Ice Storm Cometh

Sometimes it takes an ice storm and your fifteen year old to teach you about life. Life gets so busy sometimes and when you are mom..and Christmas is only days away busy doesn't even begin to describe it. When we were making preparations for the ice storm, my fifteen year old asked me quite pointedly why we never just stop... why I always have to keep going and keep busy. It really took me by surprise but I chalked it up to he will understand when he is older. Yesterday we were hit by the storm, thankfully not as severe as forecasted but bad enough to keep me home from work and the kids home from school. Suddenly I was granted an extra day, I could bake cookies, wrap gifts, clean the house and at that moment I said NO! Corey heard me say for the first time that we were going to do nothing.. just have fun and live in the moment..I had the best day I have ever had.. I enjoyed the kids, I worked on my photography, Abby worked on her art and Corey discovered that he could blog as well.
Sometimes it takes a fifteen year old and an ice storm to wake you up to life.....thats a very good thing!!

Snowflakes

As I sit here watching the snow fall, our first measurable snow , I am reminded of how fast time flies. I cannot believe we are entering yet another Christmas season. Christmas is always a mixed time for our family, experiencing both joy for our blessings, and a profound sadness from missing our littlest angel Nora. We decorated her grave and put up our angel tree in memory of her. We will be attending two ceremonies this year in her honor. The first will be this Saturday, at the Angel of Hope candlelight vigil for those who have lost a child. The second will be next Tuesday at the Love Lights ceremony. Grandmom J bought a Love Light in honor of Nora and her mother, my grandmother. The Love Light Ceremony is to honor all who have died so that we may remember.

Some good news finally!!!

Thought I would share Corey's freshman pic. Corey is starting to have more good days than bad days. For that, we are eternally grateful. He will just spend winter resting, no sports. He feels if he continues to heal than he will play football again. Bear and I have decided that this is up to him. He turned 15...wow can't believe that. 15 years old.. I don't know when that happened. He has a girlfriend now, her name is Katherine. He took her to homecoming and they have been dating ever since. Here is a pic from that night:
Corey is also spending alot of free time helping with the elementary after school program. He wants to be a teacher so this really helps him with that goal. He loves the kids and loves reading to them and helping with their homework.
Abby is doing great. She has her first piano recital Tuesday. I will be sure to post pics from that. She continues to excel in school and music. She recently participated in an Eco-Meet with her TAG group. She had lots of fun!!!

Difficult times

I have to apologize for not updating the blog. We have been dealing with some pretty heavy stuff and sometimes even scary. Corey got a concussion, a severe one, in a football game two weeks ago. So far, we have made three trips to the ER. It has been horrible to watch Corey suffer. He has been pulled out of football until next year. In my heart I never want him to go back but I know that football is his love. Yesterday we went back to the ER. Last night at dinner, Corey said something that brought both Bear and myself to tears. Corey is not sure he wants to go back to playing. He realizes the severity of the injury and is not sure he can face this again, or face a worse condition.

When I lost Nora seven years ago, you become delusional thinking that you have lost one and you won't lose another one but we came close. With everything the doctors have told us, we came close. Today is Corey's birthday. I am so thankful to have Corey and to know that in time he will hopefully heal from this injury. Please keep Corey in your prayers.

Our Multi-musical Girl!!

Abby has continued to amaze me with all she does...she is now playing piano and the trombone. She practices both and will even be in a recital in October for piano. Abby also is part of Math Olympiads and she will participate in the Eco-meet challenge. We are very proud of her.

Woohoooo First Game

The Columbus Wildcats won their first game, 52-8 against the Highland Huskies. It was an awesome game to watch and hear, for the first time we got to hear an announcer at the game. How cool was it to hear Corey's name rumble across the field. Corey played all game, both defense and offense in a variety of positions. We even got to see Corey in the position of Running Back.. but I still love to watch the kid block. The Wildcats stunned the Huskies in their season opener!!

Abby's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Abby's birthday. She was so happy to have grandmom here and for Grandmom to make her famous holy cow cake! Dad made stromboli and I made Abby's fav spinach artichoke dip. She got lots of fab gifts including a bird she named Wally. Wally is adorable and already is just loving his new home, not so sure of Ellie but Ellie is not so sure of him either. I can hardly believe Abby is turning 11.. where does the time go?

First High School Football Pic

Just the proud mom...

Back to School

Well that time of year is upon us again. This year Corey and Abby have entered a new year of school, friends and fun. Corey is a freshman in High School ( really, did I just type that?) and Abby is a fifth grader. Both were super excited that Grandmom got to share their back to school moments. My mom recently moved out to be with us and the kids could not be happier.
They both had an excellent first week. Corey was slightly overwhelmed with the demands of high school but that was quickly quelled by the excitement of JV football. We had his first scrimmage game which was fun to watch. We look forward to a great season of Wildcat Football.
Abby is looking forward to all of her academic endeavors, including Math Olympiads and the Invention Convention. She is also planning to join band this year as well as piano lessons.
The calendar is full , it is go time!!!

After the flood.....

The water is receding and the damage is being assessed. Its not pretty. It is one of the saddest things I have seen. Communities all over Iowa devastated by flood. The pictures have been heart wrenching. Last night, a train from Tysons fell into the river. It would seem the bridge just could not take the pressure that was applied to it by the flood. The engineer had minor injuries and was flown to U of I. I have added another photo gallery to show some of the things we are seeing. I have included pictures from around Columbus Junction. When looking at the pictures of plants, note the discoloration that occurs in the middle. That would be how high the water actually rose. The one picture which looks like a lake, that is actually a field that is now under a significant amount of mud. We definitely know how lucky we were to come out of this unscathed. I hope that with all of our support, the community will be able to recover.

Great Flood of 2008

Just wanted to share some of the pics that we were able to get. Police are discouraging photos of flood so its not the easiest task to get pics. The top picture is of I80 East. The second picture is the gravel road down the street from us and yes there is a road through there, just seems none of us can remember where it belongs. The third picture would be Bears way to work.. guess who is staying home. The last picture is going to Columbus Junction, yet another reason to just stay home for now. Tyson is in the water now. Sending prayers to all flood victims. We were very lucky that the Iowa River spared us.

Welcome

With all of todays technology, its time that this family came into the 21st century. There has been so much happening, either in Iowa or in our personal lives, that it would be so much easier to share via a blog. So from my cornfield in Iowa comes our personal blog where you will see our contemplations. You will share our life as we know it. So come and sit, join us and share this adventure we call life.