Little Reader

It is amazing what kids these days already know in 1st grade. I spent the afternoon at school with Luke on Tuesday helping the class. During snack time he asked the teacher if he could read a book he brought to school. He went right up front and sat on the chair the teacher normally does and read the book to the class. My baby is just growing up too fast.

Happy Halloween

I know Halloween was a week ago but like the title of my blog I haven't figured out where the last week has gone. Anyway here are is a picture of Luke and Brianna. Luke was Percy the train from Thomas the Train (he was Thomas 3 years ago and James the Train 2 years ago). Brianna wanted to be Uniqua from the Backyardigans but the costume was hideous looking when it arrived so she ended up being Cinderella.

Both kids had Halloween parties at their school. On Halloween night the kids were given the choice to go Trick or Treating or spend the night at our hunting shack. To my suprise they actually decided to go to the hunting shack. We did trick or treat at my grandparents and walked up and down the street by their house.

My Dad

Well I hadn't planned on writing about my dad tonight but I was reading another blog and she was talking about her father passing away and I started crying. So as long as the tears were flowing I decided I might as well write my own blog about my dad.

My dad passed away 8 years ago from a heart attack. I can remember the details of that day so vividly. I remember it being a crazy day at work. I had the payroll to finish and a bunch of other work. I had arranged to pick up my niece and nephew from their sitter because my brother in law had to work a night shift that week. We got to my house and made chicken nuggets and french fries. As I was doing the dishes I got the dreadful call from my mother. My mom said that my dad had a heart attack and that she had done CPR on him and the paramedics had just taken him to the hospital. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We dropped my niece and nephew off at my in laws and rushed to the hospital. My brother happened to be working with my brother in law and we called his cell phone to tell my brother. I remember the doctors coming in and telling us that they did revive him but there was no brain activity. I couldn't believe it. My dad was gone. We all gathered around my dad and said good bye.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of my dad. I miss him so much. I have to drive past where he worked every day on the way to my work. Most days I drive by without any tears. But there are other days that the tears just start coming and don't seem to end. I went into labor with my son on the 2nd anniversary of his death. Luckily Luke wasn't born until the next day. Both my kids have part of my dad in there name. My dad's name was Brian. Luke's middle name is Brian and my daughter is named Brianna. I wish so much that he could be here to share in my kids lives. Even though my kids will never meet their grandpa I make sure to tell them how wonderful their grandpa really was. I know he wasn't perfect but to me he was. He wil always be my daddy.

I love you and miss you so much daddy!

Dilema

If you have an issue with a family member over something that may see trivial to some but means a lot to you should you approach them and let them know how you feel. Should you talk about it if you know it might cause some family problems. Is it better to be quiet about it and just "look" happy or confront the issue.

The Barn

We live on my husband's grandfathers old farm. Old farm house and an old barn. Our house is old and not in good shape. We have toyed with fixing the house up but that would mean a whole new foundation, roof and a complete gut and remodel. Weighing the cost of doing that and building a new house we decided we'd rather start over. Well, we also have an old barn in the picture that is huge and would not be cost effective for us to fix up either. So we decided that we would take down the barn first and then decide where to build on our land. We have a barn person that is taking it down for us. He started two Wednesdays ago by removing the siding and finished up this weekend. Now we have to get our junk out of the barn and then they will finish up. Thought I would share some before pictures and work in process pictures.

The Before Picture:

The "In Progress" Picture:

Good Night

Well it is 10:38 pm right now so I'm signing off for the night. My alarm will be going off at 5:15 am tomorrow and if I don't go to bed now I'll be asking myself "where does time go" when I count the few hours of sleep I got.

More to come soon!

My son the builder

We have a very rustic hunting shack about 40 miles north of our house. No electricity and no running water. This land belonged to my father and his brothers and when my father passed away his portion was given to my brother and myself. We spend quite a bit of time up there together as a family. Last Saturday my husband and son went up there to make firewood. When they came home Luke told me he had made a shed for his toy trucks with some cement blocks that were up there. In my mind I'm picturing a "shed" maybe 2 cements blocks long by 2 cement blocks high. The four of us went back up there on Labor Day to get some more work down. We drive up to the shack and I see his "shed" for the first time and my mouth dropped. I couldn't believe my eyes. This "shed" was 4 feet wide by 6 feet long by 4 feet high. He had even found some tin sheeting and made a roof for his "shed". I just couldn't believe it. My husband said that he moved every single cement block by himself. He is one creative kid. Here's the "shed".

Brianna's 1st day of Preschool

My baby is going to school. Well it's just preschool but that counts. She goes to preschool 3 days a week for 2 hours. She just loves it. Brianna is a very independent little girl. She loves wearing dresses and playing with dolls but will also get down in the dirt and play trucks with her brother.

Luke's 1st Day of 1st Grade

Here's my big man! I can't believe he started 1st grade this year. Here's a little background on Luke. My husband is a mechanic and works on construction equipment like bulldozers and backhoes so Luke has been around machinery since day one. He said "tractor" before he said "mama". So needless to say Luke loves equipment. His favorite tractors are John Deere. He love CAT and John Deere construction equipment. Luke does not own action figures or Power Ranges or anything along that line. I asked him this summer if he wanted to play T-ball. He told me "No, I'm just a boy that doesn't like that." Ask him if he wants to go along bulldozing with his father and you couldn't get a bigger smile from him. He loves to sit in a dump truck all day with his dad and haul gravel. On the first day of school he choose to wear his new John Deere t-shirt that says "Dirt Magnet". And that fits him perfectly!

Why did I choose this title

I'm not a very creative person (I'm an accountant) so this title is one of the first things that came to my mind. But "where does time go" is something I find that I ask myself quite a bit. Like where have the last 14 years gone since I graduated from high school, where has the last 8 years gone since my dad died, where have the last 6 years gone since my son was born, where have the last 3 years gone since my daughter was born, where did the summer go, and where has the last 19 days gone since I created this blog.

I work full-time outside the house and have a very challenging position, which I love. But now my son is in 1st grade and my daughter started preschool and I'm finding it very hard to juggle my work career and my family. I feel like I rush in the morning to get Luke on the bus, Brianna to the sitter and myself to work. At night I rush to pick up Brianna, rush to pick up Luke, make supper, do the dishes, do homework, bath time, story time and then get the kids to bed. Once they finally fall asleep it's do the laundry, go through the mail, etc.... The weekends seem just as busy with "chores." Anyway, my point is that time seems to fly by so quickly and I want to know Where Does Time Go?

Please be patient with me. This blogging thing is new and I'm just learning how it all works. If you have any tips or pointers I'd welcome them.

My First Blog

A friend of mine has inspired me to start my own blog. I read her blog everyday and thought it just wasn't fair to her if I wasn't sharing the details of my sometimes hectic life. I'm bad at sending emails and sharing pictures of my kids so I'll give blogging a try and see how that goes.