Welcome Fall

I actually don't mind fall.  And when the weather is nice I actually really love fall.  I love seeing the sun illuminate the brightly colored trees and I even love the crispness of a cool autumn evening.  


I love cool nights...curling up with a good book in warm pj's while sipping hot apple cider.


Yes, we've been feeling fall here in Central WI putting me in the mood to get out my fall decorations.

Out Of The Mouths of Babes

Before my mom left for Florida she gave me a package of hair color that she wasn't going to use. Not being one to waste, I used it the other day - even though it was a couple shades darker than I usually use.


The next day at school I had this conversation with a fifth grade girl:


Girl "Ooh..Mrs. Schneider...your hair is turning colors."
Me: (playing dumb) "Really?????"
Girl: "Yes"...(now closely examining my hair) "hmm...it's very colorful"
Me:(still playing dumb) "Colorful???"
Girl: "well... it's not really gray...it just kinda looks that way."  
Me: "GRAY???  (not the look I was hoping for)
Girl: "It looks nice."  (now kind of cocks her head) but you should have colored the whole thing... not just the top."
Me: "Um...I did color the whole thing.  Does it look like I didn't color the whole thing?"
Girl: "No"  and skips off to recess.


Meanwhile...I run to check my hair in the bathroom mirror and stop at the store on the way home to buy another bottle of hair color.

You Might Live In Wisconsin If

This is your neighbor's yard:

or if this is in your own back yard

I call this our Green Acres-Mobile

Walk Anyone?

Where Were You?

Ten years... ten years ago seems like an eternity... and at the same time I can remember that day like it was just yesterday.


I had just returned from my grandma's funeral... boarding a flight just a few days earlier which took us from Chicago to Orlando.  It was my second day back at work and a co-worker, who started work at 9:00, came in and told us a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.  My first response was "Yeah, right."  To me, it sounded too odd to be true...like some internet hoax people put out there to spur panic.  But, in fact, by the time I put the radio on, I found out that not only was that true... another plane had now hit the other tower.

I was naive... had no idea why anyone would want to do this to innocent people.... still had no idea who Bin Laden even was.  


On my lunch hour I picked up C.J. and Jon from their school across the street.  They were in lock down mode and parents drifted in intermittently to grab their children.  Looking back, I know the boys were very safe there and I am not very sure why I picked them up early.  I think most people just wanted to be around their family that day.


Over the next two days the skies in Central Florida opened up as a tropical storm hovered over us creating gray, dreary skies that mirrored our moods, and heavy rain that produced flooding.


By Saturday we decided to head over to Epcot Center in Orlando to escape the never ending rain that was hovering over our ocean town.  As we passed the American pavilion in World Showcase, there was a choir singing patriotic songs.  Now, this was not unusual... we had annual passes and were at Epcot A LOT... we saw these singers before... most people would walk by without stopping... but not on this day.  On this day people stopped... people listened...people hugged...people cried....I cried.  


I experienced a renewed Patriotism.  I became very proud of being an American.  I, along with my fellow countrymen, felt that we would not let this destroy us.  


And while we will NEVER forget that day... and we will always honor those innocent people who lost their lives that day... we will not let the events of September 11, 2001 define who we are as a country.

Fall Fellowship

Our school had their Fall Fellowship today... great food...soccer game....football game...

And you couldn't ask for more gorgeous weather!

Adventures In Homework

All work and no play makes Zack a dull boy!


Ha Ha!  I love that movie.  Jack Nicholson is so good in that movie.  In fact, he does such an amazing job that you almost forget the fact that the actress who plays his wife can't act at all!!!

On Our Walk

Seeking out prey in the tall grass

Enjoying God's Creations

and checking out our now orange pumpkins

We have been enjoying fantastic weather - cool nights and sunny days in the 70's.  

But fall is just around the corner. 

It Was This Kind of day

My busiest day at school plus homework, shopping, and youth group for Zack means it was this kind of day:

And just when you get caught up in the little details of day to day life, God gives you a reminder of His marvelous creation.  


This is what I saw when I opened the garage door at 8:00 tonight to pick up Zack from church youth group.

Sorry that the quality is so bad.... but the beauty is amazing.

New Places To Sleep

Always finding the most unusual places to sleep

Goodbye Son

I knew this day was coming... even before I knew which college Jon would pick, I knew the day was coming when he, too, would leave home.  The day when our already less than full house would become a little emptier.  


There was an excitement, mixed in with a tad bit of nervousness, as we left for Platteville this morning.  


The three hour drive was filled with conversations about everything from foreign policies to why earthquakes happen to the new life that awaited Jon. 


The topography changed from flat farmlands to deep rolling hills and highways cut through rocky landscapes.


Then we arrived:

....and checked in with his dorm monitors... and we unloaded the car and hauled everything up to his fourth floor room - yes, his room HAD to be on the top floor! And it HAD to be 87* today too.


We unpacked his things and put everything in drawers and on shelves, I made his bed up with the custom made bedding they make you buy because the mattresses are extra long, and the room looked great... but there was no camera....I had left it in the car.


We then went to lunch and did some last minute shopping and by the time we returned, camera in hand...ready to take pictures... Jon's room mate arrived and his stuff was strewn all over the place and pictures of his room were not going to happen.


So I got one of him outside his dorm instead.

And this is his dormatory building

Zack found this swing outside the dorm 

We walked around campus, said our goodbyes, and left for home.  When I called Jon about 9 at night, he and his room mate were chilling in their room watching college football.


Zack and I plan to visit next month so hopefully I'll get some room pictures then.