Here is an “in a nutshell” glimpse of our fall……
Andy started Kindergarten! L He had many friends to enter school with and we even went with our neighbors Lexi and Tracy. This eased his fear and pain in my heart a little, but as all of us mommies know, nothing can make it easy. Tracy and I decided to take our baby books and scrapbooks to the coffee house here in Belle after dropping them off. We spent the morning pouring over the books and reminiscing to help calm our nerves.
I opened doors to Lil’ Broncs Learning Center in August. We had 6 preschoolers on good days; unfortunately one of the preschoolers had some issues adjusting to all of the changes in his life and became a severe behavior risk. It got to the point where we averaged 8 time outs a day and the aggressions in the behaviors were escalating toward the babies and toward me. I had to make an extremely difficult decision to tell the family things were not working out. I felt terrible knowing that the family was going through a lot of changes and that this was a family with 3 kids who made up nearly my entire income, however the other children’s safety was at stake and the learning of all was being hindered so in order to continue it had to be done. We still have 6 on a rare day, however usually 2-4 is the average. Mondays and Wednesdays we do “Letter of the Week” and Tuesdays and Thursdays we do a theme of the week. The boys love it and have been progressing nicely scoring well over their age for their Denver screenings with the Parents as Teachers program we participate in. 
I am completely satisfied with this line of work, however to supplement income and join a new group of people in a quest for success I have joined another business on the side. In October we signed up as preferred customers with a company called Market America and later became unfranchised business owners. It has multiple product lines as well as an amazing webcenter that gives you cash back for shopping!!! This has helped out tremendously for Sam’s club, Wal-Mart and many other stores (4,200 stores). We make our shopping list online for Sam’s Club where we buy 90% of our large family’s groceries, when we get to the store it is ready for pick up (freezer stuff and all) and we go to the checkout. We get a percentage of the cost of our total purchase back in either cash or incentive points for this. $$$$$ J That is always nice, but one of the product lines has also helped to improve our health immensely. We were exposed to Influenza B and caught a mild, much shortened version of it instead of the full blown version for the first time in 7 years. It has also helped Zach’s asthma and my body recover from the miscarriage. I would love to tell anyone more about this amazing business so shot me a message!
Football season was filled with many many injuries and raising money to get new helmets after over 7 concussions in the first half the season. One of the players was also in a dirt bike accident the week before camp and remains in a coma. The season ended with a loss to Hot Springs in round 1 of the playoffs after beating our biggest rival, St. Thomas Moore, to share the conference title in a 3 way tie, something they entirely overlooked by Tommy Moore. It was a blast to sit with the other coaches’ wives and watch the games while the boys ran around socializing. We were all sad for football to end, mainly though as that meant the worse evil was ahead…WRESTLING season. 
October was great, we harvested our first garden. This was a learning experience. We discovered seedlings were a waste of time, straight in the ground was best, our lower garden was washed out and overtaken by grass seed, and the rows we planted were too sparse. Our rhubarb was lost to the grasshoppers as was most our cucumber crop and cranberry bush. The melons get to be about the size of a racquetball up here in the tundra, bummer. We had an overkill of zucchini, gourds, pumpkins and brussell sprouts though. The spinach, beans and peas and some tomatoes did allright too. I can’t wait to do it again this spring and harvest in the fall, putting to use my new canning and preserve book from Santa. 
We went on many hikes and picnics in September & October as well as attending Spearfish’s Oktoberfest where I learned Ales and Spirits are not the same as American beer, blah. Wayne entered a pie eating contest and disappointed himself with second place thinking no one was close to him while a regular pulled ahead last second. He made it on the news and it was fun to watch. It also had pumpkin ring toss, carving, color contest, apple bobbing and orchard fresh peach smoothies and was all around a great time.
The boys were Megatron, Bumblebee and Optimus Prime for Halloween (all transformers). We went to Zach’s NICU graduate Halloween party in Rapid for those who started their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It was neat and we hope to make it again next year (this was the 1st year he was not in the hospital during it). We went trick-or-treating with our neighbors Tracy, Justin, Lexi & AJ. We went door to door for the first time in our nice small town. We hit 2 neighborhoods and the community center safe house and were loaded. 
Luke had a puppy birthday party in September and Zach had a Thomas birthday in October. Both had a good turn out and were full of fun games. 
In November Andy started piano lessons as he wants to play guitar and mom says he must take piano first as a foundation. He enjoys playing with his teacher Maggie Sowers, however is less than thrilled to have to practice with Mommy. She continually says he has an impeccable memory and can’t believe how good he is doing for his age. I am still waiting for the fluidity, but I have yet to see that in any of Andy’s actions other than on the Wii. He still enjoys playing his beloved Wii, but it has been removed to the basement where he doesn’t like to be by himself. 
In December Andy did the “Little Dribbler’s Basketball Program for Kindergarteners”. YES you read correctly, ANDY PLAYED BASKETBALL! It was rather funny as we expected that his best friend Devin would surely be doing it as was the neighbor Lexi. Knowing this we figured we better go ahead and sign him up, then come to find out Devin chose wrestling instead, oops. We did not sign him up for AAU Wrestling this year as there was no way I was going to be able to do it alone with the 2 little ones not able to participate and stuck there all weekend. At this point it is looking like Wayne will be joining the AAU program next year and all 3 boys will be wrestling! So help me, they better have internet or I will learn a portable hobby fast. 
Zach and Luke have been doing well with their preschool. Luke knows all his basic colors but prefers to call most things pink. He can count a ways forward and down from 3 backward before running off holding his backside. ;-) Zach is doing well with each letter of the week we do and is showing more and more his academic potential that was hidden from us as parents last year. He must have his routine though or it is back to square one with behavior modifications. Though both boys wish they were in piano or basketball or any activity, the ones we have found that they are able to join at their age are quite pricey. We had hoped to start gymnastics during wrestling season to keep us busy a couple nights a week but found the budget did not agree. We have tried to make it swimming a couple times a month and do parties for the preschool and playdates with other moms to keep us busy instead. 
For Thanksgiving my Bestie Sonya and her family came up. We made an incredible meal and then Tracy, Sonya and I left at 7pm to begin our Black Friday Adventures! We went to Kmart in Spearfish first then on to Rapid where we got in line at 9 for Toys R Us who only let 50 in the store at a time. We went to 12-15 stores before we threw in the towel and headed home at 11am. Most memorable moments: we were serenaded in line by a group of high school boys, Sonya and Tracy collided at the end of an isle running for good deals, I had a blood sugar attack at iHop (& still they made me drive), we got our hubbies matching superman snuggies and our kids matching buzz ones, we nearly got into it with a few other nationality members at their favorite store after they line cut with 3 carts full. “chill Ladies” said the missing toothed woman. It was a good time had by all, however once a year is plenty. 
Christmas time was spent with light parades, Santa visits, including Santa visiting OUR HOUSE, cookie decorating, programs, gift exchanges and traveling. We spent Christmas in Gillette early and Christmas in Holdrege late. The boys enjoyed meeting their new cousin Megan at the new gorgeous Besich house and enjoyed their surprise bounce house in the new beautiful Rupp home. They were incredibly spoiled as always. We started our overdue family tradition of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at home as Santa’s sleigh was a little too full with new bunk beds and toddler beds and room decor to make it much further than the tundra this year. We had a very short break from school and will have an even shorter break next year with only 4 days that are not weekend days for a break. This makes it extremely difficult to travel twice and visit everyone we would like to visit. We do our best and for anyone we miss, you are always more than welcome to come visit us. ;-) 
New Year’s we were mid blizzard and unable to set off fireworks for the first year it was legal to do so up here. Andy lost his first tooth on the way home from Nebraska and his second 2 days later on New Year’s Eve. While snowed in we broke out and ran across the street to have hor’ dourves and games with the neighbors and celebrate a new year. Andy turned 6 in January with a Ben 10 Bowling party. He had 3 friends spend the night and a few hours before they were due to shw up we had our first car accident! We had gone over to Spearfish for some last minute party stuff and ate at Guadalajaras where Andy was sung to wearing a huge sombrero. On the way home the temperature dropped 18* in 8 miles turning the roads to a sheet of ice. I had been slowly slowing down but when I was passed on the right by a car I stopped slowing down as much as I should have, caught a patch of black ice, felt the van lounge forward, held my breath, didn’t hit the break, fishtailed, went sideways up the raised median, between 2 poles, into oncoming traffic, clipped but almost T-boned a truck before plunging into a snowfilled ditch, rocking up on 2 wheels and settling. In the end I had a small scratch on the hood, the truck had a bent mud flap and the van was pulled out by the same truck and my neighbor’s chains and we drove home incredibly shaken but uninjured. I have never thanked the good lord so much. The party went on as planned and the husband came home from cross state a little earlier.
Wrestling season was hell. Not much nicer I can put it. I know my husband enjoys it and I try to keep my mouth shut but by the end of the season I am out of all possible niceness. Wayne also lost his planning period this semester as the math teacher who retired last year was not rehired and instead the classes were divided among the remaining math teachers. This caused Wayne and Andy to leave every morning at 6:30. Wayne would not return until after 7pm. He would have a dual every Thursday and 2 day tournament 97% of the weekends November through February. He would be so exhausted by Sunday he would sleep most of it away. It was wearing on the family but we made it through and it ended yesterday at noon when he returned from taking 4 wrestlers to state on a 4 day trip to Sioux Falls.
