Alissa's first Christmas program

Alissa had her kindergarten Christmas program at school. She did a great job and sang her little heart out. It was a lot of fun! For the first time we had one of the tall kids so she was standing in the back but we could still see her very well. It just seems the kids keep hitting all kinds of milestones and that makes me happy and proud and even a little sad. The next thing you know she'll be a first grader.

Slumber party

Kristen had a slumber party last night and it went pretty well. We took the girls to a video store and let them pick out some movies. They played charades and giggled and watched movies all night long. The biggest issue we had was the girls being a little loud but that's teenage girls at a slumber party for ya. Kristen had wanted a cat theme for her party so I made cupcakes that I turned into kitty cat faces and they were a hit. Right now Kristen is in her room sleeping since little of that was done at the party last night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN!!!!!a little late

Our Kristen is 13 years old. She's officially a teenager and loves the sound of that. I can tell you she's been acting like one for at least the last two years anyway. She is still in band and orchestra which she enjoys and I see no sign of stopping anytime soon. Hannah Montanna and High School Musical have started to fade away a bit and the Jonas Brothers are the current craze with her and her friends. She has been a strait A studen all this year and we are very proud of her for that! She is still in girl scouts and is on track to earn her silver award by the end of summer. She has grown up so much and it's hard to believe in 5 short years she'll be going off to college and be on her own.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well it's that time of year again and our little angels had a blast. Eric took them out trick or treating along with my sister Melissa and her son Eli. They did a lot of walking, well kind of wagons were involved but still from our house down past my Dad's and over to Leon and Maries house and back that is a lot! We now have 3 huge bags of candy that will probably last us until Easter when the vicious cycle will start again with Easter candy and then summer parade candy. It's a wonder any of my children have teeth left. Now it's time to start our Christmas shopping which is exciting and scary all at the same time.

IN LOVING MEMORY

Today is the anniversary of my Mother's passing. It feels like it has been much much longer, it has been an emotional year. I never imagined that I would be going through life without the help of my Mom this early in my life. On almost a daily basis I find myself with a question I would have liked to ask her or wondering how she would have done something. I have tried to fill her shoes as much as I can where I can with my children, making birthday cakes and sewing halloween costumes has been difficult but much easier than trying to share her love and wisdom. Anyway I love my Mom and I will always miss her and I wish with all my heart I could do something to bring her back. I love you Mom.

The Windy City

A couple of weeks ago now we went to Illinois for my cousin Liz's wedding. We had some bumps in the road because we were sick on the drive up there but we had a good time. We took the kids to the Brookfield Zoo and saw the dolphins, which was just terrific! We did not realize how pink her bellies are. The kids got to the the spectacle bears like on Diego which was just so exciting for them. The hotel we stayed at was very nice and it was where a lot of my family was staying and that was nice. We got to have breakfast together and we took the kids swimming. The wedding was of course beautiful. It was outdoors and you could not have imagined a more perfect weather. Christopher and Eli put on a show while we waited for the wedding to start and at the reception all of the kids danced and sang and were quite the life of the party. Monday before we left we went into Chicago and hit Navy Pier. Our fun was hampered because it decided to rain while we were there. They do however have a very cool stained glass museum we went through and we did a little shopping. We also went way down to the end of the pier to get pictures of the lighthouse. Christopher was ridding on my back and at one point fell asleep on my back. It was pretty funny, I'm sure, watching me walk around bent in half with him on my back. We got home late Monday night we were exhausted but it was worth it.

Camera work-out

Today we went to the zoo. One reason was to get the kids out and active. The other reason was to give my new camera a work out. It was sooooo fun. I took about 500 pictures. I narrowed it down when we got home to 350. The kids had a ton of fun climbing on everything and feeding the fish. Kristen had a bit of a teenage I'm too cool for this tude going on but even she had some moments of fun. All of the kids ran through the sprinkler they had going and then played in the fountains a bit but Christopher got soaking wet. We go on vacation to my cousins wedding near Chicago this weekend and I cannot wait to use my camera again. We plan to visit the Brook Field zoo there. I am excited about that because they have dolphins!

Love it!

Eric got me a new camera yesterday. It is very fancy by my standards probably not in general by DSLR standards. I am loving it though. It's fast and the zoom lens is awsome and I have done pretty much nothing but take pictures for the last two days. I cannot wait to take it to Chicago this next weekend! I'll post a few of the pictures I took and you can tell me what you think.

School Begins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alissa and Kristen have both started school. This is Alissa's first real school year as a kindergartner. She has been loving it. She loves her teacher and her new friends although she is not very good with names so I can't share that with you. She did tell me there are 2 other girls in her class with the same shoes and that automatically made them friends. I am confident that she will have a great year. I did not get as emotional this time as I did when Kristen started kindergarten of course Alissa did not try to kick me out of the room either. I did get a little choked up when on the 3rd day she wanted to walk into the school herself like a big girl. She's so grown up. This is Kristen's second year at the middle school so she has an idea of what to expect. She has a friend of mine's husband as a teacher so she better behave herself. She has already started some of her extra activities. Choir, volleyball. So she's off and running and having a good time. She was very excited to find her best friend is on her team and even has a class with her this year. So she just can't wait to get to school in the morning. During the nice weather she rides her bike and she loves that also.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISSA!

Today my Alissa turns 5 years old. She has had a pretty good 5 years I think. I full two years as the baby of the family and 3 years as a big sister. Right now Alissa is all about Arial the Little Mermaid. She loves all things mermaid. Her bedspread and sheets are the little mermaid and so is her backpack for school. She starts kindergarten this fall and she is very excited about that. She just can't wait for it to start. Every couple of days she askes me if she gets to go to kindergarten yet. She is still a very excitable kind of girl always dancing around and jumping about everything that catches her fancy. She also still walks on her toes. It's just adorable. She took a karate class at the y this summer and loved it. So far she hasn't kicked her brother. Alissa's zest for life makes every day brighter and more special. Happy Birthday my little Sunshine.

Oklahoma

We went to visit and help move Alan and Rachel this weekend. They have a beautful new home to start what I am sure will be a terrific new life. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. Kristen and Bekah watched the Hannah Montanna 3d concert while we were down there. We checked out the Tulsa zoo and the pond behind Al's house. The kids got messy catching little baby frogs and lizards. Oh and the first day we were there Christopher tried to play spiderman and jumped out of their tree house. Luckily he was just fine but gave us a scare. We all had a good time and I am sure we will visit again.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER!!!!!!!!!

Today my baby turns 3 years old. It's hard to believe he's gotten so big. When I think about him this time last year the biggest change is the amount of talking he does. Last year he was pretty quiet but now he talks like his big sister Alissa nonstop. He pretty much give commentary on everything he does now. Which room he's going to which toy he's playing with everything. His favorite things right now are Transformers, followed by Spiderman, Batman, Thomas, Bob the Builder, Diego and of course Superman. He also loves cars of all kinds and working on the tool bench he got for Christmas. He loves having tools like Daddy. He is our little daredevil. He loves to climb and jump and when he falls he just gets up an keeps going. He is a tough little guy. We are still working on the potty training. Some days are better than others but we're getting there. Having a boy has been a wonderful, fantastic and thrilling ride. I can't wait to see what comes next.

JC Fremont Days 2008

This weekend was the JC Fremont Days festival. Saturday morning is when they had little kids activities at Midland Lutheran College. The PTA ran a booth so I had to help set up and run that for a short time. I took the kids to all the tables where they got to play games and do crafts. Alissa won a webkinz so we'll have to get her on the internet so she can play with it. She picked the German shepherd because it looked like Grandpa Phil's dog. We had lunch and dinner at Dad's so the kids were in 7th heaven. Sunday was the parade. Kristen marched with the middle school band. She looked very cute and did a great job. Christopher and Alissa came home with all kinds of candy. Heidi, Daniel, Marie, Leon, My dad and sister and her little angel Eli all joined us. Kristen loved having such a big fan club that day.

New Niece

Well this is only kind of our news but I just had to put up a picture of her because she's just so cute. This last Saturday our new niece Kaitlin Rae was born. Her parents are Eric's sister Pam and her husband Jim. She also has a big sister Emily. She is just cute as a button and we are proud to have her in our family.

Away from Home

Kristen recently took her first trip without her Mommy and Daddy. She went to St Paul Minnesota with our church youth group. They packed books at Books for Africa, measured and packaged food at Feed my Starving Children and helped serve in a couple of homeless kitchens. They of course also made time to go to the mall of america and she say a St Paul Saints game. I think it was a very rewarding experience for her and I know she can't wait to go on another trip. She had her cell phone and called home often. We all missed each other because we've never been apart like that before. We were all glad when she came home.

I did it!

Well I did this a few weeks ago now but I've been so busy that I am just know putting it on the blog. I cut my hair. I went to the beauty shop and had 18 inches cut off my hair. I have sent it to locks of love. It's something I've talked about doing for a couple of years now and I finally got the courage. I am posting a couple of pictures so you can see.

Butterflies

Saturday we had some errands to run in Omaha. Eric had a wrench to exchange at Sears and he needed some new tools from Harbor Freight. We also had to make a stop at Sams for some wipes. Since we were already in Omaha we decided we'd stop at the zoo and see the new butterfly and insect house. We thought we'd just go in take a look and leave, maybe an hour. Little did we know the new exhibit was soo soo busy you had to get a special time card thing telling when it was your turn to go through the exhibit when you walked into the zoo. So we had about 3 hours to kill when we got there. So we looked around, had a snowcone. It was a pretty nice day a little on the warm side but not so much you felt like you were melting. Christopher and Alissa made some friends while we had our snowcones. It was all very nice. The butterfly house is pretty cool. The kids loved it. We had to watch Christopher extra close to make sure he didn't try to grab one but he did fairly well. Then we went to the insect part and they had a window into the butterfly hatchery so you could see the cocoons and butterflies emerging. I really liked that part. They also had some cool sculptures outside of butterflies that I thought were just beautiful. It was a very nice day just a little longer than expected.

He's Home! He's Home!

A little more than a week ago my brother came home. It had been a long, way too long experience and we are happy to have him back. We had a little camping party last weekend. Despite some pretty serious thunderstorms over night we had a great time. We ate together, fished. I did not have to bait hardly any hooks, including my own, or take off hardly any fish because I just sent them to PJ and Dad. Saturday Grandma came out and Sherry and Bob. Melissa and Eli had spent most of the weekend out with us and Chihiyo also came out. Dad grilled a turkey that was delicious thanks to my sauce. He had said if it didn't turn out my sauce was to blame so I told him I get all the credit if it does turn out then. We all talked and laughed and even Grandma reeled in a bullhead or bubblehead as Christopher calls them. Christopher and Eli played all weekend. Which unfortunately included throwing sand at each other. It's so nice to have PJ back now it feels like I can start getting back to my normal life again even with the hole losing my Mom as left. Oh yeah news channel 6 came out and we were on the news last week.

My Little Graduate

Thursday my Alissa graduated from Salem Little Saints preschool. Of course this was the same night that Kristen had her final vocal music concert and Eric had to take his ASE tests. So my Dad took Kristen to her concert for us and he told me she did great. Christopher and myself went with Alissa to her graduation. They had the place decorated with 2008 stuff and they made a framed collage of pictures for each kid to take home at the end of the night. We had a potluck dinner. I helped Christopher with his plate and let Alissa take care of her own when she got back to the table food was mounded on her plate. I was surprised the plate held up under the weight. Then the ceremony began and the kids put on their little felt hats. They sang songs and received their diploma's. The whole thing was very cute and Alissa loved it. Now she can't wait for summer to be over so she can go to kindergarten. Kristen on the other hand is quite ready for summer and to her it will be over to quickly. I am putting up a couple of pictures the woman is Alissa's teacher Miss Leah and the other little girl is her best friend from school Autumn.

Mother's Day

We spent the day with Eric's family in Lincoln. We had a lot to celebrate not only was it mother's day but Eric's brother Alan graduated. We are all very proud. The kids had all kinds of fun playing with their cousins and I am sure left quite a mess for Alan and Rachel, sorry. They of course did not want to leave and did their normal whine and complain but at least they didn't throw any fits so we went home without any casualties. The day before Eric took me shopping and spoiled me rotten and I loved every minute of it. I got the new Ipod touch, dance revolution for our playstation and the complete series of sex in the city. I was a happy woman. It was a very nice weekend.

Iron Man

Christopher has been seeing the commercials for the Ironman movie on tv and when ever he does he shouts"ironman, ironman, ironman". So we decided Sunday afternoon to take the family and go see that movie. This is the first movie Christopher has seen in the theatre since he was a small infant. We got the kids their own little popcorn and soda and it started off well. About a quarter of the way though the movie Christopher ran out of snacks and got antsy. I decided to take him to the snack bar to try to keep him quiet so we had a chance at watching the rest of the movie. Then the smell hit me. He is potty training and I made him go right before the movie but it apparently wasn't enough and he had pooped his pants. Of course it had leaked from his underpants onto his shorts also and I didn't bring anything with me. So we went into the rest room and using a ton of paper towls cleaned him up wrapped his underpants in papertowls, washed out his shorts in the sink so he could go commando the rest of the movie. Then we got him some twizzlers and rejoined our family. I guess I should have put him in pull ups but he hasn't ever had an accident in public until now. We plan to take the girls to see the new Narnia movie in a couple of weeks Christopher is staying with Grandpa Phil.

Back Home

Thursday Eric started a new job. He is now working at Steffy's. So far it seems to be going well. He seems to like the people there. The first couple of days kept him nice and busy hopefully they'll keep him that way. I know that he is happy to be done with Schrier and the long commute. Since he's working in town now he's been able to help me get Kristen to school. That is wonderful since it saves me getting the little two up and dressed early. Plus we get to see each other at lunch now, which has just been weird but great. It's been 9 years since he worked in town and it's good to have him back.

Husband Survey

Well I guess Rachel decided to share the love and tag me so here it goes

What is your husbands name? Eric
How long have you been married? 13 years this fall.
Who eats more sweets? He does
Who said I love you first? I did
How old is he? Just turned 34
Who is taller? He is 6'2" I'm only 5'2"
Who is smarter? Toss up depends on what it's about. He can figure out how anything works and fix it and put it together. I'm more common sense and money matters.
Who can sing better? Maybe me not sure really it's close.
Who pays the bills? I do
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
Who mows the lawn? He does, I help sometimes
Who cooks dinner?Usually me
Who drives? He does
Who kissed who first? He kissed me.
Who asked who out? He asked me out
Who has more siblings? He beats me. He has 4, I have 2
Who wears the pants? Both
What is his "Love Language"? Words of Affirmation (love language 30 second test)
That was a cute little blurb into us so I guess it's my turn to "tag" someone.
I tag Sheri and Liz

Camping season begins

This last weekend we pulled our camper out to the state lakes for the first time this year. The nights were cold so we were thankful for our furnace. Saturday we had the privilege of waking up and enjoying the pelican migration. They were not on the lake we were camping on but on the one right next to it. The kids got a particularly big kick out of seeing these out of the ordinary birds. We spent the rest of the day playing soccer, walking the dogs and fishing. We actually had success fishing this time we limited out on bullheads. When we started fishing Christopher was sitting next to me when I was baiting my hook and he had a fit because we were hurting the worms. He cried and cried and tried to grab my hands because we hurt the worms. So we took one special worm and put it in a cup just for him and told him we would not hurt his worm. This helped but he was still not happy about the situation. Our little sweetheart.

Soap paint

Lately my son has been trying to express his artistic self I guess. First at dad's he squeezed out a cup of chocolate pudding onto the coffee table and proceeded to make designs in it with his fingers. Now all weekend he has been sneaking into the bathroom and grabbing whatever he can get a hold of, shampoo, lotion pouring it out onto the floor, tub, sink and making designs in it. He loves his creations and cannot understand why Mommy does not love them as much as he. Today he disappeared into the bathroom and I heard the tell tail squirt of the shampoo bottle and rushed in there he had already emptied about 3/4 of a brand new bottle of their suave 2 in 1 shampoo conditioner into the tub and all over him. I think he was a little disappointed with the results though because this particular shampoo had no color. I guess at least it smelled good.

Kindergarten

Today we went to Alissa's kindergarten registration. Alissa had a great time. They took the kids to do other activities while the adults filled out all the forms. She told me about the nurse and how she checked her teeth. Then they had a motor skills test in the gym which involved kicking soccer balls through cones. She said some of the time she got them in and some times the ball just ran away from her. She drew a picture and then the kids came back for a snack. The school was nice enough to let Christopher have one also which I appreciated since it saved me a tantrum. So the only thing we have left to do is get her physical done and hope her transfer goes through. I can't believe she's already old enough to be starting school. I know all parents feel that way. I'm going to quit before I start to cry.

Music's in the Air

Last night was the Spring Concert at the Middle school. Kristen played the her violin in the orchestra and for a one time special performance the base clarinet in the band. She was very excited about the base clarinet. I think because it looks kind of like a saxophone and that's what she's hoping to move to next year. She did a great job. She did have a struggle picking out her clothes before but she just ended up wearing her Easter dress what can I say she's becoming a woman. This was the first time we took Alissa and Christopher to this kind of event. We could not keep them still for more than a minute but at least they stayed relatively quiet. As you can see in the picture Christpher spent a lot of time sliding on the floor. He and Alissa also danced and well kind of put on a show of their own. The concert was a little more than an hour but we were there about an hour 45 because Kristen had to be there early. The little two were ready to go by the end. We stopped at DQ and picked up some ice cream to celebrate Kristen's job well done before we went home.

A+

Kristen's report card just came in. She has all A's for the second time in a row. She will remain on the Honor Roll at school. We are so proud of her. She put out a lot of effort. To celebrate we took the whole family out to dinner, Kristen's choice. She chose USA Steak Buffet. Then as an extra special surprise we went to Alltel and got her a cell phone again. She is so excited. She had had one earlier in the year but when Eric changed jobs and had to turn in his work cell phone he used hers. It was supposed to be temporary but it didn't turn out that way so now she has a new one. Fingers crossed she's responsible with its use again.

Here we go

We are starting a blog. We have enjoyed having a window into our family's lives through their blogs so we're giving it a try. I am not sure what to say or what to talk about but hopefully we'll get the hang of it. I guess Easter would be a good way to start since that just happened. We went to church in the morning and Alissa went up front during children's time she was her true self and talked and talked, the pastor could hardly get a word in. The Easter bunny visited while we were gone and left the kids all kinds of goodies. Christopher got a fishing pole which we just had to take and show Grandpa Phil. Alissa got and Ariel toy and declared she loves the Easter bunny and had that wonder only a child can have about how the bunny knew just what to get her. Kristen being a little old for the Easter bunny now liked the movie she got, Nancy Drew, but was more subdued about it. They all enjoyed hunting for eggs, well Christopher was a little preoccupied with the candy. We had lunch at Dad's, where they got more candy, and Christoper got to show Grandpa his fishing pole. Then we spent a quiet evening at home.