Klopfenstein's Office Products & Teaching Supplies

Cleve took this picture of our store in 2005 so we are due for a more current one. Our latest project is the construction of a website. It is beginning to "take shape." If you would like to watch our progress, our address is www.klopfensteinofficeproducts.com Carol

TREASURE!

Some friends found this as they cleaned out their basement and gave it to me. I LOVE it. It is a real treasure to me. Our home seems to be maintaining a consistent 71 degrees!

Monday's Swimming Adventure

I worked all night and slept from 7:30 - 11:00 this morning. Then the thought process started:

"Should I go to the pool and swim?"

"I only have a couple of hours, maybe I'll skip it."

"It only takes 25 minutes to swim the 18 laps."

"I'm still pretty tired, maybe I'll just lay back down."

"I need to go...and the sun is shining!"

"But I might not have time tomorrow, and Wednesday is the funeral, and it might be rainy the end of the week, so is it worth it to go for just one day?"

"Just put on your suit and go to the pool!"

Lap 1 - Breathing heavily.
Lap 2 - Gasping for air.
Lap 3 - Breast stroke, good, I can catch my breath.
Lap 4, 5, 6 - OK, 6 laps down, maybe I'll just stop at 9.
Lap 7, 8, 9 - That's 1/4 of a mile, maybe that's good enough.
Lap 10, 11, 12 - Well, now I'm catching my stride and I'm sure I can do 3 more.
Lap 13, 14, 15 - Aw, shoot, I've already done 15, just as well finish it up.
Lap 16, 17, 18 - Done!!

On about lap 14, I came up to find some young bathing beauties soaking their legs on the side of the pool, right in my path. I reached the pool edge and rather awkwardly turned around to start the next lap, as they just sat there, unperturbed. Did I say anything to them to get out of my way? No! Did I kick extra hard as I pulled away from the side to get them a little wet? Ummmm, yes I did!


There's something going on in our house that involves crash dieting and $300, but that's a story for another post...

ALL DONE

Happy Monday Morning everyone! The sun is shining brightly now, but the forecast for the day is not too good - so we'll see. "They" don't always hit it right. I had a fun day with Kelsie yesterday - she needed a little pink dress for a sorority thing when she goes back to school and since she couldn't find what she needed, we made one. Turned out really cute. I didn't take a picture - maybe Angela can take one and post it sometime.

Here are a few pictures of our new bathroom which is finally finished and usable.

This was a loooong white wall until we hung towels and added pictures.

View from the door by the hot tub. Bathroom is long and narrow
with an entrance here and one from the furnace room.

View from the door in the furnace room.

We've got a busy day ahead. Jerry invited his coffee buddies and wives to dinner tonight. Some of them helped him with the bathroom, so this is payback. He's going to grill pork chops, we're going to get some Illinois-grown sweet corn, hashbrowns and fresh fruit. Desert is still undecided - have to see how ambitious I get today.

19 Days and Counting

Only 19 days to the first activity of the EJK family reunion. Have you let Judy know you're coming? (Judy didn't ask for this!)

I'm looking forward to the various activities that are planned.

See you July 30!

And the lucky winner is....

ME! But I don't know who, what, when, or why! I have been expecting 750 videos to be delivered to my door for the hospital, and sure enough, yesterday a heavy box was on my porch. Dave brought it in...too heavy for me to get them to the hospital easily, so I got a smaller box and was going to deliver the videos in a couple of trips. So today I opened the box, and VOILA! it is 50 lbs. of Luna protein bars! Now who is the Luna fairy??

My Babies are One!

One year ago today, our family was doubly blessed with the arrival of Riley Faith and Gavin Arthur. Today they're happy, healthy children with very different personalities, and yet they're the best of friends.

It has been a tough year, and yet it's also been a fantastic year. I can't imagine life without my sweet babies. We're finally starting to emerge from the fog and live life a bit more.

I'm proud to say I'm still nursing. I didn't make it this far with the other girls for various reasons, which I regret. But this time I'm letting them drive the bus. We'll see how long this ride lasts.

We had their family party on Monday. Here are some pics.


Riley at 1 year


Gavin at 1 year


Then...


...and now


Gavin enjoying his cupcake


Riley enjoying hers


Cupcakes are awesome!

Monday Morning Memories

Okay, last night I couldn't sleep for awhile and kept remembering things from the '60s and early '70s.

I remember. . .

--Ada's wedding being one of the hottest days of the year; Judy and Linda took turns playing the piano for the entrance and for a solo.

--when the LCK family would come to IL, we would set up cots in Grandma's living room for the kids. Sometimes David and Cathy would stay there too and it was a regular dormitory in there.

--when Uncle Perry worked in Chattanooga, he would occasionally drive to Athens and stay with us for a weekend. It was a "big deal" to have Uncle Perry come see our family. I believe that that was soon before he returned to IL and was converted - is that correct?

--Judy and Dave's wedding in Chicago - they were just "dippy" about each other (to use a good Grandma word) and it was a fun reception at a big hall of some sort in Chicago.

--Grandma's fried cube steak, smooth cottage cheese, and apple pie.

--the day before Perry and Carol's wedding, we went to visit Aunt (?) Klopfenstein who also lived in Portland; Cleve was along, and she gave him something, I believe it was glassware of some kind, as a gift for his upcoming wedding to Kathleen. For some reason I remember strongly him saying "Oh, she'll love it!"

Well, this list includes a lot of wedding memories! Don't know why. Thought I'd share on a hot Monday morning, but now had better get onto a list of projects that is waiting for me, including re-framing some pictures we want to hang.

Knee High By the 4th of July

On the way to Comlara, we got out of the car to see how tall the corn is. VERY TALL!!

4th of July

The weather is beautiful this morning and predicted to be a nice week-end for the
4th of July. We are headed to Olney, Il to Eric and Retta's, about a 3-hour drive. Looking forward to some time with family. Putting up a couple of tents...should be interesting! I remember camping out on this weekend before and the fireworks tend to continue throughout the night. Booms and bangs just when you're getting back to sleep from the last burst!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Hampton Inn

For those who check the blog frequently, and may be still planning on getting reservations at the Hampton Inn, she is holding the price until after the weekend although the website link will disappear tomorrow. You can call the front desk 309-452-8900 and mention the Klopfenstein reunion and they will honor the price through the weekend only.

Knobloch House update

Setting basement forms

Walls poured and underwater

Casey covering footing tile

Finished foundation, Jerry and Ada's house in the distance (house 3 miles west of Gridley and a 1/2 mile north of Rte 24.)

Adventure

I'm heading off today to teach a childbirth class from 9 - 5. I taught the same group last night from 6 - 9 so I already know they are a good group of people. (My mom says, "What in the world do you talk about for that many hours??) The Klop family is full of educators, so many of you know the responsibility of standing in front of a group (especially adults) and be knowledgeable, interesting, and entertaining for an entire day. Dave said, "Well, it'll be popcorn on the couch tonight!"

Mom, and a Question

Thought you might like to know that Mom was in a car accident yesterday and broke her wrist and a bone in her arm. I'm going over tomorrow to stay with her while Dad goes to his Klopfenstein genealogy reunion in Indiana. She can't get a permanent cast until the swelling goes down. Dad says she is reasonably pain-free as long as she can keep her arm perfectly still, but any movement causes problems. Unfortunately, it is her left arm and she is left-handed. I know she would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Also have a question: What color are post titles when you read this blog? I thought they appeared white, but now they are looking gray and hard to read. This new design model put out by Blogger is more difficult to change things on. If titles are hard for you to read, would you please let me know.

Casey & Jamie's new adventure

More pics of house.

Pouring footings

Casey & Jamie's new adventure

We have started progress on our new house west of Gridley.

Building site

Casey dumping pea gravel for the footings and basement

Digging begins

Basement

Swimming hole/ basement

Trip to Maine

Mike and I just got back yesterday from a 25th-anniversary trip to Maine. We hit a lot of places, including Washington DC (one day) and, for you baseball fans, one night in Boston where we took in a game at Fenway Park! What an experience!

I don't want to repost pictures here - don't want to bore people, but if you are interested, you can go to my personal blog to see several picture posts. Probably most of this week I will be putting up either pictures or other interesting things about the trip on that blog.

Maine is beautiful. Water, water, everywhere! All those "fingers" of peninsulas going down into the Atlantic, with hundreds of islands, inlets, coves - you are never far from water. Just as refreshing as the views are what you don't see - Very few chain restaurants or stores, just antique stores, art galleries, and local eateries and motels.

We also saw George H.W. Bush's house - and Bush himself driving his boat!

We put 2839 miles on the van, and except for a rock hitting the windshield on the last day, had no problems at all. The only time that was difficult was driving through Boston. The tunnels, bridges (high and old), traffic, and aggressive drivers just about finished us off. Other than that, even the driving was good.


Well, here's just one picture just to give you an idea of the views and whet your appetite.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's day EJK'ers! I am thankful for the Godly values and traditions passed on from the Father's in the EJ Klopfenstein family.

In preparing my Sunday School Lesson for this morning, I decided to do an ice breaker question to start off. I thought it might be a good subject for the blog today as well.

"What is one thing you are thankful your father taught you?"

My answer is that that I am thankful my father taught me that life must go on. That no matter what the circumstances are, how tough life is, or how big the obstacles are that you are facing, you must get up every morning and do life. Yes it's going to be tough, but it is your responsibility to go get up & participate in life, do your best and trust God to get you through it.

I'm not sure that dad even realized he taught me that, but he did and I thank him for it. Happy Father's day Dad! I love you. Eric

Alice Caroline - 3 months today

This grandma is lonesome to see her again! We plan to go to KC in July. Carol

Pros and Cons of the Public Pool

Spent the afternoon at the public pool in Normal. I can say there were positive points and some definite negative points.

Pro: I was pleased that I accomplished 18 laps in one of the two lap-only lanes.
Con: The bottom of the pool under the 2 lap-only lanes was cluttered with dirty bandaids, hair ribbons, hair and sand/dirt. Could not put my feet down on the bottom at all.
Pro: The lifeguards did keep everyone out of the lap-only lanes so that anyone who wanted to actually swim laps could do so.
Pro: I was only 1 of 2 people who wanted to swim laps the entire time I was at the pool.
Con: The rest of the pool was PACKED with people, as were all the chairs and the grassy area. (Though not quite as packed as the Japanese wave pool in the video.)
Pro: My suit, my old hat and old goggles worked just fine for lap swimming.
Pro: I saw absolutely no one I knew, so I felt totally free to swim, wear my old hat and goggles, do water aerobics, and dry out in the sun without worrying about anyone watching me.
Con: The teenage group who eventually settled in next to me were not discreet with their displays of affection and frank (frankly disgusting)conversation.
Con: "Please exit the pool for a mandatory chemical treatment" means everybody out for 30 minutes because someone doo-dooed in the pool.
Pro: "Judy, you're so tan!" Feels good, looks good.
Con: "Judy, you're so tan!" Embarrassing, because obviously it really is so bad.
Pro: Exercising, relaxing, reading a good book while drying out...what a life!
Con: That little voice in my head (I think it is Dave's) saying, "Don't you have windows to wash, floors to sweep, groceries to get??

So we'll see how often I make it to the pool, but for today, it was kind of a fun adventure.

A great Father's Day gift!

UPS stopped here today with a small box for Lynn. Since I know he would never brag about it, this is what it was:a really neat 4X4 frame with a small picture of my sweet hubby.Under the pic was this comment:"Father-in-law" on the family tree, means nothing less than "Dad" to me. Molly has been in the family for twenty years and a week and we do love her!

50/50

I just finished giving the house a rather haphazard cleaning job. I don't see how two elderly people :) can make such a mess - shoes, towels, crumbs, cluttered counter, cluttered table, dirty dishes, etc. etc. - in such a short time! Maybe? it's because we're entering our second childhood?

I'm not placing any blame on anyone - we're in this game of life 50/50 - and loving every minute (well MOST minutes) of it. Gotta clean myself up now and go pick up Catherine as we have a lunch date.

Memories of vacation

Three weeks ago we were in St. Augustine. We have great memories and I keep wishing we were back. If you've never been there, it's a great beach destination. Not very commercialized and very, very quaint. We spent one morning on George Street meandering in and out of shops. As you can see, the hat shop was a fun store! - And the girls can have a good time anywhere they go!

We rented bikes one day and rode right on the beach. The sand is so packed there that it's like riding on a sidewalk. We all took turns enjoying the bikes.

Interestingly, friends who were keeping our dog called on Sunday and said she had run away. We ALL love Roo (even this dog-challenged Klopfenstein) and were all very worried. Whitney decided to fly home to help look for her, as Roo is really her dog and there is a very tight bond there. She waited until the last minute to swipe her boarding pass and board; even so, we received a call 10 minutes after she left saying they had found her! All of us were ecstatic . . . Whit rode back the next day with friends who were coming to St. Augustine anyway so it all worked out!

EJK reunion

Judy,
Your reunion announcements are coming through and build up our excitement for the event.
The many efforts show that you have inherited some of your dad's organizational skills!
Lynn and I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Knobloch Activities

Wade taking over as the compactor operator

Wade trying out the feel of the racing seat
Preparing for the new playground equipment south of where we grow up or at the west end of Sixth St.
Wade and his new passion as cattleman!
Knobloch & Witzig crew repairing roof on the old Klopfenstein Grain elevator

TABLE BEAUTY

Ada--you certainly do beautiful work and the table center piece is a classic display. You probably would have many takers if you put it on the block! Your posts showing your work are really neat. Keep it up.

Your brother--Lynn

LATEST PROJECT ETC.

This is my latest project - a quilted table-runner from a pattern and fabric I purchased on the bus-trip shopping trip I went on a couple months ago. This was very tedious, seemed impossible at first, but once I got the hang of it and understood the pattern, it went pretty quickly and was fun to do.

Kathleen and I were coincidentally invited to a garden walk/luncheon a few days ago.

Guests were required to wear hats - aren't we cute?

Thanks for updating the blog, Ann. Change is always good.

A Change

I logged in to Blogger and they had some new templates available - so thought it was time for an update. This seemed to be something fresh and yet very readable. Hope you like it!

Every path has a few puddles...

You should be getting your reunion brochure in the mail. I am sending out an email also today to those for whom I have email addresses so you can click on the links if you want to. There's already been a couple of changes in who is helping on Saturday AM, which only makes it more fun and interesting...but the big mistake I made was that in my haste to get the mailing out, I forgot to number the postcards...so please put your name or return address on the card so I know who it is from!

Me and Sarah P

Until recently, my little Ben has shown no interest in any kind of organized activity. When his brothers did baseball, soccer, football, library programs, or anything like that he was always content to sit and just watch. Suddenly he's become excited about participating in something. And that something is hockey. HOCKEY of all things!

It's the cutest thing to watch and he's taken to skating pretty quickly.

So I guess I have something in common with Sarah Palin now... we're both Hockey Moms. I'd better start stocking up on lipstick.