Happy Moose Family Blog

It's been a loooooooooong time since I've updated

2010-02-23T09:23:00.000-05:00

Hello!
It's been forever since I've updated this happy moose family blog.
So- I'll try and do better from this point forward but - I make NO promises!

Hugs,
Heidi

Rich is home!

2009-07-31T09:57:00.002-04:00

Rich came home yesterday from Arizona. He's here visiting until Monday. A long weekend is all he can do this time around.
Last night (Thursday), Tanner, Makayla and I went over to my parents house to see him. While we were there, Rich decided to hit some golf balls. This was something that excited both Tanner & Makayla. Within minutes, Tanner brought out his golf clubs from the basement of my parents house. Tanner can hit a golf ball pretty good. Makayla is just learning. :-)
I wish I had my camera the moment that Uncle Rich helped Miss Makayla swing a club. It was so cute! It's nice having a PE teacher for an Uncle!

Tonight we will be having a big dinner at my parents. I'll be sure to update again soon!

Renaissance Festival

2009-07-26T19:15:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday, Bob & I went to the Renaissance Festival. Bob had never been so I thought he should check it out.

We left Saturday morning and arrived around Noon at the festival. We were having a great time checking out the dunking pond, eating yummy food and looking at the many different artists goods.

I love hand thrown pottery so I made sure I checked out the pottery made by a librarian I know.

Near the end of the day, we decided to check out the 'DaVinci brothers show'. We knew nothing about it but we were enjoying the other shows so we decided to check it out.

The idea behind the show was to have an audience participation opera. Well.....Bob was lucky enough to be picked to be part of the show. Ok, maybe Bob wouldn't consider it lucky but I did!

Bob was picked to play the part of ' Suzanne the delicious'. Yes, I did say Suzanne. I'm attaching pictures but trust me- being there in person to watch it in so much fun. I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. Bob did a great job!

So - the next time you see Bob - be sure and ask him about Suzanne the delicious.

Birthday gift from Jeanne

2009-07-14T22:52:00.002-04:00

My girlfriend/co-worker Jeanne, surprised me at work on Monday. She made me these wonderful sugar cookies in the shape of high heels. Jeanne knows how much I enjoy wearing my heels. LOL So - as a birthday gift, she left these on my desk - along with the cute cookie cutter.

Cranberry Lake

2009-07-14T22:28:00.003-04:00

Bob & I decided to take a camping trip to Cranberry Lake in the Adirondack region. I had never been to the Adirondack area of New York. Bob had been but had never been camping at Cranberry Lake. We left Friday, July 3rd around 8:30am - right as it was starting to rain (again). It rained most of the way up North. We set up in the rain, we cooked in the rain, and we ate dinner in the rain. Saturday we got up, it was still raining, so we cooked breakfast in the rain and then decided to take road trip. We went to Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake and then Lake Placid. It was awesome to see where the Olympics were held. After our road trip, we returned back to camp - took a quick bike ride in the rain and then cooked dinner in the rain. :-)

My parents gave me a screen house for my birthday and this was the first time we used it. We were sooooooo thankful to use it. It really was a great gift to have this rainy weekend.

Can you see a pattern?? Rain, rain, rain............

It finally stopped raining around 8pm, just in time for a camp fire.

Our drive home on Sunday was a beautiful sunny ride home!

Overall, we had a great weekend and I would do it again in a heart beat! Thanks to Bob for this camping trip. This was part of my birthday present.

kids bedrooms

2009-07-12T10:31:00.003-04:00

Tanner & Makayla left at the end of June to spend 2 weeks this summer with their father. Before they left, I gave them the opportunity to clean their rooms OR I would clean the rooms for them while they were gone.

Tanner decided it would be best if he cleaned it himself. (good idea).

Makayla decided she didn't want to clean hers - it would be best if I cleaned it.

Here are some pictures I thought you would like to see.....

Tanner's room has the map of the US on the carpet

Makayla pictures are - some before (well - two days into cleaning before I started taking pictures) and then the after it was done.

My birds left......

2009-07-02T14:42:00.002-04:00

In the spring of this year, I had a robin who was determined to build a nest on my front porch.
I was just as determined not to let her. She was trying to build in the frame work near the chairs. Each day I would take down the nest she had started - and each day she would start over. I finally thought I had her beat until I came home after being gone one weekend. Miss Robin had built a beautiful nest IN my hanging basket on the porch. I thought - ok......you won crazy bird.
Tanner and Makayla thought it was great. They would watch her fly in and out of the porch - they checked the basket often. One day - there were 4 blue eggs in her nest. We were always very careful not to touch the eggs or the nest. It wasn't long until she had baby birds. Only 3 eggs hatched but - 3 was enough for the small nest. The kids (especially Makayla) checked the nest almost everyday to see how much the birds had grown.
Yesterday I came home from work and thought - I haven't checked on those birds in about 4 days. I touched the basket and out flew 3 young birds. Obvously their mother has been giving them flying lessons because they flew very well!! I looked again this morning and they haven't come back - I feel bad that I scared them off but .......it must have been their time to go.
Tanner & Makayla will be disappointed when they get home (they are gone for 2 weeks with their father) to see the birds have left.
Maybe next year - we'll have baby birds again!

Pictures to be posted soon.

Rachel's minor surgery

2009-07-01T15:05:00.002-04:00

Rachel had some minor surgery Monday on her wrist. It was an in and out procedure at Rochester General Hospital. She's feeling pretty good other than the fact she can't get it wet for 10 days. Oh yes....and, she can't use her wrist much. So not bike riding, no swimming - no video games!
Poor girl she's already getting bored!

Pool Party

2009-07-01T11:51:00.002-04:00

Bob & I have decided to host a summer pool party this year.
This is in place of the annual Fall party.
The weather in the fall is to unpredictable so we both thought a pool party might be more fun. (now can everyone please pray for sunny weather!)

This years party is Saturday, August 1st at Bob's house
2pm - until whenever.
It's a bring a dish to pass, your own alcohol and towel party.

Email and let us know if you'll be able to make it.
We hope to see you all there.

hmjensen7@yahoo.com

Locks of Love

2009-06-27T20:53:00.003-04:00

Today - Saturday, June 27th was a BIG day at our house.
Makayla (who is 9 yrs. old) decided to get her hair cut.
This was not just any hair cut.......she cut her hair so it could be donated to 'Locks of Love'.
I am so proud of her!
I've taken some before and after pictures.

pool fixed

2009-06-25T14:55:00.002-04:00

My (Heidi) neighbors pool has been repaired and the kids are swimming again!
They are sooooooooooo happy!!! The pool temp last night was 82*. It was even warm enough for me to get in. :-)

Dance recital 2009

2009-06-22T14:54:00.003-04:00

Wow....ok so it's been forever since I've written on the Moose Family Blog.
I'll try and be better - I promise!!

Makayla had dance recital on June 20th.
She did an amazing job and I couldn't be more proud of her!! :-)

This year she took a ballet only class. She enjoyed it but..... she would really like to take Ballet - Tap and Jazz next year.

Full dress rehearsal was on Thursday, June 18th. Some picture are from dress rehearsal and some the day of the recital.

Anyway...enjoy the pictures!

My brother cutting a tree!

2009-04-22T09:27:00.002-04:00

I came home from work yesterday to find my brother and father cutting down a tree at my house. I have many black walnut trees and I can't stand the mess so a few years ago, I told my brother he could cut the trees down and take the wood. (he burns a wood burning stove all winter).
When I got home, the tree had been cut but was hung up on another tree and was stuck on the stump that was cut. Winching it off the stump didn't work so I called my neighbor with a tractor to come over and pull it off.
Once the tree was off the stump it was still hung up on another tree.
To make a long complicated story alittle shorter........
The tree started to fall which in turn caused a higher branch to break off. This branch fell and hit my brother Dan as he was trying to run away from it. The branch hit him in the head, back, and hip. 911 was called and the ambulance came. (lots of excitement at my house Monday night!)
They took him to Rochester General Hospital.
He has multiple factors of his shoulder blade.
He's still a patient at RGH but I did talk to him and he's hoping to come home today!
Please keep my brother Dan, and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Tanner's last wrestling tournament

2009-04-10T21:33:00.003-04:00

Tanner's last wrestling tournament for the year was last Saturday in Penn Yan.

We were up and out of our house by 6:15am. After a few hours at the tournament, it came to our attention that Tanner didn't need to be there until 11:30am. Ooooops.

Oh'well - we were there so we just watched the other children wrestle waiting for Tanner to start.

He wrestled hard and came in 4th place.

Accord to Tanner, this was his last tournament ever....time will tell.

Either way - I was proud of him.

Garage door project

2009-04-09T11:49:00.003-04:00

Bob is getting closer and closer to finishing up the garage door project.
I can now say the walls really are done. The walls themselves are finished.
Bob just has some back filling to do.

Makayla's band concert

2009-04-03T18:50:00.003-04:00

Makayla had her 2nd band concert on Wednesday night. She's been playing the flute since this past July. Her first concert was in the Fall and this was the last concert of the year.
She was sooooo excited - yet alittle nervous.
She did an EXCELLENT job! I was very proud of her.
After the band concert, she came home and played some more. Tanner even got his baritone horn out and played with her. I had my own mini concert going on in my livingroom!!

The walls are done!

2009-04-03T10:02:00.003-04:00

Bob, the worker bee, has been working like crazy. (I think he's ready to be done with this project).
He worked very hard last night and finished the retaining walls. They look awesome!
This morning he got up early and poured the concert. Once all of that sets - he'll pour the new pad and then back fill the walls.
This project is almost done!

Retaining walls

2009-04-02T09:29:00.002-04:00

Ok so Bob really is on a mission.....he wants this project done.
You know how one thing leads to another..... well, this project was no different. :-)
A simple garage door project is taking weeks.
However, Bob can see the end of the tunnel (I hope anyway).
Here are the latest pictures (taken early this morning).
The retaining walls are "almost" done.

Bob is hoping to pour cement this weekend.

Garage door project coming along!

2009-04-02T07:36:00.004-04:00

Bob's been working hard on his garage door project! The door's installed but the outside work still needs to be completed. Which means- cutting the old concert pad, jackhammering the old concert out, installing new drainage pipe, building retaining walls, back filling....will this job ever end???? LOL
Bob just said - It might! LOL
Last weekend, Bob cut the old concert and were busy jackhammering old concert away.
I was helper - moving broken concert. :-)
More pictures and info. coming later.

More babysitting pictures

2009-03-29T11:46:00.001-04:00

Babysitting adventure

2009-03-29T11:07:00.003-04:00

We had a very busy day on Saturday. We started the day off by taking 2 trailers full of debris from Bob's garage door project down the the town recycling center. It's amazing how much nicer the yard looks without all that extra brick and garbage in it.
After that we had some breakfast and got ready for our BIG adventure of the weekend....babysitting for John & Tracy's 3 kiddies who are 5, 3 and 1 years old!
Our babysitting adventure started at 10am. We were alittle late arriving. I had Bob stop at a gas station so I could get a cup of Tea.
Tracy was her usual prepared Mom (you go girl) and had a very nice note written with all meal, snack and nap instructions on it. She even had lunches prepared - in the fridge with each child's name on it. I really was impressed.
It's been many years since either both Bob & I have watched young young children. Emily is 5, Andrew is 3 and Adam is 1.
When we first arrived - Emily was out with her Aunt Amy enjoying alittle girl time shopping for dresses. We did however have the 3 and 1 year old to keep up busy. Adam is a very comfortable walker and Andrew was very excited to have his Uncle Bob come and play with him. Adam & I were busy playing with play food and a fun ball game. Bob was kept busy with Andrew playing trains and trucks.
Emily was brought back home around 11:30am by her Aunt Amy.

Lunch was fun! Adam ate all of his lunch - every single piece. Peas, bananas, and a turkey sandwich. Emily & Andrew ate most of their sandwiches but no carrots. They were too busy being silly. It's fun to be silly when Mom & Dad are not home!!!

After lunch was cleaned up we took everyone outside to play. It was a beautiful day so we decided not to waste the warm spring air and bright sunshine. Everyone had a great time!

While Adam & Andrew were resting, Emily was looking for something to do. So - I asked Emily if she wanted her hair braided. She said - Yes. I'm pretty sure Emily was used to having her hair braided. Nothing like shocking a child with two french braids! They looked very nice on her!

After some quick quiet time / nap times, we all played on the living room floor. We had a late afternoon snack and decided to try the TV for a diversion. Bob & I were both taking turns running after Adam and trying to keep Emily & Andrew busy. We found the Disney movie channel and Tarzan was a hit! Hopefully John & Tracy didn't mind them watching Tarzan. It was a 'G' rated movie so we thought we were in the clear.

John & Tracy got home around 4 pm. They offered to have us stay for pizza but we both thought we were ready for some quiet time of our own! :-)

Little children are so much fun! We really had a good time but at the end of the day - we both agreed, we were happy our children were older.

Car all fixed

2009-03-26T12:26:00.002-04:00

Bob got his car all fixed up. It took alittle work but he did the repairs. Maybe someday he'll look into a different car but not this week.

Bob's car and the deer

2009-03-23T20:36:00.005-04:00

It's been a very bad evening for my honey Bob. He was on his way over to my house (I hate living so far away sometimes!) and he hit a deer. The Audi is not drivable at the moment. Bob said it has so much damage that it's not worth repairing. Big bummer! My heart goes out to him - it sucks when you have to have a car payment after you haven't had one in a while.

Heidi

Bob's new door

2009-03-23T11:03:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, Bob decided that he wanted to change his basement around alittle. He wanted some space he could work on something alittle larger than a bike. Ok ok....I'll just say it, a snowmobile! He wanted the space to work on things at his house. Not that going to the shop or his father garage was a bad thing - but he liked the idea of working from home.
With this in mind, he did some serious cleaning, hauling, removing and painting in 1/2 of his basement. Soon after, he found a 5' garage door on Craig's List. Once it was purchased - he was on a mission to install it.
He worked every night last week digging out the dirt for the opening. Friday night he worked late and then on Saturday he was ready to cut the hole in the wall. By Sunday afternoon, his door was installed. He still have some trim work to do but hey - atleast the door is installed!!!
Bob did have some helpers for this project. Bruce ( a co-worker) came over Saturday and helped him dig. And his father was over on Saturday & Sunday to help. I know he is grateful for their help.
Congratulations to Bob on a beautiful door. I'm very proud of him.
He does excellent work!

Friday funny

2009-03-20T12:30:00.002-04:00

One of the girls I work with gave me a calendar for Christmas.
It's a new page for each day of the year.
The title of my calendar is 'Duh! The dumbest things ever said or done'.
Some are not funny to me and then there are good ones - like today.

"In the 1980's residents in Newfoundland were surprised to find bull moose charging into railroad locomotives. Finally, railroad engineers figured out the problem: Their train whistle sounded too much like the moose mating call. Once they changed the whistle's tone, the bull moose went their own way and do did the trains".

Ok - I have always said I want to see a moose in the wild but - I don't want to see them being goofy and running into trains!

Happy Friday everyone!!
Heidi

More splash pictures

2009-03-15T10:43:00.002-04:00

Day 3 of our trip to Splash Lagoon

2009-03-15T10:29:00.003-04:00

Our last day of Splash Lagoon was on Monday, March 9th.

We packed up our cars, eat breakfast and then waited for the waterpark to open at 10am.

While we were waiting, Brandon and Rachel decide to snuggle with their Dad. Makayla decided to join them! LOL

Trip to Splash Lagoon - Day 2

2009-03-15T10:17:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, we had early splash passes so we got up, had some yummy breakfast and headed over to the water park.

After we spent a day at the park, we decided to go out for dinner. Everyone decided a dinner at 'Quaker Steak and Lube' was the perfect place to go!

After dinner, we ( Bob & I ) decided to NOT get back into the water so - we let the kids enjoy the whirlpool tub in our hotel room.

Pictures are from Splash and our hotel room.

Our trip to Splash Lagoon

2009-03-15T10:10:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, March 7th, we (Bob, Rachel, Brandon, Tanner, Makayla and myself) headed to Erie, Pennsylvania for a weekend trip to Splash Lagoon. Splash Lagoon is an indoor waterpark. It's alot of fun! We stayed at the Residence Inn which is connected to Splash Lagoon. Once you enter your hotel, you don't NEED to go back outside for anything.

The first night we didn't go over to Splash we just stayed and played in the hotel pool, hottub and sauna.

Birthday dinner

2009-03-06T08:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight we will be having Tanner's birthday dinner.
Yes....I do realize his birthday isn't until the 13th but...we will be out of town this weekend and next weekend he will be at his Dad's house.
I'll be sure and take pictures and post them up later. :-)

Surprise Birthday Party

2009-03-01T20:28:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I decided to have a surprise birthday party sleepover for Tanner. I asked 3 of his close friends to come over on the last Friday of winter break. They were Joey Mitchell, RJ Sturtz and Nate Statt. Tanner thought only Nate was coming over at 6pm. Well.....RJ came over around 3:30 and Tanner was totally surprised and shortly after that - Nate arrived followed by Joey.
They boys had a great time playing Playstation. They also decided it would be great idea to sticker Tanner's wall.
Tanner was alittle overwhelmed at first but finally came around.
I learned from the experience that Tanner isn't a big fan of surprises. Next time I'll atleast give him a few hours notice!

Left to right on the picture -
Joey, Nate, RJ and Tanner (notice the wall behind them full of stickers!!!)

Symptoms of Inner Peace

2009-02-26T12:26:00.003-05:00

Symptoms of Inner Peace
by Saskia Davis

A tendancy to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment
A loss of interest in judging other people
A loss of interest in conflict
A loss of the ability to worry (this is a very serious symptom)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen
Frequent attacks of smiling

Crazy week last week!

2009-02-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

It was a crazy week last week....sorry I didn't post anything!
I'll post tonight to make up for it! Promise!! :-)

Sunday morning breakfast

2009-02-15T19:41:00.002-05:00

Sunday - Feb. 15th we decided to take a trip to the 'Maple Tree Inn' for an early morning breakfast. http://www.cartwrightsmapletreeinn.com/
Bob & I were joined by - Mom & Dad Ledgerwood, Mom & Dad Levan and Todd Sackett ( a friend of the Levan family).
We arrived at the Maple Tree at 7:50 am. Since they don't open until 8 we had to stand in the cold 10 minutes. I had frozen toes!!!
Breakfast was yummy as usual.
After breakfast Bob & I took the very scenic drive home. It was very nice!
We even stopped at the Wizard of Clay on our way home! WooooHooooo.
It was a great day! I got to visit some of my favorite spots - Maple Tree Inn and The Wizard of Clay all while hanging out with my honey!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T19:32:00.002-05:00

Valentine's Day was a nice day.
Bob cooked us dinner Saturday night. He made Peppercorn Pork Tenderloin, Twice baked potatoes (made with cheese, sour cream, milk, butter, onion, and bacon), peas, and sugar cookies.

We exchanged Valentine's Day cards and some small gifts.

After dinner we enjoyed some quality quiet time.

Friday Night - Feb. 13th

2009-02-15T19:20:00.003-05:00

On Friday night - Bob & I went to Ralph and Becky Annechino's house for dinner.
Ralph & Becky live in Naples. It's a beautiful location. The Annechino's have two sweet dogs ~ Maggie and Dudley.
Dudley is brown and Maggie is Black.

We had a great time!
Becky made a yummy dessert. Crescent rolls with Cream cheese rolled in Cinnamon and Sugar.

While we were there - we checked out the concert counter tops that Ralph & Becky made. They look AWESOME!

We always have fun when we visit with our friends. :-)

Heidi's helpers

2009-02-09T19:59:00.002-05:00

Late Sunday afternoon, I decided it was time to try and get the ice off the driveway.
Soon after I started, Tanner and Makayla wanted to help. Fine with me! I was not the least bit upset at all.
They worked very hard! The best part- they never once asked for money or favors.
They were extra good kiddies FOR SURE!

Adam's 1st birthday

2009-02-08T18:43:00.003-05:00

After the snowmobile show on Saturday, we headed to John & Tracy's for Adam's 1st birthday party. We were alittle late but Adam didn't seem to mind. After dinner - I got the opportunity to hold Adam. He was enjoying his sippy cup of milk and waving to everyone. Between dinner and cake, Adam opened his present. He seemed to be more happy with the tissue paper and bag than the actual toy. Little ones can be so fun to watch!

Great Eastern Whiteout

2009-02-08T18:17:00.002-05:00

Saturday Bob & I spent the day at the 'Great Eastern Whiteout Vintage Snowmobile Show'.
The show was held at the Rolling Wheels Racetrack just outside of Auburn.
We arrived around 10am. It was packed. There were lots of people and lots of snowmobiles.
Bob registered his sled, a 1981 ArticCat ElTigre', as a restored muscle sled.
One of the fun things Bob did was ride in a parade of sleds.
We thought we would be smart and dress warm, bring chairs and a game stove so we could boil water and have hot chocolate. We had one problem.....we brought nothing to light the stove with. :-( ooops! We'll be more prepaid next year!
The pictures are of some sleds that Bob liked as well as Bob on his sled.

Snow creatures!

2009-02-08T17:59:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we spent some time making some fun snow creatures.
Tanner & Makayla worked together to make a snowman and a snowball face.
After awhile, I decided to join them.
I decided to make an alligator. After I had it made, I sprayed it with green food coloring.
Tanner & Makayla were excited and asked if they could spray their creatures with food coloring as well.
We all had a great time creating and spaying out snow creatures!!

Newark Wrestling Tournament

2009-01-27T09:56:00.002-05:00

Tanner had his first wrestling tournament of the year on Sunday.
The Tournament was held in Newark.
The tournament started later than scheduled, and in turn, ran later than planned.
We didn't get home until after 7pm.

Tanner had 3 matches.
The first 2 he lost by a pin.
His first match was quick- VERY quick.
The second match lasted to the 3rd period.
He never takes a loss of any kind very well! He gets very mad at himself. Honestly - as he should!
His last match - he pinned his opponent. Hooray!

Tanner isn't sure he wants to wrestle in tournaments. We'll see how practice goes this week!

Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park

2009-01-26T15:28:00.003-05:00

Today - Monday, January 26th
Bob - along with Victor and a variety of other people have rented Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Cleveland Ohio. They look like they're having a blast.
Check it out at.....
www.raysmtb.com
You can click on the little link under the picture that says 'SramCam'
It's a live webcam feed to Ray's.

Hopefully Bob and Victor have been taking pictures today so I'll post again tomorrow.

Splash Lagoon

2009-01-22T15:48:00.004-05:00

Hello family and friends!

Bob & I have decided to go to Splash Lagoon again this year.
For those of you who don't know - Splash Lagoon is an Indoor Waterpark in Erie, PA.
www.splashlagoon.com
The kids have a ball!!

We are going March 7th - March 9th (Sunday's are much cheaper than a Friday or Saturday).
This is our mini winter vacation. I'm sure there are still rooms available if anyone is interested in going when we'll be there. Reservations aren't a bad price.

Let us know if you'll be there at the same time as us!
Heidi

Sledding

2009-01-21T07:30:00.003-05:00

The kids had Monday, Jan. 19th off from school so they spent lots of time outside sledding.
As you can see - A jump was built in the middle of the field. They had a blast jumping it!
They both use the foam sled but Tanner also enjoys riding his snowboard.
Shelby doesn't know any better and she runs up and down the hill like she's a puppy.

By morning, she can hardly walk! Silly dog!

Rock band

2009-01-19T11:45:00.003-05:00

We were sledding for about 2 hours on Saturday. It was cold and 2 hours was plenty enough.
Nate had fallen off his sled and his mittens, boots and sock fell off. He was frozen so we decided to come in the house and warm up!
After our sledding buddies went home, Bob, Brandon, Tanner & I had dinner. Bob & I had decided to combine our chicken noodle soup recipes. Our soup was yummmmmy!
After dinner -
The boys decided to play - Rock band.....for hours!
Bob & I watched a movie while the boys were rock band players.
It was a very fun day. It felt funny not to have Rachel or Makayla with us.

Sledding party pictures

2009-01-19T11:33:00.003-05:00

Saturday afternoon we decided to have a sledding party.
It was VERY VERY cold! We only had a few brave sledders.
Bob & Brandon came over with the snowmobile.
Rachel was in Quebec and Makayla was at a birthday party sleepover.

Our brave sledders were -
Tanner, Brandon, RJ Sturtz, Joey Mitchell, and Nate Statt.
And Bob & I of course! :-)
Jenna and Shelby were outside for alittle while with us but......Jenna thought she should follow Bob around on the snowmobile - including 3 fields out. Crazy girl!! She was so tired and had a cut up belly from the snow. After that - she had to stay inside!

Sledding

2009-01-15T09:13:00.002-05:00

I will be having a get together Saturday afternoon at my house for sledding.
Everyone is welcome to come! Dress warm and bring a sled if you have one. I have some sleds but not alot. The foam wave type runners work the best!
If you plan on having dinner - please let me know. Thanks!

With Sympathy

2009-01-13T09:11:00.003-05:00

John & Tracy's (Bob's Sister and brother-in-law) cat - Paws passed away on Saturday.
Paws was an older cat and had been in the family for many years.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to - John, Tracy, Emily, Andrew and Adam.

Snowmobiling at Heidi's house

2009-01-11T17:48:00.002-05:00

Bob & Jenna came over this weekend. They arrived with an Artic Cat in tow on the Audi.
They arrived right around lunch time.
Bob had alittle lunch and then headed out for about a 3 hour ride on his sled.

After he returned home, we had a dinner.
Dinner was a new recipe that we both decided was a keeper.
We had Pecan Praline Chicken with wild rice. Yummmy!!
Sunday morning, Bob cooked us breakfast and then headed outside.
After some adjustments to the carburetor, Bob went for another long ride.
Poor Jenna didn't know what to do. She sat at the window and looked for Bob and cried every time she heard a funny noise.
After Bob got back, he took me for a ride. We rode for about 25 minutes. It was a nice ride.
We rode some trails not far from my house. The trails were rough but it was still fun!

It was another great weekend for both of us!

Snowmobile riding

2009-01-07T10:09:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, January 1st -
Bob & I went over to his parents house and rode snowmobiles.
Bob rode his sled and I rode his Dad's sled.
We had alot of fun. I haven't ridin a snowmobile in about 7 years.
I forgot how much fun it can be!

After our ride, Bob, & I ,with his parents, went to dinner in Macedon at Micelli's.
Yummy food, great company....what more could you ask for?

Overall it was a very good day!

six-word memoirs

2009-01-02T11:55:00.003-05:00

I just heard of this fun project that has been going on for YEARS!!
It's called ~ Six-word Memoirs.
Can you describe your relationship, life, love, ect... in six words?
(Below is the description of the book.)
Here is my thought......
I think we need to do this little fun project!
I'll add mine to the blog soon.

Have fun!

About The Book

Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure collects almost 1,000 six-word memoirs, including additions from many celebrities including Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Dave Eggers, Richard Ford, Deepak Chopra, Moby, and more. A New York Times bestseller and subject of hundreds of stories from The New Yorker to NPR and hailed as "American haiku," SMITH's book of six-word memoirs is both a moving peek at the minutia of humanity and the most inspirational toilet reading you'll ever find.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T10:46:00.003-05:00

We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Eve!
Our plans......
Rachel & Brandon are going to be with their Mom.
Bob will be joining Heidi, Tanner & Makayla for LOTS of snacks!
This is one of the last nights for Bob & Heidi to eat like pigs......
This weekend we are going to start eating healthier and exercising more!

Happy New Year!

Bob's Christmas Tree

2008-12-11T11:18:00.002-05:00

Here is Bob's beautiful Christmas Tree for this year!
It's looks AWESOME!

Christmas funny

2008-12-11T11:15:00.001-05:00

REMEMBER
THIS AT CHRISTMAS TIME

According
to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female
reindeers grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their
antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December.
Female reindeers retain their antlers till after they give birth in
the spring.
Therefore , according to EVERY historical rendition depicting
Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to
be a girl.
We should've known... ONLY women would be able to drag a
fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not
get
lost.

Sad news

2008-11-24T11:32:00.002-05:00

I have some sad news to report today......

Tanner's surgeons wife passed away today.
I'm sure many of you have heard me talk about my friend Laurie Pask.
I meet Laurie the first time Tanner had surgery. I will NEVER forget it.
She came out to the main lobby at Strong where I was sitting (around 10pm) and told me about Tanner's disease. She was Dr. Hengerer's RN at the time. I had NO idea it was his wife.
I was soooooooooooo angry at her. I thought 'listen lady - you can just go away. My son is having some quick surgery and then we are out of here'. She knew better and she was trying sooooooooo hard to make me understand that this was a life long disease and that we would be seeing ALOT of each other. I obviously just didn't want to hear it and was in total denial.

Well..... we did start to see ALOT of each other and she had a very special soft spot for Tanner in her heart. I think it was his beautiful blue eyes that won her over. :-)
It was a few years in when I realized that she and Art (Dr. Hengerer) were married. Too funny!

Over time we developed a friendship. We talked on the phone and after she was diagnosed, for the 3rd time with Breast Cancer ( and had stopped working) she would come to my office and take me out for lunch. She had a positive attitude and alway had a smile. Her first question was always "how is your family doing?" We shared alot with each other for many years.

She didn't have any children herself but she treated Tanner and Makayla with so much love. She bought them Christmas presents and on her trip to Africa, she bought them goodies home as well. They were both so happy to get a gift from Africa. I think they enjoyed seeing her pictures the most!

On this past Friday, before Tanner's surgery, Tanner made Laurie a loaf of banana bread. He also made her a card. The card and bread were for both Laurie and Art but - he made them with Laurie in mind. He gave them to Dr. Hengerer and said - "please give Laurie a hug for me". I knew then that Laurie didn't have much time left. Art was having a hard time talking to me about it and expressed that this was the most difficult thing he had ever witnessed - watching a loved one suffer.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her family. She will be truly missed by anyone and everyone who knew and loved her.

Wow.....

2008-11-20T15:21:00.002-05:00

Wow....
It's been about 2 weeks since I've added a new post to this Happy Moose Family blog!

Here's an update about a few things for everyone!

Bob has his snowmobile put back together and has been able to use it this week because of all the new white fluffy snow. :-)
It's running good and Bob is having a blast!

I (Heidi) took a quick trip to Albany on Tuesday, Nov. 18th to lobby for library funding. We aren't asking the state to NOT cut our funding. We are just being asked to be cut equally. In other words, don't cut libraries 25% and someone else 20%. Make it fair for everyone! It's a 3 1/2 hour drive to Albany on the Thruway so we were in the car for 7 hours and in Albany for 2 hours. Let's hope our efforts pay off.

Bob now has a nasty head cold. :-(
Sneezing like crazy, headache, and just feeling like pooooo.
Poor honey!

Bob is taking Rachel and Brandon tomorrow night to see 'Twilight'. They have both read the book and can't wait to see the movie.

And last but not least -
Tanner has surgery tomorrow.
I'll update the blog as to how he makes out tomorrow night.

There is the quick family update!

Halloween update

2008-11-05T21:34:00.003-05:00

I'm alittle late with this but I just wanted to share Halloween with everyone.
Friday night - Halloween night, my kiddies went with their father for trick or treating ( it was his weekend). Since I had no kids, I asked Bob if I could come over to his house to hand out candy. He thought that would be good. I was very excited to do this because I NEVER get more than 2 trick or treaters at my house. I was looking forward to lots and lots of little cuties.
Brandon & Rachel were home when I arrived. They were getting into their costumes. Brandon was a 'super hero' and Rachel was a 'hobo'.

I arrived at Bob's around 5:30pm with a big bowl full of candy and a bottle of white cat wine. :-)
Bob cooked us dinner while I passed out candy and had a few glasses of wine. One of the little girls that came to the door was cute as a button. She was a pretty princess. So, I handed her two packages of smarties and 1 small box of Nerds. She looked at me and said "I can't have those (she was pointed to the Nerds)". I said that's fine, I'll give you something else. She then said "My mom says I'll probably stick them up my nose again'"
I laughed sooooooooooooooo hard! She was about 3 years old. Her Mom couldn't hear her but if she did I'm sure she would have just died. hee hee hee

After an awesome dinner of Bob's famous super yummy goulash, Tanner and Makayla stopped over ticker or treating. Tanner was a bloody mess and Makayla was a witch.

It was a fun evening!

New picture

2008-11-04T10:44:00.002-05:00

Here is a new picture of Bob & I.
This was taken by Bob's sister ~ Tracy.
We were attending Emily's (Bob's niece) 5th birthday party.

Don't forget!

2008-11-04T08:42:00.002-05:00

Today is the day..............

Don't forget to VOTE!

Thank you

2008-10-29T09:20:00.002-04:00

Thank you everyone who came to the Fall Party this year.
It was a very cold & wet year for a party.

We had LOTS of people cancel and we totally understood why.

Let's hope next year the weather is alittle better. Ok ok...ALOT better!

Bike ride

2008-10-19T19:36:00.005-04:00

Today (Sunday, October 19th)
Bob & I went on a beautiful bike ride. We rode from Penn Yan to Dresden on the Keuka Lake outlet trail. It was 7 miles one way. 14 miles total.

Along the way we saw waterfalls, remains of old mills, gorgeous scenery. We also came across many people hiking, fellow bikers, two people on horseback and some Amish families enjoying a picnic. I'm adding some pictures of our journey.
After our ride, Bob treated us to lunch at the Keuka Restaurant in downtown Penn Yan.
If you ever get a chance to ride this trail - do it! It's awesome.

Here is alittle info. about the trail taken from the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail website:

In the heart of the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York State, between the villages of Penn Yan on Keuka Lake and Dresden on Seneca Lake, lies the Keuka Outlet Trail.
The trail is built on the track bed of the old Fall Brook Railroad (1884-1974), which, in turn, follows the towpath of the historic Crooked Lake Canal (1833-1877) that once connected the lakes by dropping 270 feet over 8 miles through the ravine created by the Keuka Outlet Creek. The canal was kept separate from the creek by its towpath, and so today's trail runs between the old canal bed and the creek, except at Seneca Mills Falls where the trail drops into the canal bed and passes through Lock #17.

The Outlet Trail is currently 7.0 miles long. The trail's descent from Keuka Lake to Seneca Lake is gradual, and so the trail can be traveled in either direction with relative ease. From the Elm Street (Rt. 54A) ball fields to Cherry Street in Penn Yan, the trail has been paved with asphalt. This 1.3-mile section of trail is owned and managed by the Village of Penn Yan. From Cherry Street east to the western outskirts of Dresden, the trail surface is a combination of dirt, gravel, and ballast from the railroad bed; these 5.7 miles of trail are owned and maintained by the Friends of the Outlet, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving the lands and waters of the Keuka Lake Outlet Preservation Area.

Family dog

2008-10-16T20:29:00.003-04:00

I have some sad news to report tonight.....
My brother Dan's family have now lost 2 family dogs in 3 weeks time.
There lab/husky mix named Tucker was hit by a car the last week in September. This was my nephew Derek's dog. He was beside himself. He loved that dog. Tucker sleep with him every night. Tucker had gotten out and ran all night long - someone found him dead and brought him back to the house in the morning.
Tonight their yellow lab named Bailey was hit by a car. This was my niece Kasey's dog. Kasey is a 14 yr. old girl and she watched her dog, who was less than a year old, die tonight. The driver never stopped. Bailey was beautiful dog.
Both times my brother was at work and someone had to call him to let him know. My sister in-law has had to take care of it both times!

My heart goes out to my brother's family. It's very hard to loss a family dog - but it's even harder to loss 2 in less than a month.

Please say an extra prayer for Kasey, Derek, Dan and Lisa tonight. Thanks

Sleep over adventure

2008-10-13T09:59:00.004-04:00

Another fun filled adventure at Heidi's house this weekend!
Friday night, Makayla had 4 of her girlfriends over to spend the night.
5 girls under that age of 10! What was I thinking??????
Loud, yelling, screaming, laughing, goofy........... These are just some of the words I can now use to describe them to everyone! They all seemed to have a good time. They had pizza, cake, and watched 2 movies~ Spiderwick and Elf. They were all sleeping by 11pm. Not bad is what I have to say about that! :-) Young girls can really be funny to watch interact with either other.

Because Tanner was feeling left out - I allowed him to have a friend over to spend the night on Friday as well. His friend RJ came over with his bike. The plan was to ride their bikes until dark (7 pmish) and then watch a movie in his bedroom (away from the girls!). Well.....things did not go as planned! About 6:30 is when the fun began.

Tanner was jumping his BMX bike and landed hard. His chin hit the handlebar and was cut wide open. Tanner came in the house (not crying) and said - Mom I need to see you.. NOW! I was calm and said ok - and noticed the blood running down his chin. Hmmmmmm - that would be stitch worthy. Tanner keep saying.... 'Are you sure?" A mom always knows. I've seen this type of thing before with him so YES.....it was in need of stitches.

Grandma to the rescue. I called my Mom and told her what had happened. I asked for her help and then gave her the choice of staying home with the girls or taking Tanner to the ER. Smart woman - she choose to take Tanner to the ER. It was the easier of the two choices for sure.
RJ went along for the ride but is NOT going to be in the medical field when he grows up. NO chance! LOL RJ doesn't like blood nor does he even like the thought of anything along those lines.

The girls were only semi concerned about Tanner - They were more concerned about who was sleeping where on the floor, who made it into Student Council and who liked or didn't like band. LOL. They did all talk about how many stitches Tanner would get. My guess. along with 1 other girls, was 2 -3. Everyone else guessed 3 - 4.
Tanner & RJ got back home around 9:45pm. Tanner had 4 stitches to show the girls! LOL
I felt bad - My Mom was heading out the door to go and watch Derek's soccer game when I called her to the rescue. She never did make it to the game.

Saturday morning the girls went home, Makayla went to soccer practice and Tanner, RJ and I went for a quick bike ride. By Noonish - it was just Tanner, Makayla and I. RJ was picked up by his parents and life returned to normal. Well...... as normal as it can be at my house! :-)

Upcoming event

2008-10-09T10:21:00.002-04:00

Makayla's 9th birthday weekend is coming up.
I say weekend because........
Friday night she is having girlfriends over to spend the night. (What was I thinking???)
They are going to have pizza, cake, icecream and then watch a movie.

On Sunday afternoon, we will have a family late lunch to celebrate her birthday.
Makayla's actual birthday is on Tuesday, October 14th.

Thought for the day

2008-10-06T14:12:00.001-04:00

Courage is resistance to fear,
mastery of fear ~ not absence of fear!
(Mark Twain)

Becky & Eric's wedding

2008-10-03T08:51:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday, Bob & I went to his cousin Becky's wedding.
The wedding itself was very beautiful. Bob's Aunt Marilyn played the piano and sang (she has a beautiful voice!) The bride wore a strapless gown while the bridesmaids wore deep wine color dresses. It was a Catholic ceremony however, it went pretty fast. The wedding was held in Phelps, NY.
The reception was held at the Mendon Country Club. Everyone had assigned seating. Bob & I sat at the 'Plum wine' table. Everything about the wedding was a 'wine' theme. Each table had a wine bottle with lights inside of it - this was the center piece. The wedding cake was decorated with grapes.
Dinner was a buffet, which can be fun trying to figure things out. One of the things on the buffet was potato chips (yes you did just read that right! - LOL). It also had chicken, Veggie lasagna, Roast beef, rolls, salad and so on. Oh yes.... it also had smashed potatoes. The smashed potatoes were to die for!!! I've never tasted such yummmmmmy smashed potatoes.
After dinner, I did (everyone cheer!) get Bob to dance with me. We danced slow and fast dances! I know dancing is NOT Bob's thing but.......he did an excellent job! I was sooooooooo thankful that he would dance with me. To even have the courage to dance with me is just one of the reason I love him so.
The wedding was suppose to be 'Adult only'. So, Bob didn't bring his kids (I wasn't going to either way). However........there were ALOT of children there. They were 'playing' in the lobby. The lobby was a disaster. Bob & I keep referring to them as the 'unaccompanied minors'. They were totally out of control. All the furniture had been moved. Toilet paper was used to tie children and furniture together. WOW! that's the last I'm going to say about that! LOL
It was great/meet some of Bob's family.
We were all VERY sad that Tracy & John (Bob's sister and brother-in-law) couldn't make it. They had sick children and they couldn't get away. :-(
I look forward to more family adventures with Bob - as well as my own! :-)

Fall Party

2008-09-22T10:22:00.002-04:00

It's fall again!
I just came home from the Bloomsburg Fair and now it's time to think- Fall Party!

The annual Fall party is Saturday, October 25th.
Party starts at 3pm - Dinner is at 5:30pm.

If it rains...please call first, I'm not renting a tent this year. My neighbor Tim is borrowing a small tent but we aren't going to try and host a party in the pouring down rain.

I'm sending email and snailmail invites soon so if you don't get one, please let me know.

This year I'm going to post on the blog (right hand side) a list of dishes that I know people are bringing. Each year people call me to see what everyone else is bringing. This should help with that.

Hope to see you in October!

camera

2008-09-22T10:17:00.002-04:00

I know this is a bad excuse but......
My Father has had my camera in Idaho hunting for Elk. I guess I feel like without pictures my blogs are alittle sad. LOL
Honestly, I have Tanner's camera in my purse but I can't find the cable to upload the pictures.

Ok ok....so that is a BAD BAD excuse but I was trying to justify my lack of posting. :-)

My Dad took some beautiful pictures while he was out west. He even took a picture of a mounted Moose head for me to see. :-)

I'll start being better this week.
Thanks!

Updates

2008-09-15T10:23:00.003-04:00

Sorry.....it's been a whole week since I've added anything to the Happy Moose Family Blog.

On Sept. 6th, my Great Aunt Beryl (My grandma's sister) passed away. She was 95 years old. She was a wonderful person who I tried to visit every time I was in Bloomsburg. The funeral was Friday, Sept. 12th. So - on Thursday, Sept. 11th, Tanner, Makayla and I drove to PA after I got out of work. We returned to NY on Friday around 6:30pm.

We (the 6 of us) were planning on camping at Ontario County Park for the GROC (Greater Rochester Offroad Cyclist) event but since it was raining we didn't go Friday night. Instead we spent the day there on Saturday and then returned to the Ledgerwood house to spend the night.

Moose playing with basketball

2008-09-08T12:42:00.001-04:00

I don't like B-ball but this is cute!!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa_0-O8WSOU

First day of school

2008-09-05T15:50:00.002-04:00

Well.....The summer is finally over school has started again!!!

Tanner & Makayla started school on Wednesday, Sept. 3rd
Tanner is now in 5th grade
Makayla is now in 4th grade

Rachel & Brandon started school on Thursday, Sept. 4th
Rachel is now in 8th grade
Brandon is now in 7th grade

Bob & I are both hoping for a good school year from all 4 kiddies!!

Farmall Hill Racing

2008-08-26T10:51:00.002-04:00

Tuesday - August 19th was the last of the 3 races for the Summer Farmall Hill racing series.
The second race was held on Tuesday, August 12th.
Bob did not race this race. He was very busy trying to get things ready for our camping trip to Allegany.
Tanner did race that evening. He was alittle disappointed (Ok... ALOT!!) about how he finished. Someone beat him by half a tire - 1/100th of a second to be exact.
As I told Tanner - NO WORRIES! He finished - he didn't fall - so...be happy with what you did AND if someone beats you by that much - You need to improve for the next time and beat that person.

On Tuesday- August 19th - He did just that!
For the series - Tanner won 2nd place for his age group and class (Junior 9 & 10 yrs olds)

I was proud of him for just riding this course. It's not an easy course to ride (atleast that's what I'm told! - I haven't done it myself. )

Spring of 2009 - he can try again!

Allegany State Park Camping - Last part

2008-08-25T11:59:00.002-04:00

Our camping adventure came to an end on Tuesday, August 19th.

We were all very tired!
We enjoyed our time together very much but it was time to go home.

We all look forward to doing it again soon!

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 6

2008-08-25T11:23:00.003-04:00

More camping .......

Tanner & Brandon found some 'Jumps' in the woods behind some of the camp sites.
Every time we couldn't find the boys- Makayla would say - 'They're in the woods jumping again'.

One afternoon, Bob decided to go and check out the jumps -
He decided to show them all how it was done - LOL

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 5

2008-08-25T10:40:00.003-04:00

Sunday at camp was another fun filled day!
The kids played 4 square and/or 2 square everyday we were camping.
On Sunday we went to Bradford, PA and got dinner supplies - along with chalk so the kid could draw lines for playing 4 square.
Ok..now we know - they play MUCH better without the lines! With chalk lines major arguing happened all the time!
I'm happy to report - it rained Sunday night..... and the lines were washed away. Hooray!

On our way to Bradford, we stopped at Tornado Alley. This was a spot in 1996 that a F1 tornado went thru Allegany State Park. It's been 18 years so you can no longer see where the tornado went thru but we didn't know that so we might the hike up in the woods.

Our first stop in Bradford was at the Dairy Queen for the famous Blizzards.
After that we headed to Tops grocery store for dinner supplies.
We had Chicken, salt potatoes, corn, rice and deviled eggs. Again...YUMMY!

We ended our day by having S'more's.
Rachel burned her hand on the metal S'more stick - It blistered right away. Poor honey!!!

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 4

2008-08-25T10:24:00.002-04:00

On Saturday night - we had pie iron pizza's for dinner.
Bob makes his out of bread - I make mine out of pizza dough.
I must confess and say that I was alittle leery about the bread. I thought it would taste funny.
But....it was VERY yummy! Both ways of cooking pie iron pizzas were different but good in their own right.

After dinner - Bob took the kids up to the Stone Tower to look at the stars with Rachel's telescope.
I stayed behind and relaxed by the fire.
Thank you Bob for giving me that down time!

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 3

2008-08-25T09:42:00.003-04:00

Saturday late morning -
After the kids hung their bags to dry a request was made by one of the kids for a trip to Thunder Rocks.
Thunder Rocks is always a fun place to visit so we all piled into Bob's car and headed for the hills.
Everyone had a good time climbing as many rocks as they could.

Rachel & Makayla did much better than I thought they would. I had little doubt the Brandon and Tanner would be climbing like monkeys. They didn't prove me wrong! :-)

Everone was very brave to climb as high as they did.
Even Bob & I climbed some rocks.
On the way home in the car -
The girls sang 'Fall Out Boys' songs to us! LOL
Brandon did join them on a song or two as well.

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 2

2008-08-21T15:43:00.003-04:00

Camping -Part 2

On Saturday Bob prepared us an excellent breakfast. We had eggs, bacon and homefries. Makayla had cereal of course, but the rest of us enjoyed a yummy meal.
After breakfast the 4 kids painted on nylon backpacks.
After lots of painting the bags were hung on the line to dry.
Some were very creative - others (Tanner) not so much! LOL

Allegany State Park Camping - Part 1

2008-08-21T15:35:00.003-04:00

Bob & I with our children headed to Allegany State Park for a long weekend camping.
Bob, Rachel and Brandon left on Friday, August 15th around 10:30am. Tanner, Makayla, and I left on Friday around 2:45pm. This worked great for me - Bob had both tents set up and everything of his unloaded before we got there! :-)
We had two tents set up - One for all the kids to sleep together and a small tent for Bob & I to sleep in.
Soon after we arrived, Bob & I set up the screenhouse tent and unloaded my car and started to prepare dinner. Dinner was Hamburger, hotdogs, Pasta salad and salt potatoes.
After dinner we (Bob & I) sat and relaxed alittle while the kids rode their bikes.

This is a picture of our 'home away from home' for 5 days.

Rochester Crit

2008-08-12T10:15:00.003-04:00

Bob & I had another busy weekend - It is summer you know! :-)

Friday night Bob cooked us dinner - Pizza made on the grill - WOW - They were awesome!
I've never had a grilled pizza before but now I can't wait to have another one!

Saturday night Bob took me to the Rochester Crit.
It's a road bike race in Rochester - downtown. Bob has been to the other Rochester Crit's but I hadn't. We drove into the city and parked someplace close to the event. We then took our bikes and rode to where the race was. It was alot of fun riding my bike on the streets of Rochester - which were closed due to the race!
The pro's finished about 10:45pm and after that we rode our bikes (in the rain) to the Dinosaur BBQ. Again...another first for me! LOL
Great food - good drinks and many laughs!
I can't wait to go again next year. :-)

Farmall Hill Racing

2008-08-06T10:43:00.003-04:00

Last night was the 1st of 3 racing scheduled for this August at Farmall Hill.

This was Tanner's first MTB race - other than the Fat Tire Festival. He was sooooooooo excited and couldn't wait to start.
And
It was Bob's first night racing on the new VOODOO frame.

The night started off very cloudy and gray but the officials decided to start the race anyway.
About 30 minutes into the race.....the skies opened up!
It rained so hard that you could barely see.
Needless to say - they stopped the race but not before we were ALL completely soaked! LOL

Hopefully next week will be better weather!

Bob and his bikes

2008-08-04T10:09:00.004-04:00

Bob had alittle mishap with his Bianchi MUSS single speed bike frame a month or so ago.....
Because of that, he had to buy a new frame. His new frame is a VOODOO frame.
Bob's Kona bike -King Kikpua is now getting older. 'The King' is starting to make noises and it's time to upgrade. So......
Bob spent most of Sunday taking 2 bikes (Kona and Bianchi) and creating 1 new one (Voodoo).
I'm attaching pictures of the MANY bike parts and of the newly created single speed MTB - Voodoo.

Ledgerwood and Seabreeze

2008-08-04T10:04:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, August 2nd - Bob, Rachel, Brandon and their neighbors Jake and Alyssa went to Seabreeze for the day. This is a yearly tradition that Bob does for Rachel & Brandon's birthday.
This year the day started off alittle rainy and cloudy but ended very warm and sunny.
Everyone had a good time! Amusement parks can be sooooo much fun!

While they were gone.....

2008-08-04T09:07:00.003-04:00

While my children were at their Dad's house for two weeks, I decided to CLEAN their bedrooms.
Their rooms were a complete disaster, to say the very least.
I couldn't see Makayla floor and I knew that I was going to break an ankle some night checking on her if I didn't get it fixed.
Tanner's room....his closet was full of stuff and the organizer I bought for him 8 months ago was still sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor.
Soooo..........after many hours - their rooms were done enough for my liking.
Tanner & Makayla came home on Saturday morning and were VERY excited!
Now if they can only keep them this nice!

Class Reunion

2008-08-04T08:52:00.003-04:00

This weekend was my (Heidi) 20 yr. class reunion. I graduated from Marion High School in June of 1988. Where has 20 years gone??? LOL
I was part of the 3 person planning committee for this special event. We started planning this adventure over 2 years ago.
Our weekend started with a tour of our Highschool followed by 'Happy Hour' at our local bar Finns.
On Saturday we had a family catered picnic at B.Forman park in Pultneyville. We had awesome fun and alot of laughs. We even had 2 pinatas for the kids to break. The amount of candy those kids took home was unbelievable. :-)
I'm attaching a picture of my girlfriend Bryony & I (Bryony's daughers beside her), a picture of all of my classmates who were at the picnic and a picture of the kids searching for candy!

Tanner & Makayla

2008-07-28T09:54:00.001-04:00

Tanner & Makayla are spending two full weeks at their Dad's this summer.
They left on Saturday July 19th - after the Fat Tire Festival and will be back on Saturday, August 2nd.
I miss them!! I can't wait for them to come home!
Just wanted to share.

Birthday celebration

2008-07-28T09:52:00.004-04:00

Sunday July 20th was the day we celebrated Rachel's upcoming 13th birthday!
We had a late picnic lunch at Bob's house. In between raining drops - we all swam in the pool. It was a fun time for all of us.
Hopefully......I'll post pictures soon!

Fat Tire Festival

2008-07-28T09:41:00.003-04:00

Saturday July 19th, was the 3rd annual Fat Tire Festival.
It was another busy year for Bob!
Bob was in charge of planning, designing and marking the two race courses again this year.
He made the Competitive course alittle more difficult and the Recreational course about the same. Bob spent many hours working on this - including ALL day Friday the 18th.
It's amazing the amount of time and effort is needed for this type of event.

Last year & this year, I have volunteered to help at Registration and wherever else I'm needed.
I must say that registration went MUCH smoother this year than last.

This year was alittle different in the fact that I decided to be brave and enter the recreation race.
I've been riding my bike more and more so I thought this might be fun. Tanner was alittle concerned that I might beat him.....HMMMMM - NO!
This was Tanner's 3rd year racing. He was 6th out of 14 in his age group (19 and under). Not too bad for a 10 year old. His time 19 min. 20 second.
I didn't do as well - BUT.....Atleast I finished!
My time was 24 minutes even.
I had one little mishap - I crashed into a tree trying to avoid a young boy who was riding ahead of me. Long story but....I'm ok!

Bob didn't race this year - he thought it would be best to just stay around and help where he was needed. I saw him near the end of the course. I was very happy to see him! He said 'You look good - how are you doing'. My answer - 'I crashed'.
Soon after I finished - Bob came looking for me to make sure I was ok. He's just a good egg. :-)

Later that evening - Bob & I rode our bike down to the bike shop for an after hours volunteer party. We ate lots of fun and had a few cocktails as well.

If I continue to ride......maybe I'll race again next year!

Weekend in PA - Sunday information. Final part

2008-07-21T12:16:00.002-04:00

Last part of our trip info.........

Sunday morning we (Bob & I) got up early and went for a bike ride. We rode for about an hour. It was great riding with Bob and enjoying the beautiful scenery!

After our ride, we packed up - and headed down for one last quick visit with my Grandma in Loyalton before we headed home to NY.
Makayla (once again) didn't want to ride with me. :-( She insisted on riding home with her Grandparents. No worries!!!

We had a very pleasant ride home. Bob made it home around 4:30 and Tanner & I around 6 (by the time we stopped to pick Makayla up).

Weekend in PA - Saturday information - part 2

2008-07-21T11:58:00.004-04:00

Continuing..........

After the Hero of the day fixed the pipe - He & Tanner went Mountain biking together in Danville. Tanner was soooooooooooo excited that Bob was willing to take him along. They both seemed to have a good time. Bob soon found out that Tanner is willing to ride/try anything! LOL.

While Bob & Tanner were out and about - Makayla, My Mom and I went to Loyalton (Assisted Living home) and set up my Grandma's room. We made her bed, put her clothes away, installed her phone and put up family pictures. Makayla loved helping! She also loved the fact that the 'Home' has a dog who lives there!!!

After everyone was back to my Grandma's house - we packed up our lunch goodies and headed off to the Bloomsburg town park for the birthday picnic. We had a good time - we laughed, ate yummy food and opened gifts. I decided that Bob,the kids and I would leave early in case my grandmother didn't want to go to her new living arrangements - Loyalton. I thought I would spare my kids of their Great Grandma yelling! (She didn't by the way.....she was too confused to know where she was or where she was going).

We had big big plans Saturday night so leaving early wasn't a problem.......

*The first picture is of my Grandma (white sweater - no glasses) and her twin (my Aunt Meriam). They turned 91 the day after this pictures.
The next picture is of Tanner and my Aunt Beryl (Grandma's sister who is 95 years old).
Next picture - Makayla playing in the nasty water looking for crayfish.
Next - Tanner watching Bob slice onions for lunch.

We spent our afternoon and evening at Knoebel's. Knoebel's is an amusement park about 20 minutes from my Grandma's house. Knoebel's is alittle different that most amusement parks because you don't pay for parking and you don't pay to get into the park. You only pay for rides! This makes it much easier on the adults who don't need to ride EVERY ride! We had a ball!!! We got home around 9:30pm. It was a looooooooooong day for sure. :-)

To be continued......

Weekend in PA - Saturday information.

2008-07-18T09:16:00.003-04:00

Let me continue..........

Saturday morning started early for some of us.
Tanner had slept outside in his tent, which was fine - except for the heavy dew. ;-)
He was up at 5:10am with a wet tent and since I couldn't sleep.....I got up with him.
(I did quietly ask Bob when he was getting up and he calming and peacefully replied - not yet. LOL) Makayla was sleeping with her Uncle Tim's dog - Daisy and she wasn't moving either.
So....Tanner & I decided to go for a bike ride. It was a beautiful quiet cool morning. We rode down to the Susquehanna River and rode beside the town park and then over the Rupert cover bridge. After that we went past the fair grounds and back to Fernville. Tanner & I then decided to take the Rails to Trails trail along Fishing Creek. We had a nice ride - We rode for about an hour. When we got back....Makayla & Bob were still sleeping!

After everyone was up - Bob & I went down to the Farmer's Market in town. We got lots of fresh veggies. YUMMMY! Bob even bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for my birthday. We were back to my Grandma's house by 9am and then the Bob became the hero of the day!
A pipe had broken under the sink and water was leaking everywhere. Bob looked at it and said it could be fixed in 10 minutes. Trust me when I say that my family are NOT plumber. NEVER ever in my life have I seen a 10 minute plumbing job - that was until that morning! Bob & I went to Lowes and got the parts and then Bob fixed it in less than 10 minutes. He really was the hero of the day!!!

Ok.....I'll write more soon!

Weekend in PA - Friday information.

2008-07-14T09:49:00.003-04:00

It was another good weekend in PA!
I must confess and say that Bloomsburg PA has always been a good stress reliever for me. I'm far enough from home that I don't let the everyday stresses of life bother me. I think everyone needs a place to 'escape' to! Bloomsburg just happens to be mine. :-)

Bob, Tanner & I arrived in PA on Friday around 12:30ish. Makayla didn't want to ride with us, she wanted to ride with her grandparents. ( I'm sure that was because her Pappa would stop along the way and buy her candy treats! LOL. ) Soon after arriving, Bob went Mountain biking in Danville while the rest of us had lunch. Bob was saving himself for a 'Quaker Steak & Lube' dinner later that night!
Early evening, Bob, myself, Tanner, Makayla and my Mom & Dad went to the Quaker Steak & Lube for dinner. Yuuuuuuummmmy! There was lots of fun and not enough space in my belly to get it all in, but it was fun trying.
After dinner we took a trip to Danville to visit my Grandma who was still in the Rehab facility. She looked MUCH better than she did on Monday. It was nice to visit. We didn't stay long but we didn't want to overwhelm her either.

Ok.....I'll write again later about the other parts of our weekend.

Trip to PA

2008-07-08T09:19:00.002-04:00

Good morning!

I just thought I would give everyone a quick update.
My brother Dan & I took a trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend to visit my Grandmother who isn't in the best of health. My Mom and her brothers have decided to move my Grandma to an 'Assisted living' facility. She has spent the last 2 weeks in a hospital and now a rehab facility to help her regain her strength. She was been falling and we found out that it is due to a bad valve in her heart. It's been a looooooooooong two weeks to say the least.
It's hard when you live 200 miles away. A trip this weekend was necessary for my health! :-) I'm very close with my Grandma so I needed to see her for myself.
My Grandma doesn't want to give up her independence - which I do understand since she will be 91 years old on Sunday, July 13th. However.....it's time for her to get some much needed extra help. I witnessed that myself this past weekend when I watched her struggle to even stand up.
She's a strong willed woman and I respect her very much. So....this should be a challenge to get her the help she needs when she doesn't feel she needs it!
All in all.....
It was nice to spend some time with my brother - enjoy many laughs and to see exactly how my Grandma is doing.
I will be heading back down to PA this weekend with Bob, Tanner & Makayla.
On Saturday, we will be having a multi-person birthday party.
Bob will be 41 on Thursday,
I will be 38 on Saturday
and my Grandma and her twin - Aunt Meriam, will be 91 on Sunday.
One big cake for all 4 of us!!! I can't wait!
I'll update the blog on Sunday with pictures!

New game added

2008-07-03T12:45:00.001-04:00

Check out the bottom of the blog!
You can now Mountain bike WHENEVER you wish!
Don't know how to MB- not to worry......instructions are listed with game.
Enjoy!!

sad news

2008-06-30T12:23:00.002-04:00

Sad News to report -
Bob, Rachel & Brandon had to put their dog Checkers down on Friday.
Checkers was an older Beagle who was in very bad health.
It's a very sad thing for everyone involved - however it was very much needed for Checkers..
He was in pain and was very limited on his movements - he's in a much better place now.
Hugs & Kisses to the Ledgerwood family.

Bees..bees..and more bees

2008-06-25T22:17:00.003-04:00

Bees....bees.....bees...and more bees!

Never a dull moment at my house.

I had today off from work (last day of school) and on my way to get the mail I heard some funny noise. I turned around to see a HUGE swarm of bees in my front yard. Ok...At this point, I should share with you that I'm not a huge bee or bug fan. They scare the Shiz-Whiz right out of me. So with that said - I ran to the house and from the safety of my livingroom window, I watched all these bees flying around. Thousands of them - it was actually an awesome site to see.

My parents came over to see Tanner & Makayla's report cards and my Dad checked out the bees and said they were honey bees. I spoke with Roma (A co-worker who is a beekeeper) and she suggested finding a beekeeper locally to see if they wanted my bees. While, it just so happens that my Dad has a friend who is a beekeeper so he called him to see if he wanted my bees. Sure enough he did!

Randy lives in Naples so it took him alittle while to get to me but when he did - the bee education we learned was amazing! Tanner & Makayla were very brave and stood near the bees to watch Randy work. My Mom & I both got brave and even moved alittle closer once we found out that the bees were more interested in finding a new hive then stinging us. Hooray for that!

To make a very long story shorter......The bees have a new hive - Randy's pretty white wooden box! They moved soooooooooo quickly once the queen moved in. They started working immediately on filling up the hive with goodies. Randy will be back in a few days (at night) to take the hive back with him to Naples.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Summer 2008 dance recital

2008-06-23T23:01:00.003-04:00

Makayla finished her second year of dance classes from Sandy Stramonine School of Dance this weekend. The dance classes ended with a recital held Saturday afternoon.

Makayla takes a Tap & Ballet class.

She did an excellent job and we'll all very proud of her.

Dance classes have helped Makayla to have more self-confidence in all areas of her life.

One dead groundhog

2008-06-23T22:53:00.003-04:00

Well......Thursday night was the night for critters at the Jensen house.

First there was the ants in my bedroom (YUCK)

Next - Tanner & Makayla found a huge snake skin in the yard - again YUCK

And then to top everything off - Shelby killed a ground hog.

It's a very long story but lets just say that Tanner & Makayla were more than happy to move a log so Shelby could kill a young ground hog.

Once it was dead....they brought it to the house for me to see.

They were soooooo proud of Shelby!

Father's Day

2008-06-23T22:36:00.003-04:00

Father's Day afternoon lunch was held at Bob's parents house.

Everyone had a great time!

Pictures are of Bob & Tracy (Bob's sister) & Bob's Dad and Andrew (Bob's nephew)

24 hour race

2008-06-23T22:27:00.003-04:00

June, 14 & 15th, Father's Day weekend, was the annual 24 Hour Race held in Naples, NY.

This year Bob & I were the pit crew for Victor Gaspar - Owner of Trailblazer Bike Shop.

Bob took care of Victor's bike and water bottles. I helped with the food.

We had a good weekend but............Next year will be different.

Next year, Bob will be racing again!!

Pictures of Bob working on Victor's bike
and
Victor taking a much needed break.

It was a rough course - appox. 8 miles long.
Each lap took about and hour and a half. Some longer - some shorter.... depending on the time of day and weather. This year it rained alot! Thank heavens for bike washes and showers!