Ski Trip

We spent a few days following Christmas with our friends at Terry Peak.  We were able to get a family photo for the first time in three years!  Usually the boys are off on the other side of the mountain before I even get my boots into my skis. (And then I don't see them for the rest of the day because my ski level is barely beginner level!)  We were able to keep them back for just a few minutes this year as we had been among the first to get our skis and were ready to go by the 9am opening!  

Christmas & Before

We had a relaxing and peaceful Christmas!

Landen and I started by helping decorate All Saints Parish for the Christmas season.

On December 23, Nathan, Teresa and Rachel wanted to go ice skating on the creek by our house.  Nathan shoveled off a great area for skating!

We spent Christmas Eve in Eureka with the Joachim family. We had a wonderful day that concluded with Christmas Eve mass.

We also had a good visit with my Grandma Joachim, who is 97!

On Christmas morning, Teresa woke me up at 3:50am to tell me--1.  We caught another mouse in a trap.  2.  Santa had come and she was sure he had left the new puppy in the shop.

Well, Santa didn't bring a new puppy, but Teresa was pretty thrilled about the evidence she found in the snow--Santa footprints and reindeer hoof prints!

We had planned to be at home for Christmas Day and that plan worked perfectly with the RAIN we received that day.  We were thankful to escape with just a large ice skating rink on our roads and in our yard.  Many of our family and friends we without electricity for several days.

Teresa spent her Christmas Day and the day after making this hat on her knitting loom!  She has more projects planned!

an email from Grandma Rosemarie

With the snow and frigid temperatures outside, I have spent more time in my office unearthing my desk. I started cleaning out virtual files as well.  I have folders for each of my kids in my email that have notes and pictures relating to them and I hadn't visited these folders in several years. I went waaaay back to Landen's beginning and was so happy to read these words in an email to family and friends from his Grandma Rosemarie Melius right after his birth.  

Grandma was in her late 70's when this was written and was quite email savvy.  The bold print and punctuation sprinkled throughout her messages were her trademark. I remember receiving several emails from her in between our coffee visits after my hair appointments in Faulkton. Wonderful memories that I am blessed to have. :)

September 1,2003--Labor Day--and I told,Laura--that's a good day to do your 'special' labor!!  And she came through??  Landan Joachim,7-5,22" long,born at 5:38 am--only thing , Laura--you didn't labor much of the day(coulda been 24 hours!) CONGRATULATIONS-to David and Laura!!

   I apologize to those who already know--but now,none have been left out??  It will be fun to have and see another 'tiny' one!!  And trust all went well?  Grandpa Claire has a chemo Tues, and that will be the earliest ,we will -maybe?-get a peek??  No cigars,please!!  But sure David has that covered,right??  Just much thanks, and praise, for another of God's tiny miracles!!  Gr.Gr.Melius

Perhaps,better clarify that--since we have several Gr.Gr.s anymore.  Welcone to the "role" Dwight and Denise--still recall when we had #1, This Gr.ma was on cloud 9 for many hours, and still is--as the  numbers add up, they all have their special little place!! in our hearts!! As there never are 2 alike!!   Great Gr.and Great Gr. Melius

Happy 5th Birthday, Rachel!

And now . . . our "baby" is 5!  Of course, Rachel has been a big girl for awhile now and was frustrated for quite some time because she was "still 4."

It was a busy day with the concert in the afternoon, but she opened her Peppa Pig characters and play house from us before breakfast and Grandpa & Grandma Melius came to visit later in the morning for presents and "mouse cakes."  Rachel decided that she wanted the same cakes she had for her 3rd birthday, which is a scoop of ice cream in a mini graham cracker crust.  That worked for me!

Her only disappointment for the day was she was hoping to open ALL of the presents under the tree for her birthday.  Thankfully there's not much more time to wait until Christmas.

 

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Just a little add-on Rachel story . . . 

She lost a little toy dog in the snow earlier in the week.  I tried to dig it up with the shovel, but we couldn't find it.  She decided to come in the house and draw a map to find it!  She asked me to help draw the people, the mailbox, and write in some of the numbers on the snowballs. :)  X marks where the dog is.  She hasn't found it, but she can still draw a pretty great map!  

A Musical Week

We experienced lots of beautiful music this week with the MS/HS Choral & Band Concert on Monday night and the Elementary Concert/Play on Wednesday afternoon.

Nathan even had a small solo in his play in which he got to show off his "opera singing" that he performs for me every day.  I must say I prefer his loud singing voice in the spacious gym. :)

Tews on Tuesday (on a Monday)

Hello, December!

I apologize for my longest blog hiatus EVER. All has been well--just keeping on top of the Christmas preparations on top of the usual responsibilities of wife and mom life. :)  This week we will have two concerts and a birthday!
As I sit here at my computer waiting for the next proof of the newspaper to proof read, as I always do on Monday afternoons, I am listening to a broadcast from from Wabash Valley Catholic Radio in Indiana.  Why?
A little over a year ago, some of our dear friends left South Dakota to return to their home state of Indiana follow God's call for their lives. It has not been a journey for them and their family, but one of countless blessings. Since their moving back and joining the Catholic Church last Easter Vigil, Shayna has begun working for a Catholic Radio Station.
Shayna interviewed Daniel in this most recent broadcast about his transformation from a Lutheran pastor to Catholic convert. Listen if you'd like!
https://wabashvalleycatholic.wordpress.com/2016/12/03/lutheran-pastor-finds-fullness-of-truth-in-the-catholic-church/

State B Volleyball Champs

Just in case you haven't heard, the Northwestern Wildcats are State B Volleyball Champions!

We watched Thursday and Friday's matches from home on TV and traveled to Huron Saturday evening to watch the final two matches and cheer on our Wildcats!

We're just so happy for this team. They are all great girls who set an excellent example for all of their fellow students of what hard work, dedication and perseverance can accomplish. No matter what, they keep their heads in the game and keep moving forward to the next point, giving each other credit for their success. 

It remains to be seen if I will raise any volleyball players of my own, but the team's example carries over to every activity and class of which my children are a part.  I am grateful for their positive influence all through the season. (This would have been the case even without the State Champion title!) :)

These photos were shared courtesy of Gail Stoltenberg.

 After a hard-fought 4-set match, this final point made the Championship official! I LOVE this photo. (Thanks again, Gail!)

Monsters and the love of Jesus

Yesterday as we were driving, Rachel was behind me in her booster seat.
As we approached our destination, she was telling me about what would happen if a monster were beside her. She talked about it a little bit and then said, "I suppose I could talk to him about Jesus."
I asked her what Jesus did for her, but then she was on to another subject.
Oh, I am so thankful for all of the people in Rachel's life who have taught her about Jesus, and that no monster is a match for Him!

And just like that . . .

. . . I turned 38!  

I had a wonderfully wonderful birthday at the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese Youth Conference. It's one of the perks of my job as DRE at our parish and it is such a blessing of a day!

Landen and I saw Pope Francis hanging around before lunch, so we had to get a photo with him.  (No, it's not really the Pope . . . just the Diocese's cardboard Pope.  And that security guard is not the Swiss Guard . . . he was guarding the food on the other side of the curtain!) :)

They estimated 1700 youth in attendance this year.  There were people visiting from North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota parishes. 

Here's our great group that went with us.  (Our Junior High teachers attended with us, too!)  

On the way home, we stopped at Applebee's for supper and even got the same table as we had after last year's conference. After a little Happy Birthday singing and a complimentary brownie bite, it was time to return home!

My birthday was a lot like Nathan's this year in that our family celebrated and in shifts. Rachel helped me decorate my angel food cake. :)  I still got to blow out candles, so it was all good.

38 is pretty great . . . so far!

Crock Pot Yogurt

What do I do all day?  Well, on one day in my life as a SAHM, I made yogurt!  Before you start to think I've gone all organic granola mom on you, let me explain . . . .

It all started with my friend Michelle, who shared a recipe for yogurt made in a Crock Pot many, many years ago.  I printed it and saved it with my recipes because I fully intended to try it sometime. Over the years, I intended to make it several more times, but I either didn't have the extra milk to spare, I didn't have plain yogurt on hand for a starter (I am not a fan of plain yogurt, so it was never on my shopping list!), or didn't have the hours at home to see it through to the end.
We've even discussed making yogurt at Well-Read Mom and a few of my friends there make it for their families, too. In fact, thanks to my friend Sue from Well-Read Mom, who shared some delicious whole milk fresh from their cow last weekend, I finally made Crock Pot Yogurt!

The only problem was I could no longer find that original recipe!  But I did find one on Pinterest that worked out very well.

It is super easy to make your own yogurt and it's GOOD! Just be sure to plan ahead so that you will be available to turn off your Crock Pot after 2 hours 45 minutes and then again to add the plain yogurt after another 3 hours. After that, it will take 8-12 hours to culture. I started mine at about 2:30pm in the afternoon and took it out of the Crock Pot at about 7:30am the following morning. I used Chobani Greek Plain Yogurt for my starter.  Because I like my yogurt on the sweeter side, my assistant and I stirred in a container of thawed frozen strawberries with sugar. The result is not as sweet as store-bought, but still delicious.  Of course, you can make it as sweet as you want it to be.

My little sidekick also had the idea of using some of our yogurt to make frozen yogurt pops!  This was a genius idea, as my children haven't noticed the slight lack of sweetness when it's frozen on a stick!

Are you ready to try it, too?

Here's the recipe including helpful tips to make your own yogurt:

Crock Pot Yogurt Recipe

Wildcats win!

If you live in South Dakota and follow volleyball at all, you have most probably heard of the Northwestern and Warner volleyball teams. These two schools are roughly 9 miles from each other and are consistently, year after year, ranked as the top Class B teams in the state. Whenever they meet, it is the equivalent of a state championship match. The thing is--because both teams are in the same district, only one can move on to the Region Tournament . . . and then hopefully State!

After several years of Northwestern coming out on top in the tournament, Warner had owned it since 2012. Warner won in their first meeting this season and then Northwestern won a hard-fought battle the second time in regular season.

This past Friday's championship game was not only a lesson in how to play top-notch volleyball, but a lesson in never giving up.

After Northwestern came up short the first two sets and was behind in the third, I was beginning to fear that it was going to be a short night.

Well, I don't know a whole lot about volleyball, but what I have figured out is that it is a game of momentum and it certainly wasn't on our side. Shortly after that, however, it did switch to our side and stayed with the Wildcats. Northwestern came alive as Warner started to fade and made the errors that we had previously been making. Northwestern won that third set, the fourth, and the final deciding fifth set to take it all!

If you ever get a chance to see these teams play next season or the seasons after that, take it.

It is some amazing high school volleyball on both sides.

Now it's on to the Region Tournament tomorrow.

Go Wildcats!

Barbies at Work

Rachel makes sure her Barbies pull their weight around here!

Nathan told me last week, "My fort has been turned into a Barbie house!"

That's what happens when little sister is home!

Happy 11th Birthday, Nathan!

Just a few days after Teresa's birthday, Nathan gets to return to being 2 years older than his sister.

He received a football and a solar light from us.  The football is so he can continue working on his journey to the NFL.  The light is for his animals. :)

Teresa made this sign for her brother. We all got a good laugh at him being a "Cool dud." :)

I actually don't have any photos of the cake and candle blowing yet, as I wasn't home for that part of the day! Landen played in the pep band for the District volleyball tournament, so I was with him in Aberdeen. Grandma Melius was very nice, however, and warmed up the spaghetti supper I had halfway prepared for him and shared some cake with everyone.  I got home in time to see how his day was and tuck him into bed. Even though it wasn't a traditional birthday, he said his day was a good one. :)

Happy 9th Birthday, Teresa!

October 31 is always a busy day for our family, and a day to celebrate Teresa!

She chose a basketball cake this year.

She has been asking for a horse, so she received the next best thing--a horse for her American Girl doll!

 After school, it was time for trick or treating and a birthday supper at Grandpa & Grandma's house!  Teresa was a gumball machine and Nathan was a chicken.  Rachel decided to be a bumble bee for trick or treating later that night . . . Landen was an FFA fundraiser salesman. :)

Happy Birthday, Teresa!

Happy 84th Birthday, Grandma!

My beautiful and amazing Grandma Kallas turned 84 on October 27. My grandpa, who turned 90 in August, planned a party for her and did a great job of it!

We had lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren in attendance.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

NW Junior High Football

Landen's 2016 football season came to a close tonight in Ipswich with winning 2 of their 3 games.

Another season of his favorite sport . . . next year his brother will join him on the same team.

We're all looking forward to that. . . and no one more than Landen! :)

Opening Weekend

We just celebrated our annual Opening Weekend for pheasant hunting!

It was a relaxing weekend with lots of beautiful birds (for the guys and a few girls), beautiful crafts (for the rest of the girls), too much delicious food (for all) and even the traditional bouncy house to celebrate all of our birthdays!

More photos to come as I collect them.

Corn harvest is still in progress, so it was back to work today!

Corn Harvest

It's corn harvest time!

Well, it has been for quite awhile, actually. All in all, it's been a good one. As always, I am thankful that my job at harvest time fits my time and talents well. I like being able to keep the harvesters fed, although it will be nice to have dinner in our house again sometime in the near future!

I found this inflatable ghost at the Eureka Thift Store, and Rachel loves it. Our little fall display hasn't blown over too much with our typical windy fall days. I love my new Wildcat sign made by my friend Tamara. It's been a good fall for our teams--our Cross Country Girls team won the Region and the Boys came in as Runners Up yesterday. Way to go, Wildcats!

Back to harvest, Rachel even gets to drive the tractor once in awhile. :)

Happy Harvest!

NW Middle School Music Festival

Landen represented Northwestern at the Middle School Music Festival again this year. This year, there were tubas from other schools as well, so he made some new musical friends throughout the day of rehearsal and concert in the evening.

 Papa Butter and Grandma Shirley were able to attend the joint Choral and Band Concert, too!

All of the musicians did a spectacular job, ending with both the chorus and band together for "God Bless America," which is a tradition for the festival.