The Rutschow Happenings

One year later.

2009-08-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe what a crazy year it's been! Sad and stressful, thrilling and exhausting! Between being laid off, working for 54 days straight, spending time with the fam and managing camp staff I've stayed fairly same.. My husband on the other hand...
Now that I've come to a "pause" in my year, I'd love to continue to update everyone on our kiddos and life in California...
For "real" this time. *wink

So Here We Are

2008-08-28T18:58:00.001-07:00

Setted (as much as possible) in Scotts Valley, CA. We're nine miles from the beach and in the midst of the Redwoods! Great! I (Michele) am the new Adventure Program director here, year round! Cool eh? Jeff (Booker) is a full-time stay-at-home dad and do an AMAZING job. The house has never been so clean.. seriously.. no, I mean it.. for real..It's the best. I came April 1st and the fam came out in June, after school and a short family camping trip. I had an extremely busy summer: 7 weeks of camp, 6 of which I led camping trips with teens. Now the kids are settling in, starting school and going to bed EARLIER! My job now is to focus on groups using the facilities/ ropes courses, school groups and maybe some custom camping trips. I hope learning how to sea-kayak is in the future! I've had all kinds of training and doing a job that I absolutely love. Jeff is happy to hang at the house and keep the kids in line. We love visitors!
So, here we are and I'll try to keep up w/this blog now. PEACE!

In California

2008-04-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends and Family!
Not a lot of anything going on with the blog since I've been in Cali!
Yes, here I am. In Scotts Valley.. 9 miles from the beach, up the hill from Santa Cruz and south of San Francisco. It's AWESOME! Our family will be living in the midst of the Redwoods with a pool, playground and all other "campy" thing in our back yard. The last two days I've been training on our ropes-course, which includes: climbing, playing and ZIPPING out of trees. Yup, that's my job. There's a camp/hiking trip set up for next week over my 32nd B'day (cough..sputter..gah!).
Then home to see my fam for a day or two before MORE wilderness training. Anyhoo...
We'll ALL be together here by June 23rd-ish, so drop a line or letter if you want.

3100 Bean Creek Rd
Scotts Valley, CA 54755

BERRIES

2008-03-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

We get these frozen berries that the kids LOVE! Raz, blue and blackberries. Good in yogurt, with a little milk on top so it freezes into 'ice-milk' , in pancakes, on icecream, or just in a bowl with a spoon.

Boxes

2008-03-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

So, I have strep throat and as I spend the day sitting around and looking at pictures I'm reminded of a few things:
1. Most people in America have too much "Stuff". Toys, clothes, movies, tech gear, furniture... you name it.
Kezzie loves the bananna boxes I picked up from the store. But, she likes to fill them with "stuff". Hmmm.
2. I've always had access to health care.. whether I had to pay for it or not... it's around and I can go to the doctor on my
block or on the other side of America. SUCH a blessing.
3. Kids are honest. Grown-ups not so much.
4. Everyone has their own agenda... what if, on everyone's list, was to be a blessing to someone else. I'm still working on
that.
Boy, being sick makes my brain hurt.

Couldn't Pass This Up

2008-03-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

So, I blogged about Zander and his thing with wearing LOTs of tee-shirts at once...
And then i happened to come across this video..

So, I guess he's headed towards The Guiness Book... which really doesn't suprise me. LOL!

Drenched

2008-03-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

I just found this picture from when Michaela was doing some vocabulary homework. They had to fill out a whole sheet with definitions .. different forms of the word and so on. Then they had to draw a pic or put a pic with it ... well, the word was drenched and she convinced her brother to stand in the shower for a shot.... oh boy.

Jesus Rocks

2008-03-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

I just really want this shirt. That's all.

Spaceship

2008-03-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

So, this is Jordon in his spaceship. He was giving his brother a ride when Zander started getting kinda wild.. so Jordon says..
"Do I have to pull this spaceship over?" Jeff and I exchanged eyebrow looks and laughed.

Hats

2008-03-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

Kezzi loves to put on hats.. or blankets.. or anything. She finds all kinds of stuff to put on her head. Also... for some reason, she loves to gather socks. She'll go around the house picking up all the socks she can find and just carry them in a big bundle. Hmm.

New!

2008-03-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

Went out to CA for a job interview (more to come about that), and while there I took the plunge and got my first tattoo. I really do love it and have no regrets about the"permanency " of it. This Psalms says : Seek peace and pursue it. It's a must for everyone.. don't you think?

Zander

2008-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

We love this boy. He makes me laugh and want to jump out of a window, usually on a daily basis. He's so curious and thoughtful.
We bought Michaela a sea monkey kit and when we couldn't find the packet of eggs Zander gave it up and said he ate them... he thought they were yucky. OYE! Here's some pics... going through my PEZ collection, waiting for the bus and he's had this thing about wearing lots of clothes. I think he had 6 shirts on in this one and couldn't get his arms down.

Daddy's Bundle

2008-02-22T06:50:00.000-08:00

YIKES!

2008-02-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

Where did the past 30 days go?? So it's Feb. now and my husband and sister informed me I REALLY need a new post up. Well, lots of things have happened in the last couple of weeks, but I need a minutes to sit down and tell. SOON I promise. .Check back!

Yet Another Weather Update

2008-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

I have never paid much attention to the weather 'till I moved here.
Today's report : air temp now -15 deg.
with wind chill -35 deg.
high today will be -4 deg.
Even after 5 years I can't really get used to this frigid cold! It makes your floors chilly and all of your windows are icy and NOONE is allowed outside for fear of frostbite. What the...? UGH! i guess we'll be watching lots of movies and playing games today... hmm, I guess thats okay. :)

Her Mom Rocks

2008-01-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

So our friends the Kurtzs bought Kezzi the most awesomest shirt ever.

Happy 2008!

2008-01-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

So, another year is upon us. Who know what it holds. We mostly pray the same thing... that God would bless us in whatever direction we go ... because we want everything we do, to be for Him ... so I suppose whatever happens, it'll be just fine.

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Col. 3:17

And Finally....

2008-01-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

Zander's birthday. Yes. Dec. 26th. What a bogus deal huh? We celebrated on the 27th with just the fam and gramma and grampa. He wanted an army cake. I did my best to do camouflage... yum. It was good though. I think he'll be celebrating a half birthday from now-on.. maybe in June.

So now..

2008-01-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas has arrived! We spent Christmas eve with Jeff's family having dinner, going to church, and opening presents at their house. Then Christmas day belongs to just us. Opening presents, playing, and eating candy all day. We watched the Nativity Story and rested. We were all pretty sick with a flu bug at some point, but it didn't ruin it.

Then the kids have their Christmas Concert...

2008-01-11T06:45:00.000-08:00

..at school. That is one nice thing about living in a small midwest town... no one freaks out about the kids singing "Christmas" songs. Michaela's class performed on recorders. It was quite good actually. Sure was loooooong though. When you have one at the beginning and one at the end you can't skip out on most of the program. Yikes!

...and decorate a gingerbread house

2008-01-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

The boys each got to do a side of the roof and sister did the walls. Eating the candies is by far the best part.

...and bake cookies

2008-01-11T06:30:00.001-08:00

Lots of different colored frosting makes for some pretty yummy looking treats!

Then you have to decorate....

2008-01-11T06:19:00.000-08:00

I think I did pretty good this year NOT rearranging ornaments. I let the kids decorate the tree all they wanted and then I did the rest. I'm in charge of tinsel ... do I need to give a reason? Even though Zander likes to put everything on one branch, I held off moving some... I got a little twitchy.

The Christmas "season"

2008-01-11T06:12:00.000-08:00

When you have 4 kids the Christmas "season" (Thanksgiving through New Years) is super fun, but way exhausting!
First you have to get a tree. That's always great! It was really COLD this year (like 14 degrees) when we went out... so needless to say we picked a tree quick!

HEY!

2007-12-12T07:41:00.001-08:00

Yup, they're cute.

Red Suspenders

2007-12-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

Grampa Korky sent the boys suspenders to hold their pants up. They even work on sweat pants.. although they ride a little high.

Michaela's 10

2007-12-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

Well, my first born in in the "double didgets" now. Wow. We had a family b'day and then she got to have a p'tay w/her girls. It was fun.

Chocolate Covered Baby

2007-11-17T17:10:00.001-08:00

While I was at work, it seems our little girl got the lid off the Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread). She was happy with such a wonderful discovery.

Kindergarten Thanksgiving

2007-11-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

Jordon's class put on a fun TDay program with songs and dancing. Ahhhhh. Oh, and he was by his friend Grace. We love her.

Lick Em Sticks

2007-11-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

Remember Lick Em Sticks? With the sugar stick you can dip in the powder? Well, they're a hit at our house.

#4 is 1

2007-11-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Our Baby Kezi turned one. WOW. This year went by so fast. I'm so sad at how quickly she's changing, being the LAST and all. Anyways, here are some pics of the party. It was fun to have the family together to celebrate.

REAL Snow

2007-11-16T11:04:00.001-08:00

okay.. so I got excited about our first sleet.. but a few days later it REALLY snowed. Zander tested it..YUMMY.

First Snow

2007-11-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

Well, its Nov 5th and we've had our first "snow"...more like sleet...but flaky. Anyways, here's a pic. You probably can't even see it. It blew in with a huge set of clouds and melted quick. Winter's a-comin'.

Halloween

2007-11-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

The kids have a school parade so everyone can see eachother's costumes. Then orange pancakes for dinner, and after, trick-or-treating! Yummy.

On The Farm

2007-10-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

So, we did the fall thing.. we went to Schultze's Country barn to see animals and we did the corn maze, which took about an hour! It was huge! Then came home to carve our pumpkins.

Apples 4 Us

2007-10-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

When we went to the apple orchard it was 82 degrees. Fun but hot! Happy fall to all!

Friendly Friends

2007-10-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

My friends came to visit1 Ang and Megs and Baby Amelia. We had too much fun.. no really ... too much.

NEW Family Pics!

2007-10-20T08:45:00.001-07:00

Holy Ship!

2007-10-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

We went to the art/fire festival in our favorite town, Stockholm..They built a viking long boat and set it on fire! Oh yeah! Watching the sun set on the Mississippi and lots of stuff burning was FAB!

Park It!

2007-10-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

We love going to the park!

Off to school...

2007-10-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Zander went off to head start this year. He's so little to be going away, but he really is having a good time and learning a lot about how to play with other kids (besides Buba), and other schooly things. It's okay, but REALLY quiet here in the mornings.

Grandpa's Visit

2007-10-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

noone's quite like grampa korky. When he comes to visit the kids have SO MUCH FUN!! He'll do anything: climb up in the tree house, shoot beebee guns, swim in the wading pool and play on the playground. Plus.. he's got cash. What more could you ask for!

Grow Stuff

2007-10-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Our garden turned out cucumbers, beans, peas, tomatoes and other goodies this year. Our sunflowers were sooo tall! If you have kids, growing stuff is definitely worth the time and effort.

Wrappin Up Summer

2007-10-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

A week before school started we got a chance to go out on Lake Wasota with our friend Brian and his son. Michaela went tubing and the boys played, and played and played...

Goin' Way Back

2007-10-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

At the end of the summer I took the kids and met my sister in OH for some camping. It rained A LOT, but was fairly warm and turned out quite fun!

Tupperware

2007-08-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Don't all babies love going through the cupboards?

VBS

2007-08-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Yet another VBS program. I volunteered to do music because I had 3 kids attending. It turned out just fine.. well, fun actually.

Jordon Loves Daddy

2007-08-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

OH YEAH!!!

2007-08-03T21:08:00.001-07:00

Jordon Turned 5!

2007-08-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

First was the Spiderman B'day party with his friends...then a family party. Yeah baby!

Storm Trooper

2007-08-02T13:41:00.001-07:00

Okay...I just had to put this up. It's just funny.

trip to Portland

2007-08-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Jeff had a totally EXCELLENT time in Portland. He went for a college reunion and saw soooo many long-ago friends. Yippee.

the Ol' Miss

2007-08-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

We went swimming in the Mississippi the other day. On a good day, it's not too bad. Then ice cream after. Yum.

Cool Train Bridge

2007-08-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

We went to this place where there's a walking bridge that goes over the railroad tracks...and you can stand on it when the train go under! It's EXCITING and a little scary.

Pirate Party

2007-08-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

We had a pirate themed bbq with some jr/senior high kids from church. We had a killer slip & slide and tons of good grub.

SISTERS

2007-08-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

Michaela is the most wonderful big sissy.

BROTHERS

2007-08-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes they fight all day..Sometimes they're soo cute.

A Day At Lake Eau Galle

2007-07-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

A day swimming, boating and baptizing. Yes, now that my husband is "Reverend" Rutschow, he can do whatever.

Summer's All About the Pool

2007-07-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yup.

Bathing Beauty Baby

2007-07-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Cute and a little creepy. We sent this swimsuit off to the thrift store.

A Pool and A Dog

2007-07-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

The boys love when we dog-sit for Aunt Carrie. Atilla loves to go in the water.

Hometown 4th

2007-07-25T11:06:00.001-07:00

We had a ton of fun on the 4th of July. There's the parade, bbq @ Uncle Rocky's and fireworks over the lake.. GREAT!

Gimme S'more

2007-07-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Nothin' like roastin' marshmallows, in the back yard, on a summer night.

Action City....Where the fun never stops!

2007-07-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

We went to Action City for Uncle Tim's b'day. I think the boys were in HEAVEN and Michaela was cracked out on collecting tickets for prizes. Yikes.

Aqua Boy

2007-07-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Need i say more?

It's been a LONG time

2007-07-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

We've had some computer difficulties, so here we are again.

New Job

2007-06-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, Jeff has been working his new job for a full week now! Yippee! He's working for a company call Jackson Lumber Harvesters. They make portable saw mills and wood chippers and stuff like that. He's doing office stuff.. computers, advertising and such. He loves it. AND it's in town so we get to see him every day for lunch.

Soccer!

2007-06-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

Jeff's coaching Michaela's team again this year. It's fun!

Yard Work

2007-06-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got the garden planted and my flower beds are blooming. I got a late start this year 'cause I'm a little busy :)

Princess Party

2007-06-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Our friend Kiana had a princess birthday..
We all had fun, although the boys decided playing cars was more exciting than waltzing.

Hot Wheels

2007-06-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Each kid is now equipped with a bike for the summer. It's been great to watch 'em peddle around. Michaela can even run errands for us..cool.

Fire Fighters

2007-06-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

Last Frl. we took the boys to a Fiefighter challenge. The guys (and gals) dressed in full gear and did an obsticle course with hoses and running up stairs and everything. The boys loved it!

Pretty Ears

2007-06-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

We got Keziah's ears pierced..

She doesn't even seem to notice.

Just Funny

2007-06-05T19:45:00.001-07:00

This is Jordon falling into the side of a jumping castle. :)

CATS

2007-06-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

My cats have attention issues. I mean, I usually like cats because they could care less whether you are gone for like a week....but I dunnu if it's all the kids or what, but my cats are trying to get under the covers with me at night and they climb my shirt to be up in my grill! I mean, jeez! Get a life and go chase dust bunnies or something! As I speak one is trying to get between my hand and the keyboard. Gotta go.

Annoying

2007-06-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

okay friends...this is the most annoying refrigerator experience ever!! There was a fridge in this house when we moved in and it started leaking from the freezer into the bottom part, and our veggies were floating in brown swamp water, so finally we got a fridge from our church because they got a new one..then it stopped working after we had it for a few weeks, so we transfered everything down this other old fridge we had in the basement..and THAT ONE STOPPED WORKING in the fridge part, but not the freezer...so we've had everyting on the freezer side..in the basement, for about a week... and after a zillion trips up and down the stairs, frozen milk and squashed produce we decided to fork out $$$$$ for a new one. UGH! 'Specially when my husband is not working. I guess we could have tried another used one or something, but I think I would have cried.

Grace

2007-06-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

We have a good friend named Grace who comes to play a lot. She definitely brings a "girlie" dimension to our house.

Good Eats

2007-06-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

The baby's eating cereal and stuff now. That happened too quickly. She's more excited about the idea of eating than the actual food.

PEZ

2007-05-30T12:28:00.001-07:00

There's something about Pez that really get's me happy. I think it does that for quite a few people. I still collect 'em, randomly..and I have a lot (thanks to my sis and other friends)..I just need a way to display them. Random Blog.
love, Me

Rainy Day

2007-05-28T18:09:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't like to go out in the rain in their jammies?? Some days the boy's have sooo much fun together.

BIG Help

2007-05-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I would do without Michaela. She can quiet a crying baby or big boy, make french toast, run to the post office. and remember a zillion things I can't. whew.

Lil' Water Baby

2007-05-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Keziah got to enjoy the pool on one of our hot days.

Activities

2007-05-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Here are the kiddos having some "Y" time. Jordon & Michaela in swim lessons and Zander @ gymnastics.

PAPER and PLASTIC

2007-05-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging because I do not want to do dishes. *Refer to picture on April 16th blog. Yessir I'm gonna just start using paper plates and plasticwear. Phooey!

Family Pic

2007-05-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

This is the last family picture we've done ( I don't really believe in letting others photograph me) ....so here we all are St.Patty's Day '07

Lame-O

2007-05-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don' tknow yet, my wonderful husband will be out of a job in about 3 weeks. To sum it up, he decided to "recind" his soldiership with the Sal Army and they didn't like that very much. Anyhoo..you could pray for us...and I know that God always is working and guiding. Something is just around the bend..we just can't see what it is yet. Peace.

Amelia Jubilee

2007-05-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

One of my bestest friends ever just had her first baby! Yea for Megs! Aren't babies awesome!

Bath Time

2007-04-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm always taking pictures of my boys in bubble baths. I can't help it!

BBQ Time!

2007-04-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

It got up to 90deg. this weekend! Yippee! Everyone is ejoying being outside.

Friendship

2007-04-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

My good friend jenna came to visit last week. I'm sooo LUCKY! She's the coolest and I needed a boost of silliness and sarcasm! YIPPEE!

HA!

2007-04-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

Monkeys

2007-04-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

We have the best climbing tree in our back yard. The limbs go really close to the ground so it's easy to get up.

Gimme a Break "plus"

2007-04-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was at the store today and saw something absolutely nuts-o. Now, I'm no health fiend and I do enjoy an ice-cold coke....but...since Americans are absolutely terrible at eating healthy, some genius came up with a fabulous idea (sarcasm)....Diet Coke Plus. This is diet coke with vitamins and minerals! So now you really can feel good about guzzling down soda....no calories and packed with nutrition. I'm just gonna go away shaking my head now. Peace.

2 1/2 Days Later .......

2007-04-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the applause.

Baby In The Mirror

2007-04-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

PERU!

2007-04-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Peru! YIPPEE!! I'll be going with our SA Central Territory team on a 10 day missions trip at the end of July. My FANTASTIC husband will be staying home with all 4 children, so you could start praying for him now. God put a desire for (over seas) missions in my heart a LOOOOONG time ago and I'm so thrilled when I get the opportunity to live it out!

"Good"morning Rutschow Girls

2007-04-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here we are..the Rutschow females all cuddling together (yes, Paws and Bunny too). I could've slept more...but you know...the mom thing :)

Dirty Words

2007-04-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

I hate doing *&#$%@!*&$% dishes!!...so I took the weekend off. I was gonna spend a couple hours today cleaning this, but it's supposed to be 70 degrees and super sunny!. What would you do? .. If you're gonna say do dishes....I don't wanna hear.

Wheels

2007-04-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Michaela finally learned to ride her bike! This is quite an accomplishment for her, considering she is the probably the most cautious kid I've ever met. Needless to say, now we have to buy her a bike that is her size and costs real money. The boys are down to one trike (they've broken the other two made of plastic). Metal is the winner when being tested by our two Goonies.

Easter Eggs

2007-04-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Kids had fun decorating Easter Eggs.