wogoman weekly - volume 3 issue 48

Persistence. God teaches you lesson through the most remarkable ways. The picture of Tenille golfing is from this past weekend. It was the 40th anniversary of the Essenhaus and you could golf for free. So we went. Jeff, Heather, and the kids went too. Tenille had such a fun time, even though it was sort of raining. The last hole of the 18 hole course keeps your ball. You hit the ball up a steep hill into a house. Tenille never hit the ball farther than 6 inches so this hill was quite challenging for her. There is a fence that blocks you from getting too close to the house so you don't cheat and win a free game. That fence made it nearly impossible for Tenille to get that ball in there.She spent a good 15 minutes trying to get her ball in the house. She never gave up. She tried every strategy that we offered her. Even when the line of people was long she didn't mind. In the end, I gave her some help but she did it. I was worn out from the experience. I was worried about the other people waiting in line and worried that someone would be mad. When we went to return the golf club, they let Tenille pick the balls out of the house and put them away in a basket. The guy that was working there, an older gentlemen, came out of the store as we were leaving and said, "Don't ever let her lose that perseverance" What a great lesson. If I would have made her quit she would have learned that quiting is the way to we do things. And we don't. I loved that I learned something about Tenille and myself from a complete stranger. Are you listening when God talks to you?

I got all the plants put in the landscaping and am ready to get some more. Tenille and I are working on the garden tonight. Corn is up, but I want to plant more so we have corn ready for a long time. Everything is looking good. I put a fence up around the corn and the beans because the bunnies found them. Ugh! Tenille tries so hard not to step on the plants and then apologizes forever when she does.

We found another mushroom on our property. It was LONG past eating but it was there none the less. Tenille likes to put on her boots and "look for mushrooms" around the property. What an adventure she is becoming.

She also has declared a front door and a back door to her room. Every night I kiss her good night and then stand by her "front door" this would be the left side of the door. I tried to leave her room and go to the right and she yelled.... "hey, that is my back door.....go to my front door" Silly girl. Now I have to sneak past her door when she isn't looking to go to my bedroom.

We stopped by a LARGE cow on our way last week to the Pigeon Inn. She loved the thing. Not sure you are supposed to get that close to it, but hey she is cute . . who is going to argue with that?

J got to see his new fire truck this week. They flew out of Elkhart at 6am and he was back home by 7:30pm. Not bad for going to Pennsylvania huh? Pretty cool truck. It should be here in a few days. :)

wogoman weekly - volume 3 issue 47

Well it is offical. We have broken in the new pool. What screams more than jump on in, than a 86 degree day. Ok so the water was 70 ish and that my friends in cold. Did that stop J from jumping in and playing basket ball? Of course not! Did that stop our 2 year from braving the water? Are you kidding me? That kid has been asking to get in every since the water went in. Tenille at first thought it was cold too and said, "I'm not sure" but a few minutes later she plunged right in. Her favorite spot? The ladder. Not the big awesome steps that we put in but the ladder. Oh goodness. She had her floatie on (so she doesn't go too deep, she told us) and swam up and down that pool so many times we lost count. She then climbed out declared she wanted to be a mermaid and put on her new towel. I think it is the cutest thing every. So the pool is ready and waiting! I think on her birthday list, Tenille is asking for pool toys. :) These also gave her a chance to use her mermaid towel. She loves it!

Would you like to know the words you DO NOT want to her coming out of your daughther's mouth. "Mommy, I cut hair" ......my response "uh ... whose hair did you cut" as I am frantically looking around her head to see if she is missing a pony tail or part of her bangs. "The horse's" is her reply. I got into the living room and my daughter who was happily combing her horses hair decided to give the mane a cut. The good part is we only lost a 1 inch piece and you can't tell. I know the question you are all asking . . . how did Tenille get scissors? Well she has safety scissors in her craft supplies which she got into while I was folding laundry in the other room. Guess it is time to move those scissors.

She also got dressed Sunday night and looked at her reflection in the her bathroom window. She put her hands on her hips. Twirled around side to side a little, and proclaimed, "Mommy, my boobies are growing!" I can't make this stuff up! I looked at her and tried not to laugh. I told her someday they will. :)

J started sanding the old concrete around the pool. It looks so much better. J ended up looking like a ghost with white hair but it that washed off. We also pulled the shurbs out from around the side of the house. They were taller than me! Now we have room to plant new flowers. It is going to be AWESOME!

The picture of the flowers and piece of candy is just that. Tenille spent some time with my parents and when we picked her up she handed me "flowers and candy". What could be better right?

Tracy

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
~ Margaret Atwood

wogoman weekly - volume 3 issue 46

Migraines. That is what has been happening at our house. Poor J. The weather this spring has about killed his brain. He had another Thursday. That makes 4 in the last month. He hasn't had the many in I can't tell you how long. The signs that it was bad this morning were the deep breathing that you could hear from the bathroom. You know the kind were you are trying really hard NOT to throw up. Those kind. After spending most of the day hidden in the basement he did surface. Poor guy.

As for our extended family, the theme this week is BABY! My sister Cari had her baby on Monday. So cute. Everything went great and Cari, Steve, and Kaitlyn Olivia are coming home today. Tenille's questions were, "How did she get out?" and "When will she be big enough to play with?" Oh these are the concerns of a 2 year old, who is going on 12.

Tenille is picking out her theme for her birthday party. Ni hao, Kai-lan is what she picked. I asked her again if she was sure that is what she wanted and she said, yes, for my birthday coming up in June. I didn't even know she knew the months, let alone that her birthday is in June. She also knows what a T (big T) looks like. She now thinks everything that has a big T is her name. So cute. On a side note you should mark your calendars for June 26th (its a Sunday) for Tenille's party. Be sure to bring your towel, suit, and folding chairs because we will be outside with the pool!



There are so many things that she has said lately that I wish I could remember to tell you. Our raccoons have found our pool at washed their hands in it Monday night. So we are going to set some traps for that, but Tenille's question was, "Daddy, after we trap them are you going to shoot them?" J asked her what she wanted to do. "Shoot em!" was her reply. Oh bother what have we created?



We also found 3 mushrooms on our OWN property. We are so excited. We found others elsewhere(can't revel our secret locations) and are having mushrooms and steak tonight. J says it is hot enough that he is going in the pool. I am sure that Tenille will be right there with him. :) Well I think that is about it. Hope your day is great.

wogoman weekly - volume 3 issue 45

I hope this email finds your rain barrels very full. :) Mine are doing great. Now if it ever dries out I will have water! :)

I took Tenille to Linton's yesterday (free hot dog, free cotton candy, and free "talking animals" as Tenille calls them) The donkey talked to Tenille and she liked that very much. That one there seemed to have a very big head. I love the pictures with her in the little houses. She looks like a gaint!

J's softball season is off to a well . . . soggy start. They have been rained out of every practice. So hopefully they will be able to get one in before their opening game on Saturday against the Goshen Fire Department. Game is at Shaklin park at 9am. Come one come all!

School is good. I had to work a WHOLE week. I know I know. 5 days with high school kids, how do I do it? We are down to 24 days of school I think. I only get to see my kids every other day so now I am down to 12 days each class and I have to test Ch 10 ch 11 and their final yet, so only 9 more days of teaching. ugh! Where did this year go. I keep telling my kids I am freaking out because we don't have much time left and we have lots to learn and they look at me like I am crazy. Well we all ready knew that, I work with high school kids!

We are hopeing to burn off big brush piles today. When I was little my dad with burn "the pit" every spring and you could see that fire from Bristol. I don't think it will be as bad today but there is always the chance. I have hot dogs ready for this evening to eat. yummo.

Tenille is doing well at school. She is now clearly identifying all the big T's. So everything that starts with T is her name. She asks me to read everything to her. It is so awesome to see her learning. We have also watch Tangled (the Easter bunny brought it) at least a million times. But it is better than the sherk and incredibles that we have been watching. With Easter and telling Tenille the story of Jesus it is interesting to see what she picks up on. She brought home a picture she made at school that had 3 crosses on it. I asked her what she knew about the cross. She thought for a while and said, "hmmmmm Jesus fell on it" Well sorta. We also talked about Jesus rising from the dead and that He is now in heaven. That led to the following discussion,
"is Jesus in Heaven",
my reply, "yes".
"how did He get there?"
"angles took Him."
"Is He with Harry"
"yes, with Harry."
"can we go visit them when daddy gets home from work?"
"ummmm,we will visit them but hopefully not today"

That about sums up this week. I didn't get locked in my room or out of it again. :) I got my Ipod Touch up and running. Now I just want an Iphone. :) Holding out for the new version whenever that comes out.

Tracy