Quickly

Yes-that is right-time goes by so quickly.  Christmas vacation seems like a blur and so long ago already. Ryder has been back in school for a week now. I was looking forward to it so much, and now it's over and gone and winter is still here. Summer can't come soon enough.  Although these temps we've been having are alright!

Ryder had his Christmas program on December 20th at school-it was so cute! He was so excited for it. Then on the 21st was his Christmas party at school. I went and helped with it--those little kids are all so cute!

 He has the white tie on.

Okay-so Christmas-it was really nice. We went to church on Christmas Eve with all of our families, then spent the evening in town at the Hagel side.  Christmas morning we had to wake Ryder up, and he had found that Santa came once again!!  He brought goodies for all.  We headed out to the Wiedrich side after our gift opening at home.  Everyone was there except Jessen and Kayden who were with their mom for the weekend.  We all got what we wanted I believe and we ate too much and laughed plenty.

Fast forward one week-we spent New Years eve at my parents house. We played games and ate and then ate some more. It was fun! Ryder found that he is really good at jousting on the Wii.

Now here we are--mid-winter already and it's still in the 40's for temps. But I read this morning that our warm spell is coming to an end with below zero wind chills and snow flurries coming soon. I guess it will make it feel like home.

We have exciting news in the process.....I will explain more when it all becomes a little more "real". So I will keep all in suspense. :)

Wow, another busy week went by so fast.  Ryder was the "star student of the week" in his room at school, so we had to make a poster for that, it was his un-birthday on Friday so I made him some cupcakes, we went and ate lunch with him on Tuesday. That was really fun. I like to see what his days are like at school, and that gave me a little glimpse, and all those little kids are just too cute!  Thursday was my Mary Kay holiday open house, which was just about a flop-thank God for the 5 people that did show up (and 2 of them were family). That will be the last year I do that, my product is slowly dwindling.  I will still keep up to date with ordering and such, but no more parties, and no more adopt a grandparent right before Christmas. It's making me grumpy. Thank goodness it's about over. What else happened this week....oh-Thursday night/Friday morning I woke up at 3:30am and never fell back to sleep. So that sucked. That about sums up my week. Hoping this next week goes better.

Quay worked last night, then went to coach a wrestling tournament all day. He got home around 3:30pm with a very horse voice. He fell asleep about 6pm and hasn't really woken up except for about 15 minutes to eat a little and watch the very beginning of Home Alone with us. Poor guy-too much on his plate.  I am very proud of him--he is finally quitting his chewing habit. He's been on chantrix for about 3 weeks and we are all still alive!! No one has killed eachother from mood swings or withdrawls. Haha!

Christmas is fast approaching-only 2 weeks!

How?

How do you explain to a 6 year old little boy that you can't have anymore children?

Ryder was sitting on my lap just 5 minutes ago looking at a Christmas card we got last year from some friends that have 4 little boys, he proceeded to say that they have 6 people in their family. I answered with "yes, they have 4 kids,I suppose you would like to have 3 brothers?"  He replied with a yes and our conversation lead to trying to explain to him that I can't have any more children.  I said to him that he was our miracle child, because we went to the dr. to have him also like we  tried to do twice this year without success.

We agreed that even one brother would be nice, and he tells me that he still prays for a brother every night.  The tears are flowing down my cheeks thinking of my sweet little child that prays for a sibling.  Of course it is something I pray for so very often also, but thinking of Ryder doing it just about breaks my heart.  I am still waiting for my answer or explanation. I honestly think I know why God made us wait for Ryder like we did-because I couldn't imagine a more perfect child.  But this time the answer isn't as clear, yet.

It's beginning.....

...to look a lot like Christmas!! At my house that is. :)  We have done about 90% of our decorating. It's taking a while because I have been busy working, making all that cash. Ha!  Yesterday after school Ryder and I decorated the tree in the living room, we put it up Monday night.  As I was hanging ornaments with Ryder I came across the ornament we bought when I was pregnant. It brought tears to my eyes thinking about how fast time has gone and my little baby is 6 years old already.  I have loved every age he has been, just wish time would S--L--O--W down.  I love how excited he is about Christmas-he was SO excited to decorate. He couldn't wait.

Today it is snowing-maybe this stuff will stick around. I like snow for Christmas, and maybe this will make it feel more like the season it is. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Well-the day is about over and I am shot. I ate way too much today, I just feel miserable.

I have so much to be thankful for--wonderful husband, beautiful son, a great family, house, cars, money in my bank account, friends, food in my cupboards/fridge, and SO much more.  It makes me wonder why we still strive for more more more.Why do we always need better or bigger? I guess it's just human nature to want to better ourselves whether it's really needed or not.

I can't help but feel a little sad right now. I should be holding a newborn baby in my arms, or at least be ready to have one any day. If only our little embies would have made it in February.  These days are hard to tackle. I try not to think about it, but it's hard.  I am sure I will do the same at the end of June. I still struggle some days, and it's always worse at night. Like tonight especially--Quay is at work and Ryder stayed at grandma and grandpa's house. I have too much time to think about what might have been. I know you can't live life wondering about the 'what-if's'. I still hold out hope that God will grant us the right to give Ryder a sibling.

Busy life

Well-what a busy week it's been. I got a job!! It's very part-time but it's something. I am helping a friend do office work 4-5 hours a week. It does come with some good perks-I get to visit with her while on the job, I don't have to dress up, I don't have set hours, I get to play with her little baby-couldn't get much better than that!

Life is just flying by-tomorrow is Thanksgiving!! Where did that come from?  I am excited to spend time with family and relax for a day. We do have a busy weekend planned though. Thursday-eat. Friday-shop with my brothers for our annual black friday shopping trip. Saturday-wedding of a good friend. Sunday-go to the Dickens Festival in Garrison. And tonight we are getting family pictures done.

A few days back I looked at my fall bouquet on my table and found an army man inside. Hmmm....I wonder how that got in there?

We did a get a light dusting of snow last weekend-it has since melted. Ryder was so excited though to see the white driveway that when we got home from church he felt the urge to shovel.

The wrath of an angry mother

So last week--again--someone took another attempt at running over my child while he was crossing the road to get on the bus in the morning.  We have called the school and the cops. You would think something would get done. No. This morning the same thing-except I was there with  pencil and paper to write down the plate number of the idiot that drove past the bus with it's flashing red lights on while my child was still on the road.  My husband or I will be walking out with him daily to catch these criminals in the act.  I have also written a letter to our local paper to alert people on what is happening and maybe put some sense into them. 

Here's my letter for those of you that don't get our paper:

My son started kindergarten this fall, and he was so excited to ride the school bus. We live just out of city limits so he rides one of the big yellow buses.  In the last month or two though, riding the school bus has become very dangerous for him and from what I am told other children as well that live on this Highway 200.  There have been 4 occasions now when people have passed the bus, or tried to, while its red lights are still flashing-all the while my son is still on the highway.  I don’t know what people think the bright red flashing red lights are for-but they certainly don’t mean just to slow down or stop then go again while they are still flashing.  We have called the school, we have talked to the sheriff’s department, and I know our bus driver has talked to the city police.  Our bus driver does a wonderful job of watching and motioning for our 6 year old on when to cross, but he can’t predict what the idiots on the road are going to do.  I predict soon a child is going to get hurt or killed.  I highly doubt anyone wants that on their conscience—so I am asking everyone to please obey the rules of the road so these children can get to school and home safely.  My husband and I will be walking out with our son every morning and writing down the license plate numbers of those who have forgotten that red means stop.  If you happen to be one of them-expect a nice fine.

If this non-sense continues to happen we will keep calling the police and the school until something gets done.  It would be nice to see a cop make a presence at the time the bus is at our house or one of the others. We have yet to see it. I don’t see the traffic situation getting any better as the oil boom gets closer.  Do we have to wait until a child gets hit to do something about this problem?

Here is what the Rules of the Road manual published by our ND DOT says about buses:

(Quote)When a school bus is stopped and flashing its red lights, drivers approaching from

both directions must stop. This is because children are being loaded or unloaded. The

drivers cannot proceed until 1) the bus begins moving; or 2) the bus driver signals to let

vehicles pass; or 3) the red lights are no longer flashing. When a school bus is equipped

with yellow caution lights, these lights may be used as a warning that the school bus is

about to stop and that the red flashing lights will soon come on. Be especially alert every

time you see a school bus. (End quote)

So what do you think? Get the point across?

We ran to Bismarck today, picked up a log splitter and a snowblower and get this-it was all free!! Well, for now. The log splitter is a friends, and he and Quay are going to share it. Quay's going to get it running again, so it will cost a little bit.  The snowblower was free though-the guy wanted it out of his garage. We did a few short trips around town and back before Ryder got home from school.  Not much else exciting around the Hagel household.  No snow yet, so our winter just keeps getting shorter.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching! As is Christmas, we have started shopping. Ryder is done, now on to everyone else.