Happy Birthday Lonny 3!

I am dead tired - but I want to get some pics posted tonight before I fall into bed! Lonny will tell the day's story on Alice & Little Lonny's blog - here is just a snapshot of our day:

Lonny called and woke me up - the day was starting earlier than planned. Lon & Jaime went to the hospital before Alice even woke up. When Alice did wake up - we hustled to the hospital - just to find ourselves waiting in the family waiting area.



Less than an hour later - we found Little Lonny in the "clean him up" room waiting for mom (Jaime) to be ready to go back to her room.


The rest of today was just watching it all. Alice is in love with her little brother ("baby brother" - she calls him) :) :)





The whole family is doing well!! Yay to that!! :) . . And now I can't make it anymore. . gotta sleep! :) Good night!

June Catch-Up

Here's a quick look at a busy - and fun - June!

6/12 - A Visit From Penelope


Jon & Gen stopped by later on June 12th - allowing for some bonding time between 2nd Cousins Alice & Penelope.




6/14 - Alice's First Trip to the Movies


I joined the Cutest Family Ever as they went to see UP at Rosedale's AMC. Besides Alice worrying about the loud noise (the movie hasn't even started yet) - the entire event was awesome.





6/19-6/21 - Polish Fest in Milwaukee


First ever Little Red Hen Road Trip . . .was awesome! We reconnected with some cousins - and had a blast at the festival!! Hey Wilebskis! Join us next time!!






6/26 - Dinner with Walt & LaVonne


Friday night marked the end of the first week of summer school - and what a great way to end the week - visiting with family after dinner at Perkins!

6/28 - Meeting Cecelia Anne


Another relaxing dinner at home - Jeff and Bridget came over for dinner - and some more bonding time for Alice and another 2nd Cousin - Cece!

Last Week Of School

Ok . . so there are a few events that truly mark the end of each school year. . . Starting with the Annual Department BBQ. I've been hosting this for a few years (starting way back in my Champlin house) . . this year Ann and I kind of combined our 2 parties - last Friday - which pretty much included inviting the entire secondary ESL department of Anoka-Hennepin! It was another good time - casual - hanging out and chatting with great colleagues and friends!

Last Saturday I bundled up to celebrate both Bethany's and Joey's graduations. Jaymie and Amy hosted graduation parties on the unusually cold and rainy day - but the weather didn't put a damper on the good times.


Sunday brought TWO graduations at Roy Wilkens in St. Paul. I met up with Jaymie's family to cheer on Bethany. I can't believe she's such a young lady now!!


Andover's graduation lasted a mere 60 minutes! I couldn't believe how quickly it went!! And the only downer - I had to wait over 2 hours before Champlin Park's ceremony started! It helped that Ann and her friend Nikki came downtown early - so we headed over to Cosetta's for pizza and dessert to kill some time.


Back at Roy Wilkens - Nikki and Ann joined the other CPHS staff whilst I went back up to the perfect spot to see my old kids walk. I saw a bunch of former students graduate - and afterwards - even tho Amy Sue wasn't with me - I did do a pretty good job of finding a few of them for congratulatory hugs and a photo. :) Congrats to another group of kids!


Monday - the LAST Monday of the school year - was good - and ended with the annual End-Of-Year Celebration at Edinburgh in Brooklyn Park. The best part of this event - we toast our retirees, yes - but this year - Amy Sue's appearance was a major hit - it was like hanging out with a celebrity! We are all so happy to have Amy back - and I truly hope her body continues to heal QUICKLY!!


Tuesday was the ESL Picnic. This started a few years ago as well. 8th graders go to Valleyfair to mark the end of the year, while 6th and 7th graders go on their own fieldtrips. As many of our students don't have the money to attend these "fun" fieldtrips - my department decided to make our own "fun." We grill behind the school - and invite all of the ESL kids to skip their school lunch and come outside for all-beef hotdogs, chips, a cookie, & a soda.


During our classes, we continue the party with games. (except for the kids who don't have homework turned in - boo hoo) - The kids who had everything in got to choose between Soccer/Kickball/Basketball outside, board games, and Rock Band/Dance, Dance, Revolution. (I hosted the video game room)

Wednesday was Valleyfair. It was chilly in the morning - but warmed up just in time to board the buses and head home. :) It was a different year - but fun - as Becky and I hooked up with our para Colleen - who was actually working - but escorting a newcomer from China thru the day. It was fun to see him as he experienced Valleyfair for the first time. Another new student from Kenya had also tagged along with Colleen - and she was more adventurous - it was awesome to ride with her on her first rollercoaster ride. Colleen did snap a photo of us on the PowerTower. When I find that - I'll scan it in here - turned out pretty cute.

Thursday was the last day with kids. AHHHHH. We spent the day packing - as I have to move classrooms for next year. Good times. After waving good bye to the buses - we headed out for a quick drink to toast them all! :)

Yesterday was our last day of work this year - more packing and moving - turned in grades - and turned in keys. However - as I will be working 10 days this summer - I left with a messy office still - piles everywhere - just waiting for me to return in 2 weeks!

But Yup! That's it! Another year done! My 14th Year done, to be exact! :) Have a Great Summer. . . . . I know I will! :)

Consider the Economy Stimulated

So, seriously - now that I think about it, truly - I think I've done more than my part to stimulate the economy these past 8 months! Here are some of my more "major" purchases (no - these are not the actual items):

Sept. 08 - bought 1/2 a house



Oct. 08 - installed Invisible Fence (best money spent!!)



Dec. 08 - bought Christmas presents for myself - a craft table & a TV for my bedroom




Jan. 08 - irritated with the length of our new driveway - bought 1/2 a snowblower with Lon/Jaime




Apr. 09? - kaput dryer caused me to buy 2 new dryers - 1st an electric one - only to find out I needed a gas dryer! (thanks again Matt & Bob for helping with the install!!)



May 09 - old grill had pretty much melted - so bought a new one to enjoy the warmer weather



May 09 - annual vet visit (yes, this is a major purchase)



May 09 - frustrated with my inability to master the free riding lawn mower (and afraid I'd actually tip over onto the county road!) - bought a Smart somethin' Self Propelled Push Lawn Mower (yard looks great) :)



May 09 - plane ticket to surprise dad for his 60th birthday!



And some near-future purchases:

June 09? - hopefully will get to re-purchase my recovered iPhoto photos



June/July 09? - a new computer??



July 09 - YAY! a new crown!



. . . . . and that's how I've done my part to save us all!

You're welcome.

Dead eMac

Lonny and I just got back from The Apple Store. Yesterday my computer came on at 6:15am - just as it does every morning. I checked my email, facebook, and even tho YahooMessenger shut down on its own - it was a pretty typical morning. When I got home from school - I found an error message that said to restart my computer. I shut it down as it said, and it was never able to boot back up. Lonny came over after we checked out a few troubleshooting ideas online (yes, from his house) - and nothing worked. I made my appointment at the Genius Bar in Rosedale - got the last one available tonight - 8:40. Lonny was pretty sure that the Genius would be able to do something to repair what was wrong. Nope. Dead. Gone. Genius couldn't do a thing. As big tears welled up in my eyes - he knew he had to be a little more positive. Now - I really don't care about the computer. I was thinking I'd be getting a new one this summer or next - I even told mom and dad they could have my old Mac when I was done with it. It's the 5,000 photos that are on there that I'm really concerned about. Besides that - all my iTunes - most I have still on CD - but some are lost - and some tunes were purchased right from the iStore online. Anyway - long story short - I am computer-less right now. Lonny has an old spare I can use for a bit, but I'm pretty sure I'll be making yet ANOTHER major purchase yet this month! Geez! I think I'm single-handedly stimulatiing Minnesota's economy!! AND - please keep your fingers crossed that those experts in Eden Prairie can get my stuff off that hard drive - the photos at the very least! (PS - those tears - my Genius took out the hard drive for free - no labor cost. 'twas very nice of him) - (go buy a Mac product!)

Moral of the Story: Please go and BACK UP your precious files NOW. If you can't do it right now - make your plan to do it - and do it on a regular basis!

The "New" Library

Well - just as we fell in love with our new Roseville (Ramsey County) Library - they closed down until SPRING 2010!! for renovations. So Alice and I shopped a little bit - and now we go to our "New" Library (as Alice calls it) in Mounds View (still part of the Ramsey County Library System). As a smaller library - it still has an awesome kids collection - including CDs and DVDs. We went kind of crazy this past Saturday and came home with 20 books, 4 movies, and I think 4 cds! AND they have the phonebooth in the play area (which Alice loves), great puzzles, a computer station to hear books read aloud, and a water fountain with a stool in front of it! Anyway - it'll do until next spring at least! :)

And there's a park nearby - where Alice rode a merry ground for the first time a few weeks ago: