Christmas & Winter

Here are a few recent photos. The first photo. Connor took a medical glove and filled it with water. After about a day, this is what we got.





This is our tree this year. I love how the lights make the room look so warm.

Jen's Family

I had the wonderful opportunity to hang out with Jen and her children last night. We went to the park, and were able to get some great shots. The weather was perfect. Lots of leaves, not too wet and beautiful kids. I feel blessed to call Jennifer my friend.

By the way, if you find a car key on a leather key chain at Rod & Gun Park, let me know. It came up missing at the end of the night.

Mr. D.

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Mr. D and his mother last night. The weather was a bit chilly, but totally do-able. He was such a good sport, and what a smile! I think we were able to get some great photos and Mr. D was willing to do whatever, except for jumping in the water (but I did ask). The temp was 39 degrees, I guess I can't blame him! His mom was great, I felt like I have known her forever. I hope you like the preview!

My kids

Some current photos of my little darlings. Bobby is 16, Libby 14 & Connor 12.

Mr. M

I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. M last night. We drove, and drove, and drove. We finally found this awesome location for a photo shoot. It is county land, and beautiful. Great woods & beautiful weather. Here is a shot of him and his dog Nerf (yes, like the ball! :-). We were able to get a few shots with the dog, before he got too interested in running through the fields.

look at what I did

I have always love these wall words when I see them in catalogs and/or stores. So, being the DIY person that I am, I made my own. I created the words in Microsoft Word and printed them on contact paper, cut them out and then last night, stuck them on my wall above the laptop. I LOVE them. Even though the are a little crooked, I still love them!

Ms. B

Here is a peek for Ms. B. We did photos this past weekend and what a wonderful night. There was a small moment, where the sprinkles started, but it all worked out beautifully. We found a new location (new to me) that has tons of opportunities. Ms. B is a beautiful woman who always has that smile on her face and willing to try whatever I threw her way.

Miss 'J'

Here's a sneak peak of Miss 'J''s photos. We met last weekend, and had the best weather. Not too hot, not too windy, and no rain! She is a beautiful senior inside and out. She has a wonderful smile and eyes that just sparkle!

Senior "J"

I had a great time taking photos of Mr. J the other night. What a trooper. The weather was hot! I have some great shots, and here's your preview.

It was nice meeting you, along with your mother and sister. How'd your mohawk turn out? Now THAT would be a fun photo! LOL

The Reef Tank

I was able to take some photos at Jen's place last night. She has the most amazing aquarium you have ever seen. Everything is so vibrant. I took TONS of photos, and learned a few things about taking photos of fish (they're REALLY fast!).

It was nice to hang out with Jen and her kids for a few hours.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Dad! I LOVE this photo!

Thank you Mom!

My mom knew that today was a long day for me and look what she gave me! Thank you! They are so lovely!

My Family

Here is what I have to work with at my house. The first post-it is my attempt to communicate with the rest of my family, before I leave for work, and some are still sleeping. The second post-it is what I get for my efforts. They think they are so funny! hahaha! WHATEVER! Click on the photo to see the humor.

Connor

We've been cracking down on homework lately. Here are some of Connor really getting into the studying! He's all about the bookwork! NOT!!!! Dang! If he only wasn't so cute!

THE Electric Guitar

Libby has gotten it in her head that she NEEDS an electric guitar. The acoustic guitar she has had since July, is just not enough! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Well, she has worn us down and has the money to pay for it herself....so.....here we are, with an electric guitar + amp in our house. We nearly have enough musical instruments for a full band now. We have a percussion kit (bells & practice pad), flute, complete drum set, acoustic guitar and electric guitar (oh, and a karaoke machine). What more do you need?!


Tomorrow----It's all about Connor!!

Coming Tomorrow - The Electric Guitar!

:-)

The Winner

Bobby and I made the trip to Mosinee (1 hour-45 minutes away) on Sunday for a karate tournament. It has been a while since I saw Bobby sparring, and he was shining on Sunday. We left the house pretty early to make it to the tournament in time to register and compete. We were at the high school around 10AM, in plenty of time. Bobby was up against 4 others. They all out weighed and had a number of inches in height on him. As a parent, you always worry. Will he get hurt (physically and/or emotionally). If they don't win, there is always a lesson to be learned, but you can't beat the high you get from winning. Well, to make a long story short, he won 1st place! He has such courage! I am sure that I would not even consider competing against a group of my pears who are all taller and heavier than I am. Where most people would walk away from the experience, he walks right up to the challenge and faces it head on. I am so proud!

Here are a few shots from the day. He is sparring in the first photo and has just won his 1st place trophy in the second photo (too tired to smile).

Diet Coke Demise

Temperature -15 this morning. Another case of Diet Coke has met it's demise. At what age will I learn that the soda needs to come into the house during these months! ARRGH!

more knitting

I was getting tired of knitting socks (they take too long), so I have switched yarns. I am using worsted weight yarn and making socks without toes and mittens without fingers. I know, it sounds like I am only doing 1/2 the job, but really, that is how the patterns are written. They are 'officially' called pedicure socks and wristletts. They are super fun and I can make a pair of either in a day (instant gratification).

Breakfast at Tiffany's

An all time favorite movie of mine is Breakfast at Tiffanys. I recently saw a google image of the movie and wanted to recreate it with my DD. So, here's my take on it, updated for 2009, complete with iPod.

Duct Tape Totes

The other night I got together with some lovely ladies and we tried a new project. Duct Tape Totes. Well, most of us went into this class thinking, this is just the first step that we need to do before we can go out to eat and have a few beverages. One of us was wondering if she could just pay someone to do her tote, and she would go on a beer run! When I heard that it was going to take 3 hours, well, how could this take that long. We would certainly be done in 1-2 hours! We heard the stories about the 70 year olds who did them earlier in the week. They finished in about 3 hours. Well....it took us a little longer than most (ok, 4 hours). It may have something to do with the beverages we were drinking, but I may be wrong.

Well.....we have fallen in love! The totes out GREAT! Each one of us used different colors and made them just a little bit differently. Anyway, we had a lot of fun and love our new totes.

After our 'class', we went on to eat (it was 10pm!), and have a 'few' beverages. We ended up at Rays on Water Street. They have the best sandwiches. I had such a wonderful time. I haven't laughed this much in forever. What Fun! Thank you 'Duct Tape Ladies' (Jackie, Donna, Jeanne, Diane & Kelly) for letting me share the evening with you.

Busy!

I'm sorry for neglecting this site. We have been pretty busy lately. Bobby took and finished his driver's education classes. He has his temporary license and is our personal chauffeur. He will get his license sometime after the first part of July, if he can bring his grades up. That is our agreement.

Libby has been working on her NHD project, practicing her flute solo, teaching karate and taking guitar lessons.

Connor has been being a very social butterfly. It seems like we are always taking him somewhere to 'hang out' with friends.

This being said, I am spending TONS of time in the car and it is cutting into my computer time :-) This is an ok thing though. The time will come too soon when they are not living with us anymore and I will miss these moments we have together.

I have been working on the school yearbook and we are getting down to the wire. I think we are about 50 days from our deadline. The kids have been working very hard and this is going to be another great yearbook. They should be proud!

This is a photo I took on the ride home the other night.

COLD!

Wisconsin winters are COLD! It gets so cold that the soda we keep in the garage, freeze and explodes. So, you head out to the garage to go to work in the morning and see frozen diet coke all over the garage and vehicles. After living here for all of my life, you would think that I would have learned to stop keeping beverages in the garage in December, January, February, March, and part of April! But....nooooooooooooooo! Maybe next year I will figure it out. :-)

Today it was -15 with a wind chill of -30.

Maybe tomorrow will be a cold day and we can sleep in, not go to school/work, have a fire in the fireplace and watch movies all day! Or, maybe not.

Techno Guys

Here is Connor and his friends, Nick and Sam. They had a sleep-over at our house and this is how I found them at midnight. They are sooooo Geeky! They are all about Gameboy, Xbox, PS2, Wii, etc. They call themselves the 3 Amigops, and have for 4 years (they were 7 years old then). They can tell you all the best games, finish each other's sentences, and can hang out for days and not get tired of each other.

They are now 11 years old, but have been friends since kindergarten. They go to 2 different middle schools, and will probably go to 2 different schools when they get to high school also. When there is a kids night at the University, they go together; when there's a birthay, they are together; when a summer program comes up that interests one of them, the call the others.

I think it is great, that age 11, they have such good friends. It is good to see that, even though they don't see each other every day at school, the can still be so close.

As parents of these techno wizards, we think similar. We are pretty laid back about what they can/cannot do. Don't get me wrong, we do have lines that we draw, but we let them have fun, stay up late, and be kids.

OMG! He has his temps!

Well, it was bound to happen. He turned 16. He is now in driver's education and has his temporary drivers license. This means that he can drive with a licensed driver in the car. So....EVERYWHERE we are going, HE wants to drive. The roads in our town are NOT stafe! You have been warned!

Truth be told, he is a very good driver. We have had no problems what so ever! It is just hard being the parent, on the other side of the car, not in control. OK, it IS a control issue. I admit it!

It has been a big month for Bobby. He turned 16, started drivers education, received his temporary driving license (temps) and opened a checking account. He is doing very well with all of this, better than his mother.

In the end, when he gets is drivers license, it will be a blessing to all of us. We do so much running in this family, it will be nice to have 1 extra driver in the family.

needles, needles, needles

Look what I got today!! OMG! It is tons and tons of knitting needles. I haven't counted them, but there has to be, at least, 30 pair! My mother received them from a friend of a friend and then passed them on to my daughter and I. There are regular, extra long, circular, and double pointed. I can't wait to weed through them all and sort them out. Woo Hoo! What shall I make?!

Tapout Boys

Here's my Tapout Boys. They both love to watch boxing and they have both been into martial arts. My older son, Bobby, is a 2nd degree black belt. When they are together, they do typical boy wrestling things. Occasionally their sister gets stuck in the middle and has the bruises to show for it. She can usually hold her own.

Flat Stanley

Well, we have been babysitting Flat Stanley for the Christmas break. It has been alot of .....ummm......well.....fun?

Somehow we volunteered for this project from a friend's daughter. We are supposed to welcome Stanley into our lives and document his travels during the Christmas season. He has gone with us to school, grandmas house for Christmas, the library, karate, etc. Don't get me wrong, it has been fine, but.........it's time to send the little darling back!

Here's a photo of Flat Stanley :-)

I Twilighted her!

With all the buzz about the Twilight series, some friends have been 'twilighting' their friends and families. Here is my take on Libby. She is at a bit of a standstill on the books (only about 200 pages from the end of the last book!). Finish it up already!

I think the it turned out pretty good. I have included the before so you can see the transformation.