Watch Out Madelia!!! Here I come!

Just a quick note this afternoon.  I'm on the run and Amanda has dance in 34 minutes.

Watch out Madelia Elementary!! I just scheduled a book fair there and I can't wait to make it fantastic!!!  Tonight I am getting packets ready for teachers.  They're going to find out how Usborne Book fairs are done!!!  CRAZY BOOK LADY STYLE!!!  so excited!!  Wednesday, December 12-Friday, December, 14th!!!

Madelia Elementary school!!!

Geek Stuff

I haven't told you much about me (other than my love of my family and books).  I am a computer geek.  I spend my day fixing problems and helping to maintain the computers at a trucking company.  Things are so time sensitive.  Sometimes things fall apart.  Completely apart.  Some days are really hectic.  Some days you just try to maintain a sense of calm. 

I really do love helping people.  Especially when it's something I can fix quickly and the "users" can get back to work without much problem.  I have been a computer geek of sorts since I was little.  I learned DOS at a very young age.  When you live in the country and you want to play computer games on an old computer you learn how.  Dad talk me what I needed to know to get around the folder structure and away I went.  Trial and error.  It's how I learn best. 

Here are some pictures of my insanity.  Or hoarding as my neighbor, Michelle, at work calls it.  I have Christmas music playing today so imagine that mixed in with cords and computers and yellow sheets of post-it notes.  (I know a crazy amount about Post-it but that is a lifetime ago and a story for another day.)

Extra cables and phones

Did I mention I handle a Centrex Phone system also?  It's a crazy punch board of red/white wires and numbered slots.  Somehow it all makes sense in my head. It is quite old technology and we hope to upgrade some day soon.

Old computers to be cleaned up, wiped of data, OS re-installed and sold.

My work area. A sea of cables.  Power, monitors, keyboard, mouse and network.

My desk.

New computers, still in the box.  Need to be unpacked, an image pushed to them, configurations made and installed at the users desks.  Windows 7.  I love these new machines.

Off to finish a set up on a new computer.  The user has been having lots of problems and hopefully this will solve all of them.... just like batman. :)  or the Crazy Book Lady!

Busy Sunday and Birthday Boy

It was my Husband's Birthday on Sunday.  We had a very busy day that started out at 8AM.  Jacob and Amanda sang in church at St. Paul's Lutheran.  They sing every month during the school year.  Jacob isn't fond of getting up in front of people but it is getting much easier the older he gets.  Amanda loves being in the big kid choir.  She's been watching her brother go up for a few years now and has always been so jealous.  Now that she's a kindergartener, she is included.

We had a Swimming Party for 4-H in the afternoon and a good time was had by all.  I am the leader of Klossner/Swan Lake 4-H in Nicollet County.  I was in 4-H as a child and love being involved as an adult.  It is such a great opportunity for the kids. 

We hosted the swimming party as an opportunity for people in the community to come and take a look at 4-H.  After swimming we had a short meeting, snack and a craft.  Jacob and Amanda did a Project Talk about their rabbits and how they will be showing them in the Nicollet County Fair.  I wish I had taken pictures but it was so busy I didn't even get a chance to pull out my camera.

For supper we joined his coworkers and our friends Ross, Jenn and Beth and all their kids for supper at Jake's Pizza.  It's John's favorite pizza!  It's so fun to get together with good friends and good food.  The kids ate, played games and ran like lunatics.  Beth and I got to play with baby Kya.  

Nick, Jacob, John and Amanda

John and his Birthday Peanut butter cup pie

Kya the Cutie Pie!!

The Sky's the limits... no, literally!

Have I mentioned that Jacob's Cub Scouts meetings fall at the almost exact same time as Amanda's dance class.  Usually John and I tag team and he goes in one direction with Jacob and I head in another with Amanda. This last week John was at work so I was on my own.  I was a little stressed but after dropping Jacob off with his cub scouts group (with a stern warning to behave himself) I headed across town to drop Amanda off at Dance class.  Then with my Super Mom cap on I headed back to cub scouts. 

The cub scouts met at the New Ulm Municipal Airport.  It was small but very nice.  I was very impressed.  While I was gone running Amanda to dance they toured the small airplanes and the office but I was able to catch up with them when they were in the shop by the larger planes.  Such a great learning experience!

Jet Setter Jacob!  He was so excited to show me the little toilet onboard!

Beautiful Sunset I almost missed.  Jacob pointed it out to me.  Sometimes I'm so busy that I miss this stuff.  Good thing I have him to point them out to me.

Jacob with the SkyHawk II

Pilot Jacob!  Thinking he is pretty cool!!

Hands on learning.  Can't get any better than that!

Be sure to put your email address in to Subscribe to the blog by email.  Don't miss out on our adventures!!  This week we have a lot of craziness in our lives.  I have two home shows and two large booths.  Sunday we are also helping out with our 4H Swimming Party from 1-5 at the Vogel Arena.  Are you in the New Ulm/Lafayette area and interested in 4H.  Give me a shout for details!! 

By Monday I'm going to need some rest. :)  I decided to start watching Grey's Anatomy from the beginning.  I just finished the 2nd Season.  Watching that while Knitting has been my guilty pleasure lately.  I can't share any pictures of finished projects just yet though.  A lot of these have been Christmas Presents.  I love each one and will have a hard time letting them go! Maybe I'll have to make one for myself too!!

Take a stand

This morning while browsing Facebook I saw one of my friends liked a photo from the Dave Ryan in the Morning Show.  Dave Ryan is a popular Radio show on 101.3 KDWB out of the Twin Cities.

Here is the caption on the photo - "Arizona's Queen Creek High School has an undefeated football team this season . . . and the team's quarterback, Carson Jones, is taking a stand against bullying. Chy Johnson is a 16-year-old special-needs student at the school who was being bullied . . . because she has a brain disorder called microcephaly, which makes her head smaller than normal. Earlier this year, some girls threw garbage on Chy during lunch. So Chy's mother emailed Carson and asked him if he could find out who was picking on her daughter. Instead, Carson took matters into his own hands. He invited Chy to sit with the team at lunch the next day. She's had lunch with them every day since. They also keep an eye on her in the hall, to make sure there's no trouble between classes."

This story gave me goosebumps from head to toe.  What an amazing teenager!  Bullying is such a problem.  All it takes is one person to stand up for someone being bullied and it can change things.  What can you do?  Follow Carson's example and reach out to someone.  Be a friend to someone in need. 

Usborne has a new title about bullying.  I haven't had a chance to read it yet but the reviews have been wonderful about it.

Introducing: I am Jack by Susanne Gervay

Jack likes going to school until George Hamel calls him “Butt Head,” and all the other kids start to do it too. He’s in trouble. Will someone help?

Here are some reviews: 

What an amazing book! As the mom of a daughter who was bullied in middle school (I'm just know learning the extent of it, some 7 years later), I was moved by the powerful description of a boy desperately trying to maintain a normal face at home, while facing such indescribable abuse at school. This book will definitely have a powerful impact on its readers.

From: iheartbooks3@gmail.com | Date: 7/3/2012 8:36 AM

Every parent, teacher and student should read this book. It should be read together and discussed. It is so simple and yet so common. Being bullied is so very horrible for a young person and their emerging self esteem. Bullying is real. Read this book! Maybe, just maybe it will help a to be bully not say the joke that really is not funny. Or maybe it will give the friend the courage to tell someone that can help. Or what if the victim found the courage to look the bully in the face and say no.

From: Nicole.UsborneBooks@gmail.com | Date: 7/6/2012 11:57 PM

Touching, True Story! This is such a powerful, true story... anyone can relate to, no matter if you've been bullied, were a bully or simply have been around this type of situation. It's told from the point of view of this sweet boy who is being taunted at school and simply cannot take it anymore. A very timely tale that should be read by everyone!

From: heyjadebooks@gmail.com | Date: 7/14/2012 9:41 PM

WOW. My 7 yr old daughter and I just got done reading this book tonight. It is about Jack, a boy who is being bullied in school. Author Susanne Gervay brilliantly combined fun humor and brave truth to create a book that MUST be put into all kids' hands!! Over the last few nights of reading this book, we laughed out loud (HARD at times!!), we talked about bullying in an understandable way, and I fought back the tears through half the book.

Books are SO powerful...the journey they take us on can change our lives. I am not exaggerating the effect of this book...if you have school-age kids in your life, you will not only want THEM to read it, YOU will also want to! This will be an excellent tool for any school/organization that wants to bring awareness to bullying!

From: troachbooks@gmail.com | Date: 7/18/2012 1:38 AM

Today's Cyber Time

In today's Cyber world do you follow anyone?  You know, like their blog or listen to a podcast.  After a while you feel like you know them.  You check in with them weekly (or daily) and after a while you know them. 

I have several podcasts that I really enjoy.  Almost anything by NPR, Mothcast, and This American Life.  Another of my favorites is Manic Mommies.  I think I've been listening to them a long time.  They have 317 episodes out.  Like watching your favorite tv show... after a while you know the "Characters".  You can relate with them.  It's almost like you're in the room with a glass of wine and visiting with them.  I have laughed out loud countless times while listening to these wonderful women.  They are smart, professional, successful, loving, hardworking and inspiring!

Please take the time to check them out.  You will enjoy them too!!

Learning Letters

Amanda has been working hard at learning her letters.  She is so eager to learn her letters and be a "big kid". We've been using Handwriting without Tears as her lesson and practice book.  I wish I would have started this with Jacob when He was her age.  He has some bad habits in forming his letters.  We are working on them.

hum.....

so carefully!

Yeah!

Not on the right lines but making progress.

Dodge the ball

As a Crazy Book Lady it's hard to get one-on-one time with my kids.  On Tuesdays and Wednesdays Amanda has dance class at Vogel Arena.  Jacob likes to come along and hit the Racquetball in the court while we wait.  I have to admit I am very tempted to sit on my rear and knit during this time while he is busy.  If fact, sometimes I look forward to this 40 minutes of just sitting. 

Last week I reluctantly let him drag me into the Racquetball Court.  I AM SO GLAD HE DID.  We had so much fun and laughed so hard.  What a meatball!

Come on Mom!

Ouch!

Smash it as hard as you can!

Your turn!

and She swings!

Crazy Book Lady with a Racquet!!  Watch out!

Trying Hard!

Like this Mom!

Too much fun!!