Yea for Me!

I have been wanting wireless internet back in my house since my computer crashed when Dallas was born. (When the computer crashed, it erased the save passwords and settings for the router) I finally bought a new router this week...it was much cheaper than paying the computer guru to come reset the old router. Anywho...long story short, I got it working today! It is so nice to be able to sit at my desk and be on the internet!

In other news, Gram and Grandpa Bergman are on their way out for a weekend visit. Dallas is taking a big afternoon nap so he will be able to play when they get here.

Today, the weather is awesome! It is around 80 degrees. There is a strong breeze, but that's nothing unusual. We are to get rain everyday for the next 4 or 5 days. Lance (the weatherman) says it won't be all day everyday. Lets hope not...that would completely ruin the weekend.

Farmers have been hitting it hard this week in the fields. I was talking with my parents and was amazed to find out that we are planting in Iowa before they are in Indiana...I don't think that happens very often! On my way home from church last night, there were still a handful of farmers in the fields. You would think that it was almost June and they were needing to get the planting done!

Speaking of church...last night was my last night of religious ed for this year. I can't believe the year has come to an end. I am having 5 kiddos being confirmed this year. A little disappointing because I started the year with 8 being candidates. Oh well, I guess they weren't ready to take the next step in their religious life.

Well, to end...a couple pics of Dallas...

Doug and Dallas went fishing again last night. Apparently, Dallas found the perfect seat (the tackle box)! Doug said they had a few nibbles, but weren't able to catch the big one.

I never thought that my son would be one of those kids who sagged their pants...guess I was wrong.

Until next time...

Nothing too Exciting

Wow...here it is Thursday evening, and I do not have much to post about. The week has been very quiet for us, which is a very welcomed change of pace. The weather has changed dramatically in the last 4 days. We had a beautiful weekend; probably the last one for the year. It has been rainy, cloudy and cold the last couple of days. Tonight, on my way to Belle Plaine for my religious ed class, there appeared to be a heavy fog setting in; although, on my way home, it had cleared some. Tomorrow evening, we have another going away party for one of Doug's co-workers. We are hoping this will be the last for a while. This will be number 5 in the last 10 months. We are going to Fireside Winery for dinner and drinks. Hopefully, it won't be too cold! Sunday we are planning to meet my family for dinner. Mom thinks 4 weeks is long enough to go without seeing me...I mean Doug...or was it Dallas? Alright, I'm off to bed.

Until next time...

We're Back...

I finally have a computer again. (This is where you stand up and do a little dance of joy). There is so much that happened in the two weeks that I was without a computer. Let me see if I can remember any of it...

Fred got out of the kennel one night. Charlie was barking like crazy to let us know something was wrong. Fred actually came back on his own! Doug heard him running around the yard, so we were both in a hurry to get outside to catch him when I fell down the stairs. (It's OK to laugh) I wasn't hurt too bad, a sore toe, ankle, butt, and elbow is all. No bruises.

Doug became sick, gave it to Dallas, and I, of course, ended up with it too. It's nothing too bad, runny noses, slight coughs, and headaches - for me anyway.

I have officially started teaching my religious ed class. I am teaching the confirmation prep students once again. This year, in addition to the 10th graders, I also have the 9th graders. All together I have 9 students in my class. Only the 10th graders will be confirmed in the spring, so the 9th graders will have me for 2 years.

The garden is still producing. Laura and I have been busy canning tomatoes, salsa, chili juice, tomato juice, and spaghetti sauce. And there is still lots more tomatoes on the plants! My pumpkins are getting huge! The package said they were pie pumpkins, but they are jack-o-lantern size! Doug thinks it has to do with planting them when it was so warm, and they are growing faster than normal. Let's hope they still make good pies! Our spinach came back voluntarily. I made a salad out of it the other night, and it was really good. We also have some volunteer radishes, onions, tomatoes, and peas, but I don't think they will make anything.

I told you about our trip to Peoria, IL, to visit with my family...I am now able to share some of those pictures...

Dallas fell asleep in Grandma's arms after we finished eating.

Unfortunately, Dallas was not in a great mood that day, and he would start to fuss each time Grandpa took him.

Dallas with Great-Grandpa - they were playing a game of peek-a-boo...Dallas's favorite.
Aunt Lisa and Dallas before leaving.
GG and Dallas
Grandpa and Grandma Robertson and Dallas

Doug's family left this morning after spending the weekend with us. We had a very enjoyable time; the weather was perfect! We went to Kolona, which is an Amish area, on Saturday to walk around and enjoy the shops. We had a bonfire later that night, and on Sunday, they helped us can some tomatoes. I'll post pictures of their visit later.

Until next time...

Dallas & Daddy's Night

Thursday evening started the religious education year for me. I am teaching the confirmation class once again. With me gone, Dallas got to spend the evening with Daddy! I do believe they enjoyed their evening together. Here are the pictures Daddy took...



In other news, Dallas has been doing very, very well with solid foods. This past week, I introduced him to broccoli, and the little guy loves it!
Saturday night, Doug and I made some more salsa. We used a recipe I found online. Everything (except the cilantro) came from our garden. We haven't tried it yet...but it's on the menu for this afternoon ~ after I get the yard mowed.

Until next time...

Good-Bye Weekend

Hello All!

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. We sure did. The weather was perfect! It was right at 80 degrees with hardly any wind. We kept pretty busy both inside and out.

Saturday morning we took Dallas to Sears for his first "professional" photos! He did a lot better than we expected. We were both afraid that he would be tired and cranky. We were half right. He was pretty sleepy, but he didn't cry. Because he was so sleepy, we were only able to get a half smile out of him once! Oh well, he's still a cute kid. Here's the results:

Our Half of a Smile & My Favorite

This is my other favorite (above)

After the photo shoot, we messed around in Iowa City - mainly driving around car lots just to look. We then took the long, country route home. Once we got home, Doug mowed the yard and I weeded my flower beds so I could plant some seeds. Of course, throw in the mix of entertaining Dallas and hanging out laundry...we kept busy.

After we finished our yard work, we headed out for a walk. As we passed our neighbor's house, they came out to see Dallas and chat. We ended up staying for over an hour...and brought home lots of rhubarb and asparagas! We then brought the dogs home and went back to their house for a bonfire. We sat around the fire until 1 am!!!

Sunday, we went to Tama for church because it was Confirmation! The big event my religious ed students have been preparing for all year. The archbishop lead the mass and it was wonderful. Unfortunately, Dallas got cranky and Doug missed about half the service because he was taking care of the little guy. After church, we came home and napped (we're not used to this staying out all night)! Doug went to work to prepare a few things for this week. He leaves tomorrow (Monday evening) for Davenport and will be gone until Thursday night.

Well, that wraps up our weekend.

A few other pictures from the weekend...

Dallas was in his chair on the porch on Saturday. He was able to move his legs enough to get the chair to rock. This then caused the toys to swing, and he just thought it was the greatest thing!

Thursday Tales

I can't believe it is already Thursday! Where has the week gone? I guess that is what you get when "starting" the week on Tuesday!

On Tuesday evening, Doug and I had our 4th session of the couple prayer series at our church. It is a six week series...so we are almost finished. It has gone by very quickly. Doug will miss next week's session because he will be out of town for meetings, but Dallas and I will catch him up on what he misses.

Last night, I went to Tama for the Confirmation practice and reconciliation. This Sunday is the big day for my religious education students - they will finally be confirmed! Last year, there was over 40 candidates within the cluster...this year, we barely made 20! So the mass on Sunday will be much shorter than last year!!!

Today is just another cloudy, rainy day. The temperature is rising - finally. We are suppose to be in the 70's for the weekend and through all next week! Of course, there are multiple days with the chance of rain...so it will be pretty humid, too.

I'm going to end this with a picture. Doug couldn't resist seeing what Fred would do if Dallas tried to share the chair. We were both pretty surprised by Fred's reaction...

He didn't seem to mind!

Have a great day!

Until next time...

Waiting for Sleep...

So, here I am, quarter after 10 in the evening, waiting for Mr. Dallas to go to sleep! What a better thing to do than put up a post.

Dallas did have his therapy session yesterday. It went really well, and I felt a lot more relaxed when we left. The therapist (Leslie) said that this neck thing - torticollis - is somewhat typical of babies. Dallas's doctor, as well as Doug and I, believe that his condition was caused by the way he was laying in-utero. Leslie showed me some different stretches to do with Dallas, as well as, different ways to position him when carrying him and playing with him. We go back in 2 weeks for a follow up. Usually Leslie goes a month out before a follow up, but Dallas would not wake up during the appointment so she couldn't do a complete assessment of his current neck (muscle) strength. Leslie also said that the "lump" on Dallas's throat that we have been watching is actually the contracted muscle that is causing him to look off to the side. So...that was a relief as well.

Today, it rained much of the day. Dallas and I met Doug in town for lunch. It was nice to be out of the house, but it was rather messy. Of course, everyone at work loved seeing Dallas, and they were amazed at how much he has grown since the wedding the other weekend.

This evening I had my second to last religious education class. I can't believe the "year" is almost over. Next week we are having a celebration party, so the actual class part is complete. I am happy to report that we did make it all the way through our textbook. I was a little concerned that we wouldn't make it...especially with me taking a few weeks off when Dallas was born. Next, we just wait for June to roll around to have my students confirmed.

I believe that is all that is happening around here. Now for some pictures.

Dallas enjoying a day outside.

Notice how is head is turned...this is what we are trying to correct.

Until next time...

Still Here...

Due date, plus two days...and still waiting for Buckwheat. Not too much is going on around our house. We are just becoming more and more anxious to meet Buckwheat. The weather has cooled off again. I heard on the news at lunch today that the normal high for this time of year is 40 degrees and the low is 20. Guess what tomorrow's high is to be...any guesses? Alright, I'll tell you...a whopping 13!!! I think Buckwheat has decided to wait for spring and warmer weather.

Tonight I have my confirmation class to teach. I bet the kiddos are hoping that I won't be there! I missed last week because the weather turned bad in the evening. Another one of the teachers called and told me not to come ~ she said the roads were awful and that she would take care of my class. Gotta love people like that!

Well, I had better keep this short so I can get supper ready.

Until next time...

Tuesday Tales

Let's start with the weather...always something to talk about there. Yesterday, I mentioned we were to get about 3 inches of snow through the night. Well, it didn't actually start accumulating until this morning. I'm not sure how much we got, but I wouldn't call it 3 inches. It is super, super fluffy and light. Let's hope the wind doesn't pick up too much or it would blow everywhere! The roads were not a problem this morning; thank goodness. School wasn't even delayed! But...it is still cold.

In other news, I spent the afternoon at our friends (the Miner's) house. I watched their youngest son for about 45 minutes while Laura volunteered up at the school. Of course, after Laura got home, we sat and visited for almost 2 hours! It was great.

I've decided that this little Buckwheat is going to be one of the smartest babies ever...because s/he is taking ALL my brain cells! My latest brain fart has been losing the battery charger for the camera! I have absolutely no idea where it is, and the camera is completely dead right now. I feel like I have checked everywhere, but there is one place left to check...the place where the charger is! Any ideas of where to look?

Well, there's not really any more to share from my day. I'm warming up some chili (that I made over the weekend) for supper. Tomorrow night is Lamaze night...Doug is a little upset he is going to have to miss the Indiana vs. Wisconsin game; maybe we'll be able to catch the end of it if Shari lets us out early. I don't have religious education class this Thursday because the school district has a scheduled day off...I guess because it is Valentine's Day...I hope my confirmation students enjoy the night off!

Until next time...

Finally Friday!

Good morning everyone! Can you believe that there are only (counting today) five days until Christmas!!! Holy Cow! I hope that you have been able to check off all the items on your shopping list, and if not...you better be heading to the stores soon.

Last night my confirmation class was canceled. The fog was so dense you could hardly see the front of your vehicle! And, it was pretty much like that all day! The lucky kids...they have the next two weeks off as well. We will just have to hit the material hard after the first of the year. I was looking at calendar for the class, and we are over half way through the "year".

Doug took today off. He had one extra vacation day to use...so we are going to work some more on Buckwheat's room. We painted the baseboards earlier this week, that leaves the trim around the windows and the doors to finish. We are also going to pack so we will be able to leave early in the morning. Hopefully, we will be ahead of the "major" storm that is coming. Last night on the news they said it should start around noon; therefore, we shouldn't have any problems.

In other news...Doug called the roofer yesterday. If you haven't noticed...I haven't posted anything about the roof...because there hasn't been anything to talk about. He hasn't been back since Thanksgiving. Anywho...the roofer said he would be here to finish the upper part of the house before Christmas! He said it would be after the first of the year before he would get to the porch and the garage. I'm going to have Doug keep on him once we get back from vacation.

I'm going to "sign off" for now. Don't be surprised if you don't see any new posts until 2008. While back in Indiana, we only have dial up access...and it is more difficult to find the time to write. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a (Safe) Happy New Year.

Until next year...

Classes

Last night was the first night of religious education classes at our church. I was a little nervous about teaching solo this year, but then things got rolling and everything was fine. When the night started, there were only 3 students registered for my class which is the Confirmation group - 10th graders. I ended up with 5 students (4 girls and 1 boy) by the end of the night. I think it is going to be a really good year. I'm a little concerned about the end of the year when Buckwheat is scheduled to arrive...I'm not sure who is going to take over the class...but we have lots of time to determine that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Until next time...

Finally Friday!

It is finally the weekend! Tomorrow, the Robertson's arrive for a fun packed weekend of food, catching up, food, games, and some more food! I'm so excited for them to see our place...plus, I'm excited to share our news of Buckwheat. Doug and I haven't seen any of them since Christmas. We decided at the first of August, when we started to tell people, to wait until Labor Day so Doug and I could tell them all in person. Dad says it has been very hard keeping it a secret! So...after this weekend, I will be able to actually share my blog page with them too!

Doug made it home from Illinois last night about 9:30. He had a great trip...he loves to travel and visit different plant sites with his job. He was a little sad that he was so close to the Farm Progress Show and not able to attend. Next year it will be back in Iowa, so he will be able to go then.

I had a catechist meeting at church on Wednesday night. I can't believe it is already time to start religious education classes again. This year I will be teaching the confirmation candidates on my own. Last year I was a "co-teacher," which was an excellent way for me to become even more knowledgeable on the Catholic faith and religious ed classes. I'm pretty nervous about going solo, but the class is going to be much smaller (last year we had 17 candidates; this year looks to be about 7 or 8), and they are to be mostly girls (again, last year we had 4 girls!).

Tonight is the last home game for the Kernels. Doug and I love to go to the ballpark, especially for the last game of the season because all the food is $1!!! Plus, they have more entertainment than usual and give away a lot of things between innings. We don't usually catch anything, but it is still fun trying. I think this year the Kernels might even be getting into the playoffs as the wild card!!! (In case you haven't checked out their link...the Kernels is a Single A baseball team in Cedar Rapids. They actually use an ear of corn for part of their logo!)

Until next time...