My Many Colored Days

by Kaden Zoske

On my red days I feel fast like a bear in Minnesota.
On my yellow days I feel happy like a dog with a bone
on a warm sunny day.
On my gray days I feel slow like a turtle in a dirty pond.
On my brown days I feel sad like a fish who just got caught.
On my orange days I feel mad like a monkey with no bananas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

From Our Family To Yours!!

Please stop back after Christmas to read about our highlights of 2011 and our wishes for 2012!

Christmas Chat

If you could indulge in only one type of cookie or candy this holiday season, what would you choose?

Chad - frosted sugar cookies
Dena - Ritz crackers with peanut butter dipped in white chocolate
Kylee - Lindor Truffles
Kaden - Oreo ice cream dessert
Kaydi - chocolate chip cookies (or anything with frosting)


If you were to file a complaint with the Better Christmas Bureau, what would your complaint be?

Chad - no crowds
Dena - store clerks must be friendly and helpful
Kylee - no homework for the month of December and no school for at least two weeks
Kaden - no clothes for gifts

Burger King Giveaway

 Please go here to enter a giveaway for a $25 gift card to Burger King and read about the new BK Crown Program.

Big G Cereals & DC Comics Giveaway!!

We love cereal - for breakfast, snacks, and recipes - so I was thrilled when I was contacted about this giveaway.  Kaden was excited about the comic books and Green Lantern action figure.  He has read all of the comic books and added the Green Lantern figure to his Super Hero collection.  Our family couldn't go wrong with the participating cereals, my favorite being Honey Nut Cheerios, Chad & Kaden's Cocoa Puffs, Kylee's Rees's Puffs, and Kaydi loves Trix & Lucky Charms.  They all agreed it's hard to choose a favorite though.

Big G cereals and DC Comics have joined forces to create a powerful breakfast for you and your favorite little sidekicks.  Available now, specially marked Big G cereal boxes will feature collectable DC Super Hero comic books starring members from the Justice League, from Batman to Wonder Woman to Green Lantern!

Each box will be packed with action, adventure, and delicious cereal, not to mention a cut-out DC Super Hero mask your child can use to help the Justice League fight crime at breakfast time!

*Collect all four comics - there's one in each specially-marked
Big G cereal box.

*Participating Big G cereal include:  Cinnamon Toast Crunch (17 oz.), Lucky Charms (16 oz.), Honey Nut Cheerios (17 oz.), Trix (14.8 oz.), Golden Grahams (16 oz.), Reese's Puffs (18 oz.) and
Cocoa Puffs (16.5  oz.).

Let Big G cereals and DC Entertainment feed your family's bodies and minds while also giving them a super start to their day!  Visit www.BigGCerealHeroes.com for more information on Big G cereals and DC Comics.

One lucky reader will win this great gift package...

*1 box of participating Big G cereal

*1 set of the collectable DC Super Hero comic books

*1 Green Lantern action figure

To enter go here and leave a comment.

Winner will be drawn by random number generator on December 2nd.

Disclosure:  Product, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills and DC ENTERTAINMENT through My BlogSpark.

The Joffrey Ballet - Chicago

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer.  Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
-Harriet Tubman

SNOW!!

We had our first snow today.  The kids had a great time
sledding and snow boarding after school.
And YES, I had a smile on my face all day
and started playing Christmas music at school.

More Halloween

The kids had fun carving pumpkins on Halloween before they went Trick-or-Treating.

SMILE!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Kylee LOVES seasoning and baking the pumpkin seeds.

Another gangster pic - so Kaden!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 Kylee - the Big Sis - Kaydi - the Butterfly - Kaden - the Gangster

Kaden went Trick-or-Treating with his Best Buds.

 Kaydi's coloring sheet for the Hubbard Care Center Coloring Contest.

 Kaden won 2nd Place in his class!

 Kaydi trick-or-treating at the Care Center -
LOVE that the Care Center does this.

Now what to do with all the candy?!

Chad was so bummed that there weren't any Almond Joys.

Union Invitational - LaPorte City

"Who aims at excellence will be above average;

who aims at average will be far short of it."

-Burmese Saying

 

Congrats Kylee on your personal best of the year: 17:27 minutes!!
(LOVE Coach Damon's (her track coach) expression!) 

Labor Day

We celebrated Labor Day at Adventureland Park.

 Kaden brought along his best friend Tyler.

 Chad and the boys are on there somewhere...

 Kylee & Kaden were great at riding with Kaydi but
of course Kaden had to add some
drama for the camera.

I think Kaydi would have rode this motorcycle
all day if she could have.
I hope she's not getting any ideas for the future.

Everyone had a GREAT TIME!

BCLUW Cross Country Meet

And they're off...

 Kylee ran the course in 18:53 minutes

 Having fun with Emily afterwards.

Thanks Emily for the photos!

Ballard Invitational

 The South Hardin Varsity Girls Cross Country Team placed 3rd among 10 teams in Huxley.

 They are currently ranked 20th in the state
in Class 2A.

CONGRATS TIGER LADIES!!

 Kylee ran the course this time in 19.15 minutes.

Where Were You On That September Day?

I was teaching Kindergarten in the same room I still teach in.  We were in a teacher's meeting when the first plane hit.  As the morning went on, I remember other teachers coming in and telling me the news.  We all wanted to be in the office watching it on tv but knew we needed to stay in our classrooms.

Some things I will never forget...
*Praying and hoping that Kaden would not be born on that day,
that terrible day in history.  (He was born on the 24th.)
*The children that were born and never got to meet their fathers.
*The silence and the disbelief in the waiting room that afternoon at McFarland Clinic.  Everyone was glued to the televisions - it was one day that no one was in a hurry for their appointment.
*The innocence of my kindergartners and knowing what they would go home and see on tv.
*Their conversations in the days to follow.
*Watching television during 2 am feedings with Kaden in the weeks after his birth and hearing about terrorist cells in Spain and other European countries and thinking "I CAN NOT GO TO SPAIN.  I have to stay with my family."  (I was suppose to go with the high school spanish club the following summer.  I did not go, neither did most of the students.)
*Most importantly, those that died trying to save others
and those still fighting for our country.

Cross Country

Kylee had her first Cross Country meet today at Saylorville Lake.

She ran 2.5 miles in 19.32 minutes and placed 28 out of 71 runners.
Not bad for her first meet ever!

 Way to go Ky!

The Tigers placed 3rd out of 10 teams.

CONGRATS!!

Another Dancer In The Family!!

1st Day of School

Kaydi - Preschool

Kaden - 4th Grade

Kylee - 9th Grade

Since Kylee is off to high school, today was her first time ever getting on a bus in the morning from home.  In the past she always rode to school with me :-)

Speaking of high school, did you notice the black bag she is holding in the pictures above?

That is her laptop - yep, every student at her high school gets one.

How cool is that?

And here is Kaydi pretending to be the teacher.

Wonder where she gets that?

Notice I didn't get a picture of Kaden.  When we got to school I had barely put the vehicle in "park" and he was off.  He could not wait to get to school this morning.  He kept watching the time and asking if we should be going or if we were going to be late.  For him, it's all about socializing!

The kids all had a great first day.  Kylee told me everything and Kaden told me not much of anything except that he is very excited that they get an hour for art this year versus 30 minutes.

Vacation Day #9 - Headin' Home!

Vacation Day #8 - Colorado Springs

Breakfast at the hotel
Hiking at the Garden of the Gods
Lunch at the Garden of the Gods Cafe
Rock Ledge Historic Ranch (like Living History Farms)
Focus on the Family Center
Started the drive home
Had an interesting supper at Dairy Queen in Fort Morgan, Colorado
Let's just say we won't be going back :-) to eat there again

Vacation Day #7 - Colorado Springs

Breakfast at the hotel with a beautiful view the mountains

Drove up Pikes Peak

Deli Lunch

Garden of the Gods

Flying W Ranch and Chuckwagon Supper

Kids enjoyed popcorn at the hotel and Kaden went swimming

Vacation - Day #6 - Dillon to Denver to Colorado Springs

breakfast at the hotel
drove through the Johnson Tunnel
hurried to Denver to get to the Mile High Stadium, the Garmin took us to a residential area!
made it just in time to take the stadium tour - one of Kaden's highlights of the trip
had lunch at Casa Bonita
Dena and the kids got SCARED in the cave tunnels
drove to Colorado Springs in rush hour traffic - NOT one of Chad's highlights
supper at The Airplane Restaurant
kids went swimming at the hotel

Vacation - Day #5 - Rocky Mountain National Park

ate breakfast at The Donut Haus
spent most of the day going through Rocky Mountain National Park
saw a coyote, marmots, deer, elk, moose and chipmunks :-)
rode the shuttle bus and hiked around Bear Lake
the bus ride was a favorite of Kaydi's
had a Domino's Pizza Picnic for lunch
had fun playing in the snow and enjoyed a family snowball fight!
drove through the Eisenhower Tunnel
supper at Ruby Tuesday's in Dillon, Colorado
Kylee and Kaden went swimming at the hotel in Dillon

Vacation Day #4 - Wyoming & Estes Park, Colorado

Breakfast at the hotel
Left about 9:45 am for Estes Park, Colorado!
Kylee drove for an hour in Wyoming :)
had lunch at a Outpost Cafe in Lusk, Wyoming
arrived in Estes Park around 5:45 pm
Kids played on a playground by the Big Thompson River
Enjoyed the River Walk
Sat by the river while eating supper at Poppy's Pizza
and then enjoyed shopping
Kylee bought fun knee-high socks, Kaden bought a Mountain Dude t-shirt and Dallas Cowboys socks, and Kaydi bought a "happy bunny" hat and a stuffed pink moose.
Rode Go-Karts!! Kaden with Chad, Kaydi with Dena, and Kylee rode solo.

Vacation Day #3

Breakfast at the hotel
Bear Country USA
Lunch in Keystone at Teddy's Deli
Mt. Rushmore
Visited with Nick Clifford - a driller and winchman during the carving of Mt. Rushmore
Enjoyed ice cream & slushies at the Carver's Cafe
Crazy Horse Monument
Black Hills, Custer State Park, & Wildlife Loop
fed the chipmunks, saw a lot of deer, antelope, and buffalo
and the most amazing rainbow
Mt. Rushmore Evening Lighting Ceremony
Domino's Pizza at the hotel

Kylee was a pro at feeding the chipmunks, they crawled right into her hand.
Kaydi talked about the "baby bear" all day and held the pamphlet from Bear Country most of the day calling it her "bear paper."
Kaden loved seeing the buffalo.

Vacation Day #2

Continental Breakfast at the hotel
Badlands - everyone loved them!
Kylee was the first to spot wildlife - a small herd of antelope
We also saw prairie dogs.
Kaydi got excited about the "rainbow rocks"
Temperature Outside - 104 degrees!!
lunch at Subway in Wall
quick stop at the hotel and then
Big Thunder Mine Tour in Keystone, SD and we panned for gold
Kylee could have stayed there the rest of the day looking for gold.
Storybook Island - Kaden kept saying "This is the best park ever!"
Supper at Colonial House Restaurant
swimming at the pool

Vacation Day #1

We left home about 10:30 and stopped in Minnesota at the Trail Ridge Stop for lunch. We then continued on and for the next stop in Mitchell, South Dakota to see the Corn Palace. No one was sure about it but decided it was pretty cool after seeing it.

Our next stop was to get gas and Dena spotted a JCPenney's and couldn't let a $10 coupon go to waste, so while Chad filled up the Traverse Dena did some speed shopping a bought a new necklace.

We then continued on to Wall, South Dakota to see Wall Drug and eat supper there. Supper was not too impressive but the kids enjoyed the "Backyard" and looking through the stores.

We arrived in Rapid City about 10:00 and checked into are hotel the Comfort Suites which was very nice.

Things to Remember:
Kaydi calling the binoculars "two eyes."
Kaden stating after each stop "well that was pretty cool."
Kaydi stating "I just want my birthday" every other second.

Flashback Friday

Hardin County Fair 2008

Guess Who...

wants to be just like Kylee??

It was so cute - she asked if Kylee was home and I told her no.  Wasn't long after that I found her trying to tie Kylee's pointe shoes on - she even had the toe pads on.  I'm glad she didn't try standing in them.