Laci's Birthday

This year, 2012, was a very fun birthday year for me!!  It was the BIG 30!!  Brian about had a coronary when he turned 30 but I was super excited.  The day before my birthday I participated in a half marathon.  That was really good to finish it especially with Brian and the kids cheering for me.  I will be trying to do another one of those again.  Then the day of, which was also Mother's Day, I got to sleep in a little bit.  Then the kids brought me breakfast in bed (breakfast casserole, orange cinnamon rolls and champagne).  After church we went to Madison to complete a couple of errands and we finished up with dinner at the Nitty Gritty ~ Madison's Birthday Bar.  We went to the Middleton location which I understand is a little quieter than the Downtown one.  They did sing to me but it wasn't any 'special' song like I had heard about.  I guess next year I will have to try the other location.  It was fun to get a special glass and free refills of birthday punch all night. 

To top off the fun of being 30 (and Brian being 35) we had a big party on May 26th.  We had invited close to 40 people to come but I think we ended up with just under 30 who showed up.  We had an absolutely amazing time that evening.  I think we need to do something like it again without the need of a birthday to celebrate, just a time to get a bunch of friends together!

"I" Date

May 18th was our "I" Date.  We were excited to go to an Indian restaurant, in The Dells, for dinner and then have some Cold Stone ice cream afterwards.  When we got there we found out the Indian restaurant had closed.  We ended up going to the Dell Bar.  Brian had been wanting to try it out for a very long time.  It was a nice dinner but I don't think it would be a place I would want to go often.  It seemed a little old and a bit more fancy.  I like the fancy dress up places every once in a while but I'd more often prefer a little laid back casual atmosphere.  Ice cream was great as usual. 

"J" will be coming up this month.  I have a few different ideas now I just need to sit down with Brian and narrow them down.  I am super excited for "K" and "L"!!  They are going to be a lot of fun.

Counters Are In (Finally)

Our kitchen has been quite the work in progress.  Back in March we installed our cabinets.  We knew it would be a wait to get the counter tops in but we didn't realize that it would be such a long one.  We did not get the counters until May 4th!  I tell you, six weeks with temporary counters gets to be a little messy.  But we did it!  We waited, we persevered and the kitchen is done.  I am so happy to have it all put together.  The only thing is that we now have to get the knobs/handles on.  We have them.  They are in a bag on the counter waiting for us to find the time to take care of it.  It is not that we don't have the time, we just choose not to use the time for that job rather we use it for other fun things. 

(To Whom It May Concern: I tried to scan the background items to make sure the picture was safe but should I have missed anything...I guess you look at your own risk. ; ) )

Brian's Birthday

Brian turned 35 on May 8th.  Unfortunately it was a weekday and he had to work.  It was actually pretty funny, the night before Angela and I were talking about his birthday.  She had big plans to make him breakfast in bed.  I told her it wasn't possible unless she was going to get up at 3:30 in the morning to make it before he left for work.  She kept saying how unfair it was that he had to work on his birthday.  Such is the way of the adult life!

We had a big poster that said "Happy Birthday Dad" with some birthday garland stuck to the fence. That way, when he drove home he would immediately see it. The kids and I were waiting on the back porch and we started singing as soon as he got out of his car.  We shepherded him into the house and served him his dinner.  During dinner the kids kept interupting him to give him his different presents.  Dessert was a big slice of German Chocolate cake!  Over the few days before his birthday many envelopes had been arriving for him.  The time had finally arrived for him to open them.  He ended up with thirty-five balloons to open up from many different family and friends.  Each of which had a fun birthday message on it.  It was really neat to see his reaction to that fun little birthday activity.  And no, he did not blow them all up himself.  He used the air compressor.  Thank you to everyone who helped with the balloons!



April Photos of Kids

It looks like I am slightly behind on this post.

Angela:

Showing off her new package of earrings.  This set even has one little dangly pair.

Enjoying a little Easter basket fun.



I don't know if she is really mad or just pretending because Connor was taking her picture. 

Connor:

Isn't the Easter bunny so funny for leaving the egg on the trampoline.  But it was really fun to get up there and get it.

This was our first year doing the baskets in our jammies.  The kids thought it was great because they could get into their treats quicker.

Petting a day old calf on a school field trip.  It's tounge felt like a cats tounge, all sandpapery.

Emeric:

Last year he wasn't too sure about finding egg, but he had it down this year.

Telling a two-year-old not to eat all of his candy all at once doesn't work.  Instead he ate all of his and some of his brother and sister's candy.

This is what it looks like after a long, hard morning of play.

March Photos of the Kids

Slightly late but here none the less.

Angela:

She makes a good foreman (woman) while we are doing projects.

Something about the exercise balls that I have draws the kids into being silly.

She may want to kill me for posting that picture, so here is one of her cousin at about the same age, equally draw to being silly with the 'peas'.

Connor:

He is skinny enough he can fit behind the corner cabinet.

His class had a field trip to a gymnastics studio.  Here he is just after running/bouncing down a trampoline road and jumping/flying into a foam pit.  So much fun!!

A little balance beam work.

Emeric:

This boy keeps me on my toes, that is for sure.  He is wearing my bikini top, his snow boats and his diaper.  He has closed himself in Harley's dog kennel and I believe he was pretending to be a lion.

Everyday it is a different "outfit".  Most days it includes some sort of swim suit (whether that be his, Connor's, Angela's or mine) or a 'dress' (often one of my tank tops) or both.  In this picture it is one of my tank tops with Connor's rash guard (swim suit top) over it.

I am not sure if I have two daughters and one son or one daughter and two sons.  Brian and I joke that we have 1 1/2 girls and 1 1/2 boys.  He is at such a super fun age that dressing up is really fun and it doesn't matter if he is a cowboy, batman or a princess.

"H" Date

We have been having some crazy computer things happening around here, so this posting is coming a bit late.

On Sunday April 1st my mother arrived for a week long vacation.  She hadn't been off the train for more than a few hours when we said, "Love you, Goodbye!" and left her in charge of the kids so Brian and I could go on a date.  This was our "H" Date!  We went to the Corner Pocket (our favorite local place) and had some hamburgers.  Brian had a tenderloin steak one and I had a bacon and egg burger.  After some good conversation we headed to the movie theater to watch the Hunger Games.  We both really enjoyed the book series and were looking forward to the movie.  It was enjoyable, but we were left wondering why do movies always change things from the books?  This was a pretty low key date but it makes sense since it was a work night for Brian.

I wonder what "I" will have in store for us?  Any ideas?