Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Austin and I went up to Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Joe's church for Thanksgiving as has been the Ahrens family tradition for the last several years.  Lots of good food and visiting loved ones.  I did miss my antie Barbara and uncle Francie, but hopefully they will be able to come home soon.  Below is a picture of the Ahrens cousins.  They aren't always all together every year so it's nice to get pictures of them when we can.  Krista (as always) did a wonderful job on the photo.

Top from left: Austin, Katelynn, Paige. Bottom row: Brock, Cady, Brinley, Adrienne, and Bella

What fine young ladies and gentlemen!

my impulse purchase

So I was at Petsmart last weekend and saw three animals that I fell in love with.  The first was a three year old shih Tzu.  she was kind of in rough shape and had a medical history.  I decided that although I would love another shih Tzu, I cannot have another medically needy pet right now.  Even though I know you always take that chance.  The next was a black lab puppy named Maggie.  I thought it was fate because of the name.  She loved Austin and would move closer to him every time he stopped petting her.  The lady said that she was the babied one in the litter.  Alas, black lab puppies get to be black lab dogs.  I know they have wonderful personalities, but our house is just so little for a big dog.  So we moved on.  I had no intentions of getting a cat that day, but when I saw Blu. she was just beautiful.  We think she is a Russian Blue cat.  She is little for three months old.  Of course, we went at the end of the day when she was worn out so all I knew was that she was purring and cuddly.  So, Austin and I were hooked.  She has been one pain in the patoot since she has been here.  She makes Lily look like an angel.  She aggrevates poor Lily to no end.  I think they are finally getting used to each other.  Lily has started eating again so that is a good thing.  Austin wanted to keep the name Blu so we call her Baby Blu (the Baby is in memory of our sweet Baby dog who passed earlier this year).

The sickness is a comin'

I guess a more appropriate thing to say is the sickness is already here.  I have been sick for about five days now.  I have a sore throat, earache and just general icky feeling (no fever).  I don't even know who to blame this time.  It could be that I get sick every November and so it was just bound to happen.  It could also be that I have started working in a new germ pool and my immune system hasn't had time to adjust.  Or, it could be that I spent time last weekend with some sick members of the Podstawa clan, and Highland has some nasty vicious germs.  I'll think about who I want to blame for a while :)  Today, Austin woke up coughing and sneezing.  He stayed home from school because he felt sick at his stomach.  So he stayed with Grandma Bev and Grandpa Ger.  He took a nap because he was bored (I think it may have been because he was sick) and then went to bed tonight at 7:30 on his own.  He didn't eat anything almost all day.  I feel so bad for Austin when he feels sick, but its even worse when I feel like crud too :(

Austin's Birthday

Today we celebrate the birthday of my precious boy, Austin.  I just don’t know where the time has gone.  He makes me crazy and happy all at the same time.  I sure don’t know what I would do without him.  I thought I would do a slightly different take on the birthday interview this year.  I am going to put the questions, along with my answers (in blue, then below, I will put what his actual answers were.

1.      What is your favorite color? Teal. Aqua
2.      What is your favorite toy? 3DS. ipad
3.      What is your favorite fruit? Pomegranate. watermelon
4.      What is your favorite tv show or movie? He will say Dr. Who, but the real answer is either Jessie or Shake It Up. Percy Jackson
5.      What is your favorite thing to each for lunch or dinner? Banquet dinners. Grilled cheese
6.      Favorite restaurant? IHOP. IHOP
7.      What is your favorite game? Baseball. Minecraft
8.      What is your favorite snack? Goldfish. Goldfish
9.      What is your favorite animal? Panda, but he might say dog. Dog
10.   What is your favorite book? This one is tough since he doesn’t really read, but…Percy Jackson? Hunger Games
11.   Who is your best friend? Henry. Henry and Charlie
12.   What is your favorite cereal? Trix. Trix
13.   What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride bikes. Baseball
14.   What is your favorite drink? Mountain Dew. soda
15.   What is your favorite holiday? Christmas. Christmas
16.   What do you want to be when you grow up? He will say he doesn’t know. Electrician
17.   I am very proud because? I am good at sports. I’m awesome.
18.   I am afraid to…jump off a cliff
19.   Describe what it means to be a good friend. I would help all of my friends on Minecraft and I would invite them over. Say hi and not be a jerk
20.   I wish there were a law that said…kids don’t have to go to school. Sixth graders could have a job.
21.   What makes you feel happy?  Hugging the dogs and cat. When parents say good job on grades and stuff
22.   Pretend that you can fly whenever you wanted.  Where would you go? Paris. China
23.   Where do you want to go on vacation? Hawaii. California
24.   One word to describe you would be…awesome. awesome
25.   Why do you like being a kid? I don’t. cause I don’t have to go to work.
26.   What advice would you give your parents? Don’t yell. Be nice
27.   If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? Panda, because they are awesome. Dog because I could run around all day and be lazy.
28.   What do you think makes a person good looking? Long blond hair and tall. Comb their hair. (apparently his standards have dropped a little )
29.   What is your favorite song? Radioactive. What does the fox say.
30.   Who is your favorite teacher? Mr. Canada from last year. Mr. Canada

A pictoral year in review

Austin's first day of school

Austin and Cady's birthday party

airplane trip to NY

basketball

fishing at the lake

lunch at IHOP

Austin and Ashley found some random lobsterman in Maine

The Farmer in the Dell

As you may have heard, I have left St. Louis Public Schools for greener pastures (almost literally).  I am now a school psychologist for a small rural special education district in southern Illinois.  The two districts I am assigned to are very small towns and are located away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  One of my elementary schools is a brand new building, and has giant windows all around the school.  While my office does not have any windows, I leave my office door open so that I can see out the windows of the art and band rooms.  Now that the crops have been harvested, I can see a horse pasture on the other side of the field.  It is such a beautiful and serene picture to see the horses running.  All of my schools have been very accommodating to me as well.  I am so happy that I made the switch.  It was really a serendipitous event that I got this job.  David told me several months ago that he was going to lose insurance on Austin in November sometime and that he would no longer be paying for his insurance.  To put Austin on my insurance would have cost about $500 per month which was not something I was not financially able to do.  So as the date loomed closer, I started looking for a new job that paid more money.  I mentioned to my mom that I was applying for a couple of jobs.  Within two days, there was an article in one of the small town papers that my dad reads about the school psychologist before me resigning.  I applied and the very next day got a call from the director.  Within a few weeks I was hired and started on Oct. 1.  It has been an adjustment and I still have a lot to remember and learn because I only worked in Illinois one year and that was nine years ago.  I miss my old colleagues in StL, but I am really enjoying getting to know everyone at my new district too.  I hope this will continue to be a positive experience.  And who knows, maybe I will meet a farmer in the dell to marry J

This is the brand new elementary school with lots of windows.

 

This is a close-up of the horses.  I took this picture from the parking lot so it is not the exact view from my office.