Girls with their teachers

Addie and Mrs. Zoske


Ashley and Mrs. Tysdahl


Amber and Mrs. Nehring

First Day of School

Amber is going into 5th grade this year, hard to believe. Ashley is in 3rd grade, and now part of the upper-elementary. Addie is going to attend an all-day pre-K program this year. She was so excited about this, because she has been begging to go to school and this is for kids that are 4-5 years old. The best part is, it is FREE!!!! Yeah!
Alex wasn't so sure about taking his sister to school and leaving them there the whole day. He was very excited to go pick them up at the end of the day. The first day we drove them to school, but the rest of the time they have to ride the bus. Today when we walked to the bus, Alex was very upset that he didn't get to climb onto the bus. The whole walk home he said, "mommy soon, ride bus? mommy soon?" Very cute.

The new puppy

Well if you didn't know, we have a new puppy. Her name is Scout and she is a purebred Brittany. Larry and Suzy's dog had a litter of pups and they brought one to Canada for us to give to the kids. Needless to say they were very excited when they found out she was ours and we got to take her home.

More Canada Photos

My big northern.


Mom's first northern that she caught with Bill and I.


The berry picking group.


Bill's big northern.


The whole Canada group in front of the new cabin.

Canada 2008

This was probably one of the best years in Canada. We only took the one motorhome (mom and dad's) and Larry and Suzy drove up with Harold Munson (friend of the hunting group). Bill and I and the kids stayed in a cabin with Larry and Suzy and Harold. It was sooooo cool! I cannot tell you how nice it was. Suzy and I walked in together to check the new cabins out and our mouths just dropped open. They had new laminate wood floors, a couple couches, a fireplace with slate tile surround, a wonderfully clean bathroom and large kitchen. It was the nicest cabin I have ever stayed in. We caught lots of walleye and several large northern. Even Alex and Addie caught fish on their own poles. This year I decided to go blueberry picking with Mom, Dad, Larry, Suzy, Harold, and our three girls. Our girls did such a good job picking. They were so excited that their berries were going to go to our house for us to use, so I think they worked a little bit harder. Our family ended up picking 17 cups of berries. I have plenty to make a couple of pies and then use the others for some new desserts I want to try. The weather was perfect for being on the water, so my mom waterskied a couple times and the girls tried to also. They didn't do too well, but it was good for them to attempt it.


Alex and his first fish.


Addie and her first fish.


Ashley helping Dad drive. She didn't fish a lot, but she was a good "minnow getter".


Amber and the only bass caught on the trip.

Birthdays

This summer Ashley turned 8 and Amber turned 10. Hard to believe that we have one in double-digits now. They are all growing up too quickly. This is Amber's last year in the elementary. Next year, on to Middle School. This was their summer for a friend party, so Ashley had several friends over to play, and Amber, when it was her turn, had a sleepover. As usual we went to Canada during Amber's birthday so our family celebrated there.


Ashley's friends.


More of Ashley's friends.


Amber opening up Grandma B.'s present.


Amber's friends.


Amber's birthday in Canada in the cabin.

Black Hills

Okay folks, so this will take you back to June 2008. Our family went on vacation with Bill's parents to the Black Hills in South Dakota. We also visited the Badlands too. We had an excellent time, loved our campground, and enjoyed all the sites we saw. Other than a problem with the motorhome, everything went smoothly. But you know, when do we ever vacation and not have a problem with the motorhome??? :) Last year it was the tire blowout, this year the transmission.


On the way out we stopped at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead and the kids got to make rope the old fashioned way. They also got to make corncob dolls (even Alex) and grind flour in the mill.


We rode a wagon to the school house and the girls had to put on bonnets and aprons and attend "school". They sang songs and did warm up exercises. When school was finished they had to ring the bell.


This is the whole group at the Badlands. It was very impressive. You could see for miles in many directions.

More News

We had our MRI on Friday in Iowa City. Dr. Joshi is looking for something in Alex's brain that would explain his abnormal gait, specifically toe-walking on the left foot, and tight heel cords. We also had a physical therapy appointment this morning to discuss what we could do to fix the toe-walking. On my way to the PT appt, Bill called and said that Dr. Joshi called with the MRI results. She had found some scarring deep inside the brain that would indicate that there had been damage to the brain. Now, this could have been caused by several things. It could have been in utero, if his mother had had a certain kind of infection or illness. It could have been caused during labor/delivery, or it could have been something after delivery, like a stroke or oxygen deprivation. All of it is hard to understand, but I am so thankful that things weren't worse. Dr. Joshi said that it is called sclerosis. You might think of multiple sclerosis, but it is just sclerosis, or scarring. She said that by looking at it, you could tell it was from a long while ago. Most likely around birth.
So I gave all this information to the PT and we went from there. She had several things that she wanted to look at with Alex. She measured his legs to check for identical length and then worked to get him to stand flat on his foot. Obviously he doesn't love it, but it is possible. We are to try and catch him standing incorrectly and then quietly go down next to him and pull his foot into the correct position. We also have a couple of stretching exercises to work on. In the next week or so, another therapist will be visiting us at home to order possibly two braces. One that he will wear in the daytime that will help force him to walk in a more correct manner, and the second brace, will be at night, more like a splint that will force his foot to flex back in the night. Neither of these is going to thrill him, but I am excited that at least they can be removed for bathing/swimming. The PT said that she views his problem as moderate, not severe and she doesn't believe that he will be in a brace for too long. Our hope was that we would get things taken care of now, so that when he goes to school it won't be an issue. I told her this and she agreed with me, that it was her plan to get things taken care of now.
It has been a really long day already, and it is only 3 pm. While all of this news is welcome, there is a certain amount of "chewing and digesting" that the brain needs to do. Mentally it is a little taxing. Today I found out that I didn't get the job that I interviewed for in Hubbard. I was really hoping for this one, and I really thought I would enjoy it. Combine that with the fact that the house in Independence hasn't sold, and you understand my heavy mind. I cried on the way home from the PT after finding out about the job, and Alex and everything else. I asked why!! Why didn't the job happen? Why Alex?? Why should he have to deal with this? Why do we have to deal with it? Why hasn't the house sold? Why us? And as I cried the only thing that came to me is BECAUSE. Because this is the life that God has for us. It is the life that He chose for Alex. Everything is in His plan. That honestly doesn't make this a whole lot easier. I am still upset. It still bothers me that I didn't get the job, and that the house hasn't sold and that our little guy has to go through all this, but as I think about the fact that God has his hand in it all, and as I remind myself of that over the next few days and weeks, it will get better. And honestly, somehow just voicing the thoughts (blogging them) helps. To reread them and see them in print makes them a little more real.
And what is it that little orphan annie always says? The sun will come out tomorrow... :)

Summer Haircut

for Alex!! Well, he is such a sweaty thing, we decided to cut his hair for summer. It was not a happy time. He doesn't like clippers, so Bill had to hold his hands down for me. When he was all done he was okay.

Mmm, Sesame Chicken

Have you ever had Lean Cuisine's Sesame Chicken?? It is absolutely fabulous!!! When I was working full time in Radcliffe, I would often buy Lean Cuisine for my lunch. Maybe not for everyday, but once or twice a week. I could eat Sesame chicken everyday and not get sick of it. School lunch isn't the most weight friendly meal, so it was healthy and delicious! Don't I just sound like a commercial? Well anyhow, I saw it the other day, (Lean Cuisine) and I thought I would buy one to have for me. You know, something you don't have to share with anyone. And again, it is wonderful! It is what I am having for lunch.
So we are going to the river this weekend. We haven't been there in forever, so we are really looking forward to it. We are going to help my mom and dad get everything set up for summer. We usually are not available to help with cleaning up and putting things away in the fall, because of football. So we thought that it would be nice to help with setting up, then I won't feel as bad if we aren't able to make the clean up/put away time. Even so, being there will be nice. The kids are excited. We have been going to Hubbard every weekend to clean up/paint/get ready for the move, so it will be a little break for us. (By the way, this sesame chicken is wonderful-still eating)
Our house in Indee hasn't sold yet. We are talking with our realtor about lowering the price just a little. It is frustrating because our neighbors put their house on the market several weeks after us and they have sold theirs. They are priced 15K less than us, and granted, we have a much better garage, and probably nicer looking house, but it is still frustrating to have that happen. Another teacher at school has also sold her house-it was on the market for maybe two weeks. AAAAHHHHH!! So I am trying to be patient. I just want it sold, so that we can move on.
On a kid note- Ashley has discovered my old Nancy Drew series. I think I have about 80 books in all. Most are just Nancy Drew, but a few are Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Anyone remember those? Ah, the good old days. Well, she loves them and is just racing through them. Amber is loving softball. She practices pitching any chance that she can get, with or without a catcher. How is that, you ask? Well, she will pitch towards a tree or just across the backyard. Not the best way, but better than nothing. Addie went to her preschool registration in Hubbard on Monday night. She was so excited. I made sure to explain to her that we were just meeting the teacher and giving her paperwork, and that we were not starting for a long time. We are so excited about this opportunity for her. She can have all day preschool with 4/5 year olds and have music, art, recess, lunch and the best part...IT IS FREE!! I know, unbelievable! Last year they charge around $250/month if you weren't of kindergarten age. But this year it is all free. They will also have a half-day 3/4 preschool, but you have to pay for that one. Alex isn't old enough for that, but will do it next year. Alex is going to start physical therapy on his foot in a couple of weeks. We have an MRI scheduled too, so it will be interesting to see what information we are able to gather from both of these appointments.
Okay, this has been a very long post, and more importantly, I am finished with my sesame chicken. :) So I will be done for now.

Update

Well, let me catch you up on what has been happening in our day to day lives. :)
We are moving back to Hubbard, hopefully on the 7th of June. In the meantime, softball has started for Amber (back in Hubbard) so we have committed to driving her back for at least one practice per week so that she doesn't miss everything. They have been practicing the whole month of May, so she would have been behind, and it was a good way for her to merge back into her friend group. Amber is very excited, because she might be able to pitch a little this year. She would like to be a pitcher and has been practicing every night. There are two older girls that are pitchers right now, but their coach said that Amber could practice with them because next year they will need another pitcher and she would already know what she is doing. So she might not pitch during the games, but she is definitely going to learn how to do it this year. Before practice started we had to track down a glove and some cleats. Nowadays you can't have metal cleats, and all our other cleats are too small. Her glove was also too small for her hand. So the search began. If you didn't know, Amber is one of those odd left-handed people, for whom the world is set against. We checked four stores and then decided that we would drive over to Scheels to find a left-handed glove(Which actually is on her right hand). They had 2 or 3 and we were able to get one for under a small fortune. :) Honestly, I think that I am just out of touch with pricing. Because in my mind, you should be able to get a glove for around $20-30. Evidently, I am living in the Dark Ages. We had a really good time shopping, just Amber and I, somewhat of a mother/daughter moment. (Wipe away your tears at this point)
We are continually moving things over to Hubbard. Since we are taking Amber over for a practice I usually load up the van and haul over boxes of stuff. Hopefully this will help the final move be quicker and a lot easier since we won't have that much little stuff to move.
At this point, I have to go out and mow the grass. Time to take the allergy meds. I will be a bit congested upon my return. :)

Iowa City

We had an unexpected trip to Iowa City yesterday. Maybe not totally unexpected, because we knew that Alex was going in this month to have his foot checked out. But unexpected because it wasn't supposed to be yesterday. We found out our appointment had been bumped to later in the month, and when I called to "discuss" this with them, they called back 20 minutes later and said that they had a 2:45 appt. time. So Mom, Alex, Addie and I packed up about 1:00 and headed south.
Aaron met us at the hospital (so did Megan, but a little later) and went in with us. Mom stayed outside with Addie in the waiting room and Aaron came in with Alex and I to help be another set of ears. I was very pleased and impressed with Dr. Joshi. She was very thorough and asked lots of questions, checked out lots on Alex, had him do lots of little activities and gave us an initial diagnosis of tight heel cord. So what this means for us is that he will need to have physical therapy to help loosen that heel cord up, and in the meantime, we will go back down in 2 to 3 weeks for an MRI. Now that she has an idea of what it is, she wants to see what is causing it, what is the root problem. So we will probably be back down multiple time. This will make everyone sad I am sure, because we will probably have to eat dinner out again together. :)
Anyhow, I was just very happy to have a few answers, even if they come with more questions. It was good to have someone affirm what you have been thinking all along.
Now, if I totally missed something here, or didn't explain this correctly, Aaron is going to have to let me know, because half the time I was dealing with Alex while the doctor was talking and at least he was able to listen carefully.
Thanks for helping out Brummers!

Moving

What's that you say?? Yes, we are moving again. But it really isn't that bad. We are moving back to Hubbard. We have had two house payments for almost a year, and I have to say, it isn't something I would recommend. My job in Independence was cut for next fall and with only one of us having a job, two house payments was a little concerning. A month or so after my position was cut, Bill received a call from a coaching friend in Colo, IA. He is the AD and the head football coach and wanted to let Bill know that he was going to be moving to Missouri and he thought Bill should apply to take over his job. WOW!! You can't call that coincedence. Bill applied and got the job and so we are going to be selling this house in Independence. Honestly, the way the market is right now, and with our house in Hubbard being on the top end of the market, it was going to be hard to sell it. The house we are living at in Indee is more in the low-middle part of the market. So we are hopeful that it will sell soon. I have most everything inside fixed up/painted/tiled/etc. so it should be ready hopefully by the end of the week to put on the market.
The girls were not at all sad about this move, as you might imagine. They will be going back to their friends and former lives and are quite excited.
Now, if I remember, I will take some photos of the bath/kitchen and show you what we have done.

Four generations

We decided that on this trip we would take a photo of the four generations of women(girls) in our family. So Great-Grandma Backerman (B), Grandma Muffie (Mom), Katie and Megan, and then Amber, Ashley, and Addison. It was a neat thing to do, since you never know how long you will have someone around and with G'ma B. being 91 years old, you really never know. I remember once a long time ago when Amber was a baby that we took a similar photo with G'ma B, but this one will be special because all of my girls are in the photo this time.

More pictures

Well, I know that Mom and Megan and Suzy all have more photos of my family, but I just haven't gotten them yet, so I will share what I have from my own camera.


A boy and his daddy walk the beach.


Alex was so excited to wade in with Daddy.


Family picture by the pool at the condo.


Family photo on the beach by Mucky Duck restaurant.


Brotherly love-Alex tries to squish Addie in the beach chair.

Florida

Okay, so we had a great time in Florida. Wonderful weather, just a little rain shower one day. The girls went down with G'ma and G'pa on Saturday and I came with Alex on Monday night. Bill joined us Wednesday because of a track meet on Tuesday. I think that after I got down there the girls and I swam 9 times. We swam every morning and every night. Every afternoon except one we went to the beach so that I could just sit in the sun. One afternoon we got a shower, so we stayed back and hung out while Bill, Amber, Dad, Len, Megan and Aaron went fishing. It was a great break to recharge and get ready for the rest of the school year.
Here are some photos:

Everyone at the beach


Alex REALLY enjoying the sand and water.


Ashley and Addie next to a blue crab pot that a man was hauling in on the beach.


Amber and G'pa Mark on the fishing boat.


The fisherman.

Alright, alright, a new post

Well, Ellen informs me that certain member of my extended family wish that I would update my blog. :) Okay. I agree, it has been a while and I do have things that I could post about.
1st, I have been very busy painting everything in my house. Now I am a lover of beautiful wood trim, but we do not have beautiful wood trim. We have doggie chewed on, rubbed on wood trim. :) Not so pretty, so I have been priming and painting everything including the doors. I have painted both girls rooms a new color and new trim, the hallway has new trim and wall paint and the downstairs bath has new tile floors, new wall paint and trim paint. I also have a new faucet fixture and light fixture for Bill to put up when he gets time. (Thank you tax refund). :) So now I have turned to the stairway and the front door. All the trim and the front door has been painted and I just need to do the wall paint. Oh, I should say that the previous owners left a 5 gallon bucket of the wall paint, so I am just using the same paint color and giving everything another coat of the same color because they missed a lot of places. Yesterday and today I have been painting trim in the living room and kitchen and I finished painting the trim and doors in our upstairs hallway. The upstairs bathroom also has new tile (the same as downstairs) and new paint (the same as downstairs) and will get a new faucet fixture and light fixture as well. The only room I haven't done upstairs is Alex's room, that will be a challenge. I also have the tv room downstairs as well to do, but that should only be a two day project. Our project for this weekend is to buy some laminate wood flooring and install that in the kitchen and entryway.
So you see, it isn't that I have been sitting around every afternoon and reading novels and eating chocolates. :) I really have been busy.

Crazy Night

Well, I know that it has been a while since I posted, so I will make up for it with this post. :) We had a REALLY crazy night/morning (whatever you want to call it). About 4 am today, we (Bill and I) heard Alex make a really funny sound. It was kinda like a cry and a squeal together. It didn't sound normal and then he was crying. It stopped suddenly so Bill went to check it out. When he went in he patted Alex on the back and realized that he was convulsing. He ran him into our bedroom and laid him on the bed. We ruled out choking by slapping him on the back a couple of times.
So at this point we realized that he was having a seizure. (Thank you Amber for the practice run) While I watched him on the bed, Bill called 911 and an ambulance was soon on the way. Mom was called to come and stay with the kids and then we had to just sit and wait it out. After a few minutes of seizing, which wasn't fun because he was kind of gasping/swallowing, he stopped and then started whimpering. The crazy thing is all of this is that we weren't TOTALLY panicked. I am not saying that we weren't concerned/worried/frightened, but there was something familiar about the whole thing since Amber had already done something similar. After a while I picked him back up, he threw up some phlegm(sp?) and a few minutes later the ambulance arrived. Bill went with Alex to the hospital and I waited for mom.
Mom came a little while later and I was off. By the time I arrived at the hospital they had taken blood, chest x-rays, temperature and had a major blow out diaper(pretty common after a seizure). His temp was 104 degrees and his x-rays showed pnemonia which was a shock to us because other than an ear infection last week his attitude this week and last night were just fine.
They did do a nasal swab to check for influenza virus because that also will give a high fever and aches and it is going around at the daycare center. But that came back negative. So ....
basically we/they think that because of the pnemonia he spiked a fever which caused a febral seizure (not too uncommon in young children) and he will be/is fine.
Bill took him in this morning for a check with his regular doctor and everything looks okay. He is on a new antibiotic to treat the pnemonia and Tylenol to control his temperature. He slept several hours this morning and by the time I came home from school at noon he was well enough to say "No!" and be watching Barney (his favorite).

Now hopefully this lengthy and detailed post will make up for my lackluster performance as of late. And this way you know what happened and you won't have to ask. :)

Camp

Tonight Amber and Ashley are going to the Pine Lake Winter Retreat. This will be Ashley's first time during the winter (she went to summer camp last year) and Amber's second or third time. They both love Pine Lake. I have to say, that as an adult looking back on my camp experience that I would have loved Pine Lake too. I actually went to Pine Lake once when I was little, then we went to the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp one year, and later I went to Village Creek Bible Camp. VCBC was more when I was in Jr/Sr High. I didn't really go a lot when I was Amber and Ashley's age that I can remember well. But if I had, I would have loved Pine Lake. It is such a nice cozy camp-not as big as IRBC or VCBC.
Many of the kids from our church in Radcliffe go there all the way through high school and love it.
It has started to snow over here, I hope that it doesn't snow too much since we have to drive over tonight and drop them off.

I think that I have given Ellen enough to read.

:) I'm sure that there are things that happen in my day that I could post about. Honestly, I either forget, or it just doesn't cross my mind to blog about them. Too much time passes between the event, and when I might have a chance to sit at the computer for a few moments.
Life in Indee is pretty basic. School is school. The kids are enjoying Kidstuf at Prairie Lakes on Wednesday nights. I still have class most every Tuesday afternoon in Waterloo for Reading Recovery. But yesterday we didn't have class and that was nice. We had a nice leisurely supper and then we watched Biggest Loser, my favorite show.
Amber and Ashley are looking forward to this weekend when they will go to Pine Lake's Winter Retreat. Amber went last year and now this year both girls can go on the same weekend. They love Pine Lake and always have fun there. Addie can't wait until she can go to summer camp too.
Just for blogging, I will tell you that last night I was quite impressed with my supper. We had leftover pork roast from a couple days ago, and I made hash with it. Now I have had roast beef hash, but never pork loin hash. It was fabulous! Garlic, green pepper, onion, salt, pepper, cubed potatoes and leftover pork. Delicious!!
Hope this has thoroughly captivated you! Hopefully my week will be even more exciting and then I can tell you all about it!

More Deer

These are the latest two deer that Bill got. He went back with the Rittger clan for another deer hunt. This time it had to be "antlerless". These will be made into ground venison and hopefully some vension steaks and roasts. I am interested in cooking with venison.

Addie is a good mommy

to her Baby Alive. She absolutely loves this doll. If you didn't know, Baby Alive eats (something supposed to look like baby food) and drinks out of her bottle and then she wets and poops. Fabulous, I know!! Addie got her for Christmas and was thrilled that she actually will "go". I don't think that Baby Alive is going to potty train too well. She pretty much goes as she is eating or drinking, so maybe she will have to eat and drink on the potty??? :)

Oh how I miss my sweet Gallbladder!

Yes, they ripped you from me while I was sleeping, and now I won't be the same ever again! (sob)

Oh yes, boys and girls, I had the pleasure this past week (1/3/08) of having my gallbladder removed. I had some horrible, I repeat, HORRIBLE stomach pain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that led to me going to the ER on Christmas evening. We were in Cedar Falls, so my dad took me to Sartori. They were quite busy so we were there until about midnight. They did a CT Scan and couldn't find anything wrong with my appendix or any blockage and since they were so busy that night they sent me home and said that it wasn't anything that would kill me????? but that I should see my doctor the next day. Oh yes, that is really what they did. So I went to my doctor the next day and was set up for an ultrasound on Friday 12/28. I had stomach pain every night until then. They said they thought I had polyps in my gallbladder. Eventually I was scheduled for a surgery consult the following Wednesday 1/2/08 and they said they could do surgery the next day.
So now I am less of a woman that I used to be. :)
I am back to work now. Bill is thrilled that I am better too.
So now I have posted. Thanks!