The Nutcracker!!!

What a busy few months it has been! This past week was especially busy for us with dress rehearsals for The Nutcracker. But, for all of us, we wouldn't have changed a single thing. Don't get me wrong, I was exhausted so I can only imagine how my two little angels felt, but to see the joy and excitement on their faces, made it all worth while. The show was wonderful - even with a few glitches the first evening!!! This experience was definitely something they will never soon forget!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!!! Hope you all have a safe and wonderful Holiday!

Eight

Yep, eight candles on their cake this year!!! Can't believe these little girls are growing up so quickly. I can still remember almost every single detail of the day they were born as if it was just yesterday! This seemed to be the birthday of all birthday's for them as they got to do a lot of celebrating.

Their day consisted of us waking them up by singing "Happy Birthday", I then surprised them at school by being the secret reader for their class (I read Charlie The Caterpillar, their favorite book when they were little), then Kale and I ate lunch with them before we headed home. The evening brought their grandparents to our house where we enjoyed some supper and cake. Thank you again to everyone for your birthday gifts - it was the first year without toys and it took them until the next day to fully appreciate the things they were given, but they were very excited about them all!!! Handmade thank-you's will be in the mail soon!!!

Friday, right after school, we took off for Minneapolis - we stayed in Owatonna Friday night and took advantage of the wonderful outlet mall and, of course, Cabela's!! Saturday was the big day - after months of begging, we finally took them to eat at American Girl with their dolls. The rest of the day was spent riding rides - to which Ana finally was tall enough to ride one of the BIG rollercoasters - I've never seen a little girl so excited!!! Thankfully we made it home Saturday night before all of the ice moved in the area. I'd say it was a memorable 8th birthday.




(Kale's lego combine - he couldn't be any happier!!!!!)

The View From Our House

Oh, what a weekend!!! While I was lucky to get away and enjoy some wonderful time with friends, Chad was at home with the kids braving the snowstorm!! What the weatherman said would be 5-9 inches turned in to 14 inches - and while town was without power for 4-6 hours, we were without power for almost 48 hrs!! They were able to make some very fun memories in the snow though, and they had to call and tell me all about it!!!

Looks like winter might be here to stay!!!!!!

The Many Ways of Kale

For those of you who really know my son, you know that he has 3 staples in his wardrobe: 'work' jeans, hooded sweatshirts, and his camoflauge 'work' boots (aka, his Bog boots). If you see him in anything else, it was a hard fought win by mommy. I have always allowed my children to pick out their own clothes (although I admit, I try to sway them towards things that will look good together!) and have watched them walk out of the house wearing a variety of 'looks', all while I am biting my tongue!! Well, yesterday was one of those days with Kale. We finally got the kids' dvd player set up on the television in their t.v.room so Kale was finally allowed to watch "Bob The Builder" again (I started to refuse it on MY t.v. because I couldn't take it anymore!!). It obviously wore off on him!! God Love Him...this is what he wore to pick the girls up from school.........

My, how time flies!

Wow! It's amazing how absolutely nothing else gets done when you're busy in the field!!! Now it's time to catch you up on a couple of the fun things that we were actually able to do during that busy time, but I didn't have time to blog about!!!

We went on our annual pumpkin patch outing (with Chad's sister, Nikki, and our neices Hailey and Addisson, and Grandma Fank) but chose to go to a different place to try it out. We went to Cedar Creek Orchard which is up by Fairmont, MN. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day - like 90 degrees or so. By the time we got home, I think we were ALL exhausted!


(trying to take funny pictures with their painted pumpkins)

(don't you love Kale's karate chop!!!) hehehe

We also celebrated the girls' last soccer game of this season. We couldn't have asked for a better season with the weather. Normally we are playing in the cold, sometimes snow flurries, but this year it was nothing but 70-90 degree weather! We DID play in the rain one Saturday, but it wasn't SNOW so we're not complaining!! I loved this picture I caught of the girls - they are such good motivators for each other on the field. They're always giving each other high-fives and pumping each other up. It's so much fun to watch.


Now we're gearing up for Nutcracker rehearsals which begin Halloween weekend!!! Remind me in a month why I was so excited for the girls to want to do this!!! hahaha

New Fashion Accessory??? Maybe not!

Yep, these handy dandy crutches are mine to enjoy for another couple days!!! I know you're all jealous! hahaha As most of you know, I help catch grain during the harvest season and have been putting plenty of hours in this fall with the gorgeous weather we've been having. Friday night, the back tractor tire flipped up some barbed wire and since I had a few minutes to wait I thought I'd get out and grab it. When getting out of the tractor, I managed to hit the ground wrong, heard about 5 or 6 popping sounds, then my whole body was on the ground!! At first I thought I broke it because it was constant shooting pain up my leg but luckily, after x-rays Saturday morning, it is just a bad sprain but I managed to strain my tendons so I have a hard time moving my foot left and right. I am able to put weight on it, but the doctor said I needed to stay off it in order for it to heal quicker...to which I snickered!!! ME, not moving around??? I think she figured out that was going to be hard for me so she told me I either needed to use crutches when I was up and moving or she was going to put a splint on me so I COULDN'T get around!!! Needless to say - I chose the crutches!

Can't take the farmer out of the boy...

Harvest season is officially here for Fank Farms. We got a little corn combined during the week and spent Sunday combining some beans. Looks like it will be going full force very, very soon.

I have never seen a little boy SO excited to step foot in to the combine again as Kale was. After church we came home to change and he did nothing but say "let's get going", "we need to go", "COME ON, LET'S GO"!! Once he had been in the combine for a bit and we got ready to head home so we could get ready for bed, he proceeded to tell us all about how he combined! He's always very serious as he tells us about things like that too, so it was so cute. It is only fitting that just the day before I had taken pictures of Kale in the corn as a portion of our yearly photo shoot for our wall!! Here are a couple...

And so it begins...

Well, the school years have officially started for Kale. Even though he went to 3 yr old preschool last year it didn't really seem like school because it was just 2 mornings a week. We mostly did that just for social reasons because he hadn't really been around other kids up until that point. Now there's no looking back!!

As usual, he wasn't all that excited that I HAD to take pictures of him before he left!! He humored me though, not just by letting me take his picture, but by making silly faces the whole time. I love the picture of him with his backpack bending over the chair - as if I couldn't see it on him when he was standing!!

I was very saddened while I was driving home. He's been my baby who loved his mommy more than anything in the world and it was tough realizing that he was letting go a little bit to start this new adventure and now I needed to as well. I have truly been blessed to have a husband who saw the importance of my being home to raise our children and I have cherished EVERY SINGLE moment. I think I need to come to grips with change and that there will be many NEW moments to share with them now and to be proud and excited about those things. Who knew that sending our little man off to preschool would make me so sappy!!!

I'm excited to hear about his day when it's time to pick him up. He's become such a big boy and I am so proud of him for not being scared or nervous!

2nd grade

Hard to believe our little girls are in 2nd grade!! They were VERY excited to get to school and once we got there, they were very quick to say 'good bye' and ran in the door. Why is it always so hard to watch them grow?? It will be so fun to hear how their first day went - it can't be too bad considering they have a birthday party right after school!

We had open house night where the kids got to meet their new teacher (which they already knew really well so were extra excited to see her), put their things in their lockers, and find their desks.

As per tradition, Kale and I went to McNally's to pick up some donuts. When I asked him what he wanted to do today he said "watch Bob the Builder"!! He obviously didn't get to watch it quite as often this summer with the girls home!

The big "Four"

Yep, our little man is 4!!! We had a great day with lots of family, friends, godparents, etc. The girls even played whatever he wanted to play with him the whole day!!! That's a BIG thing here! For the 3rd year in a row Kale begged for a 'tractor' themed birthday party - so we honored his wishes once again! He raked in LOTS of tractors - many with remote controls, a grain auger, a disc ripper, coloring books, a big semi that he can work on (it came with tools and new tires), the 4 yr old addition to his Precious Moments birthday train, John Deere shirt and hat, and lots and lots of love the whole day! He's excited to have some money gifts as well to go pick out a very special toy too. Needless to say, we are going to be re-organizing the toy room the next couple of days and building a wall of shelves in his room soon to display all of his tractors and accessories so they don't break in the toy box.

It's hard to watch my baby grow so quickly - I just want him to stay little a little longer! He's been such a joy to our lives and I thank God every night that he blessed us with 3 beautiful and healthy children. I can't even imagine what our life would be like without this amazing little boy.

It was also exciting to have my step-sister call during the party to tell my parents that her water broke and was on her way in to have their baby!! Kale now has a cousin to celebrate birthdays with!!! We can't wait to meet little George!!!

Fun weekend in Yankton, NE

We spent a recent weekend in Yankton helping Chad's Aunt and Uncle move their antique store - or should I say, Chad and his Dad helped move the store, the rest of us enjoyed some play time (especially since our neices made the trip with us and Grandma and Grandpa Fank)! We got to stay in one of Chad's cousin's cabins by the lake so took in some lake time right when we got there. We had a great time and look forward to going back again sometime soon. It's such a beautiful area with the cliffs and the dam.

Things were looking so good!

Our little Anabelle had been doing so well - no seizures in 2 years! Well, after a call to the pediatric neurologist today, we think she might be having them again!!! She has had a few restless nights the past few nights and last night she awoke screaming and crying for someone to come help her. When I got there, she didn't have any strength to pull herself up in her bed and had a hard time moving the left side of her body (which is the side she was having the seizures on). Of course, she was on the top bunk!!! I finally got her down and she spent a couple more minutes trying to get her balance back. This happened twice before I thought about asking if she remembered to take her pill at supper time to which she said she hadn't. This wasn't the first time she had forgotten to take her pill but we've never had this happen before. Her neurologist said to make sure she takes her pills regularly and if after a few days she's still having problems then we will need to up her dosage of meds. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Storms...round ??? There's been too many to count.

Yet again, another round of storms ripped through the area - with 70 mph winds and 3 inches of rain in less than 30 minutes! The item destroyed in this storm (since there is always something!!) was our trampoline. The wind was hard enough to pick it up and send it over our pool and wrapped it around the tree right next to our back patio! We are thankful, once again, that our home was spared and that no one was hurt. We had spent all day out cleaning up the yard from the destruction left by past storms and looks like we will spend this week cleaning up after this one! Thankfully no trees went down this time but there are plenty of extra large branches to clean up. I hope that everyone else made it through the storms safely since it covered the whole state of Iowa!!

Cylinder 125 yrs!!

There is nothing like growing up in a small community, and there is nothing like a party in that small community either!! We had such a good time at Cylinder, IA's 125th celebration this past weekend.

It was blazing hot, so we took pleasure in finding some shade wherever possible but that didn't deter people away from the festivities.

Hard to believe it was 25 yrs ago at the centennial that Chad and I met for the very first time - so fun to come back 25 yrs later and share this celebration with OUR FAMILY.

The verdict is in...

Well, we've recieved the news...the girls have been cast as Angels in The Nutcracker Ballet!!! They are trilled beyond belief and we're pretty ecstatic for them. This will be an amazing experience for them - be sure to remind me that after the 10th time I've driven them to Spirit Lake for practices!!!! lol

The Nutcracker Ballet

Ever since the girls started dance I have wanted to take them to see The Nutcracker Ballet. I have been looking around to see where they will be performing this winter so we can finally get it done. Well, the girls have an exciting opportunity!!! The Nebraska Ballet is coming to perform The Nutcracker in Spirit Lake!! Even more exciting...The girls are auditioning for the ballet!!!!!!!!!! The Nebraska Ballet company would like to have area dancers in the show! They are so excited, and I am SO excited for them. Even if they don't get a part, I'm so proud of them for wanting to try it and even more appreciative that they even have the opportunity to do this at their age!! Such an amazing experience this will be for them. Keep your fingers crossed for Ana and Mia - we will keep you posted!!

More storms, more damage

The title seems to be a reoccuring theme for us this summer - as storms continue to rip through our area. Another tree fell right next to our house, but this time right off our BACK patio. I'm praying that if another should fall that it's not destined to be right ON the house since we've seen them on the front and the back now! Thankfully we've had no tornadoes but the 70 mph winds, heavy rainfall, and hail continue to do PLENTY of damage!!!

Thoughts go out to my sister, Angela, who had a tree fall ON their house during that storm. Thankfully no one was hurt but I haven't heard the extent of the damage to the house yet so hopefully it's nothing too serious.

Day on the lake!

We had a gorgeous day on Saturday and we were lucky enough to get a phone call from Grandma and Grandpa Kerber to go out and spend the afternoon on the boat. We literally spent the WHOLE afternoon! Kale and cousin, Nic, were buddies the whole afternoon. I think they both appreciated having another boy to hang out with. We had a great time and hope we can do it again soon. It was nice to spend a lazy afternoon rather than working on all the things we NEED to get done!! Now we get to play catch up - oh well, not gonna complain!