Busy Times

It has been a very busy couple of weeks at the Rogge house. As we near the end of the school year, I look at the kids and wonder how it is that they are almost finished with first grade and kindergarten respectively. WOW!! They grow up so fast!

Chase had the opportunity to be involved in the Missoula Children's Theater Production of The Pied Piper at the PAC in Chelan. He auditioned and wanted to be cast as I rat and indeed he was cast as a rat! He had practices after school every day and dress rehearsal on Saturday morning and then two performances on Saturday. He did a good job but was a very tired boy by the end of that week.

Next came a visit from Mamma and Papa for Mackenzie's birthday. They arrived with boat in tow on Thursday the 20th. Mackenzie's choice for her birthday "party" this year was to go fishing it Papa and one of her friends (Hannah) in Papa's boat. Don't know who was more excited - Papa or Mackenzie. The kids hadn't seen Mamma and Papa in 2 1/2 months which is longer than usual. They were so excited that we counted down days for over three weeks and counted hours for the last two of those days. Once we knew they had made it to Entiat (about 20 mintues away) Chase stood on the deck with binoculars in hand watching across the lake to see them come down into the Chelan valley. Alas, they arrived and the kids met them in the driveway!

Mackenzie turned 6 last week - how did that happen? I made ladybug cupcakes for her class and we took them in at the end of the day on Friday. She and Hannah went fishing with Papa and I on Friday afternoon - they caught 6 keeper size Blue Gill. Hannah had never been fishing and was tickled to catch them. We then had "rice & gravy" (stroganoff and rice) for dinner and then watched The Princess and The Frog before I took Hannah home - it was a fun day for Kenzie (and all of us).

Saturday brought with it dress rehearsal and recital for Mackenzie's ballet class. They did a dance to "Fireflies" by Owl City and it was very cute. It was a fun night of dance and music performances by several kids from the valley. All very well planned and executed by Mackenzie's 15 year old dance instructor (she is amazing). While Kenzie was at dress rehearsal the guys took Chase fishing and they caught 8 blue gill! He was excited to have Daddy & Papa time in the boat.

The guys took Monday and Tuesday to go fishing on the "big" lake. Well, fishing it what they did as "catching" evaded them. They spent several hours each day trolling around and trying different things. They reported seeing lots of fish on the fish finder but could catch nothing. I guess the guys are meant to catch only blue gill and only when they have the kids with them.

Alas, it was time for Mamma and Papa to head home so a teary family (the kids and I) stood on the porch this morning waving as they drove away headed back to their home!

Busy Week

the kids enjoyed snuggles with Daddy while camping last weekend before his surgery




This was one of those weeks when I feel I should just sleep in the car - it truly would save time and much needed energy.



Dave had his left knee replacement surgery on Tuesday in Wenatchee so I ran kids to school in the AM and raced home to pick them up in the PM on Wed as my parents graciously helped on Tuesday (surgery day) and on Thursday (to bring them to visit Daddy after school) and on Friday (when he got to come home). I put a lot of miles on my little car and it feels like as many on my little feet. Thanks to Mom and Dad and to Jill who helped a lot with Mackenzie this week. I couldn't have done it without you all. The good news is that he is healing well and all looks much better than on any of the three replacements in the last 5 years on the right side. With any luck, he will be up and around and better than before by the time the kids get out of school.



The kids were so very happy to have him home - as am I! They are being very helpful in taking care of our patient (almost to the point of nuisance).



Well, I am headed off to bed soon as Dave had a lot of nightmares last night and was yelling in his sleep which woke me several times and led to me eventually in a stuperous sleep to grab a magazine and swap it across the bed at him as if to swat a fly - seems harse but it worked for the rest of the night (if that is what you call the hours of 3:30 - 6:30 am).



Good night all and may the Lord bless and keep you all safe.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Yesterday Mackenzie decided to choose her own clothes for the day. She is 4 almost 5 years old so her sense of coordinating clothes is limited to wearing her favorite shirt, her favorite pants and her favorite jacket irregardless of whether they even remotely match. Here is her choice for yesterday.

Not to be outdone by her granddaughter, my mother had her picture taken by my Dad this morning in her chosen warm attire for trimming the dog. It takes a lot of self confidence to post this type of picture online and admit she is truly one of a kind . . . My Mom!

PS - I know Melissa (my sister) is in full agreement that Mom's outfit in this picture lacks a little for tastefulness.

Chase's Theatrical Debut

Tonight was the first night of the all school play for the independent school where Chase attends preschool this year. When they do an all school play it is just that ALL school. The preschoolers got to be froglets in the play and sang along in one of the musical numbers. The play was called Honk and is basically the story of the Ugly Duckling with a few variances. He has been excited about it until this week when he became a little apprehensive about it. In fact, today he got sick to his stomach at school and came home right after lunch. He took a good nap and after a pep talk phone call with Mamma - he was ready to go. He ate a good dinner and then we were off as we had to be there at 6:15 and it started at 7 pm. His part was not until a few minutes after intermission so he got to watch the play with us until then and after his part. He loves these plays and is in fact bargaining to go watch it tomorrow night even though he is not in it. He is however in it again on Friday when they do it at the Performing Arts Center in Wenatchee. He did a great job and even sang. He also went up on stage with the whole cast at the end for the bow and final song. He was quite proud of himself afterward. He told his teacher that all he had to do was pretend the Mamma was up there on stage with him and he would be fine. Too cute! He did have nearly a whole row of fans there - Jill & Logan, Rachael, Josh "Bubby", Kenzie, Daddy & I so he felt good to have supporters and gave us a big thumbs up right before going on stage. Sissy Megan, Janson and Alura are meeting us in Wenatchee to watch him Friday night so he will be able to feel supported again.

Well, my little froglet is already asleep and we have been home for all of 15 minutes. Kenzie is asleep too - glad that both got 2+ hour naps this afternoon! Hope you enjoy the little video of his part of the play!

Doctor Visit today

Yeepee! I saw the internist today and he let me stop on the oxygen and the nebulizers!!! I was sooo excited. He asked me which company needed to pick up the oxygen at my house and I told him I would leave it on the porch for anyone that wanted it as I didn't want it any more! He will do a chest xray in 2 weeks to rule out any scarring from this and to get a good clean baseline but has released me otherwise. I see the neurosurgeon 3 weeks from today at which time I hope to shed the hard collar, get my driving rights back and be able to start with only the soft collar just in time for our trip. Now I just have to work on my endurance as I am pretty tuckered out from a long day today.

The kids had another great afternoon yesterday with Daddy time as Mom and I worked on dinner stuff. They like to sit in his recliner but they don't make a recliner for 3 people so it gets a little tight as this picture shows.

Dave went to see Raiden again last night and got some more good pictures of him. Josh is sure proud of him and is taking to the Dad thing very well. Josh, Heather and Raiden were pictured on the front page of the local paper The Lake Chelan Mirror in the January 9, 2008 edition for being the first baby/parents of 2008. It was a nice article. If I can get it to scan well, I will post it here for all to see but I will work on that this weekend.

Chase & Kenzie watched Ratatouille one more time with Mamma this afternoon as she goes home tomorrow. We all know that movie very well as it is the current favorite at our house. Chase has even chosen to have a Ratatouille birthday party this year. Hard to believe it he will be 5 years old in less than a month. The kids are currently taking a bath under the supervision of Mamma and having one last "snowstorm" before she leaves. A snowstorm is what they call it when powdering themselves after a bath as the visibility in the bathroom gets to be about 6 inches with all of the powder flying. Chase doesn't use the powder puff to puff the powder on but rather just shakes the puff in the air and turns around for even distrubution in its landing on him. You do not need air freshener in that bathroom for days, all you have to do is stomp on the bathmat once or twice and the air is plenty fresh. Oh, the memories they create with Mamma.

Papa is sick with his chest cold again so he is anxiously awaiting the return of Mom to help him as he got put back on on antibiotics again today and hopes to kick this one for good! We hope so too as he has taxit services to render for the kids while we are on our trip. Mamma doesn't like driving in the snow so I think Papa's primary task will be driving kids and Mamma wherever they need to go.

Well, my jammies and fuzzy slippers are calling me to find them and a hot cup of tea.

On the Mend

Good morning everyone!

I am up and about. The kids (yes both finally) are back to school and the house is very quiet. Mom and I have offered to run around the house screaming for one another if it feels too quiet but neither of us have had that urge yet. Mackenzie has taken the opportunity to enjoy some one on one time with Daddy, Mommy and Mamma while Chase is in school as he started back a week earlier than she did. Yesterday, I caught this shot of Kenzie enjoying games on playhousedisney.com on Daddy's laptop while Daddy was snoozing. It seemed to work for the two of them clearly. She was ready to go back to school though as she didn't even finish her pancake for breakfast as she was ready to go!!

I am feeling quite a bit better today. I was up all day yesterday and today I got lunches ready for school and got Kenzie dressed and I was showered and dressed myself by 8:30 am. Not bad in comparison to a week ago. I see the internist tomorrow and I have no reason to believe that I won't get to be off the oxygen then. I am done with nebulizer treatments and am breathing much better. The recovery for my neck will be the same 12 weeks regardless so will have the lovely brace for a while and then a soft collar but at least I can breathe and have energy today. Now I am not ready to run a marathon but the idea of being up all day at home and taking care of myself and helping with little ones does not seem to be a daunting task at this point.

Mom flies home on Friday. Chase has gotten wise to that so yesterday he was too "sick" to go to school but we beat his game as he had to go to bed for a nap instead of school. Last night Mom commented that she was going to go call Papa and Chase ran to her and said "yes, you can call Papa because now you have 3 night nights left here but after you call Papa, you will have 6 night nights here". He could remember that when Mamma said on Saturday that she was calling Papa that as soon as she got off the phone that meant Mamma was staying for a few more days as that was the day Dad sent her meds so she could stay till Friday. Funny how that little mind works so fast. Mom told Dad about that last night and he was not so keen on the idea as Chase was.

I am feeling enough better that I have started my to do list in preparation for our trip (which we leave on in less than 4 weeks) and am ordering tickets for Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and narrowing down the selection for a Broadway show while in NYC. I am getting excited. We did select our on-shore excursions for the cruise before my surgery and heard from the travel agent that she has our cruise documents that she will deliver today so it is getting to be so real. Now I just have to be a good girl and stay on the mend. Thanks so much to all for thoughts and prayers.

My niece Rachel is 3 months old already - hard to believe. They had family pictures and her 3 months pictures taken the other day and I just LOVE this one. I love the grin on her face like - I got you!! She is so much bigger than her sister was at this age it is hard to believe the difference. They had a great family picture to and I had to share.

Date Night With Mommy

Chase & I went on a date last night and had a really fun time. The local private school, Chelan Valley Independent School, has a spring drama production every year and this year it was Jack and the Giant (aka Jack & the Beanstalk). They performed it this year at the local historic theater (Ruby Theater) in Chelan. It was free with a donation at the door and they had concessions open for snacks as well. Chase has been h aving some coping problems lately and has gotten into trouble at school as well. He finished his punishment yesterday so we decided to give him some one-on-one Mommy time and boy did he enjoy that. He and I used to do little things together a lot when Mackenzie was a baby and Daddy wasn't working. I think he needs more of this type of thing. Anyway, the play was 1 1/2 hours with a 15 minute intermission so with it starting at 7 pm and by the time we got home it was a little after 9. He had talked to Mamma to tell her he was going and that he wanted to have popcorn and licorice. Mamma responded that she thought that sounded good so he ran with the phone to me and told me "Mamma says I get popcorn AND licorice and you have to do it because she is your Mommy". So Mamma owes me $6.50!!! haha! He sat very intently and loved the play. He followed the plot line asking me every 5 minutes "Where's the giant?" and clapped at all the right times. It was very well done and had every student from the school in it in one role or another and sometimes multiple roles. On the way home, as he was eating his last licorice vine that he had held clutched in his little hand for the last half of the play to save it for on the way home, he said to me "maybe next time I can go on the stage Mommy." Throughout the play he would lean over to be and hug my arm and lovingly say "this is fun Mommy!" What enjoyable memories! He came home and got in his jammies and was asleep in less than 5 minutes. Wouldn't trade these time for the world!