were delightful!

We'd never seen quite a show,

Let 'em glow, let 'em glow, let 'em glow!

Even though we walked kinda far

We ended up findin' the car.

After reindeer led Santa in,

We knew the parade was near the end.

Oh the bands they were a-marchin'

And the floats they were a-sparkin'

The lights were all down the road

Let 'em glow, let 'em glow, let' em glow!

Let 'em glow, let 'em glow, let 'em glow!

The pictures aren't the greatest because I forgot the

camera and had to use my cell phone.

2 - The John A. Logan College Regional Counselors update conference. I won an iPod Nano!!! - a pretty blue one! You rock JALC!

3 - The CCHS guidance department ornament exchange Christmas party - fun with my new department peeps at Houlihan's.

4 - Playing our Wii! I can't tell you how many hours Dan, Kaid and I played Wii this weekend! I was doing laundry and Christmas cards between games though - fold, switch loads, sign a few, Wii it up...balance, juggle, Wii it up...Wii..Wii...Wii...all the way 'til morn!

Dan and Kaid boxing in their jammies :)

5 - Steelers, Cowboys and Colts all won! My three favs! Okay, I'm a little partial to the Jets too now that they have Brett.

And one thing that I'm NOT enjoying is the threat of a snow day tomorrow!

NOOOOO! NOT BEFORE CHRISTMAS!! These are the fun days and the easy days to get

through! Snow days are for AFTER Christmas - during the LOOONNGG semester, when the dreary grey and brown scenery is starting to wear on people...you know what I mean??? Of course you do! So, may the sky dryeth up and the sun cometh out I say!

And lastly my friends and family, I leave you with the new addition to my blog...A poll question!

Maybe you saw it already, but if not, please see the top right corner of my blog!

See you all this weekend!!

Some Turkey and Some Southern Snow help to make the season bright

Let's talk turkey, eh? Thanksgiving is over you say? Well, I'm talking a different kind of turkey...the Mediacom TURKEYS that owe us some service gol darnit! We have had more service issues that I can shake a stick at! (How'd you like that saying Mom? :)
Because of THOSE turkeys, I was unable to participate in the post Thansgiving blogging. So, since you have all read the other family members Turkey blogs, I just have one thing to contribute and that is a picture of some of the place cards that Lindsey asked Baleigh to make for our Thursday dinner. Also pictured is the only winning lottery ticket at the table - Baleigh's!









Onward..we awoke to a surprising snow-splattered scene on Sunday morning. Baleigh promptly bundled up and made her first snowman of the winter. I scurried out in my slippers to capture the first, and possibly the only, Southern Illinois Snowman of the season. As we drove to church, there was nary a snowman to be found! Maybe peeps down here aren't as active in the snow as the Central Illinoisans, or maybe they were all just still sleeping! It was 7:00 am or bust I tell ya! Look! Her eyes are still puffy!

















Here is a picture of Bay and Puppa Sade before church (and after snow fun).










Monday night was the Giant City School Christmas Program. It was quite a production! The fourth graders got to play their recorders after they sang a few numbers! Ahhh... the good ol' recorder. I remember it well. I was in Brownsburg, IN when I learned the recorder in fourth grade. Although the sound of the recorder leaves a little to be desired, I thought these kids did a pretty good job of staying together and hitting the right notes. Enjoy the vid!












Have a great rest of the week!

Let us give Thanks

Well, I can't lie, I am really looking forward to the 2-day work week coming up. I have never had the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off! I'm also really looking forward to family, food and Friday! Black Friday that is...great deals, long lines. Patience and perseverance required. This year, Miss Baleigh gets to make the trip out to the early morning frenzy. She is really pumped! As soon as we get some Starbucks hot chocolate in her, she'll be good to go. I did warn her that it will be dark and people will be psychotic:)

Here is what we do in the evenings in the winter - Dance Dance Revolution. It's great exercise and it's fun. We will be graduating up to Wii Fit this winter! WooHoo! I have heard that it is really cool. It weighs you everyday, does your BMI, and graphs it all! It has yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. Cool stuff.

On Friday, the Powder Puff Victory video and pictures finally appeared on our school's website. The video begins with the juniors vs seniors game with the faculty vs seniors game following. It may bore some of you to tears, but the pictures depict the fun AND the seriousness of the competition. Good times peeps, good times. Here is the link http://www.cchs165.jacksn.k12.il.us/

Saturday night, I got to hang with 3 of my classmate buddies. Kathy, friend since first grade, hosted the gathering at her house. She just had her third child, A.J., last April. He is soooo sweet. He pretty much provided the entertainment for the evening. We had a great time, catching up and laughing at the past.

Now, let me be sappy for a minute as we prepare for our great Thanksgiving feastssss, let us all remember and be grateful for the many blessings in our lives. Number one on my list of thanks, is that my family and I remain healthy and safe. We have been very blessed and I pray for us to continue to travel safely and remain healthy - happiness is up to ya'll:)

I look forward to the memorable moments with the fam over the holidays.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love you!

PPuff Power!

I apologize again for having technical difficulties! I have had a horrible time coordinating my pictures with my text. Although you may not find it as enjoyable, somewhere in here there are pictures to go along with my text. I even called two of our bloggers to get technical support today because I am so tired of this battle. I am declaring this the last time that I blog on my laptop. This HAS to be the prob!

This may sound crazy to some of you, but I had one of the best times of my life last Thursday! I got to play on the Faculty Powder Puff team! It totally ROCKED! It was straight outta "Friday Night Lights", "Remember the Titans", We Are Marshall", oh, I could go on people! And, lucky for you, it was filmed. I will add the link as soon as the video is downloaded onto our school website. There will also be action photos for your viewing pleasure. I will be available for autographs after Thanksgiving dinner :) Dan coached us to the victory over the senior girls, who were quite vicious! They were sooooo mad that they were losing to us, that they pulled out all the stops, including wrapping their flags so that we couldn't pull them! Luckily, one of our math teachers saw them doing it and told the officials. Those dirty dogs , pun intended (it was muddy and we're all the TERRIERS - haha!!), were penalized for that little charade. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I had so much fun was because I got to meet and bond with some women that I will probably be friends with forever. The victory was a true team effort and I was fortunate enough to be the quarterback. What a blast! The ages of our teammates ranged from 24 to 56! The 56-yr-old played EVERY down!

Here is a cell phone pic of my friend Michelle and me celebrating with the team at Buffalo Wild Wings after the game. Michelle is our team captain! After our victory and some confidence-building, celebratory beers, we made plans for our faculty basketball, volleyball, and softball teams. Bring it on girls! LOL! It's all fun 'til someone gets hurt :)

On to other "sports", Baleigh bought some Heely's and within 3 days she became a master. She has been wanting them since early summer. We found them at the Foot Locker Wednesday night. The first night she had them, she could skate about a foot at a time. Now, she can go the length of of our driveway and down to the neighbor's house.

As we prepare for The Great Thanksgiving, it's difficult to ignore the Christmas decorations popping up in the stores. Baleigh has been slowly dragging out some of our decor. This is the Christmas therapeutic box, much like Lindsey's sand box she used to have on her coffee table at her apartment on the canal.

Here are Baleigh and Sadie passed out in our bed. I found them this way last Sunday night and had to capture the moment.

Lastly, Baleigh and I got to hang out with Krista Friday afternoon! Krista and I went on a tour of John A. Logan College and then we picked Bay up from school and went to O'Charley's for supper. Krista really liked JALC and may be transferring down here next semester!

Have a great week everyone!

Welcome November!

Word is that November is going to be unseasonably warm! Then I say, Welcome November! There were some yucky days toward the end of October that made me get my winter coat out! and I don't like that (use your Forrest Gump voice for the "I don't like that").

Our weekends have been pretty crazy lately. Last weekend, after our final football game of the season, we (Dan, Lori, Baleigh, & Sadie) left Carbondale at 6:30 am alnd 55 degree warmth to head to Taylorville (42 degrees) to watch Kaid play in the sophomore football game. Kaid played a great game. We eventually thawed out. Then, we headed to Effingham for a volleyball party at our friends Mark and Donez' house. We visited with Lindsey and met the cute little Lady Bonnie Stevenson at Ma-Ma's. Sunday, Baleigh and I had breakfast with Lindsey. Then Dan and I had lunch with Jensin, Kaid, and Dan's mom and dad. With our bellies full, we headed back to Cdale in time for homework and Sunday night football.

Tuesday, Baleigh's flag football season ended. Wednesday, Baleigh created this wonderful halloween house and finished carving her pumpkin.

Friday night Baleigh and I went Trick or Treating with Elissa and her mother, Jill. Baleigh was Lady Liberty again because no one in Carbondale has seen that sweet costume yet. Elissa was an 80's Diva Girl, or what I called a "valley girl" - haha. Elissa spent the night and the girls exchanged candy. Saturday morning, I took the girls to Elissa's house and Dan and I met Kaid at Cahokia, where Effingham played their first round playoff game. It was a beautiful 75 degree day, but Effingham ended its season with a 40- 8 loss to Cahokia. Afterward, we travelled to Effingham to watch Jensin's volleyball team win the regional championship against Mattoon. They play in the sectional against Waterloo at Salem Tuesday night. Dan and I ended up driving back home to Carbondale Saturday night to complete an approximate 350 mile day trip without leaving the state of Illinios. Wowzers. Good thing we got that extra hour of sleep last night:)

This week is going to be another crazy one and I promise to bring my camera!

Field Trip, Slumber Parties, and Homecomings

Apparently I need to attend a conference on blogging. Either that, or I need to change computers. I used Kaid's computer to blog in the summer and had no problem. Since I switched to my laptop, I have been struggling. I am going to figure it out, but until then, the placement of pictures is random. I think I will just type captions to the pics and call it good.


Here is Kaid with longtime friend, Courtney. A "friendly" group of freshmen went to TGIFridays for dinner and then danced the night away. Kaid wasn't really looking forward to going, but because he was one of the freshman attendants on the homecoming court, he HAD to go. He ended up having a great time.


-at the SIU Homecoming game on Saturday. It was pretty hot! Many people left at halftime when the Saluki's were up 50 -0 over the Indiana State Sycamores. We all had fun though. Jensin had to go back to Effy at 4:00 to work. Dan, Kaid, Baleigh and I played some hard-core Four Square in the driveway. It was a blast!



The girls rooting on the Salukis.

Here is Mr. Landon Kutscher-Pants making a picture for his buddy Baleigh. She is putting it up in her locker tomorrow.


Landon loves Baleigh. He said he was "going home with Baleigh" before we left. It was so sweet.
















We stopped by to snap some photos of J & K before they left for Homecoming.

Baleigh's class went to Giant City School's "Outdoor Lab" to study leaves, fungus, and critter tracks. Here is Baleigh with two of her new friends, Jordan and Paige.

GNO - Baleigh's first REAL slumber party. These are all of the girls in Miss Opp's fourth grade class. Miss Opp even made an appearance. All of Baleigh's friends live waaayyy out in the woods. We live on the northern boundary of the Giant City School District. Baleigh's most recent slumber party took me deep into Crab Orchard Forest. It was a beautiful drive. I just can't believe that the buses travel that far.

Sadly, Baleigh is on the Patriots' NFL Flag Football team. Even though we requested the Steelers, here we are on the stupid Pats team. We even get to keep these lovely jerseys - yippee ki yi yay - I'll try not to burn it :) Record thus far: 0-5 Good times, good times.


Lastly, I just have to give a "WOOF WOOF" to the Terrier football team for keeping the playoff hopes alive by defeating the Belleville Althoff Crusaders, who recruit by the way, for the first time in Carbondale history!! Oh yeah, let's here it...."Who let the dogs out..."

Holy Ikeness Batman

Editor's note: Since I already had this all typed up, I decided to go ahead and post it. I just didn't have the picutres layed out. Enjoy the old news :)



These begonias were purchased in the summer of 2007. Dan took them to school and placed them by the window in his classroom for the winter. This summer, they flourished! Aren't they purty??

Here is Baleigh performing a corner kick in her first soccer game of the season. She is playing middle midfielder in the other picture. Lately she has been playing either midfielder or goalie. She had an awesome, diving save yesterday.

I couldn't get this text back to the top for some odd reason.

We just got power back at our house. Ike has been quite distructive in Carbondale, Illinois! We have several power lines and trees down. Baleigh and I went driving around after church to check the damage and we should have brought the video camera. We have been under a high wind warning since early this morning. We have had 60 mph wind gusts. Luckily, we aren't flooding on top of it. The rain has been moderate. Thankfully, next week's weather looks beautiful. Let us all take advantage of the lovely weather, for soon the north winds will blow and keep us indoors :(

From the archives (of summer). Here is Baleigh's favorite picture of her and Ma-Ma. We were celebrating Ma-Ma The Great's July 3rd birthday.

New Blogger

Attention Everyone! Baleigh is a new blogger! I just got her set up and she is typing in her news. You can view her blog at

http://www.bouncintobaleighsblog.blogspot.com/

After she is finished, I will add to my blog anything she did not include.

WE WON Friday night 42 - 14!

INEFFABLE!

While looking for a creative title for my loooooonnnnnnnng-overdue post, I came across the word INEFFABLE. It's a funny time to find such a word because I think I am in shock that I'm NOT IN-EFF, I'm in IN-CARB! My brain is experiencing ineffable (incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressable) overload...but I'm recovering. I actually know: a few names, where to park, how to get to the math and science wings, how to battle with the "SIU parents" who insist that there child should be placed in upper-level classes, and the tricky little route I have to take to drop Baleigh off at Giant City School.

Baleigh's first two days of school resulted in a few minor injuries. On the first day, she hit her head on some playground equipment in the morning and fell down the rock-climbing wall a couple hours later. On the second day, it was pouring down rain and she took one step inside the building and both feet flew up in the air as she landed on her tush! On both days, she had worn flip-flops to school. So, after picking her up on the second day and hearing about more injuries, I took her directly to Dick's to buy some tennis shoes. She's a happy camper now. She loves her teacher and she loves having P.E. everyday!

These are all of Bay's school supplies!

Here are Baleigh and Camryn at the Effingham County Fair riding the all-time classic Scrambler!

Baleigh and Maw-Maw went to the rodeo!
Bay's favorite fair treat - funnel cake!

We went to the Beach with our new Canadian neighbors! Here is Rachel and she's not sure what Baleigh is going to do with that turtle she found in the parking lot.

Here are Baleigh and Camryn on their

way to their annual trip to Holiday World

in Santa Claus, Indiana!

July...Waaaaaaiiit....don't leave me!

"Hey! I'm not done with summer yet!"

This is it, my final week of summer vacation. Normally I would have 2 weeks left, but I am a new employee whom must attend orientation next week - wah, wah, wah.

What to do on this final week???

1) Organize the disaster in the playroom

2) Take Baleigh to the beach

3) Find and organize all of my work clothes and shoes

4) Find our tennis rackets and play!

5) Take Baleigh (and whoever else will join us) on a road trip to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. I know it sounds exciting, right? lol! I'm thinking Owensboro, Clarksville, and Cape Girardeau. This may have to wait until a 3-day weekend. I'd like to hit a festival week or something.

6) Go canoeing in Missouri with the K5 plus Krista.

So, obviously we can't get to all of this, but it's good to have a list! Baleigh has been soooo bored. Luckily, VBS started last night.

And now, drum roll please.......... I am joining Megan's video club! Check out just how bored Bay is. She drew Spongebob and his pineapple hut, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs and she used her Hannah Montana Kleenex box to put on a show. She did the filming too!

I know most of you don't watch Nickelodeon, but there is a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercial starring singer Jordan Pruitt. This commercial was filmed at The Rosebud Theatre in Effingham. Baleigh is in the commercial! She is in the front row holding her hand out. It's dark, so you just have to believe me - that is exactly where Baleigh was standing and I can pick her hand out of the 5 hands that they show. Pretty cool! We are going to try to record it so hopefully I will have it for you on the next post.

Also cool is the fact that I got my first recycling bin!! Carbondale has curbside pick-up of glass, aluminum, plastic, and paper for a measly $1.50 a month. I am so pumped!

Trying to curb Bay's boredom, I bought a fine easel, paints, palettes, and brushes.

Jamming to Miley Cyrus, Bay creates a scene from the underground railroad -I don't know, it just popped into her head.

Sadie is still taking Prednizone, which has drastically increased her appetite. I don't know if you can tell that she is getting tubby. She likes to lay her head on her lamby and nap - all day. She seems to snore and snort more now that she is Puppa Tub.

Week O' Fun, Sweat, and Tears

The Week O' Fun began with Dan's 25th-year class reunion. We spent the weekend with our good friends Ted & Jenny and various other EHS class of '83 chums.

Here are Ted and Jenny at the KC Hall, where we started on Friday night. We were at an 80th birthday party for the Dad of one of the classmates. It was a pretty rockin' fun 80th - well at least one table was havin' fun :)

Sunday morning Dan and I took Jensin and Kaid to Niemerg's for breakfast and then Baleigh and I headed for Kendallville. We arrived at the Pillers' ranch just in time for the DELICIOUS Sunday night supper. People would pay good money for that meal! Fine cuisine I'll tell ya. It's worth the trip up there just to eat off of the Pillers' dinner menu.

Monday began the two-day American Girl camp at theWayne Center One-Room Schoolhouse. Baleigh had so much fun! Here is a picture from the back of the schoolhouse. The school marm (LouAnne) was conducting Show & Tell and I caught Baleigh peaking back at me.

Here the American Girls are learning various napkin folding techniques before their tea party luncheon.

Tuesday after camp, Baleigh and I went shopping in Fort Wayne while LouAnne went to her exciting literature class. We bought every Hannah Montana school supply available :) I guess it's better than some of the other crazy stuff I saw on the shelf.

And on Wednesday, we travelled to Indianapolis to the Stevenson's to enjoy, as most of you have already heard, the sweltering Indianapolis Zoo. Although it was hot, it was great for all of us to be together. There are a lot of miles in between us and it has been difficult to get together, so I choose to only have fond memories of the day :) Here is a pic that maybe you haven't seen yet. The cutest toddler in the world kept saying, "I see walrus". That Landon is one smart cookie and as you can see on Megan's latest video, the tyke knows his aminals!

Thursday night, Baleigh and I travelled to Greenup to get some of the fastest growing trees in the world from John. I would have taken a picture but our camera pooped out on us. We visited with John, Rhonda, Krista and Nikki for awhile and then headed to Ma Ma's to crash for the night. Finally, I headed back to Carbondale to see how Dan and Puppa Sadie made it without me for a week. The weekend flew by. Dan and I started a new landscaping project in the back yard in the extreme heat and humidity. Who needs to work out when you're landscaping in 98 degrees?? There is no better way to sweat out those impurities than working in the southern Illinois humidity. Wooooo Doggies!

On Sunday afternoon, Kaid and Baleigh rode the Amtrak down and we began Kaid's birthday celebration. We ate at Moe's Southwest Grill, had his favorite DQ ice cream cake, and played cards until bedtime. Monday night we grilled out and watched a movie. Today, Kaid's actual birthday, he had to take the algebra proficiency exam so he can get into geometry as a freshman at CCHS. After the 1 1/2-hour test, we had lunch, played tetherball (more on that later), and then Kaid just now got on the Amtrak to go back to the Ham.

Here we are at Moe's. Baleigh is decked out in her new SIU Saluki gear while her doll, Kit is wearing her new Hannah Montana outfit. Yes, it's true.

Kaid gave me permission to post the "thumbs-up to finally turning 14" picture!

I am off to call all of the football players' Mom's to see if we can get the "Football Mom's" program going down here. I cannot believe how close we are to the first kick-off under the helm of "Coack K".