Marchin' in the Warmer Weather - Yeeaaaa March!

Laugh all you want, but this is the 3rd night that I have tried to finish and post this baby, but run into a variety of problems each time. I started this post on Sunday around 1:30 and well, it's Tuesday night. So, forgive the disarray and enjoy.

First, we have, out of order, some BEASTLY turkeys from Pennsylvania! This has become one of my new favorite webcam sites. Although, now that I am much busier due to the start of softball season, and me being the assistant sb coach, I really don't have much time to check in with my critters.

This is "The North Troll" site in Kalkaska, MI. At least 20 turkeys gather here from time to time, but they are not as gargantuan as the PA turkeys.

In preparation for the almighty ISAT testing that Baleigh has at Giant City School this week, her teacher had the whole class meet on Sunday at 5 pm at Italian Village to eat supper. She gave out prizes for various awards that each child won throughout the evening. Baleigh won the biggest comedian award. She told jokes through supper because, of course, she wasn't eating any of the pizza. She won some silly string in a can and was quite happy with that. Her teacher finished the evening with a pep talk for the tests and then read a poem that she wrote about the ISATs. I will post the poem next week when I get a copy.

Baleigh took this picture of her class eating at IV's (Carbondale lingo for Italian Village). Most of the parents ate there for supper as well. It was pretty fun.

After Tuesday, we are steadily in the 50's and 60's for the next 10 days, which includes our spring break! We can't wait to get to our landscaping projects and to Daylight Saving Time! (There is officially no "s" in Saving(s) ya know - Wikopedia told me so). We had a taste of the warmth on Thursday when it reached 70 degrees! Of course, then it sleeted Saturday morning.

Softball officially begins tomorrow (Mon) and I am bracing myself for the busy-ness of it. Baleigh has 2 more basketball games left, but soccer begins on the same day of her last basketball game. Then, her softball practices begin on April 15th, games begin May 1st. Dan is supervising the weight room for the football players on Mon, Wed, and Fri after school (since November), and he started having "open field" on Saturday mornings. I really don't mind the hustle and bustle when it is all outside. Obviously, I am hoping for a mild spring though! I'm sure Chad is hoping for the same with his girls' soccer team getting in gear as well:)

Our spring break officially begins this Friday at 3:06. Things we are hoping to accomplish include:

1) Begin landscaping project if the dirt dries enough. (See the "before" picture below)

2) Uh...finally replace the temporary (PAPER) blinds with REAL shades in our bedroom! How embarrassing! Obviously, I don't let anyone too close to our bedroom - haha

3) Visit with family and friends.

4) Camp out or at least sit by a fire.

5) Starve myself -oops! I mean work out daily :)

6) Clean out our vehicles.

7) Look into setting up our own critter cam.

8) Probably some other things that I haven't thought of yet.

9) See. I already thought of something. Find and give stuff to Goodwill.

Speaking of critter cams... I found 3 other webcam sites that I added to my favorites and check on regularly. Bruce's Critter Cam is in Indiana County, PA. He has 6 different cams that you can get VERY close-up views of deer, raccoons, possums, squirrels, chipmunks, birds (so far). His site is at http://bruce1956.proboards86.com/index.cgi Then, there is Mark's Wildlife Cam, also called The North Troll in Kalkaska, MI where they have had 312 inches of snow since Oct 26th! There are several turkeys there plus a troll and a windmill. Mark reports their daily snowfall/weather too. Pretty cool stuff! His link is http://www.northtroll.com/ The other one is in the woods of western Pennsylvania and it looks very inviting for critters, but so far I've seen...well, the woods. Surprisingly, there isn't any snow there. I am hoping that dawn and dusk produce some action. http://www.pixcontroller.com/WebCam/WebCam.htm

LouAnne, how about this little guy? Great pose! I bet you could draw him up real good. Yessiree

Prayers for sweet Aunt Marion.

FebruarWii

Not a whole lot going on here. We are thankful for our Nintendo Wii. Because it is still fairly cold, we are passing February nights by playing a lot of Mario Kart. It is pretty cool on the wall with the projector. Our competitiveness is enhanced by this large screen :) For you Nintendoheads (yikes, that's far from gearheads), to the right is Yoshi , Koopa Troopa, Toad and Donkey Kong battling it out. Baleigh usually kicks all of our butts.

Yea! The Koester5 was together for dinner tonight!

Last weekend, we saw our first robins of the season! Come on Spring! Baleigh went to the science center in the mall and made a colorful netting that we hung in a bush in hopes that a robin will use it for her nest. We also put a finch feeder out and had 2 little yellow friends visiting this morning.

This is a great memory of fun in the summer. I love the thought of that warmth and freedom (sorry, non-teachers). This is a picture from Lou's American Girl Camp last July. Baleigh is in the yellow shirt and glasses. I cannot believe how much she has changed since July!

Here is the shaggy Puppa Sade and the groomed Princess Sadie. I think maybe the flash bothered her in the groomed pic :) She got a fun little Shamrock scarf from the groomer today. The reason that I am featuring Sadie again is because the talented pet contest has begun. Baleigh typed up a 35-word paragraph of Puppa Sade's talents and entered her in this contest. What we didn't know was that in order for your pet to get votes, people have to donate to the Newspapers for Education fund at the Southern Illinoisan. I was unaware of the "pay to vote" details. Anyhoo, it was fun to see her in the paper and online. It will be interesting to see if she gets any votes.

Happy last week of February!

Love N 'Kinz

Baleigh, age 7 (Valentine's Day 06) showing off her super cute rainboots that Lindsey sent her for her birthday.

From my Valentine

Sunday, we had a great day hanging out at the MaMa's. Jeff, Conni, Bay and I finished MaMa's puzzle. I love how you can have great conversation and do a puzzle at the same time. It's relaxing and intimate (in the family sense).

Mama, buttering Baleigh's buscuits and telling us a story.




More WEBKINZ family portraits! Coming soon: Rob, the duck and Maddie, the collie

Bob and LouAnne

Right: Jeff and Conni




Top Row: Rhonda, John, Kyle

Bottom Row: Krista and Layla

These aren't very clear pictures, but if anyone would like to order any of these wood blocks for the new babies being born, Baleigh's dad has a lazer company now that makes these. You can order the Baby Blocks by going to www.jobolaserworx.com or call him at 217-251-4590.

He made this block for me as a sample, using one of my favorite pictures of Baleigh.

Fame, Glory and ...YOUR Webkinz Family Portrait!

Snowmancam just got first priority on this posting because I can't move these pictures to the end where I had planned! I finally remembered to do a little watching on Saturday night and first I saw a turkey, then some deer and then these boys! Sunday morning there was all kinds of action! I watched, and read a book (looking up whenever I saw movement) for 3 hours! Yeah, Baleigh wasn't home obviously. I saw a lot of these 2 deer, but around 10 am, they got 2 friends but I forgot to save that shot. Dan has been watching some too and he thinks we should all set up a cam. kvillecam, kutschercam, koestercam.
On to the origianl beginning of the post...
Baleigh got a big surprise from the Mayor of Carbondale when he came to her classroom and presented her with this "Turtle Crossing" sign! Mayor Cole had visited her classroom in November, discussing various Carbondale facts. Apparently, while he was talking, Baleigh drew a picture of a turtle and wrote "save the the turtles!" and "turtle crossing" on it and gave it to him asking if Carbondale had any turtle crossing signs. The mayor laughed and said no. Then he tucked her turtle picture in his pocket. On Wednesday, he pulled the turtle picture out of his pocket and explained to the class that he had kept the picture on his desk and finally decided to ask the city workers to make Baleigh a sign. Baleigh was so surprised and of course I tried not to cry during the presentation in fron of her friends - that's totally uncool ya know. Her teacher had called me to let me know about the presentation. The sign will stay in their classroom until the end of the school year and then Baleigh gets to bring it home. Also pictured is Lucas Feather, the class president, who asked if he could be in the picture :)

Well, the Steelers won and most midwesterners didn't like that. Poor Kurt Warner, he played a great game! I wish the Steelers would have played some other team, like the cheatin' Patriots. It still ended up being a good game to watch because of the 4th quarter excitement. The picture on the couch is at halftime. The kids weren't too impressed with Bruce Springstein. I thought the Boss did a pretty good job.

AND NOW....YOUR Webkinz Family Portraits!

Well, SOME of the portraits. Darn it! I am going to have to post Bob, Big Lou & Rob, Jeff and Conni, Michael, and John, Rhonda, Kyle, & Krista next week:( Sorry! I thought we had finished the photo shoot, but no. Zut Alors!



Megan, Chad, Landon, Stella

MaMa and PaPa

Bonnie, Brent, Lindsey

Top Row: Jensin, Kaid, Baleigh
Bottom Row: Lori, Dan, Sadie










And finally, my list of 6 Things That Make Me Happy...

1. The Great Outdoors. All landscapes, the sun, moon, stars, critters, even the scents of each season. I see beauty in it all.

2. Holidays. I am always off work and with family!

3. Competing. Sports, cards, Wii, word searches - I don't really care what type of competition.

4. Walking 18 holes of golf at 6 am - not for the competition, but for the beauty and the stillness, just the birds and the sound of the club hitting the ball. I haven't done this in a few years, but hope to this summer.
5. Helping. In any form. My earliest memories of helping go back to being under the hood of various cars with my brothers and helping Aunt Kae with laundry and dishes before we went out to through the softball around.

6. Listening to stories. Family history. MaMa stories about growing up back in the day. And also, just the stories of people I know and meet.

This was hard work Megan:) I tried not to copy - but I do love a clean house! and my baby girl and my family, and .....

I am tagging Baleigh and Michelle and MaMa.

Snowdayssss and a Birthday Party!

FOUR SNOW DAYS!!! We have never experienced 4 in a row. It was amazing. The roads stayed hazardous because of the 3 inches of sleet underneath the 6 inches of snow. The buses couldn't make their routes. I hope we don't have any more!





The heavy snow left Krista's ducks searching for yummy yums. We brought them bread and crackers. When I bent down to take this picture, one duck tried to eat my hand and my cell phone! It didn't hurt, just shocked me because I didn't see him coming. They also pecked at our boots and nipped at our gloves - poor starvin' things.

Baleigh, Krista and I made this friendly guy. Then, we built snow forts and had a snow ball fight! Krista's school was closed for 3 days. SIU was closed for 2 days. I guess we should be thankful though. Kentuckians are still without power. My friend Michelle's relatives from Kentucky are staying with her until their power comes back. Her mom's house got down to 42 degrees and she finally gave in and packed her bags when the news reports were saying that power would not be restored for at least a week, maybe two.

Elissa stayed 2 nights during the surprise vacation week. She and Bay had a great time together and were both relieved to be able to socialize a little bit. I think we were all getting a good dose of cabin fever after the first 2 days off.

Saturday, all of Baleigh's friends were sooo happy to see each other after being cooped up for the 4 days. The birthday party was a lot of fun. There were 14 kids plus me, Dan, Mike, Dusty, Camryn, Krista and the MaMa!!!! Ta Da! MaMa The Great made it down to Carbondale and we were so happy she came!

This is the birthday pinata. I bought it for the black and gold colors and it was cheap. It said "Happy New Year" on it. So, I thought we'd just tear that off and make it a Steelers pinata. I brought it home to Bay and explained my idea and she thought that was great. Then she said, "uh, Mom, isn't that a champagne bottle?" I covered my face and said, "Oh my gosh! You're right! I am so dumb! I didn't even think about it." It just really got my attention because of the black and gold and the Super Bowl coming up! I told Dan what I had done and he convinced me that the kids wouldn't even notice. I went with that and...no one noticed - Thank Goodness.



Here are some fun pictures of the pinata action. Baleigh's face is her consoling, "ahhh" after her friend missed the pinata.

Bay spinning Eli around.

A.J. jumps with excitement after Rachel drills the pinata - but no candy yet.

Baleigh about brought down the house with this hit, but still no candy. After everyone did a blind-folded attempt, we let them go back through without the blindfold.

Molly made it burst and the race was on! Look at Baleigh's excitement!

The Turtle Cake. She blew all 10 candles out in one breath!

They swarmed her while she opened her presents, but it was sweet. They are a pretty close group of friends. They all wanted to see that their gift was well-received :)

Besides the pinata action, there were bouncy inflatables which included jousting, a giant slide, a bouncy house and an obstacle course. On the other half of the area there were balls - footballs, basketballs, dodgeballs, soccerballs. The party was at a place called "Sports Blast". Good times, great memories.

Here are a few people sliding. I should have video-taped more action.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things That Get Me Through Winter

1) My birthday. I had a pretty nice one. I got flowers from Baleigh, a homemade cake with 37 stinkin' candles in it (that baby was putting out some heat!) from Krista and Baleigh, my own copy of a year of "Bob and Big Lou - Livin' the Dream" from my favorite sister, dinner with Dan, a basket of goodies from Mom, and dinner, a movie and a book from my friend Michelle! Pretty good haul! I felt loved :)

2) The NFL Playoffs. I love it! And I won't bore you with all the reasons that I do.

3) Boys and Girls High School Basketball. When the week is long, and cold, and dark, and boring...there's always a high school basketball game to look forward to.

4) Baleigh's Birthday! This major event always keeps me occupied for awhile. I think of and then list the options, await the decision, plan for the day, endure (oops, I mean enjoy) the day, and recover. The past 9 celebrations have been a success. I'm goin' for 10. There is quite a party planned for the landmark welcome to double-digits. Pictures and post-party comments to come.

5) The Super Bowl. It's a big day around here no matter who is playing, but this year is another SUPA Super Bowl as the Steelers try for #6. We will be watching on our 8' X 8' projection. We have an LCD projector that provides a clear, life-size image on our wall. It is awesome to watch movies with, play Wii with, and of course to watch football with. We should sell tickets.

6) Big Ten Conference and NCAA Tournaments. After the birthdays and football are over, I/we focus on college basketball. I pay a little attention in December and January. But in February and March, I am very aware of the Illini schedule and make an concerted effort to watch them play.

7) Netflix. On the cold, dark, and boring nights that there isn't any basketball to be seen (I detest the NBA), I/we will be watching movies from Netflix.

8) The Anticipation of a Snow Day. I had to add this one. We haven't really had any weather to speak of down here yet, but supposedly we could get enough sleet, ice, freezing rain, and/or snow to get Tuesday off. Watching. Waiting. Aniticpating. I will check weather.com 20 times before I go to bed Monday night :) I don't really care if we are off or not, but I like watching the weather to see if maybe... I wouldn't mind one snow day, but I don't care for school in June. Nope. It be time to play in June.

Baleigh has been having Sadie Photo Shoots lately.

Sadie tolerates it. She's quite fluffy right now.

We always refer to her as Fluffa Pup when

her hair is this long.

Have a good week everyone! Safe travels to those who have to.

Doin' Fine in 2009

Happy 2009 Peeps! Our 16-day vacation came to a screeching halt at 5:30 this morning. I cracked open one eyeball and moaned, "just one more day off..pleaaassee". Ten seconds later, I was thinking, "Am I crazy? It is high time to get back to some sort of routine here! Fat and lazy sure doesn't take long!" I am REALLY looking forward to The Biggest Loser - Year Deux. I believe details are coming soon via Lindsey or LouAnne's blog.

As much as we prepare for and enjoy the Christmas season, I think it worthy to post a few more Christmas pics for your viewing enjoyment.

Here are the amazing (say it with a lot of cheesiness like they do on the commercial) Bendarooz. Bay made Patrick, Squidward, and SpongeBob's houses on her wall with the little bendy, twisty things.

On New Year's Eve, Dan, Baleigh and I played another 50 games on Wii until our friends Jake and Bridget came over. Then we all played Apples to Apples, Foosball and....some more Wii. We watched The Ball drop at 11:00 and I called the Hoosier Kinfolk to wish them a HNY! At midnight, we brought out the traditional pots and pans and spoons to clang and tooters to toot. I am trying to remember where the pots and pans tradition came from and I know that some family member can help me out here. From my childhood, I think it came from Mom and John. Am I right Mom? What about you LouAnne? Was it tradition back in the day? Or did I make this all up? I have to admit that I am not the best at remembering stuff like this. Once someone sparks my memory, I am good to go though. Then, it's always, "Ooohhhh yeeeaaah, NOW I remember!"



It's good to have Miss Krista down here. She hung out here this weekend and I think we gave her a new appreciation of the NFL playoffs:) We are a little intense around here as most of you know. Baleigh definitely has acquired the super-competitive, sports-fanatic gene. She was even in our Fantasy Football League Playoff Draft! Dan doubted her ability to comprehend and strategize, but I assured him that she would get it once I explained it to her. She took it pretty seriously and did a pretty darn good job. I hope she wins.

Baleigh got this sweet Hannah Montana motor scooter. It is for ages 12 and up and holds up to 170 pounds!

Sunday, Krista joined us at church and spent the day hangin' with Baleigh girl. After supper, they ended up havin' GNI (Girls' Night In) at Krista's apartment. Apparently, they played Sorry! until the first morning quack of the ducks (Krista lives on a small lake that has a wonderful flock of ducks!), because Baleigh fell asleep at 7:30 tonight! Coming soon, pictures of us feeding the ducks! Sorry Bob and Rob, no guns welcome on Lake Ashley.

In an attempt to fit in with the whole NY's Resolutions thing, I have thought of a few things that should be on my list. Like Megan, I don't usually make any resolutions because I am a believer of the same saying - that NYRs are merely "Things That I Should Do, But I Know That I Won't". I try to set goals for myself year 'round. I guess my first resolution should be to actually achieve some of the goals :)

My NYRs: (in no particular order)

- Find a new church and attend it regulary

- Lift weights and jog outside routinely

- Spend more time with my extended family

- Spend more time volunteering

- Lose fat...a lot of fat

Health and Happiness to You All in 2009!