Dan's damaged prop

Saturday was terribly windy but we had to bring the boat in anyway since it's getting winterized this week. I was hoping to go for a nice little ride around the lake one last time but Mother Nature had other plans. Dan had me take a picture of the prop that he banged up on Sandy Point rocks. He went way around the buoys but must have bottomed out on a big white cap. It's not a big deal but he's been so careful all summer. The trailer also had a flat tire and we had to run that into town to get fixed so it's a good thing we did it on Sat and not today. Everything else went fine and I think I'm getting pretty good at backing up trailers. Today ended up being a beautiful fall afternoon after the most dismal rainy morning. Here's the boat safe and sound on ground again. The docks will go in late October. Gotta run, Tell me You Love Me and Curb are on HBO.

My class

They're a pretty neat class....

most of the time!!!

Andrew's birthday

We all did a little posing in honor of Andrew's 18th birthday. I love this one of Sarah, very natural and pretty!

Family Photo in front of Andrew's wheels.

I can vote!!!

Awww, he's still just as cute as when he was a baby!

PS:
The tattered shirt I'm wearing was a church rummage sale find for a quarter! I found a couple other items that I may post later.

Chaska Homecoming

Sophie got to take part in the Chaska Homecoming Festivities last week as the crown bearer at the coronation and the parade. She had fun and got to keep her crown so she was happy! I don't know what the little guy is doing in the top photo, goofing off I suppose. The pictures below are a little dark, Nancy got them from a coworker. Nancy called this morning and they are settled in but still have lots of boxes to unpack. When she gets it all decorated the way she wants I'll have some more photo's to post.

What a pretty smile and isn't her dress pretty?

Andrew is 18!!!

Happy 18th Birthday, Andy! It's hard to believe that you can be 18 already! Sorry this picture is almost one year old but it's better than this one....
Just look at how cute you were on your confirmation. Aren't you glad I can't go back much further than this in my digital photo files? Hope you have a great day off and we'll see you tonight....we hope!

Penzeys correction

Ordering a catalog at Penzeys.com isn't as easy as I thought it would be. If you are interested maybe try their toll free number to request at 1-800-741-7787. Sorry!

Penzeys Spices

I just placed an online order with Penzeys Spices. You can go to their website here and request a free catalog. I love getting their seasonal catalogs as they have many good and easy recipes that feature some of their spices but you can substitute your own. After getting their catalog for a couple of years I finally broke down and ordered and I have been very pleased with the quality. I have a coworker (Melissa) who probably has a hundred of their spices in her cupboard, she could be a spokesperson for them. She was the one who convinced me to order but it was my friend Carol who introduced me to Penzeys by sharing her catalogs with me years ago. They have 2 stores in the metro area if you'd rather smell your spices first. Mom, Nancy and I also visited their space at Grand Central Station. They've been there for about a year.

Happy Birthday Jim and Sam too!

Happy Birthday Jimmer!

And a belated Happy Birthday to Sam!
You and Jack are too darn cute!

Dancing with the Stars

The premiere is on tonight and I've never watched it before. I'm pretty much burnt out with American Idol and quite a few of my coworkers enjoy talking about this show at lunch. I've had it on as I've been updating my blog and I think it is very entertaining. I wonder if many guys watch this show? Blogger added a new poll feature that you can see to your right. I love polls! Try it out!
PS
Sabrina and Mark were my favorites tonight even if she did add too much Hip Hop!

Thrift Store Finds

This Corning Ware teapot is in mint condition-holds 6 cups and was 2.99. I love the fall harvest print. Dan and I like to drink more tea in the fall and winter and it's much better than the old teapot which was actually a coffeepot. What year do you think this is 1980, earlier?
This Pyrex dish is Shari's if she is interested. It was only 50 cents at a Morris garage sale. A nice fall floral print I think!
The poppy floral tray was 69 cents. I have a thing for floral tin trays and usually red or black catches my eye. I LOVE this one in yellow and the warm poppies really pop! It came from the Morris Salvation Army and so did the big 3 wick candle for $2, still a lot of life left in it and it smells great. I have two of these locker baskets. I paid 10 for one at a vintage sale but this one was only $3 at an antique store in Osakis.

My Bargain Dress

Here's my Herbergers bargain dress. It was originally $100 and I got it for $10! The sad thing is that I won't be able to wear it for awhile unless we go somewhere warm this winter. It can be tied in the front or the back. It caught my eye because it has a vintage look about it. You can't really see but it has a wide black band on the bottom and it hits at the knee. Kris and I agreed that this looked like a "Teri" dress too. There was another one there but you can just borrow it if you'd like sometime, Teri!

50 cent photo album

Photo album before.....


and after....much better I think!

A new house for the Floms!

Nancy and David sold their house last week. They actually accepted the offer on Nancy's birthday on the 19th, that's a good birthday present I think! Happy Belated Nancy, sorry I didn't post your photo as I usually do on birthdays.
This summer, Nancy and I walked through the house they had a contingency offer on and now it's theirs! It's a charming Cape Cod and they will spend their first night there a week from tonight. Things are happening fast. The pines block a window on the garage that I think is begging for a window box. Nancy has some plans inside and out and I'll share any photo's she sends my way.
Here's the back yard as viewed from the back corner. I have a picture of the backyard way in the back but can't find it. Their new home is in Eden Prairie where David coaches and teaches.

Catching up

I've been a bad blogger lately. It's that time of the year when I'm trying to get very organized at school and just when you start feeling like things are looking pretty good you notice all the cobwebs at home. Today I tried to get home early but after stopping at the Humane Society and then Trumm Drug for photo's and cards it was almost 6 by the time I got home, oh well.
It was a very nice weekend, dinner with friends on Friday, rummaging/fall festival with Mom Sat morning, then time with Warren, Ann & Sarah later that day, ending with a trip to Cyrus on Sun afternoon. Sunday was gorgeous!
Monday after school Kris and I went to Alex for a little shopping and dinner. Herbergers did not fail us, Kris picked up some cool shoes on the 80% off rack and I got a $100 sundress for $10. I tried it on tonight and it fits! Yay! Maybe I'll post a photo later.
School is going great. The day goes by very fast. Since we're finally done testing I have time to teach Health and Science now. We're learning how to read nutrition labels in the healthy foods unit that I am in the process of creating since our Health curriculum is not so current. It's fun and I'm learning a lot too. Are YOU getting enough fiber??? Good night~Laurie

Paul's new Toy

Shari sent these photo's of Paul in Keewatin's newest fire/rescue truck. Paul was instrumental in getting this truck for his department. Pretty shiny..way to go Paul!

This and That

Found this picture on another blog. Can you imagine trying to walk in them?!!

Royce, Lynn, Gracie & Ollie were at home in Cyrus last weekend. Dan and I went to see them on Sunday. Here's a picture of Gracie with Grandpa. She's up to 10 pounds....one pound in each cheek I think! She is such a good baby, very relaxed as you can see in this photo.
Not sure if I used this photo of Sophie at the Japanese Garden at the Arboretum earlier, but if I did it's so sweet it bears repeating.

Speaking of bears....here's Ellen with one in Royce's shop in July.

Here's Kurt's plane. He dropped in one afternoon in August and picked Dan up and they went out for a little ride. Dan loved it! Notice Dan down by the floats.

Hanging out

Literally, hanging out clothes on my make-shift clothesline but it does the job! We're also hanging out watching the Vikings game. Brian just left at half-time and the rest of the guys left mid-morning. Sun is shining today after a very gray wet day on Saturday. It was a little nippy for the guys in the boat. Why does the weather always seem to be the best on the day you're heading home? It is quite nippy out and feels like fall especially with all the leaves starting to drop and mess up the yard.
Back to the clothesline, I really enjoy hanging out clothes on the line. Maybe since I don't have a ton of laundry. It's very relaxing somehow, the clothes smell so good and of course it's an environmentally friendly thing to do. Shari just put up a new clothesline and used hers all summer. Her enthusiasm for her clothesline got me back into using one again. Dan will use it too but doesn't like to hang out his underwear. Understandable. :)

Male Bonding

Jim, Tim, Mike, & Brian are up this weekend enjoying a guys weekend. Mike flew all the way from Frisco, Texas to attend. They make a habit of getting together two weekends per year and try to get together in the cities often too. They've all known each other since they were kids and I think it's great how much they invest in their friendships. They're having a steak dinner at the Ten Mile Steakhouse this evening and staying out of the rain and cold. Jim got the biggest fish (northern) of the day. I know Dan really treasures their time together.

Handsome guys

Here's a picture that I got off the Kare11 website of Greg and Dan. It kind of looks like Dan has a mustache but he doesn't.
Well, after 3 days in school, things are starting to settle into a routine, which is a very good thing. A person forgets how busy and hectic the days are in the first week. One of my goals this year is to remove or throw items that have been collecting dust in the 4th grade room for years and if I haven't used them in the last 2 years I probably never will. When I first moved in I removed a ton of stuff but hung on to some items because I wasn't sure. Another goal that I've been working on for 21 years is to keep my desk organized. Our new principal is visiting my class tomorrow and of course my desk is totally covered, so I spent some time working on that. We'll see how long that lasts.
Hope everyone back at school is having a good first week. Charice, you must be enjoying your brand new school. You will have to give me a tour sometime. I would love that.

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

Happy 7th Birthday, Courtney! So glad you've been having a fun time celebrating. Your birthday card is on it's way! :)

Free Cooking Magazine

On Saturday, I received my fall issue of Kraft's Food & Family magazine. It comes quarterly and is full of great recipes and photo's. If you don't already receive it, just click on the link below and you can sign up online in 4 simple steps. I know that Lynn gets it and likes it and I just signed Mom up the other day. It is well worth the 3 minutes it takes to sign up. I think they only allow 1 sign up per email address so if you try to register a friend you will have to use a different email.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/promo/ffma...itch=a&rmain=a

Their website is good but it is impossible to find the free magazine sign-up. It's almost like they don't really want to advertise it. My first attempts at the link didn't work but this one does!

Anderson Reunion

Nine of Eleven Anderson siblings: Back: Kristi, Jeanette, Kathy, JoAnne, Lorraine
Front: Audrey, Steve, Elmer, Brenda Not pictured: Suzy & Mary
Anderson siblings with spouses and Great Aunt Alva and Uncle Bert. Alva is Grandpa Anderson's sister and is 92 years old. They spend their summers on their farm near Madison (Haydenville actually) and drive down to Arizona for the rest of the year. Pretty neat!
I like this picture because Kathy & JoAnne are so happy but Elmer looks like he's taking a snooze. I don't think he was. :)

This picture is from an outing that Lorraine, Kathy, Audrey, Jeanne, Kris and I went on mid August. We shopped in Osakis, met Kathy here at Clara's Barn for lunch, then headed over to Carlos Creek Winery for a tour, and then a little more shopping in Alex. It was a lovely day and I enjoyed spending the time with my mom and aunts. A very fun day!

The Anderson Summer reunion is probably going to become an annual event so if you missed it this year, make plans for next year. Elmer is going to reserve Saturday afternoon of Labor Day 2008.