Happy Fall...

So happy it's fall! This is the best time of year living in the country and the weather this week was great! The only bummer is that our woods are thinning out which means that we can now see our neighbors again. And, I swear it means that we can hear our neighbors rooster more...yup, we have a neighbor with a rooster. I know I'm a stupid city kid but, I really thought they only crowed (is that the right term?) in the morning...no they don't. Since Rick was gone I had these grand ideas that I would get a bunch of stuff done around the house...yeah that was a good plan! Instead I went shopping...If you are driving around southern MN checking out the leaves changing there is a really cool funky gift shop in New Prague...Mosaic Alley, check it out (thanks, Lorie!!). Since I still had the fall shopping bug Mom and I went to the old barn boutique. This place is such a cool way to start out fall...it's a bunch of crafters that set-up shop in this old barn for a week...and I bought that cute little pumpkin! Come on admit it, it makes you smile when you look at it! Okay, here's the bummer part, we then went to a bunch of antique stores which is normally a great time and still was except for the fact that we kept finding toys I had as a kid. I think that is a life moment when you realize you are actually an antique (you'd think that the 40 candles on my last birthday cake would have been a clue). After that I really needed some lunch (old and fat...good combo) So, we went to an old feed mill with a view of a creek (with changing leaves) and a waitress who's probably got about 40 years experience...they rock (the leaves and the waitress). Please note I called her a waitress and not a "server" here's why. When you've been shelling out beef commercials for more years than you'd like to count you're a waitress and proud of it...if you are working at Applebees for extra cash you're a server. Either way, it's a tough job so, show 'em some love next time you're figuring out a tip! Okay, I'll quit boring you and go enjoy my weekend and my husband 'cause HE'S HOME...WOO HOO!!! Our house is loud and goofy once again and it's a beautiful thing!!

Single Parenting...Uggghhhh!

I can't believe I'm posting a picture with me in it but, this is a special post to Rick who is working in Jerome, Idaho this week...WE MISS YOU AND I SUCK AS A SINGLE PARENT! Hats off to all the single parents out there...I have no idea how you do it! I've been at this for three days and even the dog (who, by the way, is medicated) is counting the minutes until he comes home! Okay, I know the dog can't count but if she could she would be. And here's the kicker I don't even have a job so, you think I could manage for a few days...nope, not happen'! A little bit of an update...Sam's "Stitch" is doing fine...I'm hoping we can manage to not screw this up. No more plastic surgery for this kid! Note: for those of you who don't know, the last time Sam had a gash (which was on his forhead) the emergency room used that super glue stuff which then got infected and led to plastic surgery at Gillette's Children's Hospital in St. Paul....not one of my finer mother moments! Jenna was sick AGAIN this week and had to stay home from school because she had a fever on Sunday and sniffles on Monday. And last, but not least Chayley is back on medication because she licked her paws red again. This entire family is in desperate need of a major frost...come on Mother Nature give us a break, would ya??? Happy Wednesday everyone and note to Rick...No, I didn't forget to put the garbage out.

The Pluto-Goofy Debate-UPDATE!

Hey everyone! Our friend Liz sent this reply to Jenna's Pluto/Goofy question...it's nice to have friends in the "know"!

~ Jenna - Pluto and Goofy are both dogs....just different kinds. The big question around Disney is this....if they are both dogs, why does Goofy walk only walk on his hind legs and talk, when Pluto walks on all fours and doesn't talk?!?! Just one of the many Disney magical questions to ponder!!! :)

Thanks Liz! Jenna felt better that even the great minds of Disney don't have all the answers...what a magical world!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Thank you to all who have donated to the autism walk...we are blown away by all the support. And the support from our community has been awesome. There's still time so, If you think of somebody who might want to help...send them here!

I wanted to share this scrapbook page I did for a contest sponsored by Technique Tuesday (a scrapbooking company) in support of autism research. This really cool company has been supporting Autism Speaks by donating proceeds from certain products and by starting a gallery of pages supporting kids with autism. No, I didn't win the contest but, I did win a set of stamps and free supplies are always a good thing.

As you can tell, one of my peeves is when people say Sam IS autistic...he is SO MUCH MORE than his disability. Autism is something he HAS and it really is only PART of who he is. Autism is a spectrum disorder which means every child affected by autism is different so, to lump them all together doesn't paint the right picture. The quote on the picture is: The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible by Arthur C. Clarke.

If you want to check out the products and the gallery (my page is there) from Technique Tuesday just click here http://www.techniquetuesday.com

Happy Sunday!

The story begins on Saturday when Dad starts watching BMX bike riders on T.V. You know the ones where they are jumping off GIANT ramps and do oh, I don't know, three or four flips before landing...sounds cool right? Well, SAM sure thought so...I believe his words were something like "I should try that!". So, what does Dad do? He configures some sort of mini ramp for him to "jump" off of...obviously I'm NOT HOME! All of this ends harmlessly enough before I get home...no bruises, no cuts, no nothin'. Fast forward to Sunday...Dad's at work and Sam is riding his bike around the house, up and down the drive way...nothing major. And most importantly there were no "ramps" in sight...sounds harmless, right? WRONG! Next thing I know Sam's crying walking his bike up the driveway, blood running down his leg and a gash under is knee. The crying stops in about a minute and the blood stops about the same time but, the gash seems a little wide...urgent care here we come. After a few hours of enjoying the ambiance of the St. Francis Regional Medical Center Sam gets ONE stitch while screaming bloody murder throughout the process...seriously you would have thought they were amputating his leg! I'm not sure I emphasized that enough it was ONE STITCH...ONE LOUSY STITCH. Then after anouncing, to no one in particular, on his way out how brave he ways (you've got to be kidding me!) we headed to Dairy Queen 'cause apparently that makes just about everything better.

HELP!

Let me set the stage for you...we are watching a Disney cartoon and the following question came from Jenna...If Pluto is a dog what is Goofy? I yanked the following answers from thin air that did not work for her. #1-He is also a dog. When that failed I said this: maybe he was just a different kind of dog? Nope, that didn't work either. So, we thought we would ask all of you what you thought...please leave your answer in the comment section if you would like to play along! And Liz if you are reading this we will hold you as the ultimate authority being that you are a LONG TIME Disney cast member. Thanks everyone!

Sue's World...part 1

I don't have too much to say about any one thing so, I thought I would just babble on about trivial or not so trivial little things going on in my world...read on at your own risk!

1. As you can see from my art table (bet, you were just dying to see what that looked like) I haven't exactly been scrapbooking a whole lot lately. No real reason just not feeling all that creative, in fact, Rick had to help me finish the last page I did (kinda scary, huh?). The pile of pictures just gets bigger and bigger...I did start a page (it's at the bottom) but, I kinda lost steam and it's been that way for a few days. This is just so sad...maybe I'll go dig around in there later or maybe I'll just sneak a peanut butter m & m out of the candy dish...wish me luck!

2. School - Week three - Things are going pretty good, no one's sick, they both passed their spelling pre-test and Jenna somehow managed to convince Sam that he should have the chef's salad for lunch...my bet is he goes back to the chicken nuggets.

3. Speaking of school, I'm busy working on the book fair and the PTO sloppy joe feed before the homecoming game...yup, I'm the president-elect of the Park Elementary PTO (you can all start cheering now)! What does this mean? It means I'm too stupid to say NO! It's starting to get interesting, the current president see's the light at the end of the tunnel and she can't wait to start handing stuff over to me...she even threatend to leave early...good luck Sharon 'cause I have your phone number programmed into my phone and I know where you live!!!!!

4. Jenna started Girl Scouts this week...this is great for her but, I'm already developing cookie issues and will probably have to go back to re-hab for my thin mint addiction! Hey, anyone in need of cookies you know where to find me!

Okay, I really have to go now; I need to google "football temporary tatoos", give the dog a bath and throw in some laundry...don't ya wish you had my life?????

Parenting 101...

Here is reason number 987 why I won't be named mother-of-the-year. On the way home from school yesterday I had Kenny Chesney playing (I love him!) and Jenna said "turn that up mom! I love that song"! Wanna know what song it was? Are you sure? okay, it was Beer In Mexico. Yup, that's right my eight-year-old daughter sang that song all the way home (I was so proud!). Now I'm sure I don't need to print the lyrics for you...it's about drinking beer in Mexico, do we need more info??? Safe to say that song probably won't be on the next KIDZ BOP album! Oh, and Sam he didn't utter a peep until we got out of the car at which time he looked at me and said "Mom, I love Kenny Chesney too"...I love my kids and that's what I'll tell their future psycho therapists on family day. Remind me to tell you the story of reason number 986...it's a doosy!

I Love the 80's...

The conversation went something like this...

Me: "Sam, where are the stickers for the Rubik's Cube?"

Sam: "In the garbage"

Me: "Why?"

Sam: "'Cause it's broken"

That's my son! I really had high hopes that my children would master that stupid thing (yes, I know they're only eight) since I never got it. Those of you who seemed surprised by that really don't know me very well! I actually never liked that dumb game for smart people so, I wasn't that sad to see it destroyed. I have no idea if Rick figured out that dumb game for smart people and I don't want to know. If I had to guess I'd say he probably did and since there really is no need for more proof that he's smarter than me...let's just leave it at that.

Happy Birthday...

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my sister-in-law a very happy birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LORIE!!! Hope you have a great day!

Here's a quote for you...(thanks! Jules for the quote book!)

"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age."

-Lucille Ball

I'm sure I could have found a better quote on growing old but, you really haven't lived until you've quoted Lucille Ball!

P.S. I would have loved to post a picture of her so you all could see that she definately doesn't look old but, I won't post any pictures without someones permission (If I asked her first it would have ruined all my fun). I'm sure that comes as a relief to everyone reading this who know that I have an embarassing picture of them and were afraid it may end up here...rest easy!

TGIF

My allergies are really bad,

the kids gave me their cold

and the dog ate my slipper!

But, it's a beautiful fall day in the valley!

Happy Friday...aaachoo!

More Thank You's!!!

We are so blessed...thank you to all of you who have already donated to "Sam's Club" at the walk now for autism walk! It's so scary to think that FIFTY kids are diagnosed EVERY DAY in America...it breaks my heart to think of all the families starting this journey. It's not an easy road so, we need to find a cure...thanks for helping!!

What the?

First off, let me say that I love my town...this lovely little ditty appeared in the LeSueur Herald...enjoy!



Okay, let's start with this...I would love to meet the person who called 911 for this...I'm guessing that this is a very interesting individual. Next I would like to find out why this person found it necessary to wear a trench coat in AUGUST and why was his lunch UNDER his coat? I'm not trying to be critical but, it just seems like he was really making his walk to work much more difficult than it needed to be. Ah, so many questions so little answers! God bless our police officers for the crap they have to put up with! That's what I missed living in South Minneapolis all those years...interesting news items! 'Cause you know more bizarre stories than this happen a lot more often there but, there it just isn't newsworthy...how sad.

It's Not Easy Being Green...

Now let this be a lesson to all parents out there...Never, ever, ever under any circumstances let second graders pick out their own background color! It seemed harmless at the time however, I was a bit frazzled with meet the teacher day and they moved picture taking to the science room 'cause I guess that seemed more logical than the SPACIOUS, EMPTY cafeteria and it was hot in there. Those are all the excuses I could come up with that didn't have to do with my obvious lack of common sense...I think I'll wait in the hall next year. Does anyone else have the urge to start using their best Kermit the Frog imitation and start singing...

P.S. Miss Jenna was not happy...she wanted the "amber" background...oh, darn!

More good parenting tips...

Hello...here are a couple of shots from last weekend. Now for good parenting tip #1 - race your kid on his bike with the lawn mower (Sam calls it a tractor...we'll let him have that one for now). I'm not really sure who started this...it could be either one of them and I definitely can't tell you who won; mainly because I have no idea where the finish line was (or the start line for that matter). My guess would be Sam because he did a little better on the turns...oh yeah, there were turns involved...kinda like a road course but, not quite NASCAR level. Okay, now for parenting tip #2 - Have the kid race in flip flops so he can RE-INJURE the big toe which he messed up pretty good in a previous bike riding/flip flop episode!

We made it through the first week of school with minimal drama. Jenna went to the nurse THREE times in four days....hmmmmm! She went on the FIRST day of school for a minor ankle injury...the nurse and secretary debated as to whether it was swollen or not but in the end sided with Jenna and put a band aid on the scrape (which, by the way, I could barley see). I so love her clogs! Then on Friday she got the sniffles and that was apparently just too much for her, she ended up back in class and was fine by the end of the day (apparently the chef's salad she had for lunch did wonders). She has since passed the sniffles to her brother (they really shouldn't take this sharing thing so literally). Now, she's fine and Sam's whiny....uuuugggghhhh! Let's hope for a non-eventful week two!

Summer Favorites...

I like this picture of Sam being Rick's new archery assistant...sorry if that's not the correct term but, my knowledge of a bow is that it shoots arrows (they are called arrows, right?). Although, if you look at Sam's face it really "says" I can't wait until I'm old enough to do that (actually I inserted the "old enough" part for my own sanity...)

I've been asked a few times about Izzy's Ice Cream so, here's the link to their website. They have awesome ice cream however, I personally wouldn't recommend the "cotton candy" that Jenna is devouring. She loved it but, pretty much anyone over the age of twelve probably wouldn't go for it. When we went there Rick's only comment was "I'm really glad we don't live close to this place"! Oh, and it's all "diet" ice cream...come on people, have a little imagination...okay, okay, there's no such thing but sometimes you just gotta splurge! Enjoy! http://www.izzysicecream.com/

Snapshot from Sue's Kitchen...

Maybe if she was blonde you might buy it?? Well, I thought I'd try! You'd think being a stay-at-home mom I would have it together right? Nope, my kitchen's dirty, I need to clean my floors, I have a pile of laundry that is starting to resemble a mountain and I have no idea what to make for dinner. Yup, somehow during the last three months spent almost exclusively with two eight-year-olds and an itchy dog I have managed to loose all of my time management and organizational skills...happy Friday!

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to "Sam's Club" to help cure autism and support this cutie pie!! We have awesome friends and family...thank you, thank you, thank you!! There's still lots of time before the walk on October 6 so, send anyone you know that would like to help to this blog. They can click on the link on the right and it will send you right to the Sam's Club page at Walk Now for Autism Minnesota.

It's baaaaack.....

Not that Starbucks needs any more advertising (especially from me) but, I did the "happy dance" again (and no, you will never see it!) when I found out that the PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE is BACK!!!!! For those of you who haven't tried it you are probably a little grossed out...I mean, you really don't think about pumpkin in your coffee....with your coffee, yes but, in your coffee, no. For those of you who have had it you probably stopped reading this after the first sentence and are on your way to the nearest Starbucks (probably only a block away....isn't there one within five minutes of every American?) Oh, and the best part is it's FAT FREE...hey, it's my blog and I can believe that if I want to! Have a great day!!

Woooo Hooooo!!!

IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! YEEEEEE HAAAAA!!! I would post a picture of me doing my "happy dance" but, it's kinda scary. And no, I was not the only one giddy...Sam and Jenna were READY to go back!! Let me say that fourteen weeks is a loooonnng time in eight year old world and they were very happy to see their teachers and their friends.

And now, lets pause for a word of prayer:

Dear God;

Please let them be this happy on the first day of school when they are fifteen!

Thank you!

Love, Your Friend,

Sue Rame

I'm really not sad...I was last week when we were getting all the supplies, etc but, today...not so much! I should go and do one of the eighteen million things on my "to do" list for this school year but, I think I will just go sit on the back porch with a book and pat myself on the back for making it through summer vacation with most of my sanity!

Have a great day and God Bless Park Elementary!

Random Things...

Jenna helped make her first apple pie and I am so very sorry this blog does not have "smell-a-vision" 'cause this pie smells FANTASTIC!!! The smells are one of my favorite things about fall and I can't wait for the smell of cool, crisp air...and not just because the mosquitos will be going bye-bye. For now I will just be enjoying the smell of exhaust with all the other parents dropping off their kids on THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

FYI...Chayley is doing much better thanks to the meds, shampoo, lotion and new food. It pays to have a good vet and a good breeder!