Santa and Mrs Claus

Mark and I took Hope to see Santa and Mrs Claus (and a couple of the reindeer even!!) at the River Falls library on Tuesday night. I wasn't sure how the experience was going to be because she hasn't been a real fan of Santa's thus far in her life. But she seemed excited when we talked about it and on Tuesday when I told her it was time to get ready to go see Santa she said, "I'm so excited!" YEAH I thought! So we got there and had to wait in line (images from the movie Christmas Story came flooding to my mind...lol), but it was nice because I got to talk to the people in front of us and in back of us. Just FYI: the people in front of us are moving to Texas in February. Lucky them! Then we got into the room where Santa and Mrs Claus were and Hope got a little freaked out. Long story short: she did GREAT!!! Santa and Mrs Claus were so good with her and we got a great picture, too! Thanks to my friend Mark Perry for scanning this picture for me so I could share it with you all on my blog.

Hope told Santa that she wants the black (I'm trying to get her to say African American, but that's a little much for a three year old I guess) Baby Alive that poops and pees. lol Dr. Hallman told Hope that that doll sounds like a lot of work and wouldn't it be more fun to have a doll that just plays instead? I thought that was pretty funny. Now she's also asking for the Talking Princess Vanity, but I'm thinking Santa can't afford that AND the Baby Alive. One thing I think Santa might be bringing her though is tickets for Hope, Mommy and Daddy to go see Sesame Street Live in January at the Excel Center (or is it the Target Center?? I always get those two places confused...lol). She keeps asking if someday we could take her to Sesame Street, so I thought that might be a good thing for her.

Anyway...Hope had a great morning with our friends Ron, Beth and Hope H last Saturday when they came to our house and we had our first annual gingerbread house decorating party. They ended up being graham cracker houses instead, but we had so much fun! I think Ron had just as much fun as the girls did, while the Moms were constantly telling the Hopes that they couldn't eat all the candy. Being a bad Mom, I didn't take any pictures of the event, but Beth was snapping pictures left and right (thank you, Beth!!), so as soon as I get them I'll post them.

Time to get supper going. Enjoy the picture of Hope with Santa and Mrs Claus.

Prayers please

I just received some horrible news and I'm asking that each of you prays for my friend Kim. Some of you may know about Kim. I've mentioned her many times in this blog. But for those of you who aren't familiar with her story, here's a little background. I met Kim, her husband John and their daughter Kaitlyn when I started working at Ezekiel 6 years ago. Kim and I became fast friends. She is such a kind woman...and her family is exactly the same. Gentle, peaceful, happy, helpful, etc. I just love them. When I first met Kim she was just finishing her battle with breast cancer. She had won!!! Almost 5 years after having been pronounced cancer free, she learned the cancer was back (that was this Spring). Well, here is part of her latest journal entry from her Caring Bridge page. It tells about the results of the latest PET scan she recently had.

"Basically it was pretty bad news. The cancer has gotten much worse and is now in the liver. I have been in severe pain on my left side the last few weeks with this week being aweful and found out it had spread into the inside of my bones( I had spots but now they are growing. That is what most of my pain is from so I am on a patch for the pain as well as morphine and some other drugs we are trying for the pain. I will also be using a cane/ walker to help keep me stable and to keep me from falling. Not the news we were hoping for. Continue saying those prayers please."

I always try to be optimistic, but this isn't good. Kim is only 45!!! Her daughter is a Jr. in High school. She needs her Mom. I am just sick to my stomach about all of this. Please, please, PLEASE keep her and her family in your prayers. God is a God of miracles, so I know He can completely heal Kim. I pray that's His will.

I wish each of you could know Kim. She is such an amazing woman of faith. She's been so hopeful through BOTH of her journeys with cancer. Always upbeat. Always smiling. Always more concerned about you than herself. I'll keep you posted on her progress. Thanks for your prayers.

History Made

OK...so my candidate didn't win today. I'm not ashamed to say that I vote pro-life and always will. I also have many questions about Obama. And don't even get me started on Biden. ZOIKS!!! But they will be the new leaders of the United States come January 20th so I will do what I do EVERY time we elect new leaders for our nation: get on my knees and pray. I know this is a great country because God's hand is always on us. That will not change. So I'll buck up and things will be great.

Time for bed. Oh...Sarah Palin in 2012!! WooHoo!! Or maybe a Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin ticket. That would ROCK!

Just a quick note

It's been a while since I posted and I'm happy to report that everyone's attitude at the Brue household has improved since my birthday. THANK GOD!!!!!!! lol I did end up getting what I asked for for my birthday: an Aaron Rodgers jersey. Well, I actually asked for Aaron Rodgers himself, but he's a bit busy right now, so the jersey was the next best thing. lol

Today I had a humbling, emotional and a little over whelming experience. I've often mentioned my friend Kim who is dealing with her second bout with cancer. She continues to fight this nasty disease with everything she has. She's so amazing. Well, today was my honor to take her for her chemo treatment at the Minnesota Cancer Care Center in Maplewood. From start to finish I was with Kim around 4-5 hours today. We had a good opportunity to chat. I asked her how she was doing emotionally. She said this time around is tougher than the first time. Going through this with Kim today made me realize how blessed I am with my health. It also made me realize how much I love Kim and how sad I will be if this disease wins. Not only will I be sad, but I'll be angry. I'll ask a lot of questions of God. The other thing that I realized today was how wide spread this disease is. There must have been around 2 dozen recliners in this huge chemo room today and every one of those chairs was filled the whole time we were there. As a matter of fact, when they were finishing up with Kim, a man came in and had to wait because they had no more chairs left. It was so sad seeing these people---different in so many ways, but they have this one unfortunate thing in common--having to go through this. Most of them were upbeat and still seemed to love life, but it's amazing how many people have cancer. It got me really thinking about the cause of this: is it environmental or is it just that we're talking more about it and catching more of the cancer than we've been able to in the past?? I'm sure it's a combination, but it's an overwhelming thing to think about.

Please keep Kim in your prayers. She has to have a brain MRI tomorrow because of some things that have been happening to her lately. I'm SO hoping that what she's experiencing is because of the medications she's on and not that there are spots of cancer on her brain. I'll keep you posted on her progress or you can check out her caring bridge page at www.caringbridge.org. Type in kimberlywarneke when asked for the patient's name (no spaces between her first and last name).

Thank you for your prayers.

Happy Freakin' Birthday!

Yep. Today I turned 41. I was SOOOOO looking forward to having a nice day with my daughter. It started out nice, kinda. She did wish me a happy birthday, but then she started crying because she wanted it to be HER birthday. Quick thinking Mommy said, "But Hopie, it IS your birthday today. It's your Baptismal Birthday!" So we got her baptismal candle out and put it in a pretty candle holder and set it on the dining room table. We also set pitures of her baptism on the table. We told her that we'd have a special celebration at supper time tonight and she seemed perfectly fine with that. (By the way, today really IS her baptismal birthday, so I wasn't just telling a little white lie to her.)

So we had a nice day planned. We first had to go to the DMV in Hudson (I know...not real exciting--but they renewed my license in like 10 minutes from start to finish so I was happy about that), then we went to the pet store in Hudson to look at the animals. My big hearted girl was pretty good through that. Then we went to Caribou for breakfast and the demon started coming out a little. Then it was to Target where I could see yet a little more of the demon. Then lunch at Mariachi Loco where the demon REALLY came out. Holy Hannah! The rest of the day was downhill from there. I don't know who took my sweet little girl or what they did with her, but the replaced her with someone who LOOKS just like her but acts the complete opposite. Long story short: I'm hoping whoever took my little Hopie brings her back tonight and takes the subsitute we had today away forever. This was by far the hardest day in Hope's 3+ years of life for me. And of course it had to fall on my birthday. I shed some tears today. I said that I wasn't coming home when I go to Texas next. I told her that she and Daddy can be crabby pants by themselves. And of course I feel an immense amount of guilt for not being a little more patient with her today. Tomorrow is a new day and I think I have every right to get a birthday "re-do."

On a good note: Hope made me a birthday card and gave it to me this morning. She is SO good at writing her name. Inside the card was a GREAT picture of Aaron Rodgers that Mark had cut out of a magazine. I love that boy (Aaron, that is...lol). Looks like I'll be getting my Aaron Rodgers jersey after all. Hopefully I can have it before the Packers beat the Cowboys (I say nervously) on Sunday.

OK...time to finish my wine cooler (maybe another one is in order for today?? lol), play some Scrabble and go to bed.

Sorry for being a total downer.

2nd Day of Pre-school

I had to get this written down before I forgot about it. Friday was Hope's 2nd day of pre-school (her first full 2 hour, 15 minute day). While we ate breakfast on Friday morning she asked me if I was going to be in the same parent's classroom that I was in on Wednesday while she was in class. I thought for a second, "Should I lie and tell her yes or should I opt for the truth even though it will probably mean tears??" I opted for the truth. I told her that I was going to drop her off in her classroom, make sure she was set and then I was going to Light House (one of the coffee shops in town) and then I had to go see Dr. Melissa (my chiropractor) so she could make my back better. Then I told her I'd be there to pick her up when class was over. I thought to myself, "Oh no. Here come the tears and the pleas to not have to go to pre-school today." Well, I thought too highly of myself apparently because she looked at me and said, "OK" and then went on with eating breakfast without missing a beat. So I dropped her off and she was just fine. I told Mrs. Wunrow that Hope could be a little bossy. She said, "Melody, she's great. She's very helpful. She also has a very big heart." My heart swelled with pride. She's already seen Hope's loving heart in such a short time. I also thought it was very nice of her to translate my "she can be bossy" into "she's very helpful." Maybe Mrs. Wunrow should think about being in politics. lol

So...no tears when I dropped her off. I went to get coffee, went to the chiropractor and did a few other errands. Then Mark and I went to pick Hope up. As soon as she saw us and Mrs. Wunrow dismissed her, Hope slid under the table because she didn't want to go home!!!! Sheesh!! We're not THAT bad of parents, are we??? No other kid hid under the table when they got picked up. I'd rather have it that way then have her kicking and screaming when I leave. So pre-school is a big hit. Hope is already bringing home things she's learning at school. They must have talked about going potty on the potty chair, too, because Hope said something about Mrs. Wunrow saying they should use the bathroom if they have to go potty. Mrs. Wunrow also taught the kids to say "Yes, please" when they get their milk at snack time.

This is going to be a great growing year for Hope...and for her parents. We have much to learn, for sure, and I can't think of anyone better to learn these lessons from than Hope.

With that I'm off to sleep...hoping the Badgers don't blow it in the 4th quarter. C'mon Badgers!!!! Let's go! PRAISE GOD!!!! Fresno State just missed a field goal that would have tied the game. And don't get me started on that AWFUL call the refs made in the 3rd quarter. The call SHOULD have been reversed because it WAS a fumble and WAS recovered by the Badgers.

A new career begins...

For Hope, that is. Today, September 10th, 2008, Hope began her school career as she walked into her first pre-school class. I know what some of you are thinking: oh man! I bet Melody was a WRECK!!! No, actually. I shed no tears at all. Now when she goes to Kindergarten that will be an entirely different story. Pre-school was only an hour today, so while Hope was in class, Mark and I were in orientation with other parents. I know what else you're thinking: certainly Mark and Melody have to be the oldest parents in the pre-school. Yep. We are. lol And guess what??? I don't mind at all. I don't think anyone can tell that I'll be 21 a week from tomorrow, can they?? Or maybe they think I'll be 81. I'm not sure. At any rate, the other parents of Hope's classmates are great. Get this...there are 9 kids in the class: 8 girls and 1 boy!!! That poor boy. If I were a bettin' woman I'd bet that Gavin doesn't get a word in edge wise all year long. lol We looked in the classroom at the end of class and there was Gavin, sitting right in the middle of all those girls. hehehe SOOOOOO cute!!

Anyway....I wasn't sure how Hope would be today. She still hates it when I leave her to go to work. Monday was REALLY bad. She cried almost all the way to Baldwin saying, "I don't want you to leave me. You'll be too far away." The good news is that the only tears she shed today was in the car on the way home from preschool as she told us she didn't want her friends to go. YEAH!!! A success. Oh...four of the 8 girls have birthdays within a month of each other. One little girl was born at the end of June, Hope's b-day is July 19, and two other little girls' birthdays are at the end of July. One of them was born exactly one week after Hope was born and her parents were in the same birthing class as Mark and me. It was nice to re-connect with them again, too. We have our first fundraiser coming up on October 19th. It's a pancake breakfast, so if you live in the River Falls area and would like to eat some really great pancakes and support Hope's preschool (money raised will help with scholarships for families who can't afford the whole tuition), let me know and I'll get you some info. The pancakes are being made by one of the guys who cooks at Perkins, so they're going to be YUMMY!!! I'm excited to chaperone field trips, substitute teach when I can and maybe even do some music from time to time with Hope's class. I can't believe my little girl is old enough to start preschool. Where have these three years gone?? OK...so I didn't cry when she walked into her classroom this morning, but a few tears are coming now. Maybe I'm a little more sentimental about this milestone than I originally thought. Hope is growing up WAY too quickly.

One more memory from Hope's first day at school. After class her teacher (Cathy...a friend of mine) told me that Hope told the class all about our trip to St. Croix Falls this summer. I just laughed, imagining Hope giving all the details about Fawn Doe Rosa. Then I asked Cathy if Hope told them that she fell asleep in Sommerset and slept until we got to St. Croix Falls. Yes. She had. Cathy laughed. That's when she told me that Hope is just great. Of course I was beaming with pride. Then Lori, who was Cathy's helper for today, told me a couple of times how great Hope was. I think they probably got a big chuckle out of her vocabulary. I have to say that she has an incredible vocabulary and speaks very articulately. She says a lot of things that don't usually come from the mouth of a 3 year old. I'm sure Cathy will get a lot of chuckles out of Hope this year.

Lots has happened recently and there's much to tell, but I'm exhausted tonight. I'm also dealing with a back that is incredibley painful right now. It's been hurting all week, but last night it got REALLY bad. It was so bad that as soon as Hope and I got home from Baldwin I crawled into bed. Mark went to the store to get something for supper and Hope stayed home to take care of me. She was in bed snuggled up next to me and suddenly started getting out of bed. I asked her where she was going and she said, "I can't tell you. It's a surprise." Pretty soon she came back with one of her quilts from her bedroom. She gave it to me and told me I could use it so I would get better. I just melted!

A couple of things real quickly so I remember to post about them sometime soon: Hope and I got to see a calf be born at the farm on Sunday. My friend Cassie had a baby boy over the weekend. Aaron Rodgers rocks (I think I might be his biggest fan). Confirmation and Sunday school are off to a great start. I think I'm going to Dallas again soon. And did I mention that Aaron Rodgers rocks?? hehehe I'll post more about these things, but for now here are pictures from Hope's first day at preschool. I'm going to take a pictures on the first and last day of school...both by herself and with her teacher. It'll be great to see how much she grows each year. I'll do this every year...at least as long as she'll let me. I'm guessing that the pictures with her teachers might stop right around middle school, but who knows???

On our front porch

Hope's new friends

Hope and Mrs. Wunrow

That's my boy!!

Take THAT you Aaron Rodgers haters!!!! WooHoo Packers!

Happy Birthday, Happy BIRTHday and Happy Coming Home Day.

First of all, I'd like to wish my husband Mark a very happy birthday today. OK. So I know there's only 1 1/2 hours left of his birthday and he's already asleep, but it's the first time I've had to post all day. We had a great birthday time today. We both took today off work and had a nice family time. Last night I was trying to think about some things we could do today and a plan came together. I love it when that happens! We headed north to St. Croix Falls and took Hope to Fawn-Doe-Rosa. REALLY cheesy name, but a fun place. There are deer, goats, geese and other kinds of animals just roaming around, waiting (and sometimes begging) for you to feed them. There are also lots of cool animals in pens. Thank God for the pens because I'm talking about animals like Grizzly Bears, Badgers, Bobcats, a Lynx, etc, etc, etc. It was a beautiful day and Hope finally got used to feeding the animals. I have lots of pictures, but I'm way too tired to get them on the computer tonight. That'll just be something for you to look forward to. LOL

After our time at Fawn-Doe-Rosa, we headed just north of St. Croix Falls to a winery called Chateau St. Croix. Very nice!!! Mark and I tasted a few wines, Hope had "kiddie wine" as she called it (it was a non-alcoholic sangria), and we had some cheese and crackers. We also ended up with a case of wine in the back of the HHR. YES-- we paid for it. And guess what??? That box of wine (12 bottles, in case you were wondering) will last us for a VERY long time.

Then it was home for supper, a bath for Hope (man was she DIRTY tonight), and bedtime for everyone...except for me....but I'm very close.

I'd also like to say happy BIRTHday to Matthew Seguin Jr. He's the brand-spanking new son of my friends Amy and Matt. He was born today (on Mark's birthday) at 4:20pm. He weighed just over 7 lbs and was 20" (or so...I didn't write down the details) long. I'm so glad that Amy and Matt got their little boy. Matt has a sister, Heidi, who will be 3 in January. Amy told me that Matt said to her not long ago that if they had another girl they might have to try one more time for a boy. I don't think Amy was too excited about that. LOL Hopefully in the next couple of weeks Hope and I will make a trip to Dodgeville, WI, to see the new baby. The really exciting thing about this is that I had a feeling they were going to have a boy and I'm ALWAYS wrong!!! I was finally right. WooHoo!!!

Please keep the family of Phil Kuss in your prayers. Phil and his wife Ruth are members at Ezekiel Lutheran Church in River Falls where I used to be the Children's Minister. They are WONDERFUL people and I love them dearly. Phil died on Friday at the age of 74. I am going to miss him so much. He always had a wonderful smile, kind words and engaging conversation. When I was pregnant with Hope he told me that I should have the baby on the 26th of July because that's his birthday (my due date was July 27th---my Mom's birthday---so having her on the 26th was a real possibility...but it didn't happen). He also thought that IF I had the baby on the 26th and IF the baby was a boy, Mark and I should name him Phil. That's a special memory I'll always carry in my heart. Thank you for the prayers for that incredible family.

OK...that's it for me for tonight. I've been totally getting sucked in to the Olympics and I love it. I think Nastia just got robbed of a gold medal though. Oh well, she DID win the gold in the all around, so I guess I'll be satisfied with that. How do those people make these events seem so effortless??

Night night!!

#1

So now he has 1 NFL start under his belt. Of course I'm talking about the Green Bay Packer's new starting QB, Aaron (A-Rod) Rodgers. I wasn't able to watch him play because I was teaching VBS tonight, but from what I heard, he did alright. I'll take alright. He did throw for one TD and also got us close enough for a field goal, so that's great! But he also threw for an interception. But ya know what?? If I'm remembering my stats correctly, doesn't Brett Favre have like the most interceptions in NFL history??? It's something like that anyway. Now I'm not a Brett hater by any means. I still love him and it still seems like a very bad dream that he's playing this year and not wearing a Packers uniform, but life has to go on. I'm just glad the drama is over. I'm behind Aaron 100%. Plus, he's so dang CUTE!!! lol The Packers did end up losing tonight, but it was close, so I'm happy with this first performance. I got to see the 3rd string QB (Flynn) play and he did a great job, too, so I think this year is going to be OK. I know---it's only pre-season, but---WAIT----they're interviewing Aaron on ESPN. Yep!!! He's really cute. Look at those dimples!! Could he be interested in someone old enough to be his mother??? OK...I'm just kidding (mostly). lol Anyway...here are his stats for tonight:

he went 9-15, threw for 117 pass yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, and had a 79.0 passer rating. So I think that's OK. He'll only get better. ESPN is saying that he handled himself well. Aaron has HUGE shoes to fill (understatement of the year), so he could have come out and totally let the pressure get to him tonight, but he didn't. OK....I'm done with Aaron Rodgers for tonight. I know when Mark reads this he'll totally disagree with what I've said, but I'm a Packer fan: through good times and bad times. Yes, I'll miss Brett like crazy, but I am looking forward to football season anyway. I've requested an Aaron Rodgers jersey for my birthday next month.

Speaking of seasons...as I was driving home from work tonight at 8:30 I started getting this heavy feeling in my heart. It was already getting dark. Not too long ago it would stay light until almost 10. The shortening of the days means only one thing: we're getting closer and closer to winter every day. Even the nights here have been in the 50s. UGH!!!! In all honesty, I don't know how I'm going to get through another Wisconsin winter. I'm not looking forward to the darkness, the cold, the lack of color outside, the ice and snow. There is absolutely nothing about winter here that I like. And it seems to go on and on and on and on. I'm praying that this will be our last winter in Wisconsin and that I can find a way to convince Mark that it would be a really good idea for us to go where it's sunny and warm most of the time. That, of course, would be Dallas, TX. I don't think I'm going to have much success with that though. BUT...lest I end this post on a totally depressing note, I just happened to remember that there IS one thing I like about winter: it's also football season. That brings me full circle. GO PACKERS!!! GO AARON!!

Not the best picture of him, but it's better than the old pictures of him with his long hair.

Cat bites, hair cuts and a brush with fame

Weird title, huh??? Well, the Brue family is just a little bit weird if you haven't noticed yet. Tonight we'll start with the cat bites.

So a week ago tomorrow I got Hope in the car and we headed to her secondary day care provider's house. (NOTE: Grammy and Papa are the primary care takers of Hope while I'm at work and a friend of mine who does day care in her home watches Hope 1-2 days a week. This allows Hope to interact with other children AND it gives Grammy and Papa a break.) So we got to the house, I took Hope in and sat her at the kitchen table with L and her kids. The babies were sleeping. When it was time for me to leave I headed for the front door and I noticed that one of L's cats was sleeping between my shoes. I went to slip my shoes on so I could leave and that's when all hell broke loose. The cat apparently didn't want me to have my shoes so she hissed at me and attached herself to my left leg with her claws and her teeth. Well, the second cat of the house heard this and came to the defense of the first cat and then SHE attached herself to my left leg with HER claws and HER teeth. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. It was horrible!! Well, L heard the noise and came running and when she saw what was happening she was able to get the cats off my leg. She told me to quickly scoot out the front door before they came after me again. I was starting to head out the door when I looked down at my left leg and noticed that blood had saturated my white---YES, WHITE--capris. Blood was literally gushing down my leg. Instead of scooting out the front door I scooted into Ls bathroom where I gushed blood all over her floor. I couldn't believe the blood. I got my pants down and saw that most of the blood was coming from my vericose vein that one of the cats had punctured. YIKES!!! I got it to stop bleeding, L took my pants to put them in the wash and she gave me a pair of hers to wear. I got Hope in the car and we headed back to River Falls and to the clinic. They got me in right away. I didn't need stitches, but they cleaned my puncture wounds (8 in total) and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic so I wouldn't get an infection. Didn't work. I got an infection anyway. My leg swelled up and got red and I could barely walk on it for 2-3 days. Finally on Sunday the swelling started going down and the redness started going away. It's pretty much back to normal now, but the puncture wounds still look pretty nasty. Here are a couple shots I took on Saturday...

This is a tricky situation because L and I are good friends. That hasn't changed at all, but I don't feel that I can leave Hope there while I'm at work while she still has the cats. I'd be too concerned that something might happen to her. The cats have never attacked a child before, but I'm not the first adult they've attacked. What is preventing them from attacking a child for the first time?? I hope that never happens.

Now on to the hair cuts. Back in May my sister gave Hope her first real haircut. She took off 4-5" at that time which made Hope's hair just a little longer than shoulder length. I initially wanted to get it cut quite a bit shorter, but I got cold feet. Well, her hair has grown like crazy since that first haircut and although her hair is beautiful I made the decision to get it cut again...and this time a lot shorter. So here are some pictures of Hope's new 'do:

Lastly, I got home from work today and Mark and Hope were just getting back from one of their "adventures." Usually their adventures finds them roaming around the UW-RF campus. It ESPECIALLY finds them roaming the UW-RF campus now that the Kansas City Chiefs are in town for training camp. Well, today they headed to campus and Hope got to meet head coach Herm Edwards!!! I was SOOOOO jealous when she told me. It was either just before or just after their morning practice and Mark was letting Hope bounce on the big bouncy thing (technical term for that large thing that the pole vaulters land on once they're over the bar) and standing just a few feet from them was Herm. Mark told Hope to say hello, so she said, "Hello Herm." He came over and talked to her!! He asked her her name, how old she was, etc. Mark said he's a really nice guy. We don't have any pics of Hope's brush with fame today, but if you don't know what Herm Edwards looks like, he reminds me of Tony Dungy (head coach of the Indianapolis Colts). If you don't know what Coach Dungy looks like, you really should get out more. LOL The other day when we were on campus we met one of the Kansas City sports reporters named Erin. Really, really nice girl. It's that time of the year when the Chiefs are in town and, frankly, it's one of my favorite times of the year. It's fun having these guys in town. Plus it's summer...and it's HOT and HUMID right now. I'm in heaven! It's no Dallas (it's going to be over 100 degrees every day this week down there....lucky them!), but I'll take it.

And now she's THREE!!!

Yep. That's right. My baby turned three on July 19th. I wanted to post about her exciting birthday weekend before now, but it's been a crazy week (I'll post about that in the next couple of days). So here's a synopsis of the weekend and some pictures to go along with it.

We left River Falls on Thursday, July 17 and headed south to Wisconsin Dells: tourist trap of North America. But it's a fun place, so what the heck. We got a great hotel with lots of swimming pools and Hope was in HEAVEN!!! She's a little fish that girl is. Our room overlooked one of the pools, so that was fun to her. We went to the mall in the Dells that night before supper and Hope made her first Build-A-Bear. Bearamy (she came up with the name on her own) is a bright pink bear with white hearts all over. Hope had a great time filling Bearamy up, putting a special heart inside her, giving her a "fluff bath" and then picking out a cute little outfit for her to wear. So cute. Bearamy is special in Hope's life not only because Hope made her, but because Bearamy has taken the place of Hope's much beloved pico (aka pacifier). More on that later. We went to Uno's for pizza after our trip to the mall and had a great time. Hope got to make her own pizza and after we were done eating, the wait staff gathered around our table and sang Happy Birthday to Hope. They also gave us a great dessert: a warm brownie with ice cream, whip cream and chocolate syrup on top. YUMMY!!!!!!!! There was a family sitting kitty-corner from us and as they left one of the girls (I'd say she was about 15) came up to Hope and wished her a happy birthday. So nice. We found out they were from Stevens Point. Love it! Then it was back to the hotel for more swimming and a good night's sleep.

In the morning we left for Madison. We headed to the Vilas Zoo and had a great time. The Henry Vilas Zoo is a free zoo and it is a wonderful place. It reminds me of Como Zoo in St. Paul, but Vilas has more animals. It was HOT that day and I was in heaven!!! I felt sorry for the Amish families I saw because they were in their traditional "garb." They must have been so hot. After 2 1/2 hours at the zoo we headed for my brother's house. We got to visit with them and they made an awesome supper for us. I don't get to see Gene and Tammy nearly enough. I love them. After getting party bags together for Hope's party, we headed to our hotel and, you guessed it, went swimming. We stayed at a very nice hotel in Madison, too. I love the deals you can find on the internet!

Then came the day. Saturday, July 19th. Hope's 3rd birthday. We headed to Gene and Tammy's house to help get things ready for the party and then we headed back to Vilas Zoo to meet our family and friends. We weren't at the zoo very long because it was very hot and very humid (at least by Wisconsin standards) and we had several toddlers as well as an 8 month pregnant friend in our party. So we ditched the zoo early and went back to Gene and Tammy's for the rest of the party. They did SO much to make Hope's birthday special. We had a great meal and great company. All of my siblings were at the party and so were our friends Amy with her daughter Heidi (Heidi will be 2 in January), Amy's sister Becky and Amy's "almost here" baby (Amy's due in early August). Brian (the best man at our wedding) and his girlfriend Patricia also joined us. It was a good day. Friends, family, food and fun. Who could want anything more?? Oh...I even set the alarm clock on my cell phone to ring at 3:42pm. We sang Happy Birthday to Hope at the exact anniversary of her birth.

Before we left Madison on Sunday morning we stopped at West Towne Mall and did a little shopping. I got some great deals on clothes for Hope for this fall, next summer and next fall at the Boston Store. YEAH!!!

We celebrated Hope's birthday with Mark's parents this past week and next weekend we'll celebrate with his sister. Emily (aka Miss Hudson 2008) found a crown to give Hope for her birthday. She's going to LOVE it since she was eyeing Em's crown the night of her coronation. There are some other cute things that Hope will be getting from them, but I can't write it here because Mark doesn't know what they are yet and he wants to be surprised...and yes, once in a while he reads this blog. lol

Now that I've bored you with the details of Hope's birthday, let me tell you that I can't believe my baby is three already. I have NO idea where the time has gone. It really does seem like just yesterday Mark and I were on our way to the hospital because my water broke sometime between 2-4am on July 19th, 2005. I remember that day like it happened yesterday. One of the things I remember most is my first look at her when they held her up and carried her to the warming bed. I was so worried about her because she was SOOOOO tiny. She weighed 5lbs, 10oz when she was born. Little, little, little. They assured me she was just fine...she was just tiny. And she is just fine. And she's still pretty tiny, but she's growing like a weed! And I swear that in the past 2-3 weeks she has grown up and changed so much. She really IS pico-free. I'm so proud of her progress with that. I thought we were in for a rough few weeks when we made her go cold turkey, but it only took a couple of nights. She doesn't even ask for it now. YEAH!! Our next big hurdle is to get her to go to bed on her own. That's another story. And she's even been asking to wear barrettes and pony tails in her hair. That is COMPLETELY new. Usually she doesn't want any of that stuff. The funny thing is that she's scheduled for a haircut tomorrow and I was going to have them cut it SHORT. Now I might have to reconsider getting it cut so short.

Today we watched some of the video we took on our September 2006 vacation to Texas and Colorado. Hope wasn't even walking on her own during that vacation. She was close, but hadn't mastered it yet. Such precious memories. Such a precious baby. Such a precious three year old. God has so blessed my life with this special little girl. I think it's amazing that God gives to parents exactly the baby they're supposed to have. Always mixed in with the joy of Hope's birthday will be the sorrow I have about losing my first baby due to a miscarriage. Hope's birthday is July 19th (2005). I had the miscarriage on July 23, 2004. Not even a year between those very two events. I'll always wonder if my first baby was a boy or a girl. I'll always wonder what that baby would have been like, what he/she would have looked like. I think that's normal. But I find comfort and solace in knowing that we have been given this incredible gift that we named Hope Christiana...and she's exactly the baby we were supposed to have. I can't imagine life without her.

I could write a ton more, but I won't because this is WAY longer than I anticipated. Here are a few pictures from Hope's birthday party.

Mark and Hope by the rhinos.

Hope in the pouch of a kangaroo.

Mommy and Hope in front of the beautiful flowers.

Intently opening yet another gift.

Brett Favre a (GULP) Viking???

Say it ain't so!!! So some of you may have heard the latest today: Brett Favre has supposedly asked the Packers to release him from his contract. YIKES!!! As a retired player, Brett has the right to ask the NFL commissioner to reinstate him. That means he'd once again be on the active roster for the Packers. After that, the Packers organization would have to decide to either bring him back or see where they'd get the best deal for a trade. Or the Packers organization can simply release Brett from his contract and wish him well. THIS STINKS!!! I can't decide if I'm more upset with Brett for being such a diva (and keep in mind that I LOVE Brett Favre) or the Packers organization for not really encouraging Brett to come back. It's probably a combination of the two. So...speculation has it that if Brett does indeed come back, he might end up in Gold and Purple. WHAT??!!!! ANYWHERE BUT MINNESOTA, BRETT!!! How odd would this scene be: Brett's jersey is supposed to be retired in Green Bay at the first Monday night game...against Minnesota!! Can you imagine the bedlum if that happened and Brett ran out of the tunnel as a Minnesota Viking??!!! Oh man. It makes me want to hurl just thinking about it. I just want this whole drama to end nicely. I know there are so many more important things happening in life, but this has the potential to be pretty sad.

On a good note: God answered my prayers today and the storm didn't hit River Falls until after the River Falls Days parade was over. YEAH!! So we got to see Emily in all her Queen-ness on the Hudson float. She was having so much fun! She even blew Hope a kiss when she saw her. So cool!

OK...time to read some more. I'm on book for of James Patterson's "number" series. This one is called "4th of July." I'm glad I've gotten back into reading this summer, but the late nights are killing me. Thank God we're on vacation next week and not going anywhere except to Madison for Hope's birthday. Oh..,.and I picked up Hope's usual b-day gift from Mark and me today. Starting with her 1st birthday (I wish I would have thought of it when she was born) we get her one pearl from Fennern's in Baldwin. I have to buy a chain soon to put the pearls on. I figure that we'd be better able to afford a string of pearls for Hope if we bought one pearl at a time as opposed to one whole string at one time. I wanted to get her something for her 1st birthday that would be sentimental, lasting, kind of a family heirloom that she could pass on down the line. I had this pearl idea and even though right now Hope doesn't appreciate it, she will some day.

3 year check up

Hope went to see Dr. Raverty today for her 3 year check up. I know she's not 3 until July 19th, but Dr. Raverty is pregnant and due any time, so I wanted to get in before she has her baby.

Anyway...Hope is growing like a weed. Ever since she was born she's been in about the 25th percentile for height and weight. Always 100% percentile for head measurement though...lol!! Today she made it into the 45th percentile for height AND weight!!! YEAH!!! She's still at 100% for the head. hehehe So she weighs 30.4 lbs and is 38 1/2" tall. She was a really good girl at the doctor today. We took a giant step in getting rid of the pico (aka pacifier) today, too. Hope has 3 picos that she doesn't really like all that well, so we took those with us today and gave them to Dr. Raverty for her baby (I'm sure they made it promptly into the garbage can after we left). Hope did better with that than I thought she would. The real challenge will be to get her 2 favorite picos away from her in 1.5 weeks. At the end of the appointment she gave Dr. Raverty a big hug and said, "I love you Dr. Rita." SOOOOOO cute!!! She did that all on her own. Oh...and she wore her own stethescope to the appointment, too. The nurses loved it.

That's it for now. I have some pictures to get up, so I'll do that one of these days.

The envelope please...

Mark, Hope and I just came from the Miss Hudson Pageant. (Hudson, WI, that is.) The 2008 Miss Hudson Queen is Emily Klanderman...OUR NIECE!!! YEAH!!! We are SO excited about this. Emily is an incredible young woman. A strong, strong, Christian. A wonderful spirit. A beautiful (inside and outside) girl. I was so proud of her when she decided to run for Miss Hudson because she has always been really shy. When she got into high school I wasn't sure how it would go for her because she was shy. But she's come out of her shell and amidst that has still retained her beauty, her spirit, her kindness and her innocence. So from now on when you're at a town's festival and you see the Hudson float, you'll see Emily as the Queen. We are just praising God tonight for this blessing. Just incredible!!!

Now...for those of you outside the area I'll try to explain a little bit about what this town festival thing is. I grew up in central Wisconsin and we NEVER had anything like this. It was new to me when I moved to River Falls. Each of the towns in this area has it's own "fest." It includes the crowning of royalty (usually some princesses and a queen...although there is one that also crowns a king), food, a carnival, a parade, etc. It happens throughout the course of a weekend. So this weekend is Hudson Booster Days. Hudson is the town next to River Falls (and it's the only thing, next to the St. Croix River, that separates us from Minnesota. Thank God for Hudson. LOL). That's where Mark's sister and her family live. Next weekend is River Falls Days (original name, huh? sheesh!!). Every weekend during the summer is a different festival. The City of St. Paul (MN) has the Winter Carnival. So now you have a better picture. Well, each town has its own float that the members of the royalty ride on...and each town has its float in every other town's parade. It's crazy. So, as the Hudson Queen, Emily will be riding that float ALOT (pretty much every weekend) for the rest of the summer. She'll also be representing the town of Hudson at other community activities. Next year at this time she'll get to crown the next Miss Hudson. She will also receive a scholarship next year. She is going to be a very busy girl this year (there goes our babysitter), but she is going to represent Hudson beautifully!! In her personal interview last week with the judges, one of the questions they asked her was what would be the hardest part about being chosen Miss Hudson. Emily's response: that she'd feel bad for the girls who didn't win. That's our Em. She's pretty amazing. Such a great heart for God and for God's people. I think tomorrow I'm going to make T-shirts for Mark, Hope and I to wear to the parades that we'll be going to this summer. They'll say something like "Miss Hudson is my niece." How fun would that be?? I think I'll even get to do a few of the parades with my sister in law which will be fun. Oh...the parents of the royalty are just as busy as the royalty themselves. So Mark and Cheryl will be incredibly busy this year as well.


I've got lots of new pictures of Hope to post, but for tonight I'm just going to post some pics of Em from tonight. I'll get pictures of Hope up sometime this weekend. Enjoy!!


Bethany (Emily's sister), Emily (Queen) and Courtney (Princess). I gave piano lessons to all three of these girls once upon a time.

Emily, Hope and proud Uncle Mark.

Em, beaming Aunt Mel and a mad Cousin Hope (when she saw Em's crown she promptly said, "I want a crown, too." lol Maybe we have a Miss River Falls in our future??)

Glad and Sad

Today has been a sad and glad day. Yesterday I thought it looked like I might actually get rid of this head cold some time this century, so I was feeling pretty good. But this morning I woke up and felt pretty crappy. All day I've been on the edge of feeling really bad. My throat got worse and worse throughout the day and by the time we went to church tonight (more on that later), it was really bad. Now it's REALLY bad...which is how this head cold I've had all week started last Sunday. UGH!!! I hope I don't have to do the whole thing over again. So that part was sad.

Glad: Hope and I went to the new Hudson 12 Theater today and saw the Noon showing of "Kung Fu Panda." It was cute, but the best part for me was watching my girl. She looked so grown up sitting in the chair next to me. She was so good. This was about her 4th movie (we've taken her to see "Ice Age 2", "The Bee Movie," "Horton Hears a Who" and now this one). She sat on the edge of her seat (she can't sit all the way back or the seat would fold her up), watching the movie, eating popcorn with me. In my mind I could see Hope as a teenager, going to a movie with her friends instead of her Mommy. That made me sad and glad.

After the movie we came home to pick Mark up so the three of us could go to the farm together. We saw the cutest calf!!! We think it was born this morning. It's a red and white holstein. SOOOOOOOOO cute!!! Almost as cute as Reddy (the jersey), but not quite. We named her Carmadillo (a combination of caramel and armadillo...hehehe). I told Mark and Hope that I wanted to go next door to the maternity ward to see the Mamma who gave birth to such a beautiful baby. Well, here's the sad part. I saw the soon to be momma cows and then one in particular caught my eye. I said to Mark, "Hey...look at that one...she's laying down and she's outside the barn." I looked closer and she WAS laying down and she WAS outside the barn...because she was dead. It made me want to cry. I went closer (I know this is weird) to see what tag number she had on her ear. 775. I know that means nothing to anyone, but since we go to the farm almost every day I feel like I've gotten to "know" the calves and the soon to be Mommies. This poor cow must have died while giving birth. I'll have to get the story next time I'm at the farm. So Hope asked some questions today about the cow. That's a tough one. We told her the cow was very sick and now she's in heaven with Jesus. OK. I have a degree in Theology. I know there's absolutely nothing theological about a cow being in heaven with Jesus. As a matter of fact, before I became a Mommy I thought people were nuts when they'd talk about their beloved pets being in heaven. Now I understand. I also know that God has a big enough heart that even if animals don't actually go to heaven, He's OK with us telling our kids that in order to bring them some comfort. That's my two cents worth on that. So the farm was sad and glad today.

I'm taking tomorrow off from work/church, so we went to church at Bethel Highlands in Hudson tonight. It was a contemporary service and was really, really nice. It was nice to be able to worship and not work (although having a toddler in church with you is work...but Hope was really good tonight).

So that brings be to the end of my day. I'm sipping on some hot tea with lemon and honey, hoping that'll help my throat and that tomorrow I'll wake up and feel great. I'm going to read a few more chapters in my latest James Patterson read (3rd Degree) and then I'll hit the hay.

Thanks for reading and for not thinking I'm TOOOOOOO weird about the whole cow thing. Or at least thanks for not saying anything. LOL If I remember, I'll take the camera to the farm with me tomorrow so I can get a picture of Carmadillo. She is seriously so cute!!!

Cowgirl Hope

I had a great trip to Dallas. The only problem is that I didn't want to come home. Well, I was super anxious to see Hope because I missed her so much, but I always feel empty when I have to leave Dallas. I'm not sure why. It's where my heart is for sure. I can't explain it, but I just love Texas and feel like that's where I'm supposed to be. It was wonderful to have no schedule, no responsibilities (except to feed Pam's cats and water her plants...and she has ALOT of plants), and to feel the warmth of the sun every day. It was sunny, humid and 100 degrees pretty much every day I was there. I was in complete heaven!! I love it when it's that hot. I know---I'm crazy. It helps to have a pool to sit next to and take a dip in. The best part of the trip was seeing my friends Jeff and Marsha. Marsha and I went and got pedicures the last day I was in town. That was her first one. I think she'll be going back for more:) I also loved the fact that I could get my Cherry Limeades from Sonic. Since we don't have Sonic restaurants here I go through withdrawal sometimes. BUT....rumor has it that Woodbury is getting a Sonic. YUMMY!!!

I got this cute little cowgirl outfit for Hope while I was in Texas. She wore it today...along with the pink cowgirl boots that Grammy got her about a year ago. Isn't she cute??? I'm not sure what's up with that silly smile though.

An update on my Mom's surgery: She came through it with flying colors. The doctors said there were no surprises, so that's a good thing. The pain has been much less than she thought it was going to be, so that's good, too. I think she went for her post op check up either yesterday or today, so I'll have to call and find out how it went and when she starts pt. That'll probably bring some pain. Thanks for your prayers for her.

I guess that's it from the Brue home on this Tuesday night. I just found out that it looks like we'll be going to Stillwater on Sunday for Drum Corp performances. I can't wait. I LOVE DCI!!! It'll be Hope's first introduction to Drum Corp. She's going to go crazy!!! Go Madison Scouts! Oh...also...Saturday is the annual "touch a truck" event in River Falls. It's at Meyer Middle School. I think we'll take Hope because the Oscar Myer Weinermobile is going to be there. How cool will that be to see??? Let's hope we have a weekend with great weather.

A couple of quick notes

Yesterday was a GREAT day at the farm!!! Yes, like I've said before, these trips to the University Lab farm have gotten to be almost a daily thing. I think I like the trips almost as much as Hope does. But yesterday was so much fun!!! We noticed a new calf in the calf barn. She didn't even have her ears tagged yet. My guess was that she was about a day old. So we spent some time in the calf barn visiting with all the calves. Then we headed to the "maternity ward" to check in on the pregnant cows. There was a brand spanking new calf laying on the hay!!! We figured it was probably about 8-10 hours old (what do we know about calves??). We were so excited!!! Then we headed to another barn and on our way back to the car we were getting ready to take one more trip through the calf barn and we saw two farmers (two college girls who are working at the farm for the summer) carrying the new calf into the calf barn. YEAH!!! We found out the calf was actually only TWO HOURS OLD! It was still wet!! Hope not only got to pet the new baby, but she got to help the farmer (Kat) give the baby her first bottle. Such a neat experience. There are 6 more cows in the "maternity ward", so we'll be having lots of new calves in the next week or so.

I'm headed to Stevens Point in about and hour. My Mom, even as I post this, is having rotator cuff surgery. The surgery was scheduled to start at 7am and was supposed to last about 4 hours. Sheesh!! That's almost as long as my gastric bypass surgery was. So please say a prayer for my Mom. The recovery for this surgery is supposed to be pretty gruelling, but once that's done it'll be so much better for her. I'll keep you posted on that.

Wednesday I head to Dallas for 5 days of R&R!!! I'll be staying at my friend Pam's house and she won't even be home. I'm bummed that I won't get to spend any time with her, but it'll be so peaceful. They have an AWESOME in ground swimming pool with a hot tub attached. Pam also got a baby grand piano for her 50th b-day a couple of years ago. As long as her blender is working so I can make some margaritas (lol) I'll be in heaven. I'll miss Hope so much though. I suppose I'll miss Mark, too (hehehe). This will be a great break for me though. I'm feeling a little guilty about leaving Mark to fend for himself and Hope, but I figure that I did it for almost 8 months while he was in Stoughton and Appleton, so I think I can use this trip. Plus, maybe it'll help him see how much I really do at home. That's always a good thing. I know when he was gone I realized how much he does, too.

That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading and thanks for keeping my Mom in your prayers!

A trip around the world??

My friend Lloyd is a musician. He belongs to an awesome Christian band called Echelon and he also does solo stuff. Hope's favorite CD right now is Echelon's latest CD. One of the songs on that CD has a chorus that goes like this: "You, giver of life, maker of all things made that have been made. Oh I could go 'round the world and find nothing better to do than worshiping you, Lord." It's a great song with great music and great words. Well, Hope knows the words and we sing it every day. Tonight as she was finishing supper I was singing the song to her. A few minutes later, here was the conversation:
Hope: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes, Hope?
Hope: Can I go around the world with you some day?
Mommy (melting inside): Yes, Hope. That would be really nice. Where would you like to go first?
Hope: First to the farm to see Baby Reddy. Then to the playground. Then around the world.

I just smiled and gave her the biggest hug. I just thought that was so precious!!

What a great weekend

Both Mark and I actually had four days off this weekend, so it's been a really nice weekend. The weather mostly cooperated (say a prayer for those whose lives have been changed by the tornado in Hugo...a suburb of St. Paul, MN) and we were able to be outside a lot. Due to the fact that I'm going to try to be in bed by 10pm (WHAT???), I'll keep it brief. We got to go geocaching THREE TIMES this weekend. We found a total of 6 caches. Fun!! The first day, Mark had a woodtick on his ear. Today I came home with THREE of them. I still have the creepy crawlies, so I think I need to take a shower before I go to bed. We also went to a couple of graduation parties, the farm a couple of times, Como Zoo (where Hope went on a carousel for the very first time. She was a bit freaked out by it, but she made it through and I think it'll be easier next time), and to our friend's Scott and Jan's house tonight for an impromptu picnic.

I didn't get anything done in the garden or in the house, but it was worth it. We spent lots of time together and it was great. I just wish it could always be like this...but work calls tomorrow.

With that, I'm off to get the creepy crawlies off and hit the hay. Please remember all those who have given their lives for our country as well as those men and women currently serving in our military. Today we're saying a special prayer for my nephew Andrew who most of you know is serving the US Air Force in Germany.

Heartbreaking news

I just read something heartbreaking on line. Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman (one of my all-time favorites) and his wife experienced something horrible on Wed. night. Their 5 year old daughter was killed in a car accident in their driveway. Maria was their youngest daughter and they had adopted her from China. Here's a link to the article. Please keep this family in your prayers. http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

House update

Well, the showing went well yesterday morning. The couple just did a quick look through, but I sensed it was fairly positive. The wife LOVED it (except she walked into the kitchen and said, "This is it?" I have the same reaction and I've lived there for 6 years). She was really impressed with all the storage areas (there are lots) and she was REALLY impressed with the fact that the house has two bedrooms and two FULL bathrooms on the main level. I wasn't sure if the stairs up to the loft and down to the basement (the husband has a bad left knee) or the small kitchen would be a deal breaker or not. Apparently they weren't because the husband called us around 6:00 last night to talk price. He did mention that the stairs were a bit of an issue, but that they were still interested. I handed the phone to Mark so they could talk about the price. Mark told him what we were going to list the house for and he didn't laugh or anything like that. He said they'd talk about it and get back to us. Now the story takes another interesting turn. We are set up with Keller Williams Realty for email housing alerts. We set up the criteria we're looking for in house (number of bedrooms, price, square footage, etc) and when something matches our criteria, then send us an email. Well, there's a house in River Falls that I walked through that I absolutely LOVE!! It's currently owned by a couple with two young girls. I know them because they're members of the church I worked at in River Falls and were involved with the children's ministry there. The house is PERFECT for us. Today we got an updated listing from KW and that house just dropped in price by $10,000. It's on the outer end of our price range, but if we can talk them down just a little more and if we can get the price we're hoping to get for our house, it would be so great. BUT...Mark and I did talk about how we love the location of our current home and how hard it is going to be to move from there. We talked about doing a really good add-on job which would mean adding two new rooms (an office for Mark and a guest bedroom) and the kitchen of my dreams. That would probably mean adding a 1/2 bath or 3/4 bath, too. The more I think about it, the more I think the cost would be way too high for us to do that. We'll see. We'll pray. There's also a house in Baldwin (right across the street from our friends Ron, Beth and Hope...hi guys!!) that I've been keeping my eye on. It also went down in price by $8,500. The new price on that one is $161,400. TOTALLY do-able for us for sure. So we'll see what ends up happening. Oh...the house in River Falls is just a block away from the Elementary school where Hope would go. It's also two doors down from a very good friend of mine.

More exciting news for us: we officially have a potty trained 2 year old. WooHoo!!! I know there will be accidents from time to time, but she really has this potty thing down-pat. She's even wearing big-girl panties now. This was a long road. Everyone kept telling me that one day it would just click for her. I started doubting that. They were right though. YEAH!!!

That's it for now. Time to get ready for my elementary aged kids that are coming in just 45 miutes. It's the last Kids Club of the school year. I love them, but I'm ready for summer to be here.

More to come on the housing situation....

Quick prayer request

I have a quick prayer request for everyone. The request: that the showing of our house tomorrow morning is successful. The background: There is this (older) couple that used to be members of the church I worked at in River Falls (they became "un-members" because of the Sr. Pastor's crap) who are our neighbors (they live around the corner). When the wife (we'll call her Jane) heard from her beautician that I was leaving Ezekiel and would be working for a church in Baldwin she called me to let me know that they were interested in buying our house. They were assuming we'd be moving to Baldwin. I let her know that we were not going to be moving to Baldwin, but staying in our house. Then a year ago (we were actually out for our anniversary dinner) we ran into them at a restaurant in town and they again let us know that if we were ever interested in putting the house on the market we should contact them before we sign a contract with a realtor. So Mark called them on Saturday. He talked to the man (we'll call him John) and I guess he didn't sound that interested, but he said he'd talk to his wife (they had company at the time, so it could have been that they were just busy and didn't have time to talk at the time). Well "Jane" called this morning and is really excited about seeing the house. They're coming over tomorrow morning at 10:45. Mark and I will be working like crazy tonight and tomorrow morning to get the house "packed away" so it doesn't look so cluttery. Mark also called the carpet cleaner and she's at our house even as I type, getting the carpets nice and clean. I'm so hoping this couple will buy our house. I think we can probably come to an agreement on the price (without having to pay a realtor we'd be able to take a little less of an offer than we'd have to otherwise). They've been in the house before (in the 70s when it was first built....and we've done a LOT of work in the house since that time). It would be a perfect house for them. Plenty of room for a retired couple. BEAUTIFUL view out the back (I'm going to miss that). Bathroom and bedroom on the same floor (I guess they don't have that in their current location). So if you could say a prayer, that would be appreciated. It would also mean being able to seriously start looking for our next home. YEAH!!! I'll keep you posted...

I'm so proud of my sister in law!

Today was mine and Mark's (is that correct grammar??) 6th wedding anniversary. We've been through so much stuff since we got married...most of it pretty tough. My weight loss surgery just two weeks before we got married (Yep...I just celebrated my 6th anniversary for that, too...and I have to get serious about this whole thing again, but that's a topic for another day), Mark losing his job of 17 years at Lutheran Brotherhood due to the merger with AAL, Mark's hip surgery, job stresses for me at Ezekiel, more job stuff with Mark, a miscarriage, the birth of Hope (that's been a GREAT thing, just so you know), a job change for me (that's been a great thing, too), parents getting older, and now trying to sell a house and figure out where we want to live. Anyway, there have been great vacations, great friends, time with our wonderful families, the ability to be able to do lots of updates on our house, great views from the back deck of our house and watching Hope grow up in those years, too. So for our anniversary today Mark's parents came and babysat for Hope after Andy's (Mark's nephew) confirmation party. Guess what we did??? We went to IKEA!!! LOL How romantic is that?? Well, it wasn't romantic, but it was fun. I love that store. I think Mark has grown to tolerate it. Then we went out to eat and headed home. On the way home we stopped at Mark's sister's (Cheryl) house to drop off Andy's confirmation gift. Cheryl shared some really incredible news with me: she was nominated as one of the contenders for Teacher of the Year in the Hudson School District. It's an awesome school district, so just to be nominated is a huge honor. Well, she WON!!! Cheryl teaches 1st grade and is an incredible teacher, so she is very deserving of this award. So here's kudos for my sister in law!! YEAH CHERYL!!!

I have much more to say, but I've got a headache the size of Cleveland and I have an 8:40 doctor's appointment in the morning, so it's time to go to bed. Until later...

Lots of things...

So many things have happened since my last post. I know I'll probably forget something, but I'll try to get it all in and not be TOO long winded (hahaha).

Hope and I attended my friend Rachael's funeral on Thursday morning. So sad and yet so hopeful. It was truly a beautiful service. The pastor (who I know from when I was part of the River Falls ministerium) did an awesome job. Just incredible. The church was PACKED!! What a testiment to what an amazing person Rachael was. She touched the lives of everyone she met. My favorite part of the funeral (that sounds kinda weird, doesn't it??) and the part that made me cry the most was towards the end. The congregation sang "Awesome God." That was one of Rachael's favorite songs. Well, it's one of Hope's favorite songs, too, and she belted it out from the back row...hands raised and everything. It was such a special moment. I thanked God for my precious little girl and her love for God.

That afternoon Hope and I went to a local coffee shop to see Dawn, Dan and Isaiah. After 9 long months of not seeing them, it was so nice to give them hugs. And their little guy is SOOOOOO cute!! He is just perfect. I didn't get to spend any one on one time with Dawn, which I was really hoping for, but there were many in town who wanted to see her, so I had to share. And that was OK. Friday we headed to Como Zoo (we being me, Hope, Andrea, Wyatt, Elise and Hannah) to meet Dawn, Dan, Isaiah and Dan's parents for the day. It was a perfect day for the zoo and we had a great time. After the zoo was lunch...which gave the Mom's (all of us first time Mom's with kids ranging in ages from almost 3 to 3 months) time to chat about Motherhood. It was great!! I had a few tears in my eyes when I said goodbye to Dawn. I loved seeing her, but it just made me realize how much I truly miss her. Friday night found us on our way to Dresser, WI, to the Trap Rock Inn. It's a little hole in the wall that most people would drive right by, but they have an excellent fish fry on Friday night, so we headed there to meet Mark's Aunt Donna and Uncle Ken for supper. We had a great time with them. Hope absolutely LOVES them (and so do I, by the way) and it's always fun to get together with them.

Saturday we had a plant sale at church for the youth group. It ended up being the "send Jake Myer to the National Youth Gathering in 2009" sale because Jake and his family were the only ones (besides me) to show up!!! That's all I'm going to say about that because I'm a little ticked off about that. BUT...I got to spend quite a few hours with the Myer family that day and that was awesome. They are great people!!

And that brings me to today...Mother's Day. This is my 3rd Mother's Day as a Mommy and I'm so incredibly blessed to have Hope Christiana as my daughter. It's really true what they say about your children: they are your heart walking around outside your body. I just look at her and melt. She is such a loving, smart, beautiful little girl and sometimes I just can't believe she's ours. After church we had lunch with Mark's Mom and Dad. Hope gave Grammy a beautiful porcelain miniature tea set (for two). Mark's Mom collects tea pots AND they have a tea party every day at Grammy and Papa's, so I thought this would be a perfect gift. Plus when it's handed down to Hope she'll have some wonderful memories of using the tea set with her Grandmother. After lunch Mark took Hope and told me he had something to do...so they'd meet me at home. So I got home and had a chance to chill a little. NICE!!! They got home and I got the best Mother's Day gift I have ever gotten: a beautiful hand drawn picture of Hope. It made me cry. The artist said that Hope was the most beautiful little girl he's ever drawn. OK...so I know he probably tells every parent the same thing, but I'm going with it!! I can't wait to get it framed and on the wall. Hope was really good sitting for the picture and told me all about Tom (the artist) when she got home. I'm glad we got a picture of Hope with her long hair because she's getting it cut short on Friday. I'm having a little bit of a hard time with cutting all that beautiful hair, but I know it's best. She's not a ponytail girl at all and it keeps getting in her face and her food. My sister is cutting her hair so I know it'll look super-cute. After I got my picture from Mark and Hope, it was time for Hope and Mommy to head to the farm. We struck gold at the farm today because it was feeding time for the calves when we arrived. Hope got to give Reddy (her favorite calf) a bucket of milk AND she got to help farmer Allison give a 1 day old calf a bottle of milk. She was in 7th Heaven!! Of course I didn't have my camera today. UGH!!!! We got home and went out for supper. Now Hope and Mark are asleep and I'm not too far behind. Before I forget: Mark also got me Lincoln Brewster CD (I love it!!!) and a beautiful hibiscus tree for Mother's Day. Now if it would warm up enough to put the tree outside, that'd be good!

So that should pretty much catch everyone up. Today was the last day of Sunday School and although I dearly love each and every one of "my kids," I'm looking forward to the break that is Summer vacation!! Wed. is the last night of confirmation and the following Wed. is the last Kid's Club of the school year. June 1 I go down to 20 hrs/wk for the summer and I'm looking forward to that. I love my job, but I love summer, too!

Here are some pictures that I hope you enjoy...

A close up of the picture I received as a Mother's Day gift today.

Here's the whole picture. Isn't it beautiful??

Hope B and Hope H: a day on the farm

The Brue family at the farm on a very windy day.

Hope petting "Baby Reddy" (her name for the calf because of her reddish color).

Hope with Dawn on our trip to Como Zoo.

Mommy and Hope at the coffee shop.

My friend Rachael...

Do you know how you meet someone, maybe even just once, but you feel a connection to them immediately?? You share a similar experience and it just bonds you. Well, that's how it was with my friend Rachael. I think I have already posted about how I met Rachael and her husband Isaac, but I need to post it again. Last June we had a garage sale in which we sold all of Hope's baby things (with the exception of a few sentimental favorite things). This young couple came and as they were looking at things to buy we just started talking and one thing led to another. Rachael shared that she had lost a baby at birth. I shared that I had had a miscarriage at 6 weeks (totally not the same thing as what Rachael and Isaac had to go through, but still pain). Rachael and Isaac were so full of life. So full of hope. And they were pregnant and due in October. They had Mikayla in mid October and she is absolutely beautiful!!! The day before Rachael had Makayla, she noticed a lump under her arm. Being a new Mom, she got busy with her daughter and didn't get around to getting that lump checked until a couple of months later. By that time the news was pretty bad...and it kept getting worse. They had started out at the hospital in Stillwater, MN, but quickly moved to Mayo. They tried everything they could, but they finally said that there was nothing left to do and gave her about 3-6 months to live. Isaac took Rachael home and cared for her the very best he could. A week or so ago they moved her to the hospital in Stillwater. They moved Rachael on Friday from the hospital to the hospice facility in Stillwater. I just found out through Rachael's Caring Bridge site that she went to be with Jesus this afternoon. I knew it was going to be soon, and I know she's not suffering anymore, but this really stinks. So the doctors at Mayo gave her 3-6 months, but I don't even think it was a month ago that they told her that. It went really quickly. I just can't imagine being Isaac or Makayla right now. Thank you for your prayers for that family. If you could keep praying for them, but just re-focus your prayers for strength and comfort for the family, I'd really appreciate it...and I know they would, too. Also, Isaac is self-employed. He's an awesome computer technician. He was over a few weeks ago and did what he could for our really lame desktop (thank God I have this laptop that my friend David upgraded for me). If you need any computer work done, I would be more than happy to put you in touch with Isaac.

Another prayer request: my Mom will be having shoulder surgery on June 5th. This is something she's been dealing with all winter. It is a result of a fall she took some time in November or December. It was snowing and her landlords hadn't come over to plow the parking lot yet. She was walking from her apartment to her garage and there was a patch of ice under the snow and down she went. She's been doing PT all winter and it hasn't gotten any better. The doctors finally said that surgery was going to be the only thing to help the pain. Mom will also be moving sometime later this summer or early fall, so that's another prayer request for her. That she enjoys her new apartment. I think she will. I believe it's a senior citizen type of apartment. It'll be nice for her to be around people her age. My Mom is 70, but a really young 70, but the apartment that she's been living in for the last 9 years has a few noisy younger people, so this will be a good move for her.

On a good note, we had an awesome day today!!! Our friends Beth, Ron and Hope came down from Baldwin and we had lunch together and then headed to the University Farm. Oh my goodness!!! You should have seen the two Hope's together. SOOOOO cute!!! They walked hand in hand, they chased each other around, they laughed. It was just so precious. I have some pictures, but the USB cord I need to get my pictures from my camera to my laptop is upstairs in the loft, directly above where Mark is trying to get Hope to sleep. The floor is really squeeky up there, so I'm not going to attempt to get the cord. Pictures will follow soon.

Thanks again for your prayers for the Grover family.

My new venture is official!

For those of you who read the last post, I hope I didn't make too big of a deal with the new venture I've taken on. I'm pretty excited about it, but I realize it won't be a big deal to everyone. I am proud to say that I am now an official Usborne Books consultant. A friend of mine from Maryland recently became a consultant and when I read that there is no monthly quota or anything like that---that I can do as much or as little as I'd like--I thought I'd go for it. I've been familiar with Usborne Books for quite a while, so I know the books are really great. It will allow me to bring in a little extra income and get fabulous books for Hope. Who can't use both of those things?? Here's my website so you can check it out. If there's anything there that interests you, just let me know. http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/main.asp?sid=V2449&gid=49537862 I should be getting my starter kit within the next few days and then I'll be ready to set up shows: either home shows or e-shows. It's a great way to earn free books for your children, grandchildren, church, etc.

I'd love to share a picture with you. This is my friend Kim that many of you have been praying for. Kim is truly one of the most upbeat, positive, inspiring people that I know. This is round 2 of cancer for her and her attitude is just beautiful. I know she's going to beat this horrible disease. With all the prayers daily being lifted up for her and her incredible desire to live, there's no other option but to beat it and win. A couple of weeks ago a benefit called "A Celebration of Hope" was held for her. I wrote about it a few posts back. This was the picture that Kim's husband John took of the two of us. It's one of my favorites. I'm so glad she sent it to me.

Isn't Kim beautiful???

Global Temperature Warming???

I don't think so!!!! Do you know that one of the weather guys in town is predicting rain and SNOW showers for this weekend!!! The high for tomorrow is supposed to be a whopping 45!! This is crazy. It's May 1st for God's sake!!!

Now on to some good news: I took Hope to daycare today. This was day #4 (I can't believe we've been doing this for a month already). All week she's been asking, "Mommy, can I go to Kaitlin's house on Thursday?" So she's been excited about it instead of dreading it like the past few weeks. Then she'd ask me, "And Mommy, can I hold you for a couple of minutes when we get to Kaitlin's house?" (NOTE: when Hope wants me to hold her she says, "I want to hold you." I haven't corrected her because I think it's so cute.) So today I held her for a couple of minutes when we got to Kaitlin's house, set her down to take off her shoes, stood up and she said, "Mommy, you go to work now." She gave me a kiss and off she went to play with AJ and Brandon. How cool is that??? That didn't take nearly as long as I thought it was going to. Our little girl is growing up. And she truly IS literally growing UP. I put another pair of pants on her today and they're too short. Same thing happened yesterday. So Beth...we have at least two more pairs of pants (and a shirt) to bring you for your Hope.

Other news on the home front: we're still going back and forth about where is the best place for us to settle when we get the house sold. We'd prefer to stay in River Falls because we just like the place, but it makes more sense really to move to Baldwin. That would give me a lot more time and save a ton of money on gas. We just keep going back and forth about it. Mark is hesitant about Baldwin because it's the town where he grew up. Some people love living in the town they were born and raised in and others don't. I know I wouldn't move back to Adams-Friendship if they paid me. So I can understand where he's coming from. It's just that my job is in Baldwin and so are Mark's parents (who watch Hope), so it just makes sense. I'm still trying to convince Mark that moving to Texas where it's warm and sunny year-round is the route we should go!! hehehe I'm actually only half joking about that. I have felt a real pull to get back to Dallas lately. I know our families are here and that's ultimately what will keep us in this place, but I'm feeling really lonely for my friends down there, the church that I worked at, and the sun & warmth that's almost always there. Maybe I just need to go down there and visit and that'll take care of my longing to be there for a while.

One more fun thing that happened today: I dropped Hope off this morning and realized I had forgotten my purse at home, so I drove back to River Falls to get it (that was NOT the fun thing that happened. I was actually pretty ticked off because I'm just not feeling well today and didn't want to have to do that). But I got home and Mark was on the phone with his Mom. He gave me the phone and she had a great offer for us. Mark's nephew Andy gets confirmed on May 18th which also happens to be our 6th wedding anniversary. Mark's parents talked about it last night and they have graciously offered to watch Hope after Andy's party and into the night so Mark and I can actually go out alone together. It's been a LONG time since we've done that. Now we have to figure out what we're going to do.

Oh...I lied. I have one more thing. Yesterday was the 6 year anniversary of my weight loss surgery. I've gotten into a lot of my old, bad habits over the past few years and I've made a decision to change those things and get back on track. I look at pictures from 4 years ago and I looked great, I felt great. I'm going to get back there again. I realize it won't happen over night, but it'll happen. I also realize I won't get back down to my low of 144 lbs, but the number isn't as important to me as the feeling. Plus, I have all kinds of cute clothes just waiting to be worn again. They are much better than the fat clothes I have now. So here's to me!

I guess that's about it for now. I'm about to sign a contract for a new very, very, very part time extra income opportunity, so watch future blogs for that information. I'm excited about the new opportunity. That's my tease to get you to come back again:)

Very cool!!

I just got off the phone with Mark. I sent him with my brother in law John to Lambeau for the weekend. They're there for the Packer Draft Party. Believe it or not, Mark didn't really start getting excited about this until about Wednesday. (NOTE: Mark is a bigger Brett Favre fan than he is a Packer fan. I am both.) I started looking at the list of events for the party on Thursday night and I was a bit jealous that I wasn't going. I told him that next year my sister Ali and I were going. Anyway, Mark just called to tell me the really cool thing that happened to him just a couple of minutes ago. He got to meet, up close and personal, Mike McCarthy!!! For those of you who don't know who he is, he's the head coach for the Green Bay Packers. Mike had been speaking at the Draft Party and Mark happened to run into him by a back elevator after he was done speaking (Mike McCarthy, not Mark. It would be VERY scary to have Mark speak at a Packer event. Esepcially one where GM Ted Thompson would be present...as he was today). Mike actually went over to Mark, shook his hand and said hello to him. Too bad Mark didn't have a camera or my brother in law with him to get a picture. Anyway, Mark was excited about it and had to call home. Oh...Mike was headed to the administrative part of Lambeau because it's almost time for the Pack's first round pick.

Other exciting news: Hope's potty training continues to go in the right direction. YEAH!!!! And since Hope and I are having a bonding weekend this weekend, we were going to go to the zoo today. Well, since winter lasts 10 months of the year here and it's snowing today, we opted out of the zoo and decided to go see "Horton Hears a Who" instead. She did such an awesome job at the movie. Was quiet, at popcorn with Mommy, didn't fall asleep. She even went potty on the big girl chair at the theater when the movie was over. So it's been a good day!!!

Time to go start supper and listen to who the Packers are going to draft. I have no idea who they're even looking at.

Lots of growing

Wow!! Hope is growing so much. Not just physically, but emotionally and developmentally. She has truly hit a growth spurt. I took her to day care again today and she shed tears on the way there when she found out she was going to Kaitlyn's house. By the time we got there she had settled down for the most part, but wanted me to hold her. Long story short: AJ said to her, "Hope, wanna go play on the slide?" And although on the verge of tears, she said, "Sure. Bye bye Mommy." So she went off with AJ and Lisa and I exchanged high fives. By the time I could get out of the house Hope came back to me. She said goodbye one more time and then she was off to play. I was so happy!!! Lisa also told me when I picked Hope up this afternoon that she went ALL day without her pico (Hope's word for pacifier. Not sure where she got that one). She didn't even ask for it at nap time!! This is truly an amazing step for her. She doesn't usually have her pico except at naptime or bedtime, but still, she's growing up!! Then there's the whole potty training thing. Today wasn't as good of a day as the past few have had, but she was in a different routine with daycare today, so we'll take babysteps there. Yesterday I took her to see the pre-school where she'll be going this fall and she saw the little toddler sized bathroom and said, "Mommy, I have to go potty." I thought perhaps it was just the novelty of a bathroom her size, but I sat her on the potty anyway. And she went!! I've found that what works best for Hope is letting her run around the house bare bottomed. She always tells us when she has to go. But if she has her diaper or even big girl pants on, then she goes in her pants. So for her to tell me yesterday, with her diaper on, that she had to go potty, that was huge progress. Maybe we're getting closer to not having to buy diapers anymore. This is the only stage of Hope's life so far that I've found myself being a little frustrated with. I think I expected that because she's so smart she'd get this potty training thing down pat in no time flat. But I do understand that this truly is just a stage and soon it'll all click for her and she'll be wearing those big girl panties all the time.

On an entirely different note...please continue to pray for my friend Rachael. It seems as though she's given up the will to fight this cancer that she has. It's really sad and I think it's becoming really real to her husband Isaac that Rachael is indeed going to dye. Thank you for your prayers.

I was going to put pictures on from the retreat this past weekend, but it's almost 10:20 already and Brett Favre is going to be on David Letterman in a few minute. WooHoo!!! I can't wait to see him. I'm sure he's missed me. LOL So...the pictures will be here soon. I promise!

Great weekend

I was fortunate enough to spend this past weekend with three lovely young ladies from my church. I took Kylee, Jennifer and Kennedy to a Youth Encounter weekend in Wisconsin Dells. They were SO great!!! I knew that they were "good kids" before I left, but now I REALLY know what great "kids" they are. Their parents have done an awesome job raising them to be respectful...something that, frankly, a lot of parents aren't very good at these days. I had a great time getting to know them better and just hanging out with them in general. The funny thing is (and I could be way off-base on this) that I think they actually had a fun time with me, too. The weekend included some great music, a great speaker, great workshops, lots of noise, a fun church group from Tomah, Melody putting a pastor in his place (more on that later), and great music. The band Captive Free was the house band. The guest musician for the weekend was this awesome singer/guitar player/song writer named Lloyd Garrelts. Funny thing is that Lloyd and I are good friends from college. I knew he was going to be at this particular Quake, so that's why I chose to attend this one. Lloyd and I sang in a contemporary Christian band called Living Water for two years while we were in college. Those two years were so much fun!! Now the REALLY cool thing is that Lloyd ended up marrying one of my floormates (Tonya). Tonya and Lloyd's twin sister Lynn were roommates all four years at Concordia. Lloyd and Tonya never dated in college. They really didn't start dating until they had been out of college for quite some time. It's a great story and it just seems so normal that they ended up together. So....Tonya was with Lloyd this weekend and I got to do lots of catching up with her, too. The sad thing is that I've lived in the Twin Cities area for 6 years now and Lloyd and Tonya have lived in Minneapolis for longer than that. I'm so sad that we haven't gotten together before now, but we're going to change that and get together now. I hope it's often because I really love both of them and would like to spend time with them. I have pictures of the weekend, but I haven't gotten them on the computer yet, so I'll post them when I can.

Time for bed, but before I turn off the computer I'm asking for prayers for my cousin Jay. Jay is just 6 months older than me. We were really, really close when we were growing up. He and his family lived just a few blocks from us so we always did stuff together. I just found out yesterday that Jay found out last week that he has skin cancer. He doesn't know much more about it, but he'll be heading down to Madison this week for more tests and stuff like that. Please keep him in your prayers. I'll keep you posted.