Burnin' Down the House

Dana and I went to Osage last weekend. We were suppose to go to Northwood, IA for the Rock Gone Wild concert, but it was cancelled. Since the girls were already looking forward to staying at Grandma & Grandpa's house and we were looking forward to seeing some old friends, we decided to go anyway, but stay in Osage instead.

It was a relaxing weekend. We got to see a lot of old friends, some we hadn't seen in 10 years or more. Unfortunately, we had a few friends that were sick or had sick kids so we will have to wait until Christmas to see them. We ate yummy food at Teluwat, went to the big town of Carpenter for Carpenter Days and got to watch this big, old house burn to the ground! What else are ya gonna do on a Saturday in a small town! You should have seen the crowd!! Oh, and don't worry....they meant to burn the house down! Trust me....it needed to be! It is going to become a parking lot and will look so much better!

It was comforting being in the town that I grew up in for the weekend! Spending a few days visiting with those that use to be so close to us really confirmed for us that we are making the right decision to move back. The girls had so much fun playing at their Grandma's and Grandpa's in LuVerne with their cousins AND on the farm! Morgan found 12 baby frogs and 1 big frog and wanted to bring a baby frog home! She was soooo excited about it and is still talking about it! Soon, they will be able to make a short drive to visit any of her grandparents or cousins for the day or weekend or even week and it won't be a big deal at all! We can't wait!

Red Chair

For as long as I can remember I have wanted a set of Adirondack chairs to set on my porch so we have something comfortable (and cute) to sit in on cool fall evenings and during thunderstorms. Now finally, after 10 years of living in Kansas, I got my chairs! Too late to enjoy them in my cute little bungalow because we got an offer on our house after being on the market less than 24 hours!

It has been a crazy 2 weeks. Two weeks ago, I woke up and decided I wanted to move back home. Two weeks ago I asked Dana what he thought about moving back home and he said "let's do it!". Never in my wildest dreams would things start falling together so quickly. Last Friday, we met with the realtor to list our house and on Saturday they showed the house at 10 am, showed it again to the same guy at 2 pm, by 5:30 we had an offer, by 7:30 we had countered a couple times and accepted. Last Friday my chairs also arrived on my porch that will no longer be my porch in less than 2 months. Last Friday we wondered how the house showing would go on Saturday, while we painted our new chairs my favorite color, red.

Saturday night Dana and I put the girls to bed and spent the evening sitting in our new red chairs on our front porch enjoying the cool end of summer breeze and wondering what is yet to come on this journey we have chosen for ourselves and our girls. We have decided that it really doesn't matter where we end up or what kind of house we are living in, as long as we are together and near our friends and family. We will take our new red chairs with us to our rental that we will be spending (at least) the next 8 months in and then we will take them with us to our new town in Iowa, wherever that may be.

Demolition Derby

Last night Dana and I took the girls to the Demolition Derby.....it was also the last night for the fair. We arrived and hour and a half early to get burritos and get good seats, but the grandstand was already packed full! I guess people start arriving 2 - 21/2 hours early to get good seats!! We were still able to squeeze into the front row of the grandstands and see pretty well.

Here the girls are watching and playing with the dirt chunks that flew over the fence!
Ava getting a little bored and laying on the bleachers.

And this guy......was trashed, but funny! His chest says "I'm with stupid" And yes...he did have something on under the box!!
A fun time was had by all! We didn't stay for the Powder Puff...it was getting late and we still wanted to get funnel cakes and lemonade! Summer is officially over at our house. I go back to work on Tuesday and Morgan goes back to school on Thursday! We have had a great summer, full of vacations, relaxation, trips to the lake and quality family time. But, I am looking forward to some cooler weather and all that fall has to offer!

I will also be busy applying for my Iowa and Minnesota teaching licenses, getting our house ready to put on the market, organizing, and getting my resume ready to send out to schools in North Iowa and Southern Minnesota (if needed)! Dana and I are very excited for this new adventure and can't wait to come back home. Deciding to move back home has been the perfect end to the perfect summer!

Homesick!

I am homesick! I can't believe I would ever say that, especially after living in Kansas for 10 years. You would think after all this time I could call Kansas home. I have always imagined myself living here and watching my girls grow up here and calling Kansas home......but lately, I am really missing my real home! Maybe a part of me has missed home for a very long time.....maybe it has just taken me this long to figure it out! Don't get me wrong, Kansas is nice, the people are nice, the schools are nice, my job is great, the weather is nice, but it's not home. Where is home do you ask?? Well....I grew up in Osage, IA The City of Maples!




Osage is a small town, but big enough to have the convenience of shopping, great schools and a hospital. But it's small enough that everybody knows everybody, your kids can hop on their bikes are ride across town to see their friends, and all the neighborhood kids hang out and play together. And best of all some of my very best friends live in Osage. My family has moved away, but I will always call Osage home!



This is a picture of the spring at Spring Park. I remember my parents taking us on drives when we were kids. We'd go get ice cream and drive to Spring Park and drive the river road. And then as I got older my friends and I would walk the nature trail from Osage to Spring Park!

I remember hanging out with friends, camping, birthday parties, grilling out, and most of all Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and all the other major holidays! I miss having a house full of friends and family and I miss the things my kids are missing out on. I am sad that they only see their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins 2 times a year. I am sad that my friends just lost their baby girl and I couldn't go back for the funeral. I am sad that my niece just had a birthday and my nephew is turning 16 and I am missing it!

Well, my friends (and family) we are missing it NO MORE! Dana and I have decided that we are taking the necessary steps to move back home! We don't know when, we just know that it IS GOING TO HAPPEN! You see....this move is dependent on a lot of factors. I have a teaching contract for the 2009-2010 school year and of course will need to find a teaching job in Iowa. I don't want to settle for just any job, but am not going to be too picky either. Our only stipulation is that it is near the Osage, Iowa area. This is where we want our kids to grow up and this is where we really want to live. It is possible we may have to settle for another similar community in Iowa, but we WILL be moving back to Iowa and that is all that matters to me!! Maybe next year......maybe in two years......I am hoping it's not longer than two years!

Let the comments begin........and see you all soon! (If you know of any teaching vacancies for the next school year let me know!!)

Lake Fun!

Sunday was a beautiful day in Kansas so we decided to take the girls to the lake! Only a few more weekends left of swimming and summer fun! But oh how I love the fall and can't wait for some cool weather! I am even thinking some fall trips to the lake might be in order even if we can't swim!! This trip was very peaceful and relaxing. I laid on the beach while Dana played with the kids a bit. He joined me a little later after the girls decided it was more fun playing in the sand and mud instead of swimming! As you can see we pretty much had the beach to ourselves today!! I left with one heck of a sunburn though!! (Shh....don't tell my mom!)

Back to work and school in one more week! That schedule is going to be hard to get use to! We've had lots of late nights and lots of sleeping in. The girls have been watching way too much TV and Morgan hasn't been reading nearly enough! But it has been fun!! School hasn't even started yet and I am already counting down the days till Christmas Break!!! Oh how I love a vacation!!! OK....I guess I don't want to rush it too much! We have a lot of fun things planned this fall and am looking forward to it!!

Mud-a-thon

Tonight was another fun night at the fair. Dana and I took the girls to the Mud-a-thon. This was a first for all of us and we really didn't know what to expect. We had a blast watching the trucks attempt to make it through the deep, sticky mud and see who could make it the furthest. We had a spot right up front so we also enjoyed getting pelted with mud!!

The girls are waiting for the fun to start!

Ava said she wanted to get muddy, but wasn't too happy after the fact!

Morgan sat as close as possible and wishes she could have gotten muddier!

The girls were getting a little bored with the trucks that kept getting stuck and not spraying us!

We didn't stay the entire time. It was getting to be past bedtime and the girls still needed to take a bath to get the mud chunks cleaned out of their hair! Ava was NOT HAPPY when we left! She kept crying uncontrollably, "Don't want to go home!" "Want to come back!" We were almost home before she finally calmed down!

Next weekend - The Demolition Derby!