Thank you for believing

I know this may seem a bit odd, Well heck for the people that know me, I am odd all in it self!

I would like to dedicate this post to all the teachers out there that truly make a difference.

You know who you are!

Teachers

Getting us ready for our future,
we get mad, cry, yell, laugh, and have some of the happiest moments we could ever experience with our teachers.

If anybody deserves to be recognized, it is our teachers.
But no trophy or award could ever express our gratitude.

The best gift that we could ever give our teachers is to succeed in life.

That's why they are here today and have dedicated their lives to teaching our children who are special, smart, gifted, tall, thin and husky.

That is exactly what a child is to a teacher, and that's why our children will touch the sky, and when, God willing, they will sometimes go beyond the moon.

Thank you for believing !

Top of the Gateway Arch

We had a few days off this pass week, so Nathan and I decided to take the kids to a place high in the sky.

So the kids and I piled in the jeep on Wednesday right after school and we took a 2hour and 42 minute road trip to Saint Louis to meet up with Nathan.

We had arrived to the hotel just before dinner time, we decided to take a quick dip in the swimming pool and then we would get some take out to eat in the room so we could watch the first game of the World Series.(Err we will talk about the on a latter date!)




After swimming we all got ready to have dinner in bed ( This was great fun for the kids.)We took a bit long on figuring out sleeping arrangements then I would have liked but we finely snuggled in our beds and enjoyed our White Castles for dinner.

For those of you who know anything about White Castle know that you don’t eat these in one room with four people and one bathroom! I new it was going to be along night…

We made it threw the night!
We all got up and got ready ,packed up our belongings and we were off to visit to the Gateway Arch Riverfront.




This visit would not be complete with out going to the top of the 630-foot-tall Arch. At the highest point in downtown St. Louis, you’ll experience unforgettable views of the city and the Mississippi River.

The entrance to the south leg of the Gateway Arch features life in St. Louis as it was during the 1800s, returning to a time when the St. Louis Riverfront was bustling with steamboats, and merchants.
The north leg of the Gateway Arch takes you back to the year 1965 when the construction of the Arch was completed. We were able to see what it was like for the construction workers fitting the final piece of the Arch.






Back to the Old West we had the chance to visit the Museum of Westward Expansion. We saw rare Indian Peace Medals and weapons. The Museum of Westward Expansion preserves the past so that we were able to experience an important part of history today. We also discovered the land that Lewis and Clark explored. We seen how the mountain men lived in the 1800s and we took a peek inside a covered wagon.







Then we all loaded in our little bubble and I mean little and we were off to the top ! The ride up was quite we all were just listing to the sound this little bubble made while we claimed to the top of the arch,not to mention the offal smell that filled the little air we had with left over White Castle... ( Nathan).




We made it ! We Finley had clean air to breath in.

Then it kicked in were at the top of the Arch . It was Breath taking.






You could see up to 30 miles on a clear day I would guess. Our luck was only about 15 miles due to the rain. Looking West, you’ll have great views of downtown St. Louis. My favorite was looking inside of Bush Stadium. The kids seemed to be in Ahh over all the swimming pools on the tops of the hotels! Looking East, you can see the Mississippi River and Illinois.




I have to say it was one of them fun filled rainy days as a family that we will always remember!

Mile High Magic

It's been an incredible few days of baseball !

The Rockies are going to their first World Series.



The fans rally towels will be ready !We will survive one more round at the World Series !

LET'S GO ROCKIES !!!

Baseball ... it's amazing how the game plays itself out.

How long can you last.

When we went to Minnesota last month we had the wonderful opportunity to experience many different activities.

Tubing on the lake was one fun highlight of many. Nathan & I were telling my brother how hard is was to throw us off the tube last time we had went. My brother just looked at us both and laughed, go for it he said.

Nathan went first, he tried to get on the tube and that was a challenge in it self.

Try One: Got on fell off.

Try Two: Got on fell off again.

Try Three: He swam to another boat to try and jump on,he thought that plugging his nose would help him get on this time.



Heck maybe it does work, he made it!!!!



The three people that were in the boat that Nathan had jumped off of were all laughing hysterically. Now what I said to my self… Oh my goodness I shouted out load he lost his shorts!!!



He caught them just in time to keep it PG13!
After all that he was on,he was ready we had received a thumbs up.My brother said I’ll be nice for a swipe around the lake but he will work for it .



What a beating it was ...
Jumping in the air,Back and forth,Up and down & Side to side.




He’s gone … After one swipe around the lake, it was a matter of just a few seconds…



Before we picked Nathan back up, my brother asked me if we should just tell him he had been on the tube the longest? We both laughed aloud.



Nathan got back in the boat and exhaled … He said, I did not last very long did I? We all laughed!

I was next …

The batteries went dead in the camera I was on for so long!

Baseball is a simple pleasure.

Yesterday was a pretty emotional day for me all day long (women I know...). I had reflected back to the previous four years of my life. I felt like my life was on a constant roller coaster. I had to find some sort of balance in my life.

To make along story short a dear friend of mine told me that I need to get out and try new things, experience life’s simple pleasures. So I did just that, I went to my first T-ball game with my son, we meet some great people we even meet a few that we thought were a bit crazy, but we had a great time!


Not long after that I went to my first baseball game at Coors Field home of the Colorado Rockies. What a day that was. From finding parking, to the fans in the streets, peanuts, popcorn, hot dogs,nachos(only if you are good)& everyone has to have a #1 foam fan finger.

You could not help but to smile, laugh shout at the top of you lungs G-O R-O-C-K-I-E-S! That was the day I fell in love with the true meaning of baseball each and every bit it.


For some baseball is very boring.Not to me yelling at the TV , laughing at myself for spilling my bowl of popcorn while sitting at the foot of my bed last night. Watching when the Colorado Rockies were down two runs and not even out of the top of the 13th inning of National League Wild Card tie breaker then a fly ball for the winning run in a 9-8 tiebreaker victory what a great time.

Just then I realized I had learned that life is a game of baseball, it’ll throw you for a curve, sometimes you may trip and fall, but you'll get what you deserve. When you step up to the plate, you don't know at which you'll swing, but for all you know, it may not mean a thing. You might end with a walk, or maybe you'll get a run, you may not end, until you're back where you begun.


My dear friend that told me long ago I need to enjoy life and the simple pleasures it has to offer, I can say I'm excited to be part of each and every minute of what ever it may be!

Tiger Cub

We made the leap to Cub Scouting this year .







We will have lots of fun, adventure, and activities with our den and pack. But there's more to it than that.Today being a Tiger Cub Scout means we (not just our first grader, the whole family) are members of a worldwide youth movement that stands for certain values and beliefs.

Cub Scouting is more than something to do. It seems to be all about the boy’s they are today and the person they will become.

Last night we had our first pack meeting.The boys had to dress in their class A uniforms. They all looked like such little gentlemen standing there saluting the flag. Truth be told I love a guy in uniform.

Let me tell you this first grader is the most handsome I have seen yet!

Boy I'm in trouble!

I'm sure you will hear more from this handsome first grader. He will tell you all about all the fun he has had and his upcoming adventures.

He will even ask you to support his pack with large pop corn purchase.

Stay tuned for more Tiger Cub Tails.

The Ants go marching one by one.

Have you ever observed ants one by one in action as they work to create such unique fascinating tunnels?


Well on our kitchen table we have ants doing just that!

You might be thinking that is just not normal ...
Well welcome to Our Home !

My son received the most interesting gift,a new age ant farm!

He received this gift about a month or so ago. We even had to mail order the ants for this funny little farm. Every day my son went to the mail box to see if the ants had arrived,to him it felt likes months. Finally we received the ants we all we very excited. They sent us about thirteen or so red fire ants .We placed them in the blue gel habitat and they were off to work.

I have to say my son thinks this is very neat.He looks each morning to see how hard his ants worked threw the night.He is now the most popular kid in the first grade.He brought his ants to school for show and tell last week this was a great hit!His class just finished up with a lesson about how hard ants work together as a team.

Even the Orkin bug guy thought it was neat.

I have found that the adults and teenager in our family and the adults at school find these hard working ants just as fascinating as all of the seven year old little kid’s.

Evey kid and recycled kid or teenager should have one of these, it truly is that neat.

Thanks Ralph & Char .This has been another great adventure in our home!