Madame President Diel

Congratulations to Kaitlin Diel (my cousin and all around great girl) for being elected NCHS Student Body President!! I take a special interest in Kaitlin's being elected because, she is a Diel Girl and 18 years ago (I had to do the math on that one, I did not realize how old I am) I was elected Student Body President of NCHS. I doubt Kaitlin was born yet. It sure is nice to see a Diel Girl back holding the gavel where she belongs. Way to go Kaitlin! I am so very proud of you!

The circle of life

This is the dead bird Jack and I found in the yard yesterday.

Since Cliff had school last night, it is still in the yard waiting for him to dispose of it.

As if the questions Jack started asking about the baby

and how it will get out of my stomach

(he thinks it is coming out of my mouth and is worried I will chomp down on it),

we had to top it all of with the dead bird talk.

Jack says dead means "killed and blood".

For now, I am going with that.

Oh how I wish you could smell these.

I have, in my estimation, the biggest lilac bush in Newton, IL.

The smell is just....heavenly

My sister, the graduate

Michelle graduated this past Saturday.

Here she is in her cap and gown with her family.

Doesn't her hair look good!

And in the end you may get your Masters Degree,

but it does not really count with bad hair!

Congrats Michelle!

AI POOL

My FOX channel is not working. The transmitter is down in Terre Haute. So, I am stuck imagining what is going on on AI. I plan to try to watch the performances later on YOU TUBE. Anyway, the bottom three is probably a given this evening, so getting them in the correct order will be the hard part.

You know what to do, e-mail me your bottom three @ jak122004@msn.com by 7:00 tomorrow night. Hopefully some points will be awarded this week!

What did you have for dinner last night?--the pregnant edition

What did you have for supper last night??

I ask this because:

1. I love hearing what other people had to eat the night before, it is another interesting glimpse into other people's lives.

B. I need to share that I found out that chili, even though I LOVE it, is not a great food for a pregnant person to eat. I paid dearly for eating that delicious bowl of chili that Jack and I prepared.

3. When Tracie and Amanda cook, it is always something pretty impressive!

Aaron and the McCoy boys

Last Thursday night our church fed the entire NCHS Baseball and Softball teams. I love doing those dinners. We have had the chance to host the Football team, girls and boys B-ball teams, Student Council, and the NCHS Marching Eagles. The kids are always so gracious and it is just our way of letting them know that we appreciate them. We hope to eventually hit all of the sports/extra-curricular activities.

Aaron Turner had me take his pics with the cute McCoy brothers in his McCoy jersey.

The great mushroom hunters

Last Friday afternoon Jack and Cliff took off for the river bottoms to do some mushroom hunting. Instead of going to the woods as Cliff had hoped, they ended up at Jack's new favorite place in the entire world to go....Uncle Pat's house. On the way home Cliff said they were driving very slowly (I think because Cliff was letting Jack "drive", but he did not want to tell me that) and they spotted a couple of mushrooms along the road.

Jack showing off the big find.

--by the way, I am not a big believer in the character clothing,

Jack owns one ELMO shirt and that is it

Best of both worlds??

Unless you live in a cave, you have by now heard about the Miley Cyrus picture controversey. I suppose I am just to old to appreciate the awesomeness that is Hannah Montana. Although I will admit to enjoying the mulleted wonder that is her father in the past.

While I enjoy celeb related news MUCH,MUCH more than the average person, for some reason this story just makes me a little angry. A very, very famous photographer/artist (Annie Leibovitz) took some pictures of a young girl in the presence of her parents and all of her business type handlers. None of them had any problem whatsoever with the pictures at the time. Now that the pictures are released to the public to a not so favorable reaction, Hannah/Miley and her "people" are doing some backtracking.

What's the point of all of this?? While channel surfing this evening I saw this story featured on all 3 of the major network newscasts.

Are we not still at war?

Is a new President not about to be elected?

It's crap like this that make me think we may as well pack it up,

because maybe the terrorists have already won.

SCARY

This happened today at the power plant Cliff works at close to Terre Haute while he was working.

TERRE HAUTE, IND.—Wabash Valley Power (Indianapolis, Ind.) has confirmed two contractors from Sterling Boiler (Evansville, Ind.) were killed in an accident at SG Solutions, a pet coke gasification plant in West Terre Haute, Ind. The accident occurred just before 11 a.m. today when a flanged opening on a high pressure vessel containing synthetic gas failed. Federal, state and local officials have been notified, and the investigation is ongoing.

Thanks for the well wishes

THANKS SO MUCH for all of the congratulatory messages and e-mails I have received! I plan to print them out and save them for the baby-to-be.

And now, for your and my enjoyment, a few child rearing tips.

Jesus is not a janitor

Jack and I went to church last night. During church Jack was writing with a pencil and accidentally made a mark on the pew in front of him. He looked at me and said "that's ok, Jesus will clean it up."

Jack, doing his part to help spread the good news

EXCITING NEWS!!!

It's true!

I am with child.

Due 12-3-08.

I will have much more to share

in the next few days.

Stay tuned!!

PROM

Tomorrow night (Saturday) is Newton's prom.

If I were to attend and size were no issue, this is the dress I would wear.

Here's to all the prom goers!

~~Stay safe

~~Make sure to fill up on those delicious abstinence candy bars

~~Most of all, have the most fun you can possibly have!

Cooper's Party

Coop riding on the Spiderman scooter that Jack gave him for his birthday.
Gabe and I had a little game of egg toss.
His Mother was so pleased with both of us.
Can't you just hear Cooper giving Gabe the Nelson HA HA (Simpsons) laugh.



Jack and Michelle in a relay race.
Michelle was not letting Jack win.

Dexter--get your motor runnin'

Cooper and Jack on the egg hunt.

Uncle Cliff helped Dexter find some eggs.

AI...the day after

Carly is still gone. It is not a bad dream.

~~~

I did read that Brooke is a Mormon. They seem to be in the news a lot lately, so maybe that is helping her out somehow.

~~~

With this shocking turn of events there were no changes to the pool point standings. Rebekah is still in the lead.

~~~

shock

...hard to type, fingers covered in the remains of the thin mints I ate to drown my sorrows after hearing Carly Smithson was voted off

Calgon take me away.......

Has anyone been to the new dayspa in Newton?

I am hoping for a gift certificate for Mother's Day!

Check out their website:

http://www.simplerewardsdayspa.com/

The laundress

Last night when Cliff got home from school around 9:45, Jack proceeded to tell him how he was SOOO good at just about everything. He was good at fixing the basketball hoop, good at changing the light bulbs, good at getting the bouncy balls out of the bathroom sink drain (long story), and he was a very good electricitier (Cliff is an electrician).

I then asked Jack what I was good at, he said "ummm, I don't know, laundry."

--by the way, I realize Jack should have been in bed at 9:45

American Idol

Ahh, musical night on American Idol. WHAT!!!!!! I love the musical theater probably a lot more than the average person, but the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber & American Idol do not mix.

~~~

I felt bad for Jason Castro who had not seen a musical, nor did he know that the song Memory was from CATS, sang by a cat, luckily like usual, he looked like he had just finished his 5th joint of the day before coming on stage, so I think he was pretty happy either way.

~~

Did Brooke White's stopping and starting again remind anyone of Tonya Harding and the shoe string?? Poor Brooke, she seemed so needy singing "You Must Love Me", it was like YOU MUST love me......PLEASE, love me. I am over her.

~~

Karly was wonderful and I thought she looked awesome. She is still my favorite to win it all. She won't, but it would make me happy.

~~

Word is American Idol's ratings are the lowest they have ever been. Maybe doing entire nights of Mariah Carey and Andrew Lloyd Weber could be part of the reason why. Contestants have always been told to stay away from the crazy powerhouse that is Mariah so..........let's do an entire night of her tired old ballads!

~~

That's my AI rant. Until they start doing Marilyn Manson theme nights, I will keep on watching. Who am I kidding, I would watch Marilyn Manson theme night.

~~

If you are playing in the AI pool, get me your bottom three. Even if you did not watch, take a guess, you have a one in 6 chance.

Happy Earth Day!!

In honor of Earth Day, Sarah Sez will share an environmentally friendly tip:

IF IT'S YELLOW, LET IT MELLOW

IF IT'S BROWN, FLUSH IT DOWN

...just doing my part

FOX & American Idol

If you are like me, you have been without the Terre Haute Fox station (channel 8 or 38) since the middle of last week's AI results show. With tonight being American Idol night, I checked out the WTWO website to see if they had an update for their sister station. Here is what they had to say:

WFXW transmitter repairs will not be completed until Wednesday, April 23. Therefore, American Idol will air on WTWO from 8pm-9pm, Tuesday, April 22.

GOOD NEWS!!!

So, for all you AI pool participants, you know what to do. If you live around here, watch AI on WTWO. Send me your bottom three before 7:00 tomorrow night. Good luck!

Happy Birthday Cooper

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Love, Jack and Ya Ya

One Day At a Time

Since Cliff worked overtime all this weekend, I have experienced the joys of single motherhood. He has been working so much that until tonight, Jack really had not seen him since Wednesday evening and it had been the same amount of time since I had had a few minutes to myself.

Where was my Schneider???

Heres to you Ann Romano and all the women like you.

First shorts!

After Heidi and RJ came over, Jack wanted to put on shorts like RJ. For some reason the first time of the year that you get to wear shorts is kind of a big deal to me. Maybe it was because when we were little, I can remember begging my Mom to let us wear shorts to school.

I was going to try to hold out on the shorts until May, but it was so nice on Thursday. So I gave in. He looks like he is ready for summer with his new short hairdo, yellow Crocies, and short pants!!

Play date

While their Mom (Amber Lindemann) was a special guest speaker at an NCHS Journalism class, RJ & Heidi Lindemann came over to our house to play.

The Lindemann family mascot, Rodney the Rat, came along as well.
Searching for a pink rock for Heidi.

Heidi and RJ each got to try out Jack's 4-wheeler.

Heidi let Rodney ride with her!

After 4-wheeler riding it was time for some BATTER BATTER BASEBALL!

Popsicle time.

Jack and I really enjoyed having RJ & Heidi come over to play.

They are such nice kids.

We want them to come back very soon!!!

earthquake bed

Happy Birthday!

Happy Happy

Kierstyn Turner!!!

EARTHQUAKE!!!

Did you feel it shaking this morning??

Earthquake!

How exciting!

At least the cable's not out.

FIELD TRIP!!

Jack's went on his first field trip on Tuesday. His pre-school got to go to the elementary school in Olney (which is new and SO nice) for a puppet show!

Jack (in the denim jacket) does not like loud noises. He had his hands over his ears until the show began. He told me he should have brought his ear muffs.
This is about a quarter of the kids that were there--so you can imagine where all the loud noises were coming from.

Jack and RJ Lindemann (in white) watching the show.

Notice how Jack has his hand on RJ's shoulder.

The Puppet Show!!
Frogs on a trapeze!

Maddie, in the purple, from Jack's school got chosen to

go up front after the show and work with the puppets!

The kids all loved the puppet show.

RJ and Heidi Lindemann got to ride with us to the school, and I

think that was Jack's favorite part!