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Hey everyone,
I haven't blogged on here for a while (before today), but I have a different blog. I was getting tired of not being able to put pictures on here without going through some 10+ steps, so I switched to blogger.com. My new blog is http://aliisajoy.blogspot.com/
I may blog on here a little bit, but the other one will be my main blog.
Love, Aliisa |
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1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 158, find line 4 and write what it says. "and there I have my cat and bird , my piano and my posy" from An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
The TV cabinet
About 1/2 hour ago we got back from running errands
Probably a ranch and a bunch of horses
24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gate? Well Done, good and faithful servant!
RachelRay94 Hisworkmanship Aggie98 |
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I said before I would try to post about the new chiropractor I went to, so here it is! The reason I went was because I have scoliosis, a minor form of it, but it basically means that my back curves the wrong way. Thus I have a hunch-back, and my shoulders slouch. Mom usually will tell me to straighten up and keep my shoulders back, but it's always uncomfortable and hard to do. I've been to a couple chiropractors previously, but nothing ever changed. One chiropractor had me doing a bunch of stretches, but that didn't do anything either. Anyways, this new chiropractor, Dr. Mike, looks at the neck, instead of just the back. By just looking at my back and feeling my neck, he figured it would take 3-5 visits and I should be good. Then he took 2 Xrays of my neck, and since I was only 1mm off, and he then thought after one adjustment I'd be fine.
He adjusted me using a special machine - thing. It had a long pencile-shaped metal thing, and he lowered it to right behind my left ear. I heard (didn't even feel anything) a few clicks, sat up and I could sit up straight!! I was amazed!(another thing, before adjusting me he had me lay on the table on my back, and my right leg was 1/2 to 3/4 inches shorter than my left leg, and after 'adjusting' me, my legs were as perfect as they can get!! And all from doing those two little clicks) After my appointment I went and looked in the mirror and my back was straight!!! I'm sooo excited. He said I shouldn't need to come back unless I have pain or start slouching again, but that isn't real likely. He said that he's seen more patients whose backs get messed up from chiropractors, than from car accidents (and he sees a lot of people from car accidents). And he said the reason that most chiropractors don't adjust people the way he does is because it takes more training, and the equipment is more expensive. And he is basically putting himself out of business, because if people only need a couple visits and their done, he won't have regular patients (but he keeps getting more patients by word-of-mouth). Most chiropractors have you keep coming back for "check-ups" that you don't really need. I've had times I've gone to the chiropractor even though my back wasn't hurting, and then after I got adjusted my back hurt! So it was pretty amazing what he did.
Also, he figured out the reason my neck was off was because about 4 years ago, I got in a sledding accident and ended up having a concussion (sp?). And trauma can cause you to get out of wack. Since that accident was so long ago, I would've never thought that's what caused it.
So, that's my exciting news for this week! Once I caught Dad looking at my back and he said "that's so amazing!" because I used to slouch sooo bad all the time. After I got adjusted, I realized we should've taken before and after pictures. But we had no idea there'd be such a change! Occasionally I'll just look in the mirrior and say "wow! It feels great to have a STRAIGHT back!!". It looked horrible before, when I'd slouch all the time. I think the best pictures I have of when I slouched were from the barn dance. Mom said she was wondering if I'd have problems if (when) I ever have kids, with such a bad back. Although the chiropractor did say I have a really good back, it was just a little off!
Love, Aliisa |
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I haven't blogged in FOREVER!!!! I'm not sure how much to write about, but I guess I could give a report on this past month!
On Saturday, the 3rd, I babysat the Tennies' from 11:30-5:30. We had lunch, played some games inside, made cookies, played at the park and then made supper before I left. It was fun!! Dad and the boys went to a Brewers game, and there was a tail-gating party before-hand. They got to meet some of the players, and hear their testimonies.
On Sunday (the 4th) we had two graduation parties. Mom, Aleks, Emmy, Grace and I went to Michele Burant's party around 2:30pm. We met the rest of the family at Ashley Frank's graduation party around 6pm. Ashley is the daughter of Dad's co-worker. While there, we got a call from the Petersons saying that they were at our house, and had been there for about an hour!! We weren't expecting them until 7 at the earliest. Ike, Aleks, Elsie and I left right away, and everyone else came earlier. That night, some of us girls slept out on the trampoline. It was cooold!
On Monday evening we all went to a Brewers game. There were 17 people total. It was a BLAST!! They won, so that made it fun too!!
On Tuesday Aleks and I left at 6:30am to go to the Schommers house. Emily was going to help me make a Civil War ball gown, and since it takes the whole day we wanted to get an early start. We got there at quarter to 8. It took us a little while to figure out what to put where, and then we cut everything out (cutting out is my least favorite part of sewing - probably because I don't see as much progress as when you're sewing it together). The bodice took us a while, but it looks soooo neat!! (I'll have to put pictures on here sometime). It looks a ton better than I ever thought it would! The skirt isn't so elaborate, but I really like it too. We left their house around quarter after 6pm, and all I had to do at home was hem the skirt and put the bow on in the back. Now I'm really really anxious for our civil war dance! (which we have to pick a date for)
We didn't have much going on for the rest of the week until Friday night, when Mr. Leverson, Keenan (9) and Aunnah (4) came over. They stayed until Sunday.
On Saturday early-evening Mr. Vassall came from New York. It was a bit of a surprise, since we weren't expecting him until Monday! Saturday night Ike, Aleks and I went to a square dance down in Racine. We met the Siegmanns (who had their bus) and drove down with them. It was sooooo much fun! Usually we wouldn't go that far, but it was the caller's last dance (at least for a couple years). We didn't get home till after midnight!
On Monday, Anja was born!!!!!!!!! It was sooo unexpected. On Sunday, Mom was resting a lot, but we didn't think anything of it, especially since she was getting closer to her due date. She was born after a 2 1/2 hour labor. Aleks and I were supposed to go with, but Mom wasn't sure she was really in labor when she went to the hospital (at 4:30am), so they only woke Ike up. Then around quarter to 7am Ike woke the rest of us saying she was here!! Needless to say, we were shocked!
Dad was off the rest of that week, and he went into work on Saturday. He worked Sunday too, and he won't get another day off until this Sunday (25th).
Since Dad was working Father's Day, we hung out here. We did have a BIG lunch/supper around 4pm. Around 7pm, the Gumnesses came over. We played basketball first. Teams were Ben, Ike and Isaiah agains Nate, Zack and I. I think (correct me if I'm wrong, guys) we beat them 12-10. Ike, Zack, Ben and Nate went into work with Dad so they could get done faster. They came back around 10pm. We had apple crisp (messed-up apple pie, right Ben?!
On Tuesday I went to a new Chiropractor (I'll hopefully be doing a different blog about that) with Dad, Grace and Elsie.
Yesterday Aunt Kari and cousins Levi and Mitchell came down for the day. We had lots of fun with them! We played basketball and jumped on the trampoline for a while. In the afternoon Dad took most of the kids fishing in the creek. They left after 5pm.
Well, I guess that's long enough for now. I'm making a slide-show with pictures of Anja, and I'll hopefully get that on here later.
Love, Aliisa |
We didn't get home till 11pm, and Aleks and I had to get stuff ready for the next day, so we didn't get into bed till midnight!
) and vanilla ice cream. Then we went out on the trampoline for a little while, until EVERYONE wanted to come on too. Then we played tag until they had to leave (which was almost midnight - way too early!). We had soooooo much fun with them!! (as we always do
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GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!! Anja Luella Klahn was born at 6:42am, June 12th, 2006 (12 days early) Weighing in at 7lbs, 13oz and 19 1/2 inches long She has a head of dark hair, and is the CUTEST thing EVER!!!!!!! (I was hoping to put a picture of her on here, but it isn't working
We all love her to death, and are trying not to spoil her too much! She's such a peanut! She's a good baby too, for the most part. Usually she'll only cry when she needs a diaper change or needs to burp. We're all holding out hope that she will have brown hair and eyes, because all of us kids except for Ike have blonde hair and either green or blue eyes. We'll see!
Love, Aliisa
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Not much is new here, just thought I'd blog anyway.
On Sunday we went to a square dance up at the Siegmanns grandparents. They have a new shed up there that they are going to use just for square dances and stuff like that. It was a lot of fun! I think they're going to have a dance every 2 weeks.
On Monday and Tuesday Dad woked ALL day! He didn't get to come home until 11pm. We really missed him. Yesterday Mom planted her flowers. They look REALLY pretty. I might take some pictures and put them on here if I can figure out how to! I also worked in the garden for a while, and got almost all the weeds out. There were a ton in there! We have about 6 raspberry plants, and they are doing really well. We also have a bunch of strawberry plants.
Tomorrow night is our piano recital. I'm really excited about it! The "theme" is summer, so afterwards instead of just having cookies or bars, we're having ice cream! Our teacher assigned everyone to bring something for it. I almost don't want it to end, because then Alicia and I won't have to practice our duet anymore, and it's so much fun!
Today it is really warm out. And humid too. It's 70 degrees! We were supposed to get rain, and had some thunder, but nothing else yet.
On Saturday some of us are going to a wedding. Some of our good friends are going (i.e. the Gumnesses
Love, Aliisa |
!) so it'll be nice to see them again.|
For school, I am reading a biography on Amy Carmichael, and Mom wanted me to blog about it. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it's been really interesting! It's the most thorough biography I've ever read. The author takes bits and pieces of information from books Amy herself wrote.
Amy Carmicheal was a missionary to India for 55 years. She died there at the age of 83 in 1851. When she was a small girl, she prayed for blond hair and blue eyes, like her mother. The next morning when she woke up she fully expected to have blond hair and blue eyes. But the Lord had a reason for making her with brown hair and eyes. When she was in India, she would color her skin and dress like an Indian women, and then was allowed into the city where she could rescue young girls from becoming temple workers. If she had had blue eyes, there would be no way to hide them, and she would never have been able to do what she did. "Amma" (her nickname with all the children) had an Amazing relationship with Jesus. When they needed money, more land, help, ect., the first thing she would do was to pray about it. There were times where she felt the Lord telling her to buy a piece of land that they didn't have the money for, and that same day a check would arrive for the exact ammount they needed! She had outstanding faith in Him who was not seen. For the last 13 or so years of her life, she was crippled and lived almost constantly in bed. But she still had immense joy and happiness, even though she was confined and ill. She is such a great example of someone living their life WHOLLY for the Lord. Her testimony is sooo awesome!
When Mom first asked me to read Amy Carmichael, I thought it was going to be extremely boring, because it is such a thick book with such small words. It is so interesting, sometimes it is hard to put down! I have been blessed, challenged and encouraged by that book, more than I would've thought!
If you are looking for something to read, I strongly recommend Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank L. Houghton
God Bless! A |
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Today it is so beautiful outside! Sunny, warm, all around a gorgeous spring day! This morning Mom, the little girls and I went up to the greenhouse to pick out some flowers. She got enough for 4 hanging baskets and a milk can out by the road. I just planted that. It looks really nice! She still has some money left on the gift card, and is thinking about getting some kind of a vine for on a trellis.
I am going to go out and play baseball with the boys in a second, but just wanted to write about last night (actually, we're not going to play baseball, they want to practice their pitching and fielding so I get to hit the ball! That's my favorite thing to do anyway).
It was soooo cool last night! He is sooo funny! At first when we heard about it, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, if it was worth it (In the movie we'd seen him on before he only did about 15 minutes worth of comedy). It was worth every penny and I'd do it again! He's written lyrics to some songs, and they are so funny! (Gumnesses - we LOVED the Eagle Song! I jumped when he sang it! Especially how he lead up to it!) But the best part, was his testimony. He was born in the Southside of Chicago. He told how his family was really messed up - his two older brothers both died at 17 (they were murdered) and his two older sisters were drug addicts. His Mom wanted to give him away because she wanted a better life for him, so she asked the post man if he would take him. Now, even though she hadn't talked much to the postman, he had a great impact on her life, because each time he gave her the mail, he would tell her that God loved her. Just those few words, and they meant so much to her. Anyway, the postman couldn't take him, but his daughter and son-in-law had been praying for over 12 years for a child, and they took him. That's how he got saved and became a christian. And actually, Mike Williams isn't a comedian full-time. He is a missionary to the Dominican Republic, and he does comedy to "pay the bills". His website is www.christiancomedian.com . It was a great evening! There was one time I was laughing so hard, I started crying! And I was NOT being dramatic (something I am known for!). My mouth was starting to hurt to, and Aleks said her stomache hurt! We all had a blast, and can't wait to see him again! He had a dvd of when he was on Bananas (a Christian comedy show) and a cd of all of the songs he's written, plus a couple of books he's written. They were all sold out, so they're going to send them to us. I can't wait till we get them!
Well, I think the boys are just about ready to practice, so I'm going to head out.
Love, Aliisa |
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Well, it's only been 5 days since I last blogged. Pretty good for me! I really don't know why I don't blog more often. I guess I just keep putting it off because I usually have a lot to write about. Procrastination . . . . . .
Dad got yesterday morning, all of today and all of tomorrow off of work. Normally he would just have Saturday off, but turkey hunting started Wednesday, so he took some more time off. Yesterday Ike and Zack got turkeys! That was pretty exciting. Now Dad is anxious for one! Yesterday afternoon I cleaned at the farm for about 3 hours. Around quarter to 6pm I brought Ike and Zack to Civil Air Patrol. After dropping them off I stopped by Joann Fabrics to get some odds 'n' ends for my Civil War dress. I can't wait to make it! Then I came home. Around 8:30pm Mrs. Leverson got here. This Thursday, Friday and Saturday is the Wisconsin CHEA (Christian Home Educators Association) Conference, and she usually stays with us when she goes to that. Her and Mom went to pick up the boys, and I got the littlest girls into bed. Then around 10:30pm Mr. and Mrs. Gumness came over after they were shopping at CHEA. We always have a blast with them! Aleks and I went to bed around 11:15, but the Gumnesses didn't leave till after midnight! Then (of course) Mom and Mrs. Leverson stayed up till at least 2am talking -
Today I met Mrs. Burant at CHEA to help her unload her books for the used booksale. We had some books that we were selling under her name, so I dropped those off there too. She had tons of books! I was there for a couple hours. I looked around a little bit too. There was a book I was going back and forth about if I should get it or not, and then when I went back to get it, it wasn't there! I guess I wasn't supposed to get it! After I got home Mom, Ike and Aleks went to some rummage sales (I saw a bunch of signs on my way to CHEA). While Zack had the little girls outside, Dad and I painted one of the rooms in the living room. It needed it REALLY bad! With the paint that was on it, you couldn't wipe anything off of it, so it was really dirty. With this new paint we can clean it. It looks sooo much better! Then after Mom got home Dad and the boys did the whole dining room for the same reason. It looks soo much better! We're all really excited about it!
Then Mom has a chiropractor appointment this afternoon. If you think of it, please pray that her back/neck would be feeling better. Yesterday it was really stiff and sore, but after putting a heating pad on it it was a lot better. But then today it's been worse again.
Tonight we are going to see a Christian Comedian, Mike Williams. We saw a DVD that had him on it. He is really funny! We're all really excited to go.
We have a busy week coming up. On Monday, Aleks and I have piano, and I also have to do some cleaning at the farm because there is a tour coming through on Tuesday. On Tuesday night I'm babysitting for the Tennies. On Thursday I'm working and Aleks and I have our paino recital that night. Then on Saturday we're going to a wedding. Busy, but lots of fun!
Gotta run.
Love, Aliisa |
, I guess!
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Today Mom's had probably one of her most relaxing Mother's Days ever! She hasn't had to make or worry about any of the meals (so far). Dad and Aleks made breakfast this morning, and served her breakfast in bed. Us kids gave Mom a gift card to Stone Bank Gardens (the nursery next door). Every year she likes to make hanging baskets with a bunch of different flowers/plants in them. They look really pretty! Dad gave her a bird bath. It's about time we got one, with all the different birds we have around here.
We went to the Fellowship this morning, too. We had to take 2 cars because there is something wrong with the van. The brakes are locked up, or something. So until we can get it looked at we are going to take 2 cars everywhere. After the Fellowship Dad, Ike, Zack, Grace and Elsie went to Gander Mountain so the boys could get their hunting licenses (turkey season starts Wednesday) and Mom, Aleks, Emmy and I came home - Mom was kinda tired. Yesterday Dad and I had made out our lunch menu for todays lunch, and I went shopping too. We had steak (Dad makes the best steak EVER!! seriously he does!), chicken, fish, corn, potatoes, mushrooms and bread-in-oil. Everything was DELICIOUS! We are also going to have strawberry shortcake with ice cream in a little bit.
Later today Mom and I are going to Kohl's. They are having a buy one get one free sale, and Mom has $10 to use at Kohl's and it expires today. Last week I got 3 really cute shirts from there and when I washed them, they SHRUNK!! I was NOT very happy. Actually, we hung one of them to dry (after we realized that the other two shrunk) and that one didn't. But now they are too small! Normally I don't spend a lot of money on clothes. I mean, I think $4 is a lot for a shirt. So when I spent a little more money on these, I was hoping they'd last me for a while. Anyway, the sale is for the same shirts I got, so hopefully we can get a bigger size and find someone who can use the ones I can't!
On Friday night I babysat again. Except Aaron was gone, so it was just Matthew and David. I was there from 4:00-9:30. We played some games, and watched "Swiss Family Robinson". I really like that movie.
On Tuesday we made book-marks for our Grammas for Mother's Day. Mom took a picture of us kids, and on the computer we re-sized it so it was longer and narrow. Then we put it on some cardstock. On the other side of the cardstock there was a decorative piece of paper with a couple quotes about Grandmothers. When we took the picture, Mom had us all wear denim and white on top, but we didn't worry about what was on bottom since you weren't going to see it in the picture anyways. So the bottom half of everyone did NOT match! Someone had grey shorts, striped pants, grubby skirt. We should've taken a picture of the bottom half, but we didn't think of it till later! So that's what my new profile picture is from. I like it better than the other one I had.
Well, that's all for now!
Love, Al |
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Thanks to Briana, I finally got my slide-show on my blog! I created it a couple of days ago, but couldn't figure out how to get it on here. Thank you so much!
Most of the pictures are from our Civil War Barn Dance, but the last few are more recent.
Hope you like them!
Aliisa |
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It is absolutly beautiful out today! So sunny and warm. I can't wait till it is like this all the time. We were supposed to get some rain, but that never happened. Good thing too, we need to mow some lawn. But first we're all going to go pick up sticks. They're everywhere from the storm we had on Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday, we never did get to go to the Gumnesses.
Little kids are always so cute! They say the funniest things. Yesterday we were up in our bedroom and Grace was looking out the window. All of a sudden she yelled "Oh no! There's a SWAP!", meaning wasp. Emmy said "what's a swap?" and once Grace had showed her, Emmy corrected her. It was so funny and cute! Dad loves it when they say something wrong, so from now on wasps are going to be swaps!
Tomorrow I'm going to be working at the farm, and I'm going to go in in the morning 'cuz we're going to take milk samples, and I'm the one that does that. After that I'll do the weekly cleaning. Our last sign language class was last Thursday, and the boys don't have Civil Air Patrol tomorrow either. So we don't really have anything going on.
Well, we're going to go out and mow now. Thankfully we have a rider. Last summer it was broken for most of the time, so we mostly used the push mower. Makes you so much more thankful when the rider is fixed!
Love, Aliisa |
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It's been AGES since I've blogged! We've been pretty busy lately. Right now, I'm babysitting at the Tennies. The boys are in bed, and Mrs. Tennies said I could use their lap top. It takes some getting used to! Especially there being no mouse and flat keys.
Today Dad had to work, and he took both boys with him. So it was just Mom and us girls at home. Around quarter to 10am I left to go to the Siegmanns to help them out in the store. But I actually didn't do much in the store. First I went with Mr. Siegmann to a field about 3 min. from their house where he had a truck he needed to pick up. Then I drove their van back to their house. Then we milked. The reason we milked so late was because there were some boy scouts who were going to watch so they could earn a badge or something. It took a lot longer, because instead of being able to milk two sides at once, we were only able to do one side at first, because everyone was on the other side watching us. We got done milking around 12:30! Mom had left a message that I was supposed to call her as soon as I could, so I did. Turns out that the Tennies were wondering if I'd be able to babysit for them at 4:30pm. I would just have to leave the Siegmanns earlier than I had planned in order to be able to watch the kids at home while Mom and Dad went on a date for a couple hours before I went to babysit. I said it'd be fine. Dana and I went up to look at some material she had, and I found some to use to make a ball gown. Someone just gave her a bunch of it, and she hasn't used much of it. It's really pretty! The material is a maroon/purple color with roses on it, and she also gave me some that looks the same except it's cream instead, as a contrasting fabric. I can't wait to make my dress! I left their house around quarter to 2pm, and got home the same time Dad and the boys did. Him and Mom left soon after and were hoping to get back before I had to leave, but they weren't able to. I left at 4pm, and got here around quarter after. After Mr. and Mrs. Tennies left, the boys and I were outside for a little bit, but then they were hungry, so we came in and ate. Then we played some games I brought and read some books before they got ready for bed. Now I've got about an hour and a half before they get home. I also brought along a letter to write, which I'll work on once I'm done here.
Yesterday was Ike's 15th birthday. The meals he chose were egg quiche (yummy!)for breakfast and sausage gravy for supper (he couldn't think of anything for lunch). Ike got a Bible, Bible cover, 3 books, 2 shirts, a pen, tire guage and flashlight.
On Sunday (the 23rd) Mom, Ike, Zack, Aleks and I went to a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game. It was fun. The only bummer was the fact that they lost 11-0!! After the game us kids stood in line for 1/2 hour at least, so that we could run the bases (after all Sunday home games they let the kids 16 and under run the bases). But in the end I didn't because there were mostly little kids. Ike and Zack said it wasn't worth the wait. Oh well.
On Saturday (the 22nd) Grampa and Gramma Klahn and their friends Roger and Tricia Osterberg (we call them "Toger" and "Rish") stopped by. They had been at a dinner theatre the night before, spent the night at a hotel and on their way home stopped by to visit. They were only able to stay for a few hours, but we had alot of fun with them! "Toger" was hilarious, as always! Another neat thing that happened was that I found a turtle! I was just walking in our lawn and thought it was a rock. I flipped it over with my foot and it was all red underneath! It was soo cute. It was so little too. Its shell is the same size as a quarter! We let it go after a couple days, but it was really neat!
Monday (the 24th) was my good friend Dana's 16th birthday. Since I'd never been able to do anything with her for her birthday before, I wanted to do something this year. What I did was this: every Monday she does some book-keeping at a friends house, so I surprised her by picking her up from there. The look on her face was soo funny! She never suspected a thing. Then we went shopping for a birthday gift and out to eat. We sat there talking for almost 2 hours! Then on our way to her house we stopped by her older brother Nathan and his wife Ashley's house to show me around. We talked with Ashely for about 1/2 hour, and then had to get back to Dana's house to help with milking. After milking her Grandparents came over for cake (it was an ice cream cake - VERY good!). I left there around 9:30pm. It was a very fun evening.
Tomorrow we are (Lord Willing) going to our very good friends the Gumnesses house. I don't even know when exactly, or for how long, but it's going to be a lot of fun. We always have a BLAST with their family!
Another exciting thing (for me, anyways) is that on Monday there is a St. Vinneys opening up 7 minutes down the road! I can't wait. The closest thrift store is about 1/2 hour away, and I don't get there very often. So I am very excited about that!
Well, I think that is all the news for now!
Love, Aliisa |
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I can't believe it! It's been almost a whole week since I've blogged. It feels like it's been busy, but it really hasn't.
I think Spring is really here! Today it was mid-70s and sunny/raining on and off. We can finally go barefoot! During summer I hardly ever wear shoes, and almost never wear socks! I LOVE going barefoot. We also opened up every window in our house that we could. It smells so fresh and clean now!
Friday night Dad brought all of us kids and Sarah and Paul (Corie was sick) to see the play, Oliver Twist. It was GREAT!! All the actors/actresses were REALLY good. I thought they were all casted really well. I'm hoping to maybe try out for their play next year, but we'll have to see.
On Sunday Dad had the day off, but we didn't go to Church cuz' we were still pretty sick. That night we watched the movie"The Resurrection". It's about Christ's crucifiction and Resurrection from a soldiers stand-point. It's one of my favorite movies. It is VERY powerful.
Today was pretty busy. At 7:50am Mom had to leave to go to her Dentist appointment. Then about 10 after 11 Zack, Aleks and I left. First we dropped Zack off by Dad so he could help him with something. Then Aleks and I went to sign language. We were outside almost the whole time. We reviewed our words while playing games with basketballs. One was like this: there were 2 teams. They lined up about 20-30 feet from the hoop. Then the first person from each line had a ball. They ran down to the hoop and had to keep shooting until they made a basket. Then they grabbed a card with a word on it, and they'd have to sign it to the people next in line. Once they got it, then they would run down, try to make a hoop, and so-on. It was a lot of fun! Too bad the boys weren't there. We got back from sign language a little after 1pm. Mom and I left almost right away to go talk to a lady about babysitting. They have 3 boys: Aaron (12), David (9) and Matthew (6). They are a really nice family. They are very um, energetic, I guess is the word. After talking with Mrs. Tennies for a few minutes David, Matthew and I went to the park that's right next to their house. First we played "Pig" with the basketball (I should be a basketball pro by now!). Then Matthew and I played 9 holes of frisbee golf. It's a lot like miniature golf, you keep throwing the frisbee towards the hoop and whoever it takes longest looses. We played 9 hoops. It took over an hour! We were both getting pretty hot. Since we didn't keep track of how much we got in each hoop, we just said that we tied. It was pretty fun! The park is really neat. I has a full basketball court, baseball diamond, football field, play-ground, and a really big hill that the boys said is really good for sledding. Anyway, I got the babysitting job! So that's exciting. She's going to call me within the next couple of days and let me know when she needs me. Right now Mom and the boys are at Civil Air Patrol. So we had a very full day! Dad has the little girls outside. He's giving them rides in our lawnmower trailer. They love it!
I should run. I'm going to do some straightening up before everyone comes inside!
Aliisa |
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Man oh man, I have not blogged in so long! I'm not sure where to start.
Last Tuesday (the 28th) we went up to Tundra Lodge in Green Bay. It's and INDOOR water park (I guess I didn't clarify that in my last blog!). It was so much fun! We got up there a little before noon. After eating lunch and getting settled in our room we went swimming. Our room was really cool. There was a bedroom with a king-sized bed. In the living room area there was a fold-out couch. Then upstairs there were 2 queen beds and another fold-out couch. Ike and Zack slept on the fold-out couch upstairs. Emmy and Grace slept on one of the queen beds and Aleks, Elsie and I slept on the other. Mom and Dad slept in the king size bed, and Aunt Jana and our cousin Austin slept on the downstairs couch. Grampa and Gramma Klahn came for a couple hours to watch us swim. It was nice seeing them again! Gramma brought her famous (in our family, anyways!) cornflake bars which were delicious, as always, and were gone really fast! The water park had 2 slides that were REALLY fun! I think that was my favorite thing to do. You used a tube to go down, and sometimes I'd take Aleks, Emmy, Grace or Austin. They loved it too. There also was a play-ground type area, and it had water everywhere. There were little funnel type things that would fill up, and once it got so full it would tip. The biggest thing was a HUGE barrel (Ike said probably between 200-300 gallons) that would fill up. Once it got full it would tip and water would go EVERYWHERE! It was so much fun to stand under it and when it'd tip you'd get drenched. There also was a little kids pool. It was really neat because it was either 6 inches or 1 foot, so little kids could play in it without having to worry about it being too deep. Then there was a lazy river. You would sit in a tube and just float along. The current would pull you along (or you could walk too). That was Elsie's favorite thing to do. She did NOT want to play in the water, she just wanted to float. I think she even fell asleep once! Then there was a pool with a couple basketball hoops where the boys spent the majority of their time (surprise surprise!). I played with them a little bit too. But my favorite thing was either going down the slide or going on the play ground and getting SOAKED! It was so fun. We stayed until around 5pm on Wednesday.
On Saturday (the 1st) Dad had the day off. We had planned on going to a pasta dinner (to benefit orphanages in Romania) and a square dance, but some of us got sick. It ended up that Dad, Zack, Aleks, Elsie and I went to the dinner and then the dance while everyone stayed home. It was a LOT of fun. The caller was one of our favorites, Bob Asp, and we had a lot of friends there (we still have fun if it's just our family, but it is even more fun with friends too!).
On Monday night I went with Tara Schwalbach to her Orchestra practice. It's about 45 minutes from her house, and her parents like someone to go with her. So we got a chance to "catch up" on the news!(we're a little young to be gossips, so you can't call it that :-} just kidding!) A friend of ours, Emily Schommer, also goes and she usually has to bring someone with her too. So her sister Erin and I talked during their practice. I'd gone once before, and it's kind of fun! On our way home we stopped by the Siegmanns (we were going right past their house) to say hi. I didn't get home till almost 11!! It was fun.
Yesterday our friends the Petersons from Michigan came down. Well, actually only Mrs. Peterson, Corie (15), Sarah (14), Paul (11) and Benjamin (2) came down. I worked yesterday afternoon so I wouldn't have to work when they were here. We played a game, watched a really funny "Bananas" episode, and played more cards before going to bed.
Today Mom, Mrs. Peterson, Corie, Sarah and I went to get our hair cut. There is a place that trains people to cut hair with this certain technique, and they will cut our hair for free if we use the trainees (is that even a word?!) Actually, first Mom and Mrs. Peterson dropped us 3 girls off, then they went to Mrs. Peterson's dr.s appointment (well, he isn't really a doctor, he's does some kind of testing to help figure out whats wrong with you - or something like that!). Corie basically got a trim, Sarah got a trim and I got layers! (well, kind of) I wanted long layers - the shortest I wanted was at my shoulders, and then 2-3 more layers in between there and my normal length. Well the lady who cut my hair must've misunderstood me because she cut the hair in front to my shoulders (and after drying and getting a little wave is closer to my chin) and then tapered the rest of my hair down to my origianal length. I have a few layers in back, but not as many as I wanted. But I guess they have training sessions every month or every-other month, so we'll hopefully go back and I can get layers. At first I did NOT like it. I think it was because I had a certain idea of what I wanted it to look like, and since it didn't look like that I was kinda disappointed. Now it's sort of grown on me!
Tonight some of us are going to the play of "Oliver Twist". Some of our friends are in it. I can't wait! Dad is going to take those of us that want to go, and Mom and Mrs. Peterson are staying home with the rest of us.
I have to run though. We're going to work on supper and hopefully leave in about an hour.
Love, Aliisa |
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Wow, I haven't written in FOREVER! (no exaggeration whatsoever
On Monday (the 20th) Aleks and I had piano lessons in the morning. Then I went to work in the afternoon. Usually I work on Tuesday afternoons, but I switched it just for a couple weeks. Mom and I went on a date in the afternoon. We went to Wal-Mart first. I was looking in the fabric section, and found some denim for $1 a yard! (usually the cheapest denim is without a coupon is somewhere around $6 a yard). I was soo excited! It had a bit of a shine to it, not my first choice, but it works for that cheap! We bought the whole bolt, which had about 12 yards on it. Then we went to Culvers. Their flavor of the day was Peanut Butter Riple. It had peanut butter swirled in it, and then peanuts. I LOVE peanut butter/peanuts, so it was DELICIOUS!! By the time we got home it was after 7pm. We had a really nice time together. Then around 8pm my friend Maria Guenzel got dropped off. We stayed up till 2am watching movies and talking! One of the movies we watched was a favorite of mine called "The Man from Snowy River". I could probably watch it over and over and not be sick of it! (well . . . . if I watched it enough times I would get sick of it, I'm sure!) It's got horses in it, which makes it a hit!
On Tuesday after breakfast we went to a really cute little store about 15 minutes away. It's called The Lang Store and it had a lot of staionary, note cards, address books, stuff like that. We each got a thing of note cards and 3 pads of stationary. I'd like to go back there again sometime. Then we went to Kohls. Maria got a really cute shirt! There was a really cute sweater I was thinking about maybe getting, but I didn't. Then we went to a sub place to eat. It was really good. After we came home we went out in the barn with the boys to shoot some hoops. It was fun, but a little cold. She got to spend another night! We hadn't exactly planned it, but we were glad nonetheless. That night we only stayed up till midnight, we were both too tired from the night before to do any talking!
On Wednesday we went to Ben Franklins for MORE stationary!(you can tell we both like stationary!) I didn't get any, it's so close that IF I ever run out, it's not a big deal to go get more! Ike, Zack, Aleks and I brought Maria home early afternoon. We hung out at their house for a little bit before coming home. It was a very fun couple of days!
On Thursday the boys went to a funeral with their Civil Air Patrol squadron, so I was home with the girls. Mom and the boys ended up going straight from the funeral to sign language. Then that night Mom brought the boys to their Civil Air Patrol meeting, so the girls and I spent a lot of time together!
Friday was another normal day (pretty much, anyway!).
On Saturday I went over to the Siegmanns house. Dana and I are really good friends. We haven't seen each other for a while, so we planned a get-together (kind of last minute, but it worked!)I got there around 10am. They live on a dairy farm, and they were just about to start milking after I got there, so I got to help. Then we ran some errands for Mrs. Siegmann, ate lunch and then worked in the store (they have an organic store). That was a lot of fun. I've always thought that if I ever got a job, I'd want to be a cashier. I left their house around 3pm. I had a lot of fun. Dad and Ike worked Saturday morning and evening, and then got Sunday off.
On Sunday we went to the Fellowship in the morning. Then we came home and had a nice, relaxing rest of the day.
Today Aleks and I had piano lessons. Then I cleaned again. Right now Mom and Ike are out on their "date" together. Usually we have our dates with Mom and Dad on Tuesdays, but these past two weeks we switched to Monday.
Tomorrow we're going up to Green Bay to the Tundra Water Park!!!! We're all so excited! It's FINALLY here! We've been planning on going since December, and now we're going! We're spending Tuesday night at the lodge, and coming home Wednesday night (we will check out earlier on Wednesday, but they'll let us swim after!). Gramma Jackie (Mom's Mom), our step-Grampa Ken, cousing Austin and possibly aunt Jana and Uncle Jed are coming too. We haven't seen them since Christmas, so that's gonna be nice!
That's all the new news from my life!
Love, Aliisa |
) We haven't been that busy, though. Although I did have a fun week!|
On Saturday Aleks and I had our piano contests. At first I wasn't nervous at all. But once we got inside and were going to our room, my knees started shaking. When I was warming up, nothing sounded right. The pedal was weird and the keys were hard to press. With my first song, I had a memory slip and was playing some REALLY wrong notes. I kept playing whatever until I figured where to come back in. The second song was okay, and the last one was the best of all. I thought I'd get one, MAYBE two 5's (a 5 is a perfect score) and at least ONE 4. I ended up getting ALL 5's!! I was shocked. But my piano teacher said that the judge was getting everyone 5's, so it wasn't THAT great of an acomplishment, but I'm still excited! And on my theory test I got a 5 (perfect) as well! Total, 20 points. So now I got a plaque. Once you get 22 points (I think) you get a plaque, and last year I 14. You get bars on the plaque once you get 50 and 75 points, and when you get 100 points you get your name engraved. But once you graduate from highschool, you don't get points anymore. So I have 2 years left and I could get 50, POSSIBLY 75 before I graduate. Aleks got a perfect score too! We're both pretty excited.
Not much else new going on here.
Last Tuesday Mom had another ultra-sound, and the Dr. is pretty sure it's a girl! We've got some different name ideas. I love picking out names!
On Wednesday Aunt Stephanie, Sarah and the younger boys are coming over. We're HOPING to convince them to spend the night . . . . . . so bring extra clothes!
Well, lunch time.
Love, Aliisa |
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This recipe is one we really like, and is pretty easy.
Mexican Rice 1 cup long grain white rice (we've used brown rice, but it takes quite a bit longer) 1 T. vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups chicken broth 1/2 onion, finely chopped 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped 1 tomato, seeded and chopped 1 cube chicken boullion salt and pepper to taste 1/2 t. ground cumin 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (we've used dried, but you have to use less) 1 clove garlic, halved
In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and diced tomato. Season with boullion cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, and garlic. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes. Approx. 6 servings. We usually make this recipe times 2. Usually what we do is used canned tomatoes, and salsa for the tomatoes and other veggies. We've also made chicken before we make the rice, and use the broth for the rice, and then we'll cook the chicken with taco seasoning, then mix the two together and eat them like that.
I made rice last night for when we had our company over, and I didn't put the cover on right away because it was boiling pretty good. Well, then it took a while for the rice to cook because a lot of the moisture had escaped. So, just so you know that it works best with the cover on.
I'm also going to post a joke. It is REALLY funny, and everyone we tell it to loves it! Although when we told it to my Gramma, we were laughing harder watching her laugh, than at the joke itself! What's a B. C.? A very proper lady began planning a week's camping vacation for her and her Baptist Church group. She wrote to a campgroud for reservations. She wanted to make sure the campgroud was fully equipped and modern, but couldn't bring herself to write the word "toilet" in her letter. So, she decided on the old fashioned term "Bathroom Commode". One written down, she was still not comfortable. Finally, she decided on the abbreviation "B. C." and she wrote "Does your campgroud have it's own B.C.?". When the campground owner received the letter, he couldn't figure out what she meant by B. C. He showed it to several of the campers, one of whom suggested the lady was obviously referring to a Baptist Church since there was a letterhead on the paper which referred to a Baptsit Church. So, he sent this reply:
Dear Madam, The B.C. is located 9 miles from the campgroud. I admit it is quite a distance if you are in the habit of going regularly. No doubt you will be pleased to to know that it will seat 350 people at one time, and is open Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday of each week. Some folks take their lunch and make a day of it. The acoustics are very good, so everyone can hear even the quietest passages. It may interest you to know that my daughter met her husband there. We are also having a fund raiser to purchase new seats, as the old ones have holes in them. Unfortunately, my wife is ill and had not been able to attend regularly. It has been a good six months since she last went. It pains her very much not to be able to go more often. As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, especially in cold weather. Perhaps I could accompany you the first time you go, sit with you, and introduce you to all the other folks who will be there. I look forward to your visit.
"A merry heart does good, like medicine!"
Love, Aliisa |
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Today I was looking out the window at the falling snow and realized how beautiful it is! Our house is surrounded by trees, and as the snow falls it sticks to the branches. So everything around us it white. It is so pretty! I love this kind of a snow fall. It reminds me very much of the land of Narnia (we saw The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe a couple months ago). Especially as I'll be driving to piano today. One of the roads I take is lined with trees that kind of hang over the road, so when the snow sticks to it, it's just like a white tunnel!
Another thing I love about the snow, is how it is a reminder of how Jesus washes us just a white as the purest white snow. And even though we will sin and become dirty, He'll ALWAYS take us back and clean us! Isn't He a MARVELOUS GOD?!
I usually don't like the cold that comes along with the snow, but now I don't mind it!
Love, Aliisa |
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This past week has flown by! Wednesday night we went to a square dance, and it was a BLAST!! Square dances always are. We were able to do a few round dances, which is always good practice.
On Thursday I gave signed my history report. It wasn't too bad, actually. I was kinda nervous at first. Around 5:15pm we left and first I dropped the boys of in Hartland, then I went to Waukesha for piano. At first I was a little scared I'd get lost, since I didn't have any written directions. But since I'd been there before, I recognized some landmarks, and it wasn't too bad. It was fun and very helpful. Some of the kids did some skits that were really funny! I actually was in a skit too. I found out last-minute, and ended up being a meowing metronome! It was interesting. Afterwards we had ice cream. Yummy! Then I had to go pick up the boys. Since it was dark, and I wasn't 100% sure where i was going (Mom showed me on the map where to go, and I didn't have written directions) I was kinda nervous. But I was praying that the Lord would show me where to go, and He did!
Yesterday I worked at the farm for about 3 hours cleaning, so that was good. We had a friend from the Fellowship was over, and we had a really good time with her!
Today we are celebrating Zack's birthday.
Tomorrow we have round dance lessons (as I wrote before) and then "uncle" Mipps (he isn't really our uncle, he's a friend of dad's from highschool) is coming over for dinner. So that'll be fun.
Well, that's all for now!
Love, Aliisa |
It's not till tomorrow, but since Dad has today off and is working tomorrow, we're just going to celebrate it today. He'll be 14!! Yikes! So until Ike turns 15 the end of April, they'll both be 14! Weird.