Update

Janice (Mark's sister) and her family are all safe. A tornado swept through Suffolk, VA yesterday. The tornado went right over their house, but their house received no damage. Their neighborhood was evacuated and Mark's parents haven't heard from them yet today. So in the last two weeks our families have had earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards (MN), and drought (ND).

We survived the weekend of activities. Valynn had her first TBall practice. She had fun. Valynn won her soccer games on Saturday and Sunday. She really stepped up and played on Sunday. She's starting to get the hang of it more each week. Mason's team won both of their games as well. There's one boy on Mason's team that really took charge this week and scored more goals than we can count. Mason would step up his playing when this boy was the goalie. He almost scored a goal but was a little wide. Saturday's game the coach's had to take a time out due do some boys getting rough. There was a lot of pushing going on. Saturday is their last games.

We got a little done in the yard. Mark got a tree transplanted and most of the mowing done. Valynn had her last CCD class for the year. I have to teacher 2 more weeks of Sunday school and I'm done with that for the year.

Is the week over yet?

It's been a crazy week around here. I worked 2 1/2 days this week. I had multiple personalities as I worked for 5 different teachers. I ran the gamut of classes and ages, High school English and Industrial Arts (you can stop laughing now), all the way down to 1st grade. Yesterday was a long day, there was a mix-up of where I was supposed to be, I then didn't get a prep because I covered for another teacher during prep. They did let me go home early though which was nice. I was in 6 different rooms yesterday and there are only 4 periods.

We're now onto our crazy weekend. We got a tree transplanted this morning and Mark and Valynn just left for TBall practice. Valynn and Mason have soccer games this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. Somewhere in between I have to get caught up on all the housework that I got behind on while working this week.

Mark and I had a crowded bed this morning. Mason had a night mare around 5:00 this morning and Kyra woke up at her normal time of 6:00 but we were able to convince her to go back to sleep. If this were a regular occurrence I think we'd have to look into getting a king.

We're still shaking...

I guess we had another sizable aftershock this morning. Once again, I slept through it. It was another busy weekend at the Rinkel household. After spending Saturday morning working around the house we went fishing in the afternoon. We came home with three fish, cleaned them, and then went into town for supper and to do some shopping. Sunday was spent at Sunday school, church, and soccer. After soccer (Valynn and Mason played at the same time on fields next to each other so it wasn't an all day event) we came home and the kids and I went fishing while Mark did homework. We didn't catch anything which was good, otherwise I would have had to clean them. We had a nice supper outside and then it was bedtime.

Rundown of the family
Mark- only has a couple of weeks left of school. He'll get about a month off before summer school starts. His classes are going well. He's itching to get the rest of the garden in.

Chantel- has about 9 days of work lined up through the end of the year. This is on top of the kids' trips and activities.

Valynn- has about a month left of kindergarten. She played goalie yesterday in soccer for a period. She stopped two balls and didn't let any get by her. She has improved the last couple of weeks. She's in her final weeks of dance practice before her recital the beginning of June. She has a field trip to Wildlife and a Spa day for mom coming up at school.

Mason- he is done with school on May 9th. That day he is going on a field trip to the zoo. He didn't do as well in soccer yesterday. He said he was tired and didn't want to get in on the action. He is our farmer/fisherman.

Kyra- she has definitely become a handful. Yesterday in church, half way through the service she loudly stated "all done" and tried to walk out, then threw a fit when I wouldn't let her. She is 20 months today and every bit of the two's. The only good part is that she speaks well enough to get her point across, but she still won't take no for an answer. Her favorite game lately is "Where's the ....?" She will hide something and then ask us where it's at.

We have a busy week ahead of us. Mark has a test tonight. I'm working Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. We have soccer games on Saturday and Sunday.

Finally, a nice day

Yesterday was finally a nice day to get outside. On Wednesday it was 70 but very windy. Yesterday was calm and beautiful. We spent all morning outside. We planted some flowers and then played. I watched a neighbor boy yesterday so he and Mason played in the sandbox while Kyra drew on the sidewalk. Last night we started planting our garden.

This morning we experienced an earthquake. It happened in southern Illinois and measured 5.2 and was felt up here. I slept through it (probably exhaustion due to the pregnancy) but Mark woke up, he said it shook the house and rattled the china cabinet.

Valynn's Essay Won

Valynn's Essay

If you click on it, you will be able to read it.

Newest member of the Rinkel Family

Here are pictures from the ultrasound. We did not find out what we're having. They baby wasn't very cooperative so we didn't get very good face pictures. Every time the tech would finally get focused on a body part, the baby would move so she would have to start all over. I wish she could have gotten a picture of the legs since they were crossed, very cute, and it took away any temptation to find out the sex. All three kids were excited to see the pictures.

Here is the link for the baby pool. Put your guesses in. The game name is rinkelbaby2008
Good luck.

What a Day!

After being up multiple times with Kyra last night I am dragging this morning. I got up at 6:00 with Valynn who decided to wake up early this morning, normally she doesn't get up until 6:30 for school. I went to take a shower because I was supposed to work this afternoon. No hot water, the water heater went out. I got Valynn off to school and was cleaning up the kitchen only to get a call from my sitter, she is sick and asked if I could find someone else to watch the kids. So after debating on which neighbor it would be easier for since both have to take kids to preschool I finally called one. As I was talking to her I get a call that I don't have to work today. So I'm planning to spend my day in the kitchen. I'm taking a meal to a new mom on Thursday, Mark has a pot luck on Friday, and we have friends coming over for supper on Friday, so I figure I can get some of those things started.

I have now added another job to my busy schedule. I was voted in a secretary of our Home Owners Association. I was thinking it should be relatively easy and just have to take notes at the annual meeting until I starting thinking that this year will be busy with the lake repairs that are going to be made. Oh well, still shouldn't be too bad. They really wanted Mark to be treasurer, which would have meant I would have also had the treasurer duties, but I talked them out of it as Mark will be busy with school and family duties with a new baby on the way. Mark was at class so he wasn't able to speak for himself. I'm also helping with the block party again this year, which was relatively simple to do last year.

I got Valynn and Kyra's names done last night. I am now going to order some embellishment to put alongside their names. Mason also decided he wanted his name done so I'll have to get that ordered. It's raining here today so it's a good day to be in the kitchen, I best get going.

Hostess Gift

Here's a picture of my Hostess gift for those who don't know what UpperCase Living is. The lettering was the gift, I bought the tile today and transferred the lettering onto it. I thought the lettering was black until I transferred it and found it was silver, otherwise I would have chosen a different colored tile. Oh well, I'll double check it next time. I'll post pictures of Valynn and Kyra's names when I get them done. I have to paint the canvas first so it'll be a couple of days.

Game Day

It was Valynn and Mason's first day of soccer games. Both of their teams won. Valynn sprinted on the field for her game, she was aggressive towards getting in the area of the ball and got a few good kicks in. She did a great job and was tired by the end of the game. She is a little behind her team mates because for some this is their third year. She is also the only girl on the team. This didn't seem to bother her and I'm sure by the end of the month she'll be holding her own. She has a classmate on her team (the boy who lost all of his things in the apartment fire 2 months ago) he is a natural athlete and was kicking goals in from quite a distance.

Mason was a little more unsure of what to do at first but after he figured it out he took control of the ball more than once. Mason scored his first soccer goal, unfortunately it was into his own teams net, I even got that one on video, oh he is going to love watching that in a few years isn't he. He still did a wonderful job and even got to play goalie.

The game were fun to watch. The K-1 teams did a good job actually playing the game. They were able to control the ball and followed the rules very closely. Not so with the pre-K. The pre-K teams were more like mass confusion. They did a great job and the coaches helped keep the ball inbounds so they didn't stop playing. The coaches did a great job just letting the little ones play if they were already kicking the ball. Maybe one day I'll learn how to upload video so everyone can see what I'm talking about. We also had the realization today that we could be doing this for the next 12 years and possibly have four kids playing soccer at the same time all on different teams.

Mark and I are waiting for the kids to go to bed so we can finally relax this weekend. Yesterday I hosted an UpperCase Living party. I can't wait to display some of the items I bought. We then went to the Swiss Steak Supper at a church in Blue Ridge. This morning I took the kids to Sunday School and read in church while Mark got out with the boys. He went shooting with Brian and Scott. We had a beautiful weekend. Yesterday we got our cherry tree and blueberries planted. We also got them enclosed so the deer will leave them alone.

We have a busy week coming up. I'm working Tuesday afternoon and on Thursday I have my ultrasound. I hope to get pictures of our newest family member posted when we get home. Have a great week.

New Bed & Bath in Bismarck

The basement bedroom and bathroom are finally finished.