Before the Spring concert tonight, the students displayed their pieces at the Art show. Tyler received a purple ribbon of merit for his self portrait. It was titled "luav tawas". Any takers on knowing what that means? Give up? It is the word "flame" in Mong which is the native language of a tribe in Sudan. "Flamer" has become Tyler's nickname in school which he is really starting to like.
The Storm Lake Middle School 7th/8th grade mixed choir
The 7/8th grade boys choir

After the concert Jayme Bral, the SLMS assistant principal, shook my hand and told me "That kid deserves an A+." He thanked me for the joint effort between school and home in Tyler's commitment to excellence.

Saturday we headed to Sioux City to celebrate Mother's day weekend. I received the 2 best gifts a son could give his mother. The first one was on our way to dinner at Bev's on the River, Tyler drove up to the door and let the mother's out while the men went and parked the car. The second was, this morning grandpa and him made us breakfast AND cleaned up. I am so proud Tyler knows good old fashioned chivalry will get him everywhere with a woman. Then Saturday evening we enjoyed a Bandits game. They lost but it was fun anyway. I got to see an old college friend, Shanda and her family. Sunday we went to see great grandma and all the Reinert's. Afterwards, we caught our cousin Jeremy's spring football scrimmage at Briar Cliff. Jeremy received the Character of Champions award for a male athlete at BC. We will enjoy watching the Chargers play this fall for his Senior year.
Tyler giving grandma her gift. Its her "summer" tornado attire.
So grandma told grandpa no "old skool" attire for Mother's day weekend. So grandpa dug deep into the dresser drawers to find this antique. His #83 pit crew shirt. It still fit! Must not be that old yet.

Tyler participated in 2 events today. He is running the second leg of the shuttle hurdle relay. He is getting his 3 step down pretty good. The team got second place.
Tyler ran the 200m dash and got third place.

After a few weeks off to let his leg heal Tyler got to participate in his last home track meet as a middle schooler. He has been recovering from his femur ball slipping out of socket. It happened one day at practice while he was doing the hurdles. Luckily, he got right in to the chiropractor the next day and was on his way to recovery. After getting it back in socket he had to do something even more painful: REST!

This afternoon after track practice I got to sit in the passenger seat and Tyler drove home. He was quite nervous but did a very good job. He will start driver's ed in a month. Before then he needs to have 20 hours of drive time (2 of which has to be in the dark).
Tonight at Casey's I helped Tyler learn how to use the machine and put gas in his moped. $1.75 later he had a full tank and was off and running again.

Birthday month has been a fantastic one for Tyler. It started off with a Spring Break trip to Denver. He then took his moped rider course in Ankeny at DMACC where Rich picked him up in the "Cynistr" Charger. It ended with him getting his instructors permit and moped. He has found a new independence and loves it. Me too;) He received lots of gifts, well wishes, and cards throughout the last week. He also attended a basketball camp which he got to drive his moped to. Tomorrow he will finish up his 4 week batting clinic which he will be driving himself to. All in all a great birthday month!

While Tyler was at his class today Andrea and I went to visit her niece, Julia. She is 1 1/2 and all toddler. She explores, reads, and repeats everything you say. She will be a big sister in August.
Tyler's one step closer to being able to drive his moped in 12 days! He is required to take a moped rider course. The closest one offered was in Ankeny at DMACC. He sat through class for 6 hours. The 2 most important things he learned was the speed limit which is 30mph and don't drive when you're angry. Here he is with his certificate of completion. He also received his birthday gift from Rich and Andrea. ISU stuff: size M. He will be regifting his smalls to Andrea;)

The track meet was cancelled today due to rain. Tyler is now practicing the high jump. After we picked Tyler up from practice he announced some wonderful news. He was selected as the 8th grade Star student of the month. He demonstrated the 3Rs. Ready, Respectful and Responsible in the month of March. He received a certificate for his efforts. I am so proud of him:)

Literally a minute before the event started Coach asked Tyler to "go jump." So, in true Tyler fashion he did just what the coach asked. He went and jumped. He got second place with a jump of 4'4". Not bad for never practicing the high jump in his life.
Tyler ran the second leg of the shuttle hurdle relay. They got first place. This is also the first time Tyler's ever ran the hurdles.

He also ran the first leg (100m) of the sprint medley. They got second place. His last event was the first leg of the 4x100. They won that event. The 8th grade boys as a team lost to Cherokee.

This morning Rich and Andrea headed to Storm Lake to bring Tyler's moped. On the way they had an "incident" to say the least which caused a delay in their arrival time. They eventually made it after dad and a nice couple helped them out. We are so thankful that no one was hurt.
Grandpa and Rich looking everything over before Tyler can take it out for a spin.
Tyler taking his birthday gift for a test spin around the block. The first trip he was pretty conservative. The second trip...he found out its top speed...28mph.
Tonight, after everyone left, Tyler went out with his friends. He sported his new key chain that holds his prized moped key which he got from Hollie and Jason.

Today at school a girl told Tyler he looked "mexican." LOL. Right? So tonight I removed his mustache. Now does he look like a white boy?

A shout out to Iowa. People around them were yelling "Iowa." Tyler thought it was pretty funny.

Our vacation started Wednesday evening. Hollie picked us up from the airport while Jason and Chloe waited for us at home. Thursday and Friday we shopped til we literally dropped. Tyler and Chloe are officially dressed and ready for summer. Saturday night Jason and Tyler went to a Nuggets game. It was a slow start but the Nuggets came back from a 20 point deficit to pull off the victory. Sunday, Jason took Tyler snow skiing at Loveland. Tyler had a great time. He went down the blue diamond hills and only wiped out once. We came home today. We absolutely loved our trip to Denver! It was so fun and relaxing. Thank you Jason and Hollie for all the hospitality you showed Tyler and I. We already miss Chloe and all her hugs and kisses.

Thursday morning Tyler teaching Chloe how to bounce the ball on the paddle.
What kind of mom Tyler thinks I can...;)
TYLER
Tyler showing Chloe the artwork.
Saturday morning all of us went to the D.A.M.
Saturday afternoon Jason, Tyler, and I went to Dave n Buster's for lunch and an afternoon of games while Chloe napped. 5,000 points later Tyler called it quits.
Chloe found the perfect seat to watch tv.
A quick hug for Tyler. It's been a while since she's given him one.
Sunday evening we went to a park to play. Tyler and Jason played HORSE and 1on1. Tyler was gone from Chloe a little too long and she ran out onto the court to give him a hug.
Tyler got involved with a pick up game at the park. He made the game winning shot of the first game!

Cheers!!! When we arrived grandma wanted to split a birthday beer.
Today we visited our extended family in Salix, at my cousins home, to celebrate great grandmas 92nd birthday. It was a gorgeous 58 degree day. The kids played outside all afternoon while the adults visited inside. It was great to see everyone and catch up. We are so grateful to be able to spend time with our family. We love them all!

After the BEST parent-teacher-child conference that I've attended, grandma and I got to watch Tyler's 13 member ensemble group perform this afternoon. The boys' sang the song "The lion sleeps tonight." The judge critiqued them and stated they did a wonderful job with all the different parts. This was a great practice for the kids to "get the jitters out" before they perform in front of judges in their high school music career.

Saturday we headed to Ankeny to see Rich and Tyler's (wishful thinking school car). Tyler turned up the radio and pretended he was scoopin' the loop. We did a little shopping, ate out, and watched 2 great basketball games at Wells Fargo Arena. It was the best ticket in town to see "The Great Harrison Barnes" and the lil Cyclones of Ames win the 4A state basketball title. We also got to watch the Heelan Crusaders win the 3A game.

They won the Laurens tournament!!! They played Manson NW Webster and beat them again 27-19. The second game they played Humboldt and beat them 36-33. The last game they fell to Graettinger-Terrill 44-49. This was the last tournament of the season. The team has come a long way in playing as a team and realizing if they play together they can WIN tournaments. The team received gold medals and Tshirts for their 1st place efforts.

Today we spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a family sledding party. They had a chili, hot dog, s'more feed and lots of sledding and fun. Here's Tyler and Zach going down the hill. Tyler also got an early driver's education class. He got to drive my car and grandpa's blazer up and down the hill.

The boys celebrating their win against Manson Northwest Webster 36-31. They lost to the first team they played today, Humboldt 23-32.

They won the tournament!!! They beat Rockwell City-Lytton 46-37 the first game. They had a nailbiter with Manson Northwest 32-31the second game. The last game vs. Glidden Ralston they won 43-35. The team received medals for their first place efforts.

Today Tyler and his choir group (135 students) traveled to Sloan, IA to participate in a choir clinic. They performed 3 songs in front of a judge and were critiqued. The judge basically said that they were by far the best group there. They all looked at their director throughout the performance. Tyler said the judge looked like Teresa Smith. This is the uniform all the students wore.

The first game Harlan beat SL 46-28. The second game MMC beat SL 43-31. The last game SL beat Cherokee 34-24. Tyler had an all star performance this last game. He led the team in points, had alot of steals, and was a great leader on the floor.

Today we went to see Great Gram C. We had a wonderful visit with her. Sue was just finishing her shift so we got to visit with her too. Bonus! It was a long day of traveling back in forth. For those of you that remember "back seat disease", Tyler started to get.

It's hard to tell how tall the snow is at the end of the driveway due to the incline but it's actually 7ft. tall. My new snowblower has come in real handy this winter. I never thought I'd say it but I'm actually looking forward to mowing this summer.

I started with 1.5 TBSP. of hickory wood chips at the bottom of the smoker.
I seasoned the wings with mesquite rub.
Waiting for the first wisp of smoke to come rollin' out.
After smokin' the wings for 35 min. I smothered them in Dead Eye and baked them for 10 min.

On Monday, the start of my birthday month, Rich asked what I wanted for my birthday. I had been thinking of investing in an indoor smoker for the last 6 months. So I told him what I thought. Since Rich is well aware of the "Kneifl women get what they want" rule I had a Cameron indoor smoker delivered to my house 5 days later courtesy of Rich and Andrea for my 35th birthday. Today, Super Bowl Sunday, I thought would be a great day to test it out. Per Tyler's request I made chicken wings. They turned out super! His next request: smoked BBQ ribs. Thank you Rich and Andrea for a fantastic gift. I love it! I will be taking orders for anyone that comes to visit. Yes, Dad, I am standing by with a pen and paper to write down your request;)

The first game of the Sioux Central Tournament was against Cherokee. They lost 40-47.
The team sitting around relaxing before heading over to the "old" gym. They played Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn. They beat them 39-27.

The last game of the day was against Graettinger-Terrill. They beat them 60-47. The team took home 3rd place. Tyler had the moves of the day. Great fakes, nice post moves, and good wing shots.

The second rounds Tyler wrestled E. Wise from Spirit Lake. He lost 0-8.
Tylers first match he wrestled C. Potter from Spirit Lake. Tyler won 7-6.

Tyler's third match was against D. Trucksess from Spirit Lake. David put the "banana split" move on him which is an illegal move. Tyler won by default. He has a sore left groin. He said it's the "tied for second" worst pain he's ever felt.