Oops! Where's Mitchell's School Pictures?

We recently received Mitchell's school pictures with Mike and I commenting on how it turned out great! We rated it as one of our favorite pics. But wait? Where could it be?

The other day some friends of ours came over for a visit and said they would like to see them. Normally, they are left on the coffee table until I can begin the distribution of the pics, but they weren't there! Mike and I searched EVERYWHERE! Under the sofa, in the bedrooms, in the kitchen, but to no avail. I concluded that they must have gotten thrown away. Mike assured me that isn't what happened and we would resume our frantic search in the morning.

Morning arrives with Mitchell sitting so sweetly enjoying his breakfast when I explain that I couldn't find his school pictures. His mouth drops open, milk begins to drool, and he looks like he just saw a ghost! With a tremble in his voice he explains that when he was doing the garbage he collected the newspaper and thought "Boy! The papers sounds kind of crinkly!" Instead of paging through to see what it could be, he just threw it away.....newspaper and his school pictures! Now what would make the "crinkly" sound you may ask? Well, as many parents know, the pics come with a cellophane opening so you can see the pics through the packaging. So....what he heard was the cellophane!

Now don't fret my dear family and friends.........I called the photo company and they found my order and will be shipping another full set for all to enjoy! The lesson here......

• Cost of shirt for school photos........$25.00
• First set of school photos.......$25.00
• Second set of school photos.......$29.00 (had to pay shipping/handling costs!)
• Knowing that I could get the photos again.........priceless!

In other Brachmann news:

School is going very well for the boys. They have finally found their "groove" and both have adjusted well to their new schools. Fall is in the air which means that Mike goes into "cookie overdrive". I don't know what it is about fall, but Mike has a cookie obsession for a couple of weeks. This week I'm going to make him some Peanut Butter Rice Krispie treats! These are Nick's favs......so I have to hide them from both him and Mike. I wonder if Mary had to hide food from her kids! Last time I hid cookes, Mike found them and ate them all! This week I'll need to find a new hiding place!

Green Bay Packers Vs. The Racing Sausages!

The way the Green Bay Packers have been playing lately has been such a disappointment! That's why I refuse to post any pictures of them or even talk about them on my blog and instead have given you the pictures I took about 1 month ago of the Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages, playing a friendly game of kickball!


You can see how the Brat has made it to first base, with the American pitching! It was so funny to see these guys play! They kept toppling over because they are so top heavy! Speaking of the Brewers! A big shout out to Steve, Viv and Raelyn for the Xmas gift certificate for the Brewers! We ended up sitting 5 rows behind homeplate! Of course, the Brewers lost, but it was great to see it up close!

This past week was spent picking up our yard after the huge storm that blew through. We had a gust of wind that was clocked at 85mph! A lot of people lost power and the boys got off from school due to power outages. We had a lot of limbs down and had part of our tree fell on an electrical line, which ended up smoking! All in all.......we were very lucky compared to others.

I have a few shout outs this week!

Happy Anniversary to Peg and Don! (a reminder to Don that next year is a jewelry purchase anniversary for Peg (20 years!).....don't worry....we'll talk!)

Happy Birthday to Willie (aka; Grandpa, Dad and Father-in-law) Have a beer and bowl a 300.....would ya?

School Rules!

Ahhhhhhh! Can you smell it in the air? Can you feel it in your bones? That's right........school has started here in Wisconsin! It's like Xmas morning for me! I get so excited the night before I can barely sleep! I wake up early to make sure my boys are ready for that first day. Teeth brushed, beds made, school supplies and backpacks are ready for the day. It begins with Mitch (along with Megan and Anthony) having to catch the bus at 6:30am.......then it's Nick's turn.











Here's Nick right before the bus was to arrive. He's all smiles in this photo, but soon afterward he said that he felt sick! Poor Nicky! He was starting middle school this year and no one from our neighborhood was on the bus with him. He was so nervous! (he gets that from Auntie Joan!) But he toughed it out and got lost only once. Now he's got it all figured out and hasn't got a fear in the world! (just like Auntie Joan!)

This weekend we went to the Highland Games in Waukesha. Nick was given the chance to throw axes and knives at a log. (he probably would have rather thrown them at Mitch) Also, at the Highland Games were the "heavy games". This is when guys throw heavy stuff around in kilts! Now you would think that these guys would be big and fat....right? No! Most of these men were old college football players with nothing better to do than throw stuff around! There was one guy that looked just like The Rock! Whooooo! He had such a great body!









On a sadder note.......we have read and heard many things about the tragedy that happened in the Gulf Coast. Many things have been written and said. Fingers have been pointed at "who to blame" or arms thrown up in the air declaring "don't blame us". Well, I usually don't try to comment on such things, but since this is my blog, I can do what I want. So here we go.....

The blame game never works, folks! You can point fingers all you want, but it's not going to help the situation. I'm tired of all the reporting of Hurricane Katrina and the way the media is taking advantage of this horrible tragedy. CNN, NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC etc; are making money off this! The more you watch, the higher the ratings, the higher the advertising dollar goes to the network, the higher the pay raise goes to Katie Couric etc; Mark my words.......in one month, this story will be on page 3 of your local newspaper.

This isn't to say that we shouldn't help.....but we should help EVERYONE in our country that needs it, all the time! No one realizes the struggles of our poor in this country who were homeless BEFORE Katrina hit. Why doesn't the Miller corporation donate a truckload of water to the poorer Native American communites in the southwest? Because there isn't enough media attention, folks! Today at work a woman told me that she would only buy Miller products because of their donation to the hurricane relief efforts. When I asked her about them NOT donating to other parts of our country that are poor, she shrugged and said "You never hear about that"! What a shame! Tsk! Tsk!

What do we do as a nation? We need to learn to give without expecting something in return. Imagine...... no pat on the back, no award for giving, no certificate, etc; just the feeling deep inside that tells you it's the right thing to do. That's the greatest feeling of all.