whoo...hoooo!

check it out, Milo, Kennedy, and my signs

made the LaCrosse Tribune!

Yo, Yo lil bro, I LOVE Jason Freed

Good News OR Bad News

OK...good news or bad news?

Good news.

HOUSTON HURRICANES are
STATE CHAMPS!

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OK.....want the bad news....poor maxi pad (AKA. our kitty)

got locked in Kennedy's closet for the 26 hours that we were gone! PEE....U

Good news, that smart kitty located a back pack and ONLY peed on it! Back pack tossed, febreeze sprayed, and problem solved!

Bad news, my husband is so addicted to the TV series 24 that after staying up til 3:30 AM on Thursday morning, sleeping until 8:00, then back at it until 1:00, we had to borrow a DVD player to take with us, so that I could drive, while he camped out in the back seat.

FYI...I NEVER drive when he is in the car.

'He can't stand it!'

Good news, I caught a 1/2 hour nap before resuming my driving duties on the way home. JUST the right pick me up!

Bad news, got home at 6:30, unloaded and unpacked and he just started season 2 at 7:45.

Good news, I get to play the rest of the night with my NEW scrapbook toys I loaded up on at Michaels after Thanksgiving DAY, NIGHT sale!

Bad news, only 2 days left of Thanksgiving break.

Good news, only a few more projects to check off the list, one being to Christmas decorate, with the first stop being my blog!

congrats again to the Houston Hurricanes!

Happy Birthday Lil Bro

Well, Happy Birthday lil, bro! Wishing you a day filled with lots of love, a cherished vocal performance by Macin, hugs, kisses, and a Houston win on Friday.

I love your quiet, but strong nature, your humbleness, and your great hugs. You are a great dad, whose love for his daughters shines through everything you do. A father to a daughter is a VERY important role. I know that you will continue to make them feel like a princess every day. That you will continually tell them they are beautiful and that they will always know just how special and loved they are. It is through a fathers love for his daughter that her self-esteem and confidence starts, grows, and stays with her through life.

This is such a challenging time of your life, raising young children, pursuing your masters degree, coaching, teaching, and being a husband. Always remember that THE most important THINGS in life are not things, but are your relationships. When it all comes down to it, it will be those you love that you will treasure most at the end of the road. Continue to work hard, enjoy all of the little moments in life, and remember it is a good thing to play hooky every once in awhile.

I appreciate how you have instilled the values of leadership, honesty, and integrity in those young men that you mentor daily. No matter what the score board reflects next Friday it is THOSE characteristics that will carry those young men into the future, as they reflect on an experience of a lifetime that YOU have led them through.

When you walk into the Metrodome on Friday, stop for a moment and take a long deep breath. Breathe in that moment, for that moment in time you will never get back again. Take a visual picture, remember the smell, the sights, and the sounds. Look up to your right and then to your left, where you will see signs waving, fans cheering, and people proud to wear Houston red. For in that MOMENT, YOU are making history. History that started years, months, and weeks ago in the daily planning and practice.

It is that moment in time that many try to achieve but only few actually do. Many fall short of the finish line, because they gave up when it got hard. Little did they know that only a few more steps and they would have found victory.

One of my favorite quotes is... 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, talented, and successful? Actually, who are you not to be? We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

You are letting your light shine and through that light, you are giving others hope to shine too.

Happy Birthday!
yo, yo, lil, bro....I love Jason Freed

And here is a bit more about the birthday boy, himself!

1. Favorite color? Red or Blue – Depends on the day or if I am in Decorah or Houston.

2. Favorite food? Right now I would have to say Buffalo Wild Wings Chicken Wings

3. When you are alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot? Barefoot

4. How many days could you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it? - As many as I would need to. I am a quiet place person who likes alone time, so I would be alright for quite awhile I think.

5. When you travel, so you pack too much or too little? Usually pack too much.

6. In what situations are you most likely to procrastinate? No, I do not procrastinate, I am to anal to let that happen! Just ask Emilee and my close friends.

7. What is your idea of 'cute'? I don’t’ like the word! If I have to answer, when my two daughters are all dressed up in their dresses or doing something funny when no one is looking.

8. What are you 3 favorite TV shows? Deadliest Catch, Sports Center, Survivor

9. What are the top three qualities that first draw you to someone new? Personality, Honesty, and Fun

10. How has your birth order affected you? It works out great for me. I am the baby of the family so that is always good, and I am the only brother, so I am really the Big Brother of the family to all of my loving sisters.

11. What is the most adventurous or daring thing you have ever done? Canoed in the Boundary Waters in late May when the ice just went off the lakes a week before we got there.

12. If you could visit with any person in history, who would it be and why? Robert E. Lee, because I love the Civil War and the man was an exceptional leader.

13. If you were going to a costume party next week, what costume would you wear? Civil War Soldier

14. What is one thing you know for sure? The Hurricanes are going to be ready to roll for Prep Bowl 27.

15. What character trait are you currently trying to improve or change? Trying not to be so anal, but that is the “Deano” in me. :)

16. What do you do to get 'centered'? Too be honest, I feel like I am pretty centered all of the time. I asked one of the coaches on my staff to tell me one word that describes me, and they said FOCUSED!

17. What color describes your life right now and why? Red – Hurricanes Pride

18. What brings a tear to your eye? Seeing my wife tear up after the Verndale game, knowing that she knows how hard I have worked to get to this point in my coaching career.

19. What is your favorite picnic memory? Not sure, can’t remember the last time I had a real picnic.

20. Who is your favorite sister? They are all awesome...I guess who ever gives me the best Birthday or Xmas present. Just kidding...or maybe whomever comes with the most Hurricane Pride and garb for the Championship game. They are all awesome.

NEW FLASH. HOUSTON WINS!

Enjoy pics from Friday's game! Congrats to my little brother! We are back up on Thanksgiving for the Championship game on the 28th. Jason's parting words at the pep rally be before send off. 'Last one out of town, please turn off the lights'!

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I am making HUGE signs for the championship game!

YO, YO, LIL BRO!
I LOVE JASON FREED!

Then on the back...LOVE BIG SIS!

Jill

FYI. Fox Sports....will be broadcasting! Not that I hope to get any TV time!

Road Trip!

What do you think of my new blog look? Cool uhhhh!

I am so excited! My 'little' brother, well may be he is not so little is coaching his HS football team tomorrow in the semi-final state championship game! What is ironic about the whole thing is after Milo and I graduated from college we landed in Houston, MN, a town of 1000 in SE Minnesota. It was convenient because Milo worked 40 minutes one way and I was 40 minutes the opposite direction.

After my brother graduated from college (GO LUTHER), he and his wife got their first teaching jobs in the same little town! Houston has never had a successful HS football team in it's history. In fact I think their best record was 5-3. Last year they won the conference and made it 3 games into the play offs. This year they won the conference, are undefeated, and are now in the semi-final game for the state championship AT the METRODOME!

It is most definitely a Hoosier story in the making! hmmm I will have to start thinking on a good actor to play my brother and of course I will ask my sister-in-law who she would like to have play her. AND I am sure that sisters will get a STARRING role...hmmmm may be Diane Lane could play me?

So Madison and I are headed NORTH (hoping NOT to run into any snow) this afternoon to cheer on the Houston Hurricanes early tomorrow morning and to hit this REALLY cool scrapbooking place with my sister-in-law! hmmm football or scrapbooking? OK..football! Kennedy is staying back to stay caught up on school work and Milo is flying back late tonight from Austin, TX.

If they win tomorrow, we are all up for the CHAMPIONSHIP game on November 28th, just a few days shy of my brother's 27th birthday. What a birthday present that would be!

AND NO I didn't get my girls to pose for this pictures in the beautiful fall leaves with their Houston Hurricanes shirts on! Remember, I have a 13 year old and pictures are NOT COOL!

I was just lucky one weekend to catch a few snap shots while in Houston for a FB game, convincing them they could act like they were in a modeling photo shoot! Smart uhhh?

Have a Terrific Thursday! GO HURRICANES!

Check in Friday for pics from the Metrodome!

Jill