Santa Came to the Hood

This past Sunday, we were blessed enough to have Santa visit us in our own neighborhood for a second year in a row.  It was a fun evening and each child got to sit on Santa's lap and have a 2-3 minute conversations with him about their behavior this past year.  Some had good reports and some had not such good reports but it was fun to hear Santa give all the kids some good advice.

 We feel so blessed to live where we do and to have met such incredible neighbors who are now friends.  I am thrilled that my kids will have such fond memories of their childhood neighborhood.

We are "almost" ready for Christmas.  The kids have been having fun with Sparkle the Elf.  He has been up to some crazy stuff again this year.  The other morning we found him in the Barbie Pink Convertible with the Ken Doll.  We had lots of theories about where they were headed that day and where they had been the night before.  Today he was riding the pink Barbie bike.  So fun.

The count down continues and the kids can't wait to celebrate Baby Jesus Birthday and celebrate the season with our families.

Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Breakfast in Bed

The Sandwich Project

On Sunday at Girl Scouts, our troop made 300 sandwiches for our local community.  It was an awesome event and one that really hit home to all of us involved. 

The girls loved making the sandwiches knowing that those would go to people in our own community that are in need.  We learned about The Sandwich project and about Mr. Law who started this program a few years back.  He drives around our community and delivers the sandwiches to those people who are in need.  He drives all night long and he has not slept in his bed for 12 years.  What a impact this man is making on our community. 

We also took home banks that we made to collect donations for Mr. Law and his organization.  It was a great project and really helped the girls learn how they can make a difference right here in our own community.  Awesome!

A Trip to the North Pole

On Saturday, we were all lucky to help Jon fly a trip to the North Pole.  There as an event through his work for kids that are in need to come to the airport and fly to the North Pole.  Well, not really fly to the North Pole....but we can all pretend pretty good. 

K and Daddy getting ready for the Flight

At this event there were carnival games, the local sports teams mascots, a magician, music, food, and we all loaded onto an airplane an pretended to fly to the North Pole.  Jon was lucky to be the co pilot for the trip.  The plane taxied around the airport and went really fast down the runway and then they hit the brakes.  However, when we were taxing, we all closed our window shades so no one could see where we were at.  When we got back to our gate, we were instructed to open our window shades and look for Santa Claus.  There he was running around the airplane outside.  He then made his way on the plane.  It was the coolest event EVER!  We all enjoyed helping out at this event. 

The Girls in First Class!

A, E, K worked the fishing pole booth and loaded up the cups with candy for all the kids.  They did a great job and we were so proud of them for helping out.  We also got to see where Jon's new office is and we met some of his new co-workers.  It was great and he really works with a lot of great people. 

We hope to be involved again next year for this very cool event.  Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday - Ski Season has Begun!

Gracie and Jon

Halloween 2012

My Handsome Crew!

E with Bella the pig!

Halloween this year was so much fun.  We truly live in a great neighborhood for so many reasons but Halloween is one of them.  Jon had the day off of work so he decked out the front yard with tombstones, lights, fog machines and he added this year the coffin that we inherited when our neighbors Tim and Perry moved.

The whole crew!

Beverage Cart Drivers!

The kids were thrilled when they came home from school that day to find all the decorations out in the yard.  Gracie sure liked all the new stuff to and one sign of her growing up is that she only wanted one fake arm to chew versus EVERYTHING in sight like last year.

K with his friends.

A with her friends.

The kids dressed up as a bumble bee, Super Girl, and a Zombie skate border.  We had our annual pizza dinner with Jane and Bella and then we headed down to the neighbors to catch a ride on the hay ride that goes through the neighborhood.  This year it got even bigger with 25 plus kids.  Jon was in charge of driving the beverage cart and he was in high demand most of the night.  Jane stayed back at the house to hand out candy and hang out with the dogs.  Both Bella and Gracie did great all night long.

The Wagon in motion!

Super Girl E and Gracie

Overall it was a wonderful Halloween.  We all had fun.  Good friends, good treats, and great memories. 

Gracie the Hunter

Gracie finally put all of her training to use a few weeks back.  The guys took her with on their trip...the moment they have all been waiting for...to hunt with their very own hunting dog. 

From what I hear she did an awesome job.  She listened, retrieved, and did all that hunting stuff a dog is supposed to do. 

I could not be any more happy for Jon.  He has wanted this for a very long time.  I kept getting updates all weekend about what an awesome job Gracie has been doing. 

Grandpa Al and Uncle T with Gracie

The bummer was that when she got home on Monday night, her feet were very beat up.  I have been told that this is normal but our poor Gracie has an exceptionally bad case and therefore I took her to the vet the next day. 

We have learned that Gracie is allergic to something in the hunting fields.  We have not declared what that is exactly but her feet have not been 100% since August.  We now have it pinned down to the "field" environment and have her on the right medications but she was banned from hunting last weekend so that was a huge bummer for Jon.  Her feet did get healthy enough that she was able to go out again this weekend. 

We all love Gracie so much.  She is more than a hunting dog she is a our family pet.  Gracie is a very big part of our lives! She even comes to Sunday night dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house each week. I never would have imagined how much we would all grow to love and adore her.  She is a great dog and I just told the Vet that what surprises me is that I worry about her just as much as I worry about my kids.  The Vet smiled and agreed that they are easy to love!

I have no regrets with getting a dog.  I was warned that a family pet could not be a good hunting dog.  However, I beg to differ on that.

Jon with Gracie Mae 1st Hunting Trip

The other night Jon was getting ready for his big trip.  He got his gun and case out and once Gracie saw that she went crazy.  Fast forward to the next morning when I was awoken at 5:15 AM to Gracie standing in our bedroom whimpering because she thought that Jon was going to leave her behind as he was outside loading the car.  She does love to hunt.

So there you have it....as most of you already know, I have become a dog lover.  I am sure you all knew that would happen....I guess I was just in the dark.


So here's to our Gracie Mae and many fun years of hunting and family time ahead.   

Fun Times in the Dells

 Last week, Grandma Mary and I decided to take the kids to the Wisconsin Dells.  This is the month that the guys in our family spend all their free time Hunting.  Well if you ask them about it they will tell you that they are bringing food home for the winter but we all know it is more fun than work for those guys.

Grandma Mary and I decided it was time for us to go have some fun as well.  We won a timeshare in the dells at a Silent Auction at Grandma Mary's church and then the planning started.  None of us have ever been to the Dells so we did not know what to expect.

I am here to tell you that it was an AWESOME trip.  We all had so much fun and I am sure we will be heading back to the Dells one day and maybe we will even bring the "guys" along next time.

We spent two of our three full days at the Water Parks and boy oh boy was that thrilling.  We hit the body slides, family, slides, roller coaster water slides, and a few thrill water slides that had my heart pumping.  It was a riot.

At night we would play games and watch movies followed up by a good nights sleep.  Of course we had some awesome meals too.

The last day we played mini golf at an outdoor course, we bowled, we shopped the outlets, and then we had a great dinner.  You know its been a great vacation when you are all sad to have to pack your bags and head back home.

It was so nice to get away from the crazy busy life that we lead right now.  It was fun to sit and spend time with the kids and with Grandma Mary.  Time is going by way to fast so I really do appreciate when we can "slow" down for a few days and catch up on some good quality time together. 

I think Grandma Mary and I decided that every October we plan to take the kids on a mini vacation while the guys are all out having fun.  Not sure what next year will bring but I am sure it will be fun and exciting.

A "On Top of the World" Kind of Day

Today was one of those days that will be something I remember for a very long time.  The kids had their first Soccer Tournament EVER, this weekend.  The past few night have been filled with soccer games and this morning we spent from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM at the soccer fields while all three kiddos participated in the tournament. 

The girls did awesome but they did not get to place in this tournament.  They took this in stride though and overall as we look back they had an awesome season and a ton of fun playing soccer with their friends.  That is what it is all about and the day was a good one for them. 

K and his team went into the tournament undefeated.  He spoke a lot these past few days about winning the championship game and how awesome that would be.  Of course, my instinct as a Mother I reminded his that it was not about winning but more about having fun and that just because his team was undefeated did NOT mean that they would win the championship.  His team breezed through the tournament and we found ourselves in the championship game this afternoon.  It was a tough game and at the end of the two halves the game was tied 1 to 1.  This resulted in a 5 player shoot out.  Our boys had never experienced this before so it was interesting to see how it would all go down.  I was relaxed (well sort of) until I looked up to see my son taking the position as the goalie in the shoot out!!!

It is safe to say that  my blood pressure went up and I was a tad bid nervous....or in better terms I totally freaked out!  I was not sure I wanted to watch but then again I could not take my eyes off as this all unfolded.  K did and extremely AWESOME job and this time the stars were in his favor and his team WON!  He had some awesome saves and the rest of his team played an awesome game.  I was one PROUD and very EXCITED Mom!  It was so intense and I am still reeling from all the action and I have a boy that has not stopped smiling since he got his trophy!  He is very proud and it feels great to see him so happy.  K was so brave today to put himself in the goal and try his heart out for his team.  WOW!  He was so nervous he said his arms were shaking but I knew he could do it.

What an awesome day this has been.  I am very proud of my kids and how they handled the wins, the loses, and being good and brave teammates.

We are ending our night with a sleep overs with friends for all of them.  Today is a Top of the World kind of day!  God Bless.  

holiday1 2012

Be Merry Prints Christmas Card

Make a statement with personalized Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Triplet Teamwork