Tovin's Journal

April 28, 2004Happy Birthday Mom!

We were planning on going to my parent's house today for my Mom's birthday but they came to St. Cloud shopping instead. We had piano lesson at 10:00 and then met them at the mall near JC Penny. We took a stroll through Pennies and was so upset about the large posters of nude women that they have. What a joke. Not sure what I should do about it but very upset that things are this way. Jeremy and I talked about it and how one should look away to protect our minds. Anyway, my parents showed up and instead of shopping we walked around and went to look in Scheels.

Then we went to the China Buffet and had a meal. My mom wouldn't let me buy but at least we went dutch. Tough eating out with Tovin and Jana. At a buffet I like to dig in and eat big but they need to be fed and their hands are into things and the floor always gets to be such a mess. It went okay I think but I wish I could have felt comfortable to eat more. It was good and we talked in t…

April 27, 2004Jeremy had a 4-H practice today. We didn't go for the first part in Clearwater because it was over nap time. Instead we met them at the Foley High School auditorium at 4:00. We were a little late but Jeremy got up there and did his part okay. It is going to be a really neat thing for him and he is very scared about it.

God has revealed to us in many ways that fear is what is disabling Jeremy in so many things. When he is getting stuck on school work or starting to act out, we stop and talk to him about what he is scared about. He has lots of things going on right now with a gymnastics recital coming up, 4-H program and summer on its way. Talking about his fears and letting him verbalize them helps him get back on track so we are very thankful for this break through.

4-H practice was very exciting for Jeremy and we headed home to get supper going. Stopped at Coborns in Foley before going home. Had community education at 7:00 and that was good but I was kind of tired fro…

April 26, 2004Gayle came out this morning to talk with us and update us on how the adoption process is going. We signed the forms we needed to and it sounds as if it will be a while yet.

Tovin and Jana like playing with the spoons and tupperwares. Tovin will sometimes put three of them on his head at once and walk around. 

April 25, 2004Went to church this morning. In the afternoon, after naps, I decided to take the kids over to Warner Park to find a new geocache that was placed. Jeremy rode his own bike and I rode mine with the pull behind with Tovin and Jana in it. It was a nice spring day and we had a good time playing in the woods and finding the cache. We took a travel bug that we will plan to take to Kansas City when we go in May. Warner Park sure is a nice park. Took the picture on the bridge over Plum Creek.  

April 24, 2004Tali was on-call today so had to go to morning clinic. We put in some of the garden including raddishes, lettuce, brochili, turnips and some onions.

We had tickets to a barbershop singing event at the Paramount Theater tonight but gave them up because Tali was on-call and just too much hassle to find someone to watch the kids while we were gone. Staying home with everyone here is nice too.  

April 23, 2004I left for class that started at 8:30. Had a long day with lots of repeat things but it was okay. Lots of interesting people that are enjoyable to watch and interact with. Had many heterosexual couples but one couple who were two lesbians planning to adopt. Showed the video that we have at the end and it was very emotional for me as always - it just is a tough deal - gave me more empathy and recharges me some.

Jeremy did somewhat better today. Tali's dad wanted to try teaching him some and did but sounds like many of the math answers were spoon fed. Oh well, at least he was able to enjoy some of the day. Grandpa Bruce took Jeremy over to watch the carp run and the local bait owners milking the pregnant carp of their eggs to sell sucker minnows on opener. Was interesting to watch for him.

Tali and I went over after they got back with Jana and Tovin. They were all done but it was nice for Tali and I to have some time to talk. We had supper and then headed back around bed…

April 22, 2004Got up and got going. Nice sunny day outside. Tali went for a run and I soon followed her. Jeremy has studies to do and for some reason wanted to sit on them and not do anything but them. Grandpa Bruce took Tovin and Jana around the yard and played with them while Tali and I were running. I ran over to the farm and walked around the perimeter. Lots of trees died from last summers drought and tough cold winter.

Jeremy still wasn't doing his work so Tali and I agreed that I would take him with me and he could sit in the van until finished. I left and class started at 12:30. Lots of review but always interesting to hear what others have to say. Ended up that I was one of the more experienced people since many were just getting licensed for foster/adoptive care.

I went out and checked on Jeremy every break to see how he was doing. I would also bring him out snacks and take him to bathroom. While inside myself, I would take his shoes so he wouldn't be tempted to go wand…

April 21, 2004Trash Day today! Tovin and Jana like watching from the chair by the window. Jeremy takes the trash down and sometimes waits for the trash man if it works out. We had piano lesson today so had to get going by 9:30, the time he usually comes.

I have an adoption class that I need to take in order for our adoption process to be complete and it is being offered in Detroit Lakes tomorrow and Friday. Tali was able to get the days off and we traveled up that way towards evening. We didn't get there until about 10:00 and Jana didn't sleep the best in the car. Everyone was ready to sleep when we got there and Tali's dad was awake and waiting for us which was nice. We got settled in and to bed soon.  

April 20, 2004We had a 4-H meeting today for Jeremy and a tough time - 1-3 in the afternoon - nap time. Tovin almost fell asleep so I took him out to the car and tried to lay him down but then he wanted to play in the van with Jana. Jeremy seemed to enjoy the meeting although he was a little uncomfortable with everyone since we don't know people very well yet. He volunteered himself to do a part in the upcoming 4-H show and to buy some stuff for a care package we are sending to the Iraqi people. Not sure he knows what he is getting into but it will be a learning experience no matter how it goes.

Community education was cancelled tonight.  

April 19, 2004Tovin was a little slow to wake up this morning. Has his McDonald's cup that I took from my parent's house long ago.

Jeremy and I wormed the cats today and it went a little better. Hopefully that will take care of them.

Had a nice day today with all the kids having fun together. Lot of playing with the sunglasses today. Jeremy got them to stay on Jana and she would like walking around with them on. 

April 18, 2004Nice day together. We went to church and then took it easy the rest of the day. We went to the early service so were home by around 10:00. We all went out for a run together. Jeremy rode my bike and pulled Jana and Tovin in the pull behind. Tali and I ran together.

After dinner, Jeremy used the magnifying glass to burn his name into a piece of wood using the sun's power concentrated and magnified. He enjoyed that and did a good job with patience as the sun kept going behind clouds. Jana and Tovin played on the deck as well. We had Jana's hair in two pig tails on either side which looked really cute. Tovin and Jana like taking turns wearing the sun glasses. Fun to watch.  

April 17, 2004In the morning I rented an 8 HP Honda rear tine tiller from Clearwater Rental for 2 hours - cost $30 plus a couple bucks gas. Really nice and did a good job in the garden.

We then went to Ace Hardware grand opening and bought some stuff and had brats and pop for $1 and free pizza for dinner. It was fun and then had lots of stuff on sale. We bought some fertilizer for the yard, clothes line pole paint and line and other things. We spend about $75 so they gave us a couple free hats - One for Gorilla Glue and another for Black Cat fireworks.

In the afternoon, I painted the clothes line poles while Tali helped Jeremy fly his butterfly kite and Jana and Tovin played with the lady bug lawn ornament and flower windmill. Jeremy and I later used the free rental spreader to spread fertilizer on the lawn. Maybe it will help things to grow better.

Found the first tick of the year on Jeremy stuck in just above the hair line on the back of his neck.

Tough evening for Tali as both Tovin an…

April 16, 2004Grandma Vesta's 90th birthday today! My mom, dad, and jer are all back with her today. I printed out a letter with pictures on our new color printer that Dr. Pogemiller gave us. It looked really nice and I finally got it sent. I meant to send it earlier but just didn't get around to it.

We had the Earth Day 5k run at 6:30 in the evening. We gave Tovin and Jana a big snack/supper before leaving for town at 5:30. Tali, Jeremy and I were all running in the race and Tali was going to push Tovin and Jana in the stroller. Lot of people doing the little race and the weather was perfect.

They had biscuits, cookies and gatorade at the end for us and we all got t-shirts. We went out to Taco Bell and Dairy Queen before coming home again. Fun evening for us.  

April 15, 2004I had a dental appt. in the morning and for the first time in a few tries, I had no cavities. Tali took time off work to come over and watch the kids while I was in.

In the afternoon, Jeremy and I finished scraping the clothesline poles and applied the first coat of white primer. Would like to get the poles down and fixed with new line so we can dry clothes outside and save some electricity.

Also worked on the edging and rock in the front. When Tali got home we went out after supper and hauled rock. I was trying to haul the rock in the wheelbarrow but tried for too many rock and deflated the tire by breaking the bead. So I used the trailer where I could stake four 5 gallon buckets of rock and haul them over each trip. Jeremy and Tovin helped with their own buckets and also got some rides on the trailer.  

April 14, 2004John Pederson came in late last night. He is my old professor from Oak Hills now working for STEM out of the cities. We stayed up talking and catching up some which was fun. In the morning we had breakfast and talked some more before he left for a meeting in Brainerd. We were really glad that he stopped.

Jeremy had piano at 10:00 and that went good. Trash day today and Jeremy got that out before we left.

On the way home from piano we stopped at the lot and dug a huge gooseberry. We also found some raspberry bushes and grape vines that we also dug. I let them soak in the garage when we got home and then Tali and I planted them in the evening. We also went for a run before supper since Tali was able to come home a bit early today. It was a beautiful sunny warm day and great to get outside and be planting more things in our yard.

Sammi from next door came over and watched to see what we were up to. The hillside behind them is full of lilac and raspberries and other bushes up h…

April 13, 2004Jana had her 1 year well child visit with Dr. Hu today. Jana is doing very good and is at the 70% for her weight and head circumference and 50% for her height. She also had to get a couple shots in the legs and did cry some for that but was quickly comforted when I picked her up. Jeremy did a good job helping by holding Tovin during the visit. Jeremy was a bit uncomfortable staying in while Jana got the shots but did fine.

We then had to get a finger poke to check Hgb and lead. I was able to hold Jana on my lap for that one and she didn't even cry which I was surprised. They must have really tiny finger pokers. She did a great job and we were all glad to have that done with.

I had community education in the evening and have been enjoying the love and logic parenting style they are teaching. I try some of the things with the kids and they work but it is difficult for parent to think of how to word things and such.

Didn't take many picts today so took one before bed o…

April 12, 2004The day after the party. We left all the decorations up and our house is still comfortably clean from the company yesterday. Lots of yummy leftovers in the fridge.

Jeremy had an orthodontist check-up today at 9:30 and we hustled to be on time and were right on time which made me feel good. Jeremy's teeth are looking okay so far and will just keep watching how they come in. We looked at the panoramic x-ray of his teeth and it was really neat to see all the teeth he visibly has but also be able to see all the permanent teeth below the gum line ready to erupt and push the baby teeth out.

Jeremy really didn't want to do his studies today. I told him no gymnastics if it wasn't done and if he missed we were done for good out of desperation. He didn't budge and seemed to not care but was not going to even try to get the work done. I was quite frustrated.

I called Tali to let her know what we were doing and she said we had to go because he had never been to this new…

April 11, 2004Happy 1st Birthday Jana!

We started our day celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the dead on this Easter Sunday. We had a nice church service and then came home and had time to wait for our visitors to arrive. It was a little cool and windy outside so we all stayed inside today. Jana was able to take a little nap in the morning which will help for the afternoon.

Our visitors started to arrive about 11:30. Grandpa Bruce with Great Grandma Ann, Bart and Kathy Cranston, Jen and Davin, Nana Huldy and Hazel, Arne, Josh, Joe and Julie, Grandpa John and Grandma Bonita and Uncle Jeremy. It was a very nice sized group with lots of good food and conversation.

We sang our Happy Birthday songs before we had cake and then opened lots of nice gifts after that. It was a really fun day and we were all very thankful for all who could come.  

April 10, 2004Busy day getting ready for our company tomorrow. We spent the morning outside working on the edging, fabric and rock along the sidewalk. We didn't get it all done but a good start.

Tali led the effort in dying easter eggs in the afternoon and the kids enjoyed that. Tali and I did lots of cleaning and getting things ready for the party tomorrow. We were up quite late decorating and making the final preparations. The meal isn't going to be as difficult since the Ham requires so little work.  

April 09, 2004Good Friday today. We had a little Good Friday service in the afternoon and then made tombs out of play-doh. Tali made figures out of blue play-doh to represent Jesus' body and we placed them on top of the piano until Easter day.  

April 08, 2004Had a vet appt. for the cats in the morning to get more shots.

In the afternoon Jeremy was inside sitting on school work that he didn't want to do while I took Tovin and Jana outside with me to prune the new apple tree. I chopped it down pretty good with the chainsaw and hand pruners. Not sure how much I should take off but I do know that I really chopped the roots the other day so we will see what happens.  

April 07, 2004Had piano in the morning and that went good. After naps in the afternoon we went over to the lot to attempt to take the second mature apple tree. It was very windy and warm, not the best day to move a bare root tree. Jana and Tovin played in the van while Jeremy and I labored at the tree. I am working on getting Jeremy to not be so pessimistic in his talk. It really drains my energy I would tell him when he says things like, "this will never work" or "this tree is too big, it will never survive." His comments were probably very true but I was determined to move the tree dead or alive and had to chop roots, pull it with the van and a tow rope, pry it up on the trailer and just really put some sweat into getting this tree. It was much bigger and heavier than I had thought but we did manage to get it up on the trailer and limp it home. I had Jeremy ride on the trailer to hold it on due to the strong winds.

We got home at about supper time and started to d…

April 06, 2004Busy day today. Jeremy had a dental appt. at 9:00 which went good, no cavities ever. Then Tovin had a kidney ultrasound at the hospital for his 6 month post check of the urinary reflux surgery. He did a very good job with only a little crying at the start. The tech was very impressed with how good he was. Then on the way out he ran and tripped over his feet hitting his head on the floor causing him to leave crying. The lady gave us stickers and a ball which helped.

In the afternoon we had a 4H meeting from 1-3 in Clearwater. I kept Jana and Tovin awake and it was an okay meeting. Jeremy volunteered to do a part in an upcoming play they are doing. I'm not sure he knows what he has volunteered for but it should be a good experience.

I had Love and Logic parenting - community education class in the evening from 7-8:30 at the Sauk Rapids old high school.

I heard the Frogs croaking for the first time when I came home at night.  

April 05, 2004In the morning the kids and I went over to the lot and dug more lilac trees. We got three nice sized buckets for along the border of Noy and Wally's place and ours. In the evening after supper we all went out and with the help of Noy, planted the trees. Hopefully they will all make it.  

April 04, 2004We went to the early church service today. We then came home and I got ready to leave for the Timberwolves game. We all met at the Whitney center at 12:00 and ended up leaving around 12:30. I rode the bus down with some of the kids and other coaches. It was a decent ride down and time passed rather quickly. Paige and I discussed the all star team and other stuff on way down which was fun to be a part of.

Steve and Isaac came to the game which was fun to spend time with them. We had lots of tickets left over so were selling them for $5 outside the Target center before the game and did sell quite a few. Each ticket cost $22 and YFC had to buy at least 200 in order to get the court after the game. I saw Sid Hartman standing outside so approached him and got an autograph. I tried to make small talk and he brushed me off like he does with people on the radio. Poor guy, he doesn't seem very happy.

Game was an enjoyable experience but awfully spendy. Afterwards we headed down…

April 03, 2004Another beautiful spring day with sunshine and mild temperatures. Jeremy and I gave the cats another dose of wormer and hopefully that will take care of the problem. We all went over to the abandoned lot and dug lots of lilac trees. We then planted them in front of the house and it will look really nice to have some more things growing in our yard.  

April 02, 2004Very nice day out. Continued to do some work around the house putting down fabric and rock. Not sure how I like it but it is nice to use the rock we already have. Pay day today and I got Jeremy his $10 allowance.

April 01, 2004April Fool's Day today. I got Jeremy in getting him to get out of bed to look at a supposedly super large bird in the tree. He jumped up to my declaration of the day and was not happy with it. Oh well. Tali talked to him and then he wanted to play later but I never let him get me this year. I remember my mom would always get us with the bear in the back one.

Tali is still nursing both babies. It is getting less frequent but still morning and night with Jana and Tovin just some at night.