Monday, November 30, 2009

Congratulations Robert!!! (AGAIN)

For making the cut to ALL-STATE chorus!!! Wow! To top it off, Robert was the only guy AND the only junior chosen from our chorus! At least his friend Danny is going in band, that rounds out the guys going- all two of them. A total of five girls are going; 4 in chorus and 1 in band.

Looks like we have a concert at Peoria the end of January!

Yes, Robert thought it was U of I, but upon further investigation, it was Peoria.

Way to go! To say we are proud would be an understatement!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Our week in Review

I hate when I get behind on my blogging and this has been one of those weeks; no good excuses, not overly busy right now, just taking a breather. BTW, I have tried and tried to get my blog "unattached" from facebook. I thought it was a neat idea at the time but now, there are things I wish to say on my blog that I don't necessarily need to say on facebook. I have changed every setting I can think of on both my blog and facebook. Bottom line: facebook is holding my blog hostage. Oh well....if anyone knows of something else to try, fill me in.

The pictures are from IMEA last weekend. What a show! These pictures are of the chorus concert. 225 high school choral students from our district--the best of the best and the songs proved it. All the songs were good but there was one that was an african piece that I hope to hear again sometime in my life. It was just so cool!



Robert had a great time, memories he will keep for a lifetime.





Once again, Thanksgiving came and went and I didn't get any pictures taken. We had a great day. Andrew of course, had to work the night before so he came home and went to bed. My mom came down and helped me get started cleaning out the attic. You know how there is always one room in your house that just seems to be a catch-all? I have one that runs the entire length of my house--it ain't pretty. It is getting better but we still have a LONG way to go--and a BIG yard sale in the spring!

Black Friday: This was such a weird year for us and Black Friday. At first, I had decided not to go at all because it was Andrew's birthday. Then, his dad sent our Christmas present ($$$$) and we decided that we wanted to get a tv for our bedroom. I was thinking a nice little 19 inch. Andrew was thinking a little bigger--a 32 inch. And of course, the 32 inch was on sale during the "Yearly Event" (Walmart's new code for BLITZ). Sooo, I decided we would just go get the tv and come home. Then Andrew tells me if his birthday was on any other day, I would be at work when he came home so we might as well go shopping if we wanted to, he was fine as long as we were home for dinner that night. Robert and I ususally go to St. Louis, but we wanted to be in Robinson at 5:00, so we originally decided Indy, then we realized there was stuff we wanted at Tuscola so it was a no brainer to just head to Champaign. Of course, we weren't "looking" for anything, if I could get ahold of the tv, I had everything I had planned to do that day finish. At 10 til 4, I walked into Walmart, got my ticket, got in line and knew I had nabbed a tv, just had to wait until 5 to pick it up. We found tons of bargains and made it home in time to get Andrew up and have dinner with him--and give him his cake--a pineapple cheesecake.

He got new driving lights for his jeep as his present.



We have finished the week off by getting the Christmas decorations up, hooked up our tv in the bedroom and Andrew and Robert got his new lights on.

Grandpa, we gave Robert a third of the Christmas money and he bought a new Call of Duty game for the Wii and a pair of Docker Sunglasses. Thank you!

This week looks right now to be a calm one--hope it stays that way!

Friday, November 20, 2009

My Dad

My dad was the greatest. He passed away 29 years ago today. Just a few pictures in memory of him:

My parents dated 6 weeks and then went to the preacher's house and got married. (Andrew and I dated 6 weeks and then went to Kentucky and got married.)


Me and my dad.

Mom had wrote "Put it in Gear- Mindy's first time behind the wheel, July '80" I didn't know at the time that it would be our last summer together. I am so thankful my dad taught me how to drive. I was 12.




I am so thankful for the family I was born into. I truly wish my dad could have been here for all the wonderful things that ended up happening in my life--especially Robert. Can you tell how much Robert looks like my dad? Believe you me, he acts like him too. I don't believe in reincarnation, but I do believe some of the things that Robert says and does couldn't happen without the hand of God. When Robert was little, my mom would have "Nana" days and then she would have "Grandpa" days, spending the day doing things with Robert that my dad would have done, and making my dad a real person to Robert. Although they never met, I know Robert knew my dad differently than even I did.






Friday, November 13, 2009

Pops!


The NCHS Chorus had done it again! What a fantastic show!


If you didn't have the opportunity to attend last night, you have your last chance tonight, 7 p.m., NCHS Auditorium, $5 at the door.


You won't be disappointed!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Party time!

There is nothing in the world like a houseful of boys! We decided at the beginning of the year, that since there was AWANA and no school, we should do something special--they wanted to come to our house. I have to admit, our house is set up pretty nice for things such as this. Rock Band can be blaring in the family room and Mom and I can keep our sanity and our hearing by being in the living room. We can still hear everything that is going on, we just don't have to sit in the middle of it. I made tacos, upon request. We also had sausage dip and chips. So sorry to Sandra Lee, I didn't pull off any tablescapes but I still thought everything looked really nice.

The best, absolute greatest part for me is that it was a Saturday on a Wednesday, which means if I am careful, my house will still be clean on the real Saturday--giving me an opportunity to be home and do some things I WANT to do instead of HAVE to do. That would be wonderful! Here is our spread for supper, I started out with three, then the fourth made it. My fifth boy is a picky eater so he ate before he came. It is amazing how much food teenage boys can put away though.

Robert, Garrett and Adam, ready to eat.
Trygve and Adam, playing Rock Band, well, with Adam answering the phone.



Garrett and Robert being the "fans" for Rock Band. Nobody would sing last night!


This is Clayson trying to look mean....I hate to tell him, but it just doesn't work for him. Of course, seconds later I am telling him not to smile and then he really looses it.




Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Say Goodbye to October

October 2009 was probably one of the craziest months so far in my life. For the most part, it was good; I just never imagined my life would be like this. I thank God for every part of my life and the people who are in it. There are times he takes me on a real roller coaster but I feel like I am heading down the path He wants me to be on.

Here a couple more pictures from Lexington. There are lots of horses, of course. These were taken at Kentucky Horse Park. Our hotel touted that it had views of the Red Mile track...Carol and I both had rooms that looked out onto the parking lot. Oh well...


Robert and I went to Effingham last Friday night to price the parts for his exhaust. The sky was so beautiful on the way over I couldn't resist.


Band season 2009 is in the books. There are tons of new trophies in the bandroom as a result. The show was awesome and classy this year. I am sure the kids were sad to see it be over too.



We came home from Oblong with a first in auxillary (Congrats girls, that made it a clean sweep of the year--everywhere we went, auxillary placed first). The rest of the awards from Oblong: Percussion 2nd, Drum Major 2nd, overall 2nd.

Great job Newton Marching Eagles.