Kwik Trip

After many months of discussion and prayer Harry has decided to go back to Kwik Trip full-time starting Oct 14th.  He just bidded on his winter route and got a good one (we think).  His schedule will be a bit of an adjustment but I think we will all get along just fine.

Week one 
Monday - Deliver WI TOP (tobacco outlet plus stores) day 1; work 14 hours and stay overnight in a hotel or sleeper truck
Tuesday - Deliver WI TOP day 2; finish delivery and come home in late morning early afternoon
Wednesday - Deliver IA TOP day 1; work 14 hours and stay overnight in a hotel or sleeper truck
Thursday - Deliver IA TOP day 2; finish delivery and come home in late morning early afternoon
Friday & Saturday - Off
Sunday - Off

Week two
Monday - Deliver WI TOP (tobacco outlet plus stores) day 1; work 14 hours and stay overnight in a hotel or sleeper truck
Tuesday - Deliver WI TOP day 2; finish delivery and come home in late morning early afternoon
Wednesday - Deliver IA TOP day 1; work 14 hours and stay overnight in a hotel or sleeper truck
Thursday - Deliver IA TOP day 2; finish delivery and come home in late morning early afternoon
Friday & Saturday - Off
Sunday - Deliver grocery to Albert Lea, MN

I know what you are thinking, Harry is not home two nights of the week but the plus sides to this is that he will only be driving into work 2 days vs 4.  Also, he will be done working around 5:30 in the evening.  This will give him ample time to do his school work without his family interrupting him or he feels he is neglecting us.  Also, he is not driving through the night.  This schedule is about as picture perfect as you get to having the weekends off and spending much more time with the family as he will not be on-call 24/7.

Vernon County Fair

Well Ellaree did her first 4H showing at the Vernon County Fair this past weekend.  She is a Cloverbud so everyone gets a ribbon for participation.  She entered three projects...a tote bag that Nonie helped her sew from Grammy's materials, a Horse necklace that she made and Chocolate Chip Cookies.  She did a great job talking with the judges and participating.  We are very proud of her!

Dropping her projects off on Tues night

Judging

After judging with her ribbons

So proud of her!

1st Day of School

Well first day of school is here.  After much discussion I was able to drive Ellaree to school but was informed that she wants to ride the bus for now on.  She is growing up way too fast!  She did great as always going to a new school.

Ellaree outside ready to go in the building

Ellaree where her backpack, coat and gym shoes go.

Ellaree with her 1st grade teacher Mrs. Tammy Mastin!

Back To School Prep

Well we are prepping for back to school.  I can't believe that in one week my baby girl will be a first grader and riding the bus and meeting new friends and having a great time.  It seems like just yesterday we told her she was going to a new school this fall.  This fall is here!

This week has been going to bed earlier and trying to get up earlier for anticipation of next week.  It has been hard for even mom and dad to get back on schedule with bedtimes.

Today we are getting the rest of her school supplies (nothing like waiting to the last minute, right?).  Then tonight we have Back To School Night where you go and meet your teacher, see your classroom and bring all your supplies.  She is super excited about this.

Yesterday her bus driver stopped by to meet us, tell us what time he will pick up and drop her off.  I am happy to know the man and feel blessed that she will have him as her driver.  The deal is though that I still get to take her to school on the first day of school.  That has been our tradition since 4K and I want to continue this every year.

Before you know it, I will be posting her back to school picture!  Stay tuned!

Overview of our summer

For some reason I have not had very much luck getting my pictures to upload but now I have figured it out.  Here is our time since our train ride in July!

Harry and I made a quick trip to Kentucky and left the kids with Uncle Nick, Aunt Jen and cousin Maddie for 4 days.  This is the longest I have ever been away from the kids. Although we all missed each other we all had a very fun time.

The beginning of August we had Vacation Bible School at our church.  We had approximately 86 kids and around 64 helpers.  The kids had a blast as I did as well.

The end of August we headed to Barrington for a long weekend with Grandmother, Aunt Allison, Uncle Dave, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Ray, Emily and Uncle Luke.  

Saturday we headed out on Uncle Dave's boat.  The pirates came and the kids were all decked out in apparel and fun for the day.

Aunt Cindy, Harry, Ellaree, Lorelai and Grandmother

We had the best weather ever and so much fun.  When we looked at the time we had been out for almost 4 hours.

Uncle Dave let all the kids take a turn driving.

Lor loved the horn and driving in circles

Ellaree was a pro at driving all by herself.  

Mom didn't bring swimsuits but that didn't keep the kids from dunking in the water when we got back.

Harry was brave as well but Lor decided against it

Grandmother and Aunt Allison with the kiddos

Sunday we had lunch with Uncle Ray and then came to the train station to pick up Uncle Luke. The kids loved this as they were comparing it to the Little House on the Prairie.

Here comes Uncle Luke!

Picture time right away when Uncle Luke got to us.

Uncle Ray's girlfriend Emily was working so we made a surprise visit to see her. She was super excited to see us and more importantly the kids!

We were all super exhausted but had a great weekend.

Ellaree headed over to the farm for a sleepover and Nonie also helped her learn how to sew.

Ellaree with her 4H project for the fair.  She made this tote bag with very little help from Nonie. The special part of it is all the material is from Grammy.

Ellaree learning to repair her skirt

My parents will be married 40 years on Sept. 5th.  All of us kids took them out to eat to celebrate.

They still look so very happy and what a great time we had!

Cousins

Well the number of cousins is getting bigger!  We are up to 5 kiddos now to take pictures.  We met on a Friday for a great morning at the park and lots of great pictures.  I even got in a couple of sibling pictures.  I have not gotten a good one since Harry was 3 months old.  WAY behind on that!  So I was glad to get these.  I did black and white along with color as not everyone likes just black and white.  :)

First picture and our favorite!

Madelyn ~ 8 years, Elllaree ~ 6 years, Lorelai ~ 3 years, Harry ~ 2 years

Kynlee ~ 2 months

This one is for Grama!

Look at my babies!  I just love this picture

Miss Madelyn is a pro at modeling for me

Trains!

Oh what fun we had on Saturday!  Harry and I took the kids to Osceola, WI which is about three hours and forty-five minutes from our house.  But it was well worth the trip to go on an hour and half train ride with the kids. The kids were counting down the days until we went and even though we had to leave the house at 6:30 AM there was no complaining to be had.  The weather was just perfect in the low 80s. 

We found seats in the last car on the train and was by ourselves for the most part of the trip.

Yes the windows were open and this was before we started moving.  Let me tell you it was a hard task keeping heads and arms inside during the whole ride.

Don't let Harry fool ya...he is soooo not taking a nap!

Harry's eyes always got a big as saucers and he would cover his ears when they would blow the whistle.

 

I love this photo of them just watching the scenery.

Right before we got off I asked one of the conductors if he would take our picture.  The kids had a great time.

 

We stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch as it was right by the station and we new that if we went too far the kids would be asleep.  After about two hours of naps we stopped again at DQ for ice cream.  It was a relaxing and fun family day.