Hamburger Rice Casserole

Wednesday night Charlie and I went to Cannon Falls to catch up with my grandparents. We hadn't seen them in awhile so it was fun to chat. Grandma and Grandpa made supper for us; a dinner from the old days - hamburger rice casserole! I am pretty sure it was Charlie's first time consuming this casserole but it was a staple food for me growing up on the farm.

Grandma and Grandpa prepared a feast - salad, bread, veggies, casserole, and ice cream for dessert. We chatted for awhile and got to know the life of the newly retired. Grandpa has been retired for awhile and is in a routine. His routine is now being altered as Grandma is easing into retirement. Even though she still works twice a week, the rest of the week is full time retirement.

It sounds like they are figuring out a wonderful retirement schedule. Grandpa has a routine 4 PM Diet Pepsi which he consumes after watching the 3 PM showing of Monk. The Price is Right with Drew Carey is a favorite TV show as well. My cousin, Tanner joins them after school too. So feeding and keeping up with him keeps them busy.

Beyond retirement, we talked about their road trip to Graceland with my Grandma's brother and wife. They toured Elvis's house, walked on Beale Street in Memphis, and explored Clinton's Presidential Library. They had great stories and enjoyed some time away.



It was a good visit and nice to see them. Thanks for the dinner Grandma and Grandpa!

My Week of Practice for Summer Break

I am sure several of you are wondering what I have accomplished during spring break. The break got off to a great start with some family time in St. Peter. Elisabeth and Hannah flew in from North Carolina and the Grimmius clan was reunited after a Virginia work trip. The rest of my break continued in Richfield. The details of my week activities will be told through picture-storytelling.










As you can see, without children or a husband during the day, it was an amazingly boring, carefree, dull spring break. Despite this, I found it to be a fabulous break but am excited to get back to school (shhh, don't tell anybody).

Freezing Fourteen

Despite 20 degree temperatures, a chilly breeze, frozen water bottles, and congestitis phlemosis of the respiratory system (self-diagnosed), Charlie and I made it our furthest distance yet - 14 miles!

Charlie used Google Maps to find a good route for us because running 14 miles in Richfield would involve running around the entire city twice (boring)! He did an excellent job and his precision was amazing! We started in Minneapolis at Minnehaha Park, followed the river to the U of M (saw a close-up of the 35W bridge - amazing and scary site to see), and eventually back on Fairview to Ford Parkway and Minnehaha Park. We got back to our car at mile 13.55 so we did a quick down and back to finish up the last half mile. I think that was the hardest part.

Charlie got a little warm at mile 13 and took off his shirt.

We are now back at home trying to warm up and stretch out. Charlie is going to make Mr. Wolf's Italian Chicken - an excellent post run meal. Then it is off to the couch to curl up and watch Duke vs UNC! Go Duke (sorry E, E & H)!

Maddison's Baptism

Today Maddison was baptized at Bethel Lutheran Church in Northfield. Brandon and Trisha have decided to join this church, Mom and Dean go to this church. So Pastor Tim got to meet the entire family in full force today. It was quite the experience.

Here are the three sponsors with Maddison: Brittany, Holly (Trisha's cousin), and Scott (Trisha's brother)

Brandon and Trisha invited relatives to attend the church service. Trisha's family filled one third of the church. There were about 12 adults and 30 children there from her side of the family. It actually made our side of the family look small.

Maddison screaming for more food!

Chuck awkwardly holding Maddison - not sure what to do. I am pretty sure it has been about 20 years since Dad last held a baby.

The Peterson clan made it and as you can see Harold no longer has a neck brace - all healed since the fall!

After the service, we all gathered for the baptism. Hunter was bored by now and found it entertaining to run around the alter as well as on the chairs in each aisle; and Maddison was very hungry and needed a bottle during the baptism. With a temporarily filled belly, Maddison really enjoyed the baptizing part. She smiled and giggled as the water was gently splashed on her head. When she was presented to everyone she just smiled with big eyes. It was pretty cute.

Josh and Alex ready to go get food.

After the baptism, the entire group headed to the AmericInn in Northfield. We had lunch and the millions of children that were there went swimming. It was a pretty good set-up for the large crew. Despite the craziness and chaos with such a large group, it was a successful day for Maddison and her family.

Grandpa and Brittany just chillin'.

Voki

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I am in a technology community of practice group at school. A large group of K-9 teachers are part of this same community. We meet a few times a year to see how we are implementing technology into the classroom and gathering information to share with other teachers.

Last Friday was our lass meeting. We had some time to play around and I played around with this Voki site. It is awesome! One of the 6th grade teachers used it for a sub one day. She sent the link to the sub via email and it played for the class. It was all in the teacher's voice and gave the breakdown of the lesson for the students. It was way cool!

So I thought I would give it a try. I am thinking of having the students use it as one of their book report options. Students will create themselves in the voki and record a book review for their recent novel. I think I may hook some students with this idea. I guess we will see.

Look for more Voki postings on the blog!