Blogging Hiatus

I will have a short blogging hiatus.  This is due to the fact that I won't have my computer with me on our upcoming vacation and it will be difficult to download photos and get some good postings on here.  I will be back in January to give you all an update on our wild crazy Christmas vacation. 

See you then!

Santa

We had a wonderful breakfast with Santa and the kids had this picture done in two seconds flat!

Oscar Mayer

OHHHHH....

♫♪ I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner ♪ That is what I truly wish to be ♪ Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer Weiner ♪ Everyone would be in love with me ♪♫

(You know you were singing right along - and now that is going to be stuck in your head)

November - Photos of Kids

Here are a couple of pictures to tide you over until you get to hold these little bundles tight in your arms.

Angela:

Far right side, white shirt, singing in a recent school program.

Connor:

It is so much fun when it is your birthday and you get to lick the serving utensils.

Emeric:

Thinks he can get away with anything including climbing up on the table - Turkey!

Mom

The thoughts and opinions presented in this posting are the sole result of the author.  Should you not agree with them cease reading this posting and come back another time.

When I had one child I felt that I was a really good mom.  I was able to focus so much of my time and energy on her.  Even though I worked it seemed like we were always together, always doing something, always learning.  It was easy and fun.

Then I had two children and I felt that I was a good mom.  I had the school hours to focus on the younger of the two.  Then I had the after school and weekends to split between the older and the younger.  It was a bit of learning but it still seemed to go okay.

Now there are three children and I am struggling to even be an okay mom.  I have half days alone with the younger and I am trying to figure out how do I be a mom to him but get some things marked off of my to do list?  Then I have half days where the youngest is napping and the middle is home.  Again, there are things to get done yet kids that are pulling, pushing, touching and tugging at you in multiple ways.  With three, one always seems to be on "my list" by time school starts and some days it is all three of them.  The older is gone 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours each day and then has 1/2 hour to 3 hours of homework each night.  That leaves very little one on one time with her.  The middle and the younger get a high amount of my time due to their ages.  I am like a satellite orbiting around them.  Constantly stuck in their gravitational fields.  I get up between 5-6 most days just to have a moment that I don't feel their pull.  Because even in the nights they are calling to me for many reason and most nights one is in bed with us. 

The first word that came to my mind as I was thinking all of this is PRESSURE.  Lovely enough the next thought was coal turns into diamonds with enough heat and pressure.  I wonder...with all the heat and pressure of motherhood, what will I turn into?  I know when things are all said and done I will come out on the other side as a sparkly, beautiful, semi-precious jewel.

Thanksgiving

This years Thanksgiving was pretty low key.  It was the five of us at home.  We slept in and then lazed around most of the morning.  I did make a pumpkin pie, completely from scratch.  This was my first time using an actual "pie" pumpkin to get the puree and to make the pie.  We were left with so much puree (it is in the freezer) that I believe we will be having a lot of pumpkin foods soon.  Around lunch time we got the turkey cooking.  Brian got a 15 1/2 lb. turkey which is a lot of meat.  The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing the other foods: cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, stuffing and broccoli casserole.  We ate dinner around 5 and most of us were asleep about 7-8.  Brian and I ended up falling asleep with the kids and then waking up again around 10.  It felt like we had a second wind at that point.  It is no wonder Thanksgiving is usually around 1-2 so that once your nap is done and you've hit your second wind it is still only 5-6 at night.  We had so much food, that Friday we had Thanksgiving dinner "take 2".  The only difference was that we had green bean casserole in place of the broccoli casserole.  Now tonight we are having turkey pot pie.  We have enough turkey for about two more meals this week.  The day was nice for Brian as he was used to small family affairs from his younger days.  It was a little lonesome to me as I really felt like I needed more people to make it a real holiday.  That is okay though ~ we did have a relaxing day. 

Curling

It is November which means it is time for Brian and I to have a 'C' date.  This past weekend he and I went and tried curling.  Brian took to it like it was in his blood.  Towards the end we asked where it originated from and the instructor said it came from Scotland.  We then did tease that maybe it really was in his blood.  We learned how to walk on the ice, throw the rock, sweep, aim for offensive and defensive reasons and to read the ice.  If I would have remembered to wear thicker socks and bring a pair of gloves I think I would have had a really good time.  As it was, I was pretty cold and ended up just watching Brian for about a half an hour.  He seemed to really have a great time.  He even mentioned that if work would be a little more predictable he would think about joining a league team.  Alas, that might not be for awhile.

Connor Turns 5

When your child reaches another birthday I believe most parents (grandparents & relatives) think "Wow, how can he/she be this old?"  I know that I have been having those thoughts about Connor turning 5.  But the biggest wow that I have been thinking is the fact that Connor turned 2 in Wisconsin.  We have been here long enough for him to be celebrating his fourth birthday in the state.  That makes me go WOW!

He is working on learning about calendars in school including the days of the week and of the month.  Therefore, on November 1st, we made a big red square around his birthday and started crossing each day off of the calendar as his birthday got closer.  That helped him to not ask as much when his birthday was, but it was also helping to increase his excitement.  The morning off he woke up ready to start opening all of his presents.  I talked him into waiting and enjoying breakfast first.  Then he had to get ready for school.  I did let him open up one present at breakfast and two at lunch.  Then I made him wait to do the rest of them after dinner once dad was home.

We knew that we would not have a lot of time on his actual birthday for fun celebrations since Brian doesn't get home until a little after six and Connor's bedtime is a little after seven.  We decided to take the kids out to dinner and dessert the night before.  We went to eat at Buffalo Phil's a restaurant in the Dells.  The fun thing about Buffalo Phil's is that your food and drink gets delivered to your table by train.  The kids all thought that was pretty fun!  Afterwards we went to Cold Stone to get birthday desserts.  Most of the time around someones birthday we go to Cold Stone.  Then the birthday person gets their own special dish of ice cream while the rest of the family gets to share one.  It really makes you enjoy the fact that it is your day!

For dinner the day of, we made homemade pizza.  The big kids got to shape their dough and decorate with their toppings.  It is always a meal full of creativity and fun. 

(He had to eat with all his presents around him)



Connor wanted a cake in the shape of the Transformer Bumblebee while he is in car form.  I think this was probably one of the worst cakes I made but at least it tasted okay.  Normally I use a white cake but this time he wanted a chocolate one.  Therefore, I completely understand the reasoning for putting a first frosting (crumb) layer on.  Then the frosting I did use was a little too thin.  I really was not patient the day I was making it and I should have paid better attention to the consistency of the frosting.  But regardless of my criticism of myself, Connor loved the cake.  He thought it looked like Bumblebee and he really liked cutting into it to eat it.



He got so many gifts that he was super excited for.  Some Transformers, hot wheel cars, gloves, shirts, Lego's, pillow pet, Spiderman, train table, coloring supplies and I am sure a few I missed.  We ended up letting him stay up a good 30 minutes past bedtime to continue playing with his toys.  He had a wonderful birthday (and better yet, for me, the toys have still not lost their newness and he just plays all day with them)!

Emeric's First Haircut

So this is funny, maybe you wouldn't think so but I am laughing as I type this.  I was going to title this post "It's a Boy!" but I was pretty sure most of you would think that meant I was pregnant again and I didn't want to scare anyone.  I thought it was fitting though because Emeric has been called such a pretty little girl a few times but they won't say that any more.  Wednesday he got the big SNIP SNIP.  For Connor I had to take it in baby steps and he got a hair cut then a few months later he got a boy cut.  Not for Emeric, we just took it all off in one fell swoop.  I had been thinking about it for a couple of days so Tuesday night I asked Brian what he would think if I got it cut.  He was okay with it so Wednesday morning I told Emeric we were going to go get his hair cut.  His response, "No, ou(ch) ou(ch)".  I really had to reassure him that it wouldn't hurt at all.  He did such a great job sitting for the lady and letting her use the clippers on him.  Now maybe I will be able to use the clippers for his next hair cut?  That may be pushing it just a little bit.  He really liked the sucker at the end - a little bribery helps. 

Here is our "pretty little girl..."

Now he is "all boy"!

October - Photos of Kids

These photos make me laugh....!  This month was filled with great warm weather that we are at the beach to cooler weather that we have got coats and gloves on.  Enjoy!

Angela:

Can you have too much fun at the beach?

It is only fun to have your brother spank you when you are posing for a picture, otherwise it means war.

I love the close ups, especially when my kids are ready with a smile.

QUICK!  DUCK!  You are about to get blown out of your computer chair - "Expecto Patronum"

Connor:

Showing off his faux hawk.

Loving his new swim top.  Hopefully it helped to keep him warm.

Someday his legs will be long enough to reach the peddles and then he will have to decide if he is going to be a lineman, a fireman or Spiderman.

Wearing their "FR" head covers like daddy does at work and like the fireman do.

Emeric:

Really, what is better than being on the beach with a bucket on your head?

 Sleeping (or pretending to) on the beach.

Sitting in the bucket of dog food.  I am sure he was eating some too.

With that sort of smile, I keep looking to see where his horns are.

Have a wonderful November!

We can't wait to see some of you really soon!

Happy Halloween

This year we had a lot of fun with Halloween.

Angela was a Hogwarts, Griffindor student.  She had the robe, scarf and wand.  All of which we made.  We are also in the process of making everyone else wands as we were pretty sure if she was shooting spells at us, we would need to be able to defend ourselves.

Connor was Spiderman.  We bought his costume a week before and we should have promptly put it up on a shelf.  He played with it so much that is had some rips and tears in it, but he still had a good time.  (I will have to do some repair work now)

Emeric was an Elephant.  We called him a lazy elephant the entire time.  He rode in his stroller and would hop out to trick or treat.  Then he would quickly jump back in even if we were only going to the very next house. 

Aren't these three just cute as can be?



Madison's Dirtiest Race

The Madison Mud Run was held this past Saturday in Verona.  It is five miles of running with about 15 or so obstacles spread out in between.  Brian and I headed down bright and early to be part of this fun/dirty race.  What a good date right.  Nothing like mud instead of candles.  Our first obstacle was to jump into a creek that was slightly deeper than waist level and quite cold.  After traversing the four or five feet of water and crawling out the other side we got to run wet though the rest of the race.  Of course the last obstacle was the mud pit that we had to crawl through.  We forgot to bring the camera and get some pictures but I was able to get onto the sponsor's page and after looking through a little over 2,000 pictures, I found these two, Laci finishing the balance beams, Brian and Laci at the finish.  It was a lot of fun and I think we both would be willing to do it again. 

Batting Cage

October's ABC Date happened this past Saturday.  We enjoyed a little bit of batting practice at the High School's batting cages.  It is really funny what you will find when you start to ask around.  I was at church during Logos (or Wednesday night youth program) a couple of weeks ago.  I asked one boy, who I know plays baseball, if he had or knew where to get a pitching machine.  You see Brian and I were trying to step out of the norm for the ABC dates.  We knew we could have done a bar or bowling, but we wanted to do something different.  That is when we thought of batting practice.  So this boy I am talking to maybe thought he could get us access to one across town, but he did not think we could take it to the batting cages.  That is when another boy who had overheard my question said that his family owned a non-electric pitching machine that we could borrow whenever we wanted.  YES!  We had struck gold.  We had the babysitter for a two hour time frame.  We did not spend the entire time batting but what we did bat was a lot of fun.  At first I couldn't hit the ball.  I am sure it was because the machine was not dialed in properly and not at all because of me... then again?  After a while I got back into the hang of hitting a ball that is pitched to you and not just lobbed in the backyard.  Brian was right on from the beginning.  You could see he was having to hold back with his swings because he was afraid of hitting them too hard and possibly getting me.  I am really glad that we stepped out and did something neither of us has done in a really long time.  Our "B" date ended up with a lot more B's than just batting cage.  We had burritos for lunch.  That night during dinner we enjoyed some beergaritas.  It was not a recipe that sounded very good, but once we tried it it wasn't too bad.  The next day, which was our anniversary, we spent the entire day at the beach.  It was just our typical Lake Michigan trip and it was wonderful, like always. 

The biggest "B" of all might have been Saturday night after the kids had gone to bed.  Brian became bald.  Sure you are thinking, he was already going that direction.  Well we helped it out a bit and 'bic'ed his head clean.  It was really a shock to the kids when they got up.  Connor told him to grow it back and shave his goatee off.  Angela just kept saying, "NO! NO!  That is not right."  Emeric just wasn't sure.  I tell you it does look a bit different, especially since his face and neck are so tan and now his head is not.  

Regardless, he is very handsome (with or without hair)!

September - Photos of Kids

Happy October 5th to everyone!  These have been such wonderful days we are having hear.  Cool (chilly) crisp mornings and warm comfortable afternoons.  I've got to get this post done quick so that Emeric and I can get a run in before we head to the library for story time.  I haven't seen any comments lately so I hope that people are still looking at the blog?

Enjoy!

Angela

"Help! Help! I have fallen in the well.  Where is Lassie when I need him?  Probably off saving little Timmy...!"

Even with her knees bent she can not fit under the new cupboards.  She is getting so very tall.  It won't be but another few months and she will be as tall as I am.

Connor

Helping Mom bake cookies.

Proudly wearing his medal after finishing the Madison Zoo "Roo Run Run".

Emeric

Helping Mom with the vacuuming.

I believe this is what you would call, getting into reading!

Connor's First Fieldtrip

Connor's pre-school class took a fieldtrip to Lapacek's Orchard this morning.  It was his first time on a school bus and he was quite intrigued.  He wanted to know where the airbags were and why there were no seatbelts.  I think it must have been sort of fun that I sat right beside him and not up in the front seat. 

He really enjoyed looking out the windows and laying his head against the window and feel the shake of the bus.  At the orchard we got to pet some kittens.  We walked through a blueberry "bramble" which was rather nicely pruned and empty of any fruit.  Then we spent some time in the rows of raspberries.  The kids got to pick and eat the raspberries as a yummy appetizer. 

We were shown a peach tree and saw a bunch of chickens pecking around the apple trees.  We got to explore in a sun flower forrest and then play with some sunflower heads.  Each kid got to pick off a few seeds to take home and plant. 

Next we took a walk through part of the apple orchard.  They have over 2000 trees in 50 varieties of apple.  We then learned how to pick an apple and we got to have one for a snack.  Next was a walk to the pumpkin patch where the kids could feel and pick up some pumpkins.  Lapacek's has two emus and a bunch of goats.  We were warned to stay clear of the emus as they can get a little agressive and try to steel apples from people.  But we were encouraged to go up near the goats.  The kids even got to feed their apple cores to the goats.

Lastly was a bit of playtime at the playground and snacks before heading back to school.  It was so much fun to be a part of this with him.