Micah started inservice on Monday, and Thursday was the 1st day of school.  He put in some long hours…..being at school by 8:00 and not getting home until 8:15 (P.M.) Mon. through Wed. because of football.  Thurs. and Friday weren’t so bad…about 6:30 P.M.  :)

The boys and I have been staying busy, too.  The city began digging up our street on Wed., so the boys have been gawking out our bay window for hours! I had to laugh when Kahle was yelling out the window one morning, “Need any help?”  If the window view isn’t working out for them, then they get their lawn chairs and sit in the shade.  I wonder what the workers are thinking.  I guess we have to replace a water line while they have the hole dug.  We definitely were not expecting all these added bills this year.

We also got to dog-sit this week while our neighbors were on vacation.  The boys had fun with Cede.  Micah and I are both very content not having pets, so it was perfect to hand over the duties today.

My mom was Miss Spontaneous and picked up the boys Thursday night to celebrate my nephew Jack’s 4th b-day in George.  They had a great time, and it was nice to be able to not worry about the boys while we were at Bible study that night.

Last night we went to a surprise party for a friend of mine who teaches at West Lyon.  Kahle and Bodee were nuts when they put on the music.  They were dancing on the tables…….something we obviously practice here at home!  :)  They definitely got their moves from their daddy! Here’s a picture of Bodee.  As my bad luck would have it, I smoked his forehead with the door just as we were walking in.  It must have been pretty hard, because he doesn’t cry too fast when it comes to falls/being knocked around/etc.  Maybe it was everyone looking at us making our grand entrance that embarrassed him!  Here are two random pictures of the boys…their favorite spot in our house….and showing off their Cars tattoos.  

Well, West Lyon starts school next week.  The teacher who is taking my spot this year is a guy.  Yep, that means he isn’t going to ask for any help!  I offered, but he said he was good to go.  I was a bit bummed…..it would have been nice to be back at WL one more time!  I miss the excitement and a new school year.  Kahle and Bodee will be my “students” this year.  Kahle is so excited for preschool NEXT year.  He’s been asking to practice the alphabet, writing, etc. so he’ll be ready to go.  I love his enthusiasm.  My goal for Bodee this fall is to work on potty training.  He is starting to tell me he’s poopy after the fact, so that’s a start!  He’ll be 2 in October, so we have plenty of time.  I just thought it would be nice to not have to deal with diapers.  I can dream, right?   Here’s a pic of my three boys practicing the 3 pt. stance.

Our city’s celebration was this weekend.  We missed some of the fun being that we were gone to the fair, but Saturday was the big day!  We started off by supporting our fire dept. and eating some pancakes!  Our neighbor is on the dept., so he gave the boys a personal tour of the firetrucks! The boys were in awe as they sat in the huge trucks with the lights on.  My mom came to hang out with us after work.  We enjoyed the parade.  This is how we do it in Rock Valley…..it’s pretty much like Macy’s Parade. The boys got tons of candy!  Most of it will be sent to Micah’s students. We hurried over to watch Micah play sand volleyball.  His team ended up getting 2nd place!

He even got in a little 2-on-2….they looked JUST like the pros!  Next was the community picnic.  They had inflatables for the kids and a hypnotist for whomever.  It was so stinkin’ hilarious.  I’m pretty sure Mom had tears in her eyes…..and she didn’t even know the people up there.  The night ended with a gorgeous firework display.  The weather was perfect, and it was fun to see Mom and old friends.  Maybe next year we’ll run in the 5K.  Ha!

Last week was our annual “vacation” to the IA state fair.  Boy, it was a hot one! Just when we thought we couldn’t sweat anymore…..sure enough, we did!  We were there from Wed. until Friday.  We saw all the sights and got nice and dirty!  Our nephew, Wyatt, and Kahle were hanging out in the pig barn….coming up with an idea to pass the time.  Of course, Bodee found the nasty wood chip pile the FFA exhibitors threw out from their pig pens.  Lovely, huh!?  He also loved the water sprayers for the pigs…On a positive note, we got to see a couple of my “old” West Lyon students show their dairy cows, and Micah’s students did really well with their swine.  The best part of the fair was getting to see Dusty and Julie!  I really wish they lived closer to RV! We met them for supper, and then Bodee and I stayed the night with them.  They even had a tub of toys for him to play with.  Bodee had to show them how to use one of them.  Bodee and I were lucky again and got to stay at a hotel the next night.  Micah, his dad, Kahle, Garett, and Wyatt all stayed at the Youth Inn on the fairgrounds.  Dean said it was the hottest that he’s ever remembered!  I’m so glad I got to postpone my first experience one more year.  :)  Regardless of the heat, we had a fun time.  Until next summer fairs (all four of them).

It happend….we were one of the lucky ones to get sewer back-up in our basement!  It wasn’t b/c of the rain….but something to do with the city pipes.  Our neighbors have gotten it twice this summer, and other friends of ours have had it three times!  We are praying this is our only time….it’s obviously not fun!  We tore up all the basement carpet and are taking the next steps in getting estimates, etc.  We are replacing some walls, too.  I could insert pictures, but I think you all have a mental picture anyway.  Instead, I will share a cute picture of the boys playing in the backyard.  Who would have thought that a big barrel could be so much fun?  The neighbor girl and our boys had a blast splashing around in the water.  

It seems like ever since Kahle turned 3 in May that he thinks he can shower by himself.  I really wasn’t expecting this already.  I had to laugh last night when Kahle and Bodee were both in the shower.  Kahle was busy being a grown-up, and Bodee was busy copying Kahle.  I reminded Kahle to wash his face, and sure enough….Bodee did the same thing.  This tends to happen is about everything that the boys do.  Kahle amazes us with how old he acts (at times).  Bodee is so busy soaking up new things.  For instance, he loves to turn on the t.v. and sprawl out on the couch (while chugging his water from his sippy cup) like he just put in a hard day of work.  He’s becoming such a little man.  He is saying so many new words these days.  I am excited for this school year when I can be home with them to see the huge milestones they will conquer!  Here is a random picture of my Grandma Timmerman and the boys.  I was looking through some pictures and saw this one.  G’ma looks so happy!

My favorite fair, the Lyon County Fair, was this last week in Rock Rapids.  We made two trips up there to see my students show their animals.  Of course, we had to go to the dairy show.  It has changed so much since the Krull’s last showed.  Regardless, it was so fun to see familiar faces that I haven’t gotten to see all summer.  They couldn’t believe how big the boys are…and how soon it’ll be before Bodee is the same weight/height as Kahle.  (They sometimes share clothes).  My brother Ryan and his family were also there, so the boys gawked at the machinery.  Here is Kahle and my nephew Jack.

After a bike ride Saturday morning, our neighbors asked if we’d like to go jet skiiing.  Kahle went last year and loved it, so we thought we’d get Bodee on one, too.  Sure enough, he had a hay day.  Kahle even went tubing with Deidre!  Bodee was a little too brave in the water.  He didn’t want to hold my hand….as he was chin deep in the lake!  He loves the water; however, Kahle would rather build/dig in the sand. We made a quick stop at the zoo in SF.  We would go every week if we lived closer.

It’s hard to believe it’s August already.  Football starts this week, so my days with Micah are limited.  We have had a great two months of summer! Here is one last picture…you can see more on our photos link.

I guess we’d have to be home long enough to be able to post.  We joked that last week was going to be a pretty uneventful week for us….boy were we wrong.  We ended up filling our our days just fine!  I have to backtrack and start with the Johnson visit was made on the 16th.  We first stopped at Medford at the outlet mall.  We didn’t have enough time, but I still managed to find something for each of us.  Micah’s sister and her family live in Byron, MN, and they had their town celebration.  We decided to head up there for the annual Johnson parade, food, and firework party.  It was fun to see familiar faces again. We enjoyed hanging out with their friends, the Dursts, who smoked a turkey and pork loin Sat. night.  The boys…James, Evan, Garett, Wyatt, Kahle, and Bodee had a blast cooling off in the sprinklers.

After a routine physical for me and story hour for Kahle, we headed over to Reid’s to help clean out a couple of sheds.  It’s a good job to have done.  We also helped Mom set up a king-size bed that she had gotten for her downstairs bedroom.  My brothers, sister, and I all have king-size beds…..so we’re excited to be able to use it if we ever stay overnight!  Mom thinks a full-size bed worked just fine all the years Dad and her were married.  Well, it was probably less than five hours later when half the town of George flooded!  The rain kept filling up basements, parks, rivers, etc.  Mom had to ditch her king-size mattress and many other things in her basement.  Reid, Ryan, and my grandparents also had lots of water to deal with.  We headed back to George on Thursday and Friday to help clean up the mess. It was neat to see everyone helping each other out in whatever way they could.

Two fairs down…two to go!  Micah and I both grew up with the whole fair frenzy weeks, but it’s fun now to have our boys experience it with us.  Kahle and Bodee both showed another pig during the Sioux County Fair Open Swine Show.  They did awesome…it’s adorable to watch them pat their pigs with a whip. Bodee told the judge, “Piggy,” when he walked by.

Kahle got 4th place with Westra’s pig, so he got $5.  He was very excited to add that to his piggy bank…he’s a conservative.  He’s saving up for a real payloader…anyone want to donate to his fund?  :)  The boys got so filthy each day at the fair, but they had a great time.  G’pa Weber came for the swine show.  He spoiled us with ice cream shakes! (He also made his famous cinnamon/caramel rolls for Micah’s ring help during the show).  We’ll leave you with this good lookin’ cowboy…

We had our pictures taken a couple of months ago, so I thought I’d finally put the link to our family pictures that Melia Winter took for us.  (At that time Bodee was 18 months and Kahle just turned 3). She did a great job (considering what she had to work with…ha ha).  I would highly recommend her to take pictures for you!

http://meliawinterphotography.zenfolio.com/

Also, I know that we have a link on the side of this blog for photos, but I thought I’d remind everyone that we put tons of pictures on there (Picasa).  Here is the link for that site…

http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq

You’d think two teachers would have somewhat of a relaxed schedule in the summer, but that is not the case.  We’ve been on the go since last weekend, so I’ll do my best to recap since then.  My sister, Rachel, and her family came to stay with us on Friday.  We devoured Pizza Ranch pizza and hung around in the backyard.  We saw our first Inwood parade on Sat. morning…I was impressed.  

After some shopping and more hanging out, they left for Mom’s.  Our whole family got to celebrate Noah’s 2nd b-day (a little early) in George.  Kahle and Jack were in the kiddie tractor pull in George.  Jack got third place…way to go Jack.  We drove around the Little Rock/Sibley area and saw some of the tornado damage from a couple of weeks ago.  My uncle and aunt, Burt & Deb, had mostly trees go down.  They filled us in on what went on while the little boys ran from one piece of machinery to another.

The next morning began George’s 4th of July celebration.  Rick, my bro-in-law, was brave enough to run in the 5k! I’m proud of him…but definitely not jealous.  Maybe next year, I will join Rick (if I start training now).  We got tons of candy at the parade.  Rachel and I had a hay day sorting it…and sampling it.  I love small towns where you know almost everyone in the parade.  We even got to see our friends Brad, Ashley, & Baby Taylor.  The downpour began right after we got back to Mom’s.  Kahle and Micah love playing in the rain, so the swimsuits were on in no time.  They did the same thing with our neighbor in RV a couple of weeks ago.  Boys will be boys!  After another Pizza Ranch gorge fest, we shot off fireworks at my brother Reid’s house.  The boys loved them…..my nephew Noah did not!  Silly G’ma had some sparklers for them, too.  We called it a night and left for RV after that.

We reloaded our suitcases and took off for Rockwell after a quick dinner.  We met up with Micah’s family at the new swimming pool.  It was refreshing!  The next day was  the craziest of them

all.  We were up and at ‘em BEFORE 6 A.M.  Dean, Micah, Me, and five of the nine grandkids took off for the North Iowa Fair.  We got the pigs and veggie entries in and saw the sites to see.  It was a long day of washing, clipping, etc…..but it all paid off when the grandkids showed their pigs in the Open Show.  They did wonderful.  This was Bodee’s very first time showing!  He walked around the ring for about half of the time, then Micah carried him. Kahle showed his pig all by himself.  He even got in a wave to the family sitting in the bleachers.  It was great to see our Bormann friends there.  Matt & Nancy (& Baby due in Nov.) and Joe, Val, & Baby Emmett all came to see the Weber clan.  Kahle, Bodee, Matt, & Joe drooled over the tractors when we walked around the displays at the fair.

It was another late night as we stayed up and talked to Ben & Mandy (Micah’s sister & bro-in-law).  Thursday was back to the fair.  We were soon home-sweet-home by that night. The boys missed their toys, books, and bed!  We had a great week of seeing family and friends.