So the kids are back into the full swing of school. Cam is in the 4th grade, Anna is in 2nd and Julia is in preschool. When did I get so old? I remember 4th grade. I had Mr. Sisson as a teacher and it was a blast. We did 2 camping trips, got to sell chocolate and I had a huge crush on Chad Aerts. Wonder if Cam has had a crush on a girl yet. I dunno. Boys are a bit more quiet about that stuff. :-)
Believe it or not, I remember 2nd grade as well. I had a teacher named Mrs. Barrons. I don't remember her being super nice or super mean, just plain. 2nd grade was my first year in Pentwater and I struggled making friends and finding my niche. Anna has talked about a boyfriend, which I politely squashed. I don't think it's appropriate for 2nd graders to be "dating". Hahaha!
Preschool is a wee bit harder to recall. I do remember loving to paint, eat lunch and ride the bus. I'm pretty sure I remember doing a field trip with one of our teachers to Consumer's and riding in her VW Rabbit. She had red hair too. Other than that, it's pretty much a blur. I guess that was 30 years ago, so it's bound to be a little fuzzy. Julia love preschool and has a few friends that she talks about. Gabby and Jordan come up a lot in our conversations.
I sure hope my kids enjoy school as much as I did. I really thought of it as a social thing not so much of a learning thing. Which is a bummer. Oh well. Can't change it, just have to learn from it.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Wag'nCoop is still undefeated!
Just a small soccer FYI...Cam's team won again today! 4-0! We are still undefeated. Woohoo! I was so proud of my girls (Rachel, Ashleigh, and Miranda) for stepping it up and really kicking it in gear. They could have scored a few times, but the goalie (who was a girl!) was really good! It was a great game to watch and Mike and I were really excited to see our kids play so well. I will try to have some pictures from next week's game. GO PURPLE!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Zoo and Sunrise pics
I took this picture on the way to school today. The sun was an amazing shade of reddish pink and it was coming over the corn field that was being combined. For those around here, it's on Chauvez road, and I'm pretty sure it was Thurow's tractors. This picture doesn't really do the colors justice. It was really amazing! The rest of the pictures were taken at John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids. The entire 4th grade went and it was fun. I had a small group of 4 boys and we really enjoyed it. :-) Of course the best part for boys is seeing an animal poop, pee, scratch it's butt or smell another animal's butt. (Which I happen to see more than once!) Ahh...to be 10 years old again. 
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Birthday thoughts
Tomorrow is my birthday. Remember the days of anticipation for the day that was all yours? The day that mom made your favorite breakfast, the day when you got to take cupcakes to school and got to be the cool kid for the day, they day that you never wanted to end because it was yours? I wish that birthdays would be like that again. As an adult some of that magic is gone. Another birthday means another year of gray hair or a few more wrinkles. Another year of thinking “How did I get this old and uncool?” But with being uncool I’ve learned a lot.
I’ve become more patient and kind towards others (unless you happen to be in front of me on Ludington Ave. and don’t know where you want to turn and driving too damned slow!) and I try to put myself in other’s shoes a bit more. I take great pleasure in the triumphs of my children. Seeing Cam score a goal or block a great shot in soccer or when Anna gets an “A” on her spelling tests or when Julia learned how to write her name. Those are the things that mean a lot to me. Yeah, I still think about changing the world with my presentations on hearing loss, but if I can get 3 kiddos to turn out has happy, healthy, productive adults than I’ve made the world a better place. As a parent, I’m still learning every day. I try to do the best and hope that my kids see my efforts and appreciate them as adults. I know I didn’t give my parents enough credit for their efforts. Being a parent is hard work!
Wayne thinks that I’m too serious most of the time and I don’t relax. I tell him that if I relaxed any more I’d be a pool of jello. After 11 years of marriage, I’ve learned that’s it’s better to disagree than to try to prove whose right. I’ve conceded that Wayne will always be the better money manager (unlike me who sent a credit card payment to the wrong Discover card account), he will always be a better house cleaner and repair man. I on the other hand, handle all the kid’s stuff better. Scheduling appointments, running here and there for all sorts of things, volunteering for anything that interests me and taking care of others are the things that I excel at. Those are things that Wayne either doesn’t care to do or don’t float his boat. He could never stand up in front of 500+ people and talk. That’s the kind of thing I love!
Speaking of love…something else I’ve learned is that no matter how hard we try, we all put conditions on our love that we give. Like the kids, I know they love me, but they will show it more if they get things that they want (like video games, Webkinz, and eating out to dinner!). I think the person that says that they love unconditionally is lying. No one does. We all feel better about our loved ones when they do the things we want them to do. It’s part of being human. I’ve also learned that no matter how much you love someone, it’s not going to make them a better person, heal their wounds or keep them from being ill. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting to give them everything in my heart to help them. I would give my last breath if it meant saving the life of someone I loved. (Kinda dark, eh? lol!)
So to wrap it all up, there won’t be any balloons, cake or ice cream tomorrow. But I will still feel like the day is all mine, like it was meant for me.
I’ve become more patient and kind towards others (unless you happen to be in front of me on Ludington Ave. and don’t know where you want to turn and driving too damned slow!) and I try to put myself in other’s shoes a bit more. I take great pleasure in the triumphs of my children. Seeing Cam score a goal or block a great shot in soccer or when Anna gets an “A” on her spelling tests or when Julia learned how to write her name. Those are the things that mean a lot to me. Yeah, I still think about changing the world with my presentations on hearing loss, but if I can get 3 kiddos to turn out has happy, healthy, productive adults than I’ve made the world a better place. As a parent, I’m still learning every day. I try to do the best and hope that my kids see my efforts and appreciate them as adults. I know I didn’t give my parents enough credit for their efforts. Being a parent is hard work!
Wayne thinks that I’m too serious most of the time and I don’t relax. I tell him that if I relaxed any more I’d be a pool of jello. After 11 years of marriage, I’ve learned that’s it’s better to disagree than to try to prove whose right. I’ve conceded that Wayne will always be the better money manager (unlike me who sent a credit card payment to the wrong Discover card account), he will always be a better house cleaner and repair man. I on the other hand, handle all the kid’s stuff better. Scheduling appointments, running here and there for all sorts of things, volunteering for anything that interests me and taking care of others are the things that I excel at. Those are things that Wayne either doesn’t care to do or don’t float his boat. He could never stand up in front of 500+ people and talk. That’s the kind of thing I love!
Speaking of love…something else I’ve learned is that no matter how hard we try, we all put conditions on our love that we give. Like the kids, I know they love me, but they will show it more if they get things that they want (like video games, Webkinz, and eating out to dinner!). I think the person that says that they love unconditionally is lying. No one does. We all feel better about our loved ones when they do the things we want them to do. It’s part of being human. I’ve also learned that no matter how much you love someone, it’s not going to make them a better person, heal their wounds or keep them from being ill. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting to give them everything in my heart to help them. I would give my last breath if it meant saving the life of someone I loved. (Kinda dark, eh? lol!)
So to wrap it all up, there won’t be any balloons, cake or ice cream tomorrow. But I will still feel like the day is all mine, like it was meant for me.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Coach Wagner and the Sportsmanship Award
Today at Cameron's soccer game his regular coach had to leave early to go to work. So, that means that Assistant Coach Wagner (ahem, that's me!) had to take over the team for the last half. Needless to say I was a bit worried about my coaching skills. I moved a few kids around and let them try out some new positions and skills they've learned. Well, once the 4th quarter rolled around I moved my 3 best players into the forward positions. Not thinking about charging up the score, but merely letting my players play where they like to. One of the more "experienced" refs came over and asked if I really needed to do that. I was sort of lost. Well, we were winning 7-1. Guess there's no reason to do that. So I moved one of our best players back to defense for the last quarter. No biggie. Just a rookie coach mistake in my book.
After the kids did their handshakes with the other team, they sit with the refs and talk about who should get the "Best Sportsman" award for the game. In a weird twist, the head ref gave ME the award. I was shocked. I had no idea! He was very proud that I made that move and that I didn't try to run the score on the other team who is obviously not as skilled as us. YAY! I'm really proud of the way my players did today, especially the girls. Anyways, just wanted to share that. GO WAG'N COOP! (That's our team name!) LOL!
After the kids did their handshakes with the other team, they sit with the refs and talk about who should get the "Best Sportsman" award for the game. In a weird twist, the head ref gave ME the award. I was shocked. I had no idea! He was very proud that I made that move and that I didn't try to run the score on the other team who is obviously not as skilled as us. YAY! I'm really proud of the way my players did today, especially the girls. Anyways, just wanted to share that. GO WAG'N COOP! (That's our team name!) LOL!
Friday, September 28, 2007
The newest me!
Ok, it’s time for another shameless plug about me. :-) I went back in my blog to see if I could find pictures of me at my heaviest. Well, lucky for you, I found one. Haha! In the split picture above, the one of me on the left was taken in Salt Lake City in March of this year and the one on the right was taken just today. By all estimations I think I weighted around 205 possibly more. Truly frightening! And to think that I didn’t think I was that big. Well, I think that’s the sneaky part of weight gain. It happens slowly for most people and you don’t realize what’s going on till it’s gotten out of hand. The other issue I feel like I have is something I’ve deemed as reverse anorexia. Like, when I look in the mirror, I didn’t see a woman who weighted 200+ pounds. I saw a happy, chubby girl who wasn’t OBESE. Well, after checking out my BMI (body mass index) at the CDC website, I realized that I was in fact obese. How the hell did that happen?? Me? Obese? Nah, can’t be. That’s when I knew that I had to make changes. People that see me now can’t believe that I was that heavy. But the next question they ask is how I did it. I cut out all sodas not even diet stuff. For me, soda makes me bloated and retain water. I stopped snacking. Yeah, that one was hard. But again, my desire to wear a decent bathing suit or feel really confident in fitted clothing overtakes my desire to eat that Little Debbie snack cake or that bowl of chips. I lost 3 pounds when I was in North Carolina. I was busy with stuff and kept occupied and the weight fell off. Didn’t hurt that I didn’t have a fridge to keep stuff in in my room. LOL! I also did a ton of walking when I was there.
So, enough of that…you want to know where I am now. I currently weigh 167, which makes my weight loss a grand total of 38 pounds. WOOOOHOO! So for me, that makes me about a size 14. Although the Levi’s I bought last weekend, I can pull off without unbuttoning (heh, that’s with silky undies on too…ladies you know what I’m talking about…jeans and pants go on a little easier with slippery undies on. :-) ) I figure I have at least another 40 pounds to go. I’m sure it will only get harder, but it’s all worth it. Thanks to all my friends who have been so supportive of me especially my sister in law Tracy. She’s been a real encouragement. So that’s it! I’ll keep you updated if anything else exciting happens!!
So, enough of that…you want to know where I am now. I currently weigh 167, which makes my weight loss a grand total of 38 pounds. WOOOOHOO! So for me, that makes me about a size 14. Although the Levi’s I bought last weekend, I can pull off without unbuttoning (heh, that’s with silky undies on too…ladies you know what I’m talking about…jeans and pants go on a little easier with slippery undies on. :-) ) I figure I have at least another 40 pounds to go. I’m sure it will only get harder, but it’s all worth it. Thanks to all my friends who have been so supportive of me especially my sister in law Tracy. She’s been a real encouragement. So that’s it! I’ll keep you updated if anything else exciting happens!!
Quick Pics
Julia and I were messing with the camera yesterday and this is what we ended up with. Julia liked the look of the leaves on the grass, so she snapped the 2nd shot. I took the one of us together. Go Herd!Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
North Carolina and my conference
So, I've had tons of people ask me about my trip to North Carolina and that's when I realized I hadn't written about it. Well....
I arrived in one piece with all my luggage. YAY! Spent the afternoon driving around Raleigh and Chapel Hill. If you didn't know, I had went to NC 3 years ago and fell in love with it. I'm still in love with the area. There's something about it that just makes me want to move. No, I'm not packing up and leaving, but I do feel something special when I'm there. I'll tell you more about that later. So, it was a nice afternoon of checking out where things were and what I wanted to do later.
I headed towards my hotel in Chapel Hill and then spent the rest of the night sleeping. I was really tired and the bed was so comfortable! I knew that I had a busy day on Thursday and would need my rest. I was so excited about my tour of DECI in Durham! I know I wrote about them before, so I won't explain what/who they are again. I managed to find my way to Durham and to their facility and only missed one turn! Tim met me at the door and we headed to lunch. I had a great time discussing just about everything with Tim. He's beyond the sweetest guy I've ever met and he's turned into a really great friend. We joke about drinking beers and fishing with our kids. I keep trying to get him up here because the fishing is so much better in MI. HAHA!
After lunch Tim took me to Lynn who gave me the tour. We hit it off really well as we both have the same feelings about special needs/handicapped people in the workplace. DECI was amazing and they are doing some great things there. I was really impressed. I would *LOVE* to work for a facility like theirs. I learned a lot and am grateful to Lynn and Tim for giving me part of their busy day. Thanks guys!
Um, so you're wondering what I did with the rest of my Thursday? No? Too bad...I'm going to tell you. I went and got another tattoo. Well, not a whole new one, but I added to one that I have (see photo below). I wanted to add Julia's Chinese name to my current tattoo that has Cam and Anna's names. So, that's what I did. Along with a ladybug and 2 little orange flowers (orange is Julia's favorite color!) The girl who did the tattoo was so cool and I really enjoyed working with her. Lacie was a riot and sure wish she was closer!!
Friday and Saturday were spent at my conference. My presentation was later on Friday and I had a good time attending sessions and meeting people. The conference was really geared towards adults and people who had lost their hearing later in life. I met some pretty impressive women with hearing loss who would make excellent role models for Anna and Julia, but they live in NC! Oh well. I have their contact info and are more than willing to help me out. :-) My presentation went well. There were about 300 attendees to the conference and I had about 15. Pretty good numbers in my Professional Conference Goer opinion.
I mentioned my obsession with North Carolina. It's more about the feelings I get from the people when I'm there. Everyone from the lady that waited on me at Belk's to the people I met at the conference, and everyone in between. It was beyond friendly. I don't think people here in MI are so nice. Could be because MI has the highest unemployment rate and the most people moving out of state? NC has the most people moving into their state. I can see why. Just based on my experiences with public, it was so inviting and welcoming. I had a great time and I can't wait to go back. Oh yeah...the weather there doesn't hurt either. It was beautiful and so warm. Oh yeah...the smell of the pines was intoxicating! I loved that too. :-)
So that was my trip in a nutshell. Just a shame that NC is so far away....
I arrived in one piece with all my luggage. YAY! Spent the afternoon driving around Raleigh and Chapel Hill. If you didn't know, I had went to NC 3 years ago and fell in love with it. I'm still in love with the area. There's something about it that just makes me want to move. No, I'm not packing up and leaving, but I do feel something special when I'm there. I'll tell you more about that later. So, it was a nice afternoon of checking out where things were and what I wanted to do later.
I headed towards my hotel in Chapel Hill and then spent the rest of the night sleeping. I was really tired and the bed was so comfortable! I knew that I had a busy day on Thursday and would need my rest. I was so excited about my tour of DECI in Durham! I know I wrote about them before, so I won't explain what/who they are again. I managed to find my way to Durham and to their facility and only missed one turn! Tim met me at the door and we headed to lunch. I had a great time discussing just about everything with Tim. He's beyond the sweetest guy I've ever met and he's turned into a really great friend. We joke about drinking beers and fishing with our kids. I keep trying to get him up here because the fishing is so much better in MI. HAHA!
After lunch Tim took me to Lynn who gave me the tour. We hit it off really well as we both have the same feelings about special needs/handicapped people in the workplace. DECI was amazing and they are doing some great things there. I was really impressed. I would *LOVE* to work for a facility like theirs. I learned a lot and am grateful to Lynn and Tim for giving me part of their busy day. Thanks guys!
Um, so you're wondering what I did with the rest of my Thursday? No? Too bad...I'm going to tell you. I went and got another tattoo. Well, not a whole new one, but I added to one that I have (see photo below). I wanted to add Julia's Chinese name to my current tattoo that has Cam and Anna's names. So, that's what I did. Along with a ladybug and 2 little orange flowers (orange is Julia's favorite color!) The girl who did the tattoo was so cool and I really enjoyed working with her. Lacie was a riot and sure wish she was closer!!
Friday and Saturday were spent at my conference. My presentation was later on Friday and I had a good time attending sessions and meeting people. The conference was really geared towards adults and people who had lost their hearing later in life. I met some pretty impressive women with hearing loss who would make excellent role models for Anna and Julia, but they live in NC! Oh well. I have their contact info and are more than willing to help me out. :-) My presentation went well. There were about 300 attendees to the conference and I had about 15. Pretty good numbers in my Professional Conference Goer opinion.
I mentioned my obsession with North Carolina. It's more about the feelings I get from the people when I'm there. Everyone from the lady that waited on me at Belk's to the people I met at the conference, and everyone in between. It was beyond friendly. I don't think people here in MI are so nice. Could be because MI has the highest unemployment rate and the most people moving out of state? NC has the most people moving into their state. I can see why. Just based on my experiences with public, it was so inviting and welcoming. I had a great time and I can't wait to go back. Oh yeah...the weather there doesn't hurt either. It was beautiful and so warm. Oh yeah...the smell of the pines was intoxicating! I loved that too. :-)
So that was my trip in a nutshell. Just a shame that NC is so far away....
Thursday, September 13, 2007
A few interesting pictures...ready?
These are some pictures that I recently took. The sun was setting on the clouds in the sky were just perfect. I love these pictures. This was shot from my north yard looking NE into Schade's corn field. The last 3 pictures were taken today in North Carolina. The road I was on was this little winding road that reminded me of S. Lakeshore drive (aka Bass Lake 500). The next photo is of my *new* tattoo. I found a girl from Manistee living in Raleigh and I knew she was the one for me.
Lacie is amazing and I had so much fun! I would totally recommend her and the shop. The next pic is of a fountain in a little area where I had dinner tonight. Food was great! Anyways, tomorrow is my conference and I hopefully will have more pictures from that. :-) Here's the link to Lacie's shop:
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Just an FYI
I'm going to be out of town for my conference in Chapel Hill starting tomorrow. I will try to post while I'm there, but there won't to be too much that is kid related. So, you may just want to check my other blog. http://randomstatusmessages.blogspot.com I will probably post more stuff there.
Oh yeah! Our PAC (Parent Advisory Committee) got accepted to present at a conference in TAMPA! WOOHOOOO!!! Lois, Lora and myself are headed to Tampa on the 30th of November and will present on December 1st. How exciting! I think my new career is going to be professional conference attendee/presenter. LOL!
See ya Sunday when I get back from North Carolina!!!!
Oh yeah! Our PAC (Parent Advisory Committee) got accepted to present at a conference in TAMPA! WOOHOOOO!!! Lois, Lora and myself are headed to Tampa on the 30th of November and will present on December 1st. How exciting! I think my new career is going to be professional conference attendee/presenter. LOL!
See ya Sunday when I get back from North Carolina!!!!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Camping at Interlochen and The Beach (last night)
I hope you enjoyed the recent picture update. Most of them were taken Labor Day Weekend in Interlochen for the annual Wagner family camping trip. I love the picture of my sister Samantha and my nephew Eric. Eric looks a little plowed. LOL! (Was that the night of too many glasses of wine from Uncle Greg?) I can't keep it all straight and I don't drink. To my rugby friends...Yes, that's an old skool USA Eagles sweatshirt. I've had that for about 6 years. Think it times to get one with their new logo?
The beach photos were taken last night when my mom and I took the kids to Sunset. The waves were fairly big and mom said there was a huge undertoe. Julia and I had a great time on the shore taking silly pictures. To the left is Anna giving you the best "End of the Summer" wave. What a ham!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
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