Tuesday April 26

Happy Birthday MISSY!! We sure were happy to have a little girl 33 years ago. We're still happy to have her. This am we went for coffee at Jack and Gloria's. We looked at Matt and Audrey's home. and a small yellow trailer by the lower resaca. We bought a directory of the residents of Four Seasons and went for our last/first swim. Denny said he didn't think he had ever swam in the pool. Lila took us to the airport at noon. Uneventful flight to Houston and Omaha. Now back to the real work ...real world. Thank you Jesus for the great vacation. He was in it every step of the way. I brought back a scripture booklet with 365 verses. I need His encouragement. Jeremiah 32:17 Ah,Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.

Monday April 25

Another great day in the Valley. We took Jack and Gloria to breakfast at Denny's. At Four Seasons we started to clean. We had sandwiches for lunch and went to the Zoo after lunch. Denny had never been there. The last time I was there we got a wheel chair for mom and pushed her around. Some of the exhibits there are of vanishing animals. We saw a baby addax born. It is one on the vanishng animals. Pretty cool, we didn't stay to watch it stand, but we saw the mom give birth and lick the baby. Denny got the bug and started taking movies with his phone ... for the Grands. We fixed scotta's for supper. "Scotta" get out of the refrigerator/freezer we are unplugging it tomorrow. Pretty good meal. Hot tub at night.

Sunday April 24 2011

We left for church about 8:00, stopped at McD's and got breakfast, Then to Christ Church of the Valley for 9:30 service. Wayne and Kay go there. It was a nice service. We stopped at Wal-Mart and got steaks to grill for supper. We napped at home and then headed to Boca Chica Beach, thinking it would not be as busy as South Padre Island. WRONG!! This is a picture of the beach in December with Bruce N. running the shore. Now imagine a tailgating party with vehicles backed up to 30 feet from water stretching up and down the beach for 2-3 miles. The vehicles were about 10 feet apart with the kids playing in the beach directly in front of the car/truck/SUV. Denny wondered what they needed four wheel drive for in Texas. I said maybe driving in the sand? There were people/cars as far as the eye could see. We grilled when we got home. Then hot tub, Another great day in the valley. More things checked off our list of things to do.

Saturday April 23

I had shrimp and cocktail sauce for a snack for breakfast. Thanks Nancy for leaving them in the freezer. Denny doesn't care for shrimp. We left for Progresso about 10:30. We ate at Garcias and bought vanilla, and treasures for grands. At home we sat on the poop dock and then went for a bike ride around Four Seasons. The plan was to ride to C&C wings then Walmart. We went past Wayne and Kay's and stopped to visit. They told us that there was free dancing at Winter Haven 7:30 - 10:30 Yes, that time was right. Remember the median age was 76. We ate a t C&C great wings. Denny said best he's ever had. (For me it was the best, t00. BUT I've only tried the bad ones when we ate when we were at Dubuque family Christmas.) Then we went to the dance. Denny laughed alot at the comment that Matt texted, " dancing ... with the old folks?" After we shut the place down (at 10:30) we headed home and to the hot tub. Denny is wondering why the boys didn't respond to the question if any one knew how to do the Tennessee Waltz. We laughed a lot. Maybe 30 people were there. Maybe 5 in their ninties. 25 in 70's and 80's and 4-5 of us spring chicks in our 60's. The final dance was a circle dance featuring the singing of a medley of patriotic songs. Speaking of chicks, Missy and Phillip have hatched out 6 from the 12 incubated eggs. HURRAH!!

Friday April 22

YEA!! We're here! Slept in until 9. That is unheard of for me. We rode bikes around Four Seasons. Luke loaded the app Yelp or Places on Denny's Iphone and we used it to locate a place for Mexican with in bike riding distance, but we didn't take into consideration how busy the road 802 was. So it was actually with in bike pushing distance. We ate great chips and salsa. Denny found out he likes Charro Beans. Home for naps. Then to South Padre Beach. It took a long time to get from the Port Isabel turn off to the bridge. Busy place with Mexicans up for Holy week. We finally found a place to park and had a great time on the beach!! This is the first time the water as been warm enough for me to enjoy. Ate at Cafe on the Beach. Then the long slow process to drive down the main drag to the bridge. Slow moving traffic and an hour later we crossed the bridge. Hot tub when we got to Four Seasons. Great day in the Valley.

Thursday April 21

No coffee at folks, Denny had a bank meeting in IG at 7:15. I drove the Prius to Arthur so we could take it to the airport. Then he dropped me off at school about 7 am. I asked the principal if I could take a half day personal leave to get to the airport early to see if we could switch our ticket, (so I wouldn't have to pretend I was Dennis Johnson). Missy came in to sub for me at 12:30 and we left for Omaha. We tried to think of all the things we might have to deal with, BUT Cheryl the nice Continental ticket lady, just retyped a ticket with my name... no extra charge. BOY were we relieved!! She made our day!!! Plus thanks to Missy for subbing for me. Lila Q. a Four Seasons neighboor picked us up at the airport about 10:30 and had keys to the trailer (which I had forgotten at school.) So many people covered our backs for the trip to Brownsville. SO glad to be down here. There were cold drinks in the refrig ... Thanks L&K ... So we chilled out on the deck ... in 80 degree weather ... then went to the hot tub about 11:30. Nice night in the Valley. SO GLAD TO BE HERE.

Wed April 20

Coffee at folks. Little A came with me and Denny took her home when he left for work from the folks. Missy subbed for KB today at HS. She read over my log from the math practicum. When she got home from school she corrected my mistakes so I think it is about ready to submit. Only have to add the textbook publisher. Another assignment almost done for 407. Last day is May 2. Denny came home and went to Julia's North place to bring the tractor home and haul a few trees to the stream. After bringing the tractor back he was going to print our boarding passes for our flight to Brownsville on Thursday. Uffta, both of the passes came out in his name. We tried to reach some one to ask, but it is all computerized. Oh, My, We didn't sleep the best that night! I thought I may as well work 'cause I wasn't sleeping anyway so I worked on an IEP 12:15- 1:30. We talked to Jane B Gail's travel agent and she said if they could change the ticket it would probably cost a couple hundred. (Picture is grands eating breakfast during Christmas get together. What a happy crowd.)

Tuesday April 19 14920

Coffee at folks. It was snowing huge clumps or wet snow. Awful drive into school. I took 300th east and went thru Arthur. Slippery highways...muddy soft gravel. At the end of school I worked with Donna and Cathy. Another form that I need to learn how to do...exit seniors from the system, or transfer them to another system if they are going on to school. Uffta. We worked until after 5:30. I am amazed at what I have to learn. At home I submitted 2 more responses for 407. Only 2 projects @100 point value each,out of 520 points total left. Asparagus is looking good during this snowy icky season. Denny fixed rice and sausage for supper with canned asparagus. Great meal, would have been better with fresh asparagus.

Monday April 18

Coffee at folks before school. Regular day. Every Monday I feel overwhelmed because I don't know how to best help my students learn. I just need to take each hour as it comes. After school I headed home and finished another 407 assignment. The assignment Missy helped me with got 25/25 points. :) Dad went up to fix the tractor and pull trees down to the creek with the 4 wheeler. Nice phone call from Luke as they try to make wedding plans. I'm trying to upload Torren's dance video, I'm not quite skilled enough to do it yet. Denny went out and got our passports out of the safe so we can take them to Brownsville.

Sunday April 17

Happy Birthday EVAN!! 5 YEARS OLD!!! I picked daffodils for church. Then took A&E in for donuts. I help with the 2-5 year old class. So I got to witness first hand the sweetness between brother and sister while teacher Kim told the Bible story today. We had 16 children. After church we went to Bomgaars to get the broken part for the tractor. Then birthday party out in the coop with GGma & GGpa, Gma Laurie& Gpa Alan, 4 Remers, and us. Very nice party. Denny worked on sending out 45 thank yous for Awana workers, inviting them to our home for a hot dog roast April 30. Prayer time at church. Oh ya great special music Phillip and Stuart on Electrical guitar, Kara on drums, Sandy on keyboard, Leah singing. Praise the Lord

Saturday April 16

Evan and I went to Carroll so I could do WW. Got a couple things, but mostly a quick trip. At home Missy and 2 HS guys were painting the furnace room. YEA!! Denny had called Schau's and they pulled my Malibu out of the ditch. I helped paint. The kids were so good while we painted. Phillip and K cleaned out the south side of the garden shed. While the kids napped Missy helped be refine an assignment and submit it for 407 class. Denny cut more trees across from Miles and hauled them to the stream. When I came out to see hims the hose on the tractor broke. We had Trader Joe's rice and stirfried Orange chicken for supper. YUM.

Friday April 15

Thank you, Jesus. for Safety. I lost control of the Malibu on 300th street as I drove to school. This is the post I wrote to one of the gals in my 407 class who lives in (tornado) Mapleton earlier Friday morning. The text book question that we were to write about was ...How are functions used on our everyday life and work? ...
Shari, our thoughts and prayers have been with you. I asked Cathy right away about your situation. Glad to hear your house was standing. The functions of everyday life will be new deep water for all of you to go through. So many questions involving, “What is the next thing I need to do in the operation of my life?” My son in law and daughter moved to Parkersburg a year after their tornado. They saw first hand the restoration of “stuff” takes a long time; life itself is irreplaceable. What a hard reminder to appreciate those around us and the many ways we are blessed. The accident served as a reminder to me that life itself is irreplaceable; I am reminded to appreciate my family and friends and the many ways I am blessed. May you know that I love and appreciate each of you. Denny gave me a ride to school. Uffta. Kind of shook me up. After school I got a ride to the bank. At home we had the neighbors down before bedtime for the little ones.

Thursday April 14

Coffee at folks, Ind. Living made bars and spaghetti, and Parmesan bread, 8th hour made sloppy joes and parsley potatoes. I was at school til after 6. At home Denny went up and worked a little on trees in the terrace. I have 8 responses to do for 407. I did 3 last night. It seems like I have to say the same "blah, blah, blah". What we have to do for a credit. Included is a picture of Howard and Anabel's great grands. Pretty cute bunch. Pretty hard to the them all looking and smiling. Lots of movement. Lots of love for these little ones. (Looking forward to the Missouri Johnsons having a new little one in June :) )

Wed April 13

I didn't stop over at folks for coffee, Just not feeling quite right. Early out at school. We reported in on our professional development groups. It was a good afternoon. One groups video clip was a stitch. Senior students spent the day cleaning at Mapleton. Awana family awards night. Huge crowd. Ate 50 PH pizzas. Jensens went to circus today. Look at this cute couple!!!

Tuesday April 12

I went for coffee at folks. Anabel did have chemo yesterday. At school I was feeling a little under the weather and I went home. Denny went to motorcycle meeting and to Lakeview Hayloft for supper with friends. Hehad taken the Harley into town, but didn't drive it out to eat. It was great to hear about the Missouri Johnson's weekend on their blogsite. It sounded like a lot of smooshing to me. Good full life. Lots to be thankful for.

Monday April 11

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILLIP!! We sure enjoyed the Birthday fruit pizza and lasagna Missy made for you. We're so glad you are hanging your hat here. I went to folks for coffee. Anabel's chemo is set up for later than planned. The IEP I had a 8:30 was a little tricky. After school I stayed and did school work for tomorrow. Denny went out after work and cut trees from the terraces in Julia's north field. Nice phone call fro Mandy on her way to work.

Sunday April 10

MY how fast time goes. Donuts with Evan today. Denny went to get Stangls. After church we set up tables for Awana supper. Then to omelet for First Responders. In the afternoon I didn't get much done. I wanted to get another assignment done, but no luck. Denny and Phillip went to Brian B.'s. A tornado went through his farm.

Saturday April 9

Happy birthday Josh!

Denny worked in Odebolt this am. I am working on 407. I copied this from Matt's blog ( http://www.caringbridge.org/ia/matthudson/ ) the day I ran the trail in the wind. I'm just getting it copied and pasted here today. "Blessing from Mary Jo...May the Lord bless and keep you this week. May the winds of the Holy Spirit blow over and around you, refreshing you and empowering you. May you depend upon the Lord for your strength and joy. May you rest in His arms and wait for his direction before you move to the right or to the left. God bless you."

In the afternoon Denny finished the green house. So cool. Then I went to IG and watched 2 of my students in the grand march for prom. NICE gals. The best part of the day was going to Denison to eat Mexican with Bruce and Gail. Missy had sick family in her house today. A tornado went through Mapleton doing a lot of damage, but no one hurt. Brian B. farm got hit by tornado, too. The weather made it truly a wild prom, not just the name. The prom was at Skate Palace and students spent over a hour in bathrooms during tornado sirens. Then at 10, they moved the dance to the high school where there was a basement to go to for shelter. UFFTA! Luckily no tornado in IG.

Friday April 8

No coffee this am. At school by 6:45 to go to conference on transitioning students from resource room in HS to future out of HS. Nice morning info, afternoon was not the good. Home to IG by 4:30. I think Missy met Shannon's folks to hand off Owen and Noah, then took Laurie to meet Alan. She's had a busy few days with 2 more little ones. Kind of like when we had foster kids with us for those 4 months. 2 kids 5, 1 kids 4, 1 kids 3, one kid 2. Fun full days.

Thursday April 7

Happy Birthday Micki!! It was fun to be in Denver with you last June. Can hardly wait until that little girl arrives. Went to coffee at folks. Laurie J. spent the night and is here for a couple days with her 5 grand kids. That'll make her sleep good at night. Denny and I ate supper in the green house. I know we have no life. Denny is out putting the roof on to stay. I'm headed out there with my 407 textbook. Kinda different. Tomorrow the 3 certified SPED teachers are headed to SC for a transition conference. First time I have gotten a substitute for my classes. Nice quick call from Mandy tonight. Love to hear from my kids.

Wed. April 6

Brooks is ONE!!! Coffee at Folks in am. After school I brought 3 guys home. CM wanted to know if they would get paid for coming to B's birthday party. About 5 The folks came over, they hadn't been here 5 minutes, and Brooks got sick, so they headed home. GGny hadn't held Brooks, but she was in the room when he tossed up his cookies. Poor little guy, he hadn't been sick during the day. He sat in his high chair while we ate. Missy had fixed yummy mac and cheese, green beans and applesauce. The guys ate a lot. Denny headed to Awana. I worked on an IEP, then to Arthur. Cute little black lamb.

Tuesday April 3 14509

I remember "wispy" hair during nap time. I used to love to nap with my little girls, but I didn't like the wispy hair in my face. Looking back, the wispy hair is pretty cute. It's cute even in grown up daughters. Coffee at folks this am. After school I ran the trail. Then home and I started a fire in the coop while I read for 407. I put a fry pan with mushrooms, onions, and polish sausage. Andrew and Shannon left off Owen and Noah. Missy will be watching them for a few days. She'll be busy. Denny took fax to Howard and Anabel to have the initial for funeral home. Then Denny cut and started to put clear roof on the green house. Such a great husband.

Monday April 4

Happy birthday Maynard! Hope your golfing season is going good. Anabel was suppose to have chemo today, but her blood count didn't look good enough. Her platelets were low. They will try next Monday. After school I ran the trail. This is the 4th time I used "MapmyRun" or something like that. Denny had looked at the program last night. I don't know if he reset something, but every 2 minutes it would tell me how long I had been running, how far I had run, what my overall pace was, what my present time per mile was, UFFTA! too much information. I didn't really appreciate all that talking, but I didn't want to take the time and figure out how to reset it. (And it wasn't because my pace was SO fast). At night I worked on another 407 assignment. Wish I knew more about math. All this talk about functions, rational numbers, operators, algorims, additive(absolute) and relative (proportional) perspectives, divide both numbers by teng (not a typo, monomials and polynomials, preoperative and constitutive functions makes my head spin. What ever happened to "rithmetic"? Some of my students struggle counting money and telling time. Some days I struggle with that too.

Sunday April 3

Donuts before SS. Nice church service. Sat in front of Patrick, Geo. Helped with Zachary, Evan with Denny. After church we went to IG. IEP stuff at school, nails at Bomgaars. Nap, Denny grilled meatloaf burgers witih ranch. I finished another 407 assignment. Denny (soft hands) put more screws in the greenhouse. We went to the folks on the 4 wheeler and got a door for the green house. Denny gave little ones a 4 wheeler ride to see a turtle. Folks came over to see basement floor, green house, and the lambs being fed. Pretty cute. The folks missed seeing the "arch way" that Phillip put up between the two evergreen trees on the way to the bunk house. I'm not sure what color I'll paint it, maybe blue. It looks nice, too. They didn't have prayer time tonight, SS appreciation dinner.

April 2 14463

I worked on Morningside 407 from 7 until 5 today. Just got done assignments for next week. UFFTA! Ick. Denny cleaned the house in the morning and in the afternoon he started on the rag-tag green house for me. About 6 I pulled some dead plants off the flower beds. Then I cut a bunch of pussywillow for school and church. Now I'm back at the computer trying to work on an IEP. Denny's aunt Millie died this am in Missouri. Pictures are from state BB tourney and ride home.

Friday April 1

Coffee at folks. E&A went along. Dropped car off at Don's. Drama at school. CB to grocery store. Fixed microwave with K&A. Visit with Mr. M and Vicki. After school I ran the trail. At home Missy had watched Master kids today. I gave Darren a tour through our house. Then to study. Read in Coop until 6:30 then worked two hours on Morningside 407. Denny had supper ready since 6:30. He worked on moving things back into the newly floored rooms. Looks good. Denny is sending back a signed proposal.