Great start to 2009!

The pictures are from our quick trip to Iowa to see the Brett's one more time before they head to Sydney Australia for a year of work! It is one of Nate's cousins. 1st pic is Joel and Ethan, 2nd pic is the present Ethan will have a hard time getting away from dad! :) 3rd pic is the girls fighting for a ball, 4th is Jake playing football (something he got almost everyone there to play with him), 5th Bekah loving her favorite food group! Dessert, 6th Kari and Ethan.

Friday night I was finishing up one more load of laundry before heading to bed, I realized that the washer didn't look like it was moving. FRUSTRATING!!! After about a half hour of messing with it, I decided to wash Bekah's coat by hand, makes me grateful I didn't have to do everything by hand! The kids asked if I was going to do everything by hand! Yeah, get right on that one! So, Monday I told the kids I was going out to find a wash board so they could help out with the laundry, since they thought it would be sooooo easy! Every summer when the kids spend time with Grandma Di she takes them to the Kelly Farm, the kids get to experience life as Laura Ingalls did from Little House on the Prairie. Last summer they came home telling us all about it and how easy it was for them to do the laundry by hand! Big mistake! That is something mom and dad aren't going to forget! Boy did their attitudes change!

I was lost Sunday night, wandering around the house wanting to do laundry, why am I always wanting to do something when I know I can't!! A service tech came out and said the motor to move the tub wasn't working at all. Thank God it is under warranty! The part has been ordered and hopefully will be here later this week. If it doesn't come in it will be off to the Laundromat for mom.

We started off the 2009 half of school year very promising! Everyone was up and ready to go before we needed to leave for school. Well today was a different story! The clan woke up at the normal time and was moving EXTREMELY slow! Got them moving by offering them our weekly trip to the Day Light Donuts in Tea. Yeah, I know not the best breakfast but just the motivation the kids needed to get moving.

The dinner table proved to be an interesting place for us as usual, this is the place the kids usually open up and tell us about their day or remind us they need something before the next day of school! Kristen informed us that she is the alternate for Sioux Falls Christian in the 7th grade Geography Bee. Way to go K! Bekah got frustrated because we had a family event of everyone eating a green bean together, I know doesn't sound like a big deal but for Bekah whose favorite quote is "I can't eat that or I will throw up", (she has had textile issues for years, we have little by little encouraged her to eat something she normally wouldn't eat while we are at home) started hyperventilating and getting all worked up, after some unsolicited encouragement from her brother, we finally convinced him to stop looking and talking to her which was VERY hard for him to do!! She gave it a shot, didn't go down but at least she tried! This is very fustrating for Bekah because she does everything with MiKayla the queen of "oh I'll eat anything" ate that one and then had seconds and maybe even thirds if I remember correctly!