Feliz cumpleaños, Maite!

Happy Birthday to my sister and Austin, Andrew, and Abby's Tia Maite!

(pics to come...)

We hope you have a great birthday!

Random Occurences...

We, meaning the Klimies, have been keeping busy around here these days. The back-to-school routine has us running with soccer practice and games for Austin, cross-country practice and now meets for Andrew, and Abby has started Rice Lake League Basketball! Nights find us eating a late supper after games and practices, and then, we are "belly-up to the bar"--the kitchen bar, that is, to do homework! Never a dull moment!

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Last weekend, Jamie made a big purchase of a sledge hammer. He presented the boys with the new toy with the instructions to break up our old cement steps that were sitting in the back yard. The boys had fun swinging the hammer, and they made quick work of the steps!

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Here is Austin--check out those pipes!

:-) ~~~

Andrew broke up most of the steps--he had a great time doing it! I think he wished there was more to demolish!

The Mighty Andrew!
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Andrew has been learning about the democratic process in school, as they held their class elections these last weeks. Andrew ran for Vice President of his class. He and several of his buddies (Adam for President and Neil for Treasurer) ran on the same "ticket". They had signs, banners, and CANDY to hand out the day of their speeches. Unfortunately, the boys got a bit carried away in their enthusiasm for democracy, and they tossed their candy into the crowd and were disqualified from the election race. Too bad, too, because Andrew really thought his "team" gave an awesome presentation, and they had the assurance of many votes... Guess throwing candy into a crowd "is always funny until someone loses an eye!"

Here is Andrew showing off his campaign sign...~~~

The Squirrel had an exciting week last week, as she got a package in the mail all the way from Fergus Falls, MN! Auntie Sheila made Abz a new blanket to love, as Abby's old blankie that Auntie made when Abz was born is falling to shreds! Abz loves her new blankie, but is currently sleeping with BOTH blankies, so the "new blankie can get the stench of the old blankie before I pack the old one away." Sounded logical to me! :-)

Here is Abz and her new blankie--thanks, Auntie Sheila! ~~~

Squirrel also got to go to her first dance last Friday night!!! It was a dance at the BACC for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Sara and Kristin came to our house after school so the girls could get ready for the dance together. It went from 6:00 t0 8:00 on Friday night. Unfortunately, I was on call and at the hospital, but Jamie was a champ and took pics for me of the girls heading off to the dance.

Sara, Kristin, and AbbyAdmission to the dance was $3 plus a canned good for the food pantry--here are the girls heading into the dance with their donations...
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Andrew had his first Cross Country meet tonight (Tuesday) at Rice Lake. He did well--10th overall, and 3rd for his team!!! He feels he could have done better, but he ate a PB&J sandwich just before he ran, along with some chips (!), so he thinks that may have slowed him down! Andrew's good friend, Nick, took first overall, and Timmy, another of Andrew's friends, took 4th overall! Way to go, Barron Middle School CC!!!!

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Below are a few of the CC guys after the race tonight...

Nick, Tim, Carter, Macky, and Andrew

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Austin had another soccer game tonight--this one home against Osceola. Our boys looked the best they have all year, in my opinion! We ended up losing 2 to 5, but it really was a great game to watch. Austin came so close to scoring several times, but the heartbreaker for him was a penalty kick that he took that deflected off of the top of the goal. Just a few, and I mean about 3, inches lower, and he would have had a goal... He will get that one next time!!!!

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Here is Austin in his smashing pink headband, dribbling the ball down the field around the defender...

Andrew's next CC meet is Thursday night at Chetek, and Austin plays soccer Thursday night at Chippewa Falls. Abby has a basketball game Saturday at 10:00, and Austin plays in a soccer "tournament" starting Saturday at 12:00 in Eau Claire, for those of you interested.

Well, that is a summary of what we have been up to the last few days! Happy Birthday tomorrow to my sister and the kid's Tia Maite!!! I will get your birthday blog post on soon!

Happy Tuesday!

Eleven Years for Joe and Missy!

I don't normally blog cousin's anniversary wishes, but I came across this photo of Joe and Missy together on Christmas Eve, 1994 as I was sorting through some pictures and thought I would do an anniversary "shout-out".

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Happy Eleventh Anniversary, Joe and Missy Breidung on September 6th!!!

Check out their blog at...

http://breidungfamily.blogspot.com/

Happy Belated Birthday, Matthew!

I know, I know--another horribly belated birthday posting! Really, it isn't my fault! I don't seem to have much computer time, and when I do, I seem to fight three kids and a husband for the computer!

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In honor of my nephew, Matthew Davis Borowski, here is his BIRTHDAY POST!

Happy Birthday, Matt, on August 29th!!!

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You are HOW OLD now???~~~

Gotta' love that bow tie!
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Still a student today! I wonder if he still has that Ninja Turtle shirt...

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"Say Cheese!"

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"See, I can still fit in the baby swing!"

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Sweet little newborn Matthew Davis

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One of my FAVORITE pics of Matt--I have been waiting for his birthday to post this one! I got the kids these foam Statue of Liberty crowns on my trip to NYC when I was 16--here are Heather and Matt modeling their crowns!~~~

Baby in a Box

(Nice Bambi shirt...)~~~

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Make a wish!!!
We hope you had a great birthday, Matt!

We love you!

Love, the Klimies

Soccer vs. Spooner--Injuries, Injuries, and more Injuries...

Tonight our BHS boys played Spooner at Barron. Unfortunately, we were missing THREE of our starters due to injuries! This was disappointing, as we felt this game was one that our team could do well in.

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Austin played mid-fielder again tonight, and I am sure he will be tired when it is time for bed! The boys ran the field for 80 minutes straight! (In varsity soccer, they play 40 minute halves, and the clock doesn't stop until half time, or unless there is an injury on the field or a penalty)

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Austin played really aggressively in the last half of the second half--he probably should have been called for some penalties, as he was getting pretty physical on the field! He made us proud! :-)

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Below are some pics of Austin in the heat of the game...

At the end of the night, Barron lost by a score of 0 to 2. Wish we could have won, but, as always, it was fun to watch the guys play! (and, it didn't rain!!!)

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Happy Thursday!

First Day of School!!!

We started back to school today, and the kids were SO EXCITED! (that was sarcasm...) Getting up at 7 am put their bodies into shock! Of course, we had to take the traditional "first day of school" pictures...~~~

Every year, I also take a picture of the kids by their school's sign. The last few years, I have done the boy's pictures the day before school starts, so they aren't too embarrassed on the first day of school. Even this is mortifying for them--especially Austin. After all, someone MIGHT drive by! :-)

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Here is Austin, happy to be posing by the BHS sign at the start of his sophmore year...

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Austin worries about mom embarrassing him by taking his picture, but check out the backpack that we searched high and low for this year--he HAD to have this backpack for school!!! And he thinks I embarrass HIM!~~~

Abby was disgusted that she didn't get to take her "sign picture" the day before school started like the boys did, but since this is her last year at the elementary school, she still had to do hers on the first day of school.

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Here is Abz and her new teacher for fourth grade, Mr. Shearrow. For those of you who are thinking, "he looks familiar"--yes, he DOES look familiar! He was Andrew's basketball coach in the Rice Lake Basketball League when Andrew was in second grade, and he also was Austin's C-Team basketball Coach last year when Austin was a Freshman!
(Check out Abby's shirt--she HAD to wear a dog shirt for the first day of school!)~~~
And then there is Andrew...

Andrew didn't want his "sign picture" any more than the other two did, but instead of pouting about it, he "embraced" the opportunity for a photo op in typical Andrew style!

Here is Andrew, "striking a pose" for my camera to commemorate the start of his 8th grade year at RVMS...

Enjoy!!!



Happy First Day of School!

Saturday Fun

Abby and her friend, Sara, had fun this Saturday morning! They ate some donuts for breakfast, and they suddenly put on some serious pounds!!!

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Here they are, posing for the camera...

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look out, world, here we come! ~~~

"BELLY BUMP!"
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Andrew was doing some "dog photography" the other day--had to share a pic with you!

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Sophie and Jack

An Adventure in Cement

Our latest home improvement project had us pouring a small cement patio out our back kitchen door. Deb and Ken's good friend, Connie (Conrad) Marsolek had offered to help us with this "simple" undertaking as a favor to Deb and Ken--what a nice guy! Turns out, this project was more than we anticipated it would be with all of the shoveling, leveling, and back-breaking labor (that last part is my opinion--I hope to not lay eyes on a shovel for a very long time!).

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Here is what my back yard looks like today!!!!

(thanks to Andrew for the wonderful picture...)

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Ken, Deb, and Connie helped Jamie and I get the site ready last weekend. Actually, Connie did all of the hard work in planning and figuring, as well as the labor. Ken, Jamie, and I were the "grunts"--did I mention my new-found dislike for shovels! And, Debbie was the Foreman, or Forewoman, as it maybe. True to administrative form, we caught our Forewoman napping on the job!
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Jamie and Connie leveling the site...

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Kenny showing off his muscle with the sledgehammer!

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Connie and Ken--more leveling! Who knew there was this much work involved in pouring cement?!?

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Once the site was finally ready (after Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning of hard work!), the next job was keeping the dogs out of the dirt for the whole week! Believe me, they were curious and Sophie wanted to "help" dig the hole!
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Bright and early on Saturday (6:45 am), Connie showed up with his "guys" to pour our cement! It was VERY interesting to watch, and I was more than a little jealous of the guys that got to gush around in the cement with their rubber boots on--it looked like fun!

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Here is Connie supervising the cement loading into the wheelbarrow...

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The Finishers--see all of the rough cement they got to stomp around in behind them--kinda like cow manure in the pasture, but without the smell!

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Ken and Jamie--wheelin' in another load!~~~

The Cement Crew!

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Our cement looks great, and it will be nice to put a table and chairs out there to enjoy our back yard some more. Thanks to Connie and his crew and to Ken and Deb for all of their help with our "project"!

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One last Consumer Alert before I sign off...CRACK KILLS!!!!

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Happy Saturday!