Tiger Scout

It is now official. Jack has become a part of the Cub Scouts and his daddy is the new assistant den leader. He is really excited about it and could not keep from wearing his little uniform (which is actually way too big for him).

He has learned the Cub Scout motto ( Do Your Best) and has even got the salute down. He looks so cute in his uniform I just want to hug him.

I am so proud of Andy, who has stepped up and chosen this to be his thing with the kids (I say kids because Alex will be along even though he has two years before he can join.)

They had their first official pack meeting, which we all attended, and had some outdoor activities before getting down to business.

Jack loved it. Alex cried a couple of times because he was unable to participate, so we had to distract him a few times so he wasn’t crying the entire time.

Jack has close to six other classmates that he knows in his den one of which is the son of the other den leader who just so happens to have graduated with Andy when he was in high school.

I am so excited that this will be the beginning of what could be life long friendships and memories for both of my kids and my husband. As for Andy, I really can’t think of anyone better to be a role model for the cub scouts then he will be. Plus, the time he’ll get to spend with the kids showing them things he likes to do anyway just makes it all better.

Remembering 9/11

Today, like many others, I will share my story of what I experienced on September 11, 2001, as I feel that just remembering is a tribute to all those who lost their lives or their loved ones on that tragic day.

I had only just been hired to work with Southwest Airlines two months prior to that horrible day. Previous to that I was so excited at what opportunities awaited me in the world of aviation. On September 11th I had the day off. I got a call from my Mom to turn on the news and watched as the news cameras streamed live the second plane hitting the World Trade Center. I was in shock.

I cried for several hours, for the people who lost their lives from this act of cowardice, for those who lost their loved ones, for the city of New York that would be forever scarred, and for the country that would never be the same. I could not stop watching the news. I soaked up everything. I felt the pain that was maybe only a fraction of what those who were involved felt and I was numb.

I drove into work the following Wednesday, out of uniform as instructed, but brought it just in case. All planes were grounded and our flight crews and other employees were stranded wherever their planes happened to land. It was all chaos and waiting. We didn’t know what to expect so we expected the worst. There were no passengers in the terminal. There were no cars allowed near the airport except for those that worked there. There were no planes taking off and no planes landing. There was just silence and emptiness. We waited for word from our leaders so we would know what to do. Order after order came down from the FAA. Things were changing. We waited for days without any planes going anywhere, but it seemed like forever.

When we finally resumed service everything was different. Our passengers were somber and a little afraid. I was afraid, but not to fly, just for our damaged country. Our passengers proved very resilient and I had more than one person tell me that if anything were to happen on their flight, they would have no problem stepping in to help take care of things. I heard stories of passengers protecting our crew members from those who got out of hand. I remember the sympathy I received from our travelling public.

I remember everything about that day.

I remember how our country came together in a time of need and ten years later we are changed, but still a little stronger. I saw the fear turn to concern and then to courage. I was afraid I would no longer have my job, but my company did the unexpected and hired more people to help take care of our customers. Ten years later I am still with the same airline.

I have found that ten years later does not make a difference in the emotions I feel when I am reminded of that day. I kept the newspaper from that day. A special edition that was delivered to an empty airport where only employees would be able to buy them. My heart breaks each time I read someone’s story of loss or of pain and then swells with pride when I hear of the courageousness that so many Americans showed that day.

I cried again today as I watched the tributes and the documentary by A&E. Another ten years can pass and I will still feel the emotions as strong as the moment it first happened, but I know that we are the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave and we ARE one nation Under GOD and we will always overcome those who try to do us harm.

God Bless America!

Alex goes to preschool!!

It has finally happened! Both my children are officially in school. Technically Alex only goes three days a week for 3 hours, but it is still somewhere outside of house learning things. He has been so excited and still cried when Jack got on the bus and went to school without him. Today was finally his turn and I raced home from work early just to be able to take him to his first day.

I remembered the pictures I took of Jack that day at pre-school and wanted to get the same for Alex. I thought it would be neat to compare how they looked. I had thought Jack looked a little older, but I think that is my mind putting in how he looks now instead of how he looked then.

Jack seemed more excited in the picture, but Alex actually was the one who was the most eager to be going to school.

Mrs. McNeil hasn’t changed in the two years since Jack had her as his teacher. I think she may even be wearing the same shoes and pants. The best part about Alex is that he actually likes for me to take his picture whereas Jack could care less and sometimes doesn’t like it at all.

Alex asked me if he was going to learn things at school and I told him that he would learn his letters and numbers and hear stories. I asked him how high he could count and he got all the way to thirteen without a mistake. He did nearly the same thing with the entire ABC song, but got a little confused on some of the letters. I think he will do just fine in school.

I took the dog with me to pick Alex up and we stopped by his Grandma and Grandpa’s so he could inform them of his day at school. We then headed home and got there just in time to see Jack’s bus drop him off. So it is finally official, my kids are growing up.

New pool!

We had been thinking about getting a little above ground pool for the kids all summer long, but really didn’t want to pay the full price for any of them. So we waited until the end of season prices started rolling through and found this 16’ round 3’ deep pool at Menards for a very reasonable price.

The first couple of days it was a little too chilly for anyone to go in and we also had shocked the pool so it was probably too chlorinated as well. Now the weather has returned to being comfortably hot, hovering between 75 and 86 degrees, so the water feels nice instead of frigid.

The water is green for reasons unknown to us. There is no algae in the pool and the liner on the bottom is white with blue sides. The only thing we can think of is that the water, which is well water only for outdoor use, is greenish or that the water reflects the green from the trees it sits under.

In any case, the kids just adore it. Alex has become a little water bug since taking his first swim class this past summer and loves wearing his life jacket and swimming around even though he can touch the bottom with his feet and his entire head is out of the water. Safety first!

Of course, Jack has always loved the water and is getting really good at maneuvering around in it.

I feel like I have inherited two little fish, but at least they are putting it to good use before we have to put it away for the winter.

We put it up on the back patio, which unfortunately is covered in trees. It’s not an issue now, but when the leaves start to change and fall off it will definitely make taking it down and putting it away a lot harder.

(Alex took the picture above. Didn’t he do a fantastic job? I did no cropping or editing in any way. Smart little boy.)

Jack’s First Day of First Grade

The first day of school has finally come and gone and during the last few weeks of freedom I would ask Jack nearly every day if he was excited to go back to school and see his friends and learn new things. Everyday he would tell me that he didn’t like school or some variation on that theme. So the morning of the first day he had to start riding the bus again I was a little shocked to hear him say “Actually Mom, I might be a little excited about going back to school. Not super excited, but just a little.”

He looks so handsome in his little polo shirt and summer tan.

Of course we had to get a picture of him with his dog. He was worried she would get scared when the bus came, and she did a bit, and tried to tell her she would get used to it.

He took a picture with his little brother. Alex is angry in this picture because even though he starts school this year as well, he still does not get to go on the big yellow G62 bus. (That’s Jack’s route number and Alex knows it by heart.)

Off he goes to enrich his mind and learn new things and make new friends. He hardly has any of the kids from his kindergarten class in his first grade class. I think I counted four total. I can’t complain too much though because they did separate him from the two little boys who got him in the most trouble. Also, the class size from Kindergarten was 29 students in two classes and this year they made three 1st grade classes with only 18 kids.

Alex will start his Pre-school next week on the 7th and he is beyond excited to start.

Family Outing at the Brewers Game

This is the second time Andy and I have been to a game this year and since we are not sports fans it’s kind of a big deal. We got tickets on the Dew Deck which are normally pretty pricey, but my company put in for a little over half the price so we ended up only paying $25 per ticket. We decided that it would be a nice time for the kids to experience a baseball game and since food and drinks were included in the price of the ticket, it would also be much less expensive than  general admission.

We also lucked out on parking as when we pulled up to pay the lady taking the money looked in and asked if we had kids in the car with us and since we did she said parking was free and waived on on in, which saved us another $25.

We sat next to a bunch of people from our work and they kept the kids entertained for a while on and off throughout the game and vice versa. Alex loves pretty girls and likes to flirt so he was rare form with one of the girls from work.

Ryan Braun at bat. The Brewers ended up winning 2-1 over the Dodgers.

The kids had a very hard time sitting still and were pretty much all over the place. It didn’t help that all the cookies and soda were unlimited. The one thing they did enjoy was the sausage races they had about midway through the game. Chorizo won out over the hot dog, Polish sausage, and Bratwurst.

We took Andy’s parents as well because his Dad is a huge Brewer’s fan and were in pretty decent seats. The boys ended up not liking baseball so much for pretty much the same reasons I don’t enjoy it. Both kids at some point during the game told me that they DO NOT like sports.

Getting their picture taken in the giant glove as we left was the high light of the night for the kids. We left before the last inning ended in order to beat traffic and got home in record time.

Nearing the end of our vacation and a small doggy mishap!

We went out on a boat.

Took a tour of Lake Wisconsin which is a widening of the Wisconsin River.

We went up to Uncle Rudy’s land and went through about 200 rounds of ammunition.

This was a pretty big gun, but by far the easiest to shoot as it had very little kick back.

Even the kids took a turn.

With some assistance from their Dad of course.

Grandpa took a few shots as well.

On to the pistols.

These were a bit harder and a lot louder.

We ended with a twilight boat ride around the Wisconsin River.

We saw a beautiful moonrise over the hills.

Echo and Alex loved it.

Echo tried to catch the wake.

The dog that dislikes the water didn’t realize that she was in a very precarious position and fell out of the boat when it turned.

She was a bit more careful (and wet) after that.