The school year begins...for Jeff and Deb

We completed our workshops for teachers this week. Tuesday was jammed full of meetings and Deb was recognized as an outstanding educator in our district by the superitendent. Wednesday was more meetings and a little time to work in our classrooms, and then open house for students and parents until 8:00. That was one long 12 1/2 hour day! Grandma Judy took the kids in to meet their teachers and put their belongings in their desks. Yesterday all the staff went to the Audubon Center of the Northwoods for sessions on Environmental Science. It was an informative day, but I really needed to work in his classroom to get things ready for students on Tuesday! Guess I will spend some time in there this weekend!
We had all the stumps removed from our back yard on Monday, and then leveled off. The yard looks so much larger now! We have been busy picking up sticks, roots, rocks, etc. to get the yard ready for the next steps. We are hoping to have the pool installed this next week if everything works out right. However, I am guessing that the water will not warm up enough for us to swim this fall. We are also looking into different options for fire pits, landscaping, ...horseshoe pits?

Happy Birthday cousin Taylor!

We celebrated Taylor's 7th birthday today at her house in Maple Grove. Taylor had a 'magic' theme to her party with a magician who performed tricks for the kids. They were amazed at the things he made disappear and then reappear again. (The adults were amazed at a few of them too!) The magician was pretty entertaining and not to bad of a balloon animal creator! The picture is of Noah, Jake, Jordan, Taylor, and Lydia all in their magicain hats and wands. It is always fun to spend time with Tom, Jill, Taylor, and Jordan.
After three years of work on the backyard, we are scheduled to have all the stumps removed and the ground leveled off on Monday. Then comes the pool contractor the following week to start putting up the above ground pool. We hoped the yard would be ready earlier in the summer, but that just didn't happen. Oh well, end of the summer sales on pools made up for it. We may not be able to use it much once school starts, but everything will be in place for when the weather warms up in May!

The Count Down to School is on...

We spent many hours this week getting ready for the start of school. Deb's classroom is almost ready. Since she has the smallest classroom in the school, her class size will be limited to 20 students. She is very happy about that. Jeff's room was finally put back together yesterday afternoon so he spent the rest of the day hooking up his computer and getting things straightened out. The kids have been a big help with unpacking materials, cleaning, rearranging cabinets, etc. Jake and Lydia especially enjoyed looking at the dissecting specimens for biology, zoology, and anatomy. Their favorites were the frogs, fetal pigs, and large pig hearts. Noah is busy learning the football plays. The coach stopped by this afternoon to let him know that he will be the quarterback. He is very excited!

Fall is in the air...

After many weeks of warm weather this summer, thing have cooled down and it feels like fall. Kind of fitting since Noah had his first football practice tonight. Real football weather - cold and drizzle! Noah loved practice! He said his favorite thing was making tackles. Guess he has had enough practice doing that to his little brother. Noah has some great coaches and some good kids on his team. All the elementary teams and the high school team were on the fields tonight so it was good for the little guys to see the High School team working hard too!
We also know it is getting to be fall when we need to go get all the school supplies, clothes, and new shoes! The kids had fun picking out all the stuff they need to begin the year.
Amother sign of fall - we have a couple trees whose leaves are changing color! Yikes- its not even September yet!!!!

A new addition?

Aunt Pat offered to give Lydia a kitty once her cat, Scribbles, gave birth. Well, the kitties arrived yesterday, so Deb and the kids went to visit and see which one Lydia wants. Of course, Lydia and Jake want differnt kittens. However, they did agree on a name for the new addition, "Joe Meower" (Joe Mauer is Lydia's favorite Twins player). Lydia has also bought the kitty a dish and coller. Since Deb is allergic to many cats, this could be an interesting adventure for the Adams family. At least we have a few weeks to get use to the idea.
Noah starts football practice on Monday. He is very excited. He has tried on his pads, pants, and helmet numerous times.

Summer vacation is winding down

Tennis practice has begun....and so has preparing for the new school year. Deb has moved to a new classroom (on the other side of the school) and will be teaching 2nd grade again. Jeff will be teaching eighth grade Earth Science, Biology, Anatomy/Physiology, and Zoology. The kids are anxious to get back to school - we are so lucky that they enjoy school! Lydia is excited to see her friends at Jenny's house (her daycare). We need to get back on our school sleeping patterns - the kids like staying up late and sleeping in!

Welcome to our Blog

Well, we are going to give this a try - technology and Jeff so not always mix.
We had a great time at the cabin the past few days with the Biederman family (Leea in the middle and Aaron on the right). All our kids caught their largest fish of the season! Noah and Jake caught bass (15.5" and 12") and Lydia caught a good size sunny. And we put them back so we can catch them again next year. The weather was HOT - so we spent a lot of time by the lake. We were all pretty tired after the swimming and fishing. We all love the cabin but it was good to get home. Today we spent the day cleaning up after the hail storm that came through last night - trees and leaves down, broken outdoor lights, no power for 5 hours - yikes! Check back soon to see what is new with the Adams family - "snap, snap"