Busy Week!

Well, it's been a very busy week for the Von Wald's!

*On Wednesday I got to chaperone a field trip to to Brunswick Zone for Sara's class. It is a really cool place and I'm thinking I may have Sara's birthday party there in November. Check it out for yourself; http://www.bowlbrunswick.com/ What's sad though, is I only bowled a 68, Sara even beat me (although she had bumpers and I didn't).

*On Friday, Hailey took her drivers' test. I have to admit, we did NOT think she would pass. She really didn't have that many hours of driving in with us and seemed a little unsure of her own driving skills. Not to mention that she was going to use my car, the one that was hit in the accident, because it was smaller and she felt better in it. She instead took her test in the Ford Freestyle, which is quite big in comparison to the Civic. Duke texted me at about 9:54am letting me know of the start of her test and that he was "freaking out". Well....

*On Saturday, Jesse had his senior pictures taken by Tina Vega, who is just an awesome photographer to work with, she made Jesse feel so comfortable and Hailey has already proclaimed that "Tina will be doing my pictures next year." Check her out here www.tinavegaphotography.com or here http://tinavega.blogspot.com We have already seen some of her shots of Jesse on her blog and they are just incredible!

I look forward to what this week has to offer but I think it will be hard to top the week we just had.

This is great!

I happened to be up late one night (10:15pm to be exact and for those that know me, that is really late) and I caught a Kare 11 news Extra on grocery shopping (again, for those that really know me, I love food). So, this story caught my attention and I stayed up to watch it. It was a story about this website that would help you save money on your groceries. I have seen other sites before but they have always cost money so I was interested in what this one would have to offer. The lady was talking about how she maintains this website and then comes out with weekly blogs about all of the different grocery stores in our area and what deal they have that week. She then takes it a step further and tells you what coupons you could use to reduce the cost even more. In addition to the weekly shopping lists she also has odds and ends freebies that you can register for. I have been on the site for about 3 weeks or so and have gotten free candy bars, free cereal, free household products, free DQ Blizzards and most recently an entire new book that is yet to hit the shelves (she had a link to preview the book for free and then you could print it out, the book was 156 pages, for FREE!
I decided that I can no longer keep this gem to myself, I have to share it so others can take advantage of the same things that I am.
The website is: http://www.pocketyourdollars.com/ and you cannot wait another moment to go and register on her site, her welcome page will walk you through it and you won't be disappointed, it really doesn't get any easier than this!

Have fun!

Not ME! Monday

I certainly didn't fib to my daughter last week that we couldn't go to the "Cool" McDonald's because it was under repair, simply so I didn't have to sit on a hamburger chair!
I also would have never given my daughter 3 quarters to put in a candy machine over the weekend and then called it lunch.
Nope, I wouldn't do that!

Split Second

Thursday August 6th began like a normal morning for me, except that I had to be to work early for a 7am meeting. I got up that morning, felt great and was actually running ahead of schedule. I grabbed some breakfast to bring with me in the car and then headed on to work, thinking that if I gave myself enough time I would stop and pick up a Caribou prior to my meeting. There was really no traffic at that time of the morning so I was sailing along pretty good. I take the same route to work every day, those of us that live south and drive to the University call it our "super secret way", as if to imply that nobody else knows about it. =)

I headed north on Snelling to take the ramp to head west on 94, like every other day. Because of how early it was, about 6:20am, there weren't a lot of cars backed up on the ramp and cars seemed to be ignoring the metered lights, even though they were running, and they just proceeded onto the highway. Now usually, if there aren't a lot of cars around, I will slow down slightly anticipating my light turning green so I can just continue on. On this day, there was a car in front of me that at the last minute changed it's lane so it would get the green light, I stayed in my lane and the light was red so I stopped..... then, just like that, something told me to look up in my rear view mirror and what I saw was a blue car heading straight for me and they seemed to be coming fast and then just like that I heard them connect with my car. I can't really describe what it sounded like except to say it sounded like a loud balloon popping; I remember lurching forward, I remember saying "holy f#*!&" and then just like nothing, I pulled to the side of the road off of the ramp and got out of my car. It was almost surreal really, I didn't check to see if I was hurt, I recall my neck burning and feeling much hotter than usual, I wasn't overly anxious or anything, I looked at my car and at the gentleman's car that hit me and all he had to say was "well, it looks like my car got the worst of it." A split second is all it took for that to happen, how crazy that I just happened to be at that point at that time on that particular day.

What is somewhat ironic about this is just a couple weeks back, I was talking to my mom after reading this blog http://jodyferlaak.blogspot.com/2009/07/mother-remembers-long-detailed-post.html and we were talking about how there are times when you are in the right place at the wrong time or maybe even in the wrong place at the right time?!?. I questioned how many times in all of our lives have we cheated death or injury because we stopped for an unscheduled cup of coffee, or realized we forgot something at home or stopped for a pedestrian that wanted to cross the street? I guess on this particular day, I was meant to be at that spot. I will always question "why me" and "what if". In the meantime, I just feel fortunate that the only thing needing major repairs is my car and that I still have my life (even though as I sit here typing this my head pounds and I feel achy all over).

I thank God that I was able to walk away from that accident. Will I drive differently or be apprehensive about cars coming up behind me in busy traffic or on ramps, I suppose maybe for a while but then I will go back to my normal ways and hope that I don't have another split second situation in a long long time.

The Power of 3

So, our next week's theme for the 365 Project is entitled, "Power of 3". When I started to think about what that might mean to me I kept looking for things all around me that came in three's and then realized I had one right in front of me; so here is my list of Sara'isms.

• When visiting MOA over the weekend she was enthralled with the flume and the water splashing. We joked with her about going on it and she didn't want to (not that we would have taken her on it). Upon returning home, she informed me that she didn't want to go on that ride and get wet because she "loves her clothes so much and didn't want them to get wet."
• When driving past a vehicle recently, she noticed that the man driving was smoking (She is quick to point out that we must drive with two hands so we don't crash the car) and she told me "Mom, that guy might crash because he has his hand on a white stick in his mouth, that's not good!"
• When trying to convince me at a recent Target trip to buy her a two pack of Softlips chapstick (she wanted it because one of them was pink, have I mentioned that one of her favorite colors is PINK and the other is PURPLE) and I told her that she didn't need chapstick and she had already picked something out of the dollar section, she proclaimed to me, "But mom, if you buy this chapstick for me, I will give you one of them so then it's really for you, not for me."
• Upon returning home from a trip to the mall with Hailey, I presented Sara with a new dress, I should say a new "green" dress; she looked at me and stated "but mom, it's not beautiful because it's not pink."
• During our conversation on the way home today, she was asking when fall comes and I told her that it will be here soon and that when fall comes so does Halloween. I then asked her who she was going to go trick or treating with and she told me, "I want to go with a mommy because when daddy's take you out, they eat your candy out of your bag and they don't wait until they get home."

Yes, that is my Sara, and for three more months I am going to enjoy her "Power of 3" until she then moves into her next stage as a 4 year old; I can only imagine what that will bring to our household and I can't wait!

She loves doing silly faces(outfit chosen by her this morning)!

And she loves "rockin' out" with her fake guitar!

Puzzles

Our new thing, or I should say Sara's new thing right now is puzzles. She cannot get enough of puzzles and she does them really well! I found a great deal on a puzzle at Barnes and Noble a couple weeks back and ever since, that's all she wants to do. I have to say that there is something almost peaceful about doing puzzles, even if there is only 15 or so pieces in it, maybe I should invest in some big kid puzzles for me? We'll see, in the meantime I will just enjoy the time with Sara doing her puzzles.

What ever happend to...

Do you ever wonder how some things all seem to come up at the same time and they all seem to be related? In the last couple of weeks I have tried to better understand my Facebook account that I created on a whim. My stepkids have Facebook accounts and people on the radio really started to talk about having a Facebook account so I thought I would give it a try. When you start your account it asks you questions like "Where did you graduate from and what year?" so I put in my high school, which was Park Sr High in Cottage Grove and 1990 for the year I graduated. This would allow all of those people I went to high school with to find me on Facebook. It's interesting who you hear from on Facebook, I have a whopping 8 friends currently so it's been slow going, but that is ok! I have had three people seek me out that I graduated with, none of whom I hung out with in high school, all to say "It's nice to see you on here", or "We're planning out 20 year reunion, hope to see you there." So I started to think, WOW 20 year reunion, I remember when my 5 year came up and I thought "Nope, high school is still too fresh in my mind, not ready to go back there yet." Then my 10 year came up, again, it seemed too fresh in my mind. The 15 year came and went with no invitation, probably because they couldn't find me due to my multiple addresses during the previous years! Well, now they have found me and 20 years will happen next summer. Not sure I am ready yet? It gets you thinking though...I wonder whatever happened to...(fill in the blank). 20 years is a long time passed and you wonder what paths everyone else took. I have done my share of searching on Facebook to try to find "friends" from the past, haven't had much luck.
Well today, we went to church (I hate to admit we haven't been there in a while). Our regular Pastor was on vacation so we had a sub and his sermon title was..."What ever happened to..." His lead in story was about all of the graduations and reunions that seem to be popping up and he even mentioned something about 20 year reunions! So I think to myself, "Is this a sign that I am supposed to attend my 20 year?" I didn't have the best years in high school, I didn't really fit in with one particular group but I tried to be nice to everyone. I remember the years of trying to figure out where I would hide during lunch because I didn't have anyone to eat with or dreading the pep rallies in the gym for the same reason, I didn't have anyone that would befriend me during that time. So, am I really ready to face all of the people of whom I didn't share much in common with? Luckily I have a year to think about it and try to decide if I really want to go there or not? I started to think also about how long ago 20 years was and what was cool back then. I loved and still love music so I searched some sites on the internet and found this cool link... you can fill in what year you want to see and it will show you the top tunes of that time, the link is http://www.myflashfetish.com/mp3-search.php?top=2008 (it automatically comes up with 2008 but all you have to do is change the year).
Have fun reminiscing and do your own "What ever happened to..."

Happy Mother's Day

Well, it was another wonderful Mother's Day! My "day" actually started on Friday when I did muffins with mom's at Sara's daycare and she presented me with a gift. I chose not to take the gift with me knowing the pretty little flower would be stuck in my car all day. She brought it home to me and was just as excited to give it to me a second time.

I woke up this morning and my husband made me a homemade mocha and a wonderful breakfast, he makes the best cheesy omelets in the world and his presentation is always great!

When Sara woke up this morning I went into her room and was greeted with a huge smile and an "I love you mommy", there is nothing better than hearing that from your child! I climbed into bed with her and asked her, "Sara, do you know what makes me a mommy?", her response, "Because I love you so much mommy!" That simple sentence brought tears to my eyes. She is truly a gift from God and He has blessed us with life's most precious gift. I will never take that gift for granted!

I am blessed to have a husband who is patient, patient enough to put together a new swing for me (even though it required him to actually drive to Menards to look at how it was put together) and he was patient the whole time, at least he appeared to be.

I had my entire family over today and Duke's mom and dad, it was a wonderful day. After everyone left, Sara and I took up a spot on the floor to play Candyland. Only through a childs' eyes could moving backward on the game board be exciting. She was halfway through the board when she drew the gingerbread man, or as she says, "I got the ginger man". She was so excited to draw a fancy card she had to run outside and tell daddy that he had to come take a look. She was the backpack and she literally had to move from being halfway through the board back to the starting point.

I Love Being A Mom!

Happy Mother's Day.

Lows and Highs

Well it was a week of lows and highs. I saw low's first because it started out sorta down and came up as the week went on.

It was a rough week at work this week, which I guess isn't bad since I've been in my new job for 9 months and this is the first "really bad" week that I've had. I don't want to focus on that though!

I also had another first this week, but this one involved Sara, and it is also one of my lows. We were in the bathroom and she was brushing her teeth and she slipped and fell off her stepstool (for the 2nd time) and it scared me so I yelled at her (she was also goofing around in which I had already warned her to stop). She looked at me wide eyed and burst into tears. We finished brushing her teeth and then I took her into her room to talk to her about why I yelled. I simply told her that it scared me when she slipped and that I don't want her to get hurt and then I apologized. She then looked at me and said "I love daddy now." I thought, "well isn't that sweet", until I asked if she loved me and her reply "not right now." I know there comes a time in every parents journey that their child says "I don't love you" I just wasn't prepared for it at 3.5 years old.

As we move closer to the highs, Sara had a Cinco de Mayo program at her school this week. I am pretty sure I have never seen her that proud in her life. She was supposed to wear a "twirly" bright dress and luckily I found one at Target, in her favorite color...PINK! So she marched into the chapel, one hand shaking a maraca and the other on her hip, exactly as she was told to. She looked at us and had a hard time hiding her huge grin. She continued to March onto the stage and then she stood front and center (we've come a long way here considering at her Christmas program she wouldn't even face the audience) and it was clear that she wanted to be noticed. I say this because when her little friend Rita stepped in front of her (partially) Sara proceeded to push her to the side. She sang loud, she followed all of her directions from Miss Connie and she smiled so big....UNTIL...Rita stepped in front of her during a song and Miss Connie said Sara's name to get her attention. Shortly after that I noticed Sara using both hands to wipe at her eyes, I pretty much knew what was going on but she seemed to recover quickly so I thought I may have been mistaken. They continued through their 6 spanish songs and then left the stage. The program stated that she could sit with us after her part so both Duke and I beckoned her to come sit with us...at which point she burst into tears! I had to take her to the back of the room and when I asked her what was wrong she said she wanted to stay with her class (I found out later she was supposed to stay with her class). On the way home I asked her why she was rubbing her eyes during the program and she let me know that when Miss Connie said her name she "felt some tears starting to come out and she was trying to wipe them away." It was then that I realized, she wanted so badly to impress us and make us proud of her! She will always make us proud.

My week ended with a high! I got to spend time with Sara today doing "Muffins with Mom" and she pointed out the gift she made me. Days like today will NEVER get old, even when she does.

Two Dental Visits in One Day...

Now one might think, based on the title, that someone either had two visits on the same day or two of us went to the dentist. The later is true. I bet you wouldn't have guessed though that one of the visits was for our dog, Ollie. That's right, dogs get to go to the dentist too. I took the day off knowing that Sara had her first visit and decided we would make it a girls day by going to the zoo afterward and then out for dinner. Never did I think that our dogs' dental visit would overshadow Saras first big trip to the dentist.

I took Ollie to the vet two weeks ago for his shots and routine visit and they mentioned that his teeth were covered with plaque. Their recommendation was to bring him in for an under anesthesia dental cleaning so we could get him on the right track before anything bad started to happen. So, Sara and I dropped him off at around 8:30am and then we were off. I received a call on my cell while at the zoo at about 1:30 from the vet. They started out stating that Ollie was doing great but there were a couple concerns. He had a loose back molar that they needed to pull and a pre-molar toward the front that needed to be pulled. They also said that one of his K9 teeth looked pretty bad so they wanted my permission to do x-rays. Well, needless to say, two teeth later and a bill for a few hundred dollars and he was ready to come home. Never would I have thought that my dog would end up having dental problems. We are now trying to be proactive by buying additive for his drinking water, treats that help to keep his teeth cleaned and chicken flavored toothpaste (not quite sure yet how I am going to brush his teeth??) I felt very bad for him as he looked pretty pathetic when I picked him up.

Sara's visit on the other hand was fantastic, couldn't have gone better! I took her to Children's Dental Care and the staff and Dr Hank were wonderful. You can check them out at http://www.childrensdentalc.com/

She was so excited to go to school this morning and tell Miss Jill about her day. She told her "we brought my dog to the dentist today (yesterday) and we went to the zoo and my mommy got gas (to which Duke had to explain that I got gas for the car and didnt' "have gas"", and I went to the dentist today (yesterday)." She was quite excited. I got some great shots of both Sara and Ollie, you tell me who may have had more fun at the dentist?

Happy Birthday to me...

I have entered into another year of being a "thirty-something". It really isn't that big of a deal to me, to creep closer to "40". Age is really all about attitude and I feel young, that is really all that matters. I think most people have heard of real age.com, in which you can go on and find out how old you are based on your habits, the link is here if you have never done this before ~ http://www.realage.com/ My real age is...32.1! I encourage you to take the test. It's fun to see how your number will change when you make certain lifestyle changes!

It's been a fund weekend. It started out with the Easter Eggstravaganza at Sara's daycare; glad we got there early, it was a ZOO by the time we left, but it was fun. Then I went out to lunch with my mom, sisters and Hailey and then we went shopping and got the best chocolates at Chihuahua Chocolates in Woodbury http://www.chihuahuachocolates.com/. Homemade truffles that are out of this world!

Today we slept until 7:45am, that is a record, I can't remember how long it's been since I slept that long! We went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, came home, got ready and then Hailey took me to get a pedicure. We are going to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner! What a weekend! Check out the pictures below of the weekend!

It's been a while...

Well, I knew when I decided to start a blog it would be hard for me to post frequently, but I didn't think almost two weeks would pass!

One thing that has kept me busy the last couple weeks is my 365 project. I signed up to do a 365 pictures project in which I take a picture a day for a year. We have weekly themes to help inspire us. It sure has given me a different perspective, that's for sure. I find myself looking at things in a way I never thought I would and constantly looking for that perfect picture opportunity. Our themes thus far have been; "Look up", "My home", "Shadows", "Routine" and now this week is "Out and about". Below you will find my favorites from the 1st four weeks.

I look forward to the next week to come so I can start snapping pictures.

We have some big news in our household, as of this morning, we now have three people earning an income. Almost 3 weeks after Jesse interviewed at Fleet Farm, he received the call today letting him know that they want to offer him a job, part time cashier, part time sporting goods. I think Jesse was pretty excited! He filled out a lot of applications, in fact, I think Fleet Farm was one of the first places he stopped at. He will now be donning the classic orange shirt! Duke is happy too (read: Discount). I tried to convince him that Macy's or Ann Taylor Loft or some other womens' clothing place would be the "perfect" job for him but he wasn't buying it! I think I can still find some great stuff at Fleet Farm!

That's all for now, hopefully my next post will not be two weeks from now!

New Shoes

Do you remember as a kid how exciting it was to get new shoes, there was nothing better! How wonderful life would be if a simple pair of new shoes was all it took to have a sunny outlook on life. Duke would tell you that it still works for me, and maybe it does a little!

There have been two new pairs of shoes in the last couple days, for two little girls.

• The first is Arianna and she got a new pair of galoshes (sp?) for her birthday from me! They were pink and purple and she LOVED them, it was one of her favorite gifts. Cindy said she wore them around the house and put them on her stuffed puppy!


• The second little girl is Sara. She tried telling me yesterday afternoon that her Dora shoes had a hole in them and I kept looking at the back of the shoe. We were then outside and I noticed that her toes were practically sticking out the front of her shoe. We took a trip to Target to find new shoes. We were hoping for more Dora ones but they didn't have her size. I think we tried on 6 different pairs of tennis shoes and, as she put it "Deese don't feel so good." I then turned around to see her putting on these shoes. She put them on by herself and them proclaimed, "Mommy, deese are perfect." How do you argue with that? She was so proud to wear them to school today. When she was walking down the steps with daddy this morning she sort of tripped and she told Duke, "Wow, these shoes are pretty fancy." Makes me smile!

So I have to share two quotes from Sara, she has no lack of good things to say...

I was helping her in the bathtub last night and she said "Mommy, I sure do appreciate your help." I started to laugh and she responded "But mommy, I really do."

Duke was getting her ready for school this morning and he told her to go potty, she insisted she didn't have to go but he told her to sit on the potty anyway, she did, and a short while later Duke asked her if she was done, her response, "No, and I don't have all week to wait."

She brings bright smiles to our faces every day!

Busy week

Well, it's been a busy week so far. I am ready for Friday to be here!
We celebrated both Jesse and Duke's birthday's this week which was fun. Both birthday's were sport themed. Jesse had a hockey themed birthday while Duke's was all about golf. They were both pretty happy, in face, Duke came to bed late because he wanted to swing his new clubs just one more time. : )
Both Hailey and Sara got their hair cut this week and Ollie is scheduled for Saturday. I think Hailey was just as excited to get her hair cut this time as she was in December when she lopped it all off. Very exciting to see! Sara feels fancy when she gets her haircut because Miss Kim who cuts her hair always blow dries and curls it, it is quite a sight to see.
Jesse had his first job interview on Wednesday at Fleet Farm. We were starting to think he would never get a call. He filled out at least 12 different applications for entry level positions and this was his first bite. When I interviewed for my first job at Burger King moons ago, I basically walked in, they asked if I wanted a job, they asked me a couple questions and I started pretty much the next day. Times have changed. Jesse may be the only 16 year old who goes to a job interview for a cashier position and brings a resume fully filled out detailing his accomplishments at school. He also explained that not only would he fit as a cashier but he would also be a good fit for their sporting goods opening because of his background in sports. He did comment that "he felt pretty good about his interview, especially when he realized that the kid interviewing after him didn't have a resume." He was told that he would hear within a week or so either way. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
At this point I'm looking forward to the weekend and another birthday party, this time a circus themed one for my niece Arianna, it should be very exciting!

Pondering...

It's been an interesting week or so, I am blaming the full moon that I think is approaching us. In the medical field especially, it seems like the full moon brings out the (best) in us. : )
Every once in a while I will think about where my life has taken me, what things I have been through and how they have made me who I am today. Do you ever question, "what if"... What if I didn't choose that specific college when I was 17, what if I hadn't transfered home after my sophomore year, what if I wouldn't have taken a medical job through a temp agency, what if I wouldn't have crossed paths with certain people in my life (both good and bad), what if I hadn't gone on that job interview, what if I would have listened to my head and not my heart....where would I be today? I know that where I am today is for a purpose that I may not know the answer to, I just often wonder "how did I get here, today?"
I am happy with where I am today and I wonder what the next few "what if's" will bring. I know I can only sit back and enjoy the ride and have faith that every step I take is for a reason.

Very Full!

Well, we had a wonderful dinner and obviously the weather didn't affect us. Weren't we supposed to get 6" of snow today? We took Jesse out to Cosetta's in St Paul for dinner, it sure was good but I ate too much. We all had fun and Sara did great!

I had three instances today in which I wish I would have had a recorder near by, all three involved Sara...

1. Upon seeing Piglet in an extra diaper we had pre potty training... "Oh Mommy, doesn't he look adorable?"

2. While I was in the bathroom getting ready this morning..."Mom, do you think I could help clean the bathroom again today?

3. While I sat on the floor to fold baskets of clothes my husband washed and dryed..."Mommy, could I please fold the towels?"

Now the first statement she may say all her life, but the other two, if I fast forward 12 years or so, do you think she'll still say those same things? One can only hope! : )

Daylight Savings

Ok, so every year, twice a year, daylight saving time comes and every year, twice a year, I swear it won't affect me. IT DOES! I didn't sleep well last night, not sure why, I am blaming the time change.

Made an awesome cake last night, Confette Angel Food! I even got fancy and cut it in half and put a layer of white fluffy frosting inside. Was shocked to realize that between the two cans of frosting I used, there are a combined 27 servings. I don't know about you but I have never gotten 27 servings out of an angel food cake!

We have a fun dinner planned today, hopefully weather cooperates!

Am I really doing this?

Well, here is my first official blog. I am not quite sure why anyone besides my family would want to read it, but, what the hay, I'm game for trying this out.
Sara is in bed, her room was switched around today. We'll see how she does, we removed her one bed rail so hopefully we don't hear her go bump in the night!
Duke and Jesse's combined cake is made and the joint birthday celebrations will start tomorrow, unless the looming snow storm happens to keep us home, hopefully not!