Finger painting

As you may have heard, the Bush Administration said each one of us would now get a nice rebate.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China .

If we spend it on gasoline it will all go to the Arabs

If we spend it on fruit and vegetables it will all go to Mexico, Honduras,and Guatemala.

If we purchase a good car it will all go to Japan .

If we purchase useless crap it will all go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America, so the only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes and beer, since those are the only businesses still in the US .


My name is Elliot Spitzer and I approved this ad...

Polliwalks

The "package driver" (UPS man) brought us a little package today. Jack's new Polliwalks! Are these not the cutest shoes? Like Crocs, but they are frogs! And the best part............

When you walk they leave "paw prints"!!

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Tuesday afternoon Bruce Balding (from the Newton Flower Shoppe in case you did not know) pulled up to my house, I thought maybe he was just stopping by to share some juicy gossip with me, but he got something out of the back of his van and brought it up to my house...........Cliff sent me a dozen roses! They are so beautiful, and for no reason at all. A pretty big deal for him since he really does not have a romantic bone in his body, ok maybe one of those little bones in his ear, but those are VERY small.

Cliff did not forget Jack either. Along with the roses, Bruce delivered Jack a Mickey Mouse balloon. I did not get a picture of it fully inflated, this is the balloon after Jack hit it numerous times with his golf club.

Paging Dr. Kinkade, Dr. Kinkade to the bedroom please

Payton was sick on Tuesday and since she could not go to school, she came and spent the day with us. Jack loved having her here and I think he hopes she would be sick everyday!

He's not a doctor, he just plays one on TV

What did you have for dinner last night?

What did you eat last night?

Who made it?

If you ate or ordered out, where did you go and what did you order?

Just for fun, leave a comment with last nights menu.

Easter Morning

Checking out the goods.

I got a bubble machine!

The bubble machine in action.

Auditioning for the Chippendale dancers.

AI pool results

NO ONE got it right this week! No points were awarded so, it looks like Tracie Crain is still in the lead.

How sad that Chikezie went home? He seemed so nice.

--by the way, the theme for Tuesday night's show was a song from the year you were born. Am I the only one that felt SO old when they announed the year they were born?

Chuck E. Cheese!!

Everyone has pictures of their kids coloring Easter eggs on their blogs. We did not color eggs. We did buy the kit. I kind of feel bad about it, but I think going to Chuck E. Cheese was a pretty good trade off.

Jack and Cooper had a great time!

by the way-this shot went in!

My friend Amber sent me this e-card the other day.

It's nice to see that she thinks I could command a higher rate!

Happy Wednesday!

American Idol pool

Tonight's the night. E-mail me your bottom three performers, number one being the person you think will get sent home, at jak122004@msn.com tonight after the show.

Even if you have not participated before, don't worry, you really still do have a shot.

I will take entries until 7:00 pm Wednesday night.

Happy watching :*)

Newton Eagle fatheads

Now available the NCHS football team's version of "fatheads." If you don't know what they are, you can check them out at http://www.fathead.com/ this should give you a basic idea of the product.

Basically the above picture in a flat plastic "sticker" type form that attaches to your wall. It can be moved to a different location up to 10 times.

They come in numerous different sizes starting at 6x6 and going up to 48x48. Prices range from $8-$80.

These are great for the Newton Eagle fan, or for someone like me who is going to put it in Jack's room.

If you would like more info or, want to place an order, please e-mail me at jak122004@msn.com If you do not live in the Newton area, I will try to make arrangements to have it shipped to you.

The above photo was taken and donated to the NCHS Football Team by Amber Lindemann of Photographics.
Thanks Amber!
check out her work at http://www.photographicsgallery.net/

Happy 20th Birthday Grandma Lois!

My Grandma Lois turned 80 on Feb. 29th.

Since she was born on 2-29, this was really her 20th birthday.

We had a party to celebrate.

Grandma with her 6 sons. Can you imagine raising 6 boys?

From left to right they are:

Tom, Pat, Ray (my Dad/Bamp), Grandma Lois, Bill, Garry, and Bruce

Hadley Zumbahlen


Aunt Sue and Dexter

My cousin Josh's daughter Kelsey. Kelsey and Jack were born within a month of each other.

To me, Kelsey looks just like a Diel and so much like my sister Michelle.

Happy Birthday!

Lisa Turner

Have a great day!

Easter....the day after

Is it possible to have post-partum Easter depression?

I have pics from the Easter weekend that I will post soon, but here are just a few random musings from this past weekend.

Cliff and I took Jack and Cooper to Chuck E. Cheese in Evansville on Saturday. We had a good time. I did not get to play any skee ball and that is one of the few sports that I excel at. Well skee ball and badminton. I am really good at badminton. The boys had a good time. Jack was scared TO DEATH of Chuck E Cheese and had a minor meltdown when he came around. Jack does not like characters (that's what he calls them) at all. He would not go to his pre-school's Easter party last week because the Easter bunny was going to be there. Your kid is scared of "characters" of any shape or sort--I have a great idea, make plans for a vacation at Disney World!

We stopped at Target in Evansville. While I shopped Jack, Cooper, and Cliff looked at the toys. When I got back to the jeep, Cliff had purchased a Power Rangers video game for Cooper and a remote control helicopter for Jack. Jack has wanted a remote control helicopter since Gabe got one for Christmas. Gabe is 8. Jack is 3. This is an appropriate toy for an 8 year old, and I think that may be the recommended age on the package. Jack does love it and said it was awesome and cool and what he always wanted. I think it is pretty much made of styrofoam. It buzzes around annoyingly like a bat. I already want to throw it in the trash. I think Cliff likes it more than Jack because he was more than just a little annoyed with me when I accidentally threw my purse on top of it possibly damaging it for life. Don't worry, it still works.

Jack got a bubble machine for Easter. Why is Easter a bubble holiday? Jesus has risen--let's celebrate with bubbles?! Of course we let him play with it in the house. There is now a soapy residue all over the surfaces of everything in our house. As if the bubbles were not bad enough, he got finger paints, a Curious George stamp set, and play dough. You can imagine what we did today.

By the time we got to church on Sunday morning Jack had eaten an entire roll of lifesavers that he had gotten in his Easter basket. Cliff thought we were going to have to take him home because he was a little high from all of the sugar, I thought he was fine until he started dancing in the aisle at church. And he really did dance (badly, but it was dancing), I am not sure what the hymn was, but it really did not have that great of a dancing beat. As I tried to grab Jack without making a scene, he said "but Mama, I just want to dance." Maybe Jack had our church confused with the church Barack Obama used to go to, but dancing in the aisles is kind of frowned upon at the church we attend. I got him to stop, but it did kind of give me the urge to go home and watch Footloose.

Redneck mansion

Caleb Knepper NCAA Champ

Here are a few more pictures of Caleb Knepper, member of the

Washington Bears basketball team. 2008 NCAA Division III Champs.

Hometown boy does good!

Way to go Caleb!!

Now we're cookin'--with gas!

Cliff put in a gas log thing at my Mom and Dad's a few weeks ago. I am really not so sure what it is, all I know is that they have fire in their fireplace now and do not have to use real wood. Warm, pretty, and good for the environment. Take that Al Gore!

They said it came in handy when they were without power for a couple of days a few weeks ago. I am sure being warm is nice, but give me a gas log that powers my TV and computer and then we can talk.

Here are some pics of Jack with Mam and Bamp roasting some marshmallows that he did not eat because they had black stuff on them and I don't think he even likes marshmallows.

Bamp's retirement party

Here are some pictures from my Dad's retirement party held 2-28 at the Mason Hall in Newton.

Dad giving his speech.

Dad getting his plaque from Ed Mitchell, Chairman of the Jasper County Board.



Jack in his tie.


There is a story behind this tie, a few months ago I was watching one of Barack Obama's moving speeches on CNN and Jack said "I want a shirt with a hang down thing like Barack Obama." So, the week before Dad's party Jack got this shirt and tie at the Children's Place to wear to Dad's party and for Easter. He was so proud of the tie that he wore it all over the mall in Terre Haure and kept going up to people saying BARACK OBAMA! So, that is his "Barack Obama" tie.


Jack with Bamp

Jason Warfel, hottie and candidate for State Rep.

Jason read a letter that he had obtained from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin recognizing my Dad for his years of service to Jasper County and the State of Illinois.

Dexter and Poppy (my Grandpa Knepper)

Michelle presenting the plaque that we (me, Michelle, and Rebekah) had made for Dad.

There is story behind this one as well.

When we found out they were having a reception for Dad we knew that we needed to get him a gift. A plaque with a quote is what we came up with, but we did not know what quote to use. Rebekah and I were searching for the perfect quote. Something from Lincoln or JFK is what we had in mind, when I asked Michelle if she had any ideas of a quote to use she said, well my favorite Ray Diel quote is "You can't argue with a dumbass" so, that is what we went with.

Michelle said she uses it at work all the time, and when you think about it, it sure is true.

Nancy Allen made the plaque for us and did a beautiful job, last time I checked with her at the retirement party, she had taken orders for four of them!

oh yeah, there was cake and according to Jack, it was really good!