National Goof Off Day

I imagine that few of you know of a very important holiday in March...It's called National Goof Off Day, and it's on March 22. I found out about this last year, and we enjoyed goofing off with our friends, the Kalebaughs, so much that we decided to celebrate it again this year.

When the girls showed up at our house, we were greeted with a liberal spraying of silly string!

(Did you know that stuff really smells??!

The girls were nice enough to share their cans of silly string so we could get them messy too!

Oh, and they had those Groucho Marx glasses for all of us to wear. :)

It's a good thing that the stuff comes off very easily because we had it all over the place!

What a mess!

After cleaning ourselves up, we went inside to think up other goofy things to do. I know it's called "Goof Off Day", not "Goofy Day", but we don't really need an excuse to be silly.

Rachel, eating a chocolate chip cookie...

I had the idea that we should make masks out of paper plates (I only had the dessert ones, but they worked fine.) The best part of Goof Off Day is that it's one of the only times when we can get Faith and Crystal to join us in being a little silly.

Faith and Rachel working dutifully on their masks... Faith wanted a camouflage mask; she said that way she could hide and nobody would know who she was!

Becky's mask was supposed to be a green alien and I made two - a teddy bear and colorful flamingo-type one.

I'm not sure what Rachel's was...but it was definitely unique!

Crystal the elephant. (plus the Groucho Marx glasses!)

When we were done, I convinced everybody to go outside to model them.

That's Becky under all the party hats, by the way.

Silly pictures...

Believe it or not, everybody agreed to take a walk...while still wearing the masks and hats!

What a crazy bunch we made.

We even crossed the busiest street in our town and went and posed up by the Reagan Home.

Just so you all know, all this was really pushing Faith and Crystal out of their comfort zones.

But I think a little silliness in everyone's life is important!

So next year remember to celebrate National Goof Off Day on March 22!

English Country Dancing

Last Friday evening, we drove about two hours down to Bloomington for an English Country Dance.















A friend of ours organizes a dance once a month, and we have gone several times in the past year.



















It's been fun making new friends as well as getting some excercise and learning something new. One of the things I like about it is that whole families come to dance.














We aren't very good yet, but at least we know the terms now.




I enjoy dancing with my brother, but it was even more fun watching him dance with this adorable little four year old. She was just too cute and it was impressive how many of the terms she understood; she really knew what she was doing!


















Okay, don't ask me why he's looking at me like that...I have no idea. Jason can be quite the character as many of you well know! Maybe we're trying to waltz...something that neither of us are good at!



I think Mr. Hedding must have twirled one too many times.




















He doesn't seem to know who he is....!
I don't know whose idea it was to stick everybody's name tags on him, but he left them there for the remainder of the evening.

After the dance ended at 10:00, we went back the King's house for more food and games. We learned a new game which was a combination of Taboo and Charades. It was really fun!

I think Kelli is trying to decide how she is going to act out this next word....

If I remember correctly, Jill is trying to get us to say "Queen Elizabeth".

All in all, it was quite a fun evening. The only part Faith didn't like too well was getting home at 2:00 in the morning because she likes her sleep. It was worth it though!

Traffic cones...

A few days ago, Jason purchased some traffic cones to place behind his trailer when he's parked at a job site. He was standing outside showing them to us (while we looked on from the kitchen window) and looking quite silly! :)

I, of course, couldn't let him get away with acting goofy without me! So I had to join in....

They really do make good bull horns!

Who would have thought that traffic cones could have multiple uses?

Jason peering down one....

A close up....





Faith put the camera up to the small hole for this picture....
Hmm, good thing my skin isn't normally that color!

Jason said they hurt his head. Didn't bother me a bit!

Does that mean his head's bigger?!

Faith wanted more pictures, but Jason was done!

So, do you think we are easily amused? I do!

;)

New Arrival to the Hemmer Household

Last Tuesday was a big day for the Hemmer family.

It was the possible due date for the newest addition to our household!

We anxiously awaited its arrival, but as the clock struck 11:00 p.m...then 11:30...12:00...12:15,

we one by one went to bed.

As with most new arrivals, they don't come when expected.

It seems like they always make their appearance in the wee hours of the morning!

Well, this one was no different.

Finally around 1:00 in the morning, our new addition arrived at its new home.

Sadly, no one was awake to greet him. :-(

He would have to wait until sensible hours to be welcomed.

But oh, the welcome he received when the Hemmers awoke!

I know it must have been worth the wait!

We felt we must share this important moment with all of you so you can share in the joy of our new little...hmm...or should I say BIG blessing!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of ...

BIG LOUIE!!!!

Jason is now the proud new owner of a black 1999 F350 7.3L power stroke Turbo deisel truck.

It's a crew cab Dually (sp? Can you tell I'm not a truck expert?) with a long bed.

Okay, that's it on the specs.

You truck lovers will have to get any more info you want from Jason himself.

As it was, I had to call him and ask what his truck was called besides a truck. ;-)

An important birth announcement like this needs to have the correct weight and height info after all, right?

He said I could also say that Big Louie's partner will be a 24-ft long enclosed black car hauler. The total length of the two will be 50 feet!

It's a good thing Jason now has a place to store all his equipment and vehicles, because I don't think the neighbors would be too appreciative of the Hemmers taking up the entire block.

Big Louie is not ready for mowing season quite yet, but his new owner is quite willing to get him spiffed up.

As you can tell, Big Louie still needs a bit more cleaning.

This last Sunday, Jason just had to bring his new baby to church to show him off.

Of course, everybody oohed and aahed over him properly.

Jason gave whoever wanted one a ride after church.

The beauty queen wave.

Hmm...wishful thinking, Becky. I don't think Jason will let you drive it quite yet!

At a thrift store, Melody recently found a book of embarrassing moments, and we have all been enjoying the stories. We thought we'd share a couple with you.

Toast with a Twist - Mrs. Lawrence Bruning

The most embarrassing moment of my entire life happened when our good friends Ray and Marie were visiting us for the weekend.
They arrived on a Friday evening, and the next morning I fixed an informal breakfast, with the toaster sitting on one end of the table.
We'd just begun eating our breakfast of bacon, eggs, and coffee and were waiting for our toast to pop up, when we smelled something funny--like burnt food or hair.
I looked under the teakettle on the stove and elsewhere, but I couldn't find what was causing the smell. finally I stepped back to the table. Just then the toaster pops up with the bread...and a mouse!
Its fur was singed and the half-dazed critter leaped off the toaster into Marie's coffee, then staggered right through Ray's plate of bacon and eggs before falling on the floor! My husband jumped up, grabbed a heavy cap, swatted the mouse and chased it from the kitchen!
Well, I'll tell you, you never saw such turmoil! Ray slowly shoved back his chair, and said emphatically, "I'll not eat another bite!" None of us could.
We're still good friends, and often chuckle over this episode. It know it's an experience I'll never forget if I live to be 90!

Suit or Suitor - Lynda Elhoff

My mother and I had driven down to Sioux Falls to shop. We were at the big Sears store, and, while Mom was delayed, I decided to take a look at some men's suits.
I found one I kind of liked on a mannequin. I felt the material of the pants and looked at the tie. I opened up the suit jacket to check out the lining--and that's when I realized something was definitely wrong!
There were papers in the inside pocket--and I knew mannequins had no need for those! I looked down at the shoes...and they were moving!
I could have died of embarrassment. I slowly looked up into the eyes of this "mannequin"--and found it was a real live man!
I don't know who was more flustered--him or me. But I do know I set a world's record for getting out of a Sears store!

Our CD's have arrived!

Faith and I (this is Melody speaking!) began work on recording our first CD last spring. We never imagined that it would take this long to complete. There was a lot involved!

We were thrilled when we at last received the shipment this past Wednesday. I never realized what over 1,000 CD's look like.....

Opening the boxes and seeing our very own CD's looking so professional was so exciting....

Aren't the pictures neat? And the design work is great...Thank you to our photographer Crystal, and Leah Miller for designing the artwork. :)

Thank you everyone who has been supporting and praying for us as we worked on this project. God has blessed us with the gift of music, and it's an honor to be able to share it with others.

For anyone interested in purchasing the CD, they are $16.00. Half of the proceeds will be going to Colleen Moeller and her family. You can contact us at faithandmelodyhemmer@yahoo.com

Just beginning...

This is going to take some figuring out before I really know what I'm doing here.... :)
Any hints from "veteran bloggers" would be most welcome!


I accomplished my first goal...Setting up a blog! Now to learn how to add pictures and other cool stuff....

Hooray! I did it! Now to figure out the rest of this stuff....

We have a blog!

Well, I'm finally getting around to starting our own blog! Tomorrow I'll try to bring some pictures and make this look better. This is all so new to me; I'm just figuring things out as I go along.