Highlight Reel November 7th-14th, 2009 November 15, 2009

Saturday-  The hunters got up in the dark this morning to get to their stands by dawn.  I volunteered to work for a few hours to help with the rush during the Secret Saturday sale.  I got home about 10:30 to find that my dad had shot a few deer this morning which my family was skinning so they could get it in the refrigerator.  It was way too warm to just hang in the garage like usual.

Sunday- Ran to town to get more food for the hunters.  They are eating me out of house and home.  Sitting in a deer stand all day must be hard work because they really build up an appetite!  I put barbecue ribs in the oven, cheesy potatoes in the crockpot, and we had corn, dinner rolls and peanut butter cup pie for supper.  Today is also my dad’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Dad, I love you!

Monday- Zach came home from school and cooked up some fish fillets.  This was the last requirement he had to complete to get his fishing merit badge.  They were very yummy!

Tuesday- Book club tonight was at the Chap.  I enjoyed a huge platter of nachos while we discussed the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  It was a very good discussion about dysfunction and poverty.  It is so sad what some children in America have to go through every day of their lives.

Wednesday-  Jeff picked Zach up after school so they could get out earlier then normal and get some hunting in.  Then we enjoyed a nice quiet evening at home watching a movie.

Thursday- Bibke study tonight was on Matthew 5 The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.  We have such a great group and I am thankful for each of them and their thirst for learning more.

Friday-  Monica and Grace-Lin came to spend the night with us so she  could get up early and go out hunting with Tyler.  Tyler came home from work at 11pm, had a snack and went to his grandparents to spend the night.

Highlight Reel October 31st-November 6th, 2009 November 7, 2009

Saturday-  Busy day!  Got up early and updated all my web sites and my blog while I waited for Zach to get up.  Then we went to town to get groceries and more candy (never leave a woman alone in a house full of chocolate!) and a few things for my Lia Sophia party on Wednesday.  Zach carved the pumpkin when we got home.  We cleaned a little, headed for church and then came home, made supper and handed out candy to the trick or treaters while watching the Wild game (which they won-laaa!) Whew!

Sunday-  Woke up at 4:30am.  Obviously I’m not on daylight savings time yet.  After Zach got back from catechism and we ate breakfast we went to town to upgrade our cell phones.  The boys (Jeff being the worst) have been bugging me to do this for months.  Basically, the rest of the day(aside from watching the Vikes win) was spent playing around on their cell phones and trying to figure them out.

Monday-  At Scouts tonight most of the older Scouts helped out with the Eagle Scout project at Oak Lawn Town Hall while some of us leaders stayed behind to help the new scouts work on their Scout and Tenderfoot ranks.

Tuesday-Looked at the wrong clock at work today and left 1 hour earlier then intended for my doctor’s appointment.   Stayed in town for an additional 2 hours to go to the Faith Formation meeting only to find when I got there it had been cancelled.  Grr!  Finished off the evening by making a few snacks for my Lia Sophia jewelry party tomorrow night.

Wednesday- Had my Lia Sophia jewelry party tonight.  Lots of fun!

Thursday- Bible  Study tonight on Matthew 4, Jesus facing temptation in the desert and the start of his public ministry.  Loved when Jeff Cavins talked about how even though Jesus was tempted by the devil he was never enticed.  There is a huge difference.  We had a great discussion tonight with our super group!  Came home and finished watching the Wild game- which we lost.

Friday- Monica & Gracie followed me home from work.  I made polish sausages and tater tot hotdish for supper while Zach & Gracie watched Ratatouille and Monica played Doggie Dash on her computer.  Monica stayed at our house last night while Ty spent the night at his Grandma’s.  The hunters went to bed relatively early to be ready for opening day!

Highlight Reel October 17th- 23rd, 2009 October 23, 2009

Saturday-  Went to Wal-Mart and bought a tall bookshelf.  I was tired of all my books spilling out from under the bed.  It’s full now and I don’t have all my books in it yet!  After lunch I  went and visited the boys at the Muzzleloader cabin.  They hadf a great time shooting all day.

Sunday- After breakfast at the Sawmill Inn and a haircut for Zach at Great Clips;  Jeff, Zach and Tyler (at my Dad’s house) watched the Vikings game.  Then we spent the rest of the day doing housework.  Yah, I know…real exciting!

Monday- Had a Cook-off tonight at Boy Scouts.  No winner was officially announced but all the boys did a fantastic job.  And so creative!

Tuesday- Tri-Parish council tonight was mostly about looking at the new mission statements and yearly goals from each of the 5 commissions and talking about possibly  starting a new commission on evangelization.

Wednesday- Janeen and I finally got around to going out for our birthday margaritas.  I brought home subs (Zach’s favorite) for the guys and we hit the happy hour at Poncho & Lefty’s.  After we were happier, we came home and made up our candy making list for this holiday season.  We will be busy gals!

Thursday-  Zach and Jeff finished the packing I had started earlier for our camping trip this weekend and I went to Bible Study.  Tonight we did the second chapter of Matthew.  The note that stood out tonight was after the magi visited baby Jesus they had to go home a different way.  Once we encounter Christ we can never go back the same way.  We are forever changed.

Friday-  After work today we will be taking off for Rock Lake to go camping with our Mighty Eagles Patrol.  It is supposed to get to 28 degrees overnight and I came down with a cold in anticipation of this, but I am excited none the less!  Supposedly Saturday will be nice for our 15 mile bike ride and Sunday should be just as pleasant.

Highlight Reel October 10th-16th, 2009 October 13, 2009

Saturday-  I woke up at 5:30am this morning, looked out the window and my first thought was WTF?!  This was not what the weatherman predicted!  It better melt fast and get 40 degrees warmer real soon since we will be camping October 23-25 with our Boy Scout Patrol.  After church this evening we went in to town to visit Nana in the hospital.  Her pneumonia is getting better but now they have her insulin all screwed up!

Sunday- Made steak, egg and cheese bagels and hash rounds for breakfast this morning.  “McMommy’s….can I take your order?”  Took the opportunity while the Vikings game was on to pick up Mom and visit Nana in the hospital.  She got out today.

Monday- At Boy Scouts tonight we made tin can stoves for the boys to use at the Muzzleloader campout this weekend.  Jeff has a Friday and Saturday off so he will be camping with Zach for a change.

Tuesday-  Our book club met tonight at Sheila’s house.  We reviewed A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  It was a potluck of foods that were featured in the book.  My friend Lori from work came for the first time tonight and brought her sister with her.

Wednesday- nothing going on.  Enjoyed an evening at home with the fam.

Thursday- Bible Study tonight on Matthew Chapter 1.  Matthew 1 is on the genealogy of Christ and I wondered how Jeff Cavins was going to talk for an hour on just that little chapter, but he did and it was amazing.  As always, I learn so much!

Friday-  Jeff and Zach were at the Muzzleloader cabin for a Boy Scout Campout and I went to my friend Brenda’s for a Lia Sophia party.  My friend Carrie has just started selling Lia Sophia jewelry so I went to support both her and Brenda and I ended up booking a party.  I am such a sucker!  Look for your invitation in the mail soon!

Highlight Reel October 3rd-9th, 2009 October 10, 2009

Saturday-  Started out the cool morning with Scouting For Food Bag Pick Up.  Donations have been down every year but this year was the worst so far.  Our Troop takes care of the area west of 6th Street from Greenwood Street to Washington Street.  We collected only enought bags to fill the back of my Trailblazer without the seats pushed down.  When we unloaded at Cub Foods this translated to 3 heaping grocery carts.  While we are thankful for the donation (Thanks Southview and Buffalo Hills people- you gave the most!) it is sad that we don’t get more participation.   After lunch with Tyler & Gracie I dropped Zach off at the homecoming game, stopped off to visit Mom & Dad & then went home to get ready for church.

Sunday-  Happy Birthday to me!  Monica & Gracie came out early this afternoon to visit with us.  Tyler got his clay pigeon thrower put together and him, Zach and Monica went out and shot for a while.  After birthday supper at St Mathias we went back to Mom & Dad’s where I was one of the guests of honor at a double birthday party.  We had Nana’s birthday tonight too since we didn’t get a chance earlier to do it with first Mom in the hospital and then Nana in the hospital.  Then we came back to our house and we played cards for a while.  My brother Mike called me before the evening was through to wish me a Happy Birthday.  I always love to hear his voice.  Very sweet of him.

Monday- Picked up my mail tonight after work and had to laugh at the birthday card from my brother.  What a nut!  Had early scouts tonight because we had our monthly planning meeting as well as the regular meeting.

Tuesday-Went to Rafferty’s for lunch as they have WiFi.  I was able to get the Scout website updated with all the critical info for our 2 upcoming fall campouts.  Had a Faith Formation Commission meeting tonight.  It got over just in time for me to tune in and listen to the Wild Game on the way home.  Luckily I only missed the first 3 minutes of the game.  Great home opener!

Wednesday-  Made Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Vegetables for supper then went into Kohl’s to spend my $20 Kohl’s cash before it expired.  Got to say hey to Kristina as she was working tonight.

Thursday-Bible Study started tonight!  We are doing a 24 week study on Matthew.  Carolyn is back from last year and so are Carrie and Henry and we added Alexia this year as well as Brian.  Welcome guys!

Friday- picked up Zach after school and went to the video store and picked up a few videos and a game.  Went to Crow Wing Power to get my 3 free CFLs for participating in the Biggest Saver contest (I didn’t save as much as I thought I could but the gift was nice) and then we stopped at Common Goods the new thrift store in the area.  We were fortunate to buy a whole stamp collection there with a lot of foreign stamps for only $5.00.  We’ve had a lot of fun going through them and sorting them out.

Highlight Reel September 26th-October 2nd October 2, 2009

Saturday-  Zach and I went to St Cloud today.  We stopped at the Scout store, had brunch at Old Country Buffet, did some shopping at the mall, and of course Zach wanted to stop at Treasure City on the way home.  After supper he babysat Aiden and Jeff and I had a nice quiet evening at home.

Sunday-  Watched the Vikings game.  I don’t like football but I have to admit the winning play was kind of exciting.  The weather was’t great and we couldn’t go fishing so we went to town and got a movie and picked up some ice cream and root beer for floats.  We had a nice family day- even sqeezing in a couple of games of cards after the movie.

Monday-  Tonight was Scouting for Food Bag Drop Off night.  We had a good turnout and got our portion of the city done in a little over an hour.

Tuesday- We all went over to Mom Simmonds so we could bisit with Uncle Larry who was visiting from Oklahoma.

Wednesday-  Spent the evening playing cards at Mom & Dad’s.  I won the first game then I fear I got a little too cocky because after that I couldn’t win a thing.

Thursday- Had our first Adult Faith Formation meeting tonight.  I’m very excited about the direction the church is going with adult education and activities.

Friday- Still raining.  We could have used this a month or two ago!  Tyler and a friend went to the casino for supper tonight.   The rainy dreary weather makes me kind of lazy, so we just stayed at home tonight.  I made Beef and Cheese Tortilla Casserole for supper, we played cards and a few games of Aggravation on the homemade board Papa made me a few years ago for Christmas.  They are predicting more drizzle for tomorrow morning which means the Scouts will be picking up the Scouting for Food bags in the rain.

Highlight Reel September 19th-25th, 2009 September 25, 2009

Saturday-  Zach was at Parker Scout Reservation for the Merit Badge weekend.  Tyler was staying with a friend in Sauk Rapids and I had the house to myself.  I finished my book in the morning before I even got out of bed this morning.  About 10am I headed for Kohls with my 30% off coupon and spent entirely too much time and too much money.  I did pick up a couple of Christmas presents and shower gifts though so it was worth it.  After church I met Jeff in town and we went to Babe’s for supper then went out to Parker to pick up Zach.

Sunday- Zach started catechism today.  We watched the Vikings game and then went to the Pizza Ranch for supper and fishing at the Little Falls Dam.  We had a lot of fun watching the ducks.

Monday-  Janeen came over to tell me all about her trip to Florida (although she forget to bring her pictures) and then Zach and I went to Scouts where we worked on rank advancements and getting ready for Fall Court of Honor.

Tuesday- Monica and Gracie came out to spend the evening with us.  I made Salisbury Steak with potatoes and gravy for supper.  We went for a walk, stopped in to visit my parents and in the evening we headed into Kohl’s to pick up a few things.

Wednesday- Jeff went fishing all day with Ryck.  Zach and I went over to mom & dad’s to visit for a while.  Tyler came home sick from work.

Thursday- went to St Andrews on my lunch break to pick up my Bible study materials.  In a few weeks I will be starting a 24 week study on Matthew.  I’m very excited about this.  This is the second study I have facilitated and I’m loving it.  Tyler felt better today which is great.  A few people he knows has had this and it’s a real quick little bug.

Friday- Mark hosted our patrol night at his house tonight.  We were supposed to have a campfire but because of the rain we ended up having tacos inside instead.  When it did quit raining for a while the boys went outside and played football until it started raining again.  Then it was inside for videogames.  Us parents got a lot accomplished talking about our plans for the upcoming months.

Highlight Reel September 12th-18th, 2009 September 18, 2009

Saturday-  Spent the day at the College of St Scholastica in Duluth for the 4th Annual Catechetical Assembly.

Sunday- Lazy day at home which was nice since I am still recovering from being sick last week.

Monday-  Boy Scouts started for the year.  We have 5, possible 6 new Scouts joining us this year.  Our Troop is really growing!

Tuesday- Went to the Tri-Parish Council meeting.  We had only about half the members show up, but we got a lot more accomplished with less people.  Go figure!

Wednesday- Evening at home with my guys.  Rented the 5th season of the Office (I love that STUPID show!) and we all lounged around.

Thursday- Zach and Jeff threw around the football in the yard while I made supper.  Then Zach and I packed for the Boy Scout Merit Badge weekend he’ll be leaving for on Friday.

Friday-  Came home after work to pick up Zach to go into town for supper before he left for his merit badge weekend at Parker Scout Reservation.  He will be working on 2 merit badges this weekend.  Citizenship in the World (which is required for Eagle) and Computers.  Zach spent the entire ride in trying to decide if he wanted to eat at Burger King or Wendys.  He finally decided on Wendys but we were unable to eat at either place because the power was out throughout the town.

Highlight Reel September 5th-11th September 11, 2009

Saturday-  Zach and I went to the Charles Lindberg State Park and Interpretive Center.  For one of his merit badges he has to go visit a National Landmark.  How convenient to have one so close to us.  It’s been a while since I have been there and Zach never has.  In 2002 they redid the museum and I think they did a really good job. We happened to get in on a Living History Day where they had characters dressed up as Charles grandma, housekeeper, and tenant farmer/handyman.  They all acted like the year was 1918 and even asked us if we all came in on the train!   Later, after Mark called to invite us for an overnight campout Sunday night I figured I’d better get the plum jelly canned.  I ended up with 9 jars of plum jelly and I did 7 more jars of apple butter.

Sunday- had to call Mark to opt out on the campout.  Had a fever of 102.6 and felt lousy.

Monday- still sick.  We didn’t get to do our traditional Labor Day picnic.

Tuesday- called in sick today.  really struggled with that one because calling in sick the day after a holiday means you lose your holiday pay.  But when just taking a shower completely wore me out, I knew it was no use trying to make it to work.  Went to the doctor where they drew 3 vials of blood.  Will know more later today.  Zach’s first day as a freshman!  He was very excited this morning to begin school.  That won’t last long!

Wednesday- Doctor’s office called today to tell me I’m normal.  My family laughed at that.  I decided to take today off as well just to get my strength back.  I’m going back to work tomorrow for sure though.  I’m going crazy sitting here at home!  Zach came home from school and changed into work clothes.  He was on his way to help my dad clean out the gutters.  I have to give that kid credit.  He sure is a helper and I know his grandpa really appreciates having him around.  Now, if he would only do something about that room!

Thursday- headed back to work today.  I probably should have taken today off too because I still felt horrible but I didn’t have a fever anymore so I made it through the day.  Zach however, came home and went right to bed with a fever.  Tyler stayed overnight with a friend because he didn’t want to be in a house full of sickies.

Friday- Zach woke up just fine today, thankfully.  After school we did our traditional 1st day of school thing that we didn’t do Tuesday because I was sick.  We had  chicken noodle soup at moms and this year my back to school cake was in the shape of a combination lock.

Highlight Reel August 29th-September 4th,2009 August 31, 2009

Saturday- up at 6am, peeled apples for 2 1/2 hours for Crockpot Apple Butter.  Then destemmed, cooked & juiced chokecherries all day.  Ended up with 18 jars of chokecherry jelly and 8 jars of appple butter.

Sunday- Jeff and Zach went fishing and I fully enjoyed my day of rest.  Then I cooked a couple of pork tenderloins and roasted red potatoes and took them to Mom and Dad’s for supper.  Today is my younger (but not by much!) brother Mike’s 40th birthday.  Welcome to the Old Fart’s Club, Michael!

Monday-  my sidekick is on vacation for the next 2 weeks so work will be a little more hectic.  After work I headed over to the hospital where my dad and grandpa were in the process of admitting my grandma to the emergency room.  She’s been sick for the past week but too darn stubborn to go in.  I stayed at the hospital with them until 6, went home and picked up Zach and got him to his Scout meeting by 7pm where he met with his Personal Management Merit Badge counselor.  One more required for Eagle merit badge done.  Yay!

Tuesday- relaxing evening with nothing going on.

Wednesday-  Had Zach’s freshman orientation tonight.

Thursday-  Zach and I picked wild plums tonight.  Thorny buggers had our arms all scratched up in no time.  I’m sure I will spend most of Saturday making plum jelly.  Went for a walk in the woods to take a look at the hazelnut bushes.  The husks are starting to yellow so it shouldn’t be much longer but they look really wormy.  Hopefully I can get to the good ones before the squirrels do!

Friday- Yay!  Long weekend!  Zach helped Grandpa out all day.  He picked a bunch of apples, helped secure, strap up and wrap the apple tree limb that twisted and fell, dug a bunch of carrots…