More Christmas!

I just had to add some more pictures from Christmas. We had such a great time watching Jackson enjoy the whole thing. He's such a cute little guy. Everything is a tractor and 'oh-oh' is his favorite thing to say! Grandma got him the tractor and he loved every minute of the time he played with it. It came with a wagon but he couldn't quite maneuver as well as he wanted so basically let it sit under Mike's chair. Another toy was a baseball game with lots of buttons and noises. His Dad helped him with that one. He was getting pretty good by the time another new toy came on the scene. Jim & Mandy got him a car lamp from "CARS" and he was bound and determined that he was going to play with that 'tractor.' Beth finally hid it and he kept crawling up on the chair trying to find it. That was certainly a hit as far as gifts were concerned. And he only fell off the chair once!

Barb got a very uniquely wrapped gift. She had no clue what was under the paper. Turned out to be a snake for her flower garden. Beth, Glee and I went to a craft fair in Dubuque and found the snakes and some bird feeders. Ron got the bird feeder and Glee got Barb the snake! It'll certainly add something to her garden next summer. A conversation piece if nothing else!

Every year we say we're going to cut down on packages or expenses. From this picture you'd think we bought out the stores, but it's really not as bad as it looks. I very seldom wrap anything that doesn't have a box. I just can't get the wrapping paper around something if it doesn't have solid sides. Glee is an exception as she wraps a number of things to their shape!! We also have a lot of 'gag' gifts that keep appearing on Christmas Eve. The numbers just keep getting bigger every year! Sure is fun watching people open them. I got to the point where I checked everything carefully hoping a chicken wasn't going to pop out at me.

I'm looking forward to being in Ankeny/Urbandale over the weekend. Plans are to leave early Wednesday afternoon. I've taken the afternoon off so I can drive during the daylight hours and it's not supposed to snow on Wednesday. Last forecast I saw said snow for Thursday, Friday and now Saturday. Barb, Jim & Mandy may have a houseguest longer than they really want one! I was told to bring my books and my laptop so amuse myself while they have other things to do. I'm hoping to be able to go to the local craft store in Ankeny. It's a great store and I'd love to just spend some time browsing! The snow can come after we're all home from our holiday celebrations! Like February!!!

It's Bowl Week. I know Barb's checking games on the time as she's in a pool. The only one I'll really sit down and watch is probably the Outback Bowl as the Hawkeyes are playing. They play early in the day so I'll have to get up that morning! Actually I enjoy football, high school, college and professional. One of these days I'm going to get to go to a professional game and watch my team play! Go Colts!!!

Well, my tummy says it's time to eat. I have chili defrosting in the microwave so I best get to it. It just seemed like a chili day to me. And it'll make great leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Everyone take care. Be careful where you step out there. I had an employee fall on the icy sidewalk this morning -- another workman's comp claim!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Another Chicken!!!

The Sass/Foels Families


Another Chicken!!
Our Children


We got a duplicate!!



The Foels Family

Barb & I!

Greetings to all! Hope everyone has recovered from the Christmas holiday! Or in my case the first round of the holiday. Jim & Mandy weren't able to be with us this year as it was their turn to be with Mandy's family so . . . I'm heading in their direction later in the week to spend some time with them and Barb and open some more presents!

Barb got here safely on Wednesday afternoon. I already had all my stuff packed and downstairs so we could pack it up and take off. Glee had told me to take 128 instead of 65 (gravel) and we shouldn't have any problems. She was right! The worst part of the journey was the road past their place and that wasn't that bad either!

Everyone was waiting for us. Why does that always happen? Jackson had just gotten up from a nap and wasn't the most friendly of kids but that soon changed! What a cutie!! He sure had a good time. I'm not sure he completely understands what all the packages were about but he had a ball with the paper. Grandma gave him a big tractor that he could push around and did that!! I think he finally ran down around 9:00 - 9:30! That's really late for him. The rest of us made it past midnight, but not very far. Beth had to work Christmas Day so they went home and the rest of us ate more food, watched a little TV and headed up the stairs for bed!

As you can see we did the traditional 'kids in front of the tree' pictures. Added a few adults to all the pictures. But they're great memories! It was the usual gifts -- chickens, chickens, chickens!! I gave one of mine to Glee and another to Mike, but as you can see I received two new ones back! Can't get rid of the darn things. Wait until next year. Ron got the dreaded black cat! It was fun and as always we laughed a lot, ate too much and basically had a wonderful time.

Glee had a great brunch on Christmas Day. We played some cards and checked over all our gifts from the night before. Barb and I took off around 2:00 or so. Bad weather was predicted for late that afternoon and into the evening. Barb was planning on staying in Dubuque until today so the weather worked out well. The ice last night gave me a scare but roads were good when she left today for home. She arrived without an incident so all are bad where they belong!! For now!!

Barb and I did some shopping on both Friday and Saturday. It rained a lot around here on Saturday and then turned to fog, ice and snow. But as I said, the roads were good when she left this afternoon. We did some cleaning and organizing of my storage closet. Turned the mattress in my room (hard job to do alone), watched some Christmas movies and just visited a lot. It was great having her here for the length of time that I did. I love having my kids home!!!

Best wishes to all for the holiday season. Here's hoping 2009 is good to all. Lots more adventures and journey's for all of us. God Bless.

Good Snowy Morning to You!

Winter has come early to Dubuque. We've been under a number of storm watches, warnings, etc., but this one actually got here and left it's mark! The last I listened to Snack he said we have around 9 inches of new snow. I went downstairs earlier to put some laundry in and checked the parking lot and nothing has been done to that yet! Glad I wasn't going to work today!!

I took the day off to finish some shopping, cleaning, wrapping and writing . . . and Tom (my boss) called this morning around 6:30 and called work off. We have a number of people that live outside the City and the majority of our clients won't be getting in either. Hope I can use my annual leave time for another day. Don't think I'll get going very far from home today!

I took some pictures when I opened the garage door to check the lot. They're not wonderful so think I'll wait until another time to post them. It's really quiet around here. No traffic! I heard a plow last night before I went to bed and one went through this morning around 5:00 but nothing since. Like I said, it's a little quiet.

My kitchen table is full of boxes, bows and paper. I promised myself I would get the wrapping done of all things that are here. I'm waiting on a couple of items through the mail and have 2 more gifts to pick up and then, I think, I'm done! But I guess we're never done! I can always think of something else for someone . . . . I do love Christmas!!

New snow is always so pretty -- unless you have to go out in it and get stuck! My receptionist at work has had a terrible time the last couple of days. Her husband is in the hospital so she's been spending time after work with him. The other night on the way home she ended up in the ditch. It was deep enough she couldn't drive out and had to walk to call a tow. We keep telling her she needs to get a cell phone. Fortunately she didn't do any damage to her car and is back on the road again. John came home from the hospital yesterday, but when I talked to her this morning she was hoping to get out as soon as possible as he needs a prescription filled for pain. Hope her son can help her out with that. John had part of his lung removed and is in a lot of pain. He's a heart attack survivor and former cancer survivor. This is cancer again so say a few prayers for him that all goes well this time.

I'm looking forward to Christmas Eve. Looks like we'll definitely have a white Christmas. Hope it's not so much that we can't get to my sister's. Barb is planning on coming home on Christmas Eve day and we're hoping to get to my sister's before darkness. Once we're there if we can't leave right away is fine. We always have such a good time when we get together. Pictures to come after the holiday. Jim & Mandy will be spending the holiday with her families in the Council Bluffs area. I'm hoping that I can make it to Des Moines over the New Year's holiday and we'll have our family Christmas then!!

Work has been extremely busy lately!! We're working on making corrections to our Head Start program. We had a review last March that wasn't so good and now we're trying to change a number of things and better the program. Some of my duties have changed within that program and I'm busy trying to get all personnel information inputted into a program called Child Plus for tracking and monitoring purposes. We have a deadline for all our corrective actions of February 1. The review team will be back to re-check everything and monitor the program again. We intermediate goals between then and now. This is also a very busy time of the year for the agency as we're involved with a program called Santa's Helper. It's a program to help low-income families have a brighter Christmas. We publish stories in the newspaper regarding our families and are fortunate enough to have the public respond with donations of all kinds of things. Some groups adopt families and give them a great Christmas, some is montary donations and we either get the family what they've requested or give gift cards to different stores in Dubuque. Whatever way the gifts keep coming in, need to be sorted and then distributed to the different families. Lots of busy people in the office!!

The sun is out! Or trying to come out. I should probably get back to my gift wrapping and then onto some other projects that need to be completed.

Have a great weekend!

Wheee!

I about had a heart attack -- I wanted to put some pictures in my blog tonight and couldn't find the camera cord. I had my computer checked out and put the cord away . . . but the question was where did I put it??? After searching all over the room I finally checked under the TV and there it was! Just where I put it. So, I can now add some new pictures to my ramblings.

Odie came to visit me over the Thanksgiving weekend. Jim & Mandy arrived on Wednesday evening (with Odie) and they spent Thanksgiving Day with Jim's dad while Odie stayed with me. He's such a good dog. We baked pies, peeled potatoes, made beds, dusted, vacuumed and other exciting things when you're getting ready for a big day. He really was good. Around 7 or so he acted like he needed to go outside so I said the magic words, put my shoes and coat on and away we went. Jim told me to hang onto the leash-- tight! He really meant TIGHT! We flew down the steps, out the door and up the street. He did his job, pulling me the majority of the way and we found our way back to my place. We played tug-a-war with a toy we made and we both took a nap together.

Jim & Mandy made dressing balls for our Thanksgiving day appetizer. They had a little help (as you can see) with Jackson. Jackson took to Jim immediately and seemed to want to see what they were doing so Jim lifted him on the chair and he helped!! The dressing balls were fantastic! Everyone enjoyed them.

I had a full-house! My place isn't small but when you get a number of people here it seems that way. Jim, Mandy & Odie, Barbie, Glee & Ron, Beth & Jackson and Mark & Sandie celebrated Thanksgiving with me. It was great having them all here. Mike and Karsten had to work and we'll get to spend some time with them at Christmas (I hope).

It was fun having Jackson around. Have to get used to the pitter patter of little feet. Next year at this time I'll have a little granddaughter to brag about. I'm very excited about that. I was a little worried about Jackson and Odie being together but they got along great. Like I've said before, Odie is a good dog.

Friday morning Barb, Jim & Mandy got up early and did some shopping. They weren't able to find everything they planned on, but were successful with some of their purchases. I heard them take Odie out and the whole group leave. They were back around 8:00 or so and all went back to bed. I got up around 8:30 and chased Barbie off the sofa and sent her to my room for the rest of her nap. Poor Barb, attempted to sleep with me while they were here and I know there were a few times when she elbowed me so that I'd move and quit snoring. Sorry about that Barbie, I can't seem to do anything about it. Jim and Mandy were my first guests on my new futon. They said it was fairly comfortable! Barb got it the last night of the weekend!! She said it was fine too.

One of the projects for the weekend was putting up my tree. I have a 7 1/2 foot tree with lots and lots of ornaments. Barb, Mandy & I got the branches all in order. Barb put them in the tree and shaped it. Jim, Mandy & Barb strung lights. Mandy was busy taking ornaments out of boxes and putting hooks on them. We all decided there must be a better way to put my ornaments away. We're working on that!! It would make it simpler to get them out -- that's for sure!

As you can see the crew did a great job. Jim did Christmas singing for us. That kept us in stitches for part of the day! He certainly takes after his dad when it comes to making up his own lyrics. When they can't remember the lyrics they just make them up!

We ordered pizza for lunch and went out for supper. I've been telling Jim & Mandy about Mario's for quite some time so we decided this was the time to try it out. The food is great there! One of my favorite places to go in Dubuque. I think Jim & Mandy enjoyed it. They went home on Saturday night. We finished eating and came back and helped load their car. Jim and Odie took one last hike up the parking lot. Now Odie can really move when that leash is around his neck, but Jim was pulling him up the hill when they started on their trek. I think in the end Odie won!!! But it was fun watching them.

This is the finished product. I think we put 600 lights on it and I'm sure there's at least 375 ornaments. I've gotten smarter in the last few years and put the base of the tree on a slick cardboard so that it's easier to push it back into the corner. We decorate all sides of it. It looks great at night with all the lights on!! Thanks kids for all the help. I appreciate it more than you know. Are you willing to come back in January and do it all over again -- only backwards???

I have a meeting in Des Moines Thursday. We had snow today but it seems to have moved out of the area and Barb tells me the roads are good in the Des Moines area. I thought about going down tonight but after all the snow around here decided I would rather drive during the daylight hours. Makes a long day, but goes with my job.

I have some projects lined up for the weekend. Hopefully I can get a little shopping done too. Have to put packages under that tree now that it's done.

Take care all.